Daily News Digest

Mark Cavendish wins Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne

Mark Cavendish (Etixx-Quick-Step) has taken his second victory in the one-day Belgian race Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne, sprinting to victory yesterday ahead of Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) and Elia Viviani (Sky).

Cavendish won the race in a bunch sprint back in 2012 and did so again on Sunday, timing his jump to perfection after Katusha led for much of the final 30km for Kristoff.

Earlier in the race a lead group of roughly 20 — including Cavendish — split off the front of the peloton under the impetus of the eventual winner’s teammate Tom Boonen. The group got as much as a minute clear but was eventually caught with 35km to go.

Philippe Gilbert (BMC) attacked with a little less than 5km to go, in an attempt to thwart the expected bunch sprint, but he was soon caught setting things up for a fast finish.

1.		CAVENDISH Mark Etixx - Quick Step	04:29:00
2.		KRISTOFF Alexander Team Katusha	-
3.		VIVIANI Elia Team Sky	-

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Click here to read more at Cycling Weekly.

Samuel Dumoulin wins La Drome Classic

Samuel Dumoulin (Ag2r-La Mondiale) has taken his first professional victory in nearly two years after a last-minute attack in Sunday’s La Drome Classic paid dividends. Dumoulin was followed over the line by Fabio Felline (Trek) and Sébastien Delfosse (Wallonia-Brussels).

The early running was made by a four-man breakaway — Danny Summerhill (UnitedHealthcare), Grégoire Tarride (Team Marseille 13 KTM), Axel Domont (AG2R) and Bert-Jan Lindeman (Lotto NL-Jumbo) — which led by as much as four minutes at one stage in the 201km race.

An increase in the tempo on the final climb created a five-rider lead group that looked to be poised to contest the win but Dumoulin attacked from behind with 1.6km to go and rode clear. He crested the final climb alone and went on to win by four seconds.

1.		DUMOULIN Samuel AG2R La Mondiale	05:10:41
2.		FELLINE Fabio Trek Factory Racing	0:04
3.		DELFOSSE Sebastien Wallonie - Bruxelles	0:07

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Click here to read more at VeloNews.

Niccolo Bonifazio claims victory in the GP di Lugano

Italian sprinter Niccolo Bonifazio (Lampre-Merida) has taken his first win of the year, sprinting to victory in the GP di Lugano in Switzerland ahead of Francesco Gavazzi (Southeast) and Matteo Montaguti (Ag2r-La Mondiale).

Image: Lampre-Merida

A 17-rider breakaway led the race for roughly 150km of the 184.9km before being caught by the chasing peloton, sparking a number of attacks in the closing stages. But the race more or less came back together as the finish approached, the first 17 riders crossing the line together ahead of many smaller groups on the road.

“I’m very satisfied for this first seasonal victory. GP Lugano is a demanding race and so this result makes me happy,” Bonifazio said. “I thank the team that supported me and I share this joy with my team mates.”

Text adapted from a Lampre-Merida press release.

Ian Stannard takes second consecutive Omloop Het Nieuwsblad win

Earlier in the weekend Ian Stannard (Sky) defended his Omloop Het Nieuwsblad title despite being outnumbered in the race-winning breakaway.

Stannard was part of a four-man breakaway that held a narrow lead in the final 40 kilometres and was joined by three Etixx – Quick-Step riders: Tom Boonen, Stijn Vandenbergh and Niki Terpstra.

Stannard shut down a pair of late attacks on the run into Gent before out-sprinting Niki Terpstra to seal the victory.

“I couldn’t be happier,” Ian Stannard told TeamSky.com after the race. “It’s nice to do the double sweep at the race, but after the difficulties I had last year breaking my back it’s nice to have got myself back to where I was.

Etixx-Quick-Step team manager Patrick Lefevre was critical of Stannard’s tactics. He told Sporza: “I think that a rider from his calibre from that team should share the work until the gap was 40 seconds. He played it hard but tomorrow or next week it’s another race, then we can play that game.”

1.		STANNARD Ian Team Sky	04:58:41
2.		TERPSTRA Niki Etixx - Quick Step	-
3.		BOONEN Tom Etixx - Quick Step	0:08

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Anna van der Breggen completes comeback with women’s Het Nieuwsblad win

by Jessi Braverman

In the 10th edition of the women’s Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, Anna van der Breggen (Rabo-Liv) beat out Ellen van Dijk (Boels-Dolmans) in a two-up sprint to win the first European race of the season. Lizzie Armitstead (Boels-Dolmans) led home the chasers in Gent to round out the podium.

The race-winning move escaped from an elite front group of approximately 30 riders on the Molenberg, the eighth and final climb of the day. The duo extended their advantage over the cobbled sections that followed, holding off the dwindling chase group to the line.

Fourteen seconds later, Armitstead sprinted in for third ahead of Chantal Blaak (Boels-Dolmans). Whilst Boels-Dolmans missed out on the win, the team’s second, third and fourth place finishes clearly demonstrate their depth as a team and suggest they may be the powerhouse team of the spring season.

1.		VAN DER BREGGEN Anna Rabobank-Liv Woman Cycling Team	00:00:00
2.		VAN DIJK Ellen Boels - Dolmans Cycling Team	-
3.		ARMITSTEAD Elizabeth Boels - Dolmans Cycling Team	-
4.		BLAAK Chantal Boels - Dolmans Cycling Team	-

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Click here to read more at Ella CyclingTips. Click here to see a photo gallery with in-depth captions from the race.

Greg Van Avermaet claims innocence after doping investigation emerges

by Shane Stokes

Named in media reports Saturday morning as being suspected of doping, Greg Van Avermaet (BMC) has claimed innocence and said that he is confident that he will be cleared.

The 29-year-old Belgian was told on Thursday that he had to appear before the Belgian Cycling Federation on March 13 to answer allegations that he was involved in banned practices with the controversial doctor Chris Mertens.

According to the Het Nieuwsblad newspaper, Van Avermaet is not suspected of using EPO or anabolic steroids, but rather of using the banned practice of ozone doping. The offence is thought to date back to 2011.

If proven Van Avermaet could face a lengthy ban. Van Avermaet was, predictably, the centre of media attention at Het Nieuwsblad on Saturday morning. He insisted he had nothing to hide.

“Yes, I have been long with doctor Mertens, but I have not used any infusions. It is absurd that I always have to justify myself, but that is part of the modern cycling for sure. I’m glad my team let me start. I am convinced that everything will be okay.”

Click here to read more at CyclingTips.

What’s next for Astana? Team indicates it will fight UCI request to withdraw licence

by Shane Stokes

Responding to the UCI’s request to its Licence Commission to withdraw Astana’s WorldTour licence, the team has indicated that it will fight the decision before that commission and may also take the matter to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

The statement raises the prospect of a battle between the team of Tour de France winner Vincenzo Nibali and cycling’s governing body.

“Astana Pro Team will reserve its rights pending due process at the Independent License Commission to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport following the scheduled procedure.”

The UCI recently received the results of that audit and, in its communication over the weekend, made clear that the outcome was not good for the team.

“After careful review of this extensive report, the UCI strongly believes that it contains compelling grounds to refer the matter to the Licence Commission and request the Astana Pro Team licence be withdrawn,” it stated.

Click here to read more at CyclingTips.

Armstrong and CIRC: Questions were limited, reduction in lifetime ban thought unlikely

by Shane Stokes

Although Lance Armstrong recently gave the impression that he was fully cooperative with the Cycling Independent Reform Commission, telling the BBC that he gave full details in two meetings with the independent body, it appears that version of events may be misleading.

According to multiple sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, Armstrong’s lawyers imposed strict controls on the questions that CIRC was able to put to the Texan.

Those barriers meant that the scope of the two meetings were greatly limited, thus preventing CIRC from being able to fully scrutinise the disqualified seven-time Tour de France winner.

While Armstrong has already been found guilty of long-term doping and other charges and handed a lifetime ban, the details of how he was able to dope for so long without detection was one of the areas that anti-doping authorities were keen to explore.

CIRC’s final report is due to be sent to the UCI shortly. The governing body will then examine it, considering the sporting and legal implications of the conclusions reached. It has pledged to publish the full report and to name names where possible, although it said that some redactions may be necessary.

Click here to read more at CyclingTips.

13 things your friends don’t understand about cycling

Do you remember when you were first getting into cycling? There were no doubt some things about the sport that didn’t make a whole lot of sense to you. Those same things might now seem obvious, while still puzzling your not-so-cycling-savvy friends.

Here’s an entertaining (and admittedly British) list of such things from the team at Cycling Weekly which you might be able to identify with. Here’s an excerpt:

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The best riders hardly ever race each other

Last weekend, Geraint Thomas won a race. Which, make no mistake, was a fantastic achievement. But it did lead to the following conversation: “He won, eh? Wow. So he’s better than Chris Froome now?” “No, Froome was in the Ruta del Sol racing against Contador.” “Oh. What about Wiggo?” “Er… feet up, listening to Small Faces’ B-sides, I think.” “That bloke who won the Tour de France?” “He was in the Tour of Oman.” “I give up.”

It is weird. It’s a bit like Manchester United spending most of the time playing in the local pub league, Chelsea organising a kickabout in the park with West Ham every other weekend when they don’t have to look after the kids, and Liverpool not playing anyone at all until May because they don’t want to peak too soon.

Click here to read the full article at Cycling Weekly.

Design of an automatic shift control system with self-learning ability for a bicycle

Researchers have published a paper in the Journal of the Chinese Institute of Engineers about an “automatic shift control system” for a bicycle that they’ve been working on; a system with a “self-learning ability”.

The system reportedly uses the concept of “pseudo pedaling speed” as the shifting basis, where pseudo pedaling speed is “derived from the wheel speed read through a microcontroller”.

The researchers suggest that all riders’ pseudo pedalling speed approach a normal distribution (informally referred to as a bell curve) and therefore an algorithm can be used to determine optimal shifting time.

There are obvious issues with an automatic shifting system — not least the fact that different riders prefer riding with a different cadence — but it will be interesting to watch the development of this technology.

Click here to read more and to access the full paper.

The Week in Bike: Het Nieuwsblad Eve

Did you miss last week’s biggest cycling headlines? Let Cosmo Catalano bring you up to speed as only he can with The Week in Bike.

How the Race was Won: Omloop Het Nieuwsblad

And speaking of Cosmo, here’s his look at Saturday’s Omloop Het Nieuwsblad which was won by Ian Stannard or, as Cosmo hints at in the video description, was lost by Etixx-Quick-Step.

Google Maps’ secret weapon: cyclists

Here’s an interesting video from the folks at the Wall Street Journal looking at the role cyclists play in updating and maintaining Google Maps.

Click here for more from the Wall Street Journal.

What You Missed

And finally this morning, here are a few things you might have missed at CyclingTips in the past few days:

• Martyn Ashton: Despite paralysis, goal is to be back on bike this year
• Cranktip pedals first look
• Daily News Digest: Friday February 27