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Sunday, May 19, 2024

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2023 Tour de France | 2023 Giro d'Italia

Nature gives to every time and season some beauties of its own; and from morning to night, as from the cradle to the grave, it is but a succession of changes so gentle and easy that we can scarcely mark their progress. - Charles Dickens

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Bill & Carol McGann’s book The Story of the 2023 Tour de France, 2023: The Viking Again Conquers the Tour 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 14 - 19: 4 Days of Dunkirk

Upcoming racing:

• May 23 - 26: Tour of Norway

Latest completed racing:

• May 18: Veenendaal - Veenendaal Classic
• May 11: Tour du Finistère
• 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 fourteen reports

We posted the report from the race organizer and stage winner Filippo Ganna's Team INEOS Grenadiers with the results.

Here's the report from second-place Tadej Pogacar's UAE Team Emirates:

The second place of Tadej Pogačar in the ITT Castiglione delle Stiviere-Desenzano del Garda (31.2 km), 29” behind the winner Filippo Ganna (Ineos-Grenadiers) saw the Slovenian take important gains in the GC battle.

Tadej Pogacar extending his GC lead. Sirotti photo.

Pogačar covered the course in 35’31” (average speed 52,708 km/h), putting in a very good performance that allowed him to be 45” faster than Geraint Thomas (Ineos-Grenadiers) and 1’16” more than Daniel Martinez (Bora-hansgrohe). Now after stage 14, Pogačar has an advantage of 3’41” on Thomas and 3’56” on Martinez.

UAE Team Emirates’ captain sprang out fast from the start, marking the best performance at the first time point. Then, thanks to a very efficient pace, he succeeded in limiting the gap from a top time trialist such as Filippo Ganna, who could exploit his power on the flat roads of the second part of the course.

Pogačar: “I pushed hard in the first part of the course which was up and down and I really enjoyed it.  The last part didn’t suit me quite as well and lost a bit of time there but that was to be expected. I kept a good pace without killing myself though I was aiming for the win. But Ganna was that bit stronger so I’m happy for him, he deserved it. Tomorrow is a big day, the queen stage. We can be confident, the team is strong and we’ll give it a good shot.”

Stage 15 (222 km) will be very demanding: after the start from Manerba del Garda, the riders will climb the the Lodrino (3rd category), the Colle di san Zeno (2nd category), the Mortirolo (1st category), the Passo del Foscagno (1st category) and the summit finish of the Mottolino (1st category).

Here's the Giro report from tenth-place Edoardo Affini's Team Visma | Lease a Bike:

Edoardo Affini rode to tenth place in the second time trial of the Giro d'Italia. In his native region and with his family by the side of the road, Affini completed the test against the clock at an average of more than 51 kilometers per hour.

For the Italian, born in Mantua, it was a ride close to his birth area. "It was very cool to ride on familiar roads," Affini said after entering the race. "I saw a lot of friends and family along the way. It feels nice that they made the effort to come and watch the Giro d'Italia. It definitely gave me wings. I enjoyed it, besides the suffering."

Jan Tratnik (shown finishing stage two) was 17th in the time trial. Sirotti photo

Affini's analysis showed that he knew the course well. "You could divide this time trial into two parts. The first part was pretty technical. It was important not to immediately waste all the energy there. The second part was on pure power. There it was possible to put in a lot of power."

Afterwards, Affini was satisfied with his performance. "It was a pretty good time trial. I gave it my all. It is always difficult to go all out after two weeks in a grand tour, but I think I did well. The fatigue must have been there for everyone. Other guys rode very strongly here as well. Of course, the field of competitors is quite strong. I can certainly be satisfied with tenth place," concluded the 27-year-old Italian.

In addition to Affini, Jan Tratnik, Tim van Dijke and Attila Valter also rode a decent time trial. The trio went full steam ahead and all rode the chrono of over 31 kilometers in less than forty minutes. For Tratnik and Van Dijke, a place among the top twenty was the result.

Here's the Giro report from Team Groupama-FDJ:

On Saturday, the Giro settled near Lake Garda for the second and last individual time trial of the 2024 edition. Enzo Paleni and Clément Davy gave their best while the rest of the squad kept some energy in anticipation of the big mountain stage towards Livigno on Sunday. Filippo Ganna won the day’s stage, and Tadej Pogacar secured his pink jersey.

Nine days after a first time trial, from Foligno to Perugia, a second race against the clock was on the Giro’s menu this Saturday, towards the shores of Lake Garda. This time, thirty-one kilometres had to be completed, but without a real climb like a week before. “It was a very nice course, quite technical, with a lot of ups and downs, some tight turns but nothing really dangerous,” explained Nicolas Boisson, coach of the Groupama-FDJ cycling team. “It really was a time trial for specialists.” Among the very first to go down the start ramp, Clément Davy covered the course in thirty-eight minutes and five seconds. Almost two hours later, his teammate Enzo Paleni was eleven seconds faster, in 37’54. Sixteenth on the line when he finished, almost three minutes behind the future winner Filippo Ganna, the Frenchman eventually got 33rd place at the end of the day, Clément Davy securing 36th.

This time trial was flat but still with some rollers.

“Enzo and Clément really like this discipline and they were motivated to do it 100%,” added Nicolas. “We obviously gave them the freedom to do so, as this is always important for the future. Both did a solid time trial. There was still a little fatigue after two weeks of racing, and they therefore had to deal with the current feelings. As for the others, they were told to take it a bit easy because there was not much point in doing it full gas. They have already given a lot in the last few days, and tomorrow there is a big mountain stage, with seven hours on the saddle and more than 5,000 metres of elevation. If we can save a few bullets, it’s always a good idea.” From Manerba del Garda, the riders will head towards Livigno, especially through the legendary Mortirolo as well as the Passo di Foscagno.

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

The site of some major battles in Napoleon’s Italian campaigns, Castigliano delle Stiviere served as starting location for stage 14 of the race, a 31.2km individual time trial. Unlike the first test against the clock, the course was flatter, but still featured some rolling sections, the most demanding of which came after the Solferino checkpoint. From there, the riders headed towards the stunning Lake Garda and Desenzano del Garda, the largest town there and the finish location of the day.

The first Soudal Quick-Step man to roll down the ramp, Josef Cerny concluded the stage as the highest-ranked rider of the team, after setting the fastest time at both splits and briefly staying in the hot seat. Thanks to an average speed of 50.6km/h, the Czech recorded a time of 36:50 on the stage won by Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers).

Jsoef Czerny time trialing earlier this year at Tirreno-Adriatico. Sirotti photo

In the general classification, his countryman Jan Hirt continues to be the best placed rider of our squad, less than a minute from the top ten overall ahead of the hardest stage of the race, which will see the peloton take on the steep gradients of the infamous Mortirolo before a tough summit finish in Livigno.

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