Bicycle Racing News and Opinion,
Thursday, September 19, 2024

Back to news and opinion index page for links to archived stories | Commentary | Our YouTube page
2024 Tour de France | 2024 Giro d'Italia

When all is said and done, more is said than done. - Lou Holtz

---

Bill and Carol McGann's book The Story of the Tour de France, Vol 2: 1976 - 2018 is available in print, Kindle eBook & Audiobook versions. To get your copy, just click on the Amazon link on the right.

Current racing:

• September 18 - 22: Tour de Luxembourg

Upcoming racing:

• September 20: Kampioenschap van Vlaamnderen
• September 21: Super 8 Classic
• September 22 - 29: World Road Cycling Championships
• October 12: Il Lombardia

Latest completed racing:

• September 18: GP de Wallonie
• September 15: Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal
• September 15: Trofeo Matteotti
• September 14: Memorial Marco Pantani
• September 13: Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec
• September 12: Coppa Sabatini
• September 11: Giro della Toscana
• September 8: GP Industria & Artigianato di Larciano
• September 8: GP de Formies
• August 17 - Sept 8: Vuelta a España
• September 3 - 8: Tour of Britain
• September 8: Bemer Cyclassics

---

Wout van Aert to stay with Team Visma | Lease a Bike until the end of his career

Here’s the team’s announcement:

Wout van Aert and Team Visma | Lease a Bike will continue their partnership for the long term. Van Aert has extended his contract with the team, which was set to expire in 2026, until the end of his career. "This is unique in our sport, but we both didn't have to think long about that", says Richard Plugge, CEO of Team Visma | Lease a Bike.

Van Aert came to the then Team Jumbo-Visma in 2019 and became one of the team's culture carriers. He recorded major victories including nine Tour de France stages and three Vuelta a España stages. The 30-year-old rider wrote several big races to his name such as Milan-San Remo, Amstel Gold Race, Strade Bianche, Omloop het Nieuwsblad, E3 Saxo Classic, Gent-Wevelgem and Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne this year. He is a multiple Belgian champion, triple world cyclo-cross champion and won a bronze medal in the time trial at the Paris Olympics this year.

Wout van Aert in the GC leader's red jersey after stage 3 of the 2024 Vuelta a España. Sirotti photo

Richard Plugge: "Wout is of course a fantastic rider with a great palmares. He is an all-rounder: a sprinter, a classic rider, a time trialist and on his best days he also wins a mountain stage like the famous victory on Mont Ventoux in the Tour de France. But besides that, Wout has really become an important culture carrier, an indispensable link in our team. He is a leader and a team player. He is a rider who also makes others in the team better, just through his insights and charisma. We are extremely happy with him and fortunately that is mutual."

Wout van Aert: "I didn't have to think long when this idea came up. First of all, because at Team Visma | Lease a Bike we work with the best people and the best equipment. Together we are constantly looking for improvement, which means we keep developing individually but also as a team. I owe a lot of success to that, we really do it together. But apart from that, I feel very much at home in this team, which is very important to me. This team is unique and has suited me for five years and I want to keep it that way. That's why I decided to stay here forever, and that feels really good."

Tour de Luxembourg stage one team reports

We posted the report from second-place Christophe Laporte's Team Visma | Lease a Bike with the results.

Here's the report from climber's classification leader Pepijn Reinderink's Team Soudal Quick-Step:

Making his first outing since last month’s Bretagne Classic, Pepijn Reinderink put in a great ride on the hilly roads of the opening day, at the end of which he took to the podium to receive the climbers’ jersey.

The 22-year-old, who has showcased his strength in a number of races this season, forged clear in the frantic opening kilometers of stage 1 and was soon joined by three riders, together with whom he managed to put almost six minutes into the peloton. When the chasers upped the tempo, around 80 kilometers from home, Pepijn attacked from the break and dropped all his companions, except Mattia Bais (Polti-Kometa). The duo worked really well together, trading pulls at the front and forcing the bunch to dig deep in order to chew into their advantage.

It took the combined efforts of several teams and the steep gradients of Côte de Stafelter for the gap to drop under one minute, but even then, Reinderink didn’t throw in the towel and with one last effort dispatched the Italian and continued alone. The Dutchman crested the summit in the lead, scoring more vital points that put him in control of the KOM classification after this stage, which concluded with the victory of Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck).

Mathieu van der Poel won the first stage.

“The stage was full gas from the start. I jumped at one point and suddenly there were four of us who opened a gap, which was quite good. In the second part of the stage, we had cross-tail wind, so we sensed there was a chance of making it. We pushed really hard, but the peloton was stronger and caught us. Luckily, I took the points on the final climb and at the end of the day, I am pretty happy with everything. We’ll see if I can keep the jersey over the next stages”, said Pepijn, the first Dutchman in 12 years to wear the Tour de Luxembourg climbers’ jersey.

Here's the report from leader of the young rider classification Finn Fisher-Black's UAE Team Emirates:

Finn Fisher Black got off to a promising start on day one of the Tour de Luxembourg with the Kiwi rider taking 5th place in the uphill sprint from a reduced peloton behind stage winner Mathieu Van Der Poel (Alpecin Deceuninck).

The 22 year old also now pulls on the white jersey as the best young rider in the race with Ayuso, Hirschi and Grossschartner also finishing in the leading group, keeping options for GC open in the coming days. Marc Hirschi also picked up a bonus second at an intermediate sprint point to put himself in 4th place on GC.

Finn Fisher Black wins stage two of the 2024 Tour of oman.

Tomorrow will see the riders take on a similarly hilly parcours from Junglinster to Schifflange (155km).

Meanwhile at the GP de Wallonie Tim Wellens was best place of the Emirati contingent at his home event, with the Walloon picking up 6th place on the twisting cobbled ascent of the finish at Citadelle de Namur. The race was won by Roger Adria (Red Bull Bora).

And here's the Luxembourg Tour news from Andreas Kron's Team Lotto Dstny:

Andreas Kron back at the start of the Tour de Luxembourg after crash in Vuelta.

Today marks the start of the Tour de Luxembourg. After Andreas Kron had to leave the Vuelta early due to a crash, he is already back for the five-day race in the Grand Duchy. "I won a stage here 4 years ago, and I hope to do so again."

He was one of our leaders during the recent Vuelta a España, but in stage six, he had a heavy crash. Andreas Kron (26) managed to finish the stage, but did not start the following day. The diagnosis was tough: a concussion sidelined him for a few days, and a scan a few days later revealed a fracture in his back as well. "Having to leave the Vuelta was a big disappointment," says Kron, who had won a stage the year before. Earlier this season, the Dane also had to abandon the Critérium du Dauphiné after a severe crash. So far, the season hasn’t gone smoothly. "I actually recovered fairly quickly from the concussion, but after a few days, I started to feel pain in my back, and it turned out I had an injury in my lower back."

"Fortunately, I was able to get back on the bike pretty fast after the crash. My back is healing good. I still feel it, but I’ve been able to train well over the past two weeks, and today I’m here at the start in Luxembourg again."

Andreas Kron winning stage 5 of the 2020 Tour of Luxembourg.

Kron won a stage in the five-day Tour de Luxembourg in 2020 and also took the young rider’s jersey. "It would be great to win another stage this year. I have good memories of this race. Moreover, it's the perfect opportunity to get some race rhythm back in my legs. I was informed this week that I’ve been selected for the World Championships, so hopefully this will be the perfect preparation."

 

Back to news and opinion index page for links to archived stories | Commentary