Back to news and opinion index page for links to archived stories | Commentary | Our YouTube page
2023 Tour de France | 2023 Giro d'Italia
Imagination was given to man to compensate him for what he is not; a sense of humor to console him for what he is. - Francis Bacon
Les Woodland's book The Olympics' 50 Craziest Stories: A Five Ring Circus is available in print, Kindle eBook & audiobook versions. To get your copy, just click on the Amazon link on the right.
Upcoming racing:
Latest completed racing:
We posted the race organizer's report with the results.
Here is the report from stage winner Gleb Syritsa's Team Astana Qazaqstan:
Astana Qazaqstan Team ends this edition of Le Tour de Langkawi with a victory: Gleb Syritsa won the bunch sprint on the streets of Kuala Lumpur at the final stage of the race.
Gleb Syritsa (on right) wins stage eight.
It was a very close sprint and only a photo finish could answer to the question who won the stage: Gleb Syritsa outsprinted Daniel Babor by the width of a tire.
“It was a very intense day, and in a moment, accidentally, I found myself in a breakaway group. It didn’t look like a successful move, so after some time the peloton caught us back while four riders decided to continue. Well, with some 30 km to go those four riders still had a good gap of two minutes and a half and it was a bit tricky moment. However, our team did a phenomenal job, chasing the break. All guys were just super today, and everyone gave his best to bring the escapers back. Once the break has been caught with around 4 km to go it was up to me to try to do something in the sprint. I was able to find a good position to launch my sprint and it worked perfectly. Indeed, it was a close call, but I am happy it was me who won. In general, we spent a nice week here at Le Tour de Langkawi and I am really happy I delivered these two victories to my team”, – said Gleb Syritsa.
Two Astana Qazaqstan Team riders finished in the Top-10 of the final General Classification of the race: Vadim Pronskiy did 5th, also becoming the best Asian rider, while Harold Martin Lopez (Astana Qazaqstan Development Team) finished 10th. This is his second Top-10 in the overall after 9th place at the Vuelta a Burgos earlier in August.
And here's the Langkawi Tour final report from GC winner Simon Carr's Team EF Education-EasyPost:
After eight stages of unassailable teamwork, Simon Carr stood on the top step of the general classification podium at the Tour de Langkawi today, taking the overall win of a stage race for the first time in his career.
With teammate Alexander Cepeda finishing in second place overall, just 49 seconds behind Simon, the squad also celebrated winning the best team competition.
Simon Carr wins stage finve
Our six riders – Simon Carr, Alexander Cepeda, Odd Eiking, Tom Scully, Michael Valgren, and stagiere Jardi van der Lee – raced as one since the beginning of the race. They knew it was a case of keeping one another safe through the first four sprint stages before going on the offensive on stage five when the race would include its only summit finish. That day, the team carried out the plan brilliantly, with Simon and Alexander taking the one-two finish. Once Simon had the race leader’s green jersey, the squad fully committed to defending it through the final stage.
"This was a really big team effort and a really big team victory," Simon says. "The early break that went today was quite strong with 14 or 15 riders and one rider that was only a couple of minutes down on GC so it took the whole team riding really hard on the front to eventually bring them back, which meant we were able to keep first and second on GC. The whole week has been really great work from everyone. Everyone has been really invested in the same goal of going for the GC. I’m just really happy that it all paid off."
"For me it’s really nice to win the GC having only won stages or one day races before," he says. "I think it’s a good milestone for me in my career. I’m just really happy and a bit relieved to finish it off today."
We posted the report from winner Primoz Roglic's Team Jumbo-Visma with the results.
Here's the report from second-place Tadej Pogacar's UAE Team Emirates:
Tadej Pogačar delivered a strong performance at the 2023 Giro Dell’ Emilia, clinching another 2nd place finish to replicate 2022. The race, held in the picturesque landscape of Bologna, showcased Pogačar’s rising form ahead of Il Lombardia on the slopes of San Luca.
S
Tadej Pogacar finishes second. Sirotti photo
The Giro Dell’ Emilia, known for its demanding terrain and fierce competition, proved to be a good test for the Slovenian who missed the victory at the hands of his compatriot Primoz Roglic (Jumbo Visma) and ahead of 3rd place Simon Yates (Jayco-Alula).
Adam Yates softened up the group with a big effort coming onto the final climb and hung on to take 9th spot himself on the line.
Pogačar: “I would say I get a bit better and a bit closer to the victory at this race every year. In the end we were sprinting for the win but Primoz was way too fast. In the end I’d say that the legs are feeling good for the next two races. I went with 1km to go which was probably a bit early, but I felt good. I would say today was a good race in general and the team did a great job.”
And here's the Giro dell'Emilia report from third-place Simon Yates' Team Jayco-AlUla:
Tour de France fourth place finisher Simon Yates rode himself on to the podium today with thrilling third place finish at the one-day Italian Classic Giro dell’Emilia. The result makes Yates first British rider to finish on the podium at the event since 1977.
Simon Yates, showing the debris from his crash, finishes third. Sirotti photo
Concluding with five ascents of the San Luca climb, Yates used his climbing prowess to take the final podium spot behind Tadej Pogacar (second) and Primoz Roglic (winner) as teammate Chris Harper walked away with the King of the Mountains jersey making it a top day out for Team Jayco AlUla.
Harper, who recently finish in fifth place at Coppa Agostoni on Thursday, went on the offensive with four laps to go, leading the race solo at one point, forcing other teams to chase and therefore assisting team leader Yates, as the race headed towards the final lap.
With one lap to go only nine riders remained at the front, and despite crashing mid race and riding with a ripped and bloodied jersey, Yates pushed on, keeping towards the front as the group whittled down further leaving just five survivors with five kilometres left.
One final push up the steep San Luca climb and it ended with a trip to the podium for the Team Jayco AlUla climber.
Simon Yates:
“It was a good ride, I think the podium was the best I could do. Unfortunately I had a crash half way through the race, but I was able to continue and in general the legs were good and remained good all day today so I am happy to be able to finish it off and finish on the podium.”
Andrew Smith – Sport Director:
“We were up against it today, Simon crashed before we even entered the circuits and that would have taken a lot out of him but the guys all stuck to their guns and continued with the plan and showed great character. In the final, Simon just showed us his class being up there with Roglic & Pogacar.
"Chris Harper is in great shape and he demonstrated that winning the mountains jersey and he was a big part of the result today. He was out front for a while and that took the pressure off the team, so it was a fantastic ride by the team as a whole.”
Back to news and opinion index page for links to archived stories | Commentary