UCI Track World Cup: GB women win gold in team pursuit

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Great Britain's women's team pursuit quartet win gold at the UCI Track World Cup in Berlin and there is silver for the men's team sprint trio.

via BBC Sport - Cycling http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/46408048

Dreams of Tokyo for USA Cycling men's team pursuit squad

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In August this year, USA Cycling turned heads with a stunning performance in the men's team pursuit at the Pan American Championships in Aguascalientes, Mexico. Eric Young, Ashton Lambie, Gavin Hoover and Colby Lange shattered the country's record for the event, clocking a 3:53.86 en route to the gold medal. With that, the team announced to the world its ambition to qualify a squad for the 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo.

The team will not be starting at the Berlin World Cup this weekend, or the one in London in December. After an off-day at the Milton World Cup, the team will instead regroup in 2019 to target the New Zealand and Hong Kong World Cups before taking aim at the UCI Track World Championships.

While other countries like Great Britain have more resources, a deeper team and better equipment, this ambitious group of eight is hoping to pull off a massive heist and climb over half a dozen countries in the running to make the Olympic Games.

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To find the last time the USA qualified a men's team pursuit squad for the Olympic Games, you would have to thumb way back through the archives to 2000, when the federation's current CEO was still on the squad. Derek Bouchard-Hall was on the team that made the Sydney Games, but they finished outside the qualifying eight in the first round.

Before then, the USA came as high as second at the Los Angeles Games in 1984, but in this millennium it has been the women who have carried the Olympic aspirations for the country's track team, hauling in two silver medals since their team pursuit was added to the Olympic programme in 2012 in addition to Sarah Hammer's two Omnium silvers.

It has been less than two years since USA Cycling started throwing a bit more weight behind its men's endurance track programme, and already the team has shown promise. In addition to its team pursuit result, Ashton Lambie set a new world record in the individual pursuit at the Pan Am Championships.

Clay Worthington, who stepped in this year as the men's track endurance head coach after the departure of Greg Henderson, recognises that it will be a challenge to qualify the team pursuit squad for the 2020 Games in Tokyo, but his diverse band of athletes are making impressive gains.

Not The Bad News Bears

Looking out for new talent

Under pressure

You can read more at Cyclingnews.com

via Cyclingnews Latest Interviews and Features http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/dreams-of-tokyo-for-usa-cycling-mens-team-pursuit-squad

Hayter out of Berlin Track World Cup with concussion after being hit by car

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European omnium champion Ethan Hayter is out of this weekend's Track World Cup in Berlin after suffering a concussion after being hit by a car.

via BBC Sport - Cycling http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/46395189

Cromwell: I don't want to be one of those riders that keeps going and fizzles out

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Tiffany Cromwell has been a firm feature at the top of women's cycling for the best part of a decade. The Canyon-SRAM rider turned 30 this year, and while that's still considered young in the grand scheme of things, there comes a time in every rider's career when they start to think about what comes next.

At times, retirement can feel like a dirty word in cycling. Riders often brush the idea aside as if it might bring them bad fortune, but Cromwell is not afraid to discuss it. The Australian doesn't know when she will hang up her wheels. It could be in two years or 10, but what she does know is that she wants it to be on her own terms.

"I don't want to be one of these riders that keeps going and then just fizzles out," she tells Cyclingnews. "I want to say, 'This is it and I put all the energy into that,' and then draw the line because you do see riders who eventually stop, but it is past the point of when they’ve stopped enjoying it. I just don’t want to be in that position."

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Cromwell is still enjoying cycling, racing for a top team and helping her teammates. However, she's been in this game for a while and finding the motivation doesn't always come as easily. At the moment, her plans are geared around preparing for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo and she'll decide her next steps after that. Going to the Games is a huge goal for Cromwell, who's never taken part in the Olympics before.

"I've been in the sport for a long time. Part of me feels like I'm on the younger side because you can go well into your 30s, but eventually I do want to do something else," she explains. "We usually target things like the Olympics, and 2020 is the next Olympics and it's still one thing that's missing from what I've done in my cycling career.

"I've got some boxes that I want to tick along the way still as well, but the further you get along in your career, the more your motivation changes. When you're younger, you just want to race and impress, but then the pressure gets higher and it's more about the winning. Don't get me wrong, I have a fantastic team. I've changed my style of riding and this year I've played a bit more of a support role. I enjoy that aspect a lot of the time, but you still want that winning feeling as well. I go through my phases, I guess you could say."

Planning for the future and the Flanders World Championships

You can read more at Cyclingnews.com

via Cyclingnews Latest Interviews and Features http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/cromwell-i-dont-want-to-be-one-of-those-riders-that-keeps-going-and-fizzles-out

Pellizotti swaps the saddle for directeur sportif role at Bahrain-Merida

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Franco Pellizotti's 15-year racing career officially ended in the days after Il Lombardia, with the switch to the role of directeur sportif at Bahrain-Merida coming quickly as the team gathered to plan and prepare for 2019. Pellizotti still had the lean physique of a rider and was still competitive despite being 40, but he was ready to start a new chapter in his life and career.

"I realised everything had changed when I no longer sat at the riders' dinner table but with the other directeurs sportifs. I could eat anything and everything I wanted, but it felt strange because the riders' table is sacred in some ways, and I'd sat there for so many years," Pellizotti tells Cyclingnews, slightly emotional as he acknowledges the symbolism of the change in his life.

"Il Lombardia was my last real race, and then the Saitama Criterium was the last time I pinned on a number. I've chosen to retire now, and it feels right, even if it is emotional. But I'm happy with the decision. It'll be something new for me and very different, but I'm curious to see what it's like on 'the other side'."

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A career of two parts

Pellizotti did not have a glittering career but was admired for his intelligence, his friendly nature and using his climbing and Grand Tour talents. His 15 years as a professional began with the Alessio team in 2002 and continued at Liquigas between 2005 and 2010, where he rode with and for Vincenzo Nibali, Ivan Basso, Danilo Di Luca and then neo-pro Peter Sagan.

At the time, the distinctive green Liquigas jerseys dominated the Italian peloton, matching the biggest WorldTour teams of the era. Pellizotti stood out due to his likeable character, his reams of curly hair and the nickname of 'Il Delfino di Bibione' – The Dolphin from Bibione.

Pellizotti finished fourth at the 2008 Giro d'Italia, winning the mountain time trial to Plan des Corones and then finished third at the 2009 Giro d'Italia, winning the polka-dot jersey at the Tour de France. He seemed at the peak of his career, but in 2010 he was snared by the UCI Biological Passport, with unusual blood values emerging during the peak of his success in 2009.

'I've tried to learn as much as I can while in the saddle'

You can read more at Cyclingnews.com

via Cyclingnews Latest Interviews and Features http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/pellizotti-swaps-the-saddle-for-directeur-sportif-role-at-bahrain-merida

Updated UCI Code of Ethics targets anonymity concerns for abuse victims

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The UCI has made necessary amendments to its Code of Ethics, regarding harassment and abuse, which took effect on November 1.

The three main changes include; 'anonymity of plaintiff' to better protect the victim’s privacy, dedicated reporting channels for filing complaints, and teams are now encouraged to identify a person of contact who has the right to collect information relating to situations of sexual harassment and abuse, and take action with the UCI Ethics Committee on behalf of a team or rider.

The UCI Code of Ethics was last updated in 2016, but the need for amendments was spurred on by the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) recent introduction of the Safeguarding Toolkit, launched ahead of the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games. The toolkit aims to assist National Olympic Committees (NOC) and International Federations (IF) in the development of policies and procedures to safeguard athletes from harassment and abuse in sport.

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The UCI discussed possible amendments to its own Code of Ethics at the 2018 UCI Road World Championships in Innsbruck, and subsequently made the changes to its 30-page document this autumn.

News of the amendments comes on the heels of a damning investigative report published in the Dutch newspaper de Volkskrant on Thursday, which detailed accusations of abuse laid out against Cervelo-Bigla owner Thomas Campana.

The long list of allegations against Campana includes bullying, fat shaming and intimidating riders. He is also accused of insulting riders in front of other team members, pulling riders from races if he didn't like something they had done, ignoring medical concerns such as a concussion and an episode of heart palpitations, trying to control riders' diets and not paying prize money. The offences detailed in the de Volkskrant article took place, predominantly, during the 2015 season.

In 2016, 10 riders and staff members of Cervelo-Bigla, including Iris Slappendel, Carmen Small, Vera Koedooder and Doris Schweizer, reportedly took their complaints about Campana to the UCI Ethics Committee, but half withdrew when they found out that their names would not be anonymous and that they would be public knowledge to Campana.

In addition, the events in the indictment happened in 2015 and under an older version of the Code of Ethics that did not include teams or staff.

Cyclingnews reported, that previous to the updated 2016 version, the ethics code only applied to UCI staff, commissaires, technical delegates and members of the various commissions and councils. Therefore, there was no legal basis to sanction Campana and he could not be held liable in the offences he was accused of in the de Volkskrant report.

In a brief interview with Cyclingnews, Campana denied all the allegations saying: "What has been written is definitely not our side." He also said there was more to the story, and documentation to back his claims, but would not comment further.

While the UCI cannot discuss this particular case with the press, the sport governing body pointed Cyclingnews to the new ‘declaration of recognition of ethical principles’, and the three changes made to its Code of Ethics concerning harassment and abuse, which are meant to provide additional protections to all employees of UCI Women’s Teams.

Declaration of recognition of ethical principles

The UCI has made it clear that it intends to increase the protection of women in cycling after announcing its commitment to gender equality within the sport, as part of its Agenda 2022, under President David Lappartient.

The agenda includes a number of new structural initiatives that Cyclingnews reported on in June. The UCI promised to enforce a stricter 'Code of Conduct' a declaration to be signed by all employees of UCI Women's Teams, with the aim of raising awareness of harassment.

Lappartient told Cyclingnews that it should be considered as a 'declaration of recognition of ethical principles' that applies to all staff members of UCI Women’s Teams. He went on to outline how riders or staff members of teams are meant to interpret the declaration and how to make any complaints.

"To be precise, it is a declaration of recognition of ethical principles, which was voted unanimously by the UCI Management Committee at the urging of the UCI Women's WorldTour Committee, on which all players in women's professional road cycling, notably teams, are represented," Lappartient said.

From a regulatory point of view, however, the declaration is based on the current UCI Code of Ethics, introduced in 2016. Lappartient told Cyclingnews that any licenced rider, victim or witness of a breach of the Code, can refer either to the UCI Ethics Commission or to the Cycling Anti-Doping Foundation (CADF), depending on the nature of the violation.

"This declaration will be compulsory and will be included in the UCI Women's Teams Registration Guide for the 2019 season. In the near future, the declaration should apply to all UCI teams,” Lappartient said.

UCI Code of Ethics: harassment and abuse, and three fundamental changes

You can read more at Cyclingnews.com

via Cyclingnews Latest Interviews and Features http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/updated-uci-code-of-ethics-targets-anonymity-concerns-for-abuse-victims

Vitus Pro Cycling's 2019 Vitus ZX1 Team Aero Disc - Gallery

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Vitus Pro Cycling raced their inaugural season in 2018 under new headline sponsor Vitus last year following the end of Raleigh's eight-year sponsorship of the team. The brand, which is owned by online retailer Wiggle/Chain Reaction Cycles, continues the sponsorship for the 2019 season.

The 12-rider team will race next season exclusively on Vitus ZX1 Team Aero Disc framesets. The carbon aero framesets are disc brake only, with the team also opting to run tubeless Schwalbe tyres as opposed to the more traditional tubular options.

The bikes use SRAM Red eTap HRD wireless electronic groupsets and Prime, another brand from Wiggle/Chain Reaction Cycles, provides the wheels, carbon aero handlebars and alloy stem.

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Jodie Shann, Vitus' road product manager said in a press release: "We are fully behind the performance benefits disc brakes bring to road cycling, so much so that when we introduced our flagship ZX1 race bike in 2018 we released this as a disc-only platform.

"Our experience from countless hours of rider testing and feedback is that discs give the rider far greater braking control in all conditions, giving riders more time to focus on road position rather than worrying about braking performance."

Click through the gallery above for a closer look at the 2019 Vitus Pro Cycling ZX1 Aero Disc Team Edition

You can read more at Cyclingnews.com

via Cyclingnews Latest Interviews and Features http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/vitus-pro-cyclings-2019-vitus-zx1-team-aero-disc-gallery

Christopher Blevins: Cycling's slam poet

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There's not much on a bike that Christopher Blevins can't do. The 20-year-old from Durango, Colorado, spent the past two seasons on the road with Hagens Berman Axeon and won stage 2 at the Tour of the Gila in April. He's also the reigning US under-23 cyclo-cross champion and elite short-track mountain bike champion, most recently winning a silver medal in the under-23 cross-country race at the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships in Switzerland. 

He's been busy on the bike but not too busy to continue his post-secondary education at Cal Poly University in San Luis Obispo, California, where he studies business administration with a focus on entrepreneurship. He also volunteers teaching creative writing at a local juvenile hall. As with his bike skills, Blevins excels at language, diving into the world of rap music and spoken-word poetry and producing a compilation of his own work.

"I had always written rap just for fun, and then in freshman year of high school I had a poetry study in English and I just loved it," Blevins told Cyclingnews earlier this year. "I had a poetry slam that fall, and I've just gotten into that a lot.

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"Now that I'm in college, I volunteer with the spoken-word poetry club on campus. I also volunteer at the local juvenile hall just teaching kids writing there, so I'm just trying to expand it. It's such a great outlet, especially with cycling. It's very different, and that's important to me."

Mile Markers

"Life's a game and I have tried controlling every dice's roll
I only have a single hand of cards that I can show
Detective on the microphone
'cause when I write a poem
It's like I pick apart a piece of life under a microscope ..."
- Christopher Blevins, 'Ink in My Pen'

Blevins' love of spoken-word poetry drove him to create his own compilation of nine tracks set to music. Completed more than a year ago, he worked on some of the recordings with just a microphone in his room, while the majority were cut in a studio in San Luis Obispo, with someone else coming in to produce and master all of the tracks.

Light to give

You can read more at Cyclingnews.com

via Cyclingnews Latest Interviews and Features http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/christopher-blevins-cyclings-slam-poet

The ultimate cycling Christmas gift guide 2018

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The 2018 season will be one to remember. Three new winners for each of the Grand Tours, Peter Sagan winning at Paris-Roubaix and Vincenzo Nibali living up to his nickname as the Shark of Messina with an audacious attack on the Poggio to win Milan-San Remo.

As the year draws to a close, many cycling fans will be celebrating Christmas. Below, we take a look at some of the best, unusual and exclusive gift ideas for the cyclist or fan who has everything.

Let us know in the comments below if we've missed anything or what you would add to the list.

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Rapha Weekend Bag

Rapha designed the weekend bag to store shoes, helmet and kit while conforming to most airline carry-on limits. Away from the cycling the bag also features a laptop sleeve, two easily accessible end pockets and a smaller pocket for valuables.

The shoulder strap is removable and the bag also features a large pocket to the front of the bag.

Sidi Shot shoes

Prendas Ciclismo vintage jerseys

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CeramicSpeed OSPW (over-sized pulley wheel) rear derailleur upgrade

Cyclingnews Films download

• The Holy Week - Behind the scenes at the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix
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Argonaut Cycles custom carbon frameset

The Model Cyclist hand-painted models

Queens of Pain: Legends & Rebels of Cycling by Isabel Best

World Bicycle Relief donation

Procycling Magazine Subscription

Michael Blann Photography Limited Edition Prints

You can read more at Cyclingnews.com

via Cyclingnews Latest Interviews and Features http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/the-ultimate-cycling-christmas-gift-guide-2018

Mohoric ready for a leadership role and Classics tilt in 2019

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Since turning professional at just 19, Matej Mohorič has matured year after year; his boyish face transforming to that of a bright-minded young man, his coat-hanger physique filling out after each Grand Tour and WorldTour season, the promise shown as a consecutive junior and under-23 world champion confirmed by an ever-prestigious palmares.

He has even abandoned the top-tube descending technique he introduced to the peloton as a teenager, preferring safety to a little extra speed. Maturity shows itself in many ways. 

Mohorič celebrated his 24th birthday on October 19 after another successful season of racing in 2018. His first professional victory came on a stage of the Tour of Hainan in 2016, and he won a stage at the 2017 Vuelta a España. This year he leaped forward, winning seven races, including the overall classification at the BinckBank Tour WorldTour race and the first edition of the new-look Deutschland Tour. He confirmed his natural leadership skills and that he was ready for even greater things in what was a real coming of age: a breakthrough year after a long apprenticeship.

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"I think it was my most successful season so far," Mohorič modestly tells Cyclingnews in an end-of-season interview.

"I raced well from the beginning of the year, won races early on and did well in races like Strade Bianche and the Giro d’Italia while helping others. Then I had a superb second half of the season with my victories at the BinckBank Tour and the Deutschland Tour. Now I'm looking forward to next season."

Precocious, talented and hungry for the cobbles

You can read more at Cyclingnews.com

via Cyclingnews Latest Interviews and Features http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/mohoric-ready-for-a-leadership-role-and-classics-tilt-in-2019

The 5 best domestiques of 2018

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Arguably more than ever these days, domestiques win races. Not themselves – or rarely anyway – but through a collective effort to get their designated leaders to the finish in first place, or in a position to defend their overall positions.

In modern times, and increasingly so in mountain stages, domestiques are expected to be able to stay at the head of affairs for as long as possible, effectively functioning as an 'uphill sprint train' – witness Team Sky – leaving their leaders to wait until the last possible moment to take the race on in anger. It is very much like catapulting a sprinter to the win on a flat stage. Which is also another domestique's job.

There are many facets to the role of domestique: from riding tempo at the front of the bunch, protecting their leader from the wind, to collecting water bottles or shepherding a team leader through a difficult patch or stage, or even handing their bike or a wheel to one of those leaders after a crash or puncture.

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Quantifying and classifying such various and often specialist work is sometimes difficult, because what happens in the pro peloton takes place away from prying eyes. But from what TV coverage does show us, and from on-the-ground reporting and stories and praise from team leaders, we present Cyclingnews' five best domestiques of 2018.

Antwan Tolhoek (LottoNL-Jumbo)

For any of our readers who watched the Tour de France in 2018, you would have been hard-pressed not to have noticed a very slight, baby-faced rider dressed in black and yellow at the head of the peloton.

At 1.78m and 61kg, according to the LottoNL-Jumbo website, Antwan Tolhoek regularly rode on the front of the race to help keep a number of breakaways at bay during this year's Tour, and he and the team were rewarded with fourth place and fifth place overall for Primoz Roglic and Steven Kruijswijk, respectively, in Paris.

Damien Howson (Mitchelton-Scott)

Egan Bernal (Team Sky)

Tim Declerq (Quick-Step Floors)

Daniel Oss (Bora-Hansgrohe)

You can read more at Cyclingnews.com

via Cyclingnews Latest Interviews and Features http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/the-5-best-domestiques-of-2018

Five of the fastest TT lids from the WorldTour

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This article first appeared on BikeRadar.

A key component in any time-trial tester or triathlete's kit is the helmet atop their head. It's the leading edge in the fight against aerodynamic drag.

• The ultimate Christmas gift guide for cyclists
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Brands go to great lengths to test the aerodynamics of their helmets and calculate the relative advantages of each design, and the watts they may save. However, the truth is that it's difficult to make recommendations about time-trial helmets because their performance is so individual. 

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So, instead, this is a look at how they fit, feel, and hold up to routine use. What are the shortcomings and strengths that may affect comfort and speed? What are the design elements that stand out? 

Depending on the length of time trials or triathlons, your decision-making priorities will change. I used all the helmets here in a size medium and each helmet saw many hours of use during my preparations for an upcoming 12-hour time trial. 

Each of them ran true to size, but some were snugger than others. 

POC Cerebel Raceday

• Price: £330 / $350
• Weight: 396g

• Buy the POC Cerebel Raceday from Wiggle

Specialized S-Works TT

• Price: $300 / AU$450
• Weight: 463g

• Buy the Specialized S-Works TT helmet from Hargroves Cycles

Giant Rivet TT

• Price: £180 / $229 / $230
• Weight: 426g

• Buy the Giant Rivet TT helmet from Rutland Cycling 

Giro Aerohead MIPS

• Price: £260 / $250 / AU$380
• Weight: 460g

• Buy the Giro Aerohead MIPS helmet from Chain Reaction Cycles

Lazer Wasp Air Tri

• Price: £250 / $310
• Weight: 443g

• Buy the Lazer Wasp Air Tri from Tredz

You can read more at Cyclingnews.com

via Cyclingnews Latest Interviews and Features http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/five-of-the-fastest-tt-lids-from-the-worldtour

'It's fresh' - Kenny enjoying learning new omnium format

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Great Britain track cycling star Laura Kenny says she is enjoying the "freshness" of learning a new omnium format ahead of Tokyo 2020.

via BBC Sport - Cycling http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/46304803

Danny Pate: The five races that changed my life

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In August of this year, Danny Pate hung up his wheels after a long career that stretched across three decades. The 39-year-old was one of the United States' most mercurial talents of his generation, with a U23 time trial world title to his name and a reputation as one of the most underrated domestiques in the peloton.

As the Cyclingnews Tour of Colorado continues, we sat down with Pate to look back at his career and the five races that changed his life.

US junior nationals - 1990-something

The first race on my list takes me back to when I first started road racing. As a kid I was big into mountain biking, but my dad – who raced at the time – asked if I wanted to try the road thing. I must have been around 14 or 15, and I'm going back a long time, but I remember our first ride on the road. I was wearing jeans and telling my dad, 'I'm not sure about this, it's not so comfortable.' But the first race on this list would be the junior nationals at Wichita Falls, Texas. I can't even count that far back to remember the year, but they used to have this race down there called Hotter than Hell, and it was just like that at nationals. I had no clue what I was doing in the race but I still managed to get a decent placing, with a top 10, and then in the time trial I was sixth.

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They weren't my first races but that was the first time that I discovered road cycling, and it felt like a door had opened for me. It was a completely new experience and education to mountain biking, where you can just go out there and put the hammer down. In road racing I started to realise that there was so much more going on, and you had to really think when it came to endurance and distance. I feel as though the nationals showed me the depth there was to road racing, because until that point I really hadn't figured it out, and now I come to think about it, I still haven't.

I don't have a huge recollection when it comes to the race itself, just that I had these really sweet Spinergy wheels, the sort that could cut a man's arm clean off, and they were the shit. Nothing else mattered, because I had those wheels. They were so heavy but they could really go in straight line, and I recall that on a ride before nationals I beat my dad in a small time trial. We would often race together – he would be in the masters category, and I would race juniors, before we did the cat 3 events together. But after that time trial he decided to shell out the cash on the wheels for me and send me to nationals. They were the coolest thing.

Saeco - I'm picking a year, not a race

You're probably expecting me to choose my Worlds TT win but it's not on my list. Sorry about that but to be honest, I'd won every time trial that year, except for maybe one, so winning Worlds wasn't that big of a surprise for me. It was also a strange year, because I'd gone to Saeco the year before, so when I won Worlds it didn't really change my life. It was of course one of my biggest results but on a personal level, I just don't think it had that much of an impact.

My first Grand Tour - Giro d'Italia 2008

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Tour de France 2008

Paris-Nice 2008, 2009, 2012 & 2013

You can read more at Cyclingnews.com

via Cyclingnews Latest Interviews and Features http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/danny-pate-the-five-races-that-changed-my-life

Michael Woods: 2018 is a year I'll cherish but one I'll cry about in years to come

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Michael Woods endured a year of contrasting emotions in 2018, achieving his best results as a rider but also mourning the loss of his son after his wife had a stillbirth 37 weeks into pregnancy. The Canadian understandably kept his personal suffering hidden until he won stage 17 of the Vuelta a Espana, only then revealing what he and his wife, Elly, had been through.

Woods used his love for cycling and his victory at the Vuelta to help overcome his loss. He spent precious time with family and friends before travelling to the World Championships in Innsbruck, where he again showed his true character and huge talent by taking third place after breaking away with Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) and Romain Bardet (AG2R La Mondiale).

Woods has developed rapidly since stepping up to the WorldTour level in 2016 with Jonathan Vaughters' programme at Cannondale and then EF Education First-Drapac. He was convinced he could win the world title after Valverde started the sprint early. Cramps stopped him from touching the rainbow, but his disappointment soon turned to joy as he realised what he had overcome and achieved in just a few months.

“2018 is a year I’ll cherish, but also one I’ll cry about in the years to come,” Woods tells Cyclingnews in an intimate and emotional end-of-season interview. "I feel like I’ve lived a decade in a year. I feel an older man and I’m far more experienced. I’ve really ‘lived’ this year, so much has happened."

Cyclingnews: What happened in your private life was intertwined with your public racing career. Did that somehow help you or perhaps make it harder?

Michal Woods: It was definitely a double-edged sword. The two parts of me help each other but also combined against each other.

Mourning my son made me put my life into perspective. It’s rare in life to see change, because you’re always evolving, your changes happen over five or 10 years and are not discernible. But, losing my son was something that changed me dramatically. I look back now and I was a distinctly different person before he passed away. My priorities shifted afterwards.

My loss forced me to put things into a better perspective and made me more motivated to honour him and to try to change the momentum of our year. I was mourning and I was depressed. But I was fortunate in that moment to have the bike because I channelled my energy into training. I don’t think I’ve ever trained as hard as I did after my son’s death. Both my wife and I did a lot of activities as a form of catharsis, to help the grieving process. It definitely helped.

At the same time, after I crashed at the Tour of Utah in early August, I did go to a darker place because I’d invested so much in trying to honour him and do something to inspire my wife. I felt a lot of pressure; I didn’t know how else to ameliorate. Fortunately, things came back around at the Vuelta a Espana.

CN: Everyone was moved when you revealed you’d lost your son. It was raw, human emotion after an incredible performance on the bike. What can you remember from that moment?

MW: Winning was the highest high I’ve ever experienced by far.

I didn’t plan on making a speech after the stage or even mentioning the loss of my son. But, because my directeur sportif Juanma (Juan Manuel Gárate), kept telling over the radio: ‘Do it for your family!’ That really did drive me to the line and enabled me to win. It made it feel that much more significant,and I think that’s why I was able to win. The release after was incredible.

The first month after we lost Hunter was tough, but I didn’t cry that much, and I felt things were coming along thanks to racing and training hard. But man, after that win, after I spoke to Juanma, I just started balling. It was a massive rush of emotion that I hadn’t felt for a long time. I cried everyday after that for a week, again thinking about Hunter, thinking about how excited we’d been to have the little fella in our lives.

CN: What reaction did you get after revealing the loss of your son?

MW: It was beautiful. It was overwhelming too. So many people messaged me about losing people in their lives, and that also affected me. I hadn’t really lost anybody before; I’d been very fortunate, but also not able to empathise with loss. Now I’m far more empathetic. Before when people asked how I was, I always said, ‘Great,’ and asked myself why other people didn’t feel the same. Now I can understand and relate when someone admits they’re not feeling great.

With people telling me their stories, it has made me far more understanding and made me feel fortunate to have people who love me and say wonderful things about me. I’m so grateful to my family, and especially my wife Elly.

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Michael Woods points to the heavens after winning stage 17 at the Vuelta a Espana

The disappointment and emotion of Worlds

Woods finished the Vuelta a Espana in Madrid but refused to end his season, despite everything he had been through. The tough World Championships in Innsbruck had been an objective for more than a year, planned with Canadian road programme manager Kevin Field, his coach Paulo Saldanha and his three teammates in the Canadian team, Hugo Houle, Rob Britton and Antoine Duchesne.

CN: Talk us through your World Championships. You were clearly on form but were perhaps overlooked as a major contender.

MW: Worlds was a year-long project. I’d talked to Kevin over 12 months ago about how to win a medal at worlds. And my win in the Vuelta only gave me even more motivation for worlds. My family also came to Europe, including my nephew, who was born a month after we lost our guy. I was really keen to meet him and they landed the day I won the stage in the Vuelta. They helped me stay relaxed and happy going into worlds.

Because I had such good form and because I now have good perspective in the races, I was able to sit back and just let it happen on the day. My game plan after working with Juanma, Kevin Field and my coach, was to focus on the French and not get overwhelmed by any other moves. My reference points were France and especially Alaphilippe, and then Valverde. So I didn’t freak out in the final big lap. I saw Valgren and others attack, but I kept my reference points and then it played out as we predicted.

That’s what made it a surreal moment when we came into the Höll climb. After the recon ride we’d said that I could win if I was in the top five at the bottom of the climb. On the day I had to pinch myself when I lined up behind Pinot, Bardet and Alaphilippe. It seemed like a cycling video game coming to life. It seemed too good to be true. It felt like all the stars were aligning.

In the past when those moments happened, I’ve got too excited and messed up because there are so many tangibles in a bike race. I was often like the dog that got the squirrel and didn’t know what do. This time I was able to stay calm and stay cool. In the recon I did a four-minute effort on the final climb, and I figured that if I could do that again in the race, there wouldn’t be many guys who could follow me. It was a perfect climb for me because I could ride out of the saddle and there was no drafting or fighting to hold position. When we got to the crunch point of the climb, there were only five guys left: Valverde, Moscon and the three French guys, so I was ready to do the same four-minute effort.

I know that if I can stand on a climb I’m confident of my ability. That comes from my past ability as a runner. Four-minute efforts were my speciality, and if I can stand, it puts me in that upright running position and I can probably suffer more than most guys. Of course running in no way prepares you mentality for a seven-hour race. That’s been the most difficult thing for me, learning to endure all the obstacles and all the shit that comes along during a long race. It’s taken time and riding a number of monuments to get that point.

CN: We saw you immediately after the finish line and you seemed angry that you hadn’t won; you admitted to your soigneur that you had cramped in the sprint. He was so happy for you but you were initially disappointed.

MW: We were at different ends of the emotional spectrum after the finish. I couldn’t believe I’d f*cked it up. I couldn’t believe I hadn’t won. John, who is Canadian and also a soigneur at EF Education First-Drapac, couldn’t believe I was up there. He was genuinely happy for me, but I really thought I was going to win and was disappointed to have lost.

Valverde started sprinting with 300 metres to go, and I was right on his wheel and telling myself I was going to beat him. Then as I started to come around, I cramped up. It was due to electrolyte deficiency. I missed a couple of bottles on the last climb and it cost me.

I honestly wasn’t happy with the bronze medal for the first five minutes. I started to transition to be thrilled when I saw my coach at the finish line. He was the guy who told me to quit my job five years ago and said that he’d sort out funding so I could race. We had these dreams that he’d be there at Worlds or the Olympic Games and they came true. How could I not be happy? My family was there too, so too was Kevin Field, who always had faith in me, and Steve Bauer - the only other Canadian to medal at the men’s World Championships.

Standing on the podium and seeing the Canadian flag rise alongside those of cycling powerhouses like Spain and France just gave me goose bumps. It took me back to watching sports as a kid. I watched Donovan Bailey dominate the 100 metres in the Olympic Games and I felt I was part of that. I thought maybe there’s a kid like me back home now doing the same thing watching me. That made me realise it was awesome.

I didn’t sleep that night; my eyes were wide open as the dark turned to day. Canadians don’t really understand cycling, but if I say I was third in the World Championships, they’d think I’m the third best in the world. I’m not going to correct them on that. That makes it special.

Michael Woods attacks on the final climb at Worlds

Rookie no more

An opinion on Valverde

You can read more at Cyclingnews.com

via Cyclingnews Latest Interviews and Features http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/michael-woods-2018-is-a-year-ill-cherish-but-one-ill-cry-about-in-years-to-come

Ashton Lambie – The Pursuit

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Ashton Lambie comes across as a relaxed and sort of hipster-ish kind of guy, with a handlebar moustache and a country-folk vibe about him. The Nebraska-born track cyclist, who recently broke the world record in the Individual Pursuit, also has an exacting edge; a need to be meticulous, on-target and perfect. His attention to detail comes from his background in music: a pianist whose precision while playing the keys with his fingertips has somehow translated into pedalling on the track with his legs.

Lambie comes from a close-knit family. He has a history of gravel biking and lives with his wife Margaret on the outskirts of Lincoln, in Nebraska – also known as The Beef State – and a place he admits is a little more farm and a little less city. His dad is a landscaper, and his mom is a loan officer for a local real estate firm.

"We're not cattle ranchers or anything like that," Lambie says, mainly in response to the rumours circulating about him being plucked from a cornfield and put on a track bike. The tales started after Lambie broke the world record in the Individual Pursuit (4km) in 4:07.25 at the Pan American Championships in Aguascalientes, Mexico, in August. He shattered the existing record set by Australia's Jack Bobridge in 2011 by more than three seconds. In doing so, he gained international press attention, in part because he was an unknown in the world of cycling.

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"Most people come to track racing from the road, racing under-23s in Europe, and we already know their names," says Lambie, who has a history of long-distance gravel racing. "For someone to come out of gravel, which isn’t as popular, and to break a world record that people have had their eye on for a while, people were surprised.”

It's true that Lambie is relatively new to track cycling, having started racing the Individual Pursuit at the US Track National Championships last year. But the press, and his peers, have focussed on his Nebraskan lifestyle and a job he temporarily had at a bike shop in Kansas while his wife Margaret attended Kansas University.

He has even been going by the new nickname 'Cornfed', affectionately given to him by his teammates on the US national team.

World-record precision on the track

You can read more at Cyclingnews.com

via Cyclingnews Latest Interviews and Features http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/ashton-lambie-the-pursuit

George Bennett: A couple of times I've thought about throwing away cycling

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After turning professional in 2012, George Bennett has risen through the cycling ranks, with the 2018 season proving to be one of his best to date.

In May, the 28-year-old LottoNL-Jumbo rider took his best-ever Grand Tour result with eighth place at the Giro d’Italia. He finished outside the top 10 in just two of the seven stages races he started throughout the year. In 2017 he won the Tour of California. However, a few years ago he toyed with the thought of quitting the sport. 

Bennett has been battling a chronic side-stitch issue – something that has affected him throughout his entire career. It hits him worst when he's going really deep, both in racing and in training. For years, he's been trying and failing to find a solution for the pinch point between his diaphragm and lung, and there was a time when he thought he might never be free of the problem.

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That's when the idea of throwing in the towel started swirling in his mind, but he pushed on. Years later, he is still affected by the issue, but he believes – and hopes – that there's a fix somewhere around the corner.

"Sometimes, you think, 'What’s the point?' You can get a bit despondent," Bennett told Cyclingnews at the Rouleur Classic earlier this month.

"Then, if you feel like you're on the verge of fixing it, you think: 'It's the last race – just suck it up and deal with it.' If you can convince yourself that you're close to fixing it, it does still slow you down a lot, but it doesn't make you sit up and stop trying.

Learning from errors

Giro or Tour

You can read more at Cyclingnews.com

via Cyclingnews Latest Interviews and Features http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/george-bennett-a-couple-of-times-ive-thought-about-throwing-away-cycling

TJ Eisenhart finds balance in his painting - Gallery

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Taylor "TJ" Eisenhart's skills on the bike are well known. The Utah native has been racing with USA Cycling's development and national teams since adolescence, most recently plying his game on the US and international circuits with Pro Continental team Holowesko-Citadel.

But there's another, lesser-known aspect of Eisenhart's talent that he's been nurturing for just as long, if not longer, and which is now providing balance to the sometimes hectic, singularly focused life of a professional athlete.

"My mom, she always knew that spark was there," Eisenhart said about the early embers of a painting career that has begun to pick up speed as of late.

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"She always had a sketchbook in my hand since the early stages I can barely remember. I was always in church just sitting there, and she'd hand me a sketchbook just to keep me quiet. Eventually she saw I had talent, and she started signing me up for art classes."

When he's not on the bike in a race or on a training ride, Eisenhart is applying paint to canvas in a studio behind his Utah home, successfully marketing his work and getting commissions for specific projects picked out by the patron. What started as a simple astronaut painting for his nephew's bedroom as a favour for his sister, has turned into a full-fledged living and an outlet that provides balance to his life.

"One of my favourite artists does these astronauts, and I started looking at his style and everything, and I was like, 'OK, that looks similar'," Eisenhart said of his first 'commissioned' work for his family. "So I did a very similar thing and it just exploded. Everyone was like, 'Oh my gosh, that's amazing. I want to buy one.' I'd tell them I was sorry, but that's for my nephew."

Seeking balance in a single-minded world

Finding his muse

You can read more at Cyclingnews.com

via Cyclingnews Latest Interviews and Features http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/tj-eisenhart-finds-balance-in-his-painting-gallery

Bouchard-Hall: Leaving a brighter future at USA Cycling

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Come January, Derek Bouchard-Hall's time as the CEO and President of USA Cycling will be at an end. The American's three-and-a-half-year tenure has run alongside declining interest and participation in racing, a harsh financial climate, and a nation of fans still dealing with the sport's turbulent doping past. As part of Cyclingnews' Tour of Colorado, we sat down with Bouchard-Hall to talk about his time in charge, the challenges ahead, and whether he leaves USA Cycling in better health.

Derek Bouchard-Hall loves to talk about cycling. It doesn't matter what time of day - weekday or weekend - the former US criterium champion, and soon-to-be ex-CEO of USA Cycling, lives and breathes the sport.

Even on a dreary autumn afternoon in downtown Colorado Springs the former Mercury and Shaklee rider appears in good spirits as he takes us round the halls at USA Cycling. It's late in the day, winter is coming and most of the staff have filtered away for the evening. Those who are still here quietly shuffle along, going about their business in the grey and slightly dim surroundings - think Walking Dead meets The Office, and you wouldn't be a million miles away. But Bouchard-Hall is no Michael Scott - zombie version or not - and, as we reach his office on the second floor and cast a gaze across the shelves of memorabilia, it's once again clear just what cycling means to the 48-year-old father of two.

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Yet, in just a matter of weeks, Bouchard-Hall's office will be cleared, family photos taken down and put in storage, as a new individual takes the hot seat. For now, at least, as he leans back in a chair that sits behind a coffee table of well-read cycling magazines, Bouchard-Hall can look back at his three-year tenure with a sense of satisfaction, even if it is tinged with regret over the fact he is moving on earlier than he would have originally liked.

When Bouchard-Hall took the position of CEO in summer of 2015 it's fair to say that USA Cycling was in a state of flux. Actually, that would be slightly unfair. It was in disarray. It had come through the damning USADA investigation of 2012 with its reputation severely tested, while the cycling community as a whole was still feeling the aftershocks of Lance Armstrong's eventual confession by the time Bouchard-Hall was unveiled as part of a new dawn. The fact that Steve Johnson, Bouchard-Hall's predecessor, came out of the USADA report with his credibility sorely scorched, yet was still in power until Bouchard-Hall's arrival, only intensified the post-Armstrong hangover.

Cycling isn't the new golf

You can't engineer an icon

On the battleground

You can read more at Cyclingnews.com

via Cyclingnews Latest Interviews and Features http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/bouchard-hall-leaving-a-brighter-future-at-usa-cycling

Track Cycling World Cup: Sarah Storey & Jody Cundy in Great Britain squad

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Nine Paralympic gold medallists to represent Great Britain in the C1 Para-cycling event at the UCI Track Cycling World Cup in London.

via BBC Sport - Cycling http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/disability-sport/46233201

WorldTour team bike guide 2019

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The 2018 season saw each WorldTour team stick with the same bike brands they used in 2017. For 2019, nearly a quarter of the 18 teams have struck new bike sponsorship deals, with one Belgian manufacturer returning to the top tier of the sport for the first time since 2011.

The biggest bike brands have a merry-go-round of team sponsorships in the WorldTour every few years. BMC Racing have morphed into the CCC Team and switch from BMC bikes to Giant. Team Sunweb, in turn, move from Giant to Cervélo, leaving Dimension Data to sign with BMC to complete the triangle.

AG2R La Mondiale and Factor Bikes have come to the end of their two-year partnership and the French team have signed with Eddy Merckx Bikes. The Belgian brand have had a hiatus from the WorldTour for eight years after Specialized bought out their contract with Quick-Step Floors back in 2011.

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The newly announced partnerships will see four of the 18 WorldTour teams on new bikes next season, with groupsets, wheels and accessories yet to be fully announced.

New bikes, new components

The 2018 season will be remembered as the year of the aero bike after Specialized, Trek, Cannondale, BMC, Cervélo and Ridley all brought out new or updated aero models, with all bar the new Cervélo S5 being raced on.

This year also saw groupset innovation as Campagnolo dialled up the speed from 11- to 12-speed groupsets, but while the technology was released way back in April, the Italian brand's sponsored teams have yet to be seen racing on the new groupsets.

Who's on what

12 is the new 11

• Shimano 14 speed has been hiding in plain sight since '99

Aero is everything?

2019 Pro Bike galleries, spec lists and measurements

• 12-speed SRAM eTap groupset spotted at Saitama criterium

You can read more at Cyclingnews.com

via Cyclingnews Latest Interviews and Features http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/worldtour-team-bike-guide-2019

'Athlete welfare issues were disturbing' - outgoing UK Sport chief Nicholl

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Issues concerning athlete welfare were a "disturbing and uncomfortable" period of her reign, outgoing UK Sport chief executive Liz Nicholl says.

via BBC Sport - Cycling http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/46218594

Kristoff: I hope UAE want me to win and not just lead out Gaviria

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Alexander Kristoff admits that victory on the Champs-Elysées on the final stage of the Tour de France saved his 2018 season.

The 31-year-old Norwegian's first year with UAE Team Emirates had started off well enough and he won the Eschborn-Frankfurt for a record breaking fourth time but a lack of perfect form in the spring meant the Classics and build-up to the Tour were disappointing by his own high standards.

Along with Dan Martin, Kristoff has pushed through some changes at UAE Team Emirates but his biggest challenge in 2019 will come from rival sprinter, and now new teammate, Fernando Gaviria, who made a surprise move from Quick-Step Floors late in October.

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Cyclingnews sat down with Kristoff in Saitama, Japan, on the occasion of the Saitama Tour de France Criterium, and just after the 2019 UAE Team Emirates squad's first get-together in Abu Dhabi, to assess his season and talk about how and if he can successfully team-up with Gaviria in 2019.

True to character, Kristoff spoke his mind, defending his role as one of the best sprinters and Classics riders in the peloton, while also admitting he will work for Gaviria if the young Colombian proves he is faster in the sprints.

Cyclingnews: Did the Saitama Tour de France Criterium represent the end of your 2018 season or the start of the 2019 season?

Working with Gaviria

You can read more at Cyclingnews.com

via Cyclingnews Latest Interviews and Features http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/kristoff-i-hope-uae-want-me-to-win-and-not-just-lead-out-gaviria

7 transfer flops of 2018

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Last week we cast our eye back to the 2017-2018 transfer window and looked at the moves that had paid off over the course of this season. This week, we're looking at those that didn't. 

Whether it's adapting to the new environment, new teammates, a new calendar, or simply a lack of form for whatever other reason, there a number of high-profile riders who, wearing fresh colours, haven't lived up to the high expectations they set for themselves in previous years. 

Marcel Kittel (Quick-Step Floors to Katusha-Alpecin)

How the mighty have fallen. Marcel Kittel was on top of the world this time last year. He'd just ended the season topping the victory rankings, with 14, and had struck no fewer than five times at the Tour de France. After two seasons with Quick-Step, his annus horribilis of 2015 seemed a distant memory, yet little did he know that something similar was just around the corner.

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Kittel signed for Katusha-Alpecin for the start of the 2018 season. Since then he has won just two races, struggled to build an effective lead-out train, fallen out with team management, and succumbed to an illness that required him to call time on his season in August.

Kittel's move to the Russian team was tied up with their sponsorship deal with Alpecin - the German shampoo company teaming up with the nation's star rider and bearer of most-discussed hairstyle in the WorldTour seemed like a natural fit - but it wasn't like Kittel had the luxury of choice. In fact, his departure was precipitated by the rise of Fernando Gaviria, who, with his four wins on his Grand Tour debut at the Giro d'Italia - not to mention him equalling Kittel's end-of-season record of 14 wins - had established himself as the Belgian team's lead sprinter for 2018.

Kittel pulled on the red of Katusha and, with Fabio Sabatini having refused to follow him from Quick-Step, set about building a lead-out train with Marco Haller and Rick Zabel. The early signs were far from encouraging at the Dubai Tour and although there were some improvements in Abu Dhabi, Kittel left the Middle East without a customary early-season win. Things looked to be back on track when he swapped Paris-Nice for Tirreno-Adriatico and struck twice, but he wouldn't win again all season.

Fabio Aru (Astana to UAE Team Emirates)

Warren Barguil (Sunweb to Fortuneo-Samsic)

Louis Meintjes (UAE Team Emirates to Dimension Data)

Lisa Brennauer (Canyon-SRAM to Wiggle-High5)

Edward Theuns (Trek-Segafredo to Sunweb)

Alberto Bettiol (EF-Drapac to BMC Racing)

You can read more at Cyclingnews.com

via Cyclingnews Latest Interviews and Features http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/7-transfer-flops-of-2018

Michael Creed: Fighting back against depression

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Five years ago, Michael Creed hung up his wheels and ended his career as a professional cyclist. From there he moved seamlessly into team management - first with SmartStop, then the US Paralympic Cycling Team, before landing on his feet at Aevolo, where he now runs one of the most successful under-23 programmes on the US domestic scene.

On the surface, his life reads like an untroubled tale of a young athlete living his dream before sidestepping into a well-suited career of mentorship. Under the surface, however, lies a complex and darker story involving bouts of severe depression and crippling loneliness, physical struggles, anxiety and a harrowing suicide attempt, before Creed finally sought the help he needed and turned his life around.

Manitou Springs sits on the outskirts of the much larger and more built-up town of Colorado Springs. If the latter's drab and stifling office blocks, which house the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) and USA Cycling, represent the stuffier older brother, then Manitou is the cool, younger sister, surfing through life at a gentler pace. Put it this way, if you were going to hang out with either sibling, you'd choose the sister every time.

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Creed's apartment sits at the base of the picturesque Pike's Peak, a few meandering blocks from the middle of Manitou, with its sleepy shopping strip and cozy bars nestled into a small metropolis of arty-crafty outlets.

Creed's place is like any other on his street, except for the Aevolo team car that sits outside and the rack of bikes that adorn the rear entrance and the steps leading up to the second floor.

Once inside, it doesn't take long to realise what Creed has going for him. Charlie, a three-year-old British bulldog – named after former British pro Charly Wegelius, but with an incorrect spelling after Creed messed up the dog's documents – comes to the door and offers a warm greeting. He retreats to his bed in an apparent sign that he is not willing to share his 3x3-foot cage. Shame. It was a three-hour drive down from Floyd Landis' Leadville-based home, and Creed's whole apartment invites you to relax.

From US Postal to the US scene 

Facing mental illness head on

Learning to be human

You can read more at Cyclingnews.com

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UCI Urban Cycling World Championships: Jack Carthy retains Urban BMX title

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Britain's Jack Carthy wins the men's elite 26-inch title for the third straight year at the Urban Cycling World Championships in Chengdu, China.

via BBC Sport - Cycling http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/av/cycling/46185716

British Cycling: Norfolk to host National Road Championships 2019

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British Cycling announces the 2019 National Road Championships will be held in Norfolk.

via BBC Sport - Cycling http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/46181889

Cofidis: The house that Vasseur rebuilt

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The 2018 season wasn't without its hurdles for Cedric Vasseur and his Cofidis team but the Frenchman can be content with a number of highlights as he looks to solidify the French team's foundations ahead of the 2019 campaign.

The team's year-on-year win tally was improved upon significantly, while the fractious relationship between the management and Nacer Bouhanni was sutured just enough to ensure that the sprinter turned his year around with a Vuelta a Espana stage win.

The continued emergence of Christophe Laporte and the fact that several high paid riders were shipped out and replaced with fresher talent means that Vasseur can count his maiden season in charge as a success. However, the former Tour de France yellow jersey is well aware that there is no time to rest on his laurels, and with his first full winter in charge, he has set about improving Cofidis. Clouds are still on the horizon: Bouhanni has one year left on his contract and the situation must be handled delicately; the team were unable to land another proven leader, and many of the new recruits can be described as gambles.

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"What I've tried to do this year is increase the level of the team and I've kept Laporte, who was out of contract. That was the first deal of the year. We've signed him for the next three years and then we've also built in different ways," Vasseur tells Cyclingnews, before pointing out that when he arrived at the team in November 2017 all but one of the spaces on the 2018 roster had been filled.

Can you build around Bouhanni?

Cofidis' 2018 campaign as a whole could be described as a season of transition. For the last few years the French outfit had relied too heavily on Bouhanni, and despite his clear talent, the Frenchman was inconsistent at best. This season, however, Laporte won six races, while the team in total won 21 times through 10 different riders. The shift of burden from Bouhanni's shoulders may have caused ruptures during the opening months of the year - including a bust-up with Roberto Damiani - but Vasseur believes that his most successful sprinter has learned from the experience.

"The plan is simple. We want Nacer to have a better season than he did in 2018. The season wasn't a mess because he won six races and a Vuelta stage. It's also true that the relations weren't always perfect. He took a bit more time than I expected to understand the new team strategy," Vasseur explains.

Scouting the market for bargains

You can read more at Cyclingnews.com

via Cyclingnews Latest Interviews and Features http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/cofidis-the-house-that-vasseur-rebuilt

Philippa York analysis: Double trouble for Giro-Tour challengers

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It took me about five stages of the Tour de France to discover that riding a rival Grand Tour beforehand wasn't a good idea for my level of ability. The first three-week race usually turned out fine, but the second was a gradual descent into the depths of tiredness that my team managers of the moment seemed not to notice, or refused to, and the experiment continued all too often.

It's a predicament that cycling history tells us isn't rare at all, in fact it's only the exceptionally talented who can be in the battle for the podium when one Grand Tour is followed by another less than two months later. It's an even smaller subset that has won both the Giro d'Italia and the Tour in the same season, and yet every year when the presentations of the GTs happen somehow there's a collective amnesia of how trying to race both has turned out previously.

Before there was talk of how the Giro would be good training for the Tour de France, but those deluded days are long gone and the level required to be competitive is just as high in Italy as it is in France, with the consequences that the energy spent doing the first one isn't going to be available until a proper long rest period has been completed. And the usual six weeks from Giro end to Tour start isn't quite enough for most folks.

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In 2019 it's only five, so you have to wonder if the immediate enthusiasm shown by certain teams for doubling up is a consequence of too much champagne at the launch party or just plain wishful thinking. More likely, it's a case of being polite and remembering the media training because you can hardly say, 'You've got to be joking, look at all the mountains', when you're standing there knocking back the complimentary drinks and eating the exquisite hors d'oeuvres. I shouldn't be so cynical.

Look at this year, for example, and how the double turned out for a number of riders.

First up has to be Tom Dumoulin (Team Sunweb), who was second at the Giro, second at the Tour, and so obviously he has the capacity to cope with the workload. However, his team didn't, and therein lies one of the other requirements. A rider like Dumoulin needed backup riders to help in tricky situations, and when you take perspective of both races, wouldn't he have been better to concentrate on only one GT.

For direct rival Chris Froome (Team Sky), the Giro worked out well but only after an all-or-nothing play which destroyed Sunweb's hopes. Without that, and Dumoulin's hesitations, it could have been a lot closer. The consequences of having to go so deep then showed at the Tour de France, where Froome's teammate Geraint Thomas took the initiative, in the style of Team Sky's designated leader no less, and Froome never looked like seriously mounting a challenge. Even more poignant was the need for super domestiques, and without the sacrifices of Egan Bernal, Froome's podium place probably would have been in danger.

You can read more at Cyclingnews.com

via Cyclingnews Latest Interviews and Features http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/philippa-york-analysis-double-trouble-for-giro-tour-challengers

Rivera: The difficult second album

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In music, they call it the difficult second album. After lighting up the peloton in her first full season racing in Europe, Coryn Rivera faced this challenge in 2018.

Expectations were high for the American; she'd won the Trofeo Alfredo Binda, the Tour of Flanders, a stage of the Tour of California and the RideLondon Classique in her debut year with Team Sunweb before helping the German outfit to the team time trial world title.

While the spring was not the unmitigated success she'd enjoyed the year before, there was plenty to write home about for the 26-year-old in 2018.

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"I think I was a bit too motivated this spring, but I learned to turn that around and continue to fight and be gritty throughout the rest of the year," Rivera told Cyclingnews at last week's Rouleur Classic, where she was presented with the Vox Women rider of the year award.

The major turning point for Rivera came at the end of May, following a slightly disappointing showing at the Tour of California women's race, and carried on through to the end of June. She claimed two stages of the Lotto Thuringen Ladies Tour and finished fourth in the general classification before going on to take another stage win and the overall title at the Women's Tour. It was all capped off with the US national road race title, a result she had come agonisingly close to on several occasions in recent years.

"I think I've grown as a rider," Rivera said. "I've always been known as a bit of a sprinter, and going into the Women's Tour, it was intermediate sprints plus the end-of-the-race sprint, and then going on and defending a jersey and being mindful of time and GC, and who can go up the road and who can't. It was definitely a different kind of mindset to one-day racing. I think I proved that I can do a different kind of cycling."

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