Bicycle Racing News and Opinion,
Wednesday, October 18, 2023
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2023 Tour de France | 2023 Giro d'Italia
When the missionaries came to Africa they had the Bible and we had the land. They said 'Let us pray.' We closed our eyes. When we opened them we had the Bible and they had the land. - Desmond Tutu
Bill and Carol McGann's book The Story of the Giro d'Italia, A Year-by-Year History of the Tour of Italy, Vol 1: 1909 - 1970 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:
- Oct 12 - 17: Tour of Guangxi
- Oct 15: Japan Cup
- Oct 15: Chrono des Nations
- Oct 15: Veneto Classic
- Oct 11: Giro del Veneto
- Oct 8: Paris-Tours
- Oct 7: Il Lombardia
- Oct 5: Gran Piemonte
- Oct 5: Paris-Gien-Bourges
- Oct 3: Tre Valli Varesine
- Oct 3: Binche-Chimay-Binche
- Oct 3: Múnsterland Giro
- Oct 2: Coppa Bernocchi
We posted the report from stage winner Olav Kooij's Team Jumbo-Visma with the results.
Here's the report from stage 6 second-place Sebastian Molano's UAE Team Emirates:
Sebastian Molano sprinted home for 2nd place on stage 6 of the Tour of Guangxi to bring the curtain down on the 2023 racing season for UAE Team Emirates.
Olav Kooij just barely beats Sebastian Molano for the stage win.
‘El Rey’ Molano benefitted from some excellent teamwork in the closing kilometres with each of his teammates pulling on the front to keep the pace high for the final dash to the line in Guilin after 168km. Ivo Oliveira put in the last push on the front with 1km to go before Molano took the final sweeping bend well placed to launch.
The victory went to his rival Olav Kooij (Jumbo Visma) who narrowly surpassed Ethan Hayter (Ineos Grenadiers) in the closing metres with Molano 2nd in a race decided by centimetres.
Tim Wellens finished safely in the bunch to cement his 5th place overall on GC, which was won byy Milan Vader (Jumbo Visma).
Molano: “I opened up the sprint quite early. There was a bit of a headwind and Kooij timed his move a bit better and bet me by half a wheel. The important thing is that we ended the season strong with a victory yesterday and showed ourselves well. I’d like to say thanks to the whole team for their support in the sprints this week.”
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And here's the final report from GC third-place Ethan Hayter's Team INEOS Grenadiers:
Ethan Hayter secured third overall at the Tour of Guangxi after a superb tactical performance from the INEOS Grenadiers.
Hayter finished off a strong team move to claim three vital bonus seconds at the intermediate sprint before a long range sprint saw him finish third on the stage.
Ethan Hayter at the start of the Hamburg CyClassics earlier this year. Sirotti photo
This result saw him earn four more bonus seconds to put him third overall and top the young rider's jersey classification to finish the season strongly.
Hayter started the day seventh on GC, but only four seconds shy of the podium, knowing that the bonus seconds at the intermediate sprint would setup the chance of an overall podium.
Coming up to the sprint in the final part of the race, Michael Leonard set a strong pace, with Luke Rowe, Luke Plapp, Leo Hayter, and finally Jhonatan Narvaez leading out Ethan Hayter to take three vital seconds.
This meant a top three finish on the stage could see him move up to the overall podium.
In the finale, Ethan Hayter looked to be leading out Elia Viviani to sprint for the win, however as Hayter accelerated out of the final corner, Vivani allowed his wheel to go, giving the young Brit a small advantage on the sprint field.
In the end, the Londoner was caught on the line by winner Olav Kooij (Jumbo Visma) but was still able to finish third and claim four bonus seconds which saw him take third overall and earn the best young rider jersey.
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Here’s the team’s announcement:
Jonas Gregaard (27) will ride for the ProTeam next year. The Dane signed a two-year agreement with Lotto Dstny. “Jonas is an allrounder and a team player”, says CEO Stéphane Heulot, “he will give our team more depth in races with a lot of altitude meters.”
Jonas Gregaard finishing 2023 Tour de France stage nine. Sirotti photo
Gregaard showed his capacities the past two seasons for Uno-X Pro Cycling Team, where he did a lot of work for Tobias Halland Johannessen and Alexander Kristoff. But he is more than a great domestique, he loves to ride offensively in stage races as well. “I’m an allrounder with good climbing legs”, says Jonas, “if I have to compare myself with someone of Lotto Dstny I would say Andreas Kron or Maxim Van Gils, but they are both a bit stronger than me. So, I’m looking forward to help them in the hilly races. I love attacking, riding in front of a race and from time to time I also hope to aim for an own result in stage races.”
CEO Stéphane Heulot is excited about Gregaard, the last reinforcement for the 2024 team. “Jonas knows what it means to work for a leader and will help the team in the hilly races, but he will be also allowed to take his chance and get a free role in some stage races. He has a lot of experience and is known as a well respected teammate in the peloton. Therefore, he will be a great fit in this team.”
With Gregaard Lotto Dstny will have a second Danish rider in the team. “I know Andreas (Kron) very well”, says Jonas, “we were a member of the same local club when we started cycling. We go way back and we still talk a lot. He only had nice words about the team and the atmosphere, so I’m really looking forward to be a part of this team and to help him to achieve his goals and make Lotto Dstny better.”
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Here’s the report from Nys’ Baloise-Trek team:
The Baloise Trek Lions men capped a dreary weekend in Waterloo Wisconsin with a blistering performance. Led by Thibau Nys’ first career elite World Cup win, they took four of the top five spots during the final race of Trek CX Cup — held in full, glorious sun.
Thibau Nys enjoys his victory.
A week of wind and rain had turned the course into a mudslide. But the sun finally peeked out from the clouds when World Cup racing began on Sunday, and it quickly dried out the track during the women’s race. By the time the men’s race started at 2:15 p.m. CT, the course was in quintessential cyclocross condition — sticky, but rideable for hardy riders — and it was the perfect stage for fireworks.
“It feels unreal to win my first World Cup, one week after taking my first pro victory in cyclocross last week in Beringen,” Nys said after the race. “It’s beyond what I would even dream about. It’s a day I will never forget.
On Lap 1, Nys got on Eli Iserbyt’s wheel with teammate Pim Ronhaar, quickly establishing what would be the podium trio. On Lap 2, Nys and Ronhaar formed a 1-2 Baloise-Trek spearhead, putting Iserbyt, winner of the last three elite men’s World Cup races held in Waterloo, on his back foot.
Nys made his decisive move on Lap 4, taking a gap on Ronhaar and Iserbyt, the latter of whom had to make a pit stop for a new shoe due to a broken mechanism. Throughout the race, Nys consistently gained time on his rivals on the hardest and most technical sections of the course. He was the only rider who could stay on his bike for the course’s daunting staircase.
Iserbyt fell to a distant third after the mechanical, but he was able to claw his way ahead of Ronhaar to finish second, 16 seconds behind Nys. Ronhaar finished third at 41 seconds back. He was immediately followed across the line by teammates Joris Nieuwenhuis (fourth, 57 seconds back) and Lars van der Haar (fifth, 1:09 back) for one of the most successful Baloise Trek outings ever.
Nys crossing the finish line and fist-pumping his bike into the air will be the lasting image of this year’s Waterloo World Cup, followed by images of Nys embracing his father Sven, arguably the most famous cyclocross rider of all time, after a momentous victory. Nys became the third youngest elite Cyclocross World Cup winner ever on Sunday at not-quite 21 years old. His best is yet to come.
“To finish it off like this, controlling the race from the beginning after a bad start, and then to ride solo to the line in front of the headquarters of Trek, it’s unbelievable,” Nys said. “I really want to thank Trek for their whole support and making this dream possible. We will try to go on like this and work towards many more victories.”
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