Bicycle Racing News and Opinion,
Wednesday, August 7, 2024
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2024 Tour de France | 2024 Giro d'Italia
A diplomat is a man who always remembers a woman's birthday but never remembers her age. - Robert Frost
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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 second-place Roger Adria's Team Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe with the results.
Here's the report from stage two winner Caleb Ewan's Team Jayco AlUla:
Caleb Ewan delivered a vintage performance as he powered to victory on the uphill finish to stage two of the Vuelta a Burgos.
The 30-year-old displayed his climbing talent and his devastating speed as he conquered the final hilly kilometre to take an impressive stage win.
Caleb Ewan wins stage two.
Ewan positioned himself well ahead of a series of switchbacks that climbed up to the line, with the Australian able to avoid a crash and follow the attacks around him. As the finish edged closer, the multiple Grand Tour stage winner used his experience as he bided his time before launching his blistering kick for the line.
The victory is Ewan’s fourth since his return to GreenEDGE Cycling and his second win in Spain in as many weeks after his triumph at the Vuelta a Castilla y Leon. Today’s win also catapults the Team Jayco AlUla rider into the overall race lead with three more stages remaining.
Caleb Ewan:
“It was super hard [the final kilometre], they pretty much went full gas from bottom to top. My legs were hurting but I still had enough to do a sprint in the end.
"It was a pretty tough day actually, I wasn’t feeling great for most of the day, but when the final kicked in and the adrenaline kicked in, I started feeling good. I was really motivated to finish it off today, after yesterday I was pretty disappointed and I’m happy I could do it today.”
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Here's the Vuelta a Burgos stage two report from fourth-place Rémy Rochas' Team Groupama-FDJ:
Just next to the sumptuous karst site of Ojo Guareña, a strong finish concluded stage 2 of the Tour de Burgos. Rémy Rochas showed himself on this occasion and obtained a very solid fourth place on the line. Caleb Ewan managed to beat the punchers to get the win. As for the Groupama-FDJ climber, he now sits in ninth place overall before the usual summit finish at the Lagunas de Neila on Wednesday.
The uphill nature of the stage finish is clear to see in this photo
After a bunch sprint in Burgos on Monday, the Vuelta a Burgos continued this Tuesday with a second, slightly hillier stage towards Ojo Guareña. One hundred and sixty kilometres were on the day’s menu, with 2,000 metres of elevation gain and a slight uphill finish. “The scenario was a bit identical to yesterday’s, with a breakaway that went early,” said Thierry Bricaud. “There were some counterattacks after, so there was a bit of fighting in the small climbs at the start,” added Rémy Rochas. “After that, the stage was quite typical, but still quite tense in the peloton with some narrow and dangerous portions.”
After Mario Aparicio (Burgos BH), Gorka Sorarrain (Caja Rural), Xabier Isasa (Euskaltel-Euskadi) and Diego Pablo Sevilla (Polti Kometa) led the race for over one hundred and twenty kilometres, a race incident actually occurred on a rough road. “A big crash happened with thirty-five kilometres to go, and Enzo and Lorenzo were caught in it,” Thierry reported. “There weren’t too many consequences for Lorenzo, but Enzo took a small blow and slightly opened his eyebrow. He was still able to get going again and to complete the stage.”
Following this race event, the breakaway managed to make its attempt last a bit longer, but everything did get back together with six kilometres to go. “The final was a bit trickly, on small, slightly uphill roads,” added Thierry. “The finish was punchy, but it could also suit the sprinters.” “Overall, the stage went well for the team, and we worked well for Matt and me,” added Rémy. “In the final, Matt felt good, so we wanted to make the sprint for him. It was a bit difficult to get all together, but with 2k to go, I found Olivier and we got back into position. There was an attack from Cepeda on the first ramps, I followed him straight away and he stopped his effort. I turned around, Matt was right behind me, which meant he was feeling good. After the last corner, I didn’t hesitate, and I opened the sprint”. His British teammate, however, lost some positions and was unable to get back in the last 200 metres. “Matt was a bit behind and he kept his position until the line”, said Thierry. Ultimately, Rémy Rochas was able to continue his effort in order to take fourth place on the line, while Caleb Ewan won the stage.
“It’s disappointing because I think I had the legs to win today”, confessed Rémy. “If I had played my card, I would probably have been more conservative on this final climb to sprint in the last few metres. Today, I really opened early but that’s how it is.” “It’s a shame,” confirmed Thierry. “We have real regrets because we could have done much better than that today. It’s a lost opportunity.” “It’s still a good sign for the next days,” added Rémy. “The form is there and the whole team is doing well. I’m looking forward to the next stage.” Tomorrow, stage 3 will finish at the top of the Lagunas de Neila on Wednesday. “This stage should suit Rémy,” concluded Thierry. “We’ll have to see how it unfolds, because there was quite a bit of chaos today and it’s going to change things a bit for the overall, which will be partly decided tomorrow.”
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And here's the Vuelta a Burgos stage two report from Team Visma | Lease a Bike:
The second stage of the Vuelta a Burgos was marked by crashes. Early in the stage, Ben Tulett had to abandon the race and shortly afterwards Team Visma | Lease a Bike saw Sepp Kuss and Cian Uijtdebroeks hit the ground.
Things went wrong at the front of the peloton with 35 kilometres to go to the finish in Complejo Karstico Ojo Guareña. Team Visma | Lease a Bike was well positioned, but could not avoid a crash on the right side of the road. “Sepp Kuss and Cian Uijtdebroeks were involved in the crash. That’s for sure far from ideal”, says sports director Marc Reef afterwards. “Fortunately, both were able to quickly return to the peloton with the help of Julien Vermote and Edoardo Affini.”
Team Visma | Lease a Bike was alert in the tough final of the second stage in the north of Spain. Kuss managed to finish just behind stage winner Caleb Ewan in the same time. Reef: “Of course, we are satisfied with that result, but you still keep a bad feeling about this day. Sepp hit the ground for the second time in this Vuelta a Burgos and that is far from ideal. In addition, we lost Ben Tulett in a crash.” Tulett's shoulder was dislocated during the crash.
Ben Tullett racing in the 2022 Giro d'Italia. Sirotti photo
“I think that many teams have to measure the damage after today's big crash. There is little time to recover”, the sports director knows. Tomorrow, the riders will face a hard day with the finish on Lagunas de Niela, a climb of hors category. “Sepp and Cian don't seem too badly hurt. If they feel good tomorrow, we will have to place them in a good position for the final climb. Then hopefully we can fight for a good result."
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We posted the race organizer's report with the results.
Here's the report from Kevin Vermaerke' Team dsm-firmenich PostNL:
Kevin Vermaerke rode a strong final climb on stage 3 of the Arctic Race of Norway to finish third on the stage, moving himself up to the same position on GC heading into tomorrow’s final day of racing.
The stage featured an early break of four riders that was allowed to move clear under the control of the peloton as all eyes focused on the final ascent to the finish. The last remaining rider was swept up on the lower slopes of the climb which sparked a number of counter attacks from the reduced peloton, one of which saw two riders. Splitting in the final few kilometres, one rider maintained a small advantage to the line whilst behind, despite a hard chase by Gijs Leemreize on the final slopes, the race was for second place.
Kamiel Bonneu wins stage three.
Vermaerke said after the finish: “It was a pretty straight forward day really. The break went quickly and we settled in for about 120 kilometres of riding together with the boys. We were well positioned all day and saved energy. Coming into the final we rode really well to hold our position at the front and came into the climb with the freshest legs possible. Everyone really contributed today so I have to thank all the guys for that. Heading into the climb, Tobi did a bit of a lead-out to the bottom and my plan was to follow wheels. When the two guys attacked with five to go I sat back and hoped they’d fade in the last few k’s but it just stuck. It wasn’t quite hard enough to drop the sprinters like Cort and I always knew it would be hard to beat him if he was still there. But second in the bunch and third overall was not too bad. I hope tomorrow I’ll have good legs again and we can try and go a bit better.”
Here's the team's news:
Former winner Julian Alaphilippe and home favourite Mikel Landa spearhead our team this Saturday.
Soudal Quick-Step returns to action this weekend at the only Spanish World Tour one-day race of the calendar, Clasica San Sebastian. It’s one of the most prestigious events of the season, one which our squad has won on six different occasions, most recently last year, when Remco Evenepoel made it a hat-trick of individual victories after another remarkable display.
This time, the Wolfpack will be led by Julian Alaphilippe, the 2018 winner of the Clasica San Sebastian, and Mikel Landa, who comes to the start after his excellent Tour de France, which he concluded in fifth place, and will start his home race for the 12th time. Joining them will be Kasper Asgreen, Mattia Cattaneo, Gil Gelders, William Junior Lecerf and Mauri Vansevenant – many of whom are making their first outing since completing an altitude training camp in Val di Fassa.
Julian Alaphilppe wins the 2018 edition of the Clasica San Sebastian.
At 236 kilometers in length, this 44th edition will be the longest in 15 years and comprise seven climbs, just like last season. Unlike last year, the final difficulty of the day won’t be Murgil Tontorra anymore, but a much harder ascent, the Pilotegi. Averaging 11.7% and featuring an insane 27% maximum gradient in the last 500 meters, this 2km “wall” will be crested with 7.5 kilometers to go, from the top only a fast descent and a short flat section remaining until the finish in the charming center of San Sebastian.
“We won a lot of times this beautiful event and we want to do again a good race. We come with Julian, who had a strong outing at the Czech Tour, and Mikel Landa, in his first race since concluding a solid Tour de France in the top five three weeks ago. They are both very motivated and can rely on a good squad that is ready to support them”, said Soudal Quick-Step sports director Wilfried Peeters.
The team sent me this schedule:
Donostia San Sebastian Klasikoa - AUG 10
Christian Guiberteau - Team dsm-firmenich PostNL coach
"We look forward to lining up for the second race of our campaign in Spain with a strong climbing squad. As always at this race, we have to stay attentive to any big groups that might try and go clear earlier, so they can get ahead of the race before the finale. Coming towards the decisive tough climbs in the final, we have to work well together to keep our finisher Romain [Bardet] in position so that he can race for a top result come the finish."
Romain Bardet in yellow after stage one of this year's Tour de France. Sirotti photo
Line-up :
Romain Bardet (FRA)
Warren Barguil (FRA)
Romain Combaud (FRA)
Chris Hamilton (AUS)
Gijs Leemreize (NED)
Martijn Tusveld (NED)
Kevin Vermaerke (USA)
Tour de France Femmes - AUG 12 - 18
Albert Timmer - Team dsm-firmenich PostNL coach
"We have performed well in the first two editions of the Tour de France Femmes and we are aiming to continue that this year. For us as a team it is exciting to be able to start on home Dutch soil and we will be targeting those opening sprint stages with Charlotte as our finisher. We have a really strong lead-out group to support and position her for those finales, to give us the best chance possible in the all-out efforts to the line. Like last year, we also have the combined goal of going for a top GC result with Juliette as our finisher. We’ve performed consistently on that front this year and with good climbing support, we believe that we can do so once again at the Tour. In the more transitional stages, we will ride smartly and if an opportunity presents itself then we will also continue our aggressive and attacking approach to hunt for those stage results, before we tackle the high mountains in the final weekend. We will need to ride well as a team throughout the week, but everyone is looking forward to taking to the start line in Rotterdam."
Line-up :
Francesca Barale (ITA)
Rachele Barbieri (ITA)
Pfeiffer Georgi (GBR)
Franziska Koch (GER)
Charlotte Kool (NED)
Juliette Labous (FRA)
Becky Storrie (GBR)
Tour de Pologne - AUG 12 - 18
Matt Winston - Team dsm-firmenich PostNL coach
"We are looking forward to getting stuck into this tough race in Poland. We come to the race with options to go for a good GC with guys such as Romain [Bardet] and Oscar, while alongside that we will be targeting some of the sprint stages with Casper as our finisher. We will have to make sure we are prepared right from stage one as the race will be on from the first kilometres, but I think we have a good group here that are ready for it."
Line-up:
Romain Bardet (FRA)
Romain Combaud (FRA)
Patrick Eddy (AUS)
Niklas Märkl (GER)
Oscar Onley (GBR)
Casper van Uden (NED)
Bram Welten (NED)
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