April 18, 2008

Race Preview: 2008 Tour de Georgia

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from Velonews…

With no individual time trial and a trip planned up the steep Brasstown Bald mountain, the seven-day 2008 Tour de Georgia presented by AT&T, appears to be a climber’s race. Odds-on race favorites include 2006 overall winner Tom Danielson (Slipstream-Chipotle), Astana’s U.S. national champion Levi Leipheimer and Rock Racing’s Spanish climbing sensation Oscar Sevilla.

However, as last year’s Tour de Georgia proved, when a 13-man breakaway took 29 minutes on the race’s GC favorites, stage races don’t always go according to plan.

No defending champ, but several former winners …

Last year’s race winner, Janez Brajkovic (Astana), will not be in Georgia to defend his title. The 2007 runner-up, American Christian Vande Velde (Slipstream) will return to Georgia.

Two former overall winners return to Georgia — Danielson, overall winner in 2005, and Astana’s Chris Horner, who won the inaugural race in 2003, prior to the introduction of the climb up Brasstown. Horner was originally scheduled to race Sunday’s Amstel Gold Race, but was asked to fly to Georgia.

“The team is going for the win in Georgia,” Horner told VeloNews.

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April 14, 2008

Boonen sprints to victory in Paris-Roubaix race

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From the AP…

PARIS (AP) — Tom Boonen of Belgium won his second Paris-Roubaix race Sunday, beating former champion Fabian Cancellara of Switzerland in a sprint finish.

Boonen, the 2005 champion, looked in control throughout and his superior acceleration took him past Cancellara heading into the final turn of the Roubaix velodrome.

Cancellara, who won in 2006, could not match Boonen’s burst and eased up in the saddle as the Belgian sped clear with 100 meters left. Alessandro Ballan of Italy was third.

“After such a long race, at this rhythm, anything can happen in a sprint,” Boonen said. “But when I got to the velodrome, I knew I was more fresh than the others.”

All three riders had the same time of 5 hours, 58 minutes, 42 seconds.

“I have been rehearsing this race in my mind for the last three months,” Boonen said. “Thinking about it every day.”

Ballan and Cancellara both looked tired as they came out of the final cobblestone section and into the last 15 kilometers (9.3 miles).

The one-day classic is one of the toughest races in cycling, with 28 cobblestone sections covering 52.8 kilometers (32.74 miles) of the total 259.5 kilometers (160.9 miles).

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April 9, 2008

ASO to change Tour de France route

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From BikeRadar.com…
by AFP

The threat of tumbling boulders has forced Tour de France organisers into changing the route of one of the stages on the 2008 edition of cycling’s blue riband event.

Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO) announced Wednesday that the 15th stage would now start from Embrun rather than Digne-les-Bains and feature the 2744m Col d’ Agnel before arriving in Prato Nevoso in Italy. Initially the stage was to have included the ascent at Larche but that is now being avoided due to the “very high” risk of rock falls, ASO explained.

“The risk of rockfalls on around four kilometres of the circuit has been known for a few months and all the parties concerned have tried to come up with a solution,” ASO added.

The new route of around 185km is about 30km shorter than the original one for the stage on July 20 with Embrun also being used as the start of stage 17 on July 23.

April 8, 2008

Devolder Wins Tour of Flanders

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from Roadcycling.com…

Stijn Devolder (Quick Step) has won the Tour of Flanders. The Belgian champion surged away from four companions to win the rugged, 264-km classic in 6:24:02. Nick Nuyens (Cofidis) outsprinted Juan Antonio Flecha (Rabobank) for second at 0:15.

The race began in cold, rainy conditions. From the start, the pace was fast. The field covered 49.5 km during the first hour of racing and 47.4 during the second. At 111 km, Janek Tombak (Mitsubishi), Tom Veelers (Skil Shimano), Sven Renders (Topsport Vlaanderen), and Vincent Jerome (Bouygues Telecom) sallied off of the front. The break’s lead maxed out at 2:15.

On the Molenberg (157 km), the bunch was only 0:37 ahead of the break. Because of narrow roads, however, the chase slowed, and the escapees extended their lead to about a minute and a quarter. Between the Molenberg and the Wolvenberg (167 km), Jerome and Tombak gave their companions the slip, but the break reformed.

During the run to the Oude Kwaremont (185 km), the bunch absorbed the break. On the climb, Andreas Klier (High Road), Tomas Vaitkus (Astana), and Flecha attempted to escape, but the peloton reeled them in. As the race approached the next ascent, the Koppenberg (195 km), the action began.

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April 2, 2008

Tour of America postponed until 2009

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From Velonews...

Organizers of the proposed 2,200-mile Tour of America have postponed their inaugural event until fall 2009.

"Everyone we have spoken with wants to see a 'Tour de France-style' race here in the United States," said Frank Arokiasamy, the race director and president of Aqu, Inc., the race's organizing company.

Arokiasamy proposed the coast-to-coast race last fall, scheduling it for September 2008.

"We want to work with USA Cycling and UCI to establish this event as a compliment to the ...

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March 29, 2008

Verbruggen concedes defeat to Tour organisers

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PARIS (Reuters) - Hein Verbruggen, vice-president of the International Cycling Union (UCI), has conceded defeat to Tour de France organisers in a long and bitter battle for control of the sport. The former UCI president, still widely seen as its strong man, told French daily Liberation on Saturday: "I lost, but it's less my defeat than the defeat of cycling." The Dutch member of the International Olympic Committee was replaced at the UCI helm in 2005 by Irishman Pat McQuaid but was also the leading force behind the ProTour series imposed by the body at the time. Tour de France owners Amaury Sport Organization (ASO) have always been critical of the 20-team formula and the dispute over television and marketing rights has deteriorated steadily. Read More »
March 28, 2008

Contador denies rumors of team switch

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From Velonews.... Defending Tour de France champion Alberto Contador denied rumors Friday he was preparing to jump ship to defend his title in July with another team. Moments after securing the overall title at the Vuelta a Castilla y León on Friday’s fifth and final stage, Contador told reporters he won’t change teams to race the Tour even though Astana has been denied entry into the race. “I won’t race the Tour with a team that’s not Astana. I hope that I can put an end to all these speculations and rumors that saw I will go to another team,” said Contador, who secured a 38-second victory to Mauricio Soler (Barloworld). “I want to be with my friends, with my team, and I only will race (the Tour) with them.” Read More »
March 28, 2008

UCI to go ahead with anti-doping passports despite WADA withdrawal

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From the Associated Press... GENEVA (AP)—The International Cycling Union will move ahead with an anti-doping plan to provide riders with biological passports, despite losing the support of the World Anti-Doping Agency. The UCI said in a statement it was surprised that WADA had pulled out of the pilot program. But the world cycling body added it “would nevertheless continue its best efforts to implement the program.” WADA said on its Web site that it could not be involved with the program— which involves taking samples to establish each rider’s steroid and blood profile—because of a separate legal dispute with the UCI. The Montreal-based agency said it would focus instead on implementing the pilot program in another sport. The announcement came after the UCI lodged a complaint in a Swiss court over what it called “continual injurious and biased comments” by former WADA chief Dick Pound. “WADA agreed to pilot its athlete’s passport project with the UCI, rather than any other sport, in an attempt to help restore cycling to a cleaner and more credible state,” said John Fahey, who replaced Pound as WADA president in January. “This came following a cycling season and Tour de France in 2007 in which cycling was yet again wracked with doping scandals.” Fahey said it was no longer possible to continue the partnership “in light of the UCI’s attack on WADA.” UCI announced last October that it hoped to implement the passport early this year to detect possible doping. The program was praised by International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge, who said he expected other sports federations to adopt the same approach. The lawsuit announced last week centers on criticism by Pound of the UCI and its former president Hein Verbruggen over fighting doping in cycling. Pound regularly clashed with Verbruggen and the UCI over the doping scandals that have rocked the sport.
March 26, 2008

Olympic quest a ride for the Phinney family

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From USA Today By Vicki Michaelis

BOULDER, Colo. — In the early morning hours of a December day, Davis Phinney was awake, in front of a computer screen, riveted to the sights and sounds of a cycling race half a world away. On a track in Beijing was his son, Taylor, 17. In the stands, steadying a webcam, was his daughter, Kelsey, 13. Standing next to Kelsey, cheering Taylor and encouraging the Chinese fans around her to do the same, was his wife, Connie.

The scene could have been pulled from the scrapbook of any family of a budding sports star.

Except that Phinney is that Davis Phinney, winner of multiple stages of the Tour de France and an Olympic bronze medal in the 1984 team time trial.

Except that his wife is Connie Carpenter-Phinney, the Olympic gold medalist in the 1984 road race and a world champion in road and track cycling.

Except that his son, with a top finish at the world track cycling championships today in Manchester, England, could qualify for the Olympics himself, less than six months after his first track cycling competition.

Phinney would like to be at his son’s side for every step of this odds-against odyssey.

But some steps are daunting these days.

Diagnosed in 2000 with Parkinson’s disease, “a cloud that surrounds the family on a daily basis,” Phinney, 48, tries to stay ahead of the creeping effects of the neurological disorder as he once did the peloton: by focusing on the road ahead, pushing through pain, trusting his strength.

Taylor’s surge in the sport that made the Phinney name famous is like an unexpected slipstream. “I know the happiness he gets out of my success is definitely good for him,” Taylor says. “I like being able to provide that. I think it’s good for the whole family.”

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March 26, 2008

2009 Shimano Dura-Ace revealed

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from BikeRadar.com
By James Huang, technical editor

  • The electronic version promises much faster shifting than even the mechanical Dura-Ace version.
  • Even with the on-board battery, the new Dura-Ace Di2 system is purported lighter than Dura-Ace 7800.
  • We've spotted prototypes of Shimano's upcoming Dura-Ace gear but how close is this to reality?

Shimano is expected to introduce two new Dura-Ace road racing component groups for 2009, one electronic and one fully mechanical. Highlights include carbon and titanium sub-components for reduced weight; improved braking and shifting, a wider choice of gearing and of course that electronic shift system.

The details of Shimano’s next generation of Dura-Ace road racing components have become one of the worst-kept secrets in the industry. Lots of seemingly accurate information has become available from industry sources. It’s safe to say that the beans have been spilled.

However, Shimano still will not officially confirm or deny anything regarding new Dura-Ace components. According to Shimano press officer Devin Walton, “We’ve always got products and prototypes that we’re working on, developing, and preparing for sale once the concepts and products have been proven. I think the prototypes that have been ’spied’ at various pro events are a prime example of that development process in motion.”

Official or not, it’s common knowledge that Shimano will eventually unveil two new Dura-Ace groups for 2009. We’re still on the hunt for good close-up images, but the information is compelling enough on its own for now.

The new 7900 group will use traditional mechanical connections for its gear-shifting and replaces the current 7800 Dura-Ace. The other - Dura-Ace Di2 - will use the electronic system Shimano has been testing.

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