Bicycle Racing News and Opinion,
Monday, August 5, 2024
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2024 Tour de France | 2024 Giro d'Italia
I went to a fight the other night, and a hockey game broke out. - Rodney Dangerfield
Bill and Carol McGann's book The Story of the Tour de France, 2019: A Year of New Faces is available in both Kindle eBook and audiobook versions. To get your copy, just click on the Amazon link on the right.
Current racing:
- August 4 - 8: Arctic Race of Norway
- August 5 - 9: Vuelta a Burgos
Upcoming racing:
- August 10: Clasica San Sebastian
- August 11: La Polynormande
- August 12 - 18: Tour of Poland
- August 13 - 16: Tour du Limousin
- August 14 - 18: PostNord Denmark Rundt
- August 17 - Sept 8: Vuelta a España
Latest completed racing:
- July 27 - August 4: Olympic cycling
- July 22 - 26: Tour de Wallonie
- July 23: Vuelta a Castilla y Leon
- June 29 - July 21: Tour de France
- June 9 - 26: Many National Championships
- June 15 - 18: La Route d'Occitanie Cancelled because security forces busy with Olympics
- June 9 - 16: Tour de Suisse
- June 12 - 16: Baloise Belgium Tour
We posted the report from winner Kristen Faulkner's Team EF-Oatly-Cannondale with the results.
Here’s the report from silver medalist Marianne Vos’ Team Visma | Lease a Bike:
Marianne Vos secured a silver medal at the Olympic road race in Paris. The 37-year-old Dutch rider narrowly stayed ahead of Lotte Kopecky and Blanka Vas in the battle for second place. Kristen Faulkner won the gold medal.
The podium, from left: Marainne Vos (Silver). Kristen Faulkner (Gold), & Lotte Kopecky (Bronze).
Vos and Anna Henderson were part of a strong group in the final, which also included favourite Lotte Kopecky. With more than 10 kilometres to go, Vos and Vas went on an adventure together. The two seemed to have a comfortable lead on the chasers, but on the final climb of Montmartre, Faulkner and Kopecky managed to virtually repair the gap.
With three kilometres to go, Kopecky and Faulkner joined Vos and Vas. Faulkner saw her chance and immediately attacked. The American took a big gap and did not see her victory threatened. In the sprint for second place, Vos narrowly won. "I have a double feeling about it. Of course I am happy with this medal, but we were going for gold. We didn't succeed", Vos said.
For Vos, it was her third Olympic medal in five Olympic Games participations. In 2008, she won gold in the points race and four years later crowned herself Olympic road champion. "I was in a good situation with Blanka. I felt Lotte and Kristen were getting closer and when they joined and Kristen attacked, I didn't have the legs to react. Kristen is incredibly strong, you can't give her a metre of space."
According to Vos, it was soon clear that silver was the highest possible. "You have to keep on riding, you no other choice. Lotte came out of the last corner first and then it's full sprint as hard as you can. It was very close, but it was just enough for silver."
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We posted the race organizer's report with the results.
Here's the report from Team dsm-firmenich-PostNL:
The opening stage of the Arctic Race of Norway saw the peloton take on a 155 kilometre route from Bodø to Rognan. It was a relatively controlled start with a break going clear and the peloton taking up the chase, with the Team dsm-firmenich PostNL squad sat well together at the front.
Coming into the main climbing section in the latter third of the day the team were attentive when the break was brought back, with Kevin Vermaerke getting up to take third place and with it one bonus second at the intermediate sprint. Despite a few more attacks, things were always destined to come down to a bunch sprint. The team did well to bring Tobias Lund Andresen forward at around three kilometres to go, but from that point the proverbial washing machine display was in full effect and Lund Andresen unfortunately got swamped by some other teams in the last kilometre; meaning he was unable to sprint for a result.”
Alexander Kristoff wins the first stage of the Arctic Race of Norway.
Speaking after the finish Lund Andresen said: “We did well sitting together at the front the whole race, which was good. When the race opened up again once the break was caught in the final, there was a fight for the bonus seconds we were attentive and kept control. In the very deep final, we just couldn’t get together and I unfortunately never got in a position from where I could properly go for it in the sprint to the line.”
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Here’s the team’s update:
The warm-up towards the third Grand Tour of the season has begun, with one of the crucial races ahead of La Vuelta a España being, as per tradition, the Vuelta a Burgos. This year’s edition of the 5-day stage race, taking place in the region of Northern Spain, will start on August 5th in Vilviestre del Pinar and conclude after covering a total of 640 km on August 9th in Treviño, a new finish town in the history of the race.
“Vuelta a Burgos is a fantastic race for preparation ahead of La Vuelta,” explains Bahrain Victorious Sports Director Neil Stephens. “We’re coming here with the aim of doing the best job we can. Not only are we preparing for the third Grand Tour, which is the main team objective over the next month and a half, but also we’re aiming for good team results in this race. The better we perform here in Burgos, the better prepared we’ll be for La Vuelta.”
Over the 5 days of racing, the riders will face the typical undulating Spanish terrain, providing balanced opportunities for different kinds of riders, from sprinters to climbers, and this year, also time-trialists.
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“Burgos offers a great mix of stages,” Stephens comments. “The first two stages are more suited to the fast guys: the first stage (Vilviestre del Pinar-Burgos, 168km) really suits the sprinters, while the second stage (Villasana de Mena-Ojo Guareña, 161km) has a bit of an uphill kick (1.2 km at 5.6%), favoring punchy sprinters. The third stage (Bodegas Nabal-Lagunas de Neila, 138km) is a mountain stage with the only proper summit finish of the week (11km at 5.5%), ideal for our climbers. The fourth stage (Santa Maria del Campo-Pampliega, 18.5km) is a flat time-trial, where we aim to get a team result and use it as final preparation for La Vuelta. The final stage (Frías-Treviño, 156km) will likely end in a sprint.”
Regarding the team’s ambitions for the race, Stephens adds, “I hear that everyone’s in good form. We’re coming here after a long period off the bike; some of our riders have been sick or injured, while others have just attended altitude camps. They will be looking to get their race rhythm back after a block of training. We’re aiming to do our best with our team leader, Antonio Tiberi, although we don’t want to put too much pressure on him for a great result here in Burgos. He’s in great shape and wants to test himself in the climbs and the time trial stage. Our road captain, Damiano Caruso, is also in excellent shape. He’s here to support Antonio but also to test himself, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he features in the final GC results. Another strong climber, Torstein Træen, returns to racing after his stage win at the Tour de Suisse and is in good shape, ready to support the team in the climbs.”
Antonio Tiberi finishes stage 20 of the 2024 Giro d'Italia. Sirotti photo
Stephens continues, “Jasha Sütterlin and Kamil Gradek, the big engines of the team, are both recovering from injuries but are in good shape. They’re ready to work hard this week, stepping up a level to not only perform well here but also to prepare for La Vuelta. Our lineup includes two young riders: Fran Miholjevic, an all-round helper, and Matevz Govekar, who will mainly work with the team but will receive support if he’s in a position to contest stage finishes. His first professional race was here in Burgos, where he managed to take a stage win. He’s looking forward to potentially repeating that success, while his primary focus will be on team support.”
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