Pro Log: USA wins in Nice; Ayuso ready for Giro; Lidl-Trek five-peat Trofeo Alfredo Binda; Women’s 10s Flying 200m barrier broken

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Pro Log: USA wins in Nice; Ayuso ready for Giro; Lidl-Trek five-peat Trofeo Alfredo Binda; Women’s 10s Flying 200m barrier broken

Welcome back to another edition of Pro Log. Here’s a rundown of the latest results before we get started:

• Paris-Nice, Overall, Sun 16th March: 1st Matteo Jorgenson, Visma-Lease a Bike, 26h 26min 42sec; 2nd Florian Lipowitz, Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, +1min 15sec; 3rd Thymen Arensman, Ineos Grenadiers, +1min 58sec.
• Paris-Nice, Stage 8, Sun 16th March: 1st Magnus Sheffield, Ineos Grenadiers, 2h 48min 37sec; 2nd Matteo Jorgenson, Visma-Lease a Bike, +29sec; 3rd Felix Gall, Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale, +35sec.
• Tirreno-Adriatico, Overall, Sun 16th March: 1st Juan Ayuso, UAE Team Emirates XRG, 28h 41min 24sec; 2nd Filippo Ganna, Ineos Grenadiers, +35sec; 3rd Antonio Tiberi, Bahrain Victorious, +36sec.
• Tirreno Adriatico, Stage 7, Sun 16th March: 1st Jonathan Milan, Lidl-Trek, 3h 08min 07sec; 2nd Sam Bennett, Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale, +00sec; 3rd Olav Kooij, Visma-Lease a Bike, +00sec.
• Trofeo Alfredo Binda, Sun 16th March: 1st Elisa Balsamo, Lidl-Trek, 4h 00min 19sec; 2nd Blanka Vas, SD Worx-Protime, +00sec; 3rd Cat Ferguson, Movistar, +00sec.

American 1-2 to end Paris-Nice

Matteo Jorgenson defended his Paris-Nice title this weekend, crossing the finish line on Stage 8’s finale around Nice in second place to win overall, topping the standings by over a minute ahead of Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe’s Florian Lipowitz.

The last stage was won by Jorgenson’s compatriot Magnus Sheffield, who dedicated the victory – his first at WorldTour level – to the late Gino Mäder. Sheffield crashed on the same bend where Mäder lost his life at the Tour de Suisse in 2023.

It was a race of mixed fortunes for Visma-Lease a Bike with Jonas Vingegaard crashing on Stage 5 and being forced to abandone. Mads Pedersen meanwhile had one of the most impressive weeks of his career, putting in steam engine-like pulls on the front, climbing with the race’s favourites and breaking away on the final day to beat Jorgenson to points jerseys.

Juan Ayuso claims Tirreno-Adriatico trident

At the Tirreno-Adriatico, UAE Team Emirates XRG’s Juan Ayuso won the general classification (and the trident) by 35 seconds ahead of an impressive Filippo Ganna.

Ganna was the early leader of the race after his opening day time-trial victory; Ayuso then gained control following his win in the mountains on Stage 6. It’s a big early statement as the Spaniard prepares to take on Primož Roglič at the Giro d’Italia.

Elisa Balsamo wins Trofeo Alfredo Binda

Lidl-Trek’s Elisa Balsamo came out on top to defend her title at hilly Classic Trofeo Alfredo Binda. Moved back a week for the upcoming women’s Milan-San Remo, by the time live coverage finally materialised for the 152km race, the peloton had already covered over 120km.

Those final 30km were lit up with attacks from Elisa Longo Borghini, Demi Vollering and co., but it came down to a reduced bunch sprint.

At the finish, no one could touch the speed of Balsamo, who won the race for the third time and made it five in a row for Lidl-Trek. SD Worx-Protime’s Blanka Vas finished second and young British supertalent Cat Ferguson announced herself on the biggest stage with a podium in her first WorldTour race.

Records broken at UCI Track Nations Cup

At the UCI Track Nations Cup in Konya, Turkey, Yuan Liying of China became the first woman to break the ten-second barrier in the flying 200m on the velodrome, setting a time of 9.976sec for a new world record and a gold medal.

There’s a steeper banking here than most Olympic velodromes and GB’s Matthew Richardson would also go on to set a new world record with a time of 9.041sec. However this was later deemed invalid after he rode out-of-bounds, so Harrie Lavreysen continues to hold the world record in this discipline with a time of 9.088sec.

Richardson was then part of the British trio alongside Harry Ledingham-Horn and Harry Radford to set a new British record of 41.788sec in the men’s team sprint on their way to the gold medal.

See you next week.

The post Pro Log: USA wins in Nice; Ayuso ready for Giro; Lidl-Trek five-peat Trofeo Alfredo Binda; Women’s 10s Flying 200m barrier broken appeared first on Cyclist.