Winner Anacona claims Vuelta stage 9, Quintana into the overall lead

by Shane Stokes

Making a move in search of the race leader’s red jersey but having to settle for the stage win, Winner Anacona (Lampre-Merida) raced to an excellent victory on the Vuelta a España’s summit finish at Aramón Valdelinares on stage 9.

The Colombian rider lived up to his name when he proved strongest out of a 31-man break which went clear early on. He pushed ahead with Javier Moreno (Movistar) and Bob Jungels (Trek Factory Racing) on the day’s penultimate ascent, the second category Alto de San Rafael , then dropped the others on the final climb.

He raced in 45 seconds ahead of Astana’s Alexey Lutsenko and 50 up on his own team-mate Damiano Cunego. Moreno held on for fourth, while Caja Rural-Seguros RGA’s Pello Bilbao was fifth.

Anacona had started the day 21st overall, two minutes and 50 seconds off the red jersey of Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) and his attack was a bid for that race lead. However fast pace-setting by the Sky team brought the general classification riders’ group closer and while Chris Froome was unable to match a surge by Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo) inside the final three kilometres, the latter was caught on the line by Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) and Valverde’s team-mate Nairo Quintana.

They finished two minutes and 16 seconds back, putting Quintana into the red jersey. Contador ended the day three seconds behind, while Valverde was eight second back in third and Anacona ended up fourth overall, a mere nine seconds off the leader’s jersey he was chasing.

Froome, who was unable to go with the attacks on the final climb, finished 18th to Contador’s 12th and conceded 23 seconds. This dropped him down one place to fifth overall, although he will hope to improve his position in Tuesday’s time trial.

Stage 9: Carboneras de Guadazón > Aramón Valdelinares - Stage Result

Sunday 31st August 2014

1.
ANACONA GOMEZ Winner
Lampre-Merida
 04:34:14
2. kz
LUTSENKO Alexey
Astana Pro Team
 0:45
3. it
CUNEGO Damiano
Lampre-Merida
 0:50
Course Profile Startlist
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Earlier in the weekend Alessandro De Marchi (Cannondale) won stage 7 after attacking from a four-man break and Nacer Bouhanni (FDJ.fr) won stage 8 in a controversial sprint.

Today is a rest day at the Vuelta a Espana before tomorrow’s stage 10 ITT which takes the riders on an up-and-down 36.7km course from Real Monasterio de Santa María de Veruela to Borja.

Click here to read more at CyclingTips.

Pawel Bernas leads Tour of China I after stage 1 win, Mattia Gavazzi takes stage 2

The opening stage of the 2014 Tour of China I set off in the city of Xi’an on the flat field around the city’s aerospace base for a total of 93.6km. Heavy rain fell throughout the day and after four laps, a break of seven was formed. That group split in two with Oleksandr Polivoda (Kolss) Pawel Piotr Bernas (BDC Marcpol) taking to the front and working together until the finish.

Bernas took the win in front of Polivoda, with Australia’s Neil van der Ploeg (Avanti) leading home the chasing peloton just behind.

Stage 1: Xi'an > Xi'an - Stage Result

Saturday 30th August 2014

1. pl
BERNAS Pawel
BDC Marcpol
 02:02:34
2. ua
POLIVODA Oleksandr
Kolss Cycling Team
 -
3. au
VAN DER PLOEG Neil
Avanti Racing Team
 -
Course Profile Startlist
View full results

On stage 2 the riders left Chenggu for a 137km stage to Hanzhong and despite plenty of early attacks, no moves were able to go clear.

Eventually, just before the second sprint point, a breakaway formed and eventually settled at five riders, the group getting one minute on the peloton. But the peloton caught the quintet inside the final kilometre, before Mattia Gavazzi (Amore & Vita - Selle SMP) opened up and won the bunch sprint.

Stage 2: Hanzhong Chenggu > Hanzhong - Stage Result

Sunday 31st August 2014

1. it
GAVAZZI Mattia
Amore
02:43:46
2. ru
SHPILEVSKY Boris
RTS-Santic Racing Team
 -
3. kz
GALEYEV Vadim
Continental Team Astana
 -
Course Profile Startlist
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After his stage 1 victory Pawel Bernas still leads the overall ahead of stage 3 of the seven-stage race. Today’s stage has a first category climb right out of the start, followed by a 10km HC climb.

Text via 7Cycling press release.

Sylvain Chavanel wins GP Ouest France - Plouay

Sylvain Chavanel (IAM) won the GP Ouest France-Plouay WorldTour race over the weekend, bridging to a late breakaway with 2km to go before sprinting to victory ahead of Andrea Fedi (Neri Sottoli) and Arthur Vichot (FDJ).

A threatening group formed late in proceedings after the day’s first breakaway had been caught: Michal Kwiatkowski (Omega Pharma-Quick Step), Tim Wellens (Lotto Belisol), Lars Petter Nordhaug (Belkin), Kristijan Durasek (Lampre-Merida), Ben Hermans (BMC), Christopher Juul (Tinkoff-Saxo) and Angelo Tulik (Europcar). Inside the final 10km the group still had 30 seconds but by the top of the day’s final climb, a 20-rider “peloton” had caught the seven leaders, prompting a fresh set of attacks.

Cyril Gautier (Europcar) initiated the decisive move, being joined by Arthur Vichot, Wellens, Julian Alaphilippe (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) and Ben Hermans. Chavanel and Andrea Fedi soon managed to bridge the gap as well but with 1km to go it was clear the winner was going to come from the leading group of seven.

No-one could match Chavanel when he began his sprint, the Frenchman having plenty of time to celebrate his victory. The seven-rider group was followed in a short time later by Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) who led in the chase group.

1. fr
CHAVANEL Sylvain
IAM Cycling
 05:38:26
2. it
FEDI Andrea
Neri Sottoli
 -
3. fr
VICHOT Arthur
FDJ.fr
-
Course Profile Startlist
View full results

Click here to read more at Cycling Quotes.

Lucinda Brand leads Rabo-Liv 1-2-3 at GP de Plouay-Bretagne World Cup

Earlier in the weekend Lucinda Brand led in a Rabo-Liv 1-2-3 in the women’s GP de Plouay-Bretagne World Cup, escaping with roughly 7km to go and staying clear to take victory by nearly a minute.

The first half of the 122km race was largely uneventful before the race was reduced to an elite group of just 21 riders, including all of the Rabo-Liv riders. Brand escaped with Tiff Cromwell (Specialized-Lululemon) and Emma Johansson (Orica-AIS) but the trio was caught just before beginning the final 13.9km circuit.

The closing kilometres were typically aggressive, with many riders trying to get clear. Brand was dropped on a short climb but got back on the following descent before attacking again. With her Rabo-Liv teammates outnumbering other riders in the group behind, there was little cohesion in the chase, allowing Brand to ride away to victory.

In the bunch sprint Marianne Vos took second, ahead of teammate Pauline Ferrand-Prevot.

Lizzie Armitstead (Boels-Dolmans) went into the race with an unassailable lead in the World Cup and finished eighth on the day. Iris Slappendel (Rabo-Liv) won the World Cup sprints competition, Alena Amialiusik (Astana Be Pink) took home the Mountains jersey, and Elena Cecchini (Estado de Mexico-Faren) won the Youth classification.

1. nl
BRAND Lucinda
Rabobank-Liv Woman Cycling Team
 03:08:26
2. nl
VOS Marianne
Rabobank-Liv Woman Cycling Team
 0:56
3. fr
FERRAND-PREVOT Pauline
Rabobank-Liv Woman Cycling Team
 -
View full results

Click here to read more at Cycling Weekly. Stay posted for a first-hand account of the race from Tiffany Cromwell, coming later today.

Miguel Angel Lopez wins Tour de l’Avenir, Australia’s Robert Power second

Despite a late charge from Belgium’s Louis Vervaeke, Miguel Angel Lopez (Colombia) has held on to overall victory in the Tour de l’Avenir, the race billed as the “Tour de France of the Future”. Nineteen-year-old Australian Robert Power finished second overall — reportedly the best finish by a first-year U23 rider in the past 20 years.


Lopez took the overall lead on stage 4 when he finished third on the summit finish behind Ilya Davidenok (Kazhakstan) and Sam Oomen (Netherlands). He finished in the chase group on stage 5, eight seconds behind solo winner Dylan Teuns (Belgium), maintaining his 12-second advantage over then-second-placed Sam Oomen.

On stage 6 Lopez took a stage victory for himself, beating Power in another uphill finish and on the final stage Lopez was fourth, finishing in a small group 34 seconds behind stage winner Louis Vervaeke who had come into the tour as one of the overall favourites but suffered early in the race.

Final Classification: > - Stage Result

Saturday 30th August 2014

1.
LOPEZ Miguel Angel
23:54:28
2. au
POWER Robert
0:30
3. ru
RYBALKIN Aleksey
Lokosphinx
 0:44
Course Profile Startlist
View full results

Overall it was a very successful race for the Australian outfit, with Campbell Flakemore winning the prologue ITT, Caleb Ewan winning the bunch sprint on stage 2 and Power continuing his sparkling form to take an overall podium. Jack Haig finished 12th overall after working for Robert Power throughout the race.

Click here to read more at Espoirs Central. Also at Espoirs Central, check out this great wrap-up of the Tour de l’Avenir and this piece about what might be in store for the top riders in this year’s race.

UCI awaiting Daryl Impey reasoned decision before deciding to appeal

by Shane Stokes

The UCI has said that it is awaiting further details from the hearing which cleared Daryl Impey of doping charges before deciding if it will accept or appeal the ruling.

The South African rider was told in June by his country’s national federation that he had tested positive for the banned diuretic Probenicid at an in-competition drug test at the country’s national time trial championships in February.

The case was heard in Johannesburg on Thursday. According to The Star newspaper in South Africa, the rider said that he had gone to a pharmacy to try to buy empty capsules to fill with bicarbonate of soda prior to the championships.

He intended taking the legal substance as a lactic acid buffer. He said the pharmacist initially said that he had no capsules, but that the rider was later contacted to say that capsules had been found.

According to the rider’s testimony, the pharmacist had handled probenicid immediately prior to serving Impey, and that cross-contamination had happened. Till receipts were produced and apparently confirmed the story.

CyclingTips contacted the UCI Friday for the governing body’s reaction.

“The South African Institute for Drug Free Sport (SAIDS), which rendered the decision against Mr. Impey, has not yet provided its reasoned decision to the parties,” a spokesman said. “Therefore the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) will wait to receive the full decision in order to review the case. At this stage, the UCI will not comment further.”

Click here to read the full story at CyclingTips.

18-year-old junior world champion Igor Decraene found dead

World junior individual time trial champion Igor Decraene has been found dead over the weekend.

The 18-year-old Belgian was in training ahead of the world championships in Spain, with the rider’s team, Tieltse Rennersclub, telling Het Laatste Nieuws: “Igor couldn’t wait to defend his title at the World Championships. He was hoping to land another great result at the worlds. Unfortunately that won’t be the case.”

The team posted a message on Facebook saying: “It is with great pain that we announce to you the death of Igor Decraene who has been the victim of a terrible accident.”

There have been some unconfirmed suggestions that Decraene’s death was due to suicide but the rider’s family has reportedly denied such claims:


Click here to read more at Het Laatste Nieuws.

Eddy Merckx undergoes heart surgery after collapsing last weekend

Five-time Tour de France champion Eddy Merckx has undergone surgery over the weekend after reportedly suffering chest pains and collapsing last weekend.

The 69-year-old, who won just about every big race on the professional calendar during the 1960s and ’70s, told sports broadcaster Sporza that he had undergone a “minor procedure” at the Jette university hospital in Brussels to “prevent the development of a combination of cardiac arrhythmias and blood clots.”

Click here to read more at Sporza.be.

Yates brothers offered contract extensions at Orica-GreenEdge

Even though both Simon and Adam Yates are on contract with Orica-GreenEdge until the end of 2015, the Australian-registered team has offered an extra year to both riders in an attempt to secure the futures of the promising Brits.

Adam Yates after winning a stage on his way to overall victory at the Tour of Turkey earlier this year.

“We’re still in negotiations but we’re definitely looking to extend their contracts,” Matt White told Cyclingnews.

“The results they’ve both been getting are a lot better than what we expect from neo-pros and we know that other teams are definitely interested so when neo-pros come out and surpass expectations in their first years, like Adam and Simon have, then we feel it’s right to reward them.”

“They’ve both ridden GC at certain times in the year. Adam has obviously won the Tour of Turkey and had a sensational California and Dauphine, while Simon had a really solid Basque Country before his crash at the Tour of Turkey. They’ve both proven that they got the ability to ride GC, but as for what level in the future, time will tell but they’ve both shown that they’re in the category of world class riders.”

Matt White also confirmed to Cyclingnews that Matt Goss would be leaving Orica-GreenEdge at the end of 2014 having not been offered a contract extension.

Click here to read more at Cyclingnews.

Danilo Wyss gets one-year contract extension from BMC

Meanwhile Danilo Wyss has been given a one-year contract extension at BMC.

“I am really proud to have been with the team for a long time and I have so many good memories from the past seven years,” Wyss said. “Next year, I hope to keep doing my best work for the team. I don’t really have personal objectives. I just take the opportunities when I have them.”

“Danilo has proven on every occasion to be a dedicated teammate,” BMC’s general manager Jim Ochowicz said. “He has contributed to many of the team’s successes this season and will do so again in the future. Whether it is a grand tour or a single-day race, we can always count on Danilo to do his job.”

Text adapted from a BMC press release.

Kiserlovski joins Tinkoff-Saxo

And Tinkoff-Saxo has announced the signing of former Croatian national champion Robert Kiserlovski on a two-year deal.


The 28-year-old will move to Tinkoff-Saxo from Trek on January 1 2015, moving into the new team as a domestique for the likes of Alberto Contador.

“I’m really happy to join a team that has so many prominent athletes,” Kiserlovski said. “I like the teamwork and I’m looking forward to the next two seasons. I will be ready every time a great champion like Alberto Contador needs my help.”

Tinkoff-Saxo owner Oleg Tinkov said: “Robert is a very proven rider and a strong climber. We need a rider like him in our squad and I’m pleased to welcome him on the best cycling team in the world.”

Click here to read more at the Tinkoff-Saxo website.

Specialized-Lululemon in The Draft

Here’s a good, fun video from the team at Specialized-Lululemon, talking about the importance of drafting.

You can find more videos in the Slulu Voodoo series here.

The Rocacorba Recap

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

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Today’s feature image is from Jered Gruber but location information was not provided.