News Round-up: Breathless racing from the start as the Tour de France resumes

We saw the first overwhelming battle for the breakaway at the Tour de France as the opportunists saw their chance, but the peloton wouldn’t let stage honours go so easily. Elsewhere, we bring you updates on the future of Davide Formolo, Remco Evenepoel and Soudal-Quick Step, and the reports that indicate an early entry into the Alps for the 2024 Tour de France. All that and more in today’s GCN Racing Roundup…

| Pello Bilbao rockets up the GC with breakaway success at the Tour de France

Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious) won stage 10 of the Tour de France and honoured the memory of former teammate Gino Mäder, who died at the Tour de Suisse in June. The 33-year-old won the final sprint from a breakaway that had defined an entertaining afternoon.

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Pello Bilbao took the biggest victory of his career and moved up to fifth on GC

The first couple of hours of racing were amongst the most exciting we have seen all race as the battle for the breakaway ensued and it wasn’t until the descent of the third climb, the Col de la Croix Saint-Robert, that a true breakaway was finally established after almost 70km of racing.

The front group consisted of Bilbao, Michał Kwiatkowski (Ineos Grenadiers), Kasper Asgreen (Soudal-Quick Step), Esteban Chaves (EF Education-EasyPost), Krists Neilands (Israel-Premier Tech), Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek), Ben O’Connor (AG2R Citroën), Nick Schultz (Israel-Premier Tech), Georg Zimmermann (Intermarché-Circus-Wanty), Anthony Perez (Cofidis), Antonio Pedrero (Movistar), Warren Barguil (Arkéa Samsic) and Harold Tejada (Astana Qazaqstan).

Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) engaged in a futile late attack from the peloton, but it was from the front group where Neilands went alone in search of success. Following a gutsy 29km-long solo move, the Latvian was caught just 3km from the finish by Pedrero, Zimmermann, Chaves, O’Connor and Bilbao.
Zimmermann and Bilbao found themselves with a small gap heading into the final 500m, and it was the Basque native who won his first Tour de France stage. In doing so, he gained almost three minutes on the peloton and moved into the top five on GC. He has everything to play for over the final 11 stages.

If you missed any of the action today, we have got a full race replay waiting for you to watch on GCN+ right now. We’ll also have long and short highlights for you later tonight, which you will find in the ‘Highlights’ tab.

| Davide Formolo on the verge of joining Movistar for 2024

UAE Team Emirates are content to see Davide Formolo leave at the end of this season, following reports linking the Italian with a move to Movistar ahead of 2024, but no deal has been agreed as of yet. Sources have confirmed to GCN that Formolo is set for further contract talks next week before any final decision is made.

On Monday afternoon, Ciro Scognamiglio of La Gazzetta dello Sport reported that Formolo would be leaving UAE Team Emirates despite having another year left on his contract. Confirmation of his departure is premature, but it is true that the 30-year-old has been offered a two-year deal with Movistar that would see him join the Spanish team until the end of 2025.

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Helping Tadej Pogačar to his 2022 Il Lombardia victory, Davide Formolo has a contract with UAE Team Emirates until the end of 2024

“He has a contract with UAE for 2024 but we’ve agreed with Mauro Gianetti at UAE that we can move Davide’s team if the contract is for more than two years,” Formolo’s agent Alex Carrerra revealed to GCN. “Now it’s between me and [Movistar team manager Sebastián] Unzué to find a deal for more years. If not then Davide will wait another year at UAE.”

The Italian won a stage of the Giro d’Italia in 2015 and finished runner-up at Strade Bianche 2020, but has become a valuable teammate in recent years at UAE Team Emirates given his strong climbing abilities.

| Tour de France 2024 may enter the Alps after only three stages

Hot off the heels of an exciting opening week to the 2023 Tour de France, race director Christian Prudhomme has floated the possibility of repeating the early mountain escapades in next year’s race. Speaking to the RadioCycling podcast, the Frenchman likened the start of next year’s race following the Italian Grand Départ to that following the Basque Country this year.

“You have to go very far north to find roads… or you have to go by the sea and we’re not going to do that. So the idea is to put in climbs that will make a selection but that won’t be too definitive. So next year, we will have the Alps after Italy,” confirmed Prudhomme.

Fans will be excited by the prospect of such an early venture into the mountains, with the Pyrenees delivering breathtaking racing in the opening week of this year’s race. Departing from Florence and consisting of three stages, the 2024 Tour de France will remarkably be the first time that the race has begun in Italy. With the Alps soon to follow, it promises an action-packed start to the Tour.

| Netherlands confirm women’s team for World Championships, no Van Vleuten for time trial

The Dutch national federation has today confirmed the line-up of their women’s team for the road World Championships coming up in Glasgow next month. Widely considered the strongest women’s cycling nation in the world, the team is predictably stacked, with Lorena Wiebes and Demi Vollering (SD Worx) both big contenders for the win, as well as Marianne Vos (Jumbo-Visma) and defending world champion, Annemiek van Vleuten (Movistar).

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A Dutch woman has won five of the last six road race World Championships, most recently with Annemiek van Vleuten in 2022

Young stars Mischa Bredewold (SD Worx) and Shirin van Anrooij (Lidl-Trek) have both also earnt call-ups, having both taken wins this season as well as supporting their respective teams. The power in the squad will come from national time trial champion Riejanne Markus (Jumbo-Visma) and two-time eSports World Champion Loes Adegeest (FDJ-SUEZ) who will ride her first road Worlds after an impressive season with her French trade team.

The interesting omission in the list comes in the form of Annemiek van Vleuten’s absence from the team’s time trial selection in what is her final Worlds before retirement. The 40-year-old has twice won the time trial World Championships and was expected to race the event in Glasgow, but after coming only third in the national championships against the clock last month, the two Dutch spots have gone to the winner and runner-up in that race, Markus and Vollering. Defending champion Ellen van Dijk (Lidl-Trek) won’t be in action, as she is on maternity leave this season. As it stands, the World Championships road race will be Van Vleuten’s final race as a professional.

| EF Pro Cycling extend their partnership with Cannondale

Continuing their alliance that has become synonymous with both companies since 2015, EF Pro Cycling and Cannondale Bicycles have extended their contract with one another for an as yet unconfirmed duration. The American team announced the extension was “without an end date,” as they proudly unveiled the news on the Tour de France rest day.

“We’ve won Tour, Giro, and Vuelta stages together. And Flanders, too,” said EF Education-EasyPost CEO Jonathan Vaughters. “We’ve been pioneers together in the alternative racing space on Lachlan’s adventures, from the Alt Tour to the high peaks of Colorado. I love that we’ve achieved these things as a team, from the riders, to our team staff, and Cannondale, always helping us innovate and get the jobs done.”

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Neilson Powless has been one of the most visible riders of the Tour de France, often attacking in search of KoM points

Cannondale supply bikes to both men’s WorldTour side EF Education-EasyPost and women’s WorldTour outfit EF Education-TIBCO-SVB, with both teams collaborating with Cannondale in the continued development of their road, gravel and mountain bike offerings. Their current fleet of Cannondale Lab71 SuperSix Evo bikes are being raced at the Tour de France by riders such as polka-dot jersey wearer, Neilson Powless.

| Lotto Dstny unveil a collaboration with BMW

UCI Pro Team Lotto Dstny have announced a partnership with car manufacturer, BMW Juma Leuven-Mechelen, that will begin in 2024 and run through until the end of 2026. This partnership will see the Belgian team use a fleet of BMW vehicles from next season onwards and provide greater financial support for the outfit looking to make its way back to the WorldTour.

“The team builds on the same norms and values as our car brand”, explained BMW’s Gunter Van Lent. “The team really is a family with a rich history but also with its eyes on the future. Just like in the car industry, innovation is key and lots of young riders get the chance to develop within the team.”

Currently deploying Audi vehicles at all races, Lotto Dstny are a team who have been in the sport since 1985 and are in search of a first victory at the Tour de France since 2020. Caleb Ewan will be their best hope in the sprint, with the Australian showing strong form to twice finish on the podium twice thus far in the race.

| Patrick Lefevere bats away rumours of selling Quick-Step and Evenepoel

In the face of seemingly endless rumours linking his Soudal-QuickStep prized asset with Ineos Grenadiers, team boss Patrick Lefevere has squashed any thoughts of selling Remco Evenepoel at the end of the season. The veteran Belgian spoke to GCN of his determination to see out ‘Project Remco’ until at least 2026.

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Remco Evenepoel is not only a Grand Tour champion, but also a Monument winner at Liège-Bastogne-Liège

“I know that [Ineos Grenadiers owner] Jim Ratcliffe has a lot of money but he cannot buy the whole world,” insisted Lefevere. “If they are fair then they should call me first, and then the others [such as Evenepoel’s parents]. The last time I had a chat with Dave Brailsford was after the Worlds and that’s the last time I've heard from them.”

Evenepoel has a contract with Soudal-Quick Step until 2026, with an option of extending this through to 2027, and the Belgian team are focused on strengthening the team around the Vuelta a España champion as they go in search of further Grand Tour success.

This has led to their decision to refrain from signing another sprinter following the departure of Fabio Jakobsen at the end of the season, and Lefevere looked forward to Tim Merlier and Evenepoel spearheading their Vuelta team looking for stage wins and the overall victory, respectively.

| Jasper Philipsen aims to support Mathieu van der Poel in the final two weeks of the Tour

The partnership between Alpecin-Deceuninck’s Jasper Philipsen and Mathieu van der Poel has blossomed throughout this season, with the Dutchman operating as the world’s best lead-out man for his Belgian sprinter. Thus far, it has set Philipsen up for three stage victories at the Tour de France and the 25-year-old headed into the rest day press conference firmly in the lead of the green jersey.

“In the Tour last year, Jonas Rickaert was out quickly and Mathieu didn't drive this [lead-out] role,” offered up Philipsen when explaining his team’s improvement from last year. “I also think I personally took a step, especially physically. In the spring I was able to show good things a few times. I also think that at the end of the sprint I am sometimes a little fresher.”

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Mathieu van der Poel has emptied the tank whilst leading out Jasper Philipsen in the sprint stages so far

Admitting that he wouldn’t chase Van der Poel in the World Championship road race should the Dutch rider break clear of his Belgian teammates, Philipsen was also happy to accept the role of helping Van der Poel towards his own stage success over the remainder of the race.

“I'm going to try that,” insisted Philipsen. “I looked at the stage profiles and it will be quite tricky next week. So I also have to get over the climbs myself to get into a situation where I can do something. That makes it a bit more difficult for me. But if I have the chance, I will definitely do it.”

| Søren Wærenskjold turns down approach from UAE Team Emirates and extends with Uno-X

Uno-X young starlet Søren Wærenskjold has penned terms on a contract extension with his Norwegian team through to 2026, turning down an offer from UAE Team Emirates in the process on ethical grounds, as reported by Norwegian TV 2.

"You will be [tempted by such an offer], but I know that the Norwegians are not fans of the United Arab Emirates and things like that,” Wærenskjold explained. “Of course, it played a role. You want to make the morally and ethically right choice and not choose the salary over everything else."

With rumours linking Magnus Cort (EF Education-EasyPost) and Andreas Leknessund (dsm-firmenich) to the burgeoning Uno-X project ahead of 2024, UAE Team Emirates team principal & CEO Mauro Gianetti accepts that tempting the 23-year-old away from a Norwegian team on the rise was a tough ask.

“[Uno-X] came up with a good offer, so it was easy [for Wærenskjold] to accept it. It is fun to be part of a team that is on the way,” admitted Gianetti.

From an octopus’ garden in the shade, it is time to bid adieu. Until the next time.