Modolo laments lack of investment in sprint trains for Italians

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After winning a second stage at the Presidential Tour of Turkey in Marmaris, Sacha Modolo (Lampre-Merida) warned that his confidence is huge ahead of the Giro d’Italia but also lamented the lack of investment in trains for himself and the other Italian sprinters.

“It’s been six years since I first came to Turkey to finalize my preparation for the Giro d’Italia and I’ve come back every year," Modolo recalled on the sunny shores of the Mediterranean sea. “There have been a few doubts over our participation this time. There were some changes in the organization but I haven’t seen the difference really. I’ve maybe felt a bit more stress because of the wind on stage 3 and stage 2 was a difficult one whereas in the past, the beginning of the race was more relaxed. But it’s a very nice Tour.

“Last year, Roberto Ferrari, Max Richeze and myself were strong at the Giro after racing in Turkey," Modolo continued. “I guess it’ll be the same again. My only reservation is that I would have enjoyed a bit more time at home than just one day before going to the Giro. It’s quite a lot of travelling these days: coming to Turkey, flying from Istanbul to Cappadocia, flying to Istanbul and back to Italy after the race, flying to Holland for the start of the Giro, flying to the south of Italy to continue the Giro… But that’s part of the job. At least after the Giro I’ll take a good rest.”

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One year ago, Modolo waited for stage 13 to claim his first win at the Giro in Lido di Jesolo before he doubled up in Lugano, Switzerland, on stage 17. He expects he'll need to be patient again this year because sprinters of a somewhat higher profile might take advantage of the first few flat stages: Marcel Kittel, André Greipel, Caleb Ewan, Arnaud Démare.

“I don’t feel inferior to them as a sprinter," the 28-year-old said. “But I may not have a team of the same level as theirs. We’ve lost Richeze [who joined Etixx-Quick Step] and I’ll only have Ferrari to lead me out. In the very flat stage finishes, it might be difficult for us to compete against the best trains but the Giro offers diverse courses and it’s a nervous race so I hope to get the results I’m looking for in the sprinters’ stages that are a bit harder.”

After he won stage 4 in the Tour of Turkey, Modolo noted the high number of good Italian sprinters but also the fact that none of them really has a train at his service. Elia Viviani (Sky), Giacomo Nizzolo (Trek-Segafredo), Andrea Guardini (Astana), Matteo Pelucchi (IAM Cycling), Jakub Mareczko (Southeast), Kristian Sbaragli (Dimension Data) are also sprinters in teams that have resources split into different goals.

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Watch Charlotte Criterium live streaming on Cyclingnews

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The 2016 edition of the Charlotte Criterium is the fifth stop of USA Cycling's Pro Road Tour Calendar, and part of the USA CRITS National Series and the Speed Week Regional Series. You can watch the women's and men's races through live streaming on Cyclingnews.

The women's race will begin at 6 p.m. followed by the men's race at 7:30 p.m. EST.

Frankie Andreu will provide colour commentary for what is expected to be an exciting, well-attended event.

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The international field of the world's top men and women's professional cyclists will take to the streets of uptown Charlotte and will compete for over $40,000 in prize money. The women will race for 40km and the men will race for 80km.

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Uran: This is my best chance to win the Giro d'Italia

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Rigoberto Uran (Cannondale) is going all out this year for the Giro d’Italia. The Giro has always been good to Uran and after being the bridesmaid twice, he says that this year could be his best chance to win the corsa rosa.

Uran made his breakthrough as a Grand Tour rider at the 2012 Giro when he finished seventh overall. He stepped up the following season when his team leader Bradley Wiggins abandoned and went on to take second place behind Vincenzo Nibali. He was the runner-up in 2014 again, this time behind his compatriot Nairo Quintana.

“I’ve been second twice and this year I want to take victory,” Uran told Cyclingnews. “Every year is special because every year I train to win. Sometimes it’s not possible because that’s cycling. This year it is good. I’m happy with my preparation.

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“It’s important to be on the podium or in the top 5 because it’s a big race but I’ve been second twice, and now I think it is the best opportunity to win this race.”

The only blot on Uran’s Giro copybook in recent years was his 14th place at last year’s race, something he partly puts down to a lack of support in the mountains. He hopes that the backing of a more balanced Cannondale squad will see that right. Alongside Uran at this year’s race will be young climbers Joe Dombrowski and Davide Formolo, as well as experienced hand Andre Cardoso.

“I’m happy because the team is really strong on both the climbs and the flat. We have four guys who are strong on the climbs and then three who are strong on the flat, and this is a good combination,” explained Uran. “Etixx was a good team, and they were really strong but for the climbs they didn’t have that many climbers. There was only really [Gianluca] Brambilla last year, and he crashed at Liege and didn’t ride the Giro.

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Rivera wins Charlotte Criterium

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Lepistö wins stage 1 at Elsy Jacobs

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Tour de Yorkshire: Danny van Poppel wins stage 2

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There was no doubt that the second day of the Tour de Yorkshire belonged completely to the Dutch, as Team Sky’s Danny van Poppel emulated compatriot Kirsten Wild by leading the bunch home in Doncaster. To add to the Dutch flavour, van Poppel edged out another young Dutchman, Dylan Groenewegen (LottoNL-Jumbo), finishing just centimetres ahead of the stage 1 winner, who did at least have the consolation of holding onto the race leader’s blue jersey going into the final day.

The stage followed a very similar pattern to the women’s race a few hours earlier, with a small group holding a narrow advantage going into the final 20 kilometres only to be neutralised by the fast-moving bunch, where most of the GC favourites sat tight ahead of the very hilly final stage between Middlesbrough and Scarborough. Unfortunately, just like the women’s race, the men’s was also hit by technical issues that meant very little live coverage was possible.

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The break went early and, as on day one, British riders were prominent in it. The home contingent comprised Richard Handley from ONE Pro Cycling, Edmund Bradbury and Josh Edmondson from NFTO, and Gruff Lewis from Madison-Genesis, with Michael Morkov from Katusha and Stijn Steels from Topsport Vlaanderen also part of the sextet.

Their lead fluctuated at between a minute and 90 seconds throughout the first half of the stage. Just beyond halfway, Cofidis’s Nicolas Edet bridged across to join them to make seven up front.

The final climb of the day at Conisbrough Castle produced a split in the group, with Edet, Morkov, Steels and Edmondson ploughing on, although with their lead now under 30 seconds. Riding into the headwind that had thwarted world champion Lizzie Armistead’s hopes of a breakaway success earlier in the day, the quartet were never likely to stay clear, especially as LottoNL-Jumbo, BMC, Sky and Orica-GreenEdge were all contributing to drive the peloton along.

The bunch reeled in the breakaways 10 kilometres from home and powered on. Orica-GreenEdge were particularly prominent coming into the finish, with their aim clearly to set up Caleb Ewan for victory. However, the young Australian failed to feature when van Poppel and Groenewegen burst out of the pack in the final 200 metres.

Although Groenewegen was closing, van Poppel held on to win the battle of the 22 year olds and claim his first victory in Sky colours.

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Cancellara will return to Giro d’Italia for the first time since 2009

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Trek-Segafredo today announced the team’s nine-rider roster for the upcoming Giro D’Italia, featuring 2012 winner Ryder Hesjedal, 2015 points jersey winner Giacomo Nizzolo and Fabian Cancellara, who is returning to the race for the first time since 2009.

Cancellara will target the prologue time trial in Apeldoorn with is eye toward winning the only Grand Tour leaer’s jersey absent from his palmares.

Cancellara has four wins already this year in what he has said will be his final season. He took individual time trial wins at Volta a Algarve and Tirreno-Adriatico, and he took a Spanish one-day race in January. His biggest win of the year so far came at Strade-Bianche, but he failed to add another San Remo, Flanders or Roubaix to his results.

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Trek-Segafredo will also have early opportunities in the sprint stages, where Boy Van Poppel, Eugenio Alafaci, Marco Coledan and Jack Bobridge will ride for Nizzolo. Climbers Laurent Didier and Riccardo Zoidl will provide support for Hesjedal in the Mountains.

“We are coming to the Giro with big goals, but goals that we believe we have a very good chance of achieving,” said team director Adriano Baffi. “Our early target is to go for a stage victory with Fabian and Giacomo. Giacomo deserves a victory, he has been second enough times, and Fabian will try and win the first stage prologue and the dream to take home his first ever maglia rosa.”

Baffi said Cancellara also as a shot at the stage 9 time trial, as does Bobridge, while there are numerous sprint opportunities in the fight for the points jersey.

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Tour de Yorkshire hit by TV technical issues during men’s and women’s races

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Despite an almost complete television blackout at the Tour de Yorkshire on Saturday, race director Gary Verity called the day a ‘success story’ after the staging of a women’s race on the same day as stage 2 of the men’s race.

Both the men’s and women’s races were meant to be shown on domestic television in the United Kingdom but due to technical problems with the aircraft that helps to transmit live footage, none of the women’s race and only a short portion of the men’s race were shown.

The aircraft in question is one used by ASO in a number of races, including the Tour de France. It was grounded on Saturday on two separate occasions. The first took place just as the women’s field were leaving the neutral zone. According to race officials this was due to safety concerns with the aircraft, and a separate aircraft from France was dispatched with parts to fix the hampered aircraft that had been grounded at Leeds Bradford International airport.

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The aircraft was fixed during the men’s race but was grounded for a second and final time.

“We have enough footage to make sure that there’s enough for a highlights package tonight,” said Verity.

“It’s the same plane that has done the Tour de France coverage four times. They’re doing the Tour of Romandie, Tour of Yorkshire and over 30 bikes races. They know what they’re doing and they’re the best brains in the business. Unfortunately they fixed one problem and then a second thing happened. That’s it. We are hopeful of having a plane that works tomorrow.”

“Today is a success story. Over a million people came to watch two bike races today. We delivered two great bike races today enjoyed by record crowds.”

When asked who made the decision to ground the aircraft, Verity insisted that the call was made by the pilots whose first concern was understandably one of safety.

“If your lights start flashing and it says ‘tres dangerous’ I don’t want to be the one who says ‘can you ignore that so we can have some beautiful pictures.”

The men’s race concludes on Sunday with a stage from Middlesbrough to Scarborough.

“There will be an operational plane for tomorrow. The contingency is to make sure we have a plane that works. The plane has been fixed and is up there being tested now. So if that plane works we’ll use that one and if not there will be a fresh one.”

 

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Degenkolb can reach peak level for the Tour de France, says teammate

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John Degenkolb (Giant -Alpecin) can return to the peak of his powers, according to his teammate Koen de Kort.

Degenkolb will make his long-awaited return to racing on Sunday in the Finanzplatz Eschborn-Frankfurt after almost four months out of the sport. The sprinter and several of his teammates were hit by a vehicle during a training ride in January and Degenkolb suffered a number of injuries, the most serious of which almost cost him an index finger.

The team have struggled for results so far this year as a result of the incident that also took out the likes of Warren Barguil and Chag Haga. All of the riders who were involved have since returned, bar Degenkolb, who races on Sunday. Winless so far, the team are desperate for Degenkolb to reach the level that saw him win Milan-San Remo and Paris-Roubaix in 2015.

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“He can get to that at level again. I have a lot of faith in him to come good again for the Tour de France,” de Kort told Cyclingnews.

“He obviously still needs time but he’s been training hard. I speak to him frequently and he’s feeling good. Doing races is still a bit different to training so he needs his time. He’s not going to win his first race back but I’m pretty sure it wont be long until he’s back to his peak level.

De Kort added that the team management has not put addition pressure on the riders within the squad to win races given the difficult circumstances under which they started the year. Although morale has been hard to find at times, the team have shown fight with a number of seconds and thirds during the spring, two of which have come during the Tour de Yorkshire courtesy of Nikias Arndt.

“It’s been a difficult start to the year, obviously missing some key riders from earlier on in the season was really hard. I think that we’ve done relatively well but obviously winning races and missing these kind of guys like John, and Barguil involved... that’s two our main riders. Then Dumoulin has had his injuries so we’ve missed three main guys for a part of the season,” de Kort told Cyclingnews.

“We’ve let our heads drop. We’ve kept fighting and done what we do best and raced as a team. It’s not resulted in a win yet and that’s a bit difficult and not great for morale. Then again we’ve not had any real pressure from the team. I think that a lot of people realise and understand our situation.”

For de Kort and Giant-Alpecin as a whole, Degenkolb’s return must feel like a new signing, given their sprinter’s absence from the first portion of the season.

“Luckily John is back racing on Sunday and everyone who was involved is back racing again. That really helps and we’re looking forward to starting the season properly now.”

 

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Yorkshire’s women’s race a success despite TV blackout

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Although a technical issue with the plane that was meant to relay television pictures meant that the inaugural edition of the Asda Tour de Yorkshire Women’s Race was not broadcast live as planned, both riders and fans branded the event a huge success.

“It was a great opportunity for women’s cycling and it has been really good to race here in front of enthusiastic crowds. There were fans every kilometre of the way,” said race winner Kirsten Wild (Hitec Products). World champion Lizzie Armistead, who had picked out Dutch sprinter Wild as the favourite prior to the start, was also effusive in her praise, admitting she’d had goose-pimples when she took the start in her home town of Otley.

“This is a dream come true for me,” she said. “When I first started I did the Otley Criterium and came last I think, so to be world champion and starting such a big race in my home town is a privilege. I’m very grateful.”

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Wild and Armitstead agreed that the fact that the new race was taking place on the same day as the men’s stage over exactly the same course into Doncaster was more significant than the size of the prize pot, which is the biggest on the women’s calendar at £50,000.

“The amount of prize money does make a statement,” said Armitstead. “But, for me, the fact that we’re racing a full race distance is equally important. It shows that the organisers believe that we are capable of doing that size of stage, which we are. We do it across Europe all year, so for me that’s more important than the size of the prizes.”

UCI President Brian Cookson was also impressed with what he’d seen in Yorkshire. Speaking to Cyclingnews in Otley, Cookson said that the Tour de Yorkshire had shown that women’s and men’s races can be combined successfully.

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Boardman: British Cycling's 'trial by press' has been disappointing

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Chris Boardman, a former head of R&D at British Cycling, has welcomed the news of an inquiry into the federation but added that a ‘trial by press’ has been a disappointment.

British Cycling finds itself in turmoil after a week of allegations surrounding a ‘culture of fear’, and several incidents of discrimination. Shane Sutton resigned from his role as Performance Director after several athletes levelled accusations against him but Boardman, who worked in conjunction with Sutton for several years until 2012, stated that the media coverage had led to both negative and positive outcomes.

“I think the press have played their part in bringing a topic to the table. I was involved with Shane and everyone knew that he was a straight talker, no nonsense and that he could read a rider," he told Cyclingnews.

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“I’ve been disappointed to see trial by press over the last week, which whatever you think of an individual, I don’t think that’s fair but now you have an inquiry underway so I’d say let it do its job and lets see what happens. It’s an interesting position for British Cycling going forward and I think that’s good for every business to review and take opportunities when they’re brought to you. No matter how they are brought to you.”

Boardman is now detached from the federation and works in commentary and across his bike brand. He has a mixed-gender board within his bike business and says that the approach is healthy for the company. One of the criticism levelled at British Cycling is that the federation lacks a significant female presence at the highest level and Boardman believes that such a factor could well be addressed.

“I was having a conversation with a friend of mine and we both recalled Sara Symington.”

Symington is a former professional cyclist who represented Great Britain at the Olympic Games in 2000 and 2004. She currently works as the Performance Director of England Netball.

“She used to be a bike rider, she was the first British rider to medal at a World Cup. She has been the performance director in archery and is the performance director in women’s basketball. She could come into the mix. I see it as an opportunity.”

Boardman also pointed to the fact that although more could certainly be done to improve women’s cycling both at a federation and international level, the landscape had already seen improvements in recent years. It is Boardman’s hope that the inquiry will help even further.

“As far as women’s cycling goes we’re standing here at the Tour of Yorkshire which is the first time ever that we’ve seen the women race at the same distance as men, with the same TV coverage, ironically and even more prize money. This could be the start of something but we’ll have to see. Who knows, we could see the first ever woman as the Performance Director of British Cycling.”

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Tour de Romandie stage 4 highlights - Video

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Chris Froome (Team Sky) got some redemption for a lacklustre start to the Tour de Romandie during stage 4 on Saturday when he infiltrated a four-man breakaway, dropped all his companions on the final climb and then soloed across the line in Villars to take the stage win.

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The cold, wet weather continued for stage 4 as riders covered 173.2km from Conthey to Villars. Bob Jungels (Etixx-QuickStep), Tejay van Garderen (BMC) and Pavel Kochetkov (Katusha) joined Froome in the day's escape, but they couldn't stick with the two-time Tour de France winner when he rode away on the final climb. Ion Izagirre led the chasers across the line four seconds later, followed by Thibaut Pinot (FDJ), Ilnur Zakarin (Team Katusha) and race leader Nairo Quintana (Movistar), who hung onto his yellow jersey.

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Giant-Alpecin monitoring Edvald Boasson Hagen - News shorts

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Giant-Alpecin monitoring Edvald Boasson Hagen transfer situation

Cyclingnews understands that the Giant-Alpecin team is currently monitoring the situation regarding Edvald Boasson Hagen’s future. The Norwegian rides for Dimension Data but his contract comes to an end this year. It may only be April, but WorldTour teams are already planning for the 2017 and Boasson Hagen could be one of the most in-demand riders.

At the same time, Giant-Alpecin must decide on whether they retain the services of John Degenkolb. The German was hit by a car while training in January and almost lost an index finger.

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He is set to return to racing soon but his contract talks with the team – he too is out of contract – have been put on ice for now. He has also been linked with a move to Trek-Segafredo.

Cyclingnews understands that should Giant-Alpecin be unable or unwilling to re-sign Degenkolb, then they may look to snap up Boasson Hagen. Talks between the rider’s agent and the team have taken place in the past, with the two parties talking to each other when Boasson Hagen left Team Sky two years ago. On that occasion, the brief talks took place too late and the rider moved to Dimension Data on a two-year deal. This time, the two parties have already held a brief discussion, although formal transfer negotiations are likely to be a long way off.

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Cummings coming to terms with management change at Dimension Data

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Steve Cummings, who has enjoyed arguably the best start to a season of his career, has told Cyclingnews that he has been struggling mentally with the changes and revelations in cycling over the last week.

Cummings, who won a stage in Pais Vasco and Tirreno-Adriatico earlier this year, is currently racing the Tour de Yorkshire. The race is going on under a difficult and tense backdrop with British Cycling reeling from a week of sexism and discriminatory allegations, a positive test for Simon Yates (Orica GreenEdge), and for Cummings on a more personal level, a shift in management at Dimension Data after the team parted ways with general manager, Brian Smith.

“It’s been a mad week. Since Liege I’ve been struggling a bit mentally,” Cummings told Cyclingnews at the end of stage 1 in Yorkshire.

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“It’s the end of the first period of the season for me and the changes in the team were a bit unsettling but I feel better about it already after being with the team here. The stuff with Shane [Sutton] has been a bit unsettling, and then the Yates thing. It was three things without even pushing a pedal.”

Brian Smith came onto the team in 2014 as the interim manager and he quickly set about improving the squad infrastructure, and signing riders such as Cummings and later Mark Cavendish when the team moved into the WorldTour.

However, this year Smith found himself taking on more of a logistical role than the ‘coalface’ one he highlighted to Cyclingnews earlier this week. Doug Ryder, the team owner, will not take on more responsibility with Smith leaving by mutual consent.

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Roche targets three Grand Tours after making Team Sky’s Giro d’Italia long list

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Nicolas Roche (Team Sky) will find out on Monday if he has been selected to ride the Giro d’Italia. The Irish rider may not have originally had the Italian Grand Tour on his race programme for 2016 but after a unique off-season the 31-year-old is contemplating the possibility of riding all three Grand Tours in a single season.

“Why not? It’s something that I’ve had in the back of my mind for a while. In 2014 I wanted to do it but things went different and the Vuelta didn’t happen,” he told Cyclingnews in an exclusive interview during the Tour de Yorkshire.

“The Giro isn’t usually a race that I’ve targeted because normally I go better in the heat and we know that the Giro goes through a few miserable days. I’ve gone more for the Vuelta in the past but why not the Giro this time? I’d like to go for it and I’ll know more on Monday.”

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Team Sky added Roche to their Giro d’Italia long-list earlier this year and they go towards the race targeting the overall standings with new signing Mikel Landa as their leader. Roche, if selected, would add firepower in the mountains while also having his own designs on a stage win. It is a tactic that paid off last year with the former Tinkoff and AG2R rider allowed the freedom to hunt stages in the Vuelta. He came away with the second Vuelta stage win of his career.

Part of the reason for Roche’s desire to head to Italy appears to stem from an attraction to try something different and spice up the format of his race programme. He has ridden the Tour every year since 2008, and while that remains the central focus to his season, he is mentally ready to tackle anything the Giro has to throw at him.

Back in January the Giro d’Italia looked a long shot given that Roche had been on a course of antibiotics after suffering two spider bites and contracting golden staph as a result.

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Van Poppel wins Tour de Yorkshire stage

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Dutch rider Danny van Poppel from Team Sky claims victory in the second stage of the Tour de Yorkshire.

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Froome solos to win stage 4 of Tour de Romandie

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Chris Froome (Sky) put a different gloss on his Tour de Romandie by soloing to victory on the toughest stage of the race to Villars, while Nairo Quintana (Movistar) took an important stride towards overall victory by containing the attacks of Thibaut Pinot (FDJ) on the final haul up Barboleusaz.

As driving rain swept across the Vaud in the final three hours of racing, Froome attacked in the company of Tejay van Garderen (BMC) with a shade under 40 kilometres remaining, as the race tackled the first of two successive ascents of the stiff climb of Barboleusaz.

Froome began the day more than 17 minutes down on general classification after his surprising setback on stage 2, though with van Garderen only 1:22 off the lead, Quintana’s Movistar guard was keen to keep the move on a relatively tight leash.

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The pair collaborated well together, catching and eventually dropping Pavel Kochetkov (Katusha) and Bob Jungels (Etixx-QuickStep), the two survivors of the early break, before Froome distanced van Garderen three kilometres from the summit on the second time up the Barboleusaz.

“Tejay came with me, and it worked well. He had the GC as an objective and I wanted a stage win, so I think it worked out well for both of us,” Froome said. “It’s been a tough race so far so to come and win the queen stage, especially attacking so far out, is really a great feeling. It’s good for the team, and it’s nice not to come away from the race empty-handed.”

Froome was 20 seconds clear of van Garderen over the summit, with the reduced yellow jersey group a further 16 seconds back, and he took no risks on the rain-soaked descent, eventually winning the stage by just 4 seconds from Ion Izagirre (Movistar).

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Modolo claims second stage win at Tour of Turkey

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In another all-Italian podium finish, Sacha Modolo (Lampre-Merida) outsprinted his compatriots Manuel Belletti (Southeast) and Marco Zanotti (Parkhotel Valkenburg) on the paradisiacal seaside of Marmaris, where Portugal’s José Gonçalves retained the lead on the eve of the conclusive stage in Selçuk.

“Stage 4 went at perfection but today’s finale was even more suitable for me,” Modolo said after bagging his second victory at the Presidential Tour of Turkey, which is also his second success of the 2016 season.

“Uphill, downhill and a bunch sprint finish is exactly my forte. The whole team brought me here just as planned and Roberto Ferrari led me out for a very nice sprint. After the hiccups we encountered in March and April with almost the whole team on the ground at Milan-Sanremo, luck seems to be on our side now, right on time before the Giro d’Italia.”

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It took 25 kilometres for the breakaway of the day to take shape, comprising Leszek Plucinski (CCC), David Belda (Roth), Pawel Cieslik (Verva), Florian Gaugl (Hrinkow) and Bram Nolten (Parkhotel). They got a maximum lead of 4:20. Southeast was the most active team in the chase on Jakub Mareczko’s birthday although they also had ambitions for Belletti, who was the only former winner in Marmaris taking part in the TUR after André Greipel left the race.

It was all together again with 16km to go as the peloton was driven by the Italian continental team Unieuro and particularly its young guns Simone Ravanelli and Marco Molteni – who aren’t related to the former football player and Eddy Merckx’s old sponsor. With 7.5km to go, Lluis Mas of Caja Rural-RGA attacked.

“Last year I attacked towards the top of the last climb before the downhill to Marmaris”, the punchy Spanish rider explained. “I remembered it was a great feeling so I tried again 1km before the summit with the idea of going for the stage win after the other tasks of the day were already completed. We had delivered José Gonçalves to the final part of the stage with no worries.”

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Wild thwarts Armitstead’s Tour de Yorkshire dream

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Dutchwoman Kirsten Wild thwarted both the hopes of Yorkshire’s world champion Lizzie Armitstead and those of local fans when she proved quickest of the bunch to claim the first edition of the Asda Tour de Yorkshire in Doncaster. The Hitec Products rider finished a bike length clear of Wiggle-High5’s Lucy Garner, with Liv-Plantur’s Floortje Mackaij in third, to claim the biggest prize in women’s cycling of more than £15,000.

Going into the final 20 kilometres it had seemed that Armitstead, riding for the Great Britain team, might pull off a hugely popular coup after she went on the attack with Liv-Plantur’s Leah Kirchmann and Cylance Pro Cycling’s Doris Schweizer. The trio opened up a lead of more than a minute with little more than 15km remaining. But they were reeled in two kilometres from the line.

It was Schweizer who made the early running, breaking away after the field had left Armitstead’s home town of Otley. The gap was kept down to below two minutes as Liv-Plantur and Hitec Products kept the bunch moving along briskly behind the Swiss rider.

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Soon after passing the 60-kilometre mark in Pontefract, where church bells rang as the riders passed, Schweizer pushed out her lead even more until it reached more than three minutes at just beyond half-distance. That signalled the start of a more determined pursuit of the lone leader, whose advantage began to fall rapidly approaching Conisbrough.

Prior to the race, Armitstead had suggested that the short climb at Conisbrough Castle might provide a launchpad to thwart the sprinters’ hopes of deciding the race between them, and it was the world champion herself who took advantage of the steep grade. Armitstead accelerated clear with Liv-Plantur’s Leah Kirchmann, and the pair quickly bridged across the gap to Schweizer.

The trio pushed their advantage out to just over a minute going into the final 15 kilometres, as Hitec took responsibility for leading the chase in the peloton. With 10 kilometres remaining, Hitec had trimmed the deficit back to 45 seconds. Five kilometres later and Armitstead, Kirchmann and Schweizer were just 20 seconds clear.

You can read more at Cyclingnews.com

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Specialized Myth Comp women's saddle

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Specialized makes three saddles for women, the Myth Comp which we have here, the cheaper Myth Sport and the more recreational Riva. They're predominantly sold aboard the Big S’s range of women’s mountain bikes, but are also available to buy as standalone products from Specialized concept stores.

The Myth Comp is available in three widths: 143mm, 155mm or the widest 168mm. We chose to test the narrowest option after previous experience with other identically sized saddles. If you aren’t sure though, take a trip to your local concept store where a rep will sit you on a gel cushion and measure your sit bones in order to match your behind to the correct saddle width. It's something worth knowing for future reference, even if you don’t end up coming out of the store with any purchases.

• 6 of the best women's mountain bike saddles

On fitting the Myth Comp we found the broad, flat, low profile shape looked great atop any of our stable of bikes. But it packs practical features as well as being a looker – mounts compatible with Specialized's SWAT system give you the option to fit a mini pump or water bottle to the rear for extra storage on those rides where you go sans pack.

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Out on the trail we noticed the Women’s Body Geometry cutout is deep, with narrow edges right where pubic bones sit. This caused some initial discomfort though we soon got used to the feeling and had no lasting issues.

The narrow rear area really helps the saddle stay out of the way for those ‘hanging off the back’ moments when going downhill, while the nose is long enough to aid climbing but not so long as to interfere with descending body position. We found the lightweight PU padding to be firm and supportive, with enough give in it to cushion the sitbones and deaden vibrations. The Myth Comp has seen a fair bit of mud during testing, but once washed off looks almost new again with the low-friction panels covering the saddle looking to be super durable.

At 280g (for our 143mm version), it’s not the lightest but given its reasonable price we don’t think this is a massive issue – hence the decision to rate it Best Value in our women's MTB saddles grouptest. If you want to go cheaper though, the Myth Sport is very similar in design – its significant difference in price is down to the composition of the rails, with the Comp being Cro-Mo while the Sport is steel. For the cheaper 143mm width saddle you will take a 40g weight hit.

• Price: £50 / US$100 / AU120
• Rail: Hollow Cr-Mo
• Weight: 280g
• Size: 143mm Wide

• Get your fix of women's cycling news, reviews and advice on BikeRadar Women.

You can read more at BikeRadar.com

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How to take a brilliant picture of your bike

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Taking a photograph of a bike is easy, but taking one to be proud of is something else altogether. Here at BikeRadar we've photographed more bikes than we'd like to think of and we've learned a thing or two along the way. With that in mind, here are several pointers that should help you to get a shot you can't wait to share.

Location, location, location

Sadly, not all of us are surrounded by scenery that's quite so picturesque

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It doesn’t matter how crisp or well framed your shot is, if the location isn’t right then you’ll struggle to get anything other than an average shot. Consider colours, lines and any objects that may detract from the important part – your bike.

Think also about lighting conditions. Harsh light is difficult to manage, can cast hideous shadows and will leave you with lot of unwanted reflections – for that reason it can often be better to shoot bikes on an overcast day than in blazing sunshine.

Getting up early or staying out later could pay off too. This is down to what photographers refer to as the ‘golden hour’ – a period shortly after sunrise or prior to sunset where daylight is softer and more red.

Play with aperture

Mad props

Move around

Stylistic pointers

• Shoot from the driveside: bikes look strangely incomplete when shot from the non-driveside, meaning the drivetrain is largely hidden from view.
• Crank position: some photographers swear by level cranks on a bike but we tend to keep the driveside crank arm so that it runs parallel with the bike’s chainstays.
• Gear choice: If you’ve got a big ring at the crank then make sure the chain is on it, and we tend to place bikes about halfway through their cassette in pictures.
• Handlebars – and therefore wheels –  should be straight.
• Clean or dirty: mountain bikes can look great with a bit of mud on them, but there’s a fine line between looking cool and looking cack. Road bikes rarely look good when unclean.
• Look out for the position of any quick-release levers – you’d be amazed at how messy it can look if there's one sticking out from the fork at a jaunty angle.
• Bike needs to stand level –, if it's leaning to one side then you’ll end up with odd-looking geometry.

You can read more at BikeRadar.com

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Cube Agree C:62 SLT Disc

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The Cube Agree has long been a well-loved bike here at BikeRadar, with one of our tech writers even buying one after testing it a few years back.

More recently though the Agree started to show its age, for the first time being outclassed by its rivals in all but value. Thankfully the designers at Cube seem to have realized this, with the new Agree design being as far removed from the previous round-tubed standard road bike as its possible to go.

The new high-end Agree C:62 SLT Disc, which made it onto the ’superbikes’ longlist in our sister title Cycling Plus’s recent Bike of the Year 2016 shootout, shares some design cues (and a colour scheme) with the affordable Attain GTC Pro, which impressed us in the budget category of the awards.

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Angular aesthetic hides advanced carbon tech

The Agree features an angular tube shaped twin-mould technology carbon frameset. The twin-moulding system is a complex method of manufacturing carbon that does away with foam cores or air-filled bags to handle internal forming (classic ways to construct carbon) and instead uses highly expensive internal mould tools.

Tube profiles are angular; twin-moulding techniques are used for a better stiffness-to-weight ratio

Appetite for acceleration

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Wild wins women's Tour de Yorkshire

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Dutch rider Kirsten Wild catches Lizzie Armitstead's breakaway group to win the Tour de Yorkshire.

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Tour de Yorkshire marks Simpson death

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BBC Sport relives the story of Tommy Simpson as the Tour de Yorkshire pays tribute to him 49 years after his death

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Dennis looking for form at Tour de Yorkshire

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Rohan Dennis’ stop-start season has got back under way at the Tour de Yorkshire. Forced to miss Paris-Nice due to sinusitis and then to abandon the Volta a Catalunya as the result of a virus, the BMC Racing rider took to the Tour de Yorkshire stage 1 start in Beverley hoping to complete only his second stage race of the season after January’s Tour Down Under.

“Touch wood, my health is really good right now and there’s no sign of the sickness I had returning,” the Australian told Cyclingnews. “As for Yorkshire, I feel good in training, but when it comes to the racing I don’t know what to expect as I haven’t raced properly since the Tour Down Under.

“To be honest, the odd one-day here or there is not really racing in my eyes. So we’ll see how it goes. I could be good, but I could be absolutely terrible. I’ll find out on the first stage, and even more so on the final stage, which is the real climbing day.”

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Dennis confirmed that he is likely to stick pretty much to the programme that was laid out for him coming into the season. “There’s no changes to it right up to Rio really,” he confirmed. “We’ve stuck to the original plan, so right after this I go to the Tour of California and then to the Dauphiné, where I’ll hopefully earn a spot in the Tour to prepare for Rio, which is the big goal this year.”

Winner of the Tour’s race-opening time trial in Utrecht last year, Dennis said he will work for BMC’s leaders in France this July and is happy to do so because his focus is on Olympic glory. “The Olympics only happen every four years, so that makes winning an Olympic medal a little bit more prestigious.

“Obviously winning the Tour de France or any Grand Tour is harder, but they take place every year and it’s not on the cards for me for this year, so if I go to the Tour this year it will be for Tejay [van Garderen] and Richie [Porte], and also to prepare for the Olympics.”

You can read more at Cyclingnews.com

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Ewan: I got the sprint wrong in Settle

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Caleb Ewan (Orica-GreenEdge) admitted to mixed feelings after the finish of the opening stage of the Tour de Yorkshire in Settle. The Australian sprinter confessed he got his tactics wrong as he contested the stage victory with LottoNL-Jumbo’s Dylan Groenewegen, but said he got some consolation from his form as he looks ahead to the upcoming Giro d’Italia.

Speaking prior on the eve of the Tour de Yorkshire, Ewan had said that he didn’t know how his form was coming off a six-week training block. The rolling first stage run in chilly and damp conditions between Beverley and Settle provided an an answer.

“I felt pretty good. It probably took me until we got to that big climb [of Greenhow Hill] with about 60k’s to go that I actually started to feel that I was getting my race legs back. But I felt really good in the end,” explained Ewan.

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He revealed he was less impressed with his personal performance in the final few hundred metres after his team had set him up for a shot at the stage win. “I made a few tactical errors in the last part,” he said.

“I went on the wrong side twice in the last 200 metres. Once, in the last 100 metres, I was coming around on the left and Groenewegen moved more towards the left and I couldn’t go through on the barriers any more so I had to stop pedalling and try to come back around him, and obviously that close to the finish line you can’t really make up that much room.”

He added ruefully: “Yeah, I think there was a few tactical errors on my part that could have cost me the win today. But the upside is that I felt good all day and I certainly can’t complain about how my form is, so hopefully I can get it right tomorrow.”

You can read more at Cyclingnews.com

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