Bonifazio wins stage two of Tour of Hainan, pushes defending champion Hofland out of yellow
The Belkin Pro Cycling team may have utterly dominated last year’s Tour of Hainan, winning every stage and taking the overall with Moreno Hofland, but that run has quickly been ended in the Chinese event. Although the defending champion started where he finished twelve months ago, winning Monday’s opening leg, Lampre-Merida derailed the momentum when Niccolò Bonifazio triumphed.
The Italian won a bunch sprint ahead of Drapac’s Wouter Wippert, Andrea Palini (Lampre-Merida), Jonathan Cantwell (Drapac) plus the rest of the peloton. Hofland finished back in sixth place and, as a result, Bonifazio took over as the new race leader. Palini is second by virtue of his two runner-up slots thus far, and Hofland drops to third.
“This win makes me very happy, especially because I completed the job that my team-mates had done with a victory,” said Bonifazio after notching up what was his fourth win this season.
“The stage was long, so it could have been difficult to control it with only six riders for each team. Anyway, my team-mates were great and they gave me the opportunity to realize a very good sprint.
“Day by day I’m recovering from the efforts of the long journey, so my aim is to continue to be competitive in the next stages.”
The flat 207.2 kilometre stage ran from Chengmai to Haikou and was animated by four riders, Saiful Aziz (Terengganu), Oleksandr Surutkovych (Synergy Baku), Wang Meiyin (Hengxiang) and Gu Ying Chuan (Giant-Champion System).
They built a lead of over nine minutes and Wang used this as a platform to take all three intermediate sprints. Bai Li Jun (Giant-Champion System) and Chris Williams (Novo Nordisk) were aggressive later in the stage but everything came back together with 40 kilometres remaining, after which the sprinters’ teams worked to ensure a big gallop in the finale.
Follow the link for results from stage 1 of the 2014 Tour of Hainan
SAIDS, UCI confirm Daryl Impey probenecid case won’t be appealed to CAS
Orica GreenEdge rider Daryl Impey can continue his career uninterrupted after the UCI and WADA have declined to appeal his probenecid case verdict to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
The CEO of the South African Institute for Drug Free Sport (SAIDS), Khalid Galant, confirmed to CyclingTips Tuesday that no appeal had been lodged against its earlier decision to allow the rider to return to racing. The permitted timeframe for appeals has now lapsed.
According to Galant, three bodies could have appealed, namely SAIDS itself, the UCI and WADA.
“It is very rare that parties lodge appeals after the period has lapsed,” he told CyclingTips. “However, they can do, but have to apply for a condonation as to why appeal should still be heard. Very few applications for condonation are successful.”
The UCI has subsequently confirmed that it won’t proceed further.
“After carefully reviewing the case files from the South African Institute for Drug-Free Sport (SAIDS), and in consultation with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and relevant experts, the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) has decided not to appeal the decision rendered by the SAIDS with respect to Daryl Impey,” it told CyclingTips in a statement.
“The UCI will not make any further comment on this case.”
Click here to see the full story and read the Reasoned Decision on CyclingTips.
Vuelta a España to add women’s one day race to 2015 event
The push to increase the prominence and development of women’s cycling has taken another step forward with the news that the Unipublic, the organisers of the Vuelta a España, will hold a women’s race on the final day of next year’s Spanish Grand Tour.
The move, which was reported Tuesday in Marca, will see the first-ever women’s race run in conjunction with the event. Unipublic is in talks with the UCI about the project and hopes to have the world’s best female riders taking part.
The move follows the holding of La Course at this year’s Tour de France, a single day event also held before the final stage of the Grand Tour. It was won by Marianne Vos on the Champs Elysees.
Details of the 2015 La Course event are expected to be announced when the men’s Tour route is unveiled in Paris on Wednesday. ASO organises that race and also has a large stake in the Vuelta a España.
Those involved in women’s cycling are hoping that such events will evolve beyond single day races, with a women’s Tour de France one of the big goals.
On October 3rd ASO chairman Jean-Etienne Amaury said that the company is looking for a backer to finance a week-long women’s Tour.
He said that the costs of staging the event would need to be covered by a backer, as would the additional expense of broadcasting the women’s race.
Amaury said that an American company might be the most logical to fill that slot, given the strong reception and feedback the inaugural La Course race generated in the US.
Specialized lululemon team owner and UCI women’s committee member Kristy Scrymgeour recently told CyclingTips that such an event would be of massive significance.
“It would be huge if you have got a week of women’s cycling on TV,” she said. “This year it was broadcast all around the world. It got good ratings, and so a week of that would be fantastic.
“It would be amazing for teams to be able to go and say to their sponsors, ‘the team is going to be on TV for a week’ at the time of the year when cycling is at its peak.”
Armitstead says it’s ‘pretty crazy’ that women’s cycling doesn’t have a minimum wage
Olympic silver medallist and Commonwealth Games road race champion Lizzie Armitstead has said that she believes the push for a full-length women’s Tour de France is premature without the financial backing for the riders and teams who would take part.
The Briton told Sky Sports News that the sport needs to be professionalised before a three week race should be considered, pointing out that the level amongst competitors is quite varied due to the inequalities in the wage structure.
“It’s kind of the chicken and egg scenario. It’s media exposure, it’s sponsors,” she said. “At the end of the day, cycling is a business, so we have to be able to offer something to a sponsor. Without exposure, that’s going to be difficult but that’s where the UCI perhaps has to be a little bit stronger.”
“There have been some good realistic steps and good progression,” she said. “I think the International Cycling Union (UCI) has put in some good ideas and some good strategies but obviously there’s still a long way to go.
“I think before we talk about having a three-week Tour De France, which has been a massive talking point this year, we need to talk about the professionalism of it. You can’t expect a woman who’s holding down a part-time job to train for the biggest race in the world. She has to have a minimum wage and I think it’s something that is pretty crazy that we don’t have that.”
A portion of the women’s peloton works during the winter season to finance their racing. Others, such as Britain’s Emma Pooley, combined racing with PhD studies.
UCI president Brian Cookson has said that establishing a minimum wage is a goal for the sport, but also stated that he believes teams need to have higher budgets before this is possible.
Click here to read the full story on Sky Sports
Day two of Amsterdam Six Day abandoned after serious accident involving former world champion Stam
Racing at the Amsterdam Six Day has been cancelled for the remainder of day two of the event after a bad accident during the first derny race.
Derny pilot Cees Stam crashed towards the end of the event, landing on the track and reportedly being hit by another derny. He was treated on the track by medical personnel and has now been brought to hospital.
Several other derny pilots and riders were involved in the same accident, but all have escaped without serious injury.
Stam is 68 years old and competed as a professional in the past. He was a derny specialist and took four world championship titles in this discipline. He was amateur champion in 1970 and professional champion in 1972, 1975 and 1977. He also set a world hour derny record of 82.998 kilometres in 1974.
He is the father of Danny Stam and grandfather of Yoeri Havik.
Havik and Niki Terpstra were leading the overall standings after Monday’s opening day.
Astana’s UCI Licence Commission hearing likely to take place in early November
Following the announcement of three positive cases for the Astana team in recent weeks, the UCI told CyclingTips on Tuesday that a Licence Commission hearing assessing the situation will likely be held in the beginning of November.
The spate of positives began on September 10 when the UCI confirmed that Valentin Iglinskiy had undergone a doping test on the opening day of the Eneco Tour on August 11. The A sample from that test was subsequently found to contain traces of EPO. Iglinskiy waived his right to have the B sample tested and was fired by his Astana team.
On October 1st the UCI’s list of provisionally suspended riders revealed that his older brother Maxim Iglinskiy had also failed an A sample test for the same substance. He is a past winner of Liège-Bastogne-Liège and Strade Bianche and helped Vincenzo Nibali’s to his Tour de France victory.
Iglinskiy was tested on August 1st, one day before he finished 26th in the Clasica San Sebastian. The team initially indicated he would have his B sample analysed, but then announced days later that this would not take place.
This proved controversial; the Astana team is a member of the MPCC anti-doping organisation and, as per its rules relating to multiple positives, would otherwise have missed Il Lombardia and the Tour of Almaty race in Kazakhstan.
Instead, the delay in Iglinskiy accepting the A sample result enabled the team to compete in those two events. It subsequently had to forgo competing in the Tour of Beijing.
The team’s fortunes took another blow on October 16 when the UCI revealed that a third Astana rider, Kazakhstan’s national champion Ilya Davidenok, tested positive on August 27, shortly after winning stage four of the Tour de l’Avenir. His A sample analysis has revealed the presence of anabolic androgenic steroids.
The governing body subsequently asked its Licence Commission to examine the cases. It will determine if the problem goes beyond the three riders, and if the team itself should be sanctioned.
Brenton Jones joins Drapac Professional Cycling
The 2014 Bay Cycling Classic overall winner Brenton Jones has continued his progress in the sport by signing a contract with the Pro Continental Drapac team, starting 2015.
The 22 year old Australian will join another new signing, the Dutchman Peter Koning on the team, and will seek to use his fast sprint to clock up more successes.
He had a strong year with his Avanti Racing Team in 2014, taking that Bay Cycling Classic success early on, then winning stages in the New Zealand Cycle Classic, Adelaide Tour, Tour of Singkarak, Tour of Murray River and Tour of the Great South Coast. He also won the general classification in the latter event.
“Aspiring to one day get to the Tour de France and all those major races, they’re the same goals and the vision that I have,” Jones said. “To join them is a good pathway.”
He said that he was willing to ride support for the Drapac sprinter Wouter Wippert in 2015, willingly stepping back from the lead role he had this season and instead using the opportunity to build experience.
“I’ve started off with Avanti being a workhorse and a team player and that’s how I’ve developed into the rider that I have been this year as the sprinter and having the opportunities to win races,” he explained.
“At Drapac I’ll go in and make new friends in the team, be a team player and do what I can to make sure the team is on the top step.
“When I eventually get my own opportunities, I’ll do the best I can to get the job done. Coming in, I’m not expecting anything to come my way. It’s about giving to the team and making sure we start the year off on a good note.”
Nettie Edmondson signs for Wiggle Honda
Commonwealth Games scratch race gold medallist Nettie Edmondson is set to bolster the Wiggle-Honda firepower in 2015, with the 22 year old from Adelaide inking a deal to move there prior to the start of next season.
Regarded as a very strong Australian talent, Edmondson has been part of the Orica AIS setup in recent seasons but will now don the black and orange Wiggle Honda kit.
“I’m really excited to race for and be a part of Wiggle Honda in 2015,” said Edmondson in the team announcement. “After two years of racing in the professional road circuit with Orica-AIS I’m looking forward to changing things up and getting to know new riders and staff.
“I’m excited to be racing alongside the team of talented and experienced riders and hope to learn as much from them as possible. I hope to play a key part in sprint lead-outs, and look forward to ‘having a crack’ myself when opportunities arise.”
Apart from her Commonwealth Games victory, Edmondson also took a bronze medal in the London Olympics Omnium in 2012 and was part of the silver medal-winning Orica AIS lineup in the world road race team time trial in September.
She took a stage and overall victory in the 2013 Tour of Chongming Island and also won the prestigious Geraardsbergen stage of the Lotto-Belisol Belgium Tour.
However she plans a change in approach heading towards one of her big medium-term goals.
“Due to my priorities aligning with the track as I work towards Rio in 2016, my road program will be significantly reduced,” she stated. “However I will be targeting races in the middle of the season such as Tour of Chongming Island in China and The Women’s Tour of Britain.
“My main objectives are to continue to develop as a road sprinter, effectively combine my track and road seasons and make a positive difference to the Wiggle Honda team in 2015.”
Click here to read more on the Wiggle Honda website.
The Cycling Philosopher on life, love, cycling and death
Having covered 225,000 on the streets of Utrecht in the past 22 years, Andy Duncan clearly has a lot of passion for his work as a bike messenger. He’s also got a very philosophical approach to cycling and the freedom he feels it represents, and speaks about this in detail in the video below.
The Scotsman speaks with passion and intelligence about cycling in the video, but also faces up to the diagnosis of aggressive prostatic cancer he was given two years ago. He was told then that he had only three years to live and talks about this fact, plus his emotions in designing the last bike he will own.
Duncan has now moved back to his native Scotland, and is living with a college friend he met up with again at 53 years of age. He describes her as his great love and his health has improved somewhat since he began living with her.
Subtitles are available in English, German, Italian, Spanish en French (press the CC icon to activate).
Ripcor the Movie
Here’s something most of us can relate to.
Formed in 2006, Ripcor’s membership is exclusively limited to lovers of beer, cake and cycling who share a serious ability to laugh at each other and more importantly themselves.
They ride socially. They race occasionally. Most importantly, they raise money for The PACE centre and to date we have cycled over 2500 miles and raised in excess of £70,000 for them.
Ripcor the Movie is a celebration of the unique culture of their club.