Crashes knock Chaves, Yates out of Giro dell’Emilia

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Orica-Scott was in with numbers and a chance in the final 20km of the Giro dell’Emila on Saturday, but crashes from Adam Yates and the defending champion Esteban Chaves left Jack Haig to soldier on alone in the lead group and eventually finish ninth.

The team said later that Yates was OK and Chaves also appeared to have avoided serious injuries, although the Colombian went to hospital for X-rays.

Yates, Chaves and Haig all made the select lead group after the reduced peloton brought back the day’s breakaway, but disaster struck when Yates slipped out in a sharp descent and was forced to abandon.

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Chaves crashed out in the final 10km while chasing solo leader and eventual winner Giovanni Visconti (Bahrain-Merida), leaving Tour of Poland winner Haig as the last-man standing in the lead group for the Australian team.

“The race was going really well for us up until the last couple of circuits,” said sport director Dave McPartland. “We had good numbers within the favourites group, and it’s unfortunate that we lost our two leaders, Adam and Esteban, to crashes. It is bad luck, but also a part of cycling.”

The 223km race started in Bologna and finished in San Luca after several hilly closing circuits that suited the pure climbers. The breakaway, which had been allowed an ultimate gap of eight minutes, was finally brought back with two laps remaining as attacks in the field behind steadily whittled the field down to a handful of contenders.

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Aqua Blue Sport go pink for International Breast Cancer Awareness month

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The Aqua Blue Sport team will add dashes of pink to their bikes and racing kit in October as they look to raise the profile of International Breast Cancer Awareness month.

The Irish Pro Continental team made the announcement in a press release issued on Friday. The team owner Rick Delaney said that his wife Lisa Delaney, who is also a director of the team, was a survivor and added that the team would be helping to take charity donations via their team website.

“This cause is very close to my family’s heart,” Rick Delaney wrote in the press release.

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“Every family has been touched by cancer – we are no different. Lisa has won her battle against breast cancer but other people, from all corners of the world, have not been so lucky. We hope that, through our simple gesture, and with the help of our sponsors, that we can again bring the fight against breast cancer into the public consciousness. If this helps one person get an early diagnosis then that is a success.”

For the month of October the team will wear specifically designed pink helmets from their supplies Catlike. They will race with Fizik pink bar tape and matching socks from Rapha. The team will also collect donations on their site for charity.

On the road the team have enjoyed a successful debut campaign. Larry Warbasse claimed the US road title and a stage of the Tour de Suisse, while Stefan Denifl picked up the team’s maiden Grand Tour stage win when he was victorious on stage 17 of the Vuelta a Espana in September. The Austrian also won the overall at Tour of Austria. The team have strengthened for next year, with Casper Pedersen, the Under 23 European road champion, signing for the next two seasons.

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Luke Rowe: It's looking more likely that I'll return to 100 per cent

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Luke Rowe (Team Sky) is back in training after his horrific leg break but admits that it could be next year before he could be riding on the roads again.

For now the Team Sky rider is using Zwift to keep his fitness up, and along with underwater treadmills, rowing machines and daily physiotherapy, is slowing making his way back to full health. However, due to the seriousness of his accident that left him with 20 broken bones, he has no real timescale for a return to competition. In an exclusive interview with Cyclingnews, Rowe opens up about his rehab routine, the mental strains of a serious physical injury and how he’s taking his recovery one step at a time.

Rowe sustained a broken tibia and fibula on a white-water rafting accident while on his brother’s stag-do in August. He underwent an operation and has a metal rod holding his leg together. He can now pedal with one leg, while the other either rests on chair or soft pedals using a mountain-bike pedal, but his riding is confined to short and gentle in-door sessions.

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“Initially you make these massive steps and you make massive improvements over a short period of time and then you get plateaus,” he tells Cyclingnews.

“At the moment everything is healing well and there’s no need for more operations. It seems to be going really well but then I looked at the scans from two days ago and I realised that the knee is still a mess. There are still some bones that need to heal but if you’d told me that I’d be at this point at the start of the operation, with this level of healing, I’d have taken it.”

“It was really horrific,” he says of the accident.

Having the right mentality

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Van der Poel to focus on 2020 Olympics MTB race

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Mathieu van der Poel wants to go to the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, and knows that his best bet is the mountain bike race. He has decided to focus on ‘cross and mountain biking until then, and then later turn to full-time road racing.

The 22-year-old is the reigning ‘cross Dutch champion and runner-up to the World title, but told nos.nl, "it is the intention to go to the Olympic Games. That is the highest goal. Cyclo-cross riding is not an Olympic discipline.” He added, "on the road you can also go to the Games, but it's harder to be selected for that."

Van der Poel brought in numerous first and second place finishes in cyclo-cross over the 2016-2017 season. 

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“I've already proven on the mountain bike that I can compete in a World Cup race. Whether it's the same as the Games is hard to say. But I was not super professionally prepared for the World Cup. We can take another step with the right guidance.”

He has also brought in top wins for his Beobank-Corendon team on the road, winning a stage at the HC-ranked Tour of Belgium and two stages at the Boucles de la Mayenne on his way to the overall title. He also won the Dwars door het Hageland-Aarschot.

Van der Poel enjoys road racing, “especially the longer distances, if it's difficult. I think that's what I can do well. I also have the ambition to ever become a real racer."

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Van Loy takes GP Neerpelt victory

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Sweeck wins GP Neerpelt

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Guderzo wins Giro dell'Emilia Donne

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Lutsenko wins Tour of Almaty opener

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Greipel wins l'Eurometropole in bunch sprint

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Kaitlin Keough wins KMC Cross Fest C1

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The women began the Pro CX C1 race in a large group of 11 riders, with Canadian Maghalie Rochette (Clif Pro Team) driving the pace. The group would eventually splinter down to a group of five comprised of Keough, Emma White (Cannondale/Cyclocrossworld.com), Christel Ferrier Bruneau (SAS Macogep Aquisio), Crystal Anthony (Maxxis Shimano Pro Cyclocross), and Rebecca Fahringer (Stan’s Notubes p/b Maxxis/GoFahr).

Rochette would attack Keough and White until the final turns taking it into a track sprint but Keough would overtake her in the final meters.

“It’s a hard course,” said Keough, making the win her second C1 victory this year, the first coming at Jingle Cross in Iowa City, Iowa. There was nothing that was really splitting it up. That last lap Maghalie and I were pretty much sprinting the entire lap. I think I went the first half and she went the last half. She’s really strong over the technical sections.”

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Rochette pushed the pace for most of the six-lap race. “It was pretty painful. On the last lap Katie went in front of me. I knew it wasn’t windy, so I thought I would lead out the sprint. And in the final corner, I said ‘I gotta go now’. I just sprinted and she nipped me at the end. That’s OK. It was a really good race,” the Canadian National Champion added.

 

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Ortenblad wins KMC Cross Fest C1

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The Elite Men’s ProCx C1 race was tactical from start to finish. A group of nine would go into the final turns together with Tobin Ortenblad taking the sprint win, thanks to an inside line in the last corner of the track over Spencer Petrov (Aspire Racing). Jack Kisseberth (JAM Fund/NCC) would sprint to the line for third.

“It was such a crit dynamic, it was such a big group. Hyde, Jack and I had a gap at one point. It came back together. There were just small attacks and no big stuff though. I was pretty confident that I could win a sprint out of the group with the top guys. I put on a bigger gear for tonight, because I knew it would be a super fast finish,” said Ortenblad about no big attacks taking place during the nine long laps. “I tried to stay at the front. There might have been a pinch of hesitation going into the last chicanes and the hairpin into the sprint. I just went as hard as a I could. I thought if I was going a hundred (miles an hour) no one could probably get by and wound it up from there.”

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Giovanni Visconti wins Giro dell'Emilia

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Giovanni Visconti took his first win in Bahrain Merida colours on Saturday with an impressive ride in the Giro dell'Emlia. The 34-year-old attacked on the finishing circuit with 16 kilometres remaining and held off a late chase from the peloton to seal the win as teammate Vincenzo Nibali marked several counter-attacks.

Nibali put in a late attack to finish second, while Rigoberto Uran (Cannondale Drapac) completed the podium.

Bahrain Merida controlled the race for most of the day and had numbers when it mattered most, chasing several key moves before Visconti’s second attack on the penultimate lap of the finishing circuit created a gap of 30 seconds. Team Sky, BMC Racing and several other teams tried to chase the veteran Italian rider but the pursuit was halted briefly when last year’s winner Esteban Chaves (Orica Scott) crashed on a descent. The Colombian was on the front of the bunch when he hit the deck and bounced into the verge on the side of the road.

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With one lap to go Visconti only needed to hold firm and despite a late attack from Gianni Moscon (Team Sky) the Bahrain rider took the win.

The race began at an electric pace with Davide Ballerini (Androni Sidermec), Redi Halilaj (Amore e Vita Selle SMP), Francois Bidard (Ag2r La Mondiale), Nicolas Edet (Cofidis Solutions Credits), Fabien Doubey (Wanty - Groupe Gobert), Jacopo Mosca (Wilier Triestina - Selle Italia), Lorenzo Rota (Bardiani - Csf) and Nicola Bagioli (Nippo-Vini Fantini) forming the break of the day.

The group initially had a lead of seven minutes but the likes of Bahrain Merida, Team Sky, Cannondale and FDJ slowly reduced the gap to just over a minute with 40 kilometres remaining.

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No major changes in WADA's 2018 Prohibited List

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The World Anti-Doping Agency released its 2018 Prohibited List three months before it takes effect, but unlike 2016 when the ban on Meldonium caught many athletes off-guard, forcing the agency to offer amnesty for positives early in the year, there were no major changes to the list for the coming season.

"WADA is pleased to publish the 2018 Prohibited List," said WADA President, Sir Craig Reedie. "Updated annually, the List is released three months ahead of taking effect so that all stakeholders – in particular athletes and their entourage – have sufficient time to familiarize themselves with the document and its modification.

"It is vital that all athletes and entourage take the necessary time to consult the List; and that, they contact their respective anti-doping organizations (ADOs) if they have any doubts as to the status of a substance or method."

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The full list can be found on the WADA website here.

There were minor changes to some examples for the various classes of prohibited substances. In good news for Floyd Landis and his new cannabis business, hemp seed oil (Cannabidiol) is specifically allowed unless it contains THC, the psychoactive component of marijuana.

The prohibition on alcohol in certain sports (archery, motorsports, air sports and power boating) was removed, leaving those sports to police its use as they see fit.

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Debt, bankruptcy, and crowdfunding: Bergen's World Championships hangover

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The 2017 World Championships in Bergen, Norway were widely hailed a roaring success, with staggering crowds, gripping racing and spectacular scenery combining to serve up a festival of cycling that seemed to do justice to the UCI’s flagship event. However, with the barriers dismantled and the paint washed off the roads, the party atmosphere has made way for a more sober picture of bills, debt and the looming threat of bankruptcy.

Event manager Helge Stormoen confirmed to Cyclingnews that the organising body ended up spending significantly more than they budgeted. “We are definitely going to be in the red,” he said, explaining that it will take two to three weeks for the full extent of the damage to become clear.

While Stormoen and his colleagues are considering going to the Norwegian government for rescue funds, with bankruptcy now a very real prospect facing the Norwegian Cycling Federation, they have been handed a lifeline of a more surprising variety: crowdfunding.

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Kristin Solhaug, a cycling fan from Askoy who attended the Worlds, came up with the idea, highlighting the value the tens of thousands of fans derived from what was a free event. “We were treated to an unmatched event, a glorious thing,” she told NRK. “I think there are many like me who would like to give a little back.”

She wasn’t wrong. Since the launch of the campaign – on an app-based platform called Vipps – on Tuesday morning, no less than 3.5 million Norwegian Kroner (NOK), the equivalent of €375,000, has been raised.

“This is an incredible story,” says Stormoen. “It shows that the public enjoyed fantastic moments and that the championships really did something for the people of Bergen.”

Where did the money go?

What now?

Priceless?

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Chaves, Nibali and Martin set to clash again to Il Lombardia

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This year’s Il Lombardia will see the winners of the last three editions of the final cycling monument of the season fight for victory in northern Italy.

Orica-Scott's Esteban Chaves, winner in 2016, Bahrain-Merida's Vincenzo Nibali, winner in 2015, and and Quick-Step's Daniel Martin, winner in 2014, have all been confirmed by race organizer RCS Sport, with a series of other big-name contenders expected to challenge in the so-called “Race of the Falling Leaves”. Once the final major race of the season and the WorldTour calendar, the Italian classic now comes before the Tour of Turkey and the new Tour of Guangxi in China.

Stand-out names on the provisional entry list include Giro d'Italia winner and new world time trial champion Tom Dumoulin and his Team Sunweb teammate Michael Matthews, plus Frenchman Warren Barguil who is likely to race for the last time in the black and white team colours before his move to Fortuneo-Oscaro.

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Nairo Quintana (Movistar) will also ride after testing his form at the Tre Vali Varesine and Milano-Torino races on Tuesday and Thursday. Fellow Colombian Rigoberto Urán and Vuelta a España mountains classification winner Davide Villella lead the Cannondale-Drapac team, while Fabio Aru and Miguel Ángel López lead Astana, in what is likely to be the final race for Aru in Astana sky blue before his move to UAE Team Emirates for 2018.

Vincenzo Nibali leads Bahrain-Merida and will be looking for a second victory after winning in Como in 2015. He has the support of Giovanni Visconti and Franco Pellizotti.

Adam Yates will team up with Chaves at Orica-Scott, while Philippe Gilbert and Julian Alaphilippe will support Dan Martin. Mikel Landa is part of Team Sky’s line up that includes 2016 runner-up Diego Rosa, Michal Kwiatkowski and probably Gianni Moscon. Other marquee names include Ilnur Zakarin (Katusha-Alpecin), Thibaut Pinot (FDJ), Tejay van Garderen (BMC) and Rafal Majka (Bora-Hansgrohe).

25 teams for 247km of racing in the Lombardy hills

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Modolo signs two-year deal with EF Education First-Drapac

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The Slipstream Sports organisation has announced the signing of Italian sprinter Sacha Modolo on a two-year deal. The 30-year-old has raced his whole career on Italian-led teams, the last four with Giuseppe Saronni's UAE-Team Emirates and Lampre-Merida squads, but says he is looking for some new motivation.

"The move to Slipstream is a big change, but it's exactly what I need," Modolo said in a Slipstream Sports press release. "After four years with Giuseppe Saronni, who I want to thank, and at 30-years-old, I was looking for new motivation, and I found it in this team. Everyone I've spoken to at Slipstream has expressed belief in me. For a rider, this is important to find confidence and feel responsibility."

Modolo started his career with the Colnago-CSF Inox team in 2010, placing fourth in his debut Milan-San Remo. He quickly established himself as a sprinter, winning stages in the Tour of Qinghai Lake, Brixia Tour, Tour of Denmark, Settimana Ciclistica Lombarda and the Coppa Agostoni the following year. In 2013, he won six stages in the Tour of Qinghai lake, and signed with Lampre-Merida for the 2014 season.

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In 2015, Modolo claimed his career's biggest wins, a pair of stage victories at the Giro d'Italia.

"I'm proud of all of my victories, but I'm most proud of the two stages at the Giro d'Italia and the win at Tour de Suisse in front of Peter Sagan," said Modolo.

Over the years, he has progressed from being a pure sprinter to focusing also on one-day Classics, with some success.

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Trek-Segafredo sign Skujins

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Toms Skujins will join Trek-Segafredo next season, his new team announced in a press release on Friday.

The 26-year-old Latvian has spent the past two seasons with Cannondale-Drapac after a breakout 2015 season in the colours of Hincapie Racing that saw him take a number of results in North America, including a stage victory at the Amgen Tour of California.

Skujins nabbed another stage win in California last year, and won a stage and took second overall at the Settimana Internazionale Coppi e Bartali this past March.

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"I am thrilled to join Trek-Segafredo because it's such a great team. Right after my first conversations with Luca [Guercilena, general manager] and the team's directors, I immediately felt this would be the right team for me," Skujins said in a statement released by the team. "It's great to hear what the plans are for the team as a whole and I will do my very best to be a part of that. It's just like I have been doing in the previous years: making the races exciting, and who knows? Springing a surprise here and there."

Skujins has signed a two-year deal with Trek-Segafredo that will keep him at the team until the end of 2019.

"We have been following Skujins for a while now because we like the way he races – he is not afraid to dig deep and race hard," said Guercilena. "Toms is a very ambitious guy and I am pretty confident that with that attitude, on top of his talents as a rider, he can get quite far. He is a very complete rider and a strong all-rounder who can help the team in various circumstances. Toms will be a great asset to our team."

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Keukeleire leaves Orica-Scott for Lotto Soudal

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Jens Keukeleire will leave Orica-Scott to join Lotto Soudal next season, with the Belgian team announcing on Friday the signing of the 28-year-old on a two-year deal.

Keukeleire started his career at Cofidis but has spent the last six years at the Australian Orica-Scott team, over the course of which he has steadily grown in stature as a spring Classics rider.

This year he won the Baloise Belgium Tour and finished second at Gent-Wevelgem, and last year he won a stage at the Vuelta a España, while he also has top 10 finishes to his name at Paris-Roubaix, E3 Harelbeke, and Dwars door Vlaanderen.

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“I wasn’t looking for a new team, but half-way through the season I had a chat with [Lotto Soudal manager] Marc Sergeant and so the ball started rolling. I was still happy at Orica-Scott, but the fact that Lotto Soudal is a Belgian team made me decide to change team,” said Keukeleire.

“The past seasons I often rode with the national team and being surrounded with fellow Belgians, both riders and staff, creates a specific atmosphere. I already have a bond with several riders and staff members of Lotto Soudal, so I am very much looking forward to be part of this team. Especially to be working together for the spring races. The past seasons, Orica-Scott focused more and more on the Spring Classics too, but you can’t compare it to how a Belgian team deals with it.

“It’s also a nice point in my career to move to another team. I have been making progress every year and now I’m approaching my top. At Orica-Scott there are many GC riders, for whom I had to work in stage races, at Lotto Soudal I will get more freedom in those races.

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Italian Supreme Court backs sentence that Pantani was not murdered

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Italy’s Supreme Court of Cassation has dismissed a final appeal against a ruling that Marco Pantani was not murdered, and ordered his family to pay the costs of their appeal. The court described the verdict of the latest investigation carried out by Rimini police, which showed Pantani's death was caused by a cocktail of cocaine and anti-depressants, as being “solid and like granite".

Pantani died on 14 February, 2004 after barricading himself in a hotel room in Rimini under the effects of cocaine and anti-depressants.

He had suffered greatly with substance abuse and mental problems since being disqualified from the 1999 Giro d’Italia due to a high blood haematocrit. In the previous year he won the Giro d’Italia and Tour de France but was investigated several times for doping and never returned to the level of success that earned him the nickname of ‘Il Pirata’ and global admiration for his daring attacks in the mountains at Grand Tours.

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Pantani’s mother Tonina has always defended her son’s honour while admitting that he may have used blood-boosting EPO during his career. She hired high-profile Italian lawyer Antonio De Rensis to investigate all the circumstances of Pantani’s death and managed to spark a new investigation in 2014 that was fuelled by media reports in Italy that played on the heartstrings of Pantani’s enduring popularity among the tifosi.

In August 2014, La Gazzetta dello Sport filled its front page with the headline “Pantani was killed” as they openly backed Tonina’s position. The Italian sports newspaper has now accepted the Supreme Court verdict, and on Thursday published a small story entitled “Pantani was not killed".

Pantani’s family and lawyer tried to argue that someone may have somehow entered Pantani's room and forced him to consume a lethal dose of cocaine. They questioned every part of the original 2004 police investigation that resulted in the drug dealers going to jail. They even backed wild claims by a famous Italian mobster Renato Vallanzasca that Pantani was killed by the mafia to avoid paying out on massive illegal bets on his eventual victory at the 1999 Giro d’Italia.

New investigator Paolo Giovagnoli responded to every doubt raised by De Rensis with new medical evidence, which led judge Vincio Cantarini to confirm that Pantani was killed by “serious acute heart failure, a toxicological effect caused by [the anti-depressants] trimipramine and venlafaxine, and cocaine".

Cantarini added that the last months of Pantani’s life had been characterised by “a compulsive and increasing use of cocaine". He dismissed claims that Pantani was murdered as “a fantastical hypothesis, mere conjecture".

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Van Avermaet skips Il Lombardia to end to his season early

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Greg Van Avermaet (BMC) has decided to skip Il Lombardia and end his season with immediate effect. The Belgian has an unassailable lead atop the UCI WorldTour standings and has decided to bring a slightly early halt to his campaign in order to enjoy a longer lay-off ahead of the 2018 season.

“I've looked at the options and maybe it's better to stop two weeks earlier and take some rest than do anything else,” Van Avermaet said, according to Sporza.

Van Avermaet experienced a sparkling run of form in the Spring, winning Paris-Roubaix, Gent-Wevelgem, E3 Harelbeke and Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, and placing second at the Tour of Flanders and Strade Bianche.

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The Belgian made the World Championships in Bergen the centrepiece of the final part of his season, but he had to settle for sixth place behind Peter Sagan in the sprint. Van Avermaet placed second at the Grand Prix de Québec in the build-up to the Worlds to pad out his WorldTour lead.

“On the one hand, it has been a long season in which I participated to win everywhere I went. At the end of the season, you look at your options. Perhaps I would like to ride Il Lombardia, but the race is two weeks after the World Championships,” Van Avermaet explained.

“It was difficult to keep race form, so it might be better to stop two weeks earlier and take some rest with a view to next year. Il Lombardia is one of the hardest races of the year, and you either start with ambition and try to win, or you stay at home.”

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Nibali: Sagan is the best person who could have won the world title

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Vincenzo Nibali has described Peter Sagan as "the best person who could have won the world title" confirming his respect and admiration for his former Liquigas teammate.

The Italian watched the World Championships from his home in Lugano, Switzerland and was genuinely happy that Sagan won a third consecutive world title.

"Sagan is the best person who could have won the world title. He's a friend and always races well, so I'm happy he won. I was cheering for Italy of course but I think most people were happy to see Peter win," Nibali told Cyclingnews and La Gazzetta dello Sport during the Giro della Toscana.

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"Everyone knows that Peter can win sprints and [especially] after a hard race. I recall a really tough stage at an edition of Tirreno-Adriatico and he even won that."

Nibali was amazed when reminded that Sagan also finished sixth at the 2013 world championships in Florence, when Nibali was fourth behind Rui Costa, Joaquim Rodriguez and Alejandro Valverde.

"Was he really sixth? It's true; he won the group sprint behind. Wow. Hopefully, we can make it too hard for him in Innsbruck…"

Ending 2017 at Il Lombardia

Tour de France in 2018?

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Pasqualon continues Wanty-Groupe Gobert's Italian winning streak

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Just like Wanty-Groupe Gobert teammate Guillaume Martin, Andrea Pasqualon has benefitted from riding a debut Tour de France in the summer and claimed a win in Italy. A day after Martin won the final stage and overall at the Giro della Toscana, Italian Pasqualon reversed last year's result of the Coppa Sabatini for his first win since 2015.

The 29-year-old came out of the Tour and recorded back-to-back third places on the opening two stages of the Arctic Race of Norway. He had another third-place finish at the Tour du Poitou Charentes, adding five top-six results at the Tour of Britain as he continued to press his claims for a win. Fifth at Primus Classic and sixth on stage 1 of the Giro della Toscana, second in the bunch sprint behind the breakaway, Pasqualon didn't give up and explained on the morning of the Coppa Sabatini that he was feeling on top form.

"Today was just fantastic. This morning I woke up with a good feeling and strong legs. In the team meeting sports director Steven De Neef gave me the leader's role and my teammates wanted to commit to this job," Pasqualon said. "The team worked 100% perfect for me all day long. They chased the breakaway and put me in a good position for the sprint."

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Riding with Team Roth last year, Pasqualon was powerless against Sonny Colbrelli (Bahrain-Merida) in the sprint but learnt from his lessons and ensured he was in the first wheels when the sprint opened up.

"In the final uphill kilometer I was ideally placed in the wheel of Colbrelli. I launched my sprint with 250 meters to go and Colbrelli wasn't able to pass me anymore," he said.

While Colbrelli launched an appeal after the race and was dejected with the result, Pasqualon had no qualms with the win and was elated to have continued Wanty's winning streak.

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JLT Condor sign young British talent

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British Continental team JLT Condor has announced the signing of two young talents in Ollie Wood and Germain Burton.

Wood was recently fourth in the U23 Worlds road race and has ridden with Team Wiggins throughout the 2017 season. The 21-year-old also rides on the track, and the team are aiming to provide a similar programme to that of triple track Olympic gold medallist Ed Clancy.

"Ollie is one of the best up and coming track riders. That's been confirmed with his 4th at the U23 World's and proven his ability to cross over from track to road and we are delighted to welcome him to the team," team manager John Herety said. "Tokyo 2020 is his main goal and we are a team with a proven record at being able to support riders with medal ambitions."

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For 22-year-old Burton, the signing confirms his return to the sport after leaving the British Cycling Olympic development squad in 2016 to study biomechanics and personal training.

"I took time out to work on personal interests to better understand movement efficiency and injury prevention in training and general movement," Burton said of his time off the bike, adding of his decision to return to the sport. "I rediscovered my love for the sport whilst racing with a close friend and starting One Life Cycle, a youth cycling project, with a vision of getting young people in London involved in an enjoyable, safe, healthy community. After a year gaining experience training a number of people, I felt I could reapply what I've learnt to my career as a professional athlete."

Burton's return to cycling will see him first hit the boards during the English winter before committing to the road season as Herety explained.

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2017 Tour of Turkey teams confirmed

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The organisers of the Tour of Turkey have announced the 13 teams for the 2017 edition of the race. This year is the first that the Tour of Turkey will be fun at WorldTour level but has struggled to attract teams from the top tier.

The WorldTour will be represented by Astana Pro Team, Bora-Hansgrohe, Trek-Segafredo and UAE Team Emirates as Cyclingnews previously reported.

The bulk of the teams for the six-stage 10-15 October race come from the Pro-Continental ranks. José Gonçalves won the race last year, when it was run at 2.HC level, with Caja Rural-Seguros RGA and the Spanish team will return in 2017. However, as Gonçalves has moved to the Katusha-Alpecin squad, he won't be able to defend his title.

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Also from the Pro-Continental ranks are Italian squads Androni Giocattoli, Bardiani CSF and Wilier Triestina. There is Polish representation from CCC Sprandi Polkowice, with a team each from Russia, Gazprom - Rusvelo, Brasil with Soul Brasil Pro Cycling Team and Belgium's WB Veranclassic Aqua Protect.

There will also be a Turkish national team in attendance.

Due to security concerns within Turkey, WorldTour teams LottoNL-Jumbo and Lotto Soudal both publicly stated they would not be taking part in the 2017 edition of the race. The country is currently in a state of emergency' with a high risk of terror attacks.

2017 Tour of Turkey teams

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Gaviria headlines Paris-Tours start list

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QuickStep-Floors will start next month's Paris-Tours with defending champion Fernando Gaviria and 2015 winner Matteo Trentin. Race organisers ASO have released the preliminary start list for the October 8 classic that will finish on the Avenue de Grammont.

Gaviria, who won the Kampioenschap van Vlaanderen earlier in the month and was eighth at Worlds, won the race last year with a late attack ahead of Arnaud Demare (FDJ). Along with Trentin, QuickStep-Floors will also field Zdenek Stybar and start the race with a formidable squad.

Mark Cavendish will line out at the race with his Dimension Data squad as he continues to build form following his Tour de France crash. Paris-Tours will be Cavendish's second race on French soil after the Tour having placed sixth at Grand Prix d'Isbergues - Pas de Calais in September. Bernie Eisel has also been named in the Dimension Data squad.

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The sprint field features further depth with the addition of André Greipel of Lotto Soudal. The Belgian team will also have Jens Debusschere, third in 2014, and will be a team to watch in the finale.

Lotto-NL Jumbo with Dylan Groenewegen, Team Sunweb with Nikas Arndt. Jempy Drucker (BMC), Rick Zabel (Katusha-Alpecin) are also WorldTour sprinters expected to shine in the finale

From the Pro-Continental ranks, Nacer Bouhanni of Cofidis and Adam Blythe of Aqua Blue Sport are two riders capable of challenging for the win on their given day. Thomas Boudat of Direct Energie and Briton Dan McLay (Fortuneo - Oscaro) add further depth to the start list.

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2017 Giro dell'Emlia start list

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Philippe Gilbert: Double Salvo

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Philippe Gilbert won big races for the BMC team, but they rarely fired the imagination like his Tour of Flanders and Amstel victories did this year with Quick-Step Floors. Procycling spoke to the Walloon rider to find out how the change of scenery fired him back to his best.

Philippe Gilbert sits on his hotel balcony, taking in the Swiss view on a perfectly still Saturday evening. Before him, Lake Lucerne reflects the light blue sky, hills covered in fresh summer green and a gold bar of the setting sun. A white cruiser passes bearing an enormous red Swiss flag on the stern; the cruiser's wash laps at the shore like distant applause.

It's the evening after the Tour de Suisse prologue and other Quick-Step Floors riders file down to the water for a swim before dinner. "A 6km ride and a lake swim," Yves Lampaert, the 26-year-old Classics rider says gleefully. "The life of the pro, eh?"

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After a while Gilbert nods our way, and 15 minutes later he's downstairs in his covetable Belgian national champions' skinsuit with the stripes of a former world champion on the sleeves and collar. He orders some beers and settles in, his back to the view. Life is good at the moment. The spiky short back and sides, the casual body language, the banter he exchanges with the other riders, and, later, the fooling about for the camera are the outward signs of an alpha male to whom life is currently giving a tailwind.

"Mmm. Quality," he says after taking a long draught of Feldschlösschen. It turns out he's a bit of a connoisseur; he wants Nicolas Roche, another Monaco resident, to take him to Dublin for the perfect Guinness, he jokes. Has he always enjoyed a beer or a glass or two of wine? "Always! If not, I wouldn't be a pro after 15 years with the same motivation. It's not possible. You see all the other riders. They focus for two, three four – maximum five years – and they're gone, they disappear, you know. But if you want a long-term career you need a life besides your job. There is a moment to enjoy life and a moment to be serious. You need to feel the moment." The beer did no harm. The next day, Gilbert won the bunch sprint - his fifth victory of the year.

In 2017, you'll know, Philippe Gilbert had another moment in that long and already successful career. He became the first rider in 37 years to win Flanders and Amstel in the same season. In the baldest terms possible, the events – in particular the extraordinary 50km solo to win Flanders and the victory on a revamped Amstel course with a tear in the tissue around the kidney - recalled some of his greatest hits, like the four wins in 10 days in 2009 culminating in his first Giro di Lombardia title. Or, of course, like the whole of 2011.

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Commonwealth Games 2022: Birmingham bid backed by Government

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Birmingham's bid to host the 2022 Commonwealth Games is officially backed by the government.

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Craven cites fuzzy reasoning for Sport Vlaanderen's beard ban

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As the owner/operator of one of the more recognisable beards in pro cycling, Israel Cycling Academy's Dan Craven could be expected to have a strong opinion about the recent news that Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise director Walter Planckaert banned facial hair from his team.

"I'm taking this measure for the elegance of cycling," Planckaert explained to Het Nieuwsblad in announcing his decision. "We're a cycling team with riders, not motocross riders or rugby players. Snot and food leftovers in the beard of a rider in action, it's nasty."

In instituting the ban, Planckaert suggested that a little five o'clock shadow would still be allowed, but any rider opposed to the prohibition on full beards would need to find another team.

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Craven, who has sported a full beard at least as far back as his days with Rapha Condor in 2011, obviously took exception to Planckaert's taking exception to bearded riders.

"There are more important things in the cycling world than banning beards because of what they look like," the 34-year-old former Namibian champion told Cyclingnews' Stephen Farrand after Thursday's finish of Coppa Sabatini.

"I mean, if that's the thing you think is important, then I think that's a problem. I mean, f*ck it, if you don't like beards, you don't like beards, but to actually go so far as to make a rule about it, then you're kind of fooling yourself and ignoring bigger problems."

2018 contract talks are still up in the air

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Colbrelli angry and defeated after Pasqualon beats him in Coppa Sabatini sprint

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Sonny Colbrelli (Bahrain-Merida) angrily refused to shake hands with Coppa Sabatini winner Andrea Pasqualon, convinced that the Wanty-Groupe Gobert rider had closed him against the barriers in the uphill sprint, forcing him to brake and lose any chance of victory.

Colbrelli finished second, with Francesco Gavazzi (Androni Giocattoli) third, but he was livid at the finish and quickly returned to the podium to make a protest and demand that the race judges look at the television images of the sprint. He wanted Pasqualon relegated.

"If he'd had done a clean sprint, I'd have passed him no problem. I had to stop pedalling and touched his wheel. On this uphill finish, it's difficult to make up ground after that," he said.

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"I was going twice his speed. When he saw me coming up, he squeezed me against the barriers. If they want to do things right, as they did when they disqualified Bouhanni and other sprinters recently, they should disqualify him too."

Colbrelli won the Coppa Sabatini in 2014 and 2016. He was looking for a third victory to make up for a disappointing display at the world championships, when he struggled to go with the attacks and was only 13th in the final sprint won by Slovakia's Peter Sagan.

After the judge confirmed Pasqualon as the winner, Colbrelli refused to shake hands with Pasqualon and refused to smile on the podium. He also deserted the post-race press conference.

— Cyclingnews.com (@Cyclingnewsfeed) September 28, 2017

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Movistar sign Valls for 2018

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After two years with Lotto Soudal, Rafael Valls will join Movistar for 2018, the team announced Thursday.

The 30-year-old Spaniard has battled through his fair share of crashes the past two seasons. After impressing in 2015 with a victory at the Tour of Oman and a few WorldTour top 10s, he spent multiple stints off the bike in 2016 and 2017.

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Valls finished 10th in July's Critérium du Dauphiné, but fractured his hip in August shortly after the Tour de Pologne when he crashed during a training ride. The injury ended his season, scuttling a planned start at his main objective of the year, the Vuelta a España.

His signing with Movistar marks yet another significant addition to the team's stable of strong climbers. The Spanish WorldTour squad has also added fellow Spaniards Mikel Landa and Jaime Rosón, as well as Argentina's Eduardo Sepúlveda, over the course of this transfer season.

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Dimension Data sign British talent Scott Davies

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British talent Scott Davies will step up to the WorldTour in 2018, signing a first professional contract with Dimension Data.

The 22-year-old, who has raced for Team Wiggins the past two years, won the U23 time trial title at the national championships for the past four years running, and finished in the top 10 in the U23 time trial at the recent World Championships.

“I'm delighted to be joining Team Dimension Data for Qhubeka next season. It's a dream come true for me to be joining a WorldTour team with such a great cause,” said Davies.

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“I'm grateful to Team Wiggins for their support over the last couple of seasons, and for giving me so many opportunities to develop myself. I'm now ready to continue my development and start a new and exciting chapter with Dimension Data for Qhubeka.”

Davies won the Junior Tour of Wales in 2013 and earned a ride with Madison-Genesis in 2014, before joining the team set up by Bradley Wiggins in 2016. That year, he won a stage and finished ninth overall at the Ronde de l’Isard and placed second at the Tour Alsace. This year, as well as landing the national time trial title and a Worlds top 10, he finished fourth overall at the U23 Giro d’Italia.

The Dimension Data team labeled him “a real talent for the future” as they unveiled his signing on Thursday.

Anton extends for another year

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Tour de Yorkshire unveils host locations for 2018

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The Tour de Yorkshire will visit Barnsley, Beverley, Doncaster, Halifax, Ilkley, Leeds, Richmond and Scarborough in 2018. The race organisation unveiled the host towns for the first edition of the race in its expanded form on Thursday morning.

It was announced earlier this month that the men’s event will increase from three to four days next year, while the women’s event will grow from a one-day race to a two-day stage race.

The race was established as a legacy event for the 2014 Tour de France Grand Depart in the British region, and the organisers – Welcome to Yorkshire and ASO – had been pushing for expansion ever since a successful inaugural edition in 2015.

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“With the men’s race being extended to four days and the women’s race now being held over two, it means we can visit more parts of the county and I know our eight start and finish locations will put on a real show,” said Gary Verity, chief executive of Welcome to Yorkshire.

It is not yet clear how the locations will link together over the four days of racing, with the full route due to be announced on December 5.

The region of Yorkshire, in the north of England, is divided into four counties – north, south, east, and west. Two 2018 host locations, Doncaster and Barnsley, are situated in South Yorkshire, while Leeds, Halifax, and Ilkley are all in West Yorkshire, Richmond and Scarborough in North Yorkshire, and Beverley in East Yorkshire.

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Team Sky report budget of £31 million in 2016

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Team Sky has released its accounts for the calendar year 2016, showing that the team’s budget for the 2016 season was in excess of £31 million, an increase of 27 per cent on the previous season’s budget.

The accounts are published annually by 'Tour Racing Limited', the British-registered holding company for Team Sky.

Team Sky’s budget for 2016 was £31,048,000, a significant increase on its 2015 budget of £24,442,000. The depreciation of the British Pound against the Euro may account for some of the increased costs in 2016, but it is clear, too, that team’s overall financial commitment has increased decisively over the years. Team Sky’s budget has now more than doubled since its first season in the professional ranks, when its budget was reported as £14.603 million.

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The rise in Sky’s 2016 budget is accounted for primarily by the sharp increase in sponsorship from its three principal backers: Sky UK Limited, 21st Century Fox and Sky Italia. Title sponsorship for 2016 reached a total of £23.5 million, an increase of 50 per cent on the 2015 title sponsorship of £15.7 million.

The precise breakdown of the sponsorship contribution of the three main backers is not specified, though the accounts state that Sky UK Limited owns 85 per cent of the team and 21st Century Fox owns the remaining 15 per cent. Sky Italia was initially a shareholder in the team, but is now simply a sponsor.

Sky’s revenue from its 'performance sponsors', a group which includes bike supplier Pinarello, kit supplier Rapha and component supplier Shimano, also rose in 2016, from £2.96 million to £3.28 million.

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Peter Sagan on fourth Worlds title in 2018: Nothing is impossible

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The magnitude of Peter Sagan’s achievement in becoming world champion for a third consecutive year hadn’t completely sunk in before people started wondering about the possibility of a fourth.

On Sunday the Slovakian became one of only five riders to win the elite men’s World Championships road race three times, and the first to win them consecutively.

“Let me enjoy this title, I don’t want to think about next year,” he said in the immediate aftermath of his victory.

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However, he has since opened up a little more about the prospect of a fourth straight title in 2018, saying that “nothing is impossible”, despite the amount of climbing on the route in Innsbruck, Austria.

While Richmond in 2015 and Bergen this year provided punchy courses that are perfectly suited to the 27-year-old, and Qatar last year threw up a more traditional bunch sprint, the Innsbruck course, unveiled last week, contains 4,670 metres of altitude gain.

Speaking to Italian newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport at a mountainbike event this week, Sagan dismissed the notion that he could target Liege-Bastogne-Liege and Il Lombardia – races with similar loads of climbing – next season.

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Mark Cavendish: This has been the toughest season of my career

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Mark Cavendish will race on the road until Paris-Tours (October 10) and then ride the London Six-Day (October 24-29) as he comes to the end of an illness and injury-hit season that he described as the toughest of his career.

Cavendish completed the hilly two-day Giro della Toscana on Wednesday and lined up for the equally tough Coppa Sabatini race on Thursday, happy to play a domestique role for Dimension Data and clock up the hard miles.

He admits he will have little chance of adding to his tally of just one victory in 2017 but needs the racing after missing so much of the season.

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“I’ve got to keep racing this year, so that I don’t affect next year. I’ve had so little racing due to my illness and injuries that I’ve got to carry on through. I’m not chasing success, I’m realistic about that, I’m just going to ride my bike and help the team,” Cavendish told Cyclingnews and La Gazzetta dello Sport in Tuscany.

“I’m going to race on the road until Paris-Tours. I’d even considered riding the Tour of Guangxi but it clashes with the London Six day, which I’m riding with Pete Kennaugh.”

Cavendish won a stage at the Abu Dhabi Tour in February and seemed set for another successful season. However, he struggled at Tirreno-Adriatico and was eventually diagnosed with Epstein-Barr virus (Mononucleosis) in mid-April.

Watching the World Championships

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Di Gregorio announces his retirement

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Remy Di Gregorio has announced that he will retire at the end of the season, bringing the curtain down on his professional career at the age of 32. The Marseille native has been racing on the Delko-Marseille Provence KTM (formerly La Pomme) set-up since 2014.

Di Gregorio took to social media on Wednesday evening to announce his decision to hang up his wheels.

“I don’t write often on Facebook but today it’s to announce that after 12 beautiful years of a sporting career, I’m bringing an end to my career,” Di Gregorio wrote. “I want to thank all the people who supported me from the bottom of my heart.”

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Di Gregorio was still a teenager when he turned professional with La Française des Jeux in 2005, and he underlined his promise by winning a stage of the Tour de l’Avenir the following year.

After winning the mountains classification at the 2007 Dauphiné Libéré, Di Gregorio’s reputation in France was such that he was featured on the cover of Vélo Magazine ahead of his Tour de France debut that July, but the race ended in disappointment when he crashed out in the opening week.

Di Gregorio's promise would remain largely unfulfilled thereafter at FDJ, but he enjoyed a brief renaissance when he signed for Astana in 2011, winning a stage of Paris-Nice in Biot ahead of Samuel Sanchez and Rigoberto Uran.

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Barbara Guarischi bolsters Team Virtu squad for 2018

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Danish squad Team Virtu Cycling has announced the signing of Italian Barbara Guarischi for the 2018 season. The 26-year-old joins after three seasons with the Canyon-SRAM team and is aiming to return to regular winning ways.

While Guarischi has recorded several-top results in 2017, her last win was in 2016 at the EPZ Omloop van Borsele WE and previously won stages of the Giro Rosa and Route de France.

"I have had two years that have not lived up to my expectations. I want to go back to where cycling is fun again and where I enjoy riding," Guarischi said. "It has been too much work, work, work. I'll have fun again. I know I'm not the rider with the most power, but I've always been strong mentally, but it's important that it was fun and the last couple of years it has not been perfect.

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"Personally, I would like to go back and fight for the victory. It's always a good feeling and like everyone, I love to win. It doesn't matter whether it's a small or big race. Every race is important, but none of them are easy to win." 

Team Virtu sports director Carmen Small, who announced her retirement this month, expects Guarischi to fulfill several different roles. Small explained that Guarischi will provide an avenue to victory and will also be a key rider for the younger riders on the team.

"Despite of her age, Barbara has a lot of experience, and her skills as a rider can be used in all types of races," said Small. "She knows how to ride smaller climbs, she has an engine on the flat and she is fast in the sprint. I'm sure she will get back to winning in 2018. She is set to be one of our leaders in 2018, not just aiming for results but also helping the younger riders both inside and outside of races. I'm very happy to add her to the team, and I feel confident, that she will reach hear top level again."

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Chaves ready for Giro dell'Emilia defence

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Giro dell'Emilia defending champion Esteban Chaves returns to the Italian race in 2017 with a strong Orica-Scott team backing his ambitions. The Colombian hasn't raced since the Vuelta a Espana where he was 11th on the general classification.

The Giro dell'Emilia was also Chaves' first race after the Vuelta last year when he beat Romain Bardet to the victory. For the September 30 race, Adam Yates, Jack Haig, Damien Howson, Roman Kreuziger, Ruben Plaza and Carlos Verona all add climbing power to the Orica-Scott team.

"We can have an open plan with the type of riders we have lining up for this race," sport director Dave McPartland said. "I expected it to be a fairly controlled race with there being 13 WorldTour teams.

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"I think we will have numbers left there in the final on this course and then we can play our cards."

Jens Keukeleire rounds out the team and having played a crucial early role in the breakaway last year, the Belgian is likely to be used again before the race ramps up.

"It comes down to pure climbers that have really good condition," added McPartland. "Esteban and Adam are of course strong and can ride well on this steep climb, but also Jack Haig has shown his top form recently. It is a super hard one-day race and should be good for us."

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Elise Delzenne retires at 28

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Elise Delzenne has announced her retirement from cycling at the age of 28. A French national champion on the road and track, Delzenne started her road career with Bourgogne-Pro Dialog in 2013 before moving onto Specialized-Lululemon for two seasons.

Delzenne has spent the last two seasons with the Lotto Soudal Ladies squad, riding a road and track schedule. Her last race came at the World Championships in Bergen where she finished 36th. In 2014, she was part of the French team which helped Pauline Ferrand-Prevot to the rainbow jersey.

The 28-year-old announced her retirement from cycling via her Facebook page, explaining the reasoning behind her decision and new career.

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"High-level sport has given me a lot of emotions, disappointment, suffering, and joy and well-being," she wrote. "I met wonderful people, discovered different countries and cultures. It was an amazing experience...

"My choice is reflective and definitive, a new story with different challenges and objectives, and this story is part of the Btwin Women's Road Bike Team that I will be starting as a women's road bike Textile Engineer. It is a real opportunity that is proposed to me."

Before taking up her new role, Delzenne will close out the season and her career at the European Track Championships in Berlin, Germany next month.

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Cannondale-Drapac signs Logan Owen

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Logan Owen will ride for Cannondale-Drapac in 2018, the team announced Wednesday. Owen, 22, has ridden for the Axeon Hagens Berman development team for the past four seasons, winning a stage at the 2015 Tour of Utah, the Liege-Bastogne-Liege Espoirs race in 2016 and a stage of the Volta ao Alentejo earlier this year.

"Logan's a really cool kid," said Slipstream Sports CEO Jonathan Vaughters. "He shows a knack for how to win races creatively and has demonstrated incredible tactical intelligence."

Owen excelled in cyclo-cross as a junior and U23 racer, piling up 10 consecutive US cyclo-cross titles before dropping the discipline in 2016 to focus on road racing and making it to the WorldTour.

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"Regardless of if I got that contract or not, it was the right decision," Owen said. "I needed to put all my eggs into one basket to see what I could do. I'm beyond stoked that it all worked out and that I can make this next step up to the WorldTour with Slipstream Sports."

The Slipstream Sports team will be named EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale next year after the program struggled to find a sponsor for 2018 but then landed a big one in time to keep riders like Classics specialist Sep Vanmarcke, a rider Owen says he's excited to learn from.

"I tend to be better at Classics-type races," Owen said. "Getting to learn from Sep is one of the biggest reasons that I'm looking forward to the spring. I'm excited about all my new teammates actually. [Rigoberto] Uran is a legend. I already know Alex Howes, so it will be cool to race with him."

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Guillaume Martin continues strong fall with Giro della Toscana win

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Building on the 23rd-place finish in his Grand Tour debut this past July at the Tour de France, Guillaume Martin (Wanty-Groupe Gobert) added another trophy to his mantle on Wednesday, winning the second-and-final stage at the Giro della Toscana and seizing the overall lead from stage 1 winner Stephen Cummings (Dimension Data).

The 24-year-old Frenchman soloed away from his breakaway companions with a little more than 1km to go on the steep cobbled climb to the finish, and he quickly established his winning advantage over Giovanni Visconti (Bahrain-Merida) and Mattia Cattaneo (Androni Giocattoli). The two Italians rounded out the final podium, with Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) in fourth at 14 seconds and Colombian Egan Bernal (Androni Giocattoli) in fifth at 16.

Martin now has three stage wins and two overal victories since mid-August, starting with his stage win at the Tour du Limousin and continuing with a stage win and final overall victory at the Tour du Gevaudan last week.

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"After my first victory in the Limousin, I made a click," Martin said. "When you start winning, you strive for victory again. It's a combination of the mental and physical aspect, because I've made enormous progress since the Tour de France.

"It is often said that you can push a gear extra, which is true, especially at my age. Then when the team takes me as a leader it gives more confidence. The whole team supports me and brings me in front at the foot of the climbs."

On Wednesday, Martin was part of the escape that formed on the final lap of the circuit around Volterra. When Visconti attacked with just over 3km to go, only Martin, Anthony Delaplace (Fortuneo-Oscaro) and Cattaneo could follow. The lead quartet approached the base of the final climb with an advantage of 40 seconds over the main peloton, which featured Nibali, Bernal and Cummings.

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Luke Roberts: Sunweb's cool, calm and collected DS

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Unlike football where a manager can be a bigger star than his players, the directeur sportif role is largely unheralded in cycling. A Pep Guardiola or Jose Mourinho's coaching chops may be measured by the titles they've won, but the DS' in the peloton aren't ranked and rated by the Tour de France's they've planned and executed from behind the steering wheel.

Team Sunweb's 2017 season has arguably been its best to date with Giro d'Italia victory, four stages and two classifications at the Tour de France, and a team time trial world title. Instrumental to those results and the growth of the team has been Australian Luke Roberts. An Olympic gold medallist on the track, Roberts has become one of the most tactically intriguing directeur sportifs in the peloton.

Roberts cut his teeth in the team car with the Stolting, and Cult Energy teams prior to joining the Sunweb set up in 2016. When looking at teams in the WorldTour that he wanted to join, Roberts explained to Cyclingnews that Sunweb's commitment to a long-term plan ensured it was his first pick.

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"That is one of the strengths of this team and also why I approached this team as my first choice to work with," Roberts told Cyclingnews. "I had throughout my own career instability with teams. I was involved with the Pegasus team, I had signed a contract there so I had quite some experience. When I was with Milram, the first year I was there they had some issues and then the second year it didn't continue. I looked for a team that had a slow progressive build up and wants to be around for a long time. They are always thinking about the future and making decisions now to help them be here for a long time. I guess it comes across obvious now, they are not shy about handing across three-year contract for riders. Which is not very common in this day and age. It also gives riders that sense of security knowing that the management is working for a long-term future."

Roberts also takes a long-term approach to his own coaching and directeur sportif role and assesses his own performances with the same analytical approach he does with his riders.

"Last year was my first season and I needed to find my feet within the team and get to know the riders. I did the Giro and the Vuelta last year and I was in a development stage in my own way of working," he explained. "This year again I've found that I keep taking steps in my own development as a coach or directeur sportif. At the beginning of the Giro, you have a new group and you try to bind that group and make a super team out of a group of bike riders that haven't necessarily done every race together or know each other 100 percent. We try to bind that group and create a good atmosphere and have them all fighting for that one goal."

Tour de France success

Planning for the future

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Andrea Pasqualon wins 2017 Coppa Sabatini

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Andrea Pasqualon (Wanty-Groupe Gobert) claimed the biggest win of his career when he sprinted to victory in the Coppa Sabatini, beating Sonny Colbrelli (Bahrain-Merida) into second place in the uphill group sprint in Peccioli.

The result was a reverse of the outcome of the 2016 edition of the race, when Colbrelli pipped Pasqualon to the win on the same finale in Tuscany. Colbrelli was chasing his third Coppa Sabatini win in four years, and he opened his sprint from distance, but was overhauled by Pasqualon in the closing metres.

Colbrelli appealed the result immediately after the stage, claiming that Pasqualon had deviated from his line, but the commissaires promptly confirmed that that the Wanty-Groupe Gobert man was the winner.

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Francesco Gavazzi (Androni-Sidermec) took third place in the bunch finish, ahead of Diego Ulissi (UAE-Team Emirates) and Eduard Prades (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA).

Pasqualon had racked up a series of placings at the Coppa Sabatini in recent years and was determined to win this year, telling his teammates before the race that he would open up the sprint after the last sweeping corner.

“I know the finish after being beaten in recent years and this time I had the courage to go for it. I didn’t have that courage in the pat but this year I’m a lot stronger and more confident in what I can do in the finale of races. Changing teams and riding the Tour de France has made a huge difference. I can feel I’m stronger and have more endurance,” Pasqualon said.

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Mountain Bike Marathon returns to Isle of Man

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National Mountain Bike Marathon to be held over a 100km loop of the Isle of Man countryside in 2018.

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Scott Davies: Welsh cyclist joins Dimension Data team

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Welsh cyclist Scott Davies signs a two-year deal with UCI World Tour team Dimension Data.

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Lotto Soudal extends with Marczynski - News shorts

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Lotto Soudal has signed Tomasz Marczynski to a three-year contract extension that will take him through the 2020 season, the team announced today.

The 33-year-old former Polish champion joined Lotto Soudal in 2016 from Turkish Continental team Torku Şekerspor but suffered from illness throughout that first year. He bounced back this season with two stage wins at the Vuelta a España.

“The team has always kept its confidence in me, even with my health issues last year. Now they prove their belief in me again with this contract extension,” he said in the team’s release announcing his three-year deal.

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“I really wanted to stay in this team, because it feels like one big family. I also like to create a good atmosphere myself. During the race I always motivate everyone and when we’re in the hotel I make sure we all have a laugh. Everyone in the team appreciates that.”

Bora-Hansgrohe signs Felix Großschartner

Bora-Hansgrohe closed out the team’s 2018 roster with the signing of Felix Großschartner from CCC Sprandi Polkowice. The 23-year-old Austrian climber signed a two-year deal with the German-registered WorldTour team that will take him through the 2019 season.

“We always have an eye on the German-speaking countries,” said team manager Ralf Denk. “I am happy that we managed to sign Felix now for 2018. With the stage win of Lukas Pöstlberger in the Giro and the wins of Gregor Mühlberger at the Austrian Nationals and Rund um Köln, our Austrians took important victories for the team this season. I hope Felix can also get to that level in the next years.”

Lopez, Uran take aim at Milano-Torino

BMC Racing for Tour de l'Eurométropole

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Small changes for 2018 North American UCI calendar

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The UCI this week released its calendars for all sanctioned road races on its five global circuits in 2018, with 11 events on the America Tour and three on the World Tour coming from North America.

The 1.1 Winston-Salem Classic Road Race will return for both the women and the men, although the men's race is not yet posted on the UCI's website. The 2.2 Cascade Cycling Classic will not return to the America Tour after making a brief one-year appearance last year. New to the calendar are the 1.1 'Independence Classic' in Philadelphia and the 2.2 Ruta del Centro in Mexico. Chrono Kristin Armstrong is back to try again after initially gaining a spot on last year's calendar but then cancelling the event. The 1.2 Reading 120 is also back on the calendar after one-year hiatus.

The main changes for the returning events come at the beginning and end of the calendar, with the Joe Martin Stage Racing moving back several weeks to April 12-15. The race, which last year moved closer to the opening spot on USA Cycling's Pro Road Tour, is followed by Tour of the Gila (April 18-22). The Pro Road Tour's Redlands Bicycle Classic followed a week later in 2017, leading into the WorldTour Amgen Tour of California, a scenario that will likely play out again next year.

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Other changes to the calendar come in the second half of the season, when the 2.HC Tour of Utah and Colorado Classic each move back a week. The races had trouble attracting WorldTour teams last year, and the Tour of Utah, at least, is hoping the later date will entice more top-tier teams to make the trip to the 'Beehive State' for 'America's Toughest Stage Race.' BMC was the only WorldTour team in the race last year, down from a high of six WorldTour teams in 2014.

"The Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah has earned prominence as a well-organized and challenging week of racing on the international cycling calendar," said John Kimball, who was recently named managing director of the race. "We seek to deliver another high-quality experience in 2018, as we work to confirm host cities and new routes for next summer to showcase our beautiful state and the best pro cycling teams in the world."

The North American UCI season ends once again with the two one-day WorldTour races in Québec and Montréal in September.

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Astana Women's Team signs double junior world champion Pirrone

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Astana Women’s Team have snapped up double junior world champion Elena Pirrone and her promising fellow junior Letizia Paternoster for the 2018 season. The team have already signed Colombian Blanca Liliana Moreno and Cuban Jeidi Pradera for the forthcoming season.

Pirrone and the Italian junior women had a hugely successful week at the Worlds in Bergen, with the 18-year-old taking victory in the time trial before a solo win a few days later in the road race. The success came off the back of a victory in the time trial at the European championships in Herning, Denmark at the start of August. She is hoping to combine her racing with schooling in 2018.

“I knew I arrived in Norway in good shape,” said Pirrone. “I had great feelings when we tested the routes. The time trial was a big goal of mine, but I was also hoping to do well in the road race: I even dreamed about the race and then it became reality.

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"Astana Women's Team is a well-organised team, with a very professional staff and a nice international calendar. I'm very happy to do my first year in the new category with such an important team. In the first part of the season my biggest goal will be the school, from a sporting point of view I know it won't be easy to adapt to new race rhythms but I'll try to take experience and to help my teammates when possible.”

Pirrone’s compatriot Paternoster finished in third place, 12 seconds behind her victorious teammate, in the Worlds road race. She had been one of the favourites for the time trial and started very well, but technical problems in the second half of the climb disrupted her run, and she would finish ninth.

Paternoster has had a very strong final season as a junior, winning both the time trial and road race title at the Italian national championships and getting silver and bronze at the respective events at the European Championships. She has also enjoyed success on the track, with European titles in the elimination race, team pursuit, individual pursuit, the Omnium and the Madison at junior level.

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WADA provisionally suspends Chatenay-Malabry laboratory

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The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has provisionally suspended the accreditation of the laboratory in Châtenay-Malabry, near Paris. The laboratory, run by the French anti-doping agency AFLD, developed the urine test for EPO and carries out much of the analysis of samples taken at the Tour de France.

In a statement issued on Monday evening, WADA announced that the provisional suspension had been handed down “due to analytical issues self-reported to WADA by the Laboratory".

The suspension took effect on September 24 and prohibits the laboratory from analysing urine and blood samples pending a hearing of WADA’s independent disciplinary committee.

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Le Monde has reported that there were two instances of contamination in the laboratory, which arose after a urine sample with an exceptionally high concentration of anabolic steroids had left a residue on the testing equipment that remained even after thorough washing.

According to Le Monde, the Châtenay-Malabry lab found traces of steroids in two urine samples in the spring but, following a request for the analysis of the B sample, it was established on August 25 that the samples had been contaminated by the testing equipment.

The AFLD reported the error to WADA on August 28, and had hoped to escape a complete shutdown of its operations.

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CPA 'opposed in principle' to reduced team sizes

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The professional riders’ association, the CPA (Cyclistes Professionels Associés) is ‘opposed in principle’ to the UCI’s decision to reduce the size of the men’s peloton from 2018, though it is waiting to assess the cited safety benefits.

Last week the UCI formally approved the reduction in team sizes in all international road races, with a maximum of seven riders – down from eight – for all races save for the three Grand Tours, which will now feature squads of eight, rather than nine.

The CPA represents the interests of professional riders and it fears the decision will lead to teams cutting the size of their rosters and so a reduction in the number of employed riders.

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“Our opinion is that there’s a danger that lots of people will lose their jobs. In principle we are against it,” CPA secretary David Chassot told Cyclingnews. “Maybe it’s better for safety, but our opinion is not favourable if it would mean people out of work.”

The push to reduce team sizes came from major race organisers, with ASO, RCS Sport and Flanders Classics coming together last year to announce the changes independently of the UCI. The UCI kept its regulations intact this season but it came as little surprise that the changes were enshrined by the governing body for next season.

The principal motive is said to be rider safety, though another factor is the notion that smaller teams make for less controlled – and consequently more exciting – racing. ASO’s Tour de France director Christian Prudhomme has spoken of the need to break the ‘catenaccio’ that has come to characterize the race under Team Sky’s command.

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Nibali shows no ill effects on return to racing - News shorts

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Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida) enjoyed a solid return to competitive action when he placed fourth on the opening day of the Giro della Toscana after joining the winning break in the final 25 kilometres.

Nibali had not raced since finishing second at the Vuelta a España after injuring his ribs in a crash on the penultimate stage to the Angliru. The Sicilian opted to skip the World Championships and is instead targeting victory at Il Lombardia on October 7.

“In my first race back, I felt very good straightaway,” Nibali said, according to La Gazzetta dello Sport. “The climb that I used to attack on was short, but I set the pace right from the bottom. There was no problem with the rib, the bruising is going.”

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Nibali was part of a high-quality break in the company of Steve Cummings (Dimension Data), Egan Bernal (Androni) and Frederik Backaert (Wanty-Groupe Gobert), and he had to settle for fourth place in the sprint in Pontedera, which was won by Cummings.

“We agreed to work together, and we built up a good advantage,” Nibali said. “In the sprint, I took Stephen’s wheel, because I knew he was the favourite, but he was much faster. I’m happy that he won, though, he’s a good friend.”

The Giro della Toscana concludes on Wednesday with an uphill finish at Volterra.

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Cummings: Best way to respond after Worlds snub was to carry on

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Steve Cummings put the disappointment of missing out on selection for the World Championships behind him with a fine win on stage 1 of the Giro della Toscana.

The win was Cummings’ first outing since the Worlds, where he was deemed surplus to requirements for the road race but good enough to be first reserve for the time trial. He eventually turned down the ride in the TT.

The double British national champion’s Toscana win came from a small group containing multiple Grand Tour champion Vincenzo Nibali and he now leads the race heading into stage 2.

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“It’s always hard to win but I’m very happy. Today’s win brought me a lot of satisfaction because it’s always really hard to win,” Cummings told Cyclingnews on Tuesday evening.

“When we were doing the big circuits there were a few little hills in but I was being the policeman because we came into the stage looking to help [Mark] Cavendish. The climbs were a little bit harder than we thought and when Nibali went I had to follow. The last smaller circuit was pan-flat and there wasn’t really a launchpad. I wasn’t really sure about the end because I’ve not done a sprint since about 2008.”

‘It doesn’t matter how I win or what I win, it’s never enough for some’

When Cummings crossed the line he was immediately asked by the gathering Italian press as to why he had not been in Bergen.

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Landa to ride final race for Team Sky at Tour of Guangxi

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Mikel Landa will finish his season at the inaugural Tour of Guangxi at the end of October, according to Spanish website Zikloland. The Chinese race is the final event on the 2017 WorldTour calendar and, with the 27-year-old bound for Movistar next season, it will be Landa’s final appearance in Team Sky colours.

No teams have confirmed their full line-up just yet, but Landa is likely to be joined in Guangxi by teammate Owain Doull, who has hinted that he will be in attendance. The six-day race sees WorldTour racing return to China for the first time in three years after the Tour of Beijing folded in 2014, and is a mixture of sprint and hilly stages.

Before heading out to China, Landa will complete a brief Italian one-day race programme that will begin with Tre Valli Varesine on October 3, followed by Milano-Torino two days later, and Il Lombardia on Saturday, October 7. It will be Landa’s seventh consecutive appearance at Il Lombardia after making his debut in 2011. His best result at the one-day Monument race was 21st in 2013 while racing for Euskaltel-Euskadi.

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Landa has enjoyed an almost two-month break following a busy early-season schedule that saw him ride both the Giro d’Italia and the Tour de France. The final four races will bring Landa’s total number of race days for 2017 to 82.

He started his year at the Ruta del Sol in February and rode Tirreno-Adriatico, the Volta a Catalunya and the Tour of the Alps before turning his attention to the Giro. The Spaniard dropped out of the general classification fight early on after a crash caused by a stationary motorbike but went on to win a stage and the mountains classification.

He had hoped to ride his home Vuelta a Espana, but was roped in to support Chris Froome at the Tour de France. Froome won the Tour, but Landa expressed his frustrations after not being allowed certain freedoms to attack in the latter part of the race and just missed out on the podium, eventually finishing in fourth place.

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CCC Sprandi Polkowice sign Amaro Antunes

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Polish Pro Continental team CCC Sprandi Polkowice has announced a two-year deal with Portuguese climbing talent Amaro Manuel Antunes. The 26-year-old was most recently runner-up at the Volta a Portugal, where he won the final stage, and he also impressed in the spring when he won a stage of the Volta ao Algarve.

Antunes has ridden with the W52/FC Porto team in 2017, his sixth year in the Continental ranks, and explained he is thrilled with the opportunity extended to him by CCC Sprandi Polkowice. 

"I feel very happy to have reached an agreement with CCC Sprandi Polkowice," Antunes said. "It is a team that provides great conditions for riders to compete at the international level, against top teams in the world. I hope that in 2018 I will continue my progress and will have the opportunity to claim good results for the team in the biggest races of the cycling calendar."

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In 2017, Antunes also won the 2.2-level  GP Internacional Torres Vedras - Trofeu Joaquim Agostinho and 1.2 Classica da Arrabida, with the team keeping a tab on his results. Antunes was the junior Portuguese road race and time trial champion in 2008.

Having lost its GC rider Jan Hirt to Astana at the end of 2017, the team believe Antunes can step up and replicate the success of the Czech rider from 2018.

"He has a great potential to be one of the top climbers. We believe that he will fill Jan Hirt's shoes, who is leaving our squad after the season and that Amaro will shine in the mountains as much as the Czech," said the team's DS Piotr Wadecki.

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