Kristoff triumphs on stage three of Tour of Oman
Grabbing his fourth win of the season, Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) outpaced stage one victor Andrea Guardini (Astana), Matteo Pelucchi (IAM Cycling), Trek Factory Racing rider Danny Van Poppel and the rest of the peloton to the line at the end of day three of the Tour of Oman on Thursday.
Alexander Kristoff won of course, from Andrea Guardini..! pic.twitter.com/czdEOlL4ID
— Graham Watson (@grahamwatson10) February 19, 2015
The Norwegian, who is aiming to defend his Milan-Sanremo title next month, was too fast for his rivals. He gave his team much of the credit, naming Gatis Smukulis and Jacopo Guarnieri in particular as they were the final riders to help him get into position in the final kilometre.
This, and his tracking of the right wheels just before the sprint helped him handle the strong headwind conditions.
“GreenEdge started the sprint, Trek took over,” he said, describing the action. “I was in the wheel of Danny van Poppel with 300 meters to go but I waited till the last 100 meters to go full gas.
“It was a perfect sprint. The lead out was like it has to be. We made a nice progress compared to the past. Every race is one step up. I am so happy with my lead-out train.”
The 158.5 kilometre third stage began and ended in Al Mussanah Sports City and featured a break made up of repeat attacker Jef Van Meirhaeghe (Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise), his teammate Preben Van Hecke and Bardiani CSF’s Alessandro Tonelli.
The trio eked out a lead of over nine minutes but were hauled back inside the final 20 kilometres. Kristoff played things perfectly and grabbed win number four of 2015, while overnight leader Fabian Cancellara rolled in as part of the bunch and maintained his four second advantage over Alejandro Valverde (Movistar).
Stage 3: Al Mussanah Sports City > Al Mussanah Sports City - Stage Result
Thursday 19th February 2015
| 1. |  |
KRISTOFF Alexander
Team Katusha
|
03:56:42 |
| 2. |  |
GUARDINI Andrea
Astana Pro Team
|
- |
| 3. | |
PELUCCHI Matteo
IAM Cycling
|
- |
Kristoff
Cancellara
Guardini
Konrad
BMC Racing TeamLobato holds off Degenkolb to win stage two of Vuelta a Andalucia
Having shown his punch earlier this year when winning stage two of the Santos Tour Down Under, Juan Jose Lobato continued his fine early season push with a perfectly timed jump in the finale of stage two of the Vuelta a Andalucia Ruta del Sol on Thursday.
The Movistar rider went early and got a gap, foiling the attempt by John Dengekolb to take victory. The Giant-Alpecin rider chased all the way to the line but came up short, finishing second. Grega Bole (CCC Sprandi Polkowice) was third.
“I had this finish written in red,” he said, referring to the slightly uphill finish plus the category three Primera Cruz climb inside the final ten kilometres. The latter had the effect of thinning out the contenders.
“The team was incredible today. I wasn’t feeling as good as I’d have wished on the climb, but thanks to them I could get over it and hit the front in the final kilometre, where Gorka Izagirre’s help was crucial.”
The stage ran 191 kilometres from Utrera to Lucena. Five riders – namely Aleksandr Komin (RusVelo), IAM Cycling’s Pirmin Lang, Nick Dougall (MTN-Qhubeka), Adrian Honkisz (CCC Sprandi Polkowice) and Sjoerd van Ginneken (Roompot) – were out front almost the entire day, but were recaptured with 20 kilometres to go.
Nicolas Edet (Cofidis) attacked on the climb and took the points at the summit, then Sky’s Peter Kennaugh tried to clip away but was contained.
Race leader Alberto Contador jumped close to the finish but the terrain wasn’t tough enough to enable him to get clear. He is a second clear of Benat Intxausti (Movistar) with Chris Froome (Sky) a further seven seconds back in third.
Friday’s third stage takes the riders to the summit of the Alto de Hazallanas and should be more decisive.
SiutsouThomas grabs stage win and race lead on stage two of Volta ao Algarve
Sky’s Geraint Thomas notched up his first win since the Commonwealth Games road race last August when he soloed to victory on stage two of the Volta ao Algarve in Monchique.
The Welshman attacked on the day’s final climb, catching and passing Astana’s Rein Taaramae, who was trying to add to his recent win the Vuelta a Murcia.
Thomas hit the line 19 seconds clear of the Estonian, with a chase group led in by Astana’s Valerio Agnoli finishing four seconds further back.
“Once I’d decided to follow Taaramae, I looked back and everyone behind me was on the limit,” said Thomas. “I jumped across, took a few deep breaths, and then went over the top of him and managed to hold a decent lead all the way to the finish.
“It was pretty unexpected, if I’m honest. I knew I was doing okay but I didn’t know how I’d feel on that climb. It was pretty steep at the bottom, levelled off during the middle, and then ramped up towards the top again.
“Once I’d got over the summit, there were still some more little rises to overcome which definitely hurt, but I managed to get enough out of myself to take the win. It was an amazing feeling crossing the line.”
Earlier in the stage five riders got clear, but were hauled back with more than 25 kilometres left. This enabled a new quintet comprising Jonathan Castroviejo (Movistar), Ian Boswell (Sky), Bakhtiyar Kozhatayev (Astana), Phil Gaimon (Optum) and Alberto Gallego (Rádio Popular-Boavista) to try their luck, but their advantage was slight and time out front brief.
The reshuffled general classification sees Thomas end the day in the race leader’s jersey, 30 seconds clear of Taaramae. Zdenek Stybar (Etixx-QuickStep) is third, 33 seconds behind.
Cimolai triumphant in sprint at Trofeo Laigueglia
Lampre-Merida’s Davide Cimolai extended his team’s victorious run in the Trofeo Laigueglia single day race on Thursday, winning a 24 man sprint to the line at the end of the event.
The Italian proved fastest in the dash to the line, beating Francesco Gavazzi (Southeast), Aleksei Tcatevich (Katusha) and the other riders.
His win followed on from the successes of Filippo Pozzato and Jose Serpa in 2013 and 2014 respectively.
“I always liked Trofeo Laigueglia,” he said. “It’s a joy to have won this race, especially after two team mates had conquered it in the recent past.
“The path to the victory began in Australia, where I improved my condition. Coming back in Europe I suffered from bronchitis that influenced my performances in Dubai, but when I came back to Italy I focused my attention on recovering the necessary fitness.”
Early on four riders knuckled down together to build an advantage of almost eight minutes. Jerome Cousin (Europcar), Adriano Brogi (D’Amico Bottecchia), Colombia’s Jonathan Paredes and Nicola Gaffurini (MgKVis Vega) worked hard but chasing by the Lampre-Merida team and other squads whittled away at the advantage.
They were caught inside the final 50 kilometres but despite a number of attacks, including one by Katusha’s Ilnur Zakarin and another by MTN Qhubeka’s Linus Gerdemann, things all came back together prior to the sprint to the line.
Cimolai thanked his team-mates for their work and said that the success would add to his motivation to aim high in Paris-Nice and the Classics.
| 1. | |
CIMOLAI Davide
Lampre - Merida
|
04:53:47 |
| 2. | |
GAVAZZI Francesco
Southeast
|
- |
| 3. |  |
TSATEVICH Alexey
Team Katusha
|
- |
Australian women set new team pursuit world record in Paris
Smashing the former world record, the Australian women’s team pursuit squad raced to victory at the UCI track world championships in Paris on Thursday.
Congrats Annette, Ash, Amy and Mel! #AussieCycling #TrackWorlds pic.twitter.com/nw6vNjDBtu
— Cycling Australia (@CyclingAus) February 19, 2015
The quartet of Melissa Hoskins, Amy Cure, Annette Edmondson and Ashlee Ankudinkoff were up against the British team in the final.
The latter, made up of Joanna Rowsell, Laura Trott, Katie Archibald and Elinor Barker went close to their previous mark with 4 minutes 16.702 but this was a long way off the pace of the Australian four, who comfortably beat the old record.
They recorded a staggering 4 minutes 13.683 seconds en route to gold, gaining a huge psychological edge prior to next year’s Olympic Games.
The bronze medal went to the Canadians, with Allison Beveridge, Steph Roorda, Jasmin Glaesser and Kirsti Lay beating New Zealand with their time of 4 minutse 17.864 seconds.
Irish sprinter Sam Bennett confirms he will make Tour de France debut this year
Passed over last year as he was a first year professional with limited experience, Sam Bennet’s Tour of Qatar stage win has helped him to cement a start in this year’s Tour de France.
The Irish sprinter confirmed the news to Cycling Weekly, saying that he has been told that he will be part of the Bora-Argon 18 squad for the race.
“This will be my first Tour de France,” he said prior to stage three of the Tour of Oman.
“It’s fantastic — it’ll be great for the experience. I missed out on it last year. I’ll be delighted to get my first start.”
Bennett clocked up three UCI wins in his debut season but his team preferred to give him time to develop. It also focussed on general classification rider Leopold Konig in the 2014 edition. The Czech rider went on to place seventh overall, but has now moved to Team Sky.
Bennett’s team was last month named as one of five wildcard invites. While it will seek another solid overall finish, bunch sprints will be a big target.
Bennett’s success on the final stage of Qatar and his general consistency this year have secured his team’s confidence. He will seek to repay that trust in the months leading up to the Tour and once the race starts.
Click here to read the full story on Cycling Weekly.
Bardiani CSF returns to Tour de Langkawi with big ambitions
Having clocked up three stage wins in last year’s Giro d’Italia and aiming to ride equally well this time around, the Bartiani CSF team’s early-season programme will include next month’s Tour de Langkawi.
The Italian squad has confirmed that it plans to attend the Malaysian race, making a return after missing the past two editions.
“Almost every year that we’ve taken part, we’ve won the last stage in Kuala Lumpur,” said team manager Roberto Reverberi. “We’d be glad to do that again with our new sprinter Paolo Simion.”
Looking at stage wins, the team is the most successful in the race’s history. It has clocked up a staggering 34 wins under its various guises, having competed in the race under title sponsorship from Scrigno, Navigare, Panaria and Colnago-CSF.
Past riders who have helped build that tally are Alessandro Petacchi, Luca Cei, Graeme Brown, Ruben Bongiorno, Mauro Richeze, Domenico Pozzovivo and Marco Canola.
Simion will represent top hopes on the flat this time around, while the Sterbini brothers Luca and Simone plus Simone Andreetta will be the team’s hopes for the climbs.
The all-Italian lineup also includes Luca Chirico and Alessandro Tonelli, with the average age being just 21.6 years.
Race CEO Datuk Malik Mydin anticipates a big performance. “Along with France and Belgium, Italy is where the heart of cycling beats. So we’re delighted to welcome Bardiani-CSF back since they’re experts in developing Italian talents,” he stated.
“I’m sure they’ll use our roads to give some indications about the future of cycling.”
The 2.HC-ranked event begins on the island of Langkawi on March 8 and runs until March 15.
MPCC announces it now encompasses all Pro Continental teams, but does it?
The MPCC anti-doping movement has continued to gain strength and has announced that it now includes every Pro Continental squad in the peloton after the CCC Sprandi Polkowice squad was accepted as a new member.
The body, whose members voluntarily accept stricter anti-doping rules than others, now features 19 Pro Continental teams. It also includes 11 out of the current 17 World Tour teams, with Sky, BMC Racing Team, Trek Factory Racing, Etixx-QuickStep, Movistar and Tinkoff-Saxo the teams who have thus far not joined.
The membership also includes 32 Continental teams plus eight women’s squads.
However clarification is needed over the membership of the Southeast Pro Cycling team. It is listed on the MPCC website as one of the Pro Continental teams, but was actually suspended from the movement last December.
It was named the Neri Sottoli team then due to the identity of the 2014 title sponsor.
A statement by the MPCC on December 3 made that suspension clear.
“At the last MPCC general meeting, all of the team members have required further explanations from Neri Sottoli’s manager Angelo Citracca in order to confirm, or not, the membership of the team,” the MPCC said then.
“At the end of the interview with the Neri Sottoli team’s sporting director Serge Parsani, who was representing Anglo Citracca, the board of directors agreed unanimously to suspend the Neri Sottoli team with immediate effect until the General Assembly of October 2015.”
Click here to read more on CyclingTips.
My First Race – Part 1
by David Everett
We often forget that everyone started at the same place as cyclists. Almost none of us won our first race, none of us looked the part, and some of us didn’t even finish. But they all have one thing in common: they had a crack, and kept on trying. In the first of this ongoing series, we speak to some of the best athletes in the world where they tell us about their first experience that got them hooked into this wonderful sport.
Sir Chris Hoy – most decorated Olympic cyclist of all time:
“My first track race was in Meadowbank in Edinburgh and it was a track league in a Tuesday night. I had only been on the track maybe three or four times before that. I just remember being terrified, not really knowing what was going on, lots of different events not knowing what each event was.
But the one event that stood out for me was the 500m handicap because it meant that I got a good start and I was right at the front. I had pretty much half a lap start on the rest of the guys and I was leading it till the finishing straight and they all came flying past me. But each time I raced I got a little further before they caught me, and then you know..I eventually won my first race.”
Click here to read more riders’ accounts on CyclingTips.
Roche pays tribute to Criquielion: “We saw him as being a gentleman racer”
“It’s horrible news.”
Speaking on the day that past world champion Claude Criquielion passed away prematurely at just 58 years of age, one of the riders who went head to head with him repeatedly in the Classics of the 1980s, Stephen Roche, paid an emotional tribute to his Belgian rival.
Both professionals for 13 years, Roche had several memorable jousts with Criquielion during the 11 seasons their careers overlapped. He was clearly shaken by the news when he spoke to CyclingTips on Wednesday evening.
“What can you really say?” he asked rhetorically. “We are all part of the same journey, and all of a sudden some of the people who have been on the same train as us for the last 25 years are no longer there.
“In the last two or three years, you have Fignon and a lot of other guys who have passed away. Okay, people die every day, but you can actually relate to guys like Fignon and Criquielion passing away. You say ‘shit.’
“It is a big shock. People can have accidents on the road or wherever, but this [Criquielion’s stroke] is like a mechanical failure. It’s very sad. Of course, my condolences go out to his family as I am sure they are devastated.”
Click here to read the full feature on CyclingTips.
Teams hit with 2450 Swiss franc fines at Tour of Oman after ignoring instructions relating to discarded bottles
Given the multi-million euro budgets of the world’s top teams, the actions of the commissaires’ panel on Thursday’s third stage of the Tour of Oman are unlikely cause any significant hardships.
However total fines of 2450 Swiss Francs were imposed on the representatives of thirteen teams for infringement of UCI Article 12.1.040.28.
Citing that regulation, the panel said that the teams concerned failed ‘to respect instruction by the race administration or the commissaires,’ in relation to the noting that many bottles were thrown by the roadside between kilometre 25 and 50.
“No people were standing there and there was no need to throw away any bottles,” it warned.
The IAM Cycling team was top with a 450 Swiss Francs fine, followed by Astana and Katusha on 350 Swiss Francs each.
Sky was hit for 300 Swiss Francs, while MTN Qhubeka, BMC Racing Team, Cofidis and Etixx QuickStep must all pay 150 Swiss Francs each.
Smaller fines of 100 Swiss Francs went to Movistar, Tinkoff-Saxo and Lampre-Merida, while FDJ and Bardiani CSF incurred penalties of 50 Swiss Francs.
Supporters of riders aiming for annual distance record engage in war of words
A cross-Atlantic battle to better the staggering 120,805 kilometre (75,065 mile) record for greatest distance covered in one year has seen supporters of the two riders concerned, America’s Kurt Searvogel and Britain’s Steve Abraham, go head to head on social media.
The argument, linked to Tommy Godwin’s 1939 record, has seen Searvogel criticised for riding flat roads, using a recumbent and not doing the record in the UK.
The comments were posted on the Facebook page of the Road.cc website this week. According to one Abraham supporter Gary Cameron, Searvogel is facing easier conditions than the Briton. “Amazing effort but record doesn’t count if set outside UK … record was set in UK under UK conditions so has to be done here.”
“He’s also using a recumbent,” said another, named as Dan Baxter. “Now, I think what both of them doing is pretty impressive, to say the least, but not sure that Tommy Godwin used a recumbent.”
American fans didn’t hold back in their responses. “Kurt rules and your Brit only wishes he could do it in Florida too,” said Cole Tininenko. “Kurt’s going to win it.”
“Stuffy Brits still pissed we booted there ass back to England,” wrote Chris Ressler. “Go Kurt.”
Searvogel wasn’t taking things too seriously, but threw in his own thoughts. He said that his critics could ride with him for a day if they put up $200. “If they can keep up with me for the day they can keep the $200,” he said. “If they can’t I get to have a great room, dinner and beer on them. Wink.”
Click here to read the full story on Road.cc.
Top Ten Ways To Avoid A Sore Ass When Cycling
A serious subject, but some humorous thoughts in here. Try this one about shorts: “Too loose and they are going to be sliding around on your undercarriage like a duck on a frozen pond…a rather itchy pond, due to chafing on an epic scale.”
We don’t recommend the cushion tip, by the way.
Japan Bicycle Parking Technology
A unique technology being used in Japan to park bikes safely from theft and bad weather.
What You Missed
And finally this morning, here are a few things you might have missed at CyclingTips in the past few days:
- Roadtripping Cairns
- Power2Max Type S Powermeter review
- Putting the hour record into perspective: How does an amateur compare?
- Daily News Digest: Thursday February 19