EUROTRASH Thursday: Men’s Giro, Women’s Vuelta and All the Latest!

Only two days to go before the Giro d’Italia ‘Grande Partenza’ – We have more Giro team news and line-ups. Plus all the action from La Vuelta a España Femenina by Carrefour.es and the Eschborn-Frankfurt, all with results, reports and video.

Covid takes Foss and Gesink out of the Jumbo-Visma Giro team – TOP STORY.

Rider news: Matteo Jorgenson speaks about his big step up, Greg Van Avermaet to retire at the end of the season and Nick Schultz extends with Israel – Premier Tech.

Team news: Selle Italia new sponsor for Team Corratec.

Race news: Giro Next Gen presented in Rome.

Thursday EUROTRASH café time.

 

TOP STORY: Covid Takes Foss and Gesink Out of the Jumbo-Visma Giro Team
On Tuesday evening the news came out that Jumbo-Visma will have to do without Robert Gesink and Tobias Foss in the 2023 Giro d’Italia. Both riders contracted covid during the Tour de Romandie. Foss and Gesink have both spoken about it via social media. “This is really very disappointing,” the Norwegian said.

Jumbo-Visma has had to deal with a major blow in the run-up to the Giro d’Italia 2023. The Dutch WorldTeam prepared for months to help leader Primož Roglič to the overall victory, but has lost two strong riders at the last minute in Tobias Foss and Robert Gesink.

“It is very disappointing that I have to miss the Giro,” Foss said via Instagram. “After the third stage of the Tour de Romandie, I tested positive for corona. Since then I have tried to recover as quickly as possible, but it has taken quite a toll. I’m still struggling and still sick. Unfortunately there is nothing I can do about it and I wish my teammates the best of luck in Italy.”

Gesink is also disappointed that he will not be there in Italy. “We worked hard to make the Giro project a success, but unfortunately it was not to be for me. It is very disappointing to miss the Giro after I got corona in Romandie. Good luck, gentlemen!”

Jumbo-Visma has Jos van Emden and Rohan Dennis travel to Italy as replacements. Team leader, Primož Roglič can count on the support of Edoardo Affini, Koen Bouwman, Sepp Kuss, Michel Heßmann and Jan Tratnik in Italy.

Jumbo-Visma team for the Giro d’Italia:
Primož Roglič
Jan Tratnik
Edoardo Affini
Koen Bouman
Michel Heßmann
Sepp Kuss
Rohan Dennis
Jos van Emden.

Still a strong team behind Roglič:

# You can see the ‘PEZ Giro d’Italia Route Preview’ HERE. #

 

La Vuelta Femenina by Carrefour.es 2023
La Vuelta Femenina by Carrefour.es began on Monday with a team time trial Stage 1 in Torrevieja and it was the Jumbo-Visma team that came out on top. The Dutch team set the fastest time of 18:03 over the 14,5 kilometre course. A performance good enough as to keep all of their rivals at bay. Canyon//SRAM was only 1 second short of beating Jumbo-Visma and had to settle with 2nd place, while Trek-Segafredo finished 9 seconds behind in 3rd. British rider Anna Henderson was the first Jumbo-Visma rider to cross the finish line to claim the first leader’s red jersey, with a flat road stage between Orihuela and Pilar de la Horadada on Tuesday.

160 riders spread over 23 teams took the start on the first stage of the 2023 La Vuelta Femenina by Carrefour.es, which began with a 14,5-kilometre team time trial in Torrevieja. Sopela Women’s Team was the first team on the start ramp and also the first one through the finish line clocking 20:16, which was bested a few minutes later by Massi-Tactic with 19:29. The Catalan team held the top of the standings until the first WorldTour team came home, with Israel Premier-Tech – Roland setting a new fastest time of 19:03 that was quickly beat by St Michel-Mavic-Auber93 with 19:02.

Both Liv Racing-TeqFind (18:45) and Jayco-AlUla (18:34) were faster than St Michel-Mavic-Auber93. They didn’t last for long at the top of the standings, as Jumbo-Visma stopped the clock at 18:03, a time that no team was able to beat. Two teams came close, though: Canyon//SRAM was just 1 second short of the Dutch team, while Trek-Segafredo finished 9 seconds behind the winning time. The top-5 was completed by Movistar and SD Worx, which were 12 seconds and 14 seconds slower than Jumbo-Visma.

Winning team and overall leader, Anna Henderson (Jumbo-Visma): “We are over the moon. This is our first win of the season. We are super happy and super proud of what we did. We did a very good course recon and made a very good plan along with the team’s coaches. The uphill section with 5 kilometres to go was the hardest part of the course. We put Riejanne Markus, our TT expert, at the front to handle it. We believed in each other and this victory is the result. Was it planned for me to get the Red jersey? I wasn’t even supposed to take part in this race! In the final hundred meters I rode as fast as I could, I kept going and going, and I found myself in the first position. And now I’m leading the Vuelta, which is awesome!”

Winning team and 3rd overall, Marianne Vos (Jumbo-Visma): “We didn’t expect to win this TTT. Of course, we were aiming for the best result we could do, but this is a discipline we don’t do so often, so it’s difficult to really predict a result. We knew we had a quite balanced team, and we tried to race steady and fast. Then, we got on the hot seat and of course it got a little nervous, because you never know how the standings are going to end up. Winning the TTT as a team is the best feeling. We did some preparation work in a short period of time. We could do the recon yesterday and today and we talked a lot about the tactics we wanted to deploy, but in the end you need to pull it off in the moment, which is hard work. Yet in this discipline you suffer for the whole team, and that makes it a little bit easier. It’s of course fantastic to start with this victory and we hope to keep this momentum going with the team. There are some flatter stages on which we will be aiming for a stage victory, but we also want to see where we can get as a team in the general classification.”

2nd team and 7th overall, Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon//SRAM): “We are just waiting until luck is going to break our way. It was so close to winning, and we feel satisfied and motivated to keep pushing to get that victory finally! We are happy with our speed and commitment throughout the race. It was hard from the start, and we could feel that everyone was committed to giving strong pulls. There was no time practically to recover which was a good sign. Having Chloé (Dygert) back racing with us is so great as she is a former TT world champion and elevates everyone to push higher than their limits. The first part was quite technical, so we tried to be smart and smooth through the corners, thinking about each other at all times. The last part was more about the shallow climb and descent towards the finish line. We definitely have a few points where we could have made up more than one second. We learn from it and wish there were more days in our calendar for TTT races.”

La Vuelta Femenina by Carrefour.es Stage 1 Result:
1. Jumbo-Visma (Ned) in 18:03
2. Canyon//SRAM (Ger) at 0:01
3. Trek-Segafredo (USA) at 0:09
4. Movistar (Spa) at 0:12
5. SD Worx (Ned) at 0:14
6. FDJ-SUEZ (Fra) at 0:25
7. DSM (Ned)
8. Jayco AlUla (Aus) at 0:31
9. UAE Team ADQ (UAE) at 0:41
10. Liv Racing TeqFind (Ned) at 0:42.

La Vuelta Femenina by Carrefour.es Overall After Stage 1:
1. Anna Henderson (GB) Jumbo-Visma in 18:03
2. Amber Kraak (Ned) Jumbo-Visma
3. Marianne Vos (Ned) Jumbo-Visma
4. Riejanne Markus (Ned) Jumbo-Visma
5. Chloe Dygert (USA) Canyon//SRAM at 0:01
6. Agnieszka Skalniak-Sójka (Pol) Canyon//SRAM
7. Katarzyna Niewiadoma (Pol) Canyon//SRAM
8. Elise Chabbey (Sui) Canyon//SRAM
9. Ricarda Bauernfeind (Ger) Canyon//SRAM
10. Elizabeth Deignan (GB) Trek-Segafredo at 0:09.

La Vuelta Femenina’23 stage 1:

 

Team DSM’s Charlotte Kool claimed a remarkable sprint win in the Second Stage of La Vuelta Femenina by Carrefour.es by beating Jumbo-Visma’s Marianne Vos in the final few meters of the race. A bittersweet ending for Vos, who had to counter a powerful attack from Canyon//SRAM’s Chloe Dygert with 350 metres to go. The American rider anticipated the sprint chasing some bonus seconds that could well have meant taking the Red jersey that Jumbo-Visma’s Anna Henderson wore at the start. With her second place in Pilar de la Horadada, Vos grabbed 6 bonus seconds and kept the GC lead in the Jumbo-Visma team ahead of Wednesday’s stage to La Roda.

159 riders took the start in the second stage of La Vuelta Femenina by Carrefour.es, which covered 106,6 kilometres between Orihuela and Pilar de la Horadada. Cantabria Deporte’s Susana Perez and Laboral Kutxa’s Usoa Ostolaza were the first attackers of the day, yet failed to go clear. It was 19 kilometres into the race that Coralie Demay (St Michel-Mavic-Auber93), Catalina Soto (Bizkaia-Durango), Iurani Blanco (Laboral Kutxa-Fundación Euskadi) and Andrea Casagranda (Bepink) succeeded at establishing the day’s break. Their advantage went up to 1:16 after 40 kilometres.

A crosswind section spurred the peloton to lift the speed, as much as to nearly catch the break with 58 kilometres to go. As the bunch came close, Blanco accelerated and Demay jumped on her wheel, as Soto and Casagranda were pulled in by the bunch. Blanco and Demay only stayed out front for 20 kilometres, as the pack sped up in the approach to San Miguel de Salinas (78,3km). SD Worx’s Femke Markus was first across the intermediate sprint to claim six bonus seconds as Jumbo-Visma’s Riejanne Markus claimed four bonus seconds to become the virtual GC leader. The 1,2% average gradient of the Puerto de Rebate (Cat 4, 87,3km) hid a lumpy road with sections as steep as 13%. Several Canyon//SRAM riders attacked, causing some jumps in the peloton as FDJ-SUEZ’s Jade Wiel sprinted across the summit in first position and claimed the polka dot mountains jersey. The run-in to Pilar de la Horadada was quite rolling, and the pack regrouped for a mass sprint that was almost frustrated by Chloe Dygert’s late surge.

Stage winner, Charlotte Kool (DSM): “I am really excited! This is my first big win at a Grand Tour, so I am really happy to do it like this at the first sprint opportunity. It was a really hectic final and we knew that upfront. I was almost boxed in but luckily I found the right wheel. It was a really long sprint as Canyon launched it early, so it was a hard one, but I am really happy I could finish off the girls hard work today. Now we are looking forward to the next opportunity tomorrow.”

2nd on the stage and overall leader, Marianne Vos (Jumbo-Visma): “After racing a TTT the first day, the first road stage can be a bit chaotic as everybody is fresh, motivated and excited to go for the stage win. There was a lot and not so much going on at the same time. The bunch kept very good control of the breakaway and we just had to stay focused and keep ourselves at the front. I’m very happy and proud of how the team rode today, and how they brought me safely into the final. That was the big goal today… along with, of course, sprinting for the win. Taking the leader jersey was not the main goal today, but of course it is really nice to keep it in the team. The main goal was winning the stage, and we will have another go at it tomorrow.”

3rd on the stage and 2nd overall, Chloe Dygert (Canyon//SRAM): “To be truly honest, I’m disappointed. But I also have to remember where I’ve come from. So, at the end of the day, this is a major blessing. I am so grateful for the support I’ve received to have been able to pull this off. I’ve never really categorised myself as a sprinter, especially when some of the best sprinters in the world are coming to the line with me. So I knew that my best option would be taking a long ‘sprint’. I just went a tad early today. Being our first time together with this constellation of riders, we put a lot of trust in each other, and it’s only going to get better from here on out. I’m looking forward to how much more we will grow as a team in these next stages.”

7th overall, Elise Chabbey (Canyon//SRAM): “We wanted to make an aggressive race and try for bonus seconds or look for opportunities. Coming to the final, we had a good position in the final two kilometres, with both Kasia and I there to help with the lead-out for Chloé. I admit I made a mistake in the final, and there was no lead-out. Chloé went, and she showed she was really strong. We’re looking forward to keeping the momentum going in the next stages.”

La Vuelta Femenina by Carrefour.es Stage 2 Result:
1. Charlotte Kool (Ned) DSM in 2:41:27
2. Marianne Vos (Ned) Jumbo-Visma
3. Chloe Dygert (USA) Canyon//SRAM
4. Blanka Vas (Hun) SD Worx
5. Rachele Barbieri (Ita) Liv Racing TeqFind
6. Alba Teruel (Spa) Laboral Kutxa Fundación Euskadi
7. Demi Vollering (Ned) SD Worx
8. Nina Kessler (Ned) Jayco AlUla
9. Anna Henderson (GB) Jumbo-Visma
10. Clara Copponi (Fra) FDJ-SUEZ.

La Vuelta Femenina by Carrefour.es Overall After Stage 2:
1. Marianne Vos (Ned) Jumbo-Visma in 2:59:24
2. Chloe Dygert (USA) Canyon//SRAM at 0:01
3. Riejanne Markus (Ned) Jumbo-Visma at 0:02
4. Anna Henderson (GB) Jumbo-Visma at 0:06
5. Amber Kraak (Ned) Jumbo-Visma
6. Katarzyna Niewiadoma (Pol) Canyon//SRAM at 0:07
7. Elise Chabbey (Sui) Canyon//SRAM
8. Ricarda Bauernfeind (Ger) Canyon//SRAM
9. Agnieszka Skalniak-Sójka (Pol) Canyon//SRAM
10. Amanda Spratt (Aus) Trek-Segafredo at 0:15.

La Vuelta Femenina’23 stage 2:

 

Stage 3 of La Vuelta Femenina by Carrefour.es was fast and spectacular. The race finished 40 minutes ahead of the fastest schedule as the wind blew hard and teams like Movistar, Jumbo-Visma and DSM took advantage to smash the peloton to pieces. Current GC leader Marianne Vos (Jumbo-Visma) was the strongest at the finish line in La Roda, defeating Charlotte Kool (DSM) and Chloe Dygert (Canyon//SRAM) to claim her first individual stage win in this race and further increase her GC lead on Dygert up to 13 seconds. The fireworks should continue on Thursday, as the stage between Cuenca and Guadalajara is hillier, yet equally exposed to the wind.

158 riders took the start of the 3rd stage of La Vuelta Femenina by Carrefour.es, which covered 157,8 kilometres between Elche de la Sierra and La Roda. No meaningful moves happened in the first 60 kilometres of the stage as a strong wind held the cyclists back. It was after the passage through Pozohondo (60,8km) that the crosswinds started and Movistar took the helm of the peloton and tore it to pieces.

Movistar quickly found an ally in Jumbo-Visma to marshal the 60-strong group at the head of the race. Jayco-AlUla’s Kristen Faulkner and Trek-Segafredo’s Amanda Spratt and Gaia Realini found themselves in the wrong end of the split, forcing their teams to take responsibility in the chase group. The gap between both groups grew quickly and was clocked at 58 seconds in Albacete (93,8km). As the front group rode out of the city, DSM accelerated and created a second split, leaving just 35 riders at the front. UAE Team ADQ’s Silvia Persico was the main casualty of this new skirmish, while Liv Racing-TeqFind’s Mavi Garcia had to fight tooth and nail to bridge back after being caught out in the first moments of the split. After some kilometres of steady riding, Jumbo-Visma’s Marianne Vos led the front group through the intermediate sprint in Barrax (136,3km) as Persico’s group trailed at 25 seconds behind and Trek’s group was further back, at 1:30. A change of direction meant the crosswinds reappeared, and an acceleration in the front group saw Jayco-AlUla’s Ane Santesteban and Canyon//SRAM’s Ricarda Bauernfeind, amongst others, dropped and caught by Persico’s group. With 5 kilometres to go, the second group had fallen out of contention as the gap had increased well beyond 1 minute. All was set for a sprint finish between the front group. Canyon//SRAM’s Katarzyna Niewiadoma led it out for Vos to triumph at the finish line. Persico’s group final damage was 1:32, while the loss of Trek’s group was as much as 2:41.

Stage winner and overall leader, Marianne Vos (Jumbo-Visma): “Yesterday we were not that far off the win, and today’s stage was a new chance. The crosswinds made the race very hard. I’m very thankful that my team brought me in this position to the final, and very happy that I could finish it off. We are not really surprised of how aggressive the race was. When you know that echelons are going to happen, you know some teams are going to try, and it’s better to try yourself in order not to be the surprised one. In Holland we are sorted of used to this, so we have some good experience on this kind of race. We were prepared for the crosswinds, but of course you still need to focus. In the beginning we were relaxed, but suddenly we had to switch on and get ready for the action. It turned out to be a constant-, high-speed race. As we were pushing, I thought the race was being hard for everybody – that everyone was suffering. After the nice team victory in the first stage, we have to enjoy this one too… and prepare for the next stages!”

3rd on the stage and 2nd overall, Chloe Dygert: “I kept myself comfortable all day. There was only one time when I got caught up and had to jump across to the front group. There was a lot of panic from many riders in the peloton. I tried to stay as alert as possible without fighting for unnecessary positions until the crucial moments of the race. When it came to the sprint, we were trying to keep the pace fast, and the speed was good for me. It was just a learning curve on my end. I’ve never sprinted before, there’s a lot to improve on, and I’m happy to have the guidance from the team to help me get there! To be honest, I don’t think myself or anyone else really knows what to expect from me in sprinting or other aspects. I’m just trying not to limit myself. Giving me the opportunities to try and learn is only making me a stronger and smarter rider. I’m disappointed again not to have done better, but it’s nice to know that I can sprint if I need to!”

7th overall, Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon//SRAM): “We expected a windy and hectic stage when we knew how exposed the course was. It took a little while, but once it started, the action never stopped today. The first group was always getting smaller or bigger depending on the wind direction. We had a good battle to keep position and stay alert. There are some GC contenders that lost time, but I don’t think it means so much, especially with the final climb on stage seven. Looking ahead, tomorrow might be more of a defensive stage for some teams as the bigger opportunities for the GC contenders are still coming later in the week.”

8th on the stage, Alba Teruel (Laboral Kutxa-Fundación Euskadi): “Every flat day with this much wind is hard. I knew this stage could be harder and create even bigger gaps than some mountain stages, and it turned out like that. Some very strong teams started pulling, some favourites got dropped, and since then we raced full-gas to the finish. The stage was long and the temperatures were high, and we could feel both things on the legs. Did I have fun today? Well, I couldn’t sleep yesterday night. I slept only five hours out of sheer excitement. I didn’t know how the race was going to pan out today, and in the end I’ve managed to stay in the mix all the way to the finish. I knew it beforehand that these first two stages of La Vuelta Femenina by Carrefour.es suited my abilities. I’ll enjoy whatever comes from here on.”

9th on the stage, Demi Vollering (SD Worx): “We did expect this stage to play out like this. We actually expected that the battle would begin earlier, but the wind wasn’t blowing strong enough in the first kilometres. When I saw Movistar moving to the front, I realised something was going to happen, so I told Marlen [Reusser] and Niahm [Fisher-Black] to move to the front with me. From then on, the group kept getting smaller and smaller, big fight after big fight. I’m really happy that we could keep all of our GC riders in the mix. I didn’t enjoy today’s stage so much. It has been so tiring, and a bit annoying. On a stage like this one you need to stay fully focused the whole day because, if you sit at the back of the group, you can get exposed to the wind and get dropped – and it gets so hard at times. It has been a nice result for us, with three of us in the front group. Most of the GC riders were there too, so the situation doesn’t change that much for us. It changes more for those who missed the right move, like the Trek team. I’m sure today has been a hard day for them.”

10th on the stage, Marlen Reusser (SD Worx): “In the beginning of the stage, it was pretty slow, but as soon as we hit roads where it was sidewind and crosswinds, echelons started and the whole day was really full-gas echelons riding! A really tough stage, and I think many riders missed out on it. The race was expected to be much easier than it was in the end. There was one strong pull and the first group want away, and the second time was after the intermediate sprint, where it again cracked and there was a second group dropped. Team DSM really tried to keep the speed, and also Marianne (Vos, Team Jumbo-Visma) had still girls in the group, so the pace was still high and I think it wasn’t possible for those dropped to come back. At Team SD Worx we really did some good team work. We just had one rider who was grabbing a bottle in the wrong moment. It is difficult in the end, everybody has to be there, you cannot save people again and again. I’m especially proud of Niamh Fisher-Black, she’s one of the lightest riders in the peloton and I think she was more integrated than I was. It was really impressive!”

Jade Wiel (FDJ-SUEZ): “We didn’t expect the race to be this hard. It was a really long day, and for 100 kilometres we rode full gas because of the wind. That created some echelons and, even if we tried to maintain a small gap with the front group, we lost some time. Anyway, the race isn’t over yet. Tomorrow’s race is going to be a hilly one, with a nice climb at the end. I will try to anticipate and make my move earlier in order to help my team’s GC leaders. We are going to try and protect them ahead of the last climb.”

La Vuelta Femenina by Carrefour.es Stage 3 Result:
1. Marianne Vos (Ned) Jumbo-Visma in 3:27:38
2. Charlotte Kool (Ned) DSM
3. Chloe Dygert (USA) Canyon//SRAM
4. Clara Copponi (Fra) FDJ-SUEZ
5. Emma Norsgaard (Den) Movistar
6. Tamara Dronova-Balabolina (-) Israel Premier Tech Roland
7. Liane Lippert (Ger) Movistar
8. Alba Teruel (Spa) Laboral Kutxa Fundación Euskadi
9. Demi Vollering (Ned) SD Worx
10. Marlen Reusser (Sui) SD Worx.

La Vuelta Femenina by Carrefour.es Overall After Stage 3:
1. Marianne Vos (Ned) Jumbo-Visma in 6:26:46
2. Chloe Dygert (USA) Canyon//SRAM at 0:13
3. Riejanne Markus (Ned) Jumbo-Visma at 0:14
4. Anna Henderson (GB) Jumbo-Visma at 0:22
5. Amber Kraak (Ned) Jumbo-Visma
6. Elise Chabbey (Sui) Canyon//SRAM at 0:23
7. Katarzyna Niewiadoma (Pol) Canyon//SRAM
8. Liane Lippert (Ger) Movistar at 0:32
9. Emma Norsgaard (Den) Movistar at 0:34
10. Annemiek van Vleuten (Ned) Movistar.

La Vuelta Femenina’23 stage 3:

 

Eschborn-Frankfurt 2023
The route change at Eschborn-Frankfurt achieved exactly what it was supposed to: suspense until the absolute finale. Even 5 kilometres before the finish it was not clear whether the peloton would be able to close the small gap to the leading group. But it was enough for the leaders. Søren Kragh Andersen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) won the sprint ahead of Patrick Konrad (BORA-hansgrohe) and Alessandro Fedeli (Q36.5). Georg Steinhauser (EF Education-EasyPost) and Georg Zimmermann (Intermarché-Circus-Wanty) were the best Germans in sixth and seventh place.

Max Walscheid (Cofidis) opened the race shortly after the start and formed a leading group with five other riders, who took a maximum lead of 3 minutes. In mostly dry conditions fans and spectators along the route between Eschborn, the Taunus cities and Frankfurt created a record-breaking atmosphere for the German Classic.

Although the lead of the group had shrunk considerably after the first Feldberg crossing, the riders still made it over the first two Mammolshain climbs, only to be dropped on the approach to the second Feldberg. For Walscheid it was still enough to win the overall mountain classification. After the second Feldberg climb, about 30 riders went clear, with only Michael Matthews (Jayco Alula) among the fast riders. Accordingly, the group did not run smoothly and was caught 52 kilometres before the finish. At the last Mammolshain climb, a leading group formed, which included 10 riders. Zimmermann and Steinhauser were among them, as were Konrad and the Swiss rider Marc Hirschi (UAE Team Emirates). The group reached Frankfurt with a lead of about 1 minute, but they entered the final lap with only 20 seconds with a reduced field of about 30 riders chasing them. In the last 2 kilometres Zimmermann tried again with an attack but couldn’t break away. Then Kragh Andersen brought home the victory with a long sprint from the front. Arnaud De Lie led the peloton to the finish 18 seconds behind.

Race winner, Søren Kragh Andersen (Alpecin-Deceuninck): “In the end there was more climbing than I had expected. I really suffered on the second Feldberg crossing. But I never gave up and so the race ended perfectly for me in the group. The victory means a lot to me because I haven’t won in a long time.”

Patrick Konrad (BORA-hansgrohe): “It was a very exciting and a matter of seconds. It was primarily my plan to get through with the group and accordingly I invested a lot. I knew that Søren was the man to beat. At the moment, when I came up to his height in the sprint, it also looked good. But he countered strongly and is the deserved winner.”

3rd, Alessandro Fedeli (Q36.5 Pro Cycling): “This is my best result in the WorldTour. That’s why I’m overjoyed, of course. I want to thank the organisation for the fantastic race, there were no risky sections anywhere, the roads were good. I’m also happy for the team, because we want to build on this success now.”

Local rider, John Degenkolb (DSM): “I really suffered. As expected, the character of the race was different than usual, even if you didn’t see that in the start list. I had to drive in the red zone for a very long time, but I noticed that the others were not doing well either and that the mountains had left their mark. It wasn’t completely hopeless, but I was also close to completely blowing up. But that’s where the home advantage comes in: I know every bend, always know how steep it is. The support was phenomenal. It’s awesome to have a home race like this.”

Eschborn-Frankfurt Result:
1. Søren Kragh Andersen (Den) Alpecin-Deceuninck in 4:51:27
2. Patrick Konrad (Aust) BORA-hansgrohe
3. Alessandro Fedeli (Ita) Q36.5
4. Marc Hirschi (Sui) UAE Team Emirates
5. Lorenzo Rota (Ita) Intermarché-Circus-Wanty
6. Georg Steinhauser (Ger) EF Education-EasyPost
7. Georg Zimmermann (Ger) Intermarché-Circus-Wanty
8. Stephen Williams (GB) Israel-Premier Tech
9. Ben Hermans (Bel) Israel-Premier Tech
10. Martin Marcellusi (Ita) Green Project-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè at 0:03.

Eschborn-Frankfurt’23:

 

Soudal – Quick-Step to the Giro d’Italia
World Champion Remco Evenepoel headlines our squad for the season’s first Grand Tour

Featuring three individual time trials and seven uphill finishes, the Giro d’Italia is set to be once again a hard race that will give the overall contenders plenty of opportunities to make the difference. Starting in Fossacesia Marina and finishing in Rome, the Corsa Rosa will take in an elevation gain of more than 51,000 meters, much to the delight of those who are expected to shed time in the three stages against the clock.

Lago Laceno, Campo Imperatore, Crans Montana, Monte Bondone – the ascent forever linked with Charly Gaul’s incredible ride at the 1956 edition – Val di Zoldo, Tre Cime di Lavaredo and Monte Lussari will be the seven mountain summits of the race, with the mention that the last of these will come at the end of a gruelling and potentially decisive individual time trial. But there will be also other chances for the pink jersey favourites to gain precious seconds, with many of the medium mountain stages lending themselves to long-range attacks.

World Champion Remco Evenepoel will lead Soudal Quick-Step at the 106th Giro d’Italia (6-28 May), which he’ll start two weeks after his phenomenal triumph at Liège–Bastogne–Liège, where he rode everyone off his wheel on La Redoute. Just like in “La Doyenne”, the 23-year-old Belgian will wear bib number one on his back as he’ll line up for the opening day individual time trial.

“Racing in Italy is always special. I love it there, I love the amazing tifosi and their passion for cycling, so I am excited about being at the start of this Giro. Of course, doing it as World Champion makes it even more special, as I am keen on honouring this beautiful rainbow jersey that I will sport every day for the next three weeks. There’s no secret that I aim to do a good general classification. I can count on a very good team, we are all motivated and prepared to do our best”, said Remco ahead of his third appearance in a Grand Tour.

Supporting Evenepoel at the Corsa Rosa will be Davide Ballerini, Mattia Cattaneo, Josef Cerny, Jan Hirt, Pieter Serry, Ilan Van Wilder and Louis Vervaeke – riders with a lot of experience, who between them have raced a total of 47 Grand Tours.

“It’s time for the season’s first Grand Tour and we can’t wait to get things started, especially as we will race it with the World Champion in our ranks. We travel to Italy with a strong team, riders who are all determined to do a good race, show the Wolfpack spirit and help Remco get the best possible result in the general classification”, said Soudal Quick-Step sports director Davide Bramati.

06.05–28.05 Giro d’Italia (ITA) 2.UWT
Riders:
Davide Ballerini (ITA)
Mattia Cattaneo (ITA)
Josef Cerny (CZE)
Remco Evenepoel (BEL)
Jan Hirt (CZE)
Pieter Serry (BEL)
Ilan Van Wilder (BEL)
Louis Vervaeke (BEL)

Sports Directors: Davide Bramati (ITA), Klaas Lodewyck (BEL) and Geert Van Bondt (BEL).

Evenepoel to win the Giro?

 

Almeida Returns to Lead at Giro d’Italia
8-man squad decided for 106th ‘Corsa Rosa’

UAE Team Emirates have unveiled the team heading into the Giro d’Italia (6-28 May) with an exciting squad departing from Fossacesia, Chieti before embarking on a 3-week adventure finishing in Rome, covering 3,489km with 51,400 metres of climbing.

Leading the hopes the General Classification will be Portuguese talent Joao Almeida while Pascal Ackermann will lead the line in the of sprints. Jay Vine makes his Giro d’Italia debut and will provide a strong lieutenant for Almeida and may see his own chances open-up depending how the race develops.

Almeida has unfinished business at the Giro, having gone home on stage 18 through illness last year while sitting in 4th spot overall. This year the 24-year old will be looking to go the distance.

João Almeida: “After the disappointing end to this race last year I’m definitely hungry to come back and fight for a big result. The preparation for the Giro has gone really well. I think I’ve been really consistent this year and we’ve just done a big block of great training at altitude in Sierra Nevada, Spain so as a group we are in a great place both physically and mentally. Naturally my aim is to do a good GC but we also have Pascal for the sprints and some guys who have won stages here at the Giro before. I think we are in for a great race.”

Sports Manager Joxean Matxin Fernandez (Spa) will lead the squad alongside Sports Directors Fabio Baldato (Ita), and Marco Marzano (Ita). The team is comprised of 8 riders:

Giro d’Italia [2.UWT] – 06-May-2023 / 28-May-2023:
João Almeida (Por)
Pascal Ackermann (Ger)
Alessandro Covi (Ita)
Ryan Gibbons (RSA)
Davide Formolo (Ita)
Brandon McNulty (USA)
Diego Ulissi (Ita)
Jay Vine (Aus).

 

Rigoberto Urán: “We’ll See Where I Stand at the End”
Rigoberto Urán has not expressed any great expectations in the run-up to the Giro d’Italia. The 36 year-old Colombian of EF Education-EasyPost is known as a GC rider, but doesn’t claim that role in advance. “For me, the main goal of this Giro is to live from stage to stage,” he told the press conference.

Within the American team, Hugh Carthy will start with clear classification ambitions. Uran tempers those expectations a bit more. “My job will be to eat well, sleep well, not get sick and take it one day at a time. I want to help the team and then we will see where I stand at the end,” he explained.

“I know that riders from the highest level are participating. That makes it tough against those great teams,” said Urán. “But our team is also very active. We have great riders and want to do well here too.”

In the run-up to the Giro, Urán was initially supposed to ride the Tour of the Alps, but he missed it because he had become ill after the Tour of the Basque Country due to an allergic reaction. He has now recovered. “The most important thing is that I feel good. I am at the end of my career, I can help the team, but I also want to experience everything and take advantage of every moment. Because in the end it’s all about performance here.”

EF Education – EasyPost for the Giro d’Italia:
Rigoberto Urán
Magnus Cort
Ben Healy
Hugh Carthy
Stefan De Bod
Odd Christian Eiking
Jonathan Caicedo
Merhawi Kudus.

The EF Giro’23 jersey:

 

INEOS Grenadiers Confirm 2023 Giro d’Italia Line-Up
All roads lead to the Eternal City – Rome – during the month of May, as the INEOS Grenadiers confirm their line-up for the Giro d’Italia.

The 106th edition of the iconic race begins on 6 May from Fossacesia Marina in the Abruzzo region, with a 19.6km time trial, and finishes on 28 May in Rome.

There are three time trials in the event which takes in the western Alps and the race’s Cima Coppi (highest point) – the Colle del Gran San Bernardo – at 2469m. A brutal third week of racing in the Dolomites is sure to provide a fascinating showdown ahead of the finale in Rome.

The Grenadiers selected for the 106th Giro d’Italia are:
Thymen Arensman
Laurens de Plus
Filippo Ganna
Tao Geoghegan Hart
Salvatore Puccio
Pavel Sivakov
Ben Swift
Geraint Thomas.

Here is what some of the team had to say about lining up at the Giro next week:

Geraint Thomas: “I’m really looking forward to getting stuck into the Giro. The last two times I’ve been there I haven’t even finished, so hopefully I can get to Rome at the very least!

Obviously, this year has been a bit stop-start, but I’m on the right track and coming into some shape just in time – with all the boys going super-well too. We had a really good camp at Sierra Nevada and then the Tour of the Alps obviously went really well, so morale is high. Everyone’s confident and we’re just looking forward to racing now.

For me, I just want to enjoy it. As a junior, the thought of even going to the Giro with a group of lads all trying to perform at our absolute best…I would have been super-excited, so I’m looking forward to going there, soaking it up and getting stuck in.

It’ll be nice having Swifty on the team too – we’ve been racing together since we were like 10 or 11 on bike paths around parks. Hopefully we have the chance to enjoy it, because it’s a tough race and the end’s obviously super hard. The last week’s going to decide it, I think, so I’m looking forward to getting there, getting into the race and giving it everything with the lads.”

Tao Geoghegan Hart: “Racing in Italy is something I love. The Tifosi, the landscapes and the history of the Giro always make it an incredible experience.

Each Grand Tour is its own journey and for the 2023 Giro we are lining up with a great team, definitely hoping to add another special chapter to this race.

I’ve been in good form and have just really been enjoying racing with my teammates. Riding well at Tirreno-Adriatico and the Tour of the Alps has been great, but also satisfying to reward the hard work and dedication of my teammates and our amazing staff.

This group has spent a large amount of time together and so we’ll go into the race with great morale and confidence to make the most of the three weeks awaiting us!”

Filippo Ganna: “I’m so happy to be back and starting at the Giro. Every time I race, I give my absolute maximum – so I’m looking forward to seeing what I can achieve for the team. I’m very proud of what I’ve achieved at this race in the past, and I’m feeling really positive.

Our team is strong and I can’t wait to get out and show our very best. The opening time trial again offers me the opportunity to start in a very positive way for us all. Preparations have gone well and I look forward to getting to Fossacesia Marina on Saturday.

I obviously love racing in Italy in front of my home fans, and know the impact that the incredible support for me and the team has, so we hope to use that energy to give our very best.”

Rod Ellingworth – Deputy Team Principal: “Our first Grand Tour line-up of 2023 is an exciting rider group and shows real intent in how we want to take on the Giro.

We love racing in Italy, and this year’s parcours features some extremely tough stages, and the possibility of some equally tough conditions. The Italian fans are in for a real treat, and we’re looking forward to putting our stamp on what promises to be really entertaining but challenging race.

As a team, we’ll draw on the experience of Geraint and Tao in the tightly contested general classification. Filippo’s pedigree and local popularity speaks for itself, so we expect all eyes to be on him at the opening time trial, with the prize of the maglia rosa up for grabs.”

Our Giro d’Italia Team:

Geraint Thomas – 36, Great Britain
The Tour de France winner first rode the Giro as far back as 2008 and then again in 2012. More recently he didn’t finish in 2017, as well as in 2020, and will look to this year’s event to remedy that. The Welshman’s completed three races in 2023 so far – Tour Down Under, Tour of the Alps and Volta Ciclisto a Catalunya – and will be banking on his experience in what promises to be a very exciting Giro d’Italia.

Tao Geoghegan Hart – 28, Great Britain
On his way to victory in 2020 Geoghegan Hart won two stages of the race and famously stood atop the podium in the Piazza del Duomo taking the biggest win of his career.

2023 has seen Tao in good form taking overall podium positions at Tirreno-Adriatico and Volta a la Communitat Valenciana, and then most recently winning the Tour of the Alps, capping off a fine team performance.

Filippo Ganna – 26, Italy
Ganna will look to emulate his successes of 2020 and 2021 where he won the opening time trials of the race with eyes firmly fixed on the maglia rosa; those wins among two of the six Giro d’Italia stages he’s won in his career.

2023 has been a strong year for Filippo; he won the opening time trial of Tirreno-Adriatico in impressive fashion alongside a very fine performance in finishing second at Milan-San Remo. His cobbled Classics campaign included top-10 finishes at Paris-Roubaix and E3 Saxo Classic while he started the year with an impressive second overall finish at the Vuelta a San Juan Internacional.

Salvatore Puccio – 33, Italy
2023 sees a 10th Giro d’Italia start for Salvatore who, impressively, has finished every one of his nine previous appearances at the race. ‘Salva’ will play a key support role and his experience will be crucial to the teams ambitions this Giro, while his versatility ensures that should an opportunity arise, he’ll be able to take it.

Ben Swift – 35, Great Britain
A key member of our team’s success at the Giro in 2020, Ben impressed with his wide-range of abilities as he finished top-20 overall. The former British road race champion will start his fifth Giro this year and his 15-year career in the pro peloton brings invaluable experience to the team.

Thymen Arensman – 23, Netherlands
The young Dutch climber takes on his second Giro d’Italia having made his debut at the race in 2022 and securing a top-20 place overall; that included twice finishing in second on a stage. A new Grenadier in 2023, Arensman has settled quickly and proven himself to be a popular teammate, on top of his great potential, who will form a key part of our GC ambitions.

Pavel Sivakov – 25, France
Sivakov finished 9th overall in 2019 and second in the youth category, and he followed that up with a top-20 finish in 2022. He’s been in good form in 2023 scoring numerous top-10s and will take that confidence into the Giro. He’ll be a key member of our climbing contingent and possesses the skills to take his own opportunities should they present themselves.

Laurens De Plus – 27, Belgium
A hugely popular member of our team, Laurens takes to the Giro start line for a third time in 2023. His impressive set of skills will see him as a prominent feature for the Grenadiers throughout, with the 27-year-old fulfilling a key role in our ambitions in the race.

 

Giro d’Italia (May 6-28)
Five of the eight riders at the start of the Giro d’Italia come from the AG2R CITROËN U23 team: Alex Baudin, Paul Lapeira, Aurélien Paret-Peintre, Valentin Paret-Peintre and Nicolas Prodhomme. Alex Baudin, Paul Lapeira and Valentin Paret-Peintre will compete in their first Grand Tour. It will be Mikaël Cherel’s eighteenth.

Laurent Biondi, sports manager of the AG2R CITROËN TEAM: “We are at the start of the Giro d’Italia with a young team, putting out support behind a single leader: Aurélien Paret-Peintre.

He will aim to achieve the best possible position on the overall general classification. We hope to see him in the top 15 and even approach the top 10 if the race goes well.

He will be able to count on two very experienced riders with Mikaël Cherel and Lawrence Warbasse. Alex Baudin, Paul Lapeira and Valentin Paret-Peintre will be racing their first Grand Tour. Finally, Nicolas Prodhomme and Andrea Vendrame have already shown their quality in the three-week races and will be important elements for the team.

All will be at the service of Aurélien but will also work in the quest for a stage victory. We know how to do it and it will once again be a major objective for the AG2R CITROËN TEAM at this Giro d’Italia.

Note that in consultation with the sports management, Felix Gall, who was initially due to take part in the first Grand Tour of the season like last year, will focus on more specific preparation for the Tour de France (July 1-23). He is now one of the riders likely to take the start of the Grande Boucle in July.”

Laurent Biondi presents the eight riders who make up the squad at the start of the Giro d’Italia 2023.

Alex Baudin
21 years old
1st participation
“This will be Alex’s first three-week race. He will be important to the team especially on the medium mountain stages. He can slip into breakaways to aim for a victory or serve as support for Aurélien. His qualities as a puncher / climber will be important to achieve our collective objectives.”

Mikaël Cherel
37 years old
5th participation
Best result:
23rd general classification (2022)
“Mikael will be our road captain. It’s a role he masters perfectly. He will start his 18th Grand Tour. His experience will be invaluable in leading the team from the inside, teaching the young guys how not to make mistakes and accompanying our leader throughout these three weeks. His preparation has been exceptional.”

Paul Lapeira
22 years old
1st participation
“Paul has a lot of fire. Like Alex, he will be racing his first Grand Tour. The Norman rider has the right qualities to find himself in a position to win one of several stages. He will continue to learn and will be able to count on Mikaël, a rider with whom he shares a history, since they are both from Saint-Hilaire-du-Harcouët (Normandy). Mikaël has followed Paul since he was young, it’s a nice connection. His goal will be to slip into the breakaways and to support Aurélien.”

Aurélien Paret-Peintre
27 years old / 2 professional victories
2nd participation
Best result:
16th general classification (2020)
“Aurélien is our protected leader. He will make every effort to achieve the best possible result in the overall general classification. He requested to race the Giro d’Italia, so his motivation is high. He prepared well especially during a 20-day training camp at Etna with Mikaël. His ability to lead and elevate the group’s level will be invaluable in taking the whole team with him towards this general classification objective.
Depending on how the race unfolds, Aurélien may have the opportunity to play for a stage victory as well. He’s a real winner.”

Valentin Paret-Peintre
22 years old
1st participation
“Valentin is in good shape. He continues his progress little by little. Racing his first Grand Tour alongside his brother will certainly be a very good thing for him. His climbing qualities will be important to support Aurélien or to slip up front and play for victory during the high-mountain stages.”

Nicolas Prodhomme
26 years old
2nd participation
Best result:
65th general classification (2022)
“Nicolas will be at the start of his fourth Grand Tour. We are going to need him on the hilly stages. He has proven in the past that his ability to recover is exceptional. He will be able to make his contribution to the team throughout the three weeks but could also find himself in a position to win a stage. He is a young rider but already knows how to handle these three-week tours.”

Andrea Vendrame
28 years old / 4 professional victories
6th participation, 1 stage victory (2021)
Best result:
50th general classification (2020 and 2021)
“Andrea is an important part of our team starting this Giro d’Italia. He is racing at home and obviously very motivated. He knows the route perfectly, which is a valuable asset. He has proven over and over that he can perform. Andrea is often present at the forefront. He has sixteen top 10s to his credit at the Giro. We know he has the ability to win a stage as he was able to do in 2021. That’s what he wants to do again, and so do we.”

Lawrence Warbasse
32 years old
5th participation
Best result:
17th general classification (2020)
“Larry is the second most experienced person on our team. He has eight Grand Tours to his credit. He will be an important member of the team to slip into the breakaways as well as to provide advice to the younger riders. He knows how to pass on the right information when needed. Larry will also have an important role helping Aurélien. He knows how to support a leader very effectively.”

 

Giro d’Italia – Intermarché-Circus-Wanty Reveals its Roster
This Saturday 6th of May, Intermarché-Circus-Wanty will start its third Tour of Italy. The team of Jean-François Bourlart returns to the event in which it shone in its first two participations with three memorable stage wins and a double top ten in the final classification.

The 106th edition starts on May 6th in Abruzzo and ends in Rome on May 28th after 3448.6 kilometre of racing. The three weeks contain seven mountain stages from which five uphill finishes, three time trials summing up to 70 kilometre and a passage through Switzerland.

Parcours
The first leader’s jersey will be awarded after a time trial of 18.4 kilometre in the Chieti province. After several hilly stages, for example to Lago Laceno and Napoli, the first mountain top finish takes place on day seven on the slopes of the Gran Sasso d’Italia (2135 meter) in the Apennins. The second individual time trial of 33.6 kilometre after nine days precedes the first rest day.

During the second week the peloton will head north in Italy to reach Switzerland on day thirteen, with a mountain top finish in Crans-Montana after conquering the Col du Grand San Bernard (2469 meter), the Cima Coppi or roof of this edition. The second and last rest day takes place after the fifteenth stage around Bergamo.

Three of the five mountain top finishes are scheduled during the final week, respectively towards Monte Bondone (stage 16), Val di Zoldo (stage 18) and Tre Cime di Lavaredo (stage 19). Last named is considered the queen stage, passing over the Passo Campolongo, Passo Valporola, Passo Giau and the Passo Tre Crochi in the Dolomites.

The battle for the pink jersey will end with an 18.6 kilometre time trial towards the top of the Monte Lussari and an entirely flat stage through the streets of the capital.

Selection
Among the eight selected riders, two men contributed to the amazing collective success in the latest edition, in which the team collected not less than eleven top five finishes. Rein Taaramäe, stage winner in 2016, was part of three long breakaways which made it to the finish, to the Etna (3rd) and towards Genova alongside Lorenzo Rota, who finished less than a bike length away from the stage win. The vice Italian champion will participate to his national tour for the fourth time.

With Rota, Niccoló Bonifazio and Simone Petilli, the complete Italian contingent of the team will participate to the Giro. Bonifazio sprinted three times to the podium in his only participation in 2018. He recently took his first win for the team in the Giro di Sicilia, with the support of Simone Petilli, who finished eight in the final classification and will participate to the Giro for the fourth time.

Sven Erik Bystrøm is on the eve of his sixth Grand Tour and Giro debut, just like three Belgian talents. Laurens Huys (24), Arne Marit (24) and Laurenz Rex (23) will make their Grand Tour debut. Marit obtained his first World Tour top ten results this spring in stage of Paris-Nice and the Volta Catalunya. Huys contributed to several team victories as a perfect domestique. Rex, revelation of Paris-Roubaix, took his first professional win one month before when he was making his return in competition after an injury.

Valerio Piva (Sports Director): “I have excellent memories from our first two participations to the Giro d’Italia. Two years ago we started with a liberating and extraordinary victory of Taco van der Hoorn. Last year we were witness of the revelation of Biniam Girmay and we ended with two riders in the top ten of the final classification. This success was the result of a true fighting spirit and a collective will to realise the impossible. This spirit will again be our weapon the next three weeks to get the best out of this Giro d’Italia.”

“In each stage we’ll be looking for the possibilities to achieve the best possible result with our riders. Therefore we’ll analyse the evolution of the general classification day by day, trying to predict which teams aim to control. Our riders will show themselves and this from the beginning of the Giro. The third stage could already be an opportunity for a breakaway. One and a half year ago Rein Taaramäe showed that in this way it is even possible to take the double: win a stage and conquer the leader’s jersey.”

“This Tour of Italy will be an important step in the development of our three young Belgian talents. Next to Taaramäe, they can rely on other experienced riders, who also made our colours shine on the attack in the most important races. I’m thinking of Lorenzo Rota, who was close to a stage win last year, and of Sven Erik Bystrøm, who won the first combativity award in the latest Tour de France. I also believe in the chances of Laurenz Rex in a breakaway. With Niccoló Bonifazio and Arne Marit we have two fast riders in our team. In the mountains I’m looking forward to the performances of Laurens Huys, Simone Petilli and Taaramäe.”

Selection:
Niccolo Bonifazio
Sven Erik Bystrøm
Laurens Huys
Arne Marit
Simone Petilli
Laurenz Rex
Lorenzo Rota
Rein Taaramäe.

Sports Directors: Aike Visbeek, Steven De Neef and Valerio Piva.

 

Giro d’Italia – MAY 06 – 28
Matt Winston – Team DSM coach: “As we look to the 106th Giro d’Italia we see another challenging course around Italy. We head there with a good team that will focus purely on day results. For the sprint days we bring a strong block with Marius, Alberto and Niklas; who we believe can work really well together. On the breakaway days we will look to our climbing guys such as Andreas and Harm to seek out the right moves so we can race for those top stage results. To achieve these goals, we will need to work well as a team and do it together as a unit, this is where our focus is and remains to be so that as soon as we reach kilometre zero, we can be directly in the race and show ourselves. Throughout the three weeks there will be opportunities for everyone, as we face sprint finishes, hilly terrains and big mountain stages, where the breakaway can fight for the win.”

Line-up:
Alberto Dainese (ITA)
Jonas Iversby Hvideberg (NOR)
Andreas Leknessund (NOR)
Niklas Märkl (GER)
Marius Mayrhofer (GER)
Florian Stork (GER)
Martijn Tusveld (NED)
Harm Vanhoucke (BEL).

Mayrhofer to the Giro:

 

Movistar Team with New Goals for 2023 Men’s Giro d’Italia
Telefónica-backed squad at Abruzzo start with a top sprinter, Fernando Gaviria, in arguably their very first time in search for some of the most coveted bunch kick wins of the season
In the day the first women’s Grand Tour of the season, La Vuelta, started, the Movistar Team announces the eight names that will make its roster for the first three-week men’s stagerace of the year, the Giro d’Italia, which starts Saturday 6th from the Costa dei Trabocchi (Chieti, Abruzzo).

For their 28th appearance in the ‘Corsa Rosa’, the Telefónica-backed squad brings a lineup spearheaded by Colombian sprinter Fernando Gaviria, leader of a squad which hopes to chase stage wins with its main sprinters. Joining the man from La Ceja will be another Colombian, climber Einer Rubio, as well as Max Kanter (GER), Albert Torres, José Joaquín Rojas, Óscar Rodríguez, Carlos Verona (ESP) and Will Barta (USA). Maximilian Sciandri, Pablo Lastras and Xabier Muriel will be the sports directors.

Three individual time trials -the opening one in Ortona; a long, 35km effort to Cesena (Sunday 14th); and the decisive, gruelling mountain TT up the Monte Lussari (Saturday 27th)- are notably highlighted into a parcours also featuring brutal mountain stages, such as the finishes in Crans Montana (Friday 19th), the Monte Bondone (Tuesday 23rd), Val di Zoldo (Thursday 25th) or the 5,400m Queen stage to the Tre Cime di Lavaredo (Friday 26th). The race ends in Rome on Sunday 28th May.

 

Matthews & Dunbar to Headline Team Jayco AlUla at the 106th Giro d’Italia
Former two-time Giro d’Italia stage winner Michael Matthews and Irish climber Eddie Dunbar will lead a well-balanced Team Jayco AlUla squad at the 106th edition of the Giro d’Italia starting on Saturday, 6th May in Ortona on the Abruzzo coast.

The pair will headline the Australian outfit’s dual ambitions of taking stage victories and a strong general classification showing in the demanding three-week race.

Fresh from his recent top-10 finish overall at a hard edition of the Tour of Romandie, Dunbar is in high spirits for the Italian Grand Tour and the Irishman will have a strong support group around him, in the shape of experienced road captain Alessandro De Marchi, and the young and motivated Italian champion Filippo Zana.

Australia’s Callum Scotson, who is quickly becoming one of the most valued support riders on the squad, will also be a key asset for Dunbar in the crucial third and final week, which is full of challenging alpine climbs set to determine the overall standings.

For the potential fast finishes and undulating stages more suited to Matthews, the former pink jersey wearer will have a mixed group around him with Austria’s Lukas Pöstlberger, also a former Giro stage winner and Maglia Rosa wearer, experienced Australian Michael Hepburn, who lines up for his eighth Giro assault, plus New Zealander Campbell Stewart, who is set to make his Grand Tour debut.

With no less than three individual time trials and 51,400 metres of altitude gain spread throughout the 3489 kilometres course, it is set to be another exciting, yet very demanding Grand Tour to shape the 2023 season.

Team Jayco-AlUla Giro d’Italia line-up:
Eddie Dunbar – 2nd appearance
Alessandro De Marchi – 7th appearance
Michael Hepburn – 8th appearance
Callum Scotson – 3rd appearance
Michael Matthews – 4th appearance
Lukas Pöstlberger – 2nd appearance
Campbell Stewart – Debut appearance
Filippo Zana – 4th appearance

Brent Copeland – General Manager: “The Giro d’Italia is one of the most challenging but also beautiful races on the racing calendar and as always, we are extremely excited to participate in this year’s event.

Together with the performance group we have built a balanced team which ranges from young to experienced riders and we are very much looking forward to seeing them battling it out for some exhilarating racing.

We are forever grateful to all our sponsors and partners and particularly to our team owner Gerry Ryan, for the extraordinary support he continuously shows towards the team. We are looking forward to showcasing on the Italian roads over the next month.”

Michael Matthews: “Three years have already passed since the last time I raced the Giro and so I am very happy to return to a race that has given me a lot of satisfaction in the past, having won stages and worn the pink jersey back in 2014 and 2015. The Giro d’Italia is of course a huge race for us and it is always great lining up at such a prestigious event.

I am eager to get back to racing, I have had a bit of a rollercoaster of a season so far after a crash at the Tour of Flanders and having to recover from that and also being forced to stop for a while due to Covid. Now I am feeling good and like everything is back on track.

This year’s course is very demanding, but there will be some good opportunities for me for stage victories and we have a well-balanced and experienced team. It is really motivating to have a slightly different calendar this year and to return to this great Grand Tour.”

David McPartland – Sport Director: “As always, we are very motivated to head to Italy for the Giro d’Italia. We have had a lot of success at the Giro over the years and we are planning for more again in this year’s edition. It’s a course that has everything, lots of time trial kilometres, both flat & mountainous, then some flat road stages, many intermediate stages that can go either way, long hard mountain top finishes in the Dolomites and a spectacular last stage in Rome to wrap it up.

We are bringing a rounded squad spearheaded by Matthews who will be supported by experienced riders. The squad is completed by the two young riders in Stewart and Zana and finally by Dunbar who will be at the Giro for the mountain stages and our general classification ambitions.

“La corsa rosa” is one of the most spectacular and hardest races that exists on the WorldTour calendar, and we are ready to give it our everything and bring home some success.”

 

All Roads Lead to Rome
There is one month of the year that we have all marked with a red marker. Every training session, every waiver, every pedal stroke, every thought: everything, everything is turned to the month of May. Everything is turned toward the Giro d’Italia. Because for a team like ours there is no more beautiful thing and more important race, and being at the start for the third year in a row is something that resembles a dream from which you do not want to wake up.

We set off for the Giro, with our suitcase full of goals and hopes. We leave for the Giro, with a strong team prepared for this event. We leave for the Giro, with an enthusiastic staff ready to experience intense and unforgettable days of work. We leave for the Giro, with a desire to make our mark by running it our way.

That the team is doing well is evident from the results of the last few weeks. The return to racing of Albanese after the period of stop following the injury in January, and of Fortunato after the period of training in the mountains, have changed the face of our season. The Tour of Sicily with Albanese, the Tour of the Alps with Fortunato, and then the Vuelta Asturias with Alba’s placings and Fortu’s victory (queen stage and general classification): results that filled up the team’s morale tank. And it was much needed.

Eight riders, chosen and wanted: spearheads Lorenzo Fortunato (fresh from his triumph at the Vuelta Asturias) and Vincenzo Albanese (who is itching for a win after so many placings). Captain Francesco Gavazzi, in his last career Giro d’Italia. Lieutenants Mirco Maestri (who came close to victory last year and will certainly try again) and Erik Fetter (the team’s chronoman, but at the same time a man capable of going after breakaways). The pair of brothers Mattia and Davide Bais (two born attackers, and at the same time two team men, who will know how to show off and put the team name on display). And then Diego Sevilla, at the first Giro d’Italia of his career after having dreamed of it since he was a child: and for him really a separate speech must be made, because the story of a boy who since the junior categories has worn the jersey of our team and now debuts at the Giro d’Italia is a wonderful story. And it is a story that says everything about the power of a project that was born years ago and has become great on the strength of its values and ideas.

And here it is, the Giro. A Giro 21 stages long, 3,489.2 kilometres, 51,400 meters of total elevation gain, 3 time trials, 5 uphill finishes. A Giro that will cross Italy and wink at Switzerland with the Crans Montana stage. A Giro that will arrive at the home of our Ivan Basso with the Cassano Magnago stage on May 20.

It is difficult to predict which stages will be the ones in which ours will have the best chance of making their mark, but one can imagine that Fortunato will try to exploit his climbing skills in the toughest stages:the fourth stage with arrival at Lago Laceno and the seventh with arrival on the Gran Sasso, then the first big stage from Borgofranco di Ivrea to Crans Montanaprima before the grand finale with stages 18 and 19, the Oderzo-Val di Zoldo and the Longarone-Tre Cime di Lavaredo. Albanese definitely has the first week in his sights, with the stages arriving in his homelands: eyes will be on stage 3 (Vasto-Melfi), stage 5 (Atriplalda-Salerno), and stage 6 (Naples-Naples), but the other two weeks will also have no shortage of opportunities for him. What’s next. And then the Giro has taught us that every day is a good one to try to write history.

A Giro that will be beautiful, indeed more: unique. And, like us, it will be a Giro “born from passion.”

Lorenzo Fortunato: “I’m fine, I’m really fine, and the victory in Asturias I think has shown especially to myself that the work done so far has paid off. My way of racing after the last win won’t change, of course I have the knowledge that I’m going really strong on the climbs and that I have the legs to stay with the best, these last days have given me even more conviction after the excellent days at the Tour of the Alps.”

Vincenzo Albanese: “I’m going really strong, although since I came back after my injury I’ve hit too many second places and a win wouldn’t have been bad. Now comes the Giro and I am sure I will do a great race, the first week for me is the most important because there are three stages that pass in front of my house and I really want to show up. I will give everything and I am sure that I and the team will reap what we deserve. I’m coming in very charged, and after the two months off I want to make up for the time left behind.”

Fran Contador: “This will be our third Giro d’Italia, and already that means so much! We are looking forward to it, knowing that it is the goal of the year and the most important moment of the season. It is a responsibility and also a motivation to be at the Grande Partenza, to be part of this competition, and we think that EOLO KOMETA has a really competitive team, in which I want to make special mention of Diego Pablo Sevilla. A cyclist who went through all of our categories as a junior and now, as a professional, he will participate in a Grand Departure. Together with the rest of our teammates and with a commitment to be protagonists, we are ready for the Giro d’Italia.”

Ivan Basso: “For me to talk about the Giro d’Italia is always special: because of the relationship I have always had with this race since I was a child, then as a racer when I managed to win it, now as a manager with my team. This year we arrive with a series of excellent results and a self-confidence that makes us think we can do a great Giro, a Giro capable of meeting everyone’s expectations. We are growing strongly but this should not make us lose our humility: we have to ride in a composed way, we have to be united both in the good times and in the hard times. It will be an honour and a duty for us to show ourselves to the public who will come to see us on the roads, and who will come to applaud us.”

Alberto Contador: “We are all very excited about this Giro d’Italia. I think the team has done a great job approaching it, we have a very strong group that can do great things in the race. Fortunato will be our reference in the mountain stages and Albanese for the mid-mountain and explosive finishes. These are riders with real chances to win a stage, to be protagonists. The riders are motivated, the whole group has worked together to give support and protection, as well as looking for the leading role in the breakaways. I am very confident and excited because EOLO KOMETA will do a great job.”

 

Bahrain Victorious Announces Giro d’Italia Lineup
May 6th sees the start of the Giro d’Italia, the first Grand Tour of the year, which for 2023 features three time trials and six mountain stages, over 3489 kilometres in total.

Team Bahrain Victorious head to the ‘Grande Partenza’ in Abruzzo with Jack Haig as leader. The Australian has started the Giro twice in his career, but always riding in support of another. He arrives on the back of a podium at The Tour of the Alps, and promising form in all four stage races in which he has participated this year.

As usual the ‘percorso’ suits the climbers. The riders will tackle a total of 51,400 metres of altitude gain, including three stages with over 5,000m each, and over 70kms against the clock.

Supporting Jack in the mountains will be Damiano Caruso, 2nd in the Giro two years ago, and making his sixth appearance at his home Grand Tour. Alongside them Gino Mäder also takes to the start-line for the second time, having won stage 6 in 2021. Columbian Santiago Buitrago travels to Italy after a standout 3rd place finish at Liège-Bastogne-Liège last week, his 3rd race podium of the season. The 23 year old made his Giro debut 12 months ago, winning the 17th stage. Completing the list of climbers is Edoardo Zambanini, who competed in his first Grand Tour at the 2022 Vuelta a España, riding for Mikel Landa.

Lead Sports Director for the three weeks will be Gorazd Štangelj, who explains more about the team’s overall objectives: “Jack is our GC leader, and we also have Damiano, Gino & Santiago. Of course we will look at the situation day by day. There is some very strong competition at the race this year, particularly with so much time trialling, so our goal of the podium would be a really big achievement. Damiano showed great condition at Romandie, Jack in the Alps, Santi at Liege as well as the Alps, and Gino’s form is improving too.”

The opening week has a mix of profiles, topped & tailed by relatively flat time trials of 19 & 35 kms on stages 1 & 9. In between are days for sprinters and puncheurs, and the first real mountain test, stage 7, which concludes with a seemingly endless ascent to the Gran Sasso d’Italia at 2130m.

After the first rest day and a journey to the West of the peninsula, the peloton face three fairly straightforward days before the GC battle comes back into focus. The Giro crosses into Switzerland on stage 13, midway through which appears the highest point of the race, the ’Cima Coppi’, at the Col du Grand Saint-Bernard (2469m).

The demanding Croix de Coeur follows, ahead of a summit finish atop the 1st category Crans-Montana.

There are six days when the fast men will believe they can take victory, and six hilly stages to entice the breakaway specialists. Bahrain will be hoping to challenge on those too, Jonathan Milan, Olympic gold medallist on the track, the designated sprinter. Supporting him on the flat is fellow Italian Andrea Pasqualon, and the experienced Jasha Sütterlin, returning for his third Giro. Their primary role will of course, be to look after our GC riders, but in the right circumstances may be given the freedom to fight for win.

Štangelj comments, “Every day we will give the riders tasks and opportunities, as well as protecting the leaders. We will look at every stage to see where we might find our moment of glory. I’m happy to have Jonathan here, even though we won’t be able to give him much support on the stages that suit him. But he should be able to find some space once the GC boys are safe. We have Edoardo as climbing support, Jasha Andrea & Jonathan as flat support, but of course everyday we will have an objective in mind.”

The Giro d’Italia claims to be ‘The world’s toughest race, in the world’s most beautiful place’, and every year the final week is loaded with climbing. Three days in the high mountains and a gruelling time trial up the 1st category Monte Lussari before a closing sprint in Rome. Stage 19 in the Dolomites is seen by many as the ‘Queen Stage’: the 183 km from Longarone to Tre Cime di Lavaredo takes in five formidable ascents in the last 100kms, and a 5th summit finish.

The 106th edition of the Giro is a mouthwatering prospect, and promises high drama & excitement from start to finish, in the shadow of some of Europe’s most breathtaking scenery.

Štangelj is looking forward to leading the Bahrain Victorious challenge: “We have a great team here, and we will chase opportunities every day in this Giro d’Italia.”

 

Jorgenson Speaks About His Big Step Up
Matteo Jorgenson was one of the revelations this spring. The American of the Movistar team not only did well in the stage races, he also excelled in the Classics. But his success was not easy. “In recent years I have often suffered a lot,” Jorgenson said on Twitter.

In an extensive post on Twitter, 23 year-old Jorgenson explains why he was able to take such a big step up this season. He won the Tour of Oman at the start of the season and also finished second in the Tour de Romandie and eighth in Paris-Nice. In the Classics he was fourth in the E3 Saxo Classic and 9th in the Tour of Flanders.

“What I’ve learned from the past period is that as long as you perform consistently and do the simple things well, it will propel your body forward. Regardless of whether you drive good or bad races. The last four years I suffered a lot, went deep mentally and physically and that was perhaps the most important thing I did. But more importantly, I always rested well until I was on top again.”

“Every season I went through the same cycle. In 2021 I went extremely deep during the spring, which resulted in a terrible Giro. I came in every day with the last riders and just barely made it to the finish. I rode a good Tour de France in 2022, but it took me until December to recover from it. The Tour gave me the confidence that I was close to the level of the better guys. So for 2023 I set some big goals. Quite challenging, because I wanted to perform in both the Classics and the stage races.”

“I have spent every euro of my salary so far to improve my performance. Individual training, time trial equipment, nutrition, massage, motor pacing… The combination of all these things makes me a better rider,” he believes. “In January I spent almost the entire month alone in an altitude hotel. I also hired a nutritionist and have weighed and recorded every ounce of food I’ve eaten since December to make sure I’m always at competition weight and have plenty of energy.”

Jorgenson also wants to thank his current team Movistar, and in particular his coach Patxi Vila. “He reduced the distance between racing and recovery in a way I had never experienced before. Also how he handled my constant flow of voice messages and data analysis is an achievement in itself.” Jorgenson will not race for the Spanish team next year: he will soon sign a multi-year contract with Jumbo-Visma.

Big things for Matteo Jorgenson:

 

Greg Van Avermaet will retire at the end of the season
Greg Van Avermaet, 37, a member of the AG2R CITROËN TEAM since 2021, has decided to retire at the end of the season.

Greg Van Avermaet raced 18 seasons in the professional peloton. He made his debut in 2006 wearing the colours of the Bodysol team. He took 41 victories including the Olympic road race title in 2016, Paris-Roubaix in 2017, two stages of the Tour de France (2015-2016), a stage in the Vuelta a España (2008), the general classification of Tirreno-Adriatico (2016) but also wore the Tour de France yellow jersey during 11 days in 2016 and 2018. His most recent victory was in the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal (2019).

Greg Van Avermaet: “A great adventure is ending and I’m a little sad. This decision was very difficult to make, but when I look in the rear view mirror, I am extremely proud of my achievements. I gave the best of myself every day, simply so I would have no regrets. Not only did I enjoy my victories, but also the path leading up to them. I thank everyone who believed in me and helped me throughout my career. I am grateful to my fans who always supported me, even in difficult times. It is now time to devote myself to my wife and children, and to have a new direction in my life. I am hoping to find the same passion in this new phase. I would like to thank the AG2R CITROËN team for its confidence and for the team spirit in which I have evolved over three seasons. Until the end of the season, I will give my best to the team as I have done since the day I started cycling. I hope to achieve some good results.”

Vincent Lavenu: “Greg Van Avermaet is a great champion. By mint of him, we have made a podium on the Tour of Flanders for the first time in 2021. His involvement, his professionalism and his human values were remarkable: he is an example for our entire team. He will have marked us both as a sportsman but also as a man. We know that until his last race, he will do his utmost to perform under the AG2R CITROËN team jersey and we will do everything we can to support him in this objective.”

After having taken a few days of rest following the spring classics, Greg Van Avermaet will return to racing on May 13 at the Tour du Finistère. He will then go on to the Boucles de l’Aulne (May 14), the Quatre Jours de Dunkerque (May 16-21), and then either the Critérium du Dauphiné or the Tour de Suisse followed by the Belgian National Championships (June 25). The date of his final race has not yet been decided.

# PEZ spoke to Greg in during the winter, you can read the interview HERE. # 

Greg Van Avermaet’s last season:

 

Two More Seasons: Schultz Set to Stay with IPT Through to 2025
In late December 2022, Australian rider Nick Schultz was facing the reality that he may not have a team in 2023. That was until Israel – Premier Tech came knocking with a last-minute contract offer.

A mere four months later, not only has Schultz well and truly settled into IPT, he has landed an additional two-year deal which will see him race in IPT colours through to the end of the 2025 season.

“This team essentially saved my career so I am incredibly grateful to them for that,” explains Schultz. “I think on both sides the relationship started really well and we see a future together so I’m really grateful they have offered me a chance to extend my contract already and hopefully we can achieve a lot of success together going forward.”

“The staff and riders on the team are really friendly and accommodating and it’s a super high performance environment as well. With everyone we have in this team, it’s really easy to get the most out of myself. Looking ahead to the rest of the season, I would like to find the form I had at the beginning of the year and start building towards the Tour de Suisse and aim for Tour de France selection.”

History has a way of repeating itself and after IPT offered Schultz’ countryman Simon Clarke a lifeline last year, before he went on to win a Tour de France stage, IPT owner Sylvan Adam’s says the team is excited to hopefully see Schultz follow in Clarke’s footsteps.

“Nick found himself in the unfortunate circumstance of his team collapsing before the start of the season and he was without a contract. We knew he was a talented rider and everyone had nothing but good things to say about his character and his abilities as a rider. So we took a chance on Nick and, although we were planning to stay at 27 riders, we opened up a spot for him, as well as Stevie Williams and Domenico Pozzovivo, and in doing so added three really good riders who add a lot of depth to this team,” says Adams.

“Nick is a great teammate and is very well liked and respected in the team. He has leadership qualities and as soon as we met him at our January camp and saw how well he integrated with us, we knew he was a keeper. So we are very happy to add another two years to Nick’s contract and see him grow even more with us.”

General Manager Kjell Carlström echoed Adams’ thoughts, acknowledging Schultz as an important member of IPT’s leadership group

“Very quickly we saw that Nick Schultz is an invaluable member of the team, bringing depth and leadership to our rider roster and in general, a pleasure to have in the team. He hit the ground running at Ruta del Sol at the beginning of the season and it’s only a matter of time before he scores a big win, as he almost did at the Tour de France last year. At 28-years-old, Nick has a long career ahead of himself and we are sure the best is yet to come,” adds IPT General Manager Kjell Carlström.

 

Team Corratec Finds a New Sponsor – Selle Italia
Team Corratec has changed its name to Team Corratec-Selle Italia a few days before the start of the Giro d’Italia. Selle Italia, one of the best-known bike saddle manufacturers, is a new title sponsor of the Italian team.

The Italian company, based in Casella d’Asolo, was founded in 1897 and became one of the most famous bike saddle brands. The company has previously worked with champions such as Felice Gimondi, Eddy Merckx, Francesco Moser, Bernard Hinault, Mario Cipollini, Miguel Indurain, Marco Pantani, Paolo Bettini and Mathieu van der Poel. Selle Italia has now joined Team Corratec as a co-sponsor, the team led by former riders Serge Parsani and Francesco Frassi. Both parties have been working together since 2022, but Selle Italia will now invest even more as title sponsor and now also features on the jersey.

Serge Parsani, the team manager of Team Corratec-Selle Italia, is delighted. “We could count on the support of major brands right from the start. One of them is Selle Italia. I already worked with this company in my period as a cyclist. It’s great to see how our project has developed lately”

The Italian formation will start the Giro d’Italia as Team Corratec-Selle Italia on Saturday, its first Grand Tour. The team received a ‘Wild Card’ invitation for the Giro d’Italia. Valerio Conti, Nicolas Dalla Valle, Stefano Gandin, Alessandro Iacchi, Alexander Konychev, Charlie Quarterman, German Nicolás Tivani and Attilio Viviani are part of the team.

 

Giro Next Gen was Presented in Rome
The route of the race for the world’s best Under 23 riders has been announced. Eight stages are scheduled from 11 to 18 June, starting in Agliè and with a grand finale in Trieste. The brutal finish on Passo dello Stelvio awaits the young stars of world cycling

The new Giro Next Gen, organised by RCS Sport under the patronage of the Ministry of Sports and Youth headed by Andrea Abodi and scheduled from 11 to 18 June, was presented at the Hall of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers.

There will be eight spectacular stages with opportunities for all types of riders, starting from the opening time trial in Agliè all the way to the finish in Trieste, cresting historical peaks such as Passo dello Stelvio or Pian del Cansiglio. The new stars of world cycling will cover 1050 km with a total elevation gain of 12,050 metres.

Andrea Abodi, Minister of Sports and Youth: “We are starting to make people understand the usefulness of the interdisciplinary nature of sport, starting with events like the Giro d’Italia. There is the classic Giro d’Italia, the women’s Giro d’Italia, which is just as important and will be more so in the future, and the Next Gen. We believe that they all represent a piece of national heritage because they tell not only the story of the exploits of the cyclists or women cyclists, but also of our nation. The cycling movement is growing, as is its social economy; we may have less medals but we can’t speak of a crisis. Sometimes we think that the sporting phenomenon is measured by victories, which certainly make us proud, but the real growth to which we must aspire is that of the base. The Federation must be proud of what the cycling movement as a whole manages to generate, and we must take our cue from the pleasure ordinary people take in getting on their bikes. An approach that was probably being lost before the pandemic crisis: let’s not underestimate this social drive because it’s worth as much as medals, if not more.”

Paolo Bellino, Managing Director and General Manager at Rcs Sport: “For RCS Sport it is an important decision to organise, together with the Federation, the Giro Next Gen. Young riders represent the engine of the movement and are a glimpse into the future, something that is very important for RCS Sport. We have entered into an agreement for many years, demonstrating a long-term project that will allow this race to carve out an even more central place for itself in the international cycling scene. Our organisational machine will make a considerable effort, which will be further expanded from 2024 onwards as we will also add the Giro Donne to the calendar. We will have in 40 days three races that will fully cover the development of the Italian cycling movement.”

Mauro Vegni, Director of the Giro d’Italia: “This year the Giro Next Gen will take place entirely in the North because with only eight stages it is impossible to cover the whole country. Over the next few years we plan to develop the race to the Centre and South so that, as we already do in professional racing, we can bring this top-level event for the category to all Italian territories. The route offers opportunities for everyone, time trialists, sprinters, finisseurs, and climbers with the icing on the cake represented by the finish on the Stelvio Pass.”

Cordiano Dagnoni, President of the Italian Cycling Federation, Federciclismo: “In the history of the Giro Under 23 there is an element of continuity and growth that reaches full maturity with the organisation by RCS Sport, to whom our thanks go for accepting this challenge. A thank you that we also address to those who have allowed the Giro U23 in recent years to restart and become what it is today. I would also like to thank Minister Abodi for the sensitivity he has shown on several occasions towards our sport and in his willingness to build together a path of further growth of our events, especially the youth events. Speaking of youth, I would like to remind you that the cycling movement is in good health. The numbers say so. Not only the 130 medals won last year, but above all the growth rates, in recent years, of the competitive sector. Compared to the last pre-pandemic year, our youth riders have grown by 20 per cent, juniors by 11 per cent, and U23s by 10 per cent. We are aware that our work cannot stop at contingent results but must look at the overall development of the youngsters and we are confident in the work of our technicians and the quality of our races, starting with the Giro Next Gen presented today.”

THE ROUTE
11/06, STAGE 1, AGLIÈ – AGLIÈ ITT, 9.4 KM
A short and very fast individual time trial, suitable for specialists against the clock. It consists of long straight stretches connected by a few bends. The only slight difficulty is the final ramp (4% average) leading to the Castello di Agliè.

12/06, STAGE 2, SAN FRANCESCO AL CAMPO-CHERASCO, 151 KM
The stage is relatively flat in the first part, and then twists and undulates up to the finish. It skirts around the city of Turin, touching on some towns in its hinterland such as Settimo Torinese and Chieri. It then continues south to the hills of Albese where it climbs La Morra and Novello before reaching the final circuit of 18 km (1 lap) that touches not only Cherasco but also Narzole and the Tanaro valley floor. In 2010, on the same finish, Philippe Gilbert triumphed in the Gran Piemonte.

13/06, STAGE 3, PRIOCCA-MAGENTA, 146 KM
An entirely flat stage dedicated to fast wheels, in which the short climb of Lu will mark the only impediment. The route crosses the plains of Alessandria and Pavia. The areas are substantially straight and pan-flat areas, and a sprint finish is virtually certain.

14/06, STAGE 4, MORBEGNO-PASSO DELLO STELVIO, 118 KM
A very tough high mountain stage that will produce the first, and potentially final, draft of the general classification. From Morbegno, the route follows the course of the Adda river to Sondrio and then ascends along the panoramic road through important sites for cycling, such as Poggiridenti. The stage passes through Teglio (which gives its name to the valley) and then takes a long climb to Bormio through Tirano, Mazzo di Valtellina, and Valdisotto. Final climb of 22 km at 7% average with over 30 hairpin bends.

15/06, STAGE 5, CESANO MADERNO-MANERBA DEL GARDA, 154 KM
A rough stage, especially in the finale, which takes the race to Lake Garda. After the start, the stage will cross the plain north of Milan, dotted with built-up areas where roundabouts, traffic islands and various types of street furniture are the most common impediments. Before Brescia the race moves towards Lake Iseo and climbs the Passo Tre Termini, the ascent to Lumezzane and the Passo di Sant’Eusebio before descending to the shores of Lake Garda with some final kicks suitable for possible finisseurs.

16/06, STAGE 6, PERGINE VALSUGANA-POVEGLIANO, 166 KM17/06, STAGE 7, POSSAGNO-PIAN DEL CANSIGLIO, 175 KM
This is the queen stage of the Giro Next Gen 2023. It starts at the Temple of Canova in Possagno and, after km 0, it will be an uninterrupted succession of short and long climbs. The stage crosses the entire Prosecco area from Valdobbiadene to Combai to Refrontolo and, after Vittorio Veneto, the sequence of climbs begins: San Lorenzo, Passo San Boldo, with its hairpin bends in tunnels, Valmorel, Nevegal, with its central kilometres all over 10%, Malga Cate in Alpago, always with double-digit gradients, and finally the entrance to Pian del Cansiglio from Farra with its first 4 km entirely at 12/13%. A tough and selective stage that will determine the final classification.

18/06, STAGE 8, TAVAGNACCO (CAVALICCO)-TRIESTE, 131 KM
The closing stage of the Giro 2023 starts from Tavagnacco (Cavalicco), the hometown of Enzo Cainero. The first part undulates slightly along the moraines of Udine. It passes through Pagnacco, Buja, Tarcento and continues across the wine area of Nimis, Attimis and Faedis to the plain of Cividale. After passing through the province of Gorizia, marked by memoirs of the Great War, with Monte San Michele and the Redipuglia shrine, the route enters the province of Trieste via the ‘high’ road of Aurisina and Santa Croce. There is a short dive towards the coast before the final sprint of the stage and the Giro in front of the Piazza Unità d’Italia and the Molo Audace.

 

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