Schlagwort-Archive: Unipublic

La Vuelta 23 10. Etappe Valladolid – Valladolid – ITT – 25 Km – EZF

Ergebnisse, Etappenrennen, Strassenrennen, , , , , , ,

1 GANNA Filippo ITA INEOS GRENADIERS 00:27:39 55,99
2 EVENEPOEL Remco BEL SOUDAL QUICK-STEP 00:16
3 ROGLIČ Primož SLO JUMBO-VISMA 00:36
4 GONCALVES ALMEIDA Joao POR UAE TEAM EMIRATES 00:50
5 VLASOV Aleksandr BORA – HANSGROHE 00:52
6 CATTANEO Mattia ITA SOUDAL QUICK-STEP 01:09
7 AYUSO Juan ESP UAE TEAM EMIRATES 01:11
8 SOLER Marc ESP UAE TEAM EMIRATES 01:12
9 OLIVEIRA Nelson POR MOVISTAR TEAM 01:12
10 VINGEGAARD Jonas DEN JUMBO-VISMA 01:18
11 BISSEGGER Stefan SUI EF EDUCATION – EASYPOST 01:19
12 CASTROVIEJO Jonathan ESP INEOS GRENADIERS 01:24
13 KUSS Sepp USA JUMBO-VISMA 01:29
14 DENZ Nico GER BORA – HANSGROHE 01:35
15 SOBRERO Matteo ITA TEAM JAYCO ALULA 01:44
16 TIBERI Antonio ITA BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS 01:46
17 MAS Enric ESP MOVISTAR TEAM 01:46
18 FISHER-BLACK Finn NZL UAE TEAM EMIRATES 01:51
19 JOHANSEN Julius DEN INTERMARCHÉ – CIRCUS – WANTY 01:54
20 THOMAS Geraint GBR INEOS GRENADIERS 02:00

Gesamt:

1 KUSS Sepp USA JUMBO-VISMA 35:52:38
2 SOLER Marc ESP UAE TEAM EMIRATES 00:26
3 EVENEPOEL Remco BEL SOUDAL QUICK-STEP 01:09
4 ROGLIČ Primož SLO JUMBO-VISMA 01:36
5 MARTINEZ Lenny FRA GROUPAMA – FDJ 02:02
6 GONCALVES ALMEIDA Joao POR UAE TEAM EMIRATES 02:16
7 VINGEGAARD Jonas DEN JUMBO-VISMA 02:22
8 AYUSO Juan ESP UAE TEAM EMIRATES 02:25
9 MAS Enric ESP MOVISTAR TEAM 02:50
10 VLASOV Aleksandr BORA – HANSGROHE 03:14
11 LANDA Mikel ESP BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS 03:21
12 DE LA CRUZ David ESP ASTANA QAZAQSTAN TEAM 04:20
13 CARTHY Hugh John GBR EF EDUCATION – EASYPOST 04:56
14 UIJTDEBROEKS Cian BEL BORA – HANSGROHE 05:16
15 CRAS Steff BEL TOTALENERGIES 06:31
16 BUITRAGO SANCHEZ Santiago COL BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS 06:37
17 RUBIO REYES Einer Augusto COL MOVISTAR TEAM 06:37
18 RODRIGUEZ MARTIN Cristian ESP TEAM ARKEA – SAMSIC 08:26
19 ROCHAS Remy FRA COFIDIS 09:01
20 VALTER Attila HUN JUMBO-VISMA 11:38
21 THOMAS Geraint GBR INEOS GRENADIERS 13:05

Ganna and Kuss resist Evenepoel

The individual time trial of La Vuelta 23 saw Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers) power to his first ever victory in Spain as he got the best of the world champion Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) in Valladolid. The Italian star covered the 25.8km at an average of 56.0km/h, setting a time of 27’39’’. Evenepoel came 2nd (+16’’) and was the fastest of the GC contenders, 20 seconds ahead of Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma), while Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) lost a minute to the Belgian defending winner of La Vuelta. Riding with La Roja, Sepp Kuss (Jumbo-Visma) set the 13th best time and only lost 17’’ to Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates), his first chaser in the overall standings. Evenepoel moves up to the third position, with a gap of 1’09’’ to the American leader.

After the rest day, La Vuelta 23 returns to action with a key time trial (25.8km) to kick-off the second week of racing in Valladolid, a classic of the Spanish Grand Tour since it hosted the very first stage finish in 1935. Callum Scotson (Jayco AlUla) is the first rider to go, at 14:01, and Sepp Kuss (Jumbo-Visma) will be the last rider off the ramp, at 17:02, with La Roja on his shoulders.

Bissegger can’t resist Ganna
Clément Davy (Groupama-FDJ) sets the first reference of interest, with a time of 30’55’’. But the Frenchman can’t resist the European champion Stefan Bissegger (EF Education-EasyPost), faster at every intermediate point (km 12.5 and 19.5), who eventually clocks a time of 28’58’’. The Swiss rider impressed, but he confesses he “didn’t have the best day”.
Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers) starts his effort 44 minutes after Bissegger. And he quickly shows he’s off to a flying performance. A 2-time ITT World Champion (2020, 21), holder of the hour record and current national ITT champion, the Italian star leads by 33’’ at the first intermediate point, 52’’ at the second, and 1’18’’ on the line. He averaged 56.0km/h over the 25.8km!

Evenepoel accelerates, Kuss holds on

The GC battle gets going with a strong performance from Aleksandr Vlasov (Bora-Hansgrohe), the first rider to finish less than a minute behind Ganna (+52’’). Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) finishes just ahead of Vlasov (+50’’) but Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) is not as fast. The Danish winner of the Tour de France concedes 1’18’’.
Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) and Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) trade seconds until the Belgian sets the 2nd best time on the line (+16’’), 20 seconds head of his Slovenian rival. Sepp Kuss (Jumbo-Visma) takes the 13th best time and only loses 17’’ to Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates). The American climber still leads the overall standings ahead of another GC battle on Wednesday.

La Vuelta 23 9. Etappe

Ergebnisse, Etappenrennen, Strassenrennen, Teamnews, , , , , ,

Cartagena – Collado de la Cruz de Caravaca – 181 Km


Plomi Foto

1 KAEMNA Lennard GER BORA – HANSGROHE 04:28:59
2 SOBRERO Matteo ITA TEAM JAYCO ALULA 00:13
3 HAMILTON Christopher AUS TEAM DSM-FIRMENICH 01:12
4 GEHBREIGZABHIER Amanuel ERI LIDL-TREK 01:00
5 BARRENETXEA GOLZARRI Jon ESP CAJA RURAL-SEGUROS RGA 01:37
6 FERNANDEZ Ruben ESP COFIDIS 01:37
7 CAICEDO Jonathan ECU EF EDUCATION – EASYPOST 02:11
8 NAVARRO GARCIA Daniel ESP BURGOS-BH 02:41
9 MAS Enric ESP MOVISTAR TEAM 03:18
10 VLASOV Aleksandr BORA – HANSGROHE 03:11
11 RODRIGUEZ MARTIN Cristian ESP TEAM ARKEA – SAMSIC 04:08
12 SOLER Marc ESP UAE TEAM EMIRATES 03:25
13 ROCHAS Remy FRA COFIDIS 04:17
14 MARTINEZ Lenny FRA GROUPAMA – FDJ 03:27
15 KUSS Sepp USA JUMBO-VISMA 03:25
16 ROGLIČ Primož SLO JUMBO-VISMA 03:16
17 DE LA CRUZ David ESP ASTANA QAZAQSTAN TEAM 03:33
18 LANDA Mikel ESP BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS 03:25
19 VINGEGAARD Jonas DEN JUMBO-VISMA 03:38
20 EVENEPOEL Remco BEL SOUDAL QUICK-STEP 03:38

Gesamt:

1 KUSS Sepp USA JUMBO-VISMA 35:23:30
2 SOLER Marc ESP UAE TEAM EMIRATES 00:43
3 MARTINEZ Lenny FRA GROUPAMA – FDJ 01:02
4 EVENEPOEL Remco BEL SOUDAL QUICK-STEP 02:24
5 LANDA Mikel ESP BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS 02:29
6 ROGLIČ Primož SLO JUMBO-VISMA 02:29
7 VINGEGAARD Jonas DEN JUMBO-VISMA 02:35
8 MAS Enric ESP MOVISTAR TEAM 02:35
9 AYUSO Juan ESP UAE TEAM EMIRATES 02:45
10 GONCALVES ALMEIDA Joao POR UAE TEAM EMIRATES 02:55
11 DE LA CRUZ David ESP ASTANA QAZAQSTAN TEAM 03:39
12 VLASOV Aleksandr BORA – HANSGROHE 03:51
13 UIJTDEBROEKS Cian BEL BORA – HANSGROHE 04:10
14 CARTHY Hugh John GBR EF EDUCATION – EASYPOST 04:17
15 CRAS Steff BEL TOTALENERGIES 04:52
16 RUBIO REYES Einer Augusto COL MOVISTAR TEAM 05:08
17 BUITRAGO SANCHEZ Santiago COL BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS 05:40
18 RODRIGUEZ MARTIN Cristian ESP TEAM ARKEA – SAMSIC 07:02
19 ROCHAS Remy FRA COFIDIS 07:13
20 VALTER Attila HUN JUMBO-VISMA 10:33
21 POELS Wout NED BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS 11:59
22 THOMAS Geraint GBR INEOS GRENADIERS 12:34
23 LOPEZ PEREZ Juan Pedro ESP LIDL-TREK 14:40
24 MOLARD Rudy FRA GROUPAMA – FDJ 18:16
25 CEPEDA Jefferson ECU CAJA RURAL-SEGUROS RGA 19:02
26 KAEMNA Lennard GER BORA – HANSGROHE 19:09

Lennard Kämna feiert Solosieg auf der 9. Etappe der Vuelta

Vor dem morgigen Ruhetag stand eine Bergankunft in der Region Murcia auf dem Programm. In der ersten Steigung des Tages gelang Lennard Kämna der Sprung in eine achtköpfige Ausreißergruppe, die während des Tages maximal 8:30 Minuten Vorsprung herausfahren konnte. Im Schlussanstieg zum Alto Caravaca de la Cruz, der Rampen von bis zu 20 Prozent aufwies, hatte die Spitzengruppe eine Lücke von fast 5 Minuten vor der GC-Gruppe. Auf den steilen Rampen konnten sich Kämna, Sobrero und Gehbreigzabhier von ihren Fluchtgefährten absetzen. 5km vor dem Ziel attackierte Kämna. Sobrero war ihm dicht auf den Fersen, doch der deutsche BORA – hansgrohe Fahrer kämpfte bis zum Schluss und erreichte die Ziellinie als Solist. Mit diesem Sieg stehen nun Etappensiege bei allen drei Grand Tours in seinen Palmarès.

Reaktionen im Ziel
„Ich habe in den letzten Monaten sehr hart gearbeitet. Nach dem Giro war es nicht unbedingt einfach, da ich einige Rückschläge hatte. Deshalb bin ich wirklich froh, dass ich diesen Sieg erringen konnte. Das Rennen war wegen der Windkanten ziemlich hektisch. Ich habe versucht, in die vorderen Gruppen zu kommen, ohne zu viel Energie zu verbrauchen. Letztendlich fand ich mich an der Spitze. Es war ein schwieriger Parcours, es ging ununterbrochen auf und ab. Deshalb war es auch schwierig, einen guten Moment zu finden, um die anderen in der Spitzengruppe abzuhängen. Aber als ich bemerkte, dass ich eine kleine Lücke hatte, gab ich einfach nach der Kurve Vollgas. Danach ging es nur noch darum, alleine bis zur Ziellinie zu überleben. Es ist unglaublich, dass ich jetzt bei allen drei Grand Tours einen Etappensieg holen konnte. Ich danke meinen Teamkollegen und dem gesamten Team hier bei der Vuelta für ihre tolle Unterstützung. Das weiß ich wirklich zu schätzen.“ – Lennard Kämna

„Wir wollten Lenni die Möglichkeit geben, heute um den Etappensieg zu fahren, während die anderen Jungs Aleks und Cian im Peloton unterstützen sollten. Und am Ende war es ein unglaublicher Tag. Lenni hat Etappen bei allen Grand Tours gewonnen, was eine große Leistung ist. Und zurück im Peloton hat sich Aleks sehr gut gezeigt, während Cian auch mit dabei war. Die Etappe war extrem schwer und vom Parcours her extrem anspruchsvoll. Wir sind froh, dass wir den Tag so abschließen konnten. Also wir sind sehr zufrieden und hoffen, dass es so hier bei der Vuelta weitergeht.“ – Bernie Eisel, Sportlicher Leiter

Kämna completes his Grand Tour trilogy

Among the fiercest attackers of today’s peloton, Lennard Kämna (Bora-Hansgrohe) surged to victory in a very demanding stage 9 of La Vuelta 23. The German champ was the strongest from the breakaway that emerged after an impressive battle through the wind. He takes his first La Vuelta stage win after previous successes in the Tour de France and the Giro d’Italia. The peloton split on several occasions, with Jumbo-Visma and Soudal Quick-Step showing their determination to turn the race upside down. But the riders lagging behind always got back until Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) and Aleksandr Vlasov (Bora-Hansgrohe) opened a small gap on the slopes up Collado de la Cruz de Caravaca. Sepp Kuss (Jumbo-Visma) takes La Roja into the rest day.

On the eve of the rest day, the peloton of La Vuelta 23 face an unprecedented summit finish atop Collado de la Cruz de Caravaca. And Jumbo-Visma are determined to bring battle again, with a windy start. Sepp Kuss, Primoz Roglic and Jonas Vingegaard split the bunch from the start!

Echelons from the gun

Wilco Kelderman, Jan Tratnik, Attila Valter and Dylan van Baarle drive the first echelon with their leaders. Only six riders manage to follow their move: Remco Evenepoel, Mattia Cattaneo (Soudal Quick-Step), Matevz Govekar (Bahrain Victorious), Aleksandr Vlasov, Nico Denz and Emanuel Buchmann (Bora-Hansgrohe).

The leaders cover 50.1km in the first hour and build gap of up to 45’’ to the first peloton, driven by Movistar, UAE Team Emirates and Bahrain Victorious. The chasers get back to the attackers on the first ascent of the day, the cat-1 Puerto Casas de la Marina la Perdiz (summit at km 60.1).

More echelons!
As the race eases up a bit, six riders go on the move: Amanuel Gehbreigzabhier (Lidl-Trek), Lennard Kämna (Bora-Hansgrohe), Matteo Sobrero (Jayco AlUla), Ruben Fernandez (Cofidis), Dani Navarro (Burgos-BH) and Jon Barrenetxea (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA). Chris Hamilton (DSM-Firmenich) and then Jonathan Caicedo (EF Education-EasyPost) join them to make it a 8-man breakaway.
The gap increases to 8’35’’ but the peloton hit another wind exposed section as the race enters the last 80 kilometres. Soudal Quick-Step, Bora-Hansgrohe and Jumbo-Visma collaborate to split the bunch. Only 22 riders remain in the first group. Two contenders from the GC top-10 are caught behind: Lenny Martinez (Groupama-FDJ) and Wout Poels (Bahrain Victorious).

The gap between the first two pelotons goes up to 1’05’’. Groupama-FDJ drive the chase and bridge the gap with 55km to go. The eight leaders are 3’35’’ away.

Kämna goes solo
The gap increases towards the final climb (8km at 5.6% with irregular slopes). With a lead of 5 minutes, Gehbreigzabhier, Kämna, Caicedo, Sobrero, Fernandez, Hamilton, Navarro and Barrenetxea are set to battle for the stage win.
Kämna goes solo into the last 5 kilometres. Sobrero tries to resist but the German champ powers to his first La Vuelta stage win with a gap of 30’’.

In the GC battle, the times are taken 2km before the line due to the weather conditions. Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) attacks with 3Km to go and opens a small gap alongside Aleksandr Vlasov (Bora-Hansgrohe).

La Vuelta 23 8. Etappe

Ergebnisse, Etappenrennen, Strassenrennen, , , , ,

Dénia – Xorret de Catí. Costa Blanca Interior – 165 Km

1 ROGLIČ Primož SLO JUMBO-VISMA 04:13:52
2 EVENEPOEL Remco BEL SOUDAL QUICK-STEP 00:00
3 AYUSO Juan ESP UAE TEAM EMIRATES 00:00
4 MAS Enric ESP MOVISTAR TEAM 00:02
5 VINGEGAARD Jonas DEN JUMBO-VISMA 00:02
6 GONCALVES ALMEIDA Joao POR UAE TEAM EMIRATES 00:02
7 KUSS Sepp USA JUMBO-VISMA 00:02
8 SOLER Marc ESP UAE TEAM EMIRATES 00:02
9 POELS Wout NED BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS 00:34
10 VLASOV Aleksandr BORA – HANSGROHE 00:39
11 LANDA Mikel ESP BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS 00:41
12 CARTHY Hugh John GBR EF EDUCATION – EASYPOST 01:00
13 MARTINEZ Lenny FRA GROUPAMA – FDJ 01:10
14 UIJTDEBROEKS Cian BEL BORA – HANSGROHE 01:10
15 LOPEZ PEREZ Juan Pedro ESP LIDL-TREK 01:16
16 DE LA CRUZ David ESP ASTANA QAZAQSTAN TEAM 01:18
17 BUITRAGO SANCHEZ Santiago COL BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS 01:44
18 STORER Michael AUS GROUPAMA – FDJ 01:44
19 RUBIO REYES Einer Augusto COL MOVISTAR TEAM 01:48
20 CEPEDA Jefferson ECU CAJA RURAL-SEGUROS RGA 01:48

Gesamt:

1 KUSS Sepp USA JUMBO-VISMA 30:51:06
2 SOLER Marc ESP UAE TEAM EMIRATES 00:43
3 MARTINEZ Lenny FRA GROUPAMA – FDJ 01:00
4 POELS Wout NED BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS 02:05
5 LANDA Mikel ESP BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS 02:29
6 EVENEPOEL Remco BEL SOUDAL QUICK-STEP 02:31
7 ROGLIČ Primož SLO JUMBO-VISMA 02:38
8 VINGEGAARD Jonas DEN JUMBO-VISMA 02:42
9 MAS Enric ESP MOVISTAR TEAM 02:42
10 AYUSO Juan ESP UAE TEAM EMIRATES 02:52
11 GONCALVES ALMEIDA Joao POR UAE TEAM EMIRATES 03:09
12 DE LA CRUZ David ESP ASTANA QAZAQSTAN TEAM 03:31
13 CRAS Steff BEL TOTALENERGIES 03:44
14 CARTHY Hugh John GBR EF EDUCATION – EASYPOST 03:53
15 VLASOV Aleksandr BORA – HANSGROHE 04:05
16 UIJTDEBROEKS Cian BEL BORA – HANSGROHE 04:08
17 CEPEDA Jefferson ECU CAJA RURAL-SEGUROS RGA 04:08
18 LOPEZ PEREZ Juan Pedro ESP LIDL-TREK 04:44
19 RUBIO REYES Einer Augusto COL MOVISTAR TEAM 05:00
20 BUITRAGO SANCHEZ Santiago COL BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS 05:32
21 RODRIGUEZ MARTIN Cristian ESP TEAM ARKEA – SAMSIC 06:19
22 ROCHAS Remy FRA COFIDIS 06:21
23 THOMAS Geraint GBR INEOS GRENADIERS 08:43

La Vuelta 23 7. Etappe

Ergebnisse, Etappenrennen, , , , , ,

Utiel – Oliva – 189 Km

1 SOUPE Geoffrey FRA TOTALENERGIES 04:56:29
2 AULAR SANABRIA Orluis Alberto VEN CAJA RURAL-SEGUROS RGA 00:00
3 THEUNS Edward BEL LIDL-TREK 00:00
4 MOLANO Juan Sebastian COL UAE TEAM EMIRATES 00:00
5 GROVES Kaden AUS ALPECIN-DECEUNINCK 00:00
6 VAN DEN BERG Marijn NED EF EDUCATION – EASYPOST 00:00
7 GONZALEZ LOPEZ David ESP CAJA RURAL-SEGUROS RGA 00:00
8 PAGE Hugo FRA INTERMARCHÉ – CIRCUS – WANTY 00:00
9 GANNA Filippo ITA INEOS GRENADIERS 00:00
10 GOVEKAR Matevž SLO BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS 00:00
11 CIMOLAI Davide ITA COFIDIS 00:00
12 SOBRERO Matteo ITA TEAM JAYCO ALULA 00:00
13 VENDRAME Andrea ITA AG2R CITROEN TEAM 00:00
14 GARCIA CORTINA Ivan ESP MOVISTAR TEAM 00:00
15 MENTEN Milan BEL LOTTO DSTNY 00:00

Gesamt:

1 MARTINEZ Lenny FRA GROUPAMA – FDJ 26:37:04
2 KUSS Sepp USA JUMBO-VISMA 00:08
3 SOLER Marc ESP UAE TEAM EMIRATES 00:51
4 POELS Wout NED BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS 01:41
5 CRAS Steff BEL TOTALENERGIES 01:48
6 LANDA Mikel ESP BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS 01:58
7 DE LA CRUZ David ESP ASTANA QAZAQSTAN TEAM 02:23
8 CEPEDA Jefferson ECU CAJA RURAL-SEGUROS RGA 02:30
9 EVENEPOEL Remco BEL SOUDAL QUICK-STEP 02:47
10 VINGEGAARD Jonas DEN JUMBO-VISMA 02:50
11 MAS Enric ESP MOVISTAR TEAM 02:50
12 ROGLIČ Primož SLO JUMBO-VISMA 02:58
13 CARTHY Hugh John GBR EF EDUCATION – EASYPOST 03:03
14 AYUSO Juan ESP UAE TEAM EMIRATES 03:06
15 UIJTDEBROEKS Cian BEL BORA – HANSGROHE 03:08
16 GONCALVES ALMEIDA Joao POR UAE TEAM EMIRATES 03:17
17 RUBIO REYES Einer Augusto COL MOVISTAR TEAM 03:22
18 VLASOV Aleksandr BORA – HANSGROHE 03:36
19 LOPEZ PEREZ Juan Pedro ESP LIDL-TREK 03:38
20 BUITRAGO SANCHEZ Santiago COL BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS 03:58
21 RODRIGUEZ MARTIN Cristian ESP TEAM ARKEA – SAMSIC 04:01
22 ROCHAS Remy FRA COFIDIS 04:39
23 THOMAS Geraint GBR INEOS GRENADIERS 05:21
24 VALTER Attila HUN JUMBO-VISMA 06:24
25 CARUSO Damiano ITA BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS 09:39
26 BUCHMANN Emanuel GER BORA – HANSGROHE 11:36

Soupe brings more French delights

Geoffrey Soupe (Total Energies) couldn’t believe it himself, but the Frenchman was the fastest in Oliva, where he won stage 7 of La Vuelta 23 ahead of Orluis Aular (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) and Edward Theuns (Lidl-Trek). At 35 years od, he takes his fifth professional win, by far the most prestigious! Making history as the youngest rider to ever lead a Grand Tour, Lenny Martinez (Groupama-FDJ) retained La Roja and will defend it on Saturday on the infamous slopes up Xorret de Cati.
As La Vuelta 23 returns to the valley after an exhilarating finish at the Observatorio Astrofisico de Javalambre, two riders rapidly set off to make the break of the day: José Herrada (Cofidis), participating in his ninth and last La Vuelta, and Ander Okamika (Burgos-BH), who already escaped on day 4.

Alpecin-Deceuninck control, Thomas goes down

Their lead is up to 2’35’’ at km 12 but Alpecin-Deceuninck already control the gap as they want to set a third winning sprint for Kaden Groves, already a winner in Tarragona (stage 4) and Burriana (stage 5). The gap stabilises at around 2 minutes.

Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) crashes 60 kilometres into the stage. The Welsh star appears to be in pain but he resumes racing.

Okamika pushes on

Okamika punctures with 110 kilometres to go. His breakaway companion Herrada waits for him and the peloton move closer: 1’35’’ into the last 100 kilometres.
The gap drops down under 20 seconds as they ride through Valencia. Herrada is caught with 67km to go but Okamika keeps on pushing. His lead gets back up to 1’15’’, before he gets caught with 41km to go.

Vingegaard and Soupe sprint
Groves dominates the intermediate sprint (34km to go) to increase his lead in the points standings. Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) seizes the opportunity to take 2 bonus seconds.
It’s a tortuous finale towards Oliva. Geoffrey Soupe (Total Energies) navigates the tricky last kilometre to power to victory ahead of Orluis Aular (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) and Edward Theuns (Lidl-Trek).

La Vuelta 23 6. Etappe Bergankunft

Ergebnisse, Etappenrennen, , , , , ,

La Vall d’Uixó – Observatorio Astrofísico de Javalambre – 181 Km

1 KUSS Sepp USA JUMBO-VISMA 04:27:29
2 MARTINEZ Lenny FRA GROUPAMA – FDJ 00:26
3 BARDET Romain FRA TEAM DSM-FIRMENICH 00:31
4 LANDA Mikel ESP BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS 00:46
5 SOLER Marc ESP UAE TEAM EMIRATES 00:46
6 POELS Wout NED BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS 01:03
7 RUBIO REYES Einer Augusto COL MOVISTAR TEAM 01:05
8 RODRIGUEZ MARTIN Cristian ESP TEAM ARKEA – SAMSIC 01:12
9 CRAS Steff BEL TOTALENERGIES 01:12
10 CEPEDA Jefferson ECU CAJA RURAL-SEGUROS RGA 01:26
11 BUITRAGO SANCHEZ Santiago COL BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS 01:32
12 VAN EETVELT Lennert BEL LOTTO DSTNY 01:32
13 DE LA CRUZ David ESP ASTANA QAZAQSTAN TEAM 01:38
14 CARTHY Hugh John GBR EF EDUCATION – EASYPOST 01:46
15 CASTROVIEJO Jonathan ESP INEOS GRENADIERS 02:15
16 LOPEZ PEREZ Juan Pedro ESP LIDL-TREK 02:28
17 BUCHMANN Emanuel GER BORA – HANSGROHE 02:33
18 ROGLIČ Primož SLO JUMBO-VISMA 02:52
19 VINGEGAARD Jonas DEN JUMBO-VISMA 02:52
20 AYUSO Juan ESP UAE TEAM EMIRATES 02:59
21 GONCALVES ALMEIDA Joao POR UAE TEAM EMIRATES 03:06
22 UIJTDEBROEKS Cian BEL BORA – HANSGROHE 03:06
23 MAS Enric ESP MOVISTAR TEAM 03:16
24 EVENEPOEL Remco BEL SOUDAL QUICK-STEP 03:24
25 VLASOV Aleksandr BORA – HANSGROHE 03:34

Gesamt:

1 MARTINEZ Lenny FRA GROUPAMA – FDJ 21:40:35
2 KUSS Sepp USA JUMBO-VISMA 00:08
3 SOLER Marc ESP UAE TEAM EMIRATES 00:51
4 POELS Wout NED BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS 01:41
5 CRAS Steff BEL TOTALENERGIES 01:48
6 LANDA Mikel ESP BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS 01:58
7 CEPEDA Jefferson ECU CAJA RURAL-SEGUROS RGA 02:06
8 DE LA CRUZ David ESP ASTANA QAZAQSTAN TEAM 02:23
9 EVENEPOEL Remco BEL SOUDAL QUICK-STEP 02:47
10 MAS Enric ESP MOVISTAR TEAM 02:50
11 VINGEGAARD Jonas DEN JUMBO-VISMA 02:52
12 ROGLIČ Primož SLO JUMBO-VISMA 02:58
13 CARTHY Hugh John GBR EF EDUCATION – EASYPOST 03:03
14 AYUSO Juan ESP UAE TEAM EMIRATES 03:06
15 UIJTDEBROEKS Cian BEL BORA – HANSGROHE 03:08
16 GONCALVES ALMEIDA Joao POR UAE TEAM EMIRATES 03:17
17 RUBIO REYES Einer Augusto COL MOVISTAR TEAM 03:22
18 VLASOV Aleksandr BORA – HANSGROHE 03:36
19 LOPEZ PEREZ Juan Pedro ESP LIDL-TREK 03:38
20 BUITRAGO SANCHEZ Santiago COL BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS 03:58
21 RODRIGUEZ MARTIN Cristian ESP TEAM ARKEA – SAMSIC 04:01
22 ROCHAS Remy FRA COFIDIS 04:39
23 THOMAS Geraint GBR INEOS GRENADIERS 04:57
24 ARENSMAN Thymen NED INEOS GRENADIERS 05:10
25 BARDET Romain FRA TEAM DSM-FIRMENICH 06:00
26 VALTER Attila HUN JUMBO-VISMA 06:24
27 CARUSO Damiano ITA BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS 09:39
28 QUINN Sean USA EF EDUCATION – EASYPOST 09:58
29 KAMNA Lennard GER BORA – HANSGROHE 10:22
30 BUCHMANN Emanuel GER BORA – HANSGROHE 11:36

Kuss and Martinez – 2 stars in Javalambre

An outstanding stage 6 of La Vuelta delivered historic results at the Observatorio Astrofisico de Javalambre. The American climber Sepp Kuss (Jumbo-Visma), participating in his third Grand Tour of the year, was the strongest from an impressive breakaway to take victory ahead of Lenny Martinez (Groupama-FDJ). The French wonderkid becomes the overall leader at 20 years old! Primoz Roglic and Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) ganged up against Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) to gain 30 seconds on the Belgian star. La Vuelta 23 started less than a week ago and the GC battle is already in full swing!
After two sprints dominated by Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck), La Vuelta 23 heads back to the mountain with a summit finish at the Observatorio Astrofisico de Javalambre, atop the cat-1 ascent of the Pico del Buitre (10.9km at 8%). With a prestigious stage win to claim, and potentially La Roja on the line, attackers are very much inspired.

An impressive battle towards Javalambre

It takes 70 kilometres of extremely hard battle for a group of 42 attackers to eventually make the break, including 11 riders from the GC top 25: Lenny Martinez (Groupama-FDJ), Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates), Sepp Kuss (Jumbo-Visma), Steff Cras (Total Energies), Wout Poels (Bahrain Victorious), Jefferson Cepeda (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA), David De La Cruz (Astana Qazaqstan), Rémy Rochas (Cofidis), Juanpe Lopez (Lidl-Trek), Mikel Landa (Bahrain Victorious), Hugh Carthy (EF Education-EasyPost) and Attila Valter (Jumbo-Visma). Andreas Kron (Lotto Dstny), already a stage winner in Barcelona, is also up there.
Soudal Quick-Step, Ineos Grenadiers and Movistar work together to control the break. The gap goes as high as 7 minutes. It quickly drops down towards the main ascent of the day… But at the bottom of the climb to the Observatorio Astrofisico de Javalambre, an already seriously reduced peloton still trails by 3’50’’.

Kuss, Martinez, Roglic… What a showdown!

Michael Storer (Groupama-FDJ) sets the pace at the front for Martinez. Einer Rubio (Movistar) attacks with 4 kilometres to go. Romain Bardet (DSM-Firmenich) and Lenny Martinez (Groupama-FDJ) are the quickest to react but Sepp Kuss (Jumbo-Visma) gets back to them and goes solo inside the last 3 kilometres. At the summit, he wins 26’’ ahead of Martinez… who takes La Roja 6’’ ahead of the American climber!
In the GC group, Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) attacks with 4km to go as well. Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) can’t react while Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) his Slovenian teammate at the front. The two of them collaborate to gain 7’’ on Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates), 14’’ on Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) and Cian Uijtdebroeks (Bora-Hansgrohe), 24’’ on Enric Mas (Movistar) and 32’’ on Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step).

La Vuelta 23 5. Etappe

Ergebnisse, Etappenrennen, Strassenrennen, , , , ,

Morella – Burriana – 186 Km

1 GROVES Kaden AUS ALPECIN-DECEUNINCK 04:23:43
2 GANNA Filippo ITA INEOS GRENADIERS 00:00
3 VAN GESTEL Dries BEL TOTALENERGIES 00:00
4 DAINESE Alberto ITA TEAM DSM-FIRMENICH 00:00
5 ASKEY Lewis GBR GROUPAMA – FDJ 00:00
6 THEUNS Edward BEL LIDL-TREK 00:00
7 GONZALEZ LOPEZ David ESP CAJA RURAL-SEGUROS RGA 00:00
8 SOUPE Geoffrey FRA TOTALENERGIES 00:00
9 EZQUERRA MUELA Jesus ESP BURGOS-BH 00:00
10 DRIZNERS Jarrad AUS LOTTO DSTNY 00:00
11 MOSCA Jacopo ITA LIDL-TREK 00:00
12 GARCIA CORTINA Ivan ESP MOVISTAR TEAM 00:00
13 PAGE Hugo FRA INTERMARCHÉ – CIRCUS – WANTY 00:00
14 AULAR SANABRIA Orluis Alberto VEN CAJA RURAL-SEGUROS RGA 00:00
15 VAN DEN BERG Marijn NED EF EDUCATION – EASYPOST 00:00
16 CIMOLAI Davide ITA COFIDIS 00:00
17 VENDRAME Andrea ITA AG2R CITROEN TEAM 00:00
18 GOVEKAR Matevž SLO BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS 00:00
19 BARRENETXEA GOLZARRI Jon ESP CAJA RURAL-SEGUROS RGA 00:00
20 BARTHE Cyril FRA BURGOS-BH 00:00

Gesamt:

1 EVENEPOEL Remco BEL SOUDAL QUICK-STEP 17:12:29
2 MAS Enric ESP MOVISTAR TEAM 00:11
3 MARTINEZ Lenny FRA GROUPAMA – FDJ 00:17
4 VINGEGAARD Jonas DEN JUMBO-VISMA 00:37
5 VLASOV Aleksandr BORA – HANSGROHE 00:39
6 UIJTDEBROEKS Cian BEL BORA – HANSGROHE 00:40
7 ROGLIČ Primož SLO JUMBO-VISMA 00:43
8 AYUSO Juan ESP UAE TEAM EMIRATES 00:44
9 SOLER Marc ESP UAE TEAM EMIRATES 00:48
10 GONCALVES ALMEIDA Joao POR UAE TEAM EMIRATES 00:49
11 ARENSMAN Thymen NED INEOS GRENADIERS 00:51
12 KUSS Sepp USA JUMBO-VISMA 00:55
13 VINE Jay AUS UAE TEAM EMIRATES 00:57
14 CRAS Steff BEL TOTALENERGIES 01:13
15 POELS Wout NED BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS 01:15
16 CEPEDA Jefferson ECU CAJA RURAL-SEGUROS RGA 01:17
17 THOMAS Geraint GBR INEOS GRENADIERS 01:17
18 DE LA CRUZ David ESP ASTANA QAZAQSTAN TEAM 01:22
19 ROCHAS Remy FRA COFIDIS 01:30
20 QUINN Sean USA EF EDUCATION – EASYPOST 01:45

Groves also loves Burriana

On the day after he claimed another victory in Catalunya (Tarragona), Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck) sprinted to victory in Burriana (Valencia), where he got the best of Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers) and Dries Van Gestel (Total Energies). This win is the 20th for an Australian rider in La Vuelta, with Groves joining Michael Matthews as the best Aussie scorers in the Spanish Grand Tour (3 victories each). Back to back wins in La Vuelta were only achieved by John Degenkolb (2014) and Sam Bennett (2022) in recent years. Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) chased bonus seconds on the eve of another mountain showdown up the Alto de Javalambre.

It’s a nervous start from Morella, with a peloton wary of crosswinds that could turn the race upside down on the way to a seaside finish in Burriana. Eddie Dunbar (Jayco AlUla) crashes in the neutral start and is forced to abandon. Riders try to get away as soon as the flag drops but the peloton don’t give them any margin.

Fagundez shines for Uruguay

After 16 kilometres of battle, Eric Fagundez (Burgos-BH) sets off and makes the break of the day. At the end of his first season in the WorldTour, the young rider shows his colour at the front as the third Uruguayan to ever participate in La Vuelta.
After 60 kilometres of racing, the gap reaches a maximum of 5’30’’. Alpecin-Deceuninck drive the bunch with Jason Osborne setting the pace on the day after Kaden Groves won in Tarragona.

Sepulveda chases the KOM points
The gap is down to 1’50’’ at the bottom of the cat-2 climb up Collado de Ibola (to be summited with 53.7km to go). Already a history maker as the first Argentinian to ever lead a standing in a Grand Tour, Eduardo Sepulveda (Lotto Dstny) sets off to bridge the gap to Fagundez and score more KOM points ahead of another mountain stage on Thursday.
Sepulveda catches Fagundez with 3km to go to the summit and drops a kilometre further up the road. At the summit, the Argentinian rider takes 5 KOM points. The peloton trail by 1’08’’.

The intermediate sprint for Evenepoel, the bunch sprint for Groves

Fagundez is caught by the bunch with 41km to go. Sepulveda is still 20’’ ahead. He is caught 3 kilometres further, with Alpecin-Deceuninck still driving the bunch.
Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) makes the most of the intermediate sprint to take 6 bonus seconds ahead of Kaden Groves.
The intensity keeps rising until the last kilometre. Alpecin-Deceuninck launch the sprint for Groves, who delivers another victory just ahead of Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers).

La Vuelta 23 3. Etappe

Ergebnisse, Etappenrennen, Strassenrennen, Teamnews, , , , ,

Súria – Arinsal – 158 Km

1 EVENEPOEL Remco BEL SOUDAL QUICK-STEP 04:15:39
2 VINGEGAARD Jonas DEN JUMBO-VISMA 00:01
3 AYUSO Juan ESP UAE TEAM EMIRATES 00:01
4 ROGLIČ Primož SLO JUMBO-VISMA 00:01
5 SOLER Marc ESP UAE TEAM EMIRATES 00:01
6 MAS Enric ESP MOVISTAR TEAM 00:01
7 MARTINEZ Lenny FRA GROUPAMA – FDJ 00:01
8 UIJTDEBROEKS Cian BEL BORA – HANSGROHE 00:01
9 GONCALVES ALMEIDA Joao POR UAE TEAM EMIRATES 00:01
10 VLASOV Aleksandr BORA – HANSGROHE 00:01
11 KELDERMAN Wilco NED JUMBO-VISMA 00:01
12 VINE Jay AUS UAE TEAM EMIRATES 00:10
13 CRAS Steff BEL TOTALENERGIES 00:13
14 KUSS Sepp USA JUMBO-VISMA 00:13
15 ARENSMAN Thymen NED INEOS GRENADIERS 00:21
16 HIRT Jan CZE SOUDAL QUICK-STEP 00:21
17 BUITRAGO SANCHEZ Santiago COL BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS 00:21
18 CEPEDA Jefferson ECU CAJA RURAL-SEGUROS RGA 00:25
19 BARDET Romain FRA TEAM DSM-FIRMENICH 00:31
20 KAMNA Lennard GER BORA – HANSGROHE 00:37

Gesamt:

1 EVENEPOEL Remco BEL SOUDAL QUICK-STEP 08:43:11
2 MAS Enric ESP MOVISTAR TEAM 00:05
3 MARTINEZ Lenny FRA GROUPAMA – FDJ 00:11
4 VINGEGAARD Jonas DEN JUMBO-VISMA 00:31
5 VLASOV Aleksandr BORA – HANSGROHE 00:33
6 UIJTDEBROEKS Cian BEL BORA – HANSGROHE 00:34
7 BARDET Romain FRA TEAM DSM-FIRMENICH 00:35
8 BUITRAGO SANCHEZ Santiago COL BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS 00:36
9 KELDERMAN Wilco NED JUMBO-VISMA 00:37
10 ROGLIČ Primož SLO JUMBO-VISMA 00:38
11 AYUSO Juan ESP UAE TEAM EMIRATES 00:38
12 SOLER Marc ESP UAE TEAM EMIRATES 00:42
13 GONCALVES ALMEIDA Joao POR UAE TEAM EMIRATES 00:43
14 ARENSMAN Thymen NED INEOS GRENADIERS 00:45
15 KUSS Sepp USA JUMBO-VISMA 00:49
16 VINE Jay AUS UAE TEAM EMIRATES 00:51
17 KAMNA Lennard GER BORA – HANSGROHE 01:07
18 CRAS Steff BEL TOTALENERGIES 01:07
19 POELS Wout NED BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS 01:09
20 CEPEDA Jefferson ECU CAJA RURAL-SEGUROS RGA 01:11
21 THOMAS Geraint GBR INEOS GRENADIERS 01:11
22 BERNAL Egan COL INEOS GRENADIERS 01:11

Evenepoel strikes early

Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) came to La Vuelta 23 to defend his overall victory from 2022 and he immediately showed how strong he is this year again. On day 3, the Belgian superstar dominated the first summit finish of the 78th edition of the Spanish Grand Tour, atop the unprecedented ascent of Arinsal in Andorra. Not only did he get the best of Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma), Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates) and Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) on the line, he also took La Roja as the new overall leader of the race. Enric Mas (Movistar) and French wonderkid Lenny Martinez (Groupama-FDJ) are his closest rivals in the general classification.

With a sunny start and high summits looming on the horizon, attackers launch a very hard battle for the break. It takes a flurry of accelerations and more than 35 kilometres for nine riders to escape: Damiano Caruso, Jasha Sütterlin (Bahrain Victorious), Amanuel Gehbreigzabhier (Lidl-Trek), Lennard Kämna (Bora-Hansgrohe), Eduardo Sepulveda (Lotto Dstny), Andrea Vendrame (AG2R Citroën), Rune Herregodts (Intermarché-Circus-Wanty), Pierre Latour (TotalEnergies) and Jon Barrenetxea (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA).

After 60 kilometres of hard racing, Mathis Le Berre (Arkea-Samsic) and Jose Manuel Diaz (Burgos-BH) join the earlier attackers to make it a 11-man breakaway. The gap is at its maximum: 5 minutes. And Damiano Caruso, a podium finisher in the Giro, only trailed by 23’’ in the overall standings ahead of the stage. Jumbo-Visma, Soudal Quick-Step and Ineos Grenadiers react and pull the bunch.

Caruso ups the ante

The race enters Andorra with 51.4km to go and the gap is down to under 3 minutes at the bottom of cat-1 climb to Coll d’Ordino (8.9km at 5.1%, leading to an altitude of 1,980m). Caruso ups the ante at the front. Only Sepulveda and Kämna can keep up while DSM-Firmenich drive the bunch.
Romain Bardet (DSM-Firmenich) sets off in the last 2 kilometres of ascent but Jumbo-Visma, Soudal Quick-Step and UAE Team Emirates control his moves. They trail by 1’05’’ at Coll d’Ordino (21.4km to go).

Evenepoel powers to La Roja
Caruso sets the pace on the downhill and Sepulveda is dropped. At the bottom of the final and unprecedented climb to Arinsal (8.3km at 7.7%), Caruso and Kämna are 1’20’’ away from the GC group. After a series of attacks, the German baroudeur eventually drops the Italian climber with 3km to go. Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates) drives the bunch with a gap of 30’’.

Kämna is caught by nine riders with 2 kilometres to go. Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates) tries to counter-attack. Sepp Kuss (Jumbo-Visma) controls his move… But nobody can match Remco Evenepoel’s acceleration inside the last 200 metres. The Belgian superstar powers to the stage win and claims La Roja.

La Vuelta 23 1. Etappe: Barcelona – Barcelona – TTT – 14,6 Km

Ergebnisse, Etappenrennen, Zeitfahren, , , , ,

Ein Witz diese Veranstaltung, bei Dauerregen und in der Dunkelheit ein Teamzeitfahren zu starten, muß erst wieder ein schlimmer Sturz passieren?
Den Regen kann man nicht beeinflussen, die Startzeit aber sehr wohl…………

1 TEAM DSM-FIRMENICH NED TEAM DSM-FIRMENICH 00:17:30
2 MOVISTAR TEAM ESP MOVISTAR TEAM 00:00
3 EF EDUCATION – EASYPOST USA EF EDUCATION – EASYPOST 00:06
4 SOUDAL QUICK-STEP BEL SOUDAL QUICK-STEP 00:06
5 GROUPAMA – FDJ FRA GROUPAMA – FDJ 00:06
6 BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS BRN BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS 00:10
7 ASTANA QAZAQSTAN TEAM KAZ ASTANA QAZAQSTAN TEAM 00:17
8 INEOS GRENADIERS GBR INEOS GRENADIERS 00:20
9 COFIDIS FRA COFIDIS 00:22
10 BORA – HANSGROHE GER BORA – HANSGROHE 00:28
11 JUMBO-VISMA NED JUMBO-VISMA 00:32
12 INTERMARCHÉ – CIRCUS – WANTY BEL INTERMARCHÉ – CIRCUS – WANTY 00:33
13 LOTTO DSTNY BEL LOTTO DSTNY 00:34
14 UAE TEAM EMIRATES UAE UAE TEAM EMIRATES 00:37
15 ALPECIN-DECEUNINCK BEL ALPECIN-DECEUNINCK 00:41
16 CAJA RURAL-SEGUROS RGA ESP CAJA RURAL-SEGUROS RGA 00:42
17 AG2R CITROEN TEAM FRA AG2R CITROEN TEAM 00:48
18 TOTALENERGIES FRA TOTALENERGIES 00:50
19 TEAM JAYCO ALULA AUS TEAM JAYCO ALULA 00:51
20 LIDL-TREK USA LIDL-TREK 00:56
21 BURGOS-BH ESP BURGOS-BH 01:13
22 TEAM ARKEA – SAMSIC FRA TEAM ARKEA – SAMSIC 01:18

Gesamt:
1 MILESI Lorenzo ITA TEAM DSM-FIRMENICH 00:17:30
2 POOLE David Max GBR TEAM DSM-FIRMENICH 00:00
3 BARDET Romain FRA TEAM DSM-FIRMENICH 00:00
4 FLYNN Sean GBR TEAM DSM-FIRMENICH 00:00
5 ONLEY Edgar Oscar GBR TEAM DSM-FIRMENICH 00:00
6 HAMILTON Christopher AUS TEAM DSM-FIRMENICH 00:00
7 MAS Enric ESP MOVISTAR TEAM 00:00
8 RUBIO REYES Einer Augusto COL MOVISTAR TEAM 00:00
9 OLIVEIRA Nelson POR MOVISTAR TEAM 00:00
10 GARCIA CORTINA Ivan ESP MOVISTAR TEAM 00:00
11 ERVITI Imanol ESP MOVISTAR TEAM 00:00
12 BISSEGGER Stefan SUI EF EDUCATION – EASYPOST 00:06
13 VAN DEN BERG Marijn NED EF EDUCATION – EASYPOST 00:06
14 CAICEDO Jonathan ECU EF EDUCATION – EASYPOST 00:06
15 PICCOLO Andrea ITA EF EDUCATION – EASYPOST 00:06
16 CAMARGO PINEDA Diego Andres COL EF EDUCATION – EASYPOST 00:06
17 CARTHY Hugh John GBR EF EDUCATION – EASYPOST 00:06
18 EVENEPOEL Remco BEL SOUDAL QUICK-STEP 00:06
19 CATTANEO Mattia ITA SOUDAL QUICK-STEP 00:06
20 PEDERSEN Phillip Casper DEN SOUDAL QUICK-STEP 00:06
21 BAGIOLI Andrea ITA SOUDAL QUICK-STEP 00:06
22 VERVAEKE Louis BEL SOUDAL QUICK-STEP 00:06

Milesi, from the rainbow to La Roja

From the world championships to La Vuelta, Lorenzo Milesi is enjoying a formidable August. The Italian youngster, winner of the rainbow jersey in the Under 23 individual time trial, is the first leader of the 78th edition of the Spanish Grand Tour after he led Team DSM-Firmenich to victory in the opening team time-trial. The German squad went early, as thunder roared over Barcelona, and nobody ever managed to overthrow them. Movistar came the closest, only trailing by half a second, while Remco Evenepoel’s Soudal Quick-Step lost 6’’ and Jumbo-Visma 32’’. La Vuelta 23 begins with a spectacular surprise!

The 78th edition of La Vuelta starts from Barcelona with a 14.8km team time trial visiting some of the most iconic areas of the city. The riders will start from the coast, on the Somorrostro beach, and ride through the city, passing by iconic monuments such as the Sagrada Familia, until the finish on the avenue Reina Maria Cristina, next to Plaza de España.

DSM-Firmenich set the reference in the rain

The first team to start is Caja Rural Seguros RGA, at 18:55, followed by DSM-Firmenich 4 minutes later, and then Lidl-Trek at 19:03. They do so under a grey sky, after a few sunny and hot days in Barcelona. The thunder roars and the rain wets the roads.
In these conditions, DSM-Firmenich set the first strong reference: 17’30’’ to cover the 14.8km with a powerhouse such as Lorenzo Milesi, the U23 ITT world champion crowned a couple of weeks ago in Scotland.

A very wet final kilometre
Arkea-Samsic have a much different experience when Hugo Hofstetter’s wheels slip in the final kilometres, taking down his leader Kevin Vauquelin, who drops over a minute. Bahrain Victorious (+10’’), EF Education-EasyPost (+6’’) and then Groupama-FDJ (+6’’) are more successful but DSM-Firmenich hold on to the best time.

The final kilometre is particularly wet, which also leads to crashes for Maurice Ballerstedt (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and Eddie Dunbar (Jayco-AlUla). Laurens De Plus goes down earlier in the race and Ineos Grenadiers finish with a time of 17’50’’ (+20’’).

Movistar come agonisingly close
Jumbo-Visma also struggle, trailing by 28’’ after 9.6km and eventually dropping 32’’ on the line. Enric Mas’ Movistar come much closer, only dropping half a second on the line! But when Remco Evenepoel’s Soudal Quick-Step finish with a gap of 6’’, DSM-Firmenich seal the win and Lorenzo Milesi takes La Roja.

LA Vuelta 23: REMCO & CO, IN SEARCH OF LOST TIME

Etappenrennen, Vorschau, , ,

Remco Evenepoel, the defending champion of La Vuelta, has changed his race programme in order to defend his title, and at the very start of the 2023 season it was not expressly planned that Geraint Thomas and Egan Bernal would be at the official start in Barcelona either, unlike Richard Carapaz who was due to go there after the Tour de France. Faced with the Jumbo-Visma duo of Primoz Roglic and Jonas Vingegaard, for whom everything went as they wished at the Giro d’Italia and Tour de France, four other Grand Tour winners are preparing for La Vuelta.
There were eight of them in Utrecht last year: already Roglic and Carapaz, Jai Hindley, Tao Geoghegan Hart, Simon Yates, Vincenzo Nibali, Alejandro Valverde and Chris Froome, but the last three had excluded themselves from the list of favourites, as they were rather in the twilight of their careers, even if the Briton wasn’t within two months of his sporting retirement like the Italian and the Spaniard.
Evenepoel’s career plan was all mapped out: La Vuelta 22, Giro d’Italia 2023, Tour de France 2024 (with a Monaco-Nice time trial as a conclusion, on the Belgian national day). This fine schedule was disrupted by a Covid-19 infection halfway through the Giro, when he had just reclaimed the pink jersey thanks to a narrower-than-usual time trial victory.

Less than a week after his withdrawal, Patrick Lefévère ruled out the possibility of taking part in another Grand Tour this year, due to a lack of time to prepare for the Tour de France and because “nobody would accept any result from him other than the final victory in La Vuelta because he’s already won it”, argued the manager of Soudal-Quick Step, who has since changed his mind under pressure from his protégé, who on 10 July told his fans: “See you in Barcelona”. “When I see the level at which he has returned and the desire he shows, I can only grant his request,” explained the Belgian. “Remco wants to take on big challenges.” And he lives in Spain now, in the Community of Valencia.

The cycling calendar meant that he was the world champion just over ten months instead of twelve, between his triumph in Australia, after La Vuelta 22, and his twenty-fifth place in Scotland on a circuit hardly suited to him, following his third title in the San Sebastian Classic. Unless he takes a distinctive jersey at the end of the inaugural team time trial, he will wear the Belgian champion’s jersey for Elite road racing for the first time at the start of stage 2 in Mataró on August 27.

Like Evenepoel, Thomas had the Giro as his main objective for 2023 after having occupied every podium place in the Tour de France: first in 2018, second in 2019, third in 2022. In the time trial on the eve of the grand finale in Rome, he cruelly lost the pink jersey he had been wearing since Remco’s withdrawal, with the exception of a two-day interlude by Bruno Armirail, to Primoz Roglic by just fourteen seconds. After speculating about a rematch at the La Vuelta two days after the Giro, the Welshman made his participation official on 22 June, in the Watts Occurring podcast that he hosts with team-mate Luke Rowe.
His one and only appearance in the Spanish three-week race was not a memorable one, given that he has eighteen Grand Tours to his name. That was in 2015. As he did then in the Tour de France at the time, he had to ride at the service of Chris Froome, who suffered a fractured foot mid-race in Andorra, but he didn’t find any space to express himself after that, with his best place being twelfth in the Burgos time trial, 2’28’’ behind Tom Dumoulin (and 69th in the final overall classification).
Aged 37, Thomas knows his time is running out and if he returns to La Vuelta, it’s with the feeling that he hasn’t yet explored all the possibilities professional cycling has on offer. He has geared up seriously, both at altitude and at the Tour of Poland (third in the time trial held as a test before the world championship).
Geraint Thomas hasn’t raced a Grand Tour with Egan Bernal since the 2019 Tour de France, where they finished second and first respectively. The year before, when he joined Team Sky, the Colombian was possibly due to make his three-week race debut at La Vuelta 18, as was only logical in the promising career of a climber from the Andes mountain range, but after his victory in the Tour of California in May, the British team, fearing a shortage of mountain power while Chris Froome was struggling at the Giro, which he ended up winning, selected him for the Tour de France. And he proved invaluable to Thomas!

Since then, the prodigy from Zipaquirá has won the 2021 Giro, from which he hadn’t fully recovered when he took part in La Vuelta 21 two and a half months later: sixth overall, still 13’27’’ down on Roglic, and his best stage finish was fourth on the Alto del Gamoniteiru. He even lost the white jersey of best young rider at the very end, overtaken by the late Gino Mäder. He is still in the process of rebuilding his body and his shape after his terrible accident in January 2022. After finishing 36th in the recent Tour de France, he concluded positively: “The race pace I picked would have been impossible to reach in training.” As a result, he declared himself highly motivated for a return to La Vuelta, while remaining cautious about his performance targets.
Of the six Grand Tour winners who have expressed their intention to take part in La Vuelta 23, Richard Carapaz is the only one, along with Roglic, to have already been on the podium in all three: winner of the Giro in 2019 and second in 2022, second in La Vuelta 20 and third in the Tour de France 2021. Last year, after a tricky start to the Spanish race, he shifted his ambitions to stage wins (three) and inherited the blue polka-dot jersey after Jay Vine crashed.
As soon as he joined the EF Education-EasyPost team last winter, he scheduled two Grand Tours. La Vuelta remains his only chance of doing one and finishing on a Grand Tour podium for the fifth year in a row, as he crashed on stage 1 of the Tour de France at the same time as Enric Mas on the descent of El Vivero in Bilbao. He returned to Ecuador to treat a small fracture in his kneecap. His entire 2023 season will be decided from Barcelona to Madrid.

La Vuelta 23: Teams selection

Etappenrennen, Vorschau, , ,

The organizers of La Vuelta have chosen the teams that will take part in the 78th edition of the Spanish Grand Tour. La Vuelta 23 will start on Saturday the 26th of August and finish on Sunday the 17th of September.
In accordance with UCI rules, the following 18 UCI WorldTeams are automatically invited to the race:

• AG2R Citroen Team (FRA)
• Alpecin-Deceuninck (BEL)
• Astana Qazaqstan Team (KAZ)
• Bahrain Victorious (BRN)
• Bora – Hansgrohe (GER)
• Cofidis (FRA)
• EF Education – Easypost (USA)
• Groupama – FDJ (FRA)
• Ineos Grenadiers (GBR)
• Intermarché – Circus – Wanty (BEL)
• Jumbo-Visma (NED)
• Movistar Team (ESP)
• Soudal Quick-Step (BEL)
• Team Arkea – Samsic (FRA)
• Team DSM (NED)
• Team Jayco Alula (AUS)
• Trek – Segafredo (USA)
• UAE Team Emirates (UAE)

Furthermore, Lotto Dstny (BEL) and TotalEnergies (FRA), leaders in the 2022 classification of UCI ProTeams will take part by right in La Vuelta 23.
In addition to these 20 teams, the organizers have awarded the following wildcards:

• Burgos-BH (ESP)
• Caja Rural-SegurosRGA (ESP)

XXXII Garden Hotels-Luxcom Mallorca Cycling Challenge Palma-Palma 142 Km

Eintagsrennen, Ergebnisse, , , , ,


Alle Fotos von Plomi

1 VERNON Ethan GBR SOUDAL QUICK-STEP 03:17:57
2 GIRMAY Biniam ERI INTERMARCHÉ-CIRCUS-WANTY 00:00
3 VAN DE PAAR Jarne BEL LOTTO DSTNY 00:00
4 GARCÍA CORTINA Iván ESP MOVISTAR TEAM 00:00
5 MOLANO Sebastian COL UAE TEAM EMIRATES 00:00
6 ANIOLKOWSKI Stanislaw POL HUMAN POWERED HEALTH 00:00
7 VAN ASBROECK Tom BEL ISRAEL-PREMIER TECH 00:00
8 BABOR Daniel CZE CAJA RURAL-SEGUROS RGA 00:00
9 ZINGLE Axel FRA COFIDIS 00:00
10 DOULL Owain GBR EF EDUCATION-EASYPOST 00:00
11 EINHORN Itamar ISR ISRAEL-PREMIER TECH 00:00
12 CANAL Carlos ESP EUSKALTEL-EUSKADI 00:00
13 WALLS Matthew GBR BORA-HANSGROHE 00:00
14 ROJAS José Joaquin ESP MOVISTAR TEAM 00:00
15 GRONDIN Donavan FRA TEAM ARKÉA-SAMSIC 00:00
16 MARTIN MUÑOZ Jose Maria ESP ELECTRO HIPER EUROPA 00:00
17 MARTIN David ESP EOLO-KOMETA CYCLING TEAM 00:00
18 SOTO Antonio ESP EUSKALTEL-EUSKADI 00:00
19 MAESTRI Mirco ITA EOLO-KOMETA CYCLING TEAM 00:00
20 FIORELLI Filippo ITA GREEN PROJECT-BARDIANI CSF-FAIZANÈ 00:00

Before a spectacular setting such as the Cathedral of Palma, Ethan Vernon (Soudal Quick-Step) has been awarded the last trophy of the XXXII Garden Hotels-Luxcom Challenge Ciclista Mallorca to the sprint, beating Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Circus-Wanty) and Jarne van de Paar (Lotto-Dstny), second and third, respectively.

The British sprinter snapped the Intermarché-Circus-Wanty team’s winning streak in what could have been a perfect week of victories, having won three of the first four trophies contested. Vernon said at the end that “it seemed like a chase on the track, my first victory of the season and so early fills me with satisfaction.”

A four-man breakaway managed to establish a margin from the start, with Xabier Berasategi (Euskaltel-Euskadi), Ivan Cobo Cayon (Kern Pharma Team), Vincent Van Hemelen (Team Flanders-Baloise) and Marc Terrasa (Aluminios Cortizo), who arrived to reach an advantage of more than a minute and a half over the peloton, which at all times had them under control.
With 18 km to go, the compact group began the 3.5 km circuit in Palma and after four laps, they reached the sprint, with the victory of Vernon.

Matt Walls im Sprint bei der Trofeo Palma nicht in den Top Ten

Am letzten Tag der Mallorca Challenge wartete auf das Feld heute eine flache Strecke Richtung Palma. Nachdem das Rennen über weite Teile von einer vier Mann Ausreißergruppe bestimmt wurde, sorgten die Sprinterteams am Ende rechtzeitig für einen Zusammenschluss. BORA – hansgrohe versuchte Matt Walls vor der entscheidenden Spitzkehre 500 m vor dem Ziel in Position zu bringen. Dies gelang leider nicht ganz nach Wunsch und der Olympiasieger erreichte das Ziel am Ende außerhalb der Top Ten.

Von der Ziellinie

“Wir hatten uns viel vorgenommen und waren am Ende auch sehr präsent. Leider hat die Abstimmung im Finale nicht ganz gepasst und Matt hat seine Teamkollegen verloren. In der letzten Kurve war er einfach nicht in Position und so hat es am Ende leider nicht für ein Topergebnis gereicht. Unsere Bilanz hier nach fünf Rennen fällt eher gemischt aus. Ich denke, die Jungs sind besser in Form als das die Ergebnisse zeigen. Aber zufrieden können wir mit dieser Woche dennoch nicht sein. Wir wissen aber nach dieser Standortbestimmung woran wir zu arbeiten haben.” – Torsten Schmidt, Sportlicher Leiter