Mark Cavendish wins Clasica de Almeria
Mark Cavendish (Etixx - Quick-Step) added a fourth victory to his 2015 season after winnning the 183.3km Clasica de Almeria in Spain on Sunday. Cavendish and teammate Mark Renshaw were back to their winning ways after the team executed their signature leadout train in the final kilometers.
Etixx - Quick-Step, led by David De La Cruz and Gianluca Brambilla,took control of the pace on the front of the peloton when chasing down the original breakaway. The team continued to push the pace on the front when the peloton split in two from the crosswinds. The front group contained around 58 riders and had a two minute advantage on the second group inside the final 10km.
Cavendish said after the race:
“Yesterday I didn’t really feel good during the Vuelta Ciclista a Murcia, but today the team was really motivated. We started riding from kilometre zero. We were always in front, in the first 10 positions of the group the entire race. We also rode strong in the wind, and made the decision to break up the bunch in the crosswind after the last climb. With 30 kilometres to go Katusha and Movistar moved up to help us out, so the front group went full gas until the finish line. In the sprint Zdenek Stybar began the leadout into the final 450 metres. Then Mark Renshaw led me out, and I was in his slipstream until 150 metres to go. By the time I went it was just a matter of finishing off the race for the win. It was perfect.”
| 1. |  |
CAVENDISH Mark
Etixx - Quick Step
|
04:36:19 |
| 2. |  |
LOBATO Juan José
Movistar Team
|
- |
| 3. |  |
RENSHAW Mark
Etixx - Quick Step
|
- |
Taaramäe wins Vuelta a Murcia as Mollema, Stybar and others narrowly avoid disaster
Rein Taaramäe (Astana) crossed the line for a solo victory at the Vuelta a Murcia, but Bauke Mollema (Trek Factory Racing), Zdenek Stybar (Etixx - Quick-Step) and the other riders who arrived at speed could have been badly injured if they had hit the car that was forced to stop at the narrow finish line. Here’s an amateur video of the incident from above:
| 1. |  |
TAARAMäE Rein
Astana Pro Team
|
05:11:38 |
| 2. |  |
MOLLEMA Bauke
Trek Factory Racing
|
0:10 |
| 3. |  |
TYBAR Zdeněk
Etixx - Quick Step
|
- |
Niki Terprstra wins Tour of Qatar overall
Niki Terpstra (Etixx - Quick-Step) took home the gold jersey as overall winner at Tour of Qatar for the second consecutive season, winning with an advantage of six seconds over Maciej Bodnar (Tinkoff-Saxo) and nine seconds over Alexander Kristoff (Katusha). Terpstra’s teammates fought out the intermediate sprints with Kristoff, who was close enough in the GC to threaten Terpstra’s race leadership between time bonuses and a possible stage victory.
#TourofQatar: @NikiTerpstra Wins Gold jersey again, we also win Team Classification! http://t.co/NDiRbi8PNU #TDWSPORT pic.twitter.com/GgXyG4LmP2
— Etixx - Quick-Step (@Etixx_QuickStep) February 13, 2015
Terpstra said after the race:
“It’s satisfying. I came here to defend the title or for sure go for a good placement. The time trial went so well that I was in the lead, and the team did a great job to defend my leadership for the rest of the stage race. I was a bit nervous before the start because if Kristoff had a really good day, and he was doing well so far with three stage wins already, he could still pass me with the bonus seconds, but he didn’t get that. The guys made Katusha work hard so they were tired, and in the end Kristoff was unable to win the sprint and take the 10 bonus seconds at the finish line. So, I took the win and I am happy.”
Final Classification: > - Stage Result
Friday 13th February 2015
| 1. | |
TERPSTRA Niki
Etixx - Quick Step
|
17:36:48 |
| 2. |  |
BODNAR Maciej
Tinkoff - Saxo
|
0:06 |
| 3. |  |
KRISTOFF Alexander
Team Katusha
|
0:09 |
Terpstra
Kristoff
Sagan
Etixx - Quick StepContinental Championships
A host of nations held their continental championships over the weekend and many big names stuck around to contest valuable UCI points. We won’t write about each race in detail here, but we’ve highlighted brief results of each of the championships below:
Oceania Men’s Road Race
| 1. |  |
GUNMAN Taylor
Avanti Racing Team
|
03:33:55 |
| 2. | |
KERBY Jordan
Drapac Professional Cycling
|
0:21 |
| 3. | |
BARRY Daniel
Team Budget Forklifts
|
0:33 |
Oceania Women’s Road Race
| 1. | |
KITCHEN Lauren
Hitec Products
|
03:12:54 |
| 2. | |
WILLIAMS Lizzie
Orica - AIS
|
- |
| 3. | |
GARFOOT Katrin
Orica - AIS
|
- |
Oceania Men’s ITT
| 1. | |
HEPBURN Michael
Orica GreenEDGE
|
00:48:41 |
| 2. | |
EVERS Craig
Data#3 Symantec team p/b Scody
|
0:36 |
| 3. | |
WURF Cameron
|
0:38 |
Oceania Women’s ITT
| 1. | |
GARFOOT Katrin
Orica - AIS
|
00:32:55 |
| 2. | |
KITCHEN Lauren
Hitec Products
|
0:49 |
| 3. | |
MACKEY Rebecca
|
1:11 |
You can read full race reports and see the results for all age categories on Cycling Australia’s website
Asian Men’s Road Race
| 1. |  |
ASKARI Hossein
Pishgaman Yazd
|
02:47:23 |
| 2. |  |
MIRZA BAHIHAMMAD Yousef Mohamed
|
0:48 |
| 3. |  |
UCHIMA Kohei
Bridgestone Anchor Cycling Team
|
- |
Asian Women’s Road Race
| 1. |  |
HUANG Ting Ying
|
01:50:34 |
| 2. | |
HSIAO Mei Yu
|
- |
| 3. |  |
MENG Zhao Juan
China Chongming-Liv-Champion System Pro Cycling
|
- |
African Men’s Road Race
| 1. |  |
MEINTJES Louis
MTN - Qhubeka
|
03:59:27 |
| 2. | |
THOMSON Jay Robert
MTN - Qhubeka
|
2:26 |
| 3. | |
JANSE VAN RENSBURG Jacques
MTN - Qhubeka
|
- |
African Women’s Road Race
| 1. | |
MOOLMAN PASIO Ashleigh
Bigla Pro Cycling Team
|
03:06:57 |
| 2. | |
OLIVIER Lise
|
- |
| 3. |  |
KIDANE Hadnet
|
3:51 |
Up next - Big names tackle Tour of Oman
The early season racing in the Middle East concludes with the Tour of Oman, which begins tomorrow (Tuesday, February 17) and consists of six stages.
Two time champion Chris Froome (Sky) won’t be making an appearance, instead starting his season at the Ruta del Sol in southen Spain this week. However other Grand Tour contenders such as Alejandro Valverde (Movistar), Vincenzo Nibali (Astana), Tejay Van Garderen (BMC) and Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) will be fighting for the win.
Also in the mix will be big names such as 2010 winner Fabian Cancellara (Trek Factory Racing), Peter Sagan (Tinkoff-Saxo), Rui Costa (Lampre-Merida), Alexander Kristoff (Katusha), Tom Boonen (Etixx - Quick-Step) and 2014-2015 Tour of Qatar winner Niki Terpstra.
Two-time Tour of Oman champion Chris Froome won’t be contesting Tour of Oman this week.
You can see the full startlist here.
Alberto Contador confirms Giro-Tour double
Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo) said that he will race both the Giro d’Italia and Tour de France this year, but said the Vuelta a España is not a goal of his in 2015.
“I believe I’ve made it plain that racing the Giro and Tour is our project this season,” Contador said on Radio MARCA. “I have the Giro in mind, and I’ve said it since October, and I don’t have any doubt about that at all.”
“My career is in its final stretch,” he said. “I have this season left here at Tinkoff-Saxo, and there are discussions to continue here, or with other teams, but right now, I’d probably stay here. It all depends how the season winds up. I don’t see myself making more than a one-year contract.”
Contador’s season will start this week at the Ruta del Sol where he will test himself against Chris Froome.
Read more at Velonews
Sarah Storey: Chasing place in history with UCI hour record
by Shane Stokes
The women’s hour record hasn’t changed in many, many years. Dutchwoman Leontien van Moorsel covered 46.065 kilometres in Mexico in 2003, and nobody has beaten that since.
A dozen years later, Sarah Storey is stepping up to the challenge and will make her own bid on February 28th in the Lee Valley VeloPark Olympic velodrome in London.
“I was approached by Revolution [track races] in the UK as lots of people had suggested I would be a good first Brit to try the new format,” she told CyclingTips this week, responding to questions after flying back from a training camp with her husband and 19 month old daughter Louisa.
“I did some initial testing to see what the physiological demands would be at various paces above the current record. My team and I decided it was an achievable target.”
Read the full feature of Sarah Storey’s World Hour Record attempt here.
Cancellara losing motivation for hour record
Fabian Cancellara has “lost motivation” to attempt the hour record with the new rules and doubts that he can take the title.
“The rules changed, and I lost the motivation, let’s be honest,” Cancellara told VeloNews this week in Qatar.
“When Bradley [Wiggins] will do it and set a record, it’s going to be hard for someone to do it and catch that. His ability on the track is like no one else. He’s fluid.”
Attempting the Hour Record appears unlikely based on Cancellara’s comments.
“I don’t think at the moment, honestly,” Cancellara continued. “I’m not working on it. I cannot say ‘yes’ or ‘no,’ but I can tell you I’m concentrated on other goals.”
Read more on Velonews
Dominique Rollin back racing with Cofidis
Canada’s Dominique Rollin returned to racing last week in the Tour of Qatar after sitting out the 2014 season with no contract. Confidis’ lead sprinter Nacer Bouhanni (and former FDJ teammate of Rollin’s) requested that Rollin come to the team and help with his leadout train in this year’s sprints.
The powerful Canadian Rider Dominique Rollin will be back racing with the pro-continental team Cofidis in 2015 after sitting out 2014 without a contract. Photo by Kristof Ramon
“Nacer wanted people he could trust around him, that brought about the idea of having me back because we had a good thing going on in 2013, winning some good races at the WorldTour and French level,” Rollin told VeloNews.
“It’s a good opportunity to come back. It gives me a goal, a purpose to be at the races and have a job, a focus. It brings me motivation.”
Read more on Velonews
UCI to allow onboard cameras at Track Cycling World Championships
For the first time in the history of the UCI Track Cycling World Championships, a select number of riders’ bikes will be equipped with cameras, thanks to a partnership between the UCI and Infront/HBS.
This initiative will apply to several events during the five days of racing at the Track World Championships in Saint- Quentin-en-Yvelines, France. In order to ensure fairness between riders, all participants of these events will have cameras on their bikes. They will be fixed under the bike seats and will film the action taking place behind.
In the last few weeks, tests have been carried out in real conditions at the National Velodrome in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines and at the UCI World Cycling Centre in Aigle, Switzerland.
The images captured by the cameras during the UCI Track Cycling World Championships will be broadcast live on the big screen at the National Velodrome and by the event’s up to 30 broadcasters.
After this first experience, the UCI aims to use onboard cameras at other events on the UCI International Track Cycling Calendar.
UCI President Brian Cookson said: “The UCI wishes to increase cycling’s appeal among the fans. We already introduced cameras and geo-localisation at the UCI Road World Championships in Ponferrada, and have also carried out camera tests at the UCI Cyclocross World Cup. Now we will offer the public at Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines and television and Internet viewers throughout the world the chance to experience track racing live from the inside for the first time. This is important and exciting progress for the track and also for cycling as a whole, which will benefit from these technological innovations.”
Follow the 2015 UCI Track Cycling World Championships live on tv.uci.ch.
Ned Overend wins inaugural US Fat Bike championship
At 59 years of age, living mountain biking legend Ned Overend won the inaugural US Fat Bike championships in Ogden, Utah over the weekend.
Overend, a former mountain bike world champion, finished the snow course in 1:09:40. Brad Bingham and Travis Brown rounded out the men’s pro-open podium, finishing in 1:10:12 and 1:11:02, respectively.
Aboard his Fat boy @nedoverend wins #FatBikeNats the legend continues pic.twitter.com/qLNpREF80A
— Specialized (@iamspecialized) February 15, 2015
Earlier in the day Amanda Miller beat Rebecca Rusch and former mountain bike pro Amanda Carey to take the first-ever women’s title.
Read more at USA Cycling
The Col Collective rides Hauticam
Mike Cotty has just released their latest video tackling the deceptively tough Hautacam ascent deep in the Midi-Pyrenees. Hautacam may not have the length, height or prestige of the Col du Tourmalet but that’s exactly the deceptive nature it uses to lull you into a false sense of security when tackling its slopes for the first time.
Join Mike Cotty as he guides you through this legendary climb.
Indoor cycling getting a little more real?
The “ebove B\01 Real Motion bike”, developed by Norwegian tech start-up Activetainment aims to change indoor cycling as we know it. Check out their video and let us know your thoughts. Hot or Not?
What You Missed
And finally this morning, here are a few things you might have missed at CyclingTips in the past few days:
- Why cycling makes us happy: the positive psychology of being on the bike
- Life beyond cycling: does Drapac’s public image match reality?
- Daily News Digest: Thursday February 12