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Monday, June 24, 2024
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2023 Tour de France | 2024 Giro d'Italia
They give you a round bat and they throw you a round ball and they tell you to hit it square. - Willie Stargell
Les Woodland's book Tour de France: The Inside Story - Making the World's Greatest Bicycle Race is available in print, Kindle eBook and 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
Here’s the report from De Lie’s Team Lotto Dstny:
Lotto Dstny has a Belgian champion in the house again. Arnaud De Lie sprinted impressively to the national title in Zottegem.
"I feel liberated, I really have no words for it," says an emotional Arnaud De Lie. "This is the most beautiful jersey in the peloton, and I get to wear it for a year. That's incredible. I really want to show off this jersey. Starting soon, next week, in the Tour de France."
Arnaud De Lie winning l'Eurometropole in 2023.
Lotto Dstny lined up with no less than 20 riders at the start of this Belgian championship, and it didn't go unnoticed. Florian Vermeersch - who made his return in Zottegem after his thigh bone fracture - and new father Victor Campenaerts were in the breakaway for almost the entire day. That had free rein for a long time, and only 50 kilometers from the finish did the race really start, thanks to yet another attack from Campenaerts. He took off with Quinten Hermans, and the duo was only caught 5 kilometers from the finish line.
"Then we knew it would come down to a sprint," says De Lie. "I stayed calm throughout. My legs felt good, but my head was in a good place too. When your teammates come up to you during the race and say you're still looking good, it gives you wings. They had complete confidence in me, and that means a lot. The team did an enormous amount of work, and then there was that impressive lead-out. I was on Milan Menten's wheel. At the moment he moved aside, you know: you just have to go. I gave it everything and saw no one around me at the finish… That's when I knew I had won."
The tricolor comes after a difficult spring for Arnaud De Lie. He had to miss a large part of the season after being diagnosed with Lyme disease. "I struggled a lot mentally, but at the same time, I drew a lot of strength from it. A great weight has been lifted from my shoulders. I'm going to enjoy this so much."
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Woods’ Team Israel-Premier Tech posted this report:
Mike Woods‘ palmarès is not short of high-quality victories: Tour de France and Vuelta a España stages, WorldTour wins at Tirreno and Romandie, and a couple of GC victories on there, too. On Saturday one more win was added to that list: aged 37, Woods won the Canadian road race championships for the first time in his career.
Michael Woods winning 2023 Tour de France stage nine. Sirotti photo
“I’m super proud to have won today and claim the national champion’s jersey,” he says. “To be wearing the maple leaf jersey for the next year is something that I’m really excited about.”
Woods crossed the line alongside IPT Academy rider and newly-crowned Canadian TT champion Pier-André Côté.
The 199.2-kilometer race in Saint-Georges split up in the first 45 minutes of racing, before Woods, Côté and Carson Miles (Team N’side) ultimately formed the race-winning selection. Côté went solo approximately 75 kilometers from the finish before Woods bridged across to him. The duo crossed the line together over 11 minutes ahead of Miles.
Woods adds: “I couldn’t have done it without the help of Pier-André, it was awesome to have him in the race. He was a star, he was super strong, and I wouldn’t have won without him. To win side by side with him was special.”
IPT Academy rider Luke Valenti placed seventh and was the fourth-highest under-23 finisher in the race.
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Their EF Education-EasyPost team sent me this:
Our riders raced their national championships across three continents this week. And today, on the last day of nationals, three of our riders earned the privilege of standing on the top step of the podium and pulling on a new jersey. Alberto Bettiol took the win in Italy, Rui Costa in Portugal, and Darren Rafferty in Ireland.
ITALY
Alberto Bettiol will wear the Italian tricolore jersey for the next year.
As Alberto crested the final climb of the day, he glanced over his shoulder and realized he was alone. He had unknowingly dropped the other riders in the breakaway.
Alberto Bettiol winning Milano-Torino earlier this year. Sirotti photo
“I didn’t expect to drop them because they were really strong. On the last lap, I just closed my eyes on the climb. I looked back, there was nobody, and I kept going,” he said.
When he had the finish line in his sight, Alberto knew the win was his. He began to high-five the crowd, savoring the moment: a Tuscan winning the national championship in Tuscany, just days ahead of the Tour de France visiting his home region.
“I am super happy to wear this jersey close to my hometown," he said. "It’s going to be a year full of emotion with this jersey around the world and especially starting next week in Florence for the Grand Départ of the Tour de France. I want to say thanks to my team…and all the team around me, my family, and a lot of friends were here today to support me. It’s something great. I think it’s one of the best days of my life from a cycling point of view.”
PORTUGAL
Rui Costa won his third elite road race national title today.
He knew the field, knew the course, and knew exactly which moves to follow. He joined the early breakaway and never again saw the peloton. As the kilometers ticked by, Rui and his breakaway companions shed one rider after another until it came down to a group of four. With the finish line coming at the crest of a 700 meter-long climb, Rui timed his attack to perfection. He crossed the line several bike lengths ahead of the runner up and celebrated with his fists in the air.
IRELAND
Minutes later Darren Rafferty took the Irish road race national championship.
Darren soloed to victory after spending the day in the breakaway. With 27 kilometers to go, he attacked the group. Just one rider was able to go with him and the two quickly opened a gap. Darren waited patiently until nine kilometers remained before he attacked one more time. He time trialed the finish line and took the victory by 16 seconds.
This is Darren’s first elite national title and his first victory in his rookie season. He adds this title to his resume which already includes two Under-23 time trial national championships, two junior road race national championships, and one junior time trial national championship.
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Here’s the report from Hayter’s Team INEOS Grenadiers:
Ethan Hayter finished off a superb team performance from the INEOS Grenadiers to claim victory at the British National Championship road race.
Hayter put in a well-judged ride to add a first road race gold to a pair of time trial national titles. The Brit had pushed clear on the roads around Saltburn, as part of a three-man group that went away in the second half of the race.
After fending off attacks from Max Walker (Astana Development), Hayter was able to out-kick Lewis Askey (Groupama-FDJ) on the final climb to win solo.
Connor Swift was part of a chasing group, and on the final lap the Yorkshireman pushed clear in a bid to bridge across. That allowed Hayter to sit on at times, giving him the tactical upper hand, with Swift eventually finishing fourth.
Josh Tarling came home seventh to make it three Grenadiers in the top 10, while Ben Swift was also incredibly active during a hard-fought race.
Ethan Hayter finishes 2024 Tour of Switzerland stage three. Sirotti photo
Ethan Hayter:
“It’s really special. It’s been quite a hard period – I’ve not actually won a race since I broke my collarbone for the second time last year. It’s really nice.
“There were about a hundred different groups and attacks, and that was the really hard part of the race, getting that right. As a team we rode really well. You can’t be in every move yourself but one of us was always there, and then you can use other teams. Then in the second half of the race I think I was always on the front foot and felt quite good. I just knew I had to be patient and pick and choose the times to go as everyone was looking at me a bit.
“One of the motorbikes with a chalkboard told me Connor Swift was coming across. You don’t really want to use the other guys like that sometimes but that’s bike racing and I had to do it. It worked well for us in the end. Connor trying to come across gave me that extra bit.”
Sunday also saw a number of other national championship road races taking place.
In Germany, Kim Heiduk took one of the best results of his career with third place in Bad Durrheim. In Italy, Filippo Ganna came close to a podium, finishing fourth after attacking out of the chasing group late on. Over in Spain, Oscar Rodriguez was the first Grenadier home in 12th.
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