Search our site:

Sign up for our Email Newsletter

Bicycle Racing News and Opinion,
Thursday, January 4, 2024

Back to news and opinion index page for links to archived stories | Commentary | Our YouTube page
2023 Tour de France | 2023 Giro d'Italia

I have noticed even people who claim everything is predestined, and that we can do nothing to change it, look before they cross the road. - Stephen Hawking

Les Woodland's book Dirty Feet: How the Great Unwashed Created the Tour de France is available in print, Kindle eBook & audiobook versions. To get your copy, just click on this Amazon link.

Upcoming racing:

• Jan 12-21: Santos Tour Down Under
• Jan 20: Clasica Comunitat Valenciana
• Jan 24-28: Challenge Illes Balears-Volta Ciclista a Mallorca
• Jan 28: GP d'Ouverture-La Marseillaise
• Jan 28: Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race
• Jan 30 - Feb 3: Saudi Tour

Latest completed racing:

• Jan 1: GP Sven Nys
• Dec 29: Exact Cross Loenhout-Azencross
• Dec 28: Superprestige Diegem
• Dec 27: Superprestige Heusden Zolder
• Dec 26: World Cup Gaver Cyclocross
• Dec 17: World Cup Namur Cyclocross

Here’s the team’s news:

For the second consecutive year after the race returned to the international scene post pandemic, the Movistar Team and all WorldTour squads will start their 2024 season at the Tour Down Under.

Team Movistar before the start of the 2023 Tour Down Under. Sirotti photo

Featuring no prologue this time around yet bringing the usual criterium preface -in Adelaide, Saturday 13th, three days before the start of the WorldTour’s opening round, Tuesday 16th-, the Aussie event again includes short routes, intense heat and interesting courses, with the weekend’s stages set to gather all attention GC-wise.

There’s three clear sprint opportunities, barring any crashes or echelons, in Tanunda (Tuesday 16th), Campbelltown (Thursday 18th) and Port Elliot (Friday 19th). The first ‘breaking point’ should be stage two on Wednesday 17th, with nearly 3,000m elevation gain and a couple of ascents to Fox Creek Climb (1.6km, 9%), the final one just eight kilometers from the end.

Saturday 20th will bring the traditional -yet absent in 2023- dual climb of Willunga Hill, 3km at 7.4% with a firdt passage 22km before the uphill finish. It will be a crucial day, but not decisive, as the showdown, Sunday 21st, tackles 2,900m elevation on hilly roads in the interior and the ascents of Mount Lofty, 1.3km at 7,3% with a last passage just 2km form the end.

The team’s update:

Israel-Premier Tech is looking to hit the ground running at the Santos Tour Down Under, lining up with a versatile team to take on the WorldTour season opener.

The action kicks off with the Down Under Classic criterium as a warmup on Saturday 13 January before the six-stage race gets underway the following Tuesday, which Sports Director Sam Bewley expects will be one of the toughest editions.

“We are looking forward to being back at Tour Down Under this year,” says Bewley. “Stuart O’Grady and the TDU team have done a great job creating this year’s route. It’s a dynamic race this year and the inclusion of Willunga Hill again sets up what could potentially be the most decisive final weekend we have seen in recent years with consecutive summit finishes. The Tour Down Under is an important race for us and we intend to be right in the thick of things to start our season on the right track.”

Simon Clarke brings a wealth of TDU experience to the team, with IPT’s road captain set to line up for his 13th participation, and will be joined by fellow Australian Nick Schultz, Canadians Derek Gee and Guillaume Boivin, Welshman Stevie Williams, and New Zealanders Corbin Strong and George Bennett, who is set to make his IPT race debut.

Simon Clarke has been racing the Tour Down Under for a while. Here he is in the second stage of the 2013 edition. Sirotti photo

“The thing about the Tour Down Under is that even with more of a climbing emphasis in recent years, you need to be prepared for everything,” adds Bewley. “We are coming with depth and strength in the team which is going to give us multiple options throughout the week. Between Corbin Strong covering the sprints, George Bennett, Nick Schultz, and Stevie Williams as our climbers, and Simon Clarke, Derek Gee, and Guillaume Boivin providing key support on all terrain, I think we can race aggressively on all fronts.”

After impressing with his sprinting prowess in his first Tour Down Under in 2023, before a crash derailed his General Classification ambitions, Strong is hoping to benefit from his off-season block in New Zealand.

“It has been great to prepare for Tour Down Under in the New Zealand summer, training with my brother and being motor paced by dad like when I was a junior,” says strong. “I loved the Aussie block last year and I am really motivated to come back this year and chase some results with a strong IPT squad.”

Scrolling through the start list and a surprising statistic stands out in that Schultz, despite going into his eighth year as a pro, is set to make his Tour Down Under debut.

“It feels weird to only just be making my Tour Down Under debut now,” explains Schultz. “It has always been a race that I’ve loved the look of, but it never quite fit in with my movements or race program to be on the start line. Every rider speaks so highly of the race and atmosphere, so I can’t wait to see what it’s all about.”

“When it comes to my expectations at the race, I think we have a super strong team lining up where we can all be protagonists. I’d personally like to hit the ground running and have some good form helping the boys or chasing some opportunities myself. All in all, really looking forward to getting started!”

IPT at the Tour Down Under

Rider roster: George Bennett (NZL), Guillaume Boivin (CAN), Simon Clarke (AUS), Derek Gee (CAN), Nick Schultz (AUS), Corbin Strong (NZL), Stevie Williams (GBR)

Sports Director: Sam Bewley (NZL), Daryl Impey (RSA)

Here’s the team’s news

After eight years with GreenEDGE Cycling, Jess Allen is about to take on a new challenge with the team in 2024.

The 30-year-old, who announced her retirement as a professional cyclist at the end of last season, will work as a press officer for Team Jayco AlUla and Liv AlUla Jayco. She will also attend several races this season as a sport director for the elite women’s team and the new Liv AlUla Jayco Continental Team. 

Allen is looking forward to taking up her new roles while enjoying the familiar surroundings of the GreenEDGE cycling family.

Jess Allen racing in 2018. Sirotti photo

“It’s super nice, and in a way, it doesn’t feel like I’m retiring. I think if I was to do something completely different, or with another team, that maybe I feel a bit different, but it feels very natural,” Allen said. “It’s nice to still be part of the GreenEDGE family but in a different role and use the experiences I’ve had as a rider, as a staff member.

“One of the things I love most about being a cyclist is the people you meet the places you go. We did a media camp with GreenEDGE in Barcelona, in November, and that was awesome because I got to meet new people and meet the team I’m working for next year. That’s the most important thing to me. I want to be in a job where I can still be part of a team. Even though I won’t be racing, you’re still one team and it was really cool to meet everyone plan next year.”

Allen had not originally planned on quitting racing at the end of 2023, and she had the option of a racing contract on the table for her. However, her passion for the sport and her creativity made her an ideal candidate as GreenEDGE Cycling looked to expand its media team for the new season.

When the new idea was posited to her over the summer, Allen soon realised she was ready for something new. After taking some time to ruminate on the offer, she made the decision to end her racing career and join the team’s staff.

Her first race as a press officer for the team will be the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race at the end of January, where she will look after both men’s and women’s teams.

“It’s been on the back of my mind the last couple of years as to when I would retire. I thought it’d be in a few more years but it was during the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, where I decided that this is going to be my last year,” she said.

“It wasn’t because I wasn’t enjoying it. I loved being at the Tour de France, but I was on the start line one day and just looking around and Gracie Elvin was doing media work, there was Annette Edmondson doing management work, and Jolien D’hoore doing directing. And then I thought, ‘Oh, doing something in the sport outside of racing is actually exciting me more than racing now’. And so that’s when that first really crossed my mind.

“After the Tour, I sat down with my manager, and she mentioned to me that the team were looking at someone to work in the communications department and my name got mentioned. Straightaway, I was like that excites me way more than racing.”

The idea to add sport director to her new list of skills came later, but it was an opportunity that was too good to give up. She will do a small selection of races for the two women’s teams, starting with the UAE Tour Women in February.

“I didn’t plan on being a sport director and I didn’t think I wanted to be. But the application came up and I decided to apply for the scholarship and see if I get it, it might be good just to have on the resume,” she said. “I ended up getting the scholarship, which was really cool. I went to Switzerland, did the course passed. That was super fun because there was a lot of recently retired men and women there and it was nice to talk to them about their experiences, and go through the process together.”

In addition to her work with the GreenEdge Cycling teams, Allen will also take up a new role with AusCycling mentoring young riders from Australia. The role starts in earnest at the women’s Santos Tour Down Under and will also include leading the U19 Women for a month-long stint in Europe as well as at world championships in September.

“When that job opportunity popped up, I was really excited, but I wasn’t sure if it was going to be able to work in with the team because I’d already committed to being a press officer and sport director with the team, but we’ve managed to juggle it well,” Allen said.

“It’s going to be a busy year for me, but the thought of helping juniors particularly because I was there, particularly the under-19s. I won a junior world title, so I know what it’s like to be them and what it’s like come to Europe for the first time, living out of home and being in that team environment.

“Working with the juniors is going to be fantastic and to use all the experience I have to help them. Working with GreenEDGE and AusCycling, particularly the U19s, is a good way to see the up-and-coming talent in Australia and then hopefully have them come into our development team in the future as well.”

Global Cycling Network posted this:

Red Bull has acquired a controlling stake in the company that owns Bora-Hansgrohe, according to a merger notification published by Austria’s Federal Competition Authority.

The authority, which examines and approves potential mergers to ensure compliance with competition law, said that Red Bull GmbH, based in Austria, has indirectly acquired a 51% stake in RD pro cycling GmbH & Co KG and RD Beteiligungs GmbH, which owns the Bora-hansgrohe WorldTour team.

Team manager Ralph Denk previously owned the majority stake in the company.

"Red Bull is planning to expand its involvement in road cycling and is aiming for a partnership with Bora-Hansgrohe. By becoming a partner in Team Manager Ralph Denk's operating company, Red Bull strives to complement the team's portfolio of existing long-term main sponsors, who will remain on a long-term basis. The planned joint venture has been notified to the relevant antitrust authority," Bora-Hansgrohe said in a statement released after the news became public.

The merger between the companies is subject to confirmation from the Federal Competition Authority, after a process during which other individuals and businesses may object to the move. That process will end on January 26.

"We ask for your understanding that we will not comment further on the planned joint venture, as we do not wish to anticipate the ongoing review by the Austrian antitrust authority," Bora's statement concluded.

You can read the entire story here.

Back to news and opinion index page for links to archived stories | Commentary