Bicycle Racing News and Opinion,
Thursday, October 17, 2024
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2024 Tour de France | 2024 Giro d'Italia
God has cared for these trees, saved them from drought, disease, avalanches, and a thousand tempests and floods. But he cannot save them from fools. - John Muir
Les Woodland's book Dirty Feet: How the Great Unwashed Created the Tour de France is available in print, Kindle eBook & audiobook versions. To get your copy, just click on the Amazon link on the right.
Current racing:
- October 15 - 20: Tour of Guangxi
Upcoming racing:
- October 20: Japan Cup Road Race
- October 20: Veneto Classic
Latest completed racing:
- October 16: Giro del Veneto
- October 13: Chrono des Nations
- October 12: Il Lombardia
- October 10: Gran Piemonte
- October 8: Tre Valli Varesine
- October 7: Coppa Bernocchi
- Sept 29 - Oct 6: Le Tour de Langkawi
- October 6: Paris-Tours
- October 6: Coppa Agostoni-Giro delle Brianze
- October 5: Giro dell'Emilia
- October 3: Sparkassen Münsterland Giro
- October 1: Binche-Chimay-Binche
- September 22 - 29: World Road Cycling Championships
- September 18 - 22: Tour de Luxembourg
We posted the report from winner Corbin Strong's Team Israel-Premier Tech with the results.
Here's the report from Marc Hirschi's UAE Team Emirates:
UAE Team Emirates kicked off the final week of European racing of the season with 5th spot for Marc Hirschi in the rainy finish of Giro Del Veneto.
The race finished on an uphill kick at the end of the 165km course and was won by Corbin Strong (Israel Premier Tech) with Xandro Meurisse (Deceuninck-Alpecin) in 2nd and Romain Gregoire (Groupama-FDJ) in 3rd.
Corbin Strong wins the Giro del Veneto.
UAE worked hard to control the race all day with Jay Vine playing a particularly instrumental role in pegging the breakaway back. Hirschi would just run out of legs in the final metres and will turn his focus now to the Veneto Classic on Sunday which will mark his final race in the UAE colours.
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And here's the Giro del Veneto report from Team Polti Kometa:
The first of the last two races on Team Polti Kometa’s season calendar, the Giro del Veneto, showed the bravery of Mattia Bais who fought right to the finish line to take sixth place. Germán Gómez was part of the breakaway of a day that was marked by the incessant rain.
Great sensations to start this epilogue of the season. The Giro del Veneto allowed Germán Gómez to get after much fight in a leading group of six riders that was protagonist, only neutralized within the last 50 kilometres, trying to give the surprise. It was a day in which the weather conditioned the entire decisive part of the race. Mattia Bais was able to show his great pedal stroke at the end, holding with the favourites on the circuit and resisting the attacks until the final climb in Vicenza, where he gritted his teeth to finish sixth in the victory of Strong (Israel).
Mattia Bais: ‘It was a tough stage with a lot of rain, cold, so we suffered a lot. On the final circuit, which was very demanding, there was a final selection of just 20 riders and we were able to hold on there, catch up again when that group broke up, and take sixth place in the finish in Vicenza’.
Biagio Conte, sport director: ‘We got good place from Mattia Bais, but all the guys were at a great level. Not even a puncture in the final part of the race prevented him from coming back to the group and racing for the finish, so I think he did a great job. On a difficult day, Germán Gómez also knew how to suffer to be in the first breakaway and give the team a leading role. We are happy!’
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We posted the report from stage winner Warre Vangheluwe's Team Soudal Quick-Step with the results.
Here's the Tour of Guangxi report from Team dsm-firmenich PostNL:
Stage two at Tour of Guangxi saw a hillier day for the peloton and a dragging ascent that crested inside 30 kilometres to go, before some rolling roads to the finish in Jingxi. It was a fast start with a strong eight rider group going up the road, while all of Team dsm-firmenich PostNL remained in the peloton. Those out front worked well together and it made for a hard chase behind, so as a result the peloton thinned out on the main climb of the day.
The team assisted in the chase, with Timo Roosen doing a brilliant job to help close down the gap. In the finale the team moved forward well to bring finisher Casper van Uden into position to go for it in the sprint. However, once more it was a messy finale and Van Uden and last lead-out man Niklas Märkl became disjointed in the closing kilometre, as the late catch was made, so Van Uden was unable to have a clear run to the line.
Tour of Guangxi stage two finish. Warre Vangheluwe is the winner.
Märkl expressed: “In the beginning it was a pretty strong breakaway that went clear with some good engines and right away we had the feeling that it was going to be tight to catch them, but we just made it in the las kilometre. Approaching the final I think it was really good from the guys. The team tried to protect Casper and I and hold us in the pocket in the last two kilometres. Unfortunately, Casper and I lost each other and he was not in my wheel as we came around the last corner and he didn’t have a clear run to the line for the sprint. There are still some more sprint stages to come and the guys are pretty motivated. I think we also have some good legs which we can use in the next days and aim for a good result. We’ll keep on going, the week is not over.”
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And here's the Guangxi Tour report from Team Visma | Lease a Bike:
Julien Vermote appeared to be in contention for the stage win during the second stage of the Gree-Tour of Guangxi. The Belgian rider spent the entire day in the breakaway but, along with his fellow escapees, was caught by the peloton about five hundred meters from the finish.
The second stage of the Chinese race started mostly flat, but the final kilometers included two climbs. With forty kilometers remaining, Vermote and seven other riders who had attacked early faced a twelve-kilometer climb. It wasn’t particularly steep, but it was the longest climb of this Gree-Tour of Guangxi.
Vermote’s group reached the summit with about a two-minute advantage. The cooperation in the break remained strong, which was essential to stay ahead of the peloton. However, it ultimately wasn’t enough, as the breakaway was caught with just half a kilometer to go by the chasing peloton. In the ensuing sprint, Belgian rider Warre Vangheluwe took the stage victory. Milan Vader, finishing in sixteenth place, was the best-placed rider for Team Visma | Lease a Bike.
The peloton approaches the finish line.
“It was worth giving it a try today,” Vermote said afterwards. “There were some strong riders in the break, and our cooperation went well from the start. We managed to open up a nice gap and then slowed the pace slightly, to save some energy for the final part. The peloton had to give everything to catch us. For a moment, I thought we might be racing for the win, but unfortunately, it just didn’t happen. It felt great, after such a long season, to be on the attack and fighting for victory. It did me a lot of good. We’ll keep trying in the coming days with the team.”
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