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Thursday, August 29, 2024
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2024 Tour de France | 2024 Giro d'Italia
It always seems impossible until it's done. - Nelson Mandela
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Current racing:
- August 17 - Sept 8: Vuelta a España
- August 28 - September 1: Renewi Tour
Upcoming racing:
- September 3 - 8: Tour of Britain
- September 8: Grand Prix Cycliste de Quebec
Latest completed racing:
- August 25: Bretagne Classic Ouest-France
- August 20 - 23: Tour du Poitou-Charentes en Nouvelle Aquitaine
- 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
We posted the report from the race organizer with the results.
Here's the report from stage 11 winner Eddie Dunbar's Team Jayco AlUla:
Eddie Dunbar delivered an emotional victory on stage 11 of the Vuelta a España, making a late attack from a breakaway into Padrón to claim his first-ever Grand Tour stage win.
Eddie Dunbar wins stage 11. Sirotti photo
Dunbar made his move in the final 600 metres of the stage, surprising the other riders he was with to take an advantage. His rivals tried to chase him down, but Dunbar had already done enough to seal the victory and had time to soak in the moment and celebrate his win.
The Irishman was part of a 38-rider group, which included his teammate Filippo Zana, that formed more than 60 kilometres into the race following an aggressive start to the day. Despite some earlier attacks, the bulk of the breakaway remained going into the tough final ascent.
Zana followed a dangerous move by Carlos Verona on the last climb, holding onto the Spaniard until close to the top. It allowed Dunbar to keep his cool in the group behind as the riders tackled steep gradients on the punchy third-category rise.
As the group hit the descent, the gap to Verona and his companions was small and the break reformed ahead of the final kilometre.
Dunbar bided his time until the other riders started looking at each other with the line in sight. After a challenging 2024 season, his attack proved to be more than enough to deliver a much-deserved debut Grand Tour stage win.
Eddie Dunbar:
“It’s weird how it goes sometimes. I had a really bad start to the race, and I lost a lot of time. I came here to ride GC and I learned pretty quick that I didn’t have the legs to do it. My preparation was really good coming into here so it was a case of reassessing and going for a stage, and today an opportunity came that I didn’t expect. I tried hard to get into the break and I thought that was my legs gone and then all of a sudden the big group went. I thought me and Pippo rode really well in the break and that we were really smart.
"It’s been a while since I’ve been in a scenario like this, to be honest. I used my experience. I was suffering a bit on that last climb but then I realised that everybody else was. I had Pippo up the road so that let me take a back seat so I could play my cards. I gambled and backed my finish. I know on a finish like this, after a hard race, I can sprint, but I knew I had to go long. Going at 600m was a bit long for a sprint but I knew that’s what I had to do to win. I can’t believe it.”
Heres' the Vuelta report from third-place Max Poole's Team dsm-firmenich PostNL:
After Tuesday’s stage for the breakaway, Wednesday also looked like a good opportunity for the attackers once more with a hilly stage that started and finished at Campus Tecnológico Cortizo Padron. Team dsm-firmenich PostNL set out with the goal once again of trying to make the break and ideally have multiple options and cards to play in the move.
It was a fast start to proceedings as expected with lots of attacks from the flag drop as group after group tried to go clear. It took over 50 kilometres and several incarnations before a large group of over 30 riders broke free with Gijs Leemreize, Chris Hamilton and Max Poole riding excellently to make the split for Team dsm-firmenich PostNL. With no immediate threat to the race leader’s jersey, the gap slowly grew and with just under 50 kilometres remaining it stood at six minutes, so it was clear that those in the break would fight for the stage. With original lone-attacker Meurisse caught, things became a bit tactical and coming onto the final steep climb of Puerto Cruxeiras a counter attack that featured Gijs Leemreize gained around 20 seconds on those behind.
The Vuelta peloton speeds through a town in stage 11. Sirotti photo
The stinging gradients saw the front of the race split to pieces and two-riders from Leemreize’s front group forged on, while behind Hamilton then Leemreize himself did a great job to position Poole. In sight of the top of the climb, Poole sprung from the chasers and managed to make contact, forming a trio out front as they crested the ascent. However, on the valley roads inside the last two kilometres the remnants of the break managed to regain contact with Poole’s trio and a front group of 14 charged into the final kilometre. Things became tactical with a few probing attacks before eventual stage winner Dunbar launched a well-timed move. With no one wanting to chase, Poole himself put in a serious dig from the back of the group and launched off in pursuit. Fighting all the way to the line Dunbar held on for the win while Poole just got rolled by Hermans in the sprint for second; nonetheless taking a strong third place for the team as he continues coming back from his opening week crash.
Speaking at the finish Poole expressed: “I think it was nice to finally be in the race again after my big crash on the first day, and I’ve actually been trying to come through a bit of sickness recently. It was really nice just to be able to race the bike and be out in the break with Chris and Gijs, so it was a fun day actually. I managed to bridge across on the climb to the two front guys but it came back with the group from behind and then it became a bit tactical and a game in the final. Credits to Eddie, he made a strong and well-timed attack. There was no pace in the group after that so I tried to get out and just go long and see if I could catch him. In the end I got rolled for second place on the line, finishing third, but that’s racing.”
Team dsm-firmenich PostNL coach Phil West added: “It was another good day where we tried to race positively. We enjoyed a very typical Vuelta fight for the breakaway today and in the end we were there with three guys in a big break, which is what we had set out to do. Importantly we had guys who could finish over a hard parcours with some tough climbs. Once we were there it was really about making sure we came into the final climb in the front of the bike race in a good spot. We wanted to ride the climb in a good way so that we could make a selection, and over the top Max was there with two other guys. Unfortunately, it came back together in the valley but you can’t fault the grit that he showed in the final to also do a really strong and long sprint. That’s the kind of racing we want to do and are looking forward to more of that in the coming days. It was also a fantastic team effort from all the guys to make sure we had the break under control and had the right guys in there, so our sprint guys and rouleurs played a big role in making that happen so credits to them today too.”
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Seventh-place Jhonatan Narvaez's Team INEOS Grenadiers posted this Vuelta report:
Jhonatan Narvaez led home the peloton in seventh place as the breakaway contested stage 10 at the Vuelta a Espana.
The Ecuadorian finished with a strong turn of speed following a final ascent which saw the peloton stretched and reduced in number.
Stage 10: Jhonatan Narvaez leads a group across the finish line. Sirotti photo.
Carlos Rodriguez finished safely in the same group, flanked by team-mate Oscar Rodriguez. The result ensured the Spaniard remained ninth overall as the action resumed following the first rest day.
Early on there was a huge battle to get up the road in the break, with Oscar among the riders pushing hard to go clear. Eventually a group of five forged ahead, building up an unassailable advantage in the process.
At the finish in Baiona it was the green jersey of Wout Van Aert (Visma | Lease a Bike) who took the win, out-sprinting Quentin Pacher (Groupama-FDJ). Ben O'Connor (Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale) retained the red jersey, with an overall advantage of 3:53.
Here's the Vuelta report from Team Visma | Lease a Bike:
In the eleventh stage of the Vuelta a España, Steven Kruijswijk and Attila Valter were part of a large breakaway group. After a tough final, Valter finished eleventh. The stage win was for Eddie Dunbar.
Visma | Lease a Bike's Wout van Aert still leads the points classification.
The start and finish of the eleventh Vuelta stage was in Padrón. The peloton set off for a hilly stage of 166 kilometres. After the start signal, a long fight for a place in the breakaway of the day began. Only after an hour of racing a large group of 39 riders - including Kruijswijk and Valter – was able to break away from the peloton.
Towards the finale, more and more riders were dropped from the leading group. Kruijswijk had to let go of the front on the steep final hill. Entering the final kilometres, three riders had a small lead, but the chasing group was able to close the gap towards the final kilometre. With the finish in sight, Dunbar placed a late attack. The Irishman surprised everyone and took the stage win. Valter eventually finished eleventh a few seconds behind Dunbar.
“I am grateful to the team for giving me the freedom to try today”, Valter said afterwards. “It was tough. I had to spend a lot of energy in the opening hour. I knew I had to keep going, after which I ended up being in the breakaway together with Steven.”
“In the finale we still caught the escapees, but I had to rely on my sprint. I knew I wasn't the fastest in this group, but I wanted to give it my all. It was difficult to pick the perfect moment to start my sprint. I will ask Wout van Aert for some tips on how to do better next time”, Valter concluded with a wink.
Here's the Vuelta stage 11 report from Team Groupama-FDJ:
Like the two previous ones, the eleventh stage of the Vuelta a España was claimed by the breakaway this Wednesday around Padrón. Groupama-FDJ managed to put three men up front, namely Sven-Erik Bystrom, Reuben Thompson and Lorenzo Germani, but the trio was unable to join the fight until the end. The Norwegian eventually took eighteenth place, fifty seconds after Eddie Dunbar. As for David Gaudu, he managed to follow the main favorites in the final climb, making up time on some of his competitors in the general classification.
Sven Erik Bystrom at the stage start. Sirotti photo
As Thierry Bricaud pointed out on Tuesday, “the breakaways have a real chance of making it all week long”. And so it was this Wednesday again, in the area around Padrón, where stage 11 of the Vuelta took place. Four climbs were on the menu of the Galician circuit, and the first of them came after thirty kilometres. At that point, no breakaway had yet gone, and the climb did not really lead to a clear selection either. It was only after seventy kilometres of fighting that a group was able to break away. The riders from Groupama-FDJ followed some moves, and Sven-Erik Bystrom, Reuben Thompson and Lorenzo Germani found themselves at the front with around thirty other competitors.
“The start was very hard with a lot of attacks,” explained the Norwegian. “In the end, we managed to put three guys in front, which was pretty good in such a group. Unfortunately, we missed a proper climber, so our chances were a bit limited from the start.” “For sure those weren’t our best cards to have a chance of winning, because we knew that it could be difficult considering the final”, confirmed Thierry Bricaud. “But we can’t control everything. They are in the mix, that’s the most important, and we can only be satisfied with the mindset.”
As for Rémy Rochas and Kevin Geniets, they suffered a bad day in this eleventh stage. At the front, the breakaway chased for a long time behind a lone man, Xandro Meurisse, then everything came down to the final climb of Puerto Cruxeiras (3 km at 9%). This was the end of the adventure for the Groupama-FDJ trio. “I managed to follow when Israel-Premier Tech went full gas for the first time,” said Sven-Erik. “I had a little hope that I could survive the last climb, but unfortunately, they went a bit too fast. The form and confidence are good, but we were realistic about what we could achieve today. One of us must have needed a super day to stay in front, but we still did a good race. The cherry on the cake is missing, but we did our best.”
As for David Gaudu, he remained focused approaching the last climb, where the peloton went into pieces. “For sure something was going to happen,” he said. “I was prepared for a team to go full gas. I managed my effort, I didn’t try to follow Mas and Roglic when they went. I stayed with the others behind, and as we progressed, I saw the leaders drop one after the other. These moments really feel good mentally. We managed to get back to the other two leaders at the top, then on the descent Roglic got a teammate”.
Alongside the Slovenian, Enric Mas, Mattias Skjelmose, Carlos Rodriguez and Mikel Landa, the Frenchman therefore gained a few dozen of seconds on the other GC contenders. “I already had good legs yesterday, better than the previous week and than what I have experienced since the start of the season”, said David. “We have only done eleven stages of La Vuelta, there are ten remaining, but it is still promising. It is good for confidence, but we will stay focused and motivated”. “David has taken positive signs going forward, it will boost him”, concluded Thierry. Although the French climber has dropped one place overall due to George Bennett passing him after his breakaway, the gaps have narrowed. Tomorrow, the final climb to the Manzaneda station could create some small differences.
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Here's the Vuelta report from Team Soudal Quick-Step:
We’re just two stages into the second week of the Spanish Grand Tour, but Mikel Landa has managed to gain some more time in the general classification. It’s true there were no changes in Padron, where the peloton concluded on Wednesday, but the most important thing is that T-Rex Quick-Step’s leader has gained precious time in the standings, which moved him closer to the podium.
Mikel Landa signs autographs before the start of stage 6. Sirotti photo
The day featured a large breakaway which included James Knox, a huge group that got reduced to just a couple of riders on the last ascent of the day, and from where Eddie Dunbar (Jayco-AlUla) soloed to victory. It was on the hard Puerto Cruxeiras that the main moves came from the peloton, the moment two riders took away on the steepest part of the climb.
Mikel remained calm and rode his own place before linking up with Mattia Cattaneo, who came incredibly from behind and pulled hard to reduce the gap, preparing the jump for Mikel, who then reduced the gap with each meter before eventually bridging across just before the top. On the descent, the group swelled to eight men, who kept pushing to extend their gap on the chasers, in the end putting more than 30 seconds into them, including the red jersey.
“It’s been another hard stage. The breakaway took two hours to go, then on the last ascent we rode full gas, as some of the GC guys wanted to gain time. I had a moment of difficulty, but luckily, I found Catta, who did a good pace and helped me return to the front. I am happy with how things panned out in the end and already thinking of tomorrow’s stage”, said Mikel, who is separated from the podium by just 40 seconds with plenty of hard stages to come.
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We posted the report from fifth-place Paul Penhoët's Team Groupama-FDJ with the results.
Here's the report from stage winner Jonathan Milan's Team Lidl-Trek:
In a challenge between the best sprinters in the world, Jonny Milan emerges the victor to take the 40th win of the Lidl-Trek men in 2024
Jonny Milan’s golden moment continues to gleam after an impressive performance at the Lidl Deutschland Tour last week. In Belgium, the Lidl-Trek train continued full steam ahead to conquer the first stage of Renewi Tour (163km from Riemst to Bilzen).
In a chaotic and hard-fought sprint, Milan finalized an excellent team effort, bringing his personal victory tally to ten.
Jonathan Milan wins Renewi Tour stage one.
The sprint, given the stage profile and the interest of almost all the teams, was within the day’s expectations. The early breakaway was controlled and caught without too much worry, but along the way Lidl-Trek unfortunately lost Daan Hoole, who had to abandon the race after a crash. The Dutchman has suffered due to a series of contusion to his right hand side.
Hoole’s exit from the scene forced the team to revise the management of the tricky approach to the sprint, but but it didn’t dull the ambition.
Jonathan’s race reaction:
"We tried to manage it as much as possible. Mosca and Simmons did a such hard work keeping the situation under control till the final kilometers, then Theuns and Stuyven were like gold positioning me. Consonni did the last push keeping me in the wheels of Van der Poel and Philipsen.
"It was uphill, I don’t know at which distance I started my sprint but it was really tough and I’m still really, really tired from it. The guys positioned me in a perfect way. It was a tricky final, small roads, up and down. I came out of it and just tried to do the best sprint I could do. I went pretty long with my sprint you and yeah, in the end I was lucky and fast enough that no one came from behind. I don’t know how close Philipsen came, but I was seeing his shadow coming and then, finally, the finish line arrived.
"We’re super happy to start also this Renewi Tour in a good way. I’m living a good momentum. At the Lidl Deutschland Tour we presented a super performance as a team, and today also. I can see a couple of good chances again, but first I want to focus on tomorrow’s time trial. I’ll look to do something nice there."
Here's the team's announcement:
Jan Hirt is set to strength Israel – Premier Tech’s roster from 2025 having signed a two-year deal to start the next chapter in his career.
The 33-year-old brings a wealth of experience from his 10-year career and will be an asset to IPT’s Grand Tour and stage race teams says General Manager Kjell Carlström.
“Jan Hirt is a great addition to Israel – Premier Tech,” says Carlström. “He is the kind of rider who works selflessly for his teammates but also takes on a leadership role when given the opportunity. His second overall at the this year’s Tour of Oman and eighth place at the Giro d’Italia are a testament to that. We are looking forward to giving him more opportunities when he joins us next year, especially when it comes to the Grand Tours and stage races. Jan will also be a great mentor to the up-and-coming riders in the team.”
Jan Hirt finishes 2024 Giro d'Italia stage 15. Sirotti photo
Hirt’s palmarès includes a stage win and sixth overall at the Giro d’Italia and a stage and the overall victory at the Tour of Oman in 2022, clearly two races that suit the Czech rider.
Having raced for multiple teams throughout his career, Hirt is excited to be part of Israel – Premier Tech’s growth in the years to come.
“I see how Israel – Premier Tech is getting better every year and I believe in the future of the team,” explains Hirt. “I’m really glad to be a part of it for the next two years. I would like to support the team in difficult stage races where I can apply my previous experience. My main goal will be to strengthen the team in the Grand Tours so I’m looking forward to the next chapter with IPT.”
IPT owner Sylvan Adams is looking forward to seeing Hirt in the team’s colors over the next two seasons.
“I am delighted to welcome Jan Hirt to IPT,” added Adams. “Jan is a talented and versatile rider that brings depth and experience to our team. Jan will race classics, one week stage races, and Grand Tours, where he can contend for stage victories and high GC placements, like he did in this year’s Giro d’Italia. Adding a strong rider like Jan will surely make us a better squad next year.”
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