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Saturday, February 24, 2024
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2023 Tour de France | 2023 Giro d'Italia
The first method for estimating the intelligence of a ruler is to look at the men he has around him. - Niccolo Machiavelli
Bill & Carol McGann’s book The Story of the Tour de France, 2022: The Fastest Tour Ever is available in both Kindle eBook & audiobook versions. To get your copy, just click on the Amazon link on the right.
Current racing:
- February 19 - 25: UAE Tour
- February 22 - 25: O Gran Camiño
- February 24: Omloop Het Nieuwsblad
- February 24: Faun Ardeche Classic
Upcoming racing:
- February 25: Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne
- February 25: Faun-Drôme Classic
- February 27: Le Samyn
- February 28: Trofeo Laigueglia
Latest completed racing:
- February 14 - 18: Volta ao Algarve
- February 17 - 18: Tour de Alpes-Maritimes
- February 14 - 18: Vuelta Andalucia - Ruta del Sol
- February 16: Classic Var
- February 10 - 14: Tour of Oman
- Feb 8 - 11: Tour de la Provence
- February 12: Clasica Jaén - Paraiso Interior
- February 11: Clasica de Almeria
- February 10: Vuelta a Murcia
We posted the report from stage winner Olav Kooij's Team Visma | Lease a Bike with the results.
Here's the report from the race organizer:
Umm Al Quwain, 23 February 2024 – The photo finish has decided the fifth stage of the UAE Tour, 182 km from Al Aqah to Umm Al Quwain. After two victories in two sprints, Tim Merlier had to surrender to 22-year-old Olav Kooij, who started on the left side of the road and was able to resist his rival’s comeback, who consoled himself with the lead in the Green Jersey classification. The stage was characterised by the breakaway of Jacopo Mosca, Harm Vanhoucke, and Lennert Van Eetvelt who, thanks to the 6″ gained in the intermediate sprints, moved up to 9th place in the general classification 37″ behind the Red Jersey worn once again by Jay Vine. Tomorrow in Abu Dhabi last chance for the sprinters before the grand finale in Jebel Hafeet.
The big sprint finish.
Speaking in the press conference, the stage winner Olav Kooij said: “It’s never easy to get it right. I came out of the last roundabout quite well. When Mark [Cavdendish] launched the sprint, I was hoping to find a little gap and I did. On the line I didn’t know because Tim [Merlier] was very close and on the other side of the road. I had to wait a bit to know. I’ve made good base to my condition in the winter. I didn’t get any sickness or injury. I had a win at Clasica de Almeria to come here in the UAE with confidence. This is the team where I started in the development team. I feel very comfortable here. The performance level of this team is very high. In races like this, we come with the team committed to sprints and we’ll do it at the Giro d’Italia also this year”.
The Red Jersey Jay Vine said: “I came to the UAE Tour with a lot of training in the legs. Today it wasn’t super stressful but always something can happen. Passed the last corner, everyone was rushing toass to the front. I enjoyed being in the lead today even more than yesterday. Riding at the front in the last ten kilometres is the less scary place and it’s always exciting to race ahead of bunch sprints. I was trying to keep myself safe and me being safe, it also helped our two riders set to go for the sprint. It’s good to be in the Red Jersey for another day”.
The Green Jersey Tim Merlier said: “It was a very close one like last year with Caleb Ewan. My back tyre was a bit flat at the end. With 6km to go, I felt the pressure was gone. We don’t ride tubeless so we had to make a decision, change bike or try like that. At the end, I tried but I told the guys I’d only try to get some points for the Green Jersey but with 200 metres to go, I saw I might as well win and I went all out. The Green Jersey was a goal, we’ll try to defend it. Last year I had the green jersey to win the last sprint stage and I hope it’ll be just the same tomorrow”.
STATISTICS
Olav Kooij posted his 30th pro win, the first one at the UAE Tour. It comes after 3 placements: 2nd in Al Marjan 2022 and Dubai 2023 and 3rd yesterday.
For the first time Tim Merlier posted a top-3 placement at the UAE Tour which is not a win. So far, when finishing on the stage podium, he had recorded only wins (4).
Jay Vine counts 3 leaders’ jerseys, a figure reached only by the winners of this race: Tadej Pogacar (10 jerseys / 2 GC wins), Primoz Roglic (7/1), Remco Evenepoel (5/1), Adam Yates (3/1).
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And here's the report from second-place Tim Merlier's Team Soudal Quick-Step:
Tim Merlier is leading again the points classification at the World Tour race after finishing on the podium on stage 5 – the sprinters’ penultimate opportunity this week. The Belgian – victorious on the previous two days that concluded in a mass gallop – was again the fastest in the bunch, but had to come from a long way back on the finishing straight, and despite making up ground at an incredible pace, he lost for the smallest of margins on the line and had to settle for second.
Here's a closer view of the finish.
It was Merlier’s sixth podium of the season, and the points it came with meant that the 31-year-old reclaimed the green jersey which he wore for one day this week, after the opening stage. With just one more chance for the sprinters here, Tim is in pole-position to take it home, just like he did two weeks ago, at the AlUla Tour.
“Today was a really close one. I am disappointed, of course, because I didn’t win, as I had the legs and the confidence, but at the same time I am happy with getting back the green jersey. I have a pretty good advantage in the standings and hopefully it will be mine also mathematically after Saturday, when I will try again with the help of my team”, said Merlier after Soudal Quick-Step’s 21st top-three result of the year.
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And here's the UAE Tour report from third-place Sam Welsford's Team Bora-hansgrohe:
Today's sprint stage through the desert was all about optimal timing for the fast men, and as expected it came down to a chaotic sprint battle after 182 km, which was taken out by Olav Kooij.
BORA - hansgrohe, so far somewhat unlucky at the UAE Tour, was even more determined to go for a top performance today. In the decisive final phase, Danny van Poppel and Ryan Mullen managed to position Sam Welsford well on the finishing straight. In a tight three-way battle, the Australian showed off his fast finish to take third place.
"We came here motivated to continue our success from Down Under and the guys have been putting in a good performance so far, but we haven't always had the best of luck, with for example the crash holding us up yesterday. However, today we were able to go for it. There's a quality sprinter field here, so it was never going to be easy, but it was a close one today, so let's see what we can do tomorrow." - Sam Welsford
"Today was a pretty good day. We had more luck than on the previous stages and there was also a bit more speed in the final. A sprint is a bit like a lottery. But the guys worked really well and they were all involved in the sprint preparations at the end. We were just a little short of the victory, but we're still happy and will analyse the stage further. However, we know that we are on the right track. Tomorrow we'll have our last chance to take home a sprint win here and we will try again." - Bernie Eisel, Sports Director
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We posted the report from winner Jonas Vingegaard's Team Jumbo-Visma with the results.
Here's the report from team Groupama-FDJ:
After an opening time trial with no impact on the general classification, the second stage of O Gran Camiño really launched the race on Friday. On a day marked with harsh weather conditions, the Groupama-FDJ cycling team didn’t disappoint in the final towards Chantada. Lenny Martinez took fifth place at the finish, Quentin Pacher seventh and David Gaudu twelfth. All three are therefore in the mix for the GC, which should not change too much on Saturday in Castelo de Ribadavia.
After the opening stage got disrupted by the wind (and neutralized in terms of gaps), rain was expected on stage 2, where the double ascent of the Alto de San Pedro de Licora was to establish a first GC hierarchy. “As we were heading to the start this morning, we quickly realized that it was going to be a tough day,” said Jussi Veikkanen. “It really was, with rain, even sleet, 3-4 degrees, and even wind. It was truly a day for warriors. On top of that, the stage had almost 3000 meters of elevation gain.” “I think it’s one of my rainiest days on the bike,” Enzo Paleni also testified. “In these conditions, you have to be mentally prepared before the start, and we were so. We have good clothing, so we don’t necessarily feel cold, but it’s mainly tiring mentally. From the start, we also positioned in front because we know that it gives you the right momentum.”
The young Frenchman also followed a few moves at the start, before the day’s breakaway formed after around thirty kilometers with twelve riders. They never enjoyed more than a 3-minute lead, and the peloton then got closer as the final circuit approached. “As far as we are concerned, we were very committed all day,” Jussi said. “The first strategic location was the bottom of the climb we had to do twice. We had to be in a good position, and the guys did that well thanks to Eddy and Clément for the first ascent.”
The first time up the Alto de San Pedro de Licora, around thirty kilometers from the finish, reduced the bunch to around forty men, including David Gaudu, Lenny Martinez, Quentin Pacher, Reuben Thompson and Enzo Paleni. In the lead, Xabier Azparren (Q36.5) and Alex Molenaar (Illes Balears Arabay Cycling) managed to stay away for a bit longer and tackled the second ascent of the Alto de San Pedro de Licora (5 km at 6%) with a 30-second lead. Enzo Paleni and Quentin Pacher brought their leaders back up ahead of the big fight, which Jonas Vingegaard eventually launched 3500 metres from the summit, almost eight kilometers from the finish.
As they found themselves behind a small split when the Dane attacked, Lenny Martinez and David Gaudu joined a chasing group which included less than ten riders, but with their teammate Quentin Pacher. In the lead, Jonas Vingegaard was first followed by Jefferson Cepeda and Egan Bernal, before flying off solo in the last kilometre of the climb. In the back, Lenny Martinez also made an attempt. “I attacked towards the end of the climb to try to join the Vingegaard group,” explained the young climber. “I was with Uijtdebroeks, we worked a bit together, but we didn’t manage to join them. Then, it was full gas on the last ramp to gain time for the overall.”
Jonas Vingegaard wins stage two.
While Vingegaard secured the day’s victory, Lenny Martinez crossed the line forty seconds later in fifth position. Six seconds later, Quentin Pacher and David Gaudu took seventh and twelfth places respectively, alongside the other GC contenders. “I’m in this race to improve, and it will get better in the coming days,” said David. “Vingegaard was superior, there is not much to say about that,” summarized Jussi. “Behind him, we are part of a homogeneous group with a great team strength. It’s a good overall result.”
Reuben Thompson’s seventeenth place further supported this fact. On Friday evening, Groupama-FDJ has three cards in the top-12 overall before the last two stages. “Tomorrow is the easiest stage on paper, but I think there will be some hard racing because there are already a lot of gaps in the GC, then there’ll be the queen stage on Sunday,” punctuated Jussi.
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