Bicycle Racing News and Opinion,
Thursday, October 12, 2023
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2023 Tour de France | 2023 Giro d'Italia
Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired, signifies in the final sense a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. - Dwight D. Eisenhower
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Current racing:
- Oct 12 - 17: Tour of Guangxi
Upcoming racing
- Oct 15: Japan Cup
- Oct 15: Chrono des Nations
- Oct 15: Veneto Classic
Latest completed racing:
- Oct 11: Giro del Veneto
- Oct 8: Paris-Tours
- Oct 7: Il Lombardia
- Oct 5: Gran Piemonte
- Oct 5: Paris-Gien-Bourges
- Oct 3: Tre Valli Varesine
- Oct 3: Binche-Chimay-Binche
- Oct 3: Múnsterland Giro
- Oct 2: Coppa Bernocchi
The team posted this:
Australian sprinter Caleb Ewan will make a sensational return to GreenEDGE Cycling in 2024, enhancing the team’s sprint squad, as Team Jayco AlUla strengthens in all areas for the upcoming season.
Ewan, who has 60 victories to his name, turned professional with the Australian outfit back in 2014 and quickly developed, with the help of the squad, into one of the world’s best sprinters.
Caleb Ewan winning stage two of the 2018 Tour Down Under when the GreenEdge team was titled Mitchelton-Scott.
The 29-year-old enjoyed his debut WorldTour win in his first full season with GreenEDGE Cycling at the Vuelta a España and went on to take more memorable victories at the Giro d’Italia, Tour of Britain and Abu Dhabi Tour to name a few. The now five-time Tour de France stage winner moved over to Lotto Dstny in 2019 and after a five-year absence, the Australian registered team is thrilled to see Ewan returning to his roots.
Older, wiser and with a wealth of experience under his belt, team management and performance staff are confident that the 11x Grand Tour stage winner will settle back into the organisation quickly and will greatly complement the sprint squad.
Brent Copeland – Team Jayco AlUla General Manager:
“Caleb needs no introduction with the incredible list of results that he has and of course, as he spent the first four and a half years of his professional career with the team - we know what to expect with Caleb and he is one of the world’s best sprinters.
"For us to have another Australian rider which such calibre joining us, it is very special, and he will provide us with another fantastic option to challenge for sprint finishes. We have been working hard to add depth to our men’s team and with the addition of another top-level sprinter into our ranks, we are certainly going to be looking for wins in all races that we see Caleb and Dylan line-up in.”
Caleb Ewan:
“It means a lot to me to come back to GreenEDGE. I had a lot of success with the squad in the past, it's obviously where I started my professional career, so I have really good memories from being with GreenEDGE those first few years.
"For me, it will be nice being back in the Australian culture and English-speaking environment. Being an Australian and riding for an Australian team is very special. There are a lot of riders and staff that I have worked with before, many of my old teammates remain, so it will be great to work with everyone again and I think the transition back will be smooth.
"I'm definitely coming back to the team as a more experienced rider, in the last few years I've won the biggest race of my career and I think I've developed a lot as a rider and also as a leader. When I joined the team initially, I was only 19 or 20, so I was very young. I learnt a lot from the experienced guys that were already there and used that going forward in my career.
"I have developed as a person and as a rider and I look forward to coming back in more of a leadership role. It will be great to be able to help the younger Australians riders too, to reach their potential and in that way also give back to the team.
"The main thing for me will be getting back to winning ways and I hope to bring a lot of success to the team. It will be a strong roster for 2024.”
Caleb Ewan:
Date of birth: 11th July 1994 (29)
Nationality: Australian
Joins GreenEDGE Cycling: 2024 & 2025
Top Results:
5x 1st Tour de France – stage 11, 16, 21 (2019) 3 & 11 (2020)
5x 1st Giro d’Italia – stage 7 (2017) 8 & 11 (2019) 5 & 7 (2021)
9x 1st Tour Down Under – stage wins
1st Vuelta a España – stage 5 (2015)
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Here's the farewell Caleb Ewan post from Team Lotto Dstny:
Thank you Caleb!
Caleb Ewan will not ride for Lotto Dstny in 2024. The team and the Australian sprinter came to a mutual agreement to end the ungoing contract. “We are happy that Caleb can continue his career elsewhere”, says CEO Stéphane Heulot.
Caleb Ewan came to the team in 2019 and soon he proved himself to be one of the fastest sprinters of the peloton with two victories in the Giro d’Italia that year and three in the Tour de France, one of them on the mythical Champs d’Elysees. In total he won four stages in the Giro and five in the Tour for Lotto Soudal, today known as Lotto Dstny. He raised his hands 31 times for the team during the past five years.
Caleb Ewan before the start of 2023 Tour de France stage three. Sirotti photo
It’s fair to say that 2023 was not an easy year for Caleb and Lotto Dstny. “Caleb has won a lot for the team and we are thankful for that”, says CEO Stéphane Heulot, “and just like in a relationship or marriage you have good and bad days together. 2023 was a difficult year for Caleb. We all know he has a lot of talent, but right now he is not showing that in our team and then it’s better to part ways. We don’t want to hold Caleb back in this new opportunity that he has, so we have decided to allow him to continue his career elsewhere. We had an open conversation about this and came to a mutual agreement to end his ongoing contract.”
“I have had five fantastic years with Lotto Dstny and achieved many great victories together with my teammates”, says Caleb. “I am grateful for the wonderful time with this team that became a bit like family and I will never forget the many good race memories we made together. But it was time for a change and I am very happy that we came to an agreement to end my ungoing contract and that I can continue my career elsewhere. I wish Lotto Dstny all the best in the future.”
Ewan will ride for another team in 2024 and Lotto Dstny wishes him all the best with what’s next in his career.
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GCN posted this:
The former performed a 'slanted eyes' gesture in a photo uploaded to social media by the latter, as Intermarché-Circus-Wanty mull further action
Two Intermarché-Circus-Wanty riders have been withdrawn from the upcoming Gree-Tour of Guangxi after one made a racist gesture and the other published it on social media.
Madis Mihkels, the 20-year-old Estonian was pictured performing a slanted eyes gesture with his fingers, and laughing, a day before the start of the final men’s WorldTour race of the season.
The photo was uploaded to Instagram Stories by his teammate Gerben Thijssen, the Belgian sprinter who was set to lead the team on the flat stages in China.
Initially, Intermarché-Circus-Wanty released a statement condemning and withdrawing only Mihkels, but an hour later this was updated to also include Thijssen.
“We sincerely regret the behaviour of our rider Madis Mihkels and Gerben Thijssen and the images shown on social media,” read the statement.
You can read the entire story here.
Here's the statement Team Intermarché-Circus-Wanty posted on Facebook:
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Here’s the team’s news:
Host of the 1990 World Championships, Utsunomiya – a city that can be found on the largest city of Japan – is where our squad will race for the penultimate time this season. The Japan Cup takes place this weekend, when after Friday’s team presentation, the Soudal Quick-Step boys will take on a criterium, followed by the actual race, twenty-four hours later.
Neilson Powless winning the 2022 edition of the Japan Cup.
Julian Alaphilippe, James Knox, Fausto Masnada, Pieter Serry, Stan Van Tricht and Ilan Van Wilder are the six riders lining out at the start of the event held at the Utsunomiya City Forest Park Circuit. The race – a former fixture on the World Cup in the ‘90s and one of the most important in Asia – will consist of 16 laps of a 10.3km circuit whose main difficulty will be Mt. Kogashi, a 2.1km climb averaging 6%.
“We hope to have a good weekend in Japan. For sure, the motivation is there and we will try to do our best. Some of the guys come here after a solid outing in the Italian one-day races, and are motivated to bring the season to a conclusion with a strong ride and a nice result”, explained Soudal Quick-Step sports director Davide Bramati.
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