Astana doctor defends team’s anti-doping measures

In an article published on the Astana website, team doctor Joost de Maeseneer has defended the Kazakh setup’s anti-doping policies, suggesting that membership of the Movement for Credible Cycling (MPCC) indicates the team is suitably committed.

“We are members of the MPCC to check cortisol levels, we follow the no-needle policy, there are no outside supplements allowed, no outside trainers, we don’t use sprays – we think this is a good idea,” de Maeseneer explained.

“It adds to the overall number of blood tests we do in a year. I would say the top riders are tested approximately no less than 50 times per year. Nibali at the Tour was once tested four times in 24 hours.”

De Maeseneer’s defence comes as Astana faces the possibililty of having its WorldTour license scrapped. L’Equipe reports that the team has until March 20 to prepare a defence to the UCI’s license commission.

Click here to read more at the Astana website.

Conflicting reports about possible deal between Dekker and Lampre-Merida

by Shane Stokes

According to the Dutch paper De Telegraaf, the Merida bike company — co-naming-sponsor of the Lampre-Merida WorldTour squad — sees value in the possibility of signing Thomas Dekker for the rest of 2015.

“We want to make the team more international and have been for some time looking for a rider in the Benelux,” said Merida’s Peter Koperdraad.

“Last year the name Dekker was already talked about, but then his arrival was stopped by the Italians because they pointed to three quieter years in Garmin.

“Maybe his attempt to attack the hour record has made an impression. This week we are going to talk again.”

Lampre-Merida, meanwhile, is playing down talk of such a deal.

“We never thought of Thomas Dekker … because our philosophy is different,” general manager Giuseppe Saronni told Tuttobiciweb. “Maximum respect for Thomas … to face a challenge like the hour record despite not having a professional team behind, but the philosophy of the Lampre-Merida is to invest in young talents, add new pieces to the team of the future and to enhance interesting promises.”

Click here to read more at CyclingTips.

Sagan and Contador to race together for the first time at Tirreno-Adriatico

Peter Sagan’s move to Tinkoff-Saxo for the 2015 season was a highly anticipated one and one that put the Slovakian alongside six-time Grand Tour winner, Alberto Contador. The pair haven’t yet raced together and will do so for the first time at Tirreno-Adriatico next week.

As Andrew Hood writes for VeloNews, the structure of the week-long race should allow Sagan to chase stage victories while Contador races to defend his overall title, but the bigger question is one of how the two will work together once the Tour de France rolls around.

Here’s an excerpt:

“
Contador is desperate to win another yellow jersey, while Sagan will want to win what would be a fourth-straight green points jersey. Are those two goals realistic under the same house? Lotto couldn’t work it out between Cadel Evans and Robbie McEwen, nor could Telekom with Jan Ullrich and Erik Zabel. Team brass says the two goals are not necessarily incompatible.

“Both [Contador and Sagan] have said it’s possible to achieve both. It can beneficial for the two of them to each chase their own goals,” general manager Stefano Feltrin told VeloNews in an earlier interview. “Ultimately, it’s a sporting question, and Riis will have the final answer, but we don’t see it as a problem at all. In fact, it’s a bonus for us.”

Tirreno-Adriatico begins on Wednesday March 11. A startlist can be found here.

Click here to read more at VeloNews.

Elisa Longo Borghini and Valentina Scandolara preview Strade Bianche

As touched on in yesterday’s Daily News Digest, the inaugural women’s Strade Bianche is being raced this Saturday and there’s a great amount of anticipation about how the race will unfold. Over at our sister site, Ella, editor Jessi Braverman spoke to two high-profile Italian riders — Elisa Longo Borghini and Valentina Scandolara — to preview the race.

Here’s an excerpt of Scandolara’s impressions:

“
Everyone is talking about the gravel. The problem is not the gravel roads. The problem is that there is not one metre of flat. I think it’s going to be harder than Flèche Wallone.

The second gravel section is really the only one with loose gravel. The other gravel sections are more solid, but you still have to be careful. By the middle and by the sides is where the gravel gathers, especially in the second section. It’s really tricky to ride there. It will be like the cobbles where we race for position before the gravel sections and the climbs.

Click here to read the full article at Ella CyclingTips.

Marianne Vos to miss Strade Bianche and possibly the Tour of Flanders

Meanwhile Het Nieuwsblad reports that one notable omission from the startline at the women’s Strade Bianche will be Marianne Vos.

Vos is battling a hamstring injury that has hampered her since last last year with the three-time road world champion yet to race on the road so far in 2015. There are even some suggestions she mightn’t be fit and ready to race the Tour of Flanders on April 5.

Then again, she didn’t race Flanders last year either — her first race was Fleche Wallonne on April 23 — and she still had an amazing year on the road.

Click here to read more at Het Nieuwsblad.

Your training questions answered with Dig Deep Coaching

In the latest edition of our training Q&A series with Dig Deep Coaching, the team answered a handful of questions about training and racing, including about how to come back from injury, how to step up a grade and so on.

You can find the article here and if you’ve got a question you’d like to ask the Dig Deep team, simply send an email to [email protected] with the subject line “Dig Deep Coaching question”. We’ll forward it on to the appropriate person at Dig Deep.

Ventoux, the movie

Here’s the trailer for a Dutch feature film called Ventoux which follows four middle-aged men in their attempts to climb Mont Ventoux, 30 years after they first did so, learning plenty about themselves and each other in the process. There aren’t English subtitles, sadly, but you can get a feel for it regardless.

The film is based on a novel by Bert Wagendorp and is due out in May.

Home-made carbon fibre bikes using 3D-printed moulds

In this video Adrian Smith talks us through his home 3D-printing setup that has allowed him to build his own carbon fibre bikes at home. Very impressive.

Click here to watch the video.

The Pioneer promo video

We don’t tend to spend too much time covering mountain biking but we make exceptions when things look this good. This is a promo video for a week-long MTB race through New Zealand’s Southern Alps. Sign us up!

What You Missed

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 and Ashley Gruber and was shot at Omloop Het Nieuwblad.