News Round-up: Stage 4 of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift brings the longest stage yet

On the longest day of racing that the Women’s WorldTour peloton has ever endured, it was the breakaway’s turn to produce frenetic racing at the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, over a route that was not dissimilar to the brutal hills of Liège-Bastogne-Liège. In Belgium, the Tour de Wallonie came to a conclusion after five hard days of racing, but it was a neutralisation that stole the headlines. Elsewhere, fan-favourite Tom Meeusen has announced his comeback to cyclocross and we bring you the latest transfer rumours. All that and more in today’s Edition…

| Yara Kastelijn delivers breakaway success at Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift

Yara Kastelijn (Fenix-Elegant) produced the performance of her fledgling road career as she attacked her breakaway companions and went solo to the line in Rodez. The stage 4 victory sees Kastelijjn move up to seventh on GC after a whopping 151km spent in the day’s breakaway.

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Yara Kastelijn takes the first victory of her professional career

At 177.1km in length, stage 4 of the Tour de France Femmes was the longest day of racing in Women’s WorldTour history and so it should be little surprise that the stage honours fell to the breakaway for the first time in Tour de France Femmes history. The peloton found it increasingly difficult to control the race as the afternoon wore on and the large breakaway that had developed increased its lead, allowing Kastelijjn to strike out with 19km to ride and go solo to the finish.

Behind it was Demi Vollering (SD Worx) and Annemiek van Vleuten (Movistar) who appeared the strongest from the GC contenders, with the pair finishing second and third, respectively, either side of Kastelijn’s fellow breakaway survivor, Anouska Koster (Uno-X Pro Cycling).

| Andrea Bagioli wins final Tour de Wallonie stage following neutralisation

The final stage of the Tour de Wallonie ended in embarrassment for the race organisers as a ‘parcours error’ led to the neutralisation of racing, prior to Andrea Bagioli’s eventual stage 5 victory. With fellow Soudal-QuickStep rider Mauro Schmid (Soudal-Quick Step) leading the race alone, a motorbike led many riders down the wrong route behind the Swiss and caused the organisers to neutralise the race.

The delay meant that many of the riders who had previously been dropped returned to the peloton and set up a different finish than would have been expected. Soudal-QuickStep were not disheartened for too long, however, with their versatile sprinter Bagioli sealing the stage win ahead of Stephen Williams (Israel-Premier Tech) and Arnaud De Lie (Lotto Dstny).

Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers) won the overall title ahead of teammate Josh Tarling, following their fantastic performances in the stage 4 individual time trial.

| Michael Mørkøv may prove key to Mark Cavendish’s retirement plans

Ciro Scognamiglio of La Gazzetta dello Sport has reported that should Mark Cavendish decide to delay his retirement for a year, Soudal-QuickStep veteran Michael Mørkøv may be an option for Astana Qazaqstan to bolster Cavendish’s lead-out for 2024.

The pair rode alongside each other at QuickStep in the past and, with Mørkøv alongside him, Cavendish won four stages at the 2021 Tour de France to go level with Eddy Merckx on a record 34 Tour de France stage victories. The Danish lead-out rider is out of contract at the end of the season and has struggled to make the same impact this year as he has done in the past.

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Michael Mørkøv is regarded as one of the finest lead-out riders of all-time

Mørkøv will contend that this has been down to his sprinters so often failing to follow his wheel, with Fabio Jakobsen notably missing out on several opportunities this season by losing the lead-out delivered by the 38-year-old.

Cavendish is due to retire at the end of the season, as he announced at the Giro d’Italia, but having crashed out of his final Tour de France without a stage win, speculation has been rampant over the past few weeks as to whether he might be convinced to ride another year. His Astana Qazaqstan team boss Alexandre Vinokourov has already confirmed his interest in Cavendish extending his contract with the team for another year.

| Davide Formolo to Movistar a done deal for 2024

As first reported by GCN’s Dan Benson, Davide Formolo is now all set to sign for Movistar ahead of the 2024 season. With a year remaining on his contract with UAE Team Emirates, the move may come as a surprise, but the team of Tadej Pogačar are happy to waive his final year as he goes in search of a long-term contract elsewhere.

It is with Movistar that Formolo and his agent, Alex Carera, have negotiated a contract for 2024 and beyond, bolstering the Spanish side’s roster of climbers. The team are also slated to be close to agreeing a contract with Carlos Rodríguez (Ineos Grenadiers) and should that move take place, their fleet of strong climbers would increase alongside team leader, Enric Mas.

A winner of a stage at the Giro d’Italia in 2015, Formolo has taken four victories in his career to date and, after a promising few years as a professional, the Italian has found his place as a valuable domestique for Pogačar at UAE Team Emirates. Movistar will be looking forward to slotting him into their rosters for the Grand Tours, where the Italian so often produces his best work.

| Tom Meeusen to come out of retirement for 2023/24 cyclocross season

34-year-old Tom Meeusen has announced he will be stepping out of retirement for the upcoming 2023/24 cyclocross season, having walked away from the sport in the middle of last winter.

It was after finishing a disappointing eighth place at the Robotland Cyclo-Cross in Essen - his home race - that Meussen announced his retirement last December. But clearly motivated once again, the fan-favourite will return to racing on behalf of Marc Herremans’ Athletes for Hope team.

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Often seen battling the likes of Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma), fans will be delighted to see Tom Meeusen return to the CX ranks

Meussen made his breakthrough in 2010 and quickly became one of the most hotly-tipped prospects in the sport, but he never quite achieved the heights that were once expected of him, despite always remaining a favourite amongst the fans. His last victory in the mud came in Oisterwijk in October 2021 and he will hope to provide some notable results for his new team boss.

“I need someone who can support me both physically and mentally so I've come to the right place with Marc,” commented Meeusen. “I am very grateful to him for this opportunity… I will therefore do everything I can to portray him and his project 'Athletes for Hope' positively.”

| UCI suspends Filip Maciejuk for 30 days after Tour of Flanders crash

Almost four months after causing a crash at the Tour of Flanders, Bahrain Victorious rider Filip Maciejuk has been given a 30-day suspension from racing by the UCI, beginning on 25 July.

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Filip Maciejuk has ridden 23 race days since his Tour of Flanders disqualification, but will now be forced to sit on the sidelines until the end of August

“The Disciplinary Commission found the rider to have acted in breach of article 12.4.007 of the UCI Regulations for having caused the crash of several riders in the peloton after riding outside of the race course and through a puddle on the roadside,” read a statement from the UCI on Wednesday morning.

Maciejuk had tried to advance his position in the peloton by riding off-road to the left-hand side, but his plan was foiled when the cobbled surface turned to grass and puddles, causing him to swerve right into the peloton and prompt a mass pile-up. Maciejuk was soon removed from the race by the commissaires and several riders left the Tour of Flanders injured.

The Polish rider will now miss the World Championships and a possible Tour of Poland participation.

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