After a third-place finish on the opening sprint of the Giro d'Italia on stage, Biniam Girmay has plenty of reason to be optimistic heading into the second showdown of the sprinters on stage 4."I think it went okay! I felt good and as always, if you finish on the podium it's always nice, especially...

Over the first week of the Giro d'Italia we're beginning to understand that UAE Team Emirates is likely to increase it's advantage significantly over the rest in the UCI Team rankings. The team is close to double the points of it's closest rival and this barrier may be passed over the coming weeks....

Stage 3 of the 2024 Giro d'Italia belonged to Soudal - Quick-Step's Tim Merlier. The Belgian powered to the victory from a bunch sprint inFossano, sparking scenes of jubilation in the team car.Despite a thrilling late attack by Tadej Pogacar and Geraint Thomas throwing a spanner in the works, a bun...

Filippo Ganna was insatiable in stage 4 of Giro d'Italia. After jumping in and out of the early move, the INEOS Grenadiers rider hadn't had enough and tried his luck once again at the foot of short final ascent Capo Mele. Despite a gap that initially seemed promising, it was sprinters who had the la...

After a slightly more muted May Bank Holiday Weekend of racing last weekend, due to the loss for this year of the Kanturk Three Day, a busier schedule of competition is in store for the weekend ahead; May 11th and 12th. And as Rs Tailteann nears, many riders will be looking to test themselves with []The post Plenty of road action this week including Shay Elliott and Crit Champs appeared first on Sticky Bottle.

Sixth on Monday, fourth today. Olav Kooij also seemed toothless in the second sprint stage of the Giro d'Italia, but his team Visma | Lease a Bike is optimistic about the coming sprint stages, with next opportunity awaiting on Wednesday."We started riding on the long climb Colle del Melogno. The lea...

The late Gino Mder should have been leader of Tudor Pro Cycling at on-going Giro d'Italia. The Swissman was rumoured to be heading to the home PRT team for 2024, something his to-be teammate Alexander Kamp now confirms to have been a done deal."The team had signed with Gino Mder. The idea was that...

Day 3 of sprint finishes with a hill before, todays variety is the climb is longer but it is further from the finish in the walled city of Lucca.Milan without Sanremo: Filippo Ganna rolled across to the days breakaway trio and seemingly startling them as they clocked his arrival. Minutes later he, or the team car, thought better of it and he left them to it.Away again for the day Lilian Calmejane collected some mountain points, enough to take the mountains jersey on loan. But not lead the competition because hes still behind Pogaar on points. Perhaps in this age thats worth settling for? In his own words yes, the publicity is valuable for his team he told Eurosport. Job done after the climb he sat up for a jacket for the wet descent while companions Stefan De Bod and Franciso Munoz carried on to the finish.Embed from Getty ImagesOn the same descent into Savona Biniam Girmay crashed twice and quit the race. He looked sore after the first fall, the last rider to get going and then slid out again on another bend.Filippo Ganna attacked on the Capo Mele. Hes good over four kilometres but holding off the whole bunch on a wide open road was too much and he was pursued by Italian track team colleague Simone Consonni, who then led-out his colleague and track team mate Jonathan Milan.Milan launched another raging sprint. In recent years weve seen riders getting lower in a bid to make themselves more aerodynamic, head down below the shoulders. Not Milan the muscleman, he is all brute force, head bobbing, arms flexing, his front wheel weaving left and right, it looks wild like any minute a crank is going to snap or his handlebars will bend. Yet its also subtle, the very slight wobble in the front wheel might have made riders hesitate about passing, this time Bauhaus to the right and while Groves was closing he couldnt close. Il Biondo di Buja took his second Giro stage after last years triumph.The Route: whats Italian for dj vu? After yesterdays Sanremo redux some more familiar roads with the Passo de Bracco, this time taken in the opposite direction to the 2023 Giro and then past Carrara more below and to Camaiore which has its own pro race.The Montemagno climb is gentle and on wide roads.The Finish: flat but not without challenges, the finale has been designed with help from local Alessandro Petacchi. First come the cobbles, urban pav but theyll rattle and then the course spits the riders out onto to the road that encircles Luccas walled city. Its all big boulevards.The Contenders: the flattest finish so far. Who wants to bet against Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek)? He was the fastest yesterday and convincingly powerful two days ago too although Tim Merlier (Soudal-Quickstep) won and hell find today easier with the run to the finish. Still many others will fancy their chances, Olav Kooij (Visma-LAB) is regular, Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck) is up there and Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain) close too. Fabio Jakobsen (DSM Firmenich-Post NL) should be fast but the showing yesterday in the hills is a concern as its not just gravity but form in general while Caleb Ewan (Jayco) seems to be finding his sprint train not to his liking.MilanKooij, Merlier, GrovesBauhaus, Jakobsen, EwanWeather: sunny and a pleasant 23C with a light tailwind for much of the stage.TV: KM0 is at 1.00pm CEST and the finish is forecast for 5.15pm CEST. Tune in for the Montemagno climb by 4.40pm.Postcard from CarraraItaly is a big exporter of marble and the Tuscan region here uses plenty, whether palatial buildings, ornamental statues or just kitchen counters. Its because it produces plenty and you can see it from afar, a literal mountain of marble.Theres a bike race to celebrate it, the Gran Premio Industrie del Marmo, as in the Marble Industry GP. Held in May the next edition is in 10 days its one of the top races on the Italian Under-23 calendar and many a top racer has taken part, in recent years the likes of Caleb Ewan, Luke Rowe, Matteo Sobrero and Patrick Gamper have stepped on the podium on their path to greater things.The GP Marmo isnt loosely connected to the industry, it rides past many stone works where blocks of marble the size of a bus are waiting to be cut and carved and parts of the course are white with dust.The race goes to the next level though as it rides through the quarries. The promotional picture illustrates this. Further still it takes a long tunnel between quarries, it has lighting but its narrow and slathered with a damp paste. Even if the course is original the race is tough and very much not a circus show. Did the Giro miss a trick today? Maybe as mid-stage the tunnel would be feasible but all the more reason to look out for the U23 event.The post Giro Stage 5 Preview first appeared on The Inner Ring.

That Tom Pidcock is a strong leader - that we knew. But who would've thought his younger brother Joe Pidcock had it in himself as well? After two concussions last year, probably not even the 22-year-old himself. However he's proved his worth with a convincing victory in the final stage of prestigiou...

The UK's biggest uplift venue set to expand, with over 30,000 metres of new trails plannedBikePark WalesBikePark Wales (BPW) will double in size, adding over 30,000 metres of new trails over the next few years, if Continue reading