Bicycle Racing News and Opinion,
Tuesday, July 23, 2024
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2024 Tour de France | 2024 Giro d'Italia
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Current racing:
July 22 - 26: Tour de Wallonie
July 23: Vuelta a Castilla y Leon
Upcoming racing:
- July 27 - August 11: Olympic cycling
- July 29: Clasica San Sebastian
- July 29 - August 4: Tour of Poland
Latest completed racing:
- June 29 - July 21: Tour de France
- 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
AFP posted this news:
Tour de France winner Tadej Pogacar on Monday pulled out of the Paris Olympics citing "tiredness", his Slovenia team announced.
"Unfortunately Tadej Pogacar has cancelled his participation because of a state of extreme fatigue," Slovenian Olympic cycling coach Uros Murn said in a statement.
Pogacar won a third Tour de France title in Nice on Sunday. Victory also gave him the first Giro d'Italia-Tour de France double since Marco Pantani in 1998.
But the 25-year-old, a bronze medallist in the road race at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, had been angered by his girlfriend Urska Zigart not being selected for the Slovenian women's cycling team for the Paris Games.
He said he was "angry" and "speechless" in a message posted on his Facebook account.
"I need a little rest after the Tour and I'm not sure what I'll be doing next," Pogacar had said on Sunday.
"And I want to relax and rest and spend some time with my girlfriend."
When asked about the Olympics on Sunday, he remained very evasive, preferring to mention his "dream" of one day wearing the rainbow jersey of world champion.
At the worlds in September in Zurich, the Slovenian is aiming for a triple of the world title, the Giro and Tour, only held by two men, Ireland's Stephen Roche and Belgian Eddy Merckx.
Pogacar will be replaced on the national team by Domen Novak.
First off, here's the post from Tour winner Tadej Pogacar's UAE Team Emirates:
Tadej Pogačar was crowned Tour de France Champion 2024 after an almost faultless three week performance which saw him win 6 stages in the process.
The confirmation of his victory came on the streets of Nice on the Stage 21 time trial, which he won on his home training roads in a blistering time of 45’25”.
Pogačar finished the Tour de France in 83h38’56”, ahead of Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-LAB) and Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quickstep) in the overall standings.
Pogačar made history along the way in becoming the first rider ever to be on the podium in his first 7 Grand Tours.
Tadej Pogacar on the final podium shaking hands with Monaco's Prince Rainier. Sirotti photo
In conquering his third Grande Boucle (84rd career success, 21st of the season), Pogačar was supported by teammates Joao Almeida, Pavel Sivakov, Adam Yates, Tim Wellens, Nils Pollitt and Marc Soler. Juan Ayuso was forced out of the race on stage 13.
The talented group also climbed the podium as winners of the teams’ classification.
Pogačar: “I am super happy. I cannot describe how happy I am after two hard years in the Tour de France, in which we always made some mistakes that cost us the race. This year, everything was down to perfection. I’m super happy, it’s incredible. This is the first Grand Tour on which I have been totally confident every day.
"Even on the last Giro I had one bad day – I won’t tell which one. This Tour de France has been amazing. I have enjoyed it from day one until today.
Today I started with a good vibe. It was lovely to start from the F1 grid of the best F1 circuit ever! I was only listening to my times compared to Remco. I was feeling super good over the top of the first climb. In my head, I had my girlfriend Urska’s words – that she hated me because I always did this road on training. But it was not wasted time, as it was useful today.
"These last few years we have been hearing that this is the best era of cycling. If I was not competing, I would say the same. This kind of competition with Remco, Jonas, Primoz… is just incredible. And many young guys are coming, more and more. We have to enjoy this beautiful era of cycling.”
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Here's the final Tour report from points classification winer Biniam Girmay's Team Intermarché-Wanty:
This Sunday, July 21st was a day of celebration for Intermarché-Wanty. At the end of the 21st and final stage of the Tour de France, an individual time trial between Monaco and Nice, Biniam Girmay secured his victory in the points classification, thus winning the first distinctive jersey for the Belgian team in a Grand Tour.
Biniam Girmay on the final podium in green. Sirotti photo
Victorious in Turin on the third stage, Colombey-les-deux-Églises on the eighth stage, and Villeneuve-sur-Lot on the twelfth stage, Biniam Girmay and his teammates defended the green jersey for sixteen days. By bringing the precious jersey back to Nice, the 24-year-old Eritrean rider became the first African rider to win the points classification in the 121-year history of the Grand Boucle.
Points Classification:
1. Biniam Girmay: 387
2. Jasper Philipsen: 354
Jean-François Bourlart’s team, which had embarked on its seventh Tour de France hoping to win its very first stage victory, leaves with three stage wins thanks to their sprinter. Intermarché-Wanty also got two other podium finishes, five top 10 finishes, three best team prizes on stages, a best teammate trophy for Mike Teunissen in the second week, and a 20th place in the final classification for Louis Meintjes.
Young riders Hugo Page and Laurenz Rex completed their first Tour de France. Belgian sprinter Gerben Thijssen, the third rookie in the selection, turned into a team player in addition to an eighth place in Saint-Vulbas. Climbers Louis Meintjes, Georg Zimmermann, and Kobe Goossens, like their teammates, contributed to the team effort in addition to attacking on numerous occasions during this edition.
Biniam Girmay:
“I don’t have the words. I didn’t come to this Tour de France with the ambition of winning the green jersey, but simply to demonstrate my qualities. You could say I succeeded. I’m grateful to everyone who helped me finish this Tour de France with the green jersey. When I woke up, I thanked God for this unforgettable day. I’m overwhelmed with emotions.”
“My adventure on this Tour opens a new chapter in the history of cycling, for us Eritreans and Africans. We’ve been cycling for a long time, but winning stages and a green jersey, it’s now possible. It’s something special. I want to thank my compatriots and everyone who supported me, my family, my team, our sponsors, the supporters by the roadside, behind their screens. Thank you.”
Aike Visbeek (Performance Manager):
“This is a historic Tour de France for Intermarché-Wanty. Of course, thanks to Biniam Girmay, but the credit also goes to the entire team who performed at an exceptionally high level. It’s an extraordinary feat. Biniam is still young, it’s only his second Tour de France, and we had three rookies here in the peloton. This shows the potential of our team. Biniam Girmay finished the job, and the whole team was lifted. We can all be very proud of this Tour de France, and pay tribute to those who worked very hard in recent years so that we could celebrate this success today.”
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Here's the final Tour report from GC seventh-place Carlos Rodriguez's Team INEOS Grenadiers:
Carlos Rodriguez confirmed a seventh place finish overall at the Tour de France following a hard-fought three weeks.
Carlos Rodriguez racing stage 14. Sirotti photo
The young Spaniard made it three top-10 Grand Tour finishes in a row as he completed the final time trial in Nice. With the 17th fastest time, Rodriguez continued to show consistency at the sport's top level as he gains experience.
Laurens De Plus also put in a strong ride across the 33.7-kilometre course, moving up to 15th overall at the end of three weeks.
Despite not being able to pull off an elusive stage win, the team rode well for each other as a unit across the 21 stages. Former race winners Geraint Thomas and Egan Bernal used their experience to help the team in key moments, while both Michal Kwiatkowski and Tom Pidcock came close to breakaway stage victories. Jonathan Castroviejo was a dependable as ever, and for Ben Turner it was a first finish in the sport's biggest race.
The final stage saw Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) rack up a sixth stage win, confirming overall victory in the process. Jonas Vingegaard Visma | Lease a Bike) and Remco Evenepoel (Soudal - Quick-Step) rounded out the podium positions.
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And here's the final 2024 Tour de France report from Derek Gee's Team Israel-Premier Tech:
Derek Gee rode into the history books today as he crossed the line of the final time trial at the Tour de France to finish ninth overall, Israel – Premier Tech’s first ever top-ten finish.
Despite his third place overall at the Criterium du Dauphiné, the warm up for the Tour, Gee started the race three weeks ago with the objective of hunting stage wins, but after finding himself inside the top-ten after stage 9, where he animated the breakaway, the goal shifted for Gee.
Derek Gee racing stage 20. Sirotti photo
To finish inside the top-ten in his debut participation is a result he could only dream of, says Gee.
He said: “It’s overwhelming. I’ve been so nervous in the last few days, being in this position and trying not to blow it, so there is an overwhelming sense of relief to come away with a top-ten. It’s a pretty special feeling.
“We had such a good group of riders here and on the road, they have been fantastic. I was supported so well in the team with the wealth of experience we have. All the staff, the directors, everyone, have just been so incredible so I am glad I was able to finish it off.”
Gee’s determination and tenacity, the very qualities which won over the cycling world in the 2023 Giro d’Italia, allowed him to dig deep over the past days in Alps, where he moved up to eighth on GC after stage 19, before dropping to ninth yesterday. With just 24 seconds separating Gee and Matteo Jorgenson in eighth place, it all came down to the hill 34-kilometer time trial from Monaco to Nice where Derek clocked the sixth-fastest time but wasn’t able to surpass Jorgenson.
“I had no idea how my legs were going to be and it’s been that way the last few days with a question mark around how my legs would be this deep into a race,” says Gee. “I knew I was having a good climb and then on the descent once I heard the time gaps to the top-ten, I knew I had to not mess it up and not crash so I was a bit tentative on the descent.”
Gee’s result is a reflection of the stellar teamwork displayed at the Tour, with the team expertly protecting Gee throughout the race and Pascal Ackermann in the sprints, adds Sports Director Steve Bauer.
“As an overall team effort, it was fabulous,” explains Bauer. “We had a goal every stage, we always shot for a stage win and Pascal and the sprint train did an amazing job. Then Derek came through and almost won a stage on the gravel and then we were in the GC game so that gave us a new direction with confirmation of what he can do. We lost a couple of guys, Guillaume and Jake, but we still stood strong and were able to finish it off here in Nice so I am very proud.”
Although a stage win eluded IPT, the team came close on multiple occasions with Ackermann sprinting to third place in three of the sprints, narrowly missing the win, while IPT recorded top-ten results on 13 stages.
For IPT owner Sylvan Adams, the fact that a stage win didn’t quite come together doesn’t stop this year’s Tour from being the team’s best ever, coinciding with the team’s tenth year in the peloton.
“I’m proud of the team’s performance at this year’s Tour,” adds Adams. “The boys rode for each other at the front of the peloton. We had 13 top-ten finishes, meaning we were in the hunt in more than half of the stages. With four podiums and Derek Gee finishing in the top-ten on GC, I would say that this was our best Tour ever, even if we didn’t manage to win a stage.”
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