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Thursday, March 7, 2024

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2023 Tour de France | 2023 Giro d'Italia

I've been on a calendar, but I've never been on time. - Marilyn Monroe

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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 four reports

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

Here's the report from new GC leader Luke Plapp's Team Jayco-AlUla:

Australian champion Luke Plapp swapped the green and gold of his national champion’s jersey for yellow after moving into the race lead of Paris-Nice on stage four.

New GC leader Luke Plapp. Photo: Sprint Cycling

Plapp rode away from the group of favourites on the penultimate climb of the day, initially going solo. The Team Jayco AlUla rider gained around 15 seconds on the chasers before he was joined by Santiago Buitrago.

The pair worked well together and the elastic finally snapped going into the last climb, allowing the gap to grow out to an unbeatable size. While Buitrago had the legs on the toughest section of the final climb, Plapp didn’t panic.

The Australian paced his way up the climb of Mont Brouilly with a big prize in his sights. With the chasers still almost 40 seconds behind, Plapp had plenty of space to breathe as the line loomed into sight and he rode himself into the overall lead in his debut appearance at Paris-Nice. He now holds a 13-second lead over Buitrago into the overall classification.

Chris Harper makes it two Team Jayco AlUla riders in the top 10 in the GC. Harper finished within the group of favourites and is seventh overall at 46 seconds behind his teammate.

Luke Plapp (Yellow jersey)
“I really tried to race that last climb like a time trial and race it to the line and I think that gave me the best time possible rather than if I raced it and then blew up. It was awesome having Hayman in the back and the team were awesome today. I was at the back a bit today, but the boys got me up there when it mattered. I’m blown away by how it unfolded to be honest. It was quite a weird way that it all played out, but I am really happy.

"It’s been a nice start and hopefully we will have a sprint stage for Dylan as well. It’s really exciting. We have such a diverse team here that every day we’re here to win, whether it is a sprint stage, the TTT yesterday or today. It’s really good fun racing with the team.

"I think this is the first bit of rain I’ve had in about four months since I left Europe, let’s see what the weather is on Saturday. Hopefully it is sunny, but we’ll look towards the sprint tomorrow and then we’ll think about the weekend. This is more than I ever could have imagined and anything else now is a bonus. We’ll just take it day by day.”

Here's the Paris-Nice report from David Gaudu's Team Groupama-FDJ:

After getting unlucky weather during the team time trial, David Gaudu and his teammates hoped to move forward on Wednesday in stage 4 of Paris-Nice. Unfortunately, they weren’t much luckier towards Mont Brouilly. Right in the mix until the penultimate climb, the French leader was unfortunately left behind after crashing while removing his jacket. He then never managed to return and lost almost six minutes at the finish. The GC is now out of reach and the team will approach the rest of the week with new goals.

David Gaudu finished six minutes after winner Santiago Buitrago cross the line. Groupama-FDJ photo

Although the general classification started to establish on the team time trial, the first head-to-head fight between the contenders was planned this Wednesday on the 2024 “Race to the Sun”. The menu was quite demanding: seven classified climbs, including Mont Brouilly (3 km at 7.7%) twice, with a route featuring almost no flat metre. The last hundred kilometres were just made of ups and downs. Four riders were in the lead entering this second part of the race: Jasper De Buyst, Stefan Bissegger, Cristian Scaroni and Mathieu Burgaudeau. Then, climbs after climbs, the selection started to take place from the back of the bunch, led by the teammates of the yellow jersey Brandon McNulty. With about fifty kilometres to go, David Gaudu still had most of his teammates by his side, at the head of the pack. Right after, the riders tackled the first ascent of Mont Brouilly, which only sixty riders or so survived behind the last man from the break, Cristian Scaroni. In the meantime, the Groupama-FDJ leader could still rely on Kevin Geniets, Quentin Pacher but also the green jersey Laurence Pithie.

Shortly after passing the finish for the first time, the New Zealander also went to get four points at the intermediate sprint to strengthen his lead on the points classification. The peloton then headed towards the penultimate climb of the day, the Col du Fût d’Avenas-Les Chappes (5 Km at 7%), where David Gaudu seemed to be in control for a long time in the first ten positions. Unfortunately, while Santiago Buitrago and Luke Plapp went on the attack, the French climber was stopped by a crash, a bit more than a kilometre from the summit, and twenty-three from the finish.

“I made a rookie mistake, a teenager mistake even,” said David. “I took off my jacket, and when I wanted to throw it to an assistant on the side of the road, it got caught in my handlebars. I made a big mistake. I found myself on the ground, and a bit stunned at the time because another rider fell on me.” The Groupama-FDJ leader stood up as quickly as he could, and got going again with Quentin Pacher, still up there at this point of the race. “Everything was going well until this crash,” said Benoît Vaugrenard. “Then, it didn’t calm down because two riders had already gone away. We should have bridged across on the hardest part, but it was going too fast in front and Quentin was the only one pulling.” “Quentin tried to bring me back, but it was quite difficult because the peloton was also pulling downhill,” added David.

This is how, in just a few kilometres, David Gaudu lost almost a minute from the other GC contenders. Without hope of making it back in the final climb of Mont Brouilly, the Breton did not push and crossed the finish line six minutes after the winner. “We’re very disappointed,” said Benoît. “Besides, he was feeling pretty good today. We hope that the wheel of fortune will turn in the next few days because we have been unlucky for two days now.”

The only day’s satisfaction came from Laurence Pithie retaining the green jersey. He now has an eight-point lead over Mads Pedersen. “He’s going very well, we saw it again today,” Benoît added. “The next two days can suit him. I think he really has the ability to win a stage and we will do everything we can to help him do so. We also hope that the weekend’s stages will not be chopped off. David is now far in the overall, and if he recovers well, he can do something”. “Tomorrow, I will try to spend the calmest day possible,” concluded David. “The team will protect Laurence, then from Friday we will need to get going to try to win a stage.”

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

Matteo Jorgenson and Wilco Kelderman left a strong impression in the fourth stage of Paris-Nice. The two riders from Team Visma | Lease a Bike climbed with the best riders on the final climb and finished eighth and eleventh, respectively.

With seven categorized climbs and an uphill finish, the fourth stage promised to be an interesting one. After the last remaining breakaway rider was caught on the first climb of Mont Brouilly, Lucas Plapp and Santiago Buitrago took their chance to break away from the peloton.

The two steadily increased their lead and on the final climb of Mont Brouilly Buitrago proved to be the strongest. In the group with the other favorites, Jorgenson and Kelderman climbed with the best riders. The American eventually crossed the finish line in eighth place, Kelderman finished eleventh.

"A fine performance by Wilco and Matteo," sports director Frans Maassen said. "They were well in front on the final climb and held on strongly. We thought Matteo would be good, so this only confirms what we hoped for. We had to endure the race and I think the guys rode a good race."

According to the sports director, it was far from an easy day. "At the end there were only fifteen riders left, so that says it all." In the general classification, Jorgenson occupies eighth place, just under a minute behind the leader. "Our goal is to go for a good general classification. Tomorrow there is another chance to sprint with Olav Kooij and after that we will see what is still possible in the general classification."

Tirreno-Adriatico stage three reports

We posted the report from winner Phil Bauhaus' Team Baharin Victorious with the results.

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

Jonathan Milan’s eyes flashed with tenacity at the finish of today’s third stage of Tirreno-Adriatico, which finished in Gualdo Tadino. The Italian sprinter crossed the line in second place, having fought with Bauhaus (Bahrain-Victorious) until the very last meter.

Phil Bauhaus just beats Jonathan Milan for the stage win. Sirotti photo

The belief that he has more in the legs than second place is strong. Today’s stage saw Johnny among the protagonists, as well as the whole of Lidl-Trek, who did a great job to keep him in the front of the peloton in the most hectic moments. From the last mountain sprint (15km to the finish), Milan and his teammates made their determination to win clear. Johnny resisted the high pace set by the teams interested to cut the sprinters out of the game, and then faced the final thousand meters at full gas.

It’s well known that winning sprints are always a combination of several factors. Today, Milan lacked only the ideal position after the last corner, despite a great comeback. But, in the end, a second place is a worthy result and the best step on the way to win the next challenge.

The words of Jonathan Milan:
“The feeling was good and I faced the day really believing in the win. Honestly, I don’t have too many regrets about the result, I did my best. The team did a super job keeping me in the front from the start of the last climb until the last kilometer. From the flamme rouge onwards, it was a very hectic race. The finish was very tricky, not easy to face. Moreover, with wet asphalt.

"With hindsight, I could have managed my moves better in the final thousand meters, but considering the crashes happened just behind me, I’m glad I had the chance to battle with Bauhaus on the final straight. The only thing I lacked was the perfect position in the last corner. But with hindsight it’s all easier… Again, it was a good second place and a strong performance.

"I proved to myself the good feelings I had in the time trial. The condition is there, as are the legs to look beyond second place. That’s my takeaway from today’s stage. Now my mind is already on the next opportunity. I experience my first Tirreno-Adriatico day by day, especially because every day is a hard one. I still see good opportunities for us in the coming days, we will work to build on them and to fill the gap that we miss to finish the day on the first step of the podium.”

And here's the Tirreno-Adriatico report from Team Soudal Quick-Step:

The longest stage of the race travelled from Volterra, the site of several novels written by Valerio Massimo Manfredi, to Gualdo Tadino, a small town in Umbria with a troubled history, especially during the Antiquity and the early Middle Ages, when its presence on the Via Flaminia made it a target for many.

Rain ended up being the main difficulty of this 225km day, making for a low average speed until the final twenty kilometers, when the peloton decided to ramp up the pace. This poured led into many of the sprinters’ legs, who lost positions or were even left behind before the flamme rouge. A crash on a wet corner disrupted the finale, leaving only a handful of riders in the frame, and Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain Victorious) was the one who prevailed from that group.

The peloton races across the Italian countryside. Sirotti photo

First Soudal Quick-Step rider home was Kasper Asgreen, who made a jump of four places in the overall standings and is now separated from the top ten by just a couple of seconds. Tirreno-Adriatico continues Thursday with a stage for the baroudeurs finishing in Giulianova, but also the puncheurs could have a chance of featuring in the fight for victory.

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