The Colombian had more on his mind than just the week’s racing though, most of all his condition. He’s in good shape, he says, but illness has interfered with preparation for the race somewhat.
“At the moment I feel under the weather,” he says. “Catalunya affected the whole team. I caught a virus which left me with chills and a dry cough. And on top of that it has been raining!”
On the eve of the race, Quintana’s team had been depleted as brothers Gorka and Ion Izagirre were ruled out of the race with gastroenteritis.
Aside from the fight to stay healthy, Quintana anticipates tough competition over the coming days. The 24-year-old singled out Sky’s Sergio Luis Henao (second last year) as well three-time winner Alberto Contador of Tinkoff, who he beat to the overall title at the Volta a Catalunya last month.
“My rivals are fit, on track – especially Contador. He looks good in terms of racing and condition,” he says. “What he does, he does well – attacks, climbs, as usual. And Froome was pretty strong in Catalunya – he already has a high level. Come Tour-time they will be in even better form.”
Conversation inevitably turned to the race’s route, which has been widely recognised as one of the toughest-looking editions of recent years.
“It is very hard, unreasonably tough I think,” says Quintana. “The climb in the Eibar time trial is also hard, but I like the time trial – the descent is very fast and has some deceiving corners.”
“The hills are not long but they are hard. [The organisers] have to think a bit about the riders before putting together such a harsh route.”
There’s also the question of the weather – rain is forecast during the week, something that riders from Contador to Joaquim Rodríguez have already commented on. Meanwhile Quintana has a complicated relationship with wet weather.
“If the weather is bad the road grime will complicate things,” he says. “I don’t like the rain – I prefer good, clear weather. But if it does rain my allergies don’t affect me and I feel better. When I won here in 2013 it rained a lot and that actually benefitted me.”
Quintana, followed by two motos at last year’s Tirreno-Adriatico, said it’s “normal” to be afraid of them (Cor Vos)
Finally, and inevitably, came subject of moto crashes and rider safety. It’s an issue that has been hard to ignore for months now, one that has been tragically brought back to the fore with the death of Wanty-Groupe Gobert’s Antoine Demoitié at Gent-Wevelgem.
“I’m very sad about what happened to Demoitié. He was just doing his job,” said Quintana. “What happened is outrageous, but it’s not [happening] just now. Already last year there were problems at the Vuelta, Clásica San Sebastián, in the classics and at the Giro.”
Rather worryingly, Quintana went on to admit that it is normal to be afraid of motos, saying “Of course (I have been afraid)! It’s normal.”
A number of solutions have been put forward by a number of people around the cycling world, and Quintana calls for a more thorough licensing system.
“Any oversight can mean a tragedy. It cannot be that in a WorldTour race there are people who drive a car only in that race,” he says.
“Just as the directors have to get a license, everyone in the race should have a certificate to authorise them to follow a race, and not start driving directly in the WorldTour.”
Thibaut Pinot with his new TT bike at the Volta ao Algarve (Cor Vos)
How FDJ and French cycling caught up with the rest of the peloton
Is it finally here? Every year since I can remember having followed cycling there is talk about how the French are back, or are on their way back.
At the Tour de France, which hasn’t had a French winner since Bernard Hinault back in 1985, we have seen Richard Virenque, Christophe Moreau, Thomas Voeckler, Pierre Rolland all hailed as the next French Tour winner, but still nobody has managed the feat.
It’s the same story at most major races. Paris-Roubaix’s last French winner was Frédéric Guesdon in 1997, at Liège-Bastogne-Liège it was Hinault in 1980, at the Vuelta a España it was Laurent Jalabert in 1995, and at the World Championships it was Laurent Brochard in 1997.
And it’s not just that they haven’t won these big races, it’s that no French riders have looked like coming close to doing so. There has been much talk about the peloton à deux vitesses but even as cycling moved into this cleaner era, the struggles of French cycling continued.
But now things look to be changing, and in a big way.
Putting aside the polemica, on which inrng wrote a great piece, earlier this month we saw FDJ’s Arnaud Démare win Milano-Sanremo – the first Frenchman to do so since Jalabert back in 1995.
Sure, he was an outsider but it marks a change in fortunes for the 24-year-old, who has yet win a Tour stage, and ensures his place at the top table of the sport.
Arnaud Démare takes France’s first Milano-Sanremo win in almost three decades (Ansa – Peri – Zennaro)
Things are looking up elsewhere too.
The first name that springs to mind is Thibaut Pinot, the great hope for the Tour de France. He finished third in 2014 and has been in the top five of every race he’s competed in so far this season, most recently a dominating display at the Critérium International which included his first ever time trial victory. Will this be the year he joins the elite four of Contador, Froome, Nibali and Quintana?
His FDJ team has improved in many areas so far this season, notably with respect to time trialing. In February they won their first ever team time trial at the La Méditerranéenne stage race.
At the 12km Tirreno-Adriatico TTT, the team finished third – ahead of usual powerhouses Movistar and Sky and just nine seconds off winners, the TTT World Champions BMC.
At Tirreno’s closing San Benedetto del Tronto TT, the team had six riders in the top thirty, with Johan Le Bon beating Tony Martin to second place. This weekend seven of the team’s eight riders finished in the top 18 at the Critérium International time trial.
Frédéric Grappe, FDJ’s performance director, told me that “the excellent results of this season were expected.”
And the reasons why? Well some of the credit can go to the team’s new LaPierre Aerostorm DRS bikes, designed in conjunction with Grappe and FDJ, but Pinot has also stepped up. Team manager Marc Madiot told CyclingNews that the team leader had specifically requested that his team improve their time trialing over the winter.
“This winter, Thibaut asked us to form the best possible team for the team time trial. The guys knew that everything started with this event.”
“I think the turning point for the team was the first Worlds in Valkenburg. It was not good at all. It motivated the team and the riders for this discipline they did not necessarily appreciate before.”
When I spoke to Grappe about the bike’s design process, he painted a picture of extremely close collaboration between the team and Lapierre.
“It was total collaboration with Lapierre. We recruited several experts to transpose new aerodynamic concepts, cycling stability, rigidity and biomechanical position,” he says. “Each expert brought new dimensions.”
“My role was to manage the entire project, co-ordinating the entire team and validating the most relevant concepts. It has taken many years of work to get this result.”
While the new bike took a long time to perfect, plans for a new performance centre have been in gestation for ten years, says Grappe. In January FDJ announced the creation of Performance Pole, based in the eastern French city of Besançon, alongside, alongside news of FDJ’s renewed sponsorship.
With this centre comes a new digital system which allows the tracking of training data, statements of rider form and feelings, as well as an archive of race videos for analysis purposes. Also note the addition of a new nutritional partner.
“This performance model has evolved over several years, with the establishment of a research and development department where we work closely with all our partners,” Grappe says. “The trainers, sports directors and mechanics work together in true synergy, and the implementation of the Performance Pole to formalise all the work was very important.”
Grappe told me that the plans for the centre have been in place for over ten years, citing the specialised training of employees as a reason for the wait.
“We worked for several years on a new training model and the optimisation of all materials, and we knew we were in constant progression,” he says.
“First we had to acquire the confidence of the sporting directors and mechanics, then the riders had to gradually adapt to the new team operating model,” he says. “Finally, we recruited three qualified coaches, each with high-level skills in training, and a high level of expertise in engineering.”
“We also have the web platform which manages the entire training process. My motto is to always make the small innovations for the medium and long term.”
This focus on new training methods and increased specialisation is part of a wider trend of modernisation within French cycling, with FDJ leading the way. Think back to last season and FDJ’s team launch video, which put their increased use of technology front and centre.
FDJ’s current coaching team, each responsible for a group of 8 riders. Click the image for more info
Then there’s Francis Mourey – the cyclocross specialist and 11-year FDJ veteran that the team stopped sponsoring late last season. This money has gone towards wind tunnel time and training camps for the road squad, while Mourey now rides for Fortuneo-Vital Concept.
It’s not just FDJ either – in an interview with Rouleur magazine last Autumn, AG2R’s Romain Bardet told of how the team has progressed since he joined.
“This year’s team is nothing like the one I turned professional with in 2012. There is more structure now, more trainers, more training camps, and all my data is analysed. Before I didn’t have a power meter or a coach, and you just tried to do what you could.”
Clearly things are changing. At the end of last year his team were busy hiring another coach – a nutrition specialist.
And as for FDJ, there are plans to expand their system, but Grappe is keeping them to himself for now, telling me “Of course there are plans, but I can’t say more…”
It’s obvious that these teams have looked at how the likes of Team Sky are moving forward and have taken note. Now the onus is on moving away from traditionalism and making inroads into those gains, marginal or not, even if the budgets are incomparable.
But enough about the tech, what about the riders? We’ve heard about two of the big names but there’s a wealth of talent coming up too.
First of all there’s AG2R La Mondiale’s Romain Bardet, a climber like Pinot and the same age too. He was a revelation at the 2014 Tour de France, finishing sixth overall, and and won the mountain stage to Saint-Jean-De-Maurienne last year, ending up as best Frenchman in ninth.
This season he should be sole leader, given Jean-Christophe Péraud’s advanced age and declining results. At the moment he looks a step behind Pinot, but there’s time.
His teammate Pierre Latour looks a good prospect too. The 22-year-old signed with the team last season and immediately got to work racking up stage race top-ten placings, including the Etoile de Bessegès, Tour de Picardie, Österreich Rundfahrt and the Vuelta a Burgos.
Pierre Latour on the attack at the 2016 Critérium International (ASO – B.Boise)
His best results were third at the Route du Sud and Tour de l’Ain and he’s fresh from finishing second overall at the Critérium International. Pais Vasco is up next, and if you want to read more look no further than his recent Rouleur interview.
Sprinter-wise, things are looking good too with Direct Énergie’s 23-year-old Bryan Coquard and Cofidis star Nacer Bouhanni, 25.
A punchy sprinter suited to tougher finishes, Coquard missed out on a big breakthrough victory at Dwars door Vlaanderen by millimetres last week. The flyweight has a grand pedigree, a multiple World Champion in various track disciplines and different age groups. He missed his first main goal of the season, Paris-Nice, with a broken shoulder blade but it’s a case of when, not if, his first big win will come.
Meanwhile, ex-boxer Bouhanni has already arrived, winning five Giro and Vuelta stages in 2014. This season he has won stages at Paris-Nice and the Volta a Catalunya, and was in the mix for Milano-Sanremo too, until mechanical problems saw him beating up his bike. He’ll be looking cement his place as a top sprinter at the Tour, having crashed out early on last summer.
FDJ’s Marc Sarreau is another fast one. Third at Scheldeprijs last season, he also won a stage of the Tour de Poitou-Charentes. This season he has a handful of top ten finishes to his name, but at 22 he’s still learning.
Last season Julian Alaphilippe (left) almost won an Ardennes double at the age of just 22 (Cor Vos)
Julian Alaphilippe is a French rider on a foreign team (Etixx-QuickStep), once a rarity but it’s becoming more commonplace nowadays. The 23-year-old puncheur burst onto the scene last season, finishing second in La Fléche Wallonne and Liége-Bastogne-Liége before heading to the Tour of California, where he won the summit finish on Mount Baldy and almost won the whole race.
However, he suffered from mononucleosis during the offseason and has yet to finish a race in 2016, so maybe expectations should be tempered this spring.
Speaking of the spring, AG2R’s 23-year-old Alexis Gougeard looks a safe bet to be a contender in the cobbled classics in the coming years. He finished 26th in last year’s Paris-Roubaix having featured in the early break, and capped the year with a Vuelta stage win. This season he has a fifth place at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad to his name.
A year younger than Gougeard, Cofidis’ Florian Sénéchal is another for the cobbles. He beat Gougeard into second at Junior Paris-Roubaix in 2011, and has finished 49th and 17th in the past two editions of the senior race. Podium places at Tro-Bro Léon last year and Le Samyn earlier this month underline his potential.
Florian Sénéchal (right) riding to a podium place at Le Samyn earlier this season (Cor Vos)
Anthony Turgis is another young gun riding in red. He won Liége-Bastogne-Liége Espoirs in 2014 and took bronze in last season’s U23 Worlds road race, also winning the Boucles de Mayenne stage race earlier in the season. Earlier this month, the 21-year-old puncheur won the Classic Loire Atlantique by over a minute in a race his team dominated.
U23 World Champion Kevin Ledanois, 22, finished third at that race and has had some decent, if not amazing, results since joining what is now Fortuneo-Vital Concept last season. Top ten placings at last year’s Paris-Camembert and Tro-Bro Léon point to his potential but it’s the Worlds title that really stands out.
Lastly we come to Wanty-Groupe Gobert’s Guillaume Martin. A staigiare at FDJ in 2014, they let him go and he went on to win Liége-Bastogne-Liége Espoirs and a summit finish at the Tour de l’Avenir last season. A knee operation in February has delayed his debut, but look out for the 22-year-old once he hits the road in April.
Martin as an FDJ staigiare back in 2014 (facebook.com/martinguillaume09)
So it looks like there’s a lot to look forward to – the empirical and traditional style of training has slowly been pushed away in favour of the more modern, technology and statistic-based methods employed by the best teams in the world.
The results are already showing, and with a large group of promising up-and-comers still learning the ropes as professionals, it seems that things will keep getting better for French cycling.
Is Vincenzo Nibali the man to break Italy’s Sanremo drought? (Cor Vos)
After ten years of waiting, will 2016 see an Italian win in Sanremo?
Last Autumn, the Italian drought finally ended. It was October 4th, and at the 107th edition of the Giro di Lombardia Vincenzo Nibali rode into Como alone, having been alone for some 16km since his attack on the Civiglio climb.
The Italian announcer was yelling as the Italian champion rode across the line, arms in the air, in Italy. A very Italian scene, and the first time a home rider had won the race (or any other Monument for that matter) since Damiano Cunego’s triumph all the way back in 2008.
The 2016 edition of the Giro di Lombardia is a long way away, but the other great Italian Classic is almost upon us. In fact it’s on Saturday, though everybody is already aware of that. One thing you perhaps aren’t aware of is the similar drought suffered by the Italians at La Classicissima di primavera.
Once upon a time, home domination was expected, with names like Girardegno, Binda, Bartali and Coppi filling the roll of honour during the first half of the 1900s. More recently Cipollini, Bettini and Petacchi joined the list, with Filippo Pozzato the last man from the Peninsula to cross the line first, back in 2006.
And now? The Italians are enduring their longest dry spell since the 1960s.
With 61 Italians lining up at the start in Milan, let’s assess the chances of those having dreams of spraying the Prosecco on the final podium.
Vincenzo Nibali ends seven years of Italian hurt in Lombardia last October (Cor Vos)
First up, it’s the star man – certainly the biggest star in Italian cycling, anyway. The race wasn’t originally part of Vincenzo Nibali’s plans for 2016, but he’ll be there, back for the ninth time.
He’s fresh from finishing sixth in a neutered Tirreno-Adriatico, and will have a point to prove having been taken out of contention for victory by the cancellation of stage five. And just as the lack of hills hindered him in The Race of the Two Seas, it is likely that he’ll have the same problem here – Nibali will be hard pushed to replicate his podium finish back in 2012.
Lampre-Merida, the last remaining Italian WorldTour team, come to the race with an all-Italian line-up, and they have some interesting options to choose from. Davide Cimolai was eighth last year, but you would always bet on him getting burned by the likes of Alexander Kristoff and Peter Sagan in a sprint finish.
Puncheur Diego Ulissi is another decent outsider, but once again there are better options, and a huge dose of luck would be needed for second-class sprinter Sacha Modolo (fourth in 2010) to prevail. Barring a big crash somewhere in the finale, don’t expect a Lampre winner in Sanremo.
One man who they will regret having to let go over the winter is 22-year-old Niccolò Bonifazio. He sprinted to a surprise fifth here last year but will ride in support of Fabian Cancellara over at Trek-Segafredo this time around. He’ll be right up there again should the Swiss veteran falter though.
Could the young Bonifazio make a step up from last year’s fifth place? (Cor Vos)
Sprinter Giacomo Nizzolo is another backup plan for the cosmopolitan team, but he’s more frequently seen on the second and third steps of the podium, rather than the first. The versatile Fabio Felline belongs in the same category.
Now at this point understand that we are already plumbing the depths of implausibility. Things aren’t looking good. Scanning the startlist, there are only five other men who have finished in the top ten.
First up we have the last Italian to win the race, Southeast-Venezuela’s Filippo Pozzato. He finished sixth here in 2012 and hasn’t won a race since 2013, so extrapolate from that what you will. Edit –His teammate, the 21-year-old sprinter Jakub Mareczko is certainly a name to remember for the future. Then there’s Daniele Bennati, who is 35 and will be riding firmly in support of Peter Sagan.
Fourth in both 1995 (!) and 2008, 44-year-old Davide freakin Rebellin is riding here for the first time in seven years. He is certainly not going to win but admit it, it’d be pretty hilarious if he did, right? BMC’s Daniel Oss has finished ninth here before but will be supporting the in-form Greg Van Avermaet’s bid for victory.
Next up, we come to Sonny Colbrelli of Bardiani-CSF – the other team with an all-Italian contingent. Sixth here two years ago, he’s one of several Italians in the group of not-quite elite sprinters. Still, he’s obviously in strong form, winning the GP Lugano two weeks ago, so a top five placing wouldn’t be a surprise – Bonifazio did the same last year remember.
Onto the other Italian ProContinental team next, and it’s Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec. Once upon a time, a line-up of Franco Pellizotti, Francesco Gavazzi and Francesco Chicchi would have been an interesting proposition here, but not anymore.
Etixx-QuickStep count punchy fighter Gianluca Brambilla, who had a great race at Strade Bianche, and fastman Matteo Trentin among their ranks. Both ride in support of Tom Boonen and Fernando Gaviria at Etixx-QuickStep, but should be strong enough to provide alternative options if the main men falter
Lastly, pure sprinter Elia Viviani will be riding as back-up for Geraint Thomas, Michał Kwiatkowski and Ben Swift at Team Sky. He has yet to prove he can handle the race though, finishing 108th on two occasions in the past. Salvatore Puccio finished twelfth in the 2012 edition.
Viviani eases to the win at last year’s Tour of Britain but his odds of victory on Saturday are much longer (SweetSpot)
Honestly, I would be surprised if the duck is broken on Saturday. Several Italians are better suited to the race than Vincenzo Nibali, but frankly lack his talent.
At the moment the country has no riders that match up to sprinters and classics men like Kristoff, Van Avermaet, Sagan or Cancellara, and it looks like it would take a large slice of luck for any Italian to best them on Saturday.
There are some positive signs for the future though – most notably Bonifazio. The youngster has already proven that he can compete in the longest race on the calendar and knows the finale as well as anyone – he lives in Diana Marina, just down the coast from Sanremo and situated among the Capi climbs.
If any of this gang of outsiders can end the Sanremo drought this year, I’m going with him as the man most likely.
ANDRONI GIOCATTOLI-SIDERMEC Giorgio Cecchinel, Francesco Chicchi, Marco Frapporti
Francesco Gavazzi, Franco Pellizotti, Mirko Selvaggi, Davide Viganò
ASTANA Valerio Agnoli, Eros Capecchi, Vincenzo Nibali
Stage three of Paris-Nice saw the UCI’s new Extreme Weather Protocol (EWP) put into use for the first time at a major race. The 165km stage from Cusset to Mont Brouilly was halted for good after 93km, having been neutralised some 20km earlier with the intention of restarting at 40km to go.
The reason was, of course, theheavy snow falling– conditions that made any form of safe racing impossible. With several similar incidents affecting races over the last few years it was refreshing to see decisive action taken with rider safety in mind, despite the predictable outcry from some fans harking back to the days ofHampstenandHinault.
Milano-Sanremo wasfamously halteddue to snow in 2013, before racing resumed with 145km to go. The following year saw more confusing outcomes when the weather turned bad, with snow on the Stelvio during acontroversial Giro stage, and the peloton weaving through fallen trees at a wind-swept stage of theTour de Pologne.
There are many more examples to cite, and all have contributed to the introduction of this new rule. It has been over a year since it was first seriously mooted, partly thanks to the efforts of the Association of North American Pro Road Cyclists (ANAPRC).
So, now that the EWP is here, what exactly does the regulation entail? You can find acopy of the rule on the UCI website. It’s a pretty simple document, certainly when compared to the rough proposals we have heard about before – the ANAPRC once proposed specific cutoff temperatures that would trigger a plan B, for instance.
In essence, the regulation stipulates that a meeting between the major stakeholders (members of the organisation such as doctors and commissaires, as well as rider and team representatives) must be convened if extreme weather conditions are anticipated during the day’s stage. The conditions in question include:
Other weather conditions will also be considered – these are examples given by the regulation. In the event of conditions such as these, any of the following actions will be considered:
The remainder of the regulation is concerned with defining who comprises the ‘stakeholders’, followed by an interesting footnote which specifies that the rule will be applied in accordance witharticle 2.2.029bis.
2.2.029bis mentions that the EWP will be enforced in WorldTour and HC-ranked races, but makes no mention of women’s races or .1 and .2 ranked races. However, last month we saw the EWP debut at theClásica de Almería, so it seems possible that the regulation will be applied at all levels.
It’s a very simple piece of legislation, perhaps overly so. Sure, there’s a meeting before the race to discuss potential action, but what happens in the event of a sudden change in conditions (as we saw in Poland)? One presumes that further conversations between the noted parties take place as the situation develops – but then isn’t that how things have always been?
Additionally, there is no mention of what would happen should all parties be unable to reach a consensus over how to proceed with the race. To give one hypothetical – organisers of smaller races could be keen to push ahead in borderline conditions as riders object.
Then there’s the question of how feasible the proposed actions actually are. Actions such as modifying and rerouting the course can sometimes be impossible, especially at such short notice. Does this mean that races will have backup routes and alternative finishes in place? It’s unlikely given the organisational burden, but again it’s another detail that isn’t mentioned.
Miserable conditions on the Stelvio during the 2014 Giro d’Italia (Cor Vos, also header image)
As with all new rules, the beginnings will always be somewhat shaky. In Almería there wasmisunderstandingover the period of neutralisation, while at Paris-Nice there werecomplaintsabout the lack of an alternate route, as well as the tardiness in making a decision about the race.
Despite these teething problems the rule is a good start. Finally introducing an entry to the rulebook is a positive step to introduce some accountability and ensure rider safety. Surely over time the EWP will be fleshed out to avoid the impromptu decision-making we continue to see and further improve the sport. It’s an issue that will always be mired in argument but headway is being made.
The leaders tackle the sterrato last year (Cor Vos)
At least that’s what RCS claims, but is it an accurate comparison?
After the first classics of the season at last weekend’s Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne, the peloton heads south to Italy and the Strade Bianche. It’s a race that feels decades-old but Saturday sees just the tenth edition of the Tuscan classic.
The wording in the title is from the organisers, RCS Sport, as part of the race promotion. Of course every promoter seeks to liven up their press releases and put a positive spin on their offerings. So, I thought I’d take a closer look at the race and see if the comparison to the likes of Paris-Roubaix and the Ronde van Vlaanderen holds up.
Non-tarmacked roads are a novelty common to all of these races, and realistically the basis of all comparisons between them. Strade Bianche is, of course, known for (and named after) the white gravel roads (sterrato) that make up sections of the course.
These are roads that are unique in the sport, save for the rare occasion they find their way into the parcours of the Giro d’Italia. Brittany’s ribinoù – the dirt farm tracks found at the Tro-Bro Léon – are perhaps the closest analogue in terms of texture and ride-feel.
Certainly riding the sterrato gives a sensation unlike riding on any other road – the contrast between riding the white gravel or normal roads is as stark as the contrast in appearance between them. Two-time winner Fabian Cancellara is in a better position than most to comment, and the Swiss draws an interesting parallel.
“I remember once I came off the road when I punctured in Qatar,” he says. “I ended up riding through the sand there. That’s the kind of sensation you have at Strade Bianche.”
Cancellara takes his second win in 2012 (Cor Vos)
These are normal roads too, used by all as opposed to the pavé of northern France – the exclusive domain of heavy-duty farm vehicles. As a result, the gravel is ground down into a mixture of sand and small stones – a world away from the bone-aching cobbles seen on the road to Roubaix.
“It’s harder to manoeuvre at Strade Bianche though,” says Cancellara. “Because when you are riding through a lot of gravel it’s very difficult to keep your bike steady.”
There is one similarity in terms of feeling, and that is the age-old law of ‘the faster you go, the smoother it feels’, as the bike almost glides over the harsher bumps. Well, not glide exactly but you get the drift.
Selectivity is of course an important factor in these classics – more specifically the road’s importance in how selective the race can be. At Roubaix, the cobbles are often where the race is won and lost, but here the hills are the main obstacle. In this regard, Strade Bianche has more in common with the Ronde van Vlaanderen, with gradients upwards of 10% the norm.
There are no stand-out climbs in the race yet, nothing to compare with lionised hills like the Koppenberg or Muur anyway. Instead it’s an attritional slog made up of innumerable of small but sharp hills and rises.
But while the north has Roubaix and its fabled and historic velodrome, the Strade Bianche has Siena and the Piazza del Campo. The town’s medieval main square is associated more with the famous Palio horse race than bike racing, but just look at it. That is a fitting end point for any bike race, and is certainly one of the more memorable finishes in the sport.
The Piazza del Campo, Siena (Cor Vos)
But before riders get there they have to put the hard miles in – and this is another instance in which the race bears no comparison to the Northern Classics. While 1.HC races such as this are restricted by UCI rules to 200km, WorldTour one-day races have a freer reign, and so we see the 250-260km norm for De Ronde and Roubaix. This year Strade Bianche is 176km long, so in that respect the races differ massively.
And what does Cancellara think about the Strade Bianche-Roubaix comparison?
“It isn’t similar to Roubaix at all. The gravel doesn’t feel the same,” he says. “There are some parts where the roads are a little fluffy, but the race is a different experience altogether.”
It’s an unequivocal statement from the man who will be riding his last Strade Bianche on Saturday, but just because the races are so different doesn’t lessen the value of the Tuscan classic.
So the promotional spin exists to draw attention to the race and boost the profile, but it has certainly worked. Strade Bianche has risen from 1.1 status to 1.HC and there’s even talk of it moving up to WorldTour next season. The startlist is already of a quality approaching Paris-Roubaix, with stars like Nibali, Van Avermaet, Valverde, Cancellara, Sagan and Kwiatkowski all riding on Saturday.
Probably the most important factor to consider though, is one that all of these races have in common – the excitement. The chaos, crashes, punctures and heavyweight battles right to the final turn of the wheel that characterise the Northern Classics are here too. And ultimately, that’s what it boils down to – it’s we watch bike racing for.
Stig Broeckx after being hit by a moto on Sunday (Sporza)
What can be done about motorbikes hitting riders?
Despite the great racing on show at Openingsweekend, Sunday saw the return of an ugly issue in cycling, as two more riders fell victim to crashes caused by race vehicles.
Today’s main event, Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne, saw Lotto-Soudal’s Stig Broeckx abandon with a broken collarbone and rib, while in the La Drôme Classic, BMC’s Danilo Wyss was denied a chance to compete for the win after a collision with a motorbike.
These latest incidents follow a spate of crashes involving motorbikes towards the end of 2015, including Peter Sagan and Sergio Paulinho (both Tinkoff-Saxo) at the Vuelta a España, Greg Van Avermaet (BMC) at the Clásica San Sebastián, and Jakob Fuglsang (Astana) at the Tour de France. Earlier in the season Shimano neutral service cars took out Jesse Sergeant (Trek) and Sébastien Chavanel (FDJ) at the Ronde van Vlaanderen.
Ex-president of the Association of Professional Cycling (CPA), Cédric Vasseur has already called for action from the UCI.
The UCI is not serious in facing this problem. They talk and say they will brainstorm, but it’s not about that now, you have to act at this point. The motorbike driver must be sanctioned, the race organiser must be sanctioned, otherwise, it’s the law of jungle.
During last season’s Vuelta, current CPA head Gianni Bugno penned an open letterto the sport’s governing body, calling for fast actions in order to “finally stop this bloodbath.”
The Rules
Before we get to the UCI and what they have done to help, lets first take a look at their rulebook. What regulations are in place to try and prevent this kind of thing from happening in the first place?
Well first of all, everybody wishing to be part of the race convoy in any UCI event is required to possess a license allowing them to do so, per regulation 1.1.010.
Furthermore, WorldTour events require any license holder to also hold a separate driver’s certificate, per regulation 2.2.035 (more information here)
This rule was extended to include media vehicles in July 2013, in response to the Hoogerland/Flecha incident during the 2011 Tour de France. Anybody who wishes to obtain said certificate has to attend a UCI-run course, details of which were released just last Monday.
Presumably this course includes some sort of skill-based driving test – imagine a bunch of journalists and directeur sportifs waiting in line to slalom a saloon car in and out of traffic cones as an Aigle-appointed official watches on with his clipboard.
That’s what journalist Paul Maunder thought too, at least until Rouleur Magazine sent him to a course in Albertville, south-east France for an article in issue 59.
Maunder describes a Power Point presentation, the gist of which can be summed up as “Make sure you always have the right documentation, stay away from the race and.. always obey the Commissaires,” followed up by a collective signing of the register to confirm their attendance.
This was what a UCI driver’s course looked like last summer, after the incidents at the Ronde van Vlaanderen. Remember that the people who caused those crashes, as well as the incidents later in the year, had all sat through the same course.
There are further rules too though. Regulation 2.2.050 states that all drivers must be experienced (though I’m sure we all remember how experienced the Shimano drivers were last April.)
While regulation 2.2.051 states that everybody must listen to the commissaires.
Regulation 2.2.073 tells motorbikes to keep their distance from the riders.
Then there is regulation 2.2.053, which deals with the punishments to be doled out should a driver not hold the required license. Fines range from 1,000-10,000CHF, while the institutions involved are banned from races for up to six months. This rule specifically mentions the press though, and there do not seem to be any regulations concerning the punishment of non-press drivers apart from this note.
So, sure there’s a regulation telling motorbikes not to get too close to riders, but the drive of the rulebook is more about protecting the sanctity of the racing rather than doling out basic road safety advice.
Has anything been done?
Last September, the UCI’s Road Commission met to discuss and review the regulations in the wake of the crashes at the Vuelta. Since then though, as we have seen many times before, things have gone quiet. Have the UCI changed anything? It’s hard to tell if they don’t say anything, though after Sunday’s events we will surely hear something.
What can be done?
While there is no one solution that can guarantee no more crashes, there are a number of ideas to help prevent similar incidents occurring again.
Last September saw both Tinkoff-Saxo and BMC release statements suggesting that the number of vehicles involved in races be cut down. Currently there are motos carrying television cameras, radio reporters, photographers, neutral service mechanics, police, commissaires, race timing equipment, as well as the occasional water bottle moto and the addition of motos to help with the new-fangled telemetry tracking. Not to mention the plethora of cars in the convoy.
That seems like an awful lot, and while many are necessary in order for a race to function, surely not every vehicle on the road is vital.
Sergio Paulinho after his moto crash at the 2015 Vuelta (Cor Vos)
Given the nature of these accidents – the fact that many (Sergeant, Fuglsang, Van Avermaet, Paulinho, Sagan, Broeckx) can be attributed to a lack of spatial awareness and misjudging gaps or rider movements – it seems clear that there needs to be a more conservative and predictable style of driving.
Better judgement is certainly needed, though can it be taught? Beefing up that driver’s course and making it mandatory for those wishing to join the convoy of lower-ranked races seems a smart step. On a more basic level, perhaps limiting speeds when vehicles are navigating groups of riders, or making the presence of motos known more easily would be good ideas.
Then there’s the question of punishment. If the regulations aren’t helping to keep riders safe, and clearly they aren’t, then surely these drivers who endanger the riders shouldn’t be in the sport anymore?
It sounds tough and possibly over-the-top to kick someone out for causing one accident but if you consider the risks that these drivers have been shown to be willing to take, isn’t it better to be safe than sorry?
If you’re looking a more radical approach to the problem then check out Cervélo co-founder Gerard Vroomen’s ideas from a few years back:
Cycling vehicles: the solution part 1, part 2, part 3.
Conclusion
Race vehicles are essential in order to keep races running smoothly, but when incidents like these continue to happen it is clear that something needs to be done. When drivers continue to makes mistakes and take the risks we have seen them take in the past year it is plain to see that neither the regulations, nor the training given, is adequate.
Hopefully the sport’s governing body take notice of BMC manager Jim Ochowicz, who once again called for action to be taken. In an already risky sport, the additional chance of serious injury or worse is unacceptable and if ever there was an issue for the UCI to act swiftly on, this is it.
Katusha at the Tour of Qatar earlier this season (Cor Vos)
Yet more teams leave the voluntary organisation
WorldTour teams Katusha and Orica-GreenEdge have become the latest teams to leave the Movement For Credible Cycling (MPCC) this week. It leaves the France-based organisation with just seven teams in the sport’s top tier, with seventeen remaining at ProContinental level.
The latest withdrawals continue the exodus of last year, when five teams left the group, with a variety of reasons cited.
Meanwhile, Katusha have found a delightfully contrived reason to leave, and thus avoid the mandatory self-suspension had they stayed aboard. With the team cleared to race by the UCI Disciplinary Commission in the wake of Luca Paolini and Eduard Vorganov’s positive tests, they claim that they will fall foul of a mandatory participation rule should they self-suspend from racing.
“A suspension of Team KATUSHA during a WorldTour race based on the MPCC Rules would violate the UCI Regulations of mandatory participation and the Disciplinary Commission would then be obliged to sanction the Team.”
The remainder of the press release goes on to state how dismayed the team is with the MPCC for not bringing their team suspension rules (8 days for 2 positive B-Samples) into line with the UCI’s (15 days for 2 positive A-samples), before reaffirming their commitment to clean cycling.
Katusha meanwhile, have taken this nice opportunity to leave the group whose rules, considering the team’s past, are likely to cause them trouble at some point in the future, as well as preventing themselves from missing any important Spring races.
Simon Gerrans at the Tour Down Under (Cor Vos)
Onto GreenEdge, and their exit is an interesting one, being as they are the only team so far that isn’t departing under a cloud of controversy. Their reasoning is altogether different to any given previously, too.
As general manager Shayne Bannan noted via press release, several initiatives put in place by the MPCC “have now become an integrated part of the rules of the sport.” So if many of the MPCC’s rules have already been incorporated into the UCI’s rulebook, teams see no reason to stay part of what they see as a now largely useless organisation.
The no-needle policy has been adopted by the UCI, as has the idea of team suspensions, while the CIRC Report reccomended that the cortisone rules also carry over. Meanwhile, UCI President Brian Cookson hasalready talked about a possible tramadol ban.
Hark back a handful of years and remember that both teams joined the organisation in order to look good. Katusha joined up whilefighting the UCI in CAS for the right to stay in the WorldTour, whileGreenEdge came aboard at a time when key staff members such as Matt White and Neil Stephens faced suspicions about their pasts.
Conclusion
The MPCC has, in many cases only been useful to teams for a PR boost – as we have seen in the past many find themselves leaving when they are inconvenienced by rules.
Still, it is hard to deny that the organisation is facing increased irrelevancy – yes, teams are jumping ship but the rules they had put in place have been adopted by the UCI. Only there are certainly more fronts to fight on in the war against doping, and no doubt more issues to highlight.
The MPCC’s strong relationship with the ASO is another wrinkle to this situation – Tour de France organiser has said in the past that members would be prioritised for Tour invites. Should the ASO vs UCI standoff remain in place, then the lineup of teams in future ASO races could get more interesting.
In spite of this, the prospect of teams flip-flopping in and out to please Prudhomme doesn’t seem too probable. And would he really refuse invitations to non-members such as Sky and Etixx-QuickStep? It’s unlikely.
Putting these hypotheticals aside, and despite its seemingly increasing redundancy, the MPCC remains an organisation that can make real differences in cycling. We have already seen that it can bring important issues to the fore, and should continue to do so, at least while it still has the power (via the members it holds on to) to have a voice.
The peloton race up Regent Street, London (SweetSpot)
André Greipel (Lotto-Soudal) and Elia Viviani (Team Sky) shared the spoils on the final weekend of the 2015 Tour of Britain. Edvald Boasson Hagen (MTN-Qhubeka) successfully defended his yellow jersey to take his second overall win at the race – the first man to win two editions of the modern race.
Fakenham – Ipswich
The East Anglia stage saw Greipel take his sixteenth win of the season, his first at the Tour of Britain, in a photo finish. The German started his sprint early, holding off a resurgent Elia Viviani to just shade it on the line.
Earlier in the day the Brit trio of Alex Dowsett (Movistar), Gabriel Cullaigh (Great Britain) and Graham Briggs (JLT-Condor) were in the break, though with such a flat stage on the menu they were never going to make it to finish.
Greipel shades it in Fakenham (SweetSpot)
The trio were duly caught thanks mainly to the work of Lotto-Soudal, while a late bid for glory from Zdeněk Štybar also proved fruitless as the Belgian squad were determined to deliver the Gorilla to the win.
stage result
1
André Greipel (Ger) Lotto – Soudal
5:14:42
2
Elia Viviani (Ita) Team Sky
3
Sondre Holst Enger (Nor) IAM Cycling
4
Mark Renshaw (Aus) Etixx – Quick Step
5
Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) MTN – Qhubeka
6
Owain Doull (GBr) Team WIGGINS
7
Rasmus Guldhammer Pedersen (Den) Cult Energy Pro Cycling
8
Jonas Van Genechten (Bel) IAM Cycling
9
Dylan van Baarle (Ned) Team Cannondale – Garmin
10
Jens Debusschere (Bel) Lotto – Soudal
London
Elia Viviani triumphed on the final stage of the race, though he had to wait for race judges to confirm his win after Greipel, the first man over the line, was relegated due to irregular sprinting.
The big German moved across Viviani’s path as he stormed past, a move which saw the Sky rider protest and meant that Greipel would end up in 39th on the day.
“I had good speed in the legs after this really hard week,” said Viviani. “The guys have done amazing work for Wout [Poels] and myself this week. I’m disappointed because it would’ve been better to win without this, but we won in London and that’s the main thing.”
Greipel leads the peloton home in London (SweetSpot)
For the most part, the circuit race around Central London was a victory parade for Boasson Hagen, though the day did see Owain Doull move up onto the final podium thanks to bonus seconds claimed at the intermediate sprint.
It capped a strong race for the 22-year-old Welshman, who also took home the points jersey. One Pro Cycling, who are looking to move up to the ProContinental level for 2016, took the mountains and sprints jerseys thanks to a strong performance from Peter Williams.
The big plaudits, however, go to Boasson Hagen, who outperformed everybody’s expectations to take the overall win. His surprise performance on the summit finish of Hartside Fell will be seen as the defining moment of his second Tour of Britain victory.
The final podium (SweetSpot)
stage result
1
Elia Viviani (Ita) Team Sky
1:50:16
2
Juan Jose Lobato Del Valle (Esp) Movistar Team
3
Matteo Trentin (Ita) Etixx – Quick Step
4
Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) MTN – Qhubeka
5
Jens Debusschere (Bel) Lotto – Soudal
6
Sondre Holst Enger (Nor) IAM Cycling
7
Mark Renshaw (Aus) Etixx – Quick Step
8
Graham Briggs (GBr) JLT Condor
9
Ruben Zepuntke (Ger) Team Cannondale – Garmin
10
Owain Doull (GBr) Team WIGGINS
general classification
1
Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) MTN – Qhubeka
34:52:52
2
Wouter Poels (Ned) Team Sky
0:00:13
3
Owain Doull (GBr) Team WIGGINS
0:00:42
4
Rasmus Guldhammer Pedersen (Den) Cult Energy Pro Cycling
Race leader Edvald Boasson Hagen took charge of the Tour of Britain today, chasing the breakaway alone and asserting his authority on the race. Etixx-QuickStep’s Matteo Trentin may have taken the win on the day but the Norwegian stretched his lead out to thirteen seconds, a gap which looks to be unassailable over the final two – largely flat – days.
The MTN-Qhubeka man was more concerned with extending his lead than taking the stage, leading out Trentin, who had been in the break of the day, as he looked to maximise his advantage.
“When Edvald arrived we had a good gap but everyone was on the limit because that was probably the hardest race we’d ever done,” said Trentin. “It was full gas from the start. I sat for a moment in his wheel and took a chance to breathe for the first time in 100 kilometre. Then I just jumped past him for the win.”
On paper the stage was one of the hardest of the race, and so it proved on the road, with the peloton fracturing early on as Boasson Hagen sprinted for bonus seconds.
The peloton on the road to Nottingham (SweetSpot)
A strong group containing Trentin, Stefan Küng (BMC), Jens Debuscherre (Lotto-Soudal), Gorka Izagirre (Movistar), Sebastian Langeveld (Cannondale-Garmin) and Bram Tankink (LottoNL-Jumbo) made up the breakaway, though by the time they reached the outskirts of Nottingham they were already attacking each other.
Back in the peloton, Sky were doing much of the work, though dislodging the yellow jersey proved to be an impossibility. With the men in black worn out after a day of work, Poels was isolated in the final kilometres, and that was Boasson Hagen’s time to strike, attacking with three kilometres to go.
Trentin leads the yellow jersey home (SweetSpot)
stage result
1
Matteo Trentin (Ita) Etixx – Quick Step
4:45:27
2
Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) MTN – Qhubeka
3
Owain Doull (GBr) Team WIGGINS
0:00:04
4
Zdenek Stybar (Cze) Etixx – Quick Step
5
Jens Debusschere (Bel) Lotto – Soudal
6
Alberto Bettiol (Ita) Team Cannondale – Garmin
7
Alex Peters (GBr) Great Britain
8
Dylan Teuns (Bel) BMC Racing Team
9
Xandro Meurisse (Bel) An Post – Chainreaction
10
Wouter Poels (Ned) Team Sky
11
Rasmus Guldhammer Pedersen (Den) Cult Energy Pro Cycling
12
Rubén Fernandez Andujar (Esp) Movistar Team
13
Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo
14
Taylor Phinney (USA) BMC Racing Team
15
Tao Geoghegan Hart (GBr) Great Britain
16
Stef Clement (Ned) IAM Cycling
17
Chris Anker Sørensen (Den) Tinkoff – Saxo
18
Dylan van Baarle (Ned) Team Cannondale – Garmin
19
Stefan Denifl (Aut) IAM Cycling
20
Robert Kiserlovski (Cro) Tinkoff – Saxo
general classification
1
Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) MTN – Qhubeka
27:47:54
2
Wouter Poels (Ned) Team Sky
0:00:13
3
Rasmus Guldhammer Pedersen (Den) Cult Energy Pro Cycling
Wout Poels crept past Edvald Boasson Hagen within metres of the line (Sweetspot)
Wout Poels (Team Sky) took the win on the hardest stage of the Tour of Britain, with a last-gasp push to the line on Hartside Fell.
MTN-Qhubeka’s Edvald Boasson Hagen looked set to take a surprise victory, with few expecting the sprinter to be in contention on the race’s only summit finish. His late attack was thwarted by Poels, with the Dutchman’s second wind pushing him past with metres to spare.
“It’s always nice to win because I don’t win a lot of races,” Poels said. “It was pretty close in the final 500 metres. I thought that I would finish second but then Boasson Hagen slowed down a bit and I knew that I had to take that chance for the win.”
The Cumbrian terrain was lumpy all day, and One Pro Cycling’s Peter Williams took full advantage. The Lancastrian was out in the break for the third time in five days, with his efforts rewarded with both the mountain and sprint jerseys.
Breakmate and last year’s KOM winner Mark McNally (Madison-Genesis) beat Williams to the top of each hill, meaning there should be a grand battle for the polka-dot jersey over the coming days.
The break didn’t make it to the final climb though, as the combined work of MTN-Qhubeka, Team Sky and Tinkoff-Saxo ensured that the day would be decided by the GC men.
The peloton on the road to Hartside Fell (Sweetspot)
Race leader Juan José Lobato was one of the first to drop from the peloton on the climb, and it wasn’t long before the first attacks came. Cannondale-Garmin’s Ruben Zepuntke tried to break free with 7km remaining, but his move was soon usurped by a more committed effort from Peter Kennaugh (Team Sky) and Chris Anker Sørensen (Tinkoff-Saxo).
LottoNL-Jumbo’s Steven Kruijswijk and Poels were next to go, in a move that saw what was remaining of the peloton fall apart. With 3km to go it looked as though the Dutch duo would be contesting the finish, but Boasson Hagen had other ideas.
As Great Britain’s Tao Geoghegan Hart and Alex Peters touched wheels and fell out of contention in the group, the Norwegian rode across to Poels and Kruijswijk. The Sky man tried again and again to get away, but the strong headwind in the final kilometres meant that he made no progress.
The final kilometre loomed as Boasson Hagen made his final bid for victory, powering away from the small group of leaders. He made it a further 900 metres in the lead before he was caught, but is still in yellow tonight, his lead over Poels a miniscule second.
It’s the third win of the race for Sky, with the British team sharing every stage with Etixx-QuickStep thus far. With the final weekend made up of two sprint stages, tomorrow’s stage from Stoke-on-Trent to Nottingham looks to be the only chance for Poels to overhaul Boasson Hagen for the overall win.
Boasson Hagen lost out on the day but took the yellow jersey (Sweetspot)
stage result
1
Wout Poels (Ned) Team Sky
4:12:22
2
Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) MTN – Qhubeka
0:00:02
3
Benat Intxausti Elorriaga (Esp) Movistar Team
0:00:17
4
Zdenek Stybar (Cze) Etixx – Quick Step
0:00:18
5
Rasmus Guldhammer Pedersen (Den) Cult Energy Pro Cycling
6
Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo
7
Xandro Meurisse (Bel) An Post – Chainreaction
8
Chris Anker Sørensen (Den) Tinkoff – Saxo
9
Rubén Fernandez Andujar (Esp) Movistar Team
10
Dylan Teuns (Bel) BMC Racing Team
11
Owain Doull (GBr) Team WIGGINS
0:00:25
12
Alex Peters (GBr) Great Britain
13
Rasmus Christian Quaade (Den) Cult Energy Pro Cycling
0:00:31
14
Graham Briggs (GBr) JLT Condor
15
Gorka Izaguirre Insausti (Esp) Movistar Team
16
Dylan van Baarle (Ned) Team Cannondale – Garmin
0:00:35
17
Robert Kiserlovski (Cro) Tinkoff – Saxo
18
Alberto Bettiol (Ita) Team Cannondale – Garmin
19
Peter Kennaugh (GBr) Team Sky
0:01:00
20
Jens Debusschere (Bel) Lotto – Soudal
general classification
1
Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) MTN – Qhubeka
23:02:36
2
Wouter Poels (Ned) Team Sky
0:00:01
3
Rasmus Guldhammer Pedersen (Den) Cult Energy Pro Cycling
Dani Ostanek 