France, Italy, Spain, and Qatar. It’s February and it’s all Go Go Go for season 2010. We’ve a jam packed ET today with plenty of results, presentations, prognostications and more. What is there not to love about the opening of the Road Season?
Montaguti Captures Calabria
Matteo Montaguti may have ridden away with the overall title at the Giro della Provincia di Reggio Calabria, but the big news of the race is the fantastic season opener for the team that almost wasn’t, Lampre Farnese Vini.
The Italian squad, who are racing on a ‘temporary’ ProTour licence, put on a sprinting show, taking two stage wins and narrowly missing a third, with their newly signed fast man, Alessandro Petacchi.
Stage 1, Palmi-Cosenza, 183km: Matteo Montaguti
Stage 2, Cosenza to Crotone 178.7km: Welcome Back Ale Jet! Alessandro Petacchi sprints to win 1 of 2010.
Stage 3, Crotone-Catanzaro, 171.4km: No back-to-backs for Petacchi with Giuseppe Muraglia (CDC Cavaliere) upstaging the Lampre Train to arrive ahead of Ale Jet and team mate Pietropolli. After being in a break for nearly 100km, Muraglia was the only man left at the finish and had enough of a gap to stop the Lampre Train from running him down.
Stage 4, Soverato-Reggio Calabria, 165.7km: Petacchi and the Lampre Train got it right after stage three was spoiled by a breakaway. This time around, the break was back in the bunch at 12km to go.
“I'm happy for the win and for what the team showed,” Petacchi said after the race. “All my team mates performed a perfect race. I thought I was more tired after three days of racing but instead I had a lot of energy during the sprint. Calabria Challenge gave me some important information. The most important is about [team mate] Bernucci. He has been my precious guardian angel, being on my side during the race, being my contact with the sport directors and performing important work during the sprint.”
The overall win went to the man who started it all, stage one winner Matteo Montaguti (De Rosa - Stac Plastic) with a 25seond margin over Francisco Ventoso.
Final GC
1. Matteo Montaguti (ITA) De Rosa - Stac Plastic 17:13:28
2. Francisco José Ventoso Alberdi (SPA) Carmiooro NGC at 25sec
3. Daniele Pietropolli (ITA) Lampre - Farnese Vini at 34
4. Federico Canuti (ITA) Colnago - CSF Inox at 35
5. Aleksandr Kuschynski (BLR) Liquigas-Doimo at 38
6. Daniel Oss (ITA) Liquigas-Doimo at 49
7. Cristiano Salerno (ITA) De Rosa - Stac Plastic at 1:04
8. Lorenzo Bernucci (ITA) Lampre - Farnese Vini at 1:12
9. Francesco Failli (ITA) Acqua & Sapone
10. Alessandro Petacchi (ITA) Lampre - Farnese Vini at 1:33
QuickStep Looking For Five In Qatar
Tom Boonen will be leading the QuickStep squad to Qatar as part of his preparation for the Belgian Opening Weekend of Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne at the end of February.
“I can’t wait to compete,” said Boonen, the current Belgian Champ and unofficial 'King of Qatar' “This type of race represents an important test to measure your level of preparation and the work undertaken throughout the winter. As always, we’re going to have to be very attentive to the unexpected changes in the direction of the wind. It will be important to always stay in the first positions of the group in order to avoid any surprises. Our team is competitive and motivated. We’re ready.”
The Tour of Qatar starts this Sunday with a team time trial where Quickstep will be up against 15 other teams of eight riders, vying for over 100,000euro in prize money.
On ‘debut’ for his new team, will be Team Sky signing Brad Wiggins. Senior Sports Director Scott Sunderland will also finally be able to put over a year’s worth of planning into action, when he jumps behind the wheel of the team car for the first time.
“I'm really happy to be on the road with the riders again and look forward to getting on with the races. It's the part of my job I truly love best. Furthermore, it will be nice to get some sun at last,” Sunderland said.
As for their Grand Tour rider, Sunderland explained why Wiggins was headed to the desert to open his season, rather than the Etoile de Bessèges, saying “It's been a tough winter with bad weather for a lot of the Northern European riders. Brad missed a few vital weeks in his build up for 2010, so Qatar is the ideal place to guarantee us a week of warm weather and great racing.”
Stages:
Stage 1 Sunday 7 February, (TTT) West Bay Lagoon to West Bay Lagoon 8.2km
Stage 2 Monday 8 February, Camel Race Track to Qatar Foundation 147km
Stage 3 Tuesday 9 February, Dukhan to Mesaieed 136.5 km
Stage 4 Wednesday 10 February, The Pearl to Al Khor Corniche 146.5km
Stage 5 Thursday 11 February, Lusail to Madinat Al Shamal 142km
Stage 6 Friday 12 February, Al Wakra to Doha Corniche 123.5km
Bobridge Blistering On The Boards
Team Garmin Transitions rider Jack Bobridge won his second straight Australian track championship in the men's 4km individual pursuit this week and in doing so, became the “second fastest” man ever over 4000m.
The 20 year old said after his win that he was still some way off his top form, which bodes well for the upcoming World Championships. "Honestly I don't think I am 100% fit yet,” said Bobridge, who also admitted to holding back a little during the recent Tour Down Under, “[I’m] still a little bit off, which is a good feeling for myself knowing I have 6-7 weeks until the World Championships in Copenhagen.”
Bobridge's qualifying ride knocked six tenths of a second off the time set by Welsh cyclist Gerraint Thomas at the Manchester round of the World Cup in October last year. The time was also faster than the Olympic record set by Britain's reigning Olympic Champion Bradley Wiggins in Beijing, meaning the only rider who has gone faster than Bobridge is Chris Boardman.
The British rider set the world record time of 4min11.114sec to win the 1996 World Championships in Manchester and a qualifying time in the same event of 4min13.353sec. Both times were set using the now outlawed “superman” position.
Mallorca Challenge
The Stage race that isn’t also gets underway this weekend on the island of Mallorca. The five day, 750km race is a little different to the other multi-day races on the cycling calendar in that riders can pick and choose which days they want to ride and which days they might skip. As a result, the individual stages are recognised by the UCI as “wins” but the overall title – with only those who raced and finished every day eligible – is not.
The ‘winner’ (term used loosely due to the unofficial nature of the overall rankings and also the following piece of information) of the overall in 2009 was Katusha’s Toni Colom, who had a fantastic early season of results starting with the Spanish opener. Things ground to a halt for the Spanish rider in June, however, when it was announced he had tested positive for EPO.
The Challenge Mallorca and its unique format allows teams to take more than the normal eight or nine riders, as management can rotate riders in and out of the various events. Quickstep, for example, who have a full team in Qatar, will be sending 14 riders to the race. Thomas Vedel Kvist will not, however, be part of the group. The team’s Danish rider is still suffering problems related to his crash at the Tour Down Under and due to an injury to his right knee will be off the bike for another two weeks.
The stages:
Stage 1, Feb 7, Trofeo Palma: Palma de Mallorca (116 km)
Stage 2, Feb 8, Trofeo Cala Millor: Son Servera to Cala Millor (172.4 km)
Stage 3, Feb 9, Trofeo Inca: Inca - Inca (157.2 km)
Stage 4, Feb 10, Trofeo Deià: Deià - Deià (143.0 km)
Stage 5, Feb 11, Trofeo Magaluf-Palmanova: Magaluf to Palmanova (158.5 km)
BMC Camp Concludes
Team BMC have packed up their camp and are heading to Europe to get their season underway. The US get-together for the full team, (which included a press day attended by The Pez , himself), provided those who were not racing at the Tour Down Under with a good two-week preparation block to get ready for what is expected to be a big season.
BMC Racing Team Director Sportif John Lelangue said the camaraderie that was fostered among 20 riders and more than two dozen staff and managers will be just as worthwhile as the miles the riders put in from Jan. 16th to the 31st. “The most important thing we got out of camp was that this team became one block: the BMC Racing Team,” he said. “Everyone knows the objectives, everyone is working well together and everyone became friends like they had known each other for years.”
BMC Racing Team President Jim Ochowicz personally oversaw the camp and even joined the team several times on training rides. He said he was encouraged by what he saw during the two weeks. “Seeing all the guys working together and watching the chemistry develop on and off the bikes was pretty exciting and we achieved what we set out to do.”
Beppu’s Contract Annulled
The Skil-Shimano team issued a press statement yesterday, officially terminating their relationship with Japanese rider Fumiyuki Beppu.
Beppu was signed with the Dutch team on a contract that was to run through until the end of the 2010 season, but it was announced at the end of the 2009 season that he had reached a verbal agreement to move to Lance Armstrong’s RadioShack team this year.
According to the team at the time (and subsequently agreed to by the rider as part of the contract annulment) the deal with RadioShack was reached without the permission of the Skil-Shimano team.
“The 26-year-old has now acknowledged that he has a valid contract with Skil-Shimano and is unable to leave the team and sign a contract elsewhere without Skil-Shimano's permission. This acknowledgment was a point of principle for Skil-Shimano, because an alternative reading would have undermined relations between teams and riders under contract, and existing contracts would no longer have been binding.” Read the statement.
With Japanese component manufacturer Shimano a co-naming rights sponsor of the team, Beppu played an important role in the squad in terms of the marketing potential of a Japanese rider using Japanese equipment in the world’s top races. The squad said, however, that there were no plans as yet to replace Beppu and that they were, “confident its four remaining Asian riders will be able to make an undiminished contribution to the development and promotion of cycling in China and Japan, which is one of the goals of Skil-Shimano.”
Corsica Criterium
The 2010 Criterium International is moving house to island of Corsica and while five time winner Jen Voigt will not be on the start line to defend his title, there are a couple of other big names who will be going head to head as part of their build-up to July.
There are two aspects of the 2010 race (set down for March 27 and 28) that are creating a significant amount of “Media Buzz” The first is the participation of Lance Armstrong and Cadel Evans, who (if Evans’ squad get a wild card call up) will be amongst the key protagonists at the Tour de France in July. A first meeting will lead to much speculation, but expect both to play down the significance of the result (but not the race’s value as preparation) when asked the inevitable questions about their “head to head” battle
The second talking point is Corsica’s bid to host a Tour de France Grand Depart in 2013. At present they are a candidate for the honour of hosting the opening stages of the world’s biggest bike race, and some people are suggesting that the decision by ASO (who own both races) to move the criterium International to Corsica, is a form of ‘dry run’ to see how the ‘other’ race might go.
Referring to the second talking point, but also valid for discussions of the first, ASO’s Christian PRUDHOMME said that the two events were really not comparable.
I bet that doesn’t stop lots of people trying.
Stages:
1. Saturday 27 March, Porto-Vecchio Col de l’Ospedale, 175.5km
2. Sunday 28 March, Porto-Vecchio to Porto-Vecchio, 75km
3. Sunday 28 March, (ITT) Porto-Vecchio to Porto-Vecchio, 7.7km
Women’s Registrations Complete
This week, the UCI completed their registration procedures for women’s racing teams for the 2010 season.
This year, 27 teams have registered with the sport’s governing body with the squad’s registrations representative of 14 different countries, including squads from Sweeden and Norway for the first time.
Just as is the case with ProTour and Continental teams for the men, the UCI extended the requirement of women’s teams to lodge a bank guarantee from only European Federations in 2009, to all National Federations in 2010.
“The higher quality of the registration documents sent to the UCI reflects the increased professionalism of the UCI Women’s Teams audit by their National Federations and, therefore, the increased professionalism of the teams themselves,” the UCI said .
Tour Of Belgium Presented
While the start of the “big race” Belgian road season is still three weeks away, there is plenty of talk about the season ahead going on in the small cycling heartland.
This week, the 2010 Tour of Belgium, won last year by Lars Boom, was presented to the public fpr the first time. The event expects to have seven or eight ProTour teams riding as well as the smae number of ProContinental squads. The organisers of the race starting on May 25th in Eeklo, also want to give up-and-coming local talent a chance to race against some of the world’s top riders, so will round out their start list with up to five Belgian Continental teams.
Three flat “sprinters” stages will open proceedings followed by a 16.7km time trial in Herzele (insert Wou-Wou-Woubrechtegem joke here for the entertainment of the folk from Zottegem) and then on May 30th, the final stage will be run around Herstal. The final leg of the race will be the toughest stage of the Tour, and conforming to a directive regarding the Naming of Stages For Tours from the UCI (that strangely isn’t on their website), the organisers are referring to this as their “Queen Stage.”
Organiser Rob Dicart said at the presentation that the wind would play an important role in the opening stages and with the time trial in Herzele no longer on the final day of the race, the final stage would likely decide the outcome of the event. The Herstal stage includes the climbs of the Cote de Theux, Col de la Redoute and Cote de la Foret, with the finish line 5km from the top of Cote Bois la Dame. “Any rider who comes over the top of that climb alone, will win the Tour of Belgium,” Dicart said.
UCI Fines
Jered brought you the news on Monday of the UCI’s silencing of “The Killer” with their 280,000euro fine that Mr Di Luca will now need to hand over as part of his positive doping control for EPO-CERA at the 2009 Giro.
The UCI released further details this week of other sanctions levied as part of their fight against doping. The rules, which came into effect on January 1, 2009 (specifically Article 236) call for any rider sanctioned with a suspension of two years or more must pay a fine corresponding to their net annual income.
The money will go the Cycling Anti Doping Foundation, with the UI stating in a press release that they are, “Confident that implementing this new provision of the regulations will complement the broad range of preventative measures and dissuasive policies that have been applied to cycling in order to rid the sport of the scourge of doping.”
As well as DiLuca’s 280,000 fine, Maurizio Biondo (ITA) will have to pay 13,750 euros and Spain’s Inigo Landaluze 27,300 euros.
Radios Over And Out
It’s “hands in the air” and “heads out of windows” in the US from now on as the USCF bans radios in all USA Cycling road and track races, to bring them into line with new UCI regulations.
From 2010 onwards, race radios will only be permitted to be used by teams and riders in UCI Category HC or Category 1 races in the U.S.
Rule 1N6 Pg. 57, which takes effect immediately, now reads:
“Riders may not use radios, telephones, or other such communication devices. No earpieces may be worn. Audio playback devices are expressly forbidden.”
“Although I think the jury is still out regarding the future of radios in our sport, given the current direction being set by the UCI indicating their intent to phase out radio usage across the board, we all agreed that it was important to make this adjustment now rather than later in the season,” said Steve Johnson, CEO of USA Cycling.
Leipheimer's Off Bike Activities Recognised
The Santa Rosa Chamber of Commerce has awarded pro cyclist (and now event organiser) Levi Leipheimer their Businessman of the Year title, based partly upon the economic impact his inaugural King Ride GranFondo, had on the local area.
When tours or one day races come to a city, one of the key tools that promoters use to secure local government funding is how much money the event might generate for local businesses through the spending of both participants and spectators. In the case of Leipheimer's event, the initial running of the mass participation ride generated an estimated $1.2million in economic stimulus to the area.
While not a businessman in the classic, suit-and-tie sense, Leipheimer has long been a proponent of the incredible opportunities afforded bike enthusiasts in Sonoma County. He has often remarked on how the area has shaped his development as a professional cyclist and has indicated that his GranFondo was a natural way to share that enthusiasm with as many people as possible.
Leipheimer’s reputation as one of the world’s leading professional cyclists propelled the event to the top of many recreational rider’s lists, bringing participants from all over California, the United States, and beyond, filling restaurants, bike shops, and hotels across Santa Rosa. Couple that business stimulation with one of the worst years in recent memory for the retail and hospitality sectors and it quickly becomes apparent that there was more to this event than a simple day on the bike. Analysts from the City of Santa Rosa have determined that the economic and revenue impacts of the 2009 GranFondo totalled $1,247,490, a large sum for a slumping economy and struggling local government.
“I wanted to pay back Sonoma County for what it has done for me,” said Leipheimer, of the impetus for the 2009 GranFondo. “It (hills, roads, people, cycling community, friends) has made me a better cyclist and so the only motivation I had was to give something back to the area.” To further this point, Leipheimer, in partnership with local non-profit, VeloStreet, donated all the proceeds from the event to the City of Santa Rosa’s campaign to ensure the return of the Tour of California and to the Sonoma County Humane Society’s Forget Me Not Farm, a program for area at-risk children.
“You didn’t even have to ride a bike to appreciate what Levi did,” said Janet Rogers, special events
director of the Santa Rosa Chamber of Commerce. “Anyone who can make people feel good right now, anyone who can put a smile on someone’s face, you have to notice that.”
Given the success of the 2009 event, planning and registration have begun in earnest for the 2010
GranFondo. Working once again with Bike Monkey, a local cycling promoter and magazine publisher, the registration cap has been expanded to accommodate 6,000 riders this year, in the hopes of continuing the community benefit from the inaugural event. In just over a month, well over 4,500 people have signed up via the event website at www.levisgranfondo.com , some travelling from as far away as Australia and Germany to attend. With the expanded registration and surging interest in this ride, it can be expected that Santa Rosa and Sonoma County will continue to see cycling as a robust component to the regional economy.
CaneCreek Innovating Again
In recent years identifying proper headset fit for any given bicycle has been complicated by the evolution and introduction of new standards, as well as the use of tapered and conversion configurations, which often mix standards. With more than 20 different tapered and conversion headset configurations currently being used by bicycle manufacturers and the ongoing confusion and miss-identification of Semi-Integrated (ZeroStack™) and Integrated (IS) standards, Cane Creek, the world’s largest producers of headsets for bicycles, has pioneered the robust online Headset Fit Finder as a resource for both the industry and consumers.
The Fit Finder ( headsetfitfinder.com), which was shown in a beta version at Interbike, allows users to quickly identify headset requirements by simply choosing make, model and year information for one of the thousands of bicycles already included in the database. If a given bicycle is not in the database the user can navigate an easy step-by-step measurement approach that generates fit results based on frame and fork configuration.
“The Headset Fit-Finder represents Cane Creek’s commitment to the entire cycling industry,” says Peter Gilbert, Cane Creek Vice President of Sales. “While critical for the tapered solution, our database is also a powerful tool for conventional headset identification. Even with non-tapered configurations, identifying headset standards and fit requirements can sometimes be confusing. Our Fit-Finder works with all frames and forks, not just tapered, and will be a very important resource moving forward.”
Several bicycle manufacturers have stepped forward to support Cane Creek’s development of the Headset Fit Finder realizing the win-win this resource represents for all levels of the supply chain. “Trek, Specialized, KHS, Niner, Lapierre, Salsa and many other bicycle brands have provided us with several years’ worth of valuable headset specification data,” says Jason Grantz, Cane Creek Marketing Director. “The Fit Finder is a reflection of Cane Creek’s commitment to providing the entire industry will value that extends beyond the product and without the help of our partners it would not be where it is today.”
Cane Creek has added a part-time position primarily dedicated to the ongoing research and input of headset specification data for the Fit Finder. On average headset specifications for 100 bicycles are added every week.
SRAM Supporting Schools
The National Interscholastic Cycling Association (NICA) announce this week that they are establishing a partnership with SRAM for the next three years
Matt Fritzinger, the executive director of NICA, stated, “We are most grateful to SRAM for showing their confidence in our ability to bring great mountain biking opportunities to high school students across the USA. There is a surge of interest and support for the NICA program, and with the solid backing of SRAM we are in a great position to achieve our vision.”
The NICA vision is to develop high school mountain biking coast to coast by 2020 by providing successful models of league development to interested regions.
David Zimberoff, Global Marketing Director at SRAM, said “We’re super excited to be a part of this national movement. Having the opportunity to connect with young enthusiasts of cycling is an integral part of SRAM’s mission.”
"SRAM has a long history of supporting grassroots bicycle racing in the USA, from providing technical support at events to sponsoring the strongest regional teams and athletes across the country through our very successful SRAM Grassroots Sponsorship Program. We’re proud to say we’re dedicated to promoting the fun and healthy lifestyle of bicycle racing."
NICA Mountain Biking programs provide a range of positive experiences for teenage kids, many of whom discover competitive mountain biking through their high school mountain biking teams.
NICA is a grassroots organization that has grown out of the highly successful NorCal High School Cycling League, now entering its tenth year. Member chapters currently include Northern California, Southern California, and Colorado. SRAM joins the Easton Foundations and the founding national sponsor, Specialized Bicycle Components.
iPhone App To Search WADA List
2008 Elite National Road Race champion, James Mattis has taken off his racing helmet and put on his 'other hat' of software developer, to come up with an iPhone application to help cyclists refer to the ever changing list of prohibited substances and permitted medications.
The iPhone App allows users to both search and browse the WADA list and as Mattis points out, when a breakfast cereal (Nature's Path Hemp Plus cereal contains THC - a banned substance in competition) has the potential to land you a suspension from competition, taking vitamin supplements or searching the shelves of the pharmacy for a permitted cold remedy, might be made that little bit easier with the full list available on your phone.
The application is available from the iTunes store . With the recent high profile DHEA positive of Tom Zirbel likely to be blamed upon supplement contamination, this application might prove to be valuable tool to help keep others from finding themselves in the same situation.
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