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RNZ News
6 days ago
- Sport
- RNZ News
Tour de France: George Bennett impressed with fellow Kiwi Laurence Pithie
FROM FIRST UP IV - ON AIR WED 0550AM New Zealand cyclist Laurence Pithie. Photo: Red Bull Content Pool / Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe / Oriol Castello Kiwi cyclist George Bennett wasn't able to make it to the start line for the 2025 Tour de France, but he's been closely following 'La Grande Boucle' from his training base in Andorra as he prepares for another of cycling's grand tours, the Vuelta a Espana. The efforts of fellow Kiwi Laurence Pithie have made an impression on Bennett. The 22-year-old is riding in his first Tour de France campaign and while he's back in 105th place after 10 stages, it's not his job to chase the yellow jersey. His role is to support Red Bull - Bora - Hansgrohe teammate Primoz Roglic. "He's a he's a big, strong boy from Canterbury." Bennett told RNZ's First Up . "He's definitely not scared to get his elbows out. He's a guy that likes to throw his weight around, and to have a guy like that on your team is really valuable. I love racing with guys like Laurence, but I hate racing against guys like Laurence. And that's why he's there for Primoz, and he's had a busy week protecting him." This year marks 50 years since the Tour first finished on the Champs circuit . To celebrate the occasion, organisers have altered the route of the final stage to include three laps of the Champs and three climbs up the Butte Montmartre. Normally the 21st stage is a largely ceremonial affair with the leaders sipping champagne on the road into Paris before a sprint finish. Bennett isn't a fan, and feels even without the changes, the final stage into Paris is a lot tougher than people realise. George Bennett in 2023. Photo: PHOTOSPORT "I hate it." he said. "On TV it kind of looks just like they cruise around and have a bunch sprint. The reality is that's one of the most horrific stages as it is, the cobbles are rough, it's uphill. It's it's such a horrific stage. If you win the Champ sprint then it's the biggest sprint of the year. But to make it another general classification day where suddenly you finish in the Alps, you take the charter flight to Paris and then you have to do this extremely dangerous (stage). Crashing on the cobbles is the worst, you don't get road rash, it takes big chunks out of you. It just, it just makes the whole last day so horrible." Although not having to ride it has altered his perspective a little. "When I was originally going on the tour and I saw that last stage, I wasn't very happy, but now that I'm sitting on my couch watching it, I think, yeah, cool." Once recent change Bennett is more positive about is the introduction of a punishment system for dangerous riding, first trialled during 2024. "In the past it was the wild west, and there weren't really consequences, but they've produced a bit of a yellow card system for dangerous riding. They've already handed out a few cards this year, and if you get two cards, you're out, so I don't know if it's making things safer, but it's probably adding a little bit of sort of justice for a few rogue operators that are repeat offenders." The tour resumes on Wednesday night New Zealand time with the 181 kilometre stage 12 from Auch to Hautacam. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
06-07-2025
- Sport
- RNZ News
Tour de France team has 11 bikes stolen
Alpecin-Deceuninck team's Dutch rider Mathieu van der Poel celebrates on the podium after winning the second stage of the 2nd stage of the Tour de France, northern France, 6 July, 2025 Photo: AFP Team Cofidis had 11 bikes stolen from their truck overnight before the start of the second stage of the Tour de France. The team, based near Lille, were able to find enough bikes to start stage two, a 209.1-km hilly ride from Lauwin-Planque to Boulogne-sur-Mer, but they condemned the burglary. Each bike is estimated by the team to have cost 13,000 euros (NZ$25,000). "The door of the workshop truck was forced open, and 11 of our LOOK Cycle bikes were stolen despite the security measures that had been put in place," the team said in a statement. "The Cofidis team strongly condemns this act of incivility and calls on the perpetrators to act with civility and responsibility." The team added that police officers visited the hotel to document the burglary and had begun their investigation. Emanuel Buchmann was the best of the Cofidis riders on the stage, finishing 20th. He is 14th after two stages. The Netherlands' Mathieu van der Poel won stage two ahead of Slovenian Tadej Pogacar in a sprint finish. New Zealander Laurence Pithie, riding for Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, finished 113th on the stage and is 105th overall. A large leading group stayed together for much of the stage which boiled up into a mass sprint for the line, Van der Poel edging out Pogacar in a photo finish with Denmark's Jonas Vingegaard taking third place. Alpecin-Deceuninck's Van der Poel also claimed the race leader's yellow jersey after winning the longest stage of the Tour, a 209.1km route from Lauwin-Planque to the northern coastal city of Boulogne-sur-Mer. "It was super difficult, the final was actually harder than I thought," Van der Poel said. "People said I was a favourite for today, but if you see which riders were up there on the climbs, I think I did a really good job to be there." Alpecin-Deceuninck can celebrate their second Tour win this year after Belgian Jasper Philipsen won the opening stage on Saturday. Due to adverse weather conditions that caused logistical issues, the start of the stage was delayed by about 15 minutes. Stage three is a 178.3km route over flat terrain from Valenciennes to Dunkirk on Tuesday. - Reuters
Irish Independent
29-06-2025
- Sport
- Irish Independent
Rory Townsend sprints to victory to claim second national road race title
Townsend and Meehan were part of a large breakaway group that spent most of the day out front before fragmenting on the final 9km circuit around Yellow Furze. This early ten-man move also contained WorldTour duo Ryan Mullen (Red Bull Bora Hansgrohe) and Darren Rafferty (EF Education) and was driven along by local hero Mullen for much of the day. 'For sure, the strongest guy all day was Ryan,' said newly crowned champion Townsend afterwards. 'He really took the race to everyone, rode so strong, but in the end the aggressive nature of the race maybe caught up with him a little bit. It was carnage.' This lead group of ten whittled down to just four in the finale, with Meehan leading them out onto the final lap with just Townsend, Rafferty and Patrick Casey of Israel Premier Tech U-23 Academy able to hang on. From this group, Townsend jumped clear again with 3km to go, with only Meehan able to bridge across to him. At the finish, the bigger more powerful Townsend had the upper hand in the sprint, with Meehan having to settle for silver in the elite race and gold in the U-23. 'There was a rolling section with about 3km to go with a bit of a tailwind that suited me so that's where I clipped away from our group,' said Townsend. 'I saw I was distancing Darren [Rafferty] and, at that point, I was feeling pretty confident. I was a little bit less confident when Jamie jumped across to me, because he's such a talent. 'I just sat on him and then banged him with 300metres to go. It's pretty simple maths – 75 kilos outweighs 50 kilos in a sprint like this. Townsend was emotional after the line and was mobbed by family and friends from Waterford where his father grew up before moving to London, and where the new national champion first took up cycling during his summer holidays. ADVERTISEMENT 'It sounds crazy but this is the biggest race of the year for me,' said Townsend through tears afterwards. 'It's the only one I struggle to sleep the night before and stuff, so it's really special. It's the one race you want to win from when you're a kid, so it makes you feel like a kid every time you come back and gives you the same feeling when you win. 'It's the only race I come to with my family, where they're my support crew and they have to put up with me in the morning before the race. It's a big relief to pull it off and make some apology for my foul mood this morning. 'We've been staying down in Lemybrien. I've been doing the old roads over the last few days. I've got my brother my dad, my uncle, all my family here with me, so it's really special. This is the biggest thing for me.' Second-placed Meehan was philosophical after going home with two medals in the combined elite / U-23 race. 'To get the elite would have been special,' he admitted of his second place on the day. 'Maybe in a few days I'll be happy with winning the U-23 but for now I'm disappointed. I had to fully commit with that group of four, stay out of that big group behind because I don't have a sprint, so I wanted as few as possible with me. 'I knew if I took a chance I could maybe get away, but Townsend put in a dig. I just hit it as hard as I could and got over to him. I went over the top of him, but he jumped on. 'I gave it another dig but he held it and said he wouldn't ride. He put in an attack and I had to give everything to hold the wheel. 'I knew if could have went one more time, that was the move, but I just couldn't go one more time, so I knew coming into the finish with him it was only going to go one way really.' Patrick Casey took third overall and the silver medal in the U-23 race three seconds later, with Darren Rafferty fourth at six seconds and recent Giro NextGen stage winner Seth Dunwoody (Bahrain Victorious U-23) leading home the chase group for fifth, 29 seconds back, and taking the bronze medal in the U-23 race.
Irish Independent
29-06-2025
- Sport
- Irish Independent
Two WorldTour entrants taking to the line at Cycling Ireland national road race championships in Navan
With Sam Bennett, Ben Healy, Eddie Dunbar and Archie Ryan all out due to team duties or elsewhere, the race has just two WorldTour entrants in Ryan Mullen (Red Bull Bora Hansgrohe) and reigning champion Darren Rafferty (EF Education), although the rise of U23 stars Adam Rafferty (Jayco Hagens Bermans), Seth Dunwoody (Bahrain victorious development team) and Liam O'Brien (Lidl Trek Development Team) as well as the presence of former champion Rory Townsend (Q36.5) former Ras Tailteann winners Dillon Corkery (St Michel Auber 93) and Daire Feeley (Burren CC), among others, means the duo won't have things their own way. 'It is less stacked than previous years,' three time winner Mullen says of the men's start list. 'But it doesn't really change the nature of the race. It's always really aggressive. It just means that the lead group will be missing the horsepower of three or four WorldTour riders but I don't think it'll change the dynamic of the race too much. "Nationals is a funny race. It follows the same protocol every year. If you're not in that move when it goes, then you can kiss goodbye to any chance of a result, so I just have to be vigilant on that first lap and make sure I'm in that deciding move, whenever it does go, and even then you still have to be on the front foot for most of the day.' Although born in England, Mullen has been taking the ferry with his Duleek-born father to race in Ireland since he was an underage rider and the seven time elite national time trial champion is looking forward to riding in front of a large family contingent in Navan on Sunday and would love to add a record-equalling fourth road title to his impressive CV. 'The whole family is going to be out,' he laughs. 'I've family in Drogheda, Navan, Slane, so they'll all be out. I had a little drive around the course when I landed the other day and my dad was pointing out all the gardens he had played in when he was a kid so if there's ever a nationals I'd like to win it'd be this one.' The course should suit his powerhouse style, although a crash in crosswinds at the Tour of Hungary about a month ago means he is still on the mend. 'I did a bit of damage to myself in Hungary alright,' he admits, 'but there was power in the legs on Thursday night, so I'm just going to go in as I always do and see what the day brings.'
BBC News
29-05-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Denz wins Giro stage 18 as Del Toro retains lead
Nico Denz claimed an impressive victory on stage 18 of the Giro d'Italia, while Isaac del Toro retained his overall leader's pink of Red Bull–Bora–Hansgrohe was part of an 11-rider breakaway before moving into the lead with 11km 31-year-old continued to extend his advantage in the latter stages of the 144km route from Morbegno to Cesano Maderno and crossed the line a minute before the chasing pack to seal his third Giro stage for the German was his team's first of this year's event after pre-race favourite Primoz Roglic had to abandon the race on Tuesday following his crash on stage 16. Team Polti Visit Malta's Italian Mirco Maestri finished second and Alpecin-Deceuninck's Belgian Edward Planckaert came third. "This is probably the most emotional of my victories at the Giro," Denz said. "Losing Jai Hindley early then the whole team, staff included, was fully committed to help Primoz Roglic win the Giro. We spent two months in altitude for that."I was three months away from home to prepare for the Giro. A dream was lost when we lost Primoz. We've thought all this hard work was for nothing. Luckily things turned around."With three stages remaining, Del Toro of UAE Team Emirates-XRG retained his 41-second overall lead over Richard Carapaz of EF Toro's team-mate Juan Ayuso, meanwhile, was forced to abandon the race after suffering an allergic reaction to a bee sting on stage Spaniard said he was advised by his doctor not to take part in Thursday's stage 18 but made the start line before having to withdraw after an to TNT Sports before the stage, Ayuso said: "It's been a couple of hard days. Yesterday, a bee went inside my helmet and I can't see out my right eye."The team doctor said it's best for me not to start, but I really want to try and give my best to be here for the team." Stage 18 results Nico Denz (Ger/Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) 3hrs 12mins 07 secsMirco Maestri (Ita/Team Polti VisitMalta) +1min 01secEdward Planckaert (Bel/Alpecin-Deceuninck) Same timeFilippo Magli (Ita/VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizane) Same timeAlexander Edmondson (Aus/Team Picnic PostNL) Same timeDries de Bondt (Bel/Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) Same timeDaan Hoole (Ned/Lidl-Trek) Same timeDavide De Pretto (Ita/Jayco Alula) Same timeNicola Conci (Ita/XDS Astana) Same timeLawrence Warbasse (US/Tudor Pro Cycling) Same time General classification after stage 18 Isaac del Toro (Mex/UAE Team Emirates-XRG) 68hrs 56mins 32secsRichard Carapaz (Ecu/EF Education-EasyPost) +41secsSimon Yates (GB/Visma-Lease a Bike) +51secsDerek Gee (Can/Israel-Premier Tech) + +1min 57secsDamiano Caruso (Ita/Bahrain Victorious) +3mins 06secsEgan Bernal (Col/Ineos Grenadiers) +4mins 43secsGiulio Pellizzari (Ita/Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) +5mins 02secsEiner Rubio (Col/Movistar) +6mins 09secsAdam Yates (GB/UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +7mins 45secsMichael Storer (Aus/Tudor Pro Cycling) +7mins 46secs
