The hierarchy of necessary race bikes is in constant flux. We’re told that what we need is a dedicated aero bike and another for the hills, only to be then redirected towards an aerodynamically enhanced all-rounder.

Then 2025 happens and the sharp-as-a-knife aero machine makes a surprise comeback, to the point that Tadej Pogacar leaves his featherweight climber on the roof of the team car, for the entire Tour de France, even the most hilly stages.

So where does this leave the climbing bike? Well, if you’re to believe Cervelo, the answer is, alive and well.

See, there was a counterbalance to Pog’s victory. At the Tour de France Femmes Pauline Ferrand-Prevot’s winning bike of choice was the new R5, a bike so light it looks like it needs to be tethered down, yet seemingly stiff enough to win at the sport’s highest level.

So how did Cervelo manage it, and in doing so, make the climbing bike relevant once more?

Every gram counts, in bike marketing at least

The headline accompanying the release of the new R5 is the claimed weight of 5.97kg. While Ferrand-Prevot’s bike was required to meet UCI weight regulations, the new model can be ridden by the rest of us in a sub-6kg guise that takes advantage of a frame and fork that weighs under 950 grams in a size 56. Just 650g for the frame alone.

This makes it approximately 100 grams lighter than the previous model, while the inclusion of updated components helps reduce the bike’s total weight by a claimed 326 grams.

There’s scant information in the press release about just how Cervelo’s engineers reduced the weight of the frame and forks but we do know from speaking to Cervelo’s Engineering Manager, Scott Roy that it’s been achieved via a combination of lighter carbon layup, revised tube shapes and some tweaking of the fixings. Certainly it looks svelte, cutting an elegant figure that its aero sibling the S5 could only dream of achieving.

One nice detail we did notice when we saw the bike in Lille, is Cervelo’s take on the now commonplace UDH hanger. It’s sleeker-looking, and nicely machined with a lower profile, saving a few more grams no doubt.

What we are told however is that the geometry has been altered to match the S5, albeit with a slightly lower bottom bracket height to help accommodate the R5’s 29mm tyre clearance. That means a size 56 has a stack and reach of 567.7mm and 391.1mm respectively.

Cervelo are more forthcoming when it comes to the component parts that contribute significantly to the new R5’s weight loss. The inclusion of the all-new HB18 cockpit is said to have resulted in a 150 gram drop, while adding some aero advantages, to the tune of two watts, according to Cervelo. The UCI-legal bar/stem combo comes in 15 different size combinations, and you get fitted via an authorised Cervelo dealer at no extra cost when buying an R5.

The R5 also gets its own wheelset, in the shape of the brand new Reserve 34/37 SL. Claimed to help drop another 60 grams from the R5’s total weight, they benefit from a revamped carbon layup that is lighter while still retaining the strength and stiffness of the outgoing hoops. The hubs are either DT Swiss 180 or 240 depending on the model.

That attention seeking 5.97kg bike gets the 180s and also benefits from the lightest groupset currently available, Sram’s Red AXS, although Cervelo are claiming the same total weight for the Dura-Ace Di2-equipped version too.

The two bikes below them in the range, come with the DT Swiss 240 hubs, and are offered in Force AXS and Ultergra Di2 builds. There’s also the option to buy the R5 as a frameset too, which includes the HB18 cockpit and the SP33 seatpost.

Weights for the other bikes mentioned were not available to us. But by our rough estimates, you add another 400g by opting for the Force groupset. The 240 hubset adds another 60g, over the 180's, so even the Force and Ultegra versions are likely to be well under the UCI weight limit of 6.8kg too.

So is the climbing bike here to stay?

So is the climbing bike back in favour with racing’s elite? The jury probably remains out, given that the men’s Visma|Lease A Bike team didn’t use the R5 during this year’s TdF.

Ferrand-Prevot’s success demonstrates that riders on smaller frames will still prioritise comfort over outright aero performance, while the men for now at least it seems, will continue to favour the stiffer aero bikes, even when the road points up.

For the rest of us though, where comfort absolutely should be one of our most important performance parameters, a featherweight race bike remains both desirable and practical. Indeed it can be argued that a bike light enough to balance on one finger and that’s designed to fly up the climbs a la Pantani, Contador or whoever your favourite climber was, is the reason that many turned to the road in the first place.

If the R5 is going to satiate those desires however, it will do so at quite the price. The Red AXS and Dura-Ace Di2 models retail at $14,250 / £11,500 and $14,000 / £11,00 respectively. The Force AXS and Ultegra Di2 models are $9,950 / £8,500, while the frameset option will set you back $6,500 / £5,000.

Cian Uijtdebroeks turned up to Jumbo-Visma's training camp in Spain on Thursday in a blacked out training kit, as the disagreement over his future continues.

The rider, who is at the centre of a row between Jumbo-Visma and Bora-Hansgrohe over his contract, attended what is claimed to be his new team's camp in Dénia, Belgian media reported.

The 20-year-old was pictured on a Cervélo, the bike sponsor of Jumbo, and in a helmet from Giro, alongside a black jersey and pair of bib shorts. It is the second time in a few days that the Belgian has appeared out of Bora-issue kit in public. 

While there were other riders who are yet to officially move to Jumbo on the training camp, they were in the current team kit, such as Matteo Jorgenson, currently of Movistar.

Uijtdebroeks won the Tour de l'Avenir in 2022, and finished eighth at the Vuelta a España this year. While he has not won a race as a professional yet, he is one of the most sought-after talents around. He signed a three-year contract with Bora-Hansgrohe in 2022.

On Saturday evening, Jumbo-Visma stated that they had signed the 20-year-old on a four-year contract from 2024, but Bora-Hansgrohe responded, saying that the rider was still under contract for next year. Uijtdebroeks' agency also issued a statement which claimed that the young rider had been released from his contract at the beginning of December.

Bora were adamant at the weekend that Uijtdebroeks should join their own training camp in Mallorca, so his appearance at Jumbo-Visma's rather fans the flames.

On Tuesday morning, cycling's governing body released their own press statement. It said: "The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) is monitoring the situation and emphasizes that the applicable rules will be enforced."

UCI rules say that for a rider to move teams while within a current contract, there must be an agreement between all three parties. Bora-Hansgrohe are clear that they have not allowed the move to happen, and there have been reports that the German team are looking for a seven-figure sum in compensation.

The squad also denied reports that Uijtdebroeks was bullied during his time at the German team, the concept of which was reported by Dutch journalist Thijs Zonneveld on the In het Wiel’  podcast. 

“100% I can deny that. Definitely not. Especially from my side, and the riders’ side,” DS Bernie Eisel told GCN.

“He had a team that looked after him, Aleksandr Vlasov had his team that looked after him and, from my point of view, they did an incredible job to protect him. We did everything we could for him. I have to deny that one. It’s that simple. 100% no.” 

Michel Hessman, one of Jumbo-Visma team's key riders in this year's Giro d'Italia, won by his team leader at the time, Primož Roglič, is likely to be banned for violating anti-doping rules.

Hessman's B sample from an anti doping positive has confirmed the results of his A sample, taken in June, for the presence of a banned diuretic.

If Hessman cannot provide any explanation for the diuretic then he will face a four year ban under rules set out by the World Anti-Doping Agency [WADA].

If the 22-year-old can prove that he tested positive due to a contaminated supplement or food item then his ban could be reduced to two years instead.

Speaking to Jeremy Whittle of the Radio Cycling podcast, Eva Bunthoff, of Germany's national anti-doping body, NADA, said: "The B sample confirmed the result of the A sample. According to German Cycling Federation Anti-Doping Rules, there is sufficient evidence of an anti-doping rule violation."

However it has not yet been announced, which specific substance the case involves.

Diuretics are banned by [WADA]. They can cause rapid weight loss and have also been used as masking agents, to conceal the use of other doping products. They are banned both in and out of competition.

Second year pro Hessman tested positive in an out-of-competition check on June 14, two weeks after the Giro ended. He finished 33rd in the Italian race, which his team mate Roglič won by just 14 seconds from Geraint Thomas.

The 22-year-old German was suspended by Jumbo-Visma in August. The Dutch squad won all three of the Grand Tours in 2023 which is an unprecedented achievement.

After Roglič won the Giro Jumbo went on to win the Tour through Jonas Vingegaard - who now has two successive Tour titles - and the Vuelta a España through Sepp Kuss. 

A doping law passed in Germany in 2015 criminalises the use and administration of doping products. Athletes caught using banned substances can receive a maximum prison sentence of three years and a fine.

In July 2022, as he won his first Tour, Vingegaard said: "We are totally clean, every one of us, and I can say that to every one of you." 

"Not one of us is taking anything illegal. I think why we are so good is because of the preparation we do. We take altitude camps to the next level, and everything: materials, food and training.

“I think the team is really the best in this. That’s why you have to trust us."

The Dutch team is managed by Richard Plugge, head of the AIGCP teams association and driving force of the One Cycling proposal for a restructure of cycling's current calendar. Plugge described the day that he was notified of Hessman's positive as a "black day" for his team.

"We received the message that a rider from our team had a positive doping test," Plugge said. "We had to look in the mirror ourselves — are we doing everything right?"

Wout van Aert could make his Giro d’Italia debut next year and target a top five finish as Jumbo-Visma’s leader in Italy.

According to a report from La Gazzetta dello Sport, Jumbo-Visma will assign leadership duty to Van Aert at the Italian Grand Tour and he may subsequently skip the Tour de France in July in order to prepare post-Giro for the Olympics in Paris.

If selected it will be the first time that he has been assigned Grand Tour leadership duty by the Dutch team. 

Van Aert has ridden the Tour on five separate occasions and racked up nine individual stage wins as well as the green points jersey last year. The Belgian famously won stage 11 of the Tour in 2021 which included two ascents of Mont Ventoux.

According to the reports from Italy it is almost certain that Van Aert will line up for the Giro's Grande Partenza in Venaria Reale on May 4 next year.

Prior to heading to the Giro it's expected that the 29-year-old’s biggest goals of the Spring will be Paris-Roubaix and the Tour of Flanders.

The 2024 Giro route was unveiled recently and will take place between 4-26 May.

One of the biggest talking points ahead of next year’s edition will be the return of the iconic Passo dello Stelvio as well as the inclusion of parts of the Strade Bianche gravel course on stage six.

La Gazzetta suggests that Jumbo-Visma’s view is that the route is one that plays to Van Aert’s strengths. The inclusion of 68 individual time trial kilometres could also potentially favour the Belgian who has been national time trial champion on three separate occasions. 

The route also features six mountain top finishes including a stage eight summit finish to Prati di Tivo which has previously featured in Tirreno-Adriatico. Van Aert knows the climb well and finished ninth when Tirreno visited the climb in the Abruzzo region in 2021.

If Van Aert does start the Giro next year then it’s possible he could face Tadej Pogačar who could also target the Italian Grand Tour. There are growing indications that the two-time winner of the Tour de France could look to contest both the Giro and Tour in 2024. 

The only way for cycling to have an "improved business model" is through cooperation between WorldTour teams, Jumbo-Visma's boss Richard Plugge has said.

It follows news that Ineos Grenadiers and Jumbo-Visma are among teams looking to create a new racing league for cycling, in a move to drive more money towards the squads, according to Reuters.

Sources told Reuters that external investors are being sounded out to help finance the project, which could bring together new and existing races.

About five teams, including Ineos and Jumbo, are said to be involved in the early discussions, which are being helped by accountancy and consulting firm EY. The deadline for indications of interest is this week, it was reported on Thursday.

On Thursday afternoon, Jumbo-Visma's managing director, Richard Plugge, all but confirmed the reports. He said: "It’s obvious that cycling is a sleeping giant and deserves an improved business model. For all stakeholders, but especially for the WorldTour teams. The only way to get there, is by cooperation.”

The point of the move is in order to distribute money from cycling events among the teams, which are currently forced to rely on external funding, whether that's through title sponsorship, like Jumbo-Visma, or through billionaire backers, in the case of Ineos Grenadiers and Sir Jim Ratcliffe.

At present, most of the profits and television money from cycling's biggest races, from the Grand Tours - the Tour de France, Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a España - to the Classics like Paris-Roubaix and the Tour of Flanders, go to the race's organisers, with little flowing back to the teams by way of prize money or contractual patments.

The Tour, Vuelta, and a host of other races, including Roubaix, are organised by ASO, while RCS manage the Giro and others including the UAE Tour. Meanwhile, Flanders Classics runs most of the one-day races in Belgium and the Netherlands, and lots of cyclo-cross events.

According to Reuters, one of the companies that have shown interest in the project is CVC Partners, a private equity firm which has invested in Formula One and Six Nations rugby in the past.

Cycling is far from the first sport to look to outside investment to disrupt the current order; in recent years golf and tennis have been shaped by funding from Saudi Arabia.

Cyclingnews reported on Thursday that the funding for cycling's new league could come from Saudi Arabia too.

A decade ago, a similar concept was floated, World Series Cycling (WSC), which proposed a new calendar alongside some of the existing biggest races, but failed to get off the ground. Eight WorldTour teams were involved in that, including the precursor to Jumbo, Rabobank.

In 2014, 11 teams joined forces to create a new organisation called Velon, which hopes to create greater stability within the sport by providing more commercial and marketing opportunities. The organisation later created the Hammer Series, an attempt by the teams to organise their own races and take power away from cycling's governing body, the UCI, and the bigger race organisers. It was scrapped in 2020.

Any new project will have to contend with the fact that the biggest races are in the hands of private companies; it would take a lot for ASO or RCS to change their current strategies.

This has been a tumultuous off-season to date. Reports emerged earlier this month that two of the top teams in cycling, the Dutch Jumbo-Visma, and the Belgian Soudal Quick-Step, were to merge, posing questions not just about the future of the team's riders and staff, but about cycling's sustainability as a sport. That was later called off.

Ineos Grenadiers were approached for comment, but declined to speak on the matter.

The proposed merger between Jumbo-Visma and Soudal Quick-Step is off, according to reports in Belgium. It is not known what caused the deal to collapse, or what will happen to the two teams in the future.

On Friday afternoon, Sporza, Het Nieuwsblad and Het Laatse Nieuws all published pieces that said that the planned merge between Quick-Step and Jumbo was no longer, and that the former would continue under the stewardship of Patrick Lefevere and his financial backer Zdenek Bakala until 2025.

In an interview published earlier on Friday by HLN, Quick-Step's star rider, Remco Evenepoel, said: “We just don't know anything,” 

“I only know what you know, what you write," he said. "At the moment there are only question marks, for everyone. All we can do is wait. And hope it turns out well. We cannot estimate what will come our way in the next ten days or two weeks."

Reports emerged last week that two of the top teams in cycling, the Dutch Jumbo-Visma, and the Belgian Soudal Quick-Step, were to merge, posing questions not just about the future of the team's riders and staff, but about cycling's sustainability as a sport.

However, those proposals now seem to be over. This is despite Lefevere revealing last week that a "letter of intent to merge" was signed earlier this year, and that plans for Jumbo to absorb some of the existing Quick-Step team. There had also been reports that a phoenix Quick-Step squad would continue with the riders who did not make the jump across to the new team.

Jumbo-Visma had reportedly attracted sponsorship from Amazon, but it is not clear what the financial benefit of the deal actually is, with the €15 million figure touted last week including media value. Dutch newspaper AD said on Friday that this deal was off, too.

It has not been an easy fortnight for riders on Soudal Quick-Step. Following his win at Tre Valli Varesine this week, Ilan Van Wilder said that he does not want the merger to go ahead, he wants his team to continue. 

"This victory is for our staff and my teammates, to show we don't agree with all this shit, and we want to continue Soudal-QuickStep," he said after soloing to victory in Varese. "We are strong enough and I hope it will be like this."

Wielerflits reported on Tuesday that just six riders would head across from Soudal Quick-Step to Jumbo-Visma, and it was thought to include Evenepoel. However, now the deal is off, the future team of the young Belgian is still up in the air.

In a statement on Tuesday afternoon, reacting to what were just reports, the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), said: "Any such operation must comply with the procedures and provisions set out in the UCI Regulations which, in particular, make it possible to ensure compliance with the contractual provisions for all personnel of the teams in question (riders, but also team management and other staff such as doctors, mechanics, sports assistants, drivers, etc.), which is of prime importance to the UCI."

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.”

There will be just 17 teams on the WorldTour next year, should the proposed merger between Jumbo-Visma and Soudal Quick-Step occur, the UCI, cycling's governing body, has said.

Reports emerged last week that two of the top teams in cycling, the Dutch Jumbo-Visma, and the Belgian Soudal Quick-Step, were to merge, posing questions not just about the future of the team's riders and staff, but about cycling's sustainability as a sport.

In a statement on Tuesday afternoon, reacting to what - at the moment - are just reports, the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), said: "Any such operation must comply with the procedures and provisions set out in the UCI Regulations which, in particular, make it possible to ensure compliance with the contractual provisions for all personnel of the teams in question (riders, but also team management and other staff such as doctors, mechanics, sports assistants, drivers, etc.), which is of prime importance to the UCI."

On the number of teams on the WorldTour - which is currently 18 - the UCI said: "If the continuity of one of the teams could not be guaranteed for the 2024 season, the number of UCI WorldTeams would be 17 for the 2024 and 2025 seasons. 

"As a result, the number of UCI ProTeams that are automatically invited to UCI WorldTour events would increase, in accordance with the provisions of article 2.1.007bis of the UCI Regulations."

Last week, Israel-Premier Tech and Uno-X both expressed an interest in a spot in the WorldTour should one become available; it now seems that this would not be an option. When Intermarché-Circus-Wanty joined the WorldTour in 2020, they bought the licence from CCC, which ceased to exist.

The UCI also reminded teams of their responsibility to register for an administrative, financial, and ethical check. 

"Any significant change in a team's situation must be duly reported during the upcoming registration procedure so it can be assessed, in accordance with the UCI Regulations," it said.

Furthermore, the UCI said that it would publish an initial press release containing the list of teams that have submitted the essential information on October 19; any riders belonging to a team not included on the list would then be able to join another team,  "without giving prior notice or paying compensation, in accordance with the provisions contained in the standard contract".

This week, both Soudal and Visma have confirmed their interest in maintaining title sponsor status should the proposed merger go ahead.

Speaking to Belgian outlet WielerFlits, Visma's director of content and sponsorship said that the deal to sponsor the team has a "long-term perspective" that should be ongoing.

"In terms of the future, we entered into this sponsorship in 2019 with a long-term perspective," said Anne-Grethe Thomle Karlsen. "As long as both parties see common value in this collaboration, that will not change."

Soudal's sponsorship and corporate communications manager told Het Laatste Nieuws that they also aimed to stay on board the project.

"Name sponsorship is our strength," said Marko Heijl. "It provides return on investment. Our marketing strategy is focussed on that, and until further notice there is no reason to deviate from it.

"We made a contractual commitment at the time as an enthusiastic name sponsor, and it is our ambition to remain so."

The merged super-team would also count on investment from Amazon, but it is unclear how much this would actually be in monetary value.

Wielerflits also reported on Tuesday that just six riders would make the jump from Soudal Quick-Step to Jumbo-Visma, with the merger also likely to see dozens of staff without jobs.

Brian Holm, the former Soudal Quick-Step sports director, believes that Primož Roglič and Rod Ellingworth would be a potential match made in heaven at Ineos Grenadiers next year. 

Prior to winning the Giro dell'Emilia on Saturday afternoon, Roglič confirmed that he will leave Jumbo-Visma at the end of the current season in order to pursue a new challenge elsewhere.

Holm told Cycling Weekly that he sees the 33-year-old Slovenian being the perfect fit for a team like Ineos who are led, according to Holm, by one of the “smartest men in cycling” in deputy principal Ellingworth.

“Of course, I mean I would like to see him at Ineos,” Holm said. "They're a good team, with good habits and a solid structure.

“I love Rod Ellingworth. For me, Rod is one of the smartest men in cycling that I've met. So for sure they need somebody now like Primož, because when you look at the roster now, I'm falling out of my chair, and I say to myself 'wow, it's going to be tough for them.'"

“For sure it's a good team, but it's not the Ineos or the Sky team from eight years ago,” he added. “[Tom] Pidcock of course is a legend. For me, I think he's in the same league as guys like Van der Poel, Van Aert, Pogacar, Vingegaard. He's so likeable to watch, I just love that kid and to see him ride. Although of course, he can't carry the whole heritage of the great Sky team or Ineos alone.”

Around the time of the recent Vuelta a España there were reports linking Roglič with a potential move to Lidl-Trek. Other WorldTour teams were also understood to be interested in a move for the 33-year-old.

Despite his team’s attempts to play it down, Roglič being forced to put his own goals to one side in order to allow teammate Sepp Kuss the chance to win the Vuelta - his first Grand Tour victory -  only fuelled discussion that he was unhappy and reports that he could potentially leave Jumbo this summer.  

After eight years, we now know that his departure from the Dutch squad is imminent.

A raft of different major WorldTour teams have been linked with Roglič but according to a report from GCN, Bora-Hansgrohe and Ineos are the two most likely to secure the 2023 Giro d’Italia champion’s signature.

Ineos have notably been without a serious Grand Tour contender in recent years. Geraint Thomas finished third at the 2022 Tour de France, and narrowly missed out on Giro victory this May but the team has lacked a rider capable of matching the Welshman’s performances in recent times.

Egan Bernal won the Tour in 2019 before taking Giro victory two years later. However, the Colombian rider has understandably struggled for form after returning from a terrible training crash in early 2022.

Holm sees Roglič as the rider to reinstate Ineos at the top table in professional cycling, and to help them land further Grand Tour titles in the years ahead.

The new Jumbo-Visma and Soudal Quick-Step mega-merger team has attracted its first new major sponsor.

According to a report from Wielerflits, it was announced by Dutch marketer Chris Woerts on the Today Inside television programme that Amazon will come on board as one of the new financiers for the new super team project.

Wielerflits' reports that the American e-commerce company will not be one of the title sponsors of the new team, but will act as a co-sponsor instead.

Amazon has worked closely with Richard Plugge’s Jumbo-Visma team in recent years. Last year a fly on the wall documentary titled ‘All in team Jumbo-Visma’ was available on the Amazon Prime streaming service.

The report from the Dutch cycling news outlet also states that the documentary will have a follow up series which will be broadcast later this year. The new episodes will take a closer look at the individual Grand Tour victories of Primož Roglič, Jonas Vingegaard and Sepp Kuss.

Roglič won the Giro d’Italia in May before Vingegaard took his second Tour de France title in July. Kuss then rounded out the team's stunning season with victory at the recent Vuelta a España. It was the American’s first-ever Grand Tour win. 

News first broke of the new merger earlier this week. It’s widely believed that Soudal and Visma have been involved in the discussions from the start with both companies leading the way to become the title sponsors of the new team.

Speaking to Cycling Weekly, former Quick-Step DS Brian Holm said that he believes the merger is the only way to “save the future” of Patrick Lefevere’s Quick-Step project.

He said: “For me, it would actually be quite good for Quick-Step because imagine he will stop in two years and nobody takes over? The team would stop because nobody can do his job in the team, nobody.”

“That would be a sad day for cycling,” he added. “People love to hate him but as far I'm concerned, he's one of the best things that's happened for cycling, the job he's done. People will realise that when he's gone."

Brian Holm believes that Soudal Quick-Step merging with Jumbo-Visma is the best way to safeguard the future of his former team.

Earlier this week, it was first reported by Dutch outlet Wielerflits that Patrick Lefevere’s Quick-Step squad were potentially set to partner with Jumbo-Visma to form one WorldTour 'super team'.

Wielerflits then reported on Thursday evening that Amazon will become one of the first co-sponsors of the new WorldTour project.

Holm previously served as a directeur sportif under Lefevere at Quick-Step, and told Cycling Weekly before the Amazon news broke that he thinks the merger will "save the future" of his former team.

“I know Patrick of course, but I have never spoken to him about this," Holm said. "So for me it was a surprise also the initial story, I did not see that coming at first.

“But now I think about it, with Patrick Lefevere, he's 68, it's about time to think about his retirement because what he's doing is a very, very tough job and he's had the job since like 1979. So sooner or later, we all have to pull out.

“I mean, it's just a matter of time… A big thing we always talked about when I was a DS at the team was who will take over after Patrick? Nobody can do his job, nobody. I was there 10 years and I told Patrick, who can take over after you? It's such a big job…. It’s a 24 hour job.

“I always thought when Patrick quits, the team would probably fold.”

Holm added that two teams merging wasn't usually a good thing for the sport, as it meant there was one less established team in the top flight.  

“But in another way it could save the future of Quick-Step because he [Lefevere] will still be there, but just on the board," he said.

“For me, it would actually be quite good for Quick-Step because imagine he will stop in two years and nobody takes over? The team would stop because nobody can do his job in the team, nobody.”

“That would be a sad day for cycling,” he added. “People love to hate him but as far I'm concerned, he's one of the best things that's happened for cycling, the job he's done. People will realise that when he's gone. 

"I mean all the woke people, they hate him, but the riders love him, and his staff too. I'm the first one to say he can be a bit wacky, but I love him, you know, he can be a difficult man but he knows about cycling, and that's a fact.

"I really get along with him. He's the sort of guy that I could call him 24 hours a day. I could discuss anything with him when I was there, he was always clear and I would always really like that.”

Holm explained that during his time working under Lefevere everyone knew where they sat in the team’s hierarchy and setup.

“At Quick-Step, the boss is always Patrick, and the sports directors are the bosses too,” he said. “It's always a little bit 'shut the f**k up and you do what we're telling you.' The riders know it is good for them, because in many teams you can see now in modern cycling, many days you see the cyclists are the bosses, they make their own decisions.

“In many, many teams, not many sports directors make decisions anymore, the key rider gets to make the tough decisions. I've always liked Quick-Step because the riders always listen to the sports directors because at the end of the day, we want to do the best for everybody."

He added that riders could be "like kids" and a sports director "has to teach them".

He said: "Riders like it when you make firm decisions.”

"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife." 

No, not the opening line of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, but a tale about the proposed merger between Jumbo-Visma and Soudal Quick-Step. Both of cycling’s biggest and most successful teams of the last decade, seem to be looking for a wife - apparently prompted by the financial difficulties of running a successful cycling squad in 2023.

With the top riders that both men's teams have, from Jonas Vingegaard, Wout van Aert and Primož Roglič at Jumbo-Visma and Remco Evenepoel, Julian Alaphilippe and Tim Merlier at Soudal Quick-Step. A super-team would take some beating.

But it is not a foregone conclusion that a marriage between the two squads would be a happy one.

The consequences are huge, and overwhelming; the questions it poses about the financial sustainability of the sport, too, are legion. If Jumbo-Visma, winners of all three Grand Tours this year, cannot find a suitable title sponsor, then what hope is there for any other team?

The original Wielerflits story has seemingly come completely out of the blue, for almost everyone. The only people seemingly involved are those at the very top of both teams, with riders left in the dark until the news broke. Everyone Cycling Weekly has spoken to has expressed surprise at the news.

While the likelihood of this all coming to pass is very much up in the air, and it might not happen until 2025 anyway, we thought it was well worth taking a run through the live questions and potential consequences of the mega merger. 

What happens to the riders?

The riders at both Jumbo-Visma and Soudal Quick-Step were both apparently taken aback by the news, and the idea that their livelihoods might be under threat should the merger materialise. 

GCN reported on Tuesday that Quick-Step's riders had received a letter from team boss Patrick Lefevere apologising for uncertainity, acknowledging “ongoing discussions with various parties in the last month", but saying that "however, there are no concrete projects and plans at this moment".

A union between the two men's teams would leave a lot of riders on the open market. Men's WorldTour teams are only allowed 30 riders; Jumbo-Visma currently have 22 riders under contract for 2024, with Soudal Quick-Step having 23. 45 does not go into 30.

Therefore, there would be a lot of top riders on the market, and contracts for riders without deals for next year would be less likely. Riders still under contract who do not have a spot in the merger would need to be compensated, which would add up.

Contracts are tied to the paying agent and there can be only one agent and one license, so riders on the team which is being subsumed - which many people seem to assume would be Quick-Step - would be free to leave.

The other issue with riders would be the new relationships within the super-team. Would Wout van Aert, Christophe Laporte and Tiesj Benoot want to ride on the same Classics team as Julian Alaphilippe, Yves Lampaert and Kasper Asgreen? Would this even be possible? It might very well be a case of too many cooks.

Let's not even get into the knotty issue of Grand Tour leadership, as a team with Remco Evenepoel, Primož Roglič, Sepp Kuss and Jonas Vingegaard would surely pose problems when it came to taking someone to the Tour de France. How do you manage all of those potential winners?

What about the women's teams?

Both Jumbo-Visma and Soudal Quick-Step have connected women's teams: Jumbo-Visma, and AG Insurance-Soudal-Quick-Step. The former is a WorldTour team, while the latter is currently a Continental team, but was thought to be joining the top tier next season. AG Insurance also has an under-23 development team , AG Insurance-NXTG U23, and and under-19 team, which further complicates matters.

A quote given to Cyclingnews, by a representative of Jumbo-Visma, was interesting in respect of the women's teams: "I don’t expect much is going to happen with our women’s team. For the rest, we never comment on rumours."

So perhaps these will stay separate, while the men's squads unite? Who knows. Jumbo-Visma is the home of one of the greatest riders of all time, Marianne Vos, and Dutch champion Riejanne Markus, while AG Insurance has Ashleigh Moolman Pasio. 

With Jumbo-Visma having 12 riders under contract for 2024, and AG Insurance-Soudal-Quick-Step having just four, the teams could merge and still be under the 20-rider WWT cap, but it still seems unnecessarily messy. 

They are separate teams with separate staffs and everything, just like the men's squads, so that's more potential issues.

That said, a management that is used to having oversight of both men's and women's squad may decide it's worth the hassle to combine the two, eventually even if not on day one.

What happens to Remco Evenepoel?

Let's get into it. 

There have been rumours swirling around Remco Evenepoel all season, with the young Belgian heavily linked with a move away from Quick-Step, with Ineos Grenadiers rumoured to be a possible destination for the 23-year-old. Indeed the entire Soudal-Quick-Step squad has previously been linked with a merger with Ineos. 

Evenepoel has a contract with Quick-Step until the end of 2026, but a merger might provide the perfect opportunity for the time trial world champion to jump ship.

While he has quashed these reports in recent weeks, the idea has now resurfaced thanks to the prospect of Soudal-Visma, or Visma-Soudal. Why would he want to ride at the same team as Jonas Vingegaard and Primož Roglič, and possibly miss out on an opportunity to target the races he wants to?

On his podcast, Watts Occuring, Ineos Grenadiers rider Geraint Thomas jokingly gave further insight into how this matchup might not work.

"The only thing I would say now is: Remco hates Jumbo and Jumbo hates Remco, that's not going to work, is it?” the former Tour de France winner said. “You should hear what Roglič says about Remco. I don't want to start any rumours, I'm just saying. Why would Jumbo even want this?"

There have been rumours about Evenepoel, but also about Primož Roglič, who has been linked with a move to Lidl-Trek. Their final destination is still very much up in the air.

What happens to the spare WorldTour licence?

One interesting consequence of a Quick-Step x Jumbo merger would be what happened to the leftover WorldTour licence. With one team effectively disappearing, there would be a spare spot at the top table of teams, and surely there would be no shortage of teams vying for that spot?

It is unknown what the process of tendering out that licence would be; we contacted the UCI but to no avail. Whether any team with the licence would acquire the previous squad's existing UCI points is also an open question.

Cycling Weekly understands that Israel-Premier Tech would be interested in the spare WorldTour licence, and that contact has been made with a potential seller, but the team would not enter a bidding war for WorldTour status.

The same is true for Uno-X, who have always been clear on wanting to be part of the WorldTour, but would not risk everything to be a part of it.

Speaking to Cycling Weekly on Monday, general manager Jens Haugland said: "We have our very clear identity and philosophy, and we have been very clear about sticking to that and not purchasing our way to the top, so to speak. 

"But if there's a licence available with no obligations in terms of staff or riders, or anything, we are saying that we are aiming for a WorldTour licence, so of course we're interested in that. But that has to be in very special circumstances. There would be other teams in line ahead of us in this case."

On the other hand, two other prominent ProTeams, Q36.5 and Lotto Dstny, have said they are not interested in taking a spare WorldTour licence, should it become available. 

"It’s not like the WT-license comes suddenly available for free. There are several steps to take, financially as well," Lotto's CEO, Stéphane Heulot, said.

"Off course it is our wish to return to the WT, step-by-step, progressively, growing every year and grab enough points on the way to earn that license in 2026. 

"We don’t want to rush things to get in the World Tour again and we will take the time so that our team is strong enough to battle on the highest level in all races."

What happens to the staff?

A team is not just 30 riders, it is all the mechanics, soigneurs, the bus drivers, chefs, social media admins, press officers and even more. At races like the Tour de France, Jumbo-Visma especially has had an overwhelming number of people on staff, in every different role you can think of - that is one reason behind it's rise to the best team in the world.

Should the squads merge, it doesn't just mean riders out of contract, but lots of people behind the scenes. This might be the true tragedy behind the reports.

In the context of these job losses, questions over who leads the super-team at the Tour de France and what colour kit they would wear seem minor.

As do thoughts over Patrick Lefevere's future role in a Richard Plugge-led team - as the original reporting had it - but it has to be mentioned that these two seem like unnatural bedfellows.

What happens to the equipment sponsorships?

As well as separate identities, riders, and staff, the two teams already have existing sponsorship deals for everything from bikes to helmets via shoes. How these are combined into one merged squad, nobody knows.

Specialized's deal with Quick-Step is though to last until 2026, although the American brand replied with a polite "no comment" when asked about the potential goings on. Cervèlo, likewise, have a longstanding deal with Jumbo, and they told Cycling Weekly that they are not party to any discussions; they would be eventually, though.

What happens to the separate deals on bottle cages, groupsets, or sunglasses, is also very much up in the air. 

Jumbo-Visma is in talks with Patrick Lefevere’s Soudal Quick-Step team about forming a potential merger of the two WorldTour giants as soon as 2024, according to a special report from Wielerflits, released on Sunday.

According to Wielerflits, Jumbo-Visma’s managing director Richard Plugge would become the CEO of the new squad, Merijn Zeeman would become new head coach, and Patrick Lefevere would become a member of the new teams supervisory board.

Any potential deal between the two men's teams could see Remco Evenepoel, Tour de France champion Jonas Vingegaard, and this year’s Giro d'Italia winner Primož Roglič become teammates.

Other riders on the joint roster would include the likes of Wout van Aert and Julian Alaphilippe.

The report states that initial talks between the two teams are believed to have begun last summer and that Jumbo-Visma top brass approached Zdenek Bakala - the Soudal Quick-Step owner - which led to a meeting in Geneva, Switzerland.

As well as this, the report also suggests that the proposed merger was supported by the title sponsors from both teams, Soudal and Visma.

Consequently if the merger between the two is eventually confirmed, it’s likely that the project would be registered with the UCI as either Soudal-Visma or Visma -Soudal. 

Earlier this summer, Dutch supermarket chain Jumbo confirmed that its co-title sponsorship of Jumbo-Visma was set to end after the 2024 season if not earlier. Richard Plugge has been working to find a replacement major international sponsor for his team.

The Dutch team was linked to the Saudi Arabian Neom development project, however, the report was described as “fake news” by a source speaking to Cyclingnews.

It is unknown how a potential merger would affect the riders and other staff on both teams, particularly those with lengthy contracts. Both squads currently have 29 riders each contracted to their men’s teams, and the maximum number of riders on a team is 30. How it would affect bike, tech and gear sponsors is also unknown.

Riders like Matteo Jorgenson and Ben Tulett have already signed deals to join Jumbo next season, while Mikel Landa and Luke Lamperti are among those who have been announced as moving to Quick-Step for 2024.

Important questions remain regarding the future of the two team’s women’s squads if a merger were to happen. Jumbo-Vimsa is currently part of the Women’s WorldTour and is led by Dutch superstar Marianne Vos, while AG Insurance-Soudal Quick-Step currently has a Continental licence, but has applied to join the WorldTour for 2024.

When questioned on the subject by Cyclingnews, a representative of Jumbo-Visma said: "I don’t expect much is going to happen with our women’s team. For the rest, we never comment on rumours."

Cycling Weekly approached both Jumbo-Visma and Soudal Quick-Step for comment in relation to this story.

Richard Plugge has said that the day Jumbo-Visma were notified of German rider Michel Hessman’s positive anti-doping test was a ‘black day’ for the team.

Hessmann was suspended by the Dutch squad in mid-August after an anti-doping test conducted in June came back positive. The test revealed the presence of diuretics in Hessman’s system.  Jumbo-Visma immediately made the 22-year-old inactive until further details were known.

In his latest column in Wielerflits’ Ride magazine, Plugge went into further detail about the day Jumbo received the news.

He said: “Wednesday, August 16, 2023 was a black day for our team. For the first time in ten years, we received the message that a rider from our team, Michel Hessmann, had a positive doping test. We had to look in the mirror ourselves, are we doing everything right?

“Everyone involved in and with our organisation must be aware of everything. Germany has a doping law, so the public prosecutor's office is automatically involved. Criminal law has the presumption of innocence, while disciplinary law reasons the other way around. It is up to the athlete to prove that he has done nothing wrong.

“If the test is carried out properly, there are two possibilities, either it is conscious, or it is contamination from a supplement or other medicine.”

Plugge also elaborated on the way in which the Dutch team work to avoid potential contamination in any products they use.

“It is mandatory within our team to only use supplements and medicines that have been batch checked for doping substances, to minimise the risk of contamination. Many products contain remnants of other products,” he added.

“In short, an athlete cannot simply take a supplement, drug or energy drink without knowing whether it has been tested beforehand. There can be a (in or out-of-competition) doping control 365 days a year, the athlete must be sharp every day.

"That is part of cycling policy. Riders (the multiple winners or leader jersey wearers) are checked between thirty and 150 times per year. That is good and should remain that way. We stand for fair sport in which talents cross swords on equal grounds.”

'We understand the scepticism'

The Hessmann positive came shortly before Jumbo-Visma completed a phenomenal clean sweep of the Vuelta a España podium.

American Sepp Kuss won the race overall, Tour de France champion Jonas Vingegaard took second and Giro d’Italia winner Primož Roglič finished third. 

After the race all three riders acknowledged the scepticism that inevitably had started to creep in but insisted that the team’s incredible season is believable.

Two-time Tour winner Vingegaard said: "For sure we understand the scepticism that there is but people also need to know how much we sacrifice for everything and how much we do everything in detail.

"We go into every detail to be as good as possible. I think that especially in this team, we do everything perfectly and it makes such a big difference, and I don’t think that people realise how much of a difference it makes.

"I think it’s always good to be sceptical, especially when a team is doing well, as long as it’s not allegations. "As long as we speak about it, because of what happened 20 years ago, then I think that will prevent it happening again.

"I’m 100 percent sure that my two colleagues are not taking anything as well as myself."

Nathan Van Hooydonck has retired from professional cycling after he was fitted with an internal defibrillator to prevent any future cardiac arrhythmia.

The Jumbo-Visma rider suffered a heart problem last Tuesday which caused him to crash his car; after being put into an induced coma, the Belgian has now been able to leave hospital, but has been forced to step away from cycling.

The Jumbo press release reads: "After thorough testing, Van Hooydonck was diagnosed with a heart muscle anomaly that caused the disorder that nearly claimed his life, Tuesday last week. The findings mean the end to Van Hooydonck's professional career."

"I realise that I was incredibly lucky", Van Hooydonck said in a statement. "Things may have gone differently if I hadn't gotten good help so quickly. I'm fine now, but I still have to deal with the fact that this marks the end of my professional career. 

"I would like to express my gratitude to the people who helped me, the medical team at the hospital and all the fans who sent me messages. I will now focus on my recovery and my upcoming fatherhood. 

"Everything is going well with Alicia and the pregnancy, and we eagerly anticipate the birth. That really helps me now."

According to Belgian media, the 27-year-old Jumbo-Visma rider was waiting at a junction in the town of Kalhmthout, north of Antwerp with his pregnant wife in the passenger seat last Tuesday. He had a heart problem while at the junction, which caused an accidental acceleration into traffic.

Van Hooydonck was resuscitated at the scene before being taken to Antwerp University Hospital along with his wife, who escaped serious injury.

By Tuesday evening, Van Hooydonck was awake and without serious injury, according to Jumbo-Visma, but has now been fitted with a defibrillator, and so cannot continue as a professional cyclist. It is similar to the device Italian cyclist Sonny Colbrelli had fitted last year.

Jumbo-Visma asked for space for Van Hooydonck and his family as he continues his recovery. At the Vuelta a España, which the team dominated, Van Hooydonck was visibly in the thoughts of its riders; Jonas Vingegaard said his victory on stage 16 was dedicated to him.

The 27-year-old turned professional with BMC in 2016, and joined Jumbo-Visma in 2021 after the collapse of CCC. He emerged into a key domestique in both the Classics and at the Tour de France for the team, supporting Wout van Aert in particular. A Jumbo-Visma rider, either Primož Roglič or Jonas Vingegaard, won every one of the three Grand Tours that Van Hooydonck started.

His one win was a stage of a the under-23 race Ronde de l'Oise, but he also finished second in Kuurne-Bruxelles-Kuurne this year, and 11th at the Tour of Flanders. His last race was the Tour of Britain, where he helped Van Aert to overall victory.

Jumbo-Visma made history on Sunday, becoming the first team to ever win all three Grand Tours in one season after Sepp Kuss won the Vuelta a España.

This completed the set, with Primož Roglič taking the Giro d'Italia earlier this year, and Jonas Vingegaard claiming his second Tour de France in July. It is historical.

Not only are Jumbo-Visma the first team to win all three Grand Tours in the same year, they are the first team to complete a whole podium since 1966, when Kas did the same thing at the Vuelta. 

Despite this record-setting, the team's boss, Richard Plugge, insisted that the team would not be resting on its laurels: "There's still a lot to be done. This is a very nice 'crown' on a decade of hard work, but I'm not going to sit back now. We have drawn up a major plan towards 2030. There's room for even more crowns."

The team might not be relaxing, but it has left Spain with its bank balance rather engorged compared to when it arrived in Barcelona almost a month ago. 

Perhaps it is to be expected for a team which won five of the 21 stages and all three places on the podium, but the Dutch super squad won three and a half times more money than the next best remunerated outfit, and almost a third of the total prize money on offer.

Jumbo-Vimsa headed back to the Netherlands with €364,985 (£314,632/$389,681) in prize money, 81 times the €4,485 (£3,866/$4,788) that Astana Qazaqstan, the team with the least prize money, earned over the three weeks.

Even Soudal Quick-Step, with Remco Evenepoel's three stage wins and his win in the mountains classifications, could not come anywhere close, with a prize haul of €98,965 (£85,311/$105,643), less than a third of what Jumbo-Visma earned.

UAE Team Emirates came third in terms of prize money, with Juan Ayuso fourth overall and João Almeida ninth. They claimed €95,530 (£82,346/£$101,976).

It is the third time this year that Jumbo-Visma has finished top of the money pile at a Grand Tour this year, with Vingegaard and co winning €664,280 (£572,602/£709,255) at the Tour in July.

The money will not all go to the winner - as per cycling's traditions the money will be shared among the team and staff - but it's a nice bonus for all concerned.

Along with Astana, three other teams claimed less than €10,000 across the Vuelta, with Jayco-AlUla and its three finishing riders, AG2R Citroën and Arkéa-Samsic also not taking home much change.

Money does not mean everything, and it's unlikely the thing at the top of Sepp Kuss' mind this Monday, but it is a good guide of who did well and who did not at a race, and, well, Jumbo did pretty well.

Jumbo-Visma's three Vuelta a España podium finishers have all insisted that the team's phenomenal season is believable and will stand the test of time.

Sepp Kuss is set to win the Vuelta in Madrid on Sunday, with Tour de France champion Jonas Vingegaard in second and Giro d'Italia victor Primož Roglič placing third.

The Dutch outfit have established themselves as one of the all time great cycling teams, with domination also replicated in shorter stage races and one-day Classics. 

Scepticism, however, has also creeped into the narrative surrounding the team, heightened by the provisional doping suspension of their rider Michel Hessmann for a banned diuretic; the German was a key domestique for Roglič at the Giro but tested positive in an out-of-competition test in mid-June.

Just this week, with the Vuelta podium lock-out looking secure, the team had to fight off allegations from a former French team manager who claimed, without evidence, that Sepp Kuss had mechanical assistance on stage 13, en-route to the Tourmalet summit finish. There has never been a proven case of motor-doping, or technological fraud, in men's cycling.

At the Vuelta's podium press conference, all three riders were asked for their comments on doping, and questioned on how the sport should reflect on the team's achievements in the past year.

Kuss, a first-time Grand Tour winner, said: "I think for me personally, cheating or doping is just out of the question because it’s not even sports for me then.

"Part of sports is losing, and of course you want to win but if you’re doing something that’s prohibited or cheating then you’re afraid of losing, which I think is one of the most important things about sports: accepting that sometimes you’re not good enough. That’s just how it is."

In an interview with Cycling Weekly in February 2022, Kuss similarly commented: "I’m not the guy who needs to win at all costs. If I lose or fail, it’s not going to define me as a person, even though I do want to win. But I like to focus on the process, enjoy training day to day, and if it’s meant to be then it happens. For me, that’s enjoyment."

Vingegaard, well-rehearsed in these types of questions after responding to several of them at the last two Tours de France, was the first to answer. "For sure we understand the scepticism that there is but people also need to know how much we sacrifice for everything and how much we do everything in detail," the Dane said.

"We go into every detail to be as good as possible. I think that especially in this team, we do everything perfectly and it makes such a big difference, and I don’t think that people realise how much of a difference it makes. 

"I think it’s always good to be sceptical, especially when a team is doing well, as long as it’s not allegations. As long as we speak about it, because of what happened 20 years ago, then I think that will prevent it happening again.

"I’m 100 per cent sure that my two colleagues are not taking anything as well as myself."

Roglič, who had been aiming to win the Vuelta for a record-equalling fourth time, said that "my colleague [Jonas] already explained it super good."

He added: "I mean, everyone has an option or possibility to have doubts or [their own] opinions, but for me personally what I can say is that we put a lot of hard work in, [and make] sacrifices each week. It’s nice if we can win... at the moment, it’s a special victory."

Jumbo-Visma have just became the first team to complete a Grand Tour grand slam, but could they be about to lose one of their lynchpins? 

Three-time Vuelta a España winner and current Giro d'Italia champion Primož Roglič is at the centre of rumours linking him with a move away from Jumbo-Visma, the team he has competed for since 2016.

The reason given is that Roglič, soon to be 34, wants to be guaranteed a shot at winning the Tour de France in 2024, and with Jonas Vingegaard the reigning two-time champion, he would not be afforded full support at Jumbo.

Ineos Grenadiers previously expressed an interested in the Slovenian in 2022, and rumours in recent week have linked him with the British team, Movistar and the peloton's new money bags, Lidl-Trek.

It was reported by Escape Collective at the end of August that Lidl-Trek had enquired about Roglič's signature, but that drew a sharp response from Jumbo-Visma who alleged that the story was "complete bulls**t".

The team's boss Richard Plugge informed GCN at the Vuelta a España that no rivals had called with an offer for Roglič, and nor would they countenance any such move.

"Roglič is our king and the king is difficult to let go.” Plugge said. "He has won every GC race he’s started this year apart from this one and he has won 15 races this year. Why would I consider letting him go?

"That’s a really difficult discussion but if teams are interested and there are rumours then maybe one day he is knocking on my door, but not yet. 

"If you compare him to football, he’s a goalscorer who scores the most goals for our team, together with Jonas [Vingegaard]. If he leaves then we miss a lot of goals and we have to find someone who scores more goals and there’s not many people who can do that."

Sources close to Roglič also played down the possibility of him leaving when speaking with Cycling Weekly, but the himself hasn't exactly put the topic to bed.

Asked in the podium press conference following stage 20 of the Vuelta, Roglič responded to a question about his future by declaring that Jumbo was the best team in the world. 

In an interview with GCN and Flobikes, he said that the rumours "are good things for me. It means someone wants me and that means I'm good." He responded "no, not really" when asked if people should read anything into the ongoing stories.

Nathan Van Hooydonck is awake after he was put in an induced coma having been involved in a serious car crash on Tuesday morning in Belgium.

According to Belgian media, the 27-year-old Jumbo-Visma rider was waiting at a junction in the town of Kalhmthout, north of Antwerp with his pregnant wife in the passenger seat. He is said to have fallen ill while at the junction, which caused an accidental acceleration into traffic.

Multiple cars were reportedly involved in the crash, but it is unknown what happened to Van Hooydonck or what injuries he sustained, but he was reported to have been put into an induced coma.

The Belgian rider was resuscitated at the scene before being taken to Antwerp University Hospital along with his wife, who escaped serious injury, according to reports.

By Tuesday evening, Van Hooydonck was awake and without serious injury, according to his Jumbo-Visma team.

"Nathan Van Hooydonck is awake and doesn’t suffer injuries because of the traffic accident earlier today," the team said on social media. "His health situation is not critical. Further medical examinations have to determine why Nathan became unwell, while driving his car. 

"We want to thank everyone for the messages and the medical staff in the hospital for taking such good care of Nathan and his family."

On Wednesday morning, the team said the Belgian was "doing well".

"Nathan Van Hooydonck is communicating and doing well, considering the circumstances," Jumbo said. "He was very happy to hear that Jonas has won yesterday's stage in La Vuelta and moved deeply by the fact that he dedicated the victory to him."

"A car with two occupants was waiting at the traffic lights at the intersection of Dorpsstraat and Kapelsesteenweg,"  Patrick De Smedt, a spokesperson for the border police zone said earlier in the day, according to Belgian newspaper Het Nieuwsblad.

"The driver was resuscitated on site and taken to hospital in life-threatening condition. His pregnant wife who was sitting next to him was not injured but was also taken to hospital for a check-up."

Three other people in other cars who were involved in the incident and suffered minor injuries, according to the Belgian press.

In a statement on Twitter on Tuesday afternoon, Jumbo-Visma said that it could not confirm the reports that his condition is "critical", but one of the team's directeurs sportif, Grischa Niermann, told Sporza at the Vuelta a España pre-stage that he was in an artificial coma.

"We can confirm that earlier today our rider Nathan Van Hooydonck became unwell while driving his car, leading to his involvement in a traffic accident," the team wrote in a statement posted to X, formerly known as Twitter.

"He was subsequently transported to the hospital, where he is receiving good medical care. We cannot confirm rumours that his condition is critical. He is undergoing further medical examinations. Thank you all for your messages to Nathan and the team."

"I don't know much more than what's in the media. We know he had an accident and is in hospital. I think he's in an artificial coma. I can't confirm whether or not he's in mortal danger," Niermann said.

"We do know that we, especially the riders, are very affected. We hope that Nathan is OK, that his condition improves, and that his wife is OK.

"The riders have reacted strongly to the news. We're here in the Vuelta with the leader's jersey and we'll be racing again soon. That's not easy, and I hope that soon we'll be able to focus our minds. You never want to hear this kind of news. We can only have hope."

Post-race at the Vuelta a España, Jumbo-Visma riders said on television that Van Hooydonck was now awake.

"It will be a day to remember of course, because of the mixed feelings," Attila Valter said. "We heard at the bottom of the climb that Nathan is awake, and he’s pretty ok. That’s what I hoped for. It was a good stage for us, we wanted to go for it. There are mixed feelings, but we had to get through this, and give this stage to Nathan. We heard he is awake, and I hope he watched that we are all cheering for him and this victory is for him."

"We had some terrible news this morning, and I wanted to win for my best friend today," stage winner Jonas Vingegaard said. "Luckily now, there is good news about his condition. That’s a big relief for me, for the team, and I hope he will recover soon.

Van Hooydonck recently returned from the Tour of Britain, at which Jumbo won four stages and the overall.

Jumbo-Visma has rebuffed motor-doping accusations made against it by former B&B Hotels team boss and French ex-pro cyclist Jérôme Pineau, noting that they were unsubstantiated.

The Dutch squad are currently occupying all three podium positions at the Vuelta a España, with Sepp Kuss in the red jersey, followed by Primož Roglič and Jonas Vingegaard. There is no evidence that this success had been aided by any illegal methods, including motor doping.

The level of dominance has led to a few on social media questioning their performance, but Pineau went further. On Monday Pineau, appearing on RMC Sport in France, pointed to a moment on Friday's stage 13 on the Col du Tourmalet when Kuss accelerated, paused, and then went again. 

The reason for the incident, Pineau said, was "mechanical", heavily implying motors were involved.

He said: "The acceleration from Sepp Kuss on the Tourmalet, 10km/h faster than the group, with [Remco] Evenepoel absent but with top riders like [Juan] Ayuso and [Cian] Uijdtebroecks, no slouches on the bike, and Kuss comes along 10km/h faster. There’s a spectator who steps out, he brakes and gets going again 10km/h faster… on the Tourmalet. How do you explain that? How can someone explain that to me?”

Pineau did not offer any evidence to substantiate his allegations, which included questioning Jumbo's 1-2-3 victory at on the opening stage of Paris-Nice last year. 

Motor doping has been a subject of intrigue for years, but no men's WorldTour rider has ever been found breaking the rules this way, despite extensive checks.

Pineau managed the B&B Hotels-KTM team until it ceased to exist at the end of 2022. The B&B project ended in disappointment as funds could not be found to support its extant men's or a mooted women's team for 2023, leaving some riders - including Mark Cavendish and Audrey Cordon-Ragot - without a squad. 

A spokesman for Jumbo-Visma said that the squad was focused on winning the Vuelta, and that Pineau's comments should not be given oxygen.

"We continue to explain transparently how we work and what the basis of our successes is (nutrition, altitude training, top equipment, etc.)," the spokesman said.

"In addition, we find it strange that the media give someone a platform without being able to properly substantiate his accusations. Especially knowing the damage that the same person has recently done to cycling with his delusions."

According to cycling's governing body, the UCI, a total of 997 checks were carried out across all 21 stages of the Tour de France, and all came back negative.

The organisation said that 837 checks were carried out at the start of stages using magnetic tablets which were used to check for the presence of possible propulsion systems hidden in the tubes and other components of riders' bikes. A further 160 tests were then carried out at the end of various stages using either backscatter or x-ray transmission technology.

Wout van Aert believes the finale of the Tour of Britain will be 'a matter of legs' after an ‘explosive’ day of action on stage seven in Gloucestershire.

The Belgian launched a series of attacks in the Cotswolds as the race approached Gloucester in what appeared to be another huge statement of intent from Jumbo-Visma.

However, Van Aert later explained that the group were beginning to feel the efforts of the previous few stages which have seen them completely dominate the race.

Jumbo-Visma have won five of the seven stages so far through sprinter Olav Kooij and Van Aert. Kooij had won the first four before Van Aert stormed to victory in Felixstowe on stage five.

Van Aert told the media in Gloucester that he feels the final stage in Caerphilly - which will decide the race overall - will be a case of last man standing due to the longer climbs that await the peloton.

He said: “It was a really tough stage today. For the last 40 kilometres when we were still far from the breakaway we finally got some help from Movistar, although you heard it in the wheels already because they pulled quite fast.

“Going into that final steep KOM, the race really was on and I felt my teammates were a bit running out of gas, which is quite normal after seven days of pulling in the front and then I thought attacking might be the best defence.

"So, that's what I did but unfortunately I kind of isolated myself a few times with guys on my wheel who didn't really want to cooperate. So yeah, I made a bit of a mistake there.

“I think it will be less explosive tomorrow because the stage is even harder, or let's say way harder, it’s longer climbs during the day and then the climb on the circuit is like a proper wall I guess. I think it will be more a matter of legs in the final."

Going into the final day he still leads the race overall by three seconds.

“Today, I overestimated the course a bit," he added. "I thought it was quite tough in the final, but apparently there were still some fast guys who could hang on. So tomorrow I think we will see an even smaller group.”

Before stage seven got underway in Tewkesbury, Ineos Grenadiers announced that Tom Pidcock had withdrawn from the race due to a saddle sore infection. Van Aert explained that he knew Pidcock’s absence would mean Ineos came out fighting in the Cotswolds.

“It's for sure one of the big contenders that was not on the start line anymore,” Van Aert said when discussing Pidcock's withdrawal. “But we knew especially we could expect different tactics from Ineos and they really really were eager to be in the break.

“I think with Tom there we wouldn't have let them in the break so he had a helper up the road but yeah, right now this was the best situation we could create and the final was still a lot of difficult and guys strong guys to look at.”

As the riders entered the final third of action, Van Aert launched a series of savage attacks from the main field before he eventually bridged across to the day's breakaway which included Ineos' Ben Turner.

Eventually he briefly distanced the select group which had formed at the head of the race but appeared to blow up in the closing metres with the finish line in sight.

Acknowledging that he had appeared to crack, Van Aert reiterated that Jumbo-Visma's week of dominance had begun to take its toll.

Despite missing out on yet another stage win for the group, the Belgian backed his teammates to deliver on Sunday and secure what would be his second overall victory in the British stage race.

“Except for the final kilometre I was not running out of gas at all,” he said. “It was more my teammates who did a terrific job already the whole week and because of all the stage wins we took in the beginning it's quite normal that we don't get too much help from the others so we then have a hard time to control.

"I'm still proud of them and hopefully they can hold on for one more day and I can pay them back with a nice GC.”

German cyclist Michel Hessmann has been provisionally suspended by his team, Jumbo-Visma, after he returned a positive-anti-doping test result. 

The squad announced the news on Wednesday, saying that the test was conducted in June, and revealed the presence of diuretics. Jumbo-Visma have since made the 22-year-old inactive until more details are known. 

In a statement shared on Twitter, Jumbo-Visma wrote: “Today we have been informed of a positive anti-doping test result of our rider Michel Hessmann.

“It concerned an out-of-competition control on 14 June in Germany. The detected product is a diuretic medicine. We await the results of further investigation. Michel has been suspended by the team until further notice.” 

Diuretics are used to treat several conditions, such as heart failure, liver disease and types of kidney disease. They work by helping the body release sodium and water, passing it through urine. While they are not performance-enhancing by themselves, they are known to contribute to rapid weight loss. 

Diuretics are on the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) list of prohibited substances, and are banned both in and out of competition. 

Hessmann’s positive test came two weeks after he took part in the Giro d’Italia, where he helped his team-mate Primož Roglič to victory. He also rode Liège-Bastogne-Liège, the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya and Strade Bianche earlier in the year, and participated in last month’s Czech Tour since the anti-doping control.  

Hessman, who is a product of Jumbo-Visma's development team, is yet to comment on his positive test result. 

The news follows a series of recent high-profile anti-doping positives in cycling. In June, Belgian rider Shari Bossuyt tested positive for the banned substance Letrozole and was made "non-active" by her Canyon-SRAM team. Bossuyt’s positive result came over a year after her compatriot, cyclo-cross rider Toon Aerts, returned a sample containing the same product. 

In 2022, there were 29 cases of alleged doping recorded in cycling, according to figures released by the anti-doping union Movement for a Credible Cycling (MPCC). This included one case at WorldTour level, after two of Nairo Quintana’s blood samples revealed the presence of tramadol, a painkiller banned by the UCI. 

Wout van Aert will not start stage 18 of the Tour de France, with the Jumbo-Visma rider instead heading home as his wife Sarah is set to give birth imminently.

The news was announced in a video released by the team on Twitter on Thursday morning, which was recorded on Wednesday morning, ahead of stage 17. 

In the video Van Aert said: "Things are starting to get a bit tight at home. In consultation with the team, we have decided that my place is now at home. We have been seeing the doctor at home for the last few weeks. He has assessed that labour is imminent. That's why we have made this decision."

With his team leader Jonas Vingegaard now over seven minutes in front at the top of the general classification, the decision might be a bit easier now than if it had come earlier in the race.

Last week, Van Aert was forced to deny rumours that he was leaving the race after stage 10, a rumour that it emerged had started with Lidl-Trek's Mattias Skjelmose. Now, the news is true.

Van Aert said in the video: "On the one hand, it's a strange feeling, but it's not a dilemma. It's an easy decision. I always thought that I would go home when my wife indicated she needed me. That time has come. So in that respect, it's not a dilemma. 

"I told the boys at dinner last night. I am delighted that they have all understood the decision and are one hundred percent behind me. Those even guys will perform well for the rest of the Tour. Everything will be fine."

"I started the Tour hoping to make it to Paris," he continued. "I was in touch with home every day. My wife had a short line to the doctor. We had agreed that if she was close to giving birth, and me being on the Tour no longer felt comfortable, I would go home. In agreement with the team, we knew that's was how we would handle it."

It had been the "Tour of 'not quite'" for Van Aert, with seven top ten results, including four podium finishes, but no stage victory. It is the first Tour he has ever raced in without taking a win.

"I often had the legs to win the stage, but it didn't happen," the Belgian said. "It gives me mixed feelings. Results are one thing, the feeling on the bike is another. It was super good. The experience with the guys was excellent. 

"To be able to fight for our goals again gave me motivation. I look back on this Tour in a positive way. But I will always remember this Tour as the one where I called home every day, and this is where I will leave the Tour."

It is expected that Van Aert will appear at the World Championships, which are just weeks away in Glasgow. 

When Alexander saw the breadth of his domain, he wept for there were no more worlds to conquer. 

Sadly, not the actual words of the Greek philosopher Plutarch, but the rehashing of a few passages written by him in the first century CE, popularised by Hans Gruber in the Christmas film Die Hard.

Jumbo-Visma and Jonas Vingegaard have the 2023 Tour de France wrapped up, more or less, thanks to a stage 17 which saw the Dane put five and a half minutes into Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates). It's a result which all but confirms the 26-year-old's second yellow jersey.

"Without bad luck, we will win the Tour," the team's directeur sportif Frans Maassen said post-stage.

They have conquered almost all worlds. So many worlds that they are contemplating going for further classifications, ones not in the Dutch team's locker yet.

"The teams classification is now where we want to go," Jumbo DS Arthur van Dongen said on Wednesday. "We never won before, and now it's also a side goal."

If Tuesday's stage 16 time trial performance from Vingegaard appeared to put the Tour de France just beyond Pogačar's reach, then stage 17's demolition put it on another planet.

A lead of 1-48 on Wednesday morning grew to 7-35 by the evening, with just one more day in the mountains to come. With 15km to go of the stage, on the fearsome Col de la Loze, Pogačar was dropped, unable to cope with the high pace set by Jumbo on the front. As the Slovenian was gapped, Vingegaard simply rode away, putting not just seconds, but minutes into his big rival.

"I'm very, very happy and proud of my performance today," Vingegaard said in his press conference, without looking or sounding happy. "The performance by the whole team today. I'm really, really happy that I took five and a half minutes. That's the thoughts I had [when crossing the line]."

The magnitude of Pogačar's defeat seemed to surprise Jumbo, with the team also saying they did not expect to gain so much time in the preceding time trial. Vingegaard is going above and beyond expectations.

"It was a perfect day for the team," Van Dongen said. "We were surprised. Yesterday, there was also a big difference between Jonas and Pogačar, but still also, there was a big difference between Pogačar and the rest. We were surprised about it today.

"I think we can be comfortable now. If we stay out of trouble, with more than seven minutes in the last four days, we can be comfortable, no doubts about that. 

"The mood in the car was good, when Pogačar was dropped. We let all the guys pull and we waited in front with Wilco [Kelderman] and Tiesj [Benoot], and then we created the difference. The mood is still pretty good."

Wednesday's stage had been planned for months, according to Vingegaard, with nothing left to chance. In the end, the plan worked perfectly.

"It's the performance team who make the plan from what my qualities are," he said. "I think they did it in December. They do it early, and then they work on it all the time. Even even with yesterday's results, we didn't change the plan. We we stuck to the plan, because we think that it was the best plan."

"This is the result of two weeks' hard work," Maassen said. "We wanted to speed up on the climbs and make it as hard as possible for Pogačar because he's so explosive.

"Jonas is in the shape of his life, and he's really made for this. He can do three or four climbs at a high pace. It was too much for Pogačar. "

"We hoped for this earlier in the Tour, but sometimes Pogačar gave us a knock down a bit, and was a really strong opponent. Today he ran out of sugar, I think, and it was over."

Pogačar may have run out of sugar, but it was Vingegaard and Jumbo who are in the process of conquering everything. It might almost be time to survey the breadth of their domain, and weep.

Jonas Vingegaard defended his record at the Tour de France on Wednesday, telling reporters that he doesn't take "anything I would not give to my daughter".

The Jumbo-Visma rider powered away from his closest rival, Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) on the queen stage of the race on Wednesday, putting five and a half minutes into the Slovenian, meaning he overwhelmingly controls the general classification.

It followed an impressive time trial on Tuesday's stage 15, where Vingegaard put 1-38 into Pogačar on a mountainous course, a performance which led some to have doubts over the veracity of the Dane's ride. 

However, after stage 16, Vingegaard said that he could say from his heart that he did not take anything.

"It's hard to tell what you [I] can say more," the Jumbo rider told reporters. "I understand that it's hard to trust in cycling with the past there has been. Nowadays, everyone is different than it was 20 years ago. 

"I can tell from my heart that I don't take anything. I don't take anything I would not give to my daughter, and I would definitely not give her any drugs."

The doubts over Vingegaard's performance extended to the front page of L'Équipe, France's daily sports newspaper on Wednesday, where he was labelled "D'une autre planete", or from another planet. The headline is important because it was also used for Lance Armstrong during the 1999 Tour de France, while doping questions surrounding the Texan were merely whispers of allegations.

Jumbo-Visma directeur sportif Arthur van Dongen said that the team had "no doubts" over Vingegaard's performance, and that they were prepared to face scepticism.

"That's the Tour de France," he said post-stage. "We know Jonas very well, we know what we do, and that's just the Tour. That's up to them. It is what it is.

"We are prepared for it, it's the same every year. We say how we work, and we know Jonas, and we have no doubts."

On Wednesday morning, the teams of Vingegaard and Pogačar were paid a visit by testers in the morning ahead of stage 17 to Courchevel, according to a report by WielerFlits.

Riders from both squads were subjected to blood tests in Saint-Gervais Mont-Blanc an hour before the start of the stage. Jumbo-Visma and UAE Team Emirates have dominated the overall battle at this year's race.

Richard Plugge, Jumbo-Visma's general manager, said the team was happy to comply.

"I applaud this," he said. "In fact, I also worked hard for it. In this way, we're taking another step in the fight against doping. Jonas Vingegaard has had no fewer than four blood tests in the last 48 hours. We are happy to participate in this."

The great man theory is a view of the past which suggests that history was shaped by the respective geniuses of the age - Da Vinci, Shakespeare or Napoleon, for example - rather than from below.  

It is an archaic way of thinking, destined for the dustier, more conservative tomes in the library, but its appeal continues to last, just think of all the column inches spent on Churchill. 

This Tour de France has very much been one for the great men. Just two, actually, with Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) and Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) dominating the race, and practically all of the action. The masses have not had much of a look in, with even stage winner Wout Poels (Bahrain-Victorious) only getting a couple of seconds on television on stage 15, as the action cut back to the GC battle.

That battle was looking like one for the ages. That was, until Tuesday's stage 16, when the tension was deflated by a time trial where Vingegaard took 1-38 on his rival, increasing his lead to 1-48. A race of truth uncovered not just a gap but a crevasse between the pair.

However, Vingegaard's Jumbo-Visma team are not relaxing just yet, with the other great man in the race now wounded, and surely set to attack, attack, and attack in a desperate bid to win the race.

"Pogačar is like the Germans as we say in Holland, with football, you have only beaten them when they are in the bus back home," Jumbo-Visma's boss Richard Plugge said on Tuesday. "We are only celebrating when he [Vingegaard] is in Paris in the bus and he's [Pogačar's] back to Ljubljana, and then we are sure.

"He will fight back and that makes him one of the nicest competitors. This generation, they keep fighting and we are prepared to fight obviously." 

Jumbo-Visma's staff seemed shocked at the time that Vingegaard put into Pogačar, not because their rider had exceeded expectations, but because to them, Pogačar had underdelivered. Having experienced a masterclass from the Slovenian star in a hilly time trial before - at the 2020 Tour, that unseated Primož Roglič from the race lead - they were prepared for another.

"I'm surprised not by Jonas because we expected more or less a big result like this in time but we did not expect such a big advantage compared to Pogačar because this is what he can do, this is his specialty," Plugge said.

This was echoed by directeur sportif Grischa Niermann, who was following his charge during the race.

"This was Jonas' best time trial ever," the German said. "We knew what he was capable of, we knew that this time trial would suit him, but I expected that this time trial would suit Tadej at least as much.

"We saw immediately that he was going really hard and really well, but we also discussed that he had to hold back something for the last climb, and even for the last flat part. He knew what he was doing."

For Plugge, the fact he was last out on the course after Pogačar seemed to give him something to chase, something extra to push him.

"He was very much motivated, as if he had the feeling, I'm second and I need to fight back to him, I need to catch him," he said. "And that really made him strong. He almost caught him literally, so that was really good."

The race feels like it might be over, but it very much is not, with the Alpine queen stage still to come on Wednesday, and another mountainous day on Saturday in the Vosges. Pogačar and UAE Team Emirates have to go on the offensive.

“I think they’ll attack but it’s such a hard climb, you also have to save something. You can’t go too crazy,” Vingegaard's teammate Sepp Kuss said post-stage 16. “Jonas knows himself really well and if he feels good, he’s not afraid to go for it either.”

The Col de la Loze, the final test on Wednesday, is a fearsome climb. 28.1km at 6% would be enough for most, but the finial kilometres have ramps of 24%, where just a few metres of distance between riders will mean time differences.

"Tadej will attack again but it's such a hard stage the legs will decide," Jumbo DS Arthur van Dongen said. "We have a good plan, a good team with this advantage, and the yellow jersey and now the stage win. We are looking forward to it."

The 2023 Tour de France remains one for the great men, but by the end of stage 16, there might be one who can comprehensively claim to be claiming the history of this race. Vingegaard and Jumbo-Visma are ready.

Jumbo-Visma boss Richard Plugge has blasted the spectator who caused a mass pile-up on stage 15 of the Tour de France, saying that such fans should "stay at home" if they cannot respect the race.

About 60km into Sundays stage a fan's arm appeared to strike a Jumbo-Visma rider, while the peloton was travelling at speed. They went down, which meant many riders behind were also caught out in the same incident.

Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Circus-Wanty), Kevin Vermaerke (Team dsm-firmenich), and Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) were among the many who hit the ground. All the riders involved were soon back cycling, although some looked to be riding more gingerly than others.

Jumbo Visma's Nathan Van Hooydonck was among those that hit the ground hard, with the Belgian spending time on the ground before he got going again. Coming so early in a hard Alpine stage, there must have been fears at Jumbo that the team helping defend Jonas Vingegaard's yellow jersey would be seriously depleted.

Jumbo-Visma came to the front of the peloton after the crash, slowing it down to allow riders to catch back on. It was of similar magnitude to the crash early on stage 14 which saw the race neutralised, and resulted in multiple riders abandoning the race.

Plugge quote-tweeted a video of the crash, saying: "My goodness. Here is very clear what’s happening. What on earth are you doing there?! You just hit a couple of riders off the bike. Stay at home if you don’t respect the riders."

A close-up of the race footage showed the Jumbo-Visma rider hitting the spectator at speed, causing the crash. It is not the first time that fans have had an impact on racing at this year's Tour, with Steff Cras (TotalEnergies) heading out of the race after hitting a fan on stage eight, and Lilian Calmejane being taken out by a flag which caught his bike on stage nine.

Cras tweeted at the time: "When a spectator step[s] up more than one meter up the road and don’t move when the peloton arrive than you better stay home [sic]. You have no respect for the riders. I hope you feel really guilty! I have to leave Le Tour because of you."

The Tour de France's organisers have stepped up efforts to remind fans of their responsibilities in recent years, with cars on the course broadcasting safety messages, and adverts on TV telling people how to behave on the side of the road.

Jonas Vingegaard does not deal in hypotheticals. The Jumbo-Visma rider, the race leader at this year’s Tour de France after two weeks of racing, will not entertain imagined scenarios. 

The Dane deals in facts. After 14 stages, he leads Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) by ten seconds. There are just seven stages left, of which only three are likely to be decisive in the general classification battle. 

Take Pogačar’s aborted attack - thanks to fans and motorbikes being too close - at the top of the Col de Joux Plane. There is no point for Vingegaard to ask “what if”. It didn’t happen, he ended up being the beneficiary of the maximum bonus seconds at the top of the climb, and therefore his race lead has been strengthened.

"I gained one second, so in that case, I’m now 10 seconds in front," Vingegaard matter-of-factly said in the post-stage press conference. "It’s always hard to tell the moral winner. We are happy with how it went, and I don’t think about who’s the moral winner."

It's simple for him. Today, he and Pogačar were locked in stalemate. Tomorrow, they will try again. Despite the lack of daylight between the pair - 10 seconds is nothing, really - Vingegaard is still convinced that the Tour will be won by minutes, not seconds. The longer the stalemate goes on, however, the more likely the race will come down to bonus seconds, or a short sprint, or a brief loss of concentration.

There was a brief moment when it did look like more of a gap would be made, as Pogačar attacked with 3.7km to go to the top of the final climb, and put a handful of seconds into Vingegaard, but the latter slowly brought it back.

"Pogačar didn't manage to get away, and we managed to take a second, so it was a nice duel between the two," Jumbo-Visma directeur sportif Frans Maassen said post-stage. "Maybe in the next few days it will change again, the situation, but it was equal I think, at one point. We will have to see tomorrow.

"They made history. I think, it was really nice for everyone to watch the Tour de France today, and also from us in the car it was really nice for us to be there. We went full, and we didn't manage to win the stage, and neither did Pogačar, but I think we saw an exciting stage."

All Vingegaard had to say on the incident was: "He [Pogačar] had a very strong attack, and I just had to do my own tempo, and luckily it was enough to catch back up with him."

Nothing was lost on Saturday, then, but equally, nothing was particularly gained. Jumbo-Visma drilled it on the front all day, with the whole team, from Dylan van Baarle to Wout van Aert, via Sepp Kuss, putting in huge turns on the front to thin the bunch out, to isolate Pogačar. And yet, only one second was taken at the end of the stage.

The toll of the effort might show in the coming days; surely it will be impossible for Jumbo to attempt this tactic again and again.

“It’s a nice feeling when everybody is motivated for our plan,” Kuss said. “Jonas was also motivating us the whole time, saying that he was feeling good, and that we were riding really well, despite it being a hard day. Jonas gave it everything.

“Ideally, Jonas would have been solo, but it's good that he came back to Pogačar and we got the bonus seconds on the top. In the finish, you never know who goes ahead, and takes the stage win, so that took some of the bonus seconds. Ideally, we would have had a beautiful solo victory.”

It also seems like Jumbo-Visma are running out of plans to dislodge Pogačar from their side, and the Slovenian always seems more able to steal a few seconds, get a bonus, sprint past Vingegaard - the gap is just 10 seconds, remember.

"We are happy with how we did, we are happy with how the team and I performed," Vingegaard said, however. "Once again I wanted to say thanks to all my teammates, they really hard today and they did amazing once again."

"It was not what we wanted, but Jonas fought for that really well," Maassen said.

"[There's] no disappointment. We went full for it, that's racing, and we have to try again every day."

It seems impossible to say where the momentum is in this see-saw Tour de France, but the longer Vinegaard and Pogačar remain locked in a duel, the more the latter will feel emboldened. Three decisive Alpine stages remain. 

For nearly an hour during the Tour de France’s second chaotic stage of the week, it looked like yellow jersey holders Jumbo-Visma were coming unstuck.

Memories of the chaos caused by the cobbles of 2022 came flooding back. Only this time it was the hills of central France. 

Race leader Jonas Vingegaard’s key lieutenant Sepp Kuss, sitting tenth overall, was caught behind a split in the peloton and the gap went out. Meanwhile, the team had riders in the break and was stretched and exposed in the peloton.

“I think that on one of the first descents there was a big split because of a crash,” said a visibly relieved Kuss at the finish. “I was there with Dylan [van Baarle] and Nathan [van Hooydonck] and I just I couldn't bridge across on the last kicker. So I was in the second peloton for a while.”

This hadn’t exactly been the plan at the start of stage 12, which featured five categorised climbs on the way from Roanne to Belleville-en-Beaujolais. Though it’s not clear how much of a plan there was.

When asked what the plan was, Jumbo Visma sports director Fran Maassen was curt. “To keep yellow.”

When pressed he put a bigger premium on being responsive than having war-gamed every scenario. “It depends on the other teams,” he said. “We had to keep an open view of course. 

“Stages like this are really difficult, therefore we decided to try to go in the break, which was not so easy because there was a lot of teams that  didn't want us to be in the break, I think.”

At one point Wout van Aert was among those Jumbo riders trying to go clear but it was Tiesj Benoot who would end up in the winning move and ultimately contesting the stage. 

In the peloton was Vingegaard. “We had one guy in front so when UAE would attack on the last climb we would have one guy to help Jonas,” Maassen said.

It is perhaps surprising that UAE Emirates and their leader Tadej Pogačar didn’t take that opportunity, slim as it was, to press Vingegaard when he was more isolated, so willing was the squad to up the pace at any available opportunity in the first week.

It’s a risk Jumbo are keenly aware of. “You never know [what Pogačar is going to do],” said Kuss. “I mean, every stage is an opportunity, especially stages like this when at times there's not as many of us with Jonas, it’s not ideal. When the other teams see that they can take advantage of it, especially on stages like this that are a bit more out of control.”

Kuss seemed unconcerned that these circumstances would repeat themselves trotting out the well worn, and largely correct, mantra that Jumbo has a “strong team of guys” around the yellow jersey. 

Was Vingegaard better at handling difficult situation than he had been in the past, the American was asked? “I think most of all he has the experience and trust with all the guys on this team, just from all the races he has done with us. That’s the most important thing, staying calm and trusting your team-mates.”

You couldn’t help but sense he’ll have to be as the Alps begin tomorrow and his rivals likely won’t miss another opportunity to profit from chaos.

Jonas Vingegaard remained optimistic on his chances of landing a second Tour de France overall victory despite being dropped by Tadej Pogačar on the iconic Puy de Dôme on Sunday.

The Dane shipped eight seconds to the UAE Emirates rider in the fight for the yellow jersey on stage nine, but with the Alps on the horizon, suggested he could turn the tide and extend his advantage at the top of the general classification.

Speaking to the media after the stage, Vingegaard said that he was simply satisfied to still be in yellow with one week chalked off at the French Grand Tour.

“I mean it would have been nice to have stayed with him [Pogačar] of course and not lose any time but still as I've said before I think the first few days didn't really suit me,” Vingegaard said. “I think there are stages that suit me more later on.

“So to still be actually in yellow after one week is something I'm really happy with.”

The stage was won by Michael Woods of Israel-Premier Tech with the breakaway being given licence to stay away and fight it out for the win. Vingegaard explained that he felt the stage win was never something Jumbo or their rivals UAE Emirates had in mind.

“Yeah, I mean with the breakaway gone we didn't want to go for the stage,” he explained. “If they would have liked to control then the break could have been like 40 mins or something, so I don't think they wanted to control either I guess.”

The baking hot conditions on the road had a notable effect on the action, although Vingegaard said that he felt they did not impact him on a personal level.

“It was a very hot day and very very steep [on the climb],” he said. “But it was still a nice experience to go out and race on the Puy de Dôme, it's a really nice climb.

“Actually I felt quite okay [in the heat] but as I said before, I think these kinds of stages suit him a bit better than me and I just had to try to follow him and yeah, he was just a bit better than me again today.”

“I think there are stages that suit me a lot better than this in the coming weeks. So I'm really looking forward to coming into the Alps,” Vingegaard argued.

Just a handful of days ago, the Jumbo-Visma rider put serious time into his main rival for overall victory with a blistering attack on the Col de la Marie-Blanque in the heart of the Pyrenees on stage five.

In the aftermath in Laruns, Vingegaard said that he felt he was feeling “better and better” as the race went on. Now, with Pogačar gradually chipping away at the Dane’s lead, it appears that it’s now the Slovenian who is starting to come into form.

When Vingegaard was asked whether he thinks it’s in fact Pogačar who is starting to feel better as the race goes on, the Danish rider brushed off the question and said he prefers to focus on his own performance and let his racing do the talking.

“I think you'll have to ask Tadej about that,” he said. “When I prepare myself for the Tour I don't really think about him, I think about myself I think about how I can improve and how I can get into the best possible shape when I stand on the start line for the Tour de France.”

Outside the buses post-stage in the afternoon heat, riders and staff on the Jumbo-Visma squad appeared slightly downbeat after witnessing their leader lose time once more to Pogačar. 

Nevertheless, Jumbo sports director Arthur van Dongen remained optimistic regarding Vingegaard’s position going into the Tour’s first rest day in Clermont-Ferrand.

“We are still in yellow, and we are still on track,” he said. “The team is strong and good, and a lot can happen. No worries about that.

“There are still two weeks until Paris, the time trial is coming up. A lot of stages with a lot of mountains, today it was only the final, maybe that was in Pogačar's favour. We see a lot of opportunities for Jonas.

With Pogačar seemingly growing in strength and confidence at the race, Van Dongen was asked whether he believes the advantage now lies with the Slovenian.

Van Dongen said: “When I look at the last two mountain stages, at the moment he's a bit more of a favourite than Jonas, but we know it's not just these two days. It's only important that you're in Paris in yellow, and we are still in yellow.”

Jonas Vingegaard cut a defiant figure at the top of Cauterets-Cambasque on Thursday when he pulled on the yellow jersey of the Tour de France for the first time in 2023. 

Despite his performance on the road to Laruns on stage five, the Jumbo-Visma man now holds the jersey by just 25 seconds from a rampaging Tadej Pogačar who took the stage honours at Cauterets-Cambasque.

After being steam-rollered by Jumbo-Visma and Vingegaard on the Col de La Marie-Blanque on Wednesday, the two-time Tour champion struck back on Thursday’s summit finish.

Vingegaard explained that while he was happy to pull on the maillot jaune once more, both he and his Jumbo teammates perhaps went too deep on the penultimate climb of the day - the Col du Tourmalet - which they then paid for when the final climb arrived. 

“It would be better to have two minutes than 25 seconds, but I’m just super happy to be in the leader’s jersey,” Vingegaard said. “Obviously, we wanted to attack on the Tourmalet. It did cost quite some energy, so in a way he [Pogačar] was just stronger today, so he really deserved to win.”

“I’m really happy to be back in yellow,” he added. “It's always nice to be the wearer of it. I hoped to at least stay with Tadej, but he was really strong on the last climb, so he deserved to win. I would also have liked to win today of course.”

Jumbo-Visma attempted to isolate Pogačar on the Col du Tourmalet, which they succeeded in, but Vingegaard could not drop the Slovenian, who then attacked and took time on the final climb.

Vingegaard dug in, limiting his losses, and later told the media that after their many battles against one another, Pogačar’s move was certainly not unexpected. 

“Not at all,” he said. “I think we’ve seen this before [from him]. I felt good today, I wanted to give it a shot, and he was obviously very strong today. I guess it will be a very exciting Tour de France this year.”

Vingegaard’s sentiments were backed up by his key Jumbo domestique, Sepp Kuss, who told the media that despite the Slovenian beginning to look beaten in Laruns, Jumbo were well aware that he would look to strike back.

“We can be happy with how we try to take on the race. But yeah, Pogačar is the best cyclist in the world,” Kuss said. “So we have to be ready for the days that he bounces back and the kind of rider that he is."

Jumbo had ensured Wout van Aert made the day’s breakaway ready for their planned move on the Tourmalet and ready to act as a satellite rider once Vingegaard attacked. Kuss explained that after the team’s dominance on the previous stage, Jumbo wanted to strike again to further place Pogačar into difficulty.

“We wanted to try,” he explained. “Yesterday, we did take some time on him. So we wanted to try again today while there was still the hard day from yesterday in the legs. “Today's course, especially the earlier climbs, were really good for Jonas.”

They may have yellow, but it will be a case of back to the drawing board for Jumbo-Visma tonight, with Pogačar resurgent. Time for a reset and rethink as the French Grand Tour rolls on to Bordeaux.

Just 30 miles east of the start of stage three of the Tour de France is the town of Azpeitia. It looks similar to anywhere else in the hills of the Basque Country, surrounded by green vertiginous slopes, with small apartment blocks and lots of red, white and green flags. 

However, unlike Durango, or Eibar, or Amorebieta-Etxano, where the stage began, Azpeitia was the birthplace of a saint. Not just any saint, either, but Ignacio de Loyola, the founder of the Jesuits, and one of the key architects of the counter-reformation.

Bear with me. At the Tour, UAE Team Emirates is like the reformation, trying to disrupt the status quo with their aggressive riding, bringing chaos through Adam Yates and Tadej Pogačar. It seems to be working, too, with the former in the yellow jersey, and the latter already with time over his rivals, early in the Tour. 

By the end of stage three, a seventh into the race, Pogačar already had 11 seconds over last year's winner, Jonas Vingegaard, and the team had already won a stage through Yates.

Jumbo-Visma, meanwhile, have missed out on two stage wins narrowly, and lost that time. Nothing has gone badly wrong, there have been no crashes for them or minutes lost, but they have lost a bit of ground and opportunities have gone begging; opportunities that last year, were seemingly not missed.

It might be top of the team classification at this point, but that is about it at this stage, although Vingegaard is only seventh overall. There were rumours of tension in the team too, with Wout van Aert reacting angrily after he missed out on stage two to Victory Lafay. To add to the intrigue Pogačar was captured mocking Van Aert's actions post-stage, labelling them as "like a child".

However, a day later, all appeared calm at Jumbo, despite Van Aert missing out yet again - this time finishing fifth after his sprint was interrupted by Jasper Philipsen, the stage's winner. 

"Compared with yesterday, I'm relaxed," he joked.

The team have a split strategy, targeting GC with Vingegaard and stage wins with Van Aert, one that is difficult to manage, although the former played down any talk of splits because of this. The image of calm at the team bus post-stage backed this up.

"I think I already did something for Wout," the Dane said on Sunday. "I could have been selfish and pulled with Pogačar, so in that case I was also kind of helping in that I didn't pull.

"For me, I only have to focus on the GC. Of course, we have different goals. I think we're all super disappointed, me as well, and we all wanted Wout to win today."

For the rest of the Tour, Jumbo-Visma has to fight back, take inspiration from Ignacio, and begin a counter-reformation. All is far from lost. The 2022 Tour started in a similar fashion, with Pogačar in yellow after stage six to Longwy, after gaining time on the cobbles.

It took time, until stage 11, but Jumbo were able to force the Slovenian to crack, and then took time. They have to believe that they can do this once again. Van Aert, too, finished second on the opening three stages before getting that victory on stage four. Good things might be coming.

Van Aert looks in form to win a stage and also help Vingegaard; Vingegaard also does not look too far apart from Pogačar, despite the time differences. The team are all still in the race, too, something Arthur van Dongen, a Jumbo directeur sportif, stressed the importance of on Monday evening.

"We are all still, fingers crossed, not crashed, look to [Enric] Mas, look to [Richard] Carapaz," he said. "No one has crashed, we are in a good position on GC. Yes, we are disappointed because we were really close to the victory today again. We know how it works in the Tour, it is still a long way, and we are still on track for our main goals."

In fact, the team seems happy with its position in the race, despite the gaps.

"We know that Pogačar could have gained more seconds than he gained now, so in that case, we are happy with it," Van Dongen said.

The counter-reformation, so succesful in 2022, has barely begin to rumble in. There is more than enough time for Jumbo to fight back, and make Ignacio proud.

Jonas Vingegaard kept a level head at the end of the first stage of the Tour de France on a sweltering day in the Basque Country.

In his press conference earlier this week, Vingegaard’s main rival for the defence of his Tour title - two time winner Tadej Pogačar - had vowed to attack on the hilly circuit around Bilbao and the Slovenian was certainly true to his word.

The Slovenian, with the help of his teammates, piled the pressure onto Jumbo-Visma and Vingegaard. Eventually Pogačar was left to settle for third and four bonus seconds, as his UAE colleague Adam Yates took the race's first yellow jersey and the stage win.

Despite UAE Emirates throwing the gauntlet down on Saturday afternoon, Vingegaard told the media post-stage that he was very much unfazed by UAE’s fiery opening to the Tour. The reigning champion insisted that there was no need for panic after the Slovenian’s showing.

“No, I guess he took four seconds but as I said also last year, the Tour de France will probably not be decided on four seconds,” Vingegaard said.

Jumbo had been aiming for the stage win with Vingegaard’s teammate Wout van Aert, but despite the victory not materialising, the reigning champion believed his team could take heart from their opening day performance.

Earlier in the day Movistar’s Enric Mas - a rider many expected to put in a strong GC showing this July - came down in a heavy crash along with Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost). Mas was forced to abandon while Carapaz remounted his bike, gingerly continuing in the race. 

Vingegaard explained that after getting wind of the crash, simply getting to the end of the stage  in Bilbao without incident was also enough of a reason for Jumbo to be satisfied with their showing.

“I think I can be very happy with my team,” he explained. “They kept me safe all day so I guess I have to give them a big thanks for that.

“They were all super super strong and yeah, we are, of course, happy to be safe and not crash because I heard there was a big crash. Of course we wanted to win today but you cannot win every day.” 

No regrets

Meanwhile, despite missing out on a much wanted stage win and the race’s first mailllot jaune, Vingegaard’s teammate Wout van Aert explained that after throwing everything at it, the Dutch squad could move on with no regrets. 

The Belgian said: “Well yeah, I was here to win the stage to try and win it [the yellow jersey] but no regrets because I gave everything, my team gave me everything, and the Yates brothers were just stronger than us today.”

Another challenging day in the Basque Country awaits the riders on stage two. The riders face another day packed with climbing - including the infamous Jaizkibel of the Clásica San Sebastián - across the 208 kilometre route from Vitoria Gasteiz to the coastal town.

As the riders recover tonight in camp Jumbo-Visma, it will very much be a sense of keep calm and carry on, it’s a long way to Paris. 

Three British riders - Jed Smithson, Tomos Pattinson and Matthew Brennan - will join Jumbo Visma’s development squad for 2024. 

The trio, all of whom are 17 years old, will race next season in under-23 events with the Dutch team, as they continue their progress towards the professional ranks. The under-23 Jumbo squad recently won the Baby Giro through young Norwegian rider Johannes Staune-Mittet.

In a press release shared on Friday, the team's development director Robbert de Groot said: “These are three riders from the top of the junior peloton that we have scouted very carefully.

“They are well-rounded riders who have already proven themselves. Tomos has experience on the track and in cyclocross, while Jed and Matthew have track backgrounds. With them, we have a good group of young riders that we are now starting to develop.

“Based on their performance, training data, and personalities, they have everything necessary to succeed as professionals.”

This season, all three cyclists have added major results to their palmarès. Pattinson won the junior version of Liège-Bastogne-Liège in May, Smithson won the junior Danilith Nokere Koerse and Brennan claimed victory in the two-day Belgian event Guido Reybrouck Classic. 

Their signings coincide with a drive in recruitment of British talent at Jumbo-Visma. This season, for the first time in over 30 years, the team’s WorldTour roster lists a Brit - 21-year-old Thomas Gloag, who received a late call-up to the Giro d’Italia in May. 

Speaking to Cycling Weekly in January, the team’s sports director Grischa Niermann said: “I think right now there are a lot of young riders coming out of Britain who are really big talents.

“[We look at] talents that we think suit well into our programme, into our team," he added. "It’s probably not likely that that is a Colombian rider, for example, but Northern Europeans, Scandinavians, British riders.”

Both Smithson and Brennan are part of British Cycling’s junior academy, a talent pathway for developing future Olympic stars. 

In November last year, Cycling Weekly revealed that British Cycling had plans to cut back its under-23 road programme for 2024, encouraging riders to find trade teams. It is expected that the national federation will only send its academy prospects to two events in 2024 - the World and European Championships. 

After a rollercoaster first week of the Giro d’Italia, Tom Gloag says he’s taking it one day at a time at his Grand Tour debut as he eases into the final two weeks of racing.

The 21-year-old from East Dulwich in London has been going to bed each night unaware as to what the next day will bring and joked that for him, “ignorance is bliss” in Italy.

Speaking to Cycling Weekly on the race’s first rest day, the Jumbo-Visma rider explained that he hasn’t been checking each stage's profile in advance, so each one has been a surprise in the morning before the day's racing gets underway.

“I’ve got to be really honest with you,” Gloag said. “I didn’t know I was riding the Giro until the day before the time trial at about 5pm. Since then, I’ve religiously refused to look at the stage profile of the next day until the morning of it. So, I literally don’t know what’s coming up. People have told me there could be bad weather but I don’t know, I have no idea.”

“Ignorance is bliss,” he joked. “I imagine there’s going to be some hard days to come, but I don’t know how hard exactly or what it’s going to be like.”

Gloag was elsewhere in Europe training for goals later in the season when Jan Tratnik, the rider he replaced in Italy, was struck by a vehicle on a final training ride before the Giro got underway.

After receiving a call from team management to brief him on the situation, he rushed to the nearest airport and boarded a flight to Rome.

Once he had landed, the 21-year-old faced a two and a half hour drive to the team hotel in Abruzzo, eventually arriving at 3am. Gloag explained that he then received an early morning wake up call after just a few hours of sleep.

“I had the call that I was coming a little bit last minute. So yeah, it was an early morning arrival followed by a doping test at seven,” he said. “Then I was on the start line for two, so it was a pretty full gas start to it all.”

“It was a much harder first day than I’d have liked, but hey ho!”  

'IT WAS COMPLETE CARNAGE IN THE BUNCH'

An arduous first week of action brought driving wind and rain for the Giro peloton, with the wet weather causing crashes on stage five to Salerno won by Kaden Groves, and wind causing general classification action to be neutralised.

Gloag revealed to Cycling Weekly that as well as dealing with the weather, he had also battled with sickness early in the race.

“One day I just got super dizzy as we crested the top of a climb,” Gloag explained. “I could barely see straight and was just going backwards on this descent. It was complete carnage in the bunch, I lost about 100 positions, there were bodies everywhere. 

"I think I caused a big split, but my head was just gone. I was then sick everywhere on the next climb, it was one of the worst experiences I’ve ever had on a bike.”

“At that point I thought right! I’ve only got 18 days left so this is fantastic,” he added. “I managed to somehow make it to the finish line, that was tough. Thankfully it’s been better since then, not so much better that I’ve been able to help the team, but better than I was at that point. That was definitely a low point so far.”

Despite not yet being at the physical level he had hoped for yet, Gloag said he remained optimistic that his form would still turn a corner. He explained that he hoped to be able to offer more of a contribution to his teammate Primož Roglič’s push for overall victory in the coming days.

“In 21 days a lot happens as we’ve already seen… to be honest, at the moment I’m not really riding at a level where I can really contribute to the team,” Gloag said. “So unfortunately there’s not been much that I can do, but I was good at the Tour de Romandie. So, if I can find the legs that I had there then I’m really hoping that I can help the guys out a bit.

“At the moment unfortunately for me it’s more a case of survival than contribution, but that’s sometimes how things are I guess.”

He acknowledged that when the Dolomites arrive, it will inevitably be painful but he hoped that could be a staging post for a potential resurgence.

“The mountains are always a double edged sword. When I’m going well, that’s an environment that relative to other guys I perform quite well in,” Gloag said. At the same time, if you’re not in good shape personally, you have to remember that we’re at a Grand Tour and everyone else may be in good shape.”

“Also 5,000 metres of climbing is bloody hard! My level has not been great at the moment… I just have to survive and anything else is a bonus.”

To lose two riders due to Covid is misfortune. To lose a backup rider, who replaced one of those original picks, is evidence of a pandemic that never really went away.

On Tuesday, Jumbo-Visma announced that two of its original Giro d'Italia team were to miss the race due to Covid, with Tobias Foss and Robert Gesink being replaced by Jos van Emden and Rohan Dennis.

Two days later, the Dutch team was forced into yet another reshuffle as Van Emden was replaced by Sam Oomen in the lineup for the race, which starts on Saturday. The reason? You have guessed it: Covid.

For three riders to be out in such a short amount of time would be painful for any squad, but for Jumbo, the team of Giro joint-favourite Primož Roglič, it is almost panic stations. Not that the Slovenian himself is particularly ringing the alarm bell.

"At the end we have to be happy with the guys who have made it," Roglič told the press on Thursday. "The first step is to come here, and some more will follow in the next days. For sure, it's not the best, the thing you wish, that these things happen to you, but we will deal with it, we will find solutions. We go with the guys who will be here."

While the rest of the world has largely moved on from the pandemic, with mask wearing and controls largely down to personal choice, Covid has continued to make its mark on cycling, although hopefully we won't have to update the Giro d'Italia 2023 start list again before race day.

Testing and measures differ from team to team now, however, with the UCI's rules lifting the requirement for teams and personnel to provide a health pass, vaccination certificate or negative COVID-19 test before competition before the season.

"We are trying to take care of it already, but Covid is part of it [life] now," Roglič continued. "It's not a big deal. The thing is when you are sick, when athletes are performing on the highest level, you have a problem with it. All we can do is try to take care the best ways we can, with the things that we are doing already. We just hope for the best, huh. 

Jumbo is not the only Giro team affected by the virus. On Thursday, Bahrain-Victorious announced that Gino Mäder had tested positive, with the Swiss rider tweeting: "Most likely not going to announce my goals next year, let's see if Covid still manages to ruin my hopes then. For now, I'll rest and enjoy home.

Trek-Segafredo's Giulio Ciccone and DSM's Henri Vandenabeele are two other casualties from the virus. It will bring back memories of the 2020 edition, where Covid cases caused Mitchelton-Scott and Jumbo-Visma to leave the race entirely.

"You have to take care of yourself, but it's not only from Covid, you could get normal Flu or sickness in general," Ciccone's Trek-Segafredo teammate Mads Pedersen reasoned on Thursday. "I take care of myself, and I do everything not to get sick, and hopefully that's enough to get all the way to Rome."

Roglič's biggest rival at the Giro, Remco Evenepoel, urged everyone within the race bubble to "pay attention and try not to infect each other", two days out from the race beginning.

"For sure I think we will act and handle it a bit like in the Vuelta [a España] again; wear some masks and just pay a bit more attention with, let's say, washing our hands, disinfectant, things like that," the Soudal Quick-Step rider said. 

"It's going to be again three weeks of full focus, and trying to keep the bubble as small as possible. Losing a few riders in the bunch before the race can be a message to everybody, not only riders, but staff members, members from the organisation, also you guys, the press, that everybody needs to be aware that the virus is still around.

"We all have to pay attention and try to not infect each other. So wear your mask if I see you on Saturday!"

For Geraint Thomas, he of 17 Grand Tours to date, it is not a particular concern, especially as "you can't control the uncontrollable". It might help that his team sponsor, Ineos, makes its own antibacterial hand gel.

"[I'm] not particularly concerned, no," the Ineos Grenadier veteran said. "It's kind of the way it is the last couple of years, innit?! Obviously we're super careful in the team and do everything we can but you can't control the uncontrollable. Sometimes it's unavoidable, so it is what it is and it's just life innit. 

"What's the point in stressing about it, man? Just wash your hands, stay away from people and get on with it no?"

Everyone - fans, riders, directeur sportifs, the Giro's organisers, RCS - will be hoping that Covid's impact has already been felt, but prepare for more virus-related action over the next three weeks.

If you have a dream of wearing a special Jumbo-Visma Tour de France jersey that is a collaboration between the Dutch team and an "enchanting theme park", then this news is for you.

The super-team, home of 2022 Tour winner Jonas Vingegaard, Wout van Aert, and Marianne Vos, announced the special kit on Monday afternoon. Called "The Vélodrome", it will be worn instead of their usual yellow strip at the Tour de France and Tour de France Femmes this July. 

It is mostly black, with stars across it, apart from a yellow left shoulder. There is a map of France inside a hexagon - l'hexagone - and features a carousel on the back. Also on the back, replacing where the map of France is on the front, is an individual star map for each rider. Dylan van Baarle's, for example, features the star map from when he won Paris-Roubaix last year.

It is the third year in a row that Jumbo will wear something apart from its yellow kit for the Tour, after a fan-chosen grey effort in 2021, and an art-inspired jersey last year.

The kit is made by AGU, and has been designed in partnership with Efteling, a fairytale-themed theme park in the southern Netherlands.

The park had an antique bicycle-themed merry-go-round called 'The Vélodrome', which has returned this year in a tribute to the founder of Efteling, Anton Pieck.

The jersey has been inspired by a story written by Sander de Bruijn, a designer at Efteling, which is a fairytale about "faith, dreams and perseverance".

"It tells the story of a little cyclist who, under a sparkling starry sky, breaks free from the merry-go-round called The Vélodrome and, as if in a dream, finishes on the Champs-Élysées," the press release reads.

"The shirt’s starry sky reflects the power of dreams, framed by elegant gold embellishments. This central philosophy of the campaign has been fully and visibly embraced by all partners."

If you order before May 1, you have the ability to "add a personal moment and the corresponding star position map - a unique opportunity to immortalise a fulfilled or future dream on the jersey".

Every rider, according to Jumbo-Visma, will also "carry a personal star chart to the finish line".

"Winning the Tour de France last year was a long-cherished dream come true," Jumbo-Visma general manager Richard Plugge said in the press release.

"By daring to dream big and setting a deadline for ourselves, we made our dream come true. With this jersey, we hope to inspire people worldwide to pursue their dreams.

"We will wear this jersey with great pride in the upcoming Tour de France, and, of course, we will do everything we can to make our dreams come true once again."

It is not known whether any of the riders of Jumbo-Visma are into astrology, but the press release claims that they are excited to wear it.

The cobbled Classics are finally over for 2023, with the weather getting too nice for any serious racing to continue in northern Europe. Brabantse Pijl on Wednesday brought the curtain down on what has been a thrilling series of races in Belgium and northern France, all threaded together by their use of off-tarmac roads at times.

Before we go charging into the Ardennes Classics and then the Grand Tours too fast, though, there is time to look back and try and draw some conclusions from the eight races which make up this block, which started with Omloop Het Nieuwsblad all the way back in February.

Jumbo-Visma won five on the bounce, before ultimately failing on the two biggest stages of all, the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix. The big three of Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma), Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) animated every race they were in, with the latter two winning Roubaix and Flanders respectively.

There were surprises and shocks throughout the eight races from Omloop to Brabantse Pijl, with riders like Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost) and Matteo Jorgenson (Movistar) both announcing themselves in these races. More than anything else, Movistar being good on the cobbles is a fun new thing.

Just seven riders completed every cobbled Classic: Greg van Avermaet, Oliver Naesen and Stan Dewulf (all AG2R Citroën), Tom Van Asbroeck (Israel-Premier Tech), Christophe Noppe (Cofidis), Alex Colman (Flanders Baloise) and Matteo Trentin (UAE Team Emirates). Chapeau to them.

Here's five lessons we picked up.

Jumbo-Visma were perfect, until they weren't

There was a point, after Dwars door Vlaanderen and ahead of the Tour of Flanders, where it seemed that Jumbo-Visma were unstoppable when it came to the cobbles.

At Dwars door Vlaanderen, Christophe Laporte won; at Gent-Wevelgem, it was Laporte again, ahead of Wout van Aert; at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, Dylan van Baarle triumphed. In the E3 Saxo Classic, Van Aert triumphed, while his teammate Tiesj Benoot won Kuurne-Bruxelles-Kuurne.

This meant that Jumbo-Visma has won five out of the five cobbled Classics they have raced this season, a feat that no other team has achieved this century. Various iterations of Quick-Step have come close, winning three of the five in 2019, 2012 and 2007, but never a clean sweep.

Jumbo were so dominant at Gent-Wevelgem - a WorldTour one-day Classic - that Van Aert had the ability to effectively gift the win to Laporte, which kicked off a whole debate over whether that was good form or not.

The Dutch team just seemed like they would not stop winning, and yet, when it really mattered at Flanders and Paris-Roubaix, it did not happen. 

These races are longer and harder, of course, but Van Aert simply did not have the legs to keep up with Mathieu van der Poel and Tadej Pogačar at Flanders, and suffered bad luck at Roubaix, with a puncture at the crucial time.

It was proof that you can have the strongest team in the world, but when it comes down to it, legs and luck are the only things that matter.

Mathieu van der Poel has won almost everything he can on the road

With his victory at Paris-Roubaix last Sunday, Mathieu van der Poel is filling up his palmarès pretty quickly. The Dutch Alpecin-Deceuninck rider has now won Strade Bianche, Milan-San Remo, the Tour of Flanders (twice), Paris-Roubaix, stages of the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France, the Amstel Gold Race, and more.

The only obvious hole on his record, so far, is a World Championship road race win, something that is well within his abilities. As for other races he could win, and possibly should, there are the other cobbled Classics, like Omloop, E3 and Gent-Wevelgem. He has finished in the top-five in the latter two.

This is the level the flying Dutchman is now at, with his almost-complete record. He won't win a Grand Tour, but could he challenge at Liège-Bastogne-Liège? The fourth Monument is hilly, but then he has won sixth there before, so it doesn't seem impossible. Il Lombardia will probably be out of his reach, however.

Tadej Pogačar should target Paris-Roubaix

Speaking of someone with a quickly-filling palmarès, Tadej Pogačar ticked another career goal off with a win at the Tour of Flanders in early April. The Slovenian has only raced Flanders twice, but has quickly taken to cobbled racing, with top tens at Dwars door Vlaanderen and the E3 Saxo Classic to add to his Flanders victory.

He has never raced Paris-Roubaix, and is very much the opposite from the typical rider that does well at the Hell of the North. Just look at some of the riders in the top ten last weekend, and you will see the pattern: Stefan Küng, Filippo Ganna, Van der Poel, John Degenkolb and Max Walscheid.

Pogačar is incredibly light compared to these rouleur types, and switching to Roubaix would mean a change in his career and his approach, which to date has centred around the Tour de France. However, if anyone could win all five monuments it would be the UAE Team Emirates rider. He has the willpower and the bike handling skills, he just needs the experience, and possibly the weight.

He already has Flanders, Liège-Bastogne-Liège, and Il Lombardia, and you could see him claiming Milan-San Remo too, so why not target Roubaix? 

Ineos Grenadiers promised so much, but failed to deliver

Fifth at Omloop, 24th at Kuurne-Bruxelles-Kuurne, 10th at the E3 Saxo Classic, 13th at Gent-Wevelgem, 11th at Dwars door Vlaanderen, 25th at the Tour of Flanders, sixth at Paris-Roubaix and 10th at Brabantse Pijl is not a bad return for Ineos Grenadiers, but it does not live up to the super-team's expectations.

Injuries and illness hampered the squad, with Tom Pidcock, Magnus Sheffield and Ben Turner being out at various times through the Classics season. The team is also young, and so cannot be relied upon in the same way as Jumbo-Visma's bank of experienced pros. Pidcock is clearly the star, but he does not seem at quite at the same level as Pogačar, Van der Poel, and Van Aert.

What should be said also is that there evolution into a Classics team is still ongoing, and it won't be a quick process, if it's a process the team wants to happen at all. 

Despite all this, after a stellar 2022, their 2023 disappointed.

Here come the Americans

Coming into 2023, I think it would have been a surprise for anyone to hear that there would be two Americans in the top ten at the Tour of Flanders. Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost) and Matteo Jorgenson (Movistar) finished fifth and ninth, respectively, in the cobbled Classic, proving that racing in northern Europe is not just for northern Europeans.

It followed two other standout results in other Classics, with Powless finishing on the podium of Dwars, and Jorgenson finishing fourth at the E3 Saxo Classic. It obviously helped that both were in storming form coming in the Belgian block of one-day races, but their best ever performances on the cobbles should be noted.

Both also represent something different for their teams, with neither EF or Movistar known for their prowess in these races - aside for Alberto Bettiol's victory in the Tour of Flanders for the former back in 2019.

This could be a one-off year, but if Powless and Jorgenson can continue this form, then the Star-Spangled Banner might be heard ringing out at the end of one of these races soon.

Belgian cycling legend Philippe Gilbert has praised Soudal Quick-Step’s Kasper Asgreen ahead of this Sunday’s Paris-Roubaix, and believes he can continue to build on his form at the ‘Hell of the North’.

Speaking to Cycling Weekly, Gilbert- a former winner of both the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix - explained that he was impressed by Asgreen’s Ronde van Vlaanderen performance, and believes it’s a good sign ahead of the final cobbled Monument of the Spring.

“Asgreen had a great race, of course,” Gilbert said. “After the huge crash happened because of the Bahrain rider, the race was finished for Lampaert and Alaphilippe. They were caught in the crash and suffered from it, and they never recovered.”

Coming into the Tour of Flanders, Soudal Quick-Step had struggled for form throughout the current Classics campaign.

In a press conference before ‘De Ronde’, Patrick Lefevere, the team’s general manager, called for the likes of Julian Alaphilippe, Kasper Asgreen and their teammates to “save the team’s honour”.

After spending much of the day in the breakaway before ultimately finishing seventh, Asgreen put in a solid performance which would have eased some of the pain amongst the camp after the team failed to make much of an impact this Spring on what was once their playground.  

“I talked to him [Asgreen] after the finish,” Gilbert added. “After the crash, all the pressure was on him. It was great that he could still manage to get away with the group that he did, and get his chance to be in the position to win.”

“I know that when you get deep in the final of either race, your legs are speaking more than anything else.”  

Meanwhile, Jumbo-Visma’s Wout van Aert will be able to call upon the support of last year’s Roubaix winner Dylan van Baarle on Sunday.

Having another strong teammate to rely upon will be welcome dby Van Aert, after he slipped out of contention during Flanders after the Kruisberg climb.

Gilbert explained that despite Jumbo-Visma’s dominance this Spring, he feels that Van Aert is racing more conservatively compared to his 2022 Spring campaign. On Opening Weekend last year, Van Aert began his season with a scintillating Omloop Het Nieuwsblad win.

“He’s there, and he still wins like at E3, and is having a great season,” Gilbert said. “But I don’t think he’s the Van Aert that we’re used to seeing. Like when he won last year at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, he dropped everyone else, and was taking time on ten guys behind him. He was just gaining more time during every kilometre.”

“Now you can see that he’s counting his efforts a bit more, and things like that.”
Watch Legend: Philippe Gilbert on GCN+ via the GCN+ App, Smart TV or any web browser. Philippe will be providing in-race analysis from the back of a motorbike throughout Eurosport GCN coverage of the Grand Tours, available live and on demand (territory restrictions apply). 

Jonas Vingegaard ground his way up an incredibly steep climb to take victory on stage three of Itzulia Basque Country, returning to winning ways after suffering defeat at Paris-Nice.

The Jumbo-Visma rider picked his moment to attack up the climb to Amasa-Villabona, powering his way to his first win since February, putting him in control of the general classification.

Mikel Landa (Bahrain-Victorious) finished second to move up to second on GC, while Enric Mas (Movistar) finished just behind.

There was an odd situation in the vertiginous final 500m, where Sergio Higuita (Bora-Hansgrohe) appeared to ride into a pair of Shimano neutral service bikes on the road side, taking himself and Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) out of contention.

The slow-motion sprint came at the end of an extremely climb-heavy day, with 2,799 metres tackled across the 162.8km course, including four uncategorised but seriously steep walls inside the final 20km.

James Knox (Soudal Quick-Step) and Juan Pedro López (Trek-Segafredo) entered the final climb out front, but were quickly swallowed up by a reduced peloton, which gave Vingegaard the opportunity to attack near the end.

The Dane now has a five second advantage over Landa on GC, which could be vitally important in a race which often finishes with tight gaps overall.

He said post-finish that he would keep "fighting" until the end of the race, and paid tribute to his teammates.

"I'm very happy to take the win today, to pay off all the hard work that my teammates have done," the  Not just today, but in the last two days. It's nice to take a win here, it's a big race here, one of my favourites. 

"It was very tough, not only the last climb, but every climb almost. It was a hard day in general and I think I have to thank my teammates a lot, they worked their asses off.

"I will take it day by day for now, but hopefully I can stay in the jersey and I'll fight every day I can. Even if I lose the jersey I will keep fighting."

How it happened

The third stage of Itzulia Basque Country was talked up as the "wall" stage, with six category three climbs along its 162.8km route, and many more tough climbs where points would not be on offer.

The action kicked off practically as soon as the peloton left Errenteria, with Pierre Latour (TotalEnergies), Georg Zimmerman (Intermarché-Circus-Wanty) and Simon Geschke (Cofidis) establishing a small gap, with 148km to go.

This trio was soon inflated by three Frenchman joining them: Rémi Cavagna (Soudal Quick-Step), Thibault Guernalec (Arkéa Samsic) and Nicolas Prodhomme (AG2R Citroën).

On the Meaga, the first categorised climb of the day, Latour claimed the points, before Cavagna did the same on Andazarrate. While the breakaway powered on, Jumbo-Visma pulled in the peloton, in the knowledge that the finish would suit their leader, Jonas Vingegaard.

On Alkiza, Latour took the king of the mountains sprint ahead of Cavagna, but with 47km to go the Frenchman was dropped from the front of the break, with Zimmerman taking the spoils atop Altzo.

He repeated this feat on the Orendain, which was the final throw of the dice for a breakaway that was out in front for 100km, as they were caught with 25km to go.

With the race all back together, it was another trio's time to attack, with Laurens Huys (Intermarché-Circus-Wanty), Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo) and Esteban Chaves (EF Education-EasyPost) all attempting to gap those behind them. Mollema was first over the top of the next time up the Altzo, taking the points.

Chaves was the last rider to survive from this move, with the Colombian champion looking good on the steep final climbs. The next attacks from the peloton were of James Knox (Soudal Quick-Step) and Juan Pedro López (Trek-Segafredo), with the pair joining Chaves out in front.

The final kilometre was practically all uphill, and while Knox had approximately 13 seconds going in, it never looked like lasting. As a result, Knox and then López were caught by the thinned out bunch.

In the last 500m, Lopez attempted to keep moving up the very steep finalé, which caused Sergio Higuita (Bora-Hansgrohe) to unclip, which then took out Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost).

It did not affect the overall result, however, with Vingegaard clipping off the front and grinding to the finish. Behind him, Mikel Landa (Bahrain-Victorious) pipped Enric Mas (Movistar) to second place.

Vingegaard takes the race lead, with Alex Aranburu (Movistar) in the points jersey, Mattias Skjelmose (Trek-Segafredo) in control of the youth jersey by two seconds, and Jon Barrenetxea (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) in the lead of the KOM competition.

Itzulia Basque Country 2023, stage three (162.8km) results

1. Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Jumbo-Visma, in 3-51-58
2. Mikel Landa (Esp) Bahrain-Victorious, at 2s
3. Enric Mas (Esp) Movistar, at same time
4. Ion Izagirre (Esp) Cofidis, at 8s
5. David Gaudu (Fra) Groupama-FDJ, at same time
6. Mattias Skjelmose (Den) Trek-Segafredo, at 10s
7. Felix Gall (Aut) AG2R Citroën, at 12s
8. Andrea Bagiolo (Ita) Soudal Quick-Step, at 13s
9. Simon Yates (GBr) Jayco AlUla
10. Alex Aranburu (Esp) Movistar, both at same time

General classification after stage three

1. Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Jumbo-Visma, in 12-46-43
2. Mikel Landa (Esp) Bahrain-Victorious, at 5s
3. David Gaudu (Fra) Groupama-FDJ, at 16s
4. Ion Izagirre (Esp) Cofidis, at 20s
5. Enric Mas (Esp) Movistar, at 21s
6. Mattias Skjelmose (Den) Trek-Segafredo, at 22s
7. Matteo Sobrero (Ita) Jayco AlUla, at 23s
8. Alex Aranburu (Esp) Movistar, at 25s
9. Andrea Bagiolo (Ita) Soudal Quick-Step, at 25s
10. Simon Yates (GBr) Jayco AlUla, at same time

Jumbo-Visma are set to line up at Paris-Roubaix equipped with an adjustable tyre pressure system. 

After giving the new equipment a run out at the recent Dwars door Vlaanderen, as well as in training, the Dutch team will take to the cobblestones of Roubaix with the new system in place on Sunday.

According to a report from WielerFlits, DSM will also use a similar system during this year’s ‘Hell of the North’ although their setup will be different to that of Jumbo-Visma. This will mark the second e time that an adjustable tyre pressure system has been used in a WorldTour race.

At Dwars door Vlaanderen, it became clear that Jumbo-Visma were testing their own system in the form of the KAPS system from Gravaa. Italian rider Eduardo Affini’s Cervelo team bike was spotted fitted with the system, although the Italian did not finish the race.

Last year’s winner of Roubaix, Dylan van Baarle, is also reported to have been testing the same system during training and is believed to be “very pleased” with the setup.

By using Bluetooth and handlebar mounted controls, riders will be able to lower and raise tyre pressure while in motion, crucially without adding extra drag to their machines.

According to Cyclingnews, DSM has been testing the Scope Atmoz ‘management system’ for the last 12 months. Riders from the team were initially confirmed to be using the system before last year’s race but eventually stuck to their stock Dura-ace wheelsets.

It was believed that DSM would eventually debut their new setup at last year’s Roubaix, and then the Tour de France, although that never materialised.

Gravaa - Jumbo-Visma’s supplier - has published some of its Paris-Roubaix findings on its website, and it’s clear that the cobbled terrain has played a key part in the development of the new equipment. 

There could potentially be huge wattage savings for riders that have the ability to lower their tyre pressures on Paris-Roubaix’s cobbled sectors, paired with the ability to then raise them when they reach smoother roads.

It’s not yet known which riders from both Jumbo-Visma and DSM will be using the equipment on Sunday. It’s understood that a final decision will be made after both teams have completed a recon of the course. 

Kasper Asgreen is Soudal Quick-Step’s best hope of saving their Classics campaign 

Soudal Quick-Step’s Kasper Asgreen was one of a handful of riders in the days breakaway who looked at one point like they could push on for the win in Oudenaarde.

The Danish rider was regularly on the front of the lead group, pulling for longer than some of his compatriots in an attempt to keep a certain rampaging Slovenian at bay. 

Coming into the race, Asgreen’s Quick-Step team had struggled for form during the current campaign, and big things were expected from the Dane as a former winner of ‘De Ronde’ once the race got underway. 

“Save the teams honour,” said Quick-Step general manager Patrick Lefevere in a pre-race press conference, and with his defiant display in the breakaway, Asgreen did just that.

The win may not have materialised, but what we saw was a battling ride, proving that Quick-Step have fight in them yet, and can never be discounted in their own back yard.

Not only that, but with Paris-Roubaix fast-approaching, it appears that Asgreen is starting to find some form at just the right time. If he has his Flanders legs on the cobbles of the Arenberg next weekend, then Asgreen should certainly be considered as a potential dark horse for the Paris-Roubaix title. 

JUMBO-VISMA ARE MORTAL AFTER ALL

One of the major takeaways from this years edition of ‘De Ronde’ was that after their supreme dominance in weeks gone by, Jumbo-Visma have a chink in their armour, and aren’t as unbeatable as so many perceived.

After fighting so valiantly on the Kwaremont, and then sending his key lieutenant Christophe Laporte into the melee earlier than he may have liked, Wout van Aert finally cracked on the Kruisberg, and would cut a lonely figure as he parted the crowds on the way to the final ascent of the Kwaremont.

In the end, it was Mathieu van der Poel, not Pogačar, who finally distanced Belgium’s great hope. Although it didn’t matter. It was now out in the open that despite their five Cobbled classic victories out of five in the build up, Jumbo-Visma were just as fallible as the next team.

How much of a difference it would have made if the likes of Dylan van Baarle had been available, we’ll never know. Although after this kind of capitulation in the Ronde van Vlaanderen, Wout van Aert is likely to come out swinging on the cobbles of Roubaix next weekend.   

Tadej's bike is pretty quick for a Colnago 

As Tadej Pogačar crossed the line and celebrated his win, news filtered through that the 2023 edition of ‘De Ronde’ had been the quickest since records began.

Although don’t you ever get the feeling that if he had been riding the bike of say Wout van Aert, Tom Pidcock, or maybe even Neilson Powless, then he could have set an even quicker time? It would have definitely shaved ten-seconds off, or maybe even more.

As he rampaged to victory, it was hard to do nothing other than just sit back, relax and admire the sheer brilliance of the Slovenian, as well as the masterful design and skill that went into putting together the latest Colnago V4RS that Pogačar rode on Sunday.

Just before Milan-San Remo, ex-Belgian professionals Dirk de Wolf and Tom Boonen claimed that Pogacar’s bike was of the “old school” variety. 

Although it certainly didn’t seem to hold him back once he took flight on the Oude Kwaremont and Paterberg for the final time, before eventually winning the fastest ever edition of the race with a record speed of 44.1 kmph.  

That's now eight single victories in 2023 for the two-time Tour de France champion, not too bad indeed. 

Lotte Kopecky can more than handle the expectation of a nation  

As Lotte Kopecky crossed the line and punched the air on Sunday, it was the 27-year-old delivering on the hopes of a nation, and proving that she can more than handle expectation on the biggest of stages.

That’s two consecutive Flanders titles for the SD Worx rider, and it would be unwise to bet against her completing the hattrick next year.

In a race that has been so heavily dominated by Belgian riders, the country simply expects a strong showing from its star names in ‘De Ronde’. To some that may seem stifling, and overbearing, although not if you’re Kopecky.

When she made her decisive move on the Oude Kwaremont, she didn’t hesitate, setting such a relentless pace that Silvia Persico simply couldn’t live with. Not only that, but she had the fortune of thousands of Duvel-fuelled fans lining the roadside screaming her name.   

“I think I was deaf when I got up the Kwaremont. It was a lot of people cheering, that was very nice,” Kopecky said post-race.  

Fred Wright is well on the way to becoming a Classics star

Despite finishing one place back in eighth compared to his seventh in 2022, Great Britain’s Fred Wright showed that he truly belongs with the big guns at the Tour of Flanders and can more than handle himself when the race reaches crunch time.

As we knew after his exploits last season, Wright is an astute breakaway artist, and possesses an outstanding ability to read moves from others as they happen. As the day's breakaway formed, he looked like he firmly belonged alongside proven Classics stars of the ilk of Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo), and it was Neilson Powless, not Wright, who onlookers were left surprised at.

The American is only just beginning to attempt to forge a reputation as a rider who can cope with the cobbled climbs of Belgium, whereas Wright is fast becoming someone you just expect to be there.

As this upward trajectory continues, it feels like a major win is just a matter of time for the Londoner.

The centrepiece event of the Belgian Spring Classics takes place this weekend, and some of the biggest names in the men’s and women’s WorldTour are set to do battle once more. Taking place on Sunday, the 107th edition of the men’s Tour of Flanders is widely anticipated to be a scrap between the trio who largely stole the show at the recent E3 Saxo Classic.

'De Ronde' is undoubtedly one of the biggest one-day races on the planet, with swarms of cycling fans gathering on the race's iconic cobbled climbs, including the Oude Kwaremont, in their thousands to watch the riders take on the brutal course in Belgium. The men’s race is due to start in Brugge for the first time since 2016, before finishing on the outskirts of Oudenaarde 273 kilometres later.

First established in 2004, the women’s race starts and finishes in Oudenaarde and includes the same hellish climbs as the men’s edition. Lotte Kopecky captured the victory while wearing the Belgian national champions jersey last year, and the thousands of local fans lining the course will be screaming her name once more on Sunday.

Here’s Cycling Weekly’s five men and five women to watch when the racing gets going. 

Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck)

With the way that Mathieu van der Poel has begun his spring campaign, it’s hard to bet against him completing the Flanders hat-trick on Sunday.

After his scintillating Milan-San Remo victory, Van der Poel lit up the E3 Saxo Classic in his final racing appearance before the Ronde and Roubaix. The flying Dutchman was as aggressive as always, rampaging up the Taaienberg in the first of a series of brutal attacks that drew Wout van Aert and Tadej Pogačar out into the open.

While Van Aert ended up snatching the win from his grasp, Van der Poel made him work for it, every second of the way, and will do exactly the same again when the Ronde gets underway on Sunday.

Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers)

After winning Strade Bianche in early March, Pidcock suffered slight misfortune when a crash at Tirreno-Adriatico left him with minor concussion.

The Yorkshireman was forced to sit out Milan-San Remo, although made his return to racing with a respectable 11th place at Dwars door Vlaanderen. Before his injury, Pidcock would have been widely expected to contend for the San Remo title, and on his day, is more than capable of matching the trio of Van Aert, Pogačar and Van der Poel.

Now that Pidcock has managed to get another race day under his belt ahead of his third appearance in Flanders on Sunday, the Ineos man will be full of optimism on his chances of competing with his aforementioned rivals. 

Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) 

Coming into the Ronde, Van Aert will be bursting with confidence after already getting one over on Van der Poel and Pogačar last week.

The Jumbo-Visma man could follow every single move from Van der Poel at E3, and was even able to put his long standing rival on the ropes on several occasions during the race. After losing out to the Dutchman in final sprints on previous occasions, beating his rival in last week's final dash to the line will have provided Van Aert with a timely feather in his cap ahead of the Flanders cobbles.

However, Van Aert’s biggest weapon will be his reliable, and fiercely loyal right hand man Christophe Laporte. Last weekend, Van Aert and Laporte memorably dominated Gent-Wevelgem before the Belgian handed his teammate the victory. As a result, Laporte will undoubtedly be right by his friend's side on Sunday, backing him all the way in the scrap for victory in the Monument. 

Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) 

Since he was outfoxed by Van der Poel in the closing stages of last year’s Ronde, Pogačar will be determined not to let lightning strike twice on Sunday.

The Slovenian was in the thick of the action at the E3 Classic, and was largely able to match each acceleration from Van der Poel and Van Aert, even making his own big attack on the Oude Kwaremont as he looked to stretch things.

Similarly to Jumbo-Visma, Pogačar’s team is full of solid Classics riders including the likes of Tim Wellens. Pogačar is also undoubtedly the best climber of the three favourites.

If he brings his climbing legs to the cobbles once again on Sunday, and the likes of Wellens are able to stick with him until the final phase of racing, then the two-time Tour de France winner may well add yet another Monument to his palmarès this weekend. 

Christophe Laporte (Jumbo-Visma)

After winning two-major Classics in a matter of days, Christophe Laporte firmly deserves his place in the top five overall contenders for Flanders.

Taking victory at both Gent-Wevelgem and Dwars door Vlaanderen in such quick succession is no mean feat, proving what many already knew; Laporte is yet another fearsome weapon in the Jumbo-Visma arsenal of talent.

Moving to the Dutch team from Cofidis has provided the Frenchman with an opportunity to really raise his level. He took an excellent stage victory at last summer’s Tour de France, and is a rider equally as formidable as the likes of Wout van Aert. As was well documented, the Frenchman was largely handed victory in Gent-Wevelgem by his Belgian teammate, although that shouldn’t take away from his own capabilities whatsoever.

After his Dwars victory, Laporte reiterated that he would be firmly in the service of Van Aert on Sunday. However, should things go wrong for Van Aert in some way, expect Laporte to be given the nod to push on and challenge at the sharp end of the action.

Demi Vollering (SD Worx) 

Coming into the Tour of Flanders, the strength in depth at SD Worx is somewhat terrifying. Vollering is one of four riders at the Dutch team potentially capable of winning, and showed she’s in strong form with victory at Dwars door Vlaanderen on Wednesday.

Earlier this year, the team’s strength was no more evident than when Vollering and Kopecky both found themselves together going into the last 500 metres of Strade Bianche. The duo sprinted for the line, with Vollering eventually coming out on top. The Dutchwoman has won two of the three one-day races she’s started this season, and on paper is her team’s most in-form rider.

Her best result in Flanders was fifth in 2021, but she certainly has the strength and power to do better this time around. The only barrier to Vollering winning Flanders could well come from within her own ranks.

Marianne Vos (Jumbo-Visma) 

Earlier this year, Marianne Vos underwent major pelvic artery surgery to correct a long-standing injury. However, that didn’t stop Vos on her return to racing action earlier this week.

In only her second race of the road season at Dwars door Vlaanderen, Vos was one of a select few who could compete with the SD Worx duo of Marlen Reusser and Vollering. When Vollering launched her final attack, Vos was the only rider who could match her, although her compatriot ultimately rode her off her wheel.

Nevertheless, third place was a highly respectable result for Vos and an impressive sign of her fitness given her recent surgery and recovery. The Jumbo-Visma rider won the Tour of Flanders back in 2013, although she then didn’t return until five years later.

With that said, and her form she showed this week, it feels like you certainly can’t count Vos out on Sunday.  

Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (FDJ-Suez)

Earlier this week, Uttrup Ludwig showed she’s gradually building form ahead of the Ronde, putting in a big attack on the cobbles as part of the front group at Dwars door Vlaanderen.

Ultimately, it would come to nothing, but proved that the FDJ Suez rider definitely has the legs to make a difference. In early March, the Danish puncheur took a solid third place behind the SD Worx duo of Vollering and Kopecky. She’s yet to win in 2023, but comes into the Tour of Flanders with a solid team behind her.

Uttrup Ludwig has regularly been in contention in Flanders, finishing sixth last year. Her best placed finish was third in 2019. With the power of Grace Brown in support on Sunday, she could well hit the podium again this time around.

Annemiek van Vleuten (Movistar)

It seems inevitable that whatever race Annemiek van Vleuten signs on for, she’s then instantly considered a favourite for the win. Although with her absolute domination last year, it really is no surprise.

Van Vleuten has won the Tour of Flanders on two previous occasions in 2011 and 2021, and has achieved four podium finishes in between her two victories. The Movistar rider had a difficult start to her current campaign, with an untimely mechanical ruling her out of contention. She made amends for her bad luck on Opening Weekend, going on to take fourth at Strade Bianche.

Since that race, Van Vleuten has been out of the spotlight, training at altitude ahead of her wider goals later in the year. However, despite her absence from other races this spring her rivals certainly won't underestimate her.

As she proved in 2022, Van Vleuten on her day is undoubtedly the best female bike racer in the world. If she turns up in her best shape on Sunday, it could well be game over the moment some of the trickier climbs begin.
 

Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx)

The reigning Tour of Flanders female champion returns for another stab at victory. If Kopecky is able to muster up a race-winning performance on Sunday, she will become only the second woman to ever win consecutive editions. Unsurprisingly, the only rider to win two editions in a row is Movistar’s Van Vleuten.

Kopecky is in lightning form, and has already won on the cobbles in 2023 at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad. As well as her win on Opening Weekend, she won Nokere Koerse and took second behind teammate Demi Vollering at Strade Bianche.

The SD Worx rider has the power and tenacity to launch a move and make it stick on climbs like the Oude Kwaremont and Paterberg. Kopecky also possesses a powerful enough final turn of speed to win a reduced bunch sprint back in Oudenaarde. With that in mind, she’s our out-and-out favourite for the win.  
 

Dutch supermarket chain Jumbo is re-evaluating its sports sponsorship agreements and will not continue as Jumbo-Visma's headline sponsor after 2024, according to reports on Wednesday.

A spokesman for the supermarket said that the company is considering whether its "sponsorship policy still matches our vision and ambitions and the needs of our customers". However, Dutch public broadcaster NOS reported on Wednesday evening that this would mean the end of the brand as a top sponsor.

Jumbo has not ruled out staying on as a lesser sponsor of the cycling team of Wout van Aert, Marianne Vos and Jonas Vingegaard among others. It is also the lead sponsor of the top Dutch speed-skating team, which goes by Jumbo-Visma too.

The company has over 700 stores in the Netherlands and Belgium, with a turnover in excess of €10 billion.

“We’re not worried," Jumbo-Visma cycling team's general manager Richard Plugge told Velonews post-Dwars door Vlaanderen on Wednesday. "I can confirm the news and I understand that it’s been a topic for Jumbo for a while. 

"The new CEO of the Jumbo company Ton van Veen is blowing a fresh wind through the company and they’re re-evaluating all their sponsorship deals. I can confirm that we are talking with each other to see what the next steps can be."

"We are working together on a long-term successful future for Team Jumbo-Visma and it is our intention to remain associated with the team in the future," a Jumbo spokesperson said. 

"Jumbo is currently looking at its positioning. We are also looking at whether our sponsorship policy still matches our vision and ambitions and the needs of our customers. Our current sponsorship agreement with Team Jumbo-Visma runs until the end of 2024. As soon as there is something to report, Jumbo will do so."

The men's Jumbo-Visma ended 2022 as the most successful team, winning the Tour de France through Vingegaard on the way. Before the end of March this year, the Dutch team already has 20 wins, including every cobbled Classic. Jumbo has been a headline since 2015.

Their women's counterpart has existed since 2021, and has been WorldTour since last year. Their top moments have included two stage wins and the green jersey for Vos at the inaugural Tour de France Femmes.

Plugge was asked if the future would be without Jumbo: “Or with them. That’s what we are looking into. As a team we reached the top. Our challenge will be to see how we can stay there. 

"How can we win the Tour even more often? To achieve that we need commitment from all our partners. We’ve got very strong partners behind us who are committed to make the next step. We want to grow even bigger than we are right now. We’re looking into how we can do that, with all our partners.”

“The current contract includes 2024 so we can go on without worries. There’s no reason for panic. We’re paving the way. We’ve got more partners apart from Jumbo but we hope — with the late Karel van Eerd on my mind — that we can keep on working together the way we’re doing it now.

"Our team slogan is 'samen winnen' (winning together). We win with Jumbo. We created that slogan together with the late Karel van Eerd who sadly passed away in December. Building the team, shaping the long term plan is something we do together with our partners.”

Jumbo's former chairman Karel van Eerd was a passionate sports fan, hence his company's huge investments into cycling and skating, among other deals.

Last year his son, Frits, who was then CEO of Jumbo was questioned as part of an ongoing Dutch investigation into money laundering over its motorsport sponsorships. He then resigned from his position at the firm.

The company published an investigation in its annual report that said “no criminal offences within Jumbo have emerged from this”.

The Dutch supermarket chain is also facing a challenging economic situation at the moment, with threats to its market share in the Low Countries emerging.

Jumbo-Visma employed an adjustable tyre-pressure system on board some of their bikes at the men's Dwars door Vlaanderen on Wednesday, testing them ahead of Paris-Roubaix in a week and a half's time. 

A Gravaa KAPS (kinetic air pressure system) hubset system was spotted on the Cervelo S5 of Jumbo-Visma’s Edoardo Affini before the race got underway.

Pictures of the bike that were shared on social media before the race, clearly showed Affini’s new setup on his Cervelo S5. The bike was fitted with Reserve carbon wheel rims - as typically used by Jumbo-Visma - fitted onto Gravaa KAPS front and rear hubs.

According to Cyclingnews, the hubs feature an adjustable tyre pressure system using Bluetooth and Ant+ controls to allow the rider to adjust and control tyre pressures via a handlebar-mounted control unit.

This provides the likes of Affini, and eventual Dwars winner Christophe Laporte, with the ability to lower pressures for cobbles or rough terrain and then raise them again on smoother tarmac.

Gravaa is based in the Netherlands and their KAPS hubs house a small high-pressure, clutch controlled pump which is driven by the rotation of the wheel of the bike and controlled by an electronic printed circuit board (PCB). A bike's tyre pressure can then be controlled by a handlebar-mounted control system or on a smartphone app.

According to Cyclingnews, it appears the pump can inflate a tyre directly or from a buffer reservoir built into the hubs within seconds, a valve system also allows for rapid pressure decreases when needed.

Crucially for Jumbo-Visma, or any other professional team, the hubs do not create any extra drag and the pump rotates with the hubs themselves. The Gravaa system could provide a useful, and potentially critical advantage at the fast-approaching Paris-Roubaix, and could help the team combat power losses from resistance on the race's cobbled sectors.

In 2022, DSM suggested they would use a similar piece of equipment for Paris-Roubaix, the Scope Atmoz pressure management system. However, the team used their stock Shimano Dura-Ace groupsets instead. DSM also suggested that they may trial the system in the 2022 Tour de France, but opted against using it in competition full stop.

Gravaa has recently published some information on a Paris-Roubaix test that they’ve done. The company also shared information on wattage savings from using lower tyre pressures on the cobbled sectors.

Testing on the Camphin-en-Pévèle sector of cobbles the race passes over shows a 25 Watt saving at 35km/h between tyres when lowering pressure from 6 bar to 3 bar. And a 57 Watt saving when riding at 35km/h when decreasing pressure from 4.5 bar to 2.5/3 bar from test riders.

After Jumbo-Visma’s success with the new system this afternoon, perhaps we will see Wout van Aert riding a Cervelo S5 fitted with a Gravaa set up on the Roubaix cobbles in just over a week's time.  

In the realm of unique memorabilia offerings, the smell of your favourite rider is, arguably, king.

Jumbo-Visma know this. Despite his extensive merchandising range, you cannot purchase l’eau de Wout van Aert in a Dutch supermarket.

But you can get it in an online auction from this weekend. The powerhouse team announced yesterday its partnership with MatchWornShirt , a company that specialises in auctioning off kit that’s been on the backs of the pros - mostly in football. 

That in itself is not terribly unusual. Used jerseys have long been a popular piece of memorabilia among fans, coming somewhere in the middle of a hierarchy that starts with bidons and works its way up to race-winning bikes.

But MatchWornShirt has a unique selling point; it’s not just the garment that’s in tact, it’s the odour as well. 

The Jumbo-Visma website proudly boasts: “The jerseys are professionally cleaned using UV-C technology to remove bacteria and viruses, while maintaining the smell of your favourite rider and the dirt from the cobblestones. In this way, all jerseys are delivered as authentically as possible.”

The jersey’s come with a certificate of authenticity, should anyone question the scent wafting through your hallway at home.

We’re not really sure what the use of this is unless, perhaps, you think getting a friend/partner/dungeon master to thrust said shirt in your face at the climax of a particularly hard Zwift session, à la Smell the Glove by Spinal Tap, so you can huff down the salty aroma of Belgium’s favourite son will allow you to channel his mega-watts. 

None the less, these auctions have proved popular in the past. Alberto Bettiol’s signed jersey from the Giro d’Italia in 2021, where he won a stage, went for £1,711 ($2,100) and they washed that one; Julian Alaphilippe’s world champion’s jersey from the 2021 Tour of Flanders sold for £2,753 ($3,384); while the jersey of the winner of that race, and Danish national champion, Kasper Asgreen set one Belgian back £4,344 ($5,300).

If you do value not just a unique piece of memorabilia but one that smells authentic too then you’ll need to have a decent chunk of cash to hand.

If Wout van Aert wins on Sunday at the Tour of Flanders - the first race that jerseys will be sold from - then you will definitely need to find a sum of money of four figures, maybe even more.

But if you miss out this time, fear not as the team will be auctioning off kit from all the grand tours and several classics throughout the year.

Throughout the 1990’s as they dominated the Classics scene across Europe, the Belgian Mapei superteam epitomised their Latin ethos of Vincere Insieme as they swept up victories left right and centre from a handful of different riders. 

Translated to English, it means to win together, and more than a decade later Jumbo-Visma are repeating their same Classics dominance, but under a different phrase with a similar meaning, Samen Winnen, winning together.

Wout van Aert’s willingness to sacrifice his own ambitions for those of his teammate Christophe Laporte at Gent-Wevelgem lived and breathed that ideology. It was a continuation of Jumbo-Visma’s collectivism which has already brought them huge success this spring. 

Before Sunday’s result, no other team had managed to win Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne, the E3 Saxo Classic, and Gent-Wevelgem in the same season. Although on the penultimate ascent of the rain-soaked Kemmelberg, Van Aert and Laporte set to work to ensure Jumbo-Visma became the first to do so. 

When the finish arrived, handing the win to Laporte also bought Van Aert the undying loyalty of a perfect ally to help him achieve his Tour of Flanders dream next Sunday.

Brought in from Cofidis prior to the 2022 season, Laporte was instrumental in much of his team’s success last year. Van Aert knew this, and discussing the decision making behind handing Laporte the win in Wevelgem, he highlighted the Frenchman's willingness to work for their shared goals post-race to the media.

“He is such a team player, so it was an easy decision,” Van Aert said, thinking ahead to the final phase of racing in the dust of Flanders next weekend. The Belgian will need all the team players he can muster if he is to overcome the looming threat of Tadej Pogačar.

In the aftermath of it all, those questioning Van Aert have evidently missed the bigger picture.

How could he possibly have given away such a result when he was the strongest rider on the Kemmelberg? Where was the killer instinct in him, and why didn’t he ride away when Laporte faded on the final ascent? 

WINNING TOGETHER

Firstly, Van Aert had just landed a morale boosting win over his Flanders rivals at the E3 Saxo Classic on Friday, he didn’t need yet more assurance of his own ability. He doesn’t need to prove anything.

Not having a second Gent-Wevelgem title on his palmarès isn’t suddenly going to put Van Aert out of work in his post-racing career. A second win would have meant little compared to the significance of winning Flanders or Paris-Roubaix in the coming fortnight.

Instead, Van Aert opted to go all in for a teammate proving that the words Samen Winnen have weight to him, and you really cannot buy that type of team spirit reverberating around Jumbo-Visma currently. 

Cycling has moved on since the likes of Tom Boonen and Van Aert’s other critics were active in the peloton. The current generation understands there are other ways to win that don't require bulldozing all before you, furthermore teammates don’t exist solely for the purpose of handing bottles and food to their leaders. 

Speaking to HLN, Johan Museeuw suggested Van Aert may look back on this particular moment in retirement and be full of regret.

“In 15 years, Wout might think back to this moment and be angry with himself,” he said, adding his voice to the chorus of ex-Belgian riders, including Eddy Merckx, who while admitting that they understood the thinking behind it, also questioned Van Aert’s final decision to simply hand over Gent-Wevelgem to the Frenchman.  

Meanwhile Boonen even suggested to Sporza that the duo should have sprinted it out, implying that Laporte’s win looked good solely from a marketing point of view, and that giving away Gent-Wevelgem was a bigger loss to Van Aert than the previous victory he handed to Laporte at Paris-Nice.

Clearly anticipating the naysayers, Van Aert begged to differ, recognising the importance of sometimes putting your teammates over your own agenda. Laporte was yet to win a major Classic, so it made sense to help a loyal, trusted lieutenant add to his list of wins as they built form together, and team morale ahead of the races still to come.

"FRIENDS ARE GOOD ON THE DAY OF BATTLE"

Plus, the pair appear to genuinely be friends. “People at home only see this race, but Christophe is a good friend,” Van Aert said. “We have been on the road together for a whole year… and when you get into this situation, it would feel strange to sprint against one another.”

In the heart of the Somme battlefields of the First World War in France, there is an ancient Gaelic proverb, carved into the memorial to the 51st Highland Division near Beaumont Hamel.

"La a'Blair s'math n Cairdean" which in English translates to “friends are good on the day of battle”.

As they traversed the battlefields further north around Ypres, riding away from Laporte on the Kemmelberg would have been a kick in the teeth to a friend who has proved so invaluable for Jumbo-Visma and Wout Van Aert to date. A friend that he will want firmly by his side when the inevitable attacks from Mathieu van der Poel rain down on the Oude Kwaremont on Sunday.

“It was a dream of mine- like winning a stage of the Tour de France- to win a Classic, and I’ve done it now, thanks to the team and thanks to Wout,” Laporte said as he reflected on the significance of his latest win in the colours of his new team.

On paper, Laporte could feasibly win either Flanders or Roubaix himself in the coming weeks. Although Samen Winnen, winning together, may well prove more important. Now that one man’s Classics dream has been fulfilled, expect to see him going all out to help another achieve his Flanders dream on Sunday.  

Having finished second last year, Christophe Laporte prevailed in grisly weather at Gent-Wevelgem with the help of his Jumbo-Visma team-mate Wout van Aert. 

It was a trademark show of dominance from the Dutch team in Flanders. Van Aert and Laporte attacked together on the penultimate ascent of the Kemmelberg and swapped through turns for 52km. Drawing out a two-minute gap, the pair rode arm in arm into Wevelgem to secure an impressive one-two, the Frenchman's wheel crossing the line first.  

For onlookers, there were echoes of last year’s E3 Saxo Bank Classic, where the same duo rode away in tandem, that time for the Belgian to win. 

Sep Vanmarcke (Israel-Premier Tech) won the bunch sprint for third to complete the podium at the Belgian Classic.  

How it happened

Wrapped in gilets, rain capes and leg warmers, the peloton rolled out from beneath the arches of Ypres’s Menin Gate, embarking on a 260.9km route through West Flanders. They would face nine tough hellingen en route to Wevelgem, including three ascents of the mighty Kemmelberg. 

The race started fast. With the first climb not expected for 165km, a five-man breakaway formed, featuring Groupama-FDJ’s Lewis Askey, and cruised at 46.5km/h for the first two hours. Two chasing groups then joined, swelling the breakaway to 14 riders after the first 100km. 

At the race’s halfway point, Soudal Quick-Step drove splits in the bunch, taking advantage of the wind which tore across the open country plains. A few crashes came here, with Łukasz Wiśniowski (EF Education-EasyPost), Michał Kwiatkowski and Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadies) all forced to withdraw. 

Reigning champion Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Circus-Wanty) was also among those who hit the deck, but the Eritrean was able to remount his bike and catch back up with the peloton. 

When the climbs finally arrived, the breakaway held an advantage of just one and a half minutes. 

Over the bergs, tyres skipped across the wet cobbles, the riders’ faces unrecognisable with dirt. The peloton soon began to thin out, and the attackers were reeled back in with 55km to go, on the approach to the final five climbs. 

On the penultimate ascent of the Kemmelberg, the sixth of the day's nine climbs, Van Aert launched the race-winning move, flanked by team-mate Christophe Laporte. Behind, a small group attempted to chase, but couldn’t break free from the peloton. 

The Jumbo-Visma duo led by a minute onto the final climb - the tougher, steeper side of the Kemmelberg - where Van Aert began to distance Laporte. The Frenchman then clung on as his team-mate hurtled through the flat roads, stretching out their advantage to over two minutes towards Wevelgem. 

Jhonatan Narváez (Ineos Grenadiers) and Mikkel Bjerg (UAE Team Emirates) tried to attack on the run-in to the town, but neither could distance themselves from the chase. 

Having won the E3 Saxo Bank Classic earlier in the week, Van Aert was content to sit back and let Laporte edge for his first victory of the season. 

Smiling, the duo gestured towards each other as they came across the line. The history books will list Laporte as the winner, but the victory was certified Jumbo-Visma. 

Results

Gent-Wevelgem 2023 (260.9km) 

1. Christophe Laporte (Fra) Jumbo-Visma, in 5-49-39
2. Wout van Aert (Bel) Jumbo-Visma, s.t.
3. Sep Vanmarcke (Bel) Israel-Premier Tech
4. Frederik Frison (Bel) Lotto Dstny
5. Mads Pedersen (Den) Trek-Segafredo
6. Mikkel Bjerg (Den) UAE Team Emirates, all at 1-56
7. Alexis Renard (Fra) Cofidis
8. Olav Kooij (Ned) Jumbo-Visma
9. Danny van Poppel (Ned) Bora-Hansgrohe
10. Dan McLay (GBr) Team Arkéa Samsic, all at 2-04

As the shudders of a 3.7 magnitude earthquake were felt on British soil in South Wales last weekend, an even bigger tremor clad in yellow and blue lycra tore across the cobblestones of Belgium. 

Earthquakes in Flanders are thankfully as rare as they are here in the UK. Although when they do come along, they're significant. This weekend's certainly was.

Not only did Jumbo-Visma win both Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne through debutant Dylan van Baarle and Tiesj Benoot respectively, they also had both Christophe Laporte and Nathan Van Hooydonck on the podium to complete a stunning weekend for the team. 

The Dutch squad have firmly now replaced Soudal-Quick Step as the team to beat in the classics, and not only that, they’ve done it with such aplomb that even Patrick Lefevere was impressed. 

"I didn't come back from Rwanda for this," Lefevere said on Sunday. "In the end, we have to conclude that Jumbo-Visma are now the team we were a few years ago. They dominate and we have been found out.” 

All was not lost for Lefevere’s squad this weekend. Remco Evenepoel wrapped up overall victory at the UAE Tour, and Julian Alaphilippe took the win at the Faun-Ardèche Classic. However, the point remains that Soudal-Quick Step suffered their first Opening Weekend since 2018 without a victory. 

Jumbo-Visma being a Dutch team simply rubbed salt in the wounds. 

In the past few years, much of Quick Step’s success has been centred around the classics through riders like Alaphilippe and Kasper Asgreen. Alaphilippe won both Milan-San Remo and Strade Bianche in 2019 and Asgreen took victory at the Tour of Flanders and E3 Saxo classics in 2021. 

However, Remco Evenepoel’s success at the Vuelta a Espana last year seemed to signal a change of direction for the Belgian team as they look to another grand tour victory with Evenepoel in 2023.

Meanwhile, Jumbo-Visma are rapidly showing that shrewd and calculated business in the transfer market ensures you can target a variety of races in the calendar year and not place all your eggs in a single basket.
 

GAME CHANGING RECRUITMENT STRATEGY

Van Baarle’s performance on Saturday reiterated the outstanding recruitment strategy in place at the Dutch squad, something which first became apparent in 2022 with the acquisition of both Laporte and Benoot. 

The Dutchman’s performance bore many similarities to his Paris-Roubaix victory last year for Ineos Grenadiers, with him sneaking largely under the radar into the breakaway before he ignited the afterburners and disappeared into the distance. 

Van Baarle isn’t a rider who draws your attention in the same way as the likes of Van Aert and Mathieu van der Poel. The Dutchman lacks that same explosivity and panache which the duo utilise to such devastating purposes, although his style is equally as effective. Van Baarle is a massive engine, it’s as simple as that and money well spent indeed. 

What he lacks in panache the 30-year-old makes up for with the ability to set such a ridiculous tempo that other riders simply can’t live with him. A style which isn’t exactly breathtaking to watch, but certainly is to follow as Mathis Le Berre (Arkéa Samsic) found out on the Muur van Geraardsbergen on Saturday. 

Even without Wout van Aert at Strade Bianche this weekend, Jumbo-Visma can call upon a fearsome arsenal to challenge for the honours in Italy. 

In Benoot, Van Baarle, Laporte and Jan Tratnik in particular, they possess four riders signed in the past two-years with a proven ability of performing in a one day setting as well as in a three-week Grand Tour in support of the likes of Jonas Vingegaard.

Both Laporte and Benoot were instrumental in the Danish riders Tour de France victory last year.

Once you’ve added a fit and healthy Van Aert back into the picture, Jumbo-Visma suddenly look like an unbeatable team across all settings. 

The spine now in place across the squad also means that if Van Aert lacks the killer punch at the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix later in the year, the Jumbo hierarchy can rest easy, safe in the knowledge that his teammates are more than capable of delivering. 

Meanwhile in Spain last weekend, Vingegaard completed his impressive sweep of the O Gran Camiño stage race underlining his climbing credentials for when the bigger races start to arrive. 

Get set for more Jumbo-Visma shaped earthquakes this year. All the signs point to the fact that they’re definitely coming. 

Anything Tadej Pogačar can do arch rival Jonas Vingegaard can do, well, just as well it seems.

The Slovenian threw down the gauntlet to the Dane earlier this month by coming off his winter break and immediately winning his first race, today Vingegaard has responded in kind taking the first win he had a shot at on stage two of the O Gran Camiño race in Spain.

The opening stage yesterday had to be cancelled due to snow making Friday’s uphill finish the first opportunity for one of the riders to get their hands in the air.

The Jumbo-Visma captain did not disappoint. The final 4km climb up the Monte Trega in Galicia Region in Northern Spain was approached with speed and Vingegaard towards the front of the peloton.

With his team-mates fading away Vingegaard launched a stingingly powerful acceleration with 2.3km left to race up the hill, not waiting for the cobbles on the final section of the climb to make the difference.

Cofidis gave chase up the 7.5% slope but Vingegaard had gone and went on to cross the line alone 21 seconds ahead of his nearest challenger. 

Behind him Cofidis powered the chase but Herrada had to settle for third with Ion Izagirre. Second was Saudi Tour winner Ruben Guerreiro (Movistar).

Jumbo-Visma had ridden an authoritative race throughout the day chasing the day’s break for a good chunk of the 184km stage and power him into position on the lower slopes of the climb before every member of the Dutch squad was spent.

Vingegaard now has to defend his lead on tomorrow’s mountainous stage, which also feature an uphill finish. Then also hang in on the relatively flat final 18km time trial. 

If he continues to have the legs he had today however it seems quite plausible he will want to put Pogačar on notice by winning three stages in his first stage race as the UAE Emirates captain did.

The superstar rivals are set to face off for the first time since the 2022 Tour de France at Paris Nice in just over a week’s time. There will also be Simon Yates (Jayco-AlUla), Jack Haig (Bahrain Victorious) and Romain Bardet (DSM).