Bicycle Racing News and Opinion,
Wednesday, December 27, 2023
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2023 Tour de France | 2023 Giro d'Italia
In ancient times cats were worshipped as gods; they have not forgotten this. - Terry Pratchett
Bill & Carol McGann's book The Story of the Tour de France, Vol 1: 1903 - 1975 is available in print, Kindle eBook & audiobook versions. To get your copy, just click on the Amazon link on the right.
Current racing:
- Dec 27: Superprestige Heusden Zolder
Upcoming racing:
- Dec 28: Superprestige Diegem
- Dec 29: Exact Cross Loenhout-Azencross
- Jan 12-21: Santos Tour Down Under
- Jan 20: Clasica Comunitat Valenciana
- Jan 24-28: Challenge Illes Balears-Volta Ciclista a Mallorca
- Jan 28: GP d'Ouverture-La Marseillaise
- Jan 28: Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race
- Jan 30 - Feb 3: Saudi Tour
Latest completed racing:
- Dec 26: World Cup Gaver Cyclocross
- Dec 17: World Cup Namur Cyclocross
- Nov 5: European Cyclocross Championships
- Nov 1: Trofee Oudenaarde-Koppenbergcross
- Oct 28: Superprestige Ruddervoorde
- Oct 22: Superprestige Overijse-Vlaanse Druivencross
- Oct 12 - 17: Tour of Guangxi
- Oct 15: Japan Cup
- Oct 15: Veneto Classic
Here's the report from second-place Wout van Aert's Team Jumbo-Visma:
Wout van Aert has finished second in the Gavere World Cup race. Mathieu van der Poel proved too fast for Van Aert in the field in Gavere. It is Van Aert's fourth podium finish in four cross races this winter.
No one was going to catch Van der Poel today. UCI photo
The masses of fans got what they wanted in Gavere today. Tom Pidcock, among others, joined Van Aert and Van der Poel at the start. On the first lap, Van Aert and Van der Poel immediately opened up a gap, but as the Dutchman accelerated, Van Aert had to give way. Despite the growing gap, the Belgian remained calm. Van Aert rode a consistent race at his own pace. The result was second place.
"It was a pretty tough race”, Van Aert said. "The mud was sticky. It got harder and harder to stay on the bike as the race continued. I usually like a course with many running lanes; it suits me. But halfway through the second lap, I went over my limit. That is never a good idea on a tough course like this."
The Belgian paid tribute to the winner. "Mathieu was fantastic today. He was unstoppable, especially at the start of the cross. He deserved to win. I am happy with how things went in the last part of the race. For now, I am happy with my level. I can look forward to the next few races."
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Here’s the Gavere report from third-place Tom Pidcock’s Team INEOS Grenadiers:
A packed crowd witnessed a great battle in typically tough, muddy conditions. A fourth row start made life difficult for Pidcock, as did a dropped chain on the second lap after he'd begun to slice into the top 10.
After dropping briefly back down to 16th, the Brit again made his way through the pack, chasing down a podium.
A brief crash on lap five didn’t slow Pidcock down too much, and he was able to re-pass Lars van der Haar, before a good battle with Joris Nieuwenhuis over the final pair of laps.
Up ahead Mathieu van der Poel continued his super form to win his fourth race in a row. Wout Van Aert came home second, with Pidcock rounding out a star-studded podium.
Next up for Tom is the famous Diegem night race on Thursday. Elsewhere there was more success for the Grenadiers on the ‘cross bike, with Thymen Arensman winning the Dutch national Kerstcross race.
Tom Pidcock :
"It’s a bit annoying really. It’s not like I had a bad start – there was just nowhere to go. Then I was in maybe 10th position on the second lap and then my chain came off. Then I was behind again, so I was chasing all day,
"At one point I was riding quite fast, then in the end I was making a few mistakes. But at least I’m on the podium.
"I think maybe in the first lap I wasted a bit of energy, trying to go through gaps that perhaps were not there. That was the only chance to even try to win today. Mathieu was strong. I think in the end I did a good race, it was just a shame about the start. It would have been nice to be at the front racing from the beginning."
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Here’s the team’s post:
From January 1st 2024, the riders of the World Team, Continental Development Team and Cyclocross Team of the structure Intermarché-Circus will push their boundaries with the equipment of Verge, sports clothing manufacturer with several decades of experience in cycling, running, triathlon and nordic sports.
By becoming clothing partner of a UCI World Team for the first time, Verge Sport affirms its ambition to continue creating the best tailor-made sports clothing in the world. In its offices in New York, in Europe and in Asia, the 300 employees of Verge Sport think like athletes: everything is designed through the eyes of the customer. The needs of the riders of Intermarché-Wanty are taken into account thanks to a narrow interaction with Verge Belgium, directed by the De Geest family.
The 2024 kit. Team Intermarche-Wanty photo
Evacuation of humidity, resistance to the sun, ventilation or thermal protection: only the highest quality fabrics with minimal environmental impact are selected to make the clothing range for the three teams in the structure. Industry-leading quality and production times are achieved by combining old-fashioned craft techniques with modern sublimation processes in the two family-run production facilities.
DESIGN
For the fifth time, Belgian designer style.design got to work with the neon yellow and navy blue colours which form the identity of the structure directed by Jean-François Bourlart to offer the kit of Verge Sport a refreshing design.
The clean design offers perfect visibility to all partners of the team, and at the same time it presents a playful aspect thanks to the remarkable assymetry. Each angle of view shows a different colour combination, a visual representation of the team’s ingenious and agreeable character.
PARTNERS
Intermarché and Wanty stay omnipresent as title partners, both on the front and the back of the jersey and on the bib shorts. Group Gobert, visible on the kits of the Walloon team since 2001, is positioned alongside the title partners on the back.
Italian wine partner Vini Fantini, parent company of Sicilian branch Vini Zabù, is present on the belly, on the back and on the left side of the bib shorts. The right side reveals that group Steveny will provide the structure with Škoda cars from 2024. On the back of the bib shorts, Circus returns to its usual spot since 2017, above the logo of Intermarché.
On the breast, technical partners Verge, Cube Bikes, Uvex and Gaerne are joined by the logo of Tubize Outlet Mall, the first outlet village in Brussels which will open in 2024.
Just like last season, the logos of Pierre & Sol and Full Services are shown on the left sleeve. The right shoulder displays the logos of ReUz and Technord, the title partners of Continental Development team Wanty-ReUz-Technord. Underneath, group Van Thuyne vaults from Wielsbeke appears as new partner.
Finally, three other new sponsors appear on the back of the jersey. Coffee roastery Charles Liégeois is present on the jersey of the riders for the first time in the neck region, underneath the logo of streaming platform RTL Play. The international company specialised in the transport of food products Sitra Group, from Ypres, is positioned on the shoulder blades.
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