Innholdsfortegnelse for December 2016 i Procycling

EDITOR There’s a debate often had in cycling about which of the Grand Tours is the best. It flares up around this time of year, when the routes of the three races - the Giro d’Italia, the Tour de France and the Vuelta a España - are being announced, and again during the races themselves. I can really see all three sides of the argument. The Giro’s scenery is stunning and the impression I get is that there’s a depth of understanding of the race among the local fans that is only equalled by the Flemish fans at the northern Classics. The Tour's not shabby in terms of its aesthetics either, and it attracts the best field of the year. The best climbers and the best sprinters are there, in…

In June, when it became clear the Bahrain-Merida team was on, there was a spike in the protest against the bankroller behind the squad, Prince Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa. Not surprising: the prince is accused by charities such as Amnesty International of personally beating pro-democracy campaigners and intimidating athletes during the 2011 Arab Spring. “Whoever calls for the fall of the regime, may a wall fall on his head,” he said on state TV at the time. Amnesty International believes the Prince is trying to whitewash his reputation by funding a team that attracted stars including Vicenzo Nibali, Joaquim Rodríguez (briefly, before he retires again) and Heinrich Haussler. WorldTour licences will be announced in November. It’s unlikely the squad will be turned down by the UCI, no matter how…

MILES SCOTSON The Australian finished third in the U23 time trial. He’s got a strong track background and was part of the Australian team pursuit squad in Rio, though he didn’t get to ride. He’s hoping his worlds podium will net him a pro contract in 2017. SKYLAR SCHNEIDER The 18-year-old from Wisconsin, USA, finished fourth in the junior TT and second in the road race behind the Italian Elisa Balsamo. Schneider is the younger sister of Sam, and is proving a strong sprinter on the US domestic circuit. TEGSHBAYAR BATSAIKHAN Batsaikhan's road worlds adventure wasn't a fairy tale – 28th in the junior TT and he DNf'd the road race, but the 18-year-old is Mongalia's first ever track world champ after winning the points race in Aigle in July.…

Belgian cycling fans must be in despair. Soon they’ll have to watch races with no Tommeke Boonen nor Cannibal Nys. These two riders have had a massive impact on Belgian cycling in the last 18 years. Both riders were extremely popular and they became celebrities. Whether or not times without them will be dark for the Belgian fans remains to be seen. For sure, several generations grew up with these two stars and they will have to recalibrate their links with cycling. But who to rally behind? To me, the magic which surrounds riders like Nys and Boonen has much to do with how they entered the sport, beating the big names at a young age and creating expectations. They had star quality: they interviewed well, had a sense of…

The reality for a US pro is spending most of the year in Europe. I get back to my place in Nice between races and camps. I’ve carved out a niche there, and it feels like home now. There is though, and I suspect always will be, an element of isolation when racing over there. It doesn’t bother me, but it’s telling that I can pick out my name coming from an American voice over the din of the peloton, clear as day. I’ve been enjoying my offseason in Virginia for a while now. It’s fun for me to check out from the bike for a while and be a normal 25- year-old. One of my off-season aims was to release Dombrewski, my beer. We settled on doing it as…

Finally, it was time to pack my bags for the last trip of the season, the Worlds. We travelled out 10 days before the TTT. The reason for arriving in Doha so early was so we had longer to adapt to the heat. We worked with a specialist sports hospital called Aspetar who provided us with their knowledge and expertise to help us adapt to the heat. They would collect data throughout the time we were there to monitor our acclimatisation and also gave us advice to help accelerate the adaptations. We trained most days, weighing ourselves before and after to monitor our hydration. We would also swallow a thermometer every morning. This would record our core temperature throughout the day. During the TT on the Tuesday my core temperature…

Race finales are more dangerous than they should be, partly owing to the lack of clear rules specifying how finish zones should be managed. The UCI should introduce new regulation to mandate safe course design inside the final 3km. There should be tough penalties for organisers who breach the rules. Well in advance of the race, organisers should complete a mandatory risk assessment of the run-in. This should identify all hazards, the level of risk they pose and the mitigating measures taken to improve safety. This should be shared with the UCI and the CPS rider representative. Warnings of road furniture in the finale are not uniform and in some races aren’t marked at all. Any obstacles taller than 5cm should be marked either with a 2m orange pylon that…

At root, professional cycling exists because it’s the logical extension of recreational cycling. That’s extremely fashionable right now but there’s a palpable disconnect between participation and investment at the top end. It seems the demands on sponsors are prohibitive, still more so when one considers the prevailing winds. The disparity between the haves and the have-nots is getting bigger, and cycling teams continue to haemorrhage money. They get you publicity for three weeks in July but as an investment it’s hard to make them work. Just ask Michel Thétaz, the boss of IAM Cycling. The story of IAM is an oft-repeated one but no less salutary for it. In simple terms, wealthy businessman loves cycling, and decides to indulge his passion. It’s €11m a year but some can be written…

The only doubt about Fernando Gaviria’s victory at Paris-Tours came when deciding whether to describe the method of his win as an attack or a sprint. It’s rare to see an attack, successful or otherwise, from a full peloton, with700m to go, but was it close enough to the finish line to count as a sprint? Either way, it was one of the most impressive finishing flourishes by any rider all year, reminiscent in its effect, if not the circumstances, of his former teammate Mark Cavendish’s scintillating 2009 Milan-San Remo sprint. Cavendish himself had an excellent view of Gaviria’s manoeuvre in Tours – the Brit, who would finish sixth, watched the Colombian go, freewheeling momentarily and looking around to see who was going to chase. The answer, initially, was nobody.…

What’s the best thing about riding your bike? It’s about freedom for me but everyone enjoys the same sensations that come with riding a bike, no matter if you’re a professional rider or a compete beginner. That’s what makes cycling so special. What’s your favourite race? That’s a tough one but I’d have to give it to Lombardia and Liège-Bastogne-Liège in a tie. They both mean a lot to me for obvious reasons. I have won them but still, they’re just incredible races. They mean so much not just to me but to the sport as a whole. Who is the best domestique in the peloton? Ooh, that one is controversial. I can’t answer that one. No comment. Actually, you know what? Julien Vermote. Who is your funniest team-mate? Funniest…

The Tour de France was an unmitigated disaster for Thibaut Pinot and he was unable to salvage anything at the Olympics or Vuelta. His season ended with his withdrawal ahead of stage 13 at the Tour. In light of such disappointment it's hard to remember that in the first half of the season Pinot was flying, with a number of time trial wins and an exceptional run of top-five finishes in week-long stages races, including second at the Tour of Romandy and the overall win at Critérium International. His form lasted into the Critérium du Dauphiné, where he won stage 6. We photographed Pinot's bike at the start of the race. Complemented in Lapierre's range by the aero Aircode and compliant Pulsium, the Xelium SL borrows from both to be…

Should I attack or not? Generally, if you find yourself asking this question during a race it is either a) too late or b) not the right moment. Racing is as much about instinct as prelaid plans. There are so many competitors with different ambitions, so many variables and courses, and of course your own sensations; you can never predict when to attack. The problem with racing aggressively is that it is safer to hide in the wheels. Sticking your neck out of anonymity comes with risks. If it works you are praised for having tactical savvy; if it backfires and you come out losing, you attacked too early. I've earned a reputation for aggressive riding and it has paid off on a number of occasions but when it did…

We’ve had a great season with our young GC riders, the Yates boys and Esteban Chaves. But it’s easy to forget that it’s not riders who win or do well in races, it’s teams. So I want to tell you about one of the riders at Orica who doesn’t get much in the way of column inches, but is an absolute linchpin. When we were putting the team together to start in 2012, we had 30 slots on the team. We had 29 riders, and the last guy we signed was Daryl Impey. He’d had a hard couple of years; I knew he had talent, but he just slotted in that last place on the roster. At the Tour of the Basque Country in 2012, he was leading out for…

Greg Van Avermaet’s career has been a model of consistency, for better and for worse. The Belgian has been finishing up there in big one-day races for his entire career, with a skill set so broad that he is able to challenge from February through to October, on the flat, over cobbles and up hills, from the freezing cold of Het Nieuwsblad to the boiling heat of the Tour de France. Of course, there’s a price to pay for such a breadth of talent: when you’re good at everything, you’re the best at nothing. Van Avermaet’s been beaten on the cobbles by better cobbles riders and outclimbed by better climbers in hilly races. He could also be considered unfortunate that he’s a Classics allrounder, a sprinter-puncheur in the era…

Greg Van Avermaet’s career has developed with a focus on one-day races, especially the Classics. But early on, his all-round ability put him in surprise contention for the points jersey in his first ever Grand Tour, the 2008 Vuelta a España. With equal points being offered for every stage, whether flat, mountainous or time trial, the competition was an open one, with sprinters and GC contenders both in the mix throughout, and multi-taskers like Van Avermaet falling between the two sets of specialists. There were 25 points for stage winners, 20 for second, 16 for third, counting down to one point for 15th position. Van Avermaet got off to a consistent but not dazzling start to the race – he achieved a fourth and two sixths in week one, leaving…

IN PICTURES The Doha Worlds were dogged by controversy before a pedal was turned in anger, and on a pan-flat, almost featureless course, there really was only one angle from which to approach the event: to document the battle of the riders against the wind and heat, and the suffering endured at the hands of the elements. At the desert stage starts the media outnumbered spectators and riders signed on with the usual ceremony, with a commentator waxing lyrical over the PA system. The situation was quite surreal, all set in what can only be described as a lunar landscape, with spectacular buildings and wide-open spaces. On The Pearl, the man-made island where most of the racing took place, we all had to go to our locations, which would change…

Before a healthy crowd in Siena’s Piazza del Campo, Lizzie Armitstead, the popular new world champion, had enough time to raise her right hand off the bars and point her index finger skywards. For the UCI’s top management, the world champion’s lone arrival in the hilltop town must have felt like a sign. The federation’s greatest asset, its rainbow bands, momentarily acceded to the blue, copper and violet stripes of the new Women’s WorldTour leader’s jersey. The UCI couldn’t have hoped for a more positive and apt ordination for its new competition. When the UCI announced the arrival of the Women’s WorldTour in the autumn of 2015 it came with high expectations and few compromises. The new 17-race series was made up of four stage races and 13 oneday events.…

SPECIFICATION Weight: 7.88kg (size 58, no pedals) Frame: Venge Vias, FACT 11r carbon Fork: FACT carbon Groupset: SRAM Red eTap Crankset: S!Works FACT carbon with Quarq power meter, 52/36 Cassette: SRAM Red, 11!28 Brakes: SRAM Red Disc Wheels: Roval Rapide CLX 64 Disc, thru-axle Tyres: S!Works Turbo Tubeless 24mm Handlebar: S!Works Aero"ly Vias Stem: Specialized Venge Vias aero stem Seatpost: Venge, carbon Saddle: S!Works Power Price: £8,500 | $11,500 www.specialized.com The first revealing test of the new Venge Vias Disc was… where to test it. As well as riding every bike on well-known local roads, I always aim to take each one to a salient event or location: mountains for the flyweights, cobbles for the floaters… It demands more of the bikes and, frankly, makes for a better story. But…

You might think that Rigoberto Urán, a two-time runner up at the Giro and a top 10 finisher in many big races – Tirreno, Catalonia, Suisse, Liège and Lombardy to name a few – would have won more than eight races in his 10-year career. He’s a good climber, time triallist and sprinter in selective events. But in the last three seasons, his only wins are two Giro stages and the GP de Québec. Urán’s manager at Cannondale, Jonathan Vaughters, explains, surprisingly, that the Colombian compensates for limited physical capacity with diligent training, excellent tactical awareness and determination. “The misinterpretation of Rigo that people have made is that he’s massively talented,” he says. “But the accurate interpretation is that he’s not a big raw talent; he’s a guy that might…

1 ME Stage 3 of Volta a Catalunya. A perfect balance of going before everybody else but not too early. Helped by my sprinting endurance. 2 CHRIS FROOME The descent of the Col de Peyresourde. I was frustrated at the time as it cost me a shot at the stage and yellow, but it made for great TV. 3 FERNANDO GAVIRIA Paris-Tours. He has a real snap in his pedal stroke, a super aggressive stance on the bike. Might have won the sprint anyway but why wait? 4 TOM LEEZER World's Road Race. It didn't work but at least he had a go rather than wait for a sprint in which he had no chance. It was exciting to watch, too. 5 ESTEBAN CHAVES Vuelta a España, stage 20. I…

It’s the end of October, and probably the end of my career. I suppose there’s nothing unusual in that, because every year riders retire or don’t get a contract. Change happens in all walks of life and now it’s my turn, after 20 years, to start a new adventure. Of course I have mixed feelings. I’m 42, which realistically isn’t the best time to be learning new tricks. You’re probably better off doing that at 32 – which is about when a lot of riders retire – but then I’ve been privileged to have had an extremely long career. I have to say the last couple of months have been hard. I had wanted to do one more year and then stop on my terms, but it looks like that’s…

2006 Van Avermaet turns pro for the ProConti Bodysol team. He is second in the U23 Paris-Tours and 14th in the U23 Tour of Flanders. A win comes in the .2 -ranked Wielertrofee Jong Maar Moedig. 2007 Signs for Lotto and wins four times, including a stage at Qatar, and the Memorial Rik Van Steenbergen. A top 10 in Vattenfall Cyclassics hints at a future in the biggest one-day races. 2008 Takes a debut ProTour win on a Vuelta stage, which leads to the points jersey. Rides well at home: second in the Tours of Belgium and Wallonia, third in E3 and eighth in Flanders. 2009 Van Avermaet rides well but takes no wins. His best results are fourth at Het Nieuwsblad, fifth in the Tour of Belgium and fourth…

The Grand Tours, or at least their overall classifications, have not historically been a big priority for Etixx–Quick Step. The team’s focus comes instead at the Spring Classics, where they have enjoyed huge success, and where the Flemish media inquest is loud, long and soul-searching if they should come away empty-handed in April. Etixx, conceived by Patrick Lefevere and constructed for a decade around their talisman, Tom Boonen, is held to be the living embodiment of the Flemish cycling ‘mentality’. The team’s owner, Zdenek Bakala, is Czech, its origins Italian (in Mapei, from which Lefevere formed the Quick Step team in 2003) and its roster multinational, but it is quintessentially Belgian, or rather, Flemish. The myth is that the Flemish are far more interested in the muck and nettles of…

2015 Tour of Flanders: Jesse Sergent is sideswiped by a Shimano neutral service car; he escapes serious injury. Minutes later, another neutral service car shunts an FDJ car into their own rider, Frenchman Sébastien Chavanel. Basque Country Sergio Pardilla, Peter Stetina, Nicolas Edet and Adam Yates are all injured in a crash caused by two badly marked metal bollards in the finishing straight of stage 1. It ruins Stetina’s season. Tour de France Astana’s Jakob Fuglsang is involved in a collision with a motorbike on stage 18, when he drifts sideways slightly into the path of the pilot, who hits the rider’s handlebar. San Sebastián A motorbike rides into BMC’s Greg Van Avermaet just after he had attacked out of the front group on the Bordako Tontorra. His team consider…

Mark Cavendish gave an interview in October 2007 to our sister publication cyclingnews.com about his sensational debut season. The sprinter had taken 11 wins – at the time the most for any first-year professional in the modern era, overtaking Robbie McEwen, who’d won nine. In the course of the interview, Cavendish delivered high praise to one of his senior team-mates. “Roger Hammond has been amazing, ” Cavendish said. “He could have done what a lot of Classics riders do and just sat up [after April], but he fought and fought. I just take the glory at the end, but if you look at his SRM you can see how hard he has been working for me. “It is brilliant that I can get people who will do that for…

Three men rode into Geraardsbergen on the afternoon of Sunday 7 April 1985 with a chance of winning the 69th Tour of Flanders. Constant heavy rain since the start of the race in St Niklaas, 250km previously, had drowned the ambition of all but a handful of riders – any tactical plans they might have had couldn’t have been more effectively washed away than if they’d been written in sand at the turn of the tide. By the first of the race’s 12 significant climbs, the Molenberg, which came just after halfway, the peloton was down to 60 riders. Two climbs later, at the Koppenberg, there were fewer than 30, with two hours still to race. The rain hammered down, from a characteristically north European grey blanket of thick cloud,…

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WHO’S IN? Missing big climbers like Contador and Chaves? They didn’t win a big summit finish all year. Only riders who won a summit finish over 5km long between WorldTour and .1 races were entered onto the list. Then we logged their podium positions to give us the definitive list. Then we looked at their top 10s just for kicks. 1 CHRIS FROOME Froome tops the summit finish winners list, with three: he won on the Barboleusaz in Romandy, at Vaujany in the Dauphiné and Peña Carbarga in the Vuelta. It could have been five, but we didn’t count the Herald Sun Tour victory on Arthur’s Seat (too short), or, obviously, the Megève mountain TT in the Tour. Is Froome a climber who can time trial or a time triallist…

Many of you will have considered if money can buy success in cycling. The answer is clearly yes: money can guarantee wins and results to a large extent, though fortunately there are always exceptions to give us fans some hope for the unexpected. Leicester City, with a fraction of the budgets of Chelsea or the two Manchester teams, still won the Premier league. Things happen every so often in sport to prove that money isn't everything. Back to cycling, here are some estimated team budgets from my own knowledge, talks with staff and L’Équipe: Sky €35m, Katusha"€30m, BMC €28m, Tinkoff"€25m. At the lower end are Lampre-Merida with"€7m and Cannondale-Drapac with €10m. It seems like the average budget is €12m to €13m, which is where Trek-Segafredo and Orica BikeExchange sit. The…