Bicycle Racing News and Opinion,
Sunday, February 13, 2022
Back to news and opinion index page for links to archived stories | Commentary | Our YouTube page
2021 Tour de France | 2021 Giro d'Italia
Mothers all want their sons to grow up to be president, but they don't want them to become politicians in the process. - John F. Kennedy
Bill and Carol McGann's book The Story of the Giro d'Italia, A Year-by-Year History of the Tour of Italy, Vol 1: 1909 - 1970 is available as an audiobook here. For the print and Kindle eBook versions, just click on the Amazon link on the right.
Current racing:
- Feb 10 - 13: Tour de la Provence
- Feb 10 - 15: Tour of Oman
- Feb 13: Clasica de Almeria
Upcoming racing:
- Feb 16 - 20: Vuelta Cicista Andalucia - Ruta del Sol
- Feb 16- 20: Volta ao Algarve
- Feb 18 - 20: Tour des Alpes
Latest completed racing:
- Feb 12, 2022: Gavere Cyclocross
- Feb 12: Vuelta de Murcia
- Feb 2 - 6: Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana
- Feb 2 - 6: Etoile de Bessèges
- Feb 1 -5: Saudi Tour
- Jan 26 - 30, 2022: Challenge Illes Balears
- Jan 30: GP Cycliste la Marseillaise
- Jan 23 - 29 Santos Festival of Cycling
We posted the organizer’s report with the results.
Here's the report from Rui Costa's UAE Team Emirates:
Rui Costa put in an aggressive display to clinch 5th place on the short but steep final climb on Stage 3 of the Tour of Oman from Sultan Qaboos University to Qurayyat (180km).
The final slope to Qurayyat of 2.8km at 6.9% saw the pack reduce quickly as Costa set-off from the lead group with an attack at 2km from the line. The pack gave chase and Anthon Charmig (Uno-X) surprised the favourites with an attack to take the stage win.
Anthon Charmig takes the third stage of the Tour of Oman.
Following Fernando Gaviria’s win on Thursday, Costa now moves into a strong position in the General Classification in 4th place at 12’’ from the race leader Charmig, with Ryan Gibbons also to the fore in 9th place at 17’’.
The Tour of Oman continues tomorrow with Stage 4 from Al Sifah to Mucat (119.5km) with an undulating parcours which could see a strong break go to the line.
Here's the Tour of Oman report from Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert:
After two days suited for sprinters, the third stage this Saturday offered the possibility to the contenders of the general classification on the final climb towards Qurayyat (2.8km at 7%). After the start in front of the Sultan Qaboos University, the riders had to accomplish 180 kilometer through the Hajar mountains before this explosive finish.
The day began with a breakaway of six riders containing Kévin Van Melsen. In the peloton, the riders under the direction of Valerio Piva stayed together and benefited from their advantageous position as they didn’t have to take any responsibility in the chase behind the escapees. Van Melsen was one of the race leaders until the second and last intermediate sprint which was positioned 20 kilometer before the finish.
Once the breakaway had been caught, a complete peloton approached the final climb towards Qurayyat. Climber Jan Hirt was the first one to attack with one kilometer to go and it looked like a decisive effort. The Czech climber was overtaken just before the line by Danish rider Charming (Uno-X). Estonian rider Rein Taaramäe and Frenchman Hugo Page took 6th and 14th place respectively and accompany Hirt in the top 10 of the general classification after this first hilly stage.
More hills are scheduled this Sunday between Al Sifah and the Royal Opera House in Muscat. The Climb of Al Jabal (4km at 6.7%) has to be covered three times in the final of the stage of 119.5 kilometer.
“The team first ensured that we started the climb in a good position. I felt very good uphill, so I accelerated several times until I finally managed to create a gap. Explosive finals like these normally don't suit me very well, so I'm happy that I was able to battle for the victory here in Qurayyat. I'm happy with my good condition at the start of the season, which results of a three week altitude training camp in Colombia and training plans of my coach Ioannis Tamouridis.” - Jan Hirt
Content continues below the ads
We posted the report from winner Alessandro Covi's UAE Team Emirates with the results.
Here's the Vuelta de Murcia report from Jonas Koch's Bora-hansgrohe team:
The Vuelta Murcia in the south-east of Spain was on the schedule for BORA - hansgrohe today, consisting of 183.2 kilometres from Fortuna to Cartagena, with the climb of the day up to Alto Collado Bermejo. It was there that Toni Palzer crossed the mountain classification in third. During the second half of the race, Nils Politt was part of a four rider breakaway which was caught 23 kilometres from the finish line. While Alessandro Covi went on to take a solo win, Jonas Koch sprinted to 4th, just missing the podium.
Alessandro Covi wins in Murcia.
"I felt very well recovered from the Tour of Valencia and had a really good day today. As a team we showed a really strong race and we've had a nice spirit. Everyone has worked very hard and of course a podium would have been nice. But i'm super happy with my result and thankful i got the chance to go for it. Thanks to the team for the great work today!" - Jonas Koch
"I’m super happy with the race today! Toni launched an attack on the main climb of the day, set the pace in the peloton and made the race hard. Nils was part of the breakaway during the second part of the race and also showed a strong performance. On the last climb we were able to counter the attacks with a perfect team effort and work for Jonas. In the end Jonas sprinted to fourth, which is a strong result for ihm. Kudos to the whole team, I’m proud of how they’ve raced today." - Torsten Schmidt, Sports Director
Content continues below the ads
We posted the report from second-place Julian Alaphilppe's Quick Step-Alpha Vinyl team with the results.
Here's the report from team Movistar:
Quite a bit more linear than Friday’s chaotic crosswind day was stage two of the Tour de La Provence -180 km between Arles and Manosque-, with a quite hilly profile yet ultimately decided into a restricted field’s sprint, with Bryan Coquard (COF) victorious. Matteo Jorgenson, the top Movistar Team performer in France so far this week, crossed the finish line in a solid 8th place.
Bryan Coquard wins stage two in Manosque. Sirotti photo
The Blues’ GC contender was well protected, with Rojas, Norsgaard, Pedrero and Rodríguez keeping the Idaho rider covered until the final stages to help him retain a good position. The small splits over the line even helped him reach a step further ahead in the standings, sixth behind leader Filippo Ganna (IGD).
Jorgenson and the race’s last overall winner to date, Iván Sosa, will both seek for a good result on the decisive day of Provence, stage three finishing up La Montagne de Lure, a 16km ascent at 6% avg.
Content continues below the ads
Here’s the team’s update:
Two flat stages, two hilly ones both concluding with a summit finish (Alto da Foia and Alto do Malhão) and a 32.2km individual time trial – one of the longest of the entire season – will make up the course of the Volta ao Algarve. The race was won by our team on four occasions, most recently in 2020, when Remco Evenepoel put in a dominant display that netted him a comfortable victory in the general classification.
Remco Evenepoel time-trialing in the 2020 Volta ao Algarve.
The young Belgian will be back at the start, just two weeks after an impressive Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana, the first race for which he pinned on a number this season. Victorious on the first stage, Evenepoel went on the finish second in the overall standings and took home the best young rider jersey, after five days of racing during which he played an important role also in the lead-out train that catapulted Fabio Jakobsen to a pair of wins.
The 25-year-old Dutchman, winner of the Algarve points jersey two years ago, will return at the start and target the two flat stages (Lagos and Faro), part of a strong Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl team that is set to include also two ITT National Champions Kasper Asgreen and Yves Lampaert, Tim Declercq, Bert Van Lerberghe and Louis Vervaeke.
“We start again with a very good team. Remco will try to get a good result on the two uphill finishes, but also in the individual time trial, which will be a really nice test. But he isn’t the only one we look forward to see what he can do there, also for Yves and Kasper it will be important, and we’re curious to discover what Louis can do in such a long ITT. For the flat stages, Fabio will be our leader; he has shown his form already in Valencia and will count on Bert to lead him out. And, of course, there’s Tim, who did a very good Saudi Tour and can show his good condition again by controlling the race”, explained sports director Tom Steels.
Back to news and opinion index page for links to archived stories | Commentary