2013 Cycling Thread

[Smallville22]

Albasini wins in Switzerland

Michael Albasini won the 50th GP Kanton Aargau-Gippingen.
It was a home victory for the Orica-GreenEdge rider in the one-day race in Switzerland, beating Jonathan Hivert (Sojasun) and Marco Frapporti (Androni).
Albasini, who also won the event in 2011, prevailed at the end of the 181.5km race that comprised 12 laps of a 15.1km circuit.
The race exploded with two laps to go as several riders bridged to the four leaders, South African Daryl Impey (ORICA-GreenEDGE), Gatis Smukulis (Katusha), Jan Bakelants (RadioShack-Leopard) and Fabio Felline (Androni-Venezuela), who were part of an earlier move that made up the day’s breakaway.
Alexandr Kolobnev (Katusha) then made a significant ****** with Simone Stortoni (Lampre) going after him but it was Albasini who took victory for the second time in three years.
Former world road champion Alessandro Ballan made his return to action nearly six months after a bad crash during training.
The Italian rider broke his left leg in two places and fractured a rib in a training ride crash during BMC's training camp in Spain on December 20. He needed surgery to remove his spleen and later his appendix while recovering.

 

[Smallville22]

Voeckler wins stage six as Froome keeps Dauphiné lead

Europcar’s Thomas Voeckler sprinted to a stage six win in Grenoble as Chris Froome retained his lead of the Criterium du Dauphiné.
Voeckler was among four riders who stayed out to the end after a breakaway, with Jose Herrada (Movistar) finishing second and Kevin Seeldraeyers (Astana) third.
Froome was 20th in the favourites group at 48 seconds to retain his 52-second advantage over team-mate Richie Porte.
The trio of Assan Bazayev (Astana), Juan Antonio Flecha (Vacansoliel-DCM) and Bartosz Huzarski (NetApp-Endura) opened up a 1:25 gap as they crossed Côte d’Arvillard but Team Europcar worked hard at the front of the peloton to stay in touch as they approached the category one Col du Barioz.
Voeckler counter-attacked to join Flecha and they were joined by Seeldrayers, Herrada and Alexandre Geniez (FDJ) at the head of the race before Flecha faded.
Mikel Nieve (Euskaltel), Egor Silin (Astana) and Thomas De Gendt (Vacansoleil) joined the break as Team Sky led the peloton to protect Froome and whittle the advantage down to 40 seconds with 60km of the race to go.
However the advantage was up to 1:40 as they approached Col des Ayes.
Astana split the leading group leaving Herrada, Silin, Seeldrayers, Voeckler and Geniez with a 1:20 advantage with 28km to before Geniez was swept up by the peloton.
Despite having two men in the lead group Astana were denied the stage win as Voeckler sprinted to the line with Herrada, Seeldraeyers and Silin in his ****.
Alberto Contador finished in the group with Froome to move up to 10th on GC at 2:49.

 

[Smallville22]

Greipel extends Lotto Belisol stay

André Greipel has extended his contract with Lotto Belisol for two more seasons as he eyes another stage win in the Tour de France.
The German sprinter joined the team in 2011 and has taken 44 victories - 10 this year - including four on the Tour.
He will now race for them in 2014 and 2015.
"For me there’s no better team than Lotto Belisol," said Greipel. "Not many teams focus on the sprint.
"I find it important that the guys from my train stay as well like Marcel Sieberg with whom I’m already riding together [with] for many years and who’s a good friend.
"I don’t see him in another team than me. As well the team as I wanted to sign the agreement as soon as possible, now we can fully focus on the Tour."
Team manager Marc Sergeant said: “André Greipel is an indispensable part of the Lotto Belisol puzzle. For me a prolonged stay was a necessity.
"The vision of our team is to be a Belgian team, completed with foreign riders who give an added value and let us play a role on the highest level. The number of top sprinters is limited and in Belgium there are no sprinters of his calibre, so for me it was never an option that André would leave the team.
"I think André is very attached to the team and that the team very much appreciates André Greipel as a person and as a rider. His victories are like cement for the whole team.
"The fact that Marcel Sieberg extends his contract as well is logical. Both riders are almost all the time together on the road, they understand each other very well and Sieberg is an important link, for example in the sprint train."
Like Greipel, Sieberg was only too happy to stay.
"There’s a good atmosphere in the team, we’re like a big ******," he said.
"It’s now my third year in this Belgian team and this extension shows they have faith in me. I’m working with André Greipel for more than five years now and we already know each other for a year of eighteen.
"It’s nice to help a friend on his way to a victory, but of course I like to support the other riders as well. I’m a team player and am happy with every victory of the team.”

 

[Smallville22]

Horner to miss out with knee injury

Radioshack Leopard-Trek rider Chris Horner will miss the Tour de France through injury.
The American underwent knee surgery two weeks ago and has been ruled out of the race which begins in Corsica on June 29th.
His team said he was suffering from "an iliotibial band friction syndrome since the end of Tirreno-Adriatico".
Horner joined the squad in 2012 and finished 13th on GC in the Tour de France.

 

[Smallville22]

Cancellara opts out of Tour

Swiss Fabian Cancellara will not take part in this year's Tour de France so he can prepare for the world championships, the RadioShack-Leopard rider was quoted as saying on Friday.
"The Tour has given me beautiful things already, but now I have different targets. That new target is the world championships, this year in Florence," the four-times time trial world champion and 2008 Olympic time trial gold medallist was quoted as saying by Belgian newspaper Het Nieuwsblad on their website (www.nieuwsblad.be).
"That's why, after the Tour de Suisse, I will not do the Tour, but the tours of Austria, Poland and Spain to prepare for the world championships."
Cancellara, 32, has won eight Tour de France stages and has enjoyed spells in the overall leader's yellow jersey.
The Tour de France starts on June 29 from Corsica while the world championships will be held in Florence, Italy, from Sept. 22-29.

 

[Smallville22]

Froome stays in yellow as Sanchez wins stage seven

Euskaltel-Euskadi's Samuel Sanchez beat Jacob Fuglsang of Astana to the line in stage seven of the Criterium du Dauphiné at the top of Superdévoluy.
The pair escaped at the summit of the preceding climb, Col du Noyer, to battle it out for the stage win at the ski resort of Superdévoluy, holding off the chasing group that included GC leader Chris Froome (Sky), and climbing specialist Alberto Contador (Saxo-Tinkoff).
Richie Porte, second in the GC, escaped the chasing group in the final kilometre to make up the podium - 15 seconds down - just ahead of Daniel Moreno (Katusha).
“I’ve suffered a lot, especially in the last three kilometres,” Sanchez said.
“Fuglsang was very strong but I gave everything I had to beat him at the end. It’s going to be wonderful for Euskaltel to start the Tour de France with this prestigious victory. We didn’t get what we wanted from the Giro d’Italia, so it was good to keep going and come to here looking for something like this.”
There was an early escape of 22 riders as the race ascended Alpe d'Huez. While the advantage peaked at 5:50, the break had been whittled down to just Sylvain Chavanel (Omega Pharma) and Alessandro De Marchi (Cannondale) as the race reached the penultimate climb, Col du Noyer, as the escapees were reeled in by a Sky-led peloton.
Contador accelerated after De Marchi had dropped Chavanel to bring team-mate Michael Rogers to the fore.
But then Sanchez attacked with a kilometre to go before Fuglsang bridged the gap as the pair worked a 20-second advantage on the descent before the final climb.
Fuglsang had looked the likeliest to secure the stage but Sanchez streaked away in the final 200 metres to secure the win.
Britain's Froome retained the overall lead with a time of 25:00:13 from Sky team-mate, Richie Porte, who is 51 seconds down.
"This is one more day towards achieving my goal,” Froome said.
“I know it’s going to be another hard stage tomorrow, especially because we’ll ride above 2000 metres of altitude [at col de Vars] but I feel the situation is under control. We can be in a very similar situation at the Tour de France too, so it’s a good exercise."

 

[Smallville22]

Meyer wins Swiss opener

Australia’s Cameron Meyer won the stage one time trial of the Tour de Suisse in Quinto.
The Orica-GreenEdge rider was one of the early starters but his time of nine minutes and 39 seconds was never really put under threat as a change in wind direction troubled those who came out later, as the likes of Peter Sagan (40th at +35s), Andreas Kloden (66th at 43s) and Tejay van Garderen (73rd at 45s) struggled to make an impact.
Dutchman Niki Terpstra was second 10s behind, with another Australian Heinrich Haussler third 14s back.
Fabian Cancellara did relatively well given he was one of the later starters, clocking a time 22s off the lead to finish 16th and set up a challenge for his home tour.
“Obviously I had some help with the weather as the wind was favourable for me, being one of the first riders off,” said Meyer, an accomplished track rider who is making the transition to road cycling.
“The back riders struggled after the wind switched around. I'm happy to take the jersey.”

Stage result (top 10):

1. Cameron Meyer (Australia / Orica) 9:39"

2. Niki Terpstra (Netherlands / Omega Pharma - Quick-Step) +10"

3. Heinrich Haussler (Australia / IAM Cycling) +14"

4. Alex Rasmussen (Denmark / Garmin) +15"

5. Gorka Verdugo (Spain / Euskaltel) +16"

6. Reto Hollenstein (Switzerland / IAM Cycling) s.t.

7. Michel Koch (Germany / Cannondale) +18"

8. Peter Velits (Slovakia / Omega Pharma - Quick-Step) +19"

9. Ryder Hesjedal (Canada / Garmin) s.t.

10. Matteo Tosatto (Italy / Saxo - Tinkoff) s.t.

 

[Smallville22]

Chicchi wins in Latvia

Italy’s Francesco Chicchi won the Riga-Jurmala Grand Prix in Latvia after a bunch sprint.
Vini Fantini sprinter Chicchi, 32, prevailed ahead of compatriot Marco Banfatto (Astana) at the end of the 168km ride between Latvia’s capital and nearby Jurmala.
It was Chicchi’s third win of the season and a timely boost to Italian cycling, which has been hit by several doping scandals in recent months.
Estonia’s Martin Laas was third.

Result (top 10, all in time of 3:31:44):

1. Francesco Chicchi (Italy/Vini-Fantini)

2. Marco Benfatto (Italy /Continental Team Astana)

3. Martin Laas (Estonia/National team)

4. Dene Thomas Rico Rogers (Australia/Synergy Baku Cycling Project)

5. Leonid Krasnov (Russia/Rusvelo)

6. Reinis Andrijanovs (Latvia/Alpha Baltic-Unitymarathons.com)

7. Konrad Dabkowski (Poland/BDC-Macpol Team)

8. Yoeri Havik (Netherlands/Cycling Team de Rijke-Shanks)

9. Nikolay Trusov (Russia/Cycling Team de Rijke-Shanks)

10. Mateusz Komar (Poland/BDC-Macpol Team)

 

[Smallville22]

Trott wins in London

Double Olympic champion Laura Trott claimed a thrilling photo finish victory in the IG London Nocturne.
Trott, 21, edged out Hannah Barnes to claim the win for Wiggle Honda Pro Cycling, the team backed by Tour de France winner Sir Bradley Wiggins.
Dani King, who won gold with Trott in the women's team pursuit at London 2012, completed the podium in a 30 minute plus five lap race, held under lights on a specially constructed 500m circuit.
Tom Scully claimed the men's race, pipping Alex Dowsett, who won his first Grand Tour stage with a time trial victory at last month's Giro d'Italia.

 

[Smallville22]

Froome wins Critérium du Dauphiné

British Tour de France hope Chris Froome won the prestigious Critérium du Dauphiné stage race by finishing second on the eighth and final stage.
Team Sky rider Froome was 24 seconds behind winner Alessandro De Marchi of Cannondale on the 155.5km stage from Sisteron to Risoul.
Richie Porte (+31) of Australia was second on GC, 58 seconds behind team-mate Froome, after finishing fourth as Garmin-Sharp American Andrew Talansky shared second with the Briton.
Despite a hilly final stage featuring two Cat.1 climbs and one Cat.3, only injury to Froome would realistically have allowed Daniel Moreno to challenge from third.
Moreno did enough to hold off Jakob Fuglsang (Astana) and claim the final podium place, finishing eighth at 49 seconds alongside Katusha team-mate Joaquim Rodriguez and Alejandro Valverde ( Movistar ) while the Dane rolled over the line in fifth at 38s to finish six seconds off his pace.
De Marchi took part in a breakaway of 24 riders and he alone stayed out to claim the win, with a late ****** by Froome impressing ahead of his Tour de France bid which starts on June 29.
"I couldn't have expected anything better now that with Richie we've finished in the two top spots overall. And this is a great test regarding what we'll face up to in July in the Tour de France," Froome said.
"I know I'm going to do everything possible to win there, and there are good reasons to trust a team like this one. But in cycling, nothing is ever guaranteed.
"It'll be a huge advantage having two riders [himself and Porte] aiming for the top spots in the overall classification.
"Now I can have a glass of **** with my team-mates to celebrate the victory and then go back to work, checking out the route of several of the stages."
Froome's victory is the third successive overall victory in the race for Britain's Team Sky, following triumphs for Briton Bradley Wiggins in 2011 and 2012.
Wiggins took his Dauphiné form into the Tour last year, becoming the first Briton to win the prestigious race.
However illness and injury has ruled the Olympic gold medallist out of this year's Tour - and with Froome already confirmed before that as Sky's lead rider, he will be hopeful of challenging for the podium at least in France.

 

[Smallville22]

Mollema wins Swiss stage two as Meyer stays in front

Dutchman Bauke Mollema won stage two of the Tour de Suisse after a superb ****** on Crans-Montana as Cameron Meyer stayed top overall.
Blanco rider Mollema timed his ****** perfectly in the final kilometre of the climb as Garmin-Sharp's Ryder Hesjedal faded after a strong breakaway.
Hesjedal had initially been reeled in by Domenico Pozzovivo (Ag2r-La Mondiale) and Tejay van Garderen (BMC) before Mollema made his move to speed away from the leading group and catch the Canadian with 500 metres left.
Mathias Frank (BMC) beat Thibaut Pinot (FDJ) and Hesjedal to second after a seven-man sprint.
Australia's Meyer, meanwhile, stayed out of trouble to finish in the main pack and consolidate his opening stage time-trial win, staying three seconds clear of Hesjedal.
“From that moment (overtaking Hesjedal) I knew I was going to win. That was a great feeling,” Mollema said.
Monday's third stage is between Montreux and Meiringen near Lake Geneva.

Result (top 10):

1. Bauke Mollema (Netherlands / Blanco) 2:43:00"

2. Mathias Frank (Switzerland / BMC Racing) +11"

3. Thibaut Pinot (France / FDJ)

4. Ryder Hesjedal (Canada / Garmin)

5. Johann Tschopp (Switzerland / IAM Cycling)

6. Daniel Martin (Ireland / Garmin)

7. Roman Kreuziger (Czech Republic / Saxo - Tinkoff)

8. Michele Scarponi (Italy / Lampre)

9. Giovanni Visconti (Italy / Movistar) +19"

10. Domenico Pozzovivo (Italy / AG2R)

 

[Smallville22]

Flueckiger wins BMC Racing Cup

Lukas Flueckiger won the men’s cross country race at the BMC Racing Cup in Granichen.
The Swiss rider, who turns out for BMC’s mountain bike team, finished one second ahead of his French team-mate Julien Absalon.
Switzerland’s Thomas Litscher of Multivan Merida Biking Team was third, one minute off the winning time of one hour, 43 minutes and 48 seconds.
The women’s race was won by Adelheid Morath of the Sabine Spitz Haibike Pro Team. Her time of 1:30:46 was 22 seconds ahead of Switzerland’s Esther Suess of the Wheeler-IXS Team.
Another Swiss, Jolanda Neff (Giant Pro XC Team), was third, a couple of minutes off the pace.

 

[Smallville22]

Kittel triumphs in Berlin

Germany’s Marcel Kittel won the third edition of the ProRace Berlin road race on Sunday.
The 2011 Berlin champion, riding for Argos-Shimano, came in ahead of IAM Cycling’s Matteo Pelucchi to claim a bunch sprint win after the 184.6km course.
Another German, last year’s champion Andre Greipel of Lotto-Belisol, was third.
It was the 25-year-old Kittel’s 10th win of the season.
“I like this circuit,” Kittel said afterwards. “Today I had good legs and I’m very proud to win here again after 2011.”
A five-man breakaway initially stretched the race but they never moved more than two minutes clear of the main group, who soon closed them down to set up a bunch sprint.
Greipel was angry with himself for failing to triumph.
“We had the best lead-out train but the result was wrong,” he grumbled. “I probably lost some of my nerves at the finish and went too early.”

 

[Smallville22]

Sagan wins stage three of Tour de Suisse, Frank leads

Mathias Frank of Switzerland took over the leader’s jersey in the Tour de Suisse after Peter Sagan triumphed on stage three on Monday.
Frank, of BMC Racing, has a 25 second gap from second-placed Roman Kreuzinger of the Czech Republic, with Rui Costa a further 10 seconds back for Movistar.
But the day belonged to Sagan, who gave Cannondale victory on the 203.3km stage from Montreux to Meiringen in a time of 4:46.27 from defending champion Costa of Portugal.
It was a fine win from the Slovak, who broke away as part of a four-man move, along with Frank, Kreuziger and Costa before splitting away from the lead group on the descent from the day’s final categorised climb.
Sagan’s decisive move – with around 18km remaining of the stage – saw him thrive on the steep, wet descent to Meiringen as he and Costa created a gap from Kreuziger and Frank into the finish line.
Previous race leader Cameron Meyer of Orica-GreenEdge lost crucial time as he relinquished the overall lead to Frank.
Ryder Hesjedal continued his run of bad luck – the Garmin-Sharp rider was ****** to withdraw from last month’s Giro d’Italia with illness – as he began the day in second place overall but crashed and was taken to hospital for an examination.
Michele Scarponi of Lampre-Merida was another rider to crash during the stage as Frank established a lead that he will seek to defend over the course of the final six days.

 

[Smallville22]

Hesjedal pulls out of Tour de Suisse after big crash

Former Giro d'Italia champion Ryder Hesjedal of Canada suffered several injuries in a crash during the third stage of the Tour of Switzerland and has withdrawn from the race.
The 32-year-old, who had been planning to use the nine-day Swiss Tour to prepare for the Tour de France which starts on June 29, took a "heavy blow to the neck and head" after crashing 150 km into the 205 km stage from Montreux to Meringen.
"Hesjedal suffered multiple, severe contusions and abrasions to the right wrist, hip and knee and left shoulder, elbow and knee," said a Garmin-Sharp team statement after the rider was taken to hospital where he is under observation.
The statement added that preliminary CT scans had not shown any fractures or "neurological pathologies".
Hesjedal, who was in second place overall after the second stage of the race, also had to withdraw from the defence of his Giro title last month suffering with a respiratory infection.
"Hesjedal's health is the team's priority - depending on how his recovery progresses, team medical staff as of now hope he may be able to train in a few days' time, although this will depend on his recovery," the statement added.

 

[Smallville22]

Contador identifies Froome as main Tour rival

Team Saxo-Tinkoff rider Alberto Contador has said he considers Team Sky's Chris Froome as his main rival at this year's Tour de France.
Contador, twice a winner of the famous race, believes this year's edition is shaping up to be one of the most competitive in its history.
And the Spaniard, who was stripped of his 2010 title after having been found guilty of a doping offence, sees Froome as the leader of a strong British contingent.
“There are several British riders who are competing at the highest level, both sprinters and riders for major tours," Contador said. "My main rival in this year's Tour de France will be Chris Froome.”
Froome had mirrored Contador's sentiments last week, saying El Pistolero "is the one that stands out to me as the biggest threat".
Yet on recent form, it appears Kenya-born Froome holds the advantage over his rival. He heads into the Tour, which starts on June 29, having just won the Critérium du Dauphiné to add to his victories at the Tour of Oman, the Critérium International and the Tour de Romandie so far this season.
The 28-year-old also managed to deliver a psychological blow to Contador during stage five of the Dauphiné, blasting the Vuelta a Espana title holder out of the water in a time trial on his way to assuming the leader's jersey.
Contador ended up finishing the race in 10th place on the general classification, but insists he was saving himself for the year's second Grand Tour.
“I’m happy because the sensations are very good regardless of the result," he said. "I've mostly been focusing on getting stronger and I'm very happy with my present form.
"I will be in top condition for the Tour de France.”

 

[Smallville22]

Demare takes bunch sprint in Switzerland

Arnaud Demare won stage four of the Tour of Switzerland in Buochs.
The emerging FDJ rider prevailed at the end of the 161km stage from Innertkirchen, beating Matt Goss and Tyler Farrar to the line in a bunch sprint finish.
It was the biggest victory of the year for the 21-year-old former world under-23 champion who had also claimed the GP de Denain and the opening three stages and the overall in the Quatre jours de Dunkerque in his native France.
Jens Voigt (RadioShack-Leopard), Olivier Kaisen (Lotto-Belisol) and Robert Vrecer (Euskaltel-Euskadi) attacked soon after the start and opened up a 4:20 lead inside 30km.
That advantage came down after the first category two climb of the day after 54.4km but remained quite static thereafter and was still over two minutes when Kaisen was dropped from the break on the second category two climb of Rengg with 40km to go.
But the sprinters' teams began to come to the fore and the lead duo were reeled in within 3km of the finish line to set up the finish contested by all the quick men with John Degenkolb and Alexander Kristoff completing the top five.
Matthias Frank of BMC retains the overall lead. He has a 23 second gap over second-placed Roman Kreuziger of the Czech Republic with Rui Costa a further 12 seconds back for Movistar.
The nine-stage WorldTour race finishes on Sunday with a 26.8km individual time trial with Friday's mountain stage also pivotal.

 

[Smallville22]

Froome eyes Tour success for years to come

Briton Chris Froome has made clear that he has no intention of ever again playing second fiddle to compatriot and Sky team-mate Bradley Wiggins on the Tour de France.
The 28-year-old, winner of the Criterium du Dauphine on Sunday, told the Times newspaper that he wanted to be in a position to win the Tour for years to come.
"I've got my goals and personally where I want my career to go is to target the Tour, not just this year but for the next six or seven years, and each time to line up at the Tour ready to try and contend for the yellow jersey," he said.
"I am driven by that goal, not from a fame point of view," added the rider, who finished last year's Tour as runner-up to Wiggins.
This year's race starts on June 29 with Froome the official Sky team leader and one of the favourites in the absence of four-times Olympic champion Wiggins, who has been ruled out by injury and illness.
Froome has been on top form this year, also winning the Tour of Oman, the Criterium International and Tour of Romandie before Sunday's success in France's third biggest stage race.
"I have been a lot more consistent with my numbers this year and I have been able to hit the numbers that last year I thought were exceptional," he told the newspaper.
"And I feel I can still get better. Last year I felt 'I am really flying now'. This year I am hitting that comfortably now."
The rider said Wiggins's absence had not left Sky notably weakened.
"We do have a very strong team and regardless of Bradley there or not, I do feel we have all our bases covered," said Froome.

 

[Smallville22]

Clancy takes record-breaking Tour Series win

Double Olympic team pursuit champion Ed Clancy became the most successful individual rider in Pearl Izumi Tour Series history with victory in this year's ninth round in Woking.
Clancy, who helped Britain retain their Olympic team pursuit title from Beijing 2008 at London 2012 last summer while also taking omnium bronze, finished first ahead of Yanto Barker and Dean Downing.
That gave him his third win of the 2013 Series as he moved onto six individual wins, one ahead of Downing, and became the first rider to take victory in three individual rounds in one season.
Clancy hit the front after exiting the final hairpin and was not to be caught with Barker's second place helping Team UK Youth to their sixth team victory from nine races.

 

[Smallville22]

Engoulvent wins Luxembourg time trial again

Jimmy Engoulvent won a fourth Tour de Luxembourg prologue time trial in almost the same time he managed last year.
The Sojasun rider finished the 2.55km Luxembourg city course in three minutes and 42 seconds, 1s quicker than his 2012 time.
The Frenchman, 33, started 25th of 130 so had a long wait to see if he had managed to add to his 2007, 2010 and 2012 time trial wins.
Danny Poppel was agonisingly close, the 19-year-old Vacansoleil-DCM rider finishing just 1s short of victory.
Engoulvent’s Sojasun team-mate Jonathan Hivert was just behind in third.