Bicycle Racing News and Opinion,
Sunday, August 6, 2023

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2022 Tour de France | 2023 Giro d'Italia

Be wary of the man who urges an action in which he himself incurs no risk. -  Seneca

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Les Woodland's book Cycling Heroes: The Golden Years is available in the print, Kindle eBook & audiobook versions. To get your copy, just click on the Amazon link on the right.

Current racing:

• August 5 - 13: World Road Championships

Upcoming racing:

• August 9 - 20: Volta a Portugal
• August 13: La Polynormande
• August 15 - 18: Tour du Limousin
• August 15 - 19: Tour of Denmark
• August 15 - 19: Vuelta a Burgos
• August 17 - 20: Arctic Race of Norway
• August 19: Bemer Cyclassics
• August 22 - 25: Tour Poitou-Charentes en Nouvelle Aquitaine
• August 23 - 26: Renewi Tour
• August 26 - Sept 17: Vuelta a España

Latest completed racing:

• July 29 - August 4: Tour of Poland
• July 31 - August 2: Tour de l'Ain
• July 30: Circuito de Getxo
• July 29: Clásica de San Sebastián
• July 26 - 27: Vuelta a Castilla y Leon
• July 22 - 26: Tour de Wallonie
• July 1 - 23: Tour de France
• July 2 - 6: Österreich Rundfahrt-Tour of Austria
• January - June 26: National Championships
• June 11 - 18: Tour de Suisse

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Twelve Soudal Quick-Step riders to race World Championships

Here’s the team’s update:

For the first time in the competition’s history, the World Championships are being held in Scotland, where the men will take on the longest race in more than three decades. Starting in Edinburg, the 271.1km course will see the peloton take on just one significant hurdle in the first part – Crow Road – before descending into Glasgow, where ten laps of a technical circuit await.

The main difficulty will be Montrose Street, a 200m hill averaging 8% that many of the riders know from the 2018 European Championships. Tackled for a total of eleven times, Montrose Street has the potential to break the race if some big attacks come there, especially as the many corners on the local lap (48, in total!) will make things very difficult for the chasers.

Julian Alaphilippe wins the 2021 World Championships.

Soudal Quick-Step will have ten riders at the start of the road race this Sunday: Julian Alaphilippe, Kasper Asgreen, Andrea Bagioli, Rémi Cavagna, Remco Evenepoel, Yves Lampaert, Michael Mørkøv, Mauro Schmid, Florian Sénéchal, Jannik Steimle. A couple of days later, Mattia Cattaneo will join Kasper, Remco and Rémi at the start of the 48.1km individual time trial, while on the final weekend, Martin Svrcek will take on the U23 road race.

“The road race is a long one, with local laps which are harder than what we had in Leuven, due to the many corners which will make things really difficult. The weather says headwinds and some showers, which are only going to add to the complexity of the race. It will be incredibly demanding, but the Classics guys will like it, so if a rider is strong enough to open a gap, he can stay away.”

“Concerning the time trial, it’s nice to see one over such a long distance at the Worlds. The route isn’t that technical, there aren’t that many corners, so it will be about staying as aero as possible and finding a good tempo. Of course, it’s going to be important to keep something in the tank for the last kilometer, with that steep climb to the finish, which also has some cobbles. There the riders will have to dig really deep, because it can be crucial”, said Soudal Quick-Step sports director Klaas Lodewyck.

Alexandr Vinokourov is 50-54 age group Grand Fondo World Champion

Here’s the news from Vinokourov’s Team Astana Qazaqstan:

The General Manager of Astana Qazaqstan Team, the Olympic Champion in London-2012 Alexandr Vinokurov, representing Kazakhstan, won the gold medal in the UCI Gran Fondo World Championships in Scotland, becoming the World Champion in 50-54 age category.

After all these years, Vinokourov is still winning.

Alexandr Vinokurov completed the distance of 159km in 4 hours 5 minutes and 22 seconds. In the final sprint from a 3-man break Alexandr Vinokurov outsprinted the Spaniard Raul Patiño and the Polish rider Adrian Jach. Totally 213 riders finished the race in 50-54 age category.

On Monday, August 7th, Alexandr Vinokurov will represent Kazakhstan in the individual time trial race, the discipline, won by Alexandr at the 2023 Asian Cycling Championships (in the same 50-54 age category).

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