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Monday, July 24, 2023

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2022 Tour de France | 2023 Giro d'Italia

I am still learning. - Michelangelo

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Bill and Carol McGann's book The Story of the Tour de France, 2019: A Year of New Faces is available in both Kindle eBook and audiobook versions. To get your copy, just click on the Amazon link on the right.

Current racing:

• July 22 - 26: Tour de Wallonie

Upcoming racing:

• July 26 - 27: Vuelta a Castilla y Leon

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• July 1 - 23: Tour de France
• July 2 - 6: Österreich Rundfahrt-Tour of Austria
• January - June 26: National Championships
• June 11 - 18: Tour de Suisse
• June 14 - 18: Baloise Belgium Tour
• June 15 - 18: Route d'Occitanie
• June 4 - 11: Critérium du Dauphiné
• June 7 - 11: ZLM Tour
• June 4: Brussels Cycling Classic

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Tour de France stage 21 reports

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

Here's the report from 2023 Tour de France winner Jonas Vingegaard's Team Jumbo-Visma:

Jonas Vingegaard has won the Tour de France for the second time. The Dane of Team Jumbo-Visma crossed the line on the Champs-Élysées ahead of his teammates to secure the overall victory. Vingegaard had won the time trial earlier in the week. Team Jumbo-Visma also won the team classification.

Jonas Vingegaard and his Jumbo-Visma team. Sirotti photo

Vingegaard was awarded the yellow jersey after the sixth stage. The Dane remained in the lead throughout the rest of the Tour de France. "It's a dream to win the Tour de France again this year”, the 26-year-old rider said. "The Tour is and remains the greatest cycling race in the world. I am very proud of the team. We have achieved this together. It is a victory for all of us. I could not have done it without the support of my wife and little daughter. I consider myself a family man, so being together is very important. I felt this warmth from my family during the last period, but also from my teammates. After three intense weeks, we can celebrate this triumph.”

"This is another wonderful milestone in our team's history”, CEO Richard Plugge said. "We went into this Tour de France more confidently than last year. We know what it takes to win the Tour, but you never get used to it. Everyone can tell you how beautiful it is, but only when you experience it, you know what it is like. It has been a fascinating Tour at the highest level. We have done a lot as a team to be the best, even in the details. I think that made the difference again this year. We strive for perfection in every detail. The Tour de France is our top goal every year. There is something magical about the fact that, after last year's resounding success, we have done it again this year. It also makes me very proud that in addition to the general classification and a stage, we also won the team classification. That is the symbol of winning together.”

Plugge continued: "After winning three Vueltas, a Giro and last year's Tour, we know better and better how to tackle a three-week grand tour. Everyone at Team Jumbo-Visma understands that we all know what it takes to be the best. We keep setting the bar higher and higher. We are always looking for ways to improve. We will continue to do so after this victory.”

Vingegaard's latest victory means that Team Jumbo-Visma has now achieved 44 victories in 2023. The Dane himself has won 13 times this year.

Here’s the report from GC second place Tadej Pogacar’s UAE Team Emirates:

UAE Team Emirates bring an end to a successful Tour de France with Tadej Pogačar and Adam Yates climbing the final podium on the Champs Elysees in Paris.

Tadej Pogacar won the white jersey of the Best Young Rider. Sirotti photo

The race began with a bang with Adam Yates winning stage 1 in Bilbao and spending 4 days in the yellow jersey, with Pogačar also taking the white jersey from day 1.

Tadej Pogačar took two stage victories as well as the overall white jersey for the best young rider.

Pogačar: “It had its ups and downs but we can be very happy with this Tour de France. Not only with the good results but also the atmosphere on the bus in the morning was something special and it made this Tour a real pleasure to be part of. I think the fans at home also got a good show from all the riders, I hope so. The race finished on a high-note with a sweet stage victory and I take a lot of confidence from it. We’ll be back again.”

Here's the report from Team Jayco-AlUla:

Team Jayco AlUla wrapped up a Tour de France full of close calls and near misses with a third-place finish for Dylan Groenewegen in the sprint finale in Paris and 17 top-10 finishes.

The Dutch fast man went close to making it a fairy tale end to a brutal three weeks of racing across France, but had to settle for the third step on the podium in a tight photo finish on the Champs-Élysées.

Hat-trick of seconds
Everybody wants to win a Tour de France stage, but it is certainly no easy feat. The squad came close on three different occasions, with the victory agonisingly close each time. To get the ball rolling early on, Simon Yates showed everyone his form on the opening stage with a memorable two up sprint battle against his twin brother Adam.

Adam Yates wins stage one with his brother Simon behind him. ASO photo

The team also went all in for the fast finishes and Groenewegen went close on stage 11 as he led things out in a rapid bunch sprint in Moulins, only to be pipped to the line by eventual green jersey winner Jasper Philipsen.

Yates then made it a trio of close second places for the team after a tense and thrilling battle over the top of the gruelling Col de la Loze. The 30-year-old gave it his all to chase down the solo leader Felix Gall in the stage 17 finale but fell just short after a brave and attacking ride.

Consistency throughout
The diverse team showed incredible consistency throughout the three-week race with x17 top-10 finishes, a real sign of commitment from the eight-man squad across every stage and terrain.

Lawson Craddock’s heroics in the stage 15 breakaway were rewarded with a strong fourth place finish at the top of Saint-Gervais Mont-Blanc, while Luka Mezgec and Chris Harper each racked up top-10 finishes after selfless work for their teammates.

Top four
After losing time in an unfortunate crash in the opening week of the race, Yates bounced back to sit sixth overall on the first rest day. Two tough stages at the end of week two saw the British climber drop down the general classification, but he once again showed the team’s spirit and determination in the final week of action.

The 2018 Vuelta a España winner delivered an impressive time trial performance on stage 16 before attacking the final stages to climb his way back up the rankings and into fourth overall with all-in ride on the penultimate day of racing.

Simon Yates (4th Overall)
“Not just today, but I think we can proud of ourselves, we really went after a lot of stages this year and personally for myself, fourth overall, I’m quite pleased with that, and also I have no real regrets, so I think we have to be happy.

This is the first Grand Tour in a while that I’ve not had any injuries or sickness or bad luck, so I’m very happy. It’s been a tough period like that to deal with, but finally I’ve managed to come through it and had a ‘normal’ Grand Tour, and a ‘normal’ me and I’m very happy.”

Dylan Groenewegen
“The Champs-Élysées is always beautiful and it’s even more beautiful when you win, so when you come so close, it’s a bit disappointing. In the end it was not the victory that we came for, but we had a really nice Tour, we did a good GC with Yates and had some good results.

I think the results say something, we were really close, in the end we just missed a victory, but that’s also sprinting, that’s also racing. But we had a good Tour, with a nice group and we will continue.”

Brent Copeland – General Manager
“I think the effort that the boys put in for the whole three weeks, that was impressive. I think that shows the determination, it shows the spirit of this team and shows what culture we have and that makes us proud.

I think they deserve more than second places and fourth places, but we are very proud and it’s been a great Tour de France.”

And here’s the report from stage 21 winner Jordi Meeus’ Team Bora-hansgrohe:

The last stage of the Tour de France 2023 took the riders today like usual to Paris. It was an easy day also known as the Tour d’Honneur until the bunch hit the final lap on the Champs-Élysées. Some riders tried to break away but, in the end, it came down to a bunch sprint. BORA – hansgrohe moved up with Jordi Meeus on the last 3km and Jordi was able to catch the right wheel on the home straight. On the last 200m he launched his sprint and was able to overtake Philipsen to the line to take fantastic win.

With place seven in GC, two stage wins and the Yellow Jersey for one day, BORA – hansgrohe can be satisfied with the Tour de France 2023.

Jordi Meeus (on right) wins stage 21. Sirotti photo

From the finish line:
“This is the biggest day in my carrier. I knew I could do better than I was able to show so far in this Tour. Finally, all worked out today. I am super proud to have finished off the job. I had really good legs today and Danny and Marco brought me up in the right moment. Then I was on the wheel of Jasper and in a perfect position to launch my sprint. I cannot describe how I feel right now.” – Jordi Meeus

“It was a really hard race, with proper GC days already from the start. We had some really nice moments, winning a stage already in the first week and then also wearing the yellow jersey for a day. That was really something special. Then sitting high in GC for a long time until an unfortunate crash threw a spanner in the works. The impact from the crash lasted the whole race and affected my performance quite a bit, which is shit. Because we were on the right path for a decent final GC result. But regardless I kept fighting every day and left everything out on the road. And with the support off the boys and the whole staff team here, we managed to end up 7th in the end. Maybe not the result we came for, but one I think we can all be proud of. I really felt the commitment and support off the full team 100% from start to finish. Through the good times and the bad. And most importantly, the atmosphere we had here as a team was super nice. And in general, it was a really enjoyable month on the road with everyone. So, I would just like to say thanks to the whole team and to all the fans for the incredible support. It’s been amazing.” – Jai Hindley

“For us, the Tour this year looked very much like the profile: many ups and downs but also a transition phase. We had a great start with a stage win and the Yellow Jersey. After that we were on track for the podium and had to defend our position, which was kind of a flat stage. But after the crash of Jai we have been on a long downhill phase. We slipped some positions in GC and it was a hard battle for everybody, especially Jai, form there on.

"I think we all are happy now to be in Paris and that we finish the Tour in a fantastic way. The commitment from the boys was unbelievable, also from the guys for the flat parts. Everybody gave his all and the spirit was great. And that’s the absolute positive when I look ahead to the next years. Of course, it is unbelievable to finish on a high like today. It was a spectacular sprint from Jordi and finally he was able to show his speed. We couldn’t be happier than today.” – Rolf Aldag, Sports Director

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