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Doug Report Daily Cycling News Archive

Taylor Phinney Interview.

"Most of the top U.S. riders are here for a two-day affair—part media event, part Team USA course recon—for next September’s UCI world road championships, a.k.a. Richmond 2015. Earlier today, I got to ride the road course with the team, an offer I couldn’t accept quickly enough. The highlight of the hour-long ride, pedaled at a mostly conversational pace, was seeing Phinney sprint ahead of the group and solo up a spectacular section of the course: the climb of Libby Hill. As I watched him hammer up the narrow, cobbled road, he had his tongue stuck out just like Michael Jordan used to in his prime. I wondered, was this the return of Taylor Phinney?

The man handling interviews for USA Cycling tells me I’ll have just 20 minutes with the 24-year-old Boulder, Colorado, native and Team BMC standout. On my mind, of course, is Phinney’s horrific season-ending crash at U.S. road nationals last May in which he broke the tibia and fibula in his left leg. He looked good out on the bike today, so I’m curious how well his recovery has gone."

Nibali reveals contents of Vinokourov's letter.

In an interview with Tuttobici, Vincenzo Nibali has revealed what was included in the letter sent by Astana manager Alexandre Vinkourov to the whole team.

"It was an email sent to the whole team. I never deleted it. Some things you never delete," Nibali said.

When La Gazzetta dello Sport broke the story in June, it was initially believed that the letter was addressed solely to Nibali for his poor performance in the opening half of the season.

2014 International Sprinters of the Year: Kittel and Wild.

Like most of the sprints Marcel Kittel won this season, our award for Best Sprinter of the Year was never in doubt.

Kittel was show stopping in 2014, snagging 13 wins in all, including four stages at the Tour de France and two at the Giro d’Italia. His win total isn’t staggering —André Greipel won 16 times — but the venues in which he performed flawlessly are at the apex of the sport. If you can win at the Tour, you can win anywhere.

Giant-Shimano’s Kirsten Wild is, without a doubt, one of the purest sprinters in the women’s peloton. With years of experience racing on the track, the Dutch sprinting ace has been, and continues to be, the most powerful closer in the sport.

Classics Riders of the Year: Cancellara and Armitstead.

When it comes to the spring classics, Fabian Cancellara remains in a league of his own. Though 2014 wasn’t his best classics season ever — he’s won the Flanders-Roubiax double on two occasions, in 2010 and 2013 — Cancellara was without question the most consistent performer at the monuments, the sport’s biggest one-day races. With his second-place at Milano-Sanremo behind Alexander Kristoff, his win at the Tour of Flanders, and his third-place finish at Paris-Roubaix behind Niki Terpstra and John Degenkolb, Cancellara kept an impressive streak alive — he’s finished on the podium of the last 12 monuments he’s finished, dating back to the 2010 Tour of Flanders, interrupted only by a race-ending crash at the 2012 Tour of Flanders.

When it came to one-day racing in 2014, no woman could boast the results of British rider Lizzie Armitstead. The Boels-Dolmans rider won the opening World Cup event, the Ronde van Drenthe in March and followed up with three successive second-place finishes at Trofeo Alfredo Binda, the Tour of Flanders, and La Flèche Wallonne Féminine. In early March, Armitstead also won the Omloop van het Hageland and finished third at the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, a pair of difficult Belgian semi-classics that are not part of the World Cup series; she also placed third at the March 13 Drentse 8, in the Netherlands.

First Contador-Froome duel of 2015 to feature two summit finishes.

The Vuelta a Andalucia, where Alberto Contador and Chris Froome will first cross swords next season, has released its route, which combines a short time trial challenge and two difficult summit finishes.

Unusually for so early in the season, the five-day Spanish race will feature an extremely tough mountain-top finish, at the Alto de Hazallanas in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountain range. Last used in the 2013 Vuelta a España, Hazallanas was where Chris Horner took a key step towards outright victory.

2014-15 Races & Results.

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

Offseason Capsule: Dutch Cycling's Ninth Life.

The identity of Dutch cycling has been perhaps the most entertaining such subject of any nation's collective efforts at the top level of road cycling, over the last decade or so. The "identity" of Italian and French cycling is always spread over a few top teams. American cycling even more so, despite our relatively small contributions to the sport. Belgium is forever a two-team blood feud. The Spanish? Project Unzue has taken full control, so much so that "interesting" doesn't describe matters.

The Netherlands has sported one flagship project, Rabobank (nee Kwantum), with only the rare challenge from a second top-flite team in the new millennium. Kwantum began as half of the remainders from Ti-Raleigh, the other half forming the powerful Panasonic team of Peter Post and co. After Panasonic disbanded in 1993 and Kwantum evolved into Rabobank, the Oranje had their quasi-national team, orange kit and all. There were others, like the nearly unpronounceable Bankgiroloterij, but nothing much, even when the iconic 80s cycling brand Skil-Shimano revived itself in 2005.

Thomas: Britain will be stronger than ever at Olympic Games.

After winning gold on the track at the 2012 Olympic Games, Geraint Thomas has set his sights on the road for 2016. Thomas believes that the Great Britain team is in the best position yet to bring home their first gold medal in the men’s road race.

“As a country, we’re the strongest we’ve ever been,” he told Cyclingnews. “I’m really looking forward to racing the Olympics. They’re a massive global event and I’m really looking forward to it.”

The road race and time trial courses for the Rio Olympics were revealed by the UCI at the beginning of December. The 256.4 kilometer road race course contains two circuits with two climbs a piece, including the 13 per cent average Gumari ascent. The route should favor the strong climbers with a fast kick something Thomas believes suits the British team.

News shorts: Greg LeMond for Tour Down Under.

Abu Dhabi to host new big-budget stage race in October 2015.

Nys to return to cyclo-cross racing at Superprestige in Diegem.

Kittel keeping Tour targets under wraps.

Kelderman breaks collarbone in training crash.

Wilco Kelderman has become the latest rider to suffer a setback ahead of the 2015 season after breaking his collarbone during training in Spain. The team confirmed on Twitter that he had undergone surgery but didn’t elaborate on how the accident occurred.

“@W1lcokelderman broke his right collarbone. The medical staff operated him yesterday, expected recovery is 3 weeks. Get well soon!” the team wrote on Twitter.

Ruling in Ulissi case postponed until January.

Diego Ulissi will have to wait until next year to know more about his future in the professional peloton. Today the 25-year-old Italian attended a hearing in Switzerland but La Gazzetta dello Sport reports that the decision has been postponed to January.

The Tuscan tested positive for salbutamol after the eleventh stage of the Giro d'Italia positive for the drug salbutamol. As he suffers from asthma, he has a therapeutic use exemption but the amount was above the limit. Earlier in the race Ulissi had won two stages in the race.

World champion Kwiatkowski to begin his season in the Tour de San Luis.

A piece of history will be made in January when, for the first time ever, the world road race champion will line out in the Tour de San Luis. Michal Kwiatkowski has confirmed that he will take part, with the Polish rider getting his season underway in the south American event.

Kwiatkowski has previous knowledge of the race, having competed there as part of the Omega Pharma QuickStep team in 2013. He impressed then and will try to do the same again, even if his off-season was likely packed with engagements due to the rainbow bands encircling his chest.

Mark McConnell: Racing with Wolves in the Heartland of Cyclocross.

"I first met with Mark McConnell at the Canadian National Championships in Winnipeg. He was currently getting set for his travels to Belgium, where he was going to live in Mechelen, using it as a springboard to participate in the big races such as Milton Keynes and Namur. He told us the latter course  was “incomparable to any beast I’ve ever raced, long and punchy climbs with intimidating mudslide descents atop a castle mountainside.”

His nickname in the cyclocross community is Hot Sauce, a well-earned name considering that he sells his distinctive Hot Sauce Cycling BioRacer cycling caps in order to fund his travels abroad. He recently reached out to us to share his story, and the following is McConnell’s own words."

No pave in 2015: Gilbert sticking to what he knows best.

Philippe Gilbert is sticking to what he knows best, and will steer clear of the cobblestones in 2015.

Despite rumors that the former world champion was poised to tackle the northern classics again next season, Gilbert instead is returning to his roots, and aims to shine where he will start with a higher chance of success. That means the Ardennes, and some unsettled business with Milano-Sanremo. The cobbles can wait.

“I said I would like to go back to the pavé before I retire, but not in 2015. I am not finishing my career next year,” Gilbert said at a team camp in Spain. “My best choices now are doing the explosive races, like Lombardia, Sanremo, and Liège. When I start losing that, then I go to the northern classics. It’s impossible to do both. If you go hard in those races on the cobbles, I don’t know if you can be at the top for the Ardennes the next week.”

Durbridge chasing third national time trial title.

The 2014 season was a first for Luke Durbridge since turning professional in 2012 with Orica-GreenEdge. The 23-year-old spent the whole year racing in his normal trade team kit. In his neo-pro season of 2012, Durbridge was the national time trial champion but then went one better in 2013 as he became a double national champion in the road race and time trial, wearing the green and gold national champions jersey in every race bar team time trials.

Best of AngryAsian 2014.

Tech editor James Huang has a satisfyingly nerdy eye for detail when it comes to bikes and never pulls punches in his AngryAsian columns.

This AngryAsian’s penned some greats – investigating the high cost of power meters, demystifying tubeless tyres and cracking open carbon clincher standards – but it was his comparison of road and aero gear that garnered the most reader attention.

Paul Kimmage to lead Spanish cycling holidays; training & stories.

For those who have admired Paul Kimmage’s work down the years and would like to spend a week cycling in sun with him comes good news.

The former professional rider turned journalist and author will lead a week-long cycling holiday in Spain next year.

The trip will be based in the Andalusian village of Velez de Benaudalla on the slopes of the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

Kimmage will go on bike rides with the group each day. And there is also a strong social dimension with the holiday.

USAC Cyclo-cross Development Program: Hecht gives highlights from Namur.

"The UCI World Cup in Namur, Belgium takes place around the Citadel that sits above the town. The Citadel is one of the largest in Europe and has influenced much of its history. Because of its location, the course holds a challenge for all of the competitors. The circuit in Namur is like no other circuit of racing I have seen before. A combination of the large elevation difference, the difficulties of the tough terrain, and the mud all played huge roles in making this course one of my favorites and one that I will not forget."

PEZ: Daily Distractions.

(pezcyclingnews.com)

Video: Jumps, flips and more on a road bike.

Jens Voigt’s ‘Ambassador of Awesome’ job description is pretty…awesome.

Earlier this month it was reported that Jens Voigt is to take up a coaching role at Trek Factory Racing, and now the bike manufacturers have released details of his job description, designed to ease him into retirement.

As Trek’s ‘Ambassador of Awesome’ the 43-year-old is responsible for ‘a variety of diverse objectives including crushing the field on the daily lunch ride, yelling motivational catch phrases at staff members, and increasing worker productivity’.

Road Rights: Hit and Runs On The Rise in California.

Do you know why there’s an epidemic of hit-and-runs on cyclists?

According to some people, it’s because cyclists break the law.

On Thanksgiving weekend this past November, the Los Angeles Times ran a sobering article about hit-and-runs on Los Angeles cyclists. Among the findings: Between 2002 and 2012, more than 5,600 cyclists were injured in hit-and-runs, and at least 36 were killed—a 42 percent increase in hit-and-runs on cyclists in Los Angeles alone. And this surge in hit-and-runs on cyclists occurred against a backdrop of a 30 percent overall drop in hit-and-runs. In plain terms, hit-and-runs have been dropping dramatically overall, while at the same time, hit-and-runs on cyclists have been skyrocketing.

Cancellara: Flanders is not enough.

Trek Factory Racing's Fabian Cancellara has said that his lone WorldTour win in 2014 at the Tour of Flanders is not enough to keep him satisfied. In an interview released this week by his team, the 33-year-old Swiss champion says he has closed the book on 2014 and is already looking ahead to next season.

"The highlight was Flanders, of course, and also my pretty strong 10-day ride in the Tour de France was also memorable," Cancellara said. "There were ups and downs, and I was not so consistent, maybe. You can say that 2011-2014 is maybe one big book. Twenty-fourteen had a lot of the previous years in it, in a way. It's hard to explain.

"Flanders is not enough. I am not satisfied."

Book Review: Nouveau Cycle.

"How was last summer’s Tour de France for you? Chances are the response varies by nationality. It was supreme for many Italians and fantastique for the French with successes, drama and the crowning triumph of two compatriots on the podium of the Champs Elysées.

This book uses the Tour de France’s summer limelight as means to profile Jean-Christophe Péraud, Romain Bardet and Thibaut Pinot. It’s not the story of their race but a fuller biography where at times the Tour is almost forgotten. It’s in French but worth sharing with readers of this blog for the insights."

Six reasons why Felt is making some of the world’s best bikes.

"If I had a dollar for every time I’ve been told, “We’re a small company, and the only way we can compete with the big companies is to make a better product,” I’d be a very rich man. Given the engineering budgets of companies like Trek, Specialized, Giant, and Cannondale, it’s hard to make a bike better than they make. But Felt Bicycles is a small company that surpasses them in some areas.

Just the fact that you most likely hear very little about Felt, especially now that its bikes are no longer being ridden by UCI WorldTour teams, may indicate that it’s not a marketing-driven company. Rather, it is a product-driven company, and has been ever since Jim Felt started making custom aluminum bikes with his name on them decades ago. Felt employs a small team of talented engineers, and the company and its product line are too small for them to be dedicated to single categories. Instead, ideas that work on road bikes rapidly cross-pollinate to mountain, cyclocross, and track bikes, and vice versa."

Astana’s Andrei Grivko.

Andrei has been a pro since 2005 when he joined the Domina Vacanze team where he rode the Tour de France in his first year. Three years with Milram were followed by one season with ISD before teaming up with Astana in 2010. Ten Grand Tour finishes, a Vuelta stage in the team time trial and a handful of National titles.

12 Days of Dig: Day 10.

"Day 10 of Dig features four items that have become fast-favorites around the peloton offices. Each of them brings simplicity and quality to a new take on common products and is sure to please anyone of your ‘nice’ list this season."

Lifeline Carbon Mini pump.

BikeRadar verdict: 3 out of 5 stars. "This is a very small pump by any standards – just 87g in weight and, at 24.5cm long, small enough for a jersey pocket. And it was surprisingly decent to use, too."

PEZ: Pre-Xmas EuroTrash Monday!

Unzúe: Quintana is the best climber I've worked with.

What factors determine pro cyclist salaries?