Bicycle Racing News and Opinion,
Tuesday, August 8, 2023
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2022 Tour de France | 2023 Giro d'Italia
When all is said and done, more is said than done. - Lou Holtz
Les Woodland's book Cycling's World Championships: The Inside Story is available in print, Kindle eBook & audiobook versions. To get your copy, just click on the Amazon link on the right.
Current racing:
- August 5 - 13: World Road Championships
Upcoming racing:
- August 9 - 20: Volta a Portugal
- August 13: La Polynormande
- August 15 - 18: Tour du Limousin
- August 15 - 19: Tour of Denmark
- August 15 - 19: Vuelta a Burgos
- August 17 - 20: Arctic Race of Norway
- August 19: Bemer Cyclassics
- August 22 - 25: Tour Poitou-Charentes en Nouvelle Aquitaine
- August 23 - 26: Renewi Tour
- August 26 - Sept 17: Vuelta a España
Latest completed racing:
- July 29 - August 4: Tour of Poland
- July 31 - August 2: Tour de l'Ain
- July 30: Circuito de Getxo
- July 29: Clásica de San Sebastián
- July 26 - 27: Vuelta a Castilla y Leon
- July 22 - 26: Tour de Wallonie
- July 1 - 23: Tour de France
Here's the report from second-place Wout van Aert's Team Jumbo-Visma:
Wout van Aert has finished second at the world road cycling championships. After a gruelling race in Glasgow, Scotland, the 28-year-old Belgian of Team Jumbo-Visma, was beaten by Mathieu van der Poel. It is the second road world championship silver medal of Van Aert's career.
Wout van Aert finishes second. Sirotti photo
The road race at the World Championships, held in early August this year for a change, turned into a battleground. A flurry of attacks created the first breakaway more than 100 kilometres from the finish line, including the Jumbo-Visma riders Van Aert, Tiesj Benoot, Nathan van Hooydonck and Dylan van Baarle. Christophe Laporte had to let go at the front due to equipment failure.
After Benoot and Van Hooydonck, among others, began to ride in Van Aert's service, an elite group of four riders remained in pursuit of Alberto Bettiol, who had escaped alone. The Italian was caught after a solo ride of several dozen kilometres by the group that included Van Aert, Van der Poel, Mads Pedersen and Tadej Pogacar. At this point, Van der Poel attacked. Van Aert held on the longest but eventually had to let the Dutchman go. Van der Poel rode the last twenty kilometres solo to the line, despite a crash in the closing stages. Van Aert continued to chase and again showed his strong legs to take the silver medal.
After receiving his medal, Van Aert told his story. "Of course, I came here for the gold medal, but I am realistic enough to say that silver was the highest achievable today. That is why I am still standing here as a somewhat satisfied person. When Mathieu attacked, I was right on his wheel. I could stay with him for a while, but then I had to let him go. Even though we gave everything in the chase, Mads, Tadej and I immediately understood that he was gone.”
The Belgian continued: "It was a blistering race that eventually turned into a man-to-man battle. I was always in an excellent position. I think that was the key to success on this track. I cannot thank my teammates enough for their support throughout the day. I was confident in the corners and wanted to take the initiative on the climbs. The legs were good, but one rider just proved to be better. Hats off to Mathieu for what he did today. My focus is now on next week's time trial.”
Fellow countryman Benoot struggled, but he could do the necessary work for his leader. "The course was gruelling, but I got through it. Wout asked me to take the initiative and control the race. Once he took over, only the strongest were left at the front. It is a shame that Wout could not crown his great day with a gold medal, but Mathieu is the rightful new world champion. He peaked again today at the right time; we can and must be honest about that”, said Benoot, who finished ninth.
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Here's the World's report from third palce Tadej Pogacar's UAE Team Emirates:
Tadej Pogačar took 3rd place in the World Championships Road Race in Glasgow today.
The Slovenian rider showed good form off the back of the Tour de France to form part of an elite group which developed inside the final 80km of the 271km course.
The race was stopped for almost an hour due to protests on the route but got underway again, with the group whittling down on the highly technical city-centre course.
Mathieu Van Der Poel took an impressive solo win, with Wout Van Aert and Pogacar behind in a chasing group at 1’45’’.
Tadej Pogacar close to the finish of a very long day in the saddle. Sirotti photo
At the end of the 6 hour battle, Pogačar outsprinted Mads Pedersen to narrowly take the bronze medal.
Fellow UAE Team Emirates rider Matteo Trentin was involved in a crash with a barrier, suffering a hand injury and unable to finish the race.
Pogačar: “It was a really crazy race today. We all expected that it was going to be like a criterium race for 6 hours and that’s exactly what it was. The speed through the corners and on the climbs was insane and thankfully I was on a good day. I was quite humbled to be in such good company on the final laps but Van der Poel was on another level today so he really deserved this victory. I can be very satisfied with bronze today.”
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Here’s the report from Ganna’s Team INEOS Grenadiers:
Filippo Ganna secured a sixth Individual Pursuit world title in Glasgow in thrilling fashion.
The Italian left it late to edge past Great Britain's Dan Bigham in the final metres, taking victory by an incredible 0.054 seconds.
Bigham, Performance Engineer at the Grenadiers, had opened out an advantage in excess of two seconds, but a late charge from Ganna set up a thrilling finale, as he overhauled over a second on the final lap.
The two riders showed great respect at the finish with a hug on the track, with the Glasgow crowd on their feet.
It was the second medal of the Championships for Ganna, who 24 hours earlier claimed a silver as part of the Italian Team Pursuit squad. In the final they were beaten by Denmark. Ganna will return to action on the road on Friday's time trial.
Filippo Ganna time trialing at this year's Giro d'Italia. Sirotti photo
Also competing on the track, Elia Viviani finished in seventh place in the Omnium. The Italian mounted a late charge in the final event Points race, briefly sitting second, just three points off the lead. The Grenadier has a busy schedule and will also be competing in the Elimination (Monday) and Madison (Tuesday).
The streets of Glasgow were the scene of an awe-inspiring men's elite road race, with the showpiece event playing out at a thrilling tempo.
After the start in Edinburgh, once the race hit the tough and technical finishing circuit the pace was so high the peloton quickly reduced in size.
Jhonatan Narvaez held on well and looked comfortable in an ever-decreasing lead group. However the Ecuadorian was caught out when the rain came down, sliding out on the downhill entry to a right-hander and hitting the barriers.
Many Grenadiers took on support roles during the race, with the likes of Luke Plapp, Luke Rowe, Ben Turner, Ben Swift and Connor Swift visible at the fore as the race powered onto the circuit. Connor Swift would come home 26th in an attritional race. 2014 winner Michal Kwiatkowski was also in action for Poland and was one of many riders to lose contact due to the heavy pace.
Mathieu van der Poel took the victory for the Netherlands with a powerful late attack. Wout Van Aert (Belgium) pushed clear late on to claim the silver medal, with Tadej Pogacar (Slovenia) out-sprinting former champion Mads Pedersen (Denmark) for the bronze.
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Here’s the team’s announcement:
Astana Qazaqstan Team welcomes the German sprinter Max Kanter (25), who is moving to the Kazakh team for the following two seasons (2024 and 2025).
“It is a good move to me. Astana Qazaqstan Team is a team with a great and successful history in cycling. Looking back to the start of my cycling career I remember Astana very well as a team with a lot of successes. Joining the team now means a lot to me and I am very confident that I will achieve some great things together with Astana. For me this transfer means the continuation of my development as a rider but also the continuation of the improving which the team is aiming for in sprint. I am ready and I am looking forward to help the team in this progress”, – said Max Kanter.
Max Kanter racing at the 2019 Tour of Poland. Sirotti photo
Max Kanter got some strong results both in Junior and Under 23 categories, in 2018 becoming U23 German road race champion, winning a stage at the Tour de l’Avenir and taking a solid 2nd place in U23 Tour of Flanders (Ronde van Vlaanderen Beloften).
Turning pro, Kanter took two third places in La Vuelta stages in 2020, was third in Gooiksi Pijl and Primus Classic and finished 4th in Milano-Torino in 2022.
During the current season Max Kanter worked a lot for other riders, but also scored a number of stage Top-10 placements in Saudi Tour, Tour of Oman and Paris-Nice.
“We know Max as a strong and promising sprinter. He was successful in Under 23 category and at the start of his pro career, but later, perhaps he missed something to show his potential. Now we are ready to work together, to provide Max the opportunities because we believe he can deliver by himself. Of course, we also count on him as a helper for other sprinters in the races where it will be needed. I would say it is a good transfer for Astana, it will help us to continue our work on creating a strong and successful sprinter group”, – said Alexandr Vinokurov, General Manager of Astana Qazaqstan Team.
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