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Bicycle Racing News and Opinion,
Sunday, January 7, 2024

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2023 Tour de France | 2023 Giro d'Italia

One who knows how to show and to accept kindness will be a friend better than any possession. - Sophocles

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

Men | Women

Men's Hexia Cross results:

Under that mud is winner Michael Vanthourenhout: Photo: Photopress

Bill and Carol McGann's book The Story of the Tour de France, Vol 1: 1903 - 1975 is available in print, Kindle eBook & Audiobook versions. To get your copy, just click on the Amazon link on the right.

The race: Here is a machine translation of the report from winner Michael Vanthourenhout's Team Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal.

Michael Vanthourenhout is doing better and better and got a nice reward in the Hexia cross of Gullegem: our European and Belgian champion soloed to a satisfying victory.

Admittedly, world champion Mathieu van der Poel and several of the other cyclo-cross top riders were missing in Gullegem. But that made it a great opportunity for Michael Vanthourenhout to be able to fully participate in the victory after months of a lot of physical struggle. The good feeling from the past races continued in the mud of Gullegem, where Michael quickly took the lead solo and eventually finished it. His second victory of the season is a fact.

We also brought several of our promising riders to the start among the pros. First-year Viktor Vandenberghe did the best with a fourteenth place. We had no representatives in the women's competition in Gullegem.

Women's Hexia Cross results:

The women's Hexia Cross podium, from left: Manon Bakker (2nd), Zoe Backstedt (1st) & Inge Van Der Heijden (3rd). Hexia Cross photo

Here’s the team’s post:

The full roster gets together in Alicante for ten-day collective training (Jan 7-18) before first-ever Challenge (20-22), officially opening the Blues' seventh year in pro cycling.

Movistar riders at the 2024 team launch in December. Photo: Movistar Team/Sprint Cycling Agency

With the Christmas and New Year’s festivities now behind, the whole roster of the women’s Movistar Team will travel this weekend to Jávea (Alicante, Spain) to hold, from Sunday 7th through Thursday 18th January, their only 2024 pre-season camp.

Long training rides, physical and technical tests, sponsor meetings, press commitments and media production will be part of the packed agenda, after which a portion of the Blue outfit’s group will travel to Mallorca, whose Challenge -1st edition- will officially kick off the Telefónica-backed squad’s seventh season with three UCI races (Saturday 20th – Monday 22nd).

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