Welcome back to another edition of Pro Log. Here’s a rundown of the latest results before we get started:
- Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Stage 2, Mon 8th June: 1st Anton Charmig, Uno-X Mobility, 5h 40min 29sec; 2nd Henri-François Renard-Haquin, Picnic-PostNL, +41sec; 3rd Vlad Van Mechelen, Bahrain Victorious, +41sec.
- Giro d’Italia Women, Overall, Sun 7th June: 1st Demi Vollering, FDJ United-Suez, 29h 54min 19sec; 2nd Antonia Niedermaier, Canyon-Sram, +30sec; 3rd Anna van der Breggen, SD Worx-Protime, +1min 37sec.
- Giro d’Italia Women, Stage 9, Sun 7th June: 1st Elisa Longo Borghini, UAE Team ADQ, 3h 45min 09sec; 2nd Niamh Fisher-Black, Lidl-Trek, +00sec; 3rd Antonia Niedermaier, Canyon-Sram, +02sec.
- Brussels Cycling Classic, Sun 7th June: 1st Jordi Meeus, Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, 4h 32min 54sec; 2nd Milan Frentin, Cofidis, +00sec; 3rd Biniam Girmay, NSN Cycling, +00sec.
Thibaut Pinot offers farm Airbnb experience for Tour de France
Iconic former cyclist Thibaut Pinot is offering one family of up to six people to stay at his farm in Mélisey during the Tour de France through an Airbnb experience. It will be a four-day, three-night weekend from 16th-19th July, with the main event following Stage 13 including a ride in an official race car and a helicopter view of the day.
‘I grew up in Franche-Comté and this is where I came back to after cycling,’ Pinot says. ‘My farm in Mélisey is where I spend my days now, and for four days and three nights, I’m inviting one family to share it with me.
‘You’ll arrive to a tour of the house and an authentic Pinot family BBQ, just a good evening together before the days ahead. The main event is a full day at the Tour de France. I’ll get you into the paddock at the start, you’ll follow the stage from inside an official race car, and we’ll watch part of it from a helicopter. I raced this event for years – I’ll show you what it looks like from the inside.
‘The last day is about the farm. I’ll take you round to meet the sheep and cattle, we’ll head out on e-bikes through the countryside, and finish with a picnic by my pond. It’s a quiet part of the world and I’m so proud of it and excited to share it with guests for the first time.’
Booking opens on 19 Jun at 9am BST here and is on a first-come, first-served basis.
Demi Vollering completes the Grand Tour set at Giro d’Italia Women
Demi Vollering won the Giro d’Italia Women after a dramatic final stage to overhaul a deficit of 49 seconds to former teammate and DS Anna van der Breggen.
After winning the truncated penultimate stage on the Colle delle Finestre, Vollering went into Stage 9 49 seconds down on Van der Breggen, but after the race was blown apart on the day’s first climb with Canyon-SRAM’s Antonio Niedermaier in a leading trio and Vollering and Van der Breggen two minutes behind, it was Niedermaier who had the virtual maglia rosa.
Vollering’s impressive FDJ United-Suez teammate Lauren Dickson brought the gap within reach – enough for make up for Vollering’s overall lead over Niedermaier – then on the day’s final climb, Vollering attacked and went clear with 38km still to go.
It didn’t take long for her to catch the leading group of Niedermaier, Elisa Longo Borghini and Niamh Fisher-Black, and with the group all working together well Van der Breggen’s lead was soon demolished and then some.
Longo Borghini beat Fisher-Black for the sprint for the stage win and Vollering sewed up the overall title by 30 seconds ahead of Niedermaider, leaving Van der Breggen to settle for third, 1min 37sec down.
Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes/the Dauphiné underway
The Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes – the premier Tour de France warm-up race formerly known as the Critérium du Dauphiné – is underway, with Paul Seixas set to face off against Isaac del Toro, Juan Ayuso and Oscar Onley in a tough week of racing that includes a team time-trial and a lot of climbing.
The first two stages have already been ticked off with two breakaway wins, firstly from EF’s Alex Baudin and secondly Uno-X Mobility’s Anthon Charmig. There hasn’t been much of a GC battle yet, however a split in the favourites’ group at the end of Stage 1 did see Netcompany Ineos duo Oscar Onley and Kévin Vauquelin take 12 seconds over the other main contenders.
Ben Oliver wins Tour de Wallonie
Ben Oliver scored Modern Adventure Pro Cycling’s first general classification victory at the Tour de Wallonie. The New Zealander thrived in Belgium, winning Stages 2 and 5 – and celebrating with an on-bike haka and pūkana in the pouring rain – to secure the overall win by two seconds over NSN Cycling’s Riley Sheehan.