Bicycle Racing News and Opinion,
Monday, March 13, 2023

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2022 Tour de France | 2022 Giro d'Italia

In character, in manner, in style, in all things, the supreme excellence is simplicity. - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

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James Witherell's book Bicycle History: A Chronological History of People, Races and Technology is available in both print and Kindle eBook formats. To get your copy just click on the Amazon link on the right.

Upcoming racing

• March 15: Nokere Koerse
• March 15: Milano-Torino
• March 16: GP de Denain
• March 18: Milano-Sanremo
• March 18: Classic Loire Atlantic

Latest completed racing:

• March 5 - 13: Paris-Nice
• March 6 - 13: Tirreno-Adriatico
• March 13: Ronde van Drenthe
• March 4: Strade Bianche
• March 1: Trofeo Laigueglia
• Feb 28: Le Samyn
• Feb 20 - 26: UAE Tour
• Feb 26: Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne
• Feb 26: La Drome Classic
• Feb 25: Omloop Het Nieuwsblad
• Feb 25: Faun-Ardèche Classic
• Feb 15 - 19: Vuelta Ciclista Andalucia - Ruta del Sol
• Feb 15 - 19: Volta ao Algarve

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Tirreno-Adriatico stage seven reports

We posted the report from second-place Dylan Groenewegen's Team Jayco-AlUla with the results.

Here's the Tirreno-Adriatico report GC winner Primoz Roglic's Team Jumbo-Visma:

Primoz Roglic has won Tirreno-Adriatico for the second time in his career. The 33-year-old Slovenian saw his leading position unchallenged in the flat seventh stage. With three stage wins and victory in the overall, mountain and points classification, Roglic enjoyed a successful return to the peloton.

Primoz Roglic enjoys his well-earned victory. Sirotti photo

Without Wilco Kelderman, the peloton set off for a 154-kilometre stage to and from San Benedetto del Trento. An eight-rider breakaway took a maximum four-minute lead, but was not able to hold off a steaming peloton in the closing kilometres. Jasper Philipsen again proved to be the fastest sprinter, while Roglic secured the overall victory.

After his victory in 2019, it was the second time Roglic could take home the Trident trophy. "It's great to return to the peloton in this way. My main goal was to gain race rhythm here and to suffer. I managed to do both. That I would also take three stage wins and win the final classification, I certainly did not expect," Roglic said.

Roglic was not short of superlatives to thank his teammates. "I may be on the podium by myself, but actually we should be there with the whole team. The guys worked really hard all week to help me get the win and deserve it as much as I do. I've enjoyed the time I've had here with them."

Although the past few months have not been easy, Roglic believes he has learned a lot. "Every year you get a year older and wiser. I got the confirmation that I'm on the right track, but that doesn't mean I'm already where I want to be. You have to keep improving and that motivates me to keep going. There is plenty to work on."

And here's the report from GC third-place Tao Geoghegan Hart's Team INEOS Grenadiers:

Tao Geoghegan Hart was able to finish off a strong General Classification challenge at Tirreno-Adriatico to finish third overall at the prestigious stage race.

The Brit was able to safely navigate the final stage, which eventually concluded in a bunch sprint along the coast in San Benedetto del Tronto.

Jasper Philipsen won the final stage. Sirotti pnhoto

The race continued Geoghegan Hart's strong recent momentum, in a week which saw him battling for stage wins and riding impressively. He eventually came home 23 seconds back on winner Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) and just five seconds behind second-placed Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates).

The result also makes Geoghegan Hart only the fifth Brit to finish on the Tirreno podium.

Unfortunately Tom Pidcock was involved in a crash and, as a precaution, withdrew from the race. He was treated by the team's doctor at the bus having sustained mild abrasions. He’ll be undergoing further assessment and treatment.

Paris-Nice stage eight reports

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

Here's the report from stage and GC winner Tadej Pogacar's UAE Team Emirates:

Tadej Pogacar claimed the final stage of Paris-Nice in splendid fashion taking an emphatic solo stage win and finishing in first place in the overall General Classification.

Tadej Pogacar wins stage eight.

Today’s stage saw the riders cover 118.4km, starting and finishing in Nice, with five classified climbs on the menu.

It was on the slopes of the Col d’Eze, 19km from the finish, where the Slovenian rider broke away from an elite group of rivals, crossing the finish line alone to celebrate his third stage victory in this his first participation of the ‘race to the sun’.

Pogacar: “It was always my dream to win Paris-Nice. The fact I did it is incredible.
They say sometimes that attack is the best defence. I really know these roads well as I live quite close by and I train on them regularly.

"I knew exactly how my legs were on the final climb and how much I could spend to get to the top and I managed to judge it well.”

The Slovenian claims the Final GC in his first presence at the Paris-Nice and his 9th victory of the season so far.

GC second-place David Gaudu's Team Groupama-FDJ posted this final report:

On the 81st Paris-Nice this week, David Gaudu definitely laid down bases for the future. After fighting for the yellow jersey in the last days, the Frenchman eventually came up short against Tadej Pogacar on Sunday. Around Nice, the Slovenian proved to be the strongest, and the Groupama-FDJ rider, third in the stage, therefore secured his second place in the general classification.

This is the Frenchman’s best performance in a WorldTour stage race, but also the first podium for the Groupama-FDJ team in the final classification of the “Race to the Sun” since Arthur Vichot in 2014 (3rd).

Stage eight gets going in Nice. ASO photo

Twelve seconds. That was the gap between David Gaudu and Paris-Nice’s yellow jersey this Sunday morning, before the usual hilly stage around Nice. It was then time to leave it all on the road, which included 120 kilometres and five climbs on this last day of racing. Neck and neck with Tadej Pogacar at the top of the Col de la Couillole on Saturday, the Frenchman did not want to set himself any boundaries before this final fight, and the entire Groupama-FDJ team also wanted to be ambitious alongside him.

“The first goal was to secure the podium but the second one was to take advantage of opportunities, or even create them, to turn the situation upside down”, explained Philippe Mauduit. That is why Stefan Küng slipped to the front of the race after the first climb of the day, after some twenty kilometres. “The goal was to put Stefan in front hoping that it would go quite far”, explained David. “Then, I was hoping to attack if I had good legs, but the breakaway didn’t take as much time as we hoped”. Constantly kept under the minute, the leading men were only thirty seconds ahead when they tackled the Côte de Peille, penultimate climb of the day with fifty kilometres to go. The yellow jersey group, made up of just twenty riders including Rudy Molard, Kevin Geniets and David Gaudu, closed this gap consequently.

Stefan Küng got back in the “bunch” after the summit as the riders headed to the final climb of Paris-Nice, the well-known Col d’Èze (6 km at 7.6%). A few kilometres before tackling it, David Gaudu took third in the bonus sprint just behind the yellow jersey, thus losing two more seconds on him overall. Then, the bottom of the last climb quickly came for the riders, and after a high pace from the first slopes, Simon Yates made the first attack 4.5 kilometres from the summit. David Gaudu followed the moves easily, but couldn’t do anything, however, when the yellow jersey accelerated five hundred meters further on.

“I didn’t have the same legs as yesterday, so when Pogacar went, I couldn’t follow”, he said. “I wanted to take my own pace on the steep part because I wanted to prevent any other attack, then I held on to the top. Today there was not much to do. Pogacar was stronger, congratulations to him”. “We are beaten by a stronger rider”, added ​​Philippe. “There never was an opportunity. Pogacar was simply stronger than everyone on the final climb. I think he also wanted the stage win to establish his superiority over his rivals and make a point”. The Slovenian thus made a clear difference and started the final downhill with a comfortable lead of forty-five seconds.

In the first chasing group, David Gaudu did what he had to do to defend his second place overall before following other riders until the line. At the finish, the Groupama-FDJ leader took third place on the stage and thus sealed his beautiful second place overall. “We can’t have any regrets,” said David. “It’s a great result. You don’t have the chance to climb on the podium of Paris-Nice or a WordTour stage race every day. We would have signed for this result at the start. We are happy, the team has been committed from the first day until today, and especially on the team time trial. I think we showed great strength collectively, and I want to thank the team for trusting me this week. We raced to try to win, we just came across stronger than us. We still are on the Paris-Nice podium, it’s not so bad! I’ll keep many good memories from this week”.

For the second time in his career after the UAE Tour 2019 (3rd), David Gaudu therefore reached the final podium of a WorldTour stage race. He also gained confidence for the future. “I realized over the week that I could compete with the best on certain occasions, and I will have to seize the opportunities whenever the form allows me,” he added.

This fine week, which ended with the team’s best result in Paris-Nice since Sandy Casar, also second in 2002, and the first final podium since Arthur Vichot, third in 2014, could only lead to a great balance from Philippe Mauduit: “During our debriefing, we did not talk about regrets. We mostly emphasized the fact that the guys did a great job for eight days. They had an impact on the race every day, they never had to “deal with it”, they even had a head start at times. They worked very well as a team, and David took full advantage of it. As I said yesterday, having this collective strength alongside makes him even more confident.

"They say there is no great man without a great woman. It’s the same thing. There is no great leader without a great team. We said at the start that we wanted to be as close as possible from the podium. We knew since last year that David was very close to the best, but there was still a bit of work to do to fight with them. This week, he showed that he was capable of it, not only on one stage but throughout the whole week. His consistency is interesting. We will first enjoy what has been done on this Paris-Nice, retain all the lessons of what has worked well and work on the small details that we can improve”.

Anyway, the whole group came out “on a high” from this 2023 “Race to the Sun”. “As some of them were saying this evening, they took habits this week and realized they shouldn’t have any complex”, concluded Philippe. “They showed that they have their place among the 3-4 best teams and that will obviously help to give them confidence for the next races”.

 

 

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