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| Oct 31 |
 One
week after winning the elite men’s World Cup round in Koksijde,
20-year-old Wout Van Aert
once again won among the big boys in Flandriencross, the third round of
the Bpost Bank Trofee cyclo-cross series. (cyclingnews.com)
November 30, 2014  Sanne Cant won her
12th race of the season at the Bpost Bank Trofee's Flandriencross Hamme
on Sunday. The Belgian champion crossed the line with the win ahead of Ellen Van Loy
and Helen Wyman.
(cyclingnews.com)
November 30, 2014  Mark Cavendish and Iljo Keisse made
amends for their narrow miss at the Ghent Six by taking the spoils at
the Zurich Six following a thrilling final session of racing on
Saturday evening. (cyclingnews.com)
November 30, 2014
2014-15
Races
& Results.
Santos Tour Down Under 2015 - Jan 18-25 (Stages), Dubai Tour 2015 - Feb 4-7 (Stages), Giro d'Italia 2015 - May 9-31 (Stages), Tour de France 2015 - July 4-26 (Stages), UCI Road World Championship 2014 - Sept 20-27 (Results), Vuelta a España 2014 - Aug 23-Sept 14 (Results), Tour de France 2014 - July 5-27 (Results), Giro d'Italia 2014 - May 9 - June 1 (Results), November 30, 2014  UnitedHealthcare
manager Mike Tamayo
gave his women’s team an A when grading their overall success during
the 2014 season, a great mark considering it was the team’s first year
on the professional women’s circuit. Tamayo believes
there is still room for improvement, however, and he is confident that
the team will rise up to his A+ standards during their second season in
2015. (cyclingnews.com)
November 30, 2014 November 29, 2014 |  Gerald Ciolek says
that he’s not worried about a lack of opportunities in the new-look
MTN-Qhubeka team. Ciolek
has been the team’s main sprinter since joining them in 2013 but will
have to share responsibilities with the other fast-men that have joined
this winter. The German believes that he will have ample chances to
ride for himself in 2015. (cyclingnews.com)
November 30, 2014  Only
a day after an epic battle against Katie
Compton at the World Cup in Milton Keynes, Sanne Cant took up
her bike for yet another ferocious forty minutes of a one-on-one
battle, this time at the Flandriencross Hamme against Ellen van Loy.
Van Loy has been a brilliant starter throughout her career, and today was no exception as she fired forward right from the gates, not only taking the holeshot, but also creating a notable gap between her and the rest of the field a lap in the race. Early on, Cant seemed more content to sit in with the chasing group, looking as if her fight in the World Cup finally took its toll. (cxmagazine.com) November 30, 2014  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. So what
better time to take a look back at ‘La Primavera’.
(pezcyclingnews.com)
November 30, 2014  A
week after rising star Gage
Hecht took an amazing win at the Junior Belgian race in
Koksijde, fellow American Gavin
Haley followed the success at Milton Keynes, dominating
the race with a lead of nearly 30 seconds ahead of second place Arthur Green.
(cxmagazine.com)
November 30, 2014  High
up in the Yatsugatake mountains in Japan, sitting at 4429 feet, the
little town of Nobeyama has cemented itself as a cyclocross destination
thanks to Daisuke Yano’s
UCI C2 event.
The Nobeyama Cyclocross should be on the bucket list of any cyclocrosser hoping to visit Japan. (cxmagazine.com) November 30, 2014 November 29, 2014 | November 30, 2014  Jan Ullrich will
speak about his doping past in a pre-recorded interview due to be
screened on German television station RTL on Sunday evening.
The 40-year-old Ullrich belatedly confessed to blood doping in an interview with Focus magazine in June 2013, seven years after he was barred from participating in the 2006 Tour de France due to his implication in the Operacion Puerto investigation. (cyclingnews.com) November 30, 2014  "I'm
going for the podium in the smaller stage races and top 10 in the grand
tours. This is ambitious but I am still improving and hope to continue
the upward trend. It can be a great season if I can fulfill my
ambitions." (cyclingquotes.com)
November 30, 2014  "Gert has offers from
Trek Factory Racing and Wanty Groupe Gobert. He is in full training and
very motivation for next season." (cyclingquotes.com)
November 30, 2014  Fabian Cancellara
spent much of last winter refuting the notion that the revamped Trek
Factory Racing team – the offspring of the Leopard and RadioShack
merger – was in any way ‘his’ team, but the 2014 season seemed to bear
out the thesis.
True, some of Trek’s youngsters showed up well at various points through the campaign and Jens Voigt’s retirement season auto-generated its own series of headlines, but in purely sporting terms, the success or failure of the season was entirely dependent on Cancellara. (cyclingnews.com) November 30, 2014  Yesterday,
Milton Keynes hosted the first World Cup event to be held outside
Continental Europe. The Elite Men’s and Women’s Races were both filled
with high tension right down to the wire, with Sanne Cant edging Katie Compton at the
line, and Kevin Pauwels taking the win in the
finishing stretch.
With a podium finish by British racer Nikki Harris and the best ever result by men’s rider Ian Field, the country can certainly hold its head high by nearly every measure. Our on the ground correspondent, Phil Ingham, was able to talk to some of the British elite racers and the event organizer, Simon Burney, to get their impression of the day. (cxmagazine.com) November 30, 2014 November 29, 2014 |
 After a thrilling
race, Sanne Cant threw
her wheel just ahead of Katherine
Compton to win the muddy third round of the UCI
Cyclo-cross World Cup in Milton Keynes. Home rider Nikki Harris was
third at half a minute off the two top guns. (cyclingnews.com)
November 29, 2014  White second and Bruno Roy third.
(cyclingnews.com)
November 29, 2014  Jasper de Buyst and Kenny De Ketele have
taken the lead after the third day of the Six-Days of Zürich that is
held over four days. However, they are equal on points and laps with Mark Cavendish and Iljo Keisse, setting
the scene for a very exciting finale. (cyclingquotes.com)
November 29, 2014
2014-15
Races
& Results.
Santos Tour Down Under 2015 - Jan 18-25 (Stages), Dubai Tour 2015 - Feb 4-7 (Stages), Giro d'Italia 2015 - May 9-31 (Stages), Tour de France 2015 - July 4-26 (Stages), UCI Road World Championship 2014 - Sept 20-27 (Results), Vuelta a España 2014 - Aug 23-Sept 14 (Results), Tour de France 2014 - July 5-27 (Results), Giro d'Italia 2014 - May 9 - June 1 (Results), November 29, 2014  The
2014 Sixday-Nights Zurich is being held November 26-29.
(In the past there was a Six Days of Zurich track cycling event that
actually lasted 6 days.) Once again there will be live
streams.
Live streaming video: 6:15pm CET (12:15pm U.S. Eastern)... November 29, 2014  In
the west of Milan, the headquarters of Cinelli and Columbus share a
compound. Since Antonio
Columbo, whose father started Columbus in 1919, bought
Cinelli in 1978, they’ve been part of the same family – and the same
sense of artistry runs though both brands, albeit in very different
ways. (bikeradar.com)
November 29, 2014 |  Kevin Pauwels out-sprinted
his teammate Klaas
Vantornout at the finish line to take the win at the
cyclo-cross World Cup in Milton Keynes on Saturday. The pair made it to
the final pavement together, followed closely behind by Francis Mourey, who
placed third on the day. (cyclingnews.com)
November 29, 2014  Invigoration
is a prevalent theme when Tyler
Farrar talks about his switch to the MTN-Qhubeka team.
From spending just a little bit of time with Farrar there is
little doubt that even before the season has begun the move has had a
big impact on him. There were other options for the American but he
couldn’t resist the draw of the team. He is as eager as a neo-pro as he
awaits his first race in the team colors and already looks at home in
his new environment. (cyclingnews.com)
November 29, 2014  "The
National Federation can take the actions that we will not allow our
talented team to do races where Astana will be at the start. If 10
teams do the same, I am sure that the organizers will not invite
Astana." (cyclingquotes.com)
November 29, 2014  The
Col du Béal in central France isn’t a famous place for cycling history.
But it’s on the map thanks to the duel between Chris Froome and Alberto Contador in
the Dauphiné, one of the season’s best battles. It is a rewarding climb
in a great, but often forgotten, part of France. (inrng.com)
November 29, 2014  Tinkoff-Saxo
could do little to stop Movistar from topping the UCI WorldTour
rankings as best team in 2014 but things look set to be very different
in 2015 as Oleg Tinkov's
squad becomes one of the true super teams of the peloton after the
signing of Peter Sagan
and strengthening the roster in lots of other areas. (cyclingnews.com)
November 29, 2014  Known
as the fourth link in the famous Lotto Belisol sprint train, Marcel Sieberg has
played an instrumental part in Andre
Greipel's success. In 2015, the lanky German hopes to
contribute to more success for his fast compatriot. (cyclingquotes.com)
November 29, 2014  Francisco Mancebo
has taken three medals at the Arab Games Clubs that is being held in
Cairo (Egypt) this week: silver in the road race and time trial and
bronze in the team time trial. Teams from countries likes the United
Arab Emirates, Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Sudan, Jordan participate in the
Games. (cyclingquotes.com)
November 29, 2014 November 28, 2014 | November 29, 2014  Details
emerge of 2015 Vuelta route, Orica-GreenEdge's Ryan and Gerrans support
Velon. (cyclingnews.com)
November 29, 2014  "I
have never tested positive for doping. Despite this for a year and a
half now I have been living in uncertainly as to whether I will be able
to continue to devote myself to my life’s passion and continue with my
career." (cyclingquotes.com)
November 29, 2014  Gianni Bugno will
remain as president of riders’ association the CPA for a second
four-year term following his unanimous re-election at the body’s annual
general meeting in Milan on Friday.
Bugno took over the reins of the CPA in 2010 following the resignation of previous incumbent Cedric Vasseur. Addressing the meeting on Friday, Bugno said that the CPA’s increased autonomy from the UCI had been one of the major achievements of his first term as president, although he acknowledged that the group’s campaign for greater relevance was far from complete. (cyclingnews.com) November 29, 2014  "Allegations
against Nibali
are absolutely not necessary. We want a team that is as clean as
possible, and work hard for that. Yet doping is a never ending story
and it will never disappear completely from the sport of cycling."
(cyclingquotes.com)
November 29, 2014  The
world of cycling is truly diverse, encompassing sports, transportation,
technology and social history. Set at a human scale, many of its
stories and artifacts have been lost over the last century but much too
has been saved. (pezcyclingnews.com)
November 29, 2014  BikeRadar
verdict: 4 out
of 5 stars. "Rock-solid fluid trainer with relatively
quiet operation and lifetime warranty." (bikeradar.com)
November 29, 2014 November 28, 2014 November 28, 2014 |
 Season
2015 will see a third American rider joining the mighty Giant team of Kittel, Degenkolb and Dumoulin; Lawson Craddock and Chad Haga will be
joined by Optum’s Carter
Jones – just reward for a season which saw the 25 year-old
figure prominently in every major US stage race.
On the eve of the biggest season of his career Jones took time to talk. (pezcyclingnews.com) November 28, 2014  In
one day, the World Cup will leave Continental Europe for the first time
in history as it descends upon the town of Milton Keynes. We gave an
introduction to the event, as well as a list of amenities and the venue
in Issue 26, as well as rider expectations in our Summer’s digital free
issue, but the event itself has since put together a course preview
(albeit without the fences and course markings). (cxmagazine.com)
November 28, 2014  For
nearly any other team in the professional peloton, 26 victories would
be deemed as a sign of a successful season but for a squad as well
resourced and funded as Team Sky, 2014 was a disappointing campaign,
littered with crashes, injuries and set-backs.
It was a year in which the team struggled to gain a foothold early on in the season as their main rivals at Astana, Tinkoff-Saxo and Movistar leapfrogged their thin blue line of defence and waved away their air of stage racing superiority. (cyclingnews.com) November 28, 2014
2014-15
Races
& Results.
Santos Tour Down Under 2015 - Jan 18-25 (Stages), Dubai Tour 2015 - Feb 4-7 (Stages), Giro d'Italia 2015 - May 9-31 (Stages), Tour de France 2015 - July 4-26 (Stages), UCI Road World Championship 2014 - Sept 20-27 (Results), Vuelta a España 2014 - Aug 23-Sept 14 (Results), Tour de France 2014 - July 5-27 (Results), Giro d'Italia 2014 - May 9 - June 1 (Results), November 28, 2014 The
2014 Sixday-Nights Zurich is being held November 26-29.
(In the past there was a Six Days of Zurich track cycling event that
actually lasted 6 days.) Once again there will be live
streams.
Live streaming video: 6:15pm CET (12:15pm U.S. Eastern)... November 28, 2014  Featuring
3T, Pivot, Transition, Kinetic, Alpinestars and
more. (bikeradar.com)
November 28, 2014  In
Magnus Cort
and Caleb Ewan,
Orica-GreenEdge have two of the most promising young sprinters in the
peloton. Managing the race schedules of the two fast men will be a
future challenge but getting first across the line is almost a foregone
conclusion and that's precisely what the team plan on doing as soon as
possible. (cyclingnews.com)
November 28, 2014 |  Legeay, the
president of the MPCC anti-doping organization, has said that he
believes it is unfair to consider as one block the five positive tests
this year relating to Astana-backed riders.
Legeay said that it was important to treat the positive tests by Astana WorldTour riders Maxim and Valentin Iglinskiy as separate to the three relating to the Astana Continental team, namely those of Ilya Davidenok, Victor Okishev and Artur Fedosseyev. .. November 28, 2014  Normally,
my bike lives on a wall rack in the living room (garage space doesn’t
come cheap in LA), but I kept in it in the bag when the season ended. I
didn’t want it staring at me in my time off. Other than riding down the
street for dinner, I took four full weeks without pedaling.
My last races of the year were the Tour of Beijing and Japan Cup in October. Beijing was an adventure for a lot of reasons. The most memorable moment will be sitting in the lobby before the first stage, as riders, directors, and race organizers discussed whether we’d race with the poor air quality. (velonews.com) November 28, 2014  Lance Armstrong has
been helping BMC Racing Team’s Grand Tour contender Tejay van Garderen
with his training by motorpacing him.
Armstrong revealed his role in van Garderen’s race preparations during an interview with Rouleur magazine #51, published today (Friday). Armstrong spoke to Danish journalist Morten Okbo at his home in Aspen, Colorado, where Okbo spent three days with the Texan along with photographer Jakob Kristian Sørensen. During a car journey to a restaurant, Armstrong spoke to his partner Anna Hansen on the phone, saying “Hi, baby. Yeah. I’m with the Danes now. They’re dressed like the Blues Brothers, man! Crazy shit. What? No. I just motor-paced Tejay for an hour. My ass is about to fall off.” (cyclingweekly.co.uk) November 28, 2014  Afters
spending five years overseas and racing at the sport’s highest level,
Argentina’s Sebastian
Haedo will reunite with American Continental team
Jamis-Hagens Berman for the 2015 season. His primary role will be to
bring the team stage results at the Tour of California, Tour of Utah
and the USA Pro Challenge. (cyclingnews.com)
November 28, 2014  BikeRadar
verdict: 4 out of 5
stars. "Very smooth, comfortable ride for those who like an upright
position." (bikeradar.com)
November 28, 2014  Aldo Ino Ilesic to
Vorarlberg, Petacchi
to Neri-Sottoli in 2015. (cyclingnews.com)
November 28, 2014 | November 28, 2014 
Speaking to the media at the team's first get-together in the Tuscan
spa town of Montecatini Terme, where rider programs were discussed and
decided, Nibali
confirmed that a second consecutive victory at the Tour de France will
be his major goal of the 2015 season. However he insisted there is
still a slight chance he could also ride the Giro d'Italia, perhaps in
support of younger teammate Fabio
Aru and to target stage victories.
He is clearly angry that the best season of his career has been marred by the doping scandals caused by Kazakhstan riders. But he has no intention to change teams.. (cyclingnews.com) November 28, 2014  The
Kazakhstan Cycling Federation has suspended the Astana Continental Team
and will investigate the recent spate of doping cases which has hit the
team. General manager Dmitri
Sedoun has been released by the team. (cyclingnews.com)
November 28, 2014  Lars Boom is one of
the newcomers on the Astana team. Due to the many doping cases, his
decision to join the team has been questioned but the Dutchman
continues to defend the Kazakh formation. (cyclingquotes.com)
November 28, 2014  For
the first time in five years, Edvald
Boasson Hagen donned the colors of a new team. The
Norwegian rider and his teammates tried on MTN-Qhubeka's new
zebra-inspired team kit before it was presented to the world on
Thursday evening. Boasson
Hagen wasn’t allowed to wear it at the official
presentation but got a chance to try it on for the official team
photos. He will have to wait until January 1 before he can show off the
distinctive kit in public. (cyclingnews.com)
November 28, 2014  BikeRadar
verdict: 3.5 out of 5
stars. "The Wit is a lightweight helmet for its price range, but is
arguably at its best off-road." (bikeradar.com)
November 28, 2014 November 27, 2014 November 27, 2014 November 27, 2014 |
 Nairo Quintana was
all smiles last week at a four-day Movistar team camp, but he’s been
gritting his teeth with a slow recovery from shoulder surgery in
September.
The Colombian superstar came down with tendonitis in his right arm in the wake of a complicated recovery from surgery, following his early exit from the Vuelta a España on September 3. “I am still not 100 percent, and I still recovering, but it’s getting much better now. I came down with a little bit of tendonitis, and have been barely able to train,” Quintana told VeloNews. “In terms of the fracture, that has fully recovered.” (velonews.com) November 27, 2014
2014-15
Races
& Results.
Santos Tour Down Under 2015 - Jan 18-25 (Stages), Dubai Tour 2015 - Feb 4-7 (Stages), Giro d'Italia 2015 - May 9-31 (Stages), Tour de France 2015 - July 4-26 (Stages), UCI Road World Championship 2014 - Sept 20-27 (Results), Vuelta a España 2014 - Aug 23-Sept 14 (Results), Tour de France 2014 - July 5-27 (Results), Giro d'Italia 2014 - May 9 - June 1 (Results), November 25, 2014 The
2014 Sixday-Nights Zurich is being held November 26-29.
(In the past there was a Six Days of Zurich track cycling event that
actually lasted 6 days.) Once again there will be live
streams.
Live streaming video: 6:15pm CET (12:15pm U.S. Eastern)... November 27, 2014  After
their second place in Ghent, Mark
Cavendish and Iljo
Keisse have got the Six-Days of Zürich off to a perfect
start. The pair is 27 points ahead of Silvan Dillier and Leif Lampater after
the first day of the four-day race. (cyclingquotes.com)
November 27, 2014  "This
week I am working on writing articles based on our recent adventures in
Japan, while they still are fresh in my memory. And while cycling to
1200-year-old Onsen hot springs during a typhoon certainly was
memorable, I was reminded last weekend that great rides also can be
found close to home." (janheine.wordpress.com)
November 27, 2014  Unless
you happen to be particularly fond of wind tunnel charts, bike launches
can be a somewhat tedious process. So here, at the launch of the 2015
Cannondale Slice, despite the gorgeous setting in a seafront house on
Ali’i Drive in Kona, Hawaii, we’re bracing ourselves for the standard
torrent of unexciting aerodynamic information and marketing claims. But
it never arrives.
Much to our surprise and delight, Cannondale has taken a different approach to its update of the Slice – the original version of which won Ironman World Championships in the custody of Mirinda Carfrae and Chrissie Wellington – and it’s a much more triathlete-friendly and, more importantly, age-grouper friendly one. (bikeradar.com)  BikeRadar
verdict: 5 out of 5
stars. "Versatile, stable and faster than most of the competition."
(bikeradar.com)
|  The
Canadian Center for Ethics in Sport (CCES) announced on Thursday that William Goodfellow
has received a two-year sanction for an anti-doping rule violation.
The Quebec-native, who competed with the Canadian Continental team Silber Pro Cycling this year, tested positive for the presence of clenbuterol and darbepoetin in his urine after a sample was collected during an in-competition doping control on August 24, 2014. (cyclingnews.com) November 27, 2014  The
UCI is expected to finally name the WorldTour teams registered for the
2015 season in early December after the completion of the audit of
teams' finances, rider contracts and ethics.
A spokesperson for the UCI told Cyclingnews that the teams will be officially confirmed between Monday, December 8, and Wednesday, December 10. The UCI is also expected to name the Professional Continental teams registered for 2015. (cyclingnews.com) November 27, 2014  Since
he retired from his successful racing career more than a decade ago, Jonathan Vaughters
has been one of the most innovative (and successful) team managers in
professional cycling. After starting out with a developmental team in
2003, he later instituted a strict anti-doping policy at Slipstream
Sports with an internal blood-testing program that far exceeded the
then requirements of the Union Cycliste Internationale.
(pelotonmagazine.com)
November 27, 2014  A
new women’s race will run alongside the men’s Tour Down Under in
Australia in January, the event’s organizer announced on Thursday.
The Santos Women’s Tour builds on the success of the previously run Santos Women’s Cup, and runs for four days over January 17-20 in and around Adelaide. The event will be part of the Subaru National Road Series. (cyclingweekly.co.uk) November 27, 2014  Dramatic
weather and exciting racing will converge on Sterling, Massachusetts
this weekend, where Baystate Cyclocross Weekend will be Rounds 5 and 6
of the Verge New England Cyclocross Series presented by Stan’s NoTubes
and Cycle-Smart.
Deep snow and mud appear likely to play a large part in how these races play out on November 29 and 30. Renowned course designer Tom Stevens’s characteristically challenging courses feature off-cambers, tough run-ups, and steep downhill chutes. Baystate features plenty of pedaling sections, twisting corners, and enough technical riding to challenge even the top-tier pros. (cxmagazine.com) November 27, 2014  Although
third in line behind SRAM Red and Force, Rival mirrors virtually all
the performance, design, and durability standards of its pricier
siblings, it just weighs more and costs less. It’s this
cost-effectiveness that makes it a great choice for a cyclocross ‘B’
bike, training bike, or even a thoroughly competent race bike.
(velonews.com)
November 27, 2014  Henk Vogels steps
down from Drapac, Bookwalter's
broken toe. Orica commit to two-year sponsorship extension.
(cyclingnews.com)
November 27, 2014 | November 27, 2014  Alexandre Vinokourov
has reportedly suspended the Astana Continental team following the
fifth doping case in the Kazakhstani teams but is confident the
WorldTour Astana team will obtain a UCI license for the 2015 season.
On Wednesday the UCI announced that Artur Fedosseyev had tested positive for an anabolic androgenic steroids. Fedosseyev's positive test is the fifth doping case in just three months for Kazakhstani cycling, all coming from the Astana teams that include the WorldTour team of Tour de France winner Vincenzo Nibali and the Continental development team. (cyclingnews.com) November 27, 2014  The
reactions of cycling fans and the media to the spate of Astana-team
positives have been clear to those following the news on twitter and in
reports, but another group which has been more affected has been
relatively silent thus far.
However Canadian pro rider Michael Woods has made his feelings clear on his Rustywoods blog, saying that the third of the five positive tests affecting the Astana WorldTour and Pro Continental teams this year grates significantly. (cyclingtips.com.au) November 27, 2014  He
chats about pregnancy tests, his dislike of green cycling kits (sorry
to Belkin then, but thanks for the misleading title of this post) and,
when asked whether he’ll spend his retirement riding around his home
town snaffling everyone Strava KOMs, he says:
“I’d rather spend my time riding my bike than talking about riding my bike.” Much unlike the vast majority of ‘cyclists’, then [cough]. (crankpunk.com) November 27, 2014  Mining
chemicals and explosives company Orica has announced a two-year renewal
of its title sponsorship of the Australian Orica-GreenEdge WorldTour
team and women’s Orica-AIS squad.
The deal will see Orica continue to headline both teams through the 2015 and 2016 seasons. (cyclingweekly.co.uk) November 27, 2014  Former
rider Tom Southam
has replaced Henk Vogels
as sports director at the Australian Drapac Professional Cycling team.
Southam, who rode for the team in 2007, moves from his current position as media officer and part time sports director at Rapha Condor JLT, while Vogels has decided to step away from the sport and spend more time with his family. Southam will move to Australia on a permanent basis later this week as the team looks to build a stronger squad for the start of the Australian road season. (cyclingnews.com) November 27, 2014  If
you use Instagram and you follow a lot of people that post about bikes
and cycling, you might have noticed a handful of hashtags popping up
again and again. In this post we pull together some of the most popular
and useful cycling-related Instagram hashtags, providing great examples
of each and explaining what they're used for. (cyclingtips.com.au)
November 27, 2014 November 26, 2014 November 26, 2014 |
The
2014 Sixday-Nights Zurich is being held November 26-29.
(In the past there was a Six Days of Zurich track cycling event that
actually lasted 6 days.) Once again there will be live
streams.
Live streaming video: 6:15pm CET (12:15pm U.S. Eastern)... November 26, 2014  Former
Tour de France yellow jersey Victor
Hugo Peña has said that he is confident that his fellow
Colombian Nairo Quintana
has what it takes to win the Tour de France, but that it is impossible
to say it is guaranteed to happen.
The ex-professional has competed alongside the 2014 Giro d’Italia winner in the past and believes that his abilities are clear. “Nairo is a good friend,” he told CyclingTips. “I was with this guy in the Colombia es Pasion team, and I know that he has real talent. (cyclingtips.com.au) November 26, 2014  The
Astana team is set to confirm that Fabio
Aru will lead the Kazakhstani team at the 2015 Giro
d'Italia and the young Sardinian rider is already working on his time
trialing ability so he can limit his losses to Alberto Contador in
the rolling 59km stage between Treviso and Valdobbiadene.
(cyclingnews.com)
November 26, 2014
2014-15
Races
& Results.
Santos Tour Down Under 2015 - Jan 18-25 (Stages), Dubai Tour 2015 - Feb 4-7 (Stages), Giro d'Italia 2015 - May 9-31 (Stages), Tour de France 2015 - July 4-26 (Stages), UCI Road World Championship 2014 - Sept 20-27 (Results), Vuelta a España 2014 - Aug 23-Sept 14 (Results), Tour de France 2014 - July 5-27 (Results), Giro d'Italia 2014 - May 9 - June 1 (Results), November 25, 2014  Yesterday
the course for the 99th Tour of Flanders was unveiled. The difficult
finale was retained but the organizers added the Tiegemberg and
Berendries, meaning that the total number of hellingen will be 19.
"It's definitely harder than before," said Eddy Merckx.
Immediately after the unveiling, Omega Pharma-Quick Step manager Patrick Lefevere criticized the race organizers, but "It's a beautiful route," Van Avermaet said. (cyclingquotes.com) November 26, 2014  All
those bumps, lumps, dismounts, and run-ups were bound to take their
toll.
Tim Johnson, something like American cyclocross royalty now, has been dousing the pyrotechnics of back spasms since 2007. But this year, the fiery pain has been more consistent, and kept him from his best form. And, flatly, if the injury doesn’t get any better, he may have to hang it up. (velonews.com) November 26, 2014  German
state broadcaster ARD is considering screening stages of the Tour de
France again after refusing to show live coverage since 2012 due to
doping scandals in cycling.
A decision will be made at the end of the year, ARD chairman Lutz Marmor said on Wednesday at a press conference in Hanover, Germany. Two years ago, both main German broadcasters ARD and ZDF pulled the plug on screening the world’s top cycling race in Germany after repeated doping scandals rocked the sport. (velonews.com) November 26, 2014  The
variety of team building exercises run the gamut. As fans of cycling
you’re likely familiar with stories of survival camps and tromping
around the snowy Dolomites in late November. An afternoon of ropes
courses or tales spun around an open bonfire will interweave
camaraderie. And seemingly nothing quite matches a bunch of
professional athletes overrunning a bar and paying particular attention
to make the younger riders imbibe. Who would have guessed.
That is until now. I stand by this statement: it will be a very very long time, if ever, before another team camp can reach what we did in terms of a) actual, constructive, intricate team building and b) having it done so in such a spectacular environment as the British Virgin Islands. (iamtedking.com) November 26, 2014  "A
few weeks ago we tested GT's Grade Carbon Ultegra, and awarded it full
marks. But some of the BikeRadar team were ever-so-slightly cynical
about yet another species or sub-species of road bike hitting the
market – it's not like there aren't plenty already – and wondered
whether this more-than-a-gravel-racer machine deserved such a high
accolade." (bikeradar.com)
November 26, 2014 |  American
Tyler Farrar
is set to play an important part in the next chapter of MTN-Qhubeka as
it pushes to become the first African team at the Tour de France.
“The Tour is the big event in our sport and that’s what we are going for,” Team MTN general manager Brian Smith told VeloNews. “Nelson Mandela Day is the 18th of July, during the Tour de France. If this African team gets into the Tour de France, then that’s going to be huge for the team but also for the Qhubeka charity.” (velonews.com) November 26, 2014  The
hours following the announcement of the Velon business project were
punctuated by a series of press releases from the 11 member
teams. Each declaration from team managers and riders was couched in
remarkably similar language: stability, sustainability and new
technology were the recurring buzzwords. (cyclingnews.com)
November 26, 2014  "I
am smack dab in the middle of yet another full Belgium-based cyclocross
season. This means I’ve taken the dive down the zig-zagged lines
riddling the Zonhoven sandpit, bounced around the neverending washboard
at the QianSen Trophy Cyclocross Yanqing Station China race, slid
through tricky berms of the Grote Prijs van Brabant , delicately
navigated the off-cambers at Ronse, flew down the greasy death descent
at Gavere, climbed the infamous cobbles of the Koppenberg, powered up
the steep muddy Ruddervoorde mounds and bruised yet another finger
against those immovable wooden course poles along the way.
No worries about the finger, though, since bodies heal. Bike parts, however, remain permanently broken I’ve discovered. So far this season I’ve been lucky. I’ve only lost a derailleur hanger, two chains, a brake, a headset, 4 brake pads, a shoe and a pedal. As they say here in Belgium, I’ve been “goed bezig” (good busy)." (cxmagazine.com) November 26, 2014  There
was a definite shift in the balance of power and success for Katusha's
top men in 2014. The team may have slipped down a few rungs of the
WorldTour ladder this season but it was by no means a terrible year for
the Russian outfit. (cyclingnews.com)
November 26, 2014  A weekend
in Belgium – taking in the best of winter cycling at the Gent Six Days
& the Kokside Cross races - trackside photo report of the
boards, the bikes and the boys who pedal through anything – including
axle deep sand. (pezcyclingnews.com)
November 26, 2014  Basso celebrates his
birthday, Rusvelo goes Russian red. Derny driver home after Amsterdam
crash. (cyclingnews.com)
November 26, 2014  At
8-inches by 7-inches and 120 pages, Goggles and Dust is
a small volume, but it contains much. It’s a photo book, with images
drawn from The Horton Collection’s 170,000-image archive. From that
archive Brett Horton
has drawn a collection of images from the aughts, teens, twenties and
thirties. Image, subject, race, caption. No treatise on the import of
the situation, no poetics about man and machine or triumph of will. In
that, the book is its own poetry. We are left to focus on what is
contained within the frame, to glean what we can, to connect the dots
ourselves. (redkiteprayer.com)
November 26, 2014  "The
market for indoor cycling training systems is constantly increasing and
evolving, and while most non-trackies are opting for fixed-mount
trainers, TruTrainer has reconverted me to the fun of rollers with
their top-end quality and ride feel." (pezcyclingnews.com)
November 26, 2014 Disc
road bikes, they have their converts and they have their detractors.
They have spawned quite a bit of anger from riders frustrated with yet
another standard to contend with and plenty of time to comment on the
interwebs.
What if you aren’t in either camp, what if you actually want to try something new before jumping on the bandwagon or assassinating its credibility? In short, what if you are like most of us, the quiet thousands with better things to do than vent on message boards? Orbea has your answer, it’s called the Avant and it’s the most versatile bike on the road – or gravel – or dirt. (pelotonmagazine.com) November 26, 2014 | November 26, 2014  The
UCI today announced a fifth doping positive for the Astana
organization, and the third for the Continental team. A doping control
from Artur Fedosseyev
taken on August 16, 2014 returned an adverse analytical finding for an
anabolic steroid unspecified by the UCI.
Fedosseyev's positive test is the fifth doping case in just three months for Kazkhstani cycling, all coming from the Astana teams that include the WorldTour team of Tour de France winner Vincenzo Nibali and the Continental development team. (cyclingnews.com) November 26, 2014  "It
was pissing rain.
It was the type of day that gave you a simple choice: sulk, or smile. I’ve learned a lesson from years of racing in inclement weather: it’s always advantageous to stick with the grins; pouting only makes you colder. We were in Taiwan, far from home, in an exotic landscape that I had quickly fallen in love with, about to race bikes up one of the longest hill climbs in the world. The choice was made for me. I embraced the dreary, soggy conditions, absorbing the wet, the cold, the foul soup of mist and misery and turning it on its head. I made a case for suffering..." (velonews.com) November 26, 2014  Steve Hed, a pioneer
in the field of bicycle aerodynamics and founder of the Hed Cycling
wheel and component brand, passed away today. At the moment, there has
been no mention of Steve’s
passing on Hed Cycling’s Facebook or Twitter streams, both of which do
not have any recent posts. When reached for confirmation by phone, a
representative at Hed wheels confirmed Steve’s passing at
9:30 am this morning. (bicycling.com)
November 26, 2014  Boels-Dolmans
announce sport medical center partnership, strong Australian team for
London World Cup. UCI status and broadcaster confirmed for 2015 Pro
Mountain Bike Gravity Tour. Australia sends 19-riders to London Track
World Cup round. Boels-Dolmans announce partnership with Sportmedisch
Centrum Zuid-Limburg. (cyclingnews.com)
November 26, 2014  A
broken toe is not expected to significantly delay the start of Brent Bookwalter's
season, BMC Racing Team Chief Medical Officer Dr. Max Testa said
Wednesday. (cyclingquotes.com)
November 26, 2014  Hendricus Vogels has
decided to spend 2015 away from professional cycling and has resigned
from his position with Drapac Professional Cycling as sports director.
Vogel's role with the professional continental team meant he spent long periods of time away from his family. With the team's racing program growing for 2015 he saw it best to step down from his role enabling him to dedicate more of his time to his children. (sbs.com.au) November 26, 2014  BikeRadar
verdict: 4 out of 5
stars. "Custom-fit road shoe with top-notch performance."
(bikeradar.com)
 The
designer behind the controversial SmartHat, a conceptual helmet that
could be fitted with a registration plate, says he’s committed to
developing the idea further and is bemused by the response among the
cycling community.
Toby King, who launched the design two weeks ago with a presentation to Mosman Council says the idea for the multi-function device, which could also include SatNav, biometrics, and windscreen wipers, spawned in response to discussions in the Sydney newspapers as to whether cyclists should be registered. (sbs.com.au) November 26, 2014 November 25, 2014 November 25, 2014 |
 In
an email sent Tuesday, USA Cycling notified UCI-licensed American
cyclocross racers that a petition process will be offered if they do
not qualify to race national championships.
Elite racers automatically qualify to compete if they meet either of two requirements: Riders must hold one or more UCI point; or, riders must be ranked in the top-90 in the USA Cycling Pro CX standings. (velonews.com) November 25, 2014  Tom Dumoulin won his
first Dutch cyclist of the year award on Monday in a "surprise"
victory. The 24-year-old won the award ahead of this year’s
Paris-Roubaix winner Niki Terpstra and Lars Boom. Marianne Vos won the
women's award for a ninth straight year. (cyclingnews.com)
November 25, 2014  In
its third year, Melas CX – the tenth race of The Chicago Cyclocross
Cup, has earned both die hard fans and reluctant participants. The
race, put on by Northbrook Garner Bicycle Club and Flatlandia, features
lots of sand and a large drainage area dubbed the “Racin’ Basin” which
provides many off-camber corners, punchy climbs and sharp descents.
This might be the most technically difficult course in the series. Hence why you hear mutters of “I hate this race,” in the five minutes preceding the race. Then it is glorified later as a “preposterously good time.” (cxmagazine.com) November 25, 2014
2014-15
Races
& Results.
Santos Tour Down Under 2015 - Jan 18-25 (Stages), Dubai Tour 2015 - Feb 4-7 (Stages), Giro d'Italia 2015 - May 9-31 (Stages), Tour de France 2015 - July 4-26 (Stages), UCI Road World Championship 2014 - Sept 20-27 (Results), Vuelta a España 2014 - Aug 23-Sept 14 (Results), Tour de France 2014 - July 5-27 (Results), Giro d'Italia 2014 - May 9 - June 1 (Results), November 25, 2014  “That
was one of the worst things I have ever experienced,” she writes. “I
could almost feel my ribs grinding together.”
“On the way to the hospital, I still couldn’t breathe properly. That was when I thought I was going to die. All I remember was looking up at the bright lights in the ambulance and trying to stay calm. “And then I was worried because I couldn’t feel my feet. That turned out to be because I was so cold but I thought that even if I didn’t die, I might be paralyzed.” (road.cc) November 25, 2014  As
the 2014 season began, Marc
Madiot set his FDJ.fr team the lofty goal of landing more
than 35 victories over the course of the year. Despite the best efforts
of Nacer Bouhanni
and Arnaud Démare,
his charges fell a little short of that target but Thibaut Pinot's
effervescent third place finish at the Tour de France means that the
campaign cannot be deemed anything other than a success for FDJ.
(cyclingnews.com)
November 25, 2014  "Everyone
knows Saxo Bank as the successor to Team CSC, which was a popular
upstart squad back in the good ol' early 2000s, when everything seemed
so simple and innocent. What? Anyway, Bjarne Riis invested
in the original Professional Cycling Denmark project back in 1998
(while still riding for Telekom), divested from Team home-Jack and
Jones, then took over the squad upon retiring in 2000 and signed on CSC
as a sponsor. He quickly built a squad of riders other teams devalued
or ignored, like Laurent
Jalabert and Tyler
Hamilton. Mostly we remember this for the resulting
scandals, but CSC had cachet in the US all along, and I suppose we
should be grateful for knowing Ja-ja a bit better than we otherwise
would." (podiumcafe.com)
November 25, 2014  Polar’s
Keo Power range has been relaunched to use Bluetooth Smart. Along with
an updated full Keo Power package, which offers left-right leg power
balance, there’s a cheaper Keo Power Essential option that combines
data from both legs. (bikeradar.com)
November 25, 2014  "Winter
cyclists encounter a mix of fresh snow, compacted snow, and ice. And
some will face rutted snow or ice on roads and trails.
Studded bicycle tires are fairly wide with the narrowest being around 35mm. In my winter riding experience, the width of the tire is more critical for riding in snow while the number and placement of studs is important for ice. For ice without ruts, studded tires of any width have superior traction." (velonews.com) November 25, 2014 November 24, 2014 |  At
first blush, it would seem that Fabian
Cancellara would be happy with the momentum surrounding
the hour record after the UCI changed its rules and, essentially,
opened up the boards for a flurry of attempts.
Jens Voigt held the record for a brief period of time as he put on one final show before retiring, and then Matthias Brändle took the mark just 42 days later. It stands at 51.852 kilometers now, to be precise. But there is one problem for Cancellara. He still looks at the longest hour as having two separate classifications. And he thinks all this “stuff” right now is “low level.” (velonews.com) November 25, 2014  Sagan's Israeli
team, Brussels wants 2019 Tour start, Serpa stays with
Lampre. (cyclingnews.com)
November 25, 2014  "I
first saw the old elephant about three years ago. He was gray-headed
and busting out at the seams as we flew past him on the Donut Ride.
He’d gotten a good ten-minute head start but we overhauled him long
before the first big climb. He huffed and puffed and mashed for about
ten pedal strokes, trying to hang on before he was blown out the back.
As we passed him someone said, “Good job, Bill,” and then we were gone. (pelotonmagazine.com) November 25, 2014  Pauwels and De Boer lead World
Cup standings. Compton
suffers from asthma and allergies in Koksijde. A winning weekend for Van Aert in Belgium.
Kemmerer
wins back-to-back races at Super Cross Cup. World Cup heads to Milton
Keynes. (cyclingnews.com)
November 25, 2014  At
that moment, lying in a muddy Wisconsin snow bank with her foot mangled
and facing the wrong way, one would understand if pro cyclocross racer Cassie Maximenko
called it a career. But Maximenko
wasn’t thinking about quitting - she was actually already on the
comeback. Turns out, that’s kind of her thing. (roadbikereview.com)
November 25, 2014  Tour
de France runner-up Jean-Christophe
Péraud has admitted to being worried that too much might
be expected of him at the 2015 Tour de France following his second
place finish in this year's race.
In an interview with L'Équipe at his home in Villeurbanne, on the northern edge of Lyon, the 37-year-old Frenchman said that he is still coming to terms with that performance, and stresses that it should be seen in its context. (cyclingnews.com) November 25, 2014  Arizona-based
über-retailer Fairwheel Bikes just completed its latest round of
in-house crankset stiffness testing and shared some of the findings.
This edition covered a dozen recent models from seven manufacturers:
Shimano, SRAM, Campagnolo, Rotor, Turn (Praxis), Lightning and
THM-Carbones. Fairwheel also calculated the power losses due to
crankset flex, too – and some of the results may surprise
you. (bikeradar.com)
November 25, 2014  3T
has bolstered its range of color-customised cockpit gear with new
glow-in-the-dark options for low light visibility.
The Illumina range covers 3T's Ergonova Ltd bars, carbon compact drops designed for maximum comfort; the Arx Ltd stem, an all-carbon affair 3T describes as "the connoisseur's stem"; and the Ionic-25 Ltd seatpost, a full carbon monocoque with 3T's exclusive DiffLock clamp. 3T says all three add up to less than 500g in total. (cyclingnews.com) November 25, 2014 November 24, 2014 | November 25, 2014  Former
Giro d'Italia director Michele
Acquarone has lost his legal battle against RCS Media
Group for wrongful dismissal but has promised to appeal the decision
and continue to fight to clear his name.
Acquarone has discovered that RCS Media Group now plans to begin legal action against him to recover some of the alleged €17 million (up from an initial €11 million) that was allegedly misappropriated from its accounts between 2006 and 2013. (cyclingnews.com) November 25, 2014  Launched
yesterday in what the group hopes will represent a major step forward
for the growth and stability of the sport, first details of the Velon
project were finally unveiled.
Comprising eleven of cycling’s top WorldTour teams and targeting goals of making the sport more dramatic, introducing new technology and building a more sustainable and credible future, the group aims to transform the landscape of the sport. (cyclingtips.com.au) November 25, 2014  Long
hours in the saddle and hard workouts can leave your muscles riddled
with knots and scar tissue created as they repair themselves. And
because all your muscles are connected, those sore spots can spread
throughout your body if not treated—a tight lower back creates an achy
hip that leads to a twinged knee. That's why so many cyclists swear by
massages. They help loosen tight spots, flush toxic chemicals, and keep
your fibers smooth and limber so you can ride pain free. (bicycling.com)
November 25, 2014  The
organizers of the Tour of Flanders today announced the route for the
2015 race, which will be largely the same as the 2014 course but with
two added climbs in the first half. The final 150km will remain the
same, with three loops around Oudenaarde helping to funnel the
spectators into the action-packed finale. (cyclingnews.com)
November 25, 2014  "The
Hawaiian volcano of Mauna Kea ("white mountain") is considered one of
the most extreme cycling climbs in the world. From the beach in Hilo to
the telescopes at the summit it's 4,200m of altitude gain in one
continuous climb of nearly 70km. In fact, so large is Mauna Kea that if
you measure from its actual base (many kilometres below the ocean) it's
height is more than 10,000m, making it the tallest mountain on Earth.
Norwegian Martin P. Hoff flew from Oslo, Norway to Hawaii to experience first-hand what it is like to cycle to the top of Hawaii’s Big Island. (cyclingtips.com.au) November 25, 2014  When
you visit the Squid Bikes website, you’ll find no spreadsheets with the
geometries for each of their models. There’s only one model, a
cyclocross bike. It’s available in cantilever and disc brake versions,
as well as several finish options. The geometry for this single model
can be found in a low-res photo of some hand-written numbers on a legal
pad.
This is Squid Bikes. The bikes are shipped out of a Northern California shop with paint applied, likely adorned with any variety of creatures, mermaids, or ghosts. Maybe even a squid. (velonews.com) November 25, 2014 November 24, 2014 |
 Italy’s
rising grand tour star Fabio
Aru is meeting this week with his Astana teammates in
Tuscany and building toward the Giro d’Italia.
“The reality,” he told Tutto Bici, “is that I’ve been building for the 2015 season since I finished the Giro di Lombardia on October 5.” (velonews.com) November 24, 2014  UnitedHealthcare
is pursuing wildcard invitations to the Giro d’Italia, Tour de France
and Vuelta a España in hopes of a debut in at least one of the three
events during the 2015 season. While the Professional Continental
outfit waits for confirmation in the Grand Tours, they will focus their
pre-season preparation on Critérium International and a return to the
Spring Classics. (cyclingnews.com)
November 24, 2014  New
Lampre-Merida signing Chun
Kai Feng won his fifth national Taiwanese road race title
in Taitung on Sunday. The 26-year-old will become the first Taiwanese
rider to race at WorldTour level in 2015 and will do in the national
jersey after victory in the 159km race by 1:56 minutes over En Chieh Liu. Last
year Feng
won both the road and time trial titles. (cyclingnews.com)
November 24, 2014
2014-15
Races
& Results.
Santos Tour Down Under 2015 - Jan 18-25 (Stages), Dubai Tour 2015 - Feb 4-7 (Stages), Giro d'Italia 2015 - May 9-31 (Stages), Tour de France 2015 - July 4-26 (Stages), UCI Road World Championship 2014 - Sept 20-27 (Results), Vuelta a España 2014 - Aug 23-Sept 14 (Results), Tour de France 2014 - July 5-27 (Results), Giro d'Italia 2014 - May 9 - June 1 (Results), November 24, 2014  "Christmas
is just around the corner, and we'd wager that many parents will be
buying a bike for their child around about this time.
A bike makes a terrific present – who can forget waking up on Christmas morning to find a shiny new bicycle under the tree or parked outside the house all ready to ride? So we've picked out some of the better children's models that are currently available." (bikeradar.com) November 24, 2014  The
Cult Energy squad today announced it has parted ways with team manager Christian Weyland
with immediate effect, and is now seeking a co-title sponsor.
The press released stated, “With immediate effect, we have decided to dismiss the partnership with Christian Weyland. He simply failed to fulfill our expectations as a trustful partner and this is undoubtedly the right choice for the team." (cyclingnews.com) November 24, 2014  The
recall affects 531 bikes sold from September 2013 to July 2014 with a
Kona Fat Project Two Disc Fork. As of Monday afternoon, the U.S.
Consumer Product Safety Commission had not issued an official recall
notice. (bicycleretailer.com)
November 24, 2014  "According
to Vision, sponsor of the Cannondale Pro Cycling team for the last two
years, about two-thirds of the team’s wins occurred on its Metron 55
wheels. Although I prefer lower profile rims for my typically
mountainous rides, I wanted a little help for the flatter group rides
where I’m really at my weakest. When I learned that Peter Sagan
preferred the 55mm deep wheel most of the time, these seemed like a
logical choice.
Metron 55’s are available in clincher or tubular styles. I went with the clincher version since I know these wheels would see a wide variety of uses, including training." (bicycling.com) November 24, 2014 November 23, 2014 November 23, 2014 November 23, 2014 |  Eleven
WorldTour teams have come together to form a new commercial venture,
titled Velon, aimed at stabilizing the business model of professional
cycling.
Once titled Project Avignon, which rose from the ashes of the ill-fated World Series of Cycling breakaway league, Velon’s founding members include Belkin, BMC Racing, Garmin-Sharp, Giant-Shimano, Lampre-Merida, Lotto-Belisol, Omega Pharma-Quick-Step, Orica-GreenEdge, Team Sky, Tinkoff-Saxo, and Trek Factory Racing. The fact that many of these teams — Belkin, Garmin, Lotto, Omega Pharma, and Giant — will see major name changes in 2015 underscores Velon’s primary objective, which is to create a more sustainable business model that is not entirely dependent on sponsorship revenue. (velonews.com) November 24, 2014  Down
to the wire. It happens every fall. Cycling’s transfer window, called
the “silly season,” is a time of tension and nerves for dozens of
riders heading into the winter still sitting on the bubble.
What happens over the next few weeks will decide the fate of plenty across the peloton, ranging from older riders trying to hang on for one more season, to young guns still scratching to secure their place in the big leagues. (velonews.com) November 24, 2014  Chris Horner has
signed a one-year deal with a US domestic team for the 2015 season, his
agent has confirmed
Horner, 43, was not offered a new contract at WorldTour level by Lampre-Merida but the 2013 Vuelta a España winner has been keen to prolong his career for another year. Horner signed for Lampre on a one-year deal at the start of 2013 and was set to race the Giro d’Italia before his Vuelta defense later in the year. (cyclingnews.com) November 24, 2014  The
course at Supercross Day Two took to the mud, both naturally and
artificially as the frost from Saturday melted and the course promoter
doused an additional run up with plenty of water. Shoes, wheels and
skinsuits were covered in mud by the end of most rides. (cxmagazine.com)
November 24, 2014  It’s
not often that pro cyclocross riders get to work on their tans between
race days. Then again, it’s not often that pro ’cross racers get to
collect their pay and UCI points in SoCal. Day 2 of CXLA was another
day in paradise for those who elected to head southwest this weekend; a
warm, dry, dusty and sometimes wildly gusty day at the famed Greek
Theatre in Griffith Park. Sunday in the heart of the country’s second
largest city was in many ways much like the day before. Some of the
obstacles on this climb-heavy 2.5km course were moved, some were
rearranged, traction was diminished, but it made little difference to
the big winners. (cxmagazine.com)
November 24, 2014  Mark Cavendish said
that he is “sorry” for not being able to win the Ghent Six-Day last
night with Omega Pharma-QuickStep partner Iljo Keisse.
“It was fun to race around here with Iljo Keisse, only sorry we did not win,” Cavendish said. “Of course, I’m disappointed. As a rider you always want to win. I wanted to get Iljo Keisse his sixth win and I also wanted to see my name on the list of winners of this prestigious six-day.” (cyclingweekly.co.uk) November 24, 2014  Organizers
of the Tour de France, the ASO, today announced the award of the Grand
Départ for the 2016 edition of the race to the department of Manche in
the Lower Normandy region. (cyclingnews.com)
November 24, 2014  BikeRadar
verdict: 2.5 out of 5
stars. "A bike that doesn't do too much wrong but lacks personality –
the Peregrine Kamm needs further refinement to be a global contender."
(bikeradar.com)
November 24, 2014 | November 24, 2014  Play
word association and many would link “Astana” to “positive test” rather
than the capital of Kazakhstan or the Tour de France triumph. The Iglinskiy brothers
and two riders few had heard of, Ilya
Davidenok and Victor
Okishev, riding for the Astana Continental team, a
separate development, team have been caught
recently. (inrng.com)
November 24, 2014  "There’s
no question that elite cyclo-cross isn’t the same without Niels Albert, and
nowhere is that more poignant than at the Duinencross Koksijde World
Cup. With three wins in the sand on the coast of the North Sea, it
might pale in comparison to Nys’
six victories, if not for the fact that one of Albert’s wins
included the World Championship in 2012, dividing Nys’ wins in the
fall of 2011 and 2012." (cyclingnews.com)
November 24, 2014  Tour
de France organiser ASO is searching for a new backer for the
green-jersey points competition following PMU’s decision to end its
25-year relationship with the race. The French betting company told ASO
of its plan prior to the start of this year’s race. No replacement
sponsor has yet been announced. (cyclingnews.com)
November 24, 2014 ![Photo: I do want to do that [return to his former level], but it’s hard to turn things around.](http://www.feltet.dk/octo_cms/files/Feltet.dk/Billeder/2014/Hold/Riwal_Cycling_Team/Alex_Rasmussen_2014.jpg "Photo: I do want to do that [return to his former level], but it’s hard to turn things around.") After
four days of intensive and yet some ways pleasant negotiations,
CyclingQuotes managed to meet Alex Rasmussen at the Six Days of Ghent
last Sunday, discussing his recent performances during the famous track
event, planned Hour Record attempt and difficult situation in regards
to his career as road cyclist. (cyclingquotes.com)
November 24, 2014  At
less than 320grams you’d be forgiven for assuming the SuperLogic
EvoCurve and C260 Stem combo are just for climbers. While they make
climbers very happy they also makes some of the most powerful sprinters
on the planet happy. (pelotonmagazine.com)
November 24, 2014  BikeRadar
verdict: 3 out of 5
stars. "Records excellent quality footage, but it's expensive and the
mounting system could be improved." (bikeradar.com)
November 24, 2014  Andrew Ritchie, the
author of Major Taylor:
The Extraordinary Career of a Champion Bicycle Racer,
recently came across a letter from African-American cyclist Major Taylor that
was published in Bearings magazine on Feb. 9, 1894. The full text of
the letter is here. In an email interview with Lynne Tolman,
president of the Major Taylor Association, Ritchie discusses
what the letter tells him about the very early career of the future
world champion. (podiumcafe.com)
November 24, 2014 November 23, 2014 |
 Pro
cyclocross racing returned to Los Angeles this weekend, for the first
time at the Greek Theater in Griffith Park. Day 1 of CXLA was conducted
under blue skies and dry, short-sleeve conditions on a 2.5km course
featuring considerable climbing and enough technical trickiness to keep
even the most savvy bike handlers on their toes. (cxmagazine.com)
November 23, 2014  Mark Cavendish and Iljo Keisse retained
their position at the top of the standings on day five of the Gent Six,
despite Cavendish
crashing earlier in the night. The pair remain behind Jasper De Buyst and Kenny De Ketele on
points, but are one lap ahead of the Dutch duo. Only 48 points, and a
lap, separate the leading pairs making it all to play for on the final
session on Sunday. (cyclingnews.com)
November 23, 2014
2014-15
Races
& Results.
Santos Tour Down Under 2015 - Jan 18-25 (Stages), Dubai Tour 2015 - Feb 4-7 (Stages), Giro d'Italia 2015 - May 9-31 (Stages), Tour de France 2015 - July 4-26 (Stages), UCI Road World Championship 2014 - Sept 20-27 (Results), Vuelta a España 2014 - Aug 23-Sept 14 (Results), Tour de France 2014 - July 5-27 (Results), Giro d'Italia 2014 - May 9 - June 1 (Results), November 22, 2014  The
runway at the Koksijde air base gathered dust on Saturday afternoon
during the second round of the UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup. A sand storm
caused by several youngsters caused serious damage amongst the big
boys. The generation is led by Wout
Van Aert and Mathieu
van der Poel. The 20-year-old riders blew the race apart
on Saturday putting the rest of the experienced field at distance in
the deep, dry sand of Koksijde. (cyclingnews.com)
November 23, 2014  Damiano Cunego hopes
that his switch to the Nippo-Vini Fantini in 2015 can bring him out of
a slump and back to his winning ways. After his peak in 2005, victories
have become few and far between for the 'little prince' and he ended
this year without a single win. (cyclingnews.com)
November 23, 2014  road.cc
verdict: 4.5 out of 5
stars. "Super light and lively road bike that flies up the climbs, with
many other talents too." (road.cc)
November 23, 2014 Wout Van Aert captured
the biggest win of his season at the elite men's World Cup in Koksijde
in Belgium on Saturday. The young Belgian rider, 19, dominated the race
with a solo win by 42 seconds ahead of Kevin Pauwels and
53 seconds ahead of Mathieu
van der Poel, who was almost caught by a strong group of
chasers who crossed the line three seconds later. (cyclingnews.com)
November 22, 2014 November 22, 2014 November 22, 2014 |  American
Chris Horner
will ride professionally in 2015, and the 43-year-old is poised to
return to a U.S. team next season.
Baden Cooke, agent for the 2013 Vuelta a España champion, confirmed with VeloNews on Sunday that an announcement is imminent. “Chris has signed with a U.S. team,” Cooke wrote to VeloNews. “It will be announced very soon.” (velonews.com) November 23, 2014  Your
chest feels like it's going to explode. You're struggling for air, each
breath feeling insufficient to sate your lungs. You're drowning.
Somebody tries to hand you a lifeline, but they're stopped in their
tracks. Salvation, meters away, but out of reach. Breathe. Breathe.
Breathe. (sbs.com.au)
November 23, 2014  In
the morning, the course at Stony Point was a jarring, unyielding
mixture of frozen ground, with only the middle of the course providing
a flat, grassy area for the powerhouse racers. As the day went on, the
corners softened up. The wooded section at the back of the course began
to form large muddy puddles and even the front of the course near the
barriers felt leg sapping. (cxmagazine.com)
November 23, 2014  "Even
if Lars didn't fall, Kevin was quite obviously the better rider. Having
been sick, Lars did great with 2nd." (podiumcafe.com)
November 23, 2014  US-champion
Jeremy Powers
has his eyes set on riding a good World Cup series this season. That
endeavor includes a trip to the dunes of Koksijde. The course on the
Belgian North Sea coast is very particular, with several deep sand
sections that demands for sand-riding and running skills; the two
features lacking in Powers’ package deal. (cyclingnews.com)
November 23, 2014  From
1945 until the early 1980s Daniel
Rebour made hundreds of meticulous drawings of any and all
interesting developments in the realm of bicycles and they’re detailed
in this unique book. (pezcyclingnews.com)
November 23, 2014 | November 23, 2014  Diego Ulissi could
be set for an early Christmas present as he appears before Swiss
Cycling’s Disciplinary Committee to find out his fate in a hearing set
for December 23. According to a report on Tuttobiciweb, the
Italian rider will meet with the committee to discuss the findings of
his ‘controlled excretion’ tests and whether or not further
disciplinary hearings will be necessary. (cyclingnews.com)
November 23, 2014  At
a media meeting for Team Bora-Argon 18, team DS Andres Schulz spoke
to Christian Prudhomme,
race director of the Tour de France in great detail. In an In-depth
interview wth rad-sport.com,
Prudhomme
spoke on the development of the German cycling, the new anti-doping law
in the country and he explained why Tony
Martin's stage win in Mulhouse was the highlight of this
year's Tour for him. (cyclingquotes.com)
November 23, 2014  What
can you say about a team with riders capable of opening and closing a
63-win season with World Championship victories except superb.
Omega Pharma-QuickStep had one of the most successful seasons with an abundance of unforgettable victories neatly wrapped in rainbow-jersey-winning performances by the Czech Republic’s Zdeněk Štybar in cyclo-cross and Poland’s Michal Kwiatkowski on the road. (cyclingnews.com) November 23, 2014  Can
a 650B randonneur bike climb as well as the best titanium racing bikes?
It did climb as well in a Bicycle Quarterly test, and that raised a few
eyebrows. After all, the randonneur bike weighed 10 pounds more…
Theoretically, assuming equal power output on each bike, the lighter bike will be faster up the hill. So how could the heavier randonneur bike keep up? (janheine.wordpress.com) November 23, 2014  Now
that hydraulic disc brakes are available for road bikes and
manufacturers are embracing the new format, what will happen to road
wheels? In this article, CTech Editor Matt Wikstrom
considers the effect disc brakes will have (and are having on) wheel
design, while considering a prototype disc-specific carbon wheelset
built by Wheelworks. (cyclingtips.com.au)
November 23, 2014 November 22, 2014 UCI
president Brian Cookson
has presented his re-worked plans for the reforms for cycling to race
organizers in a meeting in Oudenaarde, Belgium. The reforms are set to
come into effect in 2017 and hope to reduce the number of race days on
the cycling calendar, which could see several organizers being forced
to cut days from their events. Cookson
is aware that he has a battle on his hands but remains confident of
things going ahead as planned. (cyclingnews.com)
November 22, 2014 Phew,
what a day of racing at Koksijde. The weekend isn't over yet with a
stop at the new Superprestige race at Spa-Francorchamps tomorrow, but
here are some quick thoughts on today's action. (podiumcafe.com)
November 22, 2014 November 22, 2014 |
 Wout Van Aert captured
the biggest win of his season at the elite men's World Cup in Koksijde
in Belgium on Saturday. The young Belgian rider, 19, dominated the race
with a solo win by 42 seconds ahead of Kevin Pauwels and
53 seconds ahead of Mathieu
van der Poel, who was almost caught by a strong group of
chasers who crossed the line three seconds later. (cyclingnews.com)
November 22, 2014 November 22, 2014  Stultiens and De Boer second and
third...
November 22, 2014  Americans
have a hard time with Koksijde, they said. The deep sand and brutal
conditions are unlike anything in the United States, they said.
Looks like the sixteen-year-old American Gage Hecht was able to defy these detractors by taking the win this morning in the Koksijde Junior Race over Belgian favorites Gilles Borra, Alessio Dhoore and Stefano Museeuw. (cxmagazine.com)
2014-15
Races
& Results.
Santos Tour Down Under 2015 - Jan 18-25 (Stages), Dubai Tour 2015 - Feb 4-7 (Stages), Giro d'Italia 2015 - May 9-31 (Stages), Tour de France 2015 - July 4-26 (Stages), UCI Road World Championship 2014 - Sept 20-27 (Results), Vuelta a España 2014 - Aug 23-Sept 14 (Results), Tour de France 2014 - July 5-27 (Results), Giro d'Italia 2014 - May 9 - June 1 (Results), November 22, 2014  Wout
Van Aert accomplished a career goal of winning both the BPost Bank
Trofee’s Koppenbergcross and the UCI World Cup in Koksijde — all in the
start of his first year racing as a pro. The young Belgian rider, 20,
is pleased to add his name to the short list of riders that have won
these two prestigious cyclo-cross races in Belgium. (cyclingnews.com)
November 22, 2014 |  Mark Cavendish and Iljo Keisse took the
lead on the fourth evening of racing at the Gent Six. The pair gained a
lap on the rest of the field after breaching the 200-point mark, and
taking victories in the elimination and derny races. Race favorites Jasper De Buyst and Kenny De Ketele fell
down to third place, but could still move back into the lead if they
earn a bonus lap for making 300 points. (cyclingnews.com)
November 22, 2014  Nairo Quintana
believes that his team’s decision to partner the 2014 Giro d’Italia
victor with his teammate Alejandro
Valverde for next year’s Tour de France and Vuelta a
España is a good move. Instead of splitting their calendars as they did
in 2014 - where Quintana
rode the Giro and Valverde
was sent to the Tour, before they joined up at the Vuelta – Movistar
will send their two top stage racers to the same two Grand Tours.
(cyclingnews.com)
November 22, 2014  At
36 years-of-age Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies’ Tom Zirbel isn’t
getting any younger but it took Worlds TT medallist Taylor Phinney to
wrest the 2013 stars and stripes TT jersey off the big man’s back. He
was well in the picture in every TT he rode in 2014 as well as being
runner-up in the NRC calendar. (pezcyclingnews.com)
 After
missing today's World Cup race in Koksijde due to illness, Lars van der Haar
will take the start in tomorrow's Superprestige race in Francorchamps.
However, the Dutchman is unsure about his chances of defending his top
position in the overall standings. (cyclingquotes.com)
November 22, 2014  In
mid-December the first BSXinsight wearable lactate threshold monitors
will begin shipping. Announced back in March via a Kickstarter
campaign, the US$369 devices slip inside a calf compression sleeve,
where data is recorded for post-workout upload via a smartphone app.
The end result, the company claims, is lactate threshold data that can
inform training, previously only available to athletes via pin-prick
blood tests done in medical centers and high-end training facilities. (bikeradar.com)
November 22, 2014 | November 22, 2014  UCI
president Brian Cookson
has presented his re-worked plans for the reforms for cycling to race
organizers in a meeting in Oudenaarde, Belgium. The reforms are set to
come into effect in 2017 and hope to reduce the number of race days on
the cycling calendar, which could see several organizers being forced
to cut days from their events. Cookson
is aware that he has a battle on his hands but remains confident of
things going ahead as planned. (cyclingnews.com)
November 22, 2014  Phew,
what a day of racing at Koksijde. The weekend isn't over yet with a
stop at the new Superprestige race at Spa-Francorchamps tomorrow, but
here are some quick thoughts on today's action. (podiumcafe.com)
November 22, 2014 Kenny van Hummel has
announced that he will retire from cycling after failing to secure a
contract for the 2015 season. The Dutch sprinter was saved from
retirement by Gianni
Savio’s Androni Giocattoli-Venuzuela after the collapse of
the Fernando Alonso
team left him scrabbling for a contract late in the year. He took three
victories with the team but a lack of funds meant that he found himself
hunting for a new job once again. (cyclingnews.com)
November 22, 2014  After
the successful hour record attempts by Jens Voigt and Matthias Brändle,
Sporza journalist Ruben
Van Gucht decided to give it a try. After a few weeks of
preparation, he covered 42.315km in an hour. (cyclingquotes.com)
November 22, 2014 November 21, 2014 |
 Responding
to a recent feature by CyclingTips which documented cases where riders
had been required to either race for free or for a price less than the
minimum wage, the riders’ association CPA, the teams’ association AIGCP
and the governing body UCI have given their reactions to the situation.
Riders and agents told CyclingTips earlier this month that the UCI’s minimum wage requirements for WorldTour and Pro Continental teams are, in some cases, circumvented in ways that break regulations. These practices could also in theory constitute tax fraud. (cyclingtips.com.au) November 21, 2014  When
it comes to no-shows and hissy fits in cycling, Thomas Voeckler's
failure to climb off the Europcar team bus and attend the podium
ceremonies at the finish of Paris-Tours this October was surely one of
the highest profile of them all in 2014. But both for Voeckler - and
probably for Europcar in general in 2014 - Voecker's finishing
a narrowly beaten second in Paris-Tours must have felt like one
frustrating near-miss too many. (cyclingnews.com)
November 21, 2014  Simon Gerrans has
capped his stellar season by winning Cycling Australia's highest honor.
The 34-year-old was awarded the Sir Hubert Opperman medal, or "Oppy" as Australian cyclist of the year. It is the first time Gerrans has won the award. (sbs.com.au) November 21, 2014
2014-15
Races
& Results.
Santos Tour Down Under 2015 - Jan 18-25 (Stages), Dubai Tour 2015 - Feb 4-7 (Stages), Giro d'Italia 2015 - May 9-31 (Stages), Tour de France 2015 - July 4-26 (Stages), UCI Road World Championship 2014 - Sept 20-27 (Results), Vuelta a España 2014 - Aug 23-Sept 14 (Results), Tour de France 2014 - July 5-27 (Results), Giro d'Italia 2014 - May 9 - June 1 (Results), November 21, 2014  Mark Cavendish and Iljo Keisse edged
closer to the overall lead at the Gent Six during the third night of
racing on Thursday but remain 45 points behind Jasper De Buyst and Kenny De Ketele.
(cyclingnews.com)
November 21, 2014  Yesterday
Carlos Barbero
ended his training ride at the police station after having been
assaulted. The Euskadi rider who will ride for Caja Rural in 2015,
complained about being given "two or three punches in the face" and
asked the police to intervene. (cyclingquotes.com)
November 21, 2014  Alejandro Valverde
supports the decision to ride both the Tour de France and the Vuelta a
Espana with Nairo
Quintana. The Spanish veteran will probably play a vital
supporting role for the Colombian in the very mountainous Tour de
France. (cyclingquotes.com)
November 21, 2014  Reus to Verandas
Willems, Gasparotto
heads to Wanty, Revolution Series heads to Manchester. (cyclingnews.com)
November 21, 2014  "Here’s
your Week in Tech — all the gear news, tips, and announcements you need
and none of the marketing gibberish you don’t." (velonews.com)
November 21, 2014  MTBR.com
reports that the Moab field office of the Bureau of Land Management
(BLM) has posted updated guidelines to their website putting
electric-powered bicycles in the same category as gas-powered vehicles,
effectively banning them from numerous trails in and around the Utah
mountain bike mecca. (velonews.com)
November 21, 2014 November 20, 2014 |  Three
years ago, Janvier Hadi
pedaled a singlespeed bicycle taxi. This week, he won the prologue of
the Tour of Rwanda, a success mirroring the growth of cycling in his
country.
Born into a family of modest farmers, the 23-year-old took up the sport seriously after taking part in a race in the south Rwandan town of Butare. “I heard there was a race for a singlespeed bike.It was like a test, and I won; I got first place,” he told AFP. (velonews.com) November 21, 2014  "For
me, Taiwan isn’t one of those places that springs to mind when picking
out ideal cycling destinations. Due to sheer ignorance or stupidity on
my behalf I’d always imagined Taiwan as a land jam-packed with
industrial estates and high-rise buildings. This was until last year
when fellow CyclingTipper Andy
covered the Taiwan KOM Challenge, an event that captured my imagination
and put Taiwan on my must-do list of places to ride a bike."
(cyclingtips.com.au)
November 21, 2014  The
FDJ team has revealed its new jersey for the 2015 season, opting for a
mix of red, white and blue for the new season. In the 2014 the team
raced in a blue strip, after using an all white kit in the past. Team
leader Thibaut Pinot
modeled the brightly-colored jersey and white shorts in official images
issued by the team. (cyclingnews.com)
November 21, 2014  Kenny van Hummel has
ended his career as a professional cyclist. The 32-year old rider has
not been able to find a new team for 2015 after his contract with
Androni-Giocattoli.
“Unfortunately I have to conclude that I have not been able to find a team, at a respectable level, who is willing to offer me a contract for the 2015 season”, the sprinter told NuSport. (cyclingquotes.com) November 21, 2014  Will Routley,
cracking fella, was fortunate enough to entice him over to Taiwan for
the KOM Challenge just recently.
Will has been a pro since 2008 and just enjoyed his best year with Optum-Kelly Benefit Strategies with a win on Stage 4 and the overall KOM in the 2014 Tour of Califiornia. (crankpunk.com) November 21, 2014  Erica Zaveta has
steadily been working her way to the top of the sport.
The Erwinna, Pennsylvania native had applied for the Amy D. Foundation’s first racing scholarship, a program intended to help promising young female riders progress to the top of the sport. Dan Dombroski established the foundation days after his 26-year-old sister, Amy, was killed on a training ride in Belgium in October 2013. (velonews.com) November 21, 2014  Olympic
time trial champion and former world time trial champion Zulfia Zabirova will
join forces with Maurizio
Fabretto to launch Astana’s new women’s cycling team in
2015. The team will field a roster of about 15 riders, mostly young
athletes that it hopes to develop into seasoned pros.
The team will be officially named Astana-Acca Due O, and it will be registered in Kazakhstan. Many of the riders will come from Eastern Europe, but the team will also have strong Italian flavor. It will have a headquarters in Cornuda, Veneto, and sponsor Acca Due O is an Italian water treatment company. (velonews.com) November 21, 2014  Featuring
BH, Speedplay, Litespeed, Shimano and more. (bikeradar.com)
November 21, 2014  November 20, 2014 | November 21, 2014  Not
a road but a track and not a place to ride but a venue to visit. Still
this series is about exploring legendary locations so here is the
chance to look at the most famous of six day races. Or alternatively
one of the last few surviving winter track
contests. (inrng.com)
November 21, 2014  Tour
de France winner Vincenzo
Nibali has reacted angrily to the news of a fourth doping
case within the Astana teams, saying he hopes that whoever governs
cycling makes them pay a high price.
“If someone links me to these cases, they don't understand a thing. They're four imbeciles that have nothing to do with me,” Gazzetta dello Sport reported Nibali as saying. (cyclingnews.com) November 21, 2014  Cycling
Australia has announced its Tour de France team of the century at the
Jayco Cyclist of the Year Awards held in Melbourne.
The team, comprising of nine riders, was selected by a panel of judges that included Orica GreenEdge’s general manager Shayne Bannan, and cycling journalist and Cyclingnews correspondent Rupert Guinness. (cyclingnews.com) November 21, 2014 Lars van der Haar
will unfortunately miss the second round of the cyclo-cross World Cup
tomorrow in Koksijde, Belgium due to gastroenteritis. Van der Haar fell
sick on Thursday night, and following an assessment with the team
medical experts on Friday morning the decision was made that van der Haar would
not start on Saturday, and his start at Sunday’s Superprestige race at
Spa Francorchamps would be decided depending on his recovery.
(cyclingquotes.com)
November 21, 2014  Leg-warming
oils and creams can be indispensable on a chilly day - here's how to
make sure it's a good burn. (bicycling.com)
November 21, 2014  Tour
de France Sherlock Holmes.
Elementary, my dear British cycling fan.
The Tour de France's popularity in England was no mystery, with two
British champions in the last two years prior to 2014. (velonews.com)
November 21, 2014  "For
the last three months I’ve been testing a prototype of what is possibly
my favorite product of the year – and in any case, certainly the most
useful – the Fly6 safety camera/light. Now that the prototype testing
is finished and the new version 2, Fly6 camera has been released to the
public this week I can finally talk about the product and start
publishing some of my videos from the last few months."
(pezcyclingnews.com)
November 21, 2014  “It
seemed too good to be true,” explained Royal Leamington Spa Cycling
Club member Gary Hibbert.
“A full Canyon Aeroad CF carbon-fibre bike, with Dura-Ace Di2 and Mavic
Cosmic Carbone wheels for just over £3,200.” (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
November 21, 2014 November 20, 2014 |
 The
track was slick with mud, but she felt her leg pains — she’s adjusted
her training, like she was floating on air. The course was lined with
fans, but she heard nothing. Her bike, body, and mind — everything was
firing in unison. Knowing she wouldn’t likely beat Marianne Vos in a
two-up sprint, American Katie
Compton attacked, opened a gap, and held it to the finish,
to win alone, 24 seconds ahead of the world champion.
It was the Rome World Cup, held January 5, and American Katie Compton was on a perfect day. (velonews.com) November 20, 2014  This
weekend marks the second round of the World Cup for the 2014-15 season
as we head to Koksijde in Belgium, often described as the sand dune
race of cyclocross. Last month, Valkenburg held the first race, with Katie Compton
pulling an astonishing come-from-behind victory after an unfortunate
mechanical and Lars van
der Haar found room for a solo victory after early
attacks. (cxmagazine.com)
November 20, 2014  There
may be some (pointless) debate about what the best 'Cross race track in
the world is, but there's little debate as to which is the world's most
famous place. That would be Koksijde, home to two world championships,
one recurring World Cup race, and a whole lotta sand. And not that
inland sand, but real dune stuff.
Oh, and something like 60,000 fans, which is an utterly massive amount. (podiumcafe.com) November 20, 2014  Giro
d'Italia Gran Fondo and Australian NRS transfers. Taryn Heather joins
Bicycle Superstore. Jennelle
Crooks signs for Specialized Securitor. (cyclingnews.com)
November 20, 2014
2014-15
Races
& Results.
Santos Tour Down Under 2015 - Jan 18-25 (Stages), Dubai Tour 2015 - Feb 4-7 (Stages), Giro d'Italia 2015 - May 9-31 (Stages), Tour de France 2015 - July 4-26 (Stages), UCI Road World Championship 2014 - Sept 20-27 (Results), Vuelta a España 2014 - Aug 23-Sept 14 (Results), Tour de France 2014 - July 5-27 (Results), Giro d'Italia 2014 - May 9 - June 1 (Results), November 20, 2014  What
started as a trickle is now a flood. Tony Martin is
the latest rider to confirm he will try to take on an hour record
attempt, perhaps sometime in 2015.
Speaking to the German website RadSport, the three-time world time trial champion said he would like to tackle the hour record, but only if it fits in with his road racing priorities. (velonews.com) November 20, 2014  As
anticipation builds for the arrival of Chris Froome in
Australia, one thing Richie
Porte says locals will not see of the British 2013 Tour de
France champion during his stay – that is, him cycling with Porte on one of his
famed off-season marathon training rides. (cyclingnews.com)
November 20, 2014  Even
though there is no lack of excitement in the cross season, Niels Albert is
still dearly missed. As sports director of the Vastgoedservice-Golden
Palace team, he still has his place in the cucling world but after a
remarkable statement, a comeback may again be a possibility.
(cyclingquotes.com)
November 20, 2014  This
year, Australia will celebrate their personal 100th anniversary in the
Tour de France – a century after Donald
'Don' Kirkman and Iddo
'Snowy' Munro became the first Australians to take part in
1914. (uk.eurosport.yahoo.com)
November 20, 2014  BikeRadar
verdict: 4.5 out of 5
stars. "If you’re looking to hit your peak in 2015 and batter
your personal bests, the Endurace is heartily recommended."
(bikeradar.com)
November 20, 2014 November 19, 2014 |  A
two week Tour de France? Non. Or to use the phrase beloved of many a
French hotelier, c’est pas possible. Still it’s good to question
established ideas and tenets. There’s no rule that says the Tour de
France must be three weeks long and if there were, we should question
that too.
It’s a current topic since UCI President Brian Cookson was in Madrid to award Spain and Movistar their UCI World Tour prizes. He spoke to the media when asked about a shorter Vuelta and Tour de France implied nothing was off the table. Let’s explore why an abbreviated Tour won’t suit anyone. (inrng.com) November 20, 2014  As
a former world and Olympic champion, double World Cup winner and victor
in races such as the Giro d’Italia Femminile, La Flèche Wallonne, the
women’s Tour of Flanders and the Amstel Gold Race, Nicole Cooke is one
of the best female riders of all time.
She walked away from the sport in early 2013 and since then has had minimal involvement, bar some intelligent interviews which expressed her views on anti-doping, women’s cycling and minimum pay. She also released an fine autobiography this year, entitled “The Breakaway.” (cyclingtips.com.au) November 20, 2014  She
finished up the world championships, went to Cape Cod, got engaged, and
took three weeks off the bike.
And now, Evelyn Stevens is at it again. She’s in Boulder, Colorado this week getting back up to speed, staying with Connie Carpenter and Davis Phinney. “It’s always a nice time of year,” she said. “I’ve been training for a few weeks already. I go to my first training camp in December.” (velonews.com) November 20, 2014  The
MTN-Qhubeka team has confirmed it has obtained a Professional
Continental license for the 2015 season from the UCI as it looks
targets a wild card invitation to the Tour de France following the
signings of Edvald
Boasson Hagen, Theo
Bos, Tyler
Farrar, Stephen
Cummings and Matthew
Goss.
The UCI has yet to confirm the full list of WorldTour and Professional Continental teams registered for 2015 but the team will gather in the Western Cape of South Africa for a weeklong get together between November 23-30. (cyclingnews.com) November 20, 2014  Before
anyone says André Greipel
is washed up in the sprints, let's consider that the German champion
won 16 races this year, and that was over the course of a season
interrupted by a shoulder injury, sustained in a Gent-Wevelgem crash,
that required surgery to repair. He leads the peloton in the overall
number of victories, even if Marcel
Kittel and Alexander
Kristoff won more Grand Tour stages. (cyclingnews.com)
November 20, 2014  Speaking
about a possible return to a race he hasn’t competed in since 2011,
former Milan-Sanremo winner Gerald
Ciolek has said riding the Tour de France again is a major
objective for him in 2015.
The German sprinter’s MTN-Qhubeka team has met with Tour organizers ASO and is awaiting confirmation about whether or not it will be given a wildcard invite to next year’s race. This week it was handed participation slots in two of ASO’s early season events, the Tours of Qatar and Oman. (cyclingtips.com.au) November 20, 2014  In
their quest for the ultimate performance nutrition, cyclists and sports
scientists will turn their tastebuds to anything from a cousin of
cannabis to the afterburn effects of a curry.
We take a look at the secret superfoods you should be eating, and why. (bikeradar.com) November 20, 2014  Chris Boardman is
perhaps best known for his time trialling prowess and an obsession with
detail. With the second generation of his bike company's TT bikes,
there's been an opportunity to tweak designs for even more aero
gains. (bikeradar.com)
November 20, 2014 November 19, 2014 | November 20, 2014  Anti-doping
tests in Tenerife have again come under the spotlight after two of the
world's biggest teams confirmed that none of their athletes were tested
during several training camps on the Spanish island, but the UCI claims
that its anti-doping affiliate, the CADF, carried out controls on "top
tier teams" on the island this season. (cyclingnews.com)
 Tour
de France champion Vincenzo
Nibali has repeated his previous assertions that the
Astana team does not have a systematic doping problem, dismissing any
suggestions that a spate of positive tests linked to the team could
reflect a coordinated policy.
Speaking to the Guardian, Nibali was commenting after brothers Valentin and Maxim Iglinskiy tested positive for EPO and another Kazakhstani rider, the national road race champion Ilya Davidenok, had a positive A sample for anabolic androgenic steroids. (cyclingtips.com.au) November 20, 2014  Italy’s
Michele Acquarone,
former RCS Sport manager in charge of the Giro d’Italia, stands firm
one year after the media company fired him over €13m in missing funds.
“It’s not RCS versus a former employee. Here it’s RCS protecting itself keeping the scandal far from the heart of the company,” Acquarone said in a letter this month. “In real life big fishes eat small fishes. Always.” (cyclingweekly.co.uk)  Mike McCormack,
organizer of the BRECK-EPIC MTB stage race in Colorado, one of the
premier events in North America, today tweeted that his race will no
longer accept as an entrant any rider that is serving or has ever
served a USADA or WADA suspension. (crankpunk.com)
November 20, 2014  From
rider to journalist to organizer – Lee
Rodgers has seen all sides of the majestically beautiful
yet spectacularly cruel race that is the Taiwan KOM Challenge. Today he
looks back at his experiences from this truly unique climbing race
which is gaining every year in stature and prestige.
(pezcyclingnews.com)
November 20, 2014  Although
he won his third straight points classification in the Tour de France
this season, Peter Sagan
lacked the volume of victories of his previous seasons, but his new
Tinkoff-Saxo team manager Bjarne
Riis has high hopes that the Slovakian champion will turn
his luck around in 2015. (cyclingnews.com)
November 20, 2014  Shane Sutton, the
technical director of the British Cycling team, has hinted that Bradley Wiggins
needs to step up and improve his team pursuit speed if he is to secure
a place in the final quartet for the Rio Olympic Games in 2016.
(cyclingnews.com)
November 20, 2014 |
 Tour
de France winner Vincenzo
Nibali suffered further embarrassment on Wednesday when
the Kazakhstan-back Astana cycling program, of which his team form the
elite end, suffered a fourth positive drugs test in the space of just a
few months.
Victor Okishev, a 20 year-old who rides for the Astana's Continental team, returned an an adverse analytical finding for Anabolic Androgenic Steroids. He has been provisionally suspended by the UCI, cycling's world governing body, but has the right to request and attend the analysis of the B sample. (telegraph.co.uk) November 19, 2014  After
losing his rainbow jersey in Ponferrada, Tony Martin goes
into the 2015 season with the goal of taking back the coveted tunic and
taking the yellow jersey in the Tour de France. The German also has the
Hour Record on his agenda and may make an attempt already in 2015.
(cyclingquotes.com)
November 19, 2014  It’s
hard to go slow when you’re paid to ride fast. Veteran sprinter and ace
leadout man Greg
Henderson had to learn to slip into the slow lane in 2014
to recover from three minor surgeries. Those proved to be little more
than speed bumps, and the 38-year-old Henderson was right
back in the mix, picking up a win at the Ster ZLM Toer and slotting
into his role as part of Lotto’s formidable leadout train.
VeloNews recently caught up with Henderson from his European home base in Girona, Spain, to talk sprints, André Greipel, and how to beat Marcel Kittel. (velonews.com)  While
many made the annual pilgrimage to Mount Krumpit for Jingle Cross this
past weekend, about 500 racers convened at Hilton’s Indian Lakes Resort
to tear up a golf course and test the bunkers in The South Chicago
Wheelmen’s revered double race weekend. With The Chicago Cylocross
Cup’s (CCC) only Saturday race in the series this year, many chose to
stay at the hotel adjacent to the course and enjoy the amenities: a
heated indoor pool, jacuzzi, spa, two restaurants and three bars –
including The Cave Bar, made famous among local racers by the Chicago
Cuttin’ Crew. (It actually looks like a cave). Despite the venue being
only 45 minutes outside of Chicago, the weekend becomes a social affair
and it’s a treat for racers to wake up on Sunday, have breakfast and be
steps away from the course. (cxmagazine.com)
November 19, 2014  Serena Bishop took
her second straight win of the 2014 Cross Crusade Sunday at Barton Park
and secured her fourth series overall win in as many years, while Josh Kelley took the
elite men’s win Sunday and tied Chris
Jones for second overall with 104 points each.
(cxmagazine.com)
November 19, 2014
2014-15
Races
& Results.
Santos Tour Down Under 2015 - Jan 18-25 (Stages), Dubai Tour 2015 - Feb 4-7 (Stages), Giro d'Italia 2015 - May 9-31 (Stages), Tour de France 2015 - July 4-26 (Stages), UCI Road World Championship 2014 - Sept 20-27 (Results), Vuelta a España 2014 - Aug 23-Sept 14 (Results), Tour de France 2014 - July 5-27 (Results), Giro d'Italia 2014 - May 9 - June 1 (Results), November 19, 2014  "Asper-Gavere
is a cyclo-cross classic; a course set apart for its difficulty, in the
category of Koksijde and the Koppenbergcross, or old legends like
Wetzikon. Set in an orchard on the side of what is more or less a
cliff, on a military base with a castle perched at the top of the hill.
Imagine the muddiest tractor paths you’ve ever seen, set at a 45 degree
angle, and none of them straight; a slippery game of Chutes and Ladders
with only two rideable flat sections, one along the start/finish
stretch, the other along the canal at the bottom of the descent. Any
other flat piece requires running, including the five back and forth
sections that come early on the course." (cyclingnews.com)
November 19, 2014  Optum
Pro Cycling presented by Kelly Benefit Strategies today announced its
14-rider team for the 2015 season, naming U23 Pan American cyclo-cross
champion Curtis White
as its latest signing.
Guillaume Boivin joins Phil Gaimon from Garmin-Sharp in stepping back from the WorldTour ranks, while Canadians Pierrick Naud and Michael Woods are the other new additions to the team. (cyclingnews.com) November 19, 2014  Excluding
your mind, hands and perhaps bottle opener, nothing in the bicycle
workshop is likely to get more use than hex wrenches (AKA hex keys,
Allen keys). So why is that so many of us will invest in other
bicycle-specific tools, but make do with cheap L-shaped wrenches or
worse, a multi-tool?
Taking a peek in a well equipped workshop or pro-mechanics tool box will reveal that the experts don’t often agree on what type of hex wrench is best – and, more importantly, they rarely make-do with just a single style. On top of this, you’ll just about always find a torque wrench or two. (bikeradar.com) November 19, 2014 November 18, 2014 |  Tonight
the Kristallen Fiets will be awarded to the best Belgian rider. For Johan Museeuw, Philippe Gilbert and
Greg Van Avermaet
are the top favorites. Museeuw
who has been entitled to vote explains why he chose Gilbert and speaks
about Tom Boonen's
future in an interview with Sporza.
(cyclingquotes.com)
November 19, 2014 Jeremy Powers’ first
race overseas proved to be a success with a ninth-place finish at the
opening World Cup in Valkenburg, and after a short return home to the
US, he is ready to head back over for the second round held on November
22, on the sandy shores of Koksijde in Belgium, where he is aiming to
cross the finish line inside the top 10 again. (cyclingnews.com)
November 19, 2014  Mark Cavendish and Iljo Keisse are
in fourth spot behind leaders Jasper
De Buyst and Kenny
De Ketele after the opening night of the 2014
Ghent Six-Day in Belgium.
Cavendish and Keisse put in a solid performance on Tuesday night, placing second in the Madison, team elimination and points race. (cyclingweekly.co.uk) November 19, 2014  Philippe Gilbert has
said that he yearns to return to the cobbled Classics of Flanders, even
if it were to impact on his performance at the Ardennes races.
In the past, Gilbert has ridden both but the cobbled Classics were removed from his race calendar for 2014, as the BMC team looked to regain the Belgian’s form of 2011. After a year away from the pave, the Belgian is keen to make a return in 2015. (cyclingnews.com) November 19, 2014  Today.com reports
that U2 frontman Bono
faces a long road to recovery after crashing on a bike ride in New York
City’s Central Park on Sunday.
The singer attempted to avoid another rider and was involved in what doctors have called a “high energy bicycle accident.” Bono was rushed to New York Presbyterian Weill Cornell Medical Center’s Emergency Department and underwent “multiple X-rays and CAT scans” followed by five hours of surgery. (velonews.com) November 19, 2014  Lampre-Merida
team manager Giuseppe
Saronni recently gave his team a score of 6.5 out of 10
for the 2014 season, claiming the team had done well but insisting his
boys could have done a lot better. He is right, with a stark contrast
of success and failure, some promising young riders and the demise of
an older generation creating a season of contrasts. The team won 27
races but many of those were minor; 2014 could have been so much
better. (cyclingnews.com)
November 19, 2014  If
you’re looking for an extra push before your next big race, you might
want to be careful about what you’re chugging to get it. Drinking
caffeinated energy drinks before riding can make your sleep suffer
later on, new research from Spain suggests. (bicycling.com)
November 19, 2014  There
was some heavy mud, but pine needles and wood were mixed in with the
soil, and they are relatively light in weight. The bike carried 1040 g
(2.3 lb) of mud. The bike’s overall weight, mud-free, is 10.0 kg (22.0
lb), so the mud added 10.4% to the bike’s weight. That’s quite a bit of
mud weighing the bike down, and makes me wonder about using superlight
parts on a ‘cross bike! (janheine.wordpress.com)
November 19, 2014  Raleigh’s
top-of-the-line cyclocross race bike was redesigned in 2015 with input
from Raleigh-Clement Pro team riders like Ben Berden. Raleigh
lowered the bottom bracket— from 55mm on the size 53cm 2014 model, to
65mm on the 2015 size 54cm—which added stability to the ride, but at
the cost of pedal clearance when you really lay the bike over. This is
a minor quibble, but it’s there nonetheless. Thru-axles replace
standard quick releases at both ends. This adds some rigidity to the
wheel connection and helped immensely to keep rotor noise from the
Shimano R785 brakes at bay. (bicycling.com)
November 19, 2014 | November 19, 2014  The
UCI has confirmed that Astana Continental rider Victor Okishev has
been suspended after he returned an adverse analytical finding for
Anabolic Androgenic Steroids. The positive test comes from the Asian
Championships in May of this season, where Okishev won the
under-23 time trial. The 20-year-old has been part of the team since
August of 2013. (cyclingnews.com)
November 19, 2014  Samuel Sanchez, not
retained by BMC Racing Team, is without a contract for next season. Georges Luchinger,
the spokesman of the Spanish rider said that the rider took
himself the decision not to run in 2015 for the US team. “Samuel decided to
not stay and we respect this,” he explained. (cyclingquotes.com)
November 19, 2014  Richie Porte is
hoping to put his annus horribilis behind him, and ride into 2015 with
a roar.
Illnesses derailed much of Porte’s season, forcing him to miss the Giro d’Italia. Later, at the Tour de France, he was poised to step up, following the unexpected exit of defending champion Chris Froome, but he suffered in the mountains. Speaking on Team Sky’s website, Porte admitted it was a year of hard knocks. (velonews.com) November 19, 2014  ASO
confirm Tour of Qatar and Oman teams, La Pomme to ride KTM Bikes, New
name and bike sponsor for La Pomme Marseille. (cyclingnews.com)
November 19, 2014  Since
July, the fate of the Specialized lululemon women's professional
cycling team has been up in the air. After a valiant crowd-sourcing
effort, Specialized revealing its move to Boels-Dolmans, and riders
like Carmen Small
and Evie Stevens
announcing their departure from the squad, it seemed that the
continuation of the team was unlikely. Now, the team is
moving forward as Velocio-SRAM aboard Cervélo bikes. (bicycling.com)
November 19, 2014  American
grocer Safeway recently stepped into the pro cycling arena, announcing
its sponsorship of a UCI continental team, to be called the
Airgas-Safeway Cycling Team. The team will be made up of 16 riders —
the roster is not yet finalized — and focus on development, though it
does not bill itself as a development team. (velonews.com)
November 19, 2014  "Weighing
in at a scant 86g (claimed), and just barely larger than two stacked
matchboxes, this action camera is one of the smallest on the market.
The CM-1000 can be mounted to your bike or your body using any
GoPro®-compatible camera mounting system. Included with the camera is a
helmet mounting strap—but I opted for a K-Edge combination camera/GPS
mount, to keep my bike cockpit looking tidy." (bicycling.com)
November 19, 2014  Yawn...
winter. In the season of cycling, anyway. It's not technically winter
here (though it might as well be), and for one pretty good slice of our
audience (g'day y'all!) it's not even slightly winter. But if winter is
the incubation period for the Earth's annual cycle of rebirth, then for
the cycling season that's where we are. In fact, winter is well
underway, even about to wind down. It won't be long now before we see
the first little shoots of Cycling Spring, in the form of team training
"camps" intermingled with flashy media launches. (podiumcafe.com)
November 19, 2014  "It’s
always fascinating to watch a brand tell us the product they designed
only a few seasons ago is now slow, heavy and flimsy compared to the
new product and all its technological wizardry. We expected to hear
this when Zipp announced the 404 Firestrike, but instead we heard
something quite different." (pelotonmagazine.com)
November 19, 2014 |
 The
aroma of fried onions, hot dogs, burgers and beer hits you even before
you enter ’t Kuipke, Ghent’s iconic velodrome in the heart of Flanders,
northern Belgium.
Even without any olfactory sense, though, it would not be difficult to navigate your way to the 5,000-seat arena; a procession of fans in varying states of sobriety were wending their way from Ghent’s bars and cafés to the Citadelpark long before the first evening of this year’s Six kicked off at around 8.30pm last night. (telegraph.co.uk) November 18, 2014  The
bad news for Spanish cycling in 2014 was that Movistar are now the
country's lone star in the WorldTour firmament. The good news was that
as the sport's top ranked team in the UCI WorldTour classification,
Movistar continued to shine so strongly this season that their current
success rate easily eclipses Spain's fast-disintegrating future as a
cycling nation. (cyclingnews.com)
November 18, 2014  Italian
national coach Davide
Cassani has heaped praise over Vincenzo Nibali,
claiming that the success has not changed the Tour de France champion.
Furthermore, he insists that he is confident in the future for Italian
cycling. (cyclingquotes.com)
November 18, 2014  Two
hundred and fifty miles is a bit out of the comfort zone for many
cyclocross competitors in Southern California. If an event is more than
an hour or two from home (not counting the area’s often crushing
traffic), a lot of riders will opt for pedaling from their garage
instead. Or check the surf report.
But the SLOcross simply had too much going for it. The fifth edition of the event dangled a fresh, juicy bundle of carrots to bring CX enthusiasts from SoCal (and beyond) all the way to San Luis Obispo. (cxmagazine.com) November 18, 2014
2014-15
Races
& Results.
Santos Tour Down Under 2015 - Jan 18-25 (Stages), Dubai Tour 2015 - Feb 4-7 (Stages), Giro d'Italia 2015 - May 9-31 (Stages), Tour de France 2015 - July 4-26 (Stages), UCI Road World Championship 2014 - Sept 20-27 (Results), Vuelta a España 2014 - Aug 23-Sept 14 (Results), Tour de France 2014 - July 5-27 (Results), Giro d'Italia 2014 - May 9 - June 1 (Results), November 18, 2014  Lander still without
contract, Wanty sign Seynaeve,
Vos
wins Momentum 947 Cycle Challenge, Geert
Van Bondt joins BMC. (cyclingnews.com)
November 18, 2014  The
American registered BMC Development Team has announced its 2015
15-rider roster which includes five new faces. The team was victorious
on close to two dozen occasions in 2014 while two of its riders, Stefan Küng and Dylan Tuens, moved
up the WorldTour BMC Racing Team. (cyclingnews.com)
November 18, 2014  It
turns out that Japanese animators are just as into Rapha and Bradley Wiggins as
the Brits are - at least, according to a recently released anime short
called "Hill Climb Girl." The video has quickly become a cycling
sensation, thanks to a pithy-but-adorable plot and an inspiring TT up a
grade that would make even the most seasoned cyclist cringe.
(bicycling.com)
November 18, 2014  "I
put on a cycling cap every day that I ride my bike. I've done so pretty
much since I became a professional cyclist, when I felt that I had
finally earned the right. Lately though, I sometimes feel ridiculous.
Now that I am retired, why do I still feel the compulsion to stick so
resolutely to this tradition, looking in the mirror each morning,
straightening my peak before I head out the door?
Many of us have a bit of a 'first girlfriend' syndrome with cycling, an intensity and excitement that springs from the image of the sport the way it was when we first found it. For me, the cycling cap is central in that image." (bicycling.com) November 18, 2014  "We’ve
been riding and racing the top-of-the-line $6300 Boone 9 Disc for about
two months now and have been roundly impressed. Subtle flex in the
frame accompanied by a similarly behaving IsoSpeed (aka tapered) fork
nets a cyclocross bike that feels smoother than any other we’ve
ridden." (roadbikereview.com)
November 18, 2014 November 17, 2014 |  Chris Horner has had
a hard time finding a team for next season. Now his agent Baden Cooke reveals
that he has signed a contract with an unnamed team.
A little more than a year ago, he stood at the top step of the podium in one of the biggest races, the Vuelta a Espana, celebrating the biggest win of his career. (cyclingquotes.com) November 18, 2014  "Nicole
Cooke says ‘no more heroes’ but, truth be told, she is one of mine. She
was impressive as a cyclist of course, and her manner off the bike was
equally striking. I’ve never met a professional rider as
aware of the legacy they created nor as measured or as thoughtful in
their answers . She was kind enough to give me time for an interview,
and it was a conversation that went on long after the recorder was
turned off." (crankpunk.com)
November 18, 2014  Stating
he is over 14 pounds lighter than he was twelve months ago, Richie Porte has
said he has got over the disappointment of a season frustrated by
illness and is raring to go for 2015.
Any thoughts that the Australian’s morale might still be dented after an at-times difficult year have been dismissed, with the Team Sky rider saying that he is highly motivated to turn things around and show what he can do. (cyclingtips.com.au) November 18, 2014  For
years cycling was the whipping boy of sports administration. Turf wars,
doping problems and other concerns beset the sport and the UCI’s HQ in
Switzerland had a siege mentality. Now it’s the turn of FIFA, soccer’s
governing body. There are allegations of cronyism, whistleblowers being
blasted, talk of breakaways and a bizarre President who seems
impossible to eject.
Cycling fans might feel like The Simpson’s Nelson Muntz as they point and laugh at FIFA’s self-inflicted woes. But any amusement is surely born from experience and a sense of nervous relief that another sport is humiliating itself? (inrng.com) November 18, 2014  The
plan by Cycling Australia (CA) to name a nine-rider Tour de France
'Team of the Century' at its annual awards night in Melbourne on Friday
(local time) will surely spark plenty of debate with a number of world
class candidates missing out.
Certainly, as one of six judges asked to select the team, debate is what I expect if the variety of nominations submitted from each member of the selection panel and what it took for us all to reach a final and collective decision is anything to go by. (cyclingnews.com) November 18, 2014  Tonight
the 74th Six-Days of Ghent kicks off in De Kuipke and it is time to
find out who will succeed Jasper
de Buyst and Leif
Lampater on the list of winners after their surprise
victory 12 months ago. The Ghent audience can welcome back their local
hero Iljo Keisse
who will ride on the track with no less of a figure than Mark Cavendish.
However, Omega Pharma-Quick Step manager Patrick Lefevere is
less enthusiastic. (cyclingquotes.com)
November 18, 2014  Nairo Quintana is
still not completely recovered from his two crashes in the Vuelta a
Espana. However, the Colombian is more frustrated that he missed out on
the chance to win the Spanish grand tour as he feels that he could have
beaten eventual winner Alberto
Contador. (cyclingquotes.com)
November 18, 2014  Just
in time for the holiday season, the Giro d’Italia is opening
registration in December for its Gran Fondo event.
The ride is open to aficionados and cyclists who want to challenge themselves on the roads of the Corsa Rosa’s hardest stage. The ride is scheduled for Sunday, May 17, 2015. November 18, 2014 November 17, 2014 | November 18, 2014  Brian Cookson has
said that he would consider shortening the Tour de France in an attempt
to declutter the cycling calendar.
The UCI president was speaking to the media in Spain after presenting the awards for the 2014 UCI WorldTour rider, team and nation at an event in Madrid on Monday. (cyclingnews.com) November 18, 2014  It's hard to earn a place on one of the best cycling teams in the world and it can be even harder to keep it. After his neo-pro year with Team Sky, Nathan Earle knows the joy and the demands of being a WorldTour worker. While he happily grinds away at the front of the peloton to deliver Chris Froome, Richie Porte or any other Sky rider to success, the future is never far from his mind. "There’s no real job security." (sbs.com.au) November 18, 2014  The
peloton is starting to wake from its autumn slumber, with training
camps and team meetings revving up following a few precious weeks of
downtime after a wild 2014 season.
But there’s no rest for the weary, and even less so for riders from Australia, where the racing season will soon click back into gear. Orica-GreenEdge is already planning to race well on home roads, and the team will be riding for all-out victory with Simon Gerrans at the 17th Santos Tour Down Under (January 20-25). (velonews.com) November 18, 2014  "It’s
7.45am on Friday. A chilled wind whips across the alpine lake, piercing
through the lycra skins of the 20 hardy souls collected on the lake’s
western bank. A long winter of frigid mornings and numb extremities has
prepared us well and we are unmoved and unbowed. It is the morning of
the first day.
Our group stands atop Falls Creek, and now, above the tree line, the landscape of granite and gorse rolls and falls below us in all directions. A coarse quilt of green, yellow, grey and purple spring flowers are tucked low and tight against the rolling terrain lest it be blown clean off by the merciless alpine wind." (cyclingtips.com.au) November 18, 2014  The
66-year-old cycling fan who was hit by Johan Vansummeren
during the Tour of Flanders, will be paralyzed for the rest of her
life. More than seven months after the accident, her husband has talked
about the incident for the first time because his wife is unable to do
so. On top of all the miseru, the medical treatment has cost more than
10,000 euro but they have not received a single penny in compensation.
"I am not a millionaire," he says. (cyclingquotes.com)
November 18, 2014  Jay McCarthy's
second season at WorldTour level with Tinkoff-Saxo, in which he made
his grand tour debut at the Giro d'Italia, proved to one in which the
Australian gained further insights into his characteristics at the top
level of the sport.
The 22-year-old explained on the Tinkoff-Saxo website that he is closer to understanding where his strengths lie in the pro peloton after two seasons with the team. (cyclingnews.com) November 18, 2014  "Because
he is 1) An Old Dog That Won't Quit, 2) controversial, 3) unwilling in
many ways to "play the game," 4) due an immense amount of respect
wether you agree with him or not (he's earned it!), 5) NOT A JOCK, at
least not in the pedestrian and typical sense, and 6) because we simply
like and respect and revere him as well as what we think he stands for,
we asked Adam Myerson
Thirty-one questions give or take. Though it was not our intention,
having more to do with ineptitude rather than apathy, many of our
questions were random, unsophisticated and poorly executed."
(manualforspeed.com)
November 18, 2014 November 17, 2014 November 17, 2014 |
 Movistar,
Alejandro Valverde
and Spain have officially been awarded their trophies for their
respective victories in the WorldTour. In a ceremony at the
headquarters of team sponsor Telefonica in Madrid, UCI president Brian Cookson was on
hand to dole out the awards to Valverde,
Movistar boss Eusebio
Unzué and Royal Spanish Cycling Federation chairman José Luis López.
Giro d'Italia winner Nairo
Quintana was also on hand to accept the plaudits.
(cyclingnews.com)
November 17, 2014  The
opening 15 minutes of the race will always be fast and furious with
attacks and breakaways. A famous saying goes: “He/she who pedals the
least, wins the race.” The intuition being that attacking off the front
from the gun feels good, but it doesn’t maximise your chances of
victory, it lessens them. (cyclingtips.com.au)
November 17, 2014  The
League of Professional Cycling which manages the Coppa Italia, have
officially given the title to Neri Sottoli "after a careful assessment
of the circumstances and conditions that led to an interim delay and
temporary results."
Neri Sottoli beat Bardiani-CSF by just a single point. The win had been questioned due to irregularitetes, mainly the forbidden use of some riders as the rules require all riders to live in Italy. (cyclingquotes.com) November 17, 2014  With
his impressive double wins earlier this month at the two-day Derby City
Cup in Kentucky, where he toppled US cyclo-cross national champion Jeremy Powers from
his streak of UCI C1 race wins, Danny
Summerhill has set himself up as one of the favorites for
the US National Championships in Austin, Texas in January.
(cyclingnews.com)
November 17, 2014  Mathieu van der Poel
continues to ride both at the elite and U23 level. The talented
Dutchman has announced that he will riding with the elite riders in
Saturday's World Cup race in Koksijde.
The BKCP-Powerplus rider is usually riding with the U23 riders in that race series but there is no U23 race in the sand of Koksijde. Hence, van der Poel is one of 8 riders selected for the race by Ducth national coach Johan Lammerts. (cyclingquotes.com) November 17, 2014
2014-15
Races
& Results.
Santos Tour Down Under 2015 - Jan 18-25 (Stages), Dubai Tour 2015 - Feb 4-7 (Stages), Giro d'Italia 2015 - May 9-31 (Stages), Tour de France 2015 - July 4-26 (Stages), UCI Road World Championship 2014 - Sept 20-27 (Results), Vuelta a España 2014 - Aug 23-Sept 14 (Results), Tour de France 2014 - July 5-27 (Results), Giro d'Italia 2014 - May 9 - June 1 (Results), November 17, 2014  For
the few years, Courtenay
McFadden has periodically been a major contender
at the largest events in American cyclocross. Those who watch her race
know that she is a furious starter, usually dictating the pace for the
first three or four laps even against some of the best names in the
sport. (cxmagazine.com)
November 17, 2014  A
few weeks ago Jarlinson
Pantano and Robinson
Chalaud complained that their Colombia team had not paid
their salaries for several months. Now the South American team reports
that they are about to solve the problem. (cyclingquotes.com)
November 17, 2014  Retiring
Sky sports director Dan Frost appreciates the fact that the British
team has signed Nicolas
Roche who will fit well into the team in several aspects.
However, the team doesn't need his knowledge about Alberto Contador as Chris Froome already
knows his Spanish rival very well. (cyclingquotes.com)
November 17, 2014  It’s
time to batten down the hatches, as the months of wind, rain, sleet and
snow head our way. Yep, whether you like it or not, winter is here and
unfortunately, so are the bugs, germs and infections of flu season.
Cue the obsessive health nuts with their flu masks, rubber gloves and disinfectant spray, panicking and giving every person who dares sniffle near them an evil ‘don’t get near me or touch me’ look. (cyclingweekly.co.uk) November 17, 2014  BikeRadar
verdict: 3.5 out of 5
stars. "High quality first fast road bike but slightly more expensive
than some of the opposition." (bikeradar.com)
November 17, 2014 November 16, 2014 November 16, 2014 |  Sweeping
changes of how elite men’s professional cycling will look in the near
future are no longer “pie in the sky” ideas, but are instead edging
toward reality.
Is smaller better? Size doesn’t count for everything, especially as far as the UCI is concerned, and cycling’s governing body continues to press its makeover of how the elite men’s racing calendar will be structured. As reported last week, the UCI and representatives from the peloton’s key players had a major sit down November 13 in Paris. That was the latest of several meetings this season, and came ahead of an official UCI report that is expected to produce concrete suggestions for changes, most likely to be revealed at a UCI WorldTour seminar in Montreux, Switzerland, in early December. (velonews.com) November 17, 2014  The
pro peloton’s existence is predicated on imitation. You can buy the
same bike as the world champion, you can have the same clothing as the
yellow jersey. “What the pros ride” is the sporting equivalent of “as
seen on TV”.
There’s one aspect nobody should be copying: the practice of slinging used bottles, wrappers and other waste into the countryside. Time after time riders hurl their empty food packets away. This might change in 2015. (inrng.com) November 17, 2014  Olympic
champion Dani King
was released from the hospital on Monday after spending two nights in
the intensive care unit and nine additional days as an inpatient
following a crash that resulted in five broken ribs and a collapsed
lung.
The British track and road cyclist crashed when a member of her training group hit a pothole in South Wales Valley on November 6. She was taken to the Prince Charles Hospital in Merthyr Tydfil where she was treated for her injuries. (cyclingnews.com) November 17, 2014  The
2015 Amgen Tour of California will get its first ever high-altitude
time trial and a return to Lake Tahoe, but they won’t be part of the
same event.
Wait, how’s that work? America’s longest-running stage race will enter its 10th edition with a mix of old and new, including the new TT and the return to the ill-fated 2010 Tahoe start, which got nixed by a powerful spring snowstorm. The twist is that the riders headed to Tahoe will be the women’s field, not the men’s. (bicycling.com)  Nys
leads Superprestige, Nash on a roll in the US, Juniors race in Kentucky
and Gavere, World Cup heads to Koksijde, USA Cycling
Professional Cyclo-cross standings. (cyclingnews.com)
November 17, 2014  Italy’s
national team will change shape over the coming 2015 season,
incorporating more Under 23 and junior-level cyclists in professional
races
“We want to make a jump in quality,” Director Davide Cassani told national sports daily, La Gazzetta dello Sport. “The national team needs to exist year around for the youngsters to gain experience.” (cyclingweekly.co.uk) November 17, 2014  In
August, Michiel Elijzen
announced that he would quit his job as team manger at Belkin. In an
interview with Wielerrevue, the Dutchman explains his decision. "At
Blanco I was involved in all decisions but my influence became smaller."
At the end of 2012, Michiel Elijzen left Lotto-Belisol to join Rabobank. (cyclingquotes.com) November 17, 2014  It
appears the Vuelta a España organizers are pulling out all the stops
for 2015, the 80th edition of the Spanish tour.
The official unveiling of the route won’t happen until January, but details, both through official channels and reports in local media, suggest another interesting and challenging course for the Vuelta. (velonews.com) November 17, 2014  The
Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro may be well over a year away but the
French national team are ensuring that they will be well prepared.
National coach Bernard
Bourreau has called together 12 of the country’s riders
for a training camp in December, with the 2016 Olympics in the
forefront of his mind. (cyclingnews.com)
November 17, 2014  Polygon
divides its road range into two major categories – race and endurance –
with a smaller selection of cyclocross and flat bar bikes. There are
seven race models in the Helios A series and eight endurance bikes in
the Helios C series. Both categories are dominated by carbon framesets,
where the race-oriented bikes feature aerodynamic profiles, while the
Helios C series employs conventional tube shapes. (cyclingtips.com.au)
November 17, 2014 | November 17, 2014  ESPN
and the Associated Press report that The World Anti-Doping Agency said
it is against the imposition of criminal sanctions on cheating athletes
despite a tougher code that will come into effect on Jan. 1.
This comes after news of a recently proposed German law that would punish cheating athletes with criminal sentences of up to three years in jail. “An athlete should be sanctioned under the sports rules which have been developed over many years,” WADA President Craig Reedie said, “and he should not be sanctioned under criminal law.” (velonews.com) November 17, 2014  Ted King has said he
believes that his move to Cannondale-Garmin will be a big boost to his
career, with the American stating that both the line-up and the
opportunities should work well for him.
King was one of 27 riders confirmed on Friday as part of the roster for 2015. He is one of several moving across to the current Garmin-Sharp setup from the previous Cannondale team, joining seven other riders plus that title sponsor. (cyclingtips.com.au) November 17, 2014  Nathan Earle still
can’t quite believe he’s living his dream. After his first season as a
WorldTour professional the excitement is still evident in his voice as
he talks about his year with Team Sky.
The 26-year-old Tasmanian has just completed the first half of a two-year deal with Sky that saw him riding in support of Tour de France winners Chris Froome and Bradley Wiggins, plus of course Richie Porte, something Earle still finds hard to believe. (sbs.com.au) November 17, 2014  A
return of 23 wins – up from last year’s 17 – is not to be sniffed at,
and with major wins in Il Lombardia and the Critérium du Dauphiné,
thanks to the team’s brightest talents, Garmin-Sharp can look back on a
season peppered with successes. The campaign, however, was also defined
by a number of setbacks, crashes, and valiant yet ultimately
unsuccessful near misses. Dan
Martin’s tumbles at Liége-Bastogne-Liége, the Giro
d’Italia and Worlds almost ruined his season, while Andrew Talansky’s
injuries and abandonment at the Tour de France took some of the shine
off of his sublime ride in June. (cyclingnews.com)
November 17, 2014  "For
some reason or other BMC always seems to be one of the first of our
offseason team analysis pieces. I wanna say it's for
alphabetical reasons but clearly even I'm not that poor with the
alphabet so it has to be something else. There is obviously something
intriguing about Andy
Rihs' well funded Swiss/American creation."
(podiumcafe.com)
November 17, 2014  Giro
d'Italia winner Nario Quintana The Colombian Nairo Quintana, winner of
the Giro, dreams about the 2015 Tour de France and starts the first
Movistar team gathering with the French race in mind, believing that it
is a good opportunity "with a perfect Tour with good mountains."
(cyclingquotes.com)
November 17, 2014  Drapac
eyeing WorldTour in 2017, Conti
wants Giro stage win, Melbourne Kermesse Championships.
(cyclingnews.com)
November 17, 2014  Movistar
confirmed its team line-up for the 2015 season late last week, with
four new additions to a squad which remains largely unchanged.
Three riders, Sylvester Szmyd, Jose Ivan Gutierrez and Ruben Plaza, who has left for Lampre-Merida, will be the only riders not returning to ride for the Spanish team next year. New riders brought in for the new season include Australian Rory Sutherland, who’s joined from Tinkoff-Saxo, as well as Rubén Fernández, Winner Anacona and Marc Soler who will join the WorldTour squad as a neo-pro. (cyclingweekly.co.uk) November 17, 2014  BikeRadar
verdict: 4 out of 5
stars. "Tough, protective glasses with a superb fit and great optics."
(bikeradar.com)
November 17, 2014  Ex
racer Chris
in France has been checking out some cool new products from BBB
accessories and Scicon Bags and ex-Pro mechanic Alastair in Spain
has been spinning his legs with the latest in accessories from Wahoo. 3
products that won’t break the bank but proved to be very practical
indeed. (pezcyclingnews.com)
November 17, 2014 November 16, 2014 |
 Klaas Vantornout used
his bike skills and power to dominate the deep mud and slippery
conditions and so win the Superprestige Asper-Gavere race on Belgium on
Sunday.
The tall Belgian managed to go clear alone just before the start of the last lap as teammate Kevin Pauwels slipped in the mud and briefly delayed Tom Meeusen. (cyclingnews.com) November 16, 2014  Katerina Nash has
become relentless as she hit her cyclocross season in full swing,
taking a six in a row victory at Jingle Cross. Caroline Mani and
Courtenay McFadden finished
behind in second and third, respectively. McFadden, the
leading American rider on the day, has been building her case as one of
the top riders in the nation, and will surely continue to push herself
to contend for the world’s team. (cxmagazine.com)
November 16, 2014  Although
he surged back into the overall Superprestige series lead with a
tremendous come-from-behind effort to take third in Gavere on Sunday,
Belgian champion Sven Nys
has as of yet been unable to add any more victories to his palmarès in
the series.
Even Nys-haters will acknowledge that the cyclo-cross legend is the reference in every race he starts. That wasn't any different at the fourth Superprestige round in Gavere. (cyclingnews.com) November 16, 2014
2014-15
Races
& Results.
Santos Tour Down Under 2015 - Jan 18-25 (Stages), Dubai Tour 2015 - Feb 4-7 (Stages), Giro d'Italia 2015 - May 9-31 (Stages), Tour de France 2015 - July 4-26 (Stages), UCI Road World Championship 2014 - Sept 20-27 (Results), Vuelta a España 2014 - Aug 23-Sept 14 (Results), Tour de France 2014 - July 5-27 (Results), Giro d'Italia 2014 - May 9 - June 1 (Results), November 16, 2014  The
organizers of the KMC Cyclo-cross Festival in Providence, Rhode Island,
announced this week that they intend to bid for inclusion in the UCI
Cyclo-cross World Cup after receiving encouragement from both the UCI
and the support of the state's Governor, Lincoln Chafee, and
the Mayor-elect of Providence, Jorge
Elorza. (cyclingnews.com)
November 16, 2014 |  European
and Belgian champion Sanne
Cant won a very muddy edition of the Gavere
Superprestige race on Sunday afternoon after a race-long duel with Nikki Harris.
The 24 year-old Belgian rider showed off her technical skills during a strong final lap. A mud-clad Harris rolled across the finish line in second place at short distance behind Cant. More than a minute later Ellen van Loy captured the final podium spot. (cyclingnews.com) November 16, 2014  The
Sunweb – Napoleon Games team had arguably one of its best days of racin
on Sunday at the Superprestige in Gavere, Belgium. "Gavere is ours,"
team manager Jurgen
Mettepenningen claimed after the team managed eight podium
finishes on Sunday, including Klaas
Vantornout and Kevin
Pauwels taking the top two spots in the Elite Men
category. (cyclingnews.com)
November 16, 2014  The
organizers of the second edition of the Dubai Tour hope the lack of an
opening time trial will mean the race is decided by just a few seconds,
with the hillier third stage in the Hatta hills likely to spark the
only time gaps between the riders and so decide the overall winner.
(cyclingnews.com)
November 16, 2014  Modolo tops Italian
winners list for 2014, Italian doctors and riders discuss racing in
extreme weather. (cyclingnews.com)
November 16, 2014  Damiano Cunego has a
strong desire for revenge. After a long career with Lampre, the Italian
has decided to change and next year he will be the captain of the
Nippo-Fantini-De Rosa team which will step up to pro continental level.
(cyclingquotes.com)
November 16, 2014 November 15, 2014 | November 16, 2014 In
the second part of a long interview, Astana’s Tour de France winner Vincenzo Nibali
talks about the recent doping scandals at the team and how the squad is
shaping up for 2015, where they will try and help teammate Fabio Aru win the
Giro and then help Nibali
try to defend his Tour crown. (cyclingquotes.com)
November 16, 2014  After
several years at the continental level, Stefan Schumacher
will return to the professional ranks when he joins CCC
Polsat-Polkowice. The German will focus on time trials, shorter stage
races and the classics in his first year with the Polish team.
Crashes, illnesses, a small racing calendar and often with bad luck in the races. The 2014 season was not always as Schumacher had hoped. (cyclingquotes.com) November 16, 2014  After
freezing his way through Milan-Sanremo earlier in the year our roadside
expert Alessandro
thought he’d seen the last of snowy bike races for 2013 – was he ever
wrong! We sent him out again into the snow and rain on stage 14 of that
years Giro d’Itala. It’s a springtime snowy roadside special!
(pezcyclingnews.com)
November 16, 2014  Three
doctors and a UCI official who examined Marco Pantani’s
anti-doping test in the 1999 Giro d’Italia will be heard in court in
the coming weeks as part of a case that involves Mafia gangs fixing
sport.
Pantani was thrown out of the Giro that year while wearing the Maglia Rosa due to having a high haematocrit level. The medics reject claims of foul play and told La Provinca newspaper in Como, “We did everything according to the rules.” (cyclingquotes.com) November 16, 2014  With
six months to the start of Paris-Roubaix, BMC has tested the bikes for
the hellish classic. A group including Greg Van Avermaet
did a small lap that included the Carrefour de l'Arbre. "It ws the
perfect opportunity to start to think about next year," the Belgian
told Sporza. (cyclingquotes.com)
November 16, 2014  The
Irish cycling community has lost a well known and popular member
following the passing of Dubliner Dermot
McGrath after a training crash.
Dermot crashed descending Slaughter Hill, between Newtownmountkennedy and Roundwood. (stickybottle.com) November 16, 2014 November 15, 2014 |
 The
Superprestige overall series is still wide open coming into the fourth
round in Asper-Gavere on Sunday, with three different riders winning
the first three races. Although he has won the overall series 13 times
during his career and 64 individual rounds, Belgian champion Sven Nys has yet to
claim a Superprestige victory this season, and will be determined to
add a 10th win in the tricky course around the Grenier castle in
Gavere. (cyclingnews.com)
November 15, 2014  The
2014 Superprestige Cyclocross - Asper-Gavere (Hansgrohe Superprestige)
is Sunday,
November 16. Live
Coverage gets underway at 2:45pm CET (8:45am U.S. Eastern)
with the Elite Men race beginning at 3:30pm CET (9:30am U.S. Eastern).
(cyclingfans.com)
November 15, 2014  "Phew,
what a day. it just poured and poured, it was cold, one giant heavy
cloud enshrouded the mountain and the peloton throughout. people were
shaking and blue by the end, i ‘lost’ two jackets helping folk get warm
at the top and don;t mind if i don’t get them back. every soul on that
start line, never mind the finishers and the winners, rocked it like
kings and queens, they were magnificent." (crankpunk.com)
November 15, 2014  Ben Berden and Katerina Nash won
the elite men’s and women’s races on the opening night of action at
Jingle Cross on Friday.
Berden eked out a close victory over teammate James Driscoll, who was just two seconds behind him. Brian Matter was a few more ticks behind in third. (velonews.com) November 15, 2014  In
the space of a month, Dan
Martin turned what many people were calling a disastrous
season into a great one, when he finished seventh in the Vuelta on GC,
his first Grand Tour top ten, as well as winning the Tour of Lombardy
and taking second on GC at the Tour of Beijing and winning the stage’s
summit finish to Miaofeng Mountain. (cyclingquotes.com)
November 15, 2014
2014-15
Races
& Results.
Santos Tour Down Under 2015 - Jan 18-25 (Stages), Dubai Tour 2015 - Feb 4-7 (Stages), Giro d'Italia 2015 - May 9-31 (Stages), Tour de France 2015 - July 4-26 (Stages), UCI Road World Championship 2014 - Sept 20-27 (Results), Vuelta a España 2014 - Aug 23-Sept 14 (Results), Tour de France 2014 - July 5-27 (Results), Giro d'Italia 2014 - May 9 - June 1 (Results), November 15, 2014  ’Cross
competitors in the Southwestern U.S. had some critical decisions to
make approaching this past weekend. How does one choose between two
separate events, both awarding championships, paying valuable points
for two different series, at two venues separated by an hour’s drive.
For the hard-core the choice was easy: do both! For the mortals among
us, not so much. In any case, we have proof positive that one cannot,
in fact, have too much fun. (cxmagazine.com)
November 15, 2014 |  After
a year in which Team SmartStop won the US road race championship with Eric Marcotte, the
USA Cycling National Racing Calendar with Travis McCabe and
the UCI America Tour with Jure
Kocjan, second-year director Michael Creed is
back with a bolstered 13-man roster he hopes will take the team deeper
into the season. (cyclingnews.com)
November 15, 2014  Ted King’s team for
2015 was finally announced yesterday when he as included as one of
seven riders to go with title sponsor Cannondale to the
Cannondale-Garmin team.
“I couldn’t be more excited coming to such an American operation,” said King. “From a personal side, it just does make sense. I’m an American, American sponsor, American title companies, American organization. That’s super exciting. I kid you not, it puts a smile on my face just to see this come together the way it has.” (cyclingquotes.com) November 15, 2014  Simon Gerrans will
head to Ballarat in January with the aim of winning his third
Australian national road race title, but if he can't win then he wants
it to be one of his Orica-GreenEdge teammates.
"I'd love to wear this jersey for another season," Gerrans said, according to AAP. "The big priority for myself and Orica-GreenEdge is that the jersey remains in the team." (cyclingnews.com) November 15, 2014  In
a vast expanse of woodland in the shadow of Mount Fuji, where the only
visible sign of civilisation for miles in every direction is a lonely
7-Eleven store, the 50 students of Japan’s keirin school are able to
learn their trade with few distractions.
"That what goes on inside this school happens in such isolation. It's part of the mystique of keirin, and why it has fascinated me far more than UCI track racing ever has. I’m a die-hard roadie. Reading and learning about the rich history and hearing stories from professional cycling interest me almost as much as watching a race play out on television." November 15, 2014  Deirdre Murphy Bader
remembered, Tre Berg-Bianchi team created in Sweden. Verschueren to
Telenet-Fidea. (cyclingnews.com)
November 15, 2014  Here’s
something delightful to brighten up your day – a charming anime video
from Japan called Hill Climb Girl, and what’s more, it stars Team
Sky’s Bradley
Wiggin.
Not only is the 2012 winner back riding the Tour de France – that’s a 2014 jersey he’s wearing – but his exploits on one of cycling’s most iconic climbs also provide inspiration for a high school student who idolises him. (road.cc) November 15, 2014  BikeRadar
verdict: 4 out of 5
stars. "Would make a great first road bike for those with the need for
speed." (bikeradar.com)
November 15, 2014 | November 15, 2014  It
was a world championship campaign that is one of the best in the
history of road racing: three races, two wins, one silver medal. Lisa Brennauer
returned from Ponferrada with a pair of rainbow bands and a cluster of
important memories, as well as a greatly enhanced reputation.
The German was regarded as a respected rider before, but became something much bigger through the manner of her success in Spain. At 26 years of age she has time for further improvement, and will be one of the big guns of Kristy Scyrmgeour’s new-look squad when the 2015 season bursts into life. (cyclingtips.com.au) November 15, 2014  Despite
Oleg Tinkov’s
Grand Tour challenge being postponed in 2015, the Russian who owns
Tinkoff-Saxo is determined to see the sports top riders compete against
each other in all three Grand Tours.
CyclingTips spoke to several people who were both for and against Oleg’s Grand Tour challenge, with some seeing it as necessary for the sport and others seeing it as detrimental. (cyclingquotes.com) November 15, 2014  talian
national coach Davide
Cassani has revealed plans to revolutionize the Italian
national teams in 2015, with Under 23 and Elite professional athletes
riding regularly together in Italian and other professional races.
(cyclingnews.com)
November 15, 2014  Tinkoff-Saxo’s
Rafal Majka
had a breakthrough season in 2014 but the Polish climber knows he needs
to improve his time trialling if he is to win the biggest races.
"During the winter, I will focus on my time trial. Both the team and I know that there’s still quite a lot of seconds to gain here." The 25 year old won two mountain stage and the polka dot jersey in Tour de France, claimed the overall victory in Tour de Pologne and finished sixth at the Giro d'Italia. “I’m really satisfied with my season" said Majka. (sbs.com.au). November 15, 2014  Having
signed a contract with IAM, Jarlinson
Pantano is ready for a new adventure. Speaking to
reporters on the track in Cali, the Colombian detailed how he got his
contract with Swiss team.
At the presentation of the venue for the 2015 Track World Cup in Cali, Pantano talked to the media on the initiative of the Liga de Ciclismo del Valle where he started his development. (cyclingquotes.com) November 15, 2014  The
latest book from Velopress/Rouleur – ‘Bike Mechanic: Tales from the
Road and the Workshop’ is an all-access pass to cycling’s back stage:
the team truck, the service course, and the workshop. Through gritty
photographs and striking interviews, Bike Mechanic explores the daily
lives of the bicycle technicians who keep the pro peloton rolling, no
matter the weather, no matter the hour. (pezcyclingnews.com)
November 15, 2014 November 14, 2014 |
 UCI
president Brian Cookson
says introducing a minimum wage for female cyclists would be
‘counterproductive’, and may lead to more professional teams reverting
to amateur status.
Upon election in September 2013, Cookson promised to bring in the minimum wage within 12 months, but has reportedly been advised against it by women at the UCI. (cyclingweekly.co.uk) November 14, 2014  Nicole Cooke retired
at the start of 2013, bringing to an end a highly successful and at
times controversial career. Currently studying for her Masters degree
at Cardiff University, Cooke, who won gold at the Beijing Olympic Games
in 2008, recently took time out to talk.
"We caught up with her at a book signing for her autobiography in Bath and talked about her career, the difficult relationships she had with cycling’s biggest authorities, the struggles within women’s cycling and doping." (cyclingnews.com) November 14, 2014
2014-15
Races
& Results.
Santos Tour Down Under 2015 - Jan 18-25 (Stages), Dubai Tour 2015 - Feb 4-7 (Stages), Giro d'Italia 2015 - May 9-31 (Stages), Tour de France 2015 - July 4-26 (Stages), UCI Road World Championship 2014 - Sept 20-27 (Results), Vuelta a España 2014 - Aug 23-Sept 14 (Results), Tour de France 2014 - July 5-27 (Results), Giro d'Italia 2014 - May 9 - June 1 (Results), November 14, 2014  Mark Cavendish and Michal Kwiatkowski
will both make their season debut in January at the Tour de San Luis.
Both are looking forward to returning to the race where they have done
well in the past. (cyclingquotes.com)
November 14, 2014  The
build up to the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio has begun, and gathering
important UCI points toward qualifying the maximum available athlete
allocations will be easier for women in North America in the coming
season: the UCI published the 2015 road calendar, which includes seven
ranked races for elite women, including three stage races - up from
just four one-day races in 2014. (cyclingnews.com)
November 14, 2014  "For
me, cyclocross is the most fun you can on a bike in less than an hour!
I don’t care much for racing any longer, but ‘cross is a different
matter.
Cyclocross is a very technical sport, where leg power counts only for so much. Coordination is equally important. You choreograph your dismounts and run-ups to lose only a minimum of speed. It’s fun when you get it just right: Step off the bike, jump a barrier, and remount, all in one smooth motion." (janheine.wordpress.com) November 14, 2014 November 13, 2014 November 13, 2014 November 13, 2014 |  Bernard Hinault has
been criticised for what others have called “blinkered” and
“inappropriate" comments relating to doping in cycling and Lance Armstrong. Hinault, a five-time
Tour de France winner, made the comments in an interview with AFP
earlier this week.
Hinault, 60, pointed out that cycling has often been placed under a great media spotlight in relation to doping. However, when asked about Lance Armstrong, Hinault said, “If I met him today I would not talk to him. I would not even say hello.” (cyclingnews.com) November 14, 2014  After
the highlights, the lowlights. Sport is meant to have its drama but pro
cycling often crosses the line from pantomime villainy to worse. Here’s
a round-up of some of the lows. (inrng.com)
November 14, 2014  "When
our friend Xylon Van Eyck
at Corso Sports Management told us they’d taken on rising chronostar Adrien Costa we
thought we should have a word with the young American who was second in
the World Junior Time Trial Championship in Ponferrada, only losing out
to German strongman, Lennard
Kamna. But there’s a lot more to this eloquent young man
than a Worlds TT silver." (pezcyclingnews.com)
November 14, 2014  Team
Colombia is importing one of its country’s top cyclists, Alex Cano, this
winter to compete with the big boys in Europe’s stage races.
“We’ve made a few changes for 2015, but the big one is Alex Cano,” Colombia’s general manager Claudio Corti told VeloNews. “He is the most famous cyclist racing in Colombia right now. I say ‘in Colombia’ because of course, in Europe, Nairo Quintana, Rigoberto Urán, and others are already doing quite well.” (velonews.com) November 14, 2014  UK
bike shop Ultimate Cycles have started selling off the bikes used in
the filming of the story of Lance
Armstrong’s seven Tour de France ‘victories’.
With filming complete, the bike shop has worked to acquire over 100 bikes, which are being systematically uploaded to ultimatecycles.co.uk, where you can find out more about getting hold of one of the replica bikes. (cyclingweekly.co.uk) November 14, 2014  Cyclists
have never been shy of embracing new technology, and there are now a
whole host of useful cycling applications (apps) that have been
designed to add an extra dimension to your riding.
We’re keeping a running list of the most useful cycling apps on this page, and we’d like you to contribute your own recommendations or comment on the ones we’ve already listed. The more supported platforms the better: iPhone and iPad (iOS), Android, Windows, or whatever. (cyclingweekly.co.uk) November 14, 2014 | November 14, 2014  Cannondale-Garmin
Pro Cycling have announced their full roster for the 2015 season.
Consisting of 27 riders from 14 different countries, the team is a
result of the joining in forces at Garmin-Sharp and Cannondale.
The majority of the roster is built around the existing elite at Slipstream with Ryder Hesjedal, Dan Martin, Andrew Talansky and Tom Danielson in the team. (cyclingnews.com) November 14, 2014  The
2014 season proved to be the closest that BMC have come thus far to
matching its results to the capabilities of its roster. Philippe Gilbert
found patches of his 2011 form, Taylor
Phinney appeared on the cusp of his breakout year before
breaking his leg, Tejay
van Garderen rode to fifth at the Tour, Cadel Evans had a
respectable final ‘full season' and while Greg Van Avermaet
performed well he didn't have to save his better paid teammates.
(cyclingnews.com)
November 14, 2014  Southern
Florida, to most, lacks the appeal of a cycling mecca, but to Matt McCain and
those behind the Everyone Rides charity weekend, the steamy part of the
country serves as the ideal place to organize a ride to benefit the
young people of Lee County.
Now in its 11th year, Everyone Rides is a charity ride that works to support the Boys and Girls Clubs of Lee County, Florida, which provide stable after-school programs for local kids. With the help and support of Tour de France champion Greg LeMond, WorldTour riders Tom Danielson and Phil Gaimon, and many other prominent cycling personalities, Everyone Rides is now a sizable event that brings massive financial support to the cause. (velonews.com) November 14, 2014  Featuring
Bontrager, Crankbrothers, Specialized, Wilier and
more. (bikeradar.com)
November 14, 2014  Want
a job? Get into cycling. That's the message coming from a new study, to
be published in December, called 'Jobs and Job Creation in the European
Cycling Sector'.
The paper was commissioned by the European Cyclists' Federation (ECF), reports the Guardian, and predicts that the number of jobs already created by Europe's cycling industry is now 650,000. Furthermore, the research, conducted by the Transport and Mobility Leuven Research Institute, points to more than a million jobs being created by 2020 should the number of cycling journeys double across Europe. (bikeradar.com) November 14, 2014  What
is a groupset? Should you pick Shimano, SRAM or Campagnolo? Here's your
complete guide to this essential piece of road cycling kit.
(cyclingweekly.co.uk)
November 14, 2014 November 13, 2014 |
 Joaquim Rodríguez has
confirmed that he will focus on the Tour de France and Vuelta a España
in 2015. Rodríguez
rode all three Grand Tours this season, in an attempt to find his form
after a tough spring campaign. He had intended on returning to the Giro
d’Italia next year, but the draw of the Tour de France route proved too
much for him. (cyclingnews.com)
November 13, 2014  Italy’s
economic crisis extends to cycling, where Alessandro Petacchi
and several other professional riders behind him remain unemployed for
the 2015 season.
“If I don’t find an employment contract, I’ll quit,” the 40-year-old Petacchi told Italy’s Tutto Bici website. “I’ll dedicate myself to my family. It’s been weighing on me already to be traveling all the time.” Petacchi won the Tour de France’s green jersey in 2010 and helped lead out Mark Cavendish the past year and a half on Belgium’s Omega Pharma-Quick Step team. The team did not renew his contract for 2015. (velonews.com) November 13, 2014
2014-15
Races
& Results.
Santos Tour Down Under 2015 - Jan 18-25 (Stages), Dubai Tour 2015 - Feb 4-7 (Stages), Giro d'Italia 2015 - May 9-31 (Stages), Tour de France 2015 - July 4-26 (Stages), UCI Road World Championship 2014 - Sept 20-27 (Results), Vuelta a España 2014 - Aug 23-Sept 14 (Results), Tour de France 2014 - July 5-27 (Results), Giro d'Italia 2014 - May 9 - June 1 (Results), November 13, 2014  Costa best again in
Portugal, Bouhanni
junior to QuickStep development team, Maté looking ahead
to 2015. (cyclingnews.com)
November 13, 2014  In
two weeks, Tom Dumoulin
is among the candidates for the title of Ducth Cyclist of the Year. At
the request of the Ducth AD newspaper, the Dutch talent from
Giant-Shimano listed the five most beautiful moments of his dream
season while attending the Amstel Curacao Race. "My performance at the
Worlds has more value to me than the bronze medal. That is just a
trashy thing," he says. (cyclingquotes.com)
November 13, 2014  Asia,
Africa, North America, Europe, Australia. Professional riders from
around the world have gathered in Hualien, Taiwan, to take on what
could arguably be the world’s most difficult hill climb, and one of the
toughest single-day races going.
The Taiwan KOM Challenge isn’t a UCI-sanctioned event, and it comes after the European season has officially ended, but the 62-mile race, from the eastern coast of the island, through the picturesque Taroko Gorge, to the peak of HeHuan — taking the cyclists from sea level to 10,745 feet — is able to attract WorldTour riders with its serious prize purse of nearly $80,000. (velonews.com) November 13, 2014  "The
last time I road-tripped all the way from Brooklyn, New York, to
Louisville, Kentucky, I managed to compete for a grand total of 15
minutes.
Both days I got tangled up in race-ending crashes in the first lap, so this past weekend I just couldn’t persuade myself to go back there to do the UCI races. Bike racers spend a lot of time in cars." (pelotonmagazine.com) November 13, 2014  BikeRadar
verdict: 4.5 out of 5
stars. "The best multisport GPS device we have tried – if cycling is
just one part of your exercise routine, you need to be checking this
out." (bikeradar.com)
November 13, 2014  What
it is: The fifth edition of the British cycling magazine-cum-book.
Strengths: Utilises some of the best writers writing about the sport in English today. Weaknesses: As with any magazine there are parts of it you won't bother reading. (podiumcafe.com) November 13, 2014 November 12, 2014 |  They
are three riders who have each won stages in Grand Tours and clocked up
victories in important single-day events; they are also three riders
who have lost a little momentum in recent years and are trying to get
back to their best.
MTN Qhubeka signed Matt Goss, Edvald Boasson Hagen and Tyler Farrar to the African team and, according to general manager Brian Smith, he believes that a specific approach by the squad should help them return to their top form and to winning big. (cyclingtips.com.au) November 13, 2014  Many
of the financial and sponsorship challenges we explored in the first
two segments of this series are partially driven by — and closely
interwoven with — pro cycling’s competitive and organizational
structure. The way the sport is managed and played out on the road is
closely linked to many of these broader economic and structural issues,
although the cause and effect is not always obvious. These effects and
impacts must be clearly understood to continue reforming the sport.
(velonews.com)
November 13, 2014  2014
was meant to be a season of stability for Belkin after a turbulent 2013
which saw the Dutch team start the year with no name or sponsor on its
jerseys until the American electronics company came on board on the eve
of the Tour de France. (cyclingnews.com)
November 13, 2014  “Ah,
I don’t know …” With a laugh, Brian
Matter casts aside the notion that he’s an Iceman
specialist.
Last Saturday was his 21st time racing the Iceman Cometh, and his fourth win, a new high mark in the elite men’s category. Iceman is a wildly popular cross-country race in its 25th year. And if Matter, 36, isn’t a specialist, he’s about as close as it comes in this race, held late autumn each year in Traverse City, Michigan. (velonews.com) November 13, 2014 
Philip Deignan is just back in training after three weeks
holidaying in the US and was in Dublin yesterday to launch the new
range of Frog racing bikes for kids, one of which is in the Team Sky
colors.
At the launch in Cycleways on Parnell St in the city centre he was
interviewed by Cian Lynch.
He spoke at length about the boom in Irish cycling in recent
years and the way it’s change people’s perceptions of what he does for
a living. (stickybottle.com)
November 13, 2014  Lino Messori said of
himself “I am nobody, but I did a bit of everything.” Born in 1926, in
Modena, Italy, Lino
quickly became a local fixture both for his incomparable skills and his
personality. A master frame builder who also followed a myriad of
different passions, spanning from singing with opera legend Luciano Pavarotti to
never losing a single boxing match. (pelotonmagazine.com)
November 13, 2014  GP
Camaiore cancelled, Kern
retires and Ratti
cleared of doping, Ferrari
extends with Lampre. (cyclingnews.com)
November 13, 2014  The
reason this groupset has been so eagerly anticipated (and in much
demand) is because it makes disc brakes a more affordable reality, both
for manufacturers speccing new bikes and customers building their own
bikes. Previously you’d had to buy a Shimano Di2 groupset to take
advantage of their new hydraulic disc brakes, but now Shimano are
offering a hydraulic brake lever with mechanical shifters, we’re going
to start seeing Shimano disc-equipped bikes coming in at much lower
prices. This Synapse by way of an example is massively cheaper than the
Di2 disc-equipped bikes we've tested so far this year. (road.cc)
November 13, 2014  BikeRadar
verdict: 4 out of 5
stars. "Great tough all-rounder that would make a very capable tourer."
(bikeradar.com)
November 13, 2014 | November 13, 2014  Pascal Ducrot is one
of the men behind Scott Bikes contribution to Mattias Brändle’s
new World Hour Record. He talks us through the successful ride and more
importantly the bike and the technical in’s and out’s of preparing the
Scott Plasma for the Hour Record.
When IAM’s Matthias Brändle took the World Hour Record recently, it was another feather in the Scott cap. Their Plasma time trial frame has been at the sharp end against the watch at the Commonwealth Games and Worlds this season – not to mention much success in the swim, bike, run world – and now it’s grabbed the biggest record there is in track cycling, The Hour. (pezcyclingnews.com) November 13, 2014  “The
stock list includes 30-plus Condor Classico and Italia RC bikes painted
to look like everything from Merckx to Giant and MBK, 12 Pitangos (used
on roof racks in the caravan), 20 Trek 5000 up to Madone, then
Pinarello, De Rosa, MBK, Gazelle, Peugeot, Cannondale, Specialized,
Fausto Coppi, Giant, Look, Eddy Merckx, Lohber, Lemond. Even mountain
bikes from Armstrong’s early career. As you can see it's a bit of a
treasure trove.” (bikeradar.com)
November 13, 2014  Success
in cycling depends on many factors: talent, character, preparation—and
a little bit of luck. Rui
Costa has run the gamut of all those things, but most of
all he just wants to be racing, gritting his teeth and taking his body
to the limit for his fans—or, as he likes to call them, his friends.
And Costa
has given those friends many tears of joy in the last few years and
restored Portugal’s passion for bike racing. (pelotonmagazine.com)
November 13, 2014  Grivko and Taaramäe raise money
for charity, Ride with MTN-Qhubeka, UCI Africa Tour to be decided in
Rwanda. (cyclingnews.com)
November 13, 2014  In
the last three years, disc brakes on cyclocross bikes have changed from
novelty to commonplace, with many companies like Giant and Cannondale
not even offering cantilever frames any longer, and Williams Cycling
was quick to supply the increasing demand. For their 2015 model, they
have fully updated their wheels, with new spokes, new rims and new hub
technology.
The $449 price tag is inexpensive by any measure when keeping race-grade tubular wheelsets in mind. (cxmagazine.com) November 13, 2014  Stella Yu has often
been referred to as the most powerful woman in the bike industry. Few
riders have ever heard of her, however, and many haven't heard of Velo,
the utterly dominating company she founded in 1979, and continues to
run in a very much hands-on fashion.
And yet, chances are extremely high that the saddle you're riding right now was made in her factory, regardless of the name on the cover. (bikeradar.com) November 13, 2014  As
any devotee of Specialized knows, the Morgan Hill, California-based
company has a long and storied history in the design and manufacture of
race bikes. Through the years, competition steeds bearing the Big Red S
have scored top podium placings at everything from the Tour de France,
to mountain bike world championships, to U.S. cyclocross nationals.
It will come as no surprise then that the Specialized Crux Pro Race ’cross steed is most at home when carving corners or hopping barriers. With its aggressive geometry, stiff-as-stone composite frame, carbon tubeless-ready wheels, electronic shifting, and best-in-class hydraulic disc brakes, this is a bike that begs to be ridden hard and fast. (roadbikereview.com) November 13, 2014 November 12, 2014 |
 The
key stakeholders of men's professional cycling will gather in Paris on
Thursday for what could be the decisive meeting to decide the structure
and rules of the WorldTour from 2017 onwards, and so shape the
long-term future of the sport at the highest level.
The UCI confirmed that the process of restructuring the WorldTour is nearing completion, with a final document to be agreed upon at the UCI WorldTour Seminar in early December. The reform, which will be fully implemented in 2017, will be instrumental in making cycling more exciting and easy for spectators, broadcasters and sponsors to follow. (cyclingnews.com) November 12, 2014  Vincenzo Nibali‘s
attack on the cobbles to Arenberg helped him win the 2014 Tour de
France, a bravery missing in cycling at times said Astana Team Manager Giuseppe Martinelli.
“With respect to the past, for sure, yes [it is missing],” Martinelli told Italy’s Ciclo Web. “You try to get the best result with the minimum effort. Just think, we used to see attacks in the feed zone… Today, no one does that, but not because no one can’t. If they did it, they’d be butchered.” (cyclingweekly.co.uk) November 12, 2014  For
too many years the AG2R La Mondiale team's presence in the peloton has
been about as exciting as their investment banker brown and blue kits,
but in 2014 they rode as if clad in something considerably brighter.
The French team threw off the shackles of fighting to earn enough points to survive in the WorldTour and employed an assertive, if not aggressive, strategy that provided an impressive return on its investments of the past few years. (cyclingnews.com) November 12, 2014  For
the second time in three years, Luna’s Georgia Gould ended
her season as the winner of the Iceman Cometh Challenge, the 29-mile
point-to-point mountain bike race that celebrated its 25th anniversary
Saturday in Traverse City, Michigan.
Gould also won the Iceman Challenge in 2012, coming off her best season to date, a season that brought bronze medals at the Olympic Games and world championships, as well as four World Cup podium appearances. (velonews.com) November 12, 2014
2014-15
Races
& Results.
Santos Tour Down Under 2015 - Jan 18-25 (Stages), Dubai Tour 2015 - Feb 4-7 (Stages), Giro d'Italia 2015 - May 9-31 (Stages), Tour de France 2015 - July 4-26 (Stages), UCI Road World Championship 2014 - Sept 20-27 (Results), Vuelta a España 2014 - Aug 23-Sept 14 (Results), Tour de France 2014 - July 5-27 (Results), Giro d'Italia 2014 - May 9 - June 1 (Results), November 12, 2014  Following
her double win this weekend, first in the European Cyclocross
Championships, and then a day later in the 2014 Hansgrohe Superprestige
Ruddervoorde, Sanne Cant
goes three for three with her race yesterday at the Soudal Classics
race, Jaarmarkt Cross. Jolien
Verschueren of Belgium came in for second almost a half
minute behind, while Helen
Wyman of Great Britain rounded our the podium in third.
(cxmagazine.com)
November 12, 2014  The
seventh race in The Chicago Cyclocross Cup (CCC) eleven race series,
PSI-clocross For Life – put on by Rob
Curtis and the folks from PSIMET – offered a more European
style format with some gnarly downhills and grinding power sections.
This course at Emricson Park in Woodstock, IL also featured a
precarious sand pit and a set of barriers before a steep hill that
caused many to test their running skills. Dry conditions kept the laps
fast, but the brutal wind zapped watts in the straits. The overall
consensus was that everyone loved the course and it’s many features.
(cxmagazine.com)
November 12, 2014  "Is
there anything crapshootier than the start of a cyclocross race? Sure,
you know about the battle for the hole shot, which can get testy, but I
can tell you from experience that the back end of the start is even
wackier, and if the Seattle Old and Mediocre Guy field makes it a full
thirty seconds without a crash, it's a blessing. But we have excuses:
we're old, we suck, we don't really care." (podiumcafe.com)
November 12, 2014  Mathew Hayman is 14
years into his career, but he admits that he still makes “rookie”
mistakes. Hence, he has mixed emotions about the success of his first
year with Orica-GreenEdge, after spells with the Dutch Rabobank and
then British Sky teams.
But after resolving some minor health issues that impaired his 2014 season - including a disappointing abandon in his first Tour de France - finishing the season strongly has given Hayman optimism for next season, which starts in January at the Australian road championships at Buninyong, Victoria and the Tour Down Under in South Australia. (cyclingnews.com) November 12, 2014  Longtime
marketing and promotions executive, with more than 35 years of sporting
events production experience, Brook
Watts, was appointed to the USA Cycling Board of Directors
as the Cyclocross Committee Representative. (velonews.com)
November 12, 2014  For
$10 a month, cyclists can now can suffer all they want, thanks to The
Sufferfest’s new subscription-based app. For those uninitiated to The
Sufferfest, it’s not some fringe video production company specializing
in cycling S&M. Rather, the videos are high-intensity interval
workouts with story lines, soundtracks and footage from races like the
Tour de France.
Actually, maybe it is exactly like cycling S&M. (bicycling.com) November 12, 2014  From
a side-on perspective, the new S5 frame looks nearly identical to the
old version, but Cervelo has made several changes during the
redevelopment of its flagship aero road platform. The most notable are
the increase in diameter – and stiffness — of the head tube, a decrease
in the head tube height, and the increased tyre clearance to accept
25mm tires. (bikeradar.com)
November 12, 2014 |  Vincenzo Nibali was
often asked about doping at the Tour de France and the questioned and
the scrutiny of the ethics of his Astana team intensified when the Iglinskiy brothers
tested positive for EPO in the summer and a young Kazakhstani rider who
rode as a trainee with Astana in the final part of the season, failed a
test while riding the Tour de l'Avenir.
Nibali gives his opinion on the doping cases, and on the barrage of criticism the Astana team has faced. He defends team manager Alexandre Vinokourov in spite of Vinokourov's past - he was suspended for blood doping at the 2007 Tour de France - and says he is favour of the team being part of the MPCC. (cyclingnews.com) November 12, 2014  Lance Armstrong has
become a stain on the glorious cycling memories of French legend Bernard Hinault, who
said he would refuse to speak to the shamed American rider.
Cycling has an unfair reputation over drug-taking, according to the five-time Tour de France winner who marks his 60th birthday on Friday as one of the most popular living Frenchmen. Hinault told AFP in an interview that he has had a “dream life” in cycling but that doping scandals that have made the sport notorious “hurt all those who love cycling.” (velonews.com) November 12, 2014  Chad Haga was like a
sponge throughout his rookie season in 2014, soaking up everything he
could during his first year in the bigs with Giant-Shimano.
After two productive seasons on the U.S. scene with Optum-Kelly Benefit Strategies, Haga made a relatively seamless transition to the WorldTour. For Haga, who reached the top level of the peloton through the collegiate racing circuit, joining Giant-Shimano was like Bike Racing 101. “It’s been really staggering, much more than I could have hoped for,” Haga said. “I didn’t get the win that I was hoping for, but I learned a lot, and I am really looking forward to next year.” (velonews.com) November 12, 2014  Following
his breakout 2014 season, Rafal
Majka can’t wait to get back into the mix for
next season.
With two stage victories and the climber’s jersey in the Tour de France, along with the overall at the Tour of Poland, the 25-year-old Majka enjoyed his best season since turning pro in 2011. “I’m really satisfied with my season. In the previous years, I’ve done well, worked hard for the team and gotten some good personal results. But now I’ve started winning, which was the one thing missing in the past years,” Majka said in a team release. “The team has supported me and I was able to step up.” (velonews.com) November 12, 2014  Bradley Wiggins has
spoken further on his plans for the future as he plots a path to the
2016 Rio Olympics Games.
Wiggins is out of contract with Team Sky at the end of this year but negotiations are currently ongoing between the 2012 Tour de France winner and his current team. The current consensus is that Wiggins will ride a heavily reduced road program in 2015 and target select races, such as Paris-Roubaix. (cyclingnews.com) November 12, 2014  BikeRadar
verdict: 4 out of 5
stars. "A bit pricey, but great quality and ultra-useful."
(bikeradar.com)
November 12, 2014  What
it is: A guide to the important things in cycling, like how to ride in
a group and what are the rare occasions when you're allowed to drink
coffee that isn't black.
Strengths: A pleasant balance of wit and wisdom, served up with some high production values and gorgeous photography. (podiumcafe.com) November 12, 2014  Cycling
isn’t always smiles and summer Sunday countryside rides. And when it
isn’t, it has more issues than a hormonal teenager. We go through these
‘problems’, to not only warn you, but help you to overcome them.
Nobody’s perfect. For the majority of us, there are always going to be little bodily flaws we would like to fix, and slight tweaks we would like to make to ourselves. (cyclingweekly.co.uk) November 12, 2014  Cycling’s
reverence for heritage is strong – from vintage kits and bikes to the
idolization of early champions. Typically, a love of vintage product
means a love of riding slowly, but very rarely looking back to the way
things used to be done actually results in speed.
The natural color of Specialized’s newest tire’s sidewall is one of these rare examples. The Turbo Cotton mates Specialized’s Gripton compound with a 320TPI cotton casing instead of today’s usual nylon casings. The result, according to Specialized, is the fastest tire they have ever made. (pelotonmagazine.com) November 12, 2014  Whether
it’s a snapped valve, a blowout, or just a patch-on-patch Inception
scenario, sometimes there’s just no way to get a tube back on the road
again. But that’s no reason all that rubber should be filling up a
landfill. Here are seven things to do with your old inner tubes after
they’ve retired from active bike duty. (bicycling.com)
November 12, 2014  For
fall and winter riding, Specialized has introduced a SWAT bib knicker
that uses the same handy pockets but with a warmer, micro-fleece-lined
material and less mesh. The Therminal SWAT knickers are part of
Specialized’s line of Therminal winter gear, which covers road and
mountain. (velonews.com)
November 12, 2014 | November 12, 2014  For
a sport losing its grip on credibility, the biological
passport was viewed as cycling's saviour and was so
good even Lance Armstrong
said it "worked".
It was no surprise when athletics, football and tennis said they, too, would start using it. So why are athletes, from all sports, still doping? There are 46 people currently serving bans in the UK alone. (bbc.com) November 12, 2014  The
UCI official and three doctors who examined Marco Pantani‘s
anti-doping test at the 1999 Giro d’Italia should be heard in the
coming week as part of a Mafia sports fixing case in Forlì, Italy.
A high haematocrit anti-doping test excluded the late Italian cyclist while in the race leader’s pink jersey. The medics reject claims of foul play and told La Provinca newspaper in Como, “We did everything according to the rules.” (cyclingweekly.co.uk) November 12, 2014  It’s
a move that took some by surprise; after three years of backing Kristy Scrymgeour’s
successful team, a period where the squad took three world team time
trial titles plus many other victories, both Specialized and lululemon
confirmed several weeks ago that they would end their title sponsorship
at the end of the 2014 season.
The two American companies will instead move across to the Boels-Dolmans team, a squad which includes past Specialized-lululemon rider Ellen Van Dijk, as well as the 2012 Olympic road race runner-up Lizzie Armitstead. (cyclingtips.com.au) November 12, 2014  For
the final of five pieces picking highlights from 2014, it’s been hard
to choose an episode to celebrate, remember and review. It’s not for
the lack of racing, there have been plenty of action-packed races and
that’s just the ones we can see on TV, a lot of the sport still takes
place beyond the reach of video. Rather it’s choosing which event to
include.
Peter Sagan might do well to replay his win because it showed him triumphant, forcing the attacks and outsmarting breakaway companions, including an OPQS tandem. A far cry from his hesitant summer and invisible autumn. (inrng.com) November 12, 2014  The
2014 road cycling season is more or less finished but before 2015 rolls
around we thought we'd look back on the season that was. A few weeks
ago we featured 10 of our highlights from the 2014 road cycling season
and today we consider 10 of the lowlights, presented in no particular
order. (cyclingtips.com.au)
November 12, 2014  The
great thing about being a sprinter is that with every victory comes the
affirmation that you were the best of the bunch. A stage win, a
classic, when you’ve got a mass of cyclists in your wake, you are
unquestionably the top dog.
But then the scoreboard resets, and unlike any other rider in the peloton you’re out again proving yourself. There are few plaudits for second and third, even less for a top-10. To win, and to win consistently, a sprinter needs the smarts to position himself correctly, the nerve to hold a wheel on millimetre margins, and the raw horsepower to both accelerate away and then hold the field at bay. And with all that, they need the belief, the ego, that they are number one. They must be able to shrug off defeat as an aberration, pick themselves up and go out to win again. (sbs.com.au) November 12, 2014  "Over
the past few months we've been working with the team at Dig Deep
Coaching to help answer your questions about training, nutrition and
more. In this fourth instalment Stephen Gallagher and Dan Fleeman from
Dig Deep answer another bunch of your questions, providing insight that
everyone can benefit from." (cyclingtips.com.au)
November 12, 2014  The
latest transfer merry-go-round saw the trend for former Team Sky riders
and staff to move to Tinkoff-Saxo continue. But as Bobby Julich and Sean Yates were
agreeing to terms to join Bjarne
Riis and Alberto
Contador in Tinkoff’s colors, the announcement of Nicolas Roche’s
departure for Sky after two seasons with Riis saw the first
reversal of that tendency. (cyclingnews.com)
November 12, 2014  Madrid
is looking to emulate its fellow capital Paris by hosting a night stage
at the 2015 Vuelta a España, according to a report in AS. The final
decision is yet to be made but it looks likely that the Madrid Council
and race organisers will agree to a late stage, ensuring that the final
podium on September 13 would take place at night
According to the report, the plan is to backdrop the podium with the illuminated Puerta de Alcalá, which is just down the Calle de Alcalá and can be seen from the traditional podium setting inside the Plaza de Cibeles. (cyclingnews.com) November 12, 2014  "It
really hurts to hurt that much. It was the end of October, and I was
climbing with a very talented up-and-comer. Fortunately for me, he was
still on the “coming up” side of cycling and I had been beating him all
season. But now he could see the pained look on my face and asked the
dreaded question: “What’s your heart rate?”
Earlier that month, I had raced the UCI 1.2 Tour of Tobago. My form had been great. I was putting out numbers I hadn’t seen in years and was holding my own against European and American pros. Now, only three weeks later, I was dying on a training ride. I grunted aloud my insanely high heart rate, hoping he wouldn’t hear. But his eyes lit up, and I swear he licked his lips. We both knew what was coming; I was about to get pummeled. Our bodies detrain depressingly fast." (velonews.com) November 12, 2014  Purely
a design concept for the moment, Oakley has just unveiled its ‘Future
Sport Project video series’ which sees Cadel Evans and
‘4DESIGN’ (an Australian industrial design firm) collaborate on a
futuristic handlebar design that doubles as a bike management system.
Clearly, this is more of a marketing campaign than actual ambition to change the future of cycling, but along with illustrating Evans’ passion for design, it raises some interesting technology and design ideas. (bikeradar.com) November 12, 2014 November 11, 2014 |
 Former
Tour de France champion Chris
Froome hinted on Tuesday that he may elect to compete in
next year's race after previously suggesting he was considering sitting
it out.
The mountainous route for the 2015 Tour de France does not favor Froome, who won the race in 2013, and he said last month that he could decide to skip it and focus instead on the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a Espana. But in an interview published on Team Sky's official website, the 29-year-old revealed that he was still motivated by the thought of wearing the race's famous yellow jersey. (bicycling.com) November 11, 2014  He’s
built a bit like Peter
Sagan, or Greg
van Avermaet. Thick, stocky, like a small grizzly bear.
He’s won two under-23 national road race championships, in consecutive years. He’s a familiar name to some, with breakthrough performances in Europe, including ninth at the U23 Liège-Bastogne-Liège in 2013, and he’s only going to get more famous as time goes on. Tanner Putt, 22, has been racing bikes for over a decade, and he shows no signs of slowing down. “Right now, I just want to focus on getting better, getting stronger, slowly start to lose a bit more weight — I really like climbing — and not forget about sprinting, but just focus on going uphill a little bit more,” the Utah native said. (velonews.com) November 11, 2014  Franco Pellizotti
may be 36 years old and no longer riding in the WorldTour. However, the
Italian is still highly motivated and feels that he has lots to give to
his Androni-Venezuela team.
Due to his biological passport case, Pellizotti has had a turbulent career. Before he served a suspension, he finished third in the Giro d'Italia and won the mountains jersey at the Tour de France and he was widely regarded as one of the best grand tour riders in the world. November 11, 2014 November 11, 2014  On
the late morning of 28 June, 1914, the 12th Tour de France began in
Paris. The riders likely would not have known that 1,836km away, in the
Bosnian city of Sarajevo, the heir of the Austrian Empire has just been
assassinated, precipitating the start of World War 1. The race, like
much of life in Europe on that warm summer morning, went
on. (bikeradar.com)
November 11, 2014  Thomas Dekker has
announced plans to tackle the Hour Record next spring. Currently held
by Mattias Brändle,
who recently broke Jens
Voigt's record with a ride of 51.850 kilometres, Dekker announced the
plans in an interview with Algemeen Dagblad. The news comes as it
emerged that Garmin-Sharp would not be extending Dekker's contract
for 2015, leaving the Dutch rider without a WorldTour team for the
first time since his return from a two-year ban for doping.
(cyclingnews.com)
November 11, 2014  Where
to begin with Astana’s 2014 season – the good, the bad or the ugly?
Well, considering general manager Alexandre
Vinokourov’s respect for quality timepieces, perhaps it’s
best to approach the year in strictly chronological order, and start
with the bad.
Astana claimed just four victories before May, with Lieuwe Westra’s stage win at the Volta a Catalunya the lone WorldTour success of the spring. Vincenzo Nibali’s unusually low-key start to the campaign, in particular, was viewed with considerable concern, and such was the dissatisfaction emanating from Kazakhstan that the entire roster – and not Nibali alone, as initially claimed – received a reportedly terse email of encouragement from Vinokourov in late April. (cyclingnews.com) November 11, 2014
2014-15
Races
& Results.
Santos Tour Down Under 2015 - Jan 18-25 (Stages), Dubai Tour 2015 - Feb 4-7 (Stages), Giro d'Italia 2015 - May 9-31 (Stages), Tour de France 2015 - July 4-26 (Stages), UCI Road World Championship 2014 - Sept 20-27 (Results), Vuelta a España 2014 - Aug 23-Sept 14 (Results), Tour de France 2014 - July 5-27 (Results), Giro d'Italia 2014 - May 9 - June 1 (Results), November 11, 2014  Elle Anderson has
had a phenomenal start in Europe, with plenty of top five victories,
including one at the World Cup in Valkenburg which qualifies her to
represent the United States in the Cyclocross World Championships in
2015. If you were hunting for her last weekend at the Superprestige in
Ruddervoorde, you looked to no avail. After battling a cold for the
last while, she opted to play it smart and return stronger another day.
These are her thoughts from the weekend, watching the races play out from home. (cxmagazine.com) November 11, 2014  Although
he won the Tour de France in 2014, taking the biggest victory of his
pro career, Vincenzo
Nibali has decided to change his race program slightly and
will begin next season in the Dubai Tour.
Nibali rode the race earlier this season but did the Tour de San Luis beforehand; this time round, he will forgo the Argentinean event, with event organizers RCS Sport confirming that he will instead debut in Dubai. (cyclingtips.com.au) November 11, 2014  Local
bike shops have taken a beating in recent years as cheap, readily
available stock delivered direct to your door has emanated from the
web. Super hubs like Wiggle and Chain Reaction have chipped away at
what was once core business for bike shops, parts and accessories.
But what was once an impenetrable final frontier, that of the workshop, may now also be under threat. Sydney entrepreneurs Thomas Treloar and Cameron Harrison are more than 12 months into an ambitious project to change the way riders deal with mechanical help. (sbs.com.au) November 11, 2014  A
Korean company has come up with a solid bike tire that it
claims will compete with the regular pneumatic variety. After being
launched three years ago in Asia, Tannus Tires are hitting the UK
market.
Using a newly developed compound polymer called Aither, they offer the prospect of punctureless riding with a rider-friendly level of comfort and rolling resistance. Solid tires are nothing new. They’ve been around as long as the bicycle itself but were quickly superseded when Dunlop made the first practical pneumatic bike tire in 1887. Typically heavy and giving an uncompromising ride, solid tires have trailed in their wake ever since. (cyclingweekly.co.uk) November 11, 2014  Commonwealth
champion Lizzie
Armitstead believes more women would get into cycling if
the clothes are more ‘fashionable’, according to the London Evening
Standard.
Armitstead has put her support behind Surbiton-based cycle shop Bella Velo, which exclusively stocks bikes, clothing and equipment designed for women. “Ultimately that there is a place for such a shop also reflects just how many more women are cycling now, which is great – certainly so many more than when I started,” she said. “I hope to see a chain of women’s cycling shops and plenty more women taking up the sport.” (cyclingweekly.co.uk) November 11, 2014 November 10, 2014 |  Vincenzo Nibali
looks like any other European tourist as he spends time with his wife Rachele and baby
daughter Emma
in Dubai. He is one of the biggest names in professional cycling after
winning the Tour de France, yet among the ostentatious wealth and
consumerism of Dubai, he remains modest, friendly and amiable. He will
turn 30 on Friday and is one of only six riders to have won all three
Grand Tours but he remains refreshingly down to earth.
He gives the impression that his Tour de France victory was not the culmination of his career or a consequence of massive self-sacrifice. It is just the latest chapter of his life and career, naturally following on from those that saw him fall in love with cycling as a boy in Sicily and move to Tuscany as a teenager to pursue his dreams of becoming a professional. (cyclingnews.com) November 11, 2014  After
several near-misses, Sven
Nys finally returned to his winning ways when he took a
hugely dominant win in the Jaarmarktcross in Niel. The Belgian champion
accelerated already in the first lap and after dropping Corne van Kessel in
the second lap, he constantly increased his advantage to win the race
by more than a minute over Wout
van Aert and Kevin
Pauwels who completed the podium. (cyclingquotes.com)
November 11, 2014  This
has to be the most horrifying course in the sport. Not horrifying as in
"I can't wait to watch!" but horrifying as in "why would anyone want to
ride that?" The annual, stand-alone event in Niel, held on Armistice
Day along with the once-a-year market day, isn't the biggest deal
around, but Tuesday is a good day for a stand-alone. And as for why
anyone would want to ride it, the answer is money. Well, and a good
workout. The course is a smorgasbord of bad 'Cross surfaces: asphalt,
farmers' field mud, farmers' field grass, nasty off-cambers, and a
parking lot with tractors moving around.
(podiumcafe.com)
November 11, 2014  "It’s
always a good idea to pre-ride the course if you can. I sneaked onto
the dirt climb and liked it. It was long and not too steep, sure to
wear people out who had to do six laps around the 1.7-mile circuit. I
came to a whoopty, and rolled down and up the far side with no problem.
Then there came a second whoopty, deeper and steeper. “No problem,” I
confidently grinned to myself just as the front wheel smashed against
the far side and came within inches of pitching me head-first into the
wall." (pelotonmagazine.com)
November 11, 2014  Wellgo's
Taichung, Taiwan factory is a hive of stamping, cutting, pressing,
lathing, and assembling. The company is the source of about 10 percent
of the global pedal market, producing 20 million pairs between this
Taiwanese factory and another in China. (velonews.com)
November 11, 2014  Kruopis to An Post,
Sporza journalist to attempt hour record, Jai Crawford to
Kinan Pro Cycling. (cyclingnews.com)
November 11, 2014  One
of Australia’s richest one-day bike races is returning in 2014 with
international cycling’s biggest stars on Sunday 14th December. The
Shimano Super Criterium will see some of the best national and
international professional cyclists compete for $30,000.
Leading Orica GreenEdge rider and recent Liège-Bastogne-Liège winner Simon Gerrans will again lead a long list of professional riders and NRS Team riders. (cyclingtips.com.au) November 11, 2014  "i’m
not a sycophant – well maybe for Ma CrankPunk (yes she gets caps),
because She Is The Greatest – but when Nicole Cooke rocks
into town even i get a little starstruck.
World & Olympic champ, winner of the Giro, the Tour, Flanders and on and on, there at Taichung train station i strolled up to shake hands with one of the greatest riders of all time, period. and not only that, she did it all clean and against some serious odds." (crankpunk.com) November 11, 2014  Cycling
is a great sport for gadget lovers. Heart-rate monitors, GPS,
smartphone training apps and power meters are all there for the taking.
But among them power stands out as the ‘future’ best friend for any
cyclist that wishes to train to their full potential.
As such, power, or more specifically the mighty ‘watt’ has become common currency for riding and training discussions among the growing percentage of cyclists who have invested their ‘hard-earned’ in a power measuring device. (cyclingtips.com.au) November 11, 2014  Don’t
tell Howard Dietzman
that he’s too old to ride his bike. The 81-year-old grandfather from
New Jersey completed a solo bicycle tour across Canada earlier this
fall.
It was his second bike trip across Canada. He’s completed three rides across the US, in addition to a bike tour from New York to Alaska. "I guess it proves that if you have decent health, you’re never too old to ride a bike." (bikingbis.com) November 11, 2014  "If
I could change one thing about most shoes I review, it wouldn’t be
their width. It wouldn’t be the volume of their toe box. It wouldn’t be
the closure style or placement of the straps or the type of cleat they
accept, though adjustments to any of those details could improve many
shoes, relative to my needs. However, the one change that would work
for nearly every rider, that would improve shoes at each price point,
is the quality of the insole." (redkiteprayer.com)
November 11, 2014  road.cc
verdict: 4 out of 5
stars. "Turns normal clothing into cycling gear with more style than
anything comparable on the market." (road.cc)
November 11, 2014 | November 11, 2014  Petacchi considering
three options, King
on the mend, Sutterlin
extends. Oroz
turns DS after retirement. (cyclingnews.com)
November 11, 2014  In
2013 and 2014, Joaquim
Rodriguez started his season in the Tour de San Luis.
However, the Spaniard wants to focus on the Tour de France in 2015 and
so he is likely to start his season a bit later.
After reports that Peter Sagan will skip the race, the Tour de San Luis may lose another main rider, Rodriguez. Vincenzo Nibali's participation is still uncertain. On the other hand, Ciclismo Internacional reports that both Mark Cavendish and Michal Kwiatkowski are in advanced negotiations with the organizers of the Tour de San Luis that will take place from January 19 to 25. (cyclingquotes.com) November 11, 2014  Think
of the First World War and you might conjure up black and white images
of trench warfare from Northern France. This year has seen centennial
commemorations for the anniversary of the outbreak of war in Europe. We
saw the Tour de France take part with a route that passed memorials and
battlefields. The dutiful ceremonies across much of Europe are
important and remind us of the devastation. (inrng.com)
November 11, 2014  Christophe Le Mevel
has decided to put an end to his active career. The 34-year-old
Frenchman, who has ridden for Cofidis since 2013, said that he would
stay involved in the sport.
“Full of emotion, and after reflecting upon it for a long time, I today announce the end of my career after 14 years as a professional.” (cyclingnews.com) November 11, 2014  "Fifth
Street 'Cross, my favorite small grassroots 'cross race, has—and has
always had—but one (somewhat off-color, but highly important and
appropriate) rule: Don’t be a d*ck.
Yeah, it’s kind of an offensive phrase. And sorry if anyone is offended. But some events over the weekend at another, larger race this Sunday had me thinking that maybe that rule should be plastered at the start line of every race as a not-so-gentle reminder for people who need some not-so-gentle reminders." (bicycling.com) November 11, 2014  A
collection of essays and articles about Kathryn Bertine's
attempts to make it in the pro peloton, and to the London Olympics. Bertine can be quite
funny, and has some important things to say about the state of women's
cycling today. (podiumcafe.com)
November 11, 2014  Chris Froome added a
personal highlight to his 2014 season, tying the knot at the weekend
with longtime partner Michelle
Cound at a ceremony in South Africa.
The pair became an item in 2011 after they were introduced by fellow South African Daryl Impey who now rides for Australian team Orica-GreenEDGE. (sbs.com.au) November 11, 2014  Victories
are like busses, you wait for one and suddenly five come along at the
same time. Rafal Majka
had to wait four years for his first professional win, but he can look
back on this season with a smile after securing five of them in 2014.
After a ground-breaking year for the Pole, he is looking to go even
better in 2015. (cyclingnews.com)
November 11, 2014 Cyclists
have never been shy of embracing new technology, and there are now a
whole host of useful cycling applications (apps) that have been
designed to add an extra dimension to your riding.
We’re keeping a running list of the most useful cycling apps on this page, and we’d like you to contribute your own recommendations or comment on the ones we’ve already listed. The more supported platforms the better: iPhone and iPad (iOS), Android, Windows, or whatever. (cyclingweekly.co.uk) November 11, 2014  BikeRadar
verdict: 4 out of 5
stars. "Great value and a lovely ride if you value comfort over all-out
speed." (bikeradar.com)
November 11, 2014  When
the style and clichéd ‘passion’ of Italy are thrown together with the
engineering know-how of Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, a brand is created that
could be very different from your average bike company.
This is Azione, a British brand with more than a touch of Italian style. They’re a group of keen racers, mechanics and designers, building bikes for customers looking for something unique. (cyclingweekly.co.uk) November 11, 2014  "This
Baum was built up with a Campagnolo Super Record EPS group using the
new cranks and the brand new for 2015 Campagnolo Bora wheels. The older
generation Bora’s are one of our favorites and Campagnolo did a great
job improving on these. Keep an eye out for our thoughts as we’ve
already mounted a pair to the shop Argonaut and have been riding them
for a week now." (abovecategorycycling.com)
November 11, 2014 November 10, 2014 November 10, 2014 |
 Former
Hour Record holder Ole
Ritter has said that Bradley
Wiggins will set a distance in the iconic track challenge
that will be virtually impossible for his rivals to beat.
Ritter was a great time triallist who set a number of world records on the track, including the Hour Record in 1968. It was the Danish rider’s Hour Record that Eddy Merckx broke in 1972, which in turn became the mark for the Athlete’s Hour passed by Chris Boardman in 2000. (cyclingweekly.co.uk) November 10, 2014  After
winning this weekend's U23 European Championship, Van Aert took a barb
at van der Poel
for skipping the event Saturday, saying "the absent are always in the
wrong" about his Dutch rival, whatever that means. But van der Poel had
saved himself for Ruddervoorde the following day, where he took second,
and remarked that he's not doing very many U23 events where he could
show his European jersey off anyway, had he shown up and won.
In their minds they are they truly rivals or two teenagers who dislike each other? (podiumcafe.com) November 10, 2014  By
winning the third round of the Superprestige cyclo-cross series on the
redesigned technical course in Ruddervoorde, Tom Meeusen reminded
everybody that he's a rider to take into account. The Belgian rider
knew a big win was coming up sooner rather than later, and warm, dry
weather created course conditions that suited his speed.
"Last week I already knew I would be in the mix for the win today. Also because I know the course suits me perfectly. I preferred the old course but over here I could even win when I'm not in top form," Meeusen said in Ruddervoorde. (cyclingnews.com) November 10, 2014  Molly Cameron and Serena Bishop
finessed their way over a challenging and fast circuit Sunday at
Portland International Raceway to win the penultimate race of the 2014
Cross Crusade series. (cxmagazine.com)
November 10, 2014  Luis Leao Pinto was
crowned the winner of La Ruta de los Conquistadores Saturday after
crossing the finish line in sixth place in Playa Bonita, Limón. Thanks
to a strong first-day performance, he won by more than six minutes over
second place Luis Mejía.
After a dismal first day, Todd Wells, the race’s 2011 winner, got a bit of redemption, winning the final stage. (velonews.com) November 10, 2014 Danny Summerhill
repeated as winner in the Derby City Cup, taking out the second day of
racing in Louisville by out-sprinting Ben Berden. Cameron Dodge was
third.
Runner-up from the previous day, Jeremy Powers, did not take part in the event as he continues to focus his efforts on C1 races. (cyclingnews.com) November 10, 2014  The
2015 edition of the Dubai Tour will include a 17 per cent uphill finish
overlooking the Hatta Dam and a 60 per cent increase in total race
distance, with Vincenzo
Nibali confirming during the official presentation that he
will make his season debut at the race.
The second edition of the Dubai Tour will be held from February 4-7, with four road stages totalling 663 kilometres. The race, organized by the Dubai Sports Council in partnership with Giro d'Italia organizer RCS Sport, has been upgraded to 2.HC status and so 11 WorldTour squads and four other teams will make up the 128-rider start list. (cyclingnews.com) November 10, 2014
2014-15
Races
& Results.
Santos Tour Down Under 2015 - Jan 18-25 (Stages), Dubai Tour 2015 - Feb 4-7 (Stages), Giro d'Italia 2015 - May 9-31 (Stages), Tour de France 2015 - July 4-26 (Stages), UCI Road World Championship 2014 - Sept 20-27 (Results), Vuelta a España 2014 - Aug 23-Sept 14 (Results), Tour de France 2014 - July 5-27 (Results), Giro d'Italia 2014 - May 9 - June 1 (Results), November 10, 2014  "The
first ever event of its kind to be held in Taiwan, it brought together
roadies. MTB guys, trick bike dudes and a whole bunch of antique and
classic bike fans for rides of varying distances around Sun Moon Lake,
which sits just about in the middle of this beautiful country I’ve
called home the past 4 years."
November 10, 2014  'The
Giro d'Italia and Tour de France recently announced their 2015 routes,
and it struck me that both races would be visiting quite a few cycling
monuments.
Now when I say monument, I mean statue, not the Classic races that are often called Monuments. Although the Museo del Ghisallo along the route of the last Monument of the season - Giro del Lombardia - has some great cycling statues." (podiumcafe.com) November 10, 2014  "I
would argue that mountain bike technology is more advanced and
progressive than what we typically see on road bikes. The many
variations of disciplines, relaxed UCI technical rules, and perhaps a
tendency for riders to let go of traditions make the mountain bike an
open slate for innovation and experimentation. However, the first bit
of technology we’ve seen make the leap from road bikes to mountain
biking in a long time is electronic shifting. I attended a media camp
held by Shimano in the Margaret River area of Western Australia during
the Cape to Cape mountain bike race and I got to experience for myself
what XTR Di2 shifting was all about." (cyclingtips.com.au)
November 10, 2014  "With
their impossibly thin spokes, light and often skinny rims, and minimal
hubs, bicycle wheels appear spider-web delicate, yet they're actually a
marvel of engineering, remarkably strong and exceptionally well suited
to cycling.
Here at the shop we like to think of wheels as your bicycle's wings. When they're old or heavy, or beat-up and knocked out of true, you wobble along and can barely enjoy riding. Meanwhile, nicely engineered hoops, built light and strong, let you soar over the road and trail with speed and precision " (mostsport.com) November 10, 2014 November 9, 2014 |  When
Dan Martin
shot away in the final kilometer of the Tour of Lombardy, comparisons
were instantly drawn with Ireland's last winner of the Race of the
Falling Leaves. Like Sean
Kelly in 1991, we were told, he had salvaged his season by
landing a classic victory at the death.
It's a funny thing, perspective, because the thought was not exactly weighing on Martin's mind when he lined up in Como that morning. (cyclingnews.com) November 10, 2014  The
Dutch city of Utrech will pay the organizers of the Tour de France
Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO) a sum of four million euros to host the
Grand Départ of the 2015 race. The purported amount was revealed in the
Dutch media last week, but an official document - which details
everything from the costs to the number of barriers needed – has now
been made public on Utrecht.nl.
“The community agrees to pay a financial contribution to ASO of 4,000,000 € (four million euros) from tax in the terms and schedule,” the document, which is written in French, stated. (cyclingnews.com) November 10, 2014  If
you're reading this there's every chance you love riding your bike. You
might even be a little bit obsessed with cycling. But at what point
does a passion for cycling become a problem? Psychologist Dr Justin Coulson
ponders this question and considers what new psychology research
suggests about the internal conflicts we can feel when cycling starts
to take over our lives. (cyclingtips.com.au)
November 10, 2014  Bobby Julich has
described his move to Tinkoff-Saxo as ‘a bit like coming home’ after he
re-joined the team he rode and coached for.
Julich joined Oleg Tinkov’s team earlier this month as Head Coach, and spent last week climbing Mount Kilimanjaro with his new colleagues. He knows the spine of the management at the team having ridden for Bjarne Riis for several years before then stepping up to coach the team after his retirement from racing in 2008. (cyclingnews.com) November 10, 2014  It’s
difficult to pick out singular moments in a season packed full of
race-defining tactics and attacks. No race is ever easy to win at the
top of the elite men’s peloton, and 2014 seemed overflowing with
thrills from January through October.
Every race has its drama, but a few electrifying flashes stand out. The elements magically aligned a few times in 2014, with the most important riders stamping their authority in the decisive moments of cycling’s most prestigious races. Be it in Paris-Roubaix, the world championships, or the Tour de France, this season was replete with great moments. It’s what makes bike racing so alluring, so maddening, and so compelling. (velonews.com) November 10, 2014  King, part of Great
Britain's all-conquering women's pursuit team who also won gold at the
London 2012 Olympics, broke five ribs and suffered a collapsed lung
after crash during a training in South Wales last Thursday.
Stephen Fry, King's agent, confirmed to Telegraph Sport last week that the crash was caused by a pothole which later led to British Cycling demanding that local authorities increase their spend-per-head on the upkeep of roads. (telegraph.co.uk) November 10, 2014  Valued
for her work as a selfless teammate and domestique, Ally Stacher has big
plans for 2015, both on and off the bike. Making the move to
Optum-Kelly Benefit Strategies for next year, Stacher will bring
years of high-caliber race experience from her tenure with both
HTC-Highroad and Specialized-Lululemon.
Over her seven-year career, she’s competed in some of the world’s biggest races, including the Giro Rosa (formerly the Giro d’Italia Femminile), which she finished four times. (velonews.com) November 10, 2014  The
Vuelta a España stage race, following the race director’s promise to Chris Froome, will
include a flat time trial for its 2015 edition.
“Froome said after this year’s defeat, ‘Thank you, Javier, but could these time trials in the Vuelta be flatter?’,” Vuelta Director Javier Guillén told Spain’s El País newspaper. “And I said to him then, ‘Next year, for the 2015 edition, the time trial will be planned in a flat region.’ And that began our conversation…” (cyclingweekly.co.uk) November 10, 2014  According
to Ciclismo Internacional, Peter
Sagan won't be at the start of the Tour de San Luis in
2015. Instead, the race may attract Mark
Cavendish and Michal
Kwiatkowski who have both been at the event in the past.
On Thursday, director of the San Luis Giovanni Lombardi will hold a press conference to announce the major teams and riders participating in the 9th edition of the race that will take place in January. (cyclingquotes.com) November 10, 2014  2015
Vuelta al Pais Vasco, Van
Winden to Baku and Bronzini
extends. (cyclingnews.com)
November 10, 2014  We
run some crazy cycling ideas by experts. Their answers may surprise
you. (bikeradar.com)
November 10, 2014  At
the conclusion of the first Track World Cup round of the 2014-15 season
it was Australia who emerged on top of the medal table with three gold
medals, two silver and one bronze.
Matthew Glaetzer was on the right side of two photo finishes in the men's sprint to claim the gold over former world champion Jason Kenny who beat the Australian when they last went head-to-head at the Commonwealth Games in August. "I knew it was going to be super tough to beat Kenny because he seems to keep improving through a sprint competition," said Glaetzer. "So to beat him after he knocked me out of the Sprint in Glasgow was great, although I wasn't thinking about that aspect at the time." (cyclingnews.com) November 10, 2014 | November 10, 2014  Marco Pantani’s
death and 1999 Giro d’Italia legal inquiries are baseless and creating
mistrust in Italy’s institutions, according to biographer Matt Rendell.
“The 1999 Giro case is based on one rumor after another, voices going around prison cells,” the English journalist told VeloNews. “The murder case? All they have to do is to get people to talk about it, and it achieves its end. There won’t be another end because Pantani was clearly not murdered.” The bald Italian climber won the 1998 Giro d’Italia and Tour de France, the last cyclist to win the double. From that high, his life quickly unravelled. (velonews.com) November 10, 2014  "American
former professional rider (he has just retired at 35) Matt Cooke came on
the radar screens at crankpunk HQ when he commented on an article I
wrote about dopers having those wonderful gran fraudos, as they do. we
then chatted a little about doing an interview but never got round to
it.
Then i saw a comment from Matt on a photo of Zabriskie, attending some awards dinner or something recently, where Matt basically said ‘dude you robbed me’, and I knew we had to get that interview done. So here it is, unedited, unabridged. one thing i am sure of is that he means every word." (crankpunk.com) November 10, 2014  "They’ve
sponsored the Tour of California since its inception in 2006, and that
must be a good thing, right? the sport needs sponsors and here is one
willing to provide financial support for an entire race for several
years, one that, briefly, looked to be on the edge of challenging the
Giro d’Italia as a destination for the world’s top bike road racers.
But exactly what does Amgen do?" (crankpunk.com) November 10, 2014  Pro
cycling seems to be losing a lot of big names this year to retirement
and to that long list we can add Didi
Senft – better known as the “Devil”, the man who almost
single-handedly created the roadside craze of dressing up in costume to
cheer on the race. Here’s a look back at encounters with the
man who started it all. (pezcyclingnews.com)
November 10, 2014  “We
have a well-rounded and immensely capable squad assembled for 2015.
When you have a sponsorship commitment into the future, like that of
UnitedHealthcare, we have to think beyond results of today. We have
hired some impressive talents for 2015 but also hired some young
up-and-coming riders for the future. We’re excited to hit the road and
start racing.” (uhcprocycling.com)
November 10, 2014  Second
in the world under 23 time trial championships, where he finished just
.48 seconds behind Campbell
Flakemore’s gold medal, Ryan Mullen has
passed over offers from other teams and decided to spent another season
with the An Post Chainreaction Sean Kelly squad.
The 20 year old rider was one of several names confirmed by the Irish-registered, Belgian-based Continental squad on Monday. Rather than moving elsewhere, the Irish Elite road race and under 23 time trial champion believes another year at his current team is the best option for his long-term development. . November 10, 2014  Sufferfest
videos were previously available for individual download, with a
limited number also on offer to premium Strava members, but the app
provides access to more than 20 videos in an ‘all-you-can-suffer
buffet’.
Each video works on a specific area of training, including speed, endurance, climbing, racing and style, with footage from a number of races, including the Tour de France, Tour of Flanders, Paris-Roubaix and Road World Championships, as well as on-screen instructions and music to provide motivation. (roadcyclinguk.com) November 10, 2014  Jack Bobridge and
other members of the Australian team pursuit will join Budget Forklifts
on the road next year in preparation for the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.
The partnership with Cycling Australia’s High Performance Unit will see team pursuit world champions Bobridge, Luke Davison, Glenn O’Shea and Mitchell Mulhern, and 2010 Commonwealth Games gold medalist, Scott Sunderland, bolster the team’s stocks. (sbs.com.au) November 10, 2014 Belgian
Sportsman of the Year nominees announced, USA win first World Cup
omnium medal, Avanti sign former triathlete Davison.
(cyclingnews.com)
November 10, 2014  BikeRadar
verdict: 2.5 out of 5
stars. "Solid, but a small and disappointing selection for the price."
(bikeradar.com)
November 10, 2014  The
new Jamis Supernova Team is a lot of things. Forgettable is not one of
them. Between the Halloween’esqu color scheme and large and frequent
logo placement, this bike looks like the cyclocross version of a NASCAR
racer. And it’s a comparison that works beyond aesthetics. Indeed, this
race-ready rig is built for ’cross competition. If you’re looking for a
bike suitable for double duty as a gravel grinder or back-up roadster,
we’d recommend looking elsewhere. (roadbikereview.com)
November 10, 2014 In
recognition and celebration of the 100th anniversary of Don Kirkham and
Iddo 'Snowy' Munro becoming the first Australians to ride the Tour de
France, Cycling Australia will name a nine-rider 'team of the century'
later this month at the Jayco Australian Cyclist of the Year Awards.
(cyclingnews.com)
November 10, 2014 |
 Telenet-Fidea
rider Tom Meeusen
won a hard-fought third Superprestige round in Ruddervoorde, Belgium,
on Sunday, out-sprinting Mathieu
van der Poel and Klaas
Vantornout. Sven
Nys finished fourth in the sprint after a fast race on a
dry course. (cyclingnews.com)
November 9, 2014  After
a two-year spell as European cyclo-cross champion Helen Wyman (Kona
Factory Team) had to concede the European title on Saturday afternoon
in Lorch, Germany. The 24-year-old Belgian champion Sanne Cant
(Enertherm-BKCP) took over the European Cyclo-cross championship from
the 33-year-old British champion. On Sunday, Cant turned her good form
into another victory at the Superprestige cyclo-cross race in
Ruddervoorde, Belgium. (cyclingnews.com)
November 9, 2014  Danny Summerhill and
Katerina Nash
shone most brightly under the lights at Saturday’s Derby City Cup in
Louisville, Kentucky.
Summerhill took the hour long elite men’s race by just two seconds ahead of U.S. champion Jeremy Powers with Logan Owen third at 35 seconds back. Earlier, in the 40-minute elite women’s race, Nash soloed to victory with 18 seconds to spare over runner-up Kaitlin Antonneau. Courtenay McFadden rounded out the podium in third. Racing continues Sunday at Eva Bandman Park. (velonews.com) November 9, 2014
2014
Races
& Results.
Santos Tour Down Under 2015 - Jan 18-25 (Stages), Giro d'Italia 2015 - May 9-31 (Stages), Tour de France 2015 - July 4-26 (Stages), Tour of Beijing 2015 - Oct 10-14 (Results), Paris - Tours Elite 2015 - Oct 12 (Results), Il Lombardia 2014 - Oct 5 (Results), UCI Road World Championship 2014 - Sept 20-27 (Results), Vuelta a España 2014 - Aug 23-Sept 14 (Results), Tour de France 2014 - July 5-27 (Results), Giro d'Italia 2014 - May 9 - June 1 (Results), November 9, 2014  Greg Swinand took a
whopping eight wins this year between road race and time trial events,
and the UCD CC rider says he has no intention of stopping racing any
time soon.
He might by 47 years old now but the US-born Wicklow man showed up many of his younger adversaries in 2014. Among his biggest wins was a solo victory in the inaugural Deenside Cup. He also took the opening stage of the Tour of Ulster as well as the national vets’ TT title, a race he won by over two minutes. (stickybottle.com) November 9, 2014 November 8, 2014 |  Only
Sunday's final day (November 9) of round 1 will be streamed live, at
least in part. (cyclingfans.com)
November 9, 2014  One
of the first things Caleb
Ewan did upon his return to Australia from September’s
Worlds, where he won a silver medal in the men’s U23 race, was to meet
with his coach Brad McGee
and chat about the season gone and to come.
Joining them for the catch up at a small café in Bowral, a rural town in the Southern Highlands south of Sydney in NSW where 20-year-old Ewan hails from, was Italian Australian Institute of Sport sports scientist Paolo Menaspà. By the time they had finished, one major change had already taken place – McGee was no longer Ewan’s coach. (cyclingnews.com) November 9, 2014  Stage
5 winner Boris
Shpilevskiy claimed a second success in the Tour
of Taihu Lake as he sprinted to victory on the final day in Wujiang,
where Australia’s Sam
Witmitz, third on the line, won the first UCI 2.1 race of
his career at the age of 29. He won the race ahead of Alois Kankovsky who
finished second overall for the third time (after 2011 and 2013). Dutch
revelation Jurgen van
Diemen had a few mechanicals and slipped to third but
remained on the podium. (cyclingnews.com)
November 9, 2014  Mathieu van der Poel answered
the critics who railed against his decision to skip the U23 European
cyclo-cross championships by surging to the lead in the Superprestige
on Sunday with a strong second place finish in Ruddervoorde.
The Dutch rider decided to focus on the Superprestige at the expense of the championship race in Lorsch, Germany, and was criticized by new European champion Wout Van Aert, who responded to Van der Poel's absence by citing a proverb, "the absent are always in the wrong." (cyclingnews.com) November 9, 2014  Two
of the highlights of the cycling season are the Giro d’Italia and the
Vuelta a Espana. If you cant win the Tour de France, then these are the
two stage races you want to win. And both face the possibility of being
shortened.
Nothing has been made public about this proposal so far, but with cycling due to enter new reforms as soon as 2017, some people like Patrick Lefevere, Etixx-QuickStep manager, want the Grand Tours shortened. (cyclingquotes.com) November 9, 2014   BikeRadar
verdict: 3.5 out of 5
stars. "Classy chassis with good kit, apart from the middling brakes."
(bikeradar.com)
November 9, 2014 |  Lance Armstrong
pulled out of a scheduled participation in a time trial in the United
States today, citing a back injury. His non-appearance at the Tour de
Gruene Bicycle Classic in New Braunfels, Texas, comes a little more
than two weeks after USA Cycling said he could not take part in last
month’s Gran Fondo Hincapie. (road.cc)
 On
Saturday, Philippe
Gilbert in the Velodux, an urban cyclo-cross race for
pairs held in the Swiss town of Estavayer-Le-Lac and organized by Red
Bull. Alongside his partner Danilo
Wyss from BMC Racing Team, he finished 15th in the race
that also welcomed Julien
Abasalon.
Gilbert and Wyss finished one lap behind the winners (cyclingquotes.com) and Michi Wildhaber. (cyclingquotes.com) November 9, 2014  At
the end of 2013, Pat Shaw announced that the upcoming season would be
his last as a professional bike rider. The Victorian would spent his
final year on the road with Satalyst-Giant, switching teams from Huon
Genesys, now known as Avanti, where he was instrumental to the recent
successes of the Tasmanian squad.
Last week, Avanti announced that Shaw would be re-joining the team in 2015, putting retirement on hold for another year. (cyclingnews.com) November 9, 2014  Australia
strong in UCI Track World Cup. Six month countdown to the Giro
d’Italia. (cyclingnews.com)
November 9, 2014  Stage
16 of the 2015 Giro d’Italia will revisit the horrendous climb of the
Mortirolo, back in 2008 Ale
Federico made his own ascent on the penultimate stage of
that years Italian Grand Tour. We relive Ale’s pain,
suffering and hunger as he discovers his ‘mazzo’ on the Mortirolo.
(pezcyclingnews.com)
November 9, 2014  Some
of the biggest stars in British cycling turned out for the Dave Rayner 20th
anniversary dinner in Leeds on Saturday evening with roughly £25,000
raised for the cause.
David Millar, Lizzie Armistead and Ian Stannard, and the new recruits who will benefit from the Rayner fund in 2015, were among those in attendance, along with the man responsible for bringing the Tour de France to Yorkshire, Gary Verity. (cyclingnews.com) November 9, 2014 November 8, 2014 |
 As
it was the case with the juniors, the Belgian U23 riders dominated the
European cyclocross championships. Wout
van Aert won the race ahed of Laurens Sweeck.
A big battle between Belgians Michael Vanthourenhout and Wout van Aert was expected. At the midpoint, both of them joined the right group which consisted of five riders. (cyclingquotes.com) November 8, 2014 The
2014 Superprestige Cyclocross - Ruddervoorde (Hansgrohe Superprestige)
is Sunday,
November 9.
Live streaming video: 2:45pm CET (8:45am U.S. Eastern). (cyclingfans.com) November 8, 2014  Ian Boswell hopes
that 2015 will be the season all the pieces in the jigsaw come together
as he looks to establish a place in Team Sky’s future. The 23-year-old
signed a three-year deal as a promising young rider at the start of
2013, and with one year remaining is well aware that he must make the
most of next season.
One development that has already taken place in the American’s life surrounds his coaching, with ex-professional Dario Cioni set to mentor him next year. (cyclingnews.com) November 8, 2014
2014
Races
& Results.
Santos Tour Down Under 2015 - Jan 18-25 (Stages), Giro d'Italia 2015 - May 9-31 (Stages), Tour de France 2015 - July 4-26 (Stages), Tour of Beijing 2015 - Oct 10-14 (Results), Paris - Tours Elite 2015 - Oct 12 (Results), Il Lombardia 2014 - Oct 5 (Results), UCI Road World Championship 2014 - Sept 20-27 (Results), Vuelta a España 2014 - Aug 23-Sept 14 (Results), Tour de France 2014 - July 5-27 (Results), Giro d'Italia 2014 - May 9 - June 1 (Results), November 8, 2014  This
morning sad news have emerged. After 34 years, the Tour de Normandie
could disappear. While the course has already been finalized, the
police costs is a challenge for the organizers.
In fact, everything looked good. The course was ready and many teams had applied for the race which is schedule to take place from March 23 to 29, 2015. However, the expense to have local police at the race have been multiplied by 10 in one year (from 4500 euros in 2014 to 40000 euros in 2015) due a ministerial decree from October 28 2010 (which will become effective from January 1). (cyclingnews.com) November 8, 2014 |  David Millar has
praised the Dave Rayner Fund for its role in his development as an
aspiring professional, calling it “a massive help” for riders on the
fringe of moving to continental teams.
Millar was part of the early draft of the fund, which was set up after the tragic death of Yorkshire pro Dave Rayner in 1995. Its aim was to help young British riders make the leap from domestic racing to the European professional peloton in an era long before British Cycling’s increased funding. (cyclingnews.com) November 8, 2014  "Steve Scoles in
Winnipeg, who recently acted as the announcer of the 2014 Canadian
Cyclocross Championships, just gave us his rendition of Bill Schieken’s
Svenness videos. Spoiler alert: Garrigan
takes the lead… he holds on to the lead… he keeps the lead… he finishes
with the lead. It’s a thorough analysis, we know.
Somehow we see another Schieken parody in Scoles’s future, possibly Swills, Distills, and Bellyaches: A Cyclocross Beer Tent Primer." (cxmagazine.com) November 8, 2014  Paris-Roubaix
winner Niki Terpstra rounded
out his year with a victory in the Amstel Curaçao Race, a 73.6
kilometer criterium on the Caribbean island. Tim Wellens was
second, and Dutch champion Sebastian
Langeveld was third. (cyclingnews.com)
November 8, 2014  Slipstream
sports is heading into a new phase of its life, with the merger with
Cannondale meaning there will be more Italians than ever before on the
American team.
“It will be a completely new team, we are facing a complete reshuffling of the deck,” Moreno Moser told Tutto Bici. “It’ll be a new project for everyone and with new finish lines to reach.” Four other Italians join Moser: Davide Formolo, Davide Villela, Alberto Bettiol and Alan Marangoni. Sloveinans Matej Mohoric and Kristjan Koren and American Ted King also make the jump. (cyclingquotes.com) November 8, 2014  BikeRadar
verdict: 4.5 out of 5
stars. "An intriguing behind the scenes account of the world's biggest
bike race, as told by the main players." (bikeradar.com)
November 8, 2014  In
all eight of Marcel
Kittel’s Tour de France stage wins in 2013 and 2014, he
has attributed his success in every single one of those stages to his
teammates. One of those men is Dutchman Koen de Kort, who
recently met with CyclingTips to talk 2015 and helping Kittel and
Giant-Shimano’s other star sprinter John
Degenkolb.
De Kort says that while Kittel has been the best sprinter in the Tour de France for the last two editions now, he doesn’t think his teammate will target the race’s Green Jersey in 2015. (cyclingquotes.com) November 8, 2014 | November 8, 2014 "The
number of teams who are saying they don not have room for 2013 Vuelta a
Espana winner Chris
Horner is growing.
CyclingQuotes.com told a story where it was confirmed that both Jelly Belly and Jamis-Hagens Berman said they were not interested, didn’t have the finances or the space to hire the beteran American. Now we can add UnitedHealthcare, Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies and MTN-Qhubeka to the list of teams who cant sign Horner for some reason or another." (cyclingquotes.com) November 8, 2014  Matthew Brammeier is
close to signing a contract with a new team after confirming that he
would not re-sign with the Synergy Baku Cycling Project for 2015.
“At the moment nothing is confirmed but I have something that’s coming into place. It’s a Professional Continental team and that’s what I was holding out for. It means I’ll be back in some of the bigger European races.” (cyclingnews.com) November 8, 2014  New
Polish Hour Record, no attempt for Malori,
suspended sentence for Levarlet.
(cyclingnews.com)
November 8, 2014  John Degenkolb has
been one of the most successful riders of 2014, winning 4 stages at the
Vuelta plus its points jersey, Gent-Wevelgem and finishing second in
Paris-Roubaix plus five more wins.
“I was planning to do a successful season and it worked out. It was a really nice season, during which I worked hard from the beginning until the end. I had a great Spring campaign, but I must admit that in the Tour de France I was disappointed with the crash and the fact I couldn’t win a stage. Then, the Vuelta was great, and the same goes for the one-day races after the Vuelta,” the German said to caferoubaix.com in a recent interview. (cyclingquotes.com) November 8, 2014  "We
celebrate the summit finishes and often forget the roads the roads that
preceed them. Today’s the chance to venerate a climb that’s used en
route to many a Tour de France stage finish and it’ll be scaled twice
next July.
It’s worth riding for its own sake and ideal to combine with other high mountain passes in the area." (inrng.com) November 8, 2014  A
roundup of new tech including adventure tyres, urban cycling bags,
turbo trainers, fitness bands and colored handlebars. (road.cc)
November 8, 2014 November 7, 2014 |
 An
Australian production that has already played in the U.K., “Lance
Armstrong: Stop at Nothing” rolls Stateside via Showtime, and provides
a riveting look at the cycling champion’s rise and (especially) fall.
Comprehensively reported, director Alex
Holmes’ documentary makes devastating use of Armstrong’s
depositions and press conferences to illustrate the vehemence with
which he denied doping allegations before coming clean, though not
enough to soothe the feelings of those he badgered and sought to
intimidate. Perhaps foremost, as shrewdly depicted, the story captures
the collective hunger for heroes — and the speed at which
media can turn away from them. (variety.com)
November 7, 2014 Marco Pantani was
not murdered and the re-opened cases involving the late Italian cyclist
are comical, according to biographer Matt Rendell.
“People are going to be left with farcical version of the death of JFK or a bald, big-eared Marilyn Monroe story because they won’t bother to look at the facts, they’ll assume that there’s some truth to what’s being talked about,” the English journalist told Cycling Weekly. “There won’t be another end because Pantani was clearly not murdered.” (cyclingweekly.co.uk) November 7, 2014  Although
his first race of 2015 is at least a couple of months away, Alberto Contador has
said that he regards this week’s summiting of the Kilimanjaro climb as
being the symbolic start to a season he regards as a very challenging
one.
Commenting after his Tinkoff Saxo team’s successful trek to the top of what is the highest mountain in Africa, a task run off in very difficult weather, the Spaniard said that he took satisfaction from the achievement. (cyclingtips.com.au) November 7, 2014  Riders
faced an unfamiliar route in stage two of La Ruta de los
Conquistadores, as organizers had to make a last-minute course change
due to a volcanic eruption from the Turrialba volcano.
Luis Leao Pinto kept his lead after a 53-kilometer stage between Terramall in Tres Ríos and the Oikoumene Camp in Ochomogo of Cartago. The day offered cold and foggy weather and difficult climbing. Leao finished fourth on the stage, and Colombian rider Luis Mejía won the day. Women’s leader, Ánngela Parra took her second victory. “I took off at Xiomara’s [Guerrero] speed. We went together to La Angelina. I wasn’t going to take any risks. I knew it was very humid. At that point I slipped, and she passed me, I kept my pace, but she sped up, then she got like three minutes advantage. I tried to play with that difference because I knew that what was coming was going to be tough. I chose my pace and people around me were telling me times. I could see her. I sped up after the last checkpoint, and I won.” (velonews.com) November 7, 2014  Who
will be named Velo Cyclist of the Year? Here are a few of the top
contenders for the honor. (velonews.com)
November 7, 2014  According
to Sport.be, Mathieu Van
der Poel will not clash with Wout Van Aert in the
European championships held in Lorsch this weekend. The former decided
against participating in the event, preferring to line-up at the
Superprestige round in Ruddervoorde the next day. (cyclingquotes.com)
November 7, 2014  Mikel Nieve was one
of Chris Froome’s
most important allies this season. The Basque rider supported him in
his abortive bid at the Tour de France and helped him to second at the
Vuelta a España just over a month later. Nieve was by his
side through the ups and downs this year, and is confident that his
team leader will be back to his 2013 Tour winning form for 2015.
(cyclingnews.com)
November 7, 2014  Vuelta
a España race director Javier
Guillén has confirmed that next year’s race will feature a
largely flat time trial of around 40 kilometers, according to El País.
In recent years, the Vuelta time trial has featured at least one
classified climb but Guillén
told the paper that 2015 will be a little different.
“Our time trial will follow our usual standard of the last Vueltas, one of 40 kilometres, and it will be on flat terrain or on false flats,” he told the paper. (cyclingnews.com) November 7, 2014
2014
Races
& Results.
Santos Tour Down Under 2015 - Jan 18-25 (Stages), Giro d'Italia 2015 - May 9-31 (Stages), Tour de France 2015 - July 4-26 (Stages), Tour of Beijing 2015 - Oct 10-14 (Results), Paris - Tours Elite 2015 - Oct 12 (Results), Il Lombardia 2014 - Oct 5 (Results), UCI Road World Championship 2014 - Sept 20-27 (Results), Vuelta a España 2014 - Aug 23-Sept 14 (Results), Tour de France 2014 - July 5-27 (Results), Giro d'Italia 2014 - May 9 - June 1 (Results), November 7, 2014  Wes Sulzberger has
been handed a late lifeline to ride with Navitas-Satalyst in 2015 - a
team that's managed by his agent, Wayne
Evans.
The move comes after an underwhelming year with Drapac Professional Cycling that finished without a single international win. The former WorldTour rider, who spent time with Francaise des Jeux and Orica-GreenEDGE before stepping away from the top tier last year is understood to be preparing to have a child with his partner and preferred to stay in Australia, with an Australian team for 2015. Evans, who acts as Sulzberger's agent, told Cycling Central he reached out to several domestic teams including Drapac but no team was willing to meet the Tasmanian's price tag. The most advanced discussions took place with Drapac, Evans said, which initially told Sulzberger he was surplus to requirements. Evans convinced Drapac to reconsider, which then mulled a renewal with the 28 year old for a fortnight before again walking away from discussions. (sbs.com.au) November 7, 2014  Recently
the Vuelta a España and Amgen Tour of California announced that they
would be adding more women’s racing to their pre-existing men’s race
lineup. Now, two more races have increased their race offerings for
women in 2015.
Philadelphia’s Parx Casino Cycling Classic will be elevating its status for 2015 to become one of the races on the UCI’s Women’s Professional Road Cycling Series, which is the rebranding of the World Cup series. This race will be the first and only stop the series makes in the United States. The USA Pro Challenge, the four-year old Colorado stage race, has announced a women’s race, which will be run in conjunction with the men’s event August 17 to 23. Many details are still uncertain, but the race will take place on many of the same routes as the men’s event. (bicycling.com) November 7, 2014  Sportive
riders who want to pit themselves against a stage of the Tour de France
can now make the first step on that road, with entries for the 2015
edition of the Etape du Tour open.
With the route for next year’s edition of the Tour de France unveiled late last month, the Etape du Tour will be held on Sunday July 19 over stage 19 of the race in the French Alps. The stage itself will be held five days later on Friday July 24. (roadcyclinguk.com) November 7, 2014 |  If
you’re at a loose end in Paris the cemetery is worth a visit, a calm
place in a busy city. It’s a tourist attraction with many famous people
buried there, the list is too long but most people visit to see the
tombs of Oscar Wilde, Jim Morisson and Edith Piaf although a range of
celebrities, cultural figures and notable people from French history
are buried there.
Laurent Fignon’s ashes probably weren’t placed there out of merit just that he was a Parisian and this is one of the city’s largest cemeteries. His presence is noted though and on a stroll through his was the only plaque with fresh flowers. (inrng.com) November 7, 2014  Almost
a month has passed since the day he announced that his career was no
more. Since then Andy
Schleck has worked on coming to terms with a premature
departure from the sport, a decision forced by a Tour de France crash
that ruptured his knee and abruptly stopped the clock.
Second in the Giro d’Italia at just 21 years of age, what was expected to be a fifteen year career ended prior to his 30th birthday. (cyclingtips.com.au) November 7, 2014  Christopher Horner’s
agent Baden Cooke
claimed that there’s a little chance for the 43-year old rider to stay
in Europe for the next season after Lampre-Merida had confirmed they
wouldn’t extend his contract. It appears, however, that the former
Australian pro cyclist is given a hard time while negotiating with
American second and third division outfits, as two of them have already
refused to sign the veteran for 2015. (cyclingquotes.com)
November 7, 2014  Thanks
to its new Cannondale sponsorship deal, Slipstream Sports has more
Italians in its ranks for 2015 than ever before. The season will be one
of adjustment and discovery for both the American team and its new
cyclists.
“It will be a completely new team, we are facing a complete reshuffling of the deck,” Moreno Moser told Tutto Bici. “It’ll be a new project for everyone and with new finish lines to reach.” (velonews.com) November 7, 2014  Australian
Luke Davison
has got his racing ambitions back on track – literally. The 24-year-old
Sydneysider is back in Australia and focused on racing the team
pursuit, the track event in which he represented Australia to win gold
at this year's world championships in Cali, Colombia and Commonwealth
Games in Glasgow. (cyclingnews.com)
November 7, 2014 But
for a few far flung races, the curtain has well and truly been drawn on
the 2014 season. The members of the roving cycling circus are taking a
well-deserved break before gearing up for the year to come, giving us
time to reflect on some of the season’s biggest moments. In this
gallery, we take a look back at 2014 through the lens of Belgian
photographer Tim de Waele.
(cyclingnews.com)
November 7, 2014  Olympic
gold medallist Dani King,
part of Great Britain's all-conquering women's pursuit team, has
suffered five broken ribs and a collapsed lung after being injured in a
crash in training.
The incident is understood to have taken place early yesterday afternoon in South Wales, near King's home in Cardiff, while she was riding out with her usual training partners. (telegraph.co.uk) November 7, 2014  "You
know Levi
right? that super talented bike rider who juiced for years then got
busted – sorry admitted to doping cos it was EATING HIM APART, where’s
the Kleenex? - but we should remember that he stopped cos’ he knew it
was wrong but, miraculously, STILL won races 'god bless him and his
slip streamed head' – the one who then ‘retired’ with that stain of The
Doper on him but who still has a fabulously successful gran fraudo and
who is still winning races around the USA?
Phew… yes, that one. Well he put up a race ride on Strava called Crusher in the Tushar and a bunch of Grown Men Who Love Levi came and – well, they just came, more Kleenex please – and he got a huge moneyshot load of Kudos except for one little, tiny, cheeky comment that somehow slipped by the 'Respect Your Cheating Elders Police.'" (crankpunk.com) November 7, 2014  Quarq
was founded by Jim
and Mieke Meyer
in 2006. At the time, the couple were living in Australia, and in
between triathlon training sessions Jim
started working on a crank-based power meter design that would be more
affordable than SRM’s system. He also wanted a system where the battery
could be replaced in the field.
Quarq unveiled its first power meter at Interbike in 2007. From the outset, Quarq used strain gauges in the crank’s spider to measure torque and the original CinQo was designed to suit a variety of cranks. Aside from easy battery replacement, the CinQo was distinguished by its early use of ANT+ for wireless transmission of power data. (cyclingtips.com.au) November 7, 2014  BikeRadar
verdict: 3.5 out of 5
stars. "A lovely ride from the classy steel frame, but its weight will
limit personal bests." (bikeradar.com)
November 7, 2014  Two
years after venturing into the footwear arena with its Grand Tour
shoes, high-end apparel maker Rapha is about to start selling its
second set of road-specific kicks, the Climber’s Shoe. These $400 shoes
will go on sale in North America starting this weekend. Initially only
the white/grey model will be available, with black/pink and blue/white
coming on-line at a yet-to-be-specified date. (roadbikereview.com)
November 7, 2014 | November 7, 2014  FDJ.fr
manager Marc Madiot
has warned that French races below WorldTour level are in danger of
disappearing from the calendar and he has called for the structures of
cycling in what he termed its “four historic countries” – France,
Belgium, Spain and Italy – to be safeguarded. (cyclingnews.com)
November 7, 2014  On
Monday evenig Guillaume
Levarlet was charged for homicide. The French rider was
driving under the influence of alcohol when the car was involved in a
fatal accident that cost former professional Arnaud Coyot his
life at the age of 33. After leaving a night club, Levarlet lost
control of the vehicle and crashed into a metal barrier.
In the Citroën Xsara, Levarlet was joined by Coyot on the front seat and Sébastien Minard (AG2R-La Mondiale) on the back seat. Severely wounded, Coyot died a few hours later in the hospital. (cyclingquotes.com) November 7, 2014 According
to Robinson Chalapud
and Jarlinson Pantano
who will not ride for the team in 2015, Colombia have not paid their
salaries for the last five months. They are now using social media in
an attempt to get their money.
It should be mentioned that this is not the first time this happens at Claudio Corti’s team. A similar situation occurred in August 2013. (cyclingquotes.com) November 7, 2014  Leah Kirchmann,
Canada’s triple national champion in the road race, time trial and
criterium, has re-signed with the American-based team Optum p/b Kelly
Benefit Strategies for the 2015 season. The all-rounder will lead the
team at events in both North America and overseas but is once again
targeting the national championships.
“I’m excited to be returning to race with Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies,” Kirchmann said. “It’s a great program that provides me with everything I need to be a successful cyclist - great equipment sponsors, awesome teammates and a professional organisation at the races.” (cyclingnews.com) November 7, 2014  Optum
Pro Cycling presented by Kelly Benefit Strategies has announced a
ten-rider roster for 2015 with the core of its current team remaining
on board under the directorship of Patrick
McCarty.
Staying with the team is the current Canadian road race, time trial and criterium champion Leah Kirchmann, veteran Janel Holcomb and three emerging young riders, Annie Ewart (Canada), Brianna Walle and Maura Kinsella (both United States). (cyclingnews.com) November 7, 2014  “Give
me six hours to chop down a tree, and I will spend the first four
sharpening the axe,” Abraham
Lincoln once said.
Many cyclists embody that axiom and believe that success correlates directly with volume of preparation. But while success often comes to those that train the hardest, the axe of preparation cuts both ways. Pushing too hard can leave you fatigued rather than fit. Athletes with ritualistic pre-race routines can torpedo their race before it starts due to over-preparation. (velonews.com) November 7, 2014  Warren Barguil is
currently easing back after a long season that only concluded last
month at the Tour of Beijing, where he finished sixth, and the
ASO-organised Criterium in Saitama, Japan. However, his thoughts are
already veering towards 2015, when one of his goals will be to make his
debut in the Tour de France.
The second-year French professional had some hopes of taking part in cycling’s top race last July but instead he was held back for a repeat ride in the Vuelta a España. His 2014 Vuelta objectives, however, had a very different slant to his previous participation in 2013, where as a neo-pro riding in his first Grand Tour he took two spectacular stage wins, one in the Pyrenees at Formigal where he neatly outduelled Rigoberto Urán. (cyclingnews.com) November 7, 2014  "We
love our local bike shop here at PEZ but sometimes, just once in a
while you might come across a shop that is so different, unique and
just plain cool that it makes your LBS look boring. It was from here
that our new series of ‘Not Your Average Bike Shop’ was born with first
up being Velo Classique from Virginia USA." (pezcyclingnews.com)
November 7, 2014  Feargal McKay, a
voracious reader of all things bike racing, has weighed in. With a
mixture of biography, autobiography, and race profiles, the following
are his 10 best reads of the past year, and collectively make up not
only must reads for all cycling fans but also a great gift-giving list
for the riders on your “‘nice” list this holiday season.
(pelotonmagazine.com)
November 7, 2014  We
all have ‘must-do’ lists of hills we want to climb, or mountain passes
to traverse, but German ultra-athlete Guido Kunze went
further than all of us by setting a new bicycle altitude record.
The 48-year-old ascended 6,233m up the Ojos del Salado volcano on the Argentina-Chile border, beating Andre Hauschke’s 2010 record by 150m. In total Kunze pedalled 342.77km in just over 37 hours from Bahia Inglesa on the Pacific coast to the to the northwest ridge of the volcano, ascending 6,899m. (cyclingweekly.co.uk) November 7, 2014  One
thing that most cyclists will benefit from at one point or another is a
decent set of tools. They let you perform maintenance at home (often at
the last minute!) and save you money in the long run by not needing to
take your bike to your LBS for every little thing. Having decent tools
also helps you learn more about the way your bike works.
The difference between a good tool kit and an average one is what tools you get and the quality of the tools inside; which can be the difference between causing damage to your components and having a stress-free maintenance experience. (cyclingtips.com.au) November 7, 2014  "We
love a classy commuter, and this urbanised version of the popular X-Bow
from Ridley looks the part with matchy-matchy mudguards, Shimano Sora
components and Avid disc brakes." (bikeradar.com)
November 7, 2014 |
 Fernando Alonso has
confirmed that his hopes of forming a professional cycling team will
not materialize in 2015 but insisted that he still has plans to
establish a team at some point in the future. The Formula 1 driver was
speaking on Wednesday at an event organized by one of his sponsors in
Mexico City. (cyclingnews.com)
November 6, 2014 Bradley Wiggins
believes British success in recent years has helped turn cycling into a
brand, with the sport’s market now worth £1.39bn to the UK.
In an interview with Marketing Week, the world time trial champion insists that cycling is no longer a niche sport, with his Tour de France and Olympic glory in 2012 helping to bring the sport to national prominence. “The transformation [in cycling] is quite phenomenal,” Wiggins said. “The growth was already huge but [the Tour and Olympics] helped bring a whole new audience to the sport and it really captured people’s imagination.” (cyclingweekly.co.uk) November 6, 2014  Cavendish trains on
track in Italy, curtain comes down on Curacao, Trek sponsors UK women’s
pro team. (cyclingnews.com)
November 6, 2014  Luis Leao Pinto
(Scotiabank) of Portugal won the first of three stages at the 22nd
edition of La Ruta de los Conquistadores Thursday. Colombian Angela Parra took
the women’s lead.
The stage was 93 kilometers long and went from the coastal town of Jacó on Costa Rica’s Pacific coast, to the Universidad Técnica Nacional in Atenas in Alajuela. (velonews.com) November 6, 2014
2014
Races
& Results.
Santos Tour Down Under 2015 - Jan 18-25 (Stages), Giro d'Italia 2015 - May 9-31 (Stages), Tour de France 2015 - July 4-26 (Stages), Tour of Beijing 2015 - Oct 10-14 (Results), Paris - Tours Elite 2015 - Oct 12 (Results), Il Lombardia 2014 - Oct 5 (Results), UCI Road World Championship 2014 - Sept 20-27 (Results), Vuelta a España 2014 - Aug 23-Sept 14 (Results), Tour de France 2014 - July 5-27 (Results), Giro d'Italia 2014 - May 9 - June 1 (Results), November 5, 2014  Team
Colombia has the 2015 Tour de France in mind, but first it wants to
return to the Giro d’Italia for a third time to try to win a stage.
“The race organizers have a good understanding and consider us after three years in Europe,” general manager Claudio Corti said Thursday morning. “Clearly, my goal is to see team Colombia in the Giro d’Italia again. If we receive two grand tour invitations, then even better. The Vuelta a España and Tour de France organizers know that we want to race.”... November 6, 2014  You
probably know Lucas Euser
from his time as a well-rounded rider on UnitedHealthcare. You may know
him for that immaculate whip of hair that points toward the sky and
always seems to be at the utmost attention.
You do not know him for mountain bike racing through the jungle of Costa Rica, which is exactly what he’s about to be doing. (velonews.com) November 6, 2014  African
Wildlife Safaris have only been around since the 2012 season but in its
short existence, the Melbourne-based team have consistently shown it
belongs at the top end of the National Road Series (NRS). 2014 saw the
team race under a Continental license allowing them to enter the Jayco
Herald Sun Tour, finishing eight on the team classification.
(cyclingnews.com)
November 6, 2014  Sportives/Gran
Fondos have grown massively over the last decade. Now a new trend for
multi-day events, such as the Dragon Tour, is starting to take hold
with riders wanting to get closer to the pro tour experience.
We chat to event ambassador – and cycling legend – Stephen Roche about the ever-broadening sportive scene, the draw of multi-day events and why he’s looking forward to the Dragon Tour in 2015. Winner of the 1987 Giro d’Italia, Tour de France and world championships, Roche reflects on the astounding growth of sportives over the last few years. (bikeradar.com) November 6, 2014  Didi the Devil
retires, SEG Racing add Bokeloh
and Leemans,
Santambrogio
says doping had little to do with his performances in 2013.
(cyclingnews.com)
November 6, 2014  Between
2009 and 2013, Tasmanian Wes
Sulzberger was racing at the highest level of the sport
but stepped down to the Pro-Continental level with Drapac to race this
year alongside his brother Bernie.
An "ok" season didn't yield the results and performances that Sulzberger wanted and a contract wasn't forthcoming from the Australian team, leaving the 28-year-old without a contract for 2015. (cyclingnews.com) November 6, 2014 November 5, 2014 |  Here
is cycling’s great paradox as it moves deeper into the new millennium:
relevance to the TV audience.
Perhaps there is no sport in the world that’s as exciting to participate in yet is as boring to watch on television as bike racing. Sometimes that’s hard to comprehend. Anyone who’s raced, or stood on the side of the road to watch a race, can attest to cycling’s passion, speed, and thrills. In many ways, the sport has all the ingredients to be one of the most compelling TV sports in the world, yet it is not. Why? In part because television broadcasting product has remained static for 20 years. (velonews.com) November 6, 2014  Seeing
the day’s breakaway get reeled in and beaten resmebles a nature
documentary where the predator inevitably catches and consumes its
prey. Only this day was different as a carnivorous Contador joined with
the breakaway riders to help escape those in his
pursuit. (inrng.com)
November 6, 2014  Italian
Mauro Santambrogio
“learned not to cheat” after a 2013 Giro d’Italia doping positive and
subsequent suspension. His cooperation with cycling’s reform commission
brought a reduced ban that enabled him to sign a two-year contract this
week with third division team Amore & Vita.
“Cycling’s controlled more than any other sport and I’ve learned that there’s no use in trying to cheat,” he told Italy’s Tutto Bici website. “Anyway, I’m convinced that a donkey can’t become a thoroughbred with doping.” (cyclingweekly.co.uk) November 6, 2014  Kathryn Bertine, one
of the core individuals behind the push for a women’s Tour de France,
has said that she and others will continue working toward a multi-stage
event, saying that more than just a single day race during the Grand
Tours is needed.
She was responding to the recent news that another ASO event, the Vuelta a España, would also hold a one-day race for women in 2015. (cyclingtips.com.au) November 6, 2014  Having
claimed the biggest win of his career at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad in
March, Ian Stannard
appeared on the cusp of a breakout season with Team Sky. A crash at
Ghent-Wevelgem later that month resulted in a fractured vertebrae and a
four-month spell on the sidelines, derailing his season.
The 27-year-old made a comeback at the Commonwealth Games in August which proved to be a false dawn as an opening day crash at the Tour of Britain in early-September resulted in a fractured scaphoid, ending his season all together. (cyclingnews.com) November 6, 2014  Many
pros carefully count calories and weigh food to ensure they're only
taking in the fuel they need to perform well in training and race. One
typical daily pattern is to eat a balanced breakfast, ride through
lunch using energy products and then have an early main meal.
Wiggins, on the other hand, trained hard before breakfast to speed up his metabolism for the day. He also avoided gluten for two months, and abstained from alcohol completely. (bikeradar.com) November 6, 2014  Working
with one of Italy’s top bike painters, 3t is offering their stems, bars
and seat posts with Blue, Orange, Pink, Green, Light Blue and Yellow
accents. The colors are applied using a specially formulated modern and
durable paint to produce dense, saturated colors the add to the already
striking high gloss finish of the parts. (bikeworldnews.com)
November 6, 2014  While
most of the credit for Great Britain's emergence as one of cycling's
dominant powers rightly goes to lottery funding and British Cycling's
performance plans, a significant amount is also due to the Dave Rayner Fund.
Set up in January 1995 just weeks after the tragic death of Yorkshire
pro Dave Rayner,
over the past two decades the fund has provided financial support to
around 200 riders, many of whom have gone to emulate Rayner by reaching
the pro ranks. (cyclingnews.com)
November 6, 2014  “This
is the only bell I’d not be embarrassed to run on my road bike,” said
BikeRadar technical writer and resident bike nerd Matthew Allen. What
was he talking about? This nifty new bell from US firm Spurcycle.
Dubbed ‘a bell for any bike’, Spurcycle’s creation took off in a spectacular way when it was presented on Kickstarter. It raised US$331,938 from more than 5,800 backers. (bikeradar.com) November 6, 2014  This
November, Smith Optics is releasing their first road helmet, the
Overtake, which boasts a unique, lightweight design. With the Overtake
and the coordinating Pivlock sunglass line, Smith is hoping to appeal
not only to men but also to the growing number of women who are
passionate about road cycling.
Though the Overtake is not specifically a women’s product, Smith has designed their new flagship helmet with women in mind. The Overtake is offered in 12 color choices, so there is something to fit every rider’s style. The Overtake also includes a dial fit system that is easy to adjust and works similarly to most helmets on the market. And yes, the Overtake’s fit system does include an opening for a ponytail. (velonews.com) November 5, 2014 | November 6, 2014  Having
been a regular fixture at the roadside during the past two decades of
the Tour de France and Giro d’Italia, Dieter ‘Didi The Devil’ Senft
looks set to hang up his trident.
Senft’s distinctive red costume, bushy beard and decorated trident have appeared in the Tour on numerous occasions, usually during a key mountain stage. But now, the 62-year-old German has decided that enough is enough after recent poor health and lack of sponsorship. (cyclingweekly.co.uk) November 6, 2014  Almost
six months on from the publication on her book on Lance Armstrong,
Irish soigneur Emma
O’Reilly said she believes the American is sorry for what
he did and has matured and learned from falling from grace.
She said the reaction to the book had been “really, really positive, there’s been very little negativity”. She believed most people appreciated the book because it was nuanced and did not seek to present events or the decisions of key people in the Armstrong doping ring as black and white. (stickybottle.com) November 6, 2014  Optum-Kelly
Benefit Strategies announced its complete 10-woman roster for the 2015
road season on Thursday. Optum will keep much of 2014 squad, while
adding few riders under the new directorship of Patrick McCarty.
Canadian road race, time trial, and criterium champion Leah Kirchmann, veteran racer Janel Holcomb, and young stars Annie Ewart, Brianna Walle, and Maura Kinsella all return to Optum for 2015. New signings to Optum include, Ally Stacher, Lex Albrecht, Alison Tetrick, Jasmin Glaesser, and Ariane Horbach. (velonews.com) November 6, 2014  Next
season Loic Vliegen
will continue at the BMC Development Team but in July, he will make the
jump to the WorldTour team. According to Sudpresse, The Belgian rider
has signed a two-and-a-half-year contract until 2017 with the BMC
Racing Team. (cyclingquotes.com)
November 6, 2014  Chris Butler went
from a novice Cat. 5 racer as a college student in 2007 to a WorldTour
pro with BMC. Since then he has had solid rides with Champion System
and Hincapie Development team, for 2015 he is joining Team SmartStop.
(pezcyclingnews.com)
November 6, 2014  Tinkoff-Saxo
have completed their much-publicized climb of Mount Kilimanjaro. The
group, which included 80 riders and staff, reached the top of the
African mountain on Wednesday morning after setting off on their
initial trek on Saturday. Only two members failed to complete the
challenge – plus two camera men – and were forced to turn back before
the final day’s ascent, meaning a 97.5 per cent success rate for the –
significantly better than the target of 90. (cyclingnews.com)
November 6, 2014  Western
Australian National Road Series (NRS) team Satalyst-Giant will be known
as Navitas-Satalyst from 2015 and will race under a UCI Continental
license allowing them to take part in 1.1 and 2.1 races.
The team has acquired the sponsorship of Navitas, a global education provider, for next season allowing them race in Asian races along with the Jayco Herald Sun Tour and Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race in February to complement a full NRS calendar. The team has also signed former FDJ and Orica-GreenEdge rider Wes Sulzberger for 2015. (cyclingnews.com) November 6, 2014  Last
week, the UCI race in Bend, which has become a cornerstone race on the
American calendar, announced that it was unable to continue for the
2014-15 season. Although the Deutsches Brewery has provided the race
with a great venue, the race promoter cited that the lack of a title
sponsor made holding the race infeasible. (cxmagazine.com)
November 6, 2014  In
the wake of the cancellation of the Deschutes Brewery Cup, a UCI-backed
Pro CX event that was to be held December 6-7 in Bend, Oregon, Low
Pressure Promotions and Waves For Water will host the Waves For Water
Cyclo-cross Collaboration, a two-day UCI-sanctioned Pro CX event in
Tacoma and Lakewood, Washington, December 6-7.
“When we heard the news of the Deschutes Brewery Cup cancellation, we wanted to see if it was possible to bring that level of racing to Washington,” said Zac Daab, co-founder of Low Pressure Promotions. “We have a history of producing UCI races and appreciated the support and trust the UCI and USAC has in us to make this UCI weekend happen. (velonews.com) November 6, 2014  BikeRadar
verdict: 3 out of 5
stars. "A strong selection of sturdy, good value tools." (bikeradar.com)
November 6, 2014 November 5, 2014 |
 The
rider, the agent, and the team manager were all willing but pressure
from sponsors seems to have been the main reason Chris Horner was not
offered a contract renewal at Lampre-Merida for 2015.
The 42-year-old, who has endured a year punctured by illness and injury, is scrambling for a team for the second consecutive season, despite the fact that Lampre-Merida’s general manager, Brent Copeland, believes that the rider can finish in the top ten of a Grand Tour. (cyclingnews.com) November 5, 2014  The
latest Telegraph Cycling Podcast welcomes back Tao Geoghegan Hart,
the promising young British rider, who discusses his first year as a
senior, his plans for next year – and that crash in the Tour of
Britain, when he misjudged a corner on the penultimate stage into
Brighton and took a flyer into the crowd.
There is also an interview with Emma O’Reilly, ex-soigneur to Lance Armstrong, whose book, The Race To The Truth, lifts the lid on her years with US Postal and tells of her more recent reconciliation with Armstrong. “The story is about human beings away from home and the decisions we made,” says O’Reilly. (telegraph.co.uk) November 5, 2014  It’s
easy to see the Ronde as one of the sport’s best races but it doesn’t
automatically deliver the best racing. This year’s edition had solid
action through the final hour and suspense right until the end.
What’s your favorite spring classic? Many will pick Paris-Roubaix but you don’t have to chose. Watch them all. There’s something about De Ronde though, the enormity of the event. This year’s edition was starting to simmer with 100km to go but hit boiling point on the dreaded Koppenberg. The remnants of an early breakaway started the climb but by the top, a matter of meters, a new group of fresh attackers had taken the lead. (inrng.com) November 5, 2014  So
this is how it happens. It happens fast.
Sounds drift. Cars and voices. I can sense them, can feel the crush of the morning and I know I am sitting here awash in it but I cannot hear anything. My head is in my hands and I am curled up into myself on the road. The only noise is the buzzing static of shock; my entire head is in a seashell. The whir of self-assessment goes on. “I could hear you screaming.” (velonews.com) November 5, 2014
2014
Races
& Results.
Santos Tour Down Under 2015 - Jan 18-25 (Stages), Giro d'Italia 2015 - May 9-31 (Stages), Tour de France 2015 - July 4-26 (Stages), Tour of Beijing 2015 - Oct 10-14 (Results), Paris - Tours Elite 2015 - Oct 12 (Results), Il Lombardia 2014 - Oct 5 (Results), UCI Road World Championship 2014 - Sept 20-27 (Results), Vuelta a España 2014 - Aug 23-Sept 14 (Results), Tour de France 2014 - July 5-27 (Results), Giro d'Italia 2014 - May 9 - June 1 (Results), November 5, 2014  Campton
Cross marks the midway point of the Chicago Cyclocross Cup (CCC) series
and celebrates Halloween by encouraging costumes. In it’s ninth year,
this race put on by Bicycle Heaven – Geneva’s premiere bike shop in
Illinois – and Rob Kelley’s ROK Coaching, featured a course with half
new terrain to keep racers on their toes.
New elements included log jumps, a longer straight away to allow racers a better fight for the hole shot, flowier off-camber sections, a maze of turns cut into a large patch of tall prairie grass (thank you park directors), and a grinding gravel finish. Mother Nature brought the midwestern wind for some proper leg burners. (cxmagazine.com) November 5, 2014  The
only Italian squad remaining in the WorldTour has renewed both of its
title sponsors. Lampre and Merida will remain title sponsors of the
team of Giuseppe Saronni
through 2016, the team announced today.
The squad will begin preparing for its 21st season with a camp in Darfo Boario Terme, Italy in the first week of December. (cyclingnews.com) November 5, 2014  A
little less than two years away from the Olympic Games in Rio, Anna Meares believes
she is in the best form she has been in since the London Games in 2012.
The Australian sprint star is in Mexico for the opening round of the
Track World Cup in Guadalajara, where she’s targeting crucial
qualification points for Rio 2016. (cyclingnews.com)
 road.cc
verdict: 4.5 out of 5
stars. "Great handling, fun bike to blast about on, race crits or cross
mountains; upgrade the wheels for a superbike challenger."
(road.cc)
November 5, 2014  BikeRadar
verdict: 4.5 out of 5
stars. "A dream machine in a category of its own – though some riders
may find it a pigeonhole." (bikeradar.com)
November 5, 2014  "The
radical-looking Razik Vortex uses IsoTruss tubing to reduce weight,
maintain stiffness and increase comfort. This construction has been
around for a while – we first saw it on the Delta 7 Ascend back in 2008
– but is now exclusive to the new Razik brand. The Vortex is a
completely new bike." (bikeradar.com)
|  Lance Armstrong has
described the consequences of his life ban for doping and subsequent
confession as a 'sacré bordel' (a mess) but insists he has turned the
page on his life and moved away from the world of professional cycling.
Speaking to l'edition du Soir, an evening digital version of the Ouest France newspaper after riding and suffering in the 125km Mike Nosco Bicycle Ride charity ride in California, Armstrong admitted he only rides his bike once a week, often opting for a mountain bike ride. (cyclingnews.com) November 5, 2014  Alberto Contador has
said that the now retired Andy
Schleck was the “biggest rival” of his whole career so
far, placing the Luxembourger in higher esteem than current
rival Chris Froome.
Schleck, who quit professional cycling after suffering a bad knee injury in the 2014 Tour de France, finished runner-up to Contador in two editions of the Tour in 2009 and 2010 before subsequently being awarded the latter after the Spaniard had it stripped for doping. (cyclingweekly.co.uk) November 5, 2014  Slovak
Peter Sagan
just finished climbing Mount Kilimanjaro with his new Tinkoff-Saxo
teammates and is beginning to consider the changes in store for 2015.
“I’d swap at least one of them [the three green jerseys from the Tour de France],” Sagan said, “for a win in one of the big classics.” Sagan spoke with Italian newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport before flying to Africa to meet his new teammates, including grand tour star Alberto Contador. He has won the Tour’s green jersey the last three years, but his mind remains fixed on the spring’s tough one-day races, the monuments Milano-Sanremo, Ronde van Vlaanderen (Tour of Flanders), and Paris-Roubaix. (velonews.com) November 5, 2014  There
is perhaps no one who defines “jack-of-all-trades” better than Rebecca Rusch. For
more than 20 years, Rusch
has explored her physical ability full of determination, without
relent. Her drive as an ultra-endurance athlete and one of the most
successful endurance mountain bikers in the world has brought her to
success in just about every kind of adventure sport imaginable.
(velonews.com)
November 5, 2014  The
high profile, on-again, off-again project of Formula One driver Fernando Alonso
looks dead in the water for 2015.
Appointed team manager Paolo Bettini has confirmed that there will not be a team for next season despite continued assurances from Alonso there would be. Speaking to ProCycling Norway, Bettini reconfirmed fears that the team will not happen next year. “The Alonso project has been completely put on hold for reasons I cannot elaborate on,” Bettini told the Norwegian magazine. “I still do not know about their intentions for the future.” (velonews.com) November 5, 2014 Lucas Sebastián Haedo
signs for Jamis Hagens Berman, Wiasak
joins Wiggle-Honda for remainder of 2014. (cyclingnews.com)
November 5, 2014  One
day after waving goodbye to Chris
Horner, Lampre-Merida have announced their next signing
for the 2015 signing. Chun
Kai Feng will join the team for the coming season and
become the first ever Taiwanese cycling on the WorldTour.
(cyclingquotes.com)
November 5, 2014  "So
this past weekend it was back to business for the team at the
Cycle-Smart International. For so much of the New England cyclocross
community, this is a home race. I drove up Friday night to Richie’s house. We
had some whiskey and speculated about Season 3 of Netflix’s “House of
Cards.” A productive Friday-night team meeting for sure.
On Saturday we woke to rain and cold. Everyone at the race seemed to be psyched about the “cyclocross weather.” I was just cold and wet. Don’t get me wrong: Racing in the wet is fun. But preriding, warming up, and setting up in the rain isn’t that much fun. In five years of racing this was also the first time it has rained at CSI. And then there were the “pro-only” sections of course." (pelotonmagazine.com) November 5, 2014  "We
spent the past five days riding around and between the many
interconnected islands of Japan’s Seto Inland Sea, south-east of
Hiroshima. The trip had revolved around Cycling Shimanami, a mass
participation event held largely on the Shimanami Kaido, an
often-breathtaking expressway featuring mighty suspension bridges and
frequent ocean views." (cyclingtips.com.au)
November 5, 2014  "Jonathan Lewis,
trainer and physio with London’s Balance Performance Physiotherapy,
shared with us some quick exercises that'll boost your muscles during
your lunch break.
Once you've mastered these moves, take a look at our How to build legs like a superhero article for further advice on improving your pins." (bikeradar.com) November 5, 2014 November 4, 2014 | November 5, 2014  In
an open letter to the media Michele
Acquarone has revealed the scope of the battles he's had
with Giro d'Italia and Milan-San Remo organizers, RCS, to clear his
name. Acquarone
was alleged to have overseen large scale fraud and embezzlement in his
time at the helm of the Giro d'Italia. He was sacked shortly after by
the organization. (sbs.com.au)
November 5, 2014  During
the build-up to the Gran Prix Cycliste de Quebec, race organiser Serge Arsenault used
a suite in the Fairmont hotel as his base and meeting room. Arsenault held a
strategic meeting, inviting Yann
Le Moenner - the General Director of Tour de France
organizer ASO, and Gilbert
Van Fraeyenhoven, the Managing Director of Flanders
Classics - the organizer of the Tour of Flanders and five other major
spring races. They discussed the future of professional cycling and the
current proposal to reform the race calendars and overall team
structures for 2017. What could be a decisive meeting regarding the
reforms is due to be held later this month. . (cyclingnews.com)
November 5, 2014  MORE
Than Sport is partnering with the Kenyan Riders team to fundraise in an
effort to provide tangible and long-term support to John Njoroge Muya’s
family — his wife and one-year-old son.
Njoroge, 30, of Kenya died from injuries suffered in a crash during Stage 3 of the Tour of Matabungkay in the Philippines in October. (velonews.com) November 5, 2014  "Thor Hushovd hung
his wheels up in September after illness made him stop short of the
World championship road race which was to be his last race. Double
World champ, Yellow jersey holder, stage winner and hard man on the
cobbles. We celebrate his full career in pictures." (pezcyclingnews.com)
November 5, 2014  Hoogerland gets
crash compensation, Nibali
wins the Mendrisio d’Oro. (cyclingnews.com)
November 5, 2014  After
three years of waiting, Johnny
Hoogerland has finally received financial compensation for
the dramatic crash at the 2011 Tour de France. The Dutchman is pleased
to put the issue behind and focus on his first season with the Rompoot
team. (cyclingquotes.com)
November 5, 2014  I"f
you’re heading out after dark, there are some things you should think
about. For example, you want to see and be seen. And when you see
glints of light reflecting in front of you, will you be able to
identify it as a mountain lion, or a raccoon. We’ve got an eye doctor
to provide some eye-opening advice.
We’ll start today with some general tips, and then follow this up with some specific product spotlights that brighten your appearance or outlook." (cxmagazine.com) November 5, 2014  The
new Team LottoNL-Jumbo jersey has been given approval by UCI, according
to the team’s Twitter account. The jersey looks identical to the one
previewed by the Dutch team in Utrecht last month, despite rumours
emerging in the Dutch press that it had been rejected as it featured
too much yellow. Team manager Richard Plugge has already suggested that
they would wear a special design during the Tour de France to avoid
confusion with the race leader’s jersey. (cyclingnews.com)
November 5, 2014  Starting
in January in Argentina and finishing in October in China, Beñat Intxausti has
had a long season. The Movistar climber acknowledges that it has not
been his best year and that he has been unable to follow the
progression he showed last year when he won a stage and wore the
leader’s jersey at the Giro d’Italia and won the Tour of Beijing. In
2015, he wants to return to his best level as he enters his 8th season
in the professional ranks. (cyclingquotes.com)
November 5, 2014  "We’ve
tested a wide range of road cycling helmets over the last year. This is
our pick of the best.
The helmets all scored four-and-a-half stars or higher in recent tests." (bikeradar.com) November 5, 2014 |
 Where
will Chris Horner,
the 2013 Vuelta a España champion, land?
For now, mum is the word. “We are waiting on one team in Europe for a decision. If that does not come to fruition we have some options in the States,” read an email from Horner’s agent and former professional rider, Baden Cooke, sent on Tuesday afternoon. (velonews.com) November 4, 2014 Even
though Christopher Horner had hoped to stay at Lampre-Merida for
another year, it wasn’t to happen, as the Italian squad officially
confirmed that the 43-year old American won’t be a part of their team
for 2015 season and thanked him for the times he spent in the fuchsia
and blue outfit in the official press release. (cyclingquotes.com)
November 4, 2014  The
Swiss IAM Cycling team is almost certain to be part of the UCI
WorldTour in 2015, after agreeing to step up from its current
Professional Continental status to ensure there are 18 teams in the
2015 WorldTour.
The UCI is currently completing the registration process for next season and IAM Cycling has confirmed that it is officially eligible for WorldTour status after beefing up its initial Professional Continental license application for 2015. A spokesman for IAM Cycling told Cyclingnews that a final decision will not be made until the License Commission meets later in the month (November 19-21). (cyclingnews.com) November 4, 2014
2014
Races
& Results.
Santos Tour Down Under 2015 - Jan 18-25 (Stages), Giro d'Italia 2015 - May 9-31 (Stages), Tour de France 2015 - July 4-26 (Stages), Tour of Beijing 2015 - Oct 10-14 (Results), Paris - Tours Elite 2015 - Oct 12 (Results), Il Lombardia 2014 - Oct 5 (Results), UCI Road World Championship 2014 - Sept 20-27 (Results), Vuelta a España 2014 - Aug 23-Sept 14 (Results), Tour de France 2014 - July 5-27 (Results), Giro d'Italia 2014 - May 9 - June 1 (Results), November 4, 2014  "Ladies
racing is on the up with more top races, teams and sponsors. One of the
US’s unsung hero’s was this year’s Gent-Wevelgem winner; Lauren Hill. When Ed Hood was offered
the chance of an interview with the Optum rider he jumped at the chance
to get the inside line on life in the woman’s peloton."
(pezcyclingnews.com)
November 4, 2014  Video:
Compton
on Cincy3, Pro CX standings. Van
Aert and Pauwels
victorious in Belgium; double seconds for Nys. De Boer wins in
Oudenaarde; Cant
tops podium in Zonhoven. Powers
back to winning on home soil. New courses challenge the elite racers at
Cycle-Smart International. (cyclingnews.com)
November 4, 2014  It
was billed as probably the funnest weekend outside of Christmas Week, a
showcase of Cyclocross in all its diverse glory. All because November 1
happened to fall on a Saturday. You see, Article 1.1 of the Belgian
constitution stipulates that the Koppenbergcross must be raced on All
Saints Day, regardless of where in the week November 1 occurs. When
it's a Saturday, that still leaves Sunday to fill... and nothing among
the big early-season races fills that spot better than Zonhoven.
(podiumcafe.com)
November 4, 2014  The
Serfas Thunderbolt became one of our favorite lights last year with its
small, rechargeable package and serious Lumen power. It’s an LED array
that is visible from a very wide viewing angle, making it a perfect ‘to
be seen’ commuter light.
This year, the Thunderbolt evolves with a matching tail light and a clear housing for both headlight and tail light versions. The clear housing for the lights transmits the light through the housing, giving extra brightness and more degree angles of visibility. (roadbikereview.com) November 4, 2014  On
November eight, the inaugural Red Bull Velodux, a relay cyclo-cross
event, will take place in the Swiss town of Estavayer-Le-Lac with
former road race World Champion Philippe
Gilbert and current cross country World Champion Julien Absalon
taking part. (cyclingnews.com)
November 4, 2014  The
Tinkoff-Saxo off-season team building exercises rose to new heights
this week when the entire team and staff assembled in Tanzania to
tackle the goal of climbing Mount Kilimanjaro.
The group made it to day three, the Barranco camp at 4,000 meters, with the summit scheduled to be reached on Wednesday. (cyclingnews.com) November 4, 2014  Tinkoff-Saxo’s
Michael Valgren
has had an impressive season. The neo-pro was crowned Danish national
champion in late June and won Tour of Denmark in August. In total, the
22-year old Dane has had ten top-5 results during 2014 and finished off
the season with a 4th place in the final sprint of Japan Cup after a
year of dedicated work for the team. (cyclingquotes.com)
November 4, 2014  "Every
now and then you get one of those phone calls that seems beyond
unlikely. Robot
works at Seven Cycles, which gives us a fair excuse to get on the
phone, though we don’t take advantage of that nearly enough, and just
talk about one of our favorite things ever. We’d been talking about
bikes and travel and I’d made the observation that Seven ought to have
a dedicated travel model to really promote just how good they are with
S&S couplers and how traveling with some variety of coupled
bike is the only smart way to go, in my opinion. Then one day he called
and suggested that Seven and RKP work together to create the ultimate
travel bike." (redkiteprayer.com)
November 4, 2014 November 3, 2014 |  What
would Miguel Indurain
have done? The Spaniard won the Tour de France five times in a row as
well the Giro twice and more. He built his wins in the time trials and
now that foundation has crumbled, no more so than next summer’s Tour de
France with its meager 13km opening stage.
Picking a race an random the 1992 Tour de France had three solo time trials: an 8km prologue, Stage 9 was 65km, Stage 19 was 64km. 10 times more than 2015, unthinkable today? November 4, 2014  Using
language that will fuel conspiracy theories about the death of Marco Pantani, La
Gazzetta dello Sport has claimed that there is a possibility that the
late rider’s body could be exhumed as part of the re-examination about
his passing.
The Italian newspaper has reported that the current enquiry into claims that he was murdered by persons unknown who forced him to consume toxic levels of cocaine has been frustrated by the destruction of tissue samples taken during his autopsy and preserved afterwards. (cyclingtips.com.au) November 4, 2014  Alberto
Contador has confirmed that he will not be taking
part
in the 2015 Vuelta a España and so will not go for the triple Grand
Tour challenge, and will instead focus on the Giro d’Italia and Tour de
France double in 2015. (cyclingnews.com)
November 4, 2014  "He’s
a fast finisher in his own right, but Dutchman Koen de Kort has
built his career around helping others. In recent years he’s dedicated
himself to ensuring fellow Giant Shimano riders Marcel Kittel and John Degenkolb take
as many wins as possible, and has been part of some considerable
successes. He talks about that role, about Kittel’s personality
and likely career trajectory, and explains why he believes it might yet
be too early to expect the German to take the green jersey in 2015."
(cyclingtips.com.au)
November 4, 2014  Moreno Moser was
once regarded as one of the brightest cycling talents but in 2013 and
2014 he has gone through lots of hardships. The Italian has no
explanation for his travails and now hopes that he will rediscover his
former self at his new team. (cyclingquotes.com)
November 4, 2014  The
2013 Tour de France champion Chris
Froome and teammate Richie
Porte will both race the Stan Siejka Classic in
Launceston, Tasmania, over the weekend of December 6-7. A women's race
will also be held with Orica-AIS and Wiggle-Honda both confirmed for
the event.
The Stan Siejka Classic is the centrepiece in Tasmania's Christmas criterium racing series that take place in December. (cyclingnews.com) November 4, 2014  An
autobiographical self-help manual of sorts for cyclists who want to go
faster.
Spoonfuls of anecdotal sugar help the science bits go down. Hutchinson does tend to come across as a bit of a whiney "Why wasn't I an Olympian" moaner. (podiumcafe.com) November 4, 2014  BigMat-Auber93's
roster complete, Lampre signs Estrada.
(cyclingnews.com)
November 4, 2014  "I
have a conundrum. With contact lenses in both eyes (toric as well, if
you’re really curious), I need good eye protection. I’ve lost contacts
on fast descents. That’s no fun.
But I can’t just wear ski goggles. Because I sweat. A lot. Poc’s Do Blade sunglasses come pretty close to offering me the protection and ventilation I need." (velonews.com) November 4, 2014  Omega
Pharma-QuickStep directeur sportif Tom
Steels believes that separating the World Team Time Trial
Championships from the main competition next year could have a negative
impact on the event. The team time trial, for trade teams, was brought
in for the 2012 Worlds, with Omega Pharma-QuickStep winning the opening
two editions of the event. BMC succeeded them as champions in
Ponferrada, as they had to settle for bronze.
BMC manager Jim Ochowicz has already lended his support, saying that it should stay as it is. (cyclingnews.com) November 4, 2014  "Last
year I wrote a column outlining some issues with creaky press-fit
bottom brackets, and proposed a few tips and solutions to help fix the
problem. As another year draws to a close – another year filled with
rider complaints about seemingly endless press-fit ordeals – I'm
revising my position. Crappy press-fit bottom brackets should not be
the end buyers' problem; they are the manufacturers' problem, and it's
high time we all send that message loud and clear. If your frame is out
of tolerance and causing squeaking, the manufacturer should replace
it." (bikeradar.com)
November 4, 2014  Morsa
Design, a new brand launching this month, will offer modular accessory
handlebar mounts with optional adapters to accept action cameras,
lights, GPS computers and more. Morsa mounts, made of a carbon nylon
material, start with an arm that fits 31.8 bars and accepts one or two
adapters for electronic devices, which mount to the arm positioned in
front of the handlebars. (bicycleretailer.com)
November 4, 2014 | November 4, 2014  The
UCI confirmed that the world team time trial championships will take
place alongside the road race and time trial championships in Richmond,
Virginia, September 19-27, 2015.
This news comes despite a Monday story in Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf suggesting that Limburg, Netherlands was cuing up for a chance to host the 2015 team event. Sean Petty, a member of the USA Cycling board of directors and the UCI Road Commission, told VeloNews that the team time trial remains on the program for Richmond 2015. (velonews.com) November 4, 2014  Positive
doping tests or “adverse analytical findings” in professional cycling
can be highly uncertain and controversial, and can lead to months or
years of costly wrangling and disputes, both in the legal system and in
the court of public opinion — often without any satisfactory or
consensus outcome.
While the sport has upped its effort to discover and expose drug cheats, many observers believe that some racers are still getting away with the use of various undetected performance-enhancing drugs. What often attracts less attention is the case where it appears that clean riders are being unfairly accused. It is important to realize that while rapidly advancing analytical technology has unquestionably improved the precision and accuracy of drug testing, it’s not perfect; there will always be some inherent error in the process. And this means that we may occasionally punish the wrong person. (velonews.com) November 4, 2014  Fränk Schleck has
admitted that his brother Andy
still needs time to come to terms with his retirement from cycling but
added that the former Tour de France winner hopes to remain in the
sport.
Andy Schleck was forced to call time on his career due a knee injury, and announced the news at a press conference convened in his home country of Luxembourg, in October. The news ended months of speculation after Schleck damaged the cartilage in his right knee in a crash at the Tour de France. Despite an extended rehabilitation period, medical advice forced the rider into a rather premature retirement at the age of 29. (cyclingnews.com) November 4, 2014  Samuel Sanchez will
remain professional in 2015. That's the hope of his agent Joona Laukka who
acknowledges that "the economic situation is difficult" and admits that
it is complicated to find a team at the level that the Spaniard
deserves. The Finnnish agent is looking for spot at an elite WorldTeam
and hopes to find an opening. (cyclingquotes.com)
November 4, 2014  "On
the Donut Ride last Saturday there was a new face. He was a bigger guy,
very smooth on the bike, wearing a nondescript kit. Smasher and Ollie were off the
front, and gradually the chase group got smaller and smaller.
We hit the bottom of the Switchbacks and after a while it was just me, Newbie, and Toothdoc. Toothdoc is working on a Ph.D. in dentistry at USC and only rides once a week, thank dog. He’s small, fit, a very good climber, and always rides away from me with ease." (pelotonmagazine.com) November 4, 2014  Flats
versus clipless pedals? This is typically a debate reserved for the
mountain biking world. On the road, of course you are more efficient
when you can push — and pull — on the pedals, right? That is the
question being addressed by the gang from the Global Cycling Network
who went into the lab to find out if being clipped in really increases
pedaling efficiency. Check out the video. The results may
surprise you. (roadbikereview.com)
November 4, 2014  Wiggle-Honda
has continued to finalize its 2015 roster with the announcement that Anna Sanchis and Amy Roberts have
both agreed to one-year extensions.
Roberts has been with the team since its inception in 2013 and the youngest rider on the roster is considered key personnel by team manager Rochelle Gilmore. (cyclingnews.com) November 4, 2014  On
this offseason morning in Boulder, Colorado, Alex Howes, 26,
drinks a coffee slow, and talks even slower. It’s quiet now after the
season has exhaled, and it’s time for riders to unwind and try to reset
before another season of bikes, flights, baggage … in order to do this,
Howes
decides he’ll run a marathon’s distance pretty much unplanned and
unannounced. He also hit the Austin City Limits Festival, and played
best man in a friend’s wedding. (velonews.com)
November 4, 2014  Wheels
Manufacturing’s new EBB eccentric bottom bracket allows the user to
convert a PF30 or BB30 frame to a singlespeed or fixed-gear drivetrain
with any 24mm integrated-spindle crank, including SRAM GXP 24/22mm
spindles. CNC machined in Colorado, it fits PF30 or BB30 bottom bracket
shell widths from 68mm to 73mm. Its Enduro ABEC-5 angular-contact
sealed bearings have a two-year warranty. (velonews.com)
November 4, 2014  Those
who love to tune and tinker will appreciate the adjustable suspension
that lets you change geometry and suspension leverage ratio in minutes.
The speedy Conti tires measure at a skinnier 2.05 inches, and hook up
in a variety of conditions (but had a greater tendency to flat in rocky
terrain than higher-volume tires). (bicycling.com)
November 4, 2014 November 3, 2014 |
Domenico Pozzovivo has admitted that it was “half crazy”
to come back to racing less than two months after fracturing his tibia
and fibula in a training crash in August, but the Ag2r-La Mondiale
rider is hopeful that his early return will help him hit the ground
running in 2015. (cyclingnews.com)
November 3, 2014  Bradley Wiggins has
indicated that he plans to attempt the hour record in Majorca in July
or August of 2015, according to the owner of his favourite restaurant
on the island.
Tomeu Llompart, owner of Tolo’s in Port de Pollenca, recently hosted an event to celebrate Wiggins’ victory in the World Championships time trial. As reported by Diario de Mallorca, Llompart claims that Wiggins and Joan Llaneras, director of the Palma Arena, agreed in principle to host the attempt in July or August 2015. (cyclingweekly.co.uk) November 3, 2014  Jim Ochowicz,
general manager of the BMC Racing Team, has come out in support of
keeping the combined trade-team team time trial event at the 2015 UCI
Road World Championships instead of separating the event from the rest
of the races which are tackled by national teams, as suggested by the
Dutch media today. (cyclingnews.com)
November 3, 2014
2014
Races
& Results.
Santos Tour Down Under 2015 - Jan 18-25 (Stages), Giro d'Italia 2015 - May 9-31 (Stages), Tour de France 2015 - July 4-26 (Stages), Tour of Beijing 2015 - Oct 10-14 (Results), Paris - Tours Elite 2015 - Oct 12 (Results), Il Lombardia 2014 - Oct 5 (Results), UCI Road World Championship 2014 - Sept 20-27 (Results), Vuelta a España 2014 - Aug 23-Sept 14 (Results), Tour de France 2014 - July 5-27 (Results), Giro d'Italia 2014 - May 9 - June 1 (Results), November 3, 2014 November 2, 2014 |
 A
little under a month after the UCI confirmed that the Fernando Alonso
Cycling Team (FACT) wouldn’t apply for a 2015 racing licence, former
world champion Paolo
Bettini has said that the long awaited team has been put
on hold.
Although FACT indicated in recent weeks that a team in the peloton was still a target, Bettini – who previously had a managerial role in building the squad – suggests the project could be at an end. “Unfortunately, and because of problems that is not my job to go into detail about, the Alonso project is currently halted completely,” the Italian told Procycling.no. “I still do not know the intentions for the future.” (cyclingtips.com.au) November 3, 2014  The
Tinkoff-Saxo team has confirmed a series of changes in its technical
staff for 2015 as it prepares to target the Classics with Peter Sagan and the
Giro d'Italia-Tour de France double with Alberto Contador.
(cyclingnews.com)
November 3, 2014  Let’s
limit this to one Tour de France highlight. It’s a tough pick, do we
celebrate Tony Martin’s
enormous ride across the Vosges? Celebrate Ag2r’s joy as the team stood
below the podium in the pouring rain while Blel Kadri took the
applause for his stage win? What about the French pride at two riders
on the podium, the way the sport was reaching people like it used to?
Or those huge crowds in Yorkshire and London?
The highlight was the stage to Wallers-Arenberg, 155km and several cobbled sections. (inrng.com) November 3, 2014  "I’ve
been traveling with bikes for more than 20 years. I’ve shipped bikes by
UPS, ridden trains with them, flown with them and even had one
overnighted with FedEx. And yes, I’ve rammed them into a garage, or
two. I’ve used everything from cardboard to what are seemingly the most
durable cases ever to house a bicycle. At this point, I’ve seen it all.
I’ve pulled bikes from cases that have been mauled by baggage handlers
(anyone remember the American Tourister commercial?) only to find the
bike was fiddle fit. I’ve also seen flattened top tubes and rear
dropouts cold-set to a spacing of 5mm, though none of those were mine."
(redkiteprayer.com)
November 3, 2014 |
November 3, 2014 
They are two of the sport’s icons, the beautiful three-week laps around
Spain and Italy.
The 1914 Giro d’Italia had four stages longer than 400 kilometers and
riders began at midnight the night before the stage was to end. The
modern-day Vuelta still looks like slow-motion death on a bicycle; its
heritage equal parts heat and elevation.
Outside of the Tour de France, these are the stage-race apples of a GC
man’s eye.
And they may be on the chopping block. (velonews.com)
November 3, 2014  "The
past weekend wasn’t exactly my best weekend on the bike so I’ll get
that bit out of the way first. At GP Twenty20 Cycles, Koppenberg, I
took the lead, crashed with no help from anyone else, and the pain that
followed held me back and I wasn’t able to perform at all. A very sad
8th place finish in my hometown race was a big disappointment but I’ll
be back. (helenwyman.com)
November 3, 2014  "Wahoo
Fitness landed a knockout blow to the rest of my trainers. My old gear
took up probably 25 square feet of floor space. They’re all gone. This
is all I need and possibly the best part of the KICKR is that this
trainer literally keeps getting better as its fairly open source output
allows one programmer after another to create newer / better / freshly
interesting training software..."
November 3, 2014  “One
of the biggest mistakes that the Cat. 3, 4, 5, and masters make is they
dress inappropriately for the weather,” Pruitt said. “If you look at
the pro guys, they are wearing arm warmers, leg warmers, and rain
jackets until it’s almost 70 degrees. The patella and patellar tendons
are just three millimeters under the skin, so there’s really no
insulation for them.” (velonews.com)
November 3, 2014 November 2, 2014 |
 Kevin Pauwels again
showed amazing form when he won today’s Superprestige race in Zonhoven
after an impressive comeback. Having been dropped by Sven Nys on the
final lap, the Sunweb rider managed to regain contact as they hit the
finishing straight and used his well-known sprinting skills to beat his
rival into second. (cyclingquotes.com)
November 2, 2014  Harris and Van Loy settle for
second and third. (cyclingnews.com)
November 2, 2014
2014
Races
& Results.
Santos Tour Down Under 2015 - Jan 18-25 (Stages), Giro d'Italia 2015 - May 9-31 (Stages), Tour de France 2015 - July 4-26 (Stages), Tour of Beijing 2015 - Oct 10-14 (Results), Paris - Tours Elite 2015 - Oct 12 (Results), Il Lombardia 2014 - Oct 5 (Results), UCI Road World Championship 2014 - Sept 20-27 (Results), Vuelta a España 2014 - Aug 23-Sept 14 (Results), Tour de France 2014 - July 5-27 (Results), Giro d'Italia 2014 - May 9 - June 1 (Results), November 2, 2014  With
a crisp chill in the air and under the festive lights of Day 2 of the
Toyota Cincy3 Cyclocross Festival at KingsCX in the Cincinnati suburb
of Mason, Jeremy Powers
and Katerina Nash
took big C1 victories.
In the Men’s race, obviously with some of his Day 1 speed intact, Danny Summerhill lead early, distancing himself from the chase. It didn’t last more than a lap or two. (cxmagazine.com) November 2, 2014  Oregonian
Chris Jones
canceled his trip to the Cincy3 cyclocross festival this weekend and
instead rode to his third win of the 2014 Cross Crusade series Saturday
in Bend, while Serena
Bishop capitalized on her hometown race to take her first
win of the 2014 series. (cxmagazine.com)
November 2, 2014  The
24th edition of the Cycle-Smart International Cyclocross unfolded on a
redesigned course masterfully incorporating new challenges with the
classic elements of this renowned race. CSI CX is the 3rd and 4th Round
of the 2014 Verge New England Cyclocross Series, America’s
longest-running and most prestigious UCI cyclocross series.
(cxmagazine.com)
November 2, 2014  Jakub Skala
continued his string of first and second places in the Czech Republic’s
Toi Toi Cup cyclocross series at Race #4 in Hlinsko, Czech Republic.
After taking second in the first and third installments of the Toi Toi Cup, and winning the second race, the Czech 21-year-old racer attacked with four laps to go and rode away to add another win to his resume. (cxmagazine.com) November 2, 2014 November 1, 2014 |
 "Officially
speaking, cycling is a fully professional sport with minimum wage
levels for WorldTour and Pro Continental teams, regulations that ensure
that everyone racing at those levels is paid to do so.
In reality, the situation is rather different. CyclingTips has spoken to several sources within and around the pro peloton, with these individuals confirming that two scenarios exist that contradict the spirit of rules about minimum wages." (cyclingtips.com.au) November 2, 2014  Another
year for Bono,
Martinez
to Colombia, Algarve Granfondo. (cyclingnews.com)
November 2, 2014  Despite
winning his third consecutive green jersey at the Tour de France, Peter Sagan
certainly cannot be satisfied with his 2014 season. The 24-year old
Slovak not only missed out on a stage win in the French three-week
event and once again didn’t live up to huge expectations in monuments,
but has recorded a lowest number of victories since turning
professional. (cyclingquotes.com)
November 2, 2014  The
2015 Tour de France will be making it’s return to the Alpe d’Huez and
like every other time the race has tackled the 21 hair-pin bends, there
will be a battle royal. Ed
Hood has seen the Tour on the famous climb many a time, so
here is his 2011 Alpe d’Huez adventure. (pezcyclingnews.com)
November 2, 2014 
Androni Giocattoli picks up Stortoni,
Agnoli
not ready to retire. (cyclingnews.com)
November 2, 2014  BikeRadar
verdict: 5 out of 5
stars. "The Grade is a superb endurance bike that can take on
anything." (bikeradar.com)
November 2, 2014 
It is a step down from the WorldTour for Lachlan who has
spent two seasons with Garmin-Sharp, while the USA Continental team is
a big move for Angus
who has not raced competitively in the last four years.
“It’s great. It means that, for the first time since we were juniors,
we’ll be racing on the same team which is pretty cool,” Angus told Ride.
Lachlan
believes leaving the WorldTour is the right move from him to ensure his
enjoyment and longevity in the sport. (sbs.com.au)
November 2, 2014 Levi Leipheimer
enjoyed a successful career, winning the Tour of Utah, three Tours of
California, a Tour de Suisse and s second place at the Vuelta and third
at a Tour de France. But when he retired in 2012 and in light of the Lance Armstrong
saga, Leipheimer
confessed to doping. VeloNews posed questions to the American on
cycling’s most touchy subject in a recent interview. (cyclingquotes.com)
November 1, 2014 |
November 2, 2014 
Nacer Bouhanni says that his top priority for 2015 will be
a spot in the team, and stage wins, at next year’s Tour de France. The
French sprinter abandoned during his debut in 2013 and missed out on
selection this season, after he was passed up in favor of Arnaud
Démare. (cyclingnews.com)
November 2, 2014  When
Jens Voigt
retired, the professional peloton lost a legend, a man who has been an
idol for so many over the last 17 years. He recently sat down with
Cycling Weekly to digest almost two decades that have seen an ordinary
man from Germany become a legend and icon of cycling.
(cyclingquotes.com)
November 2, 2014
Peter Sagan has said that he would swap one of his three
green jerseys at the Tour de France for a victory in the Classics.
Sagan’s increasing frustration at missing out in the monuments has
become evident, as the questions as to why he hasn’t won one continue
to mount. He has had a few close calls and, probably, the closest of
those was the 2013 Milan-San Remo where Gerald Ciolek
surprised the bunch to take victory. (cyclingnews.com)
November 2, 2014  Tom Meeusen seemed
to be in contention for the win in the Superprestige race in Zonhoven
but he again faded in the finale, finishing the race in fourth. The
Dutchman is frustrated to again have been close to the top 3 and now
desperately wants to finally make it. (cyclingquotes.com)
November 2, 2014  With
lots of wins, Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise have had an amazing season.
In 2015, however, they will have to do without most of their leaders
and manager Walter
Planckaert admits that it will be hard to achieve similar
results in the coming season. (cyclingquotes.com)
November 2, 2014 Lars van der Haar
moved into a joint first place in the Superprestige standings by taking
third in today's race in Zonhoven. Admitting that he was unable to stay
with the best in the finale, the Dutchman is proud of his performance
in a tough weekend. (cyclingquotes.com)
November 2, 2014  "When
we first were planning the Krempels King of the Road Challenge, I was
convinced a hundred mile route was necessary to compete with all the
grand fondos popping up worldwide. Now in our fourth year, there are
options for 10 miles, 30 miles, and the maximum distance is a metric
century — 62 miles to those of you not yet down with the metric system,
ubiquitous in cycling. Additionally a kids’ rodeo and adaptive bike
route allow any and all abilities, and an emphasis on full families, to
make it to the ride. Over the years, I’ve come to appreciate that the
furthest distance is “only” 62 miles and wouldn’t want it any other
way." (iamtedking.com)
November 2, 2014 November 1, 2014 |
The
2014 Superprestige Cyclocross - Zonhoven (Hansgrohe Superprestige) is Sunday, November
2. Live
streaming video: 2:45pm CET (8:45am U.S. Eastern).
(cyclingfans.com)
November 1, 2014  Wout Van Aert
out-sprinted Belgian champion Sven
Nys to take the Bpost Bank Trofee Koppenbergcross
victory on Saturday in Oudenaarde. Kevin
Pauwels was in a solo move for some of the elite men's
race but was caught by the leaders and rode in for third place.
(cyclingnews.com)
November 1, 2014  On
Saturday Jan Denuwelaere
was disqualified by the jury after his maneuver in the Koppenbergcross
where he blocked Sven Nys
in the sprint. The rider will also receive a fine of 300 Swiss Franc.
(cyclingquotes.com)
November 1, 2014  Dutch
cyclocrosser Sophie de
Boer, teammate of American Elle Anderson,
survived the tough climbs and tricky descents to take a solo victory
over Belgians Jolien
Verscheuren and Sanne
Cant.
De Boer didn’t have the best start, and found herself chasing defending champion Helen Wyman and Nikki Harris after missing her pedal at the line. But on the first time up the climb, de Boer made contact with the leaders and went on to solo the last three laps, finishing with 15 seconds ahead of a chasing Verscheuren. (cxmagazine.com) November 1, 2014  Two
days ago Matthias Brändle
secured himself a place in the history books. The 24-year-old Austrian
set a new Hour Record, just a few weeks after Jens Voigt had added
his name to the list. Belgian time trial champion reflected on the
record in an interview with Sporza. (cyclingquotes.com)
November 1, 2014
2014
Races
& Results.
Santos Tour Down Under 2015 - Jan 18-25 (Stages), Giro d'Italia 2015 - May 9-31 (Stages), Tour de France 2015 - July 4-26 (Stages), Tour of Beijing 2015 - Oct 10-14 (Results), Paris - Tours Elite 2015 - Oct 12 (Results), Il Lombardia 2014 - Oct 5 (Results), UCI Road World Championship 2014 - Sept 20-27 (Results), Vuelta a España 2014 - Aug 23-Sept 14 (Results), Tour de France 2014 - July 5-27 (Results), Giro d'Italia 2014 - May 9 - June 1 (Results), November 1, 2014  Travis Tygart, the
man whose pursuit of Lance
Armstrong led to the former US Postal rider being banned
from sport for life, says he is hopeful the Texan will co-operate with
the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) at some point. (road.cc)
November 1, 2014 |
 Levi Leipheimer
enjoyed a successful career, winning the Tour of Utah, three Tours of
California, a Tour de Suisse and s second place at the Vuelta and third
at a Tour de France. But when he retired in 2012 and in light of the Lance Armstrong
saga, Leipheimer
confessed to doping. VeloNews posed questions to the American on
cycling’s most touchy subject in a recent interview. (cyclingquotes.com)
November 1, 2014  UCI
president Brian Cookson
hopes that the recent run of Hour Record attempts will persuade yet
more riders to take on the test. In May of this year, the UCI relaxed
the rules regarding equipment in the hope to re-ignite the flagging
event. Since the rules changed the retiring Jens Voigt and IAM
Cycling rider Matthias
Brändle have stepped up to the plate, but Cookson wants more.
(cyclingnews.com)
November 1, 2014  Bole returns to
professional racing, Summit finishes for Ruta del Sol, Bol joins De
Rijke. (cyclingnews.com)
November 1, 2014  Julián Arredondo could
be destined for his debut at the Tour de France in 2015. In an
interview with Argentinian website Ciclismo Internacional, Arredondo revealed
that he was on the long-list of riders for next year’s Grand Boucle.
(cyclingnews.com)
November 1, 2014  For
all the speculation that follows the annual announcement of the
following year’s Tour de France route, the predictions rarely come
true. At least, that’s been the case for most of the past decade. Few
pundits, if any, picked Óscar
Pereiro (2006), Alberto
Contador (2007), Carlos
Sastre (2008), Andy
Schleck (2010), Cadel
Evans (2011) or Vincenzo
Nibali (2014) as the eventual winners nine months before
the race. Which leaves just Contador
(2009), Brad Wiggins
(2012) and Chris Froome
(2013) as early favorites who proved the tipsters right.
(pelotonmagazine.com)
November 1, 2014  In
1979, Professor Peter
Elwood and his team at Cardiff University launched a
long-term study investigating how people's lifestyles affected their
health. The Caerphilly Cohort Study is the longest-running of its kind
and involved 90 per cent of the middle aged men living in the county at
the time. The findings, while hardly surprising, have been described as
‘a wake up call’ by Elwood.
(road.cc)
November 1, 2014 October 31, 2014 |
November 1, 2014  Encouraging
final performances in the Team Sky outfit could have been a sign that
there is still a chance for Edvald
Boasson Hagen
to turn things around and give his stagnating career an entirely new
spin as a part of MTN-Qhubeka next season. (cyclingquotes.com)
November 1, 2014  The
hardest climb you’ve never heard of? The Giro d’Italia has included the
Colle Fauniera sparingly and needs to go back at some point to correct
past mistakes. For everyone else it’s open all
summer. (inrng.com)
November 1, 2014  HALF
THE ROAD is a documentary film that explores the world of women’s
professional cycling, focusing on both the love of sport and the
pressing issues of inequality that modern-day female riders face in a
male dominated sport. With footage from some of the world’s best UCI
races to interviews with Olympians, World Champions, rookies, coaches,
managers, officials, doctors and family members, HALF THE ROAD offers a
unique insight to the drive, dedication, and passion it takes for a
female cyclist to thrive. (pezcyclingnews.com)
November 1, 2014  The
recent Astana doping cases highlighted for all to see the issues
between the MPCC and the UCI.
Astana could face a fine of 100,000 CHF as they missed the Tour of Beijing, yet the MPCC, which Astana is a member of, dictates that a team should suspend themselves from racing for eight days if they have two positives in less than a year. (cyclingquotes.com) November 1, 2014 Pelucchi dreams of
Milan-San Remo, Guderzo
signs with Hitec Products. (cyclingnews.com)
November 1, 2014  Lezyne’s
Smart Energy Caddy is a compact yet durable toptube-mounted caddy to
keep smartphones, gels, energy bars and tools in easy reach on the bike.
A mesh divider keeps items separated, and the smartphone pocket holds models up to 5 inches long. A touchscreen-compatible clear panel provides control of the phone. (bicycleretailer.com) November 1, 2014 October 31, 2014 |
| Nov 1 | Nov 2 | Nov 3 | Nov 4 | Nov 5 | Nov 6 | Nov 7 | Nov 8 | Nov 9 | Nov 10 | Nov 11 | Nov 12 | Nov 13 | Nov 14 | Nov 15 |
| Nov 16 | Nov 17 | Nov 18 | Nov 19 | Nov 20 | Nov 21 | Nov 22 | Nov 23 | Nov 24 | Nov 25 | Nov 26 | Nov 27 | Nov 28 | Nov 29 | Nov 30 |
| Oct 1 | Oct 2 | Oct 3 | Oct 4 | Oct 5 | Oct 6 | Oct 7 | Oct 8 | Oct 9 | Oct 10 | Oct 11 | Oct 12 | Oct 13 | Oct 14 | Oct 15 |
| Oct 16 | Oct 17 | Oct 18 | Oct 19 | Oct 20 | Oct 21 | Oct 22 | Oct 23 | Oct 24 | Oct 25 | Oct 26 | Oct 27 | Oct 28 | Oct 29 | Oct 30 |
| Oct 31 |
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