Bicycle Racing News and Opinion,
Thursday, July 27, 2023
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2022 Tour de France | 2023 Giro d'Italia
Do the right thing. It will gratify some people and astonish the rest. - Mark Twain
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Current racing:
- July 26 - 27: Vuelta a Castilla y Leon
Upcoming racing:
- July 29: Clásica de San Sebastián
- July 29 - August 4: Tour of Poland
Latest completed racing:
- July 22 - 26: Tour de Wallonie
- 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
We posted the report from stage winner Andrea Bagioli's Team Soudal Quick-Step with the results.
Here's the report from GC winner Filippo Ganna's Team INEOS Grenadiers:
Filippo Ganna led home an INEOS Grenadiers 1-2 overall win at the Tour de Wallonie as he claimed his first General Classification victory.
The Italian was well supported by his team-mates across a tough an undulating final day, and was able to retain his overnight lead of 18 seconds.
Josh Tarling took the overall runner-up spot with one of the best results of his young career. The Welshman also pulled on the young rider jersey, building on a superb time trial performance on Tuesday.
Connor Swift finished fourth overall, narrowly edged off the podium at the final intermediate sprint by Brent Van Moer (Lotto Dstny).
Andrea Bagioli wins stage five. Getty Sport Photo
The 215km test was tough to control, with Luke Rowe and Ben Swift working superbly to help settle down the race, riding a tempo to keep the day's five-man move in check.
Elia Viviani and Luke Plapp also contributed brilliantly to the team effort across the five days.
Filippo Ganna:
"At the start we were thinking about defending the podium with all three riders. Me and Josh tried to save the legs as much as possible for the last climbs. I’m really happy to have won this GC finally. Now we can recover a little bit, because it’s been five intense days with some rain and some good weather. Now we can recover but I’m really happy and I just want to say a big, big thank you to my team-mates.
"In the first 80km when Intermarche started to attack, I was thinking ‘today I don’t finish the race’ because it was really hard. I looked at my Garmin and saw 130km to go and said ‘it’s impossible’.
"Then km by km Luke and Swift were doing an amazing pace – really solid but nothing crazy. There I was able to recover a little bit my efforts. In the last circuit with the last climbs I was feeling really good. I tried to defend the jersey. Maybe in the last [climb] I was suffering a bit more than normal. In the end I did it.
"For sure tomorrow I have a long day with travel back home. Then the day after I am back in the windtunnel to take the last marginal gains – also for the Olympics. I have three days on the track where I’ll keep pushing really well to arrive well for Worlds. I will cross the fingers and try to arrive with a smile on my face. For sure this race in Wallonie has helped me to improve a lot and find good shape."
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Here’s the update from Evenepoel’s Team Soudal Quick-Step:
Remco Evenepoel returns to competition for the first time since becoming Belgian Champion one month ago at a race he has won twice so far in his career (2019, 2022) – Clasica San Sebastian. The youngest rider ever to triumph at Spain’s only World Tour one-day race, the 23-year-old is excited to pin on a number again for one of his favourite events, which will see the peloton take on a total of seven climbs, the last of which will once again be Murgil-Tontorra (2.1km, 10.1%).
Remco Evenepoel wins the 2022 edition of Clasica San Sebastian. Sirotti photo
“San Sebastian is a race I love. My first World Tour victory came here in 2019, then I won again three years later, so there are only great memories that I have from the Basque Country and I look forward to returning there. There’s also the electric atmosphere the Basque fans create on the climbs, where they give you an extra push by cheering all the time and yelling your name, that makes this race one of the best out there, so I can’t wait to be back there this weekend”, said Remco ahead of what will be his final appearance in the rainbow jersey before traveling to Glasgow, where he will try to defend his title.
Joining the World Champion on the Soudal Quick-Step squad for Saturday’s race will be Julian Alaphilippe – a winner on the famous Boulevard in 2018, who comes here after a strong outing at the Tour de France – Andrea Bagioli, French ITT Champion Rémi Cavagna, James Knox, Pieter Serry and Mauri Vansevenant.
“Clasica San Sebastian is a race we know, a race we’ve won on several occasions, so it’s no secret we once again aim for a good result. As you can see, we go there with a solid team that has many cards to play, a team with a lot of confidence and motivation to fight until the very end”, said sports director Wilfried Peeters.
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Here’s the update from Grossschartner’s UAE team Emirates:
Felix Grossschartner will represent UAE Team Emirates on Sunday July 30 at the first ever European Mountain Time-Trial which will be held at the St. Gotthard Pass in Switzerland.
Felix Grossschartner wins stage five of the 2021 Tour of the Alps. Sirotti photo
The climbing specialist who recently completed the Tour de France will aim to be the first winner of the new European title.
Grosschartner: “I’m very excited for this event which will give the chance to bring home a European title. It’s a short,explosive effort but if I’m feeling good I think I can do well. Obviously there is a bit of fatigue still there from the Tour de France but after a few days recovery I should be good.”
The riders will start from Tremola and finish on top of the St. Gotthard Pass. On the course of 12,5 kilometers they’ll climb over 900 altitude meters on average gradients of 7%.
Tadej Pogačar had been on the provisional startlist though will instead opt to rest before his end of season build-up.
Pogačar: “After the Tour we decided it was best to take a bit of a break so unfortunately I won’t make it this time. After a bit of down-time I’ll see where my next races will be, but the focus right now is on rest. I wish Felix the best of luck, after his performance in the Tour de France I think he will be a big favourite for the title. I will be cheering for him.”
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Bicycle Retailer & Industry News posted this:
Quality Bicycle Products has been named the new exclusive distributor of Sidi cycling shoes and accessories for the U.S. market. QBP said it will stock a broad assortment of Sidi cycling footwear and accessories at its four U.S. distribution centers starting in October.
Sidi had been distributed in the U.S. for almost 10 years by Ciclista America, a division of the motorsport distributor Motonation. Earlier this month Ciclista president Bill Berroth told dealers in an email that the company had decided to stop selling Sidi on July 10.
Berroth's email mentioned Sidi's sale a year ago to an Italian investment group. Berroth declined to elaborate on the email to BRAIN.
Todd Cravens, vice president of business development at QBP said, "Sidi is an iconic cycling brand that's built a large, loyal consumer base through decades of delivering premium shoes created for comfort, durability and performance ... We're proud to partner with this legendary brand through a long-term commitment that will support U.S. retailers for years to come."
You can read the entire story here.
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