Ins and Outs, Ups and Downs

HI GUYS. Hope you’re well and enjoying the final few weeks of this year’s road racing season, and there’s been plenty going on.

It’s hard not to think ahead to the end of road season and the beginning of cyclocross season, which is technically already underway, though the big events don’t kick off for another few weeks, but there’s still a few races left and there’s lots to report on and off the road so let us begin.

NEWS! SOME NEWS! MANY NEWS!

Transfers, Retirements and that sort of thing

The transfer carousel is still spinning merrily, with teams that have thus far been very active continuing their steady progress towards owning ALL THE RIDERS. Lidl-Trek confirmed the signing of Sam Oomen from Jumbo-Visma, while George Bennett caused 24 hours of rampant speculation as he announced on social media he would be leaving UAE Team Emirates after two seasons, but did not announce until the following day that his team of choice would be Israel-Premier Tech.

There have been some sudden retirement announcements such as that of Rohan Dennis, and some we already knew about, like Daryl Impey, who made an emotional final race appearance at the GP Montreal. Luis Leon Sanchez rode the final Grand Tour of his career at his home race of La Vuelta.

Alberto Bettiol extends his contract at EF Education-EasyPost. The American team also sign Saint-Piran’s Jack Rootkin-Gray.

And in very much ‘STOP PRESS’ news, in a surprise move it looks as though Tim Declercq is set to sign for Lidl-Trek from Soudal-QuickStep - because everyone needs a tractor in the middle aisle, am I right?

Nathan van Hooydonck involved in car crash

Jumbo-Visma’s faithful domestique Nathan van Hooydonck caused consternation throughout the cycling world when he was involved in a car accident after suffering a sudden illness whilst driving with his pregnant wife. He’s currently recovering in hospital and I would like to wish him a very speedy and complete recovery. His wife was unharmed in the crash.

PREVIEW: Euros around the corner

With Worlds already a distant memory, there’s one last chance to see national teams face off against one another at the continental championship, at least for us here in Europe, and that means a chance to see the likes of Wout van Aert and Lotte Kopecky competing against strong fields of rivals.

And after not funding the team to enter last year, it’s great to see British Cycling sending a strong team to represent Great Britain.

The course is punchy, despite taking place in the Netherlands, largely due to repeated ascents of the purpose-built VAM-berg or Col du Vam, the hill built on a rubbish dump that has played host to many exciting bike racing moments in past editions of the Ronde van Drenthe.

The elite women’s race takes place on Saturday 23^rd September with the men’s race following on the Sunday, and both promise to be fun, unpredictable races. Before that, there are individual time trials to focus on as well as a mixed team relay. Get your fill, while you still can!

RACING RESULTS ROUND-UP – 2-17 Sep

It’s been another packed fortnight of racing – let’s catch up with who won what where and when. And in some cases, how.

MEN

At the Bretagne Classic (3 Sep) French champion Valentin Madouas (Groupama-FDJ) stormed to victory in his home region, and the Maryland Cycling Classic (3 Sep) saw victory for Lidl-Trek’s Mattias Skjelmose, in what has been a strong season for the young Dane.

The Tour of Britain (3-9 Sep) featured a largely flat parcours, and Jumbo-Visma dominated throughout. Olav Kooij swept the bunch sprints on stages 1-4, expertly led out by Wout van Aert who added ‘lead-out man’ to his already extensive skillset. It was Van Aert’s turn on stage 5 – an attack in the final kilometre saw him gap the rest of the bunch to break the pattern, and take control of the leader’s jersey. Danny van Poppel mixed things up on stage 6 winning the bunch sprint, and on the final weekend which featured significantly more climbing, stage 7 was won by Uno-X’s Rasmus Tiller, and stage 8 by Carlos Rodriguez (Ineos Grenadiers).

Wout van Aert sealed the overall victory.

You can catch up on all the action from the race, including some really fascinating chats with team managers, organisers, commissaires, media and plenty of riders in the audio documentary series On Yer Bike which I was a part of throughout the week – it’s really worth your time to listen to the episodes which immerse you in the atmosphere of a live bike race, as well as touching on some of the broader issues around cycling in the UK. Think of it as a Netflix series for your ears.

Here’s a link to the pod, which you can find wherever you get your podcasts.

The Canadian double-header was next on the menu, with Lotto-DSTNY’s young star Arnaud de Lie powering through to take victory at the GP Quebec (8 Sep) and UAE Team Emirates’ Adam Yates capping off a great season with the win at the GP Montreal (10 Sep).

The GP de Fourmies (10 Sep) resulted in a 32^nd season win for Soudal-QuickStep’s Tim Merlier, while the Giro della Toscana (13 Sep) kicked off Italian classics season with a win for Pavel Sivakov (Ineos Grenadiers), who is clearly on outstanding form as he only narrowly missed out the following day on the win at the Coppa Sabbatini (14 Sep) - his break mate Marc Hirschi (UAE Team Emirates) was faster to the line at that one. Meanwhile in Belgium, Gonzalo Serrano (Movistar) won the GP de Wallonie ahead of a strong classics field.

Last week’s only European stage race was the Tour of Slovakia, or Okolo Slovenska (13-17 Sep) Stage 1 was won solo by Remi Cavagna, and his team Soudal QuickStep swept the board at the race as Tim Merlier sprinted to victory on stages 2 and 4, with Andrea Bagioli victorious on stage 3 and Kasper Asgreen on stage 5. The Tour of Taihu Lake in China (14-17 Sep) was won by George Jackson of Bolton Equities Black Spoke.

There were also a host of one-day races over the weekend - quick results here:

Kampioenschap van Vlaanderen (15 Sep) - Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck)

Memorial Pantani (16 Sep) - Alexey Lutsenko (Astana-Qazaqstan Team)

SUPER8 Classic (16 Sep) - Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) - his first win in the rainbow stripes.

Gooikse Pijl (17 Sep) - Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck)

Trofeo Matteotti (17 Sep) - Sjoerd Bax (UAE Team Emirates)

GP d’Iserbergues (17 Sep) - Matteo Moschetti (Q36.5 Pro Team)

Honestly, is it any wonder we lose track - surely this is too many races in one weekend, no?

WOMEN

Classic Lorient Agglomération - Trophée Ceratizit (2 Sep), previously known as the GP de Plouay, was won by SD Worx’ Mischa Bredewold. It must be quite disheartening that even when the top tier of the Dutch team aren’t on the start list for a race, they still come away with the win. Bredewold has had a strong season and finished it off with a hard-fought win on a traditionally difficult race.

Chiara Consonni (UAE Team ADQ) won the Grote Prijs Beerens (3 Sep).

Tour Feminin l’Ardeche (5-11 Sep) was won overall by Marta Cavalli (FDJ-SUEZ) who finally found her way back to form after a long road to recovery following her dramatic crash in the 2022 Tour de France Femmes. She won stage 5 along the way, with stages 1 and 3 being taken by Daria Pikulik 9Human Powered Health), stage 2 for Michaela Drummond (Farto-BTC), Silvia Zanardi (BePink-Gold) taking stage 4 and Barbara Malcotti (Human Powered Health) taking stage 6. Olivia Baril (UAE Team ADQ) clinched the win in stage 7.

The lion’s share of the headlines at the SIMAC Ladies Tour (5-10 Sep) surrounded Annemiek van Vleuten’s retirement, but there was plenty of action to be had at the race, which mainly consisted of flat racing and sprint finishes. Charlotte Kool (Team DSM-firmenich) won the Prologue and stage 3; Elisa Balsamo (Lidl-Trek) won stage 1, Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx) took her first World Tour time trial victory on stage 2, along with the hilliest stage of the race on stage 4, and Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx) exerted her authority in the race’s final sprint on stage 5.

Zoe Backstedt won the young rider’s jersey and came 6^th on GC in her first ride for new team CANYON//SRAM.

Marta Lach (Ceratizit-WNT Pro Cycling) won the Grisette Grand Prix de Wallonie (13 Sep) and Anna Kiesenhofer (Israel-Premier Tech Roland) the Chrono de Gatineau (15 Sep) with Megan Jastrab of Team DSM-firmenich winning the Grand Prix de Gatineau (16 Sep).

The final stage race on European soil was the always exciting Tour de Romandie (15-17 Sep). Over three challenging stages, there was plenty of attacking racing to be had. Sofia Bertizolo (UAE Team ADQ) won the stage 1 sprint. Stage 2 was the queen stage, won by Demi Vollering (SD Worx) ahead of Kasia Niewiadoma and Vollering’s SD Worx teammate Marlen Reusser - this would be the final top 3 on GC in the end also. Liane Lippert (Movistar) proved the strongest in the reduced bunch sprint on the final stage.

FOCUS ON: LA VUELTA A ESPANA

The Grand Tour timewarp was in full swing when I first started writing this newsletter. We pick up where I left off in the previous newsletter, with Stage 7, which quite honestly feels like months ago. It was another bunch sprint with the most unexpected of winners, Geoffrey Soupe of TotalEnergies, a much-needed win for the team and victory for the finest beard in cycling. Stage 8 was one for Primož Roglič, though there was nothing to split him and Remco Evenepoel, nor Juan Ayuso who finished on the same time as Rogla and Remco.

Stage 9 saw another neutralisation, with the GC battle decided 2km from the finish line due to bad weather. The stage was won by Lennard Kämna who completed his hat-trick of Grand Tour stage wins in the process.

A welcome rest day was followed by an individual time trial on stage 10 – the only one of the race – which was won – or rather steamrollered – in typically powerful style by Filippo Ganna, putting an end to Ineos Grenadiers’ bad run of luck at the race. They followed this with a key involvement in the strong breakaway group that contested the win on stage 11, with Geraint Thomas joining Ganna and clawing back a few minutes on GC along the way. The summit finish was won by Jesus Herrada of Cofidis – yet another win for the team that prior to this year had been languishing in the cycling doldrums.

Stage 12 was the final sprint stage for a while as the race heads into the Pyrenees. It was won in dominant fashion by UAE Team Emirates Sebastian Molano, putting a stop to the Kaden Groves supremacy.

The legendary peaks of the Pyrenees lay in wait on stage 13, and as expected it was a day that turned out to be decisive for the GC. After the Col d’Aubisque took early prisoners including Joao Almeida and Remco Evenepoel, the drama unfolded on the Tourmalet as expected and finished unsurprisingly with a victory for Jonas Vingegaard, his second win on the mythical Pyrenean peak in as many Grand Tours.

Stage 14 and stage 18 saw the phoenix rise from the flames, as Remco Evenepoel put his one bad day behind him to storm clear of the breakaway and take two impressive solo wins, and secure the King of the Mountains jersey in the process. Remco has worn the red, white, and polka dot jersey at the race, along with the ITT World Champion rainbow skinsuit and his own trade team jersey, which is in itself a feat worthy of note - and his laundry bill must be quite something.

The final stage before the second rest day - stage 15 - was a breakaway win for Intermarche-Circus-Wanty’s Rui Costa. It was after the rest day that the drama began…

TRIPLE THREAT: JUMBO-VISMA’S DILEMMA

Stage 16 and 17 were two huge days in the mountains of Asturias. With the news of Nathan van Hooydonck’s medical situation weighing on their minds, the three leaders of Jumbo Visma charged into battle at the head of the pack, the trident seemingly relatively equally matched. But it was still Sepp Kuss in red, and when Jonas Vingegaard stormed clear to take the win on stage 16, and Primož Roglič was victorious on the vicious ascent of the Angliru, social media went into meltdown, demanding that as the rightful wearer of the red jersey, Kuss be supported by his teammates. After all, had he not earned that loyalty by helping both of them to numerous Grand Tour titles in the past?

Debate raged as Jumbo-Visma faced an unprecedented situation on their quest to do the Grand Tour Grand Slam, creating history not only by winning all three Grand Tours in one year, but also by potentially occupying all three podium spots. Could they go one better, by taking the three Grand Tours with three different winners, or would the ambition and personal goals of the two nominal leaders prior to the race circumvent the unwritten rule that the wearer of the leader’s jersey should be protected at all costs?

Stage 18 provided a tentative answer, as Vingegaard and Roglič rode ahead of Kuss on the final climb, and Kuss himself attacked in the final, thus suggesting the decision had finally been made. Public opinion seemed satisfied with this outcome, though there are many nuances to the issue that warrant deeper discussion.

Stage 19 ended upon a bunch sprint, and Team DSM-firmenich’s Alberto Dainese was able to raise his hands for the second time in a Grand Tour this year, after his win at the Giro in May. Stage 20 looked good on paper and it turned out to be pretty fun in reality too, with some vicious cobbled climbs and pretty scenery on an arduous circuit around Guadarrama that featured TEN categorised climbs. A strong breakaway group owned the day, and it looked for a while as if Remco Evenepoel would take a fourth stage victory, but a clever piece of tactical riding in the final kilometre saw Bahrain-Victorious’ Wout Poels take the win, and his second Grand Tour stage of the year.

The final stage in Madrid featured the usual ceremonial procession with photographic opportunities before the most fun final I can remember to a stage 21 in recent years. A ‘greatest hits’ breakaway featuring a number of the animators from the Vuelta formed a powerful team time trial unit, staying away from the pack even though they were caught at the last gasp, with Remco Evenepoel launching his sprint first and ending up leading out Kaden Groves for his third stage win, and wrapping up the points jersey in the process, with Evenepoel sealing the deal on the polka dot jersey and winning the super combative award too.

Say what you like about dominance, there’s no denying that Sepp Kuss is such a worthy victor, it truly warms my heart to see him in red at a race in which he’s had so much success in recent years as a domestique. He’s only the second American ever to win at La Vuelta and I think it’s safe to say, he’s the people’s champion.

THE LAST WORD

That’s all from me for this newsletter. It’s been a manic couple of weeks and while I’m not particularly looking forward to the end of the season as I always miss the racing, I can’t deny I’m OK with having a bit of fallow time away from the sport especially after all of the Vuelta-based drama.

I’ll still be here though, publishing pieces on the site, and sending out the fortnightly newsletter. If you’d like to support me or if you have enjoyed the newsletter and have a money or two to spare, head to my Ko-Fi to buy me a coffee. Or if you’d like to support me AND have lovely STUFF to enjoy, consider buying something from the writebikerepeat shop.

And don’t forget to make sure you’re also signed up at the website so you don’t miss out when new articles drop - a few on the way over the next couple of weeks including the young stars of the Vuelta, Annemiek’s legacy, and moments of the season.

Cheers

Katy