Bicycle Racing News and Opinion,
Friday, June 2, 2023
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2022 Tour de France | 2022 Giro d'Italia
You miss 100% of the shots you don't take. - Wayne Gretzky
Bill & Carol McGann’s book The Story of the Tour de France, 2022: The Fastest Tour Ever is available as in both Kindle eBook & audiobook versions. To get your copy, just click on the Amazon link on the right.
Current racing:
- June 2: Giro dell'Appennino
Upcoming racing:
- June 4: Brussels Cycling Classic
- June 4 - 11: Critérium du Dauphiné
- June 7 - 11: ZLM Tour
Latest completed racing:
- May 26 - 29: Tour of Norway
- May 6 - 29: Giro d'Italia
- May 16 - 21: 4 Jours du Dunkerque
- May 21: Rund um Köln
- May 20: Veenendaal - Veenendaal Classic
- May 7: Tro-Bro Léon
- May 6: GP du Morbihan
- May 1: Eschborn-Frankfurt
Here’s the update from Campenaerts’ Team Lotto-Dstny:
Victor Campenaerts will resume racing, more than ten weeks after a heavy crash at the Bredene Koksijde Classic. In mid-March, the Belgian rider saw his Classics campaign go up in smoke as he faced a long rehab due to a fracture in a vertebra and the pubic bone. During a four-week altitude training camp in the Spanish Sierra Nevada, Campenaerts prepared for his return to competition, which will take place at the French WorldTour stage race Critérium du Dauphiné (4-11 June).
After a long period of recovery and training, Campenaerts is looking forward to pin on a race number again, although it will be with modest ambitions.
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Victor Campenaerts (in Lotto jersey) racing in the 2022 Le Samyn. Sirotti photo
“Despite the severe injuries, the recovery process went quite smoothly but I realise that it was quite a long way back”, says Victor Campenaerts. “During a period of five weeks, I couldn’t do much. Being a pro cyclist, forced to stay in bed really is a tough challenge. Fortunately, I had lots of visits from teammates amongst others and I also read several books, that way time passed by a little faster.”
“In a next phase of the recovery, I was limited to some physio exercises and aqua jogging. That is completely different to for example the offseason, where you’re always staying active. To prepare the Critérium du Dauphiné, I chose for a stay of four weeks at Sierra Nevada. To do several endurance rides with my teammates already felt like a victory. At the moment, I feel quite good during training but my ambitions at the Dauphiné remain limited to getting the race rhythm back, helping my teammates and finishing the race in the best possible way.”
He missed a big part of the Classics campaign, but Campenaerts always followed Lotto Dstny’s strong performances in the spring Classics. “It was really motivating to follow the team’s races on tv. The team showed itself, obtained strong results and I hope to be a part of that in the next few months. With so many strong riders, it will already be a battle to make the selection.”
If everything goes to plan, the 31-year-old Belgian will again head to an altitude training camp mid-June, to be ready for his next races such as the Belgian road championship, Franco Belge, Sibiu Tour and Tour de Wallonie. “A participation at the Tour was never really an option. I will focus on other nice goals and building a competitive level. The ultimate dream is to win a one-day race or stage this year.”
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The team posted this news:
UAE Team Emirates will set their sights on the Criterium du Dauphiné which runs from the 4 -11 June in Southern France. The team will also be in action in Italy at the Giro dell’Appennino on 2 June.
The race traditionally serves as a preparation race for the Tour de France, with the Emirati team there in search of glory with Adam Yates in the hunt for the GC .
Yates: “Since the win at Romandie I took a little bit of a break and after just been building up slowly again. We’ve been training really well as a group at altitude the past weeks and the atmosphere is really great in the team. The Dauphine now will be a good tester before the Tour de France. I’ll be aiming at picking up a stage win and hopefully having a crack at a GC result too.”
Adam Yates winning stage four of the 2023 Tour of Romandie. Sirotti photo
The team for the Dauphiné will be overseen Sports Directors Andrej Hauptman (Slo) and Marco Marzano (Ita).
Critérium du Dauphiné [2.UWT] – 04-Jun-2023 / 11-Jun-2023
- Mikkel Bjerg (Den)
- Felix Grossschartner (Ger)
- Vegard Stake Laengen (Nor)
- Rafal Majka (Pol)
- Ivo Oliveira (Por)
- Matteo Trentin (Ita)
- Adam Yates (GB)
Sports Director Manuele Mori (Ita) will lead the team in Italy.
Giro dell’Appennino [1.1] – 02-Jun-2023
- Alessandro Covi (Ita)
- Davide Formolo (Ita)
- Marc Hirschi (Swi)
- Domen Novak (Slo)
- Rui Oliveira (Por)
- Michael Vink (NZ)
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Here’s the team’s news:
Heistse Pijl (198.7km) and Brussels Cycling Classic (207.1km), two races that we have won a combined seven times, will mark the team’s first outings of the month, and as ever, our riders will look to be in the mix. The first of these appointments should have the sprinters in the spotlight, while in Brussels the attackers and Classics specialists will get their chance to shine, on a course featuring the iconic Muur-Kapelmuur – Bosberg combination twice.
Belgian Champion Tim Merlier will be joined for Saturday’s race by Jannik Steimle, Bert Van Lerberghe, Stan Van Tricht, Louis Vervaeke – back for the first time since the Giro d’Italia – Jordi Warlop and Warre Vangheluwe, the winner of Gullegem Koerse. One day later, Warre will be replaced on the roster by Pepijn Reinderink, another Soudal Quick-Step Devo Team rider who has impressed this season with his Triptyque Ardennais stage victory and some solid displays at the Alpes Isère Tour.
Tim Merlier winning stage one of the 2023 Tour of Oman. He's crossing the line as if he were holding his new-born son.
“Heistse is an opportunity for the fast men, but will have a tricky finish due to the presence of that small cobblestone climb not far from the line. Tim is in good form and has a chance of fighting for the win, so we’ll try to bring him there. In Brussels, which is one of Belgium’s oldest races, the course is not easy at all, with those famous climbs, and even after we leave the circuit behind, we still have a couple of more hurdles which can shape the race. But our team is a strong one, it can adapt to the different scenarios and we’ll do our best to get a good result”, explained Soudal Quick-Step sports director Tom Steels.
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Here’s the team’s announcement:
Following a very successful Giro d’Italia in which the team won two stages, the best team award, and took home the Maglia Ciclamino points jersey, Team Bahrain Victorious is delighted to announce the signing of 21-year-old Antonio Tiberi.
Antonio Tiberi just after winning the World Time Trial Championships in 2019. Sirotti photo
Born in Frosinone, Lazio, Tiberi has signed with the team until the end of the 2025 season, and is excited to start competing alongside his new teammates:
“I’m delighted to start a new chapter in my career with Team Bahrain Victorious from both a performance aspect and a human perspective. Looking from the outside, it has always seemed like a well-organized and solid team, so I didn’t hesitate when I received the offer. I already know some Italian staff members and riders, and everybody in the group has welcomed me warmly. With the help of this team, I will demonstrate that I learnt from the mistake made in the past.”
“I started my 2023 season well, but after an enforced stop, maybe I will suffer a bit in picking up the pace. I want to come back racing so badly, so I’m training at altitude to prepare for my return on Swiss roads next week. It’s a great challenge, and I want to repay the confidence of the people who gave me this opportunity in the best possible way. It will be a path that will help me be a better cyclist and a better man.”
The Italian won the junior men’s World Championship Time Trial in Harrogate, England in 2019, and confirmed his promise the following season.
As well as impressing in the ‘baby Giro’, he took victory at the Trofeo Città di San Vendemiano with a 55 second solo break on a flat parcours. Add to that the King of the Mountains jersey at the Giro della Lunigiana, and it is clear why Tiberi has been touted as one of the most promising GC riders of his generation.
Milan Erzen, Managing Director & Team Principal, said of the news,
“Antonio joining the team is a really positive move, both for us and for him. He is a super-talented kid who we believe will thrive in this environment, where we want to ride not only to win, but also to inspire the next generation.
"He is clearly a talented rider, and can achieve great things in the sport, but just as important for us is his personal growth and education. Antonio has made some mistakes, but he realises that, and our focus on discipline, character building & guidance will help him on a path to long-term success both on and off the bike.”
Tiberi’s opportunities this season have been limited, but he did finish 3rd in the Youth Classification at the UAE Tour in February, and he will first don the Bahrain jersey at the 59th Grosser Preis des Kantons Aargau in Gippingen on June 9th.
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