Bicycle Racing News and Opinion,
Tuesday, October 29, 2024
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2024 Tour de France | 2024 Giro d'Italia
I learned a long time ago that reality was much weirder than anyone's imagination. - Hunter S. Thompson
Bill & Carol McGann's book The Story of the Tour de France, 2021: The Little Cannibal Dominates is available in both Kindle eBook & audiobook versions. To get your copy, just click on the Amazon link on the right.
Upcoming racing:
- November 1: X20 Trofee Oudenaarde-Koppenbergcross
Latest completed racing:
- October 27: Superprestige Overijse-Vlaamse Druivencross
- October 15 - 20: Tour of Guangxi
- October 20: Japan Cup Road Race
- October 20: Veneto Classic
- October 16: Giro del Veneto
- October 13: Chrono des Nations
- October 12: Il Lombardia
- October 10: Gran Piemonte
- October 8: Tre Valli Varesine
On Wednesday, October 29, the Tour organization presented the 2025 Tour de France route.
The 2025 Tour route and details are posted here.
Map of the 2025 Tour de France
Here’s the team’s announcement:
Italian rider Fausto Masnada (30) will join Astana Qazaqstan Team, signing a one-year contract for the 2025 season.
Among Masnada’s top results are a stage victory at the 2019 Giro d’Italia, second place at the Il Lombardia and third overall at the Tour de Romandie in 2021, as well as second place in the General Classification at the Tour of Oman in 2022.
Fausto Masnada wins stage six of the 2019 Giro d'Italia. Sirotti photo
“If someone had told me just a few weeks ago that I’d be joining Astana Qazaqstan Team next year, I probably wouldn’t have believed it. I’m thrilled to have this opportunity and excited to be part of such a respected team. After two difficult seasons, this is the perfect chance for me to reset and aim for new goals. The project the team is building for 2025 is incredibly inspiring, and I can’t wait to contribute to its success. I’m grateful to the managers and everyone involved in making this contract happen, and for the trust they’ve placed in me. I can’t wait to wear the new jersey and represent the team”, – said Fausto Masnada.
“We are happy to welcome Fausto Masnada to Astana Qazaqstan Team. Fausto is an experienced rider who has shown excellent results in stage races, mountain stages, and one-day classics. I’m confident that his potential is far from exhausted. He has faced some challenges in recent seasons, but I believe that within our team, he will be able to unlock his full potential and return to a high level. His determination, work ethic, and ability to perform on difficult courses perfectly align with the goals we are pursuing. We are excited to see him race in our team’s jersey for the first time, and we expect him to make a significant contribution to the overall success of our project”, – said Alexandr Vinokurov, General Manager of Astana Qazaqstan Team.
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Here’s the team’s news:
Three of our riders have extended their cintract with the Arkea-B&B Hotels team: the Swedish Emilia Fahlin, the Dutchwoman Maaike Coljé and the French U23 ITT champion, Océane Mahé.
Emilia Fahlin:
I am enthusiastic and happy to stay another year within the Arkea-B&B Hotels team. This training has settled into a stable and solid project, which remains ambitious with a real desire to build and grow regularly. Personally, I am happy to continue working another winter and a new season, building great things with this environment that has become familiar to me. The Arkea-B&B Hotels team has shown great potential with a Women's Tour de France full of great promise, and, in my opinion, we are able to continue working to continue to progress further. I am convinced that we can achieve even greater things in 2025! I am therefore very motivated to stay "on board" the Arkea-B&B Hotels team, and in the women's professional peloton for another year.
Emilia Fahlin
Océane Mahé:
I have extended my contract with the Arkea-B&B Hotels team. I'm very happy with this extension. I feel good in this team. I quickly found my feet, both with my team-mates and with the staff. I'm convinced that we still have some great things to do together. I'm very satisfied with my first season in the professional ranks. I've learnt a lot from the coaching staff and my more experienced team-mates. I've had a lot of support and goodwill from the group. I've been able to improve both tactically and physically, and above all I've discovered some great events on the professional calendar, racing in excellent conditions. I'm always looking forward to getting back to the team and its atmosphere, whether it's during training courses or at competitions.
Maaike Coljé:
I am very happy to continue with Arkea-B&B Hotels because I feel that we are building a very strong women's team, with the staff that surrounds us. I feel that we are all progressing in our approach to races, tactically, but also physically. We race together as a team. We also have very strong girls within the Arkea-B&B Hotels team who bring very good results and motivate us all. I am happy to be in a team that continues to grow, and especially delighted with the confidence that the staff has placed in me by extending my contract. I am curious to see how far we can go. I feel like I am part of a family with the Arkea-B&B Hotels team, there is great listening and great respect between us. I am also learning French with the team, and after three years, I hope to be ready to speak your language. That is also my goal.
Emmanuel Hubert, General Manager:
Océane Mahé, a great hope for French cycling, has extended her contract with our team. As a new professional, she has shown great skills this year, particularly in time trials, with this title obtained in Espoirs. We have also renewed Emilia Fahlin, who is the road captain of this team, but not only that, since our Swedish rider has achieved great performances on the first stages dedicated to the sprint on the Tour de France Femmes. Maaike Coljé, for her part, embodies the perfect teammate who knows how to give herself to the group without counting the cost, a presence that allows her to shine as an individual thanks to her selflessness.
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Here’s the team’s post:
From the 20th… to the 20th, from the Classica Comunitat Valenciana to the Veneto Classic, nine exact months from January to October, marking the fourth year in the Professional category and the first with the new main sponsor and team colors: 144 racedays (counting multi-race days as single days) covering over 28,000 kilometers across 16 countries; 20 riders (including 3 neo-professionals) with an additional 3 stagiaires joining in August, representing a total of 6 nationalities; 4 victories (3 stage wins and one overall title, along with captain Maestri’s gold medal for Italy in the European Mixed Team Relay in September) plus 25 more podiums, 4 KOM jerseys and one points classification.
This sums up Team Polti Kometa’s 2024, ranked within the UCI top-30. What these numbers don’t convey, though, is the group spirit with which the riders under Ivan Basso and the Contador brothers, led by Stefano Zanatta, Jesús Hernández, Giovanni Ellena and Biagio Conte, faced their commitments. And the breakaways, an emblematic mark of the Italian ProTeam. Quantifying them is tricky, except in the Giro d’Italia, where Andrea Pietrobon and Mirco Maestri topped the breakaway ranking finishing 1st and 2nd. Highlights include Pietrobon’s attack in Lucca, finishing 3rd in the fifth stage, and Maestri’s duo ride alongside Alaphilippe on the Marche’s walls, sparking a friendship that thrilled fans.
Polti Kometa rider Manuel Penlever
Focusing on the Giro, flagship event taking place in May, besides Pietrobon’s podium the sprinter Giovanni Lonardi placed 3rd in Francavilla al Mare (stage 11) while the talent from the Valtellina, Davide Piganzoli, a highlight of the squad who rose through the U23 ranks to join the “first team” last year, held his own on the Mortirolo and other tough climbs finishing 13th overall: the team’s best GC finish ever in the corsa rosa!
Before then, Polti Kometa had already secured its four victories. In February, Davide Piganzoli claimed his first pro win at the Tour of Antalya: “queen stage” on Mount Tahtali, winning both the GC and KOM classification, with Giovanni Lonardi topping the points ranking. In the following weeks, new recruit Jhonatan Restrepo achieved two explosive stage wins: one at the Tour Colombia (with Colombian national team) and one at the Tour du Rwanda. In March three Polti Kometa riders made the breakaway at Milan-San Remo, with Davide Bais caught just before the Poggio. At the end of April’s Tour of Turkey, Lonardi won stage 3 in Marmaris.
For the Valpolicella sprinter this was his first victory in a ProSeries event, marking what would be his best season to date: although no further wins followed, he was consistently in the mix with top competitors, even achieving a streak of 7 consecutive “top 10” finishes between the final stage of the Giro in Rome, the ZLM Tour in the Netherlands and the first two days of the Tour of Slovenia. In Slovenia itself, and earlier in the aforementioned Turkey, English climber Paul Double stood out as one of the team’s top performers: 2nd in the Slovenian “queen stage” and 3rd in Turkish GC, just days after Mattia Bais took 3rd in the revived one-day Giro della Romagna.
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Erik Fetter narrowly missed out on the Hungarian national title in June, and in July a training camp in Bormio, Valtellina, allowed Fernando Tercero to regain form after missing most of the season due to cytomegalovirus. Tercero later claimed 4th at the Tour de Langkawi, where sprinter Manuel Peñalver accumulated multiple top-10s even losing a stage by photofinish.
In August, team stalwart Diego Sevilla took the KOM jersey at the Vuelta a Burgos, while David Martín did the same at the Tour Poitou Charentes, following in teammate Alex’s footsteps at the Boucles de la Mayenne. At the Poitou Charentes, Maestri also finished 2nd in the ITT and the previous week he missed out on the Tour du Limousin‘s KOM jersey by a single point.
The autumn Italian classics confirmed Piganzoli’s form, culminating in a prestigious podium at the Giro dell’Emilia just behind Pogacar and Pidcock: a magical moment for everyone. The concluding events included Fran Muñoz’s relentless escapes at the Gran Piemonte and Cro Race, Matteo Fabbro’s strong effort in Il Lombardia and Mattia Bais’s 6th place at the rainy Giro del Veneto.
Other athletes made significant contributions to achieving these results: rookies Germán Gómez (growing well alongside his fellow countryman Restrepo) and Davide De Cassan both adapted well, with De Cassan nearly winning a stage in Taiwan in March. Still young Javier Serrano consistently led the sprinters, while Andrea Garosio brought his experience to assist the leaders on climbs.
In the last two months, stagiaires Gabriele Raccagni, Luca Bagnara (both coming from the U23 roster) and Maltese national champion Aidan Buttigieg joined the team, reinforcing the partnership with Visit Malta. In 2025 Raccagni will officially join the “main squad” alongside Pablo Garchu Garcia, also promoted from the U23 ranks.
Regarding partnerships, Visit Malta’s co-title sponsorship was announced and new partners such as Svitol and Fineco joined. The technical staff boosted the nutrition team with Emen4Sport and AURUM bikes sported Lechler’s special paintwork at the Giro and Il Lombardia, set to continue with “colorful stories” for another two years.
As for rider transfers, Paul Double will join the World Tour (following last year’s promotions of Albanese and Fortunato) and further updates on team roster changes, including contract renewals and new signings, will be revealed in the coming weeks. The path forward continues, thanks in part to the reorganization of the Fundación Contador, which will optimize resources to further the growth of both the Juniors and ProTeam.
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