The breakaway stayed away, ultimately in the form of Luxembourger Jungels of AG2R, although some of us may have been cheering, along with most of France, for Pinot whose brave chase eventually fizzled into a fourth place finish, but deservedly collecting the Combativity Consolation Award. Don’t spend it all at once, Thibault. Meanwhile further back…

Yet another astonishing ride and the second stage win for Wout van Aert, and another podium for the Pog, getting bonus seconds. Van Aert and Pogacar are now officially spoiling it for everyone else. On the left there is Michael Matthews who rode a perfect race, but in the presence of those two stage-hungry stars…

Into the mountains with a parcours which featured a finish at the Super Planche des Belles Filles, which took the already formidable climb and added an extra bit at the top which has some 24% gradient on gravel. Tadej Pogacar won the stage up here in 2020, could he do it again? Well, yes –…

Today’s stage starts in Belgium. Has a grand tour ever visited four countries before? This edition of the Tour takes in Denmark, Belgium, Switzerland and … ummm … France, of course. The day started in Binche and the route dodges back into France before hugging the Luxembourg border. At nearly 220 km it’s a long…

“It’s super-nice to hit the cobbles again” Wout van Aert (interviewed before stage 5) Stage 5 was dubbed the “Paris-Roubaix” stage with numerous sections of bone-shaking cobbles, although some have not been used in the Classic race. The best advice for anyone racing on these crazy roads is just “be lucky!” It is another great…

Another bunch sprint day, another Dutch winner. But Stage 3 marked the return of Dylan Groenewegen, with the complementary story from the previous day. The victim of Groenwegen’s error in the Tour of Poland, Fabio Jacobsen says he has no memories of the horrendous crash that nearly cost him his life, whereas the perpetrator (one…

Hugely popular stage winner in the bunch sprint was the fearless Fabio Jakobsen. His backstory – a grim fairytale – from fighting for his life to fighting to the line, is the talk of the day. In the hectic lead out, with most of the peloton stacked up in or behind a crash behind them,…

Two households teams, both alike in dignity talent, In fair Verona, where we lay our scene, … Bill Rattlestaff (via Rob Hatch) The finale was not as tense as anticipated, given that – short of disaster – Jai Hindley had settled the Ineos-Bora rivalry and won the race on the Passa Fodaio yesterday (or “Passos…

Bora Bora Bora! On the brutal slopes of the Marmolado, the last mountain on the 2022 Giro, Bora-Hansgrohe rode the perfect tactics, pulling Lennard KÄMNA back from the breakaway to provide his team leader with the crucial acceleration that finally broke the poker-faced Richard CARAPAZ. Then Jai HINDLEY himself rode away into the Pink, to…

Dutchman in Blue! … Koen Bouwman was the winner in the mountains – the second stage victory in this year’s Giro – and also now with an unassailable lead in the King of the Mountains Maglia Azzura competition, the first Dutchman to achieve it in the history of the Giro d’Italia. Vallserberg is the highest…