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Saturday, May 11, 2024

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2023 Tour de France | 2023 Giro d'Italia

A weed is a plant that has mastered every survival skill except for learning how to grow in rows. - Doug Larson

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Plato's dialogue Apology is available in both Kindle eBook & audiobook versions. To get your copy, just click on the Amazon link on the right.

Current racing:

• May 4 - 26: Giro d'Italia
• May 11: Tour du Finistère

Upcoming racing:

• May 14 - 19: 4 Days of Dunkirk

Latest completed racing:

• May 5: Tro-Bro Léon
• May 4: GP du Morbihan
• May 1: Rund um den Finanzplatz Eschborn-Frankfurt
• April 21 - 28: Tour of Turkey
• April 23 - 28: Tour de Romandie
• April 26 - 28: Vuelta Asturias
• April 21: Liège-Bastogne-Liège
• April 15 - 19: Tour of the Alps
• April 17: La Flèche Wallone

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Giro d'Italia stage seven reports

We posted the report from the race organizer and GC second-place Filippo Ganna's Team INEOS Grenadiers with the results.

Here's the report from new white jersey owner Luke Plapp's Team Jayco AlUla:

Australian champion Luke Plapp powered into the white jersey at the Giro d’Italia with a measured ride against the clock in the stage seven time trial.

The 23-year-old backed up his third place finish in yesterday’s chaotic stage six with another strong performance to take seventh in today’s 40km TT and move himself into the lead of the best young rider classification.

The result also sees Plapp move up into the top five overall as he jumps up 10 places and into fifth position ahead of a big weekend of racing.

Luke Plapp riding into the white jersey. Sirotti photo

Italian Filippo Zana also delivered an impressive ride to finish 15th on the stage, catapulting himself into the top-10 on the general classification in ninth place and making it two Team Jayco AlUla riders in the top-10 overall.

Luke Plapp:
“I’m happy, it was a super nice day. I haven’t had the best time trials in Europe since I started my professional career, so I’m happy to have a good time trial here today.

"It definitely wasn’t my best, I felt the legs after yesterday, but I am happy with the result in the end. We got the white jersey, so it wasn’t a bad day at all!”

Here's the Giro report from Cian Uijtdebroeks' Team Visma | Lease a Bike:

Cian Uijtdebroeks finished 20th in the first time trial of the Giro d'Italia. In the time trial of over forty kilometers, the young Belgian conceded 2.55 to stage winner Tadej Pogacar, but does not see his direct rivals in the general classification gain much.

The course of the time trial had a flat first section, but the finish line was drawn at the top of a climb of more than six kilometers. “Light riders like me did not have an advantage in the first part,” Uijtdebroeks said immediately after his race. “I knew beforehand that I would lose time there on other fast guys. That was factored in. I went deep today and gave it my all. I notice I have already made a lot of progression compared to last year in time trialling.”

Cian Uijtdebroeks riding to a 20th place in the time trial. Sirotti photo

“It was definitely one of the toughest time trials of my life,” continued Uijtdebroeks, who lost his white jersey to Luke Plapp. “It's almost an hour-long ride against the clock. But I think we managed well. We can be satisfied with the result and it's not a disaster that we lost that white jersey. In the high mountains I will continue to give it my all for a good general classification, and therefore also for the young riders classification. We emptied the tank today and managed to limit the loss.”

Jan Tratnik and Edoardo Affini also rode a strong time trial. The duo, like Uijtdebroeks, finished in the top twenty.

Here's the report from Josef Cerny's Team Soudal Quick-Step:

Friday brought the longest Giro d’Italia individual time trial in the last nine years, 40.6 kilometers from Foligno to Perugia, where a steep kicker towards the end promised to complicate matters and widen the gaps between the general classification contenders. It was maybe the most important test of the race so far, a test that could easily be split in two completely different parts: a 34km flat one featuring just a couple of tricky corners and the 6km climb that started in the outskirts of Perugia, which averaged 4.2% but included some nasty double-digit gradients in the opening kilometer.

Josef Cerny, a multiple national champion of the discipline, was among the first riders to roll down the start ramp, and the experienced Czech didn’t disappoint. Cerny set the benchmark at both intermediate checkpoints while catching his minute-man, before taking on the hard ascent, where he still had enough left in the legs to record the best provisional time, 54:50, thanks to an impressive 44.4km/h average speed. Josef went on to finish the stage won by Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) as the best placed Soudal Quick-Step rider.

Jan Hirt was 13th in the GC after his ride. Sirotti photo

“Today was quite windy. I had some crosswinds in the first part and had to push there, and then I was a bit on the limit on the climb. Overall, the parcours was a beautiful one, but that demanding ascent was a bit too much for me. I am content with my effort and hope for an even better outing in the second ITT of the race”, Josef said after the stage which saw his countryman Jan Hirt remain the team’s highest-ranked rider in the general classification.

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