Bicycle Racing News and Opinion,
Thursday, September 28, 2023
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2023 Tour de France | 2023 Giro d'Italia
A doctor can bury his mistakes but an architect can only advise his clients to plant vines. - Frank Lloyd Wright
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Current racing:
- Sept 23 - Sept 30: Tour de Langkawi
- Sept 28: Coppa Agostoni
Upcoming racing:
- Sept 30: Giro dell'Emilia
- Sept 30: GP Cerami
Latest completed racing:
- Sept 20 - 24: Tour of Luxembourg
- August 26 - Sept 17: Vuelta a España
- Sept 17: Trofeo Matteoti
- Sept 16: Super 8 Classic
- Sept 16: Memorial Marco Pantani
- Sept 15: Kampioenschap van Vlaanderen
- Sept 14: Coppa Sabatini
- Sept 13: GP de Wallonie
- Sept 13: Giro della Toscana
- Sept 3 - 10: Tour of Britain
We posted the race organizer's report with the results.
Here is the report from stage winner Simon Carr's Team EF Education-EasyPost:
With four kilometers to go on the Queen stage at the Tour de Langkawi, Simon Carr went solo and rode to his third victory of the season.
Our team rode the stage to perfection. Alexander Cepeda and Simon Carr were among the select group as the race hit the base of the 8 kilometer Genting Highlands climb. Alexander attacked with 6 kilometers to go just as the climb began reaching its steepest ramps. When there was no response from the other riders in the group, Simon rode away and joined his teammate up the road. The pair worked together until Alexander had nothing left to give. Simon pulled away and claimed the win by 39 seconds.
Simon Carr wins Tour de Langkawi stage five.
At the finish, Simon immediately praised his teammates who set up today’s win.
“It was an amazing job by the whole team, taking it on. I’m just really, really happy to finish it off,” Simon said. “It was already pretty hard. We set a hard pace from the start of the climb. With Tom already chasing the break and Michael and Odd and then Jardi, our stagiere, they did a really good job. When Alexander went it was really the right time. I could immediately tell no one else had anything left so I came across [to Alexander] but I think we played it really, really well.”
Earlier this season, Simon won stages at the Tour of the Alps and the Route d’Occitanie but today’s win carries a deeper significance to him.
“For me it means a lot, not just because of this race but also because I was really, really motivated to win today. My grandfather passed away just last Monday and he was a big fan so I really wanted to win this for him,” Simon said.
Simon now leads the general classification by 49 seconds with teammate Alexander Cepeda sitting in second place overall. Three stages remain at the Tour de Langkawi and the team has no intentions to cede the race leader’s green jersey.
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Here’s the team’s update:
Giro dell’Emilia is our team’s final outing of what has been an excellent month of September, with nine victories, including a GC triumph, delivered by five different riders. One of the oldest races in Italy, won in the past one hundred years by some of cycling’s biggest names, the 204.1km event starting from Carpi and finishing in Bologna promises to live again to its reputation as one of the most spectacular races of this final part of the season.
Julian Alaphilippe racing in Bologna at the end of the 2022 Giro dell'Emilia. Sirotti photo
The main attraction, and difficulty, is the iconic San Luca climb, averaging a gruelling 10% over just 2.1 kilometers, which the peloton will tackle several times on Saturday. Positioning, as well as timing, will be key on the hill lying outside Bologna – home of the world’s oldest university – and Soudal Quick-Step will be hoping to be among the protagonists. Julian Alaphilippe, Andrea Bagioli, who was fifth on San Luca in 2020, James Knox, Fausto Masnada, Mauro Schmid, Ilan Van Wilder and Mauri Vansevenant will be the seven wolves at the start of the 106th edition.
“We are heading to Italy for a solid block of racing, the first appointment of the next ten days being the Giro dell’Emilia. Many of the riders in our squad competed in Luxembourg last week, and are ready and motivated for Saturday. The course is very tough, but looking over our team we are confident we can do well again”, explained Soudal Quick-Step sports director Davide Bramati.
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Here’s the team’s update:
UAE Team Emirates continue to prepare for the final goals of the season with ‘Il Lombardia’ on the horizon for defending champion Tadej Pogačar as he leads a fierce line-up for Giro Dell’ Emilia (30 Sept) and Tre Valli Varesine (3 October).
Other Italian races on the cards include Coppa Agostoni (28 Sept) and the Coppa Bernocchi (2 Oct).
Meanwhile in Belgium the team faces two one-day classics in the form of Lotto Famenne Ardenne (1 Oct) & Binche-Chimay-Binche. (3 Oct).
Pogačar will lead the line in Italy, supported by a rock-solid team around him as he builds up to the season finale.
Tadej Pogacar finishes second to Enric Mas in the 2022 Giro dell'Emilia. Sirotti photo
Pogačar:“ It’s the third year now that I race this Italian block of races and it’s a period I really enjoy. The past two years I’ve finished off the season in the perfect way in Lombardia and we are motivated to go back and try to repeat that. The Giro dell’Emilia is a hard circuit race and an exciting one for the fans and Tre Valli always gets an attacking race too. We have a really strong team here for these races so we will be aiming to go for good results for sure .”
Sports Directors Fabio Baldato (Ita) and Marco Marzano (Ita) will take charge of the team for the Italian block of racing while Fabrizio Guidi (Ita) will guide the team in Belgium.
Coppa Agostoni – Giro delle Brianze [1.1] – 28-Sep-2023
Sjoerd Bax (Ned)
Jan Christen (Swi)
Davide Fomolo (Ita)
Felix Grossschartner (Ita)
Marc Hirschi (Swi)
Vegard Stake Laengen (Nor)
Diego Ulissi (Ita)
Giro dell’Emilia [1.Pro] – 30-Sep-2023
Juan Ayuso (Spa)
Felix Grossshartner (Aust)
Rafal Majka (Pol)
Tadej Pogačar (Slo)
Diego Ulissi (Ita)
Jay Vine (Aus)
Adam Yates (GB)
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Coppa Bernocchi – GP Banco BPM [1.Pro] – 02-Oct-2023
Sjoerd Bax (Ned)
Jan Christen (Swi)
Davide Formolo (Ita)
Rafal Majka (Pol)
Marc Hirschi (Swi)
Vegard Stake Laengen (Nor)
Sebastian Molano (Col)
Tre Valli Varesine [1.Pro] – 03-Oct-2023
Juan Ayuso (Spa)
Davide Formolo (Ita)
Rafal Majka (Pol)
Tadej Pogačar (Slo)
Diego Ulissi (Ita)
Jay Vine (Aus)
Adam Yates (GB)
Lotto Famenne Ardenne Classic [1.1] – 01-Oct-2023
Pascal Ackermann (Ger)
Mikkel Bjerg (Den)
Felix Gross (Ger)
Alvaro Hodeg (Col)
Ivo Oliveira (Por)
Matteo Trentin (Ita)
Tim Wellens (Bel)
Binche – Chimay – Binche / Mémorial Frank Vandenbroucke [1.1] – 03-Oct-2023
Pascal Ackermann (Ger)
Mikkel Bjerg (Den)
Ryan Gibbons (RSA)
Felix Gross (Ger)
Alvaro Hodeg (Col)
Ivo Oliveira (Por)
Matteo Trentin (Ita)
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