As the Giro d’Italia winds down, the troubled Kazakh-backed Astana team still isn’t sure it will be racing the Tour de France in July. The financial woes that have left portions of riders’ salaries unpaid are closer to being resolved, but UCI president Pat McQuaid said team sponsors must meet a Sunday deadline or risk suspension.
Philippe Gilbert finally notched a stage win for the Silence-Lotto squad on Saturday, sprinting to victory in the 20th stage of the centenary Giro d’Italia. Denis Menchov (Rabobank) and Danilo Di Luca (LPR Brakes) continued their battle over the maglia rosa, but the cagey Russian held onto the race lead — actually padding it with two bonus seconds poached from his rival at an intermediate sprint going into Sunday’s finale, a 14.4km time trial through the streets of Rome.
Frenchman Kevin Sireau set a new cycling world record at the 200m flying start distance at the Moscow Grand Prix on Friday. Sireau clocked 9.650 seconds, beating the previous record time of 9.772 seconds, which Theo Bos of the Netherlands set on December 16, 2006 at the UCI World Cup likewise at the same Moscow track. Another Frenchman, Gregory Bauge, also beat Bos' old result with a 9.654 second performance but failed to overcome his compatriot's new record mark.
Slovenia's Borut Bozic (Vacansoleil) won the third stage of the Tour of Belgium (Ronde van België) on Friday to retain the overall race lead. Bozic followed up on Thursday's stage success to edge out Danilo Napolitano (Katusha) and Belgian Kristof Goddaert (Topsport Vlaanderen) in a sprint for the line. He extended his lead over stage 1 winner Sergei Ivanov (Katusha) to 14 seconds, with Australian Graeme Brown (Rabobank) another second adrift. American Brent Bookwalter (BMC) is in 11th on the GC. His teammate Jeffrey Louder is 94th and Ian McKissick is in 121st after three stages.
Naples, Italy — At the stage start, the town’s square has been invaded by the race. The announcer belts out riders’ names, introducing them as they sign in on the podium set up in the center of the square. The amplified voices reverberate against the ancient buildings where people gaze at us, the show, from their balconies. Pop music plays over a sound system at a little lower volume than the announcers’ voice. Crowds of spectators, lining the periphery of the square, cheer as each rider is introduced. Pink is abundant.
After the 60.6km individual time trial (ITT) on the extremely challenging course above the Cinque Terre last week, the 14.4km ITT in downtown Rome this Sunday will be a walk in the park – or a ride in a museum. But while it won’t be a climbing, swooping and winding roller coaster ride like the course to Riomaggiore, this one will be spectacular in its own way.
Danilo Di Luca keeps chipping away at Denis Menchov’s grip on the maglia rosa, but he keeps running out of asphalt. And now he’s running out of time. Carlos Sastre (Cervélo TestTeam) climbed to his second sublime stage victory Friday in the 164km 19th stage, ending atop the brooding Mont Vesuvius. But all eyes were on the showdown between Menchov and his slender 26-second advantage to Di Luca.
Australia's Michael Rogers has lurked near the top of the Giro standings all month, and currently sits seventh, just over 7 minutes behind race leader Denis Menchov. His hopes for a podium spot are over, but a top performance in Sunday's time trial finale could help the rider leave Italy on the upswing. For the final-hour showdown in front of the Roman coliseum, Rogers is expected to pull out an ace in the hole: the new Scott Plasma 3 time trial bike.
Danny Pate (Garmin-Slipstream) and Jason McCartney (Saxo Bank) went on the hunt for stage victory in Thursday’s 182km hilly 18th stage from Sulmona to Benevento, in what turned out to be a breather for the GC favorites ahead of Friday’s showdown on Mont Vesuvius. The U.S. pair worked into a huge, 24-rider breakaway across the hilly Campagna region that atrophied to a seven-man winning effort.
Aerodynamic, deep section wheels have become a staple in the wheel quiver for most road racers. Flat to rolling road races and time trials call for a wheelset that is aerodynamic, rolls fast, and handles well.
Giro d’Italia leader Denis Menchov on Wednesday distanced himself from an alleged blood doping ring operated in Vienna, Austria, but officials from Rabobank team said Austrian authorities have recently approached the team. “The team has been approached by Austrian justice officials,” Rabobank team spokesman Luuc Eisinga told VeloNews on Wednesday. ‘We have replied that we will fully cooperate.”
The three-day Iron Horse Bicycle Classic omnium concluded Monday with a 13-mile time trial from the northern outskirts of Durango, Colorado, to the edges of Shaloma lake. The stretch of La Plata county road 250, which undulates for 10 miles before finishing with a lung-busting climb, also hosts the local Fort Lewis College collegiate time trial.
Franco Pellizotti (Liquigas) climbed to a solo victory in stage 17 of the 2009 Giro d'Italia on Wednesday, a short, tough ride from Chieti to Blockhaus. Danilo Di Luca (LPR Brakes) fought like a wildcat to take time from his rivals, but race leader Denis Menchov (Rabobank) stuck to him like a decal, and Stefano Garzelli (Acqua e Sapone) had the audacity to sucker-punch the Killer at the line for second place on the day.
Dear Explainer, Have racing tactics changed with the advent of race radios as riders now all seem to be communicating directly with team cars? Do you think the riders race more conservatively, knowing the whereabouts of their opponents or do radios make racing more exciting tactically? Stephen O'Sullivan Los Angeles, California Dear Stephen,
Belgian rider Tom Boonen could still take part in the Tour de France despite his recent positive test for cocaine, according to UCI president Pat McQuaid. "There is no reason to ban Tom Boonen from the Tour. From the point of view of sporting regulations, nothing can stop Boonen. He has committed no fault in his capacity as a rider," McQuaid told Belgium’s De Standaard newspaper.
Pescara, Italy — Each hundred meters of the two final kilometers of every stage is signed at the roadside. On a flat stage I take little notice of the signs as we speed through the kilometers in two minutes as the sprinters charge to the line at the head of the peloton. On a mountain stage, I feel every pedal stroke as my legs labor to turn over the cranks. The final few kilometers never seem to pass fast enough. Monday, we spent nearly eight hours on our bikes racing from Pergola to Monte Petrano. The last meters we rode were painfully long.
Cervelo's Heinrich Haussler remains atop the UCI World Rankings, thanks to his strong performances at in the spring classics, including the Tour of Flanders (where he was second), Milan-San Remo (also second) and Paris-Roubaix (seventh).
An exhausted Michael Rogers was speaking from experience on Monday after the Giro d’Italia’s gigantic stage 16 to Monte Petrano when he said, “I have just spent the toughest day and the hottest day I have ever experienced in the saddle.”
Bike races are a circus-like spectacle best witnessed firsthand. This is especially apparent at a race the size, caliber and prestige of the Giro d'Italia. Obviously the cyclists whizzing by at breathtaking speed and the unique dynamics of the races themselves are fascinating, but to experience the race caravan is like taking a stroll through the Vegas strip.
Lucas Sebastian Haedo (Colavita Sutter Home p/b Cooking Light) won the 66th annual Tour of Somerville in style on Monday. The 26 year-old Argentian rider beat Jake Keough (Kelly Benefit Strategies) and Aldo Ino Ilesic (Team Type 1) to the line in a full-on field sprint to take the storied New Jersey criterium, the country's oldest bike race still in existence. With the win Haedo defended his victory from 2008 and joined a short list of riders to take the event in consecutive years.
Carlos Sastre (Cervélo TestTeam) surged out of the anonymity of the peloton Monday with a dramatic stage victory in a grueling, seven-hour march across the Apennines to re-energize his hopes of overall victory at the Giro d’Italia. Denis Menchov (Rabobank) rode shrewdly to sprint to second, expanding his lead over second-place Danilo Di Luca (LPR), while Levi Leipheimer (Astana) saw his hopes of winning the Giro fade when he ceded 2:51 to drop from third to sixth, 3:21 back. “I was not as strong as those guys, it is plain and simple,” Leipheimer said at the finish line.
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In order to challenge Denis Menchov and Danilo Di Luca for victory in this centennial Giro, Levi Leipheimer, Franco Pellizotti, Carlos Sastre, Ivan Basso and Michael Rogers have to go on the attack in the final week. But where and when they attack is all important because in the first two weeks they have been unable to out-climb race leader Menchov or runner-up Di Luca. So if the challengers can’t gain the time they need on this week’s three summit finishes, at Monte Petrano on Monday, Blockhaus on Wednesday and Mount Vesuvius on Friday, what can they do? The short answer is: Tactics.
Julien Absalon (Orbea) has had a carbon crown and steerer for his 32mm stanchioned SID World Cup since late last season and now you can have one too. RockShox has announced that the SID World Cup, its flagship cross-country racing fork, will get an upgrade for 2010. After a two-year absence, RockShox will bring back the carbon crown and steerer for the World Cup model.
Claudia Hausler (Cervélo TestTeam) took the overall victory in the 25th edition of the Tour de l'Aude on Sunday as Columbia-Highroad’s Ina-Yoko Teutenberg collected her third stage win in this year’s race, out-kicking Noëmie Cantele (Bigla Cycling Team) and Emma Johansson (Red Sun Cycling Team). Teutenberg, who thus claimed her 18th career stage at the tour, gave all the credit to teammate Chantal Beltman.
Olympic champion Julien Absalon (Orbea) won the fourth round of the UCI cross-country mountain bike World Cup on Sunday in Madrid. Absalon collected his victory in 1:44:32, more than a minute ahead of runner-up Ralph Naef (Multivan Merida). Naef’s teammate Moritz Milatz crossed third at two minutes back. The women’s race was a good deal closer — Margarita Fullana Riera (Massi) took the win in 1:28:24, just four seconds ahead of Marie-Helene Premont (Team Maxxis-Rocky Mountain) with Lene Byberg (Specialized Factory Racing) third at 15 seconds back.
It was two-for-one again in Sunday’s 15th stage, as the Giro d’Italia unfolded with two races within one that was almost as hot and blistering as the searing temperature on the tarmac. Leonardo Bertagnolli (Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni) won the battle for the kisses from the podium girls, the sole survivor of a 16-man breakaway that went clear early in a tremendously hot, hilly 161km from Forli to Faenza.
Spain's Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d'Epargne) vowed to put his doping worries behind him after winning the 89th edition of the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya on Sunday. Kiwi Greg Henderson (Columbia-Highroad) won the seventh and final stage of the race, a 110km course between Sant Cugat and the motor racing circuit at Montmelo. The 29-year-old Valverde was recently banned from competing in Italy for two years by the Italian Olympic committee (CONI) after he was implicated in the Operación Puerto doping scandal.
Colorado’s thin air and long, grinding mountain passes played to the strengths of climbing specialists Anthony Colby and Mara Abbott, who took solo victories at the Iron Horse Bicycle Classic road race. The iconic Colorado event, which covers 47 miles from Durango to Silverton and ascends the hulking Coal Bank and Molas passes, celebrated its 38th year on Saturday.
Marianne Vos (DSB Bank) won the eighth and penultimate stage of the Tour de l'Aude on Saturday, her third win in the French stage race. As she had on Friday, Vos again joined a successful break, this time on a tough route through the Pays de Sault that included four Category 1 climbs. At the stage finish in Espezel, Vos beat Nicole Cook (Vision 1) and Grace Verbeke (Lotto-Belisol) to the line. The three moved away from the field following an attack by Ina Tuetenberg (Columbia).
Sometimes you don’t have to win to make a strong impression. That’s certainly the case for Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Slipstream), who proved that he’s reached a new level in the rough-and-tumble world of field sprints. With two seconds and one third, Farrar came close to the elusive breakthrough victory. The team was more than satisfied with Farrar’s performances and he all but assured himself a ticket to the Tour de France in July as the team’s top sprinter.
Danilo Di Luca (LPR) missed a chance to jump back into the pink jersey at the Giro d’Italia in Saturday’s hilltop finish up the fiercely steep climb to the San Luca church that was tailor-made for his explosive style. Instead of battling for a vital 20-second time bonus that might have come with a stage victory, LPR botched the chase in the 172km 14th stage and let most of a 14-man breakaway stay clear to gobble up the time bonuses.
Trek-Livestrong's Taylor Phinney fell to sixth overall at the Fleche du Sud stage race in Luxembourg on Friday, losing the leader's jersey he took in the prologue. Phinney finished 16th on the stage, 1:10 behind race winner Simon Zahners of the Swiss team, Bürgis Cycling. Zahners outsprinted three breakaway companions, while Phinney finished in the field. Zahner now leads the GC, 12 seconds ahead of Dutch rider Maint Berkenbosch. Phinney continues to lead the best young rider competition by three seconds over German Marcel Kittel, the winner of stage 1.
Marianne Vos on Friday won her second stage of this year's Tour De L'Aude Feminin, after another hilly day in France. Vos finished nine seconds ahead of race leader Claudia Hausler (Cervelo TestTeam), who maintained her lead. Trixi Worrack (Nurnberger Versicherung) was another 22 seconds back in third. Americans Kristin Armstrong (Cervelo) and Amber Neben (Nurnberger Versicherung) finished in a group of about 20 riders that came in about three minutes behind Worrack.
Just moments after the dust settled from Thursday’s decisive time trial that saw him lose the maglia rosa, Danilo Di Luca said he wants it back as soon as possible. The 2007 winner said aggressive tactics can still win the Giro, but just as quickly added that he didn’t expect to see that from Levi Leipheimer. “I’ve never seen Leipheimer attack,” Di Luca said on RAI television. “He’s going to have to now if he wants to win this Giro.”
Mark Cavendish (Columbia-Highroad) carved another masterpiece Friday on the fast road to Florence, dashing to his third sprint victory in five stages before taking an early exit from the Giro d’Italia. Within shot of the towering duomo, Cavendish made easy work of Italian star Alessandro Petacchi (LPR) to claim his 11th win on the season. [nid:92327] In post-race comments, Cavendish hinted that he would leave the Giro. A press release from his team a few hours later confirmed his early departure.
Taylor Phinney will get to wear the white leader's jersey of the Fleche du Sud another day, as he defended it in Thursday's first stage of the Luxembourg race. The American track champion won the prologue Wednesday, his first win in the Trek-Livestrong colors. Stage 1 went to Germany's Marcel Kittel, who was second in the prologue, at three seconds. But Phinney sprinted to third place on the stage, finishing in the same time as Kittel. Luxembourg's Cyrille Heymans was second.
American Kristin Armstrong moved into second overall at the Tour De L'Aude Feminin on Thursday, after finishing with a three-woman break that came in more than six minutes ahead of the field. Armstrong finished third in the break, 14 seconds behind stage winner Trixi Worrack (Nurnberger Versicherung) and five seconds behind Armstrong's Cervelo TestTeam teammate, Claudia Hausler. Dutchwoman Marianne Vos (Dsb Bank) led in the field for fourth place, 6:14 behind Armstrong.
Denis Menchov (Rabobank) became the first Russian since Pavel Tonkov to don the maglia rosa after his impressive performance in Thursday’s 60.6km time trial along the Cinque Terre. The 31-year-old is already a winner of two editions of the Vuelta a España and takes a slender, 20-second lead to Levi Leipheimer (Astana) going into the decisive second half of the 2009 Giro d’Italia. Menchov spoke to the assembled Giro media following his victory. Here are excerpts from the press conference: Question: Were the time differences as you expected?
A spectacular 60km course along Italy’s stunning Cinque Terre lived up to expectations Thursday as Denis Menchov (Rabobank) pulled the double, winning the stage and snatching away the maglia rosa from Danilo Di Luca (LPR). Levi Leipheimer (Astana) – who had won three time trials in three starts this season ? almost walked away with the jackpot, finishing just 20 seconds slower than Menchov and climbing into third overall at 40 seconds back.
With the centennial edition of the Giro d’Italia at its halfway point, and with less than three minutes covering the top 10 riders on GC, doing well in Thursday’s ultra-tough Cinque Terre time trial is the key to overall victory. But besides the expected challenges to Danilo Di Luca’s pink jersey by Denis Menchov (Rabobank), Michael Rogers (Columbia-Highroad), Levi Leipheimer (Astana) and Ivan Basso (Liquigas), a handful of other TT specialists will by vying for the prestigious stage win.
Magura USA and the upscale red rock town of Sedona, Arizona, played host to the brand’s annual press camp during the week of May 18, 2009. The company used the event to announce two new additions to Magura USA’s distribution portfolio: UVEX helmets and sunglasses, and Vaude bags, packs, and clothing. The two new brands add to the company’s existing distributorship of Syntace, creating a significant beachhead for German brands in the United States.
American Kristin Armstrong won the fifth stage of the Tour de l’Aude Féminin on Wednesday, outsprinting her breakaway companions Amber Neben and Grace Verbeke. Olympic champion Armstrong (Cervelo TestTeam) and world TT champ Neben (Nurnberger Versicherung) are the best-placed Americans in the prestigious 10-day race. After Wednesday's stage, Armstrong moved into fourth place, 1:15 behind her teammate, race leader Regina Bruins. Neben, who led the race earlier in the week, is now in sixth, 1:25 behind Bruins.
Taylor Phinney (Trek-Livestrong) won the 4.2km prologue of the Fleche du Sud stage race in Luxembourg on Wednesday.
Dear Readers, While doing Live Updates during the Giro d’Italia this past week, I am pleased to see that our new update tool offers readers the chance to chime in with questions during our coverage. We do get to read all of them and I often try to include some of them during our coverage. Unfortunately, I can’t answer all of them personally. But there are some pretty interesting questions posed and I thought I’d use this week’s column to answer some of the more common questions I’ve received over the last few days.
When there’s a race against the clock, Fabian Cancellara is usually the man to beat. But the reigning Olympic time trial champion just laughed when asked by VeloNews if he was a favorite for Thursday’s climb-heavy race against the clock along the Cinque Terre coast. “No, it’s a crazy course. I won the Olympics, but what we have on the map tomorrow is crazy,” the Saxo Bank rider said. “This is more like a cyclo-tourist event. It’s pretty from Sestri Levante to Cinque Terre, it’s nice for the show, but I think a time trial of 1 hour, 40 minutes is a bit crazy.”
Is Lance Armstrong boycotting the assembled media at the Giro d’Italia? Astana team officials say that’s not the case, but the seven-time Tour de France champion is playing hard-to-get for journalists covering the centenary edition of the corsa rosa. “It’s not a boycott, but he’s not happy with what the Italians wrote about him: that he was the instigator of the protest on Sunday,” Astana team spokesman Philippe Maertens told VeloNews. “From now on, Lance said he wants to focus on the race and help Levi to try to win the Giro.”
Mark Cavendish (Columbia-High Road) couldn’t help himself when the 11th stage of the Giro d’Italia hit the coast road that leads down the Italian Riviera and toward the finish line of greatest glory of his young, but prolific career at Milan-San Remo. The pack hit the Via Aurelia after a revived Lance Armstrong led the peloton down the Passo di Turchino at full speed ahead toward Arenzano.
As we near the summit of the mountain the speed increases. The peloton passes the one-kilometer to go sign, riders suddenly burst out of their saddles to hold the wheel in front, no longer able to maintain the speed while seated. Over the race radio we are told the descent is dangerous and that we should race for the front of the peloton to avoid crashes and take fewer risks. Every director in the motorcade behind gives the same command, which lifts the pelotons’ speed and creates instantaneous nervousness in the group.
Ted King is making quite the impression with his Cervélo TestTeam in his grand tour debut. Cervélo sport director Jean-Paul Van Poppel said the team is pleased with how the 26-year-old from New Hampshire is holding up midway through the Giro d’Italia. “Ted is doing fine. He’s a good team worker and we’re really happy with him,” Van Poppel said. “He has a fantastic attitude. He’s a well-mannered American boy. He’s pretty quiet, but you can tell he pays attention and he’s learning. There’s no better education for a young rider like him than a stage race.”
Regina Bruins (Cervelo TestTeam), a 22-year-old Dutch rider, took the lead of the Tour de l'Aude Tuesday, after finishing fourth in a four-woman breakaway that came in more than two minutes ahead of the overnight race leader, American Amber Neben. The stage was won by multi-discipline world champion Marianne Vos, also from the Netherlands. Britain's Nicole Cooke was second and Germany's Claudio Hausler (Cervelo) was third.
Race leader Danilo Di Luca put a rose-colored stamp of authority on the 2009 Giro d’Italia on Tuesday, winning the race’s longest stage in a late solo attack that left the other GC favorites choking on his fumes as they ceded critical seconds on the general classification. Di Luca tightened his grip on the maglia rosa heading into Thursday's critical long individual time trial, expanding his lead to 1:20 to second-place Denis Menchov (Rabobank) on a day that saw quite a bit of reshuffling in the overall standings.
A motorcyclist escorting media at the Tour of Italy died after being involved in a traffic accident Tuesday morning, race organizers announced. Fabio Saccani, 69, was driving to the start of the race's 10th stage at Cuneo in the Italian Alps when the accident occurred near the town of Bra in the north-west of Italy. Organizers held a minute's silence for the veteran motorcyclist, who was participating in his 33rd Giro d'Italia, at the awards ceremony following stage 10.
Michael Rogers (Columbia-Highroad) is poised to leap back into the spotlight of a grand tour for the first time since crashing out of the 2007 Tour de France. Rogers was the “virtuel maillot jaune” on the road in stage 8 before crashing on the descent of the Cormet de Roselend. That was nearly two years ago and after a bumpy road back, Rogers is returning to peak form, just in time for a run at maglia rosa.
Lance Armstrong defended Sunday’s rider protest and called for stronger representation among the peloton to protect its interests. Speaking in a seven-minute video posted on his personal web page late Monday night during the Giro d’Italia’s first rest day, Armstrong described his role in helping forge the controversial rider protest in Sunday’s ninth stage.
Following this weekend's racing in the Mid-Atlantic, Rory Sutherland (OUCH-Maxxis) and Alison Powers (TeamType 1) continue to lead the National Racing Calendar standings. Sutherland, the 2008 NRC champ, took over the lead following his win at the Joe Martin Stage Race. Powers was second at the SRAM Tour of the Gila and won the Joe Martin.