Bicycle Racing News and Opinion,
Thursday, September 26, 2019
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2018 Tour de France | 2018 Giro d'Italia
When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us. - Alexander Graham Bell
Current racing:
- Sept 22 - 29: UCI World Road Championships, Yorkshire
Latest completed racing:
- Sept 22: Trofeo Matteotti
- Sept 21: Primus Classic Impanis-Van Petegem
- Sept 21: Memorial Marco Pantani
- Sept 20: Championship of Flanders
- Sept 19: Coppa Sabatini
- Sept 18: Giro della Toscana
- Sept 18: GP de Wallonie
- Aug 24 - Sept 15: Vuelta a España
- Sept 15: GP de Montreal
Elite men's individual time trial reports
We posted the organizer's report with the results
We could find no mention of winner Rohan Dennis on his Bahrain-Merida team website, Facebook Page or Twitter page. I'm sure this is connected to his Tour de France abandonment without explanation this year. When he rode the World Championship time trial he did not use a Bahrain-Merida team issue time trial bike. He used his old BMC (with some component changes) that he rode to a rainbow jersey in 2018. I'm sure the Merida bike company is pretty stiff-jawed over that. I'm sure there will be more later.
Rohan Dennis riding to victory.
Here's the report from second-place Remco Evenepoel's Deceuninck-Quick Step team:
Remco Evenepoel’s stellar season continued on Wednesday in the United Kingdom, where the current European Time Trial Champion rolled down the ramp for the demanding 54km-long ITT that gathered at the start the discipline’s crème de la crème. A debutant at the competition, Remco confirmed again his potential, as he put in a jaw-dropping performance which deservedly propelled him into the top 3 at the finish.
Riding the longest ever time trial since turning pro, Remco didn’t show any nerves as he took on the hilly course in Yorkshire, a flying ride seeing him record the fastest provisional time at the first checkpoint and set the early mark for an outstanding result. Not only that he bested the time of more experience riders, Evenepoel did it with panache and showed that he was in with a real shot at claiming a medal at the end of the day, which became complicated once rain made an appearance.
Remco Evenepoel (center) after becoming Junior World Time Trial Champion. Siurotti photo
One year after taking gold in the junior race, the Belgian continued to impress and live up to the hype, averaging close to 48.9km/h, posting the reference at all splits and going straight into the hot seat at the finish with a time of 1:06:14, where he remained until his result was improved by defending champion Rohan Dennis (Australia). The silver medal captured on Wednesday was the most recent of an outstanding series of results which have put the Deceuninck – Quick-Step rider firmly into the spotlight in his first pro year.
“I knew the course was pretty technical and some corners were really tricky, but I felt very good on the new Specialized Shiv and I kept the power during the race, after starting a bit too fast. I think I did my job well and took what’s a nice silver medal. Finishing just behind the reigning champion isn’t a shame, so I can be really proud of what I did today. Being on the podium is a dream and I wouldn’t have imagined I could do this. I’m now looking forward to Sunday’s road race, where I hope to help my team as much as possible”, a happy Remco explained after netting Belgium’s best ever result in the ITT at the World Championships.
Max Walscheid wins Omloop van het Houtland Lichtervelde
Walscheid's Team Sunweb sent me this report:
It was victory for Max Walscheid at this year’s Omloop van het Houtland Lichtervelde, successfully joining the race’s decisive breakaway during the concluding town centre circuits, going on to produce a powerful sprint to claim the win.
Max Walscheid winning the 2018 Munsterland Giro.
Beginning in testing conditions from the start line in Middelkerke, high winds and heavy rain soon split the peloton, seeing several groups form on the roads as they battled against the elements. The effect was soon evident, as a reduced peloton formed and set about pursuing a leading duo’s advantage of 2’00”, en route to the first of the day’s finishing circuits in Lichtervelde.
With their lead reduced once several laps had been completed, those at the head of the peloton sensed an opportunity to attack, soon producing a series of skirmishes which resulted in six riders breaking free; featuring Max amongst their ranks.
Initially collaborating well together upon the wet roads, the break established their lead rapidly, knowing that the day’s honours now appeared certain to be decided amongst them. After several efforts from his rivals to ride clear from the group, Max raised the pace and produced a powerful sprint finish to take the victory himself and leave the rest chasing him home for the podium places.
The day’s champion, Max Walscheid, spoke afterwards: “I’m super happy to take this victory for the team at the end of the season, as I was waiting a while for it. Today’s a really special one for me, because normally I achieve all my results from a bigger group, but today we sprinted for the win from just five guys. I wanted to do well today really badly, so I was quite active which I’m not used to, normally I’m saved for the final and go for the sprint.”
“Today it was super nice to have an offensive open race on a parcours which suited me, as well as the conditions too. I felt very strong in the final and knew I could rely on a sprint out of the group, but I still had to hold it together as one group. I’m just super happy how it went and grateful for the chance. It’s a very nice feeling at the end of the season, but it’s not over yet.”
Michiel Elijzen, Team Sunweb coach, said after the finish: “It was great to see Max win today after a tough day on the bike today. Taking the victory from a small breakaway, it was a nice win in a way that we don’t often see Max win races. We made the race hard with all the team today and it was a strong performance by all the guys with Max finishing off the hard work.”
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