Interesting cycling items from across the Internet, October 10, 2011
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Fotoreporter Sirotti
Here’s this week’s Monday Musette:
1. Yesterday’s Paris-Tours provided an exciting finish to an event that’s proved difficult to predict. But after a season in which he consistently seemed to come-up short in important races (despite impressive rides), BMC’s Greg Van Avermaet took the biggest win of his career in what might have been his last opportunity to ride for himself in major races.
2. Speaking of Philippe Gilbert, he blamed his team for poorly supporting him—not a good idea considering the Tour of Lombardy this weekend—and much more suited to his talents. But why piss-off your teammates days before your last major race of the season? When you consider how crowded things will be at BMC next season, Gilbert can’t afford to burn any bridges heading into 2012.
3. In Italy, Acqua Sapone’s Carlos Betancur won Saturday’s Giro del Emilia, a prestigious semi-classic around Bologna that often serves as a predictor of who’s in-form for Lombardy. Betancur dropped held-off Bauke Mollema (himself hoping to give Holland its third-consecutive win in the vent after Robert Gesink’s wins in 2009 and 2010) and compatriot Rigoberto Uran of Team Sky on the final climb, to take the biggest win of his professional career (he won the 2010 Baby Giro—now known as the GiroBio—while riding for the Colombian national team).
4. As Saturday’s result (two riders in the top-3) indicate, look for 2012 to be the first (second?) official year of the Colombian renaissance. We’ve already seen peeks of the talent possessed by youngsters such as Rigoberto Duran and Fabio Duarte. We can expect more fireworks as Sergio Henao (Team Sky), Nairo Quintana (Movistar), and Esteban Chaves (2011 Avenir winner) begin racing at the sport’s highest level.
5. Well, it took two days shy of 10 months, but Filippo Pozzato finally won a race this season by taking Sunday’s GP Beghelli. In my opinion, the classics are much more entertaining with a variety of protagonists—especially when one of them is Italian. Let’s hope Pippo’s change of scenery (he’s moving to Farnese-Vini next year) means he won’t have to wait until October to hit the top step of the podium.
6. This just in: the “Race of the Falling Leaves†is set to become the “Race of the Soon-To-Be-Falling Leaves†as the UCI has bumped the race forward to the end of September (beginning next year). While the UCI says the move is an attempt to allow riders to capitalize on their form from Worlds at Lombardy, I see it as a clear attempt to stack the starting line at what will now be the final event on the World Tour Calendar (and the last chance for riders to finish first in the rankings) the Tour of Beijing.
7. Speaking of Beijing, HTC’s Tony Martin won the newest World Tour event, putting himself inside the World Tour’s top-10 (he now sits in sixth). With a 2012 Tour de France that looks to be more “classicâ€â€”less mountains and more ITT’s—does Martin have what it takes for high finish next July?
8. And while I (somewhat) respect the UCI’s attempts to globalize the sport of cycling (despite making teams send riders and staff halfway around the world in mid-October), they might want to share their desire with the host nation next time. After all, it’s hard to increase the sport’s popularity in a country where fans aren’t even allowed to come out and enjoy it. I would love to hear Pat McQuaid explain why Beijing deserves a spot on the World Tour calendar while events in California and Colorado do not.
9. Last but not least, the cycling world mourns the passing of Pol Claeys, the founder of Flandria, a team that produced countless legends including Eddy Merckx, Rik Van Looy, Walter Goodefroot, Joop Zoetemelk, Peter Post, and Joseph Planckaert.
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Photo by Luc Claessen | http://www.ispaphoto.be
Much like the USGP races in Colorado, where a Powers/Johnson battle didn’t materialize as anticipated, the expected battle between Sven Nys and Kevin Pauwels failed to come to life during the first round of the Superprestige series. Instead, it was Belgian National Champion Niels Albert who picked up the victory ahead of a start-studded field in Ruddervoorde. Albert has been heavily criticised over the past few weeks for his lack of focus, skills and dedication. It remains to be seen if the critics have anything to say – Albert has been capably been silencing them with his performance over the past two weeks.
As we discussed in our weekend preview, Bart Aernouts was once again looking to steal the show in Ruddervoorde. With four to go, he had a ten-scond gap over Albert, who would eventually reel him in. Aernouts would finish second. Meanwhile, Klass Vantornout bested an extremely strong chase group to finish third. With the first World Cup round next weekend, Vantornout and Aernouts put in performances that were strong bids for a spot on the Belgian squad – and it paid off.
As the Superprestige didn’t exactly shake out in a familiar way, it’s no surprise to read news tidbits from major players who experienced some mishap or another. If you’re like the rest of us, scratching your head wondering where the usual big names were during the race, here’s what you need to know:
Our picks for European races nobody knows about fared somewhat better this week thanks to more accurate start lists and a little bit of luck.
Toi Toi Cup (C2)
Petr Dlask picked up the victory in round three of the Toi Toi Cup, extended his overall lead as we predicted. Our rider to watch for, Zdenek Miller, failed to finish, while David Kasek and Vladimir Kyzivat rounded out the top-three.
Memorial Jonathan Tabotta (C2)
Enrico Franzoi got the revenge he was looking for by picking up the victory in Buja a head of Elia Silvestri. Our suprise pick of Fabio Ursi rounded out the podium in third. Last weeks winner, Cristian Cominelli finished sixth, right behind Luca Damiani. Damini’s name should ring a bell from his US success last year in the US.
National Trophy Seires (C2)
An unexpected visit from Thijs Al knocked our predictions for round one of Britian’s national series in South Shields. Al picked up the victory a head of picks of Paul Oldham and Jody Crawforth. Clearly, the battle between Oldham and Crawforth is on.
Tim Vanwichelen Photo
The Belgian Team for this weekend’s Cyclocross World Cup race in Plzen, Czech Republic will contain the following 8 veldrijders:
To refresh our audience: countries may enter 8 riders into each of the season’s 8 World Cup races, plus the current World Cup leader, and the World Champion – so the Czech Republic may enter 9 riders, as one of which would include World Champion Zdenek Stybar. World Cup races offer the opportunity to win significantly more UCI points than UCI C1 and C2-level races, and UCI points determine a rider’s starting position at races throughout the season – making selection for a World Cup squad a crucial determinant for a rider’s season.Â
The full list of each participating country’s World Cup squad will be announced later this week.
Photo: Natalia Boltukhova | Pedal Power Photography | 2011
USGP – The New Belgium Cup (C1/C2)
The expected showdown between Tim Johnson and Jeremy Powers was a moot point this past weekend in Colorado. Instead, Ryan Trebon, who skipped last weekend’s New England World Championships in Gloucester, continued to show his great form picking up a win and a second place in Fort Collins. Powers was the early animator on day one, but would eventually fade to third throughout the race, which was blown apart as riders slogged through deep mud and atrocious conditions. On Sunday, after the Powers and Trebon traded blows (and the lead), Powers eventually cut a 15-second Trebon lead before catching, passing, and going on to capture his first USGP race of the year. Powers’ form really seems to be coming around – though he’s not riding away from everybody else early, the way he did several times last year, he’s clearly developing the oomph to go toe-to-toe with a very on-form Trebon. This could make things very interesting over the next few weeks.
Geoff Kabush provided the real surprise this weekend with a pair of podium finishes, rocketing him to thrid overall in the USGP. It must be a significant confidence boost to him, as he went into the weekend with the feeling that his performance would make or break his cyclocross season. However, if you read our weekend preview, you wouldn’t have been too suprised with Kabush’s performance, or Tristan Schouten’s fourth place on Sunday, for that matter. One surprise that caught even the die hard cross junkies off guard was Yannick Eckmann. The young German, who lives and races in the US, has shown signs of superstardom as a junior, but his fifth on Saturday was incredibly impressive. Keep your eye on Eckmann.
As far as the Cannondale p/b Cyclocrossworld juggernaut goes, this weekend was a bit of a disappointment for the trio. Driscoll, who was in a great position to move into third overall, came up with a fourth on Saturday and ninth on Sunday. Christian Heule failed far worse picking up a ninth on Saturday and dropped out on Sunday because of some sort of cartilage damage to his ribs. This big news though was Tim Johnson’s lackluster performance. Johnson has admitted he planned a slower start to the season, but with a 13th and fifth, this may be too slow of a start. When will alarm bells start ringing for their squad – and what will they do about it?
NEPCX – Providence CX (C1/C2)
The story of the wekeend was Justin Lindine’s pair of UCI victories in the heart of Providence, RI. More impressive then picking up his first ever UCI victories was the dominating fashion in which Lindine did it. Saturday, he launched a viscous attack with five to go and never looked back. On Sunday, he simply rode away from a massive lead group midway through the fifth lap. The New Englander was one of our riders to watch this season and is clearly living up to the hype. With his victories, Lindine becomes one of two American riders to win a UCI race East of the Mississippi this year.
A couple subplots made for a lively weekend in Providence. Saturday’s race saw cyclocross guru Adam Myerson tangle with Derek St John after St John reportedly bungled a pass attempt – a disappointing blow for all involved, who were racing for 2nd place late in a C1 race. The next day, temperatures climbed, and Sunday’s race started with nearly a kilometer of pavement before hitting the grass. Course designer Tom Stevens it hearkened back to cyclocross in the early 1980s, which had  more pavement than courses these days do. It may have contributed to the large front group, which numbered nearly 20 riders for much of the race – before Lindine put his stamp of authority on the riders, the course, and the kilometer of pavement by riding away from them all.
While many of the top European riders headed back to their homeland over the past few weeks, the Phildaelphia-based Swiss contingent made their presence known in Providence picking up a pair of top-ten finishes on Saturday. Meanwhile, the Canadian contingent did their part by putting Evan McNeely on the podium on Saturday and Derrick St. John on the podium on Sunday. In fact, the Canadians occupied three of the top ten spots on Saturday.
Interesting cycling items from across the Internet, October 7, 2011
Seen any cool links we missed? Share ’em in a comment below!