Bicycle Racing News and Opinion,
Wednesday, April 9, 2025
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2024 Tour de France | 2024 Giro d'Italia
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Current racing:
- April 7 - 12: Vuelta Ciclista al Pais Vasco
- April 8 - 12: Region Pays de la Loire Tour
- April 9: Scheldeprijs
Upcoming racing:
- April 13: Paris-Roubaix
- April 18: De Brabantse Pijl
Latest completed racing:
- April 6: Ronde van Vlaanderen
- April 5: GP Miguel Indurain
- April 5: Volta NXT Classic
- April 4: Route Adélie de Vitre
- April 2: Dwars door Vlaanderen
- April 2: Paris - Camembert Lepetit
- March 24 - 30: Volta Ciclista a Catalunya
- March 30: Gent - Wevelgem
- March 30: La Roue Tourangelle
We posted the report from stage winner Caleb Ewan's Team INEOS Grenadiers with the results.
Here's the report from second-place Luca Van Boven's Team Intermarché-Wanty:
This Tuesday 8th of April, Intermarché-Wanty finished close to the victory in the second stage of the Tour of the Basque Country, which was decided in a sprint, the day after the opening time trial of this six-day World Tour stage race.
Belgian rider Luca Van Boven secured second place in a perfectly orchestrated final sprint by the Walloon World Team. With a perfect lead out of his compatriot Tom Paquot in the last 800 meters, taking the final roundabout and corners first, Van Boven was ideally positioned to start the final straight.
The approach to the finish. Luca Van Boven is on the far right. Winner Caleb Ewan in the red INEOS jersey.
At the finish line in the streets of Lodosa, Van Boven was only defeated by Caleb Ewan, with Tom Paquot finishing eleventh. In doing so, he achieved the first podium of his professional career, which moreover is at World Tour level.
"We studied this finish and even though I'm not a pure sprinter, we wanted to take advantage of the technical final and my good condition to go for a result. Thanks to the fantastic work of Tom Paquot, I was perfectly led out and I was able to use my speed. In the last 250 meters I saw nobody coming and thought for a moment that I was sprinting towards the victory. But Caleb Ewan eventually passed me with much more speed in the last 50 meters. It's of course a shame to finish so close to the win, but I'm very happy with this first podium in the professional ranks with Intermarché-Wanty." - Luca Van Boven
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Here's the Basque Coputry Tour report from fourth-place Thibaud Gruel's Team Groupama-FDJ:
For the first time in his young career, Thibaud Gruel narrowly missed a WorldTour podium on Tuesday. In Lodosa, the finish of stage 2 of the Tour of the Basque Country, the Groupama-FDJ puncher joined the final sprint and claimed fourth place, which is his first top-5 finish in a race of this calibre. On Wednesday, the first gaps are expected after a hilly third stage.
For the few brave sprinters who made the trip to the Tour of the Basque Country, the first road stage scheduled on Tuesday was the only opportunity to grab a result this week. It was therefore imperative for them not to take any risks over the 186 kilometres between Pamplona and Lodosa, on slightly undulating terrain. Unsurprisingly, this was perfectly executed, as only five riders entered the breakaway, with a lead that never exceeded three minutes.
Within the peloton, the tension only came as they entered the last twenty kilometres, with a small hill followed by a wind-exposed section. However, no damage was recorded, and then the breakaway tried to stay away as much as possible in the final ten kilometres. The last man standing was caught with two kilometres to go, while Clément Braz Afonso and Romain Grégoire brought Thibaud Gruel back in the very first positions. “The day’s goal was to position Thibaud as best as possible before the road narrowed at 500 metres,” explained Benoît Vaugrenard. “The guys did a great job, especially since we didn’t have a team of specialists to lead him out.”
Caleb Ewan wins Tour of the Basque Country stage two.
Entering the final kilometre, the young Frenchman slipped into the wheel of the day’s favorite, Caleb Ewan, and fought to keep it. “We told him his first finish line was at 500 metres,” Benoît added. “Then it was mostly about positioning until the last 200 metres, and he made no mistakes from that point of view.” In fifth place after the final bend, Thibaud Gruel followed in Caleb Ewan’s wake, but was unable to challenge him.
On the line, this still earned him a fine fourth place. “I lacked a bit of confidence to open my sprint, but it’s a minor detail,” said Thibaud. “I could have done a little better, I would have liked to finish on the podium rather than fourth, but I’m happy.” “There’s no need to be disappointed,” concluded Benoît. “It’s a great performance from him. I’m also satisfied with the boys’ overall performance. Fourth is obviously not victory, but it’s good for everyone’s morale to be in the mix. We’re now looking ahead to tomorrow, with a stage that’s already important for the stage victory and the general classification.” No less than 3,000 metres of elevation gain will be covered on Wednesday, with a final steep climb (1.4 km at 9.7%) located six kilometres from the finish.
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Sixth-place Axel Zingle's Team Visma | Lease a Bike posted this report:
Axel Zingle finished sixth in the second stage of Itzulia Basque Country. The Frenchman from Team Visma | Lease a Bike was slightly too far back as he entered the finishing straight to contest the podium spots. Caleb Ewan took the win in the stage.
Starting from Pamplona, the peloton set course for a nearly 190-kilometer ride towards the finish line in Lodosa. The remnants of an early breakaway held on for quite a while in a stage that seemed tailor-made for the sprinters. Two kilometers from the line, the last escapee was caught.
Victor Campenaerts, who finished seventh in yesterday’s opening time trial, crashed with three kilometers to go. Campenaerts made it to the finish line on his own but was visibly scratched up.
Alex Zingle in 2022 winning stage one of the Arctic Race of Norway.
Attila Valter put in a strong effort in the final stages, but Zingle was too far back as they entered the last kilometer. The Frenchman moved up a few positions and reached a high top speed, but his strong sprint only brought him a sixth-place finish.
"I’m a little disappointed”, Zingle said after crossing the line. "We had higher expectations for this finish. I had set my sights on the win, though a podium would have been great too. Positioning was the issue today. Sometimes you know what to do, but in a split second, you make the wrong decision. It was a good opportunity, but unfortunately, we couldn’t grab it. There will be more chances this week. If our legs are good, the results will follow naturally. That’s what we’re all going for."
Here's the Basque Country Tour report from GC leader Max Schachmann's Team Soudal Quick-Step:
Max Schachmann enjoyed a pretty quiet first day as leader of the general classification thanks to a solid work of his Soudal Quick-Step teammates, who controlled the stage and made sure of keeping him well positioned and out of the wind the entire time.
As the peloton left behind Pamplona, the capital of Navarra, a breakaway of five formed and animated the day until two kilometers to go, when they were reeled in, in part also as a result of the strong effort of our riders, who chewed into that advantage throughout the stage. As expected, it came down to a bunch sprint, won by Caleb Ewan (Ineos-Grenadiers), at the peloton’s return after seven years in Lodosa.
Schachmann avoided a late crash that saw several riders hit the ground and came in the same time, remaining at the top of the standings ahead of the hard stage to Beasain, which is set to feature seven classified climbs.
Max Schachmann will start stage three in yellow. Sirotti photo
“It was a beautiful day in the yellow jersey. The final kilometers were a bit chaotic, but I was protected by my teammates and luckily, I wasn’t involved in that pile-up. On Wednesday we’ll take on some demanding hilly roads, there’s also that tough climb not far from the finish, so things will be completely different, but we are determined to do our best again”, said Max after the podium ceremony, where he took the sixth Itzulia Basque Country yellow jersey of his career.
And here's the Vuelta al Pais Vasco report from Team Picnic-PostNL:
Development Team Picnic PostNL returned to stage-racing in France on Tuesday, with the opening day at Région Pays de la Loire Tour. Coming up against some strong WorldTour and ProContinental level opposition; the team aimed to animate the race and be present at the front. Doing just that, Ko Molenaar made it into the break of the day. The front group of five worked well together, but the peloton always kept them on a tight leash and they were brought back together with 40 kilometres remaining. From there more attacks followed but the stage would ultimately be decided in a reduced bunch sprint, with Vincent Bodet leading home the Development program.
After his day out front, Molenaar said: “We wanted to be active at the start today and the guys did well to cover the moves. I made it into the one that got away. It was a nice day out and a good experience to be in the breakaway in a race like this. I’m looking forward to the next stages here.”
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Here's the update from Viviani's Team Lotto:
With the Scheldeprijs, the traditional sprint classic between the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix is once again on the calendar. Time for Elia Viviani to return to the spotlight. The Italian sprinter looks ahead: "These days, everyone sprints for every position, not just for the podium."
"Most sprinters have fifteen, twenty race days under their belts. They've ridden Tirreno or Paris-Nice. I have exactly four in my legs," says Elia Viviani. "I feel good, I had a strong winter, kept training continuously, and kept hoping to find a team. Lotto crossed my path at the last moment, but of course that means I now have to make up for lost ground. The numbers are good, but that doesn't say everything. I’m throwing myself into a sprint race like De Panne almost out of nowhere. Aside from the interruptions caused by the many crashes there, I didn’t immediately have the feeling I could win it. I feel like I'm still falling short. The Tour of Turkey is coming up on my program soon—my first stage race. That will be good for me, eight days of racing in a row. At the same time, I still have to get to know the rest of the peloton, too. It’s not easy to just follow someone—that’s not automatic after three or four races."
Elia Viviani before the start of the 2024 Dwars door Vlaanderen. Sirotti photo
That doesn’t change the fact that Viviani once again lines up at the start of the Dutch-Belgian sprint classic with plenty of hunger and ambition. "I’m curious to see how it goes. In 2017, I once finished second here, behind Marcel Kittel, but I haven’t lined up here often since. What will the wind be like? Because it’s always a deciding factor here. I’m hoping for some kind of selection beforehand. Because if there’s no wind, then everyone knows we’re heading into a mass sprint with a full peloton, and that can get dangerous. Everyone is sprinting—not just for the podium, but for the top ten. Every position counts nowadays. Physically, I’m ready. But a sprint race like this is always a bit like a casino. And I definitely know when I can count myself among the favorites—and when I can’t. But if everything falls into place, I’ll absolutely go all in."
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