Bicycle Racing News and Opinion,
Tuesday, May 30, 2023
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2022 Tour de France | 2022 Giro d'Italia
Being Irish, he had an abiding sense of tragedy, which sustained him through temporary periods of joy. - William Butler Yeats
Bill & Carol McGann's book The Story of the Tour de France, 2020: The Tour During Covid-19, Better Late Than Never is available in both Kindle eBook and Audiobook versions. To get your copy, just click on the Amazon link on the right.
Upcoming racing:
- June 2: Giro dell'Appennino
- June 4: Brussels Cycling Classic
- June 4 - 11: Critérium du Dauphiné
- June 7 - 11: ZLM Tour
Latest completed racing:
- May 26 - 29: Tour of Norway
- May 6 - 29: Giro d'Italia
- May 16 - 21: 4 Jours du Dunkerque
- May 21: Rund um Köln
- May 20: Veenendaal - Veenendaal Classic
- May 7: Tro-Bro Léon
- May 6: GP du Morbihan
- May 1: Eschborn-Frankfurt
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Here’s the team’s update:
Tim van Dijke proved himself in the final stage of the Tour of Norway. The 23-year-old sprinted to sixth place. Attila Valter missed the podium by one second, finishing fourth.
Alexander Kristoff wins the final stage of the Tour of Norway
On the final day in Norway, the riders faced a 151-kilometre stage. The peloton broke away from Stavanger's start and finish location, and nine riders quickly broke away. Their lead was quickly eroded by Team Jumbo-Visma.
With 45 kilometres to go, the peloton hit the steep Grisabakken climb for the first time, which had already caught the escapees. "We wanted to make the race hard there so that the real sprinters would have a hard time", sports director Maarten Wynants said. Mick van Dijke made a good move on the second pass of the Grisabakken, and for a moment, the peloton seemed to be breaking up. "We made the course difficult, but the groups eventually came back together. So the fast guys also rejoined. In the end, those riders beat Tim van Dijke in the sprint."
Van Dijke eventually sprinted to sixth place. The day before, the rider also wanted to be in the sprint but got boxed in. "It's nice to see that Tim took his chance in the sprint today. For now, we have to be satisfied with sixth place. Two days before, Mick took his chance. We can also be happy with that", Wynants said.
Valter finished fourth overall, missing the podium by just one second. "This small difference is annoying. The goal for this week was to finish on the podium. Unfortunately, it did not work out, but that also has to do with the composition of this four-day event. On the first day, the prologue determined the general classification. The shortened stage a day later certainly didn't help us", the Team Jumbo-Visma sports director concluded.
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Here's the team's report.
Tim Merlier finished just outside the top three at Monday’s Ronde van Limburg, the race which he won back in 2021, after a hectic finale in Tongeren, where this 75th edition culminated with a battle between the sprinters on the uphill drag to the line.
Soudal Quick-Step was prominent at the front of the bunch moments after the breakaway formed, setting the speed together with the other teams interested in bringing the escapees back. After the catch was made, our squad continued to pull hard, Belgian youngster Warre Vangheluwe putting in an incredibly strong ride to keep things together. In the reduced sprint to the line, Merlier was the first to open his acceleration after coming out of Bert Van Lerberghe’s wheel, but a tricky corner foiled his plans and he and finished fourth, as Gerben Thijssen (Intermarche-Circus-Wanty) took the win.
Gerben Thijssen wins the Ronde van Limburg.
“Chapeau to the team for all the work they did, once again they brought me in a perfect position. Going into that corner I was on the inside and I tackled it perfectly, but the barriers were a bit with an angle and I was surprised by it. This, together with the other side being quite narrow, put me out of balance and it was over for me. It’s a shame otherwise I think I would have fought for the win as I had good legs. But we will try again on Tuesday, when we’ll get another chance in Gullegem Koerse”, Tim explained after the stage.
Results:
- Gerben Thijssen (Intermarché-Circus-Wanty) 4hr 38min 43sec
- Caleb Ewan (Lotto Dstny) s.t.
- Stanislaw Aniolkowski (Human Powered Health) s.t.
- Tm Merlier (Soudal Quick-Step) s.t.
- Erlend Bikra (Uno-X) s.t.
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Here’s the team’s post:
After an eventful final in which Caleb Ewan had to cope with his fair share of bad luck, he was beaten by Gerben Thijssen in the Tour of Limburg on Monday. On Saturday, the Australian won in the Van Merksteijn Fences Classic, Monday it was a second place, in short, a successful Whitsun weekend for Lotto Dstny.
For the Australian, the finale was one he will remember for a long time: "At 10km from the finish I had a flat tire. I knew the team car was far away, so I wouldn't be able to get a new bike quickly. Therefore, I swapped with Jarrad (Drizzners), but of course his bike was way too big for me. A few minutes later Michael (Schwarzmann) offered his bike, but just at that moment the team car drove by and so I changed bikes for the third time."
Thanks to the team's hard work, Ewan was still able to limit the damage: "The moment I punctured, I actually thought my race was over. The pace in the peloton was so fast. Without those bike changes or the hard work of Rüdiger (Selig) I would never have made it back to the front of the peloton."
Ewan says he is satisfied with his performance of the weekend: "A second win would have been nice, but I had already lost a lot of energy on that ride back to the peloton. Keeping those mechanical issues in mind, I'm super satisfied with this second place."
"I am in good shape but I feel there is still margin on it. We still have just over a month until the Tour, so I hope I can peak there," said the Lotto Dstny rider.
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