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Saturday, April 19, 2025
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2024 Tour de France | 2024 Giro d'Italia
First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win. - Mahatma Gandhi
Bill & Carol McGann’s book The Story of the 2024 Tour de France: The Happy Warrior Triumphs is available print, Kindle eBook and audiobook versions. To get your copy, just click on the link on the right.
Upcoming racing:
- April 20: Amstel Gold Race
- April 20: Tour du Doubs
- April 21 - 25: Tour of the Alps
- April 23: La Flèche Wallonne
Latest completed racing:
- April 15 - 18: Giro d'Abruzzo
- April 18: De Brabantse Pijl
- April 12-13: Paris-Roubaix
- April 7 - 12: Vuelta Ciclista al Pais Vasco
- April 8 - 11: Region Pays de la Loire Tour
- April 9: Scheldeprijs
- April 6: Ronde van Vlaanderen
- April 5: GP Miguel Indurain
- April 5: Volta NXT Classic
- April 4: Route Adélie de Vitre
- 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
We posted the report from from stage winner Ivo Oliveira's UAE Team Emriates-XRG with the results.
Here's the report from GC winner Georg Zimmermann's Team Intermarché-Wanty:
This Friday 18th of April 18th, the total dedication of Georg Zimmermann's teammates allowed the German to win the first stage race of his career, at the end of a perfectly controlled fourth and final stage between Corropoli and Isola del Gran Sasso.
Thanks to the work of Masao Shimazaki and Shunsuke Imamura, the Japanese riders from Wanty-NIPPO-ReUz, the Italian Kevin Colleoni, and the experienced Louis Meintjes, the gap with the breakaway and the multiple attempts of the contenders for the general classification remained perfectly under control.
Georg Zimmermann (second from left) at the start of stage four. RCS photo
The German was thus able to reach the finish line after 167 kilometers in the peloton, confirming his overall victory with an 11-second lead over David De La Cruz. This marks the second success in 2025 for team Intermarché-Wanty, which wins the Giro d’Abruzzo on the home soil of the wine partner Vini Fantini in its first participation.
"This is the very first time in my career that I've won a general classification of a stage race, youth categories included. So it's an important accomplishment, which I'm very proud of. But I'm especially very proud of my teammates. After my good performance yesterday, I owe this success in the final classification to them. I didn't spend a single meter in the wind today; thanks to them, I didn't have to make any effort to secure my final victory. I am extremely grateful to my team; we demonstrated our collective strength in this final stage. I'm also happy to win the trophy on the home soil of our sponsor Vini Fantini. I hope this success will be followed by more accomplishments in general classifications." - Georg Zimmermann
Here's the Giro d'Abruzzo report from GC second-place David de la Cruz's Team Q36.5 Pro Cycling:
The Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team lined up for a hard, second edition of the Giro d’Abruzzo, a four-day stage race in Italy with David de la Cruz, Damien Howson, Walter Calzoni, Sjoerd Bax, Nicoló Parisini and Harm Vanhoucke. The goal was to go for a result in the general classification and with David de la Cruz coming second, this objective was met.
David de la Cruz finishes stage eight of the 2024 Tour of Switzerland. Sirotti photo
“It’s nice to be back on the podium,” David says after the ceremony finished. “But when you are in second place you always want to be first. It was close in time and I think I left it on the opening stage where I had to leave a small gap in the final kilometer. I just came down from altitude so the first day is always a hard one but during the race it got better.
“In the queen stage there was rain and it was brutally cold at only two degrees. Everyone in the peloton struggled, incIuding me but in the end I was fine. I was in a good position to beat Zimmermann but we had headwind on that climb that day so it was hard to get the seconds back I lost on Tuesday. All-in all it was a good race where the team was very committed. It was a tough race with lots of elevation and the numbers we pushed were high. It was a good week and enough to build on for the next races.”
Next to the second place in the general classification, and a third place on stage three for De la Cruz, Sjoerd Bax also earned himself a trip to the podium. He was one of the riders initiating the day’s breakaway and attacked in the final. Only Ivo Oliveira joined him and beat him in the sprint.
“If Oliveira would not have joined me I would not have made it to the finish line,” Bax analyses. “I know him well because we were teammates last year. He is fast and it would always be hard to beat him. He has the form because he already won a stage two days ago. Funny thing is we were in the grupetto together yesterday and at the front today.”
Having Bax at the front meant the team could stay around De La Cruz in the peloton, and it meant Bax didn’t have to do the lion’s share in the break.
“On the descent I got a little gap and then continued my attack,” he says of the decisive moment when the break split and he was left at the front with Oliveira. “My teammates did great work in the bunch disrputing that chase. To be honest I didn’t expect to race for the win today because I still felt yesterday’s cold and rain in the body. I am also still not a 100% back after that hip injury, and the crash on that hip in Hellas Tour, but I am getting there. There is a few percent missing. This second place gives me confidence for the races to come.”
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And here's the Giro d'Abruzzo final report from Team Polti-VisitMalta:
Team Polti-VisitMalta concludes the Giro d’Abruzzo with another performance marked by strong visibility. On the hills of the Teramo province, it takes around fifty kilometres for the breakaway to form. Gabriele Raccagni and Davide De Cassan feature in some of the earlier moves, before Alessandro Tonelli makes it into the right one: a group of eight riders. With 19 km to go, two riders accelerate and go on to contest the win. The Polti VisitMalta man drops back to the bunch to support Samuele Zoccarato, Alex Martín and the rest of the squad in protecting Fernando Tercero and Ludovico Crescioli.
At the finish line, Oliveira (UAE) outsprints Bax (Q36.5) and in the sprint behind them Crescioli takes 5th place. In the general classification, won by Zimmermann (Intermarché) Tercero secures 9th overall.
Ivo Oliveira wins the final stage.
Tonelli: “We were present in every early move. In the breakaway I was part of, we all worked well together until the final stages and I managed to hold on over both KOMs at Sparazzano. Unfortunately I couldn’t stay on the wheel of the two attackers, but I’m happy with the legs I showed — and with the top-10 results from Ludovico in the stage and from Fernando in the GC.”
Sports director Stefano Zanatta: “We started with full determination to be in the mix from the gun and to join the decisive move. Alessandro made it in on merit, rode alongside quality opponents and gave everything — there’s nothing to regret. We’re also one of the few teams to finish this Giro d’Abruzzo with no DNFs, which confirms the strong condition we’re in.”
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We posted the report from winner Remco Evenepoel's Team Soudal Quick-Step with the results.
Here's the report from second-place Wout van Aert's Team Visma | Lease a Bike:
Wout van Aert finished second in De Brabantse Pijl. The 30-year-old Belgian from Team Visma | Lease a Bike was one of the main protagonists of the race but ultimately had to settle for second after a sprint-a-deux with Remco Evenepoel.
It was Van Aert's first appearance at De Brabantse Pijl since 2021. Due to changes in the racing calendar, the Belgian classic was significantly shortened. The peloton set off from Beersel for a 163-kilometer route featuring more than twenty climbs. Early in the race, six riders formed a breakaway, but the group was given little breathing room by the chasing peloton.
On the first of three ascents of the Moskesstraat, Van Aert launched a powerful acceleration—set up beautifully by teammate Tiesj Benoot. Shortly thereafter, Evenepoel countered, and the gap to the breakaway was quickly closed. Van Aert and Evenepoel kept the pressure on their rivals, with only Joseph Blackmore able to keep up with the two Belgians. Their trio quickly built up a lead of nearly a minute.
On the final climb of the Hertstraat, Blackmore had to let go. Van Aert and Evenepoel then rode together into the final kilometers. The thrilling race was decided in a sprint, where Van Aert had no answer to Evenepoel’s powerful launch. The Team Visma | Lease a Bike leader had to settle for another podium finish.
Remco Evenepoel and Wout van Aert headed to the finish.
“Of course, I was hoping for more today, but I have to admit that Remco was the strongest rider out there,” Van Aert said afterward. “The situation looked really good, but after such an intense race, I just didn’t have the punch left in my legs for the sprint. In the final hour, Remco really put me under pressure a few times, and I gradually wore down.”
“The race opened up early. After that first acceleration on the Moskesstraat, the peloton was already heavily thinned out. That surprised me. In hindsight, it would have been better for me to go into the final with a larger group. Everyone knows how tough it is to be in the lead with someone like Remco. It’s a shame I couldn’t finish it off, but I’m not too disappointed,” Van Aert concluded.
Team director Arthur van Dongen also looked back on a strong performance. “We always aim to win, but today Wout simply ran into a stronger Remco. We can definitely be proud of the team’s effort. With Wout and Tiesj, we had two key riders we could use to our advantage. Our plan was to take the initiative, and we executed that perfectly. We’re confident we can play a major role again this Sunday in the Amstel Gold Race. Our goal is to be in the thick of the action there as well.”
Here's the Brabantse Pijl report from Team Lotto:
It was a beautiful but tough day at the Brabantse Pijl for Lotto Cycling Team, with Milan Menten claiming a solid ninth place. Arjen Livyns can also be more than satisfied with his 24th place. “Our goal today was to secure at least a top ten result,” says sportsdirector Wesley Van Speybroeck.
It wasn’t an easy day for our riders, but they stood their ground and delivered a strong performance in a tough edition of the Brabantse Pijl. Milan Menten, struck by bad luck in the final kilometers, hesitated until the very last moment about whether or not to change bikes, but with the race in full swing, there simply wasn’t a good moment to do so.
Team Lotto is presented before the race. Sirotti photo
Despite the setback, Milan looks back on his ninth place with satisfaction: “I let my legs do the talking in the sprint today. I unfortunately had to let go in the final meters. But without the mechanical issues, I truly believe a top five was possible today.” Milan was especially pleased with how he is feeling on the bike lately, coming off a third place finish at the Ronde van Limburg earlier this week as well. “I honestly surprised myself in a good way. When you look at the names that finished ahead of me, I can definitely be happy with today’s result,” he smiled.
Sports director Wesley Van Speybroeck is happy with the general performance of the team today: “Our goal today was to secure at least a top ten result. The fact that Milan (Menten) finished ninth makes this a successful day for us. The whole team put in a strong effort, and Arjen (Livyns) can also be very proud of his 24th place.”
And here's the Brabantse Pijl report from Team Picnic-PostNL:
After a controlled start to the Brabantse Pijl, the race only really came to life after the halfway mark. Around 45 kilometres from the finish, a breakaway of seven riders managed to go clear. Not long after, Josie Nelson tried to bridge across on behalf of Team Picnic PostNL, but she was reeled back in by the peloton on the cobbles of the Hertstraat.
Heading into the final lap, the breakaway was caught and the race was wide open. The pace remained high, and Francesca Barale did well to hold her position in the ever-reducing front group. With 10 kilometres to go, Elisa Longo Borghini launched a decisive attack. Despite a strong chase on the final climb, no one managed to bring her back. Longo Borghini soloed to victory, while Francesca Barale crossed the line in 17th place, finishing as the first rider home for Team Picnic PostNL.
The race gets started.
After the finish, Barale said: “It was a really hard race, as always, and definitely a good warm-up for the Ardennes. The plan was for Josie and me to be there in the final. It was tough from the start—there was never really an easy moment, especially once we hit the local laps. We focused on staying together as a team, but the race quickly split into a select group. Josie and I were always in the mix and tried to make something happen. She made a strong move to try and bridge to the front, which was the right call, but unfortunately didn’t make it across.
This is the kind of race that always tends to come back together. In the final lap, I focused on staying with the favourites on the climbs, which I managed to do, but by the time we reached the final climb, I was pretty empty. It’s a shame I couldn’t sprint, but I’m happy with how I raced and the feeling heading into the Ardennes.”
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Here's the team's update:
Vincenzo Albanese, Samuele Battistella, Ben Healy, Neilson Powless, Archie Ryan, Harry Sweeny, and Marijn van den Berg will race the Dutch classic for EF Education-EasyPost.
Veronica Ewers, Kristen Faulkner, Alison Jackson, Cédrine Kerbaol, Noemi Rüegg, and Magdeleine Vallieres will attack the hills of South Limburg for EF Education-Oatly.
Starting in Maastricht in the south of the Netherlands, Amstel rolls into the hills of the region, zigzagging up and down across the countryside. The race course is like a rollercoaster through blooming apple and cherry orchards, turning and twisting into small towns and forests and out into open fields on narrow lanes. In the peloton, the race is a constant fight for position, especially if the wind is blowing, as the hills come one after the other and if you get caught too far back before one, it costs a huge amount of strength to push your way back to the front, as the peloton accelerates over the top of every climb and sprints into corners in a long, wriggling line.
The Amstel Gold Race is Marijn van den Berg’s home classic. He is looking forward to showing his teammates his favorite cafés on the course and the roads where he has been racing since he was a junior. Once the commissaire’s flag drops on Sunday and the Easter crowds have waved the peloton out of the city, he and his teammates won’t let their focus waver until they have hit the finish line at the top of the Cauberg.
Marijn van den Berg having a good day at the Mallorca races earlier this year.
“It is always really nerve-racking racing in Limburg,” Marijn says. “You always know that the next climb is coming up and you need to be at the front. That was the same when I was a junior and under-23. It’s always hectic racing, but that's what I'm good at and what I like the most.”
Cédrine Kerbaol loves that style of racing, too. She hopes that the women’s race goes flat out from the gun. The harder, the better for Cédrine.
“I really like Amstel,” Cédrine says. “People say that it is a good race for puncheurs, but I think with the wind and the right conditions, it can become a really open race. I hope it's going to be really hard. I am excited to have a role that is not completely scripted and just race by feeling, with the hurt and the fun.”
Cédrine will look for opportunities to launch off the front, knowing that her EF Education-Oatly teammate Noemi Rüegg has the power to finish off the job if the race comes down to a final sprint up the Cauberg. Noemi has been targeting this week of Ardennes classics ever since her win at the Tour Down Under.
“It’s a big week with a lot of opportunities for our team,” Noemi says. “At Amstel, we have another chance to show what we can do after this already very successful classics season. It is a nice course that suits me really well and we have a strong team, so I think we can play our cards well. Everyone is super motivated. You can feel how we came together this spring and with every race got better and better together. Letizia’s second place at Roubaix boosted everyone’s motivation and just showed how much we're capable of when we work well as a team. Our team spirit is really high at the moment. At Amstel the last few years, a breakaway has always gone on the circuit. I think we need to be attentive there and put someone in that breakaway, because it can go pretty far, or stay until the end. And then for me, I think I'll just try to save my legs until the final climb up the Cauberg.”
Neilson Powless gets goosebumps every time he hits the final climb up from Valkenburg onto the plateau where the finish line is waiting. He cut his teeth as a bike racer in Limburg and still knows all of the Amstel Gold climbs like the back of his hand.
“That area of the Netherlands is very beautiful and incredible for riding a bike,” Neilson says. “ I spent a lot of time racing and training there as a junior and under-23 on the national team. On rest days, I would take the train into Maastricht to spend my rest days at a café or go check out a museum. I have really nice memories of spending a lot of time around there. Getting to race there now as a pro is something that I dreamed of pretty much every day that I was there. Hitting the Cauberg is always an adrenaline rush. I've watched it so many times on TV, and I've watched it in person as well. Before I raced up it myself, it almost felt mythical. And then, once you are in the race yourself, you just kind of get chills as you're going up.”
Harry Sweeny reckons that the Cauberg is one of the greatest climbs in cycling, because of the Dutch crowds and the huge fight for position on the downhill run into it.
“It is such an iconic part of the race,” Harry says. “Having the fans there and knowing the history with all of the racing that has gone on there – it is just a really special part of the world. You get a similar feeling of goosebumps on the Cauberg as you do on the Oude Kwaremont. It is hectic. It is not only about strength. It is always about timing and picking your moment, because you're basically in a washing machine, going around and around. Come to the front even 50 meters too early, and you can hit the corner at the bottom in a hundredth wheel, even though you were first just half a second ago.”
The fight for position is like that from the start to the finish of Amstel. Alison Jackson lived in Limburg for a year earlier in her career. After her fifth place at Roubaix, she is excited to return to her old home roads and all of the climbs that she knows so well.
“Amstel is a really dynamic course and we've got a good team for it,” Alison says. “We have had such a strong spring campaign, so I think we have to really believe in our strength as a team and individuals and be in the action and make things happen. The Cauberg is obviously iconic for all the races that it's been in. It always creates a lot of drama, but each climb is a hard moment.”
Kristen Faulkner is ready. After a big altitude camp with her teammates in Sierra Nevada, the American and US champ is looking forward to getting back to racing. Like Cédrine, she will look for chances to attack during Sunday’s race. Amstel suits her well.
“There are a lot of really narrow climbs, where positioning is really important because it gets really strung out on the climbs, even more so than Flanders,” Kristen says. “You have to be able to do a lot of repeated efforts back-to-back. There is a lot of climbing, but then it finishes on a flat at the top. You have to know how to play the finish. You have to be a climber that can make it with the front group, but then you have to really play your cards in the finale.”
Our team will have strong hands to play in both the men’s and women’s races. Just as Cédrine, Kristen, and their EF Education-Oatly teammates will look to attack, knowing that Noemi is ready to go for the final sprint, our EF Education-EasyPost squad has Marijn for the final kick up the Cauberg.
“We have got a super strong team in every aspect,” Marijn says. “With the guys we have, Neilson and Ben especially can follow the big attacks and then for me personally it depends on how the race plays out. I will fight hard to be there for the finale, and if it comes back, I can go for a result.”
Neilson Powless wants to race Amstel from the front. Offence is the best defence, he reckons.
“The race is easier the better the position you're in, but you have to use a lot of energy to get there,” he says. “And it is like that for the last 150 kilometers of Amstel. That makes it one of my favorite styles of racing. It's just constant positioning, constant focus, and eventually a moment comes where you need to lift your butt and go, and then hopefully it works out in your favor. The race profile suits aggressive racing. Individual riders can go a long way. The year Ben finished second solo, Tadej finished alone. There were a lot of ones and twos. By the end, it was a slug fest. I think that really benefits our style of racing. I like to go early. Ben likes to go from a long way out, as well. And then we have guys like Marijn, who are not afraid to go with attacks either and can be up there in the sprint. So, we have a lot of good cards to play. We don’t have a single clear leader for these races, which I think is a really good thing because most of the time these races are quite chaotic. We've got a team of hungry riders who want to attack and want to have an opportunity to try to win and I think that is the best team you can have, because you are only going to succeed if you are offensive. If you're trying to play defence the whole day, you are almost always going to get caught out. It is always better to be in front, and our whole team wants to be in front.”
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