Primoz Roglič has won his fourth Vuelta a España, we have all the results, rider quotes and stage videos. Plus the Lloyd’s Bank Tour of Britain Men, GP Industria e Artigianato, GP de Fourmies and the BEMER Cyclassics Hamburg.
Primoz Roglič co-record holder of the Vuelta – TOP STORY.
Rider news: Wout van Aert’s Doctor: “Wout is having a really hard time mentally”, Patrick Lefevere frustrated after time loss of Mikel Landa, Tom Pidcock critical of INEOS Grenadiers, Bradley Wiggins visits the Tour of Britain, Yves Lampaert won’t ride the European time trial championships and Paul Magnier had to abandon the Tour of Britain on the last stage.
Team news: Mark Donovan extends contract with Q36.5, Femke Markus Extends with Team SD Worx-Protime until the end of 2026 and a new chapter awaits Matîs Louvel at Israel-Premier Tech.
Race News: La Vuelta and Land Life join forces to plant 700 trees in Picón Blanco.
Vuelta EUROTRASH coffee time.
TOP STORY: Primoz Roglič Co-Record Holder of the Vuelta: “Will I Go for a Fifth? First Enjoy the Fourth!”
Primož Roglič took a fourth overall victory in the Vuelta a España on Sunday. This makes the 34-year-old leader of Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe co-record holder for the number of overall victories. He is on par with Spaniard Roberto Heras. “How does it feel? NICE!”, beamed the Slovenian after the final stage time trial.
Roglič was beaten by specialist Stefan Küng in the final time trial. “I saw his time before I started and I know he is very strong in these types of flat time trials. But I did try to motivate myself to go for the stage win. Otherwise it is even harder to get through a time trial like that. I went for it, but it was difficult. My congratulations to Stefan. He did a good job and was the strongest today. But I am very happy with the final victory!”
This means that all major tours this year have been won by Slovenians. Tadej Pogačar won the Giro d’Italia and Tour de France. “I have no words for that, it is unbelievable!”, said Roglič. “You sacrifice a lot. Not only me, but also my family and everyone around us. We live for this. I am very happy that I can ride at this level. I really appreciate the support of my family and loved ones. I do this for them. Will I go for a fifth? It is never enough, haha. But this is already crazy, I now have four. I want to enjoy that first.”
The Slovenian won the Vuelta in 2019, 2020 and 2021. He now shares the record with Heras. The Spaniard won in 2000, 2003, 2004 and 2005. He lost his last victory in November of that year, after he tested positive for EPO after the last time trial. Three months later he was suspended for two years. The then 31-year-old Heras, who was a domestique of Lance Armstrong, immediately put an end to his career.
In 2011 the Spaniard regained his final victory from six years earlier. The Spanish Court ruled that the blood samples in question had not been stored properly, meaning that they could not provide evidence. The Spaniard, who rode for Liberty Seguros in that last Vuelta, started a procedure for compensation and in May 2017 received an amount of 725,000 euros from the Spanish Court, half of his annual salary in 2005.
Vuelta No.4 for Roglič:
Vuelta a España 2024
Kern Pharma’s historic haul in La Vuelta’24 is now three stage wins after Urko Berrade powered to victory on Stage 18, in Maeztu, following Pablo Castrillo’s successes at Manzaneda and Cuitu Negru. The 26 year-old Spaniard got the better of his breakaway companions after a very animated stage on Basque roads, with Mauro Schmid (Jayco AlUla) coming 2nd, ahead of another Kern Pharma rider, Pau Miquel. Spaniards are up to 4 stage wins, their best tally in an edition of La Vuelta since 2019. The GC battle was also very lively, ahead of two major mountain showdowns. Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) put the hammer down with 50 kilometres to go and Mikel Landa (T-Rex Quick-Step) lost more than 3 minutes.
Today marks the 28th La Vuelta stage start and the 25th finish in the province of Alava, with an undulating course from Vitoria-Gasteiz to Maeztu-Parque Natural de Izki: 2,780m of climbing over 179.3km. This looked like the last chance for riders who are not expert of the high mountains or the time trial.
There was a massive battle for the break. No less than 42 riders got away after more than 50 kilometres. The peloton trailed by 3:12 at km 60. But Euskaltel-Euskadi didn’t have a rider at the front on their home stage, so they drive an intense chase. The gap dropped to 1:35 on the slopes of the first climb of the day, the Cat.2 Alto de Rivas de Tereso, summit at 81.5km. Mikel Bizkarra and Gotzon Martin set off in pursuit, with a few more counter-attackers, but it’s too late to bridge the gap to the earlier attackers. Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates) was first at the summit and Stefan Küng (Groupama-FDJ) attacks on the descent. Mathias Vacek (Lidl-Trek) and Mauro Schmid (Jayco AlUla) join him in the move. They open a gap of 1 minute over their chasers en route to the second climb of the day, the Cat.1 Puerto Herrera. The gap to the peloton increased to over 10 minutes.
The lead trio were caught by 10 chasers on the climb: Steven Kruijswijk (Visma | Lease a Bike), Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates), Mattia Cattaneo (T-Rex Quick-Step), Aleksandr Vlasov (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe), Oier Lazkano (Movistar), Max Poole (dsm-firmenich-PostNL), Ion Izagirre (Cofidis), Urko Berrade, Pablo Castrillo and Pau Miquel (Kern Pharma). In the peloton, EF Education-EasyPost up the ante and Richard Carapaz attacked towards the summit (134.3km). Ben O’Connor (Decathlon-AG2R-La Mondiale) is momentarily dropped but he quickly bridges the gap. Mikel Landa (T-Rex Quick-Step) can’t. After a move by Kruijswijk, Berrade counter-attacked with 5.5km to go and makes it all the way to the line, 4 seconds ahead of Schmid and Miquel. Far behind, Landa loses 3:20 on his GC rivals and drops down to 10th overall.
# You can see more photos in the full ‘PEZ Stage Report’ HERE. #
Stage winner, Urko Berrade (Kern Pharma): “Without a doubt, it’s a dream. The stage closer to home, with all my family watching me, friends, in the last stages of La Vuelta… When there are so few opportunities left it seemed complicated to get a stage. I’ve been close in others, but it’s incredible. As we had strength in numbers after the hardest climb of the day, I’ve been controlling the group so that Pau [Miquel] could have his chance as an our fast man. But at the end, that last climb, with everyone pretty cooked, they told me: ‘You all have a chance, try it.’ I tried from there almost without looking back, I tried not to look back. They told me: ‘To the finish line, to the finish line!’ I didn’t see myself as the winner until I crossed the finish line. No doubt it comes from a great previous work that we have done. Since the beginning of the season we had La Vuelta in mind. We have made an impressive preparation, and this is not the result of chance. At the beginning of La Vuelta, Juanjo [Oroz], the team manager, told me: ‘You have to become famous’. And it’s difficult for me because I’m not a big media guy, but I think, with this victory, maybe I have a chance.”
Overall leader, Ben O’Connor (Decathlon-AG2R-La Mondiale): “No, absolutely [I didn’t expect Richard Carapaz to attack]. In the end, it’s a bit of benefit for all of us at the front, but it was not easy. You could see how fast we were riding. It wasn’t an easy stage at all, to be honest. There are no easy days at La Vuelta a España this year. [Will these efforts have an impact in the following days?] Probably not, because we raced every single day, and everyone is just tired. But somehow, I’m still managing to crack out some pretty good numbers, so I don’t think it makes any difference now. And I’m still in the lead! It’s nice to have it for another day. I don’t know if it’s 13 or 14 days, a long time. I’ve loved it and I enjoyed it a lot.”
2nd on the stage, Mauro Schmid (Jayco AlUla): “I knew against 40 guys, alone, it would be a difficult task today and then I ended up with Vacek and Kung off the front and we did a good rhythm. I knew if we had a solid gap into the [final] climb it can be good, because the other teams need to sacrifice some guys. But in the end, congrats to Kern Pharma, they played it out perfectly in the final and on a climb like this you cannot follow everyone, you need to try to do a good rhythm, but in the end we couldn’t catch him anymore. I think today I had great legs. At the end of the second week, I was a bit tired after the two breaks, but in the end we made it two times to the finish and I could race for the win. In the end on the uphill finish I didn’t have the legs, on this stage today I think I had the legs, but the tactics didn’t play out. I have a slight possibility tomorrow, but my legs will also hurt tomorrow so I will see if I end up in the break again, otherwise I will try to do a good TT in Madrid again.”
KOM, Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates): “The truth is that they [Kern Pharma] are doing a spectacular Vuelta. Everything is working out for them, I congratulate them. Today they played their cards very well, and the third victory for the team. In the end, it was a bit chaotic to catch the breakaway, it was a very big group. The selection was made little by little, and in the end I was the only rider of the team who was inside. I tried to fight as hard as I could, but today my legs weren’t the best. Jay [Vine] was the leader [of the KOM standings] and he wasn’t in the breakaway. Then, I think the third was Castrillo, and I went to fight to get the maximum points and give that peace of mind to the team.”
Points leader, Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck): “I think it’s really nice to see a Spanish team winning in their home race. It’s a credit to the riders and the level that the team is performing at. I think the wind actually played quite a big part today splitting the bunch. We had a big group in the front where we then rode a pretty controlled pace. And then I was dropped in a second or third group. I wanted to have one last chance today, see how the shape is. I’m pretty happy with the ride and tomorrow I think is a nice gruppetto and it’s possibly just survival until Madrid.”
Best young rider, Carlos Rodriguez (INEOS Grenadiers): “We knew that Herrera was a hard climb and it could be a good day for someone to try, so we were prepared for an attack and it happened in the end. I managed to survive and then there were teams interested because Landa was dropped. It was easy to understand each other and collaborate until the finish to have a gap on him. Obviously, he’s a big rival and if we can distance him it’s good for us. You never know what can happen. Mikel Landa has been one of the best climbers in this race and today he was dropped on a climb so you never know what can happen in a third week. It has been some really tough stages so we can expect everything.”
Casper Pedersen (Soudal Quick-Step): “It was difficult to help Landa in time. Today we actually wanted to give Mattia Cattaneo the chance to go for the stage. He always does so much work for the team. This day was really for him. The plan actually went very well. But sometimes you have bad days. Landa was struggling and so we had to change our plans. A good situation suddenly became a bad situation, because we couldn’t help him quickly. It was difficult with the radio to hear what was really going on. I first did my work for Cattaneo, that was plan one. Then I saved my legs and then did everything I could in the group with Landa. Vansevenant and Cattaneo (the two other riders from the early break) were still a lot further back and could only do their work later.”
Vuelta a España Stage 18 Result:
1. Urko Berrade Fernandez (Spa) Equipo Kern Pharma in 4:00:52
2. Mauro Schmid (Sui) Jayco AlUla at 0:04
3. Pau Miquel Delgado (Spa) Equipo Kern Pharma
4. Max Poole (GB) dsm-firmenich-PostNL
5. Aleksander Vlasov (-) Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe
6. Oier Lazkano (Spa) Movistar
7. Ion Izagirre Insausti (Spa) Cofidis
8. Mathias Vacek (CZ) Lidl-Trek
9. Pablo Castrillo Zapater (Spa) Equipo Kern Pharma
10. Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) Visma | Lease a Bike at 0:11.
Vuelta a España Overall After Stage 18:
1. Ben O’Connor (Aus) Decathlon-AG2R-La Mondiale in 72:48:46
2. Primož Roglič (Slo) Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe at 0:05
3. Enric Mas Nicolau (Spa) Movistar at 1:25
4. Richard Carapaz (Ecu) EF Education-EasyPost at 1:46
5. David Gaudu (Fra) Groupama-FDJ at 3:48
6. Carlos Rodriguez Cano (Spa) INEOS Grenadiers at 3:53
7. Mattias Skjelmose Jensen (Den) Lidl-Trek at 4:00
8. Florian Lipowitz (Ger) Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe at 4:27
9. Pavel Sivakov (Fra) UAE Team Emirates at 5:19
10. Mikel Landa Meana (Spa) Soudal Quick-Step at 5:38.
Vuelta’24 stage 18:
Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) put the hammer down on the brutal slopes up the Alto de Moncavillo to take it all on Stage 19 of La Vuelta’24. The Slovenian 3-time winner of the Spanish Grand Tour claimed his 15th stage win in the event (including a previous victory on Moncalvillo in 2020), the third this year, as well as La Roja, the 40th in his palmarès. Ben O’Connor (Decathlon-AG2R-La Mondiale) is now 2nd overall, with a gap of 1:54, ahead of Enric Mas (Movistar), who trails by 2:20.
The riders of La Vuelta’24 started the last battles, with two mountain showdowns and the closing ITT in Madrid. Friday’s stage, from Logroño to Alto de Moncalvillo (173.2km) features 2,550m of elevation and a brutal finish: 8.6km at 8.9%, with gradients up to 16%.
Attackers wanted to make the most of the terrain, as there are less and less opportunities. Edward Planckaert (Alpecin Deceuninck), Fran Miholjevič (Bahrain Victorious) and Vito Braet (Intermarché-Wanty) attacked at 38km. Isaac Del Toro (UAE Team Emirates) and Simone Petilli (Intermarché-Wanty) set off in pursuit. The 5 attackers got together around km 43. Eduardo Sepulveda (Lotto Dstny) tried to join them but he was unsuccessful. The peloton trail by 5:17 at 57km. Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe take the reins of the bunch to try and set Primoz Roglič for the stage win on a climb he ruled in 2020.
The gap was down to 2 minutes as the riders started the last 50 kilometres. Braet waited for the bunch. His companions were reeled in at the bottom of the climb of the Alto de Moncalvillo. Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe set a brutal pace from the beginning of the climb. With 6 kilometres to go, Dani Martinez, Aleksandr Vlasov and Primoz Roglič open a gap. The Slovenian continues solo with 5 kilometres to go. Enric Mas (Movistar) set off in pursuit, but he’s caught in the final kilometre by David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ) and Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek), who cross the line with a gap of 46 seconds. Ben O’Connor (Decathlon-AG2R-La Mondiale) lost 1:49 and La Roja.
# You can see more photos in the full ‘PEZ Stage Report’ HERE. #
Stage winner and overall leader, Primoz Roglič (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe): “I had some really nice memories from this climb and I didn’t miss this opportunity, I’m happy! It was not really the plan, I said I don’t need the stage, but some guys in the team told me: ‘We don’t listen to you, we pull anyway!’ We have to be on the same page so we went for it. Tomorrow is the last big stage and it will be super hard. And we don’t do the usual circuit in Madrid, we have another decisive stage with the time trial so it’s far from done. I’m definitely impressed with the gaps… It’s better than being five minutes behind! So I’m happy with the way I’m functioning and definitely happy with the guys.”
2nd overall, Ben O’Connor (Decathlon-AG2R-La Mondiale): “I didn’t expect to be this bad. There are still two very important days ahead. Until halfway up the climb I was actually doing quite well, but towards the end I was really bad. I didn’t expect that. But I think that has to do with the fact that we are already on the nineteenth stage. Let’s see what happens tomorrow, but Sunday will also be an important day. There are still two very important days. At the moment I am mainly thinking about Monday, then I will be sitting on my terrace having a beer and I can really relax.”
2nd on the stage and 5th overall, David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ): “It feels great to be second behind the unassailable Roglic. The level after him is so close. I know that I still have to make up some time on my competitors, because the time trial is still coming up. So I gave it my all in the last few hundred meters. That way I was still able to make a difference. My Vuelta has been very successful so far.”
3rd on the stage, 6th overall and best young rider, Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek): “It’s my first time doing a proper GC in a Grand Tour and of course I start to feel it. I think the other guys do as well… maybe not Primoz [Roglic]! I tried not to go over the limit on any day, just to save myself as much as possible and doing the minimal amount of work possible. The most important for me was to prove myself. If I lose two minutes tomorrow, or if I gain two minutes, it’s not the most important. The most important is to stay consistent, not crack tomorrow, and we see what destiny brings. It’s just one day at a time.”
4th on the stage and 3rd overall, Enric Mas (Movistar): “We knew that Primoz was going to race like this. He is very good at these types of finishes, he showed that again today. He won the stage and put us well behind. I would like to congratulate him. We did very well ourselves. I think we put Richard Carapaz and Ben O’Connor behind, so I am happy. I arrived completely empty. I could no longer sprint. Second place in the general classification is still a goal. We will have to do things differently tomorrow than today. Tomorrow is a stage with no less than 5,000 metres of elevation, that is completely different.”
KOM, Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates): “We rode easy. In the end, we wanted to put a man in the breakaway just in case there was a chance that he could make it, but Bora controlled it. Now we have to think about tomorrow. Yes, [tomorrow is an important day] both for me and Jay [Vine]. Let’s see how he is after today’s crash. We’ll see how it goes, and we’ll fight for the jersey.”
8th on the stage, Sepp Kuss (Visma | Lease a Bike): “I actually felt much better than earlier in this Vuelta. That really gives me a mental boost. I have nothing left to lose. I hope I can take this good feeling with me to the last stages. I’m going to try to make something of it. It’s the queen stage (stage 20) of the Vuelta, so it would be the perfect moment to do something special. It would be fantastic to be able to finish the race like this.”
Vuelta a España Stage 19 Result:
1. Primož Roglič (Slo) Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe in
2. David Gaudu (Fra) Groupama-FDJ at 0:36
3. Mattias Skjelmose Jensen (Den) Lidl-Trek
4. Enric Mas Nicolau (Spa) Movistar at 0:40
5. Mikel Landa Meana (Spa) Soudal Quick-Step at 0:47
6. Carlos Rodriguez Cano (Spa) INEOS Grenadiers
7. Eddie Dunbar (Irl) Jayco AlUla at 0:51
8. Sepp Kuss (USA) Visma | Lease a Bike
9. Richard Carapaz (Ecu) EF Education-EasyPost at 0:53
10. Florian Lipowitz (Ger) Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe at 1:13.
Vuelta a España Overall After Stage 19:
1. Primož Roglič (Slo) Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe in 76:43:36
2. Ben O’Connor (Aus) Decathlon-AG2R-La Mondiale at 1:54
3. Enric Mas Nicolau (Spa) Movistar at 2:20
4. Richard Carapaz (Ecu) EF Education-EasyPost at 2:54
5. David Gaudu (Fra) Groupama-FDJ at 4:33
6. Mattias Skjelmose Jensen (Den) Lidl-Trek at 4:47
7. Carlos Rodriguez Cano (Spa) INEOS Grenadiers at 4:55
8. Florian Lipowitz (Ger) Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe at 5:55
9. Mikel Landa Meana (Spa) Soudal Quick-Step at 6:40
10. Pavel Sivakov (Fra) UAE Team Emirates at 7:39.
Vuelta’24 stage 19:
Stage 20 of La Vuelta 24 was packed with ascents and with attacks, until Eddie Dunbar (Jayco AlUla) made the decisive move on the slopes of Picon Blanco to take his second stage win, ten days after his success in Padron. The Irishman resisted the return of Enric Mas (Movistar), who increased the pressure on Ben O’Connor (Decathlon-AG2R-La Mondiale), still second in the overall standings ahead of the closing ITT in Madrid. Primoz Roglič (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) finished 3rd on the day to retain La Roja with significant gaps on the eve of a potential fourth triumph for the Slovenian star.
It’s time for the final mountain showdown of La Vuelta’24: 4,730m of elevation with seven categorised climbs from Villarcayo to Picon Blanco (172km), on the eve of the final ITT in Madrid.
Kasper Asgreen (T-Rex Quick-Step) was the first attacker of the day, not the last. Ten riders led the way into the first climb of the day: Marc Soler, Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates), Clément Berthet (Decathlon-AG2R-La Mondiale), Marco Frigo (Israel-Premier Tech), Sylvain Moniquet (Lotto Dstny), Carlos Canal (Movistar) Jack Haig (Bahrain Victorious), Thomas Champion (Cofidis), Harold Tejada and Pablo Castrillo (Kern Pharma).
Vine was first at the top of the first three climbs of the day, Las Estacas de Trueba (Cat.3, 34.2km), Puerto de la Braguia (Cat.3, 55km) and Alto del Caracol (Cat.2, 74km), to take the lead of the provisional KOM standings. But Soler, who appears to be willing to help the Australian take the polka dots, attacks, again and again, and goes first over the Portillo de Lunada (Cat.1, 93km) and the Portillo de la Sia (Cat.2, 111.4km).
The two UAE Team Emirates riders were level on points (76 each) but the Spaniard has the advantage thanks to his victory at Lagos de Covagonda (categoria especial). Meanwhile, INEOS Grenadiers and T-Rex Quick-Step up the ante in the bunch. The gap was 6 minutes at 55km, but the attackers were reeled in on the sixth climb of the day, Puerto de los Tornos (cat. 1, km 146.4km). Meanwhile, Primoz Roglič (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) lost three teammates, forced to abandon: Nico Denz, Patrick Gamper and Dani Martinez.
Pavel Sivakov (UAE Team Emirates) attacked 4.5km from the summit, with 30km to go to the finish. He opened a gap of 20 seconds at the summit, where Vine also took 2 KOM points, and 1 minute towards the final climb of the day, Picon Blanco. Eddie Dunbar (Jayco AlUla) attacked with 5km to go and gets back to Sivakov. The Irishman went solo with 2.5km to go, but Roglič, David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ), Enric Mas (Movistar) and Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) try to hunt him down. Dunbar powers to his second La Vuelta’24 stage win, 7 seconds ahead of Mas and 10 ahead of Roglič.
# You can see more photos in the full ‘PEZ Stage Report’ HERE. #
Stage winner, Eddie Dunbar (Jayco AlUla): “I always knew it was going to be a really difficult stage but with the way the last three weeks have been ridden I just thought that a lot of guys would be tired today, especially GC guys who have gone to the limit every day. I’m a bit behind on GC, I knew that if I stayed with them and did everything right in the last week, I’d have a chance to maybe get the stage win today. I was never going to be let go in the breakaway, but I always believed I could win today. I knew if I just kept pacing myself and kept riding at threshold, if someone was going to come across it was going to take a big effort, so I paced myself really well. It wasn’t until about 200 metres to go that I thought I could probably hold them off, when I looked back and saw a bit of daylight there. I was just enjoying that last 50 metres.”
Overall leader and 3rd on the stage, Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe): “The team was not at its best but everybody gave it their best, big respect, they just put everything they had. Luckily I’m quite fine for the moment so it was a nice day. We did quite a big work in these three weeks and we just have to finish it off. Let’s wait! We’re definitely one day closer, we’re going in the right direction but tomorrow is a real GC day. I always say I’m not a time trial specialist. I just have to give everything on the road.”
2nd on the stage and 3rd overall, Enric Mas (Movistar): “We came to win the Vuelta, but Roglič now has a two-minute lead. That will be very difficult. It is what it is. The whole stage went very fast. We would have liked to have gained a bit more lead on O’Connor, but that didn’t happen and we also missed out on the stage win. So nothing… I’m not happy about that at all, to be honest. Let’s be optimistic, we have to do well. The final podium is something beautiful. I hope we can still make up those nine seconds and move up another position.”
6th on the stage and 2nd overall, Ben O’Connor (Decathlon-AG2R-La Mondiale): “I’m proud. I have to thank my teammates for the past twenty days. They were always there for me. I’m very happy, but I still have to do a good time trial tomorrow. I mainly rode smarter today. The power was always there, but I let the red jersey drive me crazy. It’s nice that I was able to race the right way today. I’m definitely confident for the time trial, but now I have to recover well and then deliver the best time trial possible.”
10th on the stage, 6th overall and best young rider, Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek): “It was a lot of pain, from the start. I didn’t feel very good. I feel the last three weeks in my legs. I hope I can keep the white jersey. I know [Florian Lipowitz] is a really good time trialist. I would say I am as well so I hope I can keep it. I think my TT is really great, I’m the Danish champion and that says quite a lot I believe. But we will see. Tomorrow is the last day of three hard weeks and bad legs can mean a lot but I’m looking forward and whatever happens I’m happy about this Vuelta.”
KOM, Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates): “Yes, we spoke with Marc [Soler] on the rest day that I had an unfinished business, and Marc agreed that he would help me on the last day. He was able to help to tire out the other two that were trying to go for the the points, and also to keep me super fresh, so that I could go into the finale of the stage and try to keep the team GC as well. It turns out we didn’t need that because we had Isaac [Del Toro] finishing ahead of me, but he helped out a lot and his legs were super strong. He’s a really great teammate. I was told that I needed to take just one more point [on the penultimate climb], and it was all secure. We were really under pressure from the guys behind, that caught us before that cat-2 climb before the cat-1. It would have been all the play for the GC guys to try to take the jersey, so we had to go a really long way into the finale.”
Vuelta a España Stage 20 Result:
1. Eddie Dunbar (Irl) Jayco AlUla in 4:38:37
2. Enric Mas Nicolau (Spa) Movistar at 0:07
3. Primož Roglič (Slo) Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe at 0:10
4. Richard Carapaz (Ecu) EF Education-EasyPost at 0:12
5. Urko Berrade Fernandez (Spa) Equipo Kern Pharma at 0:14
6. Ben O’Connor (Aus) Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale
7. David Gaudu (Fra) Groupama-FDJ at 0:21
8. Mikel Landa Meana (Spa) Soudal Quick-Step at 0:23
9. Florian Lipowitz (Ger) Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe at 0:37
10. Mattias Skjelmose Jensen (Den) Lidl – Trek.
Vuelta a España Overall After Stage 20:
1. Primož Roglič (Slo) Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe in 81:22:19
2. Ben O’Connor (Aus) Decathlon-AG2R-La Mondiale at 2:02
3. Enric Mas Nicolau (Spa) Movistar at 2:11
4. Richard Carapaz (Ecu) EF Education-EasyPost at 3:00
5. David Gaudu (Fra) Groupama-FDJ at 4:48
6. Mattias Skjelmose Jensen (Den) Lidl-Trek at 5:18
7. Florian Lipowitz (Ger) Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe at 6:26
8. Mikel Landa Meana (Spa) Soudal Quick-Step at 6:57
9. Pavel Sivakov (Fra) UAE Team Emirates at 8:50
10. Carlos Rodriguez Cano (Spa) INEOS Grenadiers at 10:31.
Vuelta’24 stage 20:
Stefan Küng (Groupama-FDJ) claimed a dominant victory in the Final Stage 21 ITT of La Vuelta’24, with a time of 26:28 to cover the 24.6km in Madrid. Nobody came close to the Swiss powerhouse, who gave his team their first Grand Tour stage win since 2022. Primoz Roglič (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) set the second best time of the day (+0:31) to seal a historic fourth overall triumph after his successes in 2019, 2020 and 2021. Nobody has won La Vuelta more than the Slovenian star. The runner-up, Ben O’Connor (Decathlon-AG2R-La Mondiale) also made history with the best Australian result in the Spanish Grand Tour, while Enric Mas (Movistar) stood on the overall podium for the fourth time in his career.
La Vuelta’24 reached Madrid to conclude the 79th edition with an ITT of 24.6km celebrating the 100th anniversary of Telefonica. Tim Naberman (dsm-firmenich-PostNL) was the first rider off the ramp, at 16:30, some 2 hours and half before Primoz Roglič started his last effort to claim a historic fourth overall victory in the Spanish Grand Tour.
Thibault Guernalec (Arkéa-B&B Hotels) rode past Naberman, Ide Schelling (Astana Qazaqstan) and Kamil Gradek (Bahrain Victorious) to be the first finisher, with a time of 27:43. This was a strong reference. but he was quickly beaten by Edoardo Affini (Visma | Lease a Bike): 27:33. The Italian was in the hot-seat of the opening time trial, three weeks earlier in Portugal. But this time, he was quickly beaten by Victor Campenaerts (Lotto Dstny), with a time of 27:22. Mauro Schmid (Jayco AlUla) was faster with a time of 27:14, but he can’t hold off Filippo Baroncini (UAE Team Emirates), who finished with a new top time of 27:11.
Baroncini’s time was impressive, but Stefan Küng (Groupama-FDJ) flew over the course, covering the 24.6km at an average speed of 55.8kph to smash the best time with 26:28. This was 43 seconds faster than Baroncini and nobody would come close to that time. In the GC battle, Primoz Roglič quickly proved to be the strongest, eventually powering to the 2nd on the stage, 31 seconds behind Küng. Ben O’Connor (Decathlong-AG2R-La Mondiale) also impressed (11th at 1:05) to retain his 2nd place ahead of Enric Mas (Movistar). Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek) was faster (8th at 1:02) to claim the 5th place from David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ) and is the first Danish winner of a best young rider in a Grand Tour.
# You can see more photos in the full ‘PEZ Stage Report’ HERE. #
Stage winner, Stefan Küng (Groupama-FDJ): “It’s amazing. I’ve been fighting for a Grand Tour stage win for a very long time. I really wanted that win today and I knew with this parcours you had to go out hard and keep it together until the end. That’s what I did I suffered a lot today but I think everyone did at the end of this hard Vuelta. And I’m just so happy that I got this win. It’s been a long time in the making. It’s always nice if you win with more than half a minute. It shows that you were absolutely the best, it was no coincidence today. It’s really nice and it finally repays all the work that we do as a team, that we do together with Wilier developing the new bike. We’ve just worked so hard, also myself. I always try to be professional, I always try to get the maximum out of me. It feels good. There is a lot of big individual time trials coming up and when you get the confidence, you just want to stay on the wave. I also think the Vuelta was for me the best possible preparation for the home Worlds because they’re also gonna be hard.”
Final overall winner and 2nd on the stage, Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe): “It’s nice [to hold the record for most overall victories in La Vuelta]. Today, I wanted to finish it off. It was tough but everything went fine and I’m happy. I saw [Stefan Küng’s performance]. We all know he’s strong in this kind of flat time-trials. Still, I tried to motivate myself to go for it, otherwise it’s even harder. So I pushed and in the end it was hard but I definitely want to congratulate him, he did a really good job. He was incredibly strong today. On my side, I’m enjoying. I have no words, it’s incredible [that Slovenia won all three Grand Tours in 2024]. It’s a lot of sacrifice [to get there]. It’s not only me. My family, everyone around, we all sacrifice dearly for this. I just feel happy that I can do it. I really appreciate the support that I get. Yes [five La Vuelta victories] would be nice [laughs]. It’s never enough… But four is already crazy.”
2nd overall, Ben O’Connor (Decathlon-AG2R-La Mondiale): “I’m just a proud man, you know. I think I’ve gone about my business well and I can’t believe to come out like this, in 2nd. There was a point in the race where I thought that if I did my absolute best every single day, then it would be difficult [but possible to win La Vuelta]. It’s been a crazy Grand Tour, it’s been really difficult to be at my best every single day. It’s probably one of the most physically taxing Grand Tours I’ve done so it’s hard to expect perfection every single day. No no, I definitely didn’t lose La Vuelta a España, I’ve achieved something unique. I had an amazing opportunity, to be in the red jersey from stage 6 to stage 19. But I was under no illusion. I’ve led a WorldTour race for one day in my past and now I’ve led La Vuelta a España for two weeks. I think these last three weeks are a defining moment in my career. I was always confident in my TT so I wasn’t worried about losing the podium today. I’ve just got the podium that I always dreamed I could achieved but I was never sure I could do it.”
Points winner, Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck): “I think it’s quite a lot different, actually last year was a different experience collecting points. This year, obviously, Wout van Aert crashed out and left me with the jersey so it’s a bittersweet victory. But it’s really nice to be back here and it’s not for nothing. The team worked really hard and I know myself and the rest of the guys put in everything we could at each day for three weeks to arrive here with this jersey and also three victories. It’s a credit to the team. It’s not easy to get one win and to repeat that several times is always special. La Vuelta seems to treat me quite well and it’s a joy coming back each year. Thank you to my teammates, all the sponsors and everyone who makes it possible. We’ll talk about my calendar in November but I guess it’s quite likely [I’ll be back next year].”
KOM, Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates): “Two years ago, I was on cloud nine, two stage wins and in the mountain jersey with a comfortable lead, ready to come to Madrid, and then disaster struck on stage 18. And now to finish that up is fantastic, especially after the year that I had. I feel like my season is just starting, so I’m looking forward to the rest of it. It’s pretty incredible [to be here after the crash I had in Itzulia]. The recovery that I’ve had is amazing. At the time, we didn’t really know if I would be able to ride again, let alone compete. So to be able to be here with the jersey, it was like a dream. To actually be able to pull it off is amazing.”
Best young rider, 8th on the stage and 5th overall, Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek): “Yes, job is done! I wasn’t feeling very good, to be honest, but I think none of the GC guys were feeling really good. It’s been a crazy hard Vuelta, emptying the tank almost every day, no easy riding almost from Portugal. I think everybody started to feel it. Confident is a big word, but I know we have good equipment, I know I can do good time trials, and I knew that, if everything was right, I could do it. And we did it today. This is more a milestone than a breakthrough. I think my breakthrough was more at the Tour de Suisse last year. It is my first Grand Tour GC, and to finish 5th in such a hard Vuelta, with the guys in front and the guys I have behind me is a really great result for me.”
8th overall, Mikel Landa Meana (Soudal Quick-Step): “I think we did a good Vuelta. Yes, we had a bad day towards the end, but the team worked hard, showed a lot of commitment and determination, and the overall feeling was great during these three weeks. I can be happy with my final result on the general classification. It’s been a hard race and I suffered, but I received amazing support from the team and the fans, and I want to thank them all for this. I didn’t have the Tour de France legs here and the heat made it extremely difficult especially during what was a quite draining opening week, but I gave my best every single time and fought hard, so at the end of the day I am happy with being eighth here in Madrid.”
Super-combative rider, Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates): “In the end, [the Super Combative award means] that I fought to get those stage wins and that I was in the breakaway a lot. It’s a reward for all that work. It has been a very hard Vuelta, but yes, in the end it was good for me that it was more demanding and with more gradient to be able to be in breakaways and fight for stages and get the stage victory in Lagos, which is very important. I’m very happy, and now I’m going to enjoy it. [Without Joao Almeida’s withdrawal] it would have changed a bit, but well, in the end we overcame it very well, we were able to win several stage victories, the team general classification, the mountains jersey… so we are very happy. Being the best team, just like in the UCI ranking where we are now also number 1, is very important. The truth is that we are very happy. Everything is important, in the end we work to get good results, and when at some point we can’t get that good result in the overall, we look for other things.”
Vuelta a España Stage 21 Result:
1. Stefan Küng (Sui) Groupama-FDJ in 26:28
2. Primož Roglič (Slo) Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe 0:31
3. Mattia Cattaneo (Ita) Soudal Quick-Step at 0:41
4. Filippo Baroncini (Ita) UAE Team Emirates at 0:43
5. Mauro Schmid (Sui) Jayco AlUla at 0:46
6. Mathias Vacek (CZ) Lidl-Trek at 0:52
7. Victor Campenaerts (Bel) Lotto Dstny at 0:54
8. Mattias Skjelmose Jensen (Den) Lidl-Trek at 1:01
9. Harry Sweeny (Aus) EF Education-EasyPost at 1:02
10. Bruno Armirail (Fra) Decathlon-AG2R-La Mondiale at 1:03.
Vuelta a España Final Overall Result:
1. Primož Roglič (Slo) Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe in 81:49:18
2. Ben O’Connor (Aus) Decathlon-AG2R-La Mondiale at 2:36
3. Enric Mas Nicolau (Spa) Movistar at 3:13
4. Richard Carapaz (Ecu) EF Education-EasyPost at 4:02
5. Mattias Skjelmose Jensen (Den) Lidl-Trek at 5:49
6. David Gaudu (Fra) Groupama-FDJ at 6:32
7. Florian Lipowitz (Ger) Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe at 7:05
8. Mikel Landa Meana (Spa) Soudal Quick-Step at 8:48
9. Pavel Sivakov (Fra) UAE Team Emirates at 10:04
10. Carlos Rodriguez Cano (Spa) INEOS Grenadiers at 11:19.
Vuelta’24 stage 21:
Lloyd’s Bank Tour of Britain Men 2024
Stevie Williams rode to a back-to-back victory in South Yorkshire for the second day running at the Lloyds Bank Tour of Britain Men to extend his lead at the top of the general classification. The Welsh rider fired to the line in Barnsley for Israel-Premier Tech, holding off first stage winner Paul Magnier (Soudal Quick-Step) in damp conditions on Stage 3 to extend his overall lead to 16 seconds, with British riders filling the top four spots in the general classification.
The riders tackled 2,282m of climbing over the 166km, taking in all four boroughs of South Yorkshire, starting on Arundel Gate in Sheffield city centre, and passing through Rotherham and Doncaster, before an uphill finish on County Way in Barnsley.
Yorkshire native Ben Swift (INEOS Grenadiers) launched the first big move of the day, and was quickly joined by Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal Quick-Step) and Jake Stewart (Israel-Premier Tech). The trio quickly established a gap on the peloton on the twisty lanes skirting the Peak District outside Sheffield. Jelte Krijnsen (Q36.5 Pro Cycling) bridged across to make the group swell to a quartet as they reached the first King of the Mountains climb on Long Lane, with the group’s advantage dangling around 30 seconds in front of the peloton as Alaphilippe took the points. The ferocious pace set by Israel-Premier Tech saw the peloton reduce significantly, with riders dropped on the hills of South Yorkshire.
With just under 120km to go, the leaders widened the advantage to the peloton by just over a minute but the bunch were working hard to close the gap. Allaphilippe took the second King of the Mountain points of the day up Jawbone Hill ahead of Stewart. Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) stormed to the front of the race, closing the gap to just 11 seconds as Krijnsen won the intermediate sprint in Tickhill ahead of Swift and Stewart. The peloton reeled the break in as the four riders sat back. Soudal Quick-Step continued to work on the front, making the peloton splinter, putting race leader Stevie Williams (Israel-Premier Tech) under pressure with 83km to go.
With 65km remaining, a promising 10-man break formed, including British champion Ethan Hayter (INEOS Grenadiers) and Magnier, but they were quickly foiled. Tobias Foss (INEOS Grenadiers) counter-attacked up a climb, taking Gil Gelders (Soudal Quick-Step) with him. Louis Sutton (Great Britain Cycling Team), points leader Julius Johansen (Sabgal/Anicolour), Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X Mobility), Nickolas Zukowsky (Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team), Noa Isidore (Decathalon AG2R La Mondiale Development Team) and Oscar Nilsson-Julien (Van Rysel-Roubaix) bridged over to form a strong front group. Sporting a ripped jersey after an earlier crash, young rider Sutton continued to show his gutsy talent, and as the leading group racked up a 50 second lead, it provisionally put the British rider into the leader’s jersey. Sensing the threat, Israel – Premier Tech went to the front of the chasing peloton and put the hammer down with 50km to go.
The head of the race continued to work well together with a fast pace, dropping Nilsson-Julien in the process. Ethan Vernon (Israel-Premier Tech) took to the front of the peloton in a bid to close the 1 minute gap, while Foss continued to power in the leading bunch. Inside the final 25km, the bunch maintained a minute gap with Bahrain Victorious controlling the pace from the peloton. A huge effort from Israel-PremierTech saw them quickly reduce the advantage to 34 seconds as the rain continued to fall, seeing Evenepoel distanced from the main group. Attacks from the front came thick and fast, with Johansen, Foss, Isidore, Gelders and Abrahamsen establishing a lead with 15km remaining. As the rest of the breakaway group were caught by the peloton, the five-man lead had a gap of just 13 seconds.
The leaders were caught inside the final 6km, with Gelders putting in a few more counter-attacks that came to nothing. Coming up the final climb, the peloton was reduced to 20 riders as they pushed on the pace. Tom Pidcock (INEOS Grenadiers) put in a huge attack with less than 5km to go, taking the King of the Mountain points up Hound Hill, with Oscar Onley (dsm-firmenich-PostNL) straight onto his wheel, but as the pair descended, they were reeled back into the peloton. With 700m remaining, the road kicked up and it was all to play for. Pidcock attacked and looked in good form, but Williams was unstoppable, taking his second victory of the week. Magnier finished second in a tense sprint to the line against Edoardo Zambanini (Bahrain Victorious). Williams’ sprinting win for a second day in a row also sees him lead in the points classification as the Welsh rider currently sits 16 seconds ahead of youngster Onley on the general classification. Onley leads the best young rider classification, while fellow Scot Callum Thornley (TRINITY Racing) will continue to wear the King of the Mountain jersey. After his attacking antics in the break today and battling back from the crash, Sutton was given the Combativity award.
Stage winner and overall leader, Stephen Williams (Israel-Premier Tech): “It was really tough, it was a really hard day. The roads were really demanding, the weather was pretty bad, but in the end it came good. I’ve raced a lot this year with a group that has backed me and given their all for me, and today was no different. They did a stellar job to control the stage today, and it wasn’t easy to do that. The stage seemed to settle down after 50 or 60 kilometres, and then the fireworks started again. It was hectic. But the way my teammates controlled that and brought the breakaway back was incredible. They set it up so that I could have a go again for the win.”
3rd on the stage and 9th overall, Edoardo Zambanini (Bahrain Victorious): “Today was very demanding right from the start – testing uphills and riders attacking off the front. After that it calmed down for a while until a very open section when the wind started to play a part, and we caught a pretty dangerous break which included [double world champion] Julian Alaphilippe (SOQ). After that, the attacks started again, and 8 guys went clear. Back in the main bunch we organised ourselves before the finale. The little attacks were intense, but with the help of my teammates throughout the day I was right where I needed to be for the last few hundred metres. Maybe I launched slightly too early, but to be honest Stevie is so strong this week I can only compliment him. It was a profile I really liked, and I was looking to really deliver a performance today. I believe that victory is getting closer every time I race, so fingers crossed!”
Lloyd’s Bank Tour of Britain Men Stage 3 Result:
1. Stephen Williams (GB) Israel-Premier Tech in 3:50:03
2. Paul Magnier (Fra) Soudal Quick-Step
3. Edoardo Zambanini (Ita) Bahrain Victorious
4. Jelte Krijnsen (Ned) Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team
5. Oscar Onley (GB) dsm-firmenich-PostNL
6. Tom Pidcock (GB) INEOS Grenadiers
7. Markus Hoelgaard (Nor) Uno-X Mobility
8. Mark Donovan (GB) Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team
9. Joseph Blackmore (GB) Israel-Premier Tech
10. Callum Thornley (GB) Trinity Racing.
Lloyd’s Bank Tour of Britain Men Overall After Stage 3:
1. Stephen Williams (GB) Israel-Premier Tech in 11:38:53
2. Oscar Onley (GB) dsm-firmenich-PostNL at 0:16
3. Mark Donovan (GB) Q36.5 at 0:41
4. Joseph Blackmore (GB) Israel-Premier Tech
5. Tom Donnenwirth (Fra) Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Development
6. Louis Sutton (GB) Great Britain at 1:05
7. Paul Magnier (Fra) Soudal Quick-Step at 1:31
8. Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Soudal Quick-Step at 1:33
9. Edoardo Zambanini (Ita) Bahrain Victorious at 1:43
10. Jelte Krijnsen (Ned) Q36.5 at 1:44.
Tour of Britain’24 stage 3:
Paul Magnier stormed to a second stage win at the Lloyds Bank Tour of Britain Men as the riders tackled 138 kilometres across the East Midlands from Derby to Newark-on-Trent on Stage 4. Magnier (Soudal Quick-Step) emulated his win in the opening stage of the tour with another powerful sprint victory, as Ethan Vernon (Israel-Premier Tech) once again came home in second place on a fast and flat stage, with his teammate Stevie Williams continuing to hold his 16 second overall lead.
As the racing began outside of the Derby Arena, the peloton saw a flurry of attacks, before Ben Swift (INEOS Grenadiers) struck out alone with 128km to go. Swift quickly gained over 40 seconds on the main group before he was joined by Rowan Baker (Saint Piran), Liam O’Brien (Lidl-Trek Future Racing) and Scott McGill (Project Echelon Racing), forming a quartet that the peloton, led by Israel-Premier Tech and Soudal Quick-Step, seemed happy to allow up the road.
As the breakaway’s advantage stretched to over 2:30, Swift became the virtual leader of the race on the road, before the Yorkshireman sat up to help his teammates in the peloton with 114km remaining. The team of race leader Williams, along with Soudal Quick-Step – who were working for stage one victor Magnier – took turns sharing chase duties, holding the remaining trio of riders ahead of them between 1:30 and 1:45 minutes. The peloton were reeling in the stage leaders all the time and with just over 30km left, the gap stood at 17 seconds. However, O’Brien launched an attack and made it stick, pushing the gap back out to 38 seconds, leaving his two compatriots to try and fend off the bunch who continued to close in on the pair.
The Irishman managed to hold on to take maximum points at the intermediate sprint at Collingham, where Jelte Krijnsen (Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team) took second and teammate Mark Donovan sealed the last remaining bonus second for third place. The catch was finally made shortly afterwards, which led to attacks flying off the front of the peloton for the following few kilometres, all of which were marked and chased down by double Olympic champion Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step). Ethan Hayter (INEOS Grenadiers) launched what appeared to be a dangerous move with just 10km to go, but once again, Evenepoel shut down the attack to ensure a sprint finish for his teammate Magnier. The narrow streets of Newark-on-Trent lent themselves to a tense finish as the lead-out trains spread across the road, with Uno-X Mobility taking control with 2 kilometres to go. Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal Quick-Step) produced a wonderful lead-out for Magnier, dragging the Frenchman to within 200m to go, before Vernon launched his own sprint on the left in an attempt to catch the Soudal man out.
The Brit’s efforts proved fruitless however as Magnier looked untouchable as he powered to convincingly seal his second stage win of the race, with Vernon following him home, narrowly beating Erlend Blikra (Uno-X Mobility). Williams retains the leaders jersey as he maintains his 16 second advantage over Oscar Onley, who remains in the white young riders jersey, with fellow Brit Donovan in third, now at 40 seconds in arrears after his intermediate sprint time bonus. Magnier now leads the points classification outright, after wearing the red jersey today in place of previous points leader Williams. No King of the Mountains climbs on the East Midlands leg mean that Callum Thornley’s (TRINITY Racing) lead in that competition is unchanged, and he will wear the blue jersey for a fifth straight stage, now only needing to finish the race to win the classification. Baker’s early break efforts for Saint Piran saw him awarded the combativity award for the day.
Stage winner, Paul Magnier (Soudal Quick-Step): “It’s been very nice, we put in a strong team performance today. I want to thank Martin Svrček in the headwind all day and then all my other teammates worked to make it into a bunch race and keep me in the front which helped me to save my legs for the last few hundred metres. I did a really nice sprint so I can thank my team. I’m really happy to take the victory today. Tomorrow I hope it will again be a bunch sprint and we will try and go again for the victory. I’m really proud to be a part of a team like this, they did an amazing job, they’re super strong and they gave me wings. It’s nice to see a lot of people here, it gives us motivation.”
Overall leader,Stephen Williams (Israel-Premier Tech): “It was tough going again today. The last 10k was incredibly fast. There was a lot of jumping, a lot of moving around so I’m really happy to keep hold of the jersey.”
Lloyd’s Bank Tour of Britain Men Stage 4 Result:
1. Paul Magnier (Fra) Soudal Quick-Step in 3:11:54
2. Ethan Vernon (GB) Israel-Premier Tech
3. Erlend Blikra (Nor) Uno-X Mobility
4. Noah Hobbs (GB) Groupama-FDJ CT
5. Matevz Govekar (Slo) Bahrain Victorious
6. Robert Donaldson Trinity Racing
7. Ethan Hayter (GB) INEOS Grenadiers
8. Rory Townsend (Irl) Q36.5
9. Casper Van Uden (GB) dsm-firmenich-PostNL
10. Tom Pidcock (GB) INEOS Grenadiers.
Lloyd’s Bank Tour of Britain Men Overall After Stage 4:
1. Stephen Williams (GB) Israel-Premier Tech in 14:50:47
2. Oscar Onley (GB) dsm-firmenich-PostNL at 0.16
3. Mark Donovan (GB9 Q36.5 at 0:40
4. Joseph Blackmore (GB) Israel-Premier Tech at 0:41
5. Tom Donnenwirth (Fra) Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Development
6. Louis Sutton (GB) Great Britain at 1:05
7. Paul Magnier (Fra) Soudal Quick-Step at 1:21
8. Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Soudal Quick-Step at 1:33
9. Jelte Krijnsen (Ned) Q36.5 at 1:42
10. Edoardo Zambanini (Ita) Bahrain Victorious at 1:43.
Tour of Britain’24 stage 4:
Paul Magnier once again proved a class above the rest as he cruised to a third stage win at the Lloyds Bank Tour of Britain Men after the 149.6km Stage 5 around West Northamptonshire. The young French talent Magnier (Soudal Quick-Step) took victory ahead of Erlend Blikra (Uno-X Mobility) and Ethan Vernon (Israel-Premier Tech) in a stage that started and finished in Northampton.
As the flag dropped on the University of Northampton’s Waterside Campus, a batch of riders accelerated with TRINITY Racing leading the charge, before Connor Swift (INEOS Grenadiers) went solo. Danish champion Rasmus Søjberg Pedersen (Uno-X Mobility) and Matt Holmes (Great Britain Cycling Team) bridged over with the trio racking up a 30 second lead. Race leader Stevie Williams (Israel-Premier Tech), along with Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal Quick-Step) attempted to make a move of their own as the race neared the first categorised climb of the day at Newnham Hill, but they were quickly reeled in before Alaphilippe launched another attack in an attempt to chase down the leading trio.
Holmes was the first to reach the crest of Newnham Hill, followed by Swift in second, Pedersen in third and Paul Wright (REMBE Pro Cycling Team Sauerland) taking the final available point. The break trio maintained the same order over the second and final categorised climb of the day, and the 2024 race, at Bullshill, with Alaphilippe taking fourth place on this occasion before he was again caught by the peloton. Josh Golliker (Groupama-FDJ Continental) saw an opportunity to try and join the break and struck out alone, but found himself in no man’s land as he gained a minute on the peloton. With 105km to go, Golliker sat up as the lead trio saw their advantage stretch to 2:40 over the main group, with Soudal Quick-Step and IsraelPremier Tech controlling the chase.
With the gap hovering around the 2 minute mark, the break reached the intermediate sprint at Holcot, with Holmes first across the line ahead of Swift and Pedersen. With just under 15km to go, panic began to set in amongst the peloton as the break remained a minute up the road, working well together to try and keep their hopes of victory alive. Soudal Quick-Step began to pull out all the stops, sending double Olympic champion Remco Evenepoel to the front, who cut the deficit to just under 30 seconds with seven kilometres remaining. Hopes for a breakaway victor were in the balance with three kilometres to go as the gap began to close rapidly, with just 18 seconds separating the groups. Bahrain-Victorious and Uno-X Mobility also began to help the peloton, closing the gap to 8 seconds with 2 kilometres to go. A crash saw most of the Soudal Quick-Step riders caught out, but Alaphilippe was still able to guide Magnier towards the front of the race, with the break’s brave effort finally caught at the flamme rouge entering the final kilometre.
Jake Stewart (Israel-Premier Tech) began the lead-out on the gently rising Derngate in Northampton town centre to launch teammate Vernon, but Magnier looked unbeatable as he powered to the front, gaining two bike lengths over his rivals to secure the victory, celebrating his second consecutive victory and third stage win of the 2024 race. Behind; Blikra went one better than his third in Newark-on-Trent, while Vernon’s third is his seventh top three placing in his home tour from the past 11 stages, though the 24-year-old from Bedford is yet to crack the top spot.
The general classification podium places remain unchanged, Stevie Williams (Israel-Premier Tech) retains his 16 second advantage over best young rider leader Oscar Onley (dsm-firmenich-PostNL) going into the final stage.
Magnier strengthened his hold on the red points classification jersey with victory today, while Callum Thornley (TRINITY Racing) kept hold of his blue king of the mountains classification jersey once more, now with every categorised climb completed. Connor Swift earned the day’s combativity award for his efforts in the breakaway,
Stage winner and 6th overall, Paul Magnier (Soudal Quick-Step): “I enjoyed it a lot, especially with a really big team performance again. It was really hard to catch the break in the final. Remco [Evenepoel] did everything, he did his best. He is a super fast rider and he brought back the really strong breakaway, and then Julian [Alaphilippe] brought me to the front and I saved a lot of energy there. I did my best sprint and the victory was super nice. Tomorrow we’ll try again to get the victory.”
Lloyd’s Bank Tour of Britain Men Stage 5 Result:
1. Paul Magnier (Fra) Soudal Quick-Step in 3:12:09
2. Erlend Blikra (Nor) Uno-X Mobility
3. Ethan Vernon (GB) Israel-Premier Tech
4. Matevz Govekar (Slo) Bahrain Victorious
5. Søjberg Rasmus Pedersen (Den) Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Development
6. Robert Donaldson (GB) Trinity Racing
7. Ethan Hayter (GB) INEOS Grenadiers
8. Tom Donnenwirth (Fra) Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Development
9. Rory Townsend (Irl) Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team
10. Casper Van Uden (Ned) dsm-firmenich-PostNL.
Lloyd’s Bank Tour of Britain Men Overall After Stage 5:
1. Stephen Williams (GB) Israel-Premier Tech in 18:02:56
2. Oscar Onley (GB) dsm-firmenich-PostNL at 0:16
3. Mark Donovan (GB) Q36.5 at 0:40
4. Tom Donnenwirth (Fra) Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Development at 0:41
5. Joseph Blackmore (GB) Israel-Premier Tech
6. Paul Magnier (Fra) Soudal Quick-Step at 1:11
7. Jelte Krijnsen (Ned) Q36.5 at 1:42
8. Edoardo Zambanini (Ita) Bahrain Victorious at 1:43
9. Julius Johansen (Den) Sabgal/Anicolor at 1:45
10. Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Soudal Quick-Step.
Tour of Britain’24 stage 5:
Stevie Williams made history as he became the first Welshman to win the modern Lloyds Bank Tour of Britain Men, and the first Brit to win the national tour since 2016. Williams (Israel-Premier Tech) completed a clean sweep of British riders on the podium, heading home Oscar Onley (dsm-firmenich-PostNL) by 16 seconds, with Tom Donnenwirth (Decathlon-AG2R-La Mondiale Development Team), a further 36 seconds in arrears. Matevž Govekar (Bahrain Victorious) won the final 158.4km Stage 6 through East Suffolk, as the sixth stage ended in a bunch sprint on Sea Road in Felixstowe.
An early breakaway group of four featuring Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X Mobility), Cole Kessler (Lidl-Trek Future Racing), Mathias Bregnhøj (Sabgal/Anicolor) and Ben Swift (INEOS Grenadiers) gained 30 seconds over the peloton. Samuel Leroux (Van Rysel-Roubaix) and Antoine L’Hote (Decathlon-AG2R-La Mondiale Development Team) managed to bridge across and extend the gap to 34 seconds, with Abrahamsen securing the first intermediate sprint win of the day in Beccles, before they were caught with 129km to go.
After a brief moment of calm, Tom Pidcock (INEOS Grenadiers) attacked hard to make a front group of eight, before Jacob Scott (Rembe Pro Cycling Team Sauerland) and Mathias Bregnhoj (Sabgal/Anicolor) went clear. Pidcock attacked again, with Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious) in tow as the two bridged over with 110km to go, forcing a gap of 2:10.
The peloton, led by Soudal Quick-Step and Israel-Premier Tech upped the pace in an attempt to reel them back, splintering the peloton into two, and making the catch with 88km to go. A strong crosswind blew the peloton apart, which threatened to disrupt the standings significantly in the final stage, while a group of 25 including Callum Thornley (TRINITY Racing), Oscar Onley (dsm-firmenich-PostNL), Williams and Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) went off the front.
The second intermediate sprint with 68km to go saw Tom Donnenwirth (Decathlon-AG2R-La Mondiale Development Team) take the full points and bonus seconds, moving him up into third on the general classification, above Mark Donovan (Q36.5 Pro Cycling). The second group took turns on the front to close the gap, before a crash saw Pidcock and treble stage winner Paul Magnier (Soudal Quick-Step) abandon the race to make it all to play for coming into the final 35km. As the peloton came back together, Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team hit the front coming into the final intermediate sprint in Grundisburgh, with Jelte Krijnsen taking the points ahead of Donnenwirth. Connor Swift (INEOS Grenadiers) attacked solo, with Evenepoel, Thornley and Abrahamsen bridging over, before it came back together and another flurry of attacks put pressure on the reduced peloton. A last gasp effort from Onley, who was 16 seconds off Williams in the general classification, saw Israel-Premier Tech chase furiously and make the catch with less than 20km to go.
A frantic finish saw lead-out trains all over the road as the riders entered Felixstowe, with Israel-Premier Tech heading the peloton, with the aim of setting up Ethan Vernon for the finish. But it was Govekar who timed his sprint to perfection out of the final corner on to the long seaside finish straight, to take the stage victory ahead of Rasmus Pedersen (Decathlon-AG2R-La Mondiale Development Team) in second. Ben Swift (INEOS Grenadiers) was just behind in third, also taking the Combativity award of the day while Vernon finished in fourth to take the points jersey and help his Israel-Premier Tech to the team classification. Thornley held onto the King of the Mountains jersey after a fantastic start to the tour that saw him take the blue jersey on day one in his native Scottish Borders. Fellow Borderer Onley’s second place on the general classification saw him take the best young rider’s jersey. Teammate Sean Flynn finished 10th overall to end a highly successful week for Scottish riders in the tour, with Onley and Thornley the first Scots to finish on the overall podium and win a jersey in their home tour, since Pippa York in 1990.
Stage winner, Matevz Govekar (Bahrain Victorious): “It’s been a pretty aggressive week of racing. We came close in a few stages already, it’s been a super nice week of racing. I think the stage win shows the picture of a week of racing with the boys and I’m super happy with how they set up the final. I came from the back, with the tailwind I knew that I needed to start the sprint more to the front as they had already started to get into position quite early. I didn’t see how close it was but I did a strong sprint and I’m happy I managed to finish first.”
Overall winner, Stephen Williams (Israel-Premier Tech): “It’s been a good week and we managed to take everything out of a stage race – a couple of stages and the GC so I’m really happy and proud to have this race. I’m proud of how the boys rode all week, they were fantastic. It’s me standing on the podium and winning it but it was definitely a team effort. After the Olympics, it was definitely a target of mine to get back into racing and I knew I was coming here in decent form. Luckily I had the legs to show it and pull it off but at the end of the day everything has to go right and everything did go right so I’m really happy.”
Points winner, Ethan Vernon (Israel-Premier Tech): “It wasn’t the way I wanted to do it, obviously Magnier crashed out and the sprint didn’t go to plan at the end, but I’m happy with Stevie’s result. It’s been a great week for Stevie, we got stuck in to helping him today and put everything into that and managed to bring it home. For me it’s been a week of highs and lows, I’ve got some good stuff to take away and learn from, some negatives, but I set myself up for a good sprint today, I just didn’t have the legs in the end.”
Lloyd’s Bank Tour of Britain Men Stage 6 Result:
1. Matevz Govekar (Slo) Bahrain Victorious in 3:22:18
2. Søjberg Rasmus Pedersen (Den) Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Development
3. Ben Swift (GB) INEOS Grenadiers
4. Ethan Vernon (GB) Israel-Premier Tech
5. Erlend Blikra (Nor) Uno-X Mobility
6. Rory Townsend (Irl) Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team
7. Noah Hobbs (GB) Groupama-FDJ CT
8. Robert Donaldson (GB)(GB) Trinity Racing
9. Jonas Abrahamsen (Nor) Uno-X Mobility
10. Sean Flynn (GB) dsm-firmenich-PostNL.
Lloyd’s Bank Tour of Britain Men Overall After Stage 6:
1. Stephen Williams (GB) Israel-Premier Tech in 21:25:14
2. Oscar Onley (GB) dsm-firmenich-PostNL at 0:16
3. Tom Donnenwirth (Fra) Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Development at 0:36
4. Mark Donovan (GB) Q36.5 at 40
5. Joseph Blackmore (GB) Israel-Premier Tech at 0:41
6. Jelte Krijnsen (Ned) Q36.5 at 1:39
7. Edoardo Zambanini (Ita) Bahrain Victorious at 1:40
8. Mathias Bregnhoj (Den) Sabgal/Anicolor at 1:58
9. Noa Isidore (Fra) Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Development
10. Sean Flynn (GB) dsm-firmenich-PostNL at 2:03.
Tour of Britain’24 stage 6:
GP Industria e Artigianato 2024
Marc Hirschi won his third race in a row after the Clásica San Sebastián and the Bretagne Classic. The 26-year-old Swiss rider of UAE Team Emirates was the strongest on the final climb in the 2024 GP Industria & Artigianato and finished solo in Larciano. Guillermo Thomas Silva (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) was second and Diego Ulissi (UAE Team Emirates) took third place.
The GP Industria & Artigianato is fought out in the Tuscan hills with the climbs of the Fornello (2.9km at 6.3%) and the San Baronto (8.4km at 3.5%). With the in-form Marc Hirschi, defending champion Ben Healy, Johan Esteban Chaves, Davide Formolo, Diego Ulissi, Simone Velasco, Vincenzo Albanese and Orluis Aular, there were a number of possible winners. Thirteen riders made up the early break: Davide De Cassan, Andrea Peron, Antonio Polga, Walter Calzoni, Manuele Tarozzi, Emanuele Ansaloni, Tommaso Bambagioni, Matteo Spreafico, Paul Ourselin, Baptiste Huyet, Yuma Koishi, Mark Stewart and Aaron Van der Beken.
With 75 kilometres to go, Spreafico was dropped due to a mechanical, but also UAE Team Emirates started to chase hard behind. Walter Calzoni (Q36.5) jumped away from the leading group. He was solo at first, but Baptiste Huyet (TDT-Unibet) eventually joined him. The five from the early break were at 1:30, the peloton was at a further minute. The weather in Tuscany was brutal and the race jury decided to cancel one of the laps with two laps to go. Instead of 52 kilometres to go, there was now only 26 kilometres.
Huyet had tried a get away, but Calzoni caught him again shortly after the last passage of the finish. Their escape ended 14 kilometres from the finish and Hirschi attacked almost immediately on the steep climb of Fornello. No one could go with him. Despite the efforts of Movistar and EF Education-EasyPost to bring Hirschi back, he steadily increased his lead. On the San Baronto, Javier Romo and Cristian Scaroni counter-attacked. They looked to have second and third places, but the Italian crashed on the slippery descent. The Spaniard continued alone, but was joined by the Uruguayan Silva, who rode to second place. Romo was caught and Ulissi won the sprint for third.
Race winner, Marc Hirschi (UAE Team Emirates): “In the end it was a really hard race because of the rain. It was not easy to know what was going on in the race and it was all a bit messy so we stuck to our tactic to go full gas on the climb and I felt really good so in the end it was perfect. It was really challenging to know who was behind and who was ahead but I’m glad I was in front. Now I will turn the focus to the World Championships in Zurich. It’s been an amazing season so far and we hope to finish it off in this way.”
GP Industria e Artigianato Result:
1. Marc Hirschi (Sui) UAE Team Emirates in 3:53:35
2. Guillermo Thomas Silva Coussan (Uru) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA at 0_05
3. Diego Ulissi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates at 0:10
4. Javier Romo Oliver (Spa) Movistar
5. Simone Velasco (Ita) Italy
6. Vincenzo Albanese (Ita) Italy
7. Mattéo Vercher (Fra) TotalEnergies
8. Joel Nicolau Beltran (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
9. Gianluca Brambilla (Ita) Q36.5
10. Giovanni Carboni (Ita) JCL Team Ukyo.
Industria e Artigianato’24:
Still looking for video.
GP de Fourmies 2024
Arvid de Kleijn won the 2024 GP de Fourmies after a perfect lead-out from his teammates; Rick Pluimers and Maikel Zijlaard. The 30-year-old Dutchman from Tudor Pro Cycling was by far the fastest in the bunch sprint. Gerben Thijssen and Søren Wærenskjold were second and third. De Kleijn had a knee injury which kept him out for more than three months from mid-April.
The course of the GP de Fourmies is on various circuits which never go far from Fourmies. There were two not too difficult climbs; the Côte Bocquet (1.6km at 3.6%) and the Sacré Coeur (700 metres at 7.3%). After the final passage of the Sacré Coeur at over 70 kilometres from the finish, the peloton had six laps of 11 kilometres in Fourmies, with time for the sprinter’s teams to organise themselves for a bunch sprint. The fast men at the start were; Gerben Thijssen, Arvid de Kleijn, Søren Waerenskjold, Jakub Mareczko and the on form, Simon Dehairs.
It took a long time before a break formed. At the bonus sprint, Clémant Braz Afonso (CIC U Nantes Atlantique), Jasper Dejaeghere (Flanders-Baloise) and Jérémy Leveau (Van Rysel-Roubaix) got together. The trio were not chased by the peloton. At the front there were mountain sprints to go for, but they were not important for the final result.
In the peloton, Uno-X Mobility set the pace and the three slowly came within range, five counter-attackers jumped away: Dries De Bondt (Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale), Andrea Pietrobon (Polti-Kometa), Jan Stöckli (Corratec-Vini Fantini), Roel van Sintmaartensdijk (Intermarché-Wanty) and Stan Van Tricht (Alpecin-Deceuninck). The five quickly caught the three. With five laps to go, the eight escapees were caught by the peloton. Decathlon-AG2R-La Mondiale, Intermarché-Wanty and Tudor were now at the front of the peloton. At the start of the last hour of racing there were attack after attack, but no one managed to get away.
With 30 kilometres to go, five riders made a gap: Simon Dehairs (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Jordan Labrosse and Gianluca Pollevliet (Decathlon-AG2R-La Mondiale), Olivier Le Gac (Groupama-FDJ) and Anthony Turgis (TotalEnergies). They gained a 30 second lead and made it difficult for Uno-X Mobility and Cofidis to the chase down. The last escapees were caught 9 kilometres from the finish, but the race was not over. The sprinter’s teams had difficulty in keeping things under control. Decathlon-AG2R-La Mondiale had De Bondt and Stan Dewulf attack in the finale, but they had no chance. Everything came together in the final kilometre and Arvid de Kleijn won the sprint.
Race winner, Arvid de Kleijn (Tudor): “It is really insane what we are doing here with the team, I am super happy with it. What we have to show the team is really insane, really crazy. We were a bit far in the last kilometres, but we stayed calm. At the right moment we moved forward on the left, and then rode our own sprint. Sebastian Kolze Changizi brought us there and then Rick Pluimers took over. He dropped us off five hundred meters before the finish. Then I still had Maikel Zijlaard and then I know that he can do a really good lead-out. Maikel then did that too, but then I still have to be able to finish it. I was able to do that, luckily! It was a very tough race with a lot of attacks. That made it almost impossible to control, but we remained calm despite that. Our ‘Dutch team with one Dane’ stayed together all day long. We haven’t raced together for a long time, but I really wanted to show that we can do this very well. So I’m super happy with this! My next race is the Grand Prix d’Isbergues next Sunday, then we will try to equal this success again.”
GP de Fourmies Result:
1. Arvid de Kleijn (Ned) Tudor in 4:29:07
2. Gerben Thijssen (Bel) Intermarché-Wanty
3. Søren Wærenskjold (Nor) Uno-X Mobility
4. Milan Fretin (Bel) Cofidis
5. Hugo Page (Fra) Intermarché-Wanty
6. Jensen Plowright (Aus) Alpecin-Deceuninck
7. Emilien Jeannière (Fra) TotalEnergies
8. Jon Aberasturi Izaga (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
9. Gianluca Pollefliet (Bel) Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale
10. Laurence Pithie (NZ) Groupama-FDJ.
GP de Fourmies’24
BEMER Cyclassics Hamburg 2024
Olav Kooij will be heading to the European Championships in Belgian Limburg with a win in his back pocket. The Dutch sprinter was the fastest in the BEMER Cyclassics on Sunday. The Visma | Lease a Bike rider beat Jonathan Milan and Biniam Girmay in Hamburg.
This year the race was under 200 kilometres, but the final in Hamburg had the tough Waseberg. This 800-metre long slope at an average of 8% through the narrow streets of the posh Blankenese district was on the menu three times. After the last time up Waseberg, the fast men had 16 kilometres to get ready for the sprint. And with Jasper Philipsen, Tim Merlier, Olav Kooij, Jonathan Milan, Biniam Girmay and Arnaud De Lie, quite a few top sprinters were at the start in the port city of Hamburg. Also puncheurs Dorian Godon, Alex Aranburu, Tim Wellens and Axel Zingle could ruin the day for the sprinters.
The BEMER Cyclassics started late due to a helicopter accident on the course and so the race was shortened to 177.5 kilometres. Six riders received the blessing of the peloton. Taco van der Hoorn (Intermarché-Wanty), Michael Mørkøv (Astana Qazaqstan) Stefan de Bod (EF Education-EasyPost), Rémi Cavagna (Movistar), Andrea Vendrame (Decathlon AG2R) and Cyrus Monk (Q36.5) formed the break of the day. With Van der Hoorn, Cavagna, Mørkøv, De Bod and Vendrame, the leading group consisted of a number of fast riders, but the gap to the peloton still grew to almost 8 minutes. This was the moment for the sprinter’s teams to tighten the screws and increase the pace in the peloton. Four teams were prepared to pull: Lidl-Trek (for Milan), Alpecin-Deceuninck (for Philipsen), Visma | Lease a Bike (Olav Kooij) and Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe (Jordi Meeus and Danny van Poppel).
With combined efforts, these teams managed to keep the strong leading group close. The lead also slowly decreased. On the way to the first passage of the Waseberg, the nervousness in the peloton increased and this led to a major crash, with several well-known victims. With Tim Merlier, Fernando Gaviria and Matteo Trentin, several fast riders fell. While most of the crashed riders were able to continue, Merlier, one of the favourites for the victory, had to abandon. The riders who managed to escape the crash rode at a fast pace to the foot of the first Waseberg. The leaders had already started this tough climb 60 kilometres from the finish, and that with a lead of 3 minutes. On the Waseberg, Cavagna was dropped. There was no first selection in the peloton: the sprinter’s teams rode together.
The hoped-for fireworks failed to materialise on the first passage of the climb, but the puncheurs did go all out on the second time up the Waseberg. Just before the foot of this slope, the remaining escapees Van der Hoorn, De Bod, Mørkøv, Vendrame and Monk were caught. Once on the Waseberg, De Lie attacked, but it was Alex Aranburu and Jan Christen who managed to separate themselves. These riders had a common interest: to stay out of the clutches of the peloton. The two attackers worked well together and managed to extend their lead. At the foot of the last time up the Waseberg, the difference was still half a minute. Aranburu saw his chance and continued alone. The Spanish champion reached the top with a lead, but then had to cover 15 kilometres on his own.
This proved to be an impossible task for Aranburu; he saw his dream shattered with just over 10 kilometres to go. There would be a sprint with a fairly large group, including almost all the fast men. Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe seemed to have its sprint in order, but the German team was outflanked on all sides in a particularly chaotic final kilometre. A sprinter who managed to hold his own in all the chaos was Olav Kooij. The Dutchman, who certainly didn’t have an ideal run-up to this race due to a crash in the Renewi Tour, started his sprint and seemed to be on his way to a convincing victory. Milan got stuck in the peloton, but found a gap just in time and then came up strongly. However, the sprinter from Lidl-Trek was just too late: Kooij held his ground, albeit narrowly.
Milan had to settle for second place, Biniam Girmay crossed the line in third place. Jordi Meeus and Alexander Kristoff completed the top 5. Jasper Philipsen had to stop his sprint several times and finished in seventh place. For Kooij it is not only the 36th professional victory of his career, but also an important boost towards the upcoming European Championship.
Race winner, Olav Kooij (Visma | Lease a Bike): “It’s always chaotic here. I didn’t know how I would feel today after that crash in the Renewi Tour. I took it easy last week to recover as well as possible from that crash, but I did have some doubts. On the way, I didn’t feel well and I said that the team could join dangerous breakaways. They kept motivating me to let me sprint anyway. I tried to do that and now you see. A nice surprise! We turned in a good position for the last two kilometres, that was important. After that, I followed the Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe train. Alexander Kristoff then passed me at speed and made sure I could find a good wheel. After that, it was all about pushing and luckily I was able to hold on until the finish.”
BEMER Cyclassics Hamburg Result:
1. Olav Kooij (Ned) Visma | Lease a Bike in 3:39:49
2. Jonathan Milan (Ita) Lidl-Trek
3. Biniam Girmay Hailu (Eri) Intermarché-Wanty
4. Jordi Meeus (Bel) Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe
5. Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Uno-X Mobility
6. Axel Zingle (Fra) Cofidis
7. Jasper Philipsen (Bel) Alpecin-Deceuninck
8. Mike Teunissen (Ned) Intermarché-Wanty
9. Matteo Trentin (Ita) Tudor
10. Stefano Oldani (Ita) Cofidis.
BEMER Cyclassics’24:
Wout van Aert’s Doctor: “Wout is having a really hard time mentally”
It was announced on Thursday that Wout van Aert would not race again in 2024. The Belgian will not be able to race in the European and World Road Championships and also not in the Gravel World Championships, which are in Belgium. “This is a huge blow,” said Dr. Peter T’Seyen in an interview with Sporza.
“Wout is having a really hard time mentally,” said T’Seyen. “He doesn’t want any visitors at the moment, only his wife and his boys. He had skipped the European Championships close to home, but he still hoped for the World Championships and the World Gravel Championships in his own country. Especially after his spring and with the form he was in. He felt like a rider again, for me he was almost at the level of the Tour in 2022.”
In the Vuelta Wout van Aert crashed into a rock face on a bend on a descent. Not only did he lose the points jersey, he also had to give up the KOM classification. The Belgian suffered damage to his right knee. “He was happy that he hadn’t broken anything,” his doctor pointed out. “But doctor Steven Claes was able to determine that it was a deep wound. So deep that Wout is still in hospital to avoid an infection.”
“It is not a superficial wound,” continued Dr. T’Seyen. “The wound almost goes into the joint and is very dirty. The chance of an infection is too great. That is why antibiotics are useful and necessary at the moment. In the short term, he will not be able to train for a few weeks, let alone compete. He cannot take any risks with a view to the future.”
Wout will be out of action for a while:
Patrick Lefevere Frustrated after Time loss of Mikel Landa
Patrick Lefevere saw his leader Mikel Landa lose a lot of time in the Vuelta last Thursday. The Spanish climber was dropped quite far from the finish and didn’t received help from his teammates for a long time. Lefevere blames ‘cycling’. “The authorities like our team leaders to sail blindly,” he wrote in his column in Het Nieuwsblad.
Soudal Quick-Step had three riders in the early break: Mattia Cattaneo, Mauri Vansevenant and Casper Pedersen. When they were at the front, Landa unexpectedly had to drop out of the peloton. Landa ended up alone, after which he had to wait for support from his riders in the break. It took a very long time before they got to their leader.
“I watched the Vuelta on Thursday and saw how tactically it went completely wrong for our team,” wrote Lefevere about the stage. “We had three men at the front, while Mikel Landa had an off day at the back. The logical course of events is to let the men at the front drop back to save the leader’s classification, but that took far too long.”
“Cause? The stage went through the Parque Natural de Izki, where there is no network. Team manager Wilfried Peeters had no images in the car at the front behind the leading group and could not even call Iljo Keisse and Geert Van Bondt. Moreover, the leading group and the peloton were riding too far apart, which meant that the radios did not work either. The result was a ‘shit show’.”
“Mattia Cattaneo had a chance to win the stage at the front, but was ordered to wait. He literally stood still for eight minutes and could have smoked two cigarettes, so to speak. To finally arrive at Landa at a time when the horse had already bolted,” analysed the Soudal Quick-Step boss.
Lefevere criticises ‘cycling’: “Iljo Keisse doesn’t call often, but now he did. ‘It looked ridiculous, Patrick. I didn’t sleep.’ I reassured Iljo: the problem is not with the team DS. The problem is cycling, where the authorities like our team leaders to sail blindly. How Formula 1 embraces technology and how we push it away: painful to see.”
Landa lost time on stage 18:
Tom Pidcock Critical of INEOS Grenadiers
Tom Pidcock is not racing as well as he expected in the Tour of Britain. He finished in the top ten three times, but is nowhere on the overall. In an interview with Het Laatste Nieuws, Pidcock hints that ‘a number of things’ within INEOS Grenadiers do not help him to ‘perform well’.
“I am certainly not as good as I thought I would be,” said Pidcock. “In that second stage I really wanted to disappear, because it was really embarrassing to be dropped by the peloton. Especially after we had opened the race ourselves. The level in every race is so high that you really have to be ready every time. But I do feel myself getting better every day and that is good for the races in Canada and those later in the season. Because there is still a lot to come.”
Pidcock has both positive and negative feelings about 2024. He won the Amstel Gold Race and took MTB gold at the Paris Olympics, but he wants more. “It’s just so damn hard to win. There are only a few riders who win the majority of races and I want to be one of them. That’s not the case now and that has to change. After the Olympics I told my girlfriend that from now on I really want to focus on the road. That’s where I really want to perform. And I’m not just talking about the rest of this season, but definitely next year as well.”
Pidcock was asked if he gets enough freedom at INEOS Grenadiers. “It’s true that there are a number of things within the team that I have to deal with at the moment. And to be honest, they don’t help me to perform optimally,” he responded after some hesitation. “I have to think about a lot more than just performance-related things at the moment. And that means that focusing on the things that are really important, namely racing, is not ideal.”
Might Pidcock leave INEOS Grenadiers before the end of his contract? “I have a contract until the end of 2027. I can’t say more than that.”
Pidcock not happy with INEOS Grenadiers:
Bradley Wiggins Visits the Tour of Britain
Sir Bradley Wiggins was at the Tour of Britain on Saturday. He visited his 19-year-old son Ben Wiggins, who was competing for the British national team in the six-day stage race. Bradley Wiggins has been suffering from financial problems after his career, but now the 2012 Tour de France winner is doing well, he told VTM Nieuws.
“I’m fine,” said Wiggins, who was declared bankrupt earlier this year. It had been reported that he didn’t have a fixed address and would depend on family members and friends to spend the night. Earlier, Wiggins also said that he suffered from ‘impostor syndrome’ during and after his career and that he smashed up all his trophies in 2019. Five years later, he’s doing much better. “I’m mentally healthy. I was a bit lost, but that happens to every man, huh.”
“I’ll do it well and I’m on my way back. What is the truth about the stories of a bankruptcy? It’s a long story. I can’t say everything, but I’ve been screwed by a lot of people. But I will get everything back. Right now I’m glad I’m still alive. I’ve had dark days, but I’m doing well.”
Wiggins in a better place:
Yves Lampaert to Miss the European Time Trial Championships
Yves Lampaert will not participate in the European time trial championships in Belgium next Wednesday. He was previously optimistic about his chances of competing in the European time trial championships, but a respiratory infection has stopped him racing.
After a crash in the Renewi Tour, Lampaert was doubtful for theEuropean time trial championships (Wednesday 11 September) around Hasselt and Heusden-Zolder. He seemed to be on the mend and was also optimistic about the European time trial champs, but it has now become clear that the Soudal Quick-Step rider will have to miss the European title race.
“I would have loved to be there. I even thought it was great that the national coach had thought of me for a European time trial championship in my own country. But since Thursday I have been struggling with a respiratory infection,” Lampaert told Het Nieuwsblad. “That is also why I had to cancel the BEMER Cyclassics in Hamburg. It’s a great pity. Starting for the sake of starting is pointless in this case.”
If his recovery goes well, Lampaert will race again in two weeks. The 33-year-old rider will start the Super 8 Classic, the former Grand Prix Impanis Van Petegem, on Saturday 21 September.
It is still unclear who his replacement will be for the European Time Trial Championships. National coach Sven Vanthourenhout is counting on Victor Campenaerts, the European time trial champion in 2017 and 2018. Wout van Aert (crash in the Vuelta a España) and Remco Evenepoel (Doesn’t fit his schedule), are also unavailable.
No European time trial championships for Yves Lampaert:
Neo-pro Paul Magnier had to Abandon the Tour of Britain on the Last Stage
Winner of three stages at this year’s edition, Paul Magnier was involved in a crash that forced him to say goodbye to the race whose bunch sprints he dominated. The Frenchman, who at that moment was wearing the red jersey rewarding the leader of the points classification, was immediately taken to the hospital in Ipswich for a series of investigations.
Paul underwent a CT scan which revealed a serious brain concussion that requires him to spend the night in the hospital. At the same time, the 20-year-old suffered some serious abrasions to his elbow and knee that will need some stitching.
Everybody at Soudal Quick-Step wishes Paul Magnier a speedy and complete recovery.
Paul Magnier had to abandon the Tour of Britain:
Mark Donovan Extends Contract with Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team
We’re happy to announce that Mark Donovan has extended his contract with Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team, committing to racing with us through the 2026 season.
At just 25-years-old, the British rider has already made his mark in the cycling world, securing his first professional victory at the Sibiu Tour last season. Donovan has consistently delivered strong performances in both stage races and hilly classics, establishing himself as one of the standout talents on our Swiss-registered team.
Speaking during the Tour of Britain, where he is currently racing, Donovan shared his enthusiasm for continuing his journey with Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team, expressing his belief that the team offers the ideal environment for him to reach his full potential in the years to come.
“I’m really pleased to continue with Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team,” said Donovan. “This team has played a crucial role in my development, and I’m confident that together we can achieve even greater things. I’m eager to build on the progress we’ve made and aim for even higher goals in the seasons ahead.”
Despite challenges this season, including illness, Donovan has maintained his competitive edge, continuing to develop as a rider and focusing on establishing himself as a serious contender in General Classification at some of the toughest races on the calendar.
Doug Ryder, General Manager of Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team, commented on the contract extension: “Mark has been an integral part of our team, and we’re thrilled to see him continue to develop with us. His resilience and consistent performances, particularly in stage races, align perfectly with our ambition to compete in the Grand Tours in the coming years. At just 25, we believe he has the potential to emerge as one of the top General Classification riders globally. We’re eager to support him on every step of this journey.”
Mark Donovan is currently in his fifth season as a professional cyclist and his second with Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team. In 2023, he stepped into a team leader role, delivering consistent General Classification results, including a 5th place on the GC at the Tour of Britain, where he also earned the Best British Rider award.
Two more years for Mark Donovan:
Femke Markus Extends Contract with Team SD Worx – Protime Until the End of 2026
‘I feel I can still make strides here’
Femke Markus has extended her contract with Team SD Worx – Protime by two years until the end of 2026. She joined the team new in 2023 and has developed into a regular during that period. In her first season, she was close to victory in Paris-Roubaix until she went down at the Velodrome in Roubaix. Last spring, the 27-year-old North-Holland won the Volta NXT Classic.
Sports manager Danny Stam is happy with a rider like Femke Markus: ‘Femke is someone who gives her all for the team. She always puts the team’s interests first. In terms of commitment, she can be compared a bit to Christine Majerus, who was also always willing to think in the best interest of the team for years. Indeed, Femke has also been of great value to the team in two years. The much work she does, the general public does not immediately see. For instance, she rides in the lead for many kilometres from the start and jumps along for the early break a thousand times. She does everything to put the team in the most ideal position possible. We appreciate that enormously.’
Femke Markus was surprised that negotiations were quickly initiated. ‘I was surprised that Danny Stam indicated to me already at the start of this season that he wanted to talk about an extension. It gave me the confirmation that I am in a good place here. I have made good strides since I have been riding with Team SD Worx-Protime. I feel that my overall base level has gone up, making it easier for me to set a high pace for an hour at the head of the pack. The directness used here appeals to me. By giving honest feedback, we make each other stronger. The team put me in contact with two trainers and I now also stick to the imposed zones during my training sessions. This is paying off. Also, my level has risen by training with such strong riders.’
‘I feel at home here,’ Markus continued. ‘The spirit of the team also matches how I am in life myself. I like to go through fire for others. Because of the success of the past two years, the outside world sometimes thinks that winning is taken for granted for our team. But that is not true. I like to grade myself away for others. I’d rather be completely worn out from working so hard and have a teammate win, than have a nice place of honour and not win. Of course, I also have ambition myself. My goal for the coming years is to compete for the victory or the podium in a 1.1 or WorldTour race once in a while. I love to be a servant, but winning myself is the best thing there is. That gives so much confidence and motivation. Playing the game with the team, that’s what I like to do.’
A New Chapter Awaits Matîs Louvel at Israel – Premier Tech
Israel – Premier Tech is pleased to welcome Matîs Louvel on a three-year contract from 2025 to 2027, with the young Frenchman set to form part of the team’s core classics group.
Louvel’s palmarès features wins at Vuelta a Castilla y Leon in 2021 and Druivenkoers – Overijse in 2022, where just two weeks ago he narrowly missed another win, instead finishing second at the one-day race.
The 25-year-old is the third new rider to join IPT in 2025, following the announcements of Alexey Lutsenko and Jan Hirt, and despite his young age, Louvel has already gained valuable experience in the peloton says IPT General Manager Kjell Carlström. “A big part of the team’s recruitment in the past two years has been focused on identifying young riders who we can help develop,” explains Carlström. “When it comes to our cobbled classics group, we still have a lot of room to grow, so we are looking forward to welcoming Matîs Louvel to the team to see what he can do with us. Matîs has good results at some of the smaller classics and we think he has a lot of potential to develop into one of our key riders in the Spring Classics.”
After turning pro at the stage of 20 with Arkéa – B&B Hotels, Louvel is excited to start a new chapter in the international environment of IPT. “I have been in the same team for 5 years and I feel like I need a change to get out of my comfort zone,” says Louvel. “When IPT contacted me, I immediately liked the project. I was going through a difficult period due to an injury and the team trusted me which really helped me good mentally as it motivated me to move forward!”
When you scan Louvel’s previous race programs, you see mostly see races in Belgium and France so it’s no surprise that the Frenchman feels at home on the tough terrain.
“The races I enjoy the most are the Flemish classics,” adds Louvel. “I love the atmosphere, the courses, and the cobblestones. I have already achieved results in this type of race, but I want to establish myself permanently as one of the best classics riders. I’m coming to IPT to continue to progress and especially, to perform. My biggest dream is to win Paris – Roubaix and I want that to become a goal!”
La Vuelta and Land Life Join Forces to Plant 700 Trees in Picón Blanco
The bike race and the Spanish-based reforestation company launch the campaign ‘Puertos y Bosques’ with a symbolic planting in the most emblematic mountain pass of the province of Burgos.
The collaboration begins with the planting of 100 native trees for each of the seven passes of Stage 20, the most mountainous stage of the edition and crucial for the final classification.
La Vuelta and Land Life, an intelligent and precision reforestation company based in Burgos, have joined forces to highlight forest and ecosystem recovery through the ‘Puertos y Bosques’ campaign. As part of this collaboration, both organizations will plant 700 native trees around Picón Blanco, the finish venue of the 20th stage of the race. This planting is part of a reforestation project in agreement with the Department of Environment, Housing, and Territorial Planning of the Junta of Castilla y León and the Espinosa de los Monteros City Council.
La Vuelta and Land Life will plant 100 trees for each of the seven mountain passes in this stage, totaling 700 trees of native species such as birch, ash, pine, beech, maple, and rowan. The most mountainous stage of the edition, taking place this Saturday, September 7th, will come to conclusion at the Picón Blanco pass in Burgos, the highest peak of the stage and the final challenge before the time trial in Madrid.
This first “stage” of the ‘Puertos y Bosques’ campaign will be part of a 127-hectare plantation that Land Life began in 2019 in the Burgos municipality of Espinosa de los Monteros, specifically in the Public Utility Forest No. 388. In this project, the environmental restoration company has already planted more than 140,000 trees of twelve different native species.
Javier Guillén, General Director of La Vuelta, explains: “The collaboration with Land Life is part of La Vuelta’s commitment to the environment. The natural environment is the stage where our sport takes place, and our responsibility is to take care of it. The planting of 700 trees in Picón Blanco is a way of giving back to nature everything it gives us, especially after the fires that have affected this special area.”
Francisco Purroy, Director of Land Life in Spain, highlights: “We are very pleased to collaborate with La Vuelta. Cycling is a sport closely linked to nature and the care of natural heritage. The area around Picón Blanco, an iconic mountain pass for cycling, has also suffered recurrent fires, leading to progressive degradation. Hence the need to restore its forest ecosystems in a precise, rigorous, and intelligent manner. We must also highlight the effort and support of the Junta of Castilla y León and the Espinosa de los Monteros City Council to carry out these types of projects.”
Land Life in Spain restores degraded lands by creating resilient forests capable of protecting ecosystems, promoting biodiversity, and helping to mitigate the effects of climate change. Through environmental restoration projects, Land Life creates natural habitats, protective environments against risks such as the spread of fires or progressive desertification. Land Life has planted more than 4.5 million native trees across Spain and Portugal.
About Land Life
Land Life is an environmental restoration and precision reforestation company that creates native mixed forests with a focus on biodiversity and resilience to climate change, leveraging technology to plant trees on a large scale. Land Life’s mission is to help restore the 2 billion hectares of degraded land in the world. For this purpose, technologies like artificial intelligence, data analysis, and drones are applied throughout the process. By planting trees where they are most needed, Land Life’s projects restore ecosystems, enhance biodiversity, and generate social and economic benefits for local communities. The company offers businesses and organizations a sustainable and transparent way to undertake climate action initiatives through nature restoration. Currently, it has reforestation projects in 14 Spanish provinces carried out in collaboration with municipal owners, land managers, regional governments, institutions, and local communities. More information: https://landlifecompany.com/
More information about La Vuelta: www.lavuelta.es
Watch the PEZ YOUTUBE Channel here
Follow PEZ INSTAGRAM here
The PEZ NEWSWIRE!
Don’t forget to check the “NEWSWIRE” section, you can find it on the homepage, just above the PEZ Shop section. The bits of news that missed the EuroTrash deadline are in there, plus any news as-it-happens will be added there too.
Any comments, drop me a line, at: alastair@pezcyclingnews.com or Twitter. And check the PezCyclingNews Twitter and Facebook Page. And say hi on Zwift when you pass me.
The post EUROTRASH Monday: Fourth Vuelta for Roglič! appeared first on PezCycling News.
