TFM's Awesome Cycling Thread

This is why I always wear a helmet.

6 years ago I was involved in a rather nasty crash and ended up with a depressed skull fracture. Not too bad, but I can't imagine what would have happened if I was not wearing a helmet.

Here is another great reason. Warning,t eh video is a bit graphic though not too bad.

http://www.964eagle.co.uk/news/loca...lmet-saves-cyclists-life-in-the-surrey-hills/

 

Very hot.

 

Very scary. Your wreck must have been pretty extreme to cause the damage that it did. Depressed skull fracture can lead to many long term effects, which can be quite scary.
"Minor injuries will cause mild or no symptoms, while severe injuries will cause major derangement of function. The most common symptom of brain injury after head trauma is a disturbance of consciousness; some people remain awake, but others are confused, disoriented, or unconscious. Headache, nausea, and vomiting are other common symptoms."

I can remember a friend of mine in middle school had a depressed skull fracture that required surgery after taking his bike ride into a large oak tree ( with no helmet). He never recovered mentally and required multiple surgeries. The video posted needs to be watched by more because it seems like I see less and less bike riders wearing protective gear. This extends to even motorcycles. Thanks for sharing the video.

 

Cycling News came out with the top 10 videos of the year. Here were a couple I found fairly amazing.


This one for obvious reasons.

[video=youtube;qFiceUAUarQ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFiceUAUarQ[/video]

In this one Sagan's incredible descent showing absolutely amazing bike handling skills.

[video=youtube;mAgTXrOb9ws]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAgTXrOb9ws[/video]

 

Not really that surprising.

While some call it corrupt, various forms to the pay-to-play have been going on in Italy for a long time.

Charly Wegelius noted that he got a contract on an Italian team despite not being able to pony up the tribute payment, and Italy has its own race circuit and notable amateur teams that in may regards operates under different ethics than the balance of UCI races.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/italian-investigation-claims-italian-riders-forced-to-pay-to-race/

An investigation in Italian newspaper Corriere dello Sport by renowned journalist Marco Bonarrigo has claimed that numerous Italian riders pay to obtain contracts with teams, with some forced to give back part of their official salary via secret bank accounts and illegal contracts.

Team managers from the Southeast, Bardiani-CSF and Androni-Sidermec all denied the practice but several rider agents admitted that the system is widespread, with one agent, who wished to remain anonymous, admitting that most of the 15 riders he works with pay to race. The investigation focused on Italy. Similar illegal practices are suspected in other countries but are not believed to be as widespread as in Italy.

It seems that riders are so desperate to turn professional after years of riding as an amateur that they are ready to accept virtually any kind of illegal agreement. However, this favours riders who can, or are willing, to pay and weakens the quality of the Italian peloton, while others quit the sport or try their hand with teams in other countries. Italian teams won just one WorldTour race in 2015 and Lampre-Merida is the only team in the WorldTour, while 35 of the best Italian riders preferring to ride for WorldTour based in other countries. Around 150 Italian riders compete for places in Professional Continental or Continental teams in Italy and elsewhere.

The Italian riders' association claims it is trying to fight the problem but can do little if the riders continue to accept the conditions forced on them by teams.

“Most of my riders pay, between 25,000 and 50,000 Euro,” the anonymous agent told Corriere della Sera. “Teams registered in Italy ask for more because they have to pay higher pension contributions, those in the Ukraine or Croatia much less. Sometimes the riders’ parents or relatives pay because they want a professional rider in their family. Sometimes a ‘friendly’ company pays and if the sum is high enough can even secure a place on the team jersey.”

Former Tuscan amateur rider Matteo Mammini told Corriere della Sera that he was asked to pay 50,000 Euro to turn professional. He asked the bank for a loan but preferred to use the money to open a bar. Mammini was one of the best Italian riders in 2012, finishing fourth at the European under 23 championships and sixth in the world championships.

The end of a dream

“I built my dream of becoming a professional with ten years of hard work. My dream was destroyed in two hours during a dinner with a well-known Italian team manager,” Mammini said.

“I thought the invitation to dinner was the turning point in my career. The manager knew all about me and my pro contract was all ready. There was just on problem: I’d have to find the 50,000 Euro to cover my wages. I was shocked but the manager told me of eight or nine of his riders who paid their wages. I asked my bank for loan but invested it in opening a bar in Porlezza overlooking Lake Lugano. That’s my job now. My cycling dream ended terribly.”

Rider contracts are officially registered with the UCI, who check the financial structure and viability of a team before awarding an annual licence. However, Corriere della Sera revealed how riders and teams have devised schemes to trick the system.

Riders are usually paid their official salary but then have to pay back half of their salary in cash. The cash is often used to pay team leaders or for other activities. Some managers, apparently, go as far using friends as a front and open joint bank account with the rider. The salary is paid in on one day and then part is taken out the next.

Others allegedly force riders to sign multiple one-year contracts and then rip them up if the rider does not perform well. If the rider secures an offer from another team, perhaps in the WorldTour with a good salary, the manager can force the rider to pay a fee to terminate the contract. One rider apparently paid the equivalent of two years of his salary to move to a WorldTour team.

Teams deny but risk losing invitations to the Giro d'Italia

The Italian team managers denied signing riders who paid to race. “Request like that arrive but this kind of thing doesn’t exist in the Androni-Sidermec team,” Gianni Savio told Corriere della Sera. “At the most we take a rider when a sponsor asks us to, as in the case of sprinter Pacioni.”

Southeast team manager Angelo Citracca justified the signing of Ramon Carretero, even though the Panama rider struggled in races and then tested positive for EPO at this years Tour of Turkey.

“What people have said isn’t true and they’ve dirtied the image of Italian cycling,” Citracca said of the revelations. “How could I refuse to sign Carretero after his father helped find me a (title) sponsor that helped save the jobs of 30 people?”

There was no initial reaction from the Italian cycling Federation but Giro d’Italia race director Mauro Vegni has already warned that at least one Italian team might miss out on a wild card place in the 2016 Giro d’Italia, with the agreement with the Italian Federation to automatically invite the winner of the Coppa Italia race series likely to come to an end.

“If the situation is as bad as reported, the Federation and the authorities have to intervene and the riders have to collaborate,” Vegni told Corriere della Sera. “We’re not obliged to invite a team to the Giro d’Italia just because they’re Italian. We study the team’s projects and to be honest I’ve seen very few good projects in Italy. We had four Italian teams in the 2015 Giro d’Italia but there will be fewer in 2016.”

 

Pantani's exclusion at the behest of the mafia? Could b.

For those not familiar with Pantani, "The Pirate" was an Italian cyclist who was one of the best climbers of his era, an era marked with massive doping. Though never actually testing positive, he undoubtedly did dope and was excluded from the 199 Giro for a high hematocrit level.

After which his life slowly become unraveled and he died of acute cocaine intoxication, locked in a hotel room, at the age of 34.

In 2000, Armstrong chased him up Ventoux, eventually easing off and letting Pantani take the stage, a gesture that Pantani found humiliating and insulting. Unfortunately, it was a moment immortalized in cycling and something Pantani never really got over.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/ant...-pantanis-1999-giro-ditalia-haematocrit-case/

The Italian anti-mafia police have reportedly begun to investigate if Marco Pantani’s exclusion from the 1999 Giro d’Italia was sparked by illegal betting controlled by the Naples Camorra mafia.
Related Articles

According to Gazzetta dello Sport, anti-mafia based in Bologna has requested to study the investigation based in Forli, near Pantani’s home town of Cesenatico, which was supposed to understand if the blood sample taken at Madonna di Campiglio in 1999, sparking Pantani’s exclusion from the race due to a high haematocrit blood value, had some how been tampered with.

In September Gazzetta dello Sport reported that police in Naples had secretly recorded a member of the Naples Camorra mafia confirming the claims of infamous violent criminal Renato Vallanzasca that the mafia had some how sparked Pantani's exclusion to avoid paying huge sums in illegal bets that il Pirata would win the Giro. The Italian newspaper suggests that the police could have discovered other evidence and so the anti-mafia police has become involved.

Vallanzasca first made the wild claims about the Camorra being behind Pantani's exclusion from the Giro d'Italia in a book in 2004 and repeated them on Italian television in 2014. He was questioned by police and gave three names of possible camorra criminals who could have told him to "bet on Pantani's rivals because he would not make it to Milan." Police apparently question the three suspects, but all denied the claims. However, Gazzetta dello Sport report claims one of the three criminals was later recorded saying "Of course Vallanzasca's story is true. I thought he was a man of honour but instead he's a piece of sh*t by speaking to the carabinieri (police)."

Police in Forli have questioned riders, team staff and the doctors who took Pantani's blood sample that morning in Madonna di Campiglio as they try to find out if there is any truth to the accusations. There have been suggestions that Pantani’s blood could have been tampered with, perhaps with a deplasmation technique. However, the possibility of altering the concentration of Pantani's blood, to make him fail the test on the fateful morning in Madonna di Campiglio, have been widely dismissed. Previous investigations by police in Trento and other parts of the Italian media have dismissed any kind of plot against Pantani but his tragic story continues to inspire conspiracy theories and questions in Italy and so spark major headlines.

Pantani always claimed he was innocent, with the 1999 Giro d'Italia sparking his cocaine use and eventual, tragic, demise. However, other historic evidence indicates that his blood values recorded that day were impossible to achieve without the use of significant doses of EPO.

Gazzetta dello Sport reports that the investigation in Rimini into Pantani’s tragic death in a hotel room on St Valentine’s Day 2004 is also close to finally reaching a conclusion. The public prosecutor and an autopsy investigation has ruled that Pantani died of a cocaine and anti-depressant overdose after several days of isolation and substance abuse. A judge is expected to formally rule on the case in the coming weeks even though Pantani’s family and personal lawyer want to continue with the investigation to clear Pantani’s name.

 

Now, I have 5.

I have a Pegoretti Marcelo, with Chorus 11 components and a Brooks saddle. Beautiful thing.

I have a Caad 9 with a mix of Rival and Red components. Stiff as they come, a bit uncomfortable to ride, but light and fast.

I have a 1992 Bridgestone RB-1 that I built up after finding it pretty junked out on Craigslist. Powder coated black, downtube shifters, pretty cool but a bit heavy.

I have a Specialized Tarmac, carbon fiber with compact gearing, just for climbing.

I have a Santa Cruz Blur for the trails.

But this guy puts me and others to shame. 17 Bianchis? Man, that is an obsession, and they are gorgeous.

http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news...sessions-the-man-with-17-bianchi-bikes-201067

 

An interesting read about one of my favorite young riders, Lawson Craddock.

http://velonews.competitor.com/2016...age-race-success-in-move-to-cannondale_392124

Sometimes it’s hard to remember that Lawson Craddock is only 23. It seems like the Texan has been around longer than his two years in the UCI WorldTour ranks. Considered one of America’s most promising young riders, Craddock makes a big move in 2016 to Cannondale Pro Cycling Team.

Craddock’s transfer from Giant-Alpecin to Jonathan Vaughters’ Cannondale squad offers new challenges and new opportunities for the still-improving all-rounder. And that’s just what he was looking for.

“I had two good years with Giant-Alpecin, and I really enjoyed the team, but there comes a time when you want to take that next step,” Craddock told VeloNews in a telephone interview. “When I looked at what would be the best place to progress, that was Cannondale.”

At Giant-Alpecin, Craddock got a taste of everything that WorldTour racing offers. In his two-year, neo-pro contract, he was in the trenches to set up John Degenkolb and Marcel Kittel in the sprints, and in the mountains to help GC riders like Warren Barguil and Tom Dumoulin. Now Craddock is asking for new opportunities, and Cannondale offered to open the door for him.

Craddock is among 11 new faces on the Cannondale squad in 2016, as the U.S.-registered team makes a major makeover for the coming season. Gone are such franchise riders as Ryder Hesjedal and Daniel Martin, and the likes of Rigoberto Urán, Pierre Rolland, Simon Clarke, and Matti Breschel are filling those shoes.

While those experienced riders will take leadership roles in major races, Craddock will also get occasions to lead at a few choice points.

“I’d love to progress into a stage racer,” Craddock continued. “The next step is to get more results. I will be there to help the team when I can and when they need me, but I hope to start to target the one-week stage races. I want to try to get some results the next few years, and if that’s successful, start to focus on the grand tours. I am 24 [in February], so I’ve got some more time ahead of me.”

Craddock will debut at the Tour de San Luis in January before heading to Europe for what will be his third season at the WorldTour level. Here’s what Craddock had to say about his new opportunities with Cannondale:

VeloNews: How did the move to Cannondale come together?
Lawson Craddock: I’ve talked a lot with Jonathan [Vaughters] over the years. Every contract year there was always something going on, and it never worked out at the time. Cannondale had a program that I was interested in since I was a junior. We got on the phone in the mid-to-late part of the season, and it seemed like it would be a good fit for me, for 2016 and beyond.

VN: How would you sum up your first two years in the WorldTour with Giant?
LC: It was incredible being on the team. There couldn’t have been a better place coming into the pro ranks, to soak up as much as I could, and learn about WorldTour racing as best I could. To be up there in the final kilometer of a sprint, or be the last man in the mountains. The team let me gain so much more experience there than I could have in a lot of other places. It will help me for going to that next level, to start looking for results.

VN: You turned pro quite young at 21. What was the hardest part of racing at the WorldTour level?
LC: Just being in Europe most of the year, full-on living there, being on my own, that was a challenge. I’ve been there a lot since I was 16, so I was used to the lifestyle, but it’s different than living there for nine months out of the year. That was a big adjustment, but I had a good support system around me — my family, friends, and a great fiancée — who were always there to help me through it.

VN: Was your third place at the 2014 Amgen Tour of California the highlight, or was it something else?
LC: I think toward the end of 2015, when I went up to altitude to train with the entire team, I got some good form there and could show it. I was third at a stage at the Tour of Poland [stage 6 behind winner Sergio Henao], and I could carry that into the Vuelta. To be there for Tom [Dumoulin], to be his last man in the mountains and almost winning the thing, all that was very special. Riding strong in the whole Vuelta, and finishing my first grand tour, that was a big step. And then racing in the world championships on home roads as an American in front of American fans, that was great.

VN: Dumoulin had a great Vuelta. Does his performance inspire you at all about what might be possible for you in the future?
LC: We laid it all out there with Dumoulin, so we have to be proud of what we accomplished. For a sprinter’s team almost winning the Vuelta, that was amazing. You look at Dumoulin, how he started his career as a great time trialist, but he put the work in and dedicated himself and stayed focused, and he was able to progress pretty consistently. That gives me motivation. That showed me if you put the hard work in, you can achieve things.

VN: What were the low points? Was there ever a moment you thought, “whoa, this is too much?”
LC: I had a really rough time at the 2014 Vuelta [he abandoned on stage 14]. Ending the season on a bad note really gave me a lot motivation in the off-season to come back stronger to show everyone that wasn’t who I was. That was sitting in the back of my mind all last winter. I put a lot into the Vuelta, but I got sick, and I couldn’t make it through. That was a little rough on me. I was glad I was able to get through the Vuelta this year. That was a big weight off my shoulders.

VN: You had that bad crash at the Santos Tour Down Under in January to start 2015. Have you completely recovered from that?
LC: Yes, I have fully recovered, but it took a lot longer than I expected. I didn’t realize how much those miles in January and February count until they got taken away from me. It took me until July until I was really going well again. It was a rough start to the year, but I bounced back as well as I could and I was able to get a solid season in me.

VN: After two seasons in the pro ranks, you’ve ridden to set up sprinters and help the GC leaders. What kind of rider do you see yourself becoming?
LC: I’d love to progress into a stage racer. The next step is to get more results. I will be there to help the team when I can and when they need me, but I hope to start to target the one-week stage races and focus on them. I want to try to get some results the next few years and if that’s successful, start to focus on the grand tours. I am 24, so I’ve got some more time ahead of me.

VN: Did Cannondale offer you the chance to take the leadership role in some of those races?
LC: Cannondale is a unique opportunity where I could target some of these other races. There are some good guys ahead of me who’ve been successful in grand tours, and I can learn from them and get that opportunity to try to make the next step. In this sport, there is no hiding. If you put the work in, you can progress as far as you want to go. I realized that when I crashed. You can sit on the couch, or you can buckle down. It’s a big challenge, but I am motivated to take that next step.

VN: How is the 2016 calendar shaping up?
LC: I will start at the Tour de San Luis and then head to Europe. I will race at Haut Var and the Provence Tour, and then some week-long WorldTour stage races like Paris-Nice and the Vuelta al Pais Vasco (Tour of the Basque Country). I have a pretty good schedule for the first half of the season. California is on the schedule, and it’s always fun to head back to race on home roads. I love racing in America, and Cali was the race that got me on the map. I’d love to have some success there.

VN: Any chance of starting the Tour de France this year?
LC: I’d love to do another grand tour this year. We’ll see which one it is. I’ve dreamed of racing the Tour ever since I started riding the bike. If I put the work in and I can show I am riding well, I really hope to have a shot at it. The team’s had a really great off-season in terms of transfers, and we’ve got a really strong and solid team, so by no means will it be easy to line up in Jul

Read more at http://velonews.competitor.com/2016...move-to-cannondale_392124#m9dIepRJZ2yFS0Uz.99

 

Two years after being thrown from his bike by a small tornado (not sure if the Aussies mean something else) and one year after coming in second, Rohan Dennis wins the Australian national time trial.

With the Santos Tour coming up, and Porte on the same squad as Dennis, I think it is safe to say that BMC is pretty stacked going into that race.

With Porte a serious contender for one of the big three, I would venture to say he will help Dennis try to win the Santos and Dennis (really, I don't think it is possible to have a better domestique) will help Porte go up against his former teammate Froome in the Tour.


http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/cy...pionships-2016/elite-mens-time-trial/results/


On his fourth attempt, Rohan Dennis can finally call himself a national time trial champion. Starting one minute ahead of defending champion Richie Porte, Dennis had the quickest time at the mid-way intermediate time check over his BMC teammate and increased his advantage on the return to claim the Australian title in a time of 51:13 minutes, 38 seconds ahead of Porte, and 1:34 minutes ahead of Sean Lake (Avanti).
Related Articles

Dennis: My big goal this year is Rio
Porte claims time trial silver medal on BMC debut

Advertisement

Dennis was second in his first year of racing elite, was thrown from his bike when a mini-tornado struck in 2014 and collected another silver medal 12-months ago having started as the outright favourite.

"It's obviously always a dream to win Aussie nationals," Dennis said of his commanding victory. "I've won under 23 and now I have a senior medal and to be able to wear the green and gold in every time trial is a true honour. Obviously, Sunday's still to come and there is still a jersey so we can't celebrate tonight but we can have a small celebration and say 'job well done' for Thursday.

"[It's the] Monkey off the back now in seniors you could say now, it's a good day"

Dennis' Tour de France victory last July opened the floodgates for the 25-year-old who has started to turn near misses against the clock into victories. Last year Dennis had the quickest time at the half-way point but his pacing was off and a strong second half from Porte meant that Dennis missed the title by seven seconds. 2016 was a different story with Dennis building on his advantage from the intermediate point to ensure a comfortable victory with just Porte within 90 seconds of his time.

The two-time under 23 time trial champion credited his successful hour record attempt last February for helping him with pacing and remaining focused throughout the ride.

"If you take into account the weight, the power was higher today than last year but I paced it better and I didn't blow," said Dennis who posted a time of 51:57 last year on the same course. "It was me riding a smarter race. I rode quicker than last year but the wind was opposite so it's hard to gauge. If it was the same conditions as last year, I'd be able to tell you pretty exactly."

Dennis added that he has learned to start slow and gradually increase the watts to finish strong rather than arrive struggling in the red.

"Look at my hour record and the way I paced that compared to Jack," he said by way of comparison to Jack Bobridge's hour record attempt last January. "We probably averaged fairly similar average power but he went out and was in the red earlier and for longer. So this year I think I went out a lot easier and came home a lot stronger so it's a whole different feeling. You feel like you still have some energy at the finish, you're not 30 minutes in your absolute max, you try and hold back and finish strong."

For Porte, who was the only rider within one minute of Dennis, second place was a welcome reward in his first outing for BMC. He explained he was happy to finally make his debut with the team with his result an indicator of current form.

"It's more than what I expected to be honest," Porte said. "A bit more of a relaxed start to the year. I am happy to be on the podium to be honest, I am not surprised to see that Rohan's taken this win. He deserves it, he's hungry and I know how much he's wanted that national jersey."

"It's been a long time coming," he said of racing in the BMC kit. "When you announce in August, it kind of felt like an eternity waiting to put the colours on. I am really happy and it's a great team and I am looking forward to 2016."

The Avanti team continued its successful start to the championships with Lake claiming his first elite medal and suggesting the former rower will be a rider to watch in the coming 12 months. Lake, who caught the three riders who started ahead of him, was untroubled in the hot seat until Dennis and then Porte dropped him down the medals.

Orica-GreenEdge's sole entrant, Damien Howson came home in fourth place while Ben Dyball rounded out the top five. Last year's bron

 

First stage of the TDU is complete.

Young Aussie sprinter Caleb Ewan wins the stage. As the TDU always, of course, features the top Australian riders in the world, and indeed almost seems to be set up to favor them, I think you have to keep this youngster in mind for the overall. Apparently, he is an up and coming superstar.

http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/latest-news/caleb-ewan-wins-peoples-choice-classic-207169

Burgeoning Australian sprinter Caleb Ewan proved he is the fast-man to beat at the Tour Down Under with a convincing victory at the annual prelude criterium, the People’s Choice Classic, on Sunday.

The 21-year-old navigated a messy sprint to finish about a bike length ahead of Giacomo Nizzolo (Trek-Segafredo) and British pair Adam Blythe (Tinkoff) and Ben Swift (Sky).

Ewan entered the 51km event in Adelaide, South Australia as the outright favourite with previous champions in Andre Greipel and Marcel Kittel absent this season.

The recently crowned national criterium champion took the newfound expectation in his stride and worked seamlessly with Orica-GreenEdge team-mates and final lead-out man Daryl Impey to mark his sixth victory of the year.

“It’s always hard going into a race as a favourite and especially when there is such a tough field here,” Ewan said post-race. “I was probably more nervous for today than I have been for any of the other race so far.

“My team just rode perfectly. We sat back for a lot of the race and cruised around. And they were awesome. Once you need to go to the front, they kept me up there and led me out perfectl

Read more at http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news...les-choice-classic-207169#phTZ4YRlA876clXP.99

 

In what I would describe as one of the most boring stage races ever, Gerrans won.


http://www.bdlive.co.za/sport/other...ns-bags-record-fourth-tour-down-under-victory
Australian Simon Gerrans claimed a record fourth Tour Down Under when he finished safely in the peloton after the 90km final stage on Sunday.

Gerrans finished the UCI season-opening race nine seconds ahead of countryman Richie Porte of BMC Racing.

Colombia’s Sergio Henao from Team Sky was third overall, 11sec behind Gerrans.

Gerrans’ Orica Greenedge teammate Caleb Ewan won the final stage in a sprint finish.

Ewan surged for the line 80m out, winning by a bike length from Australia’s Mark Renshaw (Team Dimension Data) and Italian Giacomo Nizzolo (Trek-Segafredo).

However, the day’s racing belonged to Gerrans, whose nine-second overnight lead meant he only had to stay out of trouble on Sunday to ensure a win in the general classification.

Gerrans has been a dominant force at the Tour Down Under, winning in 2006, 2012 and 2014.

He staked his claim for this year’s race when he won the third stage to Campbelltown, then backed up with victory in a sprint finish in the fourth stage at the seaside town of Victor Harbor.

"We had a dream run this race," Gerrans said.

"Caleb bookmarking the race with the first and last stage wins, obviously me overall and the sprint jersey — I don’t think we could ask for anything more than that.

Dimension Data's top-ranked rider in the final classification was Australian Cameron Meyer, at No 12, 56 seconds behind Gerrans.

 

Next up, the February doldrums.

After getting a taste with the TDU, we move on to a series of races most guys don't want to race, but do for appearance fees.

Those are amongst my favorites,a s they are simply so bad.

Yes, the torus of Qatar, Oman, and Dubai. All of them look remarkably the same, flat, dusty, and void of any sort of landscape.

But relax dear reader March is right around the corner, and that means the spring classics.

March 5, Strade Bianchi. March 6, Paris Nice starts!

 

Awesome.

Living every amateur cyclists' dream, Evie Stevens once again amazes.

An hour record is how far one can go in an hour. Over the years it has been set and broken by a whose who of cyclists. For the women's record, it perhaps does not draw as much attention, until one Evelyn Stevens, a lady who did not start racing until her mid 20's, tries it.

And beats it by almost a kilometer.

http://www.businessinsider.com/cyclist-evelyn-stevens-sets-new-hour-record-2016-2

American Evelyn Stevens set a new world hour record in cycling on Saturday.

She rode a distance of 47.980 kilometers (29.81 miles) in one hour at the 7-11 Velodrome in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

She beat the previous record of 46.882 kilometers (29.13 miles) set January 22 by Australian Bridie O'Donnell in Adelaide, Australia.

Stevens, a California native, previously worked in investment banking and finance. She now rides for the Dutch Boels Dolmans Cycling Team.

"It couldn't have been a more perfect day," Stevens said after her ride. "Awesome."
'One in 10 million talent'

Stevens' first coach, Matthew Koschara, told Business Insider in 2014 he was not surprised by her success.

He said she is a "one in 10 million" talent.

"She has the right appetite, physiologically and psychologically," Koschara said. "She's old school, she's hard core — she's a fighter."

He pointed to Stevens' remarkable power-to-weight ratio, and although he would not reveal stats from the time he coached Stevens, he said her three- and 10-minute power numbers, measured in watts, were "huge."

At five-foot-six and 120 pounds, she's compact and very powerful.

She was beaming after setting the new world record:

"It's not common that you get the chance to set a new World Record ... I just want to celebrate with everyone now!" Stevens said, according to the International Cycling Union (UCI), the sport's governing body.

For a time, the related hashtag #UCIHourRecord trended worldwide on Twitter, race announcers said.

"I would like to congratulate 'Evie' on her achievement," UCI President Brian Cookson added. "Bridie O'Donnell's record stood for five weeks and we have already seen two attempts this year despite only being in February.
The attempt

Stevens was all smiles when she entered the velodrome.

She looked at ease, and confident.

Her coach, Neal Henderson, is an expert when it comes to the hour record.

He and Stevens started training seriously in November.

Her trained a former world hour-record holder, Rohan Dennis of Australia.

Before the event started, she bowed her head for the national anthem.

Here was Stevens awaiting the start:

This is Stevens on the very first lap. After getting up to speed, she got set into her aero tuck.

It would be a very long and painful hour of effort.

This was the bike — made by California-based Specialized — that Stevens set the record on:

The velodrome is open air half the year and covered with a removable cover the rest.

Built in 1983, it features a 333.3-meter (1,093.5-foot) banked track for cycling on a cement surface. It's at about 6,000 feet above sea level and is climate-controlled.

All of which made for just about ideal conditions for Stevens.

 

The Paris Nice prologue was yesterday, a very short 6.1km, and the results were impressive

A quick bit of calculation indicates average times were pushing 30mph for the leaders. Not too shabby for a flat out sprint on ill handling TT bikes.




http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-03-07/michael-matthews-wins-paris-nice-prologue/7225524

Australian cyclist Michael Matthews has roared to a shock victory in the Paris-Nice prologue, upsetting pre-stage favourite Tom Dumouilin by a single second.

Matthews, a silver medallist at the road world championships last year, upset the time trial specialists to win the 6km race against the clock outside Paris in 7 minutes and 39 seconds on his first day of racing this year.

"I was thinking a top five was possible on a course like this," Matthews said.

"It was hilly, with lots of technical corners, which suits me. I had high hopes but I didn't think I could win this."

New Zealand's Patrick Bevin was third, a second behind Dutchman Dumouilin.

Australia's defending champion Richie Porte finished 11th after clocking 7:49.

Matthews had already worn the Paris-Nice's leader jersey after winning a stage last year.

"The next few stages are flat sprints so I should be able to keep the jersey," Matthews said.

"My climbing form is quite good so it will be nice to see how long I can keep it.

"It's an amazing jersey and an amazing race. This is Paris-Nice and I know most of the climbs on the course this week."

Among the overall contenders, Geraint Thomas posted the fastest time, seven seconds behind Matthews, with former Tour de France winner Alberto Contador lagging 16 seconds behind.

Monday's first stage of the eight-day race takes the peloton on a 198km ride from Conde-sur-Vesgre to Vendom

 

Thomas wins the race to the sun.

Contador come sin second, and Porte comes in third.

The Porte third calls into question who will be the team designated leader for the grand tours? You have Porte, who clearly has been on a roll this season and had some impressive showings last year on Sky, including possibly being the strongest rider on the TDF for Sky even though Froome won (not uncommon as Froome was clearly stronger than Wiggo when Wiggo won).

So who will it be for BMC? Porte or Van Garderen?

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/20...o-see-off-alberto-contador-and-win-paris-nice


Geraint Thomas cracked in the final ascent of Paris-Nice but pulled himself together in the descent to hold off Alberto Contador by four seconds and secure his biggest road racing victory.

The Team Sky rider, who was dropped in the ascent of the Col d’Èze, managed to reduce the gap during the nail-biting descent to the Promenade des Anglais at the end of the final stage, a 134km hilly ride around Nice won by the Belgian Tim Wellens.

Spain’s Contador took second place on the day ahead of the Australian Richie Porte, third overall and 12 seconds behind, with Thomas finishing in the second group five seconds off the pace.

The Welshman had started the day with a 15-second advantage over Contador, who earned a six-second bonus with his second place.

“I felt good, I felt strong, in control [when Contador first attacked],” Thomas said. “But when he went halfway up Col d’Èze, my legs went away. I thought: ‘It’s going to be all over’ but Sergio Henao stayed with me. I had a 54-chain ring on in the descent and I needed that; I went just full gas to finally catch up in the last few kilometres.”

Thomas’s win means Sky have won the prestigious Paris-Nice race for a fourth time in five years after Bradley Wiggins prevailed in 2012 and Porte, now at BMC Racing, triumphed in 2013 and last year.

“It’s incredible to beat Contador. Man, he is one of the best stage racers ever. Richie won last year. It’s hard to believe I beat those two. It’s the biggest win for sure of my whole career,” said Thomas, who joins Wiggins and Tom Simpson as the only British winners of the race.
ADVERTISING



Contador, a seven-times grand tour champion aiming for a third Tour de France title in his final season, is a bold rider and he proved it once again. While most would wait for the last climb to try their luck, the Tinkoff rider attacked with 50km left. He made his move in the category-one Côte de Peille, opening a one-minute gap before being helped by his team-mates Robert Kiserlovski and Yuri Trofimov, who let themselves drop out of the early breakaway group. Sky chased them hard, however, and they were reined in just before the foot of the Col d’Èze.

Contador attacked four times without managing to shake off Thomas, who stayed in his team-mate Henao’s wheel. However, the Spaniard’s fifth attack, in the last steep part of the ascent, was too much to handle for the Welshman, who cracked and reached the top more than 20 seconds behind.

Only Porte could follow Contador and the pair caught the last survivor of the morning’s breakaway, Wellens, who won the stage in a three-man sprint.

Thomas rode himself into the ground, though, to preserve his yellow jersey while being helped throughout by Henao.

 

Impressive win against some heavy competition. This guy is one hell of a climber.







http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/volta-ciclista-a-catalunya-2016/stage-7/results/











Nairo Quintana (Movistar) has become the third Colombian to win the Volta a Catalunya on Sunday, with the stage victory on a hilly final stage through Montjuic Park in Barcelona going to Katusha’s Alexei Tsatevich, one of the last survivors of a day-long break.
Related Articles


The attacks rained down on Quintana on the eight circuits of the hilly six-kilometre Montjuic circuit, with Fabio Aru (Astana), second placed Alberto Contador (Tinkoff), Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha), Hugh Carthy (Caja Rural) - ninth overall and Best Young Rider - Tejay van Garderen (BMC Racing) and Chris Froome (Team Sky) all amongst those attempting to wrench their way clear of Movistar’s grip on the race.

But although Aru opened a gap of 30 seconds at one point and Froome briefly left the rest of the pack reeling in his wake, the attacks cancelled each other out as the finish line steadily approached.

Finally the only alteration in the highest GC positions was Dan Martin (Etixx-QuickStep), who snatched a bonus second early on in the stage in a hot spot sprint. As a result, Martin, already a stage winner and briefly the leader, moved up from fourth to third ahead of BMC Racing’s Richie Porte, Martin’s fourth top-three position in the Volta a Catalunya of his career.

The stage itself saw a break of 12 go clear early on, gaining a maximum advantage of 3:15 when they reached the first of the eight final laps of the Montjuic circuit.

Mallorca’s Lluis Mas (Caja Rural) was the first to go clear from the dozen leaders, with around 48 kilometres to go, followed by former U-23 World Champion Matej Mohoric (Lampre-Merida), whilst Contador briefly tested the water in the bunch a first time, without any effect. Fabio Aru’s drive clear, though, was much more effective, enabling the 2015 Vuelta a España winner to gain up to half a minute after Warren Barguil (Giant-Alpecin) and a perpetually aggressive Louis Vervaecke (Lotto-Soudal) bridged across.

Movistar gradually pegged back the difference but no sooner had they done so than Vasil Kiryenka (Team Sky) opened up the throttle, and Chris Froome followed up his teammate’s lead-out with a searing attack of his own. When Quintana finally reached the Briton with Contador, Martin, Rodriguez and Dani Navarro (Cofidis) in his wake, it looked briefly as if Quintana, isolated from his teammates, could be vulnerable.

But instead, as the leading group of favourites hesitated, the group once again swelled in size, only to see Carthy briefly having a go, but finally being swallowed up by the chasers.

Yet more brief digs followed, but as Mohoric was overtaken by Tcatevich for the stage win, Froome and Contador’s second challenges, followed by one last attack from Dan Martin and a longer move by Tejay van Garderen (BMC Racing) all failed to work out. Instead, Quintana crossed the line with his overall lead intact for his first stage race victory since Tirreno-Adriatico in 2015.

Quintana’s final margin of seven seconds is the four smallest in the 96 editions of the Volta a Catalunya, but ever since the Colombian moved into the lead on the stage to Port Ainé, the tide was flowing strongly in his favour.

The final three stages, none of them with exceptionally hilly terrain, made it difficult for the rest of the field to challenge the Colombian, who has become the first winner from Colombia of the race since Hernan Buenahora in 1998.

 

Tour of Flanders start list.

For the great unwashed that knows nothing of the world, up to and including most Americans, Flanders is the dutch speaking portion of Belgium. Ronde van Vlaanderen is a one day race, one of the 5 monument races, and this years race is the 100th edition, not the 100th anniversary, as it was put on hold during WWI.

Included, as if climbing 16% was not difficult enough, is the famous Koppenberg, where it is done on cobblestones.



[video=youtube;HbKdUzXZEuQ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HbKdUzXZEuQ[/video]

I like the one day races as they tend to be more individual events, with teams often being scattered across the peleton.

Anyway, the start list is typical looking. Sagan, Cancellara, a lot of one day heavy hitters.


Read more at http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/latest-news/tour-flanders-start-list-218802#uh7YeEj6HWeoU1Uf.99

Katusha (Russia)

1 KRISTOFF Alexander
2 BYSTRØM Sven erik
3 GUARNIERI Jacopo
4 HALLER Marco
5 KOZONCHUK Dmitrii
6 KUZNETSOV Viacheslav
7 LAGUTIN Sergey
8 MORKOV Michael
Tinkoff (Russia)

11 SAGAN Peter
12 BENNATI Daniele
13 BLYTHE Adam
14 BODNAR Maciej
15 GATTO Oscar
16 GOGL Michael
17 KOLÁR Michal
18 TRUSOV Nikolay
Etixx-QuickStep (Belgium)

21 BOONEN Tom
22 KEISSE Iljo
23 LAMPAERT Yves
24 STYBAR Zdenek
25 TERPSTRA Niki
26 TRENTIN Matteo
27 VANDENBERGH Stijn
28 VERMOTE Julien
Lotto-Soudal (Belgium)

31 ROELANDTS Jurgen
32 GREIPEL André
33 BENOOT Tiesj
34 DEBUSSCHERE Jens
35 BAK Lars Ytting
36 DE BIE Sean
37 SIEBERG Marcel
38 WALLAYS Jelle
Trek-Segafredo (USA)

41 CANCELLARA Fabian
42 DEVOLDER Stijn
43 STUYVEN Jasper
44 POPOVYCH Yaroslav
45 RAST Grégory
46 IRIZAR ARANBURU Markel
47 THEUNS Edward
48 VAN POPPEL Boy
BMC Racing (USA)

51 VAN AVERMAET Greg
52 DRUCKER Jean-Pierre
53 KUENG Stefan
54 OSS Daniel
55 PHINNEY Taylor
56 QUINZIATO Manuel
57 SCHÄR Michael
58 BURGHARDT Marcus
LottoNL-Jumbo (Netherlands)

61 VANMARCKE Sep
62 TANKINK Bram
63 TEUNISSEN Mike
64 TJALLINGII Maarten
65 VAN ASBROECK Tom
66 VAN EMDEN Jos
67 LEEZER Thomas
68 WYNANTS Maarten
Team Sky (Great Britain)

71 KWIATKOWSKI Michal
72 KNEES Christian
73 GOLAS Michal
74 PUCCIO Salvatore
75 ROWE Luke
76 STANNARD Ian
77 THOMAS Geraint
78 MOSCON Gianni
Dimension Data (South Africa)

81 BOASSON HAGEN Edvald
82 BRAMMEIER Matt
83 DOUGALL Nick
84 EISEL Bernhard
85 FARRAR Tyler
86 JANSE VAN RENSBURG Jacques
87 REGUIGUI Youcef
88 THOMSON Jay Robert
Ag2r La Mondiale (France)

91 BAGDONAS Gediminas
92 DANIEL Maxime
93 GAUDIN Damien
94 GOUGEARD Alexis
95 HOULE Hugo
96 MINARD Sébastien
97 SERGENT Jesse
98 TURGOT Sébastien
Astana (Kazakhstan)

101 BOOM Lars
102 DE VREESE Laurens
103 FUGLSANG Jakob
104 GRIVKO Andriy
105 LUTSENKO Alexey
106 SMUKULIS Gatis
107 TLEUBAYEV Ruslan
108 WESTRA Lieuwe
Cannondale (USA)

111 BAUER Jack
112 BETTIOL Alberto
113 BEVIN Patrick
114 BRESCHEL Matti
115 LANGEVELD Sebastian
116 SKJERPING Kristoffer
117 SKUJINS Toms
118 VAN BAARLE Dylan
FDJ (France)

121 DEMARE Arnaud
122 DELAGE Mickael
123 FISCHER Murilo Antonio
124 HOELGAARD Daniel
125 KONOVALOVAS Ignatas
126 LADAGNOUS Matthieu
127 LE BON Johan
128 LE GAC Olivier
IAM Cycling (Switzerland)

131 HAUSSLER Heinrich
132 ELMIGER Martin
133 DEVENYNS Dries
134 HOLLENSTEIN Reto
135 KLUGE Roger
136 LAENGEN Vegard Stake
137 NAESEN Oliver
138 SARAMOTINS Aleksejs
Lampre-Merida (Italy)

141 CATTANEO Mattia
142 FARIA DA COSTA Mario Jorge
143 FENG Chun Kai
144 FERRARI Roberto
145 KUMP Marko
146 MODOLO Sacha
147 PIBERNIK Luka
148 ZURLO Federico
Movistar

151 AMADOR BIKKAZAKOVA Andrey
152 ARCAS PENA Jorge
153 SANTOS SIMOES OLIVEIRA Nelson
154 LOBATO DEL VALLE Juan Jose
155 QUINTANA ROJAS Dayer Uberney
156 ROJAS GIL Jose Joaquin
157 SÜTTERLIN Jasha
158 VENTOSO ALBERDI Francisco José
Orica-GreenEdge (Australia)

161 BEWLEY Sam
162 DOCKER Mitchell
163 DURBRIDGE Luke
164 HAYMAN Mathew
165 JUUL JENSEN Christopher
166 KEUKELEIRE Jens
167 NIELSEN Magnus Cort
168 TUFT Svein
Giant-Alpecin (Germany)

171 ANDERSEN Søren Kragh
172 ARNDT Nikias
173 CURVERS Roy
174 DE BACKER Bert
175 DE KORT Koen
176 SINKELDAM Ramon
177 TIMMER Albert
178 WAEYTENS Zico
Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise (Belgium)

181 VAN HECKE Preben
182 DECLERCQ Tim
183 HELVEN Sander
184 STEELS Stijn
185 CAPIOT Amaury
186 VAN HOECKE Gijs
187 VAN LERBERGHE Bert
188 VANSPEYBROUCK Pieter
Wanty-Groupe Gobert (Belgium)

191 ANTONINI Simone
192 BACKAERT Frederik
193 BAUGNIES Jérôme
194 CLAEYS Dimitri
195 MARCATO Marco
196 MCNALLY Mark
197 THURAU Bjorn
198 VAN MELSEN Kevin
Bora-Argon 18 (Ned)

201 ARCHBOLD Shane
202 BARTA Jan
203 DEMPSTER Zakkari
204 MATZKA Ralf
205 PFINGSTEN Christoph
206 PÖSTLBERGER Lukas
207 SCHILLINGER Andreas
208 THWAITES Scott
CCC Sprandi-Polkowice (Poland)

211 KIENDYS Tomasz
212 KUREK Adrian
213 MARYCZ Jaroslaw
214 MATYSIAK Bartlomiej
215 MIHAYLOV Nikolay
216 PALUTA Michal
217 PATERSKI Maciej
218 PONZI Simone
Direct Energie (France)

221 CHAVANEL Sylvain
222 CARDIS Romain
223 ANDERSON Ryan
224 DUCHESNE Antoine
225 GENE Yohann
226 MORICE Julien
227 PETIT Adrien
228 PICHOT Alexandre
Roompot Oranje Peloton (Netherlands)

231 ASSELMAN Jesper
232 DE VRIES Berden
233 KERKHOF Tim
234 KREDER Michel
235 KREDER Wesley
236 SLIK Ivar
237 VAN GINNEKEN Sjoerd
238 VAN GOETHEM Brian
Southeast-Venezuela (Italy)

241 POZZATO Filippo
242 DAL COL Andrea
243 FEDI Andrea
244 FONZI Giuseppe
245 BELLETTI Manuel
246 TEDESCHI Mirko
247 TROSINO Mirko
248 ZHUPA Eugert

 

Sagan wins it. Sadly, the getting a bit long in the tooth Cancellara had to settle for second.

http://www.sbs.com.au/cyclingcentral/article/2016/04/04/sagan-solos-his-first-tour-flanders-victory

The Tinkoff rider timed his attack on the final climb of the race with just over 13km left in the gruelling 255km route from Bruges to Oudenaarde and held on to finish solo.

Three-time winner Fabian Cancellara (Trek-Segafredo) had to settle for second in his final season as a professional with Sep Vanmarcke (LottoNL-Jumbo) third.

"I feel very good. I am very happy. It was a super-hard race from the start until the finish, always full gas," Sagan said.

"It is very hard to work with the other guys because nobody wants to work with me and it is always better to drop everybody, but it's not easy."

The race was regularly interrupted by crashes, one of which eliminated Greg van Avermaet (BMC) with a broken collar bone after he a several team-mates crashed together.

Sagan dedicated the victory to Belgian riders Antoine Demoitie and Daan Myngheer, who died after recent race incidents.

Sagan and Michal Kwiatkowski (Sky) made a decisive move with about 40km left in Sunday's 255km race when they pulled away from the main pack and were quickly joined by Vanmarcke.

Cancellara decided to remain in the peloton along with defending champion Alexander Kristoff (Katusha), trusting his ability to close the gap later on in the race.

Sagan, however, did not wilt, while Cancellara had nobody to work with as he made his move to catch the world champion some 23km from the line.

After the Milan-San Remo, the Tour of Flanders was the second of the season's 'Monument' races, the name given to cycling's five most revered one-day classics.

It will be followed next Sunday by the Paris-Roubaix, dubbed the ‘Queen of the Classics, the Liege-Bastogne-Liege race later this month and the Giro di Lombardia in October.

 

Sunday is Paris-Roubaix! Racing the cobbles.

The start list can be found here.

http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/racing/paris-roubaix-start-list-219701

Here Sean Kelly explains the cobbles.

[video]http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/racing/paris-roubaix-start-list-219701[/video]

 

watched today's stage of Vuelta de País Vasco ~ awesome scenery

 

Alberto Contador wins today's final stage of the Vuelta in the rain - looked terribly hazardous and in watching it I was afraid someone was going to slip and crack his skull on the pavement. Thankfully, everyone made it safely.

Will try to catch the Paris-Roubaix tomorrow.

- - - Updated - - -





oh the pain!

 

Mat Hayman wins Paris Roubaix.

Who?

Some guy that has rode it 16 times with what can politically be called limited success, manages to ace out some of the best in the world?

Okay.


http://www.cyclingnews.com/paris-roubaix/results/


Mathew Hayman (Orica-GreenEdge) caused a huge upset by beating Tom Boonen (Etixx-QuickStep) in the sprint in one of the most memorable editions of Paris-Roubaix in recent memory. Hayman looked stunned, and almost unbelieving, by his victory, bursting into tears once he realised what he had achieved.


Ian Stannard (Team Sky) tried to come around from the back of the group but didn’t quite have the legs and finished third. Sep Vanmarcke (LottoNL-Jumbo), who had been the most aggressive in the finale, just missed the podium and finished fourth, with Edvald Boasson Hagen (Dimension Data) in fifth.

“I can’t believe it. I broke my arm five weeks ago and I missed all the racing, I raced in Spain last week,” Hayman said. “This is my favourite race. It is the race I dreamed of winning.”

It was Hayman’s 16th appearance at the Hell of the North, previously finishing eighth in 2012, and he was the underdog in an elite five-man group that came to the line. The riders were already part of a select group that did not include pre-race favourites Peter Sagan (Tinkoff) and Fabian Cancellara (Trek-Segafredo). They went clear on the Camphin-en-Pévèl sector after an attack from Stannard distanced much of their group.

The tension ramped up as the cobbled sectors ticked down. Knowing that his chances in a sprint were small, Vanmarcke kicked and made the first serious attack from this small group on the Carrefour de l’Arbe. At first it appeared he had his rivals in trouble, as they scrambled to mount a chase. As they looked to have him pegged, the Belgian kicked again but he was finally brought back after the next sector of cobbles.

Thus ensued a series of attacks and counter attacks, each turning the wick up just a little bit more. It was Hayman and Boonen that entered the velodrome first but a strong chase from Vanmarcke saw him bridge the gap. As the bell tolled, their number had swelled to five again and Hayman wound up the sprint.

It looked like Hayman had gone too early as Boonen sat in his wheel ready to pounce. Stannard tried to go for a long one around the outside but it was too much for him as Hayman and Boonen went head to head. Boonen appeared to get boxed in briefly and was unable to close the gap when he did finally wriggle free, leaving Hayman to take the biggest victory of his career.

Sagan came over the line over two minutes down, just missing out on a top-10 finish. There was no fairy tale for Cancellara, who had crashed earlier and he finished over seven minutes down. To add insult to injury, he hit the deck again in the velodrome while riding around with a Swiss flag.

How it unfolded

After the rollout from sunny Compiegne at 10:50 a.m. countless accelerations came after the official start was given just outside the city centre. Jacopo Guarnieri (Katusha) was the only non-starter.

A first breakaway group of six riders was caught back before Noyon, after 20 kilometres of racing but the speed remained high. Stijn Devolder (Trek-Segafredo) sparked a large and strong breakaway move of 25 riders when exiting Noyon. The group also featured late call up Phil Gaimon (Cannondale) and Mark Cavendish (Dimension Data) and a tailwind meant a high-speed start to the race. However, their lead of half a minute was soon neutralized. A few more small breakaway attempts followed but without success. After 67 kilometres of high-speed racing the riders were back together.

Straight away a new group of 16 riders attacked. They reached the first pavé sector (#27) with a lead of a minute, despite the work from Etixx-QuickStep and Bora-Argon.

Team Sky led the peloton over the first pavé sections, keeping the gap under control and more importantly, keeping their riders safe.

After five pavé sectors had distanced some riders, the break held a two-minute lead over the peloton. The riders up front were Sylvain Chavanel (Direct Energie), Matthew Hayman and Magnus Cort Nielsen (Orica-GreenEdge), Tim Declercq (Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise), Frederik Backaert (Wanty-Groupe Gobert), Borut Bozic (Cofidis), Marko Kump (Lampre), Salvatore Puccio (Sky), Johan Le Bon (FDJ), Maxime Daniel (AG2R), Reinardt Janse van Rensburg (Dimension Data), Tour of Flanders star Imanol Erviti (Movistar) and Yaroslav Popovych (Trek-Segafredo), who will retired after today’s race.

The leaders extended their lead up to a maximum of 3:45 at sector 20. Just before that sector there was a crash in the peloton. Etixx-QuickStep reacted by charging forward with Guillaume Van Keirsbulck and Tony Martin. The peloton was split up into multiple groups with Cancellara, Sagan and Terpstra featuring in the peloton that trailed the large group that included big names like Luke Rowe, Ian Stannard, Sep Vanmarcke, Zdenek Stybar, Edvald Boasson Hagen and Tom Boonen.

The gap between the two groups quickly grew to a minute when starting sector 19 from Haveluy to Wallers. The breakaway group was 2:40 ahead. Tony Martin did a huge pull on this sector, dropping most of the riders in the group. Only Boonen, Robert Wagner, Stannard, Boasson Hagen and Luke Durbridge followed, sparking a race within the race.

Forest of Arenberg

Boonen led the group over the long cobbled sector of the famous Trouée Arenberg. Cancellara did the same in the peloton with Daniel Oss (BMC), Peter Sagan (Tinkoff) and Nikki Terpstra (Etixx-QuickStep) and the others on his wheel.

After the Arenberg Forest the break had a lead of 1:15 on the Boonen group. The Vanmarcke and Rowe group was 20 seconds further back. The peloton, with Cancellara and Sagan, was more than a minute behind the Boonen group. An isolated world champion accelerated a couple of times to get the speed up in the peloton but their chances seemed compromised.

Just before starting sector 16 the Boonen group and the chase group with Vanmarcke and Rowe merged to change the race yet again. At that moment the 13 riders in the break had just under a minute on the Boonen group of 19 riders. The peloton was following at nearly two minutes from the leaders. Jasper Stuyven (Trek-Segafredo) managed to get the gap down to 35 seconds on the Boonen group when exiting sector 14 at 64 kilometres from the finish. At that moment Popovych sat up in the break to work for Cancellara in the peloton.

After coming off the cobbles of sector 13 from Beuvry to Orchies the early break were caught by the Boonen group. The Sagan-Cancellara peloton was 50 seconds down on the large lead group, as Team Sky tried to put set the pace up front.

Cancellara unleashed his devils on Orchies’ sector 12, with Sagan following swiftly but a little later disaster struck the Sky team on sector 11. One moment they were leading the group with three riders. A few moments later three of their riders were down on the ground. First Moscon and Rowe crashed when coming off the cobbles. Later Puccio missed his corner on the cobbles. Only Stannard remained in front.

Cancellara crashes

A Vanmarcke acceleration brought down the numbers in the front group on the feared cobbles of Mons-en-Pévèle. About 45 seconds further back Cancellara was sitting behind two Giant-Shimano riders when riding through a muddy section on the cobbles. Cancellara’s bike slipped off the crown of the cobbles and the Swiss rider crashed. Sagan somehow managed to get himself and his bike over Cancellara without crashing himself. Terpstra, a Sky rider and several others were less successful and crashed too.

After the chaos the seven remaining leaders had a bonus of one minute on the Sagan group and three minutes on a battered Cancellara. The leaders were Boonen, Erviti, Stannard, Boasson Hagen, Erviti, Vanmarcke, Hayman. On sector 8 Aleksejs Saramotins (IAM Cycling) with Rowe, Sieberg and Heinrich Haussler (IAM Cycling) managed to bridge back up, creating a lead group of ten riders.

At thi

 

Nice analysis, there.

I watched almost the entire race and, like the final stage of Vuelta Vasco, was on the edge of my seat with my fingers crossed hoping no one would fall unto that rock hard surface. Sadly, some crashed and the results were painful. I imagine that Hayman has more rubber traction on his wheels at that very late stage in the race which allowed him to accelerate and win it. You have to wonder, how did he manage to maintain that type of efficiency considering the harshness of the ground, the pacing and stoppages, and all the other conditions?

An awesome race for sure. Nice that one of the sport's good guys won it.

 

Personally, I wondered how a guy who has never been more than middle of the road, who is up there in age, manages to beat guys younger and faster.

However, looking back on his results, he clearly does favor the cobbles, and has placed in the top 15 numerous times in his career in cobble races.

I did not see the race due to dad obligations, but it is my understanding it was pretty awesome, with the field spread into little groups, basically the breakaway, those trying to catch the breakaway, and those who crashed.

 

Experience is the best teacher and he has likely gone through this very demanding course on several occasions. He knew which parcels of land to avoid (so as to save the rubber on his tires) and which ones would likely accelerate his speed. Plus, he probably knew how to save his energy and to harness it for that explosive run at the very end.

So good to know that nice guys do occasionally finish first.