Nairo Quintana is looking for his second Spanish WorldTour stage race in as many weeks with Movistar at the Vuelta Ciclista al Pais Vasco having recently won his first race of the season at the Volta a Catalunya. The 25-year-old won the Basque Country stage race in 2013, finished fourth in his last appearance in 2015 and will start the race as one of the favourites for overall victory in 2016.
Quintana will first warm up for Pais Vasco at the GP Miguel Indurain this coming Saturday. Movistar occupied two of the three podium places last year with Ion Izagirre and Beñat Intxausti having won the race with Alejandro Valverde in 2014 and bring a squad that includes Dani Moreno and the Izagirre brothers. Movistar will then look to Giovanni Visconti and Jesús Herrada in the sprint friendly Vuelta a La Rioja, won by Orica-GreenEdge for the last two years, the following day.
At the Vuelta Ciclista al Pais Vasco, Quintana will be ably supported in the mountains by fellow Colombian Winner Anacona, the Izagirre's, Moreno, Giovanni Visconti and Jesús Herrada while Rory Sutherland will act as a bodyguard, protecting the 2014 Giro d'Italia champion. Having finished fourth at Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana, second at the Volta ao Algarve and fifth at Paris-Nice, Ion Izagirre is an in-form second option for the overall classification.
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Having made his debut with the team at Milan-San Remo, Carlos Betancur then headed north for the E3 Harelbeke and Gent-Wevelgem cobbled classics but is yet to finish a race with his new team. The Colombian has been selected for both the GP Miguel Indurain and Vuelta Ciclista a La Rioja 1.1 one-day races with the Circuit de La Sarthe likely to be his first stage race of the season next week.
The Spanish team have also announced its roster for the 100th edition of the Tour of Flanders with Costa Rican Andrey Amador making his fifth appearance at the Belgian monument. Jasha Sütterlin, 23, makes his ninth start in a monument while Jorge Arcas gets his first start at De Ronde. Nelson Oliveira and Fran Ventoso will be handed leadership roles alongside Amador as Movistar look to break into the top-15 for the first time at the race.
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As the 100th Tour of Flanders nears, Rupert Guinness turns back the clock to reflect on the impact of his first day following the race in 1987 as a wide eyed arrival on the European scene when coverage like what we receive today would have been a pipe dream
It is April 5, 1987. Allan Peiper sits down to explain how the Tour of Flanders just unfolded.
I have little comprehension. It was the first staging of the great Classic that I have seen, let alone followed as a journalist. Suffice to say, my only knowledge of it is due the features I read and photographs of the race that I look at over and over in the cycling magazine Winning Bicycle Illustrated that lands on Australian news stands six months after the race.
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After following 7 hours 15 minutes 30 seconds of racing in a media car over a trail of cobbled 'bergs' on narrow farm roads littered with sharp lefts and rights and lined with a cycling crazed crowd like none I had ever seen, my mind is simply awash with confusion.
I am a long, long away from the grassy knoll and a handful of spectators at the finish line to the 1984 Victorian road championships back in Australia – the first road race I have covered.
Peiper's offer to talk of the Tour of Flanders – locally named the 'Ronde van Vlaanderen', or 'De Ronde' – is a blessing, especially considering that I have just taken up the editorship of Winning's English edition published in nearby Brussels and face the task of putting together the magazine's next coverage of the great classic. But Peiper's is no ordinary race account.
Sébastien Minard was the best of the AG2R La Mondiale team last year in 89th place while Gaudin featuring the day long breakaway that also contained Sergent who rode with Trek Factory Racing last year. The team will look to Canadian Hugo Houle for representation in the breakaway on Sunday.
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"I stayed all week long at my French home in Saint-Restitut, in Provence," Houle said of his preparation for the race. I trained well and I rested. I feel great and it’s important because Ronde is mentally and physically a war. I have to ride more aggressively than during the first Belgian classics."
Houle has ridden the past three editions of the Tour of Flanders but explained he is still excited by the build up, particularly with the race enjoying its 100th birthday.
"The days before is a special feeling, like a mix of stress and excitement to participate to one of the greatest races of cycling," said the 25-year-old who will make his second appearance at the Giro d'Italia next month.
Canyon-SRAM will field a strong team capable of winning the Women's Tour of Flanders on Sunday with last year's fifth placed rider Elena Cecchini. The Italian will aim to have a stronger performance this time around that could see her on the podium.
"It's an iconic race, the one almost every cyclist would like to win in their own career," said Cecchini in a team press release.
"I really want to win this race one day. I know it's a lot about having perfect form, a perfect day, a great team with you and a good amount of luck and race experience. But in a one day race everything can happen and I'm already dreaming about Sunday.
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"I think Canyon-SRAM Racing have a lot of cards in our team to deal out to the competition on Sunday."
Canyon-SRAM's team will also feature Alena Amialiusik, who was seventh last year, and Barbara Guarischi, who is just returning to racing after recovering from shoulder surgery following a crash at Omloop van het Hageland. The team will also include Tiffany Cromwell, Alexis Ryan and Lisa Brennauer, who recently placed second at Gent-Wevelgem.
Sunday's 141km race will include five cobble sectors and ten climbs including the combo Oude Kwaremont and Paterberg, that has a 20 per cent max grade.
The Wanty-Groupe Gobert team has confirmed it will ride the Tour of Flanders on Sunday as a way to remember teammate Antoine Demoitié who died on Sunday after being hit by a race motorbike following a crash during Gent-Wevelgem. The team will then attend Demoitié’s funeral on Monday morning but not race in France at the Paris-Camembert on April 3.
Twelve riders from the team gathered on Wednesday for a training ride and then spoke about Demoitié’s death. They did not ride this week’s Three Days of De Panne but Marco Marcato, Jérôme Baugnies, Dimitri Claeys, Björn Thurau, Tom Devriendt, Frederik Backaert, Kévin Van Melsen and Kenny Dehaes will line up for the Tour of Flanders. The riders will reportedly line-up for the Tour of Flanders wearing a commemorative T-shirt and with #RideForAntoine engraved on their bikes.
“It was a very hard week. The preparations for the Ronde didn't go as planned, unfortunately. This Wednesday we did a long training together and I think it was good for the guys. After that I spoke with some riders individually as well because some of them have not only lost their teammate Antoine but also their friend Daan Myngheer," directeur sportif Hilaire Van Der Schueren explained in a team statement, referring to the Belgian rider who died from a heart attack on Sunday after collapsing at the Criterium International.
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“It was the right decision not to ride in De Panne and the races in France this weekend. But on Sunday we race. The only thing we can do for Antoine and also for Daan is get a result to make them proud."
Kévin Van Melsen was part of the day's breakaway in Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne and Dwars door Vlaanderen. He wants to be in the break on Sunday to honour his teammate.
“It is not easy to think about racing but now I know for sure that I will be able to say goodbye to Antoine on Monday (instead of the initially planned Sunday), I am twice as motivated for Sunday's race. I want to be part of the breakaway with Antoine on my mind. I want him to be proud of me and proud of us up there," he said.
The Orica-AIS squad is looking for its first victory on European soil, and is taking aim at the Women's Tour of Flanders - a race which the team has not yet won.
The Australian squad has in its ranks this year the 2011 winner of the Tour of Flanders, Annemiek van Vleuten, Australian national champion Amanda Spratt, the in-form Gracie Elvin, who was second in the Ronde van Drenthe, Loren Rowney, Lizzie Williams and Sarah Roy.
"Everyone is really excited and looking forward to the race," team director Gene Bates said. "We have six riders all in very good condition going into Sunday's race with nothing to lose, it's a great position to be in."
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"Gracie Elvin showed her form after finishing in second place in the WorldTour race Ronde van Drenthe a couple of weeks ago, and Annemiek van Vleuten has had many top tens this year. She has won the Tour of Flanders before, so she is very experienced and knows the climbs and cobbles well."
The women's Tour of Flanders is 141.2km and starts and finishes in Oudenaarde, using parts of the same course that the men will race over. The climbs include the Wolvenberg, Molenberg, Leberg, Berendries, Valkenberg, Kaperij, Kanarieberg, Kruisberg and the Oude Kwaremont/Paterberg duo that come with less than 15km to go.
"We've got really strong team lining up. The riders are all in good shape and if it all falls into to place on the day then we have a very good shot," Bates said.
The 35-year-old American is still recovering from two recent crashes. After coming second overall in the Santo's Women's Tour and scoring top 10s in the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, Omloop van het Hageland, and Ronde van Drenthe, Olds dropped out of her last three races including last week's Gent-Wevelgem.
"Shelley had a bad crash in Le Samyn where she hit her head hard, breaking her helmet, and she injured her neck as well," director Manel Lacambra said. "Under pain she continued to race, performing well in Strade Bianche and Drenthe, but in Drentse she couldn't finish the race because of the pain and numbness in her hands. Then in Binda she was involved in a crash again and it worsened the injury and the pain.
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"[Yesterday in the Pajot Hills Classic - ed.] she tried to start the race but after 30km she stopped because it was not possible to deal with the pain or ride without feeling in her hands. We have decided to send her home to take care of her health and she will not come back to the races until she is 100% healthy."
The Cylance team will be represented in the Tour of Flanders by Italians Rossella Ratto, Valentina Scandolara and Rachele Barbieri, Spaniard Sheyla Gutierrez, and American Alison Tetrick.
The Women's Tour of Flanders takes place on Sunday, April 3, beginning at 11:06CET. There will be live streaming video courtesy Proximus TV starting at 12:45CET.
Axeon Hagens Berman will begin their US domestic season as a team at the San Dimas Stage Race that starts on Friday in California. The team will include Nielson Powless, who has already scored victories on his own this spring, and is looking to take that success into this weekend’s three-event race with a full team.
Powless, a former mountain biker from California, won races at Merced Road Race and Copper Town Square Circuit Race, and he placed second at the Snelling Road Race.
"I am excited about it [racing in San Dimas] because it is a large race in my home state as well as one of two solid races back-to-back in Southern California (along with the Redlands Bicycle Classic)," he said in a team press release.
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"As for the first team event of the year, it gets my blood pumping a bit harder for sure. Racing with a full team opens up a lot of opportunities as far as tactics go, and with the group of guys we have, I am sure it will be a good bit of fun."
Axeon Hagens Berman's team will also include Geoffrey Curran, Justin Oien, Jonny Brown, Phil O'Donnell and Chad Young. "In the first team race of the year, it is important that we communicate well throughout," Curran said.
"With new guys on the team, it can take a few races to get everything done perfectly. But I am confident we will work well together. After that, everyone is very strong and knows what needs to be done to win."
Axeon Hagens Berman will begin their US domestic season as a team at the San Dimas Stage Race that starts on Friday in California. The team will include Nielson Powless, who has already scored victories on his own this spring, and is looking to take that success into this weekend’s three-event race with a full team.
Powless, a former mountain biker from California, won races at Merced Road Race and Copper Town Square Circuit Race, and he placed second at the Snelling Road Race.
"I am excited about it [racing in San Dimas] because it is a large race in my home state as well as one of two solid races back-to-back in Southern California (along with the Redlands Bicycle Classic)," he said in a team press release.
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"As for the first team event of the year, it gets my blood pumping a bit harder for sure. Racing with a full team opens up a lot of opportunities as far as tactics go, and with the group of guys we have, I am sure it will be a good bit of fun."
Axeon Hagens Berman's team will also include Geoffrey Curran, Justin Oien, Jonny Brown, Phil O'Donnell and Chad Young. "In the first team race of the year, it is important that we communicate well throughout," Curran said.
"With new guys on the team, it can take a few races to get everything done perfectly. But I am confident we will work well together. After that, everyone is very strong and knows what needs to be done to win."
It’s hardly the most romantic of races, but for years, Lieuwe Westra had quietly endured an unhappy love affair with the Three Days of De Panne. Dating back to his professional debut with Vacansoleil in 2009, the Dutchman has been a committed performer on the North Sea coast, but had to settle only for near misses, placing second overall in both 2011 and 2012.
Westra missed the last two editions of the race after joining Astana at the beginning of 2014, and absence seemed only to make the heart grow fonder. On the windswept, rain-soaked opener in the Flemish Ardennes on Tuesday, it was Westra who sparked the winning move, punching clear on the Tenbosse.
Faced with an imperious Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) in the eventual three-up sprint in Zottegem, Westra and his Astana teammate Alexey Lutsenko would have to settle for second and third on the stage, but their efforts had essentially reduced the overall picture to a three-way battle.
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Westra set out on Thursday afternoon’s traditional closing time trial around De Panne in third place overall, with 12 seconds to make up on Kristoff over the 14.2-kilometre course. Memories of those narrow defeats to Sebastien Rosseler (2011) and Sylvain Chavanel (2012) weighed heavily as he warmed up following the morning stage.
“I’ve been so close to victory here a few times, I’ve been second a few times,” Westra said. “I was just so nervous for the last three hours, the palms of my hands were sweating. I was thinking ‘I hope I’m not second again today.’”
At the opening check point, it looked as though Kristoff would just about hold off the Dutchman and claim his second successive overall victory, but Westra was not to be denied this time out. He made up the necessary ground over the back end of the course to place fourth on the stage, three seconds down on winner Maciej Bodnar (Tinkoff), but 25 ahead of Kristoff.
Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) says that he will not be among the top favourites when he lines up on Sunday to defend his Tour of Flanders title. The 2015 champion believes that he will be in the second tier of riders with the likes of Fabian Cancellara, Peter Sagan and Greg Van Avermaet the men to beat this weekend.
"I think I’m not the biggest favourite," he said after finishing second to Lieuwe Westra at the Three Days of De Panne. "I think that I will be among the favourites but Cancellara, Sagan and Greg they are maybe bigger favourites. I won last year but how they raced last week, especially Sagan in both races and Cancellara in Harelbeke, how strong he was there, makes it look to me that it will probably be hard for me to follow in the climbs. Still, usually I perform well in Flanders every year I’ve had a good result so I will hope I have the same feeling as last year."
Kristoff’s De Panne got off to a flying start after he beat fellow escapees Westra and Alexey Lutsenko in the sprint into Zottegem, on a challenging opening day that included two ascents of the Muur Van Geraardsbergen. It was an impressive effort from Kristoff, but he admitted later that it had an impact on him the following day when he struggled to keep up with Marcel Kittel and Elia Viviani in the sprint.
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Kristoff was beaten for a second time in the sprint on Thursday morning, with Kittel coming up trumps despite a line-perfect lead out from his Katusha team. He went into the final stage of the Three Days of De Panne with a small margin over Lutsenko and Westra. He put in a solid effort in the time trial, but it wasn’t enough to hold onto his lead, losing to Westra by 13 seconds in the end.
"I knew I was behind, but still not so much. I was still getting good feedback that my speed was ok. I tried to speed up but I couldn’t keep the power. I felt maybe a little bit stronger last year but I was sick last weekend so it’s usually normal to be a little bit weaker."
Last year, it appeared at the time that anything Kristoff touched would turn into a victory as he headed into the Tour of Flanders off the back of three stage wins and the overall victory at the Three Days of De Panne. In contrast, Kristoff has looked out of sorts in recent weeks and was dropped by the favourites during E3 Harelbeke. He was then set back by an illness that forced him to skip Gent-Wevelgem.
The team was confirmed via Twitter on Thursday afternoon with the race taking place on Sunday.
The Belgian team have not won a major one-day race on home soil this year [ed. Terpstra did win Le Samyn] and missed out on the podium last week at Gent-Wevelgem. Despite the lack of results in certain areas Etixx-QuickStep have still recorded 20 wins this season, and manager Patrick Lefevere still possess one of the strongest classics contingents in the peloton.
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Aside from three-time Tour of Flanders winner Tom Boonen, the team also includes Matteo Trentin, one of their most consistent riders so far this year.
Zdenek Stybar has also been selected, while Stijn Vandenbergh, Iljo Keisse, and Nikolas Maes will make up the engine room of the team.
Twelve months ago, Tiesj Benoot (Lotto Soudal) pulled off the remarkable feat of staying hidden in plain sight during the build-up to the Tour of Flanders. Despite a string of fine results in the early part of the spring, the neo-professional was able to line up for his debut Ronde relatively unfettered by the demands of the home press.
Benoot’s eventual fifth place finish, at the tender age of 21, changed his standing somewhat, particularly with Tom Boonen very much in the Autumn of his career, but the economics student seems unaffected by the increased attention as he lines up for his second tilt at Flemish cycling’s day of days.
“Last year was the first time I did a race of this distance and it went well for me,” Benoot said at Lotto-Soudal’s pre-race press gathering in Oostkamp on Wednesday evening. “This year, I’m taking the start with different sensations but not with any more stress. I’m setting out with the same confidence as in 2015. I’ve been up there in the finale of the last three races I’ve done and I’ve had better results in those races than I did last year.”
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Benoot was an aggressive presence at Dwars door Vlaanderen, placed 8th at E3 Harelbeke and 15th at Gent-Wevelgem last week, following on from a sparkling start to the season that saw him finish third at Omloop Het Nieuwblad and 8th at Strade Bianche.
Buoyed by those showings, Benoot will be expected to be in the mix come the finale on Sunday, though his directeur sportif Herman Frison insisted that there were three riders – Peter Sagan, Fabian Cancellara and Greg Van Avermaet – operating at a level above the rest. The leap from making an impressive cameo to winning in Oudenaarde is considerable.
“I can win but it’s very difficult,” Benoot said. “There are three riders ahead of everybody else and so you’ll need a bit of luck to beat them. But behind them, anything is possible and in a race of 260 kilometres, you never know.”
The 2016 Critérium du Dauphiné route has been announced with the race taking place between June 5-12 and covering 1,147 kilometres. The WorldTour race, which is a key build-up event for the Tour de France, begins with a tough uphill 3.9km time trial in Les Gets.
Race organisers ASO have also unveiled the selection of teams set to take part in the French stage race with the 18 World Tour team joined by four wildcards: Cofidis, Bora-Argon 18, Wanty Groupe Gobert and Direct Energie.
Defending champion Chris Froome (Team Sky), Alberto Contador (Tinkoff Team), Fabio Aru (Astana), Tejay van Garderen (BMC Racing), Romain Bardet (Ag2r-La Mondiale) and Thibault Pinot (FDJ) are all expected to line up in Les Gets on June 5 for the opening stage.
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After the lung-busting opening prologue – the only time trial of this year’s race – stage 1 sees the peloton take on more sprint-friendly terrain with a 186-kilometre stage from Cluses to Saint-Vulbas. The nature of the parcours changes once more on stage 2 with the punchers and GC contenders set to do battle on the third category climb to the finish on Chalmazel-Jeansagnière.
With just two fourth category climbs on stage 3 from Boën-sur-Lignon to Tournon-sur-Rhône the sprinters should enjoy their second bite of the cherry. Stage 4 holds a similar opportunity for the fast men with a 176-kilometre stage from Tain-l'Hermitage to Belley.
Stage five, and the second category climb finish should see the overall contenders and climbers of the race more the fore. The opening 80 kilometres of the stage is peppered with climbs – six in all – before the long section in the valley before the final ascent and first proper mountain-top finish.
Nothing sums up the place the Tour of Flanders occupies in Geraint Thomas' affections quite like the wistful comment he made on sitting down with reporters on the Friday before last year's Paris-Roubaix: "It's kind of a shame we can't do the Tour of Flanders again this weekend," he said, casually relegating the Queen of the Classics to the status of a consolation prize.
After defending a place in the top five overall deep into the third week of last year's Tour de France, it was inevitable that Thomas, on the cusp of his 30th birthday, would finally be persuaded by Team Sky to devote himself to stage racing on a more permanent basis.
The switch in emphasis has already yielded overall victory at the Volta ao Algarve and Paris-Nice this year, but even though Thomas is apparently being groomed for a metamorphosis of the kind enjoyed by Bradley Wiggins at around the same age, the Tour of Flanders, it seems, was a non-negotiable part of his 2016 race programme.
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"He personally wants to do it, and I've always said that at the end of the day you've got to listen to what the lads want to do, and let them follow their dreams and give them some opportunities in other things," Team Sky's head of performance Rod Ellingworth told Cyclingnews.
After an early-season campaign on stage racing duty, Thomas links up with Team Sky's Classics unit for the first time at the Tour of Flanders on Sunday, eschewing the conventional wisdom that a contender for victory in the Ronde will have spent the preceding weeks dutifully familiarising himself once again with the cobbles and hills of the Flemish Ardennes. His last race was the Volta a Catalunya, which he abandoned after four stages as he turned his attentions to Flanders.
"Last year before he won E3, he hadn't ridden on the cobbles in the lead-up," Ellingworth pointed out, a feat repeated by new signing Michal Kwiatkowski this time around in Harelbeke. "He hasn't touched the cobbles all year and then he shows up and wins Harelbeke. I think you can do it."
"It is a gamble, but I think G [Thomas] is up for it. He wants to do it and we're happy for him to do it. It's all about condition. If you've got the condition, you can do it."
A notable facet of Team Sky's stage racing preparation has been the marked weight loss of their leaders. When Bradley Wiggins switched his attention to Paris-Roubaix in 2014 and 2015, for instance, he estimated that he was some 8 kilogrammes heavier than when he had won the Tour de France. Ellingworth does not feel, however, that Thomas' stage racing focus has changed his physique unduly.
"I think he's still the same guy. He's not a lot different to where he was for E3 last year and where he is now, he's in pretty similar condition," Ellingworth said, adding that the comparison with Wiggins was an apt one.
"When you actually think about, G's still a current Olympic team pursuit champion and a world record holder. The diversity of what he can do is a bit like what we've seen at the past with Brad. These guys are talented bike riders. He has ambitions for stage races and obviously Paris-Nice was a huge objective and a job well done, so he's still on for the stage races, but this is just a personal hit at Flanders."
Thomas made his Tour of Flanders debut in 2010 and enjoyed his first notable performance the following year, when he finished 10th in the dramatic final edition on the old parcours over the Muur and Bosberg.
The Welshman's best showing on the new finale is his 8th place in 2014, and though he entered last year's Ronde as one of the favourites following his victory at E3 Harelbeke the previous week, he was unable to bridge up to Alexander Kristoff's winning attack and reached Oudenaarde in 14th place.
If Thomas was Team Sky's obvious leader at the Tour of Flanders a year ago, this time around he is likely to share the role with Kwiatkowski, who was so impressive in disposing of world champion Peter Sagan in Harelbeke last week. The presence of Ian Stannard, third in the same race, and Luke Rowe, who was to the fore at Gent-Wevelgem, means that Team Sky ought to have strength in numbers in the final 50 kilometres.
"I think with him and Kwiatkowski, with Ian and Luke sat in behind them, we've got a bloody good group there," Ellingworth said. Despite Sky's steady improvement on the cobbles over the past two years, however, he is aware, too, that the success or failure of their Classics campaign will be judged on the first two Sundays in April.
"We still haven't won a Monument," he said. "We're still hungry. We believe in the lads we've got and we'll try again on Sunday. The lads are dead up for Sunday."
Belgian Sep Vanmarcke will spearhead the LottoNL-Jumbo team for the 100th edition of the Tour of Flanders and is ready for the challenge. The Belgian team will field a balanced squad of experience and youth in Sunday's 255km monument.
"Sep Vanmarcke is our front man and the other seven riders need to help him," sports director Nico Verhoeven explained of the selection.
"Some of them have to make sure that they make it into the final of the race so that they can support him as long as possible. From the second time up the Oude Kwaremont climb, the final starts. The race is tough before that point, as well, but no one will go full gas in that part of the race. You have to be focussed in those kilometres, though, because you can easily lose the race there."
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Vanmarcke was 61st on debut in 2010 with third place in 2014 his best result yet. The 27-year-old struggled in last year's edition of the race but with 24th at Milan-San Remo, eighth at E3 Harelbeke and second at Gent-Wevelgem, he will start as a rider to watch.
"Suddenly, I'm one of the big favourites. I wasn't before this weekend, but it doesn't change anything in my mind. I've been working for these weeks and I showed last weekend that I'm good," Vanmarcke said of his status pre-race.
Of the climbs scattered across the parcours, Vanmarcke pinpointed the Oude Kwaremont as the first crucial moment of the race.
SRAM’s latest mountain bike drivetrain cranks the volume past 11 all the way to 12 — because 12 is one more than 11 and more is always better, right? Not so fast, jive turkey. Long before SRAM launched its 12-speed Eagle drivetrain, Shimano was equipping 10-speeds with its own Eagle derailleurs.
Here’s how these two components that would never, ever, be bolted to the same bicycle stack up against each other in BikeRadar’s bird battle royale!
Features
In comparing these two derailleurs, it’s amazing how little the rear derailleur has changed in forty years.
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SRAM and Shimano Eagle derailleurs share many of the same features, including barrel adjusters to fine-tune cable tension, limit screws to control the range of movement, B-tension screws to adjust the orientation of the derailleur cage in relation to the freewheel/cassette, and a pair of jockey wheels through which the chain travels.
There are, of course, some striking differences.
SRAM Eagle builds on the success of SRAM’s clutch-equipped Type II derailleurs with a “Type 3” clutch that is said to be stronger as well as smoother.
Following the release of Ultegra and 105 hydraulic disc brakes last year, today Shimano announced Tiagra-grade road hydraulic disc brakes to accompany its Tiagra 4700 10-speed group.
Shimano is typically conservative in its product offerings, catering to the OEM (original equipment manufacturer) market first and foremost. This new product shows the strong demand for road disc brake bikes, especially at the entry-level.
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The Shimano Tiagra disc brakes (BR-RS405) feature flat-mount hydraulic calipers and a 10-speed mechanical shift lever. Shimano SM-RT81 brake rotors with ‘Ice Technology’ for heat dissipation complete the system.
Exact details are scarce, but the new brakes look to use plenty of trickle-down technology and familiar ergonomics. Like the newly updated Tiagra mechanical-brake shifters, these also won’t offer gear indicators. The new brake levers are claimed to feature up to 10mm of lever reach adjustment.
Available in flat-mount style only (road-specific, bolts from beneath), the new calipers appear to use a standard non-finned brake pad. Like all Shimano hydraulic disc brakes, these will continue to use mineral oil. Helping with a relatively easy setup, these will also feature Shimano’s ‘Funnel bleed’ system.
Saddles come in different width fittings, so why not padded shorts? That’s the thinking behind the new Wms FS260-Pro SL bib shorts from Endura. These new women’s bib shorts (men’s versions also available) come with either narrow, medium or wide chamois pads, designed to complement the saddle you ride with.
Endura hasn’t just taken one of its existing chamois and played with the widths: this is a new product from the ground up, designed for purpose. But does it work in practice? Well, so far so good.
The chamois itself is a soft, stretchy pad with various densities across the profile, and thankfully no deep creases.
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I measure up as a medium fitting in the Wms FS260-Pro SL women’s cycling shorts, and it does seem to work exceptionally well with my usual saddle and general riding position. Where I sometimes find that the chamois doesn’t entirely bridge the gap between me and the saddle, with the new chamois pad the coverage was complete and my rides felt all the more comfortable for it.
Of course, the chamois is only one element that makes up a good pair of cycling shorts, and the Wms FS260-Pro SL shorts deliver in other areas too.
The Italian Power Lycra fabric is firm and supportive without being restrictive, and there are softer mesh panels at the stomach and back that also aid breathability. Endura has opted for a racer-back style arrangement for the bib straps, which sit to the outside of the breasts on the front. Personally, I found this comfortable, with the cut around the neckline low enough so as not to pull on the shoulders or neck excessively.
After thousands of test miles logged on dozens of bikes, our sister title Cycling Plus magazine has crowned the Cannondale CAAD12 105 as its Bike of the Year 2016.
What’s even more impressive is that it was the least expensive bike on a shortlist of four category winners: up to £1500, £1500-2000, £2000-2750 and £2750 and above.
The test team, led by Warren Rossiter, described it as “fast and light, extremely comfortable, it climbs as well as machines far pricier, is an exciting descender and suited to every kind of riding.”
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'A revelation'
The teams added that the CAAD12 105 is “a bike to put your prejudices aside for and simply get on and ride. It’s a revelation – proving that price isn’t everything, aluminium is a match for carbon and rim brakes can still cut it. In short, it’s a very special machine.”
The full shortlist – and price point winners - also includes:
Best Bike £2750 & above: Bianchi’s Specialissima: “One of the most enthralling rides we’ve ever experienced.”
Best Bike £2000-2750: The Wilier GTR SL: “Looks the part and has the ride quality to back it up.”
Best Bike £1500-2000: BMC’s SLR02: “Almost as quick as its pro team looks suggest, with superb ride quality and great comfort.”
Stay tuned for extended reviews of these exceptional rides on BikeRadar over the coming weeks.
Chain Reaction Cycles has confirmed it will be expanding into the sports nutrition arena with a new brand – Natural Nutrition.
We spoke to Sean Baker, brand manager of Natural Nutrition who, while keeping tight-lipped as to details said: “We’re always listening to feedback within the sports nutrition segment and we feel now’s the right time to move into this space with something healthy, wholesome and brand-new for cyclists.”
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Natural Nutrition is set to join a number of in-house brands producing bikes and cycle components under the Chain Reaction label.
It isn't yet clear when the brand will officially launch but we'll keep you updated as and when it does.
