Tour Down Under 2015: Who will win?

"With 2014 champion Simon Gerrans sidelined with injury, the 2015 Santos Tour Down Under will register a new champion this January. But who will it be?

We rate the chances of the main contenders for the opening WorldTour event of the season."

Strong field for inaugural Santos Women's Tour.

The Santos Women's Tour has attracted a strong international field for the inaugural event which opens the 2015 Subaru National Road Series this weekend.

To be held in conjunction with the Santos Tour Down Under, almost 100 cyclists will be looking to impress as the eyes of the world turn to South Australia.

International riders such as dual world champion Giorgia Bronzini and Loes Gunnewijk are sure to add some fire-power to the peloton. (sbs.com.au)

Barnes remains Tour Femenino de San Luis leader after stage 3.

Cuban rider Iraida Garcia Ocasio won the third stage of the Tour Femenino de San Luis on Tuesday as Briton Hannah Barnes maintained her grip on the race lead.

Dowsett breaks collarbone in training crash.

Alex Dowsett’s Hour Record hopes have been dealt a blow after breaking his collarbone during a training crash on Tuesday, according to his Movistar team. The team say that a decision on whether Dowsett will continue his bid for the Hour Record, which is due to take place on February 27, is due in the coming days.

The crash happened during a training ride near his home in Essex and he was forced to go to hospital, suffering from pain in his right hand and shoulder. A subsequent exam revealed that Dowsett had suffered a broken collarbone in the crash and will require surgery.

Friends Life Women’s Tour to start in Bury St Edmunds.

The 2015 Friends Life Women’s Tour will begin where the 2014 edition ended, rolling out from Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk on June 17.

Marianne Vos won last year’s final stage in the town to wrap up the overall victory and is likely to be among the 100 riders going for the win later this year.

Stage one will be entirely in Suffolk, finishing in the coastal town of Aldeburgh, with further details of the route due to be announced in the coming weeks.

Bos: Riding the Tour de France is once in a lifetime chance.

ASO’s sudden announcement of the Tour de France teams on Twitter may have come as a surprise but few would have been surprised when they saw that MTN-Qhubeka had earned a wildcard entry. The team have been working hard this winter to ensure that eventuality by bringing on a number of big-name riders.

Competition for positions in the nine-man team will be hot and, with the race starting in the Netherlands, Theo Bos is determined as ever to make his debut at the race.

“Everybody wants to do the Tour,” Bos told Cyclingnews. “This year it starts in Holland. This must be a goal and it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity. I may never have this opportunity again.”

Sport Director: Cavendish has nothing to prove.

Mark Cavendish doesn’t seem panicky about the coming season. Despite crashing out of the Tour de France last year without winning a stage for the first time since his debut, the Manxster is full of his trademark bluff and gruff ahead of what’s sure to be a very challenging season in the sprints.

When asked if he felt pressure to win a stage in the 2015 Tour against the likes of Marcel Kittel  and André Greipel, Cavendish just shrugged.

“Not really. I’ve won 25 stages,” he told journalists at a recent media day. “If I win one stage at the Tour, I’d be happy. One stage in the Tour is a rider’s career, it makes his career, so it’s a big thing to win one stage each year. You have to give the respect to the Tour de France it deserves.”

2015 Tour de San Luis LIVE.

Monday's (January 19, 2015) Tour de San Luis Stage 1 departs San Luis at 1:49pm local (11:49am U.S. Eastern, 17:49 CET) and is expected at the finish at Villa Mercedes at around 6:15pm local (4:15pm U.S. Eastern, 22:15 CET).  Tour de San Luis live video streaming is expected for the start and the finish.

2014-15 Races & Results.

Santos Women's Tour 2015 - Jan 17-20 (Stages),

Santos Tour Down Under 2015 - Jan 18-25 (Stages),

Tour de San Luis 2015 - Jan 19-25 (Stages),

Dubai Tour 2015 - Feb 4-7 (Stages),

Giro d'Italia 2015 - May 9-31 (Stages),

Tour de France 2015 - July 4-26 (Stages),

UCI Road World Championship 2014 - Sept 20-27 (Results),

Vuelta a España 2014 - Aug 23-Sept 14 (Results),

Tour de France 2014  - July 5-27 (Results),

Giro d'Italia 2014 - May 9 - June 1 (Results),

More ...

 (cyclingnews.com)

2015 Tour of Qatar route confirmed.

Race organizers ASO have confirmed the route of the 2015 Tour of Qatar, which is due to begin on February 8. The Middle Eastern race is a chance for the sprinters to get in some early victories but the crosswinds that often wreak havoc on the bunch present an opportunist with a shot at success.

Niki Terpstra took advantage of the winds last year to win the opening stage and go on to take the overall classification.

2015 POV Camera Shootout: GoPro HERO4 Silver.

GoPro rules the POV camera universe and the HERO4 Silver is the sweet spot in their product lineup. With the GoPro HERO4 Silver you get full HD video at 60 FPS, 720p HD video at 120 FPS, 2.7k at 30 FPS, and yes, even 4k capability – although it’s not very useful at 15 FPS.

What really sets the HERO4 Silver apart is GoPro’s Protune mode, which captures twice as much data as most POV cameras. It requires a little more editing effort but it’s worth it if you want helmet cam video that really looks good.

Why the HERO4 Silver instead of the Black? The truth is, the HERO4 Black is overkill for anyone but a professional video maker. The Silver has the same sensor, most of the same features, and it adds a brand-new touchscreen LCD display to the back of the camera, making it more versatile and easier to use. It also costs $100 less than the Black, money you can use for more mount options — or post-ride beer.

Powers flies through turbulent times to land US Cyclo-cross title.

The lead into the USA Cycling Cyclo-cross National Championships was anything but smooth for Jeremy Powers. Powers flew to Austin early for the championship race, which was scheduled for January 11, to train and acclimate himself to the time zone after his most recent trip to Europe. By the time he landed, however, the accumulated travel from his racing schedule had taken its toll.

“I flew in on the 28th [of December]. I was here sick as a dog. I flew here with a fever, I got the flu, and my IT band from all the running in Europe flared up,” Powers said. “When I came here I was pretty beat up. That’s what Europe does.”

Commentary: A nationals disaster.

Tirreno-Adriatico only race to attract top four Tour favorites.

Nuyens set to announce retirement.

Hannah Barnes wins stage two at Tour Femenino de San Luis.

In the News: Concerns about poor treatment of junior women at ‘cross nationals.

Add concerns about poor treatment of junior women racers to the list of distressing news to come out of last weekend’s U.S. cyclocross national championships in Austin, Texas.

Colin Reuter, founder of crossresults.com, blasted the governing body for its treatment of the junior women in a blog post on Tuesday.

The postponement of eight races from Sunday afternoon to Monday, and the compression of those races into a shorter timeframe, required USA Cycling to rethink the race schedule. The greatest reshuffle came in the junior categories, leaving the marquee elite men’s, elite women’s, and U23 men’s races intact.

The junior men 15-16 category, the largest of the junior categories, was allowed to race on its own, while the men 17-18, the women 17-18, and the women 15-16 all raced together, each start separated by one minute.

MTN Qhubeka, Bora Argon 18 and French trio of squads confirmed for Tour de France.

Announcing the lineup of teams for this year’s Tour de France, organisers ASO has confirmed the identities of five wildcard squads which will compete alongside the seventeen WorldTour teams in July.

The company has confirmed that the French trio of Europcar, Cofidis and Bretagne-Séché Environnement will be present, as will the Bora-Argon 18 team plus MTN Qhubeka.

The selection of the latter makes history as it represents the first time an African-based, African-registered team will compete in the Tour.

MTN-Qhubeka receives historic Tour de France invitation.

Africa will send a team to the Tour de France for the first time in 2015 with South Africa’s MTN-Qhubeka receiving one of five wildcard invitations Wednesday from race organizer ASO.

France’s Bretagne-Séché Environnement, Cofidis, and Europcar, along with Germany’s Bora-Argon 18, will also race July 4-26 with the 17 UCI ProTeams.

“OK, we had Chris Froome win the 2013 Tour de France, Daryl Impey wore the yellow jersey, but to have a whole team in the Tour de France … For Africa and South Africa, it’s going to be huge,” MTN general manager Brian Smith told VeloNews. “And it’s going to happen on Nelson Mandela’s Day, on July 18.”

Poels aiming to be Froome’s right-hand man at Tour de France.

The general vibe at Team Sky’s training camp in Mallorca is relaxed, and there are few people more so than former Vacansoleil and Omega Pharma QuickStep rider Wout Poels. The British team’s first Dutch rider, 27-year-old Poels had been on Sky’s radar for some time and has been signed with a view to strengthening the group defending Chris Froome’s Grand Tour interests in the mountains.

Genial and with a smile never too far away, Poels reveals that Sky showed some interest in him during his four-year spell with Vacansoleil and firmed it up last season. “They said they would like me on the team. I had a really good conversation with Dave [Brailsford] and he gave me real confidence that they can make me a better rider in the future. That really appealed to me,” says Poels, who opted to switch after a single season with Omega Pharma.

Pinot confirms Tour de France build-up.

Thibaut Pinot will ride Tirreno-Adriatico and the Tour de Romandie as part of his build-up to the 2015 Tour de France.

Pinot announced his program on Twitter and will follow a similar program to his 2014 calendar, which helped him peak for the Tour de France and finish third overall behind Vincenzo Nibali and fellow Frenchman Jean-Christophe Péraud.

Powerful Rasmussen and Kalz take revenge in Bremen.

Marcel Kalz took an impressive revenge for his paper-thin last year's defeat, taking a convincing victory together with his Danish partner Alex Rasmussen in the 2015 Six Days of Bremen on Tuesday night. Overnight leaders Morgan Kneisky and Jesper Morkov eventually took the runner-up spot while defending champions Leif Lampater and Wim Stroetinga had to settle for third.

The extremely powerful German-Danish combination started the untimate evening one lap down on other two pairs remaining in contention, but emphatically leading in points, and turned such situation into their advantage thanks to good tactics in the final Madison.

European Championship and World’s News Roundup: Dutch Men’s Elite Champion to Race U23 at Worlds.

"As we head in to the final stretch of the season, looking forward to the 2015 Cyclocross World Championships, we took a look at the contenders that will be wearing the American colors for the for separate events. While today we look at some of the other national championships around the world, there are a few important items to note heading to the Czech Republic. Despite taking a number of impressive wins in the Men’s Elite races this season, and more importantly, the Dutch National Jersey of the Men’s Elite Championship, Mathieu van der Poel has already declared that he will race in the U23 race this year.

One of his largest young rivals, Wout van Aert, is still undecided, is ready to make his final decision this Friday."

Trek Madone 2.1.

BikeRadar verdict: 3.5 out of 5 stars. "Solid handling and performance, but buzz prone on rough roads."

Notes From the Scrum: The thing you love can kill you.

As the car’s front bumper hit my rear wheel, the sound of it wasn’t but absorbed. The front wheel popped out, and the tire ripped off as the violence of energy went from car to bike and human being. I came down on a naked fork going roughly 25 miles per hour.

And so this is how it happens. This is how you die.

My brain is on fire and the slivers of seconds are bending and stretching. I look over my left shoulder and see the car passing above. The time is long still, and the pitch of a terrified nervous system mutes the rest of the world into nothing. My right hip and calf help bring me to a slow, grinding stop on the side of Monarch Road outside of Boulder, Colorado.

I rest my head on the asphalt and close my eyes. Awareness is smoke, there and gone.

“Changing Cancellara’s position has to be perfect, no guesswork.”

In Calpe, southern Spain, the WorldTour Trek Factory Racing team, including classics king Fabian Cancellara, is just completing a two-week training camp.

And at the heart of the action has been Dubliner Paraic McGlynn, one of the world leaders in top end bike fitting and cycling biomechanics.

Armed with software and hardware he has developed himself, the Irish entrepreneur has been advising the team on refining their riders’ positions.

And he has taken on a significant role for the Trek company which now has a global reach.

The goal is simple; to help the team’s riders get the best from themselves by leaving nothing to chance.

USA Cycling announces 2015 world cyclocross championship squads.

PEZ: Daily Distractions.

(pezcyclingnews.com)

Video: Richie Porte's win on Willunga Hill in last year's Tour Down Under.

Judge grants Lance Armstrong access to witness interviews.

A US federal judge ruled on Monday that Lance Armstrong and his legal team may see documents from the federal government's criminal doping investigation in the wake of the US Postal Service's sponsorship of Armstrong's former team, according to a report today by Courthouse News Service.

The federal government joined a False Claims Act lawsuit by Armstrong's former teammate Floyd Landis, naming Armstrong, former team manager Johan Bruyneel and Armstrong's management company Tailwind Sports as defendants. The suit, which Landis filed in 2010, accuses Armstrong of defrauding the US government when the former seven-time Tour de France winner was riding for US Postal. The government joined Landis' lawsuit last year, and under the False Claims Act, damages could be tripled to nearly $100 million. As the whistleblower who filed the case, Landis would be eligible for part of any damages awarded.

Emma O’Reilly to open cycling fitness center.

Lance Armstrong’s former soigneur, Emma O’Reilly, will launch an indoor cycling training and performance center in Manchester.

O’Reilly has teamed up with Jennie Duschenes to launch performance brand Pro Spin and the fitness concept Spin Club, which will be hosted at a site between Wilmslow and Hale later this month.

After speaking out about Armstrong’s doping in 2002, O’Reilly has run The Body Clinic in Hale for several years and now wants to tap into the growing cycling market in North West England.

Wednesday Shorts.

ASO has announced the wildcard invitations for Paris-Nice, the Critérium du Dauphiné and the Tour de France. No surprises: as predicted it’s Bora-Argon 18, Bretagne-Séché, Cofidis, Europcar and MTN-Qhubeka with Bora’s case strengthened by confirmation of the recent ARD broadcast deal.

In times past wildcards had an exclusive element, to invite one team was to shun another but this time there are no obvious missing names from the Tour de France.

Bretagne-Séché’s invitation is understandable given their nationality and if they’re unlikely to become the talk of July their presence hardly excludes a must-have team. Besides the Tour has the paradox of being a global event that needs a large domestic contingent. Team Colombia can be exciting but they’ve yet to land a big result; a Giro invite looks likely and hopefully they win this when they’re announced in the coming days.

Behind the scenes at SRAM – a company tour.

The name may not be as catchy as Silicon Valley but Taichung is a powerhouse when it comes to bike technology and production.

Taichung City is Taiwan’s third largest city. It’s part of Taichung County, and it’s a quick 160km from Taipei if you use the high-speed rail. The city describes itself as an “economic, cultural and international city” which fits perfectly with the cycling industry that is based in the area.

The area features a who’s who of the cycling industry. Scratch the surface and all manner of cycling firms seem to have a presence there.

Giant-Alpecin riders suffer training crash in Australia.

A training ride on Wilunga Hill turned into an unexpected brush with the law on Wednesday for Giant-Alpecin's Tour Down Under squad after Simon Geschke and Lawson Craddock collided with a local patrol car.

Craddock, via email Wednesday, said that the incident occurred after the riders had climbed the hill twice and were heading back down.

“I was behind Simon Geschke when we rolled into town where a bike lane started,” Craddock said. “After a couple hundred meters, Simon started to pass a cop who all of a sudden turned into a parking space on the side of the street.

Lee’s Lowdown: The Early Days Of Bicycle Advertising.

"It strikes me as peculiar how such a disarmingly simple machine can be the fulcrum for such complex issues, of compelling tales that stir the deepest emotions and of such resounding devotion, yet this is what the humble bicycle is.

Essentially it is little more than a bunch of tubes, a handful of components and two wheels – a design that, even despite the introduction of new materials through the generations, has changed little. Yet if ever a machine was greater than the sum of its parts, this is it."

Slip Through the Wind.

On paper, Fuji's new Transonic appears to be an almost-perfect road racing machine: It's light for an aero bike, stiffer than the company's other race models, and comes in a range of builds that makes it accessible to the well-heeled and ramen-eating racer alike. But promises on paper don't always translate to the pavement, so we took it out on our local roads to see if it could deliver.

Fuji initially shaped the Transonic on a computer to make it more aerodynamic, then verified the design in a wind tunnel. The company says that at 30 mph, a rider averaging 300 watts on a 40km time trial aboard a Transonic would finish 65 seconds faster than on the SST, Fuji's aggressive crit-racing machine, and 55 seconds faster than on the Altamira, Fuji's lightweight race bike. This is impressive from a frame that weighs just 2.2 pounds in its lightest version.

Tony Martin targets yellow jersey on Tour’s opening day.

German time trial specialist Tony Martin said on Wednesday one of his top priorities for the 2015 season is to pull on the fabled yellow jersey as leader of the Tour de France.

The 29-year-old three-time world champion in the race against the clock made his intentions clear at the unveiling of his Belgian team, Etixx-QuickStep, in Calpe, Spain.

“This year, I have a rare opportunity to wear the yellow jersey on the first day of the race. That is at the top of my priorities for 2015,” said Martin, in reference to the July 4 opening stage, a 14km individual time trial around the Dutch city of Utrecht.