Oooh la la it has been a busy past few days in the bike racing world. Thankfully, it's Monday, so I've got a great excuse to do my job: pick up the garbage, sort it, and comment ad nauseam. Grab your tea (tea is good), lock the office door, and enjoy a few minutes of peace...
Cadel Evans To BMC
I have to admit, when I left for a weekend of travel, the last thought on my mind was Cadel Evans...even further from my thoughts was a possible move. We all knew he wasn't terribly happy, but the World Championships seemed like they had made a bad situation a little bit more pleasant, then there was the news that he was moving, but where? Sky and Garmin immediately popped up as possible new homes for Evans, but soon after, it was announced that Cadel Evans will be heading to the vastly strengthened BMC Racing Team for 2010 by way of a three year contract.
Cadel is currently touring Australia to support his new book, Cadel Evans - Close To Flying. Over the weekend, he was in Adelaide, so the online newssource, AdelaideNow, has some great commentary from Evans about the bombshell news.
"A great opportunity has come for me to join a growing team of like-minded individuals at BMC. I look forward to working with the BMC group toward the same goals including the Tour de France. I see the BMC Racing Team as a growing but very well-structured and organised Team. Obviously, I would like to do better than my two second places at the Tour de France."
Cadel is happy to note his 2010 schedule is pretty much set: "I get to do everything that I want. All the program is done, the only race we don't know about is the Tour Down Under."
Sidenote: That shouldn't be too big of an issue, Australia's World Champion hoped to speak with TDU Race director, Mike Turtur, whilst in Adelaide to hopefully negotiate a start for BMC in January.
Evans continues: "We're guaranteed a start in the Giro, and then it's up to us to prove that we shouldn't be left out of the Tour de France."
Evans did take a moment to kinda sorta address his feelings about Silence-Lotto by noting what he was looking for in his new team: "When you look for a team as a Grand Tour rider, you need a team that is 100 percent behind you from day one. But you also need the riders that are capable of doing that, capable of physically doing the work that is required."
That's a big ouch for Silence-Lotto, no?
BMC is suitably ecstatic about pulling in the World Champion's signature - with the signings of Hincapie, Burghardt, Kroon, 2008 World Champ Ballan, and now 2009 World Champ Evans, they should be very hopeful for 2010.
Tour De France 2010: Who Will Race?
If there's one website on the internet outside of PEZ that I enjoy most, it's PodiumCafe.com. The folks on the site just seem to have an incredible propensity to make me scratch my chin and ponder...case in point: who the hell will be racing in next year's Tour de France?
Seriously, think about it:
To conclude the big tussle between the Grand Tours and the UCI, 18 teams were guaranteed entry into the Grand Tours in 2009 and 2010 (this has already been put out to pasture, but the basics should hold true)...
1 AG2R-La Mondiale, 2 Astana, 3 BBox (no longer PT), 4 Caisse d’Epargne, 5 Cofidis (no longer PT), 6 Euskaltel-Euskadi, 7 Française des Jeux, 8 High Road, 9 Lampre, 10 Liquigas, 11 Omega-Pharma-Lotto, 12 Quick·Step, 13 Rabobank, 14 Footon-Servetto, 15 SaxoBank, 16 Team Milram, 17 Crédit Agricole, 18 Team Gerolsteiner.
You can subtract two for sure, because Credit Agricole and Gerolsteiner are gone. Even though Cofidis and BBox lost their ProTour licenses, you can bet your ass they'll be at the Tour. That means we have 16 spots taken so far, right?
As Monty further notes in his post, there are two new, established ProTour teams as well: 17 Garmin, 18 Katyusha. Then there are two brand spanking new ProTour teams in: 19 Sky, 20 Radio Shack. They should theoretically be guaranteed spots.
But wait, what about those awesome ProContinental outfits like, oh say, 21 Cervelo TestTeam and 22 BMC.
Don't forget that the Tour starts in Holland next year, so there's no getting around a few Dutch teams. Two Dutch teams got Wild Cards this year and did amazingly with them: 23 Vacansoleil and 24 Skil-Shimano.
To make it a nice 25, Jimmy Casper's Saur-Sojasun looks to be a good prospect for Tour de France entry.
There is going to be a major tussle for those Tour spots in 2010. Who's going to be left out? I won't get into that just yet, but it's well worth a moment or 20 to ponder. Head on over to the Cafe to enter the torrent of debate!
Cross Compote
Niels Albert racked up his 8th win of the season on Sunday in Hoogstraten when he took the second round of the Superprestige Series.
Despite a terrible start, Albert managed to gain the front of the race after some terrific riding. He took a deep breath, then kept right on going. Only Zdenek Stybar could stay with the flying World Champ, but in the end, it was all Albert as he rammed home to another win.
In 3rd, Sven Nys had a mess of a day with a number of miscues both technically and logistically, namely a vital miscommunication with his pit crew. Nys was irritated with the race and eager to move on: "I made too many mistakes in order to be able to win today. I ended up riding in between the front and the rest. It was a boring race for me and I'd rather race for the win, which was posibble if I wouldn't have made all those mistakes. It's a race that I soon want to forget, luckily I didn't lose my classification,"
1 Niels Albert (Bel) BKCP - Powerplus 1:03:36
2 Zdenek Štybar (Cze) Fidea Cycling Team 0:00:16
3 Sven Nys (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago 0:01:12
4 Kevin Pauwels (Bel) Fidea Cycling Team 0:01:28
5 Klaas Vantornout (Bel) Sunweb-Projob 0:01:48
6 Gerben de Knegt (Ned) Rabobank 0:01:58
7 Radomír Šimunek Jr. (Cze) BKCP - Power Plus 0:02:22
8 Erwin Vervecken (Bel) Revor-BabocoContinental 0:02:32
9 Bart Aernouts (Bel) Rabobank 0:02:33
10 Dieter Vanthourenhout (Bel) BKCP - Powerplus
Superprestige Standings
1 Niels Albert (Bel) BKCP - Powerplus 29 pts
2 Sven Nys (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago 28
3 Zdenek Štybar (Cze) Fidea Cycling Team 27
4 Klaas Vantornout (Bel) Sunweb-Projob 22
5 Radomír Šimunek Ml (Cze) BKCP - Power Plus 19
Like Father, Like Son
Sven Nys wasn't the only Nys in action in Hoogstraten on Sunday. His nearly 7-year-old son, Thibau, took the the rainy, muddy course as well.
Thibau managed to keep it upright, unlike his father, who dumped it twice in the Elite race. I guess we should enjoy the next decade and a half before Nys' son takes over cyclocross. The odds seem to be against that kind of stuff though, don't they?
This Doesn't Taste So Good
Former Tour de France runner-up, Andreas Kloeden, has agreed to pay a 25,000 euro fine to to stop the investigation into his involvement in the Freiburg blood doping ring.
The 25,000 euro donation to, well, I'm not sure who, is not an admission of guilt under German law, but it smacks highly of crap to me.
Kloeden has always denied any wrongdoing in the Freiburg case, but his name has shown up more often than not in the investigation, and, as far as I can tell, most innocent people don't shell out 25,000 euro when they're innocent.
Then again, if I had a lot of money and didn't want to see my name plowed through mud, I might ante up too, but there's just something about this that just doesn't seem right to me.
Oh wait, that's it: he just bought his innocence: guaranteed. For 25,000 euro, Kloedi guaranteed that he's off the hook.
Speaking Of Off The Hook
Belgium's Six Day standout, Iljo Keisse, has finally been acquitted of any wrongdoing in his not so clearcut case from November 2008's Gent Six Day (which he won).
He tested positive for two illegal substances: cathine and HCT. He managed to put the blame of the HCT through a contaminated supplement, ZMA. Three independent professors corroborated his story, and the commission agreed with Keisse, that he took the supplement in good faith and that he acted with no fault or negligence. The cathine part was a little tougher, but Keisse's team showed that a positive test can emerge from the degradation of pseudoephedrine - in this case, Keisse admitted to taking Sinutab Forte.
Keisse is in the clear...not that it changes anything really, he's racing right now at the Grenoble Six!
Gent-Wevelgem A True Classic In 2010
The Flemish semi-classic, Gent-Wevelgem, will take on full Classic status in 2010. The longtime midweek race will move from Wednesday to the Sunday before De Ronde (as reported before), but most importantly, it picks up an extra 50 kilometers to bring it to 250 - the 'Classic' length.
Race director Hans de Clerq spoke about the possibilities: "We are looking at some new passages, some are cobbled, but the most important change in the course will be the length. There will be no change to the finale."
I'm assuming that means that means we can still expect two laps of the Kemmelberg loop then a fast, wide-open run-in to Wevelgem.
Excited About 2010?
Columbia already has its roster set for January's Tour Down Under. Not surprisingly, Andre Greipel will head Stapleton's boys Down Under. Last year, Greipel came in swinging, but was dispatched from the race and the next few months of racing in a terrible crash. He'll be hoping for better luck in 2010...possibly a repeat victory of his 2008 overall and four stage win effort.
TDU Race Director, Mike Turtur, was happy to hear of Greipel's return: "Our race is a good start to the year for Greipel. We are excited that he'll return after his bad luck this year."
Columbia Down Under:
Andre Greipel, Michael Rogers, Adam Hansen, Mark Renshaw, Matthew Goss, Marcel Sieberg, Hayden Roulston.
Speaking Of Columbia...
Columbia Press Release: For the second year running, the Columbia-HTC men's squad has completed the road-racing season with more wins than any ProTour team. Starting with Mick Rogers' [AUS] victory in the Australian National Time Trial Championships on January 8th and ending with Marco Pinotti's [ITA] first place in the Citta di Stressa time trial in Italy on October 18th, Columbia-HTC racked up 86 victories by 15 different riders in the 2009 season, one more victory than in 2008.
The 2009 victories saw Columbia-HTC riders take 17 Grand Tour stage wins, as well as the Milan-San Remo 'Monument'. Other highpoints of the season included Ghent-Wevelgem, Paris-Bourges and Eroica Classics, six stage wins in the Tour of Switzerland, seven national time trial championships titles, the US National road-race, and the final Green jersey - Columbia-HTC's first in a "Grand Tour - in the Vuelta a Espana. Columbia-HTC riders also secured overall victory in the Eneco Tour and multiple stage wins in the Tours of Britain, Missouri, Poland, Austria, Qatar, California, the Basque Country and Murcia in Spain, the Ster Elektrotoer in Holland, the Bayern Rundfahrt in Germany, the Tour of Romandie in Switzerland and the Three Days of De Panne in Belgium.
"2009 proved to be an outstanding year for Columbia-HTC," commented team owner Bob Stapleton. "We had ambitious goals with this international team of young riders, and we exceeded even our own expectations. Seventeen Grand Tour victories, wearing the green and white jerseys at the Tour de France and the Giro's maglia rosa, the gold leader's jersey at the Vuelta. These are fantastic accomplishments, but its the exemplary teamwork demonstrated by our athletes and staff that we are most proud of"
"What makes me so pleased about this degree of success is that everybody got their chance and everybody took their chance," commented Columbia-HTC manager Rolf Aldag. "We did very well in 2008, but in 2009 what I'd highlight is the quality of the wins. Seventeen wins in major Tours, for example, is an amazing total. I can't say which victory was the most memorable, although watching the entire team pull away on stage three of the Tour and then Mark Cavendish sprinting across the line in first place was pretty impressive. In terms of the quality of wins, I'd just say it's almost impossible to get better on that level. In 2010 we'll be looking to see if our younger riders can confirm the faith we have in them. Guys like Tony Martin and all of new, young riders from the amateur ranks we're bringing in."
Aldag added, "Now it is time to look toward 2010 and beyond. An important part of our success story in 2009 was what we did in 2008, and the same goes for next season. The training camps are planned, and It's all falling into place. In a year's time we hope we'll be reaping the rewards of that hard work again, just like we did in 2008 and 2009."
Lampre Announces New Sponsor
Lampre Press Release: As announced with satisfaction by the Italian wine firm, the Pro Tour team Lampre has the pleasure to welcome Farnese Vini in blue-fucsia group as co-sponsor. The italian firm, leader in the production of wines, oils and grappa of high quality, has chosen to support the team of Saronni starting from 2010.
"Join our brand to a Pro Tour team as Lampre, is a good vehicle to promote the image of the firm that exports its products in 67 countries - explains the owner of Farnese Vini Valentino Sciotti - The cycling, indeed, has a strength of penetration that few other sports can boast. Besides we found in Lampre very serious managers and other sponsors that share with us the great passion for this sport".
"I'm sure that the cycling fans will soon accustom to the new name Lampre-Farnese Vini: in fact, we have all the chance to perform a very good season - Giuseppe Saronni, general manager of blue-fucsia team, commented - We're proud to rely on Farnese Vini support, because the choice of sponsorship made by the company placed in Ortona is a sign of trust towards our performances and our plans for the futures. I thank Farnese Vini and its owner Valentino Sciotti, with whom immediately a strong realtionship began".
Zabel Named To ProTour Council
Whilst the Dusseldorf Six Day suffered in the absence of Erik Zabel in 2009, the ProTour Council will be enjoying Ete's membership for the foreseeable future.
Ok, they don't go together so well, but really, as mentioned before, the long-running Dusseldorf Six came to grief this year, due in large part to the absence of its hometown hero, Zabel.
I was hoping to segue that into the news that Zabel is moving up in the world of bike racing politics.
Zabel will replace the president of the German cycling federation, Rudolf Scharping. The council of 12 is made up of: a president, two rider representatives, two race organizer representatives, and then five UCI nominated representatives (this is where Zabel fits).
SaxoBank In The Clear For 2010
I'm not sure if we've mentioned this before, but it's well worth noting (From SaxoBank):
Team Saxo Bank and Riis Cycling have now received written confirmation that all documents are in order for the requirements concerning the 2010 UCI license.
Media reports earlier today speculated that the team's application was not meeting the requirements relevant for the application. UCI has now confirmed this is not the case.
See Chris Carmichael In California
Chris Carmichael is personal coach to seven-time Tour de France Champion Lance Armstrong, and guided his recent return from retirement to the podium at the 2009 Tour de France. Chris was named US Olympic Committee Coach of the Year in 1999.
Chris founded Carmichael Training Systems to provide athletes of all abilities access to world-class coaching. The author of a number of fitness and cycling books, his recent book is The Time Crunched Cyclist: Fit, Fast and Powerful in Six Hours a Week.
Meet Chris and hear him talk about his coaching and cycling experiences. He also will be autographing copies of his latest book, which will be for sale at the event. A free Fitness Expo will offer information on the latest products and services available for cycling, endurance sports, health and fitness.
Also join Chris that evening as he receives the Kennedy Laureate Award. For more info, go HERE!
Saturday, November 14
11:30 – 4:00 pm
JFK University Campus
100 Ellinwood Way
Pleasant Hill, CA 94523
“Conversations with Chris”
Sign up to attend one of these sessions.
Session 1
Noon – 1:00 pm
Book signing
1:00 – 1:30 pm
Session 2
2:00 – 3:00 pm
Book signing
3:00 – 3:30 pm
Fitness Expo
11:30 – 4:00 pm
Cost:
General $20.00 per session
JFKU Alumni, Staff, $15.00 per session Students & Faculty. Group discount available.
Individuals with disabilities needing special assistance should call 925.969.3362 prior to the event.
Space is limited! To purchase tickets, visit us HERE!
Questions? Comments? Happy? Sad? Send me an email.
There's always the trusty JeredGruber.com if you ever get really bored.
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