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Why did no one Pace? | Vuelta a Andalucia Stage 1

byKārlis Ozols
February 16, 2022
4 minute read

The first breakaway win of the season happened in Vuelta a Andalucía stage 1. The big teams in the peloton did not seem to care about the 8-man group for almost the entirety of the stage, granting them a monstrous lead of at least 7 minutes that opened an opportunity for a win for the pro-conti teams represented in the breakaway. The fastest from the break was 23-year-old Belgian talent Rune Herregodts, who won his second consecutive race after ending the 2021 season with a win at Ronde van Drenthe. .

The hilly stage that ended with a 1.3 km, 7.2% climb that was perfect for puncheurs like Benoit Cosnefroy (AG2R Citroën) and Gonzalo Serrano (Movistar). The last km of the finish was marginally steeper than the average gradient, resembling Mur de Huy that is used in La Flèche Wallonne.

Vuelta a Andalucia Ruta Ciclista Del Sol Stage 1 2022 Profile By La Flamme Rouge

The breakaway formed early on, including riders from seven different teams. The only team with two riders represented in the break was Sport Vlaanderen – Baloise with Rune Herregodts, who was by far the strongest rider in the group on the basis of 2021 results, and Lindsay De Vylder. Other riders in the break were Álvaro Cuadros (Caja Rural – Seguros RGA), Xabier Isasa (Euskaltel – Euskadi), Vojtěch Řepa (Equipo Kern Pharma), Ander Okamika (Burgos-BH), Mark Christian (EOLO-Kometa), and Stephen Bassett (Human Powered Health).

Ander Okamika (ESP – Burgos – BH) – Raul Garc’a Pierna (ESP – Equipo Kern Pharma) – Stephen Bassett (USA – Human Powered Health) pictured during 68th Vuelta a Andalucia Ruta Ciclista Del Sol – stage 1 – between Ubrique and Iznajar (200KM) – photo Luis Gomez/Cor Vos © 2022

It started to become clear in the middle of the stage that this breakaway might survive until the end. No team in the peloton did wanted to take the initiative and do the unglamorous work of pacing them back. The 8-man group worked well, and with 70 km to go the advantage had grown until 7 minutes (if the time gaps can be trusted because at one point it was announced that the gap was even 14 minutes).

Ander Okamika (ESP – Burgos – BH) pictured during 68th Vuelta a Andalucia Ruta Ciclista Del Sol – stage 1 – between Ubrique and Iznajar (200KM) – photo Luis Gomez/Cor Vos © 2022

The action started on Alto La Parilla (8.0 km, 3.6 %), a shallow climb with 21 km to go. At this moment riders in the breakaway started to play games because they knew that there was at least 90% chance that one of them would take the win and the leader’s jersey. The most active were Sport Vlaanderen – Baloise riders, who attacked multiple times. Considering that Herregodts was clearly the strongest rider in the group, it perhaps would have be better for his teammate De Vylder to pace the group to ensure that the gap to the peloton did not melt too fast and to close the attacks from other riders in the breakaway.

Bora – Hansgrohe pictured during 68th Vuelta a Andalucia Ruta Ciclista Del Sol – stage 1 – between Ubrique and Iznajar (200KM) – photo Luis Gomez/Cor Vos © 2022

The big teams in the peloton woke up too late. INEOS brought to Andalucía a young squad with Carlos Rodriguez as the GC leader and they for some time paced on the front with the young rouleur Ben Turner, perhaps to bring back the break for Narvaez to have a chance for the stage but more so in our view to reduce the gap for Rodriguez and to lower their risks to crash. On the other hand, Team Movistar, who had a top 3 favourite for the stage in punchy Gonzalo Serrano, who won the opening stage in Andalucía in an uphill sprint in 2021 ahead of Ethan Hayter, curiously did not pace much at all.

Greg Van Avermaet (BEL – AG2R Citroen Team) pictured during 68th Vuelta a Andalucia Ruta Ciclista Del Sol – stage 1 – between Ubrique and Iznajar (200KM) – photo Luis Gomez/Cor Vos © 2022

A few kilometres to the finish, AG2R Citroën, who had stage favourite Benoit Cosnefroy, activated some of their riders at the front, but they did it too late. AG2R (and other teams such as UAE) missed a great opportunity to get a stage win, especially when AG2R brought so many rouleurs in their squad such as Dewulf, the Naesens, van Avermaet and van Hoecke.

Rune Herregodts (BEL – Sport Vlaanderen – Baloise) pictured during 68th Vuelta a Andalucia Ruta Ciclista Del Sol – stage 1 – between Ubrique and Iznajar (200KM) – photo Luis Gomez/Cor Vos © 2022

On the last climb it was interesting to see Herregodts pacing at the front while his teammate De Vylder was drafting at the end of the break, looking exhausted. A brief moment later De Vylder was at the front when Ander Okamika of Burgos attacked, but Herregodts rather than De Vylder closed the attack.

When the breakaway was close to the finish, the first one to launch a sprint was tall American Stephen Bassett, who was not afraid to pace the group. A few meters before the finish Bassett completely broke down, almost unclipping and falling into Herregodts during the last uphill drag. The 23-year-old Belgian powered past sprinting in the saddle, to take his second pro victory and the leader’s jersey tomorrow.

Rune Herregodts (BEL – Sport Vlaanderen – Baloise) pictured during 68th Vuelta a Andalucia Ruta Ciclista Del Sol – stage 1 – between Ubrique and Iznajar (200KM) – photo Luis Gomez/Cor Vos © 2022

Meanwhile, the fastest from the peloton was Alessandro Covi, who four days ago won a one-day race in Murcia. After him Serrano, Trentin and Cosnefroy finished, all of whom suited this finish, but their teams did not pace or started doing it too late.

Stage 2 will be another hilly stage which will end on the might cobble climb in Alcalá la Real, which was used in the 2021 race, where Ethan Hayter won on the climb (see the video below).

Vuelta a Andalucia Ruta Ciclista Del Sol Stage 2 2022 Profile By La Flamme Rouge

The finish will suit puncheurs, but also climbers like Miguel Angel Lopez or Carlos Rodriguez might be victorious.

The Fight for Survival | World Tour Relegation Explained

byRaúl Banqueri
February 15, 2022
10 minute read

Suddenly, everybody is talking about UCI points, so let us explain an important concept that even some people in the cycling industry are still unaware of – the complex World Tour promotion and relegation system.

At the end of 2018, the president of the UCI, David Lappartient, announced a profound reform of the UCI regulations, which came into force on January 1, 2020. The three main points of the UCI reform were:

  • the current system of automatic wildcards for the best ProTeams of the previous year (currently Alpecin-Fenix and Arkea-Samsic);
  • no more than 18 teams will be granted World Tour licences in 2023; and
  • the allocation of WorldTour licences for three year cycles (2020-2022, 2023-2025, 2026-2028).

At the end of each three year period, every team that wishes to hold a World Tour licence must apply (or re-apply, in the case of existing World Tour teams) to the UCI. As this season is the last of the 2020-2022 triennium, the UCI will be reviewing applications and issuing licences for the next three year cycle commencing in 2023. But how does the UCI assess these applications?

UCI president David Lappartient pictured during the World Championships Track Cycling in Berlin, Germany – photo SWPix/Cor Vos © 2020

There are defined criteria in the UCI rules for the assessment of licence applications, including expected things like financial solvency, ethical profile of the team (not sure how strictly this one is applied) as well as administrative and organisational criteria. However, if more than 18 teams apply for a WorldTour licence that meet such criteria, the applicants will also be subject to the application of the ‘sporting criterion’. According to the UCI regulations, the sporting criterion is:

The sporting criterion is evaluated with regard to the UCI world ranking for ‘men UCI teams – 3 years’, as defined in article 2.10.044.

Art 2.15.011 of the UCI Cycling Regulations

The ‘UCI world ranking for men UCI teams – 3 years’ is calculated by adding together the UCI points of each team at the end of each year in the three year licence period. This sounds simple enough on its face, but the UCI world ranking for each calendar year is a complex beast in itself. Only the points from the top 10 riders from each team count each year. Points from national championships and international events count towards a team’s total (provided such points have been accrued by a top 10 rider). Points from a rider on a development team associated with a World Tour team do not count for the World Tour team even if the rider earns those points on the World Tour team.

Finn Fisher-Black’s points earned at Andalucía did not count towards Jumbo-Visma’s total in 2021- photo Luis/Gomez/Cor Vos © 2021

The actual point allocation per race is also counter-intuitive, with one-day races receiving a heavy weighting of points compared to stages in stage races. For example, a UCI 1.1 race such as Clásica Jaén gives 40 points for 6th place whilst a Tour de France 6th place in a stage gives none. We explain how points are allocated in further detail in our video below.

With only 18 World Tour team licences available and more than 18 teams intending to apply for World Tour licences for the 2023-25 cycle (Arkea-Samsic have applied and Alpecin-Fenix are strongly rumoured to have applied), the sporting criterion will likely have to be applied by the UCI in evaluating licence applications.

Technically, what we have just described is not a promotion and relegation system, given that at the end of each three year cycle every team must re-apply to obtain a World Tour licence, but for the ease of explanation we shall call it as such. In practice, it rewards the best 18 teams of the last three years with World Tour access, whether they are from the World Tour or ProTeam division. A team granted World Tour designation means they have the right to attend all World Tour races, including the all important Tour de France, where there is no guarantee of receiving a wildcard invitation as we have recently seen in the case of UNO-X Pro Cycling Team.

B&B Hotels KTM and Total Energies received the valuable Tour de France discretionary wildcards

It could be that the top 18 teams of a three year cycle are only comprised of current World Tour teams and then there would be no possibility of relegation, but, in this cycle, the ProTeams Alpecin-Fenix and Arkéa-Samsic have performed very well and are currently in the top 18 of the three year ranking. This means that two World Tour teams (Lotto Soudal and Cofidis) are currently in the relegation zone. For unknown reasons, the UCI has kept the triennium ranking secret from the public, but on this website we will update the ranking on a fortnightly basis.

The Ranking

As you can see in the graphs, there is less than 1500 UCI points difference between BikeExchange (15th) and Lotto Soudal (20th), a relatively small gap considering that a win in a World Tour level one-day race yields at least 300 UCI points – more in the case of monuments. Given how close the fight is and the number of points on offer in January and February, the relevant teams have started the year strongly.

The longstanding Team Movistar (14th) have started on a positive trend, largely driven by Alejandro Valverde’s performances in Mallorca. Subject to injuries to Mas and Valverde, they should retain World Tour status fairly easy. Conversely, BikeExchange (15th) and even DSM (11th), the two worst WorldTeams of 2021 according to UCI points (excluding Qhubeka), may be relegated if they do not improve their poor results from last season. Israel – Premier Tech have already been leapfrogged by the fast-starting Arkea Samsic (1209 points already in 2022), but with Woods, Nizzolo and Fuglsang targeting big World Tour one-day races which are yet to come, they will likely be safe from relegation. Intermarché have had the second strongest start, with Jan Hirt taking out the general classification of Tour of Oman with teammate Taaramäe in 8th, providing a 250 point boost.

14/02/2022 – Stage 5 – Samail (Al Feyhaa Resthouse) – Jabal al Akhdhar (Green Mountain) – 150,5 km – Jan HIRT (INTERMARCHE – WANTY – GOBERT MATERIAUX/BEL) Pauline Ballet / ASO

ProTeams TotalEnergies (21st) and Uno-X (22nd) have shown interest in applying for a WorldTour license, but they are out of the sporting fight, being more than 4000 points behind the 18th position – an unassailable gap even with the addition of Sagan for Total.

Total Energies will be hoping Sagan can boost their points in the next two years – photo Tim van Wichelen/Cor Vos © 2021

The good news for relegated teams is that they will at least be eligible for the two automatic wildcards to the 2023 WorldTour if they score more UCI points in the 2022 season than the other ProTeams (the wildcard system is a one year cycle unlike the three year relegation cycle). That will be another interesting ranking to watch throughout the season, as TotalEnergies and Uno-X have become very strong in the transfer market and will be tough opponents for relegated teams.

In the first two weeks of the 2022 season, Lotto Soudal have scored more than Uno-X and Total Energies, but Uno-X has scored more than Cofidis, one of the World Tour teams sitting in the relegation zone. If the Norwegian team outscores them in 2022 they would receive the automatic 2023 wildcards instead of Cofidis – a worst case scenario for any World Tour team. Losing WorldTour status without guaranteed invites to the biggest races in 2023 could cause a team to lose its sponsors and be at risk of folding like Qhubeka. For Lotto Soudal this is an even bigger problem, as they would be less likely than Cofidis to receive the discretionary race organiser’s invitation to the Tour de France and Vuelta a España.

The Fight on the Road

Given the importance of the UCI ranking, some teams have adopted strategies to maximise their sum of their UCI points. Every race is important, from the Tour de France to a third division classic or the national championship of a remote country. As mentioned above, minor races are overrepresented in the UCI points allocation relative to their prestige and offer a great opportunity to score relatively easy points. For example, winning the Vuelta a Murcia (1.1) gives 125 UCI points, 5 more than winning a stage or a secondary jersey in the Tour de France. Similarly, winning the two Canadian classics in Québec and Montréal is awarded 1000 UCI points, the same as winning the general classification of the Tour de France. From our point of view, one-day races are also over-weighted compared to stage races, since they distribute the same UCI points as the general classification of races in the same category, despite being only 1 day of competition.

Alexander Kristoff received 200 UCI points for winning Clasica de Almeria, the same points as Intermarché teammate Jan Hirt received for winning the overall at Tour of Oman, after six days of competition – Photo: Luis Angel Gomez/Cor Vos © 2022

In the following two graphs, you can see what kind of races the teams in the battle for World Tour status obtained their UCI points in during the past season. BikeExchange scored 74% of its points in World Tour races, while Intermarché-Wanty scored just 27% of its points in World Tour races, making the 1.1 classics its main points pool. Arkéa-Samsic is another team very focused on scoring points in a wide range of races on the calendar, which is helping them to be among the top 18 for now. On the other hand, Lotto Soudal and Movistar both received over 60% of their points in World Tour races, with little systematic focus on the profitable 1.1 classics.

Table: Raúl Banqueri @raulbanqueri

At the start of the season, the pressure to fight for points is evident amongst the teams at risk of relegation or promotion. February is a very important month, with many races taking place simultaneously and with the top World Tour teams such as INEOS and Jumbo-Visma not sending their star riders in peak shape. The prevalence of COVID makes the job all the more difficult for the teams, with riders who test positive becoming unavailable at short notice. For example, Cofidis and Arkéa-Samsic have decided to skip the difficult UAE Tour to focus on smaller races on the Spanish and French calendars. At the Tour de la Provence, we have seen Arkéa star Nairo Quintana already at an impressive level after a difficult 2021 whilst Intermarché sent Hirt and Taaramäe on altitude camps before Tour of Oman so they could score highly on general classification. They are currently the second and third best teams in 2022 by UCI points.

Nairo Quintana seals the GC of Tour de la Provence (2.Pro) on Montagne de Lure (166.1Km) – Photo: William Cannarella/Cor Vos © 2022

Even taking a look at the individual ranking so far this season, six riders among the top eight in 2022 UCI points are from teams in the relegation fight, with Lotto Soudal sending the strong Tim Wellens to the Mallorcan January races and the new Clásica Jaén gravel race on Monday.

What to Expect

As the fight continues throughout the year, we expect to see the points system influence tactics within races. Already in the Tour of Oman both Vauqelin and Gesbert appeared to have a free role to improve their own GC positions as much as possible, rather than Vauqelin sacrificing himself completely to move Gesbert onto the podium.

Vauqelin attacks on Stage 4 of Tour of Oman

In one day races, such as Eschborn-Frankfurt or Faun-Ardeche, expect to see these teams attempting to have multiple riders in the top 10, even if it means sacrificing their chances of overall victory. In previous years it has been commonplace for Intermarché to have two riders contesting the same sprint, but now other teams are adopting this approach. For example, yesterday Lotto Soudal had three riders in the top 10 of Clásica Jaén.

For us fans, there is some added excitement in these smaller races which often take place during the week, as these World Tour teams will line up to hotly contest the race. Whether you agree with the UCI’s points allocation system or not, this was an intended consequence of it, as it boosts the strength of the start-lists at races which struggle to attract big names.

The time to make transfers or new signings for the spring races has all but ended. The last big rider on the market, Domenico Pozzovivo was announced officially today as joining Intermarché.

Pozzovivo is no world beater, but is an experienced rider who can target top 10s in the general classification across many stage races throughout the year – capable of earning over 500 UCI points. With the margins in the relegation battle so tight, his points could prove decisive.

Once the transfer season opens up around August, expect to see some of the teams fishing around for talent who may be able to help them score points in the plethora of one day races in Autumn. Points accumulated on another team prior to signing do not count to the new team’s total (this used to be the case) but all points afterwards do. Intermarché did just that with Biniam Girmay in 2021, signing him from Delko mid-year and benefitting from his vital 601 UCI points in the last few months of the season.

A busy and important couple of weeks approaches, with stage races in Andalucía, Algarve and UAE as well as opening weekend featuring the point heavy Omloop, Kuurne, Faun-Ardeche and Bernard Drome Classic. We will meet here again here after Kuurne with an updated ranking and a review of the evolution of the fight.

Editor’s Note: Raúl Banqueri is a Spanish journalist who has been tracking the UCI points system for a number of years, with the UCI often correcting their ranking to accord with his.

Cavendish Furious in Final Sprint | Tour of Oman Stage 6

byKārlis Ozols
February 15, 2022
5 minute read

Mark Cavendish ended his Tour of Oman on an angry note, complaining that UAE Team Emirates’ lead-out man Maximiliano Richeze had impeded him after he launched his UAE teammate Fernando Gaviria to victory. Jan Hirt after yesterday’s impressive performance on the Green Mountain secured the win in general classification.

Stage 6 was suited for sprinters, but if teams rode it aggressively, then anything could happen given the reduced squad sizes here. It was not completely flat, with a couple of bigger and smaller hills in the second part of the race that could offer something for the likes of Gesbert and Vauquelin on Arkea-Samsic.

Tour of Oman Stage 6 2022 Profile By La Flamme Rouge

As expected, there were multiple tries from riders in the top 10 of GC hoping to improve their position. The most notable was the attempt from Kevin Vauquelin (6th in GC) and Kevin Vermaerke (11th), who are respectively only 20 and 21 years of age. They attacked with 47 km to go and were caught with 31 km to go when DSM, the team of Vermaerke, tried to split the peloton by pacing hard on the climb. They stretched out the peloton and dropped some riders, including some of the sprinters, but the climb was too short to do major damage.

Vermaerke and Vauquelin are caught by the peloton where DSM drills on the front

After the DSM attempt there was chaos and multiple riders attacked again. Later, Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team took matters into their own hands and did everything possible to ensure that it would be a sprint finish in stage 6. Quick-Step train worked for Mark Cavendish and the peloton came together – perhaps a reward for Cavendish’ selfless efforts for his climbing teammates after he crashed before green mountain yesterday.

Cavendish crashes, then pulls to the base of Green Mountain on Stage 5

Three kilometers before the finish, the punchy Vauquelin attacked again, and this time Fausto Masnada (2nd in GC) marked him. The leader of the race, Jan Hirt, followed this dangerous attempt.

Vauquelin attacks from the peloton, Masnada, Hirt, Kragh Andersen follows him

They were quickly caught but then Søren Kragh Andersen, used this attack to launch himself after what has been a disappointing week for the Dane. BikeExchange – Jayco, pacing for their sprinter Kaden Groves, caught Kragh Andersen with just 500 metres from the finish.

Australian Kaden Groves was in a good position and launched his sprint from the front with 200 meters to go. Fernando Gaviria was not directly on his wheel. He was behind his lead-out man Maximiliano Richeze. Meanwhile, Cavendish was drafting Gaviria. Quick-Step already burned the whole squad before the sprint to control the chaos.

Gaviria overtook Groves and took his 2nd win in Tour of Oman 2022, but the most controversial incident that caused the biggest attention happened behind them. Gaviria’s lead-out man Richeze continued to sprint after his lead-out (which is of course allowed) and deviated from his lane to the right side of the road (not allowed).

15/02/2022 – Al Mouj Muscat – Matrah Corniche – Etape 6 – 132,5 km – Fernando GAVIRIA (UAE TEAM EMIRATES/UAE) Alex Broadway / ASO

In this way he indirectly endangered Cavendish, who had no choice but to stop sprinting if he did not want to risk the possibility of crashing into the barriers like Fabio Jakobsen in the infamous Tour de Pologne stage 1 in 2020.

Fernando Gaviria (COL – UAE Team Emirates) pictured during 11th Tour of Oman (2.Pro) – stage 6 from Al Mouj Muscat to Matrah Corniche (132.5km) – Photo: Ilario Biondi/LB/RB/Cor Vos © 2022

Surprisingly (given the UCI commissaire’s ambivalence to such moves in the past) Richeze after the stage was not just relegated to last position but disqualified. In this case, the punishment has almost no practical effect. Gaviria still retains his stage win and given that this was the last stage, there is no stage tomorrow that Richeze cannot start in due to his disqualification. We have noticed that the UCI has been stricter on deviations and misconduct in sprints in this early season. Barbara Guarischi was relegated for her deviation in Valencia whilst Nizzolo was docked UCI points for a headbutt last week. Whether this newfound emphasis on sprint misconduct continues during the biggest races, we are not sure. It is one thing to disqualify Richeze on the last stage of Tour of Oman, it is another to disqualify Quick-step’s last man in the first week of the Tour de France, even for moves that are much more egregious.

Mørkøv sweeps across the group in the intermediate sprint of Stage 3 of the Tour de France 2021

Mørkøv even closed another superstar, Peter Sagan, to the barriers in the Tour de France last year, with Sagan also angrily remonstrating with him, but received no sanction.

Mørkøv sweeps across during the intermediate sprint of stage 6 Tour de France 2021, closing Sagan

Given that there was no crash here, it is somewhat amusing to see ex-Quick-Step riders like Richeze pulling the same tricks on Quick-Step in sprints that he presumably learnt at Quick-Step, whilst Mørkøv continues to be the master of them to this day.

Jan Hirt won the general classification and earned 200 much needed UCI points for Intermarché. This is the biggest win in the Czech climber’s career so far and he will be a man to watch on Jebel Hafeet in the UAE Tour next week.

15/02/2022 – Al Mouj Muscat – Matrah Corniche – Etape 6 – 132,5 km Pauline Ballet / ASO

The biggest surprise and discovery of Tour of Oman was 20-year-old Kevin Vauquelin from Arkea-Samsic, who showed great climbing, especially on stage 3 and 5, and was not afraid to attack in other stages. Definitely he will do more great performances in the near future and will be one to watch if he lines up in the hilly french semi-classics of Faun-Ardeche and Bernard Drome later this month.

Lutsenko Invincible On Gravel Climbs | Clásica Jaén Paraiso Interior

byKārlis Ozols
February 14, 2022
3 minute read

A perfect start of the season for Kazakh rapper, Alexey Lutsenko. In his first race of the year, the Astana Qazaqstan Team rider was untouchable in the 1st edition of Clásica Jaén Paraiso Interior, a race that included multiple hard gravel climbs and was billed as the ‘Spanish Strade Bianche,’ but with even longer climbs

The race contained 40 kilometres of gravel and after 120 kilometers of racing riders in Clásica Jaén needed to climb Ubeda (6.6 km at 5.2%), where the race finished, three times. The last part of Ubeda was the hardest with 2.1 kilometers at 7.6%. It also featured the Santa Eulalia climb of 5.5 km which even at 4.8% was challenging given the road surface, cresting 52 kilometres from the finish.

Clásica Jaén Paraiso Interior Profile by La Flamme Rouge

The race exploded on the Santa Eulalia climb with 47 km to go, with the hard tempo splitting the field into multiple groups of 10-15 riders. The first big attack that was shown on TV was made by Lennard Kämna, who is back racing after some time off due to illness in 2021. Alexey Lutsenko reacted quickly and was on the German’s wheel. Meanwhile, in the peloton, their teammates slowed the group down for a while by pacing slowly at the front.

Astana and Bora riders slowing down a group after Lutsenko and Kämna attack

Lutsenko, perhaps sensing some fatigue in the other riders already, pressed on with over 45km to go, dropping Kämna and riding solo. One of the race favourites, Tim Wellens attacked and tried to catch Lutsenko on a gravel climb, but the Belgian failed to fully close the gap. At one point (see the picture below) Wellens was really close to catching Lutsenko, but could not finish the job due to the hard pace of Lutsenko on these sterrato sections.

Wellens unsuccecsfully trying to catch Lutsenko

Later Lennard Kämna and Connor Swift, working well together, caught Lutsenko, who won the Criterium du Dauphine time-trial in 2021 and the new Italian gravel race, Serenissima Gravel, last October. Tim Wellens with 27 km to go, joined the leading trio. A brief moment later, Lutsenko again showed his great form and just rode away from the competitors on the next gravel section.

Leading trio – Lutsenko, Kämna and Swift

The Kazakh quickly gained a 30-second lead over the closest chasers who quickly seemed to accept that there was no beating Lutsenko today. Before crossing the finish line and starting the last lap, Lutsenko’s bike front wheel came loose on the cobble section and he fixed the problem while riding – calmly and as if he was on a training ride.

Lutsenko fixes a loose front wheel while riding

Nothing could stop Lutsenko from winning the inaugural edition of Clásica Jaén, including on the last climb where he was stuck for a second in a sandy gravel section.

Lutsenko featured heavily in the viral Astana rap song, which included lyrics: “We are rolling pedals. For the gold medals. Our job is to win. Astana is my team,” and today he did that, despite a large replica olive being the prize rather than a gold medal.

Alexey Lutsenko (KAZ – Astana Qazaqstan Team) pictured during Clasica Jaen Paraiso Interior 2022 – 1st Edition – Baeza – Ubeda 187,8 km – Photo: Luis Angel Gomez/Cor Vos © 2022

Given Lutsenko’s aptitude for gravel racing and already a 7th place in Strade Bianche in 2019, he should be considered one of the favourites this year in Strade if he can bring the form he showed today in Clasica Jaen.

Tim Wellens finished 2nd and earned 85 UCI points, while his teammates Steff Cras and Andreas Kron were 8th and 9th. Lotto-Soudal needs badly UCI points to avoid relegation. Unfortunately, their rivals Arkea-Samsic also had a good race with Connor Swift finishing 5th, Warren Barguil 7th and Simon Guglielmi 11th.

Intermaché Set The Green Mountain On Fire | Tour of Oman Stage 5

byKārlis Ozols
February 14, 2022
5 minute read

The season for Jan Hirt and Intermarché – Wanty – Gobert Matériaux team could not have started much better. On the Queen stage of Tour of Oman, Intermarché’s riders set the tempo on the mighty Jabal Al Akhdhar (Green Mountain), one of the hardest climbs used in races in the Middle East, springing their leader Jan Hirt to victory. The Czech rider’s performance was so dominant that Fausto Masnada, who started the stage with what seemed to be an insurmountable lead of 58 seconds, lost the leader’s jersey.

Stage 5 was the third consecutive day in Tour of Oman where the parcours was made for climbers. Everything would be decided on the ridiculously hard Green Mountain of 6 km at 10.0%, although fortunately for the riders the temperature was a tolerable 17 degrees on the climb.

Tour of Oman Stage 5 2022 Profile By La Flamme Rouge

The Green Mountain is often used in the Tour of Oman, and typically decides the general classification. The holder of the record time is Rafael Valls, who, when riding for Lampre-Merida in 2015, climbed the 5.7 km and 10.42% steep section that is used in calculations in 18:28, doing 6.65 w/kg.

Jabal al Akhdhar (Green Mountain) times and w/kg calculation by Naichaca

In 2014 Chris Froome won the Queen stage with an impressive time of 18:33 doing 6.63 w/kg – a level we were unlikely to see in this year’s Tour of Oman with its thinned startlist.

Christopher Froome (Great Britain / Team Sky) pictured during Tour of Oman 2014 stage 5 from BidBid to Jabal Al Akhdhar (Green Mountain) – photo Cor Vos © 2014

In stage 4, Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl had dominated with Masnada and Schmid putting pressure on the other GC contenders whilst Hirt’s teammate Taaramäe struggled. With the headwind on the final climb, it would take a massive effort to overhaul the 55 second lead the Italian had obtained over his closest rival Dane Anthon Charmig following his solo escape and stage win the previous day.

In the breakaway of stage 5 went six riders, including 19-year-old Nicolas Vinokurov, the son of legendary Alexandre Vinokurov, who is riding for Astana Qazaqstan Development Team.

14/02/2022 – Stage 5 – Samail (Al Feyhaa Resthouse) – Jabal al Akhdhar (Green Mountain) – 150,5 km – Pauline Ballet / ASO

In the middle of stage 5 some echelons began to form due to crosswinds. DSM used the wind to split the peloton with 70 kilometres to go, with both Vandenabeele and Vermaeke looking strong the previous stage albeit with questionable tactics. One of the favourites for the stage Anthon Charmig, was not in the first part group (he suffered the same problems in Saudi Tour), but luckily for the Dane and Uno-X, after 24 kilometres the split was undone and the groups came back together. The breakaway was caught early due to the increased pace of the echelons whilst points classification leader Mark Cavendish and Lithuanian Champion Ignatas Konovalovas crashed, luckily both being able to finish the stage.

14/02/2022 – Stage 5 – Samail (Al Feyhaa Resthouse) – Jabal al Akhdhar (Green Mountain) – 150,5 km – Pauline Ballet / ASO

After that Quick-Step controlled the situation in the peloton until the base of Green Mountain, where Intermarché activated their mountain train.

14/02/2022 – Stage 5 – Samail (Al Feyhaa Resthouse) – Jabal al Akhdhar (Green Mountain) – 150,5 km – Jan HIRT (INTERMARCHE – WANTY – GOBERT MATERIAUX/BEL) Pauline Ballet / ASO

One of the strongest climbers in the Tour of Oman, Rein Taaramäe said in an interview before the stage that his teammate Jan Hirt is the best climber in the race and the frank speaking Estonian was not wrong. Hirt had already showed his great form in stage 3 where he attacked twice, but in the end lost to Anthon Charmig and Elie Gesbert, on a finish which did not really suit him.

Taaramäe did a great job, reducing the peloton drastically up the slopes of the Green Mountain, helping to launch Hirt’s attack. There was no live coverage of the pivotal moments of the final climb, so there is some guesswork involved in knowing exactly when Masnada dropped and when Hirt skipped away. We do know from the Pauline Ballet photos below (the best race photographer in the world), that Hirt initially attacked with the very impressive Vauquelin of Arkea-Samsic on his wheel.

14/02/2022 – Stage 5 – Samail (Al Feyhaa Resthouse) – Jabal al Akhdhar (Green Mountain) – 150,5 km – Jan HIRT (INTERMARCHE – WANTY – GOBERT MATERIAUX/BEL) – Pauline Ballet / ASO

However eventually Vauqelin was distanced, with Hirt opening up a huge gap on both Masnada and Gesbert. No one could challenge the Czech climber, who produced 6.35 w/kg for 19:39, a very high level performance considering the startlist here and the difficult day yesterday.

14/02/2022 – Stage 5 – Samail (Al Feyhaa Resthouse) – Jabal al Akhdhar (Green Mountain) – 150,5 km – Jan HIRT (INTERMARCHE – WANTY – GOBERT MATERIAUX/BEL) Pauline Ballet / ASO

It was especially hard for attackers due to the headwind on the climb, so Hirt is already looking in fine form after his Colombian altitude camp and a strong finish to 2021. Hirt took not only the stage, but put 1:48 into Fausto Masnada, who appeared to completely collapse – a near two minute gain on a 20 minute climb is a huge margin.

14/02/2022 – Stage 5 – Samail (Al Feyhaa Resthouse) – Jabal al Akhdhar (Green Mountain) – 150,5 km – Jan HIRT (INTERMARCHE – WANTY – GOBERT MATERIAUX/BEL) Pauline Ballet / ASO

The closest rival for the stage, 20 year old Kevin Vauquelin, rode the climb in an interesting way considering his teammate Elie Gesbert was just behind him on the climb but higher on the general classification. One would expect Vauqelin to wait and work for his Arkea-Samsic teammate but at the end of the climb Vauquelin dropped Gesbert and finished a little bit faster, showing off great legs again, which he had on stages 3 and 4 – particularly on stage 3 where he did a monster pull on the 3 kilometre long Qurayyat climb.

12/02/2022 -Tour of Oman – Stage 3 – Sultan Qaboos University – Qurayyat – Peloton

Perhaps we are already seeing Arkea-Samsic adopting an optimal UCI points scoring strategy, by having two riders try and achieve their best GC position possible, rather than one sacrificing everything for the other to move up a single place. As it stands, they now have two riders in the top 6 of GC, with the podium possible for Gesbert who is just behind a struggling Rui Costa.

Watts

Below you can see how Hirt’s performance compares to previous Green Mountain attempts, and it sits pretty well with some rarified company. On the other hand, it was not a good day for Masnada and Quick-Step, who not only lost the leader’s jersey, but performed well below expectations on the final climb. Masnada in the end of the climb, whilst drafting behind his young team-mate Mauro Schmid, did 5.75 w/kg for 21:27.

Jabal al Akhdhar (Green Mountain) times and w/kg calculation by Naichaca

Perhaps it was due to the hard effort the previous day when Masnada won the stage, or perhaps he is not in the shape of the Italian classics last year, but Masnada showed on Passo di Ganda in Lombardia that he is capable of over 6w/kg for 20 minutes even after a hard day’s racing when in top shape.

Tomorrow the Tour of Oman will end with a stage that might end with a sprint between sprinters if teams ride passively. Intermarché and Hirt looked strong today and they will definitely try their best to secure the victory and importantly the 200 UCI points that the winner of the GC receives. Perhaps Arkea-Samsic will be the team to try something, given Gesbert and Vauqelin looking relatively stronger than Costa and Charmig in the last couple of days.

Tour of Oman Stage 6 2022 Profile By La Flamme Rouge

Nairo Quintana is Reborn | Tour de la Provence Stage 3

byKārlis Ozols
February 13, 2022
6 minute read

Nairo Quintana was flying in Tour de la Provence Stage 3, attacking with 4km remaining on the summit finish of Montagne de Lure, distancing a valiant Julian Alaphilippe to secure not just the stage, but also the GC win. The final stage featured the only long climb of this year’s Tour de La Provence, with the riders facing 13.4 km of 6.5% after a rolling 152km beforehand.

Tour de la Provence 2022 Stage 3 Profile By La Flamme Rouge

Montagne de Lure has been used twice before in Paris Nice, in 2009 and 2013. In 2009 Contador set the record time for the climb at 33:51 doing 6.20 w/kg facing a fairly stiff headwind. In 2013 Richie Porte rode it in 34:45 at around 5.75 w/kg. In today’s stage they used the same climb but with a slightly different start – the 2022 version is shorter (13,32 km, 6.58%) vs 2009 and 2013 (13.8 km, 6.40%).

Chateaux La Montagne de Lure – Alberto Contador Velasco (Spanje/Team Astana) – foto Cor Vos ©2009

A breakaway established itself with the unfamiliar sight of Luke Rowe, free to get some hard kilometres in the legs with Carapaz out with Covid, and perhaps so he could offer some support (even just of the moral kind) to Ganna on the final climb.

Montagne de Lure – France – cycling – Romain Combaud (Frankce / Team DSM) – Luke Rowe (GBR / Team INEOS Grenadiers) pictured during 7th Tour de la Provence (2.Pro) – stage 3 from Manosque to Montagne de Lure (166.1Km) – Photo: William Cannarella/Cor Vos © 2022

As it was the Queen stage, teams fought very hard for front position before the sole mountain test, especially French teams Groupama-FDJ (working for Michael Storer, who already lost a lot of time in previous stages), Arkea-Samsic (for Nairo Quintana) and TotalEnergies (for Pierre Latour, starting only a dozen seconds behind Ganna in the general classification). The world champion Julian Alaphilippe even rode into a ditch at the side of the road and nearly crashed in the hectic run-in to the base, somehow saving himself from crashing.

Groupama-FDJ paced at the front in the first part of the Montagne de Lure, which was not too steep at around 5-6% gradient. Frenchman Bruno Armiral did a long turn, presumably for Michael Storer in fourth wheel, but began to lose steam and no other team’s offered up a domestique to increase the pace with around 6km remaining.

Armirail paces the lower slopes of de Lure, Quintana waits

The last survivor of the day’s breakaway Romain Combaud rode really impressively up the climb after dropping his breakaway companions, whilst Total Energies paced steadily (without reducing the group size at all). At this moment the peloton was still large, with around 30 riders remaining. Even 88 kilogram leader of the general classification Filippo Ganna was holding on, perhaps the motivation behind Quick-Step sending to the front Louis Verveake to increase the pace for Julian Alaphilippe’s GC win, also bringing back Combaud with 4.7km remaining.

Total pace briefly for Latour, with Quick-Step later sending forward Vervaeke to chase Combaud

Before the stage it was clear that the strongest climbers would attack with around 4 kilometres to go, when the climb was at its steepest, with extended sections of 7% and also because Quintana could not wait any longer if he wanted to take back the 32 seconds he needed on GC to Alaphilippe. Just like Arkea must have drawn it up in the bus before the stage, Maxime Bouet launched Nairo Quintana with a short powerful pull that split the group in two, taking Alaphilippe and Sosa by surprise, with Quintana attacking from his wheel 4.4 kilometers to go.

Arkea launch Quintana, Alaphilippe sprints to close him

Alaphilippe sprinted across the gap, the only rider able to (briefly) follow the rampaging Nairoman. Ivan Sosa had been caught off guard and began to chase with Ghebreigzabhier of Trek-Segafredo on his wheel, leaving his teammate Skjelmose Jensen behind for a time. Alaphilippe even pulled and worked with Quintana, a dubious move but perhaps a bluff of strength, hoping that Quintana would not attack him again. Quintana was not fooled. One kilometre later Quintana surged again, dropping Alaphilippe and entering into full-gas time trial mode. It looked like Quintana was once again back to his incredible February 2020 form, where he destroyed everyone in the Tour de la Provence mountain top finish to Chalet Reynard (6,67w/kg for 28:12).

Later Ivan Sosa caught Alaphilippe, who seemed to have gone over his limit, quickly dropping the World Champion to chase Quintana. The Trek-Segafredo mountain train with Eritrean Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier and 50 kg Kenny Elissonde later followed suit, with talented 21-year-old Mattias Skjelmose Jensen and Matteo Jorgenson of Movistar in their wheels, catching Alaphilippe who could barely hold onto them. Alaphilippe also had teammate Ilan van Wilder in the group, who, in a domestique role, showed one of his best climbing performances ever, pacing this group hard for Alaphilippe and even catching Sosa before the finish.

New Quickstep signing Ilan van Wilder paces the group for Alaphilippe

Regardless, there was nothing the group behind could do with Quintana in this sort of form, who danced away to win the stage in dominant fashion and take more than enough time to take the GC too – his 48th and 49th pro victories of his career. The Colombian before this race said he wants to podium Tour de France this year, something implausible based on his form of most of 2021, but on Montagne de Lure he has given some hope to Colombian fans that perhaps he is back to his best.

Montagne de Lure – France – cycling – Nairo Quintana (Colombia / Team Arkea Samsic) pictured during 7th Tour de la Provence (2.Pro) – stage 3 from Manosque to Montagne de Lure (166.1Km) – Photo: William Cannarella/Cor Vos © 2022

Skjelmose Jensen finished second, beating everyone in the uphill drag, easily the most impressive climbing performance of the 21-year-old Danes career yet. This ensured that he took enough bonus seconds to step onto the podium on GC, ahead of Matteo Jorgenson who finished 3rd on stage, passing his teammate Ivan Sosa just before the line, who had chased the stage win instead of helping the young American all-rounder.

Filippo Ganna lost the leader’s jersey, but the 88-kilogram-heavy Italian fought with all his heart and finished 12th on this hard mountain, losing to an in-form Quintana only +1:21, who is about half his weight. Initially, Ganna looked like he had preserved 7th position in the GC but later news came out that he had been disqualified for an illegal bike change by the side of the road before the final climb started. The issue with Ganna’s bike change was that it came from the side of the road, rather than the car, as normal bike changes are done.

Watts

So how good was Quintana’s performance, relative to his previous bests and other climbing performances so far in this early season? Compared to Quintana’s previous bests, such as in February of 2020 in Tour des Alpes-Maritimes et du Var and Tour de la Provence, it does not look like Quintana’s best level across the whole climb, the 6.06w/kg for 33 minutes being below the level of his Chalet Reynard destruction (data by @naichacacycling):

Lanterne Rouge x Cycling Graphs

However the average w/kg for this climb does not tell the full story, as it was a climb in two parts. Before Quintana’s attack, whilst Armirail, Vervaeke and Total paced, the w/kg in the draft and light tailwind was 5.75w/kg with a moderate VAM of 1499 (metres of altitude gain per hour).

Stork Strava data before Quintana attack – 5.75 w/kg using his listed weight of 65kg on Procyclingstats.com

It is hard to know exactly what w/kg Quintana did in the final 4km, but he certainly lifted the pace significantly compared to the early pacing. Our estimations are that he did 6.55 w/kg for 9:55, whilst also having to surge multiple times to distance Alaphilippe.

Even if this was not the best Quintana we have ever seen, it is, in our view, the top climbing performance of the season so far, even above Vlasov in Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana. The gap Quintana created of 37 seconds was very large within just 4km, especially given that both Quick-Step and Trek Segafredo used domestiques to chase him back and the gradients were not particularly severe.

Lanterne Rouge x Cycling Graphs

Quintana is set to cross paths with Roglic, Vlasov and Gaudu in Paris-Nice next month. Hopefully we see a fierce battle on the summit finish to Col de Turini between the big stars, with some more watts for us to analyse then.

Cofidis Masterclass | Tour de la Provence Stage 2

byKārlis Ozols
February 12, 2022
5 minute read

It has been a great start to the new season for Cofidis, who took their fourth victory in 2022 in Tour de la Provence Stage 2. The short uphill finale was perfectly made for the French team’s lightweight sprinter Bryan Coquard, who beat Mads Pedersen uphill at Besseges a week ago.

Stage 2 included Col de l’Aire del Masco, cresting 28km from the finish and around 6.6 km at 4.8%, then finishing in Manosque with a slight uphill finish that was used in last year’s edition. Quick-Step sprinter Davide Ballerini was victorious then ahead of Ciccone on this long drag uphill. The Italian would have also started in Provence this year, but he tested positive for Covid-19 just prior to the race.

Tour de la Provence 2022 Stage 2 Profile By La Flamme Rouge

Before the stage started, more Covid news struck, as INEOS issued a release stating that Olympic road race champion Richard Carapaz had tested positive for the virus. That meant INEOS’ only GC hope at this point in the race was the 88 kilogram beast Filippo Ganna, after Ethan Hayter lost more than 11 minutes in the windy stage yesterday (largely at the hands of his own team).

Early in the stage a 5-man breakaway formed that included Alexis Gougeard (B&B Hotels – KTM) and Paul Ourselin (TotalEnergies). Both French riders survived the longest, with Ourselin winning most combative rider after the stage.

Manosque – France – cycling – pictured during 7th Tour de la Provence (2.Pro) – stage 2 from Arles to Manosque (180.6Km) – Photo: William Cannarella/Cor Vos © 2022

In the peloton things became nteresting with 31 kilometres to go when Cofidis, working for Bryan Coquard, set Col de l’Aire del Masco on fire with a team attack. The pace was high enough to drop multiple riders that included INEOS’ sprinter Elia Viviani, a move reminiscent of Bora-Hansgrohe’s all out assault on Valico della Somma for Peter Sagan in the Giro d’Italia, where they dropped Nizzolo and Groenewegen before a flat finish.

Foligno – Italy – wielrennen – cycling – cyclisme – radsport – Bora – Hansgrohe pictured during 104th Giro d’Italia – (2.UWT) stage 10 – from LÕAquila to Foligno(139KM) – photo LB/RB/Cor Vos © 2021

Groupama-FDJ leader Arnaud Demare was strong enough to hold onto the peloton and get over the climb on this stage, with the help of new teammate Michael Storer, who also helped Demare with positioning before the sprint.

British champion Ethan Hayter, who had a terrible day on stage 1, got dropped on the descent and never returned back to the peloton, an added unexpected bonus for Cofidis who were already committed fully with the whole team pacing full gas down the hill.

Cofidis launch it for on-form Bryan Coquard

While Cofidis was going all-in and sacrificing their riders, Alexis Gougeard in the breakaway dropped Paul Ourselin on a small hill. Usually this would seem just like a late bid to win the day’s combativity prize, but the previous Vuelta a Espana stage winner held a decent size gap of 51 seconds with only 11km remaining, and Cofidis had used a lot of energy and domestiques already in the stage to drop Viviani – leaving them unable to seriously pace.

Gougeard solo with a handy lead

Eventually Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team started to set the tempo for Julian Alaphilippe in the last 10 kilometres. The World Champion today was riding in the golden points leader’s jersey and even if he did not win the stage, he was likely to take additional bonus seconds at the finish, all of which he will appreciate ahead of tomorrow’s mountain top finish.

Gougeard was finally caught with just 2 kilometres to go, as the road had already started to incline. This prompted some surprising attacks from the peloton, including from both of the teams that had taken it upon themselves to control a lot of the day’s action. Quick-Step rider Ilan van Wilder tried his luck, but he did not get far from the group followed by Cofidis’ Pierre-Luc Périchon, who was perhaps intending to force Quickstep’s hand and hoping to isolate Alaphilippe. He was caught uphill by Dries Devenyns for Quickstep, who tried for a time to set up the sprint for his team leader Alaphilippe – decently placed in around fourth wheel.

The situation with 200 meters to go – Coquard reacting to Latour’s early jump

The first one to launch his sprint was Pierre Latour, after Devenyns pulled off and Ganna was unwilling to pull as he intended to sprint for himself for a change. Latour needed to overtake a lot of riders, spending a lot of energy even to get level with Ganna because of his deep initial starting position. Coquard reacted quickly and jumped to the left to draft Latour, taking the wheel from an alert Quintana. Alaphilippe was caught on the wrong side of Mads Wurtz Schmidt’s wheel when the move went left and the best he could do was to reach the back of Coquard’s wheel in the dying metres. A wonderful team performance by Cofidis, who executed their plan perfectly during the stage and Coquard showing a much better level after a disappointing 2021.

Final 500 metres, Le Coq the turbo jet

Filippo Ganna finished 3rd and will keep his leader’s jersey, due to the four bonification seconds at the finish. Alaphilippe is only two seconds back on GC behind Ganna before the last stage, after a solid opening time trial and regular bonification seconds over the previous two stages.

The final stage will end on Montagne de Lure, a 13.4 kilometre long, 6.5% gradient climb. Nairo Quintana finished 6th today in the final sprint, level with Arnaud Demare on a finish that did not really suit him. His prologue was strong and he was riding like a man who means business in the crosswinds yesterday. All indications are that he is the man to beat for the stage tomorrow, but the question is whether he can do enough to put 25+ seconds into Alaphilippe to take the overall victory. It is not that hard a climb, so if he wants the GC win, Arkea will need to launch it from far, which should make for exciting viewing.

Tour de la Provence 2022 Stage 3 Profile By La Flamme Rouge

UNO-X Answer with their Legs | Tour of Oman Stage 3

byKārlis Ozols
February 12, 2022
3 minute read

Young Dane Anthon Charmig, with an incredible uphill kick, became the leader of Tour of Oman today, taking his first professional victory on the slopes of Qurayyat – a punchy climb of 2.8 km at 7.0%. It was the first test for the climbers in Stage 3 of Tour of Oman, after the opening two stages were contested by the sprinters.

Tour of Oman Stage 3 2022 Profile By La Flamme Rouge

Whilst the action started when the peloton approached Qurayyat, it is worth noting some social media action related to the day’s breakaway. Euskaltel-Euskadi sent Peio Goiogana Goikoetxea into the break once again, perhaps only to troll LR who experienced significant difficulties pronouncing his name in an earlier stage.

Once the breakaway had been caught with around 13km to go, it all became about positioning going into the 3km climb.

12/02/2022 – Tour of Oman – Stage 3 – Sultan Qaboos University – Qurayyat – Peloton – Alex Broadway / ASO

It was surprising to see Russian pro-continental team Gazprom – RusVelo pacing at the start of the finish climb, with Arkea, Intermarché and Quickstep having the favourites for the stage. Their best rider of the day ended up being Denis Nekrasov, who finished 9th.

Gazprom setting pace – 12/02/2022 – Tour of Oman Stage 3 – Sultan Qaboos University – Qurayyat – Alex Broadway / ASO

With 2 kilometres to go, Arkea-Samsic set the tempo for their leader Élie Gesbert. 20-year-old Kevin Vauquelin did a great job in reducing the peloton. The rider behind him, the Czech champion from Gazprom, Michael Kukrle, even let his wheel go because he could not stand the pace.

Kevin Vauquelin setting the tempo while Michael Kukrle is struggling behind him 12/02/2022 -Tour of Oman – Stage 3 – Sultan Qaboos University – Qurayyat – Pauline Ballet / ASO

After Vauquelin emptied his tank, multiple attacks started to fly, with no team able to control the front of the group. The first attempt was from UAE Team Emirates and at this moment, stage winner Anthon Charmig was at the back of the group, far away from the attackers. When the group came back together, Intermarché – Wanty – Gobert Matériaux GC leader Jan Hirt tested everyone’s legs with an attack (you may recall his incredible pull for Louis Meintjies in the Vuelta a Espana last year on the steep Gamoniteiru climb). Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl reacted quickly and marked his move for their leader Fausto Masnada. After a brief moment, Hirt attacked once more when the finish line was close, whilst his Estonian teammate Rein Taaramae tried to maintain contact with the group. This time it looked like he might take the win, but Uno-X 23-year-old climber Anthon Charmig gritted his teeth and in the Froome-style of seated high cadence climbing, chased Hirt at the front of the peloton.

Jan Hirt attacks and Anthon Charmig chase him down

Charmig did not let the gap grow between the group and Hirt but he did not close it fully either. Only when Elie Gesbert attacked did the Dane get out of the saddle, launching a powerful attack past both Gesbert and Hirt with 150 metres to go and taking his first professional victory.

Charmig reacts to Gesbert, the sprints to win the stage

Hirt finished second, with his Intermarché teammate and Vuelta a Espana 2021 stage winner, Rein Taaramäe sixth. Gesbert over-extended when attacking Hirt and ended up third, with it all to play for on GC in the Green Mountain finish later on. Intermarché have three options close on GC, with 20-year-old French Hugo Page crossing the finish line 14th today but only losing seven seconds to Charmig.

Tomorrow Charmig will start in the leaders jersey, with his Uno-X team on absolute fire. In Turkey at the Tour of Antalya Stage 3, a few hours later, their 21-year-old Dane Jacob Hindsgaul Madsen won the mountain stage. It was announced yesterday that Uno-X was not selected in the last Tour de France 2022 wildcard slot, and they have answered in emphatic fashion.

12/02/2022 – Sultan Qaboos University – Qurayyat – 180 km – Anthon CHARMIG (UNO-X PRO CYCLING TEAM/DEN) Pauline ballet / ASO

Stage 4 in Oman will again will be a test for climbers, with multiple hard climbs but a flat finish unlike today. It will be extremely difficult for Uno-X to control the peloton given that they have only three riders left, after Niklas Eg did not start stage 3 today. There is a good chance a breakaway might win tomorrow.

Tour of Oman Stage 4 2022 Profile By La Flamme Rouge

INEOS Controls Crosswind Chaos | Tour de la Provence Stage 1

byelizajbrierley
February 11, 2022
4 minute read

Stage 1 of Tour de la Provence had a parcours fit for the sprinters but winds of up to 45 km/h provided an opportunity for the powerhouses on INEOS to take control.

A six man breakaway was established early on including Stéphane Rossetto (St-Michel-Auber 93), Pierre Rolland (B&B Hôtels-KTM), Viktor Verschaeve (Lotto Soudal), Tom Mainguenaud (Go Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole), Tristan Delacroix and Jean Goubert (Nice Métropole Côte d’Azur).

The breakaway took on the only climb of the day, the Col de la Vayède, with a comfortable lead on the peloton. Tom Mainguenaud (Go Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole) out sprinted Tristan Delacroix (Nice Métropole Côte d’Azur) to take the climber’s jersey.

Pictured during 7th Tour de la Provence (2.Pro) – stage 1 from Istres to Les Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer (151.8Km) – Photo: William Cannarella/Cor Vos © 2022

Meanwhile the wind picked up, and back in the peloton, the INEOS Grenadiers took command and increased the pace as expected. After a few monster efforts from Fillipo Ganna and Luke Rowe, INEOS had successfully split the peloton in to many pieces with 83 km to go. In doing so however, INEOS dropped one of their own GC contenders (at least in our eyes), Ethan Hayter, indicating that the team was primarily interested in the stage win for Elia Viviani.

The front echelon led by INEOS contained an assortment of strong riders and the majority of the GC contenders including Julian Alaphilippe (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team), Nairo Quintana (Team Arkéa Samsic), Sep Vanmarcke (Israel – Premier Tech), Pierre Latour (TotalEnergies) and stage favourite Elia Viviani (INEOS Grenadiers). Notable omissions included Iván Sosa (Movistar Team) and stage hopeful Arnaud Démare (Groupama – FDJ) – a very disappointing day for two of the French World Tour teams here, Cofidis and FDJ, neither of whom were represented by a single rider in the front group.

The breakaway was caught with 75 km to go by the INEOS led first echelon. Despite efforts by Groupama – FDJ and, much later, Cofidis to claw their way back, the cooperation within the front echelon ensured that they stayed away. Julian Alaphilippe was also able to gain some further time on GC, winning both intermediate sprints which were uncontested by Carapaz, who seems disinterested in riding seriously for GC here. Conversely, Nairo Quintana showed once again how strong and attentive he is in crosswinds, always moving up before dangerous sections, as the riders were frequently turning into harsh crosswind in the exposed marshes along this route.

Marsh land exposed to the winds – Tour de la Provence (2.Pro) – stage 1 from Istres to Les Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer (151.8Km) – Photo: William Cannarella/Cor Vos © 2022

With 7.5 km to go Maciej Bodnar (TotalEnergies) attacked, not wishing to contest a sprint against the stage favourite Elia Viviani. Richard Carapaz was tasked with closing Bodnar, another indication that INEOS were prioritising the stage win over his advancements on GC. Soon after, Julian Alaphilippe tried to bridge across, forcing Fillipo Ganna to react over the top of Carapaz to quickly close him down.

However Carapaz could not close Bodnar down, and only after Ganna pulled again (creating an echelon of 1) was Bodnar brought back, only for Danish champion Mads Wurtz Schmidt to counterattack – again Ganna closed him down. Amidst all this chaos, Richard Carapaz was dropped from the group and only when Luke Rowe surged in the last 500 metres, stringing out the entire group with Viviani on his wheel, did INEOS look back in control. A brilliant leadout by Rowe and Elia Viviani duly finished it off, showing a very clean pair of heels gapping Vanmarcke off his wheel and winning by over 5 bike lengths, for his first win of the season and for his new team INEOS.

Elia Viviani (Italy / Team INEOS Grenadiers) Julian Alaphilippe (France / Team Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl) pictured during 7th Tour de la Provence (2.Pro) – stage 1 from Istres to Les Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer (151.8Km) – Photo: William Cannarella/Cor Vos © 2022

Sep Vanmarcke was able to hang on for second and Julian Alaphilippe took third, taking six more bonus seconds for his GC ambitions. He sits four seconds behind Ganna and with a near 30 second lead on Quintana, he will be tough to overcome in this race.

Tomorrow’s stage is one for the puncheurs, featuring almost the same finish as last year in Manosque, except they do not do the same detour which caused the climb to be slightly longer.

This is a finish which suits fast punchers and here we have the best in the world, Julian Alaphilippe. Last year he crashed in the slippery run-in to the Manosque finish and his teammate Davide Ballerini was able to beat Ciccone in the uphill drag.

The 4-5% gradients do not last for long and a sprinter in good condition should be able to contest this finish as well. The question is whether INEOS will again ride for Elia Viviani or for Ethan Hayter, who is extremely strong on uphill finishes such as this but is racing shortly after some sickness.

Cavendish Wins From the Worst Position | Tour of Oman Stage 2

byKārlis Ozols
February 11, 2022
3 minute read

Mark Cavendish launched a throwback sprint to snatch an unbelievable win from the jaws of defeat in the Tour of Oman Stage 2. It was the Manx Missile’s 157th professional win in his career and the first one in 2022, despite a sub-par leadout once again. 167,5 kilometre long flat stage profile was perfect for Cavendish.

Tour of Oman Stage 2 2022 Profile By La Flamme Rouge

The Last Kilometre

Given that there was no live coverage, you must forgive us for skipping to the final kilometre, of which we do have some footage. Perhaps there was a breakaway, perhaps there was not, we will never know.

Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team’s sprint train with Masnada, Schmid, Steels, Van Tricht, and Keisse was not particularly helpful for Cavendish in the second stage in a row. Again, Cavendish needed to fight for the wheels in the end by himself and was detached from two lead-out men who moved up the right hand side without him.

In the last 500 metres, Cavendish’ position was even worse than in stage 1, where he lost to Fernando Gaviria. Once again, veteran Maximiliano Richeze and the rest of the UAE Team Emirates train delivered the Colombian sprinter in the perfect position at the front with Cavendish already eating wind moving up five bike lengths back on the open right side.  

The situation with 200 metres to go

Cavendish started his sprint early. He did not have a choice. He launched and got into as aero a position as possible, barely visible in the beginning of the helicopter shot of the sprint down below.

Incredible sprint performance by Mark Cavendish (green jersey)

With this victory, Cavendish has showed that even without the best lead-out man in the world Michael Mørkøv or Quick-Step’s A Team sprint train, he is still able to win and sprint at a very high level. Perfectly positioned Gaviria finished 4th getting overpassed in the last metres by young Australian Kaden Groves and Amaury Capiot, who has started the 2022 season very well. The Arkea Samsic sprinter at age 28 won his first pro race in the French 1.1 classic Grand Prix Cycliste de Marseille La Marseillaise at the end of January and finished 2nd in Clàssica Comunitat Valenciana 1969 – Gran Premi València to start the year.

The question of which sprinter Patrick Lefevere should send to the Tour de France is still open (and does not close until Quickstep line up for the first stage in Denmark). Dutch star Fabio Jakobsen is provisionally selected for the Tour based on early comments from the team, but if Cavendish will continue to perform at a high level in the spring or Jakobsen’s level drops off, then the decision will be made harder for Lefevere. There is the allure for sponsors of the Manxman beating Eddy’s Merckx Tour de France win record – Cavendish and Merckx are both equal with 34 wins.

Stage 3 will be the first non-sprint stage in Tour of Oman 2022. The 2.8 kilometre long and 7% steep Qurayyat should be a good test for climbers and puncheurs to compare their strength in advance of Green Mountain this weekend. Likely contenders for the stage win include Italians Filippo Zana and Fausto Masnada as well as Rui Costa, UAE’s GC leader for this race.

Tour of Oman Stage 3 2022 Profile By La Flamme Rouge