Velonews

The Journal of Competitive Cycling

Total news: 2246
Last news: 14 hours 8 minutes ago

The Aussie neo-pro chasing rainbow to add to green and gold - [Read more]

2010 Tour of Murrieta results - [Read more]

UnitedHealthcares Rory Sutherland and Specialized Designs for Womens Ruth Clemence win the opening time trial at the Tour de Murrieta in California. - [Read more]

Pepsi is the new presenting sponsor for one of the fastest growing road races in the U.S., the Tour of the Battenkill in Cambridge, New York.  The soft drink company plans to provide riders and spectators at the April 18 pro race with a variety of its beverages, including Gatorade and Aquafina.

“The Tour of the Battenkill is a world-class event that essentially takes place in our backyard,” said Bill Morgan, regional sales director of Pepsi Beverages Company. “We have seen the type of excitement it has brought to the community and we’re pleased to officially support the event this year. We look forward to watching the athletes compete on race day.”

Tour of the Battenkill director Dieter Drake said the event has struggled to find sponsorship.

“We’ve struggled since December to find a way to make this event happen in its entirety,” said Drake. “Getting on the international pro calendar was a goal we accomplished this year and Pepsi will allow us to move forward.”

Joining Pepsi as a major sponsor this year is Trampoline Design of Glens Falls, New York. The design and communications firm also is providing all media for the 2010 event, including event logos, all branded material, event advertising, and the newly-launched Web site – www.tourofthebattenkill.com

The 2010 Tour of the Battenkill will be held over two weekends in April: the Pro/Am on Saturday, April 10; the Ride2Recovery CycleFest – a non-competitive ride to benefit wounded veterans – on Saturday, April 17; and the Professional Invitational on Sunday, April 18.

Organizers expect more than 2,000 riders in 25 categories to compete in the Pro/Am. The Professional Invitational will feature between 22 and 25 teams and 200 professional and elite riders from North America, Europe, and Australia competing over a 124-mile course that is about 25 percent dirt roads. All events start and finish in Cambridge.

The Colavita/Baci Women’s Cycling Team presented by Cooking Light opens training camp Friday in Borrego Springs, California, ahead of the team’s 2010 debut at the San Dimas Stage Race March 19-21.

“We’re planning six days of intense training in San Diego’s Borrego Valley,” said co-Directeur Sportif Tina Pic.  “We will be looking forward to testing our legs in San Dimas.”

With then-team leader Pic in the saddle, the team slotted nine top ten finishes at San Dimas in 2009, including Pic’s second-place to Ina Yoko Teutenberg in the stage 3 criterium. Colavita/Baci will look to improve on that record and pull a stage win next week.

“Kelly Benjamin and Modesta Vzesniauskaite gave us a great preview at last weekend’s Merco Credit Union Classic,” said co-directeur Rachel Heal. “Kelly took third in the road race and Modesta finished both races in the top 10 so I’m confident we can expect even more podium finishes with the whole squad working together.”

Led by six-time national criterium champion Pic and former British Olympian Rachel Heal, the team includes U.S. and international champions representing all forms of road racing.

Colavita/Baci rosters for San Dimas Stage Race and Redlands Bicycle Classic:

Kate Bates (AUS)
Kelly Benjamin (USA)
Theresa Cliff-Ryan (USA)
Andrea Dvorak (USA)*
Shontell Gauthier (USA)
Heather Logan-Sprenger (CAN) Carmen Small (USA)
Modesta Vzesniauskaite (LTU)*

*San Dimas Stage Race only

Stay tuned to VeloNews.com for a training camp report from domestic racing beat reporter Brian Holcombe.

Liquigas-Doimo scored a double in Europe Friday as the team’s Daniele Bennati won the third stage of Tirreno-Adriactico the same afternoon as Peter Sagan won the fifth stage of Paris-Nice.

Bennati outsprinted Lampre’s Alessandro Petacchi and HTC-Columbia’s Bernhard Eisel for the win. American Tyler Farrar was fourth.

Bennati also takes over the general classification lead from Milram’s Linus Gerdemann. Gerdemann is now second on GC at 4 seconds, while stage 2 winner Tom Boonen (Quick Step) is third at the same time.

Preliminary stage results:

• 1. Daniele BENNATI (ITA) Liquigas Doimo in 3:54:09
• 2. Alessandro PETACCHI (ITA) Lampre-N.G.C at 0
• 3. Bernhard EISEL (AUT) HTC – Columbia at 0
• 4. Tyler FARRAR (USA) Garmin – Transitions at 0
• 5. Juan Antonio FLECHA GIANNONI (ESP) Team Sky at 0
• 6. Sacha MODOLO (ITA) Csf Group-Navigare at 0
• 7. Assan BAZAYEV (KAZ) Astana at 0
• 8. Edvald BOASSON HAGEN (NOR) Team Sky at

Preliminary GC:

• 1. Daniele BENNATI (Italy) Liquigas Doimo in 11:44:23
• 2. Linus GERDEMANN (Germany) Milram at 4
• 3. Tom BOONEN (Belgium) Quick Step at 4
• 4. Pablo LASTRAS GARCIA (Spain) Caisse D’epargne at 8
• 5. Paul MARTENS (Germany) Rabobank at 8
• 6. Alessandro PETACCHI (Italy) Lampre-N.G.C at 8
• 7. Alan PEREZ LEZAUN (Spain) Euskaltel – Euskadi at 8
• 8. Matti BRESCHEL (Denmark) Team Saxo Bank at 10

Liquigass Peter Sagan scored a second stage victory in this years Paris-Nice with a bold solo attack in the final two kilometers on Friday. Sagan, who also won stage 3, emerged from a group of about 40 survivors on what turned out to be a tougher-than-expected stage 5, a relatively short 157-km run from Pernes-les-Fontaines to Aix-en-Provence. - [Read more]

Liquigas’s Peter Sagan scored a second stage victory in this year’s Paris-Nice with a bold solo attack in the final two kilometers on Friday.

Sagan, who also won stage 3, emerged from a group of about 40 survivors on what turned out to be a tougher-than-expected stage 5, a relatively short 157-km run from Pernes-les-Fontaines to Aix-en-Provence.

The route included four ranked climbs.

The 20-year-old Sagan attacked on a small rise about 1.5 k from the end and built a small gap. The peloton came up on him in the final 500 meters but he held them off.

The pace in the final kilometers was vicious and many riders were shed out the back of the front group. Most of the GC favorites remained in the main pack and the top ten on the overall standings appears to be unchanged, but some time gaps may have changed as the leaders crossed the line in small clusters.

American Levi Leipheimer finished in a second group in 80th place at 2:35. His RadioShack teammate Chris Horner finished 57th at 1:57.

Please check back soon for a full report, complete results and a gallery by Graham Watson.

Preliminary stage results:
1. Peter Sagan Liquigas-Doimo, 3:34:15
2. Mirco Lorenzetto Lampre – Farnese, 0:02
3. Alejandro Valverde Caisse D’epargne at 00:02
4. Matthieu Ladagnous Francaise Des Jeux at 00:02
5. Jens Voigt Team Saxo Bank at 00:02
6. Simon Gerrans Team Sky at 00:02
7. Larrea Koldo Fernandez De Euskaltel – Euskadi at 00:02
8. Nicolas Roche Ag2r-La Mondiale at 00:02
9. Matthew Harley Goss Team Htc – Columbia at 00:02
10. Alberto Contador Astana at 00:02
Preliminary GC standings after stage 5:

1. Alberto Contador (Sp), Astana, 20:04:13
2. Alejandro Valverde (Sp), Caisse d’Epargne, a 0:20
3. Roman Kreuziger (Cz), Liquigas-Doimo at 00:25

The Explainer fields reader questions about the Race to the Sun - [Read more]

I just finished reading the book Outliers. I think it is easy to believe that successful people like Bill Gates or Mozart were successful because of some extraordinary talent. And, some of their success was due to talent. However, as you read in the book you learn it was a combination of that talent, a passion to use it, and opportunity that propelled them to greatness. In fact, many of the stories that the book shares revolve around specific opportunities presented at specific times to individuals or groups. Obviously, they still had to seize it, grow it, and use it, but at some point there was an opportunity presented that helped pave their way.

I started to reflect a little on my own path from soccer through distance running to where I am as a cyclist. And please, do not take this the wrong way: I am not comparing myself to Mozart. However, looking back on my life, I see a path that took many twists and turns as different doors or opportunities opened while others closed. As a fifth grader, I dreamed of scoring the winning goal in the gold medal Olympic game, and as a freshman in high school, I led the county in goal scoring. However, also as a freshman, the cross country coach, who was my PE teacher, witnessed me running the mile in class and convinced me to come out for the cross country team. A new door was opened, a door that would have never opened if I had a different PE teacher. There was something God-given with the talent, and I still had to put in the hours of diligent and specific practice, but I first needed an opportunity and then a willingness to go through the door.

New goals were set. The dream shifted sports. I went on to run at the University of Nebraska on a cross country and track scholarship. I was always only a bundle of potential, though. Injuries eventually closed the running door. Opportunity lost? Maybe. Or maybe the process gave me the opportunity to develop the core mental, character, and faith intangibles that I have needed to reach a world-class level.

Years later in graduate school, I was introduced to cycling. The athlete in me had never left, and the dreams of gold and championships had never died, so when the new path appeared and the pieces of the puzzle fell into place, I took the risk and went that direction. Those pieces (or opportunities) involved me meeting my coach. They involved me transitioning from the mountain bike to the road bike at the same time as the new USAC national team (T-Mobile) started, which put me in the situation where I was surrounded by great riders and taken to Europe to race hard races against the best. What would have happened if I had never gone to a UC Irvine Cycling club meeting where I met my coach, or if USAC and Mr. Stapleton had never decided to help fund a national team project, or if they had done it five years earlier or later? Yes, I have had to be extremely focused and disciplined in the process of reaching and chasing my goals. However, I have also had opportunity that has been available at the right time that has matched my passion and abilities.

It is actually really fun for me to think about how I got to where I am now, and who has helped get me here. I definitely have not been the orchestrator of any of this, there is no way I could have planned such a path, but I have certainly enjoyed the journey. And now, as a veteran of many kinds of racing, experiences, successes and failures, I am excited to be in a position where I can help others find or recognize their own opportunities. Of course, at the same time, I am keeping my eyes open for the doors in my own life that I need to walk through.

For example, I just returned from the Tour of New Zealand, where I had the pleasure of working with a new, young group of American cyclists. We gelled as a team unit, and we helped Shelley win four stages and the GC. I had a chance to be involved with the leadership of the team and to share my knowledge with the next generation. I didn’t personally win the race, but I helped our team take advantage of opportunity and then to succeed. It was actually quite rewarding.

Going back to my own situation, many of you know that I am looking for that new door since I recently had one slammed shut. I raced for Nuernberger last year, and I had signed with them and their new sponsor for 2010. However, all of that collapsed back in late November. Since then I have been quietly searching, waiting, and listening. I didn’t want to jump just to jump. I have explored different ideas and promises that have failed to materialize. Now, however, I think things are starting to clear up. Part of the new opening will involve me racing with the national team for a good portion of the season while the other part will work itself out in the upcoming days.

So … Opportunity … I’ll ask you what I’ve been asking myself. Will you recognize it when you see it? Will you answer the door if it knocks? How can you help create opportunities for others to succeed? Hmmmm …

Amber Neben is a former world champion, Olympian, and seasoned international vet in her ninth year of full-time racing. In this column she hopes to give readers a different perspective on cycling, life as a cyclist, and the women’s pro peloton. You can all Amber’s column on VeloNews on her author page, follow her at www.amberneben.com or www.twitter.com/amberneben.

The impressive one-two finishes by Polish brothers Pawel and Kacper Szczepaniak in the U23 race at the cyclocross world championships in January may turn out to be less impressive than originally thought.

According to the UCI, the Szczepaniaks have both tested positive for EPO and have now been handed provisional suspensions as a result. According to a statement issued Thursday, the two riders returned positive EPO results from samples taken at the world championships in Tabor, in the Czech Republic, on January 30.

Pawel Szczepaniak finished 20 seconds ahead of his brother Kacper in Tabor. | Graham Watson photo

The UCI statement noted that both riders had been targeted because their blood profiles, taken as part of the Biological Passport Program, showed “suspicious values.” According to the UCI, the two would have been tested no matter what their results that day, but suspicions were undoubtedly amplified when the two dominated their event in Tabor.

The samples were tested at the WADA-accredited laboratory in Seibersdorf, Austria.

The provisional suspensions remain in force until a hearing panel convened by the Polish Cycling Federation determines whether the Szczepaniaks have committed an anti-doping rule violation under Article 21 of the UCI Anti-Doping Rules.

According to the World Anti-Doping Code, both riders have the right to request analyses of their B samples. Either they, or a designated representative, have the right to observe the testing of their second samples.

If found to have committed an anti-doping violation, both face a likely two-year suspension, although under recent revisions to the WADA Code, the hearing panel can add or subtract time depending on mitigating and aggravating circumstances.

Quick Step’s Tom Boonen won Thursday’s second stage of the Tirreno-Adriatico, outsprinting Paul Martens (Rabobank) and Daniele Bennati (Liquigas) at the end of the 165-kilometer stage.

Please check back soon for more details and full results.

Preliminary stage results:

• 1. Tom BOONEN (BEL) Quick Step in 4:14:13
• 2. Paul MARTENS (GER) Rabobank at 0
• 3. Daniele BENNATI (ITA) Liquigas Doimo at 0
• 4. Robbie MCEWEN (AUS) Team Katusha at 0
• 5. Jose Joaquin ROJAS GIL (ESP) Caisse D’epargne at 0
• 6. Francesco GINANNI (ITA) at 0
• 7. Sacha MODOLO (ITA) Csf Group-Navigare at 0
• 8. Danilo HONDO (GER) Lampre-N.G.C at 0

Preliminary GC standings:

• 1. Linus GERDEMANN (Germany) Milram in 7:50:18
• 2. Brent BOOKWALTER (United States) Bmc Racing Team at 0
• 3. Pablo LASTRAS GARCIA (Spain) Caisse D’epargne at 4
• 4. Paul MARTENS (Germany) Rabobank at 4
• 5. Alan PEREZ LEZAUN (Spain) Euskaltel – Euskadi at 4
• 6. Matti BRESCHEL (Denmark) Team Saxo Bank at 6
• 7. Daniele BENNATI (Italy) Liquigas Doimo at 6
• 8. Fabian WEGMANN (Germany) Milram at 8

Tour de France champion Alberto Contador put his mark on the 2010 Paris-Nice Thursday, dominating the final climb of the critical fourth stage, a 173.5-kilometer run from Maurs to a mountain-top finish in Mende.

Contador took the stage win ahead of  overall rivals Alejandro Valverde and Samuel Sanchez.

The Astana rider repeated his win of the same stage in 2007. This time he attacked on the final, 3.1-km, 10 percent climb, quickly moving away from the favorites, including overnight race leader Jens Voigt (Saxo Bank), who finished 44 seconds behind Contador on the stage.

American Levi Leipheimer of RadioShack came in 1:08 behind Contador.

On the overall standings, Contador now leads Valverde by 25 seconds and Roman Kreuziger (Liquigas-Doimo) by 26.

Please check back soon for a full report by Andrew Hood, a gallery by Graham Watson and complete results.
Preliminary stage results:
1. Alberto Contador Astana
2. Alejandro Valverde Caisse D’epargne
3. Samuel Sanchez Euskaltel – Euskadi at 00:10
4. Joaquim Rodriguez Katusha Team at 00:18
5. Thomas Voeckler Bbox Bouygues Telecom at 00:20
6. Damiano Cunego Lampre – Farnese at 00:21
7. Roman Kreuziger Liquigas-Doimo at 00:21
8. Christophe Le Mevel Francaise Des Jeux at 00:29
9. Luis-leon Sanchez Caisse D’epargne at 00:29
10. Reine Taaramae Cofidis Le Credit En Ligne at 00:31
11. Jérôme Coppel Saur-Sojasun at 00:37
12. Jens Voigt Team Saxo Bank at 00:44
13. Sylvain Chavanel Quick Step Cycling Team at 00:44
14. Jean-christophe Peraud Omega Pharma – Lotto at 00:44
15. Sandy Casar Francaise Des Jeux at 00:44
16. Volodymir Gustov Cervelo Test Team at 00:44
17. Nicolas Roche Ag2r-La Mondiale at 00:48
18. Simon Gerrans Team Sky at 00:53
19. Xavier Tondo Cervelo Test Team at 00:56

Preliminary GC standings:
1. Alberto Contador Astana
2. Alejandro Valverde Caisse D’epargne
3. Roman Kreuziger Liquigas-Doimo at 00:25
4. Luis-leon Sanchez Caisse D’epargne at 00:28
5. Samuel Sanchez Euskaltel – Euskadi at 00:29
6. Jens Voigt Team Saxo Bank at 00:34
7. Joaquim Rodriguez Katusha Team at 00:36
8. Peter Sagan Liquigas-Doimo at 00:54
9. David Millar Garmin – Transitions at 01:03
10. Reine Taaramae Cofidis Le Credit En Ligne at 01:06
11. Thomas Voeckler Bbox Bouygues Telecom at 01:08
12. Xavier Tondo Cervelo Test Team at 01:14
13. Jean-christophe Peraud Omega Pharma – Lotto at 01:15
14. Jérôme Coppel Saur-Sojasun at 01:16
15. Nicolas Roche Ag2r-La Mondiale at 01:22
16. Levi Leipheimer Team Radioshack at 01:23
17. Sylvain Chavanel Quick Step Cycling Team at 01:27
18. Sandy Casar Francaise Des Jeux at 01:29
19. Simon Gerrans Team Sky at 01:30
20. Christophe Le Mevel Francaise Des Jeux at 01:32

Tech editor Zack Vestal tries a saddle made specifically for time trialing and is pleasantly surprised by its comfort. - [Read more]

Team Type 1s criterium squad — nicknamed the Money Team — were just under the radar in 2009, but scored podiums in almost every crit in the second half of the year. This year they are aiming higher. - [Read more]

Team Milram’s caption, Linus Gerdemann, won the opening stage and took the overall lead of Tirreno-Adriatico on Wednesday, in a 148-kilometer stage from Livorno to Rosignano Solvay, Italy.

Gerdemann got away in the last kilometer with Pablo Lastras (Caisse d’Epargne), Matti Breschel (Saxo Bank) and Luca Paolini (Acqua & Sapone), and took the win from Lastras, who was second. Breschel was third and Paolini fourth.

“(It was an) outstanding finale from our whole team,“ said Christian Henn, Milram’s director.

“We continued to attack at the decisive moment, which made our chance for the victory possible. Linus was very attentive and won the stage for us very cleverly. All in all, it was a very hard and strenuous day for everyone in the field. The temperatures were only between three and six degrees, it rained at the start and the streets were wet the whole way.“

Ukranian Dimitri Grabovskyy (ISD-Neri) rode a solo breakaway for much of the day, only being caught with 15km to go.

American Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Transitions) was seventh.

Milram sent off several attacks and counter attacks in the final kilometers, including some by Fabian Wegmann and Niki Terpstra. Pabol Urtasun (Euskaltel) also took a big flyer.

Gerdemann’s group took off as Terpstra and Urtasun were caught with just over 1 km to go.

2010 Tirenno-Adriatico results - [Read more]

Changes in the 2010 racing calendar mean that Jens Voigt will not have a chance to make history at Critérium International title later this month.

Voigt – who surged into the overall lead at Paris-Nice on Wedneday — has won the two-day race five times, tying a record held by Emile Idée and Raymond Poulidor, but the 38-year-old German veteran won’t be going back this year.

Voigt on a chilly Paris-Nice morning ... before getting a new jersey in Aurillac. | Andrew Hood photo

“We won’t be sending a team to Critérium and that’s too bad for Voigt,” Saxo Bank sport director Kim Andersen told VeloNews. “We have the races in Belgium, we have Catalunya, which is a ProTour race and we’re obliged to go. And we also have two of our guys going to the track worlds. We can’t be everywhere, eh?”

Voigt has ruled the two-day, three-stage Critérium International, winning three consecutive crowns as part of a record-tying five victories overall.

With Ghent-Wevelgem and Volta a Catalunya coinciding with the two-day race window of Critérium International on March 26-27, Voigt’s Saxo Bank is stretched too thin to send a minimum of six riders to the French race which the German veteran has won a record five times.

“Can’t I just start alone? I don’t need a team. All I need is a mechanic and a car!” Voigt told VeloNews. “I can take the jersey on the first day, then I can just hide in the bunch, then you do a time trial. You don’t need anybody else.”

Voigt said he’s not too upset about the changes, especially with changes in the route with the switch to Corsica.

After being held for several years in the French Ardennes, race organizers have transferred the race to the Mediterranean island of Corsica, a move that’s seen as a precursor to a likely Tour de France start there in the next few years.

Voigt said the changes would have made it more difficult for him to win.

“They’ve changed the race quite a bit. Normally, it was the flat stage Saturday, with a hilly stage on Sunday. Now they have the mountain stage on Saturday, and Sunday morning is just a 70km flat crit, so it doesn’t fit so perfectly into my abilities like it did before,” Voigt said. “Plus, they are going to have stupid, warm weather down there, and I don’t like that. I like it to be hard, nasty and stressful, that’s good for me.”

So is Paris-Nice Voigt’s new, early season target? Smart riding in Wednesday’s explosive stage pushed him into the overall.

“The team is not going to Critérium, so I need to get my win in earlier,” he joked.

Voigt just might be able to pull it off, if he can get up the climbing finish to Mende on Thursday with the yellow jersey still on his back.

Opposite ends of the pro peloton’s age spectrum were on display Wednesday as 38-year-old Jens Voigt (Saxo bank), who suffered a horrible crash in the Tour de France last year, took the overall lead and 20-year-old Peter Sagan (Liquigas) won the stage.

Voigt finished in the front group, and Lars Boom, who had led the race since the prologue, was gapped just enough to give up his 5-second overall lead.

On GC Voigt is followed by Sagan at six seconds and Luis-Leon Sanchez in third.

Please check back soon for a complete race report by Andrew Hood, photo galleries by Graham Watson and complete results.

Top 5 on the stage:

1. Peter Sagan (Slovakia), Liquigas
2. Joaquin Rodriguez (Spain), Katusha
3. Nicolas Roche (Ireland), AG2R
4. Jens Voigt (Germany), Saxo Bank
5. Tony Martin (Germany), HTC-Columbia

Top ten GC:

1. Jens Voigt (G), Saxo Bank, 12:40:26
2. Peter Sagan (Svk), Liquigas, at 0:06
3. Luis Leon Sanchez (Sp), Caisse d’Epargne, at 0:09
4. David Millar (G, Garmin, at 0:12
5. Robert Kreuziger (Cz), Liquigas, at 0:14
6. Lars Boom (Nl), Rabobank, at 0:20
7. Alberto Contador (Sp), Astana, at 0:20
8. Levi Leipheimer (USA), RadioShack, at 0:24
9. Joaquim Rodriguez (Sp), Katusha, at 0:28
10. Xavier Tondo (Sp), Cervelo TestTeam, at 0:28

The UCI has provisionally suspended Italian pro Massimo Giunti after a laboratory found the blood booster EPO in a urine sample from an out-of-competition test on February 23.

The UCI said its biological passport program identified ‘an unusual blood profile’ that led the UCI to target Giunti for testing.

The provisional suspension remains in force until a Italian Cycling Federation hearing.  The lab found EPO in a so-called “A-sample.” Giunti has the right to request and attend the analyses of a secondary “B sample.”

Giunti races for the Pro Continental Androni Giocattoli team.