Hive Weekly Cycling News - July 6 2023

I always see a big drop in the number of cyclists riding around the roads during this time of year, because unfortunately, in New Zealand, we all have to stay up to all hours of the night to get our fix of the Tour de France. At the same time, the Giro d’Italia Donne is underway with the first five stages done and dusted with Annemiek van Vleuten taking a good lead so far in the overall standings, but I am sure some of the big names will still be pushing for a win in the final week of the race.

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The Giro d’Italia Kicks Off For 2023

Stage 1 of the Giro d’Italia Donne was cancelled due to bad weather. The stage was meant to be a 4.4km individual time trial in the streets of Chianciano in Siena, with 167 riders across 24 teams preparing to take on the opening stage. The race judges initially suspended the stage after about 25 riders had already started the time trial, with a number of the riders out on the course crashing due to the bad conditions. It was then deemed too unsafe to continue with the stage and the pink leaders jersey not awarded after the first stage due to its cancellation.

We were finally able to see the pink jersey handed out to a rider as stage 2 went off without any issues like riders had in the previous day. Stage 2 was a 102km ride from Bagno a Ripoli to Marradi, with just one major hill climb. Annemiek van Vleuten of Team Movistar, took advantage on the hill climb, gaining 45 seconds on the group and winning the stage. Van Vleuten has won the Giro Donne on three previous occasions and it looks like she is again a contender with an early lead on the overall standings.

Stage 3 of the Giro Donne was a 113km ride, starting with a nice downhill for the riders from Cala Gonone through to Olbia. It was going to be another stage for the sprinters with one of the worlds best female sprinters taking her first stage of the 2023 Giro. Lorena Wiebes and her SD Worx team did their best to get her in the box seat for the final sprint as Wieves was dominant in the final sprint to win the stage with Marianne Vos of Jumbo-Visma finishing second with Chloe Dygert of Canyon-SRAM taking third. Annemiek van Vleuten held onto the pink jersey for another day keeping her 49 second lead from the previous day.

The Italian crowd were able to celebrate in the fourth stage as newly crowned Italian National Champion, Elisa Longo Borghini of Lidl-Trek was able to win the fourth stage. Three riders were able to break away from the main peloton on the final climb of the stage, which included the pink jersey holder Annemiek van Vleuten of Team Movistar, Veronica Ewers of EF Education-TIBCO-SVB and Borghini. It would be decided between these three riders at the end of the stage with Borghini attaching first with 150m to go. Ewers came along side her, but she was unable to get past the Italian champion to take second for the day with van Vleuten taking third but also extending her overall lead to 49 seconds over her closest rival, who is now Elisa Longo Borghini.

Stage 5 is the queens stage of the Giro Donne and has been the most dramatic stage of the race so far. Antonia Niedermaier of Canyon-SRAM broke away with 30km to go on the stage, but was followed closely behind by Anneiek van Vleuten, but Niedermaier was able to hold on for a solo victory, and win her very first Women’s World Tour stage victory. Van Vleuten easily made second to keep her hands on the pink jersey, with third place Niamh Fisher-Black coming in third, back a further 90 seconds back. The day after Longo Borghini won her first stage of this years Giro, she crashed heavily in the final descent and became one of the biggest names to pull out of the race so far. Although not concussed she was taken to hospital and her team, Lidl-Trek, announced she would not be taking any further part in the race.

[Image of Antonia Niedermaier Courtesy Getty Images]

Pinerallo Sold To Billionaire Miner

News from private equity firm L Catterton have advised they have sold their stake in the bike brand Pinarello. The news comes with the added report that mining billionaire Ivan Glasenberg is the new owner, with the terms of the sale staying private, but it is estimated that Glasenberg has made the purchase for 200 million euros. It has been rumoured that Glasenberg was interested in purchase of the company, when he was spotted visiting the Pinarello factory not long after L Catterton began to look for a prospective buyer. Glasenberg was the former CEO of Glencore and is reported to have an estimated fortune of 8.5 billion. He is known to be an avid cyclist and triathlete and only narrowly missed competing in the 1984 Olympics in race walking and is already a key investor in the cycling clothing brand and UCI Pro Team sponsor Q36.5.

Tour de France Is Back For 2023

We can all relax and celebrate the fact that the Tour de France is back for another year. It is shaping up to be a great tour with some awesome results coming through. Stage one to four are listed below and we’ll be bringing you some more updates over the coming weeks.

Finally the first stage of the 2023 Tour de France kicked off on the 1st of July with a 182km, hilly race through the Basque Country. The stage has five climbs with the last kilometre ricing at 4.6% leading into the finish line. Adam Yates of UAE Team Emirates and Simon Yates of Team Jayco Alula pulled away from the lead group with 10km to go, with Adam easing clear of Simon inside the final kilometre to take the stage win, and also take the leaders jersey for the first day of the tour. Tadej Pogacar of UAE Team Emirates made a good start to the tour, taking third place in the stage.

Stage 2 was a 208km ride from Vitoria-Gasteiz to San Sebastián. Victor Lefay of Cofidis gave his team their very first Tour de France stage win since 2008, when he timed his attach perfectly, pulling away from the peloton with one kilometre left in the stage. Wout van Aert of Jumbo-Visma finished a few bike lengths back and Tadej Pogacar featured again finishing third, which also moved him up to second place in the general classification. Adam Yates held onto the leaders jersey for another day, leading into stage three.

Stage 3 was a flat stage heading into Bayonne, which left the stage to be a straight forward 193km ride from Amorebeita-Extano. The stage would simply be fought out in the final sprint of the day. Jasper Philipsen from Alpecin-Deceuninck was able to lead the bunch sprint but had a nervous few minutes at the end of the stage as allegations were made that Philipsen had moved from his line. The commissaires, after reviewing video footage, had declared Philipsen was not at fault and gave him the stage victory. Phil Bauhaus of Bahrain Victorious was second with Caleb Ewan of Lotto-Dstny third. Adam Yates held onto the overall lead after the stage for another day.

Stage 4 is from Dax to Nogaro and is 184 kilometres long. The stage is even flatter than the previous days stage and is also likely to end in another bunch sprint. It turned out to be another good day for Jasper Philipsen of Alpecin-Deceuninch, as he went on to win his second stage of this years tour. It seemed that Philipsen may have rode to the right again but the commissioners viewed his ride as being legal, giving him the stage victory.

Caleb Ewan of Lotto-Dstny finished second with Phil Bauhaus of Bahrain-Victorious finishing third, and again leaving Adam Yates with the leaders jersey for another day with Tadej Pogacar only six seconds behind.

We’ll pick this up from stage 5 in our next cycling news post, but for now, make sure you checkout the stage 5 preview from @friendlymoose

[Image of Stage 4 Sprint Finish Courtesy Getty Images]

Weekly Cycling News Is Brought To You By:

The Vespa OFM Podcast

This week Vespa OFM Podcast is interviewing Vespa / OFM Ambassador Bree Lambert Sanders, who is a nutritionist and coach in the San Jose area. Bree who, at 54 years young, still competes at the elite level including winding up with an overall win or a place on the podium.

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I am a DevOps Engineer, Endurance Athlete, Biomechanics Student and Author. We can all achieve amazing things, it's just a matter of trying, I want to change the world, one run at a time.