Archiv für den Monat: August 2022

BEMER Cyclassics Hamburg – 222 Km

1 HALLER Marco AUT BORA – HANSGROHE 04:37:23
2 VAN AERT Wout BEL JUMBO-VISMA 00:00
3 HERMANS Quinten BEL INTERMARCHÉ – WANTY – GOBERT MATÉRIAUX 00:00
4 NARVAEZ Jhonnatan ECU INEOS GRENADIERS 00:00
5 KONRAD Patrick AUT BORA – HANSGROHE 00:04
6 PHILIPSEN Jasper BEL ALPECIN-DECEUNINCK 00:09
7 BAUHAUS Phil GER BAHRAIN – VICTORIOUS 00:09
8 HOFSTETTER Hugo FRA TEAM ARKÉA SAMSIC 00:09
9 KANTER Max GER MOVISTAR TEAM 00:09
10 KRISTOFF Alexander NOR INTERMARCHÉ – WANTY – GOBERT MATÉRIAUX 00:09
11 BOASSON-HAGEN Edvald NOR TOTALENERGIES 00:09
12 TRENTIN Matteo ITA UAE TEAM EMIRATES 00:09
13 MEZGEC Luka SLO TEAM BIKEEXCHANGE – JAYCO 00:09
14 GARCÍA CORTINA Iván ESP MOVISTAR TEAM 00:10
15 ZINGLE Axel FRA COFIDIS 00:10
16 SCARONI Cristian ITA ASTANA QAZAQSTAN TEAM 00:10
17 BETTIOL Alberto ITA EF EDUCATION-EASYPOST 00:10
18 WELTEN Bram NED GROUPAMA – FDJ 00:10
19 LOUVEL Matis FRA TEAM ARKÉA SAMSIC 00:10
20 VAN DEN BERG Marijn NED EF EDUCATION-EASYPOST 00:10

Marco Haller holt sensationellen Sieg bei den Cyclassics in Hamburg


Photo by Plomi

Für BORA – hansgrohe stand heute mit den Cyclassics in Hamburg ein weiteres Rennen auf heimischem Boden auf dem Programm. 204,7 Kilometer mit Start und Ziel im Herzen der Hansestadt Hamburg. Ein flaches und schnelles Rennen mit dem Waseberg als topographisches Haupthindernis. Die finalen 30km auf den engen Straßen der Hamburger Vororte waren geprägt von einem hektischen Rennen und einem Sturz im Feld, der zusätzlich für Chaos sorgte. Nach perfekter Vorarbeit von Ide Schelling in einer frühen Ausreißergruppe und Patrick Konrad in der entscheidenden Gruppe setzte sich Marco Haller im Sprint gegen W. Van Aert durch und bescherte sich und BORA – hansgrohe den ersten Sieg bei den Cyclassics in Hamburg.

Reaktionen im Ziel

„Es ist ein Traum der für mich hier heute in Erfüllung gegangen ist! Am Waseberg habe ich zu Patrick gesagt, wir müssen jetzt einfach fahren – Vierter oder Fünfter ist am Ende auch gut und wesentlich besser, als mit der großen Gruppe hinter uns zur Linie zu kommen. Ich hatte richtig gute Beine, Patrick hat den Sprint perfekt vorbereitet und schlussendlich konnte ich mich in einem harten Sprint gegen Wout durchsetzen. “ Marco Haller

„Die anderen Fahrer haben unsere Jungs gefragt, wo sie denn mit den Attacken und diesem offensiven Rennen hin wollen – es war genau richtig wie sie gefahren sind! Unser Plan war das Rennen so schwer und hart wie nur möglich zu machen, das haben die Jungs perfekt umgesetzt. Man braucht aber auch erstmal Fahrer die bereit sind, so offensiv zu fahren. Ide hat man richtig ansehen können, wie viel Spaß er am attackieren hatte heute. Am Ende haben Marco und Patrick super zusammen gearbeitet und einen großartigen Job gemacht, um diesen Sieg einzufahren. Der Fakt, dass BORA – hansgrohe dieses Rennen noch nie gewonnen hat, ist jetzt nicht mehr wahr.“ Rolf Aldag, Sportlicher Leiter

European Championships – Road Race Women 128km

1 WIEBES Lorena NED NETHERLANDS 02:59:20
2 BALSAMO Elisa ITA ITALIE 00:00
3 BARBIERI Rachele ITA ITALIE 00:00
4 BRENNAUER Lisa GER DEUTSCHLAND 00:00
5 PIKULIK Daria POL POLAND 00:00
6 MARTINS Maria POR PORTUGAL 00:00
7 BJERG Emma Cecilie DEN DANMARK 00:00
8 FAHLIN Emilia SWE SCHWEDEN 00:00
9 VERHULST Gladys FRA FRANCE 00:00
10 SCHWEINBERGER Christina AUT ÖSTERREICH 00:00

La Vuelta 22 – Etappe 2

‚S-Hertogenbosch – Utrecht – 175 Km

1 BENNETT Sam IRL BORA – HANSGROHE 03:49:34
2 PEDERSEN Mads DEN TREK – SEGAFREDO 00:00
3 MERLIER Tim BEL ALPECIN – DECEUNINCK 00:00
4 TEUNISSEN Mike NED JUMBO – VISMA 00:00
5 ACKERMANN Pascal GER UAE TEAM EMIRATES 00:00
6 McLAY Daniel GBR TEAM ARKEA – SAMSIC 00:00
7 EINHORN Itamar ISR ISRAEL-PREMIER TECH 00:00
8 STEWART Jake GBR GROUPAMA – FDJ 00:00
9 DEGENKOLB John GER TEAM DSM 00:00
10 GROVES Kaden AUS TEAM BIKEEXCHANGE-JAYCO 00:00

Gesamt:

1 TEUNISSEN Mike NED JUMBO – VISMA 04:14:14
2 AFFINI Edoardo ITA JUMBO – VISMA 00:00
3 OOMEN Sam NED JUMBO – VISMA 00:00
4 ROGLIČ Primož SLO JUMBO – VISMA 00:00
5 KUSS Sepp USA JUMBO – VISMA 00:00
6 HAYTER Ethan GBR INEOS GRENADIERS 00:12
7 CARAPAZ Richard ECU INEOS GRENADIERS 00:13
8 SIVAKOV Pavel FRA INEOS GRENADIERS 00:13
9 RODRIGUEZ CANO Carlos ESP INEOS GRENADIERS 00:13

10 EVENEPOEL Remco BEL QUICK-STEP ALPHA VINYL TEAM 00:14


Photo by HERBERT MOOS

Sam Bennett triumphiert auf der ersten Sprintetappe der Vuelta und erobert das Grüne Trikot

Die heutige Strecke führte auf fast völlig flachem Terrain von ’s-Hertogenbosch zurück nach Utrecht. Auf dem 175,1 km langen Kurs ging es kurz über den Amerongse Berg, ehe die schnellen Männer das erste Mal bei der diesjährigen Spanien-Rundfahrt zuschlagen konnten. Nach einem perfekten Leadout platzierte das Team Sam Bennett in Position für den finalen Spurt. Als Pedersen den Sprint als Erster anzog, konnte der von Danny van Poppel lancierte Ire neben dem Dänen gleichziehen und in an einem Kopf-an-Kopf Rennen konnte Sam die Etappe für sich entscheiden.

Reaktionen im Ziel
“Danny brachte mich mit hohem Tempo nach vorne, dann war er für meinen Sprung bereit, aber ich wartete eine Sekunde und wusste nicht, ob ich zu langsam sein würde. Ehrlich gesagt war ich mir nicht ganz sicher, ob ich dann schnell genug fahren konnte, aber am Ende hat alles geklappt. Hier zu gewinnen ist wirklich schön. Ich wusste, dass ich hier wieder gewinnen kann, es war nur eine Frage der Zeit. Riesen Dank an meine Teamkollegen, die heute wirklich einen starken Job für mich gemacht haben, besonders Danny, der einen echt super Lead-Out gefahren ist. Ich bin sehr stolz, dass ich ihre harte Arbeit mit dem Sieg belohnen konnte.“ – Sam Bennett
„Es war ein perfekter Tag für uns. Ehrlich gesagt wussten wir nicht, wo Sam jetzt steht, aber wir haben immer wieder gesagt, dass wir in unseren Sprinter vertrauen und wir haben den besten Sprinter, den wir haben mitgebracht. Die Jungs haben heute wirklich sehr stark zusammengearbeitet und der Sieg von Sam war der perfekte Auftakt zum Rennen. Es war äußerst wichtig für Sam und für das ganze Team so einen guten Start in die Vuelta zu haben, und das gibt uns auch natürlich Auftrieb für die nächsten Tage. Also perfekte Teamarbeit wurde mit einem unglaublich starken Sprintsieg heute gekrönt.“ – Bernhard Eisel, Sportlicher Leiter

Bennett is back on top

Sam Bennett (Bora-Hansgrohe) was the strongest sprinter to win stage 2 of La Vuelta 22, in Utrecht. The Irish man claims his second victory this year and his first Grand Tour win since 2020, already in La Vuelta, the three-week event where he’s been the most successful with a total of four triumphs. Bennett outsprinted Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo) and Tim Merlier (Alpecin-Deceuninck). Mike Teunissen (Jumbo-Visma) finished 4th and took La Roja, the leader’s red jersey, from his teammate and Dutch compatriot Robert Gesink. On Sunday, he will enjoy it on home soil with a 3rd stage set around Breda.
The peloton set off from ’s-Hertogenbosch with 182 riders and many attackers willing to make the first break of La Vuelta 22. After 3km, Pau Miquel (Kern Pharma) makes sure he’ll have a special 22nd birthday as he joins four riders at the front: Julius van den Berg (EF Education-EasyPost), Jetse Bol (Burgos-BH), Xabier Mikel Azparren (Euskaltel-Euskadi) and Thibault Guernalec (Arkea-Samsic). The break is on!

Merlier’s teammates control the early break
Their lead is up to 5’05’’ when Alpecin-Deceuninck start driving the chase, 15km into the stage. Tim Merlier’s teammates control the gap around 2 minutes and accelerate again to bring the attackers‘ lead down to 10’’ as the race enters the last 100km.
The gap slightly increases again, furthermore since the early attackers launch a hard battle for the KOM points of the day, up the Amerongseberg (cat-4, km 105.1). Van den Berg sprints to the summit, ahead of Guernalec, and the Dutchman secures the polka-dot jersey for himself.

Mate goes for the counter-attack
After the climb, the gap is back up to 1 minute but Alpecin-Deceuninck accelerate again. The early attackers are eventually caught with 59km to go. Some 14km later, it’s time for Luis Angel Mate (Euskaltel-Euskadi) to set off at the front of the race.
The Spanish baroudeur, who committed to donate a tree to reforest the Sierra Bermeja for each km he would spend at the front of La Vuelta 22, enters the last 40km with a lead of 30’’. The gap is up to 35’’ with 30km to go.

Bennett and Teunissen take glory
The tension in the bunch increases towards the final rush to Utrecht, and so does the pace. Mate is eventually caught with 21km to go.
Nobody else gets away until the final sprint, dominated by Sam Bennett (Bora-Hansgrohe), ahead of Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo) and Tim Merlier. Mike Teunissen sprints to the 4th place and becomes the second Dutch leader of La Vuelta 22 in two days of racing on Dutch soil, after his teammate and compatriot Robert Gesink.

Tour of Denmark – 5. Etappe

Give – Vejle – 126,5Km

1 LAPORTE Christophe FRA JUMBO-VISMA 02:53:56
2 SHEFFIELD Magnus USA INEOS GRENADIERS 00:00
3 SKJELMOSE JENSEN Mattias DEN TREK-SEGAFREDO 00:00
4 NARVAEZ Jhonnatan ECU INEOS GRENADIERS 00:00
5 SCHMID Mauro SUI QUICK-STEP ALPHA VINYL TEAM 00:00
6 ANDERSEN Søren Kragh DEN TEAM DSM 00:00
7 VAN DIJKE Mick NED JUMBO-VISMA 00:04
8 CORT Magnus DEN EF EDUCATION-EASYPOST 00:04
9 CHARMIG Anthon DEN UNO-X PRO CYCLING TEAM 00:04
10 KAMP Alexander DEN TREK-SEGAFREDO 00:04

Endstand:

1 LAPORTE Christophe FRA JUMBO-VISMA 17:01:20
2 SHEFFIELD Magnus USA INEOS GRENADIERS 00:04
3 SKJELMOSE JENSEN Mattias DEN TREK-SEGAFREDO 00:09
4 ANDERSEN Søren Kragh DEN TEAM DSM 00:25
5 CORT Magnus DEN EF EDUCATION-EASYPOST 00:30
6 SCHMID Mauro SUI QUICK-STEP ALPHA VINYL TEAM 00:42
7 VAN DIJKE Mick NED JUMBO-VISMA 00:44
8 OLDANI Stefano ITA ALPECIN-DECEUNINCK 00:48
9 STUYVEN Jasper BEL TREK-SEGAFREDO 00:52
10 CHARMIG Anthon DEN UNO-X PRO CYCLING TEAM 00:56

La Vuelta 22 – Etappe 1

BORA – hansgrohe zeigt solide Performance mit Platz sieben im Teamzeitfahren zum Auftakt der Vuelta a España

Die letzte Grand Tour des Jahres begann mit einem 23,3 km langen flachen aber technisch anspruchsvollen Mannschaftszeitfahren im niederländischen Utrecht. Da es Zeitabstände geben konnte, setzte BORA – hansgrohe alles daran, die Formation gut beizubehalten und ein schnelles Rennen im gemeinschaftlichen Kampf gegen die Uhr abzuliefern. Die Equipe aus Raubling verließ als achtletztes Team das Starthaus. Bei der ersten Zwischenzeitmessung zeigte die Uhr 12:19 Minuten für das Team an und das Team konnte im zweiten Streckenteil gut zusammenbleiben und belegte im Ziel mit einer Zeit von 25:21 Minuten den siebten Platz, 41 Sekunden hinter dem Tagessieger Jumbo-Visma.


Photos by HERBERT MOOS

Reaktionen im Ziel
„Wir können mit dem heutigen Tag definitiv zufrieden sein. Die Jungs sind super gefahren, vor allem auch den ersten technischen Teil der Strecke. Sie haben wirklich alles gegeben. Vielleicht hat uns ein bisschen die Horsepower gefehlt im Vergleich zu den großen Mannschaften im Teamzeitfahren. Aber insgesamt müssen wir sagen, Jumbo-Visma, Ineos Grenadiers und Quickstep waren richtig stark, vor allem Jumbo. Dahinter ist es ziemlich ausgeglichen. Im Hinblick auf drei Wochen Vuelta España sind wir auf einem guten Weg. Wir haben noch ein paar Tausend Kilometer vor uns, und da kann noch einiges passieren. Die Jungs waren sehr zufrieden und für die Stimmung im Team ist es wichtig, dass sie zufrieden vom Rad steigen und dann motiviert morgen in die nächste Etappe gehen.“ – Bernhard Eisel, Sportlicher Leiter


Photos by HERBERT MOOS

1 Jumbo-Visma 24:40
ROGLIČ Primož
OOMEN Sam
AFFINI Edoardo
TEUNISSEN Mike
GESINK Robert
HARPER Chris
DENNIS Rohan
KUSS Sepp

2 INEOS Grenadiers 24:53 0:13
GEOGHEGAN HART Tao
TURNER Ben +0:26
RODRÍGUEZ Carlos
HAYTER Ethan
CARAPAZ Richard
VAN BAARLE Dylan
SIVAKOV Pavel
PLAPP Luke

3 Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team 24:54 0:14
EVENEPOEL Remco
SERRY Pieter +0:04
DEVENYNS Dries +1:22
ALAPHILIPPE Julian
VAN WILDER Ilan
CAVAGNA Rémi
MASNADA Fausto
VERVAEKE Louis +1:22

4 Team BikeExchange – Jayco 25:11 0:31
DURBRIDGE Luke
SCOTSON Callum +2:07
HEPBURN Michael +0:21
GROVES Kaden
CRADDOCK Lawson +0:35
YATES Simon
O’BRIEN Kelland
HAMILTON Lucas

5 UAE Team Emirates 25:13 0:33
ALMEIDA João
OLIVEIRA Ivo
MCNULTY Brandon
POLANC Jan
SOLER Marc
MOLANO Juan Sebastián +0:27
AYUSO Juan
ACKERMANN Pascal

6 Groupama – FDJ 25:18 0:38
LIENHARD Fabian +0:17
SCOTSON Miles +0:07
PINOT Thibaut
MOLARD Rudy
ARMIRAIL Bruno
STEWART Jake
REICHENBACH Sébastien
PACHER Quentin

7 BORA – hansgrohe 25:21 0:41
HINDLEY Jai
FABBRO Matteo +1:32
KOCH Jonas +2:31
BENNETT Sam +1:32
KELDERMAN Wilco
MULLEN Ryan
VAN POPPEL Danny
HIGUITA Sergio

Jumbo-Visma gift Gesink with La Roja

Robert Gesink is the first leader of La Vuelta 22 as Jumbo-Visma dominated the opening team time-trial, a 23.3km challenge covered in 24’40’’ in the streets of Utrecht. On home soil, the Dutch squad was 13’’ faster than Ineos Grenadiers and 14’’ faster than Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl to already put Primoz Roglic in prime position in his bid for a historic fourth consecutive victory in the Spanish Grand Tour. But first, Gesink takes La Roja in his 9th participation. He will enjoy it in the Netherlands as stage 2 runs from ’s-Hertogenbosch to Utrecht.
Burgos-BH were the first riders to set off at 18:30, with menacing clouds covering the sky of Utrecht, with a few wet spots on the road. And the Spanish squad naturally sets the first reference, in 26’38’’. Unfortunately, they could only start with 7 riders as Manuel Peñalver returned a late positive test to Covid-19.

BikeExchange set the early reference
Michael Woods and Chris Froome’s Israel Premier Tech are the third team to finish, with a strong time (25’44’’)… Not enough to hold off Groupama-FDJ, whose time of 25’18’’ is then beaten by Simon Yates’ BikeExchange-Jayco, flying over the 23.3km at 55.5km/h to set a time of 25’11’’.
The situation then settles until Bora-Hansgrohe set off with the winner of the Giro, Jai Hindley. At the intermediate point (km 11), they are 2’’ ahead of Team BikeExchange-Jayco. But they trail by 10’’ as they cross the line.

Jumbo-Visma fly on home soil
The intensity rises as we get closer to the last starts, with Ineos Grenadiers (Richard Carapaz), Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl (Remco Evenepoel, Julian Alaphilippe), Movistar (Alejandro Valverde, Enric Mas) and Jumbo-Visma, led by the defending champion Primoz Roglic and the TT expert Rohan Dennis.

Ineos Grenadiers are the first team to go under 25 minutes, with a time of 24’53’’. Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl only rail by 0.77’’ on the line… But Jumbo-Visma smash the best time in 24’40’’. Gesink is the first across the line to take La Roja in his ninth participation in La Vuelta.

Tour of Denmark – 3. und 4. Etappe

3. Etappe: Otterup – Herning – 239Km

1 KOOIJ Olav NED JUMBO-VISMA 05:18:45
2 LAPORTE Christophe FRA JUMBO-VISMA 00:00
3 CORT Magnus DEN EF EDUCATION-EASYPOST 00:00
4 NARVAEZ Jhonnatan ECU INEOS GRENADIERS 00:00
5 STUYVEN Jasper BEL TREK-SEGAFREDO 00:00
6 PHILIPSEN Jasper BEL ALPECIN-DECEUNINCK 00:00
7 DUPONT Timothy BEL BINGOAL PAUWELS SAUCES WB 00:00
8 DE KLEIJN Arvid NED HUMAN POWERED HEALTH 00:00
9 STOKBRO Andreas DEN TEAM COOP 00:00
10 ANIOLKOWSKI Stanislaw POL BINGOAL PAUWELS SAUCES WB 00:00
11 SHEFFIELD Magnus USA INEOS GRENADIERS 00:00

4. Etappe: Skive – 167Km

1 PHILIPSEN Jasper BEL ALPECIN-DECEUNINCK 03:35:54
2 WEEMAES Sasha BEL SPORT VLAANDEREN – BALOISE 00:00
3 VERNON Ethan GBR QUICK-STEP ALPHA VINYL TEAM 00:00
4 STUYVEN Jasper BEL TREK – SEGAFREDO 00:00
5 OVERGAARD PEDERSEN Nicklas DEN TEAM POSTNORD DANMARK 00:00
6 JONES Taj AUS ISRAEL – PREMIER TECH 00:00
7 BLIKRA Erlend NOR UNO-X PRO CYCLING TEAM 00:00
8 BRAET Vito BEL SPORT VLAANDEREN – BALOISE 00:00
9 ANIOLKOWSKI Stanislaw POL BINGOAL PAUWELS SAUCES WB 00:00
10 LAPORTE Christophe FRA JUMBO-VISMA 00:00

Gesamt:

1 SHEFFIELD Magnus USA INEOS GRENADIERS 14:07:34
2 LAPORTE Christophe FRA JUMBO-VISMA 00:00
3 SKJELMOSE JENSEN Mattias DEN TREK-SEGAFREDO 00:03
4 THOMAS Geraint GBR INEOS GRENADIERS 00:15
5 ANDERSEN Søren Kragh DEN TEAM DSM 00:15
6 CORT Magnus DEN EF EDUCATION-EASYPOST 00:16
7 PHILIPSEN Jasper BEL ALPECIN-DECEUNINCK 00:21
8 CERNÝ Josef CZE QUICK-STEP ALPHA VINYL TEAM 00:24
9 STUYVEN Jasper BEL TREK-SEGAFREDO 00:24
10 NORMAN HANSEN Lasse DEN UNO-X PRO CYCLING TEAM 00:25

LA VUELTA 22: INFO WITH ONE DAY TO GO

Key points:
 The 22 teams participating in the 77th edition of La Vuelta were introduced to the fans in Utrecht on Thursday evening, on the eve of the first stage around the Dutch city.
 Winner of the last three editions, Primož Roglič aims for a historic conquest while Movistar get ready for Alejandro Valverde’s last dance with a special jersey celebrating his successes in the last 20 years.


Photo by HERBERT MOOS

 The world champion Julian Alaphilippe and his Belgian partner Remco Evenepoel are also eager to shine in the Spanish Grand Tour.

Utrecht salutes the riders of La Vuelta 22
The 22 teams, with their 183 riders, saluted the crowds in Utrecht on the eve of the Gran Salida of La Vuelta 22 in the Dutch city. In a lively ceremony, the future heroes of the race were introduced to the fans on a stage set in Vredenburg-Platz before leaving in boats on the city’s canals. On Friday morning, at 11AM, in the headquarters of La Vuelta 22 in Utrecht, Sharon Dijksma (Mayor of Utrecht), David Escudé (Barcelona City Councillor for Sports) and Javier Guillén (Managing Director of La Vuelta) will celebrate the handover from Utrecht to Barcelona, set to welcome the start of La Vuelta 23. The race will then kick off in the evening, with Burgos-BH setting off at 18:30.

Roglic aims for a historic fourth
For the third year in a row, Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma) starts La Vuelta with bib number 1 on his back, as the defending champion aiming for more conquests in the Spanish Grand Tour. A fourth consecutive success would be a first in the history of the event. “It definitely is something different, something special. We will go for that”, the Slovenian star said on Thursday. He sounded upbeat regarding his condition a month after abandoning the Tour de France with fractured vertebrae: “It’s definitely a lot better than it was. I recovered, I can still feel some things but we will see. Now I’m here, and when I come, I’m ready. We’ll see in the coming days and weeks what it means.” According to team captain Robert Gesink, it can only mean Roglic is up for battle: “A rider of his level, with all the things he’s been doing the last years, he would only come to a race like this if he thinks there’s something he can do.”

Valverde’s last dance, 20 years later
No less than twenty years after his debut in La Vuelta, in 2002, Alejandro Valverde bids farewell to a race that has seen him rise as one of the most outstanding riders in the history of the event, with the overall victory in 2009, 7 podium finishes and 12 stage wins. “La Vuelta is the Grand Tour I love the most, by far”, the Spanish veteran highlighted. “I have enjoyed it a lot: seven podiums, many victories, the affection of the public… I hope to enjoy it and do well. If I can achieve a stage victory it would be very nice for me, and doing a good job of supporting the team would be very rewarding.” For this occasion, Movistar riders will wear a white jersey with imprints highlighting Valverde’s biggest conquests. “Yesterday, we were joking that they should let him win the stage in Madrid”, his teammate Enric Mas explained before discussing his own conditions, a few weeks after abandoning the Tour de France with Covid: “We are here very shortly after the Tour, and despite having made a small ‘reset’ I still have enough left to be the same Enric as before. We will see first how we get out of the team time trial and then we will go day by day. It is my home race, where I have always felt very comfortable and a place where I can start again.”

Evenepoel and Alaphilippe’s shared ambitions
Among the most awaited stars in this edition of La Vuelta, Remco Evenepoel and Julian Alaphilippe expressed their confidence in their ability to chase different successes together. “It’s not complicated to have two different goals in the team”, Alaphilippe assured. “I’m here to try to win a stage. Remco is our leader for the GC, that’s clear, and he will have full support from the team.” Returning to La Vuelta five years after he took a stage, the Frenchman comes with “a lot of grit and will to shine until the end of the season, and it starts with La Vuelta”. As for Evenepoel, he wants to “focus on the goal for the three weeks but the more stage wins we take, the better. The first stage is already very important for us with the team time-trial. It’s difficult to talk about the final standings because you never know what can happen over three weeks. We have ambitions, myself and the team, and we all prepared very well to combine stages and GC.”

How to follow La Vuelta 22
From Utrecht to Madrid, the 21 stages will benefit from extensive coverage on all platforms, through the media reporting on the event and the official channels of La Vuelta 22. The live TV broadcast will be available in 190 countries and amount to more than 70 hours of coverage, including all the action in the Netherlands as well as four more stages broadcasted from km 0 later in the race (stages 8, 9, 15 and 20). Highlights and live info will also be available on the official website (lavuelta.es/en), the official app (https://www.lavuelta.es/en/mobiles-apps) and on social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tik Tok, with #LaVuelta22). The fans will also be able to get further involved with the La Vuelta Fantasy Game by Tissot, organised by Biwenger and Diario AS.

More information about La Vuelta on lavuelta.es

La Vuelta 22

• The list of pre-registered participants of La Vuelta, subject to last minute changes, includes six previous winners of the race. That is a record!
• Alejandro Valverde, Vincenzo Nibali, Chris Froome, Nairo Quintana, Simon Yates and Primoz Roglic face the challenge, each with different ambitions.
• Other exceptional participants: World Champion, Julian Alaphilippe; Olympic Champion, Richard Carapaz; the winner of the Giro 2022, Jai Hindley; the young prodigy Remco Evenepoel and the aspiring Spanish riders Carlos Rodríguez and Juan Ayuso.

Over the last three years, Slovenian rider Primoz Roglic has made it to the top step of La Vuelta’s podium, but a provisional list of participants provided by each of the 23 participating teams shows that we have no less than five other previous champions to have experienced the same thrill: Alejandro Valverde (2009), Vincenzo Nibali (2010), Chris Froome (2011 and 2017), Nairo Quintana (2016) and Simon Yates (2018). This is an exceptional moment for La Vuelta as, since its creation in 1935, the maximum number of previous champions to take off from the starting line together was four. The last time this happened was in 2018, with Valverde, Nibali, Fabio Aru (winner in 2015) and Quintana.
Throughout the 22 editions held in the 21st century, the average number of previous winners to take their places for the first stage has been 2.31. Throughout its history, the Giro has had a maximum of five previous winners registering to compete at once, the most recent occasion of this was in 2009 (Stefano Garzelli, Gilberto Simoni, Ivan Basso, Damiano Cunego and Danilo Di Luca, all Italian). The last time the Tour de France had that many was back in 1992 (Laurent Fignon, Greg LeMond, Stephen Roche, Pedro Delgado and Miguel Indurain). However, the record among all the grand tours combined is held by the Grande Boucle, with seven winners taking their places at the 1994 starting line (Louis Trousselier, Lucien Petit-Breton, François Faber, Octave Lapize, Gustave Garrigou, Odiel Defraye and Philippe Thys).
‘It is enormously appreciated that these champions of La Vuelta wish to return,’ says the race’s General Director, Javier Guillén. ‘Their loyalty is a true sign of acknowledgement for our event. For Valverde and Nibali, it will be the last time as they plan to retire at the end of the season and I have no doubt that the Dutch and Spanish public will show them the appreciation they deserve for their achievements. More generally, the return of previous champions to our roads means that our public is already used to their names, their faces and their racing styles. But, this year, people will also become familiar with new stars.’
The conclusion of Valverde’s career marks an important turning point for Spanish cycling. With regards to his succession, it is important to point out that two of the professional peloton’s largest teams (Ineos Grenadiers and UAE Team Emirates), with many different line-up options, decided to recruit, respectively: Spanish champion, Carlos Rodríguez, 21 years old, and Juan Ayuso, 19 years old, to participate in a Grand Tour for the first time. On an international level, the young prodigy Remco Evenepoel will also compete in La Vuelta just a few days after his magnificent solitary triumph in the Clásica San Sebastián.
Among other great names present at the Official Departure from Utrecht on the 19th of August will be the World Champion, Julian Alaphilippe, and the Olympic Champion, Richard Carapaz. Much like the six competitors that have already won La Vuelta previously, each will participate with different objectives but with solid track records in the Spanish tour. During his only participation to date, the French rider won his first grand tour stage victory at Xorret de Catí (2017). He now returns in the hope of adding a third consecutive World Championship title to his tally. On his part, the Equatorian rider, that has already participated in La Vuelta on four occasions (2017, 2018, 2020, 2021), has a double need for revenge: with Roglic, who beat him two years ago, and with Jai Hindley, who took the pink jersey from him during the final mountain stage of the recent Giro. For the Australian rider, La Vuelta is his first opportunity to confirm his Italian victory in May.