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Monday, March 4, 2024

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2023 Tour de France | 2023 Giro d'Italia

I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed. - Michael Jordan

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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.

Current racing:

• March 3 - 10: Paris-Nice
• March 4 - 10: Tirreno-Adriatico

Upcoming racing:

• March 13: Danilith Nokere Koerse
• March 13: Milano-Torino
• March 14: GP de Denain
• March 15: Brendene Koksijde Classic
• March 16: Milano - Sanremo
• March 16: Classic Loire Atlantique

Latest completed racing:

• March 2: Strade Bianche
• February 28: Trofeo Laigueglia
• February 27: Le Samyn
• February 19 - 25: UAE Tour
• February 22 - 25: O Gran Camiño
• February 25: Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne
• February 25: Faun-Drôme Classic

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Paris-Nice stage one reports

We posted the race organizer's report with the results.

Here's the Paris-Nice report from stage winner Olav Kooij's Team Visma | Lease a Bike:

Olav Kooij has won the first stage of Paris - Nice. After a tough finale, the 22-year-old sprinter from Team Visma | Lease a Bike managed to beat Mads Pedersen with an ultimate effort. Because of his victory, Kooij becomes the first overall leader in the French stage race.

Olav Kooij takes the first stage. ASO photo

In the opening stage of the 82nd edition of the Race to the Sun, teams with ambitions for the general classification did not give three breakaway riders a big lead. With the hilly finale in sight, the favourites for the overall win showed themselves in a sprint for bonification seconds in Montainville. Team Visma | Lease a Bike leader Matteo Jorgenson took the full maximum of seconds, ahead of Remco Evenepoel and Egan Bernal.

After the fight for bonification seconds, the peloton rode towards the finish line in Les Mureaux. There Kooij, after perfect preparation by his teammates, chose Pedersen's wheel. With a clever final shot, the sprinter from Numansdorp managed to beat the former world champion. Kooij took his third win of the season and he became leader in the overall, points and youth classification. For Team Visma | Lease a Bike, it was already the tenth victory this season.

"This win was gratifying," Kooij responded afterwards. "We knew beforehand that a tough stage awaited us, but that didn't stop us from giving it our all. I was excellently supported by the team today. It was hard on the final hills, but it became clear that we were going to sprint for the win with a depleted group. It was close at the end, but I am happy to win straight away. Tomorrow normally follows another opportunity for the sprinters, so we will have a good chance to defend the yellow jersey."

Here's the Paris-Nice report from second-place Mads Pedersen's Team Lidl-Trek:

After an exceptional start to the season, with six wins in eight days of racing on French soil, Mads Pedersen came to Paris-Nice looking to add to that tally. The former World Champion is known for his exceptional ability in uphill sprints so it was no surprise that he was one of the big favorites for the win. Aware of this, Lidl-Trek assumed responsibility to keep the three-man breakaway in check, assigning ‘El Tractor’ Tim Declercq to pull, along with Visma Lease a Bike.

With the peloton caught, Jorgensen (Visma) and Evenepoel (Soudal Quickstep) attacked on an uphill, their eyes on the time bonus available at the intermediate sprint at Montainville. Whilst several top sprinters were dropped due to the hard pace being set, Mads Pedersen was able to remain close to the front of the race along with Mattias Skjelmose and Jasper Stuyven. The group arrived at the final kilometer together after some late attacks were caught, and Stuyven positioned Pedersen right at the front. Pedersen launched his sprint, taking the final bend in the lead, but with 150 meters still to cover he was pipped to the line by a fast Olav Kooij (Visma). Not far behind, Mattias Skjelmose finished in 8th, maintaining the same time to start his GC bid in the right way.

This view shows how close it was between Pedersen (left) and Kooij.

In Mads’ words:
"It turned out quite different to our plan. We thought it would be more of bunch sprint. In the end we were still 50-60 guys for the sprint but I would say 20 of those were just coming back in the last kilometers. When the GC guys opened for the bonification at 15km to go, the race was on and it was all about staying in the front. It was good that me, Skjelly and Jasper were still in the group so we didn’t have to fight to come back.

"I wouldn’t say I was under control when Remco attacked, it was pretty hard and I had to dig deep for it, but I was one of the few sprinters who was there still in the full front and didn’t have to fight to come back, which is a good feeling. As always, the boys did a great job.

"In the end I was beaten by a faster guy and that’s how it is. Ideally I would have been able to open the sprint 50-100 meters later and then I believe I would have won. It is what it is, the shape is still there. It was hard racing in the last 15km, so that’s good."

Third-place Laurence Pithie's Team Groupama-FDJ psoted this:

The 82nd edition of Paris-Nice opened on Sunday all around Les Mureaux and the first stage ended as expected with a sprint. However, the peloton was not complete after a tough final, and Laurence Pithie took full advantage of it to join the sprint and claim an excellent third place behind Olav Kooij and Mads Pedersen, two of the day’s main favorites. This is the tenth top-10 in thirteen days of racing this season for the New Zealander.

Stage one begins. ASO photo

Like in recent years, the “Race to the Sun” wanted action from the start on its 2024 edition. The 157-kilometre course around Les Mureaux, made of two different loops, therefore offered a nice terrain to spice up the final of the first stage on Sunday. Two categorized climbs and a 700-metre hill averaging 8% featured in the last forty kilometers, which was enough to give ideas to some. Others, on the other hand, thought that this first stage could represent an opportunity through the morning breakaway. This is why Stefan Bisseger, Jonas Rutsch (EF Education-Easypost) and Mathieu Burgaudeau (TotalEnergies) went from the first kilometre.

Yet, the peloton took no risks and the trio didn’t get to hope that much. The gap reached a maximum of three minutes but was already reduced to one minute approaching the last fifty kilometers. “We knew it was going to be nervous, but we were lucky that the weather was rather mild with little wind and a dry road,” explained Benoît Vaugrenard. The Groupama-FDJ squad still remained and constantly at the front of the peloton, behind Clément Russo, Sam Watson or Sven-Erik Bystrom. The day’s breakaway was caught on the côte de Bazemont almost forty kilometres from the finish, then the peloton headed towards the Montainville bonus sprint, located at the top of a hill.

The bunch became even more nervous getting to this key point, where Matteo Jorgenson and Remco Evenepoel went to grab a few bonus seconds before the Belgian put a strong acceleration at the top. A handful of riders broke away, but the peloton partly got back together at the bottom of the côte de Herbeville (2.6 km at 5%), the day’s last climb located twelve kilometres from the line. The hard pace caused a selection from the back, while Remco Evenepoel briefly went for it again.

Around fifty riders eventually came back together to head towards the line, and David Gaudu, Laurence Pithie, Quentin Pacher and Kevin Geniets were among them. “We knew it would be nervous on the last two climbs,” said Benoît. “The guys were attentive; they were up there. David and Laurence were protected, then Quentin and Kevin had to follow the potential moves”. “There was quite a bit of stress in the peloton, always fighting and moving up for positioning,” explained Laurence. “I entered the bottom of the climbs in front with David, so it was really good.” In the last ten kilometres, Anthony Turgis made an attempt to surprise the peloton, but the latter quickly organized and only gave him a fifteen-second gap.

“Once we got over the climbs, the idea was to go for Laurence because we know that this type of finish suits him well,” added Benoît, referring to the slightly uphill last kilometre. “Coming to the finish, Kevin did a great job keeping me in front,” added the Kiwi. While Turgis was caught, the Luxembourger gave him a hand until the last two kilometres, then Laurence Pithie found himself on his own but never left the first fifteen positions. “I got pushed back a bit with one kilometre to go, as it was really hectic coming into the corners,” he said. “But with about 600 metres I still had good legs and was able to accelerate and pass a few riders on the inside onto a corner. From there, I had good positioning behind the Intermarché-Wanty rider and I was even able to move up into Kooij’s wheel before the final corner.”

In third position after the last curve, Laurence Pithie remained at this place during the last 150 metres to score a remarkable podium for his very first Paris-Nice. “I was able to do a nice sprint, and I can be satisfied,” he said. “I am beaten by two of the world’s best riders. It’s good to show my level again in this type of finish. It’s my first WorldTour stage race in Europe, so starting it with a podium is definitely a nice start.” “It’s a good third place and I think we can be satisfied with it,” concluded Benoît. “He made no mistakes, he did everything right, so it’s a great start to Paris-Nice for us.”

David Gaudu, Quentin Pacher and Kevin Geniets finished in the same time as Laurence Pithie while a more traditional sprint is expected on Monday in Montargis.

And here's the Paris-Nice report from Remco Evenepoel's Team Soudal Quick-Step:

Remco Evenepoel wasted no time in making his presence felt at the first big stage race of the season, Paris-Nice, which got underway with an undulating stage around Les Mureaux, a small town lying not far from the country’s capital.

Victorious in dominant fashion at the Figueira Champions Classic and the Volta ao Algarve last month, the 24-year-old moved into the spotlight inside the final twenty kilometers, when he responded to an acceleration of another rider and kept powering on a small unclassified climb, taking four bonus seconds at the intermediate sprint in Montainville. A quick glance over his shoulder convinced Evenepoel to continue, as a small group joined him, until the foot of the final climb, where the peloton eventually bridged across.

Remco Evenepoel (left) during stage one. ASO photo

The Belgian Champion was prominent again there, responding to an attack just 500 meters from the top before his Soudal Quick-Step teammates came back on the descent and made sure of keeping things together. The stage came down to a reduced bunch sprint won by Olav Kooij (Visma-Lease a Bike), while Remco concluded in the main group and now sits in fifth place overall, thanks to the bonifications he scored Sunday afternoon.

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