RESULTS OF THE

WEEK Our teams on dominate at the first week of the Giro d´Italia The first real week at the Giro D´Italia got underway this week. After last Monday ´s rest day, the Colombian from Quick-Step Floors was holding the leaders maglia rosa jersey.

On stage 4, the victory was awarded to Jan Polanc of UAE Emirate Cycling Team. It was their first Grand Tour stage victory. Meanwhile Fernando Gaviria passed the leaders jersey to his team-mate work horse, Bob Jungels.

Continuing the Quick-Step ´show´, Gaviria stole the honours again on stage 5. He took the win in the reduced bunch sprint finish, as Jungels retained the leaders jersey. Meanwhile on stage 6, the days escapees were given their chance. A two-up hill sprint finish saw Jasper Stuyven of Trek-Segafredo just pipped of the win.

As the flatter stages were coming to an end, stage 7 was one of the last chances for the sprinters to have their day. Our new addition to at this year´s Giro D´Italia, Orica-Scott was desperate for a win with their little pocket-rocket Caleb Ewan. He didn't’t disappoint, claiming their first victory at this years race.

It was on stage 9 when the race started to heat up. Heading into the high mountains, Jungels maintained the lead at the start of the day. But that was to change as the stage ended with a brutal mountain finish on Blockhaus. The Movistar favourite, Nairo Quintana soloed to victory and stole the Maglia Rosa, while Thibaut Pinot finished a very strong 2nd for his FDJ team heading into the 2nd week. Bertand Billard wins in Pays D´Aix Ironman 70.3 Pays d´Aix took place yesterday in the city of Aix en Provence. A region rich in history is always a great opportunity for our top European triathletes to gain some important points as it doubles as a qualifying race for the Ironman 70.3 World Championship.

The swim got underway with poor visibility from the thick fog. Out of the water, local Frenchman and 2016 victor Bertrand Billard was amongst the lead pack. The challenging bike course included over 1200metres of vertical ascent. It was here where Bertrand played to his strengths and attacked the field on a course he knows so well. He took a gap to Denis Chevrot of almost 7 minutes before the run. Our Belgium ex World Champion, Frederik Van Lierde also appeared during the later half of the bike leg to put himself into podium contention. On the run while Bertrand maintained a big lead, it wasn’t over. Behind him Chevrot ran a blistering half marathon, over 6:30¨ faster than Bertrand. But Bertrand had done enough work to cross the line and take another victory at his favourite ´home´ race. Not far behind, Frederik finished with the 2nd fastest run split and 3rd place.

A fantastic result for our two men who both look towards backing up at Ironman 70.3 Barcelona next weekend.

1. Bertrand Billard 3:55:18 2. Denis Chevrot 3:55:19 3. Frederik Van Lierde 3:59:39

In the women's race, ´s Gurutze Frades finished 6th place.

Joe Gambles 2nd at Ironman 70.3 Santa Rosa

A new race on the USA Ironman Series calendar; Ironman 70.3 Santa Rosa was staged in the beautiful Sonoma Valley, in the heart of California´s wine country.

It presented another chance for the big names based in the region to take home some vital points. There were over 10 pro men capable of standing on the top step of the podium on Saturday.

Just one week after his 7th place at Ironman 70.3 St George, our US based Australian triathlete Joe Gambles was eager to gain a few more positions at the finish.

Out of the water it was Sam Appleton with the lead, with Joe less than 30 seconds behind. On the bike, Joe showed his strength as he went after Sam. In doing so he gained a gap to his chasers, putting him safely in podium contention. While he couldn't’t draw back time on the big gap to the lead, he put in the 2nd fastest run split to cross the line with a very strong 2nd place. 1. Sam Appleton 3:46:47 2. Joe Gambles 3:50:32 3. Tim O´Donnell 3:54:19

In the women's race it was American Katie Thomas also finishing inside the top 20, with 17th position.

Mauricio Mendez 6th at Monterrey

Set in Nuevo Leon´s vibrant, cosmopolitan capital city, Ironman 70.2 Monterrey marked the inauguration of a truly unique destination event in .

The young talent, Mauricio Mendez coming off his great win at Ironman 70.3 Texas, returned to his ´home´ race with great motivation to impress.

A stacked field of the top athletes set a big challenge for Mauricio to top. He was amongst the leading group of 9 exiting the swim. On the bike he fought to maintain his position against some strong cyclists. While on the run he unleashed his favourite weapon to take the 4th fastest run split and finish with a very good 6th place performance. All the top 5 finishers within 6 minutes of the winner, showing the quality of the field. A very good performance from the young talent against an experienced field.

In the women´s race, Leanda Cave returning from illness put in a consistent performance across the 3 disciplines. Unfortunately she she wasn’t able to match the speed of the lead women, finishing with 9th place.

2nd and 3rd for our BMC-Etixx girls in Mallorca The Ironman 70.3 Mallorca was held on Saturday in one of the most celebrated towns of Mallorca, Alcudia where it is surrounded by almost 30km of gorgeous coastline.

In the men's race, it was Will Clarke returning from his great performance at Ironman Texas some weeks ago with big hopes of success. On the bike, Will looked to be in a position to go one step better into a podium spot. He moved into 3rd position in the middle of the challenging Tramuntana Mountains. However he couldn't’t quite keep the pace to his chasers on the run and crossed the line for another solid performance with 4th place honours.

1. David McNamee 3:56:49 2. Andreas Dreitz 3:57:50 3. Miquel Blanchart 4:04:30 4. Will Clarke 4:07:23

In the women's race, it was our BMC-Etixx women ready to put on a great show. A great performance by Emma Pallant and Amelia Watkinson put them within contention during the bike leg, after a slower swim start. On the run ,the ITU Duathlon World Champion, showed her strength. While she couldn't’t draw back the big gap to eventual winner Laura Phillip, she took the fastest run split of the day. A further 7 minutes back was team-mate Amelia with a strong 3rd place.

1. Laura Phillip 4:21:41 2. Emma Pallant 4:26:51 3. Amelia Watkinson 4:33:03

Ludovic Pommeret 2nd at

With 2000 participants from 45 countries lining up on the spectacular pre- dawn start line on the Atlantic Ocean yet again, the Transvulcania UltraMarathon proved it´s iconic status on the International running scene after joining the SkyRunner World Series in 2012. With a field wide open ranging from Sky to Ultra Trail Runners specialist, it was sure to be an exciting race.

The course climbed a brutal 4,350 vertical metres over 74km. The finish saw runners climb a punishing 5km ascent to the town of Los Llanos where thousands of animated spectators greeted the runners.

Our French UTMB 2016 winner Ludovic Pommeret used the race as his final preparations for the upcoming trail World Championships. He proved that he has a very good shape to be amongst the contenders at the upcoming Championships. He pushed the pace at the front of the race from the start. Unknown talent, Tim Freriks was unstoppable on his way to a surprising victory. Meanwhile a very strong race by Ludovic saw him rewarded with 2nd place on the podium.

1. Tim Freriks 7:02:03 2. Ludovic Pommeret 7:18:15 3. Zaid Ait Malek 7:26:31

Other Results

Javier Gomez Noya finished 9th place in the ITU round held in Yokohama

Marco De Gasperi crossed the line in 1st place at the 4 Passi Trail

Lucy Charles after winning Challenge Lisboa one week ago, backed up with a win at the Lanzarote Open Water Swim 3.8km race.

Coming Up Next

Cycling

Giro d´Italia,

Trail Running

Compressport Trail Menorca Cami De Cavalls, Spain

UTWT North Face 100, Australia

Triathlon

Ironman Lanzarote, Spain

Ironman 70.3 St Polten, Austria

Ironman 70.3 Barcelona, Spain