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Monday, August 28, 2023

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2022 Tour de France | 2023 Giro d'Italia

Anyone who has ever struggled with poverty knows how extremely expensive it is to be poor. - James Baldwin

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Bill and Carol McGann's book The Story of the Giro d'Italia, A Year-by-Year History of the Tour of Italy, Vol 2: 1971 - 2011 is available in print, Kindle eBook and audiobook versions. To get your copy, just click on the Amazon link on the right.

Current racing:

• August 26 - Sept 17: Vuelta a España

Upcoming racing:

• Sept 3: Bretagne Classic - Ouest France
• Sept 3 - 10: Tour of Britain

Latest completed racing:

• August 23 - 27: Renewi Tour
• August 22 - 25: Tour Poitou-Charentes en Nouvelle Aquitaine
• August 9 - 20: Volta a Portugal
• August 17 - 20: Arctic Race of Norway
• August 20: Bemer Cyclassics
• August 15 - 19: Tour of Denmark
• August 15 - 19: Vuelta a Burgos
• August 15 - 18: Tour du Limousin
• August 13: La Polynormande
• August 5 - 13: World Road Championships
• July 29 - August 4: Tour of Poland

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Vuelta a España stage two team reports

We posted the race organizer's report with the results.

Here's the report from stage winner Andreas Kron's Team Lotto Dstny:

Lotto Dstny rider Andreas Kron has taken an emotional stage win at La Vuelta. In a soaking wet stage starting in Mataro and finishing in Barcelona, the time for the general classification was recorded nine kilometres before the finish due to safety reasons. Afterwards, the battle for the stage win commenced and Lotto Dstny made its ambitions clear. It was Andreas Kron who placed a fierce attack on the steep slopes towards Montjuic, pushed all the way to the finish and soloed to victory.

Andreas Kron wins stage two.

Crossing the finish line, Kron pointed to the sky as the Dane dedicated his first stage win in a Grand Tour to teammate Tijl De Decker, who lost his life last Friday after suffering the consequences of a collision on training. "The bad weather conditions made for a difficult and dangerous day on the bike but already this morning I believed in this victory. With the wet roads and also the neutralisation, there would be chances and personally I have worked tremendously hard towards this Vuelta. I had to miss out on the Tour and to come back at this level, with a first stage win in a Grand Tour, means a lot to me. I always said I would dedicate my first win in a Grand Tour to my late mother, but the team is going through a very difficult period at the moment, so I would really like to dedicate this win to Tijl De Decker. My mum will have to wait a bit more, but that second win will hopefully come soon," Kron reacted.

Here’s the report from new GC leader Andrea Piccolo’s Team EF Education-EasyPost:

Andrea Piccolo is just two days into his rookie grand tour and already wearing his first leader’s shirt. The Italian took over the lead of the Vuelta a España with a tremendous breakaway effort on the rain-soaked second stage from Mataró to Barcelona.

“I am really happy with my performance today,” Andrea said after the podium celebration. “I trusted myself. The team trusted me, and we went from the start of the stage for the red jersey.”

Andrea Piccolo will be wearing red when he starts stage three.

Andrea only had to make up six seconds. That was the gap to the front of the race after yesterday evening’s team time trial in downtown Barcelona, where he and his teammates finished third. Andrea was determined to close the gap, despite the storm and treacherous, flooded roads the peloton faced from the start of the day. He went on the attack on the first climb, the Coll de Sant Bartomeu, and got clear with four other riders.

“From the start, the whole bunch knew it would be crazy,” Andrea said. “I though, maybe in front it would be better than to stay in the group. It was! I am really, really happy.”

Once he was out front, Andrea knew that he just had to keep a big enough advantage to the nine-kilometers-to-go marker, where the race organizers had decided to take the times for GC, as the final circuit up to the Castell de Montjuïc was very dangerous. Andrea rolled through all day and kept pushing as the other riders in the breakaway faded. By the time they got to the decisive point, there were only two of them left, and Andrea had more than enough of an advantage. Still, there were bonus seconds to be won on the finish line, and a few long moments of waiting after Andrea had crossed it to make sure that none of his rivals had got them.

“I saw the soigneur, the doctor, our media manager, but we didn’t know for sure if we had got the red jersey,” Andrea said. “We started the race with a six second gap and we crossed the line where the GC was neutralized with a 15 or 20 second gap. I knew that maybe only two guys in the race could make up the difference with the bonus seconds for the red jersey, but we had to wait until the confirmation.”

When it came, Andrea was ecstatic. He is only 22 and had secured the white young-rider’s jersey as well.

“Now, I will call my girlfriend, my mother, my father, all my friends,” he said.

Tomorrow, the Vuelta heads to the mountains of Andorra, where Andrea will race to defend his lead. Right now, he is just trying to soak in this moment.

“Tonight we will celebrate with the whole team at the dinner table,” he said. “And tomorrow, we will see!”

Here’s the Vuelta news from new KOM Matteo Sobrero’s Team Jayco AlUla:

Team Jayco AlUla bounced back from a tough opening stage of La Vuelta a España as Italian Matteo Sobrero climbed into the lead of the Best Climber classification on stage two.

With another wet stage on the cards Sobrero forced an early breakaway to go clear with the hope that a large group could make it all the way to the finish line in Barcelona to contest for the victory. However, with little chance for the five eventual escapees, the 26-year-old quickly changed his game plan and went on the hunt for mountains classification points.

Maximum points over the cat.2 Coll d’Estenalles was enough to secure the jersey with the rest of the team choosing to play it safe in the finale and roll home in the peloton after the race organisers neutralised the general classification times from nine kilometres to go.

Matteo Sobrero in his KOM jersey.

Matteo Sobrero:
“This morning we knew that with the weather and with the slippery roads, it would not be a bad idea to go in the break. I tried to go in the break in the beginning but I was hoping for a bigger break, I thought that there was a chance to get to the finish with a bigger break, but in the end we were just five guys.

"Then I was thinking maybe we can’t get to the final, so I thought I will try for the mountain jersey, because I thought, why not? In the end it was a good result for today and it's nice to have the jersey in the team, but I was hoping to go for a stage win.”

And here's the Vuelta report from Jonas Vingegaard's Team Jumbo-Visma:

Like the opening team time trial, the second stage of the Vuelta a España was marred by rain. Team Jumbo-Visma leaders Primoz Roglic and Jonas Vingegaard did not reach the line completely unscathed, nine kilometres from the actual finish line for the classification riders.

Jumbo Visma before the stage start. Are there rainclouds above?

Inclement weather forced the organisers to make some changes to the second stage. The start was pushed back a few kilometres, and the times for the GC riders were recorded nine kilometres from the finish. After that, those who wanted to fight for the stage win could do so. None of the Jumbo-Visma riders took the risk of getting involved in this battle. The bonus sprint on Montjuïc and the bonuses at the finish remained.

The slippery roads caused some incidents along the way. Roglic was involved in a crash, and Vingegaard suffered two punctures. Both leaders were able to rejoin the peloton without any problems, and the team guided them safely to the nine-kilometre line. Roglic only suffered grazes. The stage win went to Andreas Kron, who crossed the line alone.

"The organisation deserves a compliment for setting the time for the general classification nine kilometres before the finish. It was a wise and courageous decision", sports director Merijn Zeeman said. "Unfortunately, it started raining again, and the roads were incredibly slippery, especially at the roundabouts. We will have to think about how to deal with this in the future."

Zeeman noted that the riders are starting to play an increasingly important role in decisions like today's. "We're getting to the point where the athletes understand that they have a voice in making decisions that favour their health. When the risk of crashes is so high, I think it's good that they are taking action. In the end, we have to do it together."

Zeeman looked back on the first two stages with mixed feelings. "Of course, it's unfortunate to be 26 seconds behind Remco Evenepoel, but there are still a lot of stages to go. I am optimistic and expect a good battle in the coming weeks."

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