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Only one sleep away from the 2022 Tour de France and we have more team news from the French Grand Tour. No Cavendish and Alaphilippe in the Tour – TOP STORY. It’s not all Tour de France, there is also the Giro Donne teams. More championship results from Canada. Rider news: Annemiek van Vleuten to stay with Movistar, Riejanne Markus extension with Jumbo-Visma, Movistar extends Enric Mas’ contract, Nathan Van Hooydonck and Tiesj Benoot stay with Jumbo-Visma, Filippo Zana to BikeExchange-Jayco and LOOK signs Tadej Pogačar. Plus gigantic portrait of Chris Anker Sørensen and La Vuelta song for 2022.
TOP STORY: No Tour Selection for Cavendish and Alaphilippe
Mark Cavendish hoped to be selected to ride the 2022 Tour de France, but the 37-year-old British sprinter will not appear at the start in Denmark this summer. Cavendish is not part of the final selection of his team Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl as is Julian Alaphilippe. The French World champion, who has only just regained competition fitness after his crash in Liège-Bastogne-Liège, is not part of the final selection of Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl.
Cavendish isn’t too pleased. In a comment on Instagram, he said: “Well, I’ve seen the selection on my social media. I regret not being able to defend my green jersey and write more history in the most prestigious race. But as always I will support my teammates every day.” The new British road champion hoped to write history again this year in the Tour. Cavendish currently stands on 34 stage wins in the Tour. “Can you imagine what it would be like to win your 35th stage in the Tour de France in the British jersey? It would be wonderful,” he said on Sunday after the British Championship. “I’m feeling good. It’s so much better than last year, when I won four stages and the green jersey in the Tour de France. It is unlikely that I will go to the Tour again. I showed that if I don’t go, it wasn’t because of my bad condition,” Cav felt the mood in the team. Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl will fully support Tour debutant Fabio Jakobsen in the Tour. Cavendish has been designated as a reserve.
Alaphilippe also laments over non-selection: “But I understand the team’s decision” The Tour de France will have to do without Julian Alaphilippe this summer. The French World champion has only just regained competition fitness after his crash in Liège-Bastogne-Liège, is not part of the Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Tour team.
Alaphilippe is obviously disappointed that he will not be there this summer. “I am disappointed that I will not be at the start of the Tour de France this year. I have a special feeling about this race because of my days in the yellow jersey, the stage wins and great memories with my teammates. It is very annoying and sad that I cannot show my beautiful rainbow jersey in my home country.”
The six-time Tour stage winner made his return to the peloton last Sunday with a thirteenth place in the French road championship, after he crashed two months ago in Liège-Bastogne-Liège. However, the 30-year-old Frenchman is not yet ready for the toughest and important race on the calendar and has to pass for the Tour after four consecutive participations. The team wants to give Alaphilippe time to fully recover, so that he can participate in his remaining main goals in the autumn in top form. “I knew it would be difficult for the team to make this decision. At the same time, I fully understand the decision. I don’t want to be at the start of the Tour if I can’t perform at the top of my ability. I wish my teammates every success. I myself am motivated to ride a strong second part of the season.”
Patrick Lefevere on the non-selection Alaphilippe: “We fear that he is not good enough conditionally” The Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl team made the surprising announcement on Monday that World champion, Julian Alaphilippe would not be in the Tour de France this year. In conversation with Het Nieuwsblad, team boss Patrick Lefevere explained his decision.
Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl concluded that the Tour is still too early for the reigning World champion. “Not great news, of course, but I explained our vision to Julian and he understood that,” Lefevere outlined. “We fear that his condition is not good enough to race at a high level for three weeks. If he won the French championship by a minute, it might be a different story,” said Lefevere, “But you can’t compare a one-day race with a French peloton with three weeks of Tour de France.”
And, according to Lefevere, there is also the fact that the course is not designed for Alaphilippe. Starting with the prologue in Copenhagen, Denmark. “Which Julian wouldn’t win. Then you have echelon stages – which he can do well – and the cobblestone stage to Arenberg. We feared that Julian would have used up a lot of energy for ‘his’ stage to Longwy. And then you have to say that men like David Gaudu, Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert have also touched on it. How do we optimally play Julian in the Tour? It was an impasse that we as a team couldn’t quite get out of.”
No Tour for Cavendish and Alaphilippe:
Tour de France 2022
# You can see the ‘PEZ Tour’22 Preview’ HERE. #
Start list bellow:
Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl to the Tour de France
The 109th edition takes place between 1-23 July
In just a couple of days, Denmark will become the tenth different country to host the Grand Depart of the Tour de France. The bunch will get to spend three days in the Scandinavian country before traveling to France, where the peloton will tackle the rough cobblestones of the north, the Super Planche des Belles Filles, Col du Granon, Alpe d’Huez and Hautacam – to name just a few of the main climbs – and a 40km individual time trial ahead of the traditional Paris stage.
“Over 3300 kilometres and more than 55 000 meters of elevation promise to make for a tough race. After the first ITT, we have two other days in Denmark, which should be for the sprinters, that is if we won’t have any echelons. The cobblestones stage will be a very tricky stage, as everyone will want to be at the front, and after this we’ll have a lot of climbing, with many iconic ascents of the Tour de France. The climbers and the puncheurs will get plenty of opportunities at this edition, unlike the sprinters, who’ll have to fight in many of the stages against the time limit. Overall, the race has something for everyone, and that’s why we are going there with a balanced team”, said Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl sports director Tom Steels, who will lead the squad from the car together with Klaas Lodewyck and Wilfried Peeters.
The most successful sprinter of the year so far with ten victories to his name, Fabio Jakobsen is slated to make his first appearance at the Tour de France, where he’ll count on the experience of one of the peloton’s best lead-out men, Michael Mørkøv. The 25-year-old, who in his past seasons with the Wolfpack has won five Grand Tour stages, all at the Vuelta a España, won’t be the team’s only debutant at the race, with two other young riders, Andrea Bagioli and Mikkel Honoré, set to be on the start line in Copenhagen.
Kasper Asgreen makes it three Danes on Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl’s roster for the Grande Boucle, which will include also Mattia Cattaneo – 12th overall at last year’s edition – Tim Declercq and Yves Lampaert, who is returning at the Tour after three years.
“We have riders who can support Fabio, riders who can climb, but who can also do something in the breakaways. Kasper, Yves and Michael will form a solid lead-out train for Fabio, who has proved how fast and strong he is in the sprints and will now get to discover Le Tour. Tim will be the guy to help him not only on the flat, but also in the mountains, where he’ll take care that Fabio makes it inside the time limit. Mattia is very flexible, has more experience now and can go in some breakaways, where Andrea and Mikkel can support him. Mikkel has improved a lot since joining the team and deserves his place in the team, while Andrea is a winner and has shown he has the mentality to compete with the best”, said Tom Steels.
The team also has first-reserve riders – Florian Sénéchal and Mark Cavendish.
“Concerning our reserves, we must stress out that they showed a lot of professionalism, continued to train and remained focused in these past couple of weeks, and even brought two victories at the Nationals.”
Missing from the eight-man Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl team is Julian Alaphilippe. The World Champion, a stage winner at the past four editions, has just returned to racing last weekend at the National Championships, two months after his Liège–Bastogne–Liège crash.
“The decision to leave Julian home was a very difficult one, as he is one of the team’s most emblematic riders and we wrote so many great moments together at the Tour. Julian worked hard to get back into shape after what happened to him in Liège, but it is felt that for a rider like him it’s always important to be on top of his game and be able to compete with the best riders of the peloton in a race like Le Tour. That’s why we decided to give him more time to recover and build back his condition, so that he can be at 100% for the second part of the season”, added Tom Steels.
“I am disappointed to not be at the Tour de France this year. I have a natural affection for the race, from my days in the yellow jersey over the past three seasons, my stage victories and many other great memories with my teammates. To miss another opportunity to wear my beautiful rainbow jersey in my home country is very sad for me and I knew that this decision would be difficult for the team to take. At the same time, I completely understand this, because I too don’t want to be at the start if I can’t be at my best level. I want to wish the best of luck to my Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl teammates, I know they will do everything to try to have a great race. I will now focus on getting back to my best shape, because I am motivated to do a strong second part of the season”, said the 30-year-old Frenchman.
UPDATE:
Tim Declercq tested positive for covid and will miss the Tour de France. The 33 year-old also contracted a corona infection at the beginning of February. Florian Sénéchal has been designated as his replacement. Declercq had already boarded a plane to Copenhagen on Monday, where the 109th edition of the Tour will start, but Declercq tested positive for the virus. It is becoming a season to quickly forget, after a previous corona infection in February. He was also out for a while due to pericarditis, an inflammation of the pericardium. Now that Declercq is out, Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl has brought in the new French champion Florian Sénéchal. For Sénéchal, this is his third Tour. The Frenchman made his Tour debut in 2015, when riding for Cofidis, and also rode the Tour de France in 2017 on behalf of the French team.
01.07–24.07 Tour de France (FRA) 2.UWT
Riders:
Kasper Asgreen (DEN)
Andrea Bagioli (ITA)
Mattia Cattaneo (ITA)
Tim Declercq (BEL) out Florian Sénéchal (Fra) in
Mikkel Honoré (DEN)
Fabio Jakobsen (NED)
Yves Lampaert (BEL)
Michael Mørkøv (DEN).
Sports Director: Klaas Lodewyck (BEL), Wilfried Peeters (BEL) and Tom Steels (BEL).
Hoping for stage wins with Fabio Jakobsen:
UAE Team Emirates Announce Squad for Tour de France
Team goes in search of third title
UAE Team Emirates have unveiled the team heading into the Tour de France (1-21 July) which gets underway in the city of Copenhagen, Denmark for the Grand Depart.
The team heads into the 21 stages led by the winner of the previous two editions of the race Tadej Pogačar, with a mix of climbers and flat-terrain experts to support the Slovenian.
The 23 year old will face challenges along the 3328km course which begins in Copenhagen with a 13km time-trial before approaching the Alps via a cobbled stage through Arenberg and onto the Pyrenees before the surviving riders make it to the Champs Elysees in Paris for the ceremonial finish.
Team Manager Joxean Matxin Fernandez (Spa) will lead the squad alongside Sports Directors Andrej Hauptman (Slo), Simone Pedrazzini (Swi) and Marco Marcato (Ita). The team is comprised of 8 riders:
– Tadej Pogačar (Slo)
– Rafal Majka (Pol)
– Brandon McNulty (USA)
– Marc Soler (Spa)
– Matteo Trentin (Ita)
– Vegard Stake Laengen (Nor)
– George Bennett (NZ)
– Mikkel Bjerg (Den)
Tadej Pogačar: “It’s already my third time coming to the Tour and I’m really excited about it.We’ve worked really hard all year as a team to prepare for this and we hope we can give everyone watching 3 weeks of exciting racing. This year so far has been a positive one for the team and we are hoping to continue that here at the Tour. We know it won’t be easy and we’ll have many challenges but that is part of the magic of the Tour.”
Joxean Matxin Fernandez (Team Manager): “Every year the challenge to win the Tour gets harder, all we can do is prepare as best we can and trust our team to produce their best as a group. Our ambition is to win the overall title with Pogačar and we have built a strong team around him. Last year we had a great group and the base of the team is similar to last years with a few strong additions in key areas. We have studied the route and it’s far from an easy parcours. Also the level of our competitors is really high, but we are confident and know that a big result is well within the capabilities of Tadej and the team.”
Aleksandr Vlasov – BORA-hansgrohe’s GC Leader for the Tour de France
A Grand Départ in Scandinavia, the cobbles of Roubaix, the high mountain passes of the Alps and the Pyrenees – the 109th edition of the Tour de France sets off on Friday in Copenhagen. For the 9th time, the team of Ralph Denk will be taking part in the cycling season’s most prestigious stage race. Inspired by the squad’s recent successes, BORA – hansgrohe is motivated and is heading to the start of the race in Denmark with the clear goal of aiming for GC success. Aleksandr Vlasov, Lennard Kämna, Maximilian Schachmann, Nils Politt, Felix Großschartner, Patrick Konrad, Marco Haller and Danny van Poppel are the eight riders heading to the Tour for BORA – hansgrohe.
“In general, it’s never an easy decision, we have such a strong team at the moment and we could have easily picked more than ten riders. The eight riders we have in the line-up now really deserve to be at the Tour. Why? Due to their strong current shape and because of what they have already achieved this season. We have performed very well in stage races so far, we’re on a path of becoming a GC team and with the selection of riders for this Tour de France, we’re pushing forward on this path. Aleksandr Vlasov is our GC leader, Felix Großschartner will be very important in the mountains but he’s also a strong TT rider, Patrick Konrad is a climber as well but also someone for a long breakaway or solo attack. Danny van Poppel is a rider who can guide a team in nervous race situations which we’re expecting in particular during the first week. With Nils Politt, we have a rider for the cobbles, a rider who is fully committed to the team and a rider who already proved he can take a solo stage win. Lennard Kämna played a very important role in our Giro success, and we see him in a similar role for the Tour. Max Schachmann had a tough spring but came back in really good shape over the past few weeks. Marco Haller, a loyal rider, a road captain and a very strong rider in a breakaway, can go for his own success as well.” – Rolf Aldag, Head Sports Director
“Over the past couple of years, we’ve had three top-ten results in the Tour and now we’re aiming for a podium. Of course, it’s a tough goal but with the performance we’ve seen from Aleksandr Vlasov this season it’s a realistic goal and we have a strong team with full support for him over every terrain. We want to show an active and attacking style of racing, focus on the GC and maybe even take a stage win. I’d be very happy on the Champs-Élysées if we achieve these goals.” – Ralph Denk, Team Manager.
EF Education-EasyPost Leaves Esteban Chaves at Home
EF Education-EasyPost was one of the last teams to announce their Tour line-up, but the expected Esteban Chaves was missing.
Chaves recently finished seventh in the Critérium du Dauphiné and second in the Mont Ventoux Dénivelé Challenge, which Ruben Guerreiro, also of EF Education-EasyPost, won. The Portuguese rider will be on the Tour de France start-line on Friday in Copenhagen. With Rigoberto Urán and Neilson Powless, the American team also has two other riders in the ranks who can go for the GC. Urán finished second in the Tour in 2017, Powless finished the Tour of Switzerland in fourth place this year.
The team also has dangerous stage attackers such as Magnus Cort-Nielsen and Alberto Bettiol. Stefan Bissegger is one of the contenders for the opening time trial. Jonas Rutsch and Owain Doull are also part of the selection.
EF Education-EasyPost will not appear in the familiar jerseys at the start of the Tour de France on Friday. To celebrate the return of the Women’s Tour, the team has had special jerseys made for both the men’s and women’s teams EF Education-TIBCO-SVB.
EF Education-EasyPost team for 2022 Tour de France:
Magnus Cort
Ruben Guerreiro
Rigoberto Urán
Stefan Bissegger
Alberto Bettiol
Neilson Powless
Jonas Rutsch
Owain Doull.
EF new kit:
Kristoff and Meintjes to Shine in the Tour de France
Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux presents a team balanced between stage chasers and a focus on the general classification for the 109th edition of the Tour de France, which will start from Copenhagen (Denmark) this Friday. The eight riders will be led by former European champion, four times stage winner and yellow jersey wearer Alexander Kristoff, who will receive the support of experimented riders Andrea Pasqualon and Adrien Petit for the sprint finishes. Baroudeurs Sven Erik Bystrøm, Taco van der Hoorn and Georg Zimmermann will keep an eye out for successful breakaways between the mountains, where Louis Meintjes will chase a top ten in the final classification with the support of Belgian rider Kobe Goossens. This selection will be directed from the Grand Départ by Aike Visbeek, Steven De Neef, Hilaire Van der Schueren and Pieter Vanspeybrouck.
Selection
Alexander Kristoff returns to Denmark, where he became European champion in 2017, to start his ninth Tour de France. The Norwegian rider is a four time stage winner, all of them were won in a sprint. In his latest participation in 2020, his victory in the opening stage in Nice offered him the honour to wear the yellow jersey. In 2018, he was victorious on the Champs-Elysées. In total, Alexander Kristoff finished more than 30 times in the top five.
For the sprint finishes, the Norwegian rider can rely on his two teammates of the sprint train, Andrea Pasqualon and Adrien Petit, who both participated three times in the Tour de France. Italian rider Andrea Pasqualon finished eight times in the top ten in the colours of the Walloon team. Frenchman Petit, the sixth of Paris-Roubaix and third of the GP de Denain, will race close to his city Arras in the fifth stage between Lille and Arenberg, in which the first cobble section of Villers-au-Tertre is named after him.
South-African rider Louis Meintjes reached Paris three times, twice in eight place (2016, 2017) and in fourteenth place last year in the colours of the Belgian team. This Friday, he will race for the first time on Danish soil since he is a professional and after a fruitful month with in addition to his victory in the Giro dell’Appennino, a sixth place in the Critérium du Dauphiné and the Mercan’Tour Classic.
Kobe Goossens and Taco van der Hoorn will make their debut in La Grande Boucle. For both, it is their second Grand Tour. Last season, van der Hoorn showed himself in the breakaways in the Giro d’Italia, resulting in a resounding victory in Canale, with Kobe Goossens revealing himself on the roads of the Vuelta 2020 with a 24th place in the final classification.
Sven Erik Bystrøm and Georg Zimmermann both participated once to the Tour de France. The 24 year old German rider discovered the race last season with the Belgian team and despite a wrest injury following a crash on day one, he achieved a top ten two days before Paris and took his first pro win in the Tour de l’Ain one week later.
Jean-François Bourlart (CEO Continuum Sports Belgium): “We chose for a balanced team with both riders aiming for a stage win and a good result in the final classification. We’re ambitious from the first week, with a group around Alexander Kristoff, who will receive the support of Andrea Pasqualon and Adrien Petit in the sprint or the stages in the north. With guys like Zimmermann, van der Hoorn and Bystrøm, we will stay loyal to our aggressive temperament because we know their baroudeur qualities and we know that there are multiple opportunities. Finally, in the high mountains, we can rely on Louis Meintjes who performed well in the beginning of the season and confirmed this with a sixth place in the Critérium du Dauphiné. He will receive the support of young Belgian rider Kobe Goossens, who will discover the Tour de France.”
“It is already our fifth Tour de France, so I’m looking forward to experience the Grand Départ in Copenhagen. We savoured the success on the roads of the Giro and the Vuelta, so our team Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert lines up with great ambition in this Tour de France. A stage victory is our main goal and we have candidates on all terrains. Next, we’ll try to finish for the first time in the top ten of the Tour by tackling the mountains well.”
Parcours
From Friday 1st to Sunday 24th of July, the 109th edition of the biggest cycling event in the world will cross four countries. The 21 stages of the Tour de France 2022 are divided as follows: two time trials, six flat stages, seven hilly stages and six mountain stages from which five with a summit finish.
The individual time trial of 13 kilometre through the streets of Copenhagen is the northernmost start in the history of the event and is followed by two more stages in Denmark through the wind in the heart of the fjords and a travel day. It is in Dunkirk that the peloton will land for the start of the fourth stage, for a first hilly stage in the north of France.
For the first time in four years, the riders will be confronted with 19.4 kilometre of cobble sections between Lille and Wallers-Arenberg, for a fifth stage inspired by Paris-Roubaix. The next day will be special for Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert, as Binche, city where the team’s heart beats, will host the start of the longest stage of 220 kilometre towards the finish on the Côte des Religieuses in Longwy.
Also the finish of the seventh stage holds nice memories for the Belgian team. The Super Planche des Belles Filles, where Xandro Meurisse finished 3rd in 2019, will be the battlefield of the first confrontation between the climbers in the Vosges. Afterwards, the riders make their entry in the Alps via two hilly stages in Switzerland and a rest day.
The second week starts with a crossing of the Haute-Savoie region and a finish on the Altiport of Megève, after 21 kilometre of climbing. The next day in the heart of the Alps, the peloton will have to cover the Col du Télégraphe and the Col du Galibier before finishing on top of the Col du Granon. The Col du Galibier is with its 2642 meter of altitude not only the highest point of this 109th edition, but it will also animate the next difficult stage on July 14th. This time, the climb precedes the Col de la Croix de Fer and a final on Alpe d’Huez.
Before the entry in the Pyrenees, two transition stages and a hilly finish in Mende precede the final rest day. A stage for baroudeurs in Foix goes ahead of two difficult stages in the Pyrenees: Peyresourde and Hautacam are the fourth and fifth uphill finishes of this edition, and both are preceded by other mythical climbs of the Tour, for example the Col d’Aspin, the Aubisque or Val Louron-Azet. The sprinters receive an opportunity in the nineteenth stage in Cahors, before an individual time trial of 40 kilometre which concludes the battle for the general classification, and the traditional closing stage in the capital.
Aike Visbeek: “After a solid first part of the season, we’re looking forward to participate in the Tour de France with a group of motivated riders and in good condition. Each of the riders of our roster has proven his capabilities in a Grand Tour in the past and this experience is one of our strengths. We established a strategy to achieve our goals, notably winning a stage and finishing in the top ten overall with Louis Meintjes. We’re prepared for multiple scenarios. I’m thinking about the challenging first week, as several factors will influence the races, such as the weather conditions of the wind. Our preparation was ideal, we organised several stage recons and the material was intensively tested. A part of the group already benefited from the good work they did during our altitude camp. All ingredients are reunited for our eight riders, they’re motivated to make the colours of Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux shine.”
Selection:
Sven Erik Bystrøm
Kobe Goossens
Alexander Kristoff
Louis Meintjes
Andrea Pasqualon
Adrien Petit
Taco van der Hoorn
Georg Zimmermann
Sports Directors: Aike Visbeek, Steven De Neef, Hilaire Van der Schueren & Pieter Vanspeybrouck.
INEOS Grenadiers Confirm 2022 Tour de France Lineup
The INEOS Grenadiers are proud to confirm the lineup to compete at the 2022 Tour de France with eight riders ready to go all in and attack the 109th edition of the race.
Fronted by the GC trio of 2018 Tour de France winner and 2022 Tour de Suisse champion Geraint Thomas, Tour of the Basque Country winner Dani Martinez, and multiple Tour de France stage winner Adam Yates, the team is completed by the formidable Jonathan Castroviejo, Filippo Ganna, Tom Pidcock, Luke Rowe and Dylan van Baarle.
Two-time reigning world time trial champion Ganna and all-round racer Pidcock are set to make their Tour de France debuts, while the experienced backbone of the Grenadiers is provided by Castroviejo, Rowe and Paris-Roubaix winner Van Baarle who arrive in Copenhagen with a combined 20 Tour de France starts.
INEOS Grenadiers Team Principal Sir Dave Brailsford said: “The competition this year is tougher than ever and that’s a great thing for the sport, the Tour and the fans. But we all know that anything can happen in cycling, especially over three weeks of hard racing across different terrains and weather conditions. This group of Grenadiers is the epitome of all that INEOS stands for. They have the grit, rigour and humour that we know is critical to success at the Tour and we can’t wait to get racing.”
INEOS Grenadiers Deputy Team Principal Rod Ellingworth said: “We’ve got a really dynamic and versatile group of riders that are ready to go full gas and really take this race on.”
“In Adam, Dani and Geraint we have three fantastic GC heavyweights who can mount a real challenge. They have proved their form across the season and are lining up in Copenhagen in great shape.”
“It’s also a proud moment for the team to see Filippo and Tom make their Tour de France debuts. They’re phenomenal riders who have big careers ahead of them and both are ready to leave their mark on the Tour. And no team could ask for three better super domestiques than Dylan, Jonathan and Luke. Collectively they have racing instincts and experience that are second to none.”
Jonathan Castroviejo – 35, Spain
Fresh off a courageous ride at the Giro d’Italia, Castroviejo brings an invaluable blend of experience and climbing skill. A selfless teammate, he has evolved from a time trial specialist to one of the best mountain support riders in the peloton. Often going above and beyond to take huge turns on the front, his steady support and calming presence will be key across the three weeks.
Filippo Ganna – 25, Italy
Filippo Ganna has rapidly risen to become one of the best time trialists in the sport. A two-time World Champion, the Italian starts his first Tour de France with the intention of replicating his incredible results at the Giro d’Italia. Ganna racked up six stage wins across two editions, pulling on the pink jersey in both 2020 and 2021. He’ll be gunning for the yellow jersey in Copenhagen, but will also play a key team role once the climbing begins.
Daniel Martínez – 26, Colombia
One of the most consistent general classification riders in the peloton this season, Martínez claimed overall victory at Itzulia Basque Country, in addition to an overall podium finish at Paris-Nice. The Colombian won a stage at the Tour de France in 2020 in the same year he won the Criterium du Dauphine. The climber will be one of the team’s three leaders this year as he begins his eighth Grand Tour.
Tom Pidcock – 22, Great Britain
One of the sport’s most exciting young talents, Pidcock has risen through the ranks, taking titles and world championships in cyclo-cross and mountain biking. Now in his second year as a pro on the road, the young Brit tackles his first Tour de France. In addition to gaining experience and learning from team mates, he’ll play an important team role on the flat and in the medium mountain stages.
Luke Rowe – 32, Great Britain
Lining up for a milestone 10th Grand Tour and eighth consecutive Tour de France appearance, Luke Rowe knows what this race is all about. A road captain since the early years of his career, the Welshman is a great leader and loves nothing more than battling it out for position in the peloton and crosswinds. He can also turn his hand to climbing and has form of setting an impressive tempo on the front for long periods.
Geraint Thomas – 36, Great Britain
One of the most experienced and well-liked riders in the sport, Geraint won the Tour de France in 2018, cementing his status as a British and Welsh hero. ‘G’ was also a runner up at the Tour de France one year later and knows exactly what it takes to win this race. With a background on the track and comfortable on any terrain, he is a true all-round talent. Whether he’s riding for overall victory like his performance at the recent Tour de Suisse or giving it his all to help the team, he is always all in for the win.
Dylan van Baarle – 30, Netherlands
Arriving in Copenhagen following a dream Classics season that saw him win Paris-Roubaix, Dylan has shown what an impressive and versatile rider he is. After battling it out across the cobbles during the spring, the Dutchman has the skills to transform himself into an elite mountain support rider for the Tour each year. His performances continue to improve and he will play a key role in setting a tempo on the climbs this year.
Adam Yates – 29, Great Britain
One of Britain’s best stage racers, Adam Yates holds a top-10 finish at all three Grand Tours and only just missed out on a Tour de France podium with a fourth in 2016. He knows how to ride at the sharp end of a three-week race and can produce a stinging turn of pace in the mountains. As a protected rider with a leadership role, he heads into his 11th Grand Tour ready to battle it out in the mountains.
Tour de France – JUL 1 – 24
Matt Winston – Team DSM coach: “After some good recent racing, and training programs designed by our experts, we’re excited to pin some numbers back on again for the Tour de France. We expect it to be a tough three weeks of action where every day will be fought hard. There is a variety of terrain throughout the three weeks with the time trials, sprint days, challenging high mountains, medium-mountain days that look great for breakaways, and even some cobbles thrown in too. We have a really motivated group of guys who are full of ambition as we hunt for stage results throughout the Tour; looking to each stage and focusing day-by-day to see where our chances lie.”
Line-up:
Romain Bardet (FRA)
Alberto Dainese (ITA)
John Degenkolb (GER)
Nils Eekhoff (NED)
Chris Hamilton (AUS)
Andreas Leknessund (NOR)
Martijn Tusveld (NED)
Kevin Vermaerke (USA).
Roman Bardet to lead DSM at the Tour:
Alpecin-Fenix Presents Tour’22 Team
The Alpecin-Fenix team has announced its final selection for the Tour de France. Mathieu van der Poel and Jasper Philipsen are the top riders.
Mathieu van der Poel wore yellow for almost a week last year and is preparing for his second Tour de France and this year hopes to reach Paris. Van der Poel completed his first Grand Tour with the Giro d’Italia. The 27-year-old Dutchman will mainly be chasing stage victories in the Tour. The green jersey is not yet a target.
“Three weeks of fighting for that green jersey is a heavy mental load. It also takes away some of the freedom. I will therefore not interfere in that battle in this Tour, but I want to fully focus on stage victories.” Van der Poel sees a winner of the green jersey in his team mate Philipsen. “I don’t know if it will be a goal for Jasper. But it is something that he has to be able to handle.”
Philipsen will mainly aim at the real sprinters’ stages, while Van der Poel can enjoy himself in several terrains. Alpecin-Fenix is also counting on Kristian Sbaragli, the strong Austrian Michael Gogl, sprint leader Edward Planckaert, Silvan Dillier, Guillaume Van Keirsbulck and lead-out man Alexander Krieger.
Tim Merlier, who managed to win a stage in last year’s Tour, is not there this year. The new Belgian champion may focus on the Vuelta a España. Climber Xandro Meurisse was also not selected.
Alpecin-Fenix 2022 Tour de France Team:
Mathieu van der Poel
Jasper Philipsen
Silvan Dillier
Michael Gogl
Edward Planckaert
Guillaume Van Keirsbulck
Kristian Sbaraglia
Alexander Krieger.
Some yellow time for Van der Poel again?
Sagan and Latour Lead TotalEnergies
Peter Sagan will start his eleventh consecutive Tour de France in Copenhagen on Friday. The Slovak is the big rider for TotalEnergies. The French team has also selected a group of attackers, including Pierre Latour.
Latour looked like he would miss the Tour de France at the beginning of June, after he had a fracture in his radius in the Mercan’ Tour Classic. The climber could forget the Critérium du Dauphiné and the Tour also seemed to be too early, but his recovery went well. Latour rode the French championships last week. The 28-year-old rider finished fourth in the French time trial championship and convinced the team management of his physical state of readiness. Latour won the white young rider jersey in the Tour in 2018. Peter Sagan had to deal with another covid infection in the Tour of Switzerland. However, the triple World champion was asymptomatic and came back into action last Sunday to became Slovak champion again.
Sagan will like to win in the sprint stages in the Tour and will be supported by his regular helpers Daniel Oss and Maciej Bodnar. Latour seems to be the right rider to go for the GC. The latter can count on the support of Spanish climber Cristián Rodríguez in the mountains. The team with Alexis Vuillermoz, stage winner in the Critérium du Dauphiné, Anthony Turgis, second in the French road championship and Mathieu Burgaudeau, stage winner in Paris-Nice is aiming for success in the transition and breakaway stages.
Edvald Boasson Hagen will also be in Denmark. The 35-year-old Norwegian was initially not selected for the Tour de France, but is a replacement for Cristián Rodríguez. The 27 year-old Spanish climber Rodríguez, who finished sixth in the Mont Ventoux Dénivelé Challenge and eighth in La Route d’Occitanie in the run-up to the Tour, is ill. “It feels like a roller coaster. I trained on Monday and first heard that I was not in it. Then suddenly a phone call came that I’m going to come with me. I am very happy,” said Boasson Hagen.
Total Energies for the Tour de France:
Peter Sagan
Alexis Vuillermoz
Anthony Turgis
Maciej Bodnar
Mathieu Burgaudeau
Pierre Latour
Daniel Oss
Edvald Boasson Hagen.
Cofidis Counting on Martin, Izagirre and Coquard
Cofidis final team roster for the Tour de France looks to Guillaume Martin and Ion Izagirre as the leaders in the mountains and Bryan Coquard in the sprints.
Martin and Izagirre could potentially go for the general classification. The 29-year-old Martin finished eighth in the Tour last year, but has had a tough Giro d’Italia this year. For Izagirre (33) it is his first Grand Tour of the season. The Basque has been successful in the Tour in the past, but not as a GC rider: in the 2016 edition of the Tour he won the stage to Morzine.
In the sprints, Cofidis hopes are with Coquard. The now 30-year-old Frenchman is having a good first season with Cofidis, he was successful in the Étoile de Bessèges and the Tour de La Provence, but he has never won a stage in five previous Tour participations. Coquard will be assisted in his sprint by Benjamin Thomas and Max Walscheid, who may also go for the sprint himself.
With the experienced Simon Geschke (36), the explosive French climber/puncheur Victor Lafay (26) and attacker Anthony Perez (31) the team could also distinguish itself in the many transition stages.
Cofidis team for Tour de France:
Simon Geschke
Benjamin Thomas
Bryan Coquard
Ion Izagirre Insausti
Guillaume Martin
Victor Lafay
Anthony Perez
Maximilian Richard Walscheid.
Expect an up and down performance form Guillaume Martin:
Quintana, Barguil and Hofstetter Lead Arkéa-Samsic
Nairo Quintana, Warren Barguil and Hugo Hofstetter are the team leaders on Arkéa-Samsic’s final roster for the 2022 Tour de France.
With Quintana (32) and Barguil (30), the French team counts on two experienced climbers, who have already earned their stripes in the Tour de France. Quintana was on the final podium in Paris three times. In 2013 and 2015 he lost to Chris Froome, in 2016 he finished third behind the Briton and Romain Bardet. Quintana went on to win three mountain stages (in 2013, 2018 and 2019) and also finished in the top ten overall in 2018 and 2019.
Barguil has also ridden for the GC in the Tour. The French climber was tenth in 2017 and 2019. In 2017, Barguil conquered the hearts of French cycling fans. The attacking rider won two mountain stages that year, to Foix and on the summit of the Col d’Izoard, plus the polka dot jersey. Barguil is again one of the riders to keep an eye on this year when it comes to the mountains classification.
Quintana and Barguil have already achieved quite a few successes this season. This is also the case for Hugo Hofstetter, who in the absence of sprint leader Nacer Bouhanni, who is still recovering from a serious crash in the Tour of Turkey, may take over the sprint. The 28-year-old Frenchman already won Tro-Bro Léon this year and collected 21 top 10 prizes.
Arkéa-Samsic also has two more fast men in the ranks, Amaury Capiot and Connor Swift. Maxime Bouet, Matis Louvel and Łukasz Owsian can also prepare for the most important race of the year.
Arkea-Samsic Team for the 2022 Tour de France:
Warren Barguil
Nairo Quintana
Matis Louvel
Lukasz Owsain
Amaury Capiot
Connor Swift
Maxime Bouet
Hugo Hofstetter.
Quntana to lead Arkea at the Tour:
B&B Hotels-KTM 2022 Tour Team
B&B Hotels-KTM announced its selection for the Tour de France four days before the start in Copenhagen. The team is counting on a team of break riders and sprinters including experienced riders Pierre Rolland, Franck Bonnamour and Luca Mozzato.
Rolland has the most experience of the team in the Tour de France. The 35 year-old rider is going for his thirteenth participation in the race. He finished tenth in 2011, eighth in 2012 and tenth in 2015. He also won the stage to Alpe d’Huez in 2011 and the stage to La Toussuire in 2012. This season he won the mountains classification of the Critérium du Dauphiné, where he was also second in the stage to Gap.
Alexis Gougeard, Cyril Barthe, sixth in the Tour du Finistère this year, eleventh in the Four Days of Dunkirk and twelfth in the Saudi Tour, Cyril Lemoine and Franck Bonnamour, seventh in the Classic Loire Atlantique, also rode the Tour de France more than once. Sprinter Luca Mozzato, second in the Tro-Bro Léon and the Marcel Kint Classic, Jérémy Lecroq and climber Sebastian Schönberger start in their first Tour.
B&B Hotels-KTM Team for the 2022 Tour de France:
Alexis Gougeard
Pierre Rolland
Franck Bonnamour
Sebastian Schönberger
Cyril Barthea
Cyril Lemoine
Luca Mozzatoo
Jeremy Lecroq.
Dstny joins Lotto Soudal already during the Tour de France
The Belgian fast-growing technology company Dstny will be visible on Lotto Soudal’s team kit already during this Tour de France and for the rest of the season. To provide a soft-landing next season, when Dstny will become co-title sponsor, the team and Dstny have agreed to already start working together now. The team’s name will remain Lotto Soudal until the end of the season.
In February of this year the National Lottery – the lifelong sponsor and owner of the team – and Dstny already announced their partnership. From 2023 the team will be named Lotto Dstny. Dstny is a Belgian based company that specialises in business communication solutions based on cloud technology.
Daan De Wever, CEO of Dstny: “We have already explained in February why we want to get involved in cycling in general and this team in particular. We share a focus on developing young talent, we share the bravery and offensive style of racing and we share our Belgian base and heritage, but at the same time the ambition to make a mark on an international level. We feel a genuine emotional connection with this team already, but we also invest to create brand awareness in the rest of Europe and the world. As you all know, there is no bigger event in cycling than the Tour de France. So putting our names on the jerseys and helmets right now, makes sense from a strategical point of view as well.”
And there is more, continues Daan De Wever: “We are not the company to just invest and wait to see what happens. We want to get involved and learn from this team, and at the same time share our knowledge and experience. How can we, together with the National Lottery, help the team to take the next step? As a scale-up company, we have experience in constantly setting new goals and ambitions to keep improving. In that perspective it also makes sense to start this new partnership in this ‘light’-version. We want to dive right in and create an impact on this project.”
The unique green-blue colour of Dstny and its logo will from now on feature on both the Vermarc kits and Ekoï helmets of the team. “We are happy to have Dstny on board already”, says Jannie Haek, CEO of the National Lottery. “This way we can start working together intensively already, to make sure we are fully prepared for next season. We have our 37 years of experience as a lifelong partner and owner of the team and we are very interested to see what Dstny will add to the team. Starting already during this Tour de France, which is extremely important for us and where we expect the team to get good results. The first and most visible addition Dstny already brings, is that our fans will be able to spot our riders in the peloton a lot easier. And there is a lot more to come.”
Watch the launch video on the Lotto Soudal Youtube channel:
Movistar Team Tackling Two Big Challenges at Giro Donne and Tour de France
Blues head towards Italy, with Annemiek van Vleuten as leader, and France, as Enric Mas spearheads Movistar Team’s lineup at Danish Grand Départ.
The Movistar Team head this week towards two of the biggest goals in their 2022 season: the Giro d’Italia Donne, which starts on Thursday 30th June in Cagliari, Sardinia, and the men’s Tour de France, whose Grand Départ will be opened on Friday 1st July with an individual time trial in Copenhagen.
In Italy, with ten days of racing – plus one rest day – in the programme through Sunday 10th, Jorge Sanz will manage a six-woman squad led by their biggest name, Annemiek van Vleuten, who will be starting here an exciting, three-stop ‘Grand Tour’ campaign. Alongside the Olympic champion will be a stage winner in the 2021 race, Emma Norsgaard; Pan American road race champion Arlenis Sierra; and three top domestiques in Aude Biannic, Paula Patiño and Jelena Erić.
Over in France, as the Telefónica-backed squad make their 40th consecutive appearance in the ‘Grande Boucle’, Patxi Vila and Chente García Acosta will be the sports directors for a group led by Enric Mas, 5th (2020) and 6th (2021) overall in their last two appearances to date. In support of the Spaniard will be the recent Critérium du Dauphiné stage winner, Carlos Verona; American hopeful Matteo Jorgenson; and expert riders Imanol Erviti, Nelson Oliveira, Gorka Izagirre, Gregor Mühlberger and Albert Torres.
2022 TOUR DE FRANCE GUIDE | All info on the ‘Grande Boucle’
2022 GIRO DONNE GUIDE | All info on the Italian stage race
Giro d’Italia Donne – JUN 30 – JUL 10
Huub Duijn – Team DSM coach: “We’re looking forward to returning to stage racing at the Giro Donne. It’s an interesting parcours this years with a mixed bag of terrain including a prologue, several potential sprint finishes, finales for the puncheurs and some tough days in the mountains. For those fast finales we will support Charlotte as our finisher while for the GC we are aiming for as best a result as possible with our Vuelta Burgos winner, Juliette. We’re ready for nine tough days of racing where we hope to show ourselves towards the front on each stage.”
Line-up:
Megan Jastrab (USA)
Leah Kirchmann (CAN)
Franziska Koch (GER)
Charlotte Kool (NED)
Juliette Labous (FRA)
Floortje Mackaij (NED).
Canada’s Leah Kirchmann to ride the Giro:
Team BikeExchange-Jayco women all-in for the Giro d’Italia Donne with multiple cards to play
Team BikeExchange-Jayco women head to Italy with an array of options ready to take their chances at the prestigious 10-day Giro d’Italia Donne, which starts this Thursday, 30th in Sardinia.
The squad will have a number of cards to play throughout the tour, with the team looking to take their opportunities on each and every stage, as well as taking on the general classification.
Two-time podium finisher and stage winner Amanda Spratt will lead the GC charge, as the experienced 34-year-old lines-up for her 11th appearance and continues her impressive comeback from iliac artery surgery. The Australian will be joined by two-time top-10 finisher Ane Santesteban, giving the squad strong options on the climbs.
American Kristen Faulkner will line-up for her first ever appearance at the Giro d’Italia Donne, and comes in fine form, fresh off a stage win and second overall at the Tour de Suisse. Also making her Giro debut will be fast finishing Australian Georgia Baker with an open card to try for her own success.
Nina Kessler will provide valuable experience in her third appearance, along with recently crowned Trinidad and Tobago road race and time trial champion, Teniel Campbell, who is set to play a key domestique role for her teammates in her new national champion’s jersey.
The 2022 edition of the race will begin on the island of Sardinia with a short 4.7km prologue, followed by two stages that skirt along the coastline. The riders will then have a rest day as they transfer to the mainland, ready for the fourth day of racing in Emilia Romagna. From then, the race will travel through Lombardy before the riders hit the Alps and the Dolomites, where the general classification should be decided.
Team BikeExchange-Jayco Line-Up:
Georgia Baker (AUS) – Debut appearance
Teniel Campbell (TTO) – 2nd appearance
Kristen Faulkner (USA) – Debut appearance
Nina Kessler (NED) – 3rd appearance
Ane Santesteban (ESP) – 10th appearance
Amanda Spratt (AUS) – 11th appearance
Brent Copeland – General Manager: “We’re excited to be going back to the Giro Donne once again, it’s a special event and the longest-running stage race on the women’s calendar. As a team we’ve had lots of success at this race in the past, and of course we are aiming for more again this year. The women have been in great form in recent weeks, and I know it must have been hard to narrow the squad down to just six riders, but we are all confident in the team selection the technical staff have made, and we go into the race with big ambitions. This is the start of a busy and historic month for women’s cycling with the Tour de France Femmes also just a few weeks away, and we can’t wait to kick things off at the Giro Donne on Thursday!”
Martin Vestby – Head Sport Director: “We have a very strong and competitive team that can compete for victory on every stage. Starting with the Cagliari prologue where both Georgia Baker and Kristen Faulkner should be able to fight for the win after what they showed at the Tour de Suisse recently. The three mountain stages will be decisive for the general classification, but it will be necessary to pay attention on all stages. There are some classic stages that will not decide the overall winner, but they can decide who will no longer be in contention in the general classification. With Spratt coming back stronger and stronger, we should have some expectations for the GC. Georgia is in good condition and will certainly have opportunities to try and bring home a good result too. This will be the first time Kristen has started a 10-day stage race and her support role will be important for Amanda, but at the same time she will have some opportunities of her own.”
Amanda Spratt – 3rd overall in 2018 & 19: “I’ve had a good training block at altitude in Livigno and I think it was good to just stop racing for a while and be able to build up the strength and fitness again and really focus on some key demands that we will face in the Giro. It’s definitely a hard Giro, and we see that the hardest stages all come together late in the race, especially stages 7-9, with multiple hard climbs. This is quite different to the last couple of years, but I would say overall it’s a course that excites me a lot! My personal goal is to aim for a high GC result. I don’t think we can put a number on that, and we also have to be realistic with where I’m coming back from after my artery operation. So far this year I’ve made steady progress, but I will take it day-by-day and aim to be at my best for the hardest stages. I want to be up there fighting with everything I have and not have any regrets. We take a really strong team to the Giro, so I am confident we can start with different goals and I’m also looking forward to seeing my teammates take opportunities too. We are on a roll at the moment, and it’s been great to see the momentum building in the last races like Britain and Suisse. I think we will be able to use our numbers and our biggest strength will be how we can race together and back each other up.”
Team SD Worx Goes to Giro Donne for Stage Wins
“Our riders can race without pressure”
Team SD Worx will be at the start of the Giro Donne with a young, promising team: Blanka Vas, Niamh Fisher-Black, Lonneke Uneken, Elena Cecchini and Lotte Kopecky. Anna Shackley will miss the Giro due to a Covid infection, she will be replaced by Christine Majerus. Whereas the team has played a dominant role in the Giro in previous years, the aim now is mainly to win a stage and gain experience. “Everyone will get his chance to win a stage in this Giro. We can race with an open mind,” says sport director Lars Boom.
Last year, Team SD Worx performed a dazzling feat in the Giro Donne. With Anna van der Breggen, Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio and Demi Vollering, Team SD Worx took the entire podium, allowing Van der Breggen to win the Giro for the fourth time. Boom: “Our team has ridden the Giro very dominantly in recent years and has achieved many successes. However, this year it will not be a given to go for the final win. We are here with a number of young girls for whom it is the first big tour. For them it will be a journey of discovery without pressure. It can be very liberating to be able to race without pressure.”
The selection
Lotte Kopecky
Boom: “Lotte is our leader in this Giro. With her, we want to go for a stage win. There are several opportunities. It starts already in the prologue and also the first two stages in line may end in a sprint. In addition, she rides the Giro with a view to the Tour. Therefore she can go in relaxed. She does not have to ride a classification. I think she also just wants to ride the double to experience what it is like to ride two long races in a row. If you have the Giro in your legs and you come out well rested, you might be able to do something extra towards the Tour de France.”
Niamh Fisher-Black
Boom: “Niamh is one of the girls who can start the race with an open mind. She can discover what her possibilities are uphill. If she has a bad day, that’s okay. This fits her development as a rider. If the Giro becomes even tougher in the coming years, then this will be her course even more.”
Lonneke Uneken
Boom: “The Giro also offers us the chance to perfect our sprint train. The more you do something like that, the better you get at it. We have the right people with us in Italy. Lotte is very fast, but Lonneke Uneken can also do well in sprints. We have to develop that further. With Lotte Kopecky, Lonneke Uneken, Blanka Vas, Christine Majerus and Elena Cecchini we have four ideal riders to set up a sprint train.”
Christine Majerus
Boom: “Christine is a beacon of experience. She has already ridden several grand tours. She can share that experience with the younger girls. In addition, the presence of Christine is a strengthening for our sprint train.”
Blanka Vas
Boom: “For Blanka Vas this is the first big tour. For every young rider it is good to have the first longer race in the legs and to see how the body reacts after 10 days of racing. Blanka is a super talented and versatile rider. She can try to win uphill, but she can also be important in the sprint.”
Elena Cecchini
Boom: “It is a home race and I can see Elena is really looking forward to this Giro Donne. She is a valuable rider who has the ambition to win a stage in her own country. She always gives her all for the team, while sometimes she should think about her own chances more often. In the Giro, she can choose a stage where she can try to go for the win. In addition, her role as road captain is to share her experience with the young girls.”
Maggie Coles-Lyster & Pier-André Côté Win Elite Road Titles at Canadian Road Championships
The Canadian Road Championships Road Races came to a conclusion on Sunday with the U23 and Elite races which were held on a 14.4 kilometre loop in the scenic Edmonton River Valley area.
The women’s 116.6-kilometre race kicked off with an attack from Olympic rowing bronze medallist Caileigh Filmer (The Cyclery Racing) who managed to create a gap of up to 1:30 minutes for over 70 kilometres. Filmer was eventually caught in the final two laps by the peloton, which was led by defending champion Alison Jackson (Liv Racing Xstra), and the pack remained together until the final climb. Sprinters moved to the front in the final 500 meters, with 2019 Pan American Games medallist Maggie Coles-Lyster (DNA Pro Cycling) taking the win in front of Jackson and former Junior World Championships medallist Simone Boilard (Saint Michel-Auber93). Boilard also claimed gold in the U23 race, followed by Laury Milette (Emotional.FR Tornatech GSC Blagnac) in second, and national Time Trial champion Ngaire Barraclough in third.
Maggie Coles-Lyster sprints to first place in the Elite women’s race. Photo: Curtis Comeau Photography
“Being a one rider team here, my job was kind of just to sit and play it smart, follow the right moves and because I have a lot of faith in my sprint, not really initiate anything until the very end and that’s how it played out,” said Coles-Lyster. “It’s a huge win; it’s my first road national title as an Elite so it’s extremely exciting to be able to wear the maple leaf for the next year and to be able to say you’re a national champion. It was such a good course for me and I knew I had it in me.”
If the women’s race was bright and sunny, the men once again had to face harsh winds, rain and hail during the latter part of the 160.6 kilometre race. Several riders attempted to break away from the main pack during the first few laps but were always brought back until Benjamin Perry (WIV SunGod), Guillaume Boivin (Israel Premier-Tech), Pier-André Côté (Human Powered Health), Carson Miles (Premier Tech U23 Cycling Project) and Ethan Sittlington (Toronto Hustle) created a gap midway through the race. Sittlington was eventually dropped, but the four other riders managed to maintain a one-minute lead and finish as a group until the final sprint. The gold played out between sprint experts Côté and Boivin, with Côté edging out the defending champion to take home his first-ever road title, while Perry was third. Miles finished just behind the group to claim the U23 title, followed by Nicolas Rivard (U23 Premier Tech Cycling Project) and Riley Pickrell (Israel Cycling Academy).
“I was glad it started raining because I was overheating a little bit and I know I’m pretty good in the rain and harsh conditions,” said Côté. “It’s so special to be national champion. I’ve been dreaming of this since I started racing bikes and in recent years it became something that could actually happen, and I’ve been working really hard for this so it means a lot. It’s going to be one hell of a special year wearing the jersey in Europe.”
The Championships conclude with the Criterium, which returns to the race program for the first time since 2019. The Junior women and men will be racing in the afternoon for 30 minutes and 45 minutes respectively through Edmonton’s Old Strathcona district, while Elite races will be held in the evening for a total of one hour each. Full results and schedules can be found here.
Results:
U23 Women: 1- Simone Boilard 2- Laury Milette 3- Ngaire Barraclough
U23 Men: 1- Carson Miles 2- Nicolas Rivard 3- Riley Pickrell
Elite Women: 1- Maggie Coles-Lyster 2- Alison Jackson 3- Simone Boilard
Elite Men: 1- Pier-André Côté 2- Guillaume Boivin 3- Benjamin Perry
Pier-André Côté claimed his first national road title. Photo: Curtis Comeau Photography:
Van Vleuten to Stay with Movistar Team in 2023, Her Last Season
Olympic champion + World No. 1 to bid farewell to professional cycling with Telefónica-backed squad; aiming at biggest success with Blues over next year and a half after brilliant 18 months together.
The Movistar Team is thrilled to announce Wednesday that Annemiek van Vleuten (Wageningen, NED; 1982), the great leader of its women’s squad since the start of the 2021 season, has re-signed with the Telefónica-backed project managed by Sebastián Unzué for an additional year, 2023, after which she will put an end to 16 years in the pro peloton.
Van Vleuten’s extraordinary career -almost 90 pro wins- has gone through some of its biggest highlights while racing for the Movistar Team. 2021 was Miek’s best season to date, with 12 victories that include her gold medal in the Tokyo Olympics’ time trial, her second Ronde van Vlaanderen and the national tours of Spain and Norway, a palmarès she’s further increased in 2022 with a new Monument classic, her second Liège-Bastogne-Liège, as well as wins in the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad or the Setmana Valenciana.
However, above those results and the big ambitions Van Vleuten holds for the next year and a half with the Abarca Sports organisation, remains the huge step forward her arrival meant for the whole group. The implication, commitment and work ethic Van Vleuten has instilled in everyone part of the Blue outfit is a mark we’ll carry well after her retirement – one that we’ll proudly enjoy with her next season. Thanks for the confidence, Miek!
Annemiek van Vleuten: “My career, my driving force as a professional athlete, has always been about improving, not winning. Refining every physical ability or mental aspect on the bike, both as an individual and together with the team I’m part of, is what really gives me energy.”
“I’d like to contribute a bit more to the team’s improvement, just like I’ve done with the Movistar Team for the past two years, in 2023. To be part of it is why I wanted to re-sign for another season. We’re on the way up, we’re developing, and it’d be sad to stop halfway through that development process. Two years feels like too short, while three is a nicer period. I’m fully confident the organisation will continue to improve in 2024 and the years after that.”
“Individual-wise, I didn’t feel like stopping right now – I’m still super motivated, while also aware that there will be a moment when I’ll have to stop. And it suits me better to stop when I’m still at my highest level, playing the game at the front in the biggest events. I just want to finish on a high, and doing it with this wonderful group of people feels like the right thing to do.”
“Some people will surely wonder why I’m retiring before the Paris Olympics. For me, this, my career, has always been about finding motivating, long-term projects, like the Movistar Team and every organisation I’ve been part of, that I can invest my energy in. It’s not strictly about specific goals or races. It doesn’t look like the Alpe d’Huez is going to feature on the 2024 course, either (laughs), but as you can understand, that’s not the most important reason.”
“The main reason, as I explained, to retire in 2023 is to do so while on top of my game, to round out that improvement process we and the team took up in 2021, and look for new challenges in life. I’m sure I’ll stop with a little tear in my eye, because I love this sport so much, but I’d like to leave cycling, the ‘professional athlete’ part of it, at the top.”
Contract Extension for Markus at Team Jumbo-Visma
Riejanne Markus will also ride for Team Jumbo-Visma Women in 2023 and 2024. The 27-year-old Markus has been part of the team since its inception in 2020. “I feel very much at home here”, she explained her contract extension.
Last week, Markus became Dutch champion and won the silver medal in the Dutch Championship Time Trial. The rider from the Dutch province of Noord-Holland is now preparing for the Tour de France Femmes, starting in Paris on 24 July.
Markus says she is happy with the confidence she is getting and is looking forward to the future. “I feel very much at home in this team. The approach and family atmosphere suit me well. We are coached both on a sports and a mental level. Because of this, I have grown as a rider and person in the past year and a half. Moreover, I get the space I need to develop myself in the discipline I like best: the time trial. I hope to qualify for the time trial at the Olympic Games in Paris in 2024. In addition, I would like to become an even better classification rider. I am confident that this is the right environment for that. I like to ride for a leader like Marianne Vos, but it is also nice to be able to ride for yourself every now and then. Within Team Jumbo-Visma, I get those possibilities.”
For team manager Esra Tromp the contract extension is an obvious choice. “Riejanne has shown good development in recent years. She has worked on her TT qualities and we can always count on her”, Tromp said. “Riejanne can ride on almost all types of courses. We expect that she can be important in the finals of major races in the coming years, so we will continue to work on that. In addition, Riejanne has a lovely personality. She is very cooperative, social, communicative and very ambitious. Exactly what we find important at Team Jumbo-Visma.”
Two more years for Riejanne Markus:
Movistar Team Extends Enric Mas’ Contract Through 2025
Spaniard, a two-time La Vuelta GC podium finisher and one of the most consistent stage race competitors in the WorldTour, to continue wearing Telefónica-backed squad’s jersey in the future
The Movistar Team’s biggest reference for the Grand Tours over the last few years will continue wearing the Blue jersey beyond 2022. The organisation managed by Eusebio Unzué will continue to trust in the talents of Enric Mas (Artà, Mallorca, ESP; 1995), who has re-signed for an additional three years -until the end of the 2025 season- with the Telefónica-backed squad, to lead the hopes of the longest-standing team in the WorldTour peloton.
An ever-improving, committed, consistent rider, Mas got back to the La Vuelta overall podium in 2021 as second-place finisher and finished in the top ten (6th) in the Tour de France. Despite bad luck with crashes, his 2022 has also been quite regular all around, with notable performances in Valencia, Tirreno-Adriatico, the Itzulia Basque Country or Liège-Bastogne-Liège. The Grand Tours of France and Spain will again be his biggest aspirations for this summer.
Enric Mas: “It’s been a really easy decision to take, because I had clear in mind for many months that remaining a Movistar Team member was the priority for me. Undoubtedly, the main reason to stay is the great group we have here, both the staff -of excellent technical and personal standards- and the riders, who leave everything on the road for you. It’s been a difficult few months to being 2022 with, with several incidents in Tirreno, País Vasco or Dauphiné which prevented me from offering my best level on the road, but that’s cycling and life for you – you’ve got to face things as they come and improve from every setback. I’m heading into this year’s Tour with huge excitement and ambitions. My goal for the upcoming three years is fighting for those overall podiums in the Tour / Giro / La Vuelta – and hopefully contesting victory at any of the Grand Tours, too.”
Van Hooydonck and Benoot Extend with Team Jumbo-Visma
Nathan Van Hooydonck and Tiesj Benoot will also ride for Team Jumbo-Visma in the coming years. Van Hooydonck (26) extended his expiring contract by two years and Benoot (28) added two more seasons to his one-year ongoing contract with the Dutch formation. Both Flemish riders will start the Tour de France on Friday.
“We had already verbally agreed to extend at the beginning of the year. I was thrilled with that. It gave me a lot of confidence to go into spring”, Van Hooydonck said. “I get to ride for the best team in the world for two more years. I believe in what we do and in the leaders we have. There is a lot of science behind our approach. I feel I am treated the same way as the leaders, with the same facilities and preparation for the most important parts of the season. That is not the case with every team. Here, I can become the best version of myself. I said that when I started riding for Team Jumbo-Visma and still feel that way. So I’m happy I could sign for two more years.”
Benoot‘s contract was renegotiated after just six months and now runs until the end of 2025. “If the first months hadn’t been so good, I wouldn’t have renewed now”, said the Belgian, who achieved podium finishes in Dwars door Vlaanderen and the Amstel Gold Race in spring. “I am also honoured that discussing an extension was already proposed. The transfer to this team was late, mid-December, but went very smoothly. From the first moment, everything went very well; therefore, I am thrilled to commit to the team for a longer period. This is the best team I could wish for.”
Merijn Zeeman, sporting director of Team Jumbo-Visma, foresees a prominent role for both Belgians in the coming years. “Nathan is a highly appreciated and strong team player. He is part of our team’s core”, Zeeman said. “Tiesj has proven to be an important asset to our team who assists our leaders until deep in the final. Moreover, he has shown that he can achieve good results himself. We are delighted and proud that these riders will remain part of our Team Jumbo-Visma in the coming years.”
Van Hooydonck and Benoot to stay with Jumbo:
Italian Champion Filippo Zana to BikeExchange-Jayco
The future of Filippo Zana of Bardiani-CSF-Faizanè seems to lie in the WorldTour. According to sports journalist Ciro Scognamiglio of La Gazzetta dello Sport, the new Italian road champion is on his way to Team BikeExchange-Jayco.
Zana is in his third professional year and has only turned 23 years-old this season. The Italian broke through in 2021 with overall victories in the Peace Race and the Sazka Tour. He was also fifth in the Adriatica Ionica Race, second in the Istrian Spring Trophy and third in the Tour de l’Avenir. This year he won the Adriatica Ionica Race and was crowned Italian champion in the road race.
According to Scognamiglio, Zana will take the step to the WorldTour next winter. According to sources from La Gazzetta dello Sport, a deal with Team BikeExchange-Jayco is almost done. It is reportedly a two-year contract with an option for a third.
Italian champ Zana:
LOOK Signs Tadej Pogačar for Long-Term Ambassador Partnership
LOOK Cycle announces new multi-year ambassador partnership with two-time Tour de France winner, Tadej Pogaçar.
Ahead of this year’s Grande Boucle, LOOK Cycle has announced a new long-term partnership that will confirm the iconic WorldTour rider, Tadej Pogaçar (UAE Team Emirates) as an official ambassador of the heritage brand’s flagship LOOK KEO BLADE CARBON CERAMIC Ti pedals, in a new multi-year deal.
Throughout his cycling journey to world number 1, Pogaçar has used LOOK pedals, making this official partnership a natural collaboration between rider and brand. The partnership will also see the Slovenia-based Team Pogi, the youth development team founded by Pogaçar, using the same lightweight performance pedals. With a contact surface of 700mm2, ceramic bearings for improved durability, and an impressively low weight of 95g, the KEO BLADE CARBON CERAMIC Ti is trusted by professional cyclists and mechanics worldwide.
The formalised relationship with Pogaçar is the latest in the French performance brand’s history of supplying the pro-peloton with its world-leading technology. LOOK has supported iconic athletes to 213 Tour de France stage victories. Alongside Bernard Hinault, Alberto Contador and Tadej Pogaçar, more than 2,500 riders have used LOOK pedals, together racing more than 7,680,000km on the roads of the Tour since 1985.
Tadej Pogacar, UAE Team Emirates, said: “For me the LOOK pedals are the performance choice, the KEO BLADE are fantastic, with a large support surface and minimum weight. This is perfect for optimal power transfer. In addition to being a technical partner of the UAE team Emirates, LOOK is a partner of the Pogi team, which is very important for the development of future talents in Slovenia. I am proud to ride with LOOK, who invented the automatic pedal, and with which I have been riding since I started cycling for competitions. I intend to have LOOK by my side for many years to come.”
Federico Musi, CEO, LOOK Cycle, said: “Tadej represents the values of our brand, performance, panache, courage… After more than 35 years of history and Millions of pedals produced in our factory in France, partnering with him is a wonderful chapter for LOOK. We are excited to support Tadej, UAE Team Emirates and the Pogi Team, to nurture future young talent and bring the passion of cycling to a larger audience in Slovénia and Europe. Our “Made in France” technical experience in pedals manufacturing will be an asset, in July, to help Tadej chase podiums on the French mountainous roads.”
LOOK-supported teams riding the Tour de France in 2022:
- UAE Team Emirates
- Team Cofidis
- Astana Qazaqstan Team
- AG2R Citroën Team
- Intermarché Wanty Gobert Team
- Team Lotto Soudal
- Movistar Team
- B&B HOTELS – KTM.
Chris Anker Sørensen is Sorely Missed: In the Run-up to the Tour, a Robot Draws a Gigantic Portrait of the Cycling Hero
The day before the start of the Tour de France in Denmark, a unique portrait of folk hero Chris Anker Sørensen will be displayed on a 30 x 40-metre area of a football pitch in Holbæk Sportsby. That’s when robotics company Turf Tank meticulously distributes 160 litres of paint with state-of-the-art painting robots to visualise the cycling hero to the world. The aim is to honour Chris Anker Sørensen’s memory and support a fundraising campaign for the rider’s family and other families in mourning.
It’s about saying it out loud if there’s something you wish to achieve. And that’s precisely what some fans of the late cycling commentator and rider Chris Anker Sørensen did. They dreamt of having the portrait of their idol displayed to the whole world with helicopter pictures during the Tour de France, and they wrote this on the Instagram account behind the fundraiser For Chris. This quickly took off once the robotics company Turf Tank in Aalborg came on board. “We work with the sports industry on a daily basis, and we want to help celebrate a Danish sports star. We see it as an excellent opportunity to use our technology to do something unique by realising a huge eye-catcher. That’s why we chose to help the volunteers behind the fundraiser For Chris fundraiser create additional awareness around their cause. We have chosen to donate all resources to make this great project a reality,” says CEO of Turf Tank, Mikkel Jacobsen.
Come and see the robot paint Chris Anker
It is in Holbæk Sportsby on 30 June 2022 from 10:00 AM that the robots paint on a football pitch, and anyone curious is welcome to come and see it happen. If the graphic image had to be measured and painted manually, the task would take more than five times as long to complete; even if it took 25 hours of advanced robot programming to teach a robot to draw Chris Anker Sørensen. The dress rehearsal of this gigantic automated painting project can also be seen on drone footage in a TV documentary about Chris Anker Sørensen, which TV 2 will broadcast on 27 June.
Now, the founders of the fundraiser For Chris hope that French television will also film the portrait from the Tour’s helicopter camera so that it is included in the Tour broadcast and gets mentioned in all 190 countries that broadcast Tour de France. This means that cycling fans around the world can also commemorate Chris Anker Sørensen, who was killed in a road accident.
“They should know how proud we were in Denmark of Chris and what national grief it caused when he died,” says Dennis Ritter, co-founder of For Chris and sports commentator on TV 2.
Overwhelming support
When major cycling events take place, it continues to cause sadness and grief that TV 2’s now deceased cycling commentator Chris Anker Sørensen cannot participate in the Danish coverage of the historic race, which in the summer of 2022 will be run for the first time with three stages in Denmark. The sudden and untimely death of Chris Anker Sørensen affected many people deeply. He died aged just 37 in September 2021 after being hit by a van. The accident happened while he was in Belgium to cover the World Cycling Championships. The initiators of the fundraiser For Chris were also touched: “I’m a family man myself and know the risks of cycling on the road, and although I didn’t know Chris Anker Sørensen personally, I wanted to do something for his widow and children, Michelle, Lærke and Laura. Together with Dennis Ritter and Kim Sivert Jensen, I founded the association For Chris to extend the conversation about Chris Anker Sørensen, about grief and about road safety, and we are overwhelmed by the support,” says Kasper Birkholm Munk.
In just three months, the association For Chris has already raised DKK 1.1 million and given all 3,200 donors a sweatshirt emblazoned with the cyclist’s portrait, designed by the campaign’s two initiators. The first half million of the donations will be handed over to Chris Anker Sørensen’s wife and daughters while the remaining funds will be donated to the Children, Youth & Grief project of the Danish National Center for Grief.
Donation of three other motifs in giant format
As an extra motivation to support the collection For Chris, Turf Tank additionally offers to paint three giant motifs of up to 30 x 30 here in Denmark. The three robot drawings will go to the three winning companies/organisations in an auction. Proceeds from the auction will go to “For Chris” in full.
The Danish-developed robot Turf Tank One, which was the very first in the world to automate the line marking of sports fields for all sports, can paint anything it is programmed to. The only limit is your imagination.
First time in history
The director of Holbæk Sportsby, which houses facilities for 35 sports clubs close to the Tour de France route, feels honoured to provide a grass pitch for the portrait of Chris Anker Sørensen. “I can clearly remember getting goosebumps all over my body when Dennis Ritter called and presented the idea. I am so proud that we are helping to roll out this tribute to a fantastic cyclist, commentator and human being who has really made his mark on the world of sport. I have not seen anything similar ever done before. It is very unique that the type of robot that daily chalks up our football pitches can also paint a portrait of Chris Anker Sørensen,” says Carsten Damgaard, Holbæk Sportsby.
Fundraiser: https://www.chrisanker.dk/
RTVE and La Vuelta Move to the Beat of C’mon C’mon by Lorena Medina, The Inner Kids & Sophie Francis
The Zarzuela Hippodrome, the departure location for the final stage of La Vuelta 20, was the place chosen to present the official video of La Vuelta 22 in the presence of the Mexican artist Lorena Medina, DJs The Inner Kids & Sophie Francis, Xavi Díaz, from RTVE, and Javier Guillén, General Director of the race. The competition will dance to the rhythm of C’mon C’mon, the official song that will accompany the peloton throughout the 77th edition of the Spanish tour.
The official song of La Vuelta is a unique sports and musical tradition with a history spanning over 40 years. However, C’mon C’mon marks a turning point in one of the race’s most representative features: it is the first time that several artists work together on a song for the event. With its upbeat rhythm and very danceable sound, the song’s melody and lyrics reflect the joy and enthusiasm that we will experience on the 19th of August at the official departure in the Netherlands and, later, throughout the entire country.
Lorena Medina is the second Mexican artist to sing the official song of La Vuelta, after Patricia Manterola did so in 2002 with Que el ritmo no pare. It will also be the second time that Dutch artists set the rhythm for the race, this time at the hands of The Inner Kids and Sophie Francis. The two latter artists, along with Dannic, who will compose the official remix, represent the three host cities of La Vuelta 22’s three first stages (Utrecht, Breda and ‘s-Hertogenbosch).
The launch of La Vuelta’s official video marks the start of an intense summer of cycling on Televisión Española. As usual, the video will air 300 times on the various different RTVE channels over the next three months, starting this weekend – coinciding with the start of the Tour de France. The official song of La Vuelta will also accompany the daily broadcast of all 21 stages of the Spanish tour on the public TV station.
For Javier Guillén, Director of La Vuelta, this video is ‘a tradition that marks the history of our race’ and that complements the event’s official song. ‘This year, the video and the song come together perfectly to reflect the joy and the international character of the official departure from the Netherlands, as well as the strong, Latin character of Spain and La Vuelta,’ he explained.
- The official video of La Vuelta 22 was presented this afternoon at the Zarzuela Hippodrome.
- The video combines retro and futuristic touches, and will be aired 300 times on the various RTVE channels.
- The song C’mon C’mon, by Lorena Medina, The Inner Kids & Sophie Francis, will accompany the peloton during three weeks of racing.
- More information about La Vuelta: www.lavuelta.com
Check out the official TV spot of la Vuelta 22
C’Mon C’Mon – Lorena Medina, The Inner Kids &anp; Sophie Francis:
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