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Bicycle Racing News and Opinion,
Thursday, February 16, 2023

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2022 Tour de France | 2022 Giro d'Italia

Wherever there is a human being, there is an opportunity for a kindness. - Seneca

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Current racing:

• Feb 15 - 19: Vuelta Ciclista Andalucia - Ruta del Sol
• Feb 15 - 19: Volta ao Algarve

Upcoming racing

• Feb 17 - 19: Tour des Alpes Maritimes et du Var
• Feb 20 - 26: UAE Tour

Latest completed racing:

• Feb 11 - 15: Tour of Oman
• Feb 13: Clásica Jaén
• Feb 12: Clasica de Almeria
• Feb 11: Vuelta a la Region de Murcia
• Feb 10: Muscat Classic
• Feb 9 - 12: Tour de la Provence Race cancelled
• Feb 1- 5: Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana
• Feb 1 - 5: Etoile de Bessèges
• Jan 30 - Feb 3: Saudi Tour
• Jan 22 - 29: Vuelta a San Juan
• Jan 25 - 29: Challenge Illes Balears-Volta Ciclista a Mallorca
• Jan 28 & 29: Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race
• Jan 29: GP Cycliste la Marseillaise

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

Here's the report from stage winner Mauri Vansevenant's Team Soudal Quick-Step:

Once again, and in spectacular fashion, history was made by Soudal Quick-Step when Mauri Vansevenant crossed the finish line atop Oman’s Green Mountain, scoring our 900th win and making sure that his name will forever be linked to that of The Wolfpack.

Mauri Vansevenant makes it 900 wins for Team Soudal Quick-Step.

A total of 174 riders have been part of the squad since our inception in 2003, a year when we had to wait just a couple of weeks to taste our first ever success, brought by Servais Knaven on stage 5 of the Tour of Qatar. Of the many riders who sported the team’s jersey in the past two decades, 103 took at least one victory, in 34 different countries – from Argentina to the United States, and from Norway to Australia, via China – across five continents.

But the team didn’t just win with panache, it also created ever-lasting memories, and some of the sports’ most memorable moments of the last twenty years have been linked to our riders and their fantastic exploits.

Mauri Vansevenant’s ride on the final stage of the Tour of Oman is another moment our fans won’t forget anytime soon, and the 23-year-old couldn’t hide his satisfaction after delivering this win: “It’s unbelievable, that I can tell you! 900 victories in 20 years of cycling, this shows the strength and the mentality of this fantastic squad. I’m very happy and proud I could do this for the squad. Now we start our journey to the 1000th win!”

Soudal Quick-Step CEO Patrick Lefevere was another happy man Wednesday afternoon, as he prepared to travel to Rwanda, in order to be present for Soudal Quick-Step Devo Team’s first outing of the year.

“To see Soudal Quick-Step reach 900 wins makes me very proud – it is an unbelievable number! When we started this team all those years ago, we were ambitious and we wanted to be one of the best squads in the world, but I don’t think anyone could envisage us clocking up 900 victories. It shows the dedication of the team’s management, staff and riders, sponsors and partners, and the public that has supported us over the years. I remember our first win with Servais in Qatar, but it’s hard to pick out a favourite victory, as every one of them is special in their own way, and they are a testament to the collectiveness that makes this team really unique. Here is to many more victories to come!”

Here's the final 2023 Tour of Oman report from Team Soudal Dstny:

Lotto Dstny rider Maxim Van Gils has concluded the five-day Tour of Oman (UCI 2.Pro) on a solid sixth place in the general classification. The 23-year-old Belgian climbed his way to 5th on the closing stage with a summit finish on the steep Green Mountain, which eventually delivered Van Gils a sixth place overall. With four top ten spots in five days of racing at the Tour of Oman, Van Gils can look back on a more than successful start to his season.

Maxim Van Gils winning stage four of the 2022 Saudi Tour.

Maxim Van Gils: “Today was the toughest stage of them all and I was a bit scared to be honest, as such steep long climbs are usually not really my cup of tea. The pace was incredibly high from the bottom of the climb and when Taaramäe accelerated, I had no immediate reaction. I focused on my own pace and could keep the front group in sight. Just before the finish, Ulissi came back and I had to give up one place on GC, but with four top ten spots at the Tour of Oman and a sixth overall, I can’t really complain.”

“It only is a pity that I couldn’t put the cherry on the cake this week. I came close with a second place but these consistent performances show that I’m in good shape. I took some more steps after the Lotto Dstny team camp to perform well here and I’m glad the work paid off. I also need to thank my teammates for this week, they always protected me really well and brought me in perfect position on the climbs.”

After his stage and overall victory at the Saudi Tour last year, Maxim Van Gils again delivers a nice performance in the Middle East. “I still rank the things what I showed here a bit higher than winning the Saudi Tour. Tour of Oman is a higher level of racing and most importantly: I feel that I made some good progression in my climbing abilities, something I sometimes struggled with in the past seasons. The way of racing – with a relatively calm start and an explosive final – really suits me and that is why I perform well in these races, I think. Of course, I want to continue this way, starting with the two French one-day races Faun-Ardèche and Drôme Classic. Soon after, there’s the biggest goal so far: Strade Bianche. I really look forward to racing the Tuscan gravel roads”, concludes the 23-year-old Belgian.

And here’s the final Tour of Oman report from Team Bora-hansgrohe:

With a mountain top finish on Green Mountain the Tour of Oman was decided today. Another early break was under control of the bunch and never had a real chance to fight for the win. On the final climb the expected GC battle saw several riders in difficulties already on the opening slopes. In the end the best climbers of this week succeeded again, and it was Mauri Vansevenant who took the stage win while Matteo Jorgenson secured the overall victory.

It was Matteo Jorgenson who got to take home the winner's trophy.

Cian Uijtdebroeks came in 10th today, just ahead of Emanue Buchmann in 11th place. Cian retained his 9th place overall in the end. BORA – hansgrohe also won the team classification of the Tour of Oman 2023. 

“In the end it was an easy race today tactical-wise. The Green Mountain is a fair climb, and the legs decided the race today. In the end the best climbers have been in front, and we missed a little bit of power today. Cian finished inside the top ten, but he wasn’t able to deliver the watts he would normally do on a climb like this. I have no explanation for this yet and we have to analyze this together. Ninth place overall is not bad, still we hoped to fight for more to be honest. On the other hand, we won the team classification, which is really nice, because it’s the conformation of the solid race we did as a team with good performances from Emu and Ben also today.” – Rolf Aldag, Sports Director

We posted the report from second-place Jordi Meeus' Team Bora-hansgrohe with the results.

Here’s the team’s update:

Team Jumbo-Visma focuses on upcoming stages in Algarve with five remaining riders

Team Jumbo-Visma's five riders in the Volta ao Algarve stayed out of trouble on the opening stage. The team suffered a setback before the start when Gijs Leemreize dropped out, but during the day, the nervousness usually associated with a first stage was not too bad.

A group of five riders broke away early in the stage of more than 200 kilometres. Team Jumbo-Visma quickly claimed a position at the front of the peloton and kept the leaders under control throughout the day. A bunch sprint proved inevitable.

Norwegian Alexander Kristoff crossed the finish first. Tim van Dijke finished 11th.

Alexander Kristoff won the first Algarve stage.

Sports director Marc Reef said the day went according to plan. "We started in the rain this morning. There was a possibility of echelons, so it was important to stay alert throughout the day. Our riders did that well. The most important thing was that our leader Tobias Foss finished in the same time as the winner. We agreed that Tim could sprint for his chance if Tobias got into the safe zone. He did, and Tim finished 11th. Tomorrow will be the first time the cards will be shuffled for the classification”, said Reef, referring to the stage to the Alto da Fóia summit.

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