Neil van der Ploeg wins men’s Stan Siejka Launceston Cycling Classic

Neil van der Ploeg (Avanti Racing) overcame two crashes to win yesterday’s men’s criterium in the Stan Siejka Launceston Cycling Classic in downtown Launceston.


Rain fell for most of the race and precipitated many crashes, including a race-ending crash for reigning champion and pre-race favourite Caleb Ewan (Orica-GreenEdge). The wet conditions also saw the early withdrawal of headline riders Chris Froome and Richie Porte (both Sky).

Reigning U23 World Time Trial Champion Campbell Flakemore (Avanti) and Will Clarke (Drapac) got clear together in the second half of the race and built what looked to be a race-winning lead. But a lack of cooperation in the closing stages saw the reduced peloton catch the pair before van der Ploeg hit out and won the bunch sprint, ahead of national criterium champion Steele von Hoff (Garmin-Sharp) and Bernard Sulzberger (Drapac).

“When I won a couple of years ago it was the first big bunch sprint that I had won. That was a really special night”, van der Ploeg said after the race. “Then last year to get second to Caleb (Ewan) I was absolutely stoked with that. To be honest I didn’t expect to win at all so it’s awesome, I love this race.”

Click here to watch a highlights video from the race courtesy of SBS Cycling Central.

Kimberley Wells wins women’s Stan Siejka Launceston Cycling Classic

Earlier in the afternoon, before the rain started to fall, 2013 national criterium champion Kimberley Wells (Roxsolt) comfortably took out the women’s race from an elite group.


Wells was part of a fluctuating lead group of roughly seven riders that also featured two-time national road race champion Gracie Elvin (Orica-AIS), Elvin’s teammate Amanda Spratt, British criterium champion Eileen Roe (Wiggle Honda) and Roe’s Australian teammate Jess Mundy.

Despite a series of attacks from the Wiggle Honda and Orica-AIS riders, nothing was able to stick and Wells stayed calm in the group. Wells barely touched the front, at least until the final straight when she unleashed and took a clear victory ahead of Elvin and Roe.

“Orica-GreenEDGE just kept attacking and attacking and attacking me”, Wells said. “I was really happy to make it to the end so I could unleash my sprint.”

Click here to watch a highlights video from the race, courtesy of SBS Cycling Central.

Oscar Stevenson, Miranda Griffiths win the Tour of Bright

Victoria’s most prestigious amateur race, the three-day Tour of Bright, was held over the weekend with Oscar Stevenson (Jayco-VIS) and Miranda Griffiths (Holden Women’s Cycling) taking out the elite men’s and women’s titles respectively.

Post by Holden Cycling.

 

Stevenson, at just 19 years of age, took the lead on stage 1 when he won the individual time trial. In the following two stages Stevenson finished fourth and fifth, enough to hold on for overall victory by nearly six seconds. Two-time champion Matt Clark (Avanti Racing) was second overall while Budget Forklifts-bound Brendan Canty (currently Search2retain) was third.

In the elite women’s race, Miranda Griffiths took her third consecutive Tour of Bright title after a dominant display in the uphill finishes to the two final stages. Griffiths placed fourth in the opening time trial before winning comfortably on stage 2 (to Tawonga Gap) and extending her lead on stage 3 (to Mt. Hotham). Kate Perry (Total Rush-Hyster) and Lucy Bechtel (Bicycle Superstore).

Click here for full results from all grades in the 2014 Tour of Bright.

UCI to wait on License Commission before deciding on Astana’s future

UCI President Brian Cookson has said that the UCI will wait until its License Commisssion presents its recommendations before making a decision regarding Astana’s WorldTour license for 2015.

“I understand the licence commission will be in touch with UCI management in the next few days”, Cookson told The Observer. “I have to wait to see what they have to say. They can make the recommendation but the management committee takes the action.”

“What I have to do and what the UCI has to do is apply the rules, not make them up – we have to look at what powers we have under the rules and what is an appropriate sanction for when a team or an individual breaks the rules.”

Cookson added: “I think you will appreciate my view is extremely dim of that situation and I know that the Kaz fed [Kazakh federation] are extremely disappointed.”

Two positive tests were returned in recent months by Astana WorldTour team riders, with a further three positives tests coming from the Astana Continental team.

Click here to read more via The Observer/The Guardian.

ARD anti-doping journalist Seppelt: if asked, I’ll speak to the CIRC about UCI and Contador

by Shane Stokes

German anti-doping journalist Hajo Seppelt was in the headlines last week after he and his colleagues at ARD were involved in uncovering what appears to be a massive doping scandal involving Russian athletics. According to a documentary broadcast on ARD station WDR on Wednesday night, up to 99% of the Russian Olympic team used doping.

Image: BrakeThrough Media

Seppelt has past history in cycling, having forced the public disclosure of Alberto Contador’s positive test from the 2010 Tour de France. Seppelt had heard suggestions of a possible cover up of Contador’s positive test for Clenbuterol and contacted then-UCI president Pat McQuaid, who denied that the Spaniard had any doping issues. The rider’s positive test was announced hours after that phone call.

Speaking this week to CyclingTips, Seppelt said that he would be willing to speak to the Cycling Independent Reform Commission (CIRC), the independent three man panel which is currently conducting an inquiry into the Lance Armstrong/US Postal Service affair, doping in cycling and the UCI under presidents Hein Verbruggen and Pat McQuaid.

“They haven’t contacted me,” he confirmed, “but I’ll speak to them if asked. Why not?”

“For several weeks [the UCI] had been aware of [Contador’s] positive test, and also the B sample,” he said. “They didn’t behave the right way, because there was contact between Contador and UCI staff members at the time.

“In my view, in an independent way of doping control procedures, it doesn’t work that you are in touch with an athlete.”

Click here to read more at CyclingTips. A full English transcript of the German programme can be found here.

Sky among backers confirmed for “Team Wiggins”

Further details have emerged regarding Brad Wiggins’ development squad, with Team Great Britain’s technical director Shane Sutton confirming the team will be heavily backed by Sky.

Image: Kristof Ramon

“It’s being backed by Sky; they’ve been fantastic in this partnership, and across the board on the road and track, and hopefully that will continue,” said Sutton.

Rapha and Pinarello are on-board as well, and Cycling Weekly reports that the UCI Continental team could simply be called ‘Team Wiggins’.

The team has been set up in support of Wiggins’ return to the track ahead of the 2016 Olympics in Rio.

Click here to read more at Cycling Weekly.

UCI confirms women’s World Cup event in US in 2015, bigger plans globally for 2016

by Shane Stokes

Continuing its push to develop and expand women’s cycling around the globe, the UCI has confirmed a round of the women’s World Cup in the US next season plus plans to step up the staging of events across Europe, North and South America, Asia and Oceania.

The governing body presented a plan in Montreau, Switzerland, on Wednesday and Thursday of this week, informing stakeholders of the women’s side of the sport about its intentions for the next two years.

Under that plan, next year’s calendar will see a return of the World Cup to the US in June. Philadelphia will host the Parx Casino Philly Cycling Classic, previously known as the Liberty Classic. Other locations around the world will also host single-day or multi-day events, thus continuing the momentum built by the staging of the inaugural La Course race on the final day of the 2014 Tour de France.

“We have taken another step in favour of women’s cycling,” said UCI Vice-president and President of the Women’s Commission, Tracey Gaudry. “The UCI Women Road World Cup seminar highlighted the progress already accomplished in 2014, which we are going to build on to raise and expand the platform for a new professional series.”

Click here to read more at CyclingTips.

Four-year, 550-page Ferrari investigation handed over to CONI

Italian newspaper La Repubblica reports that a four-year investigation into the alleged doping ring centred around infamous doctor Michele Ferrari, and the resulting 550-page report, have been handed to the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI).

Roughly 70 people are believed to have been investigated as part of the operation with the likes of Michele Scarponi, Denis Menchov and Alexandre Kolobnev allegedly implicated.

CONI will now review the report. The investigation is still ongoing.

Click here to read more at La Repubblica.

Nibali stuck if Astana denied a WorldTour license in 2015?

While we wait to see whether the UCI will present Astana with a WorldTour license, despite recent infractions, Gregor Brown from Cycling Weekly has written an interesting column, teasing out what might happen if Astana doesn’t get the license.

As Brown writes, it could be a sticky situation for Tour de France champion Vincenzo Nibali:

“Where would I go this late in the season?” Nibali told VeloNews last week. “It’s absurd. I’m not even going to think about it happening.”

Brown quotes Nibali’s agent, Alex Carera, who said:

“I could find a team for him in the season, but in December, the teams already have their rosters filled. It would be a very difficult situation for Vincenzo. You could find him a team, but you would need time to do it. And what about Nibali’s group of teammates, his trainer, and others?”

Brown writes: “Most insiders, however, are saying that Astana, at worst, will receive a second-division license. With the license, it would no longer have an automatic invitations to the big races like the Tour de France, but would have to ask for permission to participate.”

He goes on to quote Paul De Geyter, agent for cyclists like American Tejay van Garderen.

“Astana would not have an issue, any organizer would be happy to have Astana on the start,” De Geyter added.

“There are already a limited number of teams in the second-division that can race the top events. Maybe the Tour would refuse Astana, but unless it had a good reason, I doubt the organizer would turn away Nibali’s team.”

Click here to read more at VeloNews.

Tour of the Gila seeking funds for women’s race

Organisers of the Tour of the Gila recently announced that the 2015 women’s race would receive UCI sanctioning in 2015 but now the organisers are scrambling to try and find more than US$100,000 to make it happen.

“We’re working on it. A lot of it is putting money toward the travel for women’s teams, which aren’t as financially deep as men’s teams”, race director Jack Brennan told Cyclingnews. “So I think that’s one area we really want to work on, is obtaining money so we can invite the team’s here and to try and invite as many teams as we can get.”

In 2015, the Tour of the Gila joins the Joe Martin Stage Race and the Tour of California women’s stage race as new North American additions to the UCI calendar. Brennan is hopeful that the big European teams will find it worthwhile to travel across to the US for those races, between April and May.

“I think with the Tour of California adding a women’s UCI race, it’s really big,” Brennan said. “That could be really helpful for us. There’s Joe Martin that ends on a Sunday, we start the following Wednesday and end on Sunday, and the Tour of California starts the following Friday. You can do three races, come over and really chase a lot of UCI points. The more races we have, the more exposure we get. I think it works pretty well for cycling.”

Click here to read more at Cyclingnews.

Roman cyclists paint their own bike lane

Cyclists in Rome have taken action after being frustrated by a lack of local cycling infrastructure, deciding to paint their own bike lane.

Image: La Repubblica

According to La Repubblica newspaper, a group of riders spent roughly 45 minutes painting a bike lane in the Santa Bibiana tunnel, which goes under Rome’s main train station, Roma Termini, thereby avoiding a long detour.

In an open letter to the mayor the cyclists wrote: “We get around without a car, even taking our children to school, at our own risk and danger, in a city made for cars.

“We’re aware of the big problems that the city’s administration has to tackle – and traffic is one of the foremost – and of the scant resources available, of the conflicts that give rise to actions aimed at containing motor vehicles.

“But despite everything, we believe that there are a lot of things you can do for people who choose to leave the car behind and choose to get around by bike.”

Click here to read more at La Repubblica.

The Week in Bike - Who Pays?

Who’s going to be in the WorldTour next year? How should the WorldTour even work? Who’ll support this team? How about all these doping positives? Pretty much every question in cycling boils down, in terms of accountability or in terms of revenue, to “Who Pays?”, and the answer isn’t always so clear or simple.

We hope you enjoy Cosmo Catalano’s latest episode of The Week in Bike.

Giro d’Italia route for 2015

Here’s a video showing the route for next year’s Giro d’Italia.

GCN Bloopers Reel: part 3

There are some good laughs in this blooper reel from the guys at GCN.

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 comes from Kristof Ramon and was shot at the Druivencross Overijse CX race over the weekend.