In this morning’s edition of the CyclingTips Daily News Digest: Andre Greipel wins stage 1 of the Tour de Luxembourg; In wake of BBC doping expose, WADA says it is exploring claims the biological passport is flawed; Bardiani-CSF quits MPCC over Giro d’Italia cortisol case; Evans on Porte’s Giro and more; Orica-GreenEdge backing Caleb Ewan for stage wins at Tour de Korea; Race to the top of the World; Why you should think twice before trying a low-carb high-fat diet; Top 10 riders to watch at the Criterium du Dauphine; Tour of Qinghai Lake promo video; Climbing in the Glacier National Park.
Andre Greipel wins stage 1 of the Tour de Luxembourg
German national champion Andre Greipel (Lotto Soudal) has taken out the opening road stage of the Tour de Luxembourg, outspriting Enrico Gasparotto (Wanty-Groupe Gobert) and Daniele Ratto (UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling) in the bunch gallop.
A six-rider breakaway got clear early in the 212.6km stage with Matt Brammeier (MTN-Qhubeka), Niki Terpstra (Etixx-QuickStep), Pit Schlecter (Leopard Development Team), Tom Devriendt (Wanty–Groupe Gobert), Federico Zurlo (UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team) and Rick Ampler (D/Differdingen-Losch) getting up the road.
The sextet got five minutes ahead of the peloton at one point, but the chasing of Lotto Soudal and Cofidis saw the last rider in the breakaway, Brammeier, caught with 2km to go. Greipel benefited from an impressive lead-out to take a comfortable win.
The victory propels Greipel into the overall lead, ahead of prologue ITT winner Adrien Petit (Cofidis). The five-stage UCI 2.HC race continues today with a 186.3km lumpy stage from Ell to Walferdingen.
Greipel
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Devriendt
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Cofidis, Solutions CréditsClick here to read more at Cyclingnews.
In wake of BBC doping expose, WADA says it is exploring claims the biological passport is flawed
by Shane Stokes
Commenting in the wake of the Panorama programme screened on the BBC on Wednesday, the World Anti Doping Agency has acknowledged the claim made by the programme that it was possible to dope but also avoid detection by the biological passport used in cycling and other sports.
The show’s presenter Mark Daly said he took micro-doses of EPO during the lead up to the programme, boosting his performance but not triggering any alarm with regard to the bio passport. WADA faced similar claims last month when a documentary aired by the French TV channel France 2 claimed that eight athletes had been given micro-doses of EPO, human growth hormone and blood transfusions.
The programme said that while their performances increased dramatically, their blood profiles would not have triggered any passport warnings.
“We acknowledge that the programme raises questions regarding the ability of athletes to dope by taking minimal amounts of performance enhancing substances without testing positive, otherwise known as ‘micro-dosing,’ said WADA in a statement. “It is an issue that we are exploring in great detail with experts from across the anti-doping community, and indeed it was highlighted in the recent Cycling Independent Reform Commission (CIRC) Report.
“Due to short detection periods for EPO and certain other banned substances, we now know that tests need to be carried out before competition and in certain circumstances overnight (from 11:00pm – 06:00am) as is set out in WADA’s revised International Standard for Testing.”
Click here to read more at CyclingTips. Click here to read more at the BBC.
Bardiani-CSF quits MPCC over Giro d’Italia cortisol case
by Shane Stokes
Responding two weeks after the MPCC anti-doping movement summoned the team manager to a meeting of the board of directors scheduled for June 8th, the Bardiani-CSF team has refused to attend and has said that it plans to leave the group.
On May 20 the MPCC said Bardiani-CSF had defied the regulations it had agreed to in joining the organisation: “Following reports in today’s press regarding team Bardiani-CSF currently racing in the Giro d’Italia, MPCC expressly points out that on Friday, May 9, the movement was informed by team Bardiani-CSF that one of its riders showed an abnormally low cortisol level.”
The Bardiani-CSF team has since responded:
“The statement, in our opinion, was entirely inappropriate, both in the method and its timing, because it did not solve anything and did not give our team a way to justify and clarify its position. In doing so you have condemned us even before hearing our defense. Therefore we feel our participation in the next meeting on June 8 is useless.”
“Therefore, as a case like ours as mentioned above is unduly damaging to the image of our sponsors and the team itself, we inform you that as of today our team does not believe in the project of the Mouvement Pour un Cyclisme Credible (MPCC) and so unquestionably cancels its membership.”
Click here to read more at CyclingTips.
Evans on Porte’s Giro and more
Australia’s only Tour de France winner, Cadel Evans, has spoken about his disappointment at the support Richie Porte received (or didn’t receive) from his Sky teammates at the Giro d’Italia.
“I was a bit disappointed by his team to be honest, and the fact that he was isolated there,” Evans told Cycling Central. “If you want to win a Grand Tour, there is so much that can go wrong, you can’t leave these margins for error. I was a bit surprised by his team in this regard.
Evans also suggested that Porte’s potentially lacks consistency across the three weeks of a Grand Tour.
“The really good three-week riders from a young age are consistently good. Contador, for example, he won the Tour de France in the young rider’s jersey,” Evans said. “They can perform under pressure, they can perform in all variety of conditions, on all variety of courses, so they’re tested and they have to be very versatile riders.
“Richie’s had a few opportunities to prove himself and he’s been really good but he hasn’t been consistent. You have to be consistently good to be a Grand Tour rider, and not just consistently good but consistently with the best guys every day of the race. Physically he has the characteristics to do it … when he has an off-day it’s obvious which is off-day is.”
Click here to read more at Cycling Central.
Orica-GreenEdge backing Caleb Ewan for stage wins at Tour de Korea
When Orica-GreenEdge lines up at the first stage of the Tour de Korea on Sunday it will be the first WorldTour team to have ridden the UCI 2.1 race. As you would expect, the team goes in with expectations of success, not least in the sprint finishes with neo-pro Caleb Ewan.
“I haven’t been to Korea since I was about five-years-old so I’m excited to come back and race,” said Ewan, whose mother is Korean. “The main priority for me is stage wins. It would be nice to be up there for a good general classification but I’ll need to see how I’m feeling.”
Among the other teams expected to perform well are the three Pro Continental teams — Drapac, Nippo Vini Fantini and Novo Nordisk — and the Continental teams Avanti, JLT Condor (of last year’s winner Hugh Carthy, who won’t be in attendance), the Tabriz Petrochemical Team and the Pishgaman Giant team.
The eight-stage race starts in Busan and concludes in Seoul on Sunday June 14.
Text adapted from a Tour de Korea press release. A provisional startlist can be found here.
Race to the top of the World
Earlier this week we featured a video from the Cycles Atlas/NorthSouth guys about riding the “highest motorable road in the world”, Khardung La. Well, here’s another interesting story from the region; a story about the upcoming Manali-Khardungla Cycling Championship.
As Angela Aldrich wrote for NorCalCyclingnews, the eight-day mountain bike race covers nearly 500km and tops out at Khardung La, 5,602m above sea level. Here’s an edited excerpt from the article:
“There is no other race like it in the world because of it’s location, high-altitude trans-Himalayan cold desert. The race will require some acclimatization before getting to the start line — the average height in Ladakh is about 11,000 ft.The first edition of MKCC in 2014 was also the first ever organized cycling competition on the Manali-Leh-Khardungla circuit. Only two racers finished. The second edition in 2015 will be supported by the Indian Army [and] there will be support vehicles spread in the race across all stages.
Click here to read more at NorCalCyclingnews.
Why you should think twice before trying a low-carb high-fat diet
High-fat low-carbohydrate diets are all the rage at the moment in the world of cycling, which is why we were very interested when exercise physiologist Dr Jose Areta said he’d like to write about what the research currently says about these diets. Dr Areta’s view: these diets might be popular, but if you’re looking to do any kind of racing or vigorous exercise, you’re better off avoiding them.
It’s fair to say the article has generated a considerable amount of discussion, particularly among those that have used the diet in the past.
If you haven’t already, click here to read the article here at CyclingTips.
Top 10 riders to watch at the Criterium du Dauphine
The Criterium du Dauphine begins this Sunday and the folks over at GCN have put together this video looking at some of the contenders and other riders to watch. Who else will you be keeping your eye on?
Tour of Qinghai Lake promo video
Here’s a promo video for the Tour of Qinghai Lake, a notoriously hard, 13-stage, high-altitude race in China which begins on July 5.
Climbing in the Glacier National Park
This video is an ad for the Hampsten Bikes Maglia Rosa but it caught our eye simply for the stunning scenery. It was shot on the Going-to-the-Sun Road in the Glacier National Park, Montana, USA. Beautiful.
What You Missed
And finally this morning, here are a few things you might have missed at CyclingTips in the past few days:
- #HappinessWatts wants you to ride, eat, drink and be merry
- How to get more women’s racing on TV: the challenges and the opportunities
- Daily News Digest: Thursday June 4
