Bicycle Racing News and Opinion,
Friday, September 15, 2017
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2017 Tour de France | 2017 Giro d'Italia
Someday is not a day of the week - Janet Dailey
Current racing:
- Sept 12 - 16: Tour of Denmark
- Sept 15: Kampioenschap van Vlaanderen
Latest completed racing:
- Sept 14: Coppa Bernocchi
- Sept 13: Coppa Agostoni
- Sept 13: GP de Wallonie
- August 19 - Sept 10: Vuelta a España
- Sept 3 - 10: Tour of Britain
- Sept 10: Grand Prix de Montreal
2018 Giro d'Italia to begin in Israel
The Israeli start to the upcoming Giro has been rumored since June. Now it has now been confirmed. Here's the AP report:
The Giro d’Italia cycling race will begin in Israel next year, marking the first time any leg of the sport’s three Grand Tours will take place outside of Europe.
Organizers said on Thursday that details of the exact route of the three stages to be held in Israel will be announced next week, with Italian and Israeli ministers making the announcement in Jerusalem along with the recently retired Spanish cyclist and two-times Giro winner Alberto Contador.
More than 175 of the world’s best cyclists will travel to Israel for the start of the race, one of cycling’s top three stage races along with the Tour de France and the Spanish Vuelta a España. The Giro has started outside Italy on 11 occasions, in locations including Monte Carlo, Athens and Belfast, and will now leave Europe for the first time in its 101-year history.
The event is set to be the biggest sporting event held in Israel and is expected to draw tens of thousands of tourists to the country.
2017 Giro winner Tom Dumoulin will begin the defense of his title in Jerusalem.
“This is a hugely exciting moment for cycling and for Israel,” said Daniel Benaim, the chief executive and owner of Comtec Group, the Giro’s Israeli production company. “An event of this magnitude is something that the country will always remember.”
You can read the whole story in the UK's Guardian.
Tour of Denmark stage 3 team reports
We posted winner Mads Pedersen's Team Trek-Segafredo report with the stage results here.
Michael Valgren was second in stage three. Here's the report from his Team Astana:
After yesterday’s annulated stage, today the organizers of the Tour of Denmark did all possible to do the third stage of the race with 183,6 km from Otterup to Vejle. It was another day with some bad weather, however a part of the stage was without rain.
Astana rider Michael Valgren did a very strong race, was active during the entire day and, finally, finished second, missing just a little to catch the Danish champion Mads Pedersen, who attacked inside the last 500 meters.
- Yeah, it was a hard stage with a bad weather in the final. Unfortunately, we were unlucky to lose Matti Breschel. He was supposed to be with me in the final to play our cards. Finally, I did not have too much space to do something because everybody was watching me. So, I was just trying to save some energy and to go full gas in the end. When Pedersen launched his attack, I could not catch his wheel immediately, because there was a rider from Sunweb between him and me. Later, I have tried to catch him back, was able to regain some seconds, but that was not enough. Actually, I am happy with my legs, I think I had the legs to fight for the stage. But, in the final, some small details did not allow to get a success, - explained Michael Valgren.
Astana Team did a good race right from the start: initially, it was Dmitriy Gruzdev, who did a huge work in front of the pack. Later, Ruslan Tleubayev and Zhandos Bizhigitov joined him to help in chasing the break with Truls Korsaeth supporting two team’s leaders Michael Valgren and Matti Breschel, who won four times in Vejle during his career.
With more or less 41 km to go on the downhill there was a rider who crashed out. Matti Breschel tried to avoid the crash, but it did not work and he fell down as well. Despite a hard crash, Breschel did his best to finish the stage. The decision about tomorrow’s start will be taken after additional medical checking.
The final of the race has been held around Vejle on a small circuit with a quite hard climb (with some slopes around 21%). This climb provoked a number of attacks from the group with no one rider getting any serious advantage. It was only Danish champion Mads Pedersen, who attacked with 500 meters to go, winning this stage. Michael Valgren tried his best to follow Pedersen, but finished second, 3 sec behind the winner.
Mads Pedersen wins Tour of Denmark stage three
After today’s stage Mads Pedersen took the lead in the general classification, while Michael Valgren moved up to 2nd in overall, 9 seconds behind the leader.
Stage 4 of the Tour of Denmark will be held tomorrow: an individual time trial of 17,8 km in Randers.
- Tomorrow we will have an important time trial. I hope to do the best TT of the season and, maybe, to gain some seconds in general classification. We will see, - added Michael Valgren.
Third-place Lennard Hofstede's Team Sunweb had this to say about the day's racing:
Team Sunweb lined up at the Tour of Denmark today for the race’s third stage. Dubbed the hardest stage of this year’s race, the day covered a total of 183.6 kilometres with riders travelling from Otterup to Vejle with a total of 1800 altitude metres along the way.
The day opened with a five rider breakaway going clear of the bunch, taking a five minute lead at best. With a day filled with sharp climbs Team Sunweb remained in the comforts of the peloton until the breakaway was brought back to the bunch. As soon as the catch was made with 45 kilometres to go, the attacks came in their tens. Team Sunweb’s Roy Curvers marked the moves at the front and the race remained together heading into it’s final kilometres. A late attack was launched with 15 kilometres to go and Phil Bauhaus was the man to follow, similar events occurred as the kilometres ticked down and Team Sunweb also had Lennard Hofstede present in the moves. As one rider accelerated away from the bunch with one kilometre to go, Lennard went on to contest the podium, finishing the day in 3rd place.
REACTIONS
Lennard said: “I was perfectly surrounded by team mates the whole day. I was always in the front and out of the wind which really helped me save energy for the final. At the end of the race I felt really strong on the climbs and managed to take 3rd. I’m pleased with the result and thank the team for their support throughout the day.”
Team Sunweb coach Morten Bennekou said: “The whole team were really dedicated today and did a great job supporting Lennard on this hard queen stage. The finishing circuit was quite tricky but the guys were always there marking moves. At the end of the stage Lennard was very strong in the last kilometre and finished 3rd. In general as a team we can be proud of our performance today.”
UAE Team Emirates reports on Coppa Bernocchi:
Sacha Modolo has made it to the podium (photo Pisoni) for the Coppa Bernocchi, the historic race with start and arrival in Legnano (194 km).
Under heavy rain, the sprinter from UAE Team Emirates took 3rd place after being bested in the final sprint by Colbrelli (1st) and Boivin (2nd), with his team mate Consonni ranking 6th.
Following the race strategy laid out by Sports Director Maini, the Emirati formation was able to get one of their athletes into the initial break in the race: starting at km 13, Filippo Ganna, Gamper and Chokri drove the race for a long time together before surrendering with 10 km to go to the finish line. Consonni and Riabushenko were in the counter-attacks which were neutralized by the peloton before the sprint.
Sonny Colbrelli is first across the line
Said Sacha Modolo after the race: “Today was good, I was feeling well throughout the entire race and even in the climbs the pedal strokes were very efficient. It was excellent that Ganna made it into the break; it allowed us team mates to stay covered in the group and save energy. Unfortunately, with 3km to go to the finish line there was a fall, the group spread out and I had to struggle to make up positions. I managed to get into the leading places right before the sprint took off; I decided to follow Viviani because I believed he was the rider with the most potential, but Colbrelli was very fast. I hope that the good form I have achieved from participating in the Vuelta will continue on into the next events coming up for the end of the season.”
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