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Sunday, August 24, 2025
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2024 Tour de France | 2024 Giro d'Italia
What is tolerance? It is the consequence of humanity. We are all formed of frailty and error; let us pardon reciprocally each other's folly - that is the first law of nature. - Voltaire
Bill and Carol McGann's book The Story of the Giro d'Italia, A Year-by-Year History of the Tour of Italy, Vol 2: 1971 - 2011 is available in print, Kindle eBook and audiobook versions. To get your copy, just click on the Amazon link on the right.
Current racing:
- August 20 - 24: Renewi Tour
- August 23 - September 14: Vuelta a España
Upcoming racing:
- August 26 - 29: Tour Poitou Charentes en Nouvelle Aquitaine
Latest completed racing:
- August 19 - 22: Tour du Limousin
- August 17: Hamburg Cyclassics
- August 17: La Polynormande
- August 12 - 16: Tour of Denmark
- August 15: Circuit Franco-Belge
- August 4 - 10: Tour of Poland
- August 7 - 10: Arctic Race of Norway
- August 5 - 9: Vuelta a Burgos
- August 6 - 8: Tour de l'Ain
- August 3: Circuito de Getxo
- August 2: San Sebastian Classic
We posted the report from the race organizer with the results.
Here's the report from second-place Ethan Vernon's Team Israel-Premier Tech:
It was almost the perfect start: Ethan Vernon, making his debut in the Vuelta a España, narrowly missed out on taking the victory and the maglia rossa in Saturday’s opening stage in Novara, Italy.
“I wanted to win, but in the end, second is not bad, and it gives us confidence for the rest of the race,” says Vernon.
The British rider, who turns 25 on Tuesday, previously recorded his best Grand Tour stage result in last year’s Giro d’Italia. He placed seventh on stage 3, which coincidentally started in Navara, the location of today’s finish.
Ethan Vernon will start stage two in the Best Young Rider's white jersey. Sirotti photo
Having been brilliantly supported by his IPT teammates – who were active in the peloton throughout the stage, and helped ensure that the day’s six-rider breakaway never stood any chance of causing an upset – the Brit started the sprint and was only beaten to the line by 14-time Grand Tour stage winner Jasper Philipsen.
“We were at the front and then we were at the back and then we were at the front again, so in the end, we took it up, which we weren’t planning to do,” says Vernon. “In the end, I had Jasper’s wheel. He was super fast. I tried to jump him by taking the sprint up myself, but his lead-out man took me a bit wide.
“I think maybe if I had come off the wheel [I might have won]. I wasn’t a million miles away, and we’ve got four more opportunities. Anything can happen on a different day. So I’m pretty confident we can go one further this race.”
Sports Director Daryl Impey praised Vernon and his teammates’ efforts, saying: “I think we are right where we wanted to be. Obviously, we are sprinting against some top quality guys, but we were really close today.
“I think the team rode really well today, for the whole day. We probably exceeded the expectations in that final KM, having more guys there than we thought, so I think it just shows that we’re building a nice group here for Ethan.
“Ethan taking the sprint up with 200 metres to go shows that he’s got confidence in himself to go for the win, too, which is exciting to see.”
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Here's the Vuelta report from fourth-place Elia Viviani's Team Lotto:
Today marked the first stage in La Vuelta a España. Starting in Torino and riding 186.1 km to Novara, the first stage was immediately marked in red for Elia Viviani. “We have shown that we are out there and that we want to play the game.“, he reflects.
Our team approached the day with a clear plan, and executed it well. “It was a pretty good day in general. The whole team did what we spoke about in the meeting this morning. Especially in the final, everyone worked really hard”, Elia Viviani explained. “The team did a really good job in positioning me. Lars (Craps) and Jasper (De Buyst) were the guys helping me with the leadout. Jasper did an amazing job in putting me in a good position for my sprint. Even more, he went onto the roundabout in first position and made sure we were in the exact position where we wanted to be.”
Team Lotto at the opening ceremonies of stage one. Sirotti photo
Looking back on the result, with Jasper Philipsen took a convincing win, Elia is satisfied with his fourth position, though he admitted more might have been possible: “The team from Alpecin-Deceuninck did the perfect leadout. On one hand it is a bit disappointing because in my opinion I could have done a second place. But on the other hand we all know how strong Jasper Philipsen is.”
“From a team perspective, it was a good start. We were really focused in the final and the whole team was motivated to do well. My fourth place probably doesn’t pay off the hard work done but it looks promising for the upcoming stages. We have shown that we are out there and that we want to play the game.”
Tomorrow we go for the first hilly stage of 159,5 kilometers from Alba to Limone Piemonte.
Here's the Vuelta report from Jonas Vingegaard's Team Visma | Lease a Bike:
Team Visma | Lease a Bike came through the opening stage of the Vuelta a España without any problems. The black-and-yellow squad stayed alert in the hectic finale and protected team leader Jonas Vingegaard perfectly. Jasper Philipsen proved the fastest in the sprint.
Six riders broke away early in the stage, but their lead never became truly dangerous, as the peloton never allowed them much of a gap. The advantage remained well within reach of the bunch, ensuring full control throughout the day.
In a chaotic finale, the black-and-yellow team shielded Vingegaard excellently, allowing the Dane to finish the stage without issues. In the closing kilometers Axel Zingle managed to stay near the front, but in the sprint he was unfortunately not in contention for a top result.
Jonas Vingeggard heads to the start of Vuelta stage one. Sirotti photo
“It was a good day today,” reflected sports director Jesper Mørkøv. “Our riders delivered a strong performance. We brought Jonas safely through the finale, which was the most important thing. In the sprint we also tried with Axel, but unfortunately he was too far back in the final kilometer to fight for the prizes.”
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Here's the Vuelta a España news from Team Soudal Quick-Step:
The final Grand Tour of the season got underway from Torino, with a stage that had one classified climb on its route, but which should end up in a bunch sprint after almost 187 kilometers. A city with a long and rich history, dating back to Roman times, Torino played an important role in the Italian unification, and later served as the country’s first capital, between 1861 and 1865.
Known also for its beautiful architecture, automotive industry, vibrant cultural scene and tradition in chocolate making, Torino got to host the sixth foreign start in the history of La Vuelta, and Grand Tour debutant Pepijn Reinderink was among the first riders to animate the race. The 23-year-old attacked in the opening kilometers and booked a place in a six-man breakaway that went on to fight for the KOM points on La Serra and the intermediate sprint in Valdengo.
The peloton races through a vineyard in stage one. ASO photo
Reinderink won the latter thanks to a powerful attack and and took six bonus seconds before the bunch ramped up the pace and brought them back with 80 kilometers to go. Those bonifications helped the Dutchman slot into third overall at the end of the stage won by Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck), just four seconds from the red jersey.
“It was nice being in the breakaway as I got a taste of Grand Tour racing. I was hoping to win the KOM, but the fact I took those bonus seconds still makes me happy because it put me into third place on the general classification. It’s a good start and you can be sure that we’ll keep trying in the next stages”, Pepijn explained at the finish in Novara.
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And here's the Vuelta report from Team Groupama-FDJ:
The third and final Grand Tour of the season is officially underway. For the occasion, the Vuelta a España started in Italy this Saturday, with a first stage made for the sprinters between Turin and Novara. Thibaud Gruel tried to join the fight but was ultimately unable to contest the final sprint. All the riders of the Groupama-FDJ cycling team finished in the bunch, which will tackle a first summit finish in Limone Piemonte on Sunday.
Team Groupama-FDJ rider Stefan Küng heads to the start. Sirotti photo
As it happened in the last Tour de France, the sprinters had the chance to go for the first leader’s jersey on Saturday, in the Vuelta. In Italy, only one climb was on the menu of this opening stage, and it was too far from the finish to have any influence on the race. Six men took the lead five minutes after the start in Turin, and the peloton easily controlled the chase in the back. “It was quite an uneventful stage, as expected,” explained William Green. “A few teams rode throughout the day, mainly Alpecin-Deceuninck and Lidl-Trek, and the gap stayed between one and two minutes during the whole stage.”
Shortly after the halfway point, the breakaway broke up, and only Hugo De La Calle kept the adventure going in front of the pack, until about forty kilometres from the finish. “For us, the goal was to support Thibaud in the sprint today,” added William. “The second objective was to look after David, Rudy, and Guillaume ahead of tomorrow’s summit finish.” Once the last fugitive was caught, the peloton continued to move at a sustained pace towards Novara, especially in the final twenty kilometres.
“We moved to the front of the peloton in the final thirty kilometres,” William explained. “We don’t have an optimal team for the last five kilometres of such a stage, but if we could protect Thibaud, save him as much energy as possible, and keep him calm, that could be useful to him for the final. We saw a strong collective that was 100% invested. They really supported Thibaud, who will do the same for them on the following stages.”
In the final five kilometres, the young Frenchman initially managed his way through quite well, cruising around fifteenth position. “He had a good position, alongside Pedersen, until the roundabout at two kilometres”, William said. “Then, I think he spent a bit of energy to move back up, and at some point, some riders came back from behind and he got boxed.” The 21-year-old was then unable to take part in the sprint, finishing the day in 24th place. “We expected a lot more, because we know he’s capable of it when you see the way he’s been riding in Poland,” added William. “It’s not the perfect start, but there are 20 stages to go and more sprints to come.”
The next sprint, more demanding, is expected on Monday. In the meantime, a first summit finish in Limone Piemonte (4.5 km at 6.4%) is on the agenda for tomorrow. “It’s an interesting final,” concluded William. “It’s a hilltop finish, but it’s not that challenging. So we don’t expect any big differences, but we have a nice team for this final, for the likes of David and Rudy. We will support them as best we can and try to really launch this Vuelta”.
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