Heading out the door? Read this article on the new Outside+ app available now on iOS devices for members! Download the app.
Hello again, CyclingTips readers,
Wednesday was a busy day for bike racing as the GC battle continued to heat up at Paris-Nice while both Tirreno-Adriatico and the Healthy Ageing Tour got underway.
Read on for the latest from the world of cycling.
Dane Cash
News Editor
What’s news?
Roglic takes Paris-Nice lead with stage 4 win
Primoz Roglic ascended to victory on stage 4 of Paris-Nice, moving into the overall lead on the first-category Chiroubles finishing climb. Maximilian Schachmann nabbed second on the day ahead of Guillaume Martin, 12 seconds behind Roglic.
The 187.5 km up-and-down stage from Chalon-sur-Saône saw the break get out to a four-minute advantage quickly, but the peloton started to pull things back on the first trip up Mont Brouilly climb inside the last 70 km. The gap fell and continued to fall going over the Col de Durbize and then on the run-in to the second ascent of Mont Brouilly. The gap was down under a minute as Julien Bernard attacked out of the break going over the top. On the descent off the climb, Tao Geoghegan Hart and David Gaudu crashed while rounding a bend. Both remounted, but Geoghegan Hart would ultimately abandon the race.
Rémi Cavagna and Luis León Sánchez jumped off the front of the pack to attempt to bridge to Bernard inside the last 15 km. Cavagna’s hopes were dashed by a gearing problem, but Sánchez made the catch with a little over five kilometers to go. The peloton was close behind, however, and attacks started to fly as the road kicked up sharply towards the finish. Pierre Latour put in a short-lived dig from the pack while Bernard lost touch out front. Latour tried again and this time his move drew out Roglic, Ion Izagirre, and Michael Matthews. Within moments, however, Roglic pressed on alone in pursuit of Sánchez, while the others were brought back.
Roglic quickly caught and past Sánchez and continued to solo up the climb as a select group chased. Roglic held on to take the victory with a 12-second gap over a small group led by Schachmann. With four days to go at Paris-Nice, Roglic now has a 35-second lead over Shachmann in the general classification, with Brandon McNulty sitting third overall at 37 seconds.
Top 10, stage 4
1 ROGLIC Primoz (Team Jumbo-Visma) 4:49:36
2 SCHACHMANN Maximilian (BORA – hansgrohe) 0:12
3 MARTIN Guillaume (Cofidis, Solutions Crédits)
4 BENOOT Tiesj (Team DSM)
5 VLASOV Aleksandr (Astana – Premier Tech)
6 HAMILTON Lucas (Team BikeExchange)
7 GAUDU David (Groupama – FDJ) 0:16
8 PACHER Quentin (B&B Hotels p/b KTM)
9 LATOUR Pierre (Team Total Direct Energie)
10 IZAGIRRE Ion (Astana – Premier Tech)
Top 10, GC
1 ROGLIC Primoz (Team Jumbo-Visma) 13:26:40
2 SCHACHMANN Maximilian (BORA – hansgrohe) 0:35
3 MCNULTY Brandon (UAE-Team Emirates) 0:37
4 VLASOV Aleksandr (Astana – Premier Tech) 0:41
5 IZAGIRRE Ion (Astana – Premier Tech) 0:43
6 JORGENSON Matteo (Movistar Team) 0:58
7 BENOOT Tiesj (Team DSM) 1:05
8 HAMILTON Lucas (Team BikeExchange) 1:09
9 SÁNCHEZ Luis León (Astana – Premier Tech) 1:11
10 LATOUR Pierre (Team Total Direct Energie) 1:12
Van Aert wins stage 1 of Tirreno-Adriatico
Not long after his Jumbo-Visma teammate took the stage 4 win at Paris-Nice, Wout van Aert sprinted to victory on the opening stage of Tirreno-Adriatico ahead of Caleb Ewan and Fernando Gaviria.
The 156 km stage that started and finished in Lido di Camaiore featured three trips up the Pitoro climb in the first half of the day before a mostly flat second half, giving the sprinters’ teams good reason to work for a bunch kick. They did just that, reeling in the break inside the last 10 km and then battling for position in the last few kilometers.
Jumbo-Visma pulled Van Aert into position with some 3 km to go and then Deceuninck-Quick-Step and Alpecin-Fenix – working for Tim Merlier with Mathieu van der Poel well back in the bunch – joined the fight for space at the front. Lotto-Soudal then pulled Ewan into position.
A long, open straightaway inside the last kilometer meant that there was room for several lead-out trains to spread across the road before UAE-Team Emirates took the lead for Gaviria, but van Aert was just behind the Colombian sprinter. Van Aert and Gaviria kicked with around 200 meters to go and Van Aert quickly pulled into the lead. Ewan tried to get on even terms but Van Aert held on to get the victory. Ewan settled for runner-up honors with Gaviria taking third on the day.
Top 10, stage 1
1 VAN AERT Wout (Team Jumbo-Visma) 3:36:17
2 EWAN Caleb (Lotto Soudal)
3 GAVIRIA Fernando (UAE-Team Emirates)
4 VENDRAME Andrea (AG2R Citroën Team)
5 MEZGEC Luka (Team BikeExchange)
6 MERLIER Tim (Alpecin-Fenix)
7 HODEG Álvaro José (Deceuninck – Quick Step)
8 BALLERINI Davide (Deceuninck – Quick Step)
9 GARCÍA CORTINA Iván (Movistar Team)
10 HOFSTETTER Hugo (Israel Start-Up Nation)
Top 10, GC
1 VAN AERT Wout (Team Jumbo-Visma) 3:36:07
2 EWAN Caleb (Lotto Soudal) 0:04
3 GAVIRIA Fernando (UAE-Team Emirates) 0:06
4 VELASCO Simone (Gazprom – RusVelo) 0:07
5 BAIS Mattia (Androni Giocattoli – Sidermec) 0:08
6 VENDRAME Andrea (AG2R Citroën Team) 0:10
7 MEZGEC Luka (Team BikeExchange)
8 MERLIER Tim (Alpecin-Fenix)
9 HODEG Álvaro José (Deceuninck – Quick Step)
10 BALLERINI Davide (Deceuninck – Quick Step)
D’Hoore wins Healthy Ageing Tour opener
Jolien D’Hoore sprinted to victory in a dramatic finale of stage 1 of the Healthy Ageing Tour. The 30-year-old Belgian bested Alice Barnes and Karlijn Swinkels on the TT Circuit Assen motorsport track to get the win, while Lorena Wiebes crashed inside the last few hundred meters.
The 126 km opening stage of the UCI 2.1-rated race covered 28 laps of a flat, 4.5 km course that favored the sprinters. Things were all together in the peloton inside the last 10 km as the race neared its finish, and although Daniek Hangeveld tried a late solo move, the sprinters’ teams closed it down to set up a fast finish.
Barnes jumped to an early lead in the finale with Lorena Wiebes on her wheel but Wiebes crashed as the riders rounded a final corner. As D’Hoore wound up to speed inside the last 150 meters, she rapidly closed down Barnes and managed to just pull past before the finish to take the narrow win ahead of Barnes, with Swinkels taking third.
Top 10, stage 1
1 D’HOORE Jolien (SD Worx) 3:14:03
2 BARNES Alice (Canyon SRAM Racing)
3 SWINKELS Karlijn (Team Jumbo-Visma Women)
4 HENDERSON Anna (Team Jumbo-Visma Women)
5 KOOL Charlotte (NXTG Racing)
6 PIETERS Amy (SD Worx)
7 DANFORD Georgia (Andy Schleck – CP NVST – Immo Losch)
8 HENGEVELD Daniek (GT Krush Tunap)
9 VAN’T GELOOF Marjolein (Drops – Le Col s/b TEMPUR.)
10 VAN DER HULST Amber (Parkhotel Valkenburg)
Top 10, GC
1 D’HOORE Jolien (SD Worx) 3:13:53
2 BARNES Alice (Canyon SRAM Racing) 0:04
3 BRENNAUER Lisa (Ceratizit-WNT Pro Cycling) 0:05
4 SWINKELS Karlijn (Team Jumbo-Visma Women) 0:06
5 PIETERS Amy (SD Worx) 0:07
6 NORSGAARD Emma (Movistar Team)
7 METTRAUX Léna (Andy Schleck – CP NVST – Immo Losch)
8 LOWDEN Joscelin (Drops – Le Col s/b TEMPUR.) 0:08
9 HENDERSON Anna (Team Jumbo-Visma Women) 0:09
10 EKLUND Nathalie (GT Krush Tunap)
Geoghegan Hart out of Paris-Nice after crash
Tao Geoghegan Hart pulled out of Paris-Nice after crashing on the descent off of the Mont Brouilly climb. The reigning Giro d’Italia champion remounted and initially tried to continue before stopping and leaving the race.
“Landed on my head today,” Geoghegan Hart wrote on Twitter. “Thank you @INEOSGrenadiers & the medical team for putting my long-term welfare first when it was clear I wasn’t 100%. Little rest, no screen-time & hopefully back soon.”
Goossens ‘lost consciousness for a brief moment,’ suffered concussion in Paris-Nice crash
Kobe Goossens also left Paris-Nice after crashing, with his Lotto-Soudal team saying after stage 4 that he suffered a concussion and briefly lost consciousness. The team provided the update in a tweet that also included a photo of Goossens giving a thumbs-up from the hospital.
“We’re relieved to say that @KobeGoossens is doing ok after crashing in stage four of #ParisNice,” Lotto-Soudal said. “Due to a crash, Kobe lost consciousness for a brief moment. At four kilometres from the finish, after he had to let go the front group, Kobe crashed into a team car which was parked at the right side of the road. The Lotto Soudal rider quickly regained consciousness and was brought to hospital, where he was diagnosed with a concussion. Several face wounds needed stitching, but luckily, no fractures were revealed.”
After returning from the hospital on Wednesday evening, Goossens is set to return home on Thursday.
Trek-Segafredo and BikeExchange will both race the Maryland Cycling Classic
The Maryland Cycling Classic announced five of the teams that will race the inaugural edition of the event this September, revealing that WorldTour squads Trek-Segafredo and BikeExchange are both set to attend.
Rally, which races at the ProTeam level, and Continental squads Aevolo and Wildlife Generation will also line up at the one-day race, which is scheduled to take place in Baltimore on September 5, the weekend before the GPs Québec and Montréal in Canada. Rated at the ProSeries level, the event will be the highest-ranked one-day race in the United States this season.
Coming Up …
Paris-Nice, Tirreno-Adriatico, and the Healthy Ageing Tour all continue on Thursday. Stage 5 of Paris-Nice, from Vienne to Bollène, could be a chance for the fast finishers, although the final 40 km will feature two hills. Stage 2 of Tirreno-Adriatico will start out on mostly flat roads after leaving Camaiore, before an up-and-down second half of the day, closing out with a climb to Chiusdino. Stage 2 of the Healthy Ageing Tour is a flat 14.4 km time trial in Lauwersoog that is sure to have implications for the GC battle.
In case you missed it …
- José Been caught up with Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig, one of the peloton’s brightest talents both on and off the bike.
- The Dynaplug Racer Pro is Dave Rome’s new favorite tubeless plug tool.
- This week’s Win It Weekly prize is a set of Maxxis High Road SL 700×28 tires along with a Maxxis X Topeak pressure gauge and a camo hat and hoodie.