by Lawrence Bywater | May 3, 2014
Ah the time of year when I dust down the coffee machine, plump the cushions and try to avoid doing absolutely anything between the hours of 13.00 and 16.30. Yes, its Grand Tour silly season in the world of professional road cycling. Whilst the general classification contenders have been preparing on some hors categorie climbs, I have been gorging myself on the Hors d’oeuvre’s of cycling’s seasonal menu. One day classics and short stage races have been a relative amuse bouche ahead of the full 21 course tasting menu of a grand tour.
There is nothing in the world of sport that is longer or warrants such investment than the Giro, Tour or Vuelta. As a result I, like you, I hope, have numerous ‘jours sans’. This usually involves a perfectly concocted TV montage set on repeat. The breakaway going hell for leather, the delightful landscape, an ambling peloton, the faint noise of the helicopter or motorbike engine… riders’ legs going up, and down, up, and down, up, and down….. Suddenly it’s the end of the stage and the top 10 for the day flashes up on the TV – I’ve missed the whole stage!!! Like a Bardiani-CSF rider aiming to get in the breakaway, I shall try again tomorrow!
Route
So we come to the first of grand tour of the year the Giro d’Italia, perhaps confusingly for the uninitiated, starting in Ireland! The spaces and landscapes of the Giro never disappoint and the dash through the Emerald Isle will certainly match the vistas of Italy. It may even be capable of halting my usual mid stage slumber mentioned above! Judging by the stages planned the racing shouldn’t fail to satisfy either. The route starts with a team time trial around Belfast and finishes with a stage to Dublin, after which comes the 1st rest day for travel to Italy.
Giro d’Italia Route 2014
Ultimately the route this year is one primed for climbers – yet unlike recent years the profiles tend to build gradually rather than shoot for the hills right away. Stage 8 in the Apennines mountain range should bring the first shake up for the general classification. The Carpegna climb is back loaded towards the end of the stage and final climb at 13% should be a treat. A nasty trio, the Passo Gavio, Stelvio and the Monte Zoncolan are all attempted in the final week and the final mountain time trial will ultimately destroy some riders hopes.
Contenders
Four previous Giro winners line up this year and the smart money suggests none of them will be in contention come Trieste. Ivan Basso and Michele Scarponi are the wrong side of 35, whilst Ryder Hesjedal and Damiano Cunego have not shown anything to date to suggest they can repeat their victories of 2004 and 2012 respectively. Of the old guard perhaps only Cadel Evans has a right to warrant a contender badge after a productive spring cumulating in GC victory at the recent Giro del Trentino.
So, roll up roll up how about a brand new grand tour winner? The bookies favourite, Nairo Quintana, looks a good bet to at least match his podium finish from last year’s tour. He has had a solid preparation in the run up, landing the win at the Tour de San Luis, second at Tirenno and 5th in Catalunya. This combined with his eminent climbing ability, solid time trialling and a world class Movistar line up ensures he certainly warrants favouritism.
Rigoberto Uran, 2nd last year has a good chance too. He has kept his powder dry this season with only a 3rd in GC at the Tour of Oman the only result of note. The Omega-Pharma quickstep team is built around him with no Mark Cavendish. If Thomas De Gent and Wout Poels and can provide suitable domestique support in the mountains he may have a shot. Joaquim Rodriguez, the Raymond Poulidor of our times, could at last win the general classification at a grand tour. This may be his last chance as he enters the last few golden years of his career and he probably missed his best chance in 2012. The time trial on stage 12 does him no favours. Daniel Martin, Domenico Pozzovivo, Rafal Majka, Nicholas Roche and Wilco Kelderman could all make a step up this year after showing glimpses of what might be. All must ride their luck and have the best of legs to usurp Quintana et al.
My Giro d’Italia Top 5:-
- Nairo Quintana
- Cadel Evans
- Rafal Majka
- Nicholas Roche
- Daniel Martin
Stage Win – Tim Wellens (Lotto Belisol)
by Anna Magrath | Apr 27, 2014
Katie Archibald – Ready to Race
Press Release:
FOUR WEEKS TO GO UNTIL THE MILK RACE!
This weekend marks four weeks until the return of the legendary Milk Race event to Nottingham City Centre on Sunday 25 May.
Following the successful resurrection of the event in 2013, a number of elite cyclists have entered this year’s races. They include Dame Sarah Storey, who last week won two gold medals in the UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships in Mexico, World and European cycling champion Katie Archibald, and Olympic gold medalist Ed Clancy.
As well as the elite races, the Milk Race will offer a unique opportunity for the whole family to take part. Three categories of public rides are open for registration – a family ride (suitable for all ages and abilities, including young children), a community ride (for children and adults 8 years plus of all abilities) and an advanced ride (12 years plus, suitable for club riders, experienced cyclists and regular commuters).
Families and individuals can register for the public rides via the website at http://www.themilkrace.com/register-now.
The event’s return to Nottingham has been made possible by The Dairy Council and Nottingham City Council who are hosting a day of family activities in Old Market Square on the Saturday before the Milk Race.
Councillor David Trimble, Portfolio Holder for Sport and Leisure at Nottingham City Council, said: “With activities for the whole family, plus the cream of British elite cycling taking to Nottingham’s roads, this year’s Milk Race looks set to be even bigger than in 2013.”
Dairy Council Chairman Sandy Wilkie said: “With one month to go, it’s fantastic to see the excitement building for this year’s event. The standard of the elite cyclists is set to be even higher than in 2013 and with the public rides on offer once again, the Milk Race will have something for everyone.”
The Nottingham Building Society has sponsored the Family Ride in this year’s Milk Race. On being a local sponsor, Partnership and Sponsorships Manager Vicky Hall said: “We are delighted to sponsor the 2014 Family Ride. The Milk Race is a prestigious event that originated in the heartland of Nottingham so it’s great to be able to offer families across the whole community a chance to take part.”
Further information about the 2014 Milk Race can be found at www.themilkrace.com.
About The Milk Race
- Between 1958 and 1993, The Milk Race was the most prestigious cycling event in the British calendar, and the (now disbanded) Milk Marketing Board’s sponsorship remains the longest association that the sport has ever had.
- The multistage race of old was conducted over a number of day races – across a number of locations – and was contested by some of the most successful ever road cyclists.
- Previous Milk Race winners include Shane Sutton – a current part of British Cycling’s coaching set-up – and Malcolm Elliott, the team manager of the Node4-Giordana professional team.
- In 2013, The Milk Race returned after 20 years and was held in Nottingham city centre – attended by over 60,000 people. Dani King and Felix English won the women’s elite race and the men’s elite race respectively.
- The Milk Race is a registered trademark of The Dairy Council and the event is funded by members of the Milk Marketing Forum (comprised of Arla Foods UK, Dairy Crest Limited, First Milk and Müller Wiseman Dairies).
by Anna Magrath | Apr 22, 2014
PRESS RELEASE
Tickets for the biggest ever Tour de France Team Presentation Ceremony in history will go on sale this week.
The biggest stars from the world of cycling, including Chris Froome and Mark Cavendish, from all 22 teams will grace the stage as part of a spectacular live event.
The show will take place at Leeds Arena on the evening of the 3rd July, just two days before the Tour de France 2014 gets under way in Yorkshire.
It will be the first time the Team Presentation Ceremony has been done on such a large scale and will see the teams joined by live entertainment and acts – marking another first for Yorkshire’s Grand Départ.
The event will be overseen by Martin Green, the Head of Ceremonies for the London 2012 Olympics, where he led the team who delivered the opening and closing ceremonies. The event will see him return to the city where he studied for his masters degree in theatre studies at Leeds University.
Ticket prices range from £45 to £85 – and are available to buy from 9am on Friday April 25 via the official arena ticket website at www.firstdirectarena.com
Live acts and entertainment are set to be announced in the coming weeks.
Christian Prudhomme, Director of the Tour de France, said: “The Team Presentation this year in Leeds will be a first for the Tour and we hope it will become a template for Team Presentations in the future. It shows how much passion there is for cycling in the UK and Yorkshire’s Grand Départ.”
Gary Verity, Chief Executive of Welcome to Yorkshire, said: “When we were handed the honour of hosting the Grand Départ here in Yorkshire, we promised the ASO that we would put on the grandest of Grand Départs. This spectacular event at the arena is part of doing just that – and this offers fans the chance to not only witness a first in the history of the Tour, but be part of a once-in-a-lifetime event for our county.”
Tony Watson, Director of Sales, Marketing & PR at the Leeds Arena, said: “The Leeds Arena has been designed to deliver world class events and therefore our team are delighted to be welcoming the Team Presentation Ceremony here in a few weeks’ time. With world class acoustics, great views from every seat and with us being located right in the heart of Leeds, there isn’t a better way to kick-off the greatest annual sporting event on Earth.”
Welcome to Yorkshire has been encouraging people since the start of the year to register for an opportunity to purchase tickets early (this Thursday) ahead of general sale (this Friday), and people still have chance to join the thousands of others who have already pre registered by visiting www.letouryorkshire.com/teampresentation before it closes at midnight tonight (Tuesday April 22).
More than ten thousand are expected to see the Team Presentation Ceremony on the evening of the 3rd July, making it the biggest in the history of the Tour de France.
by Nick Dey | Apr 21, 2014
The Pain and the Glory
The official team sky diary of the Giro campaign and Tour victory
Introduction by… Sir Dave Brailsford & Chris Froome
Words by Sarah Edworthy, Photography by Scott Mitchell
Cast your mind back to Team Sky’s annus mirabilis. Its 2012 and the halcyon day’s of Wiggo’s dominance in the stage races cumulating in victory in the Tour de France and yet another Olympic gold, this time in the time trial. Every pedal stroke of which, you’ll recall, was chronicled in the rather good ’21 Day’s to Glory’.
Now comes this 2013 Grand Tour journal charting the ups, downs, plan A’s, plan B’s, the tragedies, the triumphs and inner working’s of Team Sky.
The Pain and the Glory delves deep into Team Sky’s attempt to win the double: the 2013 Giro d’Italia and the Tour de France. This is a book in two-parts and is generally chronological.
It opens with a well written introduction from Sir Dave and quickly leaps straight into the Giro and Sky’s charge for victory through Bradley Wiggins – remember all the talk, Nibali or Wiggins – and their eventual re-structuring and plan-B second place in GC with Rigoberto Uran. The ‘second half’ of the book covers the Tour and Chris Froome’s gradual deconstruction of the other main GC contenders. Geraint Thomas’ epic ride through of pain will long live in the memory – a legend tales root.
The Pain and the glory has a real fly-on-the-wall feel to it. Although it does leave one or two crucial question unasked – as you’d expect from an internally employed team of professional journalists. The book rally excels in the unusual layers of detail about each and every stage. All supplemented beautifully by the Scott Mitchell’s sublime photography and enriched by input from the all the main protagonists – Wiggin’s, Froome, Uran, Thomas (he of the fractured pelvis in stage 1… This man is one tough dude!), Stannard, et al. It also allows an insight into to the oft hidden, but absolutely vital, work of the mechanics, medical staff, cooks and families.
This is the very official account of a tumultuous yet ultimately successful year in the life of one of the leading professional road cycling teams. Kudos to Sarah Edwards for generating such a flowing narrative.
Marginal gains on the road… Massive gains in reader experience: the book is accompanied by a fascinating commentary from the team players, photographers and writers. Just download the free Livebooks App from The App store or Google Play, scan the photo’s with the livebook symbol and sit back and listen. This really works and is highly effective in enriching and enlightening. I found the chats about photography, framing and choice, artistic and highly educational.
CyclingShorts Star Rating: 80/100 (9 if Team Sky ran a women’s team!)
YOU CAN WIN A COPY IN OUR LATEST COMPETITION – JUST CLICK HERE!
Title:
The Pain and the Glory: the official team sky diary of the Giro campaign and Tour victory
Exclusive – with accompanying Team Sky podcast Apps
Author:
Sarah Edworthy
Published by:
Harper Collins – Non Fiction on 17th October 2013
Available in Hardback & eBook
Price:
RRP £20.00 (Hardback) RRP £13.39 (Digital)
by Anna Magrath | Apr 17, 2014
The Herne Hill Velodrome Trust presents…
- Jon Snow throws down gauntlet to Russell Brand and Philip Hindes MBE, Olympic gold medalist
- Money raised will go towards securing the Velodrome’s future and riders’ nominated charities
The Herne Hill Velodrome Trust are delighted to announce the launch of the Herne Hill Velodrome Riband, a fundraising challenge pitching top cyclists against Twitter-savvy celebrities. The HHV Riband will be a high-profile fundraiser with 50 per cent of the funds raised going towards securing the Velodrome’s future and the other 50 per cent towards riders’ nominated charities.
So how does it work? Each rider, whether they’re Olympian Philip Hindes MBE or Jon Snow, broadcaster and Channel 4 News presenter, will ride three laps of the 450m track at the Herne Hill Velodrome – from a standing start, they’ll have one windup lap, then two timed laps. The fastest lap will be their registered time.
And who will win? Well, it really could be anyone’s. That’s right, we haven’t mentioned the special twist – the person with the highest total ‘score’ will be announced as the winner. A person’s ‘score’ will be calculated by dividing each rider’s fundraising efforts by their fastest lap time. So, a ‘slow’ celebrity could out sprint an Olympian by raising more cash – an ingenious way for a celebrity to beat an Olympian.
#bicyclebulletin presenter Sophie Robehmed & Jon Snow selfie at the launch of the Herne Hill Velodrome Riband.
The Riband announcement was made in the first episode of the #bicyclebulletin by Hillary Peachey, Chairman of the Herne Hill Velodrome Trust. The first challengers are avid cyclist, Jon Snow, Channel 4 News Anchor and Philip Hindes, Olympic cycling gold medal winner, who will both compete for the HHV Riband later in the year.
Talking to the #bicyclebulletin, Jon Snow said: “I will be riding for my charity New Horizon Youth Centre. I have more than 402,000 followers on Twitter so what I may lack in speed, I expect to more than compensate for through fundraising online. I believe dirty tricks are allowed so I will be calling on some old friends to help out.” And who would Snow like to be up against on the track? “I am very keen to challenge @RustyRockets – Russell Brand.”
Philip Hindes said: “I will be riding for Team Herne Hill. I am one of the fastest men on the track in the UK so, although I don’t yet have 400,000 twitter followers like Jon, I am quietly confident I can give my rivals a run for their money! I also have one or two old friends in the right places. I am challenging my friend, Andy Tennant, Team GB cyclist.”
Up to nine riders will be invited to take part in the HHV Riband, which will commence later this year. Their laps will be broadcast online on the #bicyclebulletin’s website: www.bicyclebulletin.co.uk.
Herne Hill Velodrome patron, double Olympic gold medalist and nine times world champion track cyclist, Victoria Pendleton CBE, said: “May the best team win.”
Interested riders should contact Theodore Bird ([email protected]; +44 (0)7711 747 334). Don’t miss all the action – subscribe to the Bicycle Bulletin’s channels at www.bicyclebulletin.co.uk.
Herne Hill Velodrome
The Herne Hill Velodrome is one of the oldest tracks in the world. It was built in 1891 and used for the 1948 London Olympic Games. The Herne Hill Velodrome Trust is a registered charity working towards building a new pavilion on site to give riders, staff, volunteers and spectators the facilities they all deserve. For more information please go to www.hhvt.org
New Horizon Youth Centre
Jon Snow is Chair of the New Horizon Youth Centre, a day centre for 16 to 24-year-olds in central London. The annual New Horizon’s Comedy Benefit, hosted by comedian Ed Byrne, will take place at the Shaw Theatre on June 2 2014, tickets available from Ticketmaster.
by Hayley Davies | Mar 21, 2014
Following last season’s central London launch, Matrix Fitness – Vulpine headed to the home of British Cycling – Manchester – and specifically to Popup Bikes to introduce the 2014 team.
A new, individual and up-and-coming venue on the cycling scene, Popup provided everything needed to launch an exciting new line-up for the coming season, while the Manchester streets provided the perfect backdrop for amazing photography to document the occasion (courtesy of Andy Whitehouse), as the team once again looked to produce something out of the ordinary
The 2014 line-up brings together many different influences. Leading the team in a mentor role is European cyclocross champion, Helen Wyman. Having ridden three World Road Championships and won Jersey classifications in UCI ranked stage races, she offers the road experience required to step up to new challenges, including the Women’s Tour.
For the first time in several years, the team includes an overseas rider; Holland’s Sigrid Jochems. A leading sprinter on the European scene, Sigrid is returning to the sport after four years absence while she pursuing a gymnastics career.
The British Cycling Olympic Development Program is well represented with Mel Lowther, returning for a second year, and Bethany Hayward; a natural climber who will be looking to represent Team GB at the World Junior Championships in 2014. The team feels it has a solid future with these two emerging talents.
Harriet Owen ©AndyWhitehouse
Returning riders Jessie Walker, Harriet Owen, and Jo Tindley are re-joined by Penny Rowson who briefly departed the team in 2013 but comes back with renewed determination to reach the highest heights of the sport. Louise Borthwich, last year’s stand out rider on the domestic scene also joins, and alongside Harriet – who is now a full-time cyclist – will make a formidable attacking line-up as the team targets the UK’s biggest races.
The final rider to come on board for the 2014 season is Para-cyclist, Lora Turnham, riding with her tandem pilot Corrine Hall, who in her own right is a current National Champion on the track. In 2013, this duo stormed to the World Title in the road Time Trial, and plan to take on three events in this year’s World Track Championships.
“We have a real mix; different skills, different personalities, even different disciplines, but we are very much one team. This group has so much talent it will be a real disappointment if we don’t make the step up to professional status in 2015. That’s the goal. We are already firmly working on 2015” commented Team Manager, Stefan Wyman. “This season we have a new set of sponsors, integrating with long-term partners like Matrix Fitness and Velocite, and everyone is motivated to make the step up. We want to be at the newly formed Tour de France event in 2015, along with other key events. However this year all of our focus is on the Women’s Tour. We need to step up, present ourselves in the best manner possible, and hopefully surprise a few people with our results.”
The launch event itself centered on a RollaPaluza competition; with participants battling it out on a pair of custom-built rollers connected to a huge dial, with split-second digital timing over a simulated 500m distance, at speeds in excess of 50mph. The action was accompanied by Rollapaluza’s own Caspar Hughes as DJ, music and cheering crowds. It was perhaps no surprise that Team sprinter, Harriet Owen, won the main event.
The team Q&A, introduced by Chris Garrison, Bontrager UK, was dominated by talk of the Women’s Tour, but it was clear from the 100+ crowd that there is a thirst for knowledge on the sport, with an ever increasing number of cycling fans prepared to come out and support women’s racing.
One question: “What will it be like to race against Vos?” was met with this response from Wyman: “Vos is amazing for the sport and she has been for about eight years now. She has really raised the level of women’s cycling, but there are others like Emma Johanson, Lizzie Armitstead, and Lucy Garner who will go very well in the Tour so I don’t think it will be a one woman show. She will try and get wins for her team as much as for herself. We won’t be going there to just make up the numbers. If I thought that I would have politely rejected the offer. We go there with real ambition, so it’s realistic for us to score a top ten in a stage, which will be incredible for a team of our size. We are not going to celebrate just finishing, we want to achieve, and at this level it’s all about one member of the team getting a result.”
The team now heads off to Limoux in the South of France, where they have just over two weeks together before returning to the UK for the Tour of Reservoir – the first team event of the season.
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Writer
Riding since Feb 2011 Hayley is a 30 year old female who loves adventures. If she’s not on one of her many bikes or in the water on a bodyboard/surfboard, then Hayley is probably out looking for something new to keep the adrenaline pumping!
Website: www.hjdonline.co.uk
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