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

Trofeo Internazionale Bastianelli

Large-scale, click for zoom

05.08.12 Official Site (with details of TV coverage)
Italy, UCI 1.2


Start list (subject to change)

One of the greatest non-classic events of Italian cycling and now in its 36th edition, the Trofeo Internazionale Bastianelli takes place on hilly roads north of Atina in Lazio - a beautiful hilltop town which, despite its Roman ruins, cathedral and ducal palace, hasn't yet been discovered by tourists and where the majority of the local population make their living through the production of wine and olive oil.

The race takes place in three parts: Giro 1 (blue) heads at first west, then north into the countryside and west again to Alvito, then turns north-west to loop around Posta Fibreno - which has a lake made famous by a naturally-formed floating island, mentioned by Pliny. The riders then head south-east to Casalvieri and Casalattico, then after 55km arrive back at Atina to begin the next part.

Giro 2 (red) leaves Atina and heads at first west, then north via Settefrati to San Donato Val di Comino, west again to Alvito and south via Casalvieri to Casalattico before turning east back to Atina, covering 62km.

Giro 3 is itself split into three parts, two laps beginning and ending at the start line and a third, slightly shorter lap ending at San Marciano. The total distance is 143km.

Click to enlarge.

A look at the altitude profile reveals that this is not a race for the sprinters, with numerous tough climbs dotting the entire parcours and three big GPMs coming in fast succession between 67 and 85km during Giro 2. The first of these is Gallinaro, its highest point 555m above sea level and situated 71km into the race; the second is Settefrati (79km), the biggest test the riders face today at 825m; the third is San Donato Val di Comino at 85km, 728m high - the profile suggests that the town is approached by a descent; however, while the riders will have been descending from Settefrati, there's a steep climb to reach the centre of the town. Giro 2 ends with a climb of 130m which must then be climbed three more times during Giro 3, draining the last dregs of strength from all the riders and ensuring that only the strongest climbers stand any real chance of being first across the finish line after they climb it for the final time.

Results when available...

RIP Aldo Ronconi

Aldo Ronconi
20.09.1918 - 12.06.2012

Aldo Ronconi was born in Brisighella, Ravenna on the 20th of September 1918 and turned professional with the Legnano team in 1940, winning the Giro dell'Umbria that year. After the Second War, he became National Road Race Champion in 1946, also winning the Giro di Toscana and Stage 15 at the Giro d'Italia.

Ronconi entered the Tour de France for the first time in 1947, the first edition of the race since 1939. That year, the Italian team was made up of Italians resident in France as the peace treaty between the two nations had not yet been formalised and they were, therefore, technically still at war. He won Stage 3, wore the maillot jaune for two days, and was fourth in the overall General Classification. After retiring from competition in 1952, he ran a bike shop in Faenza for many years and was well-known among the local cycling enthusiasts; remaining in the city until his death last Tuesday at the age of 93.

"How ExperiencePlus customers met Aldo Ronconi," ExperiencePlus

Noemi Cantele wins Stage 1, Giro Trentino Donne!

Noemi Cantele at the 2009
World Championships

Many fans will have been concerned that the organiser's decision to adopt an unusually flat parcours might make for a less interesting Giro Trentino Donne this year - an especial worry when the race has already been shortened from three days to two due to financial problems as reduced interest might very well spell the end of the 19-year-old race. However, in any form of cycling the personalities and riding styles of those who take part count towards the overall success of a race, and when you have riders such as the ones in this event it's never going to be boring.

The peloton stayed together up the first climb, but numerous riders were visibly restless and waiting for their chance at launching a breakaway attempt. A group of 18 got away shortly after the climb and AA Drink-Leontien.nl's Sharon Laws and Emma Pooley accompanied by GreenEDGE's Judith Arndt wasted no time in splitting off from them to form a lead group with Laws briefly riding ahead solo, though there was a good bit of tit-for-tat as riders swapped places and found their positions. Before too long the race had settled into three groups - Pooley, Noemi Cantele (Be Pink) and Linda Villumsen (GreenEDGE) with a 49" advantage of a chasing group of 15, then the main field some 2' back. The times varied and a few riders came and went from the chase group, but this arrangement characterised the majority of the rest of the stage.

Pooley was the fastest rider through the first and second intermediate sprints with Villumsen and Cantele taking second and third place in the first, then switching positions in the second. A few kilometres on they upped the pace, building their lead over the chasers to 1'42" and putting more than three minutes between themselves and the main group, who responded by speeding up just as Luisa Tamanini (Faren-Honda) made an unsuccessful bid to bridge from chasers to lead. Rossella Ratto (Verinlegno-Fabiani), Olga Zabelinskaya (RusVelo), Alexandra Burchenkova (S.C. Michela Fanini Rox), Malgorzata Jasinska (MCipollini-Giambenini-Gauss) and Charlotte Becker (Specialized-Lululemon) had more luck, clawing their way to the leaders not long before the race entered its final 25km - which immediately made the outcome far less easy to predict, many people deciding Becker was a good bet.

Emma Pooley's solo attack with 4km to
go was the highlight of the race, even if
ultimately unsuccessful

The chasers apparently decided there was little point in carrying on now; most of them dropped back to join the main group who were now 4'07" behind the leaders, so with 15km to go it was obvious that the contenders had been narrowed down to eight riders. They were still together at 10km to go with no obvious signs of splitting, at which point the lat of the chasers gave up the fight and accepted what was now inevitable.

Pooley was the first to go, launching a daring attack 4km from the line and looking for a few moments like she might just pull it off, but she'd apparently over-estimated her reserves and was rapidly caught. Even now it remained unclear how the finish would play out - was it going to be a bunch sprint or would there be more attacks? In the end they elected to go with the first option, all kicking off together and fighting hard for the line; and Cantele turned out to be the fastest.

Tomorrow, the riders have two stages. The first consists of four laps of a 15.7km road parcours at Sarnonico followed by a 5km individual time trial.

(Results and more details to follow...)

Guide - Stage 1 - Stage 2a - Stage 2b

Giro d'Italia Stage 16

The Giro heads for Limone sul Garda for 2012's final medium mountain stage on Tuesday, taking a 173km route that ends at Falzes - which, despite being in Italy, is better known as Pfalzen since it's 20km from the Austrian border and around 97% of the local population speak German as their first language.

Limone sul Garda feels far more Italian; it's famous for its locally-produced olive oil and lemons (although grown here in large amounts, lemons did not give the town its name - "limone" is probably derived from limes, meaning bounday, or lemos, meaning elm). Until the 1930s, the town was largely cut off from the outside world with the only ways to get there being by boat across Lake Garda or via the difficult passes across the mountains. This proved advantageous to the locals: a 17th Century inhabitant named Giovanni Pomaroli added to the Limone gene pool a mutant blood apolipoprotein, which enables the liver to produce a greater amount of high-density lipoprotein and reduces heart disease. Pomaroli's descendents, in the time-honoured way of mountain towns that have no contact with the outside world and little for people to do for several months each year, set about passing on their mutant genes and now Limone's residents are famous for their longevity. It has become famous as a health resort, attracting the rich and famous and benefiting enormously from their spending - what must have been a poor, one-horse town within living memory is now an impressive place of grand villas built along the thin strips of flat land between the lake and the mountains.

The stage's first two climbs come just before Trento, neither is especially high nor steep and, as such, neither is categorised. The summit of the second is 489m above sea level and is followed by a 7km into the city

Castello del Buonconsiglio

Trento is also rich - in fact, it frequently makes it into Italian top ten quality of life lists and its university is often ranked best in the country. The local architecture is exactly what might be expected of a town pulled between Italian and German influences; buildings that look quintessentially Italian stand next to others that wouldn't look out of place in Bavaria, while others happily combine elements of both traditions - and usually do so successfully. Trento's most famous son (who was in fact born 10km away at Palu Giovo) is Francesco Moser, who broke Eddy Merckx's Hour Record and smashed the old stereotype that Italians couldn't ride well in the Northern Classics. Palu Giovo is also the birthplace of Gilberto Simoni, who won the Giro d'Italia in 2001 and 2003 and might well have won in the intervening year too had he - like Moser - not preferred to ride with a little chemical assistance: a positive test for cocaine saw him kicked out of the race, though the Italian Federation later cleared him. Trento's finest site is the Castello del Buonconsiglio, the seat of the local Bishopric for half a millennium after construction began in the 13th Century, then a barracks and a prison when the Austrians ruled this part of Italy and since the 1920s a museum. Much enlarged over the years, it has become a vast complex of towers and palaces.

Bolzano and the Rosengarten massif

Bolzano, around 60km from Trento, is the next town of any size - in fact, it's the largest city in the South Tyrol. It too was subject to German influence and is still sometimes known as Bozen despite extensive "Italianisation" under Mussolini and the Fascists. Now, around three quarters of the population speak Italian as their first language; the majority of the remainder speak German and a tiny minority speak Ladin, a language closely related to Swiss Romansch and spoken by fewer that 20,000 people in total. The Fascists left another legacy - the city was once home to the Polizei- und Durchgangslager Bozen transit and labour camp, where thousands of Jewish and political prisoners were kept under appalling conditions during the Nazi era. This is perhaps why today Bolzano exhibits such tolerance: a unique statute preserves the identity of the German-speaking minority whilst integrating them in society, a measure that has been hailed as a potential solution to inter-ethnic conflict in other parts of the world and which has been praised by the Dalai Lama who has visited the city many times and advocates the same system for Chinese-controlled Tibet.

After Bolzano, the route begins to climb, imperceptibly at first, then more steeply until it reaches Ponte Gardena, an attractive and extremely Tyrolian village of 192 inhabitants that once had a statue of Mussolini on horseback entitled The Genius of Fascism, which was somehow overlooked after the Second World War and stood until the 29th of January 1960 when it was destroyed by the Bergisel-Bund für Südtirol Schutzverband group (who were, unfortunately, rather among the terrorist category of political groups). Trostburg, a 12th Century castle, is a considerably more attractive landmark. The parcours then crosses a plateau at 545m above sea level, then reaches a steeper ascent just past Brixen (where remnants of the 11th Century town walls and several castles can be seen) and climbs to 760m. A second plateau leads to Kiens at 168.1km, then the riders reach the last climb and get to 980m at the final right hand bend. The remaining 2.35km rise slightly to a maximum of 1,004m at the beginning of the last 0.5km, then the parcours descends gently to the finish line. If there was ever a stage for Joaquim Rodriguez, this is it.

Falzes - or Pfalzen - is around 50km from Bolzanoa the crow flies but more like 71km on the road. It's a region rather than a village and includes the hamlets Issing and Greinwalden. The former is home to the Burg Schöneck, a 12th Century castle that is now a private residence and, when glimpsed from the nearby roads, can be mistaken for a large church. Nearby is Sichelburg, a tall and imposing fortified manor house thought to have once been the home of the local lords. The building has undergone extensive renovation in recent years and has been returned to its former grandeur.

Giro Donne 2011 videos

Organisers of the Giro Donne - probably the greatest women's cycling race in the world - have uploaded several high quality videos from the 2011 edition on Facebook. See them all here.

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?

 

Cycling Evening News 14.05.12

Racing: Giro d'Italia Stage 9 (+ video) - Tour of California Stage 2 - Top Bakersfield cyclist killed in women's race - Downing wins Lincoln GP - New Grimsby team - Brad Wiggins burglary - Saiz sells cycle selection - Horses like cycling too - Other news Cycling: the news you might have missed

Racing
Giro d'Italia Stage 9
On Monday, the race returned to the flatlands again for a reasonably short 166km stage (profile) between San Giorgio del Sannio, beginning with a 244m descent over 8.6km (so expect a fast start!) and no hills of any note along the way. Whereas a couple of the earlier "flat" stages turned out to be rather more difficult than they looked on paper, today's stiffest climbs - 87m over 7km from Benevento (site of a Roman triumphal arch, considered the finest example of its type, and a Roman theatre) at the bottom of the initial descent and, at the other end of the stage, 86m over 6.9km into Frosinone - weren't expected to create any problems. Combined with a a short descent leading into the last 2km, a right turn with 1.65km to go and then a left into the final 500m, it looked set to be another sprinter's stage.

Pierre Cazaux (Euskaltel-Euskadi), Brian Bulgac (Lotto-Belisol) and Martjin Keizer (Vacansoleil-DCM) broke away early on and stayed out for much of the stage, but the peloton picked up the pace after 135km and swept them up. Matteo Rabottini (Farnese Vini-Selle Italia) tried to get away on the last climb but got nowhere; Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) also liked the lie of the land and blasted away to an eight second lead, but he'd misjudged the hill which turned out to simply not be steep enough to prevent the real sprint specialists easily catching him. 22-year-old Fabio Felline (Androni Giocattoli-Venezuela) had a go after that, but was caught immediately.

Francisco Ventoso

Mark Cavendish was, of course, believed to be in with a pretty good chance of winning today, but once again a crash in the final stretch kept victory from him. Taking place on the last left corner, it also took down Matthew Goss (Orica-GreenEDGE), Filippo Pozzato and several others; but it soon became apparent that it had looked worse than it actually was, the doctor who was left behind once all the riders had got up and headed for the finish line looking pleasantly surprised that he had nothing to do. Cav appeared to glance off the barriers and avoid the worst of the impact, but Goss fell hard on his elbow - he'll be off for X-rays this evening.

Matt Goss ‏ @mattgoss1986Well, that was a chance gone begging. Haven't seen the video to see what happened yet, but someone come in way to hot and forgot to turn.

After the race, Pozzato accepted full responsibility for the crash. "The crash was solely my fault," he explained to RaiSport. "I am very sorry to the other riders for my mistake, and I ask them to forgive me.

That Francisco Ventoso of Movistar can sprint is no secret - he proved as much when he won Paris-Brussels two years ago. However, Cav, Goss, Bos and the like have upped the sprinters' game so high over the last few years that men such as him, who a decade or so ago would have been among the best in the world, are more often than not outclassed in competitions such as this one. Today was his chance: with the rocketships caught up behind him, he found himself surrounded by a mixture of non-sprinters and sprinters more his calibre, saw the opportunity and grabbed the win.

Top Ten
  1.  FranciscoVentoso Movistar 3h39'15"
  2.  Fabio Felline Androni Giocattoli-Venezuela ST
  3.  Giacomo Nizzolo RadioShack-Nissan ST
  4.  Damiano Caruso Liquigas-Cannondale ST
  5.  Daniel Schorn Team NetApp ST
  6.  Alexander Kristoff Katusha ST
  7.  Ryder Hesjedal Garmin-arracuda ST
  8.  Matthias Brändle Team NetApp ST
  9.  Manuel Belletti AG2R-La Mondiale ST
  10.  Daryl Impey Orica-Green Edge ST
(Full stage result and GC)

Stage 10

Stage 10 takes us back into the medium mountains for a 166km run between Civitavecchia and Assisi (profile). There's only one categorised climb, right at the end of the parcours and it's only a Cat 4. However, those riders who dismiss it as unchallenging without looking more closely are in for a surprise, because it's a lot harder than its category and small size (422m) suggest - the gradient is 15% for a 600m section just after the 3km to go point, then the first half on the final kilometre is cobbled. It is, by no means whatsoever, an easy climb. Earlier on, the terrain is best described as rolling with no point higher than 555m (Montecchio, 145.5km) and nothing too tough, though the combined effect may prove difficult for the riders who really don't like to climb. Civitvecchia, on the Tyrrhenian coast, is one of Italy's most important ports and the entry point for many tourists who arrive by sea, its most noticeable feature the massive Forte Michelango that protects the harbour - it looks impressive and impregnable rather than attractive. The city was the birthplace (in 1971) of the cyclist Roberto Petito, whom some fans will remember as the winner of the 1997 Tirreno-Adriatico race. Viterbo, 55.4km away, is famous for its 13th Century papal palace and the almost perfectly preserved Medieval Quarter. Amelia (97.9km) retains its medieval walls, solid and constructed of vast stones without cement, punctuated by a number of gatehouses of which the most impressive is Porta Romana. Amelia is beginning to become known as a tourist destination, but today the local economy is primarily based on the growing of figs.

The Basilica, Assisi

Finally, Assisi is best known for its association with 12th/13th Century Saint Francis, who spent his whole life in the city, but it was also the birthplace of Saint Clare (co-founder, with St. Francis, of the order now known as the Poor Clares) and 19th Century Saint Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows along with no fewer than four other saints. The city traces its history back far beyond the invention of saints to around 1000BCE when Umbrians built fortified villages on the hilltops, these then being developed and combined first by Etruscans and then by the Romans. The greatest sight the city has to offer is the Basilica of St. Francis, begun two years after the saint died and of vast importance for its architecture and art in addition to being a place of religious significance (St. Francis deserves the respect of those of us who are not Christian, too; he believed that Christians should seek to emulate Christ by showing humanity to all living things and remaining tolerant of other beliefs - his attempts to have Muslims recognised and respected by the Church as "custodians of the Holy Land" after the fall of the Crusader Empire did more good for  Christian/Muslim relations than just about anything before or since).

Weather
High winds that have affected the region should drop to a manageable 25kph on Tuesday with temperatures ranging from 12 to 17C. Rain is not expected anywhere along the parcours.

Tour of California Stage 2
Stage 2 begins in San Francisco Marina and passes the Golden Gate Bridge en route for the Pacific coastline, with the first of three intermediate sprints at Pacifica 27.9km into the race. The second is at Half Moon Bay after 41.6km, then the race continues south down the coast through San Matteo County and on to Santa Rosa County. Having turned north-east, the riders face a climb up Cat 1 Empire Grade to 800m after 112km, followed by a fast descent to the next climb beginning at 144.8km - Bear Creek Road, rising to 686m. The third sprint begins at 165.6km, then the race arrives at Soquel and, after a right turn at 188.3km, the final straight 200m to the finish line. (Map, profile)

Stage results when available

Stage 3 begins in San Jose, the only city to have been a stage town in every Tour of California to date, but this year the riders don't have to face the difficult Cat 1 Sierra Road, instead climbing  Calaveras Road to 455m (8.4km). The stage's first intermediate sprint is at Livermore (45.5km), after which there are 42 rolling kilometres to the biggest climb of the day, Cat 2 Mount Diablo. The Midway Road sprint starts at around 158km and is followed 12km later by Cat 3 Patterson Pass, topping out at 460m and followed by a long descent back into Livermore. The 500m after the final left turn are straight and slightly downhill, making a high speed finish likely. (Map, profile)

Top Bakersfield cyclist killed in women's race
Reports say that a woman described as "one of Bakersfield's best women cyclists" was killed on Sunday morning in an accident during Stage 4, the Bootjack Road Race, of California's Mariposa County Stage Race (formerly known as the Kern). The rider's family have confirmed the fatality and originally asked the race organisers and press not to reveal her name for the time being. She has since been identified as Suzanne Rivera, a 48-year-old member of the BT49 team, who took up cycling only nine months ago.

Eyewitnesses say that the rider apparently failed to notice that a support vehicle had stopped on the parcours to assist another cyclist, then braked hard and lost control before colliding with the vehicle. It is not known which class she was racing in. A doctor and three nurses competing in the race attempted to resuscitate her.

Russell Downing

Russell Downing wins Lincoln
Russell Downing (Endura Racing) scored a fourth victory at the Lincoln GP yesterday, beating second place Marcin Bialoblocki (Node 4-Girodani) by 15". Bialoblocki caught him on the final lap, but Downing powered away up the tough Michelgate climb. (British Cycling results and report)

Top Ten
  1.  Russell Downing Endura Racing 3h55'38"
  2.  Marcin Bialoblocki Node4-Giordana +15"
  3.  Kristian House Rapha-Condor-Sharp +1'18"
  4.  Simon Richardson IG Sigmasport +1'21"
  5.  Russell Hampton Raleigh-GAC +1'28"
  6.  Pete Williams Node4-Giordana +2'38"
  7.  Dan Craven IG Sigmasport +2'44"
  8.  Dean Windsor Endura Racing +2'47"
  9.  Scott Thwaites Endura Racing (U23) +2'50"
  10.  Liam Holohan Raleigh-GAC ST

New Grimsby team
Grimsby businesses Ettridge Cycles and Alp Action have joined forces to create a new cycling team which will give local riders a chance to compete in national competitions. (More from This Is Grimsby)

Brad burgled
Thieves broke into the home of Bradley Wiggins in Chorley yesterday and stole the commemorative medal he was awarded for competing in the 2008 Olympics. It's not known if they were opportunists, taking the medal simply because it looked valuable, or if they knew whose home it was and mistook the medal for one of those he won at the Games in 2000, 2004 or 2008.

Catherine Wiggins broke the news on Twitter: "Phone went on way back from rugby, Lancs Police informing me we'd been burgled. Brads participants medal from Beijing Olympics most ... distinctive thing taken so if anyone hears of it please inform police, who were brilliant this morning. Raging! That is all."

Saiz sells collection

One of the rarer Saiz machines is this one, fitted with a
mid-90s Black Hole hubless wheel and steering

Manolo Saiz, the manager of ONCE-Deutche Bank who withdrew the team from the 1998 Tour de France a the Festina Affair broke, has put his collection of 57 rare and collectible bikes up for auction on Ebay. The auction had a little over two hours to go at the time of writing with a top bid of $50,100, but the reserve had not been met. Among them are some extremely rare time trial bikes, a few of which are probably unique. Ever wanted your own bike museum...?

Horses like cycling too
We all remember the time in 1997 when that horse jumped the fence after deciding it wanted to join in as the peloton went by, then ran alongside or a few miles before dropping to lot of them and galloping off ahead - and those of us who follow cycling will remember that it happened during the Criterium International, too, not in the Tour de France as those people who only know about it from "Amelie" seem to automatically assume ("You mean...there are other bikes races...?")

It turns out that Scottish horses are as into cycling as their French cousins - a rather fine-looking palomino joined in the fun at the Etape Caledonia Challenge this weekend, racing alongside the cyclists for a short while after they passed its field some 89km into the event. Unlike the Criterium International horse, however, this one didn't get its chance to show the riders a thing or two about muscled legs as it was caught by race officials after a few minutes. (...and so do Dolphins)

Other News
"Freewheeling Ryan stays on right road" (Independent, Ireland)

"Victoria Pendleton in shape of her life" (WalesOnline)

Cycling
The News You Might Have Missed
Britain 
"Saddle up for cycling fest on the prom" (Eastbourne Herald)

"Lies, damn lies, and statistics about red light jumping: Do 57% of UK cyclists jump red lights? One motoring organisation claims so – on very flimsy evidence" (The Guardian)


Worldwide
"Vancouver could see more bike lanes for cyclists" (News1130)

Evening Cycling News 12.05.12

Giro Stage 7 (video) - Meersman abandons - Chongming World Cup start list - Tour of California - Bruyneel subpoena - Ruiter Dakkapellen closes women's team - New team for Davide Rebellin - Scott-Contessa struck by thieves - British riders recreate 1955 Peace Race - The news you might have missed - BBC Radio to broadcast Beryl Burton play

Giro d'Italia Stage 7

Paolo Tiralongo

Saturday's parcours (are we really a week into the Giro already?) extended over 205km between Recanati and Rocca di Cambio (the highest village in the Apennines, where evidence of an earthquake in 2009 can still be seen despite the wealth the Campo Felice ski resort has brought). Like Stage 6, it was rated as a medium mountain stage, but the Cat 3 and Cat 2 along the way are far more like proper mountains than Friday's hills - the Cat 3 rises to 1,190m and the Cat 2 to 1,392m (British fans should remember that this "medium mountain" is 48m higher than Ben Nevis, the highest mountain in the British Isles) and as we've seen over the last couple of stages, Giro organisers use a system all of their own when hinting at how difficult a stage might be. 

Recanati was established as a city in 1150CE, growing up from villages that formed around three castles and became an independent republic 140 years later, but two necropolises dating from Neolithic times are evidence that the region was inhabited long before that. After a short downhill section over the first 5km, most of the first half of the race headed upwards with five hills leading to Cat 2 Col Galluccio some 96.1km into the race. A fast descent led into a long climb up an uncategorised 1,152km mountain (142km), then the riders enjoyed a chance to recover on a 46km descent to a little hill that came just before the 800m climb to the final few kilometres. The final 3km of this stage looked difficult on paper and seemed guaranteed to make a sprint finish improbable: the first 1.38km descended around 70m, then the remainder swung steeply upward and climbed 92m in a little over 1.6km; hitting a gradient of 10% over one 100m section 0.5km from the finish line. (Profile, final 3km)

Ryder Hesjedal

Reto Hollenstein (NetApp), Matteo Rabbotini (Farnese Vini-Selle Italia), Fumiyuki Beppu (Orica-GreenEDGE) and Mirko Selvaggi (Vacansoleil-DCM) took off early in the stage and had grabbed a lead of 7'05" after just 27km. As the stage drew towards its end, it was obvious that Mark Cavendish (Sky) fully realised how close he came to disaster yesterday when he finished within a minute of the time limit - keeping himself securely in the most populous part of the peloton, he let the momentum of the pack carry him up the hills. 

As the finish line came within sight, José Herrada (Movistar) had a 100m lead but was rapidly caught and dropped, then Michele Scarponi (Lampre-ISD) powered away and must have believed he had it in the bag - but Paolo Tiralongo (Astana) was on him, following in his slipstream. The two Italians battled all the way over the last 300m, then Tiralongo fired up the afterburners with 100m to go, muscled his way past and was first over the line for the second Giro stage win of his career before collapsing on the cobbles completely exhausted. Frank Schleck was a slightly unexpected third, suggesting that RadioShack-Nissan manager Johan Bruyneel's emergency training camps after the Schlecks' dismal Classics campaign worked, while Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Barracuda) was fifth and becomes the new race leader with a 15" advantage over Tiralongo. He is the first Canadian to wear the maglia rosa leader's jersey.

Top Ten

  1.  Paolo Tiralongo Astana 5h51'03"

  2.  Michele Scarponi Lampre-ISD ST

  3.  Frank Schleck RadioShack-Nissan +3"

  4.  Joaquin Rodriguez Oliver Katusha ST

  5.  Ryder Hesjedal Garmin-Barracuda +5"

  6.  Domenico Pozzo Vivo Colnago CSF ​​Bardiani +9"

  7.  Daniel Moreno Fernandez Katusha ST

  8.  Ivan Basso Liquigas-Cannondale ST

  9.  Mikel Nieve Ituralde Euskaltel-Euskadi +11"

  10.  Gianluca Brambilla Colnago CSF ​​Bardiani ST

(Full stage result and GC)

Stage 8 is another medium mountain parcours (profile) over 229km between Sulmona and Lago Laceno. Sulmona - once home to the poet Ovid - lies on the flat and fertile Valle Peligna, formed when a prehistoric lake was filled in a a result of a series of earthquakes; but the riders head skywards almost immediately as they climb the uncategorised 1,284m Piano delle Cinque Miglia. The descent is gentle at first, then becomes steep before a short flat section followed by a smaller climb preceding a fast 10km descent to the foot of the day's first opportunity for King of the Mountains points, Cat 4 Valico di Macerone (684m, 61.9km). The middle section, from 65.5km to 197.3km, is hilly rather than mountainous with nothing too challenging; the highest point (Montemerano, 836m, 193.5km) coming at the end of a long, rather than steep, climb. The last climb, Colle Molella, is far more difficult - from 212.2km it ascends 589m to the 1087m summit in 12.2km, giving an average gradient of only around 7%, but more like 12% at the steepest point according to Climbbybike. Depending on the combined effect of all those little hills along the way, this is a stage that could conceivably go to a sprinter: the final 3km are flat with a left-hand turn leading into the last 500m.

The weather on Sunday isn't going to impress - there's a 90% chance of rain and temperature highs of 14C will feel much cooler at altitude. Winds should be no stronger than 19kph.

Sulmona webcam

Lago Laceno webcam
Stage reports

Meersman abandons

Gianni Meersman (Lotto-Belisol), who was reported by  Sportwereld  to be suffering from a "tilted pelvis" this morning, has become the fifth rider to abandon this year's Giro after experiencing problems climbing some 70km into Saturday's Stage 7. The 26-year-old Belgian explained that while he could have finished the stage and possibly even remained competitive on future flat stages, he felt it unwise to risk compounding the problem that stems from a crash in Stage 2.

Tour of Chongming Island World Cup start list

Click to enlarge

Tour of California

Among many (European) fans, there is still a feeling that US races are insignificant frivolities, at best gaudy sideshow entertainment to keep us entertained between the grand European tours and at worst amateur attempts by the the upstart American racing scene to emulate the splendour across the Atlantic.

It's complete rubbish, of course. The Americans gave the world several of the best riders both male and female of the last three decades, they make some of the finest bikes in the world, several of their races are spectacular - how could they not be in a nation that has such a varied, beautiful landscape and so much of it - and the Tour of California, which feels far more venerable than an event in only its sixth year, is the best of them all.

Stage 1

The Tour returns this year in its usual eight stage format covering 1,180.5km, starting in Santa Rosa on the 13th of May and ending in Los Angeles on the 13th. Along the way, it visits San Franciso, San Jose, Big Bear Lake and Beverley Hills, as well as climbing mountains as high as 2,210m. Stage 1 starts in Santa Rosa (home to three-time winner Levi Leipheimer, who is racing this year but will not contest the title due to ongoing problems with injuries caused when he was hit by a car earlier this year), taking a 186.5km route first north, then west to the coast before heading south and east back to Santa Rosa. There are several climbs: an uncategorised 230m hill at 70km, three categorised hills rising to 457m (Cazadero and two climbs on Fort Ross Road) in a 20km section starting at 100km and a fifth to around 270m at 149km (Coleman Valley). At 175km, the parcours flattens out and rises only slightly on the approach to the finish line, meaning this stage is likely to end in a sprint. There are two intermediate sprints, the first coming after 52.2km, the second after 142.8km

Bruyneel served US subpoena?

According to widespread rumours, RadioShack-Nissan boss Johan Bruyneel was served with a subpoena as he stepped off his plane and onto US soil this week on his way to the Tour of California. Though the rumours remain unconfirmed, it doesn't take a huge leap of the imagination to connect the story to Floyd Landis, who rode for Bruyneel's US Postal team between 2002-2004 and is currently subject to federal investigation related to the "Floyd Fairness Fund" he set up to pay for his legal team when he was accused of doping.  (More)

Ruiter Dakkapellen closes women's team

It's always a sad occasion when a cycling team is forced to come to an end. A team is not an easy thing to put together, and keeping it together is even more difficult - managers, helpers and, away from the big salary glitz of the men's ProTour, riders put in a great deal of effort, more frequently inspired by their love of the sport than by the salaries they might receive. Even more sad is when a team facing financial hardship takes the all too common decision to save money by closing down its women's team, as has been the case with Ruiter Dakkapellen now that their main sponsor has gone bankrupt.

It's not the team management's fault, really. After all, in times when even high-profile squads such as the legendary HTC-Highroad can fall by the wayside when new backing can't be found, securing sponsorship for a relatively little-known men's team such as Ruiter is a task that would challenge Hercules. Doing the same for a women's team, when women's cycling is entirely ignored by the majority of the media and has suffered for years from what sometimes seems almost willful neglect at the hands of the UCI, would be enough to make Hercules throw his hands in the air and give up. Perhaps the managers will be fortunate and find a new company to sponsor the men. The chances of doing the same for the women is unlikely, so they're forced to release the riders so that they can seek contracts elsewhere.

Can the UCI help to prevent this happening? Almost certainly. They could provide more financial assistance to races - several have found themselves in difficulty recently, and races are what create exposure. They could also encourage more race organisers to run women's races alongside men's races, as has already been done at many of the Flanders Classics and at Britain's Halfords Tour Series - and in both cases has generated increased interest. They could create a dedicated women's cycling commission to look into what needs to be done if women's cycling is to be saved and listen more to the riders and managers, many of whom have some extremely interesting ideas. Will they? Past experiences suggest not.

Good luck Joan Boskamp, Ilona Hoeksma, Anne Heijkoop, Britt Jochems, Nathalie van Katwijk, Tessa van Nieuwpoort, Julia Soek, Lisanne Soemanta, Noortje Tabak, Annelies Visser, Hannah Welter and Melanie Woering. See you all on a parcours soon.

New team for Davide Rebellin

The 40-year-old, who returned to cycling with Christina Watches-Onfone last year from a two-year suspension after he tested positive for EPO-variant CERA at the 2008 Olympics, will now ride for Croatian Continental team Meridiana-Kamen.

British rider David McLean, who has been with Meridiana since 2011, is favourable. "What was clear when I was training with him was that firstly he is very, very good still and secondly this guy is extremely professional," he said in his blog. "He lives a dedicated lifestyle that is based solely around cycling, he has no distractions, no family, no worries, just the bike."

Scott-Contessa struck by thieves

Beth Crumpton completed the Czech
MTB World Cup round in a borrowed
bike - and still came ninth!

The Scott Contessa MTB team was targeted by thieves who stole all the junior riders' bikes last night, just a day and a half before the start of the Nove Mesto na Morave round of the World Cup in the Czech Republic...

Beth Crumpton ‏ @BethCrumptoncant believe all junior bikes were stolen last night at czech, thankyou so much to @tracy_moseley and Annie for letting me and Al borrow!

Other News

"Cyclist Willow Rockwell gives up her Olympic dream" (ESPNW)

"Moyse mulling her sporting future" (The Guardian, Canada)

"BMX: Olympian Shanaze inspires young Jamie’s world bid" (This Is Wiltshire)

"Stolen Hog Hill bike recovered by police" (Cycling Weekly)

Cycling 

British riders recreate 1955 Peace Race

It's been six years since the Peace Race was last held - once Eastern Europe's answer to the Tour de France, it gradually became superceded by other events and vanished: the end of a cycling era. This year, it lives again in the form of the Alf Buttler Peace Race Tribute Ride, in which cyclists will retrace the 2,414km and thirteen stages taken by the inaugural 1955 race between Prague (Czech Republic) and Warsaw (Poland).

Remarkably, the Ride came about as the result of one man's vision. Alan Buttler came up with the idea as a memorial to his father, a mechanic and manager with the British cycling team in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s and who died in 2008. Alan, accompanied by Geoff Wiles (whom some might remember as British Road Race Champion in 1976 and as the man who brought BMX to Britain), has been keeping a blog journal of their travels - it makes for fascinating reading. 

The news you might have missed

Britain

"London cyclists invited to join Alex Dowsett and Sarah Storey on Nocturne Peloton ride this Thursday" (road.cc)

"Champion cyclist urges Leeds kids to saddle up" (Yorkshire Evening Post)

Worldwide 

"Travel picks: top ten cycling destinations" (Reuters)

"Olver to be honored for cycling efforts" (Gazettenet, MA, USA)

"Cycling: At 76, mountain biking 'hoon' has no plans to slow down" (NZHerald)

"Help train cycling officials, Ale begs CFN, NSC" (Vanguard, Nigeria)

Wooden bikes - "Craftsman turns love of cycling into new business" (Idaho Statesman)

BBC Radio 4 to broadcast Burton play

Burton was arguably the mot successful
British athlete of all time

Those commemorating the anniversary of the birth of the legend that was Beryl Burton will be pleased to know that later this year a short play telling the story of her life and remarkable career is to be broadcast on BBC Radio 4. Titled La Yorkshire Dame a Bicyclette, the play will star Maxine Peake - who also wrote the script, her first - as the British cyclist who won numerous titles and set world records during the 1950s and 60s.

"Despite beating men and women in championships across the globe, Beryl received no support, training or sponsorship and in fact, very little acclaim in the UK and Maxine wanted to dramatise her story," says producer Justine Potter. No date has yet been set for the broadcast, but it is likely to go out in the station's 45-minute Afternoon Drama (formerly and popularly Afternoon Play) slot.

Radio 4 is available worldwide on the Internet.

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)