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Monday, March 11, 2024
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2023 Tour de France | 2023 Giro d'Italia
I believe in censorship. I made a fortune out of it. - Mae West
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.
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 3 - 10: Paris-Nice
- March 4 - 10: Tirreno-Adriatico
- 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
We posted the race organizer's report with the results.
Here's the report from stage eight winner Remco Evenepoel's Team Soudal Quick-Step:
Remco Evenepoel came at the start of Paris-Nice with the goal of scoring a victory and finishing on the podium, and after eight stages, he achieved more than he had hoped for last Sunday, when the 82nd edition got underway from Les Mureaux.
Remco Evenepoel wins stage eight. ASO photo
The final stage, taking place around the beautiful city of Nice – which will host also the final day of the Tour de France – was a short one, but comprised six climbs that made it a relentless affair since the start: Côte de Levens, Côte de Châteauneuf, Côte de Berre-les-Alpes, Côte de Peille, Col d’Èze and Col des Quatre-Chemins. It was on the fourth of these ascents that Remco single-handedly blew up the race the moment decided to make his move as soon as the road went up. A few minutes later, he attacked again, and after the others came back, he threw in another brutal acceleration to which only two other riders could respond.
Together with Matteo Jorgenson (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Aleksandr Vlasov (Bora-hansgrohe), the Belgian Champion quickly gaped the yellow jersey and opened what soon became an insurmountable margin. Even after dispatching most of the general classification men, Remco continued to be the main engine of the newly-formed group, pulling relentlessly on both the descent and the climbs, and moving into second place on the virtual classification of the “Race to the Sun”.
Later, on the Col de Quatre-Chemins, the 24-year-old set a searing tempo that distanced Vlasov on the stinging double-digit gradients of this first-category climb, and didn’t stop from setting the pace also on the wet descent leading to the Promenade des Anglais. On the finishing straight, Evenepoel kicked out 150 meters from the line and scored his first pro victory on French soil, which elevated him to second in the overall ranking.
“When we arrived with that small group on Peille, I just said to myself I will try a couple of all-out attacks and see what would happen. I think I put a lot of fatigue in the legs of the other riders, but I too suffered a bit as we went over the top of the climb. Despite this and the tricky roads, I kept throwing in everything I had today and I’m delighted with this victory, as the stage in Nice is a beautiful one to win”, said Remco, whose success in Nice landed him the points and mountains jerseys.
“We continued to increase our gap, and when I realised that the GC wasn’t reachable anymore, I changed my strategy and focused on my sprint. I am happy with this win and with being in the top three after a hard week of racing. The level here was really high, so I should be satisfied with this result”, added Evenepoel, who became the youngest Belgian rider in 26 years to finish on the podium of Paris-Nice. “We also made some mistakes here, but at the same time we learned from these and we will make sure of not repeating them in the future. I had a strong team around me and I’m confident ahead of my next race with the Soudal Quick-Step boys, the Basque Country.”
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Here's the Paris-Nice report from GC winner Matteo Jorgenson's Team Visma | Lease a bike:
Matteo Jorgenson has won the 82nd edition of Paris - Nice. The American rider of Team Visma | Lease a Bike took over the leader's jersey from Brandon McNulty after a strong final stage. Despite attempts by Remco Evenepoel, the 24-year-old American did not budge on his way to Nice.
2024 Paris-Nice winner Matteo Jorgensen.
The final stage had a lot in store for the peloton with no less than six climbs in the French coastal region. Jorgenson parried all attacks along the way and, together with Evenepoel and Aleksandr Vlasov, was able to drop the remaining competition. Just so close to his home, Jorgenson rode seemingly effortlessly to victory. At the finish line, the explosive Evenepoel was allowed to win the stage, but the overall victory, after a strong week in the French stage race, went to the American rider of Team Visma | Lease a Bike.
Afterwards, the winner of the Race to the Sun was extremely happy. "I'm shaking on my legs," were the first words of the visibly emotional American. "This victory means so much to me. To be honest, I never thought for even a second that I could win a WorldTour stage race. However, a lot has changed this year with my move to Team Visma | Lease a Bike. In every detail and on every aspect I can point out a difference. This is a special milestone in my life. It still has to sink in, because I don't quite realize it yet. I am definitely going to enjoy it, but I will keep both feet on the ground."
"Last night I could barely catch any sleep. To be honest, I was quite nervous," Jorgenson continued about the run-up to the crucial final day. "For the first time in my life I felt pressure. It was a magical moment to feel so strong today, alongside a great champion like Evenepoel. Beforehand I told the guys on the bus that in my opinion there were three key moments in the course. At all three moments we were perfectly positioned as a team. I would like to thank the team from the bottom of my heart for all the work in the past week. I would also like to turn to our managing director Richard Plugge and sports director Merijn Zeeman. They not only brought me to the team, but also gave me the confidence to start as the leader in Paris-Nice immediately in my first year with the team. This is a very special victory. And that too so close to where I live. I'm not going to forget this for the rest of my life."
The final victory of Matty J, as Jorgenson's nickname goes, is part of a special piece of cycling history. Never before has a cycling team won both Paris - Nice and Tirreno - Adriatico in the same year. With Jorgenson's first win of the season, Team Visma | Lease a Bike now has fifteen wins in 2024.
And here's the Paris-Nice report from stage eight third-place Aleksandr Vlasov's Team Bora-hansgrohe:
On the last stage of Paris-Nice, the peloton took to the start line in Nice under sunshine instead of the expected rain. Three kilometers before the summit of the Côte de Peilles, Evenepoel launched the decisive attack of the stage. He was quickly followed by Vlasov and Jorgensen, with the trio reaching the summit of the climb together. On the approach to the intermediate sprint at the Col d'Éze, the trio extended their lead to 1:30 minutes, but on the final climb Evenepoel and Jorgensen were able to shake Aleks off. The BORA-hansgrohe rider was unable to keep up with the pace on the final climb and finished the stage in third place.
After BORA-hansgrohe initially fell somewhat short of expectations, the team was able to conclude the eight-day race on a positive note. On the penultimate stage, the team showed its fighting spirit, with Aleksandr Vlasov sensing his chance just 5km before the finish and attacking on the final climb. With no one able to follow, he secured his first win of the season.
Primož Roglič, who made his debut for the German team in this race, suffered a time loss of around 50 seconds after a somewhat disappointing team time trial at the start of the race week. However, the Slovenian continued to fight his way forward in the general classification on the following stages and finished in tenth place overall. Teammate Aleksandr Vlasov finished the race to the sun in fifth place overall after particularly impressive performances on the last two stages.
Aleksandr Vlasov finishes third. Bora-hansgorhe photo
From the Finish Line:
“I managed to make it to the front of the race with Evenepoel and Jorgensen and we built up quite a good lead, but I just didn’t have the legs today to go with them to the finish line. It was a tough day in the saddle for sure. Overall, we came here with Primož as our GC leader and we really did our best together with him this past week, although we weren’t able to quite achieve the top result we wanted to. However, I’m pleased with my form here, having taken a stage win and given it another good go again today.” – Aleksandr Vlasov
“This was my first race with a new team, with new teammates and a new structure. When you join a new environment, you have to get used to each other and learn how to best work together. I think we did that pretty well this week, and it’s a good base to progress from. We’ll continue with the processes that we’ve started here in the team, and build the path back to the very top level. There are of course always things we can work on and we’re for sure going to target that to improve for the next races.” – Primož Roglič
“We expected that most of the GC action would happen on the final stage. Until the key moment of the race, we had both Aleks and Primoz in the front group. When Evenepoel and Jorgensen attacked, Aleks was eventually able to bridge across, and we had Primož as a backup plan behind. But in the end, he didn’t have the best of days. We tried to make it onto the podium from the leading trio with Aleks, but he was suffering quite a bit with the weather conditions. Ultimately, he took a strong third place and confirmed his good form following his win yesterday. In terms of the race overall, the result is not of course what we were aiming for, but we go home with a fifth place in the GC from Aleks, as well as a stage win. There’s a lot of learning to be done within the team for the future, and we’ll work together with Primož to make improvements, but we’re sure we’re on the right path.” – Patxi Vila, Sports Director
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We posted the report from GC winner Jonas Vingegaard's Team Visma | Lease a Bike with the results.
Here's the report from the race organizer:
It might be because he grew up on the shores of the North Sea, thus truly understanding what it means to live in contact with the sea – his parents work in a local fish market – but Jonas Vingegaard seemed particularly at home in the Race of the Two Seas. Jonas was born and raised on the sea, but blossomed in the mountains, such as those of San Giacomo and Monte Petrano, the toughest of this 2024 edition of the Tirreno-Adriatico, which he tackled as if he were racing on flat ground.
Race winner Jonas Vingegaard. RCS Sport photo
“This is one of the biggest victories of my career, for sure,” he declared after lifting the Trident of Neptune to the sky. The Tirreno-Adriatico thus adds another top name to its roll of honour, that of the two-time defending Tour de France winner and the world’s strongest climber. The Dane succeeds Primož Roglič and Tadej Pogačar in the list, two other superstars of contemporary cycling. We may be one-sided… but there really isn’t another week-long stage race that can boast such a stellar list of winners.
Furthermore, this year’s starting list featured an array of sprinters worthy of a Giro d’Italia or a Tour de France, or perhaps even better, since they usually split on one or the other race. On the Tyrrhenian coast, Jonathan Milan was regarded as one of the world’s best prospective sprinters, but seven days later, on the Adriatic coast, he effectively became one.
Beating Jasper Philipsen once may be a fluke, but doing it twice is a sign, to say the least. On top of that, today’s stage in San Benedetto del Tronto was the fastest ever in the history of the Tirreno-Adriatico, which means that the engine of its winner must be nothing short of exceptional. Not to mention that Jonny, in the hustle and bustle of the last kilometre, was left in the wind for a few seconds with 600 metres to go, risking his chance of victory. However, not only did the Italian manage to sprint (thanks to some solid work by his teammate Consonni), but he also crushed the resistance of Philipsen in an exciting shoulder-to-shoulder challenge that saw the Belgian – internationally regarded as the best sprinter in the world – settling for fourth position.
In short, the cover of this Corsa dei Due Mari features the strongest climber and the strongest sprinter of the moment. Not a bad edition indeed.
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Here's the Tirreno-Adriatico report from stage seven winner Jonathan Milan's Team Lidl-Trek:
There is a dominant force in the sprints of Tirreno-Adriatico and that is Jonathan Milan. After the sprint in Giulianova, Stage 4, the Italian rider of Lidl-Trek also won the final stage of the Corsa dei due Mari.
Jonathan Milan wins stage seven. RCS Sport photo
On the seafront of San Benedetto del Tronto, Milan was able to launch his powerful acceleration and dominate the sprint ahead of Kristoff (Uno-X), Cimolai (Movistar) and Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck). As with the first victory, Johnny’s success came after a great team effort, well represented by his wingman Simone Consonni to close the gap after the Uno-X attack in the last thousand meters.
Milan’s first experience at Tirreno-Adriatico thus ends in the best of ways: two victories, the points jersey, and the feeling that the best is yet to come. “I had fun and we found a great feeling with the team. This has been a successful week for all of us!”
Milan’s reaction:
"I’m really happy about how we were able to finish this Tirreno-Adriatico. I have to praise my team for the support they gave me today. Simone on the final straight did an amazing ride to close the final gap to Uno-X rider. But it’s not just Simone I should thank, we managed very well with Tao and Amanuel to keep the dangerous breakaway under control, then Toms and Bagio when we caught the break. I’m super happy with this win, which again is a team win. I crowned off an amazing team performance.
"Of course, personally I’m super happy because this is my first Tirreno-Adriatico and I’ve won two different sprints. Both days were very complicated and hectic. The sprinters I’ve had to beat are top-class riders, which makes these wins even more important.
"Just like for the first win, today was very hard and we needed to keep the breakaway under control and the final circuit was very tricky. At the very end we managed well and we were able to keep the situation under control. Uno-X made a smart move, then I saw Kristoff coming up on my left when Simone closed the gap. I understood that was the moment so I put everything I had into the sprint.
Winning also the points jersey makes the whole experience even more special. I think that the way we got this win is important for me because today we raced after six hard stages and I was able to still have the legs and fight for the win. I’m proud and happy of what I did, it’s a really big boost for me ahead of what’s coming in the Classics. I know the condition is there, I know I worked well, and now the hard work is paying off."
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