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What’s a peloton? A beginner’s guide to road cycling

If you’re new to road cycling, here are some explanations that might help you appreciate the Giro d’Italia, Paris-Roubaix or Tour de France beyond the stunning scenery.

What is a peloton?

It’s a French word meaning “platoon” that’s used to describe the largest group of riders. The peloton is also referred to as the pack or the bunch.

Why do riders race in a pack?

By riding behind other cyclists — called drafting — on a flat road, a rider uses roughly 30 percent less energy than he would riding alone. When the speed is extremely high (in chasing a breakaway or in the final hour of a flat stage), the pack stretches into a single line as each rider fights to stay in the draft created by the fast-moving group.

What is the gruppetto?

This is the group of riders that forms at the back of the race, usually on mountain stages. They ride at a pace just fast enough to finish within the day’s time limit (a varying percentage of the stage winner’s time). The gruppetto (Italian for “a small group”) is sometimes called the autobus, the bus or the laughing group — but this is no laughing matter. Riders at the back are often sick or injured and struggling just to finish the stage.

What are echelons?

When a strong wind is blowing from the side on a flat road and the racing is fast, the riders form an echelon — an angled line of single riders — to gain the maximum amount of draft from each other. The echelon rotates as the riders on the leeward side move forward and those on the windward side move back (a little like flying geese). The echelon can only be as wide as the road, so a field of 180 racers may split into five or six echelons, angled into the wind.

How does a team worker help his leader?

Although an individual wins the Tour de France, he could not do so without the help of his eight teammates. The duties of a team rider (or “domestique”) include:

• Riding “tempo” at the front of the pack to control the pace and prevent riders from rival teams from advancing up the road
• Riding in front or to the side of the leader to protect him from the wind
• Slowing down or dropping behind the field of riders to fetch fresh water bottles or food from the team car and taking them up to the leader
• Stopping when the leader has a puncture, crash or mechanical problem, and helping pace him back to the peloton
• Giving the leader one of his wheels (or his entire bike!) if the team car doesn’t arrive quickly enough to help
• Pacing the leader up to a threatening breakaway
• Pulling the leader up a mountain climb as long (and fast) as he can, to split up the group, to protect the leader from the wind and to discourage attacks by his rivals

How are mountain climbs categorized?

There are no set rules on how the organizer can categorize hills or mountains. This is how the Tour de France climbs are defined:

• The easiest is a Category 4, which is typically less than 2km long and about 5 percent grade, or up to 5km at a 2-3 percent grade.
• A Category 3 can be as short as one mile with a very steep grade, perhaps 10 percent; or as long as six miles with a grade less than 5 percent.
• A Category 2 can be as short as 5km at 8 percent, or as long as 15km at 4 percent
• A Category 1, once the highest category, can be anything from 8km at 8 percent to 20km at 5 percent.
• An hors catégorie (“above category”) rating is given to exceptionally tough climbs. This could either be a Category 1 whose summit is also the finish of the stage, or one that is more than 10km long with an average grade of at least 7.5 percent, or up to 25km long at 6 percent or steeper.

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Tour de France 101: What's the peloton?

A thing of beauty, efficiency, and danger, the peloton cuts wind drag by up to 40 percent and is where many riders spend most of their time during Tour de France.

• By Stephen Kurczy Staff writer

July 8, 2010 | Boston

'Peloton’ can refer to two things: either the whole pack of 219 riders from 22 teams participating in the Tour de France , or the V-shaped main pack of riders drafting off one another. Peloton literally means little ball or platoon. During the Tour, it a thing of beauty and danger.

The front rider in the peloton takes the brunt of the wind and air, cutting wind drag for rear riders by up to 40 percent.

The peloton changes shape with the winds. A headwind narrows the peloton, so fewer riders must battle the wind. A backwind widens the peloton, so more riders take advantage of the push. A side wind turns the peloton into a echelon formation (think fighter plans) so that only the side-most rider battles the wind.

One team normally controls the front of the peloton, rotating its lesser riders to the front of the pack to create a draft for their stars (such as Lance Armstrong ). A team might try to quicken or slow the peloton depending on strategy.

Hundreds of cyclists could be riding in the peloton at any given time, with only moments to react to changes in pace, wind, or crashes.

Michael Barry , a cyclist and author of “Inside the Postal Bus: My Ride With Lance Armstrong and the U.S. Postal Cycling Team,” describes life in the peloton in a column for The New York Times :

The peloton flows with the roads, and we, the cyclists, blindly hope that the flow is not broken. A wall of wheels and bodies means we can never see too far in front, so we trust that the peloton flows around any obstacle in the road like fish in a current. When in the group, we follow the wheels, looking a few yards ahead, watching other riders to gauge our braking, accelerations and how we maneuver our bikes. Over time, cycling in a peloton becomes instinctual, and our bicycles become extensions of our bodies. When that flow is broken, reaction time is limited and we often crash.

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Peloton Scenic Rides Through France (2024)

I just finished riding my bike through France—an early morning ride in Paris, a leisurely clip past Mont Saint-Michel, a climb up some mountains in the Midi-Pyrénées, and a refreshing spin along the Côte d’Azur. And the scenery was spectacular. How did I do this? By taking in some Peloton scenic rides! 

May 7, 2024 Update

Peloton has moved the Scenic Rides to be one of the “Experiences” along with “Just Ride” and “Lanebreak”. You’ll still be able to see three category of rides in the Scenic section: “Guided”, “Distance”, and “Time”.

The company also continues to do updates on the Scenic Rides in France, adding some rides and taking some away. One month some are removed and another month some are added back. Currently, there are 20 rides in France. Some others are hidden from the display but appear in my list of rides. Very weird. 

You’ve probably heard about the stationary bike that became the hit of Covid as we were confined to our homes for long periods of time. As people couldn’t go to gyms or attend spin classes, they were stuck at home. So what could one do? Set up a home gym that included a Peloton bike. What makes this more than just a stationary bike, where you stare into space, is that there is a monitor that streams recorded and live classes led by Peloton instructors. It’s motivational and you DO get a good workout.

But Peloton also has what are called “scenic rides” and this is where I rediscovered France. It’s as if I’m in France biking along a country road….or up to a mountain’s summit.

If you have a Peloton bike AND you love France, you’ll definitely love the Peloton scenic rides.

Table of contents

1. avignon (provence)-20 minutes, 2. french pyrénées- 30 minutes, 3. provence-20 minutes, 4. corsica-10 minutes, 5. medoc-30 minutes, 6. normandy-60 minutes, 7. côte d’or vineyards (beaune)-45 minutes, 8. south of france forest ride-10 minutes, 9. midi-pyrénées- 30 minutes, 10. rhône-alpes-30 minutes, 11. morbihan brittany-30 minutes, 12. champagne ardenne-60 minutes, 13. languedoc rousillon-45 minutes, 14. paris-10 minutes, 15. annecy-30 minutes, 16. provence alpes-cote d’azur (also called the draguignan ride provence)-30 minutes, 17. marseille-45 minutes, 18. le var (provence)-15 minutes, 19. figanières vineyards ride-5 minutes, 20. annecy ride-15 minutes, 2. what you’ll hear during your ride, 3. what you’ll see during your ride, 4. no peloton instructor on scenic rides—it’s all up to you, 5. there is a peloton leaderboard, can you do scenic rides on the peloton app, 1. what are the peloton scenic rides through france like.

Peloton has many scenic rides through countries such as Canada, the United States, Italy, Germany, Spain, China, and New Zealand. The duration of each ride varies from 10 minutes to 60 minutes. But of course, the rides in France are my favourites. Most take place in “perfect” weather—sunny and clear.

The other notable changes Peloton made to the Scenic Rides are:

• many more songs with vocals
• no scenic rides in the featured section on the digital app
• no access to past scenic rides even using the tag #scenicrides (see below)

As mentioned , so far these are the rides for France and they can be found in the Time Category:

This scenic route goes around the medieval town of Avignon with the famous Saint-Bénézet bridge and Palace des Paper. It ends at the magnificent Pont du Gard. Music is by Fleetwood Mac, Prince, Madonna, INXS, and Duran Duran.

This is my favourite scenic ride in France because the landscape changes so much. You begin your journey in the valley, through the countryside and then slowly gain altitude, climbing the mountains until you get near the top. At times you’re actually following a rider. Music is by David Guetta, Due Lipa, Prince, Clean Bandit, Cher, and Little Boots.

There are lavender fields that you’ll pass half-way through the ride. Sadly, there are no rides up into the hilltop villages that Provence is known for. The music is pop with music by Fleetwood Mac, Madonna, and others.

This is a short ride with music by the Joy Corporation. The scenery is similar to that found on the Côte d’Azur—with lots of views of the Mediterranean Sea.

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The Medoc is wine country! It’s a flat route and you travel through vineyards. Unfortunately, you don’t go by any of the famous wine houses and their châteaux. Music is by Cher, Due Lipa, Prince, and more.

This 1-hour ride takes through farmland, passing many cows and riding on flat terrain and rolling hills. Music is by America, New Order, Madonna, the Monkees, and more.

I was most disappointed with this ride because most of it was through the vineyards of Burgundy. Understandably, the terrain is flat; however, there was little if any travelling through the quaint villages of the Côte d’Or region. Music is by David Guetta, Clean Bandit, Prince, Jason Derulo, and Due Lipa.

Have to be honest, this is a boring ride (scenery-wise) because it’s all in a forest. At times it’s also dark. But for a 10-minute cool-down, it might be fine. Music is by David Guetta, Dua Lipa, Clean Bandit, Jason Derulo, Prince, and others.

This Midi-Pyrénées ride is very similar to the French Pyrénées ride above; however, with a mix of flat roads, high elevations and the odd bit of snow with lots of greenery. Too bad that the music seems to be the exact same as in the South of France ride with tunes by Prince, Due Lipa, and David Guetta.

This was a pretty scenic ride and I really enjoyed it. As Peloton states, you’ll see “snowy mountain peaks, lush greenery, and lively villages”. The scenery is accompanied with music by David Guetta, Future Islands, Lucy Dacus, Kylie Minogue, Parcels, and Badbadnotgood.

The 30-minute ride in Brittany was a bit disappointing. The landscape was pretty flat (which is not surprising for the area) and you travel through some neighbourhoods, forests and the countryside. I suppose if you’re looking for an easy ride, this would be the one to choose. Music is by Prince and the Revolution, Dua Lipa, Kylie Minogue, and Kevin McKay.

This ride begins in a city and then takes you through the vineyards of Champagne and a lot of countryside. There is music by Lucas and Steve, Debbie Given, Prince and the Revolution, Parcels, and Disco Fries, however, many of the songs, by artists like Kylie Minogue and David Guetta, are repeated.

It’s all dance party music with this ride, with music by Cash Cash, Bingo Players, Marc Benjamin, David Guetta, and Rita Ora. My favourite was near the end when Mr Belt & Wezol did their rendition of Earth, Wind, and Fire’s hit, “Boogie Wonderland”. The ride takes you through rolling hills, and vineyards. You can see the blue water of Lac du Salagou, which is 30 km north of Pézenas, but overall, I don’t think there’s a lot of captivating scenery.

This short ride through Paris has you travelling on wide boulevards with traffic, along rue de Rivoli and through various arrondissements (districts) of Paris. There is also a nice part along the Seine River approaching the Eiffel Tower. Too bad the ride isn’t longer and you can see many more sites. Music is by artists like Saweetie (feat. Doja Cat) and Nicky Jam and J. Balvin.

This is a very pretty, scenic ride. It begins with a ride through the town of Annecy and then takes you by lovely parks and then along Annecy Lake. You can see the Alps mountain range in the distance but the terrain is pretty flat. I was pretty impressed by how many designated bike paths there were. After taking this ride you’ll want to visit Annecy yourself and do some bike riding. Music was by Janelle Moses, Anita Baker, P. Diddy and more.

The route in Provence starts in Draguigan, which is a town west of Cannes. You travel through the countryside, and on country roads and pass vineyards and olive trees. . It wasn’t my favourite location in Provence to do a ride. There are many more scenic areas. However, you do travel on a voie verte, a dedicated bicycle path that takes you through a forested area. The ride takes you northeast to Figanières. Music is by Ultra Naté Michelle, Tina Turner, Cardi B, and The Sugarhill Gang.

This ride has a mixture of dance party, hip hop, Latin, and pop music by Dua Lipa, Joe Stone, Crooked Colours, Matisse & Sadko, and Swedish House Mafia. The ride starts in the suburbs and it’s not a very scenic ride. Finally, you get to Marseille’s old port filled with yachts and the marina surroundings are much nicer. You then head southeast along the coast and past beaches and after 20 minutes the ride becomes much more scenic until you reach a spot high above the famous Calanques. Sadly you don’t actually “see” the Calanques. 

This ride starts above the city of Draguignan and ends at Figanières. It goes mostly through the countryside and is better taken as a cool-down ride. Music is by Janet Jackson, Madison Cunningham, Illenium, and Tears For Fears.

Although short, I liked this ride as it went through the colourful town of Figanières, which is in the heart of Provence and 53km north of Saint-Tropez. Music is under the “chill vibes” theme by Ella Mai and Babyface.

This ride is short and relaxing…perhaps a good cool-down ride. For most of the ride you’re on a dedicated path. No cars, just mountain views and crystal clear water of Lake Annecy. The end takes you into town, along the lake, past many boats. Music is Peloton Music Radio so what you hear changes each time you take the ride. I heard music by Li Yundi (Chopin’s Nocturne No. 18 in E Major, Opus 62 No. 2), JujuBee (Need Ya), and Moses Kahumoku (Pau’ahi ‘O Kalani).

As you glide along the “road”, you’ll hear the sounds of nature, birds chirping, and cars whizzing by. There is music, vocal and instrumental pop, rock, new age, and techno or electro music.

It appears that the scenes from some routes have been combined or spliced together to make a new “ride”. I suppose they’ve taken their best “clips” and put them together into one ride. So your scenery can change constantly. You might start out in a forested area, move to a mountain climb, through a small town, and then back into the mountains. This can be a good thing as 30 minutes passing cow pastures can get boring quite quickly!

Some routes are entirely flat and others have you climbing a mountain. The “difficulty” of the ride is all dependent on you increasing the cadence and resistance—that is, how difficult it is to turn your peddles. The higher the resistance (0-100), the harder it is to turn the wheel, much like climbing a hill.

I also believe most of the rides—at least the ones I’ve taken so far— have been filmed in a car, not on a bike.

In addition to no music accompanied by vocals, you also don’t have an instructor, telling you to increase your cadence or resistance. You also don’t have an instructor to motivate you, so it’s up to you to make your ride just a leisurely journey or a hard workout (aka burning calories!).

I’ll be honest and say I could have worked harder (to get a higher output). I think I was enjoying the scenery so much I forgot to increase the resistance.

When you take a Peloton class with an instructor (live or recorded) you can see how you rank on the leaderboard. The scenic rides also have this option so I can see who else might be riding when I am and I can see how I rank. That part can be motivational. Guess I am a bit competitive as I don’t like being at the back of the pack!

6. Where Is The “Peloton Scenic Rides” Setting On The Bike Monitor?

If you have a Peloton bike and you’re wondering where you can find these scenic rides on your monitor, go to the bottom menu on your screen and you’ll see a row of icons:

• Experiences
• Entertainment

Click “Entertainment” and you are given three options:

• Scenic Ride —this is the program you want and it will list many scenic rides from around the world. You can choose a ride based on the type: Guided, Distance, Time

Sadly no. At one time you could find them in “Featured” but they aren’t there anymore. But keep checking as they might reappear.

If you’re interested in doing some biking IN FRANCE and not just on a Peloton bike, check out the tours I’ve taken: 

• What it’s like to take a bicycle tour in France
• Riding a bicycle in France
• Cycling on Ile de Ré
• Biking along the Canal du Midi
• Cycling La Voie Verte (Sarlat)
• Biking to Dune du Pilat (Europe’s tallest sand dune)

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You can do Peloton scenic rides on the digital app without a Peloton bike. All you need is the link to the ride. There’s some listed on the iPad version, but it’s also easy to find scenic rides if you look through other Peloton riders that have the #scenicrider hashtag in their profile. eg. 15 min Wellington, New Zealand

60 minute New Zealand National Parks

I was hoping that this article would have links to the rides that are described.

Thank you so much for your comment. It is incredibly difficult to find the scenic rides on the app. There were a few “featured” at the bottom of the app, but, as you said, one could check out #scenicride and find people and the rides they’ve taken. There is also a work-around that involves opening a web browser and NOT using the Peloton app. Once I figure it out I’ll edit my post.

Giro d'Italia stage 19 Live - A big chance for the breakaway

Tour de france: jasper philipsen wins stage 3 after impressive lead-out from mathieu van der poel.

Phil Bauhaus second, Caleb Ewan third in tumultuous bunch sprint into Bayonne

Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) has blasted to victory in stage 3 of the 2023 Tour de France in a tumultuous bunch sprint ahead of Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain Victorious) and Caleb Ewan (Lotto-Dstny).

Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates) remains in the overall lead after a straightforward day for the maillot jaune.

Philipsen received a fine lead-out from teammate Mathieu van der Poel, enabling him to claim the first bunch sprint of the 2023 Tour and the third Tour of his career by half a wheel.

The Belgian had a nervous few minutes after the stage as the commissaries reviewed video footage of the final sprint following allegations that Philipsen moved from his line too much in the sprint, cutting off Wout Van Aert (Jumbo-Visma).

But in what had been a fraught, technical finish, finally, the commissaires ruled that Philipsen was not at fault.

“There was a bit of doubt,” Philipsen said when he was definitively declared the winner before joking, “They [the commissaires] made it quite exciting in the end.

“It was tense, but it’s the Tour de France, there are no presents for nobody. I think everybody goes all in, and I can be really happy with our team today.”

“I had a great lead-out with Jonas [Rickaert], he did a great first part, and then Mathieu did a fantastic job. If Mathieu has the space to go, then for sure, he has the speed. You just know that no other lead-out will pass him.

“It was a tricky finale with the S-bend in the end, so I tried to take the shortest route to the finish. I’m really happy to get first over the line.”

Stage 4 from Dax to Nogaro is 184 kilometres long, even flatter and, as such, also likely to end in another bunch sprint - and another great opportunity for Philipsen.

How it unfolded

Starting deep in the northwest side of the Basque Country with a series of four minor climbs, Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost) used the relative calm in the peloton to rack up some more points for his mountains competition lead. After breaking away with Laurent Pichon (Arkéa-Samsic) before the Côte de Trabakua (km 13.8),  Powless racked up maximum points on each ascent as the duo pushed out their initial advantage to nearly four minutes.

Shortly before the mid-stage intermediate sprints banner, stage 2 winner Victor Lafay (Cofidis) then made a counter-attack to take third place and some more points for his green jersey lead. The Frenchman was then swept up by the peloton, but Powless continued his mountain classification points total on each minor small ascent prior to sitting up and letting Pichon head on alone in the final, classified climb-free, 80 kilometres of the stage.

As the race headed out of the Basque hills and towards the French border, the sprinters' teams began to move towards the front, and while Pichon made it into France ahead, his gap was slowly crumbling. Shortly after the coastal town of St. Jean-de-Luz, the Arkéa-Samsic rider’s 160-kilometre break came to an end, although news broke later that he had at least won the Most Combative Rider’s award for his daylong effort.

Lotto-Dstny, Bora-Hansgrohe, Lidl-Trek and Jumbo-Visma kept the speed high, hitting average speeds well above 55 km/h in places on the broad, well-surfaced highways of southwest France. Visibly keen to prevent any last-minute breakaways, despite the notably technical segments and some sharp little uphills, the sprinters’ teams maintained their control over the front end of the peloton.

Suddenly in the last 10 kilometres, Soudal-QuickStep, having worked hard to protect Fabio Jakobsen on the left-hand side of the bunch, made their presence known at the head of the bunch. Then on an interminable series of roundabouts and bends as the race worked its way through the centre of Bayonne, a line of riders from Tour newcomers Uno-X notably matched the Belgian team’s effort on the far side of the road. Fortunately, and unusually for the first Tour sprint stage, despite the tricky finale, there were no crashes reported.

A pronounced U-turn with two kilometres to go, followed by a chicane late on, made for a major reshuffling at the front of the bunch and saw Soudal-QuickStep’s grip on affairs weaken notably. It was hardly coincidental that this was exactly when Alpecin-Deceuninck’s three-man train - Rickaert, Van der Poel and Philipsen - surged forwards.

Van Aert briefly matched Philipsen when Van der Poel finally swung off, but in a chaotic dash for the finish, the Jumbo-Visma man’s late acceleration was curtailed in the last metres as the road swung slightly right. 

Instead, Philipsen could claim the 30th win of his career just ahead of Bauhaus and Ewan, and after his victory last summer on the Champs Élysées, start this year’s Tour bunch sprints in the exact same way that he ended them last year  - with his arms aloft.

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Alasdair Fotheringham has been reporting on cycling since 1991. He has covered every Tour de France since 1992 bar one, as well as numerous other bike races of all shapes and sizes, ranging from the Olympic Games in 2008 to the now sadly defunct Subida a Urkiola hill climb in Spain. As well as working for Cyclingnews , he has also written for The Independent ,  The Guardian ,  ProCycling , The Express and Reuters .

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Pinot et Alaphilippe au centre de la 2e saison de "Tour de France: au cœur du peloton" sur Netflix

Les fans de cyclisme devront patienter jusqu'au 11 juin prochain, date de diffusion sur Netflix de la deuxième saison de la série documentaire "Tour de France: au cœur du peloton". En marge de la première bande-annonce dévoilée ce jeudi, Yann Le Bourbouac'h, l'un des producteurs, est revenu pour BFMTV et RMC Sport sur ce qui attend le public dans cette saison qui reviendra sur l'édition 2023 de la Grande Boucle.

Comme lors de la première saison, Netflix et les équipes de Box to Box ont suivi huit équipes pour ce documentaire, sur les 22 engagées dans la compétition. "L'idée, c'était d'aller plus loin dans les accès, dans les histoires et comme on a essayé de le faire en première saison: l'ambition est de faire une vraie série, en complément du direct de France Télévisions", a expliqué Le Bourbouac'h. "Mais cette série va faire le portrait de ces cyclistes, de tout le peloton, en allant chercher de nouveaux personnages par rapport à la saison 1, ce qui était important pour nous."

Déjà suivi lors du Tour de France 2022, Thibaut Pinot effectuait l'an dernier sa dernière participation à la plus grande épreuve cycliste du monde. Cette nouvelle saison a accompagné les adieux du grimpeur de la Groupama-FDJ, qui avait ému le public lors de la 20e étape, où ses supporteurs lui avaient réservé un bel hommage en effectuant un "Virage Pinot". L'émotion de son manager historique Marc Madiot sera aussi visible.

Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers) et Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) seront à nouveau au casting, tout comme l'actuel champion du monde Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck). Absent du Tour de France en 2022, Julian Alaphilippe était présent en 2023: le Français sera l'un des personnages de cette saison, avec en toile de fond notamment ses histoires avec son manager Patrick Lefevere. "On a une relation de confiance avec les équipes, qui nous permet de filmer là où on veut. On n'est pas là pour les piéger", a encore commenté Le Bourbouac'h.

"La première saison nous a beaucoup aidé, ça a été un succès français et international",

La saison s'axera logiquement aussi sur le duel entre Tadej Pogacar (UAE Emirates) et Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma), finalement remporté par le Danois. Netflix a pu travailler avec la formation du Slovène pour avoir des images. "La première saison nous a beaucoup aidé, ça a été un succès français et international", a indiqué Le Bourbouac'h. "On a pu continuer le dialogue, qu'on avait déjà avec UAE Emirates."

La série reviendra également sur les polémiques de l'édition 2023, entre les suspicions de dopage ou encore la frustration de Tadej Pogacar, bloqué en plein col au moment d'une attaque par plusieurs motos. L'émotion sera aussi au rendez-vous avec un suivi de l'équipe Bahrain-Victorious, qui avait perdu Gino Mäder, l'un de ses coureurs, décédé en juin 2023 lors du Tour de Suisse.

Le producteur a aussi balayé les critiques émises notamment par Jonas Vingegaard et Wout Van Aert, qui n'avaient pas hésité à pointer du doigt le montage. "On a dressé une opposition entre les deux, qui a existé. Quand ils ont parlé, ils n'avaient vu que les deux premiers épisodes, pas l'intégralité de la série", a regretté Le Bourbouac'h. "Notre boulot, c'est de dramatiser la série, ça on l'assume mais on ne dit jamais des choses qui sont fausses."

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Wout van Aert Hits 3rd in Tour de France Comeback Bid: ‘The Confidence Has Grown’

Van aert says it's too early to say if he'll be at the tour de france: 'we will evaluate to see what lies ahead.'.

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Wout van Aert kicked to third in Sunday’s final stage at the Tour of Norway in an encouraging sign in the Belgian superstar’s return from injury.

The Visma-Lease a Bike captain raced this week for the first time since his heavy crash at Dwars door Vlaanderen that derailed his spring monuments campaign and put end to a planned debut at the Giro d’Italia.

Four solid days of racing in Norway — with two top-5s — was just what Van Aert needed.

“I feels good to be at the front again,” Van Aert told Het Nieuwsblad . “I felt like I was getting better and that was what I was hoping for. A lot of uncertainty has been removed.”

Van Aert was fourth Saturday, and kicked to a podium finish with third behind Alexander Kristoff (Uno-X Mobility) on Sunday.

The four days of racing were not without incident, and Van Aert was caught up in a crash in stage 2. Other than a bloodied elbow and some stiff muscles, he seemed to escape without serious injuries.

Yet the 29-year-old will leave the race with bolstered confidence and perhaps a glint of hope that he might be able to race the Tour de France.

“I wasn’t really afraid of being in the peloton, so that’s also positive. It’s good that you can throw yourself back in as quickly as possible,” he said. “The confidence has grown. The most important thing is that I had no pain.”

Teammate Bart Lemmen held on across an explosive finale to secure second place overall GC behind winner Axel Laurance (Alpecin-Deceuninck).

“Today was a good opportunity to go for the stage win,” Van Aert said Saturday after kicking to fourth. “The stage went relatively easy. At the end, I just came up a bit short in the legs to actually grab the win. I was in a good position, but the competition was simply stronger today.

“I can still improve in the sprint, but I am confident that will improve in the upcoming period. For now, it was especially nice to really compete for the win again. That was a while ago for me.”

Too early to say on Tour de France

Of course, now everyone wants to know if Van Aert will be ready to race the Tour de France, which starts in late June in Italy.

Right now, there are no upcoming races on his official calendar. Speaking earlier this week, Van Aert expressed hope about the Tour, but said he was more confident about hitting peak form in time for the Olympic Games in Paris , where he will challenge for gold in both the road race and the individual time trial.

“It has been a positive week and certainly one that we will evaluate to see what lies ahead,” Van Aert said when asked about the Tour. “I’m not going to do that in front of the camera.”

The team is also waiting to see if Jonas Vingegaard , who was hospitalized after a brutal crash at Itzulia Basque Country in April, will be able to race the Tour.

Wout’s back hitting the big numbers The Team Visma | Lease a Bike rider produced huge sprint power fighting for the win on Stage 4 at the Tour of Norway, finishing third behind Kristoff and Meeus⚡️ Getty Images ____________ #ToN24 pic.twitter.com/0GCWwuCW2a — Velon CC (@VelonCC) May 26, 2024

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Pogacar wins the Giro d'Italia by a big margin and will now aim for a 3rd Tour de France title

Rome — Tadej Pogacar won the Giro d’Italia on Sunday with the race’s biggest margin of victory in nearly six decades — earning a third Grand Tour trophy to go with his two Tour de France titles.

Pogacar, riding a pink bike to go with his pink jersey, shorts and helmet, crossed safely in the main pack to conclude the mostly ceremonial final stage of the three-week race in Rome, ending with an advantage of 9 minutes, 56 seconds over runner-up Daniel Martinez.

Geraint Thomas finished third overall, 10:24 behind.

The last time there was a bigger margin of victory in the Giro came in 1965, when Vittorio Adorni won by 11:26.

Pogacar, a Slovenian with UAE Team Emirates, also won six stages in the race, the most since Eddy Merckx also won six in 1973.

“Winning any bike race is important but winning the Giro, especially like this, is really incredible,” Pogacar said.

Now Pogacar will attempt to rest and recover in time to make an attempt at winning his third Tour title, with cycling’s biggest race starting on June 29 with four stages in Italy.

Pogacar will be attempting to become the first rider to win the Giro and the Tour in the same year since Marco Pantani in 1998.

“This was the big goal for the first part of the season. Now finally I’ll have a bit of rest before the second part, which could be the more important part,” Pogacar said. “We’ll see.”

Belgian rider Tim Merlier won the final stage in a sprint ahead of Jonathan Milan by the Colosseum. It was Merlier's fourth career win at the Giro and third this year.

Milan, the Italian sprinter who also won three stages in the race, had a mechanical issue and needed to change his bike at the start of the last lap. He then managed to catch up with the main pack and almost grabbed another victory.

The 125-kilometer (78-mile) mostly flat final stage finished with a circuit through the center of the capital that was completed eight times, taking riders past the Baths of Caracalla, the Roman Forum, the Tiber River and the Circus Maximus before the finish on cobblestones near the Arch of Constantine.

Pogacar entered the Giro for the first time this year and made an immediate impact. He finished second in the opening stage in Turin and gained time on almost all of his direct rivals. Then he won the second stage, grabbed the leader’s pink jersey and kept on increasing his advantage day after day.

Pogacar won the Tour in 2020 and 2021 and then finished second behind Jonas Vingegaard in 2022 and 2023.

Vingegaard is hoping to defend his Tour title despite a crash in April that left him with several broken ribs and a collapsed lung.

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Tour de France Femmes: Dramatic crash in peloton sees flurry of riders wiped out on Stage 5

Updated 28/07/2022 at 14:06 GMT

A massive crash in the middle of the bunch caused a huge pile-up of riders. While most of those involved in the crash were back up and on their bikes, Emma Norsgaard (Movistar) was one of the most seriously hurt and went to hospital by ambulance. Stream the Tour de France Femmes live and on-demand on discovery+. You can also watch all the action live on eurosport.co.uk.

Dramatic crash in peloton sees swarm of riders wiped out on Stage 5

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Peerless Pogacar Wins Giro D'Italia, Next Stop Tour De France

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Tadej Pogacar dominated the Giro

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Tadej Pogacar won the Giro d'Italia on Sunday, crossing the finish line in Rome in glorious sunshine and with the biggest winning margin in almost six decades.

The 25-year-old UAE Emirates rider won six of the 21 stages on the 3,400km tour that began in Turin, finishing 9min 56sec ahead of Colombia's Daniel Martinez of Bora while Geraint Thomas of Ineos was 10min 24sec off the winning pace in third.

The overall triumph was sealed Sunday on the 21st stage around Rome, which was won by Belgian sprinter Tim Merlier, who picked up his third stage win of the 2024 Giro.

The peloton speeds past the Colosseum

Billed as a champion in waiting, Pogacar proved peerless taking the lead as early as stage two and rampaging across the peaks, plains and picturesque panoramas to triumph by the largest margin at any of cycling's grand tours since Vittorio Adorni won the Giro by 11min 26sec in 1965.

"I felt strong and relaxed these three weeks," said Pogacar, who was planning to celebrate with his team-mates in Rome then find a nearby beach for a few days.

"It has been a wonderful experience. I loved it," he said.

The swashbuckling Slovenian was decked out in the iconic pink leader's jersey, riding a pink bike and even arriving on a pink bus as the route raced south.

Hoping to become the first rider to win both the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France since Marco Pantani in 1998, Pogacar resembled more another rider, Eddy Merckx, also known for wanting to win as many stages as possible.

He won the opening time-trial, and the following day's first major summit finish and would go on to romp home on the Queen stage in the Dolomites, doubling his lead in the process.

Italians took to Pogacar, cheering him through the dramatic port of Genoa, the chic Tuscan town of Lucca and the southern port of Naples and Pompei in the shadow of the volcanic Mount Vesuvius.

The two-time Tour de France winner had extended his lead slowly up the Adriatic coastline before the third week's relentless series of ascents and descents in the Alps.

Pogacar and his UAE team have been flaunting the pink leader's jersey all across Italy

Should Pogacar pull off the ambitious Giro-Tour double he will join a list of legends in Fausto Coppi, Jacques Anquetil, Merckx, Bernard Hinault, Stephen Roche, Miguel Indurain and Pantani.

Pogacar burst onto the scene winning three stages at the Vuelta a Espana in 2019 and coming third.

The following year he pulled off one of cycling's biggest ever surprises when he overhauled a 90-second gap on Primoz Roglic to take the lead at the very end of the Tour de France in 2020.

In 2021, Pogacar dominated the Tour to claim back-to-back triumphs, before a rival emerged in the form of Danish Visma rider Jonas Vingegaard.

The wispy Dane has dominated Pogacar on the very toughest mountain stages, allowing Pogacar to tack up the stage wins as he himself remained firmly focussed on the overall.

Merckx stated in 2023 that for now the Dane was the best Grand Tour rider, but Vingegaard is scrambling to achieve top fitness for the Tour de France after a nasty crash at the Tour of the Basque Country.

While Pogacar had no visible rival at the Giro, Vingegaard will be just one hazard to watch out for on the French roads, with Belgian maverick Remco Evenepoel, Colombian climber Egan Bernal and old foe Roglic all muddying the waters on a wide-open roster ripe for surprises this July.

Peerless Pogacar Wins Giro D'Italia, Next Stop Tour De France

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Pogacar wins the Giro d'Italia by a big margin and will now aim for a 3rd Tour de France title

Tadej Pogacar has won the Giro d’Italia with the race’s biggest margin of victory in nearly six decades

ROME -- Tadej Pogacar won the Giro d’Italia on Sunday with the race’s biggest margin of victory in nearly six decades — earning a third Grand Tour trophy to go with his two Tour de France titles.

Pogacar, riding a pink bike to go with his pink jersey, shorts and helmet, crossed safely in the main pack to conclude the mostly ceremonial final stage of the three-week race in Rome, ending with an advantage of 9 minutes, 56 seconds over runner-up Daniel Martinez.

Geraint Thomas finished third overall, 10:24 behind.

The last time there was a bigger margin of victory in the Giro came in 1965, when Vittorio Adorni won by 11:26.

Pogacar, a Slovenian with UAE Team Emirates, also won six stages in the race, the most since Eddy Merckx also won six in 1973.

“Winning any bike race is important but winning the Giro, especially like this, is really incredible,” Pogacar said.

Now Pogacar will attempt to rest and recover in time to make an attempt at winning his third Tour title, with cycling’s biggest race starting on June 29 with four stages in Italy .

Pogacar will be attempting to become the first rider to win the Giro and the Tour in the same year since Marco Pantani in 1998.

“This was the big goal for the first part of the season. Now finally I’ll have a bit of rest before the second part, which could be the more important part,” Pogacar said. “We’ll see.”

Belgian rider Tim Merlier won the final stage in a sprint ahead of Jonathan Milan by the Colosseum. It was Merlier's fourth career win at the Giro and third this year.

Milan, the Italian sprinter who also won three stages in the race, had a mechanical issue and needed to change his bike at the start of the last lap. He then managed to catch up with the main pack and almost grabbed another victory.

The 125-kilometer (78-mile) mostly flat final stage finished with a circuit through the center of the capital that was completed eight times, taking riders past the Baths of Caracalla, the Roman Forum, the Tiber River and the Circus Maximus before the finish on cobblestones near the Arch of Constantine.

Pogacar entered the Giro for the first time this year and made an immediate impact. He finished second in the opening stage in Turin and gained time on almost all of his direct rivals. Then he won the second stage, grabbed the leader’s pink jersey and kept on increasing his advantage day after day.

Pogacar won the Tour in 2020 and 2021 and then finished second behind Jonas Vingegaard in 2022 and 2023.

Vingegaard is hoping to defend his Tour title despite a crash in April that left him with several broken ribs and a collapsed lung.

AP cycling: https://apnews.com/hub/cycling

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Cyclisme : impérial et intouchable au Giro, Tadej Pogacar écrasera-t-il aussi la concurrence au tour de France ?

Vainqueur de six étapes, le Slovène Tadej Pogacar s’impose comme le nouveau cannibale du peloton. Il vise le doublé avec le Tour de France.

Veni, vidi, vici : après trois semaines à survoler le Tour d’Italie, Tadej Pogacar est entré dans la ville éternelle tel un empereur romain dimanche pour fêter son succès et se tourner déjà vers son prochain objectif : le Tour de France.

Classement de la 21e étape et dernière étape du Tour d'Italie

21 e étape, à Rome

1. Tim Merlier (BEL/SOQ) les 125,0 km en 2 h 51:50. (moyenne: 43,9 km/h) 2. Jonathan Milan (ITA/LTK) à 0. 3. Kaden Groves (AUS/ADC) 0. 4. Fernando Gaviria (COL/MOV) 0. 5. Tim van Dijke (NED/TJV) 0.

Six victoires d’étape, autant que le grand Eddy Merckx en 1973, une avance abyssale sur son dauphin Daniel Martinez au général, 9 min 56 sec, plus grand écart depuis 1965, et une impression de facilité déconcertante, au risque d’un certain ennui : le Slovène a dominé le Giro de bout en bout, prenant le maillot rose dès le deuxième jour pour l’amener dimanche au pied du Colisée.

Palmarès du Giro

Les dix derniers vainqueurs du Tour d'Italie, dont la 107 e édition s'est achevée dimanche à Rome avec la victoire du Slovène Tadej Pogacar, qui succède au palmarès à son compatriote Primoz Roglic.

En 107 éditions depuis la création de l'épreuve en 1909: 69 victoires pour l'Italie, 7 pour la Belgique, 6 pour la France, 4 pour l'Espagne, 3 pour la Russie et la Suisse, 2 pour la Slovénie, la Colombie, la Grande-Bretagne et le Luxembourg, 1 pour le Canada, l'Equateur, les Etats-Unis, l'Irlande, les Pays-Bas, la Suède et l'Australie.

Les dix derniers vainqueurs : 2024 : Tadej Pogacar (SLO) 2023 : Primoz Roglic (SLO) 2022 : Jay Hindley (AUS) 2021 :  Egan Bernal (COL) 2020 : Tao Geoghegan Hart (GBR) 2019 : Richard Carapaz (ECU) 2018 : Chris Froome (GBR) 2017 : Tom Dumoulin (NED) 2016 : Vincenzo Nibali (ITA) 2015 : Alberto Contador (ESP)

Il marche dans les pas de Merckx

Ce triomphe dès son premier Giro ajoute une nouvelle pièce à sa collection de trophées qui s’agrandit de jour en jour : à seulement 25 ans, l’ogre de Komenda compte déjà 77 succès dont deux Tours de France, six Monuments et un chapelet d’autres classiques et courses par étapes.

Plus que jamais, il marche dans les pas de Merckx, le plus grand coureur de tous les temps avec qui il partage le même appétit glouton. Au Giro, personne ne lui est arrivé à la cheville jusqu’à la dernière étape, remportée par le Belge Tim Merlier au sprint.

Daniel Martinez a enfin confirmé dans un grand Tour et sera un lieutenant de luxe pour Primoz Roglic au Tour de France. Geraint Thomas, valeureux troisième à 38 ans, s’est accroché mais sans la moindre illusion contre Pogacar, "le meilleur coureur contre lequel j’ai couru et pourtant j’en ai connu des bons" .

Rejoindre Marco Pantani au palmarès

Pogacar peut désormais se consacrer au second volet de son grand défi : remporter la même année le Giro et le Tour de France, ce qui n’a plus été réalisé depuis Marco Pantani en 1998. Il a en revanche exclu de participer au Tour d’Espagne, préférant cibler les Championnats du monde à Zurich fin septembre, autre grand objectif.

"Tadej ? C’est Superman"

"Évidemment qu’il peut faire le doublé Giro-Tour. Il est tellement fort. Je suis fier d’être son équipier" , a lancé l’Autrichien Felix Grosschartner. "Tadej ? C’est Superman" , a résumé Rafal Majka, son fidèle lieutenant chez UAE. Certains s’inquiétaient dans la perspective du Tour de France (29 juin-21 juillet) de l’état de fatigue de "Pogi" après trois semaines à ferrailler en Italie dans des conditions climatiques parfois compliquées.

A priori, il n’y a rien à craindre, car il avait encore l’air bien frais dimanche, tout de rose vêtu dans les rues de Rome. Certes il ne s’est pas spécialement économisé en Italie – "il ne peut s’empêcher de faire la course" , a constaté Romain Bardet, 9 e du général – et samedi soir Pogacar a parlé de "trois semaines difficiles" où il a été un peu malade, parfois mal dormi et dû répondre à d’innombrables sollicitations.

Mais il a aussi estimé finir "dans une bonne forme" et avec "le moral au plus haut" avant de goûter à quelques jours de repos, puis de repartir en stage d’altitude à Isola 2000. "Cette victoire au Giro me donne un bel élan pour le Tour de France", assure-t-il.

Pogacar est favori pour devenir le huitième coureur à réussir le doublé Giro-Tour la même année

Des quatre "fantastiques", c’est clairement lui qui présente le plus de garanties à quatre semaines du Tour. Double vainqueur sortant, Jonas Vingegaard a tout juste repris l’entraînement après ses multiples fractures au Tour du Pays basque, alors que Remco Evenepoel et Primoz Roglic, blessés dans la même chute, ne reviennent à la compétition que dimanche prochain au Critérium du Dauphiné.

A côté de lui, on a l’air tellement lents.

En l’état, Pogacar est favori pour devenir le huitième coureur à réussir le doublé Giro-Tour la même année (après Pantani, Indurain, Roche, Hinault, Merckx, Anquetil et Coppi) et continuer son duel à distance avec les légendes du passé, sous le regard souvent impuissant de ses contemporains.

"Jonas (Vingegaard) est le seul à évoluer au même niveau que lui, mais il faut voir comment il sera (sur le Tour de France), analysait Geraint Thomas. C’est insensé le talent qu’il a. Tellement polyvalent, agressif, toute l’année. A côté de lui, on a l’air tellement lents."

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