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Thursday, April 11, 2024

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2023 Tour de France | 2023 Giro d'Italia

I told the doctor I broke my leg in two places. He told me to quit going to those places. - Henny Youngman

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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:

• April 14: Amstel Gold Race
• April 14: Tour du Doubs
• April 15 - 19: Tour of the Alps
• April 17: La Flèche Wallone
• April 21: Liège-Bastogne-Liège

Latest completed racing:

• April 10: De Brabantse Pijl
• April 7: Paris-Roubaix
• April 6: Women's Paris-Roubaix
• April 1 - 6: Tour of the Basque Country/Vuelta Ciclista al Pais Vasco
• April 2 - 5: Region Pays de la Loire Tour
• April 3: Scheldeprijs
• March 31: Ronde van Vlaanderen (Tour of Flanders)
• March 30: Gran Premio Miguel Indurain
• March 30: Volta Limburg Classic
• March 29: Route Adélie de Vitré
• March 27: Dwars door Vlaanderen

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De Brabantse Pijl/La Flèche Brabançonne reports

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

Here's the post from winner Benoît Cosnefroy's Team Decathlon Ag2r La Mondiale:

Benoît Cosnefroy:
"It's never easy to win a race, and this morning I knew I had good legs and was one of the favourites. It's never easy to win a race, and this morning I knew I had good legs and was one of the favourites, but it's a really difficult race to read. When I was able to catch up with the front group in the finale, it was perfect for me. I was really confident and it went well. I wanted to get on the wheel of Dylan (Teuns), who I'd identified as the fastest. When he launched I thought it might be too late for me, but with the headwind I was able to put some speed back on and win. I think I'm ready for the rest of the Ardennaises - one's already taken, the next three aren't the easiest, far from it, but I'm arriving in good shape."

Benoît Cosnefroy is first across the line. Getty photo

The news:
Five podium finishes in the last five years - that's the team's record at the Flèche Brabançonne. Benoît Cosnefroy has been on the podium four times since 2020, including a victory this year. Dorian Godon rounded off this performance by reaching the top step in 2023.

The number: 9
The number of victories this year for the Decathlon Ag2r La Mondiale team. After Benoît Cosnefroy's success, the team equals the total number of victories in 2023 after only three months of racing.

Here’s the report from second-place Dylan Teuns’ Team Israel-Premier Tech

Israel – Premier Tech produced another strong team performance at De Brabantse Pijl on Wednesday, one that was capped off with Dylan Teuns finishing second and Joe Blackmore placing fourth.

Corbin Strong also enjoyed a strong day as he came home 10th, while Stevie Williams showed his form with a blistering attack that contributed to a lively closing 40 kilometers of racing in Belgium.

Undeterred by missing out on the podium at the Ronde van Vlaanderen last month following an equally combative display, Teuns lit the race up when he broke out of the peloton with 30 kilometers remaining. Initially, he was only followed by two riders, before more managed to bridge across following the Moskesstraat climb later on in the race.

Dylan Teuns. Sirotti photo

One of those counterattackers – Benoît Cosnefroy (DAT) – ultimately took the victory, but it wasn’t for the want of trying. Having also made it across to the front group, recent Circuit des Ardennes winner Joe Blackmore worked tirelessly for his teammate, most notably on the S-Bocht Overijse climb up to the finish line.

“Today Joe did an amazing job in the last 1.5 kilometers to put the pressure on, it was perfect,” said Teuns. “A fatigued sprint is better for me – to go from far out was also a decision I could make because he made the guys tired in front.”

“I got beaten on my strength, I think, as Benoît was obviously faster today. The only sad thing for me is that he and Quinten [Hermans, Alpecin – Deceuninck] were not part of the trio who went with two laps to go. If they were in our move the race was over for the chasers. They came a little fresher to our group, as we spent a lot of energy, but that’s racing.

“It was a perfect situation for me to have Joe there. He put everybody on the limit. Unfortunately, I couldn’t finish it off but I’m really happy with second place. The shape is good, I can be confident towards the next races.”

And here's Team dsm-firmenich PostNL's report:

Team dsm-firmenich PostNL lined-up for De Brabantse Pijl on Wednesday afternoon with a mixed squad, as Robbe Dhondt and Vlad van Mechelen from the Development program took to the starting podium in Leuven alongside Tim Naberman, Enzo Leijnse, Martijn Tusveld and Frank van den Broek from the Men’s program. Setting out with a clear plan for the hilly course, the team aimed to ride strongly as a unit and put Van den Broek in a position to follow the attacks in the finale.

With 70 kilometres to go the race already opened up and the original breakaway was caught. Some good positioning by the team saw Van den Broek brought to the fore after a mechanical, and he was part of a very promising 11-man group at 40 kilometres remaining. Yet, a couple of teams had missed out and worked to bring the group back. From there, the pace remained high throughout the day and unfortunately Van den Broek wasn’t able to follow when the winning move went, eventually bringing the team home in the chasing peloton.

Van den Broek expressed: “It was a hard race for us today. I unfortunately punctured just before the first time up the Moskesstraat and had a quick bike change. The guys helped me to get back to a good spot in the peloton after that which was nice, but it cost us a lot of energy. On the next lap I followed a good move when the racing was on, but unfortunately the peloton quickly organised themselves and we were caught. From there, I tried to hang on and do my best.”

Elisa Longo Borghini wins Women’s Brabantse Pijl

Here’s the report from Longo Borghini’s Team Lidl-Trek:

Italian Champion Longo Borghini put on a masterclass performance to win De Brabantse Pijl for the first time in her career. After launching a big attack on the Moskesstraat with 50km to go, Longo Borghini established a steady, albeit short advantage in a small group at the hear of the race. After whittling down the group, she dropped her final breakaway companion, Demi Vollering, on the penultimate climb with 7.5km to go. From there, Elisa was able to solo to victory, eventually crossing the line 41 seconds ahead, giving her plenty of time to savor the moment.

Elisa Longo Borghini finished 41 seconds ahead of second-place Demi Vollering.

Speaking moments after the finish, Elisa Longo Borghini said: “It was a very strong team performance, as we showed in Flanders. Today we really wanted to have a kind of open race, but we planned an attack at kilometer 85, and then we did it again on the Moskesstraat. This victory is for my husband, Jacopo [Mosca] who is on Teide training, because of a joke with the Moskesstraat and his surname. I hope to see him very soon!

We planned our first attack with the Team and we had a really good leadout. It’s a big credit today to my teammates, everyone was really committed to do well. We were relaxed but really determined to win this race. We did our best and succeeded.

Demi looked really strong and she did a good race, she’s a rider that I have a lot of respect for. Today I was stronger, maybe tomorrow, she is stronger.

I set a big goal during the winter which I have been training towards, and that is Liège. Of course, every race is different and special. I will try to do my best there. In the Ardennes I will try to be there for the Team; in Flèche for Gaia and in Amstel for Shirin.”

Results:

1. Elisa Long Borghini (Lidl-Trek) 3hr 26min 18sec
2. Demi Vollering (SD Worx-Protime) @ 41sec
3. Alexandra Manly (Liv AlUla Jayco) @ 1min 6sec
4. Femke Gerritse (SD Worx-Protime) s.t.
5. Shirin Van Anrooij (Lidl-Trek) s.t.

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