Bicycle Racing News and Opinion,
Sunday, January 28, 2024
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2023 Tour de France | 2023 Giro d'Italia
The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good. - Samuel Johnson
Les Woodland's book Tour of Flanders: The Inside Story - The rocky roads of the Ronde van Vlaanderen is available in print, Kindle eBook and audiobook versions. To get your copy, just click on the Amazon link on the right.
Current Racing:
- Jan 24-28: Challenge Vuelta Ciclista a Mallorca
- Jan 28: GP d'Ouverture-La Marseillaise
- Jan 28: Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race
Upcoming racing:
- Jan 30-Feb 3: AlUla Tour (formerly Saudi Tour)
- Jan 31 - Feb 4: Etoile de Besseges
- Jan 31 - Feb 4: Volta a La Comunitat Valenciana
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
We posted the race organizer's report with the results.
Here's the report from winner Rosita Reijnhout's Team Visma | Lease a Bike:
Rosita Reijnhout has won the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race. The 19-year-old rider from Team Visma | Lease a Bike held off Dominika Włodarczyk and Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig in a nail-biting finish. It was Reijnhout's first victory in a WorldTour race.
Rosita Reijnhout wins a big one. Visma | Lease a Bike photo
The final race on Australian soil, with start and finish in Geelong, remained closed for a long time. Despite several attacks, there was no real breakaway. In the run-up to the local lap in Geelong, with the double climb of the Challambra Crescent, the young yellow-black formation rode in front on several occasions.
On the first climb of the Challambra Crescent, the race broke wide open, and many riders were dropped. A depleted peloton, including Maud Oudeman, Lieke Nooijen and Reijnhout, then took on the second climb of the Australian hill. Reijnhout gave everything she had and went up with the best. A few kilometres before the finish, she attacked. The chasers couldn't catch her, so she crossed the line alone. Nienke Veenhoven also won the points classification.
"The plan was to attack on the first climb today”, the young rider said. "It didn't quite work out, but I felt good. I went with my gut, and when Ludwig attacked, I went after her. When she slowed down, I saw an opportunity to attack. I quickly gained a few metres, and I gave everything for the win. It's great that it worked out, thanks to the good work of the team. I still can't believe it.”
The Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race marks the end of the Australian adventure for the riders of Team Visma | Lease a Bike. "It has been a great experience. I learned a lot, and we grew closer as a team. We also did a great job in the races and came home with two wins. Although these have been great weeks, I am also looking forward to returning to the Netherlands soon to celebrate my victory with my family”, a delighted Reijnhout said.
For Team Visma | Lease a Bike Women, this is the first WorldTour victory of the season. The team's next race is the Setmana Ciclista Valenciana on 15 February.
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Here’s the Cadel Evans Race report from sixth-place Francesca Barale’s Team dsm-Firmenich-PostNL:
After a good showing at the recent Tour Down Under, Team dsm-firmenich PostNL’s Women’s program were back in action for one last time in Australia at the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race. Riding well as a unit throughout the day, the team were positioned well as the race opened up on the steep climbs in the finale. Despite some bad luck, good teamwork saw Franziska Koch, Nienke Vinke, Eleonora Ciabocco and Francesca Barale in the reduced peloton for the last ascent; after some strong earlier work by Abi Smith and Maeve Plouffe. Over the top of the last two steep climbs, Ciabocco and Barale found themselves in a chasing group behind the attackers, with Ciabocco burying herself on the front. In the end the attackers stayed away, while Barale showed a great turn of speed to get up and take sixth place on the day.
Speaking after the race Barale expressed: “Overall I’m happy with a WorldTour top ten and it’s nice to start the season like this. Today was a hard race in the end. The first part nothing much happened so we focused on positioning Nienke and me for the final.
"The girls did a super job going into the first climb, where the group got smaller. I had a mechanical and had to swap my bike but could come back before the last lap. There Franziska did a great job leading us onto the last climb. From there it was about hanging on as long as possible. I couldn’t follow when Ludwig went and ended up in the second big group. Eleonora came back and gave me some super help to try and close it and I managed to get third from the group so sixth on the day. I think overall in the races here we showed that even if we are a young team we are good, so it is a nice confidence boost for the season ahead.”
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Here’s the team’s news:
The fourth edition of the race that before this year was known as the Saudi Tour comes with a route that has something for everyone.
Tim Merlier will lead Soudal Quick-Step at the five-day race that starts on January 30, and the two-time Belgian Champion – victorious on eleven occasions during his first season with the team – will once again rely on his good friend and strong lead-out man Bert Van Lerberghe, who last year was instrumental in many of his successes.
Tim Merlier (showing winning the 2023 Nokere Koerse) will be racing in Saudi Arabia. Photo: Getty Sport
Ayco Bastiaens, Piccolo Giro di Lombardia winner William Junior Lecerf, Martin Svrcek – bronze medalist at last year’s U23 World Championships – Warre Vangheluwe and Jordi Warlop will round out the seven-man squad for our second outing in Saudi Arabia.
The five-day race promises to be friendly to the sprinters, who’ll get two, possibly quite three opportunities to take center stage. Early in the week, the punchers will have a chance of going for victory and the leader’s jersey on the uphill finish in the Sharaan Nature Reserve, but the ones fighting for the general classification will once again be the real climbers. And that’s because on the lasts stage of the race, just before the finish in Harrat Uwayrid, a 2.8km ascent averaging 12.5% but featuring a kilometer at 17%, is going to shake up the standings and widen the gaps between those in contention.
“We are going to Saudi Arabia with a solid team. The guys are excited to start their season and we hope for some nice results there. Tim is our leader and he will try, supported by a strong lead-out, to be in the mix on the flat. We’re also eager to see our new guys in action, it will be a good test for them”, said Soudal Quick-Step sports director Davide Bramati.
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Here’s the team’s update:
The historic region of AlUla will host the peloton for the 3rd time, the first time under its new name – AlUla Tour (previously the Saudi Tour). The five stage race will take place between January 30th and February 3rd covering 816km and almost 6,000m of elevation.
Historically this race has been favored by sprinters, with puncheurs having a say as well.
Our team will be ready to fight for the GC as well as look to snatch stage wins outlined by lead Sports Director Enrico Poitschke: “In general we have a great team for AlUla. Fred Wright will fight for a good result in GC while Dusan Rajovic is fast and he’ll be our ‘go-to’ rider for the sprint stages. All other riders are in good shape and motivated. With Andrea Pasqualon and Jasha Sütterlin, we will have experienced support riders. Ahmed Madan has a lot of experience in this race as he raced in the previous two years. Edoardo Zambanini and Finlay Pickering are strong young riders who create a great team. The goal is a stage win and we will fight for a podium result in GC.”
Fred Wright racing in the 2023 Tour of Flanders. Sirotti photo
The first stage will be up for grabs for the sprinters, while the second one might favor puncheurs with a short but steep climb and finish at Sharaan Nature Reserve. The third stage looks very flat, but the terrain is very exposed and wind could easily shake up the GC. That is a novel stage that finishes at Camel Cup Track. Stage 4 connects the history (Hegra) and the future (Maraya) of Saudi, but in terms of performance, it will be the sprinters’ stage. Nothing will be decided before the last stage where we’ll see the final GC battle on the climb to Skyviews of Harrat Uwayrid, with an average gradient of 17% for the length of 1km. This climb has always been on the ‘menu’ in AlUla so all the riders are very familiar with it.
Our sprinter Dusan Rajovic: “First of all, I’m very happy to have a role as a main sprinter for my team at this race, and I’m very motivated for it. Last year I did it as well, it was really a nice and interesting race. This year will be a great opportunity for me. The race, some stages, and some finishes are quite similar to last year’s race, which will definitely help. I will give my best to do some good results in Saudi.”
Our GC hopeful Fred Wright commented: “I’m really looking forward to going back to Saudi and racing the AlUla Tour. I had really good memories, as it was my first race for the team in 2020 when Phil managed to win the overall and we won a couple of stages as well. I did it also 2 years ago, and I’m looking forward to getting stuck in. The shapes coming along really nicely. I was feeling better as the training camp went on, progressing nicely. I’m looking forward to testing the legs, and seeing if we can get a good GC result as well as a result on one of the stages. There are a couple that I’ve got my eye on for the win, and we also got Dusan, who is in good shape, for the flat sprint stages. We’ve got a really good balanced team for the race with the GC option and sprint options. That is really exciting. It’s always fun to go to different parts of the world. I remember a team presentation from a couple of years ago that was really cool, the Elephant Rock… there are lots of nice parts of races as well as bike racing. We have a good team for it, let’s see what the wind says, could be echelons, but as a classics rider, I’m more than excited for that aspect of the racing. I think it’s a perfect prep just to get the legs going for the rest of the season. Hopefully, we can start it well.”
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