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Thursday, April 3, 2025

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2024 Tour de France | 2024 Giro d'Italia

It always seems impossible until it's done. - Nelson Mandela

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Upcoming racing:

• April 4: Route Adélie de Vitre
• April 5: GP Miguel Indurain
• April 5: Volta Limburg Classic
• April 6: Ronde van Vlaanderen

Latest completed racing:

• April 2: Dwars door Vlaanderen
• April 2: Paris - Camembert Lepetit
• March 24 - 30: Volta Ciclista a Catalunya
• March 30: Gent - Wevelgem
• March 30: La Roue Tourangelle
• March 25 - 29: Settimana Internazionale Coppi e Bartali
• March 28: E3 Saxo Bank Classic
• March 26: Classic Brugge-De Panne
• March 22: Milano-Sanremo
• March 21: Bredene Koksijde Classic
• March 20: GP de Denain
• March 19: Danilith Nokere Koerse
• March 19: Milano-Torino
• March 9 - 16: Paris-Nice
• March 10 - 16: Tirreno-Adriatico
• March 8: Strade Bianche
• March 5: Trofeo Laigueglia
• March 4: Le Samyn Classic

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Dwars door Vlaanderen reports

We posted the report from winner Neilson's Powless' Team EF Education-EasyPost with the results.

Here's the report from second-place Wout van Aert's Team Visma | Lease a Bike:

Team Visma | Lease a Bike put on a strong display in Dwars door Vlaanderen but failed to reward itself with the win. The Dutch WorldTeam, which claimed victory in both the 2023 and 2024 editions, launched a decisive attack with 70 kilometers to go, spearheaded by Wout van Aert, Tiesj Benoot, and Matteo Jorgenson. Despite an impressive team effort, the trio couldn’t prevent Neilson Powless from snatching the victory in the sprint.

Neilson Powless beats Wout van Aert to the line. Sirotti photo

Van Aert had already tested his rivals on the Knokteberg, but it was on Berg Ten Houte that he, along with teammates Benoot and Jorgenson, truly went on the offensive. The entire team played a role in setting up the attack, with Tosh Van der Sande, Per Strand Hagenes, and Edoardo Affini doing the groundwork before Dylan van Baarle controlled the chase in the group behind.

In no time, Van Aert, Benoot, and Jorgenson bridged to the race leaders, where only Powless managed to latch onto the unleashed Visma | Lease a Bike trio. The four riders worked well together, steadily extending their lead over the peloton.

With the win clearly set to be decided among the front group, Jorgenson took the lead before Benoot launched the sprint for Van Aert. The Belgian, who crashed hard in last year’s edition, hit the front with 200 meters to go but was struck by cramps, leaving Team Visma | Lease a Bike empty-handed despite a dominant performance.

“I take full responsibility for this disappointment”, Van Aert admitted at the finish. “This is my fault. I told Tiesj, Matteo, and the sports directors that we should go for a sprint. I was confident we could beat Neilson that way, but now that we haven’t, I can only say we made a huge mistake. If you have three riders in a group of four and don’t win, you haven’t done everything perfectly. It was my call, so I take the responsibility.”

“I wanted Wout to win more than I wanted to win myself”, Benoot added. “I think we raced well, but in the end, it wasn’t perfect. In the final lap, all three of us wanted Wout to take the win, especially after what happened last year. We took a risk, and it didn’t pay off. Neilson deserves this victory—he was strong and played his part in the break. But of course, we should have put him under more pressure. That said, I think we finally showed again how we want to race. We’ve been searching for that feeling for a while, and today, it was back. We proved that we’re a strong collective across the board.”

Sports director Grischa Niermann also tried to find positives despite the frustrating outcome. “Of course, we can’t say it was a perfect plan if we didn’t win. For a long time, attacking from the break wasn’t an option because the peloton was still too close. At the end, we could have tried, but as a team, we decided to go for the sprint. We all believed in that choice. We rode a great race, and I genuinely enjoyed watching it. A win would have been nice, but the whole team put in a strong performance today. That gives us confidence for what’s to come in the next races”, the German concluded.

Here's the report from eighth-place Arjen Livyns' Team Lotto:

Lotto Cycling Team looks back on a beautiful spring day in Flanders: both Arjen Livyns (30) and Alec Segaert (22) finished in the top ten of Dwars door Vlaanderen. "We're riding well as a team, and this result is clear proof of that," they said with satisfaction.

"We, the 'second-tier riders,' have moved up a bit and are getting the chance to ride for our own results. We're going to seize that opportunity with both hands." Prophetic words from Arjen Livyns at the start of Dwars door Vlaanderen in Roeselare this morning, because 184 kilometers later, with two top-ten finishes, he proved it. Arjen Livyns finished a strong eighth in Waregem, while Alec Segaert completed a great day for Lotto Cycling Team by securing tenth place.

The peloton rolls across Flanders. Sirotti photo

"Sunday will be more difficult, so today was the day we had to do it," said Arjen Livyns. "Just after Nokere, on the cobbles of Herlegem, there was suddenly a moment of hesitation in the group. That turned out to be a good moment, as it allowed us, with a group of six, to start chasing the leading group. Not that we ever thought we would catch them, but you can always hope for some uncertainty in that group."

Segaert agreed: "I saw them riding in the distance, and we were working well together, but we weren't getting any closer. We could only make sure that the group behind us didn’t come back, and we managed that quite well. Under the red flag, I made one last attempt. The group split up a bit, but in the final straight, with a strong headwind, three guys still passed me."

Despite everything, the duo looks back on Dwars door Vlaanderen with satisfaction. "This is my first top-ten finish in a WorldTour race," said Segaert. "That feels great. We're riding well as a team, and this result is proof of that." Livyns added: "Hopeful for Sunday? Well, we've started the Tour of Flanders in worse conditions before."

Jenno Berckmoes had unfortunately withdrawn from the race. He was not feeling well and did not continue as a precaution for Sunday.

Yves Lampaert's Team Soudal Quick-Step posted this Dwars door Vlaanderen report:

The final race before Sunday’s De Ronde, Dwars door Vlaanderen made for an insane day in the saddle, thanks to the high speed that the peloton pushed from the very beginning to the many hills and cobblestone stretches that peppered the 184km course and the crosswinds, which made an appearance in the final 70 kilometers, splitting the field and leaving only a small group at the front.

Soudal Quick-Step's Tim Merlier at the start. Sirotti Photo

Unfortunately for our team, Paul Magnier crashed with more than 120 kilometers to go, and despite returning to the peloton after getting a new bike, the Frenchman – second last month at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad – had to abandon.

Having been active throughout the day by going on the attack or chasing some important moves that came in the last two hours of his home race, Yves Lampaert concluded as Soudal Quick-Step’s best placed rider, coming over the finish line in Waregem in the top 20, around two minutes behind winner Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost), who outsprinted his three breakaway companions after almost four hours in the saddle.

And here's the Dwars door Vlaanderen report from Team Picnic-EasyPostNL:

Classics racing continued on Wednesday afternoon with a fast, windy and tough edition of Dwars door Vlaanderen. From the start a high pace was set and no real break could establish itself for the opening 50 kilometres, before a group of eight went clear. When TV coverage began, those ahead only held onto a one minute advantage while in the peloton Team Picnic PostNL fought for position ahead of the many key sectors.

With around 90 kilometres to go the peloton blew to pieces with John Degenkolb making the first split initially, before a further regrouping with Alex Edmondson, Sean Flynn and Julius van den Beg also making the group. At 60 kilometres to go the peloton split once more with Degenkolb riding strongly to be part of the roughly 25 rider bunch, which set off in pursuit of the leaders. Unfortunately, ahead of the Eikenberg there was a crash in the group, which Degenkolb narrowly avoided going down, but that caused a mechanical issue on his bike and he lost contact with the peloton there. Fighting to try and get back, it was no longer possible in the finale and Degenkolb rode it to the line in the group that he was in.

The peloton rolls out of the start city of Roeselare. Sirotti photo

Speaking after the finish Degenkolb said: “It was an incredibly hard race today. The wind made it extremely difficult, even more than I personally expected it to be. In general I’m quite happy with my shape and my legs, and I was there for a really long time and could sit in a good spot. I had a small mechanical issue on Eikenberg after avoiding the crash at the bottom and that cost me a better spot at the head of the race; and then from there that was that. The sensations are good though and that’s very important for what’s ahead of us. In the early parts of the race we also could ride together as a team and hit the points we wanted to with the guys, and support the finishers. We will turn the page now and go for the big one on Sunday, and then Roubaix the weekend after that.”

Paris - Camembert team reports

We posted the report from the report from fourth-place Ewan Costiou's Team Arkea-B&B Hotels with the results.

Here's the Paris-Camembert report from Team Groupama-FDJ:

After a difficult race, due to some echelons at the halfway point, Thibaud Gruel still managed to save the day a bit this Wednesday in Paris-Camembert. Although he was unable to take part in the fight for victory, the young Frenchman managed to break away in the final kilometre to take sixth place, which is his fourth top 10 of the season.

Lander Loockx wins Paris-Camembert.

Towards Livarot on Wednesday, a series of nice climbs awaited the riders in the final third of the Paris-Camembert’s course. Before then, a very flat terrain was on the menu, and initially, the usual scenario unfolded with a five-man breakaway developing. Yet, the race escalated faster than expected, as the peloton found itself fragmented after only about sixty kilometers. “A first echelon was created by Uno-X, and all our riders were then in front in a group of seventy,” explained Benoît Vaugrenard. “It was pretty good for us up until then. I then told Maximilian Cushway to pull because there were quite a few riders caught in the second echelon, but as he was moving up front, he hit a car and a motorcycle that were poorly parked. Following that, the group split into two parts. We then had three riders in front: the three from “La Conti.” They did their job; they were positioned just right. I’m more disappointed about our three WorldTour riders who were caught behind. The crash certainly caused the split, but they were too far back. We lacked attention, and we paid for it.”

From then on, a peloton of about forty riders broke away, and Guillaume Martin-Guyonnet and Thibaud Gruel were therefore not in the right move. “All the teams were represented at the front, so it was going fast, and it became very complicated for the second bunch,” Benoît said. “Up front, the youngsters didn’t collaborate, but out of respect for La Conti, I didn’t tell them to wait. It wouldn’t have changed the situation anyway.”

As the final climbs started, the lead of the first peloton was over a minute over the second. With fifty kilometres to go, the gap reduced to thirty seconds, but attacks from the front quickly ruled out the chasing bunch for good. Five men broke away with nearly forty kilometres to go, and ultimately fought for victory after the final climbs. Belgian Lander Loockx won, while Thibaud Gruel finished alone in sixth place. “Thibaud was very strong, as he managed to join the first bunch at first, then attack again to finish sixth,” said Benoît. “It’s a real shame because he was going well, but we were always one or two steps behind. We weren’t aggressive and attentive enough. It’s very frustrating and disappointing.”

The next French race on the schedule will be La Route Adélie de Vitré, on Friday.

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