Bicycle Racing News and Opinion,
Friday, April 24, 2020
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2019 Tour de France | 2019 Giro d'Italia
There is no pleasure in having nothing to do; the fun is having lots to do and not doing it. - Andrew Jackson
Current Racing:
- April 20-24:
Tour of the Alps - April 22-26: Digital Swiss 5
- April 24-26:
Vuelta a Castilla y Leon
Upcoming racing:
- April 26:
Liège-Bastogne-Liège - April 26:
Giro dell'Appennino - April 28-May 3:
Tour de Romandie
Latest completed racing:
- April 22:
La Flèche Wallone - April 19:
Amstel Gold Race - April 19:
Tro Bro Léon - April 12-19:
Tour of Turkey - April 18:
Tour du Finistère - April 15:
De Brabantse Pijl - La Flèche Brabançonne - April 14:
Paris-Camembert - April 12:
Paris-Roubaix - April 12:
Kalsika Primavera - April 6-11:
Vuelta al Pais Vasco - April 7-10:
Circuit Cycliste Sarthe-Pays de la Loire - April 8:
Scheldeprijs - April 5: Ronde van Vlaanderen
Digital Swiss 5 stage two team reports
Here's the report from second-place Filippo Ganna's Team INEOS:
Filippo Ganna rode to an impressive second place on day two of the Digital Swiss 5.
The Italian used his time trial abilities to great effect, gradually climbing the leaderboard early on before solidifying the runner-up spot.
Stefan Kung (Groupama-FDJ) started quickly and edged clear, eventually taking victory by 47 seconds over Ganna on the largely flat course.
An entertaining battle behind saw Michael Matthews (Team Sunweb) narrowly hold off Greg Van Avermaet (CCC Team) for the final podium spot.
Chris Lawless and Ian Stannard were also in action on the Rouvy platform, with racing set to continue on Friday, through to Sunday's finale.
And here's the report from third-place Michael Matthews' Team Sunweb:
After yesterday’s strong showings from Nicholas Roche and Chris Hamilton who finished second and fourth respectively, today was the turn of Alberto Dainese, Nico Denz and Michael Matthews in Race 2 of the Digital Swiss 5.
Michael Matthews before the start of the 2019 Amstel Gold Race. Sirotti photo
A predominantly flat 44 kilometre long parcours lay ahead of the riders and like yesterday’s opening race, today started a frantic pace. Matthews and Denz were alert to the initial accelerations with both placing well inside the top ten in the opening few kilometres.
As the race progressed Matthews found himself in an exhilarating battle with Van Avermaet for third place. The two riders fought hard around the streets of the virtual Frauenfeld and despite their best efforts, neither rider could drop the other. As a result, it came down to a thrilling sprint finale with Matthews putting some big watts through the pedals, powering his way to cross the line in third place; making it two podiums for the team in two days.
Speaking after the race Matthews said: “Wow, that was a hard one. It was a very impressive ride from Küng. I tried my best to stay with him but it wasn’t possible today. I came out with third in the end which I’m happy about; two podiums in two days for the team. It was a great ride from Nicholas yesterday [who came second] and also Chris, coming in fourth. It was good to get another podium for the team today and we’ll see what happens tomorrow for the guys.”
Hearts of Lions: The History of American Bicycle Racing by Peter Joffre Nye coming out in revised and updated version
Here's the publisher's release:
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