EUROTRASH Thursday: Vingegaard to Start the Tour?

Will Jonas Vingegaard make it to the Tour de France? We have an update in EUROTRASH Thursday. We also catch up with the final stages of the women’s Tour de Suisse and the time trial championships from the Netherlands and Britain – Results, reports and video.

Merijn Zeeman has an important update on Jonas Vingegaard – TOP STORY.

Rider news: Jonas Vingegaard and Wout van Aert training in the Alps, Vincenzo Nibali doesn’t believe in Remco Evenepoel’s Tour chances, Egan Bernal not yet certain of a Tour de France place, Simon Yates in talks with Visma | Lease a Bike, Matthew Riccitello to start his first Tour de France, Fabio Jakobsen or Casper van Uden to the Tour de France, Mario De Clercq on Tim Merlier, ex-Anderlecht Spokesman to be personal press secretary for Remco Evenepoel, Danny Nelissen: “I find the supremacy of Van der Poel and Pogačar more impressive than that of Merckx” and Bradley Wiggins in big trouble after bankruptcy.

Team news: Intermarché-Wanty announces long-list of 12 riders for the Tour de France, Uno-X Mobility team for the Tour de France is ready, Tour preparation of Lidl-Trek leaders disrupted, Magdeleine Vallieres extends with EF Education-Cannondale, Veronica Ewers to take a break from cycling for remainder of season, Florian Vermeersch and Lennert Van Eetvelt making return at Belgian championships and UCI changes regulations: two transfer periods and strict penalties for breach of contract.

Race news: Action in Beauce for Canadian road championships (Elite, Junior, U17 and Para) and 2026 Tour de France Grand Depart in Barcelona.

The sad news of the passing of Cofidis founder François Migraine.

 

TOP STORY: Merijn Zeeman Has an Important Update on Jonas Vingegaard
Merijn Zeeman has indicated to the Cycloo Wielercafé that Jonas Vingegaard could start the Tour de France if he is ‘competitive’. This is the reverses of an earlier statement that the Dane would only participate if he could win the Tour. “We may still qualify that statement,” he said.

“It is a very difficult puzzle. We have a lot of injuries, so we still have some work to do in the coming week to sort things out,” Zeeman said. “Wout van Aert is already a lot further along, he has already ridden the Tour of Norway, but Jonas has of course been in serious trouble since the second or third day of the Tour of the Basque Country.”

“He is now training,” continued Zeeman, who will be working with football club AZ next season. “And he can train as usual, of course, but this afternoon we will have another consultation with his direct guidance about where he actually stands. Because training is one thing, but whether you can be competitive in the Tour is something else.”

It was previously said that Vingegaard would only be in the Tour de France if he will be in the battle for the yellow. “Yes, I said that two weeks after those falls. We have now moved on quite some time and we may still need to refine this,” the sports director responded.

“It is not the case that the Tour is one big time trial where the best rider always wins. So there is also a tactical component to it, or whether you can stay out of trouble. So we are going to make a decision somewhere.” Zeeman also agrees with Erik Breukink’s comment that Vingegaard can also grow during the Tour de France.

“We are not yet ready to say that he will start if he can take the podium. But sometime in the coming weeks we will take stock: when will he go and when will he not? How is he doing now? What can we expect and what can’t we expect?” said the Visma | Lease a Bike DS.

Of course, Vingegaard also has a say in any participation. “But we must not forget that it was a crash with a very big impact. It wasn’t just a broken collarbone. It is also the fear of an extreme fall. After the Dauphiné I drove on to Tignes, so I talked to him about it a lot,” said Zeeman.

It remains to be seen whether the two-time Tour winner will finally appear at the start in Florence, although the choice will not take too long. “But now it is getting so close that we are gradually moving towards the moment of: are we going or are we not going?” Zeeman concluded.

Zeeman and the big three of 2023:

 

Tour de Suisse Women 2024
Neve Bradbury won Stage 3 of the women’s Tour de Suisse. The 22-year-old Australian took her first professional victory in Champagne, after having been ‘up the road’ for a long time with her teammate Katarzyna Niewiadoma. The pair crossed the line hand in hand. Demi Vollering retained the overall lead.

Demi Vollering started the penultimate stage from Vevey to Champagne with a lead of almost one and a half minutes over the Italian’s Elisa Longo Borghini and Gaia Realini. Stage 3 was over 125.6 kilometres with 2,000 metres of climbing and four categorised climbs, with the summit of the last climb (4.4km at 6.8%), 14 kilometres from the finish.

Two riders escaped the peloton early in the stage. Italian Elena Pirrone (Roland) and Australian Neve Bradbury (Canyon//SRAM Racing) managed to gain a maximum lead of 30 seconds. They didn’t get much more than that as Bradbury was 9th overall, just under 4 minutes behind Demi Vollering. After less than 50 kilometres, Pirrone and Bradbury were joined by three riders: Katarzyna Niewiadoma (Canyon//SRAM), Amanda Spratt (Lidl-Trek) and Visma | Lease a Bike’s Femke de Vries. Spratt was in 7th place overall at 3:28. SD Worx-Protime allowed the five leaders to increase their lead towards 3 minutes. Spratt was close to the leader’s jersey and this was the signal for Vollering’s teammates to start the chase proper. Mischa Bredewold did a lot of the work on the front of the thinned out peloton, she got some help from Niamh Fisher-Black and Femke Gerritse.

This made no difference and De Vries, Niewiadoma, Spratt, Bradbury and Pirrone lengthened their lead. With 30 kilometres to go, the escapee’s lead was more than 3 minutes for the first time, and they could start thinking of a stage victory and in the case of Spratt and Bradbury, the leader’s jersey. There was some panic within the SD Worx-Protime camp, but the team received help from dsm-firmenich PostNL in the run-up to the last climb of the day (4.4km at 6.8%) to Vaugondry. The leader of the Dutch team, Juliette Labous, saw her 5th place on GC threatened and this was a reason for her team to work. The lead was eaten away, but the break started the final climb with a lead of more than 2 minutes. The leading group split up on the climb to Vaugondry, led by Canyon//SRAM. Niewiadoma took the lead ahead of the better-placed Bradbury and dropped Pirrone, Spratt and De Vries. Behind; it was all hands on deck. Labous thinned the group of favourites to six, but was countered from Vollering.

The leader of SD Worx-Protime imposed a hard pace towards the top and only three riders were able to follow: Longo Borghini, Realini and Kim Cadzow. Vollering was trying to secure her yellow jersey and didn’t ask for help. The difference at the top of the climb to the Canyon//SRAM riders had shrunk to 1:30. Vollering had a lot of time in the last 10 flat kilometres, but there would be no stage victory, as Bradbury and Niewiadoma rode together to the finish. They managed to extend their lead in the final kilometres, as the cooperation among the pursuers was not good. The two stayed ahead and had plenty of time to decide who would cross the line first. Bradbury took the win ahead of Niewiadoma for her first professional victory. Two minutes later the first pursuers came in, De Vries and Spratt, who just managed to hold off the group with Vollering and Longo Borghini. De Vries, who decided two years ago to quit her part-time job in geriatric medicine to pursue a career as a professional cyclist, beat Spratt in the sprint to take third place. Vollering crossed the finish line not much later in 6th place and is still in the lead on GC with one stage to go.

Stage winner and 2nd overall, Neve Bradbury (Canyon//SRAM): “It’s wild. It’s not just a victory, but it’s a team victory. We went into the stage wanting a hard stage. We tried to make the action, and the other teams work. We did exactly that and worked well together as a team. We’re so happy with the result. Going 1-2 is just wild. I was surprised that we put more time into the peloton until we reached the final climb. I don’t know what happened in the peloton, but our group worked smoothly. Kasia went to the front on the final climb, and then when it was just us two, we went full gas to the end. The stage win was for me as we wanted the bonus seconds on the general classification. For tomorrow’s stage, we’ll do our best. We want to keep racing like we did today and put pressure on the other teams.”

Overall leader and 6th on the stage, Demi Vollering (SD Worx-Protime): “It was tricky, but we did well. Yes, actually I was a bit panicky. It was a strong leading group. We were not there ourselves and that was a shame. We would have liked to be at the front ourselves, but my teammates then controlled the ride. They did that very well,”“It’s a shame that we weren’t in the mix ourselves, but all in all we can call it a good day. We did well, even though it was still a bit tricky. They tried to gamble a little bit along the way, I think. That turned out not to be the right tactic. We kept the situation under control. This was ultimately a good day for the rankings. I’m still in good shape. I had a bit of a headache. I didn’t feel so good, but luckily that disappeared when I got on the bike. I got better and better throughout the day. Maybe it was because of Sunday’s time trial, in which I went very deep.”

2nd on the stage and 6th overall, Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon//SRAM): “We’re all very happy. It’s such a special and unique feeling to be in the final with a teammate and finish a race like this. The stage was aggressive from the start, with many teams, including us, looking for opportunities to turn things around. We knew that our team was stronger than the first two stages showed. We went out there to have fun and race hard. There were many attacks and attempts to create a breakaway. Neve got into an early breakaway with Pirrone. On the next climb, Lidl Trek set a hard pace, and when (Amanda) Spratt counterattacked, (Femke) De Vries and I followed. From that moment, we had five riders who were all committed even though it was a long breakaway attempt. With less than 20km to go, we had the final 4km climb. I planned to set a hard pace and for Neve to attack over the top. When it was just us two left, it was clear we would go together as hard as possible to the finish line. It was a nice experience to do a breakaway like this where you have two teammates and a sole focus to bring Neve as high up on GC as possible. It was demanding but equally rewarding. Only when we crossed the finish line could we release our emotions. To get the news of Neve moving up into second on GC and getting 1-2 on the stage was such a reward for the suffering. Our goal was to make the team proud of us. Neve has been riding strongly and being a loyal teammate, so to be in the position to say thank you and for us to be able to show our team spirit feels great. Flying from altitude into our recon camp and then TdS made me quite tired. My legs weren’t there in the first two stages, but I’m confident it will come around.”

Tour de Suisse Women Stage 3 Result:
1. Neve Bradbury (Aus) Canyon//SRAM in 4:16:12
2. Katarzyna Niewiadoma (Pol) Canyon//SRAM
3. Femke De Vries (Ned) Visma | Lease a Bike at 1:55
4. Amanda Spratt (Aus) Lidl-Trek
5. Elisa Longo Borghini (Ita) Lidl-Trek at 2:11
6. Demi Vollering (Ned) SD Worx-Protime
7. Gaia Realini (Ita) Lidl-Trek
8. Kim Cadzow (NZ) EF Education-Cannondale
9. Elena Pirrone (Ita) Roland Cycling Team at 2:49
10. Brodie Chapman (Aus) Lidl-Trek at 2:53.

Tour de Suisse Women Overall After Stage 3:
1. Demi Vollering (Ned) SD Worx-Protime in 5:45:34
2. Neve Bradbury (Aus) Canyon//SRAM at 1:22
3. Elisa Longo Borghini (Ita) Lidl-Trek at 1:26
4. Gaia Realini (Ita) Lidl-Trek at 1:28
5. Kim Cadzow (NZ) EF Education-Cannondale at 1:39
6. Katarzyna Niewiadoma (Pol) Canyon//SRAM at 2:14
7. Juliette Labous (Fra) dsm-firmenich-PostNL at 2:56
8. Amanda Spratt (Aus) Lidl-Trek at 3:11
9. Antonia Niedermaier (Ger) Canyon//SRAM at 3:22
10. Femke De Vries (Ned) Visma | Lease a Bike at 4:11.

Suisse’24 stage 3:

 

The fifth edition of the women’s Tour de Suisse was won by Demi Vollering. The Dutch rider of SD Worx-Protime won the Final Stage 4, starting and finishing in Champagne, to secure her overall win. Vollering won the sprint from an elite group, ahead of Elisa Longo Borghini and Neve Bradbury.

On the final day of the Tour de Suisse for women, the race was around Champagne, starting and finishing in the municipality in the canton of Vaud. The stage was hilly, with two categorised climbs and more than 2,100 metres of climbing. Demi Vollering started the final stage with a lead of over a minute, but would still have to watch the other riders.

The break of the day went early with Eline Jansen (VolkerWessels) and Nina Kessler (EF Education-EasyPost). The peloton didn’t chase immediately and the pair got near to a 1 minute lead. But Jansen and Kessler’s escape was short-lived and with more than 100 kilometres to go, they were caught. The next attack was soon to come; Urška Žigart, Tadej Pogačar’s fiancée, and Nienke Vinke gave it a go. The Slovenian of LIv AlUla Jayco and the young Dutch rider of dsm-firmenich PostNL managed to gain a maximum lead of 4 minutes. The peloton had slowed down and so 7 riders counter-attacked. Some GC riders managed to join the two leaders.

Juliette Labous (dsm-firmenich PostNL) and Antonia Niedermaier (Canyon//SRAM), 7th and 9th overall, were off the front, as were Évita Muzic (FDJ-SUEZ), Brodie Chapman (Lidl-Trek), Niamh Fisher- Black (SD Worx-Protime), Rosita Reijnhout (Visma | Lease a Bike) and Steffi Häberlin (Swiss national team). This was a very dangerous break and the difference quickly increased. At one point the group’s lead was 3 minutes, so at 60 kilometres from the finish, Labous took the virtual lead, as the French rider was at 2:56 to Vollering. SD Worx-Protime was aware of the situation and took control of the race. Despite the presence of Fisher-Black in the front group, the Dutch team sat on the front of the peloton and managed to reduce the gap. The 9 leading riders had a 2 minute lead at the start of the final climb of the Tour de Suisse: La Vue des Alpes (5.4km at 4.8%). On this climb the race was split. Six riders remained in the leading group: Žigart, Niedermaier, Muzic, Labous, Häberlin and Fisher-Black. Reijnhout, Vinke and Chapman couldn’t hold on.

An initial selection took place not only at the front of the race, but also the best climbers also put the pressure on in the peloton. Led by Lidl-Trek, the group of favourites was severely decimated. Gaia Realini rode a fast pace and this proved to be the ideal springboard for her teammate Elisa Longo Borghini. Only four riders were able to respond to the acceleration of the Italian champion: Vollering, Neve Bradbury, Kim Cadzow and Katarzyna Niewiadoma. Due to the work by Lidl-Trek, the difference between the Vollering-Longo Borghini group and the six remaining leaders at the top of the climb was reduced to 1 minute. The American team kept the pace high in the chasing group in the following flat kilometres on the descent to the intermediate sprint in Bevaix. The team were aiming for a stage win with Longo Borghini and so the caught Chapman had to the close the gap to the leaders. On the fast descent, Cadzow crashed. The New Zealander was sitting in 5th on the GC, but due to the crash, she couldn’t return to the front of the race. Žigart, who is not known as a good descender, lost contact with the front group and was caught by the pursuers.

The co-operation in the chase group after the descent was not good, which allowed the five at the front; Fisher-Black, Niedermaier, Muzic, Labous and Häberlin to take more time. Starting the last 20 kilometres, the difference was more than 30 seconds again, but after the return of Chapman, the chasers regained the momentum and the difference decreased again. With long turns, Chapman almost personally ensured that the two groups came together 12 kilometres from the finish. Attacks by Chapman and Niewiadoma were pulled back, but the Polish rider didn’t give up and, together with teammate Bradbury, Longo Borghini and Vollering, took a gap. These four contenders would fight it out for the stage victory, despite attacks in the last kilometres. Vollering convincingly defeated Longo Borghini and Bradbury and ended a particularly successful week with her twelfth victory of the season.

Stage and final overall winner, Demi Vollering (SD Worx-Protime): “It was a really tough battle with attack after attack. I didn’t expect this win. I’m glad I was able to finish it in the sprint. I was in a luxury position today. My teammates kept riding empty and coming back from behind to go again. I am very grateful for that. With Niamh Fisher-Black in the leading group, I was in a seat. It was an easy course situation because it wasn’t up to me to ride. So I could gamble. We were a bit surprised that Lidl-Trek didn’t start working earlier, but in the end that team brought it back together impressively. After that, it rained attacks. It became a nice and tough battle with the riders in front. That I take three wins in four days is very special. All the more so because it is in Switzerland, which I have come to consider my second home. I didn’t expect this win. It was very nice to contest another sprint. I love sprinting for victory after such a tricky final. I am happy to add Tour de Suisse to my palmarès. They were nice tough stages with a lot of altimeters. I feel ready right away towards the Tour de France Femmes. It’s nice to win a climbing race before the Tour de France Femmes, which is my biggest goal this season. The Olympics and the World Championships are also high on my wish list.”

2nd overall and 3rd on the stage, Neve Bradbury (Canyon//SRAM): “Today’s final was brutal. Our best chance at winning the stage and securing second on GC was to tire Longo Borghini, so we went full gas, attacking one after another until we had nothing left. We had a strong team with many riders high in GC, like Elise after the first stage and then Antonia and Kasia were up there. That meant we could play many cards and make other teams suffer in various race situations. The team’s results reflect how well we’ve been racing together. We’ve been right up there the whole year, and now it’s finally paying off. We raced incredibly well, always in every move and backing each other up 110% with no regrets. Everyone, including staff, had a huge part to play in this result. We can walk away from this tour confident going into the next races.”

2nd on the stage and 3rd overall, Elisa Longo Borghini (Lidl-Trek): “We really wanted a tough race and it was a bit of a poker game when the breakaway happened, but we trusted Brodie because she was practically in third place, so we let her go. When SD Worx started chasing us, we decided to go hard on the last climb, with Gaia in the lead. Down the road, I still had Brodie and she did an amazing job in the breakaway. In the sprint, Demi was the strongest, but today I have to give credit to my team, because we raced very well. My teammates have been very attentive, so thank you very much, it has been a really good team display. I left my lungs on the road and maybe some farmer can pick them up and return them to me.”

4th on the stage and overall, Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon//SRAM): “It was such a crazy final with plenty of attacks and attempts to get away solo! We knew Neve had secured the GC podium in that group thanks to the bonus seconds at the finish line, so we wanted to focus on stage victory. We did our best and suffered a million deaths, but Longo Borghini and Vollering fought hard. It was a fun final, and it was nice to be present with two riders so we could play our game. Sometimes, you need a little bit of luck or a moment of hesitation from the others to arrive at the fishing line solo. But that also shows that they were taking us seriously. Neve is a spectacular rider! She has a great sense of racing and knows where she has to be, how to be safe, and how to ride smart. She is strong and capable. Seeing her developing into the hard-core rider she is now is exciting.”

Elise Chabbey (Canyon//SRAM): “Overall, we’re happy with this tour. We did a super race with the team at every stage. After the stage yesterday, Kasia and Neve showed how strong they are, and the results are well deserved for the whole team. I’m in a preparation block now, and after going so deep in the first stage, I felt it in the next stages. But I’m happy to go away from my home tour with the mountain jersey.”

Tour de Suisse Women Stage 4 Result:
1. Demi Vollering (Ned) SD Worx-Protime in 3:17:53
2. Elisa Longo Borghini (Ita) Lidl-Trek
3. Neve Bradbury (Aus) Canyon//SRAM
4. Katarzyna Niewiadoma (Pol) Canyon//SRAM
5. Steffi Häberlin (Sui) (Suisse National Team) at 0:42
6. Evita Muzic (Fra) FDJ-SUEZ
7. Juliette Labous (Fra) dsm-firmenich-PostNL
8. Niamh Fisher-Black (NZ) SD Worx-Protime
9. Rosita Reijnhout (Ned) Visma | Lease a Bike
10. Urska Zigart (Slo) Liv AlUla Jayco.

Tour de Suisse Women Final Overall Result:
1. Demi Vollering (Ned) SD Worx-Protime in 9:03:17
2. Neve Bradbury (Aus) Canyon//SRAM at 1:28
3. Elisa Longo Borghini (Ita) Lidl-Trek at 1:30
4. Katarzyna Niewiadoma (Pol) Canyon//SRAM at 2:24
5. Juliette Labous (Fra) dsm-Firmenich-PostNL at 3:47
6. Antonia Niedermaier (Ger) Canyon//SRAM at 4:11
7. Gaia Realini (Ita) Lidl-Trek at 5:33
8. Kim Cadzow (NZ) EF Education-Cannondale at 5:44
9. Urska Zigart (Slo) Liv AlUla Jayco at 6:00
10. Evita Muzic (Fra) FDJ-SUEZ at 6:49.

Suisse’24 stage 4:

 

Netherlands Men’s Time Trial 2024
Daan Hoole is the new Dutch time trial champion. After a race of nearly 37 kilometres in Steenbergen, Lidl-Trek’s top favourite was the fastest, but it was not easy. Mick van Dijke (Visma | Lease a Bike) was just 1 second slower than Hoole and Sjoerd Bax (UAE Team Emirates) took bronze, 5 seconds later.

The 36.8 kilometre course around Steenbergen, home of national coach Koos Moerenhout, was for the powerhouses. From the centre of the Brabant village, the riders entered the polders between Steenbergen and Dinteloord. The big riders were able to use their power well on mostly long, straight roads. Once out of Steenbergen they rode a lap south of Dinteloord, after which they eventually returned to Steenbergen via the same road. After Riejanne Markus had won the women’s TT, the first elite men’s rider started. The first contenders for a top 10 ranking started with Thom Severijn and Mick van Dijke. With an interval of 22:05, Van Dijke set a target time, just keeping Brian Megens, Marien Bogerd, Mike Vliek, Axel van der Tuuk and Thom Severijn behind him. The first to be faster than Van Dijke halfway through was Sjoerd Bax with 22:02, but Daan Hoole, who started last, really set the top time. With 21:55 he was 7 seconds faster than Bax and 10 seconds faster than Van Dijke. Outsiders such as Bauke Mollema (20 seconds), Bart Lemmen (31 seconds) and Enzo Leijnse (42 seconds) already lost more time. Nine riders were within half a minute of Hoole.

At the finish, Van Dijke was the first rider to dip under 44 minutes. With a final time of 43:40 (average 50.6kph) he pushed the rest, knowing that he was third at the intermediate point. Time trial specialist Marien Bogerd van Difter, fourth at the National championships last year, was 5 seconds short of beating Van Dijke. Sjoerd Bax also didn’t make it. While the UAE Team Emirates rider had a 3 second lead over Van Dijke at halfway, this had changed to a 4 second deficit at the finish. Mollema, Leijnse and Lemmen were also not involved. Daan Hoole did, although he let it turn into a game of seconds. At the finish he was only 1 second ahead of Van Dijke and 5 seconds ahead of Bax, who joined him on the podium. Bad luck for Marien Bogerd for the second year in a row. The Continental rider again finished in fourth place among the WorldTour pros, this time only 6 seconds away from the National championship title. Fifth place went to Axel van der Tuuk, 24 seconds behind Hoole.

Netherlands Men’s Time Trial Result:
1. Daan Hoole (Ned) Lidl-Trek in 43:39
2. Mick Van Dijke (Ned) Visma | Lease a Bike at 0:01
3. Sjoerd Bax (Ned) UAE Team Emirates at 0:05
4. Marien Bogerd (Ned) Diftar Continental Cycling Team at 0:06
5. Axel Van Der Tuuk (Ned) Metec-Solarwatt P/B Mantel at 0:24
6. Brian Megens (Ned) at0:28
7. Alex Molenaar (Ned) at 0:41
8. Bauke Mollema (Ned) Lidl-Trek at 0:43
9. Thom Severijn (Ned) at 0:45
10. Pepijn Reinderink (Ned) Soudal Quick-Step at 0:49.

Daan Hoole won the Netherland TT champs:

 

GB National TT Championship 2024
Joshua Tarling won the British time trial title for the second year in a row. The INEOS Grenadiers rider, also the reigning European time trial champion, was in a class of his own at the British Championships in Catterick, North Yorkshire.

Twenty year old Tarling had little opposition in Catterick. On the 30 kilometre course he finished in a time of 39:21, all his competitors were more than a minute behind. The silver medal went to Max Walker (Astana Qazaqstan Development) who lost 1:14 on Tarling. Ethan Vernon (Israel-Premier Tech) took bronze. For Tarling, the British time trial championship is an important test before the Olympic Games in Paris, where he will be going for a medal in the time trial.

GB National TT Championship Result:
1. Joshua Tarling (GB) INEOS Grenadiers in 39:22
2. Max Walker (GB) Astana Qazaqstan Development Team at 1:13
3. Ethan Vernon (GB) Israel-Premier Tech at 1:24
4. Samuel Watson (GB) Groupama-FDJ at 1:36
5. Connor Swift (GB) INEOS Grenadiers at 1:47
6. Oliver Knight (GB) Cofidis at 1:57
7. Ethan Hayter (GB) INEOS Grenadiers at 2:12
8. Xavier Finlay Pickering (GB) Bahrain Victorious at 2:14
9. Charlie Tanfield (GB) Saint Piran at 3:00
10. Zeb Kyffin (GB) TDT-Unibet at 3:02.

Joshua Tarling GB TT champ:

 

Visma | Lease a Bike Riders Training in the French Alps
With less than two weeks to go to the start of the 111th Tour de France in Florence, Italy, the teams are making their rider selections. Visma | Lease a Bike has the extra problem of their injured riders, but their big names look to be ready for the French Grand Tour.

The Visma | Lease a Bike team shared on social media that Jonas Vingegaard, Wout van Aert, Tiesj Benoot, Jan Tratnik, Christophe Laporte and Matteo Jorgenson had a tough training ride in the French Alps, near Tignes. The ride was of 180 kilometres, with 5,100 metres of climbing. The route was planned by Wout van Aert and took in some gravel sections. “When a crosser makes the course,” the Belgian wrote on Instagram.

Visma | Lease a Bike will make their final selection for the Tour de France in the coming days. The big question is whether two-time Tour de France winner Jonas Vingegaard is fit enough to travel to Le Grand Départ in Florence. The latest signals are positive, although team manager Richard Plugge has always indicated that the Dane must be 100% fit if he wants to be selected for the Tour de France. There were also doubts about Wout van Aert and his route to the Olympic Games in Paris, but the Belgian seems to be preparing for the Tour de France. It is certain that Steven Kruijswijk and Dylan van Baarle will be missing.

The expected Visma | Lease a Bike selection:
Jonas Vingegaard
Sepp Kuss
Christophe Laporte
Tiesj Benoot
Matteo Jorgenson
Wout van Aert
Wilco Kelderman
Jan Tratnik.

A tough training ride for the Visma boys:

 

Nibali Doesn’t Believe in Remco Evenepoel’s Tour Chances
La Gazzetta dello Sport spoke to the 2014 Tour winner, Vincenzo Nibali, about this year’s Tour de France. The now retired Italian gave his thoughts on the four main favourites for the overall victory.

Tadej Pogačar, Jonas Vingegaard, Primoz Roglič or Remco Evenepoel: Who will win the Tour de France this year? Nibali thinks Pogacčar and Vingegaard are the two top favourites. “The way Pogačar managed to dominate in the Giro d’Italia is impressive. At no point does he lose control. I have never seen him so motivated and sharp. In the Tour, which is a big circus, there will be even more pressure on his shoulders. But I don’t think it will affect him much.”

What does the Italian think about Vingegaard, does he still have a chance? “Due to his crash in April (in the Itzulia Basque Country) it is a guess as to his level. But if he participates in the Tour, it is because he has achieved good values ​​in training. He should be Pogačar’s biggest rival.”

What does he think of the other two contenders, Roglič and Evenepoel? “Remco may have won the Vuelta in 2022, but he still has to grow. He still needs to mature, especially in Grand Tours. He’s not consistent enough yet. In Grand Tours you have to be on your toes every stage. You can’t afford a bad day. I also lower Primoz to a level. He won the Giro in 2023, but the decision only came in the penultimate stage. Pogačar dominated this year from start to finish.”

Nibali putting his money on Pogačar:

 

Bernal Not Yet Certain of a Tour de France Place
The Tour de France starts a week on Saturday, but Egan Bernal is not yet sure whether he will be at the start. The 2019 winner is awaiting for the final decision from his INEOS Grenadiers team. The Colombian was racing in the Tour de Suisse last week, where he lost his podium place on the last day time trial.

“To be honest, I’m a bit sad,” Egan Bernal said to Eurosport. “I hoped to keep the podium in the race, but this is cycling. I had a really bad day on the bike. I did my best, but I also feel a bit sad for the team, because we all worked very hard all week for this podium. It is what it is.”

Bernal was third on GC at the start of the final day. But in the time trial, the Colombian finished 9th and lost more than a minute to Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek). This was not enough to stop the Dane jumping over him and he dropped to fourth place overall.

Despite the disappointment, the INEOS Grenadiers ride can see the positives in his performance. “As always it was a tough race, but I think we went very fast on the climbs in this edition. The level was super high. This is of course a competition, but at the same time this is good training for the upcoming races.” The Colombian has to wait and see whether the Tour is on his menu.

Tour or no Tour for Bernal?

 

Simon Yates in Talks with Visma | Lease a Bike
Simon Yates is in the cross-hairs of Visma | Lease a Bike. HLN was the first to report the news, which was confirmed by WielerFlits. It is now clear that the 31-year-old British climber is leaving Jayco AlUla (GreenEdge Cycling) after 11 years. Ben O’Connor will be the new leader for the Australian team in 2025.

Yates himself has been pushing to leave in recent months. The Vuelta a España winner is specifically looking for a team that already has several GC leaders for the Grand Tours, so that he can share responsibility. Several teams have shown interest, including INEOS Grenadiers. Visma | Lease a Bike has been in discussions with the Yates’ management for months. Visma | Lease a Bike can strengthen their roster with Yates, along with Matteo Jorgenson, Sepp Kuss and Cian Uijtdebroeks as leaders under two-time Tour winner Jonas Vingegaard. It is felt that Yates could step again in the Grand Tours with the Dutch team. He is an ideal leader for the week-long stage races.

The Classic’s team of Visma | Lease a Bike is also getting reinforcements. Victor Campenaerts and Axel Zingle will join the team. Zingle comes from Cofidis and has been racing well in the French and Belgian EuropeTour races.

Simon Yates to Visma | Lease a Bike:

 

Matthew Riccitello to Start his First Tour de France?
22-year-old Matthew Riccitello has had an excellent week in the Tour de Suisse. The American stayed with the best climbers, except the dominating Yates and Almeida. He finished in 5th place overall after the final time trial.

“Maybe I started a little too ambitious, because it was more difficult to climb towards the end,” Matthew Riccitello told Cycling Pro Net. “Still, I’m quite happy with how things went. It was a good effort. Today I wanted to try to gain places in the rankings and take a shot at the white jersey. Skjelmose was just a little too fast. He just raced a little faster.” Skjelmose beat Riccitello by 30 seconds in the ‘Best Young Rider’ competition.

Although the American feels slight disappointment after missing out on the white jersey, there is also reason to be happy. The 22-year-old rider of Israel-Premier Tech held off Tom Pidcock, Enric Mas and Felix Gall. “Overall I’m very happy with this week. I have always dreamed of racing at the highest level against these men. To do that now is very, very cool. It gives me more motivation for the future.”

The final Tour selection of Israel-Premier Tech has not yet been announced, but the American’s name is on the team’s provisional selection.

Possible IPT Tour Team (so far):
Pascal Ackermann
Matthew Riccitello
Stephen Williams
George Bennett
Christopher Froome.

Matthew Riccitello going to the Tour:

 

Fabio Jakobsen or Casper van Uden to the Tour de France?
Fabio Jakobsen was the dsm-firmenich PostNL’s team big signing over the winter. The 27-year-old sprinter, together with Romain Bardet, are the intended team leaders for the Tour de France, but he is not having a great season so far. The young rider, Casper van Uden has had mush better form. Which one will go to the Tour?

The provisional selection of the Dutch team is: Bardet, Warren Barguil and Jakobsen. The dsm-firmenich PostNL team is working on a transition. Team boss Iwan Spekenbrink and his staff want to return to their roots: more of a sprint team, like they were with Marcel Kittel. Roy Curvers said to WielerFlits in the latest RIDE Magazine that this is not a process that takes months, but perhaps one that takes years. Yet the question arises whether the team might have to make a different choice for the Tour.

Jakobsen is having a difficult time this year. He is not satisfied with how things are going so far. So far he has only had one win, in the Tour of Turkey and, apart from Nokere Koerse, Jakobsen hasn’t been his old self in the fast finishes. He also had to deal with bad luck at crucial moments in the Giro d’Italia and the Baloise Belgium Tour. The sprinter has trained hard in Spain to get into Tour shape. He should be accompanied by John Degenkolb, Bram Welten and Nils Eekhoff, who is still recovering from a concussion.

Unlike Jakobsen, Casper van Uden is having a strong season. The 22-year-old started with a victory in the AlUla Tour. After a strong spring, Van Uden won Rund um Köln, second in the Heistse Pijl and took two stage victories in the ZLM Tour and the points jersey. In those races he always worked successfully with a different sprint train.

Jakobsen rode several grand tours with Soudal-Quick-Step. In 2022 he won a stage in the Tour and a year before that he took three stages and the points classification in the Vuelta a España. In 2019 he also won twice in Spain. He didn’t finish the 2023 Tour and the last Giro. Van Uden has no experience in the Grand Tours and has only finished in the top 10 once in the WorldTour with fifth in the second stage of Tirreno-Adriatico this spring.

Jakobsen or Van Uden to the Tour?

 

Mario De Clercq on Tim Merlier: “He Wasted Years on Cyclocross”
It took 30 stages, but Tim Merlier won a stage in the Baloise Belgium Tour for the first time last week and added a second one on Sunday. In 2012, Merlier’s DS, Mario De Clerq, told him to try it in the sprint, but “Tim did not believe in himself as a sprinter”. De Clerq spoke to Het Nieuwsblad about the rider he discovered.

When did Mario De Clercq see that Merlier was a sprinter? “I had already seen it with the juniors. Tim is a local and got along well with my son. He spent a lot of time with us and I immediately saw that he was very explosive. When he rode with the U23 and fully matured, it became even clearer that he was more explosive than other riders. And certainly in the first meters.”

But Merlier was a cyclo-cross rider, why is that? “Both his father and stepbrother competed in motocross. Then it makes sense that you would do cyclo-cross if you choose the bike. But Tim doesn’t have the body of a cyclocross rider and he cannot fully utilise the explosiveness he has on the road in cross. Then I tried to convince him to switch to the road.”

So did Merlier waste years in cyclo-cross? “I think so. The problem was that no one believed in him. I went to many teams to say that I had a good sprinter in the team, but I always got the same answer: ‘You only run smaller races. Will he be able to reach the finish in a tougher race?’. We then decided to keep him as a cyclo-cross rider and give him a chance here and there on the road. He then ended up with Van Aert’s then team, Vérandas Willems-Crelan. At one point I feared the worst, but then Christoph Roodhooft came and he wanted Merlier in his team. I was constantly calling Tim and Christoph and that was ultimately his salvation. I was really happy.”

He has already won twelve times this year, including three stages in the Giro. Did De Clerq expect that? “You can never know something like that in advance. Especially because he has not ridden much on the road with the juniors and the promises. He is almost 32 and I think he will continue to win sprints for at least another three years. After that he can even continue as lead-out because he can do that well. So we certainly haven’t heard the last of Tim Merlier yet.” He is a happy family man. “Yes, that is very important to him. He must feel good in a familiar environment. That’s how you always see him with Bert Van Lerberghe. The two went to school together and are still best friends. Van Lerberghe is not really a lead-out and does not always do everything right, but Tim can tolerate that from him.”

What else would you like to see him win? “I would like to see him win another jersey. He has already won the Belgian jersey twice, but I would like to see him ride the European Championship. It is in Heusden-Zolder and we pass the village where Jasper Philipsen lives, but I think he can win in September. Winning a World championship would also be nice, but I think the coming World championships are too tough for sprinters. Two years ago I also told him that he had to ride the Vuelta. He has already won stages in the Giro and the Tour de France, but not yet in the Vuelta. Coincidentally, we were also talking about it yesterday. This year it really could be done.”

Merlier wasted time racing cyclo-cross:

 

Ex-Anderlecht Spokesman to be Personal Press Secretary for Remco Evenepoel
Remco Evenepoel has taken on a personal press secretary. David Steegen, who worked as Head of Communications with the Belgian football club RSC Anderlecht from 2009 to the end of 2022.

Steegen was a supervisor of the club’s players, coaches and directors for ten years with the famous RSC Anderlecht. In 2020, he became Head of Public Affairs of Purple & White (the club’s nickname) and was mainly concerned with taking care of relationships with the many local (Brussels) partners. His contract with RSC Anderlecht expired at the end of June 2022.

Steegen then worked as an independent communications consultant, including for the Belgian volleyball federation Top Volley Belgium. In that capacity, he will also officially work as personal press secretary of Remco Evenepoel. It is not a completely new experience for Steegen, as he has more or less taken on this role, behind the scenes, for some time.

Steegen will take care of the non-sporting media requests of Evenepoel, Het Laatste Nieuws reports. Everything directly related to races, press conferences and interviews will continue through the press department of his Soudal Quick-Step team.

Evenepoel is very happy that Steegen is now officially part of his personal entourage. “I want to be able to fully concentrate on my sporting performance and achieving my personal sporting goals. That is why David will assist me in managing the media requests,” the 24-year-old Belgian, who will start his first Tour de France in less than two weeks, said in a press release.

Evenepoel takes on a personal press secretary:

 

Danny Nelissen: “I Find the Supremacy of Van der Poel and Pogačar More Impressive than that of Merckx”
Comparing riders from different generations is not easy. However, Danny Nelissen has a clear vision about the achievements of the past and of today. In his opinion, the way in which Tadej Pogačar and Mathieu van der Poel dominate current cycling is more impressive than of Merckx, he told Wielerrevue.

“Whether Pogačar comes close to Eddy Merckx as the greatest rider of all time? In any case, I don’t think Merckx is the best cyclist ever,” said Nelissen. “Merckx was a real professional who largely rode against cigar farmers. People who had to work on the side because they could not make a living from their sport. It was kind of the time of women’s cycling today.”

“You can compare it a bit with that,” Nelissen continued. “There are riders with huge contracts who can make a great living from their sport and there is a very large group who have to cycle for 500 euros and a shirt and pants. Everyone always talks about Eddy Merckx’s hundreds of victories, but you may also wonder who he won them against.”

For Nelissen, the current situation in the peloton cannot be compared to then. In his opinion, this means that today the competition is many times higher than in the past. “The peloton currently consists of all highly paid professionals. No, I find the supremacy of Pogačar and Van der Poel more impressive than that of Merckx.”

Danny Nelissen and Jan Ullrich:

 

Bradley Wiggins in Trouble after Bankruptcy: “He has Lost Everything, Absolutely Everything”
Sir Bradley Wiggins’ house has been sold following his bankruptcy, meaning the Brit has to sleep with friends and family. His lawyer Alan Sellers spoke to The Daily Mail newspaper. The former Tour winner seems to have difficulty getting out of the problems that haunt him after his cycling career.

Bradley Wiggins’ financial problems are not new. In November last year it became clear that Wiggins had not yet repaid any of the 1.15 million euros in debts of his company Wiggins Rights Limited. “These headaches have been going on for a few years now and there seems to be no end in sight,” the Briton responded to the impending bankruptcy. “It’s a historical issue where the negligence of others has left a big pile of sh*t with my name on it. That happens more often with athletes.”

Just over a week ago, Wiggins was declared bankrupt by the Lancaster District Court. In the meantime, Wiggins’ house has already been sold. The former Tour winner now has to rely on family members and friends to stay overnight, his lawyer Alan Sellers told The Daily Mail.

“It is a mess. He has lost everything, absolutely everything. His house, his other home in Mallorca, his savings and his investments… He doesn’t have a penny left. It’s very sad. I don’t know where he slept last night and I don’t know where he will sleep tonight or tomorrow. He has no permanent address,” said Sellers.

While the British rider was successful on the bike, life off the bike has not been so good. In 2012, he was the first Briton to win the Tour de France and was also Olympic and World time trial champion in 2012 and 2014. Recent developments in his life are now forcing him, in the words of Sellers, to couch surf.

Things not going so well for Wiggins:

 

Intermarché-Wanty Announces Long-list of 12 Riders for the Tour de France
With two weeks to go until the Grand Départ, Intermarché-Wanty selects 12 riders in a long-list for the upcoming Tour de France, which starts from Florence on 29 June and finishes in Nice on 21 July.

For its seventh participation, the Walloon World Team has compiled an extensive list with the ambition to take its first ever stage win at the Tour and finish in the top 10 in the individual final classification, as Louis Meintjes already did in 2022 with a seventh place.

The 111th edition of the Tour will be a special one, with a new Grand Départ and a new finale. For the first time, the race will start in Italy, with three stages in Florence. And for the first time ever, the Grande Boucle will not finish in the capital, but in Nice, with a time trial on the Côte d’Azur on 21 July.

Among the confirmed names in the team is South African climber Louis Meintjes, the designated rider for the general classification. In addition to his seventh-place finish in the 2022 edition, he finished eighth in 2016 and 2017, as well as 10th in La Vuelta in 2022 with Intermarché-Wanty.

Giro stage winner and Gent-Wevelgem winner Biniam Girmay is preparing for his second consecutive Tour de France. The Eritrean rider has shown his great form in recent weeks, with a victory in the Circuit Franco-Belge and second places in the Brussels Classic and the Rund um Köln to his podium in the Giro.

Sprinter Gerben Thijssen is about to discover the Tour for the first time and is one of five Belgians on the extended list. Since joining Intermarché-Wanty, he has won nine times against top sprinters. This year he won the Trofeo Palma and the Tour of the Algarve, and he is quietly returning to form after the ankle injury that prevented him from taking part in the Giro, as evidenced by his podium finish in the Tour of Belgium.

Alongside Thijssen, youngsters Hugo Page and Laurenz Rex are the other two debutants guaranteed to contest their first Tour de France. In 2023, they made solid Grand Tour debuts, Page in the Vuelta and Rex in the Giro, with several top 10 finishes. And this season, they have distinguished themselves in the service of the team, contributing to the victories of Girmay and Thijssen, in addition to personal achievements such as Rex’s win at Le Samyn and Page’s podium finish at the Critérium du Dauphiné.

The sixth confirmed name in the squad is Mike Teunissen, stage winner at the 2019 Tour de France and holder of the yellow jersey. An experienced figure, he has four Tours to his name and plays a major role in the team, alongside Biniam Girmay and Gerben Thijssen, and recently with ZLM Tour winner Rune Herregodts.

Performance Manager Aike Visbeek: “With a clear aim to achieving our objectives in this Tour de France, we have assembled a homogeneous group of twelve riders. All of them have benefited from optimum preparation, with the exception of Kobe Goossens who crashed out of the Critérium du Dauphiné and is therefore fine-tuning his condition at altitude in Livigno. The presence of five Belgian riders in our extended selection ensures strong representation, which is important for us. Our leaders Louis Meintjes and Biniam Girmay are surrounded by riders with whom they are used to racing and with whom they have shared much of the competition programme. With Laurenz Rex, Gerben Thijssen and Hugo Page, we have three young talents who will be discovering the Tour for the first time, and in whom we have complete confidence. Hugo and Laurenz made a big impression on their first Grand Tour last year, and this season they have confirmed their ability to play their cards right and to serve the team.”

“After his superb start to the season, Gerben is coming on strong, as he showed at the Tour of Belgium against the top sprinters. He also had the opportunity to get his bearings with Biniam Girmay over a number of events in May. In addition to the selection of eight riders, we have set aside four equally divided reserves, two dedicated to the sprint train and two for the mountains. The final decision will be taken after next week’s national championships. We’re very proud of what Rune Herregodts has achieved recently, with some remarkable performances in the time trial. He will continue his season without the Tour, focusing on this discipline and other important objectives. As for Adrien Petit, an experienced and valuable road captain, injuries are preventing him from being fit enough to start the Tour.”

 

Uno-X Mobility Team for the Tour de France is Ready
In January, Uno-X Mobility was thrilled to receive another invitation to the Tour de France. Today, we proudly present the riders of the Norwegian-Danish team who will participate in the world’s largest annual sporting event. When the cycling race kicks off in Florence, Italy, on June 29, we aim to secure a stage victory in this year’s race.

The team has delivered a series of strong results so far this season, and Magnus Cort’s recent stage victory in the Critérium du Dauphiné was an impressive achievement. This was the team’s first World Tour victory, and racing in the yellow leader’s jersey added an extra dimension to the event. As we shift our focus to this year’s major highlight, the Tour de France, we are confident in our strong team.

“The team was well noticed during last year’s Tour de France, achieving 11 top-ten finishes. We have now assembled a team that we believe can take another step up from last year,” says General Manager of Uno-X Mobility, Thor Hushovd.

Several Qualified Riders
A number of riders have shown great riding strength and delivered good results this season. The team has also strengthened its position as the third-best Pro Team in the world. Some riders have been a given for a while, while others have earned their place on the team in the past few weeks.

“Our focus in the team selection has been to find a good combination of lead-out skills, climbing skills, and general riding strength. The riders we have selected complement each other very well, and I am confident that we will make our mark on several stages throughout the race,” says Hushovd.

Alexander Kristoff delivers again with a series of victories, approaching his one-hundredth professional career win. His convincing performances prove that he is still a force to be reckoned with.

“We will continue to build the team around the biggest Norwegian and Danish profiles, and it is therefore really nice that we have both Magnus Cort and Alexander Kristoff on this year’s team,” says Hushovd.

Several riders in top form
Among the more obvious selections is Jonas Abrahamsen. He has taken major steps this season, and the victory in Dwars door het Hageland at the beginning of June was a remarkable performance.

Søren Wærenskjold impressed again in Paris-Roubaix in April, and he has since shown steadily improving form. His overall victory in the Baloise Belgium Tour last weekend is a very good indication of this.

Injuries have created uncertainty
The team’s leader in the mountains during last year’s race, Tobias Halland Johannessen, has had a challenging build-up to this year’s Tour. The rider from Drøbak, Norway, had a bad crash at the start of the season and had to spend many weeks in alternative training. He made a strong comeback in La Flèche Wallonne and Liège–Bastogne–Liège, but another crash in the latter race caused new injury issues. Halland Johannessen is now back in good form and is a rider who can make a significant impact, especially in the latter part of the Tour de France.

The young talent Johannes Kulset (20) is among the greatest climbing talents Norway has seen. Kulset delivers impressive numbers, and despite his young age, he has been one of the team’s best climbers over time. During the team’s altitude training camp in Sierra Nevada, the rider from Oslo suffered a bad crash, casting doubt on his ability to return in time for this year’s major highlight. However, Kulset has impressively fought his way back, and he is a rider we look forward to following on this year’s mountain stages.

Strong riding skills and experience complete the team
Rasmus Fossum Tiller has again proven himself as one of the team’s strongest riders throughout the spring season. Tiller will play an important role in the lead-out on flat stages, while there are also stages that suit him well. The ninth stage with 14 gravel sectors is an example of this.

Odd Christian Eiking came to Uno-X Mobility late before this season. With his many years of experience as a professional rider and good climbing skills, he will be an important contributor to the team.

Three reserves have been selected in addition to the mentioned riders. The reserves are listed in no particular order and will be evaluated based on the rider to be replaced.

Positive and proactive team owner
Uno-X Mobility Cycling is part of Reitan Retail, in which Ole Robert Reitan is CEO and co-owner. This year, he is even more closely involved in the cycling initiative, as chairman of the operating company behind the team.

“The sporting results in the spring season show that Uno-X Mobility belongs on the biggest stage in cycling. We are ready to show the world what we are made of, and I am really looking forward to following this year’s Tour de France,” he says.

Reitan emphasises that the cycling initiative is an integral part of the business strategy at Reitan Retail. “The cycling initiative is a symbol of the transformation we are undergoing, towards a forward-looking player that facilitates more sustainable choices – at home, on the go, and along the road. Just as we have shifted gears and are fully committed to electrification of both the passenger car market and the heavy-duty vehicle market, the cycling team has also taken a new sporting step. The goal is undoubtedly that we will stand on the top of the podium in at least one stage of the Tour de France this year,” he says.

Uno-X Mobility in Tour de France 2024:
Magnus Cort (DEN)
Alexander Kristoff (NOR)
Søren Wærenskjold (NOR)
Jonas Abrahamsen (NOR)
Tobias Halland Johannessen (NOR)
Johannes Kulset (NOR)
Rasmus Fossum Tiller (NOR)
Odd Christian Eiking (NOR).

Reserves:
Markus Hoelgaard (NOR)
Anders Skaarseth (NOR)
Andreas Leknessund (NOR).

 

Tour Preparation of Lidl-Trek leaders Disrupted
Lidl-Trek leaders Tao Geoghegan Hart and Giulio Ciccone came out of the Critérium du Dauphiné with injuries. The French stage race was supposed to be the ideal preparation for the Tour de France, but both riders are struggling with illness.

Hart had to leave the Dauphiné early. In the final weekend, the British climber was unable to start due to a crash on stage 5. He suffered an injury to his ribs, back and the side of his body. This was a big set back just three weeks before the start of the Tour. But it got worse. “I spent zero hours on the bike this week and was Covid-positive for five days,” the Giro d’Italia winner wrote on his Instagram. “I thought that period was long behind us, but unfortunately I became very ill.”

It was the same story with teammate and co-leader Giulio Ciccone, who won the KOM jersey in the Tour last year. “My return home after the Dauphiné didn’t go as I expected,” the Italian wrote. “The flu got me and I haven’t been able to train since Friday. I now hope to get better quickly and recover for the Italian championship at the weekend.”

Tao Geoghegan Hart injured before the Tour:

 

Magdeleine Vallieres Extends with EF Education-Cannondale
Weeks before her first race day with EF Education-Cannondale, Magdeleine Vallieres already knew that she wanted to extend her contract with the team.

“Right from when I arrived at the first training camp last December, I knew,” Magdeleine said. “I knew before we even got started that I wanted to sign for longer. At the training camp, I just thought, ‘My god, I really like it here. It feels like home.’ I told my agent I needed to stay because I just really like it. And it turns out the team is happy to keep me so it’s worked out for everyone.”

Before joining EF Education-Cannondale, Magdeleine had been labeled a domestique. Now that she has been given different roles and opportunities, the 22-year-old is discovering her abilities are far wider than she imagined.

“I’ve gotten opportunities which I didn’t have in the past. I think I’ve been growing a lot quicker as a result. I’ve learned so much from not being in the same role all the time, to do more than just be a domestique and work only at the beginning of a race. Now sometimes I get the opportunity to have a more of a free role. This has all helped me to learn a lot about me and this also gives me more confidence in myself,” she said.

In January, the rider from Quebec earned her first professional win in just her second race day of the season, soloing to victory at Trofeo Palma Femina. The result didn’t surprise general manager Esra Tromp, who knew from the beginning she wanted Magdeleine to experiment with different roles.

“From the beginning, we thought Magdeleine is such a versatile rider,” Esra said. “She is much stronger than other people realise. We’ve had her trying different roles in addition to the domestique role that she already has experience with. A rider with her physical capabilities could grow into a leader, a captain, or a super domestique. She has the personality to do it. You can see that she has sparkles and wants to go for the win, whether it’s for her or her teammates. That’s why we’ve given her some of the different roles to challenge her so she can continue to develop and become a stronger racer.”

Continuing to grow and learn are Magdeleine’s primary goals. With EF Education-Cannondale, she has a host of mentors who are always ready to guide her and offer input.

“I feel like we’re all learning a lot and we’re all helping each other grow,” she said. “Every time we have a question, we just discuss it. Everyone has different input and different perspectives so you end up learning a bit from everyone. I’ve also been learning from Carmen [Small] and Daniel [Foder], our sport directors. I’ve worked with Daniel before and every time I go to a race with him, I learn something new. And with Carmen, she really takes the time to help me see what I did well or what I did poorly or how I can improve.”

Magdeleine said that wanting to extend her contract was not just about her race results and future potential. The team’s inclusive and supportive culture, along with the relationships she’s formed with her new teammates, are equally important to her.

“Of course it’s very professional and serious,” Magdeleine said. “But I like that we can also have fun. And when you finish a race, you can just laugh and joke and enjoy the time and have a good conversation. It kind of de-stresses you. It’s a bonus that by extending my contract, I get to keep doing hotel reviews on RaceTV. I’ve never been so happy.”

And we’re so happy to have you, Mags!

Magdeleine Vallieres extends contract:

 

Veronica Ewers to Take a Break from Cycling for Remainder of Season
Veronica Ewers will take the remainder of the 2024 season off from racing and training. She and the team have made this decision together in the interest of her mental and physical health. Veronica will continue to have access to team resources while she takes time to reset.

Veronica shared her thoughts and plans for her time away from the bike.

How did you decide to take a break from racing? “I’m recovering from RED-S [relative energy deficiency in sport], and it was pretty clear at the end of last year, coming into this year, that I was suffering from it. I had gotten a stress fracture in my heel, which prompted the team to have me get a DEXA scan and get some blood testing done, which showed that my bone density was quite poor, and my estrogen levels were pretty much non-existent. I was experiencing all of the symptoms of RED-S.”

“So going into this year, when I joined the new team, we really focused on me getting healthier. At the beginning of this year, the team said, ‘We’re going to try and get you to a healthy place. That might mean that performance takes a hit, but we’ll make some adaptations at the beginning of this year, and then hopefully it’ll come around mid season.’ And so my training changed because my body needed to heal and recover in certain ways. This then impacted my performance, which then had a domino effect on my mental health even more than I’ve already struggled with in the past. So at this point, I think there are still some physical blocks happening when it comes to performance, but I also think the mental side is a big part.”

“Physically, my estrogen levels and hormones are still not where they need to be. So this break was a suggestion from the team as a way to just have a full reset, physically and mentally, to try and recover properly with time off of training and racing. I’ll be taking time completely off the bike for quite some time, and then going from there.”

What kinds of support do you have going into this next chapter? “I am honestly so appreciative of the support team I have around me, particularly Dr. Jon Greenwell, who has, I think, gone beyond for me as a human, not just as a rider on the team. He’s really helped me find the support system I need, which is himself as a doctor, a dietician, and a therapist that will work together with me to help get through the physical recovery, but also get through this break in a healthy way. And my coach, as well, has been just amazing. He checks in on me daily and he’s very supportive of me taking this break. Everyone is very hopeful and positive about it. I’m trying to take in some of that positivity and hopefulness.”

“This will be a big change for you. How are you feeling about it? “It’s going to be hard. I’ve been training or practicing sports pretty competitively since I was 10 or 11. So this is a very new experience for me, and it’s very scary. It sounds kind of ridiculous for this to be scary, but it’s jumping into the unknown. I don’t know what it’s going to be like to be out of fitness and to have to come out of that. Will I be stronger than I was before? Once I am able to get in shape again, what kind of rider will I be afterwards? It’s a lot of not knowing, which is something I’m not always great at dealing with.”

“I’m going to take advantage of this time by traveling a bit with my parents, who are coming over to Europe. They’re going to be with me to explore, and I get to be a proper tourist for the first time in a very long time. I’m looking forward to it, and then, after doing a bit of traveling here, I’ll go back to the States and go to my family’s lake house in northern Idaho, which I haven’t been to in the summertime in maybe eight years. It’s honestly one of my favourite places on this planet. So I’m really excited to get there, and I think it will give me a lot of peace just being in that place. But I just can spend some time with my family and friends while I’m there in one of my favourite places and just get that reset.”

Veronica Ewers to take a break:

 

Florian Vermeersch and Lennert Van Eetvelt Making Return at Belgian Championships
Good news from the Lotto Dsnty camp, as Lennert Van Eetvelt (22) and Florian Vermeersch (25) are back. Van Eetvelt will already be at the start of the Belgian Championship time trial, and Florian will join the selection on Sunday.

After a nasty crash in the Tour of Murcia, where Florian Vermeersch broke his left thigh bone, he not only had to cross out his spring classics but also the rest of the season so far. Vermeersch worked his way back over a long road. In recent weeks, he prepared himself in Sierra Nevada, and there is finally light at the end of the tunnel: this coming Sunday, he will be at the start of the Belgian Championship road race. “Normally, my return was scheduled for August, but I feel good and really want to race again,” says Vermeersch. “I thought, ‘I’ll just start at the Belgian Championship and see what happens.’”

After months of rehabilitation, Vermeersch is finally back to his old self. “I have been training for two months without complications. Everything has healed well. I will stay in Sierra Nevada until Friday, then return home for the national championship. I haven’t raced much; it has been a really long time, so I have no idea about my level. The signals are good, and I am especially happy to be back. After the Belgian Championship, it will probably take some time before I race again; during the Tour, there is simply not much of a program. So, I will mainly try to enjoy this coming weekend, where hopefully we can achieve a good result with the team.”

And there is more good news to announce, as Lennert Van Eetvelt is also returning to competition. He will already be at the start of the Belgian Championship time trial tomorrow, Thursday, and will also be part of the team on Sunday. Van Eetvelt dropped out with knee problems after Strade Bianche. On top of that, he was hit by a car during his first long training since that injury, at the end of May. “In recent weeks, I feel more and more like a cyclist again,” he says. “I feel my condition improving, and that is good. On Thursday, I will start without expectations. It will mainly be good to be back on the bus with my teammates and pin a race number again.”

Vermeersch back:

 

UCI Changes Regulations: Two Transfer Periods and Strict Penalties for Breach of Contract
The UCI has changed its transfer regulations on two important points. The international cycling union will now have two ‘transfer periods’ and can punish breaches of contract with fines and even suspensions for the rider, the new team and his agent.

Transfers for the next season may, according to the UCI regulations, only be officialised and announced from August 1. Cycling teams are often busy behind the scenes completing transfers, which are often leaked and then widely reported in the media. The UCI wants to get rid of this and is partly overhauling its transfer regulations, for both men and women at WorldTour and Pro-Continental level.

The UCI now works with ‘transfer periods’. This concerns an initial registration period from August 1 to 15 with immediate effect, allowing riders to switch teams during the season. The second registration period starts on October 15 and ends on December 31, depending on the following season.

Riders who do not have a current contract may also register with a team on other days of the year. This is also the case for a rider who has terminated his contract with the mutual consent of his current and new employer.

Perhaps the most important change is intended for riders who want to get out of the contract with their current team, but are not given permission to do so. This was, for example, the case with the transfer of Wout van Aert from Vérandas Willems-Crelan to (then) Jumbo-Visma and Cian Uijtdebroeks from BORA-hansgrohe to Visma | Lease a Bike.

From now on, the UCI can act as a kind of referee and initially assess whether a unilateral termination of a contract by a rider has not been carried out correctly. If a rider unilaterally breaks his current agreement and subsequently enters into a new contract with a new team, the UCI can, according to the new rules, impose fines and even suspensions on riders, teams and agents.

The International Cycling Union can only do this if a ‘competent authority’ (court) has also ruled that the unilateral termination is not legally valid. If this were the case, the rider would have to pay compensation to his current team. The compensation is then equal to the amount that the rider in question would still receive in salary until the contract with the current team expires, with a minimum of six months’ salary. The driver also risks a three-month suspension.

But that’s not all: the new team will also have to pay a fine, which could amount to an amount equal to three months’ salary with the current team. The new employer of the rider in question also risks a twelve-month ban on registering new riders. The agent involved will also have to pay a fine (equal to one month’s salary with the rider’s current team) and may lose his UCI license for one month.

The international cycling union hopes in this way to put an end to the trend of contracts not being respected. However, there is an important caveat: if a rider changes teams without increasing his salary, this type of contract termination should not be considered abuse and will therefore not be penalised.

Less or more contract confusion?

 

Action in Beauce for Canadian Road Championships (Elite, Junior, U17 and Para)
The Canadian Road Championships for Junior, Elite and Para athletes are heading to Saint-Georges, QC, from June 21-24, where over 350 athletes from all over the country will be looking to secure Canadian titles in the individual time trial, road race and criterium over four days of racing.

“Our main goal is to provide an optimal sporting platform for the athletes to express their full potential and crown the best in Canada, as well as to provide them with an adequate welcome and showcase the region to the rest of Canada,” said Françis Rancourt, General Manager of the Corporation du Grand Prix Cycliste de Beauce. “Hosting such an event, a few days after the Tour de Beauce, is a challenge for everyone, but it is also very stimulating,” he added.

For the first time in the Canadian Road Championships history, titles will be awarded to athletes in the U17 category, both in the time trial and in the road race.

The Championships kick off on Friday, June 21, with the individual time trial for all categories over distances ranging from 11 to 34 kilometres.

The road races will take place on Saturday and Sunday, June 22 and 23, where athletes in the para categories will race on a 6.1-kilometre circuit, while the U17, junior, U23 and elite categories will race on an out-and-back course to a 27.9-kilometre loop for a course varying between 42.7 and 199.2 kilometres.

On Monday, June 24, riders in the elite and U23 (combined) and junior and U17 (combined) categories will loop around the 1.3-kilometre circuit in a bid for the criterium titles.

The competition promises to be fierce, with some of the biggest names in Canadian cycling expected to take part, including Mike Woods (Israel Premier Tech), stage winner at the Tour de France 2023, and reigning road race champion Alison Jackson (EF-Education-Cannodale), stage winner at the Vuelta España Feminina 2024 and winner of Paris-Roubaix Femmes 2023. Evolving internationally, Olivia Baril (Movistar), Magdeleine Vallières-Mill (EF-Education-Cannondale), Ava Holmgren (Lidl-Trek), Isabella Holmgren (Lidl-Trek), Pier-André Côté (Israel Premier Tech) and Riley Pickrell (Israel Premier Tech) will be looking to make their mark while on Canadian soil for the occasion.

Medal winners at the Santiago 2023 Parapan American Games, Alexandre Hayward (men C3), Charles Moreau (men H3), Mike Sametz (men H3) and Nathan Clement (men T1) will be coming home to show their strength, along with Paralympian and 2022 World bronze medallist Joey Desjadins (men H3).

Many of the reigning Canadian champions, winners of the 2023 edition, will be lining up, in search of a place on the top step of the podium.

The full technical guide and important event information can be found on the Events Page of the Cycling Canada website.

Canadian Road Championships in Beauce:

 

2026 Grand Depart: The Crowning Glory of Barcelona

Key points:

• The Mayor of Barcelona, Jaume Collboni, hosted the director of the Tour de France, Christian Prudhomme, at an official ceremony held this morning to announce that the 113th edition will get under way in the Catalan capital on Saturday, 4th July 2026.
• The host city of the 1992 Olympic Games has already rolled out the red carpet for the Tour de France on three occasions (1957, 1965 and 2009). It also provided the backdrop for the opening of the Vuelta in 2023. The 2026 route will feature two stages inside Catalonia and the start of a stage finishing on French soil.

South we go. The venue chosen for the Grand Départ of the 2026 Tour de France will set a new record in the history of the event, as Barcelona, straddling the 41st parallel, will edge out Porto-Vecchio as the southernmost start of the race by a dozen minutes of latitude. The Grande Boucle has already graced the streets of the Catalan capital, most recently in 2009, when Thor Hushovd out-sprinted the Spanish speedsters Óscar Freire and José Joaquín Rojas to take stage6 right next to Montjuïc Stadium. Since that fleeting Spanish sojourn, the Tour has gone through the wild experience of a Grand Départ in the Basque Country in 2023 and is now gearing up for another equally intense adventure on the shores of the Mediterranean. The Grande Boucle will share a momentous occasion with the people of Barcelona, as the Sagrada Família is slated to finally reach completion in 2026. The cathedral, whose silhouette has become an iconic symbol of Barcelona, sprang from the brilliant mind of the architect Antoni Gaudí, who adorned the city with numerous buildings and part of his whimsical spirit before he died, as fate would have it, in 1926.

Barcelona is a global architecture hub and a nexus of sport in Spain. Long before the 1992 Olympic Games, Montjuïc Hill was the scene of a street circuit that hosted events such as the Formula1 Spanish GP in the 1970s. Even more importantly, the city is the focal point of one of the oldest and most prestigious races on the cycling calendar: the Volta a Catalunya, first held in 1911. The Vuelta a España has visited Barcelona 40 times over the years, including two starts in 1962 and 2023. French fans of a certain age will no doubt recall a blink-and-you-miss-it 3.8km time trial in 1978, which Bernard Hinault won en route to his first Vuelta a España triumph. There is something for the tifosi too, with Felice Gimondi’s world championship victory here in 1973, as well as the poignant memory of Fabio Casartelli’s Olympic gold in 1992. The Belgian Claude Criquielion topped the podium when the Worlds returned to Barcelona in 1984. Meanwhile, Spanish cycling maniacs will remember one of their all-time greats, Alejandro Valverde, and his two stage wins in Barcelona in the Volta a Catalunya, a race he won four times. Last but not least, Catalan aficionados have plenty of time to watch the local talent Juan Ayuso continue developing into an even finer rider, primed to shine on home roads in 2026.

Tour de France stages in Barcelona:
2009
Stage 6, Girona > Barcelona, 181.5km (Thor Hushovd, NOR)
Stage 7, Barcelona > Andorra Arcalís, 224km (Brice Feillu, FRA).

1965
Stage 11, Ax-les-Thermes > Barcelona, 240km (José Pérez Francés, ESP)
Stage12, Barcelona > Perpignan, 219km (Jan Janssen, NED).

1957
Stage 15a, Perpignan > Barcelona, 197 km (René Privat, FRA)
Stage 15b, Barcelona > Barcelona, 9.6km ITT (Jacques Anquetil, FRA)
Stage 16, Barcelona > Ax-les-Thermes, 220km (Jean Bourlès, FRA)

All information about Tour de France on letour.fr/en/.

The Tour goes to Barcelona:

 

Cofidis Founder has Passed Away at the Age of 79
François Migraine, the founder of Cofidis, the French personal loans and consumer credit insurance, has died. The French businessman was 79-years-old.

“It is with great sadness that we learned of the death of François Migraine, the founder of Cofidis, but also of our cycling team in 1996,” the team said in a press release. “We will never forget our memories of him and will do everything we can to pay tribute to him on the bike in the near future. The entire team extends its condolences to his loved ones.”

The company started in 1982 and was founded by 3 Suisses International. In 2008, Crédit Mutuel bought the company. The team itself has been continuously active in the peloton since 1996.

Repose en Paix François Migraine:

 

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