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Monday, June 30, 2025

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2024 Tour de France | 2024 Giro d'Italia

Do what you feel in your heart to be right- for you'll be criticized anyway. You'll be damned if you do, and damned if you don't. - Eleanor Roosevelt

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Upcoming racing:

• July 5 - 27: Tour de France
• July 9 - 13: Tour of Austria

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
• June 8 - 15: Critérium du Dauphiné
• June 13: GP Kanton Aargau
• June 8: Brussels Cycling Classic
• May 9 - June 1: Giro d'Italia
• May 29 - June 1: Tour of Norway
• May 14 - 18: 4 Jours de Dunkerque
• May 18: Rund um Köln

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National Championships reports

Here's the report from Team Israel-Premier Tech:

National Championships: podium finishes for Neilands, Vernon, and Casey

Krists Neilands gave another indication of his Tour de France form as he finished second in the Latvian road race championships, one of three podium finishes for IPT riders on Sunday.

Neilands, who will start his fifth Tour for IPT next Saturday, found himself in a two-way showdown for the jersey with eventual winner Toms Skujiņš (LTK) for much of the race, which forms part of a wider event for the Baltic countries that also incorporates the Estonian and Lithuanian championships.

Krists Nielands at the 2018 Tirreno Adriatico. Sirotti photo

Skujiņš attacked with one lap of the circuit around the town of Cesu Novad remaining, but Neilands – who was also the runner-up in Wednesday’s TT Championships – finished safely to take the silver medal.

“The feelings were good on the bike today,” says Neilands. “The race exploded in the first 5 kilometers – a big group got away, with me, Toms, and some other Lativans included. We decided to split the group again some kilometers later as there weren’t many guys who wanted to ride with us.

“After this, it was just mano a mano, Toms and I. Chapeau to Toms, he was stronger, I have nothing to complain about – I wasn’t able to follow him. But this was the first time in a long time at Nationals that we could play it out fairly and see who was stronger.”

Ethan Vernon sprinted to the bronze medal in the British championships in Aberystwyth, Wales. After Sam Watson (IGD) launched his race-winning move with 12 kilometers remaining, Vernon’s teammates Joe Blackmore and Jake Stewart committed in support of him, but were unable to bring back the solo rider following a combative day of racing on undulating roads. Vernon was pipped in the bunch sprint for second by Matthew Brennan (TVL).

Blackmore, who also features in IPT’s Tour de France team, finished 10th.

The third medal of the day was taken by IPT Academy rider Patrick Casey, who produced one of the best rides of his career to date to take bronze in the Irish championships.

Casey, 19, was part of a four-rider group that contested the finish of the race, which was won by Rory Townsend (Q36).

Here's the National Championships report from Team Soudal Quick-Step:

Almost two dozen Soudal Quick-Step riders were involved in eight different races at the Road Race National Championships on the last weekend of June, and they ended up bringing four more medals to the six already won in the time trial events.

In Belgium, Remco Evenepoel was one of the strongest riders out there, forcing a selection with more than 200 kilometers to go before things eventually calmed down and a 16-man group featuring Ilan Van Wilder jumped clear. More than 80 kilometers from the finish, they were caught and a new leading move formed, this time comprising both Remco and his teammate.

The race remained a lively one, and the double Olympic Champion continued showing his intentions, as he put the hammer down in order to thin out the group, which was numbering just six men 40 kilometers from the finish. That was when Tim Wellens (UAE Team Emirates) launched an attack and opened a gap. Evenepoel tried to counter and reduce the margin separating them, but with no help from the others, the advantage of the leader increased to almost one minute.

Tim Wellens before the start of the 2025 Milano-Sanremo. Sirotti photo

In the end, Soudal Quick-Step’s 25-year-old Belgian rode everyone else off his wheel and took silver in Binche, where the National Championships returned after seven years, for what was his third medal in five participations.

“I did all that I could do today, but there were some weird tactics from the others. It’s frustrating to see the others refusing to collaborate despite finding ourselves in a good position. Of course, I’m disappointed, because second isn’t what I came for, but I don’t have to be the one doing all the work every time. It was a hard race and a good preparation for the Tour, to which I’m now looking forward”, Remco explained at the finish.

Despite being alone and outnumbered 3-1 in the closing part of the race in Denmark, Casper Pedersen put in a huge effort to claim bronze in Aalborg for his first ever medal at the Nationals. It was another strong result after a demanding day in the saddle for the 27-year-old, who in the first part of the season impressed on the cobbles of Harelbeke, where he took fourth place.

“It was a really hard edition this year, mainly due to the wind, which turned this into an attritional race. Echelons made an appearance in the opening 30 kilometers, when I found myself in the second echelon, but we managed to come back. It was also difficult because some teams had a lot of riders, but I managed to get away in the final laps with a couple of riders. I dropped some of them, but then I found myself between two guys from the same team. I am not disappointed, because I know I did my best. It’s a medal that makes me happy and gives me more confidence that one day it’s possible to win the jersey”, an upbeat Casper said after the race.

The big surprise of the day came in Italy. Gorizia, the charming city lying between Trieste and Venezia, returned as the finish of the race for the first time since 2006, when Paolo Bettini took home the title for the Wolfpack from a reduced sprint. This time, after an eventful 230km race, it was Thomas Pesenti who was in the mix for a top place. The 26-year-old Italian, a member of our Devo Team, produced a remarkable ride on the course whose main highlight was the hard San Floriano del Collio climb to take an incredible bronze behind winner Filippo Conca (Swatt Club).

“I’m happy with this result, both for myself and the team, but I’m also a bit disappointed, having come so close to victory. The circuit wasn’t very hard, but the climb had a one-kilometers part which was very steep, and that’s where the race exploded. When the peloton split, I found myself chasing, but found the resources to come back. There was a lot of attacking in the finale, but despite some riders opening a gap, we kept the race together, and arrived with this small group in the finale. I gave everything there, and as I said, I’m a bit disappointed because this has been a great opportunity, but at the same time, it’s nice to be on the podium for the first time in my career at the National Championships”, Thomas said after the ceremony.

Martin Svrcek joined Remco Evenepoel as the only two Soudal Quick-Step riders to win a medal this week in both races, time trial and road, braving the scorching heat that only added to what already was a difficult race in Slovakia. Third a couple of days ago, the 22-year-old left everything out there on his way to an impressive silver medal in Banovce nad Bebravou.

“The race was a demanding one and the hot temperatures didn’t make things any easier. A group of 35 went clear in the beginning, and on the last lap, when the attacks came, I tried to do my best. One rider was stronger today, but I’m happy with my result and with being on the podium. I had good legs today and this makes me confident for the second part of the season”, a smiling Martin said.

Here's the National Championships report from Team Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe:

The WorldTour pros from Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe, the U23 Rookies and the youngsters from the U19 team grenke - Auto Eder took ten victories in the national championships.

The most prestigious of these was certainly Danny van Poppel's victory in the road race of the Dutch championships. The 31-year-old won the bunch sprint in a photo finish against Olav Kooij. In Filip Maciejuk and Ryan Mullen, however, two other professionals took home national champion jerseys. While Filip defended his title in the battle against the clock at the Polish Championships, Ryan secured his seventh victory in the time trial in Ireland. Meanwhile, Roger Adrià secured bronze in the road race in Spain.

2025 Dutch Champion Danny van Poppel wins the 2018 Binche-Chimay-Binche race.

The rookies were also in good form, especially in the time trial. Davide Donati secured the U23 title in Italy, Callum Thornley the title in Great Britain. Paul Fietzke secured bronze in Germany.

Five new national champions came from the ranks of grenke - Auto Eder. And here too, the majority of the titles were won in individual time trials. Roberto Capello is the new U19 champion in Italy. Georgs Tjumins in Latvia. Michiel Mouris secured the junior title in the Netherlands - ahead of his team-mate Gijs Schoonvelde. Noah Lindholm Møller Andersengelang won the road race in Denmark. Silver in the road races in Germany and Austria also went to Karl Herzog and Anatol Friedl.

A total of twelve championship titles in 2025
In addition to the ten national champions from the weekend, Finn Fisher-Black and Joshua Johnson are also among the riders with championship honours. Finn won the elite time trial in New Zealand in January, while rookie Joshua won the U23 road race in South Africa in February. Julius Birkedahl also took silver in Denmark's U19 individual time trial in May.

And here's the Kazakhstan Championships report from Team XDS Astana:

The Kazakhstan National Road Championships concluded in Ust-Kamenogorsk. In the Elite category road race, two riders from the XDS Astana Team: Yevgeniy Fedorov and Anton Kuzmin – contested the victory. In the end, Fedorov claimed the national title, while Kuzmin secured the silver medal.

Yegeniy Fedorov in 2024.

The two riders broke away decisively around 100 km before the finish, quickly building a comfortable gap over the chasers and eventually fighting it out for the win. Third place went to Daniil Marukhin of XDS Astana Development Team, while Nicolas Vinokurov, also of XDS Astana Team, finished fourth.

This is Fedorov’s second national road race title, having previously won in 2021. For Kuzmin, this is the second podium of his career, after winning bronze in 2019 in the same discipline.

“Today I was determined to fight for the victory, so I stayed focused from the very first kilometers, keeping an eye on all attacks and breakaways. The race wasn’t easy – there were many attacks – but by the middle of the distance, I found myself in the right group at the front. Then Anton Kuzmin attacked, and I followed him and managed to bridge up. Together we built a solid advantage that was enough for the win. I’m very happy to have won the national champion’s title – it’s an important achievement for me. Now I’m heading to the Tour de France, where I’ll do my best to honor the Kazakh champion’s jersey”, – said Yevgeniy Fedorov.

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