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| Mar 31 |
 Photo:
Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) wins the opening stage in De Panne (Tim de
Waele/TDWSport.com).
Alexander Kristoff got
back to winning ways on the opening stage of the Driedaagse de Panne.
The Norwegian powered home to his fifth victory of the season after a
perfect delivery from his compatriot and teammate Sven Erik Bystrom.
Jens Debusschere faded after launching his sprint early but held on for second while Stijn Devolder took third. March
31, 2015
(cyclingnews.com)
 Photo:
Porte
had a great start to the year, winning the Australia time
trial championship.
A
little
over a year ago Richie
Porte
abandoned the Volta a Catalunya on just the second day of racing. It
was
the second race that month that he’d been unable to finish — after
Tirreno-Adriatico — and by the end of May he would also have DNFed at
Liege-Bastogne-Liege and the Tour of Romandie.
The illness that affected Porte in those races would also see him shelve his main goal for the season: the Giro d’Italia. Twelve months on things couldn’t be more different. Porte took two stage wins en route to overall victory at Paris-Nice — as he’d done two years prior — and a couple weeks later he worked his way into the overall lead of and then won the Volta a Catalunya. March
31, 2015
(cyclingtips.com.au)
 Photo:
The
USA Pro Challenge returns to Colorado this summer with a women's event.
Photo: Tim De Waele | TDWsport.com.
The
USA
Pro Challenge announced Tuesday it will hold a three-day elitewomen’s
race in conjunction with the men’s race in August.
The route for the women’s event will overlap with some parts of the men’s race, and the women will compete for the same daily prize money as the men, according to a press release. The race is slated for August 21-23; the men’s race is scheduled for August 17-23. March
31, 2015
(velonews.com)
2014-15
Races &
Results.
Driedaagse De Panne-Koksijde - Mar 31-Apr 2 (Stages & Results), Giro d'Italia 2015 - May 9-31 (Stages), Tour de France 2015 - July 4-26 (Stages), Vuelta a España 2015 - Aug 22-Sept 13 (Stages), UCI Road World Championship 2015 - Sept 20-27 (Stages), Gent - Wevelgem - Mar 29 (Results), Gent - Wevelgem Women - Mar 29 (Results), Volta Ciclista a Catalunya - Mar 23-29 (Results), E3 Harelbeke - Mar 27 (Results), Tour de Taiwan - Mar 21-25 (Results), Milan San Remo - Mar 22 (Results), Nokere Koerse - Mar 18 (Results), Tirreno-Adriatico - Mar 11-17 (Results), UCI Track World Championships - Feb 18-22 (Results), UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships - Jan 31-Feb 1 (Results).  Kacey
Lloyd won the first edition of the Red Hook Crit.
(Photo by Alessandro Mornati). "Since
2008, the Red Hook Criterium has been bringing cyclists to Brooklyn,
New York, to race track bikes around tight turns and through torrential
downpours, and implement all kinds of chaos. This week, 60 Minutes
Sports is picking up on the story, with a special hosted by Phil Keoghan of The
Amazing Race. The show is set to air on Showtime on April 1.
While Keoghan is doing press coverage, Kacey Lloyd is in crunch mode to get ready for this year’s Red Hook Crit, to be held April 25. After winning the first edition of the race, she has become a fixture at the event. She took a few minutes away from her training to give us the rundown on Red Hook." March
31,
2015 (bicycling.com)
 Photo:
All the ambassadors are expected to offer one clinic or group ride per
month through Liv retailers.
Giant
Bicycle and Liv USA has announced the launch its largest women’s
cycling ambassador program in the brand’s history, with 80 women
ambassadors across the country, who will work with retailers to lead
rides and give educational clinics to help grow women’s cycling in the
community.
“The Liv ambassadors give back to the Liv brand ten-fold, but more importantly they help grow women’s cycling in general and create an environment where the sport of cycling is less intimidating,” said Elysa Walk, Giant and Liv USA’s general manager. “All of that has more value than we could ever put a price tag on. As a leader in the women’s cycling industry, I believe we have a responsibility to give women who love to ride a means to share their passion. This program does just that.” March
31,
2015 (capovelo.com)
 Photo:
Guillaume
van Keirsbulck (Omega Pharma-Quickstep) won the 2014 ThreeDays of De
Panne and he is back to defend..
Tuesday's Three
Days of De Panne Stage 1 departs De Panne at 11:55am CET (5:55am
U.S.Eastern) and is expected at the finish at Zottegem at around 4:48pm
CET(10:48am U.S. Eastern).
Three Days of De Panne live streaming video should get underway at around 2:40pm CET (8:40am U.S. Eastern, 5:40am Pacific). March
31, 2015
(cyclingfans.com)
 Photo:
Fabian
Cancellara won the 2014 Ronde van Vlaanderen. Due to injury,however, he
will not be able to defend his title.
Sunday's Tour
of Flanders departs Brugge at 10:15am CET (4:15am U.S. Eastern) and
isexpected at the finish at Oudenaarde at around 4:47pm CET (10:47am
U.S.Eastern, 7:47am Pacific).
Tour of Flanders live streaming video should get underway at around *9:30am CET (*3:30am U.S. Eastern, 12:30am Pacific). March
31, 2015
(cyclingfans.com)
 Photo:Kazakhstan
Cycling Federation president Darkhan Kaletaev.(Astana ProTeam).
As
the
date nears for Astana's meeting with the UCI Licensing Commission to
discuss the team’s WorldTour license, Kazakhstan Cycling
Federation President Darkhan
Kaletaev
says the team's organization will go into the
hearing
not as defendants, but rather as stakeholders in UCI President Brian Cookson's
drive
to eliminate performance enhancing drugs from the sport.
March
30,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Luca
Paolini
relied on his experience and race smarts in Gent-Wevelgem.
Photo: Tim De Waele | TDWsport.com. If
you
want to put a stamp on a career, you’d surely like do it the way Luca Paolini
did, grabbing a victory in the first major northern classic of —
perhaps
—your final season with both hands and doing it in pure hardman
style, too.
In torrential rain that gave way to a slashing crosswind that gusted to 50 miles per hour and sent riders and bikes sprawling into the muddy drainage alongside the roads of Flanders and Northern France, the Italian Katusha rider won Gent-Wevelgem with the kind of patience andmaturity a decade and a half in the pro peloton earns you. “It was a really hard win because of the weather conditions,” Paolini said in apost-race press conference. “There were a lot of crashes during the race. I also crashed two times and two times I had to change my bike. …But despite these problems, I tried to take the front of the race to save energy for the final kilometers and I succeeded. It was a good ride.” Understatement might be another thing that a 15-year career will teach you. March
30, 2015
(velonews.com)
|  Photo:
Aaron Brown (on left) appearing in a Cyclismas video.
Having
been found liable for the missing Kimmage
Fund by the Massachusetts Superior Court last October, the person
responsible for its theft, Aaron
Brown, has run out of time to lodge an appeal.
As a result final judgement has been rendered against Brown, the former user of the UCI_Overlord persona. According to Bill Hue, a fund donor who took a class action lawsuit on behalf of the other contributors, Brown owes a sum heading towards $100,000. March
31,
2015 (cyclingtips.com.au)
 Photo:
"I
got an iPhone and I joined Twitter and so Lance followed me onTwitter."
"A
few
weeks ago I had the good fortune to catch up with Scott Mercier,
former
US Postal rider, anti-doping advocate, former Lance Armstrong
foe and current Lance
Armstrong
friend. This is Part 2 of my interview with Scott."
March
31, 2015
(crankpunk.com)
 UCI
president Brian Cookson is under increasing scrutiny to take a stand on
doping in cycling, and the questions surrounding the Astana team are
the latest controversy to test his resolve. Photo: AFP PHOTO | Mark
Gunter (File).
Italian
cycling federation president Renato
di Rocco has criticized the UCI’s handling of the Astana
case, the Reuters wire service reported Tuesday.
Di Rocco, a member of the UCI’s management committee, wrote a letter March 27 to UCI president Brian Cookson outlining his concerns over how the cycling governing body is trying to revoke the team’s WorldTour racing license. Reuters published excerpts of the letter: “In all the mentioned cases (Olympics, women cycling) we, as management committee members, have been directly involved,” Di Rocco wrote. “However, concerning the License Commission withdrawal of Astana this procedure was not followed. On Feb. 27 we had received only a press release which informed us the UCI requested the withdrawal of the Astana pro team (WorldTour) license.” March
31,
2015 (velonews.com)
 Tom
Boonen
wants to race Paris-Roubaix in two weeks.
Photo: Tim De Waele |TDWsport.com. Belgian
sprinter
Tom Boonen,
injured
in a fall at the Paris-Nice race, has returned to training in the slim
hope of competing in the Paris-Roubaix classic next month.
Marc Coucke, the leading sponsor of Boonen’s Etixx-Quick-Step team, said the 34-year-old Belgian had a very slim chance of competing in the race on April 12. “Tom Boonen is training hard, there is one percent chance that he will compete inthe Paris-Roubaix race,” Coucke said on Twitter. “Tom explained that he would certainly check out the Paris-Roubaix course. After that he will make a decision on whether he will compete in the race." March
31, 2015
(velonews.com)
 Photo:
All
looks on track for Alberto Contador.
All
eyes
are rightly on Flanders in anticipation of this weekend’s Rondevan
Vlaanderen, one of the best races in the world.
All the more reason to take a quick look at a different subset ofriders and evaluate where things stand for the Giro. Alberto Contador is and has been the obvious pick while Richie Porte has seen his odds tighten following wins in Paris-Nice and the Volta a Catalunya. Rigoberto Uran and Fabio Aru sit stable while the odds for everyone else are off the chart, the next names are Vincenzo Nibali and Rafał Majka only they’re not racing, then comes Domenico Pozzovivo on decimal odds of 18 and Dan Martin on 34. March
31, 2015
(inrng.com)
 Photo:Bernhard
Eisel talks to the crowd
(Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com). Bernhard Eisel
has called on professional riders to show greater unity when faced with
the cases of extreme weather in races.
The experienced Team Sky rider was speaking at the start of the Driedaagse De Panne-Koksijde, race that saw the first twelve kilometers neutralized, as high winds again buffeted the peloton. The riders faced a similar scenario in Sunday’s Gent-Wevelgem and despite a brief respite, as Eiselled a collective neutralization, the race went ahead, but was littered with crashes, abandonment, broken bones and further debate about rider safety and racing extreme weather conditions. March
31, 2015
(cyclingnews.com)
 Photo:
Iljo
Keisse and the Etixx boys will be looking for a win on home ground.
"The
early
season Belgian cobbled Classics have been building up to thisSunday and
the battle of the Tour of Flanders, or De Ronde vanVlaanderen. Ed Hood looks at
the
history and examines the parcours for this Monument of the road. Who
will be the winner? Not an easy answer, but he will be a Lion of
Flanders.
It’s hard to over-state the relevance of the Tour of Flanders, not just in cycling circles but in the national consciousness of Belgium. During the Copenhagen six day race a few years ago I was sitting beside Gent’s own star of road and track; Iljo Keisse in the back seat of Michael Berling’s car, en route our evening meal at the race restaurant." March
31, 2015
(pezcyclingnews.com)
 Photo:
Boels Dolmans Cycling Team.
"We
sat down with Megan
Guarnier, Christine
Majerus, Evie
Stevens, Chantal
Blaak, Lizzie
Armitstead and Ellen
van Dijk and gave them two prompts:
1. Tell us about your first bike race 2. What do you know now that you wish you knew then? What advice to you have for the new rider or racer? Their responses were thoughtful and funny and served as great conversation-starters." March
31,
2015 (cyclingtips.com.au)
 Photo:
Amber
Neben (Specialized-Lululemon) riding in the yellow jersey at theExergy
Tour.(Jon Devich).
SmartStop
adds Candelario;
Grotts,
Courtney
earn Pan Am gold.
March
30,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
March
30, 2015
(cyclingnews.com)
| March
31, 2015
 Photo:
Saxo-Tinkoff
manager Bjarne Riis with the team's star rider AlbertoContador at a
press conference in October(AFP).
Bjarne Riis has
said he plans to spend time with his family after parting ways with
the Tinkoff-Saxo team, saying he will take time “to think through
and explore what I want to achieve in life professionally going
forward.”
Perhaps as part of his settlement with the Tinkoff-Saxo team, and team management company Tinkoff Sport, Riis said he will refrain from giving interviews but tried to encourage his former riders in a brief message issued via his son’s Twitter account. March
31, 2015
(cyclingnews.com)
 Photo:Peter
Sagan struggles in the torrid conditions at Ghent-Wevelgem(Watson).
Sagan-mania
was
at its height two years ago in Ghent-Wevelgem. Slovakia’s Peter Sagan
muscled his way into an escape group, attacked solo four kilometers out
and celebrated by spinning an imaginary lasso and riding a
one-handed wheelie.
Two years on from 2013, the situation has changed. Instead of thinking of new ways to celebrate wins, he is merely trying to win. Any victory would be welcome for Tinkoff-Saxo. Over the winter they signed Sagan on a three-year deal through 2017, at a reported €4m (£2.90m) annually, in hopes of reliving some of that Sagan-mania. March
31, 2015
(cyclingweekly.co.uk)
 The
Oakley
Jawbreakers are larger than the average sunglasses and offer more
features than what meets the eye. Photo: Logan VonBokel |VeloNews.com.
Mark Cavendish maybe
one of the most neurotic professionals when it comes to selecting his
equipment. He’s been known for riding non-sponsor equipment
and switching between his Specialized S-Works shoes and
his long-discontinued Nikes. There’s even rumors of him switching
frame sizes.
So when someone as picky as Cavendish puts his head together with designers from a brand like Oakley, the results are sure to be attention grabbing. And sure enough, the Oakley Jawbreaker is unlike anything we’ve seen from Oakley since the 1980s, when Oakley launched its first sunglasses, the Eyeshade. March
31, 2015
(velonews.com)
 Photo:
Alex
Dowsett hard at work(Movistar).
Alex Dowsett’s
Hour Record attempt is back on track following his recovery from a
broken collarbone he suffered earlier this year. Dowsett was due
to tackle the record at the end of February in London but was forced
to postpone it when he crashed during a training ride near his home
in Essex.
The new record attempt is planned for May 2 at the National Cycling Centre in Manchester. “I'm thrilled to be back on track to attempt the #PerfectHour,” Dowsett said in a team press release. “Breaking my collarbone whilst in such good form was a real disappointment, but I healed 100% and didn't lose much form through it all. Manchester will be a fantastic location and it'll be an honor for me to attempt the record on the same boards as Chris Boardman.” March
31, 2015
(cyclingnews.com)
 Photo:
Kristoff chose gearing that's not for the faint of heart: a 54/42
crankset would have most mortals walking up the feared Flandrian bergs.
"While
E3 is by no means as big in reputation as its brother, the Tour of
Flanders (or Ronde van Vlaanderen, if you prefer), it’s a top level pro
bike race in Belgium which means people come out to watch in their
thousands and anyone who’s got pretensions of being someone in the
Classics is there to ride.
And it is a brutal race too – just ask Fabian Cancellara, whose spring campaign was ended by a crash on the Haaghoek cobbles. As well as hitting some bergs ourselves for a bit of Flemish-style suffering, we got along to the start in Harelbeke to check out the pro bikes and see what tweaks they make for the cobbles. Although the cobbles of Flanders are very different to that of Roubaix, they still pack quite a punch and if your bike’s not 100% then the Hellingen may well shake it to bits." March
31,
2015 (roadcyclinguk.com)
 Photo:
Cycling Stars-
A Trump Card Game.
What
it
is: A deck of cards with profiles of thirty riders on them, each scored
along different criteria, from Panache to Toughness
Strengths: Seriously good fun as you try to trump your opponents with superior scoring attributes (and just as much fun as you argue whether Eugène Christophe really outscores Cadel Evans on toughness) Weaknesses: Sean Kelly only scores eight for Panache? On! What! Planet?!? March
31, 2015
(podiumcafe.com)
 Photo:
The new Flat Mount calipers are only compatible with Flat Mount frames
and forks.
Shimano
is introducing its first road hydraulic brake calipers that are
compatible with the Flat Mount disk caliper mounting system it
announced last year and which will be used on some 2016 model year
bikes that will hitting the market soon.
The two new Flat Mount calipers are technically not part of a group, but the BR-RS805 model is considered "Ultegra grade" and the BR-RS505 is considered "105 grade." The low-profile calipers have One-Way bleeding and easy tool access. Both calipers use new pads that are not compatible with Shimano's mountain calipers. In addition, Shimano is bringing out a 105-level hydraulic road lever with 11-speed mechanical shifting. The new ST-RS505 lever works with either of the new Flat Mount calipers as well as previous Shimano road disc calipers. The levers have reach and free-stroke adjustment and Vivid index shifting. March
31,
2015 (bicycleretailer.com)
March
30,2015
|
Photo:
Kazakhstan Cycling Federation president Darkhan Kaletaev.(Astana Pro
Team).
As
the date nears for Astana's meeting with the UCI Licensing Commission
to discuss the team’s WorldTour license, Kazakhstan Cycling Federation
President Darkhan
Kaletaev says the team's organization will go into the
hearing not as defendants, but rather as stakeholders in UCI President Brian Cookson's
drive to eliminate performance enhancing drugs from the sport.
March
30, 2015 (cyclingnews.com)
Luca
Paolini relied on his experience and race smarts in Gent-Wevelgem.
Photo: Tim De Waele | TDWsport.com.
If
you want to put a stamp on a career, you’d surely like do it the way Luca Paolini did,
grabbing a victory in the first major northern classic of — perhaps —
your final season with both hands and doing it in pure hardman style,
too.
In torrential rain that gave way to a slashing crosswind that gusted to 50 miles per hour and sent riders and bikes sprawling into the muddy drainage alongside the roads of Flanders and Northern France, the Italian Katusha rider won Gent-Wevelgem with the kind of patience and maturity a decade and a half in the pro peloton earns you. “It was a really hard win because of the weather conditions,” Paolini said in a post-race press conference. “There were a lot of crashes during the race. I also crashed two times and two times I had to change my bike. … But despite these problems, I tried to take the front of the race to save energy for the final kilometers and I succeeded. It was a good ride.” Understatement might be another thing that a 15-year career will teach you. March
30,
2015 (velonews.com)
 Photo:
Cannondale-Garmin got their first win of the year but it’s slim
pickings.
Time
to look at the teams and the number of races they’ve won.
It might be early in the spring classics season but we’re almost a quarter of the way through the season as measured by the number of days of racing and therefore the amount of wins up for grabs. It’s also the chance to evaluate some issues from Tinkoff-Saxo’s managerial mess to Astana’s looming license loss. March
30,
2015 (inrng.com)
 Sunday's
Gent-Wevelgem saw scenes of incredible carnage as the peloton was
lashed by 50mph winds, causing many crashes and 160 DNFs. Photo: Tim De
Waele | TDWsport.com.
The
cold winds off the North Sea gusted up to 50mph Sunday and ripped the
Gent-Wevelgem peloton to bits, essentially shaping the outcome of the
239-kilometer classic.
Only 39 cyclists officially survived the battle through the Flemish fields to finish in Wevelgem, the rest, 160 cyclists, waved the white flag to surrender or simply were forced to a stop in the brutal conditions. Some cyclists landed in muddy ditches or cold canals. Some, like Sky’s Bradley Wiggins, gave up early to avoid danger. Riders piled into team cars if there was space. Others asked locals for directions and took the main road back to the safety of the hotel. March
30,
2015 (velonews.com)
 Ewen
got things off to a strong start when he won three stages plus the
overall. Photography by 2015 Tour de Langkawi, Cor Vos
He’s
a three time winner of the Tour de France’s green jersey and also
clocked up twelve stage wins during his long professional career. Robbie McEwen is
one of Australia’s best-ever riders and has given a thumbs up to what
he has seen thus far from Caleb
Ewan in his debut pro season.
“He is a great young talent,” McEwen told CyclingTips, speaking about the 20 year old Orica GreenEdge rider and how he has fared thus far in the peloton. “I know that the aim for the team in his first year as a professional is to get as many wins as possible and give him a balance between races at this level and WorldTour. It is great to see his progression from the under 23 ranks, where he was identified as a massive talent, and to turn that into wins. March
30,
2015 (cyclingtips.com.au)
 Photo:
Ty Magner (Hincapie) takes the win in Alabama
(Jonathan Devich/epicimages.us).
Hincapie
Racing rider beats UnitedHealthcare duo of Keough and Clarke.
March
30,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
2014-15
Races
& Results.
Driedaagse De Panne-Koksijde - Mar 31-Apr 2 (Start List), Giro d'Italia 2015 - May 9-31 (Stages), Tour de France 2015 - July 4-26 (Stages), Vuelta a España 2015 - Aug 22-Sept 13 (Stages), UCI Road World Championship 2015 - Sept 20-27 (Stages), Gent - Wevelgem - Mar 29 (Results), Gent - Wevelgem Women - Mar 29 (Results), Volta Ciclista a Catalunya - Mar 23-29 (Results), E3 Harelbeke - Mar 27 (Results), Tour de Taiwan - Mar 21-25 (Results), Milan San Remo - Mar 22 (Results), Nokere Koerse - Mar 18 (Results), Tirreno-Adriatico - Mar 11-17 (Results), UCI Track World Championships - Feb 18-22 (Results), UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships - Jan 31-Feb 1 (Results). Photo:
Guillaume van Keirsbulck (Omega Pharma-Quickstep) won the 2014 Three
Days of De Panne and he is back to defend..
Tuesday's Three Days
of De Panne Stage 1 departs De Panne at 11:55am CET (5:55am U.S.
Eastern) and is expected at the finish at Zottegem at around 4:48pm CET
(10:48am U.S. Eastern).
Three Days of De Panne live streaming video should get underway at around 2:40pm CET (8:40am U.S. Eastern, 5:40am Pacific). March
30,
2015 (cyclingfans.com)
Photo:
Fabian Cancellara won the 2014 Ronde van Vlaanderen. Due to injury,
however, he will not be able to defend his title.
Sunday's Tour of
Flanders departs Brugge at 10:15am CET (4:15am U.S. Eastern) and is
expected at the finish at Oudenaarde at around 4:47pm CET (10:47am U.S.
Eastern, 7:47am Pacific).
Tour of Flanders live streaming video should get underway at around *9:30am CET (*3:30am U.S. Eastern, 12:30am Pacific). March
30,
2015 (cyclingfans.com)
March
29,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Photo:
With a great attack on the penultimate climb, Meintjes dropped the rest
in the final stage.
Louis Meintjes took
the biggest victory of his short career when he turned the Settimana
Coppi e Bartali on its head on the hilly final stage of the race. With
a big attack on the penultimate climb, he distanced his rivals and held
on to take a solo victory and the overall win with a small 2-second
advantage over previous leader Ben
Swift.
When he finished second at the 2013 U23 World Championships, Meintjes indicated that he is destined for a great future and last year he confirmed his potential when he finished in the top 10 in the Giro del Trentino and got close to a stage win in the Vuelta a Espana. March
29,
2015 (cyclingquotes.com)
| Photo:
Amber Neben (Specialized-Lululemon) riding in the yellow jersey at the
Exergy Tour.
(Jon Devich).
SmartStop adds Candelario; Grotts, Courtney earn Pan Am gold.
March
30, 2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Photo:
The 2015 Astana WorldTour team
(Bettini Photo).
Astana
has denied reports in the Dutch media that they have been stripped of
their WorldTour license by the Independent License Commission. De Telegraaf
reported that the Kazakh team would now only be allowed to apply for a
Pro Continental license but the team told Cyclingnews that
they have not been informed of such a decision.
Late last month, the UCI requested that Astana's license be revoked following an audit of the team. Astana told Cyclingnews that the March 20 date quoted by the report was the deadline they had been given to form a legal response and supply all documentation to the Commission and, to their knowledge, no decision was due on that date. As far as the team are aware the License Commission, which consists of a panel of three judges, is due to begin their decision making process on April 2 as previously reported. The team itself has been invited to appear before the three judges on Thursday to answer questions and have put together a team to fly out to Switzerland later this week, which will include management and legal representatives and may also consist of some select riders. March
30,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Geraint
Thomas screams for joy as he wins E3 Harelbeke
(Bettini Photo).
No
rider has personified Team Sky’s Classics improvements more than Geraint Thomas this
season. The Welshman is a rider that encapsulates everything the
squad’s cobbles contingent embodies, with a balance of talent, poise,
and development that have led to number of eye-catching performances.
There was a collective groan in the press room when Etixx-QuickStep hit the front in Gent-Wevelgem just as Stybar was chasing back on after a puncture. It was as though the team were determined to write their own downfall, or as Bradley Wiggins told Cyclingnews at the start, were synced to race like a rabbit in the headlights without Boonen in their ranks. However, on the balance of affairs, the Belgian team came away with warranted second places in both E3 Harelbeke and Gent-Wevelgem and they remain a consistent force. In terms of numbers when it matters most, as Servais Knaven told Cyclingnews, ‘they remain the team to beat on the cobbles.’ March
30,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Photo:
Volta a Catalunya overall podium (l-r) Alejandro Valverde (Movistar)
second, Richie Porte (Team Sky), Domenico Pozzovivo (IAG2R La Mondiale)
(Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com).
Overall
victory at the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya and several days in the race
leaders jersey has seen Richie
Porte add to his individual WorldTour points tally,
becoming the first rider this season to reach the 300 point mark.
The Australian sits on 303 points with teammate Geraint Thomas second on 184 points. Several hours after the Spanish stage race concluded with circuit stage around Barcelona, the second WorldTour one-day race of the weekend, Gent-Wevelgem, was concluding in Belgium where Luca Paolini took his first win since 2013. There were no changes to top of the team and nation rankings with Team Sky and Australia leading the standings respectively. March
30,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Although
athletes are often alone when they hop on the bike, their support staff
plays an invaluable role in getting them to that point, and are often
under-recognized, says Carmen Small. Photo: AFP PHOTO | LOIC VENANCE.
"Lying
sick on the bathroom floor in a hotel is probably one of the worst
feelings. But that’s where I was, three days before the world track
championships, last month in France.
It was like a wave washing over me — cold, chills, goosebumps, nausea. I hadn’t felt very good a few hours before, but I chalked it up to hunger. I soon realized it was much worse than that. I went back to my room still in denial that I was going to be sick. Then I curled up in my bed and prayed. When it struck, I couldn’t believe the timing. This was happening days before one of my most important races. We, as elite athletes, are always on the verge of getting sick. We push our bodies to the limit every day and try to do everything in our power to stay healthy. The majority of the time, we can maintain this rigorous physical routine without succumbing, but sometimes our bodies can’t fight illness. This can happen at the most inconvenient time, and lately, that has been my luck." March
30,
2015 (velonews.com)
 Photo:
Another important consideration is where the weight is placed.
Almost
since the invention of the safety bicycle, the handlebar stem has
served as a crucial point of adjustment. While the earliest designs
offered negligible reach, longer, adjustable versions soon emerged.
Marshall “Major” Taylor is credited with the invention of the first adjustable bicycle stem at the close of the 19th century. The design employed a sliding clamp on a protruding length: the handlebars could thus be adjusted fore and aft to suit the size of the rider. Taylor used the stem to great effect, winning a multitude of races, first in the US and then throughout Europe. March
30,
2015 (cyclingtips.com.au)
 Photo:
Gios stole the pista frame limelight with their Italian tricolore bike.
The
Taipei Bike Show has been running now for a rather incredible 26 years,
making it older than even the infamous Eurobike, the Big Daddy of all
bike shows, by three years.
The importance of Taiwan in the global scheme of all things bicycle is not fully understood by many people outside of the industry, but it’s essentially the Silicone Valley of the bike world, with Taichung, forty-five minutes south of the bustling capital, being its epicenter. March
30,
2015 (pezcyclingnews.com)
 Photo:
The framesets are handmade in Bruges, Belgium, and are available to
customers world-wide.
One
of the more usual bikes to hit the custom frame segment, is the urban
cruiser called the Erembald – from builders Karel Vincke and Tobias Knockaert.
Produced under the name, ElevenTwentySeven, the Erembald is made from stainless steel, which features an intricate pattern of laser cut-outs, that not only give the bike its distinctive organic look, but also serves to shave away material – thus reducing weight. But, perhaps just as interesting as the Erembald’s frame, is the design of its unique fixed stem/handlebar and fork, which the duo says is made to measure – therefore eliminating the need for separate components. March
30,
2015 (capovelo.com)
 Photo:
It retails for $19.95. They are available wholesale via Rumbleship.
Dog
Ears is an aluminum replacement for the quarter-turn mount plastic tabs
used on many Garmin bike computers, including the Edge 500 series.
The original tabs are prone to wearing out or breaking in some cases, which normally requires users to send the unit back to Garmin to replace the entire computer body. The Dog Ears provide a cheaper, quicker fix to broken tabs and provides a stronger and more durable connection for the long term, the company said. March
30,
2015 (bicycleretailer.com)
| March
30,
2015
 Photo:
This is a special time of year. The High Holidays of Cycling.
The
Cobbles Season is slogging along, past the 200km mark and the
Kanarieberg.
The peloton slogs wearily along the roads of Markedal, knowing that coming up is one warm-up lap of the Oude Kwaremont and Paterberg, after which there is no more screwing around, no turning back, nothing left but to reach all the way into your soul, empty the contents onto the cold, wet, slippery cobblestones, and get to Oudenaarde as fast as humanly possible. The bell hasn't rung yet -- not with Three Days of Four Stages of De Panne for those who need to keep moving to stave off the doom -- but they've located it, dusted it off, and given it to the race official. March
30,
2015 (podiumcafe.com)
 Photo:
Geraint Thomas hopes to master the cobbles the next two weekends in the
Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix. Ronde van Vlaanderen (Tour of
Flanders).
Commonwealth
Games champion Geraint
Thomas will find himself a marked man over the
next two weeks as the peloton tackles the Ronde van Vlaanderen (Tour of
Flanders) on Sunday and then Paris-Roubaix a week later.
With perennial favorites Tom Boonen and Fabian Cancellara out injured, both Flanders and Roubaix will be considered the most open they have been in years. Over the last 10 years, the two races have been won by either Boonen or Cancellara 13 times — and by someone else just seven times. But Boonen dislocated his collarbone at Paris-Nice in early March while Cancellara fractured two vertebrae in his back when crashing during E3 Harelbeke last Friday. March
30,
2015 (velonews.com)
 Photo:
Armitstead sung the praise of her Boels-Dolmans teammates.
Lizzie Armitstead outsprinted
a six-rider breakaway in Trofeo Alfredo Binda on Sunday, taking the
lead in the UCI Women’s World Cup in the process. The victory continues
Armitstead’s
run of fine form and the Boels-Dolmans show of strength the week before
the all-important Tour of Flanders, which Armitstead has long
called a target.
"I’m really delighted,” said Armitstead. “Like I said before, I was just hoping for some good feelings ahead of Flanders. To win and to win the way I did against two really strong Rabobank girls is great for my confidence ahead of next week." March
30,
2015 (velofocus.com)
 Bradley
Wiggins (Sky) suffered through 100km of rainy, windy racing at
Gent-Wevelgem before withdrawing from the race. He'll take aim at more
spring racing this week in Driedaagse De Panne-Koksijde. Photo: AFP
PHOTO | BELGA PHOTO | ERIC LALMAND.
Britain’s
world and Olympic time trial champion Bradley Wiggins will
continue his classics campaign at Driedaagse De Panne-Koksijde (Three
Days of De Panne) this week, after abandoning Gent-Wevelgem early on
Sunday.
Wiggins is building up for a tilt at the prestigious Paris-Roubaix spring classic in just under two weeks time to close out his professional career with Team Sky. He started Gent-Wevelgem on Sunday, but in dreadful conditions, with driving rain and gusts of up to 90kph (56mph), he climbed off his bike after less than 100km of the 239km race. March
30,
2015 (velonews.com)
 Photo:
Verita Stewart fell in love with cycling when she started to commute to
work three years ago.
"When
I moved to Melbourne just over three years ago I vowed to never drive
my car again. I didn’t need to. I moved to central Melbourne, close to
everything that I needed (apart from maybe the Apple store) including
public transport, restaurants, supermarkets and bike shops.
I soon discovered that I could ride to work quicker than taking public transport. And that was that. I bought an old steel frame road bike and officially joined the (Strava) commuter cup. I was hooked on cycling. Before I knew it, I had joined Hawthorn Cycling Club and started to ride my bike on the weekend as well." March
30,
2015 (cyclingtips.com.au)
 Photo:
Alex Candelario, Redlands Bicycle Classic 2014 Stage 4
(cyclingperspective.com).
Team
SmartStop has signed recently retired professional cyclist, Alex Candelario, as
Assistant Sporting Director for the 2015 season.
Candelario (also known as Cando in the professional peloton) retired from cycling at the end of the 2014 season and will work with Team SmartStop at the Medalist races this year. Sporting Director, Michael Creed, has spent many years racing with and against Candelario with both riders finishing out their careers on the Optum Pro Cycling team and says that Candelario will play a key role in the teams success in races such as the Amgen Tour of California. March
30,
2015 (cyclingillustrated.com)
 Garmin
recently added a new model to its Forerunner range, updating and
expanding on the capabilities of the 910XT to yield the 920XT.
Photography by Matt Wikstrom
Garmin
is well known for its GPS-enabled devices but I’m still surprised at
the depth of its catalog. They have devices designed for flying,
boating, driving, fishing, running, hiking, swimming, golfing and
cycling. There is more though, like the VIRB sports camera and devices
for tracking and training dogs.
Where once GPS devices were large and cumbersome, now the technology fits into a watch or wristband. Garmin has developed a variety of watches with GPS tracking primarily to appeal to runners, swimmers and triathletes. The Forerunner range comprises the majority of these devices however there is also the fenix range and the new vivoactive watch as well as watches dedicated to hiking and golf. March
30,
2015 (cyclingtips.com.au)
 Photo:
The Krypton may be named after a gas, but it delivers rock-solid
performance.
BikeRadar
verdict: 4.5 out of 5
stars. "We've ridden bikes that deliver more raw thrills than the
Krypton – but this is one well-equipped, smooth and confident machine."
March
30,
2015 (bikeradar.com)
.March
29,
2015
Luca Paolini took
a solo win at Gent-Wevelgem on Sunday.
The Italian escaped a breakaway late in the race and took the win ahead of chasers Niki Terpstra and Geraint Thomas. March
29,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
|
 Photo:
Richie Porte on the podium after retaining his overall lead on Stage 6
of the 2015 Tour of Catalonia. (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
Richie Porte’s
magnificent spring showed no sign of finishing on Sunday as the recent
Paris-Nice winner and Team Sky rider added a second WorldTour stage
race victory to his 2015 palmares at the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya.
The Volta’s final 126.6-kilometre stage, featuring eight ascents through Montjuic Park on a 6.4-lap circuit, ended with a third win in the week-long event for Alejandro Valverde at the head of a front group of around 40 riders. March
29,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
Photo:
With a great attack on the penultimate climb, Meintjes dropped the rest
in the final stage.
Louis Meintjes took
the biggest victory of his short career when he turned the Settimana
Coppi e Bartali on its head on the hilly final stage of the race. With
a big attack on the penultimate climb, he distanced his rivals and held
on to take a solo victory and the overall win with a small 2-second
advantage over previous leader Ben
Swift.
When he finished second at the 2013 U23 World Championships, Meintjes indicated that he is destined for a great future and last year he confirmed his potential when he finished in the top 10 in the Giro del Trentino and got close to a stage win in the Vuelta a Espana. Earlier this year he finished in the top 5 in the Tour of Oman and so it was only a question of time before he would take his first big win in Europe. March
29,
2015 (cyclingquotes.com)
 Photo:
Fabian Cancellara (Trek Factory Racing) gets into the team car after
his crash.
(Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com).
Before
the injured Fabian
Cancellara departed Belgium on Saturday afternoon, his
classics campaign over before it had truly begun, Johan Museeuw made a
point of visiting the Weinebrugge Hotel to offer his sympathy.
Cancellara’s crash at E3 Harelbeke left him with two fractured vertebrae and denies him the chance to set an outright record of four Tour of Flanders victories next Sunday. His plight is not an altogether unfamiliar one for his fellow three-time winner Museeuw, who risked losing his career – and his leg – when he fractured his kneecap in a fall in the Arenberg forest at the 1998 Paris-Roubaix. March
29,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Photo:
Just a hint of irony in the Sunny King criterium taking place at night
(Brandon Andrews).
The
USA Cycling National Criterium Calendar (NCC) will kick off with the
Sunny King Criterium on March 28 in Anniston, Alabama, with the Women's
Pro 1/2 race starting at 6:20pm (CDT) followed by the Men's Pro 1 race
at 7:30pm (CDT).
Carlos Alzate and Coryn Rivera took the wins in 2014 Sunny King Criterium. At the end of last season, Erica Allar secured the NCC's overall title in the women's category and Luke Keough won the overall men's title. In addition, Colavita-Bianchi won the women's overall team classification and UnitedHealthcare took the men's overall team classification. March
29,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Photo:
There remains a significant gender divide, with male cycling commuters
outnumbering their female counterparts by a two to one ratio.
Cyclists
are drinking and smoking less, eating better and experiencing less
workplace stress, according to a new report from cycle-to-work provider
Cyclescheme.
The ‘Cycling 10:10’ report, which took data from 10,000 cycle commuters, looked at the progress of the UK as a cycling nation over the past decade. It found that alcohol consumption among cyclists had dropped by nearly a third, tobacco intake by 20% and that nearly half those surveyed had improved their diet. The report also identified an increase in commuting by bike, with around 7% of the working population now doing so and two thirds of those admitting that they are now addicted to their machines. March
29,
2015 (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
2014-15
Races
& Results.
Volta Ciclista a Catalunya - Mar 23-29 (Results), Gent - Wevelgem - Mar 29 (Start List), Gent - Wevelgem Women - Mar 29 (Start List), Giro d'Italia 2015 - May 9-31 (Stages), Tour de France 2015 - July 4-26 (Stages), Vuelta a España 2015 - Aug 22-Sept 13 (Stages), UCI Road World Championship 2015 - Sept 20-27 (Stages), E3 Harelbeke - Mar 27 (Results), Tour de Taiwan - Mar 21-25 (Results), Milan San Remo - Mar 22 (Results), Nokere Koerse - Mar 18 (Results), Tirreno-Adriatico - Mar 11-17 (Results), UCI Track World Championships - Feb 18-22 (Results), UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships - Jan 31-Feb 1 (Results). Photo:
Guillaume van Keirsbulck (Omega Pharma-Quickstep) won the 2014 Three
Days of De Panne and he is back to defend..
Tuesday's Three Days
of De Panne Stage 1 departs De Panne at 11:55am CET (5:55am U.S.
Eastern) and is expected at the finish at Zottegem at around 4:48pm CET
(10:48am U.S. Eastern).
Three Days of De Panne live streaming video should get underway at around 2:40pm CET (8:40am U.S. Eastern, 5:40am Pacific). March
29,
2015 (cyclingfans.com)
 Photo:
Sergei Chernetski (Katusha)
(Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com).
Sergei Chernetski
won stage 6 of the Volta a Catalunya on the streets of Port Aventura on
Saturday. The Russian rider out-sprinted Julian Alaphilippe and
Maciej Paterski.
The trio were involved in a 21-rider breakaway that successfully made
it to the finish line ahead of the main group of overall contenders.
Richie Porte continues to lead the overall classification by five seconds ahead of Domenico Pozzovivo as the race heads into the finale stage 7 on Sunday. March
28,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
|  Tinkoff-Saxo
owner Oleg Tinkov and manager Bjarne Riis were thrilled with Majka's
stage win
(Bettini Photo).
The
Tinkoff-Saxo team has announced that former team owner and current team
manager Bjarne Riis
will leave the team with immediate effect after an alleged falling out
with team owner Oleg
Tinkov.
“Tinkoff Sport A/S - Managing company of team Tinkoff Saxo - and Bjarne Riis have reached a mutual agreement to terminate all contracts entered between Tinkoff Sport A/S and Bjarne Riis with immediate effect,” a statement issued by the team said. “All terms of said agreement shall remain confidential and both parties shall abstain from making any further comment. Early next week, Tinkoff Saxo will announce, in a separate statement, the new structure of its technical and performance group.” March
29,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Photo:
Jean-Christophe Peraud (AG2R La Mondiale)
(Equipe AG2R La Mondiale/Frédéric Machabert).
Jean-Christophe Peraud soloed
to the finale stage 3 victory at the Criterium International on the Col
de l'Ospedale on Sunday. He won the race by 15 seconds ahead of
runner-up Pierrick
Fedrigo and by an additional second ahead of
third placed Thibaut
Pinot.
Peraud also sealed the overall title at the three-day event ahead of Pinot by 10 seconds. Stage 2 time trial winner Fabio Felline finished in third overall, 18 seconds back. March
29,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Photo:
British rider Lizzie Armitstead takes victory from a six-rider lead
group in Trofeo Alfredo Binda. (cyclingtips.com.au)
Lizzie Armitstead
won the Trofeo Alfredo Binda in Italy on Sunday, the second round of
the 2015 UCI Women’s World Cup.
The 26-year-old Briton took the victory from a six-rider lead group, winning the sprint ahead of world champion Pauline Ferrand-Prevot in second and Anna Van Der Breggen. The tough route in the Italian province of Varese includes five main climbs on its 123.7-kilometer route. Last year, Armitstead finished as runner-up to Swede Emma Johansson. March
29,
2015 (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
 Photo:
"This was the toughest stage of the Volta a Catalunya because of the
injuries I sustained in yesterday's crash. The only injury that worries
me a little bit right now is in my back."
With
the conclusion of Volta a Catalunya, Tinkoff-Saxo can look back on a
week of challenging racing with sickness and a hard crash, which
ultimately ended with a 4th place overall for Alberto Contador.
The team captain now focuses on recovering from his crash and
continuing his preparations ahead of the big goal of Giro d’Italia
As Alejandro Valverde won the last stage and took the honors, Contador moved out of the podium places and into 4th in the overall GC. According to Contador himself, he was affected by his stage 6 crash. March
29,
2015 (cyclingquotes.com)
 Photo:
Mark Cavendish (Etixx-QuickStep) rolls to the stage 2 finish
(Fotoreporter Sirotti).
The
Etixx-QuickStep team has told Cyclingnews that Mark Cavendish’s
mechanical problem during Milan-San Remo was not the same as the
problem the Manxman suffered during the sprint finish of stage 2 of
Tirreno-Adriatico in Cascina.
Rolf Aldag, the Sport and Development manager of the Etixx-QuickStep pointed out that Cavendish lost his chain while changing from the small chain ring to the big chain ring, while the Tirreno-Adriatico accident did not involve a gear change and occurred as Cavendish seemed to push on the pedals as he began his sprint. “In my opinion it’s important not to confuse two different incidents,” Aldag said. “Cavendish was shifting up from the small chainring to the big chainring on the less steep road, close to the top of the Cipressa and for some reason his chain came off, it over shifted." March
29,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Photo:
It wasn’t a hunger flat. That’s what you’d think it is, but he said,
‘I’ve been eating and that’s not a problem.'
After
a disappointing E3 Harelbeke, many are wondering what has happened to Peter Sagan. Even
his own team are beginning to think that something is going wrong with
the Slovakian star.
“It’s shit because in that group of three he should’ve been the fastest,” Tinkoff sports director, Tristan Hoffman told VeloNews. “He was so disappointed. Then, to make it worse, [the] whole group passes him.” Hoffman explained that despite not doing anything drastic once he made the final trio, Sagan all of a sudden felt empty with nothing left. “He hadn’t done anything crazy on the front, but suddenly he went empty,” Hoffman added. “Of course, he was one hour at his maximum to stay on the front and that’s how it is.” March
29,
2015 (cyclingquotes.com)
 Photo:
Paris-Roubaix was obviously one of the main goals of Edvald's spring
campaign.
Sad
news for MTN-Qhubeka p/b Samsung's classics captain Edvald Boasson Hagen.
The Norwegian sustained a distal fracture of his right clavicle in a crash at the Moeren part of today's Gent-Wevelgem. He will miss out on the upcoming monuments such as the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix. March
29,
2015 (cyclingquotes.com)
 Photo:
Felline took his first time trial win by beating teammate Jungels by 1
second.
Fabio Felline proved
that he is much more than a fast finisher and solid climber when he
took a surprise win in the Criterium International. The Italian beat
his teammate Bob Jungels
by a single second on the 7km course while Manuele Boaro was
one second further back in third.
Ben King did well to take 19th and defend his overall lead. March
28,
2015 (cyclingquotes.com)
| March
29,
2015
 Luca
Paolini overcame foul weather and strong competition to win the 77th
Gent-Wevelgem on Sunday. Photo: AFP. (velonews.com)
Luca Paolini took
a solo win at Gent-Wevelgem on Sunday.
The Italian escaped a breakaway late in the race and took the win ahead of chasers Niki Terpstra and Geraint Thomas. March
29,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Photo:
Mackaij broke clear and build her slender race winning lead.
Floortje Mackaij
escaped in the final three kilometers to win the women’s edition of
Gent-Wevelgem in treacherous conditions. Crossing the line with a seven
second margin over Janneke
Ensing and Chloe
Hosking who finished second and third respectively.
One of the rising stars of Dutch cycling, Mackaij has just begun her second full season racing at the top level. She’s become known for her aggressive racing style and already has a string of national level victories from her short racing career but Gent-Wevelgem is by far her biggest win to date. March
29,
2015 (velofocus.com)
 Photo:
Paolini was distanced on the Kemmelberg only to haul his way back to
the front group.
Luca Paolini goes
solo in the final kilometers, his breakaway rivals only a murky blur
behind. He was dropped over the Kemmelberg but kept chasing and
eventually latched on to the small group of riders chasing Jurgen Roelandts.
Hiding among giants Paolini emerged in the finish with a sneaky seated attack to catch Etixx-Quickstep out once again. March
29,
2015 (inrng.com)
 Photo:
"Ridiculous scenes at the GWE. TeamSky's Geraint Thomas has literally
been blown off his bike."
Sky’s
Geraint Thomas
explained that he was lucky to survive this successful round of Belgian
races, winning the E3 Harelbeke on Friday and placing third in
Ghent-Wevelgem today.
With less than 60 kilometers to race in the 239-kilometre classic, a gust of wind pushed Thomas off the road and onto the grass shoulder The Welshman known simply as ‘G’ bounced back after a crash late into the Ghent-Wevelgem classic. He fought for the win and finished in good position for the upcoming monuments, the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix. March
29,
2015 (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
 Photo:
Luke Rowe in the 2015 Milan-San Remo.
Racing
in Belgium is like Marmite, according to Alex Dowsett, and
while he is not a big fan of racing on the wet cobbles Team Sky’s Luke Rowe is at the
other end of the spectrum.
Dowsett and Rowe shared an embrace in the sign-in area before Ghent-Wevelgem kicked off in Deinze, having both been drenched from the two-minute pedal over from their team buses parked around the corner. While Movistar’s Dowsett, in just his third race back from a broken collarbone suffered in January, was visibly miserable, Rowe approached his fellow Brit positively beaming at the prospect of riding 240km in the pouring rain. March
29,
2015 (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
 Dylan
Van Baarle raced to the podium at Dwars door Vlaanderen. Photo: Tim De
Waele | TDWsport.com.
It’s
the hour of the young pups. Cannondale-Garmin vows to march on across
the northern classics despite losing their captain, Sebastian Langeveld,
who crashed heavily in Friday’s E3 Prijs Harelbeke.
The team was quietly confident the 30-year-old Dutchman was going to be a contender throughout Flanders Week. Eighth in last year’s Paris-Roubaix, when he rode into the winning group, and fifth in the 2011 Tour of Flanders, Cannondale-Garmin was hitching its hopes on Langeveld. On Friday, he was among several riders who crashed early, including Fabian Cancellara, and suffered a deep, knee contusion and bone bruise on the tibia. Team officials are unsure if he will be able to recover in time for the looming monuments. March
29,
2015 (velonews.com)
 Photo:
Steve Abraham riding.
Steve Abraham's
attempt to beat Tommy
Godwin's record for riding the longest distance in a year
could be over after he broke two bones in an ankle following a
collision with a moped today near Wellington, Somerset.
Abraham, who is based in Milton Keynes, is attempting to break Godwin's record of 75,065 miles, set in 1939. As of Friday, he was more than 2,600 miles ahead of Godwin's pace. March
29,
2015 (road.cc)
March
28,
2015
 Photo:
Alex Peters, Tour de Normandie 2015.
Britain’s
Alex Peters
moved into the Tour de Normandie race lead in Martinvast this
afternoon, despite missing out on the chance to win its penultimate
stage following a final corner crash.
Peters was visibly upset not to have claimed the biggest win of his career to date at the end of a 169.5-kilometer stage held in wet and windy conditions. March
28,
2015 (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
|
Photo:
Just a hint of irony in the Sunny King criterium taking place at night
(Brandon Andrews).
The
USA Cycling National Criterium Calendar (NCC) will kick off with the
Sunny King Criterium on March 28 in Anniston, Alabama, with the Women's
Pro 1/2 race starting at 6:20pm (CDT) followed by the Men's Pro 1 race
at 7:30pm (CDT).
Carlos Alzate and Coryn Rivera took the wins in 2014 Sunny King Criterium. At the end of last season, Erica Allar secured the NCC's overall title in the women's category and Luke Keough won the overall men's title. In addition, Colavita-Bianchi won the women's overall team classification and UnitedHealthcare took the men's overall team classification. March
28,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
Photo:
Sergei Chernetski (Katusha)
(Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com).
Sergei Chernetski
won stage 6 of the Volta a Catalunya on the streets of Port Aventura on
Saturday. The Russian rider out-sprinted Julian Alaphilippe and
Maciej Paterski.
The trio were involved in a 21-rider breakaway that successfully made
it to the finish line ahead of the main group of overall contenders.
Richie Porte continues to lead the overall classification by five seconds ahead of Domenico Pozzovivo as the race heads into the finale stage 7 on Sunday. It was reported that Alberto Contador may have been involved in a crash with three kilometers to go but finished the race and he will keep his third place in the overall classification, seven seconds behind Porte. March
28,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Photo:
John Degenkolb won last year and returns stronger and more confident
than ever, this confidence spreads to the team who will bury themselves
as they know he can win. He made the cut in the E3 Harelbeke..
This
Sunday’s race is the most sprinter-friendly of the cobbled classics and
it’s World Tour race too, so we get action and a deep field.
Cobbles and climbs feature but so does a long section to the finish line to suit the sprinters. Only the weather could ravage the race with very strong winds forecast. March
28,
2015 (inrng.com)
 Photo:
Since my crash, I have felt severe pain in the butt.
Romain Bardet, who
crashed in the second stage of the Volta a Catalunya, did not start the
fifth stage.
"Since my crash, I have felt severe pain in the butt that makes it hard for me to pedal. Yesterday I survived but I am not able to express myself at my usual level. I'm going to rest, go to further examinations and prepare the rest of the season," he said. Bardet will next ride Brabantse Pijl(April 15), Fleche Wallonne (April 22) and Liège-Bastogne-Liège (April 26). March
28,
2015 (cyclingquotes.com)
2014-15
Races
& Results.
Volta Ciclista a Catalunya - Mar 23-29 (Stages & Results), Gent - Wevelgem - Mar 29 (Start List), Gent - Wevelgem Women - Mar 29 (Start List), Giro d'Italia 2015 - May 9-31 (Stages), Tour de France 2015 - July 4-26 (Stages), Vuelta a España 2015 - Aug 22-Sept 13 (Stages), UCI Road World Championship 2015 - Sept 20-27 (Stages), E3 Harelbeke - Mar 27 (Results), Tour de Taiwan - Mar 21-25 (Results), Milan San Remo - Mar 22 (Results), Nokere Koerse - Mar 18 (Results), Tirreno-Adriatico - Mar 11-17 (Results), UCI Track World Championships - Feb 18-22 (Results), UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships - Jan 31-Feb 1 (Results).  Photo:
Simon Gerrans celebrates GreenEdge's first ever overall victory
(Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com).
Simon Gerrans
doesn’t even attempt to hide his disappointment for missing Milan-San
Remo, so keen is he to return to racing after his comeback from a
previously fractured shoulder lasted 110 kilometers before he crashed
out again at Strade Bianchi in Italy on March 20.
“I am a big cycling fan, but it was hard watching when you know you can be out there and mixing it up and that sort of thing,” The Orica-GreenEdge rider told Cyclingnews. “It is difficult to watch a race like that, but I was definitely on the edge of my seat like everyone else.” March
28,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Photo:
2015 Volta a Catalunya Stage 6 Profile.
Saturday's Volta a
Catalunya Stage 6 departs Cervera at 12:00pm CET (7:00am U.S. Eastern)
and is expected at the finish at Port Aventura at around 4:58pm CET
(11:58am U.S. Eastern).
Volta a Catalunya live streaming video is scheduled to get underway by around 3:30pm CET (10:30am U.S. Eastern, 7:30am Pacific). March
28,
2015 (cyclingfans.com)
 Aside
from one victory at
Tirreno-Adriatico, Tinkoff-Saxo's Peter Sagan has yet to find his
winning form this season, which was highlighted by a poor result at E3
Harelbeke on Friday. Photo: Tim De Waele | TDWsport.com.
The
Peter Sagan
star appears to be flickering, judging by his finish in E3 Harelbeke, a
race he won a year ago and one that should be easy for a cyclist aiming
at the monuments like next week’s Ronde van Vlaanderen.
Team Tinkoff-Saxo’s Sagan followed the attack of Geraint Thomas and Zdenek Stybar on the Oude Kwaremont and raced away with the two, but when they approached the business end of the 215-kilometer race, his lights began to fade. “It’s shit because in that group of three he should’ve been the fastest,” Tinkoff sports director, Tristan Hoffman told VeloNews. “He was so disappointed. Then, to make it worse, [the] whole group passes him.” March
27,
2015 (velonews.com)
March
27,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
| Photo:
Felline took his first time trial win by beating teammate Jungels by 1
second.
Fabio Felline proved
that he is much more than a fast finisher and solid climber when he
took a surprise win in the Criterium International. The Italian beat
his teammate Bob Jungels
by a single second on the 7km course while Manuele Boaro was
one second further back in third.
Ben King did well to take 19th and defend his overall lead. Going into this season, Felline had never really excelled in time trials but apparently things will change in the future for the fast Italian. After he had already taken a surprise third in the Etoile de Besseges TT, he took a hugely surprising win in today's second stage of the Criterium International. March
28,
2015 (cyclingquotes.com)
 Ben
King takes his first international victory from a two-man breakaway.
Photo: AFP.
Ben King won
the first stage of the Critérium International on Saturday.
Stage 1a was a 92.5km circuit around Porto-Vecchio that featured a 2km, 5.3 percent climb, the Côte de Conca, at its midpoint. King beat breakaway companion Saint-Clément Martin and donned the leader’s yellow jersey for the second stage of the day, a 7km individual time trial in the afternoon. The two attacked in the first kilometer, building a 40-second lead. March
28,
2015 (velonews.com)
 Photo:
In a crash-marred sprint, Chicchi went head to head with stage 1a
winner Belletti.
Less
than a month after signing a contract with Androni, Francesco Chicchi
took his first win for his new team when he won a crash-marred bunch
sprint on stage 3 of the Settimana Coppi e Bartali. Having gone head to
head with Manuel Belletti,
he emerged as the strongest while Ben
Swift avoided the crashes and defended his
overall lead.
At the start of the year, it seemed that the career was over for Chicchi. The Italian had been unable to find a new team after Southeast decided not to renew his contract and he seemed destined to retire in the early months of the season. March
28,
2015 (cyclingquotes.com)
 Photo:
Niki Terpstra escapes in the 2015 Omloop Het Nieuwsblad.
The
Etixx-QuickStep team usually has more Classics race wins in the bag by
this point in the season, but 2015 has not been very fruitful so far in
Northern Europe for the Belgian super-squad.
However, Patrick Lefevere’s outfit still leads the win count for 2015, with 18 victories, and its sponsors are happy. Given its Belgian roots, though, everyone would be more at ease with a classic win. “Let’s talk again after Paris-Roubaix,” Lefevere told Cycling Weekly. March
28,
2015 (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
 Photo:
WIGGINS at the start of this week’s Tour of Normandie. At the time of
publication the team was 4th on Team GC.
One
of the big changes coming soon in the season will be that of Bradley Wiggins
stepping down from Team Sky after Paris-Roubaix to headline his own
Continental team, WIGGINS.
The guys at Southeast Regional Series recently caught up with Brit racer, Daniel Patten who is also a member of WIGGINS and a man who won the SRS race in Knoxville last year. The Southeast Regional Series presented by BikeReg returns for a third year in 2015 with a four-state circuit. The highly competitive weekends of criterium and road race events will begin April 11-12 in Florida, with the Panama City Criterium and Walton County Road Race, hosted by the Visit South Walton Tourist Development Council. Later in the year individual time trials will be added to the weekend races – Albany, Ga., Knoxville, Tenn., and Greenville, S.C. March
28,
2015 (pezcyclingnews.com)
. Eric
Barone broke the world speed record for bicycles in the Alps on
Saturday. AFP PHOTO | JEAN-PIERRE CLATOT (File).
Frenchman
Eric Barone
established a new world record bike speed Saturday on a track at the
Vars ski resort.
In the Hautes-Alpes, between Gap, France and the Italian border, Barone rode a speed of 223.3kph (138.752mph) on a steep, snow-packed slope. Barone, 55, has set the world record on multiple occasions, on both snow and gravel surfaces. He rode a special downhill mountain bike with a fairing to improve aerodynamics. March
28,
2015 (velonews.com)
 Photo:
Stage 3 Profile (Sunday stage).
Sunday's Criterium
International Stage 3 departs Porto Vecchio at 11:20am CET (5:20am U.S.
Eastern) and is expected at the finish at Col de l’Ospedale at around
4:45pm CET (10:45am U.S. Eastern).
Criterium International live streaming video is scheduled to get underway at around 3:20pm CET (9:20am U.S. Eastern, 6:20am Pacific). March
28,
2015 (cyclingfans.com)
March
27,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
| March
28,
2015
Photo:
Alex Peters, Tour de Normandie 2015.
Britain’s
Alex Peters
moved into the Tour de Normandie race lead in Martinvast this
afternoon, despite missing out on the chance to win its penultimate
stage following a final corner crash.
Peters was visibly upset not to have claimed the biggest win of his career to date at the end of a 169.5-kilometer stage held in wet and windy conditions. The 20-year-old Londoner bridged to across to a seven-man lead group in the second half of the stage, despite starting the day just 18 seconds off race leader Dimitri Claeys. March
28,
2015 (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
 Photo:
The use of non-prescription human growth hormone (HGH) among teenagers
in grades 9-12 doubled last year.
Former
cyclist Tyler Hamilton started
doping with erythropoietin (EPO), a hormone that boosts red blood cell
production and moved on to HGH. “I knew I’d crossed the line, but I
didn’t know how far I’d go,” he said about the first time he was given
a large red pill to take by his team doctor.
“Having already made the decision with the testosterone pill, the needle felt like the only way.” March
28,
2015 (si.com)
 Photo:
Tinkoff-Saxo jersey presentation in Moscow.
(Tinkoff-Saxo).
Oleg Tinkov has
revealed that the Tinkoff-Saxo team will make an announcement about the
future of Bjarne Riis
at 7:00pm CET on Sunday, a few hours after the Gent-Wevelgem race.
Tinkov made the announcement via Twitter on Saturday morning from Japan, where the Russian team owner is currently on holiday with his family. “My dear @ tinkoff_saxo fans. Tomorrow @ 1900 CET Will Our Official Press Release Regarding the Best Sport Director. Wish Tomorrow # gentwevelgem” the tweet reads. March
28,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Photo:
John Degenkolb won the 2014 Gent-Wevelgem.
Gent-Wevelgem
LIVE March 29,
Belgium.
Race starts at 11:20am CET (5:20am U.S. Eastern) Finish at around 5:07pm CET (11:07am U.S. Eastern) Live video from *1:30pm CET (*7:30am U.S. Eastern, 4:30am Pacific). March
28,
2015 (cyclingfans.com)
 Photo:
Geraint Thomas captured one of the most scintillating victories of his
career, launching in the last four kilometers of the race to win E3
Harelbeke.
Bradley Wiggins will
compete for Team Sky in Sunday’s Gent-Wevelgem sprint classic in
Belgium, the team announced. The 2012 Tour de France champion, will be
joined by fellow British Olympic champion Geraint Thomas for
the 239-kilometer one-day event.
Bernhard Eisel, who won the event in 2010, is also included in an eight-man team along with Christian Knees, Ian Stannard, Andy Fenn, Luke Rowe and Elia Viviani. March
28,
2015 (pelotonmagazine.com)
 Koppenberg:
Rising from the village of Melden. This beast of a climb is short, but
steep. (Average of 11.6 percent but goes to 19 percent in the middle
section.) Images: Jeff Clark, Tim Schamber (panoramic)
"Belgium
is a small country with roughly 11 million people.
For those prone to cycling addictions, we have put together some must-see locations that will allow you to ride your brains out, but also get a great overview of the culture, history and culinary delights of one of our favorite countries to visit." March
28,
2015 (pelotonmagazine.com)
 Photo:
Open road event will feature views from the Horseshoe Pass and
Nant-y-Garth and 110km, 170km and 220km options.
After
four years on closed roads, this year’s Wiggle Etape Cymru, scheduled
for September 13, will consist of open road Corto, Medio Fondo and Gran
Fondo events.
With its multiple challenging routes and no road closures, the sportive will now follow the model of the popular South Wales-based Wiggle Dragon Ride. “Having an open road event allows us to pick our perfect route so we can access stunning vistas and beautiful scenery more often,” said event director Kirsty Wilde. And the new arrangements have received the backing of Team Sky man Luke Rowe. March
28,
2015 (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
March
27,
2015
 Tour
favorite Nairo Quintana (Movistar) got a taste of the northern
cobblestones at Dwars door Vlaanderen and E3 Harelbeke in preparation
for stage 4 of the Tour de France. Photo: Tim De Waele | TDWsport.com.
Nairo Quintana will
never win Paris-Roubaix, but the Colombian knows if he wants to win the
Tour de France, he’ll have to survive a version of the “Hell of the
North” this summer.
The spindly climber might have looked out of place at the start line of E3 Harelbeke, surrounded by brawny cobble-bashers, but Friday’s race marked the end of a weeklong experiment of getting a taste of what lies ahead this July in the Tour. March
27,
2015 (velonews.com)
|
Aside from one victory at
Tirreno-Adriatico, Tinkoff-Saxo's Peter Sagan has yet to find his
winning form this season, which was highlighted by a poor result at E3
Harelbeke on Friday. Photo: Tim De Waele | TDWsport.com.
The
Peter Sagan
star appears to be flickering, judging by his finish in E3 Harelbeke, a
race he won a year ago and one that should be easy for a cyclist aiming
at the monuments like next week’s Ronde van Vlaanderen.
Team Tinkoff-Saxo’s Sagan followed the attack of Geraint Thomas and Zdenek Stybar on the Oude Kwaremont and raced away with the two, but when they approached the business end of the 215-kilometer race, his lights began to fade. “It’s shit because in that group of three he should’ve been the fastest,” Tinkoff sports director, Tristan Hoffman told VeloNews. “He was so disappointed. Then, to make it worse, [the] whole group passes him.” March
27,
2015 (velonews.com)
 Photo:
Stage winner Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) on the podium.
(Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com).
Alejandro Valverde
claimed his second stage win of the Volta a Catalunya, attacking the
select group of favorites who had distanced the race leader Bart De Clercq and
soloing to the win over the final 3km.
Rigoberto Uran took second on the stage, gaining important time bonuses, while Paolo Tiralongo denied Richie Porte the final bonus in third. Porte could be consoled by taking over the race lead by five seconds over Domenico Pozzovivo. Alberto Contador is in third overall at seven seconds. March
27,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Ben
Swift (Team Sky) solos across the line for the stage win.
(Bettini Photo)
Torrential
rain added to the challenges during Friday's second stage at Coppi e
Bartali, but Team Sky's Ben
Swift overcame the conditions to take the stage win and
seize the overall lead from overnight leader Davide Rebellin.
Swift jumped clear of the bunch on the final ascent of the Ville di Monte Tiffi, infiltrating a three-man breakaway before attacking into the final kilometer and soloing across the line ahead of Matija Kvasina and Francesco Bongiorno. March
27,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
2014-15
Races
& Results.
Volta Ciclista a Catalunya - Mar 23-29 (Stages & Results), Gent - Wevelgem - Mar 29 (Start List), Gent - Wevelgem Women - Mar 29 (Start List), Giro d'Italia 2015 - May 9-31 (Stages), Tour de France 2015 - July 4-26 (Stages), Vuelta a España 2015 - Aug 22-Sept 13 (Stages), UCI Road World Championship 2015 - Sept 20-27 (Stages), E3 Harelbeke - Mar 27 (Results), Tour de Taiwan - Mar 21-25 (Results), Milan San Remo - Mar 22 (Results), Nokere Koerse - Mar 18 (Results), Tirreno-Adriatico - Mar 11-17 (Results), UCI Track World Championships - Feb 18-22 (Results), UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships - Jan 31-Feb 1 (Results).  Photo:
Women’s Gent Wevelgem 2015 Race Profile.
Gent
Wevelgem, a race steeped in history but when it comes to women’s
cycling the race is the young upstart on the UCI women’s calendar this
Sunday.
Over in Cittiglio, Italy riders are contesting one of the oldest races in women’s cycling, Trofeo Alfredo Binda World Cup, which is now entering it’s fourth decade. The two races have clashed on the calendar ever since Gent Wevelgem organisers introduced a women’s race to their programme in 2012. But the two are learning to coexist and their parcours are suited to very different riders with Gent Wevelgem, like it’s male equivalent being a target for the sprinters. March
27,
2015 (velofocus.com)
 Zdenek
Stybar is on great form coming off a win at Strade Bianche, but will it
result in more success for Etixx-Quick-Step in the spring classics?.
Photo: Tim De Waele | TDWsport.com.
There
were crowds of fans around the Etixx-Quick-Step bus Friday morning
ahead of the start of E3 Harelbeke, but not Tom Boonen-huge
crowds.
Without the presence of the Belgian superstar, who is missing the entire spring classics campaign with injury, there is a very different vibe around the team bus of the perennial cobblestone favorites. With Boonen at the start line, there was a guarantee that Etixx-Quick-Step would be a favorite for victory in any of the northern classics. Without Boonen, the team is tackling the most important two weeks of its season, hoping to see different players step up. March
27,
2015 (velonews.com)
 Photo:
This was my first event of the year. I was very happy to win, but also
a little surprised!
"By
mid-march it seemed to be getting late into the road racing season (by
California standards anyway), and I was getting a little nervous about
how my fitness would stand up in the notoriously hard SoCal racing.
The Redlands Bicycle Classic is my Hincapie Racing Team’s first objective, and I wanted to test the legs and get some speed in before starting a bigger, more important race. Local races like the Chuck Pontius Omnium are perfect for that. Especially here in California where local talent runs deep." March
27,
2015 (cyclingillustrated.com)
 Photo:
2015 Volta a Catalunya Stage 5 Profile.
Thursday's Volta a
Catalunya Stage 5 departs Alp at 12:15am CET (7:15am U.S. Eastern) and
is expected at the finish at Valls at around 4:54pm CET
(11:54am U.S. Eastern).
Volta a Catalunya live streaming video is scheduled to get underway by around 3:30pm CET (10:30am U.S. Eastern, 7:30am Pacific). March
27,
2015 (cyclingfans.com)
March
26,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
|  Geraint
Thomas made several attacks
(Bettini Photo).
Geraint Thomas won
E3 Harelbeke on Friday after attacking fellow leaders Zdenek Stybar and
Peter Sagan with
four kilometers to go and soloing across the line of the Belgian
cobbled classic.
Stybar held on for second, while Sagan faded in the end and was passed by the chasing peloton. Matteo Trentin won the sprint for the final podium place. March
27,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Less
than one week after a disappointing run at Milano-Sanremo, Fabian
Cancellara (Trek Factory Racing) crashed out of E3 Harelbeke, putting
his classics campaign in doubt. Photo: Cor Vos (inrng.com).
Fabian Cancellara’s
2015 cobbled classics campaign may have ended before it began in
earnest after a crash 39.4 kilometers into E3 Harelbeke on Friday in
Belgium. He may have fractured his left wrist.
The Swiss classics champion — a three-time winner of both the Ronde van Vlaanderen (Tour of Flanders) and Paris-Roubaix — crashed on the cobbled Haaghoek sector with around 40 to 50 other riders. He continued for 10km more, but the pain was too much and he abandoned. “Unfortunately Fabian Cancellara has abandoned the race after his crash. We will keep you informed on his situation as soon as possible,” Trek Factory Racing said on its Twitter account of Cancellara, who won the 2009, 2010, and 2013 editions of the race. A photo from the race showed Cancellara favoring his left wrist after the crash. March
27,
2015 (velonews.com)
 Geraint
Thomas (Sky) was elated to win his first major classic in Flanders on
Friday at E3 Harelbeke. Photo: Tim De Waele | TDWsport.com.
Wales
seems like a world away from Belgium and the bumpy, cobblestone roads
of Flanders.
As a teenager growing up near Cardiff, Geraint Thomas and Sky teammate Ian Stannard used to watch videos of the Ronde van Vlaanderen and Paris-Roubaix belonging to John Barkley, a legend in UK cycling, who would ferry aspiring riders across the Channel to witness the northern classics in person. March
27,
2015 (velonews.com)
 In
Europe, most cyclists choose to ride without helmets—but does that make
sense on American roads?
(Photo by heb/Wikimedia Commons).
Wearing
a helmet makes sense—but do mandatory helmet laws?
March
27,
2015 (bicycling.com)
 Photo:
The Concealed Carrie Athletic Top is for women who want the opportunity
to protect and defend themselves while enjoying the great outdoors.
At
first glance this multi-purpose women's jersey looks ideal for summer
cycling with its rear pockets, high collar to keep the sun off and
drawstring waist tie to flatter the female figure.
But look a bit closer and there's capacity for an, erm, unusual accessory: a concealed pocket for a handgun. March
27,
2015 (road.cc)
 Photo:
John Degenkolb won the 2014 Gent-Wevelgem.
Gent-Wevelgem
LIVE March 29,
Belgium.
Race starts at 11:20am CET (5:20am U.S. Eastern) Finish at around 5:07pm CET (11:07am U.S. Eastern) Live video from *1:30pm CET (*7:30am U.S. Eastern, 4:30am Pacific). March
27,
2015 (cyclingfans.com)
 Rolf
Aldag was behind the wheel at E3 Harelbeke for Etixx-Quick-Step,
despite false reports that he nearly boarded the jet that crashed in
the Alps earlier this week. Photo: Andy Hood | VeloNews.com.
Former
pro Rolf Aldag
confirmed to VeloNews
that he did not have a ticket to fly on the doomed Germanwings flight
from Barcelona to Dusseldorf, Germany, which crashed in the French Alps
on Tuesday, killing all 150 people onboard.
Aldag characterized media reports as “ridiculous” that the technical director at Etixx-Quick Step had a ticket for the flight, but did not board. “I don’t know where these reports have come from. I never had a ticket for that flight. I never planned to fly from Barcelona,” Aldag told VeloNews. “I was never in Spain this week.” March
27,
2015 (velonews.com)
| March
27,
2015
Tour
favorite Nairo Quintana (Movistar) got a taste of the northern
cobblestones at Dwars door Vlaanderen and E3 Harelbeke in preparation
for stage 4 of the Tour de France. Photo: Tim De Waele | TDWsport.com.
Nairo Quintana will
never win Paris-Roubaix, but the Colombian knows if he wants to win the
Tour de France, he’ll have to survive a version of the “Hell of the
North” this summer.
The spindly climber might have looked out of place at the start line of E3 Harelbeke, surrounded by brawny cobble-bashers, but Friday’s race marked the end of a weeklong experiment of getting a taste of what lies ahead this July in the Tour. “It was important for Nairo to race on the cobbles here this week,” Movistar sport director José Luis Jaimerena told VeloNews. “It’s one thing to see them, but it’s something else to ride them at race speed. What we want is to avoid surprises.” March
27,
2015 (velonews.com)
 Photo:
"I think it is such an important part of what we are trying to do, to
look at new technology, to embrace it rather than to resist it."
Recent
reports suggested that disk brakes could make their debut by next
season but, according to Brian
Cookson, the new technology may potentially be in the
peloton sooner than that.
The UCI and others have been weighing up the introduction of new braking systems for some time. Increased stopping power over a variety of climatic conditions is one of the big motivations, making braking much more predictable, while other factors such as lessening the risk of tubular tyres rolling is another possible benefit. March
27,
2015 (cyclingtips.com.au)
 Georgia
Gould, warming up before the 2012 Olympic cross-country race, where she
took a bronze medal. Photo: Casey B. Gibson | www.cbgphoto.com.
What
is it that defines a champion? Is it winning the most important events
in a given discipline?
Does one major victory constitute a champion, or is this a quality that’s defined by an era of domination? Is the title something that lasts forever? March
27,
2015 (velonews.com)
 Peter
Sagan wins the 2014 E3 Harelbeke. Photo: Graham Watson.
Win
or lose at E3 Harelbeke, Peter
Sagan and his Tinkoff-Saxo teammates will have the chance
toast success on Friday night when the Slovak gets his weight in beer
delivered to his hotel.
The slightly odd prize is courtesy of E3 sponsor Kwaremont beer in honor of Sagan’s win in Harelbeke last season, when he beat out Niki Terpstra, Geraint Thomas and Stijn Vandenbergh. Sagan was told of the news on stage after his team presentation as he sat on a throne made out of beer crates and received a kiss from Miss Belgium, Annelies Törös – Sagan kept his hands to himself this time.. March
27,
2015 (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
 Photo:
It’s much more fun to work on a clean bike, so the first step should be
to clean your bike thoroughly.
"Whether
you are going to ride a brevet with an eye on qualifying for
Paris-Brest-Paris, whether you plan to ride a century or race, or
whether you just want to enjoy exploring this season, having your bike
in good condition is the best way to guarantee success.
If you are confident in your bike, you can enjoy the ride without worrying whether you’ll make it to the finish. Here are 8 things to look at." March
27,
2015 (janheine.wordpress.com)
 Fran
Lebowitz slammed cycling fashion in an interview.
(Photo by David Shankbone).
"We’ll
be the first to admit that cycling-specific clothing like spandex
tights and brightly colored jerseys isn't for everyone. But riding a
bike in general? That’s just good fashion sense.
But in a recent interview with Elle noted cultural critic, author and one of Vanity Fair’s “best dressed” people Fran Lebowitz told the interviewer that riding a bike will ruin any fashion choice. She relays this story: "You know when George Plimpton died, someone told me, 'He was so eccentric. He used to ride his bike in a suit and tie!' and it drove me crazy. I said, 'What's eccentric is the bicycle." March
27,
2015 (bicycling.com)
Photo:
Stage 3 Profile (Sunday stage).
Sunday's Criterium
International Stage 3 departs Porto Vecchio at 11:20am CET (5:20am U.S.
Eastern) and is expected at the finish at Col de l’Ospedale at around
4:45pm CET (10:45am U.S. Eastern).
Criterium International live streaming video is scheduled to get underway at around 3:20pm CET (9:20am U.S. Eastern, 6:20am Pacific). March
27,
2015 (cyclingfans.com)
March
26,
2015
|
 Photo:
Tejay van Garderen (BMC)
(Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com).
Tejay van Garderen
claimed his first individual European stage victory since 2009 atop La
Molina on stage 4 of the Volta a Catalunya. The American soloed away
from the elite group of favourites on the summit finish, holding off
Team Sky's Richie Porte
and Alberto Contador.
The Team Sky train steamrolled the breakaway at the base of the final climb, but as they drew close to catching Riccardo Zoidl and Tom Danielson, there was a hestiation between Tinkoff-Saxo and Sky, and Vasil Kiryienka kept hammering on, getting a gap on the field. March
26,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Photo:
CCC Sprandi may not be known as the most powerful team for time trials.
CCC
Sprandi created a major surprise when they beat big favorites Team Sky
and MTN-Qhubeka in the 13.3km team time trial at the Settimana
Internazional Coppi e Bartali.
In the special event where each squad was divided into two separate teams, Davide Rebellin, Tomasz Kiendys, Adrian Kurek and Jaroslaw Marycz beat the best Sky team by just a single second which allowed Rebellin to take the lead on the eve of the queen stage. March
26,
2015 (cyclingquotes.com)
 Mirsamad
Pourseyedigolakhour (Tabriz Petrolchemical) leads the race
(Bettini Photo).
Thömel takes final
stage.
March
26,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Photo:
Boudat and the rest of the sprinters suffered when the climbers
attacked each other on the climb and at the top of the final climb.
Former
omnium world champion Thomas
Boudat proved that he has the potential to become a great
road rider when he won the inaugural edition of the Classica Corsica.
After a strong trio had been brought back with 2km to go, it came down to a bunch sprint where the young Frenchman managed to beat Shane Archbold and Daniele Ratto into the minor podium positions. March
26,
2015 (cyclingquotes.com)
 Photo:
Erick Rowsell and Tom Scully, Tour de Normandie 2015, stage two Credit:
Andy Jones.
An
unexpected judges’ decision at the Tour de Normandie saw
Madison-Genesis rider Tom
Scully ‘lose’ the overall race lead between signing on for
stage two on Wednesday and reaching the start line.
As we reported yesterday, New Zealander Scully was awarded the yellow jersey of race leader after stage one of the French stage race. Overnight leader and prologue winner Tom Bohli had lost time and – seemingly – relinquished the lead after being caught up in a crash with around three kilometres to go on stage one. March
26,
2015 (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
 Photo:
This looks like a massively open edition with a wide range of
favorites. Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images.
Act
2 of the Flandrian orgy.
E3 Harelbeke, the race named after a highway once upon a time and which has evolved into the Ronde van Vlaanderen dress rehersal of choice for just about everyone. Ever so slightly we are cranking up the temperature from Wednesday's Dwars door Vlaanderen. By this time next week we'll be at near supernova temperatures. March
26,
2015 (podiumcafe.com)
2014-15
Races
& Results.
Volta Ciclista a Catalunya - Mar 23-29 (Stages & Results), E3 Harelbeke - Mar 27 (Start List), Gent - Wevelgem - Mar 29 (Start List), Gent - Wevelgem Women - Mar 29 (Start List), Giro d'Italia 2015 - May 9-31 (Stages), Tour de France 2015 - July 4-26 (Stages), Vuelta a España 2015 - Aug 22-Sept 13 (Stages), UCI Road World Championship 2015 - Sept 20-27 (Stages), Tour de Taiwan - Mar 21-25 (Results), Milan San Remo - Mar 22 (Results), Nokere Koerse - Mar 18 (Results), Tirreno-Adriatico - Mar 11-17 (Results), UCI Track World Championships - Feb 18-22 (Results), UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships - Jan 31-Feb 1 (Results).  Photo:
Peter Sagan won the 2014 E3 Harelbeke.
Friday's E3
Harelbeke (E3 Prijs Vlaanderen - Harelbeke) departs Harelbeke at
12:00pm CET (7:00am U.S. Eastern) and is expected at the finish at
Harelbeke at around 5:14pm CET (12:14pm U.S. Eastern).
E3 Harelbeke live streaming video should get underway at around 2:15pm CET (9:15am U.S. Eastern, 6:15 Pacific). March
26,
2015 (cyclingfans.com)
 Photo:
Trofeo Binda World Cup Profile 2015.
Round
two of the UCI Women’s World Cup, Trofeo Binda is the hilliest of the
World Cup races but it takes more than climbing prowess to win. It’s as
much about choosing the right attacks to follow because one thing is
for sure, you can’t chase them all.
The Trofeo Binda dates back to the mid-70’s, making it one of the oldest races in women’s cycling and one of the most prestigious one day races on the calendar. It’s also a great place to spot future stars of the sport. .. March
26,
2015 (velofocus.com)
Photo:
2015 Volta a Catalunya Stage 5 Profile.
Thursday's Volta a
Catalunya Stage 5 departs Alp at 11:15am CET (6:15am U.S. Eastern) and
is expected at the finish at Valls at around 4:57pm CET
(11:57am U.S. Eastern).
Volta a Catalunya live streaming video is scheduled to get underway by around 3:30pm CET (10:30am U.S. Eastern, 7:30am Pacific). March
26,
2015 (cyclingfans.com)
 Domenico
Pozzovivo (Ag2r La Mondiale) wins stage 3 of the 2015 Volta a
Catalunya.
(Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com).
Domenico Pozzovivo
won the third
stage of the Volta a Catalunya on Wednesday after attacking a select
seven-rider group of GC contenders in the closing two kilometers.
Europcar’s Pierre Rolland took the overall lead. Pozzovivo soloed across the finish in Girona just ahead of Rigoberto Uran, Dan Martin, Alberto Contador, Fabio Aru, Richie Porte and Andrew Talansky. The first chase group finished 22 seconds later. March
25,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
|  Photo:
Having already become an outsider once because of his refusal to dope,
Mercier feels the same thing is happening all over again.
Scott Mercier has
genuine integrity and credibility when talking about doping, its
consequences and how cyclists can choose the right path.
But Mercier says he has been met with a wall of silence since offering his service to the governing body of the sport in his home country. He says he spoke to Bob Stapleton, the chairman of the board of USA Cycling, about a potential role last year. And since then? Nothing. "We met at the USAPro Challenge last year in Aspen, Colorado, just after Bob had been named chairman," explains Mercier. "We talked about the future of the sport and discussed whether there could be a role for me in the governance of USA Cycling. "I expressed an interest and Bob said he thought I would be a good board member -- although a potentially controversial one. "I didn't ask why and to be honest I still don't know. "Bob told me he had a board meeting the following week in Colorado Springs and that he would get back in touch after that. "I haven't heard from him since. I have emailed him four times but no reply. It's all a little bit bizarre." March
26, 2015 (cnn.com)
 Photography
by Cor Vos:
Van Garderen went over a guardrail on Wednesday’s stage and fell
several meters losing almost 16 minutes.
Each
had hoped to end up top dog at the end of the stage, but only one of
them was successful in pulling off the win. Tejay van Garderen
played things just right on the climb of La Molina, the final ascent on
the queen stage of the Volta a Catalunya, and soloed to victory ahead
of Richie Porte
(Sky), Alberto Contador
(Tinkoff-Saxo) and the other GC contenders.
“I have very good memories of this race from last year,” van Garderen said, referring to what was his first WorldTour win on the queen stage of the 2014 race to Vallter 2000.  Brent
Bookwalter is currently in his eighth season with BMC Racing. Photo:
Tim De Waele | TDWsport.com.
Brent Bookwalter is
relishing fresh opportunities to race to win this season at BMC Racing.
The veteran American was long a loyal lieutenant to 2011 Tour de France champion Cadel Evans, but with the Australian retiring in January, Bookwalter is once again seeing chances to be at the sharp end of the action. “I already have had my chances in the early part of the season. I’ve had freedom to make my own races. Little opportunities like that, when I am not the second man to do the work, it’s fun,” Bookwalter told VeloNews in a recent interview. “I still enjoy working, especially when we have guys on fire, and I am happy to lay it on the line. It’s nice to be in the mix, reminding myself what it’s like to be racing for the win.” March
26,
2015 (velonews.com)
 Photo:
The company said it has received four reports of the bolt loosening;
none of the incidents resulted in rider injury.
Specialized
is working with U.S. and Canadian authorities to recall about 8,300
aerobars that were sold individually and as part of some complete Shiv
aero bike models. The bars were sold from 2011 until February this year.
The concern is that the extension clamp bolt that attaches the Aerobar extensions to the base bar may break or slip. Specialized is providing replacement hardware to remedy the situation. March
26,
2015 (bicycleretailer.com)
 Photo:
Sergio Henao Credit: Graham Watson.
Nine
months after breaking his knee at the Tour de Suisse, Team Sky’s Sergio Henao is set
to return to action at this week’s Settimana Coppi e Bartali.
On a recon of the Swiss race’s time trial last June when he was involved in a collision with a car, being diagnosed with a fractured patella at a nearby hospital. The injury ended Henao’s already disrupted season – after the Tour of Oman last February, Team Sky withdrew their rider from competition after anomalies were found in an out of competition drugs test over the winter. March
26,
2015 (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
 Photo: Geraint Thomas escapes in the 2015 Milan-San Remo.
Geraint Thomas will
lead team Sky into the cobbled Classics campaign that starts tomorrow
in Belgium, with the E3 Harelbeke on March 27, and runs through to
Paris-Roubaix on April 12.
Friday’s E3 race is considered mini-Tour of Flanders, which the Welshman is also targeting next Sunday. “Geraint will be our leader for Friday,” Sports Director Servais Knaven told Cycling Weekly. “He’s in really good shape, which he showed in Algarve, in Paris-Nice and in San Remo. This is a big hit for him here in the classics.” March
26,
2015 (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
 Riders
like Patrocinio Jimenez, who appears in El Escarabajo, helped pave the
way for Colombian superstar Nairo Quintana (pictured).
(Photo by James Startt).
You’ve
seen Breaking Away a million times. Maybe you can even quote all of the
best lines. But what about in Spanish? In any case, you might want to
check out Lisandro Duque’s 1983 film, El Escarabajo.
The story follows one promising small-town cyclist and his two friends. The hour and a half film features real race footage and appearances by Patrocinio Jimenez, a member of the first-ever Colombian team to compete in the Tour de France. Unfortunately there are no subtitles, but you’ve been meaning to brush up on your Spanish anyway, right? If not, the scenery and vintage racing footage is worth the silent-movie vibe. March
26,
2015 (bicycling.com)
 Photo:
"Our race is well-balanced, with a true mountain stage where the
overall winner of the 2015 Abu Dhabi Tour is likely to emerge."
Organizers
announced the route for the inaugural Abu Dhabi Tour on Wednesday,
which will include four stages, a total distance of 555 kilometers, and
uphill finish on the third day.
The race, to be held October 8-11, is promoted by Abu Dhabi Sports Council and UAE Cycling Federation, in partnership with RCS Sport. In its first running, the Abu Dhabi Tour will be a UCI category 2.1 event around the capital of the United Arab Emirates and the surrounding desert. “When I heard about the Abu Dhabi Tour I was super excited,” said Mark Cavendish. “I know that Abu Dhabi is a place full of tradition, that also looks to the future, I think it’s a great place to have a bike race. March
26,
2015 (velonews.com)
 We're
not going to deny that a cold beer at the end of the work week feels
pretty great—but pace yourself if you have a hard ride planned for the
next day.
(Photo by Lindsey Gira).
Happy
hour is a great way to wind down from a long week of work. But could
your Friday brew be detrimental to your cycling performance over the
weekend?
Runner's World columnist William O. Roberts, M.D., a professor in the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health at the University of Minnesota Medical School, says that one or two drinks a week at happy hour would have minimal negative (and possible positive) effects on your health. This amount of alcohol probably doesn’t adversely affect your training. Alcohol can have a mild diuretic effect, but if you’re eating a normal diet with accompanying fluids you shouldn't be at risk for dehydration, he says. March
26,
2015 (bicycling.com)
| March
26,
2015
 Photo:
"We don’t have any firm evidence but we are absolutely aware that these products are out there."
Commenting
after the Cycling Independent Reform Commission outlined a real danger
that riders are, or could, be using motors in bikes, UCI president Brian Cookson has
admitted that this could be the case.
The Briton has said that the UCI is taking the matter extremely seriously and warned any teams or riders tempted by the mode of cheating that the consequences could be ‘devastating’ for them. March
26,
2015 (cyclingtips.com.au)
 Bjarne
Riis (left) and team owner Oleg Tinkov (right) seem to be at odds over
team Tinkoff-Saxo's performance so far this season. Photo: Tim De Waele
| TDWsport.com (File).
Team
Tinkoff-Saxo heads into the busiest time of the year with issues left
unresolved. Team owner Oleg
Tinkov benched founder and manager, Bjarne Riis and
created a leadership vacuum ahead of the biggest one-day races.
Peter Sagan, the team’s new $4 million star, led the team in Milano-Sanremo on Sunday. Tomorrow, he will line up with dossard #1 to defend his 2014 E3 Harelbeke title. However, he is racing without the master tactician, Riis. Riis sat home while Sagan raced to fourth place in Milano-Sanremo and had to leave Alberto Contador in Stephen De Jongh’s hands in Spain’s Volta a Catalunya stage race this week. The problem appears to be a power struggle between him and the team’s owner and Russian businessman, Tinkov. March
26,
2015 (velonews.com)
 Photo:
Greg Van Avermaet as a sixth-place specialist.
A
follow-up to yesterday’s piece about José Joaquín Rojas,
the master of finishing fourth.
Some have asked about Greg Van Avermaet and his ability to place regularly. Is he the king of second place, the present-day peloton Pou-Pou? Time to crunch the numbers. March
26,
2015 (inrng.com)
 Photo:
The peloton climbs the Cote de Saint-Roche in the 2013
Liege-Bastogne-Liege. Photo: Graham Watson.
The
Cobbled Classics have their secteurs pavé and their bergs.
Paris-Roubaix has its gruelling cobbles and combative racing. However,
the oldest classic of them all is set apart by the amount of climbing
the riders must conquer if they are to have any hope of victory when
they finally return to Liege.
Three-time Vuelta a Espana winner and former Hour Record holder Tony Rominger once added up all the changes in altitude in Liege and reckoned the total came to something like a solid Alpine stage of the Tour. So, starting at the turn in Bastogne and counting down to the finish at Liège, here’s our climb-by-climb guide to the hills of the last Spring Classic, 261 kilometers long and barely a metre of flat on it. March
26,
2015 (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
 Photo:"I
knew nothing about diabetes."
Thomas Raeymaekers
was on his way to a promising career, in the best under 23 team in
Belgium and then he finds out he has diabetes and was advised to hang
up his wheels. From his hospital bed he saw the Tour of Turkey and knew
he had a future in the peloton.
At this time of year we usually catch up with Martijn Verschoor of Team Novo Nordisk (and will when he has time for a coffee), but as the team were training in Spain recently we managed to have a word with one of the team’s young Belgian riders; Raeymaekers. Thomas has come through some hard times, but now he is were he should be due to inspiration from the team. March
26,
2015 (pezcyclingnews.com)
 Photo:
The test event for mixed-gender track cycling races was held in Aigle,
Switzerland.
Brian Cookson
has hailed a mixed men’s and women’s track cycling test event as “a
huge success” as four under-23 teams competed in a team sprint at the
World Cycling Centre in Switzerland.
The development of women’s cycling was one of Cookson’s manifesto aims before he was elected president, and cycling events that see men and women competing at the same time seems like an obvious way to completely break down the gender divide. Teams of two women and two men from Great Britain, France, Italy and Spain gathered in Aigle for the race, with the Italians beating the French in the final by just 1/100 of a second. March
26,
2015 (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
 Photo:
Women's cycling groups are working to make riding even easier, safer,
and more accessible for women.
Since
Susan B. Anthony
famously said, "I think [bicycling] has done more to emancipate women
than anything else in the world," bikes have been a major part of the
women’s movement in many ways.
The bike gives us freedom and independence. In communities across the world, it helps to cut down on gender-based violence by making women harder to target. It helps lower obesity levels and leads us to healthier lifestyles. And it's wicked fun. March
26,
2015 (bicycling.com)
March
25,
2015
 Bjarne
Riis and Oleg Tinkov (Cor Vos).
(cyclingtips.com.au).
The
news of Bjarne Riis’s
suspension from his team manager’s role at Tinkoff-Saxo has prompted
vocal criticism of Oleg
Tinkov. But why has Tinkov
really acted now?
When Oleg Tinkov said three years ago that he and Bjarne Riis would gel because the Dane was exactly like his Estonian wife, it was difficult not to snigger. Tinkov’s bulging eyes, though, confirmed that his point was meant in earnest. He went on to explain: “Sometimes these things work. My wife is the same. You can never say. Sometimes plusses and minuses work very well together. They can produce a lot of energy. My wife is very like Bjarne in some ways. She’s Estonian, she’s very quiet, and, as you said, I’m very flamboyant and energetic. But we’ve been happily married for 25 years. So, no, I don’t see it as a problem.” March
25,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
José Joaquín Rojas
celebrates but it’s Movistar’s jefe Alejandro
Valverde who wins the stage in the Volta a Catalunya,
collecting the helpful 10 second time bonus.
Valverde is no stranger to winning, in his early years he was called El Imbatido, the unbeaten one. Rojas by contrast is admired and even mocked for finishing fourth so often. March
25,
2015 (inrng.com)
|
Domenico
Pozzovivo (Ag2r La Mondiale) wins stage 3 of the 2015 Volta a
Catalunya.
(Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com).
Domenico Pozzovivo
won the third
stage of the Volta a Catalunya on Wednesday after attacking a select
seven-rider group of GC contenders in the closing two kilometers.
Europcar’s Pierre Rolland took the overall lead. Pozzovivo soloed across the finish in Girona just ahead of Rigoberto Uran, Dan Martin, Alberto Contador, Fabio Aru, Richie Porte and Andrew Talansky. The first chase group finished 22 seconds later. March
25,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Photo:
Mirsamad Pourseyedigolakhour on the podium
(Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com).
Pourseyedigolakhour
moves into race lead.
March
25,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Photo:
Tom Scully takes lead in Tour de Normandie 2015 after stage one Credit:
Andy Jones.
Tom Scully of
British-based team Madison-Genesis has taken the overall lead in the
Tour de Normandie in France after stage one on Tuesday.
New Zealander Scully finished 44th on the opening road stage in the lead group, which was crucially 13 seconds ahead of a second group containing prologue winner and overnight race leader Tom Bohli. Thanks to Scully’s second position in the prologue on onday, he inherited the yellow leader’s jersey from Swiss rider Bohli. March
25,
2015 (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
Photo:
Women’s Gent Wevelgem 2015 Race Profile.
Gent
Wevelgem, a race steeped in history but when it comes to women’s
cycling the race is the young upstart on the UCI women’s calendar this
Sunday.
Over in Cittiglio, Italy riders are contesting one of the oldest races in women’s cycling, Trofeo Alfredo Binda World Cup, which is now entering it’s fourth decade. The two races have clashed on the calendar ever since Gent Wevelgem organisers introduced a women’s race to their programme in 2012. But the two are learning to coexist and their parcours are suited to very different riders with Gent Wevelgem, like it’s male equivalent being a target for the sprinters. March
25,
2015 (velofocus.com)
 Photo:
The 1962 Wevelgem winner; Rik Van Looy behind Willy Vannitsen (Ford)
and Tuur De Cabooter. What could Rik be saying?
The
cobble season is upon us, this is the time of year to be in Belgium or
better; Flanders.
On Sunday Gent-Wevelgem heads out of Deinze for a ride to the coast and back via France, followed by a succession of gruesome cobbled climbs before the finish. Bad weather and hard riders make for a real Classic. March
25,
2015 (pezcyclingnews.com)
 Thibault
Pinot (FDJ) heads into Critérium International with strong form after
finishing fourth overall at Tirreno-Adriatico. Photo: Tim De Waele |
TDWsport.com.
After
the 2014 Tour de France, it was clear that Frenchman Thibaut Pinot had
arrived. He left the grand tour with the white jersey awarded to the
best young rider, and he finished third overall, behind fellow
countryman Jean-Christophe
Péraud and winner Vincenzo Nibali.
Now, he looks ahead to the Critérium International, which comprises two stages on Saturday — a flat 92.5km race and a 7km individual time trial — and a hilly 189.5km Sunday stage with a summit finish. March
25,
2015 (velonews.com)
2014-15
Races
& Results.
Volta Ciclista a Catalunya - Mar 23-29 (Stages & Results), Tour de Taiwan - Mar 21-25 (Stages & Results), E3 Harelbeke - Mar 27 (Start List), Gent - Wevelgem - Mar 29 (Start List), Gent - Wevelgem Women - Mar 29 (Start List), Giro d'Italia 2015 - May 9-31 (Stages), Tour de France 2015 - July 4-26 (Stages), Vuelta a España 2015 - Aug 22-Sept 13 (Stages), UCI Road World Championship 2015 - Sept 20-27 (Stages), Milan San Remo - Mar 22 (Results), Nokere Koerse - Mar 18 (Results), Tirreno-Adriatico - Mar 11-17 (Results), Paris Nice - Mar 8-15 (Results), Le Tour de Langkawi - Mar 8-15 (Results), Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen - Mar 6-8 (Results), Strade Bianche - Mar 7 (Results), Strade Bianche Women - Mar 7 (Results), UCI Track World Championships - Feb 18-22 (Results), UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships - Jan 31-Feb 1 (Results).  Photo:
2015 Volta a Catalunya Stage 4 Profile.
Thursday's Volta a
Catalunya Stage 4 departs Tona at 11:15am CET (6:15am U.S. Eastern) and
is expected at the finish at La Molina (Alp) at around 4:57pm CET
(11:57am U.S. Eastern).
Volta a Catalunya live streaming video is scheduled to get underway by around 3:30pm CET (10:30am U.S. Eastern, 7:30am Pacific). March
25,
2015 (cyclingfans.com)
 Photo:
Alejandro Valverde (Movistar)
(Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com).
Movistar
went one-two in the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya stage 2 bunch sprint
with Alejandro Valverde
taking the victory ahead of his teammate Jose Rojas on the
streets of Olot. IAM Cycling’s Martin
Elmiger secured third place on the day.
Stage 2 brought the peloton a 191.8 kilometers from Mataro to Olot, held under rainy and overcast conditions. A breakaway of four, that included Sam Bewley, Luis Mas Bonet, Tom Stamsnijder and Tsgabu Grmay, held a 2:55-minute lead with 55km to go. March
24,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
Organizers
of the Philadelphia Cycling Classic, G4 Productions, have announced the
17 teams invited to participate in the women’s World Cup on June 7 in
Pennsylvania. Two-time defending champion Evelyn Stevens is
expected to return with her new Boels-Dolmans team.
Former world champion Giorgia Bronzini and her Wiggle-Honda team are also expected to be on the start line. It is the first World Cup for women in the US in 14 years, since the 2001 edition of the Liberty Classic. G4 Productions' Robin Morton said in an earlier interview that the the first invitations would go to the top 20 UCI ranked teams from the provisional list at the end of the 2014 season. March
24,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
Bevin continues
overall race lead.
March
24,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
|  Photo:
Jelle Wallays (Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise) wins Dwars door Vlaanderen
(Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com).
Topsport
Vlaanderen-Baloise took one-two at the Dwars door Vlaanderen with Jelle Wallays taking
the victory ahead of his teammate Edward
Theuns.
Wallays attacked his four breakaway companions with one kilometer to go and held them off for the win. Thuens took the sprint for second place ahead of Dylan Van Baarle in third and world champion Michal Kwiatkowski in fourth. March
25,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Amy
Pieters won her second-consecutive Grote Prijs van Waregem ahead of
Liv-Plantur teammate Floortje Mackaij. Photo: Tim De Waele |
TDWsport.com.
Not
to be outdone by Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise, team Liv-Plantur also
went one-two at Dwars door Vlaanderen on Wednesday, with Amy Pieters taking
the win ahead of teammate Floortje
Mackaij.
For Pieters, it was her second straight win at the women’s midweek Belgian semi-classic, also known as the Grote Prijs van Waregem. “We tried to make it an aggressive race so we kept pushing for the small breakaways,” Pieters said on the team website. “In the end it was very small, with just Floortje and I. Even after a good training yesterday I still felt good today, and it was a nice team performance.” March
25,
2015 (velonews.com)
 Trek
Factory Racing has built a solid foundation, but the squad is looking
to expand its budget and sign more GC contenders. Photo: Tim De Waele |
TDWsport.com.
There
was plenty of reason to smile inside the Trek Factory Racing team bus
at the end of Tirreno-Adriatico. Fabian
Cancellara had just taken an emphatic victory in the
closing-day time trial to confirm his form ahead of the spring
classics, while Bauke
Mollema rode to second overall against an elite field to
assure everyone that his GC credentials are legitimate.
Tirreno-Adriatico also served as an important milestone for the U.S.-registered team. After a few tumultuous seasons that saw remnants of the team morph from the birth of the Leopard-Trek team in 2011, and merge with RadioShack in 2012, the squad was reborn in 2014, racing under the banner of Trek Factory Racing. The weeklong Italian race reminded everyone the team has reached new stability and maturity. March
25,
2015 (velonews.com)
 Photo:
One track mind...Mark Cavendish will focus solely on the road.
Briton
Mark Cavendish
has ruled out trying to add an Olympic medal to his long list of
honours, saying it would be "detrimental" to his career.
Winner of 25 Tour de France stages and the world road title in 2011, the Isle of Man rider has begun the road season in fine style, winning the Tour of Dubai for his Etixx-Quick Step team. His focus is now on this year's Tour de France and trying to move past French great Bernard Hinault into second place on the all-time list of stage victories. The Olympics, he says, is a nice idea but not on his list of priorities, especially as the hilly road course in Rio de Janeiro would not suit him and a switch to one of the track disciplines would not be practical. March
25,
2015 (sbs.com.au)
 Photo:
Riding in the open countryside. The definition of freedom.
It’s
all too easy to forget what it was that inspired you to take up cycling
regularly. When you are pedalling hard into a headwind, tired, freezing
cold and with the rain running down the back of your neck you could be
forgiven for wondering what you are doing this for.
Cycling can very easily become addictive, putting you in a position where you feel you ‘have’ to go out no matter the weather, or how you feel. Sadly, for some, this means cycling becomes a chore, but one that still leaves them feeling very agitated if they don’t get their biking fix. March
25,
2015 (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
 Photo:
Sit bones are, or at least should be, key pressure points on a saddle.
"The
first thing that went into my small suitcase when packing for ten days
of riding in the French Alps and Pyrenees was my saddle.
Sure the bike I was hiring would come with a decent quality saddle, and if I left my own behind, I might have even be able to squeeze in a change of shoes and avoid flying into the fashion capital of the world looking like a style disaster. But it was an easy choice. There was no way I was going to risk spending ten long days on the bike wincing every time I sat down." March
25,
2015 (cyclingtips.com.au)
 Photo:
You won’t win races on the Vigorelli, but you will win a lot of
admiring glances.
BikeRadar
verdict: 4 out of 5
stars. "This steel bike offers both style and substance - it won't win
races, but it's fun to ride and looks great."
Bianchi is 130 years old this year, and is celebrating that with a collection of five steel-framed machines. The Vigorelli takes its name from Milan’s historic velodrome – home of the hour record from 1935 to 1967 and host to a Led Zepellin concert-turned-riot in 1971. March
25,
2015 (bikeradar.com)
 Photo:
The standard Star Pro is $240, but for another $40 you can get it with
a shield—that is, lens. In incorporating your eyewear into the helmet.
Of
the many investments you can make in aero equipment, there’s little
that can beat the aero helmet in terms of dollar to speed.
Truly, only shaving your legs offers as great a gain for less money. There’s been one significant difference between leg shaving and aero helmets, though. Unlike shaving your legs, aero wheels, pro-fit kit or aero frames, the aero helmet has carried a geek factor—even among dedicated riders. So while leg shaving was as accepted a practice as using clipless pedals, the aero helmet was tin-foil-hat crazy. March
25,
2015 (redkiteprayer.com)
| March
25,
2015
Bjarne
Riis and Oleg Tinkov (Cor Vos).
(cyclingtips.com.au).
The
news of Bjarne Riis’s
suspension from his team manager’s role at Tinkoff-Saxo has prompted
vocal criticism of Oleg
Tinkov. But why has Tinkov
really acted now?
When Oleg Tinkov said three years ago that he and Bjarne Riis would gel because the Dane was exactly like his Estonian wife, it was difficult not to snigger. Tinkov’s bulging eyes, though, confirmed that his point was meant in earnest. He went on to explain: “Sometimes these things work. My wife is the same. You can never say. Sometimes plusses and minuses work very well together. They can produce a lot of energy. My wife is very like Bjarne in some ways. She’s Estonian, she’s very quiet, and, as you said, I’m very flamboyant and energetic. But we’ve been happily married for 25 years. So, no, I don’t see it as a problem.” March
25,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Photo:
It’s true, Rojas is Señor Cuarto.
José Joaquín Rojas
celebrates but it’s Movistar’s jefe Alejandro
Valverde who wins the stage in the Volta a Catalunya,
collecting the helpful 10 second time bonus.
Valverde is no stranger to winning, in his early years he was called El Imbatido, the unbeaten one. Rojas by contrast is admired and even mocked for finishing fourth so often. Is it true he’s the king of fourth place, the chocolate medallist specialist? March
25,
2015 (inrng.com)
 Haga
got tangled with fellow American Ben King (Cannondale-Garmin) in
Milano-Sanremo. Photo: Tim De Waele | TDWsport.com.
"When
I was asked if I wanted to race Milano-Sanremo, I admit that I was
woefully ignorant of the race’s history. I did not grow up dreaming of
attacking on the Poggio, and “Via Roma” would elicit nothing more than
a blank stare.
I only knew that Milano-Sanremo is a monument. And very long. But I also knew that John [Degenkolb] could win and that we work well together, and I was not going to pass up that chance. After Tirreno-Adriatico, I got to spend a few days riding around Sanremo on the bike path. It was there that I found the race museum-tunnel, featuring two kilometers (each way) of education. I emerged full of respect for the race and a bit intimidated by it, too. I then took to the internet to watch previous editions and do some reading, and I became enthralled with the race. For a race to so equally favor such a variety of riders is rare already, but add in the exceptional distance, and you have some really unpredictable racing. The more I learned about the race, the more excited I became." March
25,
2015 (velonews.com)
 Photography
by Cycling Sports Group:
Martin’s result moves him up to sixth overall.
Third
on Wednesday’s stage three of the Volta a Catalunya, Dan Martin has said
that trying to pay tribute to the victims of Tuesday’s plane crash was
a big motivation for the team and that he and the other
Cannondale-Garmin riders would aim high on Thursday’s toughest stage.
Martin finished third behind solo winner Domenico Pozzovivo, who jumped clear towards the end to nab the victory. Rigoberto Uran led in the chase group three seconds back, with Martin outsprinting Alberto Contador for third and the time bonus. March
25,
2015 (cyclingtips.com.au)
 Evelyn
Stevens (Boels Dolmans) has won two consecutive editions of the
Philadelphia International Cycling Classic. Photo: Casey B. Gibson |
www.cbgphoto.com (File).
Seventeen
teams from around the world are confirmed to race the Philadelphia
International Cycling Classic World Cup on June 7.
The race will consist of a 12.3-mile circuit through the city of Philadelphia and features one of the most historic climbs in American racing, the Manayunk Wall. “This is an exciting year for Philadelphia, with the upgrade to a UCI road World Cup,” said race director Robin Morton. “We’re fortunate to have this level of women’s professional racing in the U.S. again.” March
25,
2015 (velonews.com)
 Photo:
Sleep, eating, recovery – it was all part of training. (Jered Gruber)
Twenty-twelve
was a bad year for American competitive cycling. It’s the year that Lance Armstrong
received his lifetime ban and was stripped of his seven Tour de France
titles. And in the midst of the controversy, his former teammates
withdrew from the summer Olympics, placing the hopes for an Olympic
cycling medal on the women.
And the women delivered: Kristin Armstrong secured the gold in the individual time trial, Georgia Gold had a career-best ride en route to a bronze medal in cross-country mountain biking and Sarah Hammer earned a silver medal in the women’s omnium. March
25,
2015 (cyclingtips.com.au)
 Photo:
Strava has launched an updated version of their app (pic: Strava).
Route
mapping and tracking app Strava has launched a new photo sharing
functionality, Strava Photos, alongside introducing improved
leaderboards and a new My Recent Efforts feature.
All the new features are available in the newly updated Strava mobile app, version 4.4, available on iOS and Android from the App Store and Google Play Store now. March
25,
2015 (roadcyclinguk.com)
March
24,
2015
Anti-doping
expert Robin Parisotto
has stated that although clean athletes can now win Grand Tours, the
net needs to tighten around the more sophisticated cheats. The
detection of patterns that suggest micro-dosing EPO and blood
transfusions in some blood profiles continues to cause a major concern
within anti-doping circles.
Parisotto also raised questions over how the UCI previously governed the sport, and has concerns that athletes’ biological passport (APB) data may have been shielded under the governing body’s previous leadership. He finds it surprising that the riders first sanctioned under the passport system in 2009 included no top names. Pointing to the favoritism by the UCI toward Lance Armstrong and Astana, as evidenced in the CIRC report, he makes the uncomfortable suggestion that the anti-doping experts previously weren't getting full access to the UCI's results. March
24,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
March
24,
2015 (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
|
Photo:
Alejandro Valverde (Movistar)
(Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com).
Movistar
went one-two in the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya stage 2 bunch sprint
with Alejandro Valverde
taking the victory ahead of his teammate Jose Rojas on the
streets of Olot. IAM Cycling’s Martin
Elmiger secured third place on the day.
Stage 2 brought the peloton a 191.8 kilometers from Mataro to Olot, held under rainy and overcast conditions. A breakaway of four, that included Sam Bewley, Luis Mas Bonet, Tom Stamsnijder and Tsgabu Grmay, held a 2:55-minute lead with 55km to go. March
24,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 America’s
Evelyn Stevens on the podium. (Bettini Photo)
Organizers
of the Philadelphia Cycling Classic, G4 Productions, have announced the
17 teams invited to participate in the women’s World Cup on June 7 in
Pennsylvania. Two-time defending champion Evelyn Stevens is
expected to return with her new Boels-Dolmans team.
Former world champion Giorgia Bronzini and her Wiggle-Honda team are also expected to be on the start line. It is the first World Cup for women in the US in 14 years, since the 2001 edition of the Liberty Classic. G4 Productions' Robin Morton said in an earlier interview that the the first invitations would go to the top 20 UCI ranked teams from the provisional list at the end of the 2014 season. March
24,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Wouter
Wippert (Drapac)
(Bettini Photo).
Bevin continues
overall race lead.
March
24,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Photo:
Bevin takes stage, overall lead.
Avanti
Racing's Patrick Bevin
won a wet Stage 2 of the Tour de Taiwan to take the race lead from
Drapac's Wouter Wippert.
Bevin emerged strongest from a series of climbs at the end of a 137km stage into Taoquan City on Monday, holding off Iran's Hossein Askari in a two-man duel to win by two seconds. The Tour of Tasmania winner now holds a six second lead over Askari and Mirsamad Poorseyedigolakhour. March
24,
2015 (sbs.com.au)
2014-15
Races
& Results.
Volta Ciclista a Catalunya - Mar 23-29 (Stages & Results), Tour de Taiwan - Mar 21-25 (Stages & Results), Giro d'Italia 2015 - May 9-31 (Stages), Tour de France 2015 - July 4-26 (Stages), Vuelta a España 2015 - Aug 22-Sept 13 (Stages), UCI Road World Championship 2015 - Sept 20-27 (Stages), Milan San Remo - Mar 22 (Results), Nokere Koerse - Mar 18 (Results), Tirreno-Adriatico - Mar 11-17 (Results), Paris Nice - Mar 8-15 (Results), Le Tour de Langkawi - Mar 8-15 (Results), Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen - Mar 6-8 (Results), Strade Bianche - Mar 7 (Results), Strade Bianche Women - Mar 7 (Results), UCI Track World Championships - Feb 18-22 (Results), UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships - Jan 31-Feb 1 (Results).  Photo:
"I hope we can continue with the good run of form we experienced in
Langkawi and Tirreno."
It's
back to the Belgian classics this week for MTN-Qhubeka p/b Samsung as
the boys start the Dwars Door Vlaanderen on Wednesday.
At 200km in length and ranked as a UCI 1.HC event, the race is more than just a precursor to the upcoming World Tour E3 Harelbeke this weekend. March
24,
2015 (cyclingquotes.com)
 Photo:
2015 Dwars Door Vlaanderen Route Map.
2015
Dwars door Vlaanderen LIVE
Wednesday March 25.
Race starts at 11:45am CET (6:45am U.S. Eastern). Finish at around 4:36pm CET (11:36am U.S. Eastern). Live video from 2:15pm CET (9:15am U.S. Eastern, 6:15am Pacific). March
24,
2015
 Photo:
2015 Volta a Catalunya Stage 3 Profile.
Stage 3 start time: Wednesday 13:10 CET
(5:10 AM PST.
Approximate finish: 16:53 CET (8:53 AM PST). Volta a Catalunya live streaming video is scheduled to get underway by around 3:30pm CET (10:30am U.S. Eastern, 7:30am Pacific). March
24,
2015 (cyclingfans.com)
 Photo:
Maciej Paterski (CCC)
(Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com).
Maciej Paterski won
the opening stage of the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya from a three-man
sprint ahead of his breakaway companions Pierre Rolland in
second and Bart de Clercq,
who crossed the line two seconds back in third place.
De Clercq was the first to start the sprint and opened a small lead but it was quickly shut down by Paterski, who then used the Belgian as a lead-out in the final few hundred metres. Rolland was the next to jump from third wheel, however, Paterski sensed the move and initiated his own winning sprint to the line.. March
23,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Photo:
It's already been charged to life by three escapees, but can the Heads
of State save face in the end? Quique Rodriguez, AFP/Getty.
Next
up in the endless array of Spanish one-week races, it's the turn of
flashy Catalunya, artistic, political and footballing hotbed, home to
Barcelona and Girona, and a pretty decent supply of mountains. Oh, and
World Tour points.
March
23,
2015 (podiumcafe.com)
|  Betsy
and Frankie Andreu found
themselves in Lance Armstrong's crosshairs for years before USADA came
down on the Texan this month. Photos: Courtesy ABC News / Graham Watson
| www.grahamwatson.com.
Betsy Andreu, one of
the first people to attest that Lance
Armstrong took banned substances, told AFP that despite
him destroying her life she felt like she had won by testifying to the
World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) on Tuesday.
Andreu, wife of former Armstrong teammate and fellow doper Frankie Andreu, added that because of her and her husband being among the few people to testify about Armstrong and doping in the sport, they were still not welcome in the American cycling fraternity. “He [Armstrong] destroyed my entire life, and during 10 years he tried to destroy my reputation,” she told AFP after speaking in front of WADA members at a meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland. “But the truth has emerged and it’s a victory for me to be here today and to talk to WADA’s members,” added Andreu, who has been subjected to years of pressure by Armstrong and his inner circle. March
24,
2015 (velonews.com)
 UCI
doctor and scientific advisor Dr Mario Zorzoli (Photo: UCI) .
Cycling’s
governing body, the UCI, has reinstated Dr Mario Zorzoli as
their doctor and scientific advisor after the Cycling Independent
Reform Commission (CIRC) found no evidence linking him to covering up
doping.
Dr Zorzoli was suspended by the UCI in late January when he was accused by former rider Michael Rasmussen of being aware of the doping within the Rabobank team conducted under Dr Geert Leinders. March
24,
2015 (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
 Photo:
Tinkov rushed into the sport, buying the team from Bjarne Riis for a
giant sum, reports vary between €3-€5 million.
Tinkoff-Saxo
team manager Bjarne Riis
has been suspended by Oleg
Tinkov. It’s hard to see the Dane coming back from this,
in fact he’ll probably be delighted to pedal off into the sunset, his
panniers loaded with Euros.
Yet it’s far more than a clash between two men, this is the story of the whole team, Alberto Contador included, and there are lessons for the sport as a whole. Oleg Tinkov is neither an oligarch nor a pal of President Putin. Instead he’s a successful businessman who has made billions by copying western business practices and importing them into Russia. March
24,
2015 (inrng.com)
 Photo:
Nibali owes 290,000€ in back taxes.
Bad
news coming from the tax authorities for Vincenzo Nibali.
According to Adnkronos, the Sicilian rider would not have declared all
incomes between 2010 and 2011. The Astana Pro Team cyclist is owing an
amount of 290,000 €.
Because of the very large amount of euros, Nibali would therefore been charged with the tax evasion, but according to the Italian agency, he has already admitted the mistake. He is negotiating the terms with the justice. Nibali should therefore pay (in addition to the sum to him challenged) a fine of 45,000 €. March
24,
2015 (cyclingquotes.com)
 Bradley
Wiggins in the 2014 Paris-Roubaix. Photo: Graham Watson.
Allan Peiper, the
Australian who is now the manager of BMC Racing and who was an
accomplished cobbled Classics rider himself, believes Bradley Wiggins has
the firepower to perform at the Hell of the North, but told Cycling Weekly that
he believed the combined might of the opposition would stop him from
doing so.
The race is set to be Wiggins’s final outing for Team Sky. “I think he’s got what it takes, but no I don’t think he can pull it off,” Peiper said. March
24,
2015 (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
 Photo:
Mauture and motivated.. Richie Porte is better prepared for 2015 (AAP
Images).
When
Richie Porte
arrived at the Tour Down Under in January - three kilograms lighter
than the year previous - it was evident beer and Christmas cake had not
been part of his off-season diet. The press leaned in as the
all-rounder outlined his physically apparent intent for the season, and
referenced an increased motivation on the back of a poor 2014 campaign
spoiled by confidence-battering illness.
Porte’s appetite for success is as obvious now as it was then, so too his rigid approach in the lead-up to the Giro d’Italia where he is set to lead Team Sky’s maglia rosa assault. The 30-year-old tipped the scales at just 59kg at Paris-Nice, which he won for a career second time last week, and rebuked reports published in the French publication L’Equipe that described Sky climbers as “anorexic.” March
24,
2015 (sbs.com.au)
 Photo:
Throughout the history of the Classics, it's the cobbled roads of
Flanders that have had the biggest impact on results and careers.
(Graham Watson)
"The
Classics are variously adored, feared and eulogized thanks to their
tough sections of cobbles. These secteurs pavés can make or break the
best laid plans and set champions apart from mere riders.
Here we run through the defining cobbles, bergs and climbs that will likely decide the outcomes of the upcoming Cobbled Classics." March
24,
2015 (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
 Photo:
You’ll be north of $20,000 for a build like this with Campagnolo SUPER
EPS11.
Venturing
a guess that not many bikes were adorned in Solid 18 karate gold
hardware and alligator bar skin and saddle.
But look throughout the show floor and not many things on display feature the level of in-house manufacture that Sarto pull off. The saddle is well done, but they also make their own tube sets and fork (oh, and bottle cages). And the frame’s details, like the pass through seat tube/split top tube were beyond everything else in carbon at the show. March
24,
2015 (pezcyclingnews.com)
 Photo:
The University of Washington, where the cherry trees were in full
bloom.
"There
are many different approaches to riding brevets. I enjoy challenging
myself to see how fast I can complete the course, in the tradition of
the French randonneurs of the mid-20th century. This means that for the
first time this year, the
clock is ticking."
March
24,
2015 (janheine.wordpress.com)
March
23,
2015 (cyclingtips.com.au)
| March
24,
2015
 Fans
wonder if riders are on EPO or not.
(AFP Photo)
Anti-doping
expert Robin Parisotto
has stated that although clean athletes can now win Grand Tours, the
net needs to tighten around the more sophisticated cheats. The
detection of patterns that suggest micro-dosing EPO and blood
transfusions in some blood profiles continues to cause a major concern
within anti-doping circles.
Parisotto also raised questions over how the UCI previously governed the sport, and has concerns that athletes’ biological passport (APB) data may have been shielded under the governing body’s previous leadership. He finds it surprising that the riders first sanctioned under the passport system in 2009 included no top names. Pointing to the favoritism by the UCI toward Lance Armstrong and Astana, as evidenced in the CIRC report, he makes the uncomfortable suggestion that the anti-doping experts previously weren't getting full access to the UCI's results. March
24,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Photo:
97th Tour de France Stage 20. Longjumeau - Paris Champs-Elysees.
(Yuzuru SUNADA)
Lance Armstrong's
failure to tell the truth before testifying to the Cycling Independent
Reform Committee means his bid to reduce his ban is 'almost too late'.
World anti-doping chief David Howman says Lance Armstrong may have left his bid to get his life ban reduced too late, having had opportunities to tell the truth on many occasions. But having waited until the UCI set up its Cycling Independent Reform Commission (CIRC) to tell his side of the story, Armstrong reportedly did not seize any other opportunities to come forward. March
24,
2015 (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
 Photo:
Mark Cavendish (Team Etixx - Quick Step)
(Sadhbh O'Shea).
Mark Cavendish has
said that he doesn’t think the recent report from the Cycling
Independent Reform Commission (CIRC) has brought anything new to the
table. The CIRC spent a year looking into the murky history of the
sport and spoke to a number of people from the past and present world
of cycling but Cavendish
believes much of it was already public knowledge.
“To be brutally honest, I don’t think that there is anything particularly new in there. I think that it is all the shit that’s been out there in the last few years just compiled into one document that gives people something else to talk about the past of cycling like it’s the present,” Cavendish said during a conference call following the announcement he would compete at this year’s Prudential RideLondon. March
24,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 "We
will try to use any possibility to take time in the GC, maybe tomorrow
or maybe to La Molina on stage four." (Cor Vos Photo)
Admitting
that the large time deficit he and the other race favorites incurred on
the opening stage of the Volta a Catalunya on Monday, Alberto Contador has
nevertheless said that he will do his utmost to try to salvage the
situation.
Speaking after Tuesday’s second stage, the Spaniard said that he was worried by the two and a half minute-plus buffer that Maciej Paterski, Pierre Rolland and Bart De Clercq opened up on day one. March
24,
2015 (cyclingtips.com.au)
 Photo:
Jens Voigt leads an escape on stage one of the 2014 Tour de France.
"We
garner the wisdom of some of cycling’s most experienced racers,
coaches, team managers and support staff to discover the things they
know now that they wish they’d known at the start of their careers."
March
24,
2015 (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
 Photo:
Cyclists socks are about 12cm or taller in height.
There
is something about socks that get cyclists all revved up. A topic that
sparks fierce debate on the road and at the coffee shop. The option are
endless: short or tall? black or white? solid color or pattern?
matching your kit or a unique, bold statement?
There are written rules about socks (yes, really) and unwritten nuances that you must consider when making your sock choice. Height and color are the primary talking points within these guidelines. March
24,
2015 (cyclingtips.com.au)
 Photo:
Only the new Forerunner 920XT multisport watch has publicly
incorporated Connect IQ.
Your
smartphone runs apps from a variety of companies, bringing
functionality not provided by the phone itself. What if your cycling
computer could do the same thing? Imagine a touchscreen cycling
computer with purpose-built apps from Strava or TrainingPeaks.
With the Edge 1000, Garmin merged the best-in-class mapping capabilities of the Edge Touring Plus with the detailed training metrics of the Edge 810. Based on Garmin’s active recruitment for its Connect IQ platform, we suspect the next iteration, likely dubbed the Edge 1010, will have multiple app interfaces available like a smartphone. March
24,
2015 (bikeradar.com)
 Photo:
Quick-Step has launched its very own beer in conjunction with Belgian
brewers De Bie.
Everyone
knows Belgians love a good beer, so it seems fitting that native team
Etixx – Quick-Step has launched its very own beer in conjunction with
Belgian brewers, Brewery De Bie.
The beer, named De Bie Vélo, is described as a “traditional, light and flavorful beer” by the team, and will be distributed by Etixx through its fanclub, for VIPs at races as well as being available online via the WorldTour team’s shop. “Etixx – Quick-Step is a cycling team that stands out for success and innovation,” said team CEO Patrick Lefevere. “But we never forget our Belgian roots and our traditions. We feel that quality and passion is what binds De Bie and Etixx – Quick-Step.” March
24,
2015 (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
March
23,
2015
 Photo:
"We stand by our editorial comment of a year ago — the CIRC was a step
forward, but it wasn’t enough."
Tim De Waele | TDWsport.com.
There
has been considerable comment on the much anticipated CIRC report — and
reactions have predictably varied across the spectrum. There seems to
be general agreement that, in terms of the first of its three major
objectives, the Commission has put together a reasonable historical
narrative about doping in the sport.
But there is little information not already well-known to anyone with the interest to plow through the document, and contrary to Brian Cookson’s warning, there really aren’t “a lot of worms” here. March
23,
2015 (velonews.com)
|
Photo:
Maciej Paterski (CCC)
(Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com).
Maciej Paterski won
the opening stage of the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya from a three-man
sprint ahead of his breakaway companions Pierre Rolland in
second and Bart de Clercq,
who crossed the line two seconds back in third place.
De Clercq was the first to start the sprint and opened a small lead but it was quickly shut down by Paterski, who then used the Belgian as a lead-out in the final few hundred metres. Rolland was the next to jump from third wheel, however, Paterski sensed the move and initiated his own winning sprint to the line.. March
23,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
Photo:
It's already been charged to life by three escapees, but can the Heads
of State save face in the end? Quique Rodriguez, AFP/Getty.
Next
up in the endless array of Spanish one-week races, it's the turn of
flashy Catalunya, artistic, political and footballing hotbed, home to
Barcelona and Girona, and a pretty decent supply of mountains. Oh, and
World Tour points.
The Volta a Catalunya is Spain's second-oldest stage race, after the Volta a Tarragona (a U23 event now), dating back to 1911 and for years functioning as a nice Tour de France warmup act, back when it was sandwiched between the Giro and Tour. For a while it was repurposed as an alternate to the Giro, in the early stages of the Pro Tour shakeup, and the race saw people like Gustavo Cesar win it. Nowadays it's been kicked back to late March and probably works better as a warmup for the Ardennes classics and/or the Giro, as long as it's not snowing. March
23,
2015 (podiumcafe.com)
 Photo:
Confusing day out on the road today, accurate time gaps would have been
helpful. (Cor Vos)
Race
favorites Alberto
Contador and Chris
Froome are each coming to terms with an opening stage
which may have cost them their chances of fighting for the final Volta
a Catalunya victory, with both riders missing out on a crucial break
which gained considerable time.
Polish rider Maciej Paterski shrugged off the effort he put in to finish a fine 22nd in Sunday’s Milan-San Remo, while Frenchman Pierre Rolland finished on the same time. Belgium’s Bart De Clercq was the third member of the break and finished two seconds back. March
23,
2015 (cyclingtips.com.au)
 Photo:
2015 Volta a Catalunya Stage 2 Profile.
Tuesday's Volta a
Catalunya Stage 2 departs Mataro at 12:15pm CET (7:15am U.S. Eastern)
and is expected at the finish at Olot at around 4:55pm CET (11:55am
U.S. Eastern).
Volta a Catalunya live streaming video is scheduled to get underway by around 3:30pm CET (10:30am U.S. Eastern, 7:30am Pacific). March
23,
2015 (cyclingfans.com)
 "Dwars
is the sexy little amuse bouche to start things off." Photo by Lars
Ronbog/FrontzoneSport via Getty Images.
"Wednesday
marks the start of the true classics season and first up is Dwars door
Vlaanderen, the greatest little race in the world in this humble
writer's opinion.
There are bigger and fancier races but none give the same pure joy of bike racing as Dwars. Here's why everyone else should love it too." March
23,
2015 (podiumcafe.com)
 Photo:
Alberto Contador says he’s picked up a cold but wants to be
competitive.
After
a mini-Tour de France and a mini-Giro in Paris-Nice and
Tirreno-Adriatico, the Volta a Catalunya sees a week of stage racing
but it’s not a mini-Vuelta. There’s only one summit finish and no time
trialling at all.
The field is packed with stage race specialists with Alberto Contador and Chris Froome as the obvious stars yet the outcome is far from predictable. With a series of tricky stages, variable weather and the hard final stage in Barcelona the winner will need to play their tactical cards carefully. March
23,
2015 (inrng.com)
 John
Degenkolb celebrated on the podium after winning Milano-Sanremo Sunday.
Photo: Tim De Waele | TDWsport.com.
German
John Degenkolb
had his day along the Italian Riviera Sunday in Sanremo. He fished for
years, reeling in bigger and bigger ones, and his dedication resulted
in one of the trophy catches: a monument, Milano-Sanremo.
For Giant-Alpecin’s Degenkolb, Milano-Sanremo sits in a special category of bicycle races along with Tour de France stages and the world championships. With his sprint ahead of 2014 winner Alexander Kristoff and Michael Matthews, he took his first win at such a level. On his palmares, he now counts one of cycling’s five monuments, the biggest catch in the 26-year-old’s career that includes wins at Gent-Wevelgem, the Vattenfall Cyclassics, Paris-Tours, and a staggering nine stages in the Vuelta a España. March
23,
2015 (velonews.com)
2014-15
Races
& Results.
Volta Ciclista a Catalunya - Mar 23-29 (History), Giro d'Italia 2015 - May 9-31 (Stages), Tour de France 2015 - July 4-26 (Stages), Vuelta a España 2015 - Aug 22-Sept 13 (Stages), UCI Road World Championship 2015 - Sept 20-27 (Stages), Milan San Remo - Mar 22 (Results), Nokere Koerse - Mar 18 (Results), Tirreno-Adriatico - Mar 11-17 (Results), Paris Nice - Mar 8-15 (Results), Le Tour de Langkawi - Mar 8-15 (Results), Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen - Mar 6-8 (Results), Strade Bianche - Mar 7 (Results), Strade Bianche Women - Mar 7 (Results), UCI Track World Championships - Feb 18-22 (Results), UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships - Jan 31-Feb 1 (Results).  Photo:
Chris Froome continues to use non-round chainrings.
Three
years after Bradley
Wiggins became the first Briton to win the Tour de France,
Chris Froome
continues to use Osymetric chainrings.
Wiggins has reverted to round rings and has continued to win at the highest level, including the World Championship time trial. In addition to Osymetric, Rotor’s Q-rings continue to be used by a considerable number of professional riders, including the former world champion Rui Costa. But should you consider using a cam-shaped ring? Jean-Louis Talo, a mechanical engineer from Menton, France, produced a prototype Osymetric ring and has spent 22 years trying to convince the cycling world that it works. March
23,
2015 (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
Photo:
2015 Dwars Door Vlaanderen Route Map.
A
work in progress for 2015 Dwars Door Vlaanderen live and delayed
coverage.
Most live feeds will be country restricted, but unrestricted links will appear in bold. Check back at race time for more links. March
23,
2015 (steephill.tv)
 John
Degenkolb sprinted to victory on Sunday in Milano_Sanremo. Photo:
(cyclingtips.com.au)
John Degenkolb
blasted out of a powerful group of survivors to win a rain-soaked,
crash-packed Milano-Sanremo on Sunday.
The 106th edition of “La Classicissima” began in rain and ended in sun, and after a late pileup on the winding descent off the Poggio dramatically thinned the herd of contenders, it was the German speedster taking a narrow sprint victory over defending champion Alexander Kristoff with Michael Matthews third. “It’s really a fantastic moment,” a delighted Degenkolb told Rai Sport. “The race happened exactly as we hoped it would. I really love this place… four years in a row I’ve been here trying to win this race. I know the course, and the Via Roma, it’s special to win here. It’s amazing.” March
22,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
|  Photo:
An email sent by Tinkov’s CEO Stefano Feltrin on Monday morning said
that Riis was suspended. (Cor Vos)
Amid
rumors that he could be facing a lengthy – or possibly permanent – ban
from the sport as a result of the pending Anti Doping Denmark
investigation into professional cycling, Bjarne Riis has
reportedly been suspended from the Tinkoff-Saxo team by its owner Oleg Tinkov.
Danish newspaper BT announced the news Monday, saying that recent poor performances by the team are the reason for the decision. It points out that Riis was not present at Milan-San Remo on Sunday, a race which was one of Tinkov’s big targets for the season. The team’s designated leader there, Peter Sagan, finished just off the podium in fourth place. March
23,
2015 (cyclingtips.com.au)
 Photo:
On top in Taiwan...Wouter Wippert wins Stage 1 (Supplied).
Drapac's
Wouter Wippert
sprinted to victory in the opening stage of the Tour de Taiwain.
"We worked together today very nicely. With five kilometers to go (Adam) Phelan was going full gas, keeping me out of the wind and then with one kilometer to go (Travis) Meyer took me up on his wheel. I am pleased with our efforts and form." It was a short and fast 52km stage to open the six-day tour. Three riders escaped from the peloton on the circuit in Taipei but they were caught with 10km to go, just as the field entered the final lap. March
23,
2015 (sbs.com.au)
 Photo:
Cordon enjoyed full support from her teammates from the start of the
race to the finish. (Bart Hazen)
Audrey Cordon
outsprinted compatriot Amelie
Rivat in a three-up sprint to win Cholet Pays de Loire
Dames on Sunday. Mirima
Bjørnsrud rounded out the podium.
The victory is Cordon’s second at the French circuit race and her third appearance on the podium. She sprinted to second last year to Emma Johansson. Cordon’s results marks a continuation of the Wiggle Honda hot-streak that includes wins by Giorgia Bronzini and Jolien d’Hoore in Drenthe last weekend. March
23,
2015 (cyclingtips.com.au)
 Kristoff,
Degenkolb and Matthews on the Milan-San Remo podium
(Bettini Photo).
The
UCI and Italian police carried a surprise check on 36 bikes after the
finish of Milan-San Remo, suspicious that some riders and teams may
have used hidden motors during the race. Nothing was apparently found
during the checks and all the bikes were eventually given back to the
teams.
Cyclingnews understands that 11 Trek bikes from the Trek Factory Racing team, 11 Specialized bikes from Etixx-Quick Step and 11 Specialized bikes from Tinkoff-Saxo were checked by the UCI in a special tent erected in the bus parking area. The bikes of the three podium finishers: John Degenkolb, Alexander Kristoff and Michael Matthews were also checked in the podium area. Gazzetta dello Sport reported that bikes from the Astana were also tested, but the team has told Cyclingnews that their bikes were not. March
23,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Photo:
Philippe Gilbert (BMC) lifts the pace for his teammates
(Bettini Photo).
Mauro Vegni, the
race director of Milan-San Remo, has confirmed that the race
route for the Italian Classic will remain the same for the foreseeable
future, with the no further climbs added or changes made to the route
to make a more selective race.
In recent years race organizer RCS Sport has tried to insert the Pompeiana climb near Imperia in the final 40km of the race. However bad weather during the winter sparked landslides and closed the road, forcing the 2014 and 2015 editions to follow the classic route over the Cipressa and Poggio. March
23,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Rachel
Neylan won the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race, confirming her return
to the top ranks of the sport. 2015 AFP PHOTO | MARK GUNTER.
Rachel Neylan, a
world championship silver medalist in 2012, will join ORICA-AIS and
race with the outfit until the end of the season.
Over the winter in Australia, Neylan, 33, enjoyed her most successful period of racing since the world championships podium. “I am everything — happy, thrilled, proud, and honored to be part of ORICA-AIS in what is a pivotal and timely step forward in my cycling career,” Neylan said in an Orica press release. “I have so much admiration for the passion of Gerry Ryan and Shayne Bannan to bring this Australian team to fruition with such success, and it’s something I have worked hard and aspired to be part of since its inception. March
23,
2015 (velonews.com)
 Photo:
Early impressions: light and lively.
A
French marque with a long history in frame building, these days Vitus
are owned by Chain Reaction Cycles and have become the online
retailer’s showcase brand.
Frame construction is a mix of Toray t800 and t1000 high-modulus carbon fibre built around an FSA BB386 Evo bottom bracket and asymmetric rear stays. It also uses sloping geometry, another feature becoming more popular as manufacturers look for extra ways to add more comfort to their frames. March
23,
2015 (roadcyclinguk.com)
 Photo:
Using the company's Body Geometry design, the Specialized Ruby Expert
saddle comes in three widths and features a modest cut-out.
With
the boom in women's cycling, manufacturers are finally waking up to the
fact that female riders have very different needs to their male
counterparts.
"Shrink it and pink it" certainly doesn't work with saddles, so here's our pick of the best women's saddles currently on the market. March
23,
2015 (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
 Photo:
The TCX SLR 1 is a race-ready cyclocross bike.
"As
I rounded the bend in the trail, I noticed the singletrack tilt upward
at an angle that was going to require a compromise of some sort. The
intersection of that grade, a 36×28 low gear and my coming-off-a-virus
fitness meant that I was either going to have to find a way to stand
without spinning the rear tire, or dismount.
Given that my companions - a bunch of Giant employees - were a minute up the trail, standing turned out to be the only answer my pride would allow. I was out with the boys from Giant (yes, they employee women, but none of them were on this ride) for one of their typical lunch rides. We were riding some coastal singletrack near their headquarters in Newbury Park. This bedroom community of the great metropolitan expanse of Los Angeles lies within the Conejo Valley just above Ventura offers cyclists easy access to great roads and plenty of singletrack." March
23,
2015 (redkiteprayer.com)
 Photo:
John Degenkolb won with more than sprint, his positioning on the Poggio
was ideal.
John Degenkolb
sprints on the Via Roma. He was the fastest in the sprint but in order
to contend he rode an impressive final kilometer to get into position,
going in the wind to overtake several riders after a clever ride in the
final kilometers, with ideal positioning on the Poggio.
Just like last year a start in the rain. An 11 man group quickly established a lead of over 10 minutes, one way to keep warm. Just like last year Matteo Bono, Martin Tjallingi and Jan Barta were in the move too. No sooner did the move reach a double-digit advantage than Trek, Tinkoff-Saxo and Katusha started setting the pace, signalling no freedom for the fugitives. March
22,
2015 (inrng.com)
 Photo:
"I’ve caught a little cold from the two wet stages in Italy with snow
and rain."
Volta
a Catalunya is once again shaping up to become an attraction for the
big stars of stage racing. With only one day in the high mountains but
numerous GC contenders, stage 4 to La Molina should see sparks fly.
Tinkoff-Saxo sends a team of climbers spearheaded by team captain Alberto Contador, who continues his preparation ahead of the Giro. Off the back from a week of racing at Tirreno-Adriatico, Contador hopes to have a successful race backed by a strong team. March
22,
2015 (cyclingquotes.com)
| March
23,
2015
Photo:
"We stand by our editorial comment of a year ago — the CIRC was a step
forward, but it wasn’t enough."
Tim De Waele | TDWsport.com.
There
has been considerable comment on the much anticipated CIRC report — and
reactions have predictably varied across the spectrum. There seems to
be general agreement that, in terms of the first of its three major
objectives, the Commission has put together a reasonable historical
narrative about doping in the sport.
But there is little information not already well-known to anyone with the interest to plow through the document, and contrary to Brian Cookson’s warning, there really aren’t “a lot of worms” here. The narrative is vague and non-committal in places. For example, it states that doping is “probably not as endemic” now as it used to be, and that today, a “good number” of athletes and teams are trying to participate in cycling without doping. There has already been wide ridicule of the varying allegations that somewhere between 20 and 90 percent of the current peloton is still doping. March
23,
2015 (velonews.com)
 Photo:
XXX.
Czech
cyclist Roman Kreuziger,
accused of doping over abnormalities in his biological passport, has
slammed anti-doping bodies over delays in his case that has hampered
his career.
“I never cease to be amazed. Another delay,” the 28-year-old Tinkoff-Saxo rider wrote on Twitter, blaming the Court of Arbitration for Sport alongside the international cycling association UCI and the WADA anti-doping watchdog. The CAS has proposed June 10 “for the hearing and (the) verdict a month later. UCI/WADA rejected 2 proposed dates!” Kreuziger said. Originally, the hearing was scheduled for the turn of March and April. March
23,
2015 (velonews.com)
 Photo:
Lance Armstrong and Geoff Thomas set to cycle for charity (Matt
Lawton).
During
some of the most intense times of what will be remembered as the Lance Armstrong
Years, it was never difficult to convince anyone with a half-open mind
that he was a fraud. The responses fitted into various categories;
sadness, anger, shock and a lot of indifference.
Those who didn’t care came from different places. There were those who argued as everyone was doping, it was surely okay for Armstrong to do the same. The “they’re all at it” argument. You pointed out they all weren’t at it and clean cyclists were having their careers stolen. March
23,
2015 (thesundaytimes.co.uk)
 Richie
Porte rode to victory in Paris-Nice earlier this month. Photo: Tim De
Waele | TDWsport.com.
It
all nearly unraveled with 18.2 kilometers remaining in the 181.5km
stage 6 on March 14, at the 73rd edition of Paris-Nice — a race
Australian Richie Porte won
in 2013.
However, the bloody and bruised 30-year-old Tasmanian quickly remounted his visibly battered Pinarello road bike to finish 1 minute behind stage winner and new race leader Tony Gallopin. The heavily favored Porte, who had won stage 4 in dramatic fashion two days earlier with teammate Geraint Thomas immediately in tow, remained in second on general classification (GC) but fell from 1 second off GC to 36 seconds with the seventh and final stage remaining — a short, sharp, 9.6km individual time trial up the Category 1 Col d’Ãze in Nice. March
23,
2015 (velonews.com)
 Photo:
Michal Kwiatkowski crashed coming off the Poggio.
(Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com).
With
Mark Cavendish
lagging behind on the Poggio after dropping his chain on the Cipressa
and having to chase back on, Etixx-QuickStep's hopes for a Milan-San
Remo victory fell on the shoulders of Zdenek Stybar and
World Champion Michal
Kwiatkowski.
But those hopes, too, were dashed when a crash on the decsent off the Poggio took both riders out of contention. March
23,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Photo:
Dreaming is part of being human, too. Dream your dreams – and embrace
them.
"I’m
11 years old. My eyes glued to the TV screen and my palms are sweaty.
I’m full of nervous energy, butterflies in my stomach, as I wonder if
she can do it.
Cathy Freeman is about to start the women’s 400m at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney. I feel like I’m about to start the race next to her. Three months earlier, I had been on that very track racing the Pan Pacific Games, where I had won double bronze in the 800m & 1500m. The gun sounds the race into action. From the start, it’s clear that Cathy is in it to win it. I watch with bated breath until she crosses the line. First. Cathy is an Olympic champion. I want that to be me." March
23,
2015 (cyclingtips.com.au)
 Photo:
The team has been very supportive in every aspect, which I am very
thankful for. I am looking forward to get back to racing with the team
again.
Slovakian
national time trial champion Peter
Velits will have surgery on his left leg to treat an
overuse injury, the BMC Racing Team announced Monday.
BMC Racing Team Chief Medical Officer Dr. Max Testa said the injury has developed over the past few months. Part of the BMC Racing Team's victorious team time trial squad at the world championships last September, Velits's best finish this season has been 27th on Stage 1 at the Tour of Oman. "His leg has definitely been bothering him the past few weeks," Dr. Testa said. "So after the medical staff consulted with an external specialist, we decided it was best for him to have surgery." March
23,
2015 (cyclingquotes.com)
 Photo:
The Firecrest 202 clincher disc wheelset is easy to ride on any terrain
and combines beautifully with hydraulic disc brakes. (Matt Wikstrom)
Zipp
unveiled its first disc-equipped wheelset in July 2013. Built with
Firecrest 303 rims, the wheelset was designed to appeal to cyclocross
racers that were migrating to disc brakes. A disc-specific version of
Zipp’s 88/188 hubset was created as part of the project.
A year later, Zipp released its second disc-equipped wheelset, this time with Firecrest 202 clincher rims to appeal to road riders that were adopting disc brakes. The wheels utilised the same hubset (named 88/188D) developed for the Firecrest 303 disc-equipped wheels. In both instances, the rims were standard 202 and 303 designs. With the aerodynamics and engineering carefully refined for both designs, Zipp didn’t see the need to look closely at any gains that might be made in the absence of a braking track. March
23,
2015 (cyclingtips.com.au)
 Photo:
Matteo Tosatto in action during Stage 5 of the 2015 Tirreno-Adriatico.
The
UCI says that it expects an initial agreement on extreme weather
protocols to be in place ahead of the 2015 Giro d’Italia after riders,
teams and organizers agreed that an action plan was needed to protect
riders in extreme weather conditions.
The decision was made in a preliminary meeting in Milan held on Friday, with cycling’s governing body saying they will meet again in the near future to thrash out the details of the new plan. “The group considers the safety and the health of riders as an absolute priority,” the UCI said in a statement. March
22,
2015 (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
 Photo:
Mark Cavendish finishes Stage 2 of the 2015 Tirreno-Adriatico after
being held up by a crash.
Mark Cavendish’s
says his chain slipped-off his bike towards the finale of the 2015
Milan-San Remo on Sunday, causing him to lose time and possibly a
second victory in the monument, which was won by Giant-Alpecin sprinter
John Degenkolb.
A kilometer-and-a-half before the top of the Cipressa climb, around 23 kilometers to race to San Remo on Italy’s northwest coast, the chain came off the outside of the Etixx-Quick Step rider’s Specialized bicycle. He was apparently using an unmarked SRAM chainring, instead of a team issue chainring from sponsor FSA. March
22,
2015 (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
March
21,
2015
|
John
Degenkolb sprinted to victory on Sunday in Milano_Sanremo. Photo:
(cyclingtips.com.au)
John Degenkolb
blasted out of a powerful group of survivors to win a rain-soaked,
crash-packed Milano-Sanremo on Sunday.
The 106th edition of “La Classicissima” began in rain and ended in sun, and after a late pileup on the winding descent off the Poggio dramatically thinned the herd of contenders, it was the German speedster taking a narrow sprint victory over defending champion Alexander Kristoff with Michael Matthews third. “It’s really a fantastic moment,” a delighted Degenkolb told Rai Sport. “The race happened exactly as we hoped it would. I really love this place… four years in a row I’ve been here trying to win this race. I know the course, and the Via Roma, it’s special to win here. It’s amazing.” March
22,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Photo:
Fabian Cancellara after Milan-San Remo.
(Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com).
Fabian Cancellara
was in the mix at the end of Milan-San Remo but the 2008 winner
couldn't match the top-end speed of some of the world's best sprinters
and had to settle for a disappointing seventh.
Giant-Alpecin's John Degenkolb took the win ahead of 2014 winner Alexander Kristoff and Orica-GreenEdge fastman Michael Metthews. “If you look ahead of me there are six world-class sprinters, and I am the first non-traditional sprinter, in a way,” Cancellra said after the stage. “I don’t have the absolute instinct to find the right spot and to know when you can feel when someone is coming, and I got a little bit locked in on the right side. I made a mistake there and it’s disappointing because I had good legs.” March
22,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
2014-15
Races
& Results.
Volta Ciclista a Catalunya - Mar 23-29 (History), Giro d'Italia 2015 - May 9-31 (Stages), Tour de France 2015 - July 4-26 (Stages), Vuelta a España 2015 - Aug 22-Sept 13 (Stages), UCI Road World Championship 2015 - Sept 20-27 (Stages), Milan San Remo - Mar 22 (Results), Nokere Koerse - Mar 18 (Results), Tirreno-Adriatico - Mar 11-17 (Results), Paris Nice - Mar 8-15 (Results), Le Tour de Langkawi - Mar 8-15 (Results), Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen - Mar 6-8 (Results), Strade Bianche - Mar 7 (Results), Strade Bianche Women - Mar 7 (Results), UCI Track World Championships - Feb 18-22 (Results), UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships - Jan 31-Feb 1 (Results).  Photo:
Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha)
(Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com).
Defending
Volta Ciclista a Catalunya champion Joaquim
Rodriguez will not start this year's race due to a stomach
virus, his team confirmed on Sunday. Rodriguez will be
replaced by Alberto
Losada in the Katusha line-up.
On Sunday morning, just as teammate Alexandre Kristoff began the defense of his own Milano-Sanremo crown, Katusha confirmed Rodriguez’ own Tweet that “to my great regret, I’m out of the Volta because of a stomach virus. Hopefully I will be able to recover for [the Vuelta al] País Vasco. What bad luck I have had!” March
22,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Photo:
2015 Volta a Catalunya Stage 1 Profile.
March
23-29, Spain. Stage 1 starts Monday
at 12:20pm CET (7:20am U.S. Eastern).
Finish at around 4:57pm CET (11:57am U.S. Eastern). Live video from 3:30pm CET (10:30am U.S. Eastern, 7:30am Pacific). March
22,
2015 (steephill.tv)
 Photo:
Niki Terpstra, Iljo Keisse, and Lukasz Wisniowski (Tim De Waele).
(sbs.com.au)
Etixx-Quick-Step
swept the podium and then some at the Ronde van Zeeland Seaports on
Saturday.
Iljo Keisse, Niki Terpstra and Lukasz Wisniowski escaped a lead group of more than 30 riders and eventually took more than four minutes’ advantage with 25km to go in the 196.1km Dutch race. Back in the bunch, Guillaume Van Keirsbulck, Nikolas Maes, Matteo Trentin, and Yves Lampaert kept an eye on things for their three teammates. Going into the last two laps the pursuit had dwindled to 18 riders, then split again, leaving Lampaert in the first chase with Edward Theuns in the final 2km. In the finale, Keisse took the victory ahead of Terpstra and Wisniowski. March
21,
2015 (velonews.com)
 Photo:
Phillipe Gilbert gives it everything during his solo attack.
(Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com).
The
pre-race expectation is that this weekend’s edition of Milan-San Remo
will end with a bunch sprint. Philippe
Gilbert and Greg
Van Avermaet are two men that plan to make sure that
doesn’t happen on Sunday. The Belgian duo have both named La Primavera
as their first major target of the season, and assume a joint
leadership role with BMC heading into the race.
Gilbert and Van Avermaet last shared this responsibility at the World Championships in Ponferrada in 2014, and as their careers and goals increasingly get entangled in each other’s, they find themselves going up against one another. Unlike some major teams, who have two different cards to play, BMC finds themselves with two of a kind. March
21,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
March
21,
2015 (cyclingquotes.com)
| Photo:
John Degenkolb won with more than sprint, his positioning on the Poggio
was ideal.
John Degenkolb
sprints on the Via Roma. He was the fastest in the sprint but in order
to contend he rode an impressive final kilometer to get into position,
going in the wind to overtake several riders after a clever ride in the
final kilometers, with ideal positioning on the Poggio.
Just like last year a start in the rain. An 11 man group quickly established a lead of over 10 minutes, one way to keep warm. Just like last year Matteo Bono, Martin Tjallingi and Jan Barta were in the move too. No sooner did the move reach a double-digit advantage than Trek, Tinkoff-Saxo and Katusha started setting the pace, signalling no freedom for the fugitives. March
22,
2015 (inrng.com)
Photo:
"I’ve caught a little cold from the two wet stages in Italy with snow
and rain."
Volta
a Catalunya is once again shaping up to become an attraction for the
big stars of stage racing. With only one day in the high mountains but
numerous GC contenders, stage 4 to La Molina should see sparks fly.
Tinkoff-Saxo sends a team of climbers spearheaded by team captain Alberto Contador, who continues his preparation ahead of the Giro. Off the back from a week of racing at Tirreno-Adriatico, Contador hopes to have a successful race backed by a strong team. March
22,
2015 (cyclingquotes.com)
 Photo:
Christoph Strasser sets new 24 hour cycling record (picture copyright
Karelly).
Austria’s
Chrisoph Strasser
has set a new record for the most distance ridden on a road bike in 24
hours, riding 556.856 miles (896.173 kilometers) at the former
Tempelhof airport in Berlin, completing his ride at 3pm local time this
afternoon.
The 32-year-old, who is sponsored by Specialized, beat the previous Ultramarathon Cycling Association’s record of 521.975 miles (840.037 kilometers, set in 2004 by the late Jure Robič with plenty of time to spare, riding on to establish the new benchmark. Among those to congratulate three-time Race Across America (RAAM) winner Strasser was fellow Austrian, Matthias Brändle, who broke the UCI Hour record in October but lost it to Rohan Dennis last month. March
21,
2015 (road.cc)
 Photo:
Peter Sagan (Tinkoff-Saxo) gets off the mark for 2015.
(Bettini).
Because of his immense talent, his prodigious results in the early
years of his career and now his reported huge salary at Tinkoff-Saxo, Peter Sagan is one
of the big-name favorites for Milan-San Remo.
Despite only being 25, he has already ridden Milan-San Remo four times, finishing fourth in 2012 and second in 2013, when he was beaten by Gerald Ciolek in the sprint after the race distance was reduced due to heavy snow before the Turchino. Last year Sagan finished tenth in the hectic sprint, lacking a final kick and the speed to take on the pure sprinters likes like Mark Cavendish and winner Alexander Kristoff. March
21,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Photo:
Peter Sagan at the Tinkoff-Saxo presentation in Milan, Italy (AAP).
Peter Sagan finally
took a long awaited stage win at Tirreno-Adriatico to open his 2015
account and will line up at Milan-San Remo as one of the favorites for
the victory, and he'll do it on a bike that is perhaps a metaphor for
the rest of his season.
Sagan will arrive at the first monument of the season with his form finely honed at the seven-stage Tirreno-Adriatico, where he finally carved out a win on the rainy 6th stage while under mounting pressure to perform. He had gone several months without standing on the top step of a post-race celebration despite always being in the mix with over a dozen runner-up spots on his palmares this season alone. "I’m heading to Milan-San Remo to deliver a top result just like at any other race. When the team or I start a race, the ultimate goal is to win. But in cycling you never know and you have to be realistic. My competitors have the same goals and sometimes you win and sometimes you don’t. But Milan-San Remo is special and I’ll naturally be at the start with big ambitions." March
21,
2015 (sbs.com.au)
 Photo:
"The finish is closer to the Poggio now, that doesn’t help the
sprinters. It will change the tactics."
One
day before the start André
Greipel, Jürgen
Roelandts and Tony
Gallopin give their preview of Milan-Sanremo. They all
agree, it’s unpredictable.
“Sunday I rode the last sixty kilometers of Milan Sanremo," Greipel said. "Of course I knew the final already, but it’s always good to see it again before the actual race. In any case it’s a good preparation. "Every year there are attacks on the Cipressa and Poggio. That will be the same again this year. Last year I survived the Poggio, but because of cramps I didn’t get to participate in the sprint. I know now that I am able to get in the final. Mentally it was important, knowing that I am able to get over the Poggio with the best. March
21,
2015 (cyclingquotes.com)
 Photo:
The IsoSpeed decoupler pivot allows the seatmast to flex farther and
more easily.
"The
Domane Disc 6.9 has its quirks. But I also think it may be the
smartest, friendliest bike I've ridden.
This was the first modern bike I knew of that had legitimate pro racing lineage as well as fender mounts. When we got our first snow in Colorado, I unabashedly installed fenders. I'll start with the quirks—namely, the signature IsoSpeed decoupler pivot, which allows the seatmast to flex farther and more easily than if it were rigidly attached to the top tube. Other reviewers, and my BICYCLING colleagues, seem to agree that IsoSpeed has amazing bump-swallowing capabilities. For the most part, I find the Domane more compliant and smoother-riding than most road bikes. In the saddle, I notice striking overtones of stillness and efficiency—with two asterisks." March
21,
2015 (bicycling.com)
| Photo:
Matteo Tosatto in action during Stage 5 of the 2015 Tirreno-Adriatico.
The
UCI says that it expects an initial agreement on extreme weather
protocols to be in place ahead of the 2015 Giro d’Italia after riders,
teams and organizers agreed that an action plan was needed to protect
riders in extreme weather conditions.
The decision was made in a preliminary meeting in Milan held on Friday, with cycling’s governing body saying they will meet again in the near future to thrash out the details of the new plan. “The group considers the safety and the health of riders as an absolute priority,” the UCI said in a statement. March
22,
2015 (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
Photo:
Mark Cavendish finishes Stage 2 of the 2015 Tirreno-Adriatico after
being held up by a crash.
Mark Cavendish’s
says his chain slipped-off his bike towards the finale of the 2015
Milan-San Remo on Sunday, causing him to lose time and possibly a
second victory in the monument, which was won by Giant-Alpecin sprinter
John Degenkolb.
A kilometer-and-a-half before the top of the Cipressa climb, around 23 kilometers to race to San Remo on Italy’s northwest coast, the chain came off the outside of the Etixx-Quick Step rider’s Specialized bicycle. He was apparently using an unmarked SRAM chainring, instead of a team issue chainring from sponsor FSA. March
22,
2015 (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
March
21,
2015
 Photo:
TdF 2014 Vincenzo Nibali wins in Sheffield - credit Welcome to
Yorkshire, Le Tour Yorkshire com.
The
UCI’s License Commission will meet in Geneva on Thursday 2 April to
determine whether Astana, Tour de France champion Vincenzo Nibali’s
team, should be allowed to keep its WorldTour license, reports French
newspaper Le Monde.
Last month, world cycling’s governing body asked the License Commission, which operates independently of it, to withdraw Astana’s license after an audit into the Kazakh team’s management and anti-doping procedures had been completed by the Institute of Sport Sciences of the University of Lausanne (ISSUL). March
21,
2015 (road.cc)
 Photo:
The last winner on the Via Roma, Oscar Freire in 2007.
In
2015 the Milan-San Remo Classic will go back to its traditions to set
up a spectacular finale on the classic Via Roma finish line, which has
played a key role in the history of this monumental race.
"Berta, Cipressa, Poggio… three girls I dated in high school? I wish. Considering the form, the curves, and the mystique that each of these capi add to the season’s first and longest Classic – well, let’s just say I should have been so lucky as to ride… I mean date… these hills, I mean girls." March
21,
2015 (pezcyclingnews.com)
 Photo:
Riders from Meade’s new American team, the Fearless Femme.
Irish
national road race champion and An Post Rás na mBan stage winner Fiona Meade has
secured a promising offer to race in the United States for much of the
coming year.
The Cork woman, who currently rides for Blarney Stone CC, will join up with the Fearless Femme cycling team. She will depart Ireland around the Easter Holiday weekend to commence her program of racing. Meade will mainly compete on the criterium circuit in the US but will also ride a number of other races, though they are yet to be confirmed. March
21,
2015 (stickybottle.com)
 Photo:
Matt Goss (HTC) claims the biggest win of his career
(Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com).
It
is now two years since Matt
Goss last won a major individual race: stage two of the
2013 Tirreno-Adriatico when he rode for the Orica-GreenEdge team.
The Tasmanian did ride for Orica-GreenEdge in the 2013 Tour de France when the Australian team won the stage four team time trial in Nice. And yes, technically speaking, he did win race four of last year’s Mitchelton Bay Cycling Classic series in Victoria, Australia. But even Goss, 28, recognizes that stage win in the 2013 Tirreno-Adriatico was the last time he beat a world-class field of sprinters. March
21,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Photo:
Carogna tape uses a thin adhesive layer on the rim side but a thicker
layer on the tyre side to help fill in any gaps for a more secure bond.
Tubular
tires have persisted in both road and cyclocross circles thanks to
their enviable ride quality, generally fantastic cornering ability, and
the fact that they can safely be ridden at extremely low pressures or
even completely flat.
Nevertheless, many riders simply don’t want to deal with the hassles of installation and removal: the multiple layers of glue, the noxious fumes, the sticky mess, the raw thumbs… Effetto Mariposa’s new Carogna tubular tape, however, promises to make living with tubulars nearly as easy as clinchers. March
21,
2015 (bikeradar.com)
The
Eddy Merckx Mourenx69 commemorates a legendary stage win by the
Cannibal at the 1969 Tour de France— his first appearance in the race
he'd win five times.
By Stage 17, Merckx already had a lead of more than eight minutes. The conventional wisdom was that all he needed to do was ride safe and stick near his closest rivals to make sure none of them regained significant time. But on this mountainous stage, Merckx made an audacious attack, going away on a 140km solo break through the Pyrenees—adding another eight minutes to his lead and ensuring such dominance that by the end of the Tour, he'd own the leader's jersey, the sprinter's jersey, and the king of the mountains jersey. March
21,
2015 (bicycling.com)
|
Photo:
Niki Terpstra, Iljo Keisse, and Lukasz Wisniowski (Tim De Waele).
(sbs.com.au)
Etixx-Quick-Step
swept the podium and then some at the Ronde van Zeeland Seaports on
Saturday.
Iljo Keisse, Niki Terpstra and Lukasz Wisniowski escaped a lead group of more than 30 riders and eventually took more than four minutes’ advantage with 25km to go in the 196.1km Dutch race. Back in the bunch, Guillaume Van Keirsbulck, Nikolas Maes, Matteo Trentin, and Yves Lampaert kept an eye on things for their three teammates. Going into the last two laps the pursuit had dwindled to 18 riders, then split again, leaving Lampaert in the first chase with Edward Theuns in the final 2km. In the finale, Keisse took the victory ahead of Terpstra and Wisniowski. March
21,
2015 (velonews.com)
Photo:
Phillipe Gilbert gives it everything during his solo attack.
(Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com).
The
pre-race expectation is that this weekend’s edition of Milan-San Remo
will end with a bunch sprint. Philippe
Gilbert and Greg
Van Avermaet are two men that plan to make sure that
doesn’t happen on Sunday. The Belgian duo have both named La Primavera
as their first major target of the season, and assume a joint
leadership role with BMC heading into the race.
Gilbert and Van Avermaet last shared this responsibility at the World Championships in Ponferrada in 2014, and as their careers and goals increasingly get entangled in each other’s, they find themselves going up against one another. Unlike some major teams, who have two different cards to play, BMC finds themselves with two of a kind. March
21,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Photo:
Great victory today for Alexis Gougeard on the Classic
Loire-Atlantique! Neo-pro, the 21 year norman rider brings its 8th win
of the season to the team.
One
year after taking a breakthrough win in the Classique Loire Atlantique,
Alexis Gougeard repeated
his solo performance in the 2015 edition of the race to defend his
title in impressive fashion.
After his first attack had been brought back, he escaped from a 10-rider group with 3km to go and held his chasers off to win the race ahead of Marco Marcato and Anthony Delaplace. March
21,
2015 (cyclingquotes.com)
2014-15
Races
& Results.
Milan-San Remo - Mar 22 (Start List), Volta Ciclista a Catalunya - Mar 23-29 (History), Giro d'Italia 2015 - May 9-31 (Stages), Tour de France 2015 - July 4-26 (Stages), Vuelta a España 2015 - Aug 22-Sept 13 (Stages), UCI Road World Championship 2015 - Sept 20-27 (Stages), Nokere Koerse - Mar 18 (Results), Tirreno-Adriatico - Mar 11-17 (Results), Paris Nice - Mar 8-15 (Results), Le Tour de Langkawi - Mar 8-15 (Results), Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen - Mar 6-8 (Results), Strade Bianche - Mar 7 (Results), Strade Bianche Women - Mar 7 (Results), UCI Track World Championships - Feb 18-22 (Results), UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships - Jan 31-Feb 1 (Results).  Photo:
Milan-San Remo Profile.
2015
Milan-San Remo LIVE Sunday,
March 22nd, Italy.
Race starts at 10:10am CET (5:10am U.S. Eastern) Finish at around 5:09pm CET (12:09pm U.S. Eastern) Live video from 2:15pm CET (9:15am U.S. Eastern, 6:15am Pacific). March
21,
2015 (cyclingfans.com)
Photo:
2015 Volta a Catalunya Stage 1 Profile.
March
23-29, Spain. Stage 1 starts Monday
at 12:20pm CET (7:20am U.S. Eastern).
Finish at around 4:57pm CET (11:57am U.S. Eastern). Live video from 3:30pm CET (10:30am U.S. Eastern, 7:30am Pacific). March
21,
2015 (steephill.tv)
Gianni Meersman came
out on top in the Handzame Classic, capping off an excellent lead out
from his team to win ahead of Antoine
Demoitie and Tiesj
Benoot.
Meersman came through the melee of leadouts after late work from Iljo Keisse and Matteo Trentin but the groundwork for the win had been laid by the rest of the team who wrestled control from the opposition inside the closing 15 kilometers of racing, neutralizing several late moves before catapulting Meersman, 29, to his third win of the season. March
20,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
| Photo:
Christoph Strasser sets new 24 hour cycling record (picture copyright
Karelly).
Austria’s
Chrisoph Strasser
has set a new record for the most distance ridden on a road bike in 24
hours, riding 556.856 miles (896.173 kilometers) at the former
Tempelhof airport in Berlin, completing his ride at 3pm local time this
afternoon.
The 32-year-old, who is sponsored by Specialized, beat the previous Ultramarathon Cycling Association’s record of 521.975 miles (840.037 kilometers, set in 2004 by the late Jure Robič with plenty of time to spare, riding on to establish the new benchmark. Among those to congratulate three-time Race Across America (RAAM) winner Strasser was fellow Austrian, Matthias Brändle, who broke the UCI Hour record in October but lost it to Rohan Dennis last month. March
21,
2015 (road.cc)
Photo:
Peter Sagan (Tinkoff-Saxo) gets off the mark for 2015.
(Bettini).
Because of his immense talent, his prodigious results in the early
years of his career and now his reported huge salary at Tinkoff-Saxo, Peter Sagan is one
of the big-name favorites for Milan-San Remo.
Despite only being 25, he has already ridden Milan-San Remo four times, finishing fourth in 2012 and second in 2013, when he was beaten by Gerald Ciolek in the sprint after the race distance was reduced due to heavy snow before the Turchino. Last year Sagan finished tenth in the hectic sprint, lacking a final kick and the speed to take on the pure sprinters likes like Mark Cavendish and winner Alexander Kristoff. March
21,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
Photo:
Peter Sagan at the Tinkoff-Saxo presentation in Milan, Italy (AAP).
Peter Sagan finally
took a long awaited stage win at Tirreno-Adriatico to open his 2015
account and will line up at Milan-San Remo as one of the favorites for
the victory, and he'll do it on a bike that is perhaps a metaphor for
the rest of his season.
Sagan will arrive at the first monument of the season with his form finely honed at the seven-stage Tirreno-Adriatico, where he finally carved out a win on the rainy 6th stage while under mounting pressure to perform. He had gone several months without standing on the top step of a post-race celebration despite always being in the mix with over a dozen runner-up spots on his palmares this season alone. "I’m heading to Milan-San Remo to deliver a top result just like at any other race. When the team or I start a race, the ultimate goal is to win. But in cycling you never know and you have to be realistic. My competitors have the same goals and sometimes you win and sometimes you don’t. But Milan-San Remo is special and I’ll naturally be at the start with big ambitions." March
21,
2015 (sbs.com.au)
Photo:
"The finish is closer to the Poggio now, that doesn’t help the
sprinters. It will change the tactics."
One
day before the start André
Greipel, Jürgen
Roelandts and Tony
Gallopin give their preview of Milan-Sanremo. They all
agree, it’s unpredictable.
“Sunday I rode the last sixty kilometers of Milan Sanremo," Greipel said. "Of course I knew the final already, but it’s always good to see it again before the actual race. In any case it’s a good preparation. "Every year there are attacks on the Cipressa and Poggio. That will be the same again this year. Last year I survived the Poggio, but because of cramps I didn’t get to participate in the sprint. I know now that I am able to get in the final. Mentally it was important, knowing that I am able to get over the Poggio with the best. March
21,
2015 (cyclingquotes.com)
Photo:
The IsoSpeed decoupler pivot allows the seatmast to flex farther and
more easily.
"The
Domane Disc 6.9 has its quirks. But I also think it may be the
smartest, friendliest bike I've ridden.
This was the first modern bike I knew of that had legitimate pro racing lineage as well as fender mounts. When we got our first snow in Colorado, I unabashedly installed fenders. I'll start with the quirks—namely, the signature IsoSpeed decoupler pivot, which allows the seatmast to flex farther and more easily than if it were rigidly attached to the top tube. Other reviewers, and my BICYCLING colleagues, seem to agree that IsoSpeed has amazing bump-swallowing capabilities. For the most part, I find the Domane more compliant and smoother-riding than most road bikes. In the saddle, I notice striking overtones of stillness and efficiency—with two asterisks." March
21,
2015 (bicycling.com)
 Tejay
van Garderen said he
didn't dress properly for the cold in stage 6 at Paris-Nice last
weekend. Photo: Tim De Waele | TDWsport.com.
Tejay van Garderen
and the BMC Racing team ended Paris-Nice disappointed last Sunday in
France. The American slipped from fourth to 16th overall because he
failed to “prepare right” when the weather turned worse on the Côte
d’Azur.
Van Garderen began Saturday’s stage 6 fourth overall behind world champion Michal Kwiatkowski, but the team said he failed to dress correctly when the forecast indicated bad weather on the horizon. During the stage, the team car was not able to reach him to give him warmer gear because the race had broken into pieces in the hills above Nice, where van Garderen has a European training base. “Had a day you hope never to have. So cold!!! #disappointed #OnToTheNextTarget,” van Garderen wrote on Twitter. “Some lessons can only be learned the hard way.” March
20,
2015 (velonews.com)
| March
21,
2015
Photo:
TdF 2014 Vincenzo Nibali wins in Sheffield - credit Welcome to
Yorkshire, Le Tour Yorkshire com.
The
UCI’s License Commission will meet in Geneva on Thursday 2 April to
determine whether Astana, Tour de France champion Vincenzo Nibali’s
team, should be allowed to keep its WorldTour license, reports French
newspaper Le Monde.
Last month, world cycling’s governing body asked the License Commission, which operates independently of it, to withdraw Astana’s license after an audit into the Kazakh team’s management and anti-doping procedures had been completed by the Institute of Sport Sciences of the University of Lausanne (ISSUL). March
21,
2015 (road.cc)
Photo:
The last winner on the Via Roma, Oscar Freire in 2007.
In
2015 the Milan-San Remo Classic will go back to its traditions to set
up a spectacular finale on the classic Via Roma finish line, which has
played a key role in the history of this monumental race.
"Berta, Cipressa, Poggio… three girls I dated in high school? I wish. Considering the form, the curves, and the mystique that each of these capi add to the season’s first and longest Classic – well, let’s just say I should have been so lucky as to ride… I mean date… these hills, I mean girls." March
21,
2015 (pezcyclingnews.com)
Photo:
Riders from Meade’s new American team, the Fearless Femme.
Irish
national road race champion and An Post Rás na mBan stage winner Fiona Meade has
secured a promising offer to race in the United States for much of the
coming year.
The Cork woman, who currently rides for Blarney Stone CC, will join up with the Fearless Femme cycling team. She will depart Ireland around the Easter Holiday weekend to commence her program of racing. Meade will mainly compete on the criterium circuit in the US but will also ride a number of other races, though they are yet to be confirmed. March
21,
2015 (stickybottle.com)
Photo:
Matt Goss (HTC) claims the biggest win of his career
(Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com).
It
is now two years since Matt
Goss last won a major individual race: stage two of the
2013 Tirreno-Adriatico when he rode for the Orica-GreenEdge team.
The Tasmanian did ride for Orica-GreenEdge in the 2013 Tour de France when the Australian team won the stage four team time trial in Nice. And yes, technically speaking, he did win race four of last year’s Mitchelton Bay Cycling Classic series in Victoria, Australia. But even Goss, 28, recognizes that stage win in the 2013 Tirreno-Adriatico was the last time he beat a world-class field of sprinters. March
21,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
Photo:
Carogna tape uses a thin adhesive layer on the rim side but a thicker
layer on the tyre side to help fill in any gaps for a more secure bond.
Tubular
tires have persisted in both road and cyclocross circles thanks to
their enviable ride quality, generally fantastic cornering ability, and
the fact that they can safely be ridden at extremely low pressures or
even completely flat.
Nevertheless, many riders simply don’t want to deal with the hassles of installation and removal: the multiple layers of glue, the noxious fumes, the sticky mess, the raw thumbs… Effetto Mariposa’s new Carogna tubular tape, however, promises to make living with tubulars nearly as easy as clinchers. March
21,
2015 (bikeradar.com)
 Eddy
Merckx Mourenx69
(Photo courtesy of Eddy Merckx).
The
Eddy Merckx Mourenx69 commemorates a legendary stage win by the
Cannibal at the 1969 Tour de France— his first appearance in the race
he'd win five times.
By Stage 17, Merckx already had a lead of more than eight minutes. The conventional wisdom was that all he needed to do was ride safe and stick near his closest rivals to make sure none of them regained significant time. But on this mountainous stage, Merckx made an audacious attack, going away on a 140km solo break through the Pyrenees—adding another eight minutes to his lead and ensuring such dominance that by the end of the Tour, he'd own the leader's jersey, the sprinter's jersey, and the king of the mountains jersey. March
21,
2015 (bicycling.com)
March
20,
2015
|
 Photo:
Gianni Meersman (Etixx-Quickstep) wins the Handzame Classic
(Getty Images Sport) . Gianni Meersman came
out on top in the Handzame Classic, capping off an excellent lead out
from his team to win ahead of Antoine
Demoitie and Tiesj
Benoot.
Meersman came through the melee of leadouts after late work from Iljo Keisse and Matteo Trentin but the groundwork for the win had been laid by the rest of the team who wrestled control from the opposition inside the closing 15 kilometers of racing, neutralizing several late moves before catapulting Meersman, 29, to his third win of the season. March
20,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Milano-Sanremo
winds along the Mediterranean coast before finishing on the Via Roma.
Photo: Tim De Waele | TDWsport.com.
Milano-Sanremo’s
293-kilometer fuse, lit in Milan, burns slowly south from the Italian
city before making a right turn along the coast, where it winds off the
Mediterranean and sparks into a flame. A string of short, punchy climbs
set off a final round of desperate fireworks.
Milano-Sanremo is said to be the sprinter’s classic, but the climbs, beginning with Capo Mele at 51km remaining and ending with the peak of the Poggio at 5.5km to go, set up a tension between fast finishers, climbers, and classics strongmen found nowhere else on the pro calendar. March
20,
2015 (velonews.com)
 Photo:
Mark Cavendish after winning Stage 7 of the 2015 Tour de San Luis.
Mark Cavendish
explained that Milan San Remo may be ‘easy’ to finish, but
that every
one of the 300 kilometers in Sunday’s race are complicated.
Cycling Weekly spoke to 2009 Milan San Remo winner Cavendish to get his opinion on the race’s different phases, from Lombardia to Liguria, and to give you a unique insight into Italy’s classic. “It’s the easiest race to finish, but the hardest to win,” Etixx-QuickStep’s Cavendish said. March
20,
2015 (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
 Photo:
Chad Haga (Giant-Alpecin) in the break
(Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com).
American
Chad Haga
will start Milan-San Remo for Giant-Alpecin on Sunday in place of Simon Geschke, who
broke his collarbone last week in a crash at Tirreno-Adriatico. Haga got the news
last week while competing at the Italian race.
"It was either the day of the final time trial, or the night before. I knew I was a reserve rider anyways, but I had kind of forgotten about it until Simon broke his collarbone and I realized that I might be going there. They asked me what I thought about it and decided whether they wanted to pick me or another reserve rider. But they ended up going with me. March
20,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
2014-15
Races
& Results.
Giro d'Italia 2015 - May 9-31 (Stages), Tour de France 2015 - July 4-26 (Stages), Vuelta a España 2015 - Aug 22-Sept 13 (Stages), UCI Road World Championship 2015 - Sept 20-27 (Stages), Nokere Koerse - Mar 18 (Results), Tirreno-Adriatico - Mar 11-17 (Results), Paris Nice - Mar 8-15 (Results), Le Tour de Langkawi - Mar 8-15 (Results), Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen - Mar 6-8 (Results), Strade Bianche - Mar 7 (Results), Strade Bianche Women - Mar 7 (Results), UCI Track World Championships - Feb 18-22 (Results), UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships - Jan 31-Feb 1 (Results). Photo:
Milan-San Remo Profile.
2015
Milan-San Remo LIVE Sunday,
March 22nd, Italy.
Race starts at 10:10am CET (5:10am U.S. Eastern) Finish at around 5:09pm CET (12:09pm U.S. Eastern) Live video from 2:15pm CET (9:15am U.S. Eastern, 6:15am Pacific). March
20,
2015 (cyclingfans.com)
Photo:
2015 Volta a Catalunya Stage 1 Profile.
March
23-29, Spain. Stage 1 starts Monday
at 12:20pm CET (7:20am U.S. Eastern).
Finish at around 4:57pm CET (11:57am U.S. Eastern). Live video from 3:30pm CET (10:30am U.S. Eastern, 7:30am Pacific). March
20,
2015 (steephill.tv)
Team
Sky rider Philip Deignan
has said that Chris
Froome is determined to get back to the top of the sport,
with the Irishman confirming that the 2013 Tour de France winner has
used the disappointments of 2014 to fuel his drive for this year’s
campaign.
The Briton crashed out of last year’s Tour, losing the chance to defend his title, and then went on to be beaten by arch-rival Alberto Contador in the Vuelta a España. Although he was second overall there, Froome was disappointed not to finish up in the red jersey of race leader and is intent on getting back to the GC summit in this July’s Tour. March
19,
2015 (cyclingtips.com.au)
The
sprinters traditionally dominate Milan-San Remo but Fabian Cancellara is
again determined to have his say, despite turning 34 on Wednesday.
Cancellara has been targeting the spring Classics since 2004 but it would be wrong to think he is past his best. Indeed he had his best winter in many years and is confident he will have yet another strong spring Classics campaign, starting on Sunday. March
19,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
| Tejay
van Garderen said he
didn't dress properly for the cold in stage 6 at Paris-Nice last
weekend. Photo: Tim De Waele | TDWsport.com.
Tejay van Garderen
and the BMC Racing team ended Paris-Nice disappointed last Sunday in
France. The American slipped from fourth to 16th overall because he
failed to “prepare right” when the weather turned worse on the Côte
d’Azur.
Van Garderen began Saturday’s stage 6 fourth overall behind world champion Michal Kwiatkowski, but the team said he failed to dress correctly when the forecast indicated bad weather on the horizon. During the stage, the team car was not able to reach him to give him warmer gear because the race had broken into pieces in the hills above Nice, where van Garderen has a European training base. “Had a day you hope never to have. So cold!!! #disappointed #OnToTheNextTarget,” van Garderen wrote on Twitter. “Some lessons can only be learned the hard way.” March
20,
2015 (velonews.com)
 Photo:
Francesco Moser inducted to the Giro d'Italia hall of fame
(ANSA – Dal Zennaro / Peri & Bettiniphoto).
Francesco Moser has
been inducted into the Giro d’Italia Hall of Fame in a special event in
Milan. Moser
is the fourth rider to be inducted for his victory and follows on from Eddy Merckx, Felice Gimondi and Stephen Roche.
Now 63, Moser’s career spanned several generations. He turned professional in the early seventies and raced against Merckx, finishing seventh in the 1975 Tour de France and winning the best young rider’s white jersey. He focused on the cobbled Classics and the Giro d’Italia for the rest of his career, winning Paris-Roubaix in 1978, 1979 and 1980. He also won the Tour of Lombardy in 1975 and 1978, Gent-Wevelgem in 1979 and Milan-San Remo in 1984. He was world road race champion in 1977 in San Cristobal but also missed on a second title several times. He often clashed for Italian team leadership with eternal rival Beppe Saronni, while Bernhard Hinault was often his nemesis at the Giro d’Italia. Moser won a total of 23 stages at the Giro d’Italia, one more than Fausto Coppi. March
20,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Photo:
Cofidis, Europcar and MTN Qhubeka had earlier been confirmed for this
year’s Tour de France. (Cor Vos)
The
five wildcard teams for this year’s Vuelta a España have been announced
Friday by race organizers Unipublic, with American hopefuls
UnitedHealthcare being again passed over for what would have been its
first Grand Tour.
Instead, the organizers have selected Spanish team Caja Rural–Seguros RGA, French duo Cofidis and Europcar, Team Colombia and the South African MTN-Qhubeka for the three week event. March
20,
2015 (cyclingtips.com.au)
 Photo:
Giant's new aero road helmet sports a very trim profile.
"Giant
isn’t launching its new high-performance helmet range for a few weeks
but two of the new models were on display at the Taipei Cycle Show.
We got up close and personal with the aero road and trail helmets, and both look very promising. Given Giant’s knack for offering excellent value across the board, we anticipate the pricing to be good, too." March
20,
2015 (bikeradar.com)
 Photo:
L’Eroica was born in Italy but is steadily expanding.
Italy’s
Strade Bianche professional race has, in relatively short order, become
one of the most anticipated races in the early spring calendar.
Through the beautiful Tuscan countryside and over waves of famed white gravel roads, the race is cycling’s true instant classic. Race founder Giancarlo Brocci is also the creator and driving force behind the beloved l’Eroica amateur events. This year, Eroica California marks the first incursion in the United States with events on April 11 and 12 in San Luis Obispo County. With Paso Robles marked as l’Eroica’s home base, participants may choose from 41, 65, and 123 mile routes. March
20,
2015 (pelotonmagazine.com)
 Photo:
Ritchey Breakaway Carbon frameset.
Ritchey
has expanded its range of Breakaway travel bikes with a new carbon
fibre road version. At just shy of 1,500g for a size small frame, it’s
not especially light – nor does it save any weight over the Ti/Carbon
version we reviewed a few years ago. However, we do anticipate that the
carbon version might be substantially stiffer, with potentially a
smoother ride quality.
Either way, that extra weight isn’t for nothing. Ritchey intentionally overbuilt the tubes to withstand the rigours of air travel, and some of that additional mass is devoted to the trick coupler system that lets you pack a complete bike into a case that masquerades as standard luggage. March
20,
2015 (bikeradar.com)
 Photo:
The 52-36t chainset offers a third option for road riders, striking a
middleground between the ‘standard’ double and a compact. Shimano now
offer their Ultegra chainset in 53-39t, 52-36t and 50-34t ratios, as
well as a 46-36t option for cyclo-cross.
Matching
the chainset and cassette is second only to frameset choice in
determining the ‘style’ of road bike that we ride.
But with the current trend leaning towards wider ratios, the classic stereotype of the racer on a ‘standard’ 53-39-tooth double chainring at the front with an 11-23t or 11-25t (or even tighter) cassette at the back, and the sportive rider packing a compact 50-34t chainset paired with a 11-28t cassette, might be fading. It used to be clear cut, but times are changing and use of the word ‘standard’ in reference to a chainset isn’t as clear as it used to be. March
20,
2015 (roadcyclinguk.com)
"We
will not give up," Samuel Dumoulinsaid said, surrounded by his
team-mates.
The scene was a sharp contrast to the peloton's strike at stage 17 of the 1998 Tour de France in the wake of the Festina affair -- suggesting a cultural shift is finally happening in scandal-ridden cycling. "The solution is not to keep silent," 34-year-old Dumoulin, who takes pride in "doing his job clean", he told Reuters. After a UCI-ordered Independent Commission's (CIRC) report into the sport's doping practices suggested cheating was less prevalent but still endemic, several riders offered a different viewpoint. March
19,
2015 (sbs.com.au)
| March
20,
2015
 Photo: Sylvain Georges (AG2R La Mondiale), winner of stage 6 of the 2012 Amgen Tour of California (AFP Photo).
After
serving an 18-month ban following a positive test for the stimulant
heptaminol, former Ag2r La Mondiale rider Sylvain Georges had
been hoping to put that episode behind him and get his racing career
back on track when he returned to competition last December.
The Frenchman signed with the Team Pro Immo Nicolas Roux amateur team and took two wins in early March. March
20,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Photo:
Dutch cyclist Thomas Dekker reacts at the end of the race during the
UCI world hour record attempt at the bicentennial velodrome in
Aguascalientes city on February 25, 2015.
(Getty Images Sport).
Thomas Dekker has
announced his retirement from cycling effective immediately. With no
contract renewal forthcoming by Garmin-Sharp at the end of 2014, Dekker set his
sights on the hour record to land himself a contract for this season.
The Dutchman fell short of Rohan Dennis' benchmark of 52.491km by just over a lap of the Aguascalientes velodrome. While there were suggestions Lampre-Merida were interested in adding a Dutch rider to its squad, Dekker's situation remained unchanged. March
20,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Photo:
I was at a criterium bicycle race and was racing with the men for a
hard workout. While I was racing I actually felt like I had greater
endurance with less effort.
"I
am writing this blog as I sit in the CVAC pod at the Sporting Club –
Aventine in La Jolla, Ca. For those of you that have never heard of
CVAC, let me share about what this Mork & Mindy (test of age to
see who understands this reference) looking pod is all about. Above is
a picture of me in the pod with the pod open.
Here is a great explanation of what CVAC is from their website (www.cvacsystems.com): “CVAC, which stands for Cyclic Variations in Adaptive Conditioning. The pod-shaped CVAC looks a little like a personal-sized spacecraft. But instead of flying, it only simulates the air pressure, density and temperature that the person inside would experience if he or she climbed to a high altitude." March
20,
2015 (tobefastest.com)
 Photo:
Vincenzo Nibali wins stage twenty at the 2013 Giro d'Italia.
"Whether
or not you agree with the likes of Fabian
Cancellara that more protocols should be put in place by
the UCI to prevent riders having to race in extreme weather conditions,
there’s no doubt that past battles in the mud, rain and snow have made
for some memorable spectacles.
Here we take a look at some of the outstanding bad weather racing moments that stood out in our minds." March
20,
2015 (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
 Photo:
I took a moment to lay down in the shade and found myself shedding a
few tears. After a huge physical effort, I can be a little emotional.
The
team meets before and after each race. This meeting was quick: it was a
different scenario than our last team race at the San Diego Omnium,
where we had the numbers and it was our race to lose. Our plan was to
be patient today. Be active, but patient for the right opportunity to
go with a break…or lead Trina
out for the field sprint.
….wait, what? Trina? Me? I knew I had been riding enough and had gotten enough intensity to hang in, but sprint at the end of the one of the more technical and fast crits in SoCal with that looooong straight finish? March
20,
2015 (cyclingillustrated.com)
 Photo:
Flip up the spring-loaded snap and the wheel is fully secure.
Industry
veterans Steve Metz
and Rafe Schlager
are at Taipei Cycle not only to promote a new aftermarket product, but
to sell what they see as a valuable technology for both OEs and
cyclists.
Partnered with Mike Wang of Taichung-based trading company Dragon Worldwide Logistics, they are here with the SpeedRelease hub, featuring a patented axle system designed for rapid one-handed wheel changes with the security of a through-axle. March
20,
2015 (bicycleretailer.com)
March
19,
2015
|
 Photo:
Deignan rode the Vuelta a España as support for Froome and helped him
to second overall there. (Cor Vos)
Team
Sky rider Philip Deignan
has said that Chris
Froome is determined to get back to the top of the sport,
with the Irishman confirming that the 2013 Tour de France winner has
used the disappointments of 2014 to fuel his drive for this year’s
campaign.
The Briton crashed out of last year’s Tour, losing the chance to defend his title, and then went on to be beaten by arch-rival Alberto Contador in the Vuelta a España. Although he was second overall there, Froome was disappointed not to finish up in the red jersey of race leader and is intent on getting back to the GC summit in this July’s Tour. Deignan backed Froome in the Vuelta and will potentially be part of the Sky team for this year’s Tour. He seems impressed by what he has seen thus far. March
19,
2015 (cyclingtips.com.au)
 Photo:
Fabian Cancellara sprays the champagne
(Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com).
The
sprinters traditionally dominate Milan-San Remo but Fabian Cancellara is
again determined to have his say, despite turning 34 on Wednesday.
Cancellara has been targeting the spring Classics since 2004 but it would be wrong to think he is past his best. Indeed he had his best winter in many years and is confident he will have yet another strong spring Classics campaign, starting on Sunday. March
19,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Photo:
Oscar Freire jumps in to win the 2004 Milan-San Remo
(Fotoreporter Sirotti).
Like
grunge music and beat poetry, Milan-San Remo is seemingly easy to ride
but exceedingly difficult to master. The opening Monument of the year
offers a challenge quite unlike any other in cycling: the obvious
obstacles are hardly insurmountable yet the pitfalls are constant.
The white knuckle drama of the final 20 kilometers lends to the perception that La Primavera is a straightforward shoot-out between attackers and sprinters, but such a description does scant justice to the subtlety of the race. Ahead of this weekend’s latest installment, Cyclingnews looks back at ten different ways in which the race has been won over the years. March
19,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Photo:
Matt Goss wins Milan-San Remo 2011. Credit: Watson.
Although
it is known as the ‘sprinters’ classic’, the fastmen don’t always have
it their own way – five editions in the past decade have produced a
winner from a late escape or attack on the flashpoint of the Poggio
climb, which this year peaks at just 5.5km from the finish.
Cycling Weekly takes a look back at past 14 editions of Milan-San Remo see how the final outcome was achieved. March
19,
2015 (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
 Photo:
Team Katusha's Alexander Kristoff on the podium.
(Getty Images Sport).
The
Katusha team announced the seven riders who will support Norwegian Alexander Kristoff
in his bid to be the first back-to-back champion of Milan-San Remo
since Eric Zabel.
Kristoff had but one stage win in the Tour of Oman under his belt when he powered to the sprint victory last year in Sanremo, but so far this year he's racked up five victories: three in Tour of Qatar, one in Oman and a commanding sprint win in the first road stage of Paris-Nice. March
19,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
2014-15
Races
& Results.
Giro d'Italia 2015 - May 9-31 (Stages), Tour de France 2015 - July 4-26 (Stages), Vuelta a España 2015 - Aug 22-Sept 13 (Stages), UCI Road World Championship 2015 - Sept 20-27 (Stages), Nokere Koerse - Mar 18 (Results), Tirreno-Adriatico - Mar 11-17 (Results), Paris Nice - Mar 8-15 (Results), Le Tour de Langkawi - Mar 8-15 (Results), Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen - Mar 6-8 (Results), Strade Bianche - Mar 7 (Results), Strade Bianche Women - Mar 7 (Results), UCI Track World Championships - Feb 18-22 (Results), UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships - Jan 31-Feb 1 (Results). Photo:
Milan-San Remo Profile.
2015
Milan-San Remo LIVE Sunday,
March 22, Italy.
Race starts at 10:10am CET (5:10am U.S. Eastern) Finish at around 5:09pm CET (12:09pm U.S. Eastern) Live video from *1:40pm CET (*8:40am U.S. Eastern). March
19,
2015 (cyclingfans.com)
 Photo:
Giacomo Nizzolo (Trek) wins the GP Nobili
(Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com).
Giacomo Nizzolo
claimed his first victory of the 2015 season at the GP Nobili. The
Italian beat last year’s winner Simone
Ponzi, by more than a bike’s length with Marco Haller taking
third.
Following a late attack from Alejandro Valverde and Davide Rebellin, the peloton came back together with eight kilometers to the finish. Without a victory for 2015, Cannondale-Garmin took to the front along with Katusha, but once Nizzolo launched his sprint no one could catch him.. March
19,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Photo:
2015 Volta a Catalunya Poster.
Live
Video Streaming and TV Coverage starting Monday, March 23rd.
This race is broadcast live. Check back for 2015 live coverage options. March
19,
2015 (steephill.tv)
 Photo:
Vincenzo Nibali said he is satisfied with how he performed at
Tirreno-Adriatico. Photo: Tim De Waele | TDWsport.com.
Italian Vincenzo Nibali
admitted he is still not in his best form following Tirreno-Adriatico,
but as soon as he sheds his “dead weight,” he will be able to win. That
could come as soon as Sunday when he leads team Astana in
Milano-Sanremo.
“I wasn’t super in Tirreno-Adriatico, but I’m happy nonetheless,” Nibali added. “I had a good block of work in the race, which I’m sure is going to be useful.” Nibali can be confident because last year he was in the same no-win situation through the end of June when he took home the Italian championship title. A week later, he won the Sheffield stage at the Tour de France and put on the leader’s yellow jersey. March
19,
2015 (velonews.com)
 Photo:
Strong, stable, versatile, quality.
BikeRadar
verdict: 4.5 out of 5
stars. "You get what you pay for, and these are fast, stable and
bombproof."
March
19,
2015 (bikeradar.com)
March
18,
2015 (Sporza.be)
|  Photo:
Samuel Dumoulin addresses doping with media at Paris-Nice (AAP Images).
It
declared that the whole Ag2r-La Mondiale team were "determined to
advance, true to their values".
"We will not give up," the Frenchman said, surrounded by his team-mates. The scene was a sharp contrast to the peloton's strike at stage 17 of the 1998 Tour de France in the wake of the Festina affair -- suggesting a cultural shift is finally happening in scandal-ridden cycling. "The solution is not to keep silent," 34-year-old Dumoulin, who takes pride in "doing his job clean", he told Reuters. After a UCI-ordered Independent Commission's (CIRC) report into the sport's doping practices suggested cheating was less prevalent but still endemic, several riders offered a different viewpoint. March
19,
2015 (sbs.com.au)
 Photo:
Team CEO Jonathan Vaughters at the team presentation
(Casey Gibson/Garmin).
Cannondale-Garmn
boss Jonathan Vaughters
has praised reports of a meeting between Lance Armstrong and
US Anti-doping Agency chief executive Travis Tygart,
according to a report in the Guardian
on Wednesday.
The New York Times reported earlier this week that Armstrong met with Tygart last week near the Denver Airport. Neither Armstrong nor Tygart would confirm the meeting. While addressing the Tackling Doping in Sport conference in London, Vaughters told the assembled crowd that he doesn't know what the motivations for the meeting were, but he believes it's good news. March
19,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 The
highlight of Chad Haga's Tirreno-Adriatico was his stage 3 breakaway,
which he started at kilometer zero and rode in for five hours. Photo:
Tim De Waele | TDWsport.com.
"Ask
a pro about their race schedule and they’ll usually preface the answer
with a phrase like, “at the moment I’m scheduled for …” or, “I’m
penciled in to race …” because things can change on a dime in this
sport.
It’s been a particularly rough spring with injuries and illnesses. Throughout the peloton it seems that guys are falling ill or just falling off their bikes. That’s why teams have deep rosters, though, as sometimes a race like Tirreno-Adriatico must go on without the likes of Marcel Kittel and Chris Froome. I personally have suffered from the flu and two bouts of stomach bugs this year, and was recently sent flipping over a hedge after a crazy wind gust drove me into the ditch on a training ride. The unpredictability of the sport is why, of the 21 race days I’ve already accumulated, only 13 of them were on my schedule at the start of the year. Tobias Ludvigsson’s broken wrist resulted in my start at Tirreno instead of Pais Vasco." March
19,
2015 (velonews.com)
 Photo:
The winning break in 2012 with Cancellara, Gerrans and Nibali.
Sunday’s
Milan-Sanremo will use the Cipressa and Poggio climbs. Once a novelty
and now a tradition they help spice up the finish, scalable for some
sprinters but hard enough to ensure suspense until the very end of the
longest one day on the pro calendar.
Over the years the race has added extra climbs to thwart the sprinters and the prospect of the Pompeiana climb looms for 2016. It means this year’s Milan-Sanremo is the last chance for the sprinters to win. March
19,
2015 (inrng.com)
 Photo:
Peter Sagan before the 2015 Tour of Oman (Watson).
Peter Sagan has
played down reports that he’s the favorite for Milan-San Remo on
Sunday, but will head to the Italian Classic with a strong Tinkoff-Saxo
team behind him.
The Slovak, who won the penultimate stage at Tirreno-Adriatico on Monday, is a perennial contender at La Primavera, finishing in the top ten on the last three occasions, but is yet to win one of cycling’s five Monuments. Such is Sagan’s power on the bike he is one of the few riders in the peloton who could contend in a bunch sprint, such as with his tenth place last year, or if a smaller group breaks away towards the end, like his second-place finish in 2013. March
19,
2015 (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
 Photo:
Alberto Contador suffered in the cold weather.
(Bettini).
Never
one to hold back when he believes that his team’s performances are not
up to scratch, Oleg
Tinkov has responded to Tinkoff-Saxo’s lack of early
season success by insisting on a significant change within the team’s
management structure.
According to L’Équipe, the Russian entrepreneur had a public row with team manager Bjarne Riis during Tirreno-Adriatico. Angered by a haul of just one win since the start of the year, by Alberto Contador’s loss to Nairo Quintana in the mountains at Tirreno and Rafal Majka’s poor showing as team leader at Paris-Nice, Tinkov demanded that the Dane take over the duties as lead directeur sportif and relegate Steven de Jongh to a seat in the second car. March
19,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Photo:
Sep Vanmarke, Moreno Hofland, Martjin Keizer and Robert Gesink.
(dcp-bertgeerts@xs4all.nl).
Robert Gesink's
interrupted start to 2015 continues with the Dutchman forced to miss
the upcoming Ronde Van Zeeland Seaports one-day race and Volta Ciclista
a Catalunya due to a knee injury sustained while training.
The LottoNL-Jumbo rider withdrew from Volta ao Algarve last month to to stay at home with his sick son, Bram. Gesink also missed Tirreno-Adriatico which was one of his goals for the season. "Gesink will not start the Ronde Van Zeeland Seaports this weekend," read a statement from the team. "The Dutch Team LottoNL-Jumbo rider will miss the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya as well. Gesink has obtained a minor knee injury while training in the build-up to his season, which starts later after a turbulent winter." March
19,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Photo:
Richie Porte attacks to win stage five of the 2015 Tour Down Under.
(Watson)
Richie Porte has
revealed that he smashed the record for the fastest time up the Col de
la Madone near Monaco.
The Tasmanian on Team Sky confirmed that he clocked a 29-40 time up the famous col just before the 2014 Tour de France, knocking approximately 30 seconds off his teammate Chris Froome’s time of 30-09. Froome recently admitted that his time had been beaten, but kept the identity of the new record holder a secret. March
19,
2015 (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
 Photo:
The head bones are comfortable to wear and can be worn under a helmet.
The button on the side is for accepting and cancelling calls.
With
many road users suggesting that wearing headphones while riding a bike
should be outlawed, the suggestion of listening to music while riding
is a controversial one. While at the recent Wearable Technology show in
London we came across some new headphones from Damson, which may make
riding whilst listening to music safer.
The concern is that when wearing in-ear headphones, you are severely diminishing your sense of hearing, subsequently endangering yourself and others through not being able to hear vehicles or other hazards. Damson headphones, or ‘Headbones’ to give them their proper name work in an ingenious way to solve this problem. March
19,
2015 (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
 Photo:
Jens Voigt’s Trek Speed Concept.
Since
the Hour Record bike regulations were simplified by the UCI in May
2014, there has been a rash of attempts on the title – and among those
leg-burning, all-out efforts, we’ve had some gorgeous bikes to drool
over.
So far we’ve covered the machines of Jens Voigt, Matthias Brandle, Jack Bobridge, Rohan Dennis, Sarah Storey and even Alex Dowsett, whose injury has put his attempt on the back burner. This year, we’re looking forward to seeing Bradley Wiggins take on the Hour, while Tony Martin has also expressed interest. There’s always the hope that we’ll finally see Fabian Cancellara have a go too. March
19,
2015 (bikeradar.com)
Seven
years after the Beijing Olympics were held, the International Olympic
Committee (IOC) has announced that it intends to retest samples from
the Games in order to try to catch users of banned substances.
IOC medical director Richard Budgett stated on Wednesday that some retests have already been done from Beijing, the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver plus the 2012 London Olympics. In total hundreds of samples will be re-examined, using the latest testing methods and techniques. March
18,
2015 (cyclingtips.com.au)
| March
19,
2015
 Photo:
I never realized just how much effort goes into preparing for an event
of this magnitude.
"Behind
every successful athlete is a team of people who help make that athlete
a success.
Sisterhood of Cycling, the team I race with, won the Best Overall Team for the Women’s Pro/1/2/3 category at the stage race. The beauty is that we did this through harnessing the variety of talents of many teammates to win as a team. It was not about the one individual athlete that won a stage, it is the whole team and all the unseen sacrifices by them that made it possible. Recognizing the hard work of everyone that made this possible is key to a harmonious and strong team. Thank you team Sisterhood of Cycling!" March
19,
2015 (tobefast.com)
 Photo:
It could be argued that gender suppression is related to the lack of
female role models within cycling.
UCI
president Brian Cookson
is aiming to address gender equalities in cycling, but knows it will
take time and a joined-up approach after the Cycling Independent Reform
Commission (CIRC) report highlighted alarming issues of financial and
alleged sexual exploitation of women.
“The Commission was told that women’s cycling had been poorly supported in past years, and was given examples where riders in the sport had been exploited financially and even allegedly sexually,” the CIRC report said. March
19,
2015 (irishexaminer.com)
 Photo:
Gent-Wevelgem Podium Misters 2015.
With
the issue of whether podium hostesses should still be used in cycling
in the news recently as a result of what some saw as a sexist publicity
poster for this year’s E3 Harelbeke, organizers of Gent Wevelgem have
unveiled their ‘Podium Misters’ for the women’s edition of the race.
Greeting the winner with a peck on each cheek a week on Sunday will be Mr Belgium Personality, Fabio Ronti, and Mister Universe Model Belgium, Philip Moers, says the Flanders Classics organization, which added the women’s edition in 2012. March
19,
2015 (road.cc)
 Rowney
is at the center of the controversy over the events and attempting to
recover in time for second part of the season. (Photo by Gruber Images)
At
the end of the Molecaten Drentse 8, Australian rider Loren Rowney of
Velocio-SRAM seemed to be sprinting her way into a win, until she
suddenly went crashing to the ground.
Further examination of the footage revealed that a spectator had interfered with her sprint. The incident is under investigation, and race organizers say that the spectator involved, who claims the interference was unintentional, is cooperating. Her crash resulted in a fractured collarbone that required surgery. However, she managed to crawl across the line for seventh. March
19,
2015 (bicycling.com)
 Photo:
The Giro Rosa jerseys
(Giro Rosa).
Snippets
of details about the route for the Giro Rosa 2015 have been released in
recent months but now the details of all ten days of racing have been
revealed.
After making completing a prologue and first stage in Slovenia the race returns to Italy, passing east to west across northern Italy over the following eight days to finish with the mountain-top finish of San Domenico di Varzo near the Swiss border. The same climb which has featured on the queen stage of the last two editions of the race. March
19,
2015 (velofocus.com)
 Photo:
Lauren Kitchen.
It’s
been non-stop racing since Omloop het Nieuwsblad at the end of
February. The slight lull in the calendar after the Drenthe races comes
as a welcome respite for the peloton as the likes of the Trofeo Binda
World Cup and Ronde van Vlaanderen loom on the horizon.
The only UCI women’s race this weekend is the Cholet pays de Loire Dames. A rolling circuit course to the south-east of Nantes in France. Hitec Products will no doubt be buoyed by their first win of the year at last Sunday’s Novilon Eurocup. Lauren Kitchen showed some great early season form and if she can escape stands a great chance leading to the line. March
19,
2015 (velofocus.com)
 Photo:
The Castle in Ponferrada was a popular spectator location during the
world championships
(Bettini).
The
2014 World Championships in Ponferrada have left the small Spanish city
facing a hefty debt after the event resoundingly failed to return a
profit, local media reported this week.
The most conservative estimates now put losses at 2.7 million euros with a worst-case scenario of up to nine million euros. Prior to the 2014 World’s the city, situated in a remote corner of north-west Spain, had had its fair share of financial headaches getting the World’s off the ground. The total estimated cost for the eight-day event was 11 million euros, nearly half of which - five million euros - was due to be paid to the UCI. March
19,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Photo:
An unexpected benefit of MIPS is I found it made the Octal fit better.
MIPS
is in POC but not owned by the helmet maker. Like POC, MIPS is a
Swedish company. MIPS is also used by Scott, Lazer and Fox. Recently,
BRG Sports, owners of Giro and Bell, made a minority investment in
MIPS. BRG says MIPS will continue to hold licensing rights and supply
other brands with their impact protection system.
The thin plastic liner, the heart of the Multi-directional Impact Protection System, is held in place by four small bands that are hooked onto anchor points on the vents. The idea is that on impact the main body of the helmet can move independent of the liner. POC and MIPS claim this is especially helpful on side blows as it can reduce some of the twisting action. POC calls that an oblique impact and that it’s the kind of trauma the brain is more sensitive to. March
19,
2015 (redkiteprayer.com)
 Photo:
Chris Horner pulled out of the 2011 Tour de France with a head injury
after riding 15 miles of stage seven with concussion. (Watson)
Broken
bones, pulled muscles and strained tendons. All injuries that you would
associate with professional cyclists, but head injuries are often
somewhat under the radar.
Collision sports such as rugby union and American football have made strides in recent years in identifying concussions and removing players from the field of play once head injuries have occurred. Such time consuming tests as carried out in these sports would not be practical to carry out in the hustle and bustle of a professional bike race, but now second tier American cycling team UnitedHealthcare are leading the way in streamlining brain injury tests. March
19,
2015 (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
March
18,
2015
|
 Wednesday's
Nokere Koerse race in Belgium was Kris Boeckman's (Lotto-Soudal) third
win this season. Photo: Tim De Waele | TDWsport.com. (velonews.com)
Kris Boeckmans has
after the GP Samyn now Nokere Curonian put on his list. The sprinter
for Lotto Soudal beat his competitors with an easy win.
March
18,
2015 (Sporza.be)
 Photo:
Bauke Mollema (Trek)
(Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com).
Bauke Mollema rode
an impressive final time trial at Tirreno-Adriatico, finishing 36
seconds behind the stage winner, and teammate, Fabian Cancellara.
While it wasn’t enough to strip Nairo Quintana of his leader’s jersey, the Dutchman closed the gap to just 18 seconds and cemented his second place overall. March
18,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
2014-15
Races
& Results.
Nokere Koerse - Mar 18 (Start List), Giro d'Italia 2015 - May 9-31 (Stages), Tour de France 2015 - July 4-26 (Stages), Vuelta a España 2015 - Aug 22-Sept 13 (Stages), UCI Road World Championship 2015 - Sept 20-27 (Stages), Tirreno-Adriatico - Mar 11-17 (Results), Paris Nice - Mar 8-15 (Results), Le Tour de Langkawi - Mar 8-15 (Results), Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen - Mar 6-8 (Results), Strade Bianche - Mar 7 (Results), Strade Bianche Women - Mar 7 (Results), UCI Track World Championships - Feb 18-22 (Results), UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships - Jan 31-Feb 1 (Results).  Peter
Sagan's win at
Tirreno-Adriatico was just what the young rider needed to revive his
confidence. On Sunday, he'll face a much greater challenge at
Milano-Sanremo. Photo: Tim De Waele | TDWsport.com.
Peter Sagan got the
monkey off his back in Tirreno-Adriatico, winning a wet and cold stage
6 on Monday. Now, his Tinkoff-Saxo team looks to the Slovak national
champion to deliver again, this time at Milano-Sanremo, the season’s
first monument race, Sunday in Italy.
“I’m heading to Milano-Sanremo to deliver a top result just like at any other race. When the team or I start a race, the ultimate goal is to win. But in cycling you never know, and you have to be realistic,” said Sagan in a team statement. “My competitors have the same goals, and sometimes you win and sometimes you don’t. But Milano-Sanremo is special, and I’ll naturally be at the start with big ambitions.” March
18,
2015 (velonews.com)
.. Photo:
So we are in for a sprint on Sunday? (Bryn Lennon/Getty Images)
Cycling
races sometimes struggle with their identities and with how to adapt
their courses to fit an ever changing reality.
Riders get stronger, cities change and calls for "modernization" are always there. Milano-Sanremo seem to be in eternal doubts about what they want to do with the finale of their race. This year's solution? Back to the future. Back to the Via Roma. March
18,
2015 (podiumcafe.com)
 With a
win in stage 3 of Paris-Nice under his belt, Michael Matthews
(Orica-GreenEdge) appears to be on form ahead of a run at
Milano-Sanremo. Photo: Tim De Waele | TDWsport.com.
The “favorites” list for Milano-Sanremo, the season’s first classic, is
as long as the Via Roma.
Nearly every team brings someone who aspires to win the longest and
fastest of classics, and those dreams have been encouraged by the
organizers’ decision to revert to the “classic” Sanremo course, which
eliminates the La Maniè climb and moves the finish line back to the Via
Roma and closer to the descent off the decisive Poggio climb.
Most of the major favorites have notched early season results that bolster their confidence. Fabian Cancellara, Peter Sagan, defending champ Alexander Kristoff, and Mark Cavendish will all appear on the “five-star” favorites list. March
18,
2015 (velonews.com)
Photo:
Milan-San Remo Profile.
2015
Milan-San Remo LIVE Sunday,
March 22, Italy.
Race starts at 10:10am CET (5:10am U.S. Eastern) Finish at around 5:09pm CET (12:09pm U.S. Eastern) Live video from *1:40pm CET (*8:40am U.S. Eastern). March
18,
2015 (cyclingfans.com)
Photo:
2015 Volta a Catalunya Poster.
Live
Video Streaming and TV Coverage starting Monday, March 23rd.
This race is broadcast live. Check back for 2015 live coverage options. March
18,
2015 (steephill.tv)
 Photo:
Big Austrian sausage.
If
a selection of British cheeses doesn’t suit you, then why not head to
the Tour of Austria and grab yourself a big sausage supplied by
Wiesbauer. 2014 winner Pete Kennaugh looks delighted.
March
18,
2015 (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
 Photo:
Lezyne's smallest and least-expensive GPS computer is the new Mini GPS
model, with a miniscule size and weight but a generous feature set and
high-end aesthetics
(Lezyne).
Three
new models are coming this year, ranging from a small-and-simple unit
with just the bare essentials, to a fully featured model with all the
bells and whistles.
Lezyne says its entry-level Mini GPS is the smallest GPS-enabled cycling computer in the world. Its 33.4 x 50.8 x 22.5mm dimensions make it barely larger than a Tic Tac box and, with a claimed weight of just 30g, it isn’t much heavier, either. The semi-customisable, monochrome LCD display is small but remarkably crisp with up to three data fields and a backlight for night-time visibility. If you’re not one to fiddle with buttons, there’s an auto-scrolling function that will automatically cycle through various screens for you. March
18,
2015 (bikeradar.com)
 Photo:
Nairo Quintana rides solo on the way to the Monte Terminillo.
Nairo Quintana rides
solo, the “fantastic four” reduced
to one. This was the moment the race was won.
The race opened with a prologue instead of the promised team time trial because of the ravages of a storm. March
17,
2015 (inrng.com)
|  Photo:
Even if it’s five or ten years later, it’s really an important thing to do.
Seven
years after the Beijing Olympics were held, the International Olympic
Committee (IOC) has announced that it intends to retest samples from
the Games in order to try to catch users of banned substances.
IOC medical director Richard Budgett stated on Wednesday that some retests have already been done from Beijing, the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver plus the 2012 London Olympics. In total hundreds of samples will be re-examined, using the latest testing methods and techniques. March
18,
2015 (cyclingtips.com.au)
 Former
world cyclocross champion Sven Nys spoke out against the prevalence of
TUEs in cycling on a Belgian TV program. Photo: Tim De Waele |
TDWsport.com (File).
Sporza reports that
Belgian cyclocross star Sven
Nys has taken a stand against the prevalence of
Therapeutic Use Exemptions (TUE) in cycling.
Speaking in a panel discussion about the recent Cycling Independent Reform Commission (CIRC) report on the Belgian Sporza program “Extra Time Koers,” the former world champion said that although better controls have improved the climate in cycling, the rules still effectively enabled doping in some circumstances. “There are still things in this report I have to furrow my brow at,” he said. “I read that cortisone still remains the biggest problem, while there has already been a test for that for years. Why do they let that continue? March
18,
2015 (velonews.com)
 Photo:
Michal Kwiatkowski is also the race's best young rider.
(Getty Images Sport).
Standing
on the final podium of 73rd edition of Paris-Nice, world champion Michal Kwiatkowski
had his rainbow stripes covered with the maillot blanc for best young
competitor. After leading the race for five stages only to be knocked
back to second place overall in the final two days, the Polish rider
remains unmoved by what some often call "the curse of the rainbow
jersey".
"I'm satisfied with the final result. Victory at the prologue, leader's jersey for a couple of stages, it's a really good start of the season," Kwiatkowski said to the Polish website rowery.org. "Skipping Strade Bianche and choosing Paris-Nice instead of Tirreno-Adriatico was a good move, however, I missed the white roads watching Zdenek's beautiful ride in Italy." March
18,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Nairo
Quintana rode to victory in the seven-day Tirreno-Adriatico stage race.
Photo: Tim De Waele | TDWsport.com.
It’s
not the fact that he won, but the way he did it. Nairo Quintana blew
the doors off the best of the peloton to win Tirreno-Adriatico to
remind everyone the Colombian climber will be a very real candidate for
victory in July’s Tour de France.
After a rough and tumble six months that included shoulder surgery and a crash at the Colombian national championships, Quintana returned to Europe last week somewhat as an enigma. Despite finishing third at the Tour de San Luís in his season debut in January, no one knew what to expect, but it didn’t take long for the defending Giro d’Italia champ to show his true colors. Attacking through a pelting blizzard, Quintana gapped rivals such as Alberto Contador and Vincenzo Nibali with such ferocity that all they could do was try to limit the damage. Quintana had just delivered his first knockout punch of the season. March
18,
2015 (velonews.com)
 Photo:
Vincenzo Nibali rides in the group during stage 5.
(Bettini).
Vincenzo Nibali has
declared himself satisfied with his showing at Tirreno-Adriatico
despite struggling on the summit finish at Monte Terminillo and
finishing the race in 16th place overall, exactly two minutes down on
winner Nairo Quintana.
“I wasn’t super in this Tirreno-Adriatico but I’m happy all the same because I got in an excellent block of work during the race that I’m sure will turn out to be useful to me,” Nibali told Gazzetta dello Sport, adding that he had expected not to be competitive given his current weight. March
18,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Photo:
Marcel Kittel won stage one of the 2014 Tour de France in Yorkshire and
will return to the county in May.
Bradley Wiggins and Marcel Kittel will
headline the inaugural Tour de Yorkshire after the teams set for this
year’s race were unveiled by ASO and Welcome to Yorkshire.
Wiggins will ride for his new Continental team, WIGGINS, after being granted special dispensation from the UCI to complete his switch from Team Sky in time for the race, which takes place on Friday May 1 to Sunday May 3. Kittel, who won stage one of the Tour de France in Yorkshire last year, will return to the county with his Giant-Alpecin squad, one of five WorldTour teams set for the race. March
18,
2015 (roadcyclinguk.com)
 Photo:
Steve Cummings wins the 2015 Trofeo Andratx (Watson).
Steve Cummings
quickly played down any idea of a rebirth of his career, but one thinks
it could be after the Englishman signed for MTN-Qhubeka, won in the
Challenge Mallorca and yesterday placed sixth overall in
Tirreno-Adriatico behind Nairo Quintana.
He bounced around several top teams, from Discovery Channel to Barloworld, from Sky to BMC. With BMC, he won a stage in the Vuelta a España and in the early season last year, claimed victory in the Tour Méditerranéen. March
18,
2015 (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
 Photo:
Sarah Knights is a member of the Bikebug-Nextgen cycling team.
Bikebug-Nextgen
is a Melbourne based women’s NRS cycling team fielded by an eclectic
bunch of courageous women. I say courageous as to ride at the level
they do while persuing careers in their chosen fields takes a lot of
courage and determination.
This is not unique to the Bikebug-Nextgen team, as many of the women in the NRS field are in the same situation. But what makes this team unique when compared to the majority of NRS racing teams is that the entire team, bar one member, all live in the same city, giving the team opportunities to train with one another on a regular basis. March
18,
2015 (cyclingtips.com.au)
 Photo:
The first thing that Cannondale told us about the new Slice was that
this was a bike built for balance.
"The
challenge with reviewing a product that seeks to buck a trend is that
all of our standard comparisons fall flat.
Of course it’s not that we can’t make a comparison. The issue is that the comparison itself may be unfair. For example, how can we compare a product against previous benchmarks if the product was actually designed to go against them? This was the challenge when we took our first look at the 2015 Cannondale Slice." March
18,
2015 (aerogeeks.com)
 Giant
Defy Advanced 2
(Photo by Kent Pell).
"As
astonishing as the orginal Defy was, the 2015 redesign manages to go
further. According to Giant, the engineers there started with a clean
slate but retained the same goals as with the original Defy: light,
stiff, and smooth.
New tube shapes and revised carbon layups boosted pedaling stiffness and ride compliance at the same time. The seatpost is a noticeable change from the previous teardrop aero shape, and results in better fore/aft flex. Ultrathin seatstays—the thinnest Giant says it could make while still keeping them hollow—also help soften blows and keep vibration at bay." March
18,
2015 (bicycling.com)
March
17,
2015 (sbs.com.au)
| March
18,
2015
 Photo:
Millar in pink on stage four of the 2011 Giro. He was the first British
rider to wear the leader’s jersey in all three Grand Tours. (Watson)
David Millar has
called on the UCI to follow up the Cycling Independent Reform
Commission’s (CIRC) report with a full audit of today’s peloton to
understand where current cyclists stand on doping.
Millar is one of the most outspoken cycling personalities on the subject of doping, having been banned for using EPO in his youth and returning to campaign for a cleaner sport. CIRC was set up to examine issues of doping and corruption in the sport, and published its report last week. The former Garmin-Sharp rider, who retired at the end of last season, didn’t speak to CIRC, saying that the two parties could not find a convenient time to meet, but says he has spoken to the UCI about what should happen now. March
18,
2015 (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
 Travis
Tygart made a name for himself by exposing the doping practices of
Lance Armstrong and the U.S. Postal Service team. Photos: John Thys,
Gabriel Bouys | AFP.
The New York Times
reports that Lance
Armstrong met with U.S. Anti-Doping Agency chief Travis Tygart for
the first time in more than two years near Denver International Airport
last week. Their conversation was the first step in a potential
rapprochement that could lead to the reduction of Armstrong’s lifetime
ban for doping.
This comes after the Cycling Independent Reform Commission (CIRC) report did nothing to further Armstrong’s efforts to return to competition, namely triathlon. Tygart, in an interview with The New York Times, would not confirm the meeting had taken place, and Armstrong’s lawyer, Elliot Peters, did not respond to a telephone message The New York Times left at his San Francisco office. But Armstrong, 43, has confided to close friends that the meeting went well and that he was hopeful of further talks. March
18,
2015 (velonews.com)
 Photo:
Last year he underwent heart surgery to correct an arrhythmia. (Cor
Vos)
LottoNL-Jumbo
general classification rider Robert
Gesink has had a frustrating few months, and now faces
further delays in relation to the 2015 season.
The Dutchman had been due to ride this weekend’s Tour of Zeeland Seaports and then go on to the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya, starting next Monday, as well. However his team has announced that he has picked up a minor knee injury and has decided to cancel both those races. He will instead continue training in Girona and is hoping to be in the right shape to be able to ride the Vuelta al País Vasco. March
18,
2015 (cyclingtips.com.au)
 Photo:
Fausto Coppi. Legend has it that once he escaped in a race he was
never, ever seen again until the finish line.
As
races go Milan-Sanremo has created many legends and myths. Eugène Christophe’s
win in 1910 came after 185 riders abandoned before the race had even
started, so grim were the conditions.
There’s the emergence of Eddy Merckx who won the race for the first time aged 20. Sean Kelly’s descent off the Poggio rates as a classic. There are far too many moments to list. So let’s take 1946 and the story of Fausto Coppi and his coffee break. The 1946 edition of Milan-Sanremo is much like the others, a ride from Milan to Sanremo. Back then the organizers didn’t need to deviate the route to include extra climbs like the Poggio and Cipressa because the 290km route was hard enough. March
18,
2015 (inrng.com)
 Martin
is focusing on the spring races after a 25th-place finish in
Tirreno-Adriatico. Photo: Tim De Waele | TDWsport.com.
Dan Martin is
getting into his groove ahead of the Volta a Catalunya and the Ardennes
Classics. Over the last week in Italy, he rode to 25th overall in the
Tirreno-Adriatico stage race.
Martin told VeloNews he wanted to use the race as a way of getting used to the stress and the bump-and-grind of the WorldTour peloton ahead of the Volta a Catalunya later this March and the Ardennes Classics at the end of April, starting with the Amstel Gold Race on April 19. “I’d love to have something from the race, I’m a racer after all, but obviously I have less racing than the other boys who’ve done Ruta del Sol or the Tour of Oman, and that’s a big advantage,” Martin said. March
18,
2015 (velonews.com)
 Use
big gear efforts to break up a long ride, and increase your power
output. Photo: Daniel Gould.
Power
on the bike is determined by two things: how big a gear you can turn
and how quickly you can turn it. This session is weightlifting for your
legs. It helps your leg muscles create a big force to turn over a hard
gear and get it up to speed.
If you are always spinning a gentle gear then you are missing out on the type of workouts that will help to build muscle and increase your power. It’s easy to understand if you think about weight training. March
18,
2015 (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
 Photo:
There are a number of possible technologies SRAM could incorporate into
a 1x road group
(Courtesy).
SRAM’s
three 1x11 mountain bike groups and the CX1 cyclocross group have
earned praise for their simplicity and durability – but how will a 1x11
drivetrain designed for the road be received? With prototypes already
spotted, a SRAM 1x road group seems to be near production.
When SRAM introduced the CX1 group in early 2014 the company said it would pursue further applications for its 1x drivetrains. SRAM road product manager JP McCarthy said the company was keen to see how many types of bikes can be built with 1x drivetrains. March
18,
2015 (bikeradar.com)
 Photo:
The Boone disc frameset.
Trek
has updated its top-of-the-line Boone and Crockett cyclocross race
bikes, adding new colors and graphics, new drivetrain and hydraulic
brake options and a 15mm front thru-axle on disc brake models.
The Crockett 5 Disc and Boone 5 Disc ech come spec'd with a carbon thru-axle fork with an aluminum steerer, while the Crockett 9 Disc, Boone 9 Disc, Crockett Disc frameset, and Boone Disc frameset feature a full carbon thru-axle fork with carbon steerer tubes. The full-carbon disc fork saves 120 grams over the thru-axle fork with aluminum steerer. The thru-axle carbon forks will also be available in a neutral black color for owners of previous Boones and Crocketts wishing to upgrade. March
18,
2015 (bicycleretailer.com)
March
17,
2015
|
Photo:
Nairo Quintana rides solo on the way to the Monte Terminillo.
Nairo Quintana rides
solo, the “fantastic four” reduced
to one. This was the moment the race was won.
The race opened with a prologue instead of the promised team time trial because of the ravages of a storm. Adriano Malori won. Malori means illnesses in Italian but hopefully he’s got a healthy future. The Movistar exile is a time trial expert and, with Tom Dumoulin, one of the few riders to threaten Tony Martin’s hegemony. Five riders finished within three seconds. Come the final stage, more a test of raw power than handling skills, and Fabian Cancellara was on top. Cancellara’s become a creature of habit and winning the Tirreno-Adriatico time trial usually presages classics podiums. March
17,
2015 (inrng.com)
 Photo:
Nairo Quintana (Movistar) enjoying his champagne spray
(Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com.
Fabian Cancellara
won the final time trial of Tirreno-Adriatico in San Benedetto del
Tronto while Nairo
Quintana sealed overall victory.
Quintana struggled in the closing kilometers and finished 55 seconds down on Cancellara, but he had the comfort of coming into the final, short time trial with a considerable buffer in the overall standings. Bauke Mollema did enough to secure second place overall, 18 seconds down on Quintana, while Rigoberto Uran took third, 31 seconds back. March
17,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Fabian
Cancellara (Trek Factory Racing) won his first individual time trial of
2015 on the final stage of Tirreno-Adriatico. Photo: Tim De Waele |
TDWsport.com.
Fabian Cancellara won the short time trial that closed out
Tirreno-Adriatico on Tuesday, as Nairo
Quintana confirmed his overall victory in the seven-day
race.
“I feel a lot of racing kilometers,” said Cancellara, who had
been disappointed to lose stage 1 to Adriano Malori last
week. “On the end, of course, I had to push like everyone has to do. …
I just gave all in, and I’m really happy and satisfied.
I’m looking out for the large and bigger picture, the next two weekends, for the big races.” Malori was second, and Vasil Kiryienka finished third in San Benedetto del Tronto, Italy. March
17,
2015 (velonews.com)
 Photo:
Quintana the one to beat. Harry Engels/Getty Images
Tirreno
Adriatico was supposed to be a magnificent Battle of Four Tour de
France contenders in an early preview of what we should expect in July.
In the end Froome got the sniffles and His Nibalishiousness wasn't super-interested. So what we got was young Nairo shooting a massive warning shot across old man Alberto's bow. The Colombian Kid might just be the one to beat this summer. March
17,
2015 (podiumcafe.com)
2014-15
Races
& Results.
Nokere Koerse - Mar 18 (Start List), Giro d'Italia 2015 - May 9-31 (Stages), Tour de France 2015 - July 4-26 (Stages), Vuelta a España 2015 - Aug 22-Sept 13 (Stages), UCI Road World Championship 2015 - Sept 20-27 (Stages), Tirreno-Adriatico - Mar 11-17 (Results), Paris Nice - Mar 8-15 (Results), Le Tour de Langkawi - Mar 8-15 (Results), Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen - Mar 6-8 (Results), Strade Bianche - Mar 7 (Results), Strade Bianche Women - Mar 7 (Results), UCI Track World Championships - Feb 18-22 (Results), UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships - Jan 31-Feb 1 (Results). Photo:
Milan-San Remo Profile.
2015
Milan-San Remo LIVE Sunday,
March 22, Italy.
Race starts at 10:10am CET (5:10am U.S. Eastern) Finish at around 5:09pm CET (12:09pm U.S. Eastern) Live video from *1:40pm CET (*8:40am U.S. Eastern). March
17,
2015 (cyclingfans.com)
Photo:
2015 Volta a Catalunya Poster.
Live
Video Streaming and TV Coverage starting Monday, March 23rd.
This race is broadcast live. Check back for 2015 live coverage options. March
17,
2015 (steephill.tv)
Peter Sagan won
his first race of the season on stage 6 of Tirreno-Adriatico from Rieti
to Porto Sant'Elpidio. Gerald
Ciolek finished in second with Belgian road champion Jens Debusschere in
third.
March
16,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
|  Photo:
When Servais Knaven was interviewed by Team Sky there was no admission
of past mistakes so he’s entitled to stay on.
Two
weekends in a row British newspaper The Mail on
Sunday has delivered up court documents from an old trial in
France to embarrass Team Sky with allegations about directeur sportif Servais Knaven’s
past.
1998 might rhyme with Festina and Pantani but Dutch team TVM had a torrid time too following police investigations that began in March. A truck was stopped by customs police near the city of Reims and vials of EPO were found. The case was reheated when the TVM team was raided in the 1998 Tour de France and various substances were found, some banned and others legal but questionable. The court suggested several riders were using EPO including Servais Knaven but at the time no approved test existed. March
17,
2015 (inrng.com)
 Photo:
World champion Michal Kwiatkowski will hope tpo take his Paris-Nice
form to Milan-San Remo (Getty).
Fresh
from finishing second overall to Australian Richie Porte at
Paris-Nice, Etixx-QuickStep's Michal
Kwiatkowski travelled straight to Italy to check out 70km
of the nearly 300km Milan-San Remo course.
Also known as "La Primavera", the Sunday 22nd of March Milano-San Remo is the fourth UCI WorldTour race of the season, and the first of the major Spring monuments along with the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix. With team-mate Michal Golas as his wingman, Kwiatkowski rode several of the key later climbs of the race, including the Capo Mele, Capo Cervo, Capo Berta, and the Cipressa. He also traversed the Poggio twice and checked out the Via Roma finish, which has returned for 2015. March
17,
2015 (sbs.com.au)
 Photography
by Wil Matthews:
Meredith Miller has had a long and successful career.
In
September 2014, Meredith
Miller launched her new cyclocross team, Noosa CX, by
sprinting to victory at CrossVegas, one of the highest profile races in
the discipline. If the 41-year-old hadn’t been willing to make her own
opportunities, her professional racing life could well have been over
before she had the chance to deliver her biggest off-road win.
When the 2009 United States road champion retired from road racing one-and-a-half years ago she always hoped that it wasn’t actually the end of her 15-year cycling career. She had been jumping from the road straight into the dust and mud of the cyclocross field for six seasons, and this was where she hoped to stay. March
17,
2015 (cyclingtips.com.au)
 Photo:
Astana chases on stage eight of the 2014 Tour de France .
Race
director Mauro Vegni
does not want Astana to spoil his Giro d’Italia race this May as Alberto Contador did
when he raced and won in 2011.
Contador tested positive for banned substance clenbuterol in the 2010 Tour de France, but was able to race while the case continued, only to see his Giro title stripped after his appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) failed. Vegni met with Brian Cookson last week to express his concern over Astana’s license situation. After five doping cases – two from the professional team – the UCI requested to its License Commission in February that Astana be withdrawn from the WorldTour. March
17,
2015 (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
 Photo:
Dan Martin (Cannondale Garmin)
(Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com).
The
Cannondale-Garmin team remains winless after Tirreno-Adriatico and
Paris-Nice, but Irishman Daniel
Martin thinks the work done in the races will help them as
they head into the Volta a Catalunya on the team's home turf next week.
The 2013 winner of the race is aiming for an overall podium finish for
himself or teammate Andre
Cardoso, but knows it will be a fight every day.
"We have a really strong team going to Catalunya, we're going for a team result and one of us on the podium at least with me or Andre. It's a stellar field there, maybe even stronger than here - it's everyone here and from Paris-Nice together. It's going to be a great race." March
17,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Photo:
The 2015 Tour of Britain rolls out of Anglesey on Sunday September 6.
The
Tour of Britain will start in Wales for the first time after organizers
confirmed the route for the 2015 race, which rolls out of Anglesey on
Sunday September 6.
The eight-stage race will also visit Edinburgh for the first time in its modern incarnation, and return to Lancashire, Northumberland and East Anglia. The route also features a summit finish on Hartside Fell in Cumbria – dubbed the hardest ever by Tour of Britain organizers and, with no time trial, the pivotal stage in the race – and a revamped London stage, which will pass through Regent Street and Piccadilly Circus. March
17,
2015 (roadcyclinguk.com)
 Photography
by Matt Wikstrom:
Curve is a small wheel brand that is based in Melbourne, Australia.
"Curve’s road
range offers three carbon clincher rim profiles—24mm, 38mm and
50mm—that are tubeless compatible with a retail price of $2,179-$2,229
for a stock build. For this review, I spent a few weeks riding a set of
Curve’s stock 38mm carbon clinchers.
The wheelset sent for review weighed 1,482g (677g front, 805g rear) with rim tape but without skewers. Recommended retail is $2,199 and buyers have a choice of Shimano/SRAM or Campagnolo freehub bodies. Titanium skewers and carbon-specific brakepads are included." March
17,
2015 (cyclingtips.com.au)
After
Tirreno-Adriatico stage 6 victory, is Sagan under pressure to win more?
March
16,
2015 (velonews.com)
| March
17,
2015
 Photo:
There was a tacit exchange of favors between UCI leadership and Lance
Armstrong.
"I
understand that the UCI is currently asking all of the professional
trade teams to make a donation in support of further out-of-competition
drug testing. In an effort to speed up this process along and to show
my commitment to this effort, I enclose my personal donation to the
cause in the amount of $25,000.
"Please use these funds in any way you deem appropriate to continue the fight for drug-free sport and to eradicate those who cheat from within our ranks. While we both agree that the underlying science is very encouraging, I am not confident that the (EPO) test has gone through the rigorous clinical analysis that is necessary to ensure it is 100% accurate. "I stand with you in support of more and more out-of-competition testing. And, I stand ready to help in any way I can. I am confident that you will put my donation to furthering our parallel goals." March
17,
2015 (independent.ie)
 Photo:
Lance Armstrong and Bernard Hinault on the podium in Paris at the 2004
Tour de France
(AFP).
UCI
president Brian Cookson
has voiced his opposition to Lance
Armstrong’s participation in a charity ride on the route
of this year’s Tour de France, stating that it would be “completely
inappropriate and disrespectful.”
Armstrong has been invited by former England and Crystal Palace footballer Geoff Thomas to join him on part of his fund-raising ride for the Cure Leukaemia charity in France this July. Thomas, who cited Armstrong as an inspiration during his recovery from leukaemia a decade ago, is set to ride the entire route of the 2015 Tour one day ahead of the race. The Daily Mail has reported that Armstrong will join him for two stages. March
17,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Photo:
Jules Lowie, Godfather of Nokere Koerse - Source Unknown.
Ah,
Wednesday racing. And not just some quiet little country romp. Real
racing. Cobbles Racing.
The subject is Nokere Koerse, one of the older and more unjustly overlooked races on the calendar. Begun in 1944, the race was staged as a tribute to Jules Lowie, a Nokerian who had won distinction by taking the Paris-Nice title six years earlier. He never won his hometown race... but he did ride it at least twice, and is credited with 8th in the first running and fifth in 1946, his last year as a pro. March
17, 2015 (podiumcafe.com)
 Photo:
Mo Bruno Roy, finding love with SSCX. © Andrew Reimann.
The
Nationals in Austin Texas marked Mo
Bruno Roy’s 301st career cyclocross race. When we caught
up to her husband, Matt,
he disclosed an interesting fact about all of these races: She DNF’d in
only two. Bruno Roy
has made a career out of not quitting what she sets out to begin.
Just as astonishing, she took a career 41 wins and stood on over 100 podiums: over a third of all the races she entered. For the racer who doesn’t know the meaning of the word quit, her announcement today detailing her retirement must have been a hard decision to arrive at. March
17,
2015 (cxmagazine.com)
 Photo:
The P1 pedal is a simple design that reportedly provides accuracy on
par with the company’s hub-based powermeter designs.
PowerTap,
highly regarded as one of the pioneers of powermeter technology, has
released two new powermeters into the company’s portfolio at the Taipei
Cycle Show today: the P1 pedal and the C1 chainring.
With the introduction of these new products, PowerTap strengthens its market position with a complete portfolio of powermeter products for multiple locations on the bike: hub, chainring, and pedals. March
17,
2015 (cyclingtips.com.au)
March
16,
2015
"As
much as a race victory means to the riders and staff who contribute to
it, there is generally a small problem with its economic value: it
doesn’t really have one. In 2008, as a wide-eyed neo-pro on
Columbia-High Road, I was initially shocked by the galling salary
discrepancy between the male and female riders, even within the same
organization. Here is the real bummer about it – the chasm was actually
absolutely fair."
March
16,
2015 (cyclingtips.com.au)
|
 Photo:
Peter Sagan (Tinkoff-Saxo) wins stage 6 of Tirreno-Adriatico(Tim de
Waele/TDWSport.com).
Peter Sagan won
his first race of the season on stage 6 of Tirreno-Adriatico from Rieti
to Porto Sant'Elpidio. Gerald
Ciolek finished in second with Belgian road champion Jens Debusschere in
third.
Nairo Quintana retained his lead in the overall and heads into the final stage with a 39 second advantage over Bauke Mollema. March
16,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Photo:
I had a flat tire in a bad moment when Tinkoff-Saxo was going full gas
on the climb. Thankfully, Fabian was there and he did a great TT to
come back for maybe 20k.
It
was a soggy, long day in the saddle for the 210-kilometer penultimate
stage in Tirreno-Adriatico. The cold, rain pelted all day making riders
indistinguishable clad in black leggings, dark rain jackets, long
fingered gloves and rain caps pulled low.
It was a wretched day to be on the bike for five hours. The race culminated on two local finishing circuits in Porto Sant’Elpidio and with Italian roads notorious to turn into ice-like conditions in the wet, Trek Factory Racing’s strategy was simple but vital: get second placed Bauke Mollema over the finish line safe and sound. And, it almost didn’t happen. March
16,
2015 (cyclingquotes.com)
 Photo:
Ian Stannard and Mark Cavendish set out from Rieti on stage 6 of
Tirreno-Adriatico.
(Bettini Photo).
With
Mark Cavendish
looking unlikely to win another stage in Tirreno-Adriatico, directeur
sportif Brian Holm
took the decision to simply throw in the towel and pull Cavendish and his
entire lead-out train from the race.
Cavendish was part of a large group of riders dropped by the furious pace of the Tinkoff-Saxo team, who eventually won the stage with Peter Sagan, on the climb of the Montelparo, 72km from the finish. Etixx-Quickstep waited for him, but the team decided to cut its losses ahead of Milan-San Remo this weekend. March
16,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Kiel
Reijnen won the king of the mountains classification at the Tour de
Langkawi. Photo: Tim De Waele | TDWsport.com.
From
the opening stage of the 20th Tour de Langkawi on March 8, American Kiel Reijnen claimed
the KOM jersey and never let go.
“We came to race aggressively,” Reijnen said Sunday at the conclusion of the race. “I was hoping for a stage win but the KOM jersey is a nice consolation, and being able to wear it from day one onwards was nice. It was a big team effort and the guys took really good care of me. “I was hoping we could upset the sprinters on a few stages but that wasn’t to be, but I am really happy with the way I raced and the form I have going back to Europe now.” March
16,
2015 (velonews.com)
 Alberto
Contador pushes the pace.
(Bettini Photo).
Adam Yates took
another step forward in is development Sunday with an impressive ride
in the falling snow to end Tirreno-Adriatico's Queen Stage. The
22-year-old British rider climbed into contention for a podium,
finishing seventh during Sunday's stage 5 and moving into sixth overall.
"Right now my legs are sore," Yates told Cyclingnews outside the Orica team bus as it waited to take the riders off the snow-covered slopes of Terminillo. "It was a pretty good performance. I'm happy with my performance going into these last couple of stages." March
16,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
2014-15
Races
& Results.
Tirreno-Adriatico - Mar 11-17 (Stages & Results), Giro d'Italia 2015 - May 9-31 (Stages), Tour de France 2015 - July 4-26 (Stages), Vuelta a España 2015 - Aug 22-Sept 13 (Stages), UCI Road World Championship 2015 - Sept 20-27 (Stages), Paris Nice - Mar 8-15 (Results), Le Tour de Langkawi - Mar 8-15 (Results), Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen - Mar 6-8 (Results), Strade Bianche - Mar 7 (Results), Strade Bianche Women - Mar 7 (Results), UCI Track World Championships - Feb 18-22 (Results), UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships - Jan 31-Feb 1 (Results).  Photo:
Stage 7 Profile.
Tuesday's
Tirreno-Adriatico Stage 7, a 10km Individual Time Trial at San
Benedetto del Tronto, gets underway at 1:30pm CET (8:30am U.S. Eastern)
with the departure of the first rider. Start Order and Times to come.
Tirreno-Adriatico live streaming video should get underway at around 2:30pm CET (9:30am U.S. Eastern). March
16,
2015 (cyclingfans.com)
Photo:
Milan-San Remo Profile.
2015
Milan-San Remo LIVE Sunday,
March 22, Italy.
Race starts at 10:10am CET (5:10am U.S. Eastern) Finish at around 5:09pm CET (12:09pm U.S. Eastern) Live video from *1:40pm CET (*8:40am U.S. Eastern). March
16,
2015 (cyclingfans.com)
 Lance
Armstrong reportedly has
agreed to join portions of a charity ride that will trace the route of
the 2015 Tour de France. Photo: Tim De Waele | TDWsport.com (file).
Call
it Comeback 3.0. Could Lance
Armstrong be returning to the Tour de France? Well, sort
of.
According to a story in The Daily Mail, the banned-for-life Armstrong has agreed to join portions of a charity ride that will trace the route of the 2015 Tour one day ahead of the pro peloton. The Mail reported that Armstrong will join former footballer and cancer survivor Geoff Thomas for few days of a fundraising ride for a cancer charity. Thomas said Armstrong’s own tale of surviving cancer inspired him more than a decade ago, and now he wants to link up with the Texan in a charity ride ahead of the Tour route. March
15,
2015 (velonews.com)
|  Rigoberto
Uran (Etixx-Quick-Step) lost some time on Tirreno-Adriatico's snowy
stage 5 that finished on the Terminillo climb. Photo: Tim De Waele |
TDWsport.com.
Rigoberto Urán is
realistic about his chances of taking back enough time in Tuesday’s
time trial to win the overall at Tirreno-Adriatico, but ask him about
what lies in store in the Giro d’Italia, and the Colombian gets excited.
Urán will start Tuesday’s 10km time trial at San Benedetto del Tronto in third place overall, 48 seconds behind compatriot Nairo Quintana, and though Urán is arguably the better time trialist of the two, he recognizes he will likely run out of asphalt before having a chance at the overall. “I would be happy to finish on the podium in a race of this caliber. The time trial is only 10km, it’s not one of 50km,” Urán told VeloNews. “I went the maximum [up Terminillo], and considering how bad the conditions were, we have to be satisfied. The podium is realistic.” March
16,
2015 (velonews.com)
 Peter
Sagan (left) charged to the top of the podium in stage 6 at
Tirreno-Adriatico Monday. Photo: Tim De Waele | TDWsport.com.
Peter Sagan essentially touched the relief valve of the
team Tinkoff-Saxo pressure chamber Monday when he won for the first
time in nine months.
Inside, however, the desire and need for a win — especially a big classic — is still high. “Pressure? I feel well,” Sagan said after winning the sixth stage of Tirreno-Adriatico. “A contract is a contract. I’ve done a lot in four years, it’s not like I’ve come from nowhere to get this contract. You have to merit it.” March
16,
2015 (velonews.com)
 Photo:
Richie Porte wins stage four of the 2015 Paris-Nice.
(cyclingweekly.co.uk)
He
may have woven last year’s sorrow into silk with his two stage wins and
the overall but Richie
Porte has had the ability to win week-long races for a
number of seasons, so his Paris-Nice ride can be summed up as recovery
rather than a revolution or reformation.
Of greater significance is the debate over whether he has the necessary capabilities to lead a team in a Grand Tour. That in itself is a topic that has hung over the 30-year-old’s head for nearly five years. The next two months should provide the final answer, but Porte is at least somewhere near his best, having arrested the decline from a hugely disappointing 2014 with an impressive start to this campaign. March
16,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Photo:
Richie Porte attacks on stage four of the 2015 Paris-Nice .
Paris-Nice
champion Richie Porte
tops the latest UCI WorldTour ranking, with Team Sky rising to lead the
team ranking.
Australian Porte won Paris-Nice on Sunday after clinching the finale time trial stage, and now sits in the lead of the season-long ranking which currently includes points from the Tour Down Under – in which Porte placed second – and Paris-Nice. Porte sits ahead of Tour Down Under winner and fellow Australian Rohan Dennis with 198 points to 114. Michal Kwiatkowski is in third with 89 points. March
16,
2015 (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
 Photo:
Thibaut Pinot (FDJ.fr) was impressive in the snow
(Fotoreporter Sirotti).
Wearing
the best young rider’s jersey at Tirreno-Adriatico, Thibaut Pinot
blended into the snowy conditions but not well enough for the likes of Alberto Contador to
let him stretch his legs on the climb to Terminillo after the stage
winning attack by Nairo
Quintana.
While Quintana was putting time into all his overall classification contenders, Pinot lamented a lack of cooperation from Contador and Domenico Pozzovivo and then a lack of freedom to follow the Movistar rider. March
16,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Photo:
Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) at the finish.
(Fotoreporter Sirotti).
Vincenzo Nibali has
cast doubt on his participation in next Sunday’s Milan-San Remo, citing
his current lack of form and the absence of the climb of Le Manie from
the route.
The Sicilian has been some way short of his best at Tirreno-Adriatico and he conceded over two minutes on Sunday’s snowbound summit finish at Terminillo. March
16,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Photo:
Shimano Dura-Ace 9000, Mavic Ksyrium SLR, FSA Energy bars and OS-99
carbon stem, Ritchey WCS Carbon post, Selle Italia Flite Saddle.
When
the subject turns to ride quality it’s typically not too long before
the name Wilier comes up. They may play second fiddle to Pinarello and
Colnago in ‘bling’ factor, but Wilier can take on all comers with its
beautiful ride quality.
Through all its iterations the Cento1 has carried this flag and the original Zero.7, Wilier’s ultra light road racer, continued the tradition. For 2015 the Zero.7 has been redesigned and far from subtle changes, the bike is a wholly new animal – a wholly new animal we hoped retained the Wilier road magic. March
16,
2015 (pelotonmagazine.com)
 Photo:
This XSOS is “aimed at large riders and folks that are looking for a
stiff, but comfortable ride.”
Independent
Fabrication has revealed an updated XSOS, a frame that blends carbon
fibre and titanium tubes, with a redesigned rear triangle to
accommodate disc brakes.
First introduced two years ago, the XSOS was an update on the original XS, the US company’s first frame to combine carbon fibre main tubes with welded titanium lugs. This new XSOS carries all the same features of the regular model, including oversized Enve main tubes and an Enve fork with a 1.5in tapered steerer tube making the most of the 44mm head tube, along with pressfit 30 bottom bracket. March
16,
2015 (road.cc)
| March
16,
2015
 Photography
by Cor Vos:
Equality (or lack thereof) in cycling has been a widely discussed topic
on Ella this past week.
"As
much as a race victory means to the riders and staff who contribute to
it, there is generally a small problem with its economic value: it
doesn’t really have one. In 2008, as a wide-eyed neo-pro on
Columbia-High Road, I was initially shocked by the galling salary
discrepancy between the male and female riders, even within the same
organization. Here is the real bummer about it – the chasm was actually
absolutely fair.
In fact, we were darn lucky the boys were there to support us. The sponsorship dollars brought in by just the women’s faction would in no way have sustained our program. We could face a grimmer picture, but for the grace of male media leverage." March
16,
2015 (cyclingtips.com.au)
 Megan
Guarnier celebrates after winning Strade Bianche.
(Photo by Cyclephotos.co.uk/Balint Hamvas).
Women’s
cycling in the US just keeps getting better. After posting last week
about the big shake-up that’s been happening within the women’s
professional peloton, American women delivered three amazing results.
2012 national road race champion Megan Guarnier soloed to victory at the inaugural women’s edition of the Italian Strade Bianche. With over 30 seconds on second place, her commanding win makes her poised as a possibility to contest the Olympic road race in 2016. She beat out riders such as two-time world road race champion Giorgia Bronzini and two-time national road race winner and two-time Giro Rosa winner Mara Abbott. March
16,
2015 (bicycling.com)
 Photo:
Fabian Cancellara on stage five of the 2015 Tirreno-Adriatico (Watson)
.
Three
weeks after he held court under a motorway bridge at the Tour of Oman, Fabian Cancellara
again found himself leading the call for rule changes after extreme
weather at Tirreno-Adriatico.
Whereas the stifling 45-degree heat of the desert was the issue in February, on Sunday riders felt the other end of the spectrum, riding the final kilometers to the top of the Terminillo in a blizzard. March
16,
2015 (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
 Lance
Armstrong Photo by Maryse Alberti, Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics.
Lance Armstrong
should stay away from the Tour de France, says Team Sky boss Dave Brailsford,
with the banned cyclist reported to be riding the route of a couple of
stages of the race for charity this summer.
It emerged yesterday that Armstrong plans to join former England footballer and fellow cancer survivor Geoff Thomas for part of his One Day Ahead charity ride this summer which aims to raise £1 million for Cure Leukaemia. March
16,
2015 (road.cc)
 Photo:
The full tilt version of The Dirty Devil course is 127 miles (205 km)
with over 11,000 feet of ascent (3,350 m) and conquers 3 dirt roads.
On
an early March day this year Robert
Panzera headed out into the spectacular countryside of San
Diego County, California for a recon of the famous Dirty Devil Ultra
Century Ride. This unique ride takes in 28 miles of packed dirt roads,
amazing scenery, 11,000 feet of ascent (3,350 m) and makes for a
perfect – and yet challenging ride.
Years ago many of the roads that are used for The Dirty Devil were seldom traversed by those on road bikes. Most did not do that type of riding with the skinny tires, but saved those adventures for bikes with fatter tires and maybe a bit of suspension. But alas, we’ve moved into the time of the gravel grinder, and riding road bikes and beefier approximations of road bikes on the unpaved backgrounds is all the rage. March
16,
2015 (pezcyclingnews.com)
 Photo:
Defending champion, Jean-Christophe Péraud.
The
route and a preliminary entry list for the 84th edition of the
Critérium International, the 6th to be held in southern Corsica, were
presented today in Porto-Vecchio, by Mayor Georges Mela and
race organizer François
Lemarchand.
Defending champion, Jean-Christophe Péraud, will be one of the main favorites for the win on the three-stage race this coming 28 and 29 March. But the runner-up on the 2014 Tour de France will face stiff competition, led by Thibaut Pinot, who joined him on the podium in Paris last July. March
16,
2015 (pelotonmagazine.com)
 Photo:
"I can say I’ve never seen a builder’s fingerprints more deeply
embedded in a frame."
"Each
year at NAHBS there are a number of bikes displayed that go home
empty-handed, bikes of such obvious merit that many attendees question
the judgment—if not the sanity—of the judges.
In my final post on NAHBS, I want to address a few of these bikes." March
16,
2015 (redkiteprayer.com)
 Scott
Contessa Solace 35
(Photo by Kent Pell).
"Luxury
comes with a price—and vice versa. My Solace 35 came with Shimano's
lower-tier Tiagra drivetrain and mostly Syncros components (Scott's
house brand). Shifting wasn't as crisp as it is with higher-end parts,
and I found the saddle to be a little unfriendly after only one
ride—though saddles are an easy swap, and one of the most common with
new bikes. This SUV is a little more "built Ford tough" than "the
ultimate driving machine"—but for $1,800, it's a steal.
More important, it's versatile. I didn't just test this bike on different terrain, or in different weather conditions, or on different routes. I rode it under different circumstances and through different emotions." March
16,
2015 (bicycling.com)
March
15,
2015
|
Lance Armstrong reportedly has
agreed to join portions of a charity ride that will trace the route of
the 2015 Tour de France. Photo: Tim De Waele | TDWsport.com (file).
Call
it Comeback 3.0. Could Lance
Armstrong be returning to the Tour de France? Well, sort
of.
According to a story in The Daily Mail, the banned-for-life Armstrong has agreed to join portions of a charity ride that will trace the route of the 2015 Tour one day ahead of the pro peloton. The Mail reported that Armstrong will join former footballer and cancer survivor Geoff Thomas for few days of a fundraising ride for a cancer charity. Thomas said Armstrong’s own tale of surviving cancer inspired him more than a decade ago, and now he wants to link up with the Texan in a charity ride ahead of the Tour route. March
15,
2015 (velonews.com)
 Photo:
Porte wins the race for a second time. (Credit ASO)
Richie Porte rides
up the Col d’Eze. If he’d distanced his rivals on the Col de la Croix
du Chaubouret midweek, his margin of victory was much greater in
Sunday’s Col d’Eze time trial.
With the fantastic four and more heading to Italy this was the chance for a new name to emerge, for a young starlet to shine on the Côte d’Azur. Only we ended up with a repeat winner aged over 30. The race started with a prologue that had all the ingredients of an ordinary time trial and Michał Kwiatkowski pipped Rohan Dennis by a fraction of a second. Lars Boom was fifth despite having raced the Strade Bianche the day before. March
15,
2015 (inrng.com)
 Richie Porte stormed
to stage and overall victory atop the Col d’Eze on the final day of
Paris Nice. The Australian national time trial champion was streets
ahead of second placed Simon
Spilak with his time of 20:23. Rui Costa took
third while Tony Martin.
Yellow jersey Tony Gallopin put in a valiant effort in defending his lead but saw his advantage swept away in the rain of southern France, finishing 1:39 behind Porte in the end. March
15,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Photography
by Cor Vos: Emma Johansson has broken her collarbone.
Kirsten Wild won
a crash-marred sprint at the Novilon Eurocup ahead of Chloe Hosking and Christine Majerus.
The Dutchwomen proved quickest from a group of around 30 riders that
formed in the final hour of the race.
Novilon Eurocup, the final of the three Drenthe races, was the most aggressive. The peloton split from kilometer zero, with a group of 14 immediately gaining an advantage over a fractured peloton. They would stretch the gap out to nearly a minute in the first hour of the race. March
15,
2015 (cyclingtips.com.au)
 Nairo Quintana of
Movistar seized control of Tirreno Adriatico in a wintry finish atop
the Terminillo, giving him the queen stage victory and a significant
lead in the overall.
Richie Porte of Team Sky won the race-ending Col 'Eze time trial in dominant fashion, vaulting him to the overall victory in Paris Nice. March
15,
2015 (podiumcafe.com)
2014-15
Races
& Results.
Tirreno-Adriatico - Mar 11-17 (Stages & Results), Giro d'Italia 2015 - May 9-31 (Stages), Tour de France 2015 - July 4-26 (Stages), Vuelta a España 2015 - Aug 22-Sept 13 (Stages), UCI Road World Championship 2015 - Sept 20-27 (Stages), Paris Nice - Mar 8-15 (Results), Le Tour de Langkawi - Mar 8-15 (Results), Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen - Mar 6-8 (Results), Strade Bianche - Mar 7 (Results), Strade Bianche Women - Mar 7 (Results), UCI Track World Championships - Feb 18-22 (Results), UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships - Jan 31-Feb 1 (Results).  Roman Kreuziger
hopes that he appear next month at the Court of Arbitration for Sport
(CAS), so he can ride the Giro in may if he is found not guilty of
doping.
The UCI lodged the appeal with CAS last October, and Kreuziger spent many months unable to ride due to a provisional suspension. The Czech says that many proposed court dates have been thrown out since October and he is still unaware of when the court date will be. The case began in May 2014 when he was notified that there were anomalies in his biological passport from his 2011 season, which he rode with Astana. The Czech Olympic Committee cleared him of any wrongdoing and this prompted the UCI to lodge an appeal with CAS. March
15,
2015 (cyclingquotes.com)
Photo:
Milan-San Remo Profile.
2015
Milan-San Remo LIVE Sunday,
March 22, Italy.
Race starts at 10:10am CET (5:10am U.S. Eastern) Finish at around 5:09pm CET (12:09pm U.S. Eastern) Live video from *1:40pm CET (*8:40am U.S. Eastern). March
15,
2015 (cyclingfans.com)
 Tony Gallopin soloed
to victory Saturday during stage 6 of Paris-Nice and took over the race
lead heading into Sunday's final time trial.
The Lotto Soudal rider slipped away from the yellow jersey group of Michal Kwiatkowski with about 30km remaining and forged his way through the rain to the finish line in Nice. Simon Spilak finished second, followed by Rui Costa in third. March
14,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Tejay van Garderen
said Saturday's cold and wet conditions at Paris-Nice led to his slide
down the general classification. The BMC Racing Team's leader conceded
nearly five minutes in the 187.5-kilometer race and fell out of the top
10 on the penultimate day of the race.
"On the descent off the Côte de Châteauneuf, I got really cold and I was just shivering," van Garderen said to the BMC website. "I just felt completely blocked. I tried to stay calm and tried to kind of regroup myself in hopes I would come around on the final climb. But once we started it, my legs were not really working.” March
14,
2015 (cyclingquotes.com)
A spate of riders has decided to put an early end to their Paris-Nice, ahead of the final weekend. Arnaud Démare, Dries Devenyns, Moreno Hofland and Maarten Wynants, Ruben Plaza and Michael Schär all chose not to start the penultimate stage to Nice. March
14,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
|  Photo:
Bauke Mollema (Trek Factory Racing)
(Fotoreporter Sirotti).
Bauke Mollema and
Rigoberto Uran
are set to fight for the podium places at Tirreno-Adriatico after
impressing for yet another day on the Terminillo snow-covered finish on
Sunday.
Neither were able to match Nairo Quintana, who barring disaster will win Tirreno-Adriatico after Tuesday’s final time trial. However Mollema and Uran are separated by just nine seconds in the general classification. Mollema is second overall at 39 seconds, with Uran at third at 48 seconds, making every second vital in the final time trial. The pair will also have to watch their backs, with Thibaut Pinot fourth overall, at 57 seconds. March
15,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Nairo Quintana took
a snow capped victory on the Queen Stage of Tirreno Adriatico
ahead of Bauke Mollema.
Quintana launched a stinging attack with five kilometers remaining to take the win as the snow fell heavily on the riders. Joaquim Rodríguez finished third. Blue jersey Wout Poels lost over one and a half minutes on the winner, and was forced to hand over the lead of the general classification. March
15,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Vincenzo
Nibali doesn't have much to say to the press these days, but his
performances are speaking volumes. Photo: Tim De Waele | TDWsport.com
(file).
Team
Astana has had better days. Its star rider is struggling to match his
direct rivals, losing more than two minutes on Sunday in Italy’s
Tirreno-Adriatico stage race, and its future is up in the air.
Nibali immediately ran for shelter from the snow and freezing temperatures when he reached the finish line atop Monte Terminillo. He stayed in the Astana bus and, for the second consecutive day, refused to speak to waiting press. From outside, the closed-door policy did not look good. March
15,
2015 (velonews.com)
 Photo:
The Italian made use of a combination of strength in the hard classics
conditions.
Manuel Belletti
confirmed that he back on track after a few disappointing seasons when
he took a hugely dominant sprint win in today’s Dwars door Drenthe.
Having made it into a 20-rider group on a windy day in the Netherlands, he beat Barry Markus and Michael Carbel in the final dash to the line to take the second win of his 2015 season. The Southeast team has been known for its ability to pick up riders who have had a hard time, and put them back on track. In the past they have done so with Mauro Finetto and last year it was Simone Ponzi who seemed to shine after a few difficult years. March
15,
2015 (cyclingquotes.com)
 Lance Armstrong
could be back riding stages of the Tour de France this summer after
former England footballer Geoff
Thomas persuaded the cyclist to join him for part
of his charity ride this summer which aims to raise £1 million for the
charity Cure Leukaemia.
Thomas, like Armstrong a cancer survivor, credits the Texan with providing him with the inspiration to overcome the disease, and after he went into remission a decade ago rode the entire route of the 2005 Tour one day before the race tackled it. March
15,
2015 (road.cc)
 Marianne Vos has
already been forced to sit on the side-lines for the last month and her
persisting hamstring injury is likely to keep her from competing at
next two rounds of the World Cup.
Her Rabo Liv directeur sportif Koos Moerenhout has told Dutch broadcaster NOS that the 27-year-old would not be taking place at the Trofeo Alfredo Binda and the Tour of Flanders. "Marianne is always very eager. But she has to make a pass on the race. In terms of recovery it has been pretty good, but she will only return to competition when she is completely over it,” said Moerenhout. March
15,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Photo:
Elle Anderson and Rhae Shaw show how well the new team is getting along
with each other. (Jonathan Devich/epicimages.us).
Under
the guidance of director Jono
Coulter, the team is looking forward to the new season,
and with 11 riders from four different countries, preseason training
and bonding is hugely important. The team benefits from the combined
experience of veteran racers Robin
Farina and Liza
Rachetto, who played a mentor role at team camp for the
younger riders.
“My personal goals for this year will always be to provide positive leadership and mentorship for the team while giving 110 percent at each race,” Farina said. “Being opportunistic always leads to either team results and my goal will be to be on the top step of the podium for our team and sponsors. March
15,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Photo:
Canyon Endurace CF 9.0 Pro
Cycling Plus / Immediate Media. BikeRadar
verdict: 4.5 out of 5
stars. "Value and performance make this one of 2015’s star debuts."
March
15,
2015 (bikeradar.com)
 Monday's
Tirreno-Adriatico Stage 6 departs Rieti at 10:35am CET (5:35am
U.S. Eastern) and is expected to finish at Porto Sant’Elpidio at around
4:13pm CET (11:13am U.S. Eastern).
Tirreno-Adriatico live streaming video should get underway at around *2:00pm CET (9:00am U.S. Eastern). March
15,
2015 (cyclingfans.com)
| March
15,
2015
 Andrea Guardini
sprinted to victory in Kuala Lumpur on the final stage of the Tour de
Langkawi, with Youcef
Reguigui finishing safely in the bunch to seal his overall
win.
After 96km of racing, including six laps around the Malaysian capital, the Italian latched onto the lead-out train of Southeast before launching his sprint with 200 metres remaining and holding off Caleb Ewan and Michael Kolar to take the win. He did so with a depleted team as Andrey Zeits, Daniil Fominykh and Maxat Ayazbayev were forced to abandon the race on Saturday after a bout of food poisoning at the teams’ hotel. The victory caps another dominant display in Malaysia for the Italian, whose four wins in eight stages takes his total tally to 18 in five editions of the race. March
15,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Photo:
Tejay van Garderen hoped to make up a few positions int he GC (Tim de
Waele/TDWSport.com).
BMC
Racing's Tejay van
Garderen had set his sights on a top finish at Paris-Nice,
but after slipping from fourth overall to 16th during Saturday's cold,
wet stage to Nice, he was only able to manage 20th place during
Sunday's final time trial up Col d'Eze.
Van Garderen finished 1:18 behind stage winner and overall Paris-Nice champion Richie Porte on Sunday. He was 5:41 behind Porte in the general classification for 16th place. March
15,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Photo:
Youcef Reguigui enjoys his win (Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com).
On the face of it, the Tour de Langkawi has been a pretty happy affair for MTN-Qhubeka – they couldn’t have asked for much more from the race than winning the queen stage and the general classification. Yet those late successes put a gloss on what has otherwise a stressful and frustrating week for the South African team. As the team’s directeur sportif, Michel Cornelisse, noted: “It was a week with ups and downs but in the end it’s up.” March
15,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 In
the red jersey since the end of stage one, Kiel Reijnen
essentially sealed victory in the King of the Mountains classification
at the Tour de Langkawi on Saturday’s queen stage of the race.
Although the American still had to safely make it through the final stage in downtown Kuala Lumpur, his broad grin when talking about his situation showed that he considered the job essentially done. “I am not a pure climber by any stretch of the imagination but there were a lot of climbs here that were short and steep and that certainly suits me." March
15,
2015 (cyclingtips.com.au)
 Wout
Poels (Team Sky) (Bettini Photo).
Wouter Poels lost
1:37 and the Tirreno-Adriatico blue leader’s jersey to an unstoppable Nairo Quintana in
the snow on Terminillo but the Dutchman took defeat well, knowing he'd
given his all on the 16km climb.
“It was really hard, I gave everything, but that’s the result,” he said pragmatically. “It’s been a good experience. I’m now tenth overall and I hope to move up. I’ve learned a lot this week with the team, it’s good for the future.” March
15,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 The
Official 2015 Richmond World Championship artist in residence, Greig Leach,
recorded last year’s Tour de France as the action unfolded each day.
His post-card sized, watercolor and ink drawings are now available in
book form worthy of gracing any coffee table.
The capturing of a bicycle race has taken many forms. From the breathless, florid prose of the overwrought correspondents following the Tour de France writing for L’Auto, then to still photography with unwieldy cameras and on to sound with radio (and accordion accompaniment!), then film newsreels and television and now Internet sites, podcasts and fans waving cellphones. There have been attempts by painters to capture the special moments of a race: Toulouse Lautrec’s 1896 poster of racers using Simpson chains; Lyonel Feininger’s trapezoidal speedsters in 1912; Edward Hopper’s 1937 portrait of a Six Day Racer in his cabin. But they all seem too studied, unable to depict the energy that we know and love when we watch our cycling heroes in action. But when the Road World Championships come to Richmond, Virginia this fall there is at least one man ready to try. March
15,
2015 (pezcyclingnews.com)
March
14,
2015
 The
spectator who brought down Velocio-SRAM rider Loren Rowney as she
sprinted for the line at the Drenthe 8 race in the Netherlands on
Thursday has been identified, and says the incident was “an accident.”
According to race organizer Femmy van Issum, the male spectator came forward this afternoon, reports Wielerfiets.nl. “Contrary to many people’s opinion, the man was unaware [of the incident]," she said, adding that his son had tugged his coat immediately prior to the crash. “That probably led to him sticking out his arm,” van Issum said, adding that photographs showed that he hadn’t been looking at the riders. March
14,
2015 (road.cc)
 Jolien d’Hoore
sprinted to victory at Ronde van Drenthe, coming off teammate Chloe Hosking’s
wheel with the finish line in sight. The Belgian national road champion
had a full bike length on Amy
Pieters in second place. Ellen van Dijk rounded
out the podium in Hoogeveen.
It’s the first World Cup victory for d’Hoore, who notched her biggest result to date on her 25th birthday. It has been a hugely successful week for Wiggle Honda with d’Hoore’s win at Omloop van het Hageland last Sunday and Giorgia Bronzini’s win at Drentse 8 on Thursday coming ahead of d’Hoore’s victory at the opening round of the ten-race women’s World Cup series. March
14,
2015 (cyclingtips.com.au)
|
Tony Gallopin soloed
to victory Saturday during stage 6 of Paris-Nice and took over the race
lead heading into Sunday's final time trial.
The Lotto Soudal rider slipped away from the yellow jersey group of Michal Kwiatkowski with about 30km remaining and forged his way through the rain to the finish line in Nice. Simon Spilak finished second, followed by Rui Costa in third. March
14,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
Tejay van Garderen
said Saturday's cold and wet conditions at Paris-Nice led to his slide
down the general classification. The BMC Racing Team's leader conceded
nearly five minutes in the 187.5-kilometer race and fell out of the top
10 on the penultimate day of the race.
"On the descent off the Côte de Châteauneuf, I got really cold and I was just shivering," van Garderen said to the BMC website. "I just felt completely blocked. I tried to stay calm and tried to kind of regroup myself in hopes I would come around on the final climb. But once we started it, my legs were not really working.” March
14,
2015 (cyclingquotes.com)
 A
spate of riders has decided to put an early end to their Paris-Nice,
ahead of the final weekend. Arnaud
Démare, Dries
Devenyns, Moreno
Hofland and Maarten
Wynants, Ruben
Plaza and Michael
Schär all chose not to start the penultimate stage to Nice.
Illness is the major reason for abandoning with Démare and Hofland blaming a fever for their departure, while Devenyns has gone home on doctor’s orders while suffering from a cold. Wynants has followed his teammate out of the race after developing bronchitis in the last couple of days. March
14,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
2014-15
Races
& Results.
Tirreno-Adriatico - Mar 11-17 (Stages & Results), Paris Nice - Mar 8-15 (Stages & Results), Le Tour de Langkawi - Mar 8-15 (Stages & Results), Giro d'Italia 2015 - May 9-31 (Stages), Tour de France 2015 - July 4-26 (Stages), Vuelta a España 2015 - Aug 22-Sept 13 (Stages), UCI Road World Championship 2015 - Sept 20-27 (Stages), Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen - Mar 6-8 (Results), Strade Bianche - Mar 7 (Results), Strade Bianche Women - Mar 7 (Results), UCI Track World Championships - Feb 18-22 (Results), UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships - Jan 31-Feb 1 (Results).  If
you want to break the men’s hour record, you’ll have to hurry. Next in
line is Swede Gustav
Larsson, whose attempt in Manchester on Saturday was
announced just a couple of days ago.
“It’s a bit scary to do this kind of thing so early in the year, but I can’t wait for Wiggins. It’s now or it will never happen.” Larsson will make his attempt only eight months after breaking his back in a nasty crash while training. From the hospital bed he tweeted a picture of his smashed-up face and the words: “I'll be f###ing back! Just like terminator...“ March
14,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Sunday's
Paris-Nice Stage 7, a 9.5km Individual Time Trial from Nice to Col
d'Eze, gets underway at 11:55am CET (6:55am U.S. Eastern) with the
departure of the first rider.
Paris-Nice live streaming video should get underway at around 1:30pm CET (8:30am U.S. Eastern, 530am Pacific). March
14,
2015 (cyclingfans.com)
|  Wout Poels took
an impressive solo victory in Castelraimondo on the fourth stage of
Tirreno-Adriatico.
Poels’ former teammate Rigoberto Uran won the sprint for second place, 14 seconds behind, with Joaquim Rodríguez rounding out the top three. Poels moves into the lead of the general classification ahead of Urán. March
14,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Alberto Contador is
quietly confident he can win Tirreno-Adriatico and get the better of
his big-name rivals Vincenzo
Nibali and Nairo
Quintana on the important mountain stage of
Tirreno-Adriatico to Terminillo on Sunday.
The Spaniard finished in the first chase group in Castelraimondo on Saturday, 14 seconds behind solo winner Wouter Poels and is now 10th overall at 32 seconds. He crashed with 50 kilometers to go, forcing him to chase to avoid losing time. March
14,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Vincenzo Nibali
preferred to stay in the warm Astana team bus than speak to the media
and sign autographs for the tifosi after stage four of
Tirreno-Adriatico.
At the start in Indicatore the Tour de France winner had seemed relaxed and ready for the weekend of decisive racing in the hills and especially Sunday’s mountain finish at Terminillo. However after finishing in a second chase group behind stage winner and new race leader Wouter Poels, and after losing seven seconds to Alberto Contador and other key rivals, he was in no mood to talk. March
14,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Team
Sky’s singular obsession with the Tour de France is officially over.
Not that the UK team wasn’t racing to win every chance it could during the first half decade of its existence, but it was no secret that the team’s energy and focus was directed toward winning cycling’s biggest prize — the yellow jersey. Sky pulled off the unimaginable not once, but twice, with two different riders, as Bradley Wiggins and then Chris Froome made history in the Tour de France during 2012-13. March
14,
2015 (velonews.com)
 When
he burst on the pro scene in 2011, clocking up 11 UCI victories in his
debut year as a 21 year old, it appeared that cycling had found a new
star sprinter.
Earning comparisons with Mark Cavendish’s own debut year and having a similarly aero sprinting style, many predicated that Andrea Guardini was set for a huge future. Those early successes included five stage wins plus the points classification in the Tour de Langkawi, victory on stage five of the Tour of Qatar, two stages in the Tour of Turkey and one each in the Volta a Portugal, the Tour of Slovenia and the Giro di Padania. For a first year pro it was a staggering haul. March
14,
2015 (cyclingtips.com.au)
 Saturday's
Stage 5 start time: 10:50 CET (2:50 AM PST);
Approximate finish: 16:10 CET (8:10 AM PST); Tirreno-Adriatico live streaming video should get underway at around 14:00 CET (6:00 AM PST). March
14,
2015 (cyclingfans.com)
| March
14,
2015
The
spectator who brought down Velocio-SRAM rider Loren Rowney as she
sprinted for the line at the Drenthe 8 race in the Netherlands on
Thursday has been identified, and says the incident was “an accident.”
According to race organizer Femmy van Issum, the male spectator came forward this afternoon, reports Wielerfiets.nl. “Contrary to many people’s opinion, the man was unaware [of the incident]," she said, adding that his son had tugged his coat immediately prior to the crash. “That probably led to him sticking out his arm,” van Issum said, adding that photographs showed that he hadn’t been looking at the riders. March
14,
2015 (road.cc)
Jolien d’Hoore
sprinted to victory at Ronde van Drenthe, coming off teammate Chloe Hosking’s
wheel with the finish line in sight. The Belgian national road champion
had a full bike length on Amy
Pieters in second place. Ellen van Dijk rounded
out the podium in Hoogeveen.
It’s the first World Cup victory for d’Hoore, who notched her biggest result to date on her 25th birthday. It has been a hugely successful week for Wiggle Honda with d’Hoore’s win at Omloop van het Hageland last Sunday and Giorgia Bronzini’s win at Drentse 8 on Thursday coming ahead of d’Hoore’s victory at the opening round of the ten-race women’s World Cup series. March
14,
2015 (cyclingtips.com.au)
 Youcef Reguigui seized
the overall lead of the Tour de Langkawi on Saturday after winning the
seventh and penultimate stage.
The mountainous 180.8km stage started in Shah Alam and led the peloton up Frasers Hill, 1150 meters above sea level, with a final climb of 5km. A four-man breakaway went clear and built a lead of nearly 8 minutes before a chase led first by Skydive Dubai and Tinkoff-Saxo, then Sky, began reeling it back in. March
14,
2015 (velonews.com)
 Mads Pedersen, a big
winner on the junior scene with a victory at Paris Roubaix, Worlds
medals and more Pedersen
is now in the Professional Continental ranks after the team stepped up
a notch this year.
Danish/Luxembourger squad, Cult Racing has only moved up to the Pro Continental ranks for this season but already they’ve proved themselves to be no respecters of reputation and while perhaps not piling up the wins have been one of the animators of the season’s races, thus far. March
14,
2015 (pezcyclingnews.com)
 Sunday's Tour de
Langkawi Stage 8 departs Kuala Kubu Bharu at 2:00pm local (7:00am CET,
2:00am U.S. Eastern) and is expected at the finish at Kuala Lumpur at
around 4:19pm local (9:19am CET, 4:19am U.S. Eastern).
Tour de Langkawi live streaming should begin at around 3pm local (8:00am CET, 3:00am U.S. Eastern).. March
14,
2015 (cyclingfans.com)
March
13,
2015
|
 Davide Cimolai of
Lampre-Merida won the mass sprint of the fifth stage of Paris-Nice,
ahead of Bryan Coquard
and Michael Matthews.
The peloton caught the last member of the day’s break group, Thomas De Gendt, within sight of the finish line. There was no change in the general classification. March
13,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Caleb Ewan snagged
his second stage win at the Tour de Langkawi Friday, winning stage 6 in
a bunch sprint.
Ewan extended his lead in the GC following the 96.6-kilometer stage from Maran to Karak, and now holds a 27-second buffer over Natnael Berhane and a 30-second advantage over Youcef Reguigui, both of MTN-Qhubeka. The 20-year-old Australian out-sprinted Jakub Mareczko and Chris Sutton to claim his second victory of the week at the race in Malaysia. Ewan also won stage 3. March
13,
2015 (velonews.com)
 27
seconds will separate South African-based UCI Pro Continental team
MTN-Qhubeka from the general classification lead at the 20th Tour de
Langkawi (2.HC) when the six-man team rolls to the start of the race’s
penultimate stage in Shah Alam.
While the team’s first guard is in Italy racing Tirreno-Adriatico, including newly-signed Edvald Boasson Hagen, Tyler Farrar, and Matthew Goss, the second unit is in Malaysia with five riders within 36 seconds of race leader Caleb Ewan. After six stages the race enters the queen’s stage on Saturday and features two categorized climbs, including Bukit Cerakah (Cat. 4) inside the first 20 kilometers and the summit finish atop Frasier’s Hill (Cat. 1) at the 180.8km mark. March
13,
2015 (velonews.com)
 Greg Van Avermaet
timed it right Friday at Tirreno-Adriatico. With the classics
approaching and a doping hearing going on at home in Brussels, the
Belgian stormed over the cobblestones leading up to Arezzo’s city
center to win ahead of several classics champions.
“It’s important to be a leader of the team, but you are only a leader if you win races,” BMC Racing’s Van Avermaet said. March
13,
2015 (velonews.com)
 "A
short piece to mark a change in the sport. The UCI are clamping down on
mechanics leaning out of car windows to service riders in a races.
It’s been such a famous image from many races and now it’s going away for good. It’ll have tactical consequences too." March
13,
2015 (inrng.com)
2014-15
Races
& Results.
Tirreno-Adriatico - Mar 11-17 (Stages & Results), Paris Nice - Mar 8-15 (Stages & Results), Le Tour de Langkawi - Mar 8-15 (Stages & Results), Giro d'Italia 2015 - May 9-31 (Stages), Tour de France 2015 - July 4-26 (Stages), Vuelta a España 2015 - Aug 22-Sept 13 (Stages), UCI Road World Championship 2015 - Sept 20-27 (Stages), Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen - Mar 6-8 (Results), Strade Bianche - Mar 7 (Results), Strade Bianche Women - Mar 7 (Results), UCI Track World Championships - Feb 18-22 (Results), UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships - Jan 31-Feb 1 (Results).  "During
the Australian summer I spent a lot of time catching up with people,
after spending most of last year in Italy with the U23 Australian team.
When I was living in Italy and traveling around for races in Europe for those couple of months I thought it was pretty cool. But I guess I didn’t really realize how awesome an opportunity I had been given … until I came back to Australia and started talking to people and seeing their reaction to what I had been up to." March
13,
2015 (cyclingtips.com.au)
 Genesis
has recalled the steel forks on three bikes from the company’s 2015
range due to long-term durability concerns. The brand is offering a
free replacement for all affected customers.
Genesis says: “While there is no immediate risk to safety and there have been no reported failures, we have chosen to recall these forks and to replace them, free of charge, with a brand new fork." March
13,
2015 (bikeradar.com)
 Saturday's
Paris-Nice Stage 6 departs Vence at 11:35am CET (6:35am U.S. Eastern)
and is expected to finish at Nice at around 4:41pm CET (11:41am U.S.
Eastern).
Paris-Nice live streaming video should get underway at around 3:15pm CET (10:15am U.S. Eastern, 7:15am Pacific). March
13,
2015 (cyclingfans.com)
 The
first mountain finish of the 2015 Paris-Nice saw American Tejay van Garderen
finish fifth after he failed to follow an attack in the final 4km from
Team Sky's Geraint Thomas.
Thursday's stage 4 test, which featured six categorized climbs in the final 60km of the day, included the summit finish on the Col de la Croix de Chaubouret, a 10km climb with an average grade of 6.7 percent. March
12,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
|  "I’m
aware that there are a lot of people discussing the crash – and that
many people that watched the footage think it was intentional. I can
understand how people think that, but looking at the video, no one can
say that with certainty.
If it’s intentional? I would be really concerned. I know there are malicious people in the world. Things like this have happened before where spectators have done things intentionally to cause harm." March
13,
2015 (cyclingtips.com.au)
 BMC’s Greg Van Avermaet
won stage 3 of Tirreno-Adriatico in Arezzo on Friday. The Belgian
opened his sprint with 200 metres to go following a punchy final ascent
onto the Via Ricasoli, holding off Peter
Sagan and Zdenek
Stybar.
Van Avermaet’s win moved him up into the overall race lead, taking the blue leader’s jersey from Andriano Malori. He is now leading the race by two seconds ahead of Sagan while Malori has dropped into third place at eight seconds back. March
13,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Elia Viviani was one
of the last riders to sign on in Cascina before the start of the third
stage of Tirreno-Adriatico but he is determined to fight the
pain of his high-speed stage 2 crash and stay in the race.
Viviani crashed at 70km/h after Mark Cavendish moved slightly after his chain came off the chainring when he powered on the pedals to launch his sprint. Viviani had nowhere to go and rode into Cavendish, landing hard on his hip and lower back. He got up and finished the stage and was not diagnosed with any fractures and so was determined to continue in Tirreno-Adriatico. March
13,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Marcel Kittel is
having to restart his training after being laid low by a virus picked
up at the Tour Down Under.
The German sprinter struggled through the Tour of Qatar but then withdrew from the Tirreno-Adriatico stage race, where he was set for a much-anticipated showdown with Mark Cavendish. “It’s not good yet,” Kittle’s race coach, Marc Reef, told Cycling Weekly. “He’s just begun on the bike again, so he’s re-starting to get better. He’s not completely recovered. It’s a shame that it happens.” March
13, 2015 (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
 Chris Froome would
welcome the introduction of the UCI rolling out 24-hour drug testing,
telling Cyclingnews that the sport “must do everything it can to tackle
doping.”
The recommendation for around the clock anti-doping measures was made by the Cycling Independent Reform Commission (CIRC) as part of their blueprint for a cleaner sport. It remains to be seen if the sport’s governing body is in favor of such a measure or whether the structure and finances to launch such a project are feasible, but Froome, who confirmed that he was asked to meet with CIRC, said that he would be willing to have testers knocking at his door at any time, and at any race. March
13,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 That
Fabian Cancellara
will be ready for the spring classics is not a worry for team brass
inside the Trek Factory Racing bus.
The Swiss superstar is already on top form, taking a confidence-boosting stage victory in the Tour of Oman and just missing out on the leader’s jersey by just one second in the short, explosive opening prologue at Tirreno-Adriatico this week. The spring classics are just around the corner, and the atmosphere is quietly percolating inside the Trek bus, not only due to Cancellara’s obvious strength, but also his top-end finishing sprint. For veteran sport director Dirk Demol, having that finishing kick after a long, abusive effort that comes with the monuments is often the difference between winning and losing. March
13,
2015 (velonews.com)
 "No
matter where you are in the world, if there’s bike racing going on
there are great stories to tell.
For the girls and guys that race, or have raced at any stage of their lives, the memory of their very first bike race is likely to be a strong one. You personally may have memories of chewing bar tape in your first race or, if you were lucky, getting to raise your hands aloft as you came across the finish line. Each and every story says something about how and why people either continued with racing or decided to call it quits." March
13,
2015 (cyclingtips.com.au)
 "The
North American Handmade Bicycle Show showcased scores of jaw-dropping
bikes by some of the finest framebuilders in the world again this year.
We’ll soon show you nearly every bike that was on display in the halls of the Louisville Convention Center in Kentucky, but to start our coverage, let’s take a look at the bikes that won this year’s award categories." March
13,
2015 (bikeradar.com)
 Stage 4 start time: Saturday 9:10 CET
(1:10:00 AM PST)
Earliest live video: 14:40 CET (6:40:00 AM PST); Approximate finish: 16:09 CET (8:09:00 AM PST) March
13,
2015 (cyclingfans.com)
| March
13,
2015
 Although
some were disappointed that the Cycling Independent Reform Commission
report did not deliver the so-called “Truth and Reconciliation
Commission” that had been floated as a catch-all solution to the
sport’s problems two years ago, it document did outline critical
failings in the UCI’s governance and its management of anti-doping
efforts over the past two decades.
In a statement released on Monday, USADA CEO Travis Tygart welcomed the publication of the CIRC report as “a strong first step in moving past the failures of the past.” Later in the week, he spoke in more detail about his thoughts on the dossier, including the damning picture it paints of the UCI’s influence on the supposedly independent “Vrijman Report” into accusations that Lance Armstrong had used EPO at the 1999 Tour de France. March
13,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Following
the release of the Cycling Independent Reform Commission (CIRC) report
on the history of doping in cycling, the UCI has announced further
anti-doping measures and recommendations to strengthen anti-doping and
governance going forward.
Some of the recommendations include improving the Athlete Biological Passport, night-time testing in special cases and relaunching a whistleblower program. “I am absolutely determined to use the CIRC’s report to ensure that cycling continues the process of fully regaining the trust of fans, broadcasters and all the riders who compete clean,” said UCI President Brian Cookson. “We value the recommendations of the CIRC and have now established an internal task force to ensure the recommendations are properly followed up.” March
13,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 The
head of the organization that ultimately brought down Lance Armstrong has
described as “sordid” some of the actions of former UCI presidents Pat McQuaid and Hein Verbruggen in
relation to the banned rider.
USADA chief executive Travis Tygart was commenting on a section of the Cycling Independent Reform Commission (CIRC) report, published this week by the UCI. “A stunning example of deceit found by the CIRC is that the UCI, under the explicit direction of Hein Verbruggen and Pat McQuaid, commissioned a supposedly ‘independent’ investigation of Armstrong’s positive samples from the (1999 – Ed) Tour de France,” he said in a statement. March
13,
2015 (stickybottle.com)
 Among
the headline-grabbing evidence of doping and corruption in the men’s
sport, the CIRC report states “The Commission was told that women’s
cycling had been poorly supported in past years, and was given examples
where riders in the sport had been exploited financially and even
allegedly sexually.”
The debate about a minimum wage for women cyclists has raged long and hard. Tracey Gaudry, the first female vice president of the UCI, said last year that she sees the minimum wage as part of a larger picture – the duty of care the sport has to its athletes. Gaudry’s sense of frustration at the pace of change is palpable and many riders continue to be left high and dry by teams that withhold prize money. Financial abuse can be every bit as real as physical and sexual intimidation in trapping women in exploitative situations. March
13,
2015 (theguardiaan.com)
 Salaries
among the professional cyclists have proven a popular topic on CyclingTips. We’ve
talked about factors that determine a rider’s wage and the ways in
which the UCI minimum wage is broken – yet both of this articles
focused only on the men’s peloton. What about the women?
We set out to explore the salary issue within professional women’s cycling. The topic is particularly timely given recent revelations about the UCI’s plans to slowly introduce requirements over time within the top tier of the proposed two-tiered division of the sport. With changes in regulations around wages unlikely until 2018, it is possible for women to find financial stability while racing full-time? March
13,
2015 (cyclingtips.com.au)
 BikeRadar
verdict: 4.5 out of 5
stars. "Brilliant value aluminium road bike that’s definitely on the
racy side."
March
13,
2015 (bikeradar.com)
 After
years of development, and teases at Interbike, Speedplay is set to ship
their Syzr Mountain Bike Pedals. At Interbike 2014, we saw the pedal
that was expected to be released at the end of last year. We followed
up with Speedplay at NAHBS to examine the ready-to-be-shipped pedals.
The Syzr cleats have a pivot mechanism designed into them, and users can adjust the float from zero to ten degrees. We asked them about their performance in muddy conditions, and we were told that the pedals have gone through extensive testing with mud and rocks without any issues, both with respect to the pedal’s release function and the float system in the cleats. It remained uncertain whether or not conditions in ice were also extensively tested. March
13,
2015 (cxmagazine.com)
 Saturday's Tour de
Langkawi Stage 7 departs Shah Alam at 12:00pm local (5:00am CET,
12:00am U.S. Eastern) and is expected at the finish at Bukit Fraser
(Fraser's Hill) at around 4:51pm local (9:51am CET, 4:51am U.S.
Eastern).
Tour de Langkawi live streaming should begin at around 3pm local (8:00am CET, 3:00am U.S. Eastern). March
13,
2015 (cyclingfans.com)
March
12,
2015
|
The
first mountain finish of the 2015 Paris-Nice saw American Tejay van Garderen
finish fifth after he failed to follow an attack in the final 4km from
Team Sky's Geraint Thomas.
Thursday's stage 4 test, which featured six categorized climbs in the final 60km of the day, included the summit finish on the Col de la Croix de Chaubouret, a 10km climb with an average grade of 6.7 percent. March
12,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Richie Porte led
home a Team Sky one-two on stage 4 of Paris-Nice from
Varennes-sur-Allier to the summit of Croix de Chaubouret with Geraint Thomas
second Michal Kwiatkowski
in third.
The Sky duo jumped clear of a select group of race favorites inside the final two kilometers of the climb with Porte leading the pair home. Kwiatkowski delivered with a determined solo chase to finish eight second in arrears – an effort that saw him reclaim the race lead with Porte now just one second back, and Thomas in third at three seconds. March
12,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Giorgia Bronzini won
Molecaten Drentse 8 from a breakaway group of seven to earn Wiggle
Honda back-to-back wins after Jolien
D’hoore won last Sunday’s Omloop van het Hageland.
In calm conditions the pace was kept high in the early part of the race and most of the main contenders came into the local finishing circuit as one group. As the kilometers ticked by a group of seven escaped with most of the big teams represented. Rabo-Liv being the notable exception. March
12,
2015 (velofocus.com)
 Joon Yong Seo soloed
to victory on stage 5 of the Tour de Langkawi, attacking from the day’s
breakaway with 25km to go to become the second Korean rider to win a
stage of the Malaysian race.
March
12,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 It
has been a quiet week so far for Team Sky in Malaysia. The British
WorldTour team’s second guard has been under the radar and off the
podium after five stages of the 20th edition of Le Tour de Langkawi.
As per normal, Langkawi is traditionally a sprinter’s race, and this year is no exception with Andrea Guardini and Caleb Ewan dominating the first half of the eight-day stage race. Guardini continues to pad his race record of all-time stage wins (17), picking up three more victories this week, while the 20-year-old Australian neo-pro won stage 3 and lifted the yellow leader’s jersey off Guardini in the process. While Sky sports director Gabriel Rasch admits the team does feel pressure to perform, he’s not concerned about his team’s lack of success so far, and feels confident that his team is more than capable of making up the 26-second deficit on Ewan. March
12,
2015 (velonews.com)
2014-15
Races
& Results.
Tirreno-Adriatico - Mar 11-17 (Stages & Results), Paris Nice - Mar 8-15 (Stages & Results), Le Tour de Langkawi - Mar 8-15 (Stages & Results), Giro d'Italia 2015 - May 9-31 (Stages), Tour de France 2015 - July 4-26 (Stages), Vuelta a España 2015 - Aug 22-Sept 13 (Stages), UCI Road World Championship 2015 - Sept 20-27 (Stages), Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen - Mar 6-8 (Results), Strade Bianche - Mar 7 (Results), Strade Bianche Women - Mar 7 (Results), UCI Track World Championships - Feb 18-22 (Results), UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships - Jan 31-Feb 1 (Results).  The
Cyclistes Professionnels Associés (CPA), the professional rider’s
association, will have an official delegate at all future UCI WorldTour
events, the group announced Thursday.
The delegates will observe the operations of the races and accept rider input on workplace conditions and other concerns, and will act as an intermediary between riders, race organizers, and the UCI. Following each stage, the delegate will submit a report to the CPA. “The CPA Delegate’s presence will be positive for the riders, but also the other stakeholders: the race organization, teams, and the UCI. From now on, all stakeholders will be able to interface with one person who synthesizes the peloton’s opinion and the majority of the riders in case of need,” according to a statement from the CPA. March
12,
2015 (velonews.com)
 The
Cycle Ataxia charity sportive last month courted Lance Armstrong –
and the controversy that comes with him – when it requested he be
photographed in one of its T-shirts.
Armstrong duly obliged and sent the photo back to event organizer Barry Rice, with his permission to use the image in fundraising activities. Rice said it was only when he had the picture of the disgraced star in his hands that he started asking around properly about Armstrong and realized the extent of his deceit. Now Ireland’s only elite world road champion and Tour de France winner Stephen Roche has stepped into the breach. March
12,
2015 (stickybottle.com)
 Trek
has released three all-new adventure bikes, the 520, 720 and 920,
designed to battle all terrain and provide a solid platform for anyone
who wants to explore on two wheels.
The most ‘road-ready’ of these is the 720, which Trek describes as “the roadie’s touring bike” due to the fact that is uses traditional road bike geometry. March
12,
2015 (roadcyclinguk.com)
 Friday's Paris-Nice
Stage 5 departs Saint-Etienne at 11:05am CET (6:05am U.S. Eastern) and
is expected to finish at Rasteau at around 3:55pm CET (10:55am U.S.
Eastern).
Paris-Nice live streaming video should get underway at around 2:00pm CET (9:00am U.S. Eastern, 6:00am Pacific). March
11,
2015 (cyclingfans.com)
 Kwiatkowski loses
his race lead to Matthews
going into mountains.
Michael Matthews made the most of a perfect lead-out from his Orica-GreenEdge team to take victory on stage 3 of Paris-Nice. The Australian was delivered to the front in the final two corners and powered home to beat Davide Cimolai and Giacomo Nizzolok. Matthews also moves into the race lead, just one second ahead of Michael Kwiatkowski. March
11,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Andrea Guardini got
back to winning ways at the Tour de Langkawi, seeing off Jakub Mareczko and
yellow jersey Caleb Ewan
to secure his third victory in four stages.
March
11,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
|  De Telegraaf
reported today that the French Cycling Federation has yet to pay out
prize money for the country's 2014 races, including the Tour de France
and Paris-Roubaix. Tour de France champion Vincenzo Nibali, for
example, is still waiting to receive the nearly €540,000 he is owed for
winning the French Grand Tour.
The FCC has placed more than €2 million in a bank account rather than distributing it to teams and riders, saying it is waiting for results from drug tests to ensure that no doped riders receive prize money. The FCC said it will payout prize money once a year. March
12,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Jens Debusschere won
the second stage at Tirreno-Adriatico in a crash-marred bunch sprint. Peter Sagan was
second and Sam Bennet
third in the chaotic sprint.
Adriano Malori kept the overall lead, and the time bonus moved Sagan up to second place, in the same time. Fabian Cancellara is third. March
12,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
Mark Cavendish’s
Etixx-QuickStep team has said it will move quickly to investigate what
caused kis chain to drop and so spark a crash at the end of stage 2 of
Tirreno-Adriatico in Cascina.
It seems that Tom Boonen suffered a similar problem in a sprint at the Tour of Qatar. Cavendish was perfectly placed and about to launch his sprint with 250 meters to go when his chain jumped outwards and off his big chain ring. Cavendish managed to stay upright despite the sudden loss of power but moved slightly. Elia Viviani was unable to avoid Cavendish and was the first to crash. Sacha Modolo and several other riders also went down hard. Both Viviani and Modolo got up and finished the stage but suffered multiple injuries. March
12,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Italian
Adriano Malori,
who won the opening stage time-trial on Wednesday, retained the overall
race lead with Sagan
now in second place on the same time, thanks to a finishing bonus, with
Swiss Fabian Cancellara
third, one second behind.
The overall race favorites, Alberto Contador, Vincenzo Nibali and Nairo Quintana, avoided the carnage and kept their powder dry, notably for the uphill finish on stage three as well as a much hillier stage four on Saturday. March
12,
2015 (pelotonmagazine.com)
 The
proposals put forth by the UCI have been developed by the UCI Women’s
Working Group, a team of seven individuals formed in December 2014.
Team members include: rider representatives Ashleigh Moolman Pasio and Evelyn Stvens, team manager representatives Rochelle Gilmore, Kristy Scrymgeour, Eric van den Boom and Martin Barras, and sports economics expert Alberto Celani. A Women’s WorldTour, two divisions for teams and a proposed plan to slowly introduce a minimum wage were among the topics discussed at UCI Women’s Team seminar held in Siena last Sunday. March
12,
2015 (cyclingtips.com.au)
 I
remember when my dad taught me the phrase “eating crow”.
As a kid, I thought it was the funniest thing I had ever heard - “Even the gizzard???” I would always exclaim, proud of my witty use of avian anatomy. For those who have not heard the phrase, one “eats crow” when forced to admit error in a previously asserted viewpoint. For instance: I have spent the last few years confidently proclaiming that I wanted to ride primarily in the United States - that above all, I would never sign on for a full season in Europe. So you could say that this year, as the only American on the Eurocentric Wiggle Honda team, I am eating crow. Fortunately, it has so far turned out to taste pretty good. March
12,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 The
seventh and final stage of this year’s Paris-Nice is the climb of the
Col d’Eze. It’s seen action in various editions of the French stage
race since 1968, most recently in 2013 when Richie Porte took
the stage win and cemented his overall victory.
At 9.6km long the Col d’Eze climb isn’t up there with the mammoth mountains that the sport tackles in the heart of the Alps, Pyrenees or Dolomites but it’s a decisive climb, particularly given it falls on the last day of the race. The climb has an average gradient of 4.7% and rises 501 meters over its 9.6km. It’s a far cry from what a velodrome has to offer so why would a team take its riders for an expensive and intense session in one of the world’s leading indoor velodromes to prepare for it? March
12,
2015 (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
 Tom Boonen has
undergone a surgical procedure to rectify the shoulder joint
dislocation he suffered after crashing during stage one of Paris-Nice
on Monday.
Although it was initially suspected that the 34-year-old Belgian Classics star had fractured his collarbone, a medical examination revealed that he had suffered from an acromioclavicular (AC) joint dislocation. Boonen’s surgical procedure was undertaken in a hospital in Herentals, and his Etixx-QuickStep team reports that it went well. March
12,
2015 (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
 Geraint Thomas has
been a double Olympic gold medalist, placed top ten in the Tour of
Flanders and Paris-Roubaix, won top-tier time trials and taken some
impressive stage race results.
One-day Classics, stage races, track medals, even grand tours; he could have his pick from any. Thomas’ only problem was that he was in danger of settling on none of them. March
12,
2015 (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
 What
separates the category award winners from Best in Show is little more
than a matter of degrees.
While we don’t have a hard and fast rule regarding framesets being ineligible for Best in Show, they lack the extra degrees of consideration that have gone into a bike once it is painted and built up with parts. Mark DiNucci’s entry for Best Lugged Frame caused me to reconsider that position for the better part of a day. March
12,
2015 (redkiteprayer.com)
 Friday's
Tirreno-Adriatico Stage 3 departs Cascina at 11:15am CET (6:15am U.S.
Eastern) and is expected to finish at Arezzo at around 4:13pm CET
(11:13am U.S. Eastern).
Tirreno-Adriatico live streaming video should get underway at around 2:30pm CET (9:30am U.S. Eastern, 6:30am Pacific). March
11,
2015 (cyclingfans.com)
| March
12,
2015
 A
spectator caused Australian Loren
Rowney to crash at the finish of the Ronde van Drenthe
race in the Netherlands on Thursday.
Video footage shows a man, standing against the barriers on the right side of the finish chute. He appears to have reached out and grabbed Rowney’s handlebars. She went tumbling to the ground, right before the finish line. March
12,
2015 (velonews.com)
 "There
is much to admire in the CIRC report. Its terms of reference were never
designed to flush out hitherto unknown dopers but it does score highly
in its forensic analysis of cycling’s governance.
In this it is scathing. It is obvious that the leadership of the UCI did not always execute its responsibilities competently; so the spotlight falls on the past presidents Hein Verbruggen and Pat McQuaid. Both saved their most vigorous efforts for the pursuit of people they believed had 'defamed the UCI and its presidents.'” March
12,
2015 (theguardian.com)
 There’s
the public face, and then there’s what they really think.
Reactions to the UCI’s headline-grabbing CIRC Report have been muted and guarded from inside the peloton, but turn off the tape recorder and you begin to hear a different story There is a blend of anger, frustration, and apathy in light of the release, on Monday, of the long-awaited report from the Cycling Independent Reform Commission that portrayed today’s peloton in a very mixed light. As part of its sweeping study of the EPO era, the three-member panel also suggested that doping remains a major problem within cycling. March
12,
2015 (velonews.com)
 Geraint Thomas has
given his reaction to some of the findings in the Cycling Independent
Reform Commission’s report into doping in professional cycling, saying
that he finds it ‘insulting’ that some people consider that cycling is
‘still really filthy’.
Thomas made it clear that he thinks his Tour de France-winning Sky team-mates Chris Froome and Bradley Wiggins ride clean. A section of the CIRC report relating to doping in cycling today included a statement from an unnamed current professional rider, who felt that “90% of the peloton was doping, although he thought that there was little orchestrated team doping in the manner that teams had previously employed.” March
12,
2015 (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
 Chris Froome took
time to answer fans’ queries in an impromptu Twitter
question-and-answer session on Wednesday, including his reaction on
hearing the news this week that French rider Lloyd Mondory had
tested positive for EPO.
“What an idiot” was Froome’s reply to Alexandre Mignot who asked “What was your first thought when you learned Lloyd Mondory’s positive test?”. Mignot then followed the answer up, asking Froome whether he thought this because Mondory doped or got caught. “Because he doped obviously,” said Froome. March
12,
2015 (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
 There
may be a dark cloud of uncertainty hanging over Astana at the moment,
but its team at the Tour de Langkawi is determined to carry on with
business as usual.
In February the UCI requested that the Kazakh team’s WorldTour license be revoked following an audit conducted by the Institute of Sport Sciences of the University of Lausanne (ISSUL). It came after five positive tests in a year for riders associated with the team (two coming from the Astana Continental team that has since been suspended) which led Brian Cookson to say they were drinking in the last chance saloon. March
12,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Compass
tires are available in two versions: standard and extralight.
What is the difference between the two? The difference is in the casing. The standard casing is already quite light and supple, but for the Extralight, we worked with Panaracer to push the envelope further. These tires use a casing material that is also used on high-end tubular tires, and not usually available for clinchers. March
12,
2015 (janheine.wordpress.com)
 Stages
Cycling jumped into the power-meter game at the end of 2012, but its
parent company, Foundation Fitness, had already been producing indoor
bikes for two decades. In fact, the genesis of the left-crank power
meter Stages now sells came from Foundation Fitness.
The Stages Indoor Cycling bikes will be sold to gyms and individuals. Unlike many one-size-fits-all gym bikes, the SC3 and SC2 were clearly designed by cyclists. BikeRadar had a chance to ride the SC3, and a few things were notable. The Gates carbon belt drive is smooth and quiet. Height and fore/aft adjustments are quick and easy for the saddle and the handlebars. March
12,
2015 (bikeradar.com)
 Friday's Tour de
Langkawi Stage 6 departs Maran at 3:00pm local (8:00am CET, 3:00am U.S.
Eastern) and is expected at the finish at Karak at around 5:19pm local
(10:19am CET, 5:19am U.S. Eastern).
Tour de Langkawi live streaming should begin at around 4pm local (9:00am CET, 4:00am U.S. Eastern). March
11,
2015 (cyclingfans.com)
March
11,
2015
 In
the fight against doping, what is the definition of a proportional
response?
The CIRC report, released late Sunday by the UCI, proposes an increase in overnight testing for riders, utilizing a new exception within the UCI’s 2015 Anti-Doping Rules. The proposal, if acted upon, could see riders roused at any hour of the night to provide samples to anti-doping officials. March
11,
2015 (velonews.com)
|
Kwiatkowski loses
his race lead to Matthews
going into mountains.
Michael Matthews made the most of a perfect lead-out from his Orica-GreenEdge team to take victory on stage 3 of Paris-Nice. The Australian was delivered to the front in the final two corners and powered home to beat Davide Cimolai and Giacomo Nizzolok. Matthews also moves into the race lead, just one second ahead of Michael Kwiatkowski. March
11,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
Andrea Guardini got
back to winning ways at the Tour de Langkawi, seeing off Jakub Mareczko and
yellow jersey Caleb Ewan
to secure his third victory in four stages.
Whereas the two climbs in yesterday’s stage meant the Italian was unable to contest the sprint, today’s flat 165km route down the east coast of Malaysia from Kota Bharu to Kuala Berang was tailor-made for him to secure his 17th victory since 2011. Yesterday’s stage winner Ewan got boxed in and came from too far back, while fellow 20-year-old Mareczko was in a good position but lacked Guardini’s raw speed. March
11,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Alex Dowsett is
hoping to make his attempt at the UCI Hour Record in late April after
his initial plans were postponed by a training crash that resulted in a
broken collarbone.
The 26 year-old’s support team are looking at the slot to minimize the disruption to the Movistar rider’s road season and ahead of Bradley Wiggins’ attempt scheduled to take place in London on June 7. March
11,
2015 (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
 It’s
touch-and-go if Simon
Gerrans will be able to defend his
Liège-Bastogne-Liège title next month.
The Australian suffered a fracture on the radial head of his arm in a heavy crash in Saturday’s Strade Bianche, and team officials said his spring classics program might be in danger. Orica-GreenEdge sport director Matt White said the team is crossing its fingers that Gerrans could return as soon as the Volta a Catalunya at the end of March, but insist it’s still too early to say if that’s possible. March
11,
2015 (velonews.com)
 This
weekend, Colin Reuter
of crossresults.com
poured over his databases with one goal in mind: to figure out the best
and worst ways to try and get a UCI point in cyclocross in the United
States.
How did he do this? He looked at all the races on the USA CX Pro Calender, and based on his crossresults.com rider points system, he examined both the predicted rider and the actual rider to claim the last UCI point in a given race. For the full math and his conclusions, be sure to check out his post at Until the Snow Ends, but we wanted to offer some of his salient points, as well as make a few of our own. March
11,
2015 (cxmagazine.com)
2014-15
Races
& Results.
Tirreno-Adriatico - Mar 11-17 (Stages & Results), Paris Nice - Mar 8-15 (Stages & Results), Le Tour de Langkawi - Mar 8-15 (Stages & Results), Giro d'Italia 2015 - May 9-31 (Stages), Tour de France 2015 - July 4-26 (Stages), Vuelta a España 2015 - Aug 22-Sept 13 (Stages), UCI Road World Championship 2015 - Sept 20-27 (Stages), Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen - Mar 6-8 (Results), Strade Bianche - Mar 7 (Results), Strade Bianche Women - Mar 7 (Results), UCI Track World Championships - Feb 18-22 (Results), UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships - Jan 31-Feb 1 (Results).  Mark Cavendish
completed the opening time trial of the Tirreno-Adriatico stage race
today despite suffering the after-effects of a stomach virus he picked
in South Africa last week.
He admitted he feels “nervous” with the illness striking at a crucial time in the season, with less than two weeks to go until Milan-San Remo. “At least it’s better that it happens now than next week,” Cavendish told Cycling Weekly. March
11,
2015 (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
 After
a short hiatus, the Addict returned to Scott’s road range in 2014.
The frameset was re-designed to offer more compliance than the original Addict while continuing as a lightweight chassis. In this review, CTech editor Matt Wikstrom rides the 2015 Addict and compares the mid-priced Addict 20 with the high-end Team Issue bike. March
11,
2015 (cyclingtips.com.au)
 "This
could have been the most pointless bike review ever written, because
Ritte is one of those brands that people either conceptually get and
love, or else really, really don't.
But two factors make your consideration of this bike worthwhile, beyond Ritte's reputation. First - and most important - this thing is a blast to ride, and this noteworthy capability often gets overshadowed by Ritte's spirited marketing. Second is that, as I showed the bike around, I realized that some people who don't like Ritte misunderstand what the company is about." March
11,
2015 (bicycling.com)
 Thursday's
Paris-Nice Stage 4 departs Varennes-sur-Allier at 10:15am CET (5:15am
U.S. Eastern) and is expected to finish at Croix de Chaubouret at
around 3:30pm CET (10:30am U.S. Eastern).
Paris-Nice live streaming video should get underway at around 2:00pm CET (9:00am U.S. Eastern, 6:00pm Pacific). March
11,
2015 (cyclingfans.com)
 André Greipel
finished off the hard work of his Lotto Soudal team with a well played
long sprint victory on the second stage of Paris-Nice in Saint Amond
Montrond.
Michal Kwiatkowski held onto the yellow jersey, but Degenkolb pulled himself closer to the race lead with the time bonus, and is now third at three seconds behind Rohan Dennis. March
10,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
Past
Olympic and worlds silver medallist Larsson to attack hour record on
Saturday.
March
10,
2015 (cyclingtips.com.au)
Chris
Froome’s withdrawal from Tirreno-Adriatico shows ‘lack of respect’,
says organizer.
March
10,
2015 (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
Emma
Johansson: Bad luck, good legs and fighting to the finish at Strade
Bianche.
March
10,
2015 (cyclingtips.com.au)
|  Adriano Malori won
the opening stage of Tirreno-Adriatico in a shortened 5.4km individual
time trial in Lido di Camaiore, Italy on Wednesday.
The Italian finished the course in 6:04 minutes beating Fabian Cancellara by one second and Greg Van Avermaet by two seconds. March
11,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Doping
is once again at the top of cycling news headlines this week after the
publication of the Cycling Independent Reform Commission (CIRC)
anti-doping report and the positive EPO test of French rider Lloyd Mondory.
We recently asked readers to come up with measures that they would introduce to help the fight against doping in professional cycling, and here are a selection of answers. March
11,
2015 (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
 An
anonymous racer from Colorado has stepped in to rescue the Tour of the
Gila from possible extinction. The Silver City Daily Press reported
that the donor has competed in the Tour of the Gila in the past and
wanted to have another chance to come back.
Race organizer Jack Brennan said the individual did not want to be named just yet, but stated categorically that it was not Lance Armstrong, who resides in Aspen. March
11,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 The
top six ranked women’s international cycling teams are among the 16
squads that will be taking part in the 2015 Friends Life Women’s Tour
over June 17-21.
The second edition of the Women’s Tour has attracted a very strong line-up of teams from around the world, including seven teams making their debut in the race. Rabo Liv, the team of last year’s winner Marianne Vos, will return, as does the Boels Dolmans squad of 2014 World Cup winner Lizzie Armitstead. March
11,
2015 (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
 Red
and orange. It’s the color that’s been dominating the women’s races and
podiums since the start of the season as the Boels-Dolmans squad is
emerging as the team to beat this year.
The Dutch-registered squad has already secured six wins this spring. The only race they started in which they didn’t reach the top step of the podium was Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, and even there, they put two riders on the podium with van Dijk in second and Armitstead in third. There’s no sign that they’re slowing down. March
11,
2015 (cyclingtips.com.au)
 "I’ve
been struggling with my thoughts about the Abbott “Signorina” bicycle
displayed at NAHBS that has created both outrage and controversy.
As a student of art (I attended art school at the college level), I can appreciate that one man sees Mona Lisa where another might see a Mapplethorpe and take offense. By definition, “art” is objective; but, intent comes into play here and by adding his “survey” to the photos on his web site, Mr. Abbott moves away from art and into the realm of just plain creepy and lewd." March
11,
2015 (outspokencyclist.com
 "Cavendish, Merckx, LeMond, Boardman... We take
a look at 10 riders that made a big splash in their first year as a
professional rider."
March
11,
2015 (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
 The
Protone was originally unveiled at the Tour de France last year, and
Kask have been working with the team since then to further refine the
design, reportedly improving upon aerodynamics, strength and comfort.
So the version that’s coming to market is effectively the Protone Mk II and Kask say the 210g lid boasts one of the lowest aerodynamic coefficients of any vented helmet around, without compromising on ventilation. March
11,
2015 (roadcyclinguk.com)
 The
road bike is dead.
That is to say, the concept of a road bike without some sort of preceding adjective is dead. Today, you can get an endurance bike, an aero bike, an adventure bike, a race bike, a gravel bike or a climbing bike, to list a few. As the definitions of road riding continue to splinter and brands battle to carve out territory with specialised bikes, our list of adjectives gets longer. Will we reach a point where these various streams converge? Not any time soon. March
11,
2015 (bikeradar.com)
 Thursday's
Tirreno-Adriatico Stage 2 departs Camaiore at 12:35pm CET (7:35am U.S.
Eastern) and is expected to finish at Cascina at around 4:14pm CET
(11:14am U.S. Eastern).
Tirreno-Adriatico live streaming video should get underway at around 2:30pm CET (9:30am U.S. Eastern, 6:30am Pacific). March
11,
2015 (cyclingfans.com)
| March
11,
2015
In
the fight against doping, what is the definition of a proportional
response?
The CIRC report, released late Sunday by the UCI, proposes an increase in overnight testing for riders, utilizing a new exception within the UCI’s 2015 Anti-Doping Rules. The proposal, if acted upon, could see riders roused at any hour of the night to provide samples to anti-doping officials. Riders dislike the idea. The UCI is keeping all its options open. March
11,
2015 (velonews.com)
 Roman Kreuziger is
hoping to make his appearance in front of the Court of Arbitration for
Sport (CAS) before the end of next month.
Kreuziger’s legal team have proposed a number of dates to the CAS but he hopes that a date will be set for April, which means that he would still potentially be able to ride the Giro d’Italia in May if he is found innocent of doping. March
11,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 AG2R-La
Mondiale rider Romain
Bardet apologized to cycling fans after his teammate Lloyd Mondory was
suspended for failing a drugs test, saying the incident jeopardises
efforts to make the sport more credible.
Mondory was suspended by the UCI pending an investigation after he tested positive for EPO in an out-of-competition test on February 17. Bardet, 24, had a breakthrough year with the French team in 2014, finishing sixth in the Tour de France, and said it is unfair for the whole squad to be tainted by the actions of individuals. March
11,
2015 (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
 Speaking
in the wake of a Cycling Independent Reform Commission (CIRC) report
that was critical of the past presidents of the UCI, Paul Kimmage has
said that he would be very surprised if Hein Verbruggen’s
lawsuit against him were to continue.
Verbruggen and his successor Pat McQuaid both launched suits against Kimmage in the past, claiming defamation of their character in terms of his criticism of them and how they handled anti-doping in the UCI. McQuaid dropped out of that suit last year but Verbruggen pushed onwards with his portion of it. However according to Kimmage, there were recent indications that the Dutchman was awaiting the outcome of the CIRC report before going further. March
11,
2015 (cyclingtips.com.au)
 Lampre-Merida
general manager Brent
Copeland has explained that his team found itself between
a rock and a hard place when it decided to leave the Movement for
Credible Cycling rather than fire Diego
Ulissi.
Ulissi was handed a nine-month ban after testing positive for salbutamol at last year’s Giro d’Italia and MPCC regulations state that member teams cannot hire riders who have received doping suspensions of six months or longer. Ulissi has a deal with Lampre until the end of this season and can return to racing on March 28. March
11,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 "In
my previous column, I looked at how last month’s “spring training”
races would have a bearing on the one-day classics season - which
opened with the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad.
Interestingly, the strong men in the famous “sandstorm stage” of mid-February’s Tour of Qatar proved to be the strong men of the Belgian cobbles, with Team Sky’s Ian Stannard defending his Het Nieuwsblad title after he followed (and then defeated!) three Etixx-Quick Step, led by Tom Boonen, in team-time-trial formation, similar to the one they organized in the desert winds of the Gulf state." March
11,
2015 (pelotonmagazine.com)
 Sunglasses
are something you don’t want to think about. You don’t want to be
constantly readjusting them or struggling to clean sweat and grime off
them.
Let’s just say that when it comes to sunglasses, the less you see of them, the better – especially if that means the lens itself covers your entire field of vision. Spy Optics understood those needs completely when they developed the Daft. March
11,
2015 (aerogeeks.com)
 ID
tags are important, but let’s face it - they’re usually just not that
exciting. But an ID tag that can save your life and open your beer?
Well, that’s worth talking about.
The Crashtag provides info that a first responder might need in an emergency: Your name, emergency contacts, and allergies are engraved on the aerospace grade titanium tag. To make the dogtag-style ID even more functional, a bottle opener is located at one end. A techy spin on the ID is the addition of a QR Code that can be scanned and directed to your Crashtag page, which links to your Facebook, Strava, Twitter, and more. March
11,
2015 (bicycling.com)
 Thursday's Tour de
Langkawi Stage 5 departs Kuala Terengganu at 12:00pm local (5:00am CET,
12:00am
U.S. Eastern) and is expected at the finish at Kuantan at around
4:40pm local (940am CET, 1:40am U.S. Pacific).
Tour de Langkawi live streaming should begin at around 4pm local (9:00am CET, 4:00am U.S. Eastern). March
11,
2015 (cyclingfans.com)
March
10,
2015
|
André Greipel
finished off the hard work of his Lotto Soudal team with a well played
long sprint victory on the second stage of Paris-Nice in Saint Amond
Montrond.
The German champion edged out French champion Arnaud Demare and John Degenkolb. Michal Kwiatkowski held onto the yellow jersey, but Degenkolb pulled himself closer to the race lead with the time bonus, and is now third at three seconds behind Rohan Dennis. March
10,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 In
contrast to the well-publicized build-ups of the other riders who have
attacked the world hour record, the Swede Gustav Larsson has
announced just four days in advance that he intends to try to break the
record on Saturday.
The 34 year old will make his attempt at the National Cycling Centre in Manchester as part of the program for the Revolution Series. He will begin his ride at 15.30 local time, and will attempt to break Rohan Dennis’ mark of 52.491 kilometers. “I am very confident of breaking the Swedish hour record but it is the world record I am after” Larsson stated. “I think it will be possible – it will not be easy but I am feeling ready for the challenge!” March
10,
2015 (cyclingtips.com.au)
 Chris Froome‘s
last-minute decision yesterday to skip Tirreno-Adriatico for a second
consecutive year has angered race organizer RCS Sport, who said that
Team Sky is showing a lack of respect.
“I wrote to Sky’s team manager, David Brailsford,” RCS Sport Cycling Director Mauro Vegni told La Gazzetta dello Sport newspaper. “I didn’t like that I had to find out the news about Froome’s withdrawal via various websites. At least they could’ve bothered to called me. March
10,
2015 (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
 "I
had a really good ride at Strade Bianche. It’s funny to say that, but I
did.
It was all smooth in the beginning. I felt really strong. I had been feeling really good in training last week, which was exciting building up to this race. Things were to plan early. Not much happened until we came into the long section of gravel road. We knew position would be really important in this section, and I was top five over the first gravel hill. I was exactly where I needed to be..." March
10,
2015 (cyclingtips.com.au)
 Rudy Pevenage was
the man behind Jan Ulrich
and guided him to a Tour de France win and many other successes, but
let’s not forget he was a top rider in his own Pro career.
Not much has been heard of the man from Moerbeke recently. Yes, that Rudy Pevenage, the guy who was involved in the Jan Ulrich controversies a few years ago. But surely there’s more to the man than that? He rode in the pro peloton for 14 seasons; Ijsboerke, Capri Sonne, Del Tongo and Superconfex – some of the 70’s and 80’s best squads. He held the yellow jersey in le Tour for nine days, he won the green jersey in le Tour, he stood on the second step of the podium in the Ronde Van Vlaanderen, Tour de Suisse – and The Tour of Scotland ‘Milk Race’. March
10,
2015 (pezcyclingnews.com)
 While
official numbers have yet to be released for this year’s North American
Handmade Bicycle Show, the number of attendees and exhibitors was off
from previous locales.
Given the winter storm that rolled through Louisville just ahead of the event, it’s not unreasonable to surmise that the hazardous driving cut down on people rolling in from other nearby cities like Indiannapolis, Cincinatti and Lexington. That exhibitor numbers were down seems to be a reflection of the fact that organizer Don Walker selected a city east of the Mississippi River for the second year running, and his home town for the fourth of 11 years. This is the feedback I heard from several builder who chose not to pay for booth space, but also wanted to remain anonymous in their criticism. March
10,
2015 (redkiteprayer.com)
2014-15
Races
& Results.
Paris Nice - Mar 8-15 (Stages & Results), Le Tour de Langkawi - Mar 8-15 (Stages & Results), Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen - Mar 6-8 (Stages & Results), Tirreno-Adriatico - Mar 11-17 (Start List), Giro d'Italia 2015 - May 9-31 (Stages), Tour de France 2015 - July 4-26 (Stages), Vuelta a España 2015 - Aug 22-Sept 13 (Stages), UCI Road World Championship 2015 - Sept 20-27 (Stages), Strade Bianche - Mar 7 (Results), Strade Bianche Women - Mar 7 (Results), Le Samyn - Mar 4 (Results), Le Samyn des Dames - Mar 4 (Results), Kuurne-Bruxelles-Kuurne - Mar 1 (Results), Omloop Het Nieuwsblad Elite - Feb 28 (Results), UCI Track World Championships - Feb 18-22 (Results), UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships - Jan 31-Feb 1 (Results).  Wednesday's
Paris-Nice
Stage 3 departs Saint-Armand-Montrond at 11:20am CET
(6:20am U.S.
Eastern) and is expected to finish at
Saint-Pourcain-Sur-Sioule at around
3:45pm CET
(10:45am U.S. Eastern).
Paris-Nice live streaming video should get underway at around 2:00pm CET (9:00am U.S. Eastern, 6:00am Pacific). March
10,
2015 (cyclingfans.com)
 Kent
Eriksen Cycles has received an award for either best TIG welding or
best titanium construction for each of the last four shows.
We saw stellar work from Quiring, Moonmen, Steve Potts and Kish; indeed the overall quality of TIG welding was stellar. However, Brad Bingham’s work has few peers. There are few welders who can go toe-to-toe with this craftsman; Seven Cycles’ Tim Delaney is one of the only people I know of who could give him a run for his money. March
10,
2015 (redkiteprayer.com)
Alexander Kristoff cruised in to win the sprint of the first stage of Paris-Nice, easily leaving Nacer Bouhanni and Bryan Coquard behind him. The Norwegian had a clear bike length lead over this followers as he crossed the finish line in Contres. John Degenkolb and Michael Matthews had picked up points at the first intermediate sprint early on, and the bonus seconds would have allowed them to take the yellow jersey with a stage win. Degenkolb was the first to go in the sprint, however, he went into the wind too early and didn’t even finish in the top 10 on the day, but he did move up to fourth overall. March
9,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
The major new Cycling Independent Reform Commission report, published in the early hours of this morning, has set out in great detail the circumstances under which Lance Armstrong came to ride the Tour of Ireland pro race in 2009. March
9,
2015 (stickybottle.com)
|  It
had all been looking so good for Tirreno-Adriatico. The “fantastic
four” of Alberto Contador,
Chris Froome,
Vincenzo Nibali
and Nairo Quintana
were supposed to clash for the first time together in a stage race only
for Froome
to fall ill, while we were promised a sprint royale between Marcel Kittel and Mark Cavendish but
the German’s got a virus.
Still even in the absence of Froome and Kittel the Italian stage race has a stellar startlist that trumps Paris-Nice by a variety of metrics, whether sheer anticipation or the cold logic of UCI points. Why? March
10,
2015 (inrng.com)
 Reigning
two-time Philly Cycling Classic winner Kiel Reijnen is
poised to take the king of the mountains classification at Tour de
Langkawi after a tough day of racing in stage 3 on Tuesday.
Reijnen, 28, suffered through a nagging knee injury, sustained in the closing kilometer of Tour de Langkawi’s stage 2, to claim KOM points on both categorized climbs, including the 1,982-foot (Cat 2) and 3,301-foot Titiwangsa (Cat 1). Now, with five stages remaining and only a handful climbs for riders to challenge Reijnen’s 19-point advantage over nearest rival Natnael Berhane, the American may be a lock for the final mountains classification award come Sunday when the race finishes in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.. March
10,
2015 (velonews.com)
 After
the frustration of two second-place finishes in two days, Caleb Ewan finally
managed to raise his arms on the line at the end of the third stage of
the Tour de Langkawi, taking the leader’s yellow jersey in the process.
The 20-year-old Australian used the two categorized climbs in the first half of the 170km route from Gerik to Tanah Merah to dispose of the man who had bettered him on the two previous stages – Andrea Guardini – before outgunning Youcef Reguigui and Leonardo Duque in the finishing straight. March
10,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 A
multi-year probe of doping in cycling has turned up some stunning
evidence from the International Cycling Union that paints an image of
the sport closer to the Tour de Frankenstein than Tour de France.
The three-member panel delivered their findings on Sunday, which contained startling accounts of how deep steroid, HGH, PED and masking processes went. Many accounts centered on an apparent widespread usage of blood transfusions through European doctors to help cyclists get around testing. These are the most important stories from that report. March
10,
2015 (sbnation.com)
 If
Lance Armstrong
was hoping for some sympathy from the UCI for cooperating with CIRC
investigators, he was wrong.
One of the carrots the UCI-sanctioned Cycling Independent Reform Commission (CIRC) dangled to potential witnesses was a possible reduction of preexisting bans, and Armstrong took the bait. But will there be a payback for two lengthy interviews that Armstrong conducted with the panel? UCI president Brian Cookson didn’t seem convinced. “This is very much a matter for USADA. I’ve got no remit to reduce the ban of Lance Armstrong,” Cookson said Monday to a small group of journalists at the UCI headquarters. “I have no desire to be the president that let Armstrong off the hook, or anything like that.” March
10,
2015 (velonews.com)
 The
commission say they could not find one credible person in the sport who
would give cycling a clean bill of health, but whose views are given
credibility?
Many well informed cycling fans will be scratching their heads, asking: “Is that all there is?” Some will be wondering where the €3m went. A great deal of the information presented in the CIRC report could have been gleaned by anyone with a keyboard and a passing acquaintance with Google. March
10,
2015 (theguardian.com)
 Sporza reports that
Patrick Gaudy,
a Belgian cyclocross racer, has been struck and killed by a truck while
training in Walloon Brabant, Belgium on Tuesday.
The 38-year-old was found dead at the scene of the collision by emergency personnel. March
10,
2015 (velonews.com)
 The
2015 Tour de Suisse offers 15,606 metres of elevation and a visit to
the Rettenbach Glacier on the queen stage. The race covers 1,320
kilometres in nine stages from June 13-25, as the “perfect race
preparation for the Tour de France for aspiring riders.”
Race organizers presented the course for this year on Monday. It will open with a 5.1km time trial in Risch-Rotkreuz. Climbing will start the next day, as stage 2 covers 174.5km and 1,547 metres climbing with start and finish in Rotkreuz. There is even more climbing on tap in stage 3 from Brunnen to Olivone (174.5km, 2,547m), with the final climb coming only 6km before the finish line. March
10,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Wednesday's Tour de
Langkawi Stage 4 departs Kota Bharu at 12:00pm local (5:00am CET,
12:00am
U.S. Eastern) and is expected at the finish at Kuala Berang at around
3:43pm local (8:43am CET, 1:30am U.S. Pacific).
Tour de Langkawi live streaming should begin at around 3pm local (8:00am CET, 3:00am U.S. Eastern). March
10,
2015 (cyclingfans.com)
| March
10,
2015
 Ag2r
La Mondiale’s Lloyd
Mondory has been advised of an adverse analytical finding
for EPO from a sample collected on February 17, 2015, the UCI announced
Tuesday.
The sample was taken in an out-of-competition control. The rider now has the right to request the analysis of a B sample. Mondory has been provisionally suspended. He could face a four-year ban if the test results are confirmed. The new WADA code, enacted January 1, allows for the longer ban given the presence, use, attempted use, or possession of a prohibited substance or prohibited method by an athlete. March
10,
2015 (velonews.com)
 Organizer
of the 2009 Tour of Ireland pro stage race, Darach McQuaid has
rejected findings that Lance
Armstrong only agreed to ride the race because his brother
and then UCI president Pat
McQuaid allowed him return to racing earlier than he was
eligible.
McQuaid said the Cycling Independent Reform Commission (CIRC) making a link between Armstrong being allowed to ride the Tour Down Under in exchange for his agreeing to ride the Tour of Ireland “and showing actual proof” of that link were “two different things”. The CIRC report published yesterday said Pat McQuaid was initially completely against allowing Armstrong return to racing some 13 days before his period in a pre-comeback doping program had been completed. March
10,
2015 (stickybottle.com)
 The
Rimini-based inquiry into the death of Marco Pantani has
dismissed the hypothesis that he was murdered and found that he died as
a result of an overdose of anti-depressants, with his use of cocaine a
contributing factor.
Pantani died on 14 February 2004 at Residence Le Rose and the original autopsy concluded that he had died as a result of a cocaine overdose. In August of last year, however, the case was reopened after a private investigation funded by Pantani’s parents and publicized heavily by Gazzetta dello Sport claimed that Pantani had been murdered. March
10,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Already
pronounced as having a dislocated left acromioclavicular (AC) joint due
to his crash on Monday’s stage one of Paris-Nice, Tom Boonen has
received further bad news.
Yvan van Mol, the Etixx-Quickstep doctor, has told FranceTV that the Belgian rider also has a fractured elbow. Boonen was already facing a recovery period of three to six weeks, and this is a further complication for him. Van Mol stated Monday that there was no question of him being able to ride the big one day races in the spring, his main goal. March
10,
2015 (cyclingtips.com.au)
 "On
the eve of the Tirreno-Adriatico, Tinkoff-Saxo is delighted to announce
that the Spanish six-time Grand Tour winner will remain as its leader
until the end of the 2016 season.
Alberto Contador is undoubtedly one of the world’s best stage racers and a legend in his lifetime. With six overall Grand Tour wins, more than any other active rider, along with numerous wins in stage races, Alberto has a claim to being the finest overall cyclist of this generation. As such, it is only natural Tinkoff-Saxo will have him as its leader for one more year, until the end of the 2016 season." March
10,
2015 (cyclingquotes.com)
 "I’ve
been riding on BLKTEC‘s wheelsets and components (stem, bars and
seatpost) for almost a year now and though they do sponsor me (I want
to make that clear as I can) I really only have good things to say
about them. Well he would say that, you may be thinking but also, I
don’t choose to partner with companies making bad products.
It’s not just me that thinks they’re good either. One product buyer for a big Asian distributor described the BLKTEC stuff as ‘the best products at the Taichung Bike Week’ last year. The Taichung Bike Week, if you don’t know, is a yearly show that brings together project managers with manufacturers that is closed to the public, and might be just about the most important bike ‘show’ all year." March
10,
2015 (crankpunk.com)
 Tirreno-Adriatico
LIVE starting Wednesday,
March 11th through the 17th.
Stage 1 starts at 2:00pm CET (9:00am U.S. Eastern). Finish at around 4:10pm CET (11:10am U.S. Eastern). Live video from 2:30pm CET (9:30am U.S. Eastern, 6:30am Pacific). March
10,
2015 (cyclingfans.com)
 The
abbreviation, PR, in this bike's name is an allusion to Paris-Roubaix.
The F1 PR also shares a lot of features with the previous version of Felt's more thoroughbred road racer, the F1. This heritage, combined with several key changes, optimizes the F1 PR for the diverse rigors of the spring Classic races and make it a versatile companion for any kind of spirited riding you want to do, on any sort of road. To help the frame perform well on brutal terrain, Felt relaxed its typical race geometry, slackening the head-and seat-tube angles by a little more than one degree. (The exact amount differs from size to size.) Coupled with a slightly lengthened wheelbase and lowered bottom bracket, this is intended to improve stability when the bike hits bumps at speed on pocked or cobbled roads. March
10,
2015 (bicycling.com)
March
9,
2015
|
 Alexander Kristoff
cruised in to win the sprint of the first stage of Paris-Nice, easily
leaving Nacer Bouhanni
and Bryan Coquard
behind him. The Norwegian had a clear bike length lead over this
followers as he crossed the finish line in Contres.
John Degenkolb and Michael Matthews had picked up points at the first intermediate sprint early on, and the bonus seconds would have allowed them to take the yellow jersey with a stage win. Degenkolb was the first to go in the sprint, however, he went into the wind too early and didn’t even finish in the top 10 on the day, but he did move up to fourth overall. March
9,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 The
major new Cycling Independent Reform Commission report, published in
the early hours of this morning, has set out in great detail the
circumstances under which Lance
Armstrong came to ride the Tour of Ireland pro race in
2009.
The report has linked the UCI allowing Armstrong return to the sport 13 days before his doping quarantine period was served with his agreeing to ride the race that Pat McQuaid’s friends and family members were involved in. The report says at a time when the Tour Down Under was paying the American $1 million per year to ride its race, there was no fee for him to ride the Tour of Ireland. This was despite the fact it was a struggling, small three-day event. March
9,
2015 (stickybottle.com)
 Former
UCI president Hein
Verbruggen, one of the key figures in the the UCI’s
Cycling Independent Reform Commission (CIRC) report, issued a statement
Monday in response to the report’s findings.
The sweeping, well-documented 227-page report touches on many subjects, but more than half of its contents are directed at the inner workings of the UCI and allegations leveled against former presidents Hein Verbruggen (1991-2005) and Pat McQuaid (2005-13). The report stops short of calling out corruption and bribery charges in the most illicit cases, but it didn’t pull any punches, either. CIRC portrays Verbruggen’s world as a dark, confrontational, and deceptive world. Verbruggen saw the potential to reshape the sport’s image in the 1990s following a string of doping scandals, and began a close relationship with Lance Armstrong, helping to sell the idea of a “Tour of Renewal” in the Texan’s 1999 comeback Tour. March
9,
2015 (velonews.com)
 If
you were hoping for lurid revelations to emerge from the Cycling
Independent Commission’s report into cycling’s doping culture and
allegations of corruption at the UCI, then you might be out of luck.
The more than 200 page report is a small step towards understanding the incredibly complex narrative that is, as it put it, cycling’s former ‘endemic doping culture’, as well as consistent allegations of corruption and failures of governance within cycling’s governing body, the UCI. March
9,
2015 (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
 Due
to the Diego Ulissi
case, Lampre-Merida have decided to leave the Movement for a Credible
Cycling (MPCC).
Ulissi is allowed to return to competition on March 25 when his suspension after a positive Salbutamol test from the Giro d'Italia expires. MPCC rules prevent Lampre-Merida from signing a rider for two years after the end of his suspension but as he already has an existing contract with the team, Lampre-Merida have seen a conflict between the two set of rules. March
9,
2015 (cyclingquotes.com)
 Twenty-five
cycling teams have been selected to take part to the 79th edition of
theFlèche Wallonne (April 22nd 2015) and to the 101th edition of
Liège Bastogne Liège (April 26th 2015).
Along with the 17 WorldTour teams that are obliged to compete, ASO has selected eight wildcard teams that will line up at each race. Six of those team will be competing in both races, including Cofidis, MTN-Qhubeka, Team Europcar, Team Roompot, Topsport Vlaanderen Baloise and Wanty-Groupe Gobert. March
9, 2015 (cyclingquotes.com)
2014-15
Races
& Results.
Paris Nice - Mar 8-15 (Stages & Results), Le Tour de Langkawi - Mar 8-15 (Stages & Results), Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen - Mar 6-8 (Stages & Results), Tirreno-Adriatico - Mar 11-17 (Start List), Giro d'Italia 2015 - May 9-31 (Stages), Tour de France 2015 - July 4-26 (Stages), Vuelta a España 2015 - Aug 22-Sept 13 (Stages), UCI Road World Championship 2015 - Sept 20-27 (Stages), Strade Bianche - Mar 7 (Results), Strade Bianche Women - Mar 7 (Results), Le Samyn - Mar 4 (Results), Le Samyn des Dames - Mar 4 (Results), Kuurne-Bruxelles-Kuurne - Mar 1 (Results), Omloop Het Nieuwsblad Elite - Feb 28 (Results), UCI Track World Championships - Feb 18-22 (Results), UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships - Jan 31-Feb 1 (Results).  Tuesday's Paris-Nice
Stage 2 departs ZooParc de Beauval - Saint-Aignan at 11:30am CET
(6:30am U.S.
Eastern) and is expected to finish at Saint-Amand-Montrond at around
3:50pm CET
(10:50am U.S. Eastern).
Paris-Nice live streaming video should get underway at around 2:00pm CET (9:00am U.S. Eastern, 6:00am Pacific).. March
9,
2015 (cyclingfans.com)
|  2013
Tour de France winner Chris
Froome will miss the Tirreno-Adriatico stage race
this week in Tuscany due to a chest infection.
“Still not feeling well so won’t be making it to #TirrenoAdriatico2015,” the Brit wrote on Twitter. “Really disappointed but health comes first! Time for some R&R…” Froome made his 2015 debut in the Ruta del Sol stage race last month and won the overall title. The week-long Tirreno-Adriatico, which starts Wednesday, was due to be part of his Tour de France build-up. Tour rivals Alberto Contador, Vincenzo Nibali, and Nairo Quintana will participate in the race that travels east from Lido di Camaiore to San Benedetto del Tronto, March 11-17. March
9,
2015 (velonews.com)
 The
cycling world may have been tuned into Europe this past weekend with
Strade Bianche and Paris-Nice taking center stage, but all eyes are
focused on Australian neo-pro Caleb
Ewan at the 20th edition of the Tour de Langkawi.
After two stages, Ewan is sitting second on general classification behind race leader and Langkawi’s all-time leading stage winner (16) Andrea Guardini, who has out-sprinted Ewan to claim the first two stages. March
9,
2015 (velonews.com)
 Tirreno-Adriatico
organizers announced Monday that the race’s team time trial will be
scrapped in favor of a 5.7km individual TT.
Due to the extreme weather conditions that have affected Tuscany and in particular the area around Camaiore, RCS Sport said it was necessary to modify the first stage of Tirreno-Adriatico, scheduled for Wednesday, March 11. The team time trial was originally slated to run 22.7km around the Lido di Camaiore, just northwest of Lucca, Italy. Strong winds knocked down trees along the route, the Movistar team said on Twitter. March
9,
2015 (velonews.com)
 In
an effort to rationalize his rampant cheating, Lance Armstrong has
been telling a compelling story.
He has said he did it to stay competitive because so many cyclists were doing the same. It was a "level playing field," he said. But a report released Sunday challenges that description. Compiled by the Cycling Independent Reform Commission, the report describes a sport in which Armstrong had a "special relationship" with the people in charge of international cycling, unlike other riders. March
9,
2015 (usatoday.com)
 Tuesday's Tour de
Langkawi Stage 3 departs Gerik at 12:00pm local (5:00am CET, 12:00am
U.S. Eastern) and is expected at the finish at Tanah Merah at around
3:43pm local (8:43am CET, 3:43am U.S. Eastern).
Tour de Langkawi live streaming should begin at around 3pm local (8:00am CET, 3:00am U.S. Eastern). March
9,
2015 (cyclingfans.com)
 At
Apple’s Spring Forward launch event on March 9, the Apple Watch was
officially unveiled.
Strava is one of the select group of third-party developers that will offer applications for the new device. Its new app will take advantage of the watch’s fitness functions. When the new application update is available, the Apple Watch will allow cyclists to see basic ride and run metrics on their wrists. Results at the end of a ride or run will be instantly summarized and displayed on the watch, and for multi-sport athletes, the watch will allow you to quickly toggle the Strava application between cycling and running. March
9,
2015 (velonews.com)
 Built
with the singular purpose of delivering Chris Froome to the
Champs-Elysées wearing his second yellow jersey the new Pinarello Dogma
F8 is not just another bike.
After Froome won the Tour in 2013 onboard the Dogma 65.1 Think 2, Fausto Pinarello and his army of engineers had their work cut out to create something truly special for his defense. Although by now we all know the results of the crash marred 2014 Tour the results of the 8th generation Dogma didn’t follow that same trajectory. March
9,
2015 (pelotonmagazine.com)
Andrea Guardini continued his hot streak on Sunday, avoiding a crash with a kilometer to go and out-sprinting neopro Caleb Ewan and Anuar Manan to win stage 1 of the Tour de Langkawi. March
8,
2015 (velonews.com)
| March
9,
2015
 Lance Armstrong will
be given an opportunity to plead for a reduction in his lifetime ban, The Daily Telegraph
can reveal.
Brian Cookson, the president of the UCI, revealed on Monday that he had been asked to broker a meeting between the disgraced American and the United States Anti-Doping Agency in the wake of cycling's independent report into doping. On a day of high drama, which saw former presidents Hein Verbruggen and Pat McQuaid both come out swinging in the wake of the report's findings that they were complicit in encouraging a culture of doping, Armstrong's name was mostly noticeable by its absence. March
9,
2015 (telegraph.co.uk)
 In
what could be a blow to his Spring Classics campaign, Tom Boonen crashed
during stage 1 of Paris-Nice today, abandoning the race with what
appeared to an injured shoulder.
The peloton was chasing a two-rider breakaway about 20km from the finish when Boonen, riding near the rear of the peloton, touched wheels with the rider in front of him and fell on his left shoulder. A Cannondale-Garmin rider also went down in the crash. The team has not yet released information about the three-time Paris-Roubaix winner’s injuries, but Boonen landed hard on his shoulder and was cradling his left arm as he sat on the ground waiting for medical attention. March
9,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
Travis T. Tygart,
CEO of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency:
“We welcome the report of the Cycling Independent Reform Commission (CIRC) initiated by new UCI President Brian Cookson to address revelations of widespread doping and allegations of UCI’s complicity in allowing this fraudulent culture to persist. “The report confirms that, for more than a decade, UCI leaders treated riders and teams unequally — allowing some to be above the rules. The UCI’s favoritism and intentional failure to enforce the anti-doping rules offends the principles of fair play and is contrary to the values on which true sport is based." March
9,
2015 (velonews.com)
 UCI
president Brian Cookson
will request the resignation of Hein
Verbruggen as an honorary president of cycling's governing
body in the wake of revelations of complicity and gross mismanagement
under the Dutchman's watch at the UCI.
The Englishman, reacting to the Cycling Independent Reform Commission [CIRC] report which claimed that doping was still rife in the peloton, admitted that he felt the 227-page document was a "pretty accurate" reflection of where cycling is right now. March
9,
2015 (telegraph.co.uk)
 Within
the 228-page Cycling Independent Reform Commission (CIRC) report is the
finding that there was no evidence behind the allegations of the UCI
covering up Alberto
Contador's positive test for clenbuterol at the 2010 Tour
de France.
The report did find inconsistency with how the case was dealt with and that Contador received favorable treatment by the governing body. While WADA enforces "minimum levels on WADA-accredited laboratories" the CIRC report found that the testing capabilities was a reason behind the unequal treatment of athletes samples, highlighted by Contador's 2010 positive test. The CIRC report investigated the allegation that the UCI had covered up the test until German television station ARD announced the details of the positive test. March
9,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
Tirreno-Adriatico
LIVE starting Wednesday,
March 11th through the 17th.
Stage 1 starts at 2:00pm CET (9:00am U.S. Eastern). Finish at around 4:10pm CET (11:10am U.S. Eastern). Live video from 2:30pm CET (9:30am U.S. Eastern, 6:30am Pacific). March
9,
2015 (cyclingfans.com)
March
8,
2015
|
If
you were hoping for lurid revelations to emerge from the Cycling
Independent Commission’s report into cycling’s doping culture and
allegations of corruption at the UCI, then you might be out of luck.
The more than 200 page report is a small step towards understanding the incredibly complex narrative that is, as it put it, cycling’s former ‘endemic doping culture’, as well as consistent allegations of corruption and failures of governance within cycling’s governing body, the UCI. March
8,
2015 (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
 Despite
the promised CIRC-us on Monday there’s some sport to be had on the
roads and we’re due a stressful sprint finish.
Alexander Kristoff and John Degenkolb are the big names but there’s a nervous duo of Arnaud Démare and Nacer Bouhanni each looking for their first win. March
8,
2015 (inrng.com)
 World
road champion Michael
Kwiatkowski showed his time trial prowess,
winning the prologue of Paris-Nice in Maurepas on Sunday.
He finished less than a second ahead of world Hour Record champion Rohan Dennis, with both of them covering the 6.7km course in 7:40. Third place went to former world time trial champion Tony Martin, who was seven seconds slower. Bradley Wiggins, the reigning world champion in the discipline, finished more than 15 seconds down, and outside of the top ten. March
8,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
2014-15
Races
& Results.
Paris Nice - Mar 8-15 (Stages & Results), Le Tour de Langkawi - Mar 8-15 (Stages & Results), Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen - Mar 6-8 (Stages & Results), Tirreno-Adriatico - Mar 11-17 (Start List), Giro d'Italia 2015 - May 9-31 (Stages), Tour de France 2015 - July 4-26 (Stages), Vuelta a España 2015 - Aug 22-Sept 13 (Stages), UCI Road World Championship 2015 - Sept 20-27 (Stages), Strade Bianche - Mar 7 (Results), Strade Bianche Women - Mar 7 (Results), Le Samyn - Mar 4 (Results), Le Samyn des Dames - Mar 4 (Results), Kuurne-Bruxelles-Kuurne - Mar 1 (Results), Omloop Het Nieuwsblad Elite - Feb 28 (Results), UCI Track World Championships - Feb 18-22 (Results), UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships - Jan 31-Feb 1 (Results).  The
Presidential Tour of Turkey has announced the course for its 51st
edition, to be held April 26-May 3. The course promises a mixture of
sprints and mountains, ending with a spectacular stage in Istanbul.
The race opens with a stage starting and ending in the beach resort of Alanya, which should result in a bunch sprint. The second stage runs from Alanya to Antalya, another coastline and sprint stage. March
8,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Monday's Paris-Nice
Stage 1 departs Saint-Rémy-lès-Chevreuse at 11:00am CET (6:00am U.S.
Eastern) and is expected to finish at Contres at around 3:50pm CET
(10:50am U.S. Eastern).
Paris-Nice live streaming video should get underway at around 2:00pm CET (9:00am U.S. Eastern, 6:00am Pacific).. March
8,
2015 (cyclingfans.com)
 Just
when you thought boutique bicycle components couldn’t get any pricier,
Danish company CeramicSpeed has gone and utterly shattered the glass
ceiling with a pair of outrageously expensive titanium derailleur
pulleys developed in collaboration with the Danish Technological
Institute.
The price tag is a whopping US$1,000 – but hey, at least you get two. March
8,
2015 (bikeradar.com)
| In
an effort to rationalize his rampant cheating, Lance Armstrong has
been telling a compelling story.
He has said he did it to stay competitive because so many cyclists were doing the same. It was a "level playing field," he said. But a report released Sunday challenges that description. Compiled by the Cycling Independent Reform Commission, the report describes a sport in which Armstrong had a "special relationship" with the people in charge of international cycling, unlike other riders. March
8,
2015 (usatoday.com)
 Andrea Guardini continued
his hot streak on Sunday, avoiding a crash with a kilometer to go and
out-sprinting neopro Caleb
Ewan and Anuar
Manan to win stage 1 of the Tour de Langkawi.
Guardini now leads Ewan on the overall by four seconds with Ma Guangtong third at five seconds. It was the fifth straight start here for Guardini, who has collected 15 of his 29 pro stage wins in the past five years at Langkawi. March
8,
2015 (velonews.com)
 Yves Lampaert
cleaned up at the Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen on Sunday, winning the
overall title, the points classification and the best young rider’s
competition.
The Belgian took the overall lead after winning Saturday’s second stage out of a breakaway. During Sunday’s 184.5km finale, the team kept him out of trouble, putting Lampaert and three teammates into a 24-rider escape, keeping a reduced group away until inside 10km to go, and finally ensuring that the stage ended in a bunch sprint. Danny Van Poppel won the final stage ahead of Kris Boeckmans and Michael Van Staeyen. March
8,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 His
nickname is Pitbull. He surfs. And Miami, Florida, native Andrew Talansky
carries the weight of a future Grand Tour winner on his shoulders.
After beating Alberto Contador in the final stage of the Dauphine to take the overall victory in 2014, Andrew moved up a few notches to a legitimate GT contender. For now, he’s focused on the spring races, like this week’s Paris-Nice. March
8,
2015 (pelotonmagazine.com)
 Monday's Tour de
Langkawi Stage 2 departs Alor Setar at 12:00pm local (5:00am CET,
12:00am U.S. Eastern) and is expected at the finish at Sungai Petani at
around 4:16pm local (9:16am CET, 4:16am U.S. Eastern).
Tour de Langkawi live streaming should begin at around 3pm local (8:00am CET, 3:00am U.S. Eastern). March
8,
2015 (cyclingfans.com)
 BikeRadar
verdict: 4 out of 5
stars. "A consummate sportive machine that’s capable of much, much
more."
March
8,
2015 (bikeradar.com)
| Within
the 228-page Cycling Independent Reform Commission (CIRC) report is the
finding that there was no evidence behind the allegations of the UCI
covering up Alberto
Contador's positive test for clenbuterol at the 2010 Tour
de France.
The report did find inconsistency with how the case was dealt with and that Contador received favorable treatment by the governing body. While WADA enforces "minimum levels on WADA-accredited laboratories" the CIRC report found that the testing capabilities was a reason behind the unequal treatment of athletes samples, highlighted by Contador's 2010 positive test. The CIRC report investigated the allegation that the UCI had covered up the test until German television station ARD announced the details of the positive test. March
8,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
March
8,
2015
 Pat McQuaid has
defended his time in charge of world cycling’s governing body ahead of
the publication tomorrow morning of a report by the Cycling Independent
Reform Commission (CIRC) that is expected to be highly critical of the
Irishman and his predecessor, Hein
Verbruggen.
The former UCI chief confirmed that he has testified to the three-member commission, part of whose remit was to examine allegations of the governing body colluding in covering up doping by the disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong. March
8,
2015 (road.cc)
 Team
Sky havsleapt to the defense of Servais
Knaven after doping accusations against the team’s
director sportif resurfaced in an article published in the British
press.
Knaven, who rode for TVM, QuickStep, T-Mobile/High Road and Milram during his career has always maintained that he never took performance enhancing drugs as a professional rider, however the recent accusations center around court documents from the TVM trial in 2001, which allege that Knaven had doped. March
8,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Organizers
of the Southeast Regional Series (SRS) announced its lineup of host
venues and 11 categorized races across four states for the third annual
cycling competition.
The series has added individual time trial competitions on three select weekends to accompany existing criterium and road races. In addition, BikeReg.com will be the presenting sponsor for SRS this year. Registration is now open online for all four race weekends, including the opening event in Florida, April 11-12, 2015 in Panama City and Walton County. March
8,
2015 (pezcyclingnews.com)
 "This
afternoon at the North American Handmade Bicycle Show we announced the
category award winners, with a few exceptions. This post will be brief
and I’ll do a followup that will go into more detail on why each bike
won its respective category.
Due to a lack of entrants, we did not award Best Fillet this year. Initially, we also thought we didn’t have enough entrants for Best Layup. We received only one entrant but after walking the floor we realized that there were at least two other possible entrants and we will be judging that award Sunday morning." March
8,
2015 (redkiteprayer.com)
Tirreno-Adriatico
LIVE starting Wednesday,
March 11th through the 17th.
Stage 1 starts at 2:00pm CET (9:00am U.S. Eastern). Finish at around 4:10pm CET (11:10am U.S. Eastern). Live video from 2:30pm CET (9:30am U.S. Eastern, 6:30am Pacific). March
8,
2015 (cyclingfans.com)
March
7,
2015
|
 Zdeněk Štybar took
the win in the Strade Bianche Eroica, exploding past Greg Van Avermaet in
the final few hundred meters. Alejandro
Valverde who was dropped on the final 16% climb,
finished third.
The trio had gotten away alone with some 20 km left on the day and despite various attempted attacks, came to the flamme rouge together. Van Avermaet was the first to attack in the finale, but Stybar shot past him to victory. March
7,
2015 (pelotonmagazine.com)
 Megan Guarnier of
Boels-Dolman won the first edition of the women’s Strade Bianche, with
a powerful solo attack, with teammate Lizzie Armitstead
taking second ahead of Elisa
Longo Borghini.
The steep gravel roads and strong wind tore the field apart during the long second sector of dirt roads after 58km of the 103km race. March
7,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Back
from injury in his first race for the season, 2014 Liege-Bastogne-Liege
champion Simon Gerrans
withdrew from the race shortly after a minor crash at 120km.
Having undergone precautionary x-rays, it was confirmed that he suffered a fractured radial head. March
7,
2015 (cyclingquotes.com)
2014-15
Races
& Results.
Paris Nice - Mar 8-15 (Stages), Le Tour de Langkawi - Mar 8-15 (Stages), Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen - Mar 6-8 (Stages & Results), Tirreno-Adriatico - Mar 11-17 (Start List), Giro d'Italia 2015 - May 9-31 (Stages), Tour de France 2015 - July 4-26 (Stages), Vuelta a España 2015 - Aug 22-Sept 13 (Stages), UCI Road World Championship 2015 - Sept 20-27 (Stages), Strade Bianche - Mar 7 (Results), Strade Bianche Women - Mar 7 (Results), Le Samyn - Mar 4 (Results), Le Samyn des Dames - Mar 4 (Results), Kuurne-Bruxelles-Kuurne - Mar 1 (Results), Omloop Het Nieuwsblad Elite - Feb 28 (Results), UCI Track World Championships - Feb 18-22 (Results), UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships - Jan 31-Feb 1 (Results).  Sunday's Paris-Nice
Prologue, a 6.7km Individual Time Trial at Maurepas, gets underway at
1:35pm CET (8:35am U.S. Eastern) with the departure of the first rider.
Paris-Nice live streaming video should get underway at around 2:00pm CET (9:00am U.S. Eastern, 6:00am Pacific). March
7,
2015 (cyclingfans.com)
 Dave Brailsford,
General Manager of Team Sky, has called the opening three months to
2015 Sky’s “best ever start to a season”.
Already in 2015 Richie Porte has won a stage Down Under and at Algarve, plus he took the Australian National Time Trial. Chris Froome took a stage win and the GC ahead of Alberto Contador at the Ruta del Sol. Ian Stannard won a second consecutive Het Nieuwsblad and Geraint Thomas took a stage on route to the GC win in Algarve. He told Sky Sports News HQ: "It's been our best start to the season ever. We've had more victories at this point of the year than we've ever had so it's been a terrific start.” March
7,
2015 (cyclingquotes.com)
 BikeRadar
verdict: 4.5 out of 5
stars. "Designed for the Classics – and a classic race machine."
. March
7,
2015 (bikeradar.com)
|  Vincenzo Nibali has
said he believes the UCI decision to request the withdrawal of the
Astana WorldTour license is a question of politics.
Speaking before the start of the Strade Bianche race, the 2014 Tour de France winner was confident that the Astana team would obtain wild card invitations to races even if the UCI License commission decided to revoke the team’s status from the WorldTour. “My opinion is that it’s all about politics. It’s not anything to do with the riders,” Nibali said after initially saying he did not want to comment. March
7,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 A
6.7km prologue that’s not for prologue specialists. It’ll establish an
early pecking order and prise apart the riders in a race that’s
expected to be close all week
The Course: not as flat as profile suggests, it dips down gradually before a long drag starting after the 3km point that averages 4% for over a kilometer. Once the road has risen up it levels out before the finish on the appropriately named Boulevard Miserey. There are four corners in total, it’s all about the long straights, consequently it’s not for prologue specialists who dive in corners and power out in a series of big sprints like a crit rider, this route has long sections where the time trial specialists can cruise at high speed. March
7,
2015 (inrng.com)
 In
the last few hours, one of the most surprising cycling news has been
the confirmation that all road stages in the Tour de France will
include 10, 6 and 4 bonus seconds to the first three riders across the
line.
"We have included bonus seconds to compensate for the time trial on the first day in Utrecht," race director Thierry Gouvenou told L'Equipe. "The idea is to give life to the first week. Organizers ASO know that not everybody likes the decision. Speaking to L'Equipe, race director Christian Prudhomme couldn't hide his dissatisfaction. "I still believe it is better to only take the real time," he said. However, he admitted that it will gave an impact on the outcome of the stages in the third week. "I have to be pragmatic," he said. "The bonuses are justified and this is the first time in several years that we have 10 flat days in the beginning." March
7,
2015 (cyclingquotes.com)
 Rohan Dennis does
not have title ambitions at Paris-Nice but could nonetheless claim the
first leader’s jersey of the race given Sunday’s 6.7km prologue plays
to the South Australian’s strengths.
Dennis left yesterday for the eight-day event, which serves as a Tour de France dress rehearsal with the Tour Down Under champion aiming to support BMC’s now No.1 Grand Tour contender, Tejay van Garderen hopefully in both. March
7,
2015 (sbs.com.au)
 To
borrow from the old bus cliché, such is the nature of the cycling
calendar that you can go a couple of weeks without seeing a race and
the next thing you know three turn up at once.
Having two WorldTour races – Paris-Nice and Tirreno-Adriatico – running concurrently is a significant enough clash in itself but in Asia a third stage race, starting Sunday, is vying for attention – the Tour de Langkawi. It may not boast the marquee names of its European counterparts but there’s plenty of anticipation nonetheless, particularly since Team Sky has decided to make a debut here, joining fellow WorldTour outfits Astana, Tinkoff-Saxo and Orica-GreenEdge. March
7,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 2015
Le Tour de Langkawi LIVE March 8-15.
Stage 1 starts Sunday at 9:00am local (2:00am CET) (8:00pm U.S. Eastern). Finish at around 11:21am local (4:21am CET) (10:21pm U.S. Eastern). Live video from 10:00am local (3:00am CET) (9:00pm U.S. Eastern, 6:00am Pacific). March
7,
2015 (cyclingfans.com)
| March
7,
2015
 Pat McQuaid, the
former UCI president, has launched a pre-emptive defense of his tenure
at the helm of cycling's world governing body as the sport braces
itself for the publication of the Cycling Independent Reform Commission
(CIRC) report into doping on Sunday.
Armed with a budget of around £3m, the three-man CIRC panel has spent the past year interviewing everyone from riders and team staff to journalists and anti-doping officials, in an effort to understand how the doping culture in cycling came to be all-pervasive around the turn of the century, to ascertain how widespread doping remains and to make recommendations to safeguard the sport's future. March
7,
2015 (telegraph.co.uk)
 Yves Lampaert took
stage 1 and the overall lead of the Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen on
Saturday.
The Belgian proved the best of a five-rider breakaway, with Tosh Van der Sande second and Sander Cordeel third. Lampaert and his break-mates, including Alexis Gougaerd and Mirko Selvaggi, formed the decisive selection out of a much larger group with 57km to go in the 174.1km stage from Brugge to Harelbeke. Van der Sande led the charge, and heading into the final circuit — four laps of of 9.9km each — the quintet had 40 seconds’ advantage. March
7,
2015 (velonews.com)
 Greg Van Avermaet
was expected to show at the Disciplinary Committee next Friday to
explain his relations with the „ozone doctor” Chris Mertens.
The BMC Racing rider will be represented by his attorney, though, as he will take the start of the Tirreno-Adriatico on Wednesday. March
7,
2015 (cyclingquotes.com)
 "So
much of what I’d like to present to you right now I’m not at liberty to
share with you. Technically, I’m not under a media embargo, but as the
chief judge for the awards, I’m not allowed to reveal what won anything
today, and judging awards was essentially the entirety of my day.
My fellow judges for the day were Nick Legan of Dispatch Communications (and former VeloNews staffer) and Jeff Archer of First Flight Bicycles and MOMBAT. Jeff helped out last year, while this is Nick’s third tour of duty. Andrew Yee of Cyclocross.com helped with the cyclocross award and Maurice Tierney of Dirt Rag and Bicycle Times, who served as a judge in Sacramento, joined us for best mountain bike, road bike, tandem, experimental, city/utility, finish and artisan awards. Having a foursome is dangerous because it leaves open the possibility of a tie, but that never happened, which is in part a testament to the way the conversations went, but also the way some builders really pulled out all the stops to offer something distinctive." March
7,
2015 (redkiteprayer.com)
 Enve
Composites tucked a pair of Easter eggs amongst the treasure trove of
titanium bikes at the Moots booth at this year’s North American
Handmade Bicycle Show: a prototype carbon road disc fork with clearance
for big tires, and a new carbon fiber seatpost, both of which we
anticipate could be available for sale later this year.
Enve’s new fork looks to be catering specifically to the burgeoning crop of all-road bikes hitting the market with a 382mm axle-to-crown length that splits the difference almost perfectly between the current Road Disc (367mm) and Cross Disc (395mm) models. Official details on the new fork are scant as it’s still in the development phase but based on the available dimensions, we expect it to fit tires perhaps as wide as 38mm wide and tip the scales at around 350g. March
7,
2015 (bikeradar.com)
Tirreno-Adriatico
LIVE starting Wednesday,
March 11th through the 17th.
Stage 1 starts at 2:00pm CET (9:00am U.S. Eastern). Finish at around 4:10pm CET (11:10am U.S. Eastern). Live video from 2:30pm CET (9:30am U.S. Eastern, 6:30am Pacific). March
7,
2015 (cyclingfans.com)
March
6,
2015
|
 Katusha
rider takes early leader's jersey in Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen.
March
6,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Strade
Bianche, slotted into the 2015 calendar on Saturday, may be newer than
most races, but it has all the charm of a proper one-day classic with
its white gravel roads rolling over the Tuscan countryside to the
finish in Siena’s Piazza del Campo.
“This is one of my favorite races and I’ve already won it twice,” Fabian Cancellara said in a press release. “This race, thanks to its course and its scenery, is certainly unique in the international race calendar.” The Swiss classics specialist won in 2008 and 2012. The race’s roll of honor includes other big names, too. The Piazza del Campo, famous for its horse race, celebrated Philippe Gilbert, Moreno Moser, and last year, before going on to win the 2014 road worlds title, Michal Kwiatkowski. March
6,
2015 (velonews.com)
 Tiffany Cromwell is
chasing the biggest win of her career this weekend.
The Australian is contesting Strade Bianche on Saturday, the new women's Italian one-day race in southern Tuscany. The race only started in 2007 and it has quickly grown in popularity, with a women's race added for the first time. Cromwell, who races for VelocioSRAM, is one of the race favorites and showed she is on track with a fifth placing on the weekend at Het Nieuwsblad in Belgium. March
6,
2015 (sbs.com.au)
 The
UCI 2.2 race is scheduled to begin on April 29, and organizers have
given themselves one week to find the sponsorship dollars that would
allow the race to continue this year.
The 29-year-old event has received UCI status for its women's event for the first time this year, while the men's race has been a UCI event since 2012. Organizers announced a “call to action” this week to help find a title sponsor that would allow the event to continue. March
6,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
2014-15
Races
& Results.
Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen - Mar 6-8 (Start List), Strade Bianche - Mar 7 (Start List), Strade Bianche Women - Mar 7 (Race), Paris Nice - Mar 8-15 (Stages), Tirreno-Adriatico - Mar 11-17 (Start List), Giro d'Italia 2015 - May 9-31 (Stages), Tour de France 2015 - July 4-26 (Stages), Vuelta a España 2015 - Aug 22-Sept 13 (Stages), UCI Road World Championship 2015 - Sept 20-27 (Stages), Le Samyn - Mar 4 (Results), Le Samyn des Dames - Mar 4 (Results), Kuurne-Bruxelles-Kuurne - Mar 1 (Results), Omloop Het Nieuwsblad Elite - Feb 28 (Results), UCI Track World Championships - Feb 18-22 (Results), UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships - Jan 31-Feb 1 (Results).  2015
Strade Bianche LIVE Saturday,
March 7.
Race starts at 10:30am CET (4:30am U.S. Eastern) Finish at around 3:30pm CET (9:30am U.S. Eastern) Live video from 2:00pm CET (8:00am U.S. Eastern, 5:00am Pacific). March
6,
2015 (cyclingfans.com)
Sunday's Paris-Nice
Prologue, a 6.7km Individual Time Trial at Maurepas, gets underway at
1:35pm CET (8:35am U.S. Eastern) with the departure of the first rider.
Paris-Nice live streaming video should get underway at around 2:00pm CET (9:00am U.S. Eastern, 6:00am Pacific). March
6,
2015 (cyclingfans.com)
|  Pat McQuaid has told
Cyclingnews
that he met with the Cycling Independent Reform Commission (CIRC) on
three separate occasions in 2014 and that he has nothing to hide
regarding allegations of covered-up doping tests and misconduct at the
UCI while he was president from 2005 to 2013.
However, the Irishman has revealed that he signed a personal contract with Igor Makarov – the head of the Russian Cycling Federation – in 2012, while still at the head of the UCI. The contract was in relation to a potential World Championships bid from Makarov’s home country of Turkmenistan, and McQuaid, who claims he was considering not standing in the UCI presidential election of 2013, admits that he signed a contract before realizing that it was a potential conflict of interest. McQuaid had previously, before becoming UCI President, acted as a consultant for the 2004 Worlds in Verona, Italy. March
6,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Tirreno-Adriatico’s
got the star factor with the “fantastic four” of Alberto Contador, Chris Froome, Vincenzo Nibali and Nairo Quintana
leading the charge in Italy.
The focus on four is obvious but the field is deeper with Joaquim Rodriguez, Rigoberto Uran and Thibaut Pinot who have all have stood on the podium of a grand tour. All this makes Paris-Nice look secondary, two races equal in UCI label alone. Yet everyone wins as we get to see a rare clash in Italy before riders reconvene for the Tour de France while Paris-Nice offers a sweep of riders the chance to finally win the major stage race they need. If Froome or Contador rode to Nice the result could be just another line on an already long palmarès but for the likes of Tejay van Garderen, Andrew Talansky and Wilco Kelderman the yellow jersey in Nice is an important conquest. March
6,
2015 (inrng.com)
 Two-time
cyclo-cross world champion Sven
Nys has announced that he will do exactly one more year as
a professional rider before he hangs up his bike and retiring from the
sport.
The Belgian had previously stated that he would end his career next season but has confirmed the date as March 5, 2016. Now 38, Nys turned professional in 1998 with Rabobank and has since ridden for Landbouwkredit and Crelan-AA Drink – for who he currently races. March
6,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Britain’s
Ian Stannard,
the two-time winner of Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, is the toughest pro
cyclist racing right now.
He showed that last week when he didn’t just win Belgium’s classics season opener after an injury-hit 2014 but also impressed the cycling world with fearsome power and tactical cunning. Stannard laid waste no fewer than three strong men from the same team — the Etixx-QuickStep trio of Tom Boonen, Niki Terpstra, and Stijn Vandenbergh. It was one of the most thrilling finishes we’ve seen March
6,
2015 (pelotonmagazine.com)
 It’s
been more than a month since Ryder
Hesjedal kicked off his season at the Santos Tour Down
Under (TDU) while admittedly riding for Cannondale-Garmin teammate Nathan Haas.
However, the young Australian Haas lacked the form that propelled him to fifth place last year and dropped out of contention after suffering a nasty spill in a crash-marred bunch sprint on stage 4. For Hesjedal, the TDU was merely a tune-up to test the legs and find some early-season form. The last time the Victoria, British Columbia native rolled up to the start line in Adelaide at the TDU was in 2012, the same year the then 31-year-old went on to win the 95th edition of the Giro d’Italia to become Canada’s first — and only — grand tour winner just two years after finishing fifth at the 2010 Tour de France. March
6,
2015 (velonews.com)
 Ford
has launched a range of e-bikes, capable of monitoring your heart rate
and directing through through a series of vibrations in the handlebars.
The motoring company showcased the electric bicycles at Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona this week as part of its Smart Mobility plan, designed to innovate transport through technology. March
6,
2015 (telegraph.co.uk)
| March
6,
2015
 UCI
President Brian Cookson
announced the creation of CIRC soon after being elected in September
2013. The UCI has covered the estimated €3 million costs.
“This Commission will investigate the problems cycling has faced in recent years, especially the allegations that the UCI has been in involved in any wrong doing in the past –allegations which have done so much to hurt the credibility of the UCI and our sport” Cookson said when CIRC was announced. “Their work will also be focused on understanding what went so wrong in our sport and they will make recommendations for change so that, as far as possible, those mistakes are not repeated.” March
6,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Adam and Simon Yates face a
crucial fortnight in their fledgling pro careers after team
Orica-GreenEDGE admitted it will use Tirreno-Adriatico and Paris-Nice
to gauge their progress as major race winners of the future.
Adam Yates will aim for a top ten overall among the grand tour stars in Tirreno-Adriatico, while twin brother Simon starts in Paris with similar aims. Both are preparing to race the Tour de France in July. March
6,
2015 (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
 "The
cycling season of 2015 is about to start.
Where did the cold and dark winter months go? I’m starting my season in Cyprus once again, just like last year. Starting in this way last year was very advantageous. I’m excited and a little nervous, but most of all I’m full of anticipation at starting racing again. These last weeks back home after training camp on the Canary Islands in January have been action-packed and interesting. I had just a few days at home in Sandnes (Norway) after my stay in the sun. The weather was cold and horrid, as is usually the case at this time of year, but good clothing makes all the difference in those conditions." March
6,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 David Millar has
confirmed that he will represent the Cyclistes Professionnels
Associes (CPA) as it works with the UCI to establish an Extreme Weather
Protocol to protect riders and avoid making them compete in dangerous
weather conditions.
Millar retired at the end of 2014 after racing for 17 years with Cofidis, Saunier Duval and Garmin. He revealed he has yet to ride a bike since his last race but has began to coach former teammate Ryder Hesjedal. He is also writing a second autobiography. His first called ‘Racing through Dark’ mostly covered his decision to dope and the huge consequences on his life and career. The new book will be called ‘Racer’ and “will remember the good bits, the fun bits,” he said. March
6,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Zipp
has officially pulled back the veil on its thru-axle hubs that have
been out in the wild since September. The new disc wheels offer better
compatibility, a slightly lower weight, and a dramatically lower price.
The three new wheelsets use the same rim shape from the current Zipp Firecrest line, along with an updated hub. The new wheelsets are the same ones Zipp has offered in quick-release disc versions for some time now; the 303 Firecrest tubular and both the 303 and 202 Firecrest carbon clinchers. The new hub, the 6-bolt Zipp 77-177D, comes out of the box with quick-release end caps attached that can be swapped out for 15mm and 12mm thru-axle front and rear end caps. March
6,
2015 (velonews.com)
March
5,
2015
|
 Chris Froome has
confirmed that he was one of the riders who talked to the Cycling
Independent Reform Commission (CIRC), whose report into doping in the
sport is due next week.
The Team Sky rider waived his right to anonymity by telling the Daily Mail that he sat down with CIRC to give his perspective on the state of cycling at present. And Froome insists the sport is cleaning up its act, with positive drugs tests simply proving the detection systems are working. “I sat down with CIRC after the end of the season last year and spent a good few hours with them, just talking about the state of the sport and how, from a rider’s point of view, they can try to improve on things,” he said. March
5,
2015 (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
 When
the merger that led to the formation of Cannondale-Garmin was confirmed
last summer, it seemed apt that the only man signed up to the team for
the next three years was the lone rider to have been a part of the
Slipstream project from its very outset.
Alex Howes was part of the first crop of juniors to ride for Jonathan Vaughters’ 5280-Subaru team in Colorado in 2003, and he has remained part of the structure, through its various guises, almost all of the way since. March
5,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Mark Cavendish is
traveling nearly 14,000km this weekend to take part in a 47km race.
Cavendish - and Australian lead out man Mark Renshaw - are making the trip to South Africa to compete in the Cape Town Cycle Tour. The event, which consists of a road race and the world's largest participation ride with 35,000 cyclists, has been forced to shorten the course to 47km after fires swept across Cape Town's Table Mountain. . March
5,
2015 (sbs.com.au)
 The
spring Classics season kicked off with Omloop Het Nieuwsblad last
weekend, and many of the same riders who competed in Belgium will head
to Tuscany for Sunday’s Strade Bianche, which race organiser RCS Sport
has dubbed “the northern Classic at the most southern point in Europe.”
Officially now called Strade Bianche Eroica Pro, after the creation of an accompanying sportif and a women’s version of the race, Strade Bianche is a unique race on the packed European calendar. March
5,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Strade
Bianche is a race full of history.
It began as an amateur fondo called l’Eroica, which is held in October in Tuscany each year following the Road World Championships. The ride is a throwback to earlier days. All participants ride bicycles built before 1982. Many wear vintage clothing and accessories. The professional event began as a men’s only affair in 2007 – and for the first time this year, the women have been invited to the party. March
5,
2015 (cyclingtips.com.au)
 After
winning Omloop Het Nieuwsblad last weekend, Team Sky’s Ian Stannard will
take part in Italy’s Strade Bianche and Tirreno-Adriatico in the coming
week. He will race there without the expectation or pressure to win, as
he continues his important build-up to the classics.
“Strade Bianche is probably too hard for him, we also don’t want to always put the pressure on him,” Sky sports director Servais Knaven explained. “He had pressure in Nieuwsblad and in Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne, so he will have free role in Italy. To say he can go for the win, is asking too much.” March
5,
2015 (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
 Omloop
van het Hageland is the second race in the Lotto Cycling Cup and wraps
up the first block of racing in Belgium before the teams head north for
the Drenthe races next week.
Many riders will be making their way back from Siena and the first Strade Bianche as the race gets underway in Tielt but many of the larger teams have sufficient strength in depth in their squads to field very competitive teams for both races. March
5,
2015 (velofocus.com)
2014-15
Races
& Results.
Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen - Mar 6-8 (Start List), Strade Bianche - Mar 7 (Start List), Strade Bianche Women - Mar 7 (Race), Paris Nice - Mar 8-15 (Stages), Tirreno-Adriatico - Mar 11-17 (Start List), Giro d'Italia 2015 - May 9-31 (Stages), Tour de France 2015 - July 4-26 (Stages), Vuelta a España 2015 - Aug 22-Sept 13 (Stages), UCI Road World Championship 2015 - Sept 20-27 (Stages), Le Samyn - Mar 4 (Results), Le Samyn des Dames - Mar 4 (Results), Kuurne-Bruxelles-Kuurne - Mar 1 (Results), Omloop Het Nieuwsblad Elite - Feb 28 (Results), UCI Track World Championships - Feb 18-22 (Results), UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships - Jan 31-Feb 1 (Results).  Rising
Colombian star Rigoberto
Uran previewed the potentially decisive 59.2km individual
time trial course slated for this year’s Giro d’Italia, and the GC
favorite said, “It’s a nice parcours that I really love.”
Riding alongside Etixx-Quick-Step teammate Gianluca Brambilla in Treviso, Italy this week, Uran said the time trial “can be key, because energy levels of all riders will be at the limit after that amount of racing. It could be important for the GC because, after about an an hour and 15 minutes to an hour and 20 minutes of time trialing, time differences can be pretty significant.” March
5,
2015 (velonews.com)
2015
Strade Bianche LIVE Saturday,
March 7.
Race starts at 10:30am CET (4:30am U.S. Eastern) Finish at around 3:30pm CET (9:30am U.S. Eastern) Live video from 2:00pm CET (8:00am U.S. Eastern, 5:00am Pacific). March
5,
2015 (cyclingfans.com)
Sunday's Paris-Nice
Prologue, a 6.7km Individual Time Trial at Maurepas, gets underway at
1:35pm CET (8:35am U.S. Eastern) with the departure of the first rider.
Paris-Nice live streaming video should get underway at around 2:00pm CET (9:00am U.S. Eastern, 6:00am Pacific). March
5,
2015 (cyclingfans.com)
|  The
Astana affair continues to evolve and is still lacking a lot of
clarity.
First the team has been granted a later deadline for sumbitting their dossier to the UCI License Commission and they will now have to present their defense before Friday, March 20. However, La Gazzetta dello Sport now presents a possible loophole that could save Vincenzo Nibali's and Fabio Aru's team. If general manager Alexandre Vinokourov steps down from his position and allows a new management to take over, it may be enough for the UCI to accept Astana in the WorldTour. This could be an easy way for the team to avoid being relegated to pro continental level or losing their license completely. March
5,
2015 (cyclingquotes.com)
 March
is a busy month for pro cycling. Even if you had the free time and
inclination trying to watch as many races as possible would not be
easy.
Races are spread over many channels and for many fans there’s sometimes no legal way to watch a race because it’s not on TV. The internet’s changed expectations and fans want watch every race going and thanks to the web it’s often possible. Many people resort to so-called pirate feeds. But there’s a better way: use a VPN. March
5,
2015 (inrng.com)
 The
UCI’s Athletes’ Commission, a group tasked with providing a direct link
between riders and the governing body, will see an organizational
shakeup and a modernization this season.
The new-look Athletes’ Commission will place its members on the corresponding UCI commission overseeing their discipline — the road representative will sit on the UCI’s road commission, for example — providing a direct line to top-level decision making. The president of the Athletes’ Commission, who will be elected by the other commission members, will sit on the UCI Management Committee. March
5,
2015 (velonews.com)
 Beginning
Sunday, twin plot lines will course south from Maurepas, a suburb
outside Paris, toward Nice and the Mediterranean Sea. One is doused in
yellow, built around two time trials and a tough mountaintop finish.
Another is green, a matchup of the sprinters, fighting for the four stage wins on offer. The two combined will tell the story of the first real stage race of the year. Paris-Nice, or the “Race to the Sun” as it has been optimistically dubbed, races across France from March 8-15. A Tour de France in miniature, it often provides insight into climbs and stages Tour organizers Amaury Sport Organization will use for the grand boucle in coming years. The race compresses sprints, mountaintop finishes, and time trials into a single week. March
5,
2015 (velonews.com)
 It
was the blockbuster trade of the season. Peter Sagan’s move
to Tinkoff-Saxo gave the already-loaded team another deadly weapon.
Cycling’s latest super-duo will match up for the first time this season as Tinkoff-Saxo will bring Alberto Contador and Sagan together in the same jersey in the same race for Tirreno-Adriatico next week. Contador made his season debut at Ruta del Sol, where he went mano-a-mano with Chris Froome in a gripping battle that saw the two grand tour favorites separated by two seconds. Sagan, meanwhile, opened his season in the desert, with seven top-fives during the tours of Qatar and Oman, but no wins. Sagan lines up this weekend in Italy at Strade Bianche to make his European debut before linking up with Contador for Tirreno-Adriatico (March 11-17). March
5,
2015 (velonews.com)
Lampre-Merida
team manager Giuseppe
Sarroni has denied that his team are interested in signing
Thomas Dekker
for this season.
On Thursday, Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf quoted Peter Koperdraad, the managing director of Merida Benelux, saying that they may reignite talks with Dekker after his attempt at the Hour Record but Sarroni says the team is going in a different direction. "We never thought of Thomas Dekker,” Saronni told Tuttobiciweb. “Our philosophy is different. Maximum respect for Thomas, who has had the courage to face a challenge such as an Hour Record attempt despite not having a professional team behind him, but the philosophy of the Lampre-Merida is to invest in young talents, add new pieces to the team of the future and to improve promising riders.” March
5,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Adding
salt to electrolyte sports drinks can improve performance for endurance
athletes, with many top drinks not containing enough sodium.
Researchers in Spain have found that athletes who supplement their electrolyte drinks with extra salt perform better in endurance events than those who rely on the drinks alone for rehydration. They found that the leading sports recovery drinks did not contain enough electrolytes to replenish those lost during long distance events, meaning the body will run on a sodium deficit. March
5,
2015 (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
 Style
is a word used a lot in cycling. On one level it’s very practical. It
helps quantify form and efficiency.
A good riding style is efficient because more power goes into the pedals per calorie of energy burned, but the style we are talking about here is so much more than that. Cycling is very visual. It’s quite graceful too when you think about it. A bicycle transfers the up and down motion of the rider’s legs into smoothly spinning wheels, and the most stylish riders do that with the greatest grace. March
5,
2015 (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
 BikeRadar
verdict: 4.5 out of 5
stars. "Swap out the old-school wheels and you've got an utterly
fantastic aero road machine."
March
5,
2015 (bikeradar.com)
| March
5, 2015
 Dave Brailsford
welcomes the UCI’s stance on Astana’s WorldTour license, insisting it
is acting in the best interests of cycling’s credibility.
Astana has until March 20 to prepare their response to the UCI’s request for the License Commission to withdraw their right to race, which comes after after the Institute of Sport Sciences of the University of Lausanne returned its audit of team procedures. Team Sky principal, Brailsford, says Team Sky are playing their role in moving cycling into a new anti-doping era, but insists only the UCI can decide on the best course of action for Astana. March
5,
2015 (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
 On
paper, Tejay van Garderen
sets out from Maurepas this Sunday as one of the outstanding favorites
for final overall victory at Paris-Nice, but the Race to the Sun rarely
plays out according to a preordained script.
Twelve months ago, van Garderen’s race was ended prematurely by a bout of illness that forced him to abandon on the second day, but even without such misfortune, BMC directeur sportif Yvon Ledanois warns that Paris-Nice can never be reduced to its set-piece stages. March
5,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 "I
turned 59 in 2014, and I have maintained a high level of fitness since
I first began endurance racing in the late 1970s.
Training with an emphasis on high-intensity intervals has been my preferred method of preparing for events throughout my career, which includes racing mountain bikes, road bikes, cyclocross, and Xterra triathlon. I made a few forays into long-distance events such as the Leadville 100 mountain bike race and the Ironman triathlon, but my preference is racing for one to four hours." March
5,
2015 (velonews.com)
 No
doubt Lance Armstrong
is still digesting the news that he has to repay $10m (£6.4m) to
previous sponsors following a ruling by an arbitration panel a few
weeks ago.
This is on top of the lifetime ban from all sporting competitions that he was given several years back. Many probably think he got the punishment he deserved, but was it done fairly? Leading sports organizations such as the International Olympic Committee and FIFA have been under pressure to resolve internal ethical issues in recent years. On the other hand the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) remains highly regarded for its determination to stop athletes cheating, standing for fairness and protecting a level playing field. Like a pulp crime novel, anti-doping action is seen as the good guys against the bad guys. March
5,
2015 (sbs.com.au)
 "My
youngest teammate Anna
Christian looked genuinely concerned as she pulled me
aside after dinner last Friday, the night before our first European
race, Omloop Het Nieuwsblad.
“Chloe, I need to ask you a question,” she said. Oh no. What’s she done?, I thought to myself. I know I’m one of the most experienced on the team but I’m not ready to help hide a body. That falls outside the “what I’m expected to do for my teammates” charter. “What are you wearing tomorrow?” she asked." March
5,
2015 (cyclingtips.com.au)
 On
the face of it, Great Britain’s below-par World Championships showing
was a disappointment all round, returning with no gold medals for the
first time since 2001.
Among the disappointment, however, were a few rays of hope and causes for optimism – not least for the men’s team pursuit squad, who improved significantly on their Cali horror show of 12 months earlier. Ed Clancy, Andy Tennant, Steven Burke and Owain Doull – the latter two only just recovered from injuries – won silver behind New Zealand in Paris. March
5,
2015 (roadcyclinguk.com)
 More
than 5000 people each year tackle John O’Groats to Lands End, but now
there is a new challenge St-Malo to Nice – the ultimate route across
France.
Lands End to John O’Groats is ridden by a huge number of cyclists each year, some riding it for charity, others as a purely personal challenge. Imagine arriving at the glittering blue of the Cote d’Azur, warm sun beating down on your back and the vibrant town of Nice to welcome you. There is an alternative to a wet and windy End to End; instead of riding across Britain, ride across France. March
5,
2015 (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
 "Commencing
in July this year at the Tour de France, Dimension Data will partner
with A.S.O. to revolutionize the viewing experience of billions of
cycling fans across the globe.
Both organizations said their common goal in the coming years is to deliver and share the best race information speedily and in real-time with race commentators and the global viewing public." March
5,
2015 (pelotonmagazine.com)
 "Cyclists
come in all shapes and sizes, and lucky for us, so do bikes. However,
when you’re a larger rider—whether you’re super-tall or consider
yourself in the Clydesdale/Athena category (commonly defined as
weighing more than 220 pounds for men or 160 pounds for women)—finding
long-lasting, proper-fitting bike gear, from wheels to jerseys, can be
tough.
When we recently reported on clothing for bigger riders, we heard from our readers that it wasn’t just finding the perfect pair of shorts that was the problem: It’s finding components and frames that can stand up to the weight of larger athletes." March
5,
2015 (bicycling.com)
March
4, 2015
|
 Kris Boeckmans won
Le Samyn after beating Gianni
Meersman with a powerful effort in the small group sprint
in Dour, while Christophe
Laporte took third.
Etixx-QuickStep dominated proceedings in the finale, and Stijn Vandenbergh’s show of forcing on the final stretch of cobbles, the 700 metres of the Rue de Bellevue, meant that the Belgian squad had four out of eight riders in the race’s decisive move. March
4,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Chantal Blaak won
the bunch sprint that decided the Le Samyn des Dames race after a
six-rider attack was reeled back in the final kilometers.
Blaak beat Anna van der Breggan, with last year’s winner Emma Johansson completing the podium. It is the first victory of the season for Blaak, who finished fourth at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad last weekend, and the seventh win for her Boels Dolmans team. March
4,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 After
last year’s unusual parcours, made up almost exclusively of
middle-mountain stages, this year’s Paris-Nice (March 8-15) reverts to
type with the balanced blend of flat stages, time-trials and mountain
stages.
As such, the race once more resembles a mini-Tour de France, and looks set to be contested by general classification riders looking ahead to the grand tours later in the season. March
4,
2015 (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
 Jean-Christophe Péraud
is starting to find his form after a slower start to the 2015 season
than previous years, and is hoping he can find his form by the end of
Paris-Nice to grab a good result in the uphill time trial on the Col
d'Eze.
The AG2R La Mondiale rider was third overall when he last competed in Paris-Nice, using a fourth place on the Col d'Eze time trial to pull himself onto the podium, and is tipping that year's overall winner, Richie Porte, as the rider to beat this year. March
4,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Former
Olympic champion Samuel
Sánchez will make his European debut with BMC Racing
Saturday at Strade Bianche in support of three-time top-10 finisher Greg Van Avermaet.
Sánchez, who won the Olympic road race in 2008, was a late signing for the team and has competed only once so far this season in the red-and-black BMC kit, appearing on February 1 at the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race in Australia. March
4,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Nairo Quintana has
returned to Spain from his home in Colombia as he prepares to kick off
his 2015 European campaign at next week’s Tirreno-Adriatico.
The 2014 Giro d’Italia winner celebrated his 25th birthday at home on February 5 and clocked up some serious training rides with his brother Dayer and several fellow Colombian riders. Movistar teammate Winner Anacona posted a photo of Quintana to Twitter, suggesting the Colombians had clocked up 222km and 3715m of climbing during a 7:40 ride. March
4,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
2014-15
Races
& Results.
Le Samyn - Mar 4 (History), Le Samyn des Dames - Mar 4 (Results), Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen - Mar 6-8 (Start List), Strade Bianche Women - Mar 7 (Race), Paris Nice - Mar 8-15 (Stages), Tirreno-Adriatico - Mar 11-17 (Start List), Giro d'Italia 2015 - May 9-31 (Stages), Tour de France 2015 - July 4-26 (Stages), Vuelta a España 2015 - Aug 22-Sept 13 (Stages), UCI Road World Championship 2015 - Sept 20-27 (Stages), Kuurne-Bruxelles-Kuurne - Mar 1 (Results), Omloop Het Nieuwsblad Elite - Feb 28 (Results), UCI Track World Championships - Feb 18-22 (Results), UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships - Jan 31-Feb 1 (Results).  Depending
on the particular event you are aiming for you will need to gradually
increase your training stress and this is done by both volume and
intensity so you need to have these at an optimal level before you
begin to taper.
Increasing only one of these (either volume training or higher-intensity training) on the final approach to your aim will leave you short in some part of your performance. March
4,
2015 (cyclingtips.com.au)
|
 Czech
cyclist Roman Kreuziger
faces a difficult legal battle to defend himself against accusations
that he doped, based on past cases. Both the Court of Arbitration for
Sport (CAS) and World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) confirmed that an
athlete has never won in appeal of a biological passport case.
WADA told VeloNews, “All passport cases brought before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) have resulted in sanctions.” The sports high court in Lausanne, Switzerland, CAS, confirmed the same but noted that it reduced the ban of Turkish track and field athlete, Alemitu Bekele two years ago. March
4,
2015 (velonews.com)
 The
Astana team has until March 20 to prepare its defense and response to
the UCI’s request to revoke its license according to a report in the l’Equipe newspaper.
The UCI formally requested that its License Commission revoke the Kazakhstan team’s WorldTour license after an audit by the Institute of Sport Sciences of the University of Lausanne (ISSUL) of the team’s anti-doping culture, policies, structures and management systems. The UCI also claimed that it has now received important evidence from the Padua police investigation. This was not available when the UCI License Commission granted the Astana team a 2015 license in December. March
4,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Axel Merckx has
helped 18 cyclists — including Taylor
Phinney and Joe
Dombrowski — graduate to UCI WorldTeams over the last six
years, a success rate he said is thanks to Axeon’s independence.
“The numbers speak for themselves,” Merckx told VeloNews. “It’s a formula that works, not for everyone but for a big majority of the guys out there. “I’m really proud of the team, it’s something that we’ve built up over the years. I’m trying to keep it going as long as I can.” The Belgian former professional and son of cycling great Eddy Merckx announced in December a new look to his team for 2015. Bissell stepped down from the title sponsorship and took a smaller role, and the team was rebranded as Axeon. Axeon is not a company, but a name that Merckx wants to help establish in cycling. March
4,
2015 (velonews.com)
 The
tax evasion case involving Tom
Boonen and his Etixx-QuickStep team boss Patrick Lefevere has
been postponed. The pair were due to appear in front of the council
chambers in Kortrijk this Tuesday along with Trek Factory Racing racing
Stijn Devolder
and six other members of the Etixx team.
According to a report in the Dutch newspaper de Telegraaf, the lawyers have requested a delay in the proceedings so that they may be able to reach a settlement. The trial is the result of an investigation that began in 2009. Boonen and his fellow defendants are believed to have used various financial schemes to avoid paying tax. March
4,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 This
Saturday the 9th Strade Bianche heads off from San Gimignano to cross
the ‘White Roads’ before finishing in the historic city of Siena. Our
man in Italy, Alessandro
Federico (and his bike), covered the last 20 kilometers to
take in the final climbs and those dirt roads in his Tuscan homeland.
Despite its short story the Strade Bianche is already one of the most important races in the spring calendar and it’s the first big race in Italy, opening an important month. March is full of cycling events with the WorldTour’s Tirreno Adriatico and the first of the historic classics: Milano Sanremo. March
4,
2015 (pezcyclingnews.com)
 Specialized
designed the Power for the purpose of being able to ride in a low,
aggressive, aerodynamic position while staying comfortable and not
restricting blood flow to the nether regions.
The most notable thing about the Power is that it appears to be a combination of many of Specialized’s existing Body Geometry saddles. It bears the most resemblance to a Romin but with a shorter nose (by 30mm) and a more generous groove in the middle. However, the widest part of the saddle measures the same as the Romin and comes in 143mm and 155mm sizes, going as wide as 168mm in the Expert and Comp models. March
4,
2015 (cyclingtips.com.au)
 "What
you need depends on how much DIY you intend to be doing.
There may also be some cycling-specific tools that you should invest in before some of the items here. The first thing you need is a well-lit, ventilated space with access to a power supply – that's a must for any home workshop. Consider the space you have available and prioritize the most important things – tool storage, for example." March
4,
2015 (bikeradar.com)
|
March
4, 2015
 When Marianne Vos didn’t
win World Championships on the road, we were surprised.
When she didn’t win World Championships in the mud, we were downright shocked. Sure, she was injured—an early season hamstring issue made her season suffer—but for those of us who have seen Vos dominate the women’s peloton in road and 'cross for the past few years, watching her take third place earlier this month felt like a changing of the guard. Added to that, it was Vos’s teammate, 22-year-old Pauline Ferrand Prevot, who took both wins and is wearing the rainbow jerseys. March
4,
2015 (bicycling.com)
 Belgian
pro Johan Vansummeren,
winner of the 2011 Paris-Roubaix, wants cycling’s governing body, the
UCI, to strengthen its race safety measures after a spectator’s death
on Sunday.
A rider collided with 54-year-old wife of ex-pro Ludwig Wynants while she was in the feed zone of the Brustem-Sint-Truiden race near Hasselt, Belgium. She later died of her injuries. March
4,
2015 (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
 Along
with the nine Europeans who crowded the top 10 at the semi-classic Le
Samyn on Wednesday was 22-year-old Park City native Tanner Putt of
UnitedHealthcare.
Tanner joined eight Belgians — including winner Kris Boeckmans — and a Frenchman to finish ahead of riders like 2014 Paris-Roubaix winner Niki Terpstra, Tour de France stage winner and compatriot Tyler Farrar, rising sprinting stars Giacomo Nizzolo and Bryan Coquard, and many others. March
4,
2015 (pelotonmagazine.com)
 Two
years, over 10,000 miles, one conclusion: Shimano’s Dura-Ace 9000
mechanical group is the best human-powered drivetrain the world has
ever seen.
If you’re a weight-weenie, look to SRAM, home of the best weight/cost ratio in the industry. If heritage and beauty are paramount, there can be nothing but Campagnolo and its striking carbon curves. But if clever, precise engineering and absolutely flawless performance gets you flush in the face, Shimano Dura-Ace 9000 is the group for you. One can argue cost/benefit ratios and aesthetics and personal ergonomic preferences until the cows come home, but to do so is to miss the point. In the 9000 drivetrain, Shimano has a kit so impeccable it rivals the company’s own electronic groups. Shift performance — and that’s what really matters here — is in a class of its own. March
4,
2015 (velonews.com)
 There
are a number of small companies who make bicycle components in the
U.S., but they are often limited by the technology that is available to
them.
For example, CNC machines are relatively affordable and small. That is the reason why you see so many CNC-machined cranks and brakes, even though forging would make them lighter and stronger. (CNC machining is a good way to make other parts, like hubs and headsets.) CNC machining also is quite wasteful, as a lot of aluminum is turned into shavings. In contrast, a forging hammer is an investment that only one bicycle company has amortized on their own: Shimano is said to forge their own components. All others, including industry leaders like Campagnolo and SRAM, do not run their own forge. March
4,
2015 (janheine.wordpress.com)
 Shortly
following the release of the new Fly6 rear light and safety camera,
Cycliq has launched a Kickstarter campaign for the Fly12 – a
front facing headlight and HD camera.
Cycliq has announced an update to the yet-to-be-released Fly12. The Fly12 now features a bike alarm for cafe stops. The Fly12 features a full HD 1080p front facing camera that will record at 45fps, and a 400 lumen headlight that Cycliq claims to offer 75 feet of visibility in complete darkness. The light will feature three intensities in both solid and flashing modes. March
4,
2015 (bikeradar.com)
March
3, 2015
|
 The
36 year-old Belgian has spent the last 12 years of his career with the
Telenet Fidea team.
He was world champion in 2003 and 2004 after being Under 23 world champion in 1999 and 2000. He also won two editions of the World Cup in 2002 and 2003 and the Superprestige series in 2003 and 2004. His last victory was at the 2011 GP Rouwmoer in Essen. He has struggled to finish in the top ten in major races this season as new generation of riders emerged lead by 19 year-old Mathieu van der Poel. March
3,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
2014-15
Races
& Results.
Le Samyn - Mar 4 (History), Le Samyn des Dames - Mar 4 (Start List), Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen - Mar 6-8 (Start List), Strade Bianche Women - Mar 7 (Race), Paris Nice - Mar 8-15 (Stages), Tirreno-Adriatico - Mar 11-17 (Start List), Giro d'Italia 2015 - May 9-31 (Stages), Tour de France 2015 - July 4-26 (Stages), Vuelta a España 2015 - Aug 22-Sept 13 (Stages), UCI Road World Championship 2015 - Sept 20-27 (Stages), Kuurne-Bruxelles-Kuurne - Mar 1 (Results), Omloop Het Nieuwsblad Elite - Feb 28 (Results), UCI Track World Championships - Feb 18-22 (Results), UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships - Jan 31-Feb 1 (Results).  The
Slovakian has racked up a series of placings in his early season racing
in Qatar and Oman but is still in search of his first victory since
signing for the squad.
Sagan finished second in both the 2013 and 2014 editions of Strade Bianche. Last year Michal Kwiatkowski dropped Sagan on the final climb into Siena after the two distanced the rest of the peloton after the testing sections of dirt roads, while he took second after helping teammate Moreno Moser to victory in 2013. March
3,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 With
Ian Stannard’s
Omloop Het Nieuwsblad win Saturday in Gent, Belgium, Sky showed it is
reaching a new level in classics racing after dominating in grand tours
over the past five years.
With the monuments on the horizon, the result boosted the British team’s morale and sent a warning out to established squads like Etixx-Quick-Step. “We were all quite young at the start of the team in 2010, but we’ve been growing together and learning the races,” Stannard told VeloNews in February. “It comes down to experience, knowing and learning the races.” March
3,
2015 (velonews.com)
 After
his longest break from racing since turning pro 11 years ago, Simon Gerrans
returns to competition this weekend at Strade Bianche.
The veteran Australian crashed three months ago, leaving him with a broken clavicle, and with a snap of the bone, he was forced to forfeit a chance to defend his title at the Santos Tour Down Under in January. Coming off an intense training camp in South Africa, Gerrans vows to make up for lost time. “I’m always excited to get racing underway, but this year more so than ever,” Gerrans wrote on his personal website. “Now that I’ve gone such a long period without racing, I’m really looking forward to getting back into it again and getting the season started.” March
3,
2015 (velonews.com)
 The
classics season is now underway and the women’s peloton will head next
to Le Samyn des Dames on Wednesday in Belgium followed by the inaugural
Strade Bianche on Saturday in Italy and then back to Belgium on Sunday
for the Omloop van het Hageland - Tielt-Winge.
A thrilling start to the classic’s season at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad last Saturday saw Anna Van der Breggen take the win ahead of Ellen Van Dijk in a two-up sprint. Lizzie Armitstead took third in a bunch sprint. March
3,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Five
months after he announced his retirement, Andy Schleck is
making plans to open a bike shop. According to Luxembourgish website Paperjam.lu, the
former rider hopes to open the doors of a new shop in Itzig in 2016.
Along with the bike shop, the article states that Schleck wants to
open an adjoining café.
"The store will not only be a lobby with bikes that will be on display," Schleck told the website. "We want to give great importance to the service. I want to transfer to the customer service my skills and my athletic experience." March
3,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 One
team that’s had a massive overhaul for the 2015 season is MTN-Qhubeka,
the African Pro Continental team that has been riding on Trek with SRAM
and Zipp for the past few seasons.
With Trek focusing its efforts and finances on its in-house Trek Factory Racing Team, MTN-Qhubeka managed to pull together a bunch of brands that many will recognise as the suppliers that were part of the initial Cervelo Test team of 2009. That team eventually morphed into Garmin-Sharp and is now known as Cannondale-Garmin. Brian Smith was brought on late last year as general manager for MTN-Qhubeka and has been instrumental in securing the sponsors that now supply the team. Cervelo, Rotor, KMC, 3T, Castelli and CeramicSpeed were all part of that initial Cervelo team; a team Smith helped bring together. March
3,
2015 (cyclingtips.com.au)
 Specialized
has issued a voluntary recall of the clamps that secure the bar
extensions to the base bar for both models of Shiv - the time trial
bike and the triathlon-specific bike - built between 2012 and 2015.
Clamps for both carbon and aluminum bars are included in this recall. Cockpit configurations that include the low-stack option are not affected. March
3,
2015 (bicycling.com)
 2015
GP Le Samyn LIVE Wednesday,
March 4, Belgium.
Men's race starts at 12:05pm CET (6:05am U.S. Eastern). Finish at around 5:02pm CET (11:02am U.S. Eastern). Live video from 3:15pm CET (9:15am U.S. Eastern, 6:15am Pacific). March
3,
2015 (cyclingfans.com)
 Opening
the action was Omloop Het Nieuwsblad. The 2015 route had a
total of 11 climbs or "hellingen," with course designer and former
winner Peter Van Petegem
keeping the circular route but tweaking the order of the climbs and
adding the Bosgat ascent.
After a tumultuous year, 2014 winner Ian Stannard returned to the race as he searched to get his career back on track after breaking his back at Ghent-Wevelgem and spending three months off his bike. There is still plenty more action to come in the Classics over the next two months, so let Cyclingnews guide you through the important races from Milan-San Remo to Liège-Bastogne-Liège. March
2,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
|
 A
54-year-old woman was killed in a racing feedzone in Belgium on Sunday
after a rider lost control of his bike in the wind.
The woman, who was the wife of former Tour de France stage winner Ludwig Wijnants, was struck by 18-year-old Jordi Van Dingenen at the Brustem-Sint-Truiden race. Van Dingenen was riding the race, which is for elite riders without a contract, for the Vastgoedservice – Golden Palace team, whose team leader, Roger Loysch, witnessed the incident. March
3,
2015 (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
 After
a rollercoaster 2014 season that brought American Andrew Talanksy his
greatest sporting achievement to date and also his lowest moment, the
Cannondale-Garmin rider heads into the 2015 season with one objective
in mind — success at the Tour de France.
What success at the Tour look would look like for Talansky, against a field that is expected to include three former winners, remains to be seen. A 10th-place finisher at the 2013 Tour, Talansky, 26, won the 2014 Critérium du Dauphiné, taking advantage of the rivalry between Alberto Contador and Chris Froome to pull of a daring final-stage coup. He headed into last year’s Tour as a contender for, if not the podium, then perhaps a top-five finish. March
3,
2015 (velonews.com)
 Despite
the UCI's request to revoke Astana's WorldTour license, Spaniard Luis León Sánchez
says the team is still acting as if the situation were normal, planning
to compete in Paris-Nice next week, a race that Sanchez won in 2009 and
took second place the following year.
The UCI announced last week that it appealed to its Licensing Commission to revoke the team's license because of the team's connection to the Padova doping investigation. The team was given a provisional licence for 2015 after the doping positives of Valentin and Maxim Iglinskiy last year and was subject to an independent audit. March
3,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 This
time last year the UCI had brought in new rule requiring riders to
stick to the road.
This time last year the peloton ignored it. The result is that the UCI changed the rule and riders can use paths as long as it’s safe to do so. Also Ian Stannard appears 10 times harder than the rest in the image above. But he ended up on the cobbles by accident, briefly missing a move adopted by everyone else. March
3,
2015 (inrng.com)
 Bradley Wiggins, the
first Briton to win the Tour de France, was named Tuesday in Sky’s team
for the six stage Paris-Nice event which begins Sunday.
Sky leader Chris Froome meanwhile will take part in the Tirreno-Adriatico, which begins in Italy on Wednesday and which also features Vuelta champion Alberto Contador, Tour de France champion Vicenzo Nibali and Giro d’Italia champion Nairo Quintana. Wiggins won the Paris-Nice in 2012 prior to his Tour triumph. The race is a key part of his farewell schedule before he leaves Sky to set up his own team. Australia’s Richie Porte, who won the Paris-Nice in 2013 and Welsh rider Geraint Thomas, who led last year’s edition, are also part of a strong Sky line-up featuring Bernhard Eisel and Nicolas Roche. March
3,
2015 (pelotonmagazine.com)
 She
made an extremely strong impression in going within 563 metres of
equalling the long-standing hour record of Leontien Van Moorsel,
but British Paralympian Sarah
Storey has ruled out another tilt at the mark.
Storey, who covered 45.502 kilometers in Lee Valley VeloPark in London on Saturday, said that once was enough for her, although she did leave a small possibility open after 2016. “It’s a once in a lifetime,” she said, speaking to Press Association. “I won’t be considering doing it any time soon. If I ever did it again it would be well after Rio.” March
3,
2015 (cyclingtips.com.au)
 Six
years since its introduction at the Taipei Cycle Show, the distinctive
Gocycle e-bike is available for distribution in the United States.
“The profile of a successful bicycle shop for us is usually one that’s into different niche categories. They may have super-cool urban bikes, folding bikes and e-bikes. Those people do very well with Gocycle,” company founder Richard Thorpe said. The small-wheeled folding bike, now in its second generation, is unusual in many ways. Called the G2, its frame and wheels are made of magnesium. A small, 500-watt front hub motor pairs with a pedal-powered rear hub. March
3,
2015 (bicycleretailer.com)
 The
recent World Cyclocross Championships may not look like a major turning
point in many respects. The race was held in a safely traditionalist
bastion of 'cross (Tábor, Czech Republic) and the winners were reliably
from old-guard 'cross nations (excepting the Junior Men's victor, Simon Andreassen of
Denmark).
But viewed another way, the race may mark a major shift: the last World Championships that saw the majority of competitors race on traditional rim brakes. That seems counterintuitive. Three of the four winners rode discs, with U23 men's champion Michael Vanthourenhout being the only holdout. But the majority of starters still raced on cantilevers. March
3,
2015 (bicycling.com)
 Although
Greg Van Avermaet
is one of the BMC Racing Team’s biggest guns for the spring Classics,
it remains to be seen how his preparation and thus form will be
affected by his implication in the doping matter involving Dr. Chris Mertens.
On Saturday it was confirmed that the Belgian rider had been summoned to appear at an anti-doping hearing held by the Belgian cycling federation Koninklijke Belgische Wielrijdersbond (KBW) on Tuesday March 13. This date clashes with two major races on the spring calendar, Paris-Nice and Tirreno-Adriatico. Both of these are used by Classic riders as an important part of the build-up to Milan-Sanremo and other events. Paris-Nice runs from March 8 to 15 while Tirreno-Adriatico will be held from March 11 to 17. Milan-Sanremo will itself be held on March 22. March
2,
2015 (cyclingtips.com.au)
|
March
3, 2015
 Paris-Nice,
the 'Race to the Sun', gets underway this weekend without its defending
champion but with many of the biggest talents in the world of
professional cycling.
Missing will be Carlos Betancur who will instead line up in Italy for the Tirreno Adriatico, but Paris-Nice will feature Australians Richie Porte, Rohan Dennis and Michael Matthews). In one of his last races as a road professional for Sky, Bradley Wiggins will ride in support of the 2013 winner Porte, adding some much needed muscle and experience to the Australian’s chances. March
3,
2015 (sbs.com.au)
 Nacer Bouhanni is
yet to taste victory after 15 race days for his new Cofidis team but
will be aiming to end his drought on home roads in Paris-Nice.
The sprinter has won stage one of the Race to the Sun for the last two editions which also saw him pull on the yellow leader's jersey. While Bouhanni will lead the team's mission for sprint wins, Luis Ángel Maté will look to finish high up on the overall classification. Bouhanni won 11 races last year, including five grand tour stages, although is yet to reach the same heights with Cofidis since transferring from FDJ at the end of last year. The 24-year-old's best results so far this season is third place on the final stage of the Tour of Qatar. March
3,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Optum-Kelly
Benefit Strategies started its 2015 season with convincing wins in both
California and Portugal.
Across the pond, Canadian Mike Woods won Sunday’s Clássica Internacional Loulé, soloing away from the field to claim his first professional victory. And just 10 days prior, Woods notched a fifth-place result in the fifth stage of Volta ao Algarve, which was won by Team Sky’s Richie Porte. Meanwhile in California, Scott Zwizanski won the overall title at the Chico Stage Race, a four-stage, three-day event, which finished on Sunday. “My form may be good, but this was certainly a team win,” Zwizanski said. “We worked together well and took advantage of every opportunity that was given to us to win the race together. The behind-the scenes guys like Soladay and Selander might not be on the podium, but their hard work and tactical savvy made everything possible.” March
3,
2015 (velonews.com)
 The
statement came in response to a report in Belgian newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws
on Tuesday, which linked De
Weert to the inquiry.
De Weert confirmed that he was a patient of Mertens in 2012, when he raced for Omega Pharma-QuickStep, but stopped being treated by him when the investigation began in 2013. The Belgian, who signed for LottoNL-Jumbo this winter, added that he later provided a DNA sample to investigators and said that he has not been summoned to either a civil or sporting hearing on the matter. March
3,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Lucy Martin is a
fifth year professional cyclist with Matrix Fitness Pro Cycling. Martin rode for the
British Olympic Development team until 2011 when she began her career
with the Cervélo Test Team. The 24-year-old was selected to ride with
the British team at the 2012 Olympic Games, where her teammate Lizzie Armitstead
won silver.
"I started my 2015 campaign back in November when most of the team came together in Limoux, France. It’s a quaint little French village just a couple hours north of where I’m based in Girona. This was a great camp for the team to get started on serious base training guided by the legend Chris Georgas - aka 'brows' - as I learnt later on- no explanation needed." March
3,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Perhaps
the greatest female cyclist the UK has ever produced, Beryl Burton, is the
subject of a short biographical film by the BBC as part of a series
paying tribute to pioneering women in sport in the run up to
International Women's Day on March 8.
Burton dominated women's time trialling and track racing for decades, winning 96 national titles and the best British all-rounder for 25 consecutive years. She picked up seven world titles along the way too. March
3,
2015 (road.cc)
 After
the big opening of the Flemish cycling season last weekend, racing in
the Walloon part of Belgium kicks off in more modest surroundings on
Wednesday.
With several pave sectors and short, steep climbs, Le Samyn resembles a Flemish race more than a typical Walloon classic and usually allows some of the lesser known riders to shine in the absence of their captains. March
3,
2015 (cyclingquotes.com)
 Specialized’s
line of saddles is getting close to being as large as its line of
bicycles. The newest model, the Power saddle, takes design elements
from Specialized’s time trial saddle, the Sitero, and Specialized’s
popular Phenom saddle.
At first glance, the Power saddle stands out with its wide cutout. Then you sit on it and feel the Power’s extremely stiff carbon shell. “The Power saddle is made using a new construction that combines carbon and advanced polymers, achieving the stiffness of carbon and the durability of plastic,” Specialized’s Lucas Hartman said. Hartman went on to claim the Power saddle’s base is 20 percent stronger than other S-Works saddles and is 12 percent stiffer. "While I cannot corroborate the claim in regards to strength, as I’ve only ridden the Power saddle for a few hundred miles, I can say it’s the stiffest saddle I’ve ridden. But don’t misconstrue that to mean it’s uncomfortable because it’s not." March
3,
2015 (velonews.com)
 BikeRadar
verdict: 4 out of 5
stars. "All the best traits we expect of Bianchi but without the
premium price."
March
3,
2015 (bikeradar.com)
March
2, 2015
|
Opening
the action was Omloop Het Nieuwsblad. The 2015 route had a
total of 11 climbs or "hellingen," with course designer and former
winner Peter Van Petegem
keeping the circular route but tweaking the order of the climbs and
adding the Bosgat ascent.
After a tumultuous year, 2014 winner Ian Stannard returned to the race as he searched to get his career back on track after breaking his back at Ghent-Wevelgem and spending three months off his bike. There is still plenty more action to come in the Classics over the next two months, so let Cyclingnews guide you through the important races from Milan-San Remo to Liège-Bastogne-Liège. March
2,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Once
again, the contrasts could not have been more stark.
On Saturday, for the second straight year, Belgian powerhouse Etixx-Quick-Step failed to deliver at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, its first home race of the season. On Sunday, for the second straight year, it took revenge at Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne. In 2014 the difference was largely weather: Saturday’s wet, frigid gloom gave way to the kind of lovely early spring sunshine in which Etixx’s Tom Boonen has built the better part of his career. This year, the difference was simple patience. March
2,
2015 (velonews.com)
 They
were scratching their heads at the start of
Kuurne Brussels Kuurne on Sunday morning, still
wondering how Belgium’s top team could have thrown away victory in Het
Nieuwsblad the previous day.
To recap: Ian Stannard of Team Sky, away with three Etixx-QuickStep riders for the final 40km, scored the most improbable of wins in Ghent, and in so doing left three of the strongest Classics riders, Tom Boonen, Niki Terpstra and Stijn Vandenbergh, with – choose your description or metaphor – red faces, pants around ankles, egg on face, bottoms on a plate. March
2,
2015 (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
 Caleb Fairly says
he’s “fitting in nicely” with his new team, Giant-Alpecin, and is
looking forward to a season in the trenches for the squad’s big guns.
The 28-year-old Texan joined the Dutch-German outfit for the 2015 season after riding for American teams High Road and Garmin since 2010. “There are differences in the cultures. It’s definitely more Dutch or German; it’s also very relaxed. I am fitting in nicely,” Fairly told VeloNews. “At the same time, it’s very structured and organized. I am liking it so far. They are very punctual, very specific. I can say there is never any confusion about what’s going on, or what your job is that day. That’s good for riders.” Fairly said he had contact with the Giant-Alpecin organization when High Road was folding at the end of 2011. He spent a season with SpiderTech and joined Garmin for two seasons, where he rode and completed his first grand tour at the Vuelta a España in 2013. March
2,
2015 (velonews.com)
 This
time last year, Gerrans
had won both the Australian National Championships and the Tour Down
Under.
This year, however, the Orica-GreenEDGE rider is yet to register a single race day owing to breaking his collarbone in December. Next week the 34 year old will pin on a number for the first time since the UCI Road World Championships in September last year, making his racing return at the Italian one-day race Strade Bianche. “I’m feeling good in training, and I can’t wait to pin a number on again,” a fully-recovered Gerrans wrote. March
2,
2015 (sbs.com.au)
2014-15
Races
& Results.
Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen - Mar 6-8 (Start List), Paris Nice - Mar 8-15 (Stages), Tirreno-Adriatico - Mar 11-17 (Start List), Giro d'Italia 2015 - May 9-31 (Stages), Tour de France 2015 - July 4-26 (Stages), Vuelta a España 2015 - Aug 22-Sept 13 (Stages), UCI Road World Championship 2015 - Sept 20-27 (Stages), Kuurne-Bruxelles-Kuurne - Mar 1 (Results), Omloop Het Nieuwsblad Elite - Feb 28 (Results), Volta ao Algarve - Feb 19-23 (Results), UCI Track World Championships - Feb 18-22 (Results), Tour of Oman 2015 - Feb 17-22 (Results), Vuelta a Andalucia - Feb 18-22 (Results), Women's Tour of New Zealand - Feb 18-22 (Results), UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships - Jan 31-Feb 1 (Results).  "I
had been warned, so I was mentally prepared for what to expect coming
to Belgium this spring. I had been told to expect terrible weather –
rain and freezing cold and maybe even snow. I heard about the big
bunches and the race for position and how costly making a mistake would
be.
“You have to keep going until you drop,” they said. “It’s like war out there to hold position,” they told me. My coach, Martin Barras, scared me a bit about the weather. I’ve come from an Australian summer. I’ve probably only been to the snow five times – and that was only in Australia. I haven’t had much to do with the cold weather. Martin told me to harden up. He said: 'You need to learn to train in the rain because in Belgium its always raining!'" March
2,
2015 (cyclingtips.com.au)
 The
2015 World Championships road race route in Richmond, Virginia, will
feature two challenging hills within three kilometers of the finish
line, the organizer has revealed.
Working with the UCI, Richmond 2015 has modified the routes and finalized the schedule for week between September 19 and 27. The downtown road race takes in the cobbled climb of Libbie Hill, before three 90-degree turns take the riders up 23rd Street, which hits a 13 per cent gradient short ascent. March
2,
2015 (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
 Bicycling
participation among Americans is substantially greater than initially
thought, according to a new study released Monday.
The U.S. Bicycling Participation Benchmarking Report, commissioned by PeopleForBikes, indicates that 34 percent of Americans age three or older rode a bike at least once in 2014. For comparison, the same study found that 40 percent of Americans ran or jogged outside last year. Previous studies had pegged U.S. bicycling participation much lower. The 2014 National Sporting Goods Association data indicated a bicycling participation rate of only 12 percent. March
2,
2015 (velonews.com)
|
Although
Greg Van Avermaet
is one of the BMC Racing Team’s biggest guns for the spring Classics,
it remains to be seen how his preparation and thus form will be
affected by his implication in the doping matter involving Dr. Chris Mertens.
On Saturday it was confirmed that the Belgian rider had been summoned to appear at an anti-doping hearing held by the Belgian cycling federation Koninklijke Belgische Wielrijdersbond (KBW) on Tuesday March 13. This date clashes with two major races on the spring calendar, Paris-Nice and Tirreno-Adriatico. Both of these are used by Classic riders as an important part of the build-up to Milan-Sanremo and other events. Paris-Nice runs from March 8 to 15 while Tirreno-Adriatico will be held from March 11 to 17. Milan-Sanremo will itself be held on March 22. March
2,
2015 (cyclingtips.com.au)
 Having
been stripped of his seven Tour de France victories following the 2012
USADA reasoned decision, Armstrong
has repeatedly argued that his life-time ban is too harsh a penalty
considering former teammates were only handed six-month bans.
Armstrong claimed that he would be “the first through the door” when the Cycling Independent Reform Commission began to interview former dopers. He revealed he spoke to the CIRC investigators twice during 2014 and told the BBC that he had been “totally honest”, adding, "At this point of my life, I'm not out to protect anybody. I'm out to protect seven people, and they all have the last name Armstrong." March
2,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 The
organizers of Tirreno-Adriatico have confirmed that Chris Froome ,
Alberto Contador,
Nairo Quintana
and Vincenzo Nibali will
all ride this year’s race, setting up the first ever clash between the
four big-name Grand Tour contenders.
The only other time when the so-called ‘Four Tenors’ or ‘Fantastic Four’ of cycling will race against each other is expected to be at the Tour de France. The four have never gone head to head in a major WorldTour stage race due to different race program and objectives. March
2,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Nicolas Roche has an
interesting take on Alberto
Contador’s run at the Giro d’Italia and Tour de France
double.
Not only did he ride two seasons alongside the ambitious Spaniard in 2013-14, but also his father, Stephen, was only one of seven riders to have matched the feat, when he won the Giro and Tour (not to mention the world championships) in 1987. Roche, now racing with rival Team Sky, said he understands Contador’s ambitions. “It’s great to see that he’s aiming for the double. Alberto is someone who likes to prove he can do the impossible. He’s won nine grand tours [seven after disqualifications from the 2010 Tour and 2011 Giro], so winning one more or one less isn’t going to change that much for him,” Roche told VeloNews. “Doing something that people is say is impossible, that’s a good challenge for him. He finds motivation in that.” March
2,
2015 (velonews.com)
 Tom Simpson’s Tour
of Flanders win in 1961 remains the only time a Briton has topped the
podium at either the Ronde or Paris-Roubaix, but Stannard proved,
once again, he could be the man to end the barren run.
Victory last year, after a gutsy attack with Greg van Avermaet and a well-timed sprint for the line, firmly established Stannard as a Classics contender, but the 27-year-old suffered a fractured vertebrae after crashing into a ditch at Ghent-Wevelgem to effectively end his season, returning only for the RideLondon-Surrey Classics, Eneco Tour and a single stage of the Tour of Briton. March
2,
2015 (roadcyclinguk.com)
 There
is currently no cure for migraines, but the millions of people who
suffer from them could find some relief through indoor cycling,
according to new research.
Dr Carolyn Bernstein, from Beth Isreal-Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, Massachusetts, says the low impact nature of cycling indoors is a great way to alleviate the symptoms of migraines. Dr Bernstein, a migraine sufferer herself, told Fox21 that exercise in general can help relief, but it is not a complete cure. March
2,
2015 (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
 In
recent years there’s been an increasing recognition of the importance
of the daily biological rhythm (circadian rhythm) in physical
performance.
Previous studies on athletes have suggested that certain aspects of physical performance such as power and strength tend to peak during late afternoon/early evening. But now a new study by UK scientists suggests that an individual’s internal body clock has an even more powerful influence on performance than was previously suspected. March
2,
2015 (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
Vital
Information for the Cycling Community Regarding Bike Thieves.
March
1, 2015 (socalcycling.com)
 There's
a theory that some drivers get annoyed with cyclists because while
stuck in traffic they envy our freedom keep moving despite congestion.
If a patent application from Ford ever goes into production, jammed-in
drivers could escape by assembling a bike from parts of their cars.
According to Richard Gray of Mailonline, Ford proposes to incorporate a bike frame in the body of the car, and have the other components do double-duty as car parts. The car's spare tire will split to work as the bike's wheels; the jack will mount as the pedals and the saddle will come from one of the headrests. March
2,
2015 (road.cc)
|
March
2, 2015
 The
South Africa-based MTN-Qhubeka team has received a good deal of
attention this year, with its off-season signings of Tyler Farrar, Edvald Boassen Hagen,
and Matt Goss
among others.
Its invitation to participate in this year’s Tour de France was also particularly ground-breaking. But apart from being the first African-registered team to earn a spot for the Tour’s starting line, and its notable racing successes over the last few years, the team is also driven by a different and unique philosophy — one which may eventually impact pro cycling at the highest level, and help to evolve the sport toward a more sustainable model. Team founder and owner Douglas Ryder sees his squad as pioneering the future of African cycling in a way that will lead to more UCI events on the continent, and eventually, more African riders having the opportunity to race on top global teams. March
2,
2015 (velonews.com)
 The
injury Fränk Schleck
sustained in a crash in the first stage of Ruta del Sol on February 18
has left the Luxembourger struggling to return to full form ahead of
Paris-Nice.
The Trek Factory Racing directors allowed time for Schleck to recover from the deep muscular hematoma in his quadriceps, hoping that he would be able to rebound in time for the March 8 start. Today the team’s final decision was unfortunate news: Schleck would be unable to attain a level necessary for the WorldTour event. March
2,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Dani King admits it
was scary to get back on the road after the crash that left her with
broken ribs and a collapsed lung last year.
The 2012 Olympic team pursuit champion’s winter training was cut short by the accident, which occurred when a training partner hit a submerged pothole, bringing King to the ground as well. But the 24-year-old is back in action with her Wiggle-Honda team, having recently returned from a training camp in Belgium, where the terrain was a real test of her recovery. March
2,
2015 (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
 Anna Meares may be
proud to have just delivered her eleventh world championship win but
the Australian track cyclist is not about to get caught up in her
history-making achievement, not when there is still work to be done
towards the Rio Olympic Games next year.
When the 31-year-old won the women’s keirin final at the UCI Track World Championships in France a little over a week ago, she beat Felicia Ballanger’s record of 10 world championship gold medals. With win number 11, Meares solidified her place in the record books, and the cycling world took notice. Meares received congratulatory tweets from figures such as Jens Voigt and Robbie McEwen, a flood of messages on her Facebook page and heavy mainstream media coverage. March
2,
2015 (cyclingtips.com.au)
 While
racing was in full swing these past few months in New Zealand,
Australia and Qatar, all eyes were on Europe this weekend when the
women’s road season “officially began” with Omloop Het Nieuwsblad on
Saturday.
Although more UCI-sanctioned races are appearing around the globe, for men’s and women’s pro cycling alike, Europe is still considered the pinnacle of bike racing, and athletes from around the globe do whatever it takes to become “Euro pro”. “In order to become the best cyclist — which is always the goal — you have to perform where all the best cycling is, and that really is in Europe,” said American cyclist Tayler Wiles. Fellow American Megan Guarnier agrees. March
2,
2015 (cyclingtips.com.au)
 Mark Cavendish drew
first blood against in-form Alexander Kristoff as the pair
continued their Milan-San Remo preparations at Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne.
Cavendish – who won the Belgian semi-Classic on his last appearance, with Team Sky in 2012 – outsprinted Kristoff and Elia Viviani to notch up his sixth victory of the season. March
2,
2015 (roadcyclinguk.com)
 Richard Craddock was
born into a cycling family, so it was inevitable that he would throw
his leg over a bike and start racing.
Less inevitable perhaps was his involvement in the industry, but that wasn’t what inspired him to start building his own carbon frames. It was frustration instead, at not being able to find a mass-produced frameset that fitted him perfectly. His first prototype generated enough interest for Richard to consider building a business around his new bike. March
2,
2015 (cyclingtips.com.au)
 n
the past, narrow tires were the order of the day, but the modern
peloton is bucking the trend and switching to wider hoops.
Tire companies are unanimous in their support for this increase in diameter, which they claim reduces rolling resistance and saves energy, as well as adding extra comfort. No longer does thinner mean faster. It’s not just the tire brands making the change. Bike manufacturers are also taking heed of the trend and fitting their machines with 25mm tires as standard — instead of the formerly ubiquitous 23mm size. As a result, tire clearances are expanding. Frames that were once too narrow for anything other than skinny race tires now have room for fatter fitments. March
2,
2015 (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
March
1, 2015
 Lance Armstrong’s
lifetime ban from competitive sport is set to remain in place after the
report into doping refused to recommend lifting it.
The Cycling Independent Reform Commission, established by the UCI president Brian Cookson, presented its report in Switzerland on Friday. The American agreed to co-operate with the commission and had two meetings with its members. Armstrong claims to have answered every question and, in a recent interview with the BBC, the former cyclist suggested he had been wholly honest in his dealings with the commission. “At this point in my life I’m not out to protect anybody. I’m out to protect seven people and they all have the last name Armstrong.” March
1,
2015 (thesundaytimes.co.uk)
|
 Mark Cavendish
claimed his second win in Kuurne Brussels Kuurne
after out-sprinting Alexander
Kristoff and Elia
Viviani on Sunday, saving Etixx-QuickStep’s
blushes after the team lost out in Omloop Het Nieuwsblad Elite.
March
1,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Team
Katusha’s leader Alexander
Kristoff finished second in the prestigious one-day race
Kuurne – Bruxelles – Kuurne (193 km), which was held today in Belgium.
Kristoff and his Katusha teammates controlled the last 30 km, keeping the pace high as the peloton headed through the city streets of Kuurne. Kristoff held his position as the group hit the final corner to set up the field sprint. The strong Norwegian ramped up his power with 150 m to go, kicking for the finish line in a massive turn of speed. A last second pass from Mark Cavendish put Kristoff in second place by less than a bike length in an exciting group sprint. March
1,
2015 (cyclingquotes.com)
2014-15
Races
& Results.
Paris Nice - Mar 8-15 (Stages), Giro d'Italia 2015 - May 9-31 (Stages), Tour de France 2015 - July 4-26 (Stages), Vuelta a España 2015 - Aug 22-Sept 13 (Stages), UCI Road World Championship 2015 - Sept 20-27 (Stages), Kuurne-Bruxelles-Kuurne - Mar 1 (Results), Omloop Het Nieuwsblad Elite - Feb 28 (Results), Volta ao Algarve - Feb 19-23 (Results), UCI Track World Championships - Feb 18-22 (Results), Tour of Oman 2015 - Feb 17-22 (Results), Vuelta a Andalucia - Feb 18-22 (Results), Women's Tour of New Zealand - Feb 18-22 (Results), UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships - Jan 31-Feb 1 (Results).  Ian Stannard took on
three riders from a rival team, cracking them one by one on the road to
Gent before it was Niki
Terpstra’s time to get done over in the sprint.
The locals call triumphing in a race overwinning, a term that ought to be used in English to describe Stannard’s success. The early break went with only seven riders. It had quality with 21 year old Aléxis Gougeard plus two established rouleurs in Albert Timmer and Matt Brammeier and as the race went on this trio were the last to hold out as Team Sky set the pace with Bradley Wiggins, born in Ghent, leading over the cobbles to the sound of angry farmers waving black flags from idle tractors. March
1,
2015 (inrng.com)
 Romain Sicard has
shown during the difficult Vuelta a Andalucía, last week, he already
had a good physical condition to "hard circuits and the Vuelta worthy
arrivals", he compares.
He finished in 14th place at a mountain top finish, and during the penultimate stage, he made a long breakaway before the return of Froome-Contador duo. Speaking in an interview with L’Equipe, the rider is hoping his form can help him gain leadership in more races for Europcar, such as today’s Drome Classic. March
1,
2015 (cyclingquotes.com)
 t’s
too much to ask for all your friends to be cyclists.
We all need a mix of acquaintances who can ask silly questions, completely miss the point and not understand what you’re going through when Marcel Kittel beats Mark Cavendish yet again. This is what you know, and they don’t. At least until you make them read it. March
1,
2015 (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
Ian Stannard took on three riders from a rival team, cracking them one by one on the road to Gent before it was Niki Terpstra’s time to get done over in the sprint. The locals call triumphing in a race overwinning, a term that ought to be used in English to describe Stannard’s success. February
28, 2015 (inrng.com)
|
 Frenchman
out-paces Felline,
Delfosse.
Samuel Dumoulin used a last-ditch attack to seize the victory on Sunday in the Drome Classic. Dumoulin took his first win in nearly two years by just four seconds over Fabio Felline, with Sébastien Delfosse third at seven seconds. The 200km race around Livron was marked by a four-man break that included Danny Summerhill, Grégoire Tarride, Axel Domont and Bert-Jan Lindeman. March
1,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Lampre
rider tops Gavazzi,
Montaguti
in all-Italian podium.
Twenty-one-year old Italian rider Niccolò Bonfazio won the final sprint at the end of the 184,9 km course, beating Francesco Gavazzi, Matteo Montaguti and Rasmus Guldhammer and thus completing the great performance of the whole blue-fuchsia-green team. March
1,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 During
the winter break, BMC duo Brent
Bookwalter, the longest serving member on the team, and Peter Stetina, sat
down with PEZ Cycling
to discuss the team and American cycling in general.
With riders like Thor Hushovd, Cadel Evans and Martin Kohler leaving the team in the offseason, all three with great experience and many years spent riding with the team, Bookwalter was asked to assess the changes in the team. March
1,
2015 (cyclingquotes.com)
 Skydive
Dubai's ambition is to apply for a WorldTour license in a few years,
according to sport director Humaid
Mehrab Al Sabbagh, speaking in an interview with Rouleur Magazine.
Skydive Dubai would be the first Arabian team to be at the highest
level.
Skydive Dubai was started last year and runs this year with a continental license. The team includes Andrea Palini, Francisco Mancebo and Vladimir Gusev. The Tunisian Rafaâ Chtioui won earlier this month La Tropicale Amissa Bongo. March
1,
2015 (cyclingquotes.com)
Despite
riders' protest resulting in the cancellation of the fifth stage of
this year's Tour of Oman, the continuation of the event held in the
Middle East has been confirmed for 2016 season.
The race organizer, Eddy Merckx, threatened that an unpleasant incident seriously endangered a future of the event and openly criticized an attitude presented by riders. However, a representative of the Omani party responsible for running the event emphasized that it wasn't a case. March
1,
2015 (cyclingquotes.com)
 BikeRadar
verdict: 4 out of 5
stars. "Classy chassis is a true winner that the spec can’t quite
match."
March
1, 2015 (bikeradar.com)
"We received a letter from LAPD Officer John (Rusty) Redican regarding a a ring of high end bicycle thieves that were arrested a few years back, who may or may not be at it again. There is some good information in his letter that is worth reading and sharing with your fellow cyclists." March
1, 2015 (socalcycling.com)
|
March
1, 2015
Lance Armstrong’s
lifetime ban from competitive sport is set to remain in place after the
report into doping refused to recommend lifting it.
The Cycling Independent Reform Commission, established by the UCI president Brian Cookson, presented its report in Switzerland on Friday. The American agreed to co-operate with the commission and had two meetings with its members. Armstrong claims to have answered every question and, in a recent interview with the BBC, the former cyclist suggested he had been wholly honest in his dealings with the commission. “At this point in my life I’m not out to protect anybody. I’m out to protect seven people and they all have the last name Armstrong.” March
1,
2015 (thesundaytimes.co.uk)
 The
47th edition of the Grand Prix Samyn (1.1) is not tailored for the
sprinters this year.
By working on the traditional route, it includes 13 cobbled sections totaling 13 kilometers in the final of this year’s event, which takes place on Wednesday. The GP is ridden on March 4 between Quaregnon and Dour. The arrival of the edition of 2015 is in the center of Dour, where the race finishes with three local laps. According to the organization, the toughest cobbled sector, which received a three-star difficulty, lies just over two kilometers from the finish. March
1,
2015 (cyclingquotes.com)
 Servais Knaven knows
better than most that when riders from Patrick Lefevere’s
team outnumber the rest in the finale of a cobbled classic, only one
outcome is likely.
After all, he was one of four Domo riders in the winning break of seven at Paris-Roubaix in 2001, and he duly slipped away to claim victory and lead a sweep of the podium for the Belgian squad. On Saturday at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, then, Knaven must have had a sinking feeling as he sat in the Sky team car behind the decisive break and watched his man Ian Stannard outnumbered by three of Lefevere’s Etixx-QuickStep charges. One imagines that the Dutchman was able to offer plenty of insight but precious little consolation when Stannard dropped back to weigh up his prospects. March
1,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 The
record 30-year drought since France’s last Tour de France victory tends
to grab the headlines but it’s worth recalling that 18 years have now
passed since Frédéric
Guesdon became the last home winner of Paris-Roubaix when
he surprised Johan
Museeuw, Andrei
Tchmil et al in a gripping sprint finish on the velodrome.
After retiring in 2012, Guesdon remained at FDJ as a directeur sportif, and he now finds himself in the position of offering guidance to the man viewed by many as his most likely successor at Roubaix, Arnaud Démare. March
1,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Cyclists
are among the most likely Google Maps users to report problems with the
maps, allowing the internet giant to adapt and improve mapping.
If a user tells Google that its directions are wrong, a team at Google’s Project Ground Truth will check out the claims and adjust the map - but it relies on feet - or wheels - on the ground. March
1,
2015 (road.cc)
February
28, 2015
British rider Sarah Storey came up short in her bid to beat Leontien Van Moorsel’s twelve year world hour record, covering a distance of 45.502 kilometres in Lee Valley VeloPark in London on Saturday and missing out by fractionally over half a kilometer. Riding courageously, the multiple British Paralympic gold medallist dug in as deep as possible but taking on the pace set by one of the most successful female riders of all time proved to be too much. February
28,
2015 (cyclingtips.com.au)
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