Peter Sagan wins stage 3 of the Tour de Suisse

Peter Sagan (Cannondale) has taken his sixth victory for the year, winning a reduced sprint at the end of a hilly stage 3 of the Tour de Suisse.

Sagan was followed over the line by Michael Albasini (Orica-GreenEdge) and Sergio Henao (Sky) at the end of the 202.9km stage which featured two second category climbs and an uphill finish.

Martin Kohler (BMC) and Steven Kruijswijk (Belkin) formed an escape group early on the stage and gained five minutes on the peloton but were caught after just 105km. A short time later Danilo Wyss (BMC Racing), Laurent Didier (Trek Factory Racing), Nino Schurter (Orica-GreenEdge) and Bjorn Thurau (Europcar) struck out with a breakaway attempt of their own.

Thurau was dropped with 45km remaining as Omega Pharma-QuickStep drove the pace at the front of the peloton in an attempt to control Tony Martin’s overall lead.

Valerio Agnoli (Astana) and Tosh Van Der Sande (Lotto-Belisol) both joined the breakaway before Van Der Sande tried his hand off the front of the breakaway, but when Agnoli followed and then crashed, Van der Sande was left alone and was eventually caught with 7km to go.

Tony Martin finished safely in the bunch and still leads the race by six seconds from Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Shimano). Peter Sagan now moves up into third overall with six stages remaining.

Stage 3: Sarnen > Heiden - Stage Result

Monday 16th June 2014

1. sk
SAGAN Peter
Cannondale
05:22:09
2. ch
ALBASINI Michael
Orica GreenEDGE
 -
3.
HENAO MONTOYA Sergio Luis
Team Sky
 -
Course Profile Startlist
View full results

Click here to read more at Cycling Weekly.

WADA says UCI followed rules over Froome corticosteroid TUE

by Shane Stokes

The World Anti Doping Agency (WADA) has said that it doesn’t have an issue with the UCI’s decision to grant Chris Froome a therapeutic use exemption (TUE) for the corticosteroid prednisolone, believing that the regulations were followed as required.

“WADA is satisfied that the UCI’s decision to grant a Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE) to Chris Froome was conducted according to the rules of the International Standard for Therapeutic Use Exemptions (ISTUE), and therefore will not be reviewing this case any further,” stated the agency, responding to questions on the matter from CyclingTips.

“WADA monitors the applications for, and approvals of, Therapeutic Use Exemptions (TUEs) and has the ability to review TUE decisions in line with the ISTUE.”

On Sunday French newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche claimed that the UCI had not followed the correct protocol in relation to the TUE, which was requested by Froome after a chest infection. He was ill heading into the Tour de Romandie at the end of April and team doctor Allan Farrell sought a TUE from the UCI in relation to prednisolone.

Irish GP Conor McGrane, who has also acted as Cycling Ireland’s doctor for several years, said that he didn’t fault Froome in this situation. “It is more about whether or not the UCI followed the correct procedures in the matter,” he told CyclingTips, speaking prior to WADA’s clarification that the regulations were indeed followed.

McGrane played down suggestions that the amount prescribed was excessive. “As regards the dosage…the amount specified is pretty standard in Ireland and the UK for when people are prescribed steroids for flareup of asthma. It would be 40mg per day for seven days.”

He pointed out that when he had to prescribe oral corticosteroids to ill athletes in the past, the TUE committee of the Irish Sports Council insisted on a 14 day break before competition. This was double the seven day break in place at the time under the WADA regulations.

Even if the matter has been put to rest, the story has turned the focus on what happens when athletes are ill, and raises the question about whether it is wise for them to compete under such circumstances.

McGrane and two other medical professionals expressed concerns about the wisdom of allowing athletes to compete when they need to take such corticosteroids.

“I would be personally be uncomfortable to have someone on steroids in competition. If they are so sick, I’d question if they competing,” said McGrane.

Click here to read the full article at CyclingTips.

WADA appeals to CAS for longer bans for Johan Bruyneel and two other ex-US Postal team staff

WADA has announced that it will appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in an attempt to secure longer bans from cycling for former US Postal manager Johan Bruyneel and two team staff.

Bruyneel was handed a 10-year ban in April by the American Arbitration Association (AAA), with Dr Pedro Celaya and Jose “Pepe” Marti each sidelined for eight years. In lodging an appeal with CAS, WADA has said that the organisation “requests that consideration be given to longer sanctions for all three individuals involved in order to best protect athletes, and ensure a clean sport of cycling.”

WADA suggests that the appeal has the support of the UCI and USADA.

In April the AAA said that Bruyneel “was engaged in the allocation of team-related resources… causing a variety of prohibited doping substances and methods to be used expressly for the purpose of gaining an unfair advantage for the teams and cyclists he managed in cycling events.”

Click here to read more at road.cc.

Frank Schleck out of the Tour de Suisse with concussion

by Shane Stokes

Trek GC rider Frank Schleck’s preparations for the Tour de France have received a setback, with the Luxembourg rider not starting stage three of the Tour de Suisse after suffering concussion on the previous stage.

“It was a hard call to make,” a Trek Factory Racing spokesman told CyclingTips. “Yesterday, he had an CT scan of his head and his neck, and X-ray scan of his hip. It was revealed that he has nothing broken, which is a good thing. This morning he went for a small ride, to see how his hip is doing. That hip is quite alright, but the most worrisome is the head. He has a clear concussion, and the doctor didn’t declare him fit to ride a WorldTour race.”

The Tour de Suisse is Schleck’s traditional pre-Tour race. He won the race in 2010 and finished second overall in 2012.

The 2011 podium finisher is hoping to return to the Tour de France next month. He has ridden solidly rather than spectacularly this year, with sixth in the Critérium International and ninth in the Tour of Luxembourg his best results, but had hoped to continue improving prior to the Tour.

The team spokesman said the Trek Factory Racing lineup for the Tour remains to be decided, but that there was no danger that the concussion would itself force Schleck to miss the event.

“It doesn’t really mean anything for his Tour de France participation,” he stated. “The team will decide after Suisse, as we’d said before. Frank is in the long list.”

Click here to read more at CyclingTips.

Team Sky eyeing off the Yates brothers for 2016

Team Sky boss Dave Brailsford has confirmed that the British team is keen to sign promising twins Adam and Simon Yates who are currently riding for Orica-GreenEdge.

Adam Yates after winning the 2014 Presidential Tour of Turkey.

“It doesn’t take a genius [to figure it out],” team boss, Dave Brailsford told Cycling Weekly. “We are a British team ultimately, with a global roster and global race programme, but to have them would seem to make absolute sense.”

The pair are in the first year of pro contracts after dominating last year at the U23 level. Adam was second overall at the Tour de l’Avenir while Simon won two stages at the same race. Simon was also third overall at the Tour of Britian after a stage win. Adam Yates has already won the Tour of Turkey this season as a neo-pro, and has also been fifth overall at the Tour of California and sixth at the Criterium du Dauphine.

“They’re in the right team, they made the right decision,” Brailsford added. “They are getting their opportunities. Those opportunities are difficult to get in our team. If they were in our team they’d be working.”

The 21-year-old twins spoke with Sky last season but ultimately decided to ride for Orica-GreenEdge where they’ll get more opportunities to ride for themselves.

Click here to read more at Cycling Weekly.

Katrin Garfoot joins Orica-AIS for the rest of the 2014 season

Orica-AIS has announced that Katrin Garfoot has signed a contract with the Australian outfit for the remainder of the 2014 season. The German-born Australian will join the team beginning at the Giro del Trentino next Sunday.

“This has all happened very quickly,” said Garfoot. “Because it happened so quickly, it’s a bit hard to take it all in. I was thinking in my head that further down the road, I might be able to get into a professional team, but I didn’t have reason to think it could be this year. I’m really excited for the opportunity.”

Whilst Garfoot only took up cycling four years ago, she has proven to be a fast learner. In her second full season of road racing, she won the Oceania Road Championships and the NRS series. Those results earned her a spot at the infamous Cycling Australia selection camp where she secured a place at on the Australian National Team for a European block of racing this past spring. Her results in Europe inspired her selection into Australia’s Commonwealth Games team.

In addition to a 16th place in the Fleche Wallonne World Cup earlier this season, Garfoot was also second overall at the Gracia Orlova stage race and fourth overall at the Tour of Zhoushan Island, where she also won the mountains classification.

“Katrin is strong on the climbs and in the tough terrain,” said Sports Director Gene Bates. “She’s an all-rounder. With her result at Flèche Wallonne and a few other races where she showed promise, we’re confident that she will be an important addition for the remainder of the year.”

Click here to read more at the Orica-GreenEdge website. Text adapted from an Orica-AIS press release.

Time to release anti-vibration road fork?

There are suggestions that French frame and pedal manufacturer Time is about to launch a frameset with a new kind of vibration damping mechanism in the fork. The Time website features a banner with the words “New sensations are coming soon”, overlaid on to a composite image of a carbon fork and an X-ray of a human arm.

Bike Radar reports that the UCI’s approved frame list has been updated too, with a Time frame with the name IZON / IZON Aktiv now added.

There are rumours that the system could feature elastomers in the fork leg and that the system could be calibrated to the rider’s weight.

It is believed the new system will be launched at Eurobike.

Click here to read more at Bike Radar.

Study shows no causal link between cycling and erectile dysfunction

There have been fears in the past that cycling could be linked to erectile dysfunction (ED) and infertility among men. But a new study, from researchers at the University College London, suggests that, in fact, there’s no “simple causal relationship between cycling volume, ED and infertility.”

However, the researchers did find some evidence that a greater volume of cycling could lead to an increased risk of prostate cancer in men aged over 50 years. The researchers suggest this second finding “warrants further investigation”.

Click here to read more.

Behind the scenes with IAM Cycling at the Tour de Suisse

Here’s a short film from the team at Muc-Off Media, looking behind the scenes with the IAM Cycling team at the Tour de Suisse. This video was shot on the day of the stage 1 ITT.

Here’s a link to the video from stage 2 as well.

The Rocacorba Recap

And finally this morning, here are a few things you might have missed at CyclingTips:


Receive Daily Posts By Email



Today’s feature image comes from Jered Gruber and pictures his lovely wife Ashley riding towards the summit of Mt Ventoux.