De Bondt sprints to victory on stage 18 of Giro d’Italia 2022
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!
Stefano Oldani wins the stage 12 of Giro d’Italia 2022
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!
Van der Poel arrives to Italy in “Rosa”
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.
Back-to-back stage victories for Alpecin-FENIX at the 4 Jours de Dunkerque
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!
Samuel Gaze wins the short track in the UCI Mountain Bike Word Cup
New Zealander cyclist Samuel Gaze made a great return to the top level of the mountain bike discipline after a knee surgery. In the short track at Mountain Bike World Cup in Albstradt, Germany, Gaze crossed first the finish line in 21 minutes and 29 seconds ahead of the French Jordan Sarroun and the Swiss Nino Schurter.
The 2022 Albstradt race is his third short track World Cup win. Coincidentally the only one rider had stood on top of the XCC podium in Albstadt for three consecutive editions is his teammate Mathieu van der Poel (2019, 2020 and 2021), who is currently at the Giro d’Italia.
Gaze took up the Alpecin-FENIX tradition and at the end of the race said: “I’m privileged to be wearing this jersey. Mathieu obviously just won the first stage of the Giro to wear pink. That success is contagious.”
We hope that this positive vibe continues through the next Alpecin-FENIX challenges!
MATHIEUUUU VAN DER POELLLL!!!
The Giro d’Italia 2022 started in the best possible way for the Alpecin-FENIX team thanks to the wonderful victory of its captain Mathieu Van der Poel.
In the first stage, 195 kms from Budapest to Visegrád, Mathieu crossed first the finish line in 04:35:28 ahead of the Eritrean cyclist Biniam Girmay and the Spanish Pello Bilbao, conquering the first “Maglia Rosa” of the 105° edition of Giro d’Italia and of his professional career.
The route run completely flat across the Hungarian lowlands, only to rise in the final 5 kilometres, perfect conditions for a sprinter like Van der Poel. He didn’t disappoint and made a powerful final sprint to win the stage.
What a great race Mathieu! Congratulations!
Alpecin-FENIX in ‘Verde Comodoro’ at the 2022 Giro d’Italia
Alpecin-FENIX will not line up for the 2022 Giro d’Italia in its classic (and essentially unchanged since 2020) navy blue kit, but in a soft, timeless shade of green called ‘Verde Comodoro’. With this temporary kit change, the team want to draw attention to a unique product development that amplifies the FENIX innovative materials system.
FENIX has developed a high-quality, flexible wall covering called X-KIN, meeting the features and the Italian design that characterizes the innovative materials for interior design. For the duration of this year’s Giro, the FENIX logo on our kit will therefore be replaced by ‘X-KIN by FENIX’. This one-time change is only applicable to the Giro. For the other races in the same period and for the rest of the season, Alpecin-Fenix will line up in its traditional, blue team kit.
This special edition jersey will only be worn at the Giro. For the other races in the same period and for the rest of the season, Alpecin-Fenix will line up in its traditional, blue team kit.
