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Doug Report Daily Cycling News Archive

Ferrand-Prévot hints at rivalry with Vos.

Pauline Ferrand-Prévot has been named France’s champion of champions for 2014 by L’Équipe at the end of an incredible season in which she won the world road title and the French road, time trial, cyclo-cross and MTB cross-country titles.

Speaking to the sports daily, the 22-year-old Frenchwoman, who shares the cover of L’Équipe’s final edition of the year with world champion of champions, American swimmer Katie Ledecky, reflects on her career and hints at an intriguing rivalry with team-mate and former world champion Marianne Vos, who lost her crown to Ferrand-Prévot in Ponferrada last September.

Nibali: I’m determined not to repeat the mistakes of last winter.

Vincenzo Nibali has said that he is eager to start the new campaign on a sounder footing than he did 2014 and while the Tour de France is the centrepiece of his season, the Italian noted that the door is not yet fully closed on a return to the Giro d’Italia.

Nibali won the Giro in 2013 but skipped the corsa rosa this year in order to focus on the Tour. His Astana team has intimated that Fabio Aru will lead the line at the Giro in 2015 while Nibali again targets Tour victory.

Offseason Capsule: Team Ehrfürchtige.

I suppose every team has a unique story to tell, and Giant-Alpecin is no exception. They came up the ranks as Skil-Shimano, riding in kits that hearkened back to the French Skil-Sem teams of the mid-80s featuring Sean Kelly and Eric Caritoux, and managed by Le Vicomte, Jean de Gribaldy, an ex-pro who helped modernize the sport during Kelly's time. That part was mostly nostalgia (as opposed to a more tangible cycling connection) on the part of sponsor Skil; in reality the new team had its roots in the Shimano Memory Corp development squad based (like Skil Corp) in the Netherlands.

To outgrow the development ranks, Skil came aboard with Shimano in 2006, creating a Pro-Conti team which enjoyed a single Tour de France invitation in 2009. But little else was going on until Skil disappeared, briefly replaced by the philosophical name 1t4i, representing a single T (team) and four I's (Inspiration, Integrity, Improvement and Innovation).

Manager Iwan Spekenbrink eventually replaced Skil (and the 1t4i thing) with Argos, an oil company, and moved the team's base to southern France, marking the transition to an international squad. Things really got interesting when, in 2012, John Degenkolb joined Marcel Kittel, the team's flashy 2011 recruit, to set a course for the team involving actual race wins. The victory totals went from 15 in 2010 to a very healthy 30 the next two seasons and a high of 41 in 2014.

Liam Earl: Recovering from competing with the best.

"Today marks the 12th day of my USA Cycling Cyclocross Development Program experience. I have had many great experiences and with four days left there will be many more to come.

Today was a very valuable rest day in between the legendary races of Diegem and Loenhout. For me, today's rest day consisted of sleeping in to the late hour of 8:30 while going to bed the previous night at 9:30. The valuable 11 hours sleep is vital for your body to recover from racing the best in the world. After having a hardy breakfast of oatmeal mixed with dates and banana, I went out with two other US teammates on what turned out to be an adventurous and cold ride in the Belgium countryside. The ride was an easy hour to get the muscles relaxed and the blood flowing once again."

Adam Myerson's Inside Dirt: Cross of the Aces.

"If the Kerstperiode in Belgium is, in effect, a cyclo-cross stage race with races nearly every day from December 26th through January 6th, the Azencross in Loehhout is the queen stage. The Cross of the Aces is normally a fast race, often frozen, and was one of the first races to introduce things like a lighting system for the start and man-made features like their series of BMX style whoop-de-dos. When it’s muddy it’s often still fast, though this year was somewhat of an exception.

A blanket of snow over ground that hadn’t quite frozen and temperatures just over freezing meant the water-logged course was also ice cold, slower, and more treacherous than typical."

New year’s resolutions and goal setting – approaches that work.

"There are hundreds of experiments, involving thousands of participants from continents and countries spanning most of the world pointing to one clear finding: compared to vague, easy goals such as “Do your best”, specific, and aspirational goals improve performance. The goal ‘gurus’, Locke and Latham reviewed over 40 years of research to state: “So long as a person is committed to the goal, has the requisite ability to attain it, and does not have conflicting goals, there is a positive, linear relationship between goal difficulty and task performance.”

In other words, if you really want it, set it hard and work for it and you’ll achieve it."

Quotes of the year 2014.

"If Quintana, Froome, Nibali and Contador all agree to ride all three Grand Tours, I'll get Tinkoff Bank to put up €1 million. They can have €250,000 each as an extra incentive. I think it's a good idea." - Tinkoff-Saxo team owner Oleg Tinkov tries to entice riders to go for the Giro-Tour-Vuelta triple in 2015.

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)

Van Aert solos to victory at Bpost Bank Trofee Azencross.

Nash wins elite women's race at Azencross.

Katusha ‘guaranteed’ despite growing troubles in Russia.

Katusha officials say the team’s 2015 budget is “guaranteed” despite a growing crisis in Russia that’s threatening to engulf its economy.

Recent comments from Tinkoff-Saxo owner Oleg Tinkov, suggesting that the worsening economic situation could torpedo his team, raised questions about Katusha, Russia’s other major World Tour team.

Katusha officials, however, say the team’s budget is secure going into the 2015 season.

“Of course, the ruble crisis affects all Russian companies and citizens, but the team [received] the signal from the sponsors that the budget and future of the team are guaranteed,” a team official told VeloNews, via email, Wednesday.

The Moments That Stood Out Most.

"Instead of giving you our take on the year that was, we decided to ask some pros what they thought were the most standout moments.

Here’s what they told us."

Phil Gaimon

“For me, that Cannondale merger [with Garmin] was a doozy..."

“I’d say for the sport overall … Froome leaving the Tour.”

Why the Australian commercial networks’ interest in cycling is a good thing.

The new year will be just two days old when many of Australia’s best riders line up in Geelong for the first of the four Bay Crits (officially the Mitchelton Bay Cycling Classic). Unlike in previous years though, it will be Channel Nine and Fox Sports that have the opportunity to broadcast highlights of the Bay Crits, not SBS.

The Bay Crits are just one part of a new broadcast rights deal between Cycling Australia and Channel Nine/Fox Sports which also includes the Road Nationals and the Jayco Herald Sun Tour. For Channel Nine, these new acquisitions will sit alongside the network’s coverage of the Santos Tour Down Under, a race Nine has covered since 2012.

Meanwhile Channel Seven has also thrown its hat in the ring, securing live broadcast rights to the inaugural Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race — the final race in the distinguished career of the 2011 Tour de France winner.

2014 International Cyclist of the Year: Pauline Ferrand-Prevot.

Pauline Ferrand-Prévot recently won an award in her native France. “The cycling star of tomorrow,” they called her.

Perhaps the French meant to award her the cycling star of today. In 2014, she was transcendent in a way no cyclist before her has been. “PFP,” as the dynamic, slight 22-year-old is known, put together a dream season. On three different types of bikes.

The obvious high point came in Ponferrada, Spain, where she rode a masterful final three kilometers in the women’s world road championships. A group of favorites had ridden clear on the final climb and held a paper-thin advantage over the fleet-finishing pursuers. The Dutch master, Marianne Vos, was among the leaders, and it all seemed signed-sealed-and-delivered that she’d win yet again. But instead of pressing on, the leaders sat up and waited for the peloton, setting the world championship race up for a sprint.

On the far right side, the lithe Ferrand-Prévot emerged, and her sprint was timed to the inch. She’d saved just enough, hitching a ride behind the German national team as it chased in the waning moments.

Lizzie Armitstead reflects on her brilliant year.

For Lizzie Armitstead, 2014 was the year she cemented her place at the very top of women’s cycling. The just-turned 26-year-old won the Commonwealth Games road race, the season-long women’s road World Cup and finished in the top 10 of a remarkable 38 of her 47 UCI level races. Despite this success, the one title she coveted was that of world champion.

The Olympic silver medallist finished seventh in Ponferrada, after being part of a four-strong escape which couldn’t work together and was caught 500 meters from the line. Those that watched her post-race TV interview saw a forlorn expression which told the story of a frustrating race.

The Biomechanics of Planing.

"We discussed “planing” in a recent post by looking at power data from a double-blind test of two different bikes. The data showed that the same rider’s power output was consistently higher on a bike with a more flexible frame than on a stiffer one.

On a bike with optimized frame flex characteristics, the rider can put out more power with less fatigue. We named this phenomenon “planing”. How does it work?"

News shorts: Team Sky and Orica GreenEdge set to clash at Revolution.

Porte to start season at nationals, Androni threatens Hoogerland with lawsuit.

Park Tool Dial Adjust.

BikeRadar verdict: 4 out of 5 stars. "Maxi-mini that makes its extra size and weight count."

Scinto steps down as directeur sportif at troubled Neri Sottoli.

PEZ: Daily Distractions.

(pezcyclingnews.com)

Video: There Will Be Mud. 2014 Azencross Loenhout Men’s Highlights – Bpost Bank Trophy #6.

Adios 2014!

"2014 will not be a forgettable turn of the calendar. Some years go by in a blur, others stick with you a bit longer. In all cases, it's hard to know what to think, and that remains true, but I can think this about the year that's about to end: you kept us interested.

We sat on the edge of our seats in races of all magnitudes."

Top 14 stories of 2014: Eternal flame.

There is a cemetery at the top of the Ghisallo climb. It’s on the right-hand side of the road, if you’re climbing from the north, the way Il Lombardia climbs the twisting 8.6 kilometers from where the town of Bellagio cleaves the southern waters of Lago di Como. Behind the stonewall and iron gate are graves and mausoleums brightened with fresh flowers, each marker lit with a round, red electric light the size of a coat button. These are a nod to modernity, a replacement for dripping candles with their vulnerability to wind and rain. Eternal flame, without the hassle.

For cyclists, the cemetery is easy to miss, because on the opposite side of the Via Adua lies the Santuario del Ghisallo, the little church where the bells will ring out as the racers pass on the Sunday of Il Lombardia. Here, too, is an eternal flame, also electric, but more grand in scale.

Carmen Small aims at 2016 Olympic team pursuit.

In a week, eight women will suit up, clip in, and roll out onto the curved wooden banks of the Los Angeles velodrome. Only four will walk out into the warm LA sun with tickets to Cali, Colombia, host of the final track World Cup event of the season.

Carmen Small wants one of those tickets.

The plan was hatched with USA Cycling late last summer when her Specialized-Lululemon team appeared to be headed for collapse: Use Small’s time trial ability at the 2016 Olympics in the team pursuit. On the road to Rio, the first stop is Colombia.

And if she doesn’t make the squad?

“I’m not quite sure where that leaves me,” Small said.

Talk: Philippe Gilbert.

"World and National champion, Classics winner, Grand Tour stage winner and always a man to watch in just about any race. Our man in Spain, Alastair Hamilton, caught up with Philippe Gilbert at BMC’s pre-Christmas training camp to get his opinions on many subjects.

At this time of year Gilbert will be found in the hotel La Sella golf resort in Denia, Spain. The BMC team have been taking over this rather nice hotel complex for a few years now and it’s always a pleasure to receive an invitation to their media days. The team members have changed over the years, but the hotel and Philippe’s openness and sense of humor is always the same."

Luis León Sánchez to lead Astana at Tour Down Under.

The Astana team for the 2015 Tour Down Under will feature several new recruits including a previous winner of the race in Luis León Sánchez. Of the seven riders selected for the first WorldTour race of 2015, five will make their debuts for the team in Australia.

Sanchez, who last rode the Tour Down Under in 2012 finishing in 26th place overall, also has two second places to him name alongside overall victory in 2005 and will lead the team at the race.

"Sanchez has a good history with our event," said race director Mike Turtur. "As well as taking the overall victory in 2005, he also claimed the Young Rider Classification that same year.

Rapha’s exclusive new cycling club.

Rapha, the luxury cycling clothing brand and kit supplier to Team Sky, will in January launch its most ambitious project — a global cycling club with an annual membership fee.

But in a style more befitting an exclusive golf club than the traditionally egalitarian spirit of cycling, those applying for membership are warned: “In order to maintain the very highest levels of service, membership is limited. We regret that not all applications will be successful.”

The final question on the application form appears to be the deal-breaker, asking would-be members to define ‘the perfect ride’ in fewer than 100 words.

2014 Men’s Domestic Rider of the Year: Sergey Tsvetkov.

Tejay, Tom … Tsvetkov?

While Tejay van Garderen comfortably defended his title at the 2014 USA Pro Challenge, and Tom Danielson put in a valiant effort to come second in his beloved home race, Sergey Tsvetkov, of the comparatively minuscule Jelly Belly-Maxxis team, took the third step on the podium, an impressive result against a truly world-class crop of riders and teams.

It was all in a day’s riding for the soft-spoken Moldovan who races with Romanian citizenship.

“I try to race everyday like it’s another day; I don’t think about the GC and that’s probably how I get to be third now.”

Selene Yeager: Data Junkies.

inCycle: Top 10 videos of 2014.