Whilst seemingly not quiet on the level of Tadej Pogacar, Remco Evenepoel and Jonas Vingegaard so far at the 2024 Tour de France, Primoz Roglic has been using all his experience and fighting spirit to keep himself still in Maillot Jaune contention at the 2024 Tour de France reaches its first rest da...

The highly anticipated gravel stage of the 2024 Tour de France more than lived up to the expectations on Sunday as an all-time great Tour de France stage was delivered. In the end however, there was no real GC shakeup as had been predicted.A big reason for this was the lack of desire by Jonas Vinge...

As seen in our coverage of the 2024 edition of Concours de Machines in France last week, we're taking a second look at the ingenious collapsible ATB from Cycles Khelonys. Explore some of its many clever features and find a larger gallery of photos here...The post A Closer Look at Cycles Khelonys Collapsible ATB appeared first on BIKEPACKING.com.

The cycling world was again rocked by the sudden death of one of its riders last week in Austria as Norwegian prospect Andre Drege, on the verge of a move to World Tour level, had his life tragically cut short following a crash on the penultimate stage of the Tour of Austria.This has once again bro...

The Tour de France has underwent 9 stages so far and the first week has ended. We have seen fantastic stages in the mountains, hills, gravel, time-trial and in the sprints and after all this racing it is Intermarch - Wanty who has surprisingly brought in the most prize money, after Biniam Girmay's...

CyclistThe winners and losers of the first week of the Tour de France 2024Whats a man supposed to do on a rest day at the Tour de France? After nine stages of full-throttle racing from Florence to Burgundy, we finally have the chance to draw some breath and evaluate the state of play.Currently, Tadej Pogaar leads the overall classification with a 33-second gap to Remco Evenepoel and a 1:15 advantage over Jonas Vingegaard in third. Biniam Girmay leads the green jersey, Jonas Abrahamsen the polka-dots and Remco Evenepoel is the wearer of the white jersey.Nine stages in, we have had our first real glance at who is gunning for victory, and equally at the riders struggling to keep up with la folie douce. Today, we will run through five winners from the first week and five riders (and teams) in real need of improvement. Related Posts Flashback Friday: When Julian Alaphilippe almost won the Tour de France Its not romantic: Mark Cavendish on his final Tour de France, #35 and an Astana lifeline Gallery: Behind the scenes at the Tour de France 2024 Grand Dpart Cyclists Tour de France predictions 2024 A star is born: Biniam Girmay profile Winner: Tadej PogaarA.S.O./Charly LopezAfter a week of racing, Slovenias Tadej Pogaar has a stage win to his name and a 33-second lead in the general classification over his nearest rival Remco Evenepoel. Alongside his personal successes, Pogaars UAE Team Emirates squad has looked steadfast in its support for the maillot jaune. Joo Almeida impressed on the Col du Galibier, and Juan Ayuso remains in the fight for a top five.Pogaars stern descent off the Galibier allowed him to scoop a 12th Tour stage win. His perennial rival Jonas Vingegaard wasnt far behind at the top of the climb, but Pogaars ruthlessness has put him in the driving seat going forward.On Stage 9, he wasnt afraid to ruffle some feathers on the gravel roads. This aggressive style is nothing new for the UAE Team Emirates leader, but it demonstrated a real intent to win this Tour de France early on.Winner: Remco EvenepoelA.S.O./Charly LopezRemco Evenepoel sits in second place in the GC after the first week of racing. Bolstered by a solid claim in the young riders classification, the Belgian has surpassed many expectations.He added a Tour de France stage win to his palmarsin the vineyards of Burgundy on Friday. A few days later on Stage 9, he banished any worries about his lack of gravel expertise as he was one of the most aggressive on the stage, daring to attack with just shy of 80km remaining on the stage.Evenepoels Soudal-QuickStep teammates have impressed. On the Col du Galibier, Mikel Landa was among the strongest climbers, indicating that he will play an important role in the Belgians podium bid later into the race.Winner: Biniam GirmayA.S.O./Charly LopezIts difficult to not wax lyrical about Biniam Girmays Tour de France performance this year. The Intermarch all-terrain sprinter has two stage wins, a firm grip on the maillot vert, and has made history by becoming the first Black rider to win a Tour de France stage. By every metric, Girmay is overperforming at this years Grande Boucle.Stage 3s victory captured imaginations the world over, with fans in Eritrea taking to the streets to celebrate. Bini-mania has taken hold and Intermarch have full faith instilled in Girmay. Forget the underwhelming Intermarch of the Giro, the Belgian squad has found its mojo.The Eritrean now places himself as the frontrunner for the green jersey, his 228-point tally is almost double the amount of his closest challenger Jasper Philipsen. If Girmay were to win the jersey, hed become the first African to ever win a Tour de France jersey.Winner: Jonas AbrahamsenA.S.O./Billy CeustersFew casual viewers knew Uno Xs Jonas Abrahamsen before the Tour de France. After nine days of fighting in the breakaway and playing the polka-dot jersey game, the Norwegian has become a breakout star of the 2024 race.He cunningly calculated his breakaways to poach the green jersey for the opening stages, although soon lost it once the bunch sprints kicked in. So far, Abrahamsen has spent 500km in the breakaway fighting for the bonus brizes on offer, showing up the French ProTeams that usually fulfil this role and doing it by himself.Abrahamsen has only worn his Uno X trade kit on one occasion at this Tour de France, having spent the second half of the first week in the polka-dot jersey as the leader of the mountains classification. The 28-year-old from southern Norway has a 13-point lead in that classification and should carry on wearing it until the end of the second week.Winner: French ridersA.S.O./Charly LopezI boldly claimed before the race that French hopes at the Tour had all the vigour of a stale baguette. I am happy to admit that this premonition was far from being accurate.During the first week, there were three French wins: Romain Bardet (Stage 1), Kvin Vauquelin (Stage 2) and Anthony Turgis (Stage 9). Bardet also became the first Frenchman in three years to wear the yellow jersey.This is undoubtedly Frances best Tour opener in years. The French have been in the hunt for stages since the race kicked off in Italy. GC hopes look dashed given David Gaudus meagre first week, but the French are alive and kicking in their home race.TotalEnergies banished stage-hunting woes to take their first win since 2017, while Arka-B&B Hotels took a maiden Tour win after ten years of trying. Groupama-FDJ is now the French team with the longest dry spell in the Tour de France. The former team of Thibaut Pinot last won a stage in 2019.Loser: Jasper PhilipsenA.S.O./Charly LopezThe screams of Godverdomme a very Flemish expletive could be heard loud and clear from the Alpecin-Deceuninck bus on TV microphones following Stage 6s sprint to Dijon. A later relegation only added fuel to the fire.Philipsen missed out in Saint Vulbas behind Mark Cavendish, and another runner-up spot inColombey-les-Deux-Eglises on Stage 8 left Alpecin-Deceuninck underwhelmed. In comparison to last year, Philipsen is looking more like a disaster than a master.The green jersey bid is appearing more fleeting. A disciplinary point deduction on Stage 6 and missed opportunity in Turin tell us that Philipsen is on the back foot in the sprinting field. The Belgian currently sits in second place in the points classification but on a points tally that is just half of Girmays.Loser: Red Bull-Bora-HansgroheA.S.O./Charly LopezThe German teams new guise under Red Bull seems to have cursed the squad at this years Tour de France.Spearheaded by Primo Rogli, Red Bull have looked edgeless. Rogli was repeatedly in panic stations on the gravel stage and the Slovenian star was the first of the big four to falter on the Col du Galibier. Similarly, he shed the most amount of time on Stage 7s time-trial.The all-star domestique line-up of Jai Hindley and Sasha Vlasov underwhelmed on Stage 4s mountain stage too. Vlasov sits outside the top ten in 11th place while Hindley barely makes it inside the top 20. With such a lineup, we expected more from the team now dedicated to the worlds most popular energy drink.Loser: Simon YatesA.S.O./Billy CeustersBefore the Tour, Jayco-AlUla leader Simon Yates told Cyclist that he likes to be under the radar. At this Tour de France, he has barely blinked on the radar of GC riders, dashing the hopes of the Australian team hes set to leave at the end of the season.The race started on unfavourable terms for the 2018 Vuelta winner. On Stage 2s ascent of San Luca, Yates slipped out of the group of GC favourites in desperate fashion, and his continued poor positioning and lack of climbing legs have seriously plagued his opening week.Yates now sits 15 minutes behind in the GC, firmly out of the equation for a podium position in Nice. A dramatic loss of time on the gravel roads put him even further back in the standings, with the team finding more success in the sprints courtesy of Dylan Groenewegen.Loser: Decathlon-AG2R La MondialeA.S.O./Billy CeustersAfter a barnstorming opening chapter in 2024, Decathlon-AG2R are currently losing steam at the Tour de France. The races official rolling prizemoney tallies were announced after Stage 9 and it had the team firmly in last place.The French teams leader Felix Gall is currently sitting six minutes behind Pogaar in 17th place overall. The Austrian grew into the 2023 race, but he is not helping his status as a one-Tour-wonder.The teams Irish sprinter Sam Bennett has barely cracked the top ten, only making it on one occasion. This comes as a disappointment after the Munster-bred fastmans renaissance this spring. His team have put in the work to get him in position on an as-yet-unreleased aero bike, but nothing is yet to come to fruition.Loser: Bahrain VictoriousA.S.O./Charly Lopez2024 has not been the year of Bahrain Victorious. Gone are the days of rivalling the super-teams of UAE Team Emirates, Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, Ineos Grenadiers and Visma-Lease a Bike. The team has been struggling for big wins this year and it doesnt look like the Tour de France is going to be their amphitheatre for greatness.Matej Mohori, the current gravel World Champion, has been incognito so far in the breakaways. Phil Bauhaus remains steady in the sprints, occupying the mid-table ranks on flat stages. Perhaps Jack Haig and Wout Poels are waiting for the serious mountain stages to come, so far theyve been quiet, however.In the GC rankings, Bahrain Victorious are well outside the top ten, with Santiago Buitrago currently their best-placed rider overall in 15th, 5:53 down, one place and five seconds ahead of Pello Bilbao. Buitrago looks to be its brightest prospect, but the Colombian will need a miracle to crack the top ten with such fierce opposition. Bahrain have made the top ten on GC every year since 2020, but that run looks set to be broken in 2024. Related Posts Flashback Friday: When Julian Alaphilippe almost won the Tour de France Its not romantic: Mark Cavendish on his final Tour de France, #35 and an Astana lifeline Gallery: Behind the scenes at the Tour de France 2024 Grand Dpart Cyclists Tour de France predictions 2024 A star is born: Biniam Girmay profile The post The winners and losers of the first week of the Tour de France 2024 appeared first on Cyclist.

A lot of heat has been laid at the door of Team Visma | Lease a Bike following the thrilling gravel stage 9 of the 2024 Tour de France. According to some, the team were defensive and boring on the day, and that criticism has filtered back to the riders it would seem.Former commentator Maarten Ducro...

In the latest episode of Shimano's Evolution Stories, former mountain bike guide Andy McKenna meets up with around-the-World record holder Jenny Graham in a Scottish bothy. The two share a coffee and discuss how she's accomplished all that she has in this sport. Watch it here...The post Evolution Stories with Andy McKenna Ep.4 with Jenny Graham (video) appeared first on BIKEPACKING.com.

CyclistWas that the best first week of racing in Tour de France history?The Tour de France is the greatest cycling race in the world. Over the three weeks, the crme de la crme of the sport battle in one the hardest races in road cycling.This edition of the Tour has been particularly sweet in the first week of racing, with introductions, farewells, history-makers galore and some chaos-inducing gravel. Related Posts The winners and losers of the first week of the Tour de France 2024 Cyclists Tour de France predictions 2024 How to watch the Tour de France 2024 Mens Tour de France 2024: Route, how to watch and all you need to know The feel-good momentsA.S.O./Billy CeustersPerhaps we could tell how the first week of the Tour de France would go based on the very first day, which featured a daring breakaway staged by DSM-Firmenich-PostNLs veteran Romain Bardet and rookie Frank van den Broek. Bardet announced his plans to retire from road racing at the Critrium du Dauphin in 2025, making this his last participation in his home Grand Tour. Van den Broek is a neo-pro and at just 23 years of age, is making his debut. A teacher and his student. A passing of the torch.The entertainers managed to outfox the peloton and made it into the final kilometre unscathed, but they werent exactly home safe. A large chasing group all wanted their opportunity to fight for the win and were determined to claw back the escapees. They wouldnt get the chance. Bardet crossed the line first, arms outstretched, pointing towards his younger teammate. The duo had pulled off an opening stage heist for the ages. Bardet stepped into the maillot jaune for the first time in his career a feat that took 196 stages to achieve and said it was the ultimate dream. @JulienBernard17 on home roads! @JulienBernard17 la maison !#TDF2024 pic.twitter.com/I42jlmEc7e Tour de France (@LeTour) July 5, 2024Its not often that riders get to experience a big race on their home roads. But when Lidl-Trek rider Julien Bernard set off on Stage 7s 23.5km individual time-trial from Nuits-Saint-Georgesto Gevrey-Chambertin, he was greeted by hundreds of adoring friends and family who donned shirts and waved flags with his face on. He briefly stopped to kiss his wife and young child, then carried on after what must have been an emotional moment. Bernard said, Its these moments that keep me going and cycling.Thats where the joy ended, however. After the stage, Bernard was fined 200CHF (approx 175) by the UCI. The charge? Unseemly or inappropriate behaviour during the race and damage to the image of the sport.Bernard replied, Im sorry UCI for damaging the image of the sport, but Im willing to pay 200 Swiss francs every day and experience this moment again.Another thing to celebrate has been the lack of crashes so far. Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) hit the deck on Stage 5 and was forced to abandon on Stage 8 with an eye on the upcoming Olympics, and Aleksandr Vlasov (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) has withdrawn from the race on the first rest day after crashing and fracturing his ankle on the gravel stage. Not to jinx things, but it feels as though there have been fewer crashes than usual in whats normally a very nervous first first week, which is great to see.The history makersA.S.O./Charly LopezBiniam Girmay was flying in the first week of the Tour de France. The Eritrean, who has continuously been making cycling history since joining Intermarch in 2021, has written his name in the record books once again. On Stage 3, a flat day from Plaisance to Turin, his Intermarch-Wanty team led the field into the final 500m. But they were delivering Gerben Thijssen, while Girmay was detached from the train but free to do his own thing. Thijssen was nowhere, but Girmay surged to the front of a pack with rivals snapping at his heels, and kept pushing to win by a bike length.It wasnt just the sprinters on his back, but the hopes of a nation and a continent. The importance of his representation cannot be understated, the scenes back home in Eritrea demonstrate what it means. Girmays post on social media following his win simply read, Let me open the door.The 24-year-old was also the only rider in the first week to double up on victories. On a short and sharp end to Stage 8 in Colombey-les-Deux-glises, where the peloton faced with a tough uphill sprint finish, Girmay narrowly beat Jasper Philipsen of Alpecin-Deceuninck for his second stage win. He crossed the line resplendent in the green jersey, sitting on top of the classification by 96 points ahead of Philipsen with a firm grip on the lead.A.S.O./Charly LopezWhen Mark Cavendish crashed out of the Tour last year, he sat in the back of the ambulance clutching his broken collarbone and staring into the distance. The silence spoke volumes. It was scheduled to be his final participation in the race that has given so much to the Manxman over the years. It was never meant to end like that. In the throes of a chase for a record-breaking 35th stage victory that he had come so close yet so far to on the previous day.The wheels were in motion for a return soon enough. Phone calls were made by Astana boss Alexander Vinokourov, with Cavendishs former teammates Michael Mrkv and Davide Ballerini enlisted to bolster the sprint train, and his old leadout Mark Renshaw and his QuickStep coach Vasilis Anastopoulos brought onto the staff. Cavendish announced his return to the peloton in October on a one-year contract extension.Yet, upon arrival at the Tour, with expectations high, Cavendish immediately began to struggle. Not in a regular sprinter-struggling-through-a-mountain-stage way, although the route did immediately take riders into the Apennine mountains, but one that set alarm bells ringing. The 39-year-old was in a bad way, needing an endless supply of water bottles poured on his head while being sick off his bike. By the time he crossed the line, Cavendish was with a group that finished 40 minutes down, just inside the time cut. Questions arose as to whether he could continue the next day, let alone contend for the one victory he so desperately wanted.Fortunately, he was in good spirits and quickly looked in better shape, making it through the first sprint battle on Stage 3 although he wasnt able to contest it himself. By the time the next opportunity rolled around on Stage 5, Cavendish was back to his old self. The turquoise of Astana Qazaqstan stood out like a beacon near the front of the peloton, as they tried to position their man. The stars were aligning. Despite Mrkv being distanced from his sprinter under the flamme rouge, Cavendish swooped from wheel to wheel as he has so expertly done in the past, all his experience coming to the fore in the most stressful and hectic of environments. The speed hit 67kmh. They shot past the 200m to go mark. As the cameras switched to the head-on view, he was already in front he could sniff the victory, almost taste it, and now was the time. Sprints had been launched across the road as the worlds fastest men tried to claim the days honours.But no one could beat Cavendish. He crossed the line to a roaring crowd and roared back. The record was his and his alone. Everyone knew how much it meant, riders from across the peloton came from every direction to give their congratulations, even queuing up to do so. It had been a long road from his first win in 2008 to his 35th in 2024. A journey that packed in the highest highs and the lowest of lows. With 35, he stands alone as a giant of the sport.Gravel chaosA.S.O./Billy CeustersRough roads in the Tour de France will always be divisive, whether it be cobbles or gravel, but it produced one of the most entertaining days yet on Stage 9. The peloton had to cross 14 secteurs of chemins blancs gravel around Troyes over 199km. Tadej Pogaar (UAE Team Emirates) and Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) burst into action in the final 76km, drawing Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) out with them, though he was less than enthusiastic about taking turns and hovered at the back, much to the annoyance of his rivals. However this is a marathon, not a sprint. Whilst seeing explosive attacks is an enjoyable sight, its understandable that Vingegaard didnt want to start a sparring match on gravel (unfortunately) without his teammates and with two weeks still to go. Vingegaard was also forced to use teammate Jan Tratniks bike for almost 100km. Luckily for him, theyre of relatively similar size with two centimetres between them.After the stage, Evenepoel criticised Vingegaard, saying, We have to accept race tactics and race situations, but sometimes you also need the balls to race, and unfortunately maybe Jonas didnt have them today. But its no problem the race is still very long, and I totally accept the reasons why he didnt pull, why he didnt race. Vingegaard hit back, saying it wasnt a lack of balls, I just rode smart.Meanwhile Primo Rogli (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), the other member of the big four, had a quieter Stage 9 in comparison but came home with the others and sits fourth overall. Its set up perfectly for another entertaining week.The jersey wearersA.S.O./Aurlien VialatteYellow jersey: Pogacar has been in the maillot jaune since Stage 2. He put more time into his rivals with victory on Stage 4 and currently leads by 33 seconds ahead of Evenepoel with Vingegaard third at 1:15.A.S.O./Aurlien VialattePolka dot jersey: Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X Mobility) has been a delight to watch in the Tour de France (and is a serious contender for the Vibes Classification) with his determined attacking spirit. He is currently keeping Pogaar at bay in the classification.A.S.O./Aurlien VialatteGreen jersey: Girmay is keeping a hold of the green jersey and sweeping up points wherever possible. He could make history (again) by the time the peloton reaches the finish in Nice.A.S.O./Aurlien VialatteWhite jersey: Evenepoel is the man to beat out of the youngsters, beating competition from Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates) and Carlos Rodrguez (Ineos Grenadiers) so far. He won the 25km individual time-trial on Stage 7 by 12 seconds from Pogaar. Related Posts The winners and losers of the first week of the Tour de France 2024 Cyclists Tour de France predictions 2024 How to watch the Tour de France 2024 Mens Tour de France 2024: Route, how to watch and all you need to know The post Was that the best first week of racing in Tour de France history? appeared first on Cyclist.

Provisional Start List Junior Tour of Ireland 2024The post Provisional Start List Junior Tour of Ireland 2024 appeared first on IrishCyclingNews.com | Irish Cycling News | IrishCycling.