Roglic, Adam Yates, Jakobsen and Pedersen return to action as racing returns to Europe
The Super World Championship is over, but European racing continues this week, with Primož Roglič riding the Vuelta a Burgos, Mads Pedersen and Fabio Jakobsen at the Tour of Denmark and other riders in action at the Arctic Race of Norway, the Tour du Limousin- Périgord in central France and one-day races in Belgium. The Volta a Portugal also runs this week, but has a largely continental team field compared to recent years.
The countdown to the Vuelta a Espana is also set to begin, with riders converging on Barcelona in just nine days for the opening stage on August 26.
Roglic uses the Vuelta a Burgos as a final preparation for the Vuelta a Espana. He has not raced since his Giro d’Italia triumph and spent much of July at altitude with several Jumbo-Visma teammates.
This year’s five-stage Tour of Burgos starts on Tuesday and includes a flat course, a 13.1km time trial, two hilly stages and a mountainous finish at Lagunas de Neila.
Roglic’s biggest rivals will likely be Adam Yates who leads the UAE team Emirates. Aleksandr Vlasov and Lennard Kämna lead Borsa-Hansgrohe, Santiago Buitrago rides Bahrain Victorious and American Joe Dombrowski rides Astana Qazaqstan as he also prepares for the Vuelta a Espana.
“Primoz hasn’t had such a good preparation for the Vuelta since 2019. He was able to rest and then did altitude training to build up as planned. He is in good shape now,” Jumbo-Visma athletic director Marc Reef said.
“The opening stages of the Vuelta a Espana are not easy and the third stage already has a mountainous finish. It is critical to start strong. So having the Tour of Burgos already under their feet is beneficial for riders coming off a training block.”
The Tour of Denmark starts on Tuesday in Aalborg and runs until Sunday 20 August.
Tour de France winner Jonas Vingegaard is not riding as he prepares for the Vuelta a Espana, but the start lists include Mads Pedersen and Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek), Jakobsen and Soudal-Quickstep stalwart Michael Mørkøv.
Team Uno-X is led by Magnus Cort and Mikkel Honoré.
USA’s Chad Haga is riding in one of his last European races before his transition to the gravel stage as the Human Powered Health team tries to secure its future.
Jakobsen returns to racing after abandoning the Tour de France on stage 12 due to serious injuries from a crash suffered on stage 4. He recently confirmed his move to Team dsm-firmenich for 2024.
The Dutchman will have three sprint opportunities, while the overall classification will be determined by the hilly stage in Vejle and the 16.1km individual time trial scheduled on the final day around Helsingør.
The four-day Tour du Limousin-Périgord also starts on Tuesday, with Benoît Cosnefroy driving the AG2R Citroën and Romain Grégoire flying the Groupama-FDJ flag.
This year’s Arctic Race of Norway (August 17-20) has been overshadowed by the other races, but is a stage 2. Pro-category race like the Vuelta a Burgos and the Tour of Denmark and thus offers plenty of UCI ranking points.
The Grote Prijs Yvonne Reynders (August 15) marks the return of women’s racing after the World Championships, with the Grote Prijs Jef Scherens kicking off the Belgian calendar on Tuesday.
The women can compete in the Konvert Kortrijk Koerse (August 18) before both men and women face the Druivenkoers-Overijse race on August 19.
The men’s WorldTour returns on Sunday, with the one-day Bemer Cyclassics in Hamburg, Germany, where many of the best Classics riders from the 18 WorldTour teams will be in action.
Cyclingnews will have reports from every match.
#Roglic #Adam #Yates #Jakobsen #Pedersen #return #action #racing #returns #Europe