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Monday, March 3, 2025
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2024 Tour de France | 2024 Giro d'Italia
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Upcoming racing:
- March 4: Le Samyn
- March 5: Trofeo Laigueglia
- March 8: Strade Bianche
Latest completed racing:
- February 26 - March 2: O Gran Camiño
- March 2: Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne
- March 2: Faun Drôme Classic
- March 1: Omloop Het Nieuwsblad
- March 1: Faun Ardèche Classic
- February 17 - 23: UAE Tour
- February 19 - 23: Volta ao Algarve
- February 22 - 23: Tour des Alpes-Maritimes
- February 14 - 16: Tour de la Provence
- February 16: Clásica de Almeria
- February 15: Vuelta Ciclista a la Region de Murcia
- February 8 - 12: Tour of Oman
We posted the report from third-place Giovanni Lonardi's Team Polti-VisitMalta with the results.
Here's the report from GC winner Derek Gee's Team Israel-Premier Tech:
Derek Gee had no problems keeping the yellow jersey on the final stage of O Gran Camiño this Sunday, securing the first overall stage race victory of his career.
“Today was actually great,” he says. “It’s pretty cool to win my first GC. I love this race, I wanted to win it coming in – that was the goal – but winning races is not easy. I’m overjoyed.”
Derek Gee won the O Gran Camiño.
Knowing that the most important task today would be to keep Gee safe on the gravel sections near the finish, his IPT teammates made sure to always keep the 27-year-old Canadian in a good position near the front. Daniel Lima, Marco Frigo, Pau Martí, Simon Clarke and Hugo Houle all did an impeccable job on the front of the peloton, while Jakob Fuglsang followed Gee like a shadow in case of ill-timed incidents.
Gee adds: “I was pretty stressed going into it but I couldn’t have asked for a better team. I mean, I was at the front all day. They won every fight into all the important sectors, they controlled the breakaway, and there was almost no stress because they were so good today.
“These are class bike riders. They have amazing palmarès, and we even brought in a couple of our IPT Academy riders [into the squad], and they were amazing. They had to do a lot of work but they stepped up.”
Despite numerous attacks in the end, it all finished in a reduced bunch sprint with Magnus Cort (Uno-X Mobility) as the winner, while Gee safely crossed the line in the front group together with Fuglsang to seal the overall victory.
Here's the final O Gran Camiño report from Best Young Rider Viktor Soenens' Team Soudal Quick-Step:
Viktor Soenens concluded the fourth edition of O Gran Camiño as one of the race’s breakthrough riders, after finishing eighth on the general classification of this hard edition that came to a conclusion in the beautiful city of Santiago de Compostela.
Viktor Soenens after stage five. Photo: Sprint Cycling
A member of Soudal Quick-Step Devo Team, which in the past two years has racked close to 50 victories, Viktor came to the start on Wednesday without any expectations but ended up turning heads with these results and the combative way of racing, which translated to a top ten on the toughest stage of the week followed by multiple valiant attacks just twenty-four hours later.
At just 19 years of age, the Belgian was the youngest rider to finish in the first ten on the overall standings of O Gran Camiño, which meant the white jersey – that he proudly displayed on the white gravel roads that spiced up the final day of the competition – remained firmly on his shoulders after the fifth stage, which teammate Thomas Pesenti concluded in tenth place.
“I’m delighted with this result, because it’s a dream come true to achieve this in my first pro race, from a field comprising so many strong riders. I wanted to keep the jersey, so I did my best again today, with the support of a great team, to whom I want to say a big thank you. It was great to race with the Soudal Quick-Step squad this week, and I’m glad I could repay them for all their hard work with these results. I will continue to work hard for the next goals and hopefully this is only the beginning of a strong season”, said a happy Viktor, who was joined on the general classification top ten by Mauri Vansevenant.
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We posted the report from 8th-place Pavel Bittner's Team Picnic-PostNL with the results.
Here's the report from second-place Olav Kooij's Team Visma | Lease a Bike:
Olav Kooij finished second in Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne. The 23-year-old Dutchman was unable to complete the excellent preparatory work of Team Visma | Lease a Bike, having to settle for second place behind Jasper Philipsen.
The Flemish opening weekend traditionally concluded with Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne, a race many sprinters had set their sights on. Kooij made his return to competition for Team Visma | Lease a Bike after recovering from illness.
It took more than an hour of racing before seven riders managed to form the early breakaway. The peloton remained relatively calm until about 80 kilometers from the finish, when action started to unfold on the Mont Saint Laurent. Wout van Aert and Matteo Jorgenson were among those who increased the pace. Van Aert showed great determination throughout the race, launching several attacks, but the sprint teams gave him no room to escape.
It soon became clear that the race would end in a sprint in the streets of Kuurne. Team Visma | Lease a Bike guided Kooij well towards the final kilometre. Tiesj Benoot and Victor Campenaerts, and later Van Aert and Jorgenson, provided an excellent lead-out. In the sprint, Kooij only had to trail Philipsen.
Japer Philipsen wins in Kuurne. Photo: PhotoNewsBe
“My teammates did a great job today,” Kooij said. “It was a battle for positioning heading into the final corner. Tiesj and Victor made sure I got through it well. Later, it was up to Wout and Matteo to launch the sprint, and they did that perfectly. But Alpecin-Deceuninck also had a strong lead-out, and Jasper was simply the fastest today. I can accept that. Above all, I’m happy that after two weeks of illness, I’m back competing for victory.”
Sports director Grischa Niermann reflected on the race and the rest of the weekend: “We had different cards we could play today. Matteo and Wout tried several times to anticipate, but there were many teams controlling the peloton. Then it was clear we would go all-in for the sprint with Olav. The guys positioned him well, but Philipsen was just a bit faster. We’ve identified some areas for improvement over the past two days, but it’s good to finish this opening weekend with a second place in Kuurne. Our main goals lie later this year, and we will now continue preparing for them.”
Here's the Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne report from Team Intermarché-Wanty:
The Walloon World Team, which was not rewarded for its strong collective performance in Omloop Het Nieuwsblad the day before, fought for a ticket in the early breakaway, as Taco van der Hoorn had brilliantly done in the 2022 and 2023 editions.
This time, it was his young compatriot Huub Artz who managed to join the breakaway. For his first participation in the team, Artz stayed in the lead of the race until the final race hour, once all difficulties were behind the back and they were joined by several counterattackers.
After 197 kilometers of racing, the victory was decided in a sprint. The author of the first podium of the season in the Tour Down Under, Marit, added a new good result by finishing fourth. Vito Braet sprinted to twelfth place.
“This is a great result and very good for my confidence. Huub, Dries and Taco made a lot of efforts to represent our team in the breakaway. Thanks to Huub in the front, the responsibility of the chase was on the shoulders of the other teams, allowing us to focus on positioning in the peloton. Vito then focused on all attacks in the early final, while I stayed in the neighbourhood of the other sprinters with Jonas. Together we made a good move to the front with 3 kilometer to go, after which I only had to follow the slipstream of the fastest riders. I launched my sprint with 500 meter to go and finished fourth. After my work in service of the team in the first race half yesterday, I’m very happy I grabbed this opportunity today. Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne is one of the only classics with a sprint chance, that’s why we’ve been training on the parcours since November with the team. Finishing so close to the podium in such a major classic is satisfying. Especially with this level of participating sprinters.” - Arne Marit
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We posted the report from winner Juan Ayuso's UAE Team Emirates with the results.
Here's the report from second-place Mattias Skjelmose's Team Lidl-Trek:
Following on from his 6th place finish yesterday in Faun Ardeche Classic, Mattias was aiming higher today in Faun Drôme Classic. A big effort by the Lidl-Trek team made the difference and meant Mattias could bring home 2nd place, wrapping up a positive weekend for the team in France.
With a lumpy 189km on the menu, it was always going to be a hard day out. Juan Ayuso of UAE Team Emirates-XRG attacked with over 40km remaining and it was up to Mattias to chase solo. After a long fight, Mattias crossed the line only 23 seconds behind the Spaniard.
Mattias Skjelmose finishing second in the Faun Drôme Classic. Sirotti photo
"It was a super good day. All weekend was really nice and we did crazy good as a team. It's so nice to be part of, as always. Every year we step it up and the boys did perfectly today. It might as well have been Quinn, Andrea or Tao on that podium today. Everyone was on a good day and I'm glad I could achieve a strong result. For me, it's time for a quick rest and get ready for Paris-Nice. "
Behind, the rest of the boys were being attentive and following moves. On the tough uphill drag to the finish, Andrea Bagioli and Quinn Simmons crossed the line in 5th & 8th respectively. Three riders in the top-10 is always a good day out.
Team Picnic-PostNL posted this Faun Drôme Classic report:
The French weekend double header of racing began on Saturday with the climb-packed Faun Ardèche Classic. It was a hard and fast start to racing with multiple attacks before the break went clear, with all Team Picnic PostNL riders in the bunch. Attention switched to the climbs in the second half of the day where Romain Bardet and Warren Barguil followed the several attacks that went. On the last passage of the long climb an infernal tempo was set with Barguil making it over the top in a front group of around 20, before he ultimately had to let go of the wheels on the last climb when things split once again.
The race gets started. Sirotti photo
Barguil said: “Today was a hard race. From the start the pace was fast the whole day on the climbs. After my recent sickness, I knew that I needed this type of race to get my shape better. The guys supported me and Romain really well during the race. At the end I just didn’t have the legs on the last climb to follow the first group to make a top result at the finish.”
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And here's the Faun Drôme Classic report from Team Groupama-FDJ:
The day after Romain Grégoire’s victory in the neighbouring department of Ardèche, the Groupama-FDJ cycling team was unable to repeat the performance on Sunday in the Faun Drôme Classic. Juan Ayuso proved unstoppable and won the race. Further back, Valentin Madouas, still tried his best to go for a top result, but ultimately got fourteenth place of the day after being caught within the last kilometre.
Before the race start. Team Groupama-FDJ is presented during the opening ceremonies. Sirotti photo
A series of climbs, shorter and longer, featured on the course of the Faun Drôme Classic this Sunday. Up until kilometre 130, they were mostly short, and up until that point, the race was therefore pretty classic, with the peloton in control behind a seven-rider breakaway. However, a first turning point occurred on the descent before the decisive Col de la Grande Limite. A big crash split the peloton in two, which delayed Tom Donnenwirth for Groupama-FDJ, while the battle began a few minutes later on the day’s longest climb (4.6 km at 6%).
“The plan was to support Guillaume so that he could take part in the fight with the best in the Col in the Grande Limite,” explained Yvon Caër. “Juan Ayuso and Mathias Skjelmose showed early on that they were the strongest, and Guillaume found himself with about ten riders in chase.” “Ayuso was really the strongest,” confirmed Valentin Madouas. “Then, we tried to manage our effort because there was a big headwind. It was better to keep energy for the final.”
At the top of the biggest climb, the Spaniard and the Dane already seemed out of reach, almost a minute ahead of a small peloton of around thirty men. The riders then got over the Côte des Roberts and the Côte de Grane, where counterattacks occurred, then Valentin Madouas also made a push in the Mur d’Allex, fourteen kilometres from the finish. Although the former French champion could not go solo, this allowed the peloton to bring back some attacks and get back into the fight for the podium. That’s also why the Frenchman went for it again.
“I tried to attack 7-8 kilometers from the finish,” he said. “I was alone, but with the headwind, I suffered, and I was caught with 800 metres to go.” “Valentin had to be opportunistic in the end, and he almost succeeded,” said Yvon. “He attacked in Allex, then again with the headwind. Honestly, it was a solid ride. He is in good shape and that’s the day’s good news.” On the other hand, Groupama-FDJ was unable to score a convincing result in the uphill finish. “Guillaume was unable to really go for it after someone hit his derailleur five kilometres from the finish,” explained Yvon. “Brieuc suffered a slow puncture and Thibaud was a bit exhausted.”
Valentin Madouas was therefore the first rider of the team to cross the line, in fourteenth position. “The result is not what we hoped for, but there are plenty of positive things for the future,” assured Yvon. “Everyone did their job, especially Baptiste who handled it like a boss at the start, and Rémi at the bottom of the Col de la Grande Limite. The motivation was the same as yesterday when Romain won, and that’s what we’ll remember from the weekend!”
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