Bicycle Racing News and Opinion,
Saturday, January 11, 2025
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2024 Tour de France | 2024 Giro d'Italia
As I grow older, I pay less attention to what men say. I just watch what they do. - Andrew Carnegie
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:
- January 17 - 26: Tour Down Under
- January 25 - February 2: Challenge Vuelta a Mallorca
- January 25: Ruta de la Cerámica - Gran Premio Castellón
- January 26: Classica Comunitat a Valenciana 1969
- February 2: GP La Marseillaise
Latest completed racing:
- January 3: X20 Trofee Koksijde-Vlaamse Druivenveldrit Cross
- January 1: GP Sven Nys Cross
- December 30: Diegem Cyclocross
- December 26: Gavere Cyclocross
- December 27: Exact Cross Loenhout-Azencross
- December 15: Namur Cyclocross-Citadelcross
- November 17: Flandriencross
- November 3: European Cyclocross Championships
- November 1: X20 Trofee Oudenaarde-Koppenbergcross
Pate’s Team Jayco Alula posted this report:
Amber Pate destroyed the field in the Australian Women’s Criterium Championships as she soloed to her second national title in the event and secured her second medal in two days in Perth.
Amber Pate takes a solo win.
Liv AlUla Jayco headed into the race as the team to watch, boasting a strong line-up that included two former winners in Pate and defending champion Ruby Roseman-Gannon alongside the debuting Josie Talbot.
It was a typically cagey start to the action until Pate shook things up with an early counterattack. Only U23 rider Keira Will reacted to the move with the pair quickly opening up a sizeable gap as they worked together to build their advantage.
The duo began to edge closer to lapping the field as the peloton failed to organise a significant chase with Pate’s teammates patrolling the attacks behind. Then with the rear of the bunch almost in her sights, Pate launched solo, accelerating away from Will to come within touching distance of the pack.
With the catch now inevitable the race organisers made the decision to shorten the race and as the peloton sprinted for the minor places, Pate was able to savour the moment on the final lap.
The victory means the criterium title stays within GreenEDGE Cycling for another year with Pate and Roseman-Gannon sharing the spoils over the last four seasons.
Amber Pate – 1st Place:
“I’m really happy, honestly. I’m just glad to pull it off. I knew I could go long, but I didn’t know how long I could go for, I’m a bit tired from the time trial, but I knew I had a long attack in me and I just thought ‘let’s get fighting, corner well and recover in the corners’.
"I’m really proud to pull it off for the team, the team were really awesome, we all went in with the right mindset, anyone of us could have won today. I thought let’s crack on early, it will help the team, it will help the pace.
"It just worked out really well today, I decided to commit early and I had Keira with me, who is now the under 23 champ, she’s a fantastic rider and it worked out perfectly today. To keep this crit jersey with our team, I’m really stoked.”
2025 Australian Criterium Championships – Results:
1. Amber Pate (Liv AlUla Jayco) 43:47
2. Keira Will (Lidcomb Auburn CC) +0:19
3. Maeve Plouffe (Picnic PostNL) +3:55
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Here’s the post from Evenepoel’s Team Soudal Quick-Step:
[Ed: Evenepoel was badly injured December 3 when he crashed into the open door of a mail truck while on a training ride.]
The multiple Olympic Champion talked about his recovery and goals for this season, where he’ll again target a good result in the Tour de France.
“The first couple of weeks after my injury were difficult, because this happened just as I was preparing to start training again, but I tried to take my mind off this during the holidays and things are better now. It’s been almost five weeks now that I didn’t do any proper sports, which means that I have been off the bike for ten weeks now. That’s why the most important thing for me is to start my rehab and jump on the rollers, hopefully on Saturday. I will combine riding with physio sessions. I am ready mentally to be back on the bike, but I won’t push myself to go all in from the beginning, because I want to make a full recovery of my shoulder.
Remco Evenepoel winning Liège-Bastogne-Liège in 2023.
"The reason I’m not going outside yet is that the shoulder isn’t ready to absorb the shocks of the road. I hope to restart training outside at the beginning of February, that would be the best scenario at this point. As I said, it wasn’t easy when this happened, especially as it was my second injury on that side in the same year and I was coming after an excellent summer – which was one of the best moments of my career – but I got a lot of support from my family and my team and eventually stopped thinking about this and focused instead only on my recovery.
"I hope to be back for Brabantse Pijl, which is close to my home and would serve as a strong motivation. I think it’s easier to return to competition in one-day races instead of stage races, and I love the Ardennes Classics, so hopefully I will be in good shape by then, in three months’ time.
"If everything goes well in the Classics, maybe I will also start the Tour de Romandie, just to add a couple more days of racing. Then I will do the Critérium du Dauphiné, the National Championships, and of course, go to some altitude training camps. I want to be at 200% for the Tour de France, and if things go as planned and I continue to improve, I am confident I can start there in a strong form and fight for a good result.”
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Here’s the team’s update:
Paul Lapeira extends his contract until 2027
Paul Lapeira:
"It's a renewal that came about naturally, leaving no room for doubt. I did all my training within the team's network, and with a fine progression under my belt, it encouraged me to continue in the same vein. I'm delighted to be extending my contract for a further two years, until 2027, which will bring my total years with the team to six by the end of the contract. It's starting to make quite a story.
"I think I'm in the right place to continue to progress over the next three years and bring the team the best possible results. I'm confident in the future of training, and the vision of the project to 2028 brings serenity. I'd like to thank our partners, AG2R La Mondiale, who have supported us for many years, as well as Decathlon more recently, and Van Rysel, who provide us with state-of-the-art equipment."
:
Paul Lapeira at the start of the 2024 Coppa Agostoni. Sirotti photo
The news: An Australian comeback
Paul Lapeira will be making his return to competition at the Tour Down Under, to be held from January 21 to 26 around Adelaide. This will be Paul's third appearance in this first WorldTour race of the season.
The number: 5
As the number of victories for Paul Lapeira in 2025, successes abound for the young Norman, with a Classic Loire-Atlantique and Cholet-Pays de la Loire double to kick off his season. This was followed by a WorldTour victory on stage two of the Tour du Pays Basque, before he was crowned French champion on home soil. Also in his native region, Paul won the Polynormande at the end of the season.
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Here’s the team’s announcement:
Intermarché-Wanty is pleased to announce its new partnership with Hutchinson, the French pioneer of cycling tyre technology. The riders of both the World Team and the U23 Development team are equipped with its state-of-the-art road tyres, ensuring they have the performance needed to excel in the world's toughest races, from the challenging conditions of the one day classics to the high-altitude climbs of the three Grand Tours.
This technological partnership has begun in earnest with the team already riding prototypes of the next generation of race specific tyres from the French brand. Specifically designed for the challenges of elite cycling, these new tyres further enhance the speed and grip of Hutchinson’s performance road tyre, the Blackbird, returning Hutchinson to its place as a world leader in tyre performance. Set to debut unofficially at the Tour Down Under, in time these cutting edge developments will be made available to riders worldwide as an official Hutchinson product.
Hutchinson's Blackbird tire.
The partnership is set to build on Hutchinson’s rich palmares at the top tier of professional cycling, with multiple Tour de France stage and overall victories throughout the brand’s 170 year history. Returning to the WorldTour through partnering with Intermarché-Wanty marks an important statement as Hutchinson continues to develop some of the world’s leading performance tyres. However, the partnership goes well beyond race day, with Hutchinson and Intermarché-Wanty already working hand-in-hand on research and development, with insights from the team’s riders set to be instrumental in further developing upcoming additions to Hutchinson’s range of performance road tyres.
"When we switched to tubeless tires years ago as one of the first teams, we gained a significant advantage in speed. Now that all teams are riding tubeless, we were looking for a way to regain our technological edge. With Hutchinson, we found a new partner who wanted to work with us on a tire with good grip, which has been the Achilles' heel of the tubeless system so far, especially in wet conditions. Building on the knowledge gained during the development of the Blackbird tire, we are now developing together new Hutchinson Racing Lab tubeless tires. These new tires combine a super-light weight with top rolling resistance and exceptional grip – our riders don't call it the 'MotoGP tire' for nothing. We started extensive testing of the prototypes early on, both in the mountains and on the cobblestones, with excellent results. We are very happy with this new partnership with Hutchinson and our full setup for 2025. The equipment with which the Intermarché-Wanty riders race is of absolute top quality, and we continue to work on improvements continuously, in close contact with all our technical partners.” - Mikey van Kruiningen (Head of Equipment)
About Hutchinson:
Hutchinson is a pioneering French brand with over 130 years of expertise in cycling innovation. Founded in 1853, it remains the only manufacturer of “made in France” bicycle tyres, embodying unmatched craftsmanship and premium material expertise.
From Raymond Poulidor to Thomas Voeckler, Hutchinson boasts a rich palmarès at the top tier of professional cycling, with multiple Tour de France stage and overall victories throughout its history. As a leader in tubeless technology, Hutchinson played a key role in its development, setting a global benchmark. Its meticulously crafted, high-performance products are trusted by professional athletes and cycling enthusiasts alike, reinforcing Hutchinson’s reputation as a driving force in cycling innovation.
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