Simon Yates claimed his fifth win at the Giro d'Italia as he triumphed in the short time-trial stage two in Budapest on Saturday.
Tom Dumoulin (Jumbo-Visma), who managed silver at the 2020 Olympics, produced a breathless ride to displace Matteo Sobrero (BikeExchange-Jayco) with the first time trial under 12 minutes on the 9.2-kilometre course.
However, Dumoulin soon relinquished his lead when Yates (BikeExchange-Jayco) breezed across the finish line in 11:50, five seconds faster than the 2017 Giro winner's initial benchmark.
Race leader Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix) completed the time check just a second slower than Yates, but ultimately fell three seconds short of a second consecutive stage victory.
Dutchman Van der Poel, sporting the pink jersey after collecting stage-one honours in Visegrad, retains the Maglia Rosa, while Brit Yates climbs to second in the general classification standings.
While many suggested victory at stage two would lay down a marker for the rest of his competitors, Yates insists there is a long way to go in Italy.
"It doesn't really change anything for me, of course, really happy with the win but it was only a 12-minute effort," he told reporters.
"It's not going to be won over these 12 minutes I don't think, the next stages are going to be really different so let's stay calm and see what the next couple of days hold."
Yates was also quick to credit his team for their work.
"We put a lot of hard work into improving our equipment, looking back to October and November, we were really working hard on it and now we are seeing the results from it," he added.
"I have to thank our sponsors, they really helped me to get into a great position in the winter to refine that on the road, as well as help from my team."
Van der Poel keeps Maglia Rosa
Yates may have done significant early damage to his general classification rivals, but Van der Poel will keep the pink jersey. The Alpecin-Fenix rider becomes the third Dutchman to sport the Maglia Rosa in the first two stages after Erik Breukink in 1987 and Dumoulin in 2016.
STAGE RESULT
1.Simon Yates (BikeExchange-Jayco): 11:50
2.Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix): +0:03
3.Tom Dumoulin (Jumbo-Visma): +0:05
4.Matteo Sobrero (BikeExchange-Jayco): +0:13
5.Ben Tulett (Ineos Grenadiers): +0:13
CLASSIFICATION STANDINGS
General Classification
1. Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix) 4:47:11
2. Simon Yates (BikeExchange-Jayco) +0:11
3. Tom Dumoulin (Jumbo-Visma) +0:16
Points Classification
1. Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix) 62
2. Biniam Girmay (Intermarche-Wanty-Gobert) 35
3. Peio Bilbao Lopez de Armentia (Bahrain Victorious) 25
King of the Mountains
1. Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix) 3
2. Rick Zabel (Israel-Premier Tech) 3
3. Biniam Girmay (Intermarche-Wanty-Gobert) 2
Pogacar fends off Vingegaard for 'dream' triumph at Paris-Nice
Tadej Pogacar achieved a "dream" victory in the Paris-Nice as the two-time Tour de France champion powered to a final-stage win on Sunday.
The 24-year-old Slovenian produced a thrilling solo surge on the 117.2-kilometre eighth stage, chiefly contested in the hills surrounding Nice.
His race-winning move came on the final climb, the Col d'Eze, as the UAE Team Emirates man left his rivals to scrap it out for second place before tearing away to the finish line on the Promenade des Anglais.
Pogacar took the stage by 33 seconds. Jonas Vingegaard (Team Jumbo-Visma) was second to cross the line on the sea front, with Pogacar taking the overall tour victory by 53 seconds from France's David Gaudu (Groupama–FDJ).
Vingegaard, the reigning Tour de France champion, picked up third place on this occasion in the general classification standings.
Pogacar won the one-day Clasica Jaen Paraiso Interior in Spain early last month, and then went on to dominate the five-day Vuelta a Andalucia.
The latest success is a further step towards the grand tours that await later in the year, with Pogacar electing to race at this event, on the roads where he does much of his training, rather than head to the Tirreno-Adriatico in Italy. That race, running concurrently, was won on Sunday by Primoz Roglic after Pogacar's victories there in 2021 and 2022.
"It was always my goal, my dream, to win Paris-Nice as well and now that I did it, it's incredible," Pogacar said on Eurosport.
"They say attack is the best defence and I really know these roads. A lot of training is done here, so I knew exactly how my legs were and on the final climb how much I could spend to come to the top and I calculated great."
Pogacar will turn his attention to next Saturday's Milan-San Remo one-day classic, satisfied to have got the better of a strong field.
"The competition here was really, really huge and to be alongside David Gaudu and Jonas Vingegaard on the podium is special because they are really top-class riders," Pogacar said. "If I don't win anything until the end of the season it's still not bad, so I can be more relaxed."
Jamaican cyclist Llori Sharpe re-signs for another year with European Cycling Team Canyon/SRAM Generation
Having signed a one-year contract in January 2023, Jamaica’s female cyclist Llori Sharpe will depart the island next week for Europe where she will join her teammates from Paraguay, Germany, Namibia, Rwanda, Algeria, and Austria on the CANYON//SRAM Generation Team set to participate in 21 races across Europe through to mid-September.
Six of the 21 events are two-to-six-day stage races covering 250 km to 700km.
2023 is expected to be a busy year for the young Jamaican as she is also expected to join the Jamaican team for the Pan American Road Championships from April 17-23 in Panama City. The Pan American Championships will qualify the top 19 male and female places for spots at the 2023 Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile.
Since returning from Europe at the end of the 2022 season, Sharpe has spent the latter part of last year studying at the UWI Cave Hill Campus in Barbados. She will complete her final semester while in Europe. She returned home to Jamaica in December where she had been training in preparation for her first competitive assignment on March 26.
Sharpe earned the first two podium finishes for the CANYON team in March 2022.
Legendary sprinter Cavendish makes Astana move
Mark Cavendish has joined Astana for a 2023 campaign in which he will be hoping to make history at the Tour de France.
Legendary sprinter Cavendish left Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl last year, but the Brit will continue his illustrious career with Kazakh team Astana.
The 37-year-old from the Isle of Man was not selected for the 2022 Tour de France, denying him the opportunity to surpass a record tally of 34 stage wins in the most prestigious Grand Tour race that he shares with the great Eddy Merckx.
Cavendish will have high hopes of taking the record outright this year with his new team.
He said: "I am really excited for this adventure. I raced with Alexandr Vinokurov for many years, and now I'm racing with his two boys!
"I remember when they were children the same age as my own, dreaming to be bike racers.
"Astana is going to be a great place to be successful, with a strong team led by Alexandr, a champion on the bike and a gentleman off the bike.
"I've enjoyed a long career already, but the joy of riding my bike and the hunger to continue winning are as bright as ever.
"So I'm looking forward to being part of a successful team, whether working with the team for wins, crossing the line first myself, or cheering on my team-mates. As always, the objective will be for us to stand on the top podium."
While Cavendish was overlooked for the Tour de France, he was able to win the Milano-Torino as well as Giro d'Italia, Tour of Oman and UAE Tour stages.
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