EUROTRASH News Round Up Thursday!
Tom Dumoulin has had a few ups and downs this week in the Giro d’Italia, we discuss his stage 16 ‘problem’ – Top Story. All the up-to-date news, results and video form Italy and the start of the Baloise Belgium Tour. Plus we have more daily videos from the Sunweb team in the Giro, Basso bikes has their Diamante 40th Year Anniversary Edition stolen and we finish with the ‘Giro Film of the Day’ from stage 16. Thursday EUROTRASH coffee time.
TOP STORY: When a man has to go…
Stage 16 of the Giro d’Italia was one that Sunweb’s Tom Dumoulin will not forget. Five kilometers from the final climb of the day, the Umbrail pass, the big Dutchman had to stop for an unscheduled ‘natural break’ as Dumoulin explained: “I just had problems, I needed to take a dump – I couldn’t hold it anymore. It was after the first time of the Stelvio I began to feel it in the downhill. I had to stop, it was not possible to continue anymore.” Summing it up more precisely: “I need to shit… That’s it!”
The GC group containing Nairo Quintana, Vincenzo Nibali and Ilnar Zakarin did ease back a little, but LottoNl-Jumbo’s Steven Kruijswijk was up the road and eventually the race had to carry on. Dumoulin himself understood the situation and commented after the finish that “I heard that Movistar waited a little but the race was on and they were chasing riders like Steven Kruijswijk. I can’t blame them for wanting to chase him. You can’t give Kruijswijk three minutes; it was a difficult situation.”
Some media outlets are asking if the other riders in the group should have waited (longer), but this is a different case from a mechanical or a crash and they had started the final climb of the day. A call of nature, when it is an extreme case, cannot be helped, but the same problem could befall any rider and Dumoulin’s use of gels during the stage could have contributed to the problem as he pointed out: “It could be a combination of the altitude and eating more gels than normal, you can’t eat bars on climbs like these.”
There have been many similar cases of riders being caught out. Famously an un-named rider had to use a cap whilst on the move to ‘deposit’ an unwanted passenger during the Tour de France. He then, of course, threw the package to the side of the road. What the thoughts of the fan who picked up the cap can only be imagined.
One good thing to have come from the incident is that now if you are caught short on a group ride, you can tell you mates you are stopping for a ‘Dumoulin!’
‘Tom, did you need to go before we leave? It will be over 6 hours.’
Giro d’Italia 2017
Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida) found the way to success again one year after he turned the classification of the Giro d’Italia upside down. On Stage 16 Nibali out-sprinted Mikel Landa (Sky) to impose himself in Bormio on the Giro100’s Queen stage that included the Mortirolo and two ascents of the Stelvio. Tom Dumoulin (Sunweb) retained the lead, although the Dutchman was forced to stop to answer the call of the nature at the bottom of the last climb, and his advantage on GC has been reduced to 31 seconds over Nairo Quintana (Movistar) and 1:12 over Nibali.
It was a memorable day for the Bahrain-Merida team and Italy as Vincenzo Nibali took the first win for the team at a Grand Tour and the first Italian win of this year’s Corsa Rosa.
In the Queen Stage (222km stage from Rovetta to Bormio), the Shark showed all his power. With an attack with 20 km to go to chase the leader of the stage, Landa, and then giving a masterclass lesson on the downhill towards the finish in Bormio, where he out-sprinted the Spaniard in a two-up sprint to the line. Quintana tried to stay with Nibali’s attack, but he was forced to loose time on the descent, finishing third, 12 seconds behind Nibali. It was a dramatic day for race leader Tom Dumoulin. The Dutch rider held on to the Pink Jersey, with a heroic performance after he suffered from a stomach problem and had to stop 5 kilometers before the final climb. Dumoulin made a solo chase on the climb and descended like a stone, but now only had 31 seconds on the Colombian, Quintana and 1:12 on Nibali.
Full PEZ race report HERE.
Stage winner and 3rd overall, Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida): “I’m really happy to have won the beautiful stage, a very spectacular one, a very difficult one with the highest peaks up the Stelvio; stage that includes the Mortirolo and the Stelvio twice will be remembered for sure. However, I’m not able to tell which one of my victories is the nicest. My only disappointment is to not have been able to raise my hands up in the air. My first attack up the Stelvio wasn’t a very strong one but the second one was. The few words exchanged with Nairo was to cooperate together. We’ll fight till the end in Milan. It’s not easy. This week is very hard and there is the terrain suitable for attacks, especially for Nairo Quintana who wants to reduce the gap on Tom Dumoulin.”
2nd on the stage, Mikel Landa (Sky) said on TeamSky.com: “Sadly I lost the stage in the final meters. But this is cycling. You can lose or you can learn something. I was feeling good more or less from the beginning of the stage. It was a really fast stage with the breakaway going on the first climb. I was fighting to arrive (first) and finally they caught me in the last kilometers.”
Overall leader, Tom Dumoulin (Sunweb): “At that moment I needed to stop to answer natures call. When I was chasing back I decided to fight and not give up and then see where we were at after the finish. It was tough out there on my own and of course it’s disappointing. The legs were good and I feel like I could have been up there with the other GC group but that’s not how it worked out, it’s too bad.”
18th overall, Patrick Konrad (Bora-Hansgrohe): “The team supported me perfectly especially Gregor. Without him I wouldn’t be able to climb through the mountains. The race was really hard but I felt good and could ride with the pace all the time. I am satisfied with the result after this kind of stage, of course a top ten result would be even better but there are some more stages until we will arrive in Milano after three weeks at the Giro”
Giro d’Italia Stage 16 Result:
1. Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Bahrain-Merida in 6:24:22
2. Mikel Landa (Spa) Sky
3. Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar at 0:12
4. Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) AG2R-La Mondiale at 0:24
5. Ilnur Zakarin (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin at 0:32
6. Davide Formolo (Ita) Cannondale-Drapac at 1:26
7. Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo at 1:35
8. Bob Jungels (Lux) Quick-Step Floors
9. Adam Yates (GB) Orica-Scott
10. Thibaut Pinot (Fra) FDJ.
Giro d’Italia Overall After Stage 16:
1. Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Sunweb in 70:14:48
2. Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar at 0:31
3. Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Bahrain-Merida at 1:12
4. Thibaut Pinot (Fra) FDJ at 2:38
5. Ilnur Zakarin (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin at 2:40
6. Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) AG2R-La Mondiale at 3:05
7. Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo at 3:49
8. Bob Jungels (Lux) Quick-Step Floors at 4:35
9. Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) LottoNl-Jumbo at 6:20
10. Adam Yates (GB) Orica-Scott at 7:00.
Stage 16:
Pierre Rolland (Cannondale-Drapac) put an end to a long drought as he rolled out to claim the victory he has been seeking throughout many attacks. He rode away from km 0 on Stage 17, waited for a counterattack and then found the route to success with 7km to go in another very long stage. Tom Dumoulin (Sunweb) retained the Maglia Rosa after being threatened by the presence of Jan Polanç (UAE Team Emirates) in the winning move.
Pierre Rolland was in the important break of the day that escaped from the gun. He was joined by Pavel Brutt (Gazprom-RusVelo) and Matej Mohoric (UAE-Team Emirates) and they built up a lead of over 14 minutes over the peloton. Behind; A large group formed and started (slowly) to chase them down. With 60 kilometers remaining there was one big group ahead of the GC peloton.
The Sunweb team were leading the chase as Jan Polanç (UAE-Team Emirates) was getting close to taking the pink jersey and eventually Quick-Step Floors joined them to protect the white jersey of Bob Jungels.
As the lead dropped, attacks started from the front group; Omar Fraile (Dimension Data), Enrico Barbin (Bardiani-CSF), Gorka Izagirre (Movistar), Valerio Conti (UAE-Team Emirates) and Polanç all tried but failed to escape, but did split the group.
As they neared the 10 kilometer banner it looked as though a truce had been formed, but it was Rolland who jumped away and held off Rui Costa (UAE-Team Emirates) and Gorka Izagirre (Movistar) in second and third places at 24 seconds. Eros Capecchi (Quick-Step Floors) brought in the GC peloton 7:54 later.
Stage winner, Pierre Rolland (Cannondale-Drapac): “I woke up at 5am yesterday because I was very excited ahead of the Stelvio stage. This is my reason for being a cyclist, I love the history of my sport: this is the 100th Giro d’Italia. I love the great stages like yesterday’s. Unfortunately I had a bad day and I wondered if the good form I had at the beginning of the Giro was on the down but it wasn’t the case. Today, I felt great. I expected to perform yesterday or tomorrow but I decided to ride today as if there wasn’t any race tomorrow. Everyone was tired from the Stelvio stage. It was one of the hardest I’ve ever done. It was a question of courage today. Last winter I went to Colorado to discuss my season with Jonathan Vaughters, my team manager who is also my coach now, and we decided that I’d do the Giro and the Tour for stage wins. This is the kind of cycling that I truly like, more than racing for GC, which is stressful and doesn’t leave many opportunities to enjoy the racing. This sport is too hard for not having fun doing it. I enjoyed cycling a lot today!”
2nd on the stage, Rui Costa (UAE Team Emirates): “I missed the victory for the second time and it’s a pity because today my legs felt really good. I’m however very proud of the impressive team effort showen by UAE Team Emirates today, there were four of us in the main breakaway driving the pace of the leading group: myself, Polanc, Mohoric and Conti. Towards the end of the race there were a lot of attacks and it was not possible to keep up with them all. Overall I am happy with the results.”
Overall leader, Tom Dumoulin (Sunweb): “I try not to be busy with how big the news of my troubles yesterday is in The Netherlands. I felt a bit insecure this morning. I was a little bit worried but I was completely fine during the whole stage. I knew it was a very long way from the second climb till the finish. I would have been very surprised if any GC rider tried to go from far out. Bahrain-Merida tried at the start, they did a good job because we had to work more than we hoped for. We weren’t too worried today, we needed to chase harder than we had expected but we also knew that it was in a lot of other teams best interest to chase with us. The team did a really good job to protect the jersey and were on the front all day chasing the break. Overall it was a good day and we look forward to another good day tomorrow. There could be attacks from the start tomorrow, we have to be ready for everything. I’m not here to make history for shitting in the bushes, I’m here to write history for taking the pink jersey to Milan.”
10th overall, Jan Polanç (UAE Team Emirates): “Right now my legs feel quite drained. I joined the breakaway because it was such a big group however it proved to be hard. Everybody was playing it safe after yesterdays’s dramatic stage and I really hope I didn’t overdo it today. I thank my teammates for helping me move into the top ten of the General Classification.”
Early break rider, Matej Mohoric (UAE Team Emirates): “I went clear of the peloton from the start and tried my best to help Polanc move up in the General Classification and support Rui to get the stage victory, which was unfortunately won by Rolland. We are a strong team and I have not doubt that we will attack again.”
12th on the stage, break rider, Maxime Monfort (Lotto Soudal): “Three riders escaped from the peloton and it went fairly easy until Bahrein decided to speed up the pace to test Dumoulin, which hurt a lot of riders. On the second climb of the day, I saw a chance to break away. I felt good and I knew that today would be a good day to be in the breakaway. I was surprised, though, by the advantage the peloton gave us. Polanc and I were no threat for the top five and I thought that a lot of riders wanted to recover from yesterday’s stage, but the peloton gave us a very big lead. When Pierre Rolland attacked, we thought we would catch him again. I had hoped for a better result in this stage, but in the end, I did very well for the general classification and I am happy with that. It is an amazing feeling to go into the third week like this; I moved up in the general classification two days in a row. I am currently in a top fifteen spot, which I was aiming for. That remains the goal for this Giro. The top ten is only 45 seconds away, but my goal doesn’t change.”
18th on the stage, break rider, Jan Barta (Bora-Hansgrohe): “I spent nearly the whole day in the breakaway groups and wanted to get a good result in today´s stage but it wasn’t easy. In the end after all the efforts I wasn’t able to go with the fastest men so I decided to ride my own pace.”
19th on the stage, break rider, Daniel Teklehaimanot (Dimension Data): “I was really excited for this stage on Eritrean Independence Day. The sports directors told me to try and get into the early breakaway and I managed to do that. Towards the end of the stage, there was a lot of attacks because the group was still very big. Unfortunately, in the last 10km I was completely empty. Omar and Jacques were still up there for us but it was a very difficult day.”
Tom Dumoulin’s Sunweb teammate Phil Bauhaus abandoned: “It’s been a really good experience to be part of the team and great to have been part of a really successful race so far. I feel like I have learned a lot and developed whilst being here with the team. Unfortunately the last few days I have become really tired and after a huge effort today my tank was completely empty. It’s a shame to leave but I am proud to have played a role in the team’s fight for the Maglia Rosa and I look forward to my next Grand Tour.”
Giro d’Italia Stage 17 Result:
1. Pierre Rolland (Fra) Cannondale-Drapac in 5:42:56
2. Rui Costa (Por) UAE Team Emirates at 0:24
3. Gorka Izagirre (Spa) Movistar
4. Rory Sutherland (Aus) Movistar
5. Matteo Busato (Ita) Wilier Triestina
6. Dries Devenyns (Bel) Quick-Step Floors
7. Felix Gro§schartner (Aut) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
8. Omar Fraile (Spa) Dimension Data
9. Michael Woods (Can) Cannondale-Drapac
10. Julien Bernard (Fra) Trek-Segafredo.
Giro d’Italia Overall After Satge 17:
1. Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Sunweb in 76:05:38
2. Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar at 0:31
3. Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Bahrain-Merida at 1:12
4. Thibaut Pinot (Fra) FDJ at 2:38
5. Ilnur Zakarin (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin at 2:48
6. Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) AG2R-La Mondiale at 3:05
7. Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo at 3:49
8. Bob Jungels (Lux) Quick-Step Floors at 4:35
9. Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) LottoNl-Jumbo at 6:20
10. Jan Polanc (Slo) UAE Team Emirates at 6:33.
Stage 17:
Baloise Belgium Tour 2017
One of Belgium’s oldest races, the Balois Belgium Tour, started on Wednesday with a 178-kilometer Stage 1 from Lochristi to Knokke Heist. The stage had no real difficulties apart from two cobbled sections quite far from the finish. After an intense stage that saw a late crash wipe out most of the peloton, Bryan Coquard (Direct Energie) won the up-hill sprint to take the first leaders jersey.
The break of the day formed after 20 kilometers, but it was never allowed more that a 4 minute lead. It was made up of: Lasse Norman Hansen (Aqua Blue Sport), Kenneth Vanbilsen (Cofidis), Ludwig de Winter (WB-Veranclassic-AquaProtect), Brian van Goethem (Roompot-Nederlandse Loterij) and Timothy Stevens (Pauwels Sauzen-Vastgoedservice). At the second intermediate sprint after 122 kilometers they had only 2 minutes and the Quick-Step Floors team were in control of the peloton.
As the peloton got within 1 minute, the attacks started and eventually Lasse Norman Hansen (Aqua Blue Sport) went solo and started the final lap to the circuit of Knokke Heist with 1 minute in hand. Philippe Gilbert (Quick-Step Floors) decided to make a move, but failed to cross the leader. Lasse Norman Hansen was caught 14 kilometers out. A group of 7 managed to escape on the run in, but they too were caught and the attacks came again as they entered the final 10 kilometers.
Lotto Soudal took control in the final kilometers and as the sprint started a rider fell in the middle of the bunch taking many others with him to the road surface, including Philippe Gilbert (Quick-Step Floors), Edward Theuns (Trek-Segafredo) and Edward Planckaert (Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise). Bryan Coquard (Direct Energie) was in front of the carnage and led all the way to the line. Jens Debusschere (Lotto Soudal) was second and a fast finishing Daniel Mclay (Fortuneo-Vital Concept) was third.
2nd, Jens Debusschere (Lotto Soudal): “The race went perfectly for us, but at the end of the day, one rider was better. We took control over the peloton in the beginning of the stage to make sure that only a small group could escape. Afterwards, Rémy Mertz took the lead in the peloton, together with riders from Trek and Quick-Step. Rémy rode a very strong race today. Three kilometres before the finish line, we moved to the front of the peloton and the lead-out was perfectly executed by my teammates. Unfortunately, I could not hold off Coquard. Tomorrow, there is a new chance for me and I hope I will be strong enough to win the stage. I know the finish by heart, as it takes place in the region where I grew up. On top of that, the race passes by my fan club in Dadizele. I will have some extra motivation for a good result in tomorrow’s stage.”
9th on the stage, Kenny Dehaes (Wanty-Group Gobert): “Maybe our team was in the front too early in the last lap. We had to chase seven riders and that took a lot of energy. Everything went perfect till the final 10 kilometer. With 3km to go I was in good position behind Wesley Kreder, but then we were overruled by other riders on both sides. I had to launch my sprint with 300 meter to go in the wind. I reached Debusschere a little later but at that moment he launched his sprint and I was blown. I had the legs to contest the victory. Tomorrow we will try again because I feel something is possible.”
Baloise Belgium Tour Stage 1 Result:
1. Bryan Coquard (Fra) Direct Energie in 4:08:58
2. Jens Debusschere (Bel) Lotto Soudal
3. Daniel Mclay (GB) Fortuneo-Vital Concept
4. Tom Van Asbroeck (Bel) Cannondale-Drapac
5. Roy Jans (Bel) WB Veranclassic Aqua Protect
6. Bert Van Lerberghe (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen – Baloise
7. Baptiste Planckaert (Bel) Katusha-Alpecin
8. Michaël Van Staeyen (Bel) Cofidis
9. Kenny Dehaes (Bel) Wanty-Groupe Gobert
10. Nicolas Marini (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini.
Baloise Belgium Tour Overall After Stage 1:
1. Bryan Coquard (Fra) Direct Energie in 4:08:48
2. Lasse Norman Hansen (Den) Aqua Blue Sport at 0:01
3. Jens Debusschere (Bel) Lotto Soudal at 0:04
4. Daniel Mclay (GB) Fortuneo-Vital Concept at 0:06
5. Pieter Vanspeybrouck (Bel) Wanty-Groupe Gobert
6. Oliver Naesen (Bel) AG2R-La Mondiale at 0:08
7. Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Quick-Step Floors
8. Elie Gesbert (Fra) Fortuneo-Vital Concept at 0:09
9. Tom Van Asbroeck (Bel) Cannondale-Drapac at 0:10
10. Roy Jans (Bel) WB Veranclassic Aqua Protect.
Belgium Tour stage 1:
Behind the Scenes with Team Sunweb at the Giro d’Italia
During the Giro d’Italia Team Sunweb are producing daily videos to provide exclusive insight to what goes on behind the scenes at a Grand Tour. Video content such as; Tom Dumoulin’s Giro d’Italia stage 14 victory from a different angle, 24 hours with the Maglia Rosa, Tom Stamsnijder’s Giro rest day, the preparations of a time trial and a day in the life of a Team Sunweb soigneur.
Basso Diamante 40th Year Anniversary Edition Stolen
We all remember from our childhood how we used to feel when our favorite toy got lost. It’s almost the same feeling when our best friend moved to another city.
It’s even more disappointing when somebody else steals your favorite toy or when your best friend leaves town without writing a single letter or giving you their new address…
They have taken our favorite toy… Our best friend has gone….
We had an unfortunate occasion and our factory store got robbed. It’s certain the thieves were not aware of what they were stealing at the time. They used two different vans to steal a few bicycles including our precious Basso Diamante 40th Year Anniversary Edition, which is basically the number “zero” of our special serie. This was the personal bike of our founder, Alcide Basso.
Now we are desperately searching for this very special bike and we obviously need people who can help us.
We have set a significant amount of prize money for the person who can provide us useful information in order to find our Diamante 40th Year Anniversary Edition. You can check the bicycle and its photos by clicking here.
Giro d’Italia – Stage 16 – The Movie
Giro stage 16 was quite dramatic, and the ‘The Movie of the Stage’ takes it all in:
The PEZ INSTAGRAM Take a look at our Instagram page for a live feed of #PeloPics, #DailyDistractions, and giveaways straight from your phone: https://www.instagram.com/pezcyclingnews
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The PEZ NEWSWIRE!
Don’t forget to check the “NEWSWIRE” section, you can find it on the homepage, just above the EuroTrash section. The bits of news that missed the EuroTrash deadline are in there, plus any news as-it-happens will be added there too.
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