Bicycle Racing News and Opinion,
Thursday, January 27, 2022

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2021 Tour de France | 2021 Giro d'Italia

If people never did silly things nothing intelligent would ever get done. - Ludwig Wittgenstein

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Bill and Carol McGann's book The Story of the Giro d'Italia, A Year-by-Year History of the Tour of Italy, Vol 1: 1909 - 1970 is available as an audiobook here. For the print and Kindle eBook versions, just click on the Amazon link on the right.

Current racing:

• Jan 23 - 29 Santos Festival of Cycling
• Jan 26 - 29, 2022: Challenge Illes Balears

Upcoming racing:

• Jan 30 - Feb 6, 2022: Vuelta a San Juan Cancelled
• Jan 30: GP Cycliste la Marseillaise
• Feb 1 -5: Saudi Tour
• Feb 2 - 6: Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana
• Feb 2 - 6: Etoile de Bessèges
• Feb 12, 2022: Gavere Cyclocross
  

Latest completed racing:

• Jan 22, 2022: Flandriencross
• Jan 1, 2022: GP Sven Nys Cross
• Dec 30: Azencross
• Dec 29: Diegemcross Cancelled
• Dec 27: Heusden Zolder Cyclocross
• Dec 19: Namur Cyclocross
• Dec 11: Ethiascross-Essen

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Georgia Baker wins Women’s Santos Festival of Cycling Criterium

We posted the race organizer’s report with the results.

Here’s the report from Baker’s Team BikeExchange-Jayco:

Australian Georgia Baker finished off a perfect team performance on the streets of Adelaide as she sprinted to victory in the Santos Festival of Cycling criterium.

After leading out teammate Ruby Roseman-Gannon throughout the previous three days of racing, the newly-crowned Australian criterium champion returned the favour today as she delivered Baker perfectly to the line.

Georgia Baker gets her race win. Getty Sport photo

Team BikeExchange-Jayco controlled the fast and frantic race from start to finish, constantly shutting down moves over the course of the 45 minutes. As the bell rang out for the last lap, the squad powered to the front to deliver a perfect lead-out finished off in style by Baker.

Georgia Baker:
"I’m so happy to get a win, I haven’t had a win in a little while. But full credit to my team, I had such a perfect lead-out. I think we had some really good rehearsal days with the last three days at the Santos Festival of Cycling, so it was great to be able to nail it here and get another win for the team.

You have a little bit of doubt when you haven’t raced in such a long time, but it was a real privilege to be able to lead Ruby out, she’s in some incredible form as you could see in the last three days. It’s great to have a really strong team, and to be able to go out there and deliver it for them is really special and a huge honour."

Team DSM to ride the Saudi Tour

The team sent me this:

Saudi Tour: FEB 1-5

Roy Curvers - Team DSM coach:
"We're excited to kick off our 2022 season at the Saudi Tour. As it is a race held mostly in the desert it has a special dynamic to it, with high speeds in the bunch and the potential for crosswinds which we will need to be alert to. We expect this year's edition of the Saudi Tour to provide three clear chances for a bunch sprint and two hillier finals. Our main goal will be to get our sprint train up-and-running and after some great recent camps we're really motivated to do that. Alberto will be our designated finisher and we have a group of riders who will give everything to put him in the best possible position to start the sprint from, as we chase day success on the flatter stages. On the hillier parcours we want to use good teamwork, race offensively and search for opportunities to put a Team DSM jersey on the podium."

Alberto Dainese (shown at the 2021 Vuelta a España) is scheduled to ride the Saudi Tour. Sirotti photo

Line-up:
Alberto Dainese (ITA)
Nico Denz (GER)
Niklas Märkl (GER)
Tim Naberman (NED)
Joris Nieuwenhuis (NED)
Casper van Uden (NED)
Sam Welsford (AUS)

EF Education-EasyPost and EF Education-TIBCO-SVB show new team kits

The teams sent me this release:

We used familiar roads around Girona to showcase our new looks, both in the old city and on the climbs surrounding it. We turned heads (and asked a few locals to keep the shots under wraps) along the way.

The 2022 race kits.

This season is the first time EF Education-TIBCO-SVB will line up wearing Rapha, as EF Education First joined TIBCO Software and Silicon Valley Bank as co-title sponsors of the longest running women’s team in North America. The team is making the step up to the WorldTour this season.

Both teams will compete in a kit of the same design with a subtle color variation. The new design, executed through creative coding and image/pattern manipulation, is a modern interpretation of the Argyle pattern that has been a staple part of EF’s visual language for years.

Team Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert reports on Trofeo Calvia

Here’s the team’s post:

Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux launched the racing season on Wednesday with the Trofeo Calvia (1.1, 26/01), the first of five one day races of the Mallorca Challenge. Belgian climber Kobe Goossens instantly displayed his combativity and made his new colors shine under the Mallorcan sun, thanks to a seventh place at the finish and winning the intermediate sprint classification.

Rising among the strongest riders after a first half of the race marred with climbs, Goossens was part of a chasing group behind sole leader McNulty (UAE). In a second chasing group, Laurens Huys also made a strong impression in his first appearance for the Belgian team.

Eventually, Goossens sprinted for second place in Palmanova and reached the finish line in seventh position, 1 minute 17 behind the winner, with Huys finishing in 16th place. The attractive race style of the riders directed by Aike Visbeek and Pieter Vanspeybrouck was rewarded with the prize of the Meta Volante, as Kobe Goossens was the best in the intermediate sprint classification.

Tomorrow, Biniam Girmay, Laurens Huys and Loïc Vliegen will also participate to the Trofeo Alcudia, the second race of the Mallorca Challenge. They will be joined by Alexander Kristoff, Barnabás Peák, Adrien Petit and Andrea Pasqualon for 173 kilometer through the northwest of the island.

"My feeling in training was really good, but only the races count so I was happy that I was able to confirm from my first race day. Even though this was the start of the season, we knew more or less which riders would be performing well. I followed a group with Alejandro Valverde and Tim Wellens when the peloton exploded on the Coll de Soller. We were joined by a group with Laurens Huys, but in the end we were only eight riders to sprint for second place. It was nice to show my new colors on the podium thanks to the intermediate sprint classification. Tomorrow is a rest day for me, I hope to distinguish myself again in my three next races on this island." - Kobe Goossens

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