Caleb Ewan wins elite men’s LSL Supercrit
Caleb Ewan has continued his excellent form, winning the elite men’s LSL St Kilda Supercrit in yesterday to pick up his third criterium win in four starts.
Racing for the O2 Networks team Ewan proved too fast for an exceptional field in the bunch sprint to take the win ahead of Charter Mason’s former-superbike-champion-turned-sprinter Shannon Johnson and Garmin-Sharp’s Steele von Hoff.
A strong Orica-GreenEDGE contingent was active throughout the race, trying to set up the win for Baden Cooke in his last professional bike race. The Monaco-based sprinter ended up sixth behind teammate Michael Matthews and Malcolm Rudolph from Drapac.
Click here for full results from the men’s elite race at the 2013 LSL Supercrit.
Chloe Hosking wins elite women’s LSL Supercrit
A couple hours earlier Chloe Hosking took the win in the elite women’s LSL Supercrit, outsprinting national criterium champion Kimberley Wells and Wiggle Honda recruit Peta Mullens to take the victory.
Bridie O’Donnell and Jenny MacPherson animated the middle of the race, breaking away from the main field to contest several intermediate sprints before being reeled back in to the main field ahead of a sprint finish.
The race was marred by a crash on the final corner in the closing stages.
Click here for full results from the elite women’s race at the 2013 LSL Supercrit.
2014 World Championships road race course unveiled
Next year’s world road race championships might be more than 10 months away but the route has been revealed already.
Based in the city of Ponferrada in northwest Spain, the 2014 men’s world championship road race will be contested over 14 laps of an 18.2km circuit, for a total of 255km.
While each circuit will see the riders climb roughly 300m for a total elevation gain of 4,200m throughout the race, the climbs aren’t particularly challenging. To quote from the race’s official website:
“The climb to the reservoir of Bárcena is indeed not really a tough one. Moreover the ascent is perfectly asphalted. It means that powerful riders should be able to respond to the climbers’ attacks.”
While it’s far too early to assess who will be in form for the race, there’s little doubt the Spanish riders (Joaquim Rodriguez in particular) will be very keen to win on home soil, particularly given this year’s result.
The elite women’s road race will be contested on the same circuit over seven laps (127km with 2,142m of climbing) while the men’s U23 road race will take in 10 laps (182km with 3,000m of climbing).
Click here to read more.
Armstrong reportedly bought Million Dollar Race
Retired Italian rider Roberto Gaggioli told Friday’s edition of the Corriere della Sera that Lance Armstrong paid him $100,000 in 1993 in order to win the Million Dollar Race in the United States.
“It was a young American colleague,” Gaggioli, who is now 51, was quoted as saying. “He offered me a panettone (a traditional Italian Christmas cake) as a present and wished me a merry Christmas. In the box there were $100,000 in small bills. That colleague was Lance Armstrong.
“Lance said that my team, Coors Light, had agreed to it. I understood that it had all been decided,” added Gaggioli in reference to Armstrong’s win in the CoreStates race in Philadelphia which was crucial to him winning the one million dollar prize for the victor of three races held over 21 days.
The Million Dollar Race, which was known as the Thrift Drug Triple Crown, was comprised of the Pittsburgh Classic, the West Virginia Classic and the CoreStates race.
“Two laps from the end, I was in a breakaway with Lance, Bobby Julich and some Italian riders from the Mercatone team. When Lance made a sign, I turned away as if not to see that he had escaped. He broke away to win on his own.”
The newspaper added that other riders also failed to respond to Armstrong’s attack because they too had been bought, and cited one, Roberto Pelliconi, who said: “Angelo Canzonieri (another rider) and Lance agreed on a fee of 50, Angelo thought he meant dollars but Lance meant lire.
“At the Tour of Lombardy he gave us 50 million (lire).”
Armstrong, who was riding for Motorola at the time and is now 42, was officially stripped of his seven Tour de France wins in 2012 after being found guilty of a string of doping offences.
While this sort of thing is common in cycling from club level to the pros, the amount of money involved in this case is quite remarkable.
Text adapted from an AFP article.
Froome says his battle with bilharzia is over
Reigning Tour de France champion Chris Froome has revealed that he has recovered from a parasitic illness that had plagued him for more than four years.
The 28-year-old Briton had been suffering from bilharzia, which is usually spread by contaminated water and is most common in Africa.
Froome, who was born in Kenya, has managed to reach the summit of the sport in spite of the condition, but he says he was relieved to learn that he had finally shaken it off.
“At last I am free of the debilitating disease bilharzia,” he told Friday’s edition of British newspaper The Independent.
“I had a test when I went back to Kenya recently and it is the first time it has come back negative since the diagnosis (in 2009). That is fantastic news for me. I’m not going to have to worry about that any more. That should be it gone now.
“I have been going back every six months for the past two years and returning positive results. When I was first diagnosed they said it had been in my system for at least two years, but it could have been there even longer — five or six years possibly.”
Text via AFP.
Sammy Sanchez said to have secured a WorldTour contract
The Spanish media is suggesting that former Olympic road race gold medallist Sammy Sanchez has found a WorldTour contract for 2014 after months of searching.
El Pais has quoted unnamed sources who claim that Sanchez has closed a deal with an as-yet unknown team in a deal that will be announced in January.
The 35-year-old rider found himself without a team after his Euskaltel Euskadi squad folded due to lack of sponsorship.
Click here to read more at VeloNation.
Omega Pharma-QuickStep announces Tour Down Under squad
Australia’s Mark Renshaw will return to the Santos Tour Down Under next year as the leader of his new Omega Pharma Quick-Step team.
The squad team also includes Belgian rider Jan Bakelants, who won stage two of the 2013 Tour de France and held the yellow jersey for stages three and four.
“The goal is to stand out as major players from the get go and try to obtain a victory right away. It will be an important way to get the season of to the best possible start,” Sports Director Rik Van Slycke said.
The Omega Pharma Quick-Step team for the Santos Tour Down Under is: Julian Alaphilippe (France), Jan Bakelants (Belgium), Andrew Fenn (Great Britain), Serge Pauwels (Belgium), Mark Renshaw (Australia), Matteo Trentin (Italy) and Carlos Verona Quintanilla (Spain).
Text via Tour Down Under press release.
Huon-Genesys becomes the Avanti Racing Team
Avanti Bikes has announced that will take over primary sponsorship of the team formerly known as Huon-Genesys in 2014, creating the Avanti Racing Team.
The team will continue with its current roster of riders from Australia and New Zealand and expands its support team with the addition of two new medical staff and a performance manager.
“We are proud of our successful partnership with the Avanti Racing Team and we are delighted to be the new naming rights partner to this champion organisation,” said Bob Boniface, managing director of Sheppard Industries, owners of Avanti Bikes.
The Avanti Racing Team will compete in the NRS Series 2014, hosted by Cycling Australia, with the latest range of racing bikes including the new Avanti Corsa SL, Avanti Corsa DR aero road bike and the Avanti Chrono Evo II time trial bike.
Other key sponsors of the Avanti Racing Team include Shimano, Giro, Torq Nutrition, Champion Systems, Motion, Adidas Eyewear, BioCeuticals, Kenda tyres, Park Tools, Easton, Zero, High Sierra and Aussie Butt Cream.
Text via Avanti Racing Team press release.
Women’s Tour of Britain struggling to find sponsors
After more than four months of searching, organisers of the women’s Tour of Britain (aka The Women’s Tour) have failed to secure a single sponsor.
The five-stage race is scheduled for May next year and the organisers already have the UCI, local authorities and a broadcaster on board, but finding sponsorship has proved extremely challenging.
Ruth Holdaway, chief executive of the Women’s Sport and Fitness Foundation, said: “It’s a shame that commercial sponsors haven’t woken up to the opportunity to support women’s cycling, which would allow them to reach the many sports fans that will tune in to watch the world’s best female riders compete.
“After the success of the Olympics it would be a massive lost opportunity if women’s cycling isn’t given the focus and investment it needs to develop even further.”
Click here to read more at The Independent.
La Route de France under threat
The 2014 edition of La Route de France is under threat with the race organisers yet to secure a host town for the start of the race.
Giorgia Bronzini won six consecutive stages at this year’s Route de France.
“Many of the mayors are involved in municipal elections [and cannot commit at the moment], it is impossible to set up such an event in less than four months [after the elections will have taken place and decisions made],” said race organisers Hervé Gérardin.
Click here to read more at Cycling News.
Alejandro Marque loses Movistar contract over doping reports
Alejandro Marque’s contract with Movistar for 2014 has been torn up after reports emerged that the Spaniard had tested positive to the banned substance betamethasone after winning this year’s Tour of Portugal.
Movistar sent out the following statement over the weekend:
“In the light of the news published by the media today, and following convenient vertification of the facts, Abarca Sports informs that the rider Mr. Alejandro Marque, who was set to join Movistar Team’s roster for the upcoming season, will not make part of the squad. The contract signed between both parties will not come into effect on January 1st, 2014.”
Marque could be stripped of his victory and face a two year suspension from the sport.
Click here to read more at Eurosport.
Timothy Roe joins Budget Forklifts for 2014
Timothy Roe, formerly of World Tour Team BMC has signed with Australian Continental Team BudgetForklifts for the 2014 season.
Targeting both the Australian National Road Series and selected UCI Oceania & Asia Tour events, Tim further bolsters the strong roster assembled by Team BudgetForklifts for 2014 which contains a 2012 Olympic medalist, multiple national junior, U23 & Elite Champions, Oceania Champions, UCI stage winners and NRS tour winners.
Text adapted from a Budget Forklifts press release.
Alex Coleborn: After Hours
Late last week someone suggested to us that the following video was more impressive than Road Bike Party 2, which we shared with you last week.
What do you think?
The Rocacorba Recap
And finally this morning, here are a few things you might have missed:
- The Bike Lane: All Hail the New King (season finale)
- Riding through History: the 1956 Olympic Road Race
- CTech December Product Picks