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Sunday, February 18, 2024
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2023 Tour de France | 2023 Giro d'Italia
The most important thing in communication is hearing what isn't said. - Peter Drucker
Bill & Carol McGann's book The Story of the Tour de France, 2021: The Little Cannibal Dominates is available in both Kindle eBook & audiobook versions. To get your copy, just click on the Amazon link on the right.
Current racing:
- February 14 - 18: Volta ao Algarve
- February 17 - 18: Tour de Alpes-Maritimes
Upcoming racing:
- February 19 - 25: UAE Tour
- February 24: Omloop Het Nieuwsblad
- February 24: Faun Ardeche Classic
Latest completed racing:
- February 14 - 18: Vuelta Andalucia - Ruta del Sol
- February 16: Classic Var
- February 10 - 14: Tour of Oman
- Feb 8 - 11: Tour de la Provence
- February 12: Clasica Jaén - Paraiso Interior
- February 11: Clasica de Almeria
- February 10: Vuelta a Murcia
- February 9: Muscat Classic
- Jan 31 - Feb 4: Etoile de Besseges
- Jan 31 - Feb 4: Volta a La Comunitat Valenciana
- Jan 30 - Feb 3: AlUla Tour (formerly Saudi Tour)
- Jan 24 - 28: Challenge Vuelta Ciclista a Mallorca
We posted the report from stage winner Remco Evenepoel's Team Soudal Quick-Step with the results.
Here's the Algarve report from fourth place Isaac del Toro's UAE Team Emirates:
Isaac Del Toro put in a brilliant time trial on stage 4 of the Volta Algarve today in Portugal, taking 4th place on the stage which started and finished in Albufeira (22km).
On the undulating loop of Albufeira, Del Toro clocked the fastest early time and sat in the hot seat, covering the course at a blistering average speed of 47.5kmph. The best time in the end went to Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quickstep) who took a comfortable win and also the race leaders jersey.
Remco Evenepoel riding to first place.
Del Toro: “For the first TT of the year I’m really happy with it. There was strong rivals here and some big names so it feels nice and motivating to be among them. This is the biggest TT I’ve done in my career so far so it’s nice that it went well. I’m still learning and taking it all in this new experience and I’m really enjoying it so far.”
Antonio Morgado continues to climb the GC, now sitting in 9th place at 1’39”.
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And here's the Algarve Tour report from Team Visma | Lease a Bike:
On the penultimate day of the Volta ao Algarve, the riders of Team Visma | Lease a Bike maintained a respectable position in the general classification. Jan Tratnik finished the 22-kilometre time trial in 10th place, one place ahead of his teammate Wout van Aert. The duo are now third and fourth in the general classification.
Slovenian Tratnik, Team Visma | Lease a Bike’s leader for the Portuguese stage race, is on course for a podium finish with one stage to go. "Tratnik had an excellent time trial. He also had a good feeling on the road. He got a good result”, sports director Marc Reef said.
Sepp Kuss dropped from third to eleventh in the general classification, but Reef was still satisfied. "We all know that the time trial is not Sepp's speciality. For his part, he did well. He lost some time on the competition, but that was to be expected.”
With Van Aert - who has paid little attention to his time trial this winter - still among the best in the standings, Team Visma | Lease a Bike has several riders capable of finishing high in the general classification on the final day. "We are now third, fourth and eleventh overall. This puts us in a good position. Looking at tomorrow's stage, with another uphill finish, a lot is still possible.”
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We posted the report from second-place Sean Flynn's Team dsm-firmenich-PostNL with the results.
Here's the report from winner Ethan Vernon's Team Israel-Premier Tech:
First race, first win: Ethan Vernon’s IPT career started in spectacular fashion on Saturday as he sprinted to win the opening stage of the Tour des Alpes – Maritimes in Antibes.
The 23-year-old Brit, who joined the team for the 2024 season, won emphatically after capitalizing on a superb lead-out teammate from Guillaume Boivin, who finished fifth.
Ethan Vernon wins in Antibes. Photo: LNC/Xavier Pereyron
“We weren’t sure how hard it was going to be but in the end it was hard but I had good legs,” explained Vernon. “I’ve just come off a good training camp so it was a bit of an unknown but like last year, I always start the season quite strong so I’m happy. It was a good day.”
The two-rider breakaway was caught inside the final 20 kilometers, at which point multiple riders attacked from the bunch. As he crossed the line, Vernon was unsure as to whether one rider was still in front and hesitated to celebrate. He needn’t have worried, winning by more than a bike length in convincing fashion.
“I knew a guy was still ahead and I was so focused on the race I wasn’t sure if we had caught him or not so just in case I didn’t celebrate but now I wish I had,” he said laughing.
Vernon had nothing but praise for his teammates after the IPT train took control of the race to set him up perfectly in the sprint.
“In the last lap my legs were good and I knew we could win. The guys were really strong and we lined it out in the last five to six kilometers and I thought we had gone too early to be honest but I was really impressed with how strong the guys were today.”
The second and final stage of the race will be a short but tough day of climbing and while the pressure is now off for Vernon, IPT switches its focus to the General Classification.
“I think tomorrow will be too hard for me but we will see. The legs were good today but our two goals were to win the stage today and stay in contention for the GC with the guys and we did both. So we need to see how tomorrow plays out. Now that I’ve won today there is no pressure for me and I can help the guys. We have a couple of cards to play.”
And while Vernon has just one day of racing in his legs with IPT, he already feels at home in the team.
“IPT offered me a really good opportunity to become a leader and ride the bigger classics and build a sprint train around me and I think I can already say I made the right decision.”
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And here's the Tour des Alpes-Maritimes report from sixth-place Fabian Lienhard's Team Groupama-FDJ:
The race seemed quite open towards Antibes on Saturday, for the opening stage of the Tour des Alpes-Maritimes. Yet, although a few moves livened up the final, including an attack from Romain Grégoire, the bunch sprint couldn’t be avoided. In these circumstances, Ethan Vernon took the victory while Fabian Lienhard managed to slip into the sprint to grab a solid sixth place. The race’s general classification will be decided tomorrow in Vence.
In the aftermath of Lenny Martinez’s nice victory in the Classic Var, the Groupama-FDJ cycling team was at the start of the first – and penultimate – stage of the Tour des Alpes-Maritimes on Sunday. 165 kilometres on a slightly hilly profile made up this opening day of racing, and Lenny Martinez while David Gaudu left their spots in the squad to Quentin Pacher and Cyril Barthe. “It’s a difficult race to read,” first explained Benoît Vaugrenard. “You really need to pay attention and ride very smart because we know that this race is decided by little margins. First, there was a strong start, very difficult for an hour, with a lot of attacks.”
With several climbs featuring in the first sixty kilometres, the peloton even split up for a moment before everything calmed down after the day’s first intermediate. Morne Van Niekerk (St-Michel-Mavic-Auber 93) and Andrea Mifsud (Nice Métropole Côte d’Azur) then took the lead, and the peloton remained around 2’30 behind. One hundred kilometres from the finish, the riders entered the Antibes circuit, which they had to cover five times. The pack remained careful for three laps and really accelerated with just a lap and a half to go. “We knew that the final was less hard,” Benoît added. “It was still a bit lively because few teams could control for the sprint.”
Twenty-four kilometres from the finish, the peloton tackled the last lap 1’30 after the breakaway duo, and shortly after the second intermediate sprint, the road started to rise again. Romain Grégoire tried to make the most of it. “It wasn’t part of the plan, but I saw an opportunity at that moment, and I went for it, without thinking too much about what would happen afterwards,” explained the young Frenchman. “Initially, I was there to be positioned, to control the attacks, but when Costiou asked for a turn, I thought “there are 500 metres of climbing left, let’s go full gas and we’ll see at the top.” I found myself with Romain Bardet, so we gave it a try, but the peloton was still quite big and controlled straight away, so there was no point in keeping going.”
The duo caught one of the day’s two fugitives, but the bunch eventually came back after a five-kilometre chase. “We would have needed a larger group, and it was too far from the finish,” said Benoît. In the last slopes of the course, Kevin Geniets and Quentin Pacher also followed the various counterattacks, but no move went away, and Andrea Mifsud was swallowed three kilometres from the finish by a bunch well-organized for the final sprint.
The pack then stretched out and Israel-Premier Tech was able to lead Ethan Vernon out to victory. “With Kevin, we wanted to make the best sprint possible to grab some bonus seconds, but the final was quite tortuous and nervous, and we didn’t manage to find a space,” said Romain. Conversely, Fabian Lienhard was able to slip into the sprint. “We were going for Romain,” said the Swiss man, “but he lost my wheel and he had attacked before. I was there, so I did my sprint. A top-10 is always good. When you work all the time for your leaders, it’s nice to get that feeling of being at the front.”
Fabian Lienhard grabbed sixth place on the line, but the second and final stage on Sunday should be much more decisive towards Vence. “The balance is not great this evening, let’s be honest,” concluded Benoît. “The race will be decided by seconds, and we have not collected any bonuses. It’s a mixed day and we hope to do much better tomorrow.” “We didn’t get a result today, but we already have our eyes on tomorrow’s stage,” Romain said.
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