Bicycle Racing News and Opinion,
Tuesday, July 16, 2024
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2024 Tour de France | 2024 Giro d'Italia
Baseball is the only field of endeavor where a man can succeed three times out of ten and be considered a good performer. - Ted Williams
Bill and Carol McGann's book The Story of the Tour de France, Vol 2: 1976 - 2018 is available in print, Kindle eBook & Audiobook versions. To get your copy, just click on the Amazon link on the right.
Current racing:
- June 29 - July 21: Tour de France
Upcoming racing:
- July 27 - August 11: Olympic cycling
Latest completed racing:
- June 9 - 26: Many National Championships
- June 15 - 18: La Route d'Occitanie Cancelled because security forces busy with Olympics
- June 9 - 16: Tour de Suisse
- June 12 - 16: Baloise Belgium Tour
- June 2 - 9: Critérium du Dauphiné
- June 5 - 9: ZLM Tour
- June 7: GP Canton Aargau
- June 2: Brussels Cycling Classic
Here’s the team’s news release:
Italian rider Davide Ballerini (29) has extended his contract with the WorldTour team Astana Qazaqstan Team. According to the new agreement, Ballerini will continue racing with the team for the next two seasons (2025 and 2026).
“The start of the season was not the best for me due to a knee injury, but with the support of the team, I managed to fully recover and return to a high level of my form. Unfortunately, I had to miss the entire classics season, but now everything is going well. I rode the Giro d’Italia, and now I’m here at the Tour de France. There are many goals ahead that I would like to achieve both this year and in the future. I believe that together with Astana Qazaqstan Team I can achieve them all. Therefore, I am very happy to extend my contract with the team where I truly feel at home”, – said Davide Ballerini.
Davide Ballerini wins the 2022 Coppa Bernocchi
“We know really well Davide’s qualities as a rider; he is a true professional. Despite missing the first few months of the season, since April Davide has been showing an impressive level. He had a great Giro, and now he is performing very well at the Tour de France, providing incredible support to Mark Cavendish. Of course, he is one of our key riders for the classics, and we believe he will excel next season. We have some serious goals, and riders like Davide Ballerini should be the foundation of the team not only for the classics but also for the Grand Tours”, – said Alexandr Vinokurov, General Manager of Astana Qazaqstan Team.
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The team sent me this:
Josh Tarling, one of cycling’s most promising talents, has committed to race as a Grenadier until the end of 2027.
The 20-year-old Welshman turned pro with the team in 2023 and has since become European and British time trial Champion, along with winning the bronze medal at the World Championships in Stirling.
The 2024 season saw him take the opening stage of O Gran Camiño, a second place in the time trial at the Critérium du Dauphiné and finish sixth at Dwars door Vlaanderen.
Josh Tarling racing in the first stage of the 2024 O Gran Camiño
In June, he won the British National Time Trial Championship for the second year running after becoming the youngest ever winner in 2023.
Josh Tarling said: “I am now two seasons into my pro career, and I am loving every minute of it. Obviously, there is still loads to learn and improve upon over the coming years, but I am glad to be doing that as a Grenadier surrounded by riders like G, Pippo and Egan. It really makes you feel like you’re learning from the best.
“I’m looking forward to supporting the Team where I can, whilst also targeting some big wins together.
“We have a dynamic, world-class group of riders with a lot to prove and that just fuels me to keep working hard and explore my limits across time trials, the Classics, and hopefully soon Grand Tours.”
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Scott Drawer, Performance Director, said: “Josh is an incredible athlete and one of the most promising young talents in cycling. A big career lies ahead of him, and we are 100% committed to giving him the support he needs to live up to the expectations he has for himself and fulfil his potential.
“This contract is the perfect example of the team’s commitment to identifying and nurturing young talent. Josh joined the team at just eighteen and we have done all we can to ensure he had a holistic plan to develop at the right pace, doing the right things at the right time. Our young riders have the very best resources and tech available and input from some of the most experienced support staff in the sport.
“One of the amazing things about this team is the breadth we have in our rider group, from multiple Grand Tour winners like Egan and G, and time trial specialists like Ganna, through to some of the future stars of the sport like Josh. It is invaluable for our younger riders to be able to learn from the experience, professionalism, race craft and know-how of our leaders while they in turn bring energy and new ideas into the group.
“Josh obviously has a big goal for the Olympics this summer and we will then support him to kick on and continue to build on the success of his first two seasons as a pro. I know he will play a big part in helping the team achieve the clear ambitions we have for the coming years.”
John Allert, INEOS Grenadiers CEO, added: ‘We’re delighted to continue working with Josh. He's everything that the INEOS Grenadiers is about - ambition, grit, a great team-mate and a hard worker.
“The sky's the limit for Josh, and together we're working super hard to see what is achievable.”
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Cepeda’s EF Education-EasyPost sent me this:
Jefferson Alexander Cepeda sewed up the general classification win today at the Tour de l’Ain.
The Ecuadorian pulled on the yellow jersey on the final podium after his teammates put in a fantastic effort to defend his overall lead on the race’s third and final stage.
“For me it’s been a really nice victory because the team worked really well and everyone’s really happy,” Cepeda said after the finish. “It’s been three fast days of racing but we’re happy.”
Cepeda racing in stage 6 of the 2023 Vuelta a España. Sirotti photo
Cepeda took over the race lead yesterday with a thrilling attack up to the summit of the ski station of Monts-Jura. He arrived at the finish line solo, 28 seconds ahead of his nearest chasers. The task for Stage 3 was to keep his lead.
Archie Ryan, Hugh Carthy, Simon Carr, Jack Rootkin-Gray, and Jardi van der Lee went to work, patrolling the front of the peloton and taking turns in the wind to keep breakaways in check. With eight categorized climbs on the route from Lagnieu to Ile Chambord, it would be no easy job. But they were up to the task.
Our team rode on to the first of two laps of the hilly finishing circuit at the front of the pack and upped the pace, dropping riders out of the back as they chased down the day’s early attackers. Before the final climb, they had them in sight. A few attacks went. Archie Ryan danced right up to them with Cepeda on his wheel.
The two EF Education-EasyPost riders rode over the summit with a 14-man selection and tore down the other side to the finish in Ile Chambord, where the Champagne was waiting. Cepeda will toast his teammates tonight to thank them for their efforts today.
“The team rode really well. All of the guys did a great job. We saw that they did lots of work in the finale and before that controlling the race, so it’s great. Now I’m going to enjoy this and continue preparing for my next objectives. My season wasn’t so great at the start, but I had some time to recover in my country and now I’m even more motivated. I’m going to enjoy this and continue preparing for my next objectives, but I’ll enjoy this moment more than anything.”
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