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The Guardian
a day ago
- Sport
- The Guardian
‘I had no idea': Chris Harper happy to share spotlight after Simon Yates banishes Giro d'Italia demons
Australian cyclist Chris Harper is yet to properly soak up the ride of his life and first Grand Tour stage victory by watching a replay of his long-range and daring solo attack over the Colle delle Finestre and up the Sestrière. But the 30-year-old climber won't have to look too hard to find highlights in the future after his ride was a major subplot as the decisive story of the 2025 Giro d'Italia unfolded behind him. Harper arrived in Albania for the opening three stages of the Giro with ambitions to prove himself as a general classification contender. A top-10 placing by the time the three-week race finished in Rome was the realistic goal. But a bout of illness hit the Team Jayco AlUla rider on the second rest day and Harper had to lift himself in the third week just to turn his focus toward chasing a stage win. After working his way into the major breakaways that were all chased down on successive days, Harper thought his race was all but done as the Giro landed in Verrès for the penultimate day and queen's stage with more than 4,500m of climbing over 205km to come. Yet almost by accident, Harper found himself in another break, felt he was on a good day and with a healthy dose of what he calls 'white line fever' set off to conquer one of the most brutal climbs in Italy. Further back, Harper's former teammate Simon Yates, now at Team Visma-Lease a Bike, was dropping Isaac del Toro in the maglia rosa and second-placed Richard Carapaz on the Finestre. As Yates blew the race wide open, his remaining challengers for pink did little more than look at each other, and the former Vuelta a España winner became Harper's main concern. 'I didn't know too much about what was going on behind me, I had no idea,' Harper tells Guardian Australia while enjoying his post-race recovery on Santorini. 'I just knew that Simon was solo and that he was putting quite a bit of time into del Toro and Carapaz. On the Finestre, my sports director said, 'Simon's about five and a half minutes behind,' and then they said, 'Oh, but he's two minutes in front of the other GC guys'. 'In my head I knew he was riding for pink but that also made me more nervous because I knew he was going to push full gas to the line to take as much time as he could. I've seen him on a good day and I know what he can do.' Harper and Yates rode together on Jayco AlUla in 2023 and 2024 with the Australian often his teammate's last support in the mountains, including at last year's Tour de France. Rather than feeling overshadowed by the story of Yates banishing his demons from the 2018 Giro when he cracked on much the same stage as Chris Froome took the maglia rosa away from him, Harper is almost as pleased for his friend as for his own breakthrough triumph. The dual celebrations at the end of stage 20 at Sestrière were a reminder that one of the joys of road cycling can be having more than one winner on the same day. 'I was quite nervous once I pulled away alone, especially when the radio said 'Simon's just caught up with Wout [van Aert] and Wout's chasing now',' Harper says. 'They're pretty calm on the radio but you get a sense from the tone in their voice what's happening, you realise how nervous they are. I knew if I blew up, it would be quite easy for Simon to bring back a lot of time on me. So I just paced myself so I'd have a bit left in the tank for the last two or three kilometres. 'Once I got to the last kilometre, they just said, 'You're going to win it, enjoy it, take a moment'. The Finestra is quite a famous climb so it's definitely a nice one to win. I haven't actually watched the race, so I want to go back and watch it just to see what Simon was doing in the GC group as well. He was my teammate and I worked with him a lot, so it'll be nice to sit down and actually watch the stage, soak it in a bit more as well.' Sign up to Australia Sport Get a daily roundup of the latest sports news, features and comment from our Australian sports desk after newsletter promotion 'I was so happy for Simon and it was nice to see him at the finish line and be able to share that moment together. All of it wrapped up into one nice day. It was like all our bad luck went away at the same time, and it was just the perfect day for both of us. The victory was Harper's first since winning a stage and eventually the general classification at the Tour of Japan in 2019, a year before he joined the world tour for the first time with Team Jumbo-Visma. With a first taste of personal success for six years, Harper wants to chase more stages while continuing to explore what he is capable of on GC again at this year's Vuelta. 'I didn't even think about it,' he says. 'My manager made a joke that I celebrated twice, once before the finish line and then after I crossed the line. I haven't won a lot so I don't have a lot of practice. It didn't hurt to get two celebrations in the one.'
Yahoo
17-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
A long ride to Rome: could the Giro d'Italia really be bound for Australia?
The Tour Down Under in South Australia shows that logistical challenges are not insurmountable for international cycling teams competing in Australia. The Tour Down Under in South Australia shows that logistical challenges are not insurmountable for international cycling teams competing in Australia. Photograph:Earlier this month, the Giro d'Italia – Italy's premier cycling race and one of three Grand Tours on the global cycling calendar – began in Albania. So far, so normal – it is increasingly common for the Grand Tours to begin outside their homelands. The Tour de France first started outside France in 1954; in recent years, the Grand Départ has taken place in Italy, Spain, Denmark and Belgium. The Giro has previously rolled out from as far afield as Israel and Northern Ireland, while next year's Vuelta a España will begin in Monaco. But on Monday, the well-known Australian cycling commentator Mike Tomalaris raised eyebrows when he suggested the 2027 Giro might begin half a world away: in Australia. With a post on Instagram, Tomalaris indicated he was breaking the news. Advertisement Related: 'I can live up to it': Giro d'Italia contender Michael Storer on his Destroyer nickname 'I can reveal officials from state governments have held high level discussions with the view of bringing the opening three stages of Italy's Grand Tour to Australia in May, 2027,' Tomalaris said in the post. 'This is not a joke. It's not a rumour. It's for real.' The suggestion drew mixed reactions from the cycling world. Three-time Australian national champion Luke Plapp, who is midway through riding this year's Giro for Team Jayco AlUla, replied to Tomalaris's post: 'Genuinely impossible.' The French chef Gabriel Gaté, famous for his Taste le Tour segment during past SBS broadcasts of the Tour de France, was more enthusiastic: 'Incredibile!.' Others asked whether it was April Fools' Day. One commentator observed that it would be a long ride from Australia to Italy. On a subsequent episode of the cycling podcast The Domestiques, Tomalaris went further and said he had 'seen the paperwork' relating to the bid. Nor did the Giro race director Mauro Vegni deny the rumour when asked about it by Belgian media outlet Sporza. Advertisement 'We don't rule anything out,' Vegni said. 'It's difficult from a practical and logistical point of view, but we don't say no to anyone in advance.' But the race director was not exactly effusive about the prospect of an Australian Grande Partenza. 'Everything is possible, but you have to study the interest well, and you also have to find out what the UCI's position is,' he said. 'Moreover, we do not yet know how the calendar will be reformed soon and what the rules will be.' Guardian Australia can reveal that this is not the first time the prospect of a Giro start in Australia has been explored. Documents seen by the Guardian show detailed consideration went into a potential start in Sydney in 2021, including budget estimates and a proposed opening stage route taking in landmarks such as the Opera House (the race ultimately began in Italy that year). A letter from the Giro organisers, RCS Sports, formally invited the then New South Wales sports minister to attend an edition of the race in Italy. Advertisement The logistical challenges of bringing almost 200 professional cyclists, plus team staff and equipment, to Australia for three or so stages and then returning the peloton to Italy would not be for the faint-hearted (or the climate-conscious). Typically World Tour teams use their own team bus and numerous team cars, which could not feasibly travel to Australia and back. Equipment would not be an insurmountable obstacle, though: the Tour Down Under in South Australia and the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race are both fixtures on the World Tour calendar. More challenging is the flight time and time difference. Races often have a rest day after international starts, but the travel and jetlag involved might require two rest days. Qantas flies direct from Perth to Rome on a seasonal basis, with a flight time of almost 16 hours. The six-hour time difference also causes headaches: from a rider recovery perspective, and for television audiences – a critical factor due to the lucrative broadcast contracts underpinning these races. A Grand Tour start on the east coast of Australia, with longer flight times and time differences, would be even more problematic. Could Western Australia be the key? Given those geographical advantages, Western Australia seems the most likely candidate. The state government has been investing in cycling in recent years, securing hosting rights to the AusCycling national road championships and, in 2026, the UCI Gravel World Championships. Advertisement A spokesperson for Tourism Western Australia told the Guardian: 'Tourism Western Australia actively works to secure a range of major and exclusive events that drive visitation, elevate WA on a global stage and generate significant media coverage for our state.' 'Individual event negotiations are commercial in confidence, however, we have a proud history of hosting high-profile cycling events,' the spokesperson added. 'We're always assessing new content to add to our always on, year-round events calendar, to affirm our reputation as the fastest growing events destination in the South East Asia region and as a world-class host of major sporting events.' Related: Australian cyclist Caleb Ewan stuns sport by announcing retirement As described by the cycling news outlet Escape Collective, which first reported the statement, the state government's position seems to be 'not a 'yes', but it's also not-not a yes'. Sooner or later, a Grand Tour will begin outside cycling's European heartland. Israel was a first step in 2018; the Middle East has been touted as a potential next frontier – there have been a proliferation of World Tour races across the region in recent years, including in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Australia has a rich cycling history, but geography counts against it. In cycling, though, nothing is impossible.
News.com.au
06-05-2025
- Sport
- News.com.au
Caleb Ewan, Aussie cycling star, announces shock retirement
Australia's five-time Tour de France stage winner Caleb Ewan announced his retirement aged just 30 on Tuesday declaring the past two seasons had 'taken a significant toll on my relationship with the sport'. Ewan, who recorded 65 career victories including 11 across the Tour de France, Giro and Vuelta, had begun his first season with Ineos in good shape. The combative sprint specialist had won the first stage of the Settimana Internazionale di Coppi e Bartali and then the second stage of the Tour of the Basque Country in April. However, on Tuesday he brought down the curtain on his 11 year career. 'After much thought, I've decided to retire from professional cycling, effective immediately,' he said in a statement on the British team's website. 'The last few years haven't been easy but in 2025 I found something again -- not just legs, but belief -- thanks to the INEOS Grenadiers. 'But the truth is that even when I crossed the line first, that feeling -- the one you chase for years - faded quicker than it used to.' Ewan, who would likely have been in the team for this year's Tour de France, alluded to bad experiences with his past two teams. He left Lotto at the end of 2023, after five years, following a disagreement with new team chief Stephane Heulot and stayed for just a season with Aussie outfit Team Jayco AlUla. 'My experiences of the past two seasons, in particular the second half of 2024, has taken a significant toll on my relationship with the sport.' He added that he was leaving the sport content that 'I've accomplished more than I ever imagined possible'. INEOS bade him a fond farewell.
