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Friday, February 7, 2025
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2024 Tour de France | 2024 Giro d'Italia
To me, every hour of the day and night is an unspeakably perfect miracle. - Walt Whitman
Bill and Carol McGann's book The Story of the Giro d'Italia, A Year-by-Year History of the Tour of Italy, Vol 1: 1909 - 1970 is available in print, Kindle eBook & audiobook versions. To get your copy, just click on the Amazon link on the right.
Current Racing:
- February 5 - 9 Etoile de Bessèges/Tour du Gard
- February 5 - 9: Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana
- February 7: Muscat Classic
Upcoming racing:
- February 8 - 12: Tour of Oman
- February 14 - 16: Tour de la Provence
- February 15: Vuelta Ciclista a la Region de Murcia
- February 16: Clásica de Almeria
Latest completed racing:
- February 1 & 2: Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race
- February 2: GP La Marseillaise
- January 29 - February 2: Challenge Vuelta a Mallorca
- January 28 - February 1: AlUla Tour
- January 30: Surf Coast Classic
- January 17 - 26: Tour Down Under
- January 26: Classica Comunitat a Valenciana 1969
- January 25: Ruta de la Cerámica - Gran Premio Castellón
We posted the stage two report from GC leader Paul Magnier's Team Soudal Quick-Step with the results.
Here's the Valenciana & Bessèges report from Team INEOS Grenadiers:
The INEOS Grenadiers took a pair of top-five finishes as Volta a la Communitat Valenciana and Etoile de Besseges moved into their second day.
In Spain, Thymen Arensman and Carlos Rodriguez rode their way into a select GC group on the first-category Alto Partegat summit finish. The duo benefitted from some great riding by Tobias Foss, who pushed on with 17 kilometres to go on the penultimate Benimartell climb.
Arensman came home fifth, 24 seconds back on stage winner Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain-Victorious), while Rodriguez finished eighth, a further 10 seconds back. On the GC, Arensman (+19secs) holds fifth, with Rodriguez (+29secs) now seventh.
Over in France, the team rode hard on the run-in to stage two, which played out in a bunch sprint.
Søren Wærenskjold wins the second stage of the Etoile de Bessèges. Sirotti photo
Artem Shmidt kicked things off with 10km to go, launching clear to stretch out the peloton. In the closing stages Ben Turner was the final man in the lead-out, helping to position Axel Laurance. With a gap briefly opening up behind, Laurance launched his sprint early, but was ultimately reeled in in sight of the finish. The Grenadier held on for fifth place, and now sits sixth overall, 16 seconds back on leader Paul Magnier (Soudal Quick-Step).
Here's the Etoile de Bessèges report from Paul Penhoët's Team Groupama-FDJ:
On stage 2 of the Étoile de Bessèges, Paul Penhoët grabbed his first top result of the year on Thursday, and certainly not his last. In the anticipated bunch sprint, the young man from the Groupama-FDJ cycling team took sixth place while Søren Wærenskjold claimed victory. Overall, he’s now seventh while his teammate Kevin Geniets in twelfth.
The peloton descends in stage two. Sirotti photo
A less punchy final than the day before was looming this Thursday in the second day of racing of the Étoile de Bessèges. After the uphill finish in Bellegarde, it was time for a flat sprint in Marguerittes after 165 kilometres of racing without any major climbs. As usual, the peloton took on a moderate pace throughout the day, behind a five-man breakaway that was quickly established with Louis Kitzki, Victor Vercouillie; Axandre Van Petegem, Yohann Simon and Maël Guégan. Unlike the day before, however, the weather did not influence the race.
“The peloton was definitely calmer as there was less wind on the menu today,” said William Green. “The critical point of the day was for sure the final descent at eight kilometres to go. It was very nervous before that and in the run-in to the final climb. Rémi actually suffered a small fall with other riders in this run-in.” The Frenchman nevertheless got back up unscathed, while the peloton was getting much closer to the breakaway.
“The plan was to stay organized and safe on this section, but not to fight too much for position before the descent”, William added. “The last three kilometers being on a large road, we had the plan of being patient today”. After a nice fight, the breakaway still surrendered shortly before entering Marguerittes, and the sprint started to set up in quite a chaotic way. “We got a bit lost in the last small village and we were a bit far in the last roundabout 4.5 kilometers from the finish”, recounted Paul Penhoët, the team’s sprinter. “Fortunately, I was still with Clément, and I stayed with him. I knew he was going to do his best to get me back in position. I was right, because in the end, he dropped me off well before the last corner, around the top 10.”
The sprint turned out to be a bit confusing since four riders benefited from a split after the last corner, before the main sprinters got back on them in the last few hundred metres. “I had to make a first effort, and the line came fast, so it was hard to be able to move up,” added Paul, who ended up sixth in the sprint.
“It was an improvement on yesterday,” claimed William. “Unfortunately, we first lost Rémi, then Kevin had a mechanical problem on the big road, so we were two down. We made use of what we had, and Clément did a very good job to bring Paul into a good position. Sixth on his first sprint of the season, that’s an ok start.” “I can’t say that I’m satisfied with the result, but the positive thing is the guys’ mindset,” Paul emphasized. “Everyone was 100% focused on the goal we had set for ourselves, which was to put me in the best possible position at 600 metres. We would have liked to be even closer, but that’s part of racing. We must also take from today that even if we have problems, we can get through them when we ride together.”
The 23-year-old should have another opportunity tomorrow in Bessèges. “We have some more difficult climbs, especially in the final,” William previewed. “Paul climbs very well so tomorrow’s stage actually suits the team really well. We’re confident in Paul to produce another result and we go all-in for him tomorrow.”
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We posted the race organizer's report with the results.
Here's the report from GC leader Mattias Vacek's Team Lidl-Trek:
It was another day of pure teamwork from Lidl-Trek and while it was a different kind of effort to the Stage 1 team time trial, it was equally beautiful to watch with every riders playing their role to perfection to help Mattias Vacek maintain the overall lead at Volta Ciclista a Valenciana.
Lidl-Trek knew it would be a tough ask at the start of the day but the Team believed in themselves and in the strength of the young Czech rider, who went on to prove himself time and time again as he dug deep on the steep slopes of the final time to cling onto the yellow jersey.
Mattias Vacek (shown after stage one) kept his yellow jersey.
Edward Theuns and Simone Consonni started things off helping to set the early pace and maintain a reasonable gap to a small early breakaway which was on the brink of being caught at the top of the Coll de Rates.
Vacek was still surrounded by four teammates after the ascent of the climb, Jonathan Milan, Daan Hoole, Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier, and Jakob Soderqvist, with all four doing big final pulls to close gaps and keep the overall lead safe before the gruelling final three kilometers.
It was then down to Vacek who, faced with some tough competition from the pure climbers in the bunch, showed true grit & determination as he fought to lose as little time to the attackers as possible.
Vacek came across the line 57 seconds from the stage winner, and 43 seconds behind Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) which was enough to hold onto the overall lead by just two seconds going into Stage 3.
Race reaction from Mattias Vacek:
"We knew that I had to go deep today, really deep actually, to maintain the jersey or, at least, try to keep the gap as small as possible and in the end, I could keep by just a handful of seconds. That was the goal for the day and the Team did a really great job to keep me in position and pulling all day. I am so happy that we can keep the jersey in the Team and we still have a lot of motivation for the race days. It's a really nice feeling to do that for me.
"I was confident before the stage, I knew I could do a good effort although the climb was really steep. I tried to keep to my pace and not follow the attacks too much in the last kilometers because that is what would have put me into difficulty.
"Of course, the goal is to keep the jersey for as long as possible and keep up the incredible teamwork. I was really happy to have a gap like we did after yesterday's team time trial as it really helped us. We will do our best over the next stages and try to help each other as a team. Until now, the atmosphere amongst us is great, the Team is doing super good so I am confident for the next stages.
"It's nice to see that all the work I have done is paying off and it is showing at races. I don't want to be too over confident for the season but if everything goes as planned, and I get a bit of luck, then some nice results will keep coming."
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Here's the report from third-place João Almeida's UAE Team Emirates:
João Almeida fought to a strong third place in a brutally tough last climb on stage 2 of the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana in Spain today from La Nucía to Benifato (166km).
In a thrilling finale to the day’s action, UAE Team Emirates-XRG produced a plethora of moves to animate the final climb and attack the heavily reduced group before the final steep slopes to Font de Partegat. With third place across the line, Almeida also moves to second in the general classification ahead of stage 3, trailing race leader Mathias Vacek (Lidl-Trek) by just two seconds.
Joined by Pavel Sivakov and Brandon McNulty on the offensive, Almeida rode in trademark style on the final climb, producing a high tempo which was enough to distance many of his rivals. Winding up the pace throughout the final kilometres, the Portuguese made the most of his teammates’ softening blows and did not look back as he advanced to the line.
With 3,348m of climbing on the agenda across three categorised ascents, stage 2 had promised to be one of the hardest days of the race, and it did not disappoint. Often used by riders on their winter training camps, the 5.3km Coll de Rates was the first to take its toll, before a tough climb to Benimantell and the final test of La Font de Partegat.
Taking the riders to the highest peak in the province of Alicante, the final climb averaged 9.5% for 4.3km and provided the ideal hunting ground for UAE Team Emirates-XRG’s trifecta of talented climbers.
As Almeida, McNulty and Sivakov each took their moments to push the pace, Bahrain Victorious played their hand well in the closing kilometres, putting Pello Bilbao up the road who was then joined by Ivan Romeo (Movistar). The pressure from Almeida would force the group behind to almost close the gap, before stage winner Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain Victorious) made a stinging attack at under 1km to go, arriving solo to the finish.
Santiago Buitrago wins stage two,
Almeida, meanwhile, kept his rhythm and crossed the line in third place at 13 seconds down on Buitrago. The Portuguese climber narrowly misses out on the yellow jersey which continues to be worn by Vacek with a slender advantage of two seconds.
“It is disappointing to miss out on the win but today the guys were so impressive,” Almeida said after the finish. “We knew that we had to set a good pace to make things hard for the leader, and into the final, both Filippo [Baroncini] and Felix [Großschartner] rode super well.
“It was always the plan in the final to use our numbers and with Pavel and Brandon, we did this well. Once I got into my rhythm, I could ride hard and this gives us optimism for the next stages.”
Behind Almeida, defending champion McNulty rode strongly to the line, finishing in seventh at 34sec down on the day’s winner. With three stages remaining, UAE Team Emirates-XRG are well placed through both Almeida and McNulty, with the latter positioned sixth overall, just 25 seconds behind his teammate.
There will be no let up on Friday’s stage, with an undulating test promised between Algemesí and Alpuente. Totalling 180.8km, the route will challenge the peloton with another 3,000m of climbing, including the final 1.3km punch to the line. With an average of 7.2%, the final ramps come just 20km after the peak of Pico del Remedio, which serves as the day’s last categorised climb.
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And here's the Valenciana stage 2 report from Samuele Zoccarato's Team Polti-VisitMalta:
We called him an “escape artist” when he signed with Team Polti VisitMalta, today he’s already racked up his first 120 kilometers in an escape with the new jersey. In the second stage (the first road stage) of the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana, Samuele Zoccarato broke away from La Nucía alongside four other riders. Their lead stretched beyond four minutes on the early climbs from the coast into the hinterland, before the peloton reeled them in between the Coll de Rates and the Alto de Benimantell.
Volta a Valenciana stage two gets rolling.
On the Alt de Partegat (4 km at 5%) which served as the summit finish, Davide Piganzoli remained in the main chasing group behind a trio of attackers. When Buitrago (Bahrain) launched his winning move in the last kilometer, the talented Polti VisitMalta rider dug deep, losing a few meters in the final surge, but he still managed to finish 12th and now sits 18th in the GC: he’s currently the best-placed rider among the ProTeam competitors. Tomorrow promises to be another day for the climbers.
Zoccarato: “When Zanatta told me last night that I should try to get into the breakaway, I felt really motivated. It’s my trademark and I want to prove that the team made the right choice in betting on me. We rode really hard in the break and, under normal conditions, my race would have truly begun on the Rates. Unfortunately I started struggling with stomach issues and had to slow down. We’ll see how I feel tomorrow morning.”
Sports Director Stefano Zanatta: “It wasn’t easy to get into the break today, Samuele did a great job and it’s a shame he wasn’t feeling well. Due to similar problems, Fernando Tercero wasn’t able to start today. Despite being one man down, the rest of the squad followed the plan and supported Piganzoli well. Luckily, Fran Muñoz came out unscathed from a crash shortly after the halfway point of the race. Given the overall level of competition here, we showed that we can hold our own.”
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