La Vuelta Femenina by Carrefour.es kicks off in Valencia and Tour de Romandie and Vuelta Asturias – Julio Alvarez Mendo finish, plus the Lotto Famenne Ardenne Classic – All the results, reports, rider quotes and videos.
Patrick Lefevere: “Remco Evenepoel texted me that he will be involved in the spring next year” TOP STORY.
Rider news: Wout van Aert and Remco Evenepoel are with the same physiotherapist for rehabilitation, Remco Evenepoel starts training outside, Lennert Van Eetvelt looks ahead after surgery, Soudal Quick-Step interested in Oier Lazkano, will Julian Alaphilippe leave Soudal Quick-Step and Florian Vermeersch close to agreement with UAE Team Emirates.
Team news: Geraint Thomas leads Grenadiers’ charge at the Giro, Alexey Lutsenko Will Ride the Giro d’Italia for Astana Qazaqstan and Trek won’t be a named sponsor of Baloise Trek Lions.
Race news: La Vuelta Femenina has special ‘nature zones’ for riders.
Plus: The Wolfpack Howls with Mikel Landa.
TOP STORY: Patrick Lefevere: “Remco Evenepoel texted me that he will be involved in the spring next year”
It looks like we are going to see Remco Evenepoel in the spring Classic next year. Patrick Lefevere previously said this to La Dernière Heure, but now the Soudal Quick-Step manager has explained more to Het Nieuwsblad. “I think Sanremo and De Ronde (Tour of Flanders) are feasible in his program,” said Lefevere.
Lefevere said a few days ago that the team were considering racing Evenepoel in the spring Classics. “If you know someone at the level of Mathieu van der Poel, Tadej Pogačar or Wout van Aert, who is available and affordable, I am interested. I think that Remco is ultimately a bit of a Flandrien. He sometimes trains on these roads. I’m sure he wants to ride De Ronde one day.”
In a double interview with José De Cauwer in Het Nieuwsblad, Lefevere spoke about the plans for Evenepoel. “As everyone knows, I was sick on the day of Paris-Roubaix this year. Problems with my stomach. In any case, in front of my TV, with my lasagna, I start texting with Remco. He sends: ‘Patrick, about the past few weeks… Next year will be different, right? I’m going to get involved.’”
“I think that is the max. We agree in our style of communication,” Lefevere continued. “I think Sanremo and De Ronde are feasible in his programme. After that you might also add Liège. The Tour is still far away.”
Evenepoel to the spring Classics in 2025:
La Vuelta Femenina by Carrefour.es 2024
Fighting against misfortune normally adds some glory to the feeling of victory, although drama is not always welcome. A late crash with just 200 metres to go put Lidl-Trek’s triumph in La Vuelta Femenina’24 by Carrefour.es opening Stage 1 Team Time Trial in jeopardy, as two of its seven riders hit the deck in the last right-hand bend creating a confusion that nearly marred the team’s effort over the 16 kilometre course along the Albufera Natural Park. They still managed to save the day and the win, though, defeating Visma | Lease a Bike by a mere 9 hundredths of a second and putting Italian climber Gaia Realini in the lead of the GC.
144 riders spread over 21 teams took the start on the first stage of the 2024 La Vuelta Femenina by Carrefour.es, which began with a 16 kilometre team time trial in Valencia. Coop-Repsol was the first team on the start ramp of the Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias and also the first one over the finish line clocking 20:48, a time that was bested a few minutes later by Lotto-dstny with 20:30. Shortly after, the Volkerwessels team set a new fastest time of 20:21 that only stood for two minutes at the top of the standings as EF Education-Cannondale crushed it with its 19:29. Liv-Jayco-AlUla challenged them and fell just 1 second short of beating their time at the finish line. A few minutes later, FDJ-SUEZ just lost out by just 14 hundredths of a second. Things were just about to get tighter…
The Visma | Lease a Bike riders made an excellent effort to set new fastest times at the intermediate time check at kilometre 7,8 of 10:52 and at the finish, 19:20. Their spell at the top of the standings was quite short, as Lidl-Trek beat them by 8 seconds at the intermediate split and were about to comfortably beat them at the end of the test when Ellen van Dijk and Elynor Backstedt crashed on the last right-hand bend with 200 metres to go. Their teammates still managed to pull off the win by 9 hundredths of a second, putting Gaia Realini in the overall lead. Demi Vollering’s SD Worx-Protime team was just 1 second slower than Lidl-Trek, with Kasia Niewiadoma’s Canyon//SRAM just 8 seconds behind in 4th place.
Overall leader, Gaia Realini (Lidl-Trek): “It’s an amazing result both for me and for the team. I’m happy about it, but not completely happy because two of my teammates crashed on the last corner. I welcome this result, and now I look forward to the next stage. We are definitely ready to defend La Roja over the next few stages and we will try to keep it all the way to Madrid. A course like today’s is not the best for me because it was really flat, but the team had a perfect strategy that enabled us to win this stage.”
3rd overall, Brodie Chapman (Lidl-Trek): “It’s definitely mixed emotions. We set out to win today, and Ellen van Dijk was crucial for it as she took the longest, hardest pulls. It was unfortunate that she crashed along with Elynor [Backstedt] at the very end of the TTT. Without that crash, we would have won by a lot – yet we saved victory at the end, and it’s enough. We made some mistakes, yet we had an amazing race. Now we just hope for Ellen and Elynor to heal up quickly. We had to be aware of the wind today. It picked up a little bit from when we did the recon. The most challenging part, though, was that there is no recovery on a course like this, because it was really fast and straightforward. Seeing Gaia Realini in the Red jersey this early is pretty exciting. She has definitely come into the race in excellent form and we know how fantastic she is in the mountains. We are just going to try and win this race, as we do in every race.”
La Vuelta Femenina by Carrefour.es Stage 1 result:
1. Lidl-Trek in 19:20
2. Visma | Lease a Bike
3. SD Worx-Protime at 0:01
4. Canyon//SRAM at 0:08
5. EF Education-Cannondale at 0:09
6. FDJ-SUEZ
7. Liv AlUla Jayco at 0:10
8. Movistar at 0:12
9. dsm-firmenich PostNL at 0:17
10. AG Insurance-Soudal at 0:32.
La Vuelta Femenina by Carrefour.es Overall After Stage 1:
1. Gaia Realini (Ita) Lidl-Trek in 19:20
2. Elizabeth Deignan (GB) Lidl-Trek
3. Brodie Chapman (Aus) Lidl-Trek
4. Elisa Longo Borghini (Ita) Lidl-Trek
5. Amanda Spratt (Aus) Lidl-Trek
6. Elynor Bäckstedt (GB) Lidl-Trek
7. Ellen van Dijk (Ned) Lidl-Trek
8. Riejanne Markus (Ned) Visma | Lease a Bike
9. Anna Henderson (GB) Visma | Lease a Bike
10. Marianne Vos (Ned) Visma | Lease a Bike.
La Vuelta Femenina’24 stage 1:
Tour de Romandie 2024
Thibau Nys won the Second Stage of the Tour de Romandie. The Belgian won the exciting mountain stage from the early break. Fellow escapee Andrea Vendrame and Luke Plapp were second and third on the podium. Nys also to the overall lead.
The third day of the Tour de Romandie was one for the climbers. There was 171 kilometres from the start in Fribourg to the finish in Salvan. That finish was on the summit of Les Marécottes climb.
There was a strong early escape of 7 riders. They started the climb of Les Mosses (12.8km at 4.2%) with a lead of 3:50. On the second category climb, Flynn and Arndt were dropped. Behind; Rainer Kepplinger attacked from the peloton, but he was pulled back. After the descent from Les Mosses, the lead of the 5 leaders was 2:20 seconds. In the valley their lead increased and they started the final climb of Les Marécottes (7.6km at 7.5%).with a lead of 2:30.
Azparren had to let go in the first kilometre. Nys, Meurisse, Adrià and Vendrame had to hold off the peloton. Adrià was dropped 4 kilometres from the finish, the break still had a 1 minute lead. Vendrame attacked and Meurisse cracked, Nys rode at his own pace and got to the wheel of Vendrame. Meurisse was able to rejoin. In the peloton, the climbers started the action. Simon Yates was the first to make a move, but it was Luke Plapp who crossed to the three leaders and then went to the front. Vendrame and Nys had to make every effort to hang on. The three stayed together in the final kilometre and started the sprint, which was a battle between Vendrame and Nys. The Belgian had the fastest legs for the win. Nys is in his first race of the season, not only won the second stage, he also took the overall lead. Florian Lipowitz, who was Plapp for a while, finished fourth. Juan Ayuso took fifth.
Stage winner and overall leader, Thibau Nys (Lidl-Trek): “I was very disappointed after Wednesday’s stage, because I couldn’t get my not showing good legs. In today’s stage we had the plan to go in the early flight, if it was strong enough. I actually created the escape myself and it was at the perfect time. My fellow escapees were very strong guys. That was special, because I didn’t know what to expect at all. In fact, it was my first time ever on the early break. I didn’t know the last climb either and I didn’t know anything about the final kilometre either. I must thank my team, because they guided me fantastically. For some people this may seem like an ordinary victory, but I really wanted this so much. I also worked very hard for this. I will remember this for the rest of my life. Do I have the ambition to keep the yellow jersey? My time trial (on Friday) is not strong enough, so I will mainly try to enjoy my day in yellow.”
Tour de Romandie Stage 2 Result:
1. Thibau Nys (Bel) Lidl-Trek at 4:02:44
2. Andrea Vendrame (Ita) Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale
3. Luke Plapp (Aus) Jayco AlUla at 0:04
4. Florian Lipowitz (Ger) BORA-hansgrohe at 0:14
5. Juan Ayuso (Spa) UAE Team Emirates at 0:16
6. Aleksandr Vlasov (-) BORA-hansgrohe
7. Adam Yates (GB) UAE Team Emirates
8. Guillaume Martin (Fra) Cofidis
9. Ilan Van Wilder (Bel) Soudal Quick-Step
10. Lenny Martinez (Fra) Groupama-FDJ.
Tour de Romandie Overall After Stage 2:
1. Thibau Nys (Bel) Lidl-Trek in 7:55:32
2. Andrea Vendrame (Ita) Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale at 0:04
3. Luke Plapp (Aus) Jayco AlUla at 0:22
4. Ilan Van Wilder (Bel) Soudal Quick-Step at 0:25
5. Enric Mas (Spa) Movistar at 0:26
6. Lenny Martinez (Fra) Groupama-FDJ at 0:27
7. Juan Ayuso (Aus) UAE Team Emirates
8. Aleksandr Vlasov (-) BORA-hansgrohe at 0:28
9. Yannis Voisard (Sui) Tudor at 0:29
10. Adam Yates (GB) UAE Team Emirates.
Romandie’24 stage 2:
Brandon McNulty won the individual time trial Stage 3 of the Tour de Romandie on Friday. The American was an early starter, which turned out to be a big advantage. The GC riders rode in the rain and so couldn’t get near his winning time. His UAE teammate, Juan Ayuso finished fourth and took the overall lead from Thibau Nys.
The individual time trial in Oron was over 15.5 kilometres with a climb of 1.8 kilometres at an average of 6.5% in the first part of the stage. Thibau Nys started the day as overall leader with a 4 second lead over Andrea Vendrame. Luke Plapp was third at 22 seconds.
Brandon McNulty was considered one of the favourites for the overall victory, but he lost a lot of time in the opening stages. The American started early in the day and set the first target time of 20:06, he beat Johan Price-Pejtersen (Bahrain-Victorious), who was in the hot seat before him. McNulty would spend the whole day in the hot seat. In the first hours no one came close, which had to do with the weather and his fast ride. McNulty raced in dry conditions, there were showers later in the stage. Felix Großschartner came within 14 seconds of his teammate. Then it started to rain more, but Magnus Sheffield (INEOS Grenadiers) managed to finished between the two UAE Team Emirates riders. The rain then became torrential. It was then clear that McNulty was going to take the stage victory, because the later starters losing a lot of time, especially on the wet descent. The American champion took his fourth victory of the season against the clock.
The GC riders all rode in the same conditions. Thymen Arensman had better conditions than the others and finished in the top ten. His teammate Carlos Rodríguez was even better, despite the Spaniard completing his time trial in the pouring rain. He had 6th place at that point and was almost a minute ahead of Egan Bernal, Richard Carapaz and Simon Yates. Aleksandr Vlasov had a very good time at the intermediate point. He was third at that point, but still had to get down the wet descent. He had no problems, but lost time to Rodríguez. At the finish he was 2 seconds short of being the best GC rider. When Ayuso finished he pushed Rodríguez down the rankings. The 21-year-old UAE Team Emirates rider recorded the 4th fastest time on the line, seven seconds better than Rodríguez. Ayuso was the new overall leader, because yellow jersey wearer Nys lost a lot of time. Ilan Van Wilder moved up to second place in the GC. The Soudal Quick-Step rider finished 9th in the time trial, passing the disappointing Luke Plapp.
Stage winner, Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates): “It was nice. I didn’t know what to expect after the last few days. I had a good ride, and maybe I was a bit lucky with the weather. It’s nice to have a win, I was lucky to be in the dry, and it’s a bit strange because you don’t know if you were actually the fastest, but always happy with a win.Now we obviously need to defend because tomorrow will be a tough day, we look forward to defending the jersey now.”
Overall leader and 4th on the stage, Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates): “It was a very hard TT and I think everybody suffered on it. All my teammates said they found it really tough when they got back to the bus so mentally I was prepared for that. Personally I didn’t have great sensations but I think I managed to control my effort and push in the right places. In the wet it was quite tricky and I had to take a few risks. I think I’m in a good position on GC and hope we can hold on for a few more days and take home the GC. Quite a few guys are within a minute so we still have a lot of work to do to be able to win this race.”
Tour de Romandie Stage 3 Result:
1. Brandon McNulty (USA) UAE Team Emirates in 20:06
2. Magnus Sheffield (USA) INEOS Grenadiers at 0:13
3. Felix Großschartner (Aust) UAE Team Emirates at 0:15
4. Juan Ayuso (Spa) UAE Team Emirates at 0:21
5. Bruno Armirail (Fra) Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale at 0:23
6. Johan Price-Pejtersen (Den) Bahrain-Victorious at 0:24
7. Carlos Rodríguez (Spa) INEOS Grenadiers at 0:28
8. Aleksandr Vlasov (-) BORA-hansgrohe at 0:30
9. Ilan Van Wilder (Bel) Soudal Quick-Step
10. Benjamin Thomas (Fra) Cofidis at 0:32.
Tour de Romandie Overall After Stage 3:
1. Juan Ayuso (Spa) UAE Team Emirates in 8:16:26
2. Ilan Van Wilder (Bel) Soudal Quick-Step at 0:07
3. Aleksandr Vlasov (-) BORA-hansgrohe at 0:10
4. Carlos Rodríguez (Spa) INEOS Grenadiers at 0:11
5. Lenny Martinez (Fra) Groupama-FDJ at 0:23
6. Florian Lipowitz (Ger) BORA-hansgrohe at 0:32
7. Luke Plapp (Aus) Jayco AlUla at 0:33
8. Bruno Armirail (Fra) Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale at 0:36
9. Yannis Voisard (Sui) Tudor
10. Damiano Caruso (Ita) Bahrain-Victorious.
Romandie’24 stage 3:
The Queen Stage 4 of the Tour de Romandie was won by Richard Carapaz. The Ecuadorian narrowly beat Florian Lipowitz on the final climb. Carlos Rodríguez took over the leader’s jersey from Juan Ayuso, who lost a lot of time in the last kilometres.
After Friday’s time trial, the fourth stage would be decisive in the Tour de Romandie. The finish was at the summit of the Leysin (13.4km at 6.1%). The race also had to tackle four climbs in the run-up to this finale. Juan Ayuso would have to work hard to hold his overall lead.
Early in the stage, Nelson Oiveira (Movistar), Raúl García Pierna (Arkéa-B&B Hotels) and Bart Lemmen (Visma | Lease a Bike) broke away. They were joined by Juri Hollmann (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Josef Cerny (Soudal Quick-Step) and Dorian Godon (Decathlon AG2R) and they started the Ovronnaz (9.1km at 9.5%), the first climb of the day, together. The break split and only Godon was able to return to Oiveira, Pierna and Lemmen with his teammate Clément Berthet. Of the five front runners, Berthet was the best overall at 1:28. UAE Team Emirates, kept the pace very high for leader Ayuso. This split the peloton into two parts, 65 kilometres from the finish. Simon Yates had missed the move, but the other favourites were all there. The speed eased and the dropped riders were able to return.
Godon eventually had to drop back into the peloton, where INEOS Grenadiers had taken over from UAE Team Emirates. On Les Rives (9.6km at 5.4%), a Cat.2 climb, Lemmen had good legs, as Oliveira and Pierna couldn’t keep up with him. Berthet held on and started to work, causing Lemmen to get dropped. Berthet’s lead over the peloton didn’t get too high. Thanks to the work of INEOS Grenadiers, the Decathlon AG2R rider only had a lead of 1:20 going over Les Giettes (4.1km at 8.3%). This was the penultimate climb of the day, with the summit 45 kilometres from the finish. Luke Plapp had to let the other favourites go. In the valley towards the final climb, Berthet was still going well, but with only a minute’s lead it was an impossible to stay ahead of the favourites. The peloton was still being led by INEOS Grenadiers and getting closer in the first kilometres of the climb. Just over 5 kilometres from the finish, Berthet was caught.
Arensman led an attack for Egan Bernal, who opened a gap on the others. Ayuso didn’t have an answer. Rodríguez saw that he was having a hard time and jumped across to his teammate, Bernal and let the Colombian pace him. Ayuso recovered and was able to eventually join, as did Pavel Sivakov, Richard Carapaz, Enric Mas, Ilan Van Wilder, Aleksandr Vlasov and his teammate Florian Lipowitz. Van Wilder was only just hanging on. About 3 kilometres from the finish, the Belgian had to let go, just before an attack from Lipowitz. Only Carapaz and Rodríguez were able to follow the strong German. Behind; Ayuso had to let Vlasov and Mas go. Carapaz was riding away from Lipowitz and Rodríguez, just over 2 kilometres from the finish. Rodríguez continued to drive, because he was 4th overall at 11 second to Ayuso and had a good chance of taking the overall lead. He had to stay ahead of Vlasov, who was one second ahead of him. The stage victory would go to Carapaz, but it was close. In the last 100 metres, Lipowitz jumped from Rodríguez’s wheel and come closer Carapaz. His effort was just too late and Carapaz took the win. Lipowitz was second, 10 seconds ahead of Rodríguez, who was 4 seconds ahead of Mas and Vlasov. BORA-hansgrohe missed out on both the stage victory and the yellow. The difference between Rodríguez and Vlasov is only 7 seconds, but Sunday’s final stage isn’t hard.
Stage winner and 7th overall, Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost): “I am very happy that I won today. I took advantage of the work of INEOS Grenadiers, who made the race very hard. Then I made a good attack, which allowed me to stay in front until the finish. Carlos (Rodríguez) and I knew that Lipowitz was the fastest of the three of us, so we had to do it from afar. What was also an advantage was that I already knew the finale of this stage. I already did this climb in 2017”
Overall leader and 3rd on the stage, Carlos Rodríguez (INEOS Grenadiers): “Can’t relax yet” “I am very proud of the team, of the commitment they showed throughout the stage. We didn’t know how it would turn out, but I am very pleased with the confidence the team has in me and that I could finish it. It’s not over yet, we still have to fight tomorrow. But I will do everything I can to keep this jersey. We have to be ready. We don’t know what could happen. We can’t relax yet. We’ll have to wait until after tomorrow’s stage. Hopefully we can celebrate then. It would be great. I have already won races, but not yet a stage race, let alone at WorldTour level. If it works, it would be great.”
2nd on the stage and 3rd overall, Florian Lipowitz (BORA-hansgrohe): “I never expected that I would go up with the best guys. I knew from the start that I had good legs. I arrived just too late to catch up with him. But I’m super happy with today. I stayed in the other guys’ wheels as long as possible and just did my best. I am very happy with my performance.”
7th on the stage and 4th overall, Ilan Van Wilder (Soudal Quick-Step): “It was a brutal day, with a high pace from the first climb. Fortunately I had the support of the team, and Julian (Alaphilippe) in particular. He was with me almost the whole day. It was tough for everyone on the last climb. I fell a bit short of following the best riders, but quickly found my own pace and was able to maintain it until the finish. All in all, I am satisfied with this result, because it shows that I am improving in WorldTour races.”
Tour de Romandie Stage 4 Result:
1. Richard Carapaz (Ecu) EF Education-EasyPost in 4:06:03
2. Florian Lipowitz (Ger) BORA-hansgrohe
3. Carlos Rodríguez (Spa) INEOS Grenadiers at 0:10
4. Enric Mas (Spa) Movistar at 0:14
5. Aleksandr Vlasov (-) BORA-hansgrohe
6. Egan Bernal (Col) INEOS Grenadiers at 0:27
7. Ilan Van Wilder (Bel) Soudal Quick-Step at 0:31
8. Tao Geoghegan Hart (GB) Lidl-Trek at 0:40
9. David Gaudu (Fra) Groupama-FDJ at 0:41
10. Cristián Rodríguez (Spa) Arkéa-B&B Hotels at 0:44.
Tour de Romandie Overall After Stage 4:
1. Carlos Rodríguez (Spa) INEOS Grenadiers in 12:22:46
2. Aleksandr Vlasov (-) BORA-hansgrohe at 0:07
3. Florian Lipowitz (Ger) BORA-hansgrohe at 0:09
4. Ilan Van Wilder (Bel) Soudal Quick-Step at 0:21
5. Juan Ayuso (Spa) UAE Team Emirates at 0:27
6. Enric Mas (Spa) Movistar at 0:38
7. Richard Carapaz (Ecu) EF Education-EasyPost at 0:49
8. Lenny Martinez (Fra) Groupama-FDJ at 0:52
9. Tao Geoghegan Hart (GB) Lidl-Trek at 1:02
10. Egan Bernal (Col) INEOS Grenadiers at 1:23.
Romandie’24 stage 4:
Carlos Rodriguez of INEOS Grenadiers has won the final overall of the 2024 Tour de Romandie. The Spaniard’s lead was never in danger in the hilly final Stage 5 to Vernier. The stage turned into a sprint from a thinned out peloton after 150 kilometres. Dorian Godon (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) won after going for a long sprint. Simone Consonni (Lidl-Trek) and Dion Smith (Intermarché-Wanty) were second and third.
The stage started and finished in Vernier. With 1,600 metres of climbing, the stage was not easy. The climb of Dardagny (1.2km at 5.2%) was on the 35 kilometre circuit. The final 10 kilometres were flat.
Rémi Cavagna (Movistar), Darren Rafferty (EF Education-EasyPost), Marco Brenner (Tudor) and Alexandre Balmer (Jayco AlUla) made up the break of the day. Several riders tried to cross in the early part of the stage, but Julian Alaphilippe and Jan Tratnik were unable to catch the escape and dropped back into the peloton. INEOS Grenadiers and Lidl-Trek set the pace in the peloton and didn’t allow the leaders to get more than 2 minutes. Cavagna attacked 46 kilometres from the finish and soon had 20 seconds on the break and more on the peloton. At that time Visma | Lease a Bike, Alpecin-Deceuninck, Lotto Dstny, Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale and Q36.5 all put a man at the front of the peloton. Cavagna was caught by Brenner and Rafferty. The last time on Dardagny, Guillaume Martin jumped from the peloton. This caused a split at the front.
On the wet descent, 20 kilometres from the finish, the peloton had to be careful, as Johan Jacobs and Senne Leysen slid at high speed with other riders. Enzo Paleni, Andrea Vendrame, Michael Hepburn and Michael Valgren got away for a while, but Lidl-Trek pulled it back. They were gambling on Thibau Nys, while Visma | Lease a Bike rode for Tim van Dijke. There was no organised sprint preparation in the very wet Vernier. Nys and Van Dijke were too far back in the last corner and couldn’t respond to an explosive sprint from Dorian Godon. The Frenchman didn’t hesitate for a moment and managed to win his second stage. He was ahead of Simone Consonni, Nys’ lead-out, and Dion Smith. Tim van Dijke finished fourth and Thibau Nys sixth. Carlos Rodriguez’s overall victory was in no danger. The INEOS Grenadiers climber took the final podium with Aleksandr Vlasov and Florian Lipowitz, both of BORA-hansgrohe were second and third.
Stage winner, Dorian Godon (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale): “With the rain, it was not a pleasant day. I was very well led out by Clément Berthet and Nico [Prodhomme], who already did a great job as a climber but now was my lead-out man. He launched me until 500 metres, and I wanted to be in the first two or three into that corner, and then just launch – not calculate but do the sprint from the front. I didn’t take any risks in that corner, even if there was some contact from behind, but I reacted well, I saw the line and didn’t stop until I got there.”
Final overall winner, Carlos Rodríguez (INEOS Grenadiers): “I’m full of pride and very happy to finally win a stage race. I’m very grateful to the team for all the work they did for me. It’s a great satisfaction, and justifies all the work we’ve done behind the scenes. We knew it was going to be a complicated day with the rain, and I had to suffer, like everyone did, but the important thing is we brought the jersey home.”
2nd overall, Aleksandr Vlasov (BORA-hansgrohe): “I think it was a good week for the team with 2nd and 3rd place in the GC. It was also a really good team performance yesterday in the queen’s stage. For me it was a nice race and I’m happy with my form. Lipo showed that he’s super strong and I wish him good luck for his first Giro.”
3rd overall, Florian Lipowitz (BORA-hansgrohe): “I’m really happy with the result. Before the race, I never thought I would be able to ride up front here. I came here with mixed feelings because I haven’t had that many race days yet and I came straight from an altitude training camp. I wasn’t sure what my form would be. To be able to ride up front gives me a lot of confidence.”
4th overall, Ilan Van Wilder (Soudal Quick-Step): “Top five in a World Tour race with such a strong field, just a couple of seconds off the podium, is a nice achievement and it makes me happy. It wasn’t easy, we had plenty of hard stages and inclement weather these past couple of days, but we did a great job as a team and I did my best every time. It’s my third result of this kind in a week-long World Tour event and it shows how much I improved. At the same time, it gives me a lot of motivation to keep working, become even better and continue fighting for strong results together with the team in this type of races, which suit me.”
3rd on the stage, Dion Smith (Intermarché-Wanty): “After one month without competition, my goal for this Tour de Romandie was to build competition rhythm towards an important month in May. With the bad weather conditions during this last stage today, I wanted to avoid taking risks. But I had good legs and managed to find the right slipstream in the last 100 metres. I managed to achieve third place behind the untouchable Dorian Godon, who won his second stage. It is nice to end this tough week of racing with a first podium in two years. I appreciate giving my all for my teammates, but it is also satisfying to confirm that you are capable of achieving results yourself as well. This World Tour podium is excellent for my confidence before my next important race days, on which I hope to help our sprinters to victories on similar terrain.”
Tour de Romandie Stage 5 Result:
1. Dorian Godon (Fra) Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale in 3:22:00
2. Simone Consonni (Ita) Lidl-Trek
3. Dion Smith (NZ) Intermarché-Wanty
4. Tim van Dijke (Ned) Visma | Lease a Bike
5. Alex Aranburu (Spa) Movistar
6. Thibau Nys (Bel) Lidl-Trek
7. Clément Venturini (Fra) Arkéa-B&B Hotels
8. Milan Menten (Bel) Lotto Dstny
9. Thibaud Gruel (Fra) Groupama -FDJ
10. Gianni Vermeersch (Bel) Alpecin-Deceuninck.
Tour de Romandie Final Overall Result:
1. Carlos Rodríguez (Spa) INEOS Grenadiers in 15:44:46
2. Aleksandr Vlasov (-) BORA-hansgrohe at 0:07
3. Florian Lipowitz (Ger) BORA-hansgrohe at 0:09
4. Ilan Van Wilder (Bel) Soudal Quick-Step at 0:21
5. Juan Ayuso (Spa) UAE Team Emirates at 0:27
6. Enric Mas (Spa) Movistar at 0:38
7. Richard Carapaz (Ecu) EF Education-EasyPost at 0:49
8. Lenny Martinez (Fra) Groupama-FDJ at 0:52
9. Tao Geoghegan Hart (GB) Lidl-Trek at 1:02
10. Egan Bernal (Col) INEOS Grenadiers at 1:23.
Romandie’24 stage 5:
Vuelta Asturias – Julio Alvarez Mendo 2024
Stage 1 of the Vuelta Asturias was won by Isaac Del Toro. The Mexican of UAE Team Emirates crossed the line solo with a lead of 1 minute over his teammate, Rafał Majka. Eric Antonio Fagúndez (Burgos-BH) was second. Del Toro is also the overall leader.
The opening stage from Cangas del Narcea to Pola de Lena, had five categorised climbs. The last was the Alto del Cordal (8.3km at 6%). From the summit there were 6 downhill kilometres to the finish. UAE Team Emirates had a strong team at the start, including Isaac Del Toro. The break of the day consisted of 6 riders: Oliver Rees (Sabgal/Anicolor), Francisco Muñoz (Polti Kometa), Ibon Ruiz (Equipo Kern Pharma), José María García & Asier Pablo Gonzalez (Illes Balears Arabay) and Victor Martínez (Sidi Ali). They took a maximum lead of 5 minutes.
The peloton of about 40 riders was together before the start of the Alto del Cordal. José Manuel Díaz (Burgos-BH) and Gonzalo Serrano (Movistar) were the first to attack, but Del Toro was too strong for everyone. The Mexican crossed the line after 179 kilometres with more than a minute lead. His teammate Rafal Majka finished second, just ahead of Eric Antonio Fagúndez (Burgos-BH) and Afonso Eulálio (ABTF Betao-Feirense).
Stage winner and overall leader Isaac Del Toro (UAE Team Emirates): “I had really good sensations today and the team believed in me and gave me the opportunity to go for the win. When I attacked I knew I had Majka covering the attacks behind so that was a big plus and shows the strength of our team and how well we ride together. I’m really happy with the victory and we will try and defend the lead to the end.”
Vuelta Asturias – Julio Alvarez Mendo – Stage 1 Result:
1. Isaac del Toro (Mex) UAE Team Emirates in 4:46:14
2. Rafał Majka (Pol) UAE Team Emirates at 1:01
3. Eric Antonio Fagúndez (Uru) Burgos-BH at 1:04
4. Afonso Eulálio (Por) ABTF Betão-Feirense
5. José Manuel Díaz (Spa) Burgos-BH at 1:15
6. Fernando Barceló (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA at 1:40
7. Jorge Gutiérrez (Spa) Equipo Kern Pharma at 1:54
8. Alex Molenaar (Ned) Illes Balears Arabay Cycling at 2:00
9. Luis Ángel Maté (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
10. Igor Arrieta (Spa) UAE Team Emirates.
Vuelta Asturias – Julio Alvarez Mendo – Overall After Stage 1:
1. Isaac del Toro (Mex) UAE Team Emirates in 4:46:04
2. Rafał Majka (Pol) UAE Team Emirates at 1:05
3. Eric Antonio Fagúndez (Uru) Burgos-BH at 1:10
4. Afonso Eulálio (Por) ABTF Betão-Feirense at 1:14
5. José Manuel Díaz (Spa) Burgos-BH at 1:23
6. Fernando Barceló (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA at 1:50
7. Jorge Gutiérrez (Spa) Equipo Kern Pharma at 2:04
8. Alex Molenaar (Ned) Illes Balears Arabay Cycling at 2:10
9. Luis Ángel Maté (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
10. Igor Arrieta (Spa) UAE Team Emirates.
Asturias’24 stage 1:
António Morgado won Stage 2 of the Vuelta Asturias. The 20-year-old Portuguese rider of UAE Team Emirates was the fastest from a thinned out peloton. Morgado’s teammate Isaac Del Toro, who won the opening stage on Friday, finished third and held the overall lead.
Saturday’s stage was 200 kilometres from Ribera de Arriba to Ribadesella. There were 6 categorised climbs, the last one more than 40 kilometres from the finish. The sprinters who could get over the climbs, had a chance of winning. The break of Paul Ourselin (TotalEnergies), Mulu Kinfe Hailemichael (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA), Xabier Berasategi (Euskaltel-Euskadi), Ibon Ruiz (Kern Pharma) and Eduardo Pérez-Landaluce (Sidi Ali), built a lead of almost 3 minutes. The escape held off the bunch to the last climb of the day, the Collau del Valle (4km at 6.2%), where they still had 1:30.
In the peloton, Del Toro’s UAE Team Emirates were in control. They didn’t want to bring back the escape too soon, so the five escapees Could survive the Collau del Valle. Their lead for the last 40 flat kilometres was small and they were caught 20 kilometres from the finish. As soon as they were pulled in, there was another attack from Samuel Fernández (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA). Fernández soon had more than 1 minute, but he lost it again just as quickly. The peloton came back in the finale in time for a sprint finish. Morgado had the fastest kick. The Portuguese rider, who recently took his first professional victory at the Giro della Romagna, beat Albert Torres of Movistar. GC leader, Del Toro finished third.
Stage winner, António Morgado (UAE Team Emirates): “The race was long and the day cold and with a lot of rain. The team trusted me and all my mates did a great performance in trying to give me the opportunity to win, so I tried to sprint exploiting a super good lead-out. I’m very happy.”
5th on the stage, Jhonatan Restrepo (Polti Kometa): “The legs are starting to feel better, it has been a very hard day with a lot of cold. But I want to thank the guys for the great work they have done. I’m getting better every day and we hope to be even better tomorrow.”
Samuel Fernández (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA): “I knew that my attack was probably not going to go anywhere, but I knew that it was the stage in which I wanted to try it. Maybe on the way up I couldn’t get much time, but the descents were better terrain, and I was able to have a minute and a half. From there I have considered it as a time trial and as far as I could go. Despite everything, I am left with the effort and having enjoyed the roads that I know so well.”
Vuelta Asturias – Julio Alvarez Mendo – Stage 2 Result:
1. António Morgado (Por) UAE Team Emirates in 4:50:18
2. Albert Torres (Spa) Movistar
3. Isaac del Toro (Mex) UAE Team Emirates
4. Gonzalo Serrano (Spa) Movistar
5. Jhonatan Restrepo (Col) Polti Kometa
6. Alex Molenaar (Ned) Illes Balears Arabay Cycling
7. Javier Serrano (Spa) Polti Kometa
8. Fernando Barceló (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
9. Xabier Berasategi (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
10. Joan Bou (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi.
Vuelta Asturias – Julio Alvarez Mendo – Overall After Stage 2:
1. Isaac del Toro (Mex) UAE Team Emirates in 9:36:18
2. Rafał Majka (Pol) UAE Team Emirates at 1:09
3. Eric Antonio Fagúndez (Uru) Burgos-BH at 1:14
4. José Manuel Díaz (Spa) Burgos-BH at 1:16
5. Afonso Eulálio (Por) ABTF Betão-Feirense at 1:18
6. Fernando Barceló (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA at 1:54
7. Jorge Gutiérrez (Spa) Equipo Kern Pharma at 2:08
8. Alex Molenaar (Ned) Illes Balears Arabay Cycling at 2:14
9. Jordi López Equipo Kern Pharma
10. Luis Ángel Maté Euskaltel-Euskadi.
Asturias’24 stage 2:
Isaac Del Toro took the final overall victory in the Vuelta Asturias. The Mexican of UAE Emirates had no problems in the hilly final Stage 3 to Oviedo. His teammate, Finn Fisher-Black, also managed to win the final stage, ahead of Del Toro and Jordan Jegat of TotalEnergies.
The Vuelta Asturias final stage was 140 kilometres from Benia de Onís to Oviedo, the capital of the province of Asturias. It promised to be an explosive finale, with the El Violeo (3.1km at 9.3%) and El Cristo (1km at 8.9%) as the deciders.
Six riders formed the early break: Thomas Bonnet (TotalEnergies), Txomin Juaristi (Euskaltel-Euskadi), Hugo Aznar (Equipo Kern Pharma), Julen Amezqueta (Illes Balears Arabay Cycling), Eduardo Pérez-Landaluce (Sidi Ali-Unlock Team) and Fernando Gaviria (Movistar). The fast-finisher Gaviria wanted to test himself in the run-up to the Giro d’Italia and the group had a maximum lead of 2 minutes. This turned out to be enough to reach the last categorised climb of the day; El Violeo. They still had a lead of 1:30.
In the peloton, the men of UAE Team Emirates received help from Polti-Kometa. The difference to the lead group slowly came down and at the start of El Violeo the escapees were in trouble. After the climb, four riders broke away, including Del Toro and Rafal Majka, but they were caught up by about twenty riders. Finn Fisher-Black won the sprint from the thinned peloton on the streets of Oviedo. Del Toro finished second and took the overall victory.
Final overall winner and 2nd on the stage, Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates): “It was a really beautiful race where the team was really strong and did a great job. They worked so well that they made it a case of me being the one to finish it off. It’s a big deal for me as it’s my first GC win at this level and it means a lot. I was really happy to be able to help my teammates win stages also and celebrate these nice moments with them. They really deserved it. I’m really happy to get the win and I hope to continue this way for the next races.”
Vuelta Asturias – Julio Alvarez Mendo – Stage 3 Result:
1. Finn Fisher-Black (NZ) UAE Team Emirates in 3:22:52
2. Isaac del Toro (Mex) UAE Team Emirates
3. Jordan Jegat (Fra) TotalEnergies
4. Fernando Barceló (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
5. Pelayo Sánchez (Spa) Movistar
6. Eric Antonio Fagúndez (Uru) Burgos-BH
7. Alex Molenaar (Ned) Illes Balears Arabay Cycling
8. Rafał Majka (Pol) UAE Team Emirates
9. Samuel Fernández (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
10. José Félix Parra (Spa) Equipo Kern Pharma.
Vuelta Asturias – Julio Alvarez Mendo – Final Overall Result:
1. Isaac del Toro (Mex) UAE Team Emirates in 12:59:04
2. Rafał Majka (Pol) UAE Team Emirates at 1:15
3. Eric Antonio Fagúndez (Uru) Burgos-BH at 1:20
4. José Manuel Díaz (Spa) Burgos-BH at 1:22
5. Afonso Eulálio (Por) ABTF Betão-Feirense at 1:48
6. Fernando Barceló (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA at 2:00
7. Alex Molenaar (Ned) Illes Balears Arabay Cycling at 2:20
8. Pelayo Sánchez (Spa) Movistar
9. Igor Arrieta (Spa) UAE Team Emirates
10. Diego Andrés Camargo (Col) Petrolike at 2:32.
Asturias’24 stage 3:
Lotto Famenne Ardenne Classic 2024
Arnaud De Lie won the Famenne Ardenne Classic on Sunday. In the Walloon province of Luxembourg, the leader of Lotto Dstny, who only just returned to racing after a rest period, was by far the fastest sprinter after a hilly race of 195 kilometres. De Lie kept himself hidden through out the race, waiting for the sprint from a thinned out peloton and beat Axel Zingle and teammate Maxim Van Gils.
The Famenne Ardenne Classic has three final circuits with the Côte de Roy (2.3km at 4.8%) to be climbed four times. The top of the last real climb was 15 kilometres from the finish, but about 5 kilometres from the finish there was the sharp climb of the Marloie (1.8km at 3.5%), with a steep final kilometre.
There was no lead group for a long time, because the early part of the race was difficult. Nine riders eventually managed to break away, including four from Lotto Dstny and four from Israel-Premier Tech. That group had a 3 minute lead for a while, but everything came back together again. There was then a break of 11, but the difference was small, mainly due to work by Israel-Premier Tech, Lotto Dstny and Intermarché-Wanty. The break was caught just before the penultimate Côte de Roy.
Maxim Van Gils and Riley Sheehan broke away on the climb, but an elite group joined them. Mads Würtz Schmidt tried to get away, after which a five riders with Van Gils, Sheehan, Lorenzo Rota, Gianluca Brambilla and Louka Matthys were next. They crossed the summit with a lead, but the collaboration was bad and the peloton caught them led by Cofidis and Tour de Tietema-Unibet. The peloton was now quite small, but several teams still had enough riders to control things and turn the race into a sprint. Arnaud De Lie, Hugo Hofstetter and Axel Zingle would be fighting for the win. There was another attempt on the last hill by Charlie Paige, Matthys, Würtz Schmidt and Gorka Izagirre, but the peloton kept them within reach and caught them in time. On the uphill finish, Lotto Dstny and Israel-Premier Tech took the initiative. The sprint was started early by Zingle with De Lie on his wheel. The leader of Lotto Dstny came off the wheel for the win by a large margin, ahead of Zingle and Van Gils.
Race winner, Arnaud De Lie (Lotto Dstny): “I am very happy with this victory. I have gone through a difficult period. I don’t really have words for it right now. I want to thank everyone who has continued to follow me. This is certainly a liberation after I could not win this season. I didn’t feel good in the opening phase. But it was tough for everyone. The strong wind made it difficult. I know the course well, which was to my advantage. I also got better during the race and my teammates gave me a lot of confidence. As a team we rode a very strong race. I am happy that I was able to finish it effectively. It was a very difficult sprint with the headwind. The plan was that I would sprint and Maxim would be on my wheel. He could then come out if I was carpaccio, if I was broken. However, I saw that Axel Zingle started the sprint very early and so I followed him. Then I went over at the right time. Luckily I was able to keep it until the finish. This is very good for confidence. That confidence was somewhat lost when I was having a hard time. I feel like that’s back a bit now. This is a great first step.”
Lotto Famenne Ardenne Classic Result:
1. Arnaud De Lie (Bel) Lotto Dstny in 4:39:03
2. Axel Zingle (Fra) Cofidis
3. Maxim Van Gils (Bel) Lotto Dstny
4. Riley Sheehan (USA) Israel-Premier Tech
5. Emilien Jeannière (Fra) TotalEnergies
6. Hugo Hofstetter (Fra) Israel-Premier Tech
7. Axel Huens (Fra) TDT-Unibet
8. Lorenzo Rota (Ita) Intermarché-Wanty
9. Vincent Van Hemelen (Bel) Team Flanders-Baloise
10. Mads Andersen /Den) Airtox-Carl Ras.
Famenne Ardenne’24:
Van Aert and Evenepoel are With the same Physiotherapist for Rehabilitation
Wout van Aert and Remco Evenepoel are working on their rehabilitation after their crashes and the two Belgians are working with the same physiotherapist. “They turned the switch very quickly,” said Thijs Hertsens in an interview with Het Laatste Nieuws.
Three times a week, Van Aert and Evenepoel are attending the LAB Antwerp, Hertsens’ practice with whom both Van Aert and Evenepoel have been working with for years. “In the early days after the accidents, I went to their homes because they had difficulty getting around. Even if they couldn’t do much, it was still important to assess the nature of the injuries based on my expertise,” he said.
The two top athletes are now back on their bikes, although Evenepoel is limited to warming up on the rollers for the time being. Four weeks after his crash in Dwars door Vlaanderen, Van Aert has already trained several times outdoors. But they both still have a long way to go. “They want to get back to the level they were at the time of their fall as quickly as possible. But everything takes time,” Hertsens stated.
“Everything is done in consultation with the doctors at the clinic in Herentals, to whom I report every week. I also report to their teams. Not a single step in the rehabilitation is skipped, everything happens in due time. My job is to get them to the point where they can handle the endurance training and the heavier blocks on the bike again. I give them very cycling-specific exercises.”
“Once they are injury-free, the teams’ coaches take over again. Right now the communication between me and the coaches is intense. Then it is about the load they can handle and how many hours they can spend on the bike. As soon as they leave for a training camp and start racing again, it becomes less intensive. But then I continue to give training schedules or work on certain details, which is important.”
Evenepoel and Van Aert on the way back:
Remco Evenepoel Starts Training Outside
Remco Evenepoel has trained outside for the first time since his crash in the Itzulia Basque Country. The World time trial champion went on a training ride of almost 100 kilometres. “On my way back,” he wrote on his Strava.
Evenepoel took his ride near his village of Schepdaal. Last week Evenepoel talked about his rehabilitation in the podcast The Wolfpack Howls. “I feel my body is recovering. I have less and less pain.” Evenepoel also said that he would be able to train outside again this week, which he has now done. He is now preparing for the summer. “The start of the Tour is coming soon, that’s for sure. The Olympic Games will follow next. That is also a very special event for me. I’m really looking forward to the summer.”
Evenepoel training again:
Lennert Van Eetvelt Looks Ahead after Surgery
Lennert Van Eetvelt had a good start this season, but hasn’t been able to race for almost two months with a knee injury. The Lotto Dstny Belgian said he has had ‘some terrible weeks’, but can now look ahead again.
The problems started for Van Eetvelt after Strade Bianche. “I was quite tired from the race itself and had a tough travel day towards Tenerife. That’s where I started training again. Lots of steep climbs and stuff. But the knee started to ache. I thought: ‘That will go away soon’ and kept training. My focus was on the Tour of Catalonia. But it got worse and worse. An overload. So much so that I had to return to Belgium. I kept struggling. Until we decided last week that there was no progress and that an operation was necessary.”
22-year-old Van Eetvelt’s problem was “Hoffitis (swelling/irritation) is the correct term. We do not know exactly what caused the irritation. The procedure went well,” the climber told Het Nieuwsblad. “Next week I can start cycling quietly with the physiotherapist. It depends on how that joint responds to the first movements and training.”
“In the meantime, I have rested at least as much as in the off-season. Add another two weeks to that and that will be the longest period as a professional that I couldn’t race. I long for the moment when I can train fully again in the sun of Tenerife. I have had terrible weeks.”
Van Eetvelt hopes to be racing again in June. “If I can actually start in two weeks, I hope to be able to start in good condition in the Tour of Switzerland (9-16 June). I know from experience that I can get into shape fairly quickly. If I don’t make it to June 9, then I have to look at the rest of the year.”
Lennert Van Eetvelt recovering:
Soudal Quick-Step Interested in Oier Lazkano
Soudal Quick-Step has contacted Oier Lazkano. The 24-year-old Spaniard is at present racing for Movistar, but his contract expires at the end of this season. “But his manager has started to play the game,” Patrick Lefevere said in an interview with Het Nieuwsblad.
The team manager of Soudal Quick-Step confirms that the team is interested in the Spanish champion. “I think Lazkano is a rider who would suit us very well and we really went after that. Johan Molly (caregiver and scout) has good informal contact with many French and Spanish riders and through him we knew that Lazkano was also interested in our team.”
“But his manager is Giuseppe Acquadro and he has started playing the game. He bet on five different horses and drove up the price. Which is of course his right. Lazkano is gone, I think. We haven’t heard anything more about it,” Lefevere pointed out.
It now looks like Lazkano will not be on his way to Soudal Quick-Step, but seems to be going to BORA-hansgrohe next year. The German formation is said to have already made a concrete proposal to Lazkano, who impressed this spring with a victory in the Clasica Jaén and a third place in Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne.
Where will Lazkano be in 2025?
Will Julian Alaphilippe Leave Soudal Quick-Step?
Julian Alaphilippe seemed to be leaving Soudal Quick-Step, but team manager Patrick Lefevere doesn’t rule out that the two-time world champion could stay. “He is part of our family,” Lefevere said to GCN.
It looked like Alaphilippe was on his way out of the Soudal Quick-Step team. The results have not been great for about for two years and his relationship with Lefevere looked to be on the rocks. TotalEnergies and Cofidis are both said to be interested in his signature, but Lefevere does not rule out that Alaphilippe will stay.
“Just before the Giro, we will sit down together. It may be time for a new challenge for him, but there are always two of you at the table. I know his manager wants to talk and talking costs nothing. I don’t think Julian wants to leave. I think he wants to stay. But I’m not going to speak out of turn before I say something that will be misinterpreted again.”
“Julian is part of our family,” Lefevere continues. “We sometimes have a discussion and it gets blown up, but that is also family. When you’re married, it’s not peace every day. In a team of 85 people, it is logical that there is sometimes some friction, but we are mature people. If you can sit at the table and talk it out in private, there is no problem.”
Will Alaphilippe stay, or will he go?
Florian Vermeersch Close to Agreement with UAE Team Emirates
Florian Vermeersch is almost a member of UAE Team Emirates. The Belgian looks to be on his way to the UAE team to strengthen their Classics team in 2025, according to HLN.
Vermeersch will be leaving Lotto Dstny, where he turned professional in June 2020 and has been with the team for four and a half years. After contract extensions of Maxim Van Gils and Lennert Van Eetvelt, the team doesn’t have the finances to compete against the financially stronger teams.
As well as UAE Team Emirates, it is rumoured that BORA-hansgrohe and Visma | Lease a Bike also want the signature of Vermeersch, who broke his femur in his first race of the season and has not raced since. Vermeersch has one professional victory to his name: the 2022 Antwerp Port Epic.
Florian Vermeersch to UAE Team Emirates:
Thomas Leads Grenadiers’ Charge at the Giro
Former Tour de France winner Geraint Thomas will once again lead the INEOS Grenadiers’ challenge at the 2024 Giro d’Italia.
Supported by an experienced, exciting team, the Welshman, who dramatically finished as runner-up in 2023, returns to the Italian Grand Tour looking to ‘take the race on’ when it gets underway in the first week of May.
Thomas, 37, will headline a squad packed with Grand Tour experience for the 21-stage event that spans 3400 km of racing. It starts in Turin on Saturday, 4 May and finishes in Rome on Sunday, 26 May.
Dutchman Thymen Arensman, who was sixth overall in 2023 and second in the youth classification, returns to play a crucial support role once again for Thomas in the high mountains.
Highly experienced Ben Swift assumes the crucial role of ‘road captain’, charged with executing the Team’s ambitions to race aggressively and seize any opportunities.
Italian fans favourite, Filippo Ganna, will be firmly eyeing up the individual time trials on stages seven and 14 as he looks to add to his running tally of six Giro stage wins – all for the INEOS Grenadiers.
Jhonatan Narváez, who was a stage-winner in 2020 and has shown excellent early season form, makes his fifth Giro d’Italia start.
Newcomer to the Team, Tobias Foss, a recent winner of the opening stage of the Tour of the Alps and a former top-10 finisher at the Giro, will make his first Grand Tour start as a Grenadier.
There’s also a debut Grand Tour for 22-year-old Magnus Sheffield. The American has impressed in one-week stage races, as well as on the time trial bike, and now takes the next important step in his career in Turin.
The INEOS Grenadiers line-up is completed by Connor Swift who rides his first Giro d’Italia having completed the Tour de France three times.
Steve Cummings, Director of Racing: “We’ve selected a strong, versatile line-up for this year’s Giro d’Italia which will enable us to race the way we love. It will be three long weeks of full gas, hard racing and we know where we need to put the pressure on, and where we will be able to fight for opportunities. In Geraint, we have one of the most experienced riders in the peloton to lead the charge to Rome. He is a proven winner, a brilliant bike rider and a great leader. In the general classification, we have three riders who have all finished in the top 10 at this race so we go into it feeling confident in the depth and experience within the group. There will be the battle for GC with six summit finishes but there will also be plenty of chances of stage wins especially with two time trials. We love racing in Italy. The fans, as well as our Italian technical partners, most notably Pinarello, are fantastic supporters of our Team, and we can’t wait for the Grande Partenza.”
Geraint Thomas: “My preparation has gone well and I’m feeling in a great place ahead of the start. We have a strong line-up and there is a good bond with this group. The core is the same as last year’s Giro team, with some great additions for this year. We have spent a lot of time together at training camp; we know what we need to do and are all feeling super motivated to get the job done and deliver. Obviously Tadej Pogačar is the pre-race favourite and has a strong team around him, and that changes the dynamic of the race a bit. But that also means all eyes will be on him over three long weeks of hard racing. Our plan is to be aggressive, take the race on and look for every opportunity to add pressure and take time.”
Commenting on his plan to ride both the Giro and the Tour de France this year, he added:
“With the plan to race the Giro and then go straight into the Tour, there has been a different approach and slower build-up this season. But I am feeling good and not thinking beyond the coming weeks in Italy. My only focus now is the Giro and arriving there in my best shape possible.”
 :
Alexey Lutsenko Will Ride the Giro d’Italia
Alexey Lutsenko will ride the Giro d’Italia, according to La Gazzetta dello Sport, after it was originally thought he would give the Italian GT a miss in 2024.
La Gazzetta journalist Ciro Scognamiglio wrote: “There will be a change in the selection of Astana Qazaqstan for the Giro d’Italia. Alexey Lutsenko will be at the start next Saturday in Venaria Reale.”
Lutsenko recently won the Giro d’Abruzzo and was 8th in Liège-Bastogne-Liège. In the Tour de Romandie he dropped out after the prologue, possibly with a view to his Giro participation. One rider from the provisional selection of Astana Qazaqstan, will not start. It is not yet known who that will be. The WorldTeam from Kazakhstan is mainly aiming for sprint success with Max Kanter and Davide Ballerini and also has home riders Simone Velasco, Lorenzo Fortunato and Christian Scaroni in the provisional eight.
The possible Astana Qazaqstan Giro d’Italia roster:
Cristian SCARONI (Ita)
Lorenzo FORTUNATO (Ita)
Simone VELASCO (Ita)
Max KANTER (Ger)
Anthon CHARMIG (Den)
Vadim PRONSKIY (Kaz)
Henok MULUBRHAN (Eri)
Davide BALLERINI (Ita)
Alexey LUTSENKO (Kaz).
Lutsenko to the Giro:
Trek Won’t be a Named Sponsor of Baloise Trek Lions
Trek will not be a main sponsor on the jerseys of the Baloise Trek Lions cross team from 2025. Trek has not extended its agreement as main sponsor with Sven Nys’ team. Nys spoke to Het Nieuwsblad.
Trek replaced Telenet as one of the team’s main sponsors in 2020. This helped Sven Nys out of trouble, but Trek didn’t want to be a main sponsor for a longer period of time. Trek will remain involved with the team as a bike supplier and will still be on the jerseys, but not as prominent.
“We are the best team in the UCI rankings, we have several of the better riders on board. So I assume that, together with the people of Golazo, we will succeed in finding new partners. If that doesn’t work, then not only we, but the cross in general has a problem,” said Sven Nys.
Baloise will be with the team until 2026. Nys has had his four leaders with him for some time now: Pim Ronhaar, Thibau Nys, Joris Nieuwenhuis and Lars van der Haar.
Thibau and Sven Nys:
La Vuelta Femenina Special ‘Nature Zones’ for Riders
You often see the peloton come to a stop for a massive bathroom break. But in a women’s race it is not that easy, so the organisers of La Vuelta Femenina have made special zones in each stage for ‘natural breaks’.
It was announced by the riders’ union CPA, a few hours before the start of the 10th edition of the woman’s Tour of Spain. “In collaboration with the organisers, we are trying something new: a so-called puddle zone. This is a place where riders can stop to take a break. The zone will appear in every stage at the feeding zone, after about forty kilometres of racing. It is a novelty and may still need improvement, but we are trying something. We think it’s a matter of respect.”
Not for the women:
The Wolfpack Howls: Mikel Landa
Landismo and Swifties! We bet this wasn’t on your bingo card when it came to a podcast featuring Mikel Landa.
We talked about this and a lot more – from Mikel’s recovery after his Itzulia crash and hopes for the summer to his favourite climbs in the Basque Country and the race he still dreams of winning before retiring – in our latest episode.
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