First Edition Cycling News, Tuesday, February 16, 2010

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Date published:

February 16, 2010, 11:00

• Trofeo Costa Etrusca cancelled

  

  Article published:

  February 15, 2010, 20:23

  By:

  Cycling News

  Pro women's calendar shrinks even further

  Organisers of the Trofeo Costa Etrusca announced today that the race has been cancelled. The event, originally scheduled for three days from March 19-21 had already been cut to two days citing funding problems.

  "It was unexpected how many very serious problems of a familiar character we have that are preventing the dedication of myself and the organization of an event as complex as the Trofeo Costa Etrusca," said race director Renzo Parietti. "Together, with my collaborators, we really thank you for your understanding, we have decided to cancel our international appointment for elite women."

  The race is the fifth high-profile women's event to be removed from the UCI calendar this year. The Montreal World Cup, Grand Tour du Montreal and Tour de PEI were lost in one swoop earlier this year when the promoter retired. The Grand Boucle Feminine stage race was not granted UCI status this year.

  The World Cup rounds in Nürnberger and Berne were also lost this year, and while the Chongming Island round in China is a welcome addition, few women's teams can afford to travel halfway around the world for a one-day race as many are having their own budget problems in the wake of the global economic decline.

  The fragility of women's cycling is further demonstrated by the disappearance of several big teams including Flexpoint, Vision 1, Bigla and Selle Italia. The planned Skyter team which was supposed to be the squad of Olympic champion Nicole Cooke imploded, leaving behind the underfunded Noris team, while Cooke opted to ride out the season with the British National Team.

  Since reaching its peak in 2007 with 44 teams, the women's professional peloton has shrunk to just 27 UCI registered teams for 2010.

• Boasson Hagen targets overall success in Oman

  

  Article published:

  February 15, 2010, 21:16

  By:

  Stephen Farrand

  Decisive hilly time trial stage suits the Norwegian

  Edvald Boasson Hagen pulled on three jerseys at the end of stage two of the Tour of Oman on Monday but quickly made it clear he's only targeting one of them.

  The 22 year-old Norwegian, who has been affectionately nicknamed Eddy –as in Eddy Merckx, as well as Edvald, by his teammates at Team Sky, pulled on the white best young rider's jersey, the green points jersey and the red race leader's jersey after finishing third on the stage behind Daniele Bennati (Liquigas) and Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Transitions).

  During Tuesday's 124km third stage from Saifat Ash Shiekh to Qurayvat, Boasson Hagen will wear the leader's red jersey and hopes to keep it until after the probable decisive stage, the 18.5km time trial on Friday.

  "It was great job by the whole team and it's good to get the leader's jersey thanks to the time bonuses. Now we've got to try and keep it for the rest of the week," he said after patiently collecting his three jersey, three trophies and three bouquets of flowers on the podium.

  "The Tour of Oman is a harder race than Qatar and so hopefully it's possible I can win it. It's early in the season and I've done mainly cross country skiing rather than long hours on the bike, so I wasn't expecting to have good form, but I feel good now and hopefully I can keep going like this."

  Friday's time trial includes some leg-sapping rollercoaster hills in the first section before diving down to the capital Muscat. The hills and length of the stage will mean the pure sprinters will have no chance of victory, but the same factors give Boasson Hagen a great chance to win his first stage race for Team Sky.

  "I hope so. But it's a lot up and down. Hopefully I can manage to go fast in the time trial as well in the sprints in the next few days," Boasson Hagen said.

  Cancellara, Pinotti and Bennati

  World time trial champion Fabian Cancellara (Saxo Bank) is the natural favourite for the time trial, but he is still working on his early season form and revealed he might not be a threat to Boasson Hagen. He could still win the time trial but could lose time during the hilly stages.

  "I'm taking things day by day and it's a bit early to start thinking about the final time trial," he told Cyclingnews. "Let's see what the two hilly stages bring and then we'll see how things stand and decide what to do on the last day."

  Boasson Hagen's biggest overall rival could be Italy's Marco Pinotti. HTC-Columbia brought him out to the Tour of Oman specifically to target the overall and the final time trial. However there are other names to remember. Stage two winner Daniele Bennati (Liquigas) could be an interesting outsider that many would overlook. But the Italian was happy to add his name to the list of possible overall winners.

  "I'm back to my best after working really hard in the winter and I think I showed it by winning the sprint. I'm a decent time trialist and can get over the hills, so I'm hoping I can be up there. With time bonuses on ever on each stage before then, it could be very close," Bennati said.

  We will find out just how close on Friday afternoon.

• Australia gathering research with worlds camp

  

  Article published:

  February 15, 2010, 21:29

  By:

  Greg Johnson

  Green and gold girls looking for home turf advantage

  Australia's top female time trialers are attending a training camp in Melbourne, Australia this week to scout the 2010 UCI World Road Championships time trial course. The riders will also spend time in Monash University's wind tunnel, where a PhD student and the Australian Institute of Sport's biomechanics department hope to improve each rider's position.

  With the course weaving through the busy streets of Geelong, Australia's top women's coach Martin Barras has broken the route down in to eight segments which will be completed individually over two time slots today. Riders attending the camp include current Australian champion in the discipline Amber Halliday, top Australia finisher at last year's worlds Alexis Rhodes and time trial convert Bridie O'Donnell.

  "It's a heavily urbanized course which makes it unpractical to run the course all in one shot without any interruptions due to traffic lights, traffic or stop signs," Barras told Cyclingnews. "There will be no trial event, so for a local team there's no option to run a full rehearsal on the course.

  "We're taking the girls on the course with the purpose of familiarizing themselves with the course – wind directions, road conditions - all those kind of things," he added. "We're recording the performances so we can start profiling the type of race we're going to get."

  Barras hopes the data gathered from the camp will assist with designing course-specific training programs and also project a likely winning time for the event. It's the second camp the Australian squad has held on the course and with the European season about to get underway it also represents the last chance to gather data on the course before worlds.

  "It's very much to improve our knowledge of the course, improve our knowledge of the girls which go with us to the course, so we can then apply the best training prescription as possible," said Barras. "On top of that we want to get an assessment of the course conditions and a likely winning time, those kind of things."

  When the riders hit the wind tunnel later this week they're hopeful of finding the right wheels, helmets and skin suits for each rider. Barras believes international cycling is heading towards very discipline-specific riders and wants to support riders like O'Donnell in becoming a time trial focused rider.

  "There's two general mandates when it comes to the wind tunnel, one is to go through the rider's positions individually," he said.

  "We want to understand the principals of not just aerodynamics but specifically time trial and cycling aerodynamics. There's a bit of experimentation and learning that goes along with the optimization of positions."

  Riders attending Australian women's time trial training camp: Alex Rhodes, Vicki Whitelaw, Bridie O'Donnell, Tiffany Cromwell, Sarah Roy, Carly Light, Alexandra Carle and Amber Halliday.

• Xacobeo Galicia presentation a 'family' affair

  

  Article published:

  February 16, 2010, 06:51

  By:

  Cycling News

  Pro Conti squad continues to punch above its weight in 2010

  Xacobeo Galicia presented its 2010 squad on Sunday, and true to style the low key affair reflected the team's focus on its regional roots.

  The festivities included a religious ceremony in Obradoiro Square, followed by a team ride with 200 young locals (pictured, right) and a presentation of the squad by President of the Xunta de Galicia Alberto Núñez Feijoo, Regional Minister of Culture and Tourism Roberto Varela and General Secretary for Sports, Jose R. Lete.

  The team took out the teams classification at last year's Vuelta a España, with captain Ezequiel Mosquera securing fifth place on general classifcation. This came after the squad had ridden the Giro d'Italia may, its first grand tour appearance.

  The Galician squad was again granted Professional Continental status by the UCI and aims to return to the Vuelta this season to defend its crown, and while there were lingering doubts about the team's future late last year, the announcement of its status and eligibility to ride the season's biggest races meant the regional outfit would continue to punch above its weight in 2010.

• Roberts focuses on Classics and Giro

  

  Article published:

  February 16, 2010, 08:05

  By:

  Richard Tyler

  Milram rider to make second career Grand Tour appearance in May

  Bouyed by a strong start to the season which sees him in fifth on the UCI world rankings, Australian Luke Roberts is hopeful he can hold his strong form through the Spring Classics and into the second Grand Tour appearance of his career at the Giro d'Italia.

  "When I was with Team CSC I raced Paris-Roubaix with [Fabian] Cancellara and Stuart O'Grady when they won, so I've got a lot of experience that I'm hoping I can put to use at Milram," Roberts told Cyclingnews in Mallorca, Spain, on Monday.

  The 33-year-old will shortly embark on a Spring calendar that features Milan-Sanremo (March 20), Gent-Wevelgem (March 28), the Tour of Flanders (April 4) and Paris-Roubaix (April 11). His preparation for the Classics began ideally thanks to a strong return to the ProTour at last month's Tour Down Under, where he finished fifth overall, 17 seconds adrift of winner André Greipel.

  "When I met with [Milram] we spoke about the Tour Down Under as an important goal; I know the roads and I've had a lot of experience at the race." said Roberts, who had expected to arrive in Adelaide in good form. "Finishing last season early meant I could put in a really strong couple of months of training, so the Tour Down Under was a big goal."

  Although pleased with his result at home, Roberts admitted things could have gone even better. "I was hoping it would be a little bit harder, to be honest. It was more difficult that previous years but it was still essentially a sprinter's race.

  "I knew it would be difficult to get the time bonuses over the sprinters so I decided to have that dig on the Saturday [stage 5] from a kilometre out and was able to get a time bonus and time on the peloton which I was able to hang on to. If it had been a little bit harder it would have been good for me."

  In addition to his potential for the Tour Down Under and the Classics, Milram signed Roberts to bolster the lead-out train of their star sprinter, Gerald Ciolek. A crash last week's Tour of Qatar has ruled the German out of competition for as much as two months, but Roberts is confident the team has the depth to cover the enforced absence of their marquee fast man; Roger Kluge's emergence in Qatar coming as little surprise to the Australian.

  "Roger's still young, he's got a lot to learn. I raced with him on the road in Germany over the past two years so I knew he was a major talent. I was pleased when I heard he'd signed with the team," said Roberts. "But we've got plenty of riders who can step up and fill Gerald's shoes while he's out. Kluge and guys like Wim Stroetinga are guys who can sprint."

  Roberts indicated that Ciolek's prognosis had caused a minor reshuffle of his programme, with Tirreno-Adriatico likely to be replaced with a start at the Tour of Murcia. However, despite the possible changes, supporting his team at the Giro d'Italia will remain a clear focus.

  The event will be Roberts first three-week race since his Grand Tour debut at the 2005 Tour de France with Danish squad CSC. "We'll have to wait and see what happens with Gerald's recovery. It's possible that he could recover enough to still have a strong first week at the Giro. He won't lose his pure speed," explained Roberts.

  Like his teammates, Roberts' contract with Milram only runs to the end of the 2010 season. Last December, team sponsors announced their intention to withdraw from the sport at the end of the current year, increasing the pressure on management and riders alike. Despite the extra burden of uncertainty surrounding the team, Roberts has already observed an air of confidence amongst his colleagues.

  "It's obviously not a hot topic of conversation at the dinner table, but I think it's in the back of everyone's minds. We've got the talent that if everyone does their part we can have a really good season," he said.

  "I can't speak for the difference in this year to last, but I think [Milram manager] Gerry van Gerwen's been trying to inject a new mentality into the team. From what I can see he's done a good job and I think everyone's excited."

• Sutherland and De Maar reunited Stateside

  

  Article published:

  February 16, 2010, 10:00

  By:

  Kirsten Frattini

  United Healthcare pair targets Tour of California

  United Healthcare presented by Maxxis's recruitment of powerhouse rider Marc de Maar from the Rabobank ProTour team means the Dutchman has been reunited with former teammate and two-time NRC winner Rory Sutherland as the team held its opening training camp in Tucson, Arizona last week.

  "It was a really nice camp and it was different to what I'm used to in Europe because we did a lot of cycling and training and of course we had some sponsor activities and some team building stuff," De Maar told Cyclingnews.

  "I'm living here full time now. Before camp I stayed at Rory's place in Boulder, Colorado and that's also the place where I will stay the rest of the season. I will try to find an apartment for myself because at the moment I am still staying at Rory's and he will kick me out I'm afraid."

  De Maar, 26, arrived Stateside after a four-year term with the Rabobank ProTour team. He spent the majority of his career with the Dutch squad, beginning with the youth program in 2001 and 2002, followed by the amateur team in 2004 and 2005 before joining the ProTour ranks. Sutherland's five-year term with Rabobank overlapped with De Maar's in 2004, when they were both racing for the amateur outfit.

  "Marc is fitting in really well," explained Sutherland. "I think it's always difficult for a foreigner to come into a predominantly English-speaking team and in a different country. The language, sponsors and the way you live is different, everything changes.

  "It's not an easy step to make but I have a great respect for Marc. I know what he can do on a bike and I wouldn't have recommended him to the team if I didn't think it was someone that could head into the way that we race here and really help the team."

  De Maar noted that with the Rabobank ProTour team he was just one of many good riders who spent countless races working for riders like Denis Menchov and Oscar Freire. This year, United Healthcare presented by Maxxis has given him a leadership role that includes guiding the younger riders plus a novel opportunity to go after his own race results.

  "In the last three years I had a lot of bad luck with some injury and sickness," said De Maar. "I wanted to get everything in my career back and settled again. I decided to take a little step back in order to take two steps forward.

  "One of the most important things is to get the fun back in riding the bike and that is what I missed in the last two years. That was one of the main reasons that I was looking for some new kind of adventure. This team is really ambitious and they might want to make a step to Europe. I didn't have to think long about it."

  De Maar and Sutherland's Californian adventure

  United Healthcare presented by Maxxis will begin racing at the Merco Credit Union Cycling Classic, San Dimas Stage Race and the Redlands Bicycle Classic in March. The team will also target Tour of Bisbee, Tour of the Gila, Southeast Crits and Joe Martin before the Tour of California.

  Sutherland is a two-time winner of the NRC but admitted that it's not his main goal. "I don't think that I have ever targeted the NRC," he said. "If you win the bike races the NRC comes by itself. Our aim is to try to go in and win as many bike races as we can and if at the end of the day the NRC comes then that's fantastic, and it has come for us."

  De Maar outlined some of the differences he has heard of between European and US bike racing, namely that there is less control during the races in the US. He requested to start his season as early as possible to adapt to the possible changes and familiarise himself with some of his competitors.

  "I am good all around," De Maar said. "I can do a good time trial and I am not great climber but I can do 1500 metres uphill well. A lot of guys here call themselves a climber - I was a good climber in the amateurs too, but in Europe if you want to be a climber you really have to go very fast on the hills. I think it is different, I can call myself a climber over here. In Europe I was not a climber."

  De Maar and Sutherland are targeting the Tour of California, which begins on May 16 in Nevada City and concludes on May 23 in Agoura Hills. Although De Maar has never competed in the event, he believes the racing will be similar to that of any major stage race held in Europe and will spend the majority of March in California preparing for the event's key stages.

  "My main focus is to win a stage and that is going to be difficult enough," said De Maar. "I think you have to put the goals as high as you can. I think it's a good goal and realistic. We have a lot of good guys."

• Contador: First race since Tour de France

  

  Article published:

  February 16, 2010, 10:19

  By:

  Cycling News

  Downplays chances of repeating 2009 Algarve victory

  Alberto Contador is getting ready for his first race of the season, the Volta ao Algarve, and is downplaying his chances of repeating his overall victory in the Portuguese race from last year.

  The Astana leader knows his rivals will keep a closer eye on him and he, “will not get the same opportunities as in 2009.” In addition, last year he came directly to the race after a training camp in California. “This year, however, there has been very bad weather in Madrid and I have not trained as I would have liked.”

  “Anyway, this is the first race of the year, and we should not give it too much importance.”

  The Tour de France winner is still looking forward to the race, though. “I am a rider who likes to compete and that's what motivates me. I think I come with a good level, but not with that of 2009, when I won.”

  His main goal, he said, was not to win but to prepare for future racing. “I'm fine, but what I want is to have good preparation for Paris-Nice, which I want to contest.”

  Wednesday's start will be his first UCI-ranked race since the Tour de France last summer, making this the longest he has ever voluntarily not raced. Starting up again, “is a handicap, because you lack a bit. It's not as if you had finished the season after the Worlds,” Contador said.

  “You must train hard to reach the same point, although it has its positive side. In the long term, the body will appreciate this rest.”

  Contador is not one to rest on his laurels, and looks to keep on getting better. “I think I can improve in both mountain and time trials. I'm doing some tests and the results are even better than last year. I hope that it works out in competition.”

   

• Rasmussen still considering Mexican citizenship

  

  Article published:

  February 16, 2010, 10:42

  By:

  Cycling News

  Wants to ride Worlds in native Denmark in 2011

  Michael Rasmussen is considering taking on Mexican citizenship in order to ride the World Championships in his native Denmark in 2011. Rasmussen is eligible because his wife is a Mexican citizen.

  Since his two-year suspension for violating the “whereabouts” rules before the 2007 Tour de France, the Danish Cycling Federation (DCU) has said it would not nominate him to the national team.

  Being excluded from the team, he would “lose the opportunity to stand at the Worlds,” he told the Danish website politiken.dk. "I'd love to ride the Worlds on home soil next year and if it is not feasible as a Dane, then I still go as a Mexican."

  Last year Rasmussen, 35, rode with the Mexican team Tecos Trek, before signing with Miche for the 2010 season. He indicated that he was told it would not be a problem to get Mexican citizenship, and the plan is still under serious consideration.

  "I have far from abandoned the idea, and it is actually the only way out if the DCU does not change its attitude,” he said.

  Rasmussen's next race will be the Trofeo Laigueglia, followed by the Giro de Sardegna, February 23 – 27.

  “Although it is still early in the season, it is a race I look forward to with some expectations. Partly because it will hopefully be slightly warmer, and also because one of the stages offers an exciting finale with a long climb,” he said.