Archiv der Kategorie: Tour de France

110. Tour de France Etappe 5 Daten

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TOUR DE FRANCE 2023 – STAGE 5
PAU – LARUNS

39: AUSTRALIA WINS

Jai Hindley records the 39th Australian win at the Tour. The former Australian winner had been Michael Matthews in Mende last year.
Australia has won at least a stage in the last 5 years, something that has been recorded only by Belgium and France.

20’57”: VINGEGAARD FASTER THAN THE POGACAR OF… 2020
Not only was Jonas Vingegaard the fastest on the ascent of Col de Marie Blanque, he also beat the Strava KOM set by Tadej Pogacar when the Slovenian took his maiden Tour de France victory in Laruns, in 2020.
The winner of the Tours 2020 and 2021 covered the ascent in 22’24’’… NTT Data recorded a time of 20’57’’ for the defending champion over the same segment, almost a minute and half faster than his Slovenian rival.

105,2 KPH!: MEINTJES SPEEDS DOWN
The highest speed recorded today by NTT Data belongs to Louis Meintjes: he recorded no less than 105,2 kph!

6: PAIRING THE COLOURS
Jai Hindley joins the list of Australian riders that wore the pink jersey at the Giro d’Italia and the yellow jersey at the Tour.
They are: Robbie McEwen, Bradley McGee, Cadel Evans, Simon Gerrans, Rohan Dennis and Jai Hindley.
Curiously:
– in the 2020 Giro Hindley wore the pink jersey only in the 19 minutes of the final TT stage, to be stripped by Tao Geoghegan Hart for the final win.
– in the 2022 Giro he conquered the pink jersey only at the penultimate stage, and wore it in the race only in the final TT…for 22 minutes!

38/40: SLIPPING BACK
Slovenian Tadej Pogacar was in the top-3 of the General Classification in 38 of the last 40 stages at the Tour, but not in Laruns, as he is standing 6th.
Something unusual in this town, that so far had seen only Slovenian wins (2018 Roglic, 2020 Pogacar).
Instead, Tadej Pogacar, in the town where he took his maiden Tour de France win, suffers a setback, and is not only out of the top-3, but out of the top-5 of the General Classification for the first time since the 4th stage of 2021 (Fougères: a streak of 42 stages in the top-5 followed until yesterday).


6’18”: AUSTRIAN CONNECTIONS

Winner of L’Étape du Tour 2022 and Gran Fondo world champion Stefan Kirchmair never made it to the professional ranks but he’s turned into a fierce KOM hunter. Until today, he had the best time on the Strava segment for the climb up Col de Soudet: 47’04’’.
His time held since 2015… But it didn’t resist the passing of the Tour de France, with his Austrian compatriot Felix Gall leading the charge on the climb. The NTT Data sensors recorded him covering the ascent with a time of 40’46’’, i.e. 6’18’’ faster than Kirchmair!

10: BORA MAKES IT A 10
10th Tour de France win for the Bora team: the first was Peter Sagan in Longwy, 2017.
Hindley is the 6th winner for Bora, after:
• Maciej Bodnar
• Lennard Kamna
• Patrick Konrad
• Nils Politt
• Peter Sagan (only multiple winner for the team, with 6 wins)

2015: AUSTRALIA IN YELLOW
Jai Hindley is the 8th Australian in yellow and the first in this decade: the previous one had been Rohan Dennis in Utrecht, 2015.

69: ITALY’S DROUGHT
2nd stage podium for Giulio Ciccone after another 2nd place, in La Planche des Belles Filles in 2019. Italy’s wins drought, 69 stages long, thus continues.
The last winner for Italy was Vincenzo Nibali, Val-Thorens, 20th stage of the 2019 edition.

64: DOWN TO THE SECOND?
A curious coincidence in the last two Pyrénées stages, Hautacam 2022, Laruns 2023. In both Jonas Vingegaard distanced Tadej Pogacar. But how much? The same gap: 64 seconds last year, 64 seconds this year.

110. Tour de France Etappe5

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Pau – Laruns 163 km

1. Jai Hindley (AUS, BORA – hansgrohe) 3:57:07
2. Giulio Ciccone (ITA, Lidl – Trek) 0:32
3. Felix Gall (AUT, AG2R Citroën Team) 0:32
4. Emanuel Buchmann (GER, BORA – hansgrohe) 0:32
5. Jonas Vingegaard (DEN, Jumbo-Visma) 0:34
6. Mattias Skjelmose (DEN, Lidl – Trek) 1:38
7. Daniel Felipe Martínez (COL, INEOS Grenadiers) 1:38
8. Tadej Pogacar (SLO, UAE Team Emirates) 1:38
9. David Gaudu (FRA, Groupama – FDJ) 1:38
10. Carlos Rodríguez (ESP, INEOS Grenadiers) 1:38
11. Jack Haig (AUS, Bahrain – Victorious) 1:38
12. Sepp Kuss (USA, Jumbo-Visma) 1:38
13. Simon Yates (GBR, Team Jayco AlUla) 1:38
14. Valentin Madouas (FRA, Groupama – FDJ) 1:38
15. Adam Yates (GBR, UAE Team Emirates) 1:38
16. Ben O’Connor (AUS, AG2R Citroën Team) 1:57
17. Thomas Pidcock (GBR, INEOS Grenadiers) 1:57
18. Romain Bardet (FRA, Team dsm – firmenich) 1:57
19. Michael Woods (CAN, Israel – Premier Tech) 1:57
20. Thibaut Pinot (FRA, Groupama – FDJ) 1:57

Gesamt:

1. Jai Hindley (AUS, BORA – hansgrohe) 22:15:12
2. Jonas Vingegaard (DEN, Jumbo-Visma) 0:47
3. Giulio Ciccone (ITA, Lidl – Trek) 1:03
4. Emanuel Buchmann (GER, BORA – hansgrohe) 1:11
5. Adam Yates (GBR, UAE Team Emirates) 1:34
6. Tadej Pogacar (SLO, UAE Team Emirates) 1:40
7. Simon Yates (GBR, Team Jayco AlUla) 1:40
8. Mattias Skjelmose (DEN, Lidl – Trek) 1:56
9. Carlos Rodríguez (ESP, INEOS Grenadiers) 1:56
10. David Gaudu (FRA, Groupama – FDJ) 1:56
11. Michael Woods (CAN, Israel – Premier Tech) 2:15
12. Romain Bardet (FRA, Team dsm – firmenich) 2:36
13. Thomas Pidcock (GBR, INEOS Grenadiers) 2:36
14. Mikel Landa (ESP, Bahrain – Victorious) 3:13
15. Wilco Kelderman (NED, Jumbo-Visma) 3:13
16. Sepp Kuss (USA, Jumbo-Visma) 3:15
17. Ben O’Connor (AUS, AG2R Citroën Team) 3:34
18. Pello Bilbao (ESP, Bahrain – Victorious) 3:34
19. Steff Cras (BEL, TotalEnergies) 3:34
20. Egan Bernal (COL, INEOS Grenadiers) 4:00

BORA – hansgrohe dominiert erste Pyrenäen-Etappe bei der Tour: Jai Hindley holt Etappensieg und Gelbes Trikot

Die erste Pyrenäen-Etappe bot heute gleich mehrere Möglichkeiten für Ausreißversuche und entsprechend hatten sich einige Teams eine offensive Taktik zurechtgelegt. Auch BORA – hansgrohe war von Beginn an aktiv, und als sich 36 Fahrer absetzten konnten, hatte man mit Jai Hindely, Emanuel Buchmann und Patrick Konrad gleich drei Fahrer an der Spitze. Obwohl sich zwischenzeitlich ein Trio aus dieser Gruppe attackierte, sorgte vor allem Patrick Konrad dafür, dass am Col de Soudet das Rennen an der Spitze wieder zusammenlief. Als F. Gall angriff, konnte nur Jai folgen, während Emu in der ersten Verfolgergruppe fuhr. Im Feld distanzierte nun J. Vingegaard alle Konkurrenten und schloss noch vor der Bergwertung zur Gruppe um Buchmann auf. In der Abfahrt wurde auch Gall gestellt, doch Jai war heute nicht zu stoppen. Am Ende fuhr der Australier in Diensten von BORA – hansgrohe einen überragenden Solosieg ein und krönte eine famose Teamleistung mit der Führung in der Gesamtwertung. Damit geht Hindley morgen im Gelben Trikot an den Start der 6. Etappe.

Von der Ziellinie
„Ich bin sprachlos, ich kann nicht glauben, was gerade passiert ist. Ich war überrascht, als ich in der Gruppe war und im Feld niemand so richtig reagiert hat. Wir sind dann gefahren und wollten vorne einfach Spaß haben. Eigentlich wollte ich nur ein Polster auf die anderen GC-Fahrer für das Finale herausfahren, aber am Col de Soudet habe ich auch begonnen, über den Etappensieg nachzudenken. Unten sind auch meine Eltern gestanden und das war natürlich sehr emotional. Als ich dann attackiert habe, ging alles ganz schnell. Ich wusste, dass ich eine gute Chance hatte, aber so richtig dran geglaubt habe ich erst auf der Zielgeraden. Es ist irgendwie immer noch surreal, dass ich jetzt das Gelbe Trikot auf meinen Schultern trage.“ – Jai Hindley

“Wir wollten offensiv fahren und unser Plan war auch, Koni und Emu in der Gruppe zu haben, aber zu behaupten Jai sollte auch so früh vorne sein, wäre gelogen. Er fährt immer eine sehr gute Position und irgendwie war er dann einfach dabei. Es war auch verwirrend, denn vorne hat man nicht richtig zusammengearbeitet, aber im Feld wollte zuerst auch niemand fahren. Der entscheidende Mann für uns war heute Koni. Ohne ihn wäre das Rennen völlig anders gelaufen. Natürlich war auch Emu wichtig, und Jai hatte am Ende die Beine, aber ohne Koni wären wir nie in diese Ausgangslage gekommen. Ich habe keine Ahnung, was morgen passieren wird, nach so einem verrückten Tag wie heute, aber es ist mir auch egal. Jetzt genießen wir einfach den Moment und ich möchte dem gesamten Team, den Jungs und Staff, für den Einsatz und die Leidenschaft danken. Wir können stolz sein, was uns heute gelungen ist. Es ist immer besonders, das Gelbe Trikot zu tragen und ohne dem Team hinter Jai wäre das nicht möglich gewesen.” – Rolf Aldag, Sportlicher Leiter

With Jai Hindley, it’s Aussie rules again!

After Phil Anderson, Stuart O’Grady, Bradley McGee, Robbie McEwen, Simon Gerrans, Cadel Evans and Rohan Dennis, Jai Hindley became the eighth Australian in the yellow jersey as he soloed to victory in Laruns after making a smart move in a numerous breakaway from far out on his Tour de France debut! Jonas Vingegaard bettered arch-rival Tadej Pogecar in the first Pyrenean stage.

PIERRE LATOUR FIRST IN ACTION

The start proper of stage 5 was given at 13.24 to 172 riders. Non-starters: Luis Leon Sanchez (Astana) and Jacopo Guarnieri (Lotto-Dstny). Pierre Latour (TotalEnergies) was the first rider to go clear at km 3. He was brought back at km 19 as the peloton remained very active with many breakaway attempts. 36 riders gathered at the front at km 28: Tiesj Benoot, Christophe Laporte, Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma), Felix Grossschartner, Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates), Omar Fraile, Daniel Martínez (Ineos Grenadiers), Valentin Madouas (Groupama-FDJ), Esteban Chaves, Rigoberto Uran (EF Education-EasyPost), Julian Alaphilippe, Kasper Asgreen, Rémi Cavagna (Soudal-Quick Step), Jack Haig (Bahrain Victorious), Jai Hindley, Emanuel Buchmann, Patrick Konrad (Bora-Hansgrohe), Giulio Ciccone, Juan Pedro Lopez, Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek), Clément Berthet, Felix Gall, Aurélien Paret Peintre (Ag2r-Citröen), Bryan Coquard (Cofidis), Matteo Jorgenson, Gregor Mühlberger (Movistar), Chris Hamilton (Dsm-firmenich), Hugo Houle, Krists Neilands (Israel-PremierTech), Chris Juul Jensen (Jayco-AlUla), Anthony Delaplace (Arkéa-Samsic), Victor Campenaerts, Maxim Van Gils (Lotto-Dstny), Harold Tejada (Astana Qazaqstan), Torstein Traeen (Uno-X), Mathieu Burgaudeau (TotalEnergies). This group was formed after Cavagna and Mühlberger broke away at km 24.

THE STRONG SHOWING OF PEDERSEN, VAN AERT AND CAMPENAERTS BEFORE COL DU SOUDET

Four riders escaped from that group at km 45: Coquard, Pedersen, Van Aert and Campenaerts. Coquard won the intermediate sprint at km 48 and sat up, leaving a trio at the front while UAE Team Emirates seized the reins of the peloton, two minutes behind. At the beginning of the ascent to col du Soudet, the first HC climb of the 110th Tour de France, Pedersen let Van Aert and Campenaerts at the front while Lopez was pulling the chasing group at the service of Ciccone. The Belgian duo got reeled in 2.5km before the summit. Gall attacked one kilometre further. He reached the top alone in the lead while Martinez outsprinted Ciccone for the second place. 17 riders gathered together at the front when Neilands rode away solo with 53.5km to go.

HINDLEY BY HIMSELF WITH 20KM TO GO

Alaphilippe and Van Aert caught up with Neilands at col d’Ichère (cat. 3) with 38km remaining. At the bottom of Marie-Blanque, the second major climb of the day, the deficit of the peloton was 3 minutes. Van Aert, Alaphilippe and Neilands were reeled in with 24km to go. 4km before the summit, Hindley attacked with Gall. Hindley went solo 20km before the finish. Vingegaard also attacked 1km before the summit and Pogacar could go with him. Hindley crested Marie-Blanque alone in the lead and kept going till he crossed the finish alone with a great emotion. Vingegaard recovered enough time to reach the line 34’’ after the Australian who has 47 seconds lead over the defending champion in the overall ranking while Pogacar is 1’40’’ adrift.

110. Tour de France Etappe 4 Daten

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TOUR DE FRANCE 2023 – STAGE 4
DAX – NOGARO

3+1: NAILING THEM
4th stage win for Jasper Philipsen: he is the first rider with back-to-back wins at the Tour since Tadej Pogacar won the 6th and 7th stage last year.
The last rider to nail two wins in a row in bunch finishes had been Dylan Groenewegen in Chartres and Amiens, 7th and 8th stage of 2018.
Excluding consecutive stages, but considering only bunch finishes, Philipsen is at his 4th consecutive win, a streak last recorded in 2017 when Marcel Kittel won in Troyes, Nuits-Saint-Georges, Bergerac and Pau.
(Last year, the Cahors stage was also suited for the sprinters, but Christophe Laporte was able to anticipate them)

51: LET’S PICK UP THE SPEED!
Without attackers to lead the way, the peloton took it easy in the first 20km of the stage, covered with an average speed of 36.2km/h, according to the speeds recorded by NTT Data.
The pace increased when Benoît Cosnefroy and Anthony Delaplace set off after the intermediate sprint, covering the next 60km at 44.7km/h to try and resist the peloton.
But the sprinters were determined to battle it out, so much so that they covered the last 20km at 51.7 km/h – 15.5km/h faster than the first 20km!

3X4: POINTS CHANGES
Adam Yates, Victor Lafay, Jasper Philipsen: three different points leaders in the first four stages is more than for the whole Tours de France 2021 (2 leaders) and 2022 (2 leaders). And so much changes in the early days is unprecedented since 2017, when Geraint Thomas was in green after the first stage, Marcel Kittel in the 2nd and 3rd and Arnaud Demare in the fourth.

3&4: MEETING IN THE TOP-3
Yesterday’s finish: Philipsen, Bauhaus, Ewan. Today: Philipsen, Ewan, Bauhaus.
Before yesterday, these three had never shared a podium in a pro race, now they nail two in two days.

2005: THE BELGIAN SPRINTER WE MISSED
Excluding time trials, Jasper Philipsen is the first Belgian to import back-to-back stages since 2005 (Tom Boonen in Les Essarts and Tours).

2018: THE GERMAN SPRINTER WE MISSED
Phil Bauhaus is the first German sprinter with two top-3 finishes in a single Tour since 2018, when John Degenkolb nailed 3 (3rd in Amiens, winner in Roubaix, 2nd in Paris)

11: DELAPLACE 11 YEARS LATER
Anthony Delaplace conquered his first Tour de France climb in 11 years. The previous had been the Cote de Toussaint in the Abbeville-Rouen stage of 2012. That was on the 4th of July as well.

10: MAKING IT A 10
Bryan Coquard (4th) scored his 10th top-5 finish at the Tour, and he is still looking for his first win. José Rojas, among the active riders, scored 14 (5 3rd places, 4 4ths, 5 5ths), and the record belongs to Gilbert Desmet, with 25. The Frenchman will keep on trying, to add a Tour stage to his palmarès made of 51 pro wins so far. He took his first World Tour win this year at the Tour Down Under, so he is ready for his Grand Tour stage win!

5: A FIRST SINCE 2012?
Adam Yates took his tally of yellow jerseys in this Tour to 4. Tomorrow is out to be the first rider to nail at least 5 since 2012, when Fabian Cancellara was in Jaune for the first 7 stages.
LETOURDATA STORIES

110. Tour de France Etappe4

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Dax – Nogaro 182 km)

1. Jasper Philipsen (BEL, Alpecin-Deceuninck) 4:25:28
2. Caleb Ewan (AUS, Lotto Dstny) 0:00
3. Phil Bauhaus (GER, Bahrain – Victorious) 0:00
4. Bryan Coquard (FRA, Cofidis) 0:00
5. Mark Cavendish (GBR, Astana Qazaqstan Team) 0:00
6. Danny Van Poppel (NED, BORA – hansgrohe) 0:00
7. Alexander Kristoff (NOR, Uno-X Pro Cycling Team) 0:00
8. Luka Mezgec (SLO, Team Jayco AlUla) 0:00
9. Wout Van Aert (BEL, Jumbo-Visma) 0:00
10. Mads Pedersen (DEN, Lidl – Trek) 0:00
11. Corbin Strong (NZL, Israel – Premier Tech) 0:00
12. Luca Mozzato (ITA, Team Arkéa Samsic) 0:00
13. Peter Sagan (SVK, TotalEnergies) 0:00
14. Dylan Groenewegen (NED, Team Jayco AlUla) 0:00
15. Jordi Meeus (BEL, BORA – hansgrohe) 0:00
16. Mathieu Van Der Poel (NED, Alpecin-Deceuninck) 0:00

Gesamt:

1. Adam Yates (GBR, UAE Team Emirates) 18:18:01
2. Tadej Pogacar (SLO, UAE Team Emirates) 0:06
3. Simon Yates (GBR, Team Jayco AlUla) 0:06
4. Victor Lafay (FRA, Cofidis) 0:12
5. Wout Van Aert (BEL, Jumbo-Visma) 0:16
6. Jonas Vingegaard (DEN, Jumbo-Visma) 0:17
7. Jai Hindley (AUS, BORA – hansgrohe) 0:22
8. Michael Woods (CAN, Israel – Premier Tech) 0:22
9. Mattias Skjelmose (DEN, Lidl – Trek) 0:22
10. Carlos Rodríguez (ESP, INEOS Grenadiers) 0:22
11. David Gaudu (FRA, Groupama – FDJ) 0:22
12. Mikel Landa (ESP, Bahrain – Victorious) 0:22
13. Wilco Kelderman (NED, Jumbo-Visma) 0:22
14. Romain Bardet (FRA, Team dsm – firmenich) 0:43
15. Thomas Pidcock (GBR, INEOS Grenadiers) 0:43
16. Emanuel Buchmann (GER, BORA – hansgrohe) 0:43

Sprintchaos in Nogaro: Danny Van Poppel bei zweitem Tour de France Massensprint auf Rang sechs

Auch auf der heutigen, vierten Etappe der Tour de France von Dax nach Nogaro wurde ein Massensprint erwartet. Die Sprinterteams ließen von Anfang an keinerlei Zweifel aufkommen, dass sie das Rennen auch heute kontrollieren würden. Es dauerte mehr als 60km, bevor sich zwei Fahrer absetzen konnten; ihr Vorsprung erreichte aber nie mehr als eine Minute. Es kam also zum erneuten Showdown der Sprinter. BORA – hansarohe setzte sich heute später als gestern an die Spitze des Feldes, allerdings kam es auf den letzten zwei Kilometern gleich zu mehreren Stürzen, die die Ordnung der Sprintzüge durcheinander brachten. Zum Glück kamen alle Fahrer der deutschen Mannschaft sicher ins Ziel, beim Sieg von J. Philipsen errang Danny Van Poppel am Ende Rang sechs.

Von der Ziellinie
„Heute war das Tempo wirklich ganz easy und bis zum Sprint ist nicht viel passiert. Dann auf der Rennstrecke kam es zum Sturz von Jacobsen. Ich hatte Glück, denn er ist nach rechts abgebogen, aber Jordi wurde behindert und wir haben uns an diesem Punkt verloren. Das Team hat mir dann gesagt, dass ich es versuchen soll. Ich habe versucht lange zu warten, denn es war auf der Zielgeraden Gegenwind. Rang sechs ist nicht schlecht, aber wir sind hier, um mit Jordi um einen Sieg zu kämpfen. Eigentlich war unser Timing heute auch schon viel besser, aber durch die Stürze war die gute Vorarbeit leider vergeblich.“ – Danny Van Poppel

„Das Wichtigste ist, dass wir ohne Sturz durchgekommen sind. Die Etappe war sehr einfach und das ist dann oft das Problem. Wenn am Ende ein Sprint wartet sind alle sehr frisch und jeder kann reinhalten. Es ist natürlich schade, wenn sich dann Fahrer verletzten. Jordi war leider genau in der Nähe als Jakobsen zu Boden ging, er ist wohl über das Rad gesprungen und hatte da sicher Glück. Wir haben zu Danny dann gesagt, dass er es versuchen soll und Rang sechs ist nicht schlecht. Mit Jordi am Rad wäre da heute viel möglich gewesen, aber wie gesagt, es hätte für Jordi auch schlimmer kommen können. Von daher nehmen wir den Tag gerne so wie er gelaufen ist.“ – Rolf Aldag, Sportlicher Leiter

Four in a row for Philipsen

From the start in Dax —home town of the legendary sprinter André Darrigade, who won 22 Tour de France stages— to the finish on the Circuit Paul-Armagnac race track in Nogaro, everything pointed to a sprinter taking the spoils in stage 4, sandwiched between three gruelling stages in the Basque Country and the race’s first foray into the Pyrenees. The super-speedsters did not let this golden opportunity go to waste. Barrelling down the flat roads of the Landes and Gers departments, the sprinters‘ teams kept a tight rein on a stage in which the breakaway took its sweet time to form. The Norman duo of Benoît Cosnefroy and Anthony Delaplace took off with 86 kilometres to go and added some excitement to the race before getting reeled in about half an hour before the finish. The European champion, Fabio Jakobsen, was among those who hit the tarmac in the crash-marred finale, leaving Jasper Philipsen to surge to his fourth Tour de France bunch sprint win on a trot, one day after raising his arms in triumph in Bayonne and a year after coming out on top in Carcassonne and on the Champs-Élysées. It was a double whammy for the Belgian rider, who cemented his status as the king of sprints and wrested the green jersey from Victor Lafay, while Adam Yates stayed in yellow.

The 174-strong peloton mustered under a cloudy sky in Place de la Fontaine-Chaude ahead of stage 4 on Tuesday. The start in Dax was an opportunity to pay tribute to André Darrigade, a 22-time Tour de France stage winner. Known as the „Landes Greyhound“, the 94-year-old former sprinter took the chance to pose with Victor Lafay, clad in the same green jersey that the former world champion claimed twice in his career (1959 and 1961). The official start came at 1:22 pm, following a 4.8 km neutralised section. The breakaway specialists, perhaps intimidated by the long odds, were conspicuous by their absence at the beginning.

Philipsen finds his bearings

The pack was eager to catch a breather following three leg-breaking stages and with the Pyrenees just 24 hours away. There were no real attacks in the first 95 kilometres, covered at a rather sluggish average speed of 37 km/h. The first move came 86 kilometres before the line, shortly after Jasper Philipsen clinched the intermediate sprint at Notre-Dame-des-Cyclistes. Benoît Cosnefroy (AG2R Citroën) fired the opening salvo and Anthony Delaplace (Arkéa–Samsic) latched onto his wheel.

Two French riders spice up the finale

The Norman duo soon increased their advantage to one minute, but the sprinters‘ teams put their foot down straight away. 25 kilometres before the line, the pack swallowed the two Frenchmen right after the only categorised climb of the day, the category 4 Côte de Dému, where Delaplace had been first over the top. The juggernaut continued to pick up steam and no-one even attempted to frustrate the inevitable bunch sprint as the race blasted onto the Circuit Paul-Armagnac race track.

Philipsen keeps a resurgent Ewan at bay

Alexis Renard led Bryan Coquard (Cofidis) onto the home straight with 750 metres to go, but the French sprinter had to settle for fourth place, behind the unstoppable Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin–Deceuninck) and others. Once again, Mathieu van der Poel set up the perfect lead-out for the Belgian, but this time round, Philipsen had to dig deep to stay clear of Caleb Ewan (Lotto Dstny), who built on his third place yesterday to finish second today. Stage 4 was Philipsen’s second win in as many days, after his triumph in Bayonne, but also his fourth consecutive success in bunch sprints in the Tour de France, coming a year after he claimed victory in Carcassonne and on the Champs-Élysées.

110. Tour de France Etappe 3 Daten

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TOUR DE FRANCE 2023 – STAGE 3
AMOREBIETA-ETXANO – BAYONNE

1+1: HE IS *THE* SPRINTER!
Jasper Philipsen won the last sprint of the Tour 2022 (Champs-Élysées) and the first of the Tour 2023 (Bayonne), an unprecedented back-to-back since Marcel Kittel in 2013 (stage 21, Champs-Élysées) and 2014 (stage 1, Harrogate). This back to back led him to a very successful Tour with 4 wins in 2014.

73,3 KM/H: CAVENDISH FASTER THAN PHILIPSEN
Led by Mathieu van der Poel, Jasper Philipsen delivered a powerful sprint to the line with an average speed of 67.0km/h in the final kilometre and a maximum of 71.2km/h.
Sprint icon Mark Cavendish went even faster, hitting the maximum speed recorded by NTT Data in the last kilometre: 73.3km/h.
With these legs, the Manx missile is aiming for a record 35th stage win in the Tour…

50X150: A PELOTON OF ROUND NUMBERS
After Victor Lafay yesterday took the number of winners in this Tour at 50, today we didn’t have a new winner, but Jasper Philipsen took the total of stage wins of this peloton to 150.
The most successful are:
• Mark Cavendish 34 (joint all-time record with Eddy Merckx)
• Peter Sagan 12
• Wout van Aert and Tadej Pogacar 9
• Julian Alaphilippe 6

30: PHILIPSEN HITS 30
Jasper Philipsen posted his 3rd Tour win after Carcassonne and Paris last year.
Philipsen goes up to 30 professional wins, 14 of these being World Tour wins. This year he has won 7 times already: two Tirreno-Adriatico stages, plus the Classic Brugge-De Panne in March, the Scheldeprijs in April; the Elfstedenronde – Brugge and the 1st stage of the Belgium Tour in June.

80: GREEN LEADER
Victor Lafay holds on to the green jersey with 80 points, the same tally as Philipsen’s, and also the same tally as Julian Alaphilippe after the 3rd stage of the 2021 Tour, which was the last time a Frenchman led the points standings before Lafay this year.

3: A HAT-TRICK OF YELLOWS
Adam Yates is the first rider in Yellow in the first three stages since 2017 when his compatriot Geraint Thomas was the leader in the first four, before leaving it to another Briton, Chris Froome, after the 5th stage (La Planche Des Belles Filles).
Yates counts now 7 yellow jerseys. Among this Tour’s entrants, only three riders claimed more:
• Tadej Pogacar (21)
• Julian Alaphilippe (18)
• Jonas Vingegaard (11)

18: POWLESS AMASSING MOUNTAIN POINTS
Since the scale of the KOM standings changed in 2017, only one rider has amassed more points than Neilson Powless in the first 3 stages: Benoît Cosnefroy, 21 points in 2020.
It illustrates the American rider’s dominance in this competition and the toughness of these first 3 stages, featuring two cat-2 ascents.
Leaders of the KOM standings after 3 stages:
• 2017 – Nathan Brown, 3 pts
• 2018 – Dion Smith, 1 pt
• 2019 – Tim Wellens, 7 pts
• 2020 – Benoît Cosnefroy, 21 pts
• 2021 – Ide Schelling, 5 pts
• 2022 – Magnus Cort, 6 pts
• 2023 – Neilson Powless 18 pts

3: POWLESS CLAIMS THE RECORD!
Neilson Powless claims the U.S. record of polka-dot jerseys at the Tour: no one from the United States had been able to reach 3 polka-dot jerseys. Nathan Brown in 2017 stopped at 2.
The first polka-dot going to a U.S. rider was in the famous Alpe d’Huez stage of the 1986 Tour. After finishing 2nd, hand in hand with his team-mate Bernard Hinault, Greg LeMond was the first American who conquered the polka-dot jersey…but didn’t take it to the race as he was in yellow the next day!
Then, a long wait ensued for the U.S. until Tejay Van Garderen claimed it in Super-Besse in 2011. Then Taylor Phinney (Liege 2017) and the aforementioned Brown.

11: EWAN BACK IN THE TOP-THREE
Caleb Ewan is at his 11th top-3 placement at the Tour: 5 wins, 2 second places, 4 third places. This is his first podium result since he won in Poitiers on the 9th of September, 2020.

2: EARLY FORM FOR GERMANY
Phil Bauhaus claims his first podium placement at the Tour: he is the first German in the top-3 since Nils Politt, winner in Nimes in 2021 (stage 12).
The last German sprinter to finish among the top-3 so early in the Tour had been Marcel Kittel, 3rd in the 1st stage of 2018.
Curiously, Bauhaus only other top-3 placement in a Grand Tour stage is another 2nd place, at the Giro d’Italia, in Cuneo last year.

110. Tour de France Etappe3

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Amorebieta-Etxano – Bayonne – 185 Km


Plomi Foto

1. Jasper Philipsen (BEL, Alpecin-Deceuninck) 4:43:15
2. Phil Bauhaus (GER, Bahrain – Victorious) 0:00
3. Caleb Ewan (AUS, Lotto Dstny) 0:00
4. Fabio Jakobsen (NED, Soudal – Quick Step) 0:00
5. Wout Van Aert (BEL, Jumbo-Visma) 0:00
6. Mark Cavendish (GBR, Astana Qazaqstan Team) 0:00
7. Jordi Meeus (BEL, BORA – hansgrohe) 0:00
8. Dylan Groenewegen (NED, Team Jayco AlUla) 0:00
9. Mads Pedersen (DEN, Lidl – Trek) 0:00
10. Bryan Coquard (FRA, Cofidis) 0:00
11. Biniam Girmay (ERI, Intermarché – Circus – Wanty) 0:00
12. Luca Mozzato (ITA, Team Arkéa Samsic) 0:00
13. Sam Welsford (AUS, Team dsm – firmenich) 0:00
14. Alexander Kristoff (NOR, Uno-X Pro Cycling Team) 0:00
15. Søren Wærenskjold (NOR, Uno-X Pro Cycling Team) 0:00

Gesamt:

1. Adam Yates (GBR, UAE Team Emirates) 13:52:33
2. Tadej Pogacar (SLO, UAE Team Emirates) 0:06
3. Simon Yates (GBR, Team Jayco AlUla) 0:06
4. Victor Lafay (FRA, Cofidis) 0:12
5. Wout Van Aert (BEL, Jumbo-Visma) 0:16
6. Jonas Vingegaard (DEN, Jumbo-Visma) 0:17
7. Michael Woods (CAN, Israel – Premier Tech) 0:22
8. Jai Hindley (AUS, BORA – hansgrohe) 0:22
9. Carlos Rodríguez (ESP, INEOS Grenadiers) 0:22
10. Mattias Skjelmose (DEN, Lidl – Trek) 0:22
11. Mikel Landa (ESP, Bahrain – Victorious) 0:22
12. David Gaudu (FRA, Groupama – FDJ) 0:22
13. Wilco Kelderman (NED, Jumbo-Visma) 0:22
14. Romain Bardet (FRA, Team dsm – firmenich) 0:43
15. Thomas Pidcock (GBR, INEOS Grenadiers) 0:43
16. Steff Cras (BEL, TotalEnergies) 0:43
17. Pello Bilbao (ESP, Bahrain – Victorious) 0:43
18. Egan Bernal (COL, INEOS Grenadiers) 0:43
19. Emanuel Buchmann (GER, BORA – hansgrohe) 0:43
20. Giulio Ciccone (ITA, Lidl – Trek) 0:43

Siebenter Rang für Jordi Meeus auf erster Sprintetappe bei der Tour de France

Auf der dritten Etappe ging es für das Feld heute nach Frankreich und gleichzeitig war dies auf einer welligen Strecke auch die erste Chance für die Sprinter im Feld. Ein Duo um N. Powless war die Gruppe des Tages, doch als sich der Führende in der Bergwertung, nachdem er einige Punkte sammeln konnte, wieder ins Feld zurückfallen ließ, hatte der verbleibende Ausreißer keine Chance, an der Spitze zu bleiben. Etwa 30 km vor dem Ziel kam es zum Zusammenschluss und auch BORA – hansgrohe zeigte sich nun an der Spitze des Pelotons. In einem hektischen Finale holte am Ende J. Philipsen den Tagessieg, Jordi Meeus erreichte bei seinem ersten Tour-Massensprint Rang sieben.

Von der Ziellinie
„Es war kein schlechter Tag für uns. Wir waren auf den letzten 20 km in guter Position, allerdings hat die Abstimmung auf den letzten 1000 m noch nicht ganz gestimmt. Ich denke, für meinen ersten Tour-Massensprint war das nicht schlecht. Ich bin nicht unzufrieden, aber auch nicht richtig happy mit dem Ergebnis.“ – Jordi Meeus

“Es war heute die erste Sprintetappe und entsprechend waren auch alle Sprinter bis in die Haarspitzen motiviert. Das Finale war sehr technisch und da hat bei uns das Timing noch nicht richtig gestimmt. Wir haben hier einen neuen Sprintzug, da bedarf es noch einer besseren Abstimmung. Aber was wir gesehen haben ist, dass alle Jungs voll motiviert sind. Wir müssen einfach das Timing im Lead-out besser hinbekommen und daran werden wir die nächsten Tage arbeiten.” – Rolf Aldag, Sportlicher Leiter

Philipsen does it again
Tour de France 2023 | Stage 3 | Amorebieta-Etxano > Bayonne

Jasper Philipsen won stage 3 to Bayonne in a bunch sprint finish ahead of Phil Bauhaus and Caleb Ewan. It’s the third Tour de France stage victory and the 30th career win for the 25 year old Belgian as well as the fifth Tour de France win for Alpecin-Deceuninck. Adam Yates retained the overall lead.

POWLESS AND PICHON IN THE LEAD

The start of stage 3 was given at 13.14 to 174 riders. King of the Mountains Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost) was first in action. He was joined at the front right after flag off by Laurent Pichon (Arkea-Samsic). Powless added points to his account in the King of the Mountains competition at Trabakua (km 13.8) and Millol (37.8) to mathematically secure the polka dot jersey at least until the Tour reaches the Pyrénées on stage 5. A time gap of 3’ minutes was recorded after 30km of racing. 37.2km were covered by the leading duo in the first hour of racing. Before the intermediate sprint at Deba (km 65.8), stage 2 winner Victor Lafay (Cofidis) escaped from the peloton to score 15 points behind Pichon and Powless in order to defend his green jersey.

PICHON FIRST IN FRANCE

At km 112, after having crested the four categorized climbs in first position, Powless sat up and left Pichon alone in the lead. Pichon entered France with an advantage of two minutes over the peloton and 60km remaining. It was down to 40’’ fifteen kilometres later as the teams of the sprinters entered in action. After 156km in the lead, Pichon was reeled in with 37km remaining. No breakaway took shape in the finale as sprinters’ teams set a high tempo and GC teams made sure their captain remained well positioned.

VAN DER POEL LEADS PHILIPSEN OUT

Intermarché-Circus-Wanty paved the way for Biniam Girmay to win his first Tour de France stage but the masterpiece in terms of lead out was made by Mathieu van der Poel at the service of Jasper Philipsen who started the 2023 Tour de France the same way he finished 2022. After winning his second stage on the Champs-Elysées last year, he claimed the first bunch sprint this year, pipping on the line Phil Bauhaus who is taking part in the Grande Boucle for the first time. Caleb Ewan rounded out the podium. Adam Yates retained the Maillot Jaune.

110. Tour de France Etappe2 Daten

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2008: the long wait of cofidis is over!

They had to wait 15 years, but finally Cofidis were able to win again at the Tour. Victor Lafay took the 11th win for the team, the first since Sylvain Chavanel won in Montluçon on the 25th of July 2008.

56,4 km/h: A speedy last km to glory
Victor Lafay achieved a rare feat attacking with one kilometre to go and restating his rivals on the line.
NTT Data recorded an average speed of 56.4km/h for him in the last kilometre, with a maximum of 61.2km/h.
That was enough to open a gap of 3’’ and eventually take the win.

2: doubling up the yellow
Adam Yates is the first rider in Yellow in the first two stages since 2019 (Mike Teunissen), and the first Briton to do so since 2017 (Geraint Thomas).
Yates counts now 6 yellow jerseys, the same of Chris Boardman, ath the 4th spot among British riders:

· Chris Froome 59 (4-times Tour de France winner)
· Geraint Thomas 15 (2018 Tour de France winner)
· Bradley Wiggins 14 (2012 Tour de France winner)
· Chris Boardman, Adam Yates 6

16: lafay matches alaphilippe
Victor Lafay scored his first Tour de France win after finishing 6th in the opening stage. It’s an extraordinary result for a French rider, as in the last 16 editions of the Tour, there is only another French who recorded two top-6 in the first two stages: Julian Alaphilippe two years ago: winner in stage 1, 5th in stage 2.

7: powless nails the koms
After conquering Alto El Vivero in the first stage, Neilson Powless scored a poker in the first four KOMs of the second stage (Udana, Aztiria, Alkiza and Gurutze). With the 2 summits he already conquered in 2020 and 2022, he is on a total of 7 KOMs, the highest value for any active rider from the USA.

2: a national record for powless
Neilson Powless equals the record of polka-dot jerseys conquered by a U.S. rider: that belonged to Nathan Brown (2017).

50: winners in the peloton
Victor Lafay’s win in San Sebastian means that now we have 50 Tour stage winners in this year’s peloton. The most successful are Mark Cavendish at 34 and Peter Sagan at 12.
The French winners in this list are 9, led by Julian Alaphilippe (6 wins).

3: the stage of new winners
Victor Lafay is the 3rd rider in the last three years who takes his maiden stage win on the 2nd stage.
He comes after:

· Mathieu van der Poel in 2021 in Mûr de Bretagne
· Fabio Jakobsen last year in Nyborg

110. Tour de France Etappe2

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Vitoria-Gasteiz – San Sébastián – 209 Km

1 LAFAY Victor FRA COFIDIS 04:46:39
2 VAN AERT Wout BEL JUMBO-VISMA 00:00
3 POGAČAR Tadej SLO UAE TEAM EMIRATES 00:00
4 PIDCOCK Thomas GBR INEOS GRENADIERS 00:00
5 BILBAO LOPEZ Pello ESP BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS 00:00
6 JENSEN Skjelmose Mattias DEN LIDL – TREK 00:00
7 WOODS Michael CAN ISRAEL – PREMIER TECH 00:00
8 BARDET Romain FRA TEAM DSM – FIRMENICH 00:00
9 TEUNS Dylan BEL ISRAEL – PREMIER TECH 00:00
10 HINDLEY Jai AUS BORA – HANSGROHE 00:00
11 CRAS Steff BEL TOTALENERGIES 00:00
12 CICCONE Giulio ITA LIDL – TREK 00:00
13 BETTIOL Alberto ITA EF EDUCATION – EASYPOST 00:00
14 BENOOT Tiesj BEL JUMBO-VISMA 00:00
15 BUCHMANN Emanuel GER BORA – HANSGROHE 00:00

Gesamt:

1 YATES Adam GBR UAE TEAM EMIRATES 09:09:18
2 POGAČAR Tadej SLO UAE TEAM EMIRATES 00:06
3 YATES Simon GBR TEAM JAYCO ALULA 00:06
4 LAFAY Victor FRA COFIDIS 00:12
5 VAN AERT Wout BEL JUMBO-VISMA 00:17
6 VINGEGAARD Jonas DEN JUMBO-VISMA 00:16
7 WOODS Michael CAN ISRAEL – PREMIER TECH 00:22
8 JENSEN Skjelmose Mattias DEN LIDL – TREK 00:22
9 HINDLEY Jai AUS BORA – HANSGROHE 00:22
10 LANDA Mikel ESP BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS 00:22
11 RODRIGUEZ CANO Carlos ESP INEOS GRENADIERS 00:22
12 GAUDU David FRA GROUPAMA – FDJ 00:22
13 KELDERMAN Wilco NED JUMBO-VISMA 00:22
14 TEUNS Dylan BEL ISRAEL – PREMIER TECH 00:43
15 BARDET Romain FRA TEAM DSM – FIRMENICH 00:43
16 CRAS Steff BEL TOTALENERGIES 00:43
17 PIDCOCK Thomas GBR INEOS GRENADIERS 00:43
18 BUCHMANN Emanuel GER BORA – HANSGROHE 00:43

Jai Hindley und Emanuel Buchmann beenden die zweite schwere Tour-de-France-Etappe in der ersten Gruppe der Favoriten

Eine zweite schwere Etappe im Baskenland wartete heute auf das Feld der Tour. Mit dem Jaizkibel nur 15 km vor dem Ziel wurde ein weiterer Schlagabtausch der Favoriten erwartet. Eine frühe Fluchtgruppe war auch heute chancenlos. Als letzter Fahrer wurde N. Powless etwa drei Kilometer vor der letzten Bergwertung gestellt. Eine Gruppe von ca. 25 Fahrern machte sich dann auf den Weg Richtung San Sebastian und Emanuel Buchmann versuchte sein Glück mit einer Attacke etwa 6 km vor dem Ende. Doch es war V. Lafay der am Ende den Sieg mit einem Angriff auf den letzten 1000 m einfahren konnte. Jai und Emu erreichten das Ziel sicher und zeitgleich in der ersten Gruppe.

Von der Ziellinie
„Es war wieder ein harter und stressiger Tag. Die Jungs haben mich wieder sehr gut unterstützt und Jordi hat mich einmal zurückgebracht, als ich einen Schuh wechseln musste. Wir haben den letzten Anstieg in sehr guter Position in Angriff genommen und dort war das Tempo wieder sehr hart. Auch die Fans waren wieder unglaublich. Ich habe mich gut gefühlt, bin aber konservativ gefahren. Auch am Ende ging es für mich nur darum, keine Zeit zu verlieren. Morgen sollte es die erste Chance für Jordi geben, und ich hoffe, wir können vorne mitmischen.“ – Jai Hindley

“Die ersten beiden harten Tage sind rum und wir können zufrieden sein. Die Etappe heute war wieder sehr technisch und das Team hat sehr gut für Jai gearbeitet und wir konnten Stürze vermeiden. Am Jaizkibel hatten wir noch Bob und Emu bei ihm. Bob war im ersten Teil wichtig, um die Position zu verteidigen, aber es war auch sehr gut, dass Emu im Finale in der Gruppe war. Es war klar, dass es wenig Chancen gibt, da Jumbo-Visma kontrolliert hat. Emu hat es einmal versucht, als Bilbao eingeholt wurde, aber am Ende sind wir konservativ gefahren. Wir sind nun in einer sehr guten Position und die kommenden beiden Tage müssen wir Jai aus Schwierigkeiten raushalten. Aber natürlich werden wir auch Jordi in den Sprints unterstützen.” – Rolf Aldag, Sportlicher Leiter

Victor Lafay maintains French tradition in San Sebastian

Victor Lafay escaped from the group of the favourites one kilometre before the end to deliver the stage victory the Cofidis team waited for fifteen year – since Sylvain Chavanel outclassed Jérémy Roy in Montluçon in 2008. Lafay maintained the tradition of French stage wins in San Sebastian after Louis Caput in 1949 and Dominique Arnould in 1992. Third on the line, Tadej Pogacar gained four seconds of time bonus while Adam Yates retained the yellow jersey.

POWLESS, BOASSON HAGEN AND CAVAGNA IN THE LEAD

174 riders started stage 2 in Vitoria-Gasteiz at 12.32. One non-starter: Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost). Three riders managed to go clear at km 8, firstly Edvald Boasson Hagen (TotalEnergies) and Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost), joined secondly by Rémi Cavagna (Soudal-Quick Step). The maximum time gap of 4’55’’ was recorded at km 68 as Vegard Stake Laengen was pulling the bunch for UAE Team Emirates until his team-mate Mikkel Bjerg took over. The peloton was 2’30’’ adrift and it was raining when Mark Cavendish got dropped in a non-categorized climb with 83km to go. Cavagna could no longer hold the pace in the ascent to Alkiza where Powless mathematically secured his polka dot jersey at km 140.9. All the riders dropped got back to the pack with 57km to go as they followed Cavendish’s servant Gianni Moscon.

POGACAR FIRST AT JAIZKIBEL

With 40km to go, the deficit of the peloton was down to two minutes. Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) and Ben O’Connor (AG2R-Citroën) crashed 37km before the end but got back to the pack pretty quickly. With 36km to go, Powless distanced Boasson Hagen and continued solo en route to the Jaizkibel, the main difficulty of the main located 16.5km away from the finishing line. The American had 1’30’’ lead at the bottom of 8-km long climb. He was reeled in 2.5km before the summit and it was all together again with 19.5km remaining. Pogacar won the bonus point atop the Jaizkibel before Vingegaard while Simon Yates crested in third position. Pogacar and Vingegaard went away in the downhill but were brought back by the reduced yellow jersey group with 12km to go.

LAFAY SOLOES AT THE FLAMME ROUGE

Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious) rode away solo at the end of the downhill. He was reeled in with 5.5km to go by 25 riders. Jumbo-Visma led the group until Victor Lafay (Cofidis) attacked with 1km to go. The Frenchman fended off the riders sprinting behind him to beat Wout van Aert and claim his first Tour de France stage win, two years after he imposed himself in a stage of the Giro d’Italia as well.

110. Tour de France Etappe1

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1. Etappe: Bilbao – Bilbao – 182 Km

1 YATES Adam GBR UAE TEAM EMIRATES 04:22:49
2 YATES Simon GBR TEAM JAYCO ALULA 00:04
3 POGAČAR Tadej SLO UAE TEAM EMIRATES 00:12
4 PINOT Thibaut FRA GROUPAMA – FDJ 00:12
5 WOODS Michael CAN ISRAEL – PREMIER TECH 00:12
6 LAFAY Victor FRA COFIDIS 00:12
7 HINDLEY Jai AUS BORA – HANSGROHE 00:12
8 JENSEN Skjelmose Mattias DEN LIDL – TREK 00:12
9 VINGEGAARD Jonas DEN JUMBO-VISMA 00:12
10 GAUDU David FRA GROUPAMA – FDJ 00:12
11 VAN AERT Wout BEL JUMBO-VISMA 00:12
12 LANDA Mikel ESP BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS 00:12
13 RODRIGUEZ CANO Carlos ESP INEOS GRENADIERS 00:12
14 KELDERMAN Wilco NED JUMBO-VISMA 00:12
15 STRONG Corbin NZL ISRAEL – PREMIER TECH 00:33
16 ARANBURU DEBA Alex ESP MOVISTAR TEAM 00:33
17 VAN GILS Maxim BEL LOTTO DSTNY 00:33
18 TEUNS Dylan BEL ISRAEL – PREMIER TECH 00:33
19 CRAS Steff BEL TOTALENERGIES 00:33
20 MADOUAS Valentin FRA GROUPAMA – FDJ 00:33

Gesamt:
1 YATES Adam GBR UAE TEAM EMIRATES 04:22:39
2 YATES Simon GBR TEAM JAYCO ALULA 00:08
3 POGAČAR Tadej SLO UAE TEAM EMIRATES 00:18
4 PINOT Thibaut FRA GROUPAMA – FDJ 00:22
5 WOODS Michael CAN ISRAEL – PREMIER TECH 00:22
6 LAFAY Victor FRA COFIDIS 00:22
7 HINDLEY Jai AUS BORA – HANSGROHE 00:22
8 JENSEN Skjelmose Mattias DEN LIDL – TREK 00:22
9 VINGEGAARD Jonas DEN JUMBO-VISMA 00:22
10 GAUDU David FRA GROUPAMA – FDJ 00:22
11 VAN AERT Wout BEL JUMBO-VISMA 00:22
12 LANDA Mikel ESP BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS 00:22
13 RODRIGUEZ CANO Carlos ESP INEOS GRENADIERS 00:22
14 KELDERMAN Wilco NED JUMBO-VISMA 00:22
15 STRONG Corbin NZL ISRAEL – PREMIER TECH 00:43

Jai Hindley überzeugt zum Auftakt der Tour de France mit Rang sieben

Etwas untypisch begann die Tour de France 2023 heute mit einer durchaus hügeligen Etappe rund um Bilbao und es konnten einige Zeitabstände bereits am ersten Tag erwartet werden. Das Rennen war dann auch entsprechend schnell und vom Feld kontrolliert. Eine frühe Fluchtgruppe wurde bereits 50 km vor dem Ziel gestellt und BORA – hansgrohe formierte sich an der Spitze des Rennens vor den letzten beiden Anstiegen mit Jai Hindley. An der letzten Bergwertung des Tages zeigten sich dann die Favoriten und Jai gelang es gerade noch vor der Abfahrt auf eine kleine Spitzengruppe aufzuschließen. In der Abfahrt attackierten die beiden Yates Zwillinge und Adam sicherte sich am Ende den Etappensieg, während Jai auf Rang sieben in der ersten Verfolgergruppe das Ziel erreichte. Damit konnte er auch auf einige Konkurrenten um das Tour-Podium erste Sekunden gutmachen.

Von der Ziellinie
„Das war ein wirklich harter Tag zum Auftakt. Die Jungs haben einen tollen Job gemacht und dafür bin ich sehr dankbar. Schon am vorletzten Anstieg war das Tempo enorm hoch, die Tour ist da definitiv eine andere Nummer als all die anderen Rennen. An der letzten Bergwertung war ich dann etwas hinter den ersten vier Fahrern und habe auf die Verfolgergruppe gewartet, weil Jumbo dort noch einige Fahrer drin hatte. Wir konnten dann auch schnell aufschließen und ich musste eigentlich nur am Rad bleiben. Mit dem Ergebnis und meiner Form bin ich sehr zufrieden. Bei meiner allerersten Tour-de-France-Etappe ein Top Ten Ergebnis, das kann sich doch sehen lassen.“ – Jai Hindley

“Es war der erwartet hektische Auftakt. Das Ziel war, keine Zeit auf Pogacar und Vingegaard zu verlieren, bei diesem speziellen Auftakt mit über 3500 hm. Die Jungs haben hervorragend für Jai gearbeitet. Im Finale waren wir in guter Position, nur vor dem letzten Anstieg hätten wir noch weiter vorne sein können, denn mit den unzähligen Fans auf der Straße ist die Position noch wichtiger. Auf jeden Fall war Jai da, als es drauf ankam. Mit dem Ergebnis und dem Eindruck, den wir von ihm heute gewonnen haben, können wir sehr zufrieden sein.” – Rolf Aldag, Sportlicher Leiter

From Bilbao to Bilbao, it’s Yates and Yates!
Tour de France 2023 | Stage 1 | Bilbao > Bilbao

Stage 1 came down to a 1-2 by two twin brothers, a first in the history of the Tour de France. Adam and Simon Yates rode the finale together. The UAE Team Emirates punchy rider powered to victory in Bilbao while his team-mate Tadej Pogacar took third place and four seconds of time bonus in his duel with defending champion Jonas Vingegaard.

FIVE RIDERS IN THE LEAD

The start proper of stage 1 was given at 12.53. Five riders took off quickly: Lilian Calmejane (Intermarché-Circus-Wanty), Simon Guglielmi (Arkea-Samsic), Pascal Eenkhorn (Lotto-Dstny), Jonas Gregaard (Uno-X) and Valentin Ferron (TotalEnergies). Gregaard attacked to crest the first categorized climb at the front 2’30’’ before the peloton while Eenkhorn managed to take the second place. Eenkhorn crested the climb of San Juan de Gaztelugatxae first, ahead of Guglielmi, and took the virtual lead of the KOM classification. Eenkhorn also won the intermediate sprint at Guernica, km 88, where the time difference between the leading five riders and the peloton went down to one minute. Jumbo-Visma, Alpecin-Deceuninck and Soudal-Quick Step were the most active teams at the helm of the bunch.

POWLESS FIRST KING OF THE MOUNTAINS

They were close to being caught with 75km to go but Guglielmi and Gregaard sped up again and the group was reunited with a stable advantage of 30’’. The bunch was packed again with 50km remaining. Sprinters got dropped in the climb to Murga: Mark Cavendish, Alexander Kristoff, Caleb Ewan, Peter Sagan, Dylan Groenewegen, Fabio Jakobsen… Jonas Abrahamsen took one KOM point at the top. Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost) crested El Vivero in first position ahead of Georg Zimmerman (Intermarché-Circus-Wanty), which meant taking the first polka dot jersey of the 2023 Tour de France. His team-mate Richard Carapaz crashed in the downhill, along with Enric Mas (Movistar) who was injured and became the first man to abandon the 110th Tour de France.

THE YATES TWINS MAKE A 1-2

Victor Lafay (Cofidis) was the only rider able to accompany Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard to the top of the Pike climb located 9.6km before the end. In the downhill, Adam and Simon Yates rode away after a small regrouping. They covered the last 8km together with an advantage of no more than 15 seconds. Adam took the lead in the final uphill stretch 400m before the line and remained ahead while his team-mate Tadej Pogacar raised his arms up in the air as it was a big victory for UAE Team Emirates. 12 riders including defending champion Jonas Vingegaard crossed the line 12 seconds after the stage winner.

110. Tour de France Startliste und Info Etappe 1

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@ASO

Key points:

Ø The start list of the 110th Tour de France is out before stage 1, Bilbao to Bilbao, 182km, Saturday 1st July. No number 61 is assigned to pay tribute to Gino Mäder.
Ø A duel between Pogacar and Vingegaard is highly awaited but there are many more sporting stakes.
Ø A majority of the 176 starters aim for a stage win. 48 riders already won a stage in the past.

MORE DANES AND MORE NORWEGIANS THAN ITALIANS ON THE START LIST

The 176 participants of the 110th Tour de France hold passports from 27 different nations. France is the most represented with 32 riders (exactly the same number as last year), followed by Belgium (21), Spain and The Netherlands (14), Australia (12), Denmark (11, one up from the start in Copenhagen and just as many as in 2021) and Norway with a record breaking number of 8 starters due to the first ever invitation issued to a Norwegian-registered team (Uno-X). Australia matches its record, set in 2012. Italy with 7 didn’t have such a low number since 1983. For the second year running, Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek) is the youngest in the bunch, aged 22 years, 1 month and 23 days on the start line. The second youngest is Carlos Rodriguez (Ineos Grenadiers). The oldest is Dries Devenyns (Soudal-Quick Step) who will turn 40 on the penultimate stage to Le Markstein. 36 riders will take part in the Tour de France for the first time, the most famous of them being Giro d’Italia winner Jai Hindley (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Gent-Wevelgem winner Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Circus-Wanty). There won’t be any 61 bib number to honour the memory of Gino Mäder so the leader of Bahrain Victorious Mikel Landa will have the 62 and there’ll be a 69 carried by Fred Wright. In the UAE Team Emirates, nobody will get the number 13 and Adam Yates has the 19.

A RECORD NUMBER OF 12 NATIONAL CHAMPIONS

Twelve national champions for road racing are set to line up in front of the San Mamés stadium for the start of stage 1 on Saturday: Tadej Pogacar (Slovenia), Richard Carapaz (Ecuador), Valentin Madouas (France), Emanuel Buchmann (Germany), Mattias Skjelmose (Denmark), Esteban Chaves (Colombia), Fred Wright (Great-Britain), Dylan van Baarle (The Netherlands), Alex Kirsch (Luxemburg), Alexei Lutsenko (Kazakhstan), Quinn Simmons (USA) and Gregor Mühlberger (Austria). It’s a record equalling number, on pair with 2010, 2014, 2017 and 2019. They were only five last year: Peter Sagan (Slovakia), Florian Sénéchal (France), Nils Politt (Germany), Felix Grossschartner (Austria) and Reinhardt Janse van Rensburg (South Africa). European champion Fabio Jakobsen is the thirteen man with a distinctive jersey this year.

A HIGHLY AWAITED DUEL BETWEEN JONAS VINGEGAARD AND TADEJ POGACAR

The past three editions of the Tour de France were won by Tadej Pogacar (2020, 2021) and Jonas Vingegaard (2022). Logically, they are the two main favourites this year. They are also the two most successful pro riders in the 2023 season. The Slovenian has won 14 races including Paris-Nice, the Tour of Flanders and the Flèche wallonne while the Dane claimed the Itzulia Basque Country and the Critérium du Dauphiné. The big question mark is the injury Pogacar sustained at Liège-Bastogne-Liège. “I don’t have full mobility of my wrist as of yet – 60, 70% maybe”, he said in Bilbao ahead of the Tour de France. “But these last days it hasn’t upset me while training. I feel no pain.” The leader of UAE Team Emirates took a low profile: “Jonas is obviously the main guy for this Tour. He showed his dominance in Dauphiné. The best scenario for me is getting the yellow jersey in stage 20, like three years ago. We get less pressure that way. In the first week you usually have to hold your horses, but this year there will be more action.” “It’s not only about him and me”, Vingegaard moderated. “What counts is who will have the best shape at the end of the race. People can considered that I’m chased down but I’m also on the hunt for the overall victory. It’s not very different from last year.”

O’CONNOR, GAUDU, HINDLEY & Co BID FOR FINAL PODIUM

The fight for GC isn’t limited to the first two positions. There are many candidates for the third one who don’t say they’re racing for the Maillot Jaune. Australia’s Ben O’Connor and France’s David Gaudu have come fourth in the two previous editions and want to move one step higher. “I intend to capitalise on my second place at Paris-Nice to achieve this”, announced the climber of Groupama-FDJ. “If you try to attack Pogacar and Vingegaard, you risk to pay the price”, the AG2R-Citroën rider echoed. “It’s highly unlikely that they’ll lose their focus. Richard Carapaz, third in 2021, Romain Bardet, second in 2016 and third in 2017, Rigoberto Uran, second in 2017, and why not Thibaut Pinot, third in 2014, would love to share the honours with the victor again while Simon Yates, seventh and best young rider in 2017, Mikel Landa, fourth in 2017, and Enric Mas, fifth in 2020, also imagine themselves on the podium in Paris, but it might as well be a rookie. Jai Hindley, the 2022 Giro d’Italia winner, put his hands up: “The podium, why not, I prepared full gas, he declared. It’s the big objective of the season, the podium in Paris would be a dream come true, it’ll take a lot of pain and suffering to come to that point but I’ll never say never.”

48 PREVIOUS STAGE WINNERS… AND MANY MORE CANDIDATES!

48 out of 176 starters have already won at least one stage of the Tour de France in previous years. In each edition of the race, between six and eight stages are won from breakaways from far out. Intermarché-Circus-Wanty is the kind of team eager to try their luck this way although they also target GC with Louis Meintjes, 7th last year. They are yet to win a stage as a team but three of their recruits have done it before: Lilian Calméjane, Rui Costa and Mike Teunissen. Israel-Premier Tech wants to emulate Simon Clarke and Hugo Houle’s achievements of last year with Michael Woods whose two Grand Tour stage victories up to date took place in the Basque Country at La Vuelta (at Balcon de Bizkaia in 2018 and Villanueva de Valdegovia in 2020). Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) has made his fame at the Tour de France by wearing the Maillot Jaune in 2019 but he’s openly on the hunt for his first stage win. Breakaways for stage wins is also a French speciality at the Tour de France: newly crowned national champion Valentin Madouas and Nans Peters, a Pyrenean stage winner in 2020, are often named as candidates.

GREEN JERSEY FAVOURITES KEEP CARDS CLOSE TO THEIR CHEST

Three participants to the 110th Tour de France won the points classification in the past: Mark Cavendish (2011, 2021), Peter Sagan (2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019) and Wout van Aert (2022). The Belgian is the most likely to do it again but he made it clear: “This is not my goal this year.” However, he noted: “There are many points up for grabs in the last stages.” So it’s not his goal at the beginning of the Tour but it might become one towards the end. He kind of designated his successor who was the runner-up last year: “My favourite for the green jersey is Jasper Philipsen.” The last winner on the Champs-Elysées commented: “We’ll look for stage wins and this is a good way to take points for the green jersey.” Fabio Jakobsen short-cut expectations: “The green jersey is not a big goal for me in this Tour de France. I’m targeting stage wins. I don’t have the level to compete with Van Aert in the points classification.” Dylan Groenewegen said the same thing differently: “It’s very hard for pure sprinters to win the green jersey.” Mads Pedersen and Biniam Girmay also have the credentials to win this competition.

SAFER: A NEW TOOL TO IMPROVE SAFETY

Following on from the work begun almost three years ago, the stakeholders in professional cycling, namely the UCI, the organizers, the teams and the riders’ representative bodies, have announced the creation of a structure intended to improve safety conditions in competitions. SafeR (for SafeRoadcycling) has the mission of responding to the increased number of incidents and injuries observed for several years. The first meetings made it possible to define the working methods of SafeR, an independent body whose mission will be to deepen the analysis of all the risks related to the race routes and to provide advice on safety. As president of the AIOCC (International Association of Cycling Races Organisers), Christian Prudhomme underlined the importance of the work carried out together and the desire to continue it in the future: “The birth of SafeR shows that all cycling families want to work together and this is essential. This new entity will make it possible to increase the level of competition security.” UCI president David Lappartient commented: “The safety of riders and people present in the race bubble and on the roadside is a priority for the UCI. Despite the measures put in place since the strengthening of the UCI rules on safety in 2021, it is clear that the number of incidents and injuries continues to increase. The UCI and all cycling families must unite to reverse this trend and this common desire to find solutions together has materialized in the creation of SafeR.”

TOUR DE FRANCE 2023: INFO WITH TWO DAYS TO GO

Etappenrennen, Tour de France, Vorschau, ,

Key points:

Ø Pogacar, Van der Poel and Van Aert identified by the riders as favourites for stage 1 in Bilbao. Alaphilippe and Pidcock also in the mix.

Ø Egan Bernal is back at the Tour de France, so is Mark Cavendish on the hunt for his 35th stage win but the field of sprinters is very competitive.

Ø Movistar, the longest serving team, starts on home soil in the Basque Country with sole leader Enric Mas. A huge crowd gathered in the streets of Bilbao to give them and the other riders a very warm welcome at the teams presentation in front the Guggenheim Museum.

FIRST MAILLOT JAUNE UP FOR GRABS

The first Maillot Jaune of the 110th Tour de France will be presented to stage 1 winner on the edge of Etxebarria park in Bilbao after cresting the Pike climb with 9.6km to go. On his return to the race following a one-year hiatus, Julian Alaphilippe bids again after he took the lead early in the race on three occasions when he won stage 3 to Epernay in 2019, stage 2 to Nice in 2020 and stage 1 to Landerneau in 2021. “I’m still punchy”, the Frenchman warned. “But in the Pike climb, there will be three big musketeers, I’m talking about Pogacar, Van der Poel and Van Aert of course. Compared to them, I’m now a small musketeer. I’ve done all I could to be ready for this start in the Basque Country. I reckoned stage 1 twice and I can say it suits me well.” “I think there won’t be big gaps”, Tom Pidcock echoed. “I can see a very select group making it to the finish line, with only leaders on it and a lot of disorganization. That could mean that a lone rider can attack and make it to the finish. But I don’t know… Maybe I’m not experienced enough to answer that question!” The local crowd would love to see a Basque rider winning at Bilbao: “Being realistic, among us, Alex Aranburu and Pello Bilbao have the best chances to succeed”, said Ion Izagirre.

THE BIG COME-BACK OF EGAN BERNAL

Another duel between defending champion Jonas Vingegaard and his predecessor Tadej Pogacar is highly awaited, however the last three winners of the Tour de France are at the start in Bilbao as Egan Bernal, the victor in 2019 and sole Colombian on the record books, got the call to be part of the Ineos Grenadiers line up one and half years after his life-threatening accident while training in his country. “Before the Dauphiné, my plan was to be on holiday at this time”, Bernal explained. “I was in a big doubt to come here during the Dauphiné. I didn’t perform too badly there… So they took a decision the next week. In the Dauphiné, they asked me to keep my focus on just in case I was selected for the Tour. It was a big goal for me, so it wasn’t difficult to do so. To be honest, I’m not sure (of my goals). It’s my first three-week race in a long time, and I was not preparing this race 100%. I’ll do my best. The first big goal is to not lose too much time in the first days. After this we will decide what to do. I have a free role on the team. To reach Paris would be fantastic. Of course I’d like to get back to the level I had before the accident and confront myself with those who are now the world’s best cyclists.”

MOVISTAR FEELS AT HOME

Many riders are familiar with the roads of the Basque Country but there’s no more local team than Movistar. The squad based in the neighbouring province of Navarra embarks for its 41st Tour de France with a sole leader: Enric Mas. His best overall result so far was fifth in 2020 and the first of his pro victories up to date was stage 6 of the 2018 Itzulia Basque Country. “Starting from home makes it a different Tour”, the Mallorcan said. “Danish riders had an edge on the rest of the field last year because we started from Copenhagen. This year we are starting from Bilbao, so all the Spanish riders will try to make the most of knowing these roads by heart. Spanish fans want Carlos [Rodriguez], Mikel [Landa] and me to try and defeat Pogacar and Vingegaard. It isn’t easy, but I wouldn’t say it’s impossible. I don’t want to say I’ll be on the podium, but I’m hoping for that and I’m looking forward to it.”

EIGHT OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE SPRINTERS?

According to the rules book, “stages 3, 4, 7, 8, 11, 18, 19 and 21 are expected to finish with a bunch sprint.” It leaves more room for the fast men than last year when Jasper Philipsen won two standard bunch sprints on the flat while Fabio Jakobsen, Dylan Groenewegen and Christophe Laporte took one win each. All four top sprinters are back in contention along with Wout van Aert who focused on different stages in 2022. Caleb Ewan hasn’t won a Tour de France stage since the Champs-Elysées in 2020 due to several crashes but he’s back with a Lotto-Dstny team entirely built around him. Mark Cavendish also returns after one year of absence for chasing the 35th win that would enable him to become the sole record holder of stage victories as he shares the first place with Eddy Merckx for now. “There are a lot of sprinters and most of us are close to each other”, Groenewegen. “I hope for Cavendish to win a stage but that’s one less chance for us. On the third day we have a small chance for a bunch sprint finish.” “We hope there will be sprints on day 3 and 4”, echoed Jakobsen. “But it’s the riders who make the race. We will see how it plays out. The first pure sprint will be Bordeaux. But we can expect a huge bunch to make it to the finish line in stages 3 or 4… but no one can tell for sure what will happen.” The last stage winner in Bordeaux was… Cavendish, in 2010.

THE HISTORY OF THE 22 TEAMS AT A GLANCE

Movistar is one of the five teams out of twenty-two in contention who have already won the Tour de France at least twice. The squad managed by Eusebio Unzué made it seven times for their previous title sponsors (five with Miguel Indurain, one with Pedro Delgado and Oscar Pereiro), just as many as Ineos Grenadiers (four with Chris Froome, one with Bradley Wiggins, Geraint Thomas and Egan Bernal). Two teams won it twice: Astana Qazaqstan (with Alberto Contador and Vincenzo Nibali) and UAE Team Emirates (with Tadej Pogacar). Jumbo-Visma (1). Jumbo-Visma holds the record of stage wins: 70. The Dutch outfit is second in the number of participations (39) behind Movistar (40) and before Lotto-Dstny (36). Ineos Grenadiers leads the tally of the Maillots Jaunes (91) ahead of Movistar (79) and Jumbo-Visma (45). Uno-X is the only newcomer this year but teams that Tour de France fans are accustomed with are yet to win a single stage (Intermarché-Circus-Wanty and Arkea-Samsic) or to wear the Maillot Jaune (Intermarché-Circus-Wanty, Arkea-Samsic, Bahrain Victorious and Israel-Premier Tech).