Photography by Jered Gruber & Cor Vos

Rocacorba Daily

Friday January 16, 2015

by Matt de Neef - January 16, 2015

In this morning's edition of the Rocacorba Daily news digest: Katie Hall wins stage 5 of the Tour Femenino de San Luis; IAM's Beucherie: “A rider who takes cortisone is a sick rider, so he must stop racing”; MTN-Qhubeka to sign Matt Brammeier on two-year deal; 2016 Tour de France - Andorra to host mountain finish, rest day plus stage start; Tour de France generated £12.5m for Yorkshire borough of Calderdale; Boels Dolmans reveal new colours for 2015 season; Interview with Carmen Small; Registration worth trying to curb the bike bullies?; The Col Collective - Alpe d'Huez; Heinrich Haussler profile, from 2009; Le Tour Utrecht - Bon Voyage!

Katie Hall wins stage 5 of the Tour Femenino de San Luis

Katie Hall has continued UnitedHealthcare’s great run of form at the Tour Femenino de San Luis, winning stage 5 of the six-stage race in Argentina this morning.

#TFSL2015 Et.5 1ª@KatieHall47-@UHCprocycling 2ªJanildes Fernandes-Brasil m.t. 3ª@Fernandes_Uenia-@CipolliniTeam a28" pic.twitter.com/dDCU4DVXHc

— Nuestro Ciclismo (@nuestrociclismo) January 15, 2015

On the stage-ending, first category climb to Mirador del Potrero, Hall escaped from a seven-rider lead group with Jamildes Fernandes (Brazil), the two going on to finish first and second, ahead of Uenia Fernandes Souza (Ale Cipollini).

The result puts Jamildes Fernandes into the overall lead ahead of yesterday’s winner in the individual time trial, Lauren Stephens (TIBCO). Ana Polegatch (Brazil) is third overall going into the final stage, an 80.4km circuit race around San Luis.

Stage 5: Villa de la Quebrada > Mirador del Potrero - Stage Result

Thursday 15th January 2015

1.	HALL Katie UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Womens Team	01:47:19
2.	FERNANDES Jamildes	-
3.	FERNANDES SOUZA Uenia Alé Cipollini	0:43

1.	FERNANDES Jamildes	07:57:06
2.	STEPHENS Lauren Team TIBCO -SVB	0:01
3.	POLEGATCH Ana Paula	0:16

1.	HALL Katie UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Womens Team	10
2.	FERREIRA Camila	9
3.	FERNANDES SOUZA Uenia Alé Cipollini	9

1.	BARNES Hannah UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Womens Team	07:58:56
2.	RATTO Rossella Inpa Sottoli Giusfredi	0:31
3.	FIDANZA Arianna Alé Cipollini	1:30

1.	Brasil	23:52:57
2.	Xirayas de San Luis - OPW	1:24
3.	UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Womens Team	2:16

IAM’s Beucherie: “A rider who takes cortisone is a sick rider, so he must stop racing”

by Shane Stokes

IAM Cycling sporting manager Serge Beucherie has spoken about the importance of riders remaining clean, saying that not giving in to temptation to cut corners is crucial on both a personal and professional level.

Beucherie’s team is a member of the MPCC anti-doping movement and he gave his thoughts in a video released by it on Thursday.

When asked if the MPCC’s voluntary regulations were restricting, Beucherie suggested the cortisol issue is an example of why the regulations sync well with what the competitors themselves should want.

“A rider who needs to take cortisone is a sick rider, so he must stop racing,” he said. “These 15 days out of competition for cortisone use will not ruin his season. There is no constraint whatsoever imposed on MPCC riders. Health has priority, and they know that.”

Click here to read more at CyclingTips.

MTN-Qhubeka to sign Matt Brammeier on two-year deal

by Shane Stokes

Following yesterday’s news that the MTN-Qhubeka team will ride the Tour de France this year, the squad has confirmed that it will sign a 23rd rider, namely multiple Irish champion Matt Brammeier.

Pending the completion of UCI paperwork, the 29-year-old rider is joining the team on a two-year deal and is part of a general strengthening of the squad for 2015. He won the Irish road race championship four times plus the time trial championship once, and is regarded as an experienced helper.

His goal will be to give support to both the team’s sprinters and also the all-rounders and climbers.

“Matt will fit into the team quite quickly,” general manager Brian Smith told CyclingTips this week. “I have been talking to Matt for a long time and trying to help him. He is a type of rider that we are missing a wee bit.”

Brammeier is raring to go. “I am happy and relieved to have everything done and sorted now,” he told CyclingTips. “I can just focus now on preparing for the season and getting stuck in.

Click here to read more at CyclingTips.

2016 Tour de France: Andorra to host mountain finish, rest day plus stage start

by Shane Stokes

Still almost a full year and a half away, details of the 2016 Tour de France are scarce, to say the least. However organisers ASO revealed on Thursday that next year’s race will spend three days in the principality of Andorra, thus revealing the approximate location of some of the climbs for the event.

Brice Feillu wins in Andorra in 2009, the last time the race visited the tiny principality.

A memorandum of understanding has been signed between the Tour director Christian Prudhomme and Andorra’s Minister of Tourism Francesc Camp. The agreement will see the riders have a stage finish in the region, a rest day plus a stage start.

The race last visited the principality in 2009 while Andorra also featured on three other occasions, namely 1964, 1993 and 1997. The entire route of next year’s Tour will be announced on October 20 in Paris. The race will begin in Le Mont-Saint-Michel on July 2 2016, as disclosed last month.

Click here to read more at CyclingTips.

Tour de France generated £12.5m for Yorkshire borough of Calderdale

Officials from Welcome to Yorkshire, the organisation behind the UK’s Tour de France Grand Depart in 2014, have claimed that the race’s visit to the Yorkshire borough of Calderdale generated £12.5m (AUD$23m).

The research reportedly revealed that some £2.8m (AUD$5.2m) was spent on accommodation, while a further £9.3m (AUD$17.1m) was spent by visitors during the event.

Calderdale Council Leader, Clr Stephen Baines said: “I’m delighted by these findings, which show the clear benefits that participation in the Tour de France brought to Calderdale. This can be measured both in terms of the immediate impact on our local economy and, in the longer term, the legacy.

“It’s also great to hear that more people than ever are taking to their bikes, which has such great health benefits. It would be fantastic to think that hosting the Tour in Calderdale may have inspired the next Sir Bradley Wiggins!”

A survey at the event reportedly showed that 44% of spectators felt inspired by the Tour to cycle more while a quarter of those who never ride reported they were encouraged to do so.

Click here to read more at the Huddersfield Daily Examiner.

Boels Dolmans reveal new colours for 2015 season

Boels Dolmans was already one of the big teams of the women’s peloton in 2014, but in 2015 the Dutch-based squad has been strengthened even further. Joining the likes of Women’s World Cup winner Lizzie Armitstead and Tour of Flanders winner Ellen van Dijk are Evelyn Stevens (who won the Thuringen Rundfahrt in 2014) and Chantaal Blaak (who won the Open de Suede Vargada last year).

In a presentation earlier in the week the team revealed its new kit for 2015 as well as the Specialized bikes the team will be riding.

Image: Boels Dolmans

The Boels-Dolmans line-up for 2015 is: Chantal Blaak, Ellen van Dijk, Demi de Jong (Ned), Evelyn Stevens, Megan Guarnier (USA), Lizzie Armitstead (GBR), Christine Majerus (Lux), Kasia Pawlowska (Pol), Romy Kasper (Ger) and Amalie Dideriksen (Den)

Click here to read more at the Boels Dolmans website.

Interview with Carmen Small

Here’s an interesting interview with pro rider Carmen Small who made the switch from Specialized-Lululemon in 2014 to Twenty16 presented by Sho-Air in 2015, with a focus on racing track.

Carmen Small (right) alongside 2013 world ITT champion Ellen van Dijk (centre) and runner-up Linda Villumsen (left).

Here’s an excerpt:

“

VN: We keep hearing from various cycling brands that the focus is going to be on women’s gear. It’s the part of their business that is growing. But the focus of their marketing is mostly women’s lifestyle. How do you combine that and women’s racing?

CS: I think it’s selling the story. On our end, it’s selling the story. Because a lot of us women who are in this sport have gotten into it later in life. A lot of the Americans have huge backgrounds that are pretty interesting. To see where we’ve come from, and now where we’re at in the top of the sport, I think that’s what we have to tap into and sell these stories. To get this general population to actually look at the sport.

Click here to read more at VeloNews.

Registration worth trying to curb the bike bullies?

Fairfax columnist Elizabeth Farrelly has published a piece suggesting that while she’s never been a supporter of registration for cyclists, it might be a worthwhile policy if it stops so-called “bike bullies”.

The piece comes in the aftermath of an incident in Sydney where a pedestrian, Emily Greenwood, was knocked down by a red-light-running cyclist rendering the pedestrian unconscious, fracturing her collarbone and knocking out several front teeth.

In her article Farrelly recalls a similar incident she encountered a week earlier, using that to frame a discussion about the arguments for bike registration and why it might be worth considering.

What’s your take?

Click here to read more at The Age.

The Col Collective: Alpe d’Huez

Here’s the latest instalment in Mike Crotty’s Col Collective series of videos about the great cycling climbs of Europe: Alpe d’Huez.

Heinrich Haussler profile, from 2009

IAM Cycling’s Heinrich Haussler showed last Sunday that his 2015 season has great promise thanks to a win in the Australian nationals road race in Buninyong. Haussler is probably best known for his agonisingly close second place to Mark Cavendish in the 2009 Milan-San Remo, and for winning a stage of the Tour de France later that year.

Here’s a profile video about Haussler, shot for SBS’s Cycling Central in 2009, documenting the German-Australia’s upbringing and his entry to cycling.

Le Tour Utrecht: Bon Voyage!

The Tour de France begins in Utrecht, The Netherlands this year and the local tourism body put together the video below to start generating some buzz about the event. It’s now come out that the video has earned its creators an Academy Award nomination for Best Animated Short Film, and deservedly so. It’s a cracker.

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 Jered Gruber.

Tags: 2014 Tour de France, 2015 Tour de France, 2015 Tour Femenino de San Luis, 2016 Tour de France, Alpe d'Huez, Andorra, Boels-Dolmans, Carmen Small, Heinrich Haussler, IAM Cycling, Katie Hall, Matt Brammeier, MTN-Qhubeka, Rocacorba Daily, The Col Collective

Callum Dwyer

What is Cyclingtips agenda? Why does it keep giving oxygen to anti cycling click bait?
- Peter
  
  Agreed, but its in the mainstream media and a discussion point. My take, why should thousand of cyclists be penalised for a couple of half-wits. Knee-jerk reactions. Suggest the Age put its brain into gear before writing articles.
  - Ralph
    
    Well said, there’s a dangerous precedent being set here. Fairfax - being completely desperate for revenue - has worked out that punters love anti-cycling stories (usually a news corp special), and looks like it’s getting hooked on them, up there with ‘what to eat’ or ‘celebrity’s new umbrella’ or whatever, and there are risks their editors need to acknowledge. Anyone got Fairfax shares?
    - http://cyclingtips.com.au Matt de Neef
      
      Nope, no Fairfax shares. And no agenda. I disagree with the author of the piece, I just found it to be an interesting discussion. There’s no obligation to click on the article if you don’t want to read it.
      - Sean
        
        The comments on that story are a joke. People are pathetic. I spend more time stationary at traffic lights on my drive to work every day, than I do being held up by damn cyclists for the whole year. I wonder if these same nutters get all road ragey at red lights or stop signs or god forbid parked cars. Australia is full of pathetic self centered bunch of obese angry bogans.
        
        jules
        
        of those, only cyclists are not them (e.g. pedestrians, owners of parked cars) or inanimate objects that can’t be provoked. they’re not going to change, they’re onto a good thing winding up cyclists.
        
        Michael Sproul
        
        It’s weird, when i ride into work on a Saturday (way less cars) my average speed can be up to 2mph faster and yet it’s me holding the cars up for that split second they might have to (but most of the time don’t need to) overtake me, they do “have to” overtake me though even when I’m keeping up with the traffic… When I mention this people get pissy. The fact I’ve just overtook about 30 cars crawling along is also completely lost on people.
      - Callum Dwyer
        
        Interesting how the cyclist (ie people) rego ‘solution’ just keep coming up again and again?
        I didn’t read it.
        
        gary
        
        Interesting that she didn’t actually see what happened and turned around to see only the aftermath, and that she can tell a person’s mood based on the simple ringing of a bell. Probably working in the wrong industry.
        
        Andy B
        
        If it gets a response media will continue to spin it
      - Ralph
        
        Sorry was a bit unclear. I meant, being provocative that if you (anyone, not ct) have them you should think about selling them based on these more frequent articles.
  - Anon N+1
    
    I would like to draw your attention to one word in the description of the cyclist; “helmetless.” I infer that the events described in the newspaper occurred in Australia and, if so, doesn’t Australia have a strict law requiring all cyclist to wear helmets while riding?
jules

i like the Heino video - especially how hard he was as a small kid in his first race. that’s a sign. i’ve ridden with juniors who have parked the bike after getting dropped in a crit. that’s OK, kids should have fun. but there was a kid who wasn’t there to just have fun, even at that age.
- Dave
  
  I wonder if providing a better junior entry point is somewhere that cycling can make up a bit of ground on other sports, this is where the battle is being lost.
  
  Consider a couple of examples in Ellyse Perry and Patrick Dangerfield, two of Australia’s most outstanding athletes who are now both 24 and who in their teens were those kids who could go on to pick any sport they wanted.
  
  What was cycling doing when they were teenagers to get even remotely close to being an option for them, and is cycling doing more now? Touring around schools running a talent ID program for 16 year olds perhaps? That’s too late, Perry wouldn’t have bothered going because she had other business (becoming the youngest ever cricketer to represent Australia and playing her first international soccer match for Australia a few weeks later) and Dangerfield was already a certain first round pick in the first AFL draft after he turned 17.
  
  If CA or one of the state cycling bodies can come up with something equivalent to Auskick or In2Cricket or Little Athletics (or even a yearly one-off event like TRYathlon) and find a way to bring equipment costs down, cycling will start to get kids’ attention as an option for longer. So long as they stay at least a little connected with the sport, there is always a chance that they’ll commit to it for the long term.
  - Neil
    
    Dave this is a great point. There are options out there, but they have to be driven by a local cycling club, with parents who are keen and have facilities that are available. Our local club has done a great job getting juniors up and running (we now have as many juniors as seniors), and have a number of reps in state teams. This has all come from locals. CNSW run coaching courses, but they have cost the club a significant amount of money and require significant time commitment from members (First Aid, ASADA course, ASC Coaching Course, among others, then two days on a weekend). Luckily, we also have a velodrome that provides a safe, off road location for this to take place.
  - http://www.littlepeople.id.au Chris Little
    
    There are some things, but nothing I know of that’s national (like In2Cricket).
    
    I reckon a common approach across Australia would be good. But you can find things like the Victorian Schools Cycling Championship that has place for both novice and already-registered cyclists.
jules

on rego, this was posted by the Aus Cyclist’s Party. it shows pedestrians serious injured by:
1. cars - 2350
2. biycles - 40

the argument for bike rego is typically based on ‘fairness’, as defined by the fact cars need to be rego’d. what a stupid measure of fairness. this statistic is a far more meaningful measure. going by this measure, cars should 50 rego plates riveted all over their them.

https://scontent-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xaf1/v/t1.0-9/s526x296/10342887_592782344155905_4605224424157590335_n.jpg?oh=061a239a775e3f70f287d2c037d5126a&oe=556ACA9E
- Patrick
  
  Balanced even further by the 33 instances where a pedestrian caused a cyclist’s serious injury. (I saw a pedestrian run a red the other day so the only ones to ever respect red lights must be the car drivers?!?!)
  
  Rego is always a stupid argument. Starting with respect for everyone might help…
  - Rosco
    
    I wouldnt mind it if cycling offences can cause you to loose points on your drivers lisence.
    After all, halfwits behind steering wheels are usually halfwits behind handlebars.
    Better education around riding a bike in traffic or on bike paths could be helpful too. But this should be done at the point in your life when you get your learners permit or P plates.
    
    Rego is totally infeasible though. The reasons have been covered ad nauseum.
    - Dave
      
      Road offences committed while cycling do get you demerit points against your driver’s license (or a future driver’s license if one is not yet held) in South Australia, and I expect also in most other states.
      
      I would support the expiation fees (i.e. fines that are not fines because they aren’t imposed by a court) being equalised instead of being as little as ? of the rates charged to motorists. I gather that this has been done in Queensland as part of the new reforms to cycling-specific rules which came into effect on January 1.
dbranson

Noticing all the riders and people in the Tour de France Utrecht video are shaped like little pills. Seems odd that the TdF would go with it given the doping metaphor.
- Michele
  
  You thought they looked like pills?
  
  I thought something far more cruder! Let’s just say wearing helmets didn’t help either. All the more so when they were sprinting on their bikes.
  
  I’ll got and get my mind out of the gutter now.
  - Sean
    
    I don’t follow.
    - Andy B
      
      I would spell it out for you but I cant be dicked
      - Sean
        
        If you can’t be bothered, why even post? ya knob.
        
        Michele
        
        Well, I have been called a dick before by a passing car or two. I wonder if this is how motorists actually view us??
- Dave
  
  Can’t be worse than the 2013 Road World Championships having Pinocchio as the mascot.
Rowena

Thanks for highlighting the Carmen Small article.
- winkybiker
  
  I though it odd that CS was seemingly upset that she wasn’t more famous. She was even upset that a Tinkoff guy who she didn’t know either, didn’t know her.
Gabriel Vargas

Fine racing at Tour Femenino. Did you know that both Fernandes (Brazil and Ale Cipollini) are sisters?
- http://cyclingtips.com.au Matt de Neef
  
  I thought so Gabriel but I wasn’t completely sure. Thanks!
  - Dave
    
    On a similar topic, does anyone know if Daniele Ratto and Paolo Longo Borghini (the brothers of their more successful sisters Rossella and Elisa) got contracts for this year after Cannondale folded at the end of last year?
    
    If they haven’t, those two families would be rather rare in that the sisters are professionals while the brothers are not!
Hamish Moffatt

Registration isn’t a solution, but we cyclists should be covered by an insurance scheme like the TAC. The current TAC scheme only covers accidents where a motor vehicle is involved, ie not cyclist on cyclist, cyclist on pedestrian etc. Some sort of insurance scheme should be covering the pedestrian hit by the cyclist (as in the linked article).
- Doug
  
  Some home insurance policies cover you for damage to other people and/or property. Bicycle Network membership includes insurance against damage you cause along with some other clubs. It is available though not compulsory.
  - Dave
    
    My home and contents insurance certainly does not cover my liabilities when I’m using my bike or any other possessions outside of the insured property.
    
    I’ve never seen a PDS offering such cover, and even insurers who offer bundled deals on home/contents and vehicle insurance will still issue you with separate policies for both.
    - BOB
      
      actually mine does, and most of them do.
      - Andy B
        
        Yep I work in Insurance, all householder policies we provide will insure against this and majority on the market do
        The Personal Liability section will likely cover all third party exposures unless specifically excluded
    - Doug
      
      Just as an example Dave see page 36 http://www.racv.com.au/wps/wcm/connect/42db685b-20b5-4e9c-a9f1-df79a249b7d5/RACV+Home+PDS+Home+PDS%26+SPDS.+1113+Unspec+Cont.pdf?MOD=AJPERES
- jules
  
  a scheme like.. the public health system?
  
  why does it need to be the cyclist to which the insurance is tied?
  - Hamish Moffatt
    
    Didn’t say it did. But motor vehicle registration is approximately 50% compulsory TAC premium, while cyclists and pedestrians have no compulsory/automatic cover at all presently.
    - jules
      
      not accusing you Hamish. just pointing out - motor vehicle 3rd party injury insurance is based on the premise that cars are big, heavy objects that injure people. it’s the hunk of metal and it’s killing potential which is insured, not the driver.
      
      bicycles don’t carry anything like that risk. if you’re going to require 3rd party injury insurance for cyclists, then why not skateboarders, joggers, golfers.. the list goes on?
      
      actually with golf the equivalent would be requiring each golf ball to be insured (“i own 2 cars and pay rego on both! why should it be different for golf balls?!”)
  - Dave
    
    Perhaps third part injury liability should be covered out of tax for everyone (including drivers, cyclists, pedestrians) instead of being attached to a vehicle registration, and the unused premium coming back to you as an additional deduction in your tax return every time that you go a year without incurring a liability from injuring someone while using a road, bikeway, MTB trail, footpath, walking trail or car park.
    
    Car registration fees could stay the same, with the portion currently being paid towards MAC being diverted to road maintenance.
    - jules
      
      I half agree. You can’t have the ‘unused liability’ back though - it is needed to cover the liability used by someone else, whose premium is insufficient to cover the liability (such as by $millions). insurance relies on the risk being spread. it’s just a question of how you spread it.
      
      I do agree that higher-risk ‘policy holders’ - i.e. road users whose actions have helped drain the kitty (by hitting someone) - should face higher premiums. Just like with normal insurance.
- Dave
  
  TAC, MAC etc only cover incidents involving motor vehicles because the premiums come from registration in some states, and separately but as a condition of registration in other states.
  
  It was suggested recently that a small insurance fee be tied to the purchase price of new bikes (to apply for the lifetime of the bike) which was quickly shouted down.
- Andy B
  
  New Zealand have the solution to this In the ACC
  its a great solution to prevent every little thing requiring Registration, Insurance and all the on costs that flow from these
  If you start with bicycles where do you stop?
  Any registration scheme will just become more expensive and complicated than it is worth
Cam

We should have registration for all humans and it be mandatory to walk around with registration numbers on our back, then we can all be accountable for our actions.
Fatist

I tried to avoid reading crap in the media about cyclists. Quite frankly it’s tiring and it makes me realise that a good percentage of Australians are ignorant and have questionable intelligence. The same old bullshit issues get brought up, and the neanderthals post the same comments during the ads of A Current Affair or after heating up their potato and gravy from KFC. Does this sort of rubbish happen over in Europe and other countries, or are we just the lucky ones??? I just wanna ride my bike with a few mates, have a laugh and not have to worry about someone cleaning me up because they need to save a few seconds in their busy lives…
Allez Rouleur

Interesting that non-cyclists in Australia chime in on any story about cycling in the comments section with…how much they hate cyclists. Sean - YUP! I actually said this to a crazy driver once who blasted past me, then got caught in traffic. “How many cyclists have you had to wait behind today?” One, me. “Guess how many fucking drivers have cut me off and nearly killed me?” A whole fucking bunch. “I’m trying to get to work, just like you, you fucking cunt.”
Allez Rouleur

Oh yeah, and who is the racer on the far right on IAM? Guy looks frozen stiff.
Not that thin!

Am I the only one who thinks Brice Feillu looks dangerously thin in that photo?
Kendb001

Chris Froome takes cortisone, please make him stop racing!
Bracksy

Regarding the “cycling bully” incident where “Emily” got knocked down whilst she had a green pedestrian light; it’s evident that this “Emily” clearly lacks common sense. Anyone with half a brain would double-check both sides of the road before crossing. Serves her right, that’ll teach her a good lesson to be vigilant next time.