Bicycle Racing News and Opinion,
Saturday, June 1, 2024
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2023 Tour de France | 2024 Giro d'Italia
All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident. - Arthur Schopenhauer
Bill and Carol McGann's book The Story of the Tour de France, 2019: A Year of New Faces is available in both Kindle eBook and audiobook versions. To get your copy, just click on the Amazon link on the right.
Upcoming racing:
- June 2: Brussels Cycling Classic
- June 2 - 9: Critérium du Dauphiné
- June 5 - 9: ZLM Tour
- June 7: GP Canton Aargau
- June 9 - 16: Tour de Suisse
- June 12 - 16: Baloise Belgium Tour
- June 15 - 18: La Route d'Occitanie Cancelled because security forces busy with Olympics
- June 21 - 26: Many National Championships
- July 1 - 23: Tour de France
- July 27 - August 11: Olympic cycling
Latest completed racing:
- May 29: Circuit Franco-Belge
- May 4 - 26: Giro d'Italia
- May 23 - 26: Tour of Norway
- May 26: Rund um Köln
- May 14 - 19: 4 Days of Dunkirk
- May 18: Veenendaal - Veenendaal Classic
- May 11: Tour du Finistère
- May 5: Tro-Bro Léon
- May 4: GP du Morbihan
- May 1: Rund um den Finanzplatz Eschborn-Frankfurt
Here's the team's update:
Team Visma | Lease a Bike will participate in the Critérium du Dauphiné from 2 to 9 June. With Sepp Kuss and Matteo Jorgenson, the team hopes to get into the Tour de France rhythm and perform well in France. Jorgenson is looking ahead together with sports director Frans Maassen.
The Giro d'Italia is barely over and the next race is already approaching. The Critérium du Dauphiné is traditionally one of the preparation races for the Tour de France, which starts at the end of June. The Dauphiné consists of eight stages, starting in Saint-Pourcain-Sur-Sioule and finishing on the Plateau des Glieres a week later.
Sepp Kuss after winning the 2023 Vuelta a España. Sirotti photo
"We're going into this race with GC ambitions for myself and Sepp", Jorgenson said. "We start with seven strong riders, most of whom have ridden together recently in preparation for the Tour. The competition is very strong with riders like Primoz Roglic, Remco Evenepoel and Juan Ayuso. The level will undoubtedly be high, but that will only be good after the last training block."
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Maassen confirms their ambitions. "We want to see how far we can go in the GC. Matteo and Sepp will be our leaders next week. At Paris-Nice, Matteo showed he can handle a week-long stage race well. Sepp's qualities have been known for a while. He has been indispensable in our recent successes in several grand tours. Last year's Vuelta was the crowning achievement of his career. Hopefully, he can also be an important part of any success this summer", the Dutchman said.
The team's focus for the 2024 Critérium du Dauphiné will be on the final stages. While the early stages suit hill specialists and attackers, the final three stages all have an uphill finish. "The finale is extremely tough. Nobody will be able to hide there. Even Wednesday's time trial will make a difference between the GC contenders", American Jorgenson says of the 35-kilometre test against the clock.
"We're going into this race with high expectations, but we also know that we won't be at our best until the Tour de France in about four weeks", Maassen said. "As a team management, we are curious to see how things go with the guys riding the Tour. We still don't know exactly which riders will be in the squad because we don't know if Jonas Vingegaard and Wout van Aert will be fit again. We have to wait and see. We just want to do as well as we can in this race. It's a race we'll have fond memories of", said the sports director, referring to the final victories for Team Visma | Lease a Bike by Roglic in 2022 and Vingegaard in 2023.
Jorgenson, for his part, can hardly wait. "I am looking forward to racing again. My main goal is this year's Tour de France; I am curious about my form. We will all do our best."
Dylan van Baarle, Steven Kruijswijk, Tiesj Benoot, Bart Lemmen and Koen Bouwman will join Jorgenson and Kuss for Team Visma | Lease a Bike in the French stage race this Sunday.
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The team posted this news:
UAE Team Emirates will set their sights on the Criterium du Dauphiné which runs from the 2 -9 June in Southern France. The team will also be in action in Belgium at the Brussels Cycling Classic on 2 June.
The race traditionally serves as a preparation race for the Tour de France, with the Emirati team there in search of glory with Juan Ayuso in the hunt for the GC .
Juan Ayuso after winning the 2024 Vuelta al Pais Vasco.
Ayuso: “Since Romandie I took a little bit of a break and after I have just been building up slowly again. We’ve been training really well as a group at altitude the past weeks and the atmosphere is good with lots of guys going well so we’re aiming to be up at the sharp end of the racing. The Dauphine now will be a good tester before the Tour de France. Obviously the big goal will be the Tour, and it will be my debut there too which is a dream. There are some nice months of racing coming ahead and we’re keen to get started.”
The team for the Dauphiné will be overseen by Sports Directors Andrej Hauptman (Slo) and Marco Marzano (Ita).
Critérium du Dauphiné [2.UWT] – 02-Jun-2024 / 09-Jun-2024
- Igor Arrieta (Spa)
- Juan Ayuso (Spa)
- Nils Politt (Ger)
- Pavel Sivakov (Fra)
- Marc Soler (Spa)
- Michael Vink (NZ)
- Tim Wellens (Bel)
Sports Director Tomas Gil (Ven) will lead the team in Belgium.
Brussels Cycling Classic [1.Pro] – 02-Jun-2024
- Filippo Baroncini (Ita)
- Sjoerd Bax (Ned)
- Alessandro Covi (Ita)
- Marc Hirschi (Swi)
- Alvaro Hodeg (Col)
- Ivo Oliveira (Por)
- Sebastian Molano (Col)
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Here’s the team’s news:
Israel-Premier Tech is lining up at Critérium du Dauphiné with a strong team and a clear goal to hunt for stage victories.
“The Critérium du Dauphiné is always a tough race”, sports director Daryl Impey explains. “Our goals are to hunt for stages but also to test our climbing group with some GC ambitions. We aim to make our own opportunities and achieve our potential.”
“We have two previous winners in our team which is a huge asset. This is the start of a very important second block for most of the guys racing in Dauphiné and I’m keen to be in the car with such a motivated bunch of riders.”
Combined, Jakob Fuglsang (2) and Chris Froome (3) have won the race overall no less than five times. Together with Derek Gee, Hugo Houle, Krists Neilands, Mason Hollyman and previous stage winner, Dylan Teuns, they make up the IPT squad for this year’s edition.
Jakob Fuglsang after winning the 2019 edition of the Critérium du Dauphiné. Sirotti photo
Froome says: “I’m happy to be back at Critérium du Dauphiné. This is a race where I have experienced highs and lows in my career but it has always been a race I have really enjoyed doing. I believe we have a strong team lining up this year with several cards to play and I’m looking forward to playing my part in what will hopefully be another successful race for the team.”
Fuglsang, whose victories came in the 2017 and 2019 editions, adds: “Having won it twice, Critérium du Dauphiné is obviously a special race to me. It is a race I’ve always liked and generally performed well in. The team has had a strong first part of the season and I hope we can continue the good streak here. I’m eager to get going.”
The race starts on Sunday, June 2, with a day for the sprinters and finishes the following Sunday, June 9, with the last of three mountain top finishes in a row.
IPT at the Critérium du Dauphiné :
Riders: Chris Froome (GBR), Jakob Fuglsang (DEN), Derek Gee (CAN), Mason Hollyman (GBR), Hugo Houle (CAN), Krists Neilands (LAT), Dylan Teuns (BEL)
Sports Directors: Daryl Impey (RSA), Pat McCarty (USA)
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