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Pro Log: Visma-Lease a Bike’s ‘Control Room’ controversy, Red Bull joins the peloton, Kasia Niewiadoma extends with Canyon-SRAM and Tour de France delight
Welcome back to Pro Log. It’s the best time of the year as the Tour de France is officially underway. Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) currently leads after Stage 2, just as he did at the Giro d’Italia, which he then won…
He dropped a surprise bomb before the race, admitting that he had tested positive for Covid a couple of weeks before the Grand Départ, but recovered in time.
Mark Cavendish’s hunt for stage win #35 began in a less than ideal fashion as he suffered hard in the heat on the opening stage. He finished 39 minutes down, just inside the time cut, but fortunately looks to be in better spirits now.
Visma-Lease a Bike’s ‘Control Room’ banned from Tour de France
Visma-Lease a Bike introduced their ‘Control Room’ before the Tour de France, which is a van filled with equipment that they say ‘will act as a central collection point of real-time data’ for the race. The van would be available to show the team directors weather information, race radio and TV footage, as well as live data and technology integrated with the footage that shows exactly where particular riders are in the group.
The UCI issued a statement on the same day, which said, ‘Our priority is to maintain the integrity of the sport, ensuring sporting fairness, equitable access to technology and the primacy of man over machine. The UCI is committed to upholding these principles and will take appropriate measures based on the findings of the investigation.’
The Control Room has been banned from any Tour de France ‘premises’ by the ASO, but that doesn’t stop it operating elsewhere.
Bora-Hansgrohe are now Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe
Bora-Hansgrohe have now officially become Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, with their new look debuting at the Tour de France. The green kit has been replaced with a sponsor-laden dark kit as Red Bull becomes a main sponsor of the team.
Red Bull has previously sponsored individual riders such as Wout van Aert and Tom Pidcock but have now branched out into full team sponsorship. Given its prominent association with successful teams in other sporting disciplines such as the dominant Formula 1 team, will Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe have the same success? Only time will tell, though it certainly increases the team’s budget.
Kasia Niewiadoma extends with Canyon-SRAM
Kasia Niewiadoma has signed a two-year contract extension with Canyon-SRAM that takes her through to the end of 2026. Niewiadoma has been with the team since 2018 and has cemented herself as a fan favourite.
The 29-year-old rode to a phenomenal victory at La Flèche Wallonne this year, ending a run of 1,770 days between individual road wins. She recently finished just off the podium at the Tour de Suisse but topped the mountains classification at the Lotto Thüringen Ladies Tour.
On her extension, Niewiadoma said, ‘Of course, I considered other options, but it never felt entirely right, and I could not remain at peace with myself. I feel enormous support coming from the team… when things go well and when they don’t. I can fully be myself; I feel accepted, understood and motivated to embrace my position as one of the team leaders and as a rider who can share my knowledge with the youngsters.’
French delight at the Tour de France
They’re not on home roads just yet with this year’s Grand Départ taking place in Italy, but French riders have been flying in the 2024 Tour de France. Romain Bardet – in his final appearance at the race – wore the yellow jersey for the first time after a spectacular 1-2 on Stage 1 with neo-pro teammate Frank van den Broek; the duo’s daring breakaway held off the chasing pack who were just seconds behind.
On Stage 2, in his debut at the race, Kévin Vauquelin made it two from two for France with another breakaway victory, which was also Arkéa-B&B Hotels’ first ever Tour de France stage win.
It was on this day that Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) begrudgingly stepped into the maillot jaune as leader of the race. He admitted to Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) after the race that he tried to drop off the group to let someone else take the jersey to avoid the responsibilities that come with it.
See you next week.
The post Pro Log: Visma-Lease a Bike’s ‘Control Room’ controversy, Red Bull joins the peloton, Kasia Niewiadoma extends with Canyon-SRAM and Tour de France delight appeared first on Cyclist.