WORLDTOUR

It was a fantastic Tour de Wallonie for Robert Stannard who, thanks to his consistent performance, won the 2022 edition. What a great result for the 23-year-old Australian rider of Alpecin–Deceuninck!

The 2022 edition of the Tour de Wallonie, was held in the Belgian region of Wallonie from July 23^th to 27^th. On the Belgian roads, Stannard collected a third place on the initial stage, 174.4 kms from Templaux to Huy, , a fourth place on stage 2 and a wonderful second place on the last stage from Le Roeulx to Chapelle-lez-Herlaimont just behind the Belgian rider Bakelans.

Stannard’s performance let him lead both the general classification and the points classification. He also won the young rider classification. We couldn’t ask more from the young Alpecin–Deceuninck rider!

Jasper Philipsen sprinted to victory on the Champs-Elysees in Paris, for the final stage of Tour de France 2022. The Alpecin–Deceuninck rider crossed first the finish line in 02 hours, 58 minutes and 32 seconds, ahead of Dylan Groenewegen (Team BikeExchange – Jayco) and Alexander Kristoff (Intermarche – Wanty – Grobert Materiaux).

This was the second victory for Philipsen in the Tour de France 2022, which was an extraordinary edition for the young Belgian rider. In addition to the two stages victories, he achieved a third place on the third stage from Vejle to Sønderborg in Denmark and two second places on stage 4 (Dunkerque-Calais) and stage 19 (Magnoac-Cahors).

Philipsen finished second in the points classification. We are all very proud of the Alpecin–Deceuninck riders’ performances. We can’t wait to follow the next challenges of the team.

Stage 15 of Tour the France was the race of the first times. Jasper Philipsen won his first ever stage at La Grande Boucle. It was also Alpecin-Deceuninck first victory in the edition of the Tour.

After eight top 3 results (2021 and 2022), the Belgian rider crossed first the finish line ahead of Wout van Aert, the leader of the points classification. Philispen won the stage 15 – 202.5 kms from Rodez to Carcassonne – thanks to a powerful final sprint proving once again that he is  one of the best sprinters in road cycling.

It was his first time on Tour and Philipsen was understandably emotional in the post-race interview. “It makes it super unbelievable,” he said of his previous misses. “I know what losing is like in the Tour de France. I was close many many times. That it worked out today is incredible. I can’t believe it.”

Congrats Jasper. You deserved this victory!

We are almost there. The Tour de France 2022, one of the awaited cycling Grand Tours of the year, starts from the roads of Copenaghen in Denmark. The 109^th edition of the La Grande Bouclecomprises 21 stages over the course of 23 days. After 3,328 kms the riders will close the path with the final stage of Paris, the 24^th of July.

The eight riders representing the newly renamed Alpecin- Deceuninck team are Van der Poel, Dillier, Krieger, Plankaert, Philipsen, Van Keirsbulck, Sbaragli and Gogl. While for the Austrian Michael Gogl this is his fifth Tour, it will be the first for Alexander Krieger and Guillaume van Keirsbulck.

For Mathieu van der Poel, the captain, is the second participation and he’s ready to repeat the great performance of the 2021 edition, where he wore the yellow jersey for six consecutive days. He dedicated the second stage victory to his grandfather, French cycling legend Raymond Poulidor, who participated 14 times at La Gran Boucle but never wore the yellow jersey. It was a very touching moment, and we can’t wait to see what Alpecin- Deceuninck riders will do during the 2022 edition.

Tim Merlier is the 2022 Belgian men’s elite national road champion after a thrilling final in the Middelkerke race. This is his second national title, after winning it in 2019 in Ghent (East Flanders).

Merlier closed the 208.7-kilometre race in Middelkerke with a terrific sprint among a large group of 30 riders. He crossed first the finish line in 4 hours 20 minutes and 49 seconds just ahead of Jordi Meeus (BORA-hansgrohe) and his Alpecin-FENIX teammate Jasper Philipsen, who was in the competition for the victory till the very end of the race.

Both the Alpecin-FENIX riders deserve the congratulations of all the team. We are eager to see the new challenges but now it’s time to celebrate the Merlier’s victory!

On Friday, Alpecin-FENIX Pro cyclist Maurice Ballerstedt won the 2022 German U23 Individual Time Trial National Championship in Marsberg. The 21-year-old rider covered the 27.5 km course in 37 minutes and 19 seconds, finishing ahead of Tobias Buck-Gramcko (Rad-Net Rose Team) and Hannes Wilksch (Hannes Development Team).

Winning the U23 ITT national title was of Ballerstedt’s goal after he finished second in the 2021 championship. According to the specialized press, the course in Marsberg was probably the most difficult time trial course in recent years.

“It was a balancing act,” said Ballerstedt after the race. “You weren’t allowed to throw everything out at the beginning, you had to divide up your strength. Climbers and time trial specialists both had a chance today. You just had to manage the last few kilometers and roll to the finish line.”

Dries de Bondt wins the 18th stage of the Giro d’Italia 2022 after a thrilling final sprint against other four riders. The Belgian cyclist of the Alpecin-FENIX team crossed the finish first in 03 hours, 21 minutes and 21 seconds, just ahead of the Italian Edoardo Affini, Magnus Cort Nielsen and Davide Gabburo.

The 18th stage of the Giro d’Italia – 156 km from Borgo Valsugana to Treviso – was the last chance for the sprinters to have their day and Dries took this opportunity to win his first stage of the Giro d’Italia.

“I can’t believe it, it really was  a dream, but since I started cycling I had dreams and those dreams became goals. I achieved those goals and then I started dreaming bigger. Last year I raced the Giro as a national champion and this year I had the goal of winning a stage. I pulled it off and it’s just amazing,” the 30-year-old added.

This is not a dream Dries, this is real. Congratulations!

After 204 kms, from Parma to Genova, Stefano Oldani crossed first the finish line of the stage 12 of Giro d’Italia, the longest of the 2022 edition. The Italian cyclist of Alpecin-FENIX won ahead of Lorenzo Rota (Intermarché) and the Dutch Gijs Leemreize (Jumbo-Visma) thanks to a fantastic final sprint.

Oldani’s win was a second of the race for the Alpecin-Fenix teamafter the first stage’s victory of Mathieu Van der Poel and the first of his professional career. “It was not easy. I knew Rota, my friend, was also fast so I had to watch out,” the 24-year-old told after the race. “Leemreize also looked like he wanted to anticipate, so it was not easy to manage, but in the end I did it.”

Congratulation Stefano! Great Job!

The cyclists of Giro d’Italia 2022 are traveling to Italy for the four stage of the competition and Mathieu Van der Poel, the leader of the general classification, is coming to Italy wearing the pink jersey.

“I hope to take the pink to Sicily, then we’ll see what happens,” Mathieu said on Saturday after the second stage of Giro d’Italia. And he achieved his target. The captain of the Alpecin-FENIX team won the first stage of the Giro, from Budapest to Visegrad.  He carried out and excellent performance in both the individual time trial,  closing in second position and in the third stage (17° place), where he defended the first place in the general classification and the Maglia Rosa.

On Tuesday, the fourth stage of the Giro d’Italia will run from Avola to Etna, 172 kms in the wonderful east side of Sicily with a summit finish. Van der Poel is a sprinter and this specific route might be more adapt to the climbing specialists but, quoting Mathieu, we’ll see what happens.

Alpecin-FENIX closed six intense days of racing at 4 Jours de Dunkerque, in northern France, with two stage wins from Lionel Taminiaux and Gianni Vermeersch. For both, this was their first victories of the 2022 road season.

Taminiaux crossed first the finish line of stage 4 in a spectacular bunch sprint in Aire-sur-la-Lys, ahead of Stanislaw Aniolkowski (Bingoal Pauwels Sauces WB) and Gerben Thijssen (Intermarché – Wanty – Gobert Matériaux). This was his second career victory.

The next day, it was Gianni Vermeersch who rose to the highest spot of the podium. The Alpecin-FENIX rider proved to be the strongest of a small group of sprinters to take stage 5 in Cassel, an area where he often trains. “So happy with the victory,” wrote Vermeersch on an Instagram post. “After my crash in Strade Bianche and getting influenza before (Milano) Sanremo, I was not having the best shape during Spring season. I kept working and the reward is there!”

Well done guys!