The Tour is done and there is plenty of racing to report on, but the tragic news of the death of Barloworld Pro, Ryan Cox has cast a shadow over the world of cycling. It’s a sombre EuroTrash this Thursday as we remember one of cycling’s good guys.
The family, friends, team-mates and fans of Ryan Cox, have been left in shock this week at the news that the former South African Champion died on Wednesday as a result of complications following an operation.
28 year-old Cox had undergone surgery in France three weeks ago, to fix a recurring problem with a vascular lesion in his left leg which was restricting blood flow and seriously affecting his power on the bike.
The Team Barloworld rider returned to his family home in South Africa for his recovery and it was while at home earlier this week that the complications developed. Cox suffered a burst artery while at home alone and was later found by his brother who rushed him to hospital where he underwent emergency surgery.
Throughout Tuesday, Cox almost succumbed to his injury on several occasions, but then started to show signs of improvement, but early Wednesday came the announcement that the two time South African road champ had lost his battle.
While tributes have flowed from around the world for Ryan Cox the cyclist, the real tragedy is the impact that the loss of a son, brother and mate will have on his family and friends.
“As a friend he was brilliant,” said former Barloworld team-mate, Sean Sullivan, “He was always there for advice or to ask anything, or just to lift your spirits. An SMS-text would always be replied from Ryan instantly. He was famous for it. I remember training with him at 35kmh, having a conversation, while he ‘texted’ someone else one handed at a million miles an hour.”
“In a sport that isn't always filled with the most ethical and honest people, Ryan really was an exception,” Sullivan told PEZ. “He had a level of dedication and commitment that I have never seen from anyone. He really loved his sport and his job.
“I remember the year that he won Malaysia he told me he did more than 4,000km of training in ‘Jo-Burg’ in December. He probably deserved more out of the sport for the effort that he put in, but he would never complain or say that.
“In fact, in China a couple of years ago [Qinghai Lake Tour] we both won stages there and he seemed happier when I won mine than when he won himself. He was like that.
“He also did a lot of work in South Africa with kids’ cycling groups and all the kids really looked up to him and he was a great role model for them. He was very proud of where he came from, and he was happiest when he was racing in the SA champion’s jersey.
“Nothing much ever got him down, even after all the problems he had this year, he was upbeat and looking forward to getting back to racing. He was incredibly positive, and that always rubbed off on the people around him.”
Ryan Cox is survived by his Fiancée Tammy, his brothers Jason and Steven, and his three biggest fans: His mother Karen, grandmother “Nan” and nephew Carl.
Ryan’s funeral will be held at 15:00 local time on Tuesday 7 August at the Maranatha Church in Dan Street, Glen Marais, Kempton Park. Johannesburg.
The funeral will be preceded by a memorial ride in which all cyclists are welcome to take part. The ride will start at 14:00 at the Glen Acres Shopping Centre and will pass by the Cox’s home before ending at the church in time for the funeral.
Full Gas with Racing
With last week’s Tour de France seeming like a distant memory, there is plenty of other racing to keep the discerning cycling fan occupied ahead of the Vuelta and Worlds.
The Tour of Wallonie is over and the Tour of Denmark has just got underway. The Brixia Tour in Italy is also done and dusted and now we can now look ahead to the LUK tomorrow and the return of the ProTour with the San Sebastian classic on Saturday.
Tour of Wallonie to Bozic
The southern Belgian UCI HC Tour has been run and won with Borut Bozic of Team LPR taking the overall victory in a race featuring seven ProTour teams on the start line, albeit without their top stage race riders, who were all at the Tour.
Lars Bak of Team CSC took the final stage victory by 23seconds, however Bozic held on to the leader’s jersey that he took over on the penultimate day. The overall victory was set up after the Slovenian made the front group on the hilly fourth stage, which saw Luis Pasamontes, leader since stage 1, lose nearly 20 minutes.
Stage Winners
Stage 1: Haccourt to Welkenraedt (144.5km) Luis Pasamontes, Unibet.
Stage 2: Saint Georges to Perwez (157km) Greg Van Avermaet, Predictor-Lotto.
Stage 3: Chievres to Thuin (218km) Giuseppe Palumbo, Acqua & Sapone.
Stage 4: Sambreville to Jemelle (211km) Rémi Pauriol, Credit Agricole.
Stage 5: Hotton to Barvaux (152km) Lars Bak, Team CSC.
Final Overall standings
1. Borut Bozic, Team LPR. 21hr 43min 20sec
2. Frédéric Gabriel, Landbouwkrediet +0.14sec
3. Pietro Caucchioli, Crédit Agricole +0.51
4. Antonio Bucchero, Ceramica Panaria +1.40
5. Alexandr Kolobnev, Team CSC +1.45
Rebellin Repeats at Brixia
Italian (dare we say it) veteran, Davide Rebellin, has issued a strong reminder that he is on top form heading into the second half of the one-day season, with a second overall win in two years at the Brixia Tour in Northern Italy.
The race featured the return to racing of Danilo DiLuca, but the Giro champ did not trouble the judges on any of the stages he completed before withdrawing on the final leg to Darfo Boario Terme.
Rebellin started as he meant to go on, out-sprinting world champion Paolo Bettini on the opening stage to claim the light blue leader’s jersey, then keeping it through until the finish, with a second place on stage three thrown in for good measure.
Newly crowned Italian road champ, Giovanni Visconti got the chance to show off his new jersey with a strong sprint win on the first of the two split stages on the second day of the race.
Stages winners: Davide Rebellin (1), Giovanni Visconti (2a), Emanuele Sella (2b), Ruslan Pidgornyy (3) and Francesco Chicchi (4).
Final Overall Standings
1. Davide Rebellin, Gerolsteiner 16h19'19"
2. Santo Anza, Selle Italia +13"
3. Matteo Carrara, Unibet +1'12"
4. Ruslan Pidgornyy, Tenax +1'17"
5. Paolo Bailetti, LPR +1'19"
Tour of Denmark
Francesco Chicchi of Liquigas is having a good week on the bike, taking out the opening stage of the Tour of Denmark, after also winning the closing stage of last weekend’s Brixia Tour.
Home team, CSC – who were without their defending champion Fabian Cancellara- will be looking too do well in the six-stage event and almost pulled off the win with JJ Haedo finishing second to Chicchi.
Rabobank sprinter, Graeme Brown was relegated to last place in the group (114th) by the commissaries after initially placing third.
Stage1: Thisted toAalborg (175km)
1. Francesco Chicchi, Liquigas 3.56.09
2. Juan José Haedo, Team CSC s.t.
3. Mark Cavendish, T-Mobile s.t.
4. Tom Steels, Predictor-Lotto s.t.
5. Tom Criel, Team Canyon s.t.
Overall standings after Stage 1
1. Francesco Chicchi, Liquigas 3.55.59
2. Juan José Haedo, Team CSC +0.04
3. Martin Mortensen, Designa Køkken s.t.
4. Mark Cavendish, T-Mobile +0.06
5. Jacob Nielsen, Glud & Marstrand Horsens s.t.
Remaining Stages:
Stage 2: Aars to Århus (195km)
Stage 3: Århus - Vejle, (190km)
Stage 4: Skælskør - Ringsted, (95 km)
Stage 5: Næstved (ITT 12.4 km)
Stage 6: Præstø - Frederiksberg, 175 km
Peace Talks Between UCI and Grand Tour Organisers?
After comments during the Tour de France that ASO (the Tour’s organising body) would split with the UCI, it looks like UCI boss Pat McQuaid is the one to offer the olive branch of peace in an attempt to get the organisers back into the fold with cycling’s world governing body.
In extracts of a television interview, published by Eurosport, McQuaid has said that it is only by working together that the organisations can solve the problem of doing in the sport.
"I think we will have cleaned up the sport in two or three years from now. I believe that firmly,” said McQuaid, adding that "The organisers have gone through a difficult period on the emotional level [and] I'd like to think that in a few weeks, when everyone has calmed down, they will realise that we all need to work together for the good of the sport."
How ASO will feel about needing to ‘calm down’ for the ‘good of the sport’, remains to be seen.
World Championships Decision Today
The World Road Championships, scheduled for the weekend of September 30 in Stuttgart, Germany, still have an uncertain future.
A final decision will be made today as to whether the various levels of government are wiling to go ahead and put money into a sport that has had such a poor public relations record in the past months, let along the past three weeks.
The city, regional and national government representatives met yesterday, according to VRT, but no information or announcement was given by the group.
The event already had a strict anti-doping program that was drawn up by the key stake holders, the German Cycling Federation (BDR), the UCI, the German anti-doping agency (NADA) and the world anti-doping agency (WADA).
While the German government has shown its tough stance already, through it’s refusal to carry the Tour de France on the national television networks due to doping problems (with their own countryman Sinkewitz being ‘the straw that broke the camel’s back’), it remains to be seen if the city of Stuttgart is prepared to give up one of the key events of the cycling calendar, to make a point on doping.
Sinkewitz Tells All
By now, the chances are that most cycling followers would be aware that Patrick Sinkewitz did not contest the findings of testosterone in his A-Sample, taken at a team training camp prior to the Tour de France.
By accepting the finding, he was effectively pleading guilty to the offence and was subsequently sacked by the T-Mobile team.
This week, as part of his hope for some leniency when it comes to his suspension, Sinkewitz has given full details of the product and method that he had employed that led to his positive test.
While possibly assisting the UCI when is comes to understanding exactly what riders are doing in terms of trying to gain an illegal edge on the competition, by publishing the details on his website (which were then republished in various languages on other sites), the question has to be asked whether the detailed information will be a help or hindrance to the anti-doping campaign.
While the benefits of the particular product, as a sports performance enhancer, are debatable, the reality is that Sinkewitz was only caught because he had used the product the night before an un-announced test. He clearly felt that he had enough of a window to get away with its use prior to his next race (the Tour de France) and had possibly done so in the past.
While the net continued to tighten around the cheats in cycling, thanks to un-announced testing by national bodies, teams and the UCI, it has to be said that Sinkewitz was only caught because he was covered by that particular ‘net’. With so many teams not having anti-doping programs and many national federations not able to afford to monitor more than their top few international cyclists, it is going to take a lot more money and a significant amount of time before all of the loopholes are closed and the fans can be confident that what they are getting is a fair and honest spectacle.
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