Daily Cycling Facts 24.09.2013

Victoria Pendleton

Victoria Pendleton

Born in Stotfold on this day in 1980, Victoria Louise Pendleton is a multiple World, European, National and Olympic Champion and one of the few female British cyclists to have become a household name at home and around the world. Her father, Max, was once National Grass-Track Champion, Victoria began her career in the same discipline, riding her first race - a 400m event - at Fordham near Cambridge when she was nine years old. Aged 16, she was spotted by a coach from British Cycling but chose instead to complete her education, not becoming a professional rider until she'd graduated in Sport Science at Northumbria University.

In 2003, Pendleton won the Scratch race at the Sydney round of the World Cup, also coming second in the Sprint; the latter being the event in which she would later specialise and which she won at the Manchester round a year later. In 2005 she won the Keirin at Los Angeles, then the Sprint at the World Championships and at Manchester, and in 2006 at the Commonwealth Games. 2007 would be her real break-through year, starting off victories in the Sprint, 500m TT and Keirin at Manchester, followed by the Sprint and Keirin (and Team Sprint, riding with Shanaze Reade - whose birthday falls one day before Pendleton's) at the World Championships, the Sprint and 500m at the Nationals and Keirin at Sydney. in 2008, again riding with Reade, she won the Team Sprints at Copenhagen and the Worlds, also winning the Individual Sprint at the Worlds and the Olympics; at the Nationals she won the Sprint, Team Sprint and Keirin and at Manchester the Sprint, 500m and Keirin. 2009 was a quieter year with two victories - the Sprints at Copenhagen and the Worlds. She successfully defended the latter in 2010 and won the Keirin and Team Sprint (with Jess Varnish) at the Cali round of the World Cup, then rode with Varnish again to win the Team Sprint at the 2011 European Championships where she also won the Keirin.

Pendleton and Shanaze Reade

Since the 2008 Olympics, when Anna Meares got through to the finals due to the relegation of Guo Shang, she and Pendleton have been rivals. Lurid tales of sworn enmity and blistering hatred have been somwhat over-embellished by the media - presumably, these are the journalists who don't bother to actually watch women's racing and thus have to invent drama rather than reporting the real drama taking place on the track, but it's probably safe to say that they don't exchange Christmas cards. As a result, when they competed against one another in the Sprint in London at the 2012 Games, the race was immediately termed a grudge match, the decider and all sorts of other poetic things. It did not pass without incident: during the race, Pendleton veered very slightly out of her lane, crossing into Meares'. Meares reacted by pushing her away, using her elbow on Pendleton's leg. Some fans - mostly British, but a fair few from elsewhere including Australia - were initially angry at the judges' decision to relegate the British rider; however, once the slow-motion replay had been aired, all but the most die-hard Pendleton fans admitted that Meares had won fair and square. Pendleton had announced that, after many years of hinting that she would retire after the Games, this would be her last race; it was not the best note upon which to leave. However, having won the Keirin four days earlier and the Sprint at the Worlds in Melbourne in April, she undoubtedly left cycling at a highpoint in her career.

Whilst Pendleton is widely admired in the media - often as much for her looks as for her athletic achievements - her career has not been without controversy. Her decision to appear in glamourous photo shoots published by FHM and Esquire magazines, at a time when many female athletes are demanding to be taken seriously for their sport and not depicted as sex symbols, was widely criticised. Likewise, she has occasionally been accused of appearing on too many TV shows and advertisements; however, she has also been congratulated for raising the profile of women's cycling in this way.


Oenone Wood

Oenone Wood in 2007

Born in Newcastle, New South Wales on this day in 1980, Oenone Wood won the silver medal at both the National Road Race and Individual Time Trial Championships and was third overall at La Flèche Wallonne and the Trophée d'Or Féminin in 2003, then in 2004 she won both the National titles, the Trofeo Alfredo Binda, the Bay Classic, the Geelong Tour, Stage 1 at the Giro Donne and the World Cup. The following year, she turned professional with Equipe Nürnberger Versicherung.

In 2005, she won the World Cup, the National ITT Championships and Geelong for a second time, Stages 1, 3a and 6 at the Tour de l'Aude and Stages 1b, 2 and the General Classification at Le Tour du Grand Montréal; in 2006 - still with Nürnberger Versicherung - a third Geelong, the GP International Dottignies, Stage 8 at the Giro Donne and a silver medal for the Road Race and a gold for the ITT at the Commonwealth Games. She then moved to T-Mobile for 2007 and won Le Tour du Grand Montréal. Wood remained with the team, which began the year as Highroad and ended it as Columbia Women, through 2008; winning another National Road Race Championship and two stages as well as second place overall at the Tour of New Zealand. She retired at the end of the year, having achieved 81 podium finishes in her short professional career.



Michelle Ferris, born in Warrnambool, Australia on this day in 1976, won silver in the Women's Sprint at the Olympics in 1996 and 2000.

Erich Maechler, born in Hochdorf, Switzerland on this day in 1960, won Stage 21 at the Tour de France in 1986. The following year he won Milan-San Remo, then returned to the Tour and wore the maillot jaune for six days. Over the course of his career he also won stages at the Tour de Suisse, Tirreno-Adriatico and the Critérium du Dauphiné.

Stef Clement, born in Tilburg, Netherlands on this day 1982, was National Individual Time Trial Champion in 2006, 2007, 2009 and 2011.

Other cyclists born on this day: Neurouth (France, 1881, died 1914); Michel van Haecke (Belgium, 1971); Donald Allan (Australia, 1949); Jorge Mariné (Spain, 1941); Karsten Stenersen (Norway, 1971); Dirk Heirwegh (Belgium, 1955); Ivano Maffei (Italy, 1958); Marie Purvis (Great Britain, 1961); Morten Therkildsen (Denmark, 1983); Jacques Gestraut (France, 1939); Lorenzo Bosisio (Italy, 1944); Gunnar Sköld (Sweden, 1894, died 1971); Charles Hewett (USA, 1929).

Daily Cycling Facts 24.09.12

Victoria Pendleton

Victoria Pendleton

Born in Stotfold on this day in 1980, Victoria Louise Pendleton is a multiple World, European, National and Olympic Champion and one of the few female British cyclists to have become a household name at home and around the world. Her father, Max, was once National Grass-Track Champion, Victoria began her career in the same discipline, riding her first race - a 400m event - at Fordham near Cambridge when she was nine years old. Aged 16, she was spotted by a coach from British Cycling but chose instead to complete her education, not becoming a professional rider until she'd graduated in Sport Science at Northumbria University.

In 2003, Pendleton won the Scratch race at the Sydney round of the World Cup, also coming second in the Sprint; the latter being the event in which she would later specialise and which she won at the Manchester round a year later. In 2005 she won the Keirin at Los Angeles, then the Sprint at the World Championships and at Manchester, and in 2006 at the Commonwealth Games. 2007 would be her real break-through year, starting off victories in the Sprint, 500m TT and Keirin at Manchester, followed by the Sprint and Keirin (and Team Sprint, riding with Shanaze Reade - whose birthday falls one day before Pendleton's) at the World Championships, the Sprint and 500m at the Nationals and Keirin at Sydney. in 2008, again riding with Reade, she won the Team Sprints at Copenhagen and the Worlds, also winning the Individual Sprint at the Worlds and the Olympics; at the Nationals she won the Sprint, Team Sprint and Keirin and at Manchester the Sprint, 500m and Keirin. 2009 was a quieter year with two victories - the Sprints at Copenhagen and the Worlds. She successfully defended the latter in 2010 and won the Keirin and Team Sprint (with Jess Varnish) at the Cali round of the World Cup, then rode with Varnish again to win the Team Sprint at the 2011 European Championships where she also won the Keirin.

Pendleton and Shanaze Reade

Since the 2008 Olympics, when Anna Meares got through to the finals due to the relegation of Guo Shang, she and Pendleton have been rivals. Lurid tales of sworn enmity and blistering hatred have been somwhat over-embellished by the media - presumably, these are the journalists who don't bother to actually watch women's racing and thus have to invent drama rather than reporting the real drama taking place on the track, but it's probably safe to say that they don't exchange Christmas cards. As a result, when they competed against one another in the Sprint in London at the 2012 Games, the race was immediately termed a grudge match, the decider and all sorts of other poetic things. It did not pass without incident: during the race, Pendleton veered very slightly out of her lane, crossing into Meares'. Meares reacted by pushing her away, using her elbow on Pendleton's leg. Some fans - mostly British, but a fair few from elsewhere including Australia - were initially angry at the judges' decision to relegate the British rider; however, once the slow-motion replay had been aired, all but the most die-hard Pendleton fans admitted that Meares had won fair and square. Pendleton had announced that, after many years of hinting that she would retire after the Games, this would be her last race; it was not the best note upon which to leave. However, having won the Keirin four days earlier and the Sprint at the Worlds in Melbourne in April, she undoubtedly left cycling at a highpoint in her career.

Whilst Pendleton is widely admired in the media - often as much for her looks as for her athletic achievements - her career has not been without controversy. Her decision to appear in glamourous photo shoots published by FHM and Esquire magazines, at a time when many female athletes are demanding to be taken seriously for their sport and not depicted as sex symbols,  was widely criticised. Likewise, she has occasionally been accused of appearing on too many TV shows and advertisements; however, she has also been congratulated for raising the profile of women's cycling in this way.


Oenone Wood

Oenone Wood in 2007

Born in Newcastle, New South Wales on this day in 1980, Oenone Wood won the silver medal at both the National Road Race and Individual Time Trial Championships and was third overall at La Flèche Wallonne and the Trophée d'Or Féminin in 2003, then in 2004 she won both the National titles, the Trofeo Alfredo Binda, the Bay Classic, the Geelong Tour, Stage 1 at the Giro Donne and the World Cup. The following year, she turned professional with Equipe Nürnberger Versicherung.

In 2005, she won the World Cup, the National ITT Championships and Geelong for a second time, Stages 1, 3a and 6 at the Tour de l'Aude and Stages 1b, 2 and the General Classification at Le Tour du Grand Montréal; in 2006 - still with Nürnberger Versicherung - a third Geelong, the GP International Dottignies, Stage 8 at the Giro Donne and a silver medal for the Road Race and a gold for the ITT at the Commonwealth Games. She then moved to T-Mobile for 2007 and won Le Tour du Grand Montréal. Wood remained with the team, which began the year as Highroad and ended it as Columbia Women, through 2008; winning another National Road Race Championship and two stages as well as second place overall at the Tour of New Zealand. She retired at the end of the year, having achieved 81 podium finishes in her short professional career.



Michelle Ferris, born in Warrnambool, Australia on this day in 1976, won silver in the Women's Sprint at the Olympics in 1996 and 2000.

Erich Maechler, born in Hochdorf, Switzerland on this day in 1960, won Stage 21 at the Tour de France in 1986. The following year he won Milan-San Remo, then returned to the Tour and wore the maillot jaune for six days. Over the course of his career he also won stages at the Tour de Suisse, Tirreno-Adriatico and the Critérium du Dauphiné.

Stef Clement, born in Tilburg, Netherlands on this day 1982, was National Individual Time Trial Champion in 2006, 2007, 2009 and 2011.

Other cyclists born on this day: Neurouth (France, 1881, died 1914); Michel van Haecke (Belgium, 1971); Donald Allan (Australia, 1949); Jorge Mariné (Spain, 1941); Karsten Stenersen (Norway, 1971); Dirk Heirwegh (Belgium, 1955); Ivano Maffei (Italy, 1958); Marie Purvis (Great Britain, 1961); Morten Therkildsen (Denmark, 1983); Jacques Gestraut (France, 1939); Lorenzo Bosisio (Italy, 1944); Gunnar Sköld (Sweden, 1894, died 1971); Charles Hewett (USA, 1929).

Cycling Evening News 30.04.12

 More bad news for women's cycling as Giro del Trentino Femminile loses time - Injured shoulder for Bronzini - SaxoBank announce Giro squad - Ballan wins Toscana - Tour of Korea responds to UCI criticism - Thomas has mixed feelings over BOA decision - UCI will stand firm on returning riders rule - Pellizotti signs to Italian squad - Pendleton upset by Cav criticism, says The Sun - New sponsor for Liquigas - Cycling News launches iPad mag - Cycle lanes should be priority say majority of Londoners - Raleigh goes Dutch - Newswire

Racing

More bad news for women's cycling

Judith Arndt won Trentino in 2011

Yet another women's race is showing signs of financial ill-health - the Giro del Trentino Femminile, which starts on the 16th of June, has been cut from three to two days.

Several other races have had to make cutbacks recently while some others have vanished entirely. In the last few months alone, organisers of the Tour de Languedoc Roussillon and GP Ciudad de Valladolid were forced to cancel their events whereas their counterparts at the Holland Ladies Tour warned that the race might not go ahead unless new sponsors could be found. Even the greatest races in the sport are not safe - even the Grand Boucle Feminine, once billed as the women's version of the Tour de France, has fallen by the wayside; last held in 2009 it looks to be lost forever.

The UCI has been saying for some time now that it is fully behind women's cycling and wishes to see it develop - yet, despite the wealth of cycling in general, the international governing body appears to be unwilling to spend money on preserving the sport during a difficult economic period in which existing and potential backers have been forced to cut back their advertising and sponsorship budgets. Unless they become a bit more ready to flash the cash and show some more financial support, the sport is going to keep on suffering badly - and right now, nobody is certain what will be left of it when the world economy recovers.

Bronzini was initially feared to have broken her collarbone

Shoulder injury for Bronzini
Current World Champion Giorgia Bronzini dislocated her shoulder during a crash at the Festival Luxembourgeois Elsy Jacobs yesterday, not broke her collarbone as was originally thought. The Diadora-Pasta Zara-Manhattan is also said to have knocked out some teeth, and will have to rest for 15 days before returning to racing.

Saxo Giro squad
SaxoBank have announced their Giro line-up: Juan Jose Haedo, Lucas Sebastian Haedo, Anders Lund, Jonas Aaen, Mads Christensen, Luke Roberts, Manuele Boaro, MatteoTosatto and Volodymir Gustov are all looking forward to three weeks of Italian fun. David Tanner had hoped to ride for the first time this year but cannot as he's still suffering from a crash at the Circuit de la Sarthe.

Alessandro Ballan

Ballan wins Giro della Toscana
BMC's Alessanro Ballan made clever use of the terrain at the Giro della Toscana on Sunday to reduce a strong field down to just five contenders. "I was feeling good and we had a very strong team here today. When we went over the major climb of the day (with 55 km to go), I think we had seven guys in the lead group of 40," the 32-year-old said. 40 was then whittled down to five for the final sprint in the 199km with Ballan proving fastest. "I have a lot of motivation with this victory and it's good for our morale going into the Giro d'Italia," he said.

Tour of Korea responds to UCI criticism
The 6th Tour of Korea has come under attack after a series of problems, including several crashes caused by motorcycles in Stage 5. "After the event the UCI judges told us not to use Harley Davidsons in the future, and told us to choose something similar to the BMWs they use in other races," an un-named race official told  the Korea Herald. "We also plan to be more thorough in training the marshals for the next event."

Many have said that problems stemmed from the sheer size of Harley Davidsons when compared to smaller, more agile BMW machines. Others have questioned whether course marshals were qualified to perform in that capacity - "He was weaving in and out of riders on the climb, coming on the inside of us on corners, almost as if he were just having fun driving in a police-enclosed area," said Rapha-Condor-Sharp's Kristian House after being hit by one marshal. The accident caused the British rider to collide with Yuri Agarkov of Lampre-ISD, who crashed and sustained spinal injuries.

The race has also come under attack for poor provision of medical aid, with only two ambulances in attendance at some points. Following the accidents on Stage 5, further assistance had to be summoned from nearby hospitals. The big question, of course, is not so much whether the race oranisers were negligent, but why the UCI gave its approval to an event that was so obviously poorly organised.

Geraint Thomas has mixed feelings over BOA decision

Geraint Thomas unsure if BOA
decision was the right one

Team Sky and British Cycling star Geraint Thomas says that while he's happy David Millar can now take part in the Olympics - though it's far from certain if he will - following the Court for Arbitration in Sport's decision to support the World Anti-Doping Agency's appeal against the British Olympic Association (phew - so that's why we have acronyms), he "would have liked to have kept the ruling and kept that lifetime ban."

"I've got no issue with Millar," he explained to Wales Online. "I rode the worlds alongside Dave last year and raced week-in, week-out with him. It's good for Mark Cavendish and the GB road team for sure. I've got no issue with him personally. He does a lot of good for the sport, but at the same time that ruling was great for Britain. It was a real hard stance on doping. It was a good thing. It's sad that that is lost now."

The CAS made an official announcement on Monday afternoon. Millar has said that he is unsure about taking part in the Games because he desn't wish to be portrayed as a "black sheep." He will, however, welcome the news as it means he will be able to take part in the 2014 Commonwealth Games.

UCI stand firm on returning riders rule
Alberto Contador spoke last week about his hopes to return to SaxoBank when his suspension ends on the 5th of August, with manager Bjarne Riis indicated that he is talking to lawyers about contesting the UCI rule preventing returning riders' results counting towards a team's ranking - the main barrier to the Spanish rider's return.

As might be expected, the UCI have other ideas. Speaking to Denmark's Jyllands-Posten newspaper, spokesperson Enrico Carpani said that the international governing body has no plans to change. "That is the rule, and it is to be respected," he said. "As we see it, the rule will hold and we won't look at it again now, simply because some Danish lawyers think that we should do it, or because someone else thinks that we'd lose the case before the CAS."

Riis, reticent at the best of time, has not confirmed whether or not any appeal will go ahead, saying only that SaxoBank's lawyers are looking into it.

Pellizotti's long, drawn-out doping
ban is finally at an end

Pellizotti signs with Italian team
Franco Pellizotti, returning to cycling in two days' time after a two-year ban due to "suspicious blood values" detected at the 2009 Tour de France, has signed to Italian-registered Androni Giocattoli-Venezuela. However, he will not ride in the Giro d'Italia despite the team receiving a wildcard invitation, waiting for the Circuit de Lorraine on the 16th of May for his first race.

"I received some offers and I chose the team where I'm certain to find the right environment in which to develop," he told Tuttobiciweb, adding: "I look forward to returning to racing."

Pendleton reduced to tears by Cav, says The Sun
Victoria Pendleton is training harder than ever after being upset by criticism from Mark Cavendish, according to Britain's not-exactly-reliable tabloid newspaper The Sun (the BBC, incidentally, say "she laughed it off.")

Cav is reported to have claimed, "Unlike Victoria Pendleton, I’m not in it to be the face of my sport" - which, the story (accompanied, as tends to be the way in The Sun, by a large picture of Victoria in her underwear) says, reduced Pendleton to tears.

New sponsor for Liquigas
Liquigas-Cannondale has secured new sponsorship from Ristora, the Italian beverage brand owned by Prontofoods. "It gives us great satisfaction to partner such an important and competitive team. We wish them great success and anticipate mutual benefits," says Prontofoods CEO Angelo Romano.

The team's new kit bearing Ristora's logo will be unveiled this Tuesday at the Rund um den Finanzplatz Eschborn-Frankfurt.

Other news
Cycling News is launching a new weekly iPad magazine this week. Further details will be released via their Twitter feed.

Cycling
British Cycling has conducted a survey of London residents and found that while 52% believe that the provision of more cycle lanes should be a mayoral priority, only 2% feel that the Barclays Bike Hire Scheme - known popularly as Boris Bikes after current mayor Boris Johnson - are important. (More from British Cycling)

That's not good news for Boris - in the latest clash with his rivals, he stated that he would use his second term in office to expand the scheme ("You will be seeing those hire bikes poised...to colonise further territories of the city," he said). He was also accused of using "spurious figures" by when describing his plans to continue improving cyclists' safety by Green Party candidate Jenny Jones, with Labour's Ken Livingston and the Liberal Democrat's Brian Paddick joining in in an attempt to rubbish his claims to have cut injuries and deaths on the roads since taking office. Whether or not his figures, their figures or indeed any figures relating to the subject are in fact reliable is somewhat moot; being precisely the sort of figures that politicians of any persuasion like to fiddle. (More from the Evening Standard)

Newswire
Britain
Raleigh purchased by Dutch Accell group (road.cc)

Cycling champ Chris Hoy criticises Olympic organisers after his family miss out on tickets (The Scotsman)

Worldwide
'I am cycling for my life,' says Rwanda's Byukusenge (AFP)

"Cyclists drive home green message" (Times of India)

"Opening the door to youth cycling" (Press Citizen, Iowa)

"ISLAMABAD: As many as 40 male and female cyclists rode around the city on Sunday to motivate people to take up cycling" (Express Tribune)

Team GB Track cyclists announced

Team GB has announced the fifteen riders who will represent the nation at the European Track Cycling Championships which begin this coming Friday, with no surprises among the names.

The Women's Sprint may be one of the last in which Victoria Pendleton competes as a professional, having stopped just short on a number of occasions from stating that she will retire after the London Olympic Games. Chris Hoy will be looking to get his international reputation back up to the same standard as that among British cycling fans following an embarrassing race during last year's Championships when he was soundly beaten by Irishman Felix English, an amateur rider - a selection of good results earned since, including three golds at the Nationals this summer, suggests he's been working to prevent it happening again. Other riders, keen to demonstrate excellent form now we're well into the final year before the Olympics, will also be striving to perform at high level at the event to be held in Apeldoorn, Netherlands.

Women’s Sprint: Victoria Pendleton, Jess Varnish.
Women’s Endurance: Laura Trott, Joanna Rowsell, Dani King, Sarah Storey.
Men’s Sprint: Sir Chris Hoy, Jason Queally, Matt Crampton, Jason Kenny.
Men’s Endurance: Geraint Thomas, Peter Kennaugh, Steven Burke, Ed Clancy, Andy Tennant.

Victoria Pendleton and Chris Hoy will pull out all the stops in an attempt to repeat their 2008 success - in Pendleton's case so as to end her career at a highpoint and in Hoy's to leave the world in no doubt that his is not yet over.
(both images © johnthescone CC-BY-2.0)