Cycling
Hugo Houle finishes 24th in the time trial
(Montreal) Unsatisfied with his performance in his first time trial of the season in February, Hugo Houle made adjustments that paid off in the weeks that followed. As proof, the Quebec cyclist signed on 24and time of the time trial of the fourth stage of Paris-Nice, Wednesday, which allows him to climb to 20and rank in the general classification.
finish 44and at the Étoile de Bessèges had left Houle on his appetite last month. The member of the Israel-Premier Tech team then adjusted the angle of his saddle by a few degrees, then lowered his handlebars by a centimeter: adjustments which he describes as very fine, but which had a significant impact on posture and comfort. Other adjustments are planned in the short term, including a new custom made and lighter handlebar.
“I had a good day! I executed the plan we had in place and the form is good, so I’m very happy! launched the athlete from Sainte-Perpétue, who finished 48 seconds behind the winner Wout Van Aert on Wednesday.
“It’s a very big step in the right direction and it encourages me for the future. It’s clear that I was disappointed after the Étoile de Bessèges, but I did much better today. I’m in on it! »
For his part, Montrealer James Piccoli, also from the Israel-Premier Tech team, ranked 138andat 2 minutes 55 seconds.
As was the case in the first stage, the Jumbo-Visma team once again dominated the competition to claim the podium.
Belgian Wout Van Aert was the fastest over the 13.4 kilometer course.
Winner of the Circuit Het Nieuwsbladun, he took 16 min 20 s to get to Montluçon. He had finished in the top-3 of the first three stages of Paris-Nice earlier this week.
His teammates Primoz Roglic (+2 seconds) and Rohan Dennis (+6 seconds) followed him closely. Thanks to this victory, Van Aert grabbed the yellow jersey, previously held by his French teammate Christophe Laporte.
Roglic (+10 seconds) and Laporte (+28 seconds) are second and third overall. On the strength of his fifth place in the time trial, Briton Simon Yates (BikeExchange) climbed 16 places in the general classification and occupies fourth provisional place.
The riders will now prepare for mountainous stages, starting with Thursday’s stage which will take place over 188.8 km, between Saint-Just-Saint-Rambert and Saint-Sauveur-de-Montagut.
The members of the Israel-Premier Tech team, who are down to four after the retirement of Quebecer Guillaume Boivin on Tuesday, will try to stand out in the breakaways.
“It’s going to be an opportunity to test myself in the World Tour-caliber mountains. There will be a lot more gradients and we will want to go on the attack. I hope the legs will respond, but I trust the form is there. I feel strong and I can’t wait to see what my level is at the moment in the mountainous stages,” concluded Hugo Houle.
A second place for Groupama-FDJ
The Groupama-FDJ formation, of which Antoine Duchesne is a part, came very close to winning during the third stage of Tirreno-Adriatico, Wednesday, in Italy.
The team worked until the very end to allow Frenchman Arnaud Démare to fight for the sprint victory. Démare attacked 250 meters from the finish and was surprised by the Australian Caleb Ewan of Lotto Soudal in the last meters of the pavement.
“The train managed to leave Arnaud (Démare) 250 meters away and he did a great sprint. Unfortunately, he was a little short at the very end, mentioned Duchesne. It’s a good race and we wanted to win. »
The Quebecer finished in the second group of the day, 12 seconds behind the leaders.
“There was movement with the champions in the final and I had to drive to not give them too much of a lead. I’m really happy with my form. My fall on Circuit Het Nieuwsblad hurt me a lot, but here I feel that the good feelings are coming back. »
The Italian Filippo Ganna (Ineos-Grenadiers) retains the lead in the general classification, ahead of the Belgian Remco Evenepoel (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl, +11 seconds) and the Slovenian Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates (+14 seconds).
The fourth stage of Tirreno-Adriatico will be held over 202 kilometers on Thursday.
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Sophia Jhon is a sports journalist and author. He has worked as a news editor for Sportish and is now a sport columnist for the same publication. Alberta’s professional interests lie largely in sports news, with an emphasis on English football. He has also written articles on other sporting topics.