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| Jan 31 |
 Alejandro Valverde
proved that yesterday’s second place in the Trofeo Andratx was just a
case of misjudgment when he took a hugely dominant solo win in the
Trofeo Serra de Tramuntana, the hardest race of the Challenge Mallorca.
Having joined a big group in the early part of the race, he gradually dropped his companions before doing the final 30km on his own, with Tim Wellens and Leopold König completing the podium. The Spaniard left no one wondering who is the strongest rider at the moment as he put in a hugely impressive solo performance that saw him take a dominant victory. January
31,
2015 (cyclingquotes.com)
 Pauline Ferrand-Prevot out-sprinted
Sanne Cant
to take her first cyclo-cross World Championship, after a tense finale
in Tábor. Ferrand-Prevot
is now a dual world champion, after winning the road race last
September. Defending champion Marianne
Vos had to surrender her title but beat Niki Harris to take
the bronze medal.
January
31,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Danish
supertalent Simon
Andreassen blew away the opposition in the junior men’s
category at the Tábor cyclo-cross World Championships on Saturday
morning.
The current mountain bike world champion added a second world title to his tally in the Czech Republic. Andreassen rode away from pre-race favorite Eli Iserbyt during the second of five laps on a very technical course. Iserbyt finished as runner-up ahead of Max Gulickx. Gage Hecht was an unlucky fourth. January
31,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
2014-15
Races
& Results.
UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships - Jan 31-Feb 1 (Races), Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race - Feb 1 (Races), Ladies Tour of Qatar 2015 - Feb 3-6 (Stages), Dubai Tour 2015 - Feb 4-7 (Stages), Tour of Qatar 2015 - Feb 8-13 (Stages), Giro d'Italia 2015 - May 9-31 (Stages), Tour de France 2015 - July 4-26 (Stages), Vuelta a España 2015 - Aug 22-Sept 13 (Stages), UCI Road World Championship 2015 - Sept 20-27 (Stages), Santos Tour Down Under 2015 - Jan 18-25 (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).  Sunday:
U23 Men: 11:00am CET (5:00am U.S. Eastern).
Sunday: Men Elite: 2:00pm CET (8:00am U.S. Eastern). January
31,
2015 (cyclingfans.com)
 Stage
1 start time: Tuesday
11:55 GST (11:55:00 PM PST);
Earliest live video: 14:00 GST (2:00:00 AM PST); Estimated finish: 16:00 GST (4:00:00 AM PST). January
31,2015 (steephill.tv)
 "The
world champion is a guy you’ve never heard of, he won with a gutsy
gamble in a place you couldn’t find on the globe, and his name is
impossible for Americans to pronounce: Kwiatkowski.
As we sit today in the glow of the Super Bowl and on the precipice of March Madness, it’s hard to conjure up another championship in the United States that might attract more eyeballs worldwide. One will: The world championship of bike racing comes here in September. This is no small deal. The organizers figure the global TV audience will number 300 million. The Super Bowl, billed as a worldwide attraction, may get 115 million viewers, 98 percent of them in the United States. The final game of March Madness will get 20 million." January
30,
2015 (washingtonpost.com)
|  Elite
Men race starts at 11:20am local (7:20pm U.S. Eastern) (01:20am CET).
Finish at around 3:30pm local (11:30pm U.S. Eastern) (5:30am CET). LIVE video from 11:00am local (7:00pm U.S. Eastern) (01:00am CET). January
31,
2015 (cyclingfans.com)
 Jack Bobridge missed
out on setting a new Hour Record, setting a distance of 51.3 kilometres
half a kilometer shy of Matthias
Brändle's distance of 51.852 kilometers.
Bobridge fell two laps short in the attempt but set a new Australian record, beating Brad McGee's 2000 effort of 50.300km. Such was the exertion of Bobridge's efforts, he was only able to get off his bike with assistance and removing the front wheel. January
31,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 There
can be little doubt that Jack
Bobridge had nothing left in the tank following his hour
record attempt. The effort marked his entire body.
Bobridge’s coach, Tim Decker, was with him for every one of the 51.3km and in his own way looked weary having gone through the process. Throughout the hour, Decker was dancing along his black markers taped near the edge of the duckboard that would indicate where his charge was in relation to the various schedules that had been mapped out prior to the attempt. At the completion of the 60 minutes, Bobridge fell just 552 metres short of the benchmark set by Mathias Brändle. The 51.3km was good enough to set a new Australian record, bettering Brad McGee’s 50.052km set back in 1997. January
31,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Lawson Craddock's
first trip to Australia for the Tour Down Under ended abruptly when the
second-year Giant-Alpecin rider crashed hard during the opening
kilometres of stage 4.
Now the 22-year-old Texan is recovering in Houston and refocusing his efforts on returning in time to defend last year's podium result at the Tour of California in May. Craddock suffered fractures to his sternum manubrium, one rib and his left wrist in the fall, which occurred as he was navigating a divided road on the outskirts of Glenelg. January
31,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Rory Sutherland has
distal left collarbone fracture after a crash during the Trofeo Serra
de Tramuntana on Saturday, his team has confirmed.
Sutherland crashed after only 17 kilometers into the third race of the Mallorca Challenge on the descent of the Coll d'En Claret. He and was forced to abandon immediately and was taken to hospital by ambulance where the break was confirmed. January
31,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 A
man who may have been the world’s oldest cyclist, described in 2011 as
the “poster boy” of cycling in Long Beach, California, has died at the
age of 106.
Retired aerospace mechanic Octavio Orduno was a local celebrity in Long Beach, where he cycled daily along Ocean Boulevard until a couple of years ago, reports the Los Angeles Times. January
31,
2015 (road.cc)
Denise
Mueller: Woman's Land Speed Record - How the idea was formed.
January
30,
2015 (tobefastest.com)
| January
31, 2015
 After
a windswept and aggressive 113km of racing, Rachel Neylan has
written her name in to the history books as the first winner of the
Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race.
A fast finish to the race in the final 20km saw numerous attacks launched from a 16-rider front group but it was Neylan who launched the race winning move to taste her first victory of the season. Orica-AIS's Valentina Scandolara beat Tessa Fabry in the sprint for second place, 46 seconds down on Neylan. January
31,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Lance Armstrong
should get back his seven Tour de France titles and be forgiven,
according to former US Postal Service Pro Team rider Scott Mercier.
American Mercier, 47, quit the sport in 1997 when he refused to join the team's doping program. Armstrong signed for the team a year later and won six of his seven Tours with them. He was stripped of all of them in 2012 and has admitted doping. "It's time to consider letting Lance out of 'time-out'," Mercier said. "He is a polarizing figure and always will be, but I believe he can be a catalyst for good; not just for cycling, but especially for those who suffer from cancer," Mercier said. January
31,
2015 (bbc.com)
 There
was no lucky world title number seven in a row for Marianne Vos at the
UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships in Tábor, Czech Republic today.
Still feeling the effects of a lingering hamstring injury aggravated at the Dutch championships, Vos was unable to match the pace of teammate Pauline Ferrand-Prévot, who out-sprinted Belgian Sanne Cant to win the rainbow jersey. "If you're the reigning champion, you obviously want to win the title, but I did my best," Vos said to De Telegraaf. January
31,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Gage Hecht just
can’t stop smiling.
In his place, another rider might cry, swear, throw a bike. You could hardly fault them. Hecht, among the most promising American junior cyclocrossers in a decade, fought one of the most dynamic battles cyclocross has seen this season, racing Belgian Eli Iserbyt and Netherlander Max Gulickx right up to the final turn for a shot at the silver medal. It would have been the first medal for an American man since 2007, when Danny Summerhill and Jonathan Page scored dual silvers in the junior and elite categories in Hooglede-Gits. Rare company. January
31,
2015 (velonews.com)
 He
was a big winner in the US, rode two Giros for two different Division
One teams and was a team mate to some of the sport’s most famous (and
notorious) recent names – so how come we’ve forgotten about him?
Aaron Olson is the man in question; his take on the sport is different to most, pointing out the obvious – but that which many have forgotten and paid the price for. Here’s his tale. January
31,
2015 (pezcyclingnews.com)
January
30, 2015
|
Saturday:
Junior Men: 11:00am CET (5:00am U.S. Eastern).
Saturday: Women: 2:00pm CET (8:00am U.S. Eastern). Sunday: U23 Men: 11:00am CET (5:00am U.S. Eastern). Sunday: Men Elite: 2:00pm CET (8:00am U.S. Eastern). January
30,
2015 (cyclingfans.com)
"The
world champion is a guy you’ve never heard of, he won with a gutsy
gamble in a place you couldn’t find on the globe, and his name is
impossible for Americans to pronounce: Kwiatkowski.
As we sit today in the glow of the Super Bowl and on the precipice of March Madness, it’s hard to conjure up another championship in the United States that might attract more eyeballs worldwide. One will: The world championship of bike racing comes here in September. This is no small deal. The organizers figure the global TV audience will number 300 million. The Super Bowl, billed as a worldwide attraction, may get 115 million viewers, 98 percent of them in the United States. The final game of March Madness will get 20 million." January
30,
2015 (washingtonpost.com)
 Britain’s
Stephen Cummings
proved strongest on the final climb in day two of the four-race
Mallorca Challenge on Friday, just ahead of Alejandro Valverde.
The MTN-Qhubeka rider, winner of the Tour of the Mediterranean in 2014 and a stage of the Vuelta a España in 2012, surprised the favorites in the final push and held on ahead of Valverde. “I’m really happy with today’s victory,” Cummings, 33, said. “I knew I had done a lot of good work over the winter so I’d like to thank the team for the amazing work they did and chance they gave me to focus on today’s race.” January
30,
2015 (velonews.com)
 Marianne Vos’ coach Johan Lammerts
remains hopeful that the Dutchwoman can defend her cyclo-cross world
title this weekend. Vos is currently suffering with a hamstring injury
but Lammerts
says that her condition has improved in recent days.
"She's well trained and had a little trouble, but by treating it and keep it loose, we hope that in the coming days it gets better. We will still assume that they simply can start and will do its best to defend her title,” Lammerts told De Telegraph from Tábor, where the World Championships begin on Saturday. January
30,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 "OK, so let’s forget them. I’ve been sick, I dislike snow, like dogs hate cats, and to get here you drive, forever, while the outside world gets colder and more covered in white fully stuff…that I still don’t like. So, unlike last year, where I ticked all of the above boxes, I need to take a different approach. Being sick, OK, I’m not that sick. It’s not an excuse as I fully intend to give the stripes a major go on Saturday. So I need to turn the few days off I’ve had into a good thing. I’m fresh, fresher than I was last year." January
30,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Tabor
in the Czech Republic hosts the 2015 UCI Cyclo-Cross World
Championships this weekend: Saturday January 31 to Sunday February 1.
The coveted rainbow jerseys will be up for grabs for the fastest finisher in the elite men’s, elite women’s, junior men and under-23 men categories. Great Britain will pin its hopes on Helen Wyman, Nikki Harris and Ian Field in the senior categories. January
30,
2015 (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
 A
legend says goodbye when Cadel
Evans lines up for his final professional race, his
eponymous Great Ocean Road Race that takes place on parts of the course
that was used for the 2010 World Championships won by Thor Hushovd.
While all Australians would love a fairytale end to his career, however, the only Australian grand tour winner is unlikely to win a race that is set to be dominated by sprinters and classics riders. January
30,
2015 (cyclingquotes.com)
 The
introduction of the Dubai Tour last year extended what has become
something of a season of races in the Middle East during February.
From Sunday February 8 to Friday the Tour of Qatar will be held, a race now firmly established in the calendar, and following that is the Tour of Oman, which in the last few years has seen the first showdown of the season between the biggest GC names. First up, though, is the least established of the three: the Dubai Tour (February 4-7). Last year’s debut edition betrayed traits of a race yet to establish an identity for itself, with the four days of racing producing a very predictable three bunch sprint finishes and a time-trial. January
30,
2015 (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
2014-15
Races
& Results.
UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships - Jan 31-Feb 1 (Races), Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race - Feb 1 (Races), Ladies Tour of Qatar 2015 - Feb 3-6 (Stages), Dubai Tour 2015 - Feb 4-7 (Stages), Tour of Qatar 2015 - Feb 8-13 (Stages), Giro d'Italia 2015 - May 9-31 (Stages), Tour de France 2015 - July 4-26 (Stages), Vuelta a España 2015 - Aug 22-Sept 13 (Stages), UCI Road World Championship 2015 - Sept 20-27 (Stages), Santos Tour Down Under 2015 - Jan 18-25 (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). Stage
1 start time: Tuesday
11:55 GST (11:55:00 PM PST);
Earliest live video: 14:00 GST (2:00:00 AM PST); Estimated finish: 16:00 GST (4:00:00 AM PST). January
30,2015 (steephill.tv)
 "Hello.
Welcome to my blog. I want to share my experiences with my new
UnitedHealthcare team with you this year.
For me, UnitedHealthcare is a different kind of team. I feel happy again in this team. When I fly to the races or when I'm meeting my teammates, I feel happy. To me they're like a second family, and I've been really missing that in the past. It's nice to have this feeling back. I just returned home form San Luis after 47 hours of travel, but it was not too bad. I got lucky, I was upgraded from Buenos Aires to Dallas, and then I flew business class home as well. Being able to stretch out makes a big difference." January
30,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 FDJ
rider Thibaut Pinot
wants to get back to winning ways in 2015 after a season of frustration
at the finish line.
While Pinot proved his GC credentials with a series of top-10 finishes, including third at the Tour de France, the 24-year-old failed to notch up a single stage win last year. Four second-place finishes, notably on Hautacam on stage 18 of the Tour, helped Pinot in the overall standings, but did not satisfy his urge to win. January
30,
2015 (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
|  The
hour record attempt by Jack
Bobridge is expected to get underway at around 7:00pm
local time on Saturday (9:00am CET or 3:00am U.S. Eastern).
January
30,
2015 (cyclingfans.com)
 There
are again questions over Lance
Armstrong’s admissions and apologies following a BBC
interview in which the former cyclist and confessed drug cheat admitted
he would take performance-enhancing substances again.
Part of the debate has now shifted to whether there should be forgiveness and a reduction of Armstrong’s life ban from competitive sport. In safety science, systems thinking tells us that behavior is an emergent property of systems; that there is a shared responsibility for all behavior; and that this responsibility is shared across all of the people within the system in which the behavior occurs. The blame culture is acknowledged to be out of date, morally and ethically wrong, and generally useless for improving safety. January
30,
2015 (sbs.com.au)
 Sven Nys cannot stop.
At 38 years old, already the oldest man in elite international cyclocross, and mired in the depths of his worst-ever career slump, Nys is already making plans for next year. His two biggest rivals on Sunday as he sees it — Mathieu van der Poel and Wout Van Aert — are barely older than his own son, but nobody would count him out to win third world title, age or not. Sven Nys is not slowing down. Not this year. Not next. January
30,
2015 (velonews.com)
 "It
would be fitting to answer one big question that comes up a lot … How
did you decide to go after a Women’s Bicycle Land Speed Record?
Well, it really wasn’t my idea (of course I kick myself for not thinking of it myself). It was my Coach, John Howard’s idea back in late 2012. John and I went out to lunch and he proceeded to “bait” me with some obvious statements about myself after he said he had a great idea he wanted to throw my way. Of course I was interested in his idea, but he prefaced telling me that idea until after he had me nodding my head like a bobble-head doll in agreement to all the lead up comments: “You like to go fast (nod nod smile), you like to draft (heck yes), you like to race cars (of course), you love to ride your bicycle (that’s a no brainer), you are an adrenaline junkie (well of course!) …” finally he had me begging to hear his idea! At this point I can look back and say that when he told me his idea, it was like I was a puddle of gasoline and he threw a lit match." January
30,
2015 (tobefastest.com)
 If
Movistar isn’t deep enough already, with Alejandro Valverde
and Nairo Quintana
packing enough gunpowder to win in just about every race they start,
the Spanish squad has added a sprinter to its arsenal of weapons.
Juanjo Lobato, a six-year pro from Spain’s Andalucía region who joined Movistar in 2014, is emerging as the nation’s best sprinter since Óscar Freire. A victory in stage 2 at the Santos Tour Down Under last week confirmed the 26-year-old’s trajectory with his first UCI WorldTour win. “It was great to win at the WorldTour for the first time. It’s never easy to win a sprint at this level,” Lobato told VeloNews. “It reveals that I am heading in the right direction. I have to keep working, and hope to post a few more wins this season.” January
30,
2015 (velonews.com)
 Jack Bobridge will
attempt the Hour Record tomorrow in what is part of a grander career
plan that coach Tim
Decker has established in the run to the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Bobridge holds the 4km individual pursuit world record and in Melbourne, Australia this weekend aims to add the Hour to his repertoire with a distance all parties hope will stand for more than the going month. Decker has worked closely with Bobridge in the run to his attempt that is to precede equally anticipated efforts from compatriot Rohan Dennis and British legend Bradley Wiggins, respectively. January
30,
2015 (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
 Jack Bobridge is the
next to have a go at cycling’s Hour Record. Once the record was very
prestigous but today it seems to be a record cherished within cycling
rather than beyond it.
However it is the ultimate chance to define and redefine a career. January
30,
2015 (inrng.com)
 The
Etixx-Quick-Step team appears to be the favorite to sign talented young
Colombian sprinter Fernando
Gaviria, who recently beat Mark Cavendish to
win two stages at the Tour de San Luis.
The Etixx-Quick-Step team moved quickly to open talks with Gaviria's agent Giuseppe Acquadro and Patrick Lefevere seems keen to sign him. January
30,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 On
Sunday at 8:00 am EST, the Elite Men’s Race at Tabor will get underway,
with the American Men’s Team ready to show their depth of talent,
including a starting line position by Jeremy Powers.
Many already have a World Championship Race under their belt: all of them but one. Today we give take a look at the newest force of the American men, none other than Stephen Hyde. Stephen Hyde: The newest face in Elite Men’s Cyclocross in America, the once little known-rider who out-sprinted then National Champion Jonathan Page in Baltimore a year-and-a-half ago, the racer who posted-up for four wins this season (Nittany Lion, Charm City CX, the KMC Cyclo-Cross Festival, and Cycle-Smart International) and another two podiums against more experienced professionals, and the only “new” face on an American Men’s World’s roster full of international veterans. January
30,
2015 (cxmagazine.com)
 In
the last few days, we’ve been giving a preview on some of the favorites
to compete in the Men’s and Women’s Elite Races in Tabor.
Although we mentioned many of the Canadian riders as international racers who should look out for, we wanted to offer you an in-depth look at some of the names that will be representing the Maple Leaf this year. Michael van den Ham asked each of the Elite members a few questions about their entry into cyclocross, their preparation for the World Championships, their ambitions for the race, and their bikes. January
30,
2015 (cxmagazine.com)
 After
whetting his appetite for top-level racing during his first season as a
professional cyclist, Rick
Zabel is targeting bigger and better things in
year two.
The young German will start his season riding in support of Philippe Gilbert at the Dubai Tour next week. However, he has his eyes set on riding the monuments and his first Grand Tour and the World Championships in 2015. “This year, I would like to do the bigger classics like the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix. Another big thing for me would be if I could do my first Grand Tour,” Zabel told Cyclingnews. January
30,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
Movers
and Shakers: Rochelle Gilmore smooths path for Australia’s female
cyclists.
January 29,
2015 (cyclingtips.com.au)
| January
30, 2015
 Lance Armstrong was
the most engaging pro cyclist of recent times.
Such was his appeal that, like Muhammad Ali, he transcended his sport and became an international superstar. An intelligent, charismatic man with a lot to say. There are few top sports people who look you straight in the eye and hold your gaze when talking to you. He’d even do it when answering the most banal question. Armstrong never shied away from a question either. In fact he seemed to enjoy a battle in a press conference — just look at the YouTube clip of him verbally attacking Paul Kimmage at the 2009 Tour of California. As in this case he was sometimes too confrontational and aggressive in his replies, but other times his charm, mixed with a little intimidation, meant he could get away with it. January
30,
2015 (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
 This
Sunday marks the final race of Cadel
Evans's career, the eponymous Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road
Race, drawing curtains on not just the 37 year old's career, but a
chapter in Australian cycling.
We’re honestly not sure what to do here at Cycling Central after Evans retires. The Australian has been such a huge part of the Oz cycling landscape these last 20 years that when he leaves it would be tempting to pack it in, and call time on the whole show. January
30,
2015 (roadcyclinguk.com)
 Two
weeks ago, Tom Meeusen
would have been a top pick for a place on the podium at the world
championships this weekend here in the Czech Republic.
Then he was out — deleted from the Belgian roster for the race, the result of his role as a witness in the Belgian investigation into doping by doctor Chris Mertens. Days — and a trip to the Belgian Court of Arbitration for Sport — later he was back, permitted to race after the court clarified that only riders suspected of doping offenses should be prevented from racing under UCI rules. January
30,
2015 (velonews.com)
 The
partnership forged between Dig Deep Coaching and CyclingTips in July
2014 will extend to Ella.
We’re pleased to introduce you to Ciara
MacManus. The Dig Deep coach hails from Ireland and is the
reining Irish MTB XC champion.
Her main passion is the dirt, but her experiences span across all disciplines, and she has generously raised her hand to answer any questions you have about training. While CyclingTips will continue to field questions for our male readers, Ciara is on hand to tackle questions from our women’s community. Before she answers any of your questions, we threw five questions her way so you could get to know her a bit better. January
30,
2015 (cyclingtips.com.au)
 The
2015 Paris-Nice stage race, March 8 to 15, will start with a prologue
time trial, include a summit finish on La Croix de Chaubouret and spend
the final two days on the Côte d’Azur in Nice.
Organizer ASO will present the entire course on February 3 in Versailles, but much of it has already been leaked. January
30,
2015 (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
 The
recently closed Padua inquiry in northern Italy, centered on Michele Ferrari, is
bearing its first fruit.
The Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) recommended Thursday a three-month suspension for Italian Enrico Franzoi, who placed eighth in the 2007 Paris-Roubaix while racing with team Lampre-Fondital. Franzoi, 32 from Mestre, raced on the road with Lampre and Liquigas through 2009 and worked mostly as a helper for riders like Alessandro Ballan and Filippo Pozzato. He also won Italy’s national cyclocross title four times at the elite level, and earned Italy’s under-19 and U23 cyclocross crowns a combined five times. In 2003, he won the world U23 cyclocross championship. In 2010, Franzoi reportedly spoke on the telephone with Ferrari, who has been banned from sport since 2002 in Italy and blocked worldwide based on the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) case against Lance Armstrong. January
30,
2015 (velonews.com)
 The
cyclocross World Cup will be heading across the pond for the 2015-2016
season.
The UCI Management Committee met in Tabor, Czech Republic ahead of cyclocross world championships, and made this along with several other significant decisions. The first two rounds of the 2015-16 cyclocross World Cup will be held in Las Vegas then Montreal. January
30,
2015 (velonews.com)
 The
organizer of the Tour Cycliste Méditerranéen has confirmed the race
will go ahead this year, despite financial difficulties and the race
not being listed on the 2015 UCI calendar.
Race organizer André Martres has published a brief message on the race website, revealing that the 2015 edition would consist of three stages, instead of the usual five stages, between February 12-14. “This edition of the race has been more difficult to put in place than the last two editions,” Martres said in a message on the race website. January
30,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 "Here’s
your Week in Tech — all the gear news, tips, and announcements you need
and none of the marketing gibberish you don’t."
January
30,
2015 (velonews.com)
 Zdeněk Štybar is
sidelined from defending his title at the UCI Cyclo-cross World
Championships in Tabor, Czech Republic, on Sunday, because of a
shoulder injury he sustain in a crash in October.
He has also declined to commentate on the event because of the amount of time that it would take away from his training for the start of his upcoming road season, and particularly the Spring Classics. "Last week, a doctor made some new implants, due to my crash in the Eneco Tour. As a result, I have not trained for a week." January
30,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 South
Australia claim national team pursuit title, Vichot's 2015 goals.
January
30,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
January
29, 2015
|
 The
Italian Olympic Committee's anti-doping investigators have requested a
three-month ban for cyclo-cross and road rider Enrico Franzoi for
his links to Dr. Michele
Ferrari.
Franzoi is the first rider to face a disciplinary hearing based on evidence from the Padova and Bolzano police investigations into the infamous sports doctor who worked with Lance Armstrong for much of the Texan's career. Filippo Pozzato, Giovanni Visconti and Michele Scarponi have already served short bans for their links to Dr. Ferrari. January 29,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Matteo Pelucchi won
the bunch sprint in the opening race of the Mallorca Challenge in the
Trofeo Santanyi-Ses Salines-Campos on Thursday. The Italian claimed IAM
Cycling’s first victory as a WorldTour team by a clear margin over Team
Sky’s Elia Viviani
and Jose Joaquin Rojas.
A crash in the final three kilometers took down MTN-Qhubeka’s Andreas Stauff, who broke his clavical in the fall. January 29,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Paris-Roubaix
will boast even more cobbles for the 113th iteration of the famous race
this year, including three secters set to be used at the Tour de France.
Riders will have tackle 253 kilometers of racing between Compiegne and the Roubaix velodrome in total on April 12, with 52.7km of that distance over the iconic pavé. January
29, 2015 (roadcyclinguk.com)
 The
Orica-AIS team will aim to keep its winning momentum going in its next
outing, the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race on Saturday.
Coming off the high of three stage wins in the Santos Women's Tour last week, the Orica-AIS squad will remain largely the same, with double stage winner Melissa Hoskins opting to race the national track championships. She will be replaced by Gracie Elvin. January 29,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Twice
a stage victor in the Tour de San Luis, the Colombian sprinting
sensation Fernando Gaviria’s vanquishing of riders such as Mark
Cavendish in the race catapulted him into the limelight and, according
to his agent, almost certainly into the WorldTour.
According to Giuseppe Acquadro, the 20 year old is of interest to teams from cycling’s top level on the basis of his performances. He won stages one and three in the Argentinean event, stunning Cavendish and others, and finished second to the Briton on the final stage. “We had several contacts and now the choice has been narrowed to two teams, one French and one Belgian, and both from the WorldTour,” Acquadoro told Tuttobiciweb. January 29,
2015 (cyclingtips.com.au)
 If
it wasn’t already obvious from the name, the Cadel Evans Great Ocean
Road Race is a tribute to the long and successful career of one of
Australia’s greatest ever cyclists: Cadel
Evans.
It’s a course that Evans himself helped design and one that features many of the roads Evans likes to train on when he’s at home in Barwon Heads over the Australian summer. Despite the name of the event, the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race barely visits the Great Ocean Road at all. Of the 174km raced by the elite men, just 6.6km of that will be on the famous tourist route — a 2.8km section and a 3.8km section. When the race does visit the Great Ocean Road it won’t be to the windy and picturesque sections of the road you see in all the tourism brochures and websites — it’s two sections near the start of the Great Ocean Road in Torquay where it’s barely even possible to see the ocean. January 29,
2015 (cyclingtips.com.au)
 With
the UCI world cyclocross championships set to start on Saturday in the
Czech Republic, a familiar refrain pops up on American cycling fans’
Twitter feeds, Facebook posts, and other sources: “How do I watch?”
Currently, the U.S. rights to many UCI cycling events are owned by Universal Sports Network (USN). In fact, the network and the UCI recently announced a renewed partnership through 2018. According to a press release, “The deal gives Universal Sports multi-platform rights, including exclusive TV and digital rights, to the UCI road world championships and UCI world championship and World Cup events in track cycling, BMX, mountain bike, and cyclocross.” January 29,
2015 (velonews.com)
2014-15
Races
& Results.
UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships - Jan 31 (Races), Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race - Feb 1 (Races), Dubai Tour 2015 - Feb 4-7 (Stages), Giro d'Italia 2015 - May 9-31 (Stages), Tour de France 2015 - July 4-26 (Stages), Santos Tour Down Under 2015 - Jan 18-25 (Results), Tour de San Luis 2015 - Jan 19-25 (Results), Santos Women's Tour 2015 - Jan 17-20 (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),  The
Australian time trial champion and winner of the 2012 Volta ao
Algarve/Tour of Algarve Richie
Porte, is back in the Portuguese race which will be held
between the 18th and 22nd of February.
The peloton will be completed with the inclusion of two continental teams, the Polish ActiveJet and the Basque Murias Taldea. Porte, 74th in the world rankings in 2014, is the strongest name chosen by Team Sky for the 41st edition of the Volta ao Algarve/Tour of Algarve. He is one of the in-form riders at the beginning of this season, having won the Australian time trial championships and the queen stage of the Tour Down Under race where he finished second overall. January 29,
2015 (cyclingquotes.com)
 In
an age when the FDA is debating the ethics of mitochondrial
manipulation technologies (aka creating designer babies), it appears
that some people are willing to go to great lengths to conceive
potential professional athletes or other superstar offspring.
This seems a bit extreme and will certainly be extraordinarily expensive if and when the technology becomes available. In the meantime, if you’re really hoping to give birth to a future Tour contender, you can try your hand at a DIY designer baby on the cheap by planning your conception for a fall birth, ideally in November. January 29,
2015 (bicycling.com)
An
American Junior Goes to Tabor Ranked Second in the World: Gage Hecht
Pre-Worlds Interview.
January 28,
2015 (cxmagazine.com)
|  Rochelle Gilmore’s
Australian summer break has turned out to be anything but relaxing.
The 2010 Commonwealth Games gold medallist has kept up the pace off the bike in an ongoing effort to smooth the path to the top-level of the sport for riders from her home country. Gilmore, who founded international professional women’s road cycling team Wiggle Honda, was always going to be a prominent figure this Australian summer road season. January 29,
2015 (cyclingtips.com.au)
 Cycling
seems to be going in a one way direction with teams and riders adopting
more and more sports science.
But a few riders still buck the trend against power meters. Can they hold out? January 29,
2015 (inrng.com)
 An
airy three inches of snow fell on Prachatice, Czech Republic overnight
Monday, adding a hint of slip-and-slide to Katerina Nash’s
training spin. The legs are good, she says. Confidence is high.
Pressure is low. The UCI Cyclocross World Championship course in Tabor
suits her well.
And a bit of snow, for a veteran of both the summer and winter Olympics, for a rider with handling skills honed by a decade on the mountain bike circuit, only improves her odds. On Sunday, the world’s best cyclocrossers better watch out for the local girl. January 29,
2015 (velonews.com)
 The
Etixx-Quick-Step team has announced that Mark Cavendish and Mark Renshaw will
ride the Cape Town Cycle Tour in South Africa on March 8.
The one-day event combines a road race and mass-participation ride for 35,000 people. It covers a 107km route around Cape Town and the iconic Table Mountain. The event falls on the weekend of the Strade Bianche race in Tuscany and comes just three days before the start of Tirreno-Adriatico. However Cavendish is expected to ride the Italian stage race as he prepares for Milan-San Remo. January 29,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 "Fourty-eight
hours before his World Hour attempt on Saturday we spoke with Jack Bobridge at the
BikeBug store grand opening in Melbourne.
Bobridge made a brief appearance in-between the Team Pursuit qualifying rounds and the finals (with his new Budget Forklifts team) during the Track National Championships and had a word with us about how he's feeling coming into his Hour Record attempt." January 29,
2015 (cyclingtips.com.au)
 Reigning
Tour de France champion Vincenzo
Nibali will kick off his 2015 race season at the Dubai
Tour, February 4-7.
“I’m convinced that Dubai represents a great opportunity for cycling and vice versa,” Nibali said at the route presentation in November. “Dubai Tour, which I raced last year too, will be my seasonal debut in 2015. The course is very interesting, and the third stage, with the final steep climb, it’s something very nice, [and] very hard to find in these surroundings.” January 29,
2015 (velonews.com)
 The
FDJ team held its official team presentation in Paris on Wednesday,
with team manager Marc
Madiot convinced that the French squad can win the Tour de
France in the next five years.
Last year Thibaut Pinot finished third in the Tour de France behind Vincenzo Nibali and fellow Frenchman Jean-Christophe Peraud. "The Tour has been unreachable for years, for reasons you know as well as I do. But now we have the potential. This can be done in the next four to five years, if we continue to progress and if fate is in our favor,” French newspaper L'Equipe quoted Madiot as saying. January 29,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Milk-based
beverages can be more effective than traditional sports drinks at
replacing fluid lost during exercise, according to a study by Griffith
University, one of Australia’s leading sports universities.
The study compared the rehydration potential of different milk-based drinks to a carbohydrate-electrolyte beverage. It claims that Pauls brand full cream milk, So Good brand soy milk, Nestle milk-based liquid meal supplement and Sustagen Sport, were more effective rehydration options than Powerade. January 29,
2015 (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
 We’re
expecting power meters to really break into the mainstream market in
2015, with a range of budget options due for release or selling well
already.
However the best could be still to come with the new Precision power meter from 4iiii. The Precision isn’t quite ready for release quite yet, but 4iiii say they are aiming to sell it for an astonishingly low price. What’s more they claim that despite the bargain-basement price-tag, accuracy will be >99%. The system will be crank-based, somewhat resembling the Stages system, but unlike Stages can be fitted to existing cranks, and comes as either a single- or double-sided option. Powered by coin cell batteries with a claimed battery life of 200+ hours, and compatible with Bluetooth or ANT+, 4iiii certainly seems to have its bases covered. January 29,
2015 (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
 Part
One of our Road Tubeless series seemed to spur a lot of discussion,
especially around the statement that a Road Tubeless standard does not
exist.
Most of us believe if a product says “Road Tubeless” on the side, it will work with other items that say the same. Unfortunately, that’s not necessarily the case, and a lot of this confusion has come from the companies themselves, using the common term - either with caps (Road Tubeless) or without (road tubeless) - to market dissimilar products. So we checked in with the producers of the most common products and asked them about the future of Road Tubeless. Do they see standardization coming? Is there any standard now? January 29,
2015 (bikerumor.com)
| January
29, 2015
 They
meet at his shop every week, buy his kit and drink his coffee, but most
of the guys who have rolled up for the oldest group ride in Austin do
not want to utter his name.
We are in the Juan Pelota Cafe, which is at one end of Mellow Johnny's bike shop. That is "Mellow Johnny" as in the French for yellow jersey, "maillot jaune"; and "Juan Pelota" as in "one" and the Spanish for "ball". Guess who? "Have you read 'Seven Deadly Sins'?" Andrew, a member of the Violet Crown cycling crew, asks me, referring to the Irish journalist David Walsh's most recent Lance Armstrong expose. "For me, he went from being complicated to evil." January 29,
2015 (bbc.com)
 Lance Armstrong said
that he wants to “try and make it right”, but is sending subpoenas to
those who testified he doped to win seven Tour de France titles.
As part of his defence in a $95.7m (£63.2m) US Government whistleblower lawsuit, Armstrong has been sending out subpoenas to those that helped bring him down. The subpoenas demand testimonies, documents and sworn statements that were used against Armstrong in the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) cases. Former team-mate Frankie Andreu received one and others are reportedly next. January 29,
2015 (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
 If
ever there was a wide open cyclocross world championships, this is it.
Who could have predicted in September that we would arrive at the four championship races that will unfold here starting Saturday, in this village of 35,000 people about an hour’s drive south of Prague, without a single defending world champion standing as a clear favorite to repeat? Some might have predicted the absence of defending men’s champion Zdenek Stybar, who is chasing classics glory on the road this year, especially after his nasty crash in Ardooie in October. Some might have predicted the rise of defending under-23 champion Wout Van Aert, who abandoned his eligibility for that category to race among the big boys in the elites. Some might even have predicted that Marianne Vos’ frenetic pace, winning nearly every race in sight, more or less year-round, would leave her vulnerable to injury. But all of the above, at the same time? January 29,
2015 (velonews.com)
 Start
lists aren’t officially released until Friday afternoon, but we’ve
mucked with spreadsheets and entry lists to create our own.
Ages listed are as of the race, not UCI racing age. January 29,
2015 (cxmagazine.com)
 Fabio Aru is the
rising star of Italian cycling but in 2015 he will again be
overshadowed by his Astana team leader and fellow Italian Vincenzo Nibali.
The two are very similar riders with similar temperaments and are now even neighbours after Aru also moved to Lugano in Switzerland during the winter. Many would like to see them on separate teams and so go head to head on the roads of the Giro d'Italia, sparking yet another rivalry that would fire up the tifosi. But that is unlikely to happen. Aru is keen to plough his own furrow, secure his own place in the palmares of cycling, without getting into a fight with Nibali. He already has the backing of the Astana team and was given the role of team leader for the Giro d'Italia for 2015, putting an end to Nibali's hopes of returning to the Giro this season. January 29,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 "Marco Haller is
starting his fourth professional season and is only 23. He has the
experience and is still young enough to have a long career and is
already in one of the best WorldTour teams. We caught up with him in
Spain to find out more about the pro from Austria.
At 23 Marco has a nice palmarés: In 2012 he won stage 4 Tour of Beijing, then in 2013 the Mountains classification in the Three Days of De Panne, 7th Overall Tour des Fjords with a win in the stage 3 team time trial and 7th Overall Arctic Race of Norway and then in 2014 he got his home win in stage 8 Tour of Austria. After a hard days training in the Spanish Mountains we sat down for a good chat on just about everything." January 29,
2015 (pezcyclingnews.com)
 British
Cycling’s Shane Sutton
has insisted that Bradley
Wiggins will take on Paris-Roubaix with the same belief
and determination that served him so well during the rider’s previous
three Olympic campaigns.
Wiggins has made Paris-Roubaix the number one target during his final season on the road, and he plans on returning to the track after the race in order to concentrate on the Hour Record and the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio. Sutton has been a longstanding friend, coach and confidant for Wiggins over the years, and helped him towards Tour de France and Olympic successes. Last year Wiggins finished a creditable ninth in Paris-Roubaix and was a key protagonist in the race. January 29,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 I
love a good pair of boy shorts. They’re full coverage, but flirty;
comfortable, yet somehow kinda sexy.
And honestly, how often do you find cycling gear that makes you want to dance in front of the mirror? Those are the reasons I'm psyched about the trend of briefs-with-chamois—Club Ride, Aerotech Designs, Vulpine, and KOR NYC to name a few—and I was excited to check out Giro’s offering. They’re an awesome addition to any female cyclist’s wardrobe, but in particular, they’re great for two types of people: those who commute mid-range distances, and those who are just getting into cycling but already own plenty of tights and sporty shorts from other athletic activities. January 29,
2015 (bicycling.com)
January
28, 2015
Three-time
Irish Olympian brands Lance Armstrong "self-serving" over latest doping
comments.
January 28,
2015 ()independent.ie/
|
 The
UCI announced Wednesday that it will host a Women’s Teams Seminar in
conjunction with the Strade Bianche race to be held March 7.
UCI Women’s Commission president Tracey Gaudry said it was fitting that the UCI organize its first UCI Women’s Teams Seminar to coincide with the inaugural women’s Strade Bianche. The seminar, to which all 38 UCI women’s teams will be invited, will be held March 8 in Siena, Italy. “After the launch of La Course by Le Tour last year, this is another welcome step forward for women’s cycling,” said Gaudry. “The UCI is currently working on a project to further develop women’s road cycling over the coming years, and we are very pleased to have the support of different major organizers. As president of the Women’s Commission and also as a former athlete, I appreciate how important this is.” January 28,
2015 (velonews.com)
 American
cyclocross viewers who have only kept up with the Elite races this
season might think that the big focus of the year is the
11-nationals-winning Katie
Compton who stood on the overall podium for the World Cup,
or Jeremy Powers’
dramatic season to get front row call-ups at the big races and finish
with a top ten in the overall World Cup standings. With both athletes
performing at a big level, there will certainly be high expectations
for the United States.
However, as Saturday morning rolls around, another American will take the stage, and ever since he started competing in Europe this season, he’s been taking the cyclocross community by storm. That rider’s name is Gage Hecht: the current 17-18 Junior National Champion and an international sensation. January 28,
2015 (cxmagazine.com)
 With
a gold medal in the team time trial and a bronze in the individual time
trial at World Championships last year, Evelyn Stevens looks
poised to snag some hardware, if not a rainbow jersey, on home turf in
2015.
After spending five years with Velocio Sports, as the team transitioned from HTC-Highroad to Specialized-lululemon, Stevens has made the jump to the Netherlands-based Boels-Dolmans team. We sat down with Stevens at her team presentation in Efteling, the Netherlands, about her season, her new team, and her tricks of the trade. January 28,
2015 (bicycling.com)
 The
strength to beat Mark
Cavendish, the ability to bring points, and the advantage
of youth has teams lining up outside Fernando Gaviria’s
door. Ag2r-La Mondiale and Etixx-Quick-Step, the latter being Cavendish’s team,
reportedly have already spoken with the 20-year-old Colombian about his
2015 plans.
“I’m dreaming of racing the Tour de France and racing more on the road,” Gaviria told Ciclismo Internacional. “I’m going to have to wait until next year because I want to fulfill my commitment with team Coldeportes.” January 28,
2015 (velonews.com)
 Chris Froome has
told Cycling Weekly
that he doesn’t expect to come out all guns blazing in the 2015 season
in the early months and that he is fully focussed on winning the Tour
de France.
“I’m not necessarily looking to go out there in February winning anything but if I’m going well enough, and I’m able to pick up one or two results along the way, then great,” he says. “But obviously keeping in mind that the main goal is going really well at the end of June.” January 28,
2015 (cyclingquotes.com)
2014-15
Races
& Results.
UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships - Jan 31 (Races), Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race - Feb 1 (Race), Dubai Tour 2015 - Feb 4-7 (Stages), Giro d'Italia 2015 - May 9-31 (Stages), Tour de France 2015 - July 4-26 (Stages), Santos Tour Down Under 2015 - Jan 18-25 (Results), Tour de San Luis 2015 - Jan 19-25 (Results), Santos Women's Tour 2015 - Jan 17-20 (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),  Zdenek Stybar won’t
be present at the the cyclocross world championships in Tabor on
Sunday. After he was forced to cancel his participation as a rider, Stybar will now also
skip his job as a commentator for Czech Television. "If I go to Tabor,
I will lose four or five days in my preparation and the spring classics
are rapidly approaching.”
Five years ago, Stybar took his first Worlds title in Tabor. This year the Worlds will again take place in his home country. "It will be a very exciting race," Stybar told Sporza. "It's snowing at the moment and that always provides special races. Mathieu van der Poel and Tom Meeusen ride well on show and Kevin Pauwels always has a good plan. .. January 28,
2015 (cyclingquotes.com)
 Alejandro Valverde,
who finished 2014 at the top of the UCI WorldTour rankings, will start
his season Thursday in Mallorca, Spain at the Challenge Ciclista
Mallorca. The 34-year-old will be joined by other notables, such as
Lotto-Soudal’s André
Greipel.
“It would be nice to get our first victory of the season in Mallorca,” said Lotto-Soudal sports director Bart Leysen. “The riders know the Spanish roads well because of their training camps. The first and last day are suited for our sprinters André Greipel and Jens Debusschere. Greipel didn’t start his season, for the first time in seven years, in the Tour Down Under. So he is extremely motivated to get his first victory of the season in Mallorca.” January 28,
2015 (velonews.com)
 The
UK launch of the Tannus solid tires last year caused quite a stir on
the Cycling Weekly
website, much more than expected giving that this is a technology which
has been knocking about for the best part of 130 years. Now the Korean
company is bringing its lightweight solid tire to the UK, with the
Aither 1.1 set to launch next month at the London Bike Show.
Tannus claim that its new model is just as robust as the original Aither 1.0, meaning it should be good for 9,000 kilometers without losing more than 1.5mm of tread. It’s this incredible longevity as well as the incredible convenience of never puncturing that should go some way to justify the big price-tag. January 28,
2015 (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
 There
were quite a few bikes turning heads when we visited the Bike Place
show this week, none more so than the striking design of the new Look
795 Aerolight, a new frame for 2015 that takes integrated components to
a whole new level.
In fact Look is saying that the 795 Aerolight, the heir apparent to the Look 675 and the subject of ten years of research and development, is the most aerodynamic road bike ever made. A big claim indeed, but on looks alone its easy to see why the high-end French brand is so confident. January 28,
2015 (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
|  Professional
road cycling has evolved slowly over the past hundred years. The
current structure of major racing events and top team competition fell
into place rather haphazardly over many decades, and as a result of
changing economic and nationalistic factors in Western Europe.
Accordingly, evolution of the sport’s governance has also been somewhat
bumpy and arbitrary.
Reforms and decisions that took place in the 1980s and 1990s largely shaped today’s playing field. The calendar has expanded. The traditional cycling nations of Western Europe have seen their dominance diminished with the globalization of the peloton. Sponsors have rewritten the rules by which the sport is financed. A frequent criticism of pro cycling is that there is insufficient strategic thinking by the leadership of the sport, and a lack of a vision of what the sport should look like in five, 10, or 20 years’ time. January 28,
2015 (velonews.com)
 The
waiting time is finally over! Tomorrow the European cycling season
kicks off when the riders head out for the first race in the four-day
Challenge Mallorca race series. The four races may be mostly about
preparation but their mix of climbing and sprints offer everybody a
chance to take the pressure off early in the season by opening the
account right from the beginning.
One of the most popular preparation events, the four-day race series Challenge Mallorca will be held one week earlier than usual and so marks the start of the European season which has traditionally been opened at the GP d’Ouverture la Marseillaise in France. At this time of the year, Europe is really not suited to bike racing but the island of Mallorca usually offers reasonable conditions for riders to get their season underway with a challenging mix of four one-day races that offers a bit for everyone. January 28,
2015 (cyclingquotes.com)
 Roma
Maxima has fallen off the calendar for 2015. It was one of the few
races left in a capital city. France, Italy, Belgium, Spain and the
Netherlands are all seen as cycling’s heartlands but all suffer from a
dwindling if not total absence of pro racing in their capital cities.
Of the three grand tours last year only the Tour de France visited its
capital city.
Various national capitals do have a bike race but that’s it, often just one pro race a year if they’re lucky. Yet these are the biggest cities with ready audiences only the sport stays away for the rest of the year. This is a problem as the sport needs sponsors and its absence from major cities implies a lack of visibility in the very places where decisions are taken, views are formed and deals are signed. January 28,
2015 (inrng.com)
 Despite
lamenting the lack of time trial kilometers at the Tour de France this
season, Tejay van
Garderen has told PEZ
Cycling that he still has a good chance of bettering his
fifth place from the 2012 and 2014 seasons.
“I’ve taken a look at the parcours, it’s a good one and I do like it. I do think it’s a pity that there is no proper time trial. Christian Prudhomme was quoted saying that “the winner of the Tour should be the most complete rider” which is why he put in the stages in the Ardennes and the stage on the cobbles and the big mountains, which I agree with. The Tour de France winner should be a complete rider, but I think he’s missing one key element, to make it a truly complete rider who wins. But that being said I think there are plenty of chances that we can take time on some of those pure climbers. Some of those crosswind days, the cobble stones and having the team around me to help shepherd me through some of those hectic days, that can be an advantage to me.” January 28,
2015 (cyclingquotes.com)
 The
winner of the 2014 Tour de France Vincenzo
Nibali tops the list of the favorites ahead of the coming
Tour of Oman (February 17-22). He'll take part in the event for the
fourth time in a row and doesn't hide his ambition to leave Muscat with
another win under his belt.
To be held for the sixth time, the Tour of Oman has the incredible record of being the only event out of Europe to have welcomed the past six winners of the Tour de France. Following the path of Alberto Contador, Andy Schleck, Cadel Evans, Bradley Wiggins and Chris Froome, Vincenzo Nibali will make his way to the sultanate after being awarded the yellow jersey on the Champs-Elysées in Paris last July but it won't be anything new to him. He hasn't missed any Tour of Oman since he first took part in it in 2012 and won stage 5 atop Jabal Al Akhdar (Green Mountain). That's where he kind of re-launched his career after one year and half year without any victory. January 28,
2015 (cyclingquotes.com)
 Sean Kelly has
voiced his concern about the state of racing in the country, saying the
situation is “not healthy”.
The Irish cycling legend says the numbers competing at junior level are not conducive to producing more quality riders, while he also believes the racing calendar needs a revamp. “I’d be concerned looking at the scene in Ireland,” he said. “If you look at the juniors at the moment; who have we got? O’Loughlin? Dunbar is now gone. Outside of that? Who is there? “Back in the mid-1980s you had bunches of 200 in the Junior Tour. January 28,
2015 (stickybottle.com)
 For
as long as competitive cycling has been around, riders have been
looking for ways to improve their performance, to gain an edge over
their competitors.
One popular method is the use of sports nutrition supplements. In this first part of a two-part series, sports nutritionist Alan McCubbin takes us through the life-cycle of sports nutrition supplements, from initial research to marketing and explains the role that science does and doesn't play in the process. January 28,
2015 (cyclingtips.com.au)
 Former
UCI president Pat McQuaid
says he did not get the credit he deserved for his role in fighting
doping and helping grow the sport.
He added that he misses not being involved, and by not being the governing body’s top man he believes Ireland is at a major disadvantage. In an extensive sit-down with stickybottle in Spain last week where the Irishman was a guest at the An Post Chainreaction team’s training camp, McQuaid opened up firstly about what it’s like being outside the corridors of power, having served eight years as President, from 2005 to 2013. “I do miss it certainly,” he confessed. “I did love being involved at the level I was at, but whatever level I was at I loved it. January 28,
2015 (stickybottle.com)
| January
28, 2015
 Three-time
Irish National Road Race champion David
McCann has described comments from Lance Armstrong that
he would "probably" dope again if he went back to the start of his
career as self-serving.
Speaking at the launch of the An Post Rás, McCann told Independent.ie that Armstrong was wrong in saying that 'everyone' was doping at the time to justify his comments. "I think it’s in his interest to believe that everyone else was doing it. I can agree that a lot of them were doing it but I wasn’t doing it," said McCann, who finished 11th at the World Championships Elite Time Trial in 2009. January 28,
2015 ()independent.ie/
 The
Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) has announced that it will work with
police from the Nuclei Antisofisticazione e Sanità (NAS) to carry out
its anti-doping testing, especially out of competition surprise testing.
The NAS is responsible for public health and have often played a key role in doping investigations in sport and especially cycling, however it appears to be the first time a police force, and in this case part of the Italian military, has been directly responsible and operational in carrying out anti-doping controls. January 28,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 The
Gran Fondo New York bicycle race is the biggest mass-participation
event of its kind in the state, a 160km run between Manhattan and Bear
Mountain. In May 2012 the organizers introduced drug testing.
With thousands of entrants, this expensive process was limited to a handful of riders. Of those, two came back positive for EPO (erythropoietin), a blood-boosting hormone largely associated with the most elite professional end of the sport. Both riders were banned for two years. That two amateurs were mimicking the habits of professional competitors such as Lance Armstrong, who recently said he would dope again in the same circumstances, could be understandable if they were on the path to potential career rewards. January 28,
2015 (sbs.com.au)
 ’m
incredibly grateful to share the labor of love that is Ella with all you
today. It’s both a beginning and an end – as the behind-the-scenes work
that we’ve been tirelessly plugging away at to prepare for launch
begins to die down and the demands of running a live website with a
real audience become a reality.
When I published my first Letter from the Editor two months ago, many of you piped up with questions in the comments section. I want to use this letter as an opportunity to answer some of the queries raised. Many of you expressed concerns about the need for a women’s specific site, wondering why this content wouldn’t simply be housed on the main site. All the women’s cycling content will live on the CyclingTips website under women’s cycling, and any content created for Ella that we imagine will have a broader appeal beyond our female audience will also be included in the news or feature sections. January 28,
2015 (cyclingtips.com.au)
 Unless
you're paying close attention, you're unlikely to spot neutral service
vehicles while watching bike races on TV. Their job is to stay out of
the way until needed, and when they are needed their job is to get in
and get out as quickly as possible. It's a largely thankless task, but
one that the people working in neutral service thoroughly enjoy.
CyclingTips editor Matt de Neef went behind the scenes with Shimano neutral service on stage 3 of this year's Santos Tour Down Under and put together a video and report. January 28,
2015 (cyclingtips.com.au)
 Weather,
daylight, family, or work — each of us have different constraints on
our winter riding schedule. But according to Elle Anderson, a
rising cyclocross star with the Kalas-NNOF team, who also works for
Strava, all of these factors shouldn’t be seen as limitations.
“[They] are just a part of my life, and there are plenty of ways to approach it,” she said. Here are some suggestions on how to apply the principles of sufficient stress, doing the right stress, and timing, to find your best approach to winter training. January 28,
2015 (velonews.com)
 A
limited run of 333 have been created. Why 333? Apparently, the Crown
Prince of Dubai’s favorite number is 3. It is understood he will been
awarded helmet 003 at the opening ceremony at the start of the race.
We first saw the Protone worn by Team Sky riders at the 2014 Tour de France and it will be available to buy from February. January 28,
2015 (road.cc)
January
27, 2015
|
 Lawson Craddock is
heading home following three nights in an Australian hospital
recovering from a harrowing crash in stage 4 at the Santos Tour Down
Under.
The 22-year-old Texan crashed heavily Friday in the early kilometers of the stage, just as the peloton was picking up speed and coming over some rollers as the day’s main breakaway was forming. In a freak accident, Craddock evidently punctured his front tire, then bounded into a drainage ditch, with his front wheel collapsing, sending him catapulting over his handlebars. One rider who saw the crash said, “It looked real nasty. I could see him flying over his bike.” Craddock suffered a broken wrist, rib, and sternum, injuries that kept him in the hospital for observation for three days. In an email to VeloNews, Craddock said he was due to fly back to Texas overnight Tuesday. January 27,
2015 (velonews.com)
 The
boy lay on the ground for a long, long time. Longer than made any
sense. He had fallen heavily, missing a corner, crashing into a ditch.
It looked like maybe the kind of fall that could knock you out of a
race, but not the kind where you stay down so long. But the boy stayed
down.
Tim Pauwels, a barrel-chested 23-year-old with a shock of nearly-white blonde hair lay dying, a ruptured aorta filling his chest with blood. Later, some would say his heart had already stopped before the fall, that he had died on the bike. Nobody would ever know for sure. In the anguished weeks that followed, his family would forever wonder why help had been so slow to arrive. Why the police who supervised the course had failed to come to Pauwels’ aid. Why the race organization in Erpe-Mere, site of the star-crossed early-season race where Pauwels fell, had not taken to the public address system to seek a doctor from the thousands of fans who lined the track. Or whether they, or their doctors, or his team’s doctors had failed to recognize the warning signs, so clear in the sharp light of hindsight, that something was ailing the young cyclist. January 27,
2015 (velonews.com)
 Mark Cavendish
explained that he will not make the mistake of joining another team
like Sky when his contract expires at the end of 2015.
“I made that mistake before,” Cavendish told Belgium’s Het Nieuwsblad newspaper. “I want to stay with Etixx-QuickStep. I love it. Cavendish terminated his contract with Sky early, after one year of a three-year deal, to join Belgium’s Omega Pharma-QuickStep in 2013. He now has some of the same staff and cyclists around him as he did with HTC-Highroad, including Sport and Development Manager Rolf Aldag and lead-out man Mark Renshaw. “It’s like in HTC [Highroad]: one big family,” Cavendish continued. “Nobody likes to leave his family behind, but being with this team away from home is a pleasure.” January 27,
2015 (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
 "As
the 2015 Elite Women’s World Cyclocross Championship is practically
open for the taking by a large number of racers, the folks here at
Cyclocross Magazine won’t be making any hard-and-fast predictions, but
we will be highlighting ten favorites as well as some outside
contenders.
With the weather now verging on the likelihood of snow the day before the Elite Races, the fast course of Tabor will also provide a few areas that will likely cause some spills, especially if the notorious Czech ice comes into play." January 27,
2015 (cxmagazine.com)
2014-15
Races
& Results.
UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships - Jan 31 (Races), Dubai Tour 2015 - Feb 4-7 (Stages), Giro d'Italia 2015 - May 9-31 (Stages), Tour de France 2015 - July 4-26 (Stages), Santos Tour Down Under 2015 - Jan 18-25 (Results), Tour de San Luis 2015 - Jan 19-25 (Results), Santos Women's Tour 2015 - Jan 17-20 (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),  The
15 teams which will compete at the 2015 Ladies Tour of Qatar have been
announced by its race organzser ASO. The seventh edition of the race,
which takes place from February 3-6, will be missing four time champion
Kirsten Wild
as she concentrates on track racing this season, opening the door for
other sprinters to claim overall victory.
Two-time runner up Chloe Hosking will lead her new Wiggle Honda team alongside teammate Georgina Bronzini and will be aiming to be standing on the top step of the podium in 2015. January 27,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 "Excitement
pours through my veins … Wait that’s not excitement. Its panic — the
puking, sweating kind of panic. I run to the bathroom for what seems
like the one-millionth time to try to compose myself. I can’t be so
nervous that I might puke. Breathe. Come on Carmen. Breathe.
It’s just riding a bike, right?" January 27,
2015 (velonews.com)
 New
Team Sky recruit Nicolas
Roche can’t wait to help Chris Froome get one
over on his former teammate Alberto
Contador at this year’s Tour de France.
The Irishman swapped Tinkoff-Saxo for Team Sky in the offseason and has already spoken of his keenness to play the role of super-domestique for his new team leader. In an interview with Sky Sports, Roche calls Froome and Contador two of the great rivals of this generation and admits he’s already shared some of the Spaniard’s secrets to Froome. “I have a good feeling about this year. I feel I could be very useful as a top team-mate with Chris in the Tour. It could be an exciting role,” he said. January 27,
2015 (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
 Sometimes
you need calories—a lot of calories. Like when you’re out for a full
day racing 100-plus miles and you’re pedaling off hundreds (or
thousands) of calories without stopping for a meal.
Sure, there’s no shortage of energy bars, chews, and gels you can stuff in your pockets, but you’ll need to stuff in a lot of them, and most are meant to be snacks rather than meal replacements. January 27,
2015 (bicycling.com)
 Lance Armstrong
believes Brian Cookson
has not delivered on his campaign promises since taking over at the
International Cycling Union (UCI).
Cookson, the ex-head of British Cycling, beat Ireland's Pat McQuaid in a bitter election in late 2013. But Armstrong is unimpressed with what he has seen of the president so far. "If McQuaid had made the same decisions Cookson has made in his first year, he would have been lynched," said the disgraced cyclist. January 26,
2015 (bbc.com)
|  Lance Armstrong has
been harshly treated, according to former head of world cycling Pat McQuaid.
Armstrong, 43, was given a life ban from all sport and stripped of his seven Tour de France titles for doping. McQuaid, former president of world governing body the International Cycling Union (UCI), said he had "a certain sympathy" with the American. He told BBC Radio 5 live: "He was very much made a scapegoat, there was a witch hunt after Armstrong." January 27,
2015 (bbc.com)
The
Tour Down Under and the Tour de San Luis was a small appetizer but now
it is time for the season to kick off in earnest.
During the month of February, the peloton will head back to cycling’s European heartland while also offering a solid block of racing in the Middle East and even though it is still mostly about preparation, exciting racing will be in store throughout the month. The clash between Chris Froome, Alberto Contador and Nairo Quintana in Vuelta a Andalucia will be a highlight just like the start of the classics season at the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad. CyclingQuotes.com takes an in-depth look at the racing in February before selecting the riders to watch in the coming month. January 27,
2015 (cyclingquotes.com)
 You
probably know what Trek, Cannondale and Giant make but do you know your
Soudal from your Jumbo or what Lampre does?
January 27,
2015 (inrng.com)
 The
French journalist Jean
Francois Quénet can read a bike race. He's been around the
sport his entire life, seen riders come and go and races develop and
change. So when he came up to me, notepad in hand, before the final
stage of the Tour Down Under, and started asking questions about what
winning the stage there that day would mean, I knew that we were in
with a very serious chance of actually winning.
There is no quarter given in a race of the level of the Tour Down Under. Yes, it is only January, but, as my riders experienced, no one is giving up a wheel, or the opportunity to sniff out some UCI points for their team, points are after all the currency by which most teams look to justify their existence. Points scored in January count exactly the same as those picked up throughout the rest of the season. January 27,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Niki Terpstra is a
man of many facets: twice World champion in the team time trial, Dutch
track and road National champion and then throw in winning the Tour of
Qatar and Paris–Roubaix and you get the idea. We caught up with him the
day after he won the Rotterdam 6 day.
The Etixx – Quick-Step team media day was the morning afteri Terpstra won the Rotterdam ‘6 day’ with teammate Iljo Keisse and Niki did look a little tired, but with coffee in hand and dark glasses for the bright sun light he was ready to be quizzed by a handful of journalists. January 27,
2015 (pezcyclingnews.com)
 Roman Kreuziger is
free to race. He begins in February with the Tour of Oman, but he is
unable to plan too far ahead with a court expected to rule on his
biological passport case.
Attempting to prove that he did not dope, the Czech announced this weekend that he passed a lie detector test. But for many, that only served to highlight the many highs and lows of his nine-year cycling career. January 27,
2015 (velonews.com)
 The
organizers of the Tour of Qatar have announced the 18 teams which will
ride the six-stage event, which takes place from February 8-13, among
them are Team Sky, which will give Bradley Wiggins his
first outing in the rainbow jersey of individual time trial World
Champion.
Wiggins was originally scheduled to start his season in Mallorca, but the team opted to shift his debut to Qatar. While sprinters like Marcel Kittel, Peter Sagan, Nacer Bouhanni and Alexander Kristoff will be expected to animate the majority of the stages, the 10.9km time trial on stage three will be the main test for the general classification contenders like Wiggins, Fabian Cancellara and Philippe Gilbert. Many of the riders in action in Qatar will also ride the hillier Tour of Oman that starts a few days later. January 27,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 SRAM
still isn't yet talking openly about its upcoming wireless electronic
road group but sponsored teams and riders are continuing to test the
new bits in competition, most recently in Australia at the Tour Down
Under with the Ag2r-La Mondiale squad.
Although not much appears to have changed since the group's last public appearance, we've since learned that the novel shifter actuation will likely be called 'eTap or 'ETAP' (a play on SRAM's long-running 'DoubleTap' moniker) and that group will most likely simple be called Red with a stylized 'e'. SRAM is at least no longer forcing team mechanics to fabricate faux wiring since we blew the lid on the wired charade last May. January 27,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Eddy
Merckx Cycles relaunches steel-bike production. With the launch of the
EDDY70 racing bike Eddy Merckx Cycles is opening a new chapter. That
is, one of modern, high-quality steel racing bikes.
The first fruit of this project, of which only 70 examples will be produced, is the forerunner of a new Heritage collection, which will be available from September at a selection of bike stores. The EDDY70 bike can be ordered from 7pm on January 28th exclusively via EDDY70.com and will cost $17,500. January 27,
2015 (pelotonmagazine.com)
| January
27, 2015
 Frankie Andreu says
he will cooperate fully if he is subpoenaed in the False Claims Act
case against Lance
Armstrong and his US Postal Service team associates. The
whistleblower (qui tam) case was first was raised by Floyd Landis is 2010
after he confessed to doping while a member of the team.
The government joined the suit in 2013 and although Armstrong's agent Bill Stapleton and business partner Bart Knaggs reportedly agreed to settle with the government, Armstrong's attorneys continue to fight charges they defrauded the government by cheating with performance enhancing drugs. Andreu could be given a summons to appear as early as March, but he is not sure why. Andreu told Cyclingnews he was called several days ago by Sharif Jacob a partner at Keker & Van Nest, who are representing Armstrong in the case. Mr Jacob did not return a call from Cyclingnews at time of publication but Andreu provided details. January 27,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 “Sorry
is just a word unless it is acted upon.”
Responding to claims made by Lance Armstrong to the BBC in which he said that some of those whom he tried to apologize to had rebuked his efforts, Betsy Andreu has said that she believes his attempts were hollow and meaningless, and that the truth of his stance is reflected in more recent actions. Speaking to CyclingTips on Monday, Andreu disclosed that her husband, former Armstrong team-mate Frankie Andreu, had been told by a lawyer acting for the Texan that he would be subpoenaed as part of the current Qui Tam whistleblower lawsuit. Andreu is clear on what she believes the action is really about. “We see this as nothing more than a tactic to try to drain us mentally and financially,” she said. “But it is not going to work. Lance obviously hasn’t learned his lesson that I am not a doormat. Is he stupid?” January 27,
2015 (cyclingtips.com.au)
 Lance Armstrong has
claimed that Brian
Cookson has not delivered on his campaign promises since
becoming president of the UCI.
During a long interview with the BBC, a few days after the two-year anniversary of his doping confession, Armstrong suggested that Cookson has failed to signal a new direction in the fight against doping because of the way he handled the Astana WorldTour license decision and the unusual fast-tracking of the decision to give Chris Froome a TUE for the corticosteroid prednisolone during the 2014 Tour de Romandie. January 27,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Lance Armstrong has
confirmed he has appeared before the UCI’s Cycling Independent Reform
Commission twice and insisted he will protect nobody in his testimony.
Previously called the truth and reconciliation commission, the process will investigate all aspects of doping in cycling in the 1990s and 2000s. It will include the UCI’s handling of doping and was established by UCI president Brian Cookson. He succeeded Ireland’s Pat McQuaid, who was president of the world governing body when Armstrong made his comeback in 2009. McQuaid was chairman of the UCI road commission for eight years before he took over as president in 2006. January 27,
2015 (stickybottle.com)
 The
beaten, rocky dirt road is barely discernible from the beaten, rocky
ground next to it, and just off that barely visible passage is our
wind-stricken sanctuary for the evening.
We push open the door of the hut, and a giant of a man stands up with a half-smile. He's roughly double my size, and he's Russian. He's hiking across the Highlands, Iceland's lonely interior. We're trying to ride our bikes across it. He looks us up and down. "I saw birds blown backward today," he says. "I could barely keep moving forward in the wind." "We didn't do much better," Ashley says. "I got blown off my bike." He glances outside, and Ashley and I half expect to see a rock rolling away or at least a sheep carried off into the distance. Nothing moves, save for dust that ripples urgently along the mostly flat ground. He looks back at us, "I haven't seen anyone in days, birds are flying backward. How do I know I'm alive? We could be dead." January 27,
2015 (bicycling.com)
 After
taking sixth in the 2014 Tour de France, Ag2r la Mondiale rider Romain Bardet has
made his ambitions clear as he prepares for his first race of the
current season.
The 24 year old made important progress last season, improving his overall performance in the Tour from 15th to that sixth place and also winning both La Drome Classic and the young rider classification in the Tour of Oman. His other results include second in the Tour de l’Ain, fourth in the Volta a Catalunya and fifth in the Critérium du Dauphiné. January 27,
2015 (cyclingtips.com.au)
 Howard Hawkins, 82,
passed away Monday at his Arizona home.
Hawkins, along with Art Engstrom, and the company’s many employees, built an iconic brand around the notion that few tools were available to fix bicycles as they became more complex to repair in the 1960s. As a result they began making their own tools and the first was a bicycle repair stand. The stand took the bike off the floor and made it easy for mechanics to repair it. Local bike shops soon adopted it and then executives at the Schwinn Bicycle Company liked it so much they requested a production model. January 27,
2015 (bicycleretailer.com)
January
26, 2015
|
Lance Armstrong
believes Brian Cookson
has not delivered on his campaign promises since taking over at the
International Cycling Union (UCI).
Cookson, the ex-head of British Cycling, beat Ireland's Pat McQuaid in a bitter election in late 2013. But Armstrong is unimpressed with what he has seen of the president so far. "If McQuaid had made the same decisions Cookson has made in his first year, he would have been lynched," said the disgraced cyclist. "Do we like what we have got so far?" January 26,
2015 (bbc.com)
 Two
years have passed since Evelyn
Stevens won the Trust House Women's Tour of New Zealand,
but she will be the defending champion when the race returns next month.
Stevens beat Australian Shara Gillow to win the UCI women's event in 2012 while racing for the Specialized-lululemon team. Since then the race has had a two-year hiatus due to financial restraints, however the women's event will return this year thanks to the hard work of race director Jorge Sandoval. The five-stage tour will take place entirely in the Wairarapa region in the lower North Island, from 18 to 22 February. The event is the third on the 2015 UCI Women’s Calendar following races in Argentina and Qatar. January 26,
2015 (sbs.com.au)
 Yesterday
Tom Meeusen
ended an eventful week by finishing 18th in the World Cup race in
Hoogerheide. The cyclocross rider can now focus on the World
Championships next Sunday in Tabor where he is one of the podium
contenders.
Meeusen started the race like a rocket. "I knew I could not fight for the win but I absolutely wanted to show myself. Therefore I made an immediate acceleration. The support of the fans gave me a wonderful feeling. I had goose bumps from all these encouragements," Meeusen told Sporza. "However, I did not feel healthy. It's unbelievable what such a hellish week does to your body. My neck, my back, everything in my body was stuck. The physiotherapist has had to do a lot of work with me. I also need to take antibiotics for my sinuses. In was not an option to ride in the front." January 26,
2015 (cyclingquotes.com)
 Eli Iserbyt
continued his dominant season with a 48 second victory at an extremely
muddy Hoogerheide World Cup, wrapping up the overall 2014/2015 World
Cup title in the process.
Newly-crowned US Junior Cyclocross National Champion Gage Hecht had a great start, rocketing down the long starting pavement sitting in sixth, and then moving up quickly as the group hit the dirt. Hecht would hit the first muddy hairpin descent on foot at the front, leading the entire field around the off camber downhill turn. Iserbyt would pass Hecht and run away with the day’s victory and World Cup title, but Hecht would fight tooth and nail to make sure that Iserbyt would be the only one to pass him in his fight for second. January 26,
2015 (cxmagazine.com)
2014-15
Races
& Results.
UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships - Jan 31 (Races), Dubai Tour 2015 - Feb 4-7 (Stages), Giro d'Italia 2015 - May 9-31 (Stages), Tour de France 2015 - July 4-26 (Stages), Santos Tour Down Under 2015 - Jan 18-25 (Results), Tour de San Luis 2015 - Jan 19-25 (Results), Santos Women's Tour 2015 - Jan 17-20 (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),  The
Ladies Tour of Qatar will be holding its seventh edition this year from
February 3-6. Although defending four-time champion Kirsten Wild (Hitec
Products) won’t make the trip to Doha in early February, Amy Pieters
(Liv-Plantur) and Chloe
Hosking (Wiggle-Honda) — second and third place last year,
respectively — will be on hand.
January 26,
2015 (velonews.com)
 Contador's
Vuelta-winning Tarmac up for auction, MTN personalizes jerseys.
January 26,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Three
years on from the startling start to his career with Omega Pharma-Quick
Step, when he won the opening two days at the Majorca Challenge, Andy Fenn will go
into the 2015 edition of the Spanish race on Thursday hoping for a
similar lift-off having switched from the Belgian super-squad to Team
Sky.
Winless since those two victories, the 24-year-old Scot admits that his confidence has dipped since that heady beginning to his career at the top level. “I did lose confidence a bit at Quick Step, but it wasn’t all bad,” he tells Cyclingnews. January 26,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 ENVE
offers its complete wheels with DT-Swiss or Chris King hubs. We chose
DT's because they are compatible with Shimano's CenterLock splined and
six-bolt rotors (with an adaptor) and can be converted without tools to
accept different thru-axle systems and drivetrains—so the ENVEs can
keep up as bike parts evolve. The SES 3.4s are muscular—they hardly
flex during the hardest efforts, and they track well through turns.
They feel rigid on anything but pristine tarmac, but damp small
vibrations well.
When ridden back-to-back with the Zipps, however, the ENVEs seemed more sluggish and less compliant, and didn't provide as much road feedback, which gave the ride a slightly numb quality. In addition, internal nipples make it harder to true the wheels or adjust spoke tension. However, the SES 3.4s cornered more precisely than the Zipps and weigh 35 grams less, despite their deeper rim profile. January 26,
2015 (bicycling.com)
|  Lance Armstrong says
he would dope all over again, if he had to.
In an interview with the BBC, Armstrong admitted that it’s the “honest answer” that “people don’t like to hear.” “If I was racing in 2015, no, I wouldn’t do it again, because I don’t think you have to,” he said. “If you take me back to 1995, when it was completely and totally pervasive, I’d probably do it again. People don’t like to hear that.” The former seven-time Tour de France winner went on to say that the era in which he chose to start doping was an “imperfect time,” and though it was a bad decision, ultimately it propelled the sport’s growth to greater heights. January 26,
2015 (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
 Rohan Dennis has
always been open to possibilities.
It wasn’t, however, until a week of racing in Canada that he began to believe that these possibilities might become realities. Looking out from the podium as overall winner of the 2013 Tour of Alberta, the 23-year-old Garmin-Sharp rider from Australia began to imagine a very different future for himself as a professional bike racer. Dennis is a two-time world champion and Olympic silver medalist in the team pursuit. He’s been an outstanding time trialist, finishing second (twice), third, fifth, and ninth in TTs at major races in 2013, and was 12th at the 2013 world championship in Florence. Add to this raw power his natural climbing prowess and you have a rare breed indeed. It’s the sort of alchemy that led Bradley Wiggins to a Tour de France win, and a path that Garmin boss Jonathan Vaughters sees his young prodigy following. January 26,
2015 (velonews.com)
 Don’t
mess with our Tour Down Under. That’s the message from Australians to
cycling’s governing body.
The UCI continues to discuss reforms to be introduced by 2017 that could include a major shakeup of the WorldTour calendar. One complaint is that the current racing calendar is too long and jumbled, running from January to October. Some want to hone the calendar into something tighter and more comprehensible, and that could mean a change of date for the Santos Tour Down Under. At this stage, there is nothing concrete, but there is growing consensus among some quarters that the Tour Down Under would better fit into a leaner WorldTour calendar if it were in late February instead of its current slot in January. No one in Australia, however, agrees with that logic. January 26,
2015 (velonews.com)
 This
year will be the year of the Hour Record. By the end of 2015 there
will, almost without doubt, be a new name next to the longest distance
ridden by a cyclist in 60 minutes on a track.
Interest in the Hour Record has rocketed since the UCI revised its rules to allow the use of modern track pursuit bikes, rather than the confusing old-fashioned machines previously specified. Jens Voigt was the first to set a new mark under the revised rules on September 18 in Switzerland. Media and fan interest in the event was huge, revitalising the feat that had lain dormant for a decade. Voigt’s record was swiftly beaten by its current holder, Matthias Brändle, and it is his distance of 51.850 kilometers that the selection of riders must now beat. January 26,
2015 (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
 The
radical points and ranking system implemented on January 1 lasted only
three weeks. Over the weekend, cycling’s governing body scratched its
changes and reverted to the WorldTour scales used through 2014 season.
“It has indeed become clear that the new ranking system was presenting teams and riders with considerable problems,” UCI President Brian Cookson wrote in a letter to teams and related associations, which was obtained by VeloNews. The UCI updated its road race regulations Saturday to eliminate the massive text overhaul it made in red print on January 1. The January 24 changes put the points and ranking system back in line with the one used since the WorldTour replaced the former World Cup in 2005. January 26,
2015 (velonews.com)
 Team
Sky has confirmed their line-up for the Challenge Mallorca with Bradley Wiggins now
set to miss the race and begin his 2015 campaign at the Tour of Qatar
instead.
Wiggins was originally down to race the set of one day races in Spain which start with the Trofeo Santanyi-Ses Salines-Campos on January 29 and continues on January 30 with the Trofeo Serra de Tramuntana. Riders are allowed to skip events within the challenge and Wiggins was set to miss the Trofeo Alcudia-Platja de Muro on January 31 before returning to action at the final race, the Trofeo Palma on February 1. January 26,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
| January
26, 2015
 At
first glance, Lance
Armstrong is as he always seemed: supremely fit,
ultra-confident, smart and eloquent.
But look into the whites of his eyes from a few feet away, as I did when we spoke at length in Texas last week, and you see it - a weariness, at times even a sadness. It is then you see the subtle but inevitable toll sport's most spectacular fall from grace has taken. January 26,
2015 (bbc.com)
 Former
UCI president Pat McQuaid
said his failure to secure the Irish nomination to contest the 2013
election to become president for another term still galls him.
Though he subsequently managed to secure a nomination to run, the Dubliner was ousted by Brian Cookson following months of bitter disputes. When questioned on the subject at the An Post Chainreaction team training camp in Calpe, Spain, McQuaid refused to be drawn on how his successor was performing since taking office 16 months ago. “That’s not something I really want to comment on,” offered McQuaid. “I know a lot of what’s going on and I’ve had a lot of contact from people on the inside and as I say I’d prefer to say nothing.” January 26,
2015 (stickybottle.com)
 “I'm
not sure why the organizers would not extend an invitation to my team,”
Airgas-Safeway principle Chris
Johnson said. “I have a very strong group of young riders.
Luis Lemus,
for example, won the most courageous rider jersey in last year's race
on the Mt. Diablo stage when he was riding for Jelly Belly, and for
them to not want to include Chris
Horner, who is a former winner of the race and a Grand
Tour champion, is hard to understand.
“I also think including national brands like Airgas and Safeway would have been a great thing for the race as they would have helped bring in a fresh audience,” Johnson said. “I respect that the organizers are in a hard position and recognize that there are a lot of qualified teams and deserving athletes, but I still don't agree with their decision to exclude us.” January 26,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Germany’s
André Greipel
has released his 2015 race program as far as the Giro d’Italia, a race
the sprinting star last tackled in 2010. Cycling’s most prolific winner
of 2014 will start his season in the Challenge Mallorca on Thursday.
The 32-year-old racked up 16 wins last year, including a stage of the Tour de France, a stage of the Eneco Tour, two stages in the Tour Down Under, Paris-Brussels and the national road-race title. His Belgian Classics campaign, though, was wrecked by an injury in Ghent-Wevelgem that meant he could only return to racing at the Tour of Turkey. January 26,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 "Limar’s
Velov Helmet & Sugoi’s new Zap Reflective Jacket are a couple
of new things I’m wearing with the idea that being not dead is a lot
more important than trying to look like a blacked out bad-ass… I mean
do you really think you look “mean” or tough to the general public
because the skin tight spandex you’re wearing is harder to see?
"So I roll up and immediately one of my friends says “hello sunshine, where’s your basket and streamers?”" January 26,
2015 (pezcyclingnews.com)
 "Hello
from Core Bike! We're here treading the garish carpets of Whittlebury
Hall near Silverstone for another year at the trade show where the UK
distributors of cycling's top end brands show off their wares.
There's lots to see, and we'll cover it all in detail in due course, but here are some highlights from our first trawl around the rooms. So stay tuned for more!" January 26,
2015 (road.cc)
January
25, 2015
|
 At
some point amid the ticker tape next Sunday night, the most valuable
player at the Super Bowl will be asked ‘what’s next?’ and – handsomely
compensated, of course – he will smile and deliver the immortal line:
“I’m going to Disneyland.”
For Tour de San Luis winner Dani Díaz, the next item on his agenda is rather more modest. Life in the America Tour is no theme park. “Well first of all, I’ll take a break, and then I’ll prepare for the Vuelta a Mexico in March,” Díaz said. “The objective for my team is to be high up in America Tour rankings.” January 25,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Mark Cavendish won
the stage 7 finale at the Tour de San Luis from a bunch sprint to the
finish line on Sunday. He won the sprint ahead of Fernando Gaviria, a
two-time stage winner this week, and Jakub Mareczeko.
Daniel Diaz won the overall title at the Tour de San Luis. He led the seven-day race since his stage 2 win atop Mirador del Potrero. He secured the overall win ahead of Radolfo Torres and Nairo Quintana. January 25,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 If
one knows Fernando
Gaviria's background, it is clearly no surprise that the
Colombian has been the big revelation of the Tour de San Luis. Hernando Gaviria and
José María del
Carmen Rendón were both cyclists and their children
have followed that tradition.
His older sister Juliana, was just five when she saw a neighbor riding a bike and followed him to his house just to see it. Today she is one of the best Colombian riders and has already been at the Olympics (London 2012), competing on the track. And she is married to Fabian Puerta who has won gold and bronze in the World Cup. January 25,
2015 (cyclingquotes.com)
 Michal Kwiatkowski
is trying to begin his purple patch of form later in 2015 than has been
the case in 2014, when the Pole was winning as early as February, to
ensure he can reach the Tour de France in peak shape to get results.
He is currently at the Tour de San Luis where he is taking things easy and jot trying to go with the lead groups on the climbs, as he wants to be in his best shape for the Ardennes, Tour and his World title defense. “I’m trying to do what I have to,” Kwiatkowski told Cyclingnews in San Luis on Friday. “You can see me on the finishes of the climbs going easy, because we’re trying for a stage win with Cav and trying to keep the group together." January 25,
2015 (cyclingquotes.com)
 Eva Lechner produced
one of her best ever rides in the mud of Hoogerheide to win her first
ever women's UCI World Cup race. The 29 year-old Italian had the power
and the form to handle the heavy conditions and won alone after
gradually distancing her rivals. The five-time Italian national
champion celebrated by punching the air in celebration.
Katerina Nash got the better of world road race champion Pauline Ferrand-Prevot to finish 18 seconds behind Lechner and so continue her run of consistent results. Ferrand-Prevot was third at 27 seconds. January 25,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
2014-15
Races
& Results.
Tour de San Luis 2015 - Jan 19-25 (Stages & Results), UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships - Jan 31 (Races), Dubai Tour 2015 - Feb 4-7 (Stages), Giro d'Italia 2015 - May 9-31 (Stages), Tour de France 2015 - July 4-26 (Stages), Santos Tour Down Under 2015 - Jan 18-25 (Results), Santos Women's Tour 2015 - Jan 17-20 (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),  Kleber Ramos Da Silva
won the sixth stage at the Tour de San Luis atop the Filo Sierras
Comechingones on Saturday. The Brazilian climber won the tactical
battle between a select group of climbers, beating Rodolfo Torres, his
teammate and race leader Daniel
Diaz, and Nairo
Quintana.
After finishing third on the day, Diaz maintained his lead in the overall classification heading into the stage 7 finale in San Luis on Sunday. The queen stage 6 started in Achiras and finished up the final climb to Filo Sierras Comechingones, a 16km final climb with an average gradient of 7.8 per cent. January
24, 2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 As
he negotiated the dirt track over the summit of the On crossing the
line atop the Filo Sierras Comechingones, Nairo Quintana’s
immediate analyzis of stage 6 of the Tour de San Luis was a relatively
downbeat one.
The race is almost certain to be his sole competitive outing in South America this season, and despite his protestations that he was some way short of his best in Argentina, the Movistar man clearly wished to mark the occasion with a stage victory. January
24, 2015 (cyclingnews.com)
|  Rohan Dennis jumps
clear on the climb to Paracombe to take the stage and the time bonus,
putting him in the ochre jersey. It was a slender lead but enough to
defend on Willunga Hill two days later.
The 2015 season has started with a tale of home advantage, an Aussie 1-2-3 on GC and local teams thriving. Dennis’s move shows the contradiction between cycling as a team sport and an individual one. He jumped clear and neither Richie Porte nor Tom Dumoulin could follow, perhaps they were cooked, certainly it meant riding in a headwind with Cadel Evans sitting on their wheel but this act saw the apprentice trump his master. However come Willunga and Dennis was the stronger of the two BMC riders, tracking Porte when nobody else could. January 25,
2015 (inrng.com)
 Rohan Dennis stayed
out of trouble on the final stage to win the UCI season-opening Santos
Tour Down Under by two seconds from fellow Australian Richie Porte on
Sunday.
The BMC Racing rider finished in the leading group behind stage winner Wouter Wippert to win the race, which concluded with a 90km stage through the streets of Adelaide. Dennis headed an all-Australian podium, with Porte second and his BMC teammate Cadel Evans 20 seconds back in third. Dennis took the leader’s ochre jersey on Thursday after a stunning win on top of Paracombe Hill, then managed to cling to the lead when Porte claimed the penultimate stage up the notorious Willunga Hill. January
25, 2015 (velonews.com)
 Wouter Wippert
out-kicked Heinrich
Haussler to take the final win of the Tour Down Under
Sunday in Adelaide. Rohan
Dennis finished safely in the field and took home the
final ochre jersey of the overall winner for BMC.
Richie Porte also finished in the front bunch after a late crash split the peloton with Marcel Kittel getting caught out. Cadel Evans also finished in the front group to secure third place overall in his final WorldTour race. January
25, 2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 David Pearce has
come to the end of his adventure down under with the final stage 6
circuit race in Adelaide. As always he sends in a wonderfull photo
collage that takes in the full atmosphere of the Australian WorldTour
race, Adelaide and the star of the show; the Santos Tour Down Under.
January 25,
2015 (pezcyclingnews.com)
 Kevin Pauwels and Sanne Cant claimed
their UCI cyclocross World Cup titles on Sunday following the final
race at Hoogerheide.
Mathieu Van der Poel won the men’s finale in the Netherlands, bolting away from the field on the first lap, staying away to the finish, and making himself the obvious favorite for a rainbow jersey at the upcoming UCI Cyclocross World Championships in Tabor. Cant, like Pauwels, finished fourth to lock up the series title with 246 points. Ellen Van Loy finished second with 204 and Katie Compton rounded out the podium in third with 187. January 25,
2015 (velonews.com)
 Laurens Sweeck came
mentally prepared to race against all odds today at the final stage of
the World Cup, taking a win over fellow countryman Michael Vanthourenhout
and French rider Fabien
Doubey.
Vanthourenhout, however, was able to seal the overall win of the World Cup by over 5 points over Sweeck. Wout van Aert took third overall despite having ridden in the Elite category for multiple rounds. January 25,
2015 (cxmagazine.com)
 Daniel Holloway is
the reigning U.S. elite men’s crit champion. In 2014 he won his fourth
title, so it’s hard to blame it all on luck or good looks. Easily the
most dominant crit racer in the U.S., Holloway’s 2014
season was a tour de force that saw him win 21 times, a massive victory
haul by any standard.
Tactically savvy and possessing a lethal finishing kick, Holloway is also feared for his ability to ride — and win out of — the break. He’s also a veteran rider of the European six-day circuit, and this week he lines up with some of the best madison racers in the world to contest the 104th Berlin Six-Day. January 25,
2015 (cyclingillustrated.com)
| January
25, 2015
 The
UCI has confirmed it will back track on the introduction of a new
points and ranking system for 2015 after protests from several major
teams. The WorldTour ranking system used until 2014 will be kept in
place during the 2015 season, while a study of the new rules is carried
out.
The UCI's decision was confirmed at the Tour Down Under via the distribution of a letter sent to teams, national federations and race organizers. The letter was signed by UCI President Brian Cookson. January 25,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Before
Cadel Evans
completed his last ever WorldTour race on Sunday with his third place
finish in the Tour Down Under, he was given a reminder of one of the
reasons why he will not miss the sport. In the final and sixth stage of
the race – a 91km circuit race in Adelaide – he narrowly avoided being
caught up in a mass pile up.
The crash happened right behind Evans, who still finished in the front group that fought out the stage, won by Dutchman Wouter Wippert in a sprint. Evans was relieved that he avoided the crash and also hold on to his third place, overall at 20 seconds to Australia winner Rohan Dennis. January 25,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 "The
racing in this year’s Tour Down Under has been as good as I can
remember. As always race director Mike
Turtur made only subtle changes to the course, but his
judgement was again spot on as those subtle changes proved decisive.
Every day we saw something unexpected from the break that stayed away on Stage One to Stage 6, where the world’s premier sprinter Marcel Kittel failed once again to win on a day tailor-made for him. We learned about both riders and the race." January 25,
2015 (theroar.com.au)
 Hot
off winning the Australian road title Peta Mullens has
claimed victory at the Pemberton round of the Subaru National Mountain
Bike Series.
Alongside Mullens, Cameron Ivory secured gold in round three of the Australian series in Pemberton, Western Australia Sunday’s race was the second leg of a double-header in the idyllic location in the South Western corner of Australia, with riders having to contend with tired legs and a new course. In an exciting elite Women’s race, Peta Mullens took the win and in the process claimed a rare victory in front of 2014 Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Bec Henderson. January 25,
2015 (sbs.com.au)
 Mathieu van der Poel
showed he is the favorite for next week's World Cyclo-cross
Championships in Tabor with a dominate display at home in the
Hoogerheide World Cup race.
"It was awesome, really nice," Van der Poel said. "The crowd were screaming and it was really nice." January 25,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 With
the vast flood of books reaching the Pez library weekly it is always a
pleasant surprise to receive something as novel as Peter Joffre Nye’s
latest book which, in fact, reads like a novel. It is, to date, the
only biography of an extraordinarily interesting individual who made
his mark in the boom time when the mad fashion of cycling gave way to
the mad fashion of motoring, his feet firmly in both worlds.
Albert Champion: Could anyone be better named than this man, born into poverty in Paris, who was a great professional athlete, a motorcycle dare-devil and a wildly successful American entrepreneur? January 25,
2015 (pezcyclingnews.com)
January
24, 2015
 Roman Kreuziger has
claimed he passed a lie detector test, which confirms he is not a liar
and that he has never doped. The Tinkoff-Saxo rider posted a photo of
himself undergoing the lie detctor test on his personal website,
explaining that he is doing everything possible to try to clear his
name.
The Czech rider has been embroiled in a long-running battle with the UCI over his blood parameters from 2011 and 2012, when he was with the Astana team. He was cleared of any wrong-doing by the Czech Olympic Committee in September but is now awaiting for the Court of Arbitration for Sport to hear the appeal hearing requested by the UCI. A date for a hearing has yet to be confirmed by CAS. January
24, 2015 (cyclingnews.com)
|
Kleber Ramos Da Silva
won the sixth stage at the Tour de San Luis atop the Filo Sierras
Comechingones on Saturday. The Brazilian climber won the tactical
battle between a select group of climbers, beating Rodolfo Torres, his
teammate and race leader Daniel
Diaz, and Nairo
Quintana.
After finishing third on the day, Diaz maintained his lead in the overall classification heading into the stage 7 finale in San Luis on Sunday. The queen stage 6 started in Achiras and finished up the final climb to Filo Sierras Comechingones, a 16km final climb with an average gradient of 7.8 per cent. January
24, 2015 (cyclingnews.com)
As
he negotiated the dirt track over the summit of the On crossing the
line atop the Filo Sierras Comechingones, Nairo Quintana’s
immediate analyzis of stage 6 of the Tour de San Luis was a relatively
downbeat one.
The race is almost certain to be his sole competitive outing in South America this season, and despite his protestations that he was some way short of his best in Argentina, the Movistar man clearly wished to mark the occasion with a stage victory. January
24, 2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Dani Diaz not
only managed to avoid any time loss to his direct rivals in yesterday's
time trial of the Tour de San Luis. In fact, he gained a few seconds
and now leads Rodolfo
Torres by 1.09 and Nairo Quintana by
1.25.
His second final victory after the 2013 win is closer. However, with today's ascent to the Filos de los Comechingones at 2010 meters above sea level, nothing is decided. January
24, 2015 (cyclingquotes.com)
 As
the lead-out rider for Mark
Cavendish, Australian Mark
Renshaw was as intrigued as anyone about young Colombian
sprinter Fernando Gaviria
who beat the Manxman twice at Tour de San Luis in Argentina.
Renshaw is racing the Tour Down Under but will re-unite with Cavendish at the Tour of Dubai on February 4-7. In Australia Renshaw has been riding as the lead-out man for Belgian Gianni Meersman. He said he has not seen replays of the sprints where Cavendish was beaten but he forecasts big things for Gaviria based on his wins in stage one and three of the Tour de San Luis. January
24, 2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 UCI
Cyclo-cross World Cup leaders Kevin
Pauwels and Sanne
Cant will aim to win their respective titles upon the
series’ sixth and final round at the GP Adrie van der Poel in
Hoogerheide, Netherlands on Sunday.
Cant is aiming to win her first World Cup title in the elite women’s category, and needs to finish no less than top five in order to do so. She is leading the series with 206 points, 29 points ahead of US champion Katie Compton and 30 points ahead of Ellen Van Loy. Pauwels is leading the elite men’s series with 370 points, 80 points ahead of Lars van der Haar and 87 points ahead of Corné Van Kessel. January
24, 2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Lars van der Haar
sharpened his form for the World Championships when he won today's race
in Ruchpen, his fifth victory of the year. Vincent Baestaens
and Jens Vandekinderen
completed the podium.
The former Dutch champion got some thorough training and earned the victory as a result. Vincent Baestaens and Jens Vandekinderen were happy with a place on the podium. The returning Dieter Vanthourenhout finished fourth in his first race after a long recovery from injury... January
24, 2015 (cyclingquotes.com)
2014-15
Races
& Results.
Santos Tour Down Under 2015 - Jan 18-25 (Stages & Results), Tour de San Luis 2015 - Jan 19-25 (Stages & Results), UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships - Jan 31 (Races), Dubai Tour 2015 - Feb 4-7 (Stages), Giro d'Italia 2015 - May 9-31 (Stages), Tour de France 2015 - July 4-26 (Stages), Santos Women's Tour 2015 - Jan 17-20 (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), As
with USAC’s selection committee, who announced the American’s Worlds
Team almost two weeks ago, the Canadian Cycling Federation didn’t wait
until the final World Cup to make their decision on who is going to
Tabor.
The biggest surprise in the selections could be the lack of representation from the Elite podiums of the 2014 Canadian Cyclocross National Championship. Of the six podium finishers, Catharine Pendrel, Mike Garrigan, Maghalie Rochette, Geoff Kabush, Sandra Walter and Michael van den Ham, only Elite Men’s winner Garrigan will be headed to the World Championship in the Czech Republic. By in large, the biggest reason for this discrepancy is the emphasis many of these riders put on mountain biking: Pendrel, Rochette and Kabush are preparing for the trail season ahead. January
24, 2015 (cxmagazine.com)
 Saturday's
Tour de San Luis Stage 6 departs Achiras (Cordoba) at 3:30pm local
(1:30pm U.S. Eastern, 19:30 CET) and is expected at the finish at Filo
Sierras Comechingones at around 6:35pm local (4:35pm U.S. Eastern,
22:35 CET). Tour de San Luis live video streaming
is expected for the start and finish and at other times during the stage
Note that live radio streaming should be available throughout the race. January
24, 2015 (cyclingfans.com)
|  Stage
6 start time: Saturday
13:30 CDT (7:00:00 PM PST);
Earliest live video: 13:30 CDT (7:00:00 PM PST); Estimated finish: 15:30 CDT (9:00:00 PM PST). January
24, 2015 (cyclingfans.com)
 There
will be no fairytale finish to Cadel
Evans' last Tour Down Under but the BMC team is on the
cusp of winning its first overall classification at the race with his
Australian heir apparent Rohan
Dennis.
The talented young Australia took over the race lead from fellow Hour Record aspirant Jack Bobridge with victory on stage three to Paracombe and despite being dropped by Richie Porte in the final 400 meters of the queen stage to Willunga Hill, he enters the final stage of the race on Sunday with a two second buffer on the Team Sky Tasmanian. January
24, 2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Bitter
disappointment was mixed with great anticipation for Riche Porte after
Saturday's near-miss at the Tour Down Under.
I'm in a much better mindset this year - I have been much more professional in my off season and I am healthy and so motivated going into this season. The Australian cycling star repeated his feat of a year ago, attacking near the end of the Willunga Hill climb to win the Santos Tour's famed Queen stage. But whereas he was not in the hunt for the overall title last year, this time he failed to overhaul race leader Rohan Dennis by just two seconds. Dennis most likely will hold that advantage through Sunday's final stage in Adelaide. January
24, 2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Richie Porte blew
the Santos Tour Down Under field wide open on Willunga Hill Saturday
but just failed to overhaul Rohan
Dennis as overall leader.
Just as he had in 2014, Porte launched a stunning attack on the second and final climb up the notorious ascent to win the 151.5km stage in just over three and a half hours. Dennis crossed the line nine seconds behind Porte to retain the leader’s ochre jersey by two seconds heading into Sunday’s final stage, a 90km circuit race through the streets of Adelaide. Ruben Fernandez finished third, ahead of Dennis’s teammate Cadel Evans and Tom Dumoulin. “I know this climb quite well, but I didn’t quite get the jersey, which is disappointing,” Porte said. January
24, 2015 (velonews.com)
 "Not
French, Belgian, Italian, Dutch, etc. They were Australian. To be
precise - they were from Adealide. That got me asking: how did they get
into being a WorldTour mechanic and helper for just one week a year?
It’s not an easy job, but for any cycling enthusiast, it’s a dream job
for most. Here are a few of their stories."
January
24, 2015 (cyclingtips.com.au)
 Organizers
of the Santos Tour Down Under named Australian track cyclist Anna Meares and
German road cyclist Jens
Voigt as the official ambassadors of the event at the
Legends’ Night Dinner held at the Adelaide Convention Centre on
Saturday.
As ambassadors of the Tour Down Under for the next two years, Meares and Voigt will be active in engaging the community and encouraging visitors to attend the WorldTour event. January
24, 2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 "When
I told the management that I wanted to do the Tour, I was surprised to
get told that I was on a list of 12 or 13 contenders. I was
disappointed but I got the same treatment as everyone else. I will have
to fight for my spot."
At the beginning of the 2015 season, Philippe Gilbert has outlined his goals in an interview with RTBF. Milan-Sanremo, the Ardennes classics, the maglia rosa in the Giro, the Worlds and the Tour. Gilbert is again ambitious for 2015. Since 2011 Gilbert has gone into almost every race as a potential winner. Places of honor or in the top 10 are not enough to meet the expectations of the Belgian fans. 2014 was another good example, with wins in the Amstel and the Tour of Beijing not enough to attract much national recognition. Looking at the numbers, Gilbert was the best Belgian rider but he was not recognized in the awards ceremonies at the end of the year. January
24, 2015 (cyclingquotes.com)
 The
Cofidis team held their official presentation in the indoor Roubaix
velodrome on Friday evening, with new team leader Nacer Bouhanni
making clear his intentions for 2015.
“I want to win and win as much as possible, be it in WorldTour races or other smaller races I ride,” he said according to Le Monde. “I've got my own lead out train and so I hope my results will reflect that. Every time I start a race, it'll be to win. My goal is to win, that's the only result that matters. Of course there some races that are especially close to my heart like Milan-San Remo and the Tour de France, where I hope to win some stages.” January
24, 2015 (cyclingnews.com)
| January
24, 2015
Roman Kreuziger has
claimed he passed a lie detector test, which confirms he is not a liar
and that he has never doped. The Tinkoff-Saxo rider posted a photo of
himself undergoing the lie detctor test on his personal website,
explaining that he is doing everything possible to try to clear his
name.
The Czech rider has been embroiled in a long-running battle with the UCI over his blood parameters from 2011 and 2012, when he was with the Astana team. He was cleared of any wrong-doing by the Czech Olympic Committee in September but is now awaiting for the Court of Arbitration for Sport to hear the appeal hearing requested by the UCI. A date for a hearing has yet to be confirmed by CAS. January
24, 2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 The
winner of the 2011 Amgen Tour of California, American Chris Horner, says
he is “disappointed” and “couldn’t believe” that his Airgas-Safeway
team did not receive an invitation to compete in the 2015 edition of
the race.
“I couldn’t believe it,” Horner told peloton in a phone interview Friday. “I don’t know what the promoters are thinking. They’ve obviously done harm to the race by not bringing me. You left the only current rider with a grand-tour résumé who was going to show up, and I’m a past champion there.” The Tour of California, which on Friday announced the 18 invited teams, does not publish or make public the specific criteria it uses to decide which teams it invites and which teams it does not invite. January
24, 2015 (pelotonmagazine.com)
 Before
the fourth stage of the Tour Down Under, Australia's UCI vice president
Tracey Gaudry
met with selected media for a roundtable discussion on various issues.
Foremost of those issues raised was the latest on womens' cycling - prompted by Cycling Australia's recent decision to drop its high performance program - and where the sport is heading on the ever-present issue of doping. January
24, 2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 One
year after admitting to using doping products during his time as a
rider, Stuart O’Grady
has spoken to Cyclingnews
about his story during the Tour Down Under as he launched his new
business, Stuart O’Grady Cycling.
He was nowhere to be seen at the 2014 edition of the race, preferring to keep his head down and let the public deal with the news. He says they have been nothing but supportive of him. “I wasn't really sure what to expect. [I was] not happy with myself with what had happened. Twelve months on it's black and white. It's been a really supportive crowd." January
24, 2015 (cyclingquotes.com)
 A
desperate attack by pre-race favorite Richie Porte saw him
steal the queen stage but he couldn’t quite reach the leader’s jersey
falling two seconds short as Rohan
Dennis hung on in fine style. The sentimental favorite Cadel Evans was also
well in attendance as was a simply huge Aussie crowd with our
photographer David Pearce
right in among them all to capture these great images of all the action.
January
24, 2015 (pezcyclingnews.com)
 Simon Gerrans has
recovered from a broken collarbone sustained in a mountain bike crash
in December and has joined his Orica-GreenEdge squad for a pre-season
training camp in Alicante, Spain. The sprinter has used the camp to
fine-tune his time trial position, and rebuild his strength and form
ahead of his targeted Spring Classics.
“Team camp has been a really positive experience,” Gerrans wrote in his latest blog entry on his website. “This is one of the few times that I have ever been at a camp this early in the season. I’ve enjoyed the opportunity to do long rides and some harder training alongside tweaking the time trial position, working on the bike set-up and adjusting a new pair of Shimano race shoes.” January
24, 2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Leatherman
has launched the Tread, a multi-tool that can be worn around the wrist.
The Tread can provide a total of 25 tools, as each of the stainless steel links can included two to three tool bits. There’s everything you might expect on a regular multi-tool, such as multiple screwdrivers, hex, Torx tools and more. The Tread is fully customizable, it comes apart so you can rearrange the links, add new ones, and adjust for wrist sizes. January
24, 2015 (road.cc)
January
23, 2015
Landis:
LeMond’s anti-doping stance on Lance Armstrong lacks consistency.
January
23, 2015 (cyclingnews.com)
|
 Adriano Malori won
the fifth stage of the Tour de San Luis, a 17.4km time trial in San
Luis. His winning time of 20:07 minutes was enough to give him the
victory ahead of road world champion Michal Kwiatkowski
and Hugo Houle.
Daniel Diaz maintained his lead in the overall classification. January
23, 2015
 Each
morning in San Luis, hours before the afternoon’s stage is due to
begin, a bearded figure in Katusha kit pedals discreetly out the side
entrance of the Vista Hotel, rolls down the Avenida Arturo Illia and
then swings left towards open countryside.
The distances, speeds and sheer intensity of the Tour de San Luis are not to be sniffed at, but for Luca Paolini, at least, preparing for the new campaign in Argentina is not just about what happens between the start and finish line every day. January
23, 2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 The
Belgian Court of Arbitration for Sport (BAS) ruled today that the
country's cycling federation must allow the registration of World
number three-ranked cyclo-cross rider Tom Meeusen, top U23
rider Laurens Sweeck
and Bart Wellens
for the UCI World Cup in Hoogerheide this weekend, and next week's UCI
Cyclo-cross World Championships in Tabor.
The trio were held out of the Belgian team for the races due to an investigation into their physician Chris Mertens, who is suspected of providing illegal ozone blood treatments to athletes. January
23, 2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 With
the Tour Down Under kicking off the WorldTour calendar and the Tour de
San Luis showcasing what form other pros have (and perhaps haven’t) got
after their winter training, the 2015 cycling season is finally here.
These season-opening races are also great for those who prefer the bikes to the people riding them, when we get to see the new machines in action. This included the long-awaited official appearance of Sram’s new wireless electronic groupset. Despite the sun rising on the new season and all the joys and positive news that brings with it, the week was still marred by more than one doping ban being issued. January
23, 2015 (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
 "When
heading into an event like the Cyclocross World Championships, one has
to consider an enormous amount of moving pieces. In this year’s
coverage, we examined USAC’s selection for the riders that would
represent the United States, including the late surge by Zach McDonald to
take one of the remaining spots. We also analyzed the decision of
riders such as Wout van
Aert and Mathieu
van der Poel, who both not only qualified for Worlds, but
had to consider the event they would compete in.
Today, we look at the lead up to the 2015 Cyclocross World Championship in Tabor from yet another perspective: a coach. If anyone knows something about moving pieces, it’s Cyclelution Owner Chris McGovern. Not only does he coach California Giant Berry Farms rider Tobin Ortenblad and Vanderkitten rider Carolina Gomez-Villafañe, who will be respectively representing the United States and Argentina at Hoogerheide and Worlds, but he will also act as the Argentinian Race Director while in the Czech Republic. Among other things, he’s also the owner of Real Wheels Bicycle Studio, a bike shop well-known for its hand-built wheels." January
23, 2015 (cxmagazine.com)
2014-15
Races
& Results.
Santos Tour Down Under 2015 - Jan 18-25 (Stages & Results), Tour de San Luis 2015 - Jan 19-25 (Stages & Results), UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships - Jan 31 (Races), Dubai Tour 2015 - Feb 4-7 (Stages), Giro d'Italia 2015 - May 9-31 (Stages), Tour de France 2015 - July 4-26 (Stages), Santos Women's Tour 2015 - Jan 17-20 (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),  There’s
been enough polemic about the 24 hour delay to the start of the US
Elite Cyclo-Cross National Championships due to concerns about the
grass and trees on the parcours in Austin Texas; so we’ll leave the
final arguments to the forum sitters and Tweeters and cut to the chase.
Jeremy Powers retained the National Champion’s jersey as he took his third national elite title on a sticky parcours from ever-green Jonathan Page and the man many were talking-up before the start, Zach McDonald; ever-smiling Powers took time to chat after his fine display. January
23, 2015 (pezcyclingnews.com)
 Since
his return to cyclocross after nearly ten years away from racing,
Northern California racers and fans have grown accustomed to seeing
cyclocross legend Don
Myrah in stripes.
Some years it has been the stars and stripes of the USA Cycling Cyclocross National Championships, while the last three years it’s been the blue and rainbow stripes of the Masters World Champion titles he earned in Gossau, Switzerland, and twice in Louisville, Kentucky in 2012 and 2013. January
23, 2015 (cxmagazine.com)
 Friday's
Tour de San Luis Stage 5, a 17.4km Individual Time Trial at San Luis,
gets underway at 3:34pm local (1:34pm U.S. Eastern, 19:34 CET) with the
departure of the first rider. Tour de San Luis live video streaming
is expected, possibly for the entire ITT.
January
23, 2015 (cyclingfans.com)
|  Richie Porte took
the final madcap dash up Willunga Hill on Saturday to win stage 5 and
take the overall lead at the Tour Down Under. Rohan Dennis will
wear the leader's ochre jersey into Sunday's final stage.
January
23, 2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Stage
5 start time: Friday
11:10 CDT (4:40 PM PST);
Earliest live video: 11:30 CDT (5:00 PM PST); Approximate finish: 15:02 CDT (8:32 PM PST). January
23, 2015 (cyclingfans.com)
 Three-time
world time trial champion Tony
Martin has said that he is pleased with the UCI and World
Anti-Doping Agency’s decision at the beginning of January to introduce
tougher bans for riders who test positive, saying that he believes “the
harder the penalty [for dopers], the better.”
The German was speaking at the Etixx – Quick-Step pre-season training camp in Calpe, Spain, and having recently endorsed a draft bill in Germany that aims to make doping a criminal offense, was encouraged that a variety of stronger punishments existed for varying doping offences, and not only for riders. “I’m really happy that it’s been made the law now in Germany, it’s a big sign for the anti-doping fight,” he told Cycling Weekly. January
23, 2015 (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
 The
Amgen Tour of California revealed the teams invited for its 2015 race,
May 10-17. Organizers announced Friday that the field has been
increased to include 18 international and domestic teams to contest the
eight-day race that will cover nearly 700 miles of California’s
roadways, highways, and coastlines.
Eight top-ranking UCI ProTeams will lead the pack, including Tinkoff-Saxo, whose sprinter Peter Sagan will return to California to try to add to his race record of 11 stage wins. “I have had some of my best results at the Amgen Tour of California, and I want to return every year because it just gets better and better,” said Sagan, who won the 2014 sprint competition. “The sprint competition will be tougher than ever because of all the talent this year, but I’m hoping to wear green again in the Golden State!” January
23, 2015 (velonews.com)
 Australia’s
Steele Von Hoff
timed his sprint to perfection to win the fourth stage of the Santos
Tour Down Under in the South Australian town of Mount Barker on Friday.
Von Hoff, riding for the local UniSA team, overpowered his rivals to win by a clear bike length from South African Daryl Impey and Dutchman Wouter Wippert. Recently crowned Australian road race champion Heinrich Haussler left his run just too late, finishing fourth for his IAM Cycling team as the rest of the peloton trailed in after a mass pileup 150 meters from the line. Rohan Dennis kept the ochre leader’s jersey, seven seconds ahead of teammate Cadel Evans with Dutchman Tom Dumoulin a further two seconds back. Impey, who gained a time bonus in the intermediate sprint, jumped six places in the overall standings and is now 13 seconds behind Dennis in fourth. January
23, 2015 (velonews.com)
 It
was a rough start to the 2015 season for American Lawson Craddock, who
crashed out of the Santos Tour Down Under on Friday.
The 22-year-old Texan ended up in a local hospital with broken bones after crashing heavily in the opening kilometers of Friday’s fourth stage. According to Giant-Alpecin, Craddock suffered a fractured wrist, sternum, and rib. He was transported to a local hospital, and is expected to spend at least the night under the care of Australian doctors. January
23, 2015 (velonews.com)
 Already
first in the Australian road race championships, fifth in the People’s
Choice Classic and eighth and fourth on stages of the Santos Tour Down
Under, Heinrich Haussler
believes that he should be in the running for what would be his second
win of the new season on the final leg of the WorldTour race.
Haussler was fourth in Friday’s bunch sprint at the end of stage four and is determined to improve on that when the race concludes. “The legs are good and once again not much was missing to get the win,” he said. “But sprints in cycling will never be an exact science. Sunday I still have a good chance for victory.” January
23, 2015 (cyclingtips.com.au)
 Davide Formolo is
starting his second season on the WorldTour but he is already widely
regarded as one of the sport’s top future climbers. Cyclingnews caught
up with the 22-year-old at the Cannondale-Garmin team launch in New
York City in January where he spoke about his new start under Jonathan Vaughters’
team, his dream of winning the Giro d’Italia, and getting to know his
idol and new teammate Ryder
Hesjedal.
Formolo had already visited New York for 10 days earlier in the off-season with his girlfriend. The pair roamed the city as tourists taking in the sights from the Empire State Building and visiting Times Square, Ground Zero and Central Park. January
23, 2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Nairo Quintana is
warming up for the Tour de France racing the ‘small’ Argentinean climbs
at the Tour de San Luis. He aims to become Colombia’s first Tour winner
in July, which could be easier for him since his family lives at 9800
feet.
“He has the watts, the VO2, and all you need to be a grand tour star, but what sets him apart and gives him his advantage is that he grew up and lives in Colombia, and his parents come from a place higher than 3000 meters [9800 feet],” team Movistar coach, Mikel Zabala told VeloNews. January
23, 2015 (velonews.com)
January
22, 2015 (cyclingnews.com)
| January
23, 2015
 Floyd Landis has
questioned Greg LeMond’s
consistency surrounding Lance
Armstrong and doping bans, telling Cyclingnews that
“inconsistent treatment of riders who doped is troubling and undercuts LeMond’s argument
that Armstrong
should be banned for life.”
“And for those who still have faith in the Indurain years, consider LeMond's comments last year that Pantani was one of the greatest ever. I think that should speak for itself. His wildly varying positions on different dopers are bizarre and indefensible. Greg needs to decide if he’s anti-doping or anti-Lance.” Landis, who is in the midst of a US whistleblower legal suit, also told the website that the roles of Dr Geert Leinders at Rabobank and at Team Sky, and the alleged conduct of the Scientific Advisor and UCI doctor Mario Zorzoli raises series questions over the credibility in the running of the sport. January
23, 2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 The
BMC Racing Team today announced it has signed former Olympic champion Samuel Sánchez for
the 2015 season. The Spaniard had a strong season in 2014 with the
team, taking sixth overall in the Vuelta a España and fifth at Il
Lombardia, but was unable to come to an agreement with BMC at the end
of the season.
His agent had been in contact with Lampre-Merida and other teams, but the year ended without a deal, and he was facing an uncertain future in the sport. Sánchez said he was happy to finally settle back in with the American squad. January
23, 2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 It’s
testimony to the Tour Down Under’s improved status that we’re no longer
debating whether it’s a bike race or a glorified training camp. It’s a
race and if you don’t find it compelling, no worries, it’s not
compulsory to love the Tour Down Under any more that you should get
excited by the GP de Montréal or the Tour of the Basque Country.
But there’s a problem with this new found status as a serious race: it’s too early. The World Tour starts in January but vanishes in February. January
23, 2015 (inrng.com)
 Big
rides only raise expectations. BMC Racing’s brass are so impressed with
their young Australian prospect Rohan
Dennis they have already penciled him in for a possible
Tour de France start this summer.
Up first is an hour record attempt February 8 in Switzerland, but BMC has big plans for the 24-year-old from Adelaide. “We’re not going to throw him into the Giro this year,” BMC general manager Jim Ochowicz told VeloNews Friday morning. “After his hour record attempt, he’ll step back a bit, and we’ll ease him back into racing with some stage races. We’ll see about the Tour, but he’s on our long list.” January
23, 2015 (velonews.com)
 Winston-Salem,
North Carolina, has been picked as a possible home for an elite
national cycling training site, according to a report in the Winston-Salem Journal.
Kevin Loughery, a spokesman for USA Cycling, confirmed to the newspaper on Thursday that a 42,000-square-foot building in Winston-Salem would be the site's centerpiece. The site, which Loughery said is in the "pre-approval stage" of being designated a US Olympic Committee training site, would feature indoor training equipment, a sports nutrition program and temporary housing for USA team cyclists and coaches, according to the report. January
23, 2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 There
are so many things that make the Tour Down Under one of the best World
Tour races of the calendar to visit – from the amazing scenery to the
quality racing but the TDU wouldn’t be the race it is today without the
amazing fans.
David Pearce played the fan on Stage 4 and caught up with some of the crowd that make that atmosphere happen. January
23, 2015 (pezcyclingnews.com)
 SRAM
Red? No …SRAM Force? No …SRAM … wait, where are the cables? If you have
taken a glimpse of the “select” bikes inside the Ag2r camp at the 2015
Tour Down Under, you likely had the same thoughts we did — that being,
SRAM’s back at it, testing its long-awaited electronic group in the pro
ranks. Some of the latest developments at SRAM can quickly be inferred
from the photos by our shooter at the race, Yuzuru Sunada, as
well as the so-called spy shots making the rounds on social media this
week.
Fully wireless shifting has been a working project for over a year since it was last spotted at the 2014 Tour of California. It was being tested then, and WorldTour team Ag2r–La Mondiale is also testing it at the 2015 TDU. But during this go-around SRAM has done away with the wires we saw in California, which were likely fakes to confuse competitors. January
23, 2015 (pelotonmagazine.com)
January
22, 2015
Rasmussen
testimony implicates Mario Zorzoli, UCI’s chief medical officer.
January 22,
2015 (velonews.com)
LeMond
on Armstrong: ‘If anybody deserves a lifetime ban, it’s this guy’.
January 22,
2015 (velonews.com)
|
 Daniel Diaz extended
his lead in the Tour de San Luis on the soaring mountain finish to Alto
el Amago, putting his second overall victory in the race nearer to his
reach.
The Argentinean topped teammate Alex Diniz, Colombia's Rodolfo Torres and defending champion Nairo Quintana by nearly a minute on the mountain top finish. Juan Arango, Giacomo Berlato, Dario Diaz and Juan Pablo Valencia were the fortunate few to make the day's long breakaway, gaining up to six minutes at one point during the 142.5km stage. January 22,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 On
and off the bike, his every move since his arrival in Argentina has
been scrutinized, yet as is his wont, Nairo Quintana seems
to keep his head when all about him are losing theirs at the Tour de
San Luis.
At stage starts, for instance, his Movistar team is the lone squad forced to cordon off some space around their van, though, invariably, Quintana rolls down the window to salute the local fans and smile shyly for their photos. Each day, a scrum – or a rolling maul, perhaps – forms around Quintana as he soft-pedals to the signing on rostrum. "I touched Nairo, I touched Nairo!" one teenage girl shouted to a friend at the start in Villa Dolores on Thursday. Only the occasional home rider comes close to matching the cheers that erupt when Quintana's name is announced.. January 22,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 One
reason oft-cited by riders for choosing the Tour de San Luis over the
Tour Down Under is that the Argentinian event is a preparation race
while those who travel to Australia aren’t so much dipping their toes
into the season as plunging headlong into WorldTour competition.
It’s a fine theory, but one that felt stretched to its limits on the slopes of the Mirador del Potrero on Tuesday afternoon. True, the strength in depth of the San Luis peloton does not match that in Adelaide, but for more than half of their number this race is far from the first event of their season, but is perhaps the most important. January 22,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
2014-15
Races
& Results.
Santos Women's Tour 2015 - Jan 17-20 (Stages & Results), Santos Tour Down Under 2015 - Jan 18-25 (Stages), Tour de San Luis 2015 - Jan 19-25 (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),  For
the second sprint running at the Tour de San Luis, Mark Cavendish had
to settle for second best. In Villa Mercedes two days ago, Cavendish left his
sprint too late and in Juana Koslay on Wednesday, a moment’s hesitation
from his lead-out proved costly. On each occasion, the acceleration of
the 20-year-old Colombian fast man Fernando
Gaviria was simply irresistible.
As he had done on the first stage, Gaviria opted to anticipate Cavendish in the sprint, opening his effort early on the slightly uphill finish and quickly opening a winning gap. Like Cavendish, Gaviria comes from a track background, and after descending from the podium, the Manxman recognized a talent that had been honed on the boards. January 22,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Tejay van Garderen
is entering his eighth year in the professional peloton and it could be
said that at 26 years-old, that it is his most important. We caught up
with Tejay
at a recent BMC training camp in Spain to talk; Tour, Nibali, Lance, food and US
cycling.
Cadel Evans will retire this year leaving the way clear for Tejay to take the BMC helm in the Tour de France, his rise up the team hierarchy has been steady and sure. This year we should find out how high he can climb the Tour ladder. January 22,
2015 (pezcyclingnews.com)
 Europcar
team manager Jean-René
Bernaudeau says that he is confident that his team will
survive into 2016. Bernaudeau
has been busy courting new prospective sponsors after Europcar
announced, last October, that they would pull their sponsorship at the
end of 2015, after five seasons with the team.
“I have had several discussions with potential partners for 2016. Budgets are being considered. I am not worried, no, I'm still very confident,” he said in an interview with L’Équipe. January 22,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 "Love
them or hate them, there's no doubting the benefit of downing a quick
energy gel at vital points of a ride or race. Here's our guide to what
for look for, as well as a few of our favorites."
Gels are useful for delivering a quickly absorbed hit of energy when your body needs it. There is however a huge number of different products on the market. More and more flavors are becoming available and additives such as nitrate and caffeine often feature too. So what’s best? January 22,
2015 (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
 Thursday's
Tour de San Luis Stage 4 departs Villa Dolores at 2:44pm local (12:44pm
U.S. Eastern, 18:44 CET) and is expected at the finish at Alto El Amago
at around 6:35pm local (4:35pm U.S. Eastern, 22:35 CET). Tour
de San
Luis live video streaming
is expected for the start and finish and at other times during the
stage.
Note that live radio streaming should be available throughout the race. January
22, 2015 (cyclingfans.com)
|
 Stage
4 start time: Thursday
11:30 CDT (5:00:00 PM PST);
Earliest live video: 14:00 CDT (7:30:00 PM PST); Approximate finish: 15:20 CDT (8:50:00 PM PST). January
22, 2015 (cyclingfans.com)
 It’s
only January but rider retirement is in the news whether it’s Cadel Evans’
imminent halt or Nick
Nuyen’s recent retirement. Nuyens has gone from
the peloton to the supermarket, swapping the Carrefour de l’Arbre for a
branch of Carrefour Market, a change of career to file away for a list
of strange retirement options. Evans
is set to become a brand ambassador for BMC bicycles.
The fairytale scenario was Cadel Evans winning his final Tour Down Under. Now local rider Rohan Dennis is in the race lead and looks very strong with only Willunga Hill expected to shape the race. January 22,
2015 (inrng.com)
 Rohan Dennis
out-kicked all the contenders at the Tour Down Under Thursday to take
the uphill sprint in Paracombe, setting up a BMC one-two finish as
teammate Cadel Evans
followed him across the line. Giant-Alpecin's Tom Dumoulin was
third.
Dennis benefited from tense moments in the final kilometres as all the general classification favorites eyed each other approaching the 1km banner. Dennis launched his attack directly under the banner and got an immediate gap as the others considered briefly that he may have simply been trying to set up Evans, BMC's announced team leader. By the time Richie Porte, Dumoulin and AG2R's Domenico Pozzovivo reacted to Dennis' move, the 24-year-old Australian was too far up the road to bring back. January
22, 2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 "When
a legend is in town and an opportunity presents itself to have an early
morning chat with them you make the required effort and force yourself
out of bed. This is magnified when the said person was a huge
inspiration to you from the first time you saw him ride in the 1985
Tour, possibly sacrificing his own chance of winning on team orders to
allow Hinault
to win.
The legend I refer to is of course Greg Lemond who went on to win 3 Tours. During the chat to a handful of other media Greg talked about Lance Armstrong, doping and the how he still suffers the effects from accidentally being shot in the back with a shotgun. It was a lovely 30 minutes and a great start to the day." January 22,
2015 (pezcyclingnews.com)
 Alex Howes' third
trip to Australia has already been a success. The 27-year-old
Cannondale-Garmin rider, making his Tour Down Under début, had
previously only caught glimpses of the some of Australia's best known
animals but has been inundated with them on this visit.
"[I've seen] much more wildlife in Australia, first time around I didn't see any kangaroos," Howes told Cyclingnews on the start of stage 3. "This time round I've seen mobs. Also some koalas." January 22,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 William Clarke spent
the day in the 143km Santos Tour Down Under Stage 3 break to earn the
Most Competitive Rider jersey.
The Drapac rider was the last of the original quartet to survive but was caught by the peloton with just nine kilometres left to race. Along the way he picked up the three intermediate sprints. January 22,
2015 (sbs.com.au)
 Against
the clock, Rohan Dennis
has had his fair share of second places in the last 12 months including
the silver medal at the Australian national championships. After his
attack in Paracombe to claim the second stage of the Tour Down Under
and with it the overall lead, Dennis
claimed only his second victory since winning atop Mount Diablo at the
Tour of California last May and opened his 2015 account with BMC Racing
Team.
"My only win last year, beside the worlds team time trial, was a road race in America," Dennis told reporters after the stage. "So maybe I need to move away from time trials and do more time trialling. In saying that, my time trialling helped me today to get into that mode of thinking about a threshold and attacking with a turn of speed." January 22,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Seven
wildcards for Catalunya, South Africa hosts Continental championships.
January 22,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Daryl Impey went
close to victory on stage two of the Tour Down Under, with only Juan Jose Lobato passing
him before the line with a powerful late surge in Sterling.
In the absence of 2014 winner Simon Gerrans, Impey is team leader for Orica-GreenEdge and is focused on the fight for overall victory. His second place was a consequence of fighting for the precious time bonuses that could decide the final overall classification on Sunday. Impey is now fourth overall, seven seconds behind race leader Jack Bobridge. He is four seconds behind Lobato, who is arguably his biggest rival in the overall classification. “Unfortunately there was just one guy faster than me. Hats off to him, there was nothing more we could have done today,” Impey said in a statement from the Australian team. January
21, 2015 (cyclingnews.com)
|
January
22, 2015
 Cadel Evans rolled
past Rohan Dennis
beyond the finish line in Paracombe at the end of stage three of the
Tour Down Under on Thursday and gave his BMC teammate the thumbs up.
As well he might: the two Australians are now first and second on general classification, with Dennis in the leader’s ochre jersey. And yet it hadn’t gone exactly to plan. Dennis was supposed to attack at the foot of the climb, but the run-in was fast and hectic and the 24-year-old found himself too far back. Evans followed Richie Porte when he accelerated, but gradually Dennis and the others came back, then Dennis jumped, won the stage and took the jersey. Evans is second at seven seconds. A thumbs-up from his leader was the most he could expect, said Dennis, because Evans “is a man of few words.” January 22,
2015 (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
 Testimony
from former professional racer Michael
Rasmussen implicates Italian Mario Zorzoli, the
UCI’s chief medical officer, as having been complicit to doping during
the sport’s darkest period of cheating.
Rasmussen’s testimony was made public Thursday after a three-member panel of the American Arbitration Association for Sport rendered its decision in the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency’s case against Dr. Geert Leinders, imposing a lifetime ban for doping violations committed from 1996 through 2009, while he served as the chief team doctor for the Rabobank team. The investigation into Leinders began with the discovery of evidence by USADA in 2012 during the course of its investigation of doping in cycling, including testimony from American rider Levi Leipheimer, who rode for Rabobank from 2002 through the 2004 season. Rasmussen’s testimony implies impropriety within the UCI — specifically with Zorzoli, the UCI medical chief. January 22,
2015 (velonews.com)
 Former
Rabobank and Team Sky doctor Geert
Leinders has been handed a lifetime ban by the US
Anti-Doping Acency, Anti-Doping Denmark (ADD), and Anti-Doping
Authority Netherlands (Dopingautoriteit). A three-man panel found the
Belgian guilty of multiple doping violations from his time as chief
team doctor at the Rabobank team.
The hearing took place on August 14, 2014. Neither Leinders nor any of his representatives attended. January 22,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 No
gifts — that was once Lance
Armstrong’s line. But don’t expect any mercy, at least not
when Greg LeMond
is concerned, regarding the possibility of reduction to Armstrong’s lifetime
racing ban.
Speaking with journalists Thursday as part of a visit to the Santos Tour Down Under, LeMond said Armstrong should never see a reduction in the lifetime racing ban handed down in 2012 as part of the USADA case against the Texan. “If there’s anyone who deserves a ban, it’s this guy,” LeMond said. “What’s the point? So he can race an amateur race? It’s not like he tested positive once, and came back clean. This is repeated cover-ups and bribes. There was nothing like it in the history of cycling.” January 22,
2015 (velonews.com)
 Every
year in the world of cycling, there are great athletic performances,
some bad crashes, a few controversial decisions, maybe a scandal or
two, a number of sponsorship problems and other unexpected
developments. If it’s an Olympic year, the Games provide some extra
excitement to an already highly charged season of racing.
But this season of professional cycling - which kicked off this week at the UCI WorldTour’s Tour Down Under in Australia and the UCI AmericaTour’s Tour de San Luis in Argentina - is different. We don’t have to wait; we already know five of the major topics we’ll be talking about for the next 12 months. January 22,
2015 (pelotonmagazine.com)
 Alex Dowsett’s Hour
Record attempt has been indefinitely postponed his Movistar team has
announced. Dowsett
was due to take on the hour on February 27 but sustained a broken
collarbone in a training crash last week. Movistar says they will
re-evaluate the situation once Dowsett
has recovered before they begin the process of preparing for an attempt.
“Following Dowsett’s crash last Tuesday, his collarbone fracture and the subsequent surgery... both rider and squad consider it would not be realistic to carry on with February 27 as a goal,” the team said in a statement. January 22,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 The
actual cost of the one-day postponement of the USA Cycling Cyclo-cross
National Championship may never be known, but one informal survey
estimated the impact at more than a quarter million dollars.
Amateur racer and fan Matthew Montesano watched the drama unfold from his home in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and created the online survey, which drew 122 responses, making up 44% of the racers who stayed for the final day of racing. 81 racers failed to start the rescheduled junior, U23 and elite races, which were moved from Sunday, January 11 to the following day after the Austin City Parks and Recreation department (PARD) put a stop to the event citing unexpected damage to the park. January 22,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
January
21, 2015
|
 Mark Cavendish lost
his second straight sprint in 2015 to 20-year-old Fernando Gaviria.
Just as in stage one, the Colombian, riding for his national team,
jumped Cavendish
early and held him off for stage three of the Tour de San Luis in Juana
Koslay, Argentina.
Cavendish crossed the line gesturing in complaint at something that happened in the sprint, but his complaints fell upon deaf ears by the jury, and once more Etixx-Quickstep had to be content with second after a hard day's work. January
21, 2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 A
mouth-watering four-way tussle for the Tour de France title and Bradley Wiggins's
challenges on the Paris-Roubaix and the hour record promise to make
2015 a vintage year for cycling.
Defending champion Vincenzo Nibali, 2013 winner Chris Froome, double champion Alberto Contador and the indefatigable Nairo Quintana are expected to fight it out for the yellow jersey on a Tour tailor-made for pure climbers. Spaniard Contador is planning to take the toughest road to Paris as he will also compete in the Giro d'Italia, looking to become the first rider since the late Marco Pantani in 1998 to achieve that particular double. "He knows how to get ready for them and if anyone can back up the Giro/Tour then I would say he's the guy to do it," Briton Froome told Cycling Weekly. January
21, 2015 (sbs.com.au)
 Cycling’s
multi-layered anti-doping rules may create headaches for Lampre-Merida
when it deals with Diego
Ulissi. A rival team might even have the opportunity to
sign him after his doping ban ends in March.
The Tuscan cyclist won two stages in the 2014 Giro d’Italia. Anti-doping tests, however, later revealed that he over-used asthma drug Salbutamol in the 11th stage to Savona. Switzerland, where Ulissi lives and is licensed, issued a back-dated nine-month ban Monday. It took into account the time he already sat out last summer and allows him to return to racing on March 28. Ulissi could return in time for the Ardennes classics and the Giro d’Italia, and thanks to a contract technicality, he could do so in Lampre’s blue and pink racing kit. The Italian team is one of 11 first-division teams that signed up for the voluntary group, the Movement for Credible Cycling (MPCC). The teams must follow the group’s anti-doping rules, which provide additional, stricter sanctions than those written by cycling’s governing body, the UCI. January
21, 2015 (velonews.com)
 Peta Mullens has the
Australian road champion’s jersey on her back, a deal with one of the
top women’s road teams, Wiggle Honda, and enviable form on the road but
that is not enough to make the determined 26-year-old Victorian turn
her back on the obstacle-strewn path of mountain biking.
Mullens has delivered a swag of road results in the past three months, starting off with the Melbourne Kermesse Championships, where she beat a field peppered with some of Australia’s top riders even after rushing to the start line from a win at a mountain bike race that morning. She also took out a stage of the Mitchelton Bay Cycling Classic and second place in the criterium at the Mars Cycling Australia Road National Championships before winning the elite women’s road race. January 21,
2015 (cyclingtips.com.au)
 Belgian
cyclo-cross rider Tom
Meeusen is considering legal action after being
excluded from the national team for the World Championships. Meeusen and two
others - Laurens Sweeck
and Bart Wellens
– were all deemed ineligible for the event, which begins on January 31
in Tabor, Czech Republic.
"The team has hired a lawyer. I'm not really aware of the investigation I have not heard about it for months,” Meeusen told ATV. “At the BK (Belgian Championships) last year, a week before it, I had to give a DNA sample. I don't know if there's anything else I have to do." January
21, 2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Amaury
Sport Organization has presented the route for the inaugural Tour de
Yorkshire at an unveiling in Bridlington, the location for the race’s
first stage. The race will be held between May 1-3, with three
individual stages as well as a women’s criterium on May 2.
The events forms part of the legacy established after the Tour de France started in Yorkshire in 2014. January
21, 2015 (cyclingnews.com)
2014-15
Races
& Results.
Santos Women's Tour 2015 - Jan 17-20 (Stages & Results), Santos Tour Down Under 2015 - Jan 18-25 (Stages), Tour de San Luis 2015 - Jan 19-25 (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),  Every
season offers new opportunities, and for some, like Cadel Evans, the end
of the road. For Luis
León Sánchez, 2015 represents a new lease on life.
The 31-year-old Spanish all-rounder is back in the bigs after one season with second-tier Spanish team Caja Rural thanks to a lifeline from Astana. After a tumultuous 2013 season, when new doubts resurfaced about alleged links to notorious Spanish doctor Eufemiano Fuentes, Sánchez was bought out of his contract by his then-Belkin team, and his future was uncertain at best. Astana, however, held no such qualms about Sánchez, and picked him up for the 2015 season.. January
21, 2015 (velonews.com)
 When
the Tour de France route was announced, Chris Froome
considered riding the Giro d’Italia instead. “But given where I am
right now in my career, given that I am 29 and coming into my best
years, and given that the Tour de France is the biggest race for us, it
would be a loss to miss it,” he explained.
“Having said that, the Giro this year is a great route for me. I would have liked to have been there, but if you’re realistically looking to win both, it’s a big ask.” Alberto Contador has said that he will ride both. “I’d say he’s set himself a very difficult task,” said Froome. “It’s not impossible and Alberto is the rider who knows how to do it. He’s been winning these races since 2007, so he knows how to get himself ready for a race like the Tour de France. I know how hard it is to do two Grand Tours back-to-back, and go for the win, so my priority remains the Tour.” January
21, 2015 (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
 Wednesday's
Tour de San Luis Stage 3 departs Concaran at 2:24pm local (12:24pm U.S.
Eastern, 18:24 CET) and is expected at the finish at Juana Koslay at
around 6:35pm local (4:35pm U.S. Eastern, 22:35 CET). Tour de
San Luis
live video streaming
is expected for the start and finish and at other times during the
stage.
Note that live radio streaming should be available throughout the race. January
21, 2015 (cyclingfans.com)
On a day that seemed to favor Movistar and its climbing ace Nairo Quintana, Daniel Díaz scored a win for the host country, Argentina, in stage 2 of Tour de San Luis. The Tuesday stage from La Punta to Mirador de Potrero finished with a 4.8km climb that averaged 6.7 percent. Díaz wasted no time, attacking early on the Mirador after a select group of climbers split off the front of the peloton. He brought along Rodolfo Torres, but in the end it was all Díaz, who attacked the final kilometer and won the day handily with a gap of six seconds. The winner, a 25-year-old Argentine, won the 2013 edition of the Tour de San Luis. Díaz is also Argentina’s national road champion.. January 20,
2015 (velonews.com)
The voice of the speaker at the summit of the Mirador del Potrero rose several decibels when the grainy images on the big screen behind her showed a familiar figure in a Movistar jersey bridging across to the two leaders. It was not, as she initially thought, Nairo Quintana, however, but his younger brother Dayer, and shortly afterwards, he too fell back, unable to match the pace of stage winner Dani Diaz. It was that kind of day for the Quintana brothers on stage 2 of the Tour de San Luis. The external expectation was that Nairo Quintana would sparkle on the slopes of the Mirador del Potrero, but before the race began he had warned that he was still some way short of his best. January 20,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
|
 Stage
3 start time: Wednesday
11:00 CDT (4:30:00 PM PST);
Earliest live video: 13:30 CDT (7:00:00 PM PST); Approximate finish: 14:41 CDT (8:11:00 PM PST). January
21, 2015 (cyclingfans.com)
 Spain’s
Juan Jose Lobato
Del Valle swooped in over the last 50 meters to win the
second stage of the Tour Down Under in the South Australian town of
Stirling on Wednesday.
Lobato Del Valle came from 10th place in the closing stages to fly past South African Daryl Impey at the end of the long uphill finish and win in 3 hours, 42 minutes, 24 seconds. His Movistar teammate Gorka Izaguirre Insausti was third, just ahead of Dutchman Tom Dumoulin. “It was a very difficult finish for me but I managed to come through towards the end, and it’s a good win for the team,” Lobato Dell Valle said. January 21,
2015 (velonews.com)
Daryl Impey went
close to victory on stage two of the Tour Down Under, with only Juan Jose Lobato passing
him before the line with a powerful late surge in Sterling.
In the absence of 2014 winner Simon Gerrans, Impey is team leader for Orica-GreenEdge and is focused on the fight for overall victory. His second place was a consequence of fighting for the precious time bonuses that could decide the final overall classification on Sunday. Impey is now fourth overall, seven seconds behind race leader Jack Bobridge. He is four seconds behind Lobato, who is arguably his biggest rival in the overall classification. “Unfortunately there was just one guy faster than me. Hats off to him, there was nothing more we could have done today,” Impey said in a statement from the Australian team. January
21, 2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 The
top Australian cyclist is back in Europe as he continues to recover
from a broken collarbone.
No racing at home this month means Gerrans can have an extended block of pre-season training before the April Ardennes classics, his first major goals of the year. Gerrans is the glaring absentee at the Tour Down Under, the first WorldTour race of the year. The Orica-GreenEDGE team leader was the defending champion at the TDU. January 21,
2015 (sbs.com.au)
 The
absence of German sprinter and leader Andre Greipel at
this year’s Tour Down Under has increased the pressure on the
Lotto-Soudal riders in the six stage event, rather than taken it off
them, according to his Australian teammate Adam Hansen.
Hansen, 33, said were Greipel in this year’s race, the Belgian team would still have been called upon to work hard in chasing breaks and leading him in the bunch sprints. Yet as history shows, they knew Greipel would usually come up trumps with a win. However, without him in the Tour Down Under, Hansen says the pressure is now on him and his teammates to produce a result in the first World Tour event of the year. January
21, 2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Juan Jose Lobato
started his season with second place behind Marcel Kittel on
Sunday night at the flat People's Choice Classic but proved to be the
fastest on the selective Stirling circuit at the Tour Down Under even
after flatting on the final lap. The Movistar rider timed his sprint to
perfection as he came around Daryl
Impey to claim his first WorldTour win while teammate Gorka Izagirre's
third place made it an occasion to remember.
"I am very content to start the season like this and I am grateful for my team," Lobato told reporters after the stage. "I've had two years of good results, and I couldn't started off 2015 any better. January
21, 2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Stage-hunting
specialist Domenico
Pozzovivo entered the 2015 UCI WorldTour season as one of
a handful of pre-race favorites lining up at the 17th edition of the
Tour Down Under (TDU) in Adelaide this week.
However, the diminutive Italian suffered a fractured left wrist when he collided with an automobile during a pre-race training ride last Thursday. Now bandaged and bruised, the five-foot-five, 117-pound 32-year-old from Policoro must survive the first stages of the six-day race in an effort to recover in time for what he hopes is a shot atop the infamous Willunga Hill at the end of TDU stage 5. “I don’t think it changes our strategy, and we will still try to do our best,” Pozzovivo told VeloNews prior to the start of the 150.5km stage 2 from Unley to Stirling. “I still think the stage for me is Saturday on Willunga, and today and tomorrow I will try to rest with the favorites.” January
21, 2015 (velonews.com)
 With
a new lease on his career in the form of a two-year contract with
Lotto-Soudal, Thomas De
Gendt aimed to make the best of his 2015 season, and put
in a solid effort toward that goal by claiming the mountains
classification lead in stage 2 of the Tour Down Under on Wednesday. The
Belgian is now looking to keep the jersey through the end of the race
on Sunday.
"It will be difficult to take the mountains jersey home, but it is achievable. So far, so good," he said to Belga. It's been almost three years since De Gendt stunned the peloton on the Stelvio in the Giro d'Italia, then moved himself into a potentially career-making third place overall. The intervening years never provided the Belgian with the kind of elevation of status generally afforded to Grand Tour podium finishers. After a knee injury, the demise of his Vacansoleil team, and a grudging one-year contract at a sharply reduced salary with Omega Pharma-Quickstep last year, it seemed De Gendt's career might be ground down to a halt at the young age of 28. January
21, 2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 The
Tour de Langkawi is getting tougher in 2015 as it cuts its days from 10
to eight while still increasing the number of mountain stages.
Traditionally, the race has been a sprinter’s paradise with nine
predominantly flat stages and a mountain stage thrown in just to shake
up the general classification.
"Although shortened to eight stages this year, we believe all the elements required to make this an exciting route has been met. So we are looking forward to this edition of the race which we expect to be a fitting celebration of 20 years of Le Tour de Langkawi," said race CEO Datuk Malik Mydin. This year’s Tour de Langkawi – which, despite the name, only spends a single day on the idyllic island, will feature two stages in the Titiwangsa Mountains in the final three days while the shortened route he been designed to speed up the racing. January
21, 2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Responding
to road cyclists' recent interest in wider lightweight tires, Michelin
is now offering its PRO4 Endurance tire in a 700 x 28 size. Previously
the model was available no wider than 25.
The PRO4 Endurance 28mm has enhanced protection against punctures and a dual compound tread for long wear and cornering grip. It's available now through some of Michelin's U.S. distributors. "We know that a larger contact patch to provide a more comfortable ride and protection against punctures while not sacrificing performance is important to riders," said Yohann Leblanc, sales and marketing manager at Michelin North America Bicycle. "The PRO4 is one of our most popular road tires and this 28mm tire hits the sweet spot for today's rider demands." January
21, 2015 (bicycleretailer.com)
January 20,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
|
January
21, 2015
 First
things first: no one set out to screw over the juniors fields, and
especially the junior women, at the recently concluded National
Cyclocross Championships.
The Sunday announcement from the Austin Parks Department that the event was cancelled due to concerns about damage to trees set in motion a chaotic few hours that culminated in a negotiated compromise: Racing could finish Monday, after a one-day delay, but could not start until 12:30PM. That forced USA Cycling to pull off an interesting trick: since sunset in Austin was roughly 5:45, they had to fit eight categories of racers into a narrow window of available daylight just over five hours long. Under UCI rules, races can’t be shortened. That meant categories would have to be combined. Someone was going to get pinched. But the valid question is whether what happened was in fact fair. As it happens, it’s all in how you define “fair.” “We surely thought it was an error,” said Bryan MacDonald in an e-mail where he recounted his reaction to the new schedule. That schedule showed both junior women’s fields racing at the same time as the junior men 17-18, while the junior men 15-16 kept their own slot. His daughter Ciara raced in the 15-16 women’s field. “The 15-16 girls racing together with the 17-18 boys was just bizarre,” he wrote. January
21, 2015 (bicycling.com)
 BMC
Racing Team reported today that Campbell
Flakemore, the young neo-pro who spent most of Wednesday's
stage 2 in a breakaway with Cameron
Meyer and Thomas
de Gendt, broke his collarbone in a crash while riding
from the end of the stage to the race hotel.
"BMC Racing Team's @cflakemore crashed and broke his left collarbone while riding to the team hotel after @tourdownunder Stage 2," the team posted on their Twitter account. "BMC Racing Team's @docmajor reports @cflakemore crashed on a descent, breaking his left collarbone and suffering minor road rash." January
21, 2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 The
Giant-Alpecin team is off to a great start with Marcel Kittel
winning the first race of the year. New for 2015 is sponsor Alpecin, a
brand of shampoo from Germany. It’s got caffeine inside, the idea is it
will stimulate the roots of your hair. Does it work?
Dr. August Wolff started out making pharmaceuticals in 1905 and Alpecin appeared in 1930, designed to help combat dandruff. Today over two million bottles are sold a year in Germany and the company is launching its product around the world and the cycling team is part of the marketing effort. January
21, 2015 (inrng.com)
 When
it was launched on November 25th the Velon company declared that it had
three goals, with perhaps the most important of those being a stated
desire to create a new and better economic future for the sport.
Somewhat inevitably, this was met with calls for clarification of how precisely that might work. How much would be achieved for each team? Who would pay? How would Velon be able to convince ASO and the other race organisers to agree to hand over a share of television revenue which they had hitherto monopolized? Furthermore, even if ASO and others did agree to that, how would each team’s share of that revenue possibly make a significant dent in what are already very high budget requirements? Almost two months on the company has had a chance to build plans and relationships. It is now in a position to give a better insight into how a new revenue stream might be built. January
21, 2015
 In
the first, non-permitted version, the rider’s name (Clement, signifying
Stef Clement) appeared directly below the IAM name. The second –
approved – version also showed the name, but it was in smaller
lettering and was positioned above the sponsor title plus its website
address.
The UCI’s reasoning is that the space where the surname previously appeared is reserved for sponsors. The tweet quickly created a cacophony of dissent, with some of the team’s fans and others on Twitter expressing criticism of the UCI for what they said was an unreasonably bureaucratic stance. January
21, 2015 (cyclingtips.com.au)
 The
question for Jack
Bobridge is whether overall success at the Tour Down Under
would mean more than claiming the Hour Record on January 31 and having
that broken a week later by Rohan
Dennis. Bobridge
finished the second stage of the WorldTour race to Stirling on the same
time as winner Juan Jose
Lobato to retain his overall lead at the race ahead of the
key GC stage to Paracombe.
"It is an attempt next Saturday night and I would love to break it but this chance doesn't come around all the time to be sitting in the leader's jersey at the Tour Down Under," Bobridge told reporters after the stage. "It is hard to say what is more important, Hour Record is pretty special but it is also Tour Down Under. January
21, 2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Day
three of David Pearce’s
Australian adventure takes in stage 2 of the Santos Tour Down Under.
More big crowds were at the roadside to greet the riders as they
battled towards the up-hill finish in Stirling. With all the Joey’s
around we are definitely in Australia, but it was a day for the Spanish.
January
21, 2015 (pezcyclingnews.com)
 Twelve
months ago, the start of Thomas
Voeckler’s season was over before it even began. The
Frenchman flew halfway around the world to ride the Tour Down Under
only to crash and break his collarbone within hours of touching down in
Adelaide. He was already back in France before the race kicked off, the
early months of his 2014 campaign compromised.
A year on, Voeckler has come to Argentina for something of a do-over, even if that Australian incident has understandably left its mark. As the Frenchman called home while waiting for the start of stage 2 of the Tour de San Luis on Tuesday, he looked to reassure his children in soft tones. "I’ll try not to fall off," he repeated with a smile. January
21, 2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 "Competition
is a beautiful thing, which is why we were so thrilled to see Magellan
bring its new line of GPS cycling computers to the states. Garmin’s
decidedly dominant position has resulted in snail’s pace development of
cycling GPS. We want our GPS to better integrate with our phone,
STRAVA, friends, electronic drive trains, and do it seamlessly across
multiple protocols and do it all cheaper – things that will happen
faster if multiple brands are competing for that coveted spot on your
handle bars."
The new Magellan GPS computers have been available in Europe under the MIO name and now the Cyclo315 and the Cyclo505 have hit our shores. January
21, 2015 (pelotonmagazine.com)
January
20, 2015
|
 On
a day that seemed to favor Movistar and its climbing ace Nairo Quintana, Daniel Díaz scored a
win for the host country, Argentina, in stage 2 of Tour de San Luis.
The Tuesday stage from La Punta to Mirador de Potrero finished with a 4.8km climb that averaged 6.7 percent. Díaz wasted no time, attacking early on the Mirador after a select group of climbers split off the front of the peloton. He brought along Rodolfo Torres, but in the end it was all Díaz, who attacked the final kilometer and won the day handily with a gap of six seconds. The winner, a 25-year-old Argentine, won the 2013 edition of the Tour de San Luis. Díaz is also Argentina’s national road champion.. January 20,
2015 (velonews.com)
 The
voice of the speaker at the summit of the Mirador del Potrero rose
several decibels when the grainy images on the big screen behind her
showed a familiar figure in a Movistar jersey bridging across to the
two leaders. It was not, as she initially thought, Nairo Quintana,
however, but his younger brother Dayer,
and shortly afterwards, he too fell back, unable to match the pace of
stage winner Dani Diaz.
It was that kind of day for the Quintana brothers on stage 2 of the Tour de San Luis. The external expectation was that Nairo Quintana would sparkle on the slopes of the Mirador del Potrero, but before the race began he had warned that he was still some way short of his best. January 20,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Fernando Gaviria set
off from Plaza Pringles on Monday afternoon scarcely able to believe
the company he was keeping at the Tour de San Luis but the young
Colombian rounded off the day by claiming the biggest scalp of his
young career en route to stage victory in Villa Mercedes.
The 20-year-old’s light smattering of acne and what might generously be described as a footballer’s haircut certainly betrayed his youth, but he belied those tender years with a clinical finisseur’s move at the end of the race’s opening stage. By opting to open his sprint with 300 metres to go, Gaviria was able to steal a march on Mark Cavendish and Sacha Modolo, and he had enough of an advantage to hold off the pair in the final 100 metres. January 20,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 The
news that Tom Meeusen
won’t be allowed the cyclo-cross Worlds came as a big surprise. One day
after the remarkable message, Meeusen
has talked to the media. “I have not used that ozone therapy,” the
Telenet-Fidea rider repeats.
At his training camp in Spain, Meeusen was yesterday informed about his non-selection for the Worlds. Meeusen has been mentioned in an investigation into a famous “ozone doctor” which prevents him from travelling to the Czech Republic. "My team leader Danny De Bie received a call from the federation," Meeusen tells Sporza. "We were just discussing the summer program in a relaxed atmosphere. But suddenly we got that message. That is a serious blow. Minutes before, I still believed that I would have a chance at the Worlds.” “I didn’t see the news coming,” Meeusen says. “A journalist had tipped me that there would be a letter for me at home. But when I came home, I checked it immediately and that was not the case. I had no information.” January 20,
2015 (cyclingquotes.com)
 Last
summer, it seemed like everyone had a Carlos Betancur
story. Everyone that is, but Carlos
Betancur. After failing to report back to Europe on time
from a stint at home in Colombia last June, he was hastily scratched
from Ag2r-La Mondiale’s Tour de France team. For three months, only
rumors crossed the Atlantic.
Difficulties in obtaining a visa, a bout of cytomegalovirus and the imminent birth of Betancur’s first child were all offered as explanations for his lengthy absence without official leave. Ag2r were apparently not alone in being unable to reach Betancur; at one point in June it even seemed that agent Giuseppe Acquadro and coach Michele Bartoli could not locate their man either. January 20,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Today
marks the 20th Birthday of Mathieu
van der Poel, and although he has only been qualified to
race the U23s for his second year, he announced that he will be racing
at the Elite level in Tabor.
Right before the Dutch National Championship, Van der Poel convinced the media that he was preparing to head into the U23 race for the second time after his third place finish at Hoogerheide in 2014. Two days after winning the Dutch Elite National Jersey, he reversed his decision. Belgian rider Wout van Aert was a little more cautious in his approach, waiting until six days after the Belgian National Championships to formally make his announcement (although he had originally hinted to Sporza that he was going to be racing in the U23 race). By the time he told the world that he, too, wanted to race in the Elite field, many nodded along, believing it to be a foregone conclusion. January 20,
2015 (cxmagazine.com)
2014-15
Races
& Results.
Santos Women's Tour 2015 - Jan 17-20 (Stages & Results), Santos Tour Down Under 2015 - Jan 18-25 (Stages), Tour de San Luis 2015 - Jan 19-25 (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),  Team
Sky’s haul of bunch sprint victories in 2014 amounted to just two
successes for Ben Swift,
which goes some way to explaining the signing of Elia Viviani and Andy Fenn. Although
not among the top rank of sprinters, the Italian and the Briton will
provide Sky with more punch in field sprints, especially given the
lead-out potential both should be able to call on.
Winner of six races in his fifth and final season with Liquigas/Cannondale last year, Viviani, who will turn 26 in early February, is hoping the move will lead to a big Classics or grand tour stage success. “This is a big chance for me. This is the moment for me to take a big win and this is the perfect team to do that,” he said during Sky’s Majorca training camp. January 20,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Tuesday's
Tour de San Luis Stage 2 departs La Punta at 1:58pm local (11:58am U.S.
Eastern, 17:58 CET) and is expected at the finish at Mirador de Potrero
at around 6:35pm local (4:35pm U.S. Eastern, 22:35 CET).
Tour de San Luis live video streaming is expected for the start and finish and at other times during the stage. Note that live radio streaming should be available throughout the race. January
20, 2015 (cyclingfans.com)
|
 Stage
2 start time: Tuesday
11:00 CDT (4:30:00 PM PST);
Earliest live video: 13:30 CDT (7:00:00 PM PST); Approximate finish: 14:56 CDT (8:26:00 PM PST). January
20, 2015 (cyclingfans.com)
 Melissa Hoskins won
her second stage of the Santos Women's Tour after she beat Wiggle Honda
rider Giorgia Bronzini
on the final day of racing. Orica-AIS had full control on the last lap
of the 70-minute long critérium to deliver Hoskins into the
final corner perfectly. Hoskins
made the most of her team's work to comfortably beat Bronzini and
teammate Valentina
Scandolara.
“I didn’t have much success sprinting last year. I just needed a win under the belt to get the confidence back. My team backed me all the time, it was more me not being convinced in my own ability. Now I’m back and I’m happy,” said Hoskins. The third place was enough for Scandolara to retain her lead in the overall competition with Hoskins taking second. January 20,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Results
are now in after the 132.6-kilometer first stage of the Tour Down Under
from Tanunda to Campbelltown on Tuesday. Australian Jack Bobridge led a
defiant breakaway group of four cyclists to take the first stage of the
UCI season-opening Tour Down Under in South Australia on Tuesday.
Bobridge, riding for the local UniSa team, made his move with 200 meters to go to outsprint his rivals and win the 136.2-kilometer stage in two hours 59 minutes, 44 seconds. Fellow breakaway riders Lieuwe Westra, Luke Durbridge and Maxim Belkov finished just behind Bobridge, only meters ahead of the peloton, which left their run too late and failed to reel in the four leaders. The Tour Down Under began in the Barossa Valley wine growing town of Tanunda Tuesday morning in overcast and muggy conditions. The break began after just five kilometers and although the four riders never built a massive lead, the peloton wasn’t interested in chasing them down. January 20,
2015 (pelotonmagazine.com)
 Valentina Scandolara
won the inaugural Santos Women’s Tour in Adelaide on Tuesday. She
launched a late race attack on the opening stage between Woodside and
Murray Bridge that gave her a small advantage over the peloton on the
run-in to the finish. The Italian managed to hold off the peloton to
pocket a stage win and a six second advantage.
She would wear the race leader’s jersey from start to finish, taking the first general classification win of her young career. January 20,
2015 (cyclingtips.com.au)
 Edmondson goes
green, RoXSolt claim climbs and more TV coverage needed.
January 20,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 "'You
don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows', sings the
great Bob Dylan.
That may be true, but what the weatherman knows might just be the key
to this Tour Down Under.
In my job I am constantly trying to assess what is going to happen in events that have a seemingly endless list of variables. It is a bit like going and betting on the horses; you check the form guide, go through the details of the stages, previous winners, talk to people, and turn the whys and the whens over endlessly in your mind. Then though, instead of putting your money on someone else's gee-gee, you have to back your own, and work out ways for them to win. If you were to look at the previous editions of the Tour Down Under, one thing that has been an almost constant factor throughout is the heat; Australia in summer, baking under an angry sun in a clear blue sky." January 20,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Domenico Pozzovivo chose
to start his 2015 season at the Santos Tour Down Under with the aim of
putting last year’s crashes and bad luck behind but the Italian climber
crashed again last Thursday while training and hurt his left wrist.
“The x-ray didn’t show anything but a MRI scan later evidenced a small fracture”, the Italian revealed after stage one. “Therefore I have to handle a bit more pain but it won’t affect my performance. My goal is still to make the top 5. There’s nothing to do except resting but that’s what I have on my agenda after this race anyway.” On January 30, Pozzovivo will return to the Bolzano clinic in northern Italy where he was operated after crashing hard and fracturing his tibia on August 10. January 20,
2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 The
Giro d’Italia left Colombia out in the cold after a successful 2014
season for the nation that included the country’s first win in the race
by team Movistar’s Nairo
Quintana.
“I thought RCS Sport would have us back to their race,” team Colombia’s Claudio Corti told VeloNews. “I thought that we deserved it.” RCS Sport named five second-division teams Monday to race the Giro d’Italia, May 9 to 31, on wildcard invites, alongside the 17 first-division teams with guaranteed places. The spots went to four Italian teams — Androni Giocattoli, Bardiani-CSF, Nippo-Vini Fantini, and Southeast — and Poland’s CCC Sprandi. Corti, the Italian manager of team Colombia, planned on having his team start its third straight Giro d’Italia. Instead, he had to be content with invitations to RCS Sport’s other races, Milano-Sanremo, Tirreno-Adriatico, and Il Lombardia. January 20,
2015 (velonews.com)
 It’s
not your imagination. Riding your bike on the trainer feels harder at
any given effort than when you’re pedaling outdoors.
A new study shows that when trained cyclists performed 40K time trials indoors and outdoors, on the trainer they pumped out nearly 25 percent lower average wattage (163 W vs. 208 W), their heart rate was more than 10 beats per minute lower, and they burned fewer calories—despite the fact that they reported putting out the exact same level of exertion. January 20,
2015 (bicycling.com)
|
January
20, 2015
 Who
are the wealthiest people in cycling? It’s not the riders, it’s the
people who pay their wages. In the second part of the series, time to
look at more team sponsors but also race owners and others.
January 20,
2015 (inrng.com)
 IAM
Cycling’s plans to have personalized shirts for each of their riders
have been blocked by the UCI.
The Swiss squad, who join the WorldTour for 2015, had originally designed their jerseys with the rider’s name under the IAM logo on the back. But the sticklers at the UCI have ruled against it, meaning IAM have had to make last-minute changes ahead of the opening races of the season. January 20,
2015 (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
 Time
waits for no man. Not even Spartacus.
Fabian Cancellara is keenly aware that his reign as king of the classics, a title he has shared with Tom Boonen for the better part of a decade, is reaching its zenith. His rivals multiply year over year. Always a new face, always a new threat. Flux is the only constant on the cobbles. But the big Swiss isn’t done. A single monument win in 2014, at the Tour of Flanders, was not enough. He speaks of hunger like a man much younger, motivated, it seems, by the the new generation nipping at his heels. “You see, there are people who are really hungry. But I am still hungry as well,” he said during a call with journalists on Friday. January 20,
2015 (velonews.com)
 If
Mathieu van der
Poel’s nickname is “The Sniper” for his uncanny ability to
pull the trigger on an attack while catching his opponents unawares,
his main rival, Wout van
Aert, proved this weekend that he could be the
Artilleryman, winning a battle even before any toe-to-toe fighting
could begin.
Military metaphors aside, Van Aert made his decisive move in the first lap of Kasteelcross Zonnebeke against a stacked Belgium field, which included the recently crowned national champion, Klaas Vantornout. This is a course that allows for early breakaways and commanding leads, as also proven last year by Nys’s dominating performance in the 2014 race on his new Trek bike. Van Aert continued a solo ride, gapping the field, and taking a win by well more than a minute over second place Vantornout. January 20,
2015 (cxmagazine.com)
 The
Giro d’Italia’s selection of Poland’s CCC Sprandi for its 2015 edition
raised eyebrows, but the team in orange could leave former dopers Stefan Schumacher
and Davide Rebellin
at home to avoid problems.
CCC received one of the five invitations from race organizer RCS Sport on Monday. The team will race with Italian second division teams Androni Giocattoli, Bardiani-CSF, Nippo-Vini Fantini and Southeast and the 17 WorldTour teams. “I’d never say that they can’t come or that I don’t want them,” RCS Sport cycling director, Mauro Vegni told Cycling Weekly. “Not that they are any worse than the others, but I’d like to have a Giro start without riders who stir controversy. Clearly, however, the team is going to make the choice. If they do bring them, then there’s controversy, and I’d like the Giro under clear skies.” January 20,
2015 (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
 The
2015 Vuelta a España route was unveiled in it’s fullness last week, so
our most experienced Grand Tour watcher, Ed Hood takes a
close look at the route and some background on la Vuelta. From the deep
south to Andorra in the north and then back to Madrid, Ed crosses the
plains and mountains of España.
It doesn’t seem like 20 years since the Vuelta moved from the original date in the spring – as the first Grand Tour of the season – to the current autumn slot and last Grand Tour of the year. The weather in Spain in April can change from frozen roads and snow to baking heat over night. And there was the proximity to the Giro in May – the feeling was the later date would provide more stable weather and the race would be perfectly placed as a final polish for the World Championships. January
20, 2015 (pezcyclingnews.com)
 As
the first WorldTour race of the season, the Tour Down Under usually
presents plenty of new gear, and this year’s race is no different.
"We take a look at new helmets from Bontrager and Giant, along with an entry into the cycling market from motorsport helmet specialist Suomy." January 20,
2015 (bikeradar.com)
 BikeRadar
verdict: 4.5 out of 5
stars. "An improvement over the Firecrest, but the price
is still hard to justify."
January 20,
2015 (bikeradar.com)
January
19, 2015
|
 Fernando Gaviria won
the opening stage of the Tour de San Luis after a sprint to the finish
line in Villa Mercedes on Monday. The Colombian neo-pro took a
commanding win in the sprint ahead of Mark Cavendish and Sacha Modolo in
third.
January
19, 2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Monday's
(January 19, 2015) Tour de San Luis Stage 1 departs San Luis at 1:49pm
local (11:49am U.S. Eastern, 17:49 CET) and is expected at the finish
at Villa Mercedes at around 6:15pm local (4:15pm U.S. Eastern, 22:15
CET). Live
video from 6:00pm local (4:00pm U.S. Eastern)
(22:00 CET).
January
19, 2015 (cyclingfans.com)
 Three
of Belgium's top cyclo-cross racers will not be in the team for the UCI
World Championships in Tabor, Czech Republic at the end of this month
because of a long-running investigation into their doctor, who is
accused of providing illegal ozone treatments to athletes. Tom Meeusen, one of
the top favorites for the elite race, Laurens Sweeck, the
favorite for the U23 race, and former world champion Bart Wellens have
been deemed ineligible under UCI rules because of their connection to
the case.
The case against Dr. Chris Mertens made headlines back in early 2013 when dozens of riders began being questioned by the authorities, who dug into patient records dating back to 2007 looking for evidence of blood manipulation using ozone therapy. The technique in which blood is withdrawn, treated with ozone, and then re-infused, is purported to treat viral infections. Under the WADA code, any method of blood manipulation is banned. January
19, 2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Tuesday’s
start of the Santos Tour Down Under marks the end of one of cycling’s
most remarkable and unlikely careers in the peloton’s history.
Cadel Evans, one of the most tenacious, dogged, and perhaps misunderstood riders in the bunch, will embark on his final stage race of a career marked by historical highs and gut-wrenching lows. A mountain biker who became Australia’s first Tour de France winner, the 37-year-old will put an end to his dramatic and sometimes bumpy career in front of home crowds. “I just want to enjoy racing, being in the peloton with these guys, and pinning a number on my jersey for the last time,” Evans said about this week. “It’s the last time I will be racing in a stage race, in a WorldTour event, so I want to enjoy the moment.”. January
19, 2015 (velonews.com)
 BMW
will be the title sponsor of a new UCI women's team run by Team
SmartStop owners Premier Sports Group, the North Carolina-based
management company announced today. Happy Tooth Dental Group is on
board as the presenting sponsor.
The team also announced a 2015 roster directed by former Vanderkitten manager Jono Coulter and headlined by 2011 US national champion Robin Farina. BMW has been a Team SmartStop sponsor since last year's Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah, while Happy Tooth was a sponsor throughout last season. Both sponsors will also continue their support of the men's team this year, although the women's team will have separate sponsors for bikes and other equipment. January
19, 2015 (cyclingnews.com)
2014-15
Races
& Results.
Santos Women's Tour 2015 - Jan 17-20 (Stages & Results), Santos Tour Down Under 2015 - Jan 18-25 (Stages), Tour de San Luis 2015 - Jan 19-25 (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),  Modern
bike lights can be split into two main categories – lights for
road/commuting use and lights for mountain bike use. They differ vastly
in terms of light output, run time, weight and expense.
Road lights are split into two categories too. Those that enable you to see, and those that allow you to be seen by other users. "We've covered some of each here. The front lights tested this year, are more powerful and will enable you to see where you are going on unlit cycle paths or rural roads. The rear lights and lightsets are designed primarily to make you visible to other road users. Factors such as battery life, weight and side visibility are more important than power here, and the prices are lower too." January
19, 2015 (bikeradar.com)
 Melissa Hoskins won
stage two of the Santos Women's Tour ahead of national criterium
champion Kimberly Wells
and track Commonwealth Games champion Annette Edmondson
with a sprint finish deciding the winner. Hoskins' teammate Valentina Scandalora
retains the overall race lead by six seconds with two stages to come.
“It’s been a while since I’ve been able to throw the hands in the air, so I’m pretty stoked to be able to start the season off on such a good run,” Hoskins said after her win. January
18, 2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 At
the same Tour de San Luis pre-race press conference where Mark Cavendish
reflected on journalists' sexual behaviors, last year's winner Nairo Quintana as
well as his countryman Carlos
Betancur and Thomas
Voeckler reflected on their expectations towards the
upcoming event.
In case of both Colombians, who underwent preparations for the new season in South America and require more undulating terrain to show their full potential, a choice between Tour de San Luis and Tour Down Under was no brainer. “It’s a nicer temperature here. In Europe, it’s much colder right now so it’s a better race to start out with for me, especially as I have other objectives later in the year,” Quintana said at the official pre-race press conference. “But it’s good to race in January, and it gives us the opportunity to prepare better for what is to come.” January
18, 2015 (cyclingquotes.com)
|
 Jack Bobridge took
the first win of the 2015 Santos Tour Down Under Tuesday in
Campbelltown after surviving in a four-rider breakaway that just held
off the charging peloton.
Bobridge timed his move perfectly, jumping in the final 200 meters and holding off day-long breakaway mates Lieuwe Westra, Luke Durbridge and Maxim Belkov. January
19, 2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Tuesday's
(Monday evening North America) Tour Down Under Stage 1 (Hostworks
stage) departs Tanunda at 10:30am local (7:00pm U.S. Eastern, 1:00am
CET) and is expected at the finish at Campbelltown at around 1:49pm
local (10:19pm U.S. Eastern, 4:19am CET). Tour Down Under live streaming video
should get underway at around 12:00pm local (8:30pm U.S. Eastern,
2:30am CET).
January
19, 2015 (cyclingfans.com)
 At
Sunday night’s People’s Choice Criterium, which teases the start of the
2015 UCI WorldTour season and the 17th edition of the Tour Down Under
(TDU), German sprinting sensation Marcel
Kittel did what he does best — win.
With 59 pro victories, including 10 grand tour stage wins of which he captured four at last year’s Tour de France, the six-foot-two, 181-pound, 26-year-old from Arnstadt, Germany is an imposing presence in the closing hundred meters of a bunch sprint, especially in the absence of his only real contemporaries, Mark Cavendish and two-time TDU winner (2008, 2010) André Greipel. January
19, 2015 (velonews.com)
 The
sprint for stage three honors belonged to Georgia Bronzini at
the Santos Women's Tour today as she beat yesterday's winner Melissa Hoskins and
race leader Valentina
Scandolara over the line. Scandolara holds on
to the overall race lead with one final criterium to come tomorrow
around Victoria Park.
"I’m really happy because my team counted on my race, so I think they deserved that because we worked hard for the win," said Bronzini. "Also we are really happy because Nettie [Edmondson] won the intermediate sprint which was the plan. It was really hard to do but we’ve done it so I’m really happy.". January
19, 2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 It’s
going to be a savage challenge,” Sarah
Storey says calmly on a sunlit morning in Lanzarote as she
anticipates the simple yet vicious purity of trying to ride a bike
further than any other woman has ever managed in an hour. “But I think
I’ll only really know how savage it is when I’m deep into the hour. I
expect the last 20 minutes to be brutal so I had better enjoy the first
40. I’m trying hard to prepare, but there is this sense that I’m
venturing into the unknown.”
On 28 February, at the Olympic velodrome in London, Storey will attempt to break the world Hour record for women. The 37-year-old will be back on the track where she won the first of her four gold medals at the London 2012 Paralympics. January
19, 2015 (thegaurdian.com)
 After
a season of rebuilding his fitness and form, Fränk Schleck hopes
to remain integral to success at Trek Factory Racing in 2015 and
despite approaching his 35th birthday in April, he has no intentions of
slowing down.
Schleck finished 12th overall in last year’s Tour de France and will once again line up for the race as a designated captain for the US-registered team. The Ardennes Classics sit neatly in his spring targets, and with Bauke Mollema joining the team, Trek boast a formidable double act. "It’s not possible to talk about the results yet for this season but I want to have a strong year and of course the aims are the Ardennes and the Tour," he tells Cyclingnews on the phone from Trek Factory Racing’s training camp in Mallorca. January
19, 2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Astana’s
first training camp of Astana in Montecatini was overshadowed by the
doping problems in the team. The brothers Maxim and Valentin Iglinsky
tested positive for EPO in 2014 while the continental team had three
positive cases. "We have received a lot of shit," Lars Boom tells De Telegraaf.
“When I signed with Astana, I just had the feeling that the doping discussion was gone," says Boom who joined the team from the Belkin formation. "Well, in recent months it came back. Of course I don’t like it. Especially because the doping stories always mentioned the fact that Lieuwe [Westra] and I are under contract with them. I was and am against doping. Nothing has changed. I have not been worried that Astana would lose its WorldTour license as I did never believe that it would happen.”.. January
19, 2015 (cyclingquotes.com)
 Agr2-La
Mondiale’s Domenico
Pozzovivo has been spotted at the People’s Choice Classic
prior to Tour Down Under, riding with a SRAM produced wireless
electronic groupset on his Focus Izalco Max team bike.
SRAM has been rumored to be in the testing phase of an electronic groupset for sometime, after it was spotted on the bikes of the Bissell Development Team at the Tour of California in 2014. It’ll be the first move into the elctronic groupset market for the American company, one that will see them competing with Shimano and its Dura Ace Di2 groupset, as well as Campagnolo and its Super Record EPS, though neither of the latter have yet to produce a fully wireless groupset. January
19, 2015 (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
 "Training
data has become a crucial component of marginal gains in professional
cycling, and with this, comes the use of power meters.
Here we round up what team is riding what, and point out a few custom touches spotted at the 2015 Tour Down Under." January
19, 2015 (bikeradar.com)
|
January
19, 2015
 Diego Ulissi will be
able to return to racing in March after the Swiss Olympic Committee
gave him a nine-month ban as punishment for his positive test for
Salbutamol at the Giro d'Italia, his Lampre-Merida team has revealed.
The Italian has only raced briefly since May and so his suspension will
reportedly end on March 28. He attended a disciplinary hearing in
December.
Ulissi tested positive after the 11th stage of the Giro d’Italia to Savona. Ulissi was shown to have 1900 ng/ml in his system, significantly higher than the 1000 ng/ml allowed by the UCI rules. January
19, 2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Paolo Bettini, who
gave up has job as coach to the Italian national team to head up Fernando Alsonso’s
aborted professional cycling venture, says 2014 was “the wrong year”
for the Formula 1 driver to try and get the project off the ground.
Alsonso had recruited Bettini, twice world champion, winner of races including Milan-San Remo, the Giro di Lombardia and Liege-Bastogne-Liege as well as Olympic gold medallist in the road race at Athens in 2004, to act as general manager to his planned team at the end of 2013. During 2014, the pair worked on the proposals, talking to potential backers as well as riders and team staff, but Bettini told La Gazzetta dello Sport that as it turned out, Alonso needed to put his own career first as it became clear he would not be retained as a driver by Ferrari. January
19, 2015 (road.cc)
 The
Giro d’Italia decided on four home teams and a Polish one when handing
out its wildcard invitations Monday. CCC Sprandi will join Italian
second-division teams Androni Giocattoli, Bardiani-CSF, Nippo-Vini
Fantini, and Southeast, along with the 17 UCI WorldTour teams with
automatic invitations.
“We reflected deeply on the wildcard choices; an increasingly meticulous process thanks to the quality of the teams that want to participate in our races,” explained Mauro Vegni, the RCS Sport Head of Cycling. “This year’s choices, especially for the wildcards of the Giro d’Italia, were dictated by the opportunity to support the Italian cycling movement, giving continuity to an overall process without ever losing sight of the goal of international development in strategic territories.” January
19, 2015 (velonews.com)
 Peter Sagan has
revealed his race program for the first half of this season. In a post
on his Facebook page, he confirmed that the Monuments will dominate the
spring with the Tour of California and Tour de Suisse providing his
build-up to the Tour de France.
Sagan will don Tinkoff-Saxo colors for the first time in a race this season at the Tour of Qatar and Tour of Oman at the start of February. It is the first time since 2012 that Sagan will skip the Tour de San Luis in favor of the later start in Qatar. Following Oman, Sagan will head to Italy for Tirreno-Adriatico, where he won a stage and the points classification last season. January
19, 2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 "Cannodale’s
Super X cyclocross frame, SRAM’s CX1 group, American Classic’s
Hurricane Disc wheels and Ergon CF3 post / SRX saddle all landed within
a short period of time… Cue a mad scramble for tires, bar, stem and you
wind up with an exceptionally smooth cross bike that removes any
thoughts about shifting. And with a spare set of chubby slicks (and the
right chain ring size), you also get an incredible
performance/commuter."
January
19, 2015 (pezcyclingnews.com)
 In
years past, it was the kind of rite of passage that was all but
obligatory for the aspiring young British rider but in the modern era, Dan McLay’s stint
under his own steam in Belgium stands out as a rather atypical route to
the professional peloton.
McLay lines up at the Tour de San Luis on Monday for his first race in the colors of Bretagne-Séché after an impressive three-year spell with Lotto’s development squad, capped by a fine stage victory at the Tour de l’Avenir last September. January
19, 2015 (cyclingnews.com)
January
18, 2015
 If Brailsford had a
coat of arms it would feature a magpie, a sponge and a Great White
Shark.
A magpie to represent his talent for spotting shiny bits of knowledge, a sponge for his ability to retain it, and the world's most fearsome predator because of his appetite for more of it. It would also be the best coat of arms in the world. Brailsford's job title at Team Sky - arguably road cycling's most successful team over the last five years, and certainly the most influential - is team principal. That does not come close to describing what he does, though. Cheerleader, spokesman, strategist, head of innovation, beating heart…the most shocking thing about this list is that until a year ago he was combining them with the job of running the British Olympic and Paralympic cycling teams. January
18, 2015 (bbc.com)
|
Melissa Hoskins won
stage two of the Santos Women's Tour ahead of national criterium
champion Kimberly Wells
and track Commonwealth Games champion Annette Edmondson
with a sprint finish deciding the winner. Hoskins' teammate Valentina Scandalora
retains the overall race lead by six seconds with two stages to come.
“It’s been a while since I’ve been able to throw the hands in the air, so I’m pretty stoked to be able to start the season off on such a good run,” Hoskins said after her win. January
18, 2015 (cyclingnews.com)
At
the same Tour de San Luis pre-race press conference where Mark Cavendish
reflected on journalists' sexual behaviors, last year's winner Nairo Quintana as
well as his countryman Carlos
Betancur and Thomas
Voeckler reflected on their expectations towards the
upcoming event.
In case of both Colombians, who underwent preparations for the new season in South America and require more undulating terrain to show their full potential, a choice between Tour de San Luis and Tour Down Under was no brainer. “It’s a nicer temperature here. In Europe, it’s much colder right now so it’s a better race to start out with for me, especially as I have other objectives later in the year,” Quintana said at the official pre-race press conference. “But it’s good to race in January, and it gives us the opportunity to prepare better for what is to come.” January
18, 2015 (cyclingquotes.com)
Monday's
(January 19, 2015) Tour de San Luis Stage 1 departs San Luis at 1:49pm
local (11:49am U.S. Eastern, 17:49 CET) and is expected at the finish
at Villa Mercedes at around 6:15pm local (4:15pm U.S. Eastern, 22:15
CET). Tour de San Luis live
video streaming is expected for the start and the finish.
January
18, 2015 (cyclingfans.com)
2014-15
Races
& Results.
Santos Women's Tour 2015 - Jan 17-20 (Stages), Santos Tour Down Under 2015 - Jan 18-25 (Stages), Tour de San Luis 2015 - Jan 19-25 (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),  Registration
has opened for the 2015 San Dimas Stage Race, scheduled March 27-29.
The three-stage race begins with an individual time trial on a 4.25-mile course that winds up Glendora Mountain Road, boasting grades of 4.5 to 6.5 percent and a total elevation gain of 1,257 feet. Stage 2 is a road race around Bonelli Park, run on a rolling, twisting 7-mile circuit that’s been changed slightly from previous editions. The stage race concludes with a criterium on a 1.2-mile, six-corner circuit in Old Town San Dimas. A long, slightly downhill stretch feeds into a right-hand turn and onto the finishing straightaway. January
18, 2015 (velonews.com)
 Peter Sagan will
again focus on the cobbled classics. From Sanremo to Roubaix, the
Slovakian from Tinkoff-Saxo will make every effort to win a big
classic. The Tour de France will be the goal in the second half.
Sagan has confirmed his schedule: Tour of Qatar, Tour of Oman, Tirreno-Adriatico, Milan-San Remo, E3 Harelbeke, Gent-Wevelgem, Tour of Flanders, Scheldeprijs, Paris-Roubaix, Tour of California, Tour of Switzerland, the Slovakian Championships and the Tour de France. The Slovakian will again start his season in Qatar as he did in 2012 and for the fourth year in a row, he will also ride in Oman. Tirreno-Adriatico in which he has won four stages, will be the first big test for the major objectives: San Remo (2nd in 2013), E3 Harelbeke (1st in 2014), Ghent-Wevelgem (1st in 2013), Tour of Flanders (2nd in 2013 and 5th in 2012), Scheldeprijs and Roubaix (6th in 2014). January
18, 2015 (cyclingquotes.com)
 They
are two of best riders for the grand tours and the Ardennes classics.
However, new Trek signing Bauke
Mollema and veteran Fränk
Schleck do not regard themselves as rivals as they
announced in a conference call, according to radsport-news.com
Both emphasized that they will be riding for the strongest rider. "If that is Bauke, then I am the first one to work for him," 34-year-old Schleck said. "It is important that the team has success." However, the Luxembourger also wants to add some kind o result to his palmares. “Last year I was at a high level but I can still improve. Until now, the preparation has gone according to plan.” Mollema can’t complain about his winter training either. "I have done more than 1,000 kilometers more than I had at this time last year," said the 28-year-old Dutchman. Schleck and Mollema are expected to be good form already at the Mallorca Challenge and the Vuelta a Andalucía. "With two summit finishes, the Ruta del Sol looks very nice to me this year.”.. January
18, 2015 (cyclingquotes.com)
 Great
Britain have been crowned men's team pursuit champions in the UCI Track
World Cup series after taking bronze in the final round in Cali,
Colombia.
Germain Burton, Matt Gibson, Chris Latham and Mark Stewart beat Denmark in the third-placed race by just under half a second. GB won in the London round in December and finished with 810 points, ahead of Australia with 780 and Denmark on 662. It is their fourth World Cup trophy, with wins in 2005, 2008 and 2010. The 16-person squad for the Colombian round includes several Olympic academy program riders to give them top-flight international competition experience. January
18, 2015 (bbc.com)
 Photog
David Pearce
is on the ground for the Tour Down Under, and as an accomplished travel
and wine journo, was keen to visit the McLaren Vale region to ride and
have a look at some of the roads that will be ridden on stage 4, with
the requisite stops for food & drink along the way.
"For a UK cyclist it does not get much better than working at the Santos Tour Down Under (TDU) and escaping the freezing conditions back home mid January. It is the season opener and raced over 5 days attracting global names. It acts as a great opener for the World Tour teams with increasing importance for domestic teams being THE race of the season and crucially important to them and their sponsors." January
18, 2015 (pezcyclingnews.com)
Cavendish,
Kwiatkowski and Quintana ready for the Tour de San Luis.
January
17, 2015 (cyclingnews.com)
|
 Marcel Kittel claimed
his first win of the 2015 season with a comprehensive victory in the
People’s Choice Classic in Adelaide on Sunday. The German sprinter
finished off a fine leadout from his team to beat Juan Jose Lobato and
Wouter Wippert
to the line.
In a thrilling opener to the Tour Down Under, Kittel blew away the winter cobwebs in what proved to be chaotic and frantic dash for the line. January
18, 2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 With
defending champion Simon
Gerrans forced to watch the Tour Down Under from the
sidelines due to a broken collarbone, Orica-GreenEdge's approach to the
the race shifted from GC to stage wins. Aggressive racing by Mat Hayman at the
pre-race criterium, the People's Choice Classic, won by Marcel Kittel, looks
to be sign of the team's new approach.
"Matt [White] didn't put any pressure on us but somebody had to do something to show the jersey," Hayman said after the race.. January
18, 2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Second
place to Marcel Kittel at
the Tour Down Under pre-race People's Choice Classic criterium has
given Juan Jose Lobato
confidence of success during the WorldTour event which starts Tuesday.
The 26-year-old led out the sprint at the conclusion of the 51km race around Adelaide's East End but was unable to match the speed of Kittel as he won the race for a second straight year. "I felt I had good strength and good sensations, although perhaps I misjudged the decisive moment with 500 meters to go when at the corner there was a lurch and I was forced to ride in the slipstream of the Lotto riders," Lobato said after the race. "Then I decided to try to launch the sprint from far out to see if I could do a good job." January
18, 2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 The
2015 World Tour starts on Tuesday with the Tour Down Under. The TDU is
now an established race, what was once a training race in the sun is
now a tough competition where the only concession is the short stages.
Here’s a preview for the Tour Down Under with stage profiles, contenders, TV times and more. The action begins on Sunday evening with the “People’s Choice Classic”, a 50km criterium by Adelaide University. It’s a separate event and the Tour Down Under starts on Tuesday. January
18, 2015 (inrng.com)
Tuesday's
(Monday evening North America) Tour Down Under Stage 1 (Hostworks
stage) departs Tanunda at 10:30am local (7:00pm U.S. Eastern, 1:00am
CET) and is expected at the finish at Campbelltown at around 1:49pm
local (10:19pm U.S. Eastern, 4:19am CET). Tour Down Under live streaming video
should get underway at around 12:00pm local (8:30pm U.S. Eastern,
2:30am CET).
January
18, 2015 (cyclingfans.com)
 Edmondson leads
Santos Women's Tour sprints, IAM's Haussler
5th at People’s Choice Classic and Trek's Watson enjoys the
break.
January
18, 2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 The
2015 UCI WorldTour kicks off this week in Australia with the 17th
edition of the Santos Tour Down Under.
A six-day stage race in and around Adelaide, the TDU has grown in the past few years, and the parcours has developed along with it. Heavyweight sprinters have won the overall, but these days, a hillier route favors the more capable climbers in the peloton. Simon Gerrans won the 2014 edition, but his absence due to a broken collarbone will make what is already a very open race even more unpredictable. January
18, 2015 (velonews.com)
 The
classic Strade Bianche race will become a triple event this year, with
three races taking place across the weekend in March.
Running between a Unesco heritage city, the Crete Senesi region and breath-taking scenery, the weekend of events kicks off on Saturday 7th March with the UCI Women Elite 1.1 category race, which departs from Tuscany’s San Gimignano and finishes, after 103 kilometres, in Siena’s Piazza Il Campo. This will be followed on the same day by the classic men’s edition, a UCI Europe Tour 1.HC rated cycling race of 200km. January
18, 2015 (road.cc)
|
January
18, 2015
 One
year after laying low at the Tour Down Under in the aftermath of his
doping confession a few days after the 2013 Tour de France, former
Australian rider Stuart
O'Grady has officially stepped out from the shadows of the
controversy.
The occasion was the launch in Adelaide on Saturday of his new business venture, Stuart O'Grady Cycling that provides various services related to the sport that range from coaching to customised cycle touring. Afterwards, the 41-year-old former Orica-GreenEdge rider who admitted that he used the illegal drug erythropoietin for two weeks before the 1998 Tour in which he wore the yellow jersey for three days and won the 14th stage into Grenoble, sat down with a number of media outlets to discuss where he is at in his life, and also to reflect on the scandal that brought his racing career to a premature end. January
18, 2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 "I
finished the 2014 race season confident in my ability to race at the
highest level and told my team directors as much. They called my bluff
and sent me to Australia for the Santos Tour Down Under. I suppose
there’s no better way to know for sure than to take on a WorldTour race
in January.
Training for a race in January is a tricky balancing act — arrive fit, but not too fit. Everything was going according to plan after a productive training block in December, at which point things got interesting when I came down with the flu just days before flying out. I kicked the flu just in time to board a plane and fly around the world in six days, with a stop in Berlin for the Giant-Alpecin team presentation. Apparently feeling that my body had not been through enough, I got sick from a hotel buffet in Malaysia. And just like that, all the confidence that had been building was flushed away. My first bike ride of the new year was not until the 10th; I was pedaling squares in Australia on the left side of the road, jet-lagged, with a gurgling stomach and a chest full of phlegm from my bout with the flu. Yeah, 2015 was off to a wobbly start!" January
18, 2015 (velonews.com)
If Brailsford had a
coat of arms it would feature a magpie, a sponge and a Great White
Shark.
A magpie to represent his talent for spotting shiny bits of knowledge, a sponge for his ability to retain it, and the world's most fearsome predator because of his appetite for more of it. It would also be the best coat of arms in the world. Brailsford's job title at Team Sky - arguably road cycling's most successful team over the last five years, and certainly the most influential - is team principal. That does not come close to describing what he does, though. Cheerleader, spokesman, strategist, head of innovation, beating heart…the most shocking thing about this list is that until a year ago he was combining them with the job of running the British Olympic and Paralympic cycling teams. January
18, 2015 (bbc.com)
 Tour
de France director Christian
Prudhomme announced the five wildcard entries for this
July's Grande Boucle, giving the nod to the first African team to grace
the race, plus three French teams and a German outfit.
Cofidis, Europcar and Bretagne-Seche were the predictable choices for the host nation, with Bora-Argon 18 (formerly known as NetApp-Endura) making the cut despite losing their star rider Leopold Konig to Team Sky in the winter. But the biggest headlines were made by Africa's first professional cycling team, MTN-Qhubeka, whose aggressive strategy in the transfer market was rewarded with a berth in the world's biggest cycling race. Although a North African national team appeared in the Tour for three years during the early 1950s, MTN-Qhubeka will be the first African trade team to perform in the race (South African-sponsored Barloworld rode the 2008 with Chris Froome, but were registered in the UK and based in Italy). January
18, 2015 (uk.eurosport.yahoo.com)
 For
almost half an hour, Nairo
Quintana had deftly smothered specific questions on his
fellow Tour de France contenders with non-committal politeness. “I’ve
been in races with all of them,” he said softly at one point of Chris Froome, Alberto Contador and
Vincenzo Nibali.
“Sometimes I’ve won and sometimes they’ve won.”
It was only towards the end of his press conference in San Luis on Sunday morning that Quintana was finally coaxed into picking out one of that trio as his chief rival. The question came almost by way of provocation. Froome, he was told, had last week named Contador as the man to beat in July. What did he make of that? January
18, 2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Robbie Squire is
another young man who’s successfully made the jump from single track to
tarmac; in 2010 he was on the podium at the U23 Pan Am X country MTB
Champs and within a year was US U23 Road Race Champion.
That 2011 season also saw him take two top stage five placings in the highly rated U23 Valle d’Aosta stage race in Italy whilst with the Chipotle Development team. Still with Chipotle in 2013 there was a top 10 on GC in the Ronde de l’Isard d’Ariege stage race in France. Since then it’s been a roller coaster for the man from Salt Lake City with health issues to overcome and rides for two different teams in Italy during 2013. Season 2014 saw him ride a solid season with Jamis-Hagen Berman; but for 2015 he goes to a strong Hincapie Racing Team. He took time to chat just before the Hincapie announcement was made. January
18, 2015 (pezcyclingnews.com)
 road.cc
verdict:4 out of 5 stars.
"Phenomenal in almost every way but just needs a bit of personality to
make it fun."
January
18, 2015 (road.cc)
January
17, 2015 (velonews.com)
|
 When
the Tour Down Under began life in 1999, it was the only game in town
for riders looking to shorten the winter by racing beneath the sun at a
time when the majority of their rivals were still training in frigid
temperatures in Europe.
The landscape has changed emphatically since then, of course, amid cycling’s ongoing globalization and its ever-expanding calendar. Rather than a novelty, the early start is now bordering on de rigueur as far as some are concerned, and the Tour Down Under is by no means the lone show in the southern hemisphere in January. Now in its ninth edition, the Tour de San Luis has enjoyed an upsurge in its popularity in recent years and its status is now such that when the 2015 season gets underway this week, attention will be divided more or less equally between Argentina and Australia. Nairo Quintana, Mark Cavendish and world champion Michal Kwiatkowski are among the riders who have opted to kick off their campaigns at the Tour de San Luis, and they explained their reasoning at the pre-race press conference at the Vista hotel on Saturday morning. January
17, 2015 (cyclingnews.com)
Monday's
(January 19, 2015) Tour de San Luis Stage 1 departs San Luis at 1:49pm
local (11:49am U.S. Eastern, 17:49 CET) and is expected at the finish
at Villa Mercedes at around 6:15pm local (4:15pm U.S. Eastern, 22:15
CET). Tour de San Luis live
video streaming is expected for the start and the finish.
January
17, 2015 (cyclingfans.com)
 Italian
Valentina Scandolara turned
a perfectly timed late race attack into a solo victory on the opening
stage of the Santos Women’s Tour. Crossing the line six seconds ahead
of a decimated bunch, Scandolara
punched the air in celebration. Lauren
Kitchen edged out Melissa
Hoskins in the bunch sprint to take second place.
“I feel very happy,” said Scandolara. “I was excited to race. I watched my teammates race at the Bay Crits and the Nationals, and I was ready to begin my season in Australia.” January
17, 2015 (cyclingtips.com.au)
2014-15
Races
& Results.
Santos Women's Tour 2015 - Jan 17-20 (Stages), Santos Tour Down Under 2015 - Jan 18-25 (Stages), Tour de San Luis 2015 - Jan 19-25 (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),  Tensions
have been rising for quite some time between Team Sky boss David Brailsford and
his opposite man at Tinkoff-Saxo, the provocative Russian billionaire Oleg Tinkov.
During a difficult season for the British team in 2014, Tinkov took his Sky-bating to a whole new level by rubbing each and every one of Tinkoff-Saxo's victories into the virtual face of Brailsford on Twitter. While Sky actually notched more wins than their rivals (27 to 26), Tinkoff-Saxo struck seven times in Grand Tours - with Sky failing to get on the score sheet once. Making matters worse for Sky, Contador convincingly beat Froome to the red jersey after a commanding three weeks in the saddle after both men made their comebacks from injuries sustained during the Tour. January
17, 2015 (uk.eurosport.yahoo.com)
 BikeRadar
verdict: 3 out of 5 stars.
"Decent fit and finish, and excellent venting on a budget."
January
17, 2015 (bikeradar.com)
|
 Richie Porte enters
2015 with something to prove, and he knows it’s time to deliver.
The Tasmanian rider stayed off the Boags beer over the winter, and rolls into the Santos Tour Down Under as a favorite, looking trimmer than he’s been in his career. “You can count the nights out on the piss on one hand,” Porte said Saturday in a press conference. “I came back to Tazzie [Tasmania] in November, and I’ve had a few good months of training. I’ve been on it.” After shedding kilos off his lean frame to trim his race weight down to 62kg (137 pounds), he barreled to an impressive time trial victory in the Australian national championship last week ahead of Jack Bobridge and Rohan Dennis, two riders preparing for a run at the hour record, proof that Porte is upping his game. “It was good to put a good TT like that. I haven’t done that in a long time,” Porte said. “I need to believe that I can start winning these races.” January
17, 2015 (velonews.com)
Tuesday's
(Monday evening North America) Tour Down Under Stage 1 (Hostworks
stage) departs Tanunda at 10:30am local (7:00pm U.S. Eastern, 1:00am
CET) and is expected at the finish at Campbelltown at around 1:49pm
local (10:19pm U.S. Eastern, 4:19am CET). Tour Down Under live streaming video
should get underway at around 12:00pm local (8:30pm U.S. Eastern,
2:30am CET).
January
17, 2015 (cyclingfans.com)
 The
days when the opening months of the cycling season can be used to ease
into the races, are long gone and nowadays the first WorldTour points
are on offer right from the beginning. For most riders, the Tour Down
Under is the first competitive action of the year but it presents a
great opportunity to open the points account already from the take-off.
This turns the race into a hotly contested affair and with the days
when the race was a sprinters' affair now belonging to the past, the
overall classification shapes up to be decided in an exciting battle
between puncheurs, climbers and classics specialists.
2015 has barely begun but the times when January is a month for training and preparation at team training camps are now history. Nowadays, the best professional cyclists start racing earlier than they did in the past when they benefit from the globalization of the sport to get some early-season racing kilometers under their belt under distant and warmer skies. January
17, 2015 (cyclingquotes.com)
 Becoming
world road race champion for the first time, or taking the trio of
Milan-Sanremo, the Ronde Van Vlaanderen and Paris-Roubaix? It’s a
tantalising question, but one Fabian
Cancellara is not willing to answer.
The powerful Swiss rider is clear on his general goal for the 2015 season – to have a much better year than in 2014 – but, on the subject of picking one win, or set of wins, over another, he is simply not willing to go there. “I love those questions because they are questions that you can’t give answers to,” he said, answering a journalist’s enquiry during Friday’s Trek Factory Racing media conference session. “Of course, winning all three would be a huge thing, but in the end also winning the worlds would be huge. Winning Flanders for the fourth time would be immense because nobody has reached that yet.” January
17, 2015 (cyclingtips.com.au)
 "Another
busy week for Tech Roundup, in this edition we've got cycling prints,
clothing, bike mounts, lights, shifters, mudguards, custom cycle
clothing, nutrition... and a carbon fibre phone case."
January
17, 2015 (road.cc)
|
January
17, 2015
 Two-time
world champion Paolo
Bettini rues losing his job as Italy’s head coach and
having “wasted” a year working to launch Fernando Alonso’s
team in 2014.
The squad failed to materialize as Spain’s Formula One driver turned his attention to his new auto-racing team, McLaren. “Had I known that the team would not take off, I would have remained with the Italian national team,” Bettini told Italy’s La Gazzetta dello Sport newspaper. “It doesn’t make sense to talk about this now, however. I considered it a wasted year.”... January
17, 2015 (velonews.com)
 The
first summit finish of the 2015 Giro d’Italia, the road up Monte Gomito
to Abetone is something to look forward to but also a worry. It’s
harder than the profile suggests and coming at the end of Stage 5 it
could reveal who will win the race outright. Fanciful? Not really, it’s
happened before.
But enough fretting about the future, it’s been a classic climb and the launchpad for Fausto Coppi’s first Giro win. But most of time the Passo dell’Abetone is a regular destination for thousands of cyclists in central Italy keen to test their form on a long climb. January
17, 2015 (inrng.com)
 Michael Boogerd has
received a temporary license to work as a team manager from the Belgian
Cycling Federation. He is now awaiting the outcome of a UCI
investigation.
As Boogerd lived in Belgium during his career and still lives in the country, the fate of the Dutchman is in the hands of the Belgian Cycling Federation after he admitted to doping during his time as an active rider. Last month Boogerd’s future was still uncertain which made him highly frustrated. Now he has finally received a provisional license. Boogerd will act as a sports director for the first time at the Etoile de Besseges (February 4). Alongside Jean-Paul van Poppel and Erik Breukink, he will form the team leader trio of the new Dutch Roompot team. January
17, 2015 (cyclingquotes.com)
 From
top pro on the American and International scene to director sportif,
coach, mentor and more Mike
Engleman has seen a lot in our sport. Now working on
developing women’s racing we recently caught up with Mike to get his take
on all apsects of our sport from tactics to wages and more.
Engleman was a pro for a dozen years; a gifted climber and prolific winner on the North American scene he also had wins in Europe and Australia. There was no, dreaded ‘one season too many’ for Engleman who quit when he was still winning. January
17, 2015 (pezcyclingnews.com)
 Today’s
Plan is a new Australian software startup that launched today at the
Tour Down Under. It seeks to bring the knowledge of a qualified coach
to an affordable, cloud-based training and coaching subscription
service.
Although there are businesses in this space already, Today’s Plan offers a range of unique features split into two distinct areas. The first is a computer-generated, yet personalised training plan that based on your riding history, fitness level and time available to train is tailored towards your exact event goal. The other area is in analytics, with endless data captured and displayed in easy to use graphs and summarized terminology. January
17, 2015 (bikeradar.com)
January
16, 2015
|
 Italy's Valentina Scandolara claimed victory in the opening stage of the Santos Women's Cup in Adelaide. Scandolara, who has been in Australia watching her Orica-AIS team-mates race over the past couple of weeks, was eager to get her season started and transferred that enthusiasm onto the bike perfectly with a solo victory. Roxsolt's Lauren Kitchen won the sprint for second, six seconds behind Scandolara with fellow Orica-AIS rider Melissa Hoskins completing the podium. “I was really looking forward to racing,” said Scandolara. January
16, 2015 (sbs.com.au)
Brazil’s Jamildes Fernandes claimed overall victory at the Tour Femenino de San Luis in San Luis, Argentina on Friday after successfully defending her lead in the 80.4km circuit race. Alison Tetrick won the final stage in a solo move, 15 seconds ahead of the field, which was led in by Paola Munoz in second and UnitedHealthcare’s Hannah Barnes in third. Another American, Lauren Stephens finished second overall, eight seconds behind, after winning the stage 4 time trial on Wednesday. Third place overall went to Ana Paula Polegatch, who also rides for the Brazil national team, alongside Fernandes. UnitedHealthcare’s Katie Hall claimed the mountains classification, and Barnes was awarded the best young rider title. January
16, 2015 (velonews.com)
 While
all of the other elite cyclo-cross racers were busy preparing for
Sunday's USA Cycling Cyclo-cross National Championships - going through
the usual routine of training, napping, pre-riding, and eating only to
face a postponed event come race day - three-time elite champion Tim Johnson's race
had already been cancelled. Laid up with a back injury, Johnson spent the
morning supporting his wife Lyne
Bessette in a local running race in Austin on a day when,
under ideal circumstances, he would have been contending for title
number four.
The 2014-2015 'cross season is over for the 37-year-old Johnson, but he's not ready to quit his involvement in the sport. "The season is over. That's being realistic," Johnson said. January
16, 2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Giant-Alepcin
will start the new season with a Santos Tour Down Under line up that
includes two of the Dutch squad's top performers from last season in Marcel Kittel and Tom Dumoulin.
Although the team will focus their efforts on the general classification hopes of Dumoulin and Simon Geschke, Kittel will no doubt take a run at any sprint opportunities, including repeating his win last year at the People's Choice Classic two days before the WorldTour race starts. “Our main focus will be for Tom and Simon to go for the GC, that is our overall target,” said team director Addy Engels. “But when you start a race with Marcel in the team you have to have an eye on the sprint opportunities. January
16, 2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 The
early-season hopes of Orica-GreenEdge suffered a massive blow when last
year’s UCI Road Worlds silver medalist Simon Gerrans broke
his collarbone during a training ride in late December.
The incumbent Australian national champion and Tour Down Under winner was forced to abandon his ambitions of defending his titles, and instead spend the next two months preparing for the spring classics in March. With Gerrans on injured reserve, Orica looks to bounce back from its Australian road nationals gold-medal shutout by turning to three-time South African time trial champion Daryl Impey to lead its seven-man squad, which includes Australians Simon Clarke, Luke Durbridge, Michael Hepburn, Mathew Hayman, Cameron Meyer, and New Zealander Sam Bewley. The Tour Down Under runs from January 20-25. January
16, 2015 (velonews.com)
 Marcel Kittel is the
standout sprinter at this year's Tour Down Under but his top billing
has done nothing to discouraged those who are planning to take on the
German, starting with Sunday's 51km People's Choice criterium in
Adelaide.
Newly crowned Australian criterium champion Steele von Hoff will ride for the Uni SA-Australia team after earning selection with his title and an impressive ninth place in the Australian road championships. January
16, 2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Far
away from the gloom of European winter, the 2015 UCI WorldTour clicks
into gear next week in sunny Adelaide.
Despite its billing as the opener of the WorldTour, the Santos Tour Down Under remains very much an Australian affair. A few big names have made the trek to the southern hemisphere, including Marcel Kittel, Lars Boom, and Ryder Hesjedal, but for most of the European pros, the six-day race in and over the green hills of South Australia is little more than a race-speed training camp. In no way does that suggest the racing is somehow easy. In fact, the race has progressively become harder over the past half decade, so much so that record-stage-winner André Greipel, with 18 stages, decided to skip it altogether. The race is world-class, with an exemplary organization, perhaps the best on the WorldTour circuit, and the rowdy Aussie fans turn out in force that would make most European races jealous. January
16, 2015 (velonews.com)
 The
serious climbs in the biggest races are the next challenge for top
Australian cycling team Orica-GreenEDGE.
And they plan to keep developing potential Grand Tour contenders from their own ranks, with general manager Shayne Bannan non-committal on whether they might chase Tasmanian Richie Porte. The first Australian team to compete at the Tour de France has enjoyed consistent results since their 2012 debut, with number one rider Simon Gerrans and new star Michael Matthews securing a string of big wins. Gerrans' absence with a broken collarbone and Matthews' European program leaves them in the rare position this month of starting the season on the back foot. January
16, 2015 (sbs.com.au)
Monday's
(January 19, 2015) Tour de San Luis Stage 1 departs San Luis at 1:49pm
local (11:49am U.S. Eastern, 17:49 CET) and is expected at the finish
at Villa Mercedes at around 6:15pm local (4:15pm U.S. Eastern, 22:15
CET). Tour de San Luis live
video streaming is expected for the start and the finish.
January
16, 2015 (cyclingfans.com)
 Janier Acevedo was
set to lead his Cannondale-Garmin team at the upcoming Tour de San
Luis, however, a recent knee injury will prevent him from starting, the
team confirmed on Friday. The team replaced their Colombian climber
with Norwegian talent Kristoffer
Skjerping.
The team are still hoping for a top overall placing, however, their goals have shifted more toward stage victories during the seven-day race held from January 19-25 in the Argentinean province of San Luis. January
16, 2015 (cyclingnews.com)
2014-15
Races
& Results.
Santos Women's Tour 2015 - Jan 17-20 (Stages), Santos Tour Down Under 2015 - Jan 18-25 (Stages), Tour de San Luis 2015 - Jan 19-25 (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), |
 "In
his January 2015 VeloNews article, “Women’s movement: The slow march
toward equality,” Matthew
Beaudin characterized the women’s cycling movement as
“filled with potential, largely unrealized,” heavily supporting the “We
can’t change the sport overnight” position of UCI president Brian Cookson.
Therein lies the problem — the attitude of “we can’t” versus “we will.”
As important is the need to identify and shatter many of the myths holding back the development of women’s cycling. For instance, contrary to popular thought, the viewership and readership of women’s cycling is not a function of public interest. Rather it is the outcome of a lack of persistent intentional promotion by cycling teams, national and international cycling governing bodies, and cycling race promoters. For example, television ratings are determined by three primary factors: whether the program is (1) in prime time when most people are watching, (2) scheduled at a predictable time so people know when and where to tune in (with both of these factors determined by the programming administrator), and (3) promoted — advertised so the event is known to the viewership and perceived to be important and exciting. The high ratings achieved by the last women’s FIFA World Cup reflected ESPN’s delivery of all three of these elements." January
16, 2015 (velonews.com)
 Fabian Cancellara
has played down any possibility that he may re-commence his attack on
the Hour Record. Cancellara
says that the decision by the UCI to alter the equipment regulations
left him with little motivation to make an attempt.
“I really started this hour and then suddenly it gets changed from the UCI in a way that I don’t have this motivation,” Cancellara said during a conference call from his team’s latest training camp in Majorca. “At the moment I am focussing on other things and not who is doing it or where they’re doing it or how it’s going to go,” he said. “The last thing I want to do is make a one-hour show and at the moment it looks like everyone wants to do a show.” January
16, 2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Although
considerable doubt was raised about Alex
Dowsett’s prospects of going for the world hour record on
February 27 due to his crash this week and resulting broken collarbone,
the Briton has said that he will still aim for the original date.
Dowsett fell while training on Tuesday and suffered the injury, necessitating an operation to pin the fracture. He and his Movistar team issued a video Friday which updated his situation and included the pledge to keep trying for the original schedule. “Surgery yesterday went extremely well. I should be out of hospital today or tomorrow,” he said in the video.. “The haemophilia usually keeps me in a day or two longer than normal, but it looks like they will be sending me home quite soon.” January
16, 2015 (cyclingtips.com.au)
 “One
lap to go, just one lap to go for Turner
Ramsay!” the voices screamed over the intercom. A bell
rang on the lap line, backing up what the announcer was saying and the
digital lap count was reading.
Ramsay meanwhile, had her hands in the air in a victory salute. Before the race, she had been told that her race would be cut to the correct time, that her lap count would be one less than shown. But with the conflicting messages, she grabbed back onto her hoods and took off into a sprint after the line to get back to speed. 150 meters later, an official was waving her in as if she was going to be lapped by the other fields. When I had seen the event play out, I thought the official had made a mistake, and that Ramsay was joining the scores of 15-16 junior women who were pulled in the early goings of the race. January
16, 2015 (cxmagazine.com)
 Former
track star Dennis
– a team pursuit silver medallist at London 2012 – will attempt his
hour record at the Velodrome Suisse, with compatriot Jack Bobridge
scheduled to take it on later this month.
Given the current mark of 51.852km, set by Matthias Brandle in October, could well fall to Bobridge, Dennis has instead set an ambitious target distance and feels his track background stands him in good stead. “When I look at my experience on the track and the numbers I have been doing on the track and road, it’s within reach. “There’s a number in my head, 52.5km. I’d be happy with that but I’m trying to push towards 53km.” January
16, 2015 (roadcyclinguk.com)
 Italian
national coach Davide
Cassini is optimistic that Italian cycling can have a
successful season in 2015, despite its financial woes and years of
doping scandals, predicting that an Italian rider will finally win a
major one-day Classic, six years after Damiano Cunego won
Il Lombardia.
Cassani travelled to Argentina with an Italian national team on Thursday which will ride the Tour de San Luis. He is also the national team co-ordinator, delegating management of the other disciplines to a series of different coaches. January
16, 2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 The
tension will remain high in Italy this weekend ahead of Monday’s 2015
Giro d’Italia wildcard team announcement. For the Italian
second-division teams, like Nippo-Vini Fantini, racing the world’s
second biggest stage race on home soil means everything.
“Many teams ask for a Giro d’Italia wildcard invitation because it’s a huge event that gathers attention around the world,” the team’s general manager, Francesco Pelosi told VeloNews. “For Italian teams it is THE major event. It offers huge visibility at home and globally for the Italian teams, like the Tour de France for the French teams or the Vuelta a España for the Spanish ones. But given the event’s reach, it’s normal that the foreign teams are also bidding to attend.” Organizer RCS Sport should announce the 22 teams that will race its 2015 Giro d’Italia, May 9 to 31, on Monday. In reality, it will only fill five spots as the 17 first-division teams have guaranteed invitations to all the WorldTour events. January
16, 2015 (velonews.com)
 Chevrier to IAM
Cycling, Synergy Baku train in Calpe, Bigla unveils new look.
January
16, 2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Earlier
this week, Apple was granted a patent for an action-sports camera
design. The patent was originally filed back in 2012. While patents
don’t guarantee products will make it to reality, here’s what we know
about the Apple 'camera' so far, and what we hope to see.
According to PatentlyApple, this patent includes intellectual property acquired from Kodak in 2013. It’s likely that if the product does come into being, it won’t look like the product pictured in original patent. Instead, it may adapt the technology to something more ‘Apple-esque’. Or perhaps we’ll see some of these design elements merged into a phone? Given Apple is soon to release its ‘watch’, we suspect this will be the wearable device that communicates with the camera. Much like the watch will allow advanced control of an iPhone camera, we also suspect the same level of integrated connectivity to be available with the camera. January
16, 2015 (bikeradar.com)
January 15, 2015 January 15, 2015 |
January
16, 2015
 "On
arriving at the Adelaide Hilton, Graeme
Brown revealed he’d been doing some counting.
“I have spent six months of my life in this hotel,” he casually informed me in the lift. I laughed of course, but he was serious. And he proved it. I can’t remember the math but fourteen days a year for thirteen years gives you a number roughly divisible by six months. You can try it yourself. By design or default, the Adelaide Hilton is right at the heart of the Tour Down Under - in more ways than one. Staying in one hotel for an entire race is a real rarity, making the logistics of the race far simpler, the riders and staff more relaxed, and ultimately more accessible to the public." January
16, 2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 RCS
Sport has revealed the route of the first edition of the women's Strade
Bianche race, with the likes of Marianne
Vos, world champion Pauline
Ferrand-Prévot and their rivals facing 17km of dirt roads
during a hilly 103km race on Saturday March 7, the same day as the
men's race.
The men's Strade Bianche race covers the usual 200km route and includes close to 50km of the dirt roads that twist through the Chianti vineyards and rolling fields. Both races start in the picturesque hilltop village of San Gimignano and end in the Piazza il Campo in the centre of Siena. The women's race will start 90 minutes before the men. A Strade Bianche Grand Fondo will also be held on the Sunday. RCS Sport has announced that it will not organize the Roma Maxima race on Sunday March 8. January
16, 2015
(cyclingnews.com)
 Fabian Cancellara
admits Bradley
Wiggins will be a force to be reckoned with at
Paris-Roubaix, what is likely to be the Brit’s last race for Team Sky.
The three-time Hell of the North winner said Wiggins impressed a lot of people with his ninth-place finish on the cobbles last year, proving how serious he was to win the historic race. Last year Cancellara simply said “good luck” when he heard of the 2012 Tour de France winner’s desire to win in Roubaix, but now admits Wiggins could challenge in any of the cobbled classics. “What Bradley will do, nobody knows,” he said. “We know he’s going to go for Roubaix but he can also be competitive at the Tour of Flanders. January
16, 2015 (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
 After
Mathieu van der Poel
announced that he will contest the world championship cyclocross with
the professionals earlier this week, his 20-year old rival Wout van Aert did
the same today.
Van Aert was scheduled to start the world championship with the espoirs. However after lots of prayers from the fans and from the riders themselves, the best two riders of this season will now compete at the highest level on February 1st in Tabor. Both riders are way below the espoir limit of 22-years, while van Aert is 20 van der Poel is only 19-years old. And while the young stars stated for weeks that they wanted to ride with the professionals, their teams were reluctant to rush them. At the official team presentation later today, Van Aert and Vastgoedservice – Golden Palace will explain this decision. January
16, 2015 (cyclingquotes.com)
 Cycling’s
governing body, the UCI, has announced changes to the Rio 2016 road
race route meaning both the men’s and women’s races will now start and
finish at the Copacabana beach.
In December, organizers announced the races would start and finish in Flamengo Park, but the new route moves them 9km south to the historic Copacabana Fort. The adapted routes do not see a change in the race distances – 256.4km for the men, 130.3km for the women – and riders will still pass through Ipanema, São Conrado and Vista Chinesa. January
16, 2015 (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
 Ballan
Cas verdict delayed.
January
16, 2015 (cyclingnews.com)
 Although
it’s one of the larger and heavier POV cameras in our test, the Drift
Innovations Ghost-S makes up for its size and weight with
straightforward controls and a two-inch color LCD display for composing
and playing back videos. This makes it one of the easiest POV cameras
to use.
It’s also waterproof to nearly 10 feet without an external waterproof housing; and with up to 3.5 hours of recording time, it has the best battery life in this test. Spec-wise, it compares very well. It records 1920×1080 full-HD video at 60 frames per second and high-speed 720p video at up to 120 frames per second. It can take 12-megapixel still photos at up to 10 frames per second and it has a wide range of time lapse settings. It also has built-in Wi-Fi and can be controlled remotely with the included remote control or via a smartphone/tablet app. Video quality is good, although it’s not the best in this test. January
16, 2015 (roadbikereview.com)
 "It’s
peak-riding season Down Under, and so our third roundup of new 2015
road and mountain bike gear comes with a whole lot of summer riding
treats soon to be enjoyed by our Australian team. We've got mountain
and road bikes from Merida and Polygon, along with an endurance-roadie
from Norco. Additionally, we have some new tools, a tasty stem and
plenty more."
January
16, 2015 (bikeradar.com)
BikeRadar
verdict: 3.5 out of 5
stars. "Excellent chassis, but overall package is let down by
poor-quality tires.
ts ride is a revelation. It’s not breathtakingly light, but that’s how it feels: light, lively and responsive." January
16, 2015 (bikeradar.com)
 Keep
your lower half warm with these excellent bottoms.
January
16, 2015 (bicycling.com)
January 15, 2015 |
 Fresh
off receiving a wildcard invitation to the 2015 Tour de France,
MTN-Qhubeka on Thursday announced the roster for February's Jayco
Herald Sun Tour built around Grand Tour stage winners Matt Goss and Tyler Farrar.
The 62nd edition of the race will take place February 4-8. For Australian Goss, the race will be a chance to improve on his runner-up finish on the Sun Tour’s first stage in 2014 into Ballarat, where he was narrowly beaten by Garmin-Sharp’s Nathan Haas. Goss first competed in the race in 2005, representing the Australian national team at just 18. Three years later, while riding for CSC-Saxobank, he won his first two stages of the 2008 edition. (cyclingnews.com)
January 15, 2015  This
year's Tour of Oman will offer an early-season showdown between Tour de
France contenders Tejay
van Garderen, Vincenzo
Nibali, Thibaut
Pinot, Rafal
Majka and Joaquim
Rodriguez, with the mountain finish on Jabal Al Akhdhar
(Green Mountain) likely to decide the overall winner of the six-day
race.
Many of the Classics riders who will enjoy the flat roads and echelons of the Tour of Qatar will also ride the Tour of Oman to complete their early-season preparation before heading to Belgium for Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Kuurne-Bruxelles-Kuurne. (cyclingnews.com)
January 15, 2015 Katie Hall won the Tour Femenino de San Luis’ queen stage on Thursday. It was Hall’s first major international victory, and UnitedHealthcare’s third at San Luis. Hall out-sprinted Jamildes Fernandes at the mountaintop finish on Mirador del Potrero. The day before, Team Tibco’s Lauren Stephens won the stage 4 12.8km individual time trial by a fraction of a second over Alison Tetrick. With her TT victory, Stephens assumed the GC lead. However, with her second-place finish on stage 4, Fernandes jumped from ninth to the top of the general classification. She now leads Stephens by one second. (velonews.com)
January 15, 2015  Recent
history of the Santos Tour Down Under indicates that Portugal’s Tiago Machado is the
perfect underdog for the six-day opening race of the WorldTour. Having
transferred from NetApp-Endura to Katusha, he has made his way to
Adelaide with the idea of repaying his old friends [team manager] Viatcheslav Ekimov
and [directeur sportif] José
Azevedo back for their faith in him.
“This is the beginning of the season so I don’t know exactly what my condition is at the moment but I’ve worked to be in good shape now”, Machado told Cyclingnews in Adelaide prior to training in the hills. “I’ve been able to have a really nice training in Portugal since we haven’t had any rain or negative temperatures.” (cyclingnews.com) January 15, 2015  While
four former winners of the Santos Tour Down Under have made their way
back to Adelaide, not counting Allan
Davis who returned as a public relation officer
one year after retiring from professional cycling, Luis Leon Sanchez -
winner in 2005 - is aiming for his second win.
Ten years after winning the race, the Spaniard from Mula is ambitious again as he returns to the WorldTour with Astana after one year at Caja Rural following a fall out with Belkin. “They’ve been very good to me,” Sanchez said of the Pamplona-based team that backed him for winning the King of the Mountains competition at the Vuelta a España, “But for a rider, the most important league to be part of remains the WorldTour.” (cyclingnews.com)
January 15, 2015 Monday's
(January 19, 2015) Tour de San Luis Stage 1 departs San Luis at 1:49pm
local (11:49am U.S. Eastern, 17:49 CET) and is expected at the finish
at Villa Mercedes at around 6:15pm local (4:15pm U.S. Eastern, 22:15
CET). Tour de San Luis live
video streaming is expected for the start and the finish.
(cyclingfans.com)
January 15, 2015  The
Tour of Alberta will add a sixth stage and make stops through seven
official host communities in 2015, as the race is set to run September
2-7. New host cities have been added for the coming year, including
Grande Cache, Jasper, Edson, and Spruce Grove, with Edmonton returning
as a host for its third year.
“Our host communities are really an integral part of the success of the event,” said Duane Vienneau, executive director of the Tour of Alberta. “Each community is highly involved in the planning of the route and festivals. Their commitment and planning begins months before the race rolls through. Their dedication to this event is one of the many reasons why we are able to showcase Alberta internationally. We are thrilled that all of these communities have come aboard so some of the world’s best mountains and most breathtaking scenery can be seen around the planet.” The city of Grande Prairie will host a stage 1 team time trial, which is a first for the Tour of Alberta. In 2013 and 2014, the race included individual time trials. Organizers say the TTT is intended to help teams prepare for the world championships in Richmond, Virginia, two weeks after Tour of Alberta. (velonews.com)
January 15, 2015
2014-15
Races
& Results.
Santos Women's Tour 2015 - Jan 17-20 (Stages), Santos Tour Down Under 2015 - Jan 18-25 (Stages), Tour de San Luis 2015 - Jan 19-25 (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), (cyclingnews.com)
January 15, 2015  What
the six-stage Tour of Qatar (February 8-13) may lack in hills and
distance, it makes up for in crosswinds and outright pace.
Previous editions of the Middle East race have shown that the often vicious coastal and desert winds can cut the peloton to pieces. And if the riders are lucky enough for the winds to be behind them, speeds can be blistering. Tactics and position in the peloton can play as much a part as strength for a rider to survive. (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
January 15, 2015  A
museum for Purito, Boels-Dolmans presented, Champion System roster.
(cyclingnews.com)
January 15, 2015  The
World cyclo-cross championships are this Sunday, but the reigning
champion Zdenek Stybar
wont be able to defend his rainbow jersey due to his shoulder injury.
We caught up with the Czech road champion at the Etixx – Quick-Step
training camp in Spain to talk cross, road and podium girls.
Twice Under 23 World champion, three times professional World champion and nine times National cyclo-cross champion isn’t too bad, but the road is where he want to shine in the future. A handful of road wins including a stage in la Vuelta a España along with top ten places in Milan-Sanremo, San Sebastián and twice in Paris-Roubaix, he’s making a good start. (pezcyclingnews.com)
January 15, 2015  Garmin
yesterday bought iKubu, a company that is designing computer vision and
radar systems for cycling. iKubu has been working on Backtracker, a
low-energy bike radar that lets cyclists track vehicles coming up
behind them via a LED device on the handlebars.
The Backtracker uses a rear-facing radar that also has a flashing caution light, which flashes faster the closer a car gets to the cyclist. “iKubu has found a way to implement short-range radar into a low-power system that addresses a common concern among cyclists – identifying potential hazards that are approaching them from behind,” Cliff Pemble, Garmin’s president and CEO, said in a press release. “We are delighted to add this technology to the Garmin portfolio.” (bikeradar.com)
January 15, 2015 |
 On
Wednesday, USA Cycling sent an email to riders who had registered for
2015 cyclocross national championships to address concerns and
complaints stemming from the postponed Sunday races.
The following is the complete, unedited letter, which was signed by USA Cycling’s vice president of national events, Micah Rice. (velonews.com)
January 15, 2015  Time
for the annual update on the wealthiest people in pro cycling. If you
thought this meant Alberto
Contador, Mark
Cavendish or Peter
Sagan, think again because this is about the people rich
enough to hire these star riders.
A lot has changed in recent times, volatile stock markets have benefited some but hit others. In the first of a two-part series here are the billionaire and millionaire World Tour team owners and sponsors. (inrng.com)
January 15, 2015  After
the unexpected postponement of the 2015 Cyclocross National
Championships, everyone still had a job to do on Monday.
For all but one of the Elite Women, the job was to find a way of stopping Katie Compton from winning another National Championship. Like U23 Logan Owen did just minutes before, Compton managed to put together ten straight victories with her 2014 Nationals win in Boulder. But this season hasn’t been the greatest, by Compton’s own admission. With allergy problems and some losses to Sanne Cant and Meredith Miller, her competition was justified in thinking this might be the year they could topple Compton. With a muddy, modified course that was quickly turning into peanut butter and ripping derailleurs off bikes, Compton not only faced stiff competition but the risk of mechanical issues jeopardizing her title chances. (cxmagazine.com)
January 15, 2015  Twenty16-Sho-Air
announced its UCI road team roster for 2015, which has renewed depth of
talent and experience after a 2014 season that was focused largely on
development.
With the program in its 10th year, Twenty16-Sho-Air has targeted the UCI world road championships in Richmond, Virginia, with riders focusing on selection to the national team for both the elite and junior categories. The team’s junior development program will integrate its top juniors into the squad for select NRC events — the first being Redlands Classic where the team will field a mixed roster of elite and 17-18 junior athletes. Climbing specialist Andrea Dvorak returns to the team in 2015, having ridden for the organization from 2011-2013. “Twenty16 presented by Sho-Air is a program that has experienced great success from the junior to Olympic level,” said Dvorak. “Every success inspires the team to do greater things and views its horizon as endless.” (velonews.com)
January 15, 2015  Last
year, Carmen Small
rode with a few guys from Tinkoff-Saxo. They cruised idly through the
narrow backroads outside Lucca, Italy, chatting, until one said
something she couldn’t believe: He didn’t know who she was. He didn’t
even know she raced professionally.
Last year, Small walked into a coffee shop at the bottom of Mount Lemon in Tucson, Arizona, full of cyclists ready to make the climb, in her distinctive Specialized-Lululemon kit. Nobody asked for an autograph, nobody bought her a coffee; nobody seemed to notice. “If you were a man with your results, you would have been mobbed,” her husband said. He’s right. Women’s cycling has a problem. Its slow march toward equality can feel like, at times, barely a shuffle. (velonews.com)
January 15, 2015  Lauren Kitchen is
looking to bring her strong early season form into the Santos Women's
Tour as she competes as part of the Roxsolt women’s team from January
17-20.
Kitchen placed third in the national criterium earlier this month and will line up in the Adelaide event with teammates Tiffany Cromwell, Loren Rowney, Carlee Tayler and Great Britain’s Lucy Martin. Kitchen is a professional rider for Hi-Tech through most of the road season but along with the rest of the Roxsolt team has been granted dispensation to ride the Santos Women’s Tour. (cyclingnews.com)
January 15, 2015  Following
yesterday’s news that the MTN-Qhubeka team will ride the Tour de France
this year, the squad has confirmed that it will sign of a 23rd rider,
namely multiple Irish champion Matt
Brammeier.
Pending the completion of UCI paperwork, the 29 year old rider is joining the team on a two year deal and is part of a general strengthening of the squad for 2015. He won the Irish road race championship four times plus the time trial championship once, and is regarded as an experienced helper. His goal will be to give support to both the team’s sprinters and also the all-rounders and climbers. (cyclingtips.com.au)
January 15, 2015  Jonathan Page looked
relaxed and happy to be headed back to his family in Belgium as he
reflected on Monday’s USA Cycling Cyclo-cross Championship race.
“It’s always nicer to win. That’s the only disadvantage of this whole trip. You work so hard and come here for one flippin’ hour and get a flat tire,” Page said as he laughed and threw his hands in the air. “But it’s biking, and I’ve done it for many years. It’s nothing new, but it can take a little bit of wind out of your sails.” Early during the first lap of Monday’s race it became obvious that Page would be the only rider to challenge Jeremy Powers for the USA title. Page and Powers separated themselves from the field and started trading blows. Unfortunately, disaster struck when Page took his first clean bike of the race on the first lap. (cyclingnews.com)
January 15, 2015  Organizers
announced Thursday that the Tour de France will host a stage, and a
rest day, in Andorra during the 2016 edition, which is due to start in
Normandy.
Tour director Christian Prudhomme signed an agreement with Andorra’s tourism minister Francesc Camp for the principality to host the end of one stage, a rest day, and the beginning of the next stage. It will be the Tour’s first appearance in Andorra in seven years, since Frenchman Brice Feillu triumphed at Arcalis, and fifth in total. The exact details of the three days in Andorra will be revealed when the full 2016 route for the 103rd Tour is announced in October. (velonews.com)
January 15, 2015  BikeRadar
verdict: 4 out of 5
stars. "Reasonably efficient, great ergonomics and an excellent
all-round package."
(bikeradar.com)
January 15, 2015  BikeRadar
verdict: 4.5 out of 5
stars. "Brilliant lid for a fantastic price – all the helmet most of us
will ever need.
The Propero II's remarkably appealing price of just US$110 / £70 /AU$150 is less than half that of the Prevail and most flagship helmets from other manufacturers. It's light, too, at just 238g" (bikeradar.com)
January 15, 2015 |
January 15, 2015  Initially
second in the 2010 Vuelta a España but later losing that result and
incurring a two year ban due to a positive test for hydroxethyl starch,
Ezequiel Mosquera
was cleared earlier this month by a Spanish court.
However the retired rider’s chance of having his result restored and ban recognized as quashed in a sporting sense appears very uncertain after the World Anti Doping Agency gave its position Thursday on the matter. “In Spain, there is a civil law process where athletes found to have committed an anti-doping rule violation, and who have been banned from international competition, still have the option to seek redress in the national civil courts,” a WADA spokesman told CyclingTips. “Spanish athletes who have therefore been banned by the internationally accepted process, including appeals to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, can apply to the civil court in Spain. Any redress received however cannot be upheld internationally and therefore there is no reduction nor change to the sanction imposed pursuant to the World Anti-Doping Code. (cyclingtips.com.au)
January 15, 2015  IAM
Cycling sporting manager Serge
Beucherie has spoken about the importance of riders
remaining clean, saying that not giving in to temptation to cut corners
is crucial on both a personal and professional level.
Beucherie’s team is a member of the MPCC anti-doping movement and he gave his thoughts in a video released by it on Thursday. “There are many ways to fight against doping,” he said, before explaining what he and others on the team tell the riders signed to it in order to help deter them from taking banned shortcuts. “The speech to the riders is focussed on two main aspects. Firstly, the rider’s health. ‘Guys, it’s a beautiful sport, don’t ruin your health as there is a life after cycling.’ (cyclingtips.com.au)
January 15, 2015  Since
it begun seventeen years ago, Mike
Turtur has been at the helm of the Tour Down Under as race
director. Turtur,
himself a gold medallist at the 1984 Olympic Games in the team pursuit,
has grown the race from humble origins to an important opening fixture
on the WorldTour calendar attracting the biggest names of the sport.
Simon Gerrans is the only rider to have won the race on three occasions but will miss the chance to become the first rider to successfully defend his title having broken his collarbone prior Christmas. Andre Griepel, who holds the record for the most stage wins will also be missing from the race, giving it a new feel for 2015 and the opportunity for riders to step up in their absence. (cyclingnews.com)
January 15, 2015  "I’ve
always lived in warm climates, where it’s easy to be consistent in the
winter. For many years after I started racing, I really sucked, so
winter was always the best time to make big improvements in my fitness.
The only problem: if you’re doing the hard work in the winter, you
generally peak in the spring. So I’d always come out swinging at the
first local races. When I started to suck less, I’d win something early
(San Dimas, Redlands, Merco), but even in the last couple of years,
when I only sucked a little, I’d pay for my spring in May or June.
This year, with Optum p/b Kelly Benefits (as I understand it, p/b means “peanut butter”), I’m hoping to not suck at all. California is a big target, so the coach is holding me back. Instead of trying to improve my power in the winter, I’m improving my endurance, getting a real base. That doesn’t mean I haven’t been training. It just means I’ve been spending a lot of time in the gym (only bicep curls and abs), and hours on the bike are more in the 250 watt range than the 400 I might have been chasing in the past." (velonews.com) January 15, 2015  Family Feud isn’t
known for being controversial programming. Despite its combative
moniker, the show’s battles tend to stay between the two competing
families—not engage an entire community off-screen.
But Australian cyclist community were less than amicable when their national Family Feud broadcast chose the category "What is something annoying that a cyclist might do?" for its game show question, with horrific offenses like “ring a bell,” “wear Lycra,” and even more discouragingly, “everything,” appearing as answers. Australian Cycle Alliance president Edward Hore says he was shocked by the question and thinks the program only brought up cycling as a ratings grab because the subject is controversial. (bicycling.com)
January 15, 2015  "Very
interesting article in today’s The
Guardian by Suze
Clemitson about how Charlie Hebdo taught her more about
the reality of doping in cycling than she would ever have read in the
pages of Pro Cycling
or Cycling Snooze."
“I learned more about the murky world of cycling from the cartoonist’s pen than from the editorial team of L’Equipe and their ilk'” she writes. “The cartoons – those precise, puerile, perfect slashes of black pen on white paper – gave the game away by daring to show openly what others could or would only to hint at.” (crankpunk.com)
January 15, 2015  Organizer
RCS Sport will name its Giro d’Italia teams next week on the heels of
the Tour de France’s wildcard announcements. It may already have
decided on teams, however, with Androni Giocattoli, Bardiani-CSF,
Colombia, Nippo-Vini Fantini, and Southeast expected to get the nod.
RCS Sport will welcome the 17 first-division teams — all have guaranteed spots to race in every WorldTour event — and five second-division teams on what is referred to as “wildcard” invitations. In addition to the Giro d’Italia, May 9 to 31, RCS Sport will name the teams to race in March’s Tirreno-Adriatico stage race and one-day classic, Milano-Sanremo. The organizer has 20 second-division teams that it can choose from to fill the Giro d’Italia’s five open spots, but the pool is actually much shallower. Race director Mauro Vegni wants to have an Italian flavor in the 2015 edition, which will push off from Liguria’s shores and stay within the country’s border all but one day when it cuts through neighboring Switzerland. (velonews.com)
January 15, 2015  Coming
into this test, we viewed the iON Air Pro 3 Wi-Fi as a possible dark
horse contender. Although iON makes a full line of POV cameras and
accessories, it doesn’t have the same brand recognition as the other
manufacturers in our test. The Air Pro 3 Wi-Fi is iON’s flagship POV
camera and there is a lot of performance packed into its sleek,
waterproof case.
The Wi-Fi version we tested comes with a “Wi-Fi Podz” unit, which allows it to connect wirelessly to a smartphone via the free iON Camera mobile app. External controls are simple with just an on/off button and an easy-to-use switch to start and stop video recording. The Air Pro 3 has great performance specs, including full HD video at 60 FPS, 720p at 120 FPS, 12-megapixel still photos – and it’s waterproof to nearly 50 feet without any extra housing. Unfortunately, we found the iON Air Pro 3 Wi-Fi’s video quality lacking. (roadbikereview.com)
January 15, 2015  At
first glance the LifeBeam Smart Helmet looks just like the Lazer
Genesis it is built on. That is until you notice the solid panel at the
back and the sensor unit inside the front of the helmet.
The optical sensor unit sits snugly on your forehead when you put the helmet on, reading heartrate data and passing it through to the LifeBeam’s “brain” at the back. This data is then transmitted via ANT+ to a compatible device, such as a Garmin head unit. The sensor itself feels soft and is able to move around a little, meaning it doesn’t feel like you’ve got something jabbing into your head while you’re riding. In fact, I stopped noticing the sensor within a minute of putting the helmet on. (cyclingtips.com.au)
January 15, 2015  This
year's Consumer Electronics Show wasn't just filled with camera gear to
help you put together that awesome edit you've always wanted.
There was also lots of other bike-friendly electronica on hand to help make your next ride a little more entertaining, your next mountain bike camping trip a little more fun and your precious smartphone a little less apt to blow up when you crash. (bikeradar.com)
January 15, 2015 January 14, 2015 |
 "With
2014 champion Simon
Gerrans sidelined with injury, the 2015 Santos Tour Down
Under will register a new champion this January. But who will it be?
We rate the chances of the main contenders for the opening WorldTour event of the season." (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
January 14, 2015  The Santos Women's Tour has attracted a strong international field for the inaugural event which opens the 2015 Subaru National Road Series this weekend. To be held in conjunction with the Santos Tour Down Under, almost 100 cyclists will be looking to impress as the eyes of the world turn to South Australia. International riders such as dual world champion Giorgia Bronzini and Loes Gunnewijk are sure to add some fire-power to the peloton. (sbs.com.au)
January 14, 2015 Cuban rider Iraida Garcia Ocasio won the third stage of the Tour Femenino de San Luis on Tuesday as Briton Hannah Barnes maintained her grip on the race lead. (velonews.com)
January 14, 2015  Alex Dowsett’s Hour
Record hopes have been dealt a blow after breaking his collarbone
during a training crash on Tuesday, according to his Movistar team. The
team say that a decision on whether Dowsett
will continue his bid for the Hour Record, which is due to take place
on February 27, is due in the coming days.
The crash happened during a training ride near his home in Essex and he was forced to go to hospital, suffering from pain in his right hand and shoulder. A subsequent exam revealed that Dowsett had suffered a broken collarbone in the crash and will require surgery. (cyclingnews.com)
January 14, 2015  The
2015 Friends Life Women’s Tour will begin where the 2014 edition ended,
rolling out from Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk on June 17.
Marianne Vos won last year’s final stage in the town to wrap up the overall victory and is likely to be among the 100 riders going for the win later this year. Stage one will be entirely in Suffolk, finishing in the coastal town of Aldeburgh, with further details of the route due to be announced in the coming weeks. (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
January 14, 2015  ASO’s
sudden announcement of the Tour de France teams on Twitter may have
come as a surprise but few would have been surprised when they saw that
MTN-Qhubeka had earned a wildcard entry. The team have been working
hard this winter to ensure that eventuality by bringing on a number of
big-name riders.
Competition for positions in the nine-man team will be hot and, with the race starting in the Netherlands, Theo Bos is determined as ever to make his debut at the race. “Everybody wants to do the Tour,” Bos told Cyclingnews. “This year it starts in Holland. This must be a goal and it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity. I may never have this opportunity again.” (cyclingnews.com)
January 14, 2015  Mark Cavendish
doesn’t seem panicky about the coming season. Despite crashing out of
the Tour de France last year without winning a stage for the first time
since his debut, the Manxster is full of his trademark bluff and gruff
ahead of what’s sure to be a very challenging season in the sprints.
When asked if he felt pressure to win a stage in the 2015 Tour against the likes of Marcel Kittel and André Greipel, Cavendish just shrugged. “Not really. I’ve won 25 stages,” he told journalists at a recent media day. “If I win one stage at the Tour, I’d be happy. One stage in the Tour is a rider’s career, it makes his career, so it’s a big thing to win one stage each year. You have to give the respect to the Tour de France it deserves.” (velonews.com)
January 14, 2015 Monday's
(January 19, 2015) Tour de San Luis Stage 1 departs San Luis at 1:49pm
local (11:49am U.S. Eastern, 17:49 CET) and is expected at the finish
at Villa Mercedes at around 6:15pm local (4:15pm U.S. Eastern, 22:15
CET). Tour de San Luis live
video streaming is expected for the start and the finish.
(cyclingfans.com)
January 14, 2015
2014-15
Races
& Results.
Santos Women's Tour 2015 - Jan 17-20 (Stages), Santos Tour Down Under 2015 - Jan 18-25 (Stages), Tour de San Luis 2015 - Jan 19-25 (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), (cyclingnews.com)
January 14, 2015  Race
organizers ASO have confirmed the route of the 2015 Tour of Qatar,
which is due to begin on February 8. The Middle Eastern race is a
chance for the sprinters to get in some early victories but the
crosswinds that often wreak havoc on the bunch present an opportunist
with a shot at success.
Niki Terpstra took advantage of the winds last year to win the opening stage and go on to take the overall classification. (cyclingnews.com)
January 14, 2015  GoPro
rules the POV camera universe and the HERO4 Silver is the sweet spot in
their product lineup. With the GoPro HERO4 Silver you get full HD video
at 60 FPS, 720p HD video at 120 FPS, 2.7k at 30 FPS, and yes, even 4k
capability – although it’s not very useful at 15 FPS.
What really sets the HERO4 Silver apart is GoPro’s Protune mode, which captures twice as much data as most POV cameras. It requires a little more editing effort but it’s worth it if you want helmet cam video that really looks good. Why the HERO4 Silver instead of the Black? The truth is, the HERO4 Black is overkill for anyone but a professional video maker. The Silver has the same sensor, most of the same features, and it adds a brand-new touchscreen LCD display to the back of the camera, making it more versatile and easier to use. It also costs $100 less than the Black, money you can use for more mount options — or post-ride beer. (roadbikereview.com)
January 14, 2015  The
lead into the USA Cycling Cyclo-cross National Championships was
anything but smooth for Jeremy
Powers. Powers
flew to Austin early for the championship race, which was scheduled for
January 11, to train and acclimate himself to the time zone after his
most recent trip to Europe. By the time he landed, however, the
accumulated travel from his racing schedule had taken its toll.
“I flew in on the 28th [of December]. I was here sick as a dog. I flew here with a fever, I got the flu, and my IT band from all the running in Europe flared up,” Powers said. “When I came here I was pretty beat up. That’s what Europe does.” (cyclingnews.com)
January 14, 2015 |
 Add
concerns about poor treatment of junior women racers to the list of
distressing news to come out of last weekend’s U.S. cyclocross national
championships in Austin, Texas.
Colin Reuter, founder of crossresults.com, blasted the governing body for its treatment of the junior women in a blog post on Tuesday. The postponement of eight races from Sunday afternoon to Monday, and the compression of those races into a shorter timeframe, required USA Cycling to rethink the race schedule. The greatest reshuffle came in the junior categories, leaving the marquee elite men’s, elite women’s, and U23 men’s races intact. The junior men 15-16 category, the largest of the junior categories, was allowed to race on its own, while the men 17-18, the women 17-18, and the women 15-16 all raced together, each start separated by one minute. (velonews.com)
January 14, 2015  Announcing
the lineup of teams for this year’s Tour de France, organisers ASO has
confirmed the identities of five wildcard squads which will compete
alongside the seventeen WorldTour teams in July.
The company has confirmed that the French trio of Europcar, Cofidis and Bretagne-Séché Environnement will be present, as will the Bora-Argon 18 team plus MTN Qhubeka. The selection of the latter makes history as it represents the first time an African-based, African-registered team will compete in the Tour. (cyclingtips.com.au)
January 14, 2015  Africa
will send a team to the Tour de France for the first time in 2015 with
South Africa’s MTN-Qhubeka receiving one of five wildcard invitations
Wednesday from race organizer ASO.
France’s Bretagne-Séché Environnement, Cofidis, and Europcar, along with Germany’s Bora-Argon 18, will also race July 4-26 with the 17 UCI ProTeams. “OK, we had Chris Froome win the 2013 Tour de France, Daryl Impey wore the yellow jersey, but to have a whole team in the Tour de France … For Africa and South Africa, it’s going to be huge,” MTN general manager Brian Smith told VeloNews. “And it’s going to happen on Nelson Mandela’s Day, on July 18.” (velonews.com)
January 14, 2015  The
general vibe at Team Sky’s training camp in Mallorca is relaxed, and
there are few people more so than former Vacansoleil and Omega
Pharma QuickStep rider Wout
Poels. The British team’s first Dutch rider, 27-year-old Poels had been on
Sky’s radar for some time and has been signed with a view to
strengthening the group defending Chris
Froome’s Grand Tour interests in the mountains.
Genial and with a smile never too far away, Poels reveals that Sky showed some interest in him during his four-year spell with Vacansoleil and firmed it up last season. “They said they would like me on the team. I had a really good conversation with Dave [Brailsford] and he gave me real confidence that they can make me a better rider in the future. That really appealed to me,” says Poels, who opted to switch after a single season with Omega Pharma. (cyclingnews.com)
January 14, 2015  Thibaut Pinot will
ride Tirreno-Adriatico and the Tour de Romandie as part of his build-up
to the 2015 Tour de France.
Pinot announced his program on Twitter and will follow a similar program to his 2014 calendar, which helped him peak for the Tour de France and finish third overall behind Vincenzo Nibali and fellow Frenchman Jean-Christophe Péraud. (cyclingnews.com)
January 14, 2015  Marcel Kalz took an
impressive revenge for his paper-thin last year's defeat, taking a
convincing victory together with his Danish partner Alex Rasmussen in
the 2015 Six Days of Bremen on Tuesday night. Overnight leaders Morgan Kneisky and Jesper Morkov
eventually took the runner-up spot while defending champions Leif Lampater and Wim Stroetinga had
to settle for third.
The extremely powerful German-Danish combination started the untimate evening one lap down on other two pairs remaining in contention, but emphatically leading in points, and turned such situation into their advantage thanks to good tactics in the final Madison. (cyclingquotes.com)
January 14, 2015  "As
we head in to the final stretch of the season, looking forward to the
2015 Cyclocross World Championships, we took a look at the contenders
that will be wearing the American colors for the for separate events.
While today we look at some of the other national championships around
the world, there are a few important items to note heading to the Czech
Republic. Despite taking a number of impressive wins in the Men’s Elite
races this season, and more importantly, the Dutch National Jersey of
the Men’s Elite Championship, Mathieu
van der Poel has already declared that he will race in the
U23 race this year.
One of his largest young rivals, Wout van Aert, is still undecided, is ready to make his final decision this Friday." (cxmagazine.com)
January 14, 2015  BikeRadar
verdict: 3.5 out of 5
stars. "Solid handling and performance, but buzz prone on rough roads."
(bikeradar.com)
January 14, 2015  As
the car’s front bumper hit my rear wheel, the sound of it wasn’t but
absorbed. The front wheel popped out, and the tire ripped off as the
violence of energy went from car to bike and human being. I came down
on a naked fork going roughly 25 miles per hour.
And so this is how it happens. This is how you die. My brain is on fire and the slivers of seconds are bending and stretching. I look over my left shoulder and see the car passing above. The time is long still, and the pitch of a terrified nervous system mutes the rest of the world into nothing. My right hip and calf help bring me to a slow, grinding stop on the side of Monarch Road outside of Boulder, Colorado. I rest my head on the asphalt and close my eyes. Awareness is smoke, there and gone. (velonews.com)
January 14, 2015  In
Calpe, southern Spain, the WorldTour Trek Factory Racing team,
including classics king Fabian
Cancellara, is just completing a two-week training camp.
And at the heart of the action has been Dubliner Paraic McGlynn, one of the world leaders in top end bike fitting and cycling biomechanics. Armed with software and hardware he has developed himself, the Irish entrepreneur has been advising the team on refining their riders’ positions. And he has taken on a significant role for the Trek company which now has a global reach. The goal is simple; to help the team’s riders get the best from themselves by leaving nothing to chance. (stickybottle.com)
January 14, 2015 |
January 14, 2015  A
US federal judge ruled on Monday that Lance Armstrong and
his legal team may see documents from the federal government's criminal
doping investigation in the wake of the US Postal Service's sponsorship
of Armstrong's
former team, according to a report today by Courthouse News Service.
The federal government joined a False Claims Act lawsuit by Armstrong's former teammate Floyd Landis, naming Armstrong, former team manager Johan Bruyneel and Armstrong's management company Tailwind Sports as defendants. The suit, which Landis filed in 2010, accuses Armstrong of defrauding the US government when the former seven-time Tour de France winner was riding for US Postal. The government joined Landis' lawsuit last year, and under the False Claims Act, damages could be tripled to nearly $100 million. As the whistleblower who filed the case, Landis would be eligible for part of any damages awarded. (cyclingnews.com)
January 14, 2015  Lance Armstrong’s
former soigneur, Emma
O’Reilly, will launch an indoor cycling training and
performance center in Manchester.
O’Reilly has teamed up with Jennie Duschenes to launch performance brand Pro Spin and the fitness concept Spin Club, which will be hosted at a site between Wilmslow and Hale later this month. After speaking out about Armstrong’s doping in 2002, O’Reilly has run The Body Clinic in Hale for several years and now wants to tap into the growing cycling market in North West England. (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
January 14, 2015  ASO
has announced the wildcard invitations for Paris-Nice, the Critérium du
Dauphiné and the Tour de France. No surprises: as predicted it’s
Bora-Argon 18, Bretagne-Séché, Cofidis, Europcar and MTN-Qhubeka with
Bora’s case strengthened by confirmation of the recent ARD broadcast
deal.
In times past wildcards had an exclusive element, to invite one team was to shun another but this time there are no obvious missing names from the Tour de France. Bretagne-Séché’s invitation is understandable given their nationality and if they’re unlikely to become the talk of July their presence hardly excludes a must-have team. Besides the Tour has the paradox of being a global event that needs a large domestic contingent. Team Colombia can be exciting but they’ve yet to land a big result; a Giro invite looks likely and hopefully they win this when they’re announced in the coming days. (inrng.com)
January 14, 2015  The
name may not be as catchy as Silicon Valley but Taichung is a
powerhouse when it comes to bike technology and production.
Taichung City is Taiwan’s third largest city. It’s part of Taichung County, and it’s a quick 160km from Taipei if you use the high-speed rail. The city describes itself as an “economic, cultural and international city” which fits perfectly with the cycling industry that is based in the area. The area features a who’s who of the cycling industry. Scratch the surface and all manner of cycling firms seem to have a presence there. (cyclingtips.com.au)
January 14, 2015  A
training ride on Wilunga Hill turned into an unexpected brush with the
law on Wednesday for Giant-Alpecin's Tour Down Under squad after Simon Geschke and Lawson Craddock
collided with a local patrol car.
Craddock, via email Wednesday, said that the incident occurred after the riders had climbed the hill twice and were heading back down. “I was behind Simon Geschke when we rolled into town where a bike lane started,” Craddock said. “After a couple hundred meters, Simon started to pass a cop who all of a sudden turned into a parking space on the side of the street. (cyclingnews.com)
January 14, 2015  "It
strikes me as peculiar how such a disarmingly simple machine can be the
fulcrum for such complex issues, of compelling tales that stir the
deepest emotions and of such resounding devotion, yet this is what the
humble bicycle is.
Essentially it is little more than a bunch of tubes, a handful of components and two wheels – a design that, even despite the introduction of new materials through the generations, has changed little. Yet if ever a machine was greater than the sum of its parts, this is it." (pezcyclingnews.com)
January 14, 2015  On
paper, Fuji's new Transonic appears to be an almost-perfect road racing
machine: It's light for an aero bike, stiffer than the company's other
race models, and comes in a range of builds that makes it accessible to
the well-heeled and ramen-eating racer alike. But promises on paper
don't always translate to the pavement, so we took it out on our local
roads to see if it could deliver.
Fuji initially shaped the Transonic on a computer to make it more aerodynamic, then verified the design in a wind tunnel. The company says that at 30 mph, a rider averaging 300 watts on a 40km time trial aboard a Transonic would finish 65 seconds faster than on the SST, Fuji's aggressive crit-racing machine, and 55 seconds faster than on the Altamira, Fuji's lightweight race bike. This is impressive from a frame that weighs just 2.2 pounds in its lightest version. (bicycling.com)
January 14, 2015  German
time trial specialist Tony
Martin said on Wednesday one of his top priorities for the
2015 season is to pull on the fabled yellow jersey as leader of the
Tour de France.
The 29-year-old three-time world champion in the race against the clock made his intentions clear at the unveiling of his Belgian team, Etixx-QuickStep, in Calpe, Spain. “This year, I have a rare opportunity to wear the yellow jersey on the first day of the race. That is at the top of my priorities for 2015,” said Martin, in reference to the July 4 opening stage, a 14km individual time trial around the Dutch city of Utrecht. (velonews.com)
January 14, 2015 January 13, 2015 |
 Something
fell apart in Austin, Texas, over the past weekend. Somehow, somewhere,
communication failed, planning failed; the stewards of the sport of
cyclocross in the United States failed.
Does failure, however, go hand-in-hand with fault? Just hours before the final day’s racing was set to commence in Austin’s Zilker Park, the U.S. national cyclocross championship was canceled, postponed, and then finally rescheduled for the following afternoon — a Monday. Hundreds of racers, their families, their teams, and their fans were forced to scramble — changing flights, extending hotel stays, and taking another day off from work — or they were forced to simply go home, back to their real lives away from the mud. The underpinnings of the failures are complicated. Blame is difficult to extract from the work of lady luck and difficult to pin down on any single party. But the foundation is clear: It all starts with the trees. (velonews.com)
January 13, 2015  Tirreno-Adriatico
succeeded in doing what only the Tour de France could do, attracting
the top four grand tour cyclists for its 2015 edition, March 11 to 17.
Chris Froome, Alberto Contador, Nairo Quintana, and Vincenzo Nibali — winners of 11 grand tours in total — planned their schedules to be ready for Tour de France. Only once will their paths cross along the way, in Italy’s Tirreno-Adriatico. The Corsa dei Due Mari, or Race of the Two Seas, starts in Tuscany’s Camaiore with a 22.7-kilometer team time trial and ends on Italy’s east coast in San Benedetto del Tronto with a individual TT of 10 kilometers. In between, the race will finish on flat roads in three of its days, cover the medium mountains to Castelraimondo, and climb to Monte Terminillo. (velonews.com)
January 13, 2015  Former
Tour of Flanders winner Nick
Nuyens is expected to announce his retirement this
afternoon, according to Het
Nieuwsblad. The Belgian rider has called a press
conference where it is believed that he will confirm his departure from
the sport after failing to secure a contract for the 2015.
Nuyens turned professional in 2003 with the QuickStep-Davitamon team, with whom he took victories at Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne, Omloop Het Volk and the Tour of Britain. His biggest success came in 2011 where he beat Sylvain Chavanel and Fabian Cancellara in a sprint to take victory at the Tour of Flanders. It would turn out to be the final victory of his career. (cyclingnews.com)
January 13, 2015  Hannah Barnes
completed a hat-trick of wins in Argentina yesterday evening (January
12), picking up her third victory in as many days by taking stage two
of the Tour Femenino de San Luis.
Barnes won Saturday’s Gran Prix San Luis Femenino before racing to victory in stage one of the Tour Femenino on Sunday. And, on Monday, Barnes increased her lead in the Tour’s General Classification over Elena Cecchini and Arianna Fidanza to 11sec and 16sec respectively. (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
January 13, 2015  Happy
newlywed Chris Froome
is notably early for our interview. “Sophie?” he says tentatively in an
unmistakable Saffa accent before approaching with a two-kiss greeting
at a non-descript hotel foyer in Launceston, Tasmania where he is
staying.
The 2013 Tour de France champion has embarked on an 11-hour journey from South Africa to Australia for a self-appointed training camp with Sky team-mate and Launceston native Richie Porte. It effectively marks the beginning of his pre-season after an eventful break that included marrying long-time girlfriend, Michelle Cound in Cape Town. “We’re based in Johannesburg [in the off-season] but I think Michelle and I first got to know each other years ago down in Cape Town, so it was a nice way to do it,” Froome says smiling. (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
January 13, 2015  A
good sportive or gran fondo nutrition strategy can mean the difference
between feeling strong and wanting to throw your road bike in a ditch.
Just as getting in the base miles prepares you for the long ride ahead,
the key to successful sportive nutrition begins well before your event.
Sports nutritionist Emma Barraclough knows the science and practice of getting your fuelling right inside out. Here she explains why carbs remain the primary source of fuel for high-performance endurance events and how to work out how much you’ll need. (bikeradar.com)
January 13, 2015
2014-15
Races
& Results.
Australia Road National Championships - Jan 7-11 (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), (cyclingnews.com)
January 13, 2015  Bike
racing often inflames great passions, but it's rare to see that result
in fisticuffs between riders.
But that's what happened at the Vuelta al Tachira in Venezuela, when a dispute between members of the Russian team and the local Loteria Del Tachira squad got physical. News reports are sketchy on the detail, to say the least, but it appears the fight started after the second stage on January 10, in Santa Barbara de Barinas. (road.cc)
January 13, 2015  The
Garmin Virb is a two-in-one solution for Strava users or anyone who
wants to track mileage, time, speed and other applicable ride metrics —
and shoot video. It merges a Garmin Edge GPS unit with an easy-to-use,
affordable POV camera. While the Virb isn’t the smallest, lightest or
best performing camera in this shootout, for $270 you get both a GPS
unit and a POV camera. That’s pretty sweet.
With a 1.4-inch color LCD display and intuitive controls, the Virb is simple to operate. It has up to 3 hours of battery life and is waterproof to 3.3 feet without a separate waterproof case. Performance wise, the Virb isn’t the best camera in our test. It only records 30 FPS in full HD and its fastest frame rate is 60 FPS (at 960 or 720p). The video quality is also lacking. It’s very contrasty and oversaturated, resulting in footage that feels a bit surreal. Not everyone needs cinema quality video, though. For riders who want to track their adventures and have a POV camera, the Garmin Virb makes a lot of sense – especially for the money. (roadbikereview.com)
January 13, 2015 |
 Following
the commpletion of the national cyclocross championships on Monday, USA
Cycling announced on Tuesday the 23 athletes selected to represent the
United States at the 2015 UCI Cyclocross World Championships slated for
January 31 and February 1 in Tabor, Czech Republic.
(velonews.com)
January 13, 2015  Cycling’s
never a predictable sport, it can’t be in a contest where 200 riders
can start together as opposed to the binary contests in other sports
between two teams or just two players. Add to this the varied of
geography, extreme weather and other variables and picking winners is
difficult.
Plus there’s all the activity outside the races, from tech to politics, business to doping scandals. With these excuses in mind, here are 10 predictions for 2015. (inrng.com)
January 13, 2015  Cycling’s
most successful active Grand Tour rider, Alberto Contador aims
to retire in 2017 and in style. For 2015, he wants to become the first
cyclist to win the Giro d’Italia and Tour de France double since Marco Pantani in
1998.
“At the end of my career, I want to be remembered as someone who did something truly special. Who made history,” Contador told La Gazzetta dello Sport at Tinkoff’s training camp in Sicily. “At this point, the possibility for me is to win the Giro d’Italia and the Tour de France in the same year is not only difficult, it’s risky.” (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
January 13, 2015  The
Junior Women 15-16 were the last of a three age group race to take off
from the start, and all the riders and parents were warned before the
race and at the startline that the finish could get confusing: after
all, the Junior Women 15-16 were slotted to race a 30 minute race among
other fields that were due to race ten minutes longer.
The lap count was off for them, the announcers told the winner that there was still one lap to go, the winner was then pulled to the side to leave, and it was then she realized she was the winner. Turner Ramsey was the one consistent in the race. The young New England rider rode so well, she shed any possibility of controversy from the race. She was unarguably the winner of the 15-16 age group, not only riding through the traffic of 17-18 year old Junior women, but 17-18 year old Junior men that started a full two minutes before she was off on the starting blocks. (cxmagazine.com)
January 13, 2015  Team
Wiggins will no longer make its racing debut at this month’s Challenge
Majorca as originally planned.
Britain’s newest UCI-ranked team was scheduled to race in the series of four, one-day races [January 29 – February 1], but the squad’s riders will now compete in the event for a GB national team. Wiggins himself will race in three of the four races – missing out the Trofeo Alcudia on January 31 – as part of his final outings for Team Sky. It is currently not known when Team Wiggins will make its official racing debut – potentially at the opening round of the British Cycling Elite Road Series, the Tour of Lancs, on April 4. (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
January 13, 2015  Anyone
who’s serious about cycling – whether that’s commuting longer
distances, riding sportives or racing – will need a good pair of
cycling shoes.
There are a range of types, and a huge selection of brands, models and price brackets – so getting the right cycling shoes for you can be difficult. This guide is here to help you find the best shoes for your money, and for the kind of cycling you’ll be doing. (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
January 13, 2015  Dave Brailsford
believes fellow knight Bradley
Wiggins still has some moments of greatness left as his
career comes to a close.
Wiggins will race with Brailsford’s Team Sky until the end of April, before joining up with his own development team, WIGGINS. But the Sky boss admits replacing the 2012 Tour de France winner will be a considerable challenge. “As soon as you think about trying to replace someone like Bradley, you back yourself into a corner,” Brailsford told Press Association Sport. (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
January 13, 2015  From
the outside, everything looked the same around Team Sky’s off-season
home on Spain’s Mallorca island. A low-slung winter sun warmed the
white sandy beach. With almost no tourists, the local roads and mild
winter weather make for an ideal headquarters for the team. So much so,
Team Sky boss Dave
Brailsford has been bringing cyclists here for more than
15 years.
Yet the 2015 season is a very new one in many regards for the British team. It marks a season of transition and departure. No longer is the squad the new kid on the block. No longer do they have a monopoly on cutting-edge training techniques, especially with rival teams hiring away their coaches and staff. Team icon Bradley Wiggins is on the way out. (velonews.com)
January 13, 2015  The
media day’s with the Etixx – Quick-Step team’s previous incarnations
were normally run smoothly and the interviews were relaxed and usually
humorous. But this year there seemed to be too many TV crews and not
enough seats in the vehicles and add to that, Mr. Cavendish was in one
of his moods, the day was not quite as much fun as usual.
As is the team’s habit when it comes to the second training camp of the year, they were based in Calpe on Spain’s Costa Blanca. They also have a pre-Christmas camp in Oliva 50 kilometers up the road, but without the annoyance of the press. Just like last year there would be a short training ride with the chance of rider photos followed by lunch and then a presentation from all the top men of the team management and then the interviews with the riders. (pezcyclingnews.com)
January 13, 2015 |
January 13, 2015  Joe Dombrowski has
recovered from a blocked iliac artery in his left leg that rendered him
chronically injured for nearly two years, and he is ready to restart
his career in 2015. The young American talent rode for Team Sky in 2013
and 2014. He has been given a second shot at the WorldTour with
Cannondale-Garmin this year and it could mark the beginning of his
steady progression back to being one of the sport’s future stars.
The 23-year-old spoke at the recent Cannondale-Garmin team launch in New York City, where he described his turbulent debut on the WorldTour, recovering from surgery to correct his iliac artery injury, and where he sees his career headed under the guidance of Jonathan Vaughters. He will debut in the new-look Cannondale-Garmin kit at the Tour de San Luis that starts in Argentina on Monday. (cyclingnews.com)
January 13, 2015  As
the first Australian to win the Tour and the Worlds, Cadel Evans is
assured a prime place in the record books. Yet for much of his road
career, the ex-mountain biker was a nearly man, seemingly always
lacking the killer instinct to turn podium places into victories. But
in the latter years frustration finally turned to glory. When his
career terminates in February at the Great Ocean Road Race that bears
his name, it's going to be emotional. "I'm just hoping it doesn't bring
tears. It's going to be hard to race for the last time."
(cyclingnews.com)
January 13, 2015  Christmas
is over, the New Year has dawned, and it’s time for cycling fans and
pro cyclists alike to switch their attention to the first significant
race of 2015: the Santos Tour Down Under.
There’s no other race like it on the calendar: the route is, if we are honest, relatively tame, but that does not necessarily make for a straightforward event, or one lacking in surprises or interest. Here are eight things to watch out for during the 2015 Tour Down Under. (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
January 13, 2015  "The
joke in the UK, of course, is that in Australia everyone lives upside
down. It is a bad joke, and Australians don’t, of course, live upside
down. But as a cycling nation, while Australia isn’t quite the wrong
way up, it could be seen to be a little off kilter. Cycling is, by and
large, a summer sport and while Australian cycling is enjoying its
scorching hot summer peak, the rest of the world has traditionally just
been getting ready.
After a twelve-year on-off relationship with Australia, last December I switched hemispheres to take on a role as Sports Director of Australia’s only Pro Continental team, Drapac Professional Cycling. From the moment that I was given my first set of team car keys I have been working towards the window of opportunity that arises when the European spring and Australian summer overlap at the Tour Down Under." (cyclingnews.com)
January 13, 2015  Italian
cycling has a new sprinter. Jakub
Mareczko is just 20 and is riding his first race as a
professional but has already won two stages at the Vuelta al Tachira
and will go up against Mark
Cavendish next week at the Tour de San Luis.
Mareczko won 13 races as an Under 23 rider in 2014 and was the most successful rider in Italy. He was quickly signed by the troubled Neri Sottoli team, which has since become Southeast after the Chinese steel company took over as title sponsor and saw the team wear a grey kit instead of fluorescent yellow. Mareczko was born in Poland but moved to Brescia in Italy with his family when he was five. He is 1.69m tall and weighs just 68kg but is a pure sprinter who loves to use his finishing speed to win. “I love the sprints more than anything. I even prefer to watch a sprint or a Classic than a mountain stage in a Grand Tour,” he told Gazzetta dello Sport after his second victory at the Vuelta al Tachira. (cyclingnews.com)
January 13, 2015 Monday's
(January 19, 2015) Tour de San Luis Stage 1 departs San Luis at 1:49pm
local (11:49am U.S. Eastern, 17:49 CET) and is expected at the finish
at Villa Mercedes at around 6:15pm local (4:15pm U.S. Eastern, 22:15
CET). Tour de San Luis live
video streaming is expected for the start and the finish.
(cyclingfans.com)
January 13, 2015  Orica-AIS
announce Santos Women's Tour team, Barnes
wins again in Argentina.
(cyclingnews.com)
January 13, 2015  Reigning
Tour de France champion Vincenzo
Nibali will warm up for his defense of the yellow jersey
with the punishing Critérium de Dauphiné in June, his coach Paolo Slongo
revealed on Tuesday.
The Italian, 30, will begin his season’s work at the Tour of Dubai (February 4-7) and the Tour of Oman (February 17-22), before the Italian races in March, featuring the Strade-Bianche, Tirreno-Adriatico, and Milano-Sanremo, Slongo told Cycling Weekly. Nibali finished seventh in last year’s Dauphiné behind surprise American winner Andrew Talansky and during a race when former Tour de France winners Alberto Contador finished second and Briton Chris Froome struggled home after crashing. (velonews.com)
January 13, 2015 |
 Jeremy Powers
confirmed himself as the top 'cross racer in the US, riding off the
front of the rescheduled elite men's race from the first lap with Jonathan Page before
slowly dismantling the four-time champion. Zach McDonald was
third. It was the second consecutive US 'cross title for the defending
champion Powers,
who won his first championship in 2012 and has been nearly undefeated
in UCI 'cross races in the US this season.
On a technical, taxing and muddy Austin, Texas course, Powers used his newly-found skills acquired from an increased European race schedule to good effect, smoothly tackling the off-camber running sections and gliding around the rideable turns, putting in more time each lap into Page, McDonald, a chase group led by Stephen Hyde. (cyclingnews.com)
January 12, 2015  On
Monday in Austin, Texas, Katie
Compton went to 11.
Her win in the U.S. elite women’s national cyclocross championship was her 11th straight title. Sure, she seemed a little shaky after a weak start, but after one lap of racing, it was clear that no one would rival the defending champ. “Honestly I just had to be a lot more conservative today,” Compton said. “I wasn’t feeling awesome, wasn’t sure if I went out too hard if it would come back to get me. I knew I couldn’t go too deep too soon. “It’s so easy to make a mistake and lose time. You never know with mechanicals and how conditions change.” (velonews.com)
January 12, 2015  Logan Owen won
his second under-23 national championship on Monday in Austin, Texas.
The 19-year-old took matters into his own hands early in the race,
riding alone to win in slippery, sticky mud.
“Yesterday I was really liking the course,” said Owen. “Today, I didn’t have the good vibes on the course like I did yesterday; I was a little nervous. My legs didn’t feel as good as they did yesterday because of the move, but yeah, I was able to adapt really well and able to pull it off.” From the gun, California Giant-Specialized was in control, with Tobin Ortenblad grabbing the holeshot, followed closely by two of his teammates. Curtis White soon went to the front. Owen was quick to jump on his wheel, and separations began to form immediately. (velonews.com)
January 12, 2015  In
the wake of her ninth British cyclo-cross title in ten years, Helen Wyman now
turns her attention to the World Championships on January 31, although
she admitted that the Tabor course was not ideally suited to her
strengths.
Wyman claimed the bronze medal in Hoogerheide last year after a decade of consistency at the top level, but despite her third place finish in the Tabor World Cup in 2012, she was pragmatic about her prospects in the Czech Republic at the end of the month. (cyclingnews.com)
January 12, 2015  It
was a case of déjà-vu for Britain’s Hannah
Barnes as she won the first stage of the Tour Femenino de
San Luis for the second year running.
The 21-year-old, who races for UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Women’s team, beat Italian duo Elena Cecchini and Michela Pavin into second and third respectively in the 80.2km stage in El Durazno on Sunday. Twenty-four hours earlier, Barnes also claimed the win in the 76.5km Gran Prix San Luis Femenino around Juana Koslay. (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
January 12, 2015
2014-15
Races
& Results.
Australia Road National Championships - Jan 7-11 (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), (cyclingnews.com)
January 12, 2015  Plenty
of riders may lament the effect Strava has had on the club ride or
reminisce about the days of easy KOM’s, but one thing is clear, Strava
is still growing and quickly, with a reported 100,000 new signups each
week.
What riders do with the data collected by Strava is pretty clear, but what Strava can do with that data is still wide open, from deciding when you need new tires to painting incredibly detailed pictures of urban cycling habits. To show off what they can do, Strava just dissected UK cycling in 2014 and the numbers are pretty incredible. (pelotonmagazine.com)
January 12, 2015 January 11, 2015 |
 In
pain and fighting back tears, Andrew
Talansky crossed the finish line in Oyonnax in last place,
32 minutes behind the day’s winner and barely inside the time cut
during stage 11 of last year’s Tour de France. He was unaware that his
painfully arduous, yet admirable, effort had been played out on live
television for the cycling world to see.
His performance, which ended in abandonment the next day, was a stark contrast to his triumphant and even bold overall win during a thrilling finale atop Courchevel just one month earlier at the Critérium du Dauphiné, and a real-life demonstration of the kind of adversity that riders often face in professional cycling. (cyclingnews.com)
January 12, 2015  Vincenzo Nibali has
his pre-Tour de France plan in hand for 2015. Though team Astana was
toying with racing the Giro d’Italia, Nibali instead will
tailor his schedule to be ready to defend his title in France this July.
The 30-year-old Sicilian begins his season at the Dubai Tour on February 4. Team Astana’s head coach, Paolo Slongo outlined the rest of his schedule to Cycling Weekly: The Tour of Oman, Strade Bianche, Tirreno-Adriatico, Milan-San Remo, the Amstel Gold Race, La Flèche Wallonne, Liège-Bastogne-Liège and the Critérium du Dauphiné. (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
January 12, 2015  Olympic
mountain biking hopeful Peta
Mullens may have won the 2015 Australian women’s road race
championship on Saturday, but runner-up Rachel Neylan
recorded a personal victory that she hopes will help propel the 2012
UCI road worlds silver medallist toward Rio 2016.
It has been a tough 18 months for the 32-year-old New South Wales native. After major oral surgery, a season-ending knee injury in 2013, and being hit by an automobile during a training ride 11 months ago, Neylan has endured what she considered “string of bad luck.” “I really needed a big ride today,” said Neylan after the race. “It’s been a pretty challenging 18 months to two years since my world championship silver medal. “I rode for the win today, but I didn’t pull it off, but to come away with a silver medal is nothing to be disappointed about.” (velonews.com)
January 12, 2015  The
wry smile spoke volumes. Twelve months ago, had he bumped into a few
journalists over the breakfast buffet at Team Sky’s hotel, Chris Froome might
have tensed up, or made his excuses and scuttled away. This time, he
was happy to spend a few minutes chatting.
The conversation was amusing. Had he, we were eager to learn, seen Lance Armstrong’s comments in Golf Digest last month comparing his riding style with Jim Furyk’s famously unconventional golf swing; an action that was once likened to “an octopus falling out of a tree” (but which yielded a US Open title in 2003)? Froome’s response was telling. Being unfamiliar with Furyk, he revealed that he had ventured on to YouTube to familiarize himself with this sporting oddity. And he had to laugh at what he saw. (telegraph.co.uk)
January 12, 2015  While
all the pre-race buzz surrounded recently crowned time trial champion Richie Porte and
retiring Tour de France winner Cadel
Evans, the oft-forgotten Heinrich Haussler stole
the show by out-sprinting 20-year-old neo-pro sensation Caleb Ewan
and Neil van der Ploeg for
the Australian road race title Sunday in Buninyong, Victoria.
In what would have been a near identical runner-up finish to his crushing defeat to Mark Cavendish at the 2009 Milan-Sanremo, Haussler avoided near disaster crossing the line in front of the 2014 under-23 national road champion Ewan as he was in the process of dropping his chain. “I said no, this isn’t going to happen again,” Haussler said after the race. “I was just trying to get everything out of my legs just to try to get to that line first. (velonews.com)
January 12, 2015  It
was inevitable that Gracie
Elvin would line up for the women’s road race at
the Mars Cycling Australia Road National Championships as a marked
rider. The defending champion had taken back-to-back titles (2013-2014)
and the possibility of a record-equalling three-peat was a favorite
discussion point among media and fans alike.
Elvin projected a calm confidence ahead of the marquee event. A win in Geelong’s Eastern Park on day two of the Mitchelton Bay Cycling Classic seemed to only elevate her chances. She was clearly motivated and fit – and her team had yet to lose a national road title since its inception in 2012. (cyclingtips.com.au)
January 12, 2015 While
most riders and especially the fans went home extremely satisfied
yesterday, there was one rider who was extremely disappointed. Wout van Aert was
the big favorite. The question before the race wasn’t if he was going
to win, but with how many minutes. Yet the 20-year old star had to
settle for third place.
After the race, van Aert shared his thoughts with Sporza reporters. “The course here was completely honest. The best rider won today and I was only the third best rider. The race started out as I planned, I managed to drop all my competitors. Yet, I felt the affects of my efforts in the first two rounds immediately.” (cyclingquotes.com)
January 12, 2015 |
January 12, 2015  Nairo Quintana believes
that the opening stages of the 2015 Vuelta a España could cause the
race favorites problems with the opening seven days of the race
including four hill-top finishes.
“The first stages we know that they must be done, that there shouldn’t be too many complications but they could cause some problems,” Quintana told Spanish website Biciciclismo. “They are not usually bad roads but they are explosive days, especially the first two summit finishes. We will be in summer and the heat could be an influence but on those stages in the mountains it will perhaps be somewhat less noticeable.” (cyclingnews.com)
January 12, 2015  The
road to recovery from a horrific leg break at last year’s US Road Race
has been a long one for Taylor
Phinney. He spoke to Cycling
Weekly about the injury that has ruled him out from his
beloved Classics, just as he was beginning to make real progress at
them in 2014.
“It’s going pretty well. I still have a couple of degrees of range of motion that I am not really sure if I will ever get back. It [the accident] chipped off a chunk of my patella so my tendon is shorter than it was before, which I try not to be too OCD about.” (cyclingquotes.com)
January 12, 2015  Set
to move to the new Wiggins
team after riding Paris-Roubaix, Bradley
Wiggins’ final Team Sky racing program has been outlined
and will see the Briton get things underway later this month.
According to the Het Nieuwsblad newspaper, the Briton will begin racing in the Challenge Mallorca races. The first of those is on January 29 and the racing continues until February 1. Riders can dip in and out as they choose, with only those riding every day being considered for the overall. (cyclingtips.com.au)
January 12, 2015  Quick.
Name the family-owned Italian manufacturer producing pro-race winning
frames exclusively in Italy since the 1950’s. Colnago, Pinarello, De
Rosa all probably come to mind but Sarto are the family (and brand)
still exclusively producing in Italy for more than 50 years and I have
their new custom Energia Disc.
In cycling terms, the definition of “truly Italian” seems diluted as some of the leading brands have taken the steps to produce a portion (or the majority) of their products in other parts of the world. To be clear, these “foreign” products are generally, VERY good. The choice to go east with production is more about simple economics for big name brands and their big marketing and sponsorship budgets. Less expensive mass production is the only way to feed that beast. (pezcyclingnews.com)
January 12, 2015  Sven Nys surprised
everybody by playing a major role in the Belgium championship
yesterday. The greatest cyclocross rider ever was therefore very
content with his race
Nys even admitted that there was more possible if he took more risks. “I probably have been too careful”, he told Sporza reporters after the race. “Because of my form over the last month, I didn’t know how long I could go physically. At the end of the race, I had more than enough left.” (cyclingquotes.com)
January 12, 2015  Tim Johnson
(Cannondale-Cyclocrossworld.com) and Dr. James Hopker
explain how he makes the most of his time on an indoor trainer.
(velonews.com)
January 12, 2015 Monday's
(January 19, 2015) Tour de San Luis Stage 1 departs San Luis at 1:49pm
local (11:49am U.S. Eastern, 17:49 CET) and is expected at the finish
at Villa Mercedes at around 6:15pm local (4:15pm U.S. Eastern, 22:15
CET). Tour de San Luis live
video streaming is expected for the start and the finish.
(cyclingfans.com)
January 12, 2015 January 11, 2015 |
 Oleg Tinkov is
typical of the billionaires who have grown wealthy in the shadow of Vladimir Putin’s
modern Russia.
The founder of Tinkoff Credit Systems bank is from a gilded generation of Russian businessmen who have accrued vast wealth during the Putin years. In the shattered remnants of a country that emerged in the early 1990s from under the communist shroud of the Cold War, battered and bankrupt, Mr Tinkov saw – like many of his peers – vast opportunity among the ruins of the old Soviet Union. Provided they support the regime, these men are more or less allowed to do as they please in a state that is profoundly polarized between the miserably poor, who struggle to make ends meet, and the fabulously wealthy, who can afford to live in Moscow’s exclusive Ostozhenka street where apartments have been known to sell for $48m (£31m). (telegraph.co.uk)
January 11, 2015  Klaas Vantornout used
his running skills and ability in the mud to win the Belgian cyclo-c
tile after an epic battle in the Erpe-Mere mud.
The 32 year-old from Tourhout crossed the finish line pointing to his jersey a few seconds ahead of Tom Meeusen and Wout Van Aert. Sven Nys buonced back from his spell of poor form to be among the fight in the front group and finish fourth. He lead the race at one point but like every one in the race, was affected by the incredibly muddy conditions. (cyclingnews.com)
January 11, 2015  Pre-race
favorite Sanne Cant won
her sixth Belgian women's cyclo-cross national title on a very muddy
course in Erpe-Mere.
24 year-old Cant fended off a strong challenge from outsider Ellen Van Loy. Githa Michiels worked her way to a muddy bronze medal. "It was very hard. It was difficult to choose between riding or running," Cant told Sporza "I'm glad that I can head to Spain now to prepare for the World Cup final in Hoogerheide and the world championships." (cyclingnews.com)
January 11, 2015  Mathieu Van der Poel
started the race furiously. While van
der Haar saw the danger, he clearly was unable to respond.
After one lap, the difference between the two was already 20 seconds. Van der Poel
steadily continued his path and saw the gap with van der Haar grow
every round.
In the end van der Haar didn't even finish second. Surprisingly van der Poel’s brother David managed to catch and pass the defending champion and made it an even bigger day for the family. Earlier, Marianne Vos unsurprisingly defended her Dutch title successfully for the fifth time in a row. (cyclingquotes.com)
January 11, 2015
2014-15
Races
& Results.
Australia Road National Championships - Jan 7-11 (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), (cyclingnews.com)
January 9, 2015 Monday's
(January 19, 2015) Tour de San Luis Stage 1 departs San Luis at 1:49pm
local (11:49am U.S. Eastern, 17:49 CET) and is expected at the finish
at Villa Mercedes at around 6:15pm local (4:15pm U.S. Eastern, 22:15
CET). Tour de San Luis live
video streaming is expected for the start and the finish.
(cyclingfans.com)
January 11, 2015  Niki Terpstra was a
latecomer at the Etixx-QuickStep media day in Calpe during, jetting in
from the Netherlands after sealing victory in the Rotterdam Six Day
with Iljo Keisse
the previous night. By the time he emerged on the terrace at the rear
of the Hotel Sol y Mar, television crews were already swarming around
teammates Tom Boonen,
Mark Cavendish
and Michal Kwiatkowski,
and the Dutchman was able to help himself to a coffee on arrival before
he was ushered across to speak to a small group of reporters.
Terpstra’s victory at Paris-Roubaix in 2014 was enough to earn him a new three-year contract but in what is arguably the WorldTour’s most star-studded team, he feels that there has been no discernible change in his status and, for that matter, seems quite glad of the fact. (cyclingnews.com)
January 11, 2015  World
champion Michal
Kwiatkowski will make his 2015 racing debut on a special
Specialized S-Works Tarmac at the Tour de San Luis later this month but
Cyclingnews
got an exclusive chance to see the Polish rider’s bike was at
the Etixx-QuickStep training camp in Spain.
Kwiatkowski's special world champion colors were unveiled at Il Lombardia last October However, while the frameset has remained similar, there have been a few alterations in components and wheelset for 2015. (cyclingnews.com)
January 11, 2015 |
 They
came bearing cowbells, faces painted, bundled against an unseasonably
cold Texas morning. They came early, excited, gliding through slick mud
on bikes hardly cleaned from the week’s amateur races. They came to
cheer, to heckle, to scream themselves hoarse, to be part of the roar
that would zigzag across Zilker Park on Sunday afternoon, following the
nation’s best cyclocrossers on their quest for a national championship.
They were met by police cars, six of them, parked across the entrance to Zilker Park in the heart of Austin. They were met by a cry: “’Cross nats is canceled!” The tweets went out, the headlines were posted, the rage poured in. Riders and fans lined up under the star-spangled finish banner, thumbs down in protest. Angry. Cyclocross canceled for mud? Surely not. (velonews.com)
January 11, 2015  POSTPONED:
The championships are scheduled to continue Monday on an altered
course, which will open for pre-rides at noon. Racing begins at 12:30.
The 2014 USA Cycling Cyclo-cross National Championship Junior Men, Elite Women and Elite Men races are being held Sunday, January 12 at Boulder, Colorado. There will be live streaming video. Live streaming video: Junior Men: 11am MST (19:00 CET). Elite Women: 1:30pm MST (21:30 CET). Elite Men: 2:45pm MST (22:45 CET). (cyclingfans.com)
January 11, 2015  Heinrich Haussler won
a thrilling Australian national road championships as he out sprinted Caleb Ewan to
claim victory after 183km of racing around Bunninyong in a time of
4:47:24.
Haussler lost contact on the final climb up Mt Buninyong with the seven-man break that had formed on lap four of 18, and had been whittled down as the pace lifted in the second half of the race, but regained contact in the final kilometres of the race and despite having "lactic acid coming out of his ears" held off Ewan for his first national title. (cyclingnews.com)
January 11, 2015  In
2014, Caleb Ewan
came home with the gold medal from the Australian national
championships in the U23 road race and criteriums. In his first attempt
at the elite level, the 20-year-old won silver in the road race and
criterium to claim the only medals for Orica-GreenEdge at the
championships. Since its debut in 2012, Orica-GreenEdge had won the
green and gold jersey three years straight and despite losing the
jersey, the team's sports director Matt
White was pleased with the result.
"I am happy with the ride," White said after the race. "A 20-year-old has run second at his first national championships in the pros, the guys rode tactically well and the form is there just as we want it to be at this time of the year." (cyclingnews.com)
January 11, 2015  Asked
why he was racing so hard when he had the time trial national title
that he last won in 2012 and might normally have been better off
resting for that, Rogers
just smiled and said, "I am a real racer. I saw a good opportunity open
there. To tell you the truth I only had one gear because my battery
failed. I had one gear for half the race [a 53x 14]. I tell you what …
had I had of had gears it would have been close.
"I don’t think they would have got me back but … that’s cycling isn’t it?" (cyclingnews.com)
January 11, 2015  Helen Wyman beat Nikki Harris to
take her ninth British cyclo-cross championship in Abergavenny.
The 33-year-old beat Harris by around 15 seconds after a close race. Annie Last produced a late charge to pick her way through the field to take third place. (cyclingnews.com)
January 11, 2015 |
January 11, 2015  Team
Sky boss Dave
Brailsford has accused the new leadership at cycling's
governing body of failing its first big test in the fight against
doping.
The International Cycling Union (UCI) gave Tour de France winner Vincenzo Nibali's Astana team a license to race this year despite five positive tests. Many in the sport hoped new UCI president Brian Cookson would take a tougher line against serial offenders. (bbc.com)
January 11, 2015  Chris Froome doesn’t
want to be remembered as a one-off winner of the Tour de France.
Coming off a frustrating, crash-filled 2014 campaign, the 29-year-old is focusing on only one thing coming into this season, and that’s to regain his Tour de France crown. No Giro d’Italia, no talk of the triple crown. His season will be all about regaining the yellow jersey. “After what happened last year, that means that I am coming into this season feeling even more eager to be in the best possible place at the start line for the Tour,” Froome said Sunday. “And be ready to go for the Tour.” (velonews.com)
January 11, 2015  Less
than 24 hours after Peta
Mullens won the elite National Road Title racing with the
“Sram Seight” team and intending on returning to Mountain Bike racing
this season to focus on Rio 2016, Peta
has signed another one season contract with Wiggle Honda Professional
Women’s Cycling Team.
“I’m the Australian National Road Champion & feel some responsibility to ensure that the jersey returns to Europe with a professional team,” she said. Mullens signed her first professional road contract with Wiggle Honda ahead of 2014 in order to compliment her MTB career, Peta spent 2014 juggling very demanding road and mountain bike commitments which resulted in her being completely burnt out just a couple of months ago. (cyclingtips.com.au)
January 11, 2015  For
decades the Giro visited its classic climbs. For good reason as the
Stelvio, Pordoi and Gavia are as challenging as they are beautiful. But
it wasn’t enough for some and the hunt was on for new challenges and in
2003 the Giro tackled Monte Zoncolan.
Viewed from afar it’s just 10km long and only reaches 1,730m above sea level but it is one of the steepest roads in the sport.. (inrng.com)
January 11, 2015  While
many were looking to the star WorldTour professionals, it was the
homegrown Avanti Racing team riders led by Joe Cooper who took
a clean sweep of the Calder Stewart elite national road championship in
Christchurch.
Cooper led teammate Tom Davison home after a superb break late on the penultimate lap of the 183km race that comprised 12 laps including 10 climbs up the famed Dyers Pass in Cashmere hills. The pair took advantage of outstanding teamwork to hold off all challengers with Cooper taking the title from the former triathlete Davison, who was third last year, while their Avanti Racing teammate Jason Christie broke clear of the chase group to claim third after being in the original break. (sbs.com.au)
January 11, 2015  "I
think that, if I can stay healthy and I don’t have too much bad luck in
the next weeks, for sure I can be on a good level again and just hope
that it is enough. It has been enough for a while and I hope that it
will still be enough."
Boonen wants his Etixx-Quick Step team to focus on getting the numbers into the finale but making sure that in 2015, they dont let their advantage slip away like it did in 2014 Flanders, after having four riders in the initial selection but only one guy in the final four to contest the win. "It was a strange situation and that is something that we need to talk about; how we can take care that doesn’t happen again. If you are beaten by a stronger guy then no problem, but if you have four guys in a group like that then I think that we could have handled that differently and I think that we will in the future." (cyclingquotes.com)
January 11, 2015  Unlike
other sports that take place in a confined environment—the tennis
court, football stadium, or cricket pitch, for example. Bicycle road
racing is open to the elements and events happen in front of a diverse
backdrop featuring geographic highlights of many countries. Add to this
ever-changing weather, different road surfaces, colourful jerseys and
the rolling circus atmosphere provides the photographer with limitless
opportunity.
Philipp Hympendahl is a commercial photographer working for one of the world’s leading detergent companies in Germany but when he is not taking snaps of soap boxes or whatever he might do there he turns a passionate lens on bicycle racing. His aim is not that of a typical sports journalist. Rather than capture the well-known champions and classic races, he and Tim Farin, who has contributed short essays, state in their introduction to their recent book “Beyond the Finish Line” that “they encourage their audience to take a different view: to relax, to observe, to feel the beauty of the moment, the emotions and actions, all of which leave room for imagination.” (pezcyclingnews.com)
January 10, 2015 January 10, 2015 |
 The
2015 Belgian Cyclocross National Championships are being held at
Erpe-Mere. The Belgian Elite Women championship gets underway
at 1:30pm CET (7:30am U.S. Eastern) Sunday. The Belgian Elite
Men championship gets underway at 3:00pm CET (9am U.S. Eastern)
Sunday.
The 2015 French CX National Championships are being held in Pont-Chateau. The French Elite Women Championship gets underway at 2:00pm CET (8:00am U.S. Eastern) Sunday and the French Elite Men championship gets underway at 3:30pm CET (9:30am U.S. Eastern) Sunday. (cyclingfans.com)
January 10, 2015  Having
gone clear with Rachel
Neylan on the second last of 10 laps, Peta Mullens out
sprinted her breakaway companion to claim her first national road title
after 102km of racing in Buninyong in a time of 2:55:29.
Mullens, who raced with Wiggle-Honda in 2014, had planned for the national championships to be her only road race of the year as she switches her focus to racing mountain bikes with her eye on Rio. (cyclingnews.com)
January 10, 2015  Linda Villumsen, who
has won medals and honors at the highest level around the world,
finally grabbed her first major victory in New Zealand with a
dominating ride at the Calder Stewart elite national road championship
in Christchurch.
(sbs.com.au)
January 10, 2015  Miles Scotson added
his name to the list of U23 riders to have won the road race and time
trial at the same Australian national championships to cap off a
successful week of racing for the SASI team.
Scotson soloed over the line with a time of 3:22:57 minutes having attacked from the remnants of the day's breakaway and joins Jonathan Davis (2003), Jack Bobridge (2009) and Rohan Dennis (2012) in winning the double. (cyclingnews.com)
January 10, 2015 Much
has been said and written about the poor performances by Sven Nys. His age –
he is 38 years old – illness, his divorce in the summer.
Until now, Nys has not tried to use the break with his wife as an excuse but now he admits for the first time that the new private situation certainly had an impact. "And perhaps more than I wanted to believe. Mentally I had the feeling that I had everything under control in the summer. I found myself physically stable. "But maybe I have subconsciously been thinking more about it. You know that. Everyone wanted to help me, but I was determined to prove that I could do it alone. I was stubborn. (cyclingquotes.com)
January 10, 2015
2014-15
Races
& Results.
Australia Road National Championships - Jan 7-11 (Stages & 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), (cyclingnews.com)
January 9, 2015 January 9, 2015 |
 The
2014 USA Cycling Cyclo-cross National Championship Junior Men, Elite
Women and Elite Men races are being held Sunday, January 12 at Boulder,
Colorado. There will be live streaming video.
Live streaming video: Junior Men: 11am MST (19:00 CET). Elite Women: 1:30pm MST (21:30 CET). Elite Men: 2:45pm MST (22:45 CET). (cyclingfans.com)
January 10, 2015  This
Sunday, Marianne Vos will
aim to defend her Dutch National Championship title. Of the five races
entered this season, Vos
has collected three golds and two silvers. “I’m favorite but who knows
if someone can pull off a surprise on the day,” explains Vos to Start-Box.be.
When asked who she looks to who can be that “someone”, she is quick to name her three teammates taking the start alongside her. Of those, current U23 European Champ Sabrina Stultiens has the highest chances of pulling off such as stunt as to dethrone Vos. (cxmagazine.com)
January 10, 2015  At
the Elite Men’s National Cyclocross Championships in The Netherlands,
there are two powerful guys expected to battle for top glory. They are
U23 rider Mathieu van
der Poel and current National Champion Lars van der Haar,
arguably two of the top five world’s best crossers.
If the race plays out as expected on paper, Van der Poel will emerge from the field first to take the jersey as he’s often come out on top when the two of them have gone head to head. But thankfully races are not contested on paper, but rather in the field where anything can happen. This course is a particularly tricky one, in fact. Covered with mud from the recent high influx of rain, mixed with long stretches of sand, it can certainly play a role in the outcome. (cxmagazine.com)
January 10, 2015  Australian
rookie professional Campbell
Flakemore could find that his time trialling prowess will
book him a berth in his BMC team for the Giro d’Italia in 2015.
However, BMC sporting manager Allan
Peiper has said that the 22 year-old Tasmanian shouldn't
bank on his race program for the season being based around events that
include time trials, and that he will be challenged to perform outside
his comfort zone.
Peiper also said while the world under 23 time trial champion is an important asset for the American WorldTour team, he will have to learn “how to race to win.” (cyclingnews.com)
January 10, 2015  "A
New Year lies ahead of us, with new challenges, opportunities and
experiences. Mostly a mix of excitement and enjoyment, but also a
flavour of trepidation. I live in the belief that anything is possible
if one really wants it and is prepared to work hard every day to reach
the goal.
After last year’s season was over, the autumn passed very quickly, as usual. Two longer trips to Asia to promote cycling and Merida made the three months before Christmas seem like only a 2-3 weeks, but with a year’s worth of experiences." (cyclingnews.com) January 10, 2015  Giro
Sport Design has been leading the way in bike helmets since 1985, when
founder Jim Gentes
created the game-changing ProLight.
Since then, the Californian company has developed the most advanced helmet design and testing facilities around. BikeRadar caught up with marketing director Dain Zaffke while in Santa Cruz, California, to talk about riding, careers and the company's product plans. (bikeradar.com)
January 10, 2015 |
January 10, 2015  The
70th edition of the Vuelta a España will see the race return to Madrid
on its 80th anniversary after a break from tradition to finish in
Santiago de Compostela in 2014.
The grueling 21-stage race will start with a 7.4km team time trial in Marbella on Saturday, August 22, and finish with a parade around the center of the Spanish capital on September 13. As usual, the organizers have crammed in a number of mountaintop finishes, with nine such stages making their first appearance in the race. (velonews.com)
January 10, 2015  MTN-Qhubeka’s
emergence as Africa’s first Grand Tour team is not the only positive
cycling development emanating from the continent. Later this month the
first African Continental Track Championships are due to be held in
South Africa.
The Sax Young Cycling Track in Alexandra Park, 85km from the east coast city of Durban, will be hosting four days of competition from January 21 to January 24 – with January 25 set aside as a reserve day should weather intervene. (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
January 10, 2015  Twice
Polish Road Champion and former Vacansoleil rider Tomasz Marczynski is
headed to Turkish squad Torku-Sekerspor for 2015, a team that is going
through big changes under new management as former GreenEdge director Lionel Marie takes
the reins.
2014 was a memorable year for Polish Cycling with Rafal Majka taking sixth on GC in the Giro then two stages and the King of the Mountains in le Tour before winning his home Tour of Poland. The icing on the cake came courtesy of Michal Kwiatkowski and his stunning win in the World Elite Road Race Championship in Ponferrada. But Majka and Kwiatkowski apart we don’t hear much from the hard men from the East. (pezcyclingnews.com)
January 10, 2015  With
the rainbow jersey on his shoulders, everyone will expect more from Michal Kwiatkowski
next season. "I had to get used to this new status, but I do not think
I've changed," the Pole told Sporza.
"I've always been a very ambitious rider. I aim for as much as possible. I'm still only 24, so basically my best years are still to come. Of course I want to show that I am a worthy world champion. (cyclingquotes.com)
January 10, 2015  BikeRadar
verdict: 4 out of 5
stars. "Blisteringly rapid frameset with carbon tubulars for the
uncompromising racer, though the Di2 shifting and hydraulic discs
aren't issue-free.
The X-Night is designed to channel energy into outright off-road speed, and its burly frame and fork do that unapologetically, wasting nothing, and powering through the terrain to the line." (bikeradar.com)
January 10, 2015 January 9, 2015 |
 The
heavens opened over Austin, Texas Thursday night, spitting a cold rain
down on the dust and parched grass of Zilker Park, home of this year’s
U.S. cyclocross national championships. The course, a technical
pinwheel of limestone steps, fast straights, and sharp corners, will be
battered by three days of rain and ice before the elite fields line up
on Sunday.
The nation’s fastest men wouldn’t have it any other way. The odds-on favorite in the men’s elite race is Jeremy Powers, recently returned from a European campaign over the holidays. (velonews.com) January 9, 2015  There
are a lot of teams claiming to be cycling’s best squad. Team Sky won
two straight yellow jerseys. BMC Racing is solid across all
disciplines. Movistar is the peloton’s most prolific. Oleg Tinkov has made
it a personal mission to boast the virtues of Tinkoff-Saxo. All of them
have bragging rights, but it’s perhaps Etixx-Quick-Step that is the
peloton’s deepest, most balanced across all disciplines.
Northern classics? The team eats cobblestones for breakfast, with Tom Boonen, Zdenek Stybar, Stijn Vandenbergh, Guido Trentin, and defending Paris-Roubaix champion Niki Terpstra lining up as the favorites across Flanders. Anything short of victory is a national disaster, at least in Belgium. (velonews.com)
January 9, 2015  USA
Cycling announced Friday that Hartford, Connecticut, and Reno, Nevada,
will host the 2017 and 2018 USA Cycling cyclocross national
championships, respectively.
USA cycling vice president of national events Micah Rice made the announcement from Austin, Texas, where 2015 nationals are underway. “The cyclocross national championships are the pinnacle of cyclocross racing in the United States each year,” said Rice. “Going from the East in 2017 to the West in 2018 with Hartford and Reno is indicative of how quickly the sport is spreading from coast to coast, and these two cities will do an excellent job of helping us crown the best in the sport in the coming years.” (velonews.com)
January 9, 2015  Let
there be mud! 30 minutes before the start of the Women’s 30-34 Race in
Austin, turning the course into a slip-n-slide. Ellen Sherrill
warned that rain would make the course feel like oil on concrete, and
she couldn’t have been more right.
Leslie Timm took the holeshot and led the riders for the first half of the first lap. As the race played out, she looked like one of the strongest riders on the day, and could have seriously dominated this race had the conditions looked much like those of the last few days. The first time the riders came back to the front of the course, however, Timm slid off her bike through each of the four off-camber turns. (cxmagazine.com)
January 9, 2015  After
watching Richie Porte
beat the field at the Australian national time trial championships in
Ballarat, Matt White
has described the Tour Down Under contender as the "strongest rider in
the world right now."
Porte beat Hour Record contender Rohan Dennis by seven seconds over the 40.9 kilometre test to kick-start his 2015 campaign. It was a dominant performance for a rider who endured a disappointing 2014 season on the bike, and White believes that Porte heads into next week's Tour Down Under as the out-right favorite for the overall prize. (cyclingnews.com)
January 9, 2015  Pro
Continental teams will know their May plans next week, with organizer
RCS Sport set to name the wildcard teams for its 2015 Giro d’Italia.
The 17 WorldTour teams, like Team Sky, already have secure tickets to race, but second division teams must fight for the five remaining invitations if they want to be on the start line on May 9. “Wednesday, at the latest Thursday, we will announce the teams,” race director, Mauro Vegni told Tutto Bici website. “This year, again, we are going to keep our eye on Italian cycling.” (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
January 9, 2015  During
Wednesday’s Women’s Singlespeed National Championship, Mo Bruno Roy was
able to pull away early from the larger field with Jessica Culter in
tow. Last year’s second place, Ellen
Sherrill, had a rough start and had to fight through
traffic for her third place finish.
Like many riders coming to Nationals, Sherill came to Austin believing that Zilker Park was “flat,” and was surprised to see a course laden with chicanes where you had to scrub speed consistently. (cxmagazine.com)
January 9, 2015
2014-15
Races
& Results.
Australia Road National Championships - Jan 7-11 (Stages & 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), (cyclingnews.com)
January 9, 2015  Daddy
Degenkolb,
Androni take Hoogerland
to court.
(cyclingnews.com)
January 9, 2015  Left
stranded without a contract at just 30 years of age, Thomas Dekker has
staked everything on an all or nothing bid to break cycling’s world
hour record. Although his recent record against the clock is not as
good as that of some of the other riders who will try to surpass Matthias Brandle’s
51.852 kilometres, Dekker
has two things going for him which could give him the edge.
(cyclingtips.com.au)
January 9, 2015 |
 It
is midday in Paris, in the bleaching sunlight of July. It makes
everything bone pale.
The Tour de France is ending in hours, and up from the Champs-Élysées will drift a cloud of noise; through the cuts in the cobbles tiny rivers of beer and champagne will run. There will be hundreds of reporters stuffed into the corrals at the finish and they will jump over the fencing and onto the world’s great boulevard in order to record the same quotes that everyone else will record. They will dive right into the river of carbon and color and shining racers slick with sweat. But right now, Marianne Vos has just won a bike race — the inaugural La Course by Le Tour event — on the very same street, and there are, maybe, five reporters waiting on an empty boulevard. Vos stops right in front of them, and hardly anyone is there to see her in her white jersey with rainbow stripes on the Champs. It’s a moment that crystallizes the current state of women’s cycling — filled with potential, largely unrealized. But why? (velonews.com)
January 9, 2015  Zdenek Stybar will
close out his reign as cyclo-cross world champion in three weeks after
confirming that he won’t be racing at the World Championships in Tabor,
Czech Republic. Stybar
has said that a shoulder injury sustained in a crash in October means
he will be unable to defend his title at the start of next month.
(cyclingnews.com)
January 9, 2015  Marcel Kittel says
performing well at the Tour Down Under will lift some of the
early-season pressure from his shoulders.
The German sprinter notched up his first win in 2014 at the People’s Choice Classic in Adelaide, but failed to break the top-50 i..n any stage of the Tour Down Under. But, like any sprinter, Kittel likes to get that winning feeling as early in the year as possible rather than suffer a lingering wait for glory. (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
January 9, 2015  The
24-year-old was second in the 2013 edition, but was rested from the
2014 Tour after winning the Giro d’Italia. He was also leading the
Vuelta a Espana in 2014 before crashing badly on his less favored
time-trial. There is very little time-trial on the 2015 Tour de France.
“We are one of the contenders to win the Tour,” said team manager Eusebio Unzue, who said veteran team leader Alejandro Valverde will target the Vuelta this season. “We’re all hoping for him (Quintana) to just explode, waiting for his definitive confirmation,” added Unzue. (pelotonmagazine.com)
January 9, 2015  Cavendish spoke to
the media as the Belgian super team, who have changed headline sponsors
from Omega Pharma to nutrition supplier Etixx for 2015, was presented
in Calpe, Spain.
And the former world champion hopes to play his part in ‘crushing’ the year by sprinting to Tour de France stage success, after his 2014 race was ended by a crash on the finishing straight in Harrogate on stage one. (roadcyclinguk.com)
January 9, 2015  University
of Oxford develops new super-expensive ketone energy drink that
provides body with an alternative source of energy. Ketones have
already been used by pro riders to win 'significant internationally
famous events'.
(cyclingweekly.co.uk)
January 9, 2015  Fancy
road shoes, a retro-styled Bianchi and a ready-to-build Santa Cruz
frame.
(bikeradar.com)
January 9, 2015  While
the race for the Elite Men’s Belgian jersey will most likely be a
blowout with Wout van
Aert taking the win, there is a real show expected to be
put on by the women’s Elite field. The pre-race favorite may again be
4-time Belgian Champion Sanne
Cant, but coming much closer to her level this time around
is Ellen van Loy.
Of the 26 races Cant’s entered this season, she’s won 16 times – including Koksijde and Milton Keynes World Cups and landed on the podium an additional 5 times. She may have had even more victories if it weren’t for succumbing to the stomach flu just after Namur World Cup held December 21st. (cxmagazine.com)
January 9, 2015  Most
years, the Belgian Championships serve as a mini precursor of what to
expect at World Championships three weeks later – minus a couple of
Netherlanders. This year at is no different. But instead of 38 year old
Sven Nys as
the clear frontrunner for the 2015 Erpe-Mere edition, we have 20 year
old Wout van Aert.
This season Van Aert has been killing it not only in the U23’s where he’s World Champion but also in the Elite events where he’s been throwing his competition around like ragdolls. Of his 20 races so far, he’s walked away with 15 wins, 4 2nd places and a 7th – in Ronse where Nys took the win. (cxmagazine.com)
January 9, 2015  The
women’s road race (like all the national road races) will be contested
over a 10.2km circuit that starts and finishes in the small town of
Buninyong, roughly 80 minutes north-west of Melbourne.
From the main roundabout in Buninyong the riders face a step-like, 2.9km uphill drag (average gradient 5%) on the Midland Highway and Mount Buninyong Road. From the KOM line the riders turn left and begin an undulating section of the course, before turning left on to Fisken Road at 5.7km. From here it’s more or less downhill all the way to the finish in Buninyong. The elite women will tackle 10 laps of the course for a total of 102km. (cyclingtips.com.au)
January 9, 2015 |
January 9, 2015  Up
to date curated coverage of the women's elite road race at the Mars
Cycling Australia Road National Championships at Buninyong.
The 102km road race on the tough course near Ballarat looms as a fascinating tactical duel among Australia's top women. (sbs.com.au)
January 9, 2015  It’s
a question Tony Martin
is growing used to hearing – 2015, after all, promises to be the Year
of the Hour Record. With four serious attempts already pencilled into
the calendar, the expectation is that it’s simply a matter of when –
rather than if – the triple world time trial champion decides to throw
his hat into the ring.
(cyclingnews.com)
January 9, 2015  Here
is the list of who is riding what in 2015. You’ll find all the pro team
bikes for the 17 World Tour teams and the 19 Pro Continental teams.
(inrng.com)
January 9, 2015  The
past several seasons have not been easy for two-time Monument runner-up
and Tour de France stage-winner Heinrich
Haussler. After a marquee 2009 campaign in which he racked
up those big results and a few others, crashes and injuries slowed him
down for a number of the seasons that followed.
Haussler recovered from a broken hip and pelvis in 2013 to race a full 2014 schedule, ultimately taking a stage win in Bayern Rundfahrt and a few top tens (including a 2nd place in the Tour de France) on the year, though the results were still not where they used to be. (cyclingtips.com.au)
January 9, 2015  The
former Giro del Lazio, which was relauched as Roma Maxima in 2013, has
run into further troubles with organizers RCS Sport confirming today
that the race will be put on hold due to what it terms organizational
problems.
The event was first run in 1933 and ran practically without interruption until 2009. It was then shelved between that year and 2012, returning as Roma Maxima in 2013 and showcasing the Italian capital to great effect. Blek Kadri triumphed that year, while Alejandro Valverde took the 2014 edition. (cyclingtips.com.au)
January 9, 2015  Orica-GreenEdge
hopes to avoid its first shutout at the Cycling Australia Road National
Championships when the elite men line up for the road race in
Buningyong, Victoria on Sunday.
Australia’s first — and only — UCI WorldTour team is batting .000 on the top step, and has only secured a silver during the national criterium championship when last year’s under-23 winner — and neo-pro — Caleb Ewan finished a close second to reigning champion and former Garmin-Sharp rider Steele von Hoff. (velonews.com) January 9, 2015  Cadel Evans will
begin the end of his cycling career Sunday when he lines up in the road
race at the Cycling Australia Road National Championships on home roads
in Vitoria. After a winter’s break, he will start the 2015 season and
his last three events before retiring next month.
His schedule includes the nationals, the Santos Tour Down Under stage race (January 20-25), and on February 1, the event he created — the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race. “I had some regrets and bitterness, but I go away happy and I know I gave the most I could,” the 37-year-old said when he announced his retirement in September. (velonews.com)
January 9, 2015  This
year's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas was chock full of new
gear designed to help you collect your best footage ever.
Aerial drones are such a hot segment of the consumer electronics market that the show had an entire area dedicated just to them. Many of the options catered to the extremes of the spectrum, with huge six- and eight-rotor models packing enough power to haul full-blown dSLR movie cameras at one end, and pint-sized versions, aimed at casual users who just want to play around, at the other. (bikeradar.com)
January 9, 2015  "There's
a plethora of cycling-specific gadgets available these days, so we've
rounded up 10 of the most interesting gadgets, from lights to crash
sensors and navigational aids. Whatever your need, there's probably a
gadget for it."
(road.cc)
January 9, 2015  BikeRadar
verdict: 3 out of 5
stars. "Best kept for those needing 11-speed on 10-speed race wheels,
this cassette is extravagant both in terms of outlay and drivetrain
noise."
(bikeradar.com)
January 9, 2015 January 8, 2015 |
 Richie Porte has
started 2015 in emphatic fashion, winning the Australian national time
trial championship in a star-studded field in Buninyong today.
Porte was joined on the podium by Rohan Dennis and Jack Bobridge and spoke after the race of his delight at winning his first Australian national title against such quality opposition. “I’m a happy boy. I just got engaged a couple days ago and to win this time trial against such a class field it’s fantastic,” Porte said. (cyclingtips.com.au)
January 8, 2015 ![Photo: I’ve ridden [the time trial national championships] since 2009,... Photography by Con Chronis](http://images.cyclingtips.com.au/content/uploads/2015/01/2015January08Thu_5985_conchronis-1024x717.jpg "Photo: I’ve ridden [the time trial national championships] since 2009,... Photography by Con Chronis") Shara Gillow earned
her fourth national title in the individual time trial at the Mars
Cycling Australia Road National Championships. She bested her
minute-man Bridie
O’Donnell by just over a minute, covering the
29.3 kilometre course in Buninyong in 44:21. The four titles in five
years puts Gillow
within striking distance of Kathy
Watts, with five national titles, as the most successful
Australian women in the race against the clock.
(cyclingtips.com.au)
January 8, 2015  From
the beginning of the race to the end, Justin Lindine took
control of the Men’s Singlespeed Race at the 2015 National
Championships, similarly to his 2014 run at the Masters 30-24 Masters
National Championship Race in 2014. Before the first lap was over, he
had a six second gap on the rest of the field. Within the second lap,
he more than doubled that number.
In the chase group behind him, Tristan Uhl surged to the front, and the Austin-based rider created an uproar with the crowd shouting his name. He had plenty of company to contend with, however. (cxmagazine.com)
January 8, 2015  There
is little doubt that Mo
Bruno Roy, Jessica
Culter, and Ellen
Sherrill have a dedication to the discipline of
singlespeed cyclocross, and an ability to maintain great results. For
the second year in a row, all three women stood on the top three steps
of the podium, with only second and third place swapping positions.
(cxmagazine.com)
January 8, 2015 January 8, 2015  Debate
regarding the cx nationals runs fierce in this country. This year
though, it all comes down to two questions: ‘is anyone capable of
beating Wout Van Aert?’
and ‘Isn’t this race too tough?’
(podiumcafe.com)
January 8, 2015  If
2014 was all about the Giro d’Italia and then recovering from the
disappointment of crashing out on day one of that race, 2015 will be a
year of much more general targets for Dan Martin.
The Cannondale-Garmin rider is eschewing an approach targeting a few select events and instead intends being good early on and trying to rack up results in a wide number of races. To heck with holding back; having learned last year that things can go up in smoke instantaneously due to bad luck, he wants to win early and win often. (cyclingtips.com.au).
January 8, 2015 Sport
and development manager Rolf
Aldag described it as a year for Mark Cavendish to
settle some open accounts, and he certainly cut the air of a man eager
to get down to business when he met the press at the Etixx-QuickStep
training camp in Calpe on Thursday afternoon.
Ill fortune limited Cavendish to ten victories in 2014 – a decent haul by almost anyone’s standards but his own, perhaps – and it also prevented him from contending on the grandest platform of all, the Tour de France. (cyclingnews.com)
January 8, 2015
2014-15
Races
& Results.
Australia Road National Championships - Jan 7-11 (Stages & 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), (cyclingnews.com)
January 8, 2015  Android
cycling apps including Strava, Wahoo Fitness, RiderState, The Roadie
Bike Fit and more.
(bikeradar.com)
January 8, 2015  It
would seem simple: The lighter rider crests the hill first and the
heavier rider makes it down first. But there's more to the puzzle than
weight, says Tim Hall,
head cycling coach at Lees-McRae College in North Carolina's Blue Ridge
Mountains. True, a lighter rider may have less mass to drag up a hill,
but will struggle if he lacks strength and a solid aerobic engine. And
plenty of heavier riders are able to scamper up an incline.
Descending, on the other hand, comes down to skill before weight, power, or any other physiological factor. "It's about knowing how to take the fastest line, when to brake, use momentum, and power out of turns," Hall says, adding that the sweet spot is when you can match your skill with physical strength. (bicycling.com)
January 8, 2015 |
 The
Mars Cycling Australia Road National Championships are well underway in
Victoria with the criterium and time trials titles having been decided
already. This weekend the riders will take to the roads of Buninyong
for the road races, culminating with the elite men's road race on
Sunday.
(cyclingtips.com.au)
January 8, 2015  The
dispute between Johnny
Hoogerland and his 2014 team, Androni-Venezuela, has
ratcheted up considerably with confirmation by the squad that it has
filed a penal and criminal complaint against the rider.
At the end of December Hoogerland sent a Tweet to Brian Cookson, making clear he had a grievance. He asked the UCI president “where can you go as a rider when your team does not pay your salary?” (cyclingtips.com.au)
January 8, 2015  Respect.
That’s how cobbles king Tom
Boonen views Bradley
Wiggins’ gesture of riding his final career road race
across the treacherous cobbles of Paris-Roubaix.
Earlier this week, Wiggins confirmed he would close out his road racing career with Team Sky with an all-out bid to win the Hell of the North in April. “I can only say that I really admire the guy for doing it,” Boonen said Thursday. “It shows how big Roubaix is, and how much he likes the monuments, and that he gives the value to the monuments.” (velonews.com)
January 8, 2015  At
the beginning of last year, Katie
Compton and her fellow Trek rider Sven Nys were on top
of the world: both started New Year's Day with victories in Baal,
Belgium and were enjoying successful seasons. Compton secured the
World Cup overall by winning in Rome, then returned home where she
cruised seemingly effortlessly to her 10th US national championship.
The year ended quite differently, however, and both she and Nys have struggled uncharacteristically in recent weeks. That doesn't mean that either of them are going to give up without a fight, and Compton has her sights set firmly on her 11th straight US title on Sunday. (cyclingnews.com)
January 8, 2015  January
2015 is looking like being a life-changing month for Richie Porte who has
already become engaged and won a maiden national time trial title in
the first eight days of the year. Still to come for the Team Sky rider
is the men's national road race on Sunday, the Tour Down Under next
week and a 30th birthday celebration to cap it all off on the 31st.
"I just got engaged a few days ago and now to win this time trial against such a class field is fantastic," Porte told reporters after winning the Australian time trial, seven seconds ahead of pre-race favorite Rohan Dennis. (cyclingnews.com)
January 8, 2015  Ending
up 7.1 seconds slower than Richie
Porte in today’s Australian time trial national
championships, BMC Racing team rider Rohan Dennis
nevertheless remains optimistic that he can take the world hour record
when he attacks it in exactly one month’s time.
“It was about a 52-minute effort today and my power levels were better than where they have been, so that is a good indication,” he said after the 40.9 kilometre event. (cyclingtips.com.au)
January 8, 2015  For
Jack Bobridge there is one date in January that matters more than any
other as he attempts to break the Hour Record on the last day of the
month in Melbourne. However, January 8 will be seen as a pretty good
day as well with the multiple world champion on the track proving he is
on target to beat the distance of 51.852 km, set by Matthias Brändle last
October, with third place at the Australian national time trial titles.
(cyclingnews.com)
January 8, 2015  USAC
fills six positions, Trentino and Melinda organizers join forces. Drug
makers, anti-doping agencies will meet in Tokyo.
(cyclingnews.com)
January 8, 2015  Two
riders with similar objectives – often a scenario which leads to
disharmony within a professional team, but a pair of Team Giant-Alpecin
sprinters are not expecting friction any time soon.
In Marcel Kittel and John Degenkolb, Giant-Alpecin has a double act that has notched up 21 Grand Tour stage wins, including eight by Kittel at the Tour de France across the last two editions. (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
January 8, 2015  Last
year, Strava users clocked up 2,700,000,000km (that’s two billion, seven hundred
million kilometers) across the globe over the course of
75,700,000 rides.
(roadcyclinguk.com)
January 8, 2015 |
January 8, 2015  The
UCI have brought out a new system of points and rankings for 2015. The
main ranking is the “UCI World Classification”, a rolling ranking of
riders of all categories based on performances over the previous 52
weeks as opposed to each season or calendar year.
Within this there are big changes to the allocation of points across races, for example all three grand tours are now treated equally. (inrng.com)
January 8, 2015  Tony Martin says
that Fabian Cancellara
is wrong to say the Hour Record is ‘low level’, as the three time World
Time Trial Champion plots his own attempt on the prestigious record.
Cancellara said in an interview in November last year that he believed the Hour was losing its worth after the UCI changed the rules to allow the use of modern aerodynamic bikes and clothing, adding that the record was devalued because “everyone can do it who wants and there’s no limit.” (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
January 8, 2015  The
2015 Vuelta a España will celebrate its 70th edition this year with
something new. Based on press leaks, the course will include nine
summit finishes – none of which have been used before by the Spanish
Grand Tour.
Organizer Unipublic will present the route on Saturday, January 10, in Málaga, just down the road from where the race will begin on August 22. (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
January 8, 2015  Taylor Phinney has
the DNA of a champion cyclist and had the World at his feet until his
horrendous crash last year put his cycling career on hold.
2014 was looking pretty good for the man from Boulder, he won the Dubai Tour with a win in the time trial stage and the best young rider competition, 7th in Het Nieuwsblad, stage win in California and became US national time trial champion and then in the national road race he crashed and hit a roadside guardrail and his season was over. Whether his career is over is yet unknown. (pezcyclingnews.com)
January 8, 2015  British
Cycling technical director Shane
Sutton says Bradley
Wiggins’ new team will strengthen Team GB’s medal hopes at
Rio 2016.
Wiggins finally announced his eponymous team, WIGGINS, earlier today, although details were released Weekly before Christmas. With riders such as Owain Doull, Andy Tennant and Steven Burke in the squad, Sutton hopes WIGGINS will boost British hopes in the Team Pursuit in Rio. (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
January 8, 2015  Gesink will lead
Lotto NL-Jumbo in Algarve, Sicily training camp for Tinkoff Saxo, Tibco
adds SVB as co-title sponsor.
(cyclingnews.com)
January 8, 2015  BikeRadar
verdict: 3.5 out of 5
stars. "A fine handling frame and decent build make the Crux Elite a
bike with great 'cross potential.
The Crux Elite is the least expensive of the carbon options, but packs a lot in for the price, with a disc-specific race proven frame that doesn’t cut any performance corners. Specialized’s swoopy top and head tubes blend in to a chunky down tube, beefy chainstays and slimseat stays. It’s a well-trodden path, but rear tyre clearance has been increased with lengthened wheelbase and flared stays, and the fork's wide stance gives mud nowhere to hide." (bikeradar.com)
January 8, 2015  Black
is on trend when it comes to cycling kit fashion in 2015, with
Giant-Alpecin and Cannondale-Garmin both taking a darker approach.
Both teams unveiled their new kit at their respective team launches on Thursday. (sbs.com.au)
January 8, 2015  BikeRadar
verdict: 1.5 out of 5
stars. "Android connectivity works well, but fairly useless for
cycling."
(bikeradar.com)
January 8, 2015 January 7, 2015 |
After
winning back-to-back Australian national criterium titles, ahead of Caleb Ewan, Steele von Hoff was
quick to state that he isn't finished with the championships just yet. Von Hoff is hoping
that another impressive ride in the men's 183km road race on Sunday
will see him selected for the Tour Down Under wildcard team, UniSA.
The former Garmin-Sharp rider signed for the British Continental NFTO team for 2015 with the aim of returning to the WorldTour next season. (cyclingnews.com)
January 7, 2015  Kimberley Wells'
scintillating summer form continued in Ballarat as the doctor won her
second career national criterium title ahead of Peta Mullens and Lauren Kitchen after
a Carlee Taylor
attack was caught on the final lap.
Wells, the 2013 champion, timed her sprint to perfection having sat in the peloton and let attack after attack go. Teammate Jessie Maclean provided the calm that Wells required and ensured that the 29-year-old made a triumphant return to the 1.1km Sturt St course. (cyclingnews.com)
January 7, 2015  The
2015 Australian national championships once again will take place in
the inland Victorian city of Ballarat with the road race to be staged
in nearby Buninyong.
The defending men's champion Simon Gerrans is out of the race due to a broken collarbone while two-time defending women's champion Gracie Elvin will start the race as a favorite after impressing at the Bay Crits with a solo victory. (cyclingnews.com)
January 7, 2015
2014-15
Races
& Results.
Australia Road National Championships - Jan 7-11 (Stages), 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), (cyclingnews.com)
January 7, 2015  Volvo
has long prioritized the well-being of its vehicles' occupants, and has
recently started to look into how to promote the safety of people
outside those vehicles. In 2013 it introduced an innovative cyclist
detection system that actively scans ahead, warns of an impending
impact, and even hits the brakes as needed.
Now, in cooperation with telecom giant Ericsson and cycling helmet maker POC, the Swedish car-maker has expanded that idea with a sort of electronic mutual awareness system that uses real-time, two-way communication to warn cyclists and drivers when they're too close to each other. (bikeradar.com)
January 7, 2015 January 6, 2015 |
 The
2015 Tour de San Luis succeeded again in attracting cycling’s big names
for its race next week in Argentina despite being up against
Australia’s top-ranked race, the Santos Tour Down Under.
The stars include defending champion and 2014 Giro d’Italia winner Nairo Quintana, world champion Michal Kwiatkowski, and Mark Cavendish. The Argentine organizer struck gold since its 2.1-ranked event offers fewer UCI points at two levels down from the Tour Down Under’s UCI WorldTour status. (velonews.com)
January 7, 2015  Richie Porte, off
contract with Team Sky this year, has heard and read all the comments
that he should consider switching teams and join the Australian
WorldTour Orica-GreenEdge team after this season.
The 29-year-old Tasmanian knows many say his opportunities at the British team will forever be limited at Sky so long as 2013 Tour de France champion Chris Froome remains with the squad. (cyclingnews.com)
January 7, 2015  When
we think CX championships, we immediately think of Belgium, but it's
not all there, oh no. The Netherlands has their fair share of 'cross
riders, who want to win just as much, and there are a lot of other
countries with some muddy fields and riders mad enough to ride their
bikes on them.
(podiumcafe.com)
January 7, 2015  Team
Giant-Alpecin announced during their team presentation in Berlin that Tom Dumoulin has
extended his contract with the team for two years, “taking him to at
least the end of 2016.” The 24-year-old will open his season at the
Tour Down Under later this month.
The Dutch rider, who turned professional with the team in 2012, established himself on the world stage during the 2014 season. He won the Dutch national time trial title as well as various time trials during the season, topping it off with third place in the World Championships. Dumoulin also showed his all-around abilities with top five finishes in major stage and one-day races. (cyclingnews.com)
January 7, 2015  Earlier
reported by Der Spiegel,
the news has now became official: Germany, the largest economy in the
European Union and a country of over 80 million people, will once again
have live coverage of the Tour de France on free to air television in
2015 and 2016.
ASO confirmed the news on Wednesday, saying that the company had inked a two year deal. This sees it return to screening the race three years after it withdrew, with doping scandals and the image of the sport being a major contributory factor then. (cyclingtips.com.au)
January 7, 2015 |
January 7, 2015  Mauro Santambrogio
is fighting a doping positive that he said resulted from fertility and
erectile drugs. His lawyer requested an extension to January 20, when
he will present the Italian’s defence to cycling’s governing body, the
UCI.
The UCI explained on Tuesday night that its new anti-doping tribunal is ready to handle cases and take the burden, and doubts, off of the national federations. Santambrogio’s case could be the first on the tribunal’s bench. (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
January 7, 2015  Following
the UCI’s announcement of stronger anti-doping rules, its president Brian Cookson admits
there is still some way to go in the reform of professional cycling,
with responsible action needing to be taken against those caught
cheating.
The new rules allow the UCI to suspend teams for up to 12 months if three or more cyclists are caught cheating, which comes in the wake of the Astana doping scandal, where a string of riders from the Kazakh team failed drugs test at the end of 2014. (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
January 7, 2015  Richie Porte will
lead Team Sky at the Santos Tour Down Under later this month. The
Australian ride has been training at home in Tasmania all winter and
will once again target overall success in the first WorldTour race of
the 2015 season.
Porte finished fourth last year, winning a memorable stage on Old Willunga Hill before beaten by Simon Gerrans. After a difficult 2014 due to injury and illness Porte returns to action with a team that includes Commonwealth Games champion Geraint Thomas and British national title holder, Peter Kennaugh. The remainder of the squad is made up of Chris Sutton, Salvatore Puccio, Luke Rowe and Ian Stannard. (cyclingnews.com)
January 7, 2015  The
Screw series, which includes the Screw, the Screw Over (which features
a bigger lens for more coverage) and the Screw Under (smaller lens for
smaller faces), includes a few features make it immediately compelling.
Let’s start with the Grilamid frame material. You’ve probably had a pair of Oakley frames crack due to repeated flexing, either on your face or in your helmet. Grilamid will outlast your current car, even if you’re driving a refurbished Delorean. Another vote for quality is the fact that the hinges are pinned, so there are no tiny plastic nubs to break off and render your investment useless. (redkiteprayer.com)
January 7, 2015 January 6, 2015 |
 The
UCI formally announced its 2015 Anti-Doping rules today, adding more
details to those already noted.
The rules were revamped in order to align with the 2015 edition of the WADA code, but also put into action a promise by UCI president Brian Cookson to establish a global Anti-Doping Tribunal for the sport. The UCI Management Committee approved the tribunal in September, making it the first stop for all cycling doping cases for international riders. Made up of "judges specialized in anti-doping, independent of the UCI", the tribunal aims to make anti-doping case adjudication more consistent and timely than those of the national anti-doping organizations, which previously held this role. (cyclingnews.com)
January 6, 2015  There
are 474 riders from 42 nations registered with the 17 UCI World Tour
teams for 2015.
The average age of a rider is 28 years and 3 months. The oldest rider is the 40 year-old Matteo Tosatto and just seven years younger than his boss Oleg Tinkov. Lampre-Merida’s Colombian neo-pro Eduardo Estrada is the youngest pro, aged 19. Here’s a look at the 2015 World Tour peloton in numbers. There’s a look at rider age, the “oldest team” and also analysis of how many pros come from each country and more. (inrng.com)
January 6, 2015  Belgian
fans are used to seeing a rider in the stars and stripes tear up and
down the slopes of the Citadelle de Namur in the front of the peloton
in the cyclocross World Cup. And they are used to seeing a rider who
hails from Colorado on the podium in muddy, muddy Loenhout. It’s just
that this year, it wasn’t the rider they expected to see.
While American champion Katie Compton struggled to overcome asthma and allergies during her winter Belgian cyclocross campaign, a fellow Coloradan stepped up to fill her shoes. This time it was Gage Hecht, 16, who flew the American flag, doing battle with the sport’s biggest young stars. (velonews.com)
January 6, 2015  "Last
weekend, the 2015 Masters World Championships took place in Europe,
encouraging riders from 30 to over 75 to travel to compete for an
elusive rainbow jersey.
Last January, we published an article about the shattered dreams at the Masters World Championships, focusing on French-based American rider Lillian Pfluke, who was forced to compete in a younger age category because of lack of participation in her own age group. This year, not only did her combined group of four get to keep their own category scored separately, but she was able to take her win. Pfluke was the only American to win at this year’s championship, a great, long-awaited victory." (cxmagazine.com)
January 6, 2015
2014-15
Races
& Results.
Australia Road National Championships - Jan 7-11 (Stages), 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), (cyclingnews.com)
January 5, 2015  "The
2015 Australian summer of racing is well underway and the first big
race on the calendar, the Mitchelton Bay Cycling Classic (or Bay
Crits), came to a close in Williamstown yesterday. Here's a selection
of our favorite images from the four days of racing, showing how each
stage unfolded."
(cyclingtips.com.au)
 National
projects have been all the rage for a few years and Orica are perhaps
the clearest case we have of it, they're as Australian as Fosters beer.
It's a tricky concept because not only do you need to be successful, which most teams find hard enough, but you also need the right riders to be successful for your fanbase to really appreciate it. In Orica's case they hired a few high profile aussies who they were counting on to carry the team. Matt Goss and Simon Gerrans were supposed to be the big stars as a batch of younger guys, Durbridge, Meyer, Hepburn and a few more matured into the stars their talent suggested they might become. (podiumcafe.com)
January 6, 2015  The
pro road racing season starts imminently, and if you are anything like
us, this will have made the end of the festive period much easier. The
calendar’s early races often throw up as many highlights as the grand
tours as we see who has come out of winter in the best shape.
This year has early season highlights as Chris Froome and Alberto Contador lock horns at the Vuelta a Andalucia and the Tour de San Luis sees Mark Cavendish return in a peloton headed by Quintana and current World Champion, Kwiatkowski. (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
January 6, 2015  "I
wake up wondering, “Could that have happened? Does it even make sense?”
I find myself outside on a velodrome, but it’s more of a running track with slight banking, and a little longer than it should be. Lauren Tamayo is next to me, telling me my hands can’t cross the line because we will be disqualified. Then we have to run in all our cycling gear — yes in helmets and bike shoes — in team pursuit formation for one lap before we mount our bikes and complete the four kilometers. I’ve got this! I used to run track, and I did cyclocross, so I will nail that bike mount. Wait this is crazy! I shake off the sleep, and I think anxiety is starting to creep in. I sigh and realize it was a dream. Then, I get up and prepare. Only a few more days of training remain until team pursuit camp." (velonews.com)
January 6, 2015 |
 For
11 years, Montana school teacher Geoff
Proctor ran the EuroCrossCamp, a roughly 10-day program of
cyclocross immersion in Europe for developing riders. During that time,
almost everybody who would appear on the list of America’s best
present-day cyclocross racers got their first taste of racing in
cyclocross’ Belgian heartland against the sport’s toughest competitors.
Jeremy Powers,
Ryan Trebon,
Danny Summerhill,
Zach McDonald,
and Jamey Driscoll
are all products of the camp. not to mention road standouts like
Cannondale-Garmin’s Joe
Dombrowski and Alex
Howes.
Last year marked the return of women to the program after a long hiatus, and Elle Anderson’s successful 2013-2014 camp netted her a contract with the Kalas-NNOF team and a season in Europe this season. (velonews.com)
January 6, 2015  Italian
Alessandro Petacchi
will keep racing into his 20th professional season at 41 years old. On
Tuesday, the sprinter signed a one-year contract for Italian
second-division team Southeast for 2015.
“He’s a big champion,” general manager Angelo Citracca told VeloNews. “He can give our sponsor Southeast big visibility even if he is towards the end of his career.” Petacchi, who celebrated his birthday on January 3, has won stages in all three grand tours, earned the green jersey at the 2010 Tour de France, and also won the 2005 edition of Milano-Sanremo. He worked in Omega Pharma-Quick Step’s train to lead out sprinter Mark Cavendish the last two seasons. (velonews.com)
January 6, 2015  Not
everyone can emulate Chris
Horner or
Cadel Evans, but serious cycling may help to keep you
young, scientists say.
A study of fit amateur cyclists aged 55 to 79 found that many were physically and biologically much younger than most people of the same age. The 81 male and 41 female participants underwent extensive tests of their heart, lung, neuromuscular, metabolic, and hormonal functions. Their reflexes, muscle and bone strength, and oxygen uptake were also measured, as well as mental ability and general health and well-being. (sbs.com.au)
January 6, 2015  Etixx-QuickStep
manager Patrick Lefevere,
Tom Boonen
and Stijn Devolder
could face trial for alleged tax evasion, according to a report in
Belgian newspaper Het
Nieuwsblad on Tuesday.
Prosecutors in Kortrijk have made the recommendation after a long-running investigation that began in 2009. Het Nieuwsblad reports that five others with links to the QuickStep team could also face trial, although they have not been named. (cyclingnews.com)
January 6, 2015  Philippe Gilbert
isn’t convinced the peloton is ready to convert to disc brakes.
With disc brakes becoming more popular on road bikes, there’s a discussion of if and when they should be introduced to the elite peloton. Gilbert said the only way it would work is if the entire peloton switched to disc brakes at the same time. He pointed out the braking distance between disc brakes and caliper brakes is too great, and having two braking systems inside the bunch would present a dangerous scenario for a peloton whipping along narrow roadways at 50kph. (velonews.com)
January 6, 2015  Battling
for both a place in history and also for a future in the sport, Thomas Dekker will
seek to resurrect his career when he attempts the world hour record at
the end of February.
The Dutchman’s intention to chase the hallowed mark was previously made public but on Tuesday further details finally emerged in relation to the bid. Dekker will become the first of the current batch of riders to make use of high altitude conditions during his attempt, having decided to throw down the gauntlet on the Aguascalientes velodrome in Mexico. (cyclingtips.com.au)
January 6, 2015  "I
fell in love with the Republics on first sight—one of our editors
described their look as "instaclassic," with their laces and full-grain
ECCO leather uppers. Putting them on, I marveled at the snug but supple
fit, at the soft microsuede padding around the heel that made them so
comfortable it felt like I'd been wearing them for months.
Walking was easy on the stable (and replaceable) high-traction lugs, and because the cleats are recessed, there was no clacking across hard floors. Strolling into the office one day, I forgot to change my shoes and walked straight into a meeting. Nobody batted an eye." (bicycling.com)
January 6, 2015  BikeRadar
verdict: 4 out of 5
stars. "Added comfort without any performance compromise.
The Arione’s 300mm length and 128mm width maintain its trademark flat, narrow and long shape, and our sample weighed just 222g." (bikeradar.com)
January 6, 2015  BikeRadar
verdict: 4.5 out of 5 stars. "The Cayo is joy to ride and fantastic
value for the money.
The finishing kit is from Focus' in-house Concept brand and while it's not flashy, it fits in well with the aesthetic of the bike." (bikeradar.com)
January 6, 2015 |
January 6, 2015  Corresponding
with new World Anti-Doping Agency Code, which came into effect on
January 1, 2015, the UCI announced several significant changes to its
anti-doping rules.
In a Tuesday press release, the UCI confirmed some changes that had been expected — like the formation of an international tribunal, and four-year bans for first-time offenders — but it also outlined other new rules, like a team-suspension policy for rules violations. (velonews.com)
January 6, 2015  The
UCI has answered claims by Tinkoff Saxo team manager Stefano Feltrin that
it and WADA are responsible for the delays in Roman Kreuziger’s
biological passport case, saying that suggestions it has not filed
documentation are untrue.
Earlier this week Feltrin told Cyclingnews that Kreuziger was still waiting for a hearing date and that the UCI was to blame. “Basically we don’t know about the date for the hearing and that’s the real truth when it comes to because we’re left with no information,” he said, confirming that the team might enter the rider in the Tour of Oman. (cyclingtips.com.au)
January 6, 2015  The
Velon group is not just out to make money says BMC Racing team manager Jim Ochowicz. The
fledgling organization is looking at different ways of bringing in
extra revenue but Ochowicz
hopes that, with widespread changes due, they can have a bigger
influence in the way that the sport is run as a whole.
“The most important thing that we need is a vote in the groups that are making decisions about the future of the sport. The teams seem somewhat isolated from those decisions at the moment,” Ochowicz told Cyclingnews at the end of last month. “I think what we need is the right people in a fair representation to make decisions about how this sport is going to be changed, if it needs to be changed. That’s still up for debate as well.” (cyclingnews.com)
January 6, 2015  The
2015 Vuelta a España route is due to be officially unveiled on
Saturday. But seemingly endless leaks to the Spanish media, combined
with an official presentation of the first four stages late last year
already show that the Vuelta will include its usual high number of
summit finishes: four in the first week alone and nine in total.
GC favorites expected to take part include Alejandro Valverde and Nairo Quintana as well as Joaquim Rodriguez. A repeat performance for Alberto Contador is said to be very unlikely given he is already taking part in the Giro and Tour already. There is no indication yet whether Chris Froome or Fabio Aru, both of whom were key GC factors in last year’s Vuelta, will be present at the start in Porto Banus on Saturday August 22nd. (cyclingnews.com)
January 6, 2015  "World
champion is a good start to any professional career, even if you can’t
wear the rainbow jersey. Katusha’s new young signing; Sven Erik Bystrøm
want’s to repeat his Under23 win in the Elite class, which isn’t a bad
ambition. We caught up with the champ at the Katusha training camp in
Spain."
(pezcyclingnews.com)
January 6, 2015  When
Italian coffee machine manufacturer Faema recruited Eddy Merckx in 1968,
part of the deal was to provide the cash not only to pay Merckx but to let
him build the best team he could. That agreement was preserved when
Molteni took over sponsoring Merckx’s
team in 1971.
Merckx and his personal manager Jean Van Buggenhout enlisted the best talent possible, but with one proviso — anyone joining the team wasn’t just riding for anybody, but Eddy Merckx. The pay was good, but you could forget personal glory. The deal appealed to some, but not everybody he approached, thankfully. (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
January 6, 2015  Alberto
Contador does not hesitate for a second when asked who he believes
poses the biggest threat to his chances of securing a third Tour de
France title this summer. "[Chris]
Froome," the Spaniard replies, firmly.
Not Vincenzo Nibali, the defending Tour champion? Or Nairo Quintana, the pint-sized Colombian climber who finished second on his debut two years ago and won the Giro d’Italia in such impressive fashion last season? He shakes his head. "No. No. Froome." (telegraph.co.uk)
January 6, 2015  Even Ewan's team
bosses are torn between tempering expectations and acknowledging the
hype around this massive cycling talent.
The 20 year old's outstanding performance in the Mitchelton Bay Classic criterium series makes him one of the riders to watch this week at the Australian road championships. Ewan will be outnumbered heavily in Wednesday's Ballarat criterium and he will probably have a support role for Orica-GreenEDGE in Sunday's elite men's road race on the hilly Buninyong circuit. But if the speedster is anywhere near the front of either race at the finish, he has a massive chance. (sbs.com.au)
January 6, 2015 January 5, 2015 |
 For
the past month, international cyclocross has been dominated by two of
the youngest men in the sport. Since the beginning of December, Mathieu van der Poel,
19, and Wout Van Aert
— who is just six months older — have combined for nine victories in
elite races. Their dominance has been so complete, in fact, that one of
the pair has won all but two of the 11 races in which either or both
started. Neither has finished worse than fourth in the same period.
Van Aert, the reigning under-23 world champion, has posted wins in non-series races in Mol and Bredene, and bpost Bank Trofee races in Essen, Loenhout, and Baal. Van Aert leads the bpost Bank series overall by a whopping six minutes ahead of runner-up Kevin Pauwels. Van der Poel, meanwhile, took an impressive win in the nighttime Superprestige race in Diegem, and posted wins in three non-series races, in Leuven, Sint-Niklaas, and Antwerp. And on Sunday, both men will vie for their respective national titles among the elites, Van Aert in Belgium and van der Poel in the Netherlands. (velonews.com)
January 5, 2015  Vastgoedservice-Golden
Palace rider Wout van
Aert has been dominant recently. He has ridden eight elite
series crosses, winning an astounding six. (Oudenaarde, Koksijde,
Hamme-Zogge, Essen, Loenhout and Baal.) This is a longer list than
anyone else, and a win percentage of 75%. This, compared to Kevin Pauwels' five
wins, at a percentage of 28%, is absolutely incredible.
However, he is sitting on the fence as to choosing which world championship race he will ride in Tabor. (podiumcafe.com)
January 5, 2015  In
terms of rider numbers the Australian men now rank among the
traditional powers at the highest level. A stunning progression
considering the small talent base.
(sbs.com.au)
January 5, 2015  Giorgia Bronzini won
the final stage of the Mitchelton Bay Cycling Classic in Williamstown.
The fourth day of racing came down to a bunch sprint contested by less
than half the starters. An aggressive, animated race thinned out the
field ahead of the finale.
Chloe Hosking brought home the yellow jersey. The stage one winner started the day with a two point lead overall and admitted she was nervous about her slim advantage. Her nerves proved unnecessary as her teammates handily feigned off all threats to the series overall before leaving Hosking to unleash her sprint for third. (cyclingtips.com.au)
January 5, 2015  Greg Henderson has
won stage 4, the final day of the 2015 Mitchelton Bay Cycling Classic
series. Henderson
and four other riders gained and held a 37 second gap over the
splintered main field which included Caleb Ewan and Steele von Hoff who
couldn’t make any ground.
Henderson won the bunch kick from the breakaway group, coming ahead of Michael Hepburn and Roger Kluge while Caleb Ewan won the sprint from the chase group for sixth by a large margin. (cyclingtips.com.au)
January 5, 2015  "Suffice
it to say that mine was not a well-traveled road to the ProTour, but I
wouldn’t have had it any other way.
A little over four years ago, I was struggling to stay awake through my afternoon classes. It may have been related to the VO2 intervals I did in the three-hour gap between classes and the large bowl of pasta that followed. Certainly my professor’s dry and monotonous lecture failed to stave off the impending hour of head-nodding. My evenings were spent at the computer lab, typing away at a seemingly endless final report for our senior design project. Nothing kills the joy of writing like a tedious design report." (velonews.com)
January 5, 2015  After
rising through the ranks at Rabobank and Belkin, Bauke Mollema has
made the boldest and biggest step of his career in moving to Trek
Factory Racing. He leaves behind the comfort zone of split leadership
and home comforts for the chance to be the sole leader of a WorldTour
team at the Tour de France for the first time.
At 28, and with the full backing of his new team, Mollema has set his sights on delivering a top five place in the Tour. It's a lofty ambition for almost any rider but with a favorable parcours, a new-found motivation and the confidence of Trek's Luca Guercilena moving him forward, Mollema believes that he’s made one of the best decisions of his cycling life. (cyclingnews.com)
January 5, 2015  While
many top races headed to Texas to contest the two-day Resolution Cross
Cup this past weekend, on Saturday, Kingsport, Tennessee hosted its
annual UCI cyclocross race, the Kingsport Cyclocross Cup.
This year’s race in Tennessee, in terms of the Elite level podiums, was nearly completely dominated by North Carolina racers. (cxmagazine.com)
January 5, 2015  Although
Ellen Noble was
in transit for Day One of the 2015 Resolution Cross Cup Race in
Garland, Texas, when she arrived, she made a statement on Day Two by
taking a big win seven days before the National Championships. After
tallying up five runner-up positions this season, and looking for her
first UCI win, Noble
broke through at the last ever Baystate UCI race, and has been on a run
ever since. Today’s win marks four wins for the U23 JAM Fund rider in
the last six races.
(crankpunk.com)
January 5, 2015  "Danny Vervecken,
brother to three-time world champion Erwin Vervecken,
sits in the driver’s seat and I in the passenger seat as we travel
through the countless towns in Belgium on the way back to Vorselaar
after the GP Sven Nys in Baal.
We recall my race, and discuss how the racing here differs from the US. Here things are more primal, more aggressive. It’s as if there’s a battlefield laid out in front of each rider with no clear enemy besides the person right next to you. The conversation lulls and then picks up steam again as we make comments about the cyclo-cross schedule and the gap of racing between races in the United States starting before Christmas. We continue our journey home from the race as I lazily drift off to sleep in the passenger seat, still thinking of the day’s race." January 5, 2015  Jasper de Buyst and Kenny De Ketele are
still in the lead after the fourth day of racing at the 33rd Six Days
of Rotterdam. The Belgians are one lap ahead of nearest rivals Michael Mørkøv and Alex Rasmussen. Iljo Keisse and Niki Terpstra are
also one lap behind in third. However, the defending champions are
close to a bonus lap as they only need to score another 10 points to
break the 200-point barrier.
(cyclingquotes.com)
January 5, 2015
2014-15
Races
& Results.
Australia Road National Championships - Jan 7-11 (Stages), 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), (cyclingnews.com)
January 5, 2015  Like
the Tarmac the Crux handles beautifully, due in part to the tapered,
shaped head tube, and in part to an exceptional design that balances
the head tube stiffness with the top tube and fork. ‘Cross racing can
put serious demands on a bike’s front end stiffness and Specialized
nailed it with the Crux.
The bottom bracket drop is 5 mm higher (58cm Frame) than the Tarmac frame and has a slighter longer wheel base, but the Crux still accelerates quickly thanks to a bottom bracket and chain stay molded as a single unit. This aspect is critical for the constant accelerations out of corners in that weekend ‘cross race. Specialized knows that higher volume tires and their CG-R 27.2 seat post deliver massive comfort, so why not make the bike’s power center stiffer than Belgian wind in January? (pelotonmagazine.com)
January 5, 2015 |
 The
2015 racing season will see several key issues on the doping front that
could have significant impact across the elite peloton.
The introduction of a four-year ban for first-time offenders, coupled with the highly anticipated release of the CIRC report, could send shockwaves across the sport. UCI officials confirmed to VeloNews on Monday that the final report from the yearlong inquiry under the guise of the Cycling Independent Reform Commission (CIRC) should be released by late February. The CIRC project was central to the ambitious platform of UCI president Brian Cookson when he was elected president in late 2013, and all eyes will be on the results of the three-member panel’s review. Officials also confirmed Monday that there will be no interviews or information released to the media before the official document is released. (velonews.com)
January 5, 2015  Eight-time
Tour de France stage winner Marcel
Kittel has called for an increase in anti-doping testing
in cycling, saying that while the sport is already the most
scrutinized, that he would endorse more examinations in order to build
trust and to weed out cheats.
The Giant-Alpecin rider was commenting in the wake of the Astana situation, which saw the WorldTour team and its feeder squad have a combined total of five positive tests since September. (cyclingtips.com.au)
January 5, 2015  The
2014 season was a mixed bag for Taylor
Phinney. Despite superb wins in Dubai,
California and the US National Time Trial, his year was ultimately
defined by the horrific leg injury sustained in his National Road Race.
Phinney
crashed into a guard rail while descending at high speed down Lookout
Mountain, Tennessee, after trying to avoid a motorcycle marshall. The
resulting leg injury was so bad that it had the potential to end his
career. Despite this, Phinney
remains noticeably upbeat at the BMC winter training camp in Spain,
cracking jokes and amusing his fellow teammates during 2015 team photos.
(cyclingweekly.co.uk)
January 5, 2015  Bradley Wiggins has
signed a contract extension with Team Sky until up to and including
this year’s Paris-Roubaix. The move will see him target the one-day
Classic in April before he makes the move to the track as he builds
towards the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio.
"Everyone knows what this team means to me so I'm really pleased to extend my contract until the end of April 2015. I've been with Team Sky from the start. I've had some amazing experiences during that time and I hope there are a few more to come. Sky's investment in cycling, and this team in particular, has helped change the cycling landscape in the UK and I'm proud to have played a part in that story,” Wiggins said in a press release. (cyclingnews.com)
January 5, 2015  Vincenzo Nibali will
likely not be taking off more than he can chew in 2015, and that means
a rumored Giro-Tour double is almost certainly not in the cards.
According to Astana team officials, it would be “difficult” for Nibali to race the Giro d’Italia before returning to the Tour de France to defend his yellow jersey. In an e-mail over the weekend, Astana officials confirmed Nibali’s 2015 schedule. The Giro is not part of the plan. Here is what is confirmed now: Nibali will make his season debut at the Dubai Tour on February 4, followed by the Tour of Oman in mid-February. His European debut will come on home roads, with a return to Tirreno-Adriatico after racing Paris-Nice last year, followed by Milano-Sanremo in March. After that, he will return to the Ardennes, with starts at Amstel Gold Race and Liège-Bastogne-Liège. (velonews.com)
January 5, 2015  Cadel Evans would
love a big result on Sunday at the Mars Cycling Australia Road National
championships, but is realistic about his chances.
Evans starts his cycling farewell tour knowing rivals will jump on every tactical move he makes. He will be one of the favourites on Sunday at the elite men's road race, the main event at the Australian road championships. It is the first of three big races that will mark the end of Evans' unparalleled career in Australian cycling. (sbs.com.au)
January 5, 2015  Sicilian
forest rangers respond to Nibali
polemic. Uphill finish on second day of Challenge Mallorca. Le Mével to become
rider agent.
(cyclingnews.com)
January 5, 2015  Live
from New York, it’s the launch of the 2015 Cannondale-Garmin team. The
squad will broadcast live on Wednesday night as it unveils its program
for the new season.
The team — born out of a merger between Cannondale and Garmin-Sharp — will bring six riders to the event, to be held at the IAC building in New York City. The live webcast begins at 8:35 p.m. EST on January 7 at cannondale.com and also on VeloNews. (velonews.com)
January 5, 2015  The
UCI has been working for several years to try to reform the sport of
professional cycling, with new team structures and smaller WorldTour
rosters two of the changes previously specified as likely by the
governing body.
This would coincide with a reworked professional calendar and possible adjustments to the length of Grand Tours and other races to avoid overlap. However, the managing director of the professional teams’ organization AIGCP, Luuc Eisenga, has said that he believes the projected 2017 date for the new system is now unlikely to be met. Eisenga explained that he felt the ongoing negotiations between the UCI and teams were not sufficiently advanced to meet that deadline. (cyclingtips.com.au)
January 5, 2015  "During
the last BUI podcast, I mentioned that Rebecca Rusch was
part of my “top 4 people in the cycling industry.” Not long
after that, Rebecca
reached out to DC about doing an interview with us. We agreed
to a two-parter, the first is the print interview below. The
second part will be a more in depth interview on a upcoming BUI podcast
(feel free to leave any questions or topics you would be interested in
us covering for the follow up interview).
Rebecca recently authored Rusch to Glory: Adventure, Risk & Triumph on the Path Less Traveled. The book follows Rebecca’s life from cross country running in high school, the upper echelon of adventure racing, and her present endeavors a professional mountain bike racer and cycling advocate. The book is a great read and has my (meaningless) stamp of approval." (drunkcyclist.com)
January 5, 2015  The
new products include the Fenix 3 training watch, which has GPS and
features for advanced fitness training, cross-country and alpine
skiing, snowboarding, hiking, climbing and trail running. It’s
compatible with the Garmin's Connect IQ store, which will allow the use
of third party apps.
The Fenix 3 comes in three variations: Silver, Gray, and the premium Sapphire, which features a scratch-resistant sapphire lens. The Fēnix 3 will be available to purchase in the first quarter this year. The Fēnix 3 Gray and Silver will have a suggested retail price of $499.99, or $549.99 with a heart rate monitor running bundle. The Fēnix 3 Sapphire will have a suggested retail price of $599.99. (bicycleretailer.com)
January 5, 2015 |
January 5, 2015  A
new year and it’s straight into the heavy stuff with the revised WADA
Code for 2015. It brings stronger anti-doping rules, like a four year
ban, and is now in effect.
WADA is the World Anti-Doping Agency, the international body created to harmonize anti-doping rules across a range of sports in 1999. “The Code” is WADA’s terms for all the rules that relate to anti-doping in sport and WADA sets the rules which others, like cycling’s governing body the UCI, sign up to. The 2015 WADA Code replaces the 2009 Code. You can download the full Code from their website. (inrng.com)
January 5, 2015  The
topic of Lance
Armstrong’s seven Tour de France wins has been a much
debated issue. Some say he earned them, some say he didn’t. But what do
his peers, the other winners of the Tour, think?
Dutch journalist Raymond Kerckhoffs, a writer for De Telegraaf, asked the 25 surviving winners of the Tour de France what should happen to Armstrong’s wins. Surprisingly, 12 of them believe that they should be reinstated. However, many of the former winners who believe that Armstrong should maintain credit for his victories also have doping allegations and convictions in their pasts: Bjarne Riis, for example, who confessed to doping during his 1996 Tour win but avoided prosecution due to the expired statute of limitations, as well as admitted doper Jan Ullrich. (bicycling.com)
January 5, 2015  Several
pro cycling teams have generated considerable buzz over the past few
years by cracking down on doping, boasting new internal testing
requirements and protocols, and promoting themselves as “the clean
team” to potential sponsors. But few if any other teams have developed
the stellar and consistent record of Optum-Kelly Benefit Strategies and
its predecessor teams — going on almost 20 years now without a single
positive test.
While many teams over the years have boasted to be clean, “we actually are the clean team,” says team owner and managing director Charles Aaron. In American cycling, Aaron may be one of the most influential people that you’ve never heard of. However, his teams employ more North American athletes, both men and women, than any other team, and he has sent numerous riders to the WorldTour. (velonews.com)
January 5, 2015  Tinkoff-Saxo
has confirmed that Roman
Kreuziger could make his 2015 race debut at the Tour of
Oman despite a Court of Arbitration for Sport hearing hanging over his
head. Kreuziger
was cleared to race by the Czech Olympic Committee in September of last
year after the UCI had handed him a temporary suspension for a
biological passport violation.
Kreuziger has been embroiled in a long-running case against the UCI over his blood parameters in 2011 and 2012, when he was with Astana. He was notified by the UCI in May that a case was being opened against him, but despite a near eight-month lapse, no binding decision has been reached on the matter. (cyclingnews.com)
January 5, 2015  "Not
that long ago, only a decade in fact, the number 1 ranked woman cyclist
in the world was Canberra rider, Oenone
Wood, and she raced as a member of the Australian National
Team.
So why now, with more female Cycling Australia memberships than ever before, is the combination of increased available talent, greater interest in the sport, yet the same coaching staff now deemed unworthy of funding?" (sbs.com.au)
January 5, 2015  "The
2014 Giro d’Italia’s Irish sojourn has come to an end with Marcel Kittel being
the sorriest rider to leave after two awesome sprint victories. After
crossing from the north into the land of bilingual roadsigns, Euros,
and kilometers not miles, we’ll also be sorry to see the Giro return
home.
For fans from Ireland, the chance to see a Grand Tour without having to go to an airport and leave the country is incredible. Top class riders, great scenery, challenging routes and first-rate fan turnout, especially in the north." (pezcyclingnews.com).
January 5, 2015  Neil van der Ploeg's
first year with the Continental Avanti Racing Team provided enough
evidence for the 27-year-old to see that he is on track for bigger and
better things. Van der
Ploeg started off the season with 20th place at the
Australian national championships to earn selection for the Tour Down
Under, his first appearance at a WorldTour event.
Fifth overall at the 2.1 Jayco Herald Sun Tour was followed by stage wins in the National Road Series (NRS) before a stint of racing in Asia with third overall at the 2.1 Tour of China, capping off his longest season yet as a professional. (cyclingnews.com)
January 5, 2015  Posted
by Bike Snob NYC: "It is traditional for cyclists to partake in a New
Year’s Day ride, which is precisely why I leave the roads to the wobbly
legions making good on their resolutions and sweating out their
hangovers.
Instead, I skip the ride and take a walk on the beach, where I ask mighty Neptune to provide me with a sign of what to expect in the coming year. Last year his portent came in the form of hot dogs, while this year he presented me with a disembodied fish head. Peering into those vacant eye sockets I attempted to divine some sort of message from this omen, and ultimately decided that artisanal fish head saddlebags will be the hot new trend in 2015. You read it here first." (brooksengland.com)
January 5, 2015  Tires
with supple casings are faster, more comfortable and simply more fun to
ride. Most cyclists know this, but how do you measure “suppleness”?
A measure that often is used to describe the quality of tires is “threads per inch” (TPI). The idea is that tires with higher thread counts usually have finer weaves that make these tires more supple. The reality is more complex, and TPI is of limited use when comparing tires. (janheine.wordpress.com)
January 5, 2015  Selle
San Marco is restricting sales of its 2015 model year saddles to
authorized dealers. Tom
Petrie, the brand's North American operating manager, said
the intention is to limit sales to dealers who comply with San Marco's
minimum advertised price policy. The policy took effect Jan.
1.
Authorized dealers will be shown on the Selle San Marco store locator on the brand's website. (bicycleretailer.com)
January 5, 2015  2015
may be only a few days old, but it seems that the people at Zipp are
already hard at work with the announcement of redesigned stems and
seatposts for the Service Course and Service Course SL ranges.
The Service Course and Service Course SL lines have built a reputation for delivering top performance in a reasonably lightweight package, and have acquired a large following among the pro peloton, including a certain Mark Cavendish at last year’s Tour de France. (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
January 5, 2015 January 4, 2015 |
 Caleb Ewan continued
his successful start to the season with his third straight victory in
Portarlington at the Mitchelton Bay Cycling Classic after another
impressive leadout from his teammates.
The first year professional edged out Steele Von Hoff and Alexander Edmondson in the race to the line and in doing so cemented his lead in the overall with one stage remaining. (cyclingnews.com)
January 4, 2015  While
the men’s series is all but settled, the women’s remains wide open,
with three riders in contention for the overall victory ahead of the
last race at Williamstown.
After Mullens won by herself, Chloe Hosking sprinted for fifth to retain the series lead on 26 points. But Lauren Kitchen is only two behind after finishing third behind Hosking's Wiggle-Honda team-mate Georgia Bronzini. The consistent Orica-AIS rider Lizzie Williams was fourth at Portarlington and is now third overall, six points behind Hosking. (sbs.com.au)
January 4, 2015  Chloe Hosking’s fine
start to the 2015 season continued on Sunday with fifth place on day
three of the 2015 Mitchelton Bay Cycling Classic, in Pontarlington,
Victoria.
The result was enough for Wiggle’s new signing to retain her overall lead in the event with one day remaining. However the sprinter acknowledged that with just a two point buffer over her nearest competitor, the overall result was far from secure. (cyclingnews.com)
January 4, 2015  Mathieu van der Poel
got the perfect dress rehearsal for the Dutch championships when he
took an impressive solo victory in today’s Soudal Classics race in
Leuven. The Dutchman rode the final three laps of his own while Tom Meeusen beat Kevin Pauwels and Laurens Sweeck in a
three-rider sprint to take second.
While most have been talking about Wout van Aert after the impressive victories in Loenhout and Baal, Mathieu van der Poel has flown under the radar. While van Aert is training under the Spanish sun, the Dutchman proved that he is ready to challenge his archrival when he won today’s Soudal Classics race in Leuven. (cyclingquotes.com)
January 4, 2015  European
U23 champion Sabrina
Stultiens won the Soudal Cyclocross Leuven on a sunny
Sunday afternoon. The 21-year-old Dutch rider grabbed her second win of
the season on an entertaining course, ahead of a large stack of Young
Telenet-Fidea riders. On the podium Stultiens
was flanked by Ellen Van
Loy and Jolien
Verschueren. The starting field in Leuven was below par
with a late cancellation of Sanne
Cant, no Marianne
Vos, Katerina
Nash and Katie
Compton on show.
(cyclingnews.com)
January 4, 2015  Crystal Anthony was
able to use her recent experience of the deep mud in Europe to propel
herself to a big win today at the surprisingly muddy Resolution Cross
Cup just outside Dallas, Texas. This is her second UCI win of the
season, the first coming at NBX, where in the same situation, she was
fresh off the European racing scene.
Of the four World Cup stages Anthony was present form she consistently finished in the top 25. She finished ahead of Amanda Miller, who with the second place on the day now has stood on the podium at six straight races (five UCI, one Colorado State Championship). (cxmagazine.com)
January 4, 2015  Grant Ferguson and Annie Last were the
victors on the final day of the National Trophy Cyclo-Cross Series at
the Moorways Leisure Centre in Derby on Sunday.
But it was Ian Field and Amira Mellor who took the titles, topping the overall standings after six rounds of racing. Ferguson put in a storming performance to take victory in the elite men’s category race, but Field claimed his first ever National Trophy title with second spot. The Elite women’s race also saw a strong ride from the winner with Annie Last pulling out a comfortable lead to top the podium. (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
January 4, 2015  Campbell Flakemore,
22, will be racing alongside Cadel
Evans, his childhood hero, during Evans' final three
races as a professional.
“It’s pretty cool,” Flakemore said. “I was actually there in 2011 when [Evans] won the Tour de France, so to have seen that and to be racing with him three to four years later is pretty special.” Flakemore’s first objective will be in the time trial on January 8, where he’ll have the opportunity to compete against the country's best in the race against the clock. (cyclingnews.com)
January 4, 2015  German
cycling has received a significant boost with reports that that
national television station ARD has decided to once again cover the
Tour de France.
It and fellow station ZDF backed off on their coverage following numerous doping scandals and completely exited from screening the race in 2012. However the relative lack of scandals since then plus, presumably, the improving fortunes of German riders, have prompted it to reconsider. Spiegel reports that the station will screen the Tour from 4pm local time until the end of the stage, thus joining Eurosport in showing the race. While the latter has been able to provide coverage to cycling fans, the addition of a mainstream channel should have a positive effect on helping the sport to grow again. (cyclingtips.com.au)
January 4, 2015
2014-15
Races
& Results.
Santos Tour Down Under 2015 - Jan 18-25 (Stages), Dubai Tour 2015 - Feb 4-7 (Stages), Giro d'Italia 2015 - May 9-31 (Stages), Tour de France 2015 - July 4-26 (Stages), UCI Road World Championship 2014 - Sept 20-27 (Results), Vuelta a España 2014 - Aug 23-Sept 14 (Results), Tour de France 2014 - July 5-27 (Results), Giro d'Italia 2014 - May 9 - June 1 (Results), (cyclingnews.com)
January 4, 2015 January 3, 2015 January 3, 2015 |
 Alejandro Valverde has
made it clear in an extensive interview with Spanish newspaper AS that he will
continue to aim for the Tour de France podium and the World
Championships rainbow jersey until the end of his career.
“They are the two main objectives, I will go on hunting for them until I retire,” Valverde, who recently re-signed with Movistar until 2017, told AS in his first big interview of 2015. The 34-year-old currently holds the record for podium finishes in the Worlds roadrace - six since 2003, the first a silver in Hamilton, the most recent being a bronze in Ponferrada - but has never taken gold. In the Tour, although his first breakthrough result was a stage win in 2005 in the Alps and he led the race in 2008, Valverde has been plagued by bad luck and crashes almost every July. His career best has, so far, been fourth overall - in 2014, when he was squeezed off the podium, after a lengthy struggle through the Pyrenees, by France’s Jean Christophe Peraud and Thibaut Pinot in the final week. (cyclingnews.com)
January 4, 2015 In
Leuven Sven Nys
had hoped to put an end to his bad period but it was not to be for the
rider from Baal. Nys
finished 12th. Afterwards, he was visibly disappointed. "It was bad,
that's all I can say," he told Het
Nieuwsblad.
"It was really not good today. I don't know what's wrong but it's nothing specific. I am simply generally poor," he added. "I have probably not recovered enough from the race in Baal. I can't do anything else but try. "I've tried everything and it just becomes worse. I have to accept that. I am not enjoying cycling because it's annoying that nothing works. That's sport. In any case, I will be at the start of the Belgian Championships in Erpe-Mere. Unless I get sick." (cyclingquotes.com)
January 4, 2015  Coryn Rivera
A few stats on the best female sprinter in North America: She’s 5-foot-1, and weighs 105 pounds. She was born in 1992, and has been racing for 11 years. She is the holder of an astonishing 68 U.S. national titles across road, track, and cyclocross. And, in 2014, she won 10 races in North America, riding for UnitedHealthcare, including the national criterium championship. Coryn Rivera, 22, is a pint-sized sprinter who packs a colossal finishing kick. In her first season with the new UHC women’s team, the highly lauded Southern California native came into her own, winning the Sunny King Criterium, Tulsa Tough, Gateway Cup, Boston Mayor’s Cup, and the Tour of Utah. She also finished second at the Amgen Tour of California’s criterium, in Sacramento, and sixth at La Course by Le Tour de France, in Paris. On one of the strongest women’s teams in the world, Rivera more than held her own — she punched her way to the front. Daniel Holloway Daniel Holloway may not have always beaten riders of the UnitedHealthcare “Blue Train,” but he was always the most likely to upset their podium raids. No single rider on UHC’s Pro Continental “crit squad” shines brighter than the others, as they seemingly choose at random who among them will be the victor. That is, unless Holloway has anything to say about it. He was the single most dominant sprinter of the year, and he didn’t need a professional team to earn that accolade. (velonews.com)
January 4, 2015  The
bicycle, and the sport that revolves around it, has changed
considerably over the years, morphing as engineering, production,
materials science, and the understanding of what makes a good bike have
progressed.
The world’s most efficient mode of transportation has seen its fair share of wacky innovations, from air-powered shifting to cable-thin tubes, but the industry, and riders, have always found a way to whittle the bike down into what it is meant to be, removing the silly and keeping the smart. These are the 10 most important technical innovations in the sport’s long history. (velonews.com)
January 4, 2015  What
appears to be the best field ever assembled for an Australian time
trial title will line up in the elite men’s race on Thursday, January
8, for the 2015 Mars Cycling Australia Road National Championships.
Luke Durbridge, Jack Bobridge, Damian Howson and Campbell Flakemore have all been time trial world champions at the under-23 level and will all be on the start line. Multi-time track world champion Michael Hepburn returns as the defending champion, while his Orica-Greenedge teammate Cameron Meyer won the title in 2010 and 2011. It’s South Australia's Rohan Dennis, fifth in the time trial at the 2014 UCI Road World Championships, who has been labeled by many of his rivals as the man to beat. (cyclingnews.com)
January 4, 2015  Marcel Kittel said
that he was wary of all of his usual rivals heading into the new
season, but also aware that threats to his position at the top of the
sport could arrive from leftfield.
“I am curious that maybe someone new is coming,” he told CyclingTips, making clear that he was taking nothing for granted. One of those who will be intent on trying to make life hard for Kittel, Mark Cavendish and all of the other established sprinters is the young Irishman Sam Bennett. The 24 year old had a strong first pro season, clocking up three UCI-ranked wins and quickly underlining his position as the fastest rider on his NetApp-Endura team. (cyclingtips.com.au)
January 4, 2015  Matt Brammeier is
still waiting to hear from the team he has been in contact with if he
will be offered a contract for this season.
“I am still waiting for it to be finalized,” said Brammeier, who preferred not to go on record about the team’s identity at this point in time. “I am hoping that everything is going to plan and that it will be sorted out soon.” He has been training hard to ensure that if the offer comes through, he will be in shape to show he deserved the contract. (cyclingquotes.com)
January 4, 2015  "I
suppose I'm looked at in a different regard by the cycling public now,
which is somewhat larger than it was in 1992," the 37-year-old said.
"I'm going to Ballarat to ride the best race I can. If I get a result,
that's even better. I'm going there to race well and do my best."
Evans witnessed firsthand just how much the sport has grown during last year's Australian championships, when he finished second on the Buninyong course behind Simon Gerrans. (cyclingnews.com)
January 4, 2015  Bradley Wiggins’s
new team will make its competitive debut at this month’s four-day
Challenge Mallorca event – albeit without the 2012 Tour de France
champion.
Although no official launch date has been announced for the new squad, Team Wiggins’s eight riders are expected to take part in the popular Balearic event, which comprises of four-consecutive one-day races between January 29 and February 1. Wiggins will join the team that bears his name during the UCI’s permitted transfer window in June; he will ride for Team Sky prior to that, with an assault on Paris-Roubaix his biggest target. (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
January 4, 2015  BikeRadar
verdict: 4 out of 5
stars. "Another well-thought-out product from Lezyne.
With a claimed maximum pressure of 160psi it had a lot to live up to – but our doubts proved groundless. The length and the 18cm stroke mean you get up to a very good pressure at double-quick speed. This reached around 80psi after 200 strokes, one of the highest figures of any pump we’ve tested." (bikeradar.com)
January 4, 2015 |
January 4, 2015  The
Movement for Credible Cycling (MPCC) has published the interesting
information graphic below, comparing the number of doping positives in
cycling last year with other sports.
Only cases concluded and proven in 2014 have been included in the MPCC data. Athletics [Track and Field] was by far the worst offender last year, with 95 known proven positives. That was followed by baseball’s 62 cases and weightlifting’s 28 before cycling comes in in fourth position with 16 cases. Incredibly, considering the financial rewards on offer in soccer and the sheer numbers playing the game worldwide, there were only seven known and proven positive cases last year. (stickybottle.com)
January 4, 2015  “The
loser” is a regular in comedy films yet celebrated in cycling where the
lanterne rouge can be a hero. Add on scenes from retro Belgium circa
1970 and insert a comic actor with good timing and an elastic face and
things get better.
This Belgium film dates from 2001 and is widely available, complete with English subtitles. If cycling films are rare, this is a gem. The main role is played by Benoît Poelvoorde, a Belgian comedian and actor with a string of awards to his name; film students might know his earlier Man Bites Dog film. Poelvoorde goes for full comic effect, at times there’s an exaggerated wobbling style on the bike but often it’s the way he pulls faces that makes the laughs. (inrng.com)
January 4, 2015  Many
of the doping cases that have marred Italian cycling in recent years,
have been linked to the Neri Sottoli team. Di Luca, Santambrogio, Rabottini have all
tested positive while wearing the jersey of Luca Scinto's team,
meaning that the team's credibility has been questioned. And Scinto has not been
spared any criticizm. Now it has become too much for the Italian as the
pressure has been growing during the last two years. "I had to go to
the office of the US Attorney to talk about things that have little to
do with cycling. It's disappointing," he laments.
Scinto has now decided to step down from his position at the head of Neri Sottoli and in an interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport, he has explained his decision. "Yes, I was disappointed by some riders which I had believed in. They turned out to be doing the opposite of what I thought. And I started to wonder. For some time, it was no longer the same, I lacked spark and passion ... I was considered one of the best directors but had something in my stomach. I could not take it anymore." (cyclingquotes.com)
January 4, 2015  Jasper de Buyst and Kenny De Ketele lost
a bit of ground on the third day of the Six-Days of Rotterdam. However,
the Belgians defended their leads and are still one lap ahead of Alex Rasmussen/Michael Mørkøv, Iljo Keisse/Niki Terpstra and David Muntaner/Albert Torres.
de Buyst and De Ketele retained their lead in the 33rd Six Days of Rotterdam. The Belgian pair saw their rivals reduce the deficit but it was not enough to dispose the Belgians. Michael Mørkøv and Alex Rasmussen are currently second, one lap behind. The two Danes have more points than de Buyst and De Ketele, 153 compared to 143. (cyclingquotes.com)
January 4, 2015  Over
the years there have been a few teams run short of money during the
season, but none as spectacularly as the Linda McCartney team
in 2001. The money was gone by the end of the Tour Down Under and the
dream was gone.
It all seemed too good to be true; a guy called Julian Clarke gets an idea over a supermarket trolley to rope Linda McCartney Vegetarian Foods in to sponsor a professional cycling team. He’s not a cyclist, he’s a dreamer but he pulls it off; Paul McCartney pens a tune for the team website, the team rides and wins a stage in the 2000 Giro – and come so close to making it two stage wins. They win the Giro del Lazio, too and the following season they net Jacob’s Creek Wines and Jaguar cars as co-sponsors – a real coup. The trouble is that the whole edifice is built upon sand; neither Jacob’s Creek or Jaguar have signed up and inevitably, it collapses, Julian Clarke disappears and the team enters cycling legend. (And you may be interested to know that a certain Bradley Wiggins was on the team roster when it all went wrong). John Deering was their PR man on the roller coaster ride that was the Linda McCartney team and he wrote a book about it; ‘Team On The Run’. (pezcyclingnews.com)
January 4, 2015  Catharine Pendrel.
She’d tasted world championship glory before. Pendrel, 34, won the
2011 cross-country worlds in Champery, Switzerland. But the former
dressage rider, who quickly transitioned from riding horses to riding
mountain bikes, had also tasted defeat.
Pendrel fought her way through rough seasons in 2012 and 2013, riding to a disappointing ninth place at the London Olympics. But 2014 proved to be her year of redemption, despite a broken collarbone in April that scuttled her plans to travel to the South African and Australian World Cups. The slightly built Canadian from New Brunswick was never far from the front after her recovery. She won the World Cup round in Windham, New York. In the other four rounds she contested, Pendrel was never out-side of the top-five, and finished on the podium twice. This earned her second place in the final World Cup standings. (velonews.com)
January 4, 2015  Tom Devriendt will
the 21st rider for the Belgian Professional Continental team
Wanty-Groupe Gobert for this season. The 23-year old moves up from the
Continental-ranked Team 3M. He is a sprinter who can also lead out
sprints.
“I want to learn in my first ear, especially from the older, more experience guys,” he said in a team press release. Sport director Hilaire Van Der Schooner said, “He has potential and I have been following him for a while now. In our team he now gets the chance to show that he has the capabilities to become a pro cyclist.” (cyclingnews.com)
January 4, 2015  It
comes too late for an embittered Ezequiel
Mosquera, but a Spanish court has overturned a
disqualification, and returned his second place in the 2010 Vuelta a
España as well as a victory atop the Bola del Mundo climbing stage.
According to Spanish media reports, a Spanish court three months ago nullified a two-year racing ban and disqualification for the 39-year-old Mosquera. There were no details of the ruling, but the decision came from a Spanish civil court and only hit Spanish newspapers over the weekend. (velonews.com)
January 4, 2015  Oleg Tinkov has
spoken to BBC Sport about his Grand Tour Challenge and whether he
really believes someone can win all three grand Tours in one season.
"OK, I understand that three-week races with just five weeks between them are extremely tough," Tinkov agreed. He thinks it would be possible if the Grand Tour are shortened to two weeks rather than three, even if some riders don’t share his opinion, even two of his stars, Ivan Basso and Alberto Contador. "But the solution could be shortening the stages, or the whole race, or perhaps just leave the Tour at three weeks.” (cyclingquotes.com)
January 4, 2015 January 3, 2015 |
 Like
many other sports governing bodies, USA Cycling (and its former
incarnations, the U.S. Cycling Federation and Amateur Bicycle League of
America) is often the scapegoat for anything that goes wrong with the
sport in this country. Right now, the Feds are still reeling from the
October 2012 revelations of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency’s “Reasoned
Decision” that chronicled the doping violations perpetuated by Lance Armstrong and
his U.S. Postal Service teammates in the late-1990s and early-2000s.
In the fallout from that investigation, and because of other internal developments, many of the long-term USAC staff has moved on in the past year, while their president, Steve Johnson, will leave the Colorado Springs HQ in nine months’ time after staging the 2015 UCI World Road Championships in Richmond, Virginia. Responsibility for selecting a new president and staff members will partly fall on one of professional cycling’s most influential, the recently elected USAC chairman Bob Stapleton. (pelotonmagazine.com)
January 3, 2015  Caleb Ewan has had
the perfect start to his first professional season taking out the
second stage at the Mitchelton Bay Cycling Classic this afternoon.
Unlike yesterday’s victory, which came from a two-man breakaway, Ewan sat back until the final moments to take the sprint victory courtesy of his team’s lead-out. Sheltered from the hot and strong winds by his teammates all day, the 20-year-old said his job was easy in the finish after a strong Orica-GreenEdge controlled much of the day’s action. (cyclingtips.com.au)
January 3, 2015  On
the eve of her national title defense, Australian road race champion Gracie Elvin has put
on a dominant display to take out the second stage of the Mitchelton
Bay Cycling Classic in Geelong’s Eastern Park this afternoon.
Hot and extremely windy conditions made it a challenging day of racing but Elvin made it look easy, escaping from the peloton after 20 minutes of racing and holding on to win by one minute 31 seconds. “[It was] a bit stupid at first,” Elvin said of her solo move. (cyclingtips.com.au)
January 3, 2015  Fredrik Kessiakoff
has lost the desire to ride and has finished his career. Now he
criticizes his former Astana team heavily in an interview with Radisporten.se.
"A big reason why I felt so bad was that I was under pressure from the team. I got a letter home from the management saying that I was not good enough at the races, that I was not giving everything and that I was a bad teammate," the Swede says. After a long career, Kessiakoff has decided to retire. "It has been building over the last few years. I was banging my head against the wall but I came nowhere." "It was no fun. The goal was to become better and maybe even the best. But when you are on a plateau at a poor level and far away from the targets, you feel that you don't have the energy that is required to continue. (cyclingquotes.com)
January 3, 2015  "As
we approach the week of Cyclocross National Championships, we know that
some of you will be making the trip for the first time, or perhaps this
will be the first year you convinced your spouse/buddy to come with you
and act as your pit crew. We spoke with some of the best respected
mechanics and team captains in American cyclocross to give their list
of the biggest Do-and-Don’ts in the pits.
Want to make sure you’re no committing a serious faux paux on race day, or want take your game to the next level? Check out their tips." (cxmagazine.com)
January 3, 2015  Lotto
Soudal's André Greipel
will compete at the Volta ao Algarve in February as part of his buildup
for the 2015 Spring Classics, according to a statement released this
week by the UCI 2.1 race in Portugal.
Tour de France stage winner Tony Gallopin will join Greipel, Jurgen Roelandts, Sean de Bie, Stig Broeckx, Marcel Sieberg and Vegard Breen in the five-day race that takes place February 18-22. (cyclingnews.com)
January 3, 2015  Tribute
to Burry Stander,
Bardiani CSF new jersey.
(cyclingnews.com)
January 3, 2015  road.cc
verdict: 1 out of 5
stars. "Very expensive; slow to get tires up to barely-adequate
pressure; virtually impossible to reach high pressures
.It doesn't matter how nicely it's designed, made and detailed if it costs too much and doesn't work very well." (road.cc)
January 3, 2015
2014-15
Races
& Results.
Santos Tour Down Under 2015 - Jan 18-25 (Stages), Dubai Tour 2015 - Feb 4-7 (Stages), Giro d'Italia 2015 - May 9-31 (Stages), Tour de France 2015 - July 4-26 (Stages), UCI Road World Championship 2014 - Sept 20-27 (Results), Vuelta a España 2014 - Aug 23-Sept 14 (Results), Tour de France 2014 - July 5-27 (Results), Giro d'Italia 2014 - May 9 - June 1 (Results), (cyclingnews.com)
January 3, 2015 |
 A
long-awaited doping report which will determine whether or not Bjarne Riis can
continue his work in cycling finally appears close to being released,
with the director of Anti Doping Denmark indicating that the outcome
could be announced soon.
Lone Hansen told the Jyllands-Posten publication that the current inquiry by the Cycling Independent Reform Commission [CIRC] into doping in the sport is of interest in ADD’s work. “We don’t have to wait until the CIRC is finished, but we have had great interest in continuing our investigation, as long as there are others working with things that may be of relevance to us,” she said. (cyclingtips.com.au)
January 3, 2015  After
narrowly missing out on the biggest win of his young career on stage 2
of the Tour of Utah, Joey
Rosskopf thought he had missed a chance to
reroute the trajectory of his career. He was caught a mere three
kilometers from the line, after battling with Michael Schär in a
daylong breakaway, and absorbed into the bunch by the finish.
“[Winning] would have been career changing. I think second on the stage would have been career changing,” he told Velo just after the stage. Instead of sulking, Rosskopf, 25, set out to find more success. He did, but with it came a bit more heartbreak. He rode into another daylong break on stage 6, the queen stage, which included nearly 13,000 feet of climbing, but again came up short, this time finishing second to former Tour de France and world champion Cadel Evans. (velonews.com)
January 3, 2015  "Through
a series of votes set around our sometimes
contentious, often loud editorial table, we narrowed the first of these
lists down to Velo's Top 10 Climbers of All Time."
There are certainly deserving riders left off the final list — just as there are riders included here that some may question. No best-of list comes without some level of controversy. Far be it from us, however, to shy away from a little controversy. The greatest of all time? Fausto Coppi would probably tell you so. Even his greatest rival, Gino Bartali, couldn’t help but shower Coppi with praise: “On a bike, Fausto was like a god. When we got off he was a mortal, but when he pedaled he was supernatural. His suppleness, his form, this plasticity in motion constituted a complete spectacle. It’s easy to understand the enthusiasm of so many to see him in action.” (velonews.com)
January 3, 2015  "Sometimes
you tweet and nobody cares but sometimes you catch the imagination of
others and everything takes off. Yesterday’s conversation about
equality in cyclo-cross was one of those days. I'm in a position to try
to influence the future shape of women's cyclo-cross with my place on
the UCI cross commission. This role is very much about the evolution of
the sport, and there is certainly no revolution plan in place to just
press the equality button.
The slow political change is frustrating, for everyone, not just me. Even changes we agree take some time to come into effect. Yesterday’s messages came following some points I confirmed. There has already been progress for women's cross, and there is more agreed that will come into effect next season. However I'm keen for there to be more, including equal prize money at all levels of cross." (helenwyman.com)
January 3, 2015  He
would have like to ride for another year. But when at the end of
October he was told that his contract with Androni would not be
renewed, it was time to reflect for Kenny
van Hummel. "I am actually looking forward to seeing
another side of life. I have had to sacrifice so much for my cycling
career," he tells NOS
in an interview.
In the last few months, his manager was lookig for a new team. "I've had conversations, but I've always said I don't want to ride at all levels." The Danish Cult Energy was still interested and there was contact with the new Dutch Team Roompot. Then he had an offer from a small continental team but for various reasons it came to nothing. "It's good. For me this is an appropriate time to stop. Kenny van Hummel 2.0 has started." (cyclingquotes.com)
January 3, 2015  He’s
like clockwork.
Another season of cyclocross, another season in which Sven Nys flaunted the skills that make him the greatest cyclocrosser alive. The Belgian has a finely tuned motor and impeccable skills. He has patience, power, and tactical brilliance. He is the undisputed King of ’Cross. In his 2013-2014 campaign, he continued with his consistent style, focusing on series titles rather than attempting to peak for significant, individual races. He took an incredible 13th Superprestige title (and, after four wins, now claims 60 race wins within the series), a ninth bPost Bank Trophy series title (taking five wins), and won Belgian worlds — also known as the Belgian national championship — for a ninth time. He had a number of other wins at individual races, including an early season victory in the desert heat at CrossVegas. (velonews.com)
January 3, 2015  BikeRadar
verdict: 4.5 out of 5
stars. "Not for the first time, Canyon offers an awful lot of
performance for your money.
Canyon's problem – if you can call it a problem – is that it makes other makers look bad by offering more value for money than seems reasonable, possible, or fair. At a price point where most manufacturers don't even give you a full Shimano 105 groupset, the Ultimate AL SLX 9.0 comes with full Ultegra, not even skimping on the cassette." (bikeradar.com)
January 3, 2015 |
January 3, 2015  When
Lance Armstrong
was banned for life in August 2012 for doping to win his seven Tours de
France between 1999 and 2005, most casual observers would have assumed
cycling’s well-documented doping problems were, if not solved, then at
least cleared up somewhat. But that sordid story did not start with Armstrong nor did it
end with him.Cycle-Of-Suspicion-A3
A change in leadership of the world governing body, the International Cycling Union (UCI) in autumn 2013 brought a new president, Brian Cookson, and an apparently fresh desire to investigate those figures – Armstrong and others – who contributed to cycling’s dark and hidden past. The investigatory body is the CIRC, or Cycling Independent Reform Commission, a three-man group that has the potential to produce one of the most seismic sporting stories of 2015 – or one of its most expensive flops. Some of cycling’s biggest and longest-suspected names could finally walk out of the shadows and confess. The slate may finally be wiped clean. Painful though it may be, a catharsis could usher in a new era of transparency and accountability, directed by a global governing body. In sport, that would be nothing short of astonishing – and something from which FIFA, the IAAF and others might well learn. (sportingintelligence.com)
January 3, 2015  Former
Spanish rider Ezequiel
Mosquera has had his two-year doping ban overturned by the
Spanish authorities, according to reports in the Spanish media.
Mosquera was handed a two-year ban in 2011 after testing positive for hydroxyethyl during the 2010 Vuelta a España, where he finished as runner-up to Vincenzo Nibali. He also won a stage to Bola del Mundo in the race and signed a deal with Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team for 2011 on the back of his results. However he was fired by the Dutch team once his ban was made public. "I'm tired, tired and fed up with a process that, with the law in hand, should never have happened,” Mosquera is reported to have said in June when the case was ongoing. (cyclingnews.com)
January 3, 2015 Michael Boogerd
plans to be an important part of the management team of the new Roompot
team that was presented yesterday. However, the Dutchman still has no
license as he is awaiting the verdict in his doping case.
Boogerd presented his new employer, the Roompot team, with mixed emotions. "I am happy but there is still this small issue with the license," the Dutchman told Wielerflits. "I am still not completely free to feel very happy but I am pleased that the team is ready." (cyclingquotes.com)
January 3, 2015  "It’s
interesting to look back at our interview from this time last year when
we sat down with Jensie
at the Trek pre-season training camp in Spain:"
At 42 Jens Voigt is heading into his last season as a professional cyclist. Throughout his career he has been one of the ‘strongmen’ of the peloton, chasing breaks, fetching water bottles and every now and again; winning a race. A nice guy with a punishing nature; no more “shut up legs” from Jensie. "We managed to catch up with the ‘Old Man’ of the peloton, Jens Voigt at the Trek Factory Team’s December training camp based in Albir, on the east coast of Spain. The 2014 season will (probably) be his last and for those who are not happy with his attacking style, the news will come as a relief. So we settled down to find out how he thinks his final attack will pan-out." (pezcyclingnews.com)
January 3, 2015  "Each
year at this time I take stock of which articles were most read. There
used to be when I could never predict what would be well read and what
would be a flop, but now I have a pretty good idea. I don’t use the
traffic numbers as guidance to what we should and shouldn’t write,
because numbers alone don’t tell the full story. There are certainly
patterns here, and the most difficult part of looking at the numbers is
disregarding the patterns.
Here is the list of our top 50 articles (categorized by theme, not traffic)." (cyclingtips.com.au)
January 3, 2015  "Winter
for pro cyclists means base training. As they do in running, most
coaches prescribe LSD (that's long, slow distance; what did you think
it stood for?). I've been doing some of that, but I'm also devoting a
few weeks to gym work.
Road cycling is low impact (if you're lucky), so bone density can suffer if you're not careful, and there have been a few cases of pros getting osteoporosis in their 20s. I cracked a rib this year in a low-speed crash, which got me a little worried about the old skeleton. Do you know what they tell you when you break a rib during a five-day stage race? Keep racing. It just hurts horribly for a few weeks when you cough, laugh or breathe, but it won't slow you down." January 3, 2015  Astana
women training in Turkey, Colavita-Bianchi women's team 2015 roster.
(cyclingnews.com)
January 3, 2015 January 2, 2015 |
Lars van der Haar
has got the perfect dress rehearsal for his title defense at the Dutch
National Cyclocross Championships. The current champion was clearly the
strongest in the Centrumcross van Surhuisterveen where he beat Corne van Kessel.
The battle for third place was a lot more exciting, with Stan Godrie finally
taking the final spot on the podium.
Before the race, van der Haar probably knew that if Corne van Kessel didn't have super legs, no one would be able to follow him. With Ramon Sinkeldam, Thijs van Amerongen, Stan Godrie, Twan van den Brand and Niels Wubben, there were a number of respected pros at the start but on paper they should be no match to van der Haar. The Belgian pros and Mathieu van der Poel all skipped the race. (cyclingquotes.com)
January 2, 2015  Caleb Ewan got his
first full season at Orica-GreenEdge off to the best possible start by
landing victory in the opening criterium of the Mitchelton Bay Cycling
Classic series in Geelong on Friday.
The Australian fast man could well have been tempted to rely solely on his sprint to claim the win but instead he showed confidence that belied his 20 years when he latched onto a dangerous move by Greg Henderson midway through the hour-long race. “I just got in the right move,” Ewan said, according to his team website. “He has done that before here, raced like that and won, so I knew when he went that it could be the race so I had to jump on it straight away.” (cyclingnews.com)
January 2, 2015  Danes
Michael Mørkøv
and Alex Rasmussen
got the Six-Days of Rotterdam off to a perfect start as they took the
lead on the opening day. However, the battle is very close as seven
laps are on the same lap.
After the gruelling first evening, six pairs are on the same lap. Mørkøv and Rasmussen have taken the lead with a points tally of 54 points. Iljo Keissen and Niki Terpstra are second with 49 points. (cyclingtips.com.au)
January 2, 2015  Pick
a number between one and three. That’s where Jeremy Powers finished
99 percent of the races he contested in the U.S. in the 2013-14 season.
Drop a chain in the first corner? No problem. Patiently slice through the entire field on the dusty track of Boulder’s reservoir course at the Colorado Cross Classic and finish up with a tidy second place. Win New England worlds? Sure thing. Then win again, then again. He took all three races he started during “Holy Week” in New England, winning both days at the Gran Prix of Gloucester, then hitting day 2 at the Providence Cyclocross Festival and stamping his authority. In all, Powers claimed 12 wins in 22 starts between StarCrossed in September and the North Carolina Grand Prix in December. (velonews.com)
January 2, 2015  Cycling's
history is full of brilliant performances, tragic stories, brave
heroes, and scandalous villains. With more than 100 years of collective
experience telling the tales of two wheels, the VeloNews staff has
seen the best and worst of bike racing up close. We recently charged
our editors with compiling their own best-of lists across a number of
categories. Through a series of votes set around our sometimes
contentious, often loud editorial table, we narrowed the first of these
lists down to Velo's Top 10 Descenders of All Time.
(velonews.com)
January 2, 2015  More
and more of us are questioning the long-held notion that a meal is not
a meal unless it is based around a piece of meat. Awareness is also
continuing to grow of the health, environmental and welfare issues that
are consequences of chowing down on many of the animal food sources we
take for granted.
As result, increasing numbers of people are deciding that it's time to take meat off the menu. An October 2014 report by analysts Mintel, for example, found that 12 per cent of UK adults are now vegetarian or vegan. That figure rises to 20 per cent among 16 to 24 year olds. (bikeradar.com)
January 2, 2015
2014-15
Races
& Results.
Santos Tour Down Under 2015 - Jan 18-25 (Stages), Dubai Tour 2015 - Feb 4-7 (Stages), Giro d'Italia 2015 - May 9-31 (Stages), Tour de France 2015 - July 4-26 (Stages), UCI Road World Championship 2014 - Sept 20-27 (Results), Vuelta a España 2014 - Aug 23-Sept 14 (Results), Tour de France 2014 - July 5-27 (Results), Giro d'Italia 2014 - May 9 - June 1 (Results), (cyclingnews.com)
January 2, 2015 |
 FDJ
manager Marc Madiot
has revisited Nacer
Bouhanni’s fractious departure for Cofidis and
acknowledged that it was always going to be difficult to find room for
him to remain on the same team as fellow French sprinter Arnaud Démare.
Bouhanni opted to leave for Cofidis after losing out to Démare for a place on the FDJ roster at both Milan-San Remo and the Tour de France in 2014. Madiot hinted that tensions dating back to their amateur days meant that it would have been impossible to select both. (cyclingnews.com)
January 2, 2015  2014
saw a lot of big names of our sport retire, Andy Schleck, Cadel Evans, Thor Hushovd
& David Millar
just to mention a few but as big as these riders were it’s a man that
never won a Grand Tour or a monument who will be missed the most among
many cycling fans – Jens
Voigt.
Voigt was born on 17 September 1971 and from a very early age he showed promise in sport and in particular on a bike quickly joining a national sports school at age 14 to concentrate on cycling and athletics. What followed was a very impressive amateur career that included victory in the presitigious Peace Race and the overall UCI amateur rankings in 1994 amongst other big results. This amateur palmares would eventually lead to a pro career that started with the Australian Giant-ZVZZ team in 1997 and would go all the way through to 2014 with the Trek team and included victories in stages in the Tour de France & Giro, Overall GC victories in many stage races like the Tour of Germany, Tour de Pologne and his favorite Critérium International race and would culminate in his now beaten World Hour record in September 2014. (pezcyclingnews.com)
January 2, 2015  The
consistent results that the UnitedHealthcare women’s team gathered in
its inaugural year were nothing short of amazing. UHC’s general manager
and sporting director, Mike
Tamayo, brought on a select group of both established and
rising talent to complete the roster.
After years of posting mediocre results on the domestic circuit, Team SmartStop brought on riders fit for both stage races and support roles for the 2014 season. The once crit-centric squad went into the year hoping to tackle some of North America’s biggest races, with the ambition of grabbing wins and bolstering their presence in the peloton. Mission: accomplished. (velonews.com)
January 2, 2015  As
the winner of the last two Australian national women's race road
events, Grace Elvin
enters the 2015 championships with a target on her back. A win next
Saturday would see the 26-year-old tie Kathy Watt as the
only female cyclists to have won the race three years running.
"I think the pressure is only from myself," Elvin said of the expectation ahead of the nationals. "I have very high expectations from myself and I'll be super nervous on the day but I am not thinking about it at the moment. The priority for me it to be super healthy and get into good form again. It's the kind of course that if you're in good shape then you have a good chance of winning and that's what I am focusing on. (cyclingnews.com)
January 2, 2015  "The
manual recommends using the Marc (which actually stands for muscle
activated recovery cascade) Pro for at least 30 minutes, but longer if
you like. I can’t sit still very long, so I stuck to about 35 minutes.
The recovery effect was immediately apparent. My legs felt lighter and
fresher and I definitely had more spring going up the stairs. I’d never
felt anything quite like that.
The unit is extremely compact and a single charge lasts at least 10 hours, which made it a perfect companion for stage racing. I packed it with me a few weeks later for a seven-day stage race in Brazil and am convinced it helped me start fresher and faster each day than I could have without it. I should also note that I seemed to develop a tolerance to it as I used it. At first, 3.5 seemed sufficient, but within a few sessions I was cranking it up to 6.5 and then 7 (I never did hit 10)." (bicycling.com)
January 2, 2015 |
January 2, 2015 Teddy Cutler of SportingIntelligence.com
recently took a an excellent and detailed look at all the top cyclists
from 1998 through 2013 and whether or not they have ever been linked to
blood doping or have links to doping or a doctor linked to blood doping.
During this 16-year period, 12 Tour de France races were won by cyclists who were confirmed dopers. In addition, of the 81 different riders who finished in the top-10 of the Tour de France during this period, 65% have been caught doping, admitted to blood doping, or have strong associations to doping and are suspected cheaters. More importantly for Lance Armstrong, during the 7-year window when he won every Tour de France (1999-2005), 87% of the top-10 finishers (61 of 70) were confirmed dopers or suspected of doping. (finance.yahoo.com/)
January 2, 2015  Two
key changes to the world anti-doping code came into play on 1 January,
including four-year bans for athletes who have doped.
Driven by The World-Anti Doping Agency (WADA) and implemented by organizations like the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA), the ban for specified substances, like EPO (Erythropoietin), is doubled to four years. This doubling has been called for by fans and stakeholders within cycling for many years. It would be difficult to return to the top level of cycling after a four-year layoff so this measure would in all likelihood have the effect of removing a rider from the sport permanently. (sbs.com.au)
January 2, 2015  During
a training ride in Colombia, BMC's Darwin
Atapuma was attacked by two bandits who demanded that he
give them his bike. Atapuma, who broke his femur during the 2014 Tour
de France, suffered knife cuts to his left arm and wrist during the
altercation and is now recovering from his injuries in his hometown of
Túquerres.
(cyclingnews.com)
January 2, 2015  After
picking 10 established pros to watch for 2015, here are some neo-pros
to keep a look out for. You’ll know some already, the definition of a
neo-pro is someone in their first two years. But a good first year
doesn’t always bring glorious second year, just ask Moreno Moser or Brice Feillu.
(inrng.com)
January 2, 2015  Rossini offers a
lucid account of Pantani's
final months and clear responses to the key questions being raised by
those who would have the world believe that Il Pirata was murdered
This is not a story of the Marco Pantani you'd like to remember, of Il Piarata scaling mountains, this is the story of his final descent, a dark tale that at times traps you in that Rimini hotel room with him. (podiumcafe.com)
January 2, 2015  BikeRadar
verdict: 3.5 out of 5
stars. "Beyond the history-rich paint scheme and branding, the P-650b
frame offers a confident and well-behaved ride."
(bikeradar.com)
January 2, 2015 January 1, 2015 |
 Wout van Aert
continued his dominance of the cyclo-cross scene when he crushed the
opposition in the prestigious GP Sven Nys on New Year’s Day. The
Belgian rode almost half of the race as the lone leader of the race and
distanced Lars van der
Haar and Kevin
Pauwels completed the podium, almost a minute behind the
youngster. With the win, van
Aert virtually sealed the overall win in the Bpost Bank
Trofee series.
Two days after his impressive performance at the Azencross in Loenhout, van Aert again put his excellent condition on show when he took an equally dominant victory in the first race of 2015, the GP Sven Nys in Baal. On the muddy circuit in Nys’ home town, he was again in a class of his own and easily distanced all his rivals at the midpoint of the race. (cyclingquotes.com)
January 1, 2015  Katerina Nash
continued her winning ways of 2014 into 2015. Two days after beating
world champion Marianne
Vos in Loenhout she won again on Belgian soil on New
Year’s day. It’s her twelfth victory of the season.
During the seventh and penultimate round of the Bpost Bank Trophy-series in sunny Baal the 37 year-old US-resident beat Belgian riders Sanne Cant and Ellen Van Loy - Vos didn’t race in Baal. Overnight series leader Sophie de Boer abandoned, passing on the BPost-series lead to Van Loy. She now holds a 1:54 lead over Cant. (cyclingnews.com)
January 1, 2015  A
few days ago, Luca Scinto
announced his decision to take a break from his role as first sports
director at Neri Sottoli. Manager Angelo
Citracca explains that the job will now be taken by Serge Parsani.
In addition to the former Tuscan rider, Serge Parsani was absent from the list of sports directors that was published on the UCI website. However, manager Angelo Citracca explains that Parsani will remain an important part of the management team. (cyclingquotes.com)
January 1, 2015  Along
with adding Cannondale as a co-title sponsor, the Incycle-Cannondale
UCI Continental team announced its roster for the 2015 season this
week. The team, which was registered as Incycle-Predator Components in
Puerto Rico last year, will continue to focus on USA Cycling's National
Racing Calendar and National Criterium Calendar as well as other
international races.
(cyclingnews.com)
January 1, 2015  Prospective
customers who focus on money annoy you. If you receive an e-mail from
one of them and the first question is How much? sometimes you simply
punch the delete button. Customers like that don't understand what you
do. And if they don't understand what you do, they certainly don't
understand you.
The rich art collectors aren't much better. They buy your work, they display it, they polish it, exchange photos of it with other collectors. They don't understand your work. They don't understand your energy, your philosophy. They don't understand hard labor like you do. You don't want your creations hanging on walls. That's not the point of what you do. (bicycling.com)
January 1, 2015
2014-15
Races
& Results.
Santos Tour Down Under 2015 - Jan 18-25 (Stages), Dubai Tour 2015 - Feb 4-7 (Stages), Giro d'Italia 2015 - May 9-31 (Stages), Tour de France 2015 - July 4-26 (Stages), UCI Road World Championship 2014 - Sept 20-27 (Results), Vuelta a España 2014 - Aug 23-Sept 14 (Results), Tour de France 2014 - July 5-27 (Results), Giro d'Italia 2014 - May 9 - June 1 (Results), (cyclingnews.com)
January 1, 2015 December 31, 2014 December 31, 2014 |
 If
2013 was the breakthrough and 2014 the confirmation, the upcoming
season could well be the year when Marcel
Kittel makes further strides in terms of his superiority
in the sport’s top sprints.
Now 26 years of age, the German is moving into what should be his peak period as a competitor. Stronger, more experienced and more confident than before, his momentum should carry him up a notch in 2015. Still, despite quadruple stage victories in the past two Tours, Kittel has admitted that he isn’t feeling confident about landing his first green jersey next July. (cyclingtips.com.au)
January 1, 2015  When
the criterium returns to Sturt Street, Ballarat, on Wednesday 7
January, for the 2015 Mars Cycling Australia Road National
Championships, the defending champion Steele von Hoff will
be among the men to watch.
But von Hoff isn’t limiting his ambitions to the criterium in 2015. He has his eyes on the biggest prize of all. The road race. As the reigning champion he’s had the privilege of riding in the green and gold jersey throughout the year in criteriums and wants more of the same in 2015. (cyclingtips.com.au)
January 1, 2015  Alison Powers is no
stranger to Velo’s awards issue, having won the Domestic Rider of the
Year award in 2013 after an amazing season with NOW-Novartis. She has
proven to be, far and away, the best all-arounder in the domestic
peloton. Whether she’s fighting for GC, blazing against the clock, or
duking it out in a crit sprint, Powers’ results speak for themselves.
Making the jump to UnitedHealthcare for 2014, she opened up her year with a stage victory and overall win at the Tour Femenino de San Luis in January. She took wins in the time trial at Redlands, and the crit at the Tour of the Gila, before doubling-up in the road race and individual time trial at the national championships in May. Already holding the national criterium title at that time, Powers became the first American in history to simultaneously hold national championships in all three road disciplines. (velonews.com)
January 1, 2015  Jean-Christophe Péraud resumed
his preparation as most pro cyclists have done by now, but he still has
time to pay at the end of the year to the media, and in particular 20minutes.fr.
The Frenchman, 37, second in the Tour de France 2014, has said: "It took me a month to recover and recharge my batteries after the Tour, it makes it difficult to recover both mentally and physically. The pleasure of the bike is to be outside so no bike for me that was tough. But now I am back riding regularly again. This is what I like and that motivates me." (cyclingquotes.com)
January 1, 2015  Shimano
XTR Di2 is an entirely new way to think about a bike transmission. The
future has, quite literally, shifted.
It is not just a road group repurposed for the dirt. Shimano took the electronics a step further, creating a shifting platform that riders can customize more than they’ve ever been able to on the Di2 E-tube road drivetrains. XTR Di2 is the first predictive shift system to hit the market. It auto-shifts the front derailleur based on the position of the rear derailleur. A double-chainring configuration can be ridden without a front shifter thanks to the Synchro software. (velonews.com)
January 1, 2015  "I
race road and track. I like to go fast on smooth surfaces. Off-camber
sections, gravel, and anything muddy are not my forte. But as the fall
approached this past year, I got ‘cross-curious. And when I was given
the chance to ride the Liv Brava SLR 1—one of the only women’s
cyclocross bikes available—I jumped at it, figuring that racing 'cross
in the cold and mud was better than sitting on the trainer for hours.
I wrangled some friends into teaching me the ins and outs, and over several weeks, I raced the Brava weekly in a local nighttime series and nearby women’s category 3/4 races. My first race was rough: New bike plus riding in the dark equals a very slow me (I got beat by a man dressed up like a woman on Halloween). Still, I fell in love with the sport, and once I got to ride in daylight, I found out I wasn’t so bad at it after all, riding to a bronze medal in the women’s 3/4 field at the Pennsylvania State Championships." (bicycling.com)
January 1, 2015 |
January 1, 2015  Peter Stetina will
target the Tour of California and a return to the Tour de France in
2015. Stetina
made his debut at the Tour de France last season where he rode in
support of Tejay van
Garderen. It was an experience that put him through the
ringer but, in spite of himself, he’s eager to put himself through it
again this coming July.
(cyclingnews.com)
January 1, 2015  Due
to UCI regulations riders are unable to wear the jerseys of their new
team until January 1, so the new year means lots of riders in new kits.
Cyclingnews
has collated a selection of the riders who have moved teams this winter
in their new kits for the first time.
(cyclingnews.com)
January 1, 2015  MTN-Qhubeka
are looking to make history in 2015 by becoming the first African team
to make it into the Tour de France. The team, which began in 2007, has
been growing quickly over the last few years. They took the step up to
Pro Continental level in 2013 and took part in their first Grand Tour
at last year’s Vuelta a España.
To help them in their hopes of making history, the team have signed eight new riders including Edvald Boasson Hagen, Tyler Farrar and future Grand Tour rider Natnael Berhane. Cyclingnews sat down with Doug Ryder, the man behind the team, to discuss making history, putting together one of the strongest lead-out trains in the business and trying to inspire a continent. (cyclingnews.com)
January 1, 2015  Online
ride community Strava has introduced annual King of the Mountain (KOM),
Queen of the Mountain (QOM) and other achievement awards for 2015,
which will recognise the fastest riding times on segments for the year,
as well as all-time records.
The annual KOMs and QOMs will fit better into yearly targets set by riders, says Strava. “We know that for many of our athletes on Strava, they plan goals and track improvements a year at a time,” said Strava’s Director of International Marketing Gareth Nettleton. (cyclingweekly.co.uk)
January 1, 2015  Gladys
Bikes owner Leah Benson
wants women to fall madly in love with their bikes—even if it means
having some candid conversations about rear ends.
(bicycling.com)
January 1, 2015 December 31, 2014 |
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