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The excitement just never stops in the 2022 Tour de France. Going into the final week and there is still a lot can happen before Paris. All the reports and results with video. Adrie van der Poel thinks he knows what Mathieu’s problem was at the Tour – TOP STORY. It’s not all Tour. Race news: A closer look at the riders in the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift. Rider news: Mark Cavendish to EF Education-EasyPost, Vincenzo Nibali’s race program, Wilco Kelderman returns to Jumbo-Visma and Luca Mozzato extends with B&B Hotels-KTM. Plus descending masterclass video from Tom Pidcock.
TOP STORY: Adrie van der Poel Knows Why Mathieu Abandoned the Tour
Mathieu van der Poel stopped his Tour de France on Wednesday during the eleventh stage. MvdP’s withdrawal didn’t come as a surprise, as he was not at his normal level for almost two weeks. The cause of his disappointing performance? “That lousy winter,” thinks father Adrie van der Poel, who spoke to Het Nieuwsblad.
“After that, we were forced to work towards the spring Classics, which was very good in terms of results,” continued Van der Poel senior. His son came third in Milan-San Remo, won Dwars door Vlaanderen and the Tour of Flanders. “After that he tried to compensate a bit by resting a lot and he went to the Giro. And that went really well too. Only then, in my opinion, between Giro and Tour, he did too little. But that’s a choice you make.”
Mathieu van der Poel should approach things differently in the coming period, thinks father Adrie. “He should not rest too much, otherwise we will make the same mistake. He should keep cycling, not training. At the same time, he has to set new goals and start working towards them. Which ones are they? That is his decision and that of the team. You say the World championships, but will he get a course that suits him? And it’s on the other side of the world (in Wollongong, Australia), you have to invest time in that too. They should take a closer look at that.”
Meanwhile, Adrie van der Poel continues to look at it from the positive side. “I haven’t heard him complain about his back in recent weeks. He was also not sick and always tested negative for covid. That gives confidence to rebuild. Suppose he had left again with back problems, we would be much further from home. Now I will look no further than the much too narrow base with which he started the season.”
After a great spring and Giro, the Tour was a disappointment for Van der Poel:
Tour de France 2022
Mountain bike Olympic champion and World cyclo-cross champion, Tom Pidcock took his first Tour de France victory at the age of 22 on Stage 12. He is the second British rider to win on l’Alpe d’Huez, four years after Geraint Thomas on the last visit of the race to the ski resort. He finished solo ahead of South Africa’s Louis Meintjes while Chris Froome rounded out the podium on his big return to the Tour de France action. Pidcock is the youngest winner on l’Alpe d’Huez, Lucho Herrera was 23 when he took the first ever Tour de France stage victory for Colombia. Jonas Vingegaard retained the Maillot Jaune despite two strong attacks by Tadej Pogačar.
Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost) was the first attacker of the day. He was joined by Nelson Oliveira (Movistar), Anthony Perez (Cofidis), Kobe Goossens (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert), Matîs Louvel (Arkéa-Samsic) and Sebastian Schönberger (B&B Hotels-KTM) after 6 kilometres. Louis Meintjes (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert) and Giulio Ciccone (Trek-Segafredo) came across as Perez went solo 5km before the summit of the Galibier. The Frenchman crested first, 2 minutes before the peloton from which Chris Froome (Israel-Premier Tech) had gone clear.
On the descent, Perez was joined by Ciccone, Meintjes and Powless after 40 kilometres of racing. Tom Pidcock (INEOS Grenadier) joined Froome on the downhill as they both the chased the escapees. The British duo caught up with the seven leaders, Louvel having been dropped, at 60 kilometres. The nine escapees were 6:55 ahead of the peloton led by five Jumbo-Visma riders and started climbing the col de la Croix-de-Fer at half way into the 165km long stage. 5.5km from the summit, Pidcock shook up the front group, which was then reduced to five: Froome, Powless, Pidcock, Meintjes and Ciccone. Ciccone crossed the line of the hors-category KOM in first position, 4:15 before the peloton.
Pidcock’s accelerations on the downhill gave the leaders an advantage of 6:05 at the bottom of the 13.8km final climb to l’Alpe d’Huez. Powless was the first rider to lose contact after 2km of climbing. Pidcock attacked with 10.5km to go. He jumped again 7.5km from the top to drop Meintjes. This was his move to claim the stage victory even though his advantage only grew slowly to 40 seconds. Froome’s bravery was rewarded with his first top 3 in a Tour de France stage since 2018. Caught by the GC favourites at the very end, Ciccone missed out on the polka dot jersey that remains on the shoulders of Simon Geschke.
4.5km before the end, Pogačar attacked from the yellow jersey group reduced to five riders. As Vingegaard managed to follow him, the Slovenian eased off. He went on the attack a second time with just over 2km remaining, but it was the same outcome. Pogačar won the sprint from the favourite’s group, but Vingegaard defended himself in style, proving on his first day in the yellow jersey that he’s a well-deserved leader of the Tour de France.
# You can see more photos in the full PEZ ‘Stage Report’ HERE. #
Stage winner and 8th overall, Thomas Pidcock (INEOS Grenadiers): “A stage win in my first Tour, it’s not bad. I guess it’s made my Tour de France so far, even if nothing else happens and I get dropped every day. The idea was to get in the break. I lost enough time yesterday that hopefully I’d be given freedom. If I’d gone up the Galibier maybe I wouldn’t have got away, but on the descent maybe Jumbo don’t want to risk chasing me. Also the gap was small enough to go across so it worked out perfectly in the end. That was certainly one of my best experiences in cycling. That was unreal. When you’re literally slaloming through people’s flags, fists and god knows what else! You cannot experience that anywhere else, in anything, other than Alpe d’Huez in the Tour de France.”
Overall leader and 6th on the stage, Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma): “A super tough day that I got through well partly due to my teammates’ outstanding work. The heat didn’t make it easy. I did not feel bad today, but my legs were not as good as yesterday. In the final kilometres I could answer some attacks of the other GC riders well. It was a cool climb. I’ve rarely seen so many spectators. The fans behaved well and, in most cases, gave us enough space to pass through. Riding in the wheel of my teammates even allowed me to enjoy this tough stage. The team’s efforts were phenomenal. I felt strong enough to assist Jonas for a long time today. It may sound strange, but in the past few days, I tried to save energy where possible to be able to assist Jonas here. It’s good to see that he easily countered the competitor’s attacks. We have a strong team. Everyone has been able to see that. We know each other’s strengths. We head towards this Tour’s second half in good spirits. There is still a lot to come.”
2nd on a stage, Louis Meintjes (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux): “I’m happy and disappointed at the same time about this second place. I’m disappointed because this day could have been even more incredible, the difference between first and second in the Tour is big. But despite this I’m happy, because I showed my capabilities to the whole world. This morning, our plan was to attack with Kobe and myself. Kobe was the first to go, but because of a crash in the peloton I couldn’t immediately react to join him. The peloton looked quite happy with the situation, so Georg Zimmermann and I joined forces in a counter-attack. In this way, we succeeded our mission. I was hoping for a bigger group, but in the end we collaborated well. Kobe worked hard to make sure that our advantage was big enough at the foot of Alpe d’Huez. For several kilometres I followed Tom Pidcock closely to force him to commit for 100%. Because if I closed the gap immediately, it would enable him to slow down and accelerate again, which would be in his favour. But finally the elastic broke, he was just the strongest. Anyway, it is nice to climb in GC here on Alpe d’Huez. We will analyse the new situation and reflect on a strategy for the next days. We were again close to achieve one of our main goals for the season today, so we’ll keep trying.”
3rd on the stage, Chris Froome (Israel-Premier Tech): “This feels like a small victory for me. It was amazing to be up there right in the middle of the action again. I believe I can go to sleep with a smile on my face this evening. I took my chance probably about three kilometres from the top of the Col du Galibier. Jumbo Visma were controlling the gap at about one and a half minutes and I heard on the radio that Pidcock had attacked on the first part of the descent and was coming across to me. The two of us worked together and managed to bridge across to the front. Everyone seemed to be working together pretty well. But already the pace started increasing towards the top of the Col de la Croix de Fer and it came down to a group of just five of us with Pidcock, Ciccone, Meintjes, Powless and myself. From there, to me, Tom stood out as the strongest rider in the group with the way he was riding. He just looked as if he was easiest on the pedals and was the guy to watch. I’ve made mistakes on this climb before, I’ve got carried away at the bottom too many times, so when Tom went on the earlier slopes I thought ‘Okay, I’m just going to pace it as best I can’ and I think I held them there for about four or five kilometres, Meintjes was probably only about ten seconds in front of me, and then seconds again to Tom. I simply didn’t have the legs to give any more than to take third on the stage. But I can be really happy with that ride today. It wasn’t the victory I’d hoped for and it would have been amazing to be able to put my hands in the air on a stage like this, but if I take a minute just to think about where I have come from in the last three years and also where I have come from since last year. Last year, I was battling just to finish these kinds of stages in the Tour, in the gruppetto every day, so to be up there fighting for the stage win, or at least up there with the top guys, on a big stage like today, I can be very happy and very proud.”
5th on the stage, 2nd overall and best Young rider, Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates): “After what happened yesterday, I wasn’t 100% confident but I felt good today. I expected Jumbo-Visma to control the race this way. They have a very good team for that. We I tried to attack, Jonas never counter-attacked. I would have preferred that so I could have responded. He simply followed me and I wasn’t strong enough to drop him off. I know what happened yesterday and it won’t happen again. I spent too much energy in the ascent to the Galibier. It’s up to me to attack now. Jonas is impressive but I’ll put everything I have in the battle.”
7th on the stage and 3rd overall, Geraint Thomas (INEOS Grenadiers): “It’s great to see [Tom] do well and the second Brit to win up here (in the Tour) – it’s a nice accolade to have. It’s fantastic for him. He’s a super talent and he’s been riding really well. He wasn’t great yesterday but he had the opportunity to go in the move today. Looking at the guys in the break we were confident he could do something. It was the plan from the start. Jumbo were covering him quite a bit and Roglic was following him. We just waited, a few guys went on the descent so we just told him to go. (Wout) Van Aert was happy to let him go and they were riding slow to let the gap grow out which was great for us. We were confident he was the best rider in that break. I’m feeling good. I was just trying to not get carried away when they were jumping, ride a pace and not accelerate too much. I felt good, I felt like I could have gone in that sprint but unfortunately I should have got the elbows out a bit more.”
10th overall, Aleksandr Vlasov (BORA-hansgrohe): “In the beginning it was not too hard as there was a headwind in the valley, but still some riders jumped. Jumbo closed immediately when there were too many riders in front. I also tried but they didn’t let me go. When they raised the pace on top of Croix de Fer I stared to suffer. I just tried to ride my rhythm again, I didn’t feel good and actually suffered a lot already from the beginning of the final climb. It was also pretty hot, but I had enough ice and water so that wasn’t too much of a problem.”
Points leader, Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma): “It’s been a hard day. With Jonas in yellow, we knew what we had to do. It was a defensive work this time but it was just as difficult. It went well. Our goal was that none of Jonas’ rivals would gain some time. We weren’t looking for the stage win. Speeding up in the last two climbs, my task was to ride at my limit whereas I could go quieter in the valley. We’ve gained a lot of confidence in yesterday’s stage and we wanted to show that we are where we have to be.”
KOM, Simon Geschke (Cofidis): “I feel many people are chasing after my polka dot jersey! So yeah, I’m super happy to keep it for a fourth straight day. I don’t see myself taking this jersey all the way to Paris, so since I first grabbed it every day wearing it feels like a bonus. And I enjoy it. The atmosphere up the Alpe d’Huez was unbelievable. Of course it was also a hard day, with lots of suffering, but it was nice to be back here.”
Tour de France Stage 12 Result:
1. Thomas Pidcock (GB) INEOS Grenadiers in 4:55:24
2. Louis Meintjes (SA) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux at 0:48
3. Chris Froome (GB) Israel-Premier Tech at 2:06
4. Neilson Powless (USA) EF Education-EasyPost at 2:29
5. Tadej Pogačar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates at 3:23
6. Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Jumbo-Visma
7. Geraint Thomas (GB) INEOS Grenadiers
8. Enric Mas (Spa) Movistar at 3:26
9. Sepp Kuss (USA) Jumbo-Visma
10. Giulio Ciccone (Ita) Trek-Segafredo at 3:32.
Tour de France Overall After Stage 12:
1. Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Jumbo-Visma in 46:28:46
2. Tadej Pogačar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates at 2:22
3. Geraint Thomas (GB) INEOS Grenadiers at 2:26
4. Romain Bardet (Fra) DSM at 2:35
5. Adam Yates (GB) INEOS Grenadiers at 3:44
6. Nairo Quintana (Col) Arkéa Samsic at 3:58
7. David Gaudu (Fra) Groupama-FDJ at 4:07
8. Thomas Pidcock (GB) INEOS Grenadiers at 7:39
9. Enric Mas (Spa) Movistar at 9:32
10. Aleksandr Vlasov (-) BORA-hansgrohe at 10:06.
Tour’22 stage 12:
Mads Pedersen took the third stage victory for the Danish riders in a Tour de France that started from Copenhagen and has Jonas Vingegaard in the yellow jersey. The 2019 world champion won Stage 13 from a break. Fred Wright and Hugo Houle, his last two breakaway companions, finished second and third.
158 riders took the start of stage 13. One non-starter: Warren Barguil (Arkéa-Samsic). Kamil Gradek (Bahrain Victorious), Taco van der Hoorn (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert), Nils Politt (BORA-hansgrohe), Matîs Louvel (Arkéa-Samsic) and Jérémy Lecroq (B&B Hotels-KTM) formed a breakaway group after 15 kilometres, but the race was soon back together. Filippo Ganna (INEOS Grenadier), Stefan Küng (Groupama-FDJ) and Matteo Jorgenson (Movistar) rode away on the first climb and crossed the summit of côte de Brié (30km) in that order. A group of 19 riders with last year’s stage winners Bauke Mollema and Nils Politt tried to come across but was swallowed by the peloton riding at over 50km/h in the streets of Grenoble. Hugo Houle (Israel-Premier Tech), Fred Wright (Bahrain Victorious), Mads Pedersen and Quinn Simmons (Trek-Segafredo) joined the leading trio at 51 kilometres.
Alpecin-Deceuninck was the first sprinter’s team to react at the head of the peloton but the deficit was 2 minutes at km 65. Lotto-Soudal took over with Philippe Gilbert setting the pace for a long time. Pedersen passed the col de Parménie (79km), the main climb of the day, in first position while the bunch trailed by 2:35. Caleb Ewan crashed on a bend after 118 kilometres. He remounted, but was 2 minutes behind the main peloton. The Lotto sprinter chased gave up any chance of catching the peloton after 25km, but did manage to finish the stage. Several other riders were struggling in hot conditions on the lumpy terrain. The gap to the peloton went up to 3:25 at the top of côte de Saint-Romain-en-Gal (148km) as most of the sprinters’ teams lost interest. Then BikeExchange-Jayco took over the chase work at the front of the bunch.
After working for Pedersen, Simmons sat up. Küng, Ganna, Houle, Wright, Jorgenson and Pedersen had an advantage of 2:15 with 20K to go. Pedersen attacked on a uncategorised hill 12.5km before the finish. Houle and Wright came across to him. The Danish rider was obviously the strongest of the three. He tried to finish solo but his two adversaries forced him to sprint for the victory. He launched his sprint with 300 metres to go and no one could get past him. This is his maiden stage win in a Grand Tour, his 24th as a pro at the age of 26.
# You can see more photos in the full PEZ ‘Stage Report’ HERE. #
Stage winner, Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo): “It’s incredible to finally take a win. I knew the shape was pretty good but it the last two weeks there were not a lot of chances for a guy like me, so to take the chance today and get rewarded… It’s really nice, not only for me, for the whole team. I don’t think I have realised yet what I have done. It’s a nice milestone and I am happy with this but of course I want more. I hope this is just the beginning. It was about finding the good legs again. Denmark didn’t go 100% as planned, I was not disappointed with 6th in the time trial and then 3rd the next day, so it was not that bad, but of course we came for more. And when half the team was sick and so on, it was a bit of a gamble the last few days, and today it paid off for the whole team. We came here with the whole team only looking for stages and now we have one. It’s a big relief for everyone. It was a big relief to get rid of Ganna and Kung on the last climb – they were the last two guys I wanted to bring in, in the last kilometres because when they go it can be really hard to catch them. It didn’t happen in Denmark and after that it was only looking forward and especially today it was the big option. Jasper (Stuyven) would have gotten a tattoo of a donkey it I had won the yellow jersey in Copenhagen. But it didn’t happen, he was lucky this time. Maybe we should have made a new bet.”
Overall leader, Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma): “There were strong riders in the breakaway. We did not need to reel them in. The conditions were again heavy. We were able to save some energy in the heat. Overall, we are satisfied with today’s day. I’m happy to be able to put on the yellow jersey again. The final of tomorrow’s stage will not be easy. Our competitors might try something. Together with the team, we will defend the yellow jersey.”
2nd on the stage, Fred Wright (Bahrain-Victorious): “To beat Mads, I had to go on that last little kicker, but to be honest, I just didn’t have the legs. He surprised me when he attacked. I thought it would be Jorgenson (Movistar) or Küng (Groupama-FDJ), but he was just stronger than me. Mads has won some big bike races, but I was there, and I was happy to make it, to be honest. I said before the stage I wanted to get into the break, and that was a hard one to get in. I’ll keep trying. There are a few more mountain stages.”
3rd on the stage, Hugo Houle (Israel-Premier Tech): “I’m really happy with the way I raced today. This is a good step forward and it gives me even more motivation for the next stages. The guys are solid sprinters and I’m a bit limited with my weight here but I am really happy that I could stay with Mads Pedersen in the final and get the third place. With the breakaway that we had, I think I can be proud of this result. That’s my best race ever in the Tour and I’m moving one step forward in the good direction to get that win but I showed today that I am in shape and was there when I needed to be.”
10th on the stage, Andrea Pasqualon (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux): “We knew that a breakaway could be successful today, just like yesterday in Alpe d’Huez. We spent a lot of energy yesterday to get Kobe Goossens and Louis Meintjes up the front and we did exactly the same today, especially trying to send Taco van der Hoorn with the breakaway. But the decision was made on the first climb and at that moment I didn’t have the legs to join the attacks. It was a very intense stage, it was only with 5 kilometre to go that the rhythm in the peloton decreased. Alexander and I managed to survive so we could sprint for seventh place. I’m looking forward to the next opportunities to sprint for the victory with Alexander. It is possible that I will be the last man in certain hilly stages, because I worked hard on my climbing capabilities. After the Alps, I’m among the first 60 riders in the classification!”
Best young rider and 2nd overall, Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates): “It was not an easy day, but the break made it and it turned out to be pretty calm for us. After so much racing, I’m grateful I had a relaxing stage. The heat was the main factor of difficulty, the pace was fast, and the route was long, and up and down. Anyway, it was not the worst day out there. Even if it meant a change for the legs following the high mountains, they responded alright. Tomorrow will be an explosive, difficult stage. I’ve never climbed up Mende, but I’ve watched it on a video and it’s nice. I think it will be an interesting stage, although I’m unsure that it’s a day for GC riders.”
Green jersey, Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma): “I wasn’t tempted to break away because my legs have been hampered by the mountains. We didn’t have to handle the responsibilities today. The breakaway group was very strong. However it was a hard day, especially with the heat. Luckily, our team was very well organised and we got cold drinks and ice on a regular basis. Tomorrow’s stage is suitable for a breakaway again.”
KOM, Simon Geschke (Cofidis): “Once again we started on a very high rhythm and the pace almost never slowed down. There weren’t a lot of points up for grab so it was a pretty quiet stage for me. The polka dot jersey is almost over for me. I think there’ll be a breakaway again tomorrow and I’ll try to catch it. I’ve already made the break in a stage to Mende. I like this course.”
Break rider, Nils Politt (BORA-hansgrohe): “I had good legs today and marked this stage already last week. After the bunch did split into pieces on the first KOM we formed a strong chasing group and actually I thought that this would be the break of the day. But Alpecin chased us down and the counter-attack bridged across to the leaders. It was hard the whole day, and the heat was brutal. Due to the pace in the bunch, it was really difficult to get bottles. We still have some more chances and personally I am quite optimistic as my shape is still good.”
Tour de France Stage 13 Result:
1. Mads Pedersen (Den) Trek-Segafredo in 4:13:03
2. Fred Wright (GB) Bahrain-Victorious
3. Hugo Houle (Can) Israel-Premier Tech
4. Stefan Küng (Sui) Groupama-FDJ at 0:30
5. Matteo Jorgenson (USA) Movistar
6. Filippo Ganna (Ita) INEOS Grenadiers
7. Wout van Aert (Bel) Jumbo-Visma at 5:45
8. Florian Sénéchal (Fra) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl
9. Luca Mozzato (Ita) B&B Hotels-KTM
10. Andrea Pasqualon (Ita) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux.
Tour de France Overall After Stage 13:
1. Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Jumbo-Visma in 50:47:34
2. Tadej Pogačar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates at 2:22
3. Geraint Thomas (GB) INEOS Grenadiers at 2:26
4. Romain Bardet (Fra) DSM at 2:35
5. Adam Yates (GB) INEOS Grenadiers at 3:44
6. Nairo Quintana (Col) Arkéa Samsic at 3:58
7. David Gaudu (Fra) Groupama-FDJ at 4:07
8. Thomas Pidcock (GB) INEOS Grenadiers at 7:39
9. Enric Mas (Spa) Movistar at 9:32
10. Aleksandr Vlasov (-) BORA-hansgrohe at 10:06.
Tour’22 stage 13:
Michael Matthews won a stage in the Tour de France five years after the last time. Second at Longwy and Lausanne, he became the second Australian to win a stage after Simon Clarke on stage 5 and the second rider from BikeExchange to win a stage after Dylan Groenewegen on stage 3. The sprinter from Canberra attacked to finish solo on Stage 14 after the côte de la Croix-Neuve in Mende as Alberto Bettiol and Thibaut Pinot filled the podium.
Tadej Pogačar attacked on two occasions on the first hill and put Jonas Vingegaard under pressure. A few teammates of the yellow jersey holder, including Primoz Roglič, lost contact with the main peloton while Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost) crested the Côte de Saint-Just-Malmont (Cat.3, 14km) ahead of Chris Juul Jensen (BikeExchange-Jayco). Last year’s super combative Franck Bonnamour (B&B Hotels-KTM) tried his luck in the Côte du Châtaignier. 150km before the finish, he found himself in a 23-man leading group along with Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates), Daniel Martinez (INEOS Grenadiers), Benoît Cosnefroy (AG2R-Citröen), Felix Großschartner, Lennard Kämna & Patrick Konrad (BORA-hansgrohe), Gregor Mühlberger (Movistar), Simon Geschke (Cofidis), Luis Leon Sanchez (Bahrain Victorious), Stefan Küng & Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ), Louis Meintjes (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert), Alberto Bettiol, Powless & Rigoberto Urán (EF Education-EasyPost), Andreas Kron (Lotto-Soudal), Bauke Mollema & Quinn Simmons (Trek-Segafredo), Jakob Fuglsang, Krists Neilands & Michael Woods (Israel-Premier Tech) and Michael Matthews (BikeExchange-Jayco).
Meintjes was the highest ranked on GC at 15:46. Right after the 100km to go mark, the difference between the 23 leaders and the peloton reached 10 minutes. The gap was at 11:15 when Matthews rode away solo with 53km to go, following attempts by Simmons to shake up the leading group on the côte de Grandrieu. 42km from the finish, Großschartner, Kron and Sanchez joined Matthews. Kron almost crashed with 25km to go due to a puncture. Grossschartner, Sanchez and Matthews had 30 seconds lead over Bettiol, Kämna, Martinez, Pinot, Fuglsang, Urán, Konrad, Meintjes and Soler. Matthews attacked on the côte de la Croix-Neuve in Mende. Bettiol came across to him and passed him, but the Australian held on, fought back to him and soloed before the summit which was 1.5km before the finishing line. His small advantage was enough for him to take his fourth Tour de France stage victory.
In the GC group, Pogačar attacked almost from the bottom of the final climb. Only Vingegaard managed to follow him while Adam Yates and Geraint Thomas were the last to let them go. Pogačar tried again before the summit but the top two climbers arrived together 12:23 after Matthews. There was no major change in the overall, but Meintjes moved up to seventh at 4:24 from Vingegaard who will enjoy his fifth day in the Maillot Jaune before Monday’s rest day.
# You can see more photos in the full PEZ ‘Stage Report’ HERE. #
Stage winner, Michael Matthews (BikeExchange-Jayco): “I think this is pretty much the story of my career. I’ve had so many roller-coasters, ups and downs. How many times I’ve been smashed down, to all the time get back up, this was for my daughter today. I think I just wanted to show everyone that I’m not just a sprinter, I can also ride like a rode today and I was just thinking of my daughter on that final climb, all the way up to the finish, and my wife, how much sacrifice they make for me to make my dreams come true, hopefully today, I showed them the reason why we sacrifice so much. After yesterday, I think that was a big opportunity missed. Yesterday was a really good stage for me, this three day block, from yesterday until tomorrow was what our team was aiming for in the second week. Today, I just knew this would probably be my last chance. Into Lausanne was a big opportunity, I came up second, then I was second to Tadej, second best again, so it is extra special to get the victory today.”
Overall leader, Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma): “Pogačar rode a strong pace. It was a tough climb, and I expected him to attack, so I’m glad I could follow him. I was a bit too far back when Pogačar attacked at the beginning, but luckily I could close that gap quickly. The team rode a strong stage again and we will continue to fight. We will take it from day to day.”
2nd overall and best young rider, Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates): “Our tactic is to stress Jonas Vingegaard and Jumbo-Visma as much as we can, and it is working. I know from my own experience that carrying the yellow jersey means having more pressure on your shoulder, as you have to ride defensively instead of attacking. Over the stage, when they were pulling, we were saving energies and planning our next attacks. I don’t know if Jumbo-Visma are scared of me… But they were on my wheel the whole time, and of course they didn’t let me go easily. My attack at the beginning of the stage? Well, I saw Wout van Aert was trying to bridge back to the front group and I just followed him so the rest of the Jumbo-Visma rider had to make a big effort from behind. But, of course, they are a strong team and it was impossible for me to go on the break. As for the final attack, I just pushed as harder as I could during the whole climb.”
2nd on the stage, Alberto Bettiol (EF Education-EasyPost): “It took a lot of energy to get into the leading group. Sometimes you sit on the bike for five hours and lose the win in a few seconds. I think Matthews deserves this win, but I had everyone – especially everyone in the team, including the staff – I promised that I would make a great effort to give us another win. I am disappointed for myself, for them, for the people who believe in me. But the Tour isn’t over yet and I’m going to try again. He did exactly what I did a few days ago, and he made it. On the climb to the finish a few days ago (to Megève), I didn’t make it when I started 52 kilometres before the finish. I came to him two kilometres before the finish. I personally didn’t think that he had the legs to ride me off. But I heard in my ear that my team DS said: ‘Try to unload him’. Just like I did in the Giro once, with Cavagna. But I came across a very strong Matthews. He deserved it, I must say that again. I also have to thank Rigo (Urán), Neilson (Powless) and the whole team for giving me the opportunity. The season is not over yet, the Tour is not over yet. Second in a pretty tough stage. I am disappointed but happy.”
7th on the stage, Felix Großschartner (BORA-hansgrohe): “I am fighting against a cold for about a week now and today was the first day I felt better. But I am still not feeling at 100% and in the end, I just was not good enough. The beginning was brutal, and I also invested there a lot. Normally a finish like today suits me perfectly, but today I didn’t have the legs. I hope I’ll get another chance as I start to feel better day by day and there are stages ahead that should suit me as well.”
8th on the stage, Lennard Kämna (BORA-hansgrohe): “Actually, I felt better than expected because I also struggle with a cold since the alps. I made it into the group, and we have been there in a good position with three of us in. But in the end, I miss those last 5% to win at the moment. But I think we are on a good way and still ride an attractive race. Tomorrow is another chance that should suit Nils and after the rest day we’ll see where we are.”
10th on the stage and 7th overall, Louis Meintjes (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux): “The beginning of the stage was particularly intense because of the big battle for the early breakaway. I tried maybe twenty times, but it was clear that several teams didn’t appreciate my presence in the front unless they were there too. In the end, I managed to escape but after all these efforts I felt that I didn’t have the legs anymore to fight for the stage win. To win as much time as possible on the peloton it was important for me that the group stayed as big as possible and that the cohesion stayed as good as possible. During the last part of the stage there were many attacks and luckily for me, there was always a team missing in the front so always some riders eager to help me keeping the group together. I’m happy with my second day on the attack here in the Tour de France. It was a good opportunity for a payback for all guys making my life hard in the flat stages and I managed to take back time on my competitors in the general classification.”
Points leader, Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma): “It’s quite normal that Tadej Pogačar isolates Jonas [Vingegaard] from the team when he attacks. After all, we pulled the whole day. He is one of the strongest riders in the bunch and forces us to be on top of the race the whole day. At the beginning of the attacks, there were almost 40 riders up the road, spread in different groups, and I decided to jump across to one of them. Unfortunately, I had Tadej on my wheel… so I had to slow down, and we switched places. It was definitely a hard start, because when more people bridged back to us, it was just GC guys. I’m feeling great legs on this Tour de France. Especially, I feel that my climbing legs are getting better and better over the years. We have shown that we can go for both the green and the yellow jersey. I don’t need too much support for hunting points – just Christophe [Laporte]. The green jersey is not secured yet, but we are in a great place.”
KOM, Simon Geschke (Cofidis): “I tried to go on the break hunting for a stage result rather than to defend the polka dot jersey. It was very hard the whole day, as just the fight for the break was so big that it already created a lot of fatigue on us. On hindsight, it was good to score three further KOM points. The heat was really a big factor today. Luckily, I can deal with warm weather better than with cold, wet conditions.”
Tour de France Stage 14 Result:
1. Michael Matthews (Aus) BikeExchange-Jayco in 4:30:53
2. Alberto Bettiol (Ita) EF Education-EasyPost at 0:15
3. Thibaut Pinot (Fra) Groupama-FDJ at 0:34
4. Marc Soler (Spa) UAE Team Emirates at 0:50
5. Patrick Konrad (Aus) BORA-hansgrohe 0:58
6. Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Israel-Premier Tech
7. Felix Großschartner (Aus) BORA-hansgrohe at 1:06
8. Lennard Kämna (Ger) BORA-hansgrohe at 1:12
9. Simon Geschke (Ger) Cofidis
10. Louis Meintjes (SA) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux.
Tour de France Overall After Stage 14:
1. Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Jumbo-Visma in 55:31:01
2. Tadej Pogačar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates at 2:22
3. Geraint Thomas (GB) INEOS Grenadiers at 2:43
4. Romain Bardet (Fra) DSM at 3:03
5. Adam Yates (GB) INEOS Grenadiers at 4:06
6. Nairo Quintana (Col) Arkéa Samsic at 4:15
7. Louis Meintjes (SA) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux at 4:24
8. David Gaudu (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
9. Thomas Pidcock (GB) INEOS Grenadiers at 8:49
10. Enric Mas (Spa) Movistar at 10:00.
Tour’22 stage 14:
After eight top 3 places in sprint stages of the Tour de France, Jasper Philipsen claimed his first victory on Stage 15 on Sunday. It was another 1-2 for Belgian riders in Carcassonne as Wout van Aert crossed the line in second place for a reversed outcome compared to the sprint of the Champs-Elysées last year. Philipsen is the youngest Belgian stage winner since Tom Boonen at Angers in 2004. Mads Pedersen rounded out the stage podium while Jonas Vingegaard retained the yellow jersey after losing two important team-mates for the coming mountains: Primoz Roglič and Steven Kruijswijk.
Three non-starters: Primoz Roglič (Jumbo-Visma), Magnus Cort (EF Education-EasyPost) and Simon Clarke (Israel-Premier Tech). A leading trio was formed after 5 kilometres with Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma), Nils Politt (BORA-hansgrohe) and Mikkel Honoré (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl). At 41km, Van Aert was instructed by his team to sit up and wait for the peloton that had remained very active due to BikeExchange-Jayco and later Alpecin-Deceuninck setting a steady tempo with the aim of a bunch sprint finish for Dylan Groenewegen and Jasper Philipsen. Politt was doing most of the work at the front as Honoré’s team also had a bunch gallop in mind for Fabio Jakobsen, one year after they won in Carcassonne with Mark Cavendish when he equalled Eddy Merckx’s record of stage wins. But it was a very different story this time around for Quick Step’s lead out man Michael Mørkøv who was dropped from the peloton in the early kilometres. The Dane finished the stage, but was outside the time limit.
At half way into the 202.5km stage, the leading duo was 1:30 ahead of the peloton after having reached a maximum advantage of 3 minutes at Ambialet (64km), on the shores of the Tarn river. As Honoré swapped turns with Politt in the second half of the stage, the time difference to the peloton went up and down, between 1 and 2 minutes as the sprinters’ teams weren’t eager to catch them too quickly. Steven Kruijswijk (Jumbo-Visma) crashed out at 135 kilometres. Another crash affected the same team 10 kilometres further on. This time, it was the Maillot Jaune himself, Jonas Vingegaard, who went down along with his teammate Tiesj Benoot.
Trek-Segafredo put the hammer down so Honoré and Politt were reeled in on the climb to côte des Cammazes (154.6km) where local rider Benjamin Thomas (Cofidis) and Alexis Gougeard (B&B Hotels-KTM) managed to escape. Some sprinters were dropped: Caleb Ewan (Lotto-Soudal), Fabio Jakobsen (Quick-Step), Dylan Groenewegen (BikeExchange-Jayco) and Peter Sagan (TotalEnergies). Some of them got back on 25 kilometres before the finish. Sprinters’ teams and INEOS Grenadier accelerated behind the leading duo. Thomas got rid of Gougeard and forged on by himself 4.5km before the finish in Carcassonne. The French track specialist was caught and passed by the peloton only 500 metres from the finish line. Mads Pedersen launched the sprint. Jasper Philipsen pass on the left while Van Aert on the right. The green jersey missed out on a third stage win by a very margin.
# You can see more photos in the full PEZ ‘Stage Report’ HERE. #
Stage winner, Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck): “I know what losing in the Tour is, I’ve been close so many times. This is really unbelievable. It just worked, I really can’t believe it. I knew I could do it and that I had good legs, but it was just waiting for the right moment. I was a bit locked up for the last corner and I knew it wasn’t far anymore, so moving was the message. I could go past Mads, but felt Wout coming afterwards. When I crossed the finish line I knew I had won. I worked so hard for it, I’m really proud. It’s a dream for me. Everyone has continued to believe in it. As a team, we had to wait until stage 15 after a tough Tour, which makes this victory even better.”
Overall leader, Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma): “Today was a bad day for us. Steven had to leave the race after a heavy crash, Tiesj and I also fell to the ground after. I’m okay after my crash, I hope I can say the same about Tiesj. He fell in-front of me, there was nothing more I could do. Unfortunately, those are things that happen in cycling. I just have some scrapes on the left side of my body.”
2nd on the stage and points leader, Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma): “I attacked hoping for a big breakaway to form. I’d rather be at the front than chasing in the peloton. In the end we were only three ahead and, as my radio was broken, I could not receive instructions from the car or information on how the race was unfolding. Until the team car did not reach my group, I did not know what to do. In the end, given the situation, the smartest thing was to stop and wait for the peloton. Of course, losing two teammates in one day will change our Tour de France. I don’t know how much we’ll have to change our strategy, but of course it will affect us. We’ve had a lot of bad luck today. But we were a strong team and we will continue to be a strong team. My crash next to Steven Kruijswijk? There was something on the road, someone slowed down in the peloton, Steven could not do it on time… and he went to the ground. It was a stupid fall. As soon as I got up, I saw that he had hurt himself. I waited a little while for him to try to get back together, but he couldn’t.”
5th on the stage, Danny van Poppel (BORA-hansgrohe): It was a brutal day on the bike. Some of the crashes happened because reactions get slower in this kind of heat. I felt not too bad actually and was in the first group after the last climb. The boys tried to help me and pulled to keep us in front. Some sprinters came back, but we still have been positioned really well on the last kilometres. I am actually happy with the result; I am really tired after those hard mountain stages and really look forward to the rest day tomorrow.·
Break rider, Nils Politt (BORA-hansgrohe): “At the beginning I was hoping that there would be more riders in the breakaway. I don’t know if Wout van Aert prevented our group from gaining more time but it’s from the moment we were only the two of us that I knew it would be very hard to make it to the finish. I’m use to this kind of breakaway though. Cycling is like this, so I never live with regrets.”
Out of time, Michael Mørkøv (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl): “I am disappointed, because I gave it all. Once I got dropped on a small bump, I knew it was going to be a long fight, but I stayed focused and believed in myself and in my chances of making it. I kept calculating and pushing hard despite knowing time wasn’t on my side, but then, with 15 kilometers to go I realised that my Tour was over. At the end of the day, I am not disappointed, because I did everything I could. My only regret is that I leave my team in just six riders with one week to go, that makes me sad, but I am confident they will continue fighting for good results.”
Tour de France Stage 15 Result:
1. Jasper Philipsen (Bel) Alpecin-Deceuninck in 4:27:27
2. Wout van Aert (Bel) Jumbo-Visma
3. Mads Pedersen (Den) Trek-Segafredo
4. Peter Sagan (Slov) TotalEnergies
5. Danny van Poppel (Ned) BORA-hansgrohe
6. Dylan Groenewegen (Ned) BikeExchange-Jayco
7. Florian Sénéchal (Fra) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl
8. Luca Mozzato (Ita) B&B Hotels-KTM
9. Andrea Pasqualon (Ita) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
10. Fred Wright (GB) Bahrain-Victorious.
Tour de France Overall After Stage 15:
1. Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Jumbo-Visma in 59:58:28
2. Tadej Pogačar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates at 2:22
3. Geraint Thomas (GB) INEOS Grenadiers at 2:43
4. Romain Bardet (Fra) DSM at 3:01
5. Adam Yates (GB) INEOS Grenadiers at 4:06
6. Nairo Quintana (Col) Arkéa Samsic at 4:15
7. Louis Meintjes (SA) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux at 4:24
8. David Gaudu (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
9. Thomas Pidcock (GB) INEOS Grenadiers at 8:49
10. Enric Mas (Spa) Movistar at 9:58.
Tour’22 stage 15:
Nationalities, Age, Favourites… A Closer Look at the Entrants
Oranje Vibes
A leading nation in women’s cycling, the Netherlands will be particularly well represented during the first edition of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, bringing together 24 teams of six riders. Among the 144 entrants (list updated on July 5), 29 are Dutch. That represents 20% of the peloton, a high level reflecting the oranje strength in the top 150 of the UCI world ranking. The French public will be able to cheer for 23 of their representatives. French champion Audrey Cordon-Ragot (Trek-Segafredo) and Juliette Labous (Team DSM), winner of the Tour de Burgos and a stage on the Giro, are among the local headliners. Frenchwomen should make up the second largest contingent ahead of Italy (19) and Belgium (9). Twenty-five nationalities are represented.
All the Stars Align
With the first 28 riders in the UCI ranking enlisted to start from Paris, the start-list of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift is among the most star-studded ever. Among them, Annemiek van Vleuten (Movistar) is a hot favourite two weeks after winning her 3rd Giro. She will face again the three challengers that followed her in Italy: Marta Cavalli (FDJ-Suez-Futuroscope), Mavi Garcia (UAE Team ADQ) and Elisa Longo Borghini (Trek-Segafredo). Fans will also be able to watch the fastest sprinter of the moment, Lorena Wiebes (Team DSM), the most successful rider in history, Marianne Vos (Jumbo Visma), the rising star Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx) as well as the world champion Elisa Balsamo (Trek Segafredo).
From De Wilde to Lévénez
The average age of the participants is 26.4 years. France’s Sandra Lévénez (Cofidis), 43 years old since July 5, is the oldest while the youngest rider of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift should be Belgium’s Julie de Wilde (Plantur-Pura), who will celebrate her 20th birthday on December 8. Among the three teenagers gearing up for the Grand Départ, Ines Cantera (Roland Cogeas Edelweiss Squad) will celebrate her 20th birthday on July 30, on the road of stage 7. Cofidis comes with a second forty year-old, Australian Rachel Neylan, but the oldest team in average is SD Worx (30.7 years), ahead of UAE Team ADQ (30.33) and Canyon//Sram Racing (30.17). The youngest formation is AG Insurance – NXTG (21.17), a Dutch team supported by the men’s structure Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl. Team DSM comes in 2nd position in this youth ranking (22.5). But they are first among the 14 World Tour teams.
13 National Champions
Thirteen riders will start with the status of national champion: Christina Schweinberger (Austria, Plantur-Pura) – whose twin sister Kathrin is enlisted with Ceratizit-WNT, Kim de Baat (Belgium, Plantur-Pura), Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (Denmark, FDJ-Suez-Futuroscope), Mavi Garcia (Spain, UAE Team ADQ), Audrey Cordon-Ragot (France, Trek-Segafredo), Liane Lippert (Germany, DSM), Elisa Balsamo (Italy, Trek-Segafredo), Christine Majerus (Luxembourg, SD Worx), Riejanne Markus.
(Netherlands, Jumbo-Visma), Frances Janse Van Rensburg (South Africa, Cofidis), Eugenia Bujak (Slovenia, UAE Team ADQ) and Caroline Baur (Switzerland, Roland Cogeas Edelweiss Squad). But only twelve will wear a distinctive jersey representing their country as Balsamo, who claimed the title in Italy, will wear the iridescent tunic of world champion. Ellen van Dijk (Trek-Segafredo) will also stand out as the European champion.
Steller Staff
Stars will be everywhere, inside the peloton and supporting it, as many former champions are now part of the management of teams participating in the race. Among the most notable names, Anna van der Breggen is part of the SD Worx management since she retired at the end of the last season, after an extraordinarily successful career (3 world champion titles, Olympic champion, 7-time winner of La Flèche Wallonne Femmes…). Jolien D’Hoore, her teammate last year with SD Worx, a Belgian champion on the road and a world champion on the track, is another fresh retiree now acting as a sports director, with AG Insurance-NTXG, while Trek-Segafredo will once again make the most of Ina Teutenberg’s experience and leadership. Other names such as Joanne Kiesanowski (Human Powered Health), Lieselot Decroix, Carmen Small (Jumbo-Visma), Heidi Van de Vijver (Plantur-Pura) or Charlotte Bravard (St-Michel Auber 93) stand out with their experience and accomplishments on the bike. The trailblazers of the first Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift can also count on the expertise of former Tour de France contenders such as Lars Ytting Bak (Uno-X), Albert Timmer (Team DSM) and Rubens Bertogliati (UAE Team ADQ), who even wore the Maillot Jaune.
Key points:
➢ A peloton composed of 144 riders from 24 teams will start the first edition of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift (from July 24 to 31), a week from now. The Dutch contingent will be the largest, just ahead of the French.
➢ All the big names in women’s cycling are expected in Paris. The start list includes the top 28 riders in the UCI rankings and especially world number 1 Annemiek van Vleuten, fresh winner of her 3rd Giro, and world champion Elisa Balsamo.
Read the teams presentation HERE.
Find out more on the site of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift.
Mark Cavendish Talks to EF Education-EasyPost about Possible Transfer
Mark Cavendish has had initial exploratory talks with Jonathan Vaughters about a potential transfer to EF Education-EasyPost. The team boss of the American team confirmed this to VeloNews. Cavendish will probably leave Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl after this season.
Cavendish doesn’t fit into Patrick Lefevere’s plans for the 2023 season, but the British sprinter doesn’t want to stop just yet. He hopes to win another stage in the Tour de France to take the record number of stage wins. Cavendish has been level with Eddy Merckx since last year on 34 stage victories.
EF Education-EasyPost is open to discussions with Cavendish. “I think it could be a great story. He is a very interesting option for the team, but there is no contract yet,” said Vaughters. There are still some disagreements between the two parties. “We can come to an agreement, but now it looks like we’re not going to get any closer.”
In addition, it is not clear whether the pink team of Vaughters has the right framework to help Cavendish. EF Education-EasyPost has not had a pure sprint leader in the team for several years. “We can always make room for him, but there are also many questions. Do we have the right riders to lead him out? Hunting for that one stage win in the Tour is not easy either,” said Vaughters.
According to VeloNews, Cavendish has also spoken with Israel-Premier Tech and INEOS Grenadiers.
Where will ‘Cav’ be next year?
Vincenzo Nibali’s Program to La Vuelta
Vincenzo Nibali will ride the Vuelta a España in his final season. In the run-up to the Spanish Grand Tour, the Astana Qazaqstan leader will only race in Spain, reports La Gazzetta dello Sport. The Italian sports-paper writes that Nibali is preparing for the Tour of Spain via four races.
Nibali kicks off his Spanish tour on July 25 with a one-day, the Prueba Villafranca-Ordiziako Klasika. This is followed by the Vuelta Castilla y Leon, which will be held on July 27 and 28. After one rest day, the Clásica San Sebastián follows. Following on from this classic, the Shark of Messina can recover for another day before starting the Tour of Burgos (2-6 August).
The Vuelta a España starts on August 19, in Utrecht. It kicks off with a team time trial. This is followed by two more stages in the Netherlands, before going south to Spain. After the race ends in Madrid on September 11, Nibali will ride the Tour of Lombardy. With this monument, the Sicilian will finish his career. He won the Italian autumn classic in both 2015 and 2017.
The final races for Nibali:
Wilco Kelderman Returns to Jumbo-Visma
Wilco Kelderman is close to returning to Jumbo-Visma. Various sources have confirmed Kelderman’s imminent new team. Fifth in the 2021 Tour de France and third in the 2020 Giro d’Italia will soon sign a multi-year contract with the Dutch WorldTeam. After Dylan van Baarle, Kelderman is the second Dutch top rider to join the team.
Jumbo-Visma thinks that Kelderman has developed well in recent years. The team also wants to maintain the number of Dutch riders in the team. Especially now that Robert Gesink and Steven Kruijswijk are over 35 years. After Tom Dumoulin announced that he will stop, there was a need for a new Dutch GC rider. Although the team did its best for Thymen Arensman, who chose INEOS Grenadiers. The 31-year-old Wilco Kelderman sees a return to the ‘old nest’. He made his professional debut with this team in 2012, when it was still Rabobank. After 2016 he left for Team Sunweb.
Kelderman was with Iwan Spekenbrink’s team for four years, but after 2020 there was no place for him. The GC rider then went to BORA-hansgrohe, where he had an excellent debut season. He was successively fifth in the Tour of Catalonia, tenth in the Tour de Romandie, fourth in the Critérium du Dauphiné and fifth in the Tour de France. Shortly afterwards he had a serious crash in the Benelux Tour. Because his base was too narrow last winter due to the recovery from that crash, he is a little behind where he wants to be this season. A revival briefly presented itself in this year’s Giro, but in the first real mountain stage his own suspicion turned out to be correct: too little content to participate for the classification. In a supporting role, he then rode for Jai Hindley, who eventually won the Giro.
Although Kelderman wants to return to Jumbo-Visma. The love was mutual and not for the first time. Two years ago, the Dutch team also spoke with Kelderman, but then there was not enough budget to attract him. Due to Tom Dumoulin’s retirement, that is now available. The rumours are strong that he will soon sign a contract until 2025. Kelderman is a dream asset to the Dutch sponsor. Together with Van Baarle and Arensman, he was the biggest name available on the transfer market. Riders like Sebastian Langeveld, Wout Poels and Niki Terpstra are also, but they have passed the peak of their career by now. The former also alludes to the end of his career.
Kelderman back to Jumbo-Visma?
Luca Mozzato Extends with B&B Hotels-KTM Until the End of 2025
Luca Mozzato will ride for B&B Hotels-KTM in the coming years. The 24-year-old Italian, who is currently riding his first Tour de France, has signed a contract until the end of 2025.
Mozzato was given the opportunity to turn pro with Jérôme Pineau’s French team in 2020 and is in his third season. The fast rider is still looking for his first professional victory, but often puts himself in the spotlight. He has already sprinted to a top 10 ranking twelve times this season.
In the Tro-Bro Léon he was beaten by Hugo Hofstetter and he also finished second in the GP Marcel Kint, behind Arnaud De Lie. Last season he was also third in Nokere Koerse and the Egmont Cycling Race. Mozzato is currently on his first Tour de France. With top 10 finishes on the stages to Nyborg (9th), Calais (6th) and Saint-Étienne (9th).
New contract for Luca Mozzato:
Tom Pidcock Drops a Descending Masterclass on Stage 12 of 2022 Tour de France
Tom Pidcock’s win on the Alpe d’Huez was a stunning performance, but he would never have been in that front group to contest the win if it hadn’t been for his descending skill. Eurosport captured his downhill skill. Don’t watch if you are of a nervous disposition.
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