Cyclopunk's Weekend News Digest 24-25.03.12

The Weekend's News: Gent-Wevelgem - Trofeo Binda - Volta a Catalunya Stages 6&7 - Criterium Internationale - Posthuma pukes*, Hinault breaks a wrist, Pettachi still ill, WADA praises Pro Cycling, 12 Brits finish in Normandy - This Weekend's Races

(* sorry, couldn't resist)

Gent-Wevelgem

Tom Boonen
(image credit: DarkSideX CC BY-SA 2.0)

The weekend's most important race by far wass Gent-Wevelgem, a true Flanders Classic over 235.4km of fast flat countryside followed by positively malevolent hills. Though not officially a part of Vlaamse Wielerweek, having been shifted into its current time slot only two years ago, the tricky combination of steep climbs in the latter half of the highly selective parcours - which tends to discourage bunch sprints, despite the flat final section - has made it one of the highlights of the ten-day "week" that for many fans is the highlight of the European cycling season.

Kemmelberg was left covered in human corpses after savage fighting during the First World War. Cyclists experience nothing like the suffering of the young men who gave their lives to free Belgium almost a century ago, but with a gradient than hits 23% in one point it's a climb they dread. With that in mind, the organisers usually see to it that it's climbed twice - as is the case this year when it comes round at 179km and then rears its cobbled back once more 17km later to form the 7th and 10th climbs. Casselberg also appears twice as Climbs 1 (138km) and 2 (144km) with a different route up on each occasion. The steepest part is 10%, made more difficult by cobbles but made worth it by the castle on top. Baneberg, the race's second steepest with 20% in one part, is also climbed twice; it's the 6th climb at 168m and the 9th at 191km.

The other climbs are Catsberg, climb 3 at 161.6km; Le Vert Mont, climb 4 at 168km; Vidaigneberg, climb 5 at 173m; Baneberg, climb 6 at 174km; Schomminkelstraat, climb 8 at 187km and finally Monteberg, the 11th at 203km when there is just over 22km left to the finish line. If the sprint specialists make it in one piece over that lot, the rest of the race is all theirs. (Parcours details)

Lizzie Armitstead
(image credit: AA Drink-Leontien.nl)

Gent-Wevelgem's greatness was doubled this year due to the fact that it had a women's race too. Using a route broadly similar to the second half of the men's race, it covered 116km with the first 69 or so on the flat before heading up Vidaigneberg, then Baneberg at 70km, Kemmelberg at 78km and Monteberg at 82km. The remainder had a few small, unchallenging climbs before settling into the final flat 10km section, making a bunch sprint a more likely scenario.

If you're one of those people who thinks that women's cycling isn't as competitive as the men's, watch this video footage and see AA-Drink-Leontien.nl's 23-year-old British star Lizzie Armitstead sprinting over the finish line to victory, beating Iris Slappendel (Rabobank). (Full Women's results when available)

The leaders settled into a nice rhythm once the last of the hills were out of the way, various riders taking their turn up front as they concentrated on getting themselves to the bunch sprint that was by now inevitable. Meanwhile, at the back the race had enetered a state of flux, splitting into two groups with 35km to go and sending Sky into a bit of a panic when they realised Mark Cavendish was in the wrong one. Their efforts to put things right never came to fruition, and with 14km to go the gulf has windered to 49".

Though he must have realised that doing so would spell depleted batteries if he succeeded, Cav decided he was going to have to take matters into his own hands and made a brave attempt to bridge the gap himself - and chapeau to him for trying. It was too late, though; his chances of ever winning this race lying on the roadside some kilometres back the way they came.

The race ended in a rather tatty sprint with riders veering this way and that, leading to what looked like a very painful crash for Greg van Avermaet (BMC) and José Joaquín Rojas (Movistar), both of whom hit the road hard. Far more pleasant to watch was a duel between Oscar Freire (Katusha) and Edvald Boasson Hagen (Sky) - the two men seemed to be in a race of their own, fighting one another 4th (Freire) and 5th. In front of them, Omega Pharma-QuickStep's Tom Boonen was the only one riding smoothly, putting down all his power and earning his record-matching third victory in Gent-Wevelgem as he out-sprinted Peter Sagan (Liquigas), leaving Matti Brescel (Rabobank) to take 3rd. (Full results when available)

Trofeo Binda

AA-Drink-Leontien.nl's British star Emma Pooley, one of the most successful riders of her generation, was an immediate favourite for this race; but she will have been under no illusions that beating Rabobank's Marianne Vos, who is well on her way to becoming one of the most successful cyclists in the history of the sport, takes superhuman effort.

Marianne Vos - a true superstar

There are those who fear that Vos is not good for women's cycling, that her domination and victory after victory after victory will somehow reduce competition as other riders become disillusioned with fighting among themselves for second and third places. In fact, the opposite is true. Vos' incredible winning streak is due to her first-rate athleticism, and other teams are having to step up their efforts in response - which can only be good for cycling. We saw plenty of evidence to support this today with numerous riders working hard to remain in contention - by all accounts, it was a superb and thrilling race - and when she crossed the line alone, the 24-year-old superstar deserved the glory every bit as much as she deserved it in each of her other triumphs.

GreenEDGE's Loes Gunnewijk may have finished 17th, but she'd put stupendous work into a break which led for many kilometres and for many will have been the highlight of the race. Tatiana Guderzo (MCipollini-Giambenini-Gauss) also earned her spurs, finishing 34" behind Vos for 2nd place. Trixi Worrack (Specialized-Lululemin) was with her and took third, the two women part of an eight-woman group that included Judith Arndt (GreenEDGE) for 4th, Emma Johansson (Hitec Products-Mistral Home) for 5th and Pooley for 8th. (Full results)

Volta a Catalunya

Michael Albasini
(image credit: Manfred Werner-Tsui CC BY-SA 3.0)

(Live streams)

The world's third-oldest stage race moved onto its penultimate stage on Saturday, then drew to a close on Sunday. Stage 6 covered 169.4km extending between Sant Fruitós de Bages and Badalona Centre Comercial Màgic; the latter being nothing more than a shopping mall every bit as bland as ever other example in the world, despite the tempting name. Strangely, the biggest mountain along the parcours - 965m L'Estany - is uncategorised and as such offered no points, the climbing specialists instead concentrated on 540m Alt di les Vilaredes, 687m Alt de Sant Feliu de Sasserra and 355m Alt de la Conreria, all Category 3s.

Samuel Sanchez
(image credit: Petit Brun CC BY-SA 2.0)

A car crash 72km into the parcours halted the race for a while. No riders were involved and despite severe damage to the car, the driver and passenger fortunately escaped serious injury.

With so many of the favourites gone following the Stage 3 blizzard, many riders with previously little chance of victory have redoubled their efforts and want to grab what they can. With a downhill finish Stage 6 looked set to be a battle among the sprinters, as indeed turned out to be the case. However, a small hill 2km from the line proved decisive when Euskaltel-Euskadi's Samuel Sanchez used it to attack the group before accelerating downhill and keeping a small lead all the way to a 2" victory over GreenEDGE's Allan Davis; a well-deserved win for a very popular team that has seen more than its fair share of bad luck over the last few years and is still experiencing sponsorship issues. It has to be remembered that the men in orange are more than just another commercially-sponsored team - for the Basques, one of the most cycling-obsessed peoples on the planet, they are a symbol of national pride. (Stage 6 results / GC)

In this race, there's none of that time trial or flat stage nonsense and despite being the shortest at 119.8k, Sunday's Stage 7 squeezes in some tough terrain. It has three Cat 3s in the shape of Alt d'Ullastrell (400m), Alt de Castellbisbal (170m) and Alt de Valvidrera (370m), but Cat 2 Alt del Tibidabo - 490m high and very steep - is the most pressing issue before the race rolled up to the finish line in Barcelona. (Map)

Saur-Sojasun's Julien Simon took the stage after proving the best man in a mass sprint. GreenEDGE's Michael Albasini was never really in danger of losing his General Classification lead after starting the stage with a 1'30" advantage: having entered the race as nobody's favourite for overall victory, first place in Stages 1 and 2 followed by the cancellation of Stage 3's results due to heavy snow and a shortened parcours saw his team changing tactics t protect him - and his lead - throughout the rest of the race. (Stage 7 results / Final GC)

Criterium International

Cadel Evans
(image credit: Ludovic Péron CC BY-SA 3.0) 

The 81st Criterium Internationale kicked off on Saturday with two stages of the 275km, two-day race. Having begun in 1932, the event was for many years considered to be the French National Championship - which meant that only French riders were eligible to race until 1979 when foreigners were invited for the first time. That same year, Joop Zoetemelk became the first non-Frenchman to win and the French gradually lost their dominance; winning eight of the 33 editions since. This year, organisers have elected to change the usual format - Stage 1, an 89.5km road race and Stage 2, a 6.5km time trial, take place on Saturday, then the 179km Queen Stage 3 road race took place on Sunday and ended with a very tough 941m climb in 15km to the finish.

Florian Vachon (Bretagne Schuller) won Stage 1 after getting a 2" lead over Danilo Wyss (BMC). Christophe Riblon (AG2R-La Mondiale) crossed over one second later for third place. Jens Voigt (RadioShack-Nissan), the most successful post-1979 rider with five overall victories, was 9th; last year's overall winner Frank Schleck (RadioShack-Nissan) was 14th and the best Brit was Chris Froome (Sky) in 30th. Luke Rowe (Sky) was 37th. Australian Michael Rogers was the best Sky rider with 19th, team mate Lars Petter Nordhaug was 41st making him the best-placed Norwegian. Auber 93's Guillaume Faucon did not finish.

2011 Tour de France winner Cadel Evans (BMC) didn't surprise many people when he was victorious in the time trial - we've seen time and time again how he uses his great physical power to muscle a bike around any parcours at a speed almost nobody can match. It's probably safe to assume that Andy Schleck was keeping a close eye on proceedings somewhere and equally safe to say that with so many time trial kilometres and so few climbing metres in the Tour this year that the stage made uncomfortable viewing for him.

Pierrick Fédrigo
(image credit: Gsl CC BY-SA 2.5)

A three-man break made up of Nicolas Vogondy (Cofidis), Matteo Montaguti (AG2R-La Mondiale) and George Bennett (RadioShack-Nissan) remained out in front until they reached the mountain, at which point the peloton swept them up before beginning to fall apart as the climb took its toll. Euskaltel-Euskadi, spurred on by Sammy Sanchez's victory in Stage 6, took the driving seat for a good portion of the mountain with Igor Anton - shadowed by Cadel Evans - looked as though he might take the stage for a while; but ultimately it was FDJ-BigMat's Pierrick Fédrigo who won out. Jumping away from the pack accompanied by Rinaldo Nocentini (AG2R-La Mondiale) and Lars Petter Nordhaug (Sky) as the final kilometre came into view, he powered off as the terrain flattened out a little and fractionally beat them across the line. Evans joined them jut a little too late, recording the same time but taking fourth - however, his performance was more than enough for the General Classification which he wins by 8". Chris Froome was best-placed Brit overall with 65th place, while five-time winner Jens Voigt (RadioShack-Nissan) was a surprising 91st. (Full results)

Other News


Joost Posthuma is ill - the 30-year-old RadioShack-Nissan rider posted the following on Twitter:

Joost posthuma ‏ @joostposthuma
That was not good. My sickness starts again. #badluck

Sebastian Hinault (AG2R-La Mondiale) broke his wrist during Friday's E3 Harelbeke race, his team have confirmed. The 38-year-old Breton also damaged his shoulder.

Alessandro Pettachi (Lampre-ISD) will not ride in Gent-Wevelgem as he is still recovering from 'flu.

WADA boss John Fahey says that while sport in general needs to commit to more anti-doping blood tests, professional cycling should be congratulated for setting a good example. The Authority has set a target for 10% of all tests carried out to take the form of blood tests, which at present is the only method to reliably detect some drugs such as human growth hormones, but cycling is the only sport to have come anywhere near achieving this. "Cycling had a very bad record going back ten years or so ago," says Fahey. "They have at least stopped denying the problem; and [have] worked with a program to deal with the problem."

Five British riders - Erick Rowsell (7th), Rob Partridge (11th), Jonathan McEvoy (14th), Simon Yates (26th) and Scott Thwaites (27th) - have finished in the top 30 at the Tour of Normandy. Seven other Brits completed the eight-stage race. (Overall GC results)

Tweets

Mark Cavendish ‏ @MarkCavendish
So did a recon of the last 100km of #GentWevelgem today & I can say it's mightily more difficult than the past! Should be a great race!

This weekend's races

 18/03 - 25/03 Vuelta Mexico Telmex 2.2
 23/03 - 01/04 Tour du Maroc 2.2
 19/03 - 25/03 Ciclista Volta a Catalunya WT
 22/03 - 25/03 30th Volta ao Alentejo / Credito Agric ... 2.2
 4/03 - 26/03 81st International Criterium 2.HC
 19/03 - 26/03 Tour de Normandie 2.2
 20/03 - 25/03 Settimana Coppi e Bartali 2.1
 24/03 25th Tour of the Great Veenkolonien Nat.
 24/03 49th Tour Flevo Nat.
 24/03 Rijswijk cycling race Nat.
 25/03 74th Ghent - Wevelgem WT
 25/03 Women's Gent-Wevelgem
 25/03 Trofeo Alfredo Binda - Comune Di Cit ... CDM
 25/03 Youth Tour of Dommelen Nat.
 25/03 Tour of the IronMan Nat.
 25/03 Van Esch Tour Nat.

Cyclopunk's News Digest 22-23.03.12

Today's News: Uran wins Catalunya Stage 4 - Bad news for women's cycling as GP Ciudad de Valladolid suspended - Divide and conquer the Rabo Women, says AA Drink boss - Longo for the Olympics

Volta a Catalunya Stage 4

Stage 3 at the world's third oldest stage race proved rather unsuccessful with six riders failing to start, 33 failing to finish (full list at the bottom of this article) and 55km lopped off the end by organisers due to heavy snowfall on the Hors Categorie climbs - a pity, as it had the makings of a spectacular Queen Stage.

Stage 4 looked far more likely to go ahead as planned - there were climbs, but with the highest point (Alt de Fontllonga, 675m) along the 199km parcours almost 1,300m lower than Stage 3's Port Aine summit finish there was little chance of the riders not reaching the finish line as planned today. While the terrain was lower, the stage was by no means easy: there were three Category 2 climbs and a number of short but steep hills in between them. Fontllonga was the first categorised climb, beginning 20km into the race, then there were a couple of uncategorised ascents right after the feed station at 100km and two ascents of the Alt de Les Paumeres in the final 60km; the road taking the same way up but varying on the way back down.

Rigoberto Uran
(image credit: Laurent Brun CC BY-SA 2.0)

An six-rider break made the most of it, trying their hardest to keep a good lead over the hills - and they very nearly embarrassed the pack, too, the majority of them evading capture until the final 400m. Three riders had other ideas: Rigoberto Uran (Sky), Denis Menchov (Katusha) and Sylvester Szmyd (Liquigas-Cannondale) decided they hadn't quite finished having fun and launched themselves up the road to the line. In turned out that Uran (one of Cyclopunk's top tips today, no less!)  was the quickest and he won the stage, Menchov crossing close him behind and Szmyd taking third. (Stage results / GC)

Interestingly and despite riding for rival teams, Uran and Menchov train together as both have homes in Pamplona - a fact that was Uran's mind as they battled one another over the line. "I was thinking that if he beats me, I won't buy him any more coffees," he told reporters after the race.

As predicted, GreenEDGE's tactics were noticeably different today: with Michael Albasini remaining race leader this morning after the judges' decision not to count Stage 3 towards the overall results, the Swiss rider unexpectedly retained the race leadership; so the team is now concentrating on keeping him a good rate of knots through the rest of the race. It worked today, leaving him with a 1'32" over second place Steve Morabito of BMC. With so many of the favourites no longer in the race after yesterday there are many lesser-known riders with a massive increased chance of winning, so right now when there are three stages left it's too early to predict the eventual outcome. However, if GreenEDGE continue to work together to protect their new champion, Albasini may well prove to be the man. (Map)

Julian Dean,  Jakob Fuglsang, Wilco Kelderman injured
In addition to the 33 riders to abandon during Stage 3, Julian Dean (GeenEDGE) and Jakob Fuglsang were absent from the start line this morning. Dean, in his first race after recovering from a broken shoulder, had swerved to avoid a crash caused when several riders slipped on the icy road ahead of him and collided with a stationary car, breaking his leg. "We are especially distraught about this loss," says Neil Stephens on the team's official website. "From a sporting perspective, it’s terrible to lose a rider to a crash. From a personal perspective, we really feel for him. He has a lot of bad luck this year." Meanwhile, RadioShack-Nissan's Jakob Fuglsang sustained a broken hand and also misses the rest of the race - not a good birthday present for the Danish rider who turns 27 today. Wilco Kelderman - who crashed during Stage 4 and was taken to hospital with a bleeding wound above his eye - suffered only minor cuts and bruises, Rabobank have confirmed.

GP Ciudad de Valladolid suspended

The GP Ciudad de Valladolid, due to have taken place on the 3rd of June this year, has been suspended by race organisers. No reason has been given, but with several races - including several other Spanish races as Spain's economy is in a poor state - experiencing difficulties in finding sponsors, it's likely that financial difficulties are the cause.

The race, first held in 2010 when it was won by Charlotte Becker, formed part of the UCI Women's World Cup, its demise reducing the number of events in the series to eight - the lowest since 2000. With numerous other women's races such as the Holland Ladies' Tour experiencing problems this year, the announcement is likely to lead to further calls that the UCI allocate more funds in order to protect and develop the women's sport, especially after recent reports showing that cycling is in overall good financial health.

Rabo Women - "Weaker than people think"

Or that's what manager Michael Zijlaard thinks, anyway.  "Marianne Vos is very strong and hard to beat, but you have to try it, " he told his AA Drink-Leontian.nl riders as part of a pep talk. "Her team is weaker than people think, so you should try to isolate her quickly."

In fact, that's a tactic many believe may work. Vos, at 24 years old, has emerged as one of the strongest riders the sport has ever seen and dominates women's cycling; but rivals noted that she was weakened without her team around her at the recent Ronde van Drenthe. "I know you will not beat Vos very often, but I do think you should try," he added. "But don't let her lead you to the slaughter - if you, you know what happens."

However, Vos relishes competition; so much so that Rabobank claimed in January that it was considering entering her into a few men's races to prevent her becoming bored. She can also change her plans during a race according to conditions and has won many a race on her own. Whether it does work remains to be seen.

Jeannie Longo to ride at the Olympics?

The apparently immortal Jeannie Longo
(image credit: Matthieu Riegler CC BY 3.0)

If anyone ever drops a nuclear bomb in France, two species are sure to survive: cockroaches and Jeannie Longo. Right after a scandal in which she failed to notify the UCI's doping control officials of her whereabouts on two occasions, missed one test entirely and, most damning of all, her husband and trainer first confessed to purchasing and was then charged with trafficking EPO after police raided their home earlier this year, the 53-year-old current National Time Trial champion has made it onto the French pre-selection list for this year's Olympic Games.

Spokesperson Isabelle Gautheron says that Longo - who has been a National Champion 59 times - completed and returned all the paperwork sent out by the Fédération Française de Cyclisme. "Longo should not be penalised," she told L'Equipe, "it [the doping case] is her husband'sproblem. He has been indicted for the purchase of drugs, for personal use from what I read in the press. Longo needs to try to go the Olympics. She is a competitor and will fight."

If Longo gets to London, it will be her eight time at the Games. When she competed in 2008, she lost to Nicole Cooke, who was one year old when Longo first took part 28 years ago in 1984.

Tweets

WorldTour Verity @UCI_WorldTourFDJ in the end found the shovels they were looking for according to race fan! #voltacatalunya (Pic)

DNF, Stage 3, Volta a Catalunya: Anthony Delaplace (Fra) Saur-Sojasun - Cyril Bessy (Fra) Saur-Sojasun - Roger Kluge (Ger) Project 1t4i - Thomas Damuseau (Fra) Project 1t4i - Javier Francisco Aramendia Lorente (Spa) Caja Rural - Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Vacansoleil-DCM - Rafal Majka (Pol) SaxoBank - Kanstantsin Sivtsov (Blr) Sky - Richie Porte (Aus) Sky - Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Sky - Ben Hermans (Bel) RadioShack-Nissan - Tiago Machado (Por) RadioShack-Nissan - Andy Schleck (Lux) RadioShack-Nissan - Tom Jelte Slagter (Ned) Rabobank - Frantisek Rabon (Cze) Omega Pharma-QuickStep - Gaëtan Bille (Bel) Lotto Belisol - Jurgen Van De Walle (Bel) Lotto Belisol - Kenny De Haes (Bel) Lotto Belisol - Mehdi Sohrabi (Iri) Lotto Belisol - Cristiano Salerno (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale - Timothy Duggan (USA) Liquigas-Cannondale - Ivan Basso (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale - Daniel Teklehaymanot (Eri) GreenEDGE - Julian Dean (NZl) GreenEDGE - Sébastien Rosseler (Bel) Garmin-Barracuda - Jérémy Roy (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat - Thibaut Pinot (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat - Amets Txurruka (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi - Pierre Cazaux (Fra) Euskaltel-Euskadi - Tejay Van Garderen (USA) BMC - Paolo Tiralongo (Ita) Astana - Amir Zargari (Ira) AG2R La Mondial - Sébastien Minard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale. DNS: Samuel Dumoulin (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit en Ligne - Daniel Navarro Garcia (Spa) SaxoBank- Grischa Niermann (Ger) Rabobank - Javier Moreno Bazan (Spa) Movistar - Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar - Juan Horrach Rippoll (Spa) Katusha.

Cyclopunk's News Digest 21-22.03.12

Today's News: Terpstra and Van de Ree victorious at Vlaanderen - Cav dropped by discarded bidon - Many abandon as Brajkovic wins in the Catalonian snow - Five riders banned for ephedrine use

Terpstra triumph and Van de Ree victory at the Dwars door Vlaanderen

Niki Terpstra
(image credit: Thomas Ducroquet CC BY 3.0)

Niki Terpstra won the semi-classic, marking the beginning of Vlaamse Wielerweek, on Wednesday. The Omega Pharma-QuickStep rider escaped in a large break during the latter half of the 201km race with some riders staying off the front for almost 90km, then left them behind after launching an attack of his own during the last 30km on the 20% gradient slopes of Paterberg. He soon proved himself the strongest man of the race and crossed the line unchallenged, team mate Sylvain Chavanel a short way behind him for second and Koen de Kort of 1t4i third.

For me, it's the best victory ever together with the 2010 national road championship," the 27-year-old Dutchman said after the race. "Today I had super strong legs. Going solo was something I have done in the past, so I know it is possible to finish in a great solo like today."

Chavanel, back after a bout of bronchitis, was equally pleased: "It doesn't matter who is the winner, whether me or Niki. I am super happy for him and the team. For me, the most important thing is I am in good shape after the bronchitis I had. Now I feel better and I look forward to the next races." (Results)

Monique van de Ree
(image credit: 1t41)

1t4i did even better in the women's race with Monique van de Ree beating Gilke Croket (Top Sport Flanders-Ridley 2012) and Petra Dijkman (Kleo) in three-rider sprint to the end. Team mate Adrie Visser picked up the points in the intermediate sprint earlier on in the race. Best Brit was 39-year-old Claire Thomas in 26th, then Sarah Coney in 29th and Emma Silversides in 56th, while Emma Trott didn't finish. (Results)

Monique van de Ree ‏ @MoniquevdrHell yeah, I did it! Just WON Dwars door Vlaanderen!! Really happy, and also thanks to my team mates!#that's the spirit!#1t4i <3 winning ; )

Good news for women's cycling: while some fans felt that this year's women's event - the first in the Dwars' history - felt like it had been rather hurriedly put together, organisers are pleased with how it went and hope to improve it over the coming years.

Britain's Mark Cavendish (Sky), best-placed Brit with 58th, performed far better than expected considering how tough the Flanders hills can be, but was in an accident caused by a discarded bidon (dropped, he says, by a Katusha rider) late in the race. Luke Rowe (Sky) was 64th, while the best Sky rider was Australian Christopher Sutton in 35th.

Mark Cavendish ‏ @MarkCavendish
200km on Belgiums worst roads. All ok. 15km from finish, peloton's riding easy & a dickhead throws a bottle in my front wheel. Crashed hard.

Coming just a day after Alejandro Valverde crashed out of the Volta a Catalunya in almost identical circumstances, it would appear that all riders need to be reminded to throw empty bidons away from the road - not least of all because doing so makes it easier for trophy-hunting fans to retrieve them. "Said it before: EVERYONE involved in a bike race should take a written & practical test to get [a] licence," he added.

Volta a Catalunya

Stage 4 (click to enlarge)

Stage 3, the intended Queen Stage, ended 55km short of the original finish line on Wednesday after the decision to locate it at ski resort with almost a month of the ski season still to go proved questionable when riders faced heavy snow and freezing rain over much of the parcours; forcing organisers taking the decision to cut the overall distance to 155km with a  repositioned finish 10km from the summit of Port del Canto. Astana's Janez Brajkovic took full advantage, unexpectedly finding himself with a chance to win and the peloton nowhere in sight after spending most of the race in a ten-man break. The stage results will not be counted towards the overall General Classification, leaving GreenEDGE's Michael Albasini as race leader. (Stage results / GC)

The finish

In addition to the six riders who didn't start this morning, a total of 33 riders including Sky's Bradley Wiggins abandoned at various points along the parcours; some saying they were shaking so much with cold they could not to continue. Schleck's reasons are not yet known, leading many to suggest he might not be on good form for the upcoming Ardennes Classics.  However, those who have followed his career will understand that Andy's one of those riders, not uncommon among climbers who have very little body fat, who can perform at his best only on a fine day - the cold will have taken a lot out of him on this stage. Among the many other ridersl other riders to quit were Frantisek Rabon (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) and Julian Dean (Garmin-Barracuda), taken to hospital after a crash 10km into the race.

The stage may have been cut short, but mountain fans have no need to despair - this is Catalonia, in the Pyrenees, and they don't bother with any of that flat stage rubbish round here. Stage 4 has three Category 2 climbs - 675m Alt de Fontllonga and two ascents of 510m Coll de Paumeres; then there are several more before the end of Stage 7. (Stage 4 map.)

Other News
One Spaniard and four Brazilian riders have been suspended from competition after failing anti-doping tests at races in 2010 and 2011. Spanish Constantino Zaballa, who announced his retirement earlier this year, will be stripped of all results for a nine-month period after a sample he provided at the 2010 Tour of Asturias. Brazilians Flavio Reblin, Wagner Alves, Elton Silva and Tiago Damasceno were all banned for two years due to positive tests for the same drug at the Volta ao Sao Paolo and Tour of Rio in 2011.

A new Eddy Merckx biography says that the Belgian rider could have died at any moment during his racing career. While writing the book, author Daniel Friebe consulted cardiologist Dr. Giancarlo Lavezzaro who revealed that he had noticed irregularities in Merckx's cardiograms, believed to be nonobstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy - a disease in which part of the heart muscle is thicker than it should be and a leading cause of sudden death in young athletes and which today would prevent the rider, who won 525 races, from being issued with a licence. (More at Cycling News)