User:SportscarFan2004/TDFM24St111

The 2024 Round of Europe was the 1st edition of the Round of Europe. It started in Uppsala, Sweden on 22 June and ended with the final stage at Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, on 15 July.

Stage 1
The first stage was an individual time trial of 71.6 kilometres (44.5 mi), from Uppsala to Stockholm in Sweden. The course was for the biggest part ridden over the highway connecting the two cities, which meant that the riders were able to show off the top speeds of their bikes, which reached as high as 285 km/h. With a few technical sections in both Uppsala and Stockholm, average speeds came down to just below 250 km/h.
 * 22 June – Uppsala to Stockholm (Sweden), 71.6 km

Steven Odendaal (EnduroX Yamaha Racing Team) was the first rider to leave, and he set a time which would remain on top for almost the whole day: 17' 19" (248.1 km/h). Valentino Rossi (VR46 Round of Europe Team), another strong contender for the general classification, was ninth to leave, and he was 20" slower than Odendaal, averaging 243.3 km/h. The last of the favourites, Joshua Hook, left right behind VR46 team-mate Rossi. He finished 28" behind Odendaal and 8" behind Rossi, with a time of 17' 47" (241.6 km/h). Mike di Meglio (BMW Endurance–Project 23) was slowest, 43" behind Odendaal, with an average speed of 238.0 km/h. Priya Patel (Yamaha EnduroX Team), who left fourth-to-last, would eventually be quickest with a time of 17' 17" (248.4 km/h). Odendaal was 2" behind, with Rossi 22" behind and Hook 30" behind.

Due to Patel's win, he took the first orange jersey of the race, as well as the points jersey. EnduroX Yamaha Racing Team were the first leaders of the teams classification. Marc Moser (VR46 Round of Europe Team) was quickest of the young riders, and thus assumed the title of leader of the young rider classification.

Stage 2
The first road stage of the Round of Europe covered over 500 kilometres (311 mi) from Norrköping in Sweden to Copenhagen in Denmark, which was a primarily flat stage. With many straight sections of road, top speeds touched around 275 km/h; 10 km/h slower than the day before, since the bikes were set up to complete the scheduled distance. The average speed reached around 230 km/h.
 * 23 June – Norrköping (Sweden) to Copenhagen (Denmark), 505 km

Immediately after the stage started, Xavier Simeon (BMW Endurance-Project 23) and Toni Wirsing (Fischer–Yamaha Endurance Team) drove off with an average speed of around 225 km/h, whilst the peloton stayed around 205 km/h. The intermediate sprint, which came at Hov after 265 km of racing, was won by Wirsing, in front of Simeon and Alex Lowes (VR46 Round of Europe Team).

After 450 km of racing, Simeon and Wirsing were caught by the bunch of drivers behind, which excluded Luca Moretti (Yamaha EnduroX Team): he was 17 minutes behind after an earlier puncture. The final burst of speed saw Maximilian Kofler (Fischer–Yamaha Endurance Team) win the stage, ahead of Marvin Fritz (EnduroX Yamaha Racing Team) and Wirsing. Race favourites Odendaal, Rossi, and Hook, finished 38", 11", and 27" behind, respectively. The result meant Fritz took the orange jersey, 5" ahead of Priya Patel (Yamaha EnduroX Team). Simeon moved up to third, 18" behind. Fritz also took the lead of the points classification. Wirsing took the lead of the young rider classification, whilst EnduroX Yamaha Team stayed atop the teams standings.