Cycling News from around the World 13.04.12

No surgery for Tony Martin - Urgent call to female cyclists: Save the Balfron Open! - Bak back for Romandie  - British cycling fatality map - LAPD doubt road rage incident - Oxford to host Halford's Tour - Belize race solution not entirely satisfactory - 2012 Le Tour de Filipinas - Mexico City hands Sunday to cyclists

Tony Martin describes his injuries

Tony Martin, now with Omega Pharma

Omega Pharma-QuickStep's Tony Martin, the current World Time Trial Champion, has given more details of the accident which, in his own words, left the left half of his face "totally smashed." In addition to the broken cheekbone reported yesterday, he has a fractured eye socket and lower mandible (jaw) as well as pain in his arm and ribs.

"All I know is that I was going about 35 to 40 km/h on a slightly descending bike path when probably a woman in a car crossed the path. Then the lights went out," says the 26-year-old, who was unconscious for around 15 minutes after the crash. He remains upbeat, however - "Actually I am doing quite well. My girlfriend is taking care of me here. My mother and brother have arrived from Frankfurt. I am being taken care of in the best way."

Omega Pharma-Lotto have since confirmed that the rider will not require surgery. "My first objective now is to take all the time necessary to heal well. I thank all those who with their messages gave me a support in these difficult days. I really appreciate them," the rider says on the team's website.

Balfron

Urgent: Calling all British female cyclists
The Balfron Women's Open Road Race is in danger of being cancelled due to low numbers of riders signing up - and it's open to all female cyclists (provided they either hold a British Cycling racing licence or purchase a day licence), not only those eligible to race in Scottish Championships - details on eligibility here.

The race is due to take place on the 20th of May in the Stirlingshire town (56° 4'18.56"N 4°20'14.29"W) and consists of six laps of an 11km circuit beginning at 09:30. The official race website is here and entry details are here.


Bak back for Romandie
32-year-old Lars Bak, who sustained a broken wrist at the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, will make his comeback at the Tour de Romandie; say Lotto-Belisol. The Danish rider underwent medical tests on Thursday and was discovered to be recovering well.


Cyclist/pedestrian fatality map
See Me, Save Me - an organisation that aims to increase driver awareness of pedestrians and cyclists and cut deaths - has published a new interactive map created by ITO World that shows the site of every pedestrian/cyclist fatality involving a vehicle of more than 3,500kg gross weight between the 1st of January 2000 and the 31st of December 2010. London, quite frankly, is terrifying. See the map here.


LAPD doubt cyclist's accident claims
Los Angeles police have revealed their doubts over the version of events supplied to them by Susanna Schick, known as "Pinkyracer," a cyclist who claimed to have been chased down and deliberately hit by the driver of a white Lexus on a cycle lane in the city a few days ago. The incident has sparked widespread anger among local cyclists, many of whom have accused police and the law of not doing enough to prevent road rage and drivers of endangering cyclist's lives. Schick remains in hospital with three broken ribs, a broken collarbone and a triple fracture to the pelvis.

However, having viewed CCTV footage, police have announced that they're not quite sure Schick's explanation of the incident matches what actually happens. The footage shows that the Lexus did pull in front of her, though whether it was in the bike lane is unclear, but does not drive in a manner that could be described as aggressive - Schick becomes infuriated at this point, says LAPD Lt. Paul Vernon, and begins slapping or punching the car as she passes it and the car then follows her as a police vehicle pulls up behind. "The Lexus never hits her, never touches her, by the officers' account, but one of the officers notices that the front tire starts wobbling, and she falls over after going through the intersection," Vernon says.

The case is still being investigated, but serves as a reminder that we as cyclists must be above reproach. If we lie in an attempt to highlight dangers faced on the roads, we're likely in these days when there are CCTV cameras on every street to be exposed. If that makes the public think we're all a load of liars, embellishing accidents to paint drivers in a bad light or to chase compensation claims, it won't do any of us any favours.


Other News
Oxford to host Halford's Tour
Oxford has been announced as host of one round of the Halfords Tour Series, to take place on the 22nd of May this year. Like most university cities, Oxford is well-known for its cycling scene but has seen little in the way of races over the years - local bike shop manager Jon Harris says, "It seems like an exciting thing. I would say it was quite unusual to have top cyclists come to Oxford. (Wow, he sounds like he can hardly contain his excitement, eh folks?) In keeping with the successful format used last year, riders will race around several laps of a 1km city centre circuit, allowing spectators to see them pass by several times. There will be a women's race at 7pm. (More from the Oxford Mail)

Belize race solution not entirely satisfactory
After a long period in which their domestic racing scene has been dominated by foreign riders, the Belize Cycling Association was facing problems with few companies interested in sponsoring races. So they came up with a novel solution: at the nation's biggest cycling event, the 84th Holy Saturday Cross Country Cycling Classic, they offered $5,000 as the top prize if a foreigner won and $15,000 if a Belizean won. It worked, sort of. Belizean Giovanni Choto escaped with a small group early in the race and eventually won (in the words of El Guardian, "He rode bravely and lifted the spirit of an entire nation"), but with local riders unwilling to assist big-name foreigners in chasing down the group the race became boring. (More from El Guardian)

2012 Le Tour de Filipinas
80 cyclists set off from Manila this morning at the start of the 2012 Le Tour de Filipinas. Stage 1 is short at 159km, but with temperatures expected to reach 35C the eleven international and five local teams are likely to find it challenging. (More from the Manila Bulletin)

Mexico City hands Sunday to cyclists

Mexico City is changing for the better

Mexico City is not generally considered to be one of the world's great cycling cities - it's better known for streets blocked with motorised traffic belching out the choking fumes that then hang in the air above as a poisonous smog. Things are changing, however, under the leadership of Marcelo Ebrard. Five years ago he launched Bicycle Sunday,  which every week sees several of the city's main thoroughfares are closed to motorised transport and bikes, pedestrians and skaters given automatic right of way on many others. His rivals were sure it would be doomed to failure and dismissed it as a publicity stunt, but it very rapidly became more successful than even supporters hoped and now as many as 80,000 cyclists make the city look more like Amsterdam on a sunny Sunday. "We shattered a myth that a megalopolis like Mexico City is not capable of considering the bike as a means of transport,” says Environment Secretary Martha Delgado. (More from the Washington Post)

Sara Mustonen in training accident

Hitec Products-Mistral Home's 31-year-old rider Sara Mustonen was hit by a car during a training ride today, team manager Karl Lima has said via his Twitter account.

Swedish Sara, who won the Tour de Pologne Feminin in 2008, is understood to be unhurt.

Karl Lima @Karl_Lima_Hitec
Car hit Sara Mustonen on training today. Girl ok. Rumours say car total wreck and driver still running after Sara gave him 'the look' :-)

Keizer crashes

Martijn Keizer
(image credit: Thomas Ducroquet CC BY-SA 3.0) 

Dutch rider Martijn Keizer crashed heavily in the Grand Prix Cycliste La Marseillaise and fractured his hand and collarbone today, team officials announced via Vacansoleil-DCM's Twitter feed.

VacansoleilDCM Vacansoleil DCM 

#martijnkeizer crashed at #lamarseillaise . Might have a broken collarbone according to SD Van Der Schueren. #vcd

VacansoleilDCM Vacansoleil DCM 

#martijnkeizer broke collarbone and hand according to SD van Poppel. More news will follow on our website tonight

At the time of writing, no further information had been made available on the website.

Ever since being created in 1980, the GP Cycliste La Marseillaise has had a reputation for bringing bad luck to those who win it - according to superstition (and cyclists are a superstitious bunch), any rider who is victorious in this race will experience little success in the rest of the season. However, Bernard Hinault, who won this, the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France in 1982 might disagree.

Cofidis Damien Monier seriously injured

Damien Monier
(image credit: Thomas Ducroquet CC BY 3.0) 

Damien Monier was involved in an accident with a car whilst on a training ride yesterday say Cofidis team officials, sustaining serious injuries and briefly losing consciousness.

This is the worst possible start to a new year for any rider, but for the 29-year-old Frenchman it comes after a disastrous 2011 in which he suffered frequent bouts of bad health which affected the two-time National Track Champion's performance badly, his best result all year being 12th in the General Classification at the International Presidency Turkey Tour. The rider has not yet commented, but fans will be wondering if an accident this serious after a bad year might persuade him to take early retirement.

Monier, who has remained with Cofidis since being taken on as a trainee in 2003, was taken to hospital where he was revealed to have multiple fractures at the base of his skull, jaw and sinuses as well as heavy facial bruising. Fortunately, he escaped spinal injuries.

Big crash at Tour Down Under

A broken hip could easily have
spelled the end of 40-year-old
 Guesdon's career
(image credit: Ludovic Peron CC BY-SA 3.0) 

Jürgen Roelandts may never ride again, reports Sky TV

The first stage of the Tour Down Under was marked by a high speed crash today with several riders suffering serious injuries. Jürgen Roelandts (Lotto-Belisol) has a neck fracture, Frédéric Guesdon (FDJ) a broken hip and Matteo Montagutti (AG2R) a snapped collarbone. Around 20 riders in all were involved in the 70kph accident.

FDJ has since stated that x-rays confirm 40-year-old Guesdon's hip is indeed broken; but  initial hopes that, as the break is relatively minor, the rider could make a full recovery and return to racing in time for Paris-Roubaix now look unlikely. The rider had previously stated that he would retire following the Monument, which will be held on the 8th of April, but directeur sportif Yvan Madiot now believes this is unlikely.

Roelandts underwent a scan which revealed that he has a fractured sixth cervical vertebrae and as such is fortunate to have escaped paralysis - fears that he might have other injuries have proved unfounded. Sky TV  reported fears that he too might face early retirement, but other sources are far more optimistic and his team haven't produced a press release to support the British broadcaster's report.

The crash took place 1km from the finish line of the 149km stage and was caused when Kenny van Hummel collided with a 70-year-old female spectator, who received minor injuries. Some spectators have criticised crowd control at the event - however, race directors told AdelaideNow that the rider had lost control on a patch of dirt, causing him to skid into the woman rather than the crash resulting from a failure to keep the road clear. Robbie McEwen of GreenEDGE, the Australian team launched one year ago today, was also in the crash; Vacansoleil's Romain Feillu fell earlier and is suffering stomach pains but will race again in the next stage.

Greipel, now riding with
Lotto-Belisol
(image credit: Manfred Werner-TSUI
CC BY-SA 3.0)

A group of four riders broke away early in the race and built a lead of  11'40"  before being caught by the peloton with 12km to the end of the  stage for a sprint finish. André Greipel, who used his Twitter account to pass on "get well soon" messages to the injured riders, won the stage - his ninth in the Tour to date - when he edged ahead of Alessandro Petacchi as they reached the line at the bottom of a short hill; thencriticised Petacchi's tactics after the race by claiming that he was veering from left to right with little care for the crash. The Italian rider refutes the claims, adding that he had nothing to do with the accident as it happened behind him and says that other than hearing it, he was unaware of what had happened. Race officials have viewed footage and support him, feeling that his conduct was not irregular.

Conditions along the parcours, which stretched from Prospect to Clare, are described as having been "brutal" with powerful winds and temperatures of 40°C. Fabio Sabatini of Liquigas-Cannondale took 3rd place. Greipel has attacked organisers, saying that in his opinion the parcours was unnecessarily dangerous. Race director Mike Turtur responded by saying that riders were given sufficient detail concerning hazards and the final section, but adds that he will meet Greipel to discuss the issue and his concerns.

Roelandts also used his Twitter to pass on congratulations to the German rider and posted a photograph of himself in the Accident and Emergency Department at Adelaide Hospital.

Video of the final sprint and crash

Emma Johansson injured in training

Emma Johansson sustained two broken collarbones
(image credit: Eriohm CC BY 3.0)

Emma Johansson, the 28 year old Hitec Products-Mistral Home rider, was involved in a collision with a car on Saturday and left with two broken sollarbones - initial fears that she also sustained a broken arm appear unfounded.

Three team vehicles had been dispatched to bring cyclists back from a training run on Gran Canaria, one of them attempting to overtake others and trapping the rider between itself and another car. This resulted in one car's wing mirror striking the current Swedish champion's elbow and knocking her to the ground. She was taken to hospital where the broken bones were revealed.

The driver of the car has accepted full responsibility, whether he or she will face disciplinary action is not yet known. However, with collarbones taking between a month and a half to two months to heal, the accident means a potentially disastrous big chunk out of Johannson's 2012 training regime. However, she remains optimistic and hopes to return to her normal training regime at the end of February, saying that she intends to begin limited training as soon as possible and to be back to normal in time to win an Olympic medal.

Day of carnage on Israeli roads

Saturdays, being the sabbath in the Jewish faith, tend to see an increase is numbers of cyclists on Israel's roads and as such emergency medic crews prepare themselves for the accidents that they know are statistically more likely to happen on that day. Today, however, has been a day of carnage with two deaths and several injuries, adding to a wave of cyclist fatalities in the Mediterranean nation.

Police are still investigating a accident that left two cyclists critically injured by a vehicle near Kiryat Malachi in the Southern District early this morning. Later on in the morning, an 18-year-old fell asleep at the wheel and ploughed into a group of cyclists on Highway 3 in the same region. Two 40-year-old cyclists were killed, two more critically injured and three left with non-life-threatening injuries. The driver was found to be on his way home from a night out in Ashdod and has been tested for alcohol, but no further details are yet available.

Cycling is increasingly popular in Israel, both as a sport and for environmental reasons; despite the vulnerability of cyclists to attack - Hamas and other armed groups having been known to take potshots at people riding bikes in the past. As a small nation, it's possible to get to most locations within a relatively short time and since bikes offer a better chance to experience the country, its rich archaeological heritage and world-famous scenery, bikes are also becoming a common way for tourists to get about. However, traffic accidents are Israel's number one killer: in 2010 (5769/5770) there were 27,733 injuries on the roads, 1,663 of them were serious and 349 people were killed. Total reported accidents numbered 14,603 - an 11% increase on 2009 (5768/5759).

While visitors are warned to keep away from flashpoints such as the border with Gaza but must also be aware that Israel's roads are more dangerous than those of many other nations, and must take extra care when cycling in the nation.

New rules in wake of Stage 9 incident

Following the crash caused by a French TV camera car in Stage 9, which saw Juan Antonio Flecha and Johnny Hoogerland escape serious injury by sheer good fortune alone, the ASO has announced new rules aimed at preventing a similar incident from re-occuring. Just announced on the Tour's live ticker, they are:

Hoogerland required 33
stitches after being thrown
into a barbed wire fence in
the Stage 9 crash.

Cars wishing to follow the race must remain two minutes behind, but this will be varied according to the nature of the road.


At any one time, cars following directly behind the peloton will be limited to no more than eight, of which four will be those of Tour organisers and four media vehicles.


Media vehicles must contain two accredited journalists with press passes in order to ensure one is concentrating on driving safely and not also taking photographs, notes etc.


All vehicles will now only be permitted to overtake a breakaway group one at a time and only with permission from race organisers.

Deaths on the roads fall - but not for cyclists

New statistics released by the British Department of Transport show that fewer people are dying on the nation's roads - in fact, in 2010, the total was 1,857. That's 1,857 too many, of course, but it's the lowest figure since records were first kept in 1926. If you add to this the number of people seriously injured, though, the total is 22,660, which is a shockingly high figure.

However, if the number of people killed while cycling is separated, it shows that the cyclist deaths figure rose from 104 to 111. Seven extra human lives might not seem that much to some, but it represents a 7% increase. Why does this figure rise when total deaths fall, even when cycling helmets are near-ubiquitous and the majority of riders have lights, now that good quality models cost so little?

We're not for even a second going to pretend there aren't plenty of idiots on two wheels out there, but a rise suggests one thing - the various schemes set up to protect cyclist's lives are obviously not getting through to motorists.

Five injured in worst ever Manhattan Beach GP cycle race

Five cyclists have been taken to hospital after what organisers termed the worst crash in the history of the Manhattan Beach Grand Prix cycling race on Sunday. One official said "I've been here for 25 years and can't remember one that bad."

The accident occurred during the first race of the event, at 07.45am, when several competitors collided and caused a pile-up that involved more than 20 riders. "I heard what sounded like an explosion and saw bodies lying all over Valley," said race Operations Director Bob Jones.

Several riders hit the metal barricades with sufficient force to bend them. 35-year-old Rudy Ordaz sustained the worst injuries of those involved, including deep lacerations to his face caused by his spectacles and an unspecified injury to his leg.