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Monday, August 19, 2024
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2024 Tour de France | 2024 Giro d'Italia
The most important thing in communication is hearing what isn't said. - Peter Drucker
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Current racing:
- August 17 - Sept 8: Vuelta a España
Upcoming racing:
- August 20 - 23: Tour du Poitou-Charentes en Nouvelle Aquitaine
Latest completed racing:
- August 12 - 18: Tour of Poland
- August 14 - 18: PostNord Denmark Rundt
- August 13 - 16: Tour du Limousin
- August 11: La Polynormande
- August 10: Clasica San Sebastian
- August 5 - 9: Vuelta a Burgos
- August 4 - 7: Arctic Race of Norway
- 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 the report from second-place Tim Merlier's Team Soudal Quick-Step with the results.
Here's the report from stage winner Olav Kooij's Team Visma | Lease a Bike:
Team Visma | Lease a Bike finished the Tour of Poland in a fantastic way. In the final stage, Olav Kooij sprinted convincingly to his second stage win. Jonas Vingegaard secured the overall victory. Wilco Kelderman was third on the podium.
“We already had a successful week here, but we wanted to leave the race on a high”, Kooij responded afterwards. “It was nice that Jonas already had the overall victory within reach, but I am very happy that I was able to add another stage win.”
Olav Kooij wins stage seven.
The short final stage in the Tour de Pologne took the peloton to Kraków, where another chance for the sprinters awaited. Team Visma | Lease a Bike had set its sights on another stage win. In the pursuit of the leading group, classification leader Vingegaard did a good job pulling in the peloton for sprinter Kooij. In the sprint, Kooij came to the front at the right moment. The 22-year-old Dutchman took his second stage win this week. Tim Merlier and Gerben Thijssen finished second and third.
“I was hugely motivated to win a stage here”, Kooij added. “I managed to do it twice, so I can leave this race satisfied. The field of competitors in terms of sprinters was very strong. Today it was another narrow sprint with Merlier. I came in front at the perfect moment. It was a great day for the team.”
Vingegaard faced no problems. The 27-year-old Dane thus took his third overall victory in a stage race this season - after O Gran Camino and Tirreno-Adriatico - and secured the overall victory in the Tour de Pologne for the first time in the team's history. Teammate Kelderman joined him on the final podium as third in the overall standings.
“It's great to bounce back this way after everything that happened in the spring”, Vingegaard said. “To be honest, I thought my season was over after my crash in the Basque Country. I even feared for my career for a while. My performances in the Tour and here in Poland are better than I could have dreamed. We can look back on a successful week. Not just for me, but for the whole team with first and third place in the overall classification and two stage wins for Olav. Now I am going back home to support my pregnant wife. I am looking forward to that.”
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Here's the Tour of Poland report from Magnus Sheffield's Team INEOS Grenadiers:
Magnus Sheffield crossed the line safely on the final day of the Tour de Pologne to secure fifth overall, after a week of strong and consistent riding.
The seventh stage of the Tour was a 142 kilometre day that ended in a bunch sprint in Kraków, with Ben Swift getting up there for ninth.
Magnus Sheffield earlier this year at the Tour de Romandie. Sirotti photo
The week was one of poise and consistency from the young American. After placing thirteenth in a tough uphill sprint to the line on the first stage, Magnus put in a solid time trial the following day to move up to fifth overall. The next five stages would see little movement on GC, with Sheffield not placing below 31st on any stage of the race.
Today’s procession into Kraków offered little in the way of GC opportunities, and the team would put in a great shift to protect the Rochesterian all the way to the line.
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And here's the Tour of Poland report from Romain Grégoire's Team Groupama-FDJ:
There were no – unpleasant – surprises on Sunday in Krakow. A complete peloton came to the finish, for a sprint, on the seventh and final stage of the Tour de Pologne. Olav Kooij claimed victory, Laurence Pithie took 16th, while Romain Grégoire secured his fourth place in the general classification. It is his first final top-5 in a WorldTour stage race, and it also a great way to launch the last part of the season.
Romain Grégoire ealier this year. Sirotti photo
While a bunch finish was expected to conclude the Tour de Pologne this Sunday, 1500 metres of elevation gain were still to be covered in the first half of the seventh stage. This led to a relatively hectic start to the race, during which Archie Ryan, Jack Rootkin-Gray (EF Education-EasyPost), Rémi Cavagna (Movistar) and Marcin Budzinski (Mazowsze Serce Polski) managed to break away. “It was hard,” said Yvon Caër. “A lot of riders were struggling, and we also proved a bit tired as a team. It also shows that everyone has fully committed to Romain in recent days. We may have paid a little for it today.”
Therefore, when the day’s breakaway was caught in the final lap around Krakow, after a very much controlled chase by the peloton, Groupama-FDJ was unable to really get involved into the mix. “The priority was to take care of Romain in any case,” added Yvon. “We said that we would only think about the sprint in the last lap, when Romain’s positioning was secured. Laurence also confessed that he didn’t feel so great. With such a field of sprinters, Laurence not at 100% and teammates who have worked hard in recent days, we have to admit that we came up short at the end.”
Olav Kooij won the final sprint and Laurence Pithie had to settle for sixteenth place. “On the other hand, we successfully completed the mission around Romain, and the day’s goal has therefore been achieved”, added Yvon Caër. The young Frenchman, 21, therefore secured his fourth place in the general classification, won by the Dane Jonas Vingegaard. A nice reward for a very consistent week of racing.
“From this Tour de Pologne, I will remember Romain’s very good performance,” concluded Yvon. “I’m still a bit frustrated with Saturday’s stage, because it suited him. He might not have won, but a stage podium was very possible. In any case, it’s his first top-5 overall in a one-week WorldTour race. He’s gradually getting through the stages and ticking the boxes one after the other. I also have the feeling that he is legitimate as a leader in this kind of race. He’s appreciated, and the boys are 100% committed to helping him the best they can. That’s very positive for the future. His current form also makes me think that it’s very promising for the upcoming races”.
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We psoted the report from stage winner Tobias Lund Andresen's Team dsm-firmenich PostNL with the results.
Here's the report from GC winner Arnaud De Lie's Team Lotto Dstny:
The final stage of the Tour of Denmark got coloured by a breakaway of six riders. They got an advantage of more than two minutes. On the local laps in Gladsaxe the break fell apart and on 5 kilometers from the finish the bunch took everyone back. As expected, the stage win would be decided with a bunch sprint. Arnaud De Lie didn’t manage to end closely, but a 21st spot was enough to take home the leader’s jersey, keeping one second in front of Magnus Cort (Uno-X Mobility). De Lie wins his first stage race and also crowned himself as best young rider.
Arnaud De Lie at the start of 2024 Tour de france stage 6. Sirotti photo
“It’s a great feeling to take my first GC win. It was a goal to come here and play a role in the GC, to take the win is just great. In the sprint I was too far, we were around 20th position with the team which was too far. When you are too far in the last corner it’s just impossible to come back to the front. I’m lucky as Magnus Cort finished third and I keep the jersey with one second”, Arnaud De Lie said.
“I didn’t win a stage here, but more importantly is that I go home with the GC win. The fans and crowds during this week were fantastic. All the people along the roads in the local lap gave a lot of energy.”
We posted the report from the race organizer with the results.
Here's the report from 6th-place Pavel Bitttner's team dsm-firmenich PostNL:
Pavel Bittner avoided a late crash at the front of the peloton late on to be able to sprint for the stage on day two at La Vuelta a España, crossing the line in sixth place after a strong effort to the line. Teammate Max Poole was unfortunately involved in the crash but managed to finish in good shape and will be assessed this evening for any damage done.
The stage was earmarked by the sprinters throughout the peloton and the way it unfolded always made it look like it would be a fast bunch finish. Despite the early attacks, in the second half of the stage everything was back together and the pace was set at the front of the bunch to put off any further attacks, even over the day’s final climb before the fast run-in to the finish. Having spent much of the stage keeping Poole and Bittner in the wheels and out the wind, Team dsm-firmenich PostNL set about bringing the two up to the front in the closing kilometres. A crash within the final four kilometres took out Poole and derailed the lead-out, but he will receive the same time as the stage winner. At the front, Bittner was dropped off by Martijn Tusveld heading into the finish and managed to take sixth on the line.
Kaden Groves wins Vuelta a España stage two. Sirotti photo
Bittner said after the finish: “I think I did the best I could in the final. I got dropped off on the wheel of Groves and Martijn was there for me in the final. Chapeau to all the guys. Actually it was quite an easy day before we lit it up on the final climb. There was also the crash and I hope Max is OK. For me, I think I can build on this first stage. Tomorrow, the final is a bit more sketchy and narrow, but there we can show our teamwork even better and we’ll see how it goes.”
Team dsm-firmenich PostNL coach Phil West also commented: “It was a long old day with the wind out there, a slow burn but it was quite draining. We did what we needed to do during the stage. Then in the final a few crashes in the last climb didn’t help the situation, but we were still able to bring Pavel into a really good spot and then he had good support from Max, Tim and Martijn really late in the final where we could hit the front and get him in position. In the end, I think we can be happy with the outcome and we go again tomorrow.”
And here's the Vuelta report from Team Soudal Quick-Step:
Taking place between Cascais and Ourem, stage two was the longest of the three scheduled on Portuguese soil, and had bunch sprint written all over it. With this in mind, there weren’t many riders interested in forming a breakaway, only two men attacking after the start and going up the road, where they remained until the final 50 kilometers.
On the roads leading to the only classified climb, Mauri Vansevenant put in a probing attack but the bunch quickly reacted and kept things together. Two crashes, one on Alto de Batalha and another one in the last two kilometers, took some riders out of contention, leaving only a small group to fight for the stage, which was won by Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck).
Soudal Quick-Step rider Mikel Landa heads to the start of stage 2. Sirotti photo
Fortunately, our riders avoided the many crashes that took place in the final 20 kilometers and came home safely. The first T-Rex Quick-Step rider to finish the stage was Mikel Lands, the team’s general classification contenders for the final Grand Tour of the year, who on Tuesday will have a chance to make up ground in the general classification, as the peloton will tackle the first of the race’s ten uphill finishes.
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