Racing

News

Race News

More Classics freedom awaits Davide Formolo at Movistar

Davide Formolo showed his one-day prowess with two Italian Classics wins this autumn

 is one of the riders who will change teams next season, leaving 

at his agent's event over the weekend, he didn’t hide his ambition to be the leader of his new team in some important one-day races.

The Italian domestique has ridden for UAE Team Emirates for the last four seasons, forming part of both of 

 wins, and adding more victories to his own tally. So why did he decide to leave such a successful team?

“It has been an unexpected choice for me too,” Formolo told 

. “At the beginning, I didn’t consider this option because here [at UAE] I was feeling really comfortable, but after talking for several days with Eusebio [Unzué, Movistar team manager], it arose in me the idea to change.”

Davide Formolo commits to Enric Mas after signing contract with Movistar

There are many reasons that pushed the 31-year-old to sign a three-year deal with the Spanish team, but the first one is that he will reunite with Leonardo Piepoli, his coach for several seasons during his career.

“Let’s say that I will meet my historical trainer again, and from my point of view for an athlete the coach is kind of a godfather,” he said. “This is the reason that tipped the scales in favour of Movistar”.

Whilst Formolo was talking with Unzué, rumours were swirling that Carlos Rodríguez had signed a pre-contract with Movistar, in a move that would have seen him leave Ineos Grenadiers. Eventually, though, the Spanish climber decided to stay with his current team, penning a new long-term deal this autumn.

Carlos Rodríguez agrees four-year deal at Ineos Grenadiers

“Nothing was certain but that was an option,” Formolo said. “I think that he would have been an added value to a team like Movistar. He’s a really strong young rider within the world scene.”

Instead of joining as a domestique for Rodríguez, though, Formolo will now move to Movistar to support the likes of Enric Mas and Oier Lazkano, as well as chasing his own goals.

A valued domestique and a successful rider in his own right

During his four years at UAE Team Emirates, Formolo took three victories - a stage at Criterium du Dauphiné in 2020, two Italian one-day races in 

 at the end of this season - and he was Tadej Pogačar’s teammate in his second overall win at Tour de France in 2021.

Despite that, his best memory of his time at UAE is not a race that he won or he helped to win, but a race that he watched from the sofa, having abandoned the race earlier on.

“The most beautiful moment has been when Tadej won his first Tour de France [in 2020]. During the final time trial I was on the sofa with an injured shoulder [due to a crash at stage 10],” he revealed. “This is a moment that I will always carry with me because we trained together before the Tour and we started with a lot of doubts and desire for revenge, and he managed to realise the dream, that was just his first one.

“Cycling is a sport that when you watch it on the TV, you can get carried away in the emotions, but when you are racing you are focused on how to do your job in the best way. Being at home in some way made me enjoy that moment even more.”

The Italian climber has been one of the riders who has contributed to making UAE Team Emirates become one of the best teams in cycling.

“It has been four memorable years, we went from being a really good WorldTour team to now the best team in the world. I think that every athlete dreams to ride for a team so important once in a lifetime.”

What role will Formolo have in a well-structured team like Movistar during the next season? The Italian climber said that he will be a domestique in the Grand Tours - probably at the Tour de France to help Enric Mas - but also that he wants to play his cards as a captain in some Classics.

“I will be an important sidekick in the Grand Tours and then I will be able to take my chances in one-day races,” he said. “I would like to do the Tour because also with the Italian Grand Départ, it will be really unique, and as an Italian rider it will be really nice to be there.

“I demonstrated that I can be more competitive in the Classics. Let’s see what we can do, only the road can say”.

It’s likely that we will see Formolo as the Movistar leader in some races that he loves, like Strade Bianche and Liège-Bastogne-Liège, two races where he has finished as runner-up in recent years.

“The team is giving me wonderful opportunities, doing Classics such as Strade Bianche and the Ardennes, let’s see. Racing against such phenomenons it’s not easy, but we will try to make space for ourselves among them.”

Tadej Pogačar: Primož Roglič will be even better at Bora-Hansgrohe

Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) leads Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma)

 will be an even bigger Tour de France threat after leaving 

 at the A&J All Sports agency event this Sunday, Pogačar also talked about his Spring Classics options before insisting that his 2024 Grand Tour programme had not been finalised.

“For me, it’s gonna be the same, but for Roglič it will be even better at Bora, and it opens the competition more because he split with Jumbo. So now there is Jumbo and also Bora, so it’s a bigger competition,” Pogačar said.

The most common question Pogačar has faced throughout the off-season has centred on next season's Grand Tour programme, and whether he will race 

“I answered this question five or six times and the answer is the same: I still don’t know the programme,” Pogačar told 

“It’s up to the team to decide what I race, so until they release the program I cannot say too much.”

The 2023 season has been a really busy one for the Slovenian rider. He started racing - and winning - in the first half of February with victories at the Vuelta a Andalucia and Paris-Nice.

He then took on a massive Spring Classics campaign, which saw him ride Milan-San Remo and E3 Harelbeke before taking sensational wins at the Tour of Flanders, Amstel Gold Race and Fleche Wallonne. A bad crash at Liege-Bastogne-Liege left him with a fractured wrist, which compromised his build-up for the Tour de France.

It’s almost certain that Pogačar’s 2024 spring will take on a similar approach to this year.

“I think we can expect a similar season next year, with some modifications obviously. It's also the Olympic year so it’s gonna be an interesting season in any way.”

Pogačar’s fractured wrist forced him to stop training during a crucial moment of the season, and because of that injury he lost ground to eventual Tour de France winner Jonas Vingegaard. The Dane claimed his second Tour de France title in a row this summer with Pogačar finishing on the runners-up spot for the second consecutive season.

In the coming years it’s not clear if Pogačar will race less in the first part of the season, and whether he will take a similar approach to Vingegaard, but the Slovenian admitted that it could certainly be an option.

“I don't know. I honestly don’t know what the future holds for me. I like to try different things, different scenarios, maybe one year I will need to calm down and just do preparation races and focus on the Tour”.

UAE Team Emirates have been highly active in the transfer market this off-season and have recruited several strong riders to help Pogačar in both the stage races and Classics. 

) have both joined the team but the squad lost climber and domestique 

“I’m really sad that we lost some really good riders, but on the other hand, we also gained really good riders, so I would say it’s a super good team. We already met each other in October and it was fantastic. I would say it’s a super team,” says Pogačar.

When it comes to a possible Tour de France challenge, the Slovenian was open with regard to his possible support team. This year 

started as co-leader and eventually finished on the podium after winning a stage and taking the yellow jersey.

“It doesn’t matter if one among Adam Yates, 

 will be the co-captain of the team. I don’t mind, with two leaders there are a little bit different tactics, but with one leader all the pressure is on that guy. It’s different but both can work really well."

Gianluca Suardi

Cameron Mason targetting X2O Trofee overall during breakout cyclo-cross season

Cameron Mason is currently third overall in the X2O Trofee standings

 has his eyes on a good finish in the X2O Badkamers Trofee overall classification as he continues his best cyclo-cross season yet and prepares for a road focus in 2024, the young Scot has told 

His X2O campaign continues on Saturday in 

 last Sunday, Mason confirmed his goals for the rest of the cyclo-cross season, whilst also confirming that he will race for 

In cyclo-cross, the 23-year-old Scot is having his best season so far, and can be considered one of the real breakthroughs in this discipline this year. So far this winter, he has gained his first podium in Superprestige and X2O Trofee races, and also rode to a surprising silver medal in the 

Rising star: Cameron Mason on his cyclo-cross breakthrough, road ambitions, and doing things his own way

“It’s cool, it feels like I've been preparing my whole career for this moment,” Mason told 

 “All the lessons I’ve learned, all the races I’ve done have prepared me for this and it’s cool to be racing as close to the front as I am and battling for the win sometimes.”

The things Mason has ticked off already this season are impressive in their own right, but he is still hungry for more, and believes he can achieve even bigger goals in the ‘cross field.

“First of all, just to get a podium in a World Cup [race] will be a big step but I also know I’ve got the potential to win a big race in Belgium and that’s also a goal. The good thing is that there are a lot of opportunities over Christmas, in January and February. So I just keep taking it race by race."

In the X2O Trofee series - which continues on Saturday in Herentals - the Cyclocross Reds rider is currently in third in the time-based overall classification, with only 45 seconds gap to the leader Lars van der Haar, meaning there is the concrete opportunity for him to fight for his first overall title.

“It only takes one bad race for someone else to lose minutes and things. We’ve only done two races out of seven or eight so there is a long way to go.” he said. “What I like about that classification is that you always have to turn up with a good day, you can’t just ride for position and you have to ride for time, and that’s something I’m quite good at. Normally I’ll try to do all the races, I think it gives me the best chances to have a good overall.”

'The whole system is flawed' – Cyclo-cross riders call for reform amid scheduling drama

Though the focus right now is on cyclo-cross, Mason also has half an eye on next year’s road season. After signing for the Cyclocross Reds CX squad this winter - part of the Roodhooft brothers’ stable of teams, that include the Alpecin-Deceuninck teams - Mason confirmed that he will be riding for the Alpecin-Deceuninck development team in 2024.

This will see Mason take on his first European UCI-level road races as a senior rider, but also keep some of his off-road passion alive during the summer with some gravel racing, after competing in the UCI Gravel World Championships this year. Bringing his level up in these two disciplines will be the goal with Alpecin.

“I think my gravel and road can really improve with better training and a better program. I think I have a lot of headroom in that. Cyclo-cross I’m already at a pretty good level, but with the gravel and road I've only just started to discover that, so I'm excited for more of that in summer.

“I think that with the Alpecin Development team next year I’ll have some good opportunities in UCI races. We will see what the body can produce”.

Mason is also a promising mountain bike racer, but admitted to 

that the Paris Olympics MTB race is unlikely to be in his schedule next year.

“No, I’m not good enough in the UK to get one of the spots. There are only two spots and they will be taken up by [Tom] Pidcock and Charlie Aldridge, the under-23 world champion. It’s maybe a goal in the future, but for the moment most of the focus is on cyclo-cross.”

Tom Pidcock to race Tour de France and Paris Olympics mountain bike in 2024

That focus will soon move towards the road when Spring rolls around. Though is road career is only just beginning, for a skilled cyclo-cross and gravel racer like him, which is the dream race to win?

“On the road, Strade Bianche would be really, really cool. It maybe already suits me a little bit, but I know that the level is super high to finish in a race like that, but it’s nice to have a dream, so…”

Puck Pieterse aiming for cyclo-cross world title and Strade Bianche ahead of Olympic MTB focus

Puck Pieterse finished third in the Val di Sole round of the UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup

On Sunday morning, in the heart of the Italian Alps, just before the start of the snowy round of the 

, one of the most talented multidisciplinary riders in modern cycling.

The 21-year-old Dutch wonder finished the race in Trentino in third place after a solid performance on the slippery snow and she revealed her main cyclo-cross goals for this winter, but also her mountain bike and road ambitions for 2024.

On the topic of ‘cross, Pieterse admitted that this season she is doing a shorter program, due to the busy schedule she had with the UCI Mountain Bike World Series between April and October. 

“I started a bit later this year because the mountain bike season finished really late,” she told 

. “Normally I would be done with MTB just after the World Championships or two weeks after, but this year I was leading the general classification and it went really well, so I made a full mountain bike season. 

"That meant that the last MTB World Cup race was just a week before the first cyclo-cross World Cup round, and it was too much to do everything in one go, so I took a little break."

Even though it will be a shorter CX season, the young Dutch phenomenon has a clear and ambitious target to achieve on the ‘cross bike this winter.

“The main goal is Worlds in Tábor this year. Of course I’ll go race by race to do my best, but the main focus is to win the World Championships. And for sure I will race at the nationals to defend my Dutch Champion jersey."

In order to reach the Worlds in her best shape, Pieterse will complete a busy stretch of races during the infamous ‘Kerstperiode’, the Christmas period that starts on December 23 and will carry the cyclo-cross riders straight into the new year without a break.

“I’ll do the World Cup races and probably also the Superprestige in Diegem,” she said.

That means we will see Pieterse racing four times in less than two weeks: Antwerp on the 23rd, Gavere the 26th, Diegem the 28th and then Hulst on the 30th of December.

Where will Mathieu van der Poel, Tom Pidcock and Wout van Aert clash this winter?

The Fenix-Deceuninck rider is undoubtedly one of the best mountain bikers and cyclo-cross riders in the world right now, but, with the Paris Olympics Games approaching in July 2024, she knows where her focus will lie next season.

“I will focus mostly on mountain biking to be in the right shape in Paris. That’s the reason why this year I did the full season of MTB and I will do it again in 2024,” Pieterse told 

“We did the cross-country test event in Paris this year, it was a bit of an atypical course with a lot of gravel and not so many natural elements but it was quite fun, a bit technical with a lot of up and down. Looks a bit like Dutch courses but with more elevation.”

With an impressive fifth place in this year's Strade Bianche, Pieterse demonstrated that she can also be extremely competitive in road racing, which will be one of her targets in coming years.

“Yes, for sure in the future I will do more road races, but next year with the Olympics it’s not ideal to do a lot of road racing,” she said. “Probably after the Olympics I will try more on the road, and I think I will be in Siena in March for Strade Bianche.”

Cycling fans should expect to see Pieterse fighting for the podium - if not victories - in the biggest road races too in years to come, with the one-day Classics her clear favourite: “The nicest races are the Worlds and the Classics, like Strade Bianche or Ronde Van Vlaanderen.”


'I'm better at time trialling than road races,' says sought-after Albert Philipsen

Albert Philipsen may play down his road credentials, but he won the Junior World Championships Road Race in Glasgow earlier this year

Last Sunday, at the A&J All Sports agency event in Italy, amongst the likes of 

 (Lidl-Trek), there was also the real breakthrough rider of the 2023 season, Albert Philipsen. The 17-year-old Dane is one of the most talented cyclists on the planet and this year was able to win three Junior World Championship titles - road race, time trial and mountain bike cross-country.

“This season passed my expectations.” Philipsen exclusively told 

 “When I started the year my goal was to win the World Championships in mountain bike and road. It was pretty ambitious goals I set for myself being a first year junior, so accomplishing those goals was pretty crazy”.

The super-talented Dane in 2023 also signed two important contracts with Canyon CLLCTV - for mountain biking and cyclocross - and with Tscherning Cycling Academy for road cycling, but a lot of road WorldTour teams have already set their sights on him for the near future.

He wants to keep being a multifaceted rider, able to grow and be competitive in more than one discipline. “I think next year I will focus a bit more on the road, so my main priority will be the road, but I'll keep riding in mountain bike and also in cyclocross”.

On the road this year he was able to prove himself as the best junior in both road races and time trials, but his favourite of the two disciplines is the former. 

“My favourite are the road races, it’s more fun," Philipsen admitted. "Right now I would say that I'm better at trial trialling because it is more about steady pace and not so tactical, and my tactical skills are something that I'm really working on as I got into road cycling a bit late”.

Many within cycling, including Philipsen himself, are trying to understand what kind of road rider he will become in the coming seasons. “I’m still trying to figure out what I would like my end goal to be, because I'm a bit in between as a rider type.” said the 17-year-old. “Right now my goal is to be the best all-rounder in the world.”

Riders across all disciplines will be highly influenced by the Paris Olympics next season, which will take place between July and August, but the sensational Dane will not take part because at that time he will still be 17, so too young to participate. Despite that, he already has eyes on the next Olympic Games; Los Angeles 2028.

“Coming from mountain biking, the races I dream to win are always the Olympics and the World Champs, that’s probably some of my goals that I have for the future”.

In terms of inspirations, Philipsen has several, but his favourite is a rider he just met just minutes before our chat, at the event hosted by Alex and Johnny Carera.

“I would say I look a lot to the guys who mix a lot in the disciplines, like Mathieu van der Poel, Wout van Aert and Tom Pidcock, but my favourite guy in the road side is Tadej Pogačar, and today is the first time I met him in person, so that also pretty wild for me”.

Giulio Ciccone: My secret wish is GC at a Grand Tour

Giulio Ciccone in the polka-dot jersey as King of the Mountains at the 2023 Tour de France

 King of the Mountains, says that fighting for the GC in a Grand Tour is one of his secret wishes.

 climber had a really good season, but not one of the luckiest.

He started the year with a win at Volta Valenciana and with another stage victory at Volta a Catalunya in an uphill sprint against 

 (Soudal Quick-Step). However, Covid-19 stripped him of the possibility to race the Giro d’Italia, which started from his region, Abruzzo.

During the summer, Ciccone rose up again and managed to win a stage also at Critérium du Dauphiné, but his 2023 masterpiece was the polka-dot jersey that he was able to wear until Paris at this year's 

. At the end of the season, however, he crashed at Tre Valli Varesine and he couldn't compete in Il Lombardia, the climbers' Monument.

“It has been a positive season for me from many points of view, but also a bit negative in other respects," said Ciccone, speaking to 

 at the A&J All Sports agency event last weekend Sunday.

“All things considered it was a good one and I rate it 8/10”.

'We like it as it is' – Ciccone questions need for change in light of new cycling league plans

A few months ago, 28-year-old Ciccone extended his contract with his team, Lidl-Trek, until 2027. The American squad have a big project in mind and have signed many important riders for next season, such as Tao Geoghegan Hart, Jonathan Milan, Andrea Bagioli and Patrick Konrad.

“Definitely there has been kind of a revolution in the team, and with the arrival of the new sponsor [Lidl] they have bigger goals and they want to improve the team. So it’s correct to rise the whole level,” Ciccone said. 

Among all the new riders in the team, the Briton Geoghegan Hart - winner of the 2020 Giro d’Italia - is, for Ciccone, the one with the most similar characteristics and the one that could share the leadership with him in the Grand Tours.

“Tao has already established himself as a GC rider, so by now we are two different kinds of cyclists,” he said. “I still don’t know if we will do the same Grand Tours in the next season First of all we have to understand our programs – we haven’t talked about it yet”.

After conquering three stages at Giro d’Italia - in 2016, 2019 and 2022 - and the mountains classification at the 2023 Tour de France, Ciccone now wants to try to fight for the GC in one of the three Grand Tours.

“Let’s say that a Grand Tour general classification is one of my secret wishes. For sure I want to try to fight for it one day. Let’s see when I will have this opportunity”.

Next year’s Giro d’Italia route has a lot of flat time trialling - 68 kilometres - which is not the favoured discipline for a pure climber like Ciccone, but his love for the Corsa Rosa is still fiery.

“Time trials are not the best for me, but for an Italian rider like me the Giro is always the Giro,” Ciccone said.

“I love it even if there are too many TT kilometres. Now the Grand Tours are like that, Next year we will have gravel at the Tour and time trials at Giro, Every race will have its own characteristics”.

The third week of the Giro d'Italia is usually full of really hard stages with a lot of huge mountains to climb, but not in 2024. Despite this, the Lidl-Trek rider thinks that the final week is not too easy and could offer surprises.

“When the elevation profile of a stage is easy, they are always the hardest days when everything happens,” Ciccone argued.

“I don’t mind about the route; the race is always made by the riders. I have seen bigger gaps in easy stages than in the really hard ones, and for the show sometimes it’s better like that.

“Honestly, I prefer hard stages because the short and crazy ones are always difficult to handle.”

Gianluca is a journalist and cycling enthusiast that takes care of the Italian content for GCN


GCN Presenter Hank

Gianluca is a journalist and cycling enthusiast who takes care of the Italian content for GCN. 
