News
“My legs are good and I’m confident” – Dan Martin holds on to top ten in GC
A solid ride in the first individual time trial of the race helped Dan Martin (Etixx-Quick Step) hold on to his ninth place in the general classification. One day after climbing Mont Ventoux up to Chalet-Reynard, the riders faced the first individual time trial of this edition, held in the Ardèche department, between Bourg-Saint-Andéol and La Caverne du Pont-D'Arc, over...
Tom Dumoulin takes his second stage win of the Tour
Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Alpecin) raced to victory in today's time-trial stage of the Tour de France, taking his second win of the Tour after his victory on stage 9 to Andorra. The thirteenth stage consisted of a 37.5km test from Bourg-Saint-Andeol to La Caverne du Pont-d'Arc, and Dumoulin was the fastest on the tough parcours, with a time of 50’15” and...
Nairo Quintana gets a tow from a Mavic motorbike (VIDEO)
Amid the chaotic scenes on Mont Ventoux yesterday when Richie Porte (BMC Racing), Chris Froome (Team Sky) and Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo) crashed after piling into the back of motorbike which had been stopped by crowds, a video has been posted showing Nairo Quintana (Movistar) hanging onto the back of Mavic motorbike on the climb. The video was posted by Twitter...
When spectators stopped a race favourite at the 1914 Tour de France
Yesterday's stage of the Tour de France is not the first time that spectators encroaching on the road have caused problems for the cyclists. Below is an extract from 'The Shattered Peloton' by Graham Healy which tells the story of how fans of French rider Henri Pélissier may have prevented him from winning the 1914 Tour. On the final stage, Pélissier...
Mark Downey Wins Silver at the European Track Championships in Italy
Irish rider Mark Downey has sensationally won silver in the Men’s U23 Points Race at the UEC Track Juniors and U23 European Championships in Montichiari, Italy today. Downey, who previously won a European silver in the Points Race as a junior in 2014, was lying in 3rd place until the closing laps when he moved into 2nd. The bunch...
Onboard highlights from Stage 12 of the Tour de France (VIDEO)
Thomas de Gendt (Lotto Soudal) took the win on todays's 12th stage of the Tour de France and as can be seen in the footage below, the riders didn't have much space as they pushed through crowds of fans lining the route towards the finish line near the summit of Mont Ventoux. De Gendt had been a member of a...
Chris Froome hangs on to yellow despite chaotic finish (VIDEO)
Team Sky's Chris Froome extended his race lead at the Tour de France today despite stage 12 descending into chaos on Mont Ventoux. Froome had attacked in a show of strength and was riding at the head of the general classification group when the fan-lined climb became too congested and, with no roadside barriers, forced a TV motorbike to come...
“The Tour de France is long and I’ll continue to fight” – Dan Martin
Despite the final climb of Mont Ventoux being shortened by six kilometres due to gusts of wind exceeding 125 kilometres per hour, today's stage of the Tour de France was still expected to be one of the most crucial day's of the race with the road to Chalet-Reynard averaging 8.8% over 10 kilometres. Mont Ventoux did prove to be difficult...
Video of strong winds on Mont Ventoux the day before the Tour arrives
The Tour de France organisers announced yesterday that today's stage of the race would be cut short by six kilometres due to strong winds on Mont Ventoux and a video posted yesterday really shows the impact that strong winds can have on cyclists on the climb. The video was posted by YouTube user kasperbs with the caption: "This was the...
Xeno Young Fourth in Junior Pursuit at European Track Championships
Junior Riders Fourth and Sixth in Pursuit at European Championships in Italy Irish rider Xeno Young finished fourth in the Junior Men’s Individual Pursuit at the UEC Track Juniors and U23 European Championships in Montichiari, Italy today. The Co. Down rider qualified for the bronze medal ride off following his fourth fastest time of 3.20.521, which was 5 seconds...
Onboard highlights from Stage 11 of the Tour de France (VIDEO)
The onboard highlights from today's eleventh stage of the Tour de France from Carcassonne to Montpellier really show what a difficult stage it was for the riders. There were numerous crashes during the stage as the race was affected by strong crosswinds. The riders also had to contend with narrow roads and a lot of street furniture in the various...
“The guys did a fantastic job to keep me at the front” Dan Martin
Dan Martin (Etixx-Quick Step) limited his losses today on what had been identified as a particularly dangerous day on the Tour de France and the 29 year-old Irishman thanked his team mates afterwards. Martin finished in the peloton, just six seconds behind stage winner Peter Sagan and maintained his third place overall. Today's eleventh stage from Carcassonne to Montpellier had...
Peter Sagan takes second stage win and strengthens grip on green jersey
On an exciting day of racing, Peter Sagan (Tinkoff) took his second stage win of this year’s Tour de France with an audacious move 12km from the finish, taking teammate Maciej Bodnar and the Yellow Jersey with him. Sagan’s stage win and the points amassed during the stage help the UCI World Champion to extend his lead in the...
When crosswinds cause havoc at the Tour de France (VIDEOS)
Crosswinds are expected on today's stage of the Tour de France, and this could potentially cause serious problems for some riders if echelons form. The stage from Carcassonne to Montpellier is fairly flat with just two Cat. 4 climbs along the way. However, strong winds of up to 70 km/h are predicted which means riders are going to have be...
Backstage Pass goes behind the scenes of Michael Matthews’ win (VIDEO)
Australian Michael Matthews sprinted to victory on stage ten of the Tour de France today capping off some outstanding work by ORICA-BikeExchange teammates Luke Durbridge and Daryl Impey. The ORICA-BikeExchange trio rode a perfect race, infiltrating the breakaway early in the stage before excellent work by Durbridge and Impey in the closing 30 kilometres set Matthews up in an ideal...
Onboard highlights from Stage 10 of the Tour de France (VIDEO)
There were no major changes to GC on today's stage of the Tour de France from Escaldes-Engordany to Revel as all the main favourites finished in the main bunch over 9 minutes down on stage winner Michael Matthews (Orica-BikeExchange). However, there was a big shake-up in the points competition as Peter Sagan (Tinkoff) infiltrated the winning break and took the...