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Friday, May 2, 2025
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2024 Tour de France | 2024 Giro d'Italia
Computers are like Old Testament gods; lots of rules and no mercy. - Joseph Campbell
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:
- April 27 - May 4: Tour of Turkey
- April 29 - May 4: Tour de Romandie
Upcoming racing:
- May 9 - June 1: Giro d'Italia
- May 11: Tro-Bro Léon
Latest completed racing:
- May 1: Rund um den Finanzplaz Eschborn-Frankfurt
- April 27: Liège-Bastogne-Liège
- April 24 - 27: Vuelta Asturias
- 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 report from third-place Junior Lecerf's Team Soudal Quick-Step with the results.
Here's the report from stage winner Lorenzo Fortunato's Team XDS Astana:
Lorenzo Fortunato delivered the first UCI WorldTour victory of the season for XDS Astana Team, winning Stage 2 of the Swiss stage race Tour de Romandie with a powerful finish in La Grande Béroche.
With about 24 km to go, a breakaway formed from the group of favorites, including five riders among whom was Fortunato. The break quickly gained a one-minute advantage and managed to hold it all the way to the line. With just one kilometer remaining, the XDS Astana Team rider launched a decisive attack and claimed the stage win.
Lorenzo Fortunato wins stage two of the Tour de Romandie.
In the chasing group, which finished 56 seconds later, Harold Tejada, another XDS Astana Team rider, took 7th place on the stage.
“After the final climb, there weren’t many of us left in the front group, so when the attacks started, I gave it a try too, and five of us got away. At first, I was just thinking about gaining some time in the General Classification. But as we neared the finish, we realized the chasers wouldn’t catch us, and that the stage win would be decided among our group. I took a risk and attacked with one kilometer to go: I thought I’d either win or finish last among the five. But everything worked out, and I won. I’m really happy, this is an important victory in my career. I’d like to dedicate it to my wife Veronica, and also to the entire XDS Astana Team”, – said Lorenzo Fortunato.
After this stage, Lorenzo Fortunato moved up to 4th place in the General Classification, while Harold Tejada is now 10th.
Here's the report from fourth-place Lennert Van Eetvelt's Team Lotto:
Lennert Van Eetvelt delivered a strong performance on Thursday, finishing fourth in the second stage of the Tour de Romandie. His result moves him up to third place in the overall classification. “I suffered a lot today, but in general, I’m quite satisfied with the result”, he said after the finish.
Tour de Romandie stage two about to start.
The 157 km stage, held in summer-like temperatures around La Grande Béroche, proved to be a grueling test for the peloton. Lennert Van Eetvelt showcased his strength by breaking away with a small group in the final kilometers and holding on for a fourth-place finish. “It was an extremely tough and hot day. I really suffered in the heat,” he admitted post-stage", he admits after the finish.
“It is a bit of a double-edged feeling,” Van Eetvelt added. “Finishing fourth is a strong result, but I do feel there might have been more possible. Still, I managed to gain some valuable time in the general classification, so overall I’m quite happy with today.”
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Carlos Rodriguez's Team INEOS Grenadiers posted this report:
Carlos Rodriguez finished 14th on the GC on stage two of Tour de Romandie.
Rodriguez rolled in with a chasing bunch that featured GC favourites, including Remco Evenepoel (Soul Quick-Step) and Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates), to claim 16th place on the stage and 14th overall.
A breakaway of five was established early on, and set the precedent for the day, with Lorenzo Fortunato (XDS Astanta Team) eventually taking the win on the 157km stage.
The peloton goes over the Mauborget climb in stage two.
Rodriguez pushed on in a chasing group of 13 with 17km to go, but it was too little too late as the bunch stuck together until the finish.
Victor Langellotti and Geraint Thomas finished in the main peloton over a minute behind.
Tackling four categorised climbs, it was a tough day for the sprinters, with Sam Watson and Artem Shmidt struggling to hold the pace in the peloton after their heroic performances on the first two stages.
Here's the Tour de Romandie report from Team Groupama-FDJ:
The Tour de Romandie’s GC contenders didn’t wait for the summit finish in Thyon 2000 to show themselves. Despite the final thirty kilometres being totally flat on Thursday’s second stage, they did play the leading roles. The race exploded with fifty kilometres to go, and Rémy Rochas managed to keep pace within a group of about fifteen riders. Ultimately, five men took advantage of the main favorites looking at each other to fight for victory, a minute ahead of the rest of the group, where the Groupama-FDJ rider took fourteenth place. The French climber now sits in eleventh place overall.
Things got serious right away this Thursday on the Tour de Romandie. Barely three kilometres after leaving La Grande Béroche, the peloton tackled a climb of nearly nine kilometers averaging almost 8%. “We really had to be careful from the start, not necessarily by making moves but especially by following them,” explained Rémy Rochas. “That’s what Stefan did at first, then I entered a chasing group myself, but I didn’t leave it all on the road because the peloton was right behind, and Remco also attacked at the top.”
Remy Rochas earlier this year. Sirotti photo
After a fierce battle that lasted more than forty minutes, five riders were finally able to establish the day’s breakaway, which the peloton however controlled quite early on. The following climb of Mauborget was done at a solid pace, and the bunch only got bigger in a flatter portion later on. Yet, it was only for a short time. The chase undertaken by Remco Evenepoel’s teammates led to another selection on the climb of Les Grattes, seventy kilometres from the finish, before tackling the final ascent of the day, already faced the day before: the steep Chaumont climb (3 km at 12%).
“Until the last thirty kilometres, you could say it was a mountain stage,” Rémy said. “It never really eased off all day, and the course was made for it,” added David Gaudu. Fifty kilometers from the finish line, the peloton shattered, the breakaway lost its entire lead, and about twenty riders broke away about a kilometre from the summit. “I felt great personally, and I was in the favourites group,” said Rémy. “It’s a nice feeling when there’s a hard pace and you realize there’s only fifteen guys left.” “I took my own pace on the last climb because I felt like I was on the limit right from the bottom,” David explained. “Eventually, I was maybe a little less cooked than I thought, because I still did a good climb. That’s promising for what’s to come”. The Frenchman got to the summit about twenty seconds behind the favourites group but was unable to bridge across since the action kept on going at the front. “The final was a little more complicated tactically,” Rémy added. “Everyone was looking at Remco a bit. Personally, I felt the cramps coming a bit when we reached the flat section, so I tried to save energy and had to ease off a bit when the guys went away.”
With about twenty-five kilometres to go, five riders took advantage of a period of wavering to break away, quickly gaining a one-minute lead due to a lack of cooperation among the race’s favorites. The chase then didn’t prove hard enough, and the leading men were able to fight for victory in La Grande Béroche, with Lorenzo Fortunato claiming victory. Fifty-six seconds later, Rémy Rochas took fourteenth place, while Lorenzo Germani and David Gaudu finished in a small peloton twenty seconds behind. “I have a little regret about the breakaway and the final result, but I’m happy with the form for my return to racing, and I hope to make good use of it in the coming days,” commented Rémy.
“Days like this one will help me improve, because I haven’t had any yet this year,” said David. “It was a nice surprise to see Rémy in front,” summarized Stéphane Goubert. “It’s a shame he couldn’t follow that five-man move that would have allowed him to compete for the win. We always want more, but it’s already very good to see him at this level. What David is showing is also very encouraging. We have to be patient and continue to be satisfied with small improvements. Overall, the five guys heading to the Giro are improving.”In the general classification, Rémy Rochas is in eleventh place on Thursday evening, exactly one minute behind new leader Alex Baudin. “Tomorrow’s third stage is special, with a very punchy finish,” Stéphane said. “It remains to be seen whether teams will be motivated to control the race or whether there will be a big fight for the breakaway.” “We’ll see what we can do tomorrow, then on Saturday, the legs will do the talking in the mountains,” Rémy concluded.
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And here's the Tour de Romandie report from Matthew Brennan's Team Visma | Lease a Bike:
Team Visma | Lease a Bike couldn’t compete for another top result in the Tour de Romandie. Yesterday's stage winner Matthew Brennan had to give up his leader's jersey on the third day. The stage victory went to Lorenzo Fortunato.
After Brennan's magnificent victory on the second day in Switzerland, Team Visma | Lease a Bike had pinned all their hopes on a new sprint in the second stage. Early in the stage it became clear that a finish with a large group could be ruled out. Led by Remco Evenepoel's men, the pace was high from the start in La Grande Béroche and the peloton split up on the tough climbs.
Matthew Brennan wins stage one. Sirotti photo
Brennan was dropped early, Jørgen Nordhagen just missed out on making it to the front group on Chaumont, the final climb of the day As a result, a small group of favorites fought for the victory. The Italian rider Fortunato won today’s stage. “It’s a pity Jørgen just couldn’t catch up, otherwise there might have been a good result”, sports director Maarten Wynants says.
He continues: “But it’s certainly no shame that he just missed the split as a young rider. Especially with the strong field of participants here in Switzerland. The race was incredibly hard today. It soon became clear that we couldn’t sprint with Matthew again. At first, we tried to bring him back through good work by Julien and Menno, but when we saw that the chance of a stage win was out of the question, we decided to save strength for tomorrow.”
The sports director is referring to the third stage on Friday. After another four categorized climbs, the stage could well turn into a sprint. “That will be quite a challenge”, Wynants knows. "The Col du Mollendruz is another big climb right before the finish line. We're going for it again. Unfortunately, we have to do that without Daniel McLay. He didn't feel fit today and had to abandon today’s stage.”
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We posted the report from winner Michael Matthews' Team Jayco AlUla with the results.
Warren Barguil's Team Picnic-PostNL posted this report:
Eschborn-Frankfurt returned to the same parcours that it used for the first time in 2024, with a second ascent of the longer Feldberg climb and a triple passage of Mammolshain. It was a steady start to the day with a duo out front but over the first ascent of Mammolshain and leading into the back-to-back Mammolshain and Feldberg ascents a strong pace was set.
Warren Barguil rode strongly to make the first split over the top, while fast finisher Tobias Lund Andresen crested in a chase group alongside Robbe Dhondt which was only roughly 30 seconds in arrears. However, despite Dhondt’s best attempt, other teams were unwilling to chase so the gap only extended. In the finale Barguil tried to use his experience and play it calm before the final sprint, where he produced a good turn of speed to finish tenth on the day.
Michael Matthews wins 2025 Eschborn-Frankfurt.
Barguil expressed: “It was the first time for me to be there in Frankfurt. it was nice race, with a lot of people and a good crowd. For the race we had the plan to go for Tobi in the sprint if it would come back together but unfortunately he just dropped near the top of the long climb and his group didn’t make it back. After that it was on me to try and do my best in the sprint, but I missed a bit of confidence to go for it a bit earlier at the front. After my crash in Liège where I was disappointed and at the start of the week we weren’t sure if I would race here before the checks, I think I can say it was good try in the end.”
And here's the Eschborn-Frankfurt report from Team Soudal Quick-Step:
Only the second German this century to finish on the podium of Itzulia Basque Country – an impressive third just a couple of weeks ago – Maximilian Schachmann brought his first part of the season to a conclusion Thursday afternoon at Eschborn-Frankfurt, arguably Germany’s most prestigious one-day race.
Maximilian Schachmann earlier this year at the Tour of the Basque Country.
Soudal Quick-Step’s 31-year-old was prominent in front of his home fans, booking a place in a strong 30-man group that opened a gap on the Feldberg, with around 50 kilometers to go, before making a move of his own on the iconic Mammolshain. Joined by two riders before the top, Max pressed on and helped the trio take their gap to around 20 seconds, but on the descent taking to the finish line, they were reeled in, despite leaving everything out there.
Schachmann still came home as the best placed Soudal Quick-Step rider, just five seconds behind winner Michael Matthews (Jayco-AlUla), who took the victory in a reduced sprint.
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