North American Cyclocross: European Invasion

Posted on September 13, 2011 by
2010 CrossVegas - Mourey Wins

Photo by Mia Sullivan/www.studiomproductions.com

The American cyclocross circuit has always been second fiddle to the European racing scene. While major American cyclocross talents have certainly developed and there is a burgeoning and promising American professional racing scene, Americans – particularly American men, who have fared worse against their European counterparts than American women – have had limited success racing in Europe. 

The tables are turning in a curious manner. With next year’s 2012/2013 World Championships slated to take place in Louisville, Kentucky, more and more European riders are coming to North America to get experience riding courses in the American style. Growing numbers of Europeans have been coming to the States in order to accrue crucial UCI points early in the season, but this year, more and more are taking the chance to learn a distinct style of racing.

Last year saw Francis Mourey, the French National Champion, and Christian Huele lead the charge; this year sees riders including Gerben de Knegt, Bart Wellens, Under 23 World Champion Lars van der Haar, Bart Aernouts, Ben Berden,Tim van Nuffel, Rob Peeters, Ian Field, Joyce Vanderbeken, Caroline Mani, Helen Wyman, and Gabby Day. Where are they going? Some, like the Brits Field, Wyman, and Day, are staying on the East Coast – the UCI Calendar opens on 9/10 with Nittany Lion, part of the Mid-Atlantic Series – and will go on to race the Shimano New England Pro Cyclocross Series. Others, anchored by the Telenet-Fidea team that includes Wellens and Peeters, will head west to race CrossVegas, first of the Cross After Dark series.

They face challenges: the size of the United States makes travel from one race to the next particularly tiring compared to similar races in Europe. Furthermore, American cyclocross is a different style than European ‘cross – the reputation is that American courses are often less grueling in a technical manner but faster, requiring high-speed cornering and maintaining inertia in a way unlike European courses. Even considering this, expect Europeans to put the hurt on the Americans, snatching some big early season wins while everybody hits their stride.

 

 

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The Sticky Bidon – September 12, 2011

Posted on September 12, 2011 by

Photo by Luc Claessen, ISPA Photo

Interesting cycling items from across the Internet, September 12, 2011

Seen any cool links we missed? Share ’em in the comments below!

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Monday Musette – Vuelta, Canada, L’Avenir, Cyclocross, Etc.

Posted on September 12, 2011 by

Fotoreporter Sirotti

Here’s this week’s Monday Musette:

1. The 2011 Vuelta wrapped-up this weekend with Geox-TMC’s Juan José Cobo taking the overall title over Team Sky’s Christian Froome and Bradley Wiggins (now there’s a sentence I never thought I’d be typing). Cobo’s win was anything but expected—the 30-year-old professional has bounced around for several seasons, enjoying his fair share of victories and scandals (the best and worst of which came in 2007 and 2008 with Saunier Duval. A former 10th-place finished at the Vuelta, Cobo seems to have profited a from a race with a mixed bag of contenders—the majority of whom were riding their second grand tour of the season (the Vuelta was Cobo’s first).

Cobo’s win begs an obvious question: what happened to everyone else? With men like Joaquin Rodriguez, Vincenzo Nibali, Denis Menchov, and Igor Anton taking part, how did two domestiques finish the race in first and second-place overall?

Think about this, and look for a Discuss to follow soon.

2. Wiggo performed the best of the men riding the Vuelta as consolation for crashing out of the Tour de France. Behind him, Lotto’s Jurgen Van den Broeck finished eighth giving the Belgian top-10 finishes in all three grand tours. Radio Shack’s Janez Brajkovic was less fortunate—he could only manage a meager 22nd. Heading into 2012, Team Sky has to like its chances for a similar result at the Tour de France, as Wiggins appears to be—finally—the real deal.

3. Other impressive—perhaps auspicious—performances were recorded by Rabobank’s Bauek Mollema and Leopard-Trek’s Maxime Monfort. Mollema’s much younger, but Monfort has yet to be officially linked to Radio Shack-Nissan-Trek. His performance at the Vuelta should only add value to his signature.

4. Menchov won the battle of former winners, finishing fifth to Nibali’s seventh; while pre-race favorite Rodriguez was forced to settle for two stage wins on his way to a 19th-place finish.

5. For Geox-TMC, Cobo’s win added a bright spot to a season of controversy in which the team found itself on the outside looking in at the Tour de France. Was Cobo’s performance enough to earn the team an invitation in 2012?

6. We have a winner from Saturday’s Stage 20 Contest as Cthulu correctly picked Bennati for the win. His prognostication earns him a nice new hat from Laekhouse.

 7. Philippe Gilbert and Rui Costa took Canada by storm over the weekend, winning Friday’s GP Quebec and Sunday’s GP de Montreal respectively. Gilbert took over the World’s #1 ranking after his win Friday, and then defended it Sunday after overcoming a crash to finish third. Now the Belgian sets his sights on the World Road Race Championship in Copenhagen next week, where he will be the leader of a Tom Boonen-less Belgian squad.

8. In Belgium and France, Katusha’s Denis Galimzyanov took the biggest win of the season, edging out Yauheni Hutarovich and Anthony Ravard to win Paris-Brussels Saturday. The 24-year-old Russian is a trendy pick to win in Copenhagen. He’ll have an all-Katusha squad supporting him as well. At Sunday’s Grand Prix Fourmies, Guillaume Blot gave the small Bretagne-Schuller team its biggest win of the year, taking the field sprint ahead of Alexandre Kristoff and Stephen Van Dijk.

9. At the Tour of Britain, today’s was stage cancelled, giving Stage 1 winner Mark Cavendish an extra day to enjoy his gold jersey. For Cavendish, this week is his last chance to put the finishing touches on his form for Worlds. With Mark Renshaw and Bernie Eisel leading him out, this might also be our last chance to see Cav’s now-legendary lead-out train more or less “intact”.

10. Back to France, where Johan Chaves gave Colombia its second consecutive win at the Tour de l’Avenir Sunday, getting the better of Canada’s David Boily in the final stage in Alba. For Boily, the loss has to be heartbreaking, as he took the maillot jaune after Stage 3 and fought to defend up to the final day. For Chaves, the victory confirms the renewed depth and talent of Colombian cycling.

11. Apparently French DS Alain Gallopin has yet to learn if he will be joining the “new” Radio Shack-Nissan-Trek team for 2012. For both his sake and the team’s, I hope a deal can be reached as Gallo’s one of the most experienced men in the sport, and a valuable resource to all who have worked with and ridden for him. Yes, I’m biased, but what blogger isn’t nowadays?

12. Interbike starts this Wednesday and we don’t plan to overlook it. Erik is in Vegas as we speak, getting ready to provide daily reports, photo slideshows, and coverage of Wednesday’s CrossVegas—the first major race on the North American Calendar. Come back soon!

13. Speaking of cyclocross, hopefully you noticed last week’s rollout of our 2011-2012 ‘cross coverage, beginning with a Domestic/North American Season Preview and Pre-Season Power Ranking. We’ll be providing a constant stream of reports and commentary each week, led by our popular weekly Power Rankings. Look for an International Preview and Pre-Season Power Ranking this week as well. If you’re a racer, promoter, and/or fan, feel free to send us reports, photos, and press releases that might enhance and extend our coverage.

14. If you live in the Mid-Atlantic region and are looking for great autumn rides, consider the Univest Cyclosportif and Bicycling Magazine’s Fall Classic. Both rides feature distance to suit all fitness levels, courses through some of Pennsylvania’s most beautiful fall scenery, and a fully catered meal to all who take part. Univest also offers a tent along the race course for all participants to watch the UCI category 1.2 event, while Bicycling’s Fall Classic offers a nice-looking t-shirt to everyone who rides.

Have a great week!

 

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North American CX: Week 1 Wrap-Up

Posted on September 12, 2011 by

Photo Courtesy of Rapha

The UCI Cyclocross calendar got underway this weekend with the Mid-Atlantic Series’ traditional season opener, the Nittany Lion, held at the grounds of the Lehigh Valley Velodrome in Pennsylvania. It’s usually the purview of fast-twitch trackies, but for one weekend in September, cyclocrossers cavort on the grounds. This year, heavy rains turned much of the course into a mud pit. When the sludge cleared, Jeremy Powers had won Saturday’s edition ahead of a trio of visiting Europeans – Great Britain’s Ian Field, Italy’s Fabio Ursi, and Belgium’s Tom Van Den Bosch. 

Day Two of Nittany Lion was a non-UCI race; some riders stayed and some left to continue their racing and training elsewhere. Helen Wyman, racing for Kona, took her second victory of the weekend, while Field won the men’s race ahead of Van Den Bosch, both of whom took advantage of Powers’ absense. Meanwhile, Massachusetts’ Quad Cross shows why New England is a prime place for cyclocross – Cannondale/Cyclocrossworld.com’s Christian Huele, the Swiss Champion, won his first race for his new team.

Thus the first weekend was an excellent display of the strength of new teams following significant shake-ups since last season. Powers is doubtless pleased to have an early win under his belt. Confidence, it seems, is rarely his issue, but one can’t help but wonder if his failure to claim the Stars and Stripes could nag at him and make it difficult for him to feel comfortable in new surroundings at Rapha-Focus. Hitting his stride early is a good sign. 

With little racing under way, there are few if any changes to Pavé’s Cyclocross power rankings; Wednesday’s CrossVegas, however, will bring together the nation’s elite fields for the first true shake-down of the season, and to add to the competition, they’ll toe the line with a host of incoming Europeans chasing down UCI points.

Stay tuned for more Cyclocross coverage throughout the week.

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The Sticky Bidon – September 9, 2011

Posted on September 9, 2011 by

Fotoreporter Sirotti

Interesting cycling items from across the Internet, September 9, 2011

Seen any cool links we missed? Share ’em in the comments below!

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Canadian Royal Weekend Preview: GP Quebec and Montreal

Posted on September 9, 2011 by

Fotoreporter Sirotti

 

Despite being newcomers to the World Tour, today’s Grand Prix Cycliste de Quebec and Sunday’s Grand Prix Cycliste de Montreal bring exciting parcours, enthusiastic fans, and world-class contenders. Last year’s races were won by virtue of not only strength but also tactical savvy.

This year’s “Royal Canadian Weekend” comes on the heels of the US Pro Cycling Challenge, conveniently run at the high altitudes of Colorado and possibly giving some Canadian contenders the boost from a week high-altitude “training.” And while some teams appear to be bringing their development squad, such as RadioShack, Liquigas-Cannondale, Europcar, Leopard-Trek, and Movistar; others bring all-stars, such as Omega Pharma-Lotto, Rabobank, Team Sky, Garmin-Cervelo, and Katusha.

Today’s Grand Prix de Quebec is a circuit race around Quebec City’s center, running alongside the St. Lawrence River and ascending the Cote de la Montagne’s short, steep slopes up the old battlements. The old city features technical almost criterium-like corners, making it a true race of attrition and skill.

On the other hand, Sunday’s Grand Prix de Montreal offers a circuit featuring a longer climb up the Cote Camilien-Houde and a shorter Cote de la Polytechnique. The finish line is at the end of a long descent with a few corners and a 180-degree bend before the straight run-in to the finish.

By virtue of both races being relatively new—and the defending champion of Quebec (Thomas Voeckler) not returning—predicting the winners and losers is a bit difficult, but here’s our take on who to watch.

Philippe Gilbert (Omega Pharma-Lotto)

Even if he claims to be tired, who in their right mind would discount Gilbert this season? Quebec seems to be a perfect fit for Gilbert, with plenty of opportunities for attacking. While Gilbert is playing down his chances for a win, the Belgian Champion needs only 6 points to take over the World Tour’s #1 ranking from Cadel Evans—a relatively easy task given Gilbert’s track record. And if he may not be in top form, teammates Jurgen van de Walle and Jelle Vanendert appear ready to show their form in GP Montreal.

Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Cervelo)

As a hometown favorite, Hesjedal bravely fought to finish fourth in last year’s GP Montreal. Out of the two races, GP Montreal seems best suited for him: a strong attack and sustained TT to the finish won the race for Rabobank’s Robert Gesink last year. Many riders on Hesjedal’s team rode in last month’s US Pro Cycling Challenge in Colorado, which means they benefit from having top form and conditioning. Look for Hesjedal to win at least of the two races.

George Hincapie (BMC)

While he might not be as much of a winner as he used to be, George Hincapie has shown that he still has staying power in harder races—as his stage win in Colorado proves. A motivated BMC team may get him into the right move in GP Quebec—whether he can finish it off is up to him.

Edvald Boasson Hagen and Simon Gerrans (Sky)

Although no longer the cheery youngster he once was, Simon Gerrans has had a promising season so far, with good performances all year long from the Aussie Road Nationals in January to the recent Clasica San Sebastian, Post Danmark Rundt, and GP Ouest France-Plouay. His teammate had the misfortune of crashing in the finale of GP Montreal last year, leaving Gesink to solo to the win and Peter Sagan unable to catch him. This year, EBH may still prove that the profile of GP Montreal really is custom-built for him.

Jerome Pineau (QuickStep)

Only a team with a star-studded cast can win Gent-Wevelgem and still be called a failure. Arguably, Quick-Step have been the season’s most unfortunate team. We look to Jerome Pineau to lift their spirits with a win in GP Montreal: his recent win in GP Jef Scherens shows he has good form and he is very motivated for a solid performance at Worlds.

The Raboboys (Rabobank)

For one reason or another, Rabobank has seen fit to show-up with Robert Gesink, Laurens Ten Dam, and Pieter Weening in attendance. Gesink is of course the defending champ of GP Montreal, and although his Tour de France was a disaster, he showed that his form in Colorado was not too bad. Rabobank has many cards to play, and it’s up to them to show that they can pick the right one at the right time.

What about you? Who do you think will impress in the Royal Canadian Weekend?

 

 

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