Category: Cycling

After a thrilling day against the clock for the participants of the 105th Giro d’Italia, the stand-out performance is undoubtedly that of the eventual victor, Team BikeExchange Jayco’s British GC hopeful Simon Yates. The astonishing speed shown by Simon Yates on the stage 2 time trial is a gauntlet thrown in the direction of his GC rivals. It lays down a marker and proves that the Lancastrian climber has more to offer than pure climbing skills. On a day in which attention was focused more on the wearer of the maglia rosa, Mathieu van der Poel, the business of scoring as many seconds of time advantage as possible was foremost on Yates’ agenda.

In the 9.2km challenge in Budapest, Yates recorded the fastest time of 11.50 to take the fifth Giro stage victory of his career, and move himself up to second in the general classification, 11 seconds behind van der Poel, who finished second. With the Dutch rider unlikely to present a significant challenge to Yates and the rest of the GC contenders in the long-run, Yates could rightly consider himself maglia rosa-in waiting, as the race heads for a final flat stage in Hungary before departing for Italian soil.

GC riders have always had to prove themselves over a variety of terrains, and although this year’s Giro features the fewest time trial kilometres of any grand tour for the past 20 years, Yates’ strong form against the clock will still cause consternation to his rivals. With a final stage time trial looming on the horizion, Yates could feasibly claw back any losses incurred in the intervening mountain stages.

While Yates may have surprised many by rising to the top on today’s stage, the result did not come completely out of the blue. Yates himself and team DS Matt White have both spoken recently about the change in approach which has seen the team improve their time trial performances. Earlier in the spring at Paris-Nice, Yates showed off this improvement, coming 5th in amongst the likes of Primož Roglič, Wout van Aert and Rohan Dennis.

Yates has history with time trials at Paris-Nice. The Race to the Sun was in fact the location of Yates’ only other career time trial win in 2019. Yates came second on the opening time trial at the Giro that year and suffered a tailing off in form by the third week, an echo of his previous dismal final week in 2018. That year he won three stages, before a time trial on stage 16 triggered a downward spiral which saw him finish in 20th position in the final standings.

It’s a problem that team manager Matt White insists has been better managed this time around, and with the improvement in Yates’ time trialing shifting the pressure onto the shoulders of the likes of Richard Carapaz and Joao Almeida, today’s result will provide a major confidence boost for the team and their leader.

Another team who have spent significant resource on their time trial offering, Jumbo Visma also performed well on stage two, with five riders making the top 25 overall. For their co-leader Tom Dumoulin, while he wasn’t able to come away with the stage win, his top three performance – which translates to third place in the overall classification – stands him in good stead going forward in the race.

The Dutch rider has always been at home riding against the clock, proving his pedigree with an Olympic silver medal right after his return to competitive racing after a period away from the sport early in 2021. The Jumbo Visma man has been off the pace so far this season in terms of his climbing form, but following a reportedly successful period at altitude, a self-confessed ‘happy’ Dumoulin today launched his GC campaign with a positive showing in his favoured discipline to put himself in contention.

The reality of whether either rider has the staying power to endure the rigours of three weeks at arguably the toughest of the grand tours will become apparent as they go deeper into the race. It remains to be seen whether the current psychological – and practical – advantages will translate into positive outcomes for either Yates or Dumoulin.

With the time trial performance of his career under his belt, Yates will undoubtedly strike fear into his rivals with this early display of strength. With 27 seconds in hand over Richard Carapaz it certainly shifts the onus onto other teams to attack in the mountains, and should lead to an open and exciting race for the neutral viewer. For Dumoulin, the psychological advantage remains his own for now. If he can show the climbing form he displayed in his Sunweb days, and which led him to a second place finish at the Tour de France in 2018, he too might be capable of springing a surprise as the race ascends into the mountains.

– – –

After a thrilling day against the clock for the participants of the 105th Giro d’Italia, the stand-out performance is undoubtedly that of the eventual victor, Team BikeExchange Jayco’s British GC hopeful Simon Yates. The astonishing speed shown by Simon Yates on the stage 2 time trial is a gauntlet thrown in the direction of his GC rivals. It lays down a marker and proves that the Lancastrian climber has more to offer than pure climbing skills. On a day in which attention was focused more on the wearer of the maglia rosa, Mathieu van der Poel, the business of scoring as many seconds of time advantage as possible was foremost on Yates’ agenda.

In the 9.2km challenge in Budapest, Yates recorded the fastest time of 11.50 to take the fifth Giro stage victory of his career, and move himself up to second in the general classification, 11 seconds behind van der Poel, who finished second. With the Dutch rider unlikely to present a significant challenge to Yates and the rest of the GC contenders in the long-run, Yates could rightly consider himself maglia rosa-in waiting, as the race heads for a final flat stage in Hungary before departing for Italian soil.

GC riders have always had to prove themselves over a variety of terrains, and although this year’s Giro features the fewest time trial kilometres of any grand tour for the past 20 years, Yates’ strong form against the clock will still cause consternation to his rivals. With a final stage time trial looming on the horizion, Yates could feasibly claw back any losses incurred in the intervening mountain stages.

While Yates may have surprised many by rising to the top on today’s stage, the result did not come completely out of the blue. Yates himself and team DS Matt White have both spoken recently about the change in approach which has seen the team improve their time trial performances. Earlier in the spring at Paris-Nice, Yates showed off this improvement, coming 5th in amongst the likes of Primož Roglič, Wout van Aert and Rohan Dennis.

Yates has history with time trials at Paris-Nice. The Race to the Sun was in fact the location of Yates’ only other career time trial win in 2019. Yates came second on the opening time trial at the Giro that year and suffered a tailing off in form by the third week, an echo of his previous dismal final week in 2018. That year he won three stages, before a time trial on stage 16 triggered a downward spiral which saw him finish in 20th position in the final standings.

It’s a problem that team manager Matt White insists has been better managed this time around, and with the improvement in Yates’ time trialing shifting the pressure onto the shoulders of the likes of Richard Carapaz and Joao Almeida, today’s result will provide a major confidence boost for the team and their leader.

Another team who have spent significant resource on their time trial offering, Jumbo Visma also performed well on stage two, with five riders making the top 25 overall. For their co-leader Tom Dumoulin, while he wasn’t able to come away with the stage win, his top three performance – which translates to third place in the overall classification – stands him in good stead going forward in the race.

The Dutch rider has always been at home riding against the clock, proving his pedigree with an Olympic silver medal right after his return to competitive racing after a period away from the sport early in 2021. The Jumbo Visma man has been off the pace so far this season in terms of his climbing form, but following a reportedly successful period at altitude, a self-confessed ‘happy’ Dumoulin today launched his GC campaign with a positive showing in his favoured discipline to put himself in contention.

The reality of whether either rider has the staying power to endure the rigours of three weeks at arguably the toughest of the grand tours will become apparent as they go deeper into the race. It remains to be seen whether the current psychological – and practical – advantages will translate into positive outcomes for either Yates or Dumoulin.

With the time trial performance of his career under his belt, Yates will undoubtedly strike fear into his rivals with this early display of strength. With 27 seconds in hand over Richard Carapaz it certainly shifts the onus onto other teams to attack in the mountains, and should lead to an open and exciting race for the neutral viewer. For Dumoulin, the psychological advantage remains his own for now. If he can show the climbing form he displayed in his Sunweb days, and which led him to a second place finish at the Tour de France in 2018, he too might be capable of springing a surprise as the race ascends into the mountains.

– – –

After a thrilling day against the clock for the participants of the 105th Giro d’Italia, the stand-out performance is undoubtedly that of the eventual victor, Team BikeExchange Jayco’s British GC hopeful Simon Yates. The astonishing speed shown by Simon Yates on the stage 2 time trial is a gauntlet thrown in the direction of his GC rivals. It lays down a marker and proves that the Lancastrian climber has more to offer than pure climbing skills. On a day in which attention was focused more on the wearer of the maglia rosa, Mathieu van der Poel, the business of scoring as many seconds of time advantage as possible was foremost on Yates’ agenda.

In the 9.2km challenge in Budapest, Yates recorded the fastest time of 11.50 to take the fifth Giro stage victory of his career, and move himself up to second in the general classification, 11 seconds behind van der Poel, who finished second. With the Dutch rider unlikely to present a significant challenge to Yates and the rest of the GC contenders in the long-run, Yates could rightly consider himself maglia rosa-in waiting, as the race heads for a final flat stage in Hungary before departing for Italian soil.

GC riders have always had to prove themselves over a variety of terrains, and although this year’s Giro features the fewest time trial kilometres of any grand tour for the past 20 years, Yates’ strong form against the clock will still cause consternation to his rivals. With a final stage time trial looming on the horizion, Yates could feasibly claw back any losses incurred in the intervening mountain stages.

While Yates may have surprised many by rising to the top on today’s stage, the result did not come completely out of the blue. Yates himself and team DS Matt White have both spoken recently about the change in approach which has seen the team improve their time trial performances. Earlier in the spring at Paris-Nice, Yates showed off this improvement, coming 5th in amongst the likes of Primož Roglič, Wout van Aert and Rohan Dennis.

Yates has history with time trials at Paris-Nice. The Race to the Sun was in fact the location of Yates’ only other career time trial win in 2019. Yates came second on the opening time trial at the Giro that year and suffered a tailing off in form by the third week, an echo of his previous dismal final week in 2018. That year he won three stages, before a time trial on stage 16 triggered a downward spiral which saw him finish in 20th position in the final standings.

It’s a problem that team manager Matt White insists has been better managed this time around, and with the improvement in Yates’ time trialing shifting the pressure onto the shoulders of the likes of Richard Carapaz and Joao Almeida, today’s result will provide a major confidence boost for the team and their leader.

Another team who have spent significant resource on their time trial offering, Jumbo Visma also performed well on stage two, with five riders making the top 25 overall. For their co-leader Tom Dumoulin, while he wasn’t able to come away with the stage win, his top three performance – which translates to third place in the overall classification – stands him in good stead going forward in the race.

The Dutch rider has always been at home riding against the clock, proving his pedigree with an Olympic silver medal right after his return to competitive racing after a period away from the sport early in 2021. The Jumbo Visma man has been off the pace so far this season in terms of his climbing form, but following a reportedly successful period at altitude, a self-confessed ‘happy’ Dumoulin today launched his GC campaign with a positive showing in his favoured discipline to put himself in contention.

The reality of whether either rider has the staying power to endure the rigours of three weeks at arguably the toughest of the grand tours will become apparent as they go deeper into the race. It remains to be seen whether the current psychological – and practical – advantages will translate into positive outcomes for either Yates or Dumoulin.

With the time trial performance of his career under his belt, Yates will undoubtedly strike fear into his rivals with this early display of strength. With 27 seconds in hand over Richard Carapaz it certainly shifts the onus onto other teams to attack in the mountains, and should lead to an open and exciting race for the neutral viewer. For Dumoulin, the psychological advantage remains his own for now. If he can show the climbing form he displayed in his Sunweb days, and which led him to a second place finish at the Tour de France in 2018, he too might be capable of springing a surprise as the race ascends into the mountains.

– – –

Stage 3 of the Giro d’Italia is set to be a hotly anticipated clash of sprinters with Mark Cavendish and Caleb Ewan expected to be at the forefront.

The 201km mostly flat stage from Kaposvar to Balatonfured is tailor made for the fast finishers, with Cavendish looking to make an impact on his return to the race.

Ewan suffered a nasty fall at the end of Stage 1 but appeared to have suffered no ill-effects at the Stage 2 time trial and speaking on the Breakaway, Robbie McEwen was thrilled at the prospect of the two riders providing an exciting race.

“It was good to see that Caleb came out today looking pretty good after that crash,” he said. “He went down really heavily but looking at him during the time trial he looked quite fluid.

“When he got out of the saddle he was moving well, didn’t look like he was favouring one side or the other.

“He just said he feels good. So that is a good sign for tomorrow and I’d love to see a proper head-to-head, nobody getting obstructed or making a mistake but a sprint match between the two of them.

“It’s going to be entertaining. I’m looking forward to it as everybody else is. I think speed-wise to be honest, I think Caleb has the edge when it comes to speed.

“Cav is there with Michael Morkov, the best lead-out man in the world and that is a massive advantage.

“Those straight-ahead sprints on a big road are the most difficult to get right. It’s much easier when there’s a number of corners, you can stretch things out.

“So it’s difficult to get right, and timing is everything.”

Adam Blythe added that he believes Cavendish has been keeping his powder dry in the race so far and saving himself for his sprint speciality on Sunday.

Blythe said: “I think it’s always good to open up your engine a little bit and I think with Cav, he’s not a bad time trialer, he can put in a solid effort and I think [during Stage 2] he doesn’t look flat out in the road, hard on the flat and up the climb taking it relatively easy.

“I think yesterday? Super easy. Last climb? Wasn’t interested. Saving his legs. That’s quite a big effort.

“I think for the riders like Caleb, he’s got the form to do that. He’s on good form. And we don’t know how Cavendish is yet.“

– – –

Stage 3 of the Giro d’Italia is set to be a hotly anticipated clash of sprinters with Mark Cavendish and Caleb Ewan expected to be at the forefront.

The 201km mostly flat stage from Kaposvar to Balatonfured is tailor made for the fast finishers, with Cavendish looking to make an impact on his return to the race.

Ewan suffered a nasty fall at the end of Stage 1 but appeared to have suffered no ill-effects at the Stage 2 time trial and speaking on the Breakaway, Robbie McEwen was thrilled at the prospect of the two riders providing an exciting race.

“It was good to see that Caleb came out today looking pretty good after that crash,” he said. “He went down really heavily but looking at him during the time trial he looked quite fluid.

“When he got out of the saddle he was moving well, didn’t look like he was favouring one side or the other.

“He just said he feels good. So that is a good sign for tomorrow and I’d love to see a proper head-to-head, nobody getting obstructed or making a mistake but a sprint match between the two of them.

“It’s going to be entertaining. I’m looking forward to it as everybody else is. I think speed-wise to be honest, I think Caleb has the edge when it comes to speed.

“Cav is there with Michael Morkov, the best lead-out man in the world and that is a massive advantage.

“Those straight-ahead sprints on a big road are the most difficult to get right. It’s much easier when there’s a number of corners, you can stretch things out.

“So it’s difficult to get right, and timing is everything.”

Adam Blythe added that he believes Cavendish has been keeping his powder dry in the race so far and saving himself for his sprint speciality on Sunday.

Blythe said: “I think it’s always good to open up your engine a little bit and I think with Cav, he’s not a bad time trialer, he can put in a solid effort and I think [during Stage 2] he doesn’t look flat out in the road, hard on the flat and up the climb taking it relatively easy.

“I think yesterday? Super easy. Last climb? Wasn’t interested. Saving his legs. That’s quite a big effort.

“I think for the riders like Caleb, he’s got the form to do that. He’s on good form. And we don’t know how Cavendish is yet.“

– – –

Cycling

Simon Yates (BikeExchange–Jayco) showed his Giro d’Italia credentials with a fantastic Time Trial win in Budapest, Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix) retains the pink jersey, as Tom Dumoulin (Jumbo-Visma) came third. Stream the Giro d’Italia live and on-demand on discovery+.

00:06:12, 20 hours ago

Cycling

Simon Yates (BikeExchange–Jayco) showed his Giro d’Italia credentials with a fantastic Time Trial win in Budapest, Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix) retains the pink jersey, as Tom Dumoulin (Jumbo-Visma) came third. Stream the Giro d’Italia live and on-demand on discovery+.

00:06:12, a day ago

Cycling

Simon Yates (BikeExchange–Jayco) showed his Giro d’Italia credentials with a fantastic Time Trial win in Budapest, Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix) retains the pink jersey, as Tom Dumoulin (Jumbo-Visma) came third. Stream the Giro d’Italia live and on-demand on discovery+.

00:06:12, 21 hours ago

Sir Bradley Wiggins believes Simon Yates’ stunning Stage 2 Individual Time Trial victory makes him the ‘clear favourite’ to win this year’s Giro d’Italia.

The BikeExchange–Jayco rider posted a time of 11’50” – five seconds quicker than that of Tom Dumoulin (Jumbo-Visma) who was in the lead at the time.

Despite Mathieu van der Poel’s effort after going out last, the Alpecin-Fenix man was three seconds shy of Yates’ time, although remains maglia rosa after his Stage 1 win 24 hours earlier.

However, Wiggins believes Yates will ultimately seize the jersey from Van der Poel as the race goes on and claim his second Grand Tour win after winning the Vuelta a Espana in 2018.

“It wasn’t enough to take the pink jersey but what I think is most interesting is this is clearly an indicator now that Simon Yates is here to win this Giro d’Italia in three weeks’ time,” Wiggins said afterwards.

“It was so close at the foot of the climb, and he executed that ride, nine kilometres.

“Remember, Simon isn’t a time trial specialist but to execute a performance like that over a course like this shows he is now the clear favourite to win this Giro d’Italia.”

Yates came close to winning the Giro back in 2018 however, despite leading the General Classification for much of the race, the Brit fell short in the final stages, eventually surrendering the maglia rosa to Chris Froome.

Speaking on The Breakaway, Robbie McEwen suggested that Yates should have learned lessons form that disappointment and is better placed to claim victory this time around.

“It’s a bit too early to call him an overwhelming favourite. Let’s go back a couple of years,” he said.

“The talk will now start, especially from the rivals, the doubters, the supporters of other riders, like, ‘here we go again, he’s doing it again, he’s too good too soon’, only he knows.

“But whatever the case, he’s done a fantastic ride, he can enjoy the victory and the time trial today, and I think he will have learned a lot of lessons from how he tackled the Giro before, and then came up a bit too short at the end.

“He can afford to not be as aggressive as he was that other time at the Giro.”

Driving seat

Adam Blythe agreed with McEwen’s view and added that Yates, as well as his team BikeExchange will be far more strategic in their approach to the race to remain in contention.

Blythe said: “I think they’ll just be saying: ‘Look, we’re in a great position. Let’s be happy where we are and just not take risks. Don’t take any silly chances and just know they’ve got the time to gain on us. We don’t have to keep trying to gain time. We can be comfortable where we are. Let the race come to us a little bit. And when it does, that’s then we can react to it.’

“But for now for these first 10 days with Etna, and day seven into Potenza maybe, that’s when they really have to pay attention but apart from that, they’re in the driving seat.”

Daniel Lloyd also suggested the make-up of the team is also to Yates’ benefit:

Lloyd said: “They are one of the teams that has one clear leader, no sprinter, no sub leader to concentrate on. It is all about Simon Yates.

“Seven riders around him all with a clear goal of helping him each and every day. That can make a big difference over the course of this race.”

– – –

Sir Bradley Wiggins believes Simon Yates’ stunning Stage 2 Individual Time Trial victory makes him the ‘clear favourite’ to win this year’s Giro d’Italia.

The BikeExchange–Jayco rider posted a time of 11’50” – five seconds quicker than that of Tom Dumoulin (Jumbo-Visma) who was in the lead at the time.

Despite Mathieu van der Poel’s effort after going out last, the Alpecin-Fenix man was three seconds shy of Yates’ time, although remains maglia rosa after his Stage 1 win 24 hours earlier.

However, Wiggins believes Yates will ultimately seize the jersey from Van der Poel as the race goes on and claim his second Grand Tour win after winning the Vuelta a Espana in 2018.

“It wasn’t enough to take the pink jersey but what I think is most interesting is this is clearly an indicator now that Simon Yates is here to win this Giro d’Italia in three weeks’ time,” Wiggins said afterwards.

“It was so close at the foot of the climb, and he executed that ride, nine kilometres.

“Remember, Simon isn’t a time trial specialist but to execute a performance like that over a course like this shows he is now the clear favourite to win this Giro d’Italia.”

Yates came close to winning the Giro back in 2018 however, despite leading the General Classification for much of the race, the Brit fell short in the final stages, eventually surrendering the maglia rosa to Chris Froome.

Speaking on The Breakaway, Robbie McEwen suggested that Yates should have learned lessons form that disappointment and is better placed to claim victory this time around.

“It’s a bit too early to call him an overwhelming favourite. Let’s go back a couple of years,” he said.

“The talk will now start, especially from the rivals, the doubters, the supporters of other riders, like, ‘here we go again, he’s doing it again, he’s too good too soon’, only he knows.

“But whatever the case, he’s done a fantastic ride, he can enjoy the victory and the time trial today, and I think he will have learned a lot of lessons from how he tackled the Giro before, and then came up a bit too short at the end.

“He can afford to not be as aggressive as he was that other time at the Giro.”

Driving seat

Adam Blythe agreed with McEwen’s view and added that Yates, as well as his team BikeExchange will be far more strategic in their approach to the race to remain in contention.

Blythe said: “I think they’ll just be saying: ‘Look, we’re in a great position. Let’s be happy where we are and just not take risks. Don’t take any silly chances and just know they’ve got the time to gain on us. We don’t have to keep trying to gain time. We can be comfortable where we are. Let the race come to us a little bit. And when it does, that’s then we can react to it.’

“But for now for these first 10 days with Etna, and day seven into Potenza maybe, that’s when they really have to pay attention but apart from that, they’re in the driving seat.”

Daniel Lloyd also suggested the make-up of the team is also to Yates’ benefit:

Lloyd said: “They are one of the teams that has one clear leader, no sprinter, no sub leader to concentrate on. It is all about Simon Yates.

“Seven riders around him all with a clear goal of helping him each and every day. That can make a big difference over the course of this race.”

– – –