Monday 30 November 2015

The plus-sized Specialized Stumpjumper FSR Expert 6fattie is ready to rumble

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It was just a few weeks ago that I was smitten by Specialized’s flagship S-Works Stumpjumper FSR 6fattie plus-sized trail bike – the copious grip, the cushy ride, the freakishly composed feel of those 3in-wide tyres… and a price tag well beyond reach of most riders.

The second-tier Stumpjumper FSR Expert 6fattie is still a lot of money but with so few performance compromises made in the process, it’s akin to hitting the trail packing only a teensy bit extra around the middle the day after Thanksgiving – while having a fair bit left over in your wallet.

The Stumpjumper FSR Expert 6fattie boasts the exact same carbon fibre front triangle, welded aluminium rear triangle, and 135mm/150mm front/rear suspension travel (albeit with a slightly downgraded Fox rear shock and fork) as its top-end sibling. Naturally, the build kit is also subtly toned down, most notably with the aluminium (instead of carbon) Roval Traverse wheelset, SRAM X1/XO1 transmission, and Shimano Deore XT disc brakes.

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The Specialized Stumpjumper FSR Expert 6fattie continues on with the company's long-running four-bar suspension layout

As a result, you get essentially the same great handling, proven suspension design, and tyre traction features of the top model but with a bit of extra weight. Fully equipped with a bottle cage and Specialized’s neatly hidden SWAT chain tool and mini-tool, actual weight is just 12.92kg (28.48lb) – less than a pound heavier than the S-Works version and still remarkably light all things considered.

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Levi’s new Commuter collection is packed with cyclist-centric tweaks

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Levi’s is a company that goes back 132 years. The fact that the Levi's logo features horses, not bikes, offers a good clue (if you needed one) that the brand's Commuter collection has nowhere near that depth of heritage – in fact, it first launched for men in 2011

What the Commuter collection does is signal cycling's growing mainstream appeal both in the lifestyle market and as a form of transport. Our Australian crew have been trying out a selection of garments from the current range, which now extends to women’s apparel. We'll be publishing full reviews of some of them over the next few weeks, but for now, let's take a look at the highlights.

Clever tweaks

The collection as a whole is remarkably clever. In addition to some bike specific pieces, Levi’s has taken popular items from its broader range and effectively worked in extra functionality for riding around town.

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The Commuter range is about the little things, such as reflective panels and suitable fabrics

The pants have reflective tabs near the ankles and a high waist so you don’t reveal more than you mean to when reaching for the bars, and they’re designed to withstand the strain on fabric provided by riding.

 Men’s Commuter 511 slim-fit jeans

Women’s Skinny jeans

Women’s Trucker Jacket

Men’s Trucker Jacket

Women’s Commuter Waxed Shell

Dropped Hem Tee

Overall

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The world’s 'oldest, toughest' cycling record is under threat

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How far could you ride in one year? Canyon mechanic Bruce Berkeley is attempting to set a new record by cycling over 122,000km – that’s 330km every day for 365 days straight, and it's the equivalent of circling the globe three times over.

Incredibly, the current world record was set by Britain’s Tommy Godwin in 1939, who rode 75,065 miles (120,805km). Many people have tried to beat Godwin’s tally, and Berkeley stands as good a chance as any – he already holds the world record for furthest distance ridden in one month (9,751km), as well as the seven-day record (2,830km). In case any readers out there are wondering how Godwin can cover 122,000km in a year but not best Berkeley's record of 9,751km in a month, there's a simple explanation – Godwin's achievement is not recognised by Guinness World Records.

Last year a knee injury prevented him from notching up the record for Land's End to John O'Groats and back again (2700km in five days, 21 hours), but Berkeley claims to be fighting fit for the 2016 challenge.

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Related: Canyon Ultimate CF SLX – first ride review

Canyon's Ultimate CF SLX is "a technological marvel with a smooth personality", according to our tester

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Kids' bikes for Christmas

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Buying your child a new bike this Christmas? Finding the process a little tricksy? Be at ease – we've put together a complete guide to help you choose wisely…

The first thing to keep in mind is that their needs vary wildly depending on their age and ability. Balance bikes are where it's at for the preschool crowd, then by the time they progress to 16in wheels they'll (hopefully) be pedalling away without stabilisers. 

Move up a notch to 20in wheels and gears start to make an appearance, then by the time they're nine and riding 24in wheels, they'll basically be riding smaller versions of adult bikes – disc brakes, suspension and all.

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In order to make sure Santa knows the right model for your child, let's look more closely at the different age groups you might be buying for, what wheel sizes to expect, and check out examples of the best bikes we've seen…

Preschool

They're up and running – okay, toddling – so you're keen to buy them a set of wheels. Great! You've basically got two options – a balance bike (AKA strider, push-along) or a trike.

We know trikes seem like the attractive option, as they let your child propel themselves happily along from the word go, but here's why you should buy them a balance bike instead: they'll help your child develop the skills needed to balance by steering first. This means that they'll quickly master the transition to two-wheeled pedal-powered bike without ever needing stabilisers.

Ridgeback Scoot

Strider 12

FirstBike

Ages four to six

Islabikes Cnoc 16

Giant Animator

Frog 48

Ages six to nine

Islabikes Beinn 20

Specialized Hotrock 20

Ages nine to 12

Scott Voltage JR

Frog Road 67

Big kids' bikes (12+)

Giant TCR Espoir 24

We couldn't miss out…

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Horse for the Course: Rose X-Lite Team 8800 for UK hill-climb season

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The British hill-climb season is brief and intense. It’s all over in just two months and features short, often severely steep uphill time trials lasting around 2-5 minutes, where riders push themselves to their absolute limits.

Riding uphill fast is all about minimising weight while maximising power, so hill-climb bikes are rare and specialised beasts, made for anti-gravity prowess without the slightest nod to comfort, braking or handling. If that sounds like your cup of tea, read on.

  • The course(s): Steep 3-5 minute hills which make up the majority of the short/painful British hill-climb season.
  • The equipment goal: Create the lightest bike possible for thrashing up double figure gradients.
  • The Horse: Rose X-Lite Team 8800, with a few bits added and a few bits taken off.

The first port of call when building a lightweight hill-climb bike is the frame and fork. There are plenty of lightweight carbon frames, but we needed one able to handle the lateral forces involved when thrashing out of the saddle on a 20 percent gradient. That means supreme stiffness with generous spacing around the tyres and chainstays.

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Shaving grams

German brand Rose fitted the bill perfectly with its X-Lite Team frame and fork. We spotted it at Eurobike and immediately noticed its rear clearance and performance focused credentials. Lucky for us it also comes as a complete bike (X-Lite Team 8800) with SRAM Red (the lightest available groupset), Mavic wheels and Ritchey finishing kit.

A bike put together with one thing in mind

Weight saving doesn’t stop at the bike

Was the fettling worth it?

The best bits

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Disc brakes cleared for 2016 pro peloton - every rider and race

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This article was originally published on cyclingnews.com

The UCI has announced it will continue to test the use of disc brakes in 2016, with men and women professional riders allowed to use the new braking technology in races from January 1. If this wider phase of testing is a success, disc brakes will officially become legal across the sport from 2017.

Cyclingnews understands the second testing phase will permit every rider in a team to use disc brakes in 2016 and in every major race. This is expected to spark widespread use of disc brakes during the 2016 season.

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Related: The problem with disc brakes in road racing is…

Some teams told Cyclingnews that they will not have disc brakes bikes ready for every rider from the start of the season but Cyclingnews expects that disc brakes will be widespread in the professional peloton by the time of the spring Classics in April. Shimano and SRAM have already launched their disc brake systems, with Campagnolo apparently close to completing their testing so that four professional teams can use disc Campagnolo brakes during 2016.

The use of disc brakes in 2016 was approved a UCI stakeholders meeting in Basel on Friday. In a press release, the UCI said all "stakeholders, riders, mechanics, organisers, neutral service providers, teams and the bicycle industry, represented by the World Federation of the Sporting Goods Industry (WFSGI), have decided to continue the trial of disc brakes in professional road racing in 2016."

You can read more at BikeRadar.com



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Shimano XTR M9000 Tubeless Race 29in wheelset

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Released at the same time as Shimano’s XTR 11-speed mechanical and Di2 drivetrains, the M9000 Race wheels are built for the performance-seeking racer. With Shimano’s latest drivetrain and brakes not requiring any new wheel standards, the M9000 wheels aren’t perhaps likely to be a priority purchase – but just how good are they?

We’ve been testing the same pair of M9000 wheels since their launch last year. In this time, we’ve moved them from a Niner Jet 9 RDO to a Swift Detritovore hardtail and continue to push them on Sydney’s rocky sandstone-based cross-country trails.

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A hybrid construction seeks to stiffen up the alloy rim with minimal extra weight

Borrowing from Shimano’s C24 and C35 road wheels, the XTR rim is a carbon-laminate hybrid, which provides the alloy construction with a structural carbon overlay. It’s a design that makes a lot of sense on the road when dealing with a rim brake surface and high pressures, but offers fewer obvious advantages off-road.

That said, the rims have proven to be suitably durable for the task, and direct rock strikes at low tyre pressures have resulted in nothing more than superficial scratches – no dents or dings to be found.

Tried and true

Smooth rollers

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Lapierre Aircode SL 600 FDJ CP

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The original Aircode was in Lapierre’s range for a mere season and a half, so it was a bit of a surprise to see a new model appear quite so rapidly. But having gleaned knowledge from other projects such as its new Xelius SL lightweight climber’s bike, the French outfit’s design team saw fit to revisit its aero-optimised frame and drop in a few improvements.

Super light and sharp looking

The SL in the name refers to ‘super light’, and Lapierre reckons it has trimmed 20g from the fork and a significant 20 per cent from the frame, while claiming to have maintained the same frame stiffness and ride quality. Its designers achieved this by changing the carbon construction of the frame, mixing in different modulus fibres.

The most obvious aerodynamic features are the Kamm tail profile tubing (contours smoothly then continues to a tail) and the direct-mount front brake set into the fork crown. The cabling uses pretty standard internal routing, which isn’t as aerodynamic as that on some aero road bikes, but would have been designed to make life easier for the FDJ team mechanics.

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The direct-mount Ultegra brake integrated in the fork aids its aerodynamics

The finish is very striking, the sharp-looking FDJ graphics further enhanced by the radical frame shape. It’s certainly going to stand out in a crowded market.

Poised performer

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Froome, Armitstead nominated for BBC Sports Personality of the Year

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The BBC announced today the 12 finalists for Sports Personality of the Year, and among the names are two cyclists - Tour de France winner Chris Froome and World Cup winner and World Champion Lizzie Armitstead.

The pair are not only competing with each other, but are up against a star-studded list of sports people including F1 driver Lewis Hamilton, tennis player Andy Murray, athletics champions Mo Farah and Jessica Ennis-Hill, among others.

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The sports people are nominated by a panel of sports experts from the BBC and other publications and former winners.

Only four cyclists have won the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award, which is decided by the public: Bradley Wiggins is the most recent cyclist to win in 2012, Mark Cavendish won in 2011, Chris Hoy in 2008 and Tommy Simpson in 1965.

You can read more at Cyclingnews.com



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Campagnolo, Specialized say they will be ready for disc brakes in 2016 pro peloton

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Following the announcement by the UCI that disc brakes will be allowed in the professional peloton, both Campagnolo and Specialized have told Cyclingnews that despite the race against time and the extra expense involved, they will be ready to supply their sponsored teams for the 2016 season.

The de facto introduction of disc brakes will create a mixed peloton, with some riders using disc brakes and others on traditional caliper brakes. There have been concerns that this could cause crashes due to different braking techniques and braking times but the people who have sat in work groups and tested disc brakes believe this is not a major problem or a risk to rider safety.

However, the introduction of disc brakes will create some teething problems and headaches for everyone involved.

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Most teams have already been supplied with their new bikes for the 2016 season, and so extra frames, specifically designed for disc brakes will have to be produced; riders will have to learn new braking techniques and learn how to ride alongside riders using disc brakes; some kind of protection of the discs might be needed to prevent burn injuries.

The teams will need a further selection of bikes and wheels for their riders, and neutral service providers face further more complex wheel changes. There will be added costs for everyone involved and added confusion because not everyone will be obliged to switch to disc brakes.

The start of the 2016 season will likely see teams and sponsors roll out the use of disc brakes at different times. Disc brakes will no doubt be popular amongst the Classics riders but Grand Tour riders, concerned about the weight and possible problems, could be more reticent.

Specialized already has two disc brake models in its 2016 range of bikes on sale to the public and so the professional riders could use bikes based on those.

“Specialized is in favour of the introduction of disc brakes, we believe they are the technology of the future. However, it will be important to understand if all Specialized riders want to use them,” Simone Toccafondi - the head of Specialized Racing, which supplies frames, equipment and performance information with the Etixx-QuickStep, Astana and Tinkoff teams - told Cyclingnews.

“There are lots of factors involved in a decision to use disc brakes, and we think it is best to study their introduction and use with the teams. We’re scientific in how we work and so will study when to take advantage of the disc brakes in the professional peloton.”

Campagnolo ready to outfit its sponsored teams

Cyclingnews understands the Astana team will begin to use disc brakes in the spring, possibly in time for the cobbled Classics in Belgium and northern France. Astana uses Specialized frames with Campagnolo components. Lotto Soudal and Movistar are all sponsored by Campagnolo, as are smaller Professional Continental teams such as Bardiani-CSF, Nippo Vini Fantini, the British Condor JLT Continental team and several women’s teams. Many of them will no doubt want to ride on disc brakes in 2016.

The legendary Italian brand has yet to officially unveil a disc brake system, but according to bike tech expert Patrick Brady, Campagnolo has filed a patent for a fluid system hidden in handlebars and showed off a disc brake system to selected product managers at the recent Taichung Bike Week in Taiwan.

Shimano and Sram have arguably stolen a march on many of their rivals by having brakes on sale and ready to be used in the professional peloton, but Campagnolo insisted to Cyclingnews it will also be ready, without fully revealing its plans and future products.

“Campagnolo is dedicated to putting the professional athletes and teams that it sponsors atop cycling componentry that allows them to compete at the highest level with a technological advantage coming in the form of their drivetrains and wheels. If the professional peloton is racing with one standard or another, Campagnolo will be present to outfit its sponsored teams and athletes in a manner consistent with governing UCI rules,” Campagnolo said in a statement to Cyclingnews.

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2015 Cyclingnews Reader Poll - last chance to vote!

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Your chance to win Fabian Cancellara's Trek Domane will end tonight at 23:59 GMT when the voting closes for our 2015 Cyclingnews Reader Poll. Enter now!

The annual poll invites readers to join us in looking back at the last 12 months and pick the riders, teams, races, moments, and equipment that have really stood out from the pack. Who was the best rider of the year? What was the most exciting race? This is the chance to have your say.

To keep things simple, we'll be asking you to vote from a fixed selection in each category, so the survey should take you less than five minutes to complete.

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Upon completion, you’ll be entered into a prize draw and could find yourself riding away with Cancellara’s Trek Domane. The bike is the Domane 6.9 model with full Shimano Dura-Ace groupset, complete with all of the Swiss star’s customisations.

The glossy white frame is covered with intricate silver detailing that depicts Cancellara’s trademark Greek Hoplite helmet design and a swathe of free-flowing floral shapes that blossom over most of the frame. If you needed any further incentive to enter into the mindset of the Classics star, you’ll be able to look down at his gold plaque on the stem, where arrows and a fleur-de-lis sit alongside playing-card symbols and a pair of dice in a nod to the attributes that lie behind his success.

CLICK HERE to vote in the poll and be registered to win. Do it now, because the poll closes right at midnight GMT.

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Pozzovivo to double up with Giro d'Italia and Tour de France in 2016

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Domenico Pozzovivo has outlined the structure of his 2016 season, which will be build around a Grand Tour double of the Giro d'Italia and Tour de France

There was talk about the Italian, who turned 33 on Monday, making his debut at the Tour next year, and he has given confirmation of this, along with the rest of his early-season calendar, to Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport

He will return to the Italian Grand Tour, where he has four top 10 finishes, for the 10th time in his career, and will target the general classification, though he will assume joint leadership with his Ag2r La Mondiale teammate, Jean-Christophe Peraud. At the Tour he will take on support duties for undisputed leader Romain Bardet but is still eyeing a high overall finish. 

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"Peraud will also be there and we will be co-leaders," Pozzovivo said of next year's Giro, according to Gazzetta. "My goal is to finish in the top five, but better still if I can beat my fifth place of 2014, which is my best result."

Pozzovivo went into this year's edition of the race as one of the outside favourites, but his race was over as early as stage three when he suffered a horror crash and lay motionless on the road for a short while, before being taken to hospital and escaping serious facial injuries. 

Pozzovivo will finally make his Tour de France debut after three years at Ag2r-La Mondiale. Before joining the French WorldTour team he rode for Italian Pro Continental teams,

You can read more at Cyclingnews.com



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Pinarello launches Dogma F8W with wireless SRAM RED eTap

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Pinarello have unveiled their latest Dogma bike, the F8W, which is equipped with SRAM's new RED eTap electronic groupset. 

SRAM's new shifting system was launched earlier this year, following electronic systems from Shimano and Campagnolo, and has been hailed as one of the technical innovations of 2015. Shifting is done wirelessly via a proprietary protocol called Airea, and allows the exchange of impulses via radio between levers, rear derailleur and front derailleur, through a safe coded frequency.

The new method of shifting sees the left lever upshift the rear derailleur and the right lever downshift the rear derailleur, while pressing both levers causes the system to shift the front derailleur to the opposite position.

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“I’ve been trying the new SRAM RED eTap on my Dogma for a long time; I’m really impressed by the performance of this product. I am sure that it will be perfect on our bikes," said Fausto Pinarello in a statement. 

Gaetan Vétois, SRAM's European Marketing Director, added: “Being associated with Pinarello for their latest Dogma launch, provides the perfect platform and match for SRAM RED eTap. It also brings together two companies focused on product innovation for the benefit of its customers.” 

The Dogma F8W will be produced in limited edition in the exclusive red and white colour seen in the pictures above, with a limited number of bikes available from January 2016. 

You can read more at Cyclingnews.com



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Cycling mourns the passing of photographer Mark Gunter

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It is with a heavy heart that Cyclingnews reports the passing of Australian photographer Mark Gunter, who sadly passed away after a battle with cancer.

Mark Gunter was a longstanding contributor to Cyclingnews and reported for the website over a number of years at both a domestic level in Australia and internationally at races such as the Tour de France. He was not just a colleague to many of the Cyclingnews team – both past and present – but a dear friend to everyone he worked with over the years and throughout the industry.

Mark, who was just 41 year old, leaves behind a wife and son. Cyclingnews would like to wish his family and friends our warmest condolences.

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It was a pleasure to work with you, Mark, and you’ll always have a place in our hearts.


 

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UCI approves widespread disc brakes use in 2016 professional peloton

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The UCI has announced it will continue to test the use of disc brakes in 2016, with men and women professional riders allowed to use the new braking technology in races from January 1. If this wider phase of testing is a success, disc brakes will officially become legal across the sport from 2017.

Cyclingnews understands the second testing phase will permit every rider in a team to use disc brakes in 2016 and in every major race. This is expected to spark widespread use of disc brakes during the 2016 season.

Some teams told Cyclingnews that they will not have disc brakes bikes ready for every rider from the start of the season but Cyclingnews expects that disc brakes will be widespread in the professional by the time of the spring Classics in April. Shimano and Sram have already launched their disc brake systems, with Campagnolo apparently close to completing their testing so that four professional teams can use disc Campagnolo brakes during 2016.

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The use of disc brakes in 2016 was given final approval during a UCI stakeholders meeting in Basel on Friday. In a press release, the UCI said all "stakeholders, riders, mechanics, organisers, neutral service providers, teams and the bicycle industry, represented by the World Federation of the Sporting Goods Industry (WFSGI), have decided to continue the trial of disc brakes in professional road racing in 2016."

The de facto introduction of disc brakes will create a mixed peloton, with some riders using disc brakes and others on traditional caliper brakes. There have been concerns that this could cause crashes due to different braking techniques and braking times. However bike manufacturers are pushing for widespread disc brake use as soon as possible and believe a mixed peloton is a not a problem.

Several teams and riders tested disc brakes in the second half of 2015, with the new system widely considered an improvement on caliper brakes, especially in the wet. However some riders are concerned about different braking times in a tightly packed peloton and burn injuries from contact with hot disc in crashes. Wheel changes during races will be slower due to the use of through-axels.

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Weird and wonderful of 2015 - gallery

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We’ve rounded up some of the best weird and wonderful photos from the 2015 season with fans in fancy dress, bikes in canals and riders having fun on the bike.

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Flick through the gallery above and you can also take a look at our other galleries from the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia and the extreme weather in 2015.

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Route announced for 100th edition of the Tour of Flanders

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Compared to previous years, there will be little change from this year parcours for the 100th edition of the Tour of Flanders to be held on April 3, 2016. The 256km Belgian monument will finish on the Minderbroedersstraat in Oudenaarde for the fifth straight year with the Oude Kwaremont to feature three times and the Paterberg twice.

"The Tour is a unique Flemish folk festival. A race that resonates far beyond our borders. A monument on the international cycling calendar. We note that the riders have got an increasingly better feeling of the new route of the Tour of Flanders," said race director Wim Van Herreweghe. "Our Belgian top riders like Boonen, Gilbert, Van Avermaet and Vanmarcke are already dreaming of winning the 100th Ronde. But they will have to consider youngsters like Tiesj Benoot and foreign riders like Sagan, Cancellara and Degenkolb."

The peloton will roll out of the Grote Markt in Bruges, before passing though Torhout and Roeselaere on the way to Tielt. Gone in 2016 is the 'Dorp van de Ronde' which featured in the race each year since 2000 with Marcel Kint and Zwevegem honoured this year. The race organisers has decided to honour Briek Schotte and Roger Decock, the oldest living winner of Flanders, by passing through Kanegem and Aarsele respectively. The race then heads to the Flemish Ardennes with 18 climbs and seven cobblestone sectors awaiting the peloton including the Jagerij cobbles which replaces the Holleweg.

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"In recent years, the course has made ??for a captivating race. In the last 150 kilometers there was a maximum of 12 kilometers between the cobblestones and hellingen and that makes it difficult to control the race," Van Herreweghe added. "The attacking spirit of Jurgen Roelandts, Greg Van Avermaet, Stijn Vandenbergh, Niki Terpstra and Alexander Kristoff was rewarded in the past editions. It always produced a stunning finale and an impressive podium. Flanders Classics continues along the same path. The rhythm of the last 150 kilometers is the same as in 2015." 

The Koppenberg features just once in the 100th edition of the race with five more climbs for the riders before they arrive at the finish line. The Steenbeekdries arrives with 39km to race, the Taaienberg with 37km, the Kruisberg with 27km, followed by the Oude Kwaremont with the 17km and finally Paterberg with 13km to race.

Katusha's Alexander Kristoff made the race winning move this year when he and Niki Terpstra (Etixx-QuickStep) jumped away from the peloton on the Kruisberg.

You can read more at Cyclingnews.com



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