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Tuesday, May 21, 2024
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2023 Tour de France | 2023 Giro d'Italia
If you see ten troubles coming down the road, you can be sure that nine will run into the ditch before they reach you. - Calvin Coolidge
Les Woodland's book Cycling Heroes: The Golden Years is available in the print, 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
Upcoming racing:
- May 23 - 26: Tour of Norway
- May 26: Rund um Köln
Latest completed racing:
- May 14 - 19: 4 Days of Dunkirk
- 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
Van Dijke’s Team Visma | Lease a Bike posted this:
In his first Grand Tour, Tim van Dijke finds himself constantly surprised. He was called up last minute as a replacement, started as the second man in the sprint train for Olav Kooij, became a lead-out man, an attacker, and then a sprinter himself. And he did all this with equal enthusiasm, conviction, and success.
“Apparently, anything can happen in a Grand Tour.” This is the main lesson Tim van Dijke takes from the Giro d’Italia, the first Grand Tour of his career. “It has already been quite a journey. Of course, I was super happy when I heard that I could still go to the Giro. Your first Grand Tour is something you dream of. Obviously, I would have preferred a more specific preparation, especially after already having a busy spring season. But I think I have proven that I am up to the task.”
Tim van Dijke finishing Giro stage seven. Sirotti photo
Van Dijke, along with his twin brother Mick and Olav Kooij, was part of the first generation from Team Visma | Lease a Bike’s development team. “To be able to start my first Grand Tour together with Olav in Turin was very special,” says Van Dijke. “We’ve been through quite a lot together and were really looking forward to this.”
Van Dijke was set to play an important role in the first sprint stages of this Giro. He led lead-out man Christophe Laporte to the deep finale, after which the Frenchman launched Kooij. A sixth and fourth place in the first two sprints gave optimism, but the team had traveled to Italy to win stages. “It was a pity that it didn’t quite work out in those first stages, but you could feel it was possible. Then it’s important to keep believing and go all out in every sprint.”
After Robert Gesink and later Laporte dropped out, it was up to Van Dijke to lead Kooij as well as possible into the finale of stage nine to Naples. Kooij then sprinted impressively to victory. “That was really a very special feeling, I had goosebumps all over,” Van Dijke recalls. “It almost felt like I had won myself, I was so proud of Olav and the team. From those early races with the Development Team in Eastern Europe to winning a bunch sprint in the Giro: what a journey we have had together.”
After that euphoria, the sobering reality hit quickly: Kooij fell ill during the rest day and had to withdraw. A day later, team leader and at that moment leader in the youth classification Cian Uijtdebroeks also had to withdraw. “That was a huge disappointment, of course,” says Van Dijke. “Our two leaders dropped out within two days. And that while we really felt that there were still many beautiful things possible: more stage wins with Olav and Cian was really doing great for a good overall classification. The day Cian had to withdraw, Edoardo Affini and I went on the attack. That illustrates the mentality we all still have here: we want to keep fighting.”
This was evident again in stage thirteen. After having already taken on two different positions in the sprint train earlier, Van Dijke now took his chance in a bunch sprint himself. And he did a good job: he finished fourth. “I really didn’t expect that I could do that, but Jan Tratnik convinced me to believe in it. He was right.”
This strengthens Van Dijke, as well as his remaining teammates Affini, Tratnik, and Attila Valter, in the belief that something is still possible in the final week of the Giro. “We have all shown that we can compete for victory in this race. We want to keep going for it and together with the sports directors we make a plan for each stage. Personally, I would like to sprint again in the two bunch sprints that are normally still to come. I still feel good and am looking forward to the final week.”
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Here's the team's update:
With a series of stages going to the break or being decided in sprint finishes, the GC remained largely unchanged until the time trial on stage 14. In the largely flat race against the clock, Dani Martínez took fourteenth place, which saw him move to third in the GC. The Colombian was able to retain his podium place heading into the second rest day in Livigno, finishing the queen stage in the same time as the second-placed Geraint Thomas. He commences the third week of racing still on the GC podium, and is confident heading into the upcoming stages. As the Giro at first moves into the Alps following the final rest day, the team remains fully motivated and determined to take a top placing in Rome.
Daniel Martinez finishes fifth, just ahead of Geraint Thomas, in stage fifteen. Sirotti photo. That moved him up to third in the GC.
Dani Martínez:
I have to say, I'm feeling pretty good up until now. I'm excited and motivated for the last week. Of course the last week is going to be hard, when you look at the profile and also take into account that everyone will suffer from accumulated fatigue. But I'm feeling good, and the atmosphere in the team is positive.
Bernie Eisel, Sports Director:
The second week went really well for us. Dani is now in third place in the general classification, and we still have a chance at a podium finish. We have a really strong team here, and the squad is working very well together. We're always up front. Our domestiques are doing an extremely good job, and we're heading into the third week with confidence. Looking at the past week stage by stage, it's clear that everything was naturally focused on Tadej. Although we consistently tried with Danny van Poppel on the flat stages, our efforts weren't successful. But primarily, we've always backed Dani, and that has worked out well. We're looking forward to the third week and hope that everything goes according to plan.
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Balsamo’s Team Lidl-Trek posted this update on her crash in the Vuelta a Burgos Féminas
On Saturday afternoon, Elisa Balsamo returned home and today, 20th May, she will be admitted to the Casa di Cura La Madonnina in Milan. Tomorrow, she will undergo maxillofacial surgery to reduce the fracture of the nasal bones and the nasal septum, as well operated on to fix the fracture of the second metacarpal of her left hand. The surgery will be performed by the team of Professor Federico Biglioli, the maxillofacial surgeon who operated on Elisa following her previous accident in May 2023.
Elisa Balsamo after winning the 2021 World Road Championships. Sirotti photo
At the moment, any assumptions about the recovery time are premature. Communications on the next steps will be made later.
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Here’s the report from Quinn’s Team EF Education EasyPost:
The Los Angeles-born racer Sean Quinn won the Stars and Stripes jersey with a powerful sprint to the finish line in Charleston, West Virginia, after tag-teaming a late-race breakaway with Neilson Powless. The two EF Education-EasyPost riders made the winning move after a hot and hectic day of racing on a hilly, technical 21.2-km circuit around the city. This victory is a dream come true for Sean.
“I spent a lot of years in the juniors [trying],” he said after celebrating the title with Neilson. “This was my big target, and it never worked out. So it feels pretty good to be able to wear the jersey.”
Sean Quinn wins stage two of the 2023 Coppi-Bartali stage race. Sirotti photo
Sean was full of praise for Neilson’s efforts. The two teammates were up against a stacked field of domestic racers and WorldTour pros and had to work together to whittle down the field. By the tenth of ten laps, and with over 200 kilometers in their legs, they’d dropped all but one of their rivals, Brandon McNulty from Team UAE, who could only hang on, as Neilson attacked him again and again, giving Sean a free ride to the finish line, where he dusted McNulty in the sprint.
“Brandon was so, so strong just bringing us back time and time again and then around the last climb I was starting to think realistically he looks pretty tired, I really think I can win a sprint," Sean said. "So Neilson just attacked him, like, I don’t know 10 times, and I left it a little bit late in the bike throw, I probably should have gone a little earlier ...”
Neilson rolled across the finish line in third place. He is now looking forward to racing in Europe and around the world with Sean.
"We couldn't really pick Sean or I. We knew we needed both of us playing our shot at the win if we were going to beat Brandon," Neilson said. “As we got closer to the finish when we were all together over the top of the climb. When Brandon pulled me back after the final climb, I think we all knew that Sean was going to have the stronger sprint out of the two of us. So I tried to just use every bullet I had left to try to weaken Brandon's legs for the sprint. I kind of did a faux sprint in the very end, trying to get Brandon to open it up early. But luckily Sean had good legs in the end, and he was able to take it home. I think this was the best-case scenario. We're super proud.”
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