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Here we are at last: the X hour has struck for the long-awaited, as every year, Giro d'Italia. The 106th edition takes place along the usual 21 stages, starting from Fossacesia Marina in Abruzzo and ending on Sunday 28 May, after 3489.2 km in Rome at the Imperial Forums. Who will be the athlete to succeed Jai Hindley, winner in 2022? The 2023 route A route this year that confirms the trend of a hard race, suitable for well-rounded athletes, good at time trials and with great resistance uphill. Three time trials, for a total of 73.2 km, six uphill finishes including at least three high mountain stages that will make the difference: Crans Montana, Monte Bondone and Tre Cime di Lavaredo. For the rest, the usual mix of long flat transfers suitable for fast wheels and some finishes for finisseurs. First uphill finish on Tuesday 9 May at Lake Laceno, nothing transcendental for the big names, but there are three second-category mountain GPs. On the Gran Sasso (Campo Imperatore) on Friday 12 May it will already be possible to see who is doing well and who is perhaps at risk of being out of the podium lot. But it's the last week, as usual, to give the final responses with the alpine caps and the terrible uphill time trial on Monte Lussari (Saturday 27 May, penultimate stage), which this year could be decisive for the final victory. The 176 riders, 8 per team, represent the 18 UCI World-Teams, plus the 4 Pro-Team teams chosen as wild cards: Eolo-Kometa, Green Project-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè and Israel-Premiertech. The protagonists The obvious contenders for the final pink jersey are Primoz Roglič and Remco Evenepoel, a step or two above the competition. Both have already battled it out at the Tour of Catalonia (with the Slovenian narrowly victorious), but the impression is that both have prepared in the best possible way a season aimed at few objectives but of absolute quality. Remco has recently dominated the Liège-Bastogne-Liège, even if the direct clash between the titans was missed as the other favorite of the eve, Tadej Pogačar had to give up prematurely due to a bad crash Let's start the analysis, out of respect for his age, with Primoz Roglič: the 33-year-old Slovenian reached the podium in all three Grand Tours, triumphing three times at the Vuelta España. In the '19 edition of the Giro he spent many days in the squad and then gave up slightly in the final days and was overtaken by Carapaz and Vincenzo Nibali. For climbing efficiency, constancy, coolness, time trial skill (albeit a hair lower than Remco) he is one of the natural contenders for the final victory. Unlike other athletes of his age, he still seems fresh, thanks to the fact that he approached two wheels late after a youth spent as a promising ski jumper: his first full season as a pro was at the age of 24. It also has great explosiveness on its side which makes it practically unbeatable in tight uphill arrivals. A rider with over 70 victories in his career, both uphill finishes (and we are convinced he will win more than one stage in this Giro) and time trials, with the icing on Liège in '20. The only unknown could be how well he held up in the last week (in a time trial in the last stage he was defeated in the Tour by a stratospheric Pogačar). Furthermore, his Jumbo-Visma team lost two fundamental players in Tobias Foss and Robert Gesink due to Covid, losing the advantage it had over Evenepoel's Soudal-Quickstep. Remco Evenepoel, has his age on his side: 10 years younger than the Slovenian. A champion in full evolution, whose limits are yet to be discovered: last season his talent exploded with victories in Liège, the Vuelta and the World Championship. Winning the Giro in the rainbow jersey would be a privilege that few champions have had. Remco is very strong in the time trial and uphill, although it needs to be tested on the longest climbs and at altitudes above 2000 metres. His first Giro was not the happiest: he got off to an excellent start, struggled a lot and then had a psycho-physical crisis. However, today's Remco is no more distantly related to that of two years ago; he is fully aware of his great value, he is calmer, and at the age of 23 he is maturing physically and mentally. His Soudal-Quickstep team doesn't have any great climbers (apart from Hirt): will Evenepoel be able to manage alone on the great Alpine peaks? It's going to be a great battle with Roglic anyway. Possibility for a third wheel? We see it hard for someone to be able to override both of the two big names, but cycling has accustomed us to unpredictability so we'll see. The third men Let's start with the teams that seem more equipped than the others to play tricks (which in any case would be sensational) on the two announced protagonists: Ineos-Grenadiers and Bahrain-Victorious. The English team has a respectable staff uphill (Sivakov, De Plus, Arendsman) to support the only previous winner of the pink race, Tao Geoghegan Hart and Geraint Thomas, who has the '18 Tour on his bulletin board. Tao recently triumphed at the Tour of the Alps and seems to be returning to his 2021 form while the Welshman, albeit in decline due to 37 springs, could always have his say, even we believe him in function of luxury lieutenant. In addition, Team Ineos has Filippo Ganna, who as always will inflame the time trials (the undisclosed goal is to win the first pink jersey) and, based on what we saw at the northern classics, he could also aim for a stage with a breakaway from afar. Bahrain will not deny its nature as a team of sappers: with Caruso, Haig, Buitrago and Gino Mader we can expect everything to enliven the race. They can afford attacks from afar to aspire to stage victories and take advantage of the work for the captains in view of the general classification. Caruso seems the destined leader, but if necessary there are Jack Haig and above all the emerging Colombian Santiago Buitrago, whose rising value is undeniable. The other potential candidates for a place on the podium are Vlasov (Bora-Hansgrohe), Uran (EF Education), Joao Almeida (UAE-Emirates). A step below, but always in the top 10, we place our Fortunato (Eolo-Kometa), the eternal Pozzovivo (Israel-Premiertech) together with McNulty (UAE), Healy and Carthy (EF), Mollema (Trek-Segafredo). It will be the last presence on the roads of the Giro for Thibau Pinot, a champion who was never fully accomplished, but also loved by the Italians: we don't see the Frenchman in the first places in the general classification, but we would like him to win a stage. The sprinters and the finisseurs As always, we will see adrenaline-pumping arrivals dominated by the sprinter teams. There isn't a reference sprinter superior to the others this year, so we will see a great battle between Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo), Gaviria (Movistar), Ackermann (UAE) our Dainese (Team DSM), Consonni (Cofidis), Milan (Bahrain) and the emerging Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceukink) who could rise to dominance. There are some athletes who have in their DNA the ability to break away and win, or give a jab in the last stretches of tough stages: among these, our preferences go to Kamna (Bora-Hansgrohe), Matthews (Team Jayco-Alula) , Vendrame and Paret-Paintre (AG2R), Oldani (Alpecin), Bettiol (EF Education First) and one of the many finisseurs of Astana, a team that, having no man in the standings and a Cavendish in decline, will try to win from afar: Luis Leon Sanchez, Simone Velasco, Samuele Battistella and we hope for a revived Gianni Moscon The list of favorites for the final victory: **** Roglic, Evenepoel ** Geoghegan Hart, Buitrago, Caruso, Thomas, Vlasov * Uran, Healy, Almeida  

Due to a bad fall, the competition in Liège with Remco Evenepoel was missed: Pogačar comes out with a scaphoid fracture which will lead to a brief stop in his preparation. Despite this, it was a brilliant start to the season for the Slovenian. The career of a predestined In 2019, Giuseppe Saronni, someone who knows much about cycling, had his say about a young cyclist who has just landed in the EU-Emirates: he has a great engine, he always does the right thing at the right time and is much more mature than his age . His calmness and lucidity surprise me. He had discovered Tadej three years earlier and had already demonstrated his talent by dominating the Tour de l'Avenir, and was about to experience his first season as a professional. The premises were excellent, in fact he added that if he had remained what he was, that is humble and determined, he would have risen a lot in the hierarchy of cycling: "no one, not even he, knows what it's worth and where it can go". After only four years we have the answer: the blond kid from Komanda is one of the greatest cycling champions. The consecration in the one-day classics We still have in our eyes the majestic victory in Flanders, the undisputed domination in the Amstel Gold Race, the inexorable spurt of precision and power in the Freccia Vallone. What is surprising, as the good Saronni had prophesied, is the ability to focus on the objectives and implement a winning tactic effectively, calmly and with timing. Sometimes they are attacks from a distance aware that it is necessary to skim the group to avoid a final with too many dangerous opponents. Other times, like in the classic Walloon, Tadej understood that there was no room for an offensive from a long distance, and he preferred only one lethal attack in the finale on Huy's wall. And without forgetting that they were races in which he participated for the first time (the Dutch classic) or second time (the Flanders). Demonstration of tactical intelligence that few possess, of great physical power, of an ability to manage oneself in topical moments, in short, a unique talent, one of those that is born every generation. Or maybe even more rarely? There are already those who disagree with the comparison with the Cannibal Eddie Merckx. An all-rounder champion A few numbers can give the dimension of the Slovenian phenomenon: he has already won two Tour de France and three classic monuments (Flanders, Liège and Lombardy), plus other legendary classics such as Strade Bianche, Amstel and Freccia Vallone which for many riders would be enough to crown a career and all this at just 24 and a half years old. He has won 9 of the last 11 stage races he has entered. In the other two where he didn't win he finished second, including last year's infamous Tour. We are convinced that he would have won it, albeit against a stratospheric Vingegard, if he hadn't wasted too much in the first week: a youthful mistake and too much self-confidence? Surely Tadej is intelligent and will treasure his mistakes, so in the next editions we will see him more tactically shrewd. The Slovenian phenomenon was born in Komanda, a village of not even a thousand souls at the foot of the mountains in Upper Carniola. He started cycling at the age of 9 to follow his older brother's activity and was then discovered by Slovenian ex-professional Andrej Hauptmann (bronze at the 2001 Road World Championship). These, noticing that in a youth race the twelve-year-old Tadej was chasing a platoon of cyclists older than his age, asked the organization to lend him assistance: it was explained to him that in reality he was catching up and lapping the group. Hauptmann followed him through the youth career of the Rog-Ljubjana team until the then 20-year-old Pogačar was signed in 2018 by EU-Emirates to start the Pro season the following year. The results were immediately exciting: first victories (stage and final classification) at the Volta ao Algarve and final classification at the Tour of California. But it is at the Vuelta España where the talent reveals itself to the general public, with three stage victories and third final position behind a certain Roglič and Alejandro Valverde. 2020, the year of the calendar distorted due to Covid, crowns the star Pogačar. In the Tour held in September, he overtook Primoz Roglic in the epic uphill time trial on the last day, who had dominated until then and seemed unbeatable. A masterpiece of power and resistance: a new phenomenon has blossomed. What are Pogačar limits? Like most of the predestined greats of sport, Tadej began to win and dominate at a very young age: he reminds us of the various Tigers, Federers, Valentino Rossi. He also has on his side being calm, determined and swaggering to the right point. In an era in which it is even more difficult to win due to the presence of other great champions such as Evenepoel, Van der Poel, Van Aert, Roglic, Pidcock. Yet he rings up successes over and over again. The other point in his favor is the ability to win both big stage races and the classic monument, which puts him in a dimension of other times: Hinault, Merckx, Coppi and Bartali. Everyone agrees that he has the chance to win the two missing Monuments, namely Sanremo (fourth this year) and Roubaix (never raced). We'll see how his career develops, waiting to see him win on the roads of the Giro: we're sure he'll write cycling history. The world of two wheels needed a very strong champion, even if in recent years there has been a show thanks to the presence of a new generation of very strong athletes who always give battle. But the public needed the iconic athlete, capable of attracting fans of all nationalities. Sagan had been for a certain period until the physique of the Slovakian talent inexorably shut down. Pogačar won't have the same media or interview charisma, but he has such greatness as an athlete that he embodies cycling itself. He will be recognized and celebrated on the roads and on TV by all sportsmen and women: the generous cyclist, who rides almost all year round and always sets out to win both road classics and stage races. Waiting to experience the next epic battle on the roads of the Tour, where the Slovenian will have to contend with many opponents starting from Vingegard and in the future against another phenomenon on the rise also in stage races, which responds to the name of Remco Evenepoel.

We are now in the week of the Milano-Sanremo, the eagerly awaited first classic monument which will take place on Saturday. It is the 114th edition of the "classicissima" or "spring world championship" which was held in 1907 for the first time (the French Petit-Breton won). A timeless charm of a race that more than any other embodies the spirit of cycling by combining historical tradition with modernity. It is the longest professional one-day race (294km) and the fastest, averaging over 45km/h. It has an almost unchanged route for decades that connects Milan and the Po valley to the sea: the final part unfolds along the beautiful Ligurian coast (which unfortunately cyclists do not have time to appreciate) and then reaches the city of flowers and the Festival. A classic and long route An easy route, of course, but as the saying goes, cyclists make the race. The absence of altimetric difficulties means that it can be within everyone's reach with the consequence that it is very difficult to interpret. An itinerary that all cycling enthusiasts know by heart: departure early in the morning in Milan, with the classic breakaway of the day and the sleepy group that leaves the ephemeral glory to the carneads. Then the docile Turchino pass (588 m, the highest altitude reached by the race) and then embark on the long descent towards the sea. Along the coast Varazze, Savona, Finale, Albenga, Alassio and Laigueglia. Here there will be 55 km to go to the end and the runners will find the first bumps of the coast where the race, if it hasn't done it yet, enters the hot phase: the leaders Mele, Cervo and Berta to create havoc in the peloton and force the teams to death. Finally the two straps of Cipressa and Poggio, where, especially in the latter, you can decide the race. The latter is a mere 3700m climb at 3.7% with peaks at 8% near the summit. Not much, but enough to make a selection with the best who will give everything and then launch themselves into the dizzying descent (which ends just over 1 km from the finish). A rich roll of honor History shows us that it is the only monument within the reach of sprinters, but that doesn't limit the possibilities to them. In practice, the Saremo was won with every possible tactic: escape from afar, finisseur sprint uphill, sprint downhill, sprint in small ranks, group sprint. If we scroll through the roll of honor, all the elite of cycling is here: Girardengo (who won it 6 times), Binda, the epic story of Bartali and Coppi (4-3 for the Tuscan in the count of victories), Van Steenbergen, Bobet. Then the glorious 70s with Mercx (7 victories), Gimondi, De Vlaeminck. Gavazzi, Moser, Saronni (who triumphed with the World Champion shirt), the unforgettable Professor Fignon (two consecutive successes), Bugno and Chiappucci. At the turn of the millennium there was an endless series of victories by sprinters, including Erik Zabel (4 victories), Freire, Cipollini, Petacchi and even Cavendish. In more recent times, who has forgotten the fantastic triumph of Nibali who sprinted downhill in the face of the peloton? That marks the fact that riders with the most diverse characteristics have a chance in Sanremo. The victory of the Sicilian is also the only tricolor in the last 17 years and we believe that, barring incredible surprises, the statistics will be extended by another year. This year's favourites Guessing the winner of the Milan-San Remo is almost like winning the lottery, but let's do an analysis of the suitors, according to the categories- Sprinters: Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin) seems to be in the best shape in the light of the results at the Tirreno-Adriatico. The Belgian has excellent leg, can hold on on the Poggio and can count on Mathieu Van der Poel, should the Dutchman not be brilliant for the win. Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo) has already won twice this year (including a short time trial) proving to have depth and speed. Fabio Jakobsen (Soudal-Quickstep) is also very fit and the young emerging Arnaud De Lie (Lotto-Dstny), who has Caleb Ewan in his team, can never be underestimated (twice second in Sanremo). A step below look like Demare (Groupama-FDJ) and Sam Bennet (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Groenewegen (Jayco-Alula)- Finisseur chapter: quite ample space, even if this year the big names don't seem to be in top form yet. If Alaphilippe didn't pedal badly at the Tirreno, Van der Poel proved he doesn't have the leg. However, never trust these champions who can pull the rabbit out of the hat when you least expect it. Jumbo-Visma seems particularly fierce, because in addition to Van Aert who has never been a protagonist (but we could assume that he did pre-tactical), he can count on the emerging Hungarian Attila Valter and on Cristoph Laporte, tough uphill and solid in the sprint. Downhillers: history shows that Sanremo can be won by descending the Poggio with technique and courage. Van Aert thus won in '20 and the already mentioned Nibali. But it's Mohoric we're thinking about: we still have our eyes on last year's ride and after what we saw at the Strade Bianche, the Slovenian is rightfully among the favourites, even if we have to go back to 2001 (Erik Zabel) to have a double win over the years consecutive-. The other phenomenal downhill racer is Tom Pidcock, recent winner of the Strade Bianche, who is however weighed down by the uncertainty of the two crashes at the Tirreno-Adriatico. If he has recovered he will be considered one of the candidates for victory. The outsiders: Magnus Cort strong in the sprint and Nelson Powless in excellent shape uphill (both from EF) Cosnefroy (AG2R), shrewd rider capable of winning line races and let's put in Filipppo Ganna! It would be fantastic to see the Verbanese triumph: honestly given the parterre de roi it is almost impossible, but let's suppose that he keeps on the Poggio in a small group of attackers and then goes away at the last km while the others are watching each other... Separate chapter: Tadej Pogačar. We place the Slovenian phenomenon in a category of its own because nobody knows his limits, not even himself. He won Paris-Nice with embarrassing ease, he's monstrous uphill and in a small group he's quite fast. To give an idea of ​​the superiority, in the last two years he has won 81% of the stage races he has entered. Sure, Sanremo is a one-day race with a flat finish, but who knows... we're talking about a champion who at 24 has already won Liège and Lombardia (not to mention the 2 Tours) and could still amaze on Via Roma with class. creativity and courage! The rating: **** Philipsen, Jakobsen, Pedersen, Pogačar *** Alaphilippe, Van Aert, De Lie, Mohoric ** Pidcok, Van der Poel, Ewan, Bennet, Merlier * Groenewegen, Valter, Laporte, Ganna, Cort, Powless

A stunning Tom Pidcock dominates the Strade Bianche, the first top cycling classic of 2023 Last Saturday, the first appointment with great cycling, the legendary Strade Bianche, took place in the suggestive setting of the Sienese hills. A route of 184 km, of which 63 on dirt roads, which every year puts the skills of two-wheel professionals to the test in one-day races. The race, which does not have an old tradition as it was organized starting from 2007, quickly became the unofficial sixth classic monument. Born as an evolution of the Gran Fondo Eroica, it saw Moreno Moser as the first winner and then a roll of honor full of big names in cycling. The race This edition, characterized by variable weather with lots of rain especially in the initial stages, saw the victory of the 23-year-old Englishman Tom Pidcock. The British talent attacked when there were more than 50 km to go to the finish line, breaking away from the group of the best to reach De Marchi who at that moment was recovering from a long escape. After the two collaborated for about ten km, Pidcock decided it was time for a lunge and was left alone in a stretch of downhill dirt road. There were 40 km left to go to the finish line including the dreaded stretch of Monte Sante Marie, with gradients of up to 12%, with many uncertainties due to the resistance of a single man on the run since the advantage over the best pursuers never exceeded 30". Behind a small group of about ten riders including Benoot, Rui Costa, Mohoric, Madouas and Valter took turns in pursuit without being able to crown the achievement. The dimunutive star of INEOS (1.70m for 58kg) managed to face the attacks and maintain a lead that was reduced to 13 seconds, to then give it his all on the final ramp of via Santa Caterina before triumphing in Piazza del Campo. The Briton thus seals a very promising start to his career, which had seen him excel not only in one-day road races (third in Flanders last year), but also in off-road, mountain-bike Olympic champion in Tokyo and world champion of cyclo-cross, making him one of the most versatile riders ever. In second place Valentin Madouas of the Grupama and third Benoot of Jumbo-Visma, a team that has attracted criticism for the reckless tactics of Attila Valter (on paper the Belgian's lieutenant), who instead of trying to bring his captain back under when Pidcock was in sight, he launched into ineffective and expensive shots that produced nothing, except to increase the nervousness of the pursuers, frustrated by the failure to catch. Italian disappointment The Strade Bianche was followed by numerous enthusiasts along the Tuscan route, and even more in the streets of Siena up to the suggestive conclusion in Piazza del Campo, which sees more public only during the Palio. Unfortunately a bad day for the Italian colours, with only Formolo and Bettiol present in the crucial stages. The first was delayed by a puncture and finished in ninth place, while it went worse for the Tuscan of EF who, after an escape attempt, was stopped by a spectacular fall downhill fortunately without consequences. The season that should be the one of the relaunch in a blue key does not start in the best way: young emerging players like Zana and Bagioli have never been in the heat of the race. Also disappointing was the performance of the super favorite on the eve, Mathieu Van der Poel who, despite being in the group of the best, didn't seem to have the leg to respond to the attacks when the race entered the final stages. The post-race interview "I hadn't planned the attack, but on a downhill section I got a bit of an advantage and kept going" said Pidcock at the finish. "At 5km from the finish, when the gap narrowed, I was afraid I'd ruined everything with this premature attack, but then I resisted." The Englishman's success confirms the Ineos-Grenadiers team, which rides with Pinarello bikes, one of the top teams in the world (it also includes the stellar Filippo Ganna). Upcoming appointments for top cycling are the Tirreno-Adriatico, the Paris-Nice and then the first appointment of the classic monuments, with the Milan-San Remo, on Saturday 18 March. Keep following us on EurekaBike! You will find thousands of price lists, technical data sheets and sales announcements from the best manufacturers and the main bicycle shops, and a rich blog section where we talk about sport, technique, the bicycle market and curiosities!

Penultimate stage of the Giro d'Italia 2022 The twentieth and penultimate stage of the Giro d'Italia 2022, a 168km pure mountain stage that took place today starting in Belluno and finishing uphill at the Fedaia pass on the Marmolada. Overall vertical ascent speaks for itself: 4.490m. The situation at the start was one of the "tightest" in memory of the Giro, with the first two riders Richard Carapaz (Ineos Grandier) and Jai Hindley (Bora-Hansgrohe) separated by just 3 seconds after more than 81 hours of racing! The third, the Spanish Landa Meana (Bahrain Victorious) was also quite close at 1'05", followed by a more detached Vincenzo Nibali (Astana Qazaqstan Team) who is in any case excellent fourth, back at the top of world cycling at the age aged 37. Stage description Bolzano-Passo Fedaia From the start in Belluno, located at 358m above sea level, the stage started off slightly downhill for the first 20km, to then tackle a couple of hills which led to the beginning of the constant climb towards the flying finish line of Cencenighe Agordino (774m). It is from here that the real climb towards the first Mountain Grand Prix began which brought the runners to the 1918m of the San Pellegrino Pass. A quick dive towards the valley and the race reached Canazei, from where the peloton began the second effort of the day: the ascent of the legendary Passo Pordoi, second GPM at 2239m, Cima Coppi (i.e. the highest point reached by all stages) of this 105th Giro d'Italia. From here, an interim downhill phase in which no one forced, after 4 hours of racing at an average of 37.6km/h, led to the start of the last demanding climb of the 2022 Giro d'Italia, halfway through which the second flying finish line of Malga Ciapela (1460m) was also set, from where - with 162km and a half in the legs - the athletes had to use up all their energies to face the last 5km and a half with gradients of 18% ( and never below 10% in the last kilometres) until the third and last GPM of the day, the arrival at the Fedaia Pass. Who won the last mountain stage of the Giro d'Italia 2022 Until the last climb, the stage didn't give any particular emotions, with the pink jersey group permanently detached by about 6 minutes from the lead of the race up to 5km from the finish. Carapaz, Hindley and Landa were always together until after the last flying finish of Malga Ciapela, which had no influence for them with respect to the bonuses up for grabs, which were won by the Italian Alessandro Covi (23 years old) who - curiosity - ran with one white shoe and one black shoe since, a few days before, his shoe had been ruined by contact with another runner and had to be replaced during the race. We don't know if it was superstition or other reasons, Alessandro decided to end not only the Giro but the whole season with this particular style. At 5km, when the most demanding stretch of the stage is missing, Domel Novak (Bahrain Victorious) takes off and, in the pink jersey group, Bahrain gives way to Ineos who now wants to try to win the stage, with an action that shatters in an instant the set-up of Bahrain and the whole pink jersey group that had been compact up to that moment. At 3Km Alessandro Covi's advantage was reduced to 45", At 2.6km, Hindley sprints and leaves Michel Landa in place, but Carapaz stays behind. The fight for the pink jersey is unlocked at 1.9km from the finish when, with an excellent team work, Ineos teammate Lennard Kämna pulls Hindley creating a 10m tear on Carapaz. At this point Hindley's action becomes more and more powerful and he immediately understands that he is the strongest uphill today. But that's not enough, less than 1km from the finish Richard Carapaz gets stuck leaving a huge final lead of 1'28" and also being overtaken by the returning Landa (who comes 50" behind Hindley). It ends with a complete upheaval in the general standings with Hindely taking the pink jersey and gaining an overall lead of 1'25" over Carapaz.

An exciting race until the last moment, as had not been seen for some time. The opening race of the UCI Downhill World Cup was held today in Lourdes, France, and saw as the first winner of the season a superlative Amaury Pierron (Commencal Muc-Off by Riding). Despite a small mistake at the top of the course, the French rode in attack-mode throughout the rest of the demanding DH of Lourdes, securing the victory over the young Canadian Finn Iles (Specialized Gravity) and his friend and rival Loïc Bruni (Specialized Gravity). The French track was technical but at the same time very fast. At times, the speed reached by the top athletes was around 60km/h! At the same time, the Lourdes course was very deteriorated compared to the conditions of the qualification runs, presenting the competitors in the race with further difficulties in interpreting lines, holes, rocks, and roots in the best possible way. The very dry ground did the rest, making this very fast track definitely challenging. Several top athletes such as Daprela and Vergier have crashed without consequences while they were riding with remarkable split times. But let's go back to the performance of Amaury Pierron of Team Commencal: the Frenchman completed a memorable run and not even the favourite Bruni could do anything against the speed shown by Pierron in the lower part of the course. Loïc Bruni, third on the day and clearly ahead of Pierron in the first split time, progressively lost tenths of a second in the subsequent split times, accumulating a final delay of 1.086 seconds. The runner-up, Finn Iles, crossed the line in just 847 thousandths more than Pierron. Very small gaps which are what the very large audience on the sides of the track had been waiting for with enthusiasm since the qualifying runs. Next round of the UCI DH World Cup in Fort Williams is on May 21st and 22nd. Do you want to know more about the bike that won the Lourdes race today? Check out the complete Commencal Supreme DH Team datasheet on EurekaBike, with photos and technical specifications here. Within the EurekaBike catalog page you will also find the sales offers for the Commencal Supreme DH Team where you can buy the bike directly from the official direct sales site of the Commencal brand, the Commencal Online Shop!

The 2021-22 cyclo-cross season is getting underway, with the European Championship of the past weekend, the UCI World Cup circuits and the Superprestige to then culminate with the World Championships in a single stage. This year the World Cup is as rich as ever because it has 16 appointments: after the first 3 rounds in the USA, it landed in Europe whith other 2 stops in Belgium, and then it will continue in four other host nations. Cyclo-cross is a discipline that has a long tradition in Belgium and enormous media attention. Top riders are considered equal to the great pros of the road and the competitions are followed by large crowds of enthusiasts. In recent years, however, the popularity of cyclo-cross has grown globally thanks to the presence of the two stars Wout Van Aert and Mathieu Van der Poel and a national rivalry (Belgium against the Netherlands), to which a third wheel has been added, the British Tom Pidcock. As a result of the growth of the three athletes who are now at the top of world road cycling, they will not be able to compete many races of the World Cup because their preparation is focused on the first races on road in Spring. Despite this, they have already anticipated that the World Championship, which this year will take place in Fayetteville in the USA on January 29-30, will be their goal: we will therefore see Van Aert and Van der Poel in some World Cup events later in the season. Their program includes a debut in December and a gradual improvement in order to be top form at the World Championship that both have already won (and for the Dutchman would be the fourth consecutive win). Out of the 16 UCI cyclocross World Cup rounds, the Italian race stands out, which will return after a few years of absence on December 12 in Val di Sole. It will be very suggestive because it will take place on the snow and will also be the test event to convince the IOC to insert cyclo-cross among the disciplines of the Winter Olympics.   These are the rounds the UCI cyclo-cross World Cup: 10 OCT 2021 Waterloo (USA) 13 OCT 2021Fayetteville (USA) 17 OCT 2021 Iowa (USA) 24 OCT 2021Zonhoven (BEL) 31 OCT 2021 Overijse (BEL) 14 NOV 2021Tabor (CZE) 21 NOV 2021 Koksijde (BEL) 28 NOV 2021Besancon (FRA) 5 DEC 2021 Antwerpen (BEL) 12 DEC 2021 Val di Sole (ITA) 18 DEC 2021Rucphen (NED) 19 DEC 2021Namur (BEL) 26 DEC 2021 Dendermonde (BEL) 2 JAN 2022Hulst (NED) 16 JAN 2022 Flamanville (FRA) 23 JAN 2022 Hoogerheide (NED) Despite the absence of the big names of the road, the Cyclocross World Cup season is very open and hard-fought this year. If Eli Iserbyt seems the most credited with the final victory (he has already won three races out of 5), the opponents Toon Aerts, Michael Vanthourenhout and the emerging Quentin Hermans are strong candidates and every competition is hard fought. We run on selective and technical circuits and very often mud and rain make the race extremely uncertain. Rai Sport offers coverage of the main events, not only in Elite category, but also in Women and Juniors. The only drawback that would make the category more varied, is the absence of real contenders to the dominance of the Belgians, and at the European Championship of last week it was a great surprise to see the Dutch Van der Haar on top of the podium who defeated the Flemish battleship. Italy was honored with the ninth place of Jakob Dorigoni: the Bolzano rider and Giole Bertolini have been participating in the World Cup races for several years with mixed results but in a growing trend, but far are the times of Renato Longo who managed to winning 5 World Championships in the 60s or more recently we remember the triumph of Daniele Pontoni (who has just been appointed manager of the Italian national team). Awaiting the growth of Dorigoni, who is only 23 years old, there is hope for an Italian movement that sees signs of awakening in the youth categories and in women: Arzuffi and Lechner among the latter, Toneatti Under 23 and Luca Paletti who has just taken the European bronze in the first year as a junior. Cyclo-cross has proven over the years to be a spectacular and a still loved discipline; moreover, it can be carried out as an integration of winter preparation or even as a step towards the road competions, not to mention that many athletes interchange fluidly between mountain biking in summer and cyclocross in winter. Always follow us on EurekaBike.it, the marketplace in the world of two wheels, with up-to-date price lists, offers and technical data sheets of the main brands in the world and a rich blog section with articles on professional road cycling, MTB, downhill, BMX, and curiosity from the world of bicycles!

We are now at the end of the World Tour road season 2021, with only Lombardia as a classic monument to be disputed. The year of cycling's rebirth, after the Covid drama and the consequent unfortunate and odd 2020 season, proved to be exceptional. A beautiful series of races, which has finally seen the attendance of the public, with a large and competent presence, perhaps even greater than expected. Cycling is alive and well: a traditional popular sport, but capable of thrilling ever-increasing numbers of fans, both from the point of view of spectators and practitioners. Speaking more broadly, we cannot fail to mention the boom that women's cycling is having, from the youth categories to the pros.As for the men, we still have in our eyes the legendary ride in the mud of the heroes of Paris-Roubaix, from which a mighty Sonny Colbrelli emerged. A race like this is the most effective commercial in favor of a sport that is too often mistreated: those who were lucky enough to follow it on TV, not to mention who was on the spot, witnessed one of the toughest, most fought and most uncertain competitions of the last years. The Azzurri victory rejoices us because an Italian has finally managed to climb the top of the podium after 22 years (the last triumph was that of Andrea Tafi in 1999) and because he delivers a true champion to the history and future of this sport, who has perhaps obtained all together what bad luck had taken away from him in previous years. In a few months, the Italian, European and Roubaix championships, plus another five spare victories. But, beyond the winner, it seems right to cheer all the actors on that epic and terrible stage made of pavé in the north of France. A world elite of athletes who make the classic monuments, as well as the stage races, always uncertain and battle-hardened. The balance of Italian cycling A season that for Italy, still orphan of a competitive athlete in stage races, sees the consecration of Filippo Ganna. The Verbanese is now number one in the world in time trials, a status achieved after dominating the Giro d'Italia, in the Olympic pursuit quartet and in confirming the world title against time. Having already said about Colbrelli, and awaiting the maturation of some interesting young people, the rest of the dish is a bit poor, with athletes now in decline (Nibali), or good cyclists but hardly competitive with superstars. However, if we had to bet on someone in the season, we would do it on Gianni Moscon. A moving and unfortunate campaign at Roubaix: left on the run alone more than 50 km from the finish, he resisted with just over a minute on a handful of unleashed pursuers and only a puncture and a fall 15 km from the goal took him away a possible victory. This race is tailored to his characteristics and we are sure that his arrival at Astana next year will be a springboard for his talent, not only in the French race, but also in many other races. A talent that perhaps in recent years has remained entangled in the tactics of Sky /Ineos, but is ready to explode, a bit like Colbrelli did this year.To extend the reasoning in other categories, we meet a huge blue booty not only at the Olympics (where the track pursuit is a certainty), but also and above all at the World Road Championships in Belgium. Apart from the absence of victories in the Elite men's online test to which we are unfortunately accustomed for some time, we have dominated in many other races: the golds of Elisa Balsamo in the women's Elite, of Filippo Baroncini in the Under 23 and the triumph of Ganna himself are to demonstrate that the Italian cycling movement is varied and solid. Is modern cycling back to the past? We said that the season has been beautiful: the young superstars Pogacar and Evenepoel have matured at the speed of light, the now very strong Van der Poel, Van Aert and Alaphilippe guarantee a show at every race in which they participate. Roglic is a tractor on all terrains, Bernal has consolidated himself as king in stage races with a nice triumph at the Giro d'Italia. Cycling is obviously changing, and it's doing it for the better. Not only has the new generation finally knocked out the senators who wrote cycling a few years ago, but the races themselves have changed. We see far fewer tactics, and teams are no longer able to keep racing tied up like they were a few years ago. Fewer trains uphill without the possibility of escape (Team Sky in this was the master team), fewer sprint finishes in the flat and valley stages. This translates into great chances of the escapes to arrive: only at the Giro d'Italia, the few fugitives, or the single (even more often) have reached the finish line in 15 occasions out of 19 available stages online. And at the Tour and the Vuelta the music doesn't change that much, with the group often not being able to control the race, which gave new motivation to the day's escapes and solitary breakaways. We have discovered lesser-known riders, who have risen to the world limelight with their achievements: whether they are young emerging or lieutenants and gregari who can crown their career with a victory. We have tasted again a beautiful and ancient cycling, less tied to the tactical logic of the great teams, but more inclined to the romantic solitary breakaway, perhaps with an ending that smiles on David against Goliath! Always follow us on EurekaBike.it, the marketplace in the world of two wheels, with up-to-date price lists, offers and technical data sheets of the main brands in the world and a rich blog section with articles on professional road cycling, MTB, downhill, BMX, articles of equipments and parts and curiosity from the world of bicycles!

Fabio Aru's announcement of his retirement from competitive activity comes unexpected, but reasonably not too much. The Cavaliere dei Quattro Mori had in 2021 perhaps the last useful year to climb that downfall and regain a competitiveness that would allow him, if not to win a Grand Tour, at least to fight for the top positions. After a slow half of the season dedicated to grinding races and kilometers, the Sardinian seemed to have found a lost alchemy: two second places in a row at the Sibiu Tour and at the more qualified Vuelta a Burgos had shown a faint light at the end of the tunnel and given new motivation for the Vuelta España. In the Iberian grand-tour, which has been running in these weeks, after a promising start, Aru has unfortunately shown the chronic weaknesses that occur after the first week of racing. However, the awareness that he could no longer be the cyclist able to win the Vuelta in 2015 and to wear the yellow jersey at the Tour after a series of feats in the mountains was probably already triggered. A decline that began in 2018, due to a serious iliac artery problem and, some say, a wrong mental attitude. The decline of Quintana, Sagan, Bardet and Pinot But there is one more element: in the bygone era of cycling psycho-physical maturity was reached around 30 years after a slow and constant improvement during the previous years (think of Moser, Bugno, Chiappucci, Indurain, Pantani, Basso). In today's two-wheeled professionalism, on the other hand, there is a decline in performance of great champions around that age. Nairo Quintana, winner of the Giro and Vuelta between the ages of 24 and 26, has long been unable to fight for the top. Peter Sagan, to whom we also wish great victories in the future, is not even distant relative of the three-time World Champion and of the one who dominated the classics of the north. Cavendish himself, after a fulminating career in sprints that brought him more than 100 victories, faded for several years at the age of 30. He found the winning form again this season, but greatly thanks to the perfect organization of the Deceunink train. The list could continue, with fine athletes who have had an impressive downward trend such as Mikel Landa, the French Pinot and Bardet (winner of a stage at the Vuelta, but never in the standings in recent years), not to mention the sensational stop by Tom Dumoulin. There are those who blame programming: in modern cycling you become a professional at a very young age after many years spent in the youth category at the highest level of performance, in order to get victories very soon (Sagan and Cavendish won in professionals already at 21) , or, in other cases (such as Aru and the French) the young cyclists are immediately subjected to great responsibilities and consequent enormous efforts as lieutenants and then as captains. The consequence is paying a heavy duty in terms of winning career shortness. Sports medicine tells us that an athlete's physique is like an engine: its duration is long but not unlimited. If you exceed with the mileage, with the exploitation at maximum power, the over-revs, then the risk of breakdown or loss of power will occur ahead of the due time. The exception of Primoz Roglic and the new generation of champions A confirmation of the rule is given by Primoz Roglic who is still among the strongest in the world and there are no signs of decline at almost 32 years. But the Slovenian, after a sports career that began in ski jumping, landed in cycling at the age of 24, becoming a constant winner only two years later. Put simply, an engine that is still “fresh” compared to many of his colleagues. The splendor of a new generation of two-wheel phenomena, which has given the final push to the old guard, and which has raised the bar of youth even more, is part of this global picture of professional cycling: Pogacar capable of winning the Tour at 21 and become the strongest in the world, Egan Bernal able to dominate the Giro at 24, 2 years after the triumph at Champs-Élysées, Filippo Ganna being the number 1 in the world in time trials at 25. And behind them, a brood of very youngcyclists destined to write the history of the future: Evenepoel, Pidcock, Vingegard. Without forgetting that the true champions Van der Poel and Van Aert are only 26 years old ... We will see if their career will decline according to the current trend, or if they will be able to prove the theories of sports medicine wrong and have a longer career. From the height of his 41 years, their legendary grandfather Alejandro Valverde continues to run and well… but this is another exceptional story, even studied in Spanish universities! On EurekaBike.it, the bicycle marketplace, you will find interesting blog articles on road racing, mtb, downhill, technique, curiosity, lifestyle and many price lists and sheets of the top brands in the world of wheels!  

Relive in a new and exciting way the spectacular Downhill Elite Men race on the Black Snake in Val di Sole, valid for the 2021 UCI MTB World Championships. Watch this fantastic video that shows, rider by rider and section by section all the race flow. You will have the impression of being on the sides of the Black Snake in an ideal run made by composing all the main sections of the track, each covered one by one by the riders who had access to the final. The RAW editing lets you relive the atmosphere of the UCI Downhill World Championships in Val di Sole. Passages at normal (supersonic) speed and in slow-motion to appreciate the way bicycles and riders behave between the roots and stones of one of the most iconic Downhill tracks in the world. More than this, today an historic sporting achievement has been accomplished, and for this we also feel we have to share the result of these UCI Downhill World Championships 2021 that have just ended in Val di Sole. The Black Snake saw today Greg Minaar triumph (at almost 40 years old!). The fourth victory of his career in the most important event of the UCI circus and the first on the technical Trentino track. The South African of the Syndicate Santa Cruz team demonstrated his timeless greatness to the whole World with an extraordinary performance that forced all the youngest riders to step aside. Benoît Coulange (silver), Troy Brosnan (bronze), Loïc Bruni, Loris Vergier, Danny Hart, Amaury Pierron (who came from an injury), team-mate Luca Shaw and many other opponents had a tough start, but they could do nothing against Greg’s solid consistency who, with this result, puts the icing on the cake to an incredible career spanning over 20 years, and further consolidates his position as GOAT (Greatest of All Time) in the world of DH. Beyond this great sporting result that certainly deserves to be told, the Downhill race of the Elite Men on the Black Snake of Val di Sole was spectacular. Thinking of gaps of a few split second on a track featuring that technical level can only make us imagine how close the competition that took place at Daolasa was. Then, watch the video we found for you and… have fun at full throttle! Here it is: 

On the opening day of the Road Cycling World Championships in Flanders it was not easy for Top Ganna to repeat the gold medal after last year's success in Imola, considering the quality of the opponents, but the arrow from Verbania achieved victory at the end of a thrilling race. The rather long but flat route suited him as well as Van Aert and Evenepoel, supported by an overflowing crowd of Flemish fans, and the Swiss Kueng, fresh from victory in the European Championships. A hard-fought time trial The talented Remco Evenepoel immediately posted a sensational time about an hour before the departure of the other favorites, and then sit in the hot-seat waiting for the best opponents who started last. It was immediately clear that Van Aert was in great shape when he took the lead in the first intermediate, leaving Evenepoel at 27 ", while Ganna paid 6".At T2 Ganna recovered almost all the disadvantage (below 0:74) and therefore the decider was the third and final stretch, on long and fast straights, the ideal hunting ground for Top Ganna. Wout Van Aert reached the finish line clearly ahead of Remco, waiting for the Verbanese who started last. The world and Olympic champion did not deny his class, with an extraordinary final rush: he closed in a heart-pounding final in 47:47, just over 5 seconds better than the Belgian, extinguishing the illusions of the large and correct Belgian audience. A wonderful triumph, which seals Ganna's Olympic gold in the track quartet and makes him rightfully enter the legend of this specialty! Filippo Ganna raced with the Pinarello bicycle, a time trial jewel: "I had good sensations but I didn't know how it would end", the first words of the world champion who had just arrived to raise his arms in triumph and then congratulate Wout Van Aert in a nice gesture of respect. The race took place on an almost totally flat course of 43.4 km from Knokke-Heist to Bruges. Virtually all the big names in time trials were present at the start, with the exception of Primoz Roglic, obviously satisfied after the gold in Tokyo and who preferred to keep his energy for the stage title on Sunday. The long TT season goes to archive with Filippo Ganna winning 6 times, thing which consecrates him as number one in the world in this specialty. The UCI does not have a world time trial ranking (unlike online events, with a specific ranking), but makes up for it https://www.procyclingstats.com/rankings/me/time-trial, where Ganna leads in front of Kueng and Cavagna. And now a week full of world titles The Road Cycling World Championships, after this first day, will continue throughout the week until Sunday with the queen stage race , with arrival in Leuven. A total of 11 titles will be awarded, between men and women (including mixed relay), in all categories from Junior to Elite. Finally a complete world championship will be competed, after that last year the Covid-related problems had forced to move to Imola with the dispute of only the Elite tests. It will be a fundamental showcase for young people and will allow the crowning of the career on the road of some emerging Juniors and Under 23s before moving into the higher categories. With regards to the Elite, we look forward to the women's competition that will take place on Saturday 25 September, with Marta Bastianelli and Elisa Balsamo captains, while on Sunday 26 September it will be the men's turn. The Italian national team led by Sonny Colbrelli, with Trentin, Ballerini and Moscon as possible protagonists, will try to beat a large batch of favorites, among which Wout Van Aert rightfully stands out after the great test in the time trial. These are the WilliamHill odds of the top riders: Wout Van Aert 3.00Matthieu Van Der Poel 6.50 (participation in maybe or just pretactic?)Colbrelli Sonny 11.00Matej Mohoric 13.00Julian Alaphilippe 13.00Remco Evenepoel 15.00Magnus Cort Nielsen 17.00Marc Hirschi 19.00Michael Valgren 21.00Primoz Roglic 21.00Kasper Asgreen 11.00 pmEthan Hayter 26.00Trentin is given to 41, while the blue trio Moscon, Ballerini and Nizzolo to 67 ... maybe we want to make a profitable choice of heart? Always follow us on EurekaBike.it, the marketplace in the world of two wheels, with up-to-date price lists, offers and technical data sheets of the main brands in the world and a rich blog section with articles on professional road cycling, MTB, downhill, BMX, technical articles and curiosity from the world of bicycles!

Who won the team pursuit gold at the Olympics in Tokyo 2020? A great final round against Denmark has lead to an historic gold for Italy in the team pursuit, enriched by yet another world record! After the disappointments of the road, Italian cycling has finally been able to redeem itself with an epic performance in team pursuit. The Italian quartet, made up of Filippo Ganna, Jonathan Milan, Simone Consonni and Francesco Lamon conquered the top step of the podium in a heart-pounding final. Starting well, the Azzurri have kept a constant advantage of about 2-3 tenths up to 2km. Then they gave up something and Denmark gradually pushed ahead, gradually recovering and then taking the lead. The gap widened considerably, up to 0,8" when there were three laps left. The situation now seemed doomed, when Filippo Ganna's heart and muscles guided the remaining two riders of the quartet towards an incredible recovery. Three breathtaking laps, which allowed to overturn the situation and reach the sprint with the three arrows in line and overtake the Danes by only 0.166". The chronometric result is amazing: 3'42 "032 and a new World Record! Yesterday, in the qualifying heats, the quartet had been the protagonist of an incredible performance against the strong New Zealanders, setting the new world record in 3'42''307, breaking down the previous record by 2 "3. The four Italian locomotives managed to recover the slight deficit to the opponents and ended up with an extraordinary time that was worth the qualification for the final against Denmark. The latter had qualified ex officio to the final round despite an accident in its battery against Great Britain, which had forced the suspension of it. The Danish Madsen had in fact impacted at full speed against the British Tanfield who had lost his train causing a spectacular crash, luckily without consequences. The jury then validated the victory (and the passage to the final) of the Scandinavians who at that moment were ahead. Tokyo 2020: historic Olympics for the Italian flag An edition of the Olympics that is reserving great satisfactions to Italian athletes, and now it is hoped that this result will give a great spur to the remaining two-wheel races (any reference to Elia Viviani is purely wanted!) For the Italian quartet a great satisfaction and a historic milestone. The Italian national team on track has found new life in recent years, thanks to the precious contribution of the federation, especially by Marco Villa, but also by the mistreated Davide Cassani who has been able to integrate the activity of the track and the road. Filippo Ganna is now a beacon of world cycling, but also the young Milan is the present of the track and perhaps the future of the road, without forgetting Consonni, an excellent lieutenant and the very young Lamon. A national cycling team that uses Pinarello bicycles, sinonyms of high-tech, performance and reliability A result that also consolidates the movement of Italian track cycling and makes many young people approach this discipline. Visit now the other pages of the Eurekabike! website, the bike marketplace and search engine, where you will find other interesting informative articles in the blog part and many price lists, technical data sheets and sales announcements of each type of bike.  

The Giro d'Italia 2021 ended in Milan with the victory of Egan Bernal. The 104th edition of the pink race did not disappoint the expectations: a very tough route of over 3410 km (here all the stages of the Giro d'Italia 2021), tight and uncertain, made even more difficult by the weather conditions and by an impressive series of crashes that have stopped many protagonists. And last but not least, the return of a passionate and festive crowd after last year's lockdown which, combined with the beauty of landscapes that is unmatched in any stage race in the world, makes the Giro d'Italia a special race. The Italian race could not be a business-machine like the Tour de France, it perhaps will not always see all top protagonists at the start, but we are sure of one thing: at each edition the Giro d'Italia makes great the cyclists who honor it, whatever name they have and in return the athletes make the race great year after year. Also for this reason the winner's trophy is called Trofeo Senza Fine (Neverending Trophy). Who has won the Giro d'Italia 2021 is a great champion who responds to the name of Egan Bernal. Without bothering the monument-names of the past, he dominated the great mountains, supported by a team, the Ineos, of great quality and perfect in its mechanisms, which was able to renew themselves after the change of sponsors (formerly Sky) and following the decline of Froome. Egan is back to the glories of 2019, and with a Tour and a Giro in his bag at just 24 years old he confirmed to be a phenomenon of the present and the future. A desired victory of the coveted pink race for him, due to the intense relationship that the Colombian has with Italy (he was raised as an athlete in Piedmont), demonstrated when finishing in Cortina he took off his jacket to show off the pink jersey triumphantly. The final GC of the Giro d'Italia 2021 1. Egan Bernal (Ineos-Grenadiers) 86:17:28 2. Damiano Caruso (Bahrein-Victorious) a 1:29 3. Simon Yates (Team BikeExchange) a 4:15 4. Alexandr Vlasov (Astana) a 6:40 5. Daniel Felipe Martinez (Ineos- Grenadiers) a 7:24 6. Joaõ Almeida (Deceuninck- Quick Step) a 7:24 7. Romain Bardet (Team DSM) a 8:05 8. Hugh Carthy (EF Education- Nippo) a 8:56 9. Tobias Foss (Jumbo- Visma) a 11:44 10. Daniel Martin (Israel- Start-Up Nation) a 18:35 A beautiful podium: alongside the winner, there are Caruso and Yates, two athletes who for different reasons deserve this honor (and a stage victory each). Caruso because after a career spent helping the captains he has shown that he has head, legs and heart: after the Alpe Motta stage he was the “happiest man in the world”. Yates because he was a proud opponent and when he is at top he guarantees fight . Behind the top three, a mix of experienced riders and emerging youngsters, as shown in the great races of recent years: the generational change is fully underway. A GC that presents many outsiders and an always uncertain development, determined by an endless series of falls, which have knocked out many leaders who could have been protagonists : Landa, Pozzovivo, Soler, Buchmann, Ciccone, not to mention De Marchi, Mohoric, Brambilla. A topic that deserves to be studied in depth by the Federation and the whole movement and which is not sufficiently emphasized: how accidents can affect the big cycling tours, perhaps within a broader debate on safety in general. Italy is not just Ganna and Caruso Filippo Ganna not only proved to be the strongest in the world in TT stages but he was an inexhaustible locomotive when it came to working for the team. And in an edition where many solo riders from the breakaway of the day have won, Italians were the protagonists of 6 stage victories: beyond the Verbanese and Caruso there were triumphs of Fortunato, Vendrame, Bettiol and finally the coveted victory at the Giro di Nizzolo after 8 participations and 11 second places Final marks, team by team Ineos Often in sport the big names all together are no guarantee of the success of a team. Instead, Ineos (formerly Sky) proves every year to have a perfect organization, where each element gives the maximum for the success of the team, in this case finalized by Egan Bernal. We have seen Ganna who, in addition to the two victories, willingly sacrificed himself for the team, as well as Puccio, Martinez and Moscon, the latter also at the expense of personal chances of success. Some may not like their way of running, but this is modern cycling and Ineos has been able to interpret it perfectly. Mark: 10   Deceuninck- Quick Step Deceuninck counterbalanced the victorious team: the expert team that in recent years has won a lot (in one-day races), has negatively surprised for the reckless management of Evenepoel. How can a 21-year-old boy be considered among the favorites when not only was his first ever participation in a three-week race, but had NEVER raced since the terrible accident last August in Lombardy? The team's excessive expectations also deceived journalists, who charged him with great media pressure every day. The reality is that he arrived just 15 ” from the pink jersey in Campo Felice after 9 stages, this was his success: starting from there to nurture a talent that will have a great future as long as they give to him the necessary time to grow. Little matters n this context the progress of Almeida, who was already out of the GC at Stage 4, where he suffered 6 mins gap. Mark: 4   Team BikeExchange  A Simon Yates who, apart from the slight downturn of Montalcino, has always been on the piece and supported by a cohesive team even without great individuality. When the chamois of Bury is in shape, he is a guarantee for entertaining: one of the few in pro cycling world to have the change of pace to break away in toughest climbs . There were doubts about his durability on the three weeks, but he managed well his efforts. He probably leveraged the unfortunate epilogue of the 2018 Giro: he saved himself in the first part to have fresh energy to play in the last week, although he paid for something in the last two days in the mountains. Mark: 7 Qhubeka ASSOS team One of the happy surprises of the 2021 Giro. After a troubled winter, which saw the South African team risk shutting down, it has finally found a sponsor. They reacted to the abandonment of GC man Pozzovivo and found three stage victories with Schmid, Nizzolo (finally!) and Campenaerts. The best publicity for a team of fighters with a captivating shirt to promote the Qhubeka project with a high ethical value, that is, to donate bicycles to the poor populations of Africa. Mark: 8   Bahrain - Victorious An team that has transformed the misfortunes into outstanding opportunities: with Landa crashed out and Bilbao not in the form of last year, Caruso has loaded the leadership on his shoulders. He led a solid and regular Giro that already rewarded him with a second place and then surprised everyone with the heroic feat of the penultimate stage. The icing on the cake is the exploit of Gino Mader in San Giacomo di Ascoli.  Mark: 8.5   Trek-Segafredo It is difficult to judge a team that started on the eve with many doubts about the form conditions of the protagonists and was then targeted by misfortunes. Nibali has now understood that he cannot caress the dream of longevity like the eternal Valverde, but the falls are haunting him; the same is true of Ciccone who seemed to be able to do well at the end of the Giro. There remains only the sweetener of the stage won by Dombrowski (then needless to say, also sadly withdrawn due to an accident). Mark: 5.5 UAE- Emirates A team that perhaps focused too much on the Pogacar phenomenon thinking about the Tour because in the Pink Race it seemed in disarray, without any planning or a clear direction. Waiting for Godot Formolo, we risk burning him. It is now as evident as the sun that the Rock of Verona is not a man of stage races but must be programmed for the one-day classics. On the other hand, on the sprinter front, Gaviria doesn't get it right: he doesn't even trust his team-mate when he paves the way for victory (see Molano in Termoli). Mark: 4 Lotto-Soudal A just C grade because they won two stages with the excellent Ewan, but then the Australian was "withdrawn" one third of the way through the Giro for technical choice. The need to preserve it for the Tour is not enough to justify the move, when there are plenty of sprinters (see Sagan) who take on all the mountains to get to Milan honouring the race. The rest of the team tried to get into the escapes but picked up little. Mark: 6   Eolo-Kometa The young team led by Basso and Contador (last year still in Continental tier) enlivened the race with their talents often in the breakaway: in the end they succeded with an unexpected victory on the most beautiful climb, the Zoncolan. Fortunato's smile coming out of the fog, and Contador's tears (for those who have seen his social network) were among the most exciting moments of this Giro. Now we will see if the former Spanish champion will come, as he promised, from Madrid to Milan by bicycle! Mark: 7   Jumbo-Visma team One of the disappointments of this Giro: even if they didn't have any prominent names, the Dutch squad was never in the heart of the race. George Bennett, indicated as the leader, did not have the form to contend the top of GC while the recovery path for Groenewegen' after last year's drama still seems very long. Mark: 5   Movistar team Only a few years ago Movistar could win any race. Now it is a team in transition, waiting to see some promise blossom or invest money on an already established champion (will Lopez be the right man?) Soler had to leave by fall when perhaps he could invent something, Cataldo has probably the best of his career behind him, the other components are disciplined players but without a high note. Mark: 5 Astana Similar review to Movistar, but with greater unfulfilled ambitions. Team focused on the emerging Vlasov who still earned a position in the top 10, but the typical Astana actions chasing stage victories were missing (Felline, Izagirre, Leon Sanchez, make a noise) Mark: 5.5 AG2R- Citroen The French team has accustomed us to attacking feats and some stage victories with young riders: once again this year they confirmed the tradition with the Vendrame show (who we believe will be successfull in hilly one-day races) and the blue jersey of Bouchard. Mark: 7 EF Education- Nippo The American team was often in the core of the race, with several components helping Carthy uphill and which allowed the young Briton a top 10 finish. Then, the exciting exploit of Bettiol which crowned the talented Tuscan after two difficult seasons. Mark: 7 Bora - Hansgrohe Peter Sagan is no longer dominant as he used to be but he won a good stage and arrived in Milan to conquer the cyclamen jersey. Unfortunately, the bad episode of Stradella remains, which one would not expect from him (fined 1000 Euros by the jury for intimidating other athletes). For the rest, a colorless team, with the abandonment of Buchmann and an impalpable Fabbro. Mark: 6   Israel - Start-up Nation Another of those teams that managed to carve out a slice of glory. If Froome was a millionaire bet now lost, it was two other mature riders who made David's star shine: the unfortunate De Marchi who wore the pink jersey, only to fall ruinously and the Irish Dan Martin with a win after the heroic climb to Sega d'Ala. Mark: 7   The other Teams A 6.5 to those under-dog teams that have won a stage such as Intermarchè-Wanty Gobert (with Van der Hoorn), Cofidis (with Lafay), Alpecin (with Merlier). A 6 to Groupama who wore the pink jersey for 3 days with Attila Valter. The DSM Team does not fullfill the expectations (5.5) with a regular but never protagonist Bardet (apart from the attempt in the penultimate stage) and with the ghost of Hindley after the exploit of last year. Different grade for the two Italian Pro Team teams entered as wild-card: Androni Giocattoli and Bardiani CSF, with limited budget and traditional passion they sought a stage victory that did not arrive. However the two teams have often entered the breakaways and they showed among other hopes two indomitable young riders (Pellaud and Carboni respectively, always present in the attacks from afar): a No Mark that counts as a full pass.

Filippo Ganna and his Pinarello bike won today, at the first (time trial) stage of the 104th Giro d'Italia. the Italian cyclist (original from Piedmont region) exceded everyone's expectations by winning the stage with an incredible hourly average of 58.7km/h in "his" city of Turin. Ganna is now recognized as a winning figure, in a cycling world lately rather poor of satisfactions for the Italians. His exceptional debut, calls Italian cycling to a turnaround after a start to the season that has not seen Italians collect as much as it could be expected. Ganna: the greatest Italian chronoman ever? As a matter of fact, during 2019 and 2020 Top Ganna was the protagonist of a nine-stage series of victories against time, culminating in the triumph in the TT World Championship. He was practically unbeatable, an incredible Filippo Ganna World Record who has become perhaps the greatest Italian chronoman ever. And its future is still largely to be written, perhaps with the hour record. Of course, there have been other time trial men in Italy: Binda and Guerra, human locomotives, Ercole Baldini with his elegance and effectiveness, Coppi and Moser who broke the Hour Record several times and the same Moser who overturned a Giro d'Italia in the last stage (a TT by the way) at the expense of a great Fignon. If the aforementioned champions won in time trial by virtue of the athletic completeness of a champion, however, Ganna is instead the first Italian cyclist to establish himself as an absolute specialist in time trials. Some curiosities about Filippo Ganna Where was Filippo Ganna born? Born in Verbania, Piedmont, he experienced his first successes on track in the discipline of pursuit and then he progressed on road races to achieve big goals, perhaps already in his genes, but not to be taken for granted. If you want to know more about Filippo Ganna's career so far, don't miss the article we published a few months ago on the EurekaBike blog, by clicking here: go to the article on Filippo Ganna's career overview. Ganna has been able to combine the physical and athletic skills we has been given by mother Nature to a superfine technique built with dedication and a lot of work, and a remarkable mental strength (fundamental in the short performances of a TT). The move to Sky/Ineos team certainly contributed to his constant growth, as such a top team, if not the best, devotes great attention to mental preparation and technological research, and which is equipped with bicycles among the best performing ever, branded Pinarello. By the way, if you want to find out about the history and curiosity of Pinarello, follow the link and read all the details and curiosities on the EurekaBike page dedicated to the Pinarello brand, one of the most prestigious Italian bike manufacturers, renowned all over the world. How much does Ganna's bike cost? It's no secret: € 25,000, as reported by the Gazzetta dello Sport newspaper. The next challenges of Filippo Ganna We have gotten too used to his victories but now Filippo is called to confirm, after a slower start of the season: many expect him to win in both time trial stages of the 2021 Giro. The first stage, 8.6 km long, seemed designed for him: practically flat in the center of Turin and with few turns. The ideal to push hard and immediately get the Pink Jersey, even more deserved because if obtained against specialist athletes of the caliber of Cavagna, in very form, Almeida and Bevin. The next time trial stage will be the final one, from Senago to Milan. A final walkway of 30.3 km, on the plain. Will Top Ganna be able to outdo itself and return to last year's glories? In the first part of the season he was used by Ineos not only as a leader, but also as a lieutenant for the captains in many races (we remember him doing long pulls at Sanremo and at the Tour of the Alps) and he accumulated that fatigue that perhaps he limited a bit at the beginning of the season. Now he has been able to rest and is ready to get the most out of it. Ganna's role within Sky / Ineos If he will be able to win even in stages different from TT, it is difficult to say: we still have in our eyes the splendid breakaway of last year completed alone in Camigliatello. We remember, however, that the crash with subsequent abandonment of the captain Geraint Thomas had disrupted the plans of the team, necessitating a plan B in which Ganna played the part of "surprise variable". We will see if in this edition he will have the same freedom or the teamwork tasks will limit his action in the breakaways. The Ineos 2021 does not have a purely climbing composition: alongside the captains Bernal and Sivakov there are only Martinez and Moscon to give support on long and difficult climbs, and with the Trentino in form that could also be used for some  final for finisseurs. The essential task of the Italian will therefore be to sacrifice himself at least in the first sections of the numerous climbs that characterize this Giro. We'll see! Meanwhile, it is positive for us to have an Italian world champion on the roads of the pink race who can boost the enthusiasm of fans, so we are waiting for many people to follow, in compliance with the rules, the king event of tricolor cycling.

After last year's revolutions in the cycling calendar, we are finally back to a regular season which luckily got off to a smooth start. The month of May is the classic period of the pink race: let's see in detail the 21 stages of the Giro d'Italia 2021 and then make an analysis of the route. The features of this edition This year's Giro starts from Turin, to celebrate the 160th anniversary of the unification of Italy and ends, as usual, in Milan, after 3479.9 km. But 2021 coincides with two other historical commemoration: they are 90 years since, in 1931, it was decided to assign the Maglia Rosa (pink jersey) to the leader, linked to the Gazzetta dello Sport which organized the race. Furthermore, 700 years ago Dante Alighieri died in Ravenna: the Sommo Poeta died after a pilgrimage that lasted 19 years as a result of his exile from Florence. Both events will be remembered with initiatives and celebrations during the route. Here are the details of the stages: 1. 08 May - Torino-Torino (TT, 8,6 km) 2. 09 May - Stupinigi-Novara (173 km) 3. 10 May - Biella-Canale (187 km) 4. 11 May - Piacenza-Sestola (186 km) 5. 12 May - Modena-Cattolica (171 km) 6. 13 May - Grotte di Frasassi-Ascoli Piceno (150 km) 7. 14 May - Notaresco-Termoli (178 km) 8. 15 May - Foggia-Guardia Sanframondi (173 km) 9. 16 May - Castel di Sangro-Campofelice (160 km) 10. 17 May - L’Aquila-Foligno (140 km)  - 18 May - Day off 11. 19 May - Perugia-Montalcino (163 km) 12. 20 May - Siena-Bagno di Romagna (209 km) 13. 21 May - Ravenna-Verona (197 km) 14. 22 May - Cittadella-Monte Zoncolan (205 km) 15. 23 May - Grado-Gorizia (145 km) 16. 24 May - Sacile-Cortina d’Ampezzo (212 km) - 25 mag - Day off 17. 26 May - Canazei-Sega di Ala (193 km) 18. 27 May - Rovereto-Stradella (228 km) 19. 28 May - Abbiategrasso-Alpe di Mera (178 km) 20. 29 May - Verbania-Valle Spluga/Alpe Motta (164 km) 21. 30 May - Senago-Milano (cronometro, 30,3 km) Analysis of the stages of the Giro Analyzing this year's Giro d'Italia map, we see that the northern and central Italy areas is privileged, a choice that comes from the need to start the race from Turin. The stages develop in a southerly direction in the first half, up to Foggia and Guardia Sanframondi in Campania as the southernmost points. Then it goes up the Peninsula to get to face the Alps in the last week, as usual. A look at the composition of the stages: the first and last are two time trials (respectively of 8.6 km and 30.3 km) where Filippo Ganna is expected to perform well. There are four flat stages for sprinters, eight uphill finishes, while the rest are mid-mountain stages or ups and downs suitable for finisseurs. Definitely a tough Giro (total elevation gain of 47,000 meters), spectacular and unpredictable, which in recent years has seen great battles between various cyclists, many of whom belong to the new generations. The mountains of the Giro 2021 In the first part of the race there will be a first skimming in Sestola (4th stage) and another more demanding test in the ascent to Campo Felice (9th stage on Sunday 16th May). The second part is a succession of historic mountains: the arrival at Zoncolan in stage 14, Sacile-Cortina d'Ampezzo with Pordoi (this year's Cima Coppi with its 2239 m) and Passo Giau in number 16, the ascent to Sega di Ala the following day. Before the final time trial, the two stages in Piedmonte that will probably prove decisive: uphill finishes at Alpe di Mera (Valsesia) and Alpe Motta on days 28th and 29th. We will see if the time trial from Senago to Milan will be necessary to settle the GC. We will passionately follow the Giro to celebrate Bernal, Yates, Evenepoel, maybe a revived Nibali or the other numerous outsiders in pink in Milan!

RockShox and Trek are proud to announce the RockShox Trek Race Team, with a roster of gravity-focused racers all under the age of 21. Here is a comment from David Zimberoff, SRAM VP of Marketing aboth the Trek Factory Racing Team new lineup: "We're super excited to take the foundation of this team to the next level by adding new resources and increasing our commitment to winning.” — . The team includes two-time UCI Junior Downhill World Champion and World Cup Overall winner Vali Höll, up-and-coming Scottish shredder Jamie Edmondson, twice-crowned Canadian National Junior Downhill Champion Ethan Shandro, and the fastest kid in Whistler Mountain Bike Park, 15-year-old Tegan Cruz. Riders overview Valentina (Vali) Höll Born on December, 11th 2001 in Saalbach, Austria Vali began racing downhill against the boys as an 11-year-old in her home spot, Saalbach. She was told she wouldn’t win…until she did. And she kept winning again-and-again, until she stood on top of the podium as the 2018 and 2019 UCI Junior Downhill World Champion. As a two-time World Cup Overall-winning prodigy Vali is full of optimism and grit heading into her first, full season as an elite. Look for this Austrian force of nature on 2021 podiums worldwide. Vali's statement for 2021 season is:  "TO STEP UP AND BECOME MORE PROFESSIONAL WITH RACING, I KNEW I HAD TO SWITCH SOMETHING. I’VE ALWAYS BEEN ON MY OWN SO HAVING MENTORS LIKE TRACY MOSELEY AND ANDREW SHANDRO IS PRETTY COOL, ALONG WITH A BIGGER PLATFORM AND MORE PEOPLE TO RIDE AND TRAIN WITH". Jamie Edmondson Born on March, 7th 2001 in Nethy Bridge, Scotland Jamie, an affable Scotsman, does dual duty in both enduro and downhill disciplines. This 19-year-old wet-weather specialist grew up in a little village down the road from Aviemore, Scotland, and is motivated to jump from privateer last year to an integral part of the world’s youngest gravity-fueled elite race team in 2021. He is looking forward to being a part of the team and having the support when he needs it. Jamie will focus his racing on the World Cup circuit mixing in Enduro World Series events along the way. Jamie's statement for 2021 season is: "I LIKE TO FEEL GOOD ON A DOWNHILL TRACK… YOU’RE ON THE LIMIT AND BY THE END OF THE WEEKEND, YOU’RE HITTING EVERY TURN AS FAST AS YOU CAN. I THINK THAT’S PRETTY ADDICTIVE WHEN YOU GET USED TO IT. THAT’S WHAT IT IS FOR ME." Ethan Shandro Born on February, 18th 2002 in North Vancouver, Canada, Ethan is already a two-time Canadian National Junior Downhill Champion. Shandro is a familiar name in mountain biking, in fact Ethan’s debut performance as a junior on the World Cup circuit dropped jaws in 2019. After a 2020 season spent dormant and recovering from injury, he is looking to get back on dirt with his fierce-but-fun style of riding. Ethan will continue to focus on his recovery for the time being and look to add regional races when back up to speed. Ethan's statement for 2021 season is: "COMING INTO THIS YEAR, I AM LOOKING TO GET BACK TO 100 PERCENT HEALTH-WISE AND SPEND TIME WITH THE TEAM IN AND OUT OF THE RACES. I'M STOKED TO BE PART OF THIS YOUNG TEAM AS WE HEAD INTO 2021 AND SEE WHAT WE ARE ALL CAPABLE OF. MY TOP GOAL IS TO GET BACK TO WORLD CUP RACES." Tegan Cruz Born on September, 29th 2005 in Pemberton, Canada, Tegan is one of the fastest kids that have been pumped out  of the sea-to-Sky region of British Columbia. Among them only a few are as quick as Tegan Cruz. It helps when you’re raised on a farm with a pump track in the Coast Range’s steepest terrain and a quick drive to the Whistler Mountain Bike Park. Add in a tireless work ethic and a brother who races World Cup, and you have a recipe for success. At 15 years old, the “Tegster” could be Canada’s next rising star. The 2021 race season will see Tegan focus regionally on races within B.C. as well as a few trips to Europe, should travel restrictions allow. Tegan's statement for 2021 season is: "I FEEL FORTUNATE AND EXCITED TO BE RIDING WITH AND LEARNING FROM A WORLD CHAMPION, AS WELL AS TEAMMATES WHO HAVE TASTED THE WORLD CUP PODIUM. ETHAN AND I HAVE HAD MANY GREAT TIMES RIDING TOGETHER AND TRAVELED A BIT OVER THE YEARS. I LOOK FORWARD TO BRINGING A YOUTHFUL ATTITUDE AND DEFINITELY SOME LAUGHS AND SMILES."   Tim Vanderjeugd, Trek Bicycle Director of Sports Marketing for Trek Factory Racing MTB says: “Trek is thrilled to partner with RockShox and welcome Vali, Jamie, Tegan, and Ethan onto this exciting new team. These riders will be an important part of the Trek family as they help usher in the next generation of World Cup contenders. We can't wait to see what they do in the season to come. Bring on 2021!”  Höll and Edmondson will focus on the UCI DH World Cup calendar this season. In addition, the team will fit in Crankworx events along with select Enduro World Series races. Team Partners Technical partnerships are the core of the Team Trek Factory Racing for gravity disciplines: RockShox supplies the team with all Suspension material and hydraulic seat posts, while Trek provides the frames. But there are a lot more prime partners involved in the technical supply of material, gear and equipment for the team:   SRAM – Drivetrain, Brakes  Maxxis – Tires DT Swiss – Wheels, Hubs, Spokes Ergon – Saddles, Grips Troy Lee Designs – Race Kits, Gloves, Helmets Chris King – Headsets Quarq – Power Meters Truvativ – Handlebars, Stems, Seat Posts Zipp – Road Components 2021 Team Calendar Here follows the schedule with primary and secondary racing programs for the RockShox Trek Factory Racing Team in 202: PRIMARY – UCI DH World Cup April 24-25: Maribor, Slovenia May 22-23: Fort William, Scotland  June 12-13: Leogang, Austria July 3-4: Les Gets, France August 24-29: World Championships Val di Sole, Italy September 4-5: Lenzerheide, Switzerland September 18-19: Snowshoe, WV. USA SECONDARY National Championships – Austria, Canada, UK Enduro World Series CRANKWORX Events Regional Events Source: SRAM.com

The Enduro World Series (EWS) concluded in suitably dramatic fashion in Italy at the Bluegrass EWS Finale Ligure.   In a venue steeped in the history of the sport, riders took to the start line for the third and final race of the year. Featuring nearly 60km of pedalling and four challenging stages, this race was designed to push riders to the max, and it more than delivered.  Enduro Live Results: In the men’s race Jesse Melamed (Rocky Mountain Race Face Enduro Team) also set his stall out early, as he too put ten seconds into the rest of the field after stage one. Pietra winner Adrien Dailly (Lapierre Zipp Collective) was in second, but wasn’t to stay there after a puncture followed by a crash on stage two put him out of the running. Melamed went on to win stages two and three, cementing his lead to an unassailable 17 seconds heading into the fourth and final stage. It was Jack Moir (Canyon Collective) who won the stage, but it wasn’t enough to unseat Melamed, who sailed to the third EWS win of his career. Florian Nicolai (Trek Factory Racing) scored a second place finish as he did in Pietra last weekend, with Moir also replicating his third place.  Italian Martino Fruet brought the Master Men win home, followed by Cedric Ravanel (Commencal Enduro Team) in second and Karim Amour in third. Daniela Michel of Switzerland won Master Women.  In the women’s race Morgane Charre (Pivot Factory Racing) was in control from the very first stage, putting over ten seconds into Vittoria EWS Pietra winner Melanie Pugin in second place. A mechanical for Pugin on stage two saw Charre able to extend her lead, and despite Pugin winning the final two stages, it wasn’t enough to stop Charre taking her first EWS win. Pugin finished the day in second place, with Estelle Charles posting a career best third place.  In the U21 Men Brady Stone (Theory Global Enduro Team) clinched the win, with Luke Meier-Smith in second and third place went to Jamie Edmondson. Harriet Harnden (Trek Factory Racing) won her third straight victory in U21 Women with Sophie Riva of Italy in second place.  With no individual championship in 2020 it was left to the teams to battle it out, and it was Pivot Factory Racing who came out on top, followed by Trek Factory Racing in second and Rocky Mountain Race Face Enduro Team in third.  That’s it for the 2020 Enduro World Series, all that remains is to say thank you to all the teams, riders, organisers, staff and volunteers for their support in this most difficult of years. Here’s to 2021.  Follow this link of the video highlights of the EWS 2020 round 3 in Finale Ligure, Italy:   Results (first 25 of Men category): 1 Jesse Melamed CAN Rocky Mountain Race Face 00:21:21.60 2 Florian Nicolai FRA Trek Factory Racing +00:08.98 3 Jack Moir AUS Canyon Collective +00:13.11 4 Theo Galy FRA Sunn Enduro Factory Team +00:19.74 5 Edward Masters AUS Pivot Factory Racing +00:35.57 6 Charles Murray AUS Pivot Factory Racing +00:36.97 7 Jose Borges POR Miranda Factory Team +00:37.47 8 Kevin Miquel FRA Sunn Enduro Factory Team +00:37.54 9 Slawomir Lukasik POL - +00:37.92 10 Martin Maes BEL GT Factory Racing +00:40.59 11 Dimitri Tordo FRA Canyon Collective +00:41.27 12 Zakarias Blom Johansen SWE Cube Action Team +00:46.15 13 Youn Deniaud FRA Giant Factory Off-Road +00:46.33 14 Matteo Raimondi ITA - +00:47.15 15 Alex Rudeau FRA Commencal Enduro Team +00:47.56 16 Gregory Callaghan IRE Unior Devinci Factory Racing +00:49.1 17 Christian Textor GER Team BULLS +00:49.54 18 Antoine Vidal FRA Commencal Enduro Team +00:50.29 19 Guillaume Larbeyou FRA - +00:52.2 20 Joseph Nation AUS - +00:54.49 21 Cole Lucas AUS Ibis Enduro Team +00:55.71 22 Pedro Burns Contreras CUB Trek Factory Racing +01:02.01 23 Rhys Verner CAN Kona Factory Team +01:02.98 24 Stanislav Sehnal CZE - +01:03.27 25 Edgar Carballo Gonzalez ESP Orbea FOX Enduro Team +01:04.39   For more results see the source at this link. Source: Enduro World Series Official Website

Imola 2020 World Cup, Filippo Ganna wins the elite men's individual time trial on Friday, giving Italy its first gold medal at this year's World Cup. Filippo Ganna secured his first career time-trial world title last Friday (25 September 2020), confirming his status as a pre-race favorite on a windy day at the UCI Road World Championships in Imola. Ganna completed the 31.7km course in a time of 35'54". Wout van Aert took second place with a delay of 26", while Stefan Küng completed the podium, 29" behind Ganna. Geraint Thomas finished fourth ahead of the two-time winner Rohan Dennis, fifth. Ganna's statement: "It's a dream for me and I'm really happy. I personally thank the whole Italian team and also Ineos Grenadiers. I don't have the words. I have won four rainbow jerseys on the track. This is my first time in the time trial. I will celebrate with my family". Summary of the men's Elite Time Trial race at the Imola 2020 World Championships The flat round course saw a fast race in windy conditions. Max Walscheid and then Edoardo Affini were among the first riders to spend at least some time in the leader's chair before Thomas crossed the line almost a minute faster than the first, taking the provisional lead. The 2018 Tour de France champion's time withstood the attacks of many talented riders before Van Aert finished 11" faster after a fantastic second half of his run. However, the Belgian did not keep his lead, as Ganna accelerated being faster even in the intermediate. Küng crossed the line just three seconds further than Van Aert, and then Tom Dumoulin came a little more detached at the halfway point - for lingering over a loss of balance in a corner - but Ganna crossed the line 27"  faster than Van Aert taking the provisional lead of the race. After Ganna, only Dennis remained on track. Although the defending champion was the second-fastest rider in the intermediate, he failed to catch up in the second half of his race and reached the finish line 40 seconds late. Ganna's victory marks the first ever Italian title in the men's elite time trial and a first gold medal for Italy in a men's elite event since Alessandro Ballan won in 2008. Top 10 1 GANNA Filippo (Italia) 35:54 2 VAN AERT Wout (Belgio) 0:26 3 KÜNG Stefan (Svizzera) 0:29 4 THOMAS Geraint (Gran Bretagna) 0:37 5 DENNIS Rohan (Australia) 0:39 6 ASGREEN Kasper (Danimarca) 0:47 7 CAVAGNA Rémi (Francia) 0:48 8 CAMPENAERTS Victor (Belgio) 0:52 9 DOWSETT Alex (Gran Bretagna) 1:06 10 DUMOULIN Tom (Paesi Bassi) 1:14 Sports Biography of Filippo Ganna But who is the athlete Filippo Ganna? On Eureka.Bike we want to reconstruct for you the career of this young and winning rider to date. Filippo Ganna was born in Verbania on July 25, 1996 and is an Italian road racer and cyclist who races for the Ineos Grenadiers team. On the track he became world champion in individual pursuit in 2016, 2018, 2019 and 2020. Road professional since 2017, in 2019 he was national time trial champion and world specialty bronze medal. In 2020, he just became world road time trial champion in Imola. The beginnings 2011-2012 Filippo competes in the Allievi category with the Ossolano Pedal from 2011 to 2012, achieving 20 victories. 2013-2014 In 2013 he made his debut among the Juniors with the Castanese Verbania, of Alberto Donini and Terenzio Baronchelli, collecting 6 successes, five of which time trial; the following year he won seven road races, including the national title against time and the Chrono des Nations category, and the title of national junior champion in individual pursuit. 2015 In 2015 he made his debut among the Under 23s with the Viris Maserati-Sisal Matchpoint of Vigevano: in the season he won three races, including the Chrono Champenois in Bethény [1]. In the second part of the season he competes as an intern for Lampre-Merida, a World Tour formation directed by Giuseppe Saronni, also participating in the Under 23 time trial of the world championships in Richmond. 2016 n 2016, competing with Team Colpack, he won the Grand Prix Laguna Poreč, a competition valid for the UCI Europe Tour. Called up for the track world championships in London, he sets the new Italian record in the individual pursuit (4'16 "127) and then manages to win the world title in the specialty by beating the German Domenic Weinstein in the final with a time of 4 '16 "141. In the same world championship he finishes fourth in the team chase with the quartet of the National team. He later conquered the Paris-Roubaix Espoirs, the first Italian to do so in the history of the race. In July he wins the European Under-23 individual pursuit title with a time of 4'14 "165, further improving the Italian record, and wins the silver medal in the Under-23 team pursuit, establishing another national record. August participates for the first time in the Olympic Games, in Rio de Janeiro, obtaining the sixth final place in the team pursuit with the blue quartet completed by Simone Consonni, Francesco Lamon and Michele Scartezzini. In September at the European Under-23 road championships he is therefore second in the time trial, 30 "behind the German Lennard Kämna, over a distance of 25.4km; in the road test, with arrival on the tear of Plumelec, he is ranked sixth in the sprint won by Aljaksandr Rabušėnka. Pro carrier 2017 Ganna became a pro in 2017 with UAE Team Emirates, Emirati World Tour formation (formerly Lampre-Merida). In March he made his debut in the classics of the North, at Ghent-Wevelgem, but was forced to retire due to a fall. Having recovered for the track world championships in Hong Kong, in mid-April, in the world championship he first won the bronze with the team pursuit quartet (completed by Simone Consonni, Francesco Lamon and Liam Bertazzo) and then the silver medal in the individual pursuit, beaten in the final by the Australian Jordan Kerby. Returning to road racing in May, he finished fifth in the time trial of the Tour of California and then ninth in the Elite time trial of the European Championships in Herning. At the end of the road season, he returns to the track and in the first days of November he obtains an important confirmation, winning the team pursuit test of the World Cup stage in Pruszków with his team mates. 2018 Back on the road, in January 2018 he is in excellent shape at the Vuelta a San Juan in Argentina. After finishing fourth on the final stretch that characterizes the second stage, he ranks second in the third stage, an individual time trial of 14.4 km. Thanks to these placings, for the first time in his career, he wears the leader's jersey of a stage race. He loses the leader's jersey at the end of the fifth stage, an uphill finish, in favor of Gonzalo Najar, relegating to third place in the general: thus concluding the race in third place in the classification, his first podium in a professional stage race, winning also the ranking of best youngster. A few weeks later, at the track world championships in Apeldoorn, he won bronze in the team pursuit, also setting the new Italian record. In the individual pursuit he therefore wins his second world title by beating the Portuguese Ivo Oliveira and setting the new Italian record (4'13 "622 in the semifinal, 4'13" 607 in the final). Subsequently he made his debut in the Tour of Flanders, retiring after having been on the run for a long time, and in the Paris-Roubaix which finished out of time. At the Italian Time Trial Championship he comes second, behind Gianni Moscon. 2019 For the 2019 season he joins Team Sky. He gets his first success as a professional, making his debut with the new team, imposing himself in the first stage of the Tour de la Provence, an individual time trial of 8.9 km. In March he won his third world title in the individual pursuit, beating in the final, as in 2016, the German Domenic Weinstein. In June he participates in the national time trial championships, on the Bedonia track: he becomes national champion of the specialty, preceding Alberto Bettiol by 52 hundredths of a second. On 25 September 2019 he won the bronze medal in the individual time trial at the road world championship in Yorkshire. 2020 In February 2020 in Berlin he graduated as world champion in individual pursuit for the fourth time, setting the world record of 4'01 "934 in the qualifiers (the previous record, 4'02" 647, set in the World Cup in November 2019, already belonged to him); in the same world championship he is also a bronze medal in the team pursuit. In September 2020, in Imola, he became world champion in time trial on the road covering the 31.7km of the route at almost 53km/h on an hourly average, beating the Belgian Wout Van Aert and the Swiss Stefan Küng, respectively in second and third on the podium.

The Vittoria EWS Pietra Ligure 2020 will remain in the books for two things above all: the return of the epic single day race and the French reigniting their reputation as the dominant force in enduro.  The race threw in plot twists and drama along the day. In the Men’s race there was less of a clear trajectory; Adrien Dailly (Lapierre Zipp Collective) may have won the first stage, but it was Jesse Melamed (Rocky Mountain Race Face Enduro Team) who won the second stage of the day. Rhys Verner (Kona Factory Racing) took the Queen Stage, but by this point Dailly was leading the race and it would stay that way, with the Frenchman ending the day with an impressive 20 second lead over his nearest rival, Florian Nicolai (Trek Factory Racing), who took second place. Jack Moir (Canyon Collective) rounded out the top three to mark his first time on an EWS podium. Karim Amour brought home the win in Master Men, followed by Cedric Ravanel (Commencal Enduro Team) in second and Bruno Zanchi (Team Fridstas Mondraker) in third. In the Women’s category Isabeau Courduier (Lapierre Zipp Collective) rolled to the start line as the clear favourite, despite carrying an ankle injury she picked up a week earlier. After her perfect 2019 season and her win in Zermatt last month, it’s little wonder she was expected to clean up in Italy. Her campaign started off well, winning the first two stages of the day, but once fellow Frenchwoman Melanie Pugin took the all important Queen Stage, stage three, her fate was sealed. Pugin, fresh from her win in the EWS-E race in Zermatt last month, took control of the race from here on out and went on to win the next two stages decisively. Courdurier’s winning streak may have come to an end, but she still managed a podium finish in a very respectable second place. Morgane Charre (Pivot Factory Racing) would put on a consistent display to take third place, making it an all French podium in the women’s field.  In the U21 Men Antoine Vidal (Commencal Enduro Team)  added another win to his growing list of victories, with Brady Stone (Theory Global Enduro Team) in second and Jamie Edmondson of the UK in third. Hattie Harnden (Trek Factory Racing) won the U21 Women just as she did at the last round in Switzerland, with the Italian Sophie Riva in second.   In the Team competition Pivot Factory Racing were team of the day, followed by Lapierre Zipp Collective in second and Rocky Mountain Race Enduro in third. With no overall individual series points on offer this year, it's the only the teams fighting it out for the series rankings, and its Pivot Factory Racing who once more lead the scoreboard. Rocky Mountain Race Face Enduro Team is in second and Trek Factory Racing third.  The Series now moves just a few kilometres up the coast for the last race of the year, Bluegrass EWS Finale on Saturday, September 26. Follow this link ofr the video highlights of the EWS 2020 round 2 in Pietra Ligure, Italy:     Results (first 25 of Men category): 1 Adrien Dailly FRA Lapierre Zipp Collective 00:21:30.49 2 Florian Nicolai FRA Trek Factory Racing +00:20.58 3 Jack Moir AUS Canyon Collective +00:22.64 4 Dimitri Tordo FRA Canyon Collective +00:22.79 5 Edward Masters AUS Pivot Factory Racing +00:27.16 6 Kevin Miquel FRA Sunn Enduro Factory Team +00:30.51 7 Jesse Melamed CAN Rocky Mountain Race Face +00:39.04 8 Youn Deniaud FRA Giant Factory Off-Road  +00:43.47 9 Guillaume Larbeyou FRA - +00:44.98 10 Louis Jeandel FRA - +00:45.57 11 Rhys Verner CAN Kona Factory Team +00:46.34 12 Damien Oton FRA Orbea FOX Enduro Team +00:47.93 13 Theo Galy FRA Sunn Enduro Factory Team +00:55.95 14 Charles Murray AUS Pivot Factory Racing +00:56.48 15 Patrick Luthi SUI - +00:56.66 16 Elliott Heap GBR Chain Reaction Cycles +00:59.51 17 Cole Lucas AUS Ibis Enduro Team +01:03.7 18 Marcello Pesenti ITA -  +01:04.2 19 Gregory Callaghan IRE Unior Devinci Factory Racing +01:06.77 20 Joseph Nation AUS - +01:07.6 21 Mirco Vendemmia ITA - +01:13.34 22 Tim Bratschi SUI -  +01:13.79 23 Thomas Lapeyrie FRA -  +01:14.16 24 Baptiste Gaillot FRA - +01:14.81 25 Bernard Kerr GBR Pivot Factory Racing +01:16.12 For more results see the source at this link. Source: Enduro World Series Official Website

The Tour de France is without a doubt the most outstanding and highly respected bike riding competition in the world. And the young 22 years old Slovenian Tadej Pogačar, just won unexpectedly this prime competition. Also known as “Le Grande Boucle” or “Le Tour”, Tour de France is a cycling competition that is held in France every year (sometimes neighboring countries) and takes place in 21 stages with a course that covers approximately 3,500 kilometers. Tour de France is split into 21 stages: nine flat stages, three hilly stages, seven mountain stages (including five summit finishes), two individual time trials and two rest days. One stage is performed every day, covers roughly 225 kilometers, and takes about five and a half hours to complete. Each stage has a winner, and the rider that completes the most stages in the shortest amount of time goes onto win the overall title. This is the World Cup, Super Bowl and Stanley Cup of bicycle racing. Cyclists from around the world gather in France to compete for the chance win the prestigious Tour de France trophy and a cash prize of €450,000. This is a sport that engages 3.5 billion television viewers, and over 12 million spectators annually. It’s a thrilling show and it is completely free to attend. But how could Tadej Pogačar reach such a great achievement at such a young age? Let's try to understand it having a look into his carrier. At the age of 9 Tadej changed his football jersey for a race jersey with a matching bike. Pogačar joined his brother Tilen at the Rog Ljubljana cycling club. The talent of the Slovenian youngster showed quickly as it didn’t take long for Tadej to start winning races. The older Tadej got, the more he started to impress in the races. The Slovenian cycling federation took note and when Tadej Pogačar entered the junior ranks at the age of 16 he was consistently selected to ride for the National team. In 2015 he rode the Course de la Paix his first big stage race and one of the biggest junior races in the world. Tadej did very well as he finished 8th in the GC and 2nd in the young rider classification (behind Brandon McNulty). One year later in the same race, Pogačar took his first big international youth win. He won a stage finishing on a small hill. It wouldn’t be the only international success for him that year as he also managed to win the final GC of the Giro della Lunigiana and finishing on the podium in all three stages of that race. For the 2017 season Tadej signed a deal with local continental squad ROG – Ljubljana. The young Slovenian showed he didn’t have any trouble with the transition from the u19 to the u23 category as he was found near the front of almost all the races he rode. The biggest performance of the year came in his home country were he rode his very first professional race, the Tour of Slovenia. The race was won by Tour de France stage and mountain classification winner Rafael Majka. However Pogačar surprised many including himself by riding towards a fifth place in the final GC, not bad for an 18 year old in his first professional race! In the 2018 season Tadej not only confirmed his talent, but he clearly made another big step in his progression towards the top. In the Grand Prix Priessnitz the race he won as a junior (course de la Paix), he now took his first international win as an U23. On the final stage of the race, Tadej put in a huge solo effort to win with a minute margin which also gained him the overall win. A week later Pogačar entered the Slovenian time trial nationals among the pro’s and managed to finish 2nd behind Tratnik who just the year before finished 10th in the World ITT Championships. A few days later it was time for the Tour of Slovenia, a big target for Tadej. Tadej fought against Roglic and Uran (who the year before finished 2nd in the Tour de France) and managed to do one better than last year as he finished 4th overall. Team UAE saw how well was riding and in July of 2018 Tadej signed his first professional contract as he would join the World Tour at the start of 2019. But the highlight of 2018 was yet to come, as at the end of the year Pogačar competed in the Tour de l’Avenir. A race known as the Tour de France for riders under the age of 23. Most riders who do well here have a very bright future ahead of him. Tadej who aimed for a top 5 place in GC, won the race thanks to his consistency and finished almost 1 and a half minutes in front of his nearest competitor. Tadej's debut for team UAE came early 2019 as he rode the Tour Down Under in Australia. He did well helping his leader Ulissi, but also managed to finish 15th himself which again showed Tadej had no problem at all with the transition to a higher level. His European debut for team UAE, came a month later in the Volta ao Algarve a stage race in Portugal. In stage two the riders faced an uphill finish and surprisingly Tadej took victory ahead of Team Sky’s Wout Poels. The day after Tadej extended his lead by finishing 5th in the ITT, finishing only behind some ITT specialists. The race finished with another mountain top finish and while Tadej was attacked a lot, he managed to bring home the final victory. A start to a brilliant season was made, Pogačar showed consistency throughout the whole season and not much after his victory in Portugal he would finish 6th in the Itzulia Basque Country race, a stage race with a lot of history and a field full of stars. A month later Tadej would win his first World Tour race as he took the queen stage and the final victory of the Amgen Tour of California. He continued his great season by taking his first professional national title by beating Mohoric and Tratnik in the ITT nationals. Because of his great showings throughout the year, the team decided the 20 year old Tadej could make his debut in a Grand Tour. He was the youngest rider in the race (over a year younger than the 2nd youngest), but again surprised himself and the world. The race would turn into a career highlight (so far) as he managed to win three stages and finish on the overall podium. He ended up third behind his own country man Primoz Roglic and the legend Alejandro Valverde. Tadej set the bar high in 2019, but he did manage to outperform himself again in 2020. He did this by taking the biggest win of them all, the final victory in the Tour de France! He did it in style as well, as he did not only wint he final overall. He took three stages, the mountain classification and the young rider classification along the way. It was an unexpected win, Tadej went into the final time trial 57 seconds behind ITT specialist Primoz Roglic. Pogačar rode the best time trial of his life and outclassed everyone. He won the time trial and took the Tour de France win for 59 seconds ahead (final GC) of Roglic. Before the last time trial stage at 2020 Tour de France, Tadej managed to remain absolutely concentrated on his target and showed off an outstanding capacity to manage psychological pressure when about to race again a more experienced rider like Primoz Roglic.  Here is a cool video documentary of the last stage of 2020 Tour the France won by Tadej: Source: Tadej Pogacar official website