Bicycle Racing News and Opinion,
Monday, September 2, 2024
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2024 Tour de France | 2024 Giro d'Italia
The fight is won or lost far away from witnesses - behind the lines, in the gym, and out there on the road, long before I dance under those lights. - Muhammad Ali
Les Woodland's book Paris-Roubaix: The Inside Story - All the bumps of cycling's cobbled classic is available in print, Kindle eBook & audiobook versions. To get your copy, just click on the Amazon link on the right.
Current racing:
- August 17 - Sept 8: Vuelta a España
Upcoming racing:
- September 3 - 8: Tour of Britain
- September 8: Grand Prix Cycliste de Quebec
Latest completed racing:
- August 28 - September 1: Renewi Tour
- August 25: Bretagne Classic Ouest-France
- August 20 - 23: Tour du Poitou-Charentes en Nouvelle Aquitaine
- August 12 - 18: Tour of Poland
- August 14 - 18: PostNord Denmark Rundt
- August 13 - 16: Tour du Limousin
- August 11: La Polynormande
- August 10: Clasica San Sebastian
- August 5 - 9: Vuelta a Burgos
- August 4 - 7: Arctic Race of Norway
- July 27 - August 4: Olympic cycling
We posted the report from the race organizer with the results.
Here's the report from third-place Pavel Sivakov's UAE Team Emirates:
Pavel Sivakov goes into the rest day in 10th spot in the GC having finished 3rd in a gruelling stage 16 battle at the Vuelta España.
The Frenchman pushed the break along on the epic climb to Cuitu Negru(143km) with ramps of 24% in the final.
He would have to settle for 3rd spot behind the in-form Pablo Castrillo (Kern Pharma) for the stage but goes into the final week in good shape and with confidence.
Pavel Sivakov on stage 15's final ascent. Sirotti photo
Sivakov: “Jay and Marc did an amazing job to build a gap and gave everything. For the move to stay away. Unfortunately there were a couple of guys who were strong enough to stay in the wheel and were able to sit-in on my wheel in the valley but that was to be expected. We showed ourselves well in the front and go into the final week full of confidence.”
Mattias Skjelmose's Team Lidl-Trek posted this:
Lidl-Trek heads into the second rest day with momentum after GC hopeful Mattias Skjelmose produced another well-measured effort on Stage 15, finishing 6th on the stage, and 3rd from the GC group, five seconds behind Enric Mas and Primož Roglič.
After a difficult end to the first week of racing, Mattias has been slowly but surely riding his way back up the general classification, thanks to the support of his Lidl-Trek teammates and his well-paced efforts on the Vuelta’s brutal climbs.
Mattias Skjelmose getting up the final mountain of the day. Sirotti photo
"On the final climb the guys brought me in position and supported me as well as they could, bringing me food and drinks and keeping me out of the wind, especially at the start of the stage where there was a split in the peloton and I was in the second part. Otto and Vacek did a great job to close the gap. On the last climb, I knew that going too deep on a high altitude climb would mean you pay, so I kept my own rhythm, no panic, and I think it worked out for me in the end, " Skjelmose said.
With six stages remaining, Mattias has broken through to the top ten, however only eighteen seconds separate the Dane and 6th placed Carlos Rodriguez, the current White Jersey. After a rest day on Monday, during which the Lidl-Trek riders will make a quick visit at the Lidl store in Aviles, racing resumes with another infamous Vuelta finish – Lagos de Covadonga, the first test of a brutal final week which culminates with a time trial in Madrid.
"I’m happy, I’m confident for the last week. In the last two Grand Tours I did the third week was the best for me, so if I keep like this I’ll be really really happy. First I’ll enjoy a really good rest day and we’ll see what the next week brings. I think me and the whole team are super motivated to continue moving up the GC." - Mattias Skjelmose
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Here's the Vuelta report from eighth-place Sepp Kuss' Team Visma | Lease a Bike:
Sepp Kuss finished eighth on the steep final climb of Cuitu Negru. The day before the second rest day, the 29-year-old American made a good impression in the group of favourites. Pablo Castrillo took the stage win.
Team Visma | Lease a Bike appeared at the start of the fifteenth stage with one rider less. Cian Uijtdebroeks withdrew from the Vuelta after a Covid infection. “Cian was not feeling that well the last few days”, said sports director Grischa Niermann about the forced abandonment. “Last night he tested positive for Covid. He showed no severe symptoms, but the decision to send him home was quickly made. There he can spend the next period fully resting from an intense Vuelta.”
Sepp Kuss on the day's final, monstrous climb. Sirotti photo
The second Vuelta week closed with a short but tough stage between Infiesto and Valgrande-Pajares. After three categorised climbs, the dreaded final climb of the Cuitu Negru awaited. The 19-kilometre climb contained some extremely steep sections of more than 20 per cent.
The Team Visma | Lease a Bike riders missed the first battle for a place in the early breakaway. Moments later, Steven Kruijswijk was among the riders who managed to join the leading group. The 37-year-old Dutchman had to let go at the front on the next climb. A leading group of six then set course towards the final climb of the Cuitu Negru. There Castrillo proved to be the strongest.
In the group of favourites, Kuss made a good impression. In the steep final stretch, the defending champion chose his own pace after accelerations by Primoz Roglic and Enric Mas. Kuss eventually reached the line in eighth place at the top of one of the toughest climbs in this Tour of Spain.
“It was waiting until the steep final climb”, Kuss responded afterwards. “After that, it was every man for himself. The last few hundred metres were insane. On the images from 11 years ago, it looked like Contador was sprinting uphill, so I thought it wouldn't be too bad. I barely got ahead on the last stretch, it was that tough.”
“The second week was tough. There was not a single stage where we could ride in saving mode. The succession of hill and mountain stages took a lot of energy. I am therefore very much looking forward to tomorrow's rest day”, the American said.
Wout van Aert enters the rest day as leader of the points and KOM classification. Although he has to share the lead in the KOM classification with Jay Vine after today. “It's nice to go into the rest day as holder of the polka dot jersey”, Van Aert said afterwards. “I expected Vine to be the new leader after today, so I'm a bit surprised. In the beginning of the stage I didn't have a good feeling, so I decided to take it easy. In the final week there are still some stages where I want to go for the win. I will mainly focus on that, but we will also see what is possible in terms of the mountain classification.”
Here's the Vuelta report from Mikel Landa's Team Soudal Quick-Step:
T-Rex Quick-Step rode an immense stage Sunday afternoon, when the peloton entered the Asturias, a region of Spain known for its inhuman ascents boasting stinging double-digit gradients. Stage 15 of the race, the last before a well-deserved second rest day, culminated on Cuitu Negru, a long and demanding climb which had featured just once, at the 2012 edition, when Dario Cataldo won for our team from the breakaway.
Long before this first Hors Catégorie climb of La Vuelta, the T-Rex Quick-Step boys took the race by the scruff of its neck, coming with the entire squad at the head of the peloton and pushing a mammoth tempo that decimated the field. The likes of William Junior Lecerf, Mauri Vansevenant and Mattia Cattaneo took over the reins from their teammates on Cuitu Negru, shredding the red jersey group to a dozen riders and paving the way for an attack of Mikel Landa.
Mikel Landa on the Cuitu Negru climb. Sirotti photo
The Basque bolted away with more than six kilometers left, an acceleration which further reduced the favourites’ group, just before they took on the goat track that came with three kilometers to go, where the gradients reached a jaw-dropping 24%. On this lung-bursting, leg-sapping section of the climb, Mikel dropped many of his general classification opponents and took ninth place at the top, behind winner Pablo Castrillo (KernPharma). This solid result helped the 34-year-old strengthen his grip on fifth place on the overall standings ahead of next Tuesday’s Lagos de Covadonga, Spain’s mythical ascent, where the gaps between the contenders should widen again.
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Carlos Rodriguez's Team INEOS Grenadiers posted this Vuelta report:
Carlos Rodriguez sits eighth overall at the Vuelta a Espana as the race arrives at its second rest day.
The Spaniard battled hard through the mist atop the fearsome Cuitu Negru climb, limiting his losses and finishing 15th on stage 15 of the race.
The result saw Rodriguez relinquish the white jersey by just seven seconds, with plenty of racing to go in the final week.
Carlos Rodriguez had to give up his white jersey (shown before stage 14). Sirotti photo
Pablo Castrillo (Kern Pharma) secured a second stage victory from the day's breakaway, while Ben O'Connor (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) still leads the race, but with a reduced margin of 1:03.
Following a lively start, Oscar Rodriguez fought his way up into the breakaway, but the move quickly split back apart on the day's penultimate climb.
The race action resumes on Tuesday with another major summit finish atop Lagos de Covadonga.
And here's the Vuelta report from Team dsm-firmenich PostNL:
Before reaching Monday’s second rest day the peloton were faced with another day over the climbs and a brutally tough finish ascent to Cuitu Negru which featured several pitches of almost 25 percent in gradients. A potential day for the break there was an intense fight to make the move but at one point it looked as if a six-rider group managed to snap the elastic, but some strong pacing from Chris Hamilton who reduced the gap before a strong attack on an uphill drag by Max Poole saw him bridge across to the leaders.
Max Poole finishing stage 12. Sirotti photo
All of this happened before the first climb of the day and although Meintjes then bridged, it seemed as if things settled down. However with the gap at almost two minutes the attacks re-started in the peloton which led to all-out racing and things regrouped just over the top, with only around 25 riders, including Poole, left at the head of the race. On the following valley more attacks followed and eventually the break of the day established, with all Team dsm-firmenich PostNL riders in the peloton. After another 20 kilometres, it was clear that either those ahead in the break or the GC riders would duke it out for the stage win so from there the team tried to get through the stage in the best way possible, with Poole first to cross the line atop the ascent.
Team dsm-firmenich PostNL coach Phil West said: “Today was one of those days where we looked for the breakaway, but there was always a chance it could be a GC day. We managed to get Max into a really good move through some good teamwork by the guys who helped him bridge and it looked like it was going to be the break of the day but behind him there was a big GC fight at a certain moment, so it all came back together in a group of 25. Things were then a bit neutralised and a few tactical games were played by the GC teams. We tried to save some energy in that moment while it unfolded, rather than go further into the fight while the GC teams were riding like they did, especially as Max couldn’t follow everything. In the end a group did escape that we didn’t follow and the pace completely went out of the GC group which allowed the rest of the peloton to return. Coming onto the final steep climb we knew that we weren’t in a position to go for the stage result anymore so the guys took it as easy as they possibly could on the tough gradients, conserving what energy we can for the final week. We can look back on some good performances in week two and we have been in the mix on several stages. The guys have also shown some great teamwork too, so hopefully we can carry that into the final week, where we’re all motivated to try and go for another stage win.”
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We posted the report from stage five winner Arnaud De Lie's Team Lotto Dstny with the results.
Here's the report from GC winner Tim Wellens' UAE Team Emirates:
Tim Wellens repeated his success of 12 months ago with victory again at the Renewi Tour.
The Belgian veteran played his cards well with the help of his teammates to made a decisive move on the final cobbled climb of the Muur of Geraadsbergen.
Tim Wellens earlier this year at the Milano-San Remo rider presentations ceremony. Sirotti photo
Wellens: “Today was a very nice victory. From the start of the week we knew the TT and today with the Queen stage would be the decisive stages so we planned our tactics around that. The whole week I was feeling good so I was confident that I could deliver today. The whole team did a great job on the lead in to the final time up the Muur where I made my move. It was ideal to be up the road with De Lie so we would split the stage and the GC. I’m very proud to have won now for a fourth time.”
This is the fourth time Wellens has won the title as he prepares for his next races in Hamburg and Canada.
And here's the Renewi Tour report from Team Groupama-FDJ:
On the fifth and final stage of the Renewi Tour, Valentin Madouas brought back some memories from the Ronde. In a day for the Classics riders around the iconic “Muur”, which had to be covered three times before the finish, the former French champion showed all his qualities. After a lot of efforts, he notably made a decisive move twelve kilometres from the finish to get back to the leading group. Although he was then unable to follow the wheel of Tim Wellens, winner of the overall, and Arnaud De Lie, winner of the stage, he confirmed that he was indeed one of the strongest by taking third place on the cobblestones of Geraardsbergen. Overall, he took fourteenth place.
Arnaud De Lie wins stage five.
A small Tour of Flanders therefore awaited the Renewi Tour riders on Sunday. From Menen to Geraardsbergen, over a bit more than 200 kilometres, some twenty climbs, most of them cobbled, featured on the course. The riders also had to tackle the Muur-Bosberg sequence three times in the second part of the race, before a finish on the first slopes of this same “Muur”. The first sixty kilometres were, however, very flat, and the breakaway took advantage of it to go with about twenty men. “It didn’t start very well for us because we wanted to go into the breakaway, and we missed it,” said Frédéric Guesdon. “We then let the others control, and with the succession of climbs, the pace gradually increased, and the leading men never had more than two minutes. It was also hot today in Belgium, and that had an impact on the race, which was already expected to be really difficult. We knew that Valentin was our best card, and we did everything to put him in the best position to perform.”
While the breakaway came over the first “Muur” with a one-minute advantage, the gap was reduced considerably on the second time up the climb, where a few accelerations already split the peloton. Careful and in position, Valentin Madouas had no trouble following the strong men, and still had Eddy Le Huitouze, Paul Penhoët, Olivier Le Gac and Fabian Lienhard alongside him before heading for the third and final complete ascent of the Muur. “The goal was to try to win the stage, which would have led us to a good overall ranking,” said Valentin. “The goal was to try to get a head start on the leaders, but I didn’t succeed. The boys did a great job to position me as well as possible, but I found myself a bit far behind at the bottom of the last time on the Muur, and from there, I found myself chasing for the whole finale.” When the key moment came, twenty-five kilometres from the finish, he had to make a really strong effort to move back up the peloton and enter a chasing group of about twenty men, behind Tim Wellens and Arnaud De Lie who went away in the Muur. Several attacks then occurred within this group to get back to the front, four riders managed to bridge across, and Valentin Madouas went all-in in Onkerzeleberg, twelve kilometres from the finish.
The Frenchman distanced all of his competitors and was able to join the leading group in just one kilometre. “It wasn’t easy to know when to make the jump,” said Frédéric. “He tried, it worked, and he was the last to come back to the front. It was a tough effort, but he felt it was the moment. When you’re strong, you know that you have to go when everyone is struggling.” Thanks to a great effort, the French puncher got back into the mix for victory, but a few kilometres later, in the Denderoodberg, he was unable to follow the wheels of Tim Wellens and Arnaud De Lie at the top, although he caught up and left the rest of the group behind. “Valentin had a great race and put in a lot of effort,” added Frédéric. “In hindsight, we can always say that he should have done less at certain times to be even fresher in the final, but he was very strong nonetheless. When Wellens and De Lie attacked on the last climb, he was close to going with them. I think it would have been possible if he had raced a bit more conservatively. Some riders save any effort possible; Valentin is not like that. That’s perhaps what he missed today, it’s a pity, but we’re not going to complain because he fought well and got a big result.”
The Belgian duo was therefore not caught before the finish on the “Muur”, where Valentin Madouas came within a group of five which he easily beat in the final hectometres to secure a very nice podium. “I’m very happy with the legs, and it’s positive ahead of the Canadian races”, said Valentin. The rest of the “bunch” finished about forty seconds later, and Paul Penhoët took a convincing tenth place on the line. “It’s a shame that there weren’t big gaps in the end, because Valentin was far behind in the general classification and that only places him in fourteenth overall,” added Frédéric. “The results of this Renewi Tour are still pretty good as we placed fifth, a fourth and a third on the stages. Overall, the team was very good. Paul finished tenth in a stage like that while he was discovering the Belgian cobbled climbs. He will then take part in the Bremer Classic, and that can be a great end to the season for him. Eddy (20th overall, editor’s note) also rode a nice race. It was a good group, also with Olivier and Fabian as road captains, who advised the youngsters and replaced Valentin on many occasions.”
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