The 2024World Championships in Switzerland are properly underway. As always though, the highlight for many fans, are the elite road races. This weekend, Lotte Kopecky is set to try and defend her Rainbow Jersey against some fierce competition in thewomen's race."I saw the course this week. I like...

With its unique vortex generators, the Aero 111 looks and performs like nothing else on the market

CyclistThomas De Gendts 5 best breakawaysThe road career of Thomas De Gendt drew to a close this week. Over the past 16 years, the Belgian now 37 years old has enjoyed a prosperous career and built a huge fan base thanks to a penchant for breakaways, often jumping clear of the field and riding his own race either in a select front group or solo.Heres a compilation of five of our favourites Thomas De Gendt breakaways.5. 2018 Tour de Romandie, Stage 2: An all-day breakawayLuc Claessen/Getty ImagesStage 2 of the 2018 Tour de Romandie was pencilled in as one for the sprinters despite an uphill slog in the middle of the day, but a resilient breakaway would change that. De Gendt formed an early five-man break with teammate Victor Campenaerts as the race departed Delmont and covered 174km towards Yverdon-Les-Bains.Managing to dislodge what was left of the breakaway over the second of three uncategorised climbs, De Gendt went solo for the remaining 26km towards victory. He finished the day with a gap of two minutes to the next group on the road.It was a masterful display of teamwork from the Lotto-Soudal team and a successful day out in front for the breakaway expert. He would go on to win the mountains and points jerseys too. Related Posts Pro Log: History made at the World Championships; Thomas De Gendt rides into the sunset Pro cycling transfers 2024/2025: Castrillos choices, Astana signings, Van Aert signs his life away and Chabbey leaves Canyon-SRAM UCI Road World Championships 2024: Routes, how to watch and all you need to know Thomas De Gendt: I was relieved there have been many depressing moments The king of riding solo: Thomas de Gendt profile 4. 2019 Volta a Catalunya, Stage 1: Into the leaders jerseyDavid Ramos/Getty ImagesThe opening stage of the Volta a Catalunya in 2019 was a 163.7km ride starting and finishing in the Spanish coastal town of Calella. Initially working as part of a six-man breakaway, De Gendt rode clear in the final 60km of the day with an attack towards the penultimate climb of the Coll de Formic.By the time he hit the summit of the shorter final climb of the Port de Collsacreu, his gap had grown to almost four minutes and the peloton seemed content in the shadow of his stage victory. De Gendt rode into the lead of the race with an almost three-minute advantage and would lead the GC for the next two stages.Catalunya has always presented itself as a stage-hunting ground for the Belgian, who thrives in the hillier parcours. Throughout his career, he would win five stages here in total.3. 2012 Paris-Nice, Stage 7: A lengthy 56km soloPascal Pavani/AFP via Getty ImagesStage 7 of the 2012 Paris-Nice was a 219km ride from Sisteron to Nice. After 50km in the saddle De Gendt, then riding for Vacansoleil-DCM, teamed up for a breakaway with Cofidiss Rein Taarame, who had been involved in an earlier crash.The pair stayed together on the first climb of the day, the Col des Leques, and their gap swelled to 12 minutes over the bunch on the longest day of the race. Eventually, with 56km remaining, De Gendt dropped his battling breakaway companion on the Col de Vence. It was on the descent that he worked his magic to put real distance between the pair.He wouldve had time to stop for a coffee and still win. Instead he raised his arms in celebration and waited more than six minutes for Taarame to cross the line just ahead of the closing peloton.2. 2019 Tour de France, Stage 8: Will he or wont he?Justin Setterfield/Getty ImagesIn 2019, the Tour de France peloton covered 200km from Macon on Stage 8, a hilly day that incorporated four Category 2 climbs on the road towards Saint-tienne. Making another early breakaway, De Gendt formed a trio with Niki Terpstra, who was riding for Total Direct nergie at the time, and Dimension Datas Ben King, before they were joined by Alessandro De Marchi, then in CCC colours.With his Lotto-Soudal teammate Tim Wellens in the polka dot jersey, De Gendt began hoovering up mountain points. The breakaway split after the Cte de la Croix de Part, leaving a duo of De Gendt and De Marchi to maintain a lead of almost four minutes on the peloton.The Cte de la Jaillire was the final uphill struggle and this is where De Gendt went solo as the gap to the chasers dipped below a minute. Behind, Julian Alaphilippe and Thibaut Pinot jumped clear. De Gendts advantage grew smaller, and by the final 5km it stood at just 20 seconds.Despite being in sight of his pursuers, De Gendt persevered. Saint-tienne was a finish location he knew well, having won there at the Critrium du Dauphin in 2017 from another breakaway. Alaphilippe tried everything to close the gap but it was of no use De Gendt won his second Tour stage with hands on his helmet in disbelief.It was still a jubilant day for French fans as Alaphilippe took over the honour of wearing the yellow jersey from Trek-Segafredos Giulio Ciccone. As for the victory itself, it is one that De Gendt considers number one in his personal rankings.1. 2012 Giro dItalia, Stage 20: A ride that threatened to turn the Giro on its head Tim De Waele/Getty ImageThis is the breakaway that helped launch a 25-year-old towards his first and only Grand Tour podium. The penultimate stage of the 2012 Giro dItalia travelled over the Mortirolo and ended with a summit finish atop the snow-covered Passo dello Stelvio.De Gendt began the day eighth on general classification, 5min 40sec down on maglia rosa Joaquim Rodrguez of Katusha. It was on the Mortirolo that he began attacking and eventually rode clear from Euskaltel-Euskadis Mikel Nieve and Lampre ISDs Damiano Cunego in the final 12km.With such a gap, he threatened to work his way into the pink jersey, at one point inching to just a few seconds back on Rodrguez on the virtual classification. As he crossed the line at the highest point of the race on the Stelvio, De Gendt forged a name for himself with his first Grand Tour victory but also moved closer to the podium, now sitting fourth overall.After the time-trial on the final day, he moved up to third for a famous Grand Tour podium. As for Stage 20, it was an almighty day in the breakaway that resulted in one of the best victories of De Gendts career and added more stories to the legend of the Stelvio. Related Posts Pro Log: History made at the World Championships; Thomas De Gendt rides into the sunset Pro cycling transfers 2024/2025: Castrillos choices, Astana signings, Van Aert signs his life away and Chabbey leaves Canyon-SRAM UCI Road World Championships 2024: Routes, how to watch and all you need to know Thomas De Gendt: I was relieved there have been many depressing moments The king of riding solo: Thomas de Gendt profile The post Thomas De Gendts 5 best breakaways appeared first on Cyclist.

There's going out on a high and then there's the fairy-tale farewell thatGrace Brown is embarking on currently. After Olympic gold in Paris earlier this summer, the Australian added the individual time trial world title a few days ago. Now, the soon-retiring 32-year-old has helped her nation to mix...

Results : Womens B Road Race World Championships 2024Irish womens tandem bikes put in an exceptional performance to have two bikes win medals in the Womens B Road Race at the 2024 UCI Road and Para-cycling World Championships in Zurich, Switzerland.Both Katie-George Dunlevy, piloted by Linda Kelly, and Josephine Healion, piloted by Eve McCrystal have demonstrated great form in recent weeks between the Paralympic Games and the Individual Time Trial at the World Championships, but no-one could have dreamed of the performance they put in for the Womens B Road Race today, Wednesday 25th of September. Dunlevy and Kelly entered the race as reigning World Champions following their victory in Glasgow last year. For Healion and McCrystal today marked the end of what has been a successful partnership as McCrystal retires from piloting at the elite level.Both Irish bikes were dominant throughout the 84.7km course. Healion and McCrystal held onto the lead for significant section of the course, gaining almost one minute on their nearest rivals.As the race moved into the closing section the two Irish tandems worked closely with Sophie Unwin, piloted by Jenny Holl. The same British bike that won gold in this event at the recent Paralympic Games.Dunlevy and Kelly showed their strength and determination, learning from what unfolded in Paris they edged away from Unwin and Holl. They finished the race with a 1:23 gap to the British bike who had to settle for silver.Speaking afterwards, Dunlevy described the race as textbook:To have two Irish bikes on the podium, us and then Eve and Josie, it was just textbook. What we were hoping for, what we were dreaming for, we were hoping to get that in Paris, but we didnt. We came away with Silver, I was actually disappointed not to defend my title but to do it here at the Worlds, Im so proud of us.It was an amazing race, really enjoyed the course, it was a bit of everything. Its just really exciting, its great to have these courses for tandems and I just hope that in the future theyll be more challenging like this with hills and descents and everything technical, because you know were well able for it. Just to have a combined championships is amazing, its been fantastic and hopefully there will be more like these.We have a whole team behind us so its really to thank the team, and my family, my parents, my partner and all my sisters and everyone. Weve a great support team believing in us so we believe in ourselves as well and that just helps so much.Despite the quick turnaround between the Paralympic Games and these World Championships, there was a lot to think about in between for Kelly.We did have a good think about it afterwards when we got home and before we got here. We had a chat with our coach, obviously we had a chat with our teammates Eve and Josie, and just talked about tactics as well as power and speed. The type of course that it is as well, it did play to our strengths up the hills, going very fast down the descents youre hitting 70 to 80 km/p, a lot of turns. So we did have a lot of thinking about it.Her relief at retaining the rainbow jersey was palpable.Were just so happy to come back and do the double two years in a row. Kelly added.These championships signify the end of the Para-cycling season. When asked about whats next, Dunlevy said:A long deserved break, its been a long, hard year for us but were delighted with the year. Take a break now and set ourselves up for next year. Weve had the crashes on the bikes and illnesses, so mentally its been a tough year. Mentally its hard to prepare yourself for these races, it takes its toll on the body as well so yeah well have a nice break and then well get back to it again.Describing the year as a dream, there is no doubting the resilience shown by Dunlevy throughout.Healion and McCrystal had a fairytale ride, coming home closely behind Unwin and Holl, to claim bronze. This marks Healions second medal at championship level, this is no surprise as she has shown brilliant form in recent weeks, coming fourth in this event at the Paralympic Games and in the Individual Time Trial on Sunday at these championships.For McCrystal, to end what has been an incredible decade as a pilot with a world championship medal in her final race was more than fitting.Perhaps, best known for her outstanding success both on the track and road with Dunlevy, McCrystal has been a key figure in Irish para-cycling. Dunlevy and McCrystal are multiple Paralympic and World medallists. In their final race together, McCrystal and Dunlevy claimed Silver in the Womens B 3000m Individual Pursuit in Paris.Results Womens B RoadThe post Results : Womens B Road Race World Championships 2024 appeared first on IrishCyclingNews.com | Irish Cycling News | IrishCycling.

Australia's Ben O'Connor has been one of the stars of the second half of the 2024 season. After putting in a heroic performance at the Vuelta a Espana to take home a stage victory and a career best 2nd overall, the 28-year-old helped his nation secure mixed relay TTT gold inZrich on Wednesday afte...

Norwegian cyclist Iver Knotten, 25, hasreturned a positive doping test, casting uncertainty over his future in thesport. Knotten, who rides for EF Education-Nippo Development Team, testedpositive for the banned substance Ibutamoren, which is prohibited by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). The...

Swiss cyclist Sebastien Reichenbach has been forced intoearly retirement following an unfortunate training crash. The 35-year-old, whohad planned to make his final race appearance at the Italian monument IlLombardia on October 12th, 2024, will now miss the race due to injury, markingthe end of h...

The cycling world will see a long-anticipated addition toits womens calendar in 2025, with the confirmation of the Womens Milan-SanRemo. The prestigious race, one of the five Monuments of cycling, will finallyhave its female edition, marking a significant moment for the sport. OrganizersRCS Sp...

Swiss cyclist Marlen Reusser, one of the top riders in thewomens peloton, is currently battling a prolonged illness after contractingCOVID-19. The 33-year-old, who rides for UCI Womens WorldTeam SD WorxProtime,is suffering from long COVID, a condition that has severely impacted herability to...