Bicycle Racing News and Opinion,
Wednesday, October 2, 2024
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2024 Tour de France | 2024 Giro d'Italia
God has cared for these trees, saved them from drought, disease, avalanches, and a thousand tempests and floods. But he cannot save them from fools. - John Muir
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.
Current racing:
- Sept 29 - Oct 6: Le Tour de Langkawi
Upcoming racing:
- October 3: Sparkassen Münsterland Giro
- October 5: Giro dell'Emilia
- October 6: Paris-Tours
- October 6: Coppa Agostoni-Giro delle Brianze
- October 7: Coppa Bernocchi
- October 8: Tre Valli Varesine
- October 10: Gran Piemonte
- October 12: Il Lombardia
Latest completed racing:
- October 1: Binche-Chimay-Binche
- September 22 - 29: World Road Cycling Championships
- September 18 - 22: Tour de Luxembourg
- September 21: Super 8 Classic
- September 20: Kampioenschap van Vlaanderen
- September 18: GP de Wallonie
- September 15: Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal
- September 15: Trofeo Matteotti
- September 14: Memorial Marco Pantani
- September 13: Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec
- September 12: Coppa Sabatini
We posted the race organizer's report with the results.
Here's the report from stage winner Max Poole's Team dsm-firmenich PostNL:
Team dsm-firmenich PostNL got the month of October underway in perfect fashion, with Max Poole powering to a reduced group sprint win in the queen stage of Le Tour de Langkawi; their Men’s program’s 20th win of the season.
Max Poole wins stage three.
After promising rides in the opening two sprint stages, the third day of action in Langkawi was one for the climbers, and a day where Team dsm-firmenich PostNL set out their stall to support Max Poole as finisher. A cohesive team effort from everyone saw Poole always well positioned and the team came over the long but steady main climb of the day in a good way and with numbers. Heading onto the second shorter but slightly harder ascent, the team set a good early pace before other squads took over. The strong tempo remained and on the steepest gradients inside the last kilometre Poole attacked, dragging clear a group of three. They were brought back on the rolling descent, but Poole remained calm and kept a cool head, positioning himself for the sprint to the line. Smartly using the downhill section to get momentum, he kicked early and surged past the group, holding on to raise his arms aloft as he crossed the line, celebrating his first pro win. It’s a special occasion for Team dsm-firmenich PostNL who have taken 16 professional wins with riders promoted from their highly successful Development program in 2024 alone.
An elated Poole expressed: “It was quite a straightforward day with how the parcours was, with a flat first 100 kilometres then uphill for the final 70 kilometres. It was really the only opportunity for the climbers here. I have a really good group of people around me; we made a good plan and knew that it was being about patient and waiting until the last kilometre of the climb to make the damage. When there were attacks, I just tried to stay patient until the last moment to then make the difference and then come over the top of the climb with a gap. We worked well together as a trio but the group from behind came back. There were a few teams with a couple of guys, so I just had to pick the right wheel and get a good run to the line. We knew the finish was slowly dragging uphill, but I got a good bit of slipstream and used it to launch early and held on to the finish. I’ve been sprinting quite well the past few months, so I had to back myself. I’m super happy to get my first pro win and the guys did a great job today so thanks to them as well. We’ll approach each day as it comes, and we have some nice sprint opportunities with Casper so we will also focus on them too and try and go for another win there.”
Team dsm-firmenich PostNL coach Phil West added: “Today was the main chance to shake things up in the GC. We wanted to take some responsibility but the main long climb to Cameron wasn’t too hard. EF controlled and tried to up the pace there, but it was soon clear that the final climb would be the one where the action would be, so we saved our energy for that. The guys did a good job to start forcing the pace at the bottom and began to make it a bit more selective there. Max was patient and made an attack towards the top of the climb. In the end the three of them came back together but he adjusted really well and did a super sprint to take the win so I think we can be really happy with the day.”
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Here's the Langkawi Tour report from second-place Harold Lopez's Team Astana Qazaqstan:
Le Tour de Langkawi in Malaysia featured its key queen stage, where the riders tackled three categorized climbs over a distance of 170 km.
The riders of Astana Qazaqstan Team had a very active stage. On the flat section, Gleb Syritsa and Rüdiger Selig did a lot of work, while Ide Schelling and Davide Toneatti supported their teammates on the penultimate climb.
2024 Tour de Langkawi stage three start.
On the final climb of the day, Harold Martín López and Anthon Charmig launched an attack, managing to break away from the chasers along with British rider Max Poole. Two kilometers from the finish, the attack was neutralized, and in the sprint, López took second place, losing out to Poole. Charmig finished fourth.
“This is my first podium with Astana Qazaqstan Team, and overall, I’m happy with my result. Yes, the win was close, and I really wanted to take it, but that’s sport. Next time will be better, I’m sure. We rode a good stage as a team, the guys supported me throughout the race, and we positioned well on the penultimate climb. On the final climb, I attacked together with Anthon Charmig, and the situation was promising, but we faced a strong headwind on the descent and couldn’t build the advantage. In the sprint, I did all I could, but it wasn’t enough for the win. Nonetheless, the General Classification is still very close, and we won’t give up. We’ll keep fighting on every stage”, – said Harold Martín López, currently second overall.
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We posted the report from winner Arnaud De Lie's Team Lotto Dstny with the results.
Here's the report from sixth-place Luke Lamperti's Team Soudal Quick-Step:
The final Belgian event of the season came down to a bunch sprint, as expected, but it was far from being a straightforward one, due to the cobbles and the numerous tricky corners that spiced up the final kilometers of this 37th edition.
Soudal Quick-Step controlled the 198.6 km race from the beginning, posting Ayco Bastiaens at the front of the peloton to keep the escapees’ gap in check, and later – after the breakaway was brought back – made sure of being present in all the dangerous moves, with the likes of Kasper Asgreen and Yves Lampaert. Late accelerations kept coming, but they were all neutralized by the peloton, who entered the final kilometer as one.
Arnaud De Lie was first across the line.
There, the sprint trains derailed and it was soon every man for himself. Luke Lamperti was left to carry the flag for our team and the young American didn’t disappoint, taking a solid sixth at the end of the race won by Arnaud De Lie (Lotto-Dstny) for what was his tenth top-ten result since the beginning of the season.
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And here's the Binche-Chimay-Binche report from tenth-place Paul Penhoët's Team Groupama-FDJ:
In the closing race of the 2024 Belgian calendar, this Tuesday, on Binche-Chimay-Binche, Paul Penhoët took yet another top-10. After a hectic, tough final kilometre, the young sprinter from Groupama-FDJ placed tenth on the line while Arnaud De Lie claimed victory. The last season’s appointment for him and some of his teammates will be Paris-Tours, on Sunday.
The race gets started.
The final professional Belgian race of the season was set to take place around Binche this Tuesday, over approximately 200 kilometres. After a first loop of about 120 kilometres to the south, the peloton had to complete almost five laps of a 16-kilometre finishing circuit. A six-man breakaway was able to reach the circuit with a small lead over the peloton. “They went after 4-5 kilometres,” explained Frédéric Guesdon. “We then expected a bit of a fight in the first part of the race because there was quite a bit of wind, but almost nothing happened. We were a bit disappointed that it wasn’t livelier. Once we got to the circuit, there was a big acceleration from Lotto-Dstny, but there wasn’t that much of a fight either. As the guys told me, the wind wasn’t in the right direction. It was coming from the front on the long, slight uphill section following the finish line, so it was hard to make a difference, then it was a tailwind on the way back. The weather conditions didn’t make the race difficult this year and there weren’t many dropped riders in the end. We’ve known much harder editions.”
However, the Groupama-FDJ cycling team stayed focused on the hardest part of the course at every lap. “The goal was to follow because teams like Lidl-Trek or UAE Team Emirates did not have any real sprinters, so we knew that they would move”, said Frédéric Guesdon. “The goal was to not be one step behind, and to possibly have two chances: a man in the breakaway and the sprint card with Paul”. Eddy Le Huitouze, Olivier Le Gac and Lewis Askey therefore stood on their pedals several times to follow the accelerations. Alessandro Covi eventually entered the final lap a few seconds ahead of the pack, but everything got back together before the downhill section. In a good position at first, then a bit blocked behind, Paul Penhoët finally took advantage of a big pull from Clément Russo with three kilometres to come back in the top ten positions of the peloton. “He was really in a good position at the bottom of the small, cobbled climb, in De Lie’s wheel,” said Frédéric. “Unfortunately, he was boxed in a bit by Naesen, he lost a bit of speed, then he was boxed in again, he lost a few places, and he stayed there. When we look at the sprint, not many riders managed to come back.”
On the line, the French sprinter had to settle for tenth place, a few bike lengths behind Arnaud De Lie, a clear winner. “It’s a shame he lost his wheel because it was possible to do better,” added Frédéric. “Once he lost speed, it was over. We are a bit disappointed because we always hope for better, especially since the group is doing well, and Paul too. We know that he is looking for a victory, which would be important for the future. Now, we also have to say that there was a high level here.” Five of the riders lining up this Tuesday in Belgium will also be taking part in Paris-Tours on Sunday, where Valentin Madouas and Kevin Geniets will join them.
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