This week in race history (Sept. 12-18)

Posted on September 15, 2010 by

Photo by Kent Williams @ www.procyclingphotos.com

10 years ago: At the Vuelta, Roberto Heras left his competitors in the dust on the dreaded Angliru (9/12/00), outpacing his nearest competitors on what some consider the hardest mountain in any grand tour.  He would go on to take the first of three Vuelta overall wins, his fourth being stripped following a positive test for EPO.

Following his retirement, he’s gone on to become Brompton World Champion – a title with just a little less prestige than Vuelta winner.

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This Week in Race History (Oct. 3-9)

Posted on October 6, 2010 by

15 years ago: Miguel Indurain won the World Championship Time Trial, then in its second year of existence.  Abraham Olano won the World Championship Road Race, 35 seconds ahead of second place Indurain.  Heavy rains resulted in only 20 riders crossing the finish line.


Indurain’s TT win and  second place road finish is the closest anyone has come to the time trial/road race double.  His podium visits also mark the last time a reigning Tour de France yellow jersey winner medaled in the Worlds.

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This Week in International Cyclocross – Superprestige and GVA – 11/2

Posted on November 2, 2011 by

Photo by Luc Claessen | ispaphoto.be

As our two-part Weekend Preview (Part 1 and Part 2) indicated, it was a major race weekend for European cyclocrossers. With 8 C2 races scheduled, there were copious opportunities to chase results for those riders who couldn’t match the level of competition at the two C1 races for the weekend – the 2nd race in the Superprestige series, at the sand mines in Zonhoven, and the 1st installment of the Gazet van Antwerpen Trofee competition, the Koppenbergcross at Oudenaarde.

Superprestige Round 2 – Zanhoven (C1)

Conditions in Zonhoven were a clear challenge to the riders. Two features were immediately noticeable: a pair of precipitously steep descents through deeply-rutted sand, and the corresponding run-up. The descents caused many people problems – Tom Meeusen wasn’t the only rider to crash, going over his bars after losing his front wheel, but he managed to do so right in front of Bart Aernouts, who in his attempt to avoid Meeusen, launched himself over his bars and landed squarely on Meeusen’s bike. The run-up, meanwhile, was a steep, loose, long grind – by the end of the race, even the leading riders had difficulty running, and dragged themselves to the top with the aid of a few tugs on the course barriers. Conditions were so challenging that the top ten finishers were spread over 3 minutes, 29 seconds; only 23 riders finished on the first lap, and extremely capable riders like Steve Chainel and Jon Page were among those to get lapped.

A third feature of the course – and one that proved crucial – was a subtle uphill grind, difficult to perceive due to camera placement, that called for both power and technique. Many of the riders chose a firm line toward the right but it was far from easy. In fact, World Champion Zdenek Stybar bobbled there early, and had difficulty recovering from his lost momentum. Niels Albert took that opportunity to ride away; Stybar never saw him again and had to concern himself with a Kevin Pauwels and Sven Nys – both of whom wound up besting him.

Ahead, Albert rode an apparently flawless race in conditions that challenged riders’ technical abilities and saw early gaps stretch further and further open as the course presented more and more opportunities for easy mistakes to make. His performance begs the question – why has he been so inconsistent lately? We can’t help but wonder if he’s only fast when there’s nobody in front of him. He’s seemed to have difficult winning under duress, instead gaining his wins by going to the front early and staying there. Perhaps some additional mental toughness is required. It’s likely that we’ll see Albert focus on the Superprestige series, as his World Cup performances were a wash.

GVA Trophy Round 1 – Oudenaarde (C1)

Tuesday offered a rare major midweek cyclocross race – the first installment of the GVA Trofee series, held on one of the Ronde van Vlaanderen’s major climbs, the Koppenberg. The race began in fine condition and started off with extremely hot laps as a large group stuck together up the cobbled slopes of the Koppenberg and wove its way down the twisting off-camber descent. A group of five formed, containing Sven Nys (who won the race 8 times in the past 10 years), Stybar, Pauwels, Vantornout, and Meeusen. A gut-wrenching bridge move saw Albert and Aernouts join them, despite Meeusen’s dig to keep them apart. Despite the speed of the course, the repeats of the Koppenberg proved selective, and Pauwels, Nys, and Stybar separated themselves from the others.

Then it started to rain, prompting Nys and Stybar to switch bikes to one with a mud tread – the better to handle the slick switchbacks on the descent. This, however, was all that Pauwels needed to open a small gap. Stybar, corning aggressively on the mud-tread, hit a building at the base of the climb, and Nys’s fresh bike had a flat rear tire. When it was over, Pauwels finished well in front of Nys, who beat out Stybar for 2nd. Behind, Bart Aernouts put in an inspired performance to break loose from Tom Meeusen and Klaas Vantornout, who crashed in to each other on the descent, to finish 4th. Niels Albert finished a quiet 7th place, while Radomir Simunek and Vincent Baestaens rode together to top-ten results – in front of Bart Wellens, who had apparently shot his bullets at Zonhoven and could only manage 11th.

With the win, Pauwels interrupted Nys’s streak of 7 consecutive victories at Koppenbergcross. Pauwels’ win might be a sign of shifting reigns of Belgian Cross. If Nys was the king of the 2000s, then Pauwels may take the reigns for the 2010s.

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This Week in Cyclocross – 9/26

Posted on September 26, 2011 by

Photo by Erik Mitchell

It was another wild weekend of cross on both sides of the pond. With no less then nine UCI races occurring over the past five days (including eight over the weekend), there was a lot of great action and excellent races. So, if you couldn’t follow all of the action (with this much going on who could), here’s what you need to know.

North America

Gateway Cross Cup (C2): The inaugural Gateway Cross Cup took place in St. Louis, MO on Wednesday, where Jeremy Powers picked up his second victory of the season. Powers followed this up with a third and ninth at the first two rounds of the USGP. Here’s his September schedule w/ mileage:

Home to Nittany Cross (Sat. 9/10) – 350mi (roughly)
Philadelphia to CrossVegas (Wed. 9/14) – 2,173mi (flight)
Vegas to home, then to Catamount GP (Sun. 9/18) – 2,584mi (flight/car)
Catamount to home to Gateway Cup (Wed. 9/21) – 1,274mi (flight/car)
Gateway to USGP (Sat. and Sun. 9/24-9/25) – 310mi (flight)

That makes it six races and about 7,391 miles traveled for J-Pow. Impressive – and tiring. With a pair of victories to show for his efforts this season, it hasn’t been fruitless, but given his shut-out of the USGP (see below), one can’t help but wonder if it’s not what he’d hoped for at this point. Perhaps cris-crossing the country is starting to add up. 

Nor Easter CX (C2): Round two of the NECS brought the New England crowd to Burlington, VT for Nor Easter Cross. Helen Wyman and Ian Field continued their east coast dominance. Their victories continued a trend of European riders dominating the regional series on the East Coast. Tom Van den Bosch, Nicolas Bazin and Field have all the East Coast victories except for Nittany cross where Powers took the victory. It appears that life has become even harder for regional elite riders looking to pick up UCI points.

Ellison Park CX (C2): After beating up on the field in New Hampshire, Bazin, Van den Bosch and Field continued their East Coast dominance by taking the top three spots at Ellison Park in New York. Helen Wyman made if six-for-six for her trip to North America after decimating the women’s race. The bright spot for New England, once again, was Justin Lindine. Lindine picked up another top-five placing right behind the Euro crew. Lindine has been able to ride with the leaders over the past few weeks and may be able to bring a victory back to America in the future.

Planet Bike Cup – USGP #1 (C1): Ryan Trebon picked up his first UCI victory of the year a head of Bart Wellens and Jeremy Powers. This is Trebon’s biggest victory in years and may be a sign that he’s back to his old self. Note that Trebon posted his power file. He averaged 472 watts for an hour: that’s impressive! It looks like Trebon is hitting his stride early while some of his competitors struggle with the season’s early races. Meanwhile, the women’s race was dominated by Katerina Nash, who picked up her 4th consecutive victory.

Planet Bike Cup – USGP #2 (C2): Bart Wellens took round two of the USGP in extremly muddy conditions a head of Jonthan Page and Trebon. Page posted his best result of the season before heading over to Europe. This is the second year in a row Page has failed to pick up a victory on US soil.

Wellens’ victory was made even more remarkable by the fact that he only had one bike. Wellens and his teammate, Rob Peeters, made the trip to the US with two bikes and two sets of wheels for each rider – one set with file treads and the other with mud tires. So, why was Peeters able to change bikes when Wellens wasn’t? Peeters borrowed a pair of Revolution Wheelworks wheels. Great press for those guys, but even they’re not sure how the Belgian star ended up with them. Also, the mechanic is smoking to help open up his lungs. It’s a Euro thing.

Finally, Tim Johnson slipped in the mud and hit a rock, ending his race early. The good news is he’s okay and should be ready to rock and roll for Gloucester.

International

GP Neerpelt (C2): Sven Nys took the victory a head of Kevin Pauwels and Niels Albert. With a pair of races under their belts, it’s time for our ‘no, it’s not too early’ predictions: Albert will take a while to win his first race but then he’ll do it convincingly and repeatedly. Nys and Pauwels are going to battle all season long and Klass Vantornout is going to spend forever trying to get a win again.

Openingsveldrit van Harderwijk (C2): CrossVegas winner Lars Van der Haar won his second race of the season in the Netherlands ahead of Tijmen Eising and Jim Aernouts. It was another neck-and-neck sprint finish for the U23 World Champion. Here’s some free advice: drop him before the final 400 meters or you’re toast.

Stribro – Toi Toi Cup #1 (C2): Zdenek Stybar simply rode away from the field en route to a victory in his hometown. He beat runner up Jan Denuwelaere and Petr Dlask by 1:35. The Toi Toi cup is usually all Czech, but Denuwelaere (Bel) decided to chase some UCI points in the early season right. There was also a large, poor performing German contingent.

Süpercross Baden (C2): Stybar made it two-for-two with a victory in Baden, Switzerland. Behind, French National Champion Francis Mourey came across the line a head of Lukas Flückiger. Mourey wasn’t able to come closer than an arms’ length to Stybar, finishing 15 seconds behind the World Champion. Styby should be in Belgium this weekend for his first real test of the season.

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Them’s the Breaks…

Posted on March 24, 2009 by

As you’ve probably heard by now, Lance Armstrong broke his right collarbone during yesterday’s first stage of the Vuelta Castilla y Leon. The main field hit a particularly narrow section of windswept road, and when riders starting clamoring for wheels, calamity ensued.

Here’s the video:

Now, while I’m not a fan of the “All Lance, All the Time” method of cycling journalism, I do think the crash is interesting for a few reasons:

1. It’s been a while since a Lance crash has had such “catastrophic” results (I use that term loosely since riders break collarbones all the time and he’ll probably heal quite quickly). His handlebar episode on Luz Ardiden in the 2003 Tour does not count.

2. The roads he crashed on remind of the narrower tracks his colleagues will soon be facing up North.

3. The crash will most certainly keep him out of this year’s Ronde van Vlaanderen, a race in which I was eager to see him participate.

Extra credit if you can help me determine what language the video is in (I just can’t place it).

If all goes well, I’ll soon post a Preview of tomorrow’s Dwars door Vlaanderen.

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The Virtual General Classification

Posted on July 6, 2012 by

Fotoreporter Sirotti

Phil Liggett, at the culmination of Stage 6, said that there were “no changes” in the GC standings and that the “men who mattered” were “up there.” Sure, Cancellara – the yellow jersey – was joined by a handful of GC contenders who stayed safe from a gutter-to-gutter crash that split the field with 24k to go and caught many GC riders behind it today. The biggest names who didn’t lose time were Evans, Wiggins, and Menchov – who, it must be said, needs to be considered a serious GC podium threat.

But a look at the General Classification shows a number of riders who can no longer be considered GC hopefuls due to having lost major time in today’s crash.

Below is the Virtual Classification – the classification of GC-hopefuls, with Cancellara left in out of deference to the Yellow Jersey, and their current overall placing on the left column:

1 Fabian Cancellara (Swi) RadioShack-Nissan 29:22:36
2 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Sky Procycling 0:00:07
5 Denis Menchov (Rus) Katusha Team 0:00:13
6 Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team 0:00:17
7 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale 0:00:18
17 Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Lotto Belisol Team 0:00:28
18 Ivan Basso (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale 0:00:29
20 Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi 0:00:40
21 Rui Alberto Faria Da Costa (Por) Movistar Team 0:00:42
22 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Omega Pharma-QuickStep 0:00:45
31 Janez Brajkovic (Slo) Astana Pro Team 0:02:27
34 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Movistar Team 0:02:40
36 Michele Scarponi (Ita) Lampre – ISD 0:02:42
37 Frank Schleck (Lux) RadioShack-Nissan 0:02:43
40 Pierre Rolland (Fra) Team Europcar 0:02:50
51 Robert Gesink (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team 0:04:13
108 Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Garmin – Sharp 0:13:38

The shake-up of Stage 6’s crash balances the equation between climbers and GC hopefuls. Many of the riders who lost major time – Schleck, Scarponi, and others – are riders who would have needed to attack Wiggins, Menchov, and Evans in the mountains in order to gain time. With those riders dangling 2+ minutes behind the leaders, the likelihood that they can be considered serious GC threats lowers, considerably.

What happens when a rider’s GC ambitions are squashed? They salvage their Tour by taking rips at stage wins. We might see two distinct groups forming on the road – climbers who were former GC hopefuls, lighting up the road looking for stage wins, and the genuine GC contenders watching each other. Evans and Wiggins, in particular, are quite savvy. They are not likely to waste energy chasing, say, Frank Schleck, when they know they’ll make up time on him in a time trial. With three individual time trials and only three summit finishes, the Tour’s moderate parcours already raised the question of whether or not climbing specialists could truly challenge the all-arounders like Wiggins, Menchov, and Evans. This crash furthered the divide – possibly, enough to give riders some room to make for some very exciting stages.

Follow mattio on Twitter @_mattio.

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