Welcome back for another week of cycling news on Hive. My main focus has been on the Giro d’Italia, which has come into its second week. It’s about the time that the main contenders start to make there way to the front of the pack, and then it happenned …Remco Evenepoel has pulled out of the race, basically as soon as he got hold of the pink leaders jersey, he was out. You’ll just have to read through to find out why. I think it is another big loss for the race, but I am sure there are still a lot more twists and turns for the second half of the Giro. Women’s racing has remained in Spain with the Itzulia three day stage race, and unfortunately we have another product recall, this time from Peleton.
Don’t forget, if you love cycling and are not part of the Cycling Community on Hive yet, make sure you join in the community. There is a growing number of subscribers and active posters, so there is a good chance you will find something you are interested in. Currently, there’s a call to see what bikes everyone is riding. I have my Merida Scultura Road Bike, Canondale Slice TT Bike and a very old Bauer Mountain Bike, which is a bit dusty at the moment, but will try to get out a bit over the winter.
Check out the post below for some more information.
@friendlymoose/show-us-your-bicycle-mybike
Marlen Reusser Wins Itzulia Womens Title for 2023
The Itzulia Women’s cycling stage race was held in Spain at the start of May, after the end of La Vuelta Femenina concluded. Stage 1 commenced on the 12th of May in Etxebarria, with Demi Vollering of SD Worx taking the 122km stage win. She backed it up with a win in the 133km stage 2. But she was not able to make it a clean sweep. Stage 3 in San Sebastián saw her SD Worx team mate Marlen Reusser broke away and took a 2 minute lead on the peloton, riding into the final stage finish line on her own. This gave her enough time to jump ahead of Vollering on the overall standings to win Itzulia Women’s title for 2023. Vollering was second, with Katarzyna Niewiadoma of Canyon SRAM Racing third.
[Image Courtesy Getty Images]
Peleton Recalls 2.2 Million Bikes In USA
Peloton has issues a recall and reported that US owners of their original Peloton bikes, should stop using them immediately and get a new seat post as the company has identified potential issues with the seat post. The company has received reports of the post breaking and detaching from the bike during use causing injury including a fractured wrist, cuts and bruises.
The bikes in questions were made in Taiwan and were sold via US outlets between January 2018 and May 2023. Customers can get in touch with Peloton for a free replacement seat post, which can be installed at home. And for customers who are still within their 30 days of delivery day, can request a refund on the whole bike. The issue does not effect any Peloton bikes sold outside of the USA.
Giro d'Italia Moves Into It's Second Week
It's has been another big week in the Giro, with a lot of changes up the front of the race. The weather has been pretty wet and cold and hopefully wont cause too many more dramas for riders in the coming week. If you missed our update of the first week of the Giro, checkout last weeks Cycling News Here
Here is a write up of the action from stage 6, moving into the second week of racing.
The start of stage 6 of the Giro was sun filled, which was a big difference to the previous days stage held in the rain. Stage 6, a 162km ride starting and finishing in Naples. A number of mechanicals and punctures on the neutral zone of the stage held the ride up and it was not until the race hit the outskirts of Naples where Italy’s Alessandro De Marchi of Team Jayco-ALUIa and Francesco Gavazzi of Eolo-Kometa made a break, then being joined by three other rides including Simon Clarke of Israel-Premier Tech.
On the first major climb De Marchi and Clarke broke away from the group and was able to keep clear of the main peloton for most of the stage, looking like they would ride together to the finish. It was not to be, with the peloton catching them both in the final kilometre of the stage, leaving the sprinters to fight out for the win. Mads Pedersen of Trek-Segafredo was able to sprint past an early jump and win the stage, followed by Jonathan Milan of Bahrain Victorious and Pascal Ackermann of UAE Team Emirates. Andreas Leknessund keeps hold of the pink jersey with the same lead of 20 seconds that he started with for the stage.
Stage 7 of the Giro d’Italia was a 218km ride from Capua to Gran Sasso, with the riders again leaving Capua in rainy conditions. With a lot of climbing over this stage, after the first 5km of the stage a group of four riders broke away early and were able to give themselves a lead of 10 minutes over the main peloton. The group consisted of Davide Bais of EOLO-Kometa, Karel Vacek of Team Corratec-Selle Italia, Simone Petilli of Intermarche - Circus - Wanty and Henok Mulubrhan of Green Project-Bardiani.
At the first major climb of the day, the group lost Mulubrhan, but were able to extend their lead to 13 minutes and were able to keep the lead above 6 minutes even into the closing kilometres of the stage. The final kilometre is where the road then picks up for a final climb into the finish, where Bias decided to attack with only a few hundred metres remaining. He was not challenged by the other riders in the small group and it was Bias first in the stage and his first major stage victory of his career, followed by Vacek in second place and Petilli third. Andreas Leknessund was able to keep hold of the pink jersey for another day as well as extending his lead to 28 seconds over the competition.
Another mountain stage for stage 8 of the Giro, a 207km ride from Terni to Fossombrone. Some confusion in the peloton allowed for a 13 man break away to gain an advantage at the 100km to go mark, which pushed their lead to close to 5 minutes. With 50km to go, Ben Healy of EF Education EasyPost left the rest of the break away to take a solo lead. The rest of the group did not respond and allowed Healy to power to victory on his own finishing a minute and 49 seconds ahead of second place rider Derek Gee of Israel-Premier Teck, with Filippo Zana of Jayco AlUla, finishing third. The 8th stage again finished with Andreas Leknessund keeping hold of the pink jersey for another day, but now his lead was only 8 seconds.
There was a lot of drama as the 9th stage unfolded, and not you would have expected with a solo time trial. Once again a rainy day for the 35km flat time trial from Savignano sul Rubicone to Cesena, in also windy conditions. One of the main talking points for the stage was Primoz Roglic was surprising slow, which was not completely bad until Remco Evenepoel of Soudal-Quick Step started and his first sector was thirty seconds faster that Roglic and eleven seconds faster than anyone else. Evenepoel made sure of the victory which gave him enough time to also take the pink overall leaders jersey. It was not until an hour after the time trial finished that it was announced that Remco Evenepoel will withdraw from the Giro as he had tested positive for COVID-19. This gave Geraint Thomas of Ineos Grenadiers the pink jersey heading into the first rest day of the race.
The rain was falling again for stage 10 of the Giro and it was almost called off due to the weather, but eventually given the green light for the 192km stage to commence. A break away was made from the peloton and was able to push their lead for a large part of the stage. It was reeled back in by the main peloton to just over a minute with still 20km to go, but the size of the peloton had dropped significantly due to the hill climbs and bad weather on the day. By the 20km mark the road had flattened out and the break had a tail wind to make sure they kept their lead till the end of the stage. Magnus Cort of EF Education-EastPost was able to lead the final sprint, winning the stage. Geraint Thomas of Ineos Grenadiers was able to keep hold of the pink jersey, after his first stage wearing it.
[Image Courtesy Massimo Paolone]
Weekly Cycling News Is Brought To You By:
The Vespa OFM Podcast
This week Vespa OFM Podcast is interviewing Vespa / OFM Ambassador Bree Lambert Sanders, who is a nutritionist and coach in the San Jose area. Bree who, at 54 years young, still competes at the elite level including winding up with an overall win or a place on the podium.
About The Author
I am a DevOps Engineer, Endurance Athlete, Biomechanics Student and Author. We can all achieve amazing things, it's just a matter of trying, I want to change the world, one run at a time.