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Bicycle Racing News and Opinion,
Monday, January 22, 2024

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2023 Tour de France | 2023 Giro d'Italia

What you see is that the most outstanding feature of life's history is a constant domination by bacteria. - Stephen Jay Gould

Bill and Carol McGann's book The Story of the Giro d'Italia, A Year-by-Year History of the Tour of Italy, Vol 1: 1909 - 1970 is available in print, Kindle eBook & audiobook versions. To get your copy, just click on the Amazon link on the right.

Upcoming racing:

• Jan 24-28: Challenge Illes Balears-Volta Ciclista a Mallorca
• Jan 28: GP d'Ouverture-La Marseillaise
• Jan 28: Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race
• Jan 30 - Feb 3: Saudi Tour

Latest completed racing:

• Jan 12-21: Santos Tour Down Under
• Jan 20: Clasica Comunitat Valenciana
• Jan 1: GP Sven Nys
• Dec 29: Exact Cross Loenhout-Azencross
• Dec 28: Superprestige Diegem
• Dec 27: Superprestige Heusden Zolder
• Dec 26: World Cup Gaver Cyclocross
• Dec 17: World Cup Namur Cyclocross

Here's the report from stage six and final GC winner Stephen Williams' Team Israel-Premier Tech:

With his arms raised in celebration, Stevie Williams showed nothing but class in the way he won the final stage of the Santos Tour Down Under atop Mount Lofty, securing the General Classification win and the biggest victory of his career.

Stephen Williams with his Israel-Premier Tech teammates at the end of the stage. Sirotti photo

Coming into stage six on equal time with Oscar Onley (Team dsm-firmenich PostNL) after a showdown on Willunga Hill, it was always going to come down to the wire on Mount Lofty. Brilliant teamwork all day put Williams in the perfect position on the third and final ascent and from there, it was a show of pure class from the Welshman, who surged ahead in the final 250 meters to take the victory in the leader’s ochre jersey and secure the overall win.

“What a stage,” exclaimed the 27-year-old. “That finish is perfect for me. It’s so punchy. I’ve got a knack of being able to hold on and hold on and luckily I was able to get back on the wheel [in the finale], read the situation and capitalized by opening up at 250 meters to go. Everyone’s legs were dead by then so I thought if I got the jump, I would be in with a good chance. I would always back myself coming into it in a small, select group like that and to do it in this jersey as well, makes it even more special.”

Williams was quick to dedicate the win to his teammates, acknowledging the brilliant way the team has raced all week.

“Honestly, the support the team has given me over the past two days has been incredible. I can’t thank them enough. The staff, soigneurs, mechanics, the boys, the riders, everyone. All week the boys have been amazing. They have done a great job and this is definitely a team victory. With the caliber of riders we had here, we were backing ourselves and we weren’t here to make up numbers, that’s for sure. I’m really proud to come down here and start the season like this on the front foot, and head back to Europe and continue on.

“Cycling is funny because wins don’t come around very often. So once you get a victory like this, you have to make sure you enjoy it and take it in. For me to win a WorldTour GC at this point in the season is really important for my development.”

A breakaway of seven riders, none of whom posed a threat to the General Classification, up the road was the perfect scenario for the team given multiple riders were within seconds of the race lead. Williams’ teammates controlled the breakaway’s advantage for much of the day but other teams were forced to chase to have any chance of challenging Williams for the win and the crucial bonus seconds at the finish line.

In the end, Williams would go on to win the race by nine seconds over Jhonatan Narvaez (Ineos Grenadiers) and 11 seconds ahead of Isaac Del Toro (UAE Team Emirates) to secure Israel – Premier Tech’s first ever WorldTour stage race win.

Sports Director Sam Bewley praised Williams and the entire team for their performance all week, coming in as the underdogs but emerging as the strongest team in the race.

“It’s unbelievable,” said Bewley. “When we came to this race, we knew we had a good chance of doing really well here. Our objective was top-five overall and a stage win, so they have eclipsed that well and truly. We believed we could win it but we had some trouble throughout the week with Corbin getting sick but we pivoted really well to focus on Stevie. Strategically, the team was good but ultimately, the guys were just unreal. Every day, they believed in Stevie, they believed in Corbin as well, and when you are like that, you are a hard team to beat.”

Bewley acknowledged the significance of the team’s performance Down Under and the way it sets the team up for the rest of the season.

“It’s huge. The best thing about it is that Tour Down Under is a bloody hard race to win,” he added. “It’s a WorldTour stage race and it’s in January. It’s the first stage race of the season which means this group of guys will get on a plane back to Europe and take some real motivation into the rest of the season. When you start a season like this, once the wheels get rolling they are hard to stop. It is a perfect way to start the year for the team to win a WorldTour stage race. It is a big box ticked and I’m sure it is going to be the first of many.”

Here's the Tour Down Under stage 6 report from GC second place Jhonatan Narvaez's Team INEOS Grenadiers:

Jhonatan Narvaez put in a superb and committed performance to finish second on the final stage and claim second overall at the Tour Down Under.

The Ecuadorian capped off a superb eight-day stretch by taking his first overall WorldTour podium following an exciting final showdown on Mount Lofty.

Jhonatan Narvaez (right) finishes second to Stephen Williams in stage 6. Sirotti photo.

Once again Narvaez received brilliant support from his INEOS Grenadiers teammates on the day, and found himself battling it out for the stage win after a rapid final ascent.

Finishing a narrow second to race leader and overall winner Stevie Williams (Israel-PremierTech), Narvaez was able to edge out Isaac Del Toro (UAE Team Emirates) on the line and pick up the bonus seconds to secure the runner-up spot.

The team rode hard, working well as a unit to help bring down the gap to the day's dangerous seven-man breakaway. Then on the final lap the Grenadiers put six riders on the front of the peloton to string out the bunch and ensure the break was caught on the climb. Josh Tarling gave a final acceleration on the initial slopes before the attacks began to fire.

For Narvaez, who won the opening Down Under Criterium, the result marked an impressive and consistent start to the season.

Here's the Tour Down Under stage six report from third-place Isaac del Toro's UAE Team Emirates:

Isaac del Toro got his professional career off to a glittering start with 3rd place podium and the white jersey as best young rider at the Santos Tour Down Under.

The 20 year old put on an attacking display on the final stage finishing third in the sprint behind Stevie Williams (Israel Premier Tech) who took the stage and the overall victory.

Isaac del Toro wins TDU stage two. Sirotti photo

The general classification battle kicked-off in the final two kilometres after the the peloton caught the final breakaway riders on the lower slopes of Mt Lofty. It was at this point del Toro attacked which strung out the select group and briefly caught Williams out of position.

Williams would fight back and narrowly take the sprint ahead of  Jhonathan Narvaez (Ineos Grenadiers) and del Toro, who goes home with a stage win after victory on stage 2.

Antonio Morgado was active throughout the day, winning the prize for most combative rider having infiltrated a sizeable breakaway with 110km to go, building up 3 minutes and just being swept up on the lower slopes of the climb. The race also serves as the first outing for the young Portuguese talent who will take confidence from the performance.

Unfortunately there was a ten rider crash in the final kilometres with several UAE Team Emirates involved though all escaped with minor abrasions.

Del Toro: “The plan was to start the climb in front and try to attack on the hard section and gain seconds. With the heat of the race I didn’t even know my teammates had crashed behind and only heard about it on the finish line. I was sad for them , particularly as Finn was high up on GC. It wasn’t the ideal situation but sometimes it can happen.

"I tried my best to go for the stage today. In the final straight I think I could have probably timed it a bit better in the sprint, but I guess that comes with experience. I look forward to keep learning and progressing.I’m happy with my performance here, I enjoyed it a lot.”

Here's the report from stage six fourth-place Bart Lemmen's Team Visma | Lease a Bike:

Bart Lemmen has finished fourth in the final stage of the Tour Down Under. The 28-year-old Visma | Lease a Bike neo-pro narrowly missed out on a podium place on Mount Lofty. Finishing fourth, Lemmen secured fifth place in the overall standings. The stage and overall victory went to Stephen Williams.

TDU Stage five: Bart Lemmen (far right) finishes fifth. In the middle is Julian Alaphilppe finishing fourth. Sirotti photo

The final day of the six-day Australian stage race saw the riders climb Mount Lofty three times. After a nervous start, a seven-man breakaway was caught by the peloton. Everything came together before the final climb of Mount Lofty. An alert Lemmen was able to counter his rivals’ attacks in the final kilometres. In the end, the Dutchman was beaten by stage and overall winner Williams, Isaac Del Toro and Jhonatan Narváez. His fourth place saw Lemmen move up to fifth in the final standings.

"Our goal was to defend Bart's position in the general classification, and we did that", sports director Addy Engels said. "We knew that the stage would be decided on the final climb of Mount Lofty. The focus was right, although, unfortunately, both Milan (Vader) and Johannes (Staune-Mittet) crashed in the final stages. Despite this, his teammates gave Bart the perfect support to fight for the day's victory. Fourth place on this tough finish is a great result."

Lemmen, in his first few months with Team Visma | Lease a Bike, finished his first stage race at WorldTour level in the top five. "This is just an outstanding performance", Engels added. "The riders that were here were of a very high level. Both today and yesterday, Bart managed to keep some big names behind him on challenging courses. What he has shown this week as a newcomer has been great."

Team Groupama-FDJ's Laurence Pithie was fifth in stage six. Here's his team's report:

He undoubtedly made some fans excited very early this Sunday. On the sixth and final stage of the Tour Down Under, Laurence Pithie came very close to a major performance on the ramps of Mount Lofty. After getting in the mix in the sprints this week, the young New Zealander followed the best GC contenders uphill this time, and even attacked them with just over a kilometre to go.

Laurence Pithie finishes fifth. Sirotti photo

His bold attempt was unfortunately brought back 600 meters from the line, but he still took a superb fifth place and above all made quite an impression. The Groupama-FDJ cycling team concluded the race with four top-10s including three top-5s and heads with ambition towards its last two Australian appointments.

The Tour Down Under was to come to an end on Sunday with the shortest stage of the week, but certainly not the easiest. The riders had to tackle the slopes of the explosive Mount Lofty (1.6 km at 6.5%), to be done three times following a winding circuit and slightly hilly circuit. “The goal was to complete the week in a good way,” said Jussi Veikkanen. “We knew the route, and it was the stage with the highest elevation gain. We wanted to get in the morning break with anyone but Laurence. We didn’t manage to be in front, but there are no regrets because the peloton didn’t leave much room. Once the breakaway was gone, we told Laurence that he had to test himself until the very end, and that he should join in the moves in the final if there were any so as not to have regrets.”

At the head of the race, Gil Gelders (Soudal Quick-Step), António Morgado (UAE Emirates), Franck Bonnamour (Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale), Simon Geschke (Cofidis), Stefan De Bod (EF Education-EasyPost), Maurice Ballerstedt (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and Jacopo Mosca (Lidl-Trek) led the race for a large part of the day, but the peloton came close in the final loop around Stirling. The increasing tension also followed up with a crash seven kilometers from the finish including Enzo Paleni. The young Frenchman was able to finish the race despite some wounds. In the lead, the breakaway was caught with four kilometres to go, entering the foothills of the final climb.

In a perfect position, as usual, Laurence Pithie could tackle Mount Lofty in the first five positions a few moments later. The very high tempo first created some damage in the back, but the New Zealander held his place right in the lead. He was then the first rider to jump on the wheel of Isaac Del Toro when the latter made the first attack 1700m from the finish! The Kiwi kept up with the pace, and five hundred metres further, had just four competitors remaining: Del Toro, leader Stephen Williams, Jhonatan Narvaez and Bart Lemmen.

“In the last two kilometres, I didn’t think too much,” explained Laurence. “I just knew I had to follow the best and be there. I felt good all day and I knew I could have a good finish in a climb like this. I’ve really improved my level on the climbs over the winter.” “Laurence joined a group that went away when it came down to legs, and there were only strong guys up there,” Jussi noted. “Then at 1200 meters, there was a little pause, just before a small flat portion. Laurence being a racer, he wanted to give it a go.”

Wishing to take advantage of his “dark horse” status, the young man from Groupama-FDJ made a small gap, but the reaction was not long to come in the back. “He went alone but was caught at 600m by the same group, after passing the last steep ramp,” Jussi said. Laurence Pithie was caught, lost a few meters and couldn’t join in the sprint for the stage victory with the four leading riders.

On the line, and after a noteworthy display, the 21-year-old Kiwi still secured a superb fifth place. Yet, there were regrets for sure. “What can I say? I’m pretty disappointed”, said Laurence. “I made the split-second decision to go when the group of favorites sat up a little bit. In hindsight, maybe I should have waited for the sprint, but you never know… I gave everything out there, and I can be satisfied to come fifth on this type of finish which isn’t really suited to me. I can be happy with my Tour Down Under overall, with some good top-5s, even if today is definitely bittersweet.”

“We can always rewrite the race and imagine other scenarios,” added Jussi. “If he doesn’t attack and stays in the wheels, maybe he beats them in the sprint and wins the stage. But would he have held up in the final steep section if he had stayed with them? He was certainly extremely disappointed when he got to the team bus, but I think we should only keep the positive from this day. He must not be disappointed for having tried something. If they had looked at each other for a few more seconds, it would have been a different story. We are disappointed because we would rather win than finish fifth, but we cannot say that he made a mistake. And if you don’t try, you never get anything. It was also a new situation for him. It will be useful to him, it’s a good experience and base for the future.”

Laurence Pithie therefore completed this 2024 Tour Down Under with his fourth top-10 of the week (and third top-5). A good balance for Groupama-FDJ despite an obvious lack. “Having lost Rudy is the real pity of the week,” concluded Jussi. “He wanted to perform here, and with him, we would have had an even better week. We lack a rider in the final top-10, which he would have been able to accomplish. Laurence finishes twenty-second and that’s not so bad for a sprinter (smiles). Apart from that, we were spoiled by Laurence’s great performances and consistency. He’s a genuine racer, and you don’t find genuine racers everywhere. He has a feel for the race, he knows how to run a tight ship, he knows his opponents, and he never ceases to surprise us. When we see his progress between last year and this year on this same stage, we just think that his limits are unknown, and that’s what’s nice.” However, the Australian stay is not over for the Finnish sports director and his men, who will line up with ambition on the Surf Coast Classic then the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Race next week. “We are hungry for more and very motivated, that’s for sure,” he said.

Here's the report from sixth-place Julian Alaphilippe's Team Soudal Quick-Step:

Julian Alaphilippe racked up his 12th top ten in a World Tour stage race on Sunday, when the 24th edition of the Tour Down Under came to a conclusion. The Frenchman entered the day in sixth place overall and held on to this position at the end of the short but intense stage to Mount Lofty, the 1.6km climb which featured three times on the course.

Julian Alaphilippe before the start of TDU stage three. Sirotti photo

For the second consecutive day, a Soudal Quick-Step rider was in the break, this time Gil Gelders being the one who produced a strong ride on the hard course between Unley and Mount Lofty. The U23 Gent-Wevelgem and GiroNextGen stage winner showed some great legs in the seven-man group that formed after some crazy fast fifteen kilometers, and was among the last to get caught just four kilometers from the finish.

Attacks soon came in quick succession, which eventually led to five men getting away and fighting for the victory. It was Stephen Williams (Israel-Premier Tech) who took it, while behind Julian Alaphilippe won the chasing group sprint, crossing the line in sixth position.

“The motivation was there for the last stage. It was a good day for us with Gil in the breakaway, while the rest of the guys once again stayed around me and worked hard for me going into the final climb. I felt good and I’m happy with what the squad has shown here. The confidence is there especially after this hard weekend, and I feel that slowly I am getting back to a good level. I enjoyed this race and being in Australia, and now I will return home and continue my preparations for the next goals”, said Julian, who at the end of February will line up at the start of Omloop Het Nieuwsblad.

Points classification winner Sam Welsford's Team Bora-hansgrohe posted this final TDU report:

BORA-hansgrohe finished the Tour Down Under with three stage wins by Sam Welsford. The Australian was unbeatable in the sprint stages and also ended up taking home the points jersey.

Sam Welsford in the Points Leader's blue jersey at the end of stage six. Sirotti photo

Sam Welsford on the achievements of the team: "This has been an incredible Tour Down Under, with our three stage wins in front of a home crowd. It's unbelievable when you think that we took out half the stages of this year's race. The guys rode so well all week and I'm glad to have been able to reward their hard work with those wins, and also with the sprint jersey. It's been the perfect start to the year for us, especially for me having just come into the team this year. I can't wait to keep this momentum going at my next races. I'd also like to thank the guys for having such belief in me right from the start, and also all the staff here in Australia for their support."

Sports Director Bernie Eisel: "The teamwork in our squad worked perfectly. I have to give special mention to our extraordinary sprint train of Patrick Gamper, Filip Maciejuk, Ryan Mullen and Danny van Poppel, and of course Sam Welsford, who was able to finish it all off. Although on stage 4, the lead-out didn't work out quite so perfectly, Sam showed how incredibly strong he is. You could also still see how well the guys worked together and motivated each other. Everyone involved put in a great performance. The result on the penultimate day with the Willunga Hill climb was not exactly what we had hoped for.

"We would have liked the race to be a bit harder, but unfortunately only a few teams had the ambition to make it really tough. So it came down to the final sprint on Willunga Hill and this race situation didn't fully play into the hands of Roger Adria and Ben Zwiehoff. Although they both fought hard, the stage was a controlled affair. The time differences between the first five riders were only small in the lead-up to the last day, so anyone had a chance to win. We had planned if there was an opportunity to mix things up with Roger or Ben on the last stage, then we wanted to try and shake up the race a bit. Either way, we're definitely happy with three wins from six stages here in January in Australia."

Here's the report from stage 5 winner and GC fourth-place Oscar Onley's team dsm-firmenish-PostNL:

After Saturday’s incredible win for Team dsm-firmenich PostNL with Oscar Onley, all was set-up on the final day for one last showdown in the hills. Working well as a unit throughout the day, the team protected finisher Onley over the lumpy terrain. A fierce pace was set to catch the break on the last ascent of Mount Lofty, before the attacks flew. Onley dug deep but just had to let go of the wheels of the front five, who got a gap over the reduced chasing peloton. Bringing it home in the bunch, the team ended the week by claiming fourth on the overall GC with Onley; a fine reward on top of the stage win.

Oscar Onley wins TDU stage five. Sirotti photo

Speaking after the stage Onley said: “The boys did a good job again today looking after me until the final climb. Unfortunately, I didn’t have it to follow the front guys and moved down to fourth on GC. Overall though, I’ve got to be happy with this week and want to thank the whole team for the patience they’ve had with me since I joined the Development program and we achieved this first professional win together. We’re keen to continue this success next week as well at the rest of our Australian races.”

And here’s the final TDU report from Team Astana Qazaqstan:

Astana Qazaqstan Team finished its first race in 2024 season – Santos Tour Down Under in Australia. The team got 5 Top-10 places with Max Kanter (6th, 9th, 5th, 7th in first four stages) and Christian Scaroni (8th in the final day). At the same time due to a bad crash in Stage 3 (Christian Scaroni, Samuele Battistella and Michele Gazzoli involved) the team missed a chance to play a role in the fight for the General Classification.

Astana Sports Director Mark Renshaw sums up the team’s performance at the Tour Down Under:

“Although we did not get the results we wanted this week, I believe we are on a good trajectory for next racing weeks. We had some really bad luck with 3 riders crashing very heavy at speed on stage 3 and this hurt our GC objectives for the race. A big positive we take from this week is the performance of Max Kanter, he worked really well with Rüdiger Selig before he fell ill before Stage 5. The two riders will form a very good pair for the season and already the sprinter and lead-out relationship is formed. We finish the race on a good day with Christian Scaroni taking a very solid Top-10 on the GC day today, he still has some pain in the left wrist, but the legs are back firing and this is great for the team’s objective next week. I had a nice week leading the team as Sports Director in my first race with Stefano Zanini bringing me up to speed, I feel like I never left the sport and I’m very comfortable in the role”.

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