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Doug Report Daily Cycling News Archive

Van der Haar repeats with Zolder World Cup win.

Dutch champion Lars van der Haar claimed a solo victory in the UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup round in Zolder, riding away from the bunch containing World Cup leader Kevin Pauwels mid-way through the race, and holding his lead through to the finish.

Pauwels extended his lead in the World Cup after Corné van Kessel took third and his Telenet-Fidea teammate and World Cup challenger Tom Meeusen finished well outside the points in 17th, one spot ahead of US champion Jeremy Powers.

Vos back to winning in Zolder World Cup.

Marianne Vos sprinted to victory in the Heusden-Zolder women’s World Cup race. The reigning world champion held off a chase by Katerina Nash and teammate Pauline Ferrand-Prévot to win.

Albert: Stybar will ride and win World Championship.

Leading up to the world cup cross in Heusden-Zolder today, Niels Albert spoke with Belgium newspaper Het Nieuwsblad. The 28-year old two-time world champion cyclocross made a surprising prediction.

When asked whether he sees Kevin Pauwels, the leader in the world cup this season, as the big favorite to become world champion next month, he decisively said no.

“No. Zdenek Stybar will be world champion.”

Ryan calls time on road career.

Former Australian road and time trial champion Carla Ryan is calling time on her almost decade long career.

Ryan was a dual national champion in 2009, winning both the road race and time trial. She also finished second in the road race in 2011 and third in 2013.

“It’s been immensely challenging and I’ve fought many physical and mental battles along the way. But I’m extremely proud of my achievements, both in personal successes and as a domestic to some of the worlds best female cyclists. I’ll especially remember becoming dual national champion in 2009 and carrying the national colors on my back during that season in Europe,” she wrote on her website.

News Shorts: Rojas Villegas tops final America Tour standings.

Oregon woman sues MTB race after crash, Stan's No Tubes announces 2015 roster.

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)

Ready to Rumble.

Everything you need to know to head off the pavement and glide over gravel.

Cyclocross LIVE stream - 2014 Superprestige Cyclocross at Diegem.

Coming up LIVE Sunday: Superprestige Cyclocross at Diegem LIVE online.  Details to come.

Men’s Stage Racer of the Year: Alberto Contador.

It’s been a long road back to the top for Alberto Contador. The Spanish superstar ruled the roads in 2014, winning or finishing second in every stage race he completed. The season started off promising enough, with second places at Volta ao Algarve and the Volta a Catalunya, and victories at Tirreno-Adriatico and the Vuelta al País Vasco, two of the hardest and most prestigious one-week stage races on the calendar.

Despite being pick-pocketed by Andrew Talansky at Critérium du Dauphiné, Contador roared into the Tour de France looking very much like a winner.

Tour of Ireland may return in 2016.

Talks are being held just now that could see a return of the Tour of Ireland as early as 2016 on the UCI Calendar. The last time the race was held was 2009 and the race was finished following cuts in the sponsorship provided by the Irish tourism board, Fàilte Ireland.

Dumoulin: It's difficult to say where my capabilities stop.

Machado returns to the WorldTour with Katusha.

2014 International Ride of the Year: Vincenzo Nibali, Stage 5, Tour de France.

It was the stuff of legend. Rain. Mud. Gloom. And a streak of turquoise and yellow Lycra ripping the legs off of an entire battalion of mud-caked riders, suffering in the trenches of northern France.

Sure, Vincenzo Nibali had won grand tours before, had battled for Monument wins on multiple occasions, and had an intimidating nickname — the Shark of Messina — but he became nothing short of a mythical beast on stage 5 of the Tour de France when he rode away from his GC rivals, then past classics specialists Fabian Cancellara and Peter Sagan, on the precarious rounded granite slabs leading toward Roubaix.

By the time Nibali barnstormed into Paris with four stage victories and more than a seven-minute winning margin, there was no question about who deserved to win the 2014 Tour de France.

Vegni: Four Italian and one international team set for Giro d'Italia wild cards.

Mauro Vegni, the director of the Giro d'Italia, has told Cyclingnews that Italian teams will again be given precedence for wild card invitations to the Corsa Rosa but revealed that at least one international team will be at the start in San Remo on Saturday May 9.

With only 17 WorldTour teams in the peloton in 2015, Vegni confirmed that RCS Sport will offer five wild card places to Professional Continental teams for the Giro d'Italia and Tirreno-Adriatico, with a total of 25 teams invited to the one-day Strade Bianche, Milan-San Remo and the Tour of Lombardy.

American Tom Peterson confirms retirement.

American Tom Peterson, an eight-year veteran of the European peloton, confirmed his retirement as a professional racer at the end of this season.

Peterson, who turned 28 this week, will return to his studies and work as a coach after deciding not to continue racing.

“I’m retiring from racing next year,” Peterson wrote on the coaching site, Tête de la Course. “I just can’t do it. Too much time in Europe, too much time training. … I had a good run for a few years, but it’s been hard the last couple of years to get into it.”

Cycling still seen as suspicious, says Kittel.

The continued presence in pro cycling of individuals with doping pasts in team management positions does not help the sport, according to Marcel Kittel. "People like Vinokourov and Riis have this very obvious history and especially in Germany, pull the attention towards doping," he said.

"People like this contribute to the fact that to this day, cycling is permanently seen as suspicious," he told FAZ.net.

UCI to tighten up WorldTour team management structures.

The International Cycling Union (UCI) announced the day before Christmas a preview of a new management rules to be tested during the 2015/16 seasons by several WorldTour teams before a full implementation in 2017.

The new ‘Operational Guide’, produced by the Institute of Sports Science at the University of Lausanne (ISSUL) for the UCI, is designed to improve the professionalism of teams in order to combat institutional and organized doping.

Armitstead: The 2016 Olympics are my biggest goal.

After closing what has to be the biggest season of her career to date, Lizzie Armitstead has even bigger dreams for the coming years. Along with putting the disappointment of Ponferrada behind her by earning at least one gold at the next World Championships in Richmond, Armitstead is consumed by winning her first Olympic title in 2016.

“I think about it all the time. It’s ultimately the biggest goal of my career,” Armistead told Cyclingnews.

Michael Owens: A very Belgian Christmas.

“Chestnuts roasting on an open fire. Jack Frost nipping at your nose...”

"With these two simple sections of his song, Nat King Cole paints a perfect mental picture on the stereotypical American Christmas that I myself have become accustomed to. Having spent this holiday season in the beautiful land of Belgium, this year's Christmas was definitely far from the norm. Replacing chestnuts with Belgian chocolate and waffles, and Jack Frost being far more of a Jack Rainy, my first Christmas in Belgium was one I will never forget."

PEZ: Daily Distractions.

(pezcyclingnews.com)

Video: Q&A with Gerald Ciolek.

The Christmas Quiz Answers.

He’s dressed in red and makes his way through the snow but it’s not Santa. Can you name the rider pictured above?

Andy Hampsten of the 7-Eleven team in the 1998 Giro. The American won the race outright. Among other things today he runs a successful travel company in Italy. The after-dinner tales must be good.

The 2014 pro cycling season in numbers.

With the 2015 pro cycling season on the immediate horizon, 2014 can be easily summarized, quantified and analyzed.

Spain’s Alberto Contador – who rebounded with the Vuelta a España win and earned the prestigious Velo d’Or trophy from France’s Velo magazine – leads the way, but there were others with stats and achievements.

Evans’ farewell highlights field Down Under.

Cadel Evans and his farewell professional race will be the primary focus of the 2015 Santos Tour Down Under, held January 20-25 in Adelaide.

The 37-year-old Evans will put an end to his career on home roads. He’ll race the Tour Down Under, and then the Great Ocean Road Race on February 1 to conclude his career, which was historic as became the first Australian to win the Tour de France, in 2011.

“The team will be working hard for Cadel to support him to do his best,” said BMC sport director Fabio Baldato in a release. “The course will be challenging, but I think he can perform well just one more time.”

Top 14 stories of 2014: Giro’s Stelvio controversy.

"The Giro d’Italia peloton struggled to come to grips with the fallout of the Stelvio descent controversy that cast a pall over the fight for the pink jersey.

Sunny skies in the morning were in sharp contrast to the snow and confusion that engulfed the Giro on the Stelvio less than 24 hours before.

Sport directors and team managers huddled in a pre-race meeting ahead of stage 17 to try to reach a consensus on a brewing controversy that revealed deep fractures within the peloton. Tempers flared, but there was no clear compromise."

Antón looking to recover winning form in 2015.

Igor Antón is hoping to return to his winning form during his second year with the Movistar team. The 31-year-old basque rider, whose last win came during the Vuelta a Espana in 2011, told Biciclismo that he has recharged his batteries with two weeks of training before Christmas in an effort to start the season well next month at the Tour de San Luis.

Five-a-side: this week's new bike gear.

"It might have been Christmas this week, but that doesn't mean we've swapped our bike geek hats for Santa hats. Here, in this Boxing Day edition of Friday Five-a-side, are some of the most interesting bits and pieces of road cycling and mountain biking gear to have landed at BikeRadar's US headquarters in Boulder, Colorado, this week."

Reviewed: CycleOps PowerSync Trainer.

"I like riding, and I love racing, but I’ll admit I am not really a fan of training. Especially when it’s cold, and I’m alone, and in a basement. I’ve tried a lot of different trainers and rollers, but riding indoors is a necessary evil at best.

I was hopeful when I saw CycleOps’ electronic PowerSync trainer coupled with their VirtualTraining Program, an online catalogue of courses and workouts that control the trainer through ANT+ or Bluetooth to change resistance and keep indoor riding interesting. The PowerSync is $900, and the VirtualTraining Program is $6 a month. It is a splurge, but it's still significantly less than a CompuTrainer at $1,600, and the benefit of staying fit through the winter may be worth it."

Steve Tilford: Merry Christmas.

UCI announces 2017 Teams' Operational Guide.

The UCI this week announced the criteria for the organization of WorldTour teams which are due to become official in 2017. The Teams' Operational Guide will be tested voluntarily by eight teams in 2015 as well as Astana, who were required to adopt the guidelines after a re-examination of its license after a string of doping positives.

The UCI's criteria for a WorldTour license already covered sporting, ethical, financial and administrative areas, but in 2017 they must also meet the new organizational requirements, which will be put into place to "combat factors which may lead to doping", the UCI said in a statement.

Evans confirmed as BMC leader for TDU.

Two talented Australians, three Swiss and one American will ride alongside the 2011 Tour de France winner as he says his WorldTour goodbye from professional cycling.

Evans will be joined by fellow Australians Rohan Dennis and newly signed world under 23 time trial champion, Campbell Flakemore.

Dennis, who will make an attempt at the UCI world hour record in February, will take to the start line for the fourth time in his Adelaide hometown.