Foldable Bikes Party: June 2018

Saturday 30 June 2018

A new Russian icon: Ilnur Zakarin's rise to the top

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If you see Ilnur Zakarin speaking into his jersey at the Tour de France, it could be a sign that he's about to do something special.

The Russian is, by all accounts, a calm leader who keeps race radio communications to a minimum, but when he's feeling good, he won't miss an opportunity to make a bet with Dimitri Konyshev, Katusha-Alpecin's directeur sportif back in the team car.

"Every race, when he starts to feel good, he says, 'OK we do a bet… If I finish top five you have to do something - If not, I do it'. Sometimes I have to clean his shoes, sometimes he has to clean mine - always stupid things," Konyshev says.

"It's interesting that he starts this and is always thinking about this. He asks me, 'so today, what do we do?' This is the sign. When he's not feeling really good, he keeps quiet, but when he starts to ask this, it's always dangerous for me!"

Zakarin and Konyshev are something of a double act, the four-time 1990's Tour de France stage winner being Zakarin's closest confidant at Katusha.

"He knows how to manage me," Konyshev says with a smile. "I know how to manage him but he knows how to manage me."

Boxing, singing, and cycling

Now or never

A Russian icon

You can read more at Cyclingnews.com

via Cyclingnews Latest Interviews and Features http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/a-new-russian-icon-ilnur-zakarins-rise-to-the-top

Dream deferred: Mollema gets another chance at Tour de France podium

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Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo) was battling for a Tour de France podium spot in 2016 when a crash on the way to Mont Blanc during stage 19 sunk his chances and eventually saw him drop him out of the top 10.

Mollema obviously has unfinished business with the Tour, but the 31-year-old Dutchman had to defer that reckoning last year when Trek-Segafredo brought on two-time winner Alberto Contador and Mollema was relegated to a super-domestique role.

With Contador's retirement in the off-season, Mollema is back behind the reins of Trek-Segafredo and is hoping to rekindle his drive for the podium. There are plenty of riders he'll have to top along with way, not the least of whom are four-time winner Chris Froome (Team Sky, EF Education First-Drapac's Rigoberto Uran, Movistar's triumvirate of Nario Quintana, Mikel Landa and Alejandro Valverde, AG2R's Romain Bardet, BMC Racing's Richie Porte, Mitchelton-Scott's Adam Yates and Bahrain-Merida's Vincenzo Nibali.

A crowd is already forming around the podium before the race has even started, so Trek-Segafredo are hoping they've brought the right mix of riders to help Mollema break through. The seven riders Mollema will be looking to for support in July are Julien Bernard, John Degenkolb, Koen de Kort, Michael Gogl, Tsgabu Grmay, Toms Skujins and Jasper Stuyven.

In Stuyven, de Kort, Gogl and Skujins, Trek-Segafredo have brought riders who can ably guide Mollema through the tricky first third of the race, including leaving him in good standing after the stage 3 team time trial. Degenkolb, Stuyven and de Kort will also be handy during the stage 9 day on the cobbles, with maybe enough reources left over to expend some energy in the breakaways.

None of the other teams in the race stack up well against the climbing squads Movistar and Team Sky will bring to the race, but Mollema will be able to count on Grmay, a proven pure climber, while Bernard will be eager to prove himself during his debut in his home tour.

Trek-Segafredo's Tour de France roster

You can read more at Cyclingnews.com

via Cyclingnews Latest Interviews and Features http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/dream-deferred-mollema-gets-another-chance-at-tour-de-france-podium

Pierre Rolland's Cannondale SuperSix Evo Hi-Mod - Gallery

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Pierre Rolland was announced in EF Education First-Drapac's Tour de France squad to support Rigoberto Uran's overall general classification challenge. The Frenchman will line-up in Noirmoutier-en-l'Ile to start his tenth consecutive Tour de France.

The Frenchman has three top-10 finishes at the race, two stage victories, as well as a white jersey on his palmares, but will be focused on Uran bettering his second-place finish from last year's race in 2018.

While EF Education First-Drapac switched from green argyle to bright pink jerseys for the 2018 season, the team have retained the classic green and black Cannondale design on their all-round race bikes, the Cannondale SuperSix Evo Hi-Mod.

The simple, understated frameset is paired with all-carbon finishing kit from FSA, Vision and Prologo, while 40mm carbon wheels - also from Vision - are paired with Vittoria Corsa tubular tyres.

Shimano provides the team bikes with Dura-Ace R9100 series components for shifting and braking, while Cannondale's proprietary SISL crankset is paired with an SRM power meter.

Click or swipe through the gallery above for a closer look at Pierre Rolland's bike.

You can read more at Cyclingnews.com

via Cyclingnews Latest Interviews and Features http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/pierre-rollands-cannondale-supersix-evo-hi-mod-gallery

Adam Yates: To lead the Tour de France team is an honour

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With just over a week to go before the start of the race, Mitchelton-Scott's Tour de France leader, Adam Yates, is raring to go.

The British climber has been cast as the undisputed leader of the Australian team's eight-man squad – to the detriment of Caleb Ewan, who had been expected to be named on the team for the sprint stages.

"I was pretty disappointed for Caleb," Yates told the press on Thursday. "I was out there with him in California when we did a training camp in Lake Tahoe before the Tour of California, and all the team was working well together, and getting ready for the Tour. But management changed their mind, and that's how it is. There's more pressure on me now, but it doesn't really change anything too much for me."

Yates went into May's Tour of California unsure of how well he would go, having had to battle back from a broken pelvis sustained at the Volta a Catalunya six weeks previously. He ended up taking fourth overall there, after finishing third on stage 2 behind Egan Bernal (Team Sky) and Rafal Majka (Bora-Hansgrohe), and second to Bernal on the queen stage to Lake Tahoe.

Yates then rode the Critérium du Dauphiné, where he rode strongly and consistently in the mountains, and then won the final stage to secure second place overall, just a minute behind winner Geraint Thomas (Team Sky), and 47 seconds ahead of big French hope Romain Bardet (AG2R La Mondiale).

"I obviously came out of the Dauphiné really well, having felt as though I was getting better with every stage," said Yates. "Training's been going well since then, and I'm feeling good. Everything's slotting into place. But training's a lot different to racing, so you don't really know how you're going until you start racing again.

You can read more at Cyclingnews.com

via Cyclingnews Latest Interviews and Features http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/adam-yates-to-lead-the-tour-de-france-team-is-an-honour

Friday 29 June 2018

Thomas wants to challenge teammate Froome at Tour de France

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Team Sky's Geraint Thomas hopes to be able to challenge four-time winner Chris Froome for victory at this year's Tour de France.

via BBC Sport - Cycling http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/44653639

Cyclists to donate prize money to injured Vogel

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Winners at this weekend's Sprint Grand Prix have been asked to donate their prize money to injured double Olympic champion Kristina Vogel.

via BBC Sport - Cycling http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/44659161

Cavendish looks to close on Merckx's Tour de France record

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Mark Cavendish is keen to close on Eddy Merckx's all-time stage wins record at this year's Tour de France.

via BBC Sport - Cycling http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/44657423

Chris Froome and his struggle for greatness

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One thing that stands out in regards to Team Sky's spin of Chris Froome's salbutamol case is their brazenness in describing Bernard Hinault as "ill-informed and uneducated". That was a statement they didn't dig out of the 'How to Win Friends and Influence People' manual.

Having ridden with ‘The Badger’, I can assure you that he won't have taken kindly to such a slight on his intelligence or his powers of observation. The French public certainly wouldn't have appreciated it, either, especially given that the Tour de France happens to take part on their territory. Though Hinault wasn't exactly a media darling, he did command respect for how he raced and how he stood up for himself. Back when we raced together, if something was wrong, he told you quite often and in no uncertain manner. To this day, even the average French person who follows the race kind of likes that part of his character.

Of course, once he retired, he mellowed with age and became part of the ASO's machine. Far from put out to pasture, he was given the duty of podium appearances, and while his previous lack of tact as a rider began to fade in the eyes of many, that shouldn't be confused with any loss of mental sharpness or a recognition of delicate situations, because that's not the case at all.

It was an unwise move on the part of Chris Froome's camp to be calling out someone as prominent as Bernard Hinault because the Breton still holds massive influence in the cycling world and in his home country. So with worries over whether Froome and Team Sky will be intimidated or receive verbal abuse from the roadside, it wasn't a smart thing to do.

As one of the all-time greats and the most tenacious of the five-Tour-titles club members, alongside Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx and Miguel Indurain, Hinault does know what he's talking about, and from his ASO role he understands which situations cause concern and which ones don't.

So with Chris Froome set to be included in Team Sky's starting line up in Noirmoutier-en-l’Ile, it's looking very likely that the quartet of five-time winners could become a quintet. But will that mean Chris Froome becomes one of the greats at the same time?

You can read more at Cyclingnews.com

via Cyclingnews Latest Interviews and Features http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/chris-froome-and-his-struggle-for-greatness

The return of Peter Sagan: A closer look at Bora-Hansgrohe's Tour de France team

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Peter Sagan's unfortunate disqualification from last year's Tour de France means that the Slovakian will have the bit between his teeth to try to win stages and reclaim the green jersey. That disqualification cost him dear: it meant being unable to make it six years in a row that he won the jersey, so he can't waste any time if he wants to rack up five wins in a row again, and then exceed it.

If it looks to be all about Sagan, that's because it is. Oh, and Rafal Majka. The 2014 and 2016 'King of the Mountains' winner will be looking to improve drastically on his 27th overall at the 2016 Tour, but whether Majka can do that with minimal climbing support remains to be seen. Gregor Mühlberger and Pawel Poljanski will be doing their best. Winning another KoM title is well within reach, however, and if Majka's attack on the GC fails to ignite, that and stage wins will no doubt keep him and the team happy, especially if they can claim a few stage wins through Sagan, too.

Sagan will have the full support of the other members of the squad – Maciej Bodnar, Marcus Burghardt, Daniel Oss and Lukas Pöstlberger – and no doubt from Mühlberger, Poljanski and Majka, too, on any hillier stages on which he's chasing green-jersey points, or indeed stage wins.

It's a harmonious, hard-working squad that should produce a stage victory or two, and quite likely bag the green jersey for Sagan. Stages are most likely from Sagan and Majka, of course, but don't discount Pöstlberger on the more undulating days, or even Oss or Burghardt for stage 9 from Arras to Roubaix on the cobbles – if Sagan gives them the green light. A high overall finish for Majka will be a bonus.

Rafal Majka and his Bora-Hansgrohe teammates in the lead group

Bora-Hansgrohe's Tour de France team

Name: Peter Sagan
Position: Team leader/sprinter
Nationality: Slovakia
Age: 28
Experience: Six Tours started, five points jerseys, eight stage wins

You can read more at Cyclingnews.com

via Cyclingnews Latest Interviews and Features http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/the-return-of-peter-sagan-a-closer-look-at-bora-hansgrohes-tour-de-france-team

Big ambitions: Analysing EF Education First-Drapac's team for the Tour de France

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Following the runner-up performance by Rigoberto Urán at the 2017 Tour de France, EF Education First-Drapac are cranking up the dream machine in the hope of lifting the gregarious Colombian to the French Grand Tour's top step this year when the race ends in Paris on July 29.

It seems like a staggeringly tall order to get past Chris Froome and the juggernaut Team Sky have created over the last half decade at cycling's biggest race, but the underdog team run by American Jonathan Vaughters have convinced themselves they're up to the challenge.

Vaughters and team director Charly Wegelius have put together a diverse roster of experienced hands and enthusiastic newcomers to try to make Urán's Tour de France dream come true. There are no plan Bs for July at EF Education First-Drapac; they're all in for Urán and his GC ambitions. It's Champagne in Paris or bust.

At 31, Urán's own Grand Tour ambitions are back on the rise after several years of heading in the wrong direction, and so far this year the Colombian appears to be on the trajectory of finding fine form for July. A stage win in February at his home race Oro Y Paz, followed by solid days through Tirreno-Adriatico and the Ardennes Classics, set him up for this month's Tour de Slovenie, where he bagged second overall and a stage win to test his legs.

Of his seven support riders, only Tom Scully started the Giro d'Italia, but the 27-year-old Kiwi quit before stage 14 and has had plenty of time to regather his form ahead of the upcoming three-week test in July. The rest have been focused on July, first with the goal of making the roster, and now turning towards meeting the challenge and living up to Urán's high expectations.

Urán will bring a team that can hold its own on the stage 3 team time trial, and shepherd him confidently through the other opening-week challenges on the sprint days and when the peloton tackles some of Paris-Roubaix's cobblestones on stage 9.

EF Education First-Drapac's Tour de France Squad

You can read more at Cyclingnews.com

via Cyclingnews Latest Interviews and Features http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/big-ambitions-analysing-ef-education-first-drapacs-team-for-the-tour-de-france

How to follow the 2018 Tour de France

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The Grand Depart for the 2018 Tour de France takes place one week later than usual due to the crucial FIFA World Cup matches that take place at the beginning of July.

Although the World Cup finals overlap with stage 9 of the Tour de France, sports fans won't have to worry about missing a moment of either event, as organisers ASO have arranged for the finishes of the stages 1, 8 and 9 - which fall on the same day as the first World Cup quarter-final match, third place play-off and final, respectively, to end earlier than normal to keep fans tuned in.

The Vendée region hosts the Grand Depart, with two flat road stages suited to the sprinters before the 35.5km team time trial in Cholet. Expect a battle royale for the first maillot jaune between the main sprinters.

Stage 3's team time trial will be a critical test for the teams of the overall contenders, and anyone who wants to unseat Chris Froome (should he be allowed to race) will have to put time into Team Sky - a difficult proposition.

The next critical stage is the 156.5km cobbled stage from Arras to the Roubaix velodrome on July 15: the stage winner will be throwing up his arms in victory just before the kick-off for the World Cup finale. Stock up on provisions - it's going to be a big day in front of the television!

Three mountain stages in the Alps come in the week following the first rest day, and the grande finale in the Pyrenees comes in the final week, with three mountain stages and an individual time trial on the penultimate stage before the parade into Paris.

Tour preview and stage details

Live coverage

Race reports, news and analysis

Highlights

Podcast

Stage timings in CET (Finish is slowest estimate)

You can read more at Cyclingnews.com

via Cyclingnews Latest Interviews and Features http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/how-to-follow-the-2018-tour-de-france

Thursday 28 June 2018

Barnes sisters take time trial gold and silver at British Champs

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Hannah Barnes wins her first national time trial title ahead of younger sister Alice at the British Road Championships.

via BBC Sport - Cycling http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/44645588

Tour de France 2018: Top 10 riders to watch - Video

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This article has been sponsored by Eurosport Player

With just nine days now to go until the start of the Tour de France in Noirmoutier-en-l'Ile, we take a closer look in this video at the key contenders and riders that most likely to fill the race's top 10 places in Paris come July 29.

The favourite has to remain defending champion Chris Froome (Team Sky), despite the investigation following his the adverse analytical finding for salbutamol at last year's Vuelta a Espana, which he won. Froome then went on to win this year's Giro d'Italia with an audacious move in the Dolomites, following what hadn't been the most convincing first two thirds of the race, when he struggled to find form and was the victim of multiple crashes.

His friend and former Sky teammate Richie Porte (BMC Racing) is arguably the man most likely to unseat Froome, but another former Sky man in Mikel Landa will also cause problems. Landa finished fourth in 2017 while riding in Froome's service, but has joined Movistar for 2018, and attacks the Tour as joint leader with another danger man in Colombian climbing ace Nairo Quintana.

AG2R La Mondiale leader Romain Bardet's rise and rise at the Tour each year, culminating in third place overall in 2017, means that the Frenchman will be a podium danger again. France are desperate for their first winner since Bernard Hinault in 1985. Bardet is the man to break the duck. Rigoberto Uran (EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale) quietly rode his way into second place at last year's Tour, and although he may not be on everyone's lips for the win this year, the Colombian will be looking wistfully at the top step of the podium.

To see who else made the cut, put this virtual VHS into the video player, sit back, and enjoy our Top 10 riders to watch at this year's Tour.

You can read more at Cyclingnews.com

via Cyclingnews Latest Interviews and Features http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/tour-de-france-2018-top-10-riders-to-watch-video

Supporting Porte: Analysing BMC Racing's team for the Tour de France

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BMC Racing Team is taking no chances on their squad of seven riders to support their Australian leader Richie Porte, one of the main contenders to unseat Team Sky and Chris Froome at the Tour de France. Much like Movistar, the team in red has assembled a group of experienced riders and loyal domestiques and in-form riders to support Porte.

While the team may have opportunities for an odd stage win if Porte's GC ambitions either soar or come crashing down, the selections are very much geared toward an 'all for one, one for all' team strategy – more along the lines of Team Sky's style than Movistar's three-pronged approach.

All of the riders who made the team skipped the Giro d'Italia, despite there being an extra week between the two Grand Tours this year. BMC have opted for maximum freshness in the team as well as proven abilities in races against the clock and in loyalty to Porte.

The only questionable choice from a form standpoint is Simon Gerrans, who has shown little of the spark that propelled him to the Milan-San Remo victory in 2012. At 38, he's the oldest on the team, but he's a good friend to Porte, an experienced Classics man who can protect his team leader in crosswinds and on the cobbles, and Gerrans held his own in the squad's victorious effort in the Tour de Suisse TTT, only dropping off in the finale.

Stefan Küng, the youngest member of the Tour squad, led the team across the line to win that Tour de Suisse TTT, and he will be an important motor in the Tour's stage 3 team time trial, as will Kiwi Paddy Bevin, a former New Zealand national champion in the discipline who proved himself in the Tirreno-Adriatico TTT and also at the more recent Critérium du Dauphiné.

For the mountains, Porte's climbing domestiques aren't quite up to the level of Movistar's or Team Sky's, but Damiano Caruso – second overall in Tirreno, and with a top 10 overall in two Grand Tours and 11th at last year's Tour after Porte crashed out – is more than capable, as is Tejay van Garderen. Michael Schär is a selfless worker who has slayed himself for the team over the last seven Tours de France, and even Van Avermaet showed his abilities in the mountains in the Tour de Suisse when he helped keep Nairo Quintana in check on the stage to Arosa.

BMC Racing Team's Tour de France squad

You can read more at Cyclingnews.com

via Cyclingnews Latest Interviews and Features http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/supporting-porte-analysing-bmc-racings-team-for-the-tour-de-france

Wednesday 27 June 2018

Go-go Gaviria: Analysing the Quick-Step squad for the Tour de France

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This is a perfect 'jack of all trades' team, and not in a negative way. Quick-Step Floors are going to win stages at this year's Tour de France, and possibly a lot of them: five, six, seven, or more. And many of those may come from Tour debutant Fernando Gaviria on the sprint stages.

But every single rider on the roster is capable of taking a stage win, and they may well all get the opportunity to at least try. Has a team ever won half of the stages on offer at the Tour? Quick-Step arrive at this year's race with the firepower to do just that, stretching their riders' abilities across the Tour's terrains to line themselves up to win almost anywhere.

Tim Declerq and Max Richeze are perhaps the two riders least likely to get their own opportunities. Declerq will be expected to work to keep things together for Gaviria's sprint attempts, while Richeze will be Gaviria's main lead-out man. But should anything befall Gaviria, the experienced Richeze will be expected to step in to the breach and chase sprint victories.

It will be interesting to see how much, or how often, the other big names on the team – Philippe Gilbert, Niki Terpstra, Julian Alaphilippe and Bob Jungels – are expected to put themselves on the line to help Gaviria. The Colombian will inevitably be in the mix on the flat stages, and if he doesn't win the opening stage, the chances of it happening in the first week are nevertheless high.

Jungels could well be a serious GC contender one day, but the fact that there's not really anyone on the team that would be able to support him come the high mountains, if he can keep step with the bigger GC names, demonstrates that he's not yet going to be at the level he one day hopes to attain.

Gaviria, at only 23 years old, is the youngest member of the Tour squad, and is the real star of the team, if it has to have one. But the truth is, this is a team of winners, and their new 'Wolfpack' moniker means it's a classic case of 'one for all, and all for one'.

Quick-Step Floor's Tour de France team

You can read more at Cyclingnews.com

via Cyclingnews Latest Interviews and Features http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/go-go-gaviria-analysing-the-quick-step-squad-for-the-tour-de-france

British Road Championships elite women time trial start list

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You can read more at Cyclingnews.com

via Cyclingnews Latest Interviews and Features http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/british-road-championships-elite-women-time-trial-start-list

British Road Championships elite men time trial start list

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You can read more at Cyclingnews.com

via Cyclingnews Latest Interviews and Features http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/british-road-championships-elite-men-time-trial-start-list

Tuesday 26 June 2018

Victoria Pendleton reveals depression after Everest attempt

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The gold medallist cyclist says she feels "damaged" after having to pull out of a Mount Everest climb.

via BBC Sport - Cycling http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-44600675

Three's a crowd: A closer look at Movistar's Tour de France team

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In what could be the most open, closest-fought Tour de France for years, Spain's Movistar outfit at least appears to have made things a little more difficult for themselves by throwing their support behind not one or two team leaders, but three.

With the introduction of eight-rider teams for 2018 – versus the 'usual' nine – sending what is now over a third of your roster to the race in a leadership role looks decidedly like that 'too many chiefs' cliché. Certainly, the five remaining riders will have their work cut out in the opening week if all three leaders require their help and protection, even if by the time the mountains come around, more of a pecking order will be naturally decided. Here, we analyse the eight Movistar riders' likely roles.

All three team leaders – Alejandro Valverde, Nairo Quintana and Mikel Landa – have suggested that the pecking order will indeed be decided on the road, but while a 'two-pronged attack', often with a 'plan A' and a 'plan B', seems like a sensible approach from teams serious about the overall Tour title, Movistar may end up tripping and pricking themselves in the bottom with this trident.

We can, however, imagine a scenario in which Valverde takes the race lead following stage 6 and its 'summit finish' on the Mûr de Bretagne, and then, come the high mountains, Valverde settles into more of a super-domestique-cum-road-captain role.

But that still leaves Quintana and Landa as two extremely capable climbers, both with the ability to take a podium place, and in fact both experienced enough, and good enough, to win the whole thing.

A luxury problem? Perhaps. Many teams would give their back wheels to have just one rider with Quintana, Landa, or indeed Valverde's abilities. Yet for the sake of a harmonious three weeks, it can sometimes pay to have every team member's role strictly defined well before embarking on something as stressful as a Tour de France.

Movistar's Tour de France team

You can read more at Cyclingnews.com

via Cyclingnews Latest Interviews and Features http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/threes-a-crowd-a-closer-look-at-movistars-tour-de-france-team

Monday 25 June 2018

2018 National Champions index

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The main portion of the 2018 national championships are in full swing with riders racing all over the world to earn the rights to wear their national colours for the next 12 months. The Southern Hemisphere riders already earned their crowns at the start of the year, but now it is the turn of the Northern Hemisphere.

With the Tour de France a week later than usual to accommodate the football World Cup, the national championships are spread over two weeks, with many events being held across the first weekend of July. Spain, Belgium, and Italy are among the Northern Hemisphere countries to crown their champions first this summer, while Great Britain, the Netherlands and France have delayed theirs by a week.

To keep you up to date will all the action over the coming weeks, Cyclingnews has compiled a list of the national champions

You can read more at Cyclingnews.com

via Cyclingnews Latest Interviews and Features http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/2018-national-champions-index

Sunday 24 June 2018

Adriatica Ionica: Ivan Sosa wins inaugural event

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Colombia's Ivan Sosa wins the inaugural Adriatica Ionica, holding a lead he took on the third of five stages on Friday.

via BBC Sport - Cycling http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/44596018

Saturday 23 June 2018

Massive US Pro TT tech gallery

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At the US Pro time trial championship, teams and riders broke out the fastest gear they could muster. Some solutions were pricey and expected, such as aero frames, deep wheels and electronic drivetrains. But more than a few riders and mechanics employed some simple solutions, too, taping down wires (and non-sponsor logos), and using clincher tires instead of tubulars.

Click or swipe through the gallery above for a detailed look at scores of the men’s and women’s race rigs.

You can read more at Cyclingnews.com

via Cyclingnews Latest Interviews and Features http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/massive-us-pro-tt-tech-gallery

Jesus Herrada's Kuota Khan in custom colours for Spanish national champs - Gallery

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French Pro Continental team Cofidis switched from Orbea bikes to Kuota for the 2018 and 2019 seasons.

Also switching teams at the start of the season was Spanish road race national champion, Jesus Herrada, who moved to the French squad after seven seasons at the WorldTour level with Movistar Team.

Herrada won his second national road race title in Soria last June, edging out Alejandro Valverde (Movistar Team) and Ion Izagirre (Bahrain-Merida) by five seconds. To celebrate the victory, Kuota didn't hold back in designing an eye-catching yellow and red frameset for Herrada when he signed for Cofidis in January.

Cofidis pair their Italian Kuota frames with groupsets, wheels, cockpit components and saddles from the Italian brands Campagnolo, Deda and Selle San Marco, respectively.

Cofidis are one of the few professional teams to use tyres from Michelin, while the French link continues with Look Keo Blade Carbon pedals.

Click or swipe through the gallery above for a closer look at Jesus Herrada's custom Kuota Khan.

You can read more at Cyclingnews.com

via Cyclingnews Latest Interviews and Features http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/jesus-herradas-kuota-khan-in-custom-colours-for-spanish-national-champs-gallery

Friday 22 June 2018

Adriatica Ionica: Ivan Sosa wins third stage to take overall lead

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Colombia's Ivan Sosa takes the overall lead in the inaugural Adriatica Ionica with victory in Friday's third stage.

via BBC Sport - Cycling http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/44582241

Joey Rosskopf's BMC Timemachine 01 - Gallery

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Joey Rosskopf defended his United States time trial championship title in Knoxville, Tennessee, on Thursday, and this is the bike the BMC Racing rider did it on.

Unlike other national champions, who go all-out with frameset customisation following national titles, Rosskopf has gone for some subtle decals on the top tube of his BMC Timemachine 01, while the remainder of his bike is standard, team-issue components.

Like other bikes scattered around the WorldTour peloton this season, Rosskopf's time trial machine uses a combination of Shimano Dura-Ace 9000 series and R9100 series components.

Speaking with a BMC mechanic ahead of the Criterium du Dauphine team time trial, where this bike was photographed, the use of the older series components comes down simply to the team using up older stock components that still have plenty of life left in them.

For the 2018 season, BMC switched from SRM power meters to Shimano's Dura-Ace R9100-P system. Rosskopf pairs the crankset-based power meter to 56/44 chainrings and runs a standard 11-28 cassette at the rear.

Alongside the Shimano Dura-Ace components, Shimano's sister component company PRO provides the BMC Racing team with their time trial wheels. Rosskopf's bike is equipped with a PRO Textreme Disc and PRO Textreme 3-Spoke at the rear and front, respectively.

You can read more at Cyclingnews.com

via Cyclingnews Latest Interviews and Features http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/joey-rosskopfs-bmc-timemachine-01-gallery

All for Adam Yates: Analysing Mitchelton-Scott's Tour de France selection

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The news that Mitchelton-Scott have decided to leave sprinter Caleb Ewan at home for the Tour de France has raised eyebrows, but one look at the Australian squad's line-up shows that team management have decided to throw everything behind a crack at the overall title with a coming-into-form Adam Yates, rather than try to split their resources between the GC and helping Ewan to notch stage wins.

Here, we analyse each selected rider's skills and aspirations as part of an outfit that now has very real intentions of deposing Chris Froome and Team Sky from the top of the Tour de France tree.

“The primary focus is for GC,” Mitchelton-Scott’s Matt White told Cyclingnews after the squad was announced on Thursday morning.

“But if you look at the roster, even if there’s a worst-case scenario in the first week, and something happens to Adam, then we still have options across the board to win stages. That said, I think we’ve got a super team to look after him, with Hayman, Hepburn, Durbridge and Bauer for the first nine days.

“I think that we’ve also got a great chance for the TTT and with this team we could be looking at putting a minute plus change into some of the other GC contenders. Of course, BMC and Sky are the teams to beat but we will definitely be in the mix.”

Yates has come back from injury to perform admirably in the last few months. He was in contention at Tirreno-Adriatico, despite a fall, and picked up a stage win. He returned at the Tour of California, and although he was short of his best form, he picked up another solid placing in the GC. At the Dauphiné he ran Team Sky and eventual winner Geraint Thomas close but was forced to settle for second place overall and a stage win.

The Caleb question

Mitchelton-Scott's Tour de France team

You can read more at Cyclingnews.com

via Cyclingnews Latest Interviews and Features http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/all-for-adam-yates-analysing-mitchelton-scotts-tour-de-france-selection

Thursday 21 June 2018

Hinault's comments about Froome 'irresponsible and ill-informed'

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Team Sky say comments by Bernard Hinault calling on Tour de France riders to strike in protest against Chris Froome, are "irresponsible and ill-informed".

via BBC Sport - Cycling http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/44562870

Yates to lead Mitchelton-Scott's Tour de France challenge

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Britain's Adam Yates is to lead Australian team Mitchelton-Scott's challenge at this year's Tour de France.

via BBC Sport - Cycling http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/44561383

Wednesday 20 June 2018

Quick-Step win Adriatica Ionica opening stage

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Quick-Step Floors win the team time-trial on the opening stage of the inaugural Adriatica Ionica to put Elia Viviani into the leader's jersey.

via BBC Sport - Cycling http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/44554555

Sunday 17 June 2018

Porte takes Tour de Suisse title

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Australia's Richie Porte wins the Tour de Suisse as BMC team-mate Stefan Kung takes final stage victory in Bellinzona.

via BBC Sport - Cycling http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/44513334

Women's Tour: Coryn Rivera takes overall victory as Lotta Lepisto wins stage five

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Coryn Rivera wins the 2018 Women's Tour as Lotta Lepisto sprints to victory on the final stage from Dolgellau to Colwyn Bay.

via BBC Sport - Cycling http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/44513329

Saturday 16 June 2018

Women's Tour: Denmark's Amalie Dideriksen wins stage four for first victory of 2018

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Denmark's Amalie Dideriksen wins stage four of the Women's Tour in a sprint finish.

via BBC Sport - Cycling http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/44506941

Friday 15 June 2018

Australia's Roy wins stage three of Women's Tour

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Australia's Sarah Roy sprints to victory to win stage three of the Women's Tour in Leamington Spa.

via BBC Sport - Cycling http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/44500119

Thursday 14 June 2018

Women's Tour: Coryn Rivera wins stage two to move into overall lead

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American Coryn Rivera edges out Marianne Vos in a thrilling sprint finish to win stage two and move into the overall lead of the Women's Tour.

via BBC Sport - Cycling http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/44487441

Wednesday 13 June 2018

RideLondon-Surrey 2018: New 19-mile event added for younger and newer cyclists

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A new 19-mile event during RideLondon 2018 will give younger and newer cyclists the opportunity to ride on traffic-free roads.

via BBC Sport - Cycling http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/get-inspired/44469910

D'Hoore wins Women's Tour first stage - three weeks after breaking collarbone

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Belgium's Jolien D'Hoore wins the first stage of the Women's Tour just three weeks after breaking her collarbone.

via BBC Sport - Cycling http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/44471943

Rutherford to try track cycling after retiring from athletics

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Greg Rutherford has announced he plans to switch to track cycling after he retires from athletics this summer.

via BBC Sport - Cycling http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/athletics/44467074

Monday 11 June 2018

Tour de Suisse: Sonny Colbrelli wins as Stefan Kung retains Swiss lead

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Sonny Colbrelli of the Bahrain-Merida team wins stage three of the Tour de Suisse, with BMC's Stefan Kung retaining the overall lead.

via BBC Sport - Cycling http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/44444699

Storey returns in GB's para-cycling road worlds squad

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Fourteen-time Paralympic champion Sarah Storey returns to the Great Britain team for the Para-cycling Road World Championships after giving birth last year.

via BBC Sport - Cycling http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/disability-sport/44441873

Geraint Thomas says Criterium du Dauphine was 'biggest' road win of his career

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Geraint Thomas says winning the 2018 Criterium du Dauphine is the finest result of his career on the road.

via BBC Sport - Cycling http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/44433308

Sunday 10 June 2018

Criterium du Dauphine: Geraint Thomas wins ahead of Adam Yates

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Welshman and Team Sky rider Geraint Thomas wins the 70th Criterium du Dauphine by exactly one minute.

via BBC Sport - Cycling http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/44431309

Cyclist Molly Weaver on the crash that led to depression and the unhealthy drive for perfection

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A crash almost killed her but it was the aftermath that forced her off her bike. Cyclist Molly Weaver tells BBC Sport about coping with depression and the "mask" many professionals wear.

via BBC Sport - Cycling http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/44343601

Saturday 9 June 2018

Criterium du Dauphine: Geraint Thomas extends overall lead

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Team Sky's Geraint Thomas extends his lead at the Criterium du Dauphine by finishing second in the race's penultimate stage.

via BBC Sport - Cycling http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/44425954

Friday 8 June 2018

Irishman Martin wins stage as Wales' Thomas takes yellow jersey

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Team Sky's Geraint Thomas takes the yellow jersey as Irish rider Dan Martin wins stage five of the Criterium du Dauphine.

via BBC Sport - Cycling http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/44419722

Thursday 7 June 2018

Thomas edged out in stage-four sprint as Moscon takes lead

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Team Sky's Geraint Thomas is edged out as Julian Alaphilippe wins stage four of the Criterium du Dauphine.

via BBC Sport - Cycling http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/44405316

Wednesday 6 June 2018

'It's perfect' - Team Sky take control of Criterium du Dauphine

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Geraint Thomas says Team Sky produced one of their "best time trials ever" to dominate the third stage of the Criterium du Dauphine.

via BBC Sport - Cycling http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/44387755

Monday 4 June 2018

Impey wins Dauphine stage as Kwiatkowski keeps lead

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Daryl Impey wins stage one of the Criterium du Dauphine as Team Sky's Michal Kwiatkowski maintains the overall lead.

via BBC Sport - Cycling http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/44360216

Sunday 3 June 2018

GB's Tahnee Seagrave wins mountain bike World Cup Downhill

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Great Britain mountain bike rider Tahnee Seagrave came first in the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup in Fort William, Scotland.

via BBC Sport - Cycling http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/44350157

Thomas in contention despite Dauphine prologue crash

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Britain's Geraint Thomas is 21 seconds adrift of race leader and Team Sky team-mate Michal Kwiatkowski after crashing in the Criterium du Dauphine prologue.

via BBC Sport - Cycling http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/44348663