First Edition Cycling News, Saturday, July 4, 2009

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Date published:

July 4, 15:00

• Stapleton: HTC chose cycling over F1

  

  Article published:

  July 3, 20:15

  By:

  Richard Moore

  Cell phone maker angling to become title sponsor

  Bob Stapleton has revealed that his team's new co-sponsor, HTC, could eventually replace Columbia as main sponsor. He also said that HTC rejected an opportunity to become involved with Formula One in order to enter cycling sponsorship instead.

  The Columbia-HTC manager unveiled the team's new kit on the eve of the Tour, just as he did when Columbia came onboard exactly a year ago, and admitted that finding the new sponsor in the current economic climate had been one of the toughest challenges he has ever faced.

  "I've been a general manager for twenty-five years," said Stapleton, "and this is the toughest environment I've been in for business. HTC have big goals as an international brand, they're strong and ambitious, they want to expand in Europe, and it was lucky they had goals relevant to ours.

  "They were approached by Formula One, and other sports, but cycling, in terms of the technical aspect, the lifestyle and fitness aspects, appealed; the buyers of their phones are engaged in cycling."

  Stapleton added that HTC could eventually become the team's main sponsor. "They have the ambition to be the number one sponsor. They're a strong, stable company. Columbia are contracted through to the end of next year, HTC through to the end of 2011."

  This fits in with the team's long-term plans. "We're building a longer runway for the plane," said Stapleton.

  Stapleton also spoke about the difficulties of selecting the nine riders who make up the Columbia-HTC team, only four of whom featured in last year's successful Tour team. "It was very difficult – we have enough guys for two teams," he said. "We had fifteen guys on the long list, but we got down to exactly where they are in terms of their fitness, and broke it down stage by stage.

  "It's a Swiss army knife of riders – we have different riders for different jobs. We have guys who can help to chase down breaks, guys who can defend jerseys and set up sprints. And guys like Bert [Grabsch] who is one of the biggest work horses in the sport."

• Farrar on the hunt for stages

  

  Article published:

  July 3, 20:18

  By:

  Laura Weislo

  Garmin-Slipstream sprinter looking for first Grand Tour stage win

  The circus that is the Tour de France is about to be underway in Monaco, and there will be a new rider keen to be showing himself in the bunch sprints: Garmin-Slipstream's Tyler Farrar. The 25-year-old from Wenatchee, Washington will embark on his first Tour start on Saturday, but will be revisiting some familiar roads around Monaco.

  "I actually lived in Beausoleil during the first year of my pro career in Europe, so it's good to come back. I haven't been here for three years - and it's nice to see my old training roads and the places where I used to hang out a lot," Farrar told Cyclingnews.

  The promising young sprinter is excited to get started in the "big show", and is feeling well-prepared for the race and for the hype that surrounds it, especially after having gotten his first Grand Tour start in this year's Giro under his belt.

  "The Giro was nice preparation both physically and for all the other stuff that goes along with the Grand Tours. But the Tour is different - there's nothing else that really compares with the circus that goes along with it - it's interesting to be here, that's for sure."

  Farrar has made steady progress in the very specialized arena of road sprinting. He took his first professional win in 2007 while riding for Cofidis, and steadily worked his way into consistent top 10 finishes after joining the Garmin team last year. Earlier this year, he achieved something very few people have been able to do over the past two years: he beat Mark Cavendish in a bunch sprint on stage 3 of Tirreno-Adriatico in March.

  But unlike his British rival, Farrar is polite to a fault and refuses to rise to journalists' bait and engage in any pre-race smack-talk. When asked if he thought he could repeat that win over Cavendish, Farrar would only say that he is feeling confident in his condition.

  "I came off the Giro pretty well. Had a good month in between - I won a few races and got some really solid training to get ready. It'll just be a matter of getting into the race and trying to make it happen."

  With Friday's decision by the French court to allow Quick Step's Tom Boonen into the race, Farrar has another rival to be concerned with. But, he said, it doesn't change his strategy.

  "He's a really good sprinter with a strong team, so it might be another team that contributes to controlling breaks to make the bunch sprints happen, and do the lead-out. But it doesn't change too much. There are a lot of good sprinters here."

  Farrar runs the sprints like a freelancer - able to adapt to the situation and take his best shot in any type of finish. We saw him in the Giro taking second in a tough uphill sprint to Alessandro Petacchi on stage 3 of the Giro when Cavendish was kept out of the sprint because of a crash. Then, Farrar took third to Cavendish and Davis in the Milan stage and then second again, this time to Cavendish, on the blisteringly fast finish on stage 11.

  What kind of sprint does he need to bag his first Grand Tour stage? "It doesn't have to be anything special: there will be several opportunities to go for the bunch kicks and I'll have a crack at it every time. It'll come down to Julian Dean and I really putting it together for the positioning. If I'm there with open road at 200m I can have a good shot at it."

  Farrar may have a little bit more help in the bunch sprints since the team added Dutch rider Martijn Maaskant to the roster to replace climber Dan Martin.

  "It's a pity we lost Dan to the knee injury - it's unfortunate for him, I'm sure he was really excited about riding the Tour, and he would have been really strong in the mountains.

  "Martijn is another great guy who can really roll on the flats and will definitely beef up our lead-out train a bit."

• Sastre respects his rivals, Armstrong should do the same

  

  Article published:

  July 3, 22:14

  By:

  Anthony Tan in Monaco

  Cervélo rider responds to Armstrong calling 2008 Tour "a joke"

  "It's his point of view, his words, his life – I'm not interested in anything about that. I think he's a great champion – he won seven Tours de France, the world [road] championship… he's a great rider. But just behind every rider must be a person, and in that respect, maybe he needs to learn something more."

  No guesses for working out who Carlos Sastre was referring to at the Cervélo TestTeam press conference Friday in Monaco. The defending Tour de France champion had been asked about Lance Armstrong's comments in a recently-published book, gushingly entitled, 'Lance Armstrong: The World's Greatest Champion'.

  Certain extracts of the book have spread like wildfire on the Internet, particularly in reference to remarks Armstrong made about last year's Tour de France. "I'll kick their asses," he told author John Wilcockson in a conversation soon after the 2008 Tour, discussing his planned comeback. "The Tour was a bit of a joke this year. I've got nothing against Sastre… or Christian Vande Velde. Christian's a nice guy, but finishing fifth in the Tour de France? Come on!"

  Honesty and humility appear to make Sastre a more likeable figure among the press than cycling fans, who tend to gravitate towards stars with more boisterous, larger-than-life personalities. And for this reason, the innocuous meeting room used for the press conference at the Novotel Monaco – a modest, by Tour de France standard, three-star hotel that lacked the bells and whistles of some bigger budget teams – was far too small.

  Continue to the full feature.

• Trek Speed Concept preview

  

  Article published:

  July 4, 09:33

  By:

  James Huang

  Out-of-the-box thinking for Trek's new Speed Concept time trial bike

  Trek Bicycles has borrowed a page from automotive aerodynamic design for its latest Speed Concept time trial machine, first seen under Alberto Contador (Astana) at last month's Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré and soon to be used by teammates Lance Armstrong and Levi Leipheimer as well for the Tour de France start in Monaco. Just as the sharply squared-off trailing edges reduce drag on high-performance vehicles – and high-mileage ones like the Toyota Prius – Trek says the unconventional shape will make its new Speed Concept the slipperiest machine on the road.

  The Speed Concept's Kamm tail 'virtual airfoil' design features what is essentially an 8:1 airfoil but with an abruptly chopped trailing edge. According to Trek, air passing over the Kamm airfoil surface simply doesn't realize the rear section is missing and still cleanly reconvenes afterwards as if it was still there. It's not a new idea but it's very well proven in motor sports and Trek says it has also validated the concept with its own wind tunnel testing.

  Quite conveniently, the truncated Kamm airfoil thus yields the lower drag figures of an 8:1 section but still neatly fits within the UCI's now-infamous 3:1 airfoil 'box'. According to Trek, the blunter shape's aero advantage only continues to increase at greater yaw angles up to about 15 degrees, too – exactly what time trial bikes typically see in real world conditions.

  Moreover, Trek claims the squared-off shape also makes for a lighter and stiffer structure. Even with its lower drag numbers, the Speed Concept prototype framesets are said to be a significant 200g lighter than the current Equinox TTX SSL and yet 17 percent more rigid for better handling and more efficient power transfer.

  Up front, Trek adopts the increasingly popular external steerer tube design, which maintains a deeper and more aerodynamic total section depth but in an especially narrow package that still maintains good front-end stiffness by clamping both ends of the head tube. However, unlike the inline stems used by Giant, Scott and now Specialized, Trek sticks to a low top tube design paired with a neatly integrated aero stem plus a conventional cylindrical-clamp aero bar for greater positioning flexibility. The fork crown is decidedly roomy, too – an idea already incorporated on the TTX that supposedly eases airflow around the spinning wheel and tire.

  The Speed Concept boasts an impressive level of system integration as well, all in an effort to decrease drag. The BB90 bottom bracket design is borrowed from the road-going Madone but the Speed Concept goes far further with brakes that are fully incorporated into the frame structure with only a smidgeon of caliper arm and brake pad peeking out from the otherwise-smooth aero skin. The caliper arms themselves are neatly contoured to match to the surrounding area – just below the head tube up front and down in the chain stays behind the bottom bracket down below. As a result, the Speed Concept's brakes aren't just hidden within the frame – they're part of the frame.

  The non-driveside chain stay is an especially busy area. In addition to the rear brake, that frame member also houses Trek's new DuoTrap wireless speed and cadence sensor, which picks up information from the rear wheel and crank magnets while barely interrupting airflow. If the idea of integrated electronics in bicycles still seems foreign to you, you'd better get used to it – the idea is here to stay and is only bound to grow from here.

  Of course, cables are fully internally routed, starting from the controls and running inside the bar, then taking a turn through the stem and then right into the top of the top tube – and all of it is fully hidden from the exterior. Since the brakes themselves are internal, too, those lines never see the light of day save for installation and maintenance while the front and rear derailleur cables only exit just before they're needed. It's perhaps a headache for the mechanics but that's unfortunately of little consequence when valuable seconds are on the line. Given how infrequently these bikes are apt to be used, hopefully the process won't have to be repeated often, either.

  Before you're tempted to head to your local dealer with a bag full of cash, Trek says the Speed Concept is strictly a team-only item at the moment and is still in the development phase. However, Trek marketing director Dean Gore admitted that the company absolutely has plans to offer the bike to the public but likely not before the 2011 model year. Though most of the design work has been completed, there is still more to be done to make the Speed Concept easier to assemble and maintain for non-Pro Tour mechanics.

  The UCI may force Trek's hand depending on what it says on Saturday however. According to new technical guidelines, race bikes now must be "marketed" or "marketable" at the time of competition and if need be, Trek will accelerate the development timeline accordingly or perhaps even offer the Speed Concept as some sort of special order item to the public in its current form. Either way, Gore insists that Armstrong, Contador and Leipheimer will be using these innovative machines in Saturday's opening Tour de France time trial and beyond – whatever it takes.

• Armstrong and Leipheimer to start early

  

  Article published:

  July 4, 12:15

  By:

  Hedwig Kröner

  Possible showers move Astana's top men around

  Looking at Saturday's weather forecast, Astana might have made a wise decision yesterday when deciding on its riders' starting order for the opening stage of this year's Tour de France. Looking at the time schedule for the 15.5km time trial, and knowing the capabilities of the outfit's star riders against the clock, you'd expect to see the names of Lance Armstrong or Levi Leipheimer towards the end of the stage. But the squad have chosen to make them roll down the start ramp early, in 18th (4.17pm) and 38th position (4.37pm) respectively. Andreas Klöden and Alberto Contador, on the other hand, will race later, as the 138th (6.17pm) and 178th riders (7.05pm) to start.

  As it is the teams' own choice to establish a starting order, Cyclingnews asked Astana spokesman Philippe Maertens why they took this decision. "Armstrong and Leipheimer actually preferred to start early, even though it does mean that they will not have any good intermediate times for reference," he said on Saturday morning. "Also, as we have four riders that are really good time triallists, it seemed a good option to mitigate the risks of deteriorating weather conditions. It's true that if it rains,
  at least this way we might have a chance to save some of our riders from racing on wet roads. Of course we don't know if it's going to rain at all, or if that will be at four or seven o'clock."

  During the last few days, weather in Monaco was hot and humid, with clouds always rising up during the afternoon. There was never any rain, but the weather forecast for Saturday did evoke a risk of thunderstorm for the later afternoon, just in time for the Tour's Grand Départ. On this particular course, wet tarmac could be a major factor as the second half of the circuit around the city of Monte Carlo is all downhill, on twisty and small roads. If a thunderstorm does break lose towards the end of the afternoon, this could set back many of the overall favourites, including Denis Menchov, Cadel Evans and Carlos Sastre.

  The speculation on team leadership within Astana thus could be settled by raindrops rather than performance, and a decision that may have seemed awkward at first but could still make perfect sense in the end.

  
   

• Caisse d'Epargne shifts focus to Pereiro in Valverde's absence

  

  Article published:

  July 4, 12:50

  By:

  Hedwig Kröner

  Luis León Sánchez aims for third week

  An admittedly battered, but not beaten Caisse d'Epargne outfit showed up at the Tour de France team's presentation on Thursday evening. Rolling up the ramp towards the stage in front of Monaco's glam harbour, one could not help but feel the absence of the team's main leader, Alejandro Valverde, and wonder if the riders of the French-Spanish squad were going to be able to make up for it.

  Due to his alleged involvement in Operación Puerto, Valverde was banned to race on Italian soil by the Italian Olympic Committee. As the Tour will move through Italy on stage 16 – and following the wishes of the team's main sponsor, who feared Valverde's participation might damage its image – the team removed the rider from its line-up prior to the start.

  Valverde's teammate Luis León Sánchez bemoaned his absence, but still thought that the team had good chances for a successful Tour. "Not having Valverde here at the start changes everything, of course," he told Cyclingnews. "Fortunately, we have other riders that can also do a good Tour, and we hope to be lucky enough to still be in front."

  Asked if Oscar Pereiro will be able to fill the space left vacant by Valverde, Sánchez replied, "I think so. Oscar has already won a Tour de France, and we are lucky to have him with us. He is in good shape, and our goal is to try for stage victories and put him in a good position for the general classification. Nevertheless, this race is all about taking it from day-to-day, you never know what will happen."

  The winner of this year's Paris-Nice meanwhile admitted that his own shape still had to improve over the next two weeks in order for him to be truly competitive towards the end of the race. "My intention is to recover racing rhythm rapidly and hopefully get to the last week in perfect condition, to try and be in front then. If I have the opportunity, then I will definitely go for a stage."

• Stephen Roche tips Contador and Cancellara for Tour

  

  Article published:

  July 4, 13:55

  By:

  Shane Stokes

  Former Tour winner predicts son's Tour chances

  Former Tour de France winner Stephen Roche has added his voice to those who have said that they expect Alberto Contador to take a second Tour title this month. The Irishman, who triumphed in 1987, outlined his favourites for the race, nominating the Spaniard as the clear leader of the Astana team.

  He felt that Lance Armstrong would have a solid, rather than a spectacular performance overall.

  "I think Contador will be the winner," he told Cyclingnews. "Menchov will be good too. I think Cadel Evens will be his normal self but I can’t see him winning. I think he will be good, but not good enough.

  "I think it [the final general classification] will be Contador, second Menchov, third Evans, or someone like [Andy] Schleck."

  Asked about last year’s champion, he said that he wasn’t expecting a stellar performance from Carlos Sastre. "He will just be himself. He hasn’t done much this year, and I can’t see him winning it. He will put in a performance but it will be limited. As for Armstrong, I think he will finish in the first ten, but I doubt if it will be in the first five."

  Instead, he gives a surprising nomination. "Going on his Tour of Switzerland performance, I think that [Fabian] Cancellara will be in the top five. He’s got great form and has lost six or seven kilos."

  This year’s race will be of particular interest to Roche as his son Nicolas, who celebrated his 25th birthday on Saturday, will be riding his first Tour. He was 13th overall in last year’s Vuelta a España, and while he hasn’t shown that kind of climbing form yet this year, his father thinks a good ride might well be in store.

  "I think he is capable of finishing this year in the first twenty, going on his performance in the Vuelta last year," he said. “But at the same time, he has to climb a lot better than he climbed in the Dauphine. He is going better now because he has lost some weight that he was supposed to lose."

  Much will depend on his motivation: "Last year he went into the Vuelta mentally destroyed because he’d broken up with his then girlfriend. He was in good physical shape and just wanted to throw everything into cycling. Now he is going into it with a [new] girlfriend, so he isn’t as angry as he would have been in the Vuelta. At the same time, he has the national champion’s jersey on his back and he wants to show that off, so it will hopefully be a good thing.”

  Roche’s nephew Daniel Martin was also due to do the race, but was forced to withdraw earlier this week due to a knee problem. Had he ridden it would have been the first time since 1992 that more than one Irishman was taking part; on that occasion, Roche, Sean Kelly and Martin Earley were all riding.

  Martin will concentrate on getting over the knee problem and then aiming for a strong performance in the Vuelta a España.