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Monday, May 27, 2024

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2023 Tour de France | 2023 Giro d'Italia

Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that is the stuff life is made of. - Benjamin Franklin

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Upcoming racing:

• May 29: Circuit Franco-Belge

Latest completed racing:

• May 4 - 26: Giro d'Italia
• May 23 - 26: Tour of Norway
• May 26: Rund um Köln
• 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

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Giro d'Italia stage 21 reports

We posted the report from the race organizer and stage winner Tim Merlier's Team Soudal Quick-Step with the results.

Here's the report from GC winner Tadej Pogacar's UAE Team Emirates:

The first success in the Italian race for a rider with UAE Team Emirates jersey came at the end of the final stage (Rome-Rome, 125 km) which was won at the sprint by Tim Merlier (Soudal-Quickstep): Pogačar conquered the general classification with 9’56” on Daniel Martinez (Bora-hansgrohe) and 10’24” on Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers).

Pogačar also took the blue jersey of the best climber and 6 stage victories, for a total sum of 77 victories in his career. It makes 38 victories in 2024 for UAE Team Emirates.

Tadej Pogacar enjoys his victory with the Roman Forum behind him Sirotti photo

Pogačar: “This is even better than real thing, you never know how it feels until you try and I can say this is a dream come true.

"This was the main target of the first part of the season, now I will have a little rest and then I will start to prepare the second part and another big goal: I can’t wait for it.

"Winning a race is something great, but winning the Giro in this way it’s something special, it’s unbelievable, with such a lot of good memories I shared with my team mates and the rest of the team members that we could write a book about them”.

Here's the report from GC second-place Daniel Martinez's Team Bora-hansgrohe:

Daniel Felipe Martinez finishes the 2024 Giro d'Italia in an outstanding second place. It is the first Grand Tour podium of his career. It is only the second Grand Tour podium in the team history of BORA – hansgrohe after Jai Hindley's victory at the Giro d'Italia in 2022.

Daniel Martinez finishes stage 17. Sirotti photo

BORA – hansgrohe was on the GC podium after each of the 21 stages of the 2024 Giro d'Italia. Maximilian Schachmann set the tone right at the start in Turin. Just one day later, Dani Martínez replaced him on the podium thanks to a tremendous team performance on the Oropa climb – and held on to the podium consistently until the finish line in Rome.

The 28-year-old Colombian used the time trial to Perugia to climb to second place on day 7. After a week, he swapped places again with Geraint Thomas. But this was just a snapshot. On the queen stage two stages later, Martínez convincingly reclaimed his second place. Yesterday's showdown on Monte Grappa also made it clear that he is rightly in this position: Daniel Felipe Martínez is the second strongest rider of the 2024 Giro d'Italia.

Dani Martínez: "Securing my first podium finish in a Grand Tour is definitely a highlight of my career so far. As a child, I dreamed of standing on the podium of a race like this, so achieving this feels truly special. The Giro presents challenges every day, and I didn’t take anything for granted until I crossed the finish line in Rome. So, despite the consistent performances over the past three weeks, I stayed focused until the end. Being in a podium position in the GC for so long and knowing we were a target for our competitors only fueled my motivation further. I want to thank my teammates and the staff who’ve been here for the journey over the past three weeks. The team's effort and dedication made this result possible."

Enrico Gasparotto has just completed his third Giro d'Italia as Sports Director of BORA – hansgrohe. His track record speaks for itself: 1st place, 2nd place, 9th place and four stage wins. "We’re really pleased to have taken second in GC ahead of a strong field. Dani was only bested by Pogačar who dominated the race. Dani was more than solid in the mountains, and we’re very happy with the strong performance that he delivered this Giro. We can say that not everything went smoothly between the start of our Giro project back in November and crossing the finish line in Rome. However, thanks to the commitment of all the riders, Dani’s good form and the hard work from everybody here in Italy, we were able to make this result happen. Together with Bernie Eisel, I’m very happy about the mentality that was present in the team over the past three weeks, and the commitment that was shown by our riders. We’re very happy for Dani that he had the chance to do his own race and take his first podium finish in a Grand Tour, chapeau."

BORA – hansgrohe: success story on the Giro podium
In 2017, the Giro d'Italia was the first Grand Tour that the team competed under the name BORA – hansgrohe. And on the very first Grand Tour race day, the team pulled off a coup: a stage win, and the maglia rosa. Seven years later, the Giro d'Italia is the final Grand Tour under the team’s name BORA – hansgrohe, before the next milestone in the team's history awaits at the Tour de France. Dani Martínez's success closes the circle exactly where it began: on the podium of the Giro d'Italia.

Ralph Denk, Team Manager BORA – hansgrohe: "This 2nd place is exceptional for us. Apart from our Giro victory two years ago, this is the first time we have brought home a Grand Tour podium. It's also a career highlight for Dani himself - it's great that he has managed to achieve this immediately after joining us. A success like this can only be achieved as a team. I would like to thank everyone who has worked so hard over the last few weeks. And these thanks also go to our two naming partners BORA and hansgrohe. This Grand Tour podium is one of our many joint highlights."

Here's the Giro report from points classification winner Jonathan Milan's Team Lidl-Trek:

Mission accomplished. Jonny Milan wins the ciclamino jersey

It was one of the major goals of Lidl-Trek’s Giro d'Italia 2024, along with stage victories. The young Italian sprinter and the entire team lived up to expectations.
In the shadow of the Colosseum, Jonny Milan appeared. Smiling and satisfied. For the second year in a row, he is the winner of the Ciclamino jersey of the Giro d’Italia points classification. Two edition raced, two wins.

Jonathan Milan wins stage 13. Sirotti photo

Only a bit of bad luck made the final stage of the Giro a little more bitter, because on the road to the centre of ancient Rome, Jonny had to settle for second place behind Tim Merlier (Soudal Quick-Step). An unexpected pit stop on the last lap of the circuit with a bike change, 9km from the finish, forced him to make a furious chase. Successfully realized, in extremis. A remarkable effort that may have cost him a little too much energy in the final sprint.

The fourth second place in this Giro, however, takes nothing away from the superb performance of Jonny and the Team in the race.

For seventeen days, Jonny has been even more visible amongst the colors of the peloton, resplendent in the Ciclamino jersey as leader of the points classification. He first wore it on the podium of Stage 4 in Andora, where he also jumped to celebrate the first of three victories in this Giro. From then on, he was never without it.

The final classification shows Jonny’s domination of the competition, with 352 points against the second place of Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck) with 225 points and Merlier (Soudal-QuickStep) in third. A clear result, achieved thanks to the dedication and the commitment of the entire Lidl-Trek team, which supported Milan in the best possible way in the sprints and also in the intermediate sprints.

Milan's reaction:
"It’s the last thing you want to see in the last day of a tour in a bunch sprint, but these things happen. We changed the bike really quickly, and came back really quick to the group, which was a really hard effort. We did our best possible sprint, and the team did a perfect job. We missed this sprint and I’m really sorry about it, because I wanted to close this out with a nice victory. That all said we are still very happy because we played our cards well, and did our best. We have to be proud of our Giro.  

"For now, the future goal is rest! I’m looking forward to the Olympics. I’ll do some rest now, and then back to the bike in Livigno, and then Nationals, and then preparation specifically for the games. But most importantly, I will be resting!"

And here's the report from Best Young Rider Antonio Tiberi's Team Baharin Victorious:

The 2024 Giro d’Italia came to a close with the traditional procession around the streets of the Italian capital ending in a bunch sprint, won by Tim Merlier (Soudal Quick-Step). The finish line was on the Via dei Fori Imperiali, site of Roman monuments celebrating the glories of the emperors of Ancient Rome, and on Sunday two new rulers were crowned.

To the names Caesar, Augustus, Nerva and Trajan, were added Tadej Pogačar (UAE), and Team Bahrain Victorious’ Antonio Tiberi.

Pogačar won the overall title at a canter, his winning margin of 9’56” the largest since Vittorio Adorni in 1965. Tiberi became the first Italian to win the ‘Best Young Rider’ classification in nearly a decade, and only the third to do so this century.

Antonio Tiberi finishes stage 20. Sirotti photo

“It’s impossible to describe this feeling,” said Antonio. “It’s just like a dream; to be here in my home region, with the Giro white jersey and 5th on GC is just amazing. My family, and the fans are all here, and I feel like I’ve only just begun to understand what I’ve achieved and what it means. It’s super emotional for me, a super special moment.”

Bahrain’s leader took the jersey on Stage 11 and has held it ever since, despite losing nearly a minute to his rivals in the competition on stage 15. His effort on the Mottolino climb – which afterwards he said was the hardest day he’d had on a bike – was a demonstration of digging deep on a ‘jour sans’, that enabled him to hold onto the lead by a few precious seconds. From that day forward, and little by little, he increased the gap to Thymen Arensman (IGD) who finished second.

Performance Manager Vladimir Miholjević reflected on what has been a second consecutive Giro with a Bahrain rider winning a classification: “Winning the white jersey on the Giro d’Italia is an achievement for the team that we planned for, to which we dedicated ourselves, and we are super proud. It’s also a result that gives us a good look at what Antonio may be able to do in the future. And with him having signed a contract extension at the start of the race that is very exciting for us and for him. We are ready to support him and help him make the most of the talent that he has”

The foundations of the victory were two phenomenal time trial performances, in both of which Antonio finished 6th. The first, on stage 7, finished with a testing climb to Perugia, before stage 14’s flat test of 31.2km. Add to that a third week in which he showed that – other than Pogačar – he had the best legs and the most courage of the leaders’ group, and the winning margin was 1’42”.

Indeed, but for an unfortunate double puncture on stage 2 which forced the 22-year old to do the final climb with a flat tire, his impressive 5th place on GC would have been even better. There is however, nothing but pride and joy within the team at what this young man has achieved, and anticipation about what he may be capable of.”

Road captain Damiano Caruso has been alongside Antonio every pedal stroke for three weeks, as well as being his roommate! “I spent almost a month sharing the room with Antonio, and it’s wonderful to now share the emotions of this fantastic achievement in his first Giro d’Italia. I was impressed by how well he managed the pressure from the media, the public, and the team. It’s a testament to his character. He likely felt the pressure—it’s impossible not to—but it’s remarkable how he handled it. He also did an excellent job managing his energy throughout the three weeks, especially in the final stage. I’m glad he listened to my suggestions, keeping everything under control and not being overly worried about the result. By focusing on himself and how he was feeling, he ultimately reached the spot he deserved.”

Although a crash and illness forced Torsten Træen & Phil Bauhaus to abandon, Italians Edoardo Zambanini and Andrea Pasqualon, as well as Jasha Sütterlin and Rainer Kepplinger have been instrumental in this success, and all made it to Rome.

Tiberi himself paid homage to his teammates at this, his first Giro d’Italia: “The team have been unbelievable. They’ve done such a great job taking care of me, supporting me on the road, and protecting me. But also outside the race we’re had a very good atmosphere and I’m so proud to be here with this team and with this group of guys. I can’t thank them enough, and the same goes for the fans who have got behind me so much in the roadside, on socials, and everywhere. It’s really humbling to be honest.”

After a gruelling three weeks, Bahrain were once again ‘Victorious’ at the Giro, and the future looks very bright indeed with the young talent coming through in the team. Next on the calendar are the build up races for July’s Tour de France: the Dauphiné and the Tour de Suisse, which we will be riding as always, in memory of Gino Mäder, who lost his life there last year.

Congratulations to Antonio Tiberi, winner of the ‘Maglia Bianca’ for the best young rider at the 2024 Giro d’Italia.

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