Primož Roglič (Bora-Hansgrohe) has won stage 7 of the 2024 Critérium du Dauphiné with a typical late surge on the mountain top finish of Samoëns 1600.

Roglič won his second stage of the week and extended his lead in the general classification and will hold a healthy lead heading into the final stage as Remco Evenepoel (Soudal - Quick-Step) fell down the standings on a tough day in the Alps.

Matteo Jorgensen (Visma-Lease a Bike) was closest to the Slovenian, finishing second, while Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) was third.

The American also climbed up to second on the overall standings and Derek Gee (Israel-Premier Tech) moved onto the podium in third.

The difficulty of more the 4,000 metres of elevation over the day's 155 kilometres was magnified by the inclement weather that the race has been used to all week. Roglič was pleased to make it through the stage and to be able to reward his team-mates for their work.

"It was a hard day, but guys did an amazing job having everything under control from the very start till the finish, so I'm glad I had the legs at the end to finish top," Roglič said whilst warming down after the stage. 

"The guys did an incredible job," he continued. "We all still feel it, after the crash and putting now these hard days in the legs. I mean, for sure nobody feels better, but with the commitment and work they put in [it's] another day that we can celebrate and be happy."

With one day to go, Roglič looks set to win the Dauphiné for the second time. He's keeping calm, as ever, and is focused on the job at hand with a final stage in the mountains.

"First things first, let's try to finish tomorrow also on two wheels. We do our best and we'll see what happens then," he concluded.

How it happened

The day began in Albertville with the reverberations of stage 5's horror crash still ringing through the race. Eight riders had abandoned before the first pedal was pushed, including Lidl-Trek's British Tour de France hope Tao Geoghegan Hart.

The early attacks began on the on the first big climb of the day, the Col des Sais, with dozens of riders seemingly keen to make the move of the day.

As things eventually settled there were eleven riders who made up the breakaway: Koen Bouwman (Visma-Lease a Bike), Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates), Dorian Godon & Nicolas Prodhomme (both Decathlon-AG2R), Kevin Geniets (Groupama-FDJ), Guillaume Martin (Cofidis), Davide Formolo (Movistar), Warren Barguil (dsm-firmenich-Post NL), Darren Rafferty (EF Education-EasyPost), Lorenzo Fortunato (Astana Qazaqstan) and Mark Donovan (Q36.5).

Once formed, that group largely stayed together up until the penultimate climb, the 14 kilometre Col de la Ramaz, when Marc Soler took off. He was initially pursued by Fortunato ahead of the rest of the chasers. Soler's lead peaked around the the 5:30 mark towards the top of the Ramaz, meaning that for a while Soler was in the virtual lead of the race having started the day 3:45 down on Primož Roglič.

The risk to Roglič's jersey was rubbed out on the valley road before the final climb up to Samoëns 1600. Soler's lead was close to four minutes as he reached the foot of the savage nine kilometre ascent.

Bora-Hansgrohe set a firm pace on the front of the favourites' group at the bottom of the climb. Remco Evenepoel (Soudal - Quick-Step), sitting second on GC coming into the day, was the first big name to to be distanced by the group with seven kilometres to go. The world time trial champion measured his effort well and would go on to lose 1:46, slipping to sixth overall. Remarkably 19-year-old Ineos Grenadiers rider Josh Tarling would out-last Evenepoel, riding in support of team-mate Carlos Rodriguez.

As he entered the second half of the climb, Soler's lead began to melt away. The Spaniard appeared to be labouring, contrasting Alexandr Vlasov who looked light on the pedals as he guided Roglič and the rest of the group. With three kilometres to go, Soler's advantage slipped to less than a minute. A kilometre later Soler seemed to slow to walking pace and the catch was made.

Vlasov continued to set an infernal pace under the flamme rouge, meaning that no one was able to launch an early attack. Santiago Buitrago was the first to go with 600 metres left, Oier Lazkano and then the rest of the group was on his wheel. Lazkano attacked with 300 left and whittled the group down before Roglič launched his sprint.

Jorgensen was the only rider able to go with Roglič, but a second burst of speed in the closing moments sealed a second stage win of the week for the Bora-Hansgrohe rider. 

Roglič now heads into the final stage of the race with just over a minute's advantage on Jorgensen and looks good to hold onto that lead to claim his second Critérium du Dauphiné crown.

Results

Critérium du Dauphiné 2024, stage seven: Alberville > Samoëns 1600 (155km)

1. Primož Roglič (Slo) Bora-Hansgrohe, in 04:29:16
2. Matteo Jorgenson (USA) Visma-Lease a Bike, at same time
3. Giulio Ciccone (Ita) Lidl-Trek, +2s
4. Oier Lazkano (Esp) Movistar, at same time
5. Derek Gee (Can) Israel-Premier Tech, at same time
6. Carlos Rodriguez (Esp), +8s
7. Santiago Buitrago (Col) Bahrain Victorious, +14s
8. Laurens De Plus (Bel) Ineos Grenadiers, at same time
9. Aleksandr Vlasov Bora-Hansgrohe, at same time
10. Mikel Landa (Esp) Soudal - Quick-Step, +33s

General Classification after stage seven

1. Primož Roglič (Slo) Bora-Hansgrohe, in 21:16:50
2. Matteo Jorgenson (Usa) Visma-Lease a Bike, +1:02
3. Derek Gee (Can) Israel-Premier Tech, +1:13
4. Aleksandr Vlasov Bora-Hansgrohe, +1:56
5. Carlos Rodriguez (Esp) Ineos Grenadiers, +1:58
6. Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Soudal Quick-Step, +2:15
7. Laurens De Plus (Bel) Ineos Grenadiers, +2:17
8. Oier Lazkano (Esp) Movistar, +2:20
9. Giulio Ciccone (Ita) Lidl-Trek, +2:54
10. Mikel Landa (Esp) Soudal - Quick-Step, +3:51

Primož Roglič took control of the Critérium du Dauphiné by taking victory on stage six at Le Collet d'Allevard which saw him move into the overall race lead ahead of the final two stages. 

The Slovenian appeared to be back to his best since his winter move to the German team from Visma-Lease a Bike, and launched a trademark powerful sprint in the final kilometre of the mountain stage which comfortably dispatched Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) from the back wheel of his Specialized Tarmac. 

Roglič’s win was partly down to sterling work from his teammate, Aleksandr Vlasov, who tracked an attack from Laurens De Plus (Ineos Grenadiers) before Ciccone, Roglič and a select group of other riders, including Matteo Jorgenson (Visma-Lease a Bike), joined them. Vlasov then set a blistering pace to tee up his team leader and reduced the group to just the two Bora riders and Ciccone. 

Once Roglič took flight, there would be no stopping him and the 34-year-old comfortably took his 81st career victory on the steep summit finish. Evenepoel crossed the line in eighth, 42 seconds back on the stage winner, which meant that Roglič now holds a 19 second lead on the Quick-Step man in the general classification. 

After being caught up in the huge crash on stage five, Roglič said at the finish that he had hurt his shoulder in the fall and was in discomfort throughout Friday’s stage. 

"I’m quite limited with the left shoulder actually," he said. "I couldn’t reach in my [jersey] pocket or anything… the legs were working so about both legs, I cannot complain." 

"Finally I won a race, it’s been a while," he added. "The whole team, the guys showed commitment from the very start, from day one. And then chasing on the second stage, it didn’t work out. Yesterday hit us quite hard, all of us, but today again they showed a great performance so a big thanks to them, we can enjoy today."

How it happened

Stage six, the first of three summit finishes to wrap up the French stage race, was a 173 kilometre affair between Hauterives and Le Collet d’Allevard. The riders faced two smaller climbs before reaching the hors categories ascent to the finish. 

A six-rider strong breakaway soon got up the road and established an advantage. Magnus Cort (Uno-X Mobility) was present in the move, as was Romain Grégoire (Groupama-FDJ), Thibault Guernalec (Arkéa-B&B Hotels), Arjen Livyns (Lotto-Dstny), Alessandro Fancellu (Q36.5) and Mason Hollyman (Israel-Premier Tech). 

Hollyman, however, later dropped out of the lead group after coming down on the descent from the penultimate climb of the day. Guernalec also came down but was able to re-join the Cort led breakaway. 

The breakaway lost half a minute from their lead after being sent the wrong way on the course. 

With 11 kilometres to go the leaders began the final climb with an advantage of just under two minutes on the chasing peloton led by Soudal Quick-Step and Josh Tarling of Ineos Grenadiers. A double salvo of attacks from Grégoire in the break pulled him and Cort away from the rest of the group as the peloton drew near. 

At seven kilometres to the line, Grégoire was clear of Cort by a handful of seconds with the peloton 55 seconds back. A big shift from Michal Kwiatkowski (Ineos Grenadiers) on the front of the main field meant that Cort was reeled back in. 

Laurens De Plus (Ineos Grenadiers) then launched an attack straight after the catch was made. De Plus took Aleksandr Vlasov (Bora-Hansgrohe) with him and the duo soon caught the lone Frenchman. 

Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) then took off in search of the two leaders and Roglič was on his wheel. Matteo Jorgenson (Visma-Lease a Bike) went with them, as did Derek Gee (Israel-Premier Tech) and Carlos Rodríguez (Ineos Grenadiers). The chase group soon joined De Plus and Vlasov and the two Bora-Hansgrohe riders soon ramped up the pace.

Vlasov then buried himself with a huge effort which distanced everyone except for Roglič and Ciccone. 

Once Roglič then took control there was no looking back, and he launched a brutal sprint for the line which Ciccone couldn’t match. The Slovenian comfortably took the stage win and took over the race lead. 

Results

Critérium du Dauphiné 2024, stage six: Hauterives > Le Collet d'Allevard (173km)

1. Primož Roglič (Slo) Bora-Hansgrohe, in 04:19:59
2. Giulio Ciccone (Ita) Lidl-Trek, +3s
3. Aleksandr Vlasov Bora-Hansgrohe, +11s
4. Derek Gee (Can) Israel-Premier Tech, +13s
5. Matteo Jorgenson (USA) Visma-Lease a Bike, +17s
6. Laurens De Plus (Bel) Ineos Grenadiers, +22s
7. Carlos Rodriguez (Esp), at same time
8. Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Soudal Quick-Step, +42s
9. Jack Haig (Aus) Bahrain Victorious, +50s
10. Jai Hindley (Aus) Bora-Hansgrohe, +53s

General classification after stage six

1. Primož Roglič (Slo) Bora-Hansgrohe, in 16:47:44
2. Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Soudal Quick-Step, +19s
3. Matteo Jorgenson (Usa) Visma-Lease a Bike, +58s
4. Derek Gee (Can) Israel-Premier Tech, +1:01
5. Aleksandr Vlasov Bora-Hansgrohe, +1:32
6. Carlos Rodriguez (Esp) Ineos Grenadiers, +1:40
7. Laurens De Plus (Bel) Ineos Grenadiers, +1:53
8. Oier Lazkano (Esp) Movistar, +2:08
9. Callum Scotson (Aus) Jayco-AIUla, +2:15
10. Jack Haig (Aus) Bahrain Victorious, 2:31 

Two 15-year-olds, Karl Herzog and Georgs Tjumins, have been declared the winners of the Red Bull Junior Brothers program for 2024, awarded with a spot on the GRENKE-Auto Eder U19 team, Bora-Hansgrohe's junior squad, along with a Red Bull athlete contract.

The pair both described the decision, announced on Friday, as a "dream come true". Herzog is the younger brother of Bora-Hansgrohe rider Emil, who also came through the junior system at the team, and is said to have "exceptional talent". Tjumins is a promising young Latvian rider, described as having "immense potential" in the press release.

The pair were the victors after a scouting process which saw over 600 applicants whittled down to 15 finalists, who spent this week undergoing tests at the Red Bull Athlete Performance Centre in Thalgau, Austria.

"It means a lot, I'm super happy," Herzog said. "It is a dream which came true. I'm looking forward to next season's big international races, in a really good under-19 team."

Tjumins echoed this: "It's like a dream come true, I'm really excited for next season, I think it will be a really interesting one."

"In general, we had a good competition this year," Christian Schrot, head of scouting at BORA-hansgrohe, and directeur sportif at GRENKE-Auto Eder, told Cycling Weekly. "So many countries participated, it was nice to see. I wouldn't say it was one aspect, we looked into a lot of different things that we think pro riders should have. We had quite a learning curve with doing this for so long in the team, and it's the second time of Junior Brothers. We adjusted from last year a bit too. 

"This year we were looking more for the complete rider. Not just the physical side, but also all the aspects where we see the potential to develop. That was the biggest thing to look at. Both of them stood out in this group, so after some discussion it was pretty clear that these are the winners. Both similar, but there are differences if you look deeper. Both have good potential."

Tjumins said that there was "a lot of testing", both mental and physical.

Herzog expanded: "We also went on bike rides, we had lots of free times with the other cyclists too. It was really fun... I only have high points so far, no low points. It was everything that I thought it would be."

Having an older brother on the senior team, doesn't hurt, either: "The guys from Bora, and Kristian, know Emil well, and so they know a bit about how I am, and my situation, where I live. They know a bit about me more than other cyclists."

For Tjumins, he hopes to follow in the wheels of the likes of Toms Skujiņš (Lidl-Trek) and Emīls Liepiņš (dsm-firmenich PostNL) as a Latvian WorldTour professional.

"The federation is asking me all the time how it's going over here," he said. "This is a big step for cycling in Latvia, I hope."

The tests were not just physical, Schot explained, as they are looking for well-rounded athletes to help grow.

"They physical capacity needs to be there, the base, otherwise we're just not going to develop them to WorldTour," he said. "Also, the rest should fit. Bike handling, communication, are they physiologically fit, do they have previous injuries. All those points are taken into consideration, through individual and group situations."

Among the final 15 were three Brits, Louis Herring, Harry Hudson and Isaac Oliver.

"All three of us here from the UK race for Harrogate U16 race team, which I think was set up last year as an extension of the core club," Oliver explained. "And it was just for the under-16 and junior riders that wanted to race with a bit more of an official setup."

Herring added: "Even if in the end, we don't get the contract, there's still so much experience gained this week, and it's been really good for knowing where we're at and knowing that our whole body is fine to push."

Schot stressed it was not over for the 13 who missed the cut this year.

"The competition level was high, and I said to the other boys to keep on going," he said. "It was already excellent to be here. We had over 600 applicants, and being selected for the last 15 means something. I would tell them to follow a clear plan, have some goals in mind, because if you don't have goals it's hard to reach anything. Not just thinking about the bike and training, but everything around."

Red Bull Junior Brothers will return in 2025.

Bora-Hansgrohe’s Lennard Kämna has tentatively been able to ride his bike again after being seriously injured by a car driver in early April. 

A press release from Kämna’s team said that the 27-year-old German rider had "successfully completed" the first phase of his rehabilitation from injury. Kämna will now begin the next step in his comeback at the Red Bull Athlete Performance Centre in Austria. 

"Lennard Kämna continues to make great progress in his recovery from his serious training accident," the release from Bora-Hansgrohe said. "At the end of May, he successfully completed the first block of his rehabilitation at the BG Klinikum in Hamburg. 

"An emotional milestone in this phase was his return to the bike. 44 days after the accident on Tenerife, Lennard Kämna was able to ride his Specialized again for the first time - for a short test on the rollers.

"Now the next step on the road back to sport begins. This week, Lennard Kämna moved to the Red Bull Athlete Performance Centre (APC). There he will work together with the Red Bull APC experts and the BORA – hansgrohe Medical Department on the second block of his rehabilitation. 

"The program for the coming weeks includes tests, physiotherapy and training sessions."

Kämna was training in Tenerife with other Bora-Hansgrohe riders and staff members when a car driver turned left into his lane and hit him. According to the team at the time, he suffered "numerous injuries, especially to his chest" which required surgery on the island. 

The German was preparing to ride the Giro d’Italia when the incident occurred. 

After leaving hospital, Kämna shared a message via his team which expressed his relief at being able to return home to Germany. 

He said: "It has not been an easy time at the University Hospital in Tenerife, but I am very grateful to the medical team and nurses for what they have done for me over the past few weeks. I am overjoyed that the first step of my recovery has been completed today and that I can now move on to Hamburg."

Kämna has previously won stages in all three of professional cycling’s Grand Tours. The 27-year-old won a stage of the Tour de France in 2020, before winning a stage of the Giro two years later. He then won a stage at the Vuelta a España last September. 

At the turn of the new year, Red Bull was revealed as the latest high profile brand looking to come on board with a professional cycling team. 

The plan became a reality this week as Red Bull was confirmed as the new majority owner and title sponsor of the German Bora-Hansgrohe team. 

On the eve of the Giro d’Italia, team CEO Ralph Denk confirmed that the energy drink branding will appear on the team’s gear, including helmets, at this year’s Tour de France after he sold a 51% share of the team’s managing company.

Denk confirmed in a pre-race press conference that Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe will have an increased budget and an under-23 development team moving forward as they aim to become the biggest, best and strongest team in the WorldTour.

The team acquired Primož Roglič from Visma-Lease a Bike during the off season, but Denk explained that winning the Tour de France with the 34-year-old was not the only big target.

"With the arrival of Red Bull, we have big, big goals but the Tour de France isn't the only goal," Denk said. "We want to be the number one brand, the most attractive brand in cycling. That’s the big goal for the whole project. We know we can’t do that in a few weeks but it’s the long-term approach of this project."

But what else can we expect to see from the new Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe project? In an interview with Cycling Weekly, Denk expanded further on what can be expected from the ambitious new project and went inside the deal.

Red Bull philosophy & no more big money signings

Many of Red Bull’s other sporting projects, particularly those in football, have centred on the importance of youth development and shaping players to a particular style of play. 

Players like Bayern Munich’s Joshua Kimmich, and Liverpool's Dominik Szobozlai started out at RB Leipzig before moving on to the Premier League and Bundesliga giants. 

Denk explained that within reason, cycling fans can expect to see a similar philosophy at Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe, particularly due to the team’s new under-23 development team. 

"Definitely, we call it the rookie programme from under-19," he said. "Even the scouting project is below under-19. Then we have our own under-19 team, GRENKE - Auto Eder, and our new under-23 team from next year on. 

"I think that's big proof of how important the whole rookie programmes are in the future for us. And yes, that's part of the mission and vision from Red Bull. 

"If you look to the current from Formula One field too, there are 20 spots within the bunch of cars, and 12 spots have a Red Bull history, from the Red Bull rookie programme, the drivers."

Denk said that he felt spending big money was the quick and easy way to achieve success, and that the intrigue of a longer term project was part of what made the team so appealing to the energy drink giants. 

"Our approach is not to go to someone like Tadej Pogačar now and buy him out of his contract," he said. "So we will establish something of our own style from scratch. And yeah, it takes time but we have the time so yeah, we all just say let's start the project."

Helmets and individual rider sponsorship

In the initial announcement, Denk explained that Bora-Hansgrohe will literally have a wholly new identity from the Tour onwards with new branding, in line with their new owners, appearing on bikes, helmets and clothing. 

Red Bull already were visible in men’s cycling due to individually sponsoring big name riders including the likes of Tom Pidcock and Wout van Aert. Both of the two riders, along with Bora’s own Anton Palzer, wear Red Bull branded helmets while competing and training. 

Pidcock solely uses his Red Bull helmet for off road competition in both mountain bike and cyclo-cross. Van Aert very visibly wears a Red Bull helmet on the road. 

Cycling Weekly understands that Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe’s new team helmets are likely to bear strong resemblance to those already seen elsewhere. Denk explained that he didn’t see an issue with other riders outside of his team wearing Red Bull branded helmets moving forward and that he didn't feel it would raise a conflict of interest.

"I cannot speak for Red Bull," he said. "But I don't see that, not really, as a problem on that point. And yeah, it's the decision of Red Bull, not my decision, but if this happens [Red Bull continuing with individual sponsorship], I'm fine with it." 

Investors away from the Middle East

Reaching super-team status was always going to require significant investment from any potential new team owner. Only certain companies, countries or individuals are capable of providing such capital in the current international sporting market. 

However, unlike other teams in the WorldTour like UAE Team Emirates, Bahrain Victorious and Jayco AlUla, Bora-Hansgrohe did not look to Middle Eastern investment.

Denk explained that any new owner, investor, or sponsor looking to do business with his team would need to be one that takes a holistic approach, and also one that ideally was close to home. With that considered it made Red Bull the perfect party to enter negotiations with. 

"That's the main reason why my feelings are so good with this,” he said. “And hopefully the whole team will also share that feeling soon. It's a big add on, they [Red Bull] are from the same area where we are based. We speak the same language, the same dialect, and that feels much more comfortable as opposed to some external investor from far away countries." 

"In the last years, cycling has changed a lot, not just from the style of racing but clearly from the economic side as well," he added. "And I, as an owner and CEO, had to take a decision regarding what we do. 

"Do we go on with our currently stable partners, Bora and Hansgrohe, they are really fantastic partners and I'm super thankful to them... Or are we aiming for something big and looking for an investor? A lot of cycling teams already have an investor, some of them from Arabic countries, and for us we figured out what was best for us. 

"They [Red Bull] visited us in the Tour and they saw how big the Tour is, how big our sport is, and how big the bike market is in general. I think they went a bit deeper for the marketing numbers in there and I think they were surprised how good they are so from that, the story starts."

Bora-Hansgrohe’s Lennard Kämna has left hospital after being hit by a car driver during a training ride in Tenerife last month. 

According to a press release from his team on Wednesday, the Tour de France stage winner is due to fly home to Hamburg in Germany to begin his recovery after the incident. He will receive further treatment from the Bora-Hansgrohe medical department at the BG Klinikum.

"Thank you for all the support over the past few weeks,” Kämna said in the message from Bora-Hansgrohe. "I would especially like to thank my girlfriend and my family who have done everything to make me feel as comfortable as possible. 

"It has not been an easy time at the University Hospital in Tenerife, but I am very grateful to the medical team and nurses for what they have done for me over the past few weeks. I am overjoyed that the first step of my recovery has been completed today and that I can now move on to Hamburg.

"I will start my rehab there and I am highly motivated to get back on the bike as soon as possible. But the most important thing is to get healthy again."

The German rider was in the process of preparing for the upcoming Giro d’Italia before being struck by the car driver. 

According to his team, Kämna suffered "numerous injuries, especially to his chest" and he underwent "successful surgery" last week in Tenerife. 

At the time of the incident, an initial message from Bora explained that Kämna had been hit by the driver after they turned left into his lane. He was riding with teammates and coaches at the time, but nobody else was injured. 

Kämna is part of a select group of over 100 riders to have won stages in all three Grand Tours. The 27-year-old won a stage of the Tour de France in 2020, before winning a stage of the Giro two years later. He then won a stage at the Vuelta a España last September. 

Before heading to the Giro, he was due to ride the recent Tour of the Alps, a race in which he has also regularly tasted stage winning success in recent years. 

Primož Roglič took a step into the unknown on Sunday morning as he got set to ride in new colours and with new teammates for the first time at Paris-Nice. 

Last year’s Giro d’Italia winner is making his debut for Bora-Hansgrohe after joining the German squad during the winter from Visma-Lease a Bike. 

He will lead the line for his new team at the Tour de France in July as he gets set to go up against former teammate Jonas Vingegaard, Remco Evenepoel and Tadej Pogačar. 

The Slovenian is one of the hot favourites for victory at Paris-Nice, his first race of the season, but told gathered reporters in Les Mureaux that he would be taking each day as it comes in his first outing in Bora colours. 

"We will see, we’ll certainly try to do our best,” Roglič said when asked about his chances of overall victory in Nice next weekend. 

"Obviously we don’t know each other that well, we’ve never raced together so a bunch of things will happen and you have to be open to everything,” he added. “The most important thing is that you take the learnings out of it all and carry that into the next races that follow.”

The sight of the Slovenian rolling to the start line in green as opposed to yellow and black, the colours of his former team, certainly took some getting used to. 

Roglič joked himself that he was still adapting to his new surroundings which included the new kit. 

He said: "Yeah it's beautiful, I like it. So far, so good [with Bora-Hansgrohe]. Everything's been fine. I’ve just been looking forward to coming here and getting the season started.” 

Roglič has enjoyed mixed fortunes across the years at Paris-Nice. Back in 2021 he dramatically missed out on overall victory on the final day after two heavy crashes left him injured. 

However, he returned to the race a year later and beat Great Britain’s Simon Yates to the overall title. 

After skipping last year’s edition, Roglič explained it was nice to return with positive memories of his last appearance. 

"After all the years, you collect a lot of different emotions but you definitely always keep the best ones,” he said. “It's a really great race, and I'm looking forward to going day by day towards home now.”

The acquisition of Roglič by Ralph Denk’s team has immediately seen them labelled as a genuine contender for Tour victory in July. 

Speaking late last year as he announced news of his new signing, Denk explained that Roglič would help him achieve a life long ambition. 

"My personal goal is for us to win the Tour, it's a dream for me,” Denk said. “This was the chance to take one of the biggest contenders. We are realistic, he's not the only contender. So we need luck, we need a super strong team and an outstanding performance from Primož Roglič.

"But it's already a nice feeling for me for the whole team, to be a contender, a real contender."

Red Bull's acquisition of a controlling stake in the company that owns Bora-Hansgrohe has been allowed by Austrian authorities, it has been announced.

The idea of the 'joint venture' emerged earlier in January, when an an announcement on Austria's Federal Competition Authority (FCA) made the idea of the merger public. It has now been approved, "given the green light to go ahead", according to Bora's manager, Ralph Denk, on Monday.

The idea floated was an "indirect acquisition of a controlling interests of 51% in RD pro cycling GmbH & Co KG and RD Beteiligungs GmbH (owner of the professional road cycling team BORA-hansgrohe), both Germany, by Red Bull GmbH, Austria". RD Pro Cycling GmbH & Co. KG is the company behind the cycling team, owned by Denk. The deadline for objections passed on Friday.

In a statement on Monday, Denk said: "With today's decision, we have cleared an important hurdle. The foundations of our partnership with Red Bull are now officially in place. This is the green light we've been waiting for to go ahead with the formalities and many specific parts of the collaboration."

"Everyone in cycling knows how important the basics and preparation are for success. So, we are now taking this step with the necessary consideration and resolution. We will present the further details of our partnership in the course of the season."

The two entities already have links, with the Austrian energy drinks brand sponsoring the team's junior scouting program, Red Bull Junior Brothers, last year, and with a Bora rider - Anton Palzer - being individually sponsored by the brand.

>>> More money, more viewers for the sport: What Red Bull’s Bora-Hansgrohe acquisition could mean

When the news first broke, a Bora spokesperson said: "Red Bull is planning to expand its involvement in road cycling and is aiming for a partnership with Bora-Hansgrohe. 

"By becoming a partner in team manager Ralph Denk's operating company, Red Bull strives to complement the team's portfolio of existing long-term main sponsors, who will remain on a long-term basis. The planned joint venture has been notified to the relevant antitrust authority."

The move is not Red Bull's first in cycling - far from it - but is their biggest in road cycling to date. Red Bull individually sponsor Anton Palzer, Zoe Backstëdt and Visma-Lease A Bike's Wout van Aert, meaning they have special permission to wear differently branded helmets. 

Tom Pidcock is also a Red Bull athlete, but this is limited to his activities in cyclo-cross and mountain biking. The brand has a long history of mountain bike sponsorship, being the title sponsor of the Red Bull Rampage, and also has deals with riders like Evie Richards.

Red Bull is a familiar name in other sports, behind the most successful Formula One team of the moment, the car driven by multiple world champion Max Verstappen, but also a second team, Scuderia AlphaTauri. They also sponsor a MotoGP team.

In football, they own Red Bull Salzburg, Austria's most successful football club of the 21st century, the New York Red Bulls, and are behind RB Leipzig, the current holders of the DFB-Pokal, the German cup.

The brand is known for its sponsorship of extreme sports as well, whether that is cliff diving, flying, and skateboarding. 

Bora-Hansgrohe have not had a quiet off-season, by any metric. The German team signed Primož Roglič, played their part in the Cian Uijterbroeks situation, and are in the midst of an attempted buy out by Red Bull.

That was just the apéritif. Bora's true tests are set to come on the road, not off it, with all eyes on Roglič especially, for the Tour de France. However, it is not all about the Slovenian, as the squad proved on day one of the Tour Down Under on Tuesday.

At their first real opportunity, on the opening day of the 2024 WorldTour season, Sam Welford sprinted to victory after a near-perfect leadout from his teammate. A 100% record so far. Of course, this is no guarantee of future success, but the noises from the team suggest that they are more confident this year, and ready for more wins.

In 2023, Bora had another English-speaking sprinter called Sam in Sam Bennett. Despite winning on his opening day at the Vuelta a San Juan - beating Welsford in the process, incidentally - he went on to win only four more races, with none at WorldTour level. Welsford moved to Bora from dsm-firmenich PostNL, while Bennett moved onto pastures new at Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale. It seems like a new Sam was needed.

"With Bennett it turned out not really well, but this new Sam he's a powerhouse," Welsford's new leadout man Danny van Poppel said. "We knew if we can do it a perfect leadout he can hold the power, he pushes a lot of power. He's a totally different sprinter than Bennett. We believed in him a lot. Today it had to be perfect, and we could do it. Not only me, but Mullen and the whole team."

It looked as simple as positioning Welsford in the right position for the sprint and letting him fly; the man from Western Australia beat Phil Bauhaus (Bora-Hansgrohe), Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty) and Caleb Ewan (Jayco-AlUla) in Tanunda.

His directeur sportif, Shane Archbold, no stranger to the leadout, wasn't convinced that it was simple: "I guess you could say that, from the outside. It's easy to say that afterwards."

However, it did go pretty right on the first day: "The boys did exactly what was planne," he said. We started the season well in the criterium, showed what we're here to do, and they pulled it off today. So it's perfect."

The criterium, the Down Under Classic, saw Bora-Hansgrohe control the race in an attempt to set up Welsford. It didn't end up happening, with the break winning, but the team's clear disappointment afterwards was a sign that they believe in their new sprinter.

It helps to have a leadout man de luxe like Van Poppel at your disposal. Bennett's second time at Bora might have been a disappointment, but his pilot at finishes, Van Poppel, knows where the gaps are, and can deliver his riders to big wins. Just ask Jordi Meeus, victor on the Champs Elysées at the Tour last year.

“Van Poppel was amazing, he was rallying us in the last three kilometres keeping us calm and telling us where to go," Welsford said post-podium celebrations, clad in the ochre leader's jersey. "Everyone says he can almost see it before it happens, he can see stuff in slow motion. That’s such a good strength to have in the team."

"He was incredible in the last 400 metres, what he did for me in the sprint, I was like, this is already hard for me in the wheel and then I had to kick. But that’s what sprinting is all about, having that last guy.”

If Welsford is a big fan of his new leadout man, then Van Poppel is equally a fan of the man behind him, with the Dutchman comparing his charge to some of the great sprinters of the last decade. It's a love-in at Bora.

"He has so much power from the track," Van Poppel said. "I think if we do a leadout like this guys like Kittel, Greipel, Welsford they can do it. That's exactly what we need. I was waiting for a full sprinter. Even if Sam Bennett is a good friend of mine, but in the end it's business."

Archbold cautioned, saying it was still a "train in progress", with Welsford being led out by Van Poppel, and Ryan Mullen before that. However, if it works as well as Tuesday again, then there will be more sprint wins coming Bora's way.

"I think sprinters you know feed off confidence and the only time you get that is if you're getting good results," Welsford said. "For us to get their first win of the season here as a team at the first race together is is good sign to what we can do together."

The Tour Down Under win was just Welsford's second at WorldTour level, so there is more to come from the 27-year-old, who only switched to road racing as well as track in 2022, post-pandemic.

"Everything is new for him, he's super hungry still," Van Poppel said. "He can be the new sprinter, and with us, it's a perfect combination I think."

This year, the team are hoping for Sam, but different. Day one certainly went well.

At the back end of last year, there was much to think about over the potential mega-merger between two of the biggest teams in professional cycling.

Were major national and international brands now looking at the sport and turning their noses up at investing? That was one of several things to consider when it looked like Soudal-Visma could become a reality. 

However, with Red Bull, the most popular energy drink brand in the world, seemingly set to take a 51% controlling stake in Bora-Hansgrohe, that question might largely be answered. The company’s big move to become further involved with the German WorldTour team is the logical next step for its journey further into the sport and has seemingly been on the cards for some time. More pertinently, though, cycling isn’t dead as an investment project just yet. 

Ralph Denk’s squad has long had links with Red Bull with the brand sponsoring the team’s junior scouting programme - Red Bull Junior Brothers - as of last year. Bora rider Anton Palzer is also individually sponsored by the company and wears a Red Bull branded helmet as a result. 

Speculation mounted that the firm was becoming even further involved in Denk’s team when Bora completed the signing of Primož Roglič last October, as the Slovenian had been spotted at the Red Bull Performance Centre in Salzburg during contract negotiations. Reports that Red Bull had largely funded the team’s acquisition of the star were vehemently rejected by Denk. 

“We have no budget increase. It’s not that a new sponsor arrives. We paid this with our money,” Denk said at the time, but the news this week suggests that budget increase might be coming,

"Red Bull is planning to expand its involvement in road cycling and is aiming for a partnership with Bora-Hansgrohe," the team said this week. “Red Bull strives to complement the team's portfolio of existing long-term main sponsors, who will remain on a long-term basis.”

Levelling up competition

Of course, we don’t yet know exactly how much extra funding Bora will get from this deal, but it seems like Bora could join the elite group of super-teams.

Once Red Bull’s move is formalised we could then find ourselves with a squad, which within a few years, is capable of rivalling Visma-Lease A Bike and UAE Team Emirates. 

The German team will line up at the Tour de France next July as genuine contenders, thanks to Roglič, as opposed to a sideshow in the Jonas Vingegaard, Tadej Pogačar and Remco Evenepoel battle. 

According to Rolf Aldag - head sports director at Bora - bringing in last year’s Giro d’Italia winner has forced the team to recalibrate its goals for next season. Speaking on The Cycling Podcast, Aldag reiterated that Roglič’s presence now means that it’s simply all in for the Tour in 2024 with Roglič leading the charge. 

However, the potential investment from Red Bull could mean that the team suddenly finds itself with the resources and genuine capability to challenge on all fronts, all year round, in a similar fashion to Jumbo-Visma last year. Increased finances means the ability to then attract riders capable of making that a reality in the future.

Red Bull like a long term project, they aren’t just after instant success, as their investment in other sports has shown. The company is behind the current most successful Formula 1 team, but that success took time. 

The Red Bull team made its F1 debut in 2005, but did not win its first world championship until 2010 when Sebastian Vettel came on board. Major success took five years but Vettel went on to win four titles in a row for Red Bull proving that success is largely not achieved overnight. Their projects in football were similar long-term projects.

Red Bull’s takeover at Bora could also mean that cycling becomes another weapon in its world class marketability set up, which would inevitably increase the sports appeal to new fans. This was touched upon by former pro Tom Danielson on X. 

Danielson said: “Red Bull will not just level performance, but they will grow the interest in the sport globally. 

“As marketing powerhouses they will advance the sport’s appeal to new viewers by making it relatable and accessible. For current fans they will creatively bring them closer to their heroes.” 

Giving road cycling wings

Red Bull could help provide increased eyes on professional road cycling, thanks to the clever marketing it does with its sports and athletes.

The Austrian brand has a long history of involvement in mountain biking through sponsorship of the likes of Tom Pidcock and Evie Richards. The company is also the headline sponsor of the Red Bull Rampage event. The only platform it has in road cycling is through its sponsorship of Wout van Aert and Anton Palzer, with the collaboration with the former proving very successful.

Nearly all of the brand’s international marketing is done through sports projects, especially extreme ones, and road cycling could join that portfolio on a much larger scale. 

Ultimately the arrival of Red Bull in road cycling is a good thing. Not only will it increase elite competition and balance it out at the top end of proceedings, but it could also draw in and inspire new people to cycling. I hope, anyway.

Red Bull appears to be making a bigger foray into the world of professional cycling, with the Austrian drinks company seeking to acquire a controlling stake of Bora-Hansgrohe.

The two entities already have links, with Red Bull sponsoring the team's junior scouting program, Red Bull Junior Brothers, last year, and with a Bora rider - Anton Palzer - being individually sponsored by the brand.

Spotted by X user @faustonef, an announcement this week on Austria's Federal Competition Authority (FCA) made the idea of the merger public.

The idea floated is an "indirect acquisition of a controlling interests of 51% in RD pro cycling GmbH & Co KG and RD Beteiligungs GmbH (owner of the professional road cycling team BORA-hansgrohe), both Germany, by Red Bull GmbH, Austria". RD Pro Cycling GmbH & Co. KG is the company behind Bora, owned and run by Ralph Denk.

According FCA rules, people can lodge objections up until the 26 January. It is not known whether the team would cease as Bora-Hansgrohe, and become Red Bull branded.

On Wednesday afternoon, a Bora spokesman said: "Red Bull is planning to expand its involvement in road cycling and is aiming for a partnership with BORA - hansgrohe. By becoming a partner in Team Manager Ralph Denk's operating company, Red Bull strives to complement the team's portfolio of existing long-term main sponsors, who will remain on a long-term basis. The planned joint venture has been notified to the relevant antitrust authority. 

"We ask for your understanding that we will not comment further on the planned joint venture, as we do not wish to anticipate the ongoing review by the Austrian antitrust authority."

It is far from Red Bull's first move into cycling, but it would be the biggest statement that the energy drinks giant has made in road cycling to date. On the road, Red Bull individually sponsor Anton Palzer and Visma-Lease A Bike's Wout van Aert, meaning they have special permission to wear differently branded helmets. 

Van Aert is the face of an advertising campaign for the drinks in his native Belgium, which was helped by his bird's wings celebration when he won stage four of the 2022 Tour de France - Red Bull "gives you wings", you see.

Tom Pidcock is also a Red Bull athlete, but this is limited to his activities in cyclo-cross and mountain biking. The brand has a long history of mountain bike sponsorship, being the title sponsor of the Red Bull Rampage, and also has deals with riders like Evie Richards.

Owning a controlling stake in a pro cycling team is a step up, however, and could see the budget of the German team grow; the signing of Primož Roglič confirmed the idea that the squad was seeking to make waves at the Tour this summer, but the team's aims in the Classics and in sprinting might have been limited as a result. An injection of investment would help Bora tackle the whole calendar.

Red Bull is a familiar name in other sports, behind the most successful Formula One team of the moment, the car driven by multiple world champion Max Verstappen, but also a second team, Scuderia AlphaTauri. They also sponsor a MotoGP team.

In football, they own Red Bull Salzburg, Austria's most successful football club of the 21st century, the New York Red Bulls, and are behind RB Leipzig, the current holders of the DFB-Pokal, the German cup.

The brand is known for its sponsorship of extreme sports as well, whether that is cliff diving, flying, and skateboarding. 

Bora-Hansgrohe rider Cian Uijtdebroeks took aim at his team after Sunday’s Chrono des Nations time trial, saying “there is always something” wrong with equipment. 

The 20-year-old started the event in the hope of improving his record against the clock, and finished 14th, over four minutes behind the winner, Josh Tarling (Ineos Grenadiers). 

Afterwards, Uijtdebroeks explained that he had had trouble with both his main bike and his spare bike during his effort. 

“After 10km, my shifter came loose and I was immediately allowed to change bikes,” he told Het Nieuwsblad and HLN. “That spare bike turned out to be completely out of order. Then you can ride as fast as you want, but that’s not cool. 

“I came here to learn, but it would be nice if my bikes were in order.” 

The young Belgian’s criticism lay more with his team than the equipment he was using: a Specialized S-Works Shiv TT bike, the same machine that helped carry Remco Evenepoel to World Championships glory in August, and second at the Chrono des Nations. 

“There is always something to do with the material at Bora,” Uijtdebroeks said. 

Asked about the team’s approach to time trialing, he said: “It’s something we really need to improve.

“There is still a lot of margin, especially in terms of aerodynamics and the construction of the bicycle itself. I have the power. I weigh 65kg and I can pedal at almost 400 watts on average over an hour. Still, the entire framework needs to be fine-tuned. We just lose a lot with that.

“This winter, we will have to spend a lot of time in the wind tunnel and on the slopes to finally get my position a bit decent.” 

Next season, Olympic time trial champion Primož Roglič will join Bora-Hansgrohe, bolstering the team’s Grand Tour squad. One of the Slovenian’s first challenges is likely to be defending his Giro d’Italia title, where he will have to overcome two time trials in the 2024 race route. 

Uijtdebroeks, too, would like to launch his own Grand Tour GC bids in the future. “We will see whether Bora can offer that,” he said, “or whether we have to look for a place where they do.” 

Primož Roglič has officially signed for Bora-Hansgrohe, and will join the German team from Jumbo-Visma at the end of the current season.

Bora boss Ralph Denk confirmed that the team had completed a move for the 33-year-old in a media briefing call on Friday morning. It was announced last weekend that the Slovenian was leaving his current team.

Denk said: “It is after the departure of Peter Sagan, the next milestone for us.

"He's one of the best riders in the world. He won, more or less every race of the 2023 season that he rode. We're very much looking forward to this. I'm also proud that Primož took the decision to sign with us.

"I think as well as a big boost for our whole team, for the riders, for the staff. In all the meetings that I had with him, he inspired."

Denk confirmed that a big part of the agreement with the Slovenian was the opportunity for him to lead the line at next year’s Tour de France.

“My personal goal is for us to win the Tour, it's a dream for me,” Denk added. “This was the chance to take one of the biggest contenders. We are realistic, he's not the only contender. So we need luck, we need a super strong team and an outstanding performance from Primož Roglič.

"But it's already a nice feeling for me for the whole team, to be a contender, a real contender."

Denk added: “The feeling I got these last few days is that he's really a personality, he can inspire our team and his professional attitude is really, in my opinion, outstanding. I'm super happy to have him.” 

Salzburg beer garden meeting

Denk explained to the media that his relationship with his new signing goes back almost eight years to when Roglič made his first steps into professional cycling. The duo previously met in a beer garden in Salzburg.

“It was not just a meeting, we placed an offer as well, eight years ago. And yesterday, in my office, I found this offer again. So it's a really nice story,” he said.

When asked what was different this time for them to be able to agree on a deal, Denk joked: “It's a bigger offer [this time] and I can tell you, if you make a zero, again the number is not enough."

“My main argument was that we believed in him. I showed that in my meeting eight years ago,” he added. “No one in our cycling cosmos was recognising Primož Roglič at that time, but I did it already. We still believe in him and that was the key factor for him to sign with us."

He added: “We have the same philosophy and we are not so far away from Slovenia here in south Germany where we are based. All those small parts gave a bigger picture, and I think that’s the reason he decided to sign with us.”

Vuelta chaos fuelled transfer

Denk told the press that he first realised there was another chance to sign Roglič during the recent Vuelta a España.

During the Spanish Grand Tour the Slovenian was forced to put his own ambitions to one side to give his Jumbo-Visma teammate Sepp Kuss the opportunity to land his first major GC victory. Roglič won the Vuelta three times previously, and is the reigning Giro d'Italia champion.

Denk explained that the news that Jumbo are reportedly set to merge with Soudal Quick-Step further increased the chance of sealing the deal.

“I listened to interviews with Primož and I could tell he was not really happy anymore... I asked him, he was open to talking and from the Vuelta on things went quite quickly and we achieved the final signature,” Denk said.

Transfer funded without the help of Red Bull

In recent weeks there were reports that energy drink giants Red Bull were largely funding the move for the four time Grand Tour winner.

Bora have a longstanding partnership with Red Bull which enabled Anton Palzer, a former ski-mountaineer to make the jump to professional cycling. 

Denk denied the reports that Red Bull funded the deal and insisted that the team funded the transfer by themselves.

"We had some money in the bank and that money we used for this deal,” he said. “We have no budget increase. It’s not that a new sponsor arrives. We paid this with our money, with what we put aside the last years for this kind of moment when the opportunity arrived to sign a really big rider.”

Olympic track champion Matt Walls is without a team for next season, he revealed to Cycling Weekly. 

The Omnium gold medallist is coming to an end of a three-year term with Bora-Hansgrohe, but does not currently have a contract for 2024.

The Brit, who suffered a horror crash on the track at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, has endured an injury-stricken past 12 months, which has disrupted a crucial contract year with his current WorldTour team. 

Speaking to Cycling Weekly at the Tour of Britain last week, Walls said he has had a “pretty rough time”.

In May, the 25-year-old fractured his hip in a training crash, and only returned to racing this month. “I just slipped out on a wet roundabout going pretty slow,” he explained, “and ended up breaking a hip, which is not the best. It was pretty hard. I had quite a long time off the bike.” 

The crash came less than 12 months after Walls went over the barriers and into the crowd at the Commonwealth Games, suffering severe concussion and requiring stitches in his forehead. 

He has raced just 25 days in 2023, and his last victory on the road came at Gran Piemonte in October 2021. 

“It’s been a pretty rough two years, basically,” the Bora-Hansgrohe rider said. “Hopefully [the bad luck] has ended, but I guess we’ll have to wait and see.” 

Asked if he has a contract for 2024, Walls replied “no”. He then confirmed that there are no contract discussions ongoing with Bora-Hansgrohe. 

“We’ll have to wait and see what comes out,” he said. “Obviously I’ve been out of racing for so long, and the bad luck last year, as well. It was pretty rough. I didn’t really know what was going to happen. 

“[I’ve] hopefully got something on the horizon.” 

It is also uncertain whether the Omnium champion will defend his title at the Olympics in Paris next summer. The Brit has not raced on the track since his crash at the Commonwealth Games, and is expected to be replaced in the event by Ineos Grenadiers rider Ethan Hayter, with whom he took silver in the Madison in Tokyo. 

“I’ve got an eye on it,” Walls said of the Olympics. “I’m not really sure when I’m going to [next] race track. I’m hoping to do some over the winter. But obviously I’ve got like zero [Olympic] points now.

“I’m waiting to chat with GB and we can come up with a plan of what we need to do to get me back in contention for selection.” 

Sam Bennett is in a melancholic mood. The Irish sprinter is talking about his 2022 season, one that he describes as "one of the most frustrating years of my career".

Despite having won three WorldTour sprints this year, including two back-to-back at the Vuelta a España which saw him briefly wear the green jersey, Bennett appears wistful. This is the lot of a top sprinter who has had two consecutive seasons affected by injury, preventing him from being at his top level.

""I think that was probably one of the most frustrating years of my career because it was there for me, and I couldn't make use of it," he tells the assembled media over Zoom for the Bora-Hansgrohe press day. "I think it was a frustrating year but, in the end, I got back up and running and I'm motivated for next season.

"I think the most frustrating thing about this season was I had this amazing opportunity with this team with teammates, equipment, the whole structure around me, and I couldn't be at my best to make use of it.

Despite this, the disappointment, Bennett is clear that he made the right choice leaving Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl and returning to Bora-Hansgrohe.

"It was fantastic to be back in the team. I'm really happy with my decision and the support the guys gave. It was incredible," he says.

"It comes with the job [disappointment], you have to be mentally resilient. I have a strong personality even though I have a softer demeanour, I just knew I had to get back to my normal self. My teammates never gave up on me, they thought once I was back I'd be really successful. It's the belief my team continued to show in me when I wasn't at my best helped. 

"With sport, you always have ups and downs, it's part of it. When you're at a high, you forget how hard you had to work to get there. When things are going bad it seems a bit harder, but everything is back on track now. "

Bora strengthened their sprint train specifically for the Irishman, bringing in Ryan Mullen, Danny van Poppel and Shane Archbold to support him; he is now hoping that this can help him come good in 2023.

The main thing about this year is I finished good," he says. "Starting back with everybody else you're playing catch up and now it feels like a normal year again, because I had my offseason building up, the team camp everything's right and well. I'm just back in the normal rhythm.

"Last year, I didn't have the best pre-season and when I look back at UAE it's a bloody miracle that I got the podium there. I had nothing done, like really nothing done, and managed to get them. So, I can't really compare the physical side because they're just totally different levels.

"But everything's really on track now. It's about keeping it going really, just don't overthink it, because I've won before – it's just about going through the process of making sure I'm good, fit, healthy. And the team is here surrounding me and giving me the support, and the results will come."

His 2022 began in an encouraging way, with Bennett achieving two podium spots at the UAE Tour, but he didn't win until Eschborn-Frankfurt in May. He then failed to make the Tour de France for the second year in a row, and despite his two stage wins at the Vuelta, that ended with the sprinter going home with Covid.

"I was in denial," Bennett says about not being picked for the Tour. "I believed I was going. I probably would've gotten better as the race went on. But if I was a team manager and I looked at the results and looked at the racing, I'd probably do the same thing. It's understandable.

"The main thing is that when I am going good the opportunity is there to take. In the end, it might have been the best decision this year because I got two stage wins in the Vuelta and was chasing green before I got sick. I was back to my old self.

"It's sport. You're going to have moments where you're disappointed, but you just keep going. It's just bike racing."

As for next year, Bennett is focused on winning sprints at the Tour. Bora have a surplus of options at next year's race, with Giro d'Italia champion Jai Hindley and Aleksandr Vlasov vying for general classification spots. Add riders like Max Schachmann, Lennard Kämna and Sergio Higuita, and the squad looks half full already.

However, Bennett is aiming for the green jersey. Now it has been prised off the shoulders of Peter Sagan, it has had three different winners, including the Irishman. Wout van Aert looks like the man to beat, though.

"I think it's possible. I did it before and there's no reason why I can't do it again," he says of his chances of green. "Everything seems to be coming back into place. I think I struggled getting some of my peak power this season, but it seems to just come when I build up my engine and do bigger endurance rides and train more like a Classics rider.

"It's weird – when I don't do specific sprint work and I just do normal training and get fit the power comes. I don't know why that is. When it was sprint work it just kind of stayed the same.

"So yeah, I think it's possible. There are eight sprints. Out of a possible eight sprints some might be hillier towards the end and trying to get there it's going to be hard, but I think I have to believe it as well. I wouldn't be the rider I am today if I didn't believe that I was able to do it. And it's not like I'm going into unknown territory where I didn't do it before I've done it. So why not?"

To get to that shape, Bennett is hoping for an uninterrupted start to the season for the first time since 2019, given the pandemic and then his injury troubles.

"It's normally pretty similar to what I normally do like," he explains. "I start in Argentina, then UAE, Paris-Nice, and then the Classics that I can get up in like Milan-San Remo, De Panne, Gent-Wevelgem.

"I think some of the main targets then will be Tour de France again. I'd like to do two Grand Tours back-to-back to rebuild the engine again. But maybe ask me that on the second rest day in the Tour – I might have a different answer."

Sometimes in life, doors open on new possibilities which could lead to a whole new world of adventure and change. Something which on paper seems like a terrifying prospect could bring exciting new opportunites. 

The hardest part is always breaking the mould and taking a first leap into the unknown. This is exactly where Anton Palzer found himself the day he was offered a professional contract by Bora-Hansgrohe. 

Palzer, who speaks fluent English, clearly demonstrates his passion and commitment to his new sporting career and life as a cyclist. The 29-year-old told Cycling Weekly that the last year has taught him multiple life lessons. 

“Lesson one is never give up, especially when you start something new," he said. "It's always hard leaving your comfort zone I think and to leave behind the ‘normal’ things you do in your life. When you’re confident and when you’re bold in what you do it pays off. 

“Also just never stop pedalling, something I guess you can apply to everything in life. The Tour of the Alps and Suisse was super hard but I just pushed through and kept going. 

“Finally just stay patient with yourself, cycling is a strange world and there is so much to learn. If you take your time and don’t stress then it pays off.” 

Earlier this week, Palzer, in collaboration with Red Bull and Eurosport, released a 45 minute documentary called 'Breaking the Cycle' depicting his transformation from elite skier to top level professional cyclist. Just over a year into his journey, Palzer reflected back on his transformation and admitted that there were times he doubted his initial decision to take a leap of faith. 

"It’s been super tough for me, I have to admit that I wasn’t sure after the first season if cycling was the right thing for me," he said.

Recognisable by his distinctive Red Bull helmet, also worn by the Belgian Wout Van Aert, Palzer arrived on the WorldTour in 2021 as a complete novice to the world of top level professional cycling. The 29-year-old German made his debut for Bora-Hansgrohe at last year’s Tour of the Alps on the back of a highly successful career in Ski-Mountaineering (Ski-Mo). 

Currently racing at the Deutschland Tour, Palzer explained that his new film has been met with great positivity. The 29-year-old admitted that he’s felt overwhelmed by the messages he’s received in response to the piece.

The German said: "After the premiere of the film on television I received so many positive comments and great feedback from all kinds of people.” He added: "So many people have written to me saying ‘Hey! What a cool story and you’ve really inspired us’, it’s always super motivating when you get comments like that.”

When initially taking the step into cycling, Palzer went straight from the ski season into the chaos of professional racing. The 29-year old explained that in the first season he rode around 50 races, which left him in pieces.

"At the end of that first season I was just f****d," he explained. "I’d never been that tired and it was clear it was going to take my body quite some time to adapt to this. The Tour of the Alps was just crazy and then I had the Vuelta.

“I learned so much in those three weeks on a Grand Tour. After a really good break last winter and a good start to this year I’d say I feel like a completely different rider and person to what I did back then.”

The ex-skier explained that there were times he was hanging on for dear life in the peloton. Working with his coaches, including Helmut Dollinger, and Bora-Hansgrohe manager Ralph Denk, enabled him to conquer his fear of crashing and keep moving forward. Palzer admitted that his transformation hasn’t gone unnoticed by other riders.

"A lot of other guys saw me riding last year and have come up to me and said how completely different I look," he concluded. "Last year I was always hanging on and in last position in the peloton regularly.

“So many guys from other teams have congratulated me and said how good it is to see. I’m super motivated to keep going now and see where this takes me.”

Sam Bennett sprinted to victory on stage three of the Vuelta a España to make it two in a row in the Netherlands.

The Bora-Hansgrohe rider powered past Dan McLay (Arkéa Samsic) and held off Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo) to take his second stage win at this year's race in two days.

Bennett was expertly guided to the line by his teammate Danny van Poppel, taking his 60th win of his career as a result.

Meanwhile, Edoardo Affini became the third Jumbo-Visma rider of the Vuelta to claim the red jersey, after the previous race leader Mike Teunissen gave up his race lead in the run in.

Bennett won in Utrecht on Saturday, and he was clearly given confidence by the result, and could power home once again on Sunday.

A largely uneventful day in the southern Netherlands did see a change in the overall leader, but other than that not much occurred over a flat 193.2km course.

How it happened

The final stage in the Netherlands was once more a flat affair, as it almost had to be on the roads surrounding Breda, which is where the race both started and finished.

Thanks to his efforts in the final yesterday, Mike Teunissen (Jumbo-Visma) was in the red jersey, the second Dutchman from the Dutch team to lead the race in his home country, after Robert Gesink.

It looked like it would be a fairly formulaic bunch sprint day, with a break established and then kept at bay by a peloton full of winning options.

Julius van den Berg (EF Education-EasyPost) attacked almost from the gun, looking to defend his blue polka-dot mountains jersey, which he claimed on Saturday. He was soon joined by six other fortunate (or unfortunate) men in the day’s escape.

They were: Jose Herrada (Cofidis), Jan Bakelants (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux), Thomas De Gendt (Lotto Soudal), Ander Okamika (Burgos-BH), Pau Miquel (Kern Pharma) and Mikel Iturria (Euskaltel-Euskadi), along with Van den Berg.

The break had already been created and set in stone just two kilometres into the day, proof that the stage was only really going to go one way. While the gap occasionally got up to almost three minutes, it was always coming down.

Van den Berg and Miquel were up the road for the second consecutive day, so they both must have been rather tired of the landscape of the southern Netherlands.

Bora-Hansgrohe and Trek-Segafredo were the two teams most conspicuously leading the bunch, riding for their sprint options Sam Bennett and Mads Pedersen respectively. Alpecin-Fenix were also at the front for their fast man Tim Merlier.

The only thing of note in the opening kilometres was a crash involving Henri Vandenabeele (Team DSM) and Filippo Conca (Lotto Soudal). Thirty kilometres later, a crash involving two riders from Israel-Premier Tech - Michael Woods and Itamar Einhorn - saw the former forced to retire from the race, a blow to their teams options in the mountains.

A brief split in the peloton with 128km to go was as a result of the pace being put down by the teams at the front more than anything more exciting, and it was quickly repaired.

It took almost 70km for the next interesting thing to happen, which was the category four “climb” of Rijzendeweg, 300 metres at 3.3%. The full two points were taken by De Gendt, by Van den Berg came across the line in second, meaning he will carry the polka dot jersey to Spain.

The pace was high throughout the day, with the riders going at over 46km/h on average, proof of the intensity of the bunch but also the pancake-flat nature of the Dutch roads.

The break got to the intermediate sprint at Sint Willebrord ahead of the peloton, which saw Thomas de Gendt take the maximum points in a classification for a second time on Sunday, along with three bonus seconds.

A mild crash with 21km to go saw Richard Carapaz, Pavel Sivakov and Carlos Rodríguez (all Ineos Grenadiers) briefly distanced, but the trio got back quickly.

The break was reduced to just Miquel, Van den Berg, Bakelants and Okamika with 11.3km to go, which is when it was finally caught by the peloton. Just the casual few hours out front for these four.

It was Bahrain-Victorious who were at the front with 3km to go, with the sprint teams battling out to also be close to the pointy end.

However, into the final 2km it was Alpecin-Fenix who looked in control, with Bora, DSM and UAE Team Emirates also trying to get involved.

Pascal Ackermann (UAE Team Emirates) was the first to kick, but was soon caught by other sprinters. Merlier was soon out of it after unclipping in the sprint.

Bennett was the one who took up the run-in, overtaking Dan McLay (Arkéa Samsic) in the final 50 metres and holding off Pedersen to take victory.

Meanwhile, Edoardo Affini (Jumbo-Visma) took the red jersey from his teammate Teunissen.

Vuelta a España 2022: Stage three results

1. Sam Bennett (Irl) Bora-Hansgrohe, in 4-05-53
2. Mads Pedersen (Den) Trek-Segafredo
3. Daniel McLay (GBr) Arkéa Samsic
4. Bryan Coquar (Fra) Cofidis
5. Fabian Lienhard (Sui) Groupama-FDJ
6. Tim Merlier (Bel) Alpecin-Deceuninck
7. Kaden Groves (Aus) BikeExchange-Jayco
8. Cedric Beullens (Bel) Lotto-Soudal
9. Pascal Ackermann (Ger) UAE Team Emirates
10. Danny van Poppel (Ned) Bora-Hansgrohe

General classification after stage two

1. Edoardo Affini (Ita) Jumbo-Visma in 8-20-07
2. Sam Oomen (Ned) Jumbo-Visma
3. Primoz Roglic (Slo) Jumbo-Visma
4. Sepp Kuss (USA) Jumbo-Visma
5. Mike Teunissen (Ned) Jumbo-Visma
6. Robert Gesink (Ned) Jumbo-Visma, all at same time
7. Ethan Hayter (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers, at 13 seconds
8. Richard Carapaz (Ecu) Ineos Grenadiers
9. Carlos Rodríguez (Esp) Ineos Grenadiers
10. Pavel Sivakov (Fra) Ineos Grenadiers, all at same time

Things are "going well" for Sam Bennett, ahead of challenging for both stage wins and the green jersey at next month's Tour de France, .

In an interview with Wielerflits this week, the Bora-Hansgrohe rider said: “I'm not going to say I'm back in top form. But in general things are going well. I'm still looking for those last percentages, but at some point you have to dare to just pin a back number on."

The Irishman has had a difficult start to 2022, looking off the pace at early season stage races. However, he won Eschborn-Frankfurt at the beginning of May, his first victory since returning to the German team  this year.

“[It was a] confirmation that I'm on the right track," Bennett said. "Because after the Tour of Turkey I had a hard time. I had started to win, but to be honest? I didn't move forward. The fact that I made up for that deficit in two weeks of intensive work made me very happy in Frankfurt. I was more relieved to feel good again than to win my first race of the year.”

Despite a field of largely B-list sprinters at the Tour of Turkey, Bennett could not challenge, with his best result being third. He explained that he felt "terrible" at the April race.

"Every time I got into the last 300 meters I had nothing left in the tank," he said. "Completely empty, even before the sprint. It was also a puff on every climb. It seemed like I couldn't go into the red and I couldn't tolerate changes of pace. It was possible to maintain a constant pace, but nothing more.”

Last year, Bennett was prevented from racing much thanks to a knee injury. It meant he did not defend his green jersey at the Tour de France, which also led to a war of words with his then Quick-Step team boss Patrick Lefevere. However, he says his knees are OK now, and is looking upwards.

“It hasn't been easy all year round," the Bora sprinter said. "From the beginning of the season I had to be very careful in my explosive training sessions. But that's normal if you haven't been on your bike for so long in 2021. Your muscles come back faster than your tendons, and that causes trouble. My right knee has been fine since September of last year. But after that my left knee started to hurt. That may be due to the rapid progression in the gym...

"Cyclists are endurance athletes, so before you get back to your good level, you have to work hard. If you haven't raced for four months last year, don't expect miracles. So I had to build up my season very slowly. I certainly didn't want to skip any steps, to be at my best in the Tour de France."

As for this year's Tour, just over three weeks away, Bennett says it won't be an "easy task", but he's looking to win a stage, and go for the green jersey. With Wout van Aert also looking to do the same, and with a full roster of star sprinters, it might prove difficult.

“The goal is to win at least one stage and fight for the green again," he said. "But I realise it will not be an easy task. The penny has to drop, but normally I have to be as good as a sprinter as I was two years ago.”

He will be ably supported by a leadout train of Shane Archbold, Danny van Poppel, and Ryan Mullen, as Bora slightly switch away from their GC focus, as they had at the Giro d'Italia, and go all in on the sprints.

This is what the Irishman and his team will be focusing on in the coming weeks.

"Everything has to go on autopilot," Bennett said. "We must learn to read each other's body language, be able to sense what everyone is thinking and communicate well about it. If we learn to grow in that, we can do great things in the Tour.”

Jai Hindley is on holiday somewhere in Italy. He won't tell the 15 journalists who have come to his virtual press conference where, just in case we all decide to mob him on his trip. Taking half an hour out to chat to the media from around the world is exactly what he needed to relax, for sure.

"I booked a bit of a holiday around Italy," he explained. "I wanted to keep the party going. I had all this planned before this race, but I’m just in Italy with my girlfriend. I'm enjoying the time. It’s a beautiful country. I really love it, and it’s nice to still be here."

It's a well-deserved holiday, considering the 26-year-old has just won the Giro d'Italia, the first Australian to do so, the second to ever win a Grand Tour. This is his Bora-Hansgrohe team's first Grand Tour victory as well, just months into their reinvention as a general classification-targeting team.

48 hours on from his historic victory, it has not really sunk in yet. Nor should it, considering Hindley is just the 12th active rider to have a Grand Tour win - the Tour de France, the Vuelta a España, or the Giro - to his name.

"Actually, the moment I crossed the line, didn't really have time to do anything," he said. "I didn't really have time to think or breathe, do anything. It was just like full gas interviews, and then the presentation and then we had a big party afterwards, which was also super nice. 

"The highlight for me, ok obviously, like winning the race was huge, but was to have my parents and my girlfriend there. My parents, especially when I hadn't seen for such a long time, that was like really special. It hasn't really sunk in yet, but I think it will in the next few weeks or so. It still feels like a dream."

His parents had been flown over by Bora-Hansgrohe to see their son do something no Australian had ever done before. The 20 plus hours of flying were probably worth it to see the man from Perth in the maglia rosa on the podium in Verona, but it was a mammoth trip.

It showed the commitment Bora have to their new signing, as there was no guarantee Hindley would be on the podium, let alone win the whole thing. They clearly thought the young man would deserve it, whatever happened.

"It was the icing on the cake," Hindley said. "It was quite last minute. They were going to come on a bit of a holiday in the middle of June. When the team asked me if I wanted them to come out for the final, I couldn’t say no. That was an incredible gesture of the team and the sponsors. 

"Imagine not seeing your parents for two and a half years, it’s ridiculous. Especially last year with such a rollercoaster of a season, it’s so taught. When you’re going through the shit, you can’t physically see your parents, it’s really brutal. They kept supporting me, and actually they are my number one fans."

"To have them at the finish was truly what dreams are made of," he continued. "They’re actually on their way back to Oz now, because my mum has to go back to work, but it was one of the best days ever."

After finishing second at the 2020 pandemic-delayed Giro, Hindley endured a difficult 2021. He failed to finish the Volta a Catalunya, the Tour of the Alps, and the Giro, and had to deal with a painful saddle sore which affected his whole season.

Fortunately for him, Bora still saw him as part of their plans, and as part of their general classification revolution. Since joining the WorldTour in 2017, the German squad had largely been focused on the Classics and one-day races through riders like Peter Sagan.

With his departure, they had to change. They got Hindley in from Team DSM, joining Wilco Kelderman, who had done the same thing the year before. Aleksandr Vlasov was signed from Astana, and Sergio Higuita made the leap from EF Education, all GC options in themselves. Hindley has jumped to the top of the pile with his Giro victory, though.

"It’s pretty massive for the team," he explained. "For sure they’ve made some big changes and big investments by signing some GC riders. They're trying to change the team by signing some big GC guys. Stepping away from all this, like Classics, or one-day type of team, which they were for quite a few years, and they really had figured out.

"That’s a big risk, and it does take a lot of time and effort to transform the team into a GC team. It’s not an overnight thing. There was a lot of pressure and stress within the team management to prove to the sponsors that they could be a GC team. I was really happy to win the Giro and to, you know, prove to the team that we can be a GC team. We’re definitely going to be a team to watch in the future."

Bora might be a GC team to watch now, but Hindley is a GC rider to watch as well. He proved his tenacity over the three weeks, along with his climbing ability. He bested formed Grand Tour winners like Richard Carapaz and Vincenzo Nibali, beat established GC names like Mikel Landa, and outlasted other talents like João Almeida and Romain Bardet.

"It’s a funny one, Grand Tour racing, you can feel really good one day and then really bad the next," he said. "Especially the third week, cos it’s such a strain on the body. In my previous experiences I feel I come into my own, and feel the best in the third week. It feels nice that that’s my strength, it gives me a lot of confidence. That I can ride consistently in the third week. 

"I was feeling pretty nervous when I was going into the stage [the penultimate one, where he clinched the pink jersey] because you either had it or you didn’t. I was super nervous and not feeling super great, because it was stage 20, and you’ve been racing your bike for almost three weeks up to that point. Everyone is on their limit. 

"When it gets to that point of the race it’s almost more mentally than physically challenging," he continued. "Mentally, I was ready to fight, and it paid off. To prepare for that last stage, I wouldn't say we did anything specific. The team also I don't think reconned that stage, we had a few guys who knew the final climb. 

"I looked at the profile pretty closely, quite in depth. I knew the last five K was going to be brutal. So I really just held back and held back until then, and then made the move."

There were moments of worry in the final week, even if it looked like Hindley and Bora-Hansgrohe had it under control.

"The stage where I punctured in the last kilometres [stage 18], that was very stressful," he said. "From that point on the whole race became stressful for me. In the last Ks of the stage, I had a feeling like I could lose the whole race because of the puncture. Then when I started to realise how close I was to the lead then the stress levels started to rise.

"That was the only real crazy day, other than that we had everything under control. It was a calculated race. We used our energy pretty efficiently. We only made big moves when it was going to be a crucial part of the race, and didn’t waste energy in unnecessary parts. It wasn’t a plan to leave it all to the last day, but it ended up like that. It was pretty awesome teamwork to leave it until then."

Despite being relatively fresh at GC riding, both Hindley and his team were mature and professional beyond their years in waiting patiently for their opportunity in the Giro. Ineos Grenadiers looked like the team in control at points, but they were also the ones with most to lose, and lose they did.

"The team morale throughout the whole race was incredible," Hindley explained. "I haven’t really experienced such a good atmosphere in a long time. IT was really cool to be a part of that, everyone was on point from day one to the last stage. I never really had the feeling we were the underdog, I think the team rode a really good race. I didn’t feel intimidated at all by any other teams, I was really confident with our team. I knew we had a really strong lineup, and the guys were phenomenal. "

This could be a watershed moment for Australian cycling. Their first ever Giro win, their second since Cadel Evans won the Tour in 2011, and Hindley is only 26. He has time to go on and win a lot more.

In fact, this is a bit of a golden age of GC riders from the other side of the world, with Ben O'Connor (AG2R Citroën), Jack Haig (Bahrain-Victorious), and Michael Storer (Groupama FDJ) all performing well in the last year, and possibly all riding the Tour in July. Meanwhile, there are other emerging talents like Luke Plapp (Ineos Grenadiers) and Lucas Hamilton (Team BikeExchange-Jayco), who are still on their way up.

"Cycling isn’t the biggest sport in Australia, but it’s getting bigger and bigger," Hindley said. "I remember riding with Ben when he first started [the AG2R rider is also from Perth, as is Storer]. He actually started pretty late, he came a few years later than most people I remember riding. You could see that this guy was going to be super strong. To watch him performing as he did at the Tour last year it was super cool. 

"It’s really incredible, and we have quite a lot of talented young guys coming through from Australia. When you look at how many Aussie WorldTour pros there are, it’s probably the most there has ever been, These guys are really talented. Definitely keep an eye out for the Aussies."

Cycling might be behind cricket, Aussie rules, rugby league, rugby union, soccer, tennis, basketball, and more in Australia, but it's a sport mad country. There is enough space for bike racing to thrive and breathe. 

New South Wales will be hosting the road World Championships in September, a landmark event for the country. It's a race the Giro winner wants to take part in, if he gets selected. A Grand Tour champion on home roads will be special.

Hindley has certainly felt the support of the country, and will be elevated to a hero there. If he keeps winning, his fame will only go one way.

"I’ve received quite a lot of messages and support," he said. "It was pretty overwhelming. I had it pretty similar two years ago when I was second, and it’s really incredible. Everyone is super happy, and super positive. It feels like I have the full support of the nation, it’s a really incredible feeling...

"To all the young kids, especially at Midland Cycle Club, I started there and had big dreams, and it is possible. If you do all the hard work, and you know you want it, it is possible. To all the kids, dream big."

Asked what it's like to be thought of in the same breath as Cadel Evans, Hindley said it is "phenomenal".

"When you put it like that, Cadel is probably a household name in Australia. If you ask just the average person if they knew Cadel they would probably say yeah. He’s probably one of the most important and most influential Australian cyclists ever. It’s huge, and very, very special."

He wants to ride the Tour, possibly next year. It's the one Grand Tour he hasn't tackle yet, so it is on the plans. 

Asked if he could win that, the biggest race in the world, he said: "For sure, why not. Never say never. That would be the ultimate dream, but I’m definitely not going to say it’s not possible."

Jai Hindley is a Grand Tour champion, even if that might not have sunk in for him yet. He is here to stay.

Australia is a sport mad country. Just think of the reaction to the death of Shane Warne earlier this year, or the position it always has on the Olympics medal table, despite having not that big a population.

Jai Hindley is the latest Australian into its pantheon of great sports people, now he has become the first to win the Giro d'Italia, only the second to win a Grand Tour after Cadel Evans. He follows fellow men from Perth like Daniel Ricciardo, Justin Langer and Rod Marsh into legend. At just 26, this will surely not be the last time we hear from the Western Australian either.

As "Advance Australia Fair" echoed around Verona's Arena, built in 30 AD and therefore probably older than any structure in the Antipodes, the wave of emotion that greeted Jai Hindley was clear. His parents were in the Roman amphitheatre to greet him, reportedly the first time they had seen each other in two and a half years thanks to the pandemic, so they picked the right time.

He is personable, wears his elation and disappointment clearly, and was also a deserving winner of the 2022 race. Unlike 19 months ago, when he was on the podium again, he was on the top step. That time around the maglia rosa slipped out of his hands on the final day, but this time he had a firm grasp of the lead, and held on for a comprehensive victory.

"It’s a beautiful feeling really," Hindley explained after the stage, where he finished 15th, an incredible result in itself. "There were a lot of emotions out there today. I had in the back of my mind what happened in 2020 and I wasn’t going to let that happen again to be honest. To take the win is really incredible."

Bora-Hansgrohe came into the Giro with three leaders, in Hindley, Wilco Kelderman and Emanuel Buchmann, but it was the first of these that impressed throughout, both in being able to hang on, and then pouncing when he had the chance.

The German team have refocused on general classification riding at Grand Tours, now that they have moved on from the Peter Sagan-era, and their decision seems to have paid off. In the three above, and Aleksandr Vlasov and Sergio Higuita, they have a great core of mostly young riders that can challenge at the biggest races in the years to come. With his Grand Tour win, Bora's first, Hindley has put himself firmly at the top of that list.

Richard Carapaz (Ineos Grenadiers) was for many people the outstanding favourite for the race, and only continued to build this reputation over the three weeks. However, when it matter, he cracked, giving up over a minute to his GC rival on the penultimate day.

His lead was such that he almost had the ability to relax a bit in the final time trial, not that he did, although he did not go all out on the descent of the only climb, to ensure he stayed upright. In fact, it was one of the best time trials of his career.

"I was getting updates and I also felt pretty good on the bike, I didn’t really feel like I was fighting it," Hindley explained. "It felt pretty good. I was receiving the time checks and I knew it was a decent ride, so in the end I really wanted to take the descent pretty cautiously, and then I just gave it everything to the line. It’s just an incredible feeling honestly."

There is now a 12th active rider who has won a Grand Tour, and we seem to be in an era where, apart from the Tadej Pogačar-dominated Tour de France, and the Primož Roglič-dominated Vuelta a España, there is a whole new cadre of GC riders coming through.

On the final rest day, Hindley had said that he was at the Giro to win, which raised some eyebrows, but he fully backed this up.

"Yeah, for sure. 100%," he said last week. "Like, I'm not here to put socks on a centipede. We're here to win the race. Why not? I wouldn't be here if I didn't think the team could win. We're all in, we're all in to try and win the race."

On Sunday, he proved that he can win Grand Tours, and in some style. The Australian can now rest, happy that he has completed the biggest achievement of his career to date.

"It’s really incredible man," Hindley concluded. I’m really proud to be Australian, and happy to take this one home."

Three seconds, four stages. Four stages are left at this Giro d'Italia, and three seconds is all that separates Jai Hindley (Bora-Hansgrohe) from the pink jersey of Richard Carapaz (Ineos Grenadiers).

The Australian has been here before, with a rider from the same team. On stage 20 of the 2020 Giro, he leapt into the maglia rosa, but was equal on time with Tao Geoghegan Hart ahead of the final stage. It was just one day in pink for Hindley on that occasion, as he was beaten by the Brit on a flat time trial course into Milan.

This time around, the race yet again ends with a time trial, of a similar distance, in Verona; although this one has a slight hill in it, which means there are 317m of climbing in the 17.4km against the clock.

The biggest difference, however, is that there is not a lot between Carapaz and Hindley in the TT stakes. Three seconds could easily be gained or lost against the clock, and the title could swing either way in the 25 minutes-ish effort.

The Ecuadorean has triumphed in the duel between the two seven out of the eight times they have raced the same time trial, including the one on stage two of this race, but everything might change under the pressure of a final stage, a Giro d'Italia on the line. We all remember Primož Roglič vs Tadej Pogačar at the Tour de France in 2020.

Hindley and Carapaz have been inseparable so far, and they are unlikely to be prised apart on a largely flat stage 18. It will be stages 19, 20 and 21 where the difference is made.

There are 3,489 metres of climbing on Friday, before 4,718 metres on the decisive penultimate stage to Marmolada on Saturday. This will surely be where the race is won and lost.

“I’m definitely running out of stages to make time up, but I think the second to last stage will really decide a lot,” Hindley said after Wednesday's stage. He knows that he needs to make a move to distance Carapaz, but the pair have looked each other's match in the first fortnight of this race.

Carapaz gained time on stages one and two, and Hindley brought some of that back with bonus seconds gain on Blockhaus on stage nine and in Aprica on stage 16. It was much the same story on stage 17, as Mikel Landa (Bahrain-Victorious) attacked them both repeatedly, but the trio stuck together.

These three look set to take the podium slots come the end of the race, especially now João Almeida has been forced to abandon the Giro. 

It might be that Landa, who sits in third, just over a minute behind Hindley and Carapaz, is the one to split the race open; the Spaniard needs to mount a serious attack if he is to claim the pink jersey, and is known to be weak in time trials, so will need a buffer too.

If only Hindley or only Carapaz is able to follow one of these attacks, which will almost definitely happen, then it would be game over for the other. 

The Ecuadorean has won the Giro before, in 2019, so has the skills and the nous to follow his challenge through the end. Hindley, meanwhile, has his 2020 experience to build on.

“Everyone says that the Giro is going to be decided by minutes, this, that, and the other, but it’s not like that anymore. Every second counts,” the Australian said immediately post stage 17.

“It was a pretty hard climb and I think there was a lot of tired lads out there after yesterday. I was also pretty tired to be honest,” he said. “It was a hard climb, and it was ridden at a really hard tempo. What can you do? I think the level between Carapaz and Landa is also pretty even. It was a pretty tough final.

“It’s pretty hard when it’s not a hilltop finish. I don’t think it was the most decisive stage but I’m happy to take time on some of the other guys.”

He has Thursday's relatively flat stage to recover, but is that fatigue going to count against him? Carapaz has looked impervious to everything thrown at him so far, and is the man in control.

Hindley has already proved that his 2020 result was not a fluke, that he has the ability to mount a GC challenge over three hard weeks. With four days to go, he will hope he can grab those three seconds at one point, and hold onto the maglia rosa. 

One gets the feeling the Australian would give anything to have just one more day in pink, and make it count. No more de Jai vu, a new experience: winning.

Jai Hindley wants to win the Giro d'Italia. This might not sound particularly surprising, considering the Australian currently sits second on general classification, seven seconds behind race leader Richard Carapaz, but it is refreshing to hear this honesty.

The Bora-Hansgrohe rider is back at the top of cycling after a tumultuous 2021. He was not necessarily counted among the favourites heading into this edition thanks to this, despite finishing second in the 2020 race; now, with six stages left, Hindley is surely one of the few contenders for the maglia rosa in Verona.

Asked if he wants to be the first Australian to win the Giro d'Italia, only the second to win a Grand Tour at all, he is definite.

"Yeah, for sure. 100%. Like, I'm not here to put socks on a centipede. We're here to win the race. Why not? I wouldn't be here if I didn't think the team could win. We're all in, we're all in to try and win the race."

The man from Perth was kind enough to explain that his centipede idiom meant that he isn't here just to waste time, he is here to win.

He spent just one day in the pink jersey at the 2020 Giro, before being pipped by Tao Geoghegan Hart in the final time trial in Milan 18 months ago, an experience he described as "bittersweet".

"It would be super nice to be back in the pink jersey, after only wearing it for a day in 2020," he said. "It was bittersweet. I also had a pretty rough season in 2021. So for me, personally, it's really nice to be back at the pointy end of racing. The pink jersey is a huge motivation and would be very nice."

Hindley has performed to his limit at this race so far, winning the stage atop Blockhaus, proving his speed on the difficult Torino stage on the Saturday just gone as well.

To come back from his "super hard year" last season, which he described as a "difficult period", is very impressive. "I could talk about it all day if you wanted to," he said. He wants to prove that his 2020 podium was not just a fluke, something which seems ridiculous to suggest at the moment.

"It was really frustrating because I finished 2020 with the second place at the Giro and then I had a really high expectation of myself coming into 2021," he explained. "I really wanted to prove to people, but more so to myself that I was capable of riding at that top level. 

"And that 2020 wasn't just a fluke, like a lot of people on social media think. It was really frustrating to have all these setbacks and, you know, to have all this stuff going on, which really sort of ruined my year last year. I didn't lose focus, even with all the setbacks, I really trained really hard last year to get back to a high level. 

"After each setback I just kept losing the form. It was really hard to just compete at a decent level. I think ultimately, the change to the new team was like a breath of fresh air and just like a new start a press of the reset button, if you will."

Hindley moved from Team DSM to Bora-Hansgrohe over the winter, as part of the German team's new focus on GC riding, after the Peter Sagan years. Unlike others who left DSM, however, he has nothing but good words to say about it.

"I wouldn't say there was anything wrong with my old team," he said. "It was just a different team. I spent four years there, it was, in my opinion, it was probably the perfect team for me to turn pro in. I learned a lot. I owe a lot to that team, they gave me a lot of opportunities and, opportunities that I got at this team, which I probably wouldn't have got any other team, which is something I'll always remember.

"I think after doing four years there, it's just healthy to change to grow as a person and as a bike rider. The opportunity came along to join Bora-Hansgrohe. I took it with both hands. It's always been a cool team that I've really admired in terms of their racing style.

"It just looked like a cool team to be a part of, and I'm super happy, to be honest. It's been nice to just change everything up, you know, new everything, new bike, new teammates, new DSes, new coaching staff, everything."

As good as Hindley is finding his present, and as close as he is to the race lead, there is still so much to come this week.

The final six stages contain 18,961 metres of climbing, with Tuesday's stage 16 and Saturday's stage 20 looking particularly tough. Then there is the matter of the final day time trial, which is where the Australian lost the race in 2020. "Every second counts," he said.

Before then, however, there might be a lot of fluctuating in the general classification, something Hindley is ready for.

"Tomorrow, I think it's gonna be epic," he said. "Like straight out the gates, it's gonna be a really hard stage. Also after the rest day, it's always an interesting one, you know, guys always have like mixed feelings after rest day. 

"I think tomorrow we could see some big things happening in terms of guys losing time or guys gaining time. I think tomorrow will be a pretty, pretty important day. I'm really keen to be up at the pointy end tomorrow."

Hindley has talked the talk, now he has got to walk the walk, or cycle the cycle, I suppose. Everything he has done so far in this race has suggested he has the ability, now the Alps will show whether he can continue his form.

Not many people had a good 2020, in the midst of the pandemic, but Lennard Kämna did. With stage wins at the Critérium du Dauphiné and the Tour de France, the young German announced himself as a rider to watch, especially in days off the front. He looked like a key member of the new wave of youth talent coming through that year.

He started 2021 similarly, winning a stage of the Volta a Catalunya solo, but then after a break raced the Volta ao Algarve anonymously. Kämna then announced that he would be taking a longer break from the sport, announcing that he was looking to recover from a longstanding problem with an infection.

That break lasted the rest of 2021, with the Bora-Hansgrohe rider explaining in October to German outlet Weser-Kurier that his "stress increased and I could no longer manage it".

In 2022, Kämna has returned. He won a stage of the Ruta del Sol, again in a breakaway, and then on Wednesday confirmed that he was back with an impressive win on a hard stage three of the Tour of the Alps.

He has clearly repaid the faith shown in him by his team, but this is also an important year, the last year of his contract with Bora.

During his break, the German spent time mountain biking in South Africa, and with his friends and family.

Post-victory in Villabassa, Italy, Kämna said: "Last year was a great opportunity to get right back to rhythm and enjoy riding the bike. That's what we did, like in South Africa. I really enjoyed that time, super happy with it."

In October, he had said: "I felt that I lacked the opportunity to develop other interests. I lived my life wrong. I had missed the opportunity to open up to other experiences and when something unexpected happened my stress increased and I could no longer manage it. It was difficult for me to get out of that tunnel, but now I realise how much I have missed cycling."

Now, back to being a full-time professional cyclist again, the 25-year-old told the media that he is "more stable" in 2022.

"I want to be careful in the future. I think I am more stable. It opened up some opportunities to train a little bit earlier, rethink things, like what exactly I want to be as a rider. I think it helped me. I cannot explain it in detail now, but I'm really glad that I did it, I had a good winter. I was really happy to pin my numbers back on my jersey and ride some races."

His decision to take a break is redolent of Tom Dumoulin stepping back from cycling, although the Dutch rider ended up off the bike for a shorter amount of time. That, too, was related to his mental health.

Earlier this year, Australian tennis player Ash Barty retired aged 25, explaining "I just know that I am absolutely – I am spent – I just know physically I have nothing more to give".

Kämna certainly seems glad to have paused his career and then re-entered cycling, especially as his form still seems there.

"If you are in the same situation like I was, I would definitely recommend it," Kämna said. "You need to have the passion for cycling, you need to have fun, otherwise it’s just a pain to do it. Like everybody who’s on the edge, definitely take a break."

However, he still thinks he has a way to go to be back at his peak, and has room to grow.

"I don't think I'm better than ever," he explained. "I’m still going to my real level, I’m not at 100%."

"I think at the moment I’m not at a spot to be with the best climbers," Kämna said "I feel I have some power, but on the climbs I’m still missing a little bit... I knew I just had to crack the others properly and then I could take the win. I'm not regretting at all to not being in the GC."

As for his win breakaway win, the German said it was a case of attacking hard to get into the break in the first place, and then marking every move in the final.

"I knew there would be a good day for the breakaway," the escape specialist said. "But before I was at the Basque Country and I was not feeling in good condition to be honest. I feel now much better than two weeks ago. I knew if I was in the breakaway it would be super hard to actually win... It was more a case that I had the chance to try, and this is what I did."

Now Kämna will head to the Giro d'Italia with the knowledge that he is both stable generally, and in good form to show his Bora-Hansgrohe team that they were right to keep the faith. It is already a good 2022.

Russian professional cyclist Aleksandr Vlasov has called for an end to the war in Ukraine, saying that he just wants peace.

The Bora-Hansgrohe rider posted on Instagram announcing his opposition to the war. As a Russian rider on a German team, he is still permitted to continue racing, however he will not be allowed to wear his Russian national champion's jersey in any time trials.

Vlasov wrote: "I, like a lot of Russians, just want peace. I’m not a political person, and normal people like me weren’t asked if we want a war. It has been a shock for everyone and I hope that it will stop as soon as possible. 

"It’s a difficult situation for everybody. I feel sorry for all the people who are suffering, and I hope that there will soon be peace. I am an athlete and my goal should be to unite people across political borders, rather than divide them. I think that should be the role of sports."

On Thursday, Russian president Vladimir Putin spoke to Emmanuel Macron, with the French president saying that “the worst is still to come” in Ukraine.

Vlasov is down to ride Paris-Nice next week. He follows fellow Russian professional Pavel Sivakov in speaking out against Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The UCI's rules mean that all Russian and Belarusian teams would not be allowed to partake in UCI-sanctioned races, but individual riders from the two countries would be allowed to ride for international teams.

Bora-Hansgrohe's general manager Ralph Denk said the UCI had provided "clear rules" with regard to Russian athletes. 

He said: "We welcome this, as we condemn any form of aggression or violence, but are of the opinion that blameless athletes should be judged according to their own personal behaviour and not solely on their nation of origin.”

Vlasov previously rode for Gazprom-RusVelo, one of the teams that has been affected by the UCI's decision. The Russian team was on the startlist for Tirreno-Adriatico, which begins next week, before the measures were brought in.

Gazprom-RusVelo released a short statement to Cycling Weekly on Thursday saying: "Today the team management is on its way to Switzerland, UCI headquarters, in order to continue our dialogue regarding the measures which we need to take right now for our international team. We hope that we can tell you more details tonight after the meeting."

Quiz question: there are three male professional cyclists who wear a Red Bull helmet in the peloton. Name them all.

[Space to allow you to think, because we’re almost certain you’ll struggle to get one of them].

One point if you correctly said recently-crowned world cyclocross champion Tom Pidcock, and a further if you said the Belgian superstar Wout van Aert.

How many of you guessed Anton Palzer?

If you did, well done, we’re impressed. We assume that you’re a lover of vertiginous mountaineering challenges and skiing. If you didn’t, that’s OK, we understand, because within the cycling circles Palzer is relatively unknown, the 28-year-old German rider for Bora-Hansgrohe only making his cycling debut last April at the Tour of the Alps.

Not just his professional debut, but his actual first ever race on a bike. We’ll briefly delve into his engrossing, high-octane background, but first: the helmet and its logo which has come to signify sporting royalty. In Palzer’s 49 days of racing in 2021, it caused quite a stir among his new colleagues, Simon Yates even calling Palzer a “f**king legend” on their very first encounter.

“People ask me about what I did before, and still everyone’s talking to me about my ski life in the peloton,” he tells Cycling Weekly. "It’s because of the helmet. People ask, ‘why are you wearing a Red Bull Helmet? You’re not Van Aert or Pidcock.’

“And I’m like, I know I’m not them! It’s crazy. I take the time to explain what I’m doing here and everyone enjoys it. They are all good guys and it’s nice sometimes to take the time to ride slowly next to these rockets, to be super close to them, and feel part of them.”

Palzer’s late entrance into the sport was the idea of Bora-Hansgrohe’s general manager Ralph Denk who had followed with interest Palzer’s journey to being one of the best athletes in ski mountaineering (SkiMo), a form of skiing where one attaches 'skins' to the bottom of the skis and ascends up the mountain before removing the skins and descending. 

Also a distinguished mountain runner and climber, Palzer’s previously reported V02 max of 92 (which in layman's terms is incredibly high) was also persuasive in Denk’s decision to bring a cycling novice but elite endurance athlete into the sport’s upper echelons. 

It was - is - a risk but approaching one year into the sport - he only became a pro last April - Palzer has surprised himself at how well he has adapted. He even rode and completed the Vuelta a España.

“I didn’t know what the f**k I was doing," he says. "I am new to cycling, but everyone’s given me the feeling of being welcome. I have raced at the Vuelta, the highest level of cycling. It’s completely crazy. I’m new to the simple things like grabbing a bottle from the car, and I even had to have explained to me during a race how we ride in a convoy.

“I knew for sure that this new journey would be super tough, but it’s been great. It was exactly what I was looking for. I always hoped that I would feel comfortable in cycling and after a few races I felt better. I learned so much and that everything is possible."

Palzer’s life has changed in so many ways. Usually he would ride 6,000km on his road bike in the summer; last year he rode 24,000km. Typically, January would be spent training on snow and racing SkiMo; this time around he was pedalling for four weeks in Mallorca.

How he responds to an injury has also changed. “When I crashed in SkiMo, or if I was injured from running, I stopped training and stopped going to competitions,” he says. “But cycling is different: if you have pain, you still ride, you still do the basics. At the Vuelta I crashed pretty hard on one stage and I had so much pain. But for a cyclist it was normal - I just had to get on with it.”

Speak with Palzer and you immediately understand how committed to his new life he is, stating before that the transition of sports was to drive him on as an athlete. Skiing, however, understandably remains a part of what makes him happy, and he is still sponsored by some industry brands.

He got out the skis in the autumn, for three weeks in December and straight after his season debut at Challenge Mallorca. “Last year I rode my bike four times more than I ever have before, so my muscles were sore and tired,” he reveals. “It was so much for me. 

"We decided to do my December training at home on the skis and I enjoyed that time a lot. I took out some heavier skis as well, which are better for the downhill, and it was great fun. Mostly it was my SkiMo skis, but also sometimes my cross-country skis. I think it was really good for me and for my performance as a cyclist.”

Palzer has impressed his team and his team-mates, but he doesn’t try to hide the difficulties he encountered at the beginning. “It was super-stressful for me,” he says. “The power needed on the climbs and also to stay in the peloton. Every time we began a climb or a downhill it was really stressful for me. Every evening I was brain-f**ked. 

“The team said I would do the Vuelta in May and I said to the DS that it was way too early for me to do a Grand Tour. I didn’t think I'd ever do a Grand Tour in my cycling career!

“They said it was super important for my process in becoming a good cyclist, and I have to admit now that it was a super special experience for me and my shape grew so much that I felt really comfortable in the Vuelta.”

Before the race, he was conscious that he had taken the spot of a fellow rider. “I was saying to Felix Großschartner, the team leader, that I know I can’t help in the tough climbing stages, and that he should go to the team and say he needs a strong climber [instead of Palzer].

“But Felix was so nice and he was saying it was super important that I was there. F**k, he was the leader, but he supported me more than I supported him! He gave me so much during the race.”

Palzer is depreciating his own advancement - his team have been delighted with his progression and the plan is for him to compete at the Vuelta again. Personal ambitions, however, remain on ice.

He adds: “When you look at my race calendar, I am doing big races like the Tour de Suisse and the Tour of the Alps where all the big guys from the Grand Tours are. It’s super-tricky for me to race for results. The leaders are the other riders on the team, not me.

“Success is to grow more into a helper position, to support the big leaders by riding longer on the climbs. I now feel super confident. I am not afraid of falling or crashing; I am more in the flow. My numbers are good already and I’m positive.”

Russian rider Alexandr Vlasov repaid his new Bora-Hansgrohe team-mates with overall victory at the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana on Sunday. 

While the sprinters’ teams battled for the stage Vlasov’s team kept the 25-year-old safe at or near the front until handing over to the fast-men’s squads for the final.

The stage was won by Fabio Jakobsen after consummate work from Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl, whose lead out functioned perfectly after misfiring in the two previous sprint stages, one of which the Dutchman still managed to win.

The Belgian squad placed themselves close to the front of the peloton for much of the day, though took total control once the day’s breakaway was caught with 13km remaining, never leaving the front despite challenges from other squads.

After losing the overall lead on stage three, Remco Evenepoul took the lead with 2,500m to go, guiding the team into the final kilometre and allowing Michael Mørkøv to take Jakobsen to the 150m mark.

Elia Viviani bagged his best result since returning to Ineos Grenadiers, finishing second, while Alexander Kristoff (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert) finished third.

Vlasov’s general classification win came on the back of his dominant stage three victory, the Russian attacking the few remaining challengers on the brutal gravel slopes to Antenas del Maigmó. That success ensured he began Sunday’s final stage with a lead of 32 seconds, which never likely to be overhauled.

Despite being on leadout duties, Evenepoul retained second overall, while Carlos Rodriguez was third, 36 seconds behind the Russian.

How it happened

The 92km route of stage five began in the suburb of Paterna, covering the same route as the earlier women’s one day race, before finishing in Valencia itself. While not completely flat, there was little in the way of serious elevation to prevent a bunch kick as they rode a clockwise loop north and back to the finish in Valencia. 

Add in the wide-open roads on the run into the city and the race was set to be a a third day for the sprinters in this five-stage race.

Riding for his new Bora-Hansgrohe team, Alexandr Vlasov began the day leading the general classification by 32 seconds from stage one winner Remco Evenepoul (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl), with Carlos Rodriguez (Ineos Grenadiers) a further four seconds down.

Such a short day might have been designed to create dynamic racing, but with such a flat parcours, the race settled early, with four men heading up the road. However, dead set on a bunch-kick the sprinters' teams kept Gotzon Martin (Euskatel-Euskadi), Jonathan Lastra (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA), Manuele Boaro and his Astana Qazaqstan team-mate Vincenzo Nibali on a tight leash, the leading quartet’s advantage never exceeding two minutes.

For much of the race’s middle section the leaders were held at around one minute, though as they entered the final 30km that was nearer 30 seconds and the catch seemed inevitable. 

That came with 13km to go, Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl taking control on the wide run-in, stringing the peloton into one long line. Despite a series of roundabouts and challenges from other teams, the Belgian squad never ceded control, never leaving the front and delivering Jacobsen perfectly for the final sprint.

Result

Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana 2022, stage five: Paterna - Valencia (92km)

1. Fabio Jakobsen (Ned) Quickstep-Alpha Vinyl in 1-55-49
2. Elia Viviani (ita) INEOS Grenadiers 
3. Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert 
4. Timothy Dupont (Bel) Bingoal Pauwels Sauces WB
5. Stanisław Aniołkowski (Pol) Bingoal Pauwels Sauces WB
6. Matteo Trentin (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
7. Manuel Peñalver (Esp) Burgos-BH
8. Juan Sebastián Molano (Col) UAE Team Emirates
9. Fernando Barceló (Esp) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
10. Michael Mørkøv (Den) Quickstep-Alpha Vinyl all at same time 

Final general classification 

1. Alexandr Vlasov (Rus) BORA-Hansgrohe in
2. Remco Evenepoul (Bel) Quickstep Alpha Vinyl at 32 sec
3. Carlos Rodriguez (Esp) INEOS Grenadiers at 36 sec 
4. Enric Mas (Esp) Movistar at 50 sec
5. Alejandro Valverde (Esp) Movistar at 1-02
6. Jacob Fuglsang (Den) Israel-Premier Tech at 1-05
7. Luis León Sanchez (Esp) Bahrain Victorious at 1-14
8. Giulio Ciccone (Ita) Trek-Segafredo at 2-00
9. David de la Cruz (Esp) Astana Qazaqstan at 2-28
10. Matej Mohorič (Slo) Bahrain Victorious at 2-54

Aleksandr Vlasov crushed his rivals on the steep climb to Antenas del Maigmó on stage three of the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana to take control of the general classification.

The Russian powered away on the gravel section of the climb with 1.5km to take Bora-Hansgrohe's first win of the season.

His chasers could not follow on the steepest parts of the Alto Antenas del Maigmó, and he put 41 seconds into Remco Evenepoel of Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl, who had previously held the race lead. Add on the 10 bonus seconds he received for being first to cross the line, and he is now secure in the yellow leader's jersey.

Behind, Carlos Rodriguez of Ineos Grenadiers came in second, 14 seconds behind Vlasov, with Enric Mas of Movistar following in seven seconds after that.

It meant that Quick-Step failed to keep up their 100 per cent rate at the Spanish stage race, and have possibly lost the chance to secure the GC, with two relatively flat stages to follow.

The gravel section of the stage, which some had raised concerns about ahead of the day, did not seem to affect the riders negatively, with Vlasov putting his attack in the final part of the sterrato. 

How it happened

The peloton rolled north out of Alicante up towards Benidorm along the coast on Friday afternoon, but it wasn’t until the race turned inwards that a breakaway formed.

Riders from two French WorldTour teams, Lars van den Berg of Groupama-FDJ and Nicolas Prodhomme of AG2R Citröen were the first successful escapees, and were soon joined by Sven Erik Bystrøm of Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux and Kenny Molly of Bingoal Pauwels Sauces WB.

The race went over the Coll des Rates, the famous training climb that many cyclists will have trained up. In this race, it was a category two climb, with Van den Berg taking the points at the top.

The break swelled to 11 at its peak, with the quartet being joined by Valentin Paret-Peintre of AG2R Citroën, Jan Tratnik of Bahrain Victorious, Attila Valter of Groupama-FDJ, Dimitri Claeys of Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert, Jan Polanc of UAE Team Emirates, Dani Navarro of Burgos-BH and Fernando Barceló of Caja Rural-Seguros RGA.

Tratnik was the first over the crest of the category three Sa Creueta, and Polanc took the honours on Fageca, another third cat. Bystrøm took the points on the second category Benifallim climb.

At its peak, the breakaway had 2-42 over the peloton, where Bora-Hansgrohe and Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl were controlling things.

The break was distanced by Tratnik and Valter on the climb of Tibi. Tratnik soloed across the peak with a lead of 2-18 over the bunch.

Movistar led the peloton into the bottom of the final climb, the Alto Antenas del Maigmó, with Tratnik still two minutes ahead. 

With 6km to go, the race swung off the main road onto a much narrower track up to the top of the climb. 

Movistar's Alejandro Valverde was the first to attack from the peloton, with 4.7km to go. The 41-year old was chased by Juan Ayuso of UAE Team Emirates, 22 years his junior, and the rest of the bunch. Valter was finally caught with 3.4km to go, with Tratnik swallowed up by the chasers soon after. 

The riders moved from tarmac to gravel with 2.9km to go, off-road at 10 per cent. Evenepoel was briefly distanced as Jakob Fuglsang of Israel-Premier Tech put the power down at the front, before joining the leaders again. 

Vlasov attacked on the final metres of the gravel section, distancing the four others behind, which included Evenepoel. Rodriguez left the race leader behind, who was accompanied by Fuglsang.

The Russian conquered the over 12 per cent gradients of the final kilometre, putting time into his rivals, and claiming only the seventh victory of his career, and his first for Bora-Hansgrohe.

Behind Evenepoel was distanced, and slipped down the general classification, as he came in 41 seconds behind Vlasov. Rodriguez's six bonus seconds for finishing second means the young Spaniard remains third on GC, just four seconds behind Evenepoel.

Results

Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana 2022, stage three: Alicante to Antenas del Maigmó (155.1km)

1. Aleksandre Vlasov (Rus) Bora-Hansgrohe, in 4-02-17
2. Carlos Rodriguez (Esp) Ineos Grenadiers, at 14s
3. Enric Mas (Esp) Movistar, at 21s
4. Pello Bilbao (Esp) Bahrain Victorious, at 29s
5. Alejandro Valverde (Esp) Movistar, same time
6. Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Israel-Premier, Tech at 32
7. Giulio Ciccone (Ita) Trek-Segafredo, at 35s
8. Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl, at 41s
9. Luis León Sánchez (Esp) Bahrain-Victorious, same time
10. David De La Cruz (Esp) Astana Qazaqstan, at 50s

General classification after stage three

1. Aleksandr Vlasov (Rus) Bora-Hansgrohe, in 12-28-39
2. Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl, at 32s
3. Carlos Rodriguez (Esp) Ineos Grenadiers, at 36s
4. Enric Mas (Esp) Movistar Team, at 50s
5. Alejandro Valverde (Esp) Movistar Team, at 1-02
6. Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Israel-Premier Tech, at 1-05
7. Luis León Sánchez (Esp) Bahrain Victorious, at 1-14
8. Giuliu Ciccone (Ita) Trek-Segafredo, at 2-00
9. Pavel Sivakov (Rus) Ineos Grenadiers, at 2-05
10. David De La Cruz (Esp) Astana-Qazaqstan, at 2-28

Going into his second year with Bora-Hansgrohe, Matt Walls feels like he is heading in the right direction in his nascent road cycling career.

The British sprinter, who won gold in the omnium at last year's Olympics, told the media at his team's press day that he was also still trying to figure out where he fits in as a rider.

"I believe I've improved on last year," Walls said. "I'm getting stronger as a rider, a bit more experienced too. So hopefully I can get some more results this year."

The Mancunian returned from Tokyo in top form, winning sprints at the Tour of Norway and at Gran Piemonte, beating established fast men like Giacomo Nizzolo, Mads Pedersen and Ethan Hayter in the process.

However, Walls is not convinced that he is a all-out bunch sprinter in the mould of Mark Cavendish or Sam Bennett. 

"I'm still trying to figure out where I fit in as a rider," Walls explained. "I don't think I'm going to be a full-on sprinter type, because of the way I'm built, but hopefully on some of the harder days, a little bit hilly but with a sprint as well, I should have a bit of a chance. 

"I think we will work well together. If the team needs me to work then I'll work. If I get my own chance, then I get my own chances."

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"I'll see over the next year or two," Walls continued. "See how I develop in the training that we're doing and the races, to see whether I'm going to be a pure sprinter or one where it's more of a reduced bunch sprint. 

"I can't really say now this is exactly what I'm going to be, but we have to wait and see how I am going to develop."

He will head to the Mallorca Challenge and Valenciana before riding Opening Weekend this year. If everything goes well, he said, he will ride his first grand tour, the Vuelta a España, this summer. The plan is for him to be the team's designated sprinter at some races this season.

"Hopefully I'll do the Vuelta, depending on how my season goes. It will be really nice to get a grand tour in, if I'm going well."

As well as being Olympic omnium champion, Walls also won silver in the madison with Hayter, and he hopes to continue to do some track work in combination with the demands of his road team.

"The team were really accommodating last year letting me do the Olympics and some track work," he said. "Hopefully I can mix it, when I'm not doing the road racing I can do a little bit of track. It helps me as a rider, and the team seem pretty happy with that."

Asked to elaborate on what he has learned from the track, Walls said: "I've been brought up on the track, I've been on the GB programme from when I was 15 or something."

"The track skills can come across well, like riding in a bunch and tactics, then the physical side is like the speed. It helps massively in the sprint, or it has at least for me. I know a few of the guys say the same."

As he heads into his second year with Bora-Hansgrohe, Walls is still adjusting to life in the WorldTour, but sees his German team as a good place to be.

"I'd only ever been on GB teams before this," he said. "It was a big change coming into an international team, but it has been really good. I get on with all the riders and the staff, and it just feels easy. 

"There's not really any struggle or anything like that, and everyone is just as supportive. That was the good thing with British Cycling, there's a lot of support around you, but it's the same here."

Sam Bennett will not speak about the breakdown of his relationship with Quick Step and Patrick Lefevere. Instead, he wants to "focus on the year ahead".

The Irish sprinter has returned to Bora-Hansgrohe, which he says feels like home. It was an "easy decision", Bennett explained.

"I was happy here before, I had more wins here the season before I left than I did the last two years. I know I can win again here. I have a great coach, a great bike, and the staff are amazing here."

Speaking to the media on Bora-Hansgrohe's virtual press day, Bennett spoke with ambition and drive about the year ahead and his new team.

Together with Max Schachmann, Felix Grossschartner, and Aleksandr Vlasov, the Irishman will target the Tour de France, with a new lead-out train being built around him.

Made up of Danny van Poppel, Ryan Mullen and Shane Archibold, all three of whom have moved to Bora this winter as well, the train has the potenital to be better than Quick Step's Bennett said.

"I wouldn't have asked to work with these guys if I didn't think it was possible. We just have to do it on the road I suppose. I don't think straight up we'll be better than them, for sure we will match them, but in time it can be better."

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"Danny has been a fantastic sprinter the last couple of years," Bennett explained. "I think he knows what I need and what I want. He's a guy with great power. Shane, I've worked with for so many years and I know what he's capable of, and also Ryan Mullen, he's an animal. 

"We're all quite strong guys individually, and when we come together we have a good morale, and we work together. The stronger you are, the more clear your decisions are in the final, and you're able to react to certain scenarios or maybe fix mistakes, by using power. We will catch on pretty quick, everybody is motivated, we all get along super well."

It was knee problems which kept Bennett out of so much racing in 2021, including the Tour de France. Fortunately for him and his new team, he described it as "fine", adding that there was no pain anymore.

Everything seems "on track" for this season, he said. "I've surprised myself with some of the days [at the training camp]. I still have a bit of catching up to do with the sprint work. I'm getting the hours in, I think it was my first six-hour ride since Gent-Wevelgem, but the body reacted well to it. 

"I'm quite happy. Building quite slowly, but everything seems to be on track."

Asked to name his biggest rivals for sprints in 2022, Bennett name checked Dylan Groenewegen, Caleb Ewan and former teammate Fabio Jakobsen, although he was "sure I'm leaving somebody out".

He said that it was better to have more contenders than just a couple in sprint finishes, saying that you have to become the "master of chaos".

"The more sprinters there are, the better," Bennett explained. "When it's one on one it's harder, but when there are multiple guys, you just kind of become master of the chaos. 

"I think I know how everybody works, and you pick up on their weaknesses and where you can catch them out. I think I'm pretty good at not knowing how I'm going to win, but once I'm on the road I can race and make a decision quick. I should be able to manage it."

Before a return to the Tour de France in July, where in 2020 he won the green jersey and two stages, he will target Milan-San Remo. The monument used to be known as a sprinter's race, but in recent years all-rounders like Wout van Aert and Julian Alaphilippe have been to the fore.

However, Bennett thinks that the race is well within his capabilities, despite never finishing higher than 42nd, last year.

"It's a hard one, because often you build up your whole winter towards San Remo, he said. At the moment, I've been building a little bit slower. I won't be at the same level as last year, because I haven't raced in so long. I won't be at my absolute best for it, but I hope to be close enough. 

"One mistake I made last year I chased too much form in Paris-Nice by going in breakaways. It's about getting the right balance. In top form, I can often climb really well, and the Poggio should suit me, and the fight for position into the bottom should suit me.

"On paper it should, it's just a lot can happen in the six hours before, and a lot has to go right. It seems like less of a sprinter's race, but it should be within my capabilities."

The Irishman also told the media that he does not need results to build his confidence, he knows when he is good. This should mean he can move on from his 2021 - where despite seven victories, none came past May - quickly.

"I get my confidence from the work I have done, he said. "So when I can see the numbers, that's where I get my confidence from. I know sometimes guys needs results, but I just need to see the stats. 

"You get morale from team improvements, and when you can see yourself improving and going in the right direction, you get the motiviation, the hunger comes back and it feeds itself."

Bora-Hansgrohe have released their new kit for the upcoming 2022 season.

The German squad's new strip is a darker offering compared to last year's jersey, while still maintaining their recognisable green colour scheme, and is more reminiscent of their special 2021 Tour de France kit, which dispensed with the chevrons of the past few years.

Different shades of green are incorporated in a block design, title sponsors Bora and Hansgrohe of course once again displayed prominently across the chest. One sleeve is green while the other is black, both sporting 'XBO' sponsor logos.

A splash of red is a fresh twist, found on the stomach and on the knees, and is a new addition made by Le Col in their first strip for the team after their partnership was announced in September.

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The change of kit supplier comes after Sportful, who used to make the team's kits, announced they will be moving on along with Sagan and his entourage of riders, staff and other sponsors to Team TotalEnergies. This has opened up the opportunity for Le Col to re-join the WorldTour after a season out.

“We hope to set a new benchmark together, most notably in terms of aerodynamics and performance, as this area has become increasingly important over the recent years," Bora-Hansgrohe team manager, Ralph Denk, said. "Le Col's resources, know-how and experience are highly promising here and we are very much looking forward to working together.”

“Over the past year, the Le Col team and I have spent long hours working on a world-beating aerodynamic package for the Bora-Hansgrohe team," Le Col founder, Yanto Barker, added. 

"We’re incredibly excited to be back in the UCI World Tour with Bora-Hansgrohe, a team we have admired and aspired to work with for a long time. We are honoured to be working with some of the greatest riders in the world and we are especially looking forward to providing their performance cycling kit for the coming season."

Max Schachmann wants to go for a third Paris-Nice win in a row, but intends to maintain his form for targets later in the season. 

German road race champion Schachmann has taken the top step at the 'race to the sun' in the past two seasons, winning the 2020 edition in fine fashion and taking the 2021 race on the final day after the yellow jersey wearer Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma) crashed twice.

Bora-Hansgrohe have set the rider targets to try and aim for in the latter part of the season for 2022, he wants to be more than just the new Mr Paris-Nice.

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"Of course I have ambitions there, but we are also trying to reach my top form a little later in the season," he told Radsport-News.

"Overall, I can be satisfied with this season. That is also reflected in my win in the annual Radsport-News ranking. But it's no secret that things were clearly better up to and including the Olympics than after that.”

“I had prepared meticulously for the Olympic Games and the Vuelta a España in the second half of the season. But especially in the Vuelta it didn't go as I had imagined."

Schachmann abandoned the Spanish Grand Tour on stage 13 after not really showing himself to have the legs to compete. This came after a solid ride at the Olympics with a 10th in the road race and 15th in the time trial.

But defending his title at Paris-Nice was his highlight of 2021: "This is something that will last for life. Defending Paris-Nice was a special feeling."

He was vague about the upcoming season goals saying "we are still planning,” but revealed he would start his season at the Mallorca Challenge before heading to Paris-Nice once again.

"Of course I have ambitions, but we also tried to postpone the end of my form a little further into the season."

The first race in the Mallorca Challenge is the Trofeo Calvia on January 26. The German is also expected to race the Ardennes Classics as well as possibly the cobbles after Paris-Roubaix at the end of the 2021 season, finishing 77th.

Matt Walls said that winning at the Italian Classic of Gran Piemonte "shows that I can perform on the top level" as he beats some of the world's best sprinters.

Walls, who is coming to the end of his first year as a professional road rider with Bora-Hansgrohe, followed the wheels perfectly to then launch a powerful sprint to the line, beating the likes of Giacomo Nizzolo (Qhubekta-NextHash).

The 23-year-old has shown some superb form throughout the season with top 10s at the Tour de la Provence, gold in the Omnium at the Tokyo Olympic Games as well as victory on a stage of the Tour of Norway.

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Speaking after the race, Walls said: "The boys did a really good job getting me towards the closing kilometres and I picked a good wheel. I came off and I had enough in the tank for the sprint."

The wheel he picked was indeed a good one, as it was Argentinian Max Richeze (UAE Team Emirates), who was in the process of leading out Matteo Trentin.

"They were all there coming towards the end, I saw my opportunity to go and I went for it," Walls continued.

"It was pretty hectic coming in towards the finish, there were a couple of crashes or something, but I think it [track cycling skills] helped a lot being able to position myself well in the bunch."

A late chicane saw a few riders, such as Elia Viviani (Cofidis) pull out of contention for the win, but Walls was perfectly placed. 

"It's really big," he said. "It shows that I can perform on the top level on the road - I knew I could do it on the track after the Olympics. So it's nice to be able to do that on the road as well."

Walls managed to hold off Nizzolo who was finishing with a lot of speed as well as 19-year-old Olav Kooij (Jumbo-Visma) who had crashed with 18km to go, but still put in a strong sprint to take third.

Bora-Hansgrohe have announced that British kit brand Le Col will be making their kits for the 2022 season.

The German-registered squad parted ways with the kit brand Sportful after it followed Peter Sagan to his new team of Team TotalEnergies. 

This is Le Col's second time in the WorldTour after previously working with Bahrain-McLaren. 

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Bora-Hansgrohe manager, Ralph Denk, said: "I am very happy to have found a performance partner in Le Col, who shares our passion for the sport. 

"[Le Col founder] Yanto Barker was a rider himself, and right from our first conversation, we found ourselves to be on the same wavelength. He understands exactly what is necessary to be successful in modern cycling and is able to implement feedback from the riders very well with his team. 

"We hope to set a new benchmark together, most notably in terms of aerodynamics and performance, as this area has become increasingly important over the recent years. Le Col's resources, know-how and experience are highly promising here and we are very much looking forward to working together."

Barker was a pro rider for 14 years with the Brit retiring in 2017, after a career spent with Team Raleigh and One Pro Cycling. 

Barker himself said: "Over the past year, the Le Col team and I have spent long hours working on initial designs tailoring for the Bora-Hansgrohe team. 

"We’re incredibly excited to be back in the UCI WorldTour with Bora-Hansgrohe, a team we have admired and aspired to be working with for a long time. We are honoured to be working with some of the greatest riders in the world and especially looking forward to providing their performance cycling kit for the coming season."

The current kit make for the German team is Sportful, but they will be moving on along with Sagan and his entourage of riders, staff and other sponsors. This has opened up the opportunity for Le Col to re-join the WorldTour after a season out. 

The new kit designs for the 2022 season are not expected to come out until at least January.

Sam Bennett is re-joining Bora-Hansgrohe after two years away.

The Irish sprinter has spent the last two seasons with Deceuninck - Quick-Step, where he won multiple Tour de France stages and claimed the prestigious green jersey in 2020.

But relations between Bennett and Deceuninck team boss Patrick Lefevere have deteriorated over the last few months, with Lefevere saying Bennett was “the epitome of mental weakness.” 

After Bennett skipped the Tour de France due to a knee injury, rumours began to emerge that the 30-year-old would be leaving the team at the end of the season, with Bora the most likely candidate.

On Tuesday (August 3), the German WorldTour team confirmed that Bennett has re-signed with the squad for the 2022 season, along with a new sprint train. 

Bennett said: “I am very excited about returning to Bora–Hansgrohe. I had six incredible years with this team and I really feel like I grew up as a pro rider during this period. It was a really difficult decision to leave, but I decided I needed to continue my professional and personal development in a new environment. While some may have questioned my decision at the time, I believe it is the right move for me to return to Bora-Hansgrohe. I have enjoyed two great years at Deceuninck - Quick-Step, my boyhood dream team, and have continued my development both on and off the bike whilst making lifelong friendships. However, I feel ready to go back home to be the team leader that I want to be, and know Bora-Hansgrohe also wants me to be.”

Bennett stepped up to WorldTour level as Bora moved up from Pro Continental tier in 2017, but he left the team at the end of 2019 after he was forced to step aside in the biggest races to make way for Peter Sagan and Pascal Ackermann.

He then went onto his biggest success in his debut season with Deceuninck, winning two stages of the Tour, the green jersey, and a stage of the Vuelta a Espana.

But in 2021,  Bennett was forced to skip the Tour due to injury, making way for Mark Cavendish, as Patrick Lefevere suggested the injury was more mental than physical.  

Bennett will now be joining Bora with Irishman Ryan Mullen, Shane Archbold and Danny van Poppel all joining to form his lead-out train.

Bora is having to rebuild its sprint unit, as both Peter Sagan and Ackermann are leaving the team at the end of the year.  

Team manager Ralph Denk said: “We've been together for several years, he turned pro with us and we developed him into one of the best sprinters in the peloton. It's no secret that his departure hurt us a lot at the time. However, I can understand that he felt that step was important for his career. I’d say that only worked out partially. 

“We are a team that places a lot of value on cohesion, respect and sustainable cooperation, as we believe that these are the foundations for long-term success. You can have disagreements sometimes. However, as long as you treat each other with respect, you will always find each other again.”  

Peter Sagan has announced that he will be leaving German team Bora-Hansgrohe at the end of the 2021 season.

Star sprinter Pascal Ackermann, who the squad previously favoured over Sam Bennett, will also be leaving the team. 

The three-time world champion posted on social media that he will not be extending his contract, thanking the team for helping him achieve some of his biggest goals over the years.

In his Instagram post the Slovakian star said: "Today, I would like to announce that a cycle is closing in my professional career and that I will not renew my contract with Bora-Hansgrohe beyond the end of the 2021 season.

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"I would like to express my appreciation to Ralph Denk, Willi Bruckbauer, the team sponsors, all my teammates, and the entire staff of Bora-Hansgrohe for their support and their confidence in me during these five seasons. We have achieved so many things and even in difficult times, we stuck together. I think that we weren't just team-mates, we were part of a big family."

Sagan spent five years with the team after joining them from Tinkoff in 2017. He since went on to be dominant in the sport for the team adding a third successive world title as well as winning Paris-Roubaix and breaking the record for the most point jersey wins at the Tour de France. He also surpassed 100 race wins with Bora-Hansgrohe.

"However," continued Sagan, "after a long and thorough discussion with my own management and under a mutual agreement with Bora-Hansgrohe, we came to the decision that it would be best if my cycle in the team came to a close and that a new chapter opened in my career. Change is part of life and growth.

"I'm sure Bora-Hansgrohe will continue to be successful and I wish them all the best in the coming seasons."

Bora-Hansgrohe have confirmed the departure of both Sagan and Ackermann, saying they did not achieve the expected results in recent seasons. 

Team manager Ralph Denk said: "I would firstly like to say that both riders are important parts of our team and we have been able to celebrate many successes together over the past years. For this, I am grateful. 

"We have already made some strategic decisions and ultimately, Peter decided that there is another option available to him that is more in line with his ideas. I have full respect for that. Nevertheless, it is a great shame, because Peter is part of our success story and has contributed much to our development.

"Pascal also had an offer from us. He turned pro with the team and I think we also contributed a lot to developing him into one of the best sprinters in the peloton. We would have loved to continue working with Pascal, but he decided it was time for something new. A change of pace can sometimes be important, I can understand that, but I would have preferred him to take on the coming years with us." 

It is expected that Sagan will be joining French UCI ProTeam, Team TotalEnergies along with a group of other Bora-Hansgrohe riders as well as the American bike brand, Specialized and multiple staff members with a move that will cost the team €8 million.

But the last time TotalEnergies owner, Jean-René Bernaudeau, spoke on the matter of signing certain riders he said he was still waiting for the rider's signatures. Perhaps, with this announcement, that is now sorted.

Teams are allowed the announce their new signings for the 2022 season from August 1 but riders are not allowed to be seen in the new kit until Janaury 1, unless they have agreed the break contract with the team.

Jai Hindley is all set to join German squad Bora-Hansgrohe for the 2022 season after four seasons at Team DSM, according to reports.

The 25-year-old from Australia wasn't able to manage his unexpected second place at the Giro d'Italia last year and now is seemingly going to join his former team-mates Wilco Kelderman and Lennard Kämna at Bora-Hansgrohe.

According to the Dutch site, Wielerflits, several sources have confirmed the move between the two German registered teams, with DSM wanting Hindley to go for stage wins in Grand Tours and not the overall which Hindley wanted to go for.

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Hindley is one of the biggest names at DSM who have a contract expiring at the end of this season, while Ilan Van Wilder and Søren Kragh Andersen both reportedly want to end their time with the team despite having a contract for 2022.

This is not new for Team DSM, former high-profile riders who have broken away from the squad include Marcel Kittel, Warren Barguil, Tom Dumoulin, and more recently, Marc Hirschi who joined UAE Team Emirates at the start of this season after being photographed in the DSM kit in January.

Michael Matthews also terminated his contract early with the team to rejoin the Australian squad, Team BikeExchange.

It was rumoured in April that Hindley would be joining Trek-Segafredo but team boss, Luca Guercilena, denied the claims.

Hindley joining Bora-Hansgrohe would add to the ever-increasing GC possibilities in the team with Emanuel Buchmann, Giovanni Aleotti, Kelderman, Kämna, and Patrick Konrad already putting in good performances.

Bora seems to be heading in that direction too as the team look to be allowing both Peter Sagan and Pascal Ackermann to leave. They are reported to be joining Team TotalEnergies and UAE Team Emirates respectively. 

Although original rumours were that Sam Bennett (Deceuninck - Quick-Step) would be rejoining Bora for 2022, news of that move has quietened down in recent weeks.

Pascal Ackermann has publicly voiced his disappointment with his Bora-Hansgrohe team boss Ralph Denk after he apparently promised the sprinter a place on the Tour de France team; a place he did not get.

The German was due to get his first go at the French Grand Tour in 2021 as team leader Peter Sagan looked to add the Giro d'Italia points jersey to his collection. He succeeded in this and then decided to ride the Tour in search of an eighth green jersey.

Ackermann, who has already won the points jersey at the Giro, has struggled for form in 2021 and has not managed a win this season. The highest place he has managed is third, which he has achieved five times this year.

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In an interview with RadSport-News, Ackermann said: "I was just about to go to motorpacing and get the final touches for the tour when Ralph [Denk] called me. Until then, I assumed that I would be doing the tour. But then I stopped first, and you can imagine the rest.

"I am more than disappointed, I have to say. Ralph was always a man who kept his word. But this time he definitely did not. It was said that I will be doing the Tour for three years. And that is always the case that I shouldn't worry about it. Without this promise, I would not have signed the contract back then. You have to see that too. That's why I am extremely disappointed."

Ackermann has been linked to a move away from the German squad to join UAE Team Emirates, according to Ciro Scognamiglio, a journalist at Gazzetta dello Sport with further reports saying that Sam Bennett (Deceuninck - Quick-Step) will rejoin his old team.

In a press conference, Denk said: "In the end, we decided against Pascal because we think that he is simply not in the form at the moment to give a successful Tour premiere"

But Ackermann contradicted his team boss and said: "Of course there was no victory now, but that is no reason for me not to be allowed to participate if the form is right. And it was right.

"If I knew that I'm not in shape, I would understand. But everyone knows, and you can see that from the data, that it's definitely not the shape. I can't understand this reason. He knows that and the team knows that too. That's why I'm so disappointed."

Bora-Hansgrohe's team does look far more focused towards Sagan and the mountains. Sagan has key domestiques around him with Nils Politt, Daniel Oss, Lukas Pöstlberger, and Grand Tour debutant Ide Schelling all making the team.

The climbers in the team include Wilco Kelderman, who finished third in the Giro in 2020, along with Patrick Konrad and Emanuel Buchmann, who returns to racing after crashing out of the Giro earlier this year.

Another rider who has shown excellent form this season is former German champion, Max Schachmann, but he has not been selected for the Tour as he puts all his focus into the upcoming Olympic Games.

The Tour de France starts on June 26 in Brest for the Grand Départ before meandering its way around the country with a brief dip into Andorra, then finishing in Paris on the Champs-Élysées three weeks later.

Peter Sagan has been confirmed in Bora-Hansgrohe’s team for the 2021 Tour de France where he’ll attempt win a record-breaking eighth green jersey. 

The Slovakian will share leadership duties with Wilco Kelderman who will target the race’s general classification.

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All eyes, however, will be fixed on Sagan who in 2020 missed out on the green jersey to Irishman Sam Bennett. 

Sagan had an indifferent season last year but has been in impressive form so far in 2021 after a delay to his campaign due to a positive Covid-19 test.

After winning stages at the Volta a Catalunya and Tour de Romandie, the 31-year-old claimed a stage at the Giro d’Italia and then wrapped up the points classification in the season’s first Grand Tour.

His main aim of the year, though, is undisputed: to regain the green jersey in the Tour that he has dominated in the past decade.

Attempts to win the points classification for an eighth time will be aided by the expected absence of Bennett who is likely to be denied the chance to defend green due to injury.

Kelderman, meanwhile, will be looking to prove that his third place in last year’s Giro d’Italia was no fluke and he is capable of being a consistent threat in Grand Tours.

The Dutchman, who joined the German team from Team DSM in the winter, led the Giro for two days before falling away and settling for the final spot on the podium. 

He will be backed in the mountains in France by a strong team, including Emanuel Buchmann who finished fourth in the Tour in 2019. The team have stated that the goal is a top-five for Kelderman.

Buchmann was in sixth place at the recent Giro when he crashed out on stage 15. His presence in the mountains will be a huge assist to Kelderman, who will also be supported by Lukas Pöstlberger and Patrick Konrad. 

Sagan will be led out by Daniel Oss, with Nils Pilott and Ide Schelling rounding off what is a strong and varied team.

Patrick Lefevere has said he doesn’t want to sign Peter Sagan because of the star rider’s entourage. 

Sagan, former three-time world champion, is famed for taking a team of riders and staff with him during each trance, who all form part of contract negotiations for the Slovakian star. 

As Sagan’s contract with Bora-Hansgrohe comes to an end this season, he has been linked to a number of potential new squads in recent weeks, with Lefevere’s Deceuninck - Quick-Step one of the more enticing rumours. 

Team boss Lefevere has now confirmed in his column for Belgian newspaper Het Nieuwsblad that he was involved in talks with Sagan’s agent, but that he put a halt to the talks because he “doesn’t want a team within his team.” 

Lefevere said that the Sagan rumours started as Deceuninck - Quick-Step signed a new long-term deal with bike sponsor Specialized, which will run until 2027.

As part of the contract talks, Deceuninck - Quick-Step owner Zdenek Bakala went cycling with Specialized CEO Mike Sinyard, where Sagan’s name came up. 

Sagan also has a long-term sponsorship deal with Specialized, with the team’s owner Bakala suggesting that Sagan could join Deceuninck. 

“Everything fitted together well, but I immediately put on the brakes,” Lefevere said. 

Sagan’s agent Giovanni Lombardi then wanted to open talks, according to Lefevere, adding that he met with the agent.

Lombardi said that Sagan’s entourage of 11 riders and staff was not set in stone, as many of Sagan’s personal team had found new jobs.

But the Sagan camp did want to bring eight people along, Lefevere said, with Sagan now believed to be in talks with another team willing to take on his entourage.

Lefevere said: “Great of Sagan that he take such good care of his faithful, but I don’t want a team within my team. That cannot be reconciled with the Wolfpack philosophy.” 

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Sagan’s current entourage at Bora-Hansgrohe includes four riders - Erik Baska, Maciej Bodnar, Daniel Oss and his brother Juraj - along with two mechanics, two caretakers, a sports director, a press officer, and a hospitality manager, according to Lefevere.

Earlier this week Sagan was linked to French ProTeam Total Direct Energie, who are believed to be pursuing WorldTour status and need a star rider to lead the team. 

Peter Sagan looked very strong on stage one of the Tour de Romandie 2021, beating a strong field of sprinters including Italian Sonny Colbrelli who finished second behind the Slovakian.

Speaking after the finish, Sagan has thanked his team for their "continued support" as his contract with Bora-Hansgrohe is in doubt for next season.

Sagan was perfectly placed going into the final few corners as he battled for Colbrelli's (Bahrain Victorious) wheel. His team relied mostly on the team of the overall leader Rohan Dennis (Ineos Grenadiers) to do most of the day's work before starting their chase with around 40km to go.

The former three-time world champion has not raced the Tour de Romandie since 2010 where he won ahead of Francesco Gavazzi (then Lampre-Farnese Vini) and Nicolas Roche (then Ag2r La Mondiale) in a bunch sprint to take his third ever career victory.

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Speaking after the finish, Sagan said: "I'm really happy to win again in the Tour de Romandie. In 2010 I had taken the first road stage and here I am eleven years later with another victory.

"I have to thank my teammates for their great job today, in the last two laps they were pulling in the front and after the last climb, they held the bunch together.

"It feels nice after three weeks without any racing to come here and win, probably the only stage suited to me because the following ones will be very hard. Thanks as well to the whole team and its sponsors for their continuous support."

Last month, Bora-Hansgrohe team manager Ralph Denk raised doubts about Sagan's future with the team, questioning how long the three-time world champion can justify his salary with his performances on the road.

Sagan, who put in a very strong time in the prologue on the race's first day, has now moved up to fifth in the overall standings just twelve seconds behind Dennis and three seconds behind Geraint Thomas and Richie Porte (both Ineos Grenadiers) on the podium spots.

Team sports director, Jan Valach said: "It was a nice stage for us today but a hard one as well, with 2,600 metres of altitude gain. The goal we had set was to win, we all worked towards it and we achieved it.

"We controlled from the start to avoid having a big breakaway group, Juraj [Sagan], Jordi [Meeus], and Marcus Burghardt put in a big effort to keep things under control. Juraj and Jordi contributed to catching the break while Burgi placed the squad in the right position before the final climb.

"Then, Ben [Zwiehoff] was essential in bringing back all the late attacks in the closing, flat, kilometres. This excellent teamwork was finally capped off with a good sprint by Peter and a stage win.

"Last but certainly not least, Wilco [Kelderman] was always in the leading front group and finished safely with the main GC contenders."

Stage two suits a rider who can get over the hills but also have a fast finish. It could potentially be another perfect day for Sagan, but he comes up against some very solid riders like Marc Hirschi (UAE Team Emirates) and Alexey Lutsenko (Astana-Premier Tech).

Peter Sagan took stage one of the Tour de Romandie 2021 after showing good pace in the bunch finish beating Sonny Colbrelli on the line after the Italian had a perfect lead-out to the last 150 metres.

Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) had not won a stage of this race since his third ever career victory several years ago, but he showed very strong pace to beat Colbrelli (Bahrain Victorious) and Patrick Bevin (Israel Start-Up Nation) in the dash to the line.

Six riders went up in the break to battle for the mountain points available throughout the stage but they could not hold off the peloton that was led all day by Ineos Grenadiers. Ineos also hold their positions in the overall with Rohan Dennis leading team-mates Geraint Thomas and Richie Porte going into stage two.

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How it happened

The stage started in Aigle before the riders took on four laps of a finishing circuit around Martigny over 168.1km with nine categorised climbs along the way. Unfortunately, British rider Harry Tanfield (Qhubeka-Assos) did not start on stage two.

Six riders got up in the day's break and pulled out a maximum gap of five minutes. Those riders were Filippo Conca (Lotto-Soudal), Alexis Gougeard (Ag2r-Citroën), Thymen Arensman (DSM), Robert Power (Qhubeka-Assos), Manuele Boaro (Astana-Premier Tech), Joel Suter (Swiss National Team).

Ineos Grenadiers controlled the pace of the peloton slowly bringing the gap down to the break with the gap dipping under two minutes with 65km to go before the penultimate ascents of the Produit and Chamoson climbs.

Suter took maximum points on all of the climbs before the final lap, taking the mountains jersey for the third stage. He went solo on the Produit climb with 60km to go to try and solo over the Chamoson, solidifying his position in the mountains competition.

The Swiss rider continued to push on a bit to distance the rest of the break with about 28 seconds at the bottom of the descent but sat up to allow the chasers to rejoin him.

Bora-Hansgrohe started to work with Ineos at the 50km to go mark as they looked for a stage win from Sagan. BikeExchange and Bahrain Victorious were the next teams to join in with the chase with 45km to go bringing the gap down below two minutes.

The pace started to rocket just before the final time up the two climbs with 30km to go with multiple teams coming to the front to hold position on the very narrow roads on the climbs. This frantic chase brought the gap well below a minute to the break.

Ineos led onto the climb with all their main men at the front as they looked to keep everything calm to avoid attacks. The break had 20 seconds at the base of the Produit climb with 28km to go.

Gougeard was the first rider pulled back with the break splitting to pieces on the climb with Arensman using the ascent to go clear. Suter tried to stay with the young Dutchman but the DSM rider, Arensman, pushed on solo, dropping the rest of the break.

Arensman was the last man to be caught too as the rest of the break was brought back over the top of the first climb as the rain started to fall with 25km to go. Arensman hit the final climb with just a 12-second gap on the peloton.

Ineos controlled the pace so no riders tried to get away on the climbs with Arensman brought back with 18km to go. The peloton was not going fast at all so Rémi Cavagna (Deceuninck - Quick-Step) kicked solo to try and take the stage win and the overall lead as he started the day at just 11 seconds behind Rohan Dennis (Ineos Grenadiers).

The move by Cavagna forced BikeExchange and Bahrain Victorious to chase the French time trial champion with 16km to go. Cavagna was brought back but tried again with team-mate Mattia Cattaneo as well as Damien Howson (BikeExchange) and Sébastien Reichenbach (Groupama-FDJ) with 10km to go.

That, again, was brought back with the sprint teams then taking on the control into the final 8km as they were riding into a headwind on the way to Martigny. Groupama-FDJ and EF Education-Nippo moved up in the last 4km.

As the race went into the final 2km it was Bahrain Victorious who took up the pacing with just one rider in front of Colbrelli. The Italian sprinter was perfectly guided through the tricky damp turns all the way till 150 metres to go when he kicked for the line.

Unfortunately for him, former world champion Sagan had more speed after using his slipstream as a slingshot to get around and take the win.

Ineos remain in control of the podium spots as it stands with Thomas looking like the main focus for the team. He still sits in second behind Dennis with another GC possibility, Porte being the next in line in third.

Stage two takes on a lot more climbing with six categorised climbs on the menu, five of which are category two with the final kick being a category one.

The stage  starts in La Neuveville and takes on a very hilly stage over a distance of 165.7km to Saint-Imier where we may see a small group sprint for the line.

Results

Tour de Romandie 2021 stage one, Aigle to Martigny (168.1km)

1. Peter Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe, in 4-12-40

2. Sonny Colbrelli (Ita) Bahrain Victorious

3. Patrick Bevin (NZl) Israel Start-Up Nation

4. Andrea Pasqualon (Ita) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux

5. Alessandro Covi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates

6. Magnus Cort (Den) EF Education-Nippo

7. Dion Smith (NZl) Team BikeExchange

8. Clément Venturini (Fra) Ag2r-Citroën Team

9. Mattia Cattaneo (Ita) Deceuninck - Quick-Step

10. Jacopo Mosca (Ita) Trek-Segafredo, all at same time

General classification after stage one

1. Rohan Dennis (Aus) Ineos Grenadiers, in 4-18-06

2. Geraint Thomas (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers, at 9 seconds

3. Richie Porte (Aus) Ineos Grenadiers, at same time

4. Rémi Cavagna (Fra) Deceuninck - Quick-Step, at 11s

5. Peter Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe, at 12s

6. Jan Tratnik (Slo) Bahrain Victorious, at 13s

7. Patrick Bevin (NZl) Israel Start-Up Nation, at 14s

8. Jesús Herrada (Esp) Cofidis, at same time

9. Marc Hirschi (Sui) UAE Team Emirates, at 15s

10. Mattia Cattaneo (Ita) Deceuninck - Quick-Step, at same time.

For all of those bored to death by the mentions that Primož Roglič used to be a ski jumper, fear not!

Bora-Hansgrohe announced last year they would be signing prominent ski mountaineer Anton 'Toni' Palzer for the 2021 season, the German swapping the snow for tarmac in April after his final skiing commitments were done.

A friend of the team's Austrian rider Lukas Pöstlberger, Palzer has been in conversation with Bora-Hansgrohe management for some time and harboured dreams of switching to cycling for a while, impressing the German team when he joined them at a training camp last summer. "It was soon clear that some of his performance values, such as his V02 max, were exceptional," said coach Helmut Dollinger.

Palzer has now completed his first-ever pro race, having lined up at the Tour of the Alps, coming inside the top 100 on each stage and finishing 47th overall, only 20 minutes behind race winner Simon Yates (BikeExchange).

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Both the 28-year-old and his sports directors say he's doing better than they could have hoped.

"It's going better than I or the sports directors expected. I am surprised that I can just ride along. You just have to look not at the ranking, but at the time gap to first place," Palzer told Sueddeutsche. "I was able to maintain this gap over four hours of riding, 3,000 meters of altitude and 165 kilometres. So I'm already satisfied with my performance. But the final punch is still missing."

As well as getting acquainted with the demands of the peloton, he's also started meeting its members, who have been complimentary about his seemingly flawless transition across sports.

"On Wednesday, for example, I met Simon Yates and Gianni Moscon at the doping control. They asked me how I actually do it - that I can keep up, even though just a month ago I was only on skis. My team-mate Felix Großschartner also said that I was doing really well. That makes me happy."

Palzer says he can't yet bring 100 per cent of the power he is used to using on skis to riding, but that cardiovascularly he doesn't reach his limit, even at altitude.

"You really have to go over the limit very often. About ten to 20 times a day," Palzer says of what it's like to ride in a WorldTour peloton. "And that's just so that you can keep up at all. At some points it gets easier again...then you ride in the slipstream on flat roads, for example. You simply can't give up. You really have to polish your face a few times in order to keep up. You must never lose heart."

He says his threshold power is 370 watts, and that in the first three minutes of a climb you're exceeding 500 watts, but when he sees riders of Chris Froome's stature struggling it gives him confidence.

"I'm still lacking the race hardness. I've even ridden next to Chris Froome a few times now. The guy has won the Tour de France four times. And he just burst away, he couldn't take it anymore. If he's already so beat up, what do I want?" he said.

For now, it looks like the decision to trade skis for a saddle has paid off, but Palzer's not stopping there and expects big things of himself in the years to come.

"It was the right decision [to switch sport]. I'm mega motivated to become really good at the sport and I also believe that I can do that," Palzer said. "When I look at what I can do now with just zero experience and zero bike kilometres. I'm convinced that I'll be able to do something good in a few years."

Simon Yates took the overall title after stage five of the Tour of the Alps 2021 with Felix Großschartner holding on from the breakaway to cross the line first and take the stage victory.

Yates' squad, Team BikeExchange, had control of the race for almost the entire day despite 16 riders including Irishman Dan Martin (Israel Start-Up Nation) going clear in the breakaway. Almost all of the break was brought back on the final climb with Yates's team-mates neutralising any attack.

Großschartner (Bora-Hansgrohe) attacked the leading group at the base of the final climb to go clear from the rest with no-one able to follow the Austrian climber. He quickly pulled out a convincing lead and descended to victory.

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Nicolas Roche (DSM) and Alessandro De Marchi (Israel Start-Up Nation) tried to hold off the peloton to take the podium spaces on the stage with Roche managing to out-sprint De Marchi.

Yates finished comfortably within the peloton along with Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious) and Aleksandr Vlasov (Astana-Premier Tech) who stayed at 58 seconds and 1-06 in GC.

How it happened

The stage started in the town of Idroland at Valle del Chiese before tackling the five climbs of the day during the 120.9km, only two of the climbs were categorised on the way to Riva del Garda.

The peloton passed the finish line three times before the finish as the riders took on the Lago di Tenno climb twice, with just the first passage giving out points in the mountains competition. The other categorised climb on the day came earlier on the Passo Duron.

A huge breakaway of 16 riders got away including potential threats to the overall including Martin who slipped down the general classification on stage four after crashing on the fast descent. He started the day just over four minutes down in 14th place.

The break held a maximum gap of three minutes but was not giving much breathing space due to the dangerous riders in the general classification.

The break broke down with Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ), Roche, De Marchi, Georg Steinhauser (Tirol-KTM), Großschartner, Tony Gallopin (Ag2r-Citroën) and Julen Amezqueta (Caja Rural) going clear before the first ascent of the Tenno climb.

Trek-Segafredo were put onto the front to chase down the break to try and go for the stage but they had just over two minutes with 38km to go. Astana-Premier Tech started really pushing the tempo with Luis León Sánchez leading birthday boy Aleksandr Vlasov to maybe set up an attack at the 32km to go mark.

Nothing came of that move and BikeExchange retook control of the peloton on the descent down to the second of three passages of the finish line.

The chasing group were slowly catching the leaders had Martin in there as well as Iván Sosa (Ineos Grenadiers), Michael Storer (DSM), Matteo Fabbro (Bora-Hansgrohe), Vadim Pronskiy (Astana-Premier Tech) and Hermann Pernsteiner (Bahrain Victorious) but they struggled to make it across.

Gianluca Brambilla (Trek-Segafredo) attacked on the first descent of the Tenno climb and really committed to the chase, almost overcooking a sharp hairpin on the way down. He caught Martin on the valley bottom.

The leaders were working well together coming into the second ascent of the Tenno with 22km to go, they held just over a minute on the chasing peloton as they crossed the finish line for the penultimate time.

Most of the chasing groups were brought back before the final ascent. This included Brambilla and Martin as well as Sosa’s group. Storer hit out alone to try and bridge to the leaders.

Storer managed to get across to the leaders on the early slopes of the climb but Großschartner had launched an early attack. Pinot and Steinhauser got dropped straight away. Amezqueta and Roche then lost touch as Gallopin and De Marchi continued the chase of the Austrian climber.

But Großschartner only held about 40 seconds back to the chasing peloton that was still being led by Yates’ team of BikeExchange with Ineos Grenadiers following closely. An Astana-Premier Tech rider clipped a wheel and went down hard taking out several riders on the climb, most of the riders fighting for the overall managed to avoid the spill with 17km to go.

The Austrian extended his lead again thanks to his fast pace pushing the gap to Roche and De Marchi to 43 seconds and 1-30 back to the peloton. The first attack went away with Alejandro Osorio (Caja Rural) launching the first move from the peloton.

Nairo Quintana (Arkéa-Samsic) and Ruben Guerreiro (EF-Nippo) then countered that but BikeExchange controlled everything to calm the pacing down. At the 13km to go mark as Großschartner went over the top.

Großschartner held on all the way to the line with Roche and De Marchi managing to hold off the peloton to fill the podium spots on the stage. Yates finished comfortably within the peloton alongside the podium sitters of Bilbao and Vlasov.

Yates and a lot of the other riders in the race will now turn their attention towards the fight for pink at the first Grand Tour of the season at the Giro d'Italia which kicks off on May 8.

Results

Tour of the Alps 2021 stage five, Valle del Chiese/Idroland to Riva del Garda (120.9km)

1. Felix Großschartner (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe, in 3-03-38

2. Nicolas Roche (Irl) Team DSM, at 34 seconds

3. Alessandro De Marchi (Ita) Israel Start-Up Nation, at same time

4. Gianni Moscon (Ita) Ineos Grenadiers, at 40s

5. Alejandro Osorio (Col) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA

6. Romain Bardet (Fra) Team DSM

7. Luis León Sánchez (Esp) Astana-Premier Tech

8. Ruben Guerreiro (Por) EF Education-Nippo

9. Mark Padun (Ukr) Bahrain Victorious

10. Matteo Fabbro (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe, all at same time.

Final general classification

1. Simon Yates (GBr) Team BikeExchange, in 18-36-06

2. Pello Bilbao (Esp) Bahrain Victorious, at 58 seconds

3. Aleksandr Vlasov (Rus) Astana-Premier Tech, at 1-06

4. Jefferson Cepeda (Ecu) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec, at 2-25

5. Hugh Carthy (GBr) EF Education-Nippo, at 2-37

6. Pavel Sivakov (Rus) Ineos Grenadiers, at 2-44

7. Nairo Quintana (Col) Team Arkéa-Samsic, at 2-54

8. Ruben Guerreiro (Por) EF Education-Nippo, at 3-12

9. Romain Bardet (Fra) Team DSM, at same time

10. Nicholas Schultz (Aus) Team BikeExchange, at 3-36.

Bora-Hansgrohe have been allowed to return to racing after they were forced to miss Ghent-Wevelgem due to their coronavirus quarantine.

The German WorldTour squad initially pulled out of the E3 Saxo Bank Classic last week after British rider Matt Walls tested positive for Covid-19.

After initially being given the green light to return to racing at Ghent-Wevelgem on Sunday (March 28), by both the UCI and the race organisers, the E3 race doctor then decided to impose a seven-day quarantine on the team, forcing them to miss Ghent-Wevelgem and Dwars door Vlaanderen on Wednesday (March 31).

But the team have since been allowed to return to competition and will line up in Belgium for Dwars door Vlaanderen, with their sprinter Pascal Ackermann and Classics specialist Nils Politt.

Team manager Ralph Denk said: "This has been a difficult situation not only for us, but also for several others who have been involved. We are aware that health, whether of individual athletes or in society at large, must always come first. Nevertheless, professionals should be able to practice their profession unless there is an understandable reason to prohibit it.

“Matthew Walls and the two first category contacts of course remain in quarantine.

“All other riders and staff have tested negative (PCR) several times since Saturday and were officially released from quarantine today. I would like to thank all the authorities, Flanders Classics (Thomas Van den Spiegel), Belgian Cycling, the Covid coordinator Dr. Hans Bekkers and Vice President Ben Weyts, the person responsible for sport in Flanders, for their help. The effort that everyone has shown for the good of our sport cannot be taken for granted."

Denk previously said he was “angry and disappointed” by the decision to impose a week-long restriction, calling it unclear and arbitrary.

The race doctor opted to impose the quarantine as he deemed 17 members of Bora-Hansgrohe to be “high-risk” contacts after the coronavirus positive in the team.

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Denk said at the time: “A GP from the region can block an entire team in one of the largest one-day races in the world.

“Honestly, I can’t understand why other teams are allowed to race after similar cases. We tried everything last night, but the doctor didn’t even answer us anymore. It would be nice to at least understand how he has justified his decisions.”

Peter Sagan's future at Bora-Hansgrohe is uncertain with the team's manager questioning how long the three-time world champion can justify his salary with performances on the road.

The Slovakian has been with the German team since 2017, during which he has won 25 races, three green jerseys in the Tour de France and also claimed the third of his rainbow stripes.

But question marks have been raised over Sagan's ability to compete regularly with the sport's latest stars, like Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert, with the 31-year-old only winning once in the 2020 season and losing his grip on the Tour's points classification to Sam Bennett.

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Having suffered from Covid-19 during the winter, Sagan's start to the current campaign has been disrupted but he won a stage of the Volta a Catalunya last week and declared himself optimistic ahead of the Tour of Flanders.

How long he will be wearing the colours of Bora-Hansgrohe, though, is being openly speculated about by the team's manager Ralph Denk who raised doubts about the worth of his reported €5-6m salary he takes home each year.

"Peter is entering the fall of his career," Denk told the Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger. "The outcome of our conversations is open.

"We would like to make a decision in April but I don't dare say which way things are going.

"We are very grateful for what Peter has meant to us. The sponsors have received a lot of attention thanks to him, but he will be entering the fall of his career.

"We also have to consider whether we still want to pay for that, or is it better to invest that money in youth?

"If Peter doesn't stay, I have a lot of money available. The sponsors trust that I can put together the best possible team with the money."

Denk added that Van der Poel, Van Aert, Tadej Pogačar, Egan Bernal and Julian Alaphilippe are the current "five iconic professional cyclists... [and] I would be a bad team boss of I didn't want one of these superstars in the team, but it has to fit.

"At the moment I don't see any of these with us in the near future, because there are existing contracts or because of the philosophy there is doesn't fit."

Should Sagan depart the German team and find himself looking for a new outfit for the 2022 season, his current team-mates could fill his role, Denk believes.

"Maybe we'll create our own star," he said. " That would be the cooler story. Maybe Lennard Kämna and Maximilian Schachmann are candidates for this role.

"They have already shown outstanding performances and they still have great potential. I will let myself be surprised."

Bora-Hansgrohe manager Ralph Denk says he is "angry and disappointed" after the decision by the E3 Saxo Bank Classic Covid doctor to impose a seven-day quarantine on two-thirds of his team after Matt Walls tested positive for coronavirus, meaning the WorldTour outfit will now miss both Ghent-Wevelgem and Dwars door Vlaanderen.

The German team had been given the green light by the UCI and Ghent-Wevelgem race organisers, after being forced to pull out of the E3 Saxo Bank Classic, before the E3 doctor ordered the seven-day quarantine, with Flanders Classics CEO Tomas Van Den Spiegel telling Sporza he can't overrule a doctor who has designated seventeen people from the team as "high-risk contact".

"Seventeen people from Bora-Hansgrohe have been designated by the doctor as 'high-risk contact' and have now been quarantined. As an organisation, we cannot overrule such a quarantine measure," he said.

Denk, however, says he can't understand the decision, calling it unclear and arbitrary.

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"I am very disappointed and angry. A GP from the region can block an entire team in one of the largest one-day races in the world," Denk said. "We had a positive Corona case with Walls and have the roommate and a physio as category 1 contact persons. That they have to be isolated and quarantined is absolutely clear.

"However, we of course have other riders and staff on-site, so a part of them were also ordered to be in quarantine, but only some of them. Who was selected and the reasons are completely unclear and it seems rather arbitrary.

"Honestly, I can't understand why other teams are allowed to race after similar cases. We tried everything last night, but the doctor didn't even answer us anymore. It would be nice to at least understand how he has justified his decisions.

"We are testing every day at the moment and all the tests so far have been negative, without exception. The part of the team that has been quarantined will be quarantined until April 1. This also means that we cannot start at Dwars Door Vlaanderen."

Peter Sagan opted to race himself into form at the Volta a Catalunya, and appears to have done just that after taking the stage six victory, instead of ingratiating himself with Belgian cobbles ahead of the Tour of Flanders, a decision which has now proved prescient.

Trek-Segafredo will also not start Ghent-Wevelgem after one team member tested positive, their women's team unaffected and able to start as the two camps have remained separated.

Bora-Hansgrohe’s Lennard Kämna says that he wants to develop his growing reputation and target the general classification in races, after the German won stage five of the Volta a Catalunya.

The 24-year-old attacked seven kilometres from the line to win in Manresa, his third professional career victory coming in just his fifth day of racing this season.

A winner of stages in the Tour de France and Critérium de Dauphiné last season, Kämna has begun to become feared in hilly parcours by his rivals, and has been the peloton’s most active rider in the Catalan race.

Acknowledging that more people are taking notice of his riding style and his form, he told Cycling Weekly: “I just want to be a good rider. But I am super glad with my performance and it’s a goal of mine to improve still.

“I want to try for the GC. First one week races, so let’s see what is coming, but I want to try it.

“I wanted to try it here but I had a day on stage three so I thought I’ll go for stages instead of GC.

“Honestly I like to ride like this. It doesn’t feel like a relief, I didn’t have so much pressure on me.

“It’s nice for the team because it’s our first stage victory [of the season] so for the team it’s a relief but for me it’s just a super nice victory and I really enjoy it right now.

“I have trained hard in the last weeks: I spent a lot of time in Spain, and I had some quite good training partners including Max (Schachmann) and they form you pretty well. Therefore I think my shape is good but I think I can still improve.”

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Having come close to victory from the breakaway on stage one, Kämna had better luck on stage five when he proved the smartest in the large break that formed.

After cresting the final climb of the day, Kämna attacked on the descent, aware that a fast finish wouldn’t play to his advantage – just like what happened on the opening day when he had to settle for fourth.

“I wanted to try because I know in a sprint I normally don’t have it,” he said. “So it was my only option so I went full gas.

“I had the feeling this could be a good moment. I think I wasn’t the strongest today but it was a lot of things coming together and in the end it was the right moment to attack.”

Lennard Kämna took stage five of the Volta a Catalunya 2021 with a solo attack in the final 7km on the descent into the finish after a day full of attacking riding.

Kämna (Bora-Hansgrohe) went away on the final descent to Manresa after Carlos Verona (Movistar) was brought back. The large group of chasers in the break was disorganised and the young German went clear to victory.

The day was full on yet again with over 40 riders going up the road including some big climbing names, there were various attacks out of the group with Rémi Cavagna (Deceuninck - Quick-Step) staying out the longest before being brought back on the final climb by the chasers.

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Behind, the peloton was yet again led by Ineos Grenadiers all day as Adam Yates keeps his lead over his team-mates Richie Porte at 45 seconds and Geraint Thomas at 49 seconds, in the podium spots.

How it happened

The 201.1km stage started in La Pobla de Segur before they took on some tough terrain with plenty of tricky climbs including the Coll de Comiols where the break got away as well as the Port de Montserrat then descending down to the finish in Manresa.

A total of ten riders went up the road, they were Marc Soler (Movistar), David De La Cruz (UAE Team Emirates), Thyman Arensman (Team DSM), Ide Schelling (Bora-Hansgrohe), Attila Valter (Groupama-FDJ), Matej Mohorič (Bahrain Victorious), Bob Jungels (Ag2r-Citroën), James Knox and Rémi Cavagna (both Deceuninck - Quick-Step).

There was a huge group of around 40 riders that caught the lead break with about 55km to go including Steven Kruijswijk (Jumbo-Visma), Marc Hirschi (UAE Team Emirates), Dan Martin (Israel Start-Up Nation) all in there with the best-placed man being Mikel Bizkarra (Euskaltel-Euskadi) who is just over four minutes down in the overall.

Just after that group made contact with the front break Cavagna went on a solo attack quickly pulling out a lead of 25 seconds. Reinhardt Janse Van Rensburg (Qhubeka-Assos) hit out to try and bridge to Cavagna but he was marked by Cavagna’s team-mate Dries Devenyns and was swiftly swallowed up again.

They had a maximum gap of around five minutes down, but the team of Adam Yates, Ineos Grenadiers started bringing the gap down again but the push on by Cavagna meant the chunk of time from him to the peloton was back over four minutes, with a minute over his chasers.

Cavagna hit the final climb with 33.3km to go holding a gap of 4-50 to the peloton and 1-55 back to the chasing group.

With 30km to go, Bizkarra went on the attack out of the chase group with Sebastien Reichenbach (Groupama-FDJ) following to try and catch Cavagna upfront. Bizkarra was in the virtual overall lead at that point as he was 4-07 down at the start of the day.

Reichenbach and Bizkarra caught Cavagna with 26km to go as they went over the categorised climb line. The rest of the chasing group came across with Rigoberto Uran (EF Education-Nippo), Lennard Kämna (Bora-Hansgrohe), Carlos Verona (Movistar) Martin and Knox being just some of the riders up there.

Verona, Kruijswijk and Kämna went away shortly after at the 23km to go mark. The gap to the peloton had halved though with the Ineos led group at 2-39. Uran, Martin, Reichenbach and Nicolas Edét (Cofidis) came across to the leading trio with Knox quickly joining.

Verona kicked yet again just before the descent hitting 97kph as the group grew behind to 12 riders chasing down the Spanish rider at 15km to go.

The Spaniard was brought back with 8km to go, Kämna was the next to kick on solo where he quickly pulled out a very solid gap. The German stayed away to take the stage win the third time of asking after going on the attack on stage one and four.

Ruben Guerreiro (EF Education-Nippo) and Bizkarra went away in the closing 3km, taking the podium spots on the day.

Ineos Grenadiers kept the time gaps down comfortably holding onto their podium lockout in the overall classification with Yates holding 45 seconds over Porte and 49 seconds over Thomas heading into the final two stages.

Results

Volta a Catalunya 2021 stage five, La Pobla de Segur to Manresa (201.1km)

1. Lennard Kämna (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe, in 4-29-13

2. Ruben Guerreiro (Por) EF Education-Nippo, at 39 seconds

3. Mikel Bizkarra (Esp) Euskaltel-Euskadi, at 42s

4. Dion Smith (NZl) Team BikeExchange, at 44s

5. Dan Martin (Irl) Israel Start-Up Nation

6. Matej Mohorič (Slo) Bahrain Victorious

7. James Knox (GBr) Deceuninck - Quick-Step

8. Attila Valter (Hun) Groupama-FDJ

9. Rigoberto Uran (Col) EF Education-Nippo

10. Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma, all at the same time.

General classification after stage five

1. Adam Yates (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers, in 18-45-27

2. Richie Porte (Aus) Ineos Grenadiers, at 45 seconds

3. Geraint Thomas (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers, at 49s

4. Alejandro Valverde (Esp) Movistar Team, at 1-03

5. Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Bora-Hansgrohe, at the same time

6. Esteban Chaves (Col) Team BikeExchange, at 1-04

7. João Almeida (Por) Deceuninck - Quick-Step, at 1-07

8. Hugh Carthy (GBr) EF Education-Nippo, at 1-20

9. Sepp Kuss (USA) Team Jumbo-Visma, at 1-29

10. Simon Yates (GBr) Team BikeExchange, at 1-32.

Bora-Hansgrohe have been forced to pull out of this year's E3 Saxo Bank Classic due to a positive Covid-19 test for one of their riders.

British sprinter Matt Walls was a replacement rider for Lukas Pöstlberger but he later tested positive meaning the whole team had to abandon the race.

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The team released a statement saying: "After Matthew Walls' positive test result was received and confirmed by a second test, several PCR test were carried out on all other team members yesterday, all of which were negative.

"Despite this, according to the instructions of the Belgian Cycling Federation, the team is not allowed to take part in today's race."

While his team-mates didn't test positive they still had to pull out of the racing, which will be a disappointment for the team's leader, Nils Politt, who was showing some good form in recent races.

The rest of the team that has been forced to leave the race are Daniel Oss, Juraj Sagan, Patrick Gamper, and Maciej Bodnar as well as all the staff members.

Star rider, Peter Sagan and his brother Juraj have both suffered from Covid-19 at a training camp. This hampered the former world champion's build-up to his season, forcing him to race Tirreno-Adriatico before Milan-San Remo and then go to the Volta a Catalunya instead of E3 and Ghent-Wevelgem.

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Twenty-two-year-old Walls is making his WorldTour debut season for Bora-Hansgrohe this year and has already put in a couple of great rides with two top-10s in sprints at the Tour de la Provence but he has struggled in recent races.

Bora-Hansgrohe aren't the first team to have to pull out of races, Alpecin-Fenix has had to abandon two races, the Belgian team had to abandon after stage one of the UAE Tour and also had to pull out of the Volta a Catalunya due to positive tests.