First Edition Cycling News, Friday, January 29, 2010

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Date published:

January 29, 2010, 12:00

• Yahoo! Cycling Team officially launched

  

  Article published:

  January 28, 2010, 18:52

  By:

  Daniel Carruthers

  California-based squad starts season with training camp

  The Yahoo! Cycling Team was officially announced today in California and boasts a 12-rider squad that is ready to take on the heavy hitters of US domestic team racing. The team will debut at the Napa Valley Cherry and Apple Pie Criteriums that will be staged on February 6 and 7.

  Led by General Manager Kevin Klein, The Yahoo! Cycling mixes young talent and experienced older riders. "We have a bunch of really talented young riders that all have great cycling careers ahead of them." The team is a partnership between Yahoo! and Ikeman Cycling, LLC.

  "We're excited to launch this team in a community that is as enthusiastic about cycling as we are," said Klein. "Both our young riders and experienced cyclists are eager to get our season under way and establish ourselves as a dominant elite team."

  When asked who will be the key rider on the team, Klein replied, "We have a mix of strong lead guys that can all get the job done. We won't play the same cards over and over. Other teams will need to pay attention to understand how we roll."

  "When we go into the races, we plan to win, always win," said Klein.

  One key rider in the team includes Evan Huffman, a current junior national champion and an Under 23 national team member. The squad's Adam Switters and Philip Mooney are team time trial national champions, and Ryan Parnes is the 2009 Californian State Criterium Champ.

  Two-time Olympian Dirk Copeland is another notable member of the Yahoo! Team. He currently works for Yahoo! as a manager, a role in which he assists in a variety of projects for the development of Yahoo! "I am very excited to be part of this team and hope to contribute to the program's development by offering leadership, from the bike, during the races," said Copeland.

  The team's training camp will be held in San Luis Obispo, on January 29-31, and its racing season will begin the following weekend in Northern California.

  Based in Northern California, the team plans to race the majority of its season on the West Coast as well as a portion of the National Racing Calendar (NRC). Dependent upon its success in the US circuit in 2010, the team plans to move on to Continental Status in 2011.

  With the creation of the team, Yahoo! plans to cultivate its cycling offerings for both its audience, online and offline, and its own internal cycling team, the Yahoo! Amateur Cycling Team.

  "We're especially eager about the formation of this team with Ikeman Cycling because not only are there a number of cycling enthusiasts among our audience, but also a large number within our own Yahoo! ranks," said Barbara O'Connor, Vice President of Global Consumer Marketing at Yahoo!. "The team provides us with an opportunity to create a touchpoint with our audience both on and off the web and also to connect with and engage the passionate community of cycling enthusiasts."

  2010 Yahoo! Cycling Team
  Adam Switters
  Brian Bosch
  Dirk Copeland
  Evan Huffman
  Filip Vanacht
  John Wilk
  Kevin Klein
  Patrick Briggs
  Philip Mooney
  Ryan Parnes
  Tyler Dibble
  Vince Owens

  Visit the team's website at cyclingteam.yahoo.com.

• Vande Velde primed for pain-free 2010 season

  

  Article published:

  January 28, 2010, 21:12

  By:

  Daniel Benson

  Off-season training in Hawaii a boost to morale and fitness

  After a year of hard knocks and success achieved through gritted teeth, Garmin-Transitions' Christian Vande Velde is ready to tackle the Tour de France pain-free and with an uninterrupted winter of training.

  Vande Velde, 33, had a series of crashes in 2009 which effectively wrecked his chances of a podium shot at the Tour de France and the defense of his 2008 Tour of Missouri win. He crashed heavily in the Giro d'Italia and sustained three fractured vertebrae, a cracked pelvis and two broken ribs. Vande Velde nonetheless recovered in time to take part in the Tour de France, finishing eighth overall.

  Following the Tour, Vande Velde crashed again at the Vattenfall Cyclassics in Hamburg, Germany on August 16. Although he made a speedy recovery, he hit the tarmac in the opening stage of the Tour of Missouri on September 7, breaking his hand and ending his season.

  "It was horrible. There were way too many crashes last year," he told Cyclingnews at the team's training camp in Calpe. "I don't know if it was just a knock on effect from the crash after the Giro and being scared, because when you're braking too much you're more dangerous than if you just let it fly.

  "Then other times it was just bad luck and being in the wrong place at the wrong time. I crashed early in the Tour last year. Forty of us went down and there wasn't a thing I could have done."

  Heading into the 2010 racing season Vande Velde looks in better shape than ever. Instead of training in his native Chicago and enduring a harsh winter he and teammate Ryder Hesjedal trained in Hawaii for several weeks, making the most of the warm weather to rack up their training kilometres.

  "Hawaii was awesome. It changed everything from my winter and I feel a lot better."

  But the benefit of those winter miles wasn't just physical. The 2008-2009 winter was one of the coldest on record in the US and Vande Velde was forced to cut back on his training, often reduced to spinning on the rollers while his European rivals were able to train in rather more accommodating surroundings. The result not only affected his physical state but also his mental state too. "You see what everyone else is doing and how they're coming on but this year I have a couple of thousand kilometres in my legs. I'm ahead of where I was this time last year."

  If 2009 had its setbacks Vande Velde showed courage and determination to bounce back, finishing eighth in the Tour while also working for teammate Bradley Wiggins who finished fourth. The American is sure that although he learnt a lot about himself during the tough months of rushed training in order to make the Tour start line, he's not eager to repeat the episode.

  "I think I'm a realist most of the time, that's what made it even harder for me last year. At the end of May I was at home and thinking 'why bother?' When I was sitting there crippled and I was seeing these guys finish the Giro with thousands of miles of racing and the Dolomites in their legs, I certainly had a pessimistic mindset.

  "In time you get some faith in yourself. The team helped a lot with that, Allen Lim helped me a lot. The team gave me an opportunity and their undying faith. Matt White, too. They were telling me, 'You're still going to the Tour and you're still the leader.' I was like 'man don't you remember what happened to me?' But the race showed me more, more than in 2008, and what I can do in the future. I made the best of it and put myself through a lot but I don't ever want to go through that again. "

  Vande Velde is already licking his lips at the prospects of this year's Tour parcours. With a mountainous route, including a potentially devastating final week in the Pyrenees, it suits both his style of riding and ability to persevere. "I've looked at it a bit. Enough to know that the third week is the climax and where you need to be fit. It's going to be apocalyptic going up the Tourmalet twice. I'm excited about it," he said.

  Despite the loss of Wiggins, Vande Velde also believes that the team could go into the race with a hugely-talented squad of riders. Along with the improving sprint exploits of Tyler Farrar, Garmin-Transitions boasts the climbing abilities of Dan Martin, Tom Danielson and Ryder Hesjedal.

  However, one rider Vande Velde is tipping to perform is David Zabriskie. The US time trial champion won his first stage race at the Tour of Missouri last year and despite never showing well in the overall of a three-week Tour, his team leader believes he has all the credentials to step up a notch.

  "He plays it down but I would too as it's a big step mentally for him, but he's got the capabilities. Everyone's known that for a long time now. It's just being up there day after day after day. You can be the strongest guy but you can't take a day off.

  "He's got the capabilities it's just about whether he wants to go after it."

  Vande Velde will kick start his season at the Volta ao Algarve in February, before racing Paris-Nice, Volta a Catalunya and the Ardennes Classics. He'll then ride the Giro, missing the rescheduled Tour of California.

  "Even as I say it, it's still hard for me. Of course I'd love to be there. It's still one of my favourite races. It's a great race but also a stressful one for an American. I'll miss it, though."

• SRAM announce new XG999 cassette

  

  Article published:

  January 29, 2010, 12:01

  By:

  James Huang

  XX technology coming to 9-speed drivetrains

  SRAM has brought the XX group's innovative X-Dome cassette down to the 9-speed level with the introduction of a new XG999 cassette, set for release in mid-March.

  Like the XX cassette, all but the innermost and outermost cogs on the XG999 model will be milled into a lightweight, dome-like shape from a single chunk of chromoly steel with additional ports machined in between the cogs to allow mud and debris to pass through. Sealing the large end of the 'dome' is a replaceable press-fit aluminum cog while the smallest cog will be a steel bit as usual.

  Not surprisingly, the XG999 cassette will be very light with a claimed weight of just 175g for an 11-32T size – cleaving a full 100g from SRAM's own PG-990 cassette and about 50g from a comparable Shimano XTR unit while also promising better durability, too, on account of the harder steel cog material.

  Prospective buyers should note that SRAM initially won't offer the XG999 in the more versatile 11-34T size and pricing is set at a spendy US$300 – nearly three times higher than the PG-990.

  Perhaps more interesting than the new cassette announcement is what this likely means for SRAM's road groups, in particular the current Red flagship. Red's PowerDome cassette – the forebear of X-Dome – was a radical departure from conventional cassette construction but also criticized for its greater-than-average noise levels and susceptibility to clogging with mud in 'cross applications.

  With the introduction of this new XG999, it's now practically a foregone conclusion that we'll see similar changes to the PowerDome cassette and even SRAM's own road US road PR and media manager Michael Zellman tacitly acknowledges as such.

  "Our best technologies consistently find their way across our product platforms," he said. "This includes road to MTB, and vice-versa."

• Signed Evans bike auctioned for Cancer Council

  

  Article published:

  January 29, 2010, 12:12

  By:

  Cycling News

  BMC fetches over $11,000 for charity

  A BMC Pro Machine SLC01 Team Spec signed by International Cycling Union (UCI) World Road Champion Cadel Evans has been auctioned off to raise money for the Cancer Council in South Australia. The 2010 model bike fetched $11, 459 AUD for the charity.

  Evans, who put in a spectacular attack at the Tour Down Under’s penultimate stage, had signed both the frame and the wheels on the BMC Pro Machine SLC01 Team Spec. In addition to the bike, donated by BMC, a framed poster of Evans also signed by the rider went to the winning bidder.

  The 51 cm Pro Machine includes an Easton fork, bars, stem and steatpost as well as Easton’s EC90 Aero Carbon wheels. It also featured a completed Campagnolo Super Record groupset and brakes.

  The bike is the same model with identical running gear to that which Evans used at last week’s Tour Down Under. The key difference between the two bikes is that the unit auctioned was in BMC’s red and black colours, not the rainbow stripes used on Evans’ race bike.

  The auction was carried out online via auction house Gray’s Online.

• Vogondy denied licence because of cardiac problems

  

  Article published:

  January 29, 2010, 12:33

  By:

  Cycling News

  Frenchman to undergo further medical tests

  The French cycling federation had denied a licence to two-time French national champion Nicolas Vogondy for health reasons. The 32-year-old has cardiac arrhythmia problems.

  Vogondy joined Bbox Bouygues Telecom this year after three years with Agritubel. He turned pro in 1998 with La Francaise des Jeux, where he rode until joining Crédit Agricole for 2005 and 2006. In 2002 and 2008 he won the French national road title.

  The heart problems were discovered during routine medical tests for the renewal of his licence. Vogondy must now have a complete rest before undergoing further tests in Tours on February 15-16.

  “I am a little concerned and very disappointed,” he said. “I wanted to get off to a good start with my new team.”

  Bbox will support its new rider. “This could happen to anyone,” said Didier Rous, the team's sport director. “We will do everything to help him with the hope that future tests will turn out positively.”

  Fellow French rider Nicolas Portal missed much of last season with similar problems, but is returning to the peloton with Team Sky this year.

  Quick Step uses mini-ECG

  Team Quick Step is keeping an eye on the cardiac health of its riders. At its recent training camp in Calpe, Spain, the riders wore a mobile electrocardiogram device 24 hours a day.

  The small device allowed medical staff to continuously monitor the riders' hearts, automatically sending the data via internet to be analysed.

  In cycling, there is a high variability of heart rate, going from under 40 beats per minute at rest to over 200 at maximum power output. "It is therefore important to detect any abnormality,” said professor of cardiology Pedro Brugada.

• Cofidis riders chasing early season success

  

  Article published:

  January 29, 2010, 12:56

  By:

  Stephen Farrand

  French team out to convince sponsor to extend backing

  The Cofidis riders and management admitted they desperately need some early season results at their official presentation in Paris on Thursday, as they try to convince the French credit company to continue the sponsorship of the team beyond 2010.

  The team was not given a UCI ProTour licence for 2010 and team manager Eric Boyer knows his riders have to win some races if Cofidis is stay in cycling.

  Boyer has convinced veteran David Moncoutié to race for another season after winning a stage and the climber’s jersey at the Vuelta Espana. However, the Cofidis team roster is largely unchanged for 2010 with Tour de France stage winner Samuel Dumoulin, Remi Pauriol, sprinter Leonardo Duque, Amael Moinard, and talented young Estonian Rein Taaramae in the 23-rider roster.

  Moinard was 15th overall in the Tour de France but the team only won 14 races during the 2009 season.

  “If Cofidis continues, it’s got to be in the elite of the sport,” Boyer said. “We don’t have the riders to win the Tour but we have the potential to play our cards in the weeklong stage races we’ve neglected so far.”

  “The riders have to prove they deserve a place in the ProTour by scoring points in the big races. That could be more difficult than ever because we still haven’t been invited to the Tour of Basque Country and the Volta a Catalunya. But if necessary, we’ll do the Tour of Turkey...”

  Dumoulin got the 2010 season off to a good start by winning a stage of the Tropicale Amissa Bongo in Africa. He will make his European debut in the new white and red Cofidis jersey at the Grand Prix de la Marseillaise in the south of France on Sunday.

  
   

• Kessler's condition improving

  

  Article published:

  January 29, 2010, 12:58

  By:

  Cycling News

  Former pro slowly waking up from induced coma

  The condition of Matthias Kessler, a former German professional bike rider currently in hospital in Mallorca, Spain, is reported to be no longer life-threatening. Kessler crashed on a training ride on the Spanish island on January 13 and suffered a fractured skull resulting in severe brain trauma.

  "Matthias is waking up slowly and starting to move a little," Kessler's father told the German cycling federation website, rad-net. "We are thankful for every reaction of his body and hope that Matthias will start the battle right away."

  The 30-year-old will continue to be treated in the Son Dureta Clinic in Mallorca, as a transport back to Germany is considered still too risky.

  Kessler, whose suspension for the use of testosterone ended in July 2009, was planning to come back to pro cycling. He was training together with close friend Andreas Klöden (Team RadioShack) when the accident occurred.

• Milram left off Paris-Nice start list

  

  Article published:

  January 29, 2010, 13:19

  By:

  Cycling News

  German ProTour team will race ASO's other events

  ProTour squad Team Milram was left off the list of starting squads posted Thursday for the 2010 Paris-Nice race organised by Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO). The team has been assured it will be invited to ASO's other races, according to team general manager Gerry van Gerwen.

  ASO informed the German ProTour team of the news on Thursday, but at the same time ASO assured the team it would be invited to its other races which include Paris-Roubaix, Liège-Bastogen-Liège, Dauphiné Libéré and the Tour de France.

  "Jean-François Pescheux of the ASO informed me of the decision over the phone. But he also guaranteed us a starting permission for all other ASO races," said van Gerwen.

  "In all the ASO races, different teams shall get a chance to prove themselves worthy of getting one of the much sought-after wild cards for the Tour de France," he said. "This year, there are more high-class teams vying for a place at the Tour than ever before."

  "Naturally, it's disappointing for us, but of course we have to respect the ASO's decision. But it also means that we have to find an alternative racing program to Paris-Nice and revise the riders' schedules for the next races."

  The first 17 teams of the 2009 season's International Cycling Union (UCI) rankings will start Paris-Nice this year along with three additional French teams and two wild card teams.

  Team Milram will next head to the Tour of Qatar from February 7-12 and the Tour of Oman from February 14-19, both organised by ASO. Other races currently on the squad's planned program are the three Grand Tours, the traditional Classics and the five 'monuments of cycling'.