The Cycling Disciple

Mikel Landa (Team Sky) atoned for two second place finishes in the last three days as the general classification was blown wide open on stage 19 of Giro 100. Credit: cyclingnews.com Landa earned a well-deserved stage victory at the third time of asking, riding away from Rui Costa (UAE Team Emirates) and Pierre Rolland (Cannondale-Drapac) to claim only his third ever Giro d'Italia win: all of which have come on mountains the great Marco Pantani won on. Nairo Quintana (Movistar) won back the maglia rosa by 38 seconds but three riders - Tom Dumoulin (Team Sunweb), Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida) and Thibaut Pinot (FDJ) - are less than 55 seconds behind with just one mountain stage and a flat time trial remaining. Landa said: "I had a teammate in the breakaway and that was key for my win today. I'm very happy, it's not what we expected at the beginning [to be fighting for stage wins rather than GC] but I'm really proud." "I had bad legs from the s...

Tejay van Garderen (BMC) won his first ever Grand Tour stage as Tom Dumoulin (Team Sunweb) retained his 31 second lead on general classification in the Dolomites on stage 18. Credit: road.cc Van Garderen and Mikel Landa (Team Sky) attacked the breakaway on the descent of the Passo di Pinei Panidersattel and opened a sizable gap before the Pontives climb to Ortisei. Landa didn't learn his lessons when he lost the sprint to Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida) on stage 16, and once again lost ground on the final bend to allow American van Garderen to pick up his maiden Grand Tour stage victory. Neither Nairo Quintana (Movistar) or Nibali could make attacks stick on Dumoulin over any of the five categorised climbs and in the end became so preoccupied with the Dutchman that Thibaut Pinot (FDJ) and Domenico Pozzovivo (AG2R) took over a minute from them on general classification during the final steep ascent into Ortisei. "It's been a rough couple of years in Grand Tours...

Pierre Rolland ends Cannondale-Drapac's two year drought without a stage win in a Grand Tour with a breakaway on stage 17 of Giro 100.  Credit: cyclingnews.com The French rider - who's last Grand Tour stage win was five years ago on the Tour de France - attacked the breakaway group with 8km remaining and fought on his own to take the stage win in Canazei, 30 years after it was last used on a Giro d'Italia route. This result ends two years of disappointment after Davide Formolo's victory for Cannondale-Garmin on stage four of the 2015 Giro d'Italia. "I'm just so happy", exclaimed a relieved Rolland, "I've waited for this moment for such a long time. The last 50km was attack, attack, left, right, come back. The last 8km there was so much pain everywhere in my body and I just thought, 'ok just keep going'."  Rui Costa (UAE Team Emirates) and Gorka Izaguirre (Movistar) finished at the front of the chasing pack to ...

Bob Jungels (Quick-Step Floors) won his first Grand Tour stage in a sprint finish between the general classification contenders on stage 15 of Giro 100 as Tom Dumoulin (Team Sunweb) retained his maglia rosa. Credit: road.cc Best Young Rider Jungels beat a small group of GC rivals while Nairo Quintana claimed back six bonus seconds on Dumoulin by finishing second. Stage winner Jungels said: "This was my kind of race. Today was real racing - like a classic. I think I showed some panache at the end but it wasn't easy because the others attacked at the end too. It's a great victory for the team - the fifth in fact - so we're not doing too bad." Dumoulin said: "Today was pretty mad. It was a hectic stage, super fast. It was a tricky final but we stayed calm and safe to have another day in pink." A bunch of ten GC riders rode over the final Bergamo Alta climb together and broke away on the descent leaving the winner to be the rider with the best sp...

Tom Dumoulin (Team Sunweb) cracked Nairo Quintana (Movistar) on the climb to the Sanctuary of Oropa to extend his lead in the maglia rosa by 24 seconds as he won stage 14 of the 100th Giro. Credit: cyclingnews.com The Movistar rider had initially attacked on the 11km climb up to the Sanctuary but Dumoulin kept his composure to slowly but surely reel the Colombian back in and out sprint Ilnur Zakarin (Katusha-Alpecin) and Mikel Landa (Team Sky) for the stage victory. A beaming Dumoulin said at the finish: "I knew they [Movistar] would attack and they did. It was very hard but I always had my focus and I was quite relaxed. I couldn't follow the first attack from Quintana so I had to take my own pace and I came closer and closer, and at the end I still had something left for the finish." He was, however, reserved in his confidence of winning the Giro: "There's a lot of climbing to do in the last week and we are far from Milan still." A disheartened ...

Ciclamino jersey holder Fernando Gaviria (Quick-Step Floors) completed a hattrick of stage wins at Giro 100 with a comfortable victory on the longest stage of the race. Credit: velonews.com Gaviria finished well ahead of rivals Sam Bennett (Bora-Hansgrohe), Andre Greipel (Lotto-Soudal) and Caleb Ewan (Orica-Scott), as the Colombian once again asserted himself as the best sprinter at Giro 100. Jakub Mareczko (Wilier Selle Italia), Sam Bennett (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Phil Bauhaus (Team Sunweb) weren't a challenge to Gaviria in the end, with his own lead out man, Maximiliano Richeze (Quick-Step Floors), taking fifth. Gaviria was modest in victory, respecting his rival, Greipel: "I'm not sure I'm the best, Andre Greipel is the best - he has more victories in his career - but I'm the one with the most victories at this Giro. I've got better form which is why I have three wins." Gaviria's teammate, Davide Martinelli, said: "I think we did a rea...

Omar Fraile (Dimension Data) took a stunning maiden Grand Tour victory at Giro 100 after being out all day in the breakaway on stage 11 as Tom Dumoulin (Team Sunweb) retained the maglia rosa in the Apenines. Credit: eurosport.com The Spaniard and Team Sky's Mikel Landa took advantage of the early chaotic fight for position and opened a lead. Fraile bolstered his claim for the King of the Mountains jersey taking maximum points on three of the four categories climbs to draw level with Jan Polanc (UAE Team Emirates). After Landa dropped back in the run up to the fourth climb, Fraile formed a group with Pierre Rolland (Cannondale-Drapac) and Rui Costa (UAE Team Emirates) who were then joined by Tanel Kangert (Astana) in the final couple of kilometres. The chasing group caught Fraile and co but the Spaniard used Kangert's lead out to out sprint his four rivals to a first ever Giro d'Italia win for Dimension Data and a maiden Grand Tour stage victory for himself. Frai...

Team Sunweb's Tom Dumoulin put a huge claim onto the maglia rosa as he rode one of the best individual time trials of his career, smashing his nearest general classification rivals by nearly three minutes. Credit: theguardian.com Dumoulin expertly demonstrated why he's one of the best in the world in time trials and now has a two minute 23 second cushion to Movistar's Nairo Quintana on general classification, while Trek Segafredo's Bauke Mollema moves up to third, FDJ's Thibaut Pinot in fourth and Bahrain-Merida's Vincenzo Nibali in fifth - all within 24 seconds of Quintana. Dumoulin was calm but happy after the stage: "It's super special. Really happy with today. It was really hard with the wind and I had the feeling I went out a little bit too fast and at the end I was really really suffering, but it was enough. Apparently everyone was suffering because I had quite a gap!" Coming into the stage there was a suggestion that Dumoulin would...

Giro 100 took a while to warm up in truth, and while it's now bubbling away nicely, the turn of events that sparked the race into life on Blockhaus may leave a sour taste. The first nine stages have been littered with sprints and long 200km+ parcours - which haven't exactly captured the imagination - but have been nuanced by unorthodox finishes, a future Grand Tours mountains star and yet another incident involving a vehicle that just shouldn't have been there. An Unlikely Winner Credit: cycling.today I'm pretty sure no one in the world had money on Bora-Hansgrohe's Lukas Postlberger to win stage one. Anyone lucky enough to do so would've been at least £500 richer. The script was written. The lead-out trains would do their jobs and it would be a straight forward sprint shootout between the big four; Caleb Ewan (Orica-Scott), Andre Greipel (Lotto-Soudal), Fernando Gaviria (Quick-Step Floors) and Sam Bennett (Bora-Hansgrohe). But no. In a tumultuous ...

Nairo Quintana was supreme and demolished every rival on the climb to Blockhaus as a motorbike crash ruined Mikel Landa, Geraint Thomas and Adam Yates' chances of winning the 2017 Giro d'Italia on stage nine. Credit: cyclingweekly.com Movistar's Quintana showed why he's one of the best climbers in the world as he rode away from general classification rivals Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida) and Thibaut Pinot (FDJ) up Blockhaus. Quintana takes over the maglia rosa by 28 seconds to an impressive Pinot, 30 seconds to time trial specialist Tom Dumoulin (Team Sunweb), Bauke Mollema (Trek Segafredo) who sits 51 seconds down and Nibali who is one minute ten seconds in arrears. But the story of the day came from a police motorbike that had abruptly stopped, taking out a Team Sunweb rider, resulting in a large proportion of the peloton hitting the tarmac - most notably the entirety of Team Sky. It goes without saying, but Thomas, Landa and Yates' chances of pullin...

Caleb Ewan beat Fernando Gaviria and Sam Bennett in a photo finish to claim his first ever Giro d'Italia win on stage seven. Credit: road.cc Orica-Scott's Ewan had been disappointed by his bad luck in previous stages during the first week of the 2017 Giro d'Italia but was led out to perfection by Luka Mezgec through the narrow streets of Alberbello to take his first ever Giro stage victory. Ireland's Bennett (Bora-Hansgrohe) and ciclamino points jersey holder Gaviria (Quick-Step Floors) finished so close to the diminutive Australian that a photo finish was needed which showed Ewan had won by the margin of just half a wheel to both. Andre Greipel (Lotto-Soudal) and Jasper Stuyven (Trek Segafredo) were never in contention but finished the top five. An over-the-moon and relieved Ewan said: "We [Ewan and Mezgec] lost each other with 3km to go but the guys were so confident and so calm we all just waited and we got back together and then Luka did an amazing jo...

BMC Racing's Silvan Dillier beat Trek Segafredo's Jasper Stuyven by just half a bike length to take his first Grand Tour stage win as the breakaway gallantly stayed out all day on stage six of the 2017 Giro d'Italia. Credit: eurosport.com Stage six from Reggio Calabria to Terme Luigiane had been touted as a highly unpredictable race with scenarios and multiple possible winners, but it was a strong breakaway of young riders that managed to allude the peloton all day and resulted in a tight sprint finish between Dillier and Stuyven. The initial break of five was whittled down to three in the last 10km - one being stage one's surprise winner, Lukas Postlberger - and as they began the steep climb into the finish at Terme Luigiane it became a question of who could launch their sprint most effectively. Dillier proved too strong for Stuyven in the end and beat the Belgian by no more than half a bike length with third placed Postlberger 12 seconds in arrears. "...

Quick-Step Floors' Fernando Gaviria won his second stage of the 2017 Giro d'Italia to take over the ciclamino points jersey on stage five into Messina. Credit: telegraph.co.uk Colombian Gaviria was led out to perfection by his Quick-Step teammate, Max Richeze, and managed to fend off Jakub Mareczko (Willier Selle Italia), Sam Bennett (Bora-Hansgrohe), Andre Greipel (Lotto-Soudal) and Phil Bauhaus (Team Sunweb) to win his second stage of his debut Giro d'Italia and take the ciclamino points jersey. Gaviria's lead out man Richeze said after the stage: "At the beginning of this stage, Fernando wasn't in great shape. We knew he'd feel better as we headed closer towards the finish line. We moved well as a team when we came towards the finish line and put him [Gaviria] in a good position and it went well." The duo in the day's break were wildcard riders Maciej Paterski (CCC) and Evgeny Shalunov (Gazprom), keen to make the most of the short stag...

UAE Team Emirates' Jan Polanc stayed out all day to pull off an amazing breakaway victory on Mount Etna as Quick-Step Floors' Bob Jungels took over the maglia rosa on stage four of the Giro d'Italia. Credit: cyclingnews.com After being in a break of four since the 2km mark, Slovenian Polanc set out on his own on Mount Etna and managed to maintain 19 seconds of clean air between himself and closest challenger, Katusha-Alpecin's Ilnur Zakarin, to take the stage and King of the Mountains jersey. A bunch of main general classification contenders, fronted by Geraint Thomas and including Jungels, Vincenzo Nibali, Nairo Quintana, Adam Yates and Thibaut Pinot, came over the line together 29 seconds down. The result means the Luxembourg champion takes control of the maglia rosa with a six second advantage to Team Sky's Welshman who moves into second place, with Orica-Scott's Adam Yates in third as the first of seven general classification contenders ten seconds...

Quick-Step Floors' Fernando Gaviria took a debut Giro d'Italia stage victory and with it the race leader's maglia rosa as crosswinds ripped the peloton apart in the last ten kilometres of stage three. Credit: cyclingweekly.com Gaviria's teammate Bob Jungels was supreme in blazing a trail for his team to follow as the race turned into cutting crosswinds in the final stages, resulting in the peloton splitting into multiple groups on the road and many of the pre-stage favourites losing time. Jungels led a group of eight into the final kilometre where Gaviria took over to take the stage win ahead of Rudiger Selig (Bora-Hansgrohe), Italian national champion Giacomo Nizzolo (Trek Segafredo) and Nathan Haas (Dimension Data). As a result of the big splits in the peloton caused by Jungels and the Quick-Step team, Gaviria takes the race lead, nine seconds ahead of Lotto-Soudal's Andre Greipel - who lost contact with the Quick-Step group in the crosswinds - and 13 se...

Lotto-Soudal's Andre Greipel won his first maglia rosa after winning the sprint at the end of a painfully slow stage two of the 2017 Giro d'Italia as an unfortunate clash in the final metres cost Orica-Scott's Caleb Ewan. Credit: cyclingweekly.com Griepel was led out to perfection and easily beat UAE Team Emirates' Roberto Ferrari, but Ewan will rue a clash with Quick-Step Floors' Fernando Gaviria that made his left foot unclip from his pedal while launching his sprint inside the final 100 metres. " It was a very hard day – six hours on the bike with a headwind. I’m really proud of my teammates who supported me. I’m really proud of this stage win and the pink jersey, which I dedicate to my teammates and my mother", said a proud Greipel. Stage two had been looked at as a stage too lumpy for the sprinters to stick with the main group of riders, but a painfully slow average speed of 36.295 kilometres per hour meant that after over six hours of ridin...

In a strange turn of events, Grand Tour debutant, Bora-Hansgrohe's Lukas Postlberger, upset the formula and surprised the entire peloton with an impressive improvised victory on stage one of the 2017 Giro d'Italia. Postlberger cruises over the finish line in Olbia to claim the maglia rosa Credit: telegraph.co.uk Postlberger, Bora-Hansgrohe's intended lead-out man for Ireland's Sam Bennett found himself a few bike lengths clear of his teammate with just over one kilometre to go and after a few looks behind just kept going, taking both the peloton and his own teammates by surprise by staying clear and cruising across the line while the sprinters desperately scrambled for second. A slightly baffled Sam Bennett said the sprint didn't go to plan: "No, no, we were planning for the sprint but it was a really messy final and he's [Postlberger] found himself on the front and I just said 'go'!  "Inside the last two kilometres he got a ga...

The 2017 Giro d'Italia - the 100th edition of the race - will be veiled in sadness and mournful reflection as the peloton and the wider cycling world comes to terms with the untimely death of one of the most charismatic and well-loved Italian cyclists ever: Michele Scarponi. L'Aguila di Filottrano (The Eagle of Filottrano) was killed after being hit by a van near his home after a training ride and had only just returned from finishing fourth in the Tour of the Alps 24 hours earlier where he won stage one. Scarponi (centre) receives his maglia rosa in 2011 after Contador was stripped of the Giro title for a positive drug test Credit: cyclingnews.com A diminutive figure at only five foot seven, Scarponi's personality and boundless charisma made him the comic relief of the peloton and the teams he rode for, often joking around before a big stage to lighten the mood or start a sing-song in the middle of the peloton during a long stage. At 37, Scarponi was a veteran of t...