© Vuelta a Burgos
Tour du Limousin – Périgord – Nouvelle Aquitaine: Grégoire confirms his promise
At only 20 years old, Romain Grégoire continues his impressive rise. Already the winner of the Four Days of Dunkirk in May, the Groupama-FDJ rider now has won a second stage race this season at the Tour du Limousin-Périgord-Nouvelle Aquitaine. Thanks in particular to his victories in the 1st and 3rd stages, Grégoire won the overall standings with a 38-second lead over Benoît Cosnefroy (AG2R-Citroën). His Australian teammate Michael Storer completed the podium (56”).
“Winning here is great for me! I did not expect it when I came here,” Grégoire admitted. “It’s already my second victory in a stage race; I keep surprising myself month after month and that’s really great. The objective now will be to win in the WorldTour. For the moment I do not necessarily feel ready; it will still take a little work. I am not putting pressure on myself. I came into this final stage with a lot of confidence thanks to the work of the whole team, and the day went perfectly.”
The results: 1. Grégoire (Groupama-FDJ) ; 2. Cosnefroy (AG2R Citroën) ; 3. Storer (Groupama-FDJ)…
Stages won by: Grégoire (Groupama-FDJ) ; Mozzato (Arkéa-Samsic) ; Grégiore (Groupama-FDJ) ; Page (Intermarché-Circus-Wanty).
*****
PostNord Danmark Rundt – Tour of Denmark: Pedersen the star at home
Dane Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) won the PostNord Danmark Rundt – Tour of Denmark on home soil after dominating the fifth and final stage, a 16.1 km time trial in Helsingor.
Pedersen, 27, won ahead of Norwegian Soren Waerenskjold, second and winner of the first stage, and ahead of his compatriot Magnus Cort Nielsen. With that victory, he had the advantage needed to steal the overall leader’s blue jersey from his teammate Mattias Skjelmose who came into the day in the lead.
Skjelmose took 5th in the time trial but was only four seconds ahead of Pedersen going into the final stage. He ended up finishing in second place, 41 seconds behind his compatriot, while Magnus Cort Nielsen completed this 100% Danish podium.
Mads Pedersen also won the jersey for the points classification. The Tour of Denmark was raced over five stages and ended on the north of the island of Seeland. This is Pedersen’s second victory in Denmark after winning the race in 2017.
The results: 1. Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) ; 2. Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek) ; 3. Cort (EF Education-Easy Post)…
Stages won by: Wærenskjold (Uno-X Pro Cycling Team) ; Jakobsen (Soudal-Quick Step) ; Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek) ; Jakobsen (Soudal-Quick Step) ; Pedersen (Lidl-Trek).
*****
Vuelta a Burgos: A winning return for Roglic
Primoz Roglic won the 45th edition of the Vuelta a Burgos at the end of the fifth and final stage which he also won in front of his main two rivals overall.
The Slovenian from the Jumbo-Visma team, 33, has won all the races in which he has participated this season, all stage races, starting with Tirreno-Adriatico, the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya, the Giro d’Italia, and now the Vuelta a Burgos, adding to his record a 76th and 77th career victory.
The difference was made on the last climb of the day, the Lagunas de Neila (seven kilometers at 8.5% average), with the stage ending at the summit.
After having his team set a furious tempo, Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates) attacked 2.5 kilometers from the finish, though both Roglic and the Russian Aleksandr Vlasov (Bora Hansgrohe) were able to follow well. The three favorites failed to make a difference in the last meters and Roglic took advantage by using his burst of speed to beat his rivals in the sprint, which he had already done on the third stage on Thursday.
Overall, Roglic finished ahead of Vlasov (39 seconds) and Yates (42 seconds). He succeeds the previous winner of the race, the Frenchman Pavel Sivakov, and makes an appointment for the Vuelta a Espana (August 26 – September 17) where he will be one of the great favorites.
The results: 1. Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) ; 2. Vlasov (Bora-Hansgrohe) ; 3. A. Yates (UAE Team Emirates)…
Stages won by: Molano (UAE Team Emirates) ; Jumbo-Visma ; Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) ; Lazkano (Movistar) ; Roglic (Jumbo-Visma).
*****
Arctic Race of Norway: Williams wins by the wire
Stephen Williams (Israel-Premier Tech) won the Arctic Race of Norway 2023 with barely a second separating him from Christian Scaroni (Astana Qazaqstan Team), a minimal gap identical to that which had allowed Alexey Lutsenko to win the final victory in 2019, ahead of Warren Barguil. Kevin Vermaerke (Team dsm-firmenich) completed the final podium, thanks to the bonus seconds gained at the start of this last stage, which ended in the breathtaking setting of the North Cape, one of the northernmost places in Europe.
The results: 1. Williams (Israël-PremierTech) ; 2. Scaroni (Astana Qazaqstan Team) ; 3. Vermaerke (Team dsm – firmenich)…
Stages won by: Dainese (Team dsm – firmenich) ; Gazzoli (Astana Qazaqstan) ; Williams (Israel-PremierTech) ; Champoussin (Arkéa-Samsic).
*****
Bemer Cyclassics Hamburg: Pedersen wins again
What a week for Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek)! Winner of the PostNord Danmark Rundt – Tour of Denmark on Saturday, the 2019 World Champion won the Cyclassics Hamburg the next day. Doing all the work himself in the last kilometer, the Dane caught the trio of escapees made up by Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates), Yves Lampaert (Soudal Quick-Step) and Nils Politt (Bora -hansgrohe), before holding off the peloton to take an impressive win in front of Danny Van Poppel (Bora – hansgrohe). Frenchman Arnaud Démare (Team Arkéa Samsic) took 4th place.
The results: 1. Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) ; 2. Van Poppel (Bora-Hansgrohe) ; 3. Viviani (INEOS Grenadiers)…
*****
Upcoming races:
Until 27 August : Tour de l’Avenir, https://tourdelavenir.com
22-27 August: Tour of Scandinavia, https://www.battleofthenorth.eu/
22-25 August: Tour Poitou-Charentes en Nouvelle Aquitaine, https://www.tour-poitou-charentes.com/
23-27 August: Renewi Tour, https://renewitour.com/fr/
23-27 August: Deutschland Tour, https://www.deutschland-tour.com/de/home
26 August – 17 September: Vuelta Ciclista a Espana, https://www.lavuelta.es/es