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Sunday, November 14, 2021
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2021 Tour de France | 2021 Giro d'Italia
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Upcoming racing:
- Dec 13: Gavere Cyclocross
- Jan 16 - 23, 2022: Le Tour de Langkawi
- Jan 26 - 29, 2022: Challenge Illes Balears
Latest completed racing:
- Nov 13: GP Leuven
- Nov 7: Elite Men European Cyclocross Championships
- Nov 6: Elite Women European Cyclocross Championships
- Nov 1: Koppenberg Cyclocross
- Oct 31: Vlaamse Druivenveldrit Overijse Cross
- Oct 24: Ronde van Drenthe
- Oct 23: Ruddervoorde Cyclocross
Platos book Crito is available as an audiobook here.
Here’s the team’s post:
Fausto Masnada talked about the 3410km route which will take in more than 51 000 vertical meters.
Two years later than originally scheduled, the Giro d’Italia will be in Hungary’s capital for the start of an edition stacked with big climbs but lacking in time trial kilometers. After three stages in Budapest, Visegrad and Balatonfured, the peloton will travel to Sicily for the first mountain top finish, on Etna, which will be followed later in the week by Blockhaus.
Fausto Masnada wins 2019 Giro d'Italia stage 6
In total, the 105th edition will count six summit finishes, Cogne, Aprica – which comes at the end of a day featuring the gruesome Mortirolo – Lavarone and Marmolada promising to add more salt and pepper to the fight between the pink jersey contenders. Also the medium mountain days have the potential to light up the race, the Diamante – Potenza and Santena – Torino stages providing the attackers with the perfect terrain for an ambush.
On paper, the sprinters should have seven opportunities to add to their palmares, although more realistically, only five of these stages are likely to come down to a mass gallop. Verona will host the final day for the fifth time in history, and will see the riders tackle the Toricelle climb – which featured on the course of the 1999 and 2004 World Championships – before the stunning finish inside the well-preserved Roman amphitheatre.
A stage winner at Il Giro in 2019, Fausto Masnada shared his thoughts on the route of next year’s edition: “It looks like a harder Giro than the ones we had in recent years, short on time trial kilometers and with many climbs. After the first stages in Hungary, we travel to Sicily, where Mount Etna awaits, and considering that it comes after a rest day, it could be complicated. Stage 7 should also be tough, and we can expect a really nervous bunch. Then, in the weekend, we take on Blockhaus, which means a 30-minute effort on a hard climb that could make for some wide gaps. The last week is where everything will be decided. Those three mountain stages, each with more than 5000 climbing meters, will play a huge role in the outcome and who will be the freshest there will make the difference.”
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The team sent me this update:
25-year-old Jan Maas will join Team BikeExchange for the 2022 season, making the step up to WorldTour level having shown promising signs with consistent results throughout the 2021 season.
The rider from the Netherlands was a runner up in the Junior Ronde van Vlaanderen and has since gone from strength to strength, regularly delivering top-10 finishes in prestigious pro-continental level races across Europe.
GreenEDGE Cycling is hoping that this opportunity for Maas to step up into the WorldTour will provide him with the added support and structure needed to take a leap forward in his professional development, whilst also becoming a valuable and versatile asset for the Australian outfit in the mountains.
Brent Copeland, General Manager on Maas:
"I am thrilled to welcome this young and promising Dutch talent into the GreenEDGE family. I remember Jan's second place in the Junior Ronde van Vlaanderen and he’s had a whole series of solid results in the junior and U23 categories.
"Over the years, Jan's growth has continued, and in the last season he’s had several good results in stages races, including a 10th overall at Sazka Tour and third overall at the Tour de la Mirabelle. We very much believe that he will continue to improve, and that is why we have offered him the opportunity to join our team."
Matthew White, Head Sport Director on Maas:
“Jan is coming to the team with a few years of experience, racing in the professional continental circuit. We were looking for one or two riders that were ready to step up to the WorldTour level and fill in crucial roles in supporting our climbing leaders. It is a great opportunity for Jan to step up to the WorldTour level with us and I am confident he will make the most of it and fit in well.”
Jan Maas:
"I'm really pleased to be joining Team BikeExchange for next year. It was really a nice surprise to know that I would be part of the team, but I was confident because I had a really good season, so I was expecting that something good could come.
"I think Team BikeExchange is one of the best teams in the world, and during the last season, I did a few races with my future teammates, and they look solid and professional and like a family to grow up in. The latter is an essential aspect for me because I believe in the team, and I believe joining this team is the right choice and I'm sure that I will improve.
"I'm a rider that likes climbing, undulating routes and I am sure that the team will support me in my growth. I'm looking forward to meeting my new teammates and all the staff. It's a dream come true."
Jan Maas
Date of Birth: 19th February 1996 (25)
Nationality: Dutch
Joins GreenEDGE Cycling: 2022
New Contract: 2022
Top Results:
3rd 2021 Tour de la Mirabelle – Overall
4th 2021 Sazka Tour – stage 4
4th 2021 Le Tour de Bretagne Cycliste – stage 1
4th 2021 Istarsko Proljece-Istrian Spring Trophy - Overall
5th 2021 Overosterreichrundfahrt – Overall
6th 2021 Overosterreichrundfahrt – stage 2
6th 2021 Tour de Alsace – stage 3
6th 2020 Tour du Doubs
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Here’s the team’s announcement:
A Norwegian talent arrives for Drone Hopper Androni Giocattoli. Directly from the junior category, in fact, in 2022 Trym Westgaard Holther will make his debut among the professionals with the team’s jersey of Savio and Bellini. Eighteen years old in July, Holther is yet another confirmation of the attention to young riders by the team that is increasingly international. In this regard, the team manager Gianni Savio comments: “Ours has always been a multi-ethnic team. Now, with the signing of Trym Holther - whom we consider a real talent - we will have athletes from nine nations: Italy, Argentina, Colombia, Ecuador, Eritrea, Norway, Romania, Spain and Ukraine”.
Holther is national time trial champion of the category, where he overtook the world road champion Hagenes. In the national team at the European Championships he was very unfortunate: a fall, with the consequent fracture of the collarbone, did not prevent him from finishing the match, demonstrating not only his athletic and technical skills, but also his great determination.
His agent Giuseppe Acquadro explains: “The fall in the European Championships made him lose the World Championship too. He's a guy who goes very fast in time trials. He needs to gain experience because beyond racing in the national team he has always competed for a small Norwegian club. He has great means and, as they say in the jargon, a great engine”.
For his part, Trym is, “Enthusiastic about the move. It is a team that has created many great cyclists and I hope to become one of them. In my first year I hope to grow and maybe even get some good results. I think I'm a cronoman who can go uphill and hope to do well in the overall standings. I am very happy to have the opportunity to work with this team”.
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