| Daily News Digest

In this morning’s edition of the CyclingTips Daily News Digest: Giacomo Nizzolo wins the GP Nobili; Milan-San Remo this Sunday; Gerrans delays return, will miss Volta a Catalunya but should be back for Pais Vasco; Earle - Down the track I’d really like to specialise in the one day races; A new brain injury test for cyclists; Richie Porte’s Col de la Madone record; Single-chainring drivetrain coming to road bikes?; 18 reasons why registering bicycles is a bad idea; Roadtripping Thailand - coming this morning; Highlights from the Ronde van Drenthe; A profile of Giovanni Jimenez Ocampo, Colombia’s first professional cyclist; LottoNL-Jumbo previews Milan-San Remo.

Giacomo Nizzolo wins the GP Nobili

Trek Factory Racing sprinter Giacomo Nizzolo has taken his first win of the season, dashing to victory in the 1.HC GP Nobili in Stresa, Italy on Thursday.

GP Nobili Rubinetterie 2015

The Italian proved fastest in a reduced bunch sprint, crossing the line ahead of Simone Ponti (Southeast) and Marco Haller (Katusha).

“In the end I took the wheel of [Alejandro] Valverde who was helping take [JJ] Lobato to the front, but I was left with 300 metres to go, and I had no choice but to go long,” Nizzolo said in a team press release. “It was a long sprint, and I was scared I would be passed in the last metres.”

It took nearly half of the race’s 187.5km for the day’s breakaway to be let go by the peloton; a 27-rider group that built a lead of more than three minutes. Only seven remained in that lead group the first time over the Massino Visconti climb. On the second ascent Valverde and Davide Rebellin (CCC-Sprandi-Polkowice) attacked before catching up to and passing the seven leaders.

The race was all back together with 7km to go though, setting things up for a bunch kick from about 50 riders.

1.	NIZZOLO Giacomo Trek Factory Racing	04:00:19
2.	PONZI Simone Southeast	-
3.	HALLER Marco Team Katusha	-

Click here to read more at VeloNews.

Milan-San Remo this Sunday

The first Monument of the 2015 season is upon us with Milan-San Remo taking place this Sunday. The 293km race is traditionally one for the sprinters but as The Inner Ring writes, this could be the last year for the foreseeable future that the sprinters have a chance of getting to the finish:

“

Over the years the race has added extra climbs to thwart the sprinters and the prospect of the Pompeiana climb looms for 2016. It means this year’s Milan-Sanremo is the last chance for the sprinters to win.

Last year RCS was planning to add the climb to Pompeiana, it would have come after the Cipressa climb and before the Poggio.Its length and steepness combined with the subtraction of a section of the Via Aurelia coastal road meant no chance for the sprinters.

But Mother Nature must like sprinters because landslides on the descent meant the road could not be used; less prosaically, the local municipality has to ration the cash and isn’t been in a rush to repair this minor road. RCS promised to add the race for 2015 but it’s been skipped again, heavy winter rains took their toll.

We have a full preview of the race coming later today but in the mean time, be sure to check out the startlist and The Inner Ring’s full article.

Gerrans delays return, will miss Volta a Catalunya but should be back for Pais Vasco

by Shane Stokes

Orica-GreenEdge rider Simon Gerrans has been forced to delay his return to competition after announcing today he’s still recovering from a fracture sustained at Strade Bianche.

The Australian had a consulation on Thursday and as a result of that meeting, has decided that he isn’t ready to line out in next week’s Volta Ciclista a Catalunya, as had been planned.

“I had my elbow fracture checked by a specialist today and unfortunately my recovery isn’t to a point where I’m able to ride on the road,” he said. “So I will need to skip the Volta Catalunya.

“For the moment I will continue to do a lot of work on the home trainer and will hopefully get back out on the road in the near future.

“At this stage, my next race is set to be Tour of the Basque Country in a couple of weeks time.”

The delay is an additional complication for Gerrans’ ambition of successfully defending his Liège-Bastogne-Liège title. It is unclear whether he will have sufficient time to get into the kind of shape necessary to challenge, or if he will instead have to pin his hopes on later events.

Click here to read more at CyclingTips.

Earle: Down the track I’d really like to specialise in the one day races

by Shane Stokes

Australian rider Nathan Earle (Sky) has said that he hopes to ride his first Grand Tour this season and then go on to bigger targets down the line. The Tasmanian told CyclingTips’ Shane Stokes at the Tour de Langkawi that he’s content to use the current period to add to his experience and to build strength.

“I think I can see myself as a one-day sort of rider in the future,” said Earle. “Not Roubaix style stuff, but the one days like the Ardennes Classics, San Sebastian. Those sorts of rides are the sort of races I like.

“I don’t think I will be a GC guy. I can climb but I can’t climb with the best of them. I think I am more of a punchy climber. I still have a bit of a sprint on me and down the track I’d really like to specialise in the one day races and also be a super-domestique for the big guys in the tours.”

Earle has said previously said that his first season at World Tour level was tough at times, but feels better about his 2015 season and what lies ahead.

“Obviously coming into a team like this I am just riding a support role most of the time. This year obviously I will just be looking at doing the same, but I will be trying to be consistent all year with the support that I give.”

Click here to read the full story at CyclingTips.

A new brain injury test for cyclists

Outdoor Online has put together an interesting feature article about concussion testing in cycling, focused partially on cognitive analysis techniques being used by US ProConti squad UnitedHealthcare.

The team’s analysis technique “utilises baseline testing done on its athletes throughout the season” and was developed “after team doctors pulled UHC star sprinter Kiel Reijnen from a race following a crash. The ad hoc nature of the assessment left Reijnen angry and the doctors searching for a less subjective procedure.”

Here’s an excerpt from the piece, about UHC’s testing procedure:

“

Before racing season begins: A team physician conducts this series of tests three times to establish a baseline.

Step 1: Balance

- The athlete stands with both feet on the ground, with eyes closed, for 20 seconds. Each balance correction is noted.
- The test is repeated on a single, dominant foot.
- A final, one-legged test is run on a soft surface like grass, carpet, or a foam pad.

Step 2: Cognition

- The physician tells the athlete a list of five words: banana, golf ball, pillow, coffee, feather. After the next two tests, the athlete attempts to recall the list. Accuracy is measured.
- The athlete is given a series of five or six numbers. The physician then records how long it takes to repeat the series backward.

Click here to read more at Outside Online.

Richie Porte’s Col de la Madone record

The Col de la Madone has become somewhat infamous in cycling circles as the climb that Lance Armstrong used to use to test his form ahead of the Tour de France. Armstrong aside, the climb really is a great testing ground and is used by many pros to test their form.

Recent Paris-Nice winner Richie Porte (Sky) is one such rider and the Tasmanian (who lives just down the road in Monaco during the season) told Cycling Weekly that he now holds the fastest-known time up the climb.

Porte reportedly completed the climb in 29 minutes 40 seconds just before last year’s Tour de France, nearly 30 seconds faster than the previous record which was held by his teammate Chris Froome.

Both times are apparently faster than Armstrong’s best-ever attempt of 30:47, set before the 1999 Tour de France.

Click here to read more at Cycling Weekly. And click here for a piece we wrote about the Col de la Madone after riding it a few times before the 2013 Tour de France.

Single-chainring drivetrain coming to road bikes?

Single-chainring drivetrains have been a fixture in mountain biking for a while now and the same is true of cyclocross. Could it be that the same technology could soon be popular on road bikes as well?

A couple weeks back Slowtwitch’s Herbert Krabel took some photos of the bike being ridden by triathlete Jordan Rapp; a bike which featured a 54-tooth SRAM X-Sync single-chainring setup. And a prototype of the technology has already been seen in Specialized’s Venge Lunch Race.

For more information about how the technology works and its potential applications, check out this article at CyclingNews. Click here to read more at Slowtwitch and here at VeloNews.

18 reasons why registering bicycles is a bad idea

If you’re a cyclist — and we’ll assume you are given you’re reading this — you’ve probably had someone try to convince you that registration for cyclists is a good idea. Michael O’Reilly from Fairfax Media has had more than a few people try to convince him of that fact, and so he wrote an article entitled “18 reasons why registering bicycles is a bad idea”.

Here’s an excerpt:

“

2. Car registration doesn’t “pay for the roads”. Roads are funded through general taxation – we all pay for them. And urban/suburban roads, where you find most cyclists, are maintained by councils. If a local cyclist is riding in a suburb, their rates or rent payments likely helped fund the road they’re on.

3. Implementing such a scheme would be massively expensive. We’re talking a sizeable new or expanded bureaucracy to process the more than 1.1 million bike sales every year, and register the many millions more already out there. As a result …

4. Registration wouldn’t raise much, if any, money. Administration costs would guzzle fees. A NSW government report says the annual cost for a driver’s licence is completely swallowed up by what it costs to issue a skerrick of plastic with your picture on it. And if the costs blew out, the funds would come out of everyone’s pockets - not just bike riders.

Click here to read more at the Sydney Morning Herald.

Roadtripping Thailand: coming this morning

In just a few hours time we’ll be revealing the latest instalment in our popular Roadtripping series: Roadtripping Thailand. Having spent all day yesterday agonising over which photos to include we can tell you you’re in for a treat. Here’s a sample:

Be sure to swing by later today for the full article.

Update: the piece is now live. You can read it here. We hope you enjoy it as much as we enjoyed pulling it together.

Highlights from the Ronde van Drenthe

The UCI has just published a nearly-half-hour highlights package from the first women’s World Cup of the season, the Ronde van Drenthe. Check it out here:

And if you haven’t already be sure to check out the race report and awesome photo gallery over at Ella CyclingTips.

A profile of Giovanni Jimenez Ocampo, Colombia’s first professional cyclist

Giovanni Jimenez Ocampo was the first Colombian cyclist to ever become a professional. He raced for Belgian teams almost exclusively, becoming a fixture in the early spring classics like the Tour of Flanders, Amstel Gold, Gent Wevelgem and Paris-Roubaix. This video is a great profile of the man. Enjoy.

LottoNL-Jumbo previews Milan-San Remo

This is a simple but really nice preview video of this weekend’s “La Primavera”. Can’t wait!

Limited Edition The Secret Pro T-shirts now available

Due to popular demand we’ve ordered a small number of limited edition TSP t-shirts:

secret_pro_mockup_t-shirt_grande

Finally you can prove to your mates who The Secret Pro really is and stop the speculation.

- Made from 100% Certified Ethical Organic Cotton
- Made and printed in Australia. Guaranteed sweatshop free
- Slightly tailored 140 GSM ringspun organic cotton for a closer fit that holds its shape

You can find them on our store here.

What You Missed

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

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Don’t get dropped — keep up to date with regular CyclingTips content, updates, special offers and events, just by signing up to our newsletter.

Today’s feature image comes from Luke Pegrum and was shot in Thailand as part of our upcoming Roadtripping Thailand feature, coming later today.

Neil

Kudos to UHC for the concussion protocol. Good to see this taken seriously.
Jeff

Porte and Froome are both faster than Lance Armstrong? I thought one of the signs that there was less artificial enhancement in use these days was that current riders are slower than Armstrong, Pantani etc . Must be those new-fangled electric gears making the difference I guess …
- jules
  
  It’s confusing isn’t it? Mind you in Tyler H’s book he describes Lance turning up from off-season with bulk upper body muscle and carrying a lot of weight. While it’s the clear the implication was the doping benefit compensated for that, he (Hamilton) gave the impression of what in some ways was pretty crude preparation by Lance. I find it believable that modern sports science has clawed back some of the gains lost to anti-doping, but still..
  - Michele
    
    So stop casting aspersions on SKY Jules. Totally unfair.
    
    Sure, they may have employed - naively - some riders / support staff with dodger, I mean dodgy backgrounds. But they’re not going to dope are they! :)
    
    Love this quote by Porte:
    
    “That would have been me,” [In regards to who broke Froome’s record], Porte told Cycling Weekly after winning Paris-Nice for a second time last weekend. “I don’t think anyone is going to beat that.”
    - jules
      
      i find it hard to believe Sky or its (at least its key) riders are doping. but i write that, then I think of how many times previously we’ve all been disappointed.
      - Michele
        
        Too right. In all seriousness, nothing will surprise me anymore.
        
        I don’t get disappointed anymore Jules. I’ve just set the bar extremely low.
        
        Gavin Adkins
        
        Totally agree. Over the last 20+ years of following road racing I have become a bit numb to the doping. Personally, I found O’Grady’s confession to be particularly galling, but since then it only really annoys me if the rider had previously been adamant about being clean.
    - Dave
      
      Of course they aren’t doping. Sky riders only get caught just AFTER leaving the team.
    - Cynic
      
      You’re not a doper if you’re a good bloke though.
      Consider Jens Voigt. Won yellow, drove the front of the bunch for years, rode like a monster all against the worst dopers in the sport. Robbie McEwen too. Won green jerseys against all those doping sprinters.
      Everyone else from that era has come out and confessed or been named or busted. Everyone they beat, names like Zabel, Cippolini, Beloki, Simeoni, Bettini, Virenque, Kloden, Ullrich, Rasmussen, Pozzato and Basso all have. Even Stuey O even dribbled out something that looked vaguely like a confession.
      Not Jens or Robbie, so not only are they good blokes but they were phenomenal athletes to win clean.
      Just buy the T shirt and lap up the “shut up legs” myth.
    - Bob
      
      its more than that…Tyler said that he would prefer (for performance reasons) to lose a kg than to gain (i cant remember the exact number) in hematocrit level.
      
      It frustrates me when people think that increased performance in the peloton = doping. It might, but it seems that the more obvious answer is that previously the peloton was nowhere near as professional in training as today (except in their approach to doping). They say doping gave you that extra 5%, im pretty sure just sky’s marginal gains alone - let alone the barometric chambers, dieticians and mountain top training camps that everyone does - will exceed that 5%
  - Ben
    
    I’m sure some fanatic will do/or has done a w/kg calc but rumors were that Richie is down around 59kg which is pretty exceptional, compared to Lance at at least 10kg more (or even 15kg)
    - Ben
      
      Rough calc at 59kg has him climbing at around 6.9w/kg if he is on a UCI approved bike.
      - 900Aero
        
        It’ll be a sad day if it ever turns out Richie is on the juice. But I guess thats what another generation said about Stuey.
- Frank
  
  Well isn’t it ironic then that two Sky riders have beaten Lance … all that jazz about incremental gains …
  - Dave
    
    One of whom was previously besties with Bjarne Riis, Fränk Schleck and Alberto Contador.
- Bex
  
  What about bike & gear weight? surely these days the lads are riding up with less equipment weight than 1999. And would training technology bring about that much improvement?… or maybe it was just a really windy day.
  - Robert Merkel
    
    There’s a 6.8kg minimum weight limit for all bikes, which was actually brought in in 1999. If anything, Armstrong’s bike might have been lighter.
    
    Losses from drivetrain friction might have reduced marginally, but they are very low anyway. Tyre rolling resistance might also have improved a little. The bikes are definitely more aerodynamic today, but mountain climbing is where this matters least. The effect is small but real; my guess is “not enough to make that much difference”.
    
    Other possibilities include that they’re not measuring from exactly the same points; also, that Armstrong’s time was when he wasn’t in superhuman form.
    
    Neither Froome nor Porte have matched the known doped riders of the 1990s and early 2000s on long climbs in race conditions. Doesn’t make them clean, of course, but if they were that’s when eyebrows would really be going up.
    - Arfy
      
      Armstrong’s 1999 bike was 8.6kg (http://www.bikeradar.com/au/road/gear/article/tour-de-france-winning-bikes-34375/)
      If Porte made a concerted effort to knock off top spot on the climb, he might even have used a non-UCI compliant bike as he wasn’t doing this in a race. He could easily have had 3.5kg over Armstrong on the bike alone.
- Mark
  
  Isn’t it sad that in the sport we all love (I assume you all like cycling as you are reading and posting on a cycling website), that whenever a record is broken or a great attack is made that you think the rider must be doping. There never seems to be the respect for the effort that the record / attack would require, nor is there any regard of how good some of these riders are. I hope you all watch other sports (100m running) with the same cynical approach. Move on, and help make this sport better by showing support for monumental efforts like Ritchie’s. If you continue to be sceptical about everything in this sport, you and all others that continually bring up doping will just make sure that pro riders will never ever share any data with the general public in fear that they will be branded a doper. I want to know how fast these riders are and how they compare to each other, it is the same reason that makes Strava such a popular application, that drive to beat and compare yourself with thousands of others. Ritchie 4 the Giro 2015.
Frank

I can’t see 1x drivetrains taking hold in road racing. In XC and CX, riders can compensate for the bigger jump between cogs over the (relatively) shorter courses. In a race at UCI level over hundreds of kilometres with long flat sections and long climbs, a jump of more than 10% between cogs means a rider can’t find the right cadence, and their pedalling style and power output suffers.
Simon

Are single chain-rings a legal option for criterium races? If I had a dedicated crit bike this would be ideal.
Ian

The video about Giovanni Jimenez Ocampo is excellent - well worth watching.
Gee

Incremental gains? Sports science? Lighter equipment? We are talking about an almost 4% improvement on the best time of a guy that doped his way to 7 TDF victories, against the similarly juiced Pantani, Ullrich etc.

Again, and as is always the case, there is a growing amount of circumstantial evidence that suggests doping: times that are better than dopers; bizarre and massive single day losses of form (Landis, Hamilton, Armstrong); extremely long periods at peak form etc.

Sky, Porte and Froome are highly suspicious.

What is the name of Porte’s dog? Just asking.
- Mark
  
  You must believe in the Yeti too. It appears you don’t need much evidence to jump onto conspiracies.
  - Gee
    
    New to the sport? Recently thrown out your Livestrong wristband? If the Yeti had this level of parallel data the that furry, fat headed, fifteen foot fella would not be an urban myth.
    
    In so many of the recent cases we have had circumstantial evidence that flagged suspicion. In most cases parochialism, pseudo science or the benefit of the doubt was given. Yet there we were with a paper full of flawed science ‘proving’ Lance was a physiological anomaly; a certificate that the cortisone in his system was on a therapeutic exemption; a testimony that Valverde had been guided to a doctor for a genetically engineered blood bag, but never doped he was just that good he could hang with the dopers; that Contador ate a bad steak that had been transported 900+ km for his discerning palate, all those other times he beat those dopers clean; that Frank and/or Andy Schleck needed that gynaecologist to look into their/his labial majoris?!
    
    So Sky, Porte, Froome just diet harder, train harder and get incremental gains that’s made them faster than the most juiced peletons on the planet on an ITT climb.
    
    As I said increasing amounts of circumstantial evidence are highly suspicious.
- Cervel-low
  
  Wow, you very succinctly proved the point made by Bob, above LOL
  - Gee
    
    Carvel-low, unfortunately you are right. As Bob points out, I see this andthink juice gear. Either front end as PEDs or back end cortico’s steroids for weight loss.
Anon N + 1

I read Mr. Reilly’s article setting our reasons for not registering bicycles and found it weak. It makes a number of claims that I believe are not correct.
1. He says “No official support for registering bikes.” Maybe in Australia. I registered my bikes with the police in various cities in California. While frequently ignored and poorly enforced, it was mandatory. When I was a kid, having had the bike registered allowed me to get it back when it was stolen, taken for a joy ride and abandoned (which is where the patrolman found it)
2. Car drivers don’t pay for the road. In most states in the U.S., the gasoline tax is earmarked for road building and maintenance. So drivers DO pay at least part of the cost of the roads.
3. Registration programs are expensive. See 1. It didn’t cost much to register my bikes. In Japan it is free and it can be done at a police station.
4. There is confusion here between registering bikes and registering cyclists. These are separate issues and should be evaluated separately.
5. Cyclists pay in other ways. So what? Is registration a good idea or not.
6. It would disproportionally affect the poor. See 1. I could afford it as a kid.
7. Discourage people from cycling. Maybe. Just make it easy to register. Are we talking about people or bikes? Anyway, just make it easy.
8. Not dangerous. So what? You need to get a fishing license don’t you?
9. Registering kids bikes in not a bad idea. As I said, I got my stolen bike back as a kid in part because it was registered.
10. Mounting problems. As a kid, it was a little metal plate over the rear brake. Other times, it was a sticker attached to the bike down by the bottom bracket. The bikes in the TDF all have a plate mounted under the saddle. At the ride for the public at the Tour Down Under, all the bikes have a chip mounted on their front fork (I admit this option would be fairly expensive)
11. A vest mounted system. OK. the registered owner is responsible for the vest. Be careful about who you loan it to. When you travel and rent a car, you need to carry your license
12. Cops can stop illegal activity anyway. True enough.
13. Shouldn’t have to buy safety. OK Does it have other merits?
14. It won’t save lives. OK, but does it have any other merits?
15. Police won’t take a witnesses word. In some places GoPro evidence provided by road users has been used
16. The running of red lights in not a big problem. Says you. The car drivers see it differently.
`17. A historical argument. So what? Times and situations change. What once worked may no longer be effective.
18. No national bike registration anywhere in the world. See 1 above. Plenty of localities have registration. I am reminded of my mother’s answer when I said “No one else has to do it.” She would say “But you do.”
- Abdu
  
  Bollocks.
  Keep trying though.