In this morning’s edition of the CyclingTips Daily News Digest: Ilnur Zakarin wins Tour de Romandie; Kristijan Durasek holds on for victory in the Presidential Tour of Turkey; Lars Petter Nordhaug claims inaugural Tour de Yorkshire; Louse Mahé wins women’s Tour de Yorkshire; Anna van der Breggen takes out Elsy Jacobs title; Alena Amialiusik leads Velocio-SRAM 1-2 at Gracia Orlova; Lauren Kitchen sprints to Ronde van Overijssel victory; Lucy Coldwell wins the Mersey Valley Tour; Alex Dowsett smashes Rohan Dennis’ UCI hour record in Manchester; Jay McCarthy aiming to ride the Vuelta and Worlds; Blythe - Decision to leave WorldTour helped my career; Why Davide Rebellin should be allowed to ride the Giro d’Italia; Hundreds of cyclists turn up to Melbourne’s “Boulie tacks” protest ride; Win your own design with the Champion System ‘Kitspiration’ competition; Behind the scenes with IAM’s soigneurs; High5 Australian National Development Team selection camp documentary trailer.
Ilnur Zakarin wins Tour de Romandie
Ilnur Zakarin (Katusha) has taken out the 2015 Tour de Romandie after moving into the overall lead in the race’s penultimate stage then finishing third on the final-stage individual time trial. Zakarin’s teammate Simon Spilak was second overall, 17 seconds behind, while two-time defending champion Chris Froome (Sky) had to settle for third, another 18 seconds behind.
Cycling: Sweet success for Zakarin in Tour of Romandie http://t.co/AOqvtB6x2j pic.twitter.com/2sxFuCAqXF
— Channel NewsAsia (@ChannelNewsAsia) May 3, 2015
Going into the weekend Michael Albasini (Orica-GreenEdge) lead the race overall after back-to-back stage victories. His compatriot Stefan Kung (BMC) won Friday’s stage 4 with a solo move in wet and miserable conditions while Albasini held on to the leader’s yellow jersey.
On the mountain top finish to stage 5, Thibaut Pinot (FDJ.fr) took his first win of the year while Zakarin, who finished second on the stage, moved into the overall lead.
And on the final stage ITT it was three-time former world ITT champion Tony Martin (Etixx-Quick-Step) that took victory with Spilak second and Zakarin third. Chris Froome had been expected to post a strong result in the ITT but finished 13th, enough to see the former Tour de France winner finish third overall.
The victory is the biggest of Zakarin’s career; a career that included two years on the sidelines from 2009 after testing positive to the banned steroid methandienone.
Final Classification: > - Stage Result
Sunday 3rd May 2015
| 1. |  |
ZAKARIN Ilnur
Team Katusha
|
18:36:30 |
| 2. |  |
PILAK Simon
Team Katusha
|
0:17 |
| 3. |  |
FROOME Christopher
Team Sky
|
0:35 |
Zakarin
Belkov
Pinot
Team Katusha Click here to read more at VeloNews.
Kristijan Durasek holds on for victory in the Presidential Tour of Turkey
by Shane Stokes
Lampre-Merida’s Kristijan Durasek overcame illness on the final day of the Presidential Tour of Turkey to take overall victory in the eight-stage 2.HC race yesterday. Eduardo Sepúlveda (Bretagne – Séché Environnement) was second, 32 seconds back, while Australia’s Jay McCarthy (Tinkoff-Saxo) was third, another 24 seconds down.
Stage 3 winner Davide Rebellin (CCC Sprandi Polkowice) had been leading overall going into Friday’s stage but he cracked on the uphill finish as Pello Bilbao (Caja Rural - Seguros RGA) took stage honours and Durasek, with sixth place, moved into the overall lead.
On the penultimate stage Mark Cavendish (Etixx-Quick-Step) took his third stage win of the race, sprinting to victory in Izmir as Durasek held on to the overall lead.
And on the final stage Lluis Mas (Caja Rural – Seguros RGA) attacked with just over a kilometre to go to the finish in Istanbul and was able to hold off the bunch behind (which was led in by Mark Cavendish).
Durasek finished safely in the bunch, securing what would be the biggest victory of the Croatian rider’s career so far.
Final Classification: > - Stage Result
Sunday 3rd May 2015
| 1. |  |
DURASEK Kristijan
Lampre - Merida
|
31:06:44 |
| 2. |  |
SEPúLVEDA Eduardo
Bretagne - Séché Environnement
|
0:32 |
| 3. |  |
MCCARTHY Jay
Tinkoff - Saxo
|
0:56 |
CavendishClick here to read more at CyclingTips.
Lars Petter Nordhaug claims inaugural Tour de Yorkshire
Lars Petter Nordhaug (Sky) has claimed victory in the first ever Tour de Yorkshire, a three-day UCI 2.1 event created to preserve the legacy of the Tour de France’s visit to the English county in 2014.
Tour de Yorkshire: Team Sky's Lars Petter Nordhaug finishes top of general classification http://t.co/7yxobxR3hg pic.twitter.com/N2GePJVcEI
— Mirror Sport (@MirrorSport) May 3, 2015
Nordhaug set up his overall victory with a win from a five-rider breakaway on stage 1.
On stage 2 Moreno Hofland (LottoNL-Jumbo) took his first win of the year, winning the bunch sprint into Yorkshire.
And on the final stage Ben Hermans (BMC) attacked solo with 10km remaining and was able to hold off the surging field for victory. Nordhaug finished sixth, enough to secure overall victory ahead of Sammy Sanchez (BMC) and Thomas Voeckler (Europcar), both of whom were in the stage 1 breakaway with Nordhaug.
The race attracted large crowds and was significant for being Bradley Wiggins’ first race in the blue and red colours of Team Wiggins. Marcel Kittel (Giant-Alpecin) also made his return to racing after nearly three months off after injury but withdrew from the race after crashing on stage 1.
Click here to read more at Cycling Weekly.
Louse Mahé wins women’s Tour de Yorkshire
by Jessi Braverman
In the one-day women’s Tour de Yorkshire women’s race on Saturday, Louise Mahé (Ikon-Mazda) took victory ahead of British national criterium champion Eileen Roe (Wiggle Honda) and Katie Curtis (Pearl Izumi) in York.
Thousands of fans lined the street to see the women tackle four local laps ahead of the arrival of the men’s peloton. Both the women’s race and the men’s race utilised the same circuit, with the men completing two laps to conclude stage two.
Approximately 30 riders barrelled toward the line for the reduced field sprint. Several minutes were required before a photo finish announced Mahé as the winner.
Anna van der Breggen takes out Elsy Jacobs title
by Jessi Braverman
Anna van der Breggen (Rabo Liv) took her second straight victory in the three-day Festival Elsy Jacobs on Sunday, holding on to the lead she took in the prologue ITT on Friday.
Both of the race’s road stages were won by escape groups – groups that were nearly caught in the closing kilometres. Elena Cecchini (Lotto Soudal Ladies) was part of a four-rider breakaway that went clear in the final 20 kilometres of an extremely aggressive stage 2. She drove the breakaway to the line when collaboration waned in the escape and won the four-up sprint to snag her first win of the season.
Floortje Mackaij (Liv-Plantur) proved strongest on stage two, besting Australia’s Katrin Garfoot (Orica-AIS) and Katarzyna Niewiadoma (Rabo-Liv) from a three-up sprint.
Final Classification: > - Stage Result
Sunday 3rd May 2015
| 1. |  |
VAN DER BREGGEN Anna
Rabobank-Liv Woman Cycling Team
|
05:21:29 |
| 2. | |
VAN VLEUTEN Annemiek
Bigla Pro Cycling Team
|
0:02 |
| 3. | |
BRAND Lucinda
Rabobank-Liv Woman Cycling Team
|
0:03 |
Click here to read more at the Rabo Liv website.
Alena Amialiusik leads Velocio-SRAM 1-2 at Gracia Orlova
Velocio-SRAM proved the team to beat at Gracia Orlova in the Czech Republic, winning four of the five stages and taking the top two places on the general classification. Alena Amialiusik soloed to victory on stage one, pulling on the race leader’s jersey with a two-second margin. By race end, she would win ahead of teammate Trixi Worrack by 15 seconds.
Four victories for the team from five stages, top two in GC #GraziaOrlova, amazing team, best staff @velociosports pic.twitter.com/HG6M5gHgpj
— Alena Amialiusik (@amialiusik) May 3, 2015
Ingrid Lorvik (Norwegian National Team) outclimbed a seven-rider lead group to win the stage 2 hilltop finish. Amialiusik was third across the line, two seconds behind Lorvik, and maintained her overall lead. The third day of racing in the Czech Republic was a double day which saw Velocio-SRAM occupy the top five places in the race against the clock. Individual time trial world champion Lisa Brennauer won the 13.5km effort ahead of teammates Trixi Worrack and Amialiusik.
In the afternoon, Karol-Ann Canuel won the short road stage with an aggressive attack out of a five-rider breakaway that saw her cross the finish line alone. Elise Delzenne, who took her first professional victory just last weekend at Dwors doors de Westoek, won the final stage of Gracia Orlova from a break of two.
Final Classification: > - Stage Result
Sunday 3rd May 2015
| 1. |  |
AMIALIUSIK Alena
Velocio- SRAM
|
10:19:09 |
| 2. |  |
WORRACK Trixi
Velocio- SRAM
|
0:15 |
| 3. |  |
BUJAK Eugenia
BTC City Ljubljana
|
0:32 |
Click here to read more at the Velocio-SRAM website.
Lauren Kitchen sprints to Ronde van Overijssel victory
Oceania champion Lauren Kitchen (Hitec Products) took what is arguably the biggest victory in her career on Saturday, sprinting to victory in the Ronde van Overijssel in the Netherlands at the head of a five-rider escape group.
BAM! @LaurenKitchen1 takes a big UCI win @RvOverijssel by winning the sprint of a group of 5!! (????sportfoto.nl) pic.twitter.com/vNTZ7i2JzZ
— Team Hitec Products (@Hitec_Products) May 1, 2015
An elite group of 10 riders was leading the race with 30km to go but this group was then split in two, with Lauren Kitchen and former ITT world champion Ellen van Dijk (Boels Dolmans) among the riders to make the leading group. The quintet was able to stay away, finishing six seconds clear of Roxane Knetemann (Rabo Liv) who finished just ahead of the chasing peloton.
| 1. | |
KITCHEN Lauren
Hitec Products
|
03:39:45 |
| 2. | |
VAN GOGH Natalie
Parkhotel Valkenburg
|
- |
| 3. | |
KOSTER Anouska
Rabobank-Liv Woman Cycling Team
|
- |
Click here to read more at RTV Oost.
Lucy Coldwell wins the Mersey Valley Tour
Scottish Commonwealth Games representative Lucy Coldwell (Holden Women’s Cycling) has sealed overall victory at the Mersey Valley Tour in Tasmania after finding the podium on all of the race’s three stages.
Image: Caniluna
Coldwell began the race in fine form, finishing second in the individual time trial behind Bridie O’Donnell (Total Rush) and ahead of former national champion Felicity Wardlaw (Bicycle Superstore).
Coldwell then took the honours on Saturday’s second stage, attacking from an elite, three-rider lead group in the closing stages to beat Ruth Corset (Total Rush) and Jenelle Crooks (Specialized Securitor). That result put Coldwell into the overall lead with a 37-second advantage.
And then on the final stage, Coldwell’s teammate Shannon Malseed took victory after being in the day’s main break and then attacking solo in the closing stages.
The Mersey Valley Tour was the fourth of 10 events in the Subaru women’s National Road Series for 2015. The next event is the Battle on the Border, held at the end of May.
Click through for full results from the 2015 Mersey Valley Tour.
Alex Dowsett smashes Rohan Dennis’ UCI hour record in Manchester
by Shane Stokes
Alex Dowsett (Movistar) has set a new world hour record, covering 52.937km in Manchester on Saturday, 446 metres further than the previous record held by Australia’s Rohan Dennis (BMC).
Dowsett started conservatively, clocking a pace of just over 52.2km/h in the first quarter of an hour. He and his support team had seen other riders get the pacing wrong during their attempts, many slowing inside the final segment, and they were determined that this would not be the case.
“In training, we only ever did like 35 minutes, so there was always those 25 minutes which were a bit of an unknown,” he said. “But 30 minutes in, I was still feeling comfortable. The time was ticking away a lot quicker than I was expecting.”
Dowsett’s early pace had him at approximately 17.1 seconds per lap early on. However after 35 minutes he ramped that up to 16.5 seconds and continued to push all the way to the end of the hour. His 52.937 kilometres was just 103 metres short of the 53.040 kilometres clocked up by Miguel Indurain on a more extreme bike in 1994.
World ITT champion Bradley Wiggins will stage his own attempt in just over one month’s time, attacking Dowsett’s new mark at the Lee Valley Velopark in London on June 7.
Click here to read more at CyclingTips.
Jay McCarthy aiming to ride the Vuelta and Worlds
by Shane Stokes
Netting a superb third overall in the Presidential Tour of Turkey and thus registering his best result since turning professional in 2013, Australian rider Jay McCarthy (Tinkoff-Saxo) has said that he would prefer to miss out on a Tour de France debut this year and instead ride the Vuelta a España.
McCarthy shone in Turkey, netting fourth on the race’s first mountain stage to Elmali and moving into the same position overall. He held that placing until the final stage, then moved up another notch after the rider in second overall, Davide Rebellin, crashed out. McCarthy’s performance showed that he is a rider for the future, but he wants to pace himself and also take his own opportunities where he can.
“I am hoping that maybe the Tour de France is out of question this year for me,” he told CyclingTips immediately after finishing 13th on the final stage. “Of course it is great to ride for Alberto [Contador] but it is also nice for me to build my character, to go into some smaller races and have my own chance.
“I think I should be in the mix of doing the Vuelta at the end of the year. And then hopefully the Australian team give me a chance to compete at the world championships in America. I think the Vuelta is a perfect preparation race for the worlds.”
For now McCarthy heads to the US to race the Tour of California. He will ride in support of Peter Sagan’s quest for stage victories but will also be given GC opportunities.
Click here to read more at CyclingTips.
Blythe: Decision to leave WorldTour helped my career
Stepping down from the WorldTour to ride with the Continental squad NFTO might have seemed like a step down for Adam Blythe, but the British rider believes it was a good move for his career.
“I’m definitely happy with the decision,” Blythe told Cyclingnews. “It was nice to just go back and get stuck into racing again and find my feet a little bit. I’m definitely happy with how it went compared to the early years – with BMC I wasn’t really doing so good.”
It was Blythe’s victory in that one-day race that helped him get a contract at Orica-GreenEdge. His main role at the Australian team thus far has been looking after youngsters Caleb Ewan and Magnus Cort in the sprints. Ewan impressed with second place on the opening stage of this year’s Tour of Turkey but struggled after that.
“He’s super fast but he needs, it’s not that he doesn’t have confidence in himself, but he needs to make himself well known so he gets a bit more space in the bunch”, Blythe said of Ewan. “Then I think it will be a lot easier for him because now there are a lot of guys trying to push him out the way because he’s young.”
Click here to read more at Cyclingnews.
Why Davide Rebellin should be allowed to ride the Giro d’Italia
Davide Rebellin’s stage win at the Tour of Turkey last week was met with sighs of frustration from many cycling fans who remember, all too well, Rebellin’s past transgressions. And while the 43-year-old’s great form in recent weeks hasn’t been popular, he would seem to be a walk-up start for the Giro d’Italia, given his CCC Sprandi Polkowice team has a wildcard entry.
There are unconfirmed reports, however, that organisers of the Giro told the team that Rebellin and his teammate Stefan Schumacher — who has a similarly chequered past — weren’t welcome at the year’s first Grand Tour. As The Inner Ring writes, if the rumours turn out to be true, it sets a troubling precedent.
“Where is the line drawn? Riders over 40 who didn’t make a theatrical sofa-TV confession? Do we exclude all riders with a doping history? Well Alberto Contador got busted for clenbuterol and Ivan Basso has been banned too but both riders belong to a wealthy World Tour team so the Giro doesn’t have leverage over them.But Franco Pellizotti looks set to captain wildcard invitees Androni and he’s been thrown off the Giro podium for his bio passport, should someone have a word with them?
Let’s not dwell too much, it’s easy to start drowning in bias, inconsistency and hypocrisy.
Click here to read the full article at The Inner Ring.
Hundreds of cyclists turn up to Melbourne’s “Boulie tacks” protest ride
For 14 months now cyclists riding on Melbourne’s popular Yarra Boulevard have been the target of upholstery tacks dropped on the road and adjacent bike lanes by, police suspect, a frustrated local resident. On Sunday morning, hundreds of cyclists took to the popular cycling thoroughfare to take part in a police-escorted protest ride.
VicRoads swept the road for tacks late on Saturday night but, presumably after hearing about the ride, someone deposited fresh tacks on the road after that, leading to dozens of punctures during the protest ride.
Despite this the atmosphere was positive as riders of all abilities rode together on a slow lap of the “Boulie”, starting and finishing at Walmer Street. Encouragingly, the ride attracted significant mainstream media attention with Channel 7 and Channel 9 covering the event in their evening news bulletins, and the ABC and The Age among the other outlets to report on the ride.
Win your own design with the Champion System ‘Kitspiration’ competition
We’re now in our third month of the Champion System “Kitspiration” competition — your chance to win some kit with your own design for you and four of your mates.
Here’s last month’s winner:
We want to see the kit that you would design for the group you ride with, your club, or your weekend crew. Just download the template (jersey and bib, or trisuit), get into “creative mode”, and design away. It doesn’t need to be fancy. Crayons will do if you don’t know how to use Photoshop.
Every entry throughout the next four months will also go into the draw to win an incredible money-can’t-buy experience at the 2016 Santos Tour Down Under with a team that Champion Systems sponsors (details yet to be announced).
Click here for more information including how you can enter.
Behind the scenes with IAM’s soigneurs
Last week we shared with you an insightful look at the role of the osteopaths on team IAM Cycling. Here’s another video from the team, this time about the “assistants” or soigneurs: “the people who spend their days looking after the riders’ every needs.”
High5 Australian National Development Team selection camp documentary trailer
Organisers of the infamous selection camp for the Australian women’s national road cycling development team have released a trailer for an upcoming documentary about this year’s camp. Looks brutal.
The camp has been running since 2011 and will this year take four women to race in Europe from the 18 that began the camp.
Click here to read more about the selection camp over at Ella CyclingTips.
What You Missed
And finally this morning, here are a few things you might have missed at CyclingTips in the past few days:
- A tour of the Lotto Soudal service course
- Cycling in Christchurch: rides, coffee and earthquake recovery
- A conversation with Mark Cavendish: “I just love it..I just love to win”
- Boonen: I want one more shot at the Classics with no bad luck
- Daily News Digest: Friday May 1
