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Tuesday, May 11, 2021
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2020 Tour de France | 2020 Giro d'Italia
The audiobook version of The Story of the Tour de France, Volume 1 is available.
To be conscious that you are ignorant of the facts is a great step to knowledge. - Benjamin Disraeli
Current racing:
- May 5 - 9: Volta ao Algarve
- May 8 - 30: Giro d'Italia
Upcoming races:
- May 13 - 16: Challenge Illes Balears
Cancelled & postponed races:
- April 30 - May 5:
Tour de Yorkshire - May 1:
Rund um den Finanzplatz Eschborn-Frankfurt - May 4 - 9:
4 Jours de Dunkerque
Latest completed racing:
- April 27 - May 2: Tour de Romandie
- April 30 - May 2: Vuelta Asturias
- April 25: Liège-Bastogne-Liège
- April 19 - 23: Tour of the Alps
- April 21: La Flèche Wallone
The Story of the Tour de France, Vol 2 (1976 - 2018) is now available as an audiobook
We're thrilled to announce that ex-racer David L. Stanley's reading of the second volume of our Tour de France history has gone live. Now both volumes of The Story of the Tour de France can been enjoyed as paperbacks, Kindle ebooks or ACX Audiobooks.
Here's the link to the Vol 2 audiobook (which can also take you to the other two formats).
And if you want to start at the beginning (a very good place to start), here's the link to all three formats of the first volume of The Story of the Tour de France.
The cover art to The Story of the Tour de France with Bernard Hinault in yellow, winning a stage.
Giro d'Italia stage three team reports
We posted the report from third-place Peter Sagan's Bora-hansgrohe team with the results.
Here's the report from second-place Davide Cimolai's Israel Start-Up Nation team:
Israel Start-Up Nation came very close to victory on stage 3 of the Giro d’Italia. Davide Cimolai won the sprint from the reduced peloton, who were chasing a sole leader, ultimately taking second place.
Davide Cimolai (left middle) just beats Peter Sagan for second place. Sirotti photo
After yesterday’s pure sprint stage, it wasn’t always a given that today’s stage would have the same outcome. With several challenging hills on the final part of the stage, the sprinters wouldn’t get an easy ride to the line.
Early on, eight riders broke away from the peloton. The bunch didn’t seem too concerned and it wasn’t until the gap surpassed six minutes that the pack started to react and initiated a chase. Slowly but steadily the gap started to come down as the terrain got more and more hilly. However, despite a furious chase that saw multiple sprinters getting dropped, the break still had over a minute on the peloton as the remaining riders up front took on the final 15 km.
Ultimately, a single rider managed to hold off the reduced bunch by just a handful of seconds, while Cimolai put an impressive performance to win the sprint within the group to take second place on the stage. Patrick Bevin finished fifth as Alessandro De Marchi, Guy Niv, and team leader Dan Martin also finished in the group.
Davide Cimolai: “Today, I suffered a lot on the climbs, especially the second last one was hard for me, but I managed to survive it and stay in the group. At the end, I took the responsibility to do the sprint and I’m happy for this second place, beating guys like Sagan, Viviani, and Gaviria. However, at the same time, I’m also disappointed because I lost an opportunity to win a stage in the Giro! For sure we will try again but you can’t turn back time and change what has already.”
Here's the update from GC leader Filippo Ganna's Team INEOS Grenadiers:
Filippo Ganna pulled on the pink jersey for a third time after the team successfully navigated the third stage.
Filippo Ganna will spend stage four in pink. Sirotti photo
Early rain subsided for the 190-kilometre test, which featured a quartet of late climbs. With Bora-Hansgrohe pushing the pace, the Grenadiers were able to sit in the bunch, keeping both Egan Bernal and Pavel Sivakov out of trouble.
Ganna once again showed good climbing legs to remain in a reduced peloton and hold onto pink. At the finish the peloton were surprised as escapee Taco van der Hoorne (Intermarche-Wanty) held on to win solo from the breakaway.
Ganna, Bernal, Sivakov and the rest of the peloton came home just four seconds later. Stage four should see the climbing intensify even further, with Ganna admitting he will likely switch to a support role for the team.
Filippo Ganna:
"I think it's the last stage that I will arrive in this amazing jersey. Tomorrow I'm sure with the climbs I can lose time. Tonight we have three Wolfie (mascots) for Claudio on the bus. Now it's important to recover, as on the last two climbs today I was suffering a lot. The speed on the climbs was very high and we saw a lot of sprinters dropped. In the end I don’t think there were a lot of riders left at the finish line.
"We’ll see for tomorrow and we’ll go day by day. For me it’s hard tomorrow. We know we have two big leaders in the team so now I will recover and give them my support."
GC second-place Tobias Foss' Jumbo Visma team posted this report:
George Bennett has finished the third stage of the Giro d’Italia without problems. The leader of Team Jumbo-Visma crossed the finish line in the presence of Tobias Foss and Koen Bouwman in the peloton, four seconds behind stage winner and former Team Jumbo-Visma rider Taco van der Hoorn.
The hilly stage from Biella to Canale was coloured by eight riders. They got a maximum lead of six minutes. Eventually the peloton didn’t manage to reel in Van der Hoorn. Team Jumbo-Visma rode in support of Bennett all day. With the fifteenth place, Bouwman was ultimately the best-ranked rider of the yellow-black formation. In the overall standings, Foss is now in second place at sixteen seconds of leader Ganna.
“Our goal for today has been achieved”, sports director Arthur van Dongen explained. “The goal was to get George to the finish line safely. We managed that well. The stage was too tough for our sprinters. We were prepared for a nervous stage with many attacks. We expected that too, but the attacks didn’t come. I think most teams still want to keep their powder dry. With Taco, the stage has a deserved winner. He was a highly respected rider with us, but he is now in a team where he can exploit his abilities. That is very good to see.”
Tomorrow the Giro continues with a second test for the GC riders with a mountaintop finish in Sestola. Van Dongen was already looking ahead. “Tomorrow our focus will be entirely on George. We are here to ride a good GC with him. The fact that Tobias is now second overall is nice, but of secondary importance. He’s here to help George. Although Tobias is doing very well. He has definitely made huge steps in his development. He feels good and has had excellent preparation. The fact that he is able to ride in the best youg rider jersey tomorrow is only good for him.”
And here's the Giro report from Remco Evenepoel's Deceuninck-Quick Step team:
Persistent rain greeted the riders as they assembled for stage 3, one of two halves: a completely flat first part, followed by some short and sharp climbs stacked in the last 77 kilometers after the intermediate sprint in Canelli. A break went from the gun, and while the peloton just sat up and decided to take it easy, the eight men at the front worked well together, building a hefty gap of around seven minutes.
As the kilometers ticked down, several teams joined hands and started a furious chase, shaving off a good chunk of the escapees’ advantage, who by the time they entered the last 40 kilometers had a lead of only two minutes. It looked like a formality for the bunch, but somehow things became more complicated along the way and Taco van der Hoorn (Intermarche-Wanty Gobert) managed to hold them off in Canale.
Remco Evenepoel riding the stage one time trial. Sirotti photo
For Deceuninck – Quick-Step, it was another quiet day in the saddle, but it still brought some good news. With some of the riders in the general classification losing contact over the ascents, Remco Evenepoel moved a place in the standings. The young Belgian is now third overall, just 20 seconds off the lead, ahead of the race’s first mountain stage, which promises to deliver fireworks and gaps between the pink jersey contenders.
Team BikeExchange to ride Tour of Hungary
Here’s the team’s announcement.
Note: this is not a race BikeRaceInfo.com currently covers.
The stage racing continues for Team BikeExchange as they gear up for the five-day Tour de Hongrie ready to do battle on all fronts.
Czech Tour winner Damien Howson and young neo-pro Kevin Colleoni will lead the general classification charge for the team, while fast finisher Kaden Groves will fight for victory on the four sprint stages.
Local rider Barnabás Peák will be motivated to perform in his home tour, with Alexander Konychev and Sam Bewley providing the extra horsepower for the mixed terrain.
The race kicks-off with three flatter stages before the peloton head into the mountains on stage four for a summit finish. The tour then concludes with a criterium around the streets on Budapest.
Kaden Groves (shown at the 2020 Herald Sun Tour) will ride the Tour of Hungary.
Team BikeExchange at Tour de Hongrie:
Sam Bewley (NZL)
Kevin Colleoni (ITA)
Kaden Groves (AUS)
Damien Howson (AUS)
Alexander Konychev (ITA)
Barnabás Peák (HUN)
Kaden Groves:
“I’m not sure what to expect in Hungary after some weeks away from racing. This year’s race has brought a high-quality field and that’ll certainly make it a difficult race.
I’m keen to go back after being very close to the win on a few occasions last year when I was second twice. I’ve prepared very well for the race and I thank the team for giving me the time away from racing to properly prepare and recover from the difficult start to the season."
Mathew Hayman (Sports Director):
"We go into the race with Kaden as our fast guy, there’s four flattish stages and then one mountain stage that will most likely decide the general classification, and there we will give both Kevin and Damien an opportunity.
Damien was third on GC here last year, so he knows the course and Kevin comes in after supporting Simon at the Tour of the Alps, so it will be good to see how far he can go.
It’s not a WorldTour race and we have six riders so it tends to be a little bit harder to control these races, so with a sprinter and GC riders it’s going to be a fast and tough week, but we’re looking forward to it."
2021 Tour de Hongrie – Race Details:
Wednesday, 12th May – Sunday, 16th May
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