Bicycle Racing News and Opinion,
Sunday, June 5, 2022

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2021 Tour de France | 2022 Giro d'Italia

I intend to live forever. So far, so good. - Steven Wright

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Current racing:

• June 5 - 12: Critérium du Dauphiné
• June 5: Brussels Cycling Classic

Upcoming racing:

• June 8 - 12: ZLM Tour
• June 10 - 13: La Route d'Occitanie
  

Latest completed racing:

• June 2: Giro dell'Appennino
• May 6 - 29: Giro d'Italia
• May 24 - 29: Tour of Norway
• May 22: Rund um Köln
• May 21: Veenendaal - Veenendaal
• May 21: Tour du Finistère
• May 15: Tro-Bro Léon
• May 14: Grand Prix du Morbihan
• May 3 - 8: 4 Jours de Dunkerque

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Team Jumbo-Visma will participate in the Criterium du Dauphiné

Here’s the team’s update:

This course's edition gets tougher with every stage. The Dauphiné starts in La Voulte-sur-Rhône, in the south-east of France. The riders will first be presented with three hilly stages. There is a flat 31.9-kilometre individual time trial on the fourth day.

After the time trial, the riders will head for the Alps. The fifth stage is supposed to be the best sprinters' opportunity; the sixth stage is hilly. The real climbers' stages follow in the final weekend. Stage seven is particularly important with a view to the Tour. That stage is similar to the eleventh Tour stage, which finishes at Alpe d'Huez. In the upcoming Dauphiné, the finish is earlier, but the riders will have to climb the Col du Galibier and the Col de la Croix de Fer, also part of the Tour. The last stage will also be for the climbers, with a climb of the Col de la Colombière and a finish on the Plateau de Solaison.

Team Jumbo-Visma will have a strong team at the start. "We'll look at it from day to day", sports director Grischa Niermann says. "We think the riders will be okay after a first altitude training and then we want to show ourselves. But winning this Dauphiné is not a goal in itself. It is good preparation for the Tour, which remains our main goal. After the Dauphiné, we'll go on altitude training, but it is also important to race in the preparation period and then this race comes at the perfect moment."

Primoz Roglic winning stage two of the 2020 edition of the Dauphiné. Sirotti photo

Primoz Roglic and Wout van Aert, both at the start on behalf of Team Jumbo-Visma, have previously been successful in the Dauphiné. The Slovenian won a stage in 2020 and the Belgian champion has already won three stages, including a time trial. They will be joined by Jonas Vingegaard, Steven Kruijswijk, Tiesj Benoot, Christophe Laporte and Chris Harper.

Niermann: "I expect Primoz and Wout will want to test their form and further improve their race rhythm. Many eyes will be on us, so we will have to race in a smart way."

Criterium du Dauphiné riders:

• Primoz Roglic
• Jonas Vingegaard
• Steven Kruijswijk
• Christophe Laporte
• Wout van Aert
• Tiesj Benoot
• Chris Harper

Team Bahrain Victorious is also headed to the Dauphiné

Here’s their update:

With the Tour de France less than a month away, the 74th edition of the Critérium du Dauphiné – traditionally a key part of riders’ preparation for ‘La Grand Boucle’ – starts on Sunday, June 5th. Team Bahrain Victorious will take to the start line with a strong line-up riding in support of leader Jack Haig, who finished 5th last year.

Jack Haig finishing stage 21 of the 2021 Vuelta a España. Sirotti photo

Also looking to perform well on GC will be Damiano Caruso, who had a top 5 at the race himself, in 2018, and has had an impressive 2022 already.

Neil Stephens, lead Sports Director, is hoping the team can continue the good form shown in recent months:

After a really successful Giro, we’re hoping to continue the same line of performance at the Dauphiné. A lot of guys are coming back from a period of preparation doing altitude and specific training.

With Jack Haig the GC leader going really well, and Damiano Caruso the same, they’ll be supported by the rest of the team, and the guys are all looking forward to the challenge”

The race starts with 3 hilly stages, the last of which ends with an uphill finish on a 6.2km category 2 climb from Chastreix to Sancy averaging 5.6%, and could provide an opportunity for the GC favourites to show their strength for the first time.

Wednesday sees a flat, technical & demanding 39.1km time trial. Stage victory should go to a specialist, but the overall contenders will be trying to gain whatever advantage they can over their rivals.

“It’s a good mixture of flatter stages and lumpy stages,” says Stephens. “There’s a flatter time trial which will be very technical and demanding, before a really hard solid weekend which should decide the GC”.

Joining Haig and Caruso are Kamil Gradek, riding his first Dauphiné, and Heinrich Haussler, who won a stage back in 2007. More experience comes in the form of Luis Leon Sanchez, and another previous stage winner at the race, Dylan Teuns, winner of this year’s La Flèche Wallone.

The final two days will provide a real test of the climbers, with 3 “hors category” and 2 cat 1 climbs, including Tour de France regulars the Col du Galibier, Col de la Croix de Fer, and Col de la Colombière.

As well as ambitions in the overall, TBV have another card to play in fast man Phil Bauhaus. The German won the last stage of Tirreno-Adriatico, and just missed out on a stage victory at the Giro. Stephens concludes:

“Phil’s a little bit tired after the Giro, but he’s looking to get a win out of the way. It’s a race that gets us back into racing after a long period of preparation. We’re looking for at least one stage win with Phil Bauhaus and a top result in GC with either Jack or Damiano”.

Arnaud De Lie wins Heistse Pijl

Here’s the race report from De Lie’s Team Lotto Soudal

Lotto Soudal rider Arnaud De Lie has won the Heistse Pijl in impressive fashion. The 20-year-old Belgian beat Italian Giacomo Nizzolo and the Brit Mark Cavendish in a chaotic sprint. For neo-pro De Lie, it’s already his fifth win of the season. That way, he puts his team’s win tally at eighteen.

Arnaud De Lie beat some pretty big dogs to win the race. Picture: Photo News.

With six local laps of fifteen kilometres in Heist-op-den-Berg, the crucial point of the Heistse Pijl was to be found at the end of the race. A short but sharp cobbled climb, just one kilometre from the finish, broke the flat nature of the course and it was also there where the Heistse Pijl was decided. After some fine team work, Arnaud De Lie began the final ascent in perfect position and responded to the attacks, which put him in an excellent position towards the final sprint. Nizzolo launched the sprint but it was De Lie who passed the Italian with a powerful acceleration and took his fifth win of the season. With Nizzolo in second place and Mark Cavendish in third, De Lie was flanked on the podium by two top sprinters.

Of course, De Lie was over the moon with a new victory. “This is just incredible and feels like a new step in my career. The team executed the plan just perfectly. I was perfectly positioned on the final climb of the Heistseberg. I just followed the attacks and took my responsibility to hold the pace towards the finish. When Nizzolo launched his sprint, I got on his wheel, was able to pass him and so I won.”

“Following the GP Marcel Kint last Sunday, it’s great to have the Heistse Pijl on my palmares. For me, every race is important and I’m always at the start with the ambition to win. I know it’s not easy to win a race and that is why I am really happy that I can add Heistse Pijl to my list of victories. The fact that I am on the podium with world-class sprinters like Nizzolo and Cavendish is just incredible”, concludes Arnaud De Lie.

Results:

1. Arnaud De Lie (Lotto Soudal) 4hr 8min 54sec
2. Giacomo Nizzolo (Israel-Premier Tech) s.t.
3. Mark Cavendish (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl) s.t.
4. Daniel McLay (Arkea-Samsic) s.t.
5. Laurens Sweeck (Bingoal-Pauwels Sauzen) s.t.
6. Baptiste Planckaert (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert) s.t.
7. Piet Allegaert (Cofidis) s.t.
8. Guillaume Boivin (Israel- Premier Tech) s.t.
9. Kenneth Van Rooy (Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise) s.t.
10. Timo Kielich (Alpecin-Fenix) s.t.

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