First Edition Cycling News, Monday, November 2, 2009

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Date published:

November 2, 11:00

• Landis admits Tour dream return is over

  

  Article published:

  November 1, 11:05

  By:

  Susan Westemeyer

  Cycling politics will keep him out of race

  Floyd Landis has returned to racing after serving a two-year suspension for doping, but doesn't believe he will ever ride the Tour de France again. “I don't think it's a possibility next year, or ever, for that matter.”

  In an interview with The New Zealand Herald, Landis said, "I can't foresee what the politics in cycling will possibly lead to but the organisations in control are not working well together. There are people caught in the crossfire and I happen to be one of them, so I don't know if the opportunity will come up again. I would like to. But it's very sensitive.”

  The difficulty, he knows, would be finding a team willing to take the risk of hiring him. “The UCI and Tour de France don't get on well at the moment and they like to use whatever they can, whatever pawns are in the middle, to try to make a point. Most teams are afraid of giving them any reason to make them the pawn."

  Landis is in New Zealand to ride the Southland Tour (November 2-7), with local team Cyclingnzshop.com-.Bio Sport. This season he rode for Team OUCH Presented by Maxxis. It has been rumoured that he would join Rock Racing for 2010.

  Landis tested positive for testosterone during the Tour de France 2006. After a vigourous publicity campaign and highly-publicised hearing, he was suspended for two years.

  Looking back, he said that 2006 “went from the best year to the worst year.” What helped him get through the bad times, Landis said, was the knowledge that he would one day race again. “There were times when I wasn't particularly motivated to do so. There were other times when I enjoyed riding my bike again. At no time did I feel I needed to come back for some kind of redemption. My motivation in bike racing is never of that nature anyway. I like to compete and set goals. That's still the same.”

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• Planet Energy's 2010 ProTour debut in question

  

  Article published:

  November 1, 16:00

  By:

  Kirsten Robbins

  Canadian team hoped to race new Quebec events

  Canadian-Continental team Planet Energy may have been prematurely invited to compete in the two ProTour races held in Quebec next September. International Cycling Union's (UCI) ProTour regulations could leave the squad ineligible to participate in its pair of national marquee events.

  The organisers secured a five year license for the two Canadian ProTour races set to start in 2010 on September 10 in Quebec City and September 12 in Montreal. Discussions between organizer Serge Arsenault and the UCI regarding the possibility of the Canadian Province of Quebec hosting two ProTour races began one year ago.

  The events' locations fell in line with the UCI's recent efforts to globalize the ProTour. Australia's Tour Down Under became the first non-European event on the ProTour calendar last year.

  Arsenault admitted that the UCI granted him a five-year license almost immediately, despite that fact that some promoters in Europe have been waiting for years to be eligible to organize a ProTour level event.

  Arsenault named Planet Energy as one of the participating teams based on its Canadian-Continental status alongside other non-ProTour teams such as a Canadian National team, US National team and North America's only Professional Continental team, BMC Racing.

  However, according to the UCI's ProTour rules, the ProTour teams are the only ones with priority for competing in UCI ProTour events.

  Following those teams, Professional Continental teams with wild-card status and the host country's national team, in this case Canada, may be invited to compete in the two ProTour events. This leaves both the US National team and Planet Energy ineligible to participate.

  "It's a bit of political game with the UCI," said Directeur Sportif, Steve Bauer. "What we have tried to do with the UCI is ask them to slacken the rule of strategic events on the ProTour schedule. Our markets are different then Europe and if the UCI wants to globalize the ProTour then there are no Pro-Continental teams in those other countries.

  "The UCI isn't easy to change their strategies. We may not be able to compete as a Continental team, but maybe we can put the riders on the [Canadian] national team. The most important thing is that the riders will get the chance to compete."

  Bauer hopes that the UCI might adjust it's ProTour rules outside of Europe to include giving the host country the opportunity to invite one or two Continental Teams. He has requested to the UCI to participate in the Biological Passport Program in 2010 which cost upwards of 60,000 Euro annually in hopes that this step would convince the UCI to allow Planet Energy to compete in the two ProTour races.

  For now, the Planet Energy riders might have to earn a spot on the Canadian National team if they hope to participate.

  "The National Federation has to submit a list of all Canadian riders who may be potentially selected for these two ProTour events earlier in the season so they can potentially be tested at any moment during the season," Bauer said.

  "We don't have all the details about the National Team's compliance with this, but when a UCI Continental Pro Team is registered to be on the Biological Passport; every rider on the team has to report to UCI the schedule of their movements via the ADAMS [Anti-Doping Administration Management System] managed by WADA [World Anti-Doping Association]."

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• Evans not heading to Garmin in 2010

  

  Article published:

  November 1, 17:12

  By:

  Cycling News

  Vaughters debunks rumoured move

  After the Silence-Lotto team announced on Saturday that World Champion Cadel Evans would leave the team following a mutual agreement to terminate his contract, the cycling world has been rampant with rumours as to where the Australian would land.

  One of the teams heavily rumoured to be the new home of the two-time Tour de France runner-up is Garmin-Slipstream, but manager Jonathan Vaughters put that story to rest.

  "Cadel is a great athlete, and I wish I'd known he was on the market. But no, he hasn't signed for Garmin in 2010," Vaughters told Cyclingnews.

  The Belgian media reported that Evans would move to the Professional Continental team BMC Racing, but if Evans did sign for the team he would not be assured entry into the Tour de France. The team is low in the UCI's World Rankings and is not part of the ProTour, so it would have to rely upon a wild-card invite to get into the Grand Tours and other major races.

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• BMC confirms Evans signing

  

  Article published:

  November 1, 19:33

  By:

  Cycling News

  World Champion signs three-year deal

  The BMC Racing Team confirmed that it has signed World Champion Cadel Evans to a three-year contract on Sunday. The Australian was released from his Silence-Lotto squad by mutual agreement with the team on Saturday, and the US-registered team was heavily rumoured to be his new team.

  "Cadel brings a wealth of experience in the Grand Tours to the team," BMC Racing Team co-owner Jim Ochowicz said in a press release.

  Grand Tours? The team has yet to participate in the Giro d'Italia, Tour de France or Vuelta a Espana, but the squad has made no secret of its ambitions to do so in 2010.

  "As I said earlier, our team will have multiple chances to measure ourselves against the greatest teams in the world. We are pleased that we will have the opportunities to send out our most successful riders, now including Cadel Evans, to tackle these challenges," Ochowicz added.

  Toward that end, the squad hired several top riders for the upcoming seasons, including former world champion Alessandro Ballan, US champion George Hincapie, Karsten Kroon and Marcus Burghardt.

  Evans made it clear that he is still targetting the Tour de France as a major goal.

  "I look forward to working with a new team, in a new environment, towards my same goals; honouring the rainbow jersey at the highest level of the sport, and ultimately at the highest step of the Tour de France podium.

  "Obviously, I would like to do better than my two second places at the Tour de France," he said.

  The 32-year-old has spent the past five seasons with the Belgian squad Lotto, progressing quickly from mountain biker turned stage racer to standing on the podium at the end of three Grand Tours. However, after he twice fell short in the Tour de France, in part due to lack of help from his team, there was much speculation that he would seek another opportunity. 

  "I would like to thank the Silence-Lotto team for the opportunities they have given me," Evans said. "The last five years have brought some great experiences whilst working alongside some great individuals. Thank you."

  Director Sportif John Lelangue countered doubts that the team would have trouble getting into the Grand Tours and other major events, expressing confidence the new recruits would attract the attention of the race organisers and earn the squad the necessary wild-card bid.

  "We have a plan to go to the biggest races, including the Grand Tours. That includes the Tour de France," he said. "This will be possible since our sporting level has greatly increased in standard."

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• Bewley aiming for Southland stage victory

  

  Article published:

  November 2, 00:09

  By:

  Cycling News

  Radioshack-bound rider to support Chadwick, Blackgrove

  Sam Bewley believes he is in better shape than last year’s Tour of Southland but does not consider himself as a candidate for general classification honours for this year’s 53rd edition. His goal is to support fellow Olympian Glen Chadwick and Heath Blackgrove.

  The 22-year-old, who will join Lance Armstrong’s new Radio Shack ProTour team in the New Year, is a key member of the Zookeepers squad. A record 25 teams lined-up for the six-day tour which started with a prologue in Invercargill this morning.

  “Both Heath and Glen are in great shape and will be really strong this year. So my job is to help them and look after them,” Bewley said. “Of course I’d love to win a stage this year and I will be giving it everything.”

  Bewley, who was part of the medal winning team pursuit at the Beijing Olympic Games last year, says he’s motivated to ride well, despite a long season.

  “I had eight days off after the world championships but aside from that I have pretty much ridden through,” said Bewley. “I don’t feel jaded at all though. I am naturally excited and motivated about next year.

  “I am not in my best shape right now but I am ok. I will definitely be looking for the opportunity to get a stage win if I can,” he added. “The conditions are the key. It is likely to blow pretty hard and it can create opportunities for a breakaway. I will need to be attentive to those opportunities to get away in a small break. That will be my best chance.”

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• Cycling Australia announce people's choice finalists

  

  Article published:

  November 2, 02:19

  By:

  Cycling News

  Eight contenders to vie for annual award

  Cycling Australia has unveiled eight riders nominated by the public for its 2009 People’s Choice Cyclist of the Year award. Nominations include Australia’s first International Cycling Union (UCI) World Road Champion Cadel Evans and Grand Tour stage winner Simon Gerrans.

  The national body is now inviting Australian cycling fans to select their winner of the eight nominations. The winner will be announced at the Jayco Australian Cyclist of the Year Awards in Melbourne, Victoria on November 22, 2009.

  Voting will close at midnight Friday 6, November 2009 AEST. Voting is open to Australian residents only and all those who lodge a nomination will go in the draw for a prize pack, which includes flights and accommodation to attend the awards night.

  Other finalists include Mountain Bike World Champions Caroline Buchanan and Jared Graves, Mark Cavendish’s lead-out man Mark Renshaw and track World Cup gold medallist Anna Measres.

  Visit Cycling Australia's finalist page to vote for your favourite from the final eight (link opens to an external website in a new window).

  Finalists are: Brendan Bailey, Caroline Buchanan, Cadel Evans, Simon Gerrans, Jared Graves, Anna Meares, Mark Renshaw and Sam Willoughby.

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• Evans confident in BMC organisation

  

  Article published:

  November 2, 02:28

  By:

  Les Clarke

  Swiss squad’s Tour debut could come a season early

  Cadel Evans has indicated he’s confident in BMC Racing’s ability to deliver him an optimal racing programme following the announcement he would be riding for the Swiss squad in 2010. Whilst the team hasn’t yet competed in a Grand Tour, Evans’ sentiments, coupled with directeur sportif John Lelangue’s statement of intent to ride the Tour de France, may calm the nerves of those who thought the Australian’s move would rule him out of la grande boucle next July.

  Evans told Cyclingnews that the move to BMC Racing, “had been in the works for a while – well before the world championships. We just wanted to do everything correctly, within the rules in terms of confidentiality and so on.

  “When the idea [of moving to BMC Racing] first occurred to me I thought, ‘It’s BMC, not a big team or anything’; and of course when I’m making a decision like this I do a fair bit of research,” said Evans. “Then we looked at the names in the team, the plans they have plus where they want to go – everybody [in the team] wants to go to the Tour de France in 2011.

  “At that point Andy Rihs and John Lelangue said, ‘Maybe you’d be interested in going to the Tour in 2010…’ and I thought, ‘Oh…’ We had a couple of meetings and it was amazing how everything was in place and ready to go,” he said. “I was just like, ‘This is just such a neat fit for me’.”

  The Australian, who finished second in the Tour in 2007 and 2008 before winning this year’s International Cycling Union (UCI) World Championship road race in Mendrisio, Switzerland, will undoubtedly be the team’s Grand Tour general classification gun. Evans will be riding alongside the likes of George Hincapie, Alessandro Ballan and Karsten Kroon. It’s a quality line-up managed by people who have experience in the season’s biggest races, such as Lelangue.

  “John Lelangue lives in Belgium and we have a Swiss manufacturer for our bikes [as headline sponsor]. The company wants to improve its bikes the best way it can, using a professional team to do so. I thought, ‘This is already a good start’,” said Evans.

  Evans lives close to the Swiss-Italian border with his Italian wife, Chiara, and is virtually regarded as a local. He indicated that riding for a Swiss team was an obvious choice.

  The Lelangue connection may be the team’s best weapon in its quest to start next year’s Tour, however. Lelangue is a former employee of Tour organiser Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO) and has managed the Phonak team at the event. The Swiss squad has already been invited to the Giro d’Italia and despite only saying that he will ride the Giro “sometime before the end of my career” Evans has his sights firmly on riding next year’s edition of the season’s biggest race.

  "We have a plan to go to the biggest races, including the Grand Tours. That includes the Tour de France," said Lelangue recently. "This will be possible since our sporting level has greatly increased in standard."

  Evans explained that he’s been in contact with the Belgian directeur, their working relationship developing quickly. “I didn’t know John Lelangue personally but of course we’ve been having some discussions recently and we’ll be planning every day between know and the Tour de France so everything’s in place, ready to go,” said Evans.

  Evans neither confirmed nor denied that he was riding next year’s opening ProTour event, the Tour Down Under. Given BMC Racing’s status as a Professional Continental team, a start in the January event would be difficult to obtain. “Whether we start the Tour Down Under or not… I’d definitely like to keep the Australian public happy and race on Australian soil with the rainbow jersey, but until a few hours ago I didn’t even know what team I was on! It means we have to do one thing at a time,” he explained.

  Team principal Rihs’ previous engagement in professional cycling ended badly when former ProTour squad Phonak disbanded at the end of the 2006 season after several torrid years. They included winning and subsequently losing the Tour de France after Floyd Landis tested positive to synthetic testosterone, in addition to a string of doping cases that eventually forced Rihs to withdraw his sponsorship due to bad publicity.

  “Of course that’s something I considered but then Andy Rihs was trying to win the Tour de France and Floyd Landis was a rider capable of that,” said Evans. “What Floyd Landis did outside of the team I really don’t know.

  “It raises two points, though: the fact that Andy Rihs comes back with another team and another project with the same goal after that experience shows his enthusiasm and passion for the sport. He also comes back very carefully and guarded,” he explained.

  “Another aspect is Andy Rihs’ mentality to cycling – he only discovered it recently but he’s an entrepreneur, he’s quite a wealthy man and now he conducts more than half of his business on the bike,” he said. “He’s just discovered cycling and he sees it as this great recreational tool and he wants to promote the sport of cycling, which fits in well with my mentality. And he wants to win the Tour too, so we have a few things in common.”

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  Tags:

  Tour de France

• Silence-Lotto surprised by Evans' transfer to BMC

  

  Article published:

  November 2, 12:44

  By:

  Susan Westemeyer

  Australian pays a year's salary to buy out last year of contract

  Cadel Evans' decision to leave Silence-Lotto a year early came as a surprise to the Belgian team. “Nothing pointed in that direction,” said team manager Marc Sergeant.

  Evans' manager Tony Rominger called Silence-Lotto sponsor chief Marc Coucke with the news at the end of last week. The team announced his departure Saturday.

  Sergeant said that Evans had already created his 2010 season schedule with Directeur Sportif Roberto Damiani. “There was no signal. We had also signed the Spaniard Moreno to help him. Over the years, we tried to build up the team for the Grand Tours,” Sergeant told Sportwereld.be.

  US-based BMC Racing Team announced Sunday that Evans had joined on a three-year contract.

  Evans was able to break his contract with Silence-Lotto due to a clause inserted in it only last year. The clause allowed him out of the contract for a fee of one year's salary.

  The relationship between Evans and Silence Lotto had deteriorated since the Tour de France this summer, according to Sportwereld. Coucke indicated that Belgian Jurgen Van den Broeck would be a more worthy team captain in the future after Evans lost nearly 30 minutes on the 17th stage to Le Grand Bornand.

  Evans also clashed with most people associated with the team and really only got along with DS Hendrik Redant and chiropractor David Bombeke after the Tour, according Sportwereld.

  “You're not happy when you hear of such a transfer,” Coucke said. “Of course it is hard, but we have to continue.

  “When Cadel Evans arrived with us, he was Mister Nobody.” He noted that Evans “will want to cash in on his [World Champion] rainbow jersey and he apparently got the chance to get a big raise.”

  Van den Broeck will benefit from Evans' absence. He finished 15th in the Tour last year and could become the team's Tour de France captain. “Finding a replacement now for Cadel won't be easy,” he said. “I assume that I will have a different role. It makes me nervous.“

  Van Den Broeck was mildly critical of Evans. “It is said that I learnt a lot from Cadel. They shouldn't exaggerate. I rode with him once, on the stage to the Sierra Nevada. That's it. I also know now to best prepare myself for a Grand Tour.”

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