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Bicycle Racing News and Opinion,
Friday, January 26, 2024

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2023 Tour de France | 2023 Giro d'Italia

If youth knew; if age could.-Sigmund Freud

Stoic philosopher Epictetus' Golden Sayings is available in both audiobook & Kindle eBook versions. To get your copy, just click on the Amazon link on the right.

Current Racing:

• Jan 24-28: Challenge Vuelta Ciclista a Mallorca

Upcoming racing:

• Jan 28: GP d'Ouverture-La Marseillaise
• Jan 28: Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race
• Jan 30-Feb 3: AlUla Tour (formerly Saudi Tour)
• Jan 31 - Feb 4: Volta a La Comunitat Valenciana

Latest completed racing:

• Jan 12-21: Santos Tour Down Under
• Jan 20: Clasica Comunitat Valenciana
• Jan 1: GP Sven Nys
• Dec 29: Exact Cross Loenhout-Azencross
• Dec 28: Superprestige Diegem

Here's the race organizer's report:

Biniam Girmay takes the first Surf Coast Classic. Organizer's photo

Eritrean superstar Binam Girmay (Intermaché Wanty) put his sprinting prowess on show today, storming to the finish line to take out the inaugural Surf Coast Classic title.

In a bunch sprint to the finish, Girmay closely pipped race-favourite and 2019 Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road winner, Elia Viviani (INEOS Grenadiers) and young Kiwi gun, Corbin Strong (Israel-Premier Tech).

Following a point-to-point format, the men followed a 158km course which took them from the magic of the Otways to a spectacular ocean backdrop, thundering along from Lorne to Torquay.

After a small crash during the first 10km which featured a challenging climb towards Dean Marsh, a breakaway quickly formed with the likes of EF Education-Easy Post, Team Bridgelane and ARA | Skip Capital keen to get their riders up the road.

The bunch quickly settled once they got over the climb, giving the breakaway about a one minute and 30-second gap with 148km remaining
The break neutralised its attacks on the bunch, setting up the perfect day for the teams with strong sprinting ambitions.

Those teams, such as Team Jayco AlUla sent their riders up to the front of the peloton, keeping the pace high and break under control, minimising any risk of an attack.

With about 110km remaining, the bunch began to run down the gap to the breakaway from two minutes 30 seconds to about 40 seconds.

The breakaway of five was quickly turned to three after ARA | Skip Capital and Team Bridgelane riders were dropped with 15km to go, returning to the bunch
Despite their best efforts, the final three riders were caught with 4km to go and teams acted quicly to set their sprinters up to race to the finish line.

Launching in the final 200 metres, Viviani saw his chance but Girmay acted quickly and found the wheel of Viviani in the final 50 metres to take top honours.

Complete results:

158.6 kilometers raced at an average speed of 45.823 km/hr

Here's the short update from second-place Elia Viviani's Team INEOS Grenadiers:

Elia Viviani continued his consistent start to the 2024 season with second place in the Surf Coast Classic.

Five riders struck out early in the day and built up a solid lead, before some great work from the team helped reel in the escapees, the last of whom were caught within the final 10 kilometres.

Attention then turned to the sprint, where the team’s leadout delivered Elia ably, but he was just pipped to the line by Girmay (Intermarche - Wanty)

Biniam Girmay just beats Elia Viviani to win the Surf Coast Classic.

Third-place Corbin Strong's Team Israel-Premier Tech posted this report:

After illness forced him to retire from the Tour Down Under, Corbin Strong has returned to form with a fast finish at the Surf Coast Classic to sprint to third place.

The inaugural edition of the race featured a point to point parcours from Lorne to Torquay and despite an uphill start, the sprinters’ teams were motivated to see a bunch sprint and committed to controlling the five-rider breakaway of the day. Strong’s IPT teammates assisted with the chase throughout the race, with the catch eventually being made in the final kilometers heading into Torquay.

“The boys nailed the run in”, explained Strong. “We knew that roundabout with one kilometer to go was crucial and that the race would be won or lost there. The boys just did a really good job. It’s not the best race suited to me with a pure bunch sprint but we knew that if we could nail the run in, I would be in with a chance. We did everything right, I maybe lost one too many positions around the last corner but I was pretty happy to manage a podium today.”

Sports Director Daryl Impey echoed Strong’s post-race analysis, praising the team for their work to set Strong up in the sprint.

“We knew the final was going to be decided by that final roundabout and we committed everyone to putting Corbin in the best position position,” said Impey. “It’s not easy but the boys are riding with a lot of confidence coming in from Tour Down Under. We executed exactly how we planned it and knew that if we put Corbin in the top four or five positions, a podium would follow. We were hoping for a top-five so a podium, after he had been sick, was great to see. We’re motivated for Sunday to end our Australian season well.”

After today’s warm-up, all eyes are on the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race on Sunday, where Simon Clarke rounded out the podium in 2023.

“Sunday’s race is the one we are really targeting,” added Strong. “It is a really nice parcours for us. We have a super strong team here as everyone saw at the Tour Down Under, everyone’s in good shape, and I think we have a number of cards to play on Sunday.”

And here's the Surf Coast Classic report from ninth-place Emils Liepins' Team dsm-firmenich-PostNL:

Before the team takes on the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race, the Men’s program was back for some mid-week racing at the first edition of the Surf Coast Classic. Even with some topographical challenges along the way, it turned out to be a controlled day on the bike. The last riders of the five-men breakaway were caught within the final five kilometres and it came down to a bunch sprint in Torquay, where Emils Liepins sprinted into a solid ninth place for the team.

Speaking after the stage Liepins said: “The race started with a climb and some teams wanted to get into the breakaway and made it a hard start. It was five riders that made it into the breakaway and the race was quite controlled since most of the teams wanted a bunch sprint. The pace stayed quite high all day and it also became a fast finish. They guys did a really good job and we were in a good position, but in the last corner there was almost a crash ahead of Sean and me and we had to break. There we lost our spot and had a small gap to the very first riders.

"I came out of the last corner around 20th position, started my sprint with 250 metres to go, and ended up in 9th position. It was just a little bit of bad luck in the end, but the legs are there and the team is working really well together and I believe a really good result will come soon.”

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