Elia Viviani claims first win in Sky colours at the Dubai Tour
Elia Viviani has taken his first victory for Team Sky, outsprinting Mark Cavendish (Etixx-Quick-Step) and Andrea Guardini (Astana) to claim stage 2 of the Dubai Tour.
Cavendish got an impressive lead-out, as he did on stage 1, but it was Guardini that launched his sprint first. The Italian seemed to jump a little early, however, and his compatriot Viviani was able to leap out of his slipstream to take the victory.
Cavendish finished second and, with the bonus seconds he claimed on the opening stage, had done enough to maintain his overall lead in the race.
Today’s third and penultimate stage of the Dubai Tour features a short but very steep uphill finish to Hatta Dam after 205km of racing.
Viviani
Cavendish
Cavendish
SimionClick here to read more via AFP/VeloNews.
Cameron Meyer takes overall lead in Jayco Herald Sun Tour after stage 1 win
Cameron Meyer (Orica-GreenEdge) has moved into the overall lead in the 2015 Jayco Herald Sun Tour after winning stage 1 in Bendigo yesterday.
Meyer beat New Zealand national champion Joe Cooper (Avanti) in a two-up sprint after the pair escaped from a 21-rider lead group which had formed early in the stage. Cooper’s teammate and compatriot Patrick Bevin finished third at the head of the chase group.
An early climb up the steep side of Mount Macedon saw the 21 leaders get away inside the first 20km of the stage, with the likes of Meyer, Cooper, defending champion Simon Clarke (Orica-GreenEdge), Damian Howson (Orica-GreenEdge), Robert Power (U23 National Team), Serge Pauwels (MTN-Qhubeka) and Franco Pellizotti (Androni-Giocattoli) among the big names.
By the second climb of the day, Mount Alexander, the leaders had a gap of more than eight minutes, and by the time 100km had been covered, the peloton had sat up and the leaders’ advantage was out beyond 12 minutes.
Cameron Meyer and Joe Cooper escaped from the lead group inside the final 10km and held on to finish 10 seconds clear of the chasers.
The peloton, which included overnight leader Will Clarke (Drapac), ended up finishing more than 25 minutes behind Meyer and Cooper.
The Jayco Herald Sun Tour continues today with a 123.6km stage from Bendigo to Nagambie which should end in a bunch sprint, despite a few short climbs along the way.
Power
Orica GreenEDGEClick here to read more at CyclingTips.
Lizzie Armitstead wins stage 3 of the Ladies Tour of Qatar, takes overall lead
Boels-Dolmans has continued its dominance at the Ladies Tour of Qatar with Commonwealth Games champion Lizzie Armitstead winning stage 3 on Thursday and taking the overall lead from teammate Ellen van Dijk.
The peloton split early in the 93.5km stage — thanks in part to Boels-Dolmans’ efforts in the crosswinds — and just 27 riders arriving at the finish in the lead group. Wiggle Honda recruit Chloe Hosking targeted the day’s intermediate sprints and by claiming time bonuses on offer, moved up to third overall.
With one stage remaining in the Ladies Tour of Qatar, a 101.5km stage from Sealine Beach Resort to Doha Corniche, Armitstead holds an eight-second lead over van Dijk while Hosking is a further one second behind.
Stage 3: Souq Waqif > Al Khor Corniche - Stage Result
Thursday 5th February 2015
| 1. |  |
ARMITSTEAD Elizabeth
Boels - Dolmans Cycling Team
|
02:27:45 |
| 2. |  |
OLDS Shelley
Bigla Pro Cycling Team
|
- |
| 3. |  |
BRAND Lucinda
Rabobank-Liv Woman Cycling Team
|
- |
Click here to read more at VeloNews.
Lefevere admits mistake in not offering contract to Gaviria last year
by Shane Stokes
Etixx-Quick-Step boss Patrick Lefevere has said that he made a miscalculation in not moving sooner to sign Fernando Gaviria, the young Colombian sprinter who beat Mark Cavendish in the Tour de San Luis last month.
“A year ago I got a tip and since then I started to keep an eye on these guys,” said Lefevere told Het Laatste Nieuws, referring to Gaviria and also to Rodrigo Contreras, the climber who won the best young rider in San Luis.
“Their results as young riders are impressive. Therefore it is worth the effort to keep following them. Kwiatkowski and Sagan have proven that top juniors can also be top riders in the pro ranks.”
However, as a result of both riders’ performances in Argentina, the Colombians are on the radar of a lot more teams, complicating things for Etixx-Quick-Step.
“It appears that a mistake was made,” he acknowledges. “Those two did so well in San Luis that everyone has now seen that they are top talents. Suddenly, they also each have a manager or five. To sign them is going to cost me a lot more than it would have a month ago.”
Click here to read more at CyclingTips.
Riders’ weather protest falls on deaf ears in Etoile de Besseges
Riders in the five-stage French race, Etoile de Bessèges, made three attempts during yesterday’s second stage to stop the race, protesting about extreme weather conditions.
Temperatures were barely above freezing point but it was the wind that caused the most problems. Wind gusts blew at nearly 90km/h, causing several crashes.
After pulling back a breakaway trio in the finishing town (where laps of a finishing circuit were set to take place) the entire peloton stopped racing in protest.
“It was very, very dangerous for the wind in the first hour and it was for the security of the riders they spoke with the organisation,” Trek Factory Racing team director Alain Gallopin said. “But okay, I told the guys that if you go slowly it is not dangerous. Once they entered the forest it was better, but until then it was not safe for the riders.”
The peloton called for a shortened stage, stopping another two times in protest, but the organisers insisted on finishing the race as planned. Roy Jans (Wanty-Groupe Gobert) was the eventual winner in a bunch sprint.
Click here to read more at Cyclingnews.
WADA President Reedie: More governments need to make doping illegal
by Shane Stokes
The president of the World Anti Doping Agency, Craig Reedie, has called on more governments to criminalise doping, saying that doing so will help prevent the current problems escalating and spilling over into everyday society.
“Sport is now a hugely lucrative industry, and there is a real area of concern with drugs being counterfeited, illegally produced, trafficked and distributed – and ultimately these drugs get in the hands of elite athletes and, increasingly, members of the public,” he said in a WADA statement, requesting an escalation of preventative measures.
“If governments can introduce relevant laws, and applicable penalties to combat this abuse of substances, then police will act and the scourge of doping can be prevented.”
Click here to read more at CyclingTips.
Measuring Brainwaves to Make a New Kind of Bike Map for NYC
If you’ve ever ridden a bike in Manhattan you’ll know that it can be a stressful experience, particularly if you don’t know which streets are best for cyclists. The MindRider Map could help.
The map is the work of Arlene Ducao, a former MIT grad student who helped develop a helmet with a built-in EEG brainwave sensor that detects “the rider’s level of focus”. To create the map, eight riders spent a couple months riding most of Manhattan and mapping their data onto a map of the city.
A rider’s focus level rises when they’re focused on one thing in particular (e.g. a car swerving in front of you). These attention levels were plotted on a colour scale, from green (most relaxed) through yellow to red (most stressed).
Here’s the map at was created:
The creators don’t claim that the MindRider Map has any real scientific merit; rather “the project just arose from our curiosity”.
Click here to read more at Wired.
Heart transplant patient adopts donor’s passion for cycling
This is a cool story about a man who took up cycling after receiving a heart transplant from a donor that had been an avid rider.
“Before my transplant I had never really cycled,” Mr Mashford told the Daily Mail. “But when I found out that my donor had died in a cycling accident I was determined to do it in his memory.
“I have “RIP John” written in my cycling helmet so he’s with me whenever I’m on the bike.”
Click here to read more at the Daily Mail.
Behind the scenes at the Ladies Tour of Qatar
One thing that the riders in the professional women’s peloton seem to do better than their male counterparts is behind-the-scenes video diaries, talking about the races they’re at and sharing a bit of their world with the audience. Here’s one such video, from Orica-AIS’s Valentina Scandolara.
It’s relatively long, and pretty raw, but it also provides a fascinating insight into what it’s like being a non-Aussie on an Australian team and what it’s like racing at the Tour of Qatar. Worth a watch.
Top 10 ways to stay healthy and avoid illness
It’s one of the most frustrating as a cyclist: starting to feel like you’re hitting some good form then suddenly getting sick. Here are the lads from the Global Cycling Network with some tips on how to stop that from happening (the illness part; not the hitting good form).
What You Missed
And finally this morning, here are a few things you might have missed at CyclingTips in the past few days:
- A tour of Giant’s Taichung factory
- Twenty-five women prepare to climb the height of Everest in one ride
- Daily News Digest: Thursday February 5