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Tuesday, April 22, 2025
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2024 Tour de France | 2024 Giro d'Italia
Ability is what you're capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it. - Lou Holtz
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Current racing:
- April 21 - 25: Tour of the Alps
Upcoming racing:
- April 23: La Flèche Wallonne
- April 24 - 27: Vuelta Asturias
- April 27: Liège-Bastogne-Liège
- April 27 - May 4: Tour of Turkey
- April 29 - May 4: Tour de Romandie
- May 1: Rund um den Finanzplaz Eschborn-Frankfurt
- May 9 - June 1: Giro d'Italia
Latest completed racing:
- April 20: Amstel Gold Race
- April 20: Tour du Doubs
- 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 winner Giulio Ciccone's Team Lidl-Trek with the results.
Here's the report from fourth-place Romain Bardet's Team Picnic-PostNL:
The Tour of the Alps got underway with a stunning stage in the heart of the Dolomites, starting and finishing in the picturesque town of San Lorenzo Dorsino. The opening day featured two categorized climbs: the long and steady Campo Carlo Magno (14.5km at 6.2%) and the steeper Passo del Durone (6.3km at 7.8%), before a final drag uphill towards the finish, perfect terrain for a reduced bunch sprint. An early break of three riders escaped right after the flag dropped and enjoyed most of the day up the road, while Team Picnic PostNL stayed well positioned in the bunch, keeping things under control.
The peloton rolls by beautiful scenery in stage one.
As the race hit the Passo del Durone, the peloton was significantly reduced. The breakaway was reeled in on the slopes, and the pace went up a notch. By the summit, only around 20 riders remained in the front group — with both Romain Bardet and Max Poole still right where they needed to be. The final uphill kilometres into San Lorenzo Dorsino saw a few riders try late attacks, but in the end, it all came back together just before the flamme rouge. Poole made a bold move by jumping early in the sprint to try and catch the others off guard, but the line came just a bit too late for it to stick. Bardet launched his sprint with everything he had and crossed the line in a strong 4th place, while Poole secured 8th, in the same time. A promising start to the week, with both riders looking sharp and well-placed in the general classification.
After the stage, Bardet said: “I’m really happy to be back racing. It feels like my season is truly starting now. Today’s finish was pretty punchy, so it was great to be up there with Max in the front group. It wasn’t easy to come into such an explosive finale after more than two months without being in the peloton, but it’s a good first step. There are four tough stages still to come, but it’s a solid way to start the week!”
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Jai Hindley’s Team Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe posted this Tour of the Alps news:
The Tour of the Alps marks the start of the hot phase of Jai Hindley's preparations for the Giro d'Italia. The Australian wants to have a say in the race through Italy and Austria.
Five short and tough stages, all of which are relevant for the overall classification. 14,700 metres in altitude and climbs of just under 20 kilometres or double-digit gradients on average. That's the Tour of the Alps (2.Pro) 2025. "Perfect for someone like me." Says Jai Hindley, who is captaining Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe in the tour.
Jai Hindley finishes third at the sixth stage of the year's Tirreno-Adriatico. Sirotti photo
"The Tour of the Alps is a central part of my preparation for the Giro d'Italia," says Jai. It is the only competition that the 28-year-old will be taking part in ahead of the Tour of Italy. He is travelling to the race fresh from an altitude training camp and has been working on his form with the extended Giro squad in Tenerife since the beginning of April.
"It's going to be a pretty tough race," Jai looks ahead. "Climbing at a high level every day. Stage 2 will probably be the hardest. But you have to be focussed every day. The preparation was good, I hope the legs are now too."
Jai Hindley has already competed in the Tour of the Alps in 2021. However, he was unable to finish the race back then after a crash on day four. Four years later, things should go better. "The profile suits me well. There are plenty of opportunities to attack and ride aggressively. But there are also many riders with a chance of finishing on the podium. I want to be one of them."
In Antonio Tiberi, Thymen Arensman, Romain Bardet, Giulio Ciccone, Michael Storer and Derek Gee, there are plenty of pros with classification ambitions at the start who Jai will also see again at the Giro. "The Tour of the Alps is always a yardstick. Whoever is strong here can also have a say for pink," he is convinced.
Ben Zwiehoff, Emil Herzog, Anton Palzer, Frederik Wandahl and the two rookies Lennart Jasch and Nate Pringle, who is competing with the WorldTeam for the first time, will be racing for Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe alongside Jai Hindley.
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Here's the Tour of the Alps report from AJ August's Team INEOS Grenadiers:
AJ August enjoyed a strong day out in the breakaway at the Tour of the Alps, while Thymen Arensman sprinted to 15th on the opening test.
Arensman kicked off his GC campaign in Italy, sprinting to the line in San Lorenzo Dorsino as part of a select GC group.
Giulio Ciccone wins the first stage of the Tour of the Alps.
August was part of a three-man move which went clear early on a mountainous opener, alongside Finlay Pickering (Bahrain – Victorious) and Davide Bais (Team Polti-Visit Malta).
The trio combined well, holding an advantage of three minutes and 40 seconds over the day’s highest point – the Campo Carlo Magno climb.
Their advantage was slashed on the run down to the Passo Durone, with August finally caught at the start of the climb with 25km to go. The team had numbers in the peloton through the day to support Arensman, who worked his way into the GC group ahead of the finale.
Thymen put in an acceleration following the Durone, and would then work hard to limit his losses as the punchier climbers broke free in the final kilometre. The Dutchman crossed the line 11 seconds back, with plenty of climbing on the agenda for the remaining four stages. Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) timed his kick well to take the stage win and the early race lead.
And here's the Tour of the Alps report from Team Polti-VisitMalta:
Trentino is home for the Bais brothers — and they made their mark on the opening day of the Tour of the Alps. Davide was part of a 110-kilometre breakaway alongside Pickering (Bahrain) and August (Ineos) passing first through the intermediate sprint in Andalo and earning the day’s best climber prize in the Italian Cup of the Regions, overseen by the Professional Cycling League.
After the leaders were caught on the Passo del Durone, the peloton was reduced to just over 20 riders. At the base of the final climb, Mattia attacked and was reeled in with 2 km to go — but he now leads the combativity classification of both the Tour of the Alps and the Italian Cup of the Regions. Team Polti VisitMalta’s strong start was rounded out by Davide Piganzoli, who stayed with the best and sprinted to 12th place on the uphill finish won by Ciccone (Lidl Trek).
Davide Bais: “As always, a tough route — even more challenging and exciting with two strong breakaway companions and an amazing crowd along the roads. We care a lot about honouring our home race, we’ll try again for sure.”
Davide Bais winning stage seven of the 2023 Giro d'Italia. Sirotti photo
Mattia Bais: “I knew it was going to be a hard move to pull off, I hoped the others would hesitate behind me. With a headwind and alone I couldn’t make it, but I’m happy to feel good legs again after the training block on Mount Teide.”
Sports Director Stefano Zanatta: “We had a great start, sticking to our plan to be aggressive early on and active in the finale. In the bunch Alex Martín, Andrea Pietrobon, Fran Muñoz and Samuele Zoccarato worked flawlessly for their teammates. It’s a pity no one followed Mattia’s move, but Piganzoli is right up there and we’re ready for tomorrow’s longest stage.”
Here’s the team’s news:
Remco Evenepoel headlines our seven-man squad for the 89th edition of the race.
Flèche Wallonne celebrates this year four decades since the first time it finished atop the Mur de Huy, forever changing the Belgian Classic’s nature and the way it’s raced. The legendary climb, which averages 9.6% over just 1.3 kilometers, will be tackled three times by the peloton on Wednesday, the last of these ascents coming after more than 200 kilometers from the start.
The demanding sequence of Côte d’Ereffe – Côte de Cherave – Mur de Huy promises to have a big impact on the World Tour race, which gets underway for the first time from Ciney, a small town in the province of Namur, that 55 years ago hosted the start of a Tour de France stage.
Remco Evenepoel – who last week won Brabantse Pijl before riding to an impressive third place at Amstel Gold Race – will compete in Flèche Wallonne for just the second time in his career, part of a very strong Soudal Quick-Step team that is set to include also Pascal Eenkhoorn, Junior Lecerf, Maximilian Schachmann – a top ten finisher on the Mur de Huy on three occasions – Pieter Serry, Ilan Van Wilder and Mauri Vansevenant.\
Remco Evenepoel beating Wout van Aert to win this year's Brabantse Pijl.
“We have a strong and experienced squad, led by Remco, who has shown again last Sunday that he is in good shape. The local circuit and the presence of Cherave will make the race a bit harder and could see some teams push a big tempo there in order to make things difficult for others. After our most recent results, we have a lot of motivation and we hope to get a good result again”, said sports director Klaas Lodewyck.
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Here’s the update from Pogacar’s UAE Team Emirates-XRG:
UAE Team Emirates-XRG squads announced for La Flèche Wallonne, the Vuelta Asturias and Liège-Bastogne-Liège, as Ardennes Classics come towards a close
Three weeks after the last of his eight Monument victories to date, Tadej Pogačar will lead UAE Team Emirates-XRG at this weekend’s Liège-Bastogne-Liège in Belgium. The grand old race will round out this year’s spring Classics and see the world’s best go head to head once more before attention turns to the Grand Tour season.
With a second-place finish at the Amstel Gold Race on Sunday, Pogačar showed himself up for the fight in the Ardennes, with some of the region’s toughest climbs to come over the double-header of La Flèche Wallonne and the Monument known as La Doyenne. In Spain, meanwhile, UAE Team Emirates-XRG will head to the Vuelta Asturias Julio Alvarez Mendo, with an eye on retaining the title won through Isaac del Toro last season.
The close Amstel Gold Race finish. Sirotti photo
Although sitting as the final race of the week, Liège-Bastogne-Liège is likely to be the most hotly anticipated, with the 133-year-old race proving the oldest of cycling’s five Monuments. Over the years, Pogačar and UAE Team Emirates-XRG have won two editions, with victories in 2021 and 2024 serving as revenge for a third place in 2020 and the season-altering crash in 2023.
This time around, the Slovenian has enjoyed an uninterrupted Classics campaign that has seen him win Strade Bianche and the Tour of Flanders, adding to podium finishes at Milano-Sanremo, Paris-Roubaix and the Amstel Gold Race. The world champion took the cycling world by storm in finishing second at Paris-Roubaix on debut, but he will be on more familiar terrain in La Doyenne.
Taking in 4,400m of climbing across 251.8km, the route for Liège-Bastogne-Liège remains the same from recent years, with nine of the eleven categorised climbs falling within the final 100km of racing. In days gone by, it was the Côte de Stockeu which would be most feared by all, with Eddy Merckx making this particular climb his playground in his heyday.
However, there has been a shift towards using La Redoute as a launchpad for solo victories over the past three editions, with Remco Evenepoel using the 1.6km climb to full effect in 2022 and 2023, before Pogačar followed suit last season. With an average gradient of 9.4%, La Redoute is more than hard enough to create a race-winning move, with only 34km to ride from its summit to the finish in Liège.
Should the preceding climbs not prove decisive, there will no doubt be attacks flying from all angles on the final categorised ascent, the Roche-aux-Faucons. Extending for 1.3km at 11%, the Roche-aux-Faucons is where Pogačar went clear along with four other riders in 2021, before winning a five-up sprint to take what was his first Monument win.
Now sitting on eight Monument victories, the world champion is looking forward to another couple of one-day showdowns before all attention turns to this summer’s Tour de France preparation.
Pogačar: “I’ve enjoyed this Classics campaign a lot so far. I came into this period with a lot of goals and ambitions and there are still two left, with the biggest of them next Sunday. The most suited race for me is probably Liege so I’m really looking forward to it in particular, but every race is important. I’ll aim for a couple of easier days now and open the legs up again in Fleche – Wallonne on the Mur de Huy. I think things are on track for a good race in Liege-Bastogne-Liege which is the main goal for this part of the season in the Ardennes.”
The full UAE Team Emirates-XRG lineup for Liège-Bastogne-Liège is as follows:
– Felix Grossschartner (AUT)
– Vegard Stake Laengen (Nor)
– Brandon McNulty (USA)
– Domen Novak (Slo)
– Tadej Pogačar (Slo)
– Pavel Sivakov (Fra)
– Florian Vermeersch (Bel)
Pogačar will lead the line in La Flèche Wallonne
Of course, before a date with La Doyenne in Belgium, the WorldTour peloton will tackle the unofficial hill climb championships at La Flèche Wallonne on Wednesday. Finishing atop the iconic Mur de Huy in the Ardennes, this race almost exclusively comes down to a final uphill sprint amongst the best to decide the day’s honours, with Pogačar coming out on top in 2023.
Last year’s edition brought an upset for the books in that the weather caused an unusually attritional encounter, with only 44 riders crossing the finish line under a barrage of rain, sleet and snow. Despite the inclement conditions, La Flèche Wallonne was still decided on the final ascent of the Mur de Huy, and most will expect more of the same this time round. Standing at 9.6% for 1.3km, the Mur de Huy only relents to less than 10% through the final couple of hundred metres, by which point the strongest climber has often shown face.
Joining the 2023 champion Pogačar on the start line at La Flèche Wallonne will be the following UAE Team Emirates-XRG riders:
– Jan Christen (Swi)
– Felix Grossschartner (AUT)
– Vegard Stake Laengen (Nor)
– Brandon McNulty (USA)
– Domen Novak (Slo)
– Tadej Pogačar (Slo)
– Pavel Sivakov (Fra)
Marc Soler will make his third appearance at the Vuelta Asturias this week
As the Ardennes Classics continue in Belgium, UAE Team Emirates-XRG will also contest an important stage race in Spain between Thursday, 24 April and Sunday, 27 April. The Vuelta Asturias Julio Alvarez Mendo is a four-day stage race that brought the Emirati squad much success in 2024.
Proving the strongest on the opening stage, Isaac del Toro claimed his first stage race victory as a neo-pro, whilst his teammates António Morgado and Finn Fisher-Black won stages 2 and 3 to secure a UAE Team Emirates-XRG lockout in Spain. A year on, the 67th edition of the Vuelta Asturias will be held over four stages, beginning and ending in Oviedo.
UAE Team Emirates-XRG return with another strong squad that includes Morgado, Julius Johansen, Marc Soler and recent Giro d’Abruzzo stage winner Alessandro Covi. The four WorldTour riders will be joined by a trio of talents from the Gen Z squad, in Al-Ali Abdulla Jasim, Adrià Pericas and Enea Sambinello.
For Soler, it will be his first outing at the Vuelta Asturias since 2016, with the Spaniard already enjoying plenty of success on home soil in the 2025 campaign. Finishing as the best Catalan rider, the 31-year-old helped Juan Ayuso to a memorable stage win and second overall at the Volta a Catalunya in March, before supporting João Almeida to his victory at Itzulia Basque Country earlier this month.
As they go in search of defending their crown from 2024, the full UAE Team Emirates-XRG squad for four hilly stages at the Vuelta Asturias is as follows:
– Alessandro Covi (Ita)
– Julius Johansen (Den)
– António Morgado (Por)
– Marc Soler (Spa)
– Al-Ali Abdulla Jasim (UAE) (Gen Z)
– Adrià Pericas (Spa) (Gen Z)
– Enea Sambinello (Ita) (Gen Z)
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