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Tuesday, February 20, 2024
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2023 Tour de France | 2023 Giro d'Italia
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Bill and Carol McGann's book The Story of the Giro d'Italia, A Year-by-Year History of the Tour of Italy, Vol 2: 1971 - 2011 is available in print, Kindle eBook and audiobook versions. To get your copy, just click on the Amazon link on the right.
Current racing:
- February 19 - 25: UAE Tour
Upcoming racing:
- February 22 - 25: O Gran Camiño
- February 24: Omloop Het Nieuwsblad
- February 24: Faun Ardeche Classic
- February 25: Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne
February 25: Faun-Drôme Classic
Latest completed racing:
- February 14 - 18: Volta ao Algarve
- February 17 - 18: Tour de Alpes-Maritimes
- 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
We posted the report from stage winner Tim Merlier's Team Soudal Quick-Step with the results.
Here’s the report from seventh-place Sebastian Molano’s UAE Team Emirates:
Sebastian Molano finished to the fore in a messy sprint on stage 1 of the UAE Tour from Al Dhafra Walk Madinat Zayed to Liwa (141km).
The Colombian fastman opened up the sprint early with 300m to go along with his compatriot Fernando Gaviria (Movistar). The strong headwind would prove favourable for those coming from behind. Tim Merlier (Soudal Quickstep) proved the quickest in the gallop to the line and will wear the red leaders jersey for stage 2 in the TT on Al Hudayriyat Island (12.1km).
It was Tim Merlier who won the stage. Photo: Sprint Cycling Agency
Ivo Oliveira was the team's only casualty of the day in a crash inside the last 400m. The Portuguese leadout expert was lucky to escape with only abrasions and will be fit to take the start tomorrow.
Molano: “The front of the group stalled so I saw a gap and hit out early. The legs are really good, I feel strong and I hope day by day I’ll get closer to the win. There was a big crash behind and we had Ivo hit the ground but thankfully he’s okay. Tomorrow is a day for the GC guys and we should have some strong contenders for the stage.”
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And here's the UAE Tour report from Olav Kooij's Team Visma | Lease a Bike:
Mixed feelings for Team Visma | Lease a Bike. The Dutch team did not manage to come close to the win in the opening stage of the UAE Tour with Olav Kooij. The young Dutch sprinter did show himself at the front in the final kilometer, but ultimately could not go for the first day's victory. Loe van Belle grabbed the white jersey along the way.
Along the way, the peloton rode on long and wide roads through the desert. The opening stage of the second WorldTour stage race of 2024 could become the supplier of some nice postcards, but for Team Visma | Lease a Bike it will be one without extra cachet. After some good work by his teammates, Kooij did get into a promising position in the tricky finishing street, but he eventually dropped back on the uphill stretch.
The peloton races across the desert. UAE Tour photo
Thanks to a clever trick during the stage, Loe van Belle will start tomorrow's time trial in the white jersey. "While doing some work for Olav, I learned through communication that there was still one bonification second to grab at an intermediate sprint. I thought to myself to give it a try. Riding in the white jersey in a WorldTour race is a nice bonus. It remains very special for me to be able to ride around in such a strong field of competitors. Many of the guys I used to watch on TV are now colleagues. I still enjoy that every time," the 22-year-old Van Belle said.
The Dutchman admits that capturing the white jersey was not priority number one. "We wanted to go for the win with Olav. Unfortunately that didn't work out. However, in such a strong field of competitors, that's no shame. Fortunately, new opportunities are coming soon. Each time it's going to be decided on the smallest details. The confidence in Olav is and remains high, so we will do everything in the coming week to win a stage."
"The sprint was very hectic as expected beforehand," stated sports director Maarten Wynants. "Everything went fine for us, except for the last few hundred meters. Tim van Dijke was still in the lead at the end, but didn't see Olav in his wheel at that point. Olav then got close to the front row, but in the end couldn't compete with the competition. Fortunately, there are still some chances coming up this week."
The sprint caused a massive crash in the final kilometer, with Attila Valter also crashing. "Attila got involved and is somewhat battered at the moment. At first glance the damage doesn't seem to be too bad. We are happy that for now it looks like he can continue his way," Wynants says.
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And here’s the UAE Tour report from Fabio Jakobsen’s Team dsm-firmenich-PostNL:
The opening day of racing at the UAE Tour saw the peloton take on much the same route as they have done in previous years but all eyes on the morning were on the weather forecast and potential echelons. Nothing materialised though and the day’s early breakaway was kept on under control before the sprint teams took over in the finale. Moving up as a unit, Team dsm-firmenich PostNL aimed to bring fast finisher Fabio Jakobsen into a good position for the finale.
Yet with all of the sprint teams doing the same, things became chaotic in the final and after originally holding a good spot, the team lost each other a bit going through the last roundabout and the ensuing crash. Navigating through a gap on the right side of the road, Jakobsen was able to open up his sprint and finished fast, coming past several riders to take a solid fourth place at the line.
After the stage Jakobsen expressed: “I think it was a decent start to the race for us but it was a messy sprint in the end. We stayed together quite well until one kilometre to go, where it got chaotic in the bunch. It was then an all-out effort to the line. I’m confident that we’ll get a chance at fighting for the win here. Fourth is a positive start to the week and I’m quite happy with how the final went.”
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Here’s the team’s update:
It’s still February, but spring is already here, and the main reason for this is that we’re just a couple of days away from one of the best weekends of the season and the start of six weeks of exciting and spectacular racing on the cobbles.
Starting from Gent and finishing in Ninove, Omloop Het Nieuwsblad kicks things off with a 202.2km course featuring plenty of pavé sections and a dozen hills, including Muur-Kapelmuur and the Bosberg. The iconic combo that once was synonymous with the Ronde van Vlaanderen should be decisive on Saturday, especially as the top of the last climb is separated from the finish by just 12 kilometers. One day later, the riders will tackle Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne, where despite the final real difficulty of the day coming with more than 60 kilometers remaining, the attackers have their chances of prevailing, as shown by Kasper Asgreen in 2020.
Kasper Asgreen wins Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne in 2020. Sirotti photo
The powerful Dane will start his seventh pro season at the Opening Weekend, where he is set to compete in both events. Another Monument winner at the start will be Julian Alaphilippe, the double World Champion who put in a solid display last month at the Tour Down Under and who returns to racing after a block of training at altitude. Also in action for Soudal Quick-Step at the end of the week will be Josef Cerny, Yves Lampaert, neo-pro Luke Lamperti – who made quite the impression in his first races with the team – Gianni Moscon, Casper Pedersen, Martin Svrcek and Warre Vangheluwe.
“We are excited about the upcoming weekend, at the start of which we’ll go with a strong squad and a lot of confidence and determination. Most of the guys did a good altitude training camp in Sierra Nevada and will now resume competition, and five of our guys will do both races. We can’t say these races have any more secrets, it will be mostly about finding out where we are at this moment. For Omloop we have a couple of riders who could get a good result, while for Kuurne, if it comes down to a bunch sprint, we’ll be curious to see what Luke can do”, said Soudal Quick-Step sports director Wilfried Peeters.
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