Giro d'Italia 2013

Here's a taster of Chris Davies' excellent photography from the 2013 Giro d'Italia. You can speak to Chris about his work and to request licensing by emailing him at cmjdavies@gmail.com. Please do not reuse his images without his approval.

Chris Davies Photography

Cav gets a hand from the tifosi

The boy Cavendish has always said he loves the Italian fans and the support they've shown him since he got to wear the rainbow jersey. Who wouldn't when they give you a bit of typical tifosi treatment, usually reserved solely for their own riders?

 

Evening Cycling News 10.05.12

Cav wins Giro d'Italia Stage 5 - Crash at Tour of Chongming Island Stage 2 - Tour of California to host women's TT - FFC boss confirms Dunkirk drug tests - Ullrich has a blog - Other news - Cycling - The importance of locking in earnest - The news you might have missed

Racing
Giro d'Italia Stage 5

Mr. Inevitable, Mark Cavendish

Stage 5 (map, profile) was the last flat parcours for a few days as 6, 7 and 8 all rate as medium mountain stages. Beginning in Modena, it was a strange sort of stage, 209km in length with hardly any corners - the first 172km looks rather like a massively scaled-up sprint with the only sizable deviation from the line being made necessary by the existence of Bologna. There was a little Category 4 hill at 172.1km, rising to 109m, then three gentle and uncategorised climbs in the 16km after it before the final 14km, which are as flat and as straight as the earlier part of the race all the way to the last kilometre where the terrain rose almost imperceptibly to the finish line in Fano. (history along the route).

As such, there was no surprise that the race was once again hotly contested by the sprinters. Sky, who got things badly wrong on Stage 3 when Mark Cavendish was separated from lead-out man Geraint Thomas in the last 300m and left Matt Goss to take the win unmolested, made certain they didn't make the same mistake again. This time, Ian Stannard led the team into the last stretch before handing over to Thomas, who positioned the Manxman with surgical position 150m from the line before letting him go. When the team gets this right, Cav is unbeatable under these conditions and while Goss gave it his all he simply didn't stand a chance, taking second place with a bike length between them. Partner Peta Todd and their four-week-old daughter Delilah were at the finish to see him in action.

Skychology? Fausto Coppi was well-known as a party animal, often drinking enormous quantities of champagne the night before obliterating his rivals. Or was he? There's quite a bit of evidence that what he really did was paid for the party, bribed party-goers to swear blind he'd been there all night and then got a good night's sleep, knowing that defeat at the hands of a man suffering a terrible hangover is worse than one at the hands of a man in the best of health. Mario Cipollini used a similar technique, and so have several others. 

"We weren’t that bothered whether it was a sprint or not as I didn’t feel great three days after the crash," Cav claimed after his Stage 5 victory. "I was a little bit tired and we did really what the other teams have done and let the others do the work."

So - can Cav quite literally thrash the best of the rest even when he's not feeling his best? Or is he using Coppian psychology?

Brian Bulgac (Lotto-Belisol), riding his first Giro, repaid his team's faith by forming a quarter of a sponsor-pleasing break that attained a lead of 5'40" for a while and even looked like it might last to the end - until what appeared on the altimetry profile to be little more than speed bumps in the final 30km turned out to be far more difficult than anybody (with the exception of the route planners, who probably had a good old laugh as the riders ground their way up) had expected. Once again, crashes took out a few riders as the average speed began to rise. Taylor Phinney(BMC), still bruised as a result of Robert Ferrari's Stage 3 idiocy, was the highest-profile victim. Fortunately he wasn't badly hurt but struggled to make up lost time.

Ramūnas Navardauskas (Garmin-Barracuda), having kept himself well out of the way of danger in the peloton, retains his General Classification lead as the Giro enters Stage 6.

Top Ten
  1.  Mark Cavendish Sky 4h43'15"
  2.  Matthew Goss Orica-GreenEDGE ST
  3.  Daniele Bennati RadioShack-Nissan ST
  4.  Robert Hunter Garmin-Barracuda ST
  5.  Sacha Modolo Colnago CSF ​​Bardiani ST
  6.  Alexander Kristoff Katusha ST
  7.  Elijah Favilli Farnese Vini-Selle Italia ST
  8.  Manuel Belletti AG2R-La Mondiale ST
  9.  Arnaud Demare FDJ - BigMat ST
  10.  Jonas Aaen Jorgensen  SaxoBank ST
(Full stage results and GC)

Stage 6 (profile here)

Stage 6 is of similar length at 210km, but with three Category 3s and a Cat 2 it's a different sort of race entirely. The parcours begins in Urbino, a remarkable walled city on a hilltop that, under the patronage of the forward-thinking Federico da Montefeltro (more on him - and his nefarious enemy Sigismondo Malatesta - here), became one of the driving forces behind the European Renaissance. Protected by World Heritage Site status, Urbino remains a spectacular sight with the Duomo Cathedral, the University, the Palazzo Ducale and Albornoz fortress almost succeeding in drawing the eye away from the ugly carparks and modern buildings that have grown up around the base of the hill. The first climb, an uncategorised ascent to 433m, lies 26km to the south-east and is followed by a series of smaller hills, then a 431m uncategorised climb at 78km and the first Cat 3 beginning at 89km as the race reaches Cingoli (birthplace of Pius VIII, who became Pope in 1829 when he was 68, in very poor health and little more than a puppet for Cardinal Giuseppe Albani). The Cat 2 starts at 110km - at 772m, it's much smaller than those still to come but, known as the Passo dello Cappella, it's officially the first col of the 2012 edition. After passing through Treia (where Egyptian statues, unique in this part of Italy, have been discovered by archaeologists) Cat 3 Montelupone (251m) begins at 152km and is followed by two uncategorised hills leading to a final Cat 3, Montegranaro (241m), at 170km. There are two more uncategorised climbs ending with 11km to go, then a slightly downhill section into Porto Sant'Elpidio (where Cipolini won Stage 4 on the 28th of May in 1992, suggesting a sprint finish may be on the cards) and the finish line.

Stages 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10 / 11 / 12 / 13 / 14 / 15 / 16 / 17 / 18 / 19 / 20 / 21


Tour of Chongming Island Stage 2

Monia Baccaille

Chongming Island is pancake flat, which means that races almost inevitably end with bunch sprints; a fact that has led some to accuse the Tour of being boring. However, while the majority of today's parcours might not have been to everyone's tastes, the conclusion was anything but boring with a crash (caused, says the official Rabobank race report, by the " wild and uncontrolled sprinting" of the Asian riders) splitting the bunch. 


According to reports, an unspecified number of riders were taken to hospital with suspected broken collarbones and Evgenia Romanyuta (RusVelo) was airlifted to hospital, raising worries that she may be badly injured. Stage 1 also saw a crash shortly before the finish line, which does rather suggest that organisers need to look at making the routes more selective to avoid riders approaching the finish in such a large group.

Winner Monia Baccaille (MCipollini-Giambenini-Gauss) was fortunate to be in front of the crash, but won't feel proud that it was the main reason she now leads GC. Chloe Hosking (Specialized-Lululemon) was second and Shelly Olds (AA-Drink Leontien.nl) third. Baccaille now leads the General Classification by 3" and AA Drink-Leontien.nl takes the Team classification leadership from MCipollini-Giambenini-Gauss with an advantage of 7".

Stage 3

Top Ten

  1.  Monia Baccaille MCipollini-Giambenini-Gauss 2h57'28"

  2.  Chloe Hosking Specialized-Lululemon ST

  3.  Shelley Olds AA Drink-Leontien.nl ST

  4.  Melissa Hoskins Orica-GreenEdge ST

  5.  Rochelle Gilmore Faren-Honda ST

  6.  Romy Kaspar RusVelo ST

  7.  Jessie Maclean Orica-GreenEdge ST

  8.  Mei Yu Hsiao Axman Team Taiwan ST

  9.  Jutatip Maneephan ST

  10.  Marlen Johrend ABUS - Nutrixxion ST

(Full results and GC)

Friday's Stage 3 consists of eleven laps of a 7.2km urban parcours at Shanghai East Beach.


Stages 1 / 2 / 3 / World Cup


Tour of California to hold women's time trial
After a successful experiment in 2011, the organisers of the Amgen Tour of California have confirmed that they will again hold a women's time trial on the 17th of May - the same day and same 29.6km Bakersfield parcours as the men's Stage 5 race.


The event is by invite only and boasts a $10,000 prize fund, considerably greater than is on offer in most European women's races. After her stunning performance at the Tour of the Gila, last year's winner Krisitin Armstrong will be favourite for victory.


Provisional Start List
  1.  Alison Tetrick Exergy Twenty12

  2.  Tayler Wiles Exergy Twenty12

  3.  Kristin Armstrong Exergy Twenty12

  4.  Emilia Fahlin Specialized-Lululemon

  5.  Loren Rowney Specialized-Lululemon

  6.  Bridie O'Donnell Vanderkitten-Focus

  7.  Janel Holcomb Optum Pro Cycling p/b Kelly Benefits Strategies

  8.  Jade Wilcoxson Optum Pro Cycling p/b Kelly Benefits Strategies

  9.  Alison Powers Now and Novatis for MS

  10.  Robin Farina Now and Novatis for MS

FFC boss David Lappartient confirms Dunkirk corticoid tests were performed

More sources are claiming that Anthony Charteau (Europcar) fell foul of an unannounced anti-doping control at the Four Days of Dunkirk. L'Equipe broke the news, saying that officials carried out tests for corticoids before the final stage and that one rider had been prevented from starting after suspicious values were found. The rider's identity and team has not been officially revealed, but as Chartreau was the only ride not to start it would appear to have been him - though Europcar manager Jean-Rene Bernaudeau claims he abandoned due to a knee problem.

Ullrich: "There is no denying that several doping cases in recent years have hurt cycling. I too have made mistakes"

Jan Ullrich, retroactively banned
for two years in 2012

Jan Ullrich, the rider who became the first German to win a Tour de France and was later stripped of results after a messy doping investigation, has a new blog hosted by Yahoo - and the first subject he discusses is, rather unsurprisingly, doping.

"The time of hiding and retreat is over. I have received my punishment. Even if I do not intend to return to professional cycling, cycling will remain love of my life," he begins, then goes on to say that today's young riders should not be tarred with the same brush as he was simply because they are cyclists. "I leave it to each individual reader to decide whether he and she thinks that I deserve a second chance. Cycling has lost nothing of its fascination. There are many young drivers who will not make the same mistakes as the old generation. They deserve support."

Other News

"PICTURE SPECIAL. Family and friends visit the place where Wouter Weylandt died" (Sportwereld)

Cycling

Cambridge Police discover stolen bikes

Cambridge Police recovered a vast haul of stolen bikes when they raided a property on the city's Coldham's Lane after Police Community Support Officer Amanda Turnell spotted them hidden behind a shed while investigating another theft. In all, sixty bikes, cutting equipment (used to remove locks) and sections of sawn-off bike racks were removed by officers. A teenager has been arrested in connection with the discovery.

It doesn't matter how good your bike lock is if you don't pay
attention to what you lock it onto!

Investigating officer PC Martin Pinyoun said that the bikes will be on display at Parkside Police Station between 5-7pm on the 17th of May. "We are keen to find out if these bikes were stolen but never reported," he added "I urge anyone who has had a bike stolen during the past year to come to Parkside to see if they can identify their bicycle."

The presence of sawn-off sections of racks is a reminder that cyclists need to be careful not just to lock their bikes but also to make sure they're locked to something secure - it's very common to see a bike locked to a chainlink fence or other fixture that can be cut far more easily that the lock; allowing thieves to cut it free and take the bike so that the lock can be removed at their leisure. Unfortunately, many council-provided bike parking facilities are not up to the job.

Newswire - the news you might have missed

Britain

"Worth £2m a day, cycling gets seriously sexy" (The Scotsman)

"Reinventing the wheel: The most inventive cycling innovations" (The Independent)

"Graeme Obree, The Flying Scotsman, to Inspire Cyclists in Highland Perthshire" (AllMediaScotland)

"Safe cycle lanes to be made law in Wales" (The Times)

Worldwide

"Cycling on New Tracks" (IBN, Malaysia)

"Cyclist killed after riding off edge of street was drunk - coroner" (NZHerald)

"Montreal to try new type of intersection for cyclists and motorists" (The Gazette)

"In Cycling: Vancouver bamboo bikes up the green commuting ante" (Vancouver Courier)

"Cycling's exciting trend" (Huffington Post)

"Many Tokyo cyclists unaware of rules" (Daily Yoimiuri)

Cycling Evening News 06.05.12

Giro d'Italia (video) - Two Days of Bedford - Tour of the Gila - The 100mph bike designed in the bath and made from genius - Nibali to leave Liquigas - US start for future Giro? - Other News (links) - Cycling

Giro d'Italia Stage 2

Sunday brought the first road race stage, a 206km loop from Bjarne Riis' hometowen Herning up to the Limfjorden (an enormous, brackish fjord that cuts off the north of the country rom the south, effectlively turning it into an island) north of Holsterbro, then south along the western coastline including a ride along the 13.2km Bøvling Klit isthmus separating Nissumfjord from the North Sea. Having travelled as far as Ringkobingfjord, they headed inland again for a straight 50km run back to Herning. This being Denmark, the parcours was flat all the way - a situation that looked likely to encourage the likes of Mark Cavendish (Sky), Theo Bos (Rabobank) and the other sprint specialists to show what they're capable of doing at the long, straight final section to the finish line.

The first half of the race was ruled by a three-man break consisting of Olivier Kaisen (Lotto-Belisol), Alfredo Balloni (Farnese Vini-Selle Italia.) and Miguel Rubiano (Androni Giacattoli-Venezuela), who managed to push their lead up to thirteen minutes for a while and had the race have been a few days further in, they might have been allowed to get away with it. However, with the teams seeking to assert their authority at this stage of the proceedings, they were all caught with 40km to go. Taylor Phinney, who gained the pink jersey yesterday with his individual time trial win, had a lot of work to do today to hang onto it - and he'll be more surprised than most that he still gets to wear it tomorrow after his chain came off with 8km to go leaving him with around half a minute to make up if he was to remain in contention. That he did so is testament to just how fast he is, and just how useful Danilo Wyss, who dropped back to assist him, can be.

We all knew that, barring disaster, this stage was going to end in a sprint and so the teams had already got their sprinters into position before the final corner with around 150m left. That proved fortunate because at that point Bos touched the wheel of the rider in front of him and then collided with Alexander Kristoff, who hit the barriers and finished with a bleeding face. Of course, the accident had no influence on the eventual outcome because the end of this stage might as well have been made for the Manxman, and he was the first of a bunch of sixteen over the line. Orica-GreenEDGE's Matt Goss followed him while Geoffrey Soupe (FDJ-Bigmat) hung on or dear life and an unexpected third. Cav's Sky team mate Geraint Thomas took tenth.

Cav - could it have been any different?

Top Ten
  1.  Mark Cavendish Sky 4h53'12"
  2.  Matthew Goss Orica-Green Edge ST
  3.  Geoffrey Soupe FDJ-BigMat ST
  4.  Tyler Farrar Garmin-Barracuda ST
  5.  Roberto Ferrari Androni Giocattoli-Venezuela ST
  6.  Mark Renshaw Rabobank ST
  7.  Thor Hushovd BMC ST
  8.  Daniele Bennati RadioShack-Nissan ST
  9.  William Bonnet FDJ-BigMat ST
  10.  Geraint Thomas Sky ST
(Full results and GC when available)

On Monday, Stage 3 (map, profile) is the last in Denmark before a "rest day," actually spent traveling down to Italy for the remainder of the race. 190km in length, starting and ending in Horsens on the east of the country, it's another flat parcours liable to finish once again with a sprint. The riders will pass through Horsens three times along the way.

As far as the weather goes on Monday, the factor that will most cheer the riders is a notable drop in windspeed between morning and afternoon - from 22kph down to around 10kph, which is insufficient to give any problems. It's enough to take the edge off the temperature early in the day - with 4C in sheltered spots near the start feeling more like 2C. When it drops, the maximum 11C will be unaffected. There's a 30% chance of rain, but if it comes it'll be in fast-moving showers that will end almost as soon as they begin.

Stages 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10 / 11 / 12 / 13 / 14 / 15 / 16 / 17 / 18 / 19 / 20 / 21

Two Days of Bedford
Giro got you in the mood for some hardcore bike action? Craving the sweet scent of chain oil and the thrill of lycra flashing past your face at 45kph? Can't quite stretch to filling up the tanks on the Gulfstream IV for a jolly over to Denmark? Well then - if you live anywhere in the British South-East or southern part of the Midlands, you might be interested to know about the Two Days of Bedford.

The long-running event consists of four stages over two days (6th and 7th of May) with a 7.4km team time trial followed by an 80km road race on the Sunday, then a 6.4km individual time trial and an 85km race made up of nine laps of the Milbrook Vehicle Testing Facility - and believe me, you will not get more excitement for what it'll cost you to get to this race anywhere in the country (and you won't even have to change your pounds for krone). (More information here)

Sarah Storey crashed with 2km to go, landing in a patch of nettles which she said prevented her from losing skin. On Twitter after the race, she blamed the crash on the rider in front of her after turning "left+right on herself to avoid a tiny hole in the tarmac," then thanked well-wishers:

Sarah Storey ‏ @MrsSarahStorey
Thanks for the messages peeps,I'm fine just shocked at amount of unnecessary swerving+hard braking going on by a v small minority of riders.

Nikola Butler also crashed:

Nikola Butler ‏ @nik_tweet
one minute I was trying to sprint up the hill and the next minute I was on my face. Someone rode into my back wheel :-( sore 

Nikola Butler ‏ @nik_tweet
no idea whose fault it was. Just one of those bunch sprint things maybe

Stage 1 (Team Time Trial)
  1.  Node 4-Giordana 10'08"
  2.  For Viored +1"
  3.  Scott Contessa Epic +8"
  4.  Matrix Fitness-Prendas +14"
  5.  Abergavenny RC +30"

Stage 2 Top Ten
  1.  Amy Roberts Scott Contessa Epic  2h09'30"
  2.  Ciara Horne Node 4-Giordana ST
  3.  Lucy Garner Node 4-Giordana +15"
  4.  Sarah Reynolds Matrix Fitness-Prendas ST
  5.  Corrinne Hall Node 4-Giordana ST
  6.  Emily Kay Scott Contessa Epic ST
  7.  Laura Massey Vivelo Bikes ST
  8.  Lauren Creamer Abergavenny RC ST
  9.  Tamina Oliver Abergavenny RC ST
  10.  Harriet Owen Node 4-Giordana ST

Tour of the Gila
Stage 4 was an urban criterium race around a 1.74km square Silver City parcours with three bonus sprints and course hazards that include, according to the race bible, "rough pavement and errant pedestrians." The Pro Women completed 25 laps to make a total of 43.5km, the Pro Men 40 laps for 69.5km - precisely the sort of race in which a rider such as Kristin Armstrong (Exergy Twenty12), who at 38 specialises in the sort of endurance athleticism necessary on long stages (and which has seen her win the three stages prior to this one) might lose time to the younger women.

Loren Rowney

That turned out to be the case, though far less so than expected: while Armstrong came ninth, she was only 4" behind winner Loren Rowney (FCS Rouse presented by Mr. Restore, loaned by Specialized-Lululemon) and thus sees her General Classification lead only drop to 4'46" (from 5'01" after Stage 3) once bonification times have been taken into account. She was at the front for the first half of the race but, perhaps realising that she stood little chance of winning, chose to work for her team by chasing down attacks - not an entirely selfless decision, as it also enabled her to save some juice for the final Gila Monster stage. FCS Rouse guessed what she was up to,  simply waited until the final part of the race when they knew she'd be tired and made sure they had a rider ready to respond each and every time it looked like someone might make a break for the line. The plan was to tag along with an Exergy or Now and Novartis sprint train and see what they could do, but when Rowney found herself six riders back at the final corner she thought her chance was lost. Then, in a turn of good luck, the seven leaders took a fraction of a second longer than she'd expected to launch, allowing her to the velocity she'd carried through the bend to power into the lead and hold them off to the line.

Top Ten
  1.  Loren Rowney FCS Rouse p/b Mr. Restore 1h04'45"
  2.  Carmen Small Optum p/b Kelly Benefit ST
  3.  Christina Gokey-Smith Now & Novartis for MS ST
  4.  Alison Powers Now & Novartis for MS ST
  5.  Joanie Caron Colavita-ESPNW ST
  6.  Olivia Dillon Now & Novartis for MS ST
  7.  Jade Wilcoxson Optum p/b Kelly Benefit ST
  8.  Emma Grant Optum p/b Kelly Benefit ST
  9.  Kristin Armstrong Exergy Twenty12 +04"
  10.  Janel Holcomb Optum p/b Kelly Benefit ST
(Full results and GC)

Alejandro Borrajo

Marlon Alirio Perez Arango (Colombia-Comcel) pleased his team's sponsors and the spectators alike with a superb solo break, attacking the peloton and getting away only a few minutes from the start and then riding alone with an advantage hovering about the minute mark until Bissel decided enough was enough and got their hooks into him with twelve laps to go - he finished 65th in the end, but he's the man the fans will have been talking about on the way home. As the race neared its conclusion, Jamis-Sutter Home took the opportunity to show us all how a lead-out train ought to be conducted with all their men at the front of the pack protecting their top sprinters, brothers Alejandro and Anibal Borrajo, and getting them into perfect position - Alejandro proved fastest of a bunch of 21 while Anibal was right behind him for second place. Afterwards, Anibal dedicated the victory to an older brother who died a few days ago. Rory Sutherland took eleventh place and retains his GC lead, his overall advantage now up to 33" from 26".

Top Ten
  1.  Alejandro Alberto Borrajo Jamis/Sutter Home 1h33'40"
  2.  Anibal Andres Borrajo Jamis/Sutter Home ST
  3.  Luca Damiani Kenda/5-Hour Energy ST
  4.  Eric Young Bissel ST
  5.  Francisco Mancebo Competitive Cyclist ST
  6.  Weimar Roldan GW-Shimano ST
  7.  Avila Vanegas Edwin ST
  8.  Chad Beyer Competitive Cyclist ST
  9.  Gavin Mannion Bontrager Livestrong ST
  10.  Shawn Milne Kenda/5-Hour Energy ST
(Full results and GC)


Sunday brings the climax of the race, and what a climax it is - the 170.1km Gila Monster (map and profile) is almost certainly the toughest stage in North American professional cycling with two Category 4 climbs (16.1km, 2,070m; 166km, same), two Cat 2s (Anderson Vista, 83km, 2,284m; Wild Horse Mesa/Meadow Creek, 89km, 2,278m) and a Cat 1(Anderson Vista climbed from the opposite direction, 120km).

The 100mph bike - designed in the bath and made from genius

The remarkable Graeme Obree

Anyone who knows the story of Graeme Obree's Hour Record will know that the bike upon which he broke it, Old Faithful, used washing machine bearings. Anybody who knows a little more will know that the Scotsman later regretted telling anyone that, because it was all the newspapers cared about.

Obree is now planning to set a new record by becoming the first man to travel on a bicycle - on road and without pacing - at 100mph (161kph) aboard a new bike which, in characteristic Obreean style, he dreamed up while lying in the bath and later sketched out on bits of wallpaper. Once again, the ever-resourceful Obree has used items found about the house: this time, the rests that will support his shoulders as he lays prone on the carbon fibre-skinned machine have been made from an old saucepan. Hence Sunday's Telegraph headline: "The 100mph bike – designed in the bath and made from an old saucepan."

Hopefully, this time around, more people will look beyond that one single fact and remember that Obree is a remarkable engineer who builds his bikes from a wide range of remarkable materials, not only old washing machines and pots and pans; the most important being ingenuity and genius.

Nibali to leave Liquigas
Tuttobiciweb reports that Vincenzo Nibali has chosen not to sign an extended contract with Liquigas-Cannondale - said to be worth 1.8 million euros per year. According to rumour the 27-year-old, who already has one Grand Tour under his belt after winning the 2010 Vuelta a Espana, is being courted by BMC and Astana, both of which are said to be offering him 2.5 million euros per year.

"We made an offer, we gave him time to think it over, he has not responded. For us, the matter is closed," says Liquigas directeur sportif Paolo Dal Lago.

Giro may start in USA - one day
Organisers of the Tour de France looked seriously into the possibility of taking the race to the USA in the past but concluded that, at the time, the expense of doing so was simply too great. Nevertheless, it's an idea that has remained on a back-burner ever since. After all, American companies have been pouring sums of money into the sport that make the majority of European contributions look relatively puny, and American and Canadian riders are a fixture in the Grand Tour pelotons - in fact, it sometimes looks as though the old prediction that the USA would turn out to be the future home of cycling might eventually prove true.

Michele Acquarone

Now Giro d'Italia director Michele Acquarone has turned up the heat, because he wants his race to be the first Grand Tour to cross the Atlantic.

"To do this would be very expensive - at the present time, with the world's economy in the state it is, it's simply not an option," he admitted to Sportwereld. "But cycling is now global, increasingly so, and the Giro should be a driving force in that evolution. When we're through the financial crisis and cycling has dealt with its problems, this dream should be achievable. Imagine: we start in the US, have a few stages on Amercian soil, then the riders fly buiness class overnight to Italy... I really think this is possible."

Other News and Features
"Stephen Roche: Triple Crown 25 years on" (Cyclosport.org)

"Irish Para-cycling world champion Colin Lynch reveals dazzling new gold prosthetic" (Inside World Parasport)

"Top collegiate cyclists make their move in Ogden" (Standard-Examiner, Utah)

"Rwanda: Soras Boost Ascension De Mille Collines Cycling Tour" (AllAfrica)

Cycling
Newswire
Britain
"Cyclist knocked down on Gosport to Fareham bus route praises driver for saving his life" (The News, Portsmouth)

"Cycling in Leicester is just too dangerous" (This Is Leicestershire)

Worldwide
"Cyclists gear up for cross-Canada trek" (Times Colonist)

"A blessing for those who brave city streets on two wheels" (New York Times)

"Kids join the cycling fun at bike rodeo" (Silver City Sun-News)

"Santa Barbara Bicycle Coalition to Honor Three Women for Cycling Volunteerism" (NoozHawk)

"It's wedding bells and bikes for this couple" (AsiaOne)

Cycling Evening News 24.04.12

Romandie underway - Tour of Turkey - McEwen to retire late May - GreenEDGE/NetApp Giro rosters - Cav confident for Tour double - Giro di Lombardia to honour Gimondi - No birthday luck for Taaramäe - Addison Lee protest - Cycling Newswire

Racing
Tour di Romandie gets underway with a good day for Sky

Geraint Thomas

The Tour di Romandie started today with a 3.34km individual time trial in the ancient Swiss city Lausanne, running partly along the Quai d'Ouchy and Quai de Belgique on the banks of Lake Geneva - one of the most beautiful city roads in Europe.

Rain had been coming and going throughout the morning before the first riders set out on the course, the first third or so getting a slight advantage from relatively dry conditions before it began drizzling again. Sky's Geraint Thomas looked like a probable winner when he set a time of 3'29" - team mate Mark Cavendish had ridden the course with him this morning and was predicting victory...

Mark Cavendish ‏ @MarkCavendish
Little ride this morning with @GeraintThomas86, including a few laps of #TourDeRomandie time trial course. 3.5km. Boom. Bet on the Welshman.

...and, when the rain turned heavier shortly after he'd clcked in, nobody was able to beat him; though RadioShack-Nissan's Giacomo Nizzolo came close with +4", as did Cav with +5" - which brought about an amusing change of heart from the English commentators who dismissed the Manxman's chances almost as soon as he'd left the ramp. Bradley Wiggins' chances were severely curtailed by the weather and he finished just outside the top ten after recording 3'38" for 11th place. However, with Michael Rogers equalling Cav's time for 4th, it was a very good day for Sky indeed.

Top 10

  1.  Geraint Thomas Sky Procycling 3'29"
  2.  Giacomo Nizzolo RadioShack-Nissan +4"
  3.  Mark Cavendish Sky +6"
  4.  Michael Rogers Sky ST
  5.  Kristof Vandewalle Omega Pharma-Quickstep ST
  6.  Julien Vermote Omega Pharma-Quickstep +7"
  7.  Bauke Mollema Rabobank +8"
  8.  Stef Clement Rabobank ST
  9.  Manual Boaro SaxoBank +9"
  10.  Alex Rasmussen Garmin-Barracuda ST (Full results when available)


Tomorrow, the riders face a 184.5km parcours beginning at Morges. Flat for the initial 70km, it then swings sharply upwards for a climb to Rochefort at 750m above sea level before reaching Category 2 Les Bugnenets after 90km (1,116m), Cat 2 Haut de la Cote at 156km (1,035m) and Cat 3 Le Communal de la Sagne at 171km (1,158m) on the way to the finish line at La Chaux-de-Fonds.

Tour of Turkey
Stage 3 at the Tour of Turkey featured a tough 152km parcours starting at the coastal resort of Antalya before heading west and inland to the mountains with three points along the way surpassing 1,600m in altitude. 34-year-old Bulgarian Ivaïlo Gabrovski - who won this race overall in 2007 and holds a record five victories in the Tour of Bulgaria - left his rivals standing on the final climb to 1,850m on the Göğübeli Mountain Pass, crossing the line alone with a comfortable lead of 1'26" to take the stage win for his Turkish Konya Torku Sekerspor team - their first ever in their home nation and sufficient to place him at the top of the General Classification.

Tomorrow, riders face 132km along the craggy south-western coast of Muğla Province where the highest climb is only 300m but has a leg-cracking gradient.

Top 10  
1.  Ivailo Gabrovski Konya Torku Sekersport  
2.  Alexandr Dyachenko Astana +1'33"  
3.  Danail Andonov Petrov Caja Rural +1'38"  
4.  Adrian Palomares Villaplana Andalucia-Caja Granada +1'44"  
5.  Romain Bardet AG2R-La Mondiale +2'01"  
6.  Alexander Efimkin Team Type 1-Sanofi +2'23"  
7.  Florian Guillou Bretagne Schuller +2'29"  
8.  Enrico Battaglin Colnago CSF Bardiani +2'48"  
9.  Michal Golas Omega Pharma-Quickstep +3'02"  
10.  Will Routley Spidertech Powered By C10 +3'05 (Full results and GC)

Robbie McEwen to retire late May

McEwen, now with GreenEDGE, has said that he will
retire after the Tour of California. He is expected to
remain with the team in the capacity of technical
supervisor

GreenEDGE's Robbie McEwen has announced that the upcoming Tour of California will be his final race as a professional. Queensland-born McEwen began his cycling career in BMX and became a National Junior Champion, then switched to road cycling in 1990 and immediately revealed himself to have talent, later going on to win the Points competition at the Tour de France in 2002, 2004 and 2006.

It was widely known that McEwen would retire at some point this year, but as of yet no date had been set. No confirmation has appeared on the GreenEDGE website; however, while speaking to Het Nieuwesblad he appears to have a date in mind: "After the Tour of California - that's it," he said. The Tour ends on the 20th of May.

GreenEDGE/NetApp Giro rosters
Meanwhile, GreenEDGE has published details of the squad it will send to the Giro d'Italia: Brett Lancaster, Jack Bobridge, Matt Goss, Christian Meier, Svein Tuft, Daryl Impey, Fumiyuki Beppu, Jens Keukeleire and Tomas Vaitkus have made the selection for what will be the team's first Grand Tour.

NetApp, one of the Pro Continental team to recieve a wildcard invitation to the race, have published a list of eight riders they'll send this year: Timon Seubert, Jan Barta, Cesare Benedetti, Matthias Brändle, Andreas Dietziker, Reto Hollenstein, Bartosz Huzarski and Daniel Schorn. It's not yet known if they'll add a ninth.

Cav confident Sky can take Tour double

(image courtesy of UCI)

"Who would have thought you’d have a British team with British backers, with two British riders going for two of the biggest prizes in the sport?" asks Mark Cavendish in the Liverpool Echo. "It’s a pretty big thing, that. It is not an easy task at all but it is definitely possible. I wouldn’t be at Team Sky if I didn’t think it was possible."

The double to which he refers is, of course, the Points competition, which he's a favourite to win, and the General Classification which team mate Bradley Wiggins will be chasing - something that has been achieved just three times since sport's greatest event reverted to trade teams in 1969 after two years in which it was open only to national teams, and a feat that would confirm Britain as a true cycling nation.

"I want to be part of that team that makes history," adds the 26-year-old sprinter and current road race champion. (More from the Liverpool Echo)

Other Racing News
The 2012 Giro di Lombardia will start from Bergamo rather Milan as a tribute to 1966/1973 winner Felice Gimondi who turns 70 on the 29th of September this year. Gimondi was the second cyclist after Jacques Anquetil to win all three Grand Tours during his career.

Poor Rein Taaramäe has missed out on his share of birthday luck this year - the Estonian rider, who turns 25 today (Tuesday 24th April), returned to competition the week before last after recovering from mononucleosis, then crashed at the Vuelta a Castilla y Leon - and x-rays have revealed "an incomplete fracture of the radial head of the left elbow," says Cofidis manager Eric Boyer. (More from Cycling News)

Tweets

Jakob Fuglsang ‏ @jakob_fuglsang
Did an x-ray of my hand Friday and the fracture is stabile. The screw is still in one piece but the bone is still not grown 100% together.

Cycling
Addison Lee "die-in"
An estimated three hundred cyclists braved the rain and oily, wet streets to attend a "die-in" protest outside the grey eyesore that is the offices of Europe's largest minicab firm Addison Lee yesterday evening, angry at comments made by the firm's chairman John Griffin - who had said that London cyclists should be held responsible for their own misfortune if injured or killed on the capital's roads because it's their own choice to ride in " some of the most congested spaces in the world...[on] a vehicle which offers them no protection except a padded plastic hat."

Beth Anderson, one of the protest organisers, used Facebook to say: "For me, tonight was something truly special. A group of cyclists went to Addison Lee's headquarters with a message and they delivered it. Unfortunately it wasn't a huge surprise to hear John Griffin repeating the same old lines but his arguments are essentially ill-founded and based on the idea that the roads are, and can only be, dangerous. It was important to tell him that they are made even more dangerous by him."

There have been calls to hold a second protest in the hope that better weather will attract more people. More information from Boycott Addison Lee.

Why did Griffin really say what he said?

Newswire
Britain: Cyclists' horror stories (The Times)

Britain: Sometimes, cyclists have to break the law to stay safe (The Times)

Britain: A memorial for a cyclist who was killed in a road accident in Belfast last year is believed to be the first of its kind in Northern Ireland (BBC)

Canada: Toronto's top doctor is recommending lowering the speed limits on residential city streets to 30 km/h in an effort to cut down on pedestrian and cyclist fatalities (CTV News)

Canada: A personal chef to one of Canada’s highest ranking diplomats claims he was pushed into oncoming traffic by an angry motorist as he cycled home from work (Ham&High)

Ghana: C2 Paracycling champion, Alem Mumuni, has once again made history as the first Ghanaian cyclist to ever qualify to the Olympics Games (Ghanaweb)

New Zealand: A lawyer for a mountain biker whose assault of a fellow cyclist was captured on camera (see: "Trail rage in New Zealand" for details and video of the assault - CP)  has warned about the growing influence of internet videos on court cases (NZHerald)

New Zealand: A woman was dragged along the train tracks after ignoring warning lights and sirens in central Auckland this morning. Police say the woman walked out onto the track pushing her bicycle, which was clipped by a passing train at a level crossing at Rossgrove Terrace, near St Luke's Rd. The bike became entangled in the train, dragging her along with it. (Auckland Now)

New Zealand: North Taranaki people appear to be divided on whether cyclists should be required to wear helmets on the Coastal Walkway. Like it or not the police have vowed to crack down on it, even threatening to give tickets of $150 to cyclists who do not comply (Taranaki Daily News)

Antigua: Veteran cyclist Robert Marsh and young female national rider Tamiko Butler, both earning nominations from the Antigua & Barbuda Cycling Association (ABCA), walked away with top honours at the National Sports Awards held at the Sandals Grande Resort & Spa on Saturday night (Observer Media Group)