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Sunday, July 27, 2025

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2024 Tour de France | 2024 Giro d'Italia

Every strike brings me closer to the next home run. - Babe Ruth

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Bill McGann’s book Why Your Bike Is Made in Asia: My career in bicycles as I watched two continents squander an industry is available in print, Kindle eBook & Audiobook versions. To get your copy, just click on the Amazon link on the right.

Current racing:

• July 5 - 27: Tour de France
• July 26 - July 30: Tour de Wallonie
• July 27: Vuelta a Castilla y Leon

Upcoming racing:

• August 2: San Sebastian Classic

Latest completed racing:

• June 21 - 29: Most national road championships
• June 24: Giro dell'Appennino
• June 15 - 22: Tour de Suisse
• June 18 - 22: Baloise Belgium Tour
• July 9 - 13: Tour of Austria
• June 8 - 15: Critérium du Dauphiné
• June 13: GP Kanton Aargau
• June 8: Brussels Cycling Classic
• May 9 - June 1: Giro d'Italia

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Tour de France stage 20 team reports

We posted the race organizer's report with the results.

Here's the report from 3rd-place Pascal Eenkhoorn's Team Soudal Quick-Step:

Pascal Eenkhoorn netted Soudal Quick-Step’s fifth top-three finish at this year’s Tour de France after a huge ride on the penultimate stage, a 184.2km trek from Nantua to Pontarlier. It was the former Dutch Champion’s second podium in a Grand Tour, after his runner-up result two years ago in Bourg-en-Bresse.

Pascal Eenkhoorn finishes third in stage 20. Sirotti photo

Pontarlier made its Grande Boucle debut back in 1928, but until this weekend it hadn’t hosted a finish since 2001, witnessed another victory from the breakaway, one that took more than 30 kilometers to form. When a large group snapped the elastic on the up-and-down roads of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region, Pascal Eenkhoorn was there for Soudal Quick-Step.

The powerful Dutchman produced an impressive ride, marking all the important moves, avoiding a crash that took out of the group many of his companions in the last 25 kilometers and pushing admirably through the nagging rain that accompanied the race throughout almost the entire stage. Behind Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck), who attacked in the closing 16 kilometers and soloed to victory, a regrouping took place, and Pascal dug deep to stay there as the group looked to explode again on the last climb.

Not only that he made it over the top with the others, the 28-year-old still had something left in the legs to zip away under the flamme rouge and take third on the line – a result that came thanks to a fantastic effort and never-die-attitude that speak a lot about his character.

“It was non-stop action today, sticking to the trend of the last three weeks. We kept going once we had a gap, but it was hard in those weather conditions, which also made for an eventful stage. I am content with taking third, it’s a very good result after a long and wearing race. Now that this stage is in the books, I’m really happy that Paris is just twenty-four hours away, as we’re all looking forward to it”, said Pascal after signing off Soudal Quick-Step’s 110th podium at the Tour de France.

Here's the stage 20 report from Wout van Aert's Team Visma | Lease a Bike:

Team Visma | Lease a Bike went on the offensive in stage 20 of the Tour de France. Matteo Jorgenson and Wout van Aert launched attacks during the hilly stage through the Jura region, with Jorgenson ultimately finishing ninth.

Van Aert was eager from the start to join the day’s breakaway, but getting into the right move proved difficult. Eventually, it was Jorgenson who managed to slip away with the decisive attack.

On the steepest climb of the day, Van Aert tried to bridge across from the peloton to the front of the race. The Belgian quickly closed a significant gap but fell short of making the junction.

Up front, Jorgenson faced a group of strong rivals. In the end, it was Kaden Groves who powered to the stage win. Jorgenson rolled across the line in ninth place from the chasing group.

The day's big break with 98 kilometers to go.

“I didn’t have the legs I had hoped for at the start”, said Van Aert. “Still, I tried to make the break, but it didn’t work out right away. I gave it another shot to bridge across, but we ended up riding in no-man’s land. Now, all the focus is on tomorrow—we’ve got one more big chance.”

Jorgenson admitted he had spent a lot of energy early on. “It already took a lot of effort just to get into the break. I could feel I had burned quite a bit of energy there. I tried one more time to get clear from the group, but it just wasn’t happening today. Of course, that’s disappointing, but I think the race told an honest story”, the American reflected.

Team Groupama-FDJ posted this Tour report:

This isn’t his first top-5 finish in the Tour de France. In fact, it’s his third, but this one will certainly leave him hungry for more. On home soil and in front of his home crowd, Romain Grégoire was set to fight for victory in Pontarlier, after he managed to join the breakaway. Among the strongest in the final, the rider from Besançon suffered a crash about twenty kilometres from the finish, losing nearly a minute and all his hopes of winning. He ultimately fought for fourth place and took fifth. A frustrating outcome.

Groupama-FDJ rider Guillaume Martin before the stage start. Sirotti photo

For nearly a week, part of the peloton had been focused solely on this twentieth stage of the Tour de France, heading to Pontarlier, which represented the last opportunity for many riders to show themselves. Due to a hilly 184-kilometre course, victory seemed promised to the breakaway. So, as it happened towards Toulouse or Carcassonne, a big fight was expected after leaving Nantua. Romain Grégoire, highly motivated for this day on home soil, immediately got in the mix in the front positions of the peloton, even though the first two climbs weren’t enough to form a leading group.

“I was really tired this morning, and I expected to have a tough day,” said Romain. “In the end, my legs were great, I was in the game from the start, and I was able to have fun.” More importantly, after a non-stop battle in the rain for around fifty kilometres, the Groupama-FDJ puncher managed to enter the day’s breakaway, made up of thirteen men.

Nevertheless, it took another twenty kilometres to force the peloton to give up, and to gain a lead of more than two minutes. From then on, the breakaway rode together, quite united, until the main climb of the day, the Côte de Thésy (3.5 km at 9%), 62 kilometres from the finish line. The fight resumed at the front of the race, the breakaway broke apart, but everything got back together a little later at the bottom of the Côte de Longeville, the last climb of the day.

Romain Grégoire proved to be among the strongest, briefly trying to accelerate, first on the climb, then on the downhill, but with exactly twenty-two kilometres to go, he ended up on the ground due to the wet road. “I think I did everything right until that crash,” said Romain. “It’s also my fault, but I think if Ivan Romeo hadn’t crashed, I could have avoided it. I knew that corner, I knew it was tight, but he crashed in front of me, I had to brake, and on wet roads, you pay for it right away.” Although he was able to get up relatively quickly, the rider from Besançon lost a significant amount of time due to a mechanical problem.

After he resumed racing about a minute behind the three leading riders who avoided the crash, Romain Grégoire caught a few groups, but Kaden Groves took the lead solo and held his own against his chasers. In contention for third place entering the final five kilometres, the Groupama-FDJ rider ultimately battled for fourth, and secured fifth place on the day after what ended up being a frustrating race. “The day’s result doesn’t mean much,” he said. “It was a great opportunity to take the stage win, even though Groves put on a great performance. It would have been difficult to beat him, but I felt good, and I would have liked to be in the mix until the end. There was more in store for us. It was great to be at the front on these roads, to be supported like that, it really boosted me, and that’s the positive side of the day. On the other hand, it would have been great to win in front of this crowd…” “Of course we’re disappointed, especially for him,” added Stéphane Goubert. “We were in his area, he was in the mix, and he really had this stage in mind like the whole team. He fought right to the finish line and hats off to him. It’s a real pity. He deserved better.”

The peloton will now head to Paris, where the 112th edition of the Tour de France will conclude on Sunday, with a twenty-first stage that will tackle the climb to Montmartre three times.

And here's the Tour stage 20 report from Team INEOS Grenadiers:

Axel Laurance and Sam Watson pushed on off the front in a bid to make a decisive breakaway on the penultimate stage of the Tour de France.

The INEOS Grenadiers were active during the rolling 184.2-kilometre stage 20, with Tobias Foss among those trying to make the early break.

Watson tried to bridge across to a 13-man breakaway, but his two-man move was eventually hauled back by a Cofidis-led peloton. Shortly after that the peloton would sit up briefly, allowing the day’s break to open out their gap ahead.

Later, Laurance pushed on up the steep Cote de Thesy climb, instigating a number of counter attacks. Eventually Laurance was reeled back in, with Kaden Groves (Alpecin – Deceuninck) ultimately holding on to win the stage solo.

The peloton, including the INEOS Grenadiers, would roll in seven minutes back. Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates – XRG) will head into Paris on Sunday with a lead of 4:24, while Thymen Arensman retains 12th place overall.

Saturday also saw the opening stage of Tour De Wallonie, which culminated in an uphill finish into Nassogne. Artem Shmidt led the team home in 16th.

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