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Sunday, April 28, 2024

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2023 Tour de France | 2023 Giro d'Italia

I don't deserve any credit for turning the other cheek as my tongue is always in it. - Flannery O'Connor

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Current racing:

• April 21 - 28: Tour of Turkey
• April 23 - 28: Tour de Romandie
• April 26 - 28: Vuelta Asturias

Upcoming racing:

• 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

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Tour de Romandie stage four reports

We posted the report from stage winner Richard Carapaz's Team EF Education-EasyPost with the results.

Here's the report from second-place Forian Lipowtiz's Team Bora-hansgrohe:

This is only Florian Lipowitz's third time at the start of a WorldTour race. But this Tour de Romandie comes just in time for the 23-year-old. Because his Grand Tour debut is a few days away. The youngster showed that he is in excellent shape during today's queen stage.

Richard Carapaz beats Florian Lipowitz to the line. Sirpotti photo

The route from Saillon to Leysin was peppered with 3,500 metres of climbing spread over just 151 kilometres. BORA - hansgrohe has started the weekend in a good position: ahead of the stage, Aleks Vlasov is in 3rd place overall, just 10 seconds behind the yellow jersey. Florian Lipowitz follows 22 seconds behind in 6th place. Lipowitz laid the foundations for this rank at the first mountain top finish, where he already impressed with a 4th place, and a very solid individual time trial on the following day.

Back to the climbing spectacle: When the group of favourites consisted of only 10 riders in the last 5 kilometres, BORA - hansgrohe was still there with Florian Lipowitz and Aleks Vlasov. Then the first attacks cam, but Lipowitz followed. He then opened the finale by attacking himself at the 3km mark. Only Carapaz and Rodriguez were able to follow - one kilometre later, Carapaz launched a decisive counter-attack.

Lipowitz cleverly stayed on Rodriguez's rear wheel in the headwind passage to save energy and also to reduce the gap to Aleks Vlasov, who followed just a few seconds behind. In the last 500 metres, he still had enough reserves to jump to the front of Carapaz. It was an uphill sprint that must have made the leader nervous. Metre by metre, Lipowitz came closer. In the end, the finish line came too soon - only a little was missing for victory on the queen stage of the Tour de Romandie 2024!

"I never thought that I can climb with the best guys here! But from the start I had good legs. Even though I didn't catch Carapaz, I'm super happy with today's performance."

This is only Florian Lipowitz's third time at the start of a WorldTour race. And it was almost enough for his first WorldTour victory. Even if the stage win still has to wait, he certainly made an impression. And there is already an entry in his palmarès: ahead of tomorrow's final stage, he is in third place overall - it would be the first WorldTour podium for the youngster.

Here's the report from seventh place Ilan Van Wilder's Team Soudal Quick-Step:

Ilan Van Wilder cemented his place in the top five of the Swiss race at the end of Saturday’s 151.7km queen stage, which featured five classified climbs – including the hard Leysin summit finish (13.8km, 6%) – and more than 3500 vertical meters, that poured led in the riders’ legs long before the final showdown.

Sporting the white jersey on his shoulders following his solid display in Friday’s time trial, Ilan was delivered by his Soudal Quick-Step teammates in a good position at the bottom of the last ascent, where the peloton counted only some 40-odd riders. The status quo continued until five kilometers to go, when some of the riders began showing their intentions. Van Wilder was briefly distanced, but he made it back soon after thanks to a fantastic effort, glueing himself to the wheel of the yellow jersey, which he then dropped when the big attacks came on the steepest part of the climb, pulverising the favourites’ group.

Ilan Van Wilder finishes stage four in the Young Rider's Jersey (classification leader Carlos Rodriguez is wearing the GC leader's yellow jersey). Getty Sport photo

Not panicking on the gruelling gradients of Leysin, which ended up having a major impact on the rankings, Ilan decided instead to pace his effort very smartly, and this paid off nicely at the end of the stage won by Richard Carapaz (Ef Education-EasyPost). The 23-year-old concluded in seventh place for his third consecutive top ten of the week, and will now go into the final day of the race in fourth overall, the same result he got in the beginning of the season at another World Tour race, the UAE Tour.

“It was a brutal day with a hard pace from the first climb. I was lucky to have the support of the team, and especially Julian’s, who was with me almost the entire day. It was difficult for everyone on the last ascent and I missed a bit there to follow the best guys, but I quickly found my tempo and kept it until the finish. Overall, I am satisfied with this result, because it shows that I’m improving in World Tour races”, Ilan explained after the stage.

Here’s the Romandie Tour report from Team Groupama-FDJ:

In the climb of Leysin, the Tour de Romandie’s GC contenders fought their last battle on Saturday. After a fast and grueling fourth stage, everything finally settled in the last five kilometres. Slightly dropped when the action began, David Gaudu and Lenny Martinez made a strong finish to take ninth and twelfth respectively at the top, some forty seconds behind the winner Richard Carapaz. The youngest one then managed to hold on to the overall top-10 (8th), while the Breton gained seventeen places (14th). A sprint might conclude the race on Sunday.

Lenny Martinez riding the the prologue time trial. Sirotti photo

In a “queen stage” featuring almost 3,500 meters of elevation gain this Saturday, the most difficult climb on the riders’ menu was located after barely thirty kilometres. And that’s exactly where the real business started. While a six-man break was in the front with a four-minute gap at the bottom of the Ovronnaz climb (9km at 9.7%), the peloton soon exploded. “Ineos Grenadiers decided to make the race hard today to turn the GC around,” explained Jussi Veikkanen. “They accelerated from the first classified climb, and when we got back on the valley after fifty kilometres of racing, there were only around thirty riders left in the peloton. That says a lot about today’s speed. We had David and Lenny in the front, then Rudy came back with a small group a bit later.”

In the lead, the breakaway was reformed with Nelson Oliveira, Bart Lemmen, Dorian Godon, Clément Berthet and Raul Garcia Pierna but never got a lead of more than two minutes. Sixty kilometres from the finish, Ineos Grenadiers set the tempo again on the climb of Rives then on that of Giettes, coming back just a minute away from the last fugitive, Clément Berthet. The bunch then took on a valley of about twenty kilometres leading to the day’s last climb towards Leysin (14 km at 6%).

At the bottom, the lone leader still had a minute gap, and it was only halfway up the climb that the peloton made a big push. Berthet was caught five kilometres from the summit and the final battle immediately opened up through Egan Bernal. What remained of the peloton went into pieces, and the Groupama-FDJ duo first struggled to cope with the high pace. “We knew it was going to start at that point,” explained David Gaudu. “I had already done this climb in 2018. I knew it was going to be hard at that moment. I made sure to always keep Lenny not too far from me to try to boost him.” “We understood each other without the need to speak to each other,” Lenny added. “He was very strong, so he tried to help me by pushing me to my limits. My sole objective was to stay in his wheel.”

The duo therefore fought together in a third chasing group, while Richard Carapaz went on to win the stage. “David was very strong today,” Jussi emphasized again. “He brought great support to Lenny, who had a slightly more complicated day. He supported him until the end, especially in the last kilometres when Ayuso blew out.” “I knew there was a flatter portion and we managed to come back at that time to take advantage of UAE teammates’ work before trying to finish strong,” David added. “We managed our effort well, and above all we didn’t give up.”
The French duo therefore returned in the mix, and David Gaudu eventually took ninth place on the line 41 seconds behind Carapaz, Lenny Martinez securing twelfth place 46 seconds back. “It was a war of attrition,” said the young man. “We managed well on the last climb. It was a real mountain stage. I went deep today, but like everyone else I think. It was a day for the strong men”.

“Lenny did a great climb considering the day we had,” added David. “I think we can’t have any regrets today, we gave everything. I’m happy to have been able to support him and to still be there in the final. Eventually, we don’t end up so far from the other favorites. Given the circumstances, and considering that I’m far from being 100%, it’s pretty good. I will be able to finish the race on a decent note tomorrow. There have been ups and downs during this Tour de Romandie, but that’s normal.” “They had a smile on their face when they got back to the bus, I think they did what they had to do,” Jussi added. “This allowed Lenny to limit his losses overall, and David found his good legs again today after his hard day yesterday. It’s good”.

In GC, Lenny Martinez now sits in eighth position while David Gaudu is fourteenth on Saturday evening. “I wanted to keep the top-5, maybe even improve it, but I’m still happy not to lose the top-10,” said Lenny. “I gave everything, and I have no regrets.” “It’s a satisfying day,” Jussi concluded. “We were hoping for an overall podium, we didn’t have the legs for it today, but we are still up there. Sunday’s stage looks simple on paper, but it is not sure that it will finish in a sprint. We still have a big day to go, and we will have to remain careful around Lenny and David.”

And here’s the Romandie Tour report from Team Visma | Lease a Bike:

Team Visma | Lease a Bike chose to go on the attack in the queen stage of the Tour de Romandie. Bart Lemmen was in the breakaway of the day and held on until a few dozen kilometers from the line. Richard Carapaz won the stage with an uphill finish.

Due to the efforts of INEOS Grenadiers and others, the escapees never got much space from the peloton. Lemmen held on together with Frenchman Clément Berthet for a long time, but in the end it proved an impossible task.

Johannes Staune-Mittet stayed in the group of favorites for a long time. The Norwegian climbed with the best on the last mountain of the day, but had to pass when the pace was increased by the riders fighting for the general classification.

“Once again we did everything we could,” sports director Grischa Niermann said. “It didn't pay off today in the form of a result. Our plan was to be in the breakaway. That worked out. Other teams overwhelmingly wanted to make the race hard, so it quickly became a tough job. Johannes rode a very strong race today. He fought to the line, but he too came up short against the competition.”

The Swiss stage race, for many teams the final preparation for the Giro d'Italia, ends Sunday with a hundred and fifty kilometer stage in and around Vernier.

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