Brändle wins final stage Tour of Oman, Valls takes overall
Spanish climber Rafael Valls (Lampre-Merida) sealed the biggest win of his career after taking out the overall classification of the Tour of Oman, while Matthias Brandle (IAM Cycling) took the sixth and final stage.
Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) - Rafael Valls (Lampre-Merida) - Tejay Van Garderen (BMC Racing) standing on the final podium at the Tour of Oman
Valls took control of the race after winning the queen stage on the climb to Green Mountain on Friday which gave him a nine-second advantage over Tejay van Garderen (BMC Racing), while Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) was third overall, 19 seconds back.
Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) finished more than three minutes behind in 20th position.
“These have been three dream days, and this is the apotheosis,” Valls told AFP.
“It is a reward for the past four or five difficult years that I have experienced. I have proved to myself that I can ride at the level I had before. It gives me a lot of confidence.”
In the sixth stage itself, Brandle went clear of his three breakaway companions in the final kilometers to finish clear of Iljo Keisse (Etixx-Quick-Step) and Jef Van Meiraghe (Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise) coming in second and third.
Final Classification: > - Stage Result
Sunday 22nd February 2015
| 1. |  |
VALLS FERRI Rafael
Lampre - Merida
|
21:09:31 |
| 2. |  |
VAN GARDEREN Tejay
BMC Racing Team
|
0:09 |
| 3. | |
VALVERDE Alejandro
Movistar Team
|
0:19 |
Valls Ferri
Guardini
Meintjes
BMC Racing TeamFroome wins Ruta Del Sol as Lobato takes final stage
Chris Froome (Sky) has won his first race of the season taking out the overall victory at the Ruta del Sol as Juan Jose Lobato (Movistar) took his second stage win of the week.
Froome clinched the overall win by finishing sixth on the day in the same time as Contador, who crossed ninth in the bunch.
“It couldn’t have gone any better for us out here, and this win is special as it’s my first race of the season,” said Froome.
Juan Jose Lobato takes the fifth and final stage of Ruta Del Sol
“That said, I still have a lot to build on as we head towards the Tour de France. I want to stay on this path, staying healthy and injury-free, and gradually building my form.”
Contador likewise was focused on preparation, in his case, for the Giro d’Italia.
“I didn’t expect to be in such good condition in relation to the rest of the field, although I lost by two seconds at the end,” said Contador.
“I also managed a victory [on stage 3] which wasn’t in our plans. I am happy, the preparation towards the Giro is going perfectly.”
BilbaoGreipel wins final stage at Volta ao Algarve, Thomas takes overall
Geraint Thomas (Sky) took the overall victory of the Volta ao Algarve as Andre Greipel (Lotto-Soudal) sprinted to victory on stage five to take his first win of the season by edging out Tom van Asbroeck (LottoNL-Jumbo).
Michal Kwiatkowski (Etixx - Quick-Step) took second place overall, while Tiago Machado (Katusha) finished in third. Richie Porte (Sky) finished just off the podium in fourth place after winning stage four.
Thomas, who took the race lead by winning stage two, said on the Team Sky website, “Richie was the leader coming into the race but I took my chance on the second day and I happened to get the jersey.
“You look at the previous [Volta ao Algarve] winners and there are a lot of strong guys there. There are a lot of strong teams here, too. I don’t get to win very often so it’s really nice.”
Thomas will now turn his focus to the springtime racing, starting with Paris-Nice.
“We have got a big month ahead with Paris-Nice and the classics. The form seems to be building nicely so I’m looking forward to the next few weeks.”
Final Classification: > - Stage Result
Sunday 22nd February 2015
| 1. |  |
THOMAS Geraint
Team Sky
|
19:46:13 |
| 2. |  |
KWIATKOWSKI Michal
Etixx - Quick Step
|
0:27 |
| 3. |  |
MACHADO Tiago
Team Katusha
|
1:11 |
Mezgec wins stage 2 of Tour du Haut Var, Gastauer takes overall
Luka Mezgec (Giant-Alpacin) has taken his first win of the season on the final stage of the Tour du Haut Var in France, taking the sprint from a select group of around 25 riders after a second consecutive day of tough racing. Luxembourg rider Ben Gastauer (AG2R La Mondiale) took the overall after holding onto the lead with his stage one win.
Final Classification: > - Stage Result
Sunday 22nd February 2015
| 1. |  |
GASTAUER Ben
AG2R La Mondiale
|
09:14:21 |
| 2. |  |
GILBERT Philippe
BMC Racing Team
|
0:07 |
| 3. |  |
HIVERT Jonathan
Bretagne - Séché Environnement
|
- |
Meares makes history with 11th world title
Australia’s Anna Meares surged to victory in the women’s keirin final to win her 11th career world title, moving one clear of French legend Felicia Ballanger who was in attendance at the National Velodrome to witness the record breaking feat.
The 31-year-old Australia won gold in the keirin on Sunday at France’s new national velodrome.
11x world champ @AnnaMeares meets her hero, the woman whose record she just broke - 10x world champ Felicia Ballanger pic.twitter.com/dlbKjmWLdn
— Cycling Australia (@CyclingAus) February 22, 2015
Earlier this week Meares insisted she wasn’t focused on claiming a record 11th title.
“Everyone’s got their eye on it except me,” the dual-Olympic gold medallist told AAP.
“I’m just out there racing and trying to perform at my absolute best.”
The Queensland-born rider has now won 25 world championships medals including 11 gold, eight silver and six bronze.
Read more on Cycling Central
Annette Edmondson claims second gold of the week bringing Australia’s gold medal count to four
Edmondson sealed a golden week, which began with a team pursuit title on the second night of competition, with an emotional victory in the Omnium.
“I really can’t believe it, it is pretty special (to finally reach the top step of the podium) after the high of the team pursuit, this is just a bonus,” Edmondson told Cycling Australia.
“This (omnium) win is fantastic, but nothing compares to winning it (the team pursuit) with my teammates,” admitted Edmondson. “I played that over in my head even warming up for this omnium.
“The women’s track endurance squad, has been working so hard for the past few years, so to see the success come across the entire board, it is really exciting for all of us.
“It shows we are heading in the right direction. We are looking forward to the next few years.”
Australia won a total of four world championship medals last week in Paris which came from the women’s team pursuit (Ashlee Ankudinoff, Amy Cure, Annette Edmondson and Melissa Hoskins), Rebecca Wiasak in the individual pursuit, Anna Meares in the keirin, and Edmondson in the omnium.
Tayler Wiles wins Women’s Tour of New Zealand
American rider Tayler Wiles won the overall title at the Women’s Tour of New Zealand. Her teammates from the US National Team swept the overall podium with Megan Guarnier taking second and 2014 defending champion Evelyn Stevens, taking third. The US national team dominated four of the five stages.
Tayler Wiles (USA) wins the overall classification of the 2015 Women’s Tour of New Zealand. Image via www.womenstournz.com
In addition to taking the top three spots on the overall classification, US teammate Lauren Hall wrapped up the five-day race with the stage five win in Masterton, ahead of Georgia Baker (Hi5 Dream Team) and Emily Collins (Tibco-SVB).
Final Classification: > - Stage Result
Sunday 22nd February 2015
| 1. | |
WILES Tayler
Velocio- SRAM
|
14:21:57 |
| 2. | |
GUARNIER Megan
Boels - Dolmans Cycling Team
|
0:06 |
| 3. | |
STEVENS Evelyn
Boels - Dolmans Cycling Team
|
0:12 |
Tour of Oman stage five cancelled due to extreme conditions
by Shane Stokes
Sandstorms, extreme temperatures and high winds combined Saturday to cause difficult conditions for the riders at the Tour of Oman and, after protests from the teams, to the eventual cancellation of what was to be the penultimate stage.
However, after the riders were transported to the new starting point, it became quickly clear that there were still issues. Temperatures were very high and multiple riders punctured. High gusts of winds also added to the danger.
This prompted the peloton to stop racing and after some intense discussion with the organisers, the remainder of the stage was neutralised.
Read the full story on Cyclingtips
Cookson tells cycling world to prepare for ‘uncomfortable’ CIRC doping report
by Shane Stokes
Speaking in advance of the release of the long awaited, year long investigation into Lance Armstrong, the US Postal Service, past doping and the UCI’s actions around that time, Brian Cookson has cautioned everyone involved in cycling to brace themselves for what is coming.
The UCI president was referring to the Cycling Independent Reform Commission (CIRC) inquiry, which was funding by the UCI but said to be fully independent.
“When you open a can of worms you find a lot of worms,” Cookson told the Guardian at the world track cycling championships in Paris. “I think it’s going to be very interesting – there will be a lot of uncomfortable things there.
Read the full story on CyclingTips
Cult Energy abandon Haut Var after thieves empty team truck
Bike thieves broke into Danish team Cult Energy’s truck before Haut Var on Saturday night and stole bikes and equipment forcing them to abandon the race.
Thieves broke into our truck during the night and left nothing behind. We abandon #HautVar: http://t.co/HMW5HFfw7J pic.twitter.com/FaWpLG07bn
— CULTEnergyProCycling (@CULTEnergyPro) February 22, 2015
“It’s just devastating. We had a car parked in front of the back of the truck, so the thieves somehow must have moved the car and then broke the lock to the truck.” DS Michael Skelde said. “They stole everything. Bikes, wheels and all our equipment. Now, we’re waiting for the police to show up and start their investigation. We won’t be racing today and I reckon it’s doubtful that we will be ready for next week’s Het Nieuwsblad. I’m hoping for a miracle.”
Tour of California 2015 route announced
Organizers unveiled the 10th edition of the Amgen Tour of California route on Thursday, which will feature 1158 kilometers of racing over new and familiar roads over eight days in May.
Read more at Velonews
Uptown Funk - South African version
We haven’t heard much of Orica-GreenEdge’s antics lately but the long wait was worth it after seeing their latest video:
What You Missed
And finally this morning, here are a few things you might have missed at CyclingTips in the past few days:
- How Australia won team pursuit gold and set a new world record
- The week in bike #57: Internal Monologue
- Bikes of the Bunch: Vandeyk “Machine for riding”
- Roadtripping Cairns
- Power2Max Type S Powermeter review
- Putting the hour record into perspective: How does an amateur compare?
- Daily News Digest: Thursday February 19