Bicycle Racing News and Opinion,
Wednesday, April 23, 2025
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2024 Tour de France | 2024 Giro d'Italia
There is pleasure in the pathless woods, there is rapture in the lonely shore, there is society where none intrudes, by the deep sea, and music in its roar; I love not Man the less, but Nature more. - Byron
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Current racing:
- April 21 - 25: Tour of the Alps
- April 23: La Flèche Wallonne
Upcoming racing:
- 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 stage winner and new GC leader Michael Storer's Tudor Pro Cycling Team with the results.
Here's the report from third-place Romain Bardet's Team Picnic-PostNL:
From Mezzolombardo to Sterzing, today’s stage of Tour of the Alps featured over 4300m of elevation—and it didn’t disappoint. Team Picnic PostNL took charge after the early break went clear, reeling it back in with 50km to go as the race hit the first of two laps on the local circuit featuring the Obertelfes climb.
The first ascent blew the bunch apart, with Romain Bardet and Max Poole making the front selection. A small group crested the climb with a narrow gap, but several riders regained contact on the descent. The pace surged again on the final ascent, triggering attacks. Storer launched clear, while Bardet contributed to the chase from a select GC group. Poole bridged back and helped drive the effort to the line.
Storer soloed to the win in Sterzing. Bardet finished 3rd, with Poole just behind in 10th after a strong team performance. Bardet now sits 5th in GC, 47 seconds behind new race leader Storer.
Michael Storer wins stage two.
After the stage, Bardet said: “It was a solid day with five hours in the mountains. About halfway through the stage, the team took control and did a really good job setting things up to give us a shot at the stage win. Storer was obviously the strongest today, but finishing alongside Max in the group behind feels like a fair result for us.”
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Here’s the team’s news:
Wednesday sees the 89th running of the midweek Ardennes classic, La Flèche Wallonne. This year the peloton faces a demanding 205km course stacked with 11 climbs and over 3100 meters of elevation gain. It all builds towards a triple ascent of the Mur de Huy; the infamous brutal 1.2 km ‘wall’ averaging a 9.6% gradient, with pitches hitting 22%. As ever, it will be the ultimate decider in a race where timing, teamwork, and tenacity make the difference.
This year, Bahrain Victorious line up with a team built for depth, balance, and late-race impact. Lenny Martinez, fresh from altitude training and eyeing bigger goals later this spring, will lead the squad to the punishing final ramps. Backing him are a trio of punchy climbers: Pello Bilbao, Santiago Buitrago, and Edoardo Zambanini, each of whom is capable of lighting up the final 50km himself, should the right moment arise.
Santiago Buitrago (shown earlier this year at the Volta a Valenciana) will race La Flèche Wallonne.
In the earlier phases, Mathijs Paasschens, Robert Stannard, and Roman Ermakov will control the race and set the tone, with the aim of ensuring Bahrain stay in touch when it matters most.
A key change this year is the return of the Côte de Cherave, positioned just before the final Mur ascent. Its comeback adds a tactical twist, offering teams an opportunity to shake up the race before the final showdown.
As Sports Director Roman Kreuziger explains:
“There are 11 climbs in the 205 km race course with 3100 m of elevation. Mur de Huy is the famous climb that we’ll go over 3 times. Once we cross the finish line for the first time, then we have 2 full laps ahead of us, very similar to the race of 2 years ago. Last year they were repairing the road at the Cherave climb, but this year it’s back, and that is the climb before the Mur de Huy, which can be good for us.
"As for the roster, we have very solid support for the Flèche with Mathijs Paasschens, Robert Stannard and Roman Ermakov. After the first move definitely Edoardo Zambanini, Santiago Buitrago, Pello Bilbao and Lenny Martinez are the guys that can be in the mix for the race.
"We’ll try to be active in the race, follow the moves in the last 50km. Lenny is our leader, he’s coming from altitude training, so we need to see how his body will react, but also he has other goals coming soon at Romandie. I am pretty confident that we’ll race well together as a team.
"Looking back on the last two races we have some work to do on that plan, as we were not completely happy. Last year Santiago Buitrago was 5th in this race and we won previously with Dylan Teuns, so we know how to race it. We need to keep our feet on the ground, but also to be confident that we can do a good result here.”
The objective is clear: stay alert in the final laps, work cohesively, and strike with precision. The team comes into Huy with quiet confidence and a hunger to reclaim the top step on the Mur, where legends are made in under two kilometers.
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Here’s the team’s news:
Intermarché-Wanty prepares the next two chapters of the Ardennes week on its home turf with the Flèche Wallonne (April 23rd) and Liège-Bastogne-Liège (April 27th), riding high after Louis Barré's sixth place in the Amstel Gold Race on Sunday.
This Wednesday, the Flèche Wallonne sets off around 11:30 AM from Ciney, where the construction company Ronveaux, a subsidiary of the Wanty Group, is based. A 105 kilometer approach leads to the local circuit around Huy, featuring the succession of the Côte d’Ereffe, the Côte de Cherave, and finally the climax at the Mur de Huy, with its gradients peaking over 20%. This local circuit and its main attraction will be covered three times.
Then on Sunday, the Walloon World Team concludes its spring classics campaign with Liège-Bastogne-Liège, in which it achieved its first podium in a Monument during the 2022 edition. The course remains largely the same, with eleven categorized climbs and 252 kilometers to cover. After the return point in Bastogne, approximately two hours after the start of ‘La Doyenne’, the climbs follow each other relentlessly. The crucial Col de La Redoute is located 34 km from the finish, followed by the Côte des Forges and the Côte de la Roche-aux-Faucons, thirteen kilometers before the finish in the Quai des Ardennes.
The selection led by Steven De Neef and Frederik Veuchelen is spearheaded by Louis Barré and Alexander Kamp, both of whom finished in the top twenty of the Amstel Gold Race, as they start their first races on Belgian soil this season. They will be accompanied by the local rider Tom Paquot and the other Belgians Kamiel Bonneu, Dries De Pooter, Gerben Kuypers, and Luca Van Boven. The winner of the Giro d’Abruzzo, Georg Zimmermann, will strengthen the team for Liège-Bastogne-Liège on Sunday.
Louis Barré with Georg Zimmermann (in front) at the 2024 Tour Down Under. Sirotti photo
"I received numerous congratulatory messages following my performance at the Amstel Gold Race. The fans particularly appreciate my offensive racing style, which requires many often unsuccessful attempts, but which can lead to even greater successes. It was my benchmark performance in such a renowned event. I can now head to the Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège with confidence. I remember as a child watching the Flèche Wallonne on television each year on Wednesday after school, in admiration of the three-time winner Julian Alaphilippe, and I dreamed of climbing the mythical Mur de Huy myself in front of that crowd. Just like at the Amstel Gold Race, I hope to master the positioning on Wednesday to approach the Mur in the best possible condition. It's a race that suits me perfectly, but I haven't had a good experience in my first participations over the last two years. At Liège-Bastogne-Liège, I haven't even managed to finish the race due to crashes. So I'm determined to change that, and together with my teammates, we want to deliver an excellent result for the Intermarché-Wanty sponsors in these two great Walloon classics." - Louis Barré
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Williams’ Team Israel-Premier Tech posted this:
When Stevie Williams lines up at La Flèche Wallonne on Wednesday it will be with number one on his back.
The 2024 edition of the Belgian Classic is one that few will forget, not just because it was Israel – Premier Tech’s first UCI WorldTour one day race win, but for the brutal conditions in which Williams won with just 44 riders finishing atop the Mur de Huy.
Stephen Williams winning the race in 2024. Sirotti photo
“It was a fantastic race last year for me and to come back a year later as defending champion with number one on my back is going to be really special,” explains Williams.
Although Williams will line up as defending champion, his 2025 season has been marred by injury and having just returned to racing last week at the Giro d’Abruzzo, Williams is still unsure of his form.
“I’ve not had the cleanest run since Australia with a knee problem, so there’s no denying that my form is nowhere near last year,” admits Williams. “It’s been a bit of a disruptive two months or so, but we’re here at the race now and it deserves full respect as it’s one of the most prestigious Classics on the calendar. So I will give it everything and race fully motivated and whatever result I come out with will be it.
“If I was looking back a few weeks ago, there was a good chance I wasn’t going to be here. So I’m really grateful to even be here at the start line. I really wish that it could be different. I wish I could be coming here off a really perfect season and the greatest legs I’ve ever had, but this is not the case. But I’m really looking forward to being back here in Belgium with the team and it’s really nice to be back on the road with them.”
The Welshman is joined by a strong and experienced team including George Bennett (pictured above with Williams), Simon Clarke, Alexey Lutsenko, and Nick Schultz, as well as debutants Nadav Raisberg and Joe Blackmore, who lines up after strong performances at the opening Ardennes races.
Williams’ suitability to the parcours comes down to the fact there’s no hiding at Flèche Wallonne with the race typically coming down to the final test of the legs on the steep slopes of the Mur de Huy.
He adds: “This year we are back with the normal route with the Côte d’Ereffe and Côte de Cherave and then three times up the Mur de Huy so it’s quite a unique race in the sense that there’s no real secret to it. I think that’s what makes it one of the coolest races on the calendar as well.”
IPT at La Flèche Wallonne (Wednesday April 23):
Riders: George Bennett (NZL), Joe Blackmore (GBR), Simon Clarke (AUS), Alexey Lutsenko (KAZ), Nick Schultz (AUS), Nadav Raisberg (ISR), Stevie Williams (GBR)
Sports Directors: Daryl Impey (RSA), René Mandri (EST), Steve Bauer (CAN)
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