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Sunday, February 25, 2024
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2023 Tour de France | 2023 Giro d'Italia
I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear. - Nelson Mandela
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
- February 22 - 25: O Gran Camiño
- February 25: Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne
- February 25: Faun-Drôme Classic
Upcoming racing:
- February 27: Le Samyn
- February 28: Trofeo Laigueglia
Latest completed racing:
- February 24: Omloop Het Nieuwsblad
- February 24: Faun Ardeche Classic
- 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 winner Jan Tratnik's Team Visma | Lease a Bike with the results.
Here's the report from tenth-place Arnaud De Lie's Team Lotto Dstny:
The finale of the 79th edition of the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad opened up already on 140km from the finish. 23 riders, with Arnaud De Lie and Jasper De Buyst representing Lotto Dstny, went on the move. They joined the initial breakaway, but with the gap around 40 seconds the bunch never seemed too far behind.
Another selection was made on the Wolvenberg. De Lie could follow the best riders and went along in a group with 5 other riders. Attacks all over the place, and with 20km to go, Matteo Jorgensen went solo. In the meantime in the background a part of the bunch returned. After the regroupment where everything came together again, Jan Tratnik saw his chance of attacking with 9km to go and he was joined by Nils Politt.
Lotto Dstny was really active in the back to try to close the gap to the front, to get De Lie still in a winning position. Tratnik and Politt managed to stay upfront, Tratnik won.
Jan Tratnik wins 2024 Omloop Het Nieuwsblad. Sirotti photo.
De Lie took a 10th place in the reduced bunch sprint: "It was a super hard race and I did my best, but it was difficult with three guys of Visma. I came to win, not for a top 10 result, but I gave my all. I felt really good today, so I'm happy about the feeling. My form is in growing lign, I felt I could follow the best on the climbs so it's a good sign towards Samyn on Tuesday and Paris-Nice. It was a difficult race, but at the end 130km à bloc is also a good training", said De Lie after the race.
After his crash, Sébastien Grignard didn't finish the race and got some stitches on his knee.
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And here's the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad report from Team Soudal Quick-Step:
Soudal Quick-Step entered the first cobbled Classic of the season with the ambition of going for a good result, and until one point during the race, things looked really good for the squad at the 77th edition of the race, which took in a total of twelve climbs.
Following a slow start, things began kicking off in the peloton with more than 120 kilometers to go, when a sudden acceleration at the front led to a big split, which left around two dozen riders in a strong group that almost immediately took their advantage over the chasers to a full minute. Our team was represented there by 2021 Ronde van Vlaanderen winner Kasper Asgreen and Gianni Moscon, and by the time the group hit the second cobblestone section of the race, they were already at the front, having caught the original nine-man breakaway.
From a small gap of 20 seconds it soon went up to almost two minutes, which led to attacks being launched by the riders in the group, who were sensing this was their opportunity to make the difference. Moscon was one of these men who tried their chance, but despite a gutsy acceleration, the others reacted and kept things together. The Italian was again in the spotlight when he shut down a dangerous move, but then he paid for these efforts with around 50 kilometers to go, when his opponents put in a brutal attack.
Winner Jan Treatnik climbing the Mur de Grammont. Sirotti photo
Behind, Julian Alaphilippe returned to the bunch which was still believing in its chances after being involved in a crash, and he even tried to help Kasper – who in the meantime had been caught – but it just wasn’t our day. In the last hour of racing, both Alaphilippe and Asgreen, together with former teammate Florian Sénéchal (Arkea – B&B Hotels) were involved in another crash on a tight corner, without serious consequences. The duo got up and back on their bike, but later on, as a measure of precaution, abandoned the race won by Jan Tratnik (Visma – Lease a Bike), while Yves Lampaert finished as our highest-ranked rider, just outside the top 20.
“It was a crazy race. We had Kasper and Gianni in the front, and it was really nice to see Gianni there. Unfortunately, we also had some crashes, including Julian’s, who hit the ground twice. It’s real pity, because he wanted to try something on the Muur, but this is cycling. We now move our focus on Sunday with the hope it will be better for us, because the motivation and determination is there”, explained Soudal Quick-Step sports director Tom Steels.
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We posted the report from winner Juan Ayuso's UAE Team Emirates with the results.
Here's the report from second-place Romain Grégoire's Team Groupama-FDJ team:
On Saturday, Romain Grégoire came close to taking his first victory of 2024. On the Faun-Ardèche Classic’s very hilly course, the young Frenchman stood up to some of the peloton’s best climbers. However, he missed a few centimetres in the final sprint, against Juan Ayuso, to take the win. He eventually placed second on the line, a year after his fifth place in the same race. On Sunday, the Groupama-FDJ cycling team will take part in the Drôme Classic without him.
Juan Ayuso wins the race. UAE Team Emirates photo
A nice field was at the start of the twenty-fourth edition of the Faun-Ardèche Classic this Saturday. On the usual route around Guilherand-Granges, which David Gaudu triumphed on back in 2021, a three-man breakaway went quite early on: Fredrik Dversnes (Uno-X Pro Mobility), Antoine Hue (CIC U Nantes Atlantique) and Melvin Crommelinck (Nice Métropole Côte d’Azur). The trio was able to enjoy a seven-minute lead before the peloton decided to start chasing. “Everyone was looking at everyone, so we took our responsibilities,” explained Thierry Bricaud. “Thibaud [Gruel] did a great job controlling the break, then a few teams came to pull with us. We wanted to give the guys the chance to be in the final to fight for the win.”
Supporting Romain Grégoire and Valentin Madouas, the Groupama-FDJ however experienced a first major turning point around fifty kilometres from the finish, while the gap was gently reducing with the breakaway. On the downhill from Saint-Romain-de-Lerps, Lars van den Berg suffered a big crash, which forced him to leave the race by ambulance. “We also lost Valentin in Lars’ crash,” added Thierry. “The crash caused a split in the peloton and Valentin hesitated a bit. He found himself behind, and at the bottom of the descent, the gap was unfortunately too big.”
At the first time on the finish line, the French champion was forty seconds behind the main pack which was ready to tackle the decisive climb of Saint-Romain-de-Lerps (6.3 km at 7.5%). “The guys did a good job, in particular Lorenzo, to place Romain at the bottom,” added Thierry.
Then, the bunch exploded due to the fast pace, and Mattias Skjelmose launched the first attack twenty-five kilometers from the line. Juan Ayuso and Felix Gall were able to follow, just like a fighting Romain Grégoire. The Frenchman hung on to the trio’s wheels for some hundreds of metres, then had to let a small gap following another acceleration. “They were a bit stronger,” he agreed. “I managed to take the first hit when Skjelmose attacked, but when Ayuso went again, I knew I would really enter the red zone if I followed. So I kind of spread my effort and I knew that I could come back in the descent to make up the ten seconds that I was missing at the top. That’s what I did”. “Romain managed the end of the climb really well,” confirmed Thierry. “He really dug deep, but he has nothing to be ashamed of. In front of him, those were guys capable of top-10 finishes in the Grand Tours.”
Romain Grégoire therefore didn’t crack and kept his rivals within sight to finally get back on the descent leading to the day’s last climb, the Val d’Enfer (1.5 km at 10.7%). “In the Val d’Enfer, it was all in the head,” said the young man. “I fought as hard as I could to not lose the wheels.” In the end, no one managed to open a gap on this final climb, and the quartet headed towards the finish for a possible sprint. Felix Gall tried to anticipate shortly before the flamme rouge, but the final straight did decide the winner. Romain Grégoire approached it in second position behind Juan Ayuso.
“I believed in my chances in the sprint,” he said. “It wasn’t bad, but Ayuso was just a bit stronger. It was close.” For a moment, the Groupama-FDJ rider was on the same line as the Spaniard, but he eventually had to settle for second. “Of course I’m a bit disappointed, because I really came close to doing something nice and to a great victory,” he claimed. “That said, I put things into perspective and try to take the positive out of it. I still fought with three of the best riders in the world in the climbs, so it’s pretty good.” “Romain didn’t make any mistakes,” said Thierry. “He’s knocking at the door, it’s really promising, and I’m sure that he’s going to finish it off in the next few weeks.”
The next race for the Frenchman will be the Trofeo Laigueglia on Wednesday, while the rest of the group, with the obvious exception of Lars van den Berg, will line up this Sunday on the Drôme Classic with the addition of Maxime Decomble. “Even if we’re six, we’ll still be ambitious,” announced Thierry. “Valentin will be revengeful, Kevin will be on a profile that suits him, and Rémy will be even better after his return to racing. The weather conditions won’t be great, and we’re going to have a real race.”
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And here's the Faun Ardèche Classic report from third-place Mattias Skjelmose's Team Lidl-Trek:
After a successful block of altitude training on Mount Teide, Tenerife, Mattias Skjelmose returned to sea level to make his 2024 racing debut. Starting the day as Lidl-Trek’s leader, the plan from Sport Director Kim Andersen was built around setting up Skjelmose to attack on the longest climb of the day, the Mur de Cornas (forming part of the longer climb to Saint Romain des Lerps). First, a breakaway of three riders had their fun before Fabio Felline traded turns with a few other teams to eventually reel it in. Julien Bernard contributed to the pace setting and positioning along with Quinn Simmons before the peloton hit the Mur de Cornas, at which point Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier twisted the throttle. The Eritrean’s role was to stretch out the peloton to set up an attack by Skjelmose, but he was so strong that by the time he swung off the peloton was in tatters. The Dane upped the pace and only Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates) could follow him, though after settling into a rhythm they were joined by Felix Gall (Decathlon AG2R), and later Romain Gregoire (Groupama-FDJ).
The quartet rotated and traded attacks for the remainder of the race but were closely matched. They reached the finish still together, leaving the four climbers to sprint it out. Skjelmose, confident in his speed, approached the sprint from the back, but was unable to pass Ayuso and Gregoire, leaving him to round out the podium in 3rd place.
The peloton climbs the Cote du Pin. Sirotti photo
In Skjelly’s words:
“I’m happy, we did really great as a Team. We had a plan and we executed it perfectly. Unfortunately I just didn’t have the legs in the end. I was really strong on the long climb, maybe the strongest one there, that’s what we hoped for. In the end I was lacking the anaerobic effort and that makes sense because I came from altitude. I’m really happy with how we worked as a Team and that we come away with at least a podium. Tactically there wasn’t anything different I could have done, I just didn’t have more in the legs. I thought I would be the fastest guy, but unfortunately I wasn’t and that’s on me.
“The plan was to enter the long climb in a good position and Amanuel [Ghebreigzabhier] set the pace, he did perfectly. Then I attacked and only Ayuso could follow, but unfortunately Romain and Felix came back and we followed all the way to the finish line. A day like today is perfect preparation for the rest of the season with lots of powerful efforts. It’s not the worst day to lack some on the anaerobic side.
“The cooperation was quite good. Felix [Gall] tried to skip some turns but I understand that because on paper he was the slowest guy in the sprint, and he played it smart with some good attacks. Also Romain played it good, I thought he was done and in the end he had a good sprint. Otherwise I think me and Juan [Ayuso] took the most turns but that’s what to expect when we were maybe the strongest on the long climb.
“I’m not better than I expected, but I’m in line with my expectations. We did a lot of long efforts in training, and you can see the result of that in the long climb. The anaerobic efforts I always need to get a little bit in the races, so everything is going as planned.”
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