Competition! Alps! Let's go!

On Sunday, for the queen stage of the 2024 Giro d’Italia, Tadej Pogačar of UAE Team Emirates not only took a solo win, but the Slovenian also doubled his lead in the general classification. After uploading the incredible Stage-15 ride to Strava, as one does, the twenty-five-year-old pro got flagged.

“Who TF flagged me,” the 2024 Giro d’Italia leader posted to his Strava account. He also added a few emojis to let everyone know he was having a laugh about it.

The stats on the day showed that Pogačar rode a distance of 220.96 km (137 miles) and an elevation gain of 5,531 meters (18,146 feet), completed in six hours nine minutes and 47 seconds for an average speed of 35.9 km/h (22.3 mph). That is, admittedly, pretty wild.

And then it happened again. On Wednesday, the day after Pogačar took his fifth win of the race, he got flagged for a second time. For this one, he posted, “Haters gonna flag.” He also took the KOM on the PASSO ROLLE da bivio Valles segment.

‘Flagging’ on Strava occurs when another user on the app highlights an activity as questionable. This commonly happens when someone clearly kept their activity going even though they were in a vehicle. It also happens if someone uploads an activity under the wrong mode, like a bike ride that’s listed as a run and is thus impossibly fast.

And to be fair, Pogačar does ride his bike at speeds that could be confused for a motor vehicle, but he still doesn’t appreciate his KOMs being taken away because he’s just so fast.

Why? Just why?

I will never understand these people crowding the lane.

I know a bunch of people were hurt in that Tour of the Basque Country crash. I believe Jonas V and Wout VA are still out. Is Primož R? Anyone else?

Thanks!

(OP note: Lizzy did a TL;dr, which is below, but I recommend reading the whole things, she documented it pretty well.)

The short story

In order to fully understand everything that has happened, I strongly encourage you to read the full article below, but this is a very short summary of what I want to say.

On 28th July 2023, I was notified by UK Anti-Doping (UKAD) that I had returned an Adverse Analytical Finding (AAF), also known as a positive test, for two substances. Formoterol, a medication I have been using for asthma for 4 years was detected at a concentration in line with how I have been prescribed it. The second substance, chlortalidone, a diuretic, was detected at a low concentration indicative of contamination. The presence of the contamination amount of the diuretic meant my asthma medication formoterol, which is normally allowed, initiated a second AAF.

I have spent the last 9 and half months of my life investigating, researching and writing my submissions to establish how the contamination event occurred. UKAD were insistent that I should have a two year ban despite the fact that both the concentration and the substance indicated a type of contamination which anti-doping bodies have been aware of for over a decade.

The matter was referred to a tribunal. Five days before the tribunal hearing, after previously stating that they would not change their position, UKAD in fact did a full 180. UKAD concluded that I was not at any fault and had exercised an extremely high level of care at all times in order to avoid ingesting a prohibited substance. UKAD therefore wanted to avoid a tribunal hearing on the basis that UKAD found me to bear “No Fault or Negligence” for the positive test and therefore have No Sanction and No period of Ineligibility imposed.

This process has cost me a huge amount, literally and metaphorically. My husband and I spent every penny of our savings and the huge mental toll has left deep scars.

But somehow, through it all, I knew I had to fight. Right from the start, I learnt of other athletes in the similar situations with a contamination of chlortalidone, whose lives and careers were also being torn apart. This process pushed me right to the edge and my fear that an athlete would go beyond that edge is what drove me to try and incite essential positive change. With my background in medicine, my good fortune in life to have had an excellent education and finally my dogged determination, I truly believed that if I couldn’t fight the injustices in this system, then no athlete could.

Prior to being completely cleared of any wrongdoing, I was repeatedly told by UKAD and lawyers that I would receive a two year ban. This simply didn’t make sense. No party thought I had “consumed” chlortalidone with any intent, yet that’s how the system works and my life continued to be torn apart for nothing.

It is difficult to emphasise enough how significant UKAD’s finding is that I bore No Fault or Negligence. To put it in black and white, I understand that this is the first time that UKAD has ever issued a finding of No Fault or Negligence (and therefore zero sanction) when the athlete has not specifically identified the exact source of the contamination.

I encourage you to read the full article below to have a complete understanding of the process. I believe you will find the behaviours of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), UKAD and the pharmaceutical industry to be shocking and at the very least, the thorough documentation below will provide you with a far better appreciation of the anti-doping system, its treatment of athletes and, most importantly, how it is currently failing honest and hardworking people.

Finally, I encourage respectful comments and discussions, whatever the opinion, but I kindly ask you to think carefully about the impact what you say will have on me and my loved ones. Please therefore: read the story in full and understand all the facts before making a judgement or commenting hastily and please remember that behind the computer screen is a human who has been going through hell for months now.

Lizzy Banks*___*

If you missed any of the Vuelta a Burgos Fémina, this is a pretty good recap of the four days of racing last week.

Confusion reigned and snow fell on the route of the Giro d’Italia’s stage 16 as riders stood firm in light of the extreme weather and eventually forced the day’s route to be shortened to 121 km.

The freezing cold and snowy Umbrailpass, the highest peak of this year’s race at 2,498 metres and already a replacement for the removed Stelvio, was slated for the start of the stage but has been removed after riders unanimously agreed to not race unless the Umbrailpass was taken out of the day’s route.

Stage 16 will now start at 2 pm local time from Spondigna for a 121 km stage that will take in the first category Passo Pinei en route to the second category summit finish at Monte Pana.

A number of possible contingency plans had been drawn up the day before should an extreme weather protocol be needed, with possible neutralisation and extra measures such as a third team car being allowed in the race convoy to ensure riders had adequate clothing. A “parking zone” at the top of the Umbrailpass was also mooted, which would have neutralised the race for three minutes to allow riders to change clothes.

At the stage start in Livigno, race organiser RCS maintained the full route would be completed but with the race neutralised until after the Umbrailpass, which the riders protested, before another plan was hatched to roll out of Livigno for 10 km and then jump in team cars to head to the new Spondigna start line for the race proper. That suggestion was also not agreed to and so all riders eventually left the Livigno start line in vehicles to head to Spondigna.

Towns, such as Livigno, pay race organisers money to host stage starts and finishes, and contracts will likely include stipulations that if for whatever reason the stage can’t start or finish in the town as intended, the race will return for free the next year. Today’s alteration will have cost RCS money, which is why they were so keen to have riders on the road in the start town as originally planned.

Race director, Mauro Vegni, told TV broadcaster RAI after the decision had been made: “The mountains are like this, sometimes you have to face certain situations. Our decision certainly hasn’t been an improvised one, it was foreseen by the protocol established yesterday.

“We tried to provide additional safety measures for the riders but we agreed that if the conditions worsened we would have avoided the Umbrailpass. And that’s what happened, it would have been stupid to take on certain risks, especially on the descent.

There’s a wonderful history of GC riders doing things GC riders shouldn’t do. Go back to the 2016 Tour de France, for example, where the tail end of an otherwise processional stage from Carcassonne to Montpelier saw the wind kick up. Echelons formed, collapsed, and formed again, and when things finally shook out it wasn’t a quartet of Classics bruisers off the front. It was Chris Froome in the yellow jersey, his elbows flapping in the breeze like any good adherent to the Jonathan Milan School of Aerodynamics. With him: a peak Peter Sagan, looking like it wasn’t even that hard, Sagan’s teammate Maciej Bodnar, who I think should have been gifted the victory (Froome prevented this), and Geraint Thomas, again wondering how on earth he got here.

First rest day of the Giro d'Italia, what's on your mind and what have you been watching? It doesn't have to be Giro-related, Itzulia Women and Tour de Hongrie just wrapped up too. Heck, if you want to talk gravel or MTB, that's cool, I hear Lucinda Brand is tearing it up on gravel, and the MTB World Cup is still going on in Brazil.

Hope this is OK. Mods, remove this post if it's not.

I used this image to get a list of regions. Forgive me if yours is not correct / easy to choose.

Tell us your country in the comments if you don't mind.

It was somewhere in the roundabouts on the outskirts of Lucca that despair began to take hold.

As the Giro d’Italia headed into the birthplace of Mario Cipollini, the race’s all-time leader in stage wins, a four-rider breakaway was up the road, and the sprinters’ teams had marshalled behind for the chase. But something was wrong. A manageable gap, some 45 seconds at the 10 km-to-go mark, wasn’t dropping.

Lidl-Trek threw its full might into the chase for stage 4 winner Jonathan Milan, driving a classic HTC-High Road style train, but as the kilometers ticked by, the gap stayed stubbornly in place. GPS-based time gaps can be of questionable accuracy, but whatever the actual number, the main problem for the chase was that number wasn’t changing.

Depleted or just discouraged, Milan’s teammates disappeared from the front, the Maglia Ciclamino swarmed by a hodgepodge of riders from Soudal-Quick Step, Visma-Lease a Bike, and other sprint hopefuls. No matter, the gap still didn’t budge much, and in the end the break held off the pack by a comfortable 11 seconds, denying the sprinters a crucial chance at a stage win.

Video of finish: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RF1X7wH4WdQ

Demi Vollering (SD Worx-Protime) sealed a dominant overall win at the Vuelta Femenina with a comprehensive victory on the final mountain stage to the summit of the Valdesquí ski resort.

The race leader attacked with 6.5km to go and immediately put all of her rivals in difficulty before soloing clear to take her second stage win of the race, with both coming at summit finishes.

The Dutch rider held her lead all the way to the finish to win alone and seal the first Grand Tour of the 2024 season.

Évita Muzic (FDJ-SUEZ) finished second on the stage, 29 seconds down, with Riejanne Markus (Team Visma-Lease a Bike) crossing the line four seconds later.

Elisa Longo Borghini (Lidl-Trek) came into the stage sitting second overall but was dropped as soon as Vollering put the hammer down. The Italian was put into the red and despite battling back through the final stages of the race she was unable to hang onto second overall, slipping to third at two minutes back, with Markus' consistency rewarded with second overall at 1:49.

The final climb to the ski resort was an epic battle between the best GC riders in the world with FDJ-SUEZ gunning for another stage win in the race and a possible podium spot for Muzic. Grace Brown was pivotal in the French squad's tactics as she set a furious pace on both of the day's climbs and she whittled down the front group to just a dozen or so riders.

However when Vollering accelerated Muzic and Markus were the only riders able to truly follow and they too were distanced due to the relentless pace of the SD Worx-Protime rider.

“It’s really nice, the team did a really good job the whole day. I was a bit nervous, because this last climb, I thought it wasn’t so super hard. It’s difficult because of the headwind and it’s not super steep," Vollering said at the finish.

"There was one part where we turned a bit and went in the back so there I thought I need to attack, and I need to make sure I have a gap so the rest will have a headwind to chase me back. I could extend my gap and stay out so I’m really happy to win this stage. It’s really nice to finish it off like this. We did a really good tour here, some podiums and two stage wins, so I think we can be very proud of ourselves."

Each moment the team has left Vollering to fend for herself could be written off in isolation, but as they continue to mount up, scrutiny of the team’s treatment towards the Tour winner will only get louder, and each moment will be picked apart.

Perhaps everything will become clear soon, and the situation during stage six was just miscommunication, but if it smells like a duck and walks like a duck … All we can hope is that Vollering’s contract negotiations are sorted soon and the Dutch national champion can focus on her job, but by golly, the SD Worx-Protime team bus can’t be a fun place to hang out at the moment.

Wanna chat about the race?

https://www.giroditalia.it/en/livehub/

Demi Vollering set a blistering pace up the only categorized climb of the day during Stage 6 of La Vuelta España Femenina, but it wasn’t enough to shake FDJ-Suez’s Évita Muzic who came around the SD Worx-Protime rider to win the stage. Yara Kasteijn (Fenix-Deceuninck) finished third 15 seconds behind.

Vollering extended her lead on Lidl-Trek’s Elisa Longo Borghini in the overall classification to 56 seconds, and Riejanne Markus (Visma-Lease a Bike) was able to gain a few seconds on Longo Borghini and hold third overall, 1:14 behind Vollering.

Defending Tour de France Femmes Avec Zwift champion Demi Vollering has reached a different sort of milestone in her career, announcing that she has become a Nike athlete.

The global super brand has a limited history in the professional cycling, most famously backing Lance Armstrong during his career, and more recently having a contract with Mark Cavendish.

Now Vollering is amongst its ranks, a big step forward for women’s cycling.

“I am proud and grateful to have signed a partnership with Nike,” Vollering wrote on social media. “With Nike’s support, I will pursue the dreams and goals I have set for the coming years.

Who is going to win the Giro d’Italia? The answer today feels obvious, almost certain although plenty can happen in the next three weeks. The harder questions are how might Tadej Pogačar win and who else is going to finish on the podium?

Demi Vollering (SD Worx-Protime) won stage 5 of the Vuelta Femenina, in the first of three summit finishes of the stage race. Vollering battled with Yara Kastelijn (Credishop-Fristads) and Elisa Longo Borghini (Lidl-Trek) in the final steep climb, but broke away with around 1,000 meters to go. Vollering was all alone at the line, 28 seconds ahead of Kastelijn and Longo Borghini. This was Vollering’s first win of 2024 and she has taken over the lead of the GC.

“The Boss” Marianne Vos did it again for her 252nd road victory on stage 3 of La Vuelta Femenina.

The ageless Dutch slayer uncorked a huge sprint that left rivals way back in her fumes Tuesday after her Visma-Lease a Bike teammates went deep all day long to set up their all-conquering captain.

Charlotte Kool (DSM-Firmenich-PostNL) and Canadian speedster Olivia Baril (Movistar) finished in second and third respectively, several lengths back on Vos and her huge muscling sprint.

“Of course I’m very happy and satisfied,” Vos said at the finish.

“Yesterday we worked hard and tried hard, but we had some bad luck in the final,” she said. “Today we went all in. All the girls worked really hard for this, of course it’s really nice to finish it off. I’m very happy with this win.”

Overnight race-leader Blanka Vas (SD Worx-Protime) narrowly hung on to her maillot rojo after the stage Tuesday.

She is now just one second ahead of Vos on GC when accounting for Vos’ winner’s time bonuses and the couple seconds the young Hungarian nipped at the day’s intermediate sprint.

Crashes due to wet roads impacted a potential bunch sprint into Moncófar on stage 2 of la Vuelta Femenina, but EF Education-Cannondale kept their cool with Alison Jackson sprinting to take the stage ahead of Blanka Vas (SD Worx-Protime) and Karlijn Swinkels (UAE Team ADQ).

With the bonus seconds both at the finish and intermediate sprints, Vas moved into the race lead, eight seconds ahead of Jackson, with Lidl-Trek’s Elisa Longo Borghini third overall, nine seconds back.

Here’s the Giro d’Italia guide. You’ll find all the stage profiles together on one page here and summary of each stage.

Let's goooo.....

Picking a winner is boring so let's talk about the real stuff.

Would be good to see G up there but unclear what form he's in. Bardet looks strong, maybe TT kilometers will be a problem for him? JuanPe maybe a spicy call after tour of the alps result?