News Round-up: Arnaud De Lie takes ninth season victory at Circuit Franco-Plus

Plus a new Hour Record attempt, Bolton Equities Black Spoke’s future in doubt, and CRO Race stage 3 results

16:41, Thursday 28th September 2023

Matilda Price

Racing News Editor

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Arnaud De Lie took his ninth victory of 2023 at the Circuit Franco-Belge

It was a jam-packed day of racing on Thursday, with the Coppa Agostoni, Circuit Franco-Belge, CRO Race and Tour de Langkawi all taking place as the season speeds towards October. Outside of racing, we’ve got some insight into Primož Roglič’s future, a fresh attempt on the Hour Record and news of sponsorship trouble at Bolton Equities Black Spoke.

Arnaud De Lie wins the Circuit Franco-Belge

Belgian sprinter Arnaud De Lie (Lotto Dstny) took a strong home win in the Circuit Franco-Belge, making it into the lead group at the end of an attritional day and proving strongest in the final uphill sprint to take victory.

Rasmus Tiller (Uno-X) looked strong but couldn’t quite come round De Lie on the difficult finish to reward the work from his team, whilst Corbin Strong (Israel-Premier Tech) backed up a successful week at the Tour of Luxembourg to round out the podium in third.

This is De Lie’s ninth win of the season, with the 21-year-old proving himself as one of the best young sprinters in the peloton.

Set on a 190km course on the typically lumpy roads of western Belgium, the Circuit Franco-Belge was almost a day-long whittling down process, with accelerations over each of the 13 climbs of the day slowly drawing out a strong group at the front.

Heading towards the finale, a strong group of 16 riders had carved themselves out in the lead of the race, with several teams having multiple riders in the group and therefore able to keep the pace high and deter any opportunist attacks.

In the absence of Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck), who didn’t start after falling ill overnight, Arnaud De Lie started the day as a big favourite and managed to make it into the final selection.

Despite the best efforts of Uno-X and Intermarché-Circus-Wanty to take control of the race, it was Florian Vermeersch who was able to do the best lead-out for his teammate De Lie into the base of the finishing ramp, from which point it was a drag up to the line between De Lie and Tiller, with the Belgian grinding it out for a victory.

Head here for the full results from the Circuit Franco-Belge.

Nicolò Parisini sprints to victory on tricky CRO Race stage 3 finish

Nicolò Parisini took victory on stage 3 of the CRO Race

Nicolò Parisini (Q36.5 Pro Cycling) navigated a tight and technical finish into Opatija to win stage 3 of the CRO Race from a reduced bunch sprint.

The Italian over powered his competitors in the final metres of the stage, beating best young rider Tobias Andresen (dsm-firmenich) and defending CRO Race champion Matej Mohorič (Bahrain Victorious) into second and third.

This is Parisini’s first UCI-level victory, and an impressive one against strong competition in Croatia.

“I can’t believe it,” Parisini said at the finish. “It’s a big emotion for me. I knew that today I could do a good race and a good result, and I made it.”

The third stage from Otočac to Opatija was a lumpy one, taking in four categorised climbs and 1,804m of climbing over 133.5km. A group of five riders had been up the road for most of the day, but never much more than a minute ahead, and they were brought back well in advance of the expected aggressive finish.

The teams tried to line-up for a bunch sprint finish, but the back-to-back ascents of a short by sharp climb in the finish town broke up the race in the final 11km, with a reduced group emerging at the front of the race.

The run-in to the finish was largely downhill with plenty of twists and turns, including a late hairpin bend, which made for a hectic finale, where technical nous was as important as speed, and allowed Parisini to get the better of some bigger names in the front group and take victory.

Find the full results and standings here.

Primož Roglič on the market, with Ineos Grenadiers and Lidl-Trek interested

by Daniel Benson

Jumbo-Visma’s Primož Roglič is reportedly on the market for 2024, with several teams interested in the Slovenian, who officially has two years left on his contract with the Dutch team surrounded by merger rumours this week.

With the revelations surrounding a likely merger between Jumbo-Visma and Soudal Quick-Step for 2024, it’s Roglič who seems destined to be heading for the exit door with several teams queuing up for the Slovenian’s services should the merger come off.

Leading that chase are Ineos Grenadiers and Lidl-Trek, with Bahrain Victorious and Movistar team also in the mix, according to several sources and reports from WielerFlits.

According to one leading WorldTour team boss: "I'd say Primož Roglič is on the market but it’s difficult to say what will happen especially with the latest merger news. Clearly Ineos is chasing him hard but my senses say there is also another team or two in the game."

Rumours of Roglič leaving Jumbo-Visma have been circulating for months, with reports of the rider unsettled and looking for a chance to lead a team at the Tour de France in the future. Lidl-Trek were the first team to be linked to the rider before Movistar, Ineos and several other squads entered the fray.

Read the full story, complete with more details, here.

Vittoria Bussi to attempt to reclaim Hour Record from Ellen van Dijk

Former UCI Hour Record holder Vittoria Bussi will attempt to set a new record next month and reclaim her title from Lidl-Trek’s Ellen van Dijk.

Bussi previously held the record for three years, with a distance of 48.007km set in 2018, before being beaten by first Joss Lowden in 2021, and then Van Dijk in May 2022, who holds the current record at 49.254km.

At the end of last year, 36-year-old Bussi announced her intention to attempt the record again, and launched a crowdfunding campaign to support that goal. Nine months and €10,000 later, the date is set, with Bussi planning her attempt for October 11 in Velodromo Bicentenario in Aguascalientes, Mexico.

The Mexican velodrome is a popular location for record attempts as Aguascalientes is at altitude - 1,887m above sea level - which has a beneficial impact on air density and aerodynamics.

"I am honoured to announce I will attempt to break the UCI Hour Record timed by Tissot in Aguascalientes, where I already broke it once just over five years ago,” Bussi said. “I went through quite a few emotions when my record was first broken, but thanks to my project Road2record, I now feel ready to try to establish a new world mark.

“Road2record is a mission and a method: to break the UCI Hour Record timed by Tissot and get a step closer to the 50km threshold. I am deeply grateful to all the people who contributed to make this attempt happen and to all the sponsors that have believed in me and supported me in these months of preparation.”

Several riders are at risk if Bolton Equities Black Spoke can't secure sufficient sponsorship

The future of ProTeam Bolton Equities Black Spoke has been plunged into doubt with headline sponsor Bolton Equities reducing its sponsorship at the end of this year, the team confirmed today.

Bolton Equities, a New Zealand-based investor group, has supported the team since its inception in 2020, and became title sponsor in 2022, coinciding with Black Spoke’s step up to ProTeam level in 2023. The team is run by former pro Greg Henderson.

However, Bolton Equities will cut back their support in 2024 and become a non-title sponsor, leaving the future of the team in the balance. A statement released on Thursday morning suggested a move back down to Continental level was the team’s plan.

“After four successful years as the title sponsor, Bolton Equities has announced the conclusion of its UCI ProTeam level sponsorship at the end of 2023 and will work towards a UCI Continental level team in 2024,” the statement read.

“Bolton Equities will continue supporting the team as a non-title sponsor. However additional sponsors are needed to proceed with the 2024 season at UCI Continental level.”

A move to Continental level is the team’s goal, however Cycling Weekly reported that with sponsors not yet secured, the future of the existence of the team is not certain, and that riders were only made aware of this on Tuesday.

The team’s current roster includes former Irish national champion Rory Townsend, Jake Scott and British track star Matt Bostock, and they currently have 10 riders under contract for 2024.