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Tuesday, March 5, 2024

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2023 Tour de France | 2023 Giro d'Italia

Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity. - Martin Luther King, Jr.

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Bill & Carol McGann's book The Story of the Tour de France, 2021: The Little Cannibal Dominates is available in both Kindle eBook & 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 two reports

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

New GC leader Laurence Pithie's Team Groupama-FDJ posted this report:

The days go by, and Laurence Pithie continues to impress. After his third place in the opening stage of Paris-Nice, the young New Zealander did even better on Monday despite a less tiring race. Thanks to a great positioning and a strong sprint, the winner of the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Race took second place in Montargis behind Arvid De Kleijn. Even better, and to his great surprise, he actually rose to first place in the general classification of “the Race to the Sun”. He will therefore wear the famous yellow jersey on the team time trial on Tuesday. A true confirmation of an amazing start to the season.

Laurence Pithie is now in yellow. ASO photo

If the pure sprinters wanted to get something out of Paris-Nice, it was probably the day or never on Monday. Between Thoiry and Montargis, no difficulty stood on the riders’ route, which was 177 kilometres long. This also led to a quite strange racing scenario, with no real breakaway. Mathieu Burgaudeau and Jonas Rutsch first fought for the KOM points, Pascal Eenkhoorn attempted a solo escape without much conviction, and the peloton rode at an easy pace for a good part of the day.

“On paper, the stage suited us much less than yesterday, because we know that Laurence likes to sprint when the stage is tough beforehand,” explained Benoît Vaugrenard. “Due to the weather conditions, it wasn’t so today. The weather was nice and there was a 3/4 front wind all day. There wasn’t any proper racing, so a lot of riders were still fresh in the final.” More than a hundred kilometres from the finish, the peloton already caught the fugitives, and then covered the last two hours of the race all together, without any notable event. After a slight moment of agitation during the intermediate sprint with 45 kilometres to go, the tension remained reasonable before the last ten kilometers, which were obviously much more nervous.

The long-awaited sprint began to set up, and the fight for position turned out to be quite harsh. “The goal was obviously to sprint with Laurence, and we had a plan,” explained Benoît. “There was a long straight as we approached the finish, and we knew we had to find the right timing and be placed when we needed to. With the headwind, it could be a lottery.”

“It was a pretty hectic final few kilometres,” Laurence Pithie also testified. “You had all the trains on this wide road. It was hard to pick which side to go on to be honest. I didn’t have so many teammates, but they really all found me at the right time, one by one, to move me up. When I came back to the left, I managed to find Sven-Erik and he did a great job keeping me in the front at a very crucial moment. He was able to put me in a good position, and once we came through that corner with 1800 metres to go, I was in good position behind the Tudor train. From there it was just about staying calm and waiting for the right moment.” Clear-minded and skilful, the Kiwi perfectly made his way through the forefront like the day before. “He comes from the track, he has a lot of background for positioning,” added Benoît. “We feel it and we see it. Already yesterday, he made no mistakes. Even today, he makes no mistakes. He knows how to get the timing right.”

In the last kilometre, the door closed for a moment for the young New Zealander, but he once again managed to find the opening. “When Visma-Lease a Bike came back up, I had to brake a little, but I still managed to maintain most of my speed,” said Laurence. Then positioned in the wheel of Arvid De Kleijn, the young rider from Groupama-FDJ was able to make his sprint in the final straight when the Dutchman launched. “He was super fast, and I couldn’t really come out of his wheel,” he confessed. “Then, it was just about keeping the others behind me.” Which he did pretty well to claim a superb second place, his second podium in two days. “Of course, you’re always fighting for the win, and it’s a bit disappointing to come second, but De Kleijn was very fast today, and he had a super great lead-out, so it was hard to beat him”, he added. “De Kleijn isn’t just anybody,” said Benoît. “Laurence made no mistake. We thought it was going to be harder for him today, knowing that there is a big field of sprinters, but he still managed to deliver a nice sprint. He blows us away race after race.” What’s more, the New Zealander didn’t actually lose everything on Monday.

After a few confusing moments at the finish, he was called to the official podium to put on… the yellow jersey! “It wasn’t clear for a while, actually,” he smiled. “I was trying to do the math in my head on the way back, but I wasn’t sure who got the bonus seconds during the stage.” At the end of the day, Mads Pedersen, Olav Kooij and himself all actually tallied ten bonus seconds. “We didn’t pay attention to it at all at first, because we were focused on the sprint and the second place, then we started to calculate the seconds in the car,” Benoît said. “The two who were in front of him yesterday were not there today, and so it came down to the addition of places.” This is how, thanks to his two consecutive podiums, the New Zealander put on the yellow jersey for Paris-Nice. “The joy of wearing the jersey makes up a bit for the disappointment of second place,” confessed Benoît. “It’s his first WorldTour stage race in Europe, it’s important for him, and for us.”

“I definitely wasn’t expecting that this morning,” Laurence said. “I’m super happy to be wearing the yellow jersey at such a prestigious race. This season just keeps getting better. I definitely surprise myself. It’s really high level here, and I take each stage as a new experience. It’s great learning for the future.”

A learning made of yellow, which he will try to enjoy on Tuesday over the twenty-seven kilometers of the decisive team time trial. “It will be a really hard day, but we’ll put everything on the line, and we’ll try to keep the jersey and do a good time for David,” he said. “He will be wearing yellow tomorrow, and these are always important moments in a rider’s career,” Benoît concluded. “We trained for this time trial. We certainly don’t have Stefan Küng as last year, but we know that in a team time trial you need a very united team. It’s difficult to say what position we can achieve, but we hope that everyone will have a good day. With the motivation boost of Laurence’s yellow jersey, we are able to achieve a very good time.” Like last year, the time will be taken on the first rider to cross the line.

Here's the Paris-Nice stage two report from third-place Dylan Groenewegen's Team Jayco AlUla:

Dylan Groenewegen negotiated his way through a technical and challenging finale of stage two of Paris-Nice to score his third stage race podium of the season.

Arvid De Kleijn takes the stage win. ASO photo

Following the constant attacking that happened on the opening day of the race, Monday’s ride was a much more sedate affair. An early breakaway was reeled in by the determined peloton with still over 160 kilometres to the finish.

Team Jayco AlUla kept their cool in the bunch, rallying around Groenewegen to keep him safe for what looked like an inevitable sprint.

An unfortunate mechanical issue for his leadout man Luka Mezgec in the final kilometre meant that Groenewegen had to surf wheels through the peloton in the chaotic dash for the line. The Dutchman scythed his way to the front and rode to a solid third place finish.

The podium finish left Groenewegen wanting more with another chance coming for the fast men later in the week.

Dylan Groenewegen (3rd):
“We stayed, for a really long time, well together but then there was almost a crash in the bunch going into a corner with 10km to go as we went into the small roads. We lost each other a little bit but then we found each other with four kilometres to go. There was an important point with the roundabouts and that was where we found each other. That was really good. Mezgec brought me to the front really quickly, but his chain dropped off, so I was a bit stuck.

"Now we are a little disappointed because we had a feeling more was possible today. You always need to believe in another chance this week so maybe stage five can be one. It will be a hard one, but we will try it again.”

Mathew Hayman (Sport Director):
“The stage was obviously planned for crosswinds and the weather that we’ve had the last four days in Paris (grey and raining), and surprisingly it was sunny and not a lot of wind. There are a lot of teams with sprinters and a lot of teams looking for the general classification with a team time trial on Tuesday so that led to the stage that became a bit of a procession.

“When you have a stage like that, it becomes really hectic in the final and there were a lot of fresh legs to do the last four kilometres. We were close there but we didn’t quite get the timing right going into the last 1.5 kilometres. Dylan is moving pretty well, though, and we have another sprint opportunity with Dylan later in the week. Going into the team time trial, I think we also have a solid team for that.”

Olav Kooij's Team Visma | Lease a Bike posted this Paris-Nice report:

Olav Kooij has been unable to keep his leader's jersey in Paris-Nice. The 22-year-old sprinter from Team Visma | Lease a Bike was unable to contest the sprint in the second stage.

The second stage took the riders on an almost flat 179-kilometer course. Three riders briefly led the race, but it soon became clear that the sprinters' teams had set their sights on a bunch sprint. Team Visma | Lease a Bike took control and tried to put Kooij in a position to sprint for the win.

Kooij, who won the first stage on Sunday, got caught up in the finale and missed out on a good result. Arvid de Kleijn sprinted to victory. "The goal was to go for the win today, but unfortunately things turned out differently. Olav lost the wheel of Edoardo Affini and then it was over," Frans Maassen said.

Midway throgh the stage. ASO photo

According to the sport director, it was a stage to forget soon. "It was a long day for the peloton. Nobody wanted to be in the breakaway and in the end we kept the pace going. Unfortunately Olav didn't get to sprint."

Tomorrow a team time trial is scheduled where Team Visma | Lease a Bike will go for the highest possible result. "We are going to prepare as well as we can and then we are going to see what we can do. We are super motivated for this TTT."

Here's the Paris-Nice report from Team Soudal Quick-Step:

Many were expecting strong winds and possibly echelons at the start of the second stage, but what they got in the end was one of the most quiet and uneventful stages in recent memory. The first attacks came from the gun, but the two riders that got away managed to stay up the road for some odd 15 kilometers before being reeled in.

A bit later, another rider tried his chance and opened a 40-second gap before the peloton brought him back. From that moment on, the leg between Thoiry and Montargis was a long and slow procession, which came to life only in the final ten kilometers. A series of roundabouts made things more nervous, but in the end a bunch sprint decided the winner, who was Arvid de Kleijn (Tudor Pro Cycling).

Remco Evenepoel came home with the peloton and remained fifth in the general classification ahead of the team time trial in Auxerre, which promises to reshuffle the standings and create some significant gaps between the yellow jersey contenders.

Tirreno-Adriatico stage one reports

We posted the report from stage winner Juan Ayuso's UAE Team Emirates with the results.

Here's the report from third-place Jonathan Milan's Team Lidl-Trek:

Waiting for the sprints, Johnny Milan had a good debut in his first experience of the Race of the Two Seas, finishing third in the opening individual time trial in Camaiore

Jonathan Milan riding to third place. Lidl-Trek photo

The declared goal of Jonathan Milan for Tirreno-Adriatico is to fight for success in the sprints, his specialty. It was, therefore, logical to expect that today, in the opening and super fast 10-kilometer ITT in Camaiore, the spotlight was not on him. But Johnny still managed to find himself under it, taking third, 12 seconds behind Ayuso (UAE) and 11 seconds behind Ganna (Ineos).

Today’s result is the best ITT result in his career, but it should come as no surprise. In 2020, Milan won the Italian TT U23 championships, but it’s more his results on track that are the strongest indication of his ability in these intense types efforts, most of all the Olympic title in team pursuit from Tokyo 2021.

Today, on the route along the Tyrrhenian Sea, Milan wanted to test himself, pushing as hard as he could to find confirmation of his condition in view of the sprints. The result was more than satisfying, with the Italian cover the 10km course at an average speed of 51.7 km/h and, as a result, proving that he is ready for the challenge of going up against the other fast wheels of the Tirreno-Adriatico peloton.

Johnny’s impressions:
This is a good way to start the race and to be sure that I have put the gastrointestinal problems suffered at Opening Weekend behind me. After a couple of days of rest and recovery, I worked to refine my condition once again to be ready for Tirreno-Adriatico. Today, came an encouraging response. I’m happy.

Today felt like it was a crescendo. Discreet in the morning ride, good in the warm-up and even better in the race. I pushed hard, as much as possible. Considering the distance and how fast the course was, I can’t say I raced to win it, but I thought a little about it. In the end, yes, I am really happy with the result.

It was an intense and useful effort ahead of the stages that suit me, starting from tomorrow. It will be a high-adrenaline challenge, given the competitors I’ll have to battle with. It will be very stimulating, but what matters most to me is knowing that I can face it with the support of a strong and well-equipped lead out. I am optimistic that we can do well.

Here's the Tirreno-Adriatico report from Ethan Vernon's Team Israel-Premier Tech:

After sprinting to his first win of 2024 at the Tour des Alpes – Maritimes two weeks ago, Ethan Vernon showed his versatility with a strong performance against the clock on the opening day of Tirreno – Adriatico.

Here's Ethan Vernon's teammate Chris Froome riding the time trial. Sirotti photo

The Brit tackled the 10-kilometer flat time trial course in Lido di Camaoire on his Factor HANZŌ to stop the clock at 11:37 and was initially awarded third place, before dropping one place in the official results, which sees him sitting amongst some of the best time trialists in the peloton.

“I felt really good actually,” said an elated Vernon at the finish. “I spent quite a bit of time in the wind tunnel on this bike in the winter, optimizing different things and obviously working really hard on the track ahead of the Olympics. So it’s nice to show that the hard work has paid off on the track and also with the time trial training.”

While short and sharp prologues are more suited to Vernon, as seen with his Deutschland Tour prologue win in 2023, Vernon liked the surprisingly technical course in Lido di Camaoire.

“It wasn’t a straight forward time trial. It looked it on paper because it was out an out and back time trial but the little 90-degree corners on and off the course were actually really tight which really killed the speed. So it was a very on and off effort, it wasn’t a standard British time trial where you flatline the pace but it was a good course. I prefer it like that as there’s a bit more to it, a bit more than just power with a bit of technical ability too.”

With stage 2 of Tirreno – Adriatico expected to be a bunch sprint, Vernon will have another chance to show his form in Italy.

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