Mullens, Donohoe win inaugural Melbourne Kermesse Championships
Peta Mullens (Wiggle-Honda) has won the elite women’s race at the inaugural Melbourne Kermesse Championships at Carribean Gardens over the weekend, taking a narrow victory in the final sprint ahead of 2013 National Criterium Champion Kimberley Wells (Roxsolt). Rebecca Wiasak (Jayco-AIS), who will join Wiggle-Honda in 2015, was third just behind Mullens and Wells.
In the men’s race, Alistair Donohoe (Search2retain) overpowered his more-fancied breakaway companions — including Simon Clarke (Orica-GreenEdge) and Koen de Kort (Giant-Shimano) — to take victory. The 19-year-old crossed the line just ahead of Jason Lowndes (Seight) with de Kort placing third.
Click here to read more about the women’s race and here to read more about the men’s race. Some photos from the women’s race can be found here and some photos from the men’s race can be found here.
Paying minimum wage to pro women cyclists could backfire: Cookson
UCI President Brian Cookson has told the press that introducing a minimum wage for female riders could be “counterproductive” and that it could lead to more women not being paid.
Speaking at an event in Manchester late last week, Cookson said:
“The women who have been involved in the Women’s Road Commission have told me that the result of [introducing a minimum wage] would not be 500 women suddenly being paid the minimum wage”, The Guardian quotes Cookson as saying. “They’ve told me that actually most of the teams that currently present themselves as professional teams would fold or re-register as amateur teams, so they wouldn’t end up paying those women anything at all anyway”.
Cookson also addressed calls for the UCI to ensure all men’s WorldTour teams have an associated women’s team.
“I don’t want women’s sport to always be secondary to men’s sport. You’ve seen that with the Tour of Britain this year which has been hugely successful without being attached to a men’s event … I think there are sponsors out there who would be interested in sponsoring women’s cycling but not men’s cycling, for whatever reason.”
In the lead-up to last September’s UCI presidential election Cookson promised in his manifesto that he was committed to achieving a minimum wage for female pros within the first year of his presidency.
Click here to read more at The Guardian.
Movistar team’s 2015 line-up completed
Movistar has revealed its full line-up for the 2015 season with 28 riders on the list, including four new additions.
The four riders to join the team are Spanish youngster Marc Soler, Rubén Fernández (Caja Rural-RGA), Winner Anacona (Lampre) and Tinkoff Saxo’s Rory Sutherland. The final rider to confirm with Movistar for 2015 is Fran Ventoso who has ridden for the Spanish squad since 2011 and has had his contract extended for another year.
“It’s been really rewarding for me to see my work appreciated after such a season focused on the squad and my team-mates,” said Ventoso, a two-time Giro d’Italia stage winner. “I’m really happy with what I did and extremely thankful about this renewal.”
Ventoso is a former Spanish national champion and has also won a stage of the Vuelta a Espana.
The full Movistar roster for 2015 is as follows:
Andrey Amador, Winner Anacona, Igor Antón, Eros Capecchi, Jonathan Castroviejo, Alex Dowsett, Imanol Erviti, Rubén Fernández, John Gadret, Jesús Herrada, José Herrada, Beñat Intxausti, Gorka Izagirre, Ion Izagirre, Pablo Lastras, Juanjo Lobato, Adriano Malori, Javi Moreno, Dayer Quintana, Nairo Quintana, José Joaquín Rojas, Enrique Sanz, Marc Soler, Rory Sutherland, Jasha Sütterlin, Alejandro Valverde, Fran Ventoso and Giovanni Visconti.
Click here to read more at CyclingTips.
Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling team line-up announced
by Shane Stokes
Meanwhile the composition of the Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling team has been confirmed for 2015, with a blend of 16 current and 11 incoming professional riders making up what will be a 27-man roster.
The team will continue to feature proven names such as Il Lombardia champion Dan Martin, former Giro d’Italia victor and 2014 Vuelta stage winner Ryder Hesjedal, Tour de France stage winner Ramunas Navardauskas plus 2014 Critérium du Dauphiné winner Andrew Talansky.
The other 12 Garmin-Sharp riders remaining on board are Janier Acevedo, Jack Bauer, Nathan Brown, André Cardoso, Tom Danielson, Nathan Haas, Lasse Hansen, Alex Howes, Ben King, Sebastian Langeveld, Tom Jelte Slagter and Dylan Van Baarle.
New additions include the young riders Joe Dombrowski (Sky), Kristoffer Skjerping (Team Joker) and Ruben Zepuntke (Bissell Development Team), as well as the Cannondale riders Alberto Bettiol, Davide Formolo, Matej Mohoric and Davide Villella.
Other incoming riders are Cannondale’s Ted King, Kristjian Koren, Alan Marangoni and Moreno Moser, making it eight in all from that WorldTour team.
“I’m very excited about our 2015 team,” CEO Jonathan Vaughters stated. “We began as a small group with the mission of developing young riders and we have stayed true to that mission year after year, even as we have grown. 2015 is our youngest group of athletes yet, and it’s also young in that it’s a new team, and we have joined forces with Cannondale.
The full line-up is as follows: Janier Acevedo, Jack Bauer, Alberto Bettiol, Nathan Brown, André Cardoso, Tom Danielson, Joe Dombrowski, Davide Formolo, Nathan Haas, Lasse Hansen, Ryder Hesjedal, Alex Howes, Ben King, Ted King, Kristjian Koren, Sebastian Langeveld, Alan Marangoni, Dan Martin, Matej Mohoric, Moreno Moser, Ramunas Navardauskas, Kristoffer Skjerping, Tom Jelte Slagter, Andrew Talansky, Dylan Van Baarle, Davide Villella and Ruben Zepuntke.
Click here to read more at CyclingTips.
NetApp-Endura renamed as Bora-Argon 18 for 2015
The team formerly known as NetApp-Endura has revealed its new name for 2015, as well as the kit the team will ride in.
Team Bora-Argon 18 has received its Professional Continental license for next season and has confirmed that British rider Scott Thwaites and Irish sprinter Sam Bennett will both continue with the squad.
The Bora-Argon 18 team for 2015 is as follows:
Shane Archbold, Jan Barta, Phil Bauhaus, Cesare Benedetti, Sam Bennett, Emanuel Buchmann, Zak Dempster, Bartosz Huzarski, Patrick Konrad, Ralf Matzka, Jose Mendes, Dominik Nerz, Christoph Pfingsten, Cristiano Salerno, Andreas Schillinger, Daniel Schorn, Michael Schwarzmann, Björn Thurau, Scott Thwaites and Paul Voss.
Click here to read more at the Bora website.
Lisa Brennauer interview - The most successful rider of the 2014 worlds
by Shane Stokes
It was a world championship campaign that is one of the best in the history of road racing: three races, two wins, one silver medal. Lisa Brennauer returned from Ponferrada with a pair of rainbow bands and a cluster of important memories, as well as a greatly enhanced reputation.
Brennauer spoke to CyclingTips recently, talking about her emotions at returning home to Germany and being met in Munich airport by the people from her town plus its brass band. Proud of her achievements, they threw a large party for her and celebrated what she had done. Some media interviews followed and, over time, the magnitude of what she achieved began to sink in.
“We thought that we (Specialized-Lululemon) had a really big chance of winning the team time trial as we were unbeaten for three years,” she said. “Then there was definitely a chance to become world champion in TTT. I knew that if I had a good day and if I could do a very good [individual] time trial, the way I did it the whole year, then it would be possible to win a medal.
“But it’s World Championships, so there are always those people popping up who you don’t see the whole year. They just focus on this one event and have their specialty, the time trial. You never know what can happen…there are these people you can’t plan for, you don’t have them on your plan for the result.”
Click here to read the full story at CyclingTips.
Labor promises $100 million to get Victorians on their bikes
Ahead of the Victorian state election on November 29, Labor has promised to spend $100 million over six years on a network of cycling and pedestrian paths to reduce fatalities and serious injuries on the roads.
Labor has also promised to create a new authority, Active Transport Victoria, which would promote cycling and walking in Victoria.
Labor leader Daniel Andrews said Labor would “build the paths to get the bikes off the road and out of the traffic, making life easier for cyclists and motorists alike.”
“The right to be safe on the road extends to everyone - drivers, cyclist and walkers”, Mr Andrews said. Their lives are worth every cent.”
Click here to read more at The Age.
The Week in Bike #44 – Interview Season
There was some great ‘cross racing last week, but on the road side, things have really slowed down. As rider interviews begin to dominate the headlines, Cosmo Catalano takes a few moments to reflect on the transfer market, the cycling profession, and how it all might not be so unfamiliar after all.
We hope you enjoy Cosmo Catalano’s latest episode of The Week in Bike.
Baggy shorts vs lycra knicks
In the latest “Win Tunnel” video from Specialized, the guys test out the aerodynamics of baggy shorts vs lycra for MTBers. Check it out.
Hill Climb Girl
Here’s a terrific Japanese animation about a school girl who loves cycling and gets inspired by the efforts of Team Sky’s Bradley Wiggins.
The attention to detail in the film is impressive and the whole thing is beautifully put together. Well worth a look.
Click here (or on the image above) to get through to the video, then click on “EN” in the top-right corner to show English subtitles.
The Rocacorba Recap
And finally this morning, here are a few things you might have missed at CyclingTips:
- How MTN Qhubeka will revitalise Goss, Boasson Hagen, Farrar
- Cycling and Type 1 Diabetes: how the pros manage
- Cycling Australia announces 2015 Road Nationals schedule
- Bikes of the Bunch: Baum Corretto
- Your training questions answered with Dig Deep Coaching: part four