<br>
      <br>
      <br>
Doug Report Daily Cycling News Archive

TV Review: ‘Lance Armstrong: Stop At Nothing’.

An Australian production that has already played in the U.K., “Lance Armstrong: Stop at Nothing” rolls Stateside via Showtime, and provides a riveting look at the cycling champion’s rise and (especially) fall. Comprehensively reported, director Alex Holmes’ documentary makes devastating use of Armstrong’s depositions and press conferences to illustrate the vehemence with which he denied doping allegations before coming clean, though not enough to soothe the feelings of those he badgered and sought to intimidate. Perhaps foremost, as shrewdly depicted, the story captures the collective hunger for heroes — and the speed  at which media can turn away from them. (variety.com)

Marco Pantani was not murdered, says biographer.

Marco Pantani was not murdered and the re-opened cases involving the late Italian cyclist are comical, according to biographer Matt Rendell.
“People are going to be left with farcical version of the death of JFK or a bald, big-eared Marilyn Monroe story because they won’t bother to look at the facts, they’ll assume that there’s some truth to what’s being talked about,” the English journalist told Cycling Weekly. “There won’t be another end because Pantani was clearly not murdered.” (cyclingweekly.co.uk)

Contador regards Kilimanjaro ascent as symbolic start of 2015 campaign.

Although his first race of 2015 is at least a couple of months away, Alberto Contador has said that he regards this week’s summiting of the Kilimanjaro climb as being the symbolic start to a season he regards as a very challenging one.
Commenting after his Tinkoff Saxo team’s successful trek to the top of what is the highest mountain in Africa, a task run off in very difficult weather, the Spaniard said that he took satisfaction from the achievement. (cyclingtips.com.au)

Parra, Mejia win La Ruta stage two as Leao defends lead.

Riders faced an unfamiliar route in stage two of La Ruta de los Conquistadores, as organizers had to make a last-minute course change due to a volcanic eruption from the Turrialba volcano.
Luis Leao Pinto kept his lead after a 53-kilometer stage between Terramall in Tres Ríos and the Oikoumene Camp in Ochomogo of Cartago. The day offered cold and foggy weather and difficult climbing.
Leao finished fourth on the stage, and Colombian rider Luis Mejía won the day.
Women’s leader, Ánngela Parra took her second victory. “I took off at Xiomara’s [Guerrero] speed. We went together to La Angelina. I wasn’t going to take any risks. I knew it was very humid. At that point I slipped, and she passed me, I kept my pace, but she sped up, then she got like three minutes advantage. I tried to play with that difference because I knew that what was coming was going to be tough. I chose my pace and people around me were telling me times. I could see her. I sped up after the last checkpoint, and I won.”  (velonews.com)

Velo Cyclist of the Year, top contenders.

Who will be named Velo Cyclist of the Year? Here are a few of the top contenders for the honor. (velonews.com)

Van der Poel withdraws from European championships.

According to Sport.be, Mathieu Van der Poel will not clash with Wout Van Aert in the European championships held in Lorsch this weekend. The former decided against participating in the event, preferring to line-up at the Superprestige round in Ruddervoorde the next day. (cyclingquotes.com)

Nieve: Froome can return to his best in 2015.

Mikel Nieve was one of Chris Froome’s most important allies this season. The Basque rider supported him in his abortive bid at the Tour de France and helped him to second at the Vuelta a España just over a month later. Nieve was by his side through the ups and downs this year, and is confident that his team leader will be back to his 2013 Tour winning form for 2015. (cyclingnews.com)

2015 Vuelta a España will have flat time trial.

Vuelta a España race director Javier Guillén has confirmed that next year’s race will feature a largely flat time trial of around 40 kilometers, according to El País. In recent years, the Vuelta time trial has featured at least one classified climb but Guillén told the paper that 2015 will be a little different.
“Our time trial will follow our usual standard of the last Vueltas, one of 40 kilometres, and it will be on flat terrain or on false flats,” he told the paper. (cyclingnews.com)

2014 Races & Results.

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

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

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

Tour of Beijing 2015 - Oct 10-14 (Results),

Paris - Tours Elite 2015 - Oct 12 (Results),

Il Lombardia 2014 - Oct 5 (Results),

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...

Evans wears two hats to broker Wes Sulzberger a lifeline in cycling.

Wes Sulzberger has been handed a late lifeline to ride with Navitas-Satalyst in 2015 - a team that's managed by his agent, Wayne Evans.
The move comes after an underwhelming year with Drapac Professional Cycling that finished without a single international win. The former WorldTour rider, who spent time with Francaise des Jeux and Orica-GreenEDGE before stepping away from the top tier last year is understood to be preparing to have a child with his partner and preferred to stay in Australia, with an Australian team for 2015.
Evans, who acts as Sulzberger's agent, told Cycling Central he reached out to several domestic teams including Drapac but no team was willing to meet the Tasmanian's price tag. The most advanced discussions took place with Drapac, Evans said, which initially told Sulzberger he was surplus to requirements. Evans convinced Drapac to reconsider, which then mulled a renewal with the 28 year old for a fortnight before again walking away from discussions. (sbs.com.au)

US Adds Professional Women’s Bike Races.

Recently the Vuelta a España and Amgen Tour of California announced that they would be adding more women’s racing to their pre-existing men’s race lineup. Now, two more races have increased their race offerings for women in 2015.
Philadelphia’s Parx Casino Cycling Classic will be elevating its status for 2015 to become one of the races on the UCI’s Women’s Professional Road Cycling Series, which is the rebranding of the World Cup series. This race will be the first and only stop the series makes in the United States.
The USA Pro Challenge, the four-year old Colorado stage race, has announced a women’s race, which will be run in conjunction with the men’s event August 17 to 23. Many details are still uncertain, but the race will take place on many of the same routes as the men’s event. (bicycling.com)

Etape du Tour 2015 open for entries.

Sportive riders who want to pit themselves against a stage of the Tour de France can now make the first step on that road, with entries for the 2015 edition of the Etape du Tour open.
With the route for next year’s edition of the Tour de France unveiled late last month, the Etape du Tour will be held on Sunday July 19 over stage 19 of the race in the French Alps. The stage itself will be held five days later on Friday July 24. (roadcyclinguk.com)

Paris, Fignon and Blondin.

If you’re at a loose end in Paris the cemetery is worth a visit, a calm place in a busy city. It’s a tourist attraction with many famous people buried there, the list is too long but most people visit to see the tombs of Oscar Wilde, Jim Morisson and Edith Piaf although a range of celebrities, cultural figures and notable people from French history are buried there.
Laurent Fignon’s ashes probably weren’t placed there out of merit just that he was a Parisian and this is one of the city’s largest cemeteries. His presence is noted though and on a stroll through his was the only plaque with fresh flowers. (inrng.com)

Schleck: “I will stay involved in cycling. I love it too much.”

Almost a month has passed since the day he announced that his career was no more. Since then Andy Schleck has worked on coming to terms with a premature departure from the sport, a decision forced by a Tour de France crash that ruptured his knee and abruptly stopped the clock.
Second in the Giro d’Italia at just 21 years of age, what was expected to be a fifteen year career ended prior to his 30th birthday. (cyclingtips.com.au)

American Continental squads dismiss Horner rumors.

Christopher Horner’s agent Baden Cooke claimed that there’s a little chance for the 43-year old rider to stay in Europe for the next season after Lampre-Merida had confirmed they wouldn’t extend his contract. It appears, however, that the former Australian pro cyclist is given a hard time while negotiating with American second and third division outfits, as two of them have already refused to sign the veteran for 2015. (cyclingquotes.com)

Italians aim for fresh start on new U.S.-based Cannondale squad.

Thanks to its new Cannondale sponsorship deal, Slipstream Sports has more Italians in its ranks for 2015 than ever before. The season will be one of adjustment and discovery for both the American team and its new cyclists.
“It will be a completely new team, we are facing a complete reshuffling of the deck,” Moreno Moser told Tutto Bici. “It’ll be a new project for everyone and with new finish lines to reach.” (velonews.com)

Davison focused on track Worlds after stagiaire ride with BMC.

Australian Luke Davison has got his racing ambitions back on track – literally. The 24-year-old Sydneysider is back in Australia and focused on racing the team pursuit, the track event in which he represented Australia to win gold at this year's world championships in Cali, Colombia and Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. (cyclingnews.com)

2014 through the lens of Tim De Waele.

But for a few far flung races, the curtain has well and truly been drawn on the 2014 season. The members of the roving cycling circus are taking a well-deserved break before gearing up for the year to come, giving us time to reflect on some of the season’s biggest moments. In this gallery, we take a look back at 2014 through the lens of Belgian photographer Tim de Waele. (cyclingnews.com)

Dani King breaks five ribs in crash and sustains collapsed lung following training ride crash in Wales.

Olympic gold medallist Dani King, part of Great Britain's all-conquering women's pursuit team, has suffered five broken ribs and a collapsed lung after being injured in a crash in training.
The incident is understood to have taken place early yesterday afternoon in South Wales, near King's home in Cardiff, while she was riding out with her usual training partners. (telegraph.co.uk)

The Leipheimer Smack Down: 19 year old “disappointed” with former hero.

"You know Levi right? that super talented bike rider who juiced for years then got busted – sorry admitted to doping cos it was EATING HIM APART, where’s the Kleenex? - but we should remember that he stopped cos’ he knew it was wrong but, miraculously, STILL won races 'god bless him and his slip streamed head' – the one who then ‘retired’ with that stain of The Doper on him but who still has a fabulously successful gran fraudo and who is still winning races around the USA?
Phew… yes, that one.
Well he put up a race ride on Strava called Crusher in the Tushar and a bunch of Grown Men Who Love Levi came and – well, they just came, more Kleenex please –  and he got a huge moneyshot load of Kudos except for one little, tiny, cheeky comment that somehow slipped by the 'Respect Your Cheating Elders Police.'" (crankpunk.com)

Quarq ELSA RS power meter review.

Quarq was founded by Jim and Mieke Meyer in 2006. At the time, the couple were living in Australia, and in between triathlon training sessions Jim started working on a crank-based power meter design that would be more affordable than SRM’s system. He also wanted a system where the battery could be replaced in the field.
Quarq unveiled its first power meter at Interbike in 2007. From the outset, Quarq used strain gauges in the crank’s spider to measure torque and the original CinQo was designed to suit a variety of cranks. Aside from easy battery replacement, the CinQo was distinguished by its early use of ANT+ for wireless transmission of power data. (cyclingtips.com.au)

Genesis Equilibrium 20 disc.

BikeRadar verdict: 3.5 out of 5 stars. "A lovely ride from the classy steel frame, but its weight will limit personal bests." (bikeradar.com)

New Gear: Rapha launches lightweight climber’s shoe.

Two years after venturing into the footwear arena with its Grand Tour shoes, high-end apparel maker Rapha is about to start selling its second set of road-specific kicks, the Climber’s Shoe. These $400 shoes will go on sale in North America starting this weekend. Initially only the white/grey model will be available, with black/pink and blue/white coming on-line at a yet-to-be-specified date. (roadbikereview.com)

Analysis: Why cycling needs to improve its TV product.

Highlights of 2014 – Part IV.

Mauro Santambrogio: I’ve learned not to cheat.

BSNYC Friday Unnecessary Oil Change You Were Duped Into By Your Car Dealership!

Madiot: Like it or not, France is the center of the cycling world.

FDJ.fr manager Marc Madiot has warned that French races below WorldTour level are in danger of disappearing from the calendar and he has called for the structures of cycling in what he termed its “four historic countries” – France, Belgium, Spain and Italy – to be safeguarded. (cyclingnews.com)

Levarlet given suspended prison sentence.

On Monday evenig Guillaume Levarlet was charged for homicide. The French rider was driving under the influence of alcohol when the car was involved in a fatal accident that cost former professional Arnaud Coyot his life at the age of 33. After leaving a night club, Levarlet lost control of the vehicle and crashed into a metal barrier.
In the Citroën Xsara, Levarlet was joined by Coyot on the front seat and Sébastien Minard (AG2R-La Mondiale) on the back seat. Severely wounded, Coyot died a few hours later in the hospital. (cyclingquotes.com)

Non-payment of salaries at Colombia.

According to Robinson Chalapud and Jarlinson Pantano who will not ride for the team in 2015, Colombia have not paid their salaries for the last five months. They are now using social media in an attempt to get their money.
It should be mentioned that this is not the first time this happens at Claudio Corti’s team. A similar situation occurred in August 2013. (cyclingquotes.com)

Kirchmann targets Canadian triple title defense in 2015.

Leah Kirchmann, Canada’s triple national champion in the road race, time trial and criterium, has re-signed with the American-based team Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies for the 2015 season. The all-rounder will lead the team at events in both North America and overseas but is once again targeting the national championships.
“I’m excited to be returning to race with Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies,” Kirchmann said. “It’s a great program that provides me with everything I need to be a successful cyclist - great equipment sponsors, awesome teammates and a professional organisation at the races.” (cyclingnews.com)

Ten-rider women's roster confirmed for 2015 by Optum p/b KBS.

Optum Pro Cycling presented by Kelly Benefit Strategies has announced a ten-rider roster for 2015 with the core of its current team remaining on board under the directorship of Patrick McCarty.
Staying with the team is the current Canadian road race, time trial and criterium champion Leah Kirchmann, veteran Janel Holcomb and three emerging young riders, Annie Ewart (Canada), Brianna Walle and Maura Kinsella (both United States). (cyclingnews.com)

Done before the gun: Is your warm-up making you slower?

“Give me six hours to chop down a tree, and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe,” Abraham Lincoln once said.
Many cyclists embody that axiom and believe that success correlates directly with volume of preparation. But while success often comes to those that train the hardest, the axe of preparation cuts both ways. Pushing too hard can leave you fatigued rather than fit.
Athletes with ritualistic pre-race routines can torpedo their race before it starts due to over-preparation. (velonews.com)

Barguil focussed on Ardennes Classics and Tour de France in 2015.

Warren Barguil is currently easing back after a long season that only concluded last month at the Tour of Beijing, where he finished sixth, and the ASO-organised Criterium in Saitama, Japan. However, his thoughts are already veering towards 2015, when one of his goals will be to make his debut in the Tour de France.
The second-year French professional had some hopes of taking part in cycling’s top race last July but instead he was held back for a repeat ride in the Vuelta a España. His 2014 Vuelta objectives, however, had a very different slant to his previous participation in 2013, where as a neo-pro riding in his first Grand Tour he took two spectacular stage wins, one in the Pyrenees at Formigal where he neatly outduelled Rigoberto Urán. (cyclingnews.com)

NYABS: Velo Classique.

"We love our local bike shop here at PEZ but sometimes, just once in a while you might come across a shop that is so different, unique and just plain cool that it makes your LBS look boring. It was from here that our new series of ‘Not Your Average Bike Shop’ was born with first up being Velo Classique from Virginia USA." (pezcyclingnews.com)

10 Must-Read Cycling Books of 2014.

Feargal McKay, a voracious reader of all things bike racing, has weighed in. With a mixture of biography, autobiography, and race profiles, the following are his 10 best reads of the past year, and collectively make up not only must reads for all cycling fans but also a great gift-giving list for the riders on your “‘nice” list this holiday season. (pelotonmagazine.com)

German ultra-athlete breaks cycling altitude record.

We all have ‘must-do’ lists of hills we want to climb, or mountain passes to traverse, but German ultra-athlete Guido Kunze went further than all of us by setting a new bicycle altitude record.
The 48-year-old ascended 6,233m up the Ojos del Salado volcano on the Argentina-Chile border, beating Andre Hauschke’s 2010 record by 150m.
In total Kunze pedalled 342.77km in just over 37 hours from Bahia Inglesa on the Pacific coast to the to the northwest ridge of the volcano, ascending 6,899m. (cyclingweekly.co.uk)

Review: PRO Toolbox.

One thing that most cyclists will benefit from at one point or another is a decent set of tools. They let you perform maintenance at home (often at the last minute!) and save you money in the long run by not needing to take your bike to your LBS for every little thing. Having decent tools also helps you learn more about the way your bike works.
The difference between a good tool kit and an average one is what tools you get and the quality of the tools inside; which can be the difference between causing damage to your components and having a stress-free maintenance experience. (cyclingtips.com.au)

Five-a-side: This week's best bike gear.

"We love a classy commuter, and this urbanised version of the popular X-Bow from Ridley looks the part with matchy-matchy mudguards, Shimano Sora components and Avid disc brakes." (bikeradar.com)