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Tuesday, May 28, 2024
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2023 Tour de France | 2023 Giro d'Italia
Two nations between whom there is no intercourse and no sympathy; who are as ignorant of each other's habits, thoughts, and feelings, as if they were dwellers in different zones, or inhabitants of different planets. The rich and the poor. - Benjamin Disraeli
Bill & Carol McGann’s book The Story of the Tour de France, 2022: The Fastest Tour Ever is available in both Kindle eBook & audiobook versions. To get your copy, just click on the Amazon link on the right.
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
Martinez's Team Bora-hansgrohe posted this:
To be second in the Giro - that's an outstanding result! For BORA – hansgrohe, because it's the second Grand Tour podium in the team's history (besides Jai's Giro win). And for you, because it's your first Grand Tour podium as well. Where do you see this success in your career?
This being my first podium in a Grand Tour, I'm incredibly happy and satisfied with our achievement here. It's undoubtedly one of the highlights of my career so far. As a child, I always dreamt of standing on a podium or even winning a race of this magnitude. To have achieved this dream is truly special.
Daniel Martinez finishes stage 16. Sirotti photo
How did you find your first Grand Tour with BORA – hansgrohe?
The atmosphere in the team has been great. From the staff to the riders, everyone has given their best over the past three weeks. This collective effort and positive environment have been crucial in achieving our results. The camaraderie and support have made my first Grand Tour with the team a rewarding experience.
A long training block at home in Colombia marked your road to the Giro. We went into the race on the defensive, saying that a Top 5 result would be great. How confident were you about your form before the Giro started in Turin?
I trained hard at home, focusing on the details to ensure I could perform at my best here at the Giro. Coming into the race, I was motivated and eager to showcase the results of my preparation. I believed that with the right strategy and determination, we could achieve something special.
You wasted no time in jumping onto the podium right on the second stage - and never lost that spot. When did you realise that this result would last until Rome?
The Giro d'Italia can be unpredictable, and each day presents its own set of challenges. Even though I secured a podium spot early, I took nothing for granted. It wasn’t until I crossed the final finish line in Rome that I allowed myself to celebrate the accomplishment. Consistency was key, and we maintained our focus and determination throughout the race.
If you must pick two moments out of the last weeks: What was your worst and your best Giro moment?
The best moment for me was when I managed to gain time on the other GC contenders like Geraint Thomas. It was an affirmation of our strategy and my form. On the other hand, the worst moment was when I hit my shoulder. It was a challenge, but overcoming it was all the more satisfying.
Give us a little insight: Being on the podium for the entire Giro means that you have a lot of riders and teams chasing you. Does this situation give you extra motivation or more pressure? And how did you deal with it?
I thrive on competition and it drives me to perform at my best. Knowing that several others are chasing us pushes me to maintain and elevate my performance every day. I focused on what I could control and used the competition as a source of motivation rather than pressure.
You rode for an Italian team in the past, and speak Italian, do you have a connection to Italian racing and the fans? Did this provide you with extra motivation?
Italy played a big role in my early career development, and I have a deep appreciation for Italian racing and the passionate fans. Speaking the language and having many friends here makes the experience even more special. The support and familiarity definitely provided extra motivation and made this Giro d'Italia particularly memorable for me.
How will you spend the week after the Giro d'Italia? Will it be a complete rest after a stressful Grand Tour?
Resting after such an intense race is crucial for recovery. I’m looking forward to spending quality time with my family after having been away for so long now. It’s important to balance professional commitments with personal time, and I’m keen to enjoy downtime with them.
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The team posted this:
Three weeks and 3,300 kilometers later, the 2024 Giro d’Italia came to an end on Sunday in the streets of Rome, just next to the Colosseum. The Groupama-FDJ cycling team tried once last time to get organized for its New Zealander Laurence Pithie, but he did not benefit from a good enough positioning to fight at the front in the sprint. He therefore obtained thirteenth place and the team thus completed this edition with three top-10s.
Laurence Pithie before the start of the 2024 Giro. Sirotti photo
The day after the final mountain stage in Veneto, the peloton was set to meet in the Italian capital in the middle of the afternoon, on Sunday, to cover the last 125 kilometres of the Giro. The race turned out to be quite relative during the first fifty kilometres, with pictures and glasses of champagne all over the place. The proper racing only started upon arrival on the finishing circuit and four riders then took the lead: Alex Baudin, Ewen Costiou, Mikkel Honoré and Martin Marcellusi. The peloton took no risks and eventually brought everyone back shortly before the last lap, made of about ten kilometres. “We were focused on the sprint,” said Frédéric Guesdon. “As every time since the start of the Giro, as soon as there was an opportunity to achieve a result in the sprint, it was all for Laurence. Unfortunately, we were a little outflanked, which sums up a bit our Giro. The guys tried, worked well, but we came against stronger than us every time.” On Sunday, Groupama-FDJ took control of the peloton in the last five kilometres, but Laurence Pithie couldn’t stay in the first ten positions before the last technical kilometre. He therefore sprinted in the background and obtained 13th place.
It was therefore without a victory or a stage podium that Groupama-FDJ, whose average age was about twenty-five years old on this first Grand Tour of the season, left the Italian roads on Sunday evening. “From a results point of view, it’s not a very good balance,” confesses Frédéric. “We came here to do much better than that. In the end, we got two fourth places and an eighth place. However, we must recall that this was a rather young squad and that we did not have any climbers, which immediately took us several stages away. We could only fight on the sprint stages, but Laurence was not 100% from the start and there were already 3-4 chances in the first week. This did not play into our advantage. When you are not 100% in this type of race, it strongly reduces your chances. The group was also there to learn and there is still some satisfaction, with Enzo, the fact that we finished with seven guys, and the guys gave their maximum over these three weeks”.
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Here's the team's post:
Team Jayco AlUla concluded a Giro d’Italia of mixed fortunes and ‘what ifs’ as the team battled through the elements and adversity on the three-week journey to Rome. One thing which stood out was Australian champion Luke Plapp‘s talent and determination, giving the Australian outfit even more confidence in the 23-year-old’s bright future ahead and especially his time trialling abilities.
Luke Plapp finishes stage 6. Sirotti photo
The squad was dealt a huge blow as early as stage two with general classification contender Eddie Dunbar forced to abandon following a crash, but despite the setback the team bounced back as they went on the hunt for stage wins and formed an unlikely GC goal.
Despite the early misfortune, the group walked away from the first Grand Tour of the year with eight top-10 finishes, many lessons learnt and experienced gained.
Bouncing Back
In just his second ever Grand Tour, ‘Plappy’ showed his grit with a daring ride on the gravel roads of Tuscany on stage six as he made the decisive breakaway before fighting to third place on a brutal day of racing.
The rider from Melbourne then backed up his ride just a day later in the monstrous 40km time trial as he powered around the course to a top-10 finish with an impressive ride to seventh place that earned him a special day in the best young rider’s jersey.
Luke Plapp:
"Overall, I’m pretty happy, I came here to try ride a bit higher on GC, but unfortunately I got quite sick in the middle week, but I think to be sitting here in Rome now with three top fives, and one seventh place, I think I made the most of it.
"I was really, really happy with my TT performances, we put a lot of work into that with the team so that was really pleasing to see that pay off and to also get into the two major breakaways of the Giro. There wasn’t as many breakaways that went this year and to be in two of them on two pretty spectacular stages, I was really happy.
"I enjoyed the route, I think it was really backend heavy as it usually is, but we were really fortunate during the first two weeks with the weather and then it all hit us at once when we got to the Dolomites. So it’s been a really, really hard last week, but I have enjoyed it, I don’t know when I’ll be back next, but I would like to be back."
Italian Pride
Despite missing their GC leader, the team continued to fight on and by stage 10, former Italian champion and Giro stage winner Filippo Zana moved himself into the top-10 overall, with a strong and determined climbing performance on the tough summit finish of Bocca della Selva.
Meanwhile, veteran Italian Alessandro De Marchi constantly made a series attempts to infiltrate the various breakaways throughout the first two weeks of racing, but the peloton was unforgiving in this year’s edition as the 38-year-old continued to chase that elusive Giro stage victory.
Filippo Zana:
"Overall I’m happy, it has been a new experience for me to try to ride for the GC at a Grand Tour, and I think we did a good Giro. Yes, the 20th stage was hard for me and we lost the top-10 overall by one or two minutes. It was a hard day for me, but it’s ok, I think it’s an experience for the next years.
"I have learned to suffer, I have been suffering a lot, but yeah I’m happy and for sure I’m stronger after this Giro and we will see this at the other races in the future."
Mixed Bag
The final week brought with it grizzly weather conditions alongside a brutal selection of mountainous stages. The full team dug deep, 100% committed to the final goals of the race, and Zana once again mixed it with the GC contenders for as long as possible, while De Marchi and Plapp went in search of stage glory in the breakaways after selfless assistance from their teammates.
Plapp was able to force himself into the breakaway on a spectacular stage 19 on his way to another fifth place finish, while two ascents of the Monte Grappa pushed Zana to his absolute limit on the penultimate stage.
David McPartland (Sports Director):
"This year’s Giro d’Italia has been a bit of a mixed bag for us, we’ve had a lot of good placings and top-10s on stages, but obviously the big hit for us was on stage two with Eddie Dunbar crashing out.
"Eddie was our leader here for the general classification so we had to reset our goals a little bit and then Filippo Zana really impressed. He was on target there for the first half of the race and was up there on general classification so we pursued that goal of him riding the GC and it looked really good until stage 20 where he lost a bit of time and unfortunately just fell out of the top-10, concluding with 11th place.
"Then on the front there with Luke Plapp, he did a really good job for only his second ever Grand Tour and his first Giro d’Italia, the results that he got for us there were really good and he really showed us his talent and I think we can expect a lot from him in the coming years."
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Here's the team's post:
With La Vuelta Femenina and the Giro d’Italia, May saw our team take on two of the biggest stage races of the season. Read all about this month’s happenings in no more than 500 words.
While many of our riders are racing or preparing at home, we have five riders from our Men’s and Women’s program working towards their next big goals at altitude. “We have a nice group together for another High Altitude Camp in Tenerife at the moment. After a few days of acclimatization, they are now building up volume and intensity to get the optimal rewards of training at altitude. Our cook is ensuring they have the ideal personalized nutrition on and off the bike, and we have built up a gym so they can complete integrated core and strength training. This creates the ideal performance environment to make another step in their preparation for our goals this summer” says Team dsm-firmenich PostNL Head of Science Narelle Neumann.
Before her trip to Tenerife, Juliette Labous had a strong block of racing in Spain. With a strong team around her and a consistent performance throughout the week, she finished fourth on the GC. The team took this positive energy with them to Itzulia Women, where Josie Nelson sprinted to a solid fourth place on the opening stage before Juliette secured a GC podium spot after racing with an attacking mindset on the two following days.
In Bella Italia, our Men’s program impressed with fighting spirit throughout the three weeks of racing. While Romain Bardet felt unwell in the opening days, his teammates were always around him and kept him in contention for the GC. The sprint group also had some challenges along the way, losing Bram Welten early in the race because of sickness and Fabio Jakobsen after a crash in the second week. With Tobias Lund Andresen sprinting into fifth at the third stage and Romain climbing to second, fourth and seventh on mountain stages, the group showed great morale in overcoming those challenges. Those nice rides culminated in a solid seventh place in GC for the team. It wasn’t only at the front of the race we saw their commitment but also the back when before the second rest day, Julius van den Berg had a bad day and fought at the back of the race all day. He beat the time cut to be there for the team in the final week, but he unfortunately still had to abandon due to sickness.
Romain Bardet before the start of stage 20. Sirotti photo
Team dsm-firmenich PostNL Head coach Rudi Kemna reflected: “Our Women’s program raced well and with good teamwork, leading to two nice GC results in La Vuelta Femenina and Itzulia Women and a strong performance at Ride London and whilst our Men’s program had their challenges at the Giro, we can be proud of how we worked and raced as a team. If we continue building up on this, more nice results will follow soon, as we’ve seen with the strong victory by Casper van Uden and the team at Rund um Köln.”
Needless to say there was a lot of action again this month, and June won’t be boring either, as all our three programs take on more prestigious stage races. See you out there!
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