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Bicycle Racing News and Opinion,
Monday, January 29, 2024

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2023 Tour de France | 2023 Giro d'Italia

An apology for the devil: it must be remembered that we have heard one side of the case. God has written all the books. - Samuel Butler

Les Woodland's book Sticky Buns Across America: Back-roads biking from sea to shining sea is available in print, Kindle eBook & audiobook versions. To get your copy, just click on the Amazon link on the right.

Upcoming racing:

• Jan 30-Feb 3: AlUla Tour (formerly Saudi Tour)
• Jan 31 - Feb 4: Etoile de Besseges
• Jan 31 - Feb 4: Volta a La Comunitat Valenciana

Latest completed racing:

• Jan 24-28: Challenge Vuelta Ciclista a Mallorca
• Jan 28: GP d'Ouverture-La Marseillaise
• Jan 28: Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race
• 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

We posted the race organizer's report with the results.

Here's the report from winner Paurence Pithie's Team Groupama-FDJ:

He was “knocking at the door,” in his own words, and just needed the final details to come together. That’s what happened on Sunday, on the other side of the hearth. After displaying his physical form throughout the Australian campaign, Laurence Pithie claimed victory in the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race, the season’s first WorldTour Classic. A winner from a small group sprint thanks to power and skills, he became, at 21 years old, the first New Zealander to win a one-day race of this level. He also opened the 2024 prize list for the Groupama-FDJ cycling team, down to five but remarkable alongside him over the past week. The season is definitely on.

Laurence Pithie just beats Natnael Tesfazion. Race organizer's photo

On Sunday, the Australian campaign and the three-week stay on the other side of the world was set to come to an end in Geelong. The Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race, a WorldTour race since 2017, was the very last appointment for Jussi Veikkanen and his riders, and also the last chance to return with a major result in their bags.

With this in mind, all eyes were on Laurence Pithie. “We felt like we were getting closer and closer on the Tour Down Under, and we were all very confident in Laurence”, said his fellow countryman Reuben Thompson. “He had shown that he was absolutely fine”. “Given his consistency, we trusted Laurence 100%,” confirmed Jussi. “For us, there was no doubt that he could win. This is also what made the team so strong. We all knew where we were heading.” One hundred and seventy-four kilometres were to be covered, with the traditional final circuit including the climb of Challambra Crescent (1.2 km at 7.8%). Four loops were planned around Geelong, but first, Josh Cranage, Dylan Proctor-Parker (ARA/Skip Capital), Jackson Medway and Zac Marriage (Team BridgeLane) established the day’s break. The bunch easily controlled the Australian quartet, which reached the first lap of the circuit with a gap of two minutes that kept on reducing from there on.

At the end of the second lap, the gap was under a minute as the race was about to start properly. “We knew that the tempo on the climb would be quite ok in the first two laps because the peloton was afraid that the break would be caught too soon,” explained Jussi. “On the other hand, we knew that we absolutely had to be positioned in the last two laps. Laurence often told us “I need to be positioned, then I can manage it by myself”. So everyone protected Laurence and positioned him before the climbs. We had only five riders, but they managed to find themselves easily in the peloton.” “Clément and Fabian set us up perfectly on the circuit,” added Reuben. “We were always in good position before the climbs when it was needed.”

On the penultimate lap, the pace increased, and the breakaway was caught at the top of Challambra Crescent, which Laurence Pithie crossed in the top ten positions. A bunch of about sixty riders eventually reached the line a few moments later and entered the final lap. Once again, and despite being down to five, the Groupama-FDJ riders organized perfectly around Laurence Pithie and allowed him to tackle the final climb of Challambra Crescent in the very first positions.

“The guys did an awesome job to keep me at the front before the foot of the climb,” said Laurence. “I knew I had the legs to follow the best, and that’s what I did.” “In the last lap, it went really fast on the climb and only Laurence was able to follow,” testified Enzo Paleni. Sharp accelerations took place, but as on Mount Lofty a week earlier, Laurence Pithie held off the best punchers to reach the top with them. After the climb, there were less than twenty riders left at the head of the race. “With Reuben, we found ourselves slightly in the back, and we managed to disrupt the chase in the second group where Viviani, Girmay, Ewan were…” explained Enzo.

In front, Archie Ryan, Luke Plapp and Quinn Simmons tried to get away one after the other. The US champion actually managed to open a gap three kilometres from the finish, but the chase got organized quickly and the junction was made shortly after the flamme rouge. “We got worried about Quinn Simmons’ attack, because we know his abilities, but there was a slight headwind and that perhaps worked in our favor,” explained Jussi. Bauke Mollema also tried to give it a go, but the fight for the win eventually came down to the final sprint.

Laurence Pithie talked through these thrilling final moments: “I got stuck behind about one kilometre to go, and Strong was bluffing a little bit. He wanted me to go in front of him and to chase Williams, but I knew I had to be patient. At the briefing, we said that patience was key, but I knew it was also easy to be caught on the barriers here. I just managed to find my way through, found a gap and went on. I was coming back at Tesfatsion, coming back at him. I had to close the gap, and then Zimmermann on the outside was coming quick, but I just managed to hold on and launch the bike.”

A moment of suspense followed as the photo finish had to be checked. “Coming over the finish line, we didn’t really know if Laurence had won,” said Reuben. “They said maybe, then yes, then maybe… We were all very nervous and eventually, after a minute or two, we found out that we won!” In the car, Jussi Veikkanen also had to wait for the RadioTour confirmation “before he exploded with joy”. That joy was obvious at the finish line as well. “It’s amazing,” said Reuben. “If I’m not mistaken, he’s the first New Zealander to win a WorldTour one-day race. It’s bloody epic.” “I’ve known Laurence since our beginnings in La Conti, this is our fourth year together so we have quite close ties,” added Enzo. “It’s a lot of emotion.”

Here’s the Cadel Evans race report from second-place Natnael's Tesfazion's Team Lidl-Trek:

Natnael Tesfazion sprinted to second place in Geelong after Lidl-Trek lit the race up on the Challambra Crescent circuit.

Lidl-Trek started the day with a clear plan to race aggressively on the four laps of the finishing circuit that, alongside the scenic coastal views, define the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race.

The Team was ready to show their cards early setting a strong tempo at the front of the peloton on the second lap before a series of strong moves off the front of the ever reducing bunch over the remaining two circuits.

A late attack from Quinn Simmons after the final ascent of the short but Challambra Crescent climb, which at only 810 meters long has an average gradient of 9.8 percent and pitches of 22 percent in places, had potential to go all the way to the line.

The American national champion looked strong as he went away solo while behind the group, that also included Tesfazion and Bauke Mollema, struggled to get organized.

It was only in the closing couple of kilometers that the other teams behind started a determined chase, agonisingly catching Simmons inside the final 500 meters.

Lidl-Trek wasn’t done piling on the pressure just yet with Mollema making a fresh move to force the others to go early.

Tesfazion, who had been sat patiently in the group, launched his sprint with around 200 meters to go with only Laurence Pithie (Groupama – FDJ) able to come around the 24-year-old on the line.

So close was the finish that the Eritrean had to wait for the photo finish to find out what spot on the podium he would stand on.

Natnael Tesfazion:
"I don't think it's a secret that we were disappointed with the results from Santos Tour Down Under. We had some good performances but we lacked something at the end of the week so, to get this result here is super nice. We had a plan coming into the race. We wanted to make the race hard on the circuits and my job was to be there for a small group sprint. Thanks to how we raced as a team, we were able to execute our plan almost to perfection. Sometimes it's difficult when you finish second by such a small margin but I am happy with this result and this performance both for myself and for the Team. The season is still long for all of us but, with the way we raced today, I think we have shown we are all in good shape."

And here's the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Race report from Chris Hamilton's Team dsm-firmenich-PostNL:

The final day of racing in Australia saw Team dsm-firmenich PostNL’s Men’s program take on the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race, an event they have won on two previous occasions, including in 2023. It was a steady set of affairs from the flag drop with a small break going clear, but unfortunately back in the peloton Oscar Onley* was involved in a crash and had to abandon the race. The rest of the team rallied around each other really well and some strong work by Patrick Eddy, Emils Liepins and Patrick Bevin saw the rest of the guys well positioned going onto the ascents of Challambra Crescent.

With potential sprint finish options in Sean Flynn and Pavel Bittner, it was Chris Hamilton who was tasked with following the stinging moves from the opposition climbers. On the last ascent of the climb a group of 20 did go clear, including Hamilton, who bided his time and followed the wheels after digging deep. Coming down to a sprint between the front group, Hamilton gave it his best in the kick to the line, crossing the finish in a good seventh place.

Speaking after the race Hamilton said: “We’re all pretty happy with how the race went, aside from losing Oscar in an unlucky crash which was a real shame. On a personal note, I’m really happy that I could be there in the final and be amongst the guys sprinting for the win. We worked really well as a team today, the guys were really on point, so we’re pleased with that. Seventh place is a solid result and a nice way to wrap-up our time here in Australia.”

*Checks at hospital have confirmed that Onley broke his collarbone in the fall. He will take the required time to rest and recover before looking at a return to training or racing.

The team posted this:

Soudal Quick-Step rode a perfect race Sunday afternoon up until the final kilometer of the 150km Trofeo Palma, only for an untimely flat to take Luke Lamperti out of contention just as he rounded out the final corner and was in an excellent position near the front of the peloton, where Yves Lampaert was pushing a huge tempo.

Having played a key role in Paul Magnier’s win three days ago, the young American was now the squad’s designated sprinter for the last race of the Challenge Mallorca, the flattest of the week, which his teammates controlled from the beginning. Leander Van Hautegem and Mauri Vansevenant worked hard behind the five escapees of the day, while Mattia Cattaneo put his solid time trial skills to use in the closing kilometers to stretch out the bunch just like in Trofeo Calvia.

It wasn’t to be in the end, as Luke was prevented from fighting for victory, which went to Gerben Thijssen (Intermarche-Wanty). Former Belgian Champion Yves Lampaert was our first rider at the finish in ninth place, racking up Soudal Quick-Step’s sixth top ten of the week here in Mallorca.

It was Gerben Thijssen who won the Trofeo Palma.

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