In today’s edition of the Daily News Digest: MTN Qhubeka names shortlist for Tour de France; Africans, Boasson Hagen and Farrar in, Goss, Ciolek out; Barguil altitude training after recovery from California crash, could make Tour debut; Van Avermaet’s Tour selection uncertain as rider states he may leave race early for first child’s birth; Marianne Vos lets go of season goals as she enters yet another recovery period; Teams announced for second edition of La Course; One that got away: Why Team Sky and Josh Edmondson didn’t work out, and how he got back on track; How to get more women’s racing on TV: the challenges and the opportunities; The GCN Show Ep. 125: Is Contador The Best Grand Tour Rider Ever?; Bradley Wiggins discusses cycling roots ahead of hour record attempt
MTN Qhubeka names shortlist for Tour de France; Africans, Boasson Hagen and Farrar in, Goss, Ciolek out
As hinted at by the team’s general manager Brian Smith last week on CyclingTips, the MTN Qhubeka team has gone with a very strong emphasis on African riders for its Tour de France debut this July. The South African team named its shortlist for the race on Tuesday, announcing that seven African riders and four international competitors are in the running to ride. The eleven will be reduced to nine before the start of the race.
Of those home riders, three are from South Africa. They are the national road race champion Jacques Janse van Rensburg, the African continental road race champion Louis Meintjes [pictured] and the sprinter Reinardt Janse van Rensburg.
Three Eritrean riders also make the cut, namely Merhawi Kudus, Daniel Teklehaimanot and Natnael Berhane, while Tour de Langkawi Youcef Reguigui from Algeria is also on the list.
The four internationals are former Tour de France stage winners Edvald Boasson Hagen (Norway) and Tyler Farrar (USA), the Briton Steve Cummings and the Belgian Serge Pauwels.
Amongst those missing are the former Milan Sanremo winners Matt Goss and Gerald Ciolek, who Smith had said were not guaranteed a place due to their quiet seasons thus far.
Click here to read the full story on CyclingTips.
Barguil altitude training after recovery from California crash, could make Tour debut
A rider seen by some as a possible future contender for the Tour de France, Warren Barguil has been getting in some high-altitude work at the Giant-Alpecin training camp prior to a possible debut in this year’s event.
The French climber hit the deck on day two of the Tour of California, suffering a big wound above his knee and being forced to withdraw. He was able to knuckle down again recently and is pleased with his progress.
“Everything is going well again, as I am busy training in Sierra Nevada, southern Spain at more than 2000m (2320m exactly),” he wrote in an update on his team’s website. “My altitude training camp lasts 20 days, nearly three weeks, its a good way to prepare for upcoming season goals.”
He said that the first few days were deliberately at a low key, but things have since stepped up. “After the body got used to the altitude, we started heavy outputs with high intensity blocks,” he said.
Now 23, Barguil highlighted his ability when he won two stages in the 2013 Vuelta a España [pictured] and then finished eighth overall in last year’s race.
Van Avermaet’s Tour selection uncertain as rider states he may leave race early for first child’s birth
He’s been one of the BMC Racing Team’s most successful riders this year, netting third in both the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix, second in Strade Bianche and recently taking a stage plus the final overall in the Tour of Belgium.
Greg Van Avermaet (BEL/BMC) charging up the cobbles of the Paterberg
However Greg Van Avermaet has made clear that the Tour de France is not the absolute priority for him and stating that the squad will have to decide if he should be selected or not.
“The team has to decide who will ride the Tour,” he told Het Nieuwsbald. “It doesn’t matter much whether it is with or without Philippe Gilbert. Really [the duo have been said in the past to have an at-times tense relationship]. Which prevails for me is the birth of my first son or daughter. There I definitely want to be there. Tour de France or not.”
The Belgian rider’s wife is due to give birth to their first child on the final day of the Tour de France. However there is some uncertainty. “When labours comes earlier, I leave early.
“The birth of my first son or daughter takes precedence for me. I definitely want to be there, Tour de France or not.”
Click here to read the full story at Het Nieuwsblad.
Marianne Vos lets go of season goals as she enters yet another recovery period
by Anne-Marije Rook
It has been a spring filled with ongoing uncertainty and frustration for Marianne Vos, who continues to suffer from injury. Her team today announced yet another recovery period for the 12-time world champion, who’s been sidelined on-and-off with injuries since December.
Vos returned to racing in early April at the Rabobank Bikecenter VANTUYL Paasbike mountain bike race. A week later, in an exclusive interview with Ella CyclingTips ahead of her 2015 road racing debut at the Ronde van Gelderland, Vos said she felt good and appeared to be fully recovered.
But it wasn’t meant to be. Vos’ return to racing was disrupted once again when she sustained a rib fracture during a recon ride of the Ötztaler Forest Cross in Haiming, Austria, just a week later.
Click here to read the full story on Ella-Cyclingtips.
Teams announced for second edition of La Course
Race organiser ASO has announced the identities of 20 women’s teams who will compete in the second edition of La Course in July.
Squads from 12 different countries will take part in the race, which takes place in Paris prior to the conclusion of the men’s Tour de France on July 26.
The Rabo-Liv team of Marianne Vos will return to the race twelve months after she won the first edition.
However it remains to be seen if she will be present due to her announcement that she is once again stepping back from racing to try to recover from injury.
Click here to see the full list of teams on VeloNews.com.
Forty year old US Masters rider banned for EPO use
The US Anti Doping Agency USADA has announced that Wisconsin rider Kyle Schmidt has accepted a two year ban in relation to an investigation into the online trafficking of prohibited substances.
The 40 year old masters racer has admitted to the use, attempted use, and possession of synthetic erythropoietin [EPO] obtained through two separate websites between March, 2010 and January, 2013.
His ban began on October 13, 2014, the date he accepted the sanction. He has been disqualified from all competitive results obtained on and subsequent to March 1, 2010. This was the date he first admitted to making online purchases of prohibited substances.
USADA has said that the investigation into the Anemia Patient Group website is ongoig and that additional cases may be brought against others.
Click here to read more on USADA’s website.
One that got away: Why Team Sky and Josh Edmondson didn’t work out, and how he got back on track
Signing with a team such as Sky would make any young rider feel they were on the fast track to success, not least when you are just 20 years of age inking the deal and have a two year agreement in the pocket.
However when things don’t work out, and when that contract is not extended, it can seem like the beginning of the end. Particularly when the search for another team is a complicated, prolonged one and the only solution is to drop down two levels to a Continental squad.
Josh Edmonson, however, is hoping to show his career diversion is the best thing that could have happened to him.
A talented climber who finished fourth, seventh and ninth on stages plus tenth overall in the Giro della Valle d’Aosta World Cup race as a 20 year old amateur, Edmondson then placed a very solid 16th overall in the Tour of Britain.
Click here to read the full story on CyclingTips.
How to get more women’s racing on TV: the challenges and the opportunities
by Matt de Neef
There’s little doubt women’s road cycling is on the upswing. Major new races have been added to the calendar in the past two years and when you speak to riders in the elite women’s peloton you hear over and over again that the standard of racing is improving rapidly.
And while these improvements seem to coincide with growing public interest in women’s racing, it’s still rare to find live women’s racing on TV. So why is that? What are the roadblocks? And what might the future hold?
As it stands there are only a handful of races on the elite women’s calendar that are broadcast live on TV. These include the newly added La Course by Le Tour de France, the World Championships road race, the Olympics road race and the Ladies Tour of Qatar. If you add online live-streaming to the mix you get another small handful of races, including several rounds of the Women’s World Cup, the US national championships, the Tour of California invitational ITT and a couple more. But that’s about it.
Click here to read the full feature on CyclingTips.
Bradley Wiggins discusses cycling roots ahead of hour record attempt
With his hour record attempt to take place this Sunday, Bradley Wiggins talks about his cycling roots and his ongoing love for the sport today.
The four-time Olympic champion and 2012 Tour de France winner discusses visiting London bike shops as a teenager, his rise through the sport’s ranks and how it feels to be idolised by children in the same way he revered the likes of Miguel Indurain and Johan Museeuw.
Click here to view the video on the Sky Sports website.
The GCN Show Ep. 125: Is Contador The Best Grand Tour Rider Ever?
What You Missed
And finally this morning, here are a few things you might have missed at CyclingTips in the past few days:
- Giro d’Italia photo gallery: stages 19 to 21
- 7 talking points from the last week of the Giro d’Italia
- How To: Talk like a cyclist – round two
- Daily News Digest: Tuesday June 2
