Bicycle Racing News and Opinion,
Sunday, June 23, 2024
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2023 Tour de France | 2024 Giro d'Italia
A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on. - Winston Churchill
Les Woodland's book Cycling's 50 Triumphs and Tragedies: The rise and fall of bicycle racing's champions is available in print, Kindle eBook & audiobook versions. To get your copy, just click on the Amazon link on the right.
Current racing:
- June 9 - 26: Many National Championships
Upcoming racing:
- June 29 - July 21: Tour de France
- July 27 - August 11: Olympic cycling
Latest completed racing:
- 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
UAE Team Emirates posted this report:
Four gold medals, 1 silver and 4 bronze for Emirati riders
There was flurry of medals for UAE Team Emirates in the Individual Time Trial discipline this week as no fewer than 9 riders came away with medals from their countries respective national championships.
2024 German time trial champion Nils Politt racing in stage four of this year's Critérium du Dauphiné. Sirotti photo
It’s the largest ever medal haul for the team at time trial championships and brings the number of victories for the year up to 47.
- Tim Wellens, Belgium, Gold
- Nils Politt, Germany, Gold
- Felix Grossschartner, Austria, Gold
- Antonio Morgado, Portugal, Gold
- Ivo Oliveira, Portugal, Silver
- Sjoerd Bax, Netherlands, Bronze
- Jan Christen, Switzerland, Bronze
- Filippo Baroncini, Italy, Bronze
- Mikkel Bjerg, Denmark, Bronze
Some of the riders will now tackle the road races which will take place over the weekend, as others will opt to rest ahead of other big objectives such as the Tour de France which gets underway in Florence, Italy on Saturday June 29.
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Here’s the post from Asgreen's Team Soudal Quick-Step:
Kasper Asgreen was the last Soudal Quick-Step rider in action at this week’s National ITT Championships, and was keen on putting in a strong effort in Herning, where he lined out as the defending champion of the discipline.
New Danish time trial champion Mattias Skjelmose finishing stage 8 of the 2024 Tour of Switzerland. Sirotti photo
The course was held over a 41.3km mainly flat course, and Kasper was the last rider to leave the start house. Top ten at the Belgium Tour last week, the 29-year-old left everything out there on his way to another top-three finish at the ITT Nationals, which were won by Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek) after the disqualification of Johan Price-Pejtersen (Bahrain-Victorious). Runner-up, only 24 seconds behind Skjelmose, meant that Asgreen took his seventh medal in as many participations at this race, a record since the event is being held in Denmark.
Asgreen’s Nationals will continue on Sunday, when he’ll be in action in the 218.6km road race, where he’ll be joined by Soudal Quick-Step teammate Casper Pedersen.
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Here’s the report from Kogut’s Team Israel-Premier Tech:
Oded Kogut was crowned the new Israeli road race champion in Beit Guvrin today, one day after successfully defending his time trial title.
The 23-year-old sprinter from Haifa won the title this morning, finishing ahead of two of his Israel – Premier Tech teammates, the outgoing champion Itamar Einhorn and Rotem Tene.
The three broke away from their rivals at the start of the race, which consisted of six laps (with a total race distance a little over 150 km) and started at 7am.
The peloton behind had no chance nor motivation to chase the strong trio, who enjoyed a full eight-minute gap as they worked harmoniously, distributing their energy among them and taking turns leading to ensure the peloton could not threaten them.
In the end, an extraordinary scene developed as the three crossed the finish line together, holding hands, in a display of unity and cooperation, making sure their teammate and breakaway companion, Kogut, crossed the finish line first and was crowned the new champion. Einhorn placed second, Tene third.
The finish to the 2024 Israeli road championships.
Kogut explained the gesture: “We all felt it was a moment of unity. Itamar was the champion for the past two years – and he is also the one representing us at the Paris Olympics, where I was one of the riders who helped him earn points. For him, it was right to make the gesture for me because, in the end, we ensured that a member of the team won and earned points for the team. We support each other, and I greatly appreciate that.
“Even today, we worked hard together in the breakaway and strived to achieve this victory. And for me, standing on the podium together and calling for the release of the hostages – the most important thing for all of Israel – is the truly emotional moment.”
In the under-23 race, a new winner was also crowned: Matar Peretz from IPT’s young Academy team. The 18-year-old joined the young team only this year but delivered an excellent race today. It was an impressive team ride as Imry Faingezicht (who also successfully defended his under-23 time trial title on Friday), Aviv Bental, and Guy Tahar worked to isolate their rivals before the finish. Peretz then overcame Faingezicht to take the biggest win of his career to date.
The championship was held in the shadow of the tragic loss of rider Guy Timor, who was killed in a car accident by a reckless driver while riding his bike. The entire championship was dedicated to his memory. IPT owner Sylvan Adams participated in the memorial ceremony for Timor and wore a shirt commemorating his name.
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Team dsm-firmenich PostNL sent me this report:
Within ten minutes, Franziska Koch and Juliette Labous won the national road races in Germany and France for Team dsm-firmenich PostNL, crowning themselves the national champions of their respective countries.
Juliette Labous time trialing at the 2021 World championships. Sirotti photo
In Germany, the race took place on a hilly parcours between Donaueschingen and Bad Dürrheim this afternoon. As the race progressed, heavy rain began, making it even harder for the riders. On one of the final climbs of the day, Franziska Koch managed to jump into a select group of three who fought for the win in the end. Despite some attacks in the final kilometers, the race came down to a sprint to decide the new German champion. Franziska launched her sprint early, caught her competitors by surprise, and won her first German road title as a professional.
Juliette Labous and her teammate Eglantine Rayer showed a strong performance in the 125.8-kilometer race between Avranches and Saint-Martin-de-Landelles. With ten kilometers to go, Labous attacked with two other riders to vie for victory. She dropped one of her competitors on the final climb before sprinting to her first road title in a nail-biting finish.
After her win, Koch said: “It was a tough race, and I tried to play it smart and use my energy at the right moments. I knew where Liane [Lippert] would attack and just rode at my own pace on the climb. The three of us came back together and decided to ride together towards the finish. There were a few attacks, but the parcours didn’t really favour an attack to get away. On the finishing straight, I launched my sprint early with 300 meters to go and could hold the gap until the line. I am unbelievably happy with the win; it’s a dream come true.”
Labous said about her title: “Today was the perfect race for me, I would say. In the first part, I didn’t feel so good, but I knew from my trainer that this could happen since I was not fully recovered from Suisse yet, but that I would feel better at the end, which was the case. I think Eglantine and I raced really well tactically, and she went all in to chase down a dangerous move. It came back together, and then it was all up to me. In the end, I bridged to Jade Wiel together with Gladys Verhulst-Wild. This was not an easy situation to handle, but I just kept believing until the end because I knew I could do it and went all out to the finish line. This title means a lot as I am not winning a lot of races, but I am really proud to wear this national jersey when racing with the team in the next races.”
Team EF Education-EasyPost issues statement regarding Andrea Piccolo
The team sent me this:
Team statement on Andrea Piccolo
EF Pro Cycling has terminated Andrea Piccolo’s contract, effective immediately. Piccolo was suspended internally without pay in March after taking a sleeping aid that was not approved by the team, though legal. The team reported the usage to the UCI immediately, but due to legal reasons surrounding the UCI standard rider contract, we were unable to terminate his contract at the time. After serving his suspension, he returned to competition at the Giro d’Italia. On June 21, Piccolo was stopped by Italian authorities upon entering the country on suspicion of transporting human growth hormone. Our organization will cooperate fully with any investigation into the matter, and we encourage Andrea to be open and truthful with anti-doping authorities.
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