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Wednesday, October 30, 2024
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2024 Tour de France | 2024 Giro d'Italia
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Bill & Carol McGann’s book The Story of the Tour de France, 2022: The Fastest Tour Ever is available in both Kindle eBook & audiobook versions. To get your copy, just click on the Amazon link on the right.
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- October 27: Superprestige Overijse-Vlaamse Druivencross
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We have posted 2025 Tour de France info here.
Here's the post from Team Visma | Lease a Bike:
2025 Tour de France route features plenty of climbing and fond memories for Team Visma | Lease a Bike
The ASO revealed the route for the 112th edition of the Tour de France on Tuesday in Paris. Starting on Saturday, July 5, in Lille and concluding 21 stages later in Paris, the 2025 Tour returns to its traditional finish after ending in Nice last year due to the Olympics. This year’s route will feature an impressive 55,000 meters of climbing.
With the Grand Départ in Lille, the Tour de France kicks off on French soil for the first time in years, following previous starts in Copenhagen, Bilbao, and Florence. The first week looks favorable for sprinters and punchers, but it also includes a flat time trial of approximately 33 kilometers in and around Caen. The finish line for stage seven awaits at the Mûr-de-Bretagne.
After ten stages, the peloton will enjoy its first rest day, followed by three demanding days perfect for pure climbers. In stage 11, the peloton will summit Hautacam, where Jonas Vingegaard and Wout van Aert dominated in 2022. Stage 12’s finish line is drawn atop Luchon-Superbagnères after almost 5,000 meters of elevation gain. Friday brings a challenging 11-kilometer time trial up the slopes of Peyragudes.
Jonas Vingegaard wins 2022 Tour de France stage 18 at Hautacam. ASO photo
Following this grueling Pyrenean trio, the peloton faces two mostly flat stages before taking a second rest day. The final week holds more mountain challenges, including the iconic Mont Ventoux, a climb fondly remembered by Van Aert, who won a stage there in 2021 after a double ascent of its legendary barren slopes.
Next year’s closing week is set to be brutal, with the ASO incorporating climbs such as the Col de la Madeleine, Col du Glandon, La Plagne, and the Col de la Loze. It was on the Col de la Loze in 2023 that Vingegaard decisively claimed victory in the Tour de France.
Grischa Niermann, head of racing for Team Visma | Lease a Bike, attended the presentation in Paris with CEO Richard Plugge. “At first glance, it’s a beautiful yet challenging route,” Niermann commented. “With climbs like Hautacam, Mont Ventoux, and Col de la Loze, we have many good memories. While that means nothing in advance, it does provide a small mental boost. With nearly 55,000 meters of climbing, this will be another Tour for the climbers, with most of the climbs concentrated in the second and third week. That said, the first week is by no means easy – the Tour never is. This route is one that will certainly appeal to us at Team Visma | Lease a Bike.”
“Jonas Vingegaard couldn’t be here today, but I imagine he’ll be pleased with the route,” the German continued. “But the same likely goes for riders like Tadej Pogacar, Primoz Roglic, and Remco Evenepoel. I think this is also a course where Wout van Aert could make an impact. In the coming period, we’ll sit down with all the riders to finalize plans for the upcoming season. All options are still on the table at this point. We’re going to prepare for the 2025 Tour de France in the best possible way.”
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Here's the reaction from Team Intermarché-Wanty to the 2025 Tour de France route:
This Tuesday 29 October at the Palais des Congrès in Paris, the route of the 2025 Tour de France was unveiled in the presence of the green jersey and triple stage winner of the last edition Biniam Girmay and his teammate Hugo Page. For Intermarché-Wanty, this 112th edition will be the eighth participation of Jean-François Bourlart's team in the Grande Boucle.
On 5 July 2025, the next Tour de France will start from the European metropolis of Lille, not far from the Belgian border and the Intermarché-Wanty headquarters, with a stage favorable to sprinters. To reach Paris and its Champs-Élysées three weeks later, riders must conquer twenty-one stages, seven categorized as flat, six hilly, six in the mountains including five summit finishes, as well as two individual time trials.
Among the main attractions of this 2025 Tour are the Mont Ventoux, back for the first time since the double ascent of the 2021 edition, explosive finales at Mûr-de-Bretagne and in the mountains towards Superbagnères, Hautacam and the Col de La Loze. The first time trial, entirely flat for 33 kilometers, takes place in Caen on the fifth day, while the second climbs the slopes of Peyragudes for 11 kilometers on the thirteenth day.
The 3,320-kilometer route is entirely inland in France, a first in five years. As a conclusion on Sunday July 27 on the Avenue des Champs-Élysées, the Tour will once again reach Paris after an exceptional stopover in Nice this year, where the green jersey Biniam Girmay had his historic coronation becoming the first African cyclist to win a special jersey on the greatest cycling race.
Biniam Girmay won the 2024 Tour's Green Jersey. Sirotti photo
“I had an incredible experience this year in the Tour de France, with three magnificent stage wins and the green jersey. In 2025, the Tour will be one of my big goals again, where I will try to be at the top of my game to win again. The possibility for a sprinter to win the first stage and wear the yellow jersey is a great opportunity for a rider like me. There seems to be a good balance between stages for pure sprinters and others with a greater difference in altitude that suit me better, which is not to displease me. I noticed that the last week will be very demanding again, as in 2024. Being present for the first time at the official presentation was a very special moment that makes me look forward to it. Until then, there is a long way to go with other great races and the classics campaign." - Biniam Girmay
"At first glance, the 2025 Tour de France offers a balanced route, the presence of several finals for punchers should lead to thrilling stages and great opportunities for our riders. We will have to study these stages like in Mûr-de-Bretagne, Rouen and Boulogne-sur-Mer which could constitute an interesting terrain for Biniam Girmay. We will wait to have the details of several mountain and transition stages which have not yet been revealed, to then establish a clear plan and know the strategy to adopt for the general classification. We can regret the absence of a cobblestone stage which tends to favor our riders, but we will have plenty to shine on this 2025 edition." - Aike Visbeek
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Here’s the team’s post:
The Luxembourgish rider, Nina Berton, has inked a deal to join EF-Oatly-Cannondale beginning in 2025.
Having raced professionally for just two years, Nina is still an emerging rider, but she knows where her passions lie.
“The classics are the races that I enjoy the most. I really enjoy a long, hard day of racing, especially if the weather is not so good,” Nina said. “I still need to learn a lot but my goal for the classics season is to be of use to my teammates so we can get a good result.”
Nina Berton
Nina’s drive and potential appealed to EF-Oatly-Cannondale general manager Esra Tromp.
“Nina is super passionate and determined. She wants a long career and to develop step by step. Nina is a rider that doesn't give up easily, wants to work really hard, and can be super versatile. That makes her a great addition to our roster,” Esra said.
Signing with EF-Oatly-Cannondale was an easy decision for the 23-year-old.
“The team’s culture and vision matched what I was looking for,” Nina said. “There’s a lot of focus on being a person and not just an athlete. If your mind is happy, then performance can follow. This really appealed to me. I think there are a lot of areas where I can still grow and improve and I’m excited to work on these with the team. Plus, the idea of building up this team so we can win big races is quite an exciting adventure.”
Apart from racing and training, Nina spends her free time outside.
“I love to go out in nature. I go for walks or for adventures like backpacking or bikepacking. For the offseason, I’m thinking of going to one of the Scandinavian countries and either bikepacking or hiking. When I was young, I did a lot of camping and I still love it,” she said.
In addition to camping, Nina grew up taking family trips to watch the men’s Tour de France.
“With the camper van, we sometimes traveled to mountain stages like Alpe d’Huez and we watched the men racing up. This really gave me the push to try it myself because I just wanted to see how fast I could ride up these climbs. Then when I started to do my first races, I really enjoyed it,” Nina said.
Nina constantly looks for opportunities to push herself, both on and off the bike. She has just started her second year of studying psychology, a program she said has helped her learn about herself as a rider.
“Cycling has taught me to be more patient,” she said. “As a young athlete, you always want to reach the top of the sport as fast as possible but it doesn’t work that way. So I’ve learned to be patient and to go one step at a time.”
That doesn’t mean Nina has swapped patience for passivity.
“I’m quite an aggressive rider. If I get the chance to go into breakaways, I love to do this. I also love the hard races where you have to push through and where it’s a real effort to survive. I love this aspect of fighting against yourself but also the team aspect that you race together and so you push each other.”
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This is from Team dsm-firmenich PostNL:
As the cycling world evolves, so does the quest for finding and developing the next generation of Grand Tour contenders. Behind the scenes Team dsm-firmenich PostNL, is also working hard to find young talents, develop them into WorldTour-riders through their Development program and shape them into world-class riders on and off the bike in their WorldTour programs. In this blog post, you can learn more about how this process looks for future GC talents.
Young and upcoming riders such as Max Poole and Oscar Onley started their journey with the team through the Development program, where the team could already get a good idea about their abilities, strengths and weaknesses on and off the bike.
Max Poole riding in the 2024 Vuelta a España. Sirotti photo
“In our approach to talent development, we observe key differences among riders as they progress through their developmental phases,” shares Coach Steve Benton. “While certain physical parameters may become evident as riders transition out of their teenage years, it’s crucial not to rush categorizations.”
But still, there are certain qualities that riders need to become promising GC riders: “A successful GC rider in cycling needs a unique blend of qualities. They must possess a degree of explosivity relative to their body weight, essential for conquering climbs. Yet, their true skill lies in their ability to sustain prolonged efforts, whether launching attacks or defending against them. Endurance becomes crucial, as they navigate stage races and Grand Tours, relying on a high threshold to efficiently utilize energy reserves day after day. While the form may fluctuate, the defining quality remains their resilience to absorb and respond to relentless attacks, setting them apart from sprinters or classics specialists” Steve adds.
When a rider shows the potential to become a good GC rider, the performance team can tailor the training to shape his profile and prepare those riders for the challenges of stage racing as part of the GC group. One part of this is to work on the fatigue resistance of the riders.
Steve explains: “This can be done through different types of training sessions to force the body to recover and force that resistance to become more efficient. One of those sessions can be doing some intervals at the end of a long ride or can include some altitude training. But obviously, racing is also beneficial for the long-term development of the riders. With the right race program, even as a support rider, the body can slowly adapt to the challenges of riding a multi-day race.”
To become a good rider in those races, the time trial skills are also important. Especially at Grand Tours, this versatility is important to stay competitive throughout the race. That’s why we also put a lot of effort into making this at least not a weakness, but ideally a strength of all the riders of the GC group. That’s why we try to give them as much exposure as possible on their TT bikes but also optimize their biomechanics and aerodynamics with tests on the track and in the wind tunnel.
Now we have learned a lot about the training aspect of the development, but becoming a world-class athlete needs also work in races and off the bike.
Coach Matt Winston points out the mental challenges the young riders have to learn to deal with: “Next to their ability to climb and time trial on a high level, they also need to spend long periods away from home, but it’s also about developing their in-race skillset. How to deal with pressure, how to come into finals and race them as good as possible, how to approach a mountaintop finish or a time trial or deal with all the other challenges they might face.”
A good opportunity to work on all those topics is the GC camps, where the GC group is coming together to work on all those details on and off the bike. Experienced riders like Roman Bardet and Warren Barguil play important roles as mentors, offering invaluable guidance and support to emerging talents.
“They’re crucial to the development process,” Winston affirms. “Their experience provides a blueprint for success that young riders can learn from and the GC camps are a great place to share experiences and knowledge within that group. One of the main goals of those camps is to keep developing these young guys, making sure they have the skill sets they need and that’s the place where we can spend most of the time discussing these topics, so they can move forward.”
While all those riders might be big talents and capable of having success in the GC in the future, every rider is different and also develops differently. “It’s important not to take the same approach with every rider. We take it step by step and we think about the race programs and what they’re ready for. We don’t want to rush people and everyone’s development is a step-by-step process. That’s why you also see guys on different programs, different, different pathways. Maybe one guy does two altitude camps in a year, while another guy maybe does none. It doesn’t mean that their potential is any less or anything like that. Just maybe just maybe not quite ready for it in that moment in time. So it’s important that we always look at the bigger picture” explains Matt Winston the differences in the process of each rider.
As you can see, it is a big puzzle to bring together to prepare young talents for the challenges of the biggest stage races of the calendar. Over the years, Team dsm-firmenich PostNL has brought over 20 riders from their Development program to the WorldTour, with promising GC talents amongst them. Guys like Oscar Onley and Max Poole in the Men’s program or Nienke Vinke and Francesca Barale in the Women’s program already showed their potential in some prestigious WorldTour races and delivered some impressive highlights for the team.
Nienke Vinke made her mark in the cycling world with a second place on Willunga Hill and in the general classification at the Tour Down Under, a tenth place in the GC at the Tour de Romandie Féminin, and a strong sixth place at the Giro dell’Emilia earlier this month. Francesca Barale also had a good showing during the Australian summer and played a key role as a support rider at the Giro d’Italia Donne and the Tour de France Femmes.
Australia proved to be a successful venue for Oscar as well, who stormed to his first professional victory on Willunga Hill before unfortunately breaking his collarbone again for the second time in a short period. After yet another comeback and another broken collarbone, he delivered a strong performance at the Tour de Suisse, finishing eighth in the GC, before taking on his very first Tour de France this summer. A tenth place at the Tour de Pologne and a second place in the Tour of Britain confirmed the progress he made this year despite his setbacks. Max Poole also faced challenges with injury after crashing at Tirreno-Adriatico. He missed a significant part of the season but made an impressive return. After securing second place at the Vuelta a Burgos, he came close to victory multiple times at the Vuelta a España before finally claiming his first two professional wins at the Tour de Langkawi, where he won the queen stage and the overall classification!
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