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Thursday, October 31, 2024
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2024 Tour de France | 2024 Giro d'Italia
Nothing endures but change. - Heraclitus
Bill & Carol McGann’s book The Story of the 2023 Tour de France, 2023: The Viking Again Conquers the Tour 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
- November 3: European Cyclocross Championships
- November 17: Flandriencross
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
We have posted 2025 Tour de France info here.
Here's the team's post:
Seven flat stages, six mountain top finishes and two individual time trials will be on the schedule next summer.
For the first time in five years, the Grande Boucle will be held entirely on French soil, the 112th edition – taking place between 5-27 July – starting from Lille and concluding in Paris, where the race is set to celebrate 50 years since the first finish on the Champs-Elysées.
The parcours includes 3,320 kilometers and more than 51,000 vertical meters, making it one of the hardest editions in recent years. The first stage, however, will give the sprinters a rare opportunity to grab the yellow jersey, but a change at the top of the general classification is expected twenty-four hours later, in Boulogne-sur-Mer, where crosswinds could also make an appearance. On stage five, a 33km individual time trial held around the flat roads around Caen – which celebrates 1000 years since its foundation – promises to bring the first significant gaps between the contenders.
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Stage 12 comes with the first proper summit finish of the Tour de France, on Hautacam, followed by an 11km ITT to Peyragudes. The peloton’s journey through the Pyrenees continues with a brutal stage over the Tourmalet, Aspin and Peyresourde, before a return to Luchon-Superbagnères, which is back after 36 years. Week three gets underway with a trip to Mont Ventoux, the appetizer before an even tougher stage, to Col de la Loze, making its third appearance this century. The last summit finish of the race will be on La Plagne, which should bring the final episode of the battle for the yellow jersey.
Remco Evenepoel took home the 2024 Tour de France's White Jersey for the best young rider. ASO photo
2025 will mark Soudal Quick-Step’s 23rd consecutive outing at the French Grand Tour. At the previous participations, our team won a total of 51 stages and ten classifications, the most recent of which was Remco Evenepoel’s triumph in the best young rider standings.
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Here’s the team’s announcement:
Bahrain Victorious are excited to announce the addition of four talented riders to its roster for the upcoming 2025 season: Mathijs Paasschens, Afonso Eulálio, Roman Ermakov, and Oliver Stockwell.
28-year-old Paasschens joins from Lotto-Dstny with a wealth of experience. Known for his versatility and strength in breakaways, Paasschens excels in classics and one-day races. His notable achievements include winning a stage and the overall classification at the Kreiz Breizh Elites in 2019 (his first professional year) and securing the mountains classification at the 2022 Tour of Britain.
Mathijs Paasschens
The Dutchman is looking forward to taking his career to the next level with Bahrain Victorious:
“Over the past years I’ve been trying to improve myself step by step. I’m looking forward to this next step in my career and believe that the professional environment and ambitions within the team will help me in developing myself even further. I want to prove myself as a valuable rider who the team can count on. I can’t wait to meet the whole team at training camp in December.”
Continuing its focus on young talent, Bahrain Victorious also welcome 23-year-old Portuguese climber Afonso Eulálio, who had a standout 2024 season with impressive results at the Volta a Portugal, including top 10 finishes in both the general and mountains classifications.
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Eulálio is eager to grow with the team:
“I feel very happy to be joining the team for the next two years. I hope that with this opportunity I get the chance to continuously evolve and grow with one of the best teams in the world. I feel so motivated, and I look forward to thanking the team for the chance they gave me by showing it during the races.”
Following in the footsteps of Zak Erzen, Daniel Skerl, and Max Van der Meulen – who will all make their WorldTour debuts with Bahrain Victorious in 2025 – two more promising riders are set to join the team from CTF Victorious, Bahrain Victorious’ U23 development squad: Oliver Stockwell and Roman Ermakov. Both riders have gained valuable experience and shown great potential while riding for CTF. Now, they are ready to take the next step in their careers by moving up to the WorldTour.
22 year old Stockwell, moves up to Bahrain Victorious after three seasons with CTF Victorious. The British rider has been very consistent since joining CTF in 2022, including top 10 finishes in key U23 races like the Giro Ciclistico della Valle d’Aosta.
Stockwell is enthusiastic about his first year in the WorldTour:
“I’m super excited for this step up to the WorldTour with team Bahrain Victorious. Having spent the last three years in the development team, I’m really excited to get going in the WorldTour and to learn from some of these really experienced guys. Hopefully I can learn a lot and make some big improvements.”
Also making the step up from CTF is 20 year old Roman Ermakov, who has already had several notable successes. He clinched victory at the prestigious 2024 GP Kranj in Slovenia, winning decisively after a solo attack. This win, along with his victory at the Ruota d’Oro, highlights his potential as a rider capable of excelling in one-day races and challenging stages. Ermakov’s talent showed in the development ranks has earned him a spot in the WorldTour team.
Ermakov is also excited about joining Bahrain Victorious:
“It’s impossible to describe the feeling in one or two or any amount of sentences because it’s just more than the dream that came true. Obviously, it’s a dream of every cyclist to become a WorldTour rider. It’s just amazing to realise that several years ago you were a young guy just riding your bike because of pleasure and now you are a WorldTour rider. It’s just something you can’t describe. I’m just super happy and honoured to join team Bahrain Victorious.”
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