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Wednesday, April 24, 2024
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2023 Tour de France | 2023 Giro d'Italia
No man can put a chain about the ankle of his fellow man without at last finding the other end fastened about his own neck. - Frederick Douglass
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Current racing:
- April 21 - 28: Tour of Turkey
- April 23 - 28: Tour de Romandie
Upcoming racing:
- April 26 - 28: Vuelta Asturias
- May 1: Rund um den Finanzplatz Eschborn-Frankfurt
- May 4: GP du Morbihan
- May 4 - 26: Giro d'Italia
Latest completed racing:
- April 21: Liège-Bastogne-Liège
- April 15 - 19: Tour of the Alps
- April 17: La Flèche Wallone
- April 14: Amstel Gold Race
- April 14: Tour du Doubs
- April 10: De Brabantse Pijl
- April 7: Paris-Roubaix
We posted the report from third-place Julian Alaphilippe's Team Soudal Quick-Step with the results.
Here's the report from second-place Cameron Scott's Team Bahrain Victorious:
On his first European World Tour stage race, Cameron Scott finished on the second step of the podium on the 2.3km Tour de Romandie Prologue in Payerne.
Cameron Scott riding to second place. Sprint Cycling photo
With the short and technical 2.3km parcour featuring 12 corners, the team opted for Merida’s aero road bike, the Reacto, over the TT Bike and the set-up paid dividends, as Nikas Arndt and Matevž Govekar also put in solid performances, finishing 8th and 13th, respectively.
Cameron Scott was the last rider up for TBV and showed great technical cornering through the course, and marginally missed out on the win, finishing less than a second behind the winner, Maikel Zijlaard (Tudor Pro Cycling): “I’m pretty happy about this result. It’s actually my first WorldTour stage race in Europe, so to be on the podium is quite nice and satisfying. To be honest it’s probably the best opportunity for me to get a result for myself. So, to be able to pull it off is really satisfying.”
Asked about the course, Cameron commented: “The shorter, the better for me. I grew up in Australia doing lots of crits and track racing, so this course was almost perfect.”
Sports Director Neil Stephens believes the result is a great start and morale boost for the team ahead of a hard week of racing: “The team performed really well today. First of all, it was a brilliant ride by Cameron Scott, who came in as a late reserve, and to be able to perform and run second in the stage is a fantastic effort. The other two riders who were targeting today’s stage were Nikias Arndt, who finished 8th, and Matevž Govekar in 13th place, which is really good. We’ve also got to mention Damiano, who finished up there with the best of the GC guys, so overall, I’m really happy with the day.
"Tomorrow is a tricky circuit, so it’s nice to be up there with a good position behind the bunch. More importantly, this is a great morale boost for the guys. For the young guys this week, we want to give them the best chance, and if you work hard and give it a go, you can achieve great things.”
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Here's the Romandie Tour report from fifth-place Ivo Oliveira's UAE Team Emirates:
Ivo Oliveira put in a fast ride against the clock in a short but technical prologue around Payerne (2.8km) at the Tour de Romandie today in Switzerland to take 5th place.
The Portuguese national TT champion clocked a time of 2:58, just 3” shy of stage winner Maikel Zijlaard (Tudor), with an average pace of 46.1kmph.
Here's Oliveira's team mate Jan Christen riding to 11th place. Sirotti photo
Oliveira: “I’m happy – I gave everything I had. I’ve been training a lot for this, I took 5th and I gave it my all. I did the recon with the normal bike and also with the TT bike so I felt more comfortable on the TT bike. It was always going to be very close on such a short course and in the end it was just a matter of seconds. No regrets though, I gave it my all and now we focus on the GC with our climbers.”
Tomorrow will be the first undulating road stage from Château d’Oex to Fribourg(165.7km).
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Here the report from sixth-place Tim Van Dijke’s Team Visma | Lease a Bike:
Tim van Dijke finished sixth in the prologue of the Tour de Romandie. In a race against the clock of exactly 2.28 kilometers, the Dutchman nestled himself in the top spot early in the day. Van Dijke's compatriot Maikel Zijlaard ultimately proved to be the fastest.
Tim Van Dijke riding to sixth place. Sirotti photo
The Swiss stage race traditionally started with an ultra-short test against the clock. On a twisty course in Payerne, Van Dijke recorded a time of 2 minutes and 58 seconds. The 24-year-old rider ultimately missed the podium by a hair, as the difference with place three turned out to be only a second. Jan Tratnik also did good business and sees himself back amidst a lot of classification men.
“With this performance I am satisfied,” were Van Dijke's first words afterwards. “In hindsight, I might doubt a little if the choice for the time trial bike was the right one, but we'll never know. The good feeling prevails at the moment. It was a very short effort. Given the many turns in the course, I was often on the limit, and occasionally even over it.”
Van Dijke is currently in good shape. “Indeed, I cannot deny that things are going very well at the moment. This spring I am reaching the best level of my career so far. The new experiences I'm going through are all very cool. I think there is still a lot in store,” the Dutchman is also ambitious.
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And here’s the Romandie prologue report from Lenny Martinez’s Team Groupama-FDJ:
A quite unique prologue launched the Tour de Romandie on Tuesday. In Payerne, the riders fought for just about three minutes on a very technical and explosive urban circuit. Maikel Zijlaard claimed victory while the Groupama-FDJ leaders, Lenny Martinez and David Gaudu, respectively lost six and thirteen seconds. The first stage will take the riders to Fribourg on Wednesday on a hilly route.
Lenny Martinez riding the time trial. Sirotti photo
The Tour de Romandie settled in the small town of Payerne, south of Lake Neuchâtel, to open the week of racing. The day’s menu, however, was quite unusual. “The prologue was only 2,3 kilometres long, with a lot of corners (13) and a small cobbles sector,” explained Nicolas Boisson. “It was really short. We therefore wondered which bike we should use. We let Lenny and David decide if they wanted to go for the road bike or the time trial bike. And after one or two recon laps, they said they felt more comfortable with the road bike. Everyone ended up doing it with the road bike, and I think it was the right choice to take the corners.”
Lenny Martinez was also the first to come at the start for Groupama-FDJ, at 3:03 p.m. He completed the course three minutes… and one second later. “Even though it was short, it was super intense,” he said. “I just went full gas. You needed to do some punchy accelerations after the corners, it was a proper lactic effort. My legs and arms were burning, but I did a good time, I’m very happy.”
At 3:26 p.m., his teammate David Gaudu also tackled the course, and completed it with a time of three minutes and eight seconds, which meant thirteen seconds behind the eventual winner Maikel Zijlaard. For his first day of racing in the WorldTour, Thibaud Gruel took 31st place in the prologue, seven seconds behind the winner and five places behind Lenny Martinez. “The goal for Lenny and David was to give 100%,” added Nicolas. “We asked Thibaud and Cyril to give their best as well. Rudy, who was coming back to racing, and Enzo, who likes this discipline, also did it well. It was a good start. Lenny did a good prologue. The gaps are quite tight, but he made small differences on other favourites. There are now two great mountain stages and another time trial waiting for us.” Among the GC contenders, only Ilan van Wilder and Enric Mas finished ahead of Lenny Martinez on Tuesday. “I wanted to limit my losses on the GC leaders, and I didn’t lose too much so everything is going well so far,” concluded the young climber. On Wednesday, a challenging 165-kilometre stage will take the riders to Fribourg.
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