14 riders go in the break, but unfortunately, no Groupama-FDJ riders can make it. But, they are caught on the climb, with Geniets comfortably in the group. There are 62 riders left in that group. Geniets tries a cheeky little attack with 5kms to go, but he is caught with 2.4kms. In the sprint, Valverde is the quickest, ahead of Alaphilippe and Amador.
Spoiler
Alejandro Valverde
Movistar Team
4h20'02
Julian Alaphilippe
Deceuninck - Quick-Step
s.t.
Andrey Amador
Team INEOS
s.t.
Bob Jungels
Deceuninck - Quick-Step
s.t.
Davide Formolo
UAE Team Emirates
s.t.
Michal Kwiatkowski
Team INEOS
s.t.
Remco Evenepoel
Deceuninck - Quick-Step
s.t.
Miguel Ángel López
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
Alex Aranburu
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
Tadej Pogacar
UAE Team Emirates
s.t.
Stage 9
Stage 9 is a crazy mountain stage. Only 96kms, it just goes up and down all day.
At the top of the first climb, there are only 78 riders left. After the second climb, that number is down to 44, with little groups of riders scattered everywhere. At the bottom of the last climb, there are only 25 riders, including Geniets. With just under 5kms to go, Nibali attacks and takes with some of the favourites. Roglic counter attacks and gets a bit of a gap.
Lopez manages to close the gap. With 1.5kms to go, Lopez accelerates and drops Roglic. He easily wins the stage and proves he is the best rider in the race. The Vuelta is his to lose now.
Geniets does extremely well and finishes 14th in the stage ahead of riders such as G. Thomas and Pogacar.
Spoiler
Miguel Ángel López
Astana Pro Team
3h11'05
Vincenzo Nibali
Trek-Segafredo
+ 1'05
Primoz Roglic
Team Jumbo-Visma
+ 1'34
Rigoberto Urán
EF Education First Pro Cycling
s.t.
Richard Carapaz
Team INEOS
s.t.
Alejandro Valverde
Movistar Team
s.t.
Simon Yates
Mitchelton-Scott
+ 2'12
Julian Alaphilippe
Deceuninck - Quick-Step
s.t.
Ilnur Zakarin
CCC Team
+ 2'43
Emanuel Buchmann
BORA - hansgrohe
+ 2'52
As a result of his overwhelming victory, Lopez now has a 2’08’’ lead on Nibali in the GC.
Stage 10
Stage 10 is a 33.8kms ITT
It's won by De Gendt. Ludvigsson is the team’s best performer, finishing 48th, 2’31’’ from the winner.
Spoiler
Thomas De Gendt
Lotto Soudal
38'43
Chad Haga
Team Sunweb
+ 11
Victor Campenaerts
NTT Pro Cycling
+ 17
Julian Alaphilippe
Deceuninck - Quick-Step
+ 22
Chris Froome
Team INEOS
+ 25
Remco Evenepoel
Deceuninck - Quick-Step
+ 28
Jonathan Castroviejo
Team INEOS
+ 31
Alex Dowsett
Israel Start-Up Nation
+ 33
Ilnur Zakarin
CCC Team
+ 39
Marc Soler
Movistar Team
+ 47
Stage 11
Stage 11 is a hilly stage
The stage is won by Michael Matthews in a sprint from a group of about 25 riders. Geniets finishes in a smaller group a bit behind, but as a result, enters the top 20 in the GC. This is a little objective to try and stay there. However, unfortunately the team loses Brunel with injury after a fall and Lienhard, who did not make the time cut, after suffering all day from illness.
Spoiler
Michael Matthews
Team Sunweb
4h23'03
Julian Alaphilippe
Deceuninck - Quick-Step
s.t.
Damiano Caruso
Team Bahrain McLaren
s.t.
Andrey Amador
Team INEOS
s.t.
Guillaume Martin
Cofidis, Solutions Crédits
s.t.
Romain Bardet
AG2R La Mondiale
s.t.
Alex Aranburu
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
Geraint Thomas
Team INEOS
s.t.
Miguel Ángel López
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
Simon Yates
Mitchelton-Scott
s.t.
Stage 12
Stage 12 is another hilly stage.
Roux goes in the break but he is caught on the second categorised climb. On the last hill, Alaphilippe attacks and takes Yates, Valverde and Carapaz and wins the stage.
Spoiler
Julian Alaphilippe
Deceuninck - Quick-Step
4h17’48
Simon Yates
Mitchelton-Scott
s.t.
Alejandro Valverde
Movistar Team
s.t.
Richard Carapaz
Team INEOS
s.t.
Michael Matthews
Team Sunweb
+38
Primoz Roglic
Team Jumbo-Visma
s.t.
Damiano Caruso
Team Bahrain McLaren
s.t.
Miguel Ángel López
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
Vincenzo Nibali
Trek-Segafredo
s.t.
Ion Izagirre
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
Stage 13
Stage 13 is a mountain stage with Los Machucos to finish.
A massive break of 35 riders goes ahead and they get a maximum of 8’. When the peloton gets to the bottom of Los Machucos, they are 7’52’’ behind the leaders, made up of Evenepoel, Carthy, Pozzovivo, Gallopin, Grossschartner and De Gendt. Out of that group, Carthy paces himself the best and wins the stage.
On the GC front, Lopez once again is the best out of the favourites. Only Nibali can finish within the same time as him.
Spoiler
Hugh Carthy
EF Education First Pro Cycling
4h55'15
Remco Evenepoel
Deceuninck - Quick-Step
+ 22
Tony Gallopin
AG2R La Mondiale
+ 1'11
Domenico Pozzovivo
NTT Pro Cycling
s.t.
Thomas De Gendt
Lotto Soudal
+ 1'29
Ruben Guerreiro
EF Education First Pro Cycling
s.t.
Felix Grossschartner
BORA - hansgrohe
+ 3'07
Rigoberto Urán
EF Education First Pro Cycling
+ 3'45
Fausto Masnada
CCC Team
s.t.
Miguel Ángel López
Astana Pro Team
+ 4'18
Stage 14
Stage 14 is a sprinters stage.
It’s been a difficult few days, losing a couple of riders and Geniets dropping out of the top 20. But it’s a bit of an uphill sprint and Demare is not one of the favourites. The break, made up of 13 riders, works really well together and with 5kms to go, they have a 1’18’’ lead on the peloton. And they won't be caught. As a result, Van Baarle wins the stage ahead of Lastra and Gogl.
The peloton arrives 51’’ behind and Ewan wins the sprint ahead of Demare.
It’s another massive break that goes clear. 32 riders are in it. At the bottom of the final climb, the breakaway has just over 6’ on the bunch, so the winner will most likely come from that group. Indeed, Landa is the best from that group and wins the stage.
And like in every other mountain stage, Lopez is the best from the favourites by finishing clear of the others.
Spoiler
Mikel Landa
Team Bahrain McLaren
4h33'52
Felix Grossschartner
BORA - hansgrohe
+ 13
Laurens De Plus
Team Jumbo-Visma
s.t.
Rafal Majka
BORA - hansgrohe
s.t.
Jack Haig
Mitchelton-Scott
s.t.
Fausto Masnada
CCC Team
+ 29
Nicolas Edet
Cofidis, Solutions Crédits
+ 45
Remco Evenepoel
Deceuninck - Quick-Step
+ 1'40
Sam Oomen
Team Sunweb
+ 1'54
Jan Polanc
UAE Team Emirates
+ 2'12
Stage 16
Stage 16 is another big mountain stage.
Once again, a huge break, this time of 38 riders go clear. They have over 6’ on the group of favourites when that one makes it at the bottom of the last climb. Kruijswijk this time is too strong for everyone else in that break.
Once again, on the GC front, Lopez is stronger than everyone else. On a sidenote, Kruijswijk winning this stage means that he has won a stage in each GT in the same year.
Spoiler
Steven Kruijswijk
Team Jumbo-Visma
4h48'06
Geraint Thomas
Team INEOS
+ 58
Jan Polanc
UAE Team Emirates
s.t.
Rafal Majka
BORA - hansgrohe
s.t.
Egan Bernal
Team INEOS
s.t.
Marc Soler
Movistar Team
+ 3'18
Miguel Ángel López
Astana Pro Team
+ 3'28
Hugh Carthy
EF Education First Pro Cycling
s.t.
Fausto Masnada
CCC Team
+ 3'44
George Bennett
Team Jumbo-Visma
s.t.
Primoz Roglic
Team Jumbo-Visma
+ 3'53
On the GC front, it’s now a procession. Lopez has put almost 2’ on Nibali, who is second on the GC and now looks like this
Miguel Ángel López
Astana Pro Team
65h55'41
Vincenzo Nibali
Trek-Segafredo
+ 4'13
Alejandro Valverde
Movistar Team
+ 4'42
Simon Yates
Mitchelton-Scott
+ 5'12
Julian Alaphilippe
Deceuninck - Quick-Step
+ 5'47
Rigoberto Urán
EF Education First Pro Cycling
+ 6'43
Primoz Roglic
Team Jumbo-Visma
s.t.
Richard Carapaz
Team INEOS
+ 8'37
Ilnur Zakarin
CCC Team
+ 12'51
Geraint Thomas
Team INEOS
+ 14'13
Stage 17
Stage 17 is a sprinters stage.
4 riders go in the break and they manage to hold on to the peloton. Canellas, from Caja Rural, wins the stage, managing to hold off the peloton. Sarreau and Demare were in a great position, but they got boxed in when the junction was made between the peloton and the breakaway, with 600 meters to go and they can only finish 12th and 13th respectively.
Spoiler
Xavi Cañellas
Caja Rural - Seguros RGA
5h10'30
Caleb Ewan
Lotto Soudal
s.t.
Michael Matthews
Team Sunweb
s.t.
Ryan Gibbons
NTT Pro Cycling
s.t.
Rui Costa
UAE Team Emirates
s.t.
Diego Rubio
Burgos-BH
s.t.
Niccolo Bonifazio
Team Total Direct Energie
s.t.
Oliver Naesen
AG2R La Mondiale
s.t.
Orluis Aular
Caja Rural - Seguros RGA
s.t.
Rick Zabel
Israel Start-Up Nation
s.t.
Stage 18
Stage 18 is the penultimate mountain stage.
It’s a tough one, 175kms with 4 category 1 climbs. Today, Geniets goes in the break, with 25 other riders, but there are some great climbers like Landa, Pogacar, Majka and Bardet. At the bottom of the last climb, the front group has shrunk to 10 riders, with some getting tired trying to get points for the mountain classification. Landa accelerates on the last climb and is followed by Pozzovivo, Carthy, Geniets and Piccoli. Landa explodes and is dropped. Meanwhile, the GC favourites have cut the gap to just over a minute with 2.7kms to go to the top of the climb. Geniets accelerates and Carthy and Piccoli are dropped, but unfortunately they are joined by the GC group. When he junction is made, Zakarin attacks and it takes a while for the GC group to organise itself but they catch him. There are multiple attacks from the group on the flat at the end of the descent and Caruso is the strongest and wins the stage. Geniets finishes 18th.
Spoiler
Damiano Caruso
Team Bahrain McLaren
5h13'17
Alejandro Valverde
Movistar Team
s.t.
Miguel Ángel López
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
Vincenzo Nibali
Trek-Segafredo
s.t.
Simon Yates
Mitchelton-Scott
s.t.
Julian Alaphilippe
Deceuninck - Quick-Step
s.t.
Richard Carapaz
Team INEOS
s.t.
Guillaume Martin
Cofidis, Solutions Crédits
s.t.
Giulio Ciccone
Trek-Segafredo
s.t.
Domenico Pozzovivo
NTT Pro Cycling
s.t.
Stage 19
Stage 19 is a sprinters stage.
5 riders go clear and under the flamme rouge, they still have a 32’’ lead. It’s an uphill sprint, but once agina the breakaway manages to keep the peloton at bay and Jerome Cousin wins the stage. Demare finishes 11th.
Spoiler
Jérôme Cousin
Team Total Direct Energie
3h56'20
Lluís Mas
Movistar Team
s.t.
Fabien Grellier
Team Total Direct Energie
s.t.
Lachlan Morton
EF Education First Pro Cycling
s.t.
Jorge Cubero
Burgos-BH
s.t.
Alejandro Valverde
Movistar Team
+ 22
Michael Matthews
Team Sunweb
s.t.
Simon Yates
Mitchelton-Scott
s.t.
Edward Theuns
Trek-Segafredo
s.t.
Caleb Ewan
Lotto Soudal
s.t.
Stage 20
Stage 20 is the last mountain stage.
The GC is already done, so we’re hoping for a chance in the breakaway. Unfortunately, it’s a crazy stage, quick and hard. At the top of the first climb, there are only 61 riders left in the front group and Geniets just about clings on. He attacks on the descent and goes in the break with 5 other riders. Unfortunately, he can’t keep up with the pace in the penultimate climb and is dropped. He is 3’ down on the leaders at the top. It’s a real shame as the peloton is not interested and are over 12’ on the leaders. He is eventually caught by the GC favourites and overtaken. At the front, Castroviejo accelerate and wins the stage.
For the final time, Lopez again takes some time on everyone else in the race behind.
Spoiler
Jonathan Castroviejo
Team INEOS
5h39'50
Romain Bardet
AG2R La Mondiale
+ 1'37
Jan Polanc
UAE Team Emirates
s.t.
Antwan Tolhoek
Team Jumbo-Visma
+ 1'53
Miguel Ángel López
Astana Pro Team
+ 5'27
Simon Yates
Mitchelton-Scott
+ 5'52
Richard Carapaz
Team INEOS
+ 6'18
Julian Alaphilippe
Deceuninck - Quick-Step
+ 6'38
Alejandro Valverde
Movistar Team
+ 7'11
Damiano Caruso
Team Bahrain McLaren
+ 7'20
Stage 21
The final stage is a flat stage, for the sprinters.
No uphill sprints this time and hopefully the chance of a mass sprint. 3 riders go in the break, but Lotto Soudal control the peloton and they don’t get more than 2’. They are caught with 10kms to go and the sprint trains get in action. Ludvigsson does an amazing job to put Sarreau and Demare in the best position. They continue the good work and Demare wins his third stage of the Vuelta. It’s a great way to finish the race, with a fourth stage win.
Spoiler
Arnaud Démare
Équipe Cycliste Groupama-FDJ
2h18'25
Caleb Ewan
Lotto Soudal
s.t.
Julian Alaphilippe
Deceuninck - Quick-Step
s.t.
Michael Matthews
Team Sunweb
s.t.
Rick Zabel
Israel Start-Up Nation
s.t.
Alejandro Valverde
Movistar Team
s.t.
Ryan Gibbons
NTT Pro Cycling
s.t.
Iván García Cortina
Team Bahrain McLaren
s.t.
Niccolo Bonifazio
Team Total Direct Energie
s.t.
Edward Theuns
Trek-Segafredo
s.t.
So the Colombian easily wins his first Grand Tour, with one of the biggest margins seen in a while.
Spoiler
GC
Miguel Ángel López
Astana Pro Team
88h19'48
Simon Yates
Mitchelton-Scott
+ 5'41
Alejandro Valverde
Movistar Team
+ 6'24
Vincenzo Nibali
Trek-Segafredo
+ 6'34
Julian Alaphilippe
Deceuninck - Quick-Step
+ 6'58
Rigoberto Urán
EF Education First Pro Cycling
+ 8'47
Primoz Roglic
Team Jumbo-Visma
+ 9'05
Richard Carapaz
Team INEOS
+ 9'32
Ilnur Zakarin
CCC Team
+ 15'03
Damiano Caruso
Team Bahrain McLaren
+ 16'22
POINTS
Alejandro Valverde
Movistar Team
147
Julian Alaphilippe
Deceuninck - Quick-Step
146
Miguel Ángel López
Astana Pro Team
140
Michael Matthews
Team Sunweb
127
Simon Yates
Mitchelton-Scott
95
MOUNTAIN
Jonathan Lastra
Caja Rural - Seguros RGA
70
Jan Polanc
UAE Team Emirates
58
Hugh Carthy
EF Education First Pro Cycling
52
James Piccoli
Israel Start-Up Nation
44
Remco Evenepoel
Deceuninck - Quick-Step
33
YOUTH
Remco Evenepoel
Deceuninck - Quick-Step
88h41'01
Tadej Pogacar
UAE Team Emirates
+ 16'49
Kevin Geniets
Équipe Cycliste Groupama-FDJ
+ 25'07
TEAM
Team INEOS
264h55'59
EF Education First Pro Cycling
+ 24'54
Team Jumbo-Visma
+ 28'07
After the Vuelta, the team releases a press statement announcing the last transfer business. Pavel Sivakov signs to be Pinot’s main domestique in the big races, but he will also have a leaders position in other races so that he can play his own cards in stage races. But he has mainly been signed to be the main protection for Pinot in the Tour de France. Sivakov will have his own chance and could also have a leader’s role at either the Giro or Vuelta. Finally, in terms of incoming transfers, Groupama-FDJ announces the signing of Colombian prodigy Victor Arana, who won two stages and the GC at the Tour de l’Avenir. Only 18 years old, but already an accomplished climber, he has a lot to learn and to develop, but has the potential to be the next big Colombian climber.
In terms of outgoing transfers, Konovalovas, Delage, Sinkeldam, Guglielmi and Duchesne’s contracts have not been extended, so they will be leaving the team at the end of the season.
During the Vuelta, one of the last objective of the season is raced, with the Bretagne Classic. A strong team is sent there, hoping for a good result.
Team: Gaudu, Madouas, Reichenbach, Kung, Armirail, Le Gac and Thomas
4 riders, Stannard (INS), Mosca (TFS), Owsian (PCB) and Rosskopf (CCC) go in the break. They do extremely well and with 40kms to go, they still have 2’50’’ on the chasing group, which is now made of 55 riders. With 20kms to go, the gap has only go down to 1’46’’, so Groupama put Kung and Le Gac on the front of the group to help Bahrain bring the breakaway back. With 17kms to go, Kung has brought the gap down to 47’’ and Mohoric attacks and takes Bettiol, Van Aert and Riabushenko with him and make the junction to the front group.
Wanty bring the chasers back to the front group and with 10kms to go, the front group has 47 riders in it.
With 3.4kms to go, Madouas attacks as there are some very good sprinters left, so an attack is the best way to get a result. He takes Van Aert with him, but they get pulled back with 1.2kms to go, so the race will go to a sprint.
Van Aert opens his sprint under the flamme rouge and wins the race. Madouas finishes 14th, with his lack of sprinting skills costing him a good result
Spoiler
Wout Van Aert
Team Jumbo-Visma
6h41'10
Gorka Izagirre
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
Andrea Pasqualon
Circus - Wanty Gobert
s.t.
Matej Mohoric
Team Bahrain McLaren
s.t.
Alberto Bettiol
EF Education First Pro Cycling
s.t.
Danny Van Poppel
Circus - Wanty Gobert
s.t.
Omar Fraile
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
Nathan Haas
Cofidis, Solutions Crédits
s.t.
Iván Ramiro Sosa
Team INEOS
s.t.
Sam Bennett
Deceuninck - Quick-Step
s.t.
Ben Swift
Team INEOS
s.t.
Zhandos Bizhigitov
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
Davide Cimolai
Israel Start-Up Nation
s.t.
Valentin Madouas
Équipe Cycliste Groupama-FDJ
s.t.
Benoît Cosnefroy
AG2R La Mondiale
s.t.
Toms Skujins
Trek-Segafredo
s.t.
Alex Kirsch
Trek-Segafredo
s.t.
Aimé De Gendt
Circus - Wanty Gobert
s.t.
Alexandr Riabushenko
UAE Team Emirates
s.t.
Biniyam Ghirmay
NIPPO DELKO One Provence
s.t.
After the Vuelta, leading to the last objectives of the season, including Il Lombardia, the teams obtains some good results. Frankiny and Brunel finish 8th and 10th at the GP de Quebec, Le Gac wins Stage 2 of the Tour de Luxembourg, while Ludvigsson finishes 2nd in the GC at the Tour du Luxembourg.
Il Lombardia
The last Monument of the season and Pinot’s final objective of the season. We’re hoping we can end the season on a high.
Team: Pinot, Geniets, Frankiny, Gaudu, Molard, Madouas and Reichenbach
With 45kms to go, only 31 riders are left in the front group, which has caught the 7 escapees of the day. Pinot is Groupama FDJ’s last rider left. On Fercella di Berbeno, the penultimate climb of the day, with around 26kms to go, Alaphilippe attacks and is followed by Schachmann and Dan Martin. They get almost 30’’ but are caught with about 10kms to go. At the bottom of the last climb, there is only 23 riders left. Alaphilippe attacks once more and is followed by Wellens. They open a gap of around 30’’. The rest of the field can’t follow and the Frenchman wins the sprint. Pinot can only finish 20th.
Spoiler
Julian Alaphilippe
Deceuninck - Quick-Step
6h59'22
Tim Wellens
Lotto Soudal
s.t.
Richard Carapaz
Team INEOS
+ 26
Maximilian Schachmann
BORA - hansgrohe
s.t.
Marc Hirschi
Team Sunweb
s.t.
Tony Gallopin
AG2R La Mondiale
s.t.
Daniel Martin
Israel Start-Up Nation
s.t.
Alberto Bettiol
EF Education First Pro Cycling
s.t.
Pierre Latour
AG2R La Mondiale
s.t.
Davide Formolo
UAE Team Emirates
s.t.
Jakob Fuglsang
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
Mathieu Van Der Poel
Alpecin-Fenix
s.t.
Adam Yates
Mitchelton-Scott
s.t.
Robert Power
Team Sunweb
s.t.
Michael Woods
EF Education First Pro Cycling
s.t.
Michael Valgren
NTT Pro Cycling
s.t.
Dylan Teuns
Team Bahrain McLaren
s.t.
Egan Bernal
Team INEOS
s.t.
Tadej Pogacar
UAE Team Emirates
s.t.
Thibaut Pinot
Équipe Cycliste Groupama-FDJ
s.t.
Paris-Tours
The final objective of the season is Paris-Tours.
Team: Demare, Sarreau, Ludvigsson, Sinkeldam, Roux, Lienhard and Brunel.
On a very windy day, an acceleration from Deceuninck with around 40kms to go makes the peloton explode and Demare, Kung and Ludvigsson make the front group, which includes around 35 riders. With 6kms to go, Naesen attacks and is followed by Politt. They get caught with 1kms to go and Bennett wins the sprint, ahead of Ackermann and Moschetti. Demare finishes 6th.
Spoiler
Sam Bennett
Deceuninck - Quick-Step
4h57'00
Pascal Ackermann
BORA - hansgrohe
s.t.
Matteo Moschetti
Trek-Segafredo
s.t.
Nils Politt
Israel Start-Up Nation
s.t.
Oliver Naesen
AG2R La Mondiale
s.t.
Arnaud Démare
Équipe Cycliste Groupama-FDJ
s.t.
Michael Matthews
Team Sunweb
s.t.
Dylan Groenewegen
Team Jumbo-Visma
s.t.
Matteo Trentin
CCC Team
s.t.
Florian Sénéchal
Deceuninck - Quick-Step
s.t.
This ends Groupama FDJ’s season and at the end of the season, the team finishes 4th in terms of victories (39) out of all the WT teams. UAE is top with 66 (including 18 for Molano, the most for any WT riders), INEOS second with 64 and Jumbo-Visma third with 43. In terms of numbers, it’s a very good season, easily beating the 24 wins in 2019. The quality of the wins has been great as well. Even though we did not win the big stage races we wanted with Pinot, we still won stages at all three GTs, with Pinot finishing on the podium of the Tour de France. There have also been wins in several WT stage races.
In terms of individualities, the team is very happy with the progress of Gaudu and Madouas, who, assuming they continue to develop, could turn into great punchers in a few years time. Demare is turning into a very good sprinter, not at the top end, but one of the best of a second class of sprinters. Frankiny is also turning into a good mountain rider who will be a good domestique in years to come.
GT WINNERS Giro d'Italia: Tadej Pogacar Tour de France: Primoz Roglic La Vuelta Ciclista a España: Miguel Angel Lopez
MONUMENTS Milano-Sanremo: Jasper Stuyven Ronde van Vlaanderen: Mathieu Van der Poel Paris-Roubaix: Wout Van Aert Liège-Bastogne-Liège: Mathieu Van der Poel Il Lombardia: Julian Alaphilippe
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS WC ITT: Rohan Dennis WC RR: Peter Sagan
WORLD TOUR ONE DAY RACES Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race: Michael Morkov Omloop Het Nieuwsblad: Michael Matthews Strade Bianche: Anthony Turgis AG Driedaagse Brugge-De Panne: Matteo Trentin E3 BinckBank Classic: Jasper Stuyven Gent-Wevelgem: Sam Bennett Dwars door Vlaanderen: Ivan Garcia Cortina Amstel Gold Race: Alejandro Valverde La Flèche Wallonne: Mathieu Van der Poel Eschborn Frankfurt: Alexander Kristoff Donostia San Sebastian Klasikoa: Alejandro Valverde EuroEyes Cyclassics Hamburg: Lukas Postlberger Prudential RideLondon-Surrey Classic: Danny Van Poppel Bretagne Classic - Ouest-France: Wout Van Aert Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec: Wout Van Aert Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal: Mathieu Van der Poel
WORLD TOUR STAGE RACES Santos Tour Down Under: Michal Kwiatkowski UAE Tour: Emmanuel Buchmann Paris-Nice: Primoz Roglic Tirreno-Adriatico: Rohan Dennis Volta Ciclista a Catalunya: Egan Bernal Itzulia Basque Country: Egan Bernal Tour de Romandie: Tom Dumoulin Critérium du Dauphiné: Romain Bardet Tour de Suisse: Tadej Pogacar Tour de Pologne: Tony Gallopin BinckBank Tour: Sep Vanmarcke Gree-Tour of Guangxi: Juan Sebastian Molano
Star Rider of the Year:
1. Primoz Roglic
2. Mathieu Van der Poel
3. Peter Sagan
Sponsor Changes
Le Coq Sportif replaces AG2R La Mondiale
Proximus replaces Lotto Soudal
JBL replaces EF1
Major Transfers
Teuns and Viviani to BORA
Molano and Mohoric to CCC
De Plus and G. Martin to EF1
Campenaerts to Israel Start Up
Stuyven to Lotto Soudal
Ackermann and Higuita to Movistar
Oliveira to NTT
Trentin and Teunissen to Bahrain
Mas to INEOS
Laporte and Rui Costa to Sunweb
Gilbert and Cavagna to Trek
Woods to Alpecin Fenix
Ulissi to Androni
Van der Poel and Politt to Arkea
Zakarin and Cort Nielsen to Total Direct Energie
L.L. Sanchez, Gatto, Devenyns, Hansen, Albasini, Pozzovivo and Marcato are some of the riders who are retiring.
After a few months off, the team gathers for a training camp in Alcamo, Italy and it's the perfect place for the new faces to meet their new teammates. The team has changed a bit with 5 new arrivals and 7 departures.
Team
A. Brunel
Baroudeur
M. Ladagnous
Baroudeur
H. Hofstetter
Classics
C. Lenfant
Classics
D. Gaudu
Puncher
M. Hirschi
Puncher
V. Madouas
Puncher
R. Molard
Puncher
S. Reichenbach
Puncher
A. Roux
Puncher
R. Seigle
Puncher
R. Tabary
Puncher
A. Demare
Sprinter
J. Guarnieri
Sprinter
F. Lienhard
Sprinter
M. Sarreau
Sprinter
B. Armirail
TT
S. Kung
TT
T. Ludvigsson
TT
M. Scotson
TT
B. Thomas
TT
V. Arana
Climber
K. Frankiny
Climber
K. Geniets
Climber
O. Le Gac
Climber
S. Moniquet
Climber
T. Pinot
Climber
L. Vincent
Climber
P. Sivakov
Climber
Objectives
Objective
Race
Top 3
Etoile de Besseges
Top 5
Paris-Nice
Top 10
Milano-Sanremo
Top 10
Paris-Roubaix
1st
Tro-Bro Leon
Top 5
Liege-Bastogne-Liege
Stage win(s)
Giro d'Italia
1st
Tour de l'Ain
1st
Criterium du Dauphine
1st
Tour de France
Top 3
Clasica Ciclista San Sebastian
Stage win(s)
La Vuelta
Top 5
Bretagne Classic - Ouest-France
Top 10
Il Lombardia
1st
Paris-Tours
At the team presentation, management introduce the new arrivals. Hofstetter is the first to be presented. A solid rider, good on the cobbles, who was signed to help Kung in the classics. The team was a bit light last year on that front, he can also help Demare's sprint train.
The second is Sylvain Moniquet. A rider who comes from the u23 team, he hopefully has the potential to become a very good climber.
The third is Robin Tabary. A 21 year old puncher who can become a trusted lieutenant for Gaudu and Madouas.
The fourth is Cyrille Lenfant. Another young Frenchman, we are hoping that he can be the team's future as a Classic rider. He is already decent on the cobbles and can already climb a bit and TT. He will be thrown straight into the classics squads and can hopefully help Kung reach the sponsors objectives.
Finally, the jewel in the crown, the Colombian prodigy, Victor Arana. A slightly left field signing for a team like Groupama-FDJ, but after seeing him win the Tour de l'Avenir, the team decided it had to try and sign him. They won, by paying a lot of money for a 19 year old, but he is already a world class climber. He has got even better in the mountains since signing and while the team wanted to preserve him in his first season, he will have his chance in races and why not have a chance in a GT, most probably the Vuelta to give him time to get used to the World Tour. He will need to improve his TT and physical stats, which he hopefully will. if he does, he can become the future of the team in GTs.
Arana has incredible mountain stats. When he signed, his stats were "only" at 75 but have massively gone up since signing him.
As ever, the season starts in Australia with the National Championships. First is the ITT. Scotson does well and finishes 9th, 1’18’’ behind the surprise winner, Jordan Kerby from Mitchelton-Scott, a new signing who spent a few years with the Drapac team a few years ago. Dennis is second and Edmondson third.
Next comes the road race. Like last year, it’s a race for punchers or sprinters who can climb pretty well. It’s a very strange race. The break is brought back with 3 laps to go and then nothing happens. No one tries to attack, everyone just waits for the final sprint. The pace is quite high so Scotson just about makes it at the top of the last hill but no one tries to attack. So in the sprint, Nick Schultz wins ahead of James Whelan and Sebastian Berwick. Matthews is 15th and Ewan 17th, after they did not try to make it to the front when it was clear there was going to be a sprint. Scotson is 25th, in the main group, which is made of 42 riders.
The season continues in Australia with the first World Tour race of the season, the Tour Down Under.
Team: Demare, Lienhard, Armirail, Guarnieri, Le Gac, Ludvigsson and Vincent
Stage 1 is a sprinters stage. Demare is very close to winning the stage but is pipped on the line by Gaviria and Groenewegen.
Stage 2 is also listed as a sprinters stage, but it’s quite hilly, especially towards the end. It shows as no one team can really control the peloton. With 5.5kms to go, Ludvigsson comes to the front of the bunch with Demare in his wheel, but he can see that everyone looks very tired, so he attacks with 3.8kms to go and as we hoped, no one can follow. He quickly takes just over 40’’ on the bunch and he can’t be caught. He wins by 26’’ ahead of Gaviria and Van der Poel.
Stage 3 is another sprinters stage. This time, Groenewegen wins ahead of Gaviria and Demare, once again third.
Stage 4 is a puncher’s stage. With 6kms to go, De Plus attacks and is followed by Van der Poel and Roglic. They open a bit of a gap, but Le Gac and Armirail do some great work to keep Ludvigsson in touch with them and keep his leaders jersey. Van der Poel wins the sprint out of these three, with De Plus second and Roglic third. Vincent closes the gap and finishes 5th, with Ludvigsson eighth, on the same time as the winner. The Swedish rider keeps his jersey and now has a 14’’ on Gaviria and a 22’’ lead on Van der Poel.
Stage 5 is the stage to Willunga Hill. Nothing much happens during the first ascent of Willunga Hill. The tempo is pretty slow, so Ludvigsson does not have to use much energy to stay at the front. Once again, during the second ascent, no one wants to attack. Everyone looks at each other, the pace is not very high, so Le Gac then Vincent can comfortably keep Ludvigsson in the front group. De Plus wins the sprint ahead of A. Yates and Evenepoel. Vincent is 8th, while Ludvigsson is 11th in the same time as the winner. So, he keeps his yellow jersey and has a 14’’ lead on Gaviria going into the last stage.
Stage 6 is a sprinters stage and Groenewegen wins the stage, with Colbrelli in second place and Demare once again third. With Gaviria finishing fourth on the stage and not taking any bonus seconds in the finishing sprint or the intermediate sprints, Ludvigsson, having finishing comfortably in the peloton, wins the Tour Down Under. His attack on stage 2 pays off, but we were lucky that the favourites looked at each other on Willunga Hill.
Spoiler
GC
Tobias Ludvigsson
Équipe Cycliste Groupama-FDJ
20h26'15
Fernando Gaviria
UAE Team Emirates
+ 14
Laurens De Plus
JBL
+ 20
Mathieu Van Der Poel
Team Arkéa Samsic
+ 22
Remco Evenepoel
Deceuninck - Quick-Step
+ 32
Pascal Ackermann
Movistar Team
s.t.
Primoz Roglic
Team Jumbo-Visma
s.t.
Rémi Cavagna
Trek-Segafredo
+ 33
Caleb Ewan
Proximus
+ 34
Michal Kwiatkowski
Team INEOS
+ 36
POINTS
Caleb Ewan
Proximus
60
Fernando Gaviria
UAE Team Emirates
55
Dylan Groenewegen
Team Jumbo-Visma
49
Laurens De Plus
JBL
48
Arnaud Démare
Équipe Cycliste Groupama-FDJ
39
MOUNTAIN
Laurens De Plus
JBL
32
Stéphane Rossetto
Cofidis, Solutions Crédits
16
Ramon Sinkeldam
Team Sunweb
16
Chris Hamilton
Team Sunweb
16
Magnus Cort Nielsen
Team Total Direct Energie
16
YOUTH
Remco Evenepoel
Deceuninck - Quick-Step
20h26'47
Edward Dunbar
Team INEOS
+ 4
Aloïs Charrin
Cofidis, Solutions Crédits
+ 3'01
TEAM
Équipe Cycliste Groupama-FDJ
61h20'07
Trek-Segafredo
+ 26
Team INEOS
+ 3'26
Early Season Races
Ludvigsson continues his great form by winning Race Torquay in a similar fashion. This time, he attacks with 8kms to go and manages to keep the chasers at bay.
In France, Sivakov wins his first race with the team at GP La Marseillaise. He attacks on the last climb and is followed by De Gendt and Amador and he wins the sprint.
Madouas wins stage 4 of Etoile de Besseges after unbelievable work from Geniets. As a result, he wins the GC too.
In Spain, Pinot wins the Volta a Valenciana GC by 2’’ on Roglic after winning stage 4.
In Indonesia, Colombian phenomenon Victor Arana confirms his great start to his season and to his career. After finishing 3rd at Trofeo Serra de Tramuntana and 4th in the Colombian NC, he wins the queen stage and the GC at the Tour de Langkawi.
At the start of the cobbled classics, Kung finishes 7th at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad. It’s a good start and we’re hoping that Kung will be able to perform in the classics.
Finally, in Italy, Madouas also continues his great start to the season by winning Strade Bianche. With 15kms to go, the breakaway still has under 2’ on a group of around 15 riders and Hirschi works unbelievably hard to make the junction during the last climb. With Madouas in the best position, just behind Hirschi, he can stay at the front in the very narrow streets of Siena and win the sprint ahead of Eiking, De Plus, Van der Poel and Mads Pedersen.
The first objective of the season is upon us. It's a pretty tough one as the sponsor want first place. We're hoping that this year will be the year where Pinot can win his first major stage race. With a few flat stages, the team brings its two leaders in Pinot and Demare.
Team: Pinot, Demare, Gaudu, Geniets, Vincent, Reichenbach and Guarnieri
With riders such as Bernal, Pogacar, Dumoulin, Lopez and A. Yates, Pinot will have some tough competition in order to meet the sponsor’s objective.
Stage 1 is a 6.7kms prologue.
The stage is won by Evenepoel. Pinot does OK and finishes 31’’ behind the winner. He has time to make up on all the other favourites, so we’re already on the back foot.
Spoiler
Remco Evenepoel
Deceuninck - Quick-Step
8'07
Tom Dumoulin
Team Jumbo-Visma
+ 2
Miguel Ángel López
Astana Pro Team
+ 5
Tobias Foss
Team Jumbo-Visma
+ 6
Mads Würtz Schmidt
BORA - hansgrohe
+ 7
Dylan Van Baarle
Team INEOS
+ 10
Jan Tratnik
Team Bahrain McLaren
s.t.
Pierre Latour
TEAM Le Coq Sportif
+ 11
Rodrigo Contreras
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
Senne Leysen
Alpecin-Fenix
+ 14
Stage 2 is a sprinters stage.
Moschetti wins the stage ahead of Ackermann and Bennett after making a great comeback. Demare, who was there or thereabouts runs out of steam late after starting his sprint too early and can only finish 9th.
Spoiler
Matteo Moschetti
Cofidis, Solutions Crédits
4h39’48
Pascal Ackermann
Movistar Team
s.t.
Sam Bennett
Deceuninck - Quick-Step
s.t.
Dylan Groenewegen
Team Jumbo-Visma
s.t.
John Degenkolb
Proximus
s.t.
Fernando Gaviria
UAE Team Emirates
s.t.
Christophe Laporte
Team Sunweb
s.t.
Niccolo Bonifazio
TEAM Total Direct Energie
s.t.
Arnaud Demare
Équipe Cycliste Groupama-FDJ
s.t.
Jasper Philipsen
UAE Team Emirates
s.t.
Stage 3 is another sprinters stage.
This time Groenewegen is the quickest, ahead of Gaviria and Ackermann. Demare finishes 6th.
Spoiler
Dylan Groenewegen
Team Jumbo-Visma
4h03'09
Fernando Gaviria
UAE Team Emirates
s.t.
Pascal Ackermann
Movistar Team
s.t.
Sonny Colbrelli
Team Bahrain McLaren
s.t.
Christophe Laporte
Team Sunweb
s.t.
Arnaud Démare
Équipe Cycliste Groupama-FDJ
s.t.
Sam Bennett
Deceuninck - Quick-Step
s.t.
Matteo Moschetti
Cofidis, Solutions Crédits
s.t.
John Degenkolb
Proximus
s.t.
Niccolo Bonifazio
Team Total Direct Energie
s.t.
Stage 4 is a sprinters stage again.
Ackermann is the day’s winner ahead of Gaviria and Groenewegen. Demare is 6th again for a second day in a row.
Spoiler
Dylan Groenewegen
Team Jumbo-Visma
4h03'09
Fernando Gaviria
UAE Team Emirates
s.t.
Pascal Ackermann
Movistar Team
s.t.
Sonny Colbrelli
Team Bahrain McLaren
s.t.
Christophe Laporte
Team Sunweb
s.t.
Arnaud Démare
Équipe Cycliste Groupama-FDJ
s.t.
Sam Bennett
Deceuninck - Quick-Step
s.t.
Matteo Moschetti
Cofidis, Solutions Crédits
s.t.
John Degenkolb
Proximus
s.t.
Niccolo Bonifazio
Team Total Direct Energie
s.t.
Stage 5 is a mid-mountain stage.
At the bottom of the last climb, Evenepoel accelerates and takes with him the other favourites. Pinot is dropped as he is not the best placed, but is brought back by Gaudu and Geniets. With a kilometer to go, Latour attacks and wins the stage. Pinot can’t follow, but attacks a bit later and finishes second, 9’’ behind the winner. The other favourites finish 39’’ behind the winner. Lopez is the big loser of the stage as he is almost 2’30’’ down on Latour.
Spoiler
Pierre Latour
Team Le Coq Sportif
5h17’42
Thibaut Pinot
Équipe Cycliste Groupama-FDJ
+9
Maximilian Schachmann
BORA - hansgrohe
+29
Tom Dumoulin
Team Jumbo-Visma
+39
Remco Evenepoel
Deceuninck - Quick-Step
s.t.
Tadej Pogacar
UAE Team Emirates
s.t.
Jakob Fuglsang
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
Egan Bernal
Team INEOS
s.t.
Wout Poels
Team Bahrain McLaren
+1’07
Tim Wellens
Proximus
s.t.
Stage 6 is another sprinters stage.
Gaviria wins once again, ahead of Ackermann and Hodeg. Demare finishes 8th.
Spoiler
Fernando Gaviria
UAE Team Emirates
4h26'50
Pascal Ackermann
Movistar Team
s.t.
Alvaro José Hodeg
Deceuninck - Quick-Step
s.t.
Dylan Groenewegen
Team Jumbo-Visma
s.t.
Sam Bennett
Deceuninck - Quick-Step
s.t.
Matteo Moschetti
Cofidis, Solutions Crédits
s.t.
Simone Consonni
Cofidis, Solutions Crédits
s.t.
Arnaud Démare
Équipe Cycliste Groupama-FDJ
s.t.
Niccolo Bonifazio
Team Total Direct Energie
s.t.
Christophe Laporte
Team Sunweb
s.t.
Stage 7 is the traditional stage around Nice.
17 riders go in the break, including Reichenbach and Gaudu, but they are caught with around 45kms to go. On the penultimate climb, Geniets attacks again with Reichenbach. On the last climb, Pinot attacks and catches up to Geniets.
He is followed by Pogacar, Latour and Schachmann. Just after the summit, Pogacar attacks again and Geniets is dropped. They catch Konrad who was in the break and they get a 30’’ gap on the other favourites.
In the meantime, Michael Woods wins the stage, ahead of Cort Nielsen whilePinot takes third place,
He gains some bonus seconds. So, leading to the last stage, Pinot is 29’’ behind Latour and 12’’ ahead of Schachmann and 31’’ on Pogacar.
Spoiler
Michael Woods
Alpecin-Fenix
5h06'35
Magnus Cort Nielsen
Team Total Direct Energie
+ 1'30
Thibaut Pinot
Équipe Cycliste Groupama-FDJ
+ 2'41
Maximilian Schachmann
BORA - hansgrohe
s.t.
Tadej Pogacar
UAE Team Emirates
s.t.
Pierre Latour
TEAM Le Coq Sportif
s.t.
Patrick Konrad
Trek-Segafredo
s.t.
Matej Mohoric
CCC Team
+ 3'16
Egan Bernal
Team INEOS
s.t.
Warren Barguil
Team Arkéa Samsic
s.t.
Stage 8, the last one for this year, is the ITT on Col d’Eze.
Pinot has 29’’ to make up on Latour. At the first intermediary point, Pinot has the 5th best time, 20’’ on Bernal and 2’’ up on Latour. Pinot finishes strongly, overtaking Schachamann with 3kms to go and setting the second best time, 14’’ behind Bernal. Latour seems to be struggling, but he finishes 7th, 36’’ behind the winner. So Pinot loses Paris-Nice for 6’’. It’s very annoying as one moment inattention on stage 5 costs us the race.
Time for another sponsors objective, with a stage win wanted. So we bring a decent TT team hoping for a result in the TTT. Otherwise, we have several riders who could, on their day, win a stage.
Team: Sivakov, Kung, Hirschi, Molard, Thomas, Ludvigsson and Armirail
Stage 1 is the traditional TTT at Lido di Camaiore. The team does well and finishes fifth, 21’’ behind INEOS.
Spoiler
Team INEOS
23'50
Team Jumbo-Visma
+ 6
JBL
+ 19
Team Sunweb
s.t.
Équipe Cycliste Groupama-FDJ
+ 22
Stage 2 is a puncher stage. Hirschi attacks a couple of times inside the last 5kms, but is pegged back twice and Roglic wins the sprint ahead of Van Der Poel and Cosnefroy. Sivakov finishes 11th.
Spoiler
Primoz Roglic
Team Jumbo-Visma
4h51'01
Mathieu Van Der Poel
Team Arkéa Samsic
s.t.
Benoît Cosnefroy
TEAM Le Coq Sportif
s.t.
Laurens De Plus
JBL
s.t.
Michal Kwiatkowski
Team INEOS
s.t.
Michael Matthews
Team Sunweb
s.t.
Rui Costa
Team Sunweb
s.t.
Rigoberto Urán
JBL
s.t.
Ilnur Zakarin
Team Total Direct Energie
s.t.
Edward Dunbar
Team INEOS
s.t.
Stage 3 is a sprinters stage won by Caleb Ewan.
Stage 4 is a punchy stage. Hirschi goes in the break, but they are caught with around 35kms to go. It then becomes a very difficult stage. The lead group only has 16 riders at the bottom of the penultimate climb. Sivakov is dropped on that climb and will finish over 4’ from the winner. On the last climb, De Plus attacks and wins the stage.
Spoiler
Laurens De Plus
JBL
5h27'36
Michael Matthews
Team Sunweb
+ 17
Michal Kwiatkowski
Team INEOS
s.t.
Primoz Roglic
Team Jumbo-Visma
s.t.
Mathieu Van Der Poel
Team Arkéa Samsic
+ 1'18
Rui Costa
Team Sunweb
s.t.
Rigoberto Urán
JBL
s.t.
Mikel Landa
Team Bahrain McLaren
s.t.
Peter Sagan
BORA - hansgrohe
s.t.
Vincenzo Nibali
Trek-Segafredo
+ 1'42
Stage 5 is another punchy stage, with plenty of climbing in the last 50kms. Hirschi and Molard go in a big break of 14 riders. But there is a frenetic place and they are both dropped. The last remnants of the break are caught with 2.2kms to go. Lutsenko is the most intelligent, just following several attacks on a very steep hill and he comfortably wins the stage.
Spoiler
Alexey Lutsenko
Astana Pro Team
4h42'47
Mathieu Van Der Poel
Team Arkéa Samsic
+ 44
Primoz Roglic
Team Jumbo-Visma
s.t.
Sergio Andrés Higuita
Movistar Team
+ 53
Andrés Camilo Ardila
UAE Team Emirates
+ 1'05
Rigoberto Urán
JBL
+ 1'44
Vincenzo Nibali
Trek-Segafredo
s.t.
Mikel Landa
Team Bahrain McLaren
s.t.
Bruno Raymond
Team Total Direct Energie
s.t.
Laurens De Plus
JBL
+ 1'54
Stage 6 is a sprinter stage won by Jakobsen ahead of Ewan and Viviani.
Spoiler
Fabio Jakobsen
Deceuninck - Quick-Step
4h16'01
Caleb Ewan
Proximus
s.t.
Elia Viviani
BORA - hansgrohe
s.t.
Peter Sagan
BORA - hansgrohe
s.t.
Sebastián Molano
CCC Team
s.t.
Michael Matthews
Team Sunweb
s.t.
Alexander Kristoff
UAE Team Emirates
s.t.
Mike Teunissen
Team Bahrain McLaren
s.t.
Rudy Barbier
Israel Start-Up Nation
s.t.
Sacha Modolo
Alpecin-Fenix
s.t.
Stage 7 is the ITT around San Benedetto del Tronto. Unsurprisingly, Dennis wins the TT ahead of Roglic, who wins the GC.
Spoiler
Rohan Dennis
Team INEOS
11'38
Primoz Roglic
Team Jumbo-Visma
+ 3
Patrick Bevin
CCC Team
+ 9
Wout Van Aert
Team Jumbo-Visma
s.t.
Filippo Ganna
Team INEOS
+ 10
Michael Matthews
Team Sunweb
+ 13
Michal Kwiatkowski
Team INEOS
+ 14
Edoardo Affini
Mitchelton-Scott
+ 16
Søren Kragh Andersen
Team Sunweb
s.t.
Timo Roosen
Team Jumbo-Visma
+ 18
So it's a very disappointing race for us, where we haven't been able to meet the sponsor's objectives, but even worse, have not even had a Top 10. We were nowhere near competing for any of the stages and we are hoping for more from Kung, Hirschi and Sivakov in the future.
Spoiler
GC
Primoz Roglic
Team Jumbo-Visma
25h30'26
Laurens De Plus
JBL
+ 1'26
Mathieu Van Der Poel
Team Arkéa Samsic
+ 2'48
Rigoberto Urán
JBL
+ 2'56
Vincenzo Nibali
Trek-Segafredo
+ 3'28
Michael Matthews
Team Sunweb
+ 4'23
Mikel Landa
Team Bahrain McLaren
+ 4'26
Peter Sagan
BORA - hansgrohe
+ 4'30
Richard Carapaz
Team INEOS
+ 6'05
Michal Kwiatkowski
Team INEOS
+ 6'06
POINTS
Primoz Roglic
Team Jumbo-Visma
37
Mathieu Van Der Poel
Team Arkéa Samsic
36
Michael Matthews
Team Sunweb
33
Caleb Ewan
Proximus
26
Alexey Lutsenko
Astana Pro Team
22
MOUNTAIN
Primoz Roglic
Team Jumbo-Visma
43
Laurens De Plus
JBL
35
Alexey Lutsenko
Astana Pro Team
35
Mathieu Van Der Poel
Team Arkéa Samsic
26
Sergio Andrés Higuita
Movistar Team
20
YOUTH
Lucas Hamilton
Mitchelton-Scott
25h37'28
Pavel Sivakov
Équipe Cycliste Groupama-FDJ
+ 1'44
Daniel Felipe Martínez
JBL
+ 2'02
TEAM
JBL
75h56'13
Team INEOS
+ 5'19
Team Sunweb
+ 10'52
After Paris-Nice and Tirreno, the team participates in several one day races where we get some success. Hofstetter wins Danilith-Nokere Koerse
Meanwhile, Kung wins the GP de Denain Porte du Hainaut
The third objective of the season in quick succession. After a top 10 last year, we're hoping the same. The sponsor wants a top 3, which will be quite difficult, but we're hoping to put our disappointment in Tirreno and continue our good start of the season.
Team: Demare, Gaudu, Madouas, Hirschi, Kung, Sarreau and Ludvigsson
8 riders go in the break. They are caught with 28kms to go. At the bottom of the Cipressa, Naesen attacks so the whole peloton accelerates as a result. The pace leading up to the Poggio is very high, but Ludvigsson does a great job to put Hirschi in the best position at the bottom of the climb. Towards the top, Madouas attacks at the same time as Stuyven.
In the descent, he has created a bit of a gap and has 11’’ on the chasers.
He is joined by Van Avermaet just before the flamme rouge.
They start their sprint with 900 meters to go, but heartbreakingly, the Belgian overtakes Madouas with 200 meters to go and wins the race.
However, it’s a great result for Madouas and for the team.
Spoiler
Greg Van Avermaet
CCC Team
6h54'15
Valentin Madouas
Équipe Cycliste Groupama-FDJ
s.t.
Mathieu Van Der Poel
Team Arkéa Samsic
+ 18
Caleb Ewan
Proximus
s.t.
Dylan Groenewegen
Team Jumbo-Visma
s.t.
Peter Sagan
BORA - hansgrohe
s.t.
Mads Pedersen
Trek-Segafredo
s.t.
Fernando Gaviria
UAE Team Emirates
s.t.
Filippo Ganna
Team INEOS
s.t.
Jasper Stuyven
Proximus
s.t.
Sam Bennett
Deceuninck - Quick-Step
s.t.
Gianni Vermeersch
Alpecin-Fenix
s.t.
Matej Mohoric
CCC Team
s.t.
Pascal Ackermann
Movistar Team
s.t.
Michal Kwiatkowski
Team INEOS
s.t.
Matteo Trentin
Team Bahrain McLaren
s.t.
Laurens De Plus
JBL
s.t.
Sonny Colbrelli
Team Bahrain McLaren
s.t.
Michael Matthews
Team Sunweb
s.t.
Arnaud Démare
Équipe Cycliste Groupama-FDJ
s.t.
Volta a Catalunya
Team: Pinot, Sivakov, Arana, Frankiny, Geniets, Vincent and Moniquet
Stage 1 is a hilly stage. The pace is not very hard, so it allows Cimolai to still be there in the main group and to win the stage ahead of Jonas Koch from BORA and Alaphilippe. Pinot is 5th.
Stage 2 is a sprinters stage won by Pierre Barbier ahead of Cimolai and Garcia Cortina.
Stage 3 is a mountain stage, with 4 Cat 1 climbs. Pinot is the strongest after pacing himself the best during the last climb and beats a who’s who of GC riders. Most of the favourites attacked and he was the freshest in the little wall at the end. He finishes ahead of Pogacar, Kruijswijk, Bernal and Hamilton. He also takes the leaders jersey.
Spoiler
Thibaut Pinot
Équipe Cycliste Groupama-FDJ
4h47'14
Tadej Pogacar
UAE Team Emirates
s.t.
Steven Kruijswijk
Team Jumbo-Visma
s.t.
Egan Bernal
Team INEOS
s.t.
Lucas Hamilton
Mitchelton-Scott
s.t.
Miguel Ángel López
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
Emanuel Buchmann
BORA - hansgrohe
s.t.
Primoz Roglic
Team Jumbo-Visma
+ 31
Tom Dumoulin
Team Jumbo-Visma
s.t.
Nairo Quintana
Team Arkéa Samsic
s.t.
Warren Barguil
Team Arkéa Samsic
+ 58
Richard Carapaz
Team INEOS
s.t.
Damiano Caruso
Movistar Team
s.t.
Sam Oomen
Team Sunweb
+ 1'32
Hugh Carthy
JBL
s.t.
Simon Yates
Mitchelton-Scott
+ 1'52
Julian Alaphilippe
Deceuninck - Quick-Step
s.t.
Brandon McNulty
UAE Team Emirates
+ 2'26
Romain Bardet
TEAM Le Coq Sportif
+ 3'13
Daniel Felipe Martínez
JBL
+ 4'56
Stage 4 is another big mountain stage, with the Port Aine to finish, 19kms at 6.5%. Bernal wins the stage, ahead of Pinot and Lopez. As a result, Bernal takes the leaders jersey off Pinot for 7’’.
Spoiler
Egan Bernal
Team INEOS
4h54'55
Thibaut Pinot
Équipe Cycliste Groupama-FDJ
+ 13
Miguel Ángel López
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
Tadej Pogacar
UAE Team Emirates
+ 39
Emanuel Buchmann
BORA - hansgrohe
+ 52
Víctor Arana
Équipe Cycliste Groupama-FDJ
s.t.
Primoz Roglic
Team Jumbo-Visma
+ 1'15
Lucas Hamilton
Mitchelton-Scott
+ 1'24
Andrés Camilo Ardila
UAE Team Emirates
s.t.
Steven Kruijswijk
Team Jumbo-Visma
+ 1'49
Hugh Carthy
JBL
+ 2'07
Nairo Quintana
Team Arkéa Samsic
s.t.
Warren Barguil
Team Arkéa Samsic
+ 2'47
Romain Bardet
TEAM Le Coq Sportif
s.t.
Damiano Caruso
Movistar Team
s.t.
Tom Dumoulin
Team Jumbo-Visma
s.t.
Brandon McNulty
UAE Team Emirates
s.t.
Simon Yates
Mitchelton-Scott
+ 3'05
Tim Wellens
Proximus
+ 3'16
Richie Porte
Trek-Segafredo
s.t.
Stage 5 is a sprinters stage. Not much happens on the last hill, coming with 11kms to the finish, but a group of about 50 riders get clear at the top. In the sprint, Pinot wins ahead of Bernal and Alaphilippe. He closes the gap in the GC to 3’’.
Spoiler
Thibaut Pinot
Équipe Cycliste Groupama-FDJ
4h28'59
Egan Bernal
Team INEOS
s.t.
Miguel Ángel López
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
Julian Alaphilippe
Deceuninck - Quick-Step
s.t.
Warren Barguil
Team Arkéa Samsic
s.t.
Iván García Cortina
CCC Team
s.t.
Davide Formolo
UAE Team Emirates
s.t.
Davide Cimolai
Israel Start-Up Nation
s.t.
Sam Oomen
Team Sunweb
s.t.
Emanuel Buchmann
BORA - hansgrohe
s.t.
Stage 6 is a flat stage. But with no team interested in chasing, the break easily win the stage. Mikkel Bjerg is the winner on the day.
Stage 7 is the traditional stage around Barcelona. On the last climb of Montjuic, INEOS bring the pace up, so it’s impossible for Pinot to try an attack, but Sivakov, then Arana do a fantastic job in bringing Pinot to the front of the main group and, even though Cimolai wins the sprint, Pinot gets second place and the 6’’ time bonus that go with it. Pogacar takes third place and Bernal 7th. So thanks to the time bonuses, Pinot wins the Volta a Catalunya.
Spoiler
Davide Cimolai
Israel Start-Up Nation
3h00'21
Thibaut Pinot
Équipe Cycliste Groupama-FDJ
s.t.
Tadej Pogacar
UAE Team Emirates
s.t.
Primoz Roglic
Team Jumbo-Visma
s.t.
Miguel Ángel López
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
Emanuel Buchmann
BORA - hansgrohe
s.t.
Egan Bernal
Team INEOS
s.t.
Víctor Arana
Équipe Cycliste Groupama-FDJ
s.t.
Lucas Hamilton
Mitchelton-Scott
s.t.
Tim Wellens
Proximus
s.t.
Spoiler
GC
Thibaut Pinot
Équipe Cycliste Groupama-FDJ
30h24'21
Egan Bernal
Team INEOS
+ 3
Miguel Ángel López
Astana Pro Team
+ 24
Tadej Pogacar
UAE Team Emirates
+ 48
Emanuel Buchmann
BORA - hansgrohe
+ 1'11
Lucas Hamilton
Mitchelton-Scott
+ 1'43
Steven Kruijswijk
Team Jumbo-Visma
+ 2'04
Primoz Roglic
Team Jumbo-Visma
+ 2'05
Nairo Quintana
Team Arkéa Samsic
+ 2'57
Hugh Carthy
JBL
+ 3'58
POINTS
Thibaut Pinot
Équipe Cycliste Groupama-FDJ
102
Davide Cimolai
Israel Start-Up Nation
81
Egan Bernal
Team INEOS
74
Miguel Ángel López
Astana Pro Team
55
Tadej Pogacar
UAE Team Emirates
53
MOUNTAIN
Miguel Eduardo Florez
Colombia Tierra de Atletas - GW Bicicletas
96
Tim Wellens
Proximus
72
Thibaut Pinot
Équipe Cycliste Groupama-FDJ
57
Primoz Roglic
Team Jumbo-Visma
46
Víctor Arana
Équipe Cycliste Groupama-FDJ
46
YOUTH
Egan Bernal
Team INEOS
30h24'24
Tadej Pogacar
UAE Team Emirates
+ 45
Lucas Hamilton
Mitchelton-Scott
+ 1'40
TEAM
Team Jumbo-Visma
91h21'59
UAE Team Emirates
+ 7'02
Team INEOS
+ 7'20
In the meantime, in France, Gaudu wins Classic Loire Atlantique in a powerful showing from Groupama-FDJ, with Madouas also coming second.
In the build up to the Ronde, the team has a mixed time, with wins for Demare at Driedaagse Brugge-De Panne.
Kung finishes 32nd in E3, over 5’ from the winner, Michael Matthews wins, on what was a poor day for the team. However, the Swiss rider wins Gent-Wevelgem. With Hirschi, Demare and Hofstetter in the front group, able to follow all the attacks from the favourites in the last 20kms, Kung follows a final attack from Politt and accelerates with 1.2kms to go on and win his first big classic.
Demare also wins Dwars door Vlaanderen. In a race that finishes in a bunch sprint, he is by far the best and easily wins the race.
Then comes the time for the second monument of the season. We missed Kung last year during the classics season, so we’re hoping that he will bring us good results. Flanders is not the best race for the team. We have some decent cobbles riders, but the hilly parcours of Flanders brings our deficiencies as showed during E3.
Team: Kung, Hofstetter, Demare, Sarreau, Hirschi, Lenfant and Le Gac
Groenewegen, Capiot and Claeys are the three riders in the break. They get a maximum of 6’ but they are caught with about 45kms to go. On the second ascent of the Oude Kwaremont, Kung is not well placed and finds himself around a minute behind the favourites. Sarreau is the only other rider with him and he tries hard to bring him back but can’t. He’s not the only one who has been dropped as Kung finds himself in a small group with Sagan, Gilbert and Kragh Andersen, 1’36’’ behind the leaders.
Van Avermaet is also dropped but he joins the mini group on the Kruisberg, with 29kms to go.
10kms later, on the final ascent of the Oude Kwaremont, Vanmarcke accelerates and takes Van der Poel and Naesen with him. They create a bit of a gap on Stuyven, Jungels and Kristoff. When the Kung group hits the Oude Kwaremont, the Swiss is dropped and his race is over. At the bottom of the Paterberg, the two front groups have joined together. But on the climb, Van der Poel accelerates and only Naesen can follow.
They quickly get over 30’’ and the gap goes up and down. With 2kms to go, they have around 25’’ on the group behind, so the winner will come from one of these two. Under the flamme rouge, Van der Poel starts his sprint and Naesen can’t follow him and he wins the race.
Kung is the team’s best finisher, a disappointing 23rd, over 8’ from the winner.
Spoiler
Mathieu Van Der Poel
Team Arkéa Samsic
7h08'52
Oliver Naesen
TEAM Le Coq Sportif
s.t.
Alexander Kristoff
UAE Team Emirates
+ 39
Sep Vanmarcke
JBL
s.t.
Jasper Stuyven
Proximus
s.t.
Bob Jungels
Deceuninck - Quick-Step
s.t.
Zdenek Stybar
Deceuninck - Quick-Step
+ 3'13
Mike Teunissen
Team Bahrain McLaren
s.t.
Wout Van Aert
Team Jumbo-Visma
s.t.
Kasper Asgreen
Deceuninck - Quick-Step
s.t.
Alberto Bettiol
JBL
s.t.
John Degenkolb
Proximus
s.t.
Nils Politt
Team Arkéa Samsic
s.t.
Matteo Trentin
Team Bahrain McLaren
s.t.
Stan Dewulf
Proximus
+ 4'52
Peter Sagan
BORA - hansgrohe
s.t.
Philippe Gilbert
Trek-Segafredo
+ 5'32
Tiesj Benoot
Team Sunweb
s.t.
Florian Sénéchal
Deceuninck - Quick-Step
+ 6'23
Tony Gallopin
TEAM Le Coq Sportif
+ 6'52
Itzulia Basque Country
In between RVV and Roubaix is Itzulia Basque Country.
Team: Sivakov, Gaudu, Frankiny, Molard, Hirschi, Madouas and Reichenbach.
Stage 1 is a very hilly stage and Gaudu wins it after some great work from Hirschi and Sivakov on the last climb. Gaudu attacks with 200 meters to go to the top of the last climb. And with the finish line, at the bottom of the descent, he is not caught and wins the stage.
Spoiler
David Gaudu
Équipe Cycliste Groupama-FDJ
4h07'17
Julian Alaphilippe
Deceuninck - Quick-Step
s.t.
Primoz Roglic
Team Jumbo-Visma
s.t.
Daniel Martin
Israel Start-Up Nation
s.t.
Dylan Teuns
BORA - hansgrohe
s.t.
Laurens De Plus
JBL
s.t.
Michal Kwiatkowski
Team INEOS
s.t.
Maximilian Schachmann
BORA - hansgrohe
s.t.
Adam Yates
Mitchelton-Scott
s.t.
Patrick Konrad
Trek-Segafredo
s.t.
Stage 2 is another hilly stage. This time, Groupama-FDJ is beaten by Teuns who wins the sprint from the group of favourites. Gaudu finishes second, while Sivakov is third.
Spoiler
Dylan Teuns
BORA - hansgrohe
4h08'00
David Gaudu
Équipe Cycliste Groupama-FDJ
s.t.
Pavel Sivakov
Équipe Cycliste Groupama-FDJ
s.t.
Julian Alaphilippe
Deceuninck - Quick-Step
s.t.
Maximilian Schachmann
BORA - hansgrohe
s.t.
Iván García Cortina
CCC Team
s.t.
Valentin Madouas
Équipe Cycliste Groupama-FDJ
s.t.
Adam Yates
Mitchelton-Scott
s.t.
Magnus Cort Nielsen
Team Total Direct Energie
s.t.
Laurens De Plus
JBL
s.t.
Stage 3 is classified as a sprinters stage, but it has a hill with about 8kms to the end. Madouas, who was in the break, gets caught at the bottom of the climb, but he sets a very high pace, then with about 400 meters to the top of the climb, Gaudu attacks with Sivakov on his wheel. They get around 30’’ gap and they are joined by Wellens. With Gaudu in the leaders jersey and Sivakov the best option for the GC, the team doesn’t really know what to do. They both work very hard to keep the gap as it is and don’t have any energy left for the sprint. Wellens wins the stage but they finish 31’’ ahead of the peloton. Sivakov finishes second and Gaudu third. As a result, Sivakov takes the yellow jersey and has a 4’’ advantage on Gaudu and 43’’ on the rest.
Spoiler
Tim Wellens
Proximus
5h05'25
Pavel Sivakov
Équipe Cycliste Groupama-FDJ
s.t.
David Gaudu
Équipe Cycliste Groupama-FDJ
s.t.
Simone Consonni
Cofidis, Solutions Crédits
+ 31
Michal Kwiatkowski
Team INEOS
s.t.
Iván García Cortina
CCC Team
s.t.
Jasper De Buyst
Proximus
s.t.
Maximilian Schachmann
BORA - hansgrohe
s.t.
Magnus Cort Nielsen
Team Total Direct Energie
s.t.
Benoît Cosnefroy
TEAM Le Coq Sportif
s.t.
Stage 4 is the queen stage, with the Alto de Arrate to finish. 6.1kms at an average of 7.2%. It’s a hard stage and on Alto de Arrate, Buchmann attacks and takes Evenepoel and Roglic with him. They quickly get a bit of a gap, but Sivakov, who is now alone, paces himself to the top. He is only about 30’’ behind the leading trio, but he struggles in the last 500 meters and loses some more time. Roglic wins the stage ahead of Evenepoel and Buchmann. Sivakov finishes 4th, 47’’ behind the winner, so he loses the jersey for 4’’.
Spoiler
Primoz Roglic
Team Jumbo-Visma
3h54'48
Remco Evenepoel
Deceuninck - Quick-Step
s.t.
Emanuel Buchmann
BORA - hansgrohe
s.t.
Pavel Sivakov
Équipe Cycliste Groupama-FDJ
+ 47
Laurens De Plus
JBL
+ 55
Brandon McNulty
UAE Team Emirates
+ 1'08
Mikel Landa
Team Bahrain McLaren
+ 1'38
Wout Poels
Team Bahrain McLaren
+ 1'49
Egan Bernal
Team INEOS
+ 1'58
Damiano Caruso
Movistar Team
s.t.
Stage 5 is another hilly stage. On the last climb, which comes 9kms from the end, Bernal attacks and is followed by De Plus and Sivakov. They get a bit of a gap on Fuglsang, Caruso and McNulty, while the group of favourites is further behind, 30’’ down. In a great position to regain the leaders jersey, Sivakov is the only one working and with 1.8kms to go, he runs out of steam. No one else in the front group is interested in pulling so they let the other favourites come back. Evenepoel wins the sprint ahead of Schachmann and De Plus. It’s disappointing as we had a great opportunity to regain the jersey, but with an ITT to follow and Roglic and Evenepoel ahead, it will be near impossible to win the race.
Spoiler
Remco Evenepoel
Deceuninck - Quick-Step
4h08'30
Maximilian Schachmann
BORA - hansgrohe
s.t.
Laurens De Plus
JBL
s.t.
Damiano Caruso
Movistar Team
s.t.
Egan Bernal
Team INEOS
s.t.
Brandon McNulty
UAE Team Emirates
s.t.
Geraint Thomas
Team INEOS
s.t.
Wout Poels
Team Bahrain McLaren
s.t.
Jakob Fuglsang
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
Benoît Cosnefroy
TEAM Le Coq Sportif
s.t.
Stage 6 is the closing ITT. Sivakov finishes 10th on the stage, which is won by Roglic, with Evenepoel third and Buchmann sixth. So Roglic wins the GC, ahead of Evenepoel and Buchmann, with Sivakov fourth.
Team: Gaudu, Madouas, Hirschi, Reichenbach, Roux, Tabary and Kung
Tabary goes in the break with 6 other riders. They get up to 7’45’’, but as the kilometres go down, so does the gap and they get caught with 38kms to go. The front group still contains over 100 riders at that point, so on the Keutenberg a few kilometres later, Groupama-FDJ accelerates and cuts the group in half. Proximus accelerates during the penultimate ascent of the Cauberg and the front group now only has just over 20 riders. Unfortunately for us, Hirschi is part of a fall just before the climb and finds himself almost 2’ down. However, Madouas, Gaudu and Kung are still in the front group.
Then, there is quite a long flat(ish) part, so with Kung in the front group, he takes control with his two team mates in his wheel and pushes hard as we have noticed that Alaphilippe and Van der Poel are two of the riders that are not in the front group. They attack from the chasing group but at the bottom of the Cauberg, they are just over 30’’ down. Kung continues his hard work and drops Madouas and Gaudu in a great position.
However, in the uphill sprint, Madouas who is leading Gaudu is overtaken by several riders and finds himself trapped. As a result, De Plus wins the race ahead of Landa and Teuns. Gaudu finishes 11th and Madouas 12th. It’s a disappointing end to what looked like a great race.
Spoiler
Laurens De Plus
JBL
6h59'37
Mikel Landa
Team Bahrain McLaren
s.t.
Dylan Teuns
BORA - hansgrohe
s.t.
Adam Yates
Mitchelton-Scott
s.t.
Hugh Carthy
JBL
s.t.
Benoît Cosnefroy
TEAM Le Coq Sportif
s.t.
Matteo Trentin
Team Bahrain McLaren
s.t.
Maximilian Schachmann
BORA - hansgrohe
s.t.
Davide Formolo
UAE Team Emirates
s.t.
Jakob Fuglsang
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
David Gaudu
Équipe Cycliste Groupama-FDJ
s.t.
Valentin Madouas
Équipe Cycliste Groupama-FDJ
s.t.
Wout Poels
Team Bahrain McLaren
s.t.
Mike Teunissen
Team Bahrain McLaren
s.t.
Mads Pedersen
Trek-Segafredo
s.t.
Alexey Lutsenko
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
Marc Soler
Movistar Team
s.t.
Gianni Moscon
Team INEOS
s.t.
Matej Mohoric
CCC Team
s.t.
Patrick Konrad
Trek-Segafredo
s.t.
Fleche Wallonne
Team: Gaudu, Madouas, Hirschi, Reichenbach, Roux, Tabary and Seigle
4 riders go in the day’s break. With 50kms to go, the gap has gone down to 1’45’’ and the front group has 45 riders left in it.
With just over 25kms to go, De Plus attacks at the top of a climb and takes with him 6 other riders.
With 10kms to go, Carthy is the next one to attack and explodes the front group and the chasing group. There are now 3 small groups at the front and unfortunately for us, Gaudu and Madouas find themselves in the third group, about 30’’ behind the leaders.
The three groups regroup just before the penultimate climb and during the climb, Carthy attacks once more and takes A. Yates with him. Hirschi and Gaudu are in the second group, 13’’ behind, with only the Mur de Huy to go.
On the Mur, Alaphilippe and Roglic close in on Carthy and Yates. Alaphilippe looks good and overtakes them but blows up with 300meters to go. Yates overtakes everyone in that front group and wins the race ahead of Roglic and Alaphilippe. Gaudu finishes 6th.
Spoiler
Adam Yates
Mitchelton-Scott
5h26'58
Primoz Roglic
Team Jumbo-Visma
s.t.
Julian Alaphilippe
Deceuninck - Quick-Step
s.t.
Mathieu Van Der Poel
Team Arkéa Samsic
s.t.
Hugh Carthy
JBL
s.t.
David Gaudu
Équipe Cycliste Groupama-FDJ
s.t.
Laurens De Plus
JBL
s.t.
Davide Formolo
UAE Team Emirates
+ 40
Marc Soler
Movistar Team
+ 1'14
Mikel Landa
Team Bahrain McLaren
+ 1'29
Patrick Konrad
Trek-Segafredo
s.t.
Dylan Teuns
BORA - hansgrohe
s.t.
Benoît Cosnefroy
TEAM Le Coq Sportif
+ 1'55
Marc Hirschi
Équipe Cycliste Groupama-FDJ
s.t.
Maximilian Schachmann
BORA - hansgrohe
+ 3'02
Bauke Mollema
Trek-Segafredo
+ 3'15
Wout Poels
Team Bahrain McLaren
+ 3'26
Michael Woods
Alpecin-Fenix
+ 3'36
Loïc Vliegen
Deceuninck - Quick-Step
+ 5'21
Daniel Felipe Martínez
JBL
s.t.
Liege Bastogne Liege
Team: Gaudu, Madouas, Hirschi, Reichenbach, Roux, Tabary and Seigle
6 riders in the break this time and they get caught with around 35kms to go. A few kilometres later is the Col de la Redoute and on that climb, De Plus attacks and takes Cosnefroy and Van der Poel with him. They get around 25’’ on the group of favourites, which is made up of 24 riders.
They get caught a few kilometres before the Col de la Roche aux Faucons, where halfway through the climb, Alaphilippe attacks and breaks the group of favourites. There are 8 riders in the front group and the others, about 45’’ behind.
At the top of the climb, the Frenchman attacks again and takes Schachmann with him, but he drops him a few kilometres later on another climb and quickly gets a 40’’ gap
At the top of the final climb, the Col de Saint Nicolas, with 4.2kms to go, Alaphilippe has extended his gap to 52’’. Gaudu is in the third group, 1’42’’ behind the Frenchman, who will win the race.
Behind, van der Poel wins the sprint ahead of De Plus, while Gaudu, who has dropped the members of his group, finishes 8th.
Spoiler
Julian Alaphilippe
Deceuninck - Quick-Step
6h37'22
Mathieu Van Der Poel
Team Arkéa Samsic
+ 46
Laurens De Plus
JBL
s.t.
Maximilian Schachmann
BORA - hansgrohe
s.t.
Primoz Roglic
Team Jumbo-Visma
s.t.
Patrick Konrad
Trek-Segafredo
s.t.
Adam Yates
Mitchelton-Scott
s.t.
David Gaudu
Équipe Cycliste Groupama-FDJ
+ 1'21
Matteo Trentin
Team Bahrain McLaren
s.t.
Michael Matthews
Team Sunweb
s.t.
Mike Teunissen
Team Bahrain McLaren
s.t.
Daniel Martin
Israel Start-Up Nation
s.t.
Hugh Carthy
JBL
s.t.
Matej Mohoric
CCC Team
s.t.
Wout Poels
Team Bahrain McLaren
s.t.
Mikel Landa
Team Bahrain McLaren
s.t.
Michael Woods
Alpecin-Fenix
+ 2'30
Benoît Cosnefroy
TEAM Le Coq Sportif
s.t.
Valentin Madouas
Équipe Cycliste Groupama-FDJ
+ 4'28
Tom Dumoulin
Team Jumbo-Visma
+ 4'48
After the Ardennes classics, Benjamin Thomas wins Tro-Bro Leon.
Another objective for the sponsors where they want a stage win. We take some good riders who are capable of stage wins.
Team: Sivakov, Hirschi, Kung, Demare, Reichenbach, Frankiny and Thomas
Stage 1 is a 4.2kms prologue. There is some controversy when during the race, Kung is given the best time ahead of Kangert and he thinks he has won the stage, but just before the podiums, the Estonian is declared the winner, with Kung on the same time.
Stage 2 is a hilly stage. Hirschi goes in the break with Dillier. Later on, 4 more riders join in. But the peloton are riding really hard. There is a first cat climb in the first third of the stage, coming with over 115kms to go, but the peloton catches the break with 5kms to go. The peloton only has 73 riders left in it at that point. Kung attacks, hoping he will get a bit more leeway, but he is caught with 80kms to go. Other riders try their luck, but the peloton is really not interested in a break today. There are several more attacks in the last 15kms and the one that sticks is Hirschi 's who attacks with 3.2kms to go. He takes enough of a gap to win the stage and the chasing pack can’t catch him.
Stage 3 is a sprinters stage, won by Ackermann. Demare can’t do better than 5th.
Stage 4 is the Queen stage, with 4 Cat 1 climbs. Sivakov wins the stage after following different attacks from the favourites on the last climb. The finish line is around 20kms after the final climb. Latour attacks on the descent and Sivakov lets Yates and Lopez chase and with just under a kilometre, he starts his sprint and wins the stage ahead of Froome and Pogacar.
Spoiler
Pavel Sivakov
Équipe Cycliste Groupama-FDJ
5h02'57
Chris Froome
Team INEOS
s.t.
Tadej Pogacar
UAE Team Emirates
s.t.
Miguel Ángel López
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
Remco Evenepoel
Deceuninck - Quick-Step
s.t.
Simon Yates
Mitchelton-Scott
s.t.
Romain Bardet
TEAM Le Coq Sportif
s.t.
Egan Bernal
Team INEOS
s.t.
Emanuel Buchmann
BORA - hansgrohe
s.t.
Tom Dumoulin
Team Jumbo-Visma
+ 56
As a result, Froome takes the leaders jersey thanks to the bonifications, but Sivakov is second, only 5’’ behind.
Spoiler
Chris Froome
Team INEOS
14h39'38
Pavel Sivakov
Équipe Cycliste Groupama-FDJ
+ 5
Remco Evenepoel
Deceuninck - Quick-Step
+ 16
Tadej Pogacar
UAE Team Emirates
+ 17
Miguel Ángel López
Astana Pro Team
+ 18
Stage 6 is a sprinter stage, won by Ackermann once again. Demare has been dropped on a small hill 20kms from the finish line and can only finish 92nd. Sivakov is safely in the front group and has everything to play for in the last stage, an ITT.
Stage 7 is an 18.5kms ITT, fairly flat, with a small hill in the middle. There isn’t much difference in TT skills between Froome and Sivakov, but we need to keep an eye on Evenepoel. At the first time split, Evenepoel is first, with Froome second, 7’’ back while Sivakov is 21’’ back in 25th place.
But in the second part of the TT, the hilly bit, Sivakov makes some time up. Evenepoel is still first, with Sivakov in fourth place, 8’’ back, while Froome has lost some time and is 16’’ back.
Unsurprisingly, Evenepoel wins the stage with Sivakov finishing 17’’ back, while Froome finishes 4th on the stage, 23’’ back. So it’s very tight, with 3 riders within 1 second. After what happened in the prologue, we will be waiting eagerly for the final results.
Unfortunately for us, Evenepoel is the winner of the GC, with Sivakov 6’’ down and Froome in third 7’’ down.
Spoiler
Remco Evenepoel
Deceuninck - Quick-Step
24'35
Pavel Sivakov
Équipe Cycliste Groupama-FDJ
+ 17
Egan Bernal
Team INEOS
+ 19
Chris Froome
Team INEOS
+ 23
Tadej Pogacar
UAE Team Emirates
+ 24
Tom Dumoulin
Team Jumbo-Visma
+ 25
Edward Dunbar
Team INEOS
+ 31
Patrick Konrad
Trek-Segafredo
+ 41
Adam Yates
Mitchelton-Scott
+ 43
Simon Yates
Mitchelton-Scott
s.t.
Spoiler
GC
Remco Evenepoel
Deceuninck - Quick-Step
19h15'31
Pavel Sivakov
Équipe Cycliste Groupama-FDJ
+ 6
Chris Froome
Team INEOS
+ 7
Tadej Pogacar
UAE Team Emirates
+ 25
Egan Bernal
Team INEOS
+ 28
Simon Yates
Mitchelton-Scott
+ 47
Emanuel Buchmann
BORA - hansgrohe
+ 1'02
Miguel Ángel López
Astana Pro Team
+ 1'12
Romain Bardet
TEAM Le Coq Sportif
s.t.
Tom Dumoulin
Team Jumbo-Visma
+ 1'52
POINTS
Pascal Ackermann
Movistar Team
69
Chris Froome
Team INEOS
49
Pavel Sivakov
Équipe Cycliste Groupama-FDJ
41
Remco Evenepoel
Deceuninck - Quick-Step
36
Alberto Dainese
CCC Team
32
MOUNTAIN
Carl Fredrik Hagen
Proximus
30
Ruben Guerreiro
JBL
26
Egan Bernal
Team INEOS
20
Remco Evenepoel
Deceuninck - Quick-Step
18
Attila Valter
CCC Team
18
YOUTH
Remco Evenepoel
Deceuninck - Quick-Step
19h15'31
Pavel Sivakov
Équipe Cycliste Groupama-FDJ
+ 6
Tadej Pogacar
UAE Team Emirates
+ 25
TEAM
Team INEOS
57h50'53
TEAM Le Coq Sportif
+ 5'18
Team Jumbo-Visma
+ 6'48
In between Romandie and the Giro, at the 4 Jours de Dunkerque, the team almost does the full sweep. Sarreau wins Stage 1, 2, 4 and 5 while Hofstetter wins stage 3. Unfortunately, the team can’t win stage 6, but Sarreau and Hofstetter takes the first two places in the GC and in the points competition, while Anthony Roux takes the mountain jersey.
