Bob Jungels will miss out on both the Tour de France and Tokyo Olympic Games as he undergoes surgery for an issue that's hampered his performances for the past three seasons.

After the Ag2r Citroën rider struggled with recurring pain at the recent Tour de Suisse, medical examinations pointed to a vascular issue. Therefore, the 28-year-old will have iliac artery surgery in the coming days to deal with the endofibrosis, a narrowing of the arteries, which he's suffering from. 

"It is a huge disappointment to have to give up the Tour de France which would have been my first time there with the Ag2r Citroën team, as well as my national championships and the Olympic Games. I had a difficult start to the season physically but also mentally because I was keen to shine, but I was never at the level I wanted to be," Jungels said in a statement.

"At the Tour de Suisse, I was very happy with my 18th place in the time trial on the first stage. Then the pain that I had felt for several years when I was pushing hard came back steadily. Medical examinations confirmed the diagnosis I was anticipating."

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“The first tests showed that it could be a vascular abnormality called arterial endofibrosis affecting the iliac artery. The decision to have surgery should be taken in the coming days,” added Ag2r's medical director Eric Bouvat, team boss Vincent Lavenu saying he is convinced that once Jungels is rid of these issues he will perform well for the team he signed for at the start of this season.

Aside from Luxembourg national championships titles, one on the road and two in the time trial, Jungels hasn't won a race since Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne in March 2019.

"On the one hand, I am relieved because I know why my performances have been irregular for three seasons, on the other hand, it is a huge disappointment," Jungels finished.

Lotto-Soudal's Tim Wellens has also been forced to miss the upcoming Tour due to an undiagnosed illness.

"At the moment, my body isn’t reacting to the training stimulus the way I want it to. I can’t push the number of watts I need to do well at the Tour de France," the Belgian said.

"I don’t yet know what is the reason behind this. Something isn’t right and needs to be solved. I am travelling to Belgium now to undergo additional examinations. Together with the team, I decided not to take any risks for the rest of the season. To start at the Tour could jeopardise a lot."

Bob Jungels is leaving Deceuninck - Quick-Step after five years to join AG2R La Mondiale.

The 27-year-old Monument winner will be joining Greg Van Avermaet at the French WorldTour squad, who are boosting their Classics line-up for 2021. 

But Jungels also has ambitions for Grand Tours, having twice finished in the top-10 in the Giro d’Italia and taking 11th in the 2018 Tour de France. 

AG2R, which will be known as AG2R-Citroën Team from next year, are making some big name signings for the future as their current star riders will be leaving the team at the end of the season. 

Luxembourger Jungels said: “With riders like Oliver Naesen and Greg Van Avermaet, the team will be very ambitious in the Classics, and it’s very motivating to be part of this group. And of course, we will still be looking at the stage races, since I know that this team has had a strong history in this area. I definitely want to achieve great things, initially in the one week races, but then also in the Grand Tours, even if I am already well versed in what it takes to perform over three weeks.”

Jungels will be leaving Deceuninck having joined the team back in 2016 and picking up his biggest victories while riding for Patrick Lefevere's outfit. 

After taking 6th place in the 2016 Giro d’Italia, Jungels won his first Grand Tour stage the following year at the Giro, where he finished eighth overall. 

He has since gone on to take the 2018 edition of Liège-Bastogne-Liège, his first Monument victory, and Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne last season. 

AG2R are reshaping their team for 2021, signing Jungels on a two-year deal while Greg Van Avermaet will also be joining from CCC Team. The pair will joining the team’s current Classics leader Oliver Naesen

French WorldTour squad AG2R is also undergoing a shake-up in its Grand Tour leadership, with Romain Bardet leaving the team for Sunweb after nine years. 

>>> Remco Evenepoel will be off the bike for two months after Il Lombardia crash 

Pierre Latour, another French rider tipped as a potential Tour de France winner in future, is leaving AG2R for Total Direct Energie next season. 

Bob Jungels thought he would just be learning about the cobbled Classics, instead he is riding at the sharp end with Deceuninck-Quick-Step heading to his debut in the Tour of Flanders on Sunday.

The Luxembourger will not defend his 2018 Liège-Bastogne-Liège title with his 2019 cobbled Classics campaign and Giro d'Italia ride in May.

"Before we started the classics campaign, I was looking at it as an introduction, but as it turned out, I performed quite well," he told Cycling Weekly.

>>> Greg Van Avermaet: ‘If I never win Flanders it won’t change my life’

"It was a surprise on one hand, but on the other hand, I knew I had good condition. If the race is hard, always the strong riders come out on top. In the end, I'm very glad that I made this decision."

Jungels won the Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne early in March and helped position Zdeněk Štybar for his victory in E3 BinckBank Classic. The Classics super-team now selected him to race in its Tour of Flanders roster.

Greg Van Avermaet (CCC Team) and former Classics rider Tom Boonen named Jungels as one of the favourite to win on Sunday, when he will ride Flanders for the first time.

"Everything is possible in cycling, especially when you have a race around 250km. It's always very unpredictable who's coming out on top. Until now, I've come out well in long races, so we'll see how it goes," Jungels said.

"Of course, you have plenty things you have to learn, but I've learned quite a lot in the last weeks. I see myself going better and better from race to race."

Deceuninck-Quick-Step have won nearly every one-day race this spring with Julian Alaphilippe in Strade Bianche and Milan-San Remo and Zdeněk Štybar on the cobbles in Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and E3. Jungels won the Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne with a solo attack.

"We've been very successful so far this spring. We have a strong team, like every year. Of course there's some pressure but there's plenty of other riders out there who've done great in the last races," he continued. "I think it's going to be an open [Flanders], I hope to be up there and maybe come with a surprise."

The cobbled push and focus on the Giro d'Italia overall means Jungels will cut the Ardennes Classics from his programme. Already he was not going to race the Amstel Gold Race and the Flèche Wallonne, but now he will skip Liège-Bastogne-Liège. Last year, he won the race with a 19.6km solo attack.

"I'm really happy I took that decision together with the team to join the Flanders Classics team. It was a bit of a hard decision with Liège-Bastogne-Liège, winning last year, then leaving the Ardennes out for this year, but I've been successful in the Flanders Classics and I also feel very well on the cobbles in these races. I still have plenty of things to learn, but It's coming with age.

"It gives you more time, my last Classic [is the] Tour of Flanders, so I have much more time to be ready for the Giro d'Italia, to do my altitude. Before it was always hard to combine being good in the classics and then the Giro. That's definitely a good point about this race programme."

Luxembourger Bob Jungels (Deceuninck - Quick- Step) celebrated what was seemingly a "mission impossible" attack to victory in Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne on Sunday (March 3).

Jungles capped off a successful weekend for the Belgian super team, winning Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne one day after Zdenek Stybar took Omloop Het Nieuwsblad.

"I felt as if I was the strongest rider in front and with the peloton coming closer, I knew I had to try something," Jungels told Het Nieuwsblad.

"I thought I'd started a mission impossible. With that headwind, I thought that the group would always return. But it has been two hard days for everyone, also for the boys who were chasing me. To be honest I did not expect to be the winner here today."

>>> Owain Doull reflects on ‘surreal’ Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne podium

After having previously given his focus to the Ardennes Classics and Grand Tours, the 26-year-old is turning to the cobbled Classics in 2019.

"This was to be an introductory weekend and now I'm winner," he added.

"Yesterday, I was too far behind at the Molenberg and I had to chase the whole time. Today I was still too far away when I rolled up the Kwaremont, but I was able to rejoin at the front fairly quickly."

Jungles will ride the Tour of Flanders on April 7, before taking a break and returning to Liège-Bastogne-Liège to defend his 2018 title on April 28.

"The difference here? Cobbles, or the lack of them in Liège. And of course, it's a different route. In the Ardennes, you can pedal quietly for the first 100 kilometres, here you go from the first kilometre and something can happen anywhere. Tactically, it's a different course," he said.

"And of course it is another group of riders. I know it's been a long time since someone could win in Liège and the Tour of Flanders. I hope to belong to that select group one day. Philippe Gilbert has proven that it is possible, I also want to prove that the combination is still possible."

Jungels proved his cobble riding skills when he won the Under 23 Paris-Roubaix in 2010.

His decision to return to the cobbles and race Tour of Flanders for the first time works perfectly for Deceuninck - Quick-Step, who lost Niki Terpstra over the off-season to Direct Energie.

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"It is sometimes difficult to choose. I absolutely wanted to ride these Flemish competitions because I was often good as an amateur. And yes, I still dream of winning a Grand Tour. Look at the riders of Liège-Bastogne-Liège and look at the riders of the Grand Tours. You often come across the same names."

Jungels will race Paris-Nice this coming week for the overall classification and then return to the cobbles. After Flanders and Liège-Bastogne-Liège, he will turn his attention to the Giro d'Italia in May.

Bob Jungels made it two out of two for Deceuninck - Quick-Step’s opening classics weekend, winning alone at Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne on Sunday.

His victory follows team mate Zdnenek Štybar's solo success at Saturday's Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, giving the Belgian team a Classics clean sweep for the weekend.

In a move redolent of his winning attack at last year’s Liège-Bastogne-Liège, Luxembourg star Jungels attacked what remained of a five man breakaway with 18km to go.

Team Sky’s Owain Doull capped off an aggressive personal showing with second place, while Dutchman Niki Terpstra recorded his best result since joining Direct Energie, placing third.

Jungels made the race, forming a breakaway of five on the cobbled Tiegemstraat with 64km remaining, and while his fellow escapes were swallowed up with 15km to go, he entered the final 10km leading solo by more than 30 seconds.

In the final five kilometres Doull attacked the chasing group and was joined by by Terpstra, Jens Keukeleire (Lotto-Soudal) and Jungels’ team mate Yves Lampaert, though with the latter sitting on they were unable to catch the leader, despite a subsequent second attempt by Welshman Doull.

Last year Quick-Step Floors, as they were then known, were the dominant team of the spring and they have started this season in similar fashion, already bagging 13 wins this year, two more than at the same point in 2018.

How it happened

Setting off from Kuurne, the race started quickly, the first hour ridden at over 46kph, with plenty of early attacks being nullified ahead of a series of climbs which punctuated the middle kilometres of the 201.1km race.

Even the 12% slopes of the first of 13 climbs, the Volkegenberg failed to break the bunch which continued as one until 66km had been ridden.

There, four riders escaped and were soon joined by three others, the peloton happy to let them quickly establish a lead after the third climb, the Onkerzele Berg.

Pim Ligthart (Direct Energie), Lawrence Naesen (Lotto-Soudal), Jimmy Turgis (Vital Concept-B&B Hotels), Ludwig de Winter (Wanty-Groupe Gobert), Alex Kirsch (Trek-Segafredo), Benoit Jarrier (Arkea-Samsic) and Magnus Cort (Astana) formed a decent fighting force, though they were never given too much slack by  the peloton.

Over 20km later they crested the Kanarieberg, 90km in, with their advantage at only 3.45.

Shortly after an acceleration from Deceuninck-Quickstep just inside the closing 90km, caused a split in the bunch, and a group of around 25 set off in pursuit, quickly closing the gap to within one minute.

Team Sky’s Ian Stannard made his way into that break, setting a fearsome pace on the ascent of the Oude Kwaremont, further splitting it and leaving a group of eight, including three from Deceuninck-Quick Step and Doull, Stannard’s team mate.

Crosswinds also played their part, and with the early breakaway soon caught, there was a slight regrouping, around 25 riders coming together at the top of the climb of Kluisberg.

Led by the Jumbo-Visma team of last year’s winner Dylan Groenewegen, a second slightly larger group emerged around 50 seconds down, but the leaders remained committed and the Dutch squad only managed to chip away at the lead.

With five riders now in that leading group Deceuninck-Quickstep had cards to play. 

On the cobbled Tiegemstraat, as the gap to the the Jumbo Visma group began to close in, Jungels played his joker, attacking and forming the group fo five with Sebastian Langeveld (EF Education First), Oliver Naesen (Ag2R La Mondiale) and the Astana pair of Magnus Cort and Davide Ballerini.

With so many of Jungels’s team mates present, the chasing group they were unable to get on terms with the leaders and when Mitchelton-Scott came to help Groenewegen’s men they were caught.

Coming with 49km remaining, the Nokereberg was the final climb of the race, and by the time the leaders had crested it the peloton had re-formed behind and were trailing by more than one minute.   

However, the race was far from decided and when the breakaway crossed the finish line for the first time, entering two closing 15km laps, Jumbo-Visma, Mitchelton-Scott and Bora-Hansgrohe had combined to reduce their deficit to just 35 seconds.

With 18km remaining, BORA Hansgrohe’s Jempy Drucker came to the front of the of the peloton stretching the bunch and bringing the gap down, while simultaneously Jungles made his winning move. 

Results

Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne 2019 (201.1km)

1. Bob Jungels (Lux) Deceuninck - Quick-Step, in 4-42-54

2. Owain Doull (Gbr) Team Sky, at 12 seconds

3. Niki Terpstra (Ned) Direct Energie

4. Dylan Groenewegen (Ned) Jumbo-Visma

5. Yves Lampaert (Bel) Deceuninck-Quick Step

6. Florian Sénéchal (Fra) Deceuninck - Quick-Step

7. Jens Keukeleire (Bel) Lotto-Soudal

8. André Greipel (Ger) Arkea-Samsic

9. Jasper de Buyst (Bel) Lotto-Soudal

10. Carlos Barbero (Esp) Movistar, all at same time

When Bob Jungels attacked at the top of the Côte de la Roche-aux-Faucons to win Liège-Bastogne-Liège on Sunday he was partly inspired by the last Luxembourger to win the race back in 2009.

Andy Schleck’s victory in La Doyenne nine years ago bore an uncanny resemblance to Jungels’ on Sunday as the then 24-year-old Schleck attacked halfway up the same climb before powering away to win solo.

“Of course it was a big inspiration for me to see Andy winning the way he did,” Jungels told reporters after the race. “I didn’t speak to him in the last few weeks, but I had this race in mind for a while. Actually last evening we watched a few highlights of the last editions, especially the ones from the victories of Philippe [Gilbert] and Andy.”

>>> Bob Jungels makes sensational solo effort to win Liège-Bastogne-Liège 2018

The race is held in the Ardennes region of southern Belgium, and, as the name suggests, turns around in Bastogne, just a few kilometres from the Luxembourg border. That Jungels was wearing the national champion’s jersey added a special resonance for the 25-year-old.

“It’s the race the closest to Luxembourg and every year there are a lot of Luxembourgish fans,” the Quick-Step Floors rider continued. “I wasn’t here for the last two years so I was looking forward to be back on those roads, and if you have your friends and family on the roads it’s special, you hear them on small climbs, so it was a little bonus to me.”

Schleck’s 2009 result was partly due to the softening up his Saxo Bank team had done earlier in the race, again similar to the work Quick-Step did on Sunday, though in fact this work was not for Jungels.

The Belgian team began increasing the pressure on La Redoute, lifting the tempo before another former winner, Philippe Gilbert attacked early on La Roche-aux-Faucons. Team Sky’s Sergio Henao then had a dig before Jungels made his race winning move, though even that was designed to set up the win for Julian Alaphilippe.

>>> Dan Martin laments more bad luck after costly puncture at Liège-Bastogne-Liège

The Frenchman had been the team’s leader and had proved his form with victory at La Flèche Wallonne last week, but was able to sit back as Jungels made his mark on the Monument.

“The main goal was of course our captain Julian, to see him in the best position, so it was important that he could stay behind the other leaders and they were forced to work.

“It came as a little bit of a surprise for me because I thought they were on my wheel, but the I heard on the radio ‘Go, go, go!’ and I just kept going and I didn’t see anyone until the line.”

The victory brings to a close a stellar spring campaign for Quick-Step. The team have dominated, notching up 27 wins so far in 2018, including another Monument, the Tour of Flanders, won by Niki Terpstra.

“It is more than a team, it is more like a family,” said Jungels when asked the secret of the team’s success. “What is good at Quick-Step is that we all have a chance, and every time we start a race we have four or five potential winners in the team, so we have different cards we can play.”

Both Fernando Gaviria and Bob Jungels (Quick-Step Floors) have received custom painted S-Works bikes following their standout Grand Tour performances at the Giro d'Italia.

First up, Fernando Gaviria's Specialized S-Works Venge Vias is resplendent in a beautiful shining purple paint job. It's a dazzling make over, and must look spectacular when caught in the right light.

It's a special bike for a special rider, and there can be no doubt that Gaviria gave one of the stand out performances of this year's Giro d'Italia.

The young Colombian raced to four sprint victories in his debut grand tour, giving one of the best Grand Tour debut since Peter Sagan's triple win at the Vuelta a España.

As a sprinter, he'll be more interested in aerodynamics than weight, so opts for the Venge Vias as it allows him to cut through the wind thanks to the integrated front end and aero bars, plus that slinky seat tube.

In terms of components, the bike comes equipped with old Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 9050 groupset, and a pair of Roval's deep section wheels.

Watch: Which pro has the fastest aero bike

However, Gaviria wasn't the only young rider on the Quick-Step Floors team to demonstrate his talent on the world stage, as Bob Jungels had everybody talking, too.

Here we have Jungels' S-Works Tarmac frame done over in a white paint job to honour the Luxembourgish rider's white jersey in the Giro d'Italia.

Earlier in the race he also held the maglia rosa and won stage 15, when the route headed to Bergamo.

Rather than an aero bike like Gaviria, however, Jungels has opted for Specialized's Tarmac offering, preferring the lighter weight and the climbing prowess over improved aerodynamics.

Tom Dumoulin (Sunweb) says that his rivals were not working for themselves, but for him en route to Asiago.

He is "forever thankful" that they kept Giro d'Italia leader Nairo Quintana (Movistar) under control ahead of the final time trial stage in Milan on Sunday.

>>> Tom Dumoulin minimises time losses to set up final stage decider as Pinot wins Giro d’Italia stage 20

The Colombian in the pink jersey rode clear with Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida) and Thibaut Pinot (FDJ), second and third in the classification, over the final climb.

Behind, Dumoulin had Adam Yates (Orica-Scott), Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo) and above all, Bob Jungels (Quick-Step Floors) pulling the group along to close at 15 seconds back and to keep him at a reasonable 53-second striking distance in the overall classification.

"I'm happy that I'm mentally and physically much better than yesterday," Dumoulin said when returning to his team bus. "I'm forever thankful and grateful for the work Bauke Mollema, Bob Jungels and Adam Yates did for me today,"

"They were pretty much not really fighting any more for spots on GC because they are pretty much fixed in their spots on GC so it was also definitely to help me, so I'm very happy with that and very thankful."

The Dutchman, second in the Olympic time trial behind Fabian Cancellara, rode 2-53 minutes into Quintana in the last 39.8-kilometre time trial on stage 10.

Tomorrow, he has 29.3 kilometres from the Monza Formula One track to the Duomo in Milan to make up 53 seconds on Quintana.

He needed to keep the gap small in today's final mountain stage to make the leap feasible. Instead of attacking each other, Mollema, Yates and Jungles – seventh through ninth overall – rode together.

Yates leads Jungles by a slim 28 seconds in the youth classification, a spot he will likely lose to the more talented time trialist from Luxembourg.

"I know Yates, Jungels and Mollema, the three of them, for a long time and we've always been good together and we just cooperated well.”

Dumoulin was asked to clarify if there was a Quintana/Nibali axis and one for him.

"The situation was just like that, they were riding for their GC and I was riding for mine, and the three guys helped me with that. That's really nice of them."

Earlier in the race, Nibali led attacks on the Stelvio stage when Dumoulin stopped to relieve himself due to stomach problems. Dumoulin said that he hoped Nibali and Quintana lost their podium spots for how they teamed together two days ago in stage 18.

Dumoulin now stands to become the first Dutchman to win the Giro d'Italia in its 100 years if he can pull back the time in the final time trial.

"I'm just going to focus to my own ride tomorrow, then we'll see after the finish what it's worth," Dumoulin added.

"It could be possible, but after three weeks racing, after a hard week in the mountains like this, anything can happen,”

"I think everyone there are five guys aiming for the [overall] win and with possibilities to win, I think the five of us really have pressure and I just need to focus on my own ride."

Bob Jungels (Quick-Step Floors), winner of the Giro d'Italia's stage 15 into Bergamo on Sunday, recognises he is developing similarly to Bradley Wiggins and Tom Dumoulin, but says he needs time before racing for a Grand Tour overall victory.

>>> Bob Jungels wins sprint finish on Giro d’Italia stage 15 as Nairo Quintana steals valuable GC seconds

The 24-year-old from Luxembourg sits eighth overall ahead of the Giro's high-mountain stages behind leader Dumoulin and holds the white jersey by 2-25 minutes over Adam Yates (Orica-Scott).

"They [Wiggins and Dumoulin] are for sure the type of riders I'm looking up to, for sure, they have the same style of racing like me, or me like them, it's just at the moment they are faster up hill," Jungels said.

Jungels just won the stage to Bergamo, similar to Il Lombardia, and arrived to the pressroom with the blue, white and red national champion's jersey on his back.

"I'm just tying to make it through this last week now, to learn. It's hard to say what changes I need to make, you can change your body, but you can't change your nature."

Jungels already placed sixth in the Giro last year, wearing the pink jersey and winning the white jersey of young rider.

"I've been in the pink already, a couple of days in the white jerseys," he added. "I don't think I need to change much."

He placed third in the time trial through the Sagrantino vineyards behind winner Dumoulin and Geraint Thomas (Sky) last week.

His issue, similar to Wiggins and now Dumoulin, could be his staying power in the mountains. Those riders put much effort into weight loss and time at altitude camps to improve. Jungels lost 3-30 and 1-22 minutes in the first two summit finishes in the Giro.

The final week, after Monday's rest day, heads over the high Alpine passes. However, in his favour, as with Dumoulin's, the race ends with a 29.3-kilometre time trial.

"It's going to be a hard final week, like everyone knows, the big climbs are all in the last week this year. It's going to be interesting. I think that out of the second row I can play a good role as well," Jungels said.

"How am I different than Dumoulin? That's a good question. I think that he's going faster uphill, fast in the time trials. I don't really know how to answer. He's just stronger at the moment."

Bob Jungels (Quick-Step) took his maiden Grand Tour victory on stage 15 of the Giro d'Italia 2017, out-sprinting a number of other GC contenders to the line after a fast stage to Bergamo.

Jungels finished first from a group of overall contenders including pink jersey Tom Dumoulin (Sunweb), beating Nairo Quintana (Movistar) and Thibaut Pinot (FDJ) in the final sprint to take the win and 10 bonus seconds.

Quintana, second on GC, was able to grab the six second bonus to reduce a fraction off his 2-47 deficit to Dumoulin.

The GC riders had got away on the final short, sharp climb in Bergamo with 3.8km to go as Jungels instigated the first attack.

Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida) followed and pushed on as he tried to gap his rivals on the tricky descent.

He was unable to gap any of his nearest rivals, but the increase in pace saw an elite front group get away and ride into the final kilometre together.

Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo) was first to make a push for the line, followed closely by Domenico Pozzovivo (Ag2r La Mondiale).

But Jungels was clearly keen for a stage victory and got onto the wheel of the Italian and was able to power past and hold off the chasing Pinot and Adam Yates (Orica-Scott), before Quintana was able to sneak in for second.

How it happened

The stage set off at a ferocious pace and anyone trying to get in a breakaway was going to face a tough task.

Dries Devenyns (Quick-Step), Moreno Hofland (Lotto-Soudal), Jan Barta (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Jeremy Roy (FDJ) were the first to try, and got in the early breakaway. But after 100km of riding with no more than 30 seconds they were finally caught by the peloton.

A bigger group then managed to make it away 10km later, with Fernando Gaviria (Quick-Step), Phil Deignan (Team Sky), Julien Amezqueta (Wilier-Triestina), Enrico Battaglin (LottoNL-Jumbo), Jacques Janse van Rensburg (Dimension Data), Silvan Dillier (BMC), Enrico Barbin (Bardiani-CSF), Rudy Molard (FDJ), Evgeny Shalunov (Gazprom-Rusvelo) and Simone Petilli (UAE Team Emitrates), all making up the break.

They got a maximum gap of just over two minutes, but the difficult pace saw the group cut down to three riders as they neared the top of the category two climb of Miragolo San Salvatore.

The break held 48 seconds at the top of the first climb with 40km to go, with Molard, van Rensburg and Deignan all there.

The riders then faced the first technical descent of the day from the first climb, which saw Nairo Quintana crash on a corner. Dumoulin slowed the group down to allow the Colombian to recover and get back, and the gap to the break grew out to 1-11.

Pierre Rolland (Cannondale-Drapac) then attacked to try and make it to the break on the second climb and was later joined by Luis Leon Sanchez (Astana). They eventually made it up to the leading three on the route's second climb with 30km to go.

That fivesome took 41 seconds on the chasing peloton at the top of the Selvino climb, and headed down the next technical descent which featured 19 hairpin turns on the way to Bergamo.

The descent from Selvino saw Kenny Elissonde (Team Sky) and Davide Formolo (Cannondale-Drapac) crash badly, falling into a wall on a hairpin, with the former looking in particular pain as his team car rushed to his aid.

After the break and the peloton had made it off the descent, Tanel Kangert (Astana) seventh in general classification, was the next to go down, taking a nasty spill with 9km to go as he hit a traffic island. The Estonian has reportedly broken his elbow in the incident.

The break still had 19 seconds with 8km to go, but they made it to the foot of the final uncategorised climb in Bergamo with only seven seconds and 4.4km remaining.

The peloton were quickly on top of them on the climb and Bahrain-Merida's efforts saw them all finally caught with 3.8km to go.

Jungels then attacked at the same time and Nibali followed with Pozzovivo. No-one could drop Dumoulin fully on the climb or the descent, and it ended with a GC stalemate on the line as Jungels grabbed the stage victory.

The peloton will be glad to head into another rest day on Monday after a super fast day on stage 14, with an average speed of over 46kmh.

There'll be a nasty shock for the riders on Tuesday's stage 16 however, with the queen stage of the 100th Giro and an ascent of the Mortirolo and two summits of the Stelvio on the cards.

Results

Giro d'Italia 2017 stage 15, Valdengo - Bergamo (199km)

1 Bob Jungels (Lux) Quick-Step Floors 4-16-51

2 Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar Team

3 Thibaut Pinot (Fra) FDJ

4 Adam Yates (GBr) Orica-Scott

5 Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale

6 Patrick Konrad (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe

7 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Bahrain-Merida

8 Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Team Sunweb

9 Ilnur Zakarin (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin

10 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo, all same time

Overall classification after stage 14

1 Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Team Sunweb, in 63-48-08

2 Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar Team, at 2-41

3 Thibaut Pinot (Fra) FDJ, at 3-21

4 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Bahrain-Merida, at 3-40

5 Ilnur Zakarin (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin, at 4-24

6 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo, at 4-32

7 Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale, at 4-59

8 Bob Jungels (Lux) Quick-Step Floors, at 5-18

9 Andrey Amador (CRc) Movistar Team, at 6-01

10 Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo, at 7-03

Bob Jungels says that Quick-Step's surprise full-force effort delivered the win for team-mate Fernando Gaviria in the Giro d'Italia's wind-ravaged stage three to Cagliari today.

Jungels’s charge drove clear a move with six other Quick-Step riders, minus only Eros Capecchi and Pieter Serry, at less than 10 kilometres to race.

Colombian Gaviria, 22-years-old and riding his first Grand Tour, finished off their work with a stage win and took the leader's pink jersey.

In Luxembourg’s national champion blue, white and red jersey, Jungles arrived to the Quick-Step team bus with a smile. The team greeted him with cheers and hugs.

"An attack like that is pretty hard to plan, we knew that we had cross-wind in that section and of course, we are known for these actions, but it was really an intention," Jungels said.

"I was a little far behind, just passed the bunch on the right side and the guys just followed me and it was full gas to the finish. And it could've have gone any better.

"We had [sports director Davide] Bramati in the radio the whole time to say pay attention. We knew there was something coming, and it was just an intention and we went full-gas."

The winning group finished 13 seconds ahead of the group behind led by Caleb Ewan (Orica-Scott).

Sky's Geraint Thomas just missed the move with mostly power-men and sprinters. André Greipel (Lotto-Soudal), stage two winner and overnight leader, made the move but seemed to have touched wheels and lost his chain so he could not follow.

"Of course everyone was attentive. In situations like this I don't want to say we have more power, but we just surprised them. The first two or three seconds count when you put the power down and then we had the advantage," Jungles said.

"A big win? Of course, you can here it in the bus behind me. I'm really happy as well. We showed our spirit of the team and that's most important."

Bramati climbed out of the white and blue Quick-Step team car and yelled again, his voice hoarse from the excitement.

"The team won today, the team was so strong," Bramati said. "Bob above all and Fernando finished it. He'd just arrived from Colombia before the Giro and is still suffering. Even at one point, Fernando was pulling. I told him not to pull, save yourself.

"Jungels works for the team, this is his win, and all the team of youngsters. We have three riders in their first year doing their Giro – Gaviria, Martinelli and De Plus – so these are the right emotions."

Bob Jungels (Etixx-Quick Step) held on to his lead of the Giro d'Italia after putting in an impressive ride along with second place Andrey Amador (Movistar) to breakaway and put time into the other GC favourites on a tricky finish to stage 11.

Diego Ulissi (Lampre-Merida) took his second stage win of this Giro after managing to bridge across to the pair and out-sprinting them for the line in Asolo.

On a more-or-less pan flat 227km stage, the best action was contained within the final 20km, where one category four climb followed by two smaller uncategorised climbs featured en route to the finish.

Though it looked like it could make for a reduced bunch sprint for those fast men that could make it over the climbs, the GC contenders had other ideas, with Steven Kruijswijk (LottoNL-Jumbo) the first to make a move on the climb of Forcella Mostaccin.

His rivals quickly followed, and it was Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) who reached out next, putting a gap between him and the group on the fast descent, with on Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) and Esteban Chaves (Orica-GreenEdge) able to follow.

It wasn't long before they were pulled back though, with Valverde's teammate Amador following up ahead of the next climb with an attack of his own with around 12km to go.

>>> Bob Jungels – A Grand Tour winner in the making?

Sitting second place at just 26 seconds in GC, the Costa Rican's attack forced race leader Jungels to follow, and the pair began to work together to pull a 15 second gap between them and their rivals.

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That soon came down to 10 seconds on the final, short climb of the day just 5km from the finish allowing Ulissi to make his own attack and bridge over to the pair out front.

Luxembourg champion Jungels then worked hard on the front to make sure the three reached the finish with as much time as possible, appearing to concede that there was little chance of beating Ulissi in a sprint finish.

The trio eventually finished 13 seconds ahead of the chasing pack, with the Italian rider from Lampre holding his sprint with Amador just behind and Jungels in third.

That meant Ulissi took the 10 second time bonus, with Amador gaining two seconds on Jungels thanks to time bonuses of six and four seconds on the line.

The Movistar man continues to sit second at 24 seconds, with teammate Valverde still in third, slipping slightly to 1-07 behind.

A huge crash at 35km to go meant Domenico Pozzovivo (Ag2r La Mondiale) lost out the most among the GC contenders, getting caught behind the chaos and having to chase on as the pace ramped up ahead. The Italian eventually rolled in 1-30 down, damaging his overall hopes as fell to more than four minutes behind Jungels.

Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Alpecin), who was no longer in with a chance of taking the Giro title, called it a day mid-way through the stage with severe saddle sores.

Vegard Stake Laengen (IAM Cycling), Anton Vorobyev (Katusha), Liam Bertazzo (Wilier Triestina-Southeast) made up the day's breakaway after a frantic start, which saw many riders try to get away, and at one point they held over 10 minutes advantage.

But that quickly diminished after the peloton past through one of the route's feed zones, with the likes of Ulissi's Lampre-Merida team working hard to bring them back by the major climb of the day to set their leader up for the win.

Thursday's stage 12 sees the riders take on an extraordinarily flat 168km course, that will surely see the sprinters get an opportunity after a number of difficult stages.

Results

Giro d'Italia 2016 stage 11, Modena - Asolo (227km)

1. Diego Ulissi (Ita) Lampre-Merida, in 4-56-32

2. Andrey Amador (CRC) Movistar

3. Bob Jungels (Lux) Etixx-Quick Step, all same time

4. Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) Trek-Segafredo, at 13s

5. Sonny Colbrelli (Ita) Bardiani-CSF

6. Matteo Trentin (Ita) Etixx-Quick Step

7. Sacha Modolo (Ita) Lampre-Merida

8. Enrico Battaglin (Ita) LottoNL-Jumbo

9. Tim Wellens (Bel) Lotto-Soudal

10. Alejandro Valverde (Esp) Movistar, all same time

Overall classification after stage 11

1. Bob Jungels (Lux) Etixx-Quick Step, in 45-16-20

2. Andrey Amador (CRC) Movistar, at 24s

3. Alejandro Valverde (Esp) Movistar, at 1-07

4. Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo, st

5. Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Astana, at 1-09

6. Rafal Majka (Pol) Tinkoff, at 2-01

7. Ilnur Zakarin (Rus) Katusha, at 2-25

8. Esteban Chaves (Col) Orica-GreenEdge, at 2-43

9. Gianluca Brambilla (Ita) Etixx-Quick Step, at 2-45

10. Diego Ulissi (Ita) Lampre-Merida, at 2-47

Neo-pro Giulio Ciccone (Bardiani-CSF) took the stage victory on the summit finish of stage 10 of the 2016 Giro d'Italia after riding in the day's main breakaway, with leader of the youth classification Bob Jungels (Etixx-Quick Step) claiming pink from his teammate Gianluca Brambilla.

Italia Ciccone got into the day's large breakaway with his teammate Stefano Pirazzi which gained a maximum gap of more than five minutes on the peloton.

>>> Giro d'Italia 2016: Key info, route, contenders

But things began to break up for the group after Georg Preidler (Giant-Alpecin) attacked with 40km to go, splitting the group to pieces.

The Austrian stayed out on his own for some time with no-one able to make significant in-roads in pursuit until he hit the slopes of the Plan del Falco climb.

Priedler was then caught by some of his previous breakaway companions with around 18km remaining, including the two Bardiani riders along with the likes of Darwin Atapuma (BMC), Guillaume Bonnafond (Ag2r La Mondiale) and 2004 Giro winner Damiano Cunego (Nippo-Vini Fantini).

Cunego attacked to take the King of the Mountains points at the top of the categorised climb at 16km remaining, with the Bardiani pair the only ones to follow. The trio then began the descent towards the final 7km climb to Sestola, but 21-year-old Ciccone's decisive moment came on the descent.

His team leader Pirazzi appeared to collide with compatriot Cunego, and while both managed to stay upright, they were forced to slow so much that they rapidly lost significant time as Ciccone hurtled down the climb.

Ivan Rovny (Tinkoff) was the only rider who had been in the day's main break that was able to muster some strength to pursue from further back, but he was only able to finish 42 seconds behind Ciccone as held a strong pace on the climb and crossed the line to take a huge victory.

Behind, the GC riders began to take aim at race leader Gianluca Brambilla, who had suffered on the earlier climbs of the day. And despite some hard work from his Etixx teammates, it became clear the Brambilla was put to task in helping Jungels into pink on the stage, and worked on the front as third place Andrey Amador (Movistar) attacked on the Plan del Falco descent.

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The Costa Rican, who was only 32 seconds down on GC, looked to be making some decent gains ahead of GC favourites as he rode up the final climb, linking up with teammate Giovanni Visconti up the rode, who had been in the break.

The two main casualties of the day in the GC were Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Alpecin), who had already admitted he was suffering over the weekend, losing 13 minutes, and Mikel Landa (Team Sky) who had surprisingly fallen six minutes behind the bunch early on in the day before abandoning.

His team later released a statement saying the Spaniard had been suffering from illness over night.

Wednesday sees the sprinters come back into play, with a largely flat 227km route with a small sting in the tail in the form of a category four climb shortly before the finish.

Giro d'Italia 2016, stage 10, Campi Bisenzio - Sestola (219km)

1. Giulio Ciccone (Ita) Bardiani-CSF, 5-44-32

2. Ivan Rovny (Rus) Tinkoff, at 42 secs

3. Darwin Atapuma (Col) BMC Racing, at 1-20

4. Nathan Brown (USA) Cannondale , at 1-53

5. Damiano Cunego (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini, at 2-04

6. Andrey Amador (CRC) Movistar, at 2-10

7. Giovanni Visconti (Ita) Movistar, at 2-11

8. Alejandro Valverde (Esp) Movistar

9. Esteban Chaves (Col) Orica-GreenEdge

10. Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana, all same time

Others

14. Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Astana, at 2-15

15. Bob Jungels (Lux) Etixx-Quick Step, st

32. Gianluca Brambilla (Ita) Etixx-Quick Step, at 3-27

Overall classification after stage 10

1. Bob Jungels (Lux) Etixx-Quick Step, in 40-19-52

2. Andrey Amador (CRC) Movistar, at 26s

3. Alejandro Valverde (Esp) Movistar, at 50s

4. Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo, st

5. Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Astana, at 52s

6. Gianluca Brambilla (Ita) Etixx-Quick Step, at 1-11

7. Rafal Majka (Pol) Tinkoff, at 1-44

8. Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana, at 1-46

9. Ilnur Zakarin (Rus) Katusha, at 2-08

10. Esteban Chaves (Col) Orica-GreenEdge, at 2-26

With the queen stage of Tirreno-Adriatico cancelled on Sunday, the relatively innocuous 10km time trial to conclude the race on Tuesday will now play a huge role in deciding the overall winner.

Greg Van Avermaet (BMC) won Monday's stage six to move into the overall lead by seven seconds over Zdenek Stybar (Etixx-Quick Step), but his time trialling is not up the standard of one of the other members of the top 10.

Bookmakers have Stybar's teammate Bob Jungels, the Luxembourg champion, as the joint favourite (5/2 with BetFred) to take the title, sitting 21 seconds down in fifth overall at the moment.

Van Avermaet's teammate Tejay van Garderen is also 5/2 for the overall title, but lost time in a crash five kilometres from the finish on stage six, so we wouldn't advise you put your money on him.

Last year, on the exact same 10km course in San Benedetto del Tronto, Fabian Cancellara smashed his way round in 11-23. Peter Sagan - who sits in third place, eight seconds down - was well out of the hunt for the classification last year and pootled round in 14-22, and was the slowest finisher. He will probably try harder this year, but the course isn't really to his suiting to overcome a deficit.

Van Avermaet, meanwhile, only lost 27 seconds to Cancellara so could pose more of a threat than the likes of Jungels would like.

Tirreno-Adriatico general classification odds (all with BetFred)

Bob Jungels (5/2)

Greg Van Avermaet (7/2)

Peter Sagan (4/1)

Zdenek Stybar (10/1)

Reaching three-figure speeds isn't uncommon for riders descending mountains, but Bob Jungels (Ettix-Quick Step) hit the century on a short descent in his solo win at the Tour of Oman.

Jungels powered away from the select group he found himself in in the last three kilometres, using his phenomenal time trialling ability to solo to the line.

The Luxembourg champion's Strava statistics show the phenomenal power he put down as he got his head down and sped to the line, averaging over 350W for the last three kilometres.

As he crested the final climb - travelling at over 50kph, Jungels then sped away from his chasers, reaching 101.2kph on the steep, but not technical, descent, even though he wasn't pedalling for much of it.

Unsurprisingly, Jungels claimed the KoM on the Strava segment of the descent - named Fat Freddy's Drop - beating BMC's Marcus Burghardt.

Jungels said he'd been planning that attack for a few days, and it certainly paid off in the best possible way.

Luxembourg road champion Bob Jungels (Etixx-QuickStep) will start tomorrow’s stage of the 2016 Tour of Oman wearing the leader’s red jersey after winning today’s opening stage at Al Bustan.

The 23-year-old attacked a group of 16 riders with two kilometres to ride, finishing six seconds ahead of Belgian Serge Pauwels (Dimension Data) and Romain Bardet (Ag2r) at eight seconds.

>>> Tour of Oman 2016: Latest news, reports and previews

The 145.5km stage set off from the Oman Exhibition Centre and, after a frantic few kilometres a group of six riders escaped the peloton, and by kilometre 15 had built a lead in excess of six minutes, before the bunch took control, keeping the advantage to a manageable distance.

The course took the race into the mountains south of the capital Muscat on wide, multi-lane carriageways with mostly gentle gradients before heading back towards Muscat.

By the time time the escapees crossed the first intermediate sprint point their lead was down to three minutes and five seconds and their fate was sealed, the peloton finally swallowing them at the foot of the first categorised climb at Al Hamriyah. It was here the action started, with a number of attacks going clear before being brought to heel.

The final 1800-metre climb saw a select group form, containing Jungels and team-mate Dan Martin, along with the likes of Vincenzo Nibali (Astana), Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Alpecin) and former World champion Rui Costa (Lampe-Merida).

It was on the descent from the final climb that Jungels attacked the remaining riders, staying clear on the final short incline to the finish line.

Tomorrow’s stage takes the peloton on a 165km course between the Omantel Head Office and Quriyat

Result

Tour of Oman 2016, stage one: Oman Exhibition Centre to Al Bustan, 145.5km

1. Bob Jungels (Lux) Etixx-QuickStep

2. Serge Pauwels (Bel) Dimension Data at 6 secs

3. Romain Bardet (Fra) Ag2r at 8 secs

4. Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Dimension Data

5. Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Giant-Alpecin

6. Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing

7. Mario Costa (Por) Lampre-Merida

8. Davide Rebellin (Ita) CCC Sprandi Polkowice

9. Floris De Tier (Bel) Topsport-Vlaanderen

10. Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Astana at same time

General classification after stage one

1. Bob Jungels (Lux) Etixx-QuickStep

2. Serge Pauwels (Bel) Dimension Data at 10 secs

3. Romain Bardet (Fra) Ag2r at 14 secs

4. Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Dimension Data at 18 secs

5. Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Giant-Alpecin at 18 secs

6. Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing at 18 secs

7. Mario Costa (Por) Lampre-Merida at 18 secs

8. Davide Rebellin (Ita) CCC Sprandi Polkowice at 18 secs

9. Floris De Tier (Bel) Topsport-Vlaanderen at 18 secs

10. Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Astana at 18 secs

Bob Jungels may feel somewhat aggrieved after stage three of the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana as a winning opportunity turned sour in a matter of seconds.

The Luxembourg champion led the peloton in the final couple of kilometres heading into Alzira, but when a camera motorbike carried straight on at a right turn for the race, Jungels followed suit, only to realise his mistake seconds later.

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Jungels led the pack by about 100m and was in a prime position to take a solo win, but his mistake left him having to drop the anchor, turn round and re-enter the peloton halfway down.

In the video above you can see the Jungels following the bike through the sparse crowd on the corner, slam on the brakes and be guided back onto the course by a spectator.

In the end, LottoNL-Jumbo's Dylan Groenewegen won his team's first race of the season, but for Etixx-Quick Step and Jungels, this was the one that got away.

RadioShack-Leopard young blood Bob Jungels took a solo win at the Gran Premio Nobili Rubinetterie one-day race in Stresa, Italy on Thursday.

The 20-year-old from Luxembourg out-witted and out-rode an experienced field of riders to take his first win since stepping up to RadioShack from the Leopard-Trek Continental squad.

Italian sprinter Daniele Bennati (Saxo-Tinkoff) brought the bunch home at 53 seconds, with Simone Ponzi (Astana) in third.

Jungels attacked from an original four-man breakaway on the Massino Visconti climb to take the win. The escape group had formed after just 11 of the race's 187 kilometres.

"It was a really hard day," Jungels said after the victory. "Everyone on the team kept trying to go in the breakaways... We [the break] worked well together most of the day and got over nine minutes. When we went on the climb the first time we still had seven minutes and I saw that I was the strongest in the group.

"We were three guys by the second time on the climb and I attacked at the bottom. That was my only chance so I time trialled to the finish against a strong headwind."

Some teams use the UCI 1.1-category race as part of their preparation for Milan-San Remo or Volta a Catalunya, and the start list boasted names such as Michael Rogers, Alberto Contador (both Saxo-Tinkoff), Francisco Ventoso and Giovanni Visconti (both Movistar).

It's not Jungel's first win by any means - last year he won the under-23 edition of Paris-Roubaix and a stage and the overall classification of the Fleche du Sud. He was junior time trial world champion in 2010 and has numerous other wins as a junior and under-23.