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Saturday, April 26, 2025
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2024 Tour de France | 2024 Giro d'Italia
Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates profoundness. Kindness in giving creates love. - Lao Tzu
Les Woodland's book Tour de France: The Inside Story - Making the World's Greatest Bicycle Race is available in print, Kindle eBook and audiobook versions. To get your copy, just click on the Amazon link on the right.
Current racing:
- April 24 - 27: Vuelta Asturias
Upcoming racing:
- 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 21 - 25: Tour of the Alps
- April 23: La Flèche Wallonne
- 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
We posted the stage five report from GC second place Thymen Arensman's Team INEOS Grenadiers with the results.
Here's the Tour of the Alps report from GC third-place Derek Gee's Team Israel-Premier Tech:
Derek Gee pulled off another impressive performance in the final stage of Tour of the Alps to secure his third place overall. Jakob Fuglsang finished sixth on the stage, while Matthew Riccitello moved up to ninth place in the general classification, helping IPT to win the team classification.
“Overall, this has been a really good day for the team”, Derek Gee said with a big smile after the stage.
“The day really worked out according to our plan. We kept the guys who were fighting for the podium close to us and on the final climb, I had good legs and as a bonus we managed to ride Matthew [Riccitello] into top 10 in the GC.”
The Tour of the Alps final GC podium, from left: Thymen Arensman (2nd), Michael Storer (1st) & Derek Gee (3rd)
After two chaotic stages, nobody knew how today’s short and hilly final day of the race would play out so when a group went away early on, Fuglsang was quick to get in the mix to be in the front in case Gee needed assistance later on.
“We thought it would be a good idea to have a rider in the front in case the race exploded again. I made it into the right move and in the end, we got a big enough gap to play for the victory and I gave it a go. Unfortunately, the final climb was just too steep for me at this point. However, I’m happy with how the legs felt today and now I’m looking forward to racing with this group in the Giro d’Italia next month”, Fuglsang explained.
In the group of the GC riders, Gee and Riccitello did well to control the situation and seal Gee’s podium spot despite a difficult start to the race earlier this week.
“It’s true that I didn’t have the best start to the race, but I tried to stay calm and just trust the process so I’m really glad that the legs got better every stage. It’s just so great to be racing with these guys and now we can take on the Giro d’Italia with a lot of confidence”, the 27-year-old Canadian said.
Sports director, Oscar Guerrero, too, was full of praise for how the team worked together this week.
“This year’s Tour of the Alps has been a great race for the team with the stage victory for Marco and the overall podium place for Derek as the main highlights. In fact, the whole team was amazing. We only raced with five riders for most of the race but all five played a crucial part in this success and winning the team classification really shows how strong this group has been throughout the whole race. I’m really happy with what I’ve seen.”
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Here's the Tour of the Alps report from Team Bahrain Victorious:
The 2025 Tour of the Alps came to a conclusion on Friday, with a 112km loop around Lienz. Bahrain Victorious left Austria with a 6th place finish on GC and one of the four major jerseys. And all that despite losing leader Antonio Tiberi to illness on day two.
It was another overall top ten for Damiano Caruso – a 36th of his career. The Italian was keen to praise the performance of the team as a whole, especially with the first ‘Grand Tour’ of the year just a fortnight away.
“We have to be satisfied with the week. We lost our leader to sickness, but the reaction of the team was more than positive. We’ve managed to bring home the KoM jersey and also I managed to show good form, which confirms that we’re doing the right things in the build up to the Giro. I’m confident that personally I’ll be in top condition for the Giro, ready to perform my main role, which will be to look after Antonio. And if the occasion presents itself, it was be good to go for a stage too – that would be a perfect May from my point of view.”
Tour of the Alps stage five peloton at kilometer 24.
Lead Sports Director Gorazd Štangelj was also impressed by what the group have achieved: “Generally we did the absolute maximum that we could have, certainly more than we expected after Antonio unfortunately had to leave the race. Damiano took over the situation very well, even on the final day he was up there with the best guys.”
As well as Caruso’s good result on GC, British rider Finlay Pickering came away with an unexpected prize: The ‘King of the Mountains’ blue jersey. Pickering spent 310km in breakaways, more than any other rider. The 22 year old made the front group on stages 1, 3 & 5, and picked up mountains points every day bar one. Pickering was understandably delighted with what is arguably the biggest achievement of his career so far: “First up, it’s nice to come back and finish the race, because last year I only managed part of the first stage, so I’ve put a few demons to bed! And to get the jersey as well, it’s just super – at least now I have something to show for being a pro bike rider, so I’m happy! It’s always hard going in the breakaway, but each day is another day on the bike, and I enjoy riding my bike!”
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Here’s the team’s post:
This Sunday is oldest classic of them all – Liège-Bastogne-Liège.
Ben Healy, Neilson Powless, Samuele Battistella, Archie Ryan, Alex Baudin, Kasper Asgreen, and Harry Sweeny will take on the 133-year-old Monument for EF Education-EasyPost.
Nina Berton, Kristen Faulkner, Magdeleine Vallieres, Henrietta Christie, and Cédrine Kerbaol will race Liège-Bastogne-Liège Femmes for EF Education-Oatly.
Ask them and they will tell you that Liège-Bastogne-Liège is often the hardest of all the Monuments. If fans call Paris-Roubaix The Queen of the Classics, Liège will always be the grande dame: La Doyenne.
The race is feared and respected by every rider in the peloton. First held in 1893, the course travels through the Ardennes forest in French-speaking Belgium, where climb after fearsome climb lie in wait. The Côte de Wanne, Côte de Stockeu, Côte de la Redoute, and Côte de la Roche aux Faucons are among the hills that have been made famous over a century and more of cycling history. On Sunday, we are going to write the next chapter.
Read our riders thoughts ahead of Liège-Bastogne-Liège.
Neilson Powless:
"It is a race that's so, so hard and so long. The climbs are significantly longer than any of the Monuments that we've done so far this year. It’s just a super hard race.
"I finished in the top ten here once, which was a really nice result. It feels good when we are deep into the race and the climbs get selective and you're still there.
"It's going to be over six hours of racing on hard roads. First things first is just basically sacrificing the entire team to get one, or hopefully two riders, in with a shot, basically from La Redoute onwards, because that's typically where the fireworks start and favorites go.
"Ben is flying right now. He is going uphill really fast. He is probably going to be our main leader. I'm hoping to be there with him deep in the finale. If I can help him, or if I have the legs so we can play a double leader strategy, that would be nice, but if I need to, I'll gladly sacrifice myself for him and hopefully we’ll land on the podium. In this race, if you can have two cards to play in the last ten kilometers, there's a really good chance you can land someone on the podium.
Neilson Powless checking out the 2025 Tour of Flanders course. Sirotti photo
Alex Baudin:
"C’est La Doyenne, the Old Lady. It's a special one, a really long race. We can make a good result for the team. It is super cool to ride for guys like Neilson and Ben.
"We have a really nice group here. There have been a lot of laughs at the lunch and dinner table. Obviously, I want to do my best and try to help Ben and Neilson as much as I can. My form has been up and down, but I hope I can go really far into the race to help them."
Ben Healy:
"The fact that it's a Monument obviously puts it right up there with the coolest races, but for me the fans on La Redoute and Roche aux Faucons just take it to the next level. When you're suffering up there and it's just a wall of sound, it is one of the coolest feelings.
"In past years, it's just been raced so hard. It's all about saving everything you can and then hopefully you have the good legs to follow on La Redoute. And then once you've made that group, it’s about saving again until Roche aux Faucons. That’s the last big hit up.
"The roads in the Ardennes are narrow and twisty and up and down. So, the further you can sit forward in the peloton, the better. That takes some leg power to do and that's what the guys will do for me on Sunday.
"And then in the finale, it’s just suffering. I need to try and get a gap and get ahead. That is what I've tried the past couple of years and it seems to work out. It’s just about trying to race a smart race and spend the pennies when you can in an efficient way.
"I can do the positioning in the finale by myself, but if we have Nielson or Archie there, just really trying to make the race hard, that would be key."
Cédrine Kerbaol:
"Liège is a super nice race. It is very hard from the start of the race. As soon as the climbs start, it can be really selective and I think that is the beauty of the race. You need to have good legs to be in the front.
"I think we need to make sure the race is hard enough and that it's selective enough. Then we can attack. But before that we need to make it hard.
"I think for sure that if we race well as a team, like we did in our last few races, it is going to be fun. We give motivation to each other."
Magdeleine Vallieres:
"I am excited. It's a great race on a great course. We were successful last year at the Tour when we raced on the parcours, so I'm excited to see what we can do this year.
"The Ardennes are my favorite races, and Liège is a special one, because it's a hard pace the whole time. I think it suits us as a team. It is climby and technical, with great fans by the side of the road. As a team, I think we can come up with a big result. A win would be nice!"
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Here’s the team’s news:
After a spring season with mixed feelings, Team Visma | Lease a Bike hopes to make one final push for a good result in Liège-Bastogne-Liège. The yellow-black team lines up with a mix of young talents and experienced riders. Tiesj Benoot and team manager Frans Maassen look ahead to La Doyenne.
Tiesj Benoot checking out the 2025 Tour of Flanders course. Sirotti photo
Benoot has had a good spring season so far, with several strong results. In the Flèche Wallonne, despite a crash, he finished twelfth. “In the Flèche Wallonne, I was involved in a crash. Luckily, I was still able to play a role in the finale. I hope the crash won't have too much of an impact on Liège-Bastogne-Liège, so I can also play a role in the finale there.”
Maassen also reflects positively on the tough, rainy Flèche Wallonne. “Wednesday was an extremely tough race with a lot of rain and cold. I look back on this race with a good feeling, and it seems that our riders have recovered well from it.”
“I've been feeling much better in the last few races”, continues the Belgian rider. “There’s clearly been an upward trend, and I hope I can continue this towards Sunday in Liège-Bastogne-Liège, so I can close my spring campaign on a positive note.”
However, a nice result in La Doyenne is not a given, and the former winner of Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne knows this all too well. “The approach to the finale has become even harder. Looking at the Amstel Gold Race and the Flèche Wallonne, I expect a real battle of exhaustion. I expect UAE Team Emirates, XRG, and Soudal Quick-Step to make it a very tough race.”
“As a team, we need to find a good moment in the race to anticipate”, continues the 30-year-old rider. “However, that won’t be easy at all. There will be a lot of control in the peloton, and on top of that, it’s also a very tough race.”
So, the yellow-black team doesn't have the top favorite in their ranks for Sunday, but they still hope to achieve the best result possible. “We line up on Sunday with a mix of young talents and experienced riders. It’s great for the young riders in the team to race a monument like Liège-Bastogne-Liège. Additionally, we’re aiming for the best possible result with Benoot, Tulett, and Valter", concludes Maassen.
Alongside Benoot, Tulett, and Valter, Tosh Van der Sande, Julien Vermote, Tijmen Graat, and Loe van Belle complete the seven-rider selection for Team Visma | Lease a Bike.
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