Cycling Evening News 05.05.12

Rabo revelation is no surprise, nor worthy of note - Giro d'Italia - Two Days of Bedford - Lotto Cup Knokke-Bredene - Tour of the Gila - Nuyens still hurting - Railways team wins Pakistan Women's Nats, Afghan women impress - NetApp bus burglary - Other News - Cycling

Racing
Doping tolerated pre-'07 at Rabo "revelation"
According to the "revelation" of Theo de Rooij in Dutch newspaper Volkskrant, doping was tolerated in the Rabobank team between 1996 (when the team was formed from Novell Software-Decca) to 2007 - including between 2003 and 2007, when de Rooij was general manager.

Cycling is not the sport that it was before 2007, nor is
Rabobank the team that it then was

No! Really? There was doping in cycling during the Festina Affair-Operacion Puerto era? A lot of fans seem to be distinctly underwhelmed by the news, which is to be expected really. If anyone can exclusively reveal that there was a major team that wasn't involved in doping at that time, we'll all be a lot more surprised. Rabobank have said they see no reason to investigate the claims. "Since 2007, we've had a new Board and new leadership," a spokesperson told Het Nieuwsblad. "We wish to stress that there is a zero-tolerance policy in today's team."

Fair play to them. It may have taken several deaths and a pair of scandals that very nearly killed the entire sport to finally wake cycling in general up to the fact that something - many things, actually - needed to be done about doping but, since then, Rabobank has been at the vanguard of those teams that stopped talking about it and got on with actually fighting. What happened when de Rooij was in charge and before his tenure no longer matters, there has been a sea change in cycling over the last half-decade and we are now in a different age. That chapter is over, dead, buried, done. What matters is what's happening now, and Rabobank set a shining example.


Giro d'Italia

If you didn't know that the Giro d'Italia started today, you're probably some sort of hermit. Stage 1 was an 8.7km individual time trial on what looked set to be quite a tricky little parcours around the Danish city Herning, following the long tradition of the Grand Tours paying visits to nations other than their own.

The start line is right in the centre of the city (56° 8'14.19"N  8°58'1.99"E) and the riders immediately head for the first of fourteen tight corners - there's an especially compact series after 1.11km to keep the attentive. The last part along Dronningen's Boulevard and Holsterbrovej is a very different sort of route with long, fast straights to the final corner and a final half-kilometre sprint along H.P Hansens Vej to the finish line (56° 8'41.20"N 8°56'56.45"E).

Top Ten
1. Taylor Phinney (BMC) 10'26"

2. Geraint Thomas (Sky) +9"
3. Alex Rasmussen (Garmin-Barracuda) +13"
4. Manuele Boaro (SaoBank) +15"
5. Gustav Erik Larsson (Vacansoleil-DCM) +22"
6. Ramunas Navardauskas (Garmin-Barracuda) ST
7. Brett Lancaster (Orica-GreenEDGE) +23"
8. Marco Pinotti (BMC) +24"
9. Jesse Sergeant (RadioShack-Nissan) +26"
10. Nelson Oliveira (RadioShack-Nissan) +27"


While an individual TT doesn't give a perfect indication of form, partially due to the riding positions being very different and partially because a certain percentage of an individual rider's form can only be seen in the way he integrates with his team mates. It's also impossible to say with any certainty who might be in with a chance of winning because the finish line is three weeks and three-and-a-half-thousand kilometres away. Nevertheless, today we got our first look at the riders. Here are some initial thoughts...

Alessandro Ballan

Theo Bos (Rabobank) probably won't make it onto many lists of potential winners, but he's looking good to grab more than his fair share of points. For such a stocky man, he rode smoothly today and his legs have that "elasticated" look that indicates large reserves of stored power. He'll certainly give Cav a run for his money.
Geraint Thomas (Sky) is going to win a Grand Tour this year. Last year, for a short while at the Tour after Bradley Wiggins had gone home with a broken collar bone, it looked as though that victory would come sooner rather than later - which is why many people will have watched him carefully today. His TT form was exquisite, but that Grand Tour's not coming this year.
A lot of people are tipping Roman Kreuziger (Astana) this year, but I don't see it myself - chiefly for the same reason as Thomas; ie at his age he still lacks that certain "GC contender" quality that only the most exceptional have (Merckx had it at 25, so did Contador - Andy Schleck still hasn't). In two years, things will be very different.
Alessandro Ballan (BMC) is known primarily as a Classics rider and the majority of his stage race success has been in the shorter events. However, he can occasionally surprise in the later stages of a long race; as was the case at the 2010 Tour de France when he came second on Stage 15. Ballan has always been somewhat on the skinny side, but today he resembled an anatomical model of the human muscles. Is he perhaps hoping to do well on the mountains, like he did that day in the Tour? Ballan's another one who won't make it onto every list of likely lads, but he's worth keeping an eye on (unless you're trying to uncover who ate all the pies - he can definitely be ruled out of that investigation).
Frank Schleck (RadioShack-Nissan), who only found out he was coming to the Giro a few days ago, appears to have better form than many people might have expected. His season thus far has been a little underwhelming, but he's got the loose-limbed legginess of a climber. Don't write Frank off just yet, because he may surprise us in the mountains - his time trialing hasn't improved at all over the winter, however, inspiring at least one Twitterer to wonder if the police might want to breathalyse him as he wobbled around the course.
Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) is in good shape, as always, and his rivals do not allow themselves to forget that he's a rider with a near-unique combination of abilities: he has Classics toughness, he can climb and he can hold his own in a sprint. A potential winner? Maybe. Top five? Certainly.
Filippo Pozzato looks good around the legs, but seems to have a little trace of belly fat at the moment - which was unexpected, because he didn't have it at the Ronde van Vlaanderen (or maybe it was just the new Farnese Vini-Selle Italia strip; because nobody could look good in that monstrosity). Having said that, it really was the merest suggestion of belly fat, nothing that he won't have burned off long before the mountains.

Ivan Basso

Ivan Basso (Liquigas-Cannondale) is looking good, no trace of excess fat and the right balance between all-rounder muscle and the stringy limbs of a climber. Barring accident, he'll do well in this edition.
Damiano Cunego (Lampre-ISD) is another rider who, like Rodriguez, has a rare combination of three abilities; though in his case it's time trialing, sprinting and climbing. When Cunego shows up at the start of a stage race, he is immediately a GC contender. That's as true this year as ever.
Finally, Michele Scarponi, the man who finished in second place last year but wore pink today after the disqualification and suspension of Alberto Contador. His form is visibly good, his legs look springy, everything is as it ought to be. More importantly, pink suits him very well. Now he's had a taste, he'll want to show the world that he can take first place purely on his own merit.

Sunday brings the first road race stage, a 206km loop from Herning up to the Limfjorden north of Holsterbro, then south along the western coastline including a ride along the 13.2km Thorsminde causeway separating Nissumfjord from the North Sea. Having travelled as far as Ringkobingfjord, they head inland again for a straight 50km run back to Herning. This being Denmark, the parcours is flat all the way - expect to see the likes of Mark Cavendish and Theo Bos showing what they're capable of doing at the end of the stage.

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

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

The long-running event consists of four stages over two days (6th and 7th of May) with a 7.4km team time trial followed by an 80km road race on the Sunday, then a 6.4km individual time trial and an 85km race made up of nine laps of the Milbrook Vehicle Testing Facility. Over the years, it's grown to become one of the premier events on the British women's cycling calendar and now attracts some of the top names in the international sport, including the legendary paralympian Sarah Storey and, riding for the world-famous Matrix Fitness-Prendas team, Hannah Walker (National Derny Champion 2011), Annie Simpson (winner, 2011 Oldham Johnson HealthTech GP), Hannah Rich (Commonwealth Games contender, 2010), Penny Rowson (bronze, National Junior Cyclo Cross Championships), Jessie Walker (winner, Women's Track League 2011) and Sarah Reynolds (Team GB). Matrix Fitness won the 2011 Johnson HealthTech GP Series and is home to European Team Pursuit Champion Dani King, National Pursuit Champion Jo Rowsell and six-time National Cyclo Cross Champion Helen Wyman - an indication of the high level of competition in this race.

Believe me, you will not get more excitement for what it'll cost you to get to this race anywhere in the country (and you won't even have to change your pounds for krone). (More information here)

Lotto Cup Knokke-Bredene
Over on the other side of the North Sea, another women's race in the shape of the Knokke-Bredene took place on Saturday afternoon with one 47.6km main section followed by eight laps of a 7.8km circuit to make a total of 110km.

The race forms part of the Lotto Cycling Cup, a series that aims to bring the best cyclists in the world to Belgium in order to increase the profile of the sport. Among the top names on the start list this year: Irene van der Broek, Laura van der Kamp and Elena Tchalykh (Dolans-Boels); Evelyn Arys and Grace Verbeke (Kleo); Vera Koedooder (Sengers); Christine Majerus (GSD Gestion); Linda Ringlever (NWV Groningen); Nathalie van Gogh and Laura Trott (Ibis); Thalita de Jongh, Iris Slappendel, Roxanne Knetemann, Liesbet de Vocht and Tatiana Antoshina (Rabobank).

Video credit: @Velowijf

It became evident soon after the race began that, barring just about anything short of alien invasion and/or zombie apocalypse, somebody from Rabobank was going to win - just 30km into proceedings they had four riders at the front and never let up from that point onwards, keeping control all the way. Once the race began to near the finish line de Vocht, Knetemann, Else Belmans and Maaike Polspoel (Topsport Vlaanderen-Ridley) attacked, escaping the peloton and forcing speeds upward to tire the pack - and it worked splendidly: in the final 500m, de Vocht put her foot down and launched herself towards the line. Belmans and team mate Maaike Polspoel went after her and managed to hang onto her back wheel all the way, but neither could get ahead.

Top Ten
  1.  Liesbeth De Vocht Rabobank 2h45'01"
  2.  Else Belmans Topsport Vlaanderen-Ridley 2012 ST
  3.  Maaike Polspoel Topsport Vlaanderen-Ridley 2012 ST
  4.  Roxane Knetemann Rabobank +05"
  5.  Sarah Düster Rabobank +19"
  6.  Latoya Brulee Topsport Vlaanderen-Ridley 2012 ST
  7.  Lauren Kitchen Rabobank ST
  8.  Martina Zwick ST
  9.  Kelly Druyts Topsport Vlaanderen-Ridley 2012 ST
  10.  Evelyn Arys Kleo ST
(Full result)

Tour of the Gila

Carmen Small is riding fantastically well
jut to stay anywhere near Kristin
Armstrong, who has perhaps the best
form of any procyclist this season

The Stage 3 individual time trials took place on a 26.6km parcours with two testing climbs - the first, a Category 4, began 2km into the race and involved around 600m of climbing to a summit 1,949, above sea level, though the maximum gradient was not especially challenging. The second is the same mountain, approached from the opposite side on the return journey. It's much steeper when approached from that angle, hence an uprade to Cat 3. The start and finish line was located in Tyrone, a ghost town.

Kristin Armstrong (Exergy Twenty12) apparently plans to win this race by the simple-if-hard-to-achieve method of "completely and utterly dominating the field in every stage," and as a result she won for the third time in a row - and what a win it was: the 38-year-old Tennessean smashed Clara Hughes' time on the same parcours in 2011 by a whole two minutes. What matters more, of course, is she also beat the competition; crossing the line 2'05" faster than Alison Powers (Now and Novartis). Her advantage in the General Classification now stands at 5'01" over second place Carmen Small.

Top Ten
  1.  Kristin Armstrong Exergy Twenty12 37'13"
  2.  Alison Powers Now and Novartis for MS +2'05"
  3.  Carmen Small Optum p/b Kelly Benefit +2'11"
  4.  Tara Whitten Team TIBCO +2'46"
  5.  Jasmin Glaisser Colavita-ESPNW +2'48"
  6.  Anne Samplonius Now and Novartis for MS +3'18"
  7.  Jade Wilcoxson Optum p/b Kelly Benefit +3'28"
  8.  Alison Tetrick Exergy Twenty12 +3'29"
  9.  Calle Williams Colombia NT +3'38"
  10.  Olivia Dillon Now and Novartis for MS +3'50"
(Full results and GC)

Rory Sutherland

Catching Armstrong looks increasingly like an impossible task, but the eventual outcome seems far less certain among the men where Rory Sutherland (UnitedHealthcare Presented By Maxxis) leads the GC by only 26", an advantage that could very easily be lost on the last two stages. Evan Huffman, who has been trying to improve his TT performances, was experimenting with a different bike position and has apparently found one that works because he was the fastest man on the parcours with a finishing time 3" faster than Sutherland. "I think I can call myself a time trialist now," he said after the race.

Top Ten
  1.  Evan Huffman  California Giant     34'23"
  2.  Rory Sutherland UnitedHealthcare Presented By Maxxis +3"
  3.  Joe Dombrowski Bontrager Livestrong +17"
  4.  Jeremy Vennell Bissel Pro +24"
  5.  Lawson Craddock Bontrager Livestrong +38"
  6.  Francisco Mancebo Competitive Cyclist +45"
  7.  Nathaniel English Kenda/5-Hour Energy +50"
  8.  Ian Burnett Competitive Cyclist +52"
  9.  Benjamin Day UnitedHealthcare Presented By Maxxis +56"
  10.  Marc De Maar UnitedHealthcare Presented By Maxxis ST
(Full results and GC)

Tour of the Gila Stage 4

Stage 4 is an urban criterium race around a 1.74km square Silver City parcours with three bonus sprints and course hazards that include, according to the race bible, "rough pavement and errant pedestrians." The Pro Women will complete 25 laps to make a total of 43.5km, the Pro Men 40 laps for 69.5km.

Nick Nuyens still suffering
SaxoBank's Nick Nuyens was left disappointed after his Four Days of Dunkirk comeback, the injured hip he sustained in Paris-Nice two months ago making it impossible for him to ride as well as he'd hoped.

"I saw the fugitives still pulling away, but I couldn't respond," he told Het Niuewslad. "My hip still hurts, much more than I had expected after the training. The muscles around the hip are still weak, so I was uncomfortable on the bike. This was no fluke - I hope it'll improve given time."

Railways wins Pakistan Women's Nationals

Afghan Women's Team in training

Pakistan Railways won overall at the Pakistan Women's Championships on Thursday night, accumulating a total of 177 points at the Lahore velodrome during the event. Education High Commission took second with 160 points while Punjab was third with 86. The real stars of the Championships, however, have been the Afghan Women's team - despite hailing from a nation where until not too long ago any woman caught doing anything even remotely resembling a competitive sport would be publicly beheaded and although there are no races to speak of in Afghanistan, they won a number of medals and took fourth place overall with 68 points.

The Afghan women, the first foreign team to be invited to the race, impressed sufficiently for organisers to say they'll look into the possiblity of inviting teams from other Central Asian nations in future. Their performance was also a great encouragement for the athletes themselves - "I know that it will take time to win at an international level," says rider Karishma Ibadi, "but as sports grow we will be able to produce good players who will win abroad."

Other News
Team NetApp, competing in the Giro on a wildcard invitation this year, have had their first bout of misfortune - their bus was broken into and damaged on Friday night. Thieves got away with the vehicle's GPS system and items of the riders' clothing and shoes. So, if you happen to be in Herning and somebody offers you a cheap jersey that looks like the one on the left (probably without Reto Hollenstein in it), don't buy it and notify the police.

Peter Stetina (Garmin-Barracuda) escaped injury when he was hit by a car during a training ride yesterday. The incident was reported as a hit-and-run but, the rider - who has been given the go-ahead to start the Giro - praises the driver, telling Wielerland that he/she "was attentive and the car just came in contact with my rear wheel."

"Latecomer Schleck finds Giro course to his liking" (The Independent)

Heather Moyse had already made
her name in both bobsleigh and
rugby before coming to cycling

"Canadian gold medalist Heather Moyse becomes triple-threat with cycling success" (Calgary Herald)

"They just don't come any tougher than cycling's double world champion Laura Trott" (Daily Telegraph)

"Reasons to get excited about cycling this summer" (The Guardian)

"Reviving a cycling legend" (That's Greg Lemond, btw. SFGate, USA)

"Reta Trotman graduates in style at Nationals" (NZHerald)

"Pursuit squad thrilled with Kiwi made super sleek racer" (NZHerald)

"High school league fills niche" (PE, California)

Cycling
Newswire
Britain
"As far as oiling the wheels of big City deals goes, cycling is the new golf" (Daily Telegraph)

"Urban cycling: top 10 safety tips" (The Guardian)

"Cyclist badly hurt by deer" (Diss Express)

Worldwide
"Packs of cyclists need to obey traffic laws" (Times Colonist, Canada)

Daily Cycling Facts 05.05.12

The 2012 Giro d'Italia begins today with an 8.7km time trial in Herning, Denmark and will finish in three weeks' time in Milan - as they cross the finish line, the riders will have completed 3,503.9km and 21 stages. This is the second earliest starting date in the history of the Giro; only the 1939 edition started earlier, on the 28th of April.

Today marks the anniversary of the 20th edition of La Flèche Wallonne, which took place over a 221km parcours between Charleroi and Liège in 1956 - the same start and finish towns as in the previous seven years and the following nine (though they were reversed from 1960 to 1965), but using a different route. The winner was Richard Van Genechten, a climber who one year before had driven himself so hard on Mont Ventoux during the Tour de France that he fell unconscious from his bike and was rushed to hospital. He nearly became the third man to win the Ardennes Double a day after his Flèche victory when he finished in second place behind Fred de Bruyne at Liège-Bastogne-Liège.

Gino Bartali
On this day in 2000, the world lost a man who had it not have been for the Second World War (during which he became an even bigger hero that he did during his cycling career) may have become known as the greatest rider of all time: Il Pio, Gino Bartali. He would win the Giro in 1936 and 1937, the his first Tour de France in 1938 and a second in 1948 - the longest period between victories achieved by an individual rider in the history of the race.

Gino Bartali, a great man on the bike and off

Born in Pont a Ema (the house where he was born still stands, now occupied by a bar), the young Gino began working in a bike shop when he was 13 and was soon encouraged by colleagues to start racing. He then had a successful amateur career before turning professional at the age of 21 and winning the National Championship a year later. He won the Giro's overall King of the Mountains title that same year, then won the General Classification the next year but very nearly gave up cycling forever a year later when his older brother was killed in an accident during a race.

Until they produced a rider capable of dominating the Classics, Italians were widely believed to be useless cyclists when away from their home nation. Having been persuaded to continue racing, this seemed true of Bartali when he entered the Tour de France for the first time in 1937 as he got off to a bad start and lost time; then, perhaps angered by the cliche, he unexpectedly picked up the pace and won the yellow jersey during the mountainous Stage 7 between Aix-les-Bains and Grenoble. However, the very next day he was involved in a crash when Jules Rossi lost control - he plunged 3m off a bridge into a stream, landing on his chest and suffering breathing difficulties that forced him to retire from the race. That evening, he went to visit Tour director Henri Desgrange and apologised for his decision. "You are the first rider to come to see me before dropping out," Desgrange is reputed to have said. "You're a good man, Gino. Next year, we shall see one another again - and you shall win."

It has been known for many years that, during the War, Bartali assisted in efforts to save the lives of Jewish Italians, but it's only comparatively recently become known just how far he was willing to go to  rescue a fellow human being from almost certain death  - not only did he courier information and fake documents around the Italian countryside, he personally transported Jewish refugees in a specially-designed trailer towed behind his bike across the Alps and into neutral Switzerland. It's estimated that he was responsible for saving more than 800 people, yet he never asked for reward nor even recognition; stating years later that "One does these things, and that's that." In 2012, Israel's Yad Vashem announced that it was gathering further information in preparation for declaring him Righteous Among The Nations, an honour bestowed upon those who helped defend and save Europe's Jews from fascist attempts to exterminate them.

Bartali, having won the 1948 Tour

Bartali's career ended with a road accident when he was 40, by which point he had given much of his money away to deserving causes and lost most of what remained in ill-advised investments, later becoming the acerbic host of a popular television show and making a few cameo appearances in films. In old age he developed heart problems (not helped at all by an increasingly sedentary lifestyle - Miguel Indurain's manager once warned the five-time Tour winner to avoid being "like Gino Bartali" in his post-racing life) and underwent bypass surgery but died from a heart attack ten days after receiving the last rights, and a two-day period of official statewide mourning was declared in Italy. Today, many historians believe that had the War not have brought a temporary end to the Grand Tours, Bartali would have topped Lance Armstrong's record of seven Tours de France.


Britain's Lucy Martin was born in Merseyside on this day in 1990. She was spotted and invited to join the Olympic Talent Teamwhen she was 15 and soon selected for the Olympic Academy, a programme reserved for the most promising young athletes. In 2011, she received an offer of a professional trade team racing contract with Garmin-Cervélo where she raced alongside some of the best cyclists in the world including Lizzie Armitstead, Emma Pooley, Jessie Daams and Iris Slappendel, then went with Armitstead, Pooley, Daams and others to AA Drink-Leontien.nl following the demise of the Garmin-Cervélo women's team late in 2011.

Paul Watson, born in Milton Keynes on this day in 1962, had a good amateur career before turning professional in 1987 after performing well for two consecutive years at the Milk Race (as the Tour of Britain was then known). Two years later, he surprised the worldwide cycling scene by somehow coming sixth at no less an event than La Flèche Wallonne, thus inspiring theories that a serious talent had somehow slipped under the radar and was now announcing itself. He entered the Tour de France that year but was woefully unprepared - he was 143rd in the prologue but afterwards managed no better than 191st (Stage 3), then abandoned after coming 202nd - only four riders ahead of the Lanterne Rouge - in Stage 5. He did well at the Milk Race again that year, coming 4th overall, then faded away from cycling and little has been seen of him since.

Nick Nuyens
(image credit Thomas Ducroquet CC3.0)

Another rider who has enjoyed success at the Tour of Britain is the Belgian Nick Nuyens, who was also born on this day but eighteen years after Watson - he was third overall in 2004, then won Stages 1, 5 and the overall General Classification one year later. However, Nuyens is known primarily as one of the strongest Classics riders of his generation, having won or placed well at several of the most important one-day races, In 2011, he won both the Ronde van Vlaanderen and the Dwars door Vlaanderen.

British rowing champion James Cracknell, who was born on this day in 1972, attempted in 2010 to swim, run, row and cycle from Los Angeles to New York in 16 days. On the 20th of July, during one of the cycling sections, he was hit from behind by a truck in Arizona - one of the most dangerous types of accident for a cyclist, and was left with a coup contrecoup injury caused when the brain impacts against the inside of the skull. Cracknell has attributed his survival to the Alpina helmet he was wearing at the time, pointing out that it absorbed enough of the impact to have been broken into two pieces, and has since been a vocal advocate of cycling helmets - especially those made by Alpina, though he insists that there is no commercial agreement between himself and the company. In 2011, British newspaper The Daily Mail published a photograph of a helmetless Cracknell riding a folding bike but stated that he returned home to get one when he realised; his wife told reporters that he has suffered memory loss since his accident.

Lenka Ilavská, who was born in the Slovakian town Liptovský Mikuláš on this day in 1972, won the 1992  Emakumeen Bira, the 1993 Giro d'Italia Femminile and the 1995 Krasna Lipa Tour Féminine.

Mouritius "Maurice" Prosper Peeters was born in Antwerp on this day in 1882 and moved whilst still a child with his family to The Hague, where the Peeters took Dutch nationality. Maurice represented the Netherlands at the Olympics in 1920 and 1924. In 1920, he rode alone in the 1000m Sprint against British stars Thomas "Tiny" Johnson and Harry Ryan, who worked together in an attempt to remove all chances of a Dutch victory. Ryan attacked in the early part of the race, trying to tire his opponent out so that Johnson could cruise to unchallenged victory. However, Peeters proved more than match for the pair of them: Ryan tired and gave up his attacks, then the Dutchman went to work on Johnson, maintaining his lead and taking the gold medal. Four years later, he won the bronze in the 2000m Tandem race.

Leif Mortensen won a series of amateur races in the late 1960s, then turned professional and won a silver medal at the World Road Race Championship in 1970 (held that year in Leicester, Great Britain). A year later, he was sixth overall at the Tour de France and then twelfth in 1972, then he won the Tour of Belgium in 1973 and was 19th at the Tour de France - the palmares of a man who came so close to being a great, but didn't quite have what it takes.

Other births: Maria Hawkins (Canada, 1962); Kazım Bingen (Turkey, 1912); Andrej Hauptman (Slovenia, 1975); Leif Mortensen (Denmark, 1946); Carlos Miguel Álvarez (Argentina, 1943); Jakob Caironi (Switzerland, 1902); Anton Krijgsman (Netherlands, 1898, died 1974); Elio Bavutti (Italy, 1914 died 1987); Tekeste Woldu (Ethiopia, 1945); José Ollarves (Venezuela, 1953); Syamak Zafarzadeh (Iran, 1964); Alex Van Linden (Belgium, 1952); Mohamed Reza Banna (Iran, 1971); Kevin Kimmage (Ireland, 1967); Bob McLeod (Canada, 1913, died 1958); David Boll (USA, 1953).

Giro d'Italia Stage 1

It really doesn't yet seem very long since the start of the current cycling season and the Flanders Classics feel as though they started just a week or so ago. Yet, somehow, it's already early May - and that means it's time for the first of those three pivotal points about which the cycling fan's year revolves: the legend that is the Giro d'Italia.

This year, the 103-year-old race makes a sortie far beyond Italy's borders and deep into the North, the opening three stages being hosted in Denmark. Stage 1 is an 8.7km individual time trial, serving as time trials do to exhibit each rider on his own in front of the crowds and allowing us to have a look at who has form, who plans on peaking for the Tour de France and who simply left the new season training until too late and doesn't have a hope. Of course, in any Grand Tour there is always a high possibility that any rider to start Stage 1 will not finish Stage 21: the finish line in three weeks and 3,503.9km away - anything could happen during that time, and a very great deal will.

Nevertheless, this is our opportunity to narrow the field down to fifteen men who - if fortune is on their side - could win. Twitter is the place to discuss the race (#Giro) in the meantime.

Cycling Evening News 04.05.12

Tour of the Gila - Stetina hit by car 24 hours before Giro - Italian Fed clarify rule changes - Belgian driver imprisoned after Vanmarcke accident - Exergy Tour poster - Other news - Cycling

Tour of the Gila
For the men, 128.7km Stage 2 both started and finished at Fort Bayard - a historic frontier fort that was once home to the Buffalo Soldiers (for a brief history of them, click here). They then reached the first Cat 3 climb at 16km and climbed to 2,164m, then the second began at 24km and climbed to 2,361m. After crossing the Continental Divide (with an uncategorised climb of, oh, only 2,045m) they headed to a final and very steep Cat 3 at 100km, climbing to 2,070m before the descent and last 16km back to Fort Bayard. The women used a similar parcours but missed the first 25.4km and climb, beginning instead at Pinos Altos. The remainder of the route was identical to the men's.

Courteney Lowe

Janel Holcomb, Carmen Small and Jade Wilcoxson (all Optum Presented By Kelly Benefit Strategies) had formed a break with Kristin Armstrong  (Exergy Twenty 12) just before the 40th kilometre, a situation that looked highly dangerous for Armstrong as it separated her from her own team, and precisely what Optum were aiming for as was revealed by Small after the race. They were joined by Optum's 21-year-old Courteney Lowe, who livened up an already exciting race by taking Robin Farina (Now and Novartis) with her in an attack, a move intended to give Optum chance to recuperate before doubling their efforts against Armstrong - but which also gave Exergy time. In the end, Armstrong's amazing form this season allowed her to lead the women over the line for the second day in a row, though this time around - without the tough climb to the finish that saw her record a time 2'18" ahead of her nearest rival - she was closely trailed by Holcomb, who took the same time. Carmen Small was 26" back.

Top Ten
  1.  Kristin Armstrong Exergy Twenty12 3h38'23
  2.  Janel Holcomb Optum p/b Kelly Benefit ST
  3.  Carmen Small Optum p/b Kelly Benefit +26"
  4.  Alison Powers Now and Novartis for MS ST
  5.  Emily Kachorek Primal/MapMyRide +28"
  6.  Jade Wilcoxson Optum p/b Kelly Benefit +1'29"
  7.  Jasmin Glaisser Colavita-espnW +1'36"
  8.  Beth Newell Now and Novartis for MS ST
  9.  Olivia Dillon Now and Novartis for MS ST
  10.  Calle Williams Colombia NT ST
(Full results and GC)


Whilst the fastest women came across in small groups, the majority of the men finished in a large bunch sprint followed by two smaller groups at +16" and +20". Numerous attempted breaks tried their luck early on and never got anywhere until , Javier Megias (Type 1),  Chris Parrish (Optum), James Stemper (Kenda 5 Hour) and Thomas Rabou (Competitive Cyclist) got away and gained a 55" lead, later bridged by Carlos Lopez (Mexico NT) and Evan Huffman (Giant). However, when  they were caught at 107km a bunch sprint  immediately looked inevitable.

Top Ten
  1.  Eric Young Bissel Pro 3h04'25"
  2.  Francisco Mancebo Competitive Cyclist ST
  3.  Chad Beyer Competitive Cyclist ST
  4.  Anibal Andres Borrajo Jamis-Sutter Home ST
  5.  Hector Rangel ST
  6.  Marc De Maar UnitedHealthcare Presented By Maxxis ST
  7.  Jesse Goodrich ST
  8.  Fred Rodriguez Exergy ST
  9.  Georg Preidler Team Type 1-Sanofi ST
  10.  Rory Sutherland UnitedHealthcare Presented By Maxxis ST
(Full results and GC)

The Stage 3 individual time trials take place on a 26.6km parcours with two testing climbs - the first, a Cat 4 beginning 2km into the race, involves around 600m of climbing to a summit 1,949, above sea level, though the maximum gradient is not especially challenging. The second is the same mountain, approached from the opposite side on the return journey - and it's much steeper from this angle, rating Cat 3. The start and finish line is located in Tyrone, a community built for the then huge sum of $1 million in 1915 and designed to resemble the grand cities of Europe. In 1921, when copper prices worldwide dropped and the local mines closed, the town was deserted and what wasn't later destroyed by an open cast mine in the 1960s has remained a ghost town ever since.

Peter Stetina

Stetina hit by car 24 hours before Giro
Only hours after Sky's Ben Swift announced that he would have to miss the Giro d'Italia, Peter Stetina looked disaster in the face when he was the victim of a hit-and-run in the Danish city Herning - where the race will start on Saturday.

Whilst his bike was reportedly damaged badly in the accident, Stetina is said to have been able to get up and walk around immediately; making it look likely that provided tests reveal no cause for concern he will still be able to compete. The car's registrattion plate was noted and reported to police. Sporten TV2 have video of the incident.

Italian Fed clarify rule changes
After yesterday's news that the Federazione Ciclistica Italiana was to abandon its rule blocking riders who have served a suspension of six months or more from the National Team, the organisation used the Gazzetta dello Sport to clarify that the new policy applies only to the National Championships - riders previously ineligible to represent the country in international competitions, including the Olympics, will remain subject to the ban.

The British Olympic Association had previously operated a similar ban, overturned this week by the Court for Arbitration in Sport after the World Anti-Doping Agency contested an appeal to keep it in place. It's not yet known if WADA will also order the FCI to abandon the rule. (For more details, see Cycling News)

Belgian driver fined and imprisoned for three months after Vanmarcke accident

Sep Vanmarcke, now with
Garmin-Barracuda

A Belgian named only as Francois D. has been fined 550 euros and sentenced to three months in prison after a court in Oudenaarde heard how he had become enraged when Sep Vanmarcke (Garmin-Barracuda) and his older brother Ken ran a red light and pulled into the road in front of him on the 27th of July last year. According to the brothers, the driver then drove at slow speed in front of them to block their path, then when Ken tried to overtake he accelerated, swerved suddenly and braked - knocking him and his bike off the road. ""Had I not have been so alert, I might now be in a wheelchair," claimed Ken, who works as a postman.

"The court apparently completely forgot that the brothers blazed straight through a red light," Francois D.'s lawyer said. "We will definitely appeal."

"Whatever anyone's personal opinion, the court has spoken," Sep said via his Twitter feed on Friday morning. "We are pleased with the verdict and can finally close this chapter." ("Gister uitspraak van de rechter over de aanrijding. In de media staat het verhaal naar ons inziens niet juist verwoord. Wat ieder zijn mening ook is de rechter heeft gesproken. Wij zijn blij met de uitspraak en kunnen eindelijk dit hoofdstuk sluiten.")

2012 Exergy Tour poster unveiled
The race will take place between the 24th and 28th of May with a prize fund of $100,000 - believed to be the largest in the history of women's professional cycling.

Other News
"The Giro d'Italia will be the first time Australians Matt Goss and Mark Renshaw, and British rider Mark Cavendish, have ridden in the same Grand Tour since last year's Tour de France" (Wide World of Sports)

"CCA unveils list of track cyclists eligible for Olympic team‎" (TSN)

Cycling
Newswire
Britain
"Two in three commuters believe Britain's roads unfit for cycling, according to Brake survey" (road.cc)

"We are shocked driver won’t face court, says family of dead cyclist" (Evening Standard)

"Cycling Expo to take place on Olympic Road Race weekend" (BikeBiz)

"A teenager was attacked by a group of men and had his mountain bike stolen" (Redditch Standard)

Worldwide
"Almost half of the serious injuries caused in Sweden’s traffic accidents involve cyclists" (The Local)

Daily Cycling Facts 04.05.12

The Ronde van Vlaanderen was held on this day -one of only two in May (the other was the first edition in 1913) - in 1941 and was won for the second time by Achiel Buysse, the rider who, two years later, would become the first man to win three times. The Ronde, as we've noted previously, was the only Classic to continue on occupied home soil throughout the duration of the Second World War, Belgium having been overthrown by the Nazis the previous year. In 1941, a number of Nazi officers - presumably cycling fans themselves - became involved in the running of the race which would lead to problems following the Liberation when organisers were faced with accusations of collaboration.

La Flèche Wallonne has also fallen on this day. The first time was in 1957, the 21st edition, when Raymond Impanis was the fastest man over the 226km parcours between Charleroi - Liège. The second was the 28th edition, which took place in 1964. That year, the race covered 215km from Liège to Charleroi and was won by Gilbert Desmet. The race has never been held in May since then. It was also the last time that it was held on the day before the Liège-Bastogne-Liège Monument, thus bringing to an end the famous Le Weekend Ardennais.

Aleksandr Kolobnev
Born in Vyksa in the USSR on this day in 1981, Aleksandr Kolobnev spent his first professional riders riding as a trainee with Italian teams before signing up to Dutch Rabobank in 2005, a year after winning a National Championship. It was with CSC from 2007 that he really began to make his mark in the stage races, winning a stage at Pari-Nice and also doing well in the Classics and one-day events, ending up in the podium a number of times. In 2010 he joined Katusha, won another National Championship and came second at Liège-Bastogne-Liège - results sufficiently impressive for the team to send him to the Tour de France in 2011.

Aleksandr Kolobnev
(image credit: Heidas CC BY-SA 3.0)

That year's Tour was widely acclaimed as having been the first in many years that saw no riders caught taking performance-enhancing drugs; however, Kolobnev fell foul of a Stage 5 doping control when he tested positive for hydrochlorothiazide - a diuretic drug that, while having no performance-enhancing effects of its own, can be used to mask the presence of other drugs which might offer a competitive advantage. His B-sample confirmed the discovery and he was fined an amount equal to 1500 Swiss francs by the Russian Cycling Federation. The UCI felt that this was lenient and subsequently appealed to the Court for Arbitration on Sport, asking that he be banned for two years - the Court has not yet heard the case and Kolobnev remains subject to a provisional suspension.


Julie Paulding was born in Birkenhead, Great Britain on this day in 1969 and originally competed in athletics, specialising in 400 and 800m running events until myalgic encephalomyelitis (commonly known as ME or chronic fatigue syndrome) forced her to give up sports and her job as a physical education teacher. At her worst, Paulding could not even walk up a flight of stairs - but was helped to recovery by a friend, Steve. Steve told her that cycling has been shown to be a more efficient aid towards recovering from the condition than running and so she took it up; beginning on a stationary bike and later moving onto the track, where it began to become apparent that she had the potential to embark on a second athletic career. In 2002, she won a silver medal for the 500m Time Trial at the Commonwealth Games and, one year previously, she and Steve married. They now live near Manchester to be close to the National Velodrome and Julie works as a development officer with Scottish Cycling.

Mark Jamieson, born in Dandenong, Australia on this day in 1984 began racing when he was ten years old and showed sufficient promise to be awarded a scholarship at the Australian Institute of Sport. In 2002, he became Junior World Champion in Pursuit and Under-23 National Time Trial Champion in 2004 and 2005, then National Pursuit Champion at Elite level in 2008. On the 15th of February 2010, he pleaded guilty to multiple charges of unlawful sexual intercourse with a 15-year-old girl and one count of indecent assault against a girl aged under 16, offences that took place between November 2008 and January 2009. The court found that the the first girl had been an apparently willing participant and, as the second offence was relatively minor (he had tried to kiss her), sentenced him to a thirty month suspended prison sentence with a three-year good behaviour bond after taking into account the facts of the case and the psychological problems he had suffered.

Westley Gough, who was born on this day in 1988, was selected for the New Zealand Track Team at the 2008 Olympics and rode in the Pursuit Team during the preliminary races, helping the team qualify for the final - at which point, he stepped aside to allow Hayden Roulston to ride. When the team then won a bronze medal, the International Olympic Committee had an extra medal cast and awarded it to Gough in recognition of his efforts.

The UCI Paracycling World Cup got underway in Sydney on this day in 2011.

Other births: Emil Lindgren (Sweden, 1985); Wu Kin San (Hong Kong, 1985); Mario Lusiani (Italy, 1903, died 1964); Peter Roes (Belgium, 1964); Roger Rinderknecht (Switzerland, 1981); Zbigniew Szczepkowski (Poland, 1952); Kazuo Takikawa (Japan, 1962); Denfield McNab (Belize, 1943).

Cycling Evening News 03.05.12

Swift end to the Giro for Sky's Ben - Tour of the Gila - Brailsford will select Millar - Italy drops National Team lifetime ban for ex-dopers - Surprise success for Afghan team at Pakistan Women's Nats - Weylandt's girlfriend to attend Giro - Kampenhout honours Impanis - Yorkshire CX series - Leipheimer uncertain for Tour of California - Hulsmans will miss Giro - Yawn: another "I ride a bike but I'm still a lady" story - Cancellara's recovering - Other racing news - Addison Lee damage limitation exercise - Cycling newswire

Racing
Swift end to the Giro for Sky's Ben
It's looking unfortunately as though the Giro d'Italia is already over for Team Sky's Ben Swift - the 24-year-ol reported via his Twitter feed that he had a heavy crash during training on Thursday and will have to undergo tests. British Cycling reports that he has suffered a fractured shoulder..

Ben Swift ‏ @swiftybswift well that is my Giro over, had a very heavy crash out on the bike today very disappointed not to be able to start. further checks tomorrow

He will be replaced by Jeremy Hunt (born on the 12th of March in 1974, Hunt does not become the oldest man in the race as has been reported elsewhere - Luca Mazzanti was born on the 4th of February in the same year).

Tour of the Gila

Kristin Armstrong, now with Exergy Twenty12

Kristin Armstrong (Exergy Twenty12) rode a remarkable stage to finish no less than 2'18" faster than second place Carmen Small yesterday, grabbing herself a considerable lead in the General Classification.

Alison Powers ‏ @alpcyclesThe Mo-ge-on and @k_armstrong hurt my legs today. Team did great and I was 4th.

Top Ten
  1.  Kristin Armstrong Exergy Twenty12 3h15'39"
  2.  Carmen Small Team Optum Presented By Kelly Benefit Strategies +2'18"
  3.  Jade Wilcoxson Team Optum Presented By Kelly Benefit Strategies +2'42"
  4.  Alison Powers NOW and Novartis for MS +2'48"
  5.  Janel Holcomb Team Optum Presented By Kelly Benefit Strategies +3'35"
  6.  Robin Farina NOW and Novartis for MS +3'39"
  7.  Emily Kachorek Primal/MapMyRide +3'43""
  8.  Tayler Wiles Exergy Twenty12 +3'54"
  9.  Catherine Johnson Panache Boulder +4'00"
  10.  Olivia Dillon NOW and Novartis for MS +4'16"
Full results and GC

Rory Sutherland (UnitedHealthcare Presented By Maxxis) was the fastest man on the challenging climb into the Mogollon Mountains at the end of Stage 1 at the Tour of the Gila yesterday, winning the stage after cruising over the finish line with a 12" advantage over a three-man chase group.

Top Ten
  1.  Rory Sutherland UnitedHealthcare Presented By Maxxis 4h45'43"
  2.  Joseph Dombrowski Bontrager Livestrong +12"
  3.  Chad Beyer Competitive Cyclist Racing Team +14"
  4.  Sebastian Salas Team Optum Presented By Kelly Benefit Strategies ST
  5.  Christopher Baldwin Bissel +33"
  6.  Marc De Maar UnitedHealthcare Presented By Maxxis +39"
  7.  Francisco Mancebo Competitive Cyclist Racing Team +52"
  8.  Luis Enrique Davila +1'02"
  9.  Cesar Grajales Competitive Cyclist Racing Team ST
  10.  Carlos Lopez Gonzalez +1'14"
Full results and GC

For the men, 128.7km Stage 2 both starts and finishes at Fort Bayard - a historic frontier fort that was once home to the Buffalo Soldiers (known also as "The Negro Cavalry," they were one of several troops made up of black soldiers and not fully integrated into other units until the 1950s) who, in the 1890s, were elected to be the first "bicycle troop" because bikes were cheaper than the horses supplied to other (white) troops. On their first test ride, over 3,056km from Montana to Missouri, they proved themselves able to cover the distance more quickly than the horses.

They reach the first Cat 3 climb at 16km and climb to 2,164m, then the second begins at 24km and climbs to 2,361m. After crossing the Continental Divide (with an uncategorised climb of, oh, only 2,045m) they head to a final and very steep Cat 3 at 100km, climbing to 2,070m before the descent and last 16km back to Fort Bayard. The women use a similar parcours but miss the first 25.4km and climb, beginning instead at Pinos Altos. The remainder of the route is identical to the men's.


Brailsford will select Millar

The only thing that can now keep
David Millar from the Olympics is
David Millar

Dave Brailsford says he will select David Millar for the British Olympic team as long as he's fast enough. "He's available and that's the key thing, it's not my decision to make policy," he told reporters at a press conference yesterday in the wake of the Court for Arbitration in Sport's decision to end the British Olympic Association's lifetime ban on athletes who have been banned for doping.

However, it's still not clear if the rider will accept. Millar, who served a two-year suspension for EPO, has said that he has no wish to compete as a "black sheep," but hoped the CAS would block the law so that he can represent Scotland at the 2014 Commonwealth Games.

Italy drops its own National Team doping ban
The FCI, Italy's cycling federation, has lifted its own lifetime ban on riders riding on the National team after a doping conviction, despite having already survived one legal challenge from Danilo di Luca. The policy had come under attack again recently with an appeal mounted by Annalisa Cucinotta, who served a two-year suspension after testing positive for Boldenone - an anabolic steroid not approved for human use and primarily prescribed by veterinarians to horses. The recent CAS decision in the BOA case will have been received by the FCI as an indication that they had little chance of continuing the policy.

Annalisa Cucinotta

In Britain, as far as cycling is concerned David Millar has been the biggest name in the case (though he chose not to play an active part in the appeal). In Italy, the end of the rule frees up a number of high-profile riders who may now be selected for their nation's Olympic team, including Davide Rebellin, Stefano Garzelli, Alessandro Petacchi and Ivan Basso as well as di Luca.


Surprise success for Afghan women at Pakistan Nationals
The Pakistan Railways team won two of three medals on offer in Day 2 at the Pakistan National Women's Championships after winning the 20km team time trial and 1km sprint. Punjab took gold for the 1km individual time trial. A surprise success was the Afghanistan National Team, competing for the first time after receiving an invitation to the race due to the lack of events in their own nation - they won two bronze medals by coming third in the same events won by the Railways team. Further races will be held today at Lahore's open-air velodrome.

An-Sophie to attend Giro
Wouter Weylandt's girlfriend Ann-Sophie de Graeve will visit two stages of the Giro d'Italia. "I've never spoken about Wouter's death because I haven't been able to find the words to do so," she told Gazzetta dello Sport. "I was looking for reasons and explanations, not places, but I couldn't find them."

Weylandt, a rider with Leopard Trek, died on the 9th of May last year during Stage 3 as he descended the Passo del Bocco after his pedal touched a wall running alongside the road, throwing him to the other side of the road. A doctor working with the Garmin-Cervélo team administered CPR in an attempt to revive him, but an autopsy later found he had died immediately upon impact from a fractured skull and massive internal injuries.

An-Sophie, who gave birth to their daughter on the 1st of September 2011, will visit Stage 3 in Denmark and the following time trial stage in Verona.

Kampenhout honours Impanis

Raymond Impanis, 19.10.1925 - 31.12.2010

The council of Kampenhout unveiled a commemorative bust of Raymond Impanis in the town's Sint-Servaaskerk last week. A winner of the Ronde van Vlaanderen, the Waalse Pijl, Paris-Roubaix and two editions of Gent-Wevelgem and Paris-Nice, Impanis was considered one of the finest Classics riders of the 1950s but also did well in stage races with third place in the 1956 Vuelta a Espana, finished in the top ten of the Tour de France three times and once at the Giro d'Italia.

Born in Berg on about the 19th of October 1925 and abandoned as a baby on the steps of the village church, Impanis was found by a priest and raised by the local baker - his surname being based on the Latin plural "panis," plural of bread. He lived around Kampenhout for the rest of his life, was made an Honourary Citizen in 1999 and died in the 31st of December 2010 at the age of 85.


Yorkshire CX Summer Series off to a good start
The Yorkshire Pedalsport Cyclo Cross Summer Series got underway yesterday at Oakbank School in Keighley with Ian Taylor (Craven Energy) making good use of a parcours made very tough by recent heavy rain to battle his way through to the front on the very first lap and a ten second advantage. He then continued to add to it all the way to the end of the race, finishing with a lead of 2'41" over second place Ed McParland (GT Racing).

Leipheimer uncertain for Tour of California

Kevin Hulsmans, now with Farnese Vini-Selle Italia

Levi Leipheimer, who was involved in a collision with a car one day before he was due to start the Tour of the Basque Country, is worried that he may not have sufficiently recovered in time for the Tour of California. The rider sustained a broken leg in the accident, leading some to wonder if - at the age of 38 - his career might be over, though he has not yet given any indication that he has considered retiring.

Hulsmans will miss the Giro
Kevin Hulsmans, who had been chosen for the Farnese Vini-Selle Italia Giro team, will miss the race due to an inflamed knee he's been suffering since Paris-Roubaix. Instead, he'll concentrate on recovering in time for the Ronde van België.

Yawn - another "I ride a bike but I'm still a lady" story
On the morning of her Olympic appearance in London this summer," says the The Toronto Star, "Emily Batty will first attend to her own appearance." The newspaper then goes on to describe how she will put on her make-up, fasten a string of pearls about her neck and diamonds in her ears before she tackles the cross country course.

"I’m a cyclist, that’s my profession, my passion, but I’m definitely a woman first," she says. OK Emily, that's fair enough. You can ride in whatever you like, even a frilly pink frock and high-heels if you choose (provided the UCI allow it, and you can find high-heels with pedal cleats). That's your business and nobody has the right to tell you otherwise. It's the fact and way that this is presented as news that is an issue.

Apparently, "the emerging mountain bike superstar has a supermodel-like appeal for young male fans of the sport" - a comment that does women's cycling no favours at all, because we most definitely do not want any young women considering taking up cycling to think that they need to impress male fans if they're going to get anywhere. It's a hard and, often, ugly sport, and those women who compete do so because they are competitive athletes, not to look good - which is precisely how it should be.

"Batty, just 5-foot-2, says the sport has always been a male bastion, but that her emergence as a top draw star may be helping to erode its machismo," the article continues (in actual fact, she doesn't say that at all - she says that "carrying feminine ways" into cycling makes her easy for fans to recognise). Bullshit. Women such as Alfonsina Strada, Elsy Jacobs, Beryl Burton, Jeannie Longo, Missy Giove, Leontien van Moorsel, Caroline Alexander, Judith Arndt, Ina-Yoko Teutenberg and Marianne Vos have been eroding the machismo of cycling and making inroads for other women to follow them for years; not by looking pretty out on the parcours but by being excellent cyclists. Batty may well do the same if she's good enough (and going by her palmares to date, she probably is), but not because of how she looks.

Nobody worth listening to has ever believed that cycling (or any other sport) in some way reduces a woman's femininity, nor that femininity is the measure of a woman's value. Once again, Emily Batty can wear whatever the hell she likes, but reporting the fact that she slaps on a bit of lippy before a race is categorically not news, nor do cycling fans - nor those who are going to become cycling fans and/or riders - care. Worst of all, reporting it in the way that The Star did may damage the sport.

Cancellara's getting better
Fabian Cancellara, whose Spring Classics campaign was brought to a sudden halt by the quadruple collarbone fracture he suffered at the Ronde van Vlaanderen, says that recovery is taking more time than expected but it won't be longer.

"I thought, 'hey, it's my collarbone, that heals quickly,'" the Swiss rider explains, "but the breaks were just a part of it. There's also the damage around the bone - my shoulder, the ligaments, the muscles, it was all damaged. It still feel strange and painful. I could take painkillers, but I prefer to do without. I felt hopeful after the surgery and the pain disappeared quickly, so I stopped taking painkillers then. Everything was going well, sensation returned - then I had another ultrasound and they found another tear in the ligaments

"What I have to do now is find a new position on the bike. The handlebars and saddle are different to what I'm used too because I have to sit as upright as possible, which is uncomfortable. I feel like a cyclotourist!"(More from Het Nieuwsblad)


Other News
"Youth circuit racing is popular" (Stratford Observer, London)

"Brit Stannard ready for Grand Tour outing" (British Cycling)

"Giro d'Italia with a future start in Germany?" (Cycling News)

"Porte tries Dauphine route to Games" (Brisbane Times)

"Waikato's Jaime Nielsen won the bragging rights over her Olympic teammates on the first day of the national club cycling road race championships today" (NZHerald)

"Amateur cyclists will attempt “America’s Toughest Stage Race” in Utah" (Examiner)


"Utah welcomes the USA Cycling Collegiate Road Nationals" (Daily Peloton)

"Cyclists storm Maple Ridge streets" (Maple Ridge News, Canada)

Stephen de Jongh on Sky's Giro squad (Gazzetta dello Sport)

"Second Edition Of National Cycling Tour Of Ghana Launched In Accra" (Government of Ghana)

Cycling
Addison Lee to introduce cyclist awareness training for drivers

Addison Lee - the London minicab firm that found itself in a real-life PR nightmare last month after chairman John Griffin claimed that the capital's cyclists have only themselves to blame if they're killed or injured on the roads - has announced that its drivers will be given special training to increase their awareness of cyclists.

The news was revealed to BikeBiz editor Carlton Reid in an interview with Addison Lee's PR director Alistair Laycock, who claims to have started cycling to work and that the company is looking into the practicalities of installing video cameras in its fleet to provide a record of what happens in a crash and take action against a driver if he or she is found to be at fault. (More from road.cc)

So that's alright then, isn't it?

Erm - well, no, actually. It'd be wonderful if it was, but this sounds suspiciously like a company desperately trying to claw its way back out of the big hole dug by Mr. Griffin after discovering that cyclists are numerous, proactive and in possession of considerable political clout rather than failed loners who can't afford to drive or take cabs, as he apparently previously believed. Only by keeping an eye on Addison Lee in the future will we know for certain if the company - and Griffin - genuinely do wish to help prevent injury to cyclists or whether this is just an attempt to placate an enemy who turned out to be much more formidable than they had initially assumed. Are these long-term plans or will they be forgotten as soon as the media furore dies down? We'll be watching you, Addison Lee.

Newswire
Britain
"Cycling safety fears are stopping more hitting the saddle" (The Courier)

"How cycle safety has gone up the election agenda in London" (BBC)

Worldwide
"The Union of cyclists held the demonstration on the Earth's Day" (Dalje, Croatia)

"Cyclists accuse Toronto mayor Ford of 'war on bikes'" (BBC)

"A man who allegedly helped his friend flee a hit-and-run collision with a cyclist has been charged" (WA Today, Australia)

"Once downright hostile to cyclists, Fresno has come a long way" (Fresno Bee)

"Bicycles, coffee, and beer: the next generation of bicycle shop hits Carytown" (RVANews, Virginia)

"There's room for more bicyclists in Yuba-Sutter" (AppealDemocrat, California)

"Pedals turning on cycling plan" (Woodstock Sentinel Review, Ontario)