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Intro:

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The enthusiasm for Road cycling competitions began at the end of the XIX century and has not stopped growing since. Some big races attract around tens of million spectators and are watched by TV viewers all over the world.

The first race officially recorded dates back to 31 May 1868 at the ‘Parc de Saint-Cloud’, in Paris, and was won by the British rider, James Moore.

The first city to city race took place on 7 November 1869: Paris-Rouen. James Moore, once again the winner, rode 123 kilometres in 10h. 25 min. The organisers’ intention was to promote cycling and to demonstrate that the bicycle enabled considerable distances to be covered.

Road cycling has been part of the Olympic Games programme since its first edition in 1896. Today, Track, Mountain Bike and from 2008, BMX are also Olympic disciplines.

The first UCI Road World Championships were organised in 1927. Nowadays, they are usually raced on a circuit of between 12 to 17 km, with a group start, over a total distance of approximately 260 km. The individual time-trial discipline was introduced on the World Championships programme in 1994. It is raced over a distance of 40 to 50 km for professionals. Riders start individually, at regular intervals (1 to 2 minutes). The competitor with the best time is declared the winner.

Event:

Source: UCI.ch

Cycling News: Lobato Elvira suspended for two years

Astarloa, Caucchioli, De Bonis, Serrano and Lobato Elvira were the riders named by the UCI

Ruben Lobato Elvira (Saunier Duval - Scott)

Former Saunier Duval rider sanctioned for Biological Passport violation

The International Cycling Union has announced that Spanish rider Ruben Lobato Elvira has been suspended by the Spanish Cycling Federation for two years because of a violation of the UCI’s biological Passport programme.

Lobato Elvira was part of the first group of five riders named by the UCI for violating the blood value monitoring system in June 2009. Also named at the time were Italy’s Francesco De Bonis and Pietro Caucchioli, and Spain’s Ricardo Serrano and Igor Astarloa, who was world road race champion in 2003. All the riders, except Astarloa have been given two year suspensions in recent months.

The UCI did not specify the dates of Lobato Elvira’s suspension. However other riders were banned from June 18, 2009 until June 17, 2011.

Lobato Elvira raced with Acqua & Sapone, Domina Vacanze and Saunier Duval before being named by the UCI. He officially announced his retirement in December 2008. Since then, he has been working as a directeur sportif for the amateur Sansi-Spiuk team in his town of San Sebastian de los Reyes near Madrid.

Source: cyclingnews.com

Intro:

Track racing dates back to the end of the nineteenth century. The first World Championships were held in 1895. Track cyclists are powerful athletes, generally with far more muscle bulk than “road racers”.

“Sprint” events

Keirin

The Keirin is based on the famous Keirin cycle racing which is one of the biggest betting sports in Japan. Contested over eight laps, the field of three to seven riders follows the Derny motor bike at an increasing pace until two and a half laps to go. The riders jostle for position behind the motorbike to gain the desired position, depending on where their biggest rivals are.

As the motor bike pulls off the track with two and a half laps to go, the battle begins to win the sprint. The stronger riders will launch their effort early whilst others will follow well into the last lap hoping that they are behind the right wheel allowing them to propel themselves to the line and victory at the last possible moment. The riders will be flat out at speeds around 70 km/h.

Kilometre & 500m time trials

These can be easily described as time trials for sprinters. Contested over a kilometre for men and 500 metres for women, the riders start from a special gate and take to the track one at a time to cover the distance as swiftly as possible.

After an all out effort to get the speed high and gain momentum, the skilful riders will measure their efforts so that they do not “die” in the last lap of the lung bursting effort.

Sprint

This classic track event involves a great deal of movement and tactics. The two or three riders in each race seek to out -manoeuvre their opponents over the three lap race. Watch the leader slow the race to walking pace on the first lap so that the riders behind him/her do not have an advantage. Sometimes the riders will stand still on the track as the leading rider tries to force his/her rival to take over the lead so he can gain a slipstream advantage when riders finally go flat out.

After the slow preliminaries the pace picks up, the rider following has the benefit off surprise if he/she can time his/her acceleration from 35 km/h to 70 km/h to gain a few lengths on the opponent. The times for the sprint are given over the last 200 metres which the best sprinters will cover in just over 10 seconds.

From the quarter final stage all matches are on a ‘best of three’ heats basis.

Team Sprint

This is the most hectic discipline where teams of three riders start on each side of the track. As each leading rider completes one lap of the track he drops out leaving the next rider to complete a further lap before the last riders takes over to complete the three lap race. The first round is staged on a time trial basis to find the fastest four teams to contest the final.

The women’s team sprint event is a recent addition to the Championships. The rules are the same as the men’s race except that teams of two riders complete two laps of the 250m track.

“Endurance” events

Individual Pursuit

The men’s event is held over four kilometres whilst the women compete over three kilometres. The first round will be held on a time trial basis with the best four riders progressing to the finals. In the final stages, two riders start on opposite sides of the track and ride against each other until one rider catches the other or the distance is completed. The finals feature a ride-off for the bronze medal / fourth place followed by the nail biting final race for the gold and silver medals.

Madison

This race is contested by teams of two riders showing bike handling skills at their best. One rider has to be in the race at all times. The other team member takes a short rest circling at the top of the track before he rejoins the race with his team mate throwing him into the action with a hand sling. As with the points race there are sprints, in this case every 20 laps and the teams will also be trying to gain a lap on their opponents in this high speed race. The final is over the distance of 50km.

The skills of the riders are vitally important as the bunch reach speeds well over 50 km/h with riders throwing their partners into the fray at key times of the race aiming to win the sprint points or gain a decisive lap on their competitors.

Points Race

The points race is contested over a distance of 25km for women and 40km for men superbly demonstrating the glittering spectacle and tactics of track racing.

With sprints every ten laps, the pace of the race varies as each sprint approaches. The complete points race rider must have the flexibility to adapt to the increases in speed and changes of tactic as the race develops. With 5, 3, 2 and 1 point/s awarded to the first four riders in each sprint, the last two laps before each sprint are highly animated as each rider tries to find the best position to make his effort.

Despite the points amassed in the sprints, a rider can win 20 points if he manages to lap the field. Riders will attack individually or in small groups to try to gain the decisive lap. Watch the main field battle to resist a small group gaining a lap. The final result will be decided by total points gained.

Scratch Race

This is the simplest race in the championships. It’s a bunched race event over a distance of 10km for women and 15km for men and the first across the finish line wins the gold medal. The action is non stop with riders trying to break away from the main field and their adversaries organising the chase behind. There’s no room for hesitation in this high speed cat and mouse race.

Team Pursuit

For men, this event is contested by teams of four riders each pursuing the other over 4000 metres. Watch the precision of the four riders as the rider in front leads for a half lap before winging up the banking to resume his contribution to the effort at the rear of the string whilst his colleagues maintain the high pace. The skilful teams will be following each other only millimetres apart to ensure they maximise the slipstream shelter for the riders following the leader before making their own effort.

The women’s event is for three riders over 3000 metres.

“Combined” events

Omnium

The men’s Omnium is the pentathlon of track cycling. Each competitor must ride in five events – 200m flying time trial; 7.5km scratch race; 3km individual pursuit; 15km points race and 1km time trial. In this competition, points are awarded in reverse order. The winning rider of each event gets one point and the rider with the lowest number of points overall is the winner. If there is a tie on points, the judges look back at the timed events to determine who wins. You’ve got to be good at sprinting, time-trialing and bunched racing in this tough race series.

The women’s Omnium is a new event to the World Championships using the same rules as the men’s Omnium with different distances except for the 200m flying time trial – a 5km scratch race; a 2km individual pursuit; a 10km points race and a 500m time trial.

Event:

Source: UCI.ch

Cycling News: Menchov finally on the podium in Paris

Denis Menchov

Robert Gesink & Sammy Sanchez

Gesink keeps sixth

After finishing two minutes ahead of Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel) in the all-deciding time trial from Bordeaux to Pauillac, Denis Menchov (Rabobank) will be the one joining overall winner Alberto Contador (Astana) and Andy Schleck (Saxo Bank) on the podium on the Champs Elysées in Paris on Sunday.

After finishing the time trial Menchov took his time to freshen up, joining teammate Robert Gesink at the team car. Once that was done the Russian talked with the attending media.

“It was a hard time trial. It’s always hard but today’s wind made it really difficult. I had to fight hard. Looking back it was one of the best time trials of my life,” Menchov said.

Before the time trial Sanchez had a twenty-one second lead on Menchov but at the first intermediate point after eighteen kilometres the Russian had already moved past the Spaniard, taking a twenty-seven seconds bonus. “When I saw the course this morning I knew it would be good for me. I felt good right from the beginning and knew I had to start strong in order to make up time [on Sanchez].

“At the first checkpoint it was already good. The gap was already forty-seven seconds [48]. I knew that I was going well so I knew it was possible,” Menchov said.

At the second intermediate time-check the Russian had extended his lead over Sanchez to one minute and twenty-one seconds. Eventually he finished exactly two minutes ahead of Sanchez, resulting in a1:39 lead in the general classification.

“It was a very good performance and I’m very happy with it,” Menchov said.

The 32-year-old Russian is one of the few riders who finished on the podium in every Grand Tour. While racing for the Rabobank team Menchov has captured the overall victories in both the Tour of Spain (2005 and 2007) and the Tour of Italy (2009).

Back in 2008 he finished fourth in the Tour de France but due to the disqualification of Bernhard Kohl the 32-year-old moved up to third place. This year’s third place surely will feel much better, knowing he’ll be on the podium on the Champs Elysées in Paris on Sunday.

“For me this is a confirmation. I was going well and had been improving every year. I finally achieved the third place. It’s a great result. I’m very satisfied,” Menchov said.

Teammate Robert Gesink wasn’t thinking about improving his sixth place, rather hoping that he would be able to hold off Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Transitions) and Joaquin Rodriguez (Katusha). It was Hesjedal who became the biggest threat, eventually falling short by forty-four seconds.

“I’ve never in been in as much pain in my life. The last three kilometres Frans [Maassen, director sportif] informed me about the gap on Hesjedal and that motivated me to give that extra notch. With a hard rate of 190 you start calculating, which is not a good thing to do. By the last kilometre I had figured out that the gap was big enough but I kept going because you never know if he could’ve miscalculated,” Gesink joked.

“My front wheel almost flipped away. The wind blew hard and that hurt a lot,” Gesink said. When asked how he felt after realizing he would hold on to his sixth place the 24-year-old said he was delighted.

“Certainly, especially on this course. Fifty-two kilometres… I don’t know who invents this stuff but that’s way too long, especially with the headwind. You’re constantly counting down the kilometres, even though it’s not good to do so. I’m super satisfied and super proud with my sixth place. It’s my third Grand Tour and – looking back – my first full Tour de France.

“Sixth is fantastic and if you’ll look back you won’t find many riders who pulled that off on their maiden trip through France. Sixth place is very promising, but my results in the past were like that too; I’m content that I could continue improving,” Gesink said.

Source: cyclingnews.com

Cycling Events: Mountain bike

Intro:

The first mountain bike competitions were held in California (USA) in the early eighties. Since then the discipline has grown very fast, in all aspects. The first World Championships to be officially recognized by the UCI dates back to 1990. A World Cup was set up the following year.

Mountain bike events are split into four specialities :

Cross-country

Cross-country, generally over a closed circuit of 5 to 9 km : depending on the category, this race can last from 1 hour and 45 minutes to 2 hours and 30 minutes. There are narrow tracks, paths through forests, rocky paths and the riders even have to ford streams

Cross-country marathon is a long version of cross-country (from 60 to 120 km) raced in the mountains.

Downhill

Downhill, against the clock or in line. In its individual form, the downhill rider negotiates a succession of sections some of which are steep and require great technique.

4-Cross

4-Cross is the baby of the family, 4 riders compete over a fast downhill run including jumps and banked corners.

Event:

Source: UCI.ch

Cycling News: Italian cycling remembers Franco Ballerini

Franco Ballerini

Franco Ballerini 2

Franco Ballerini 3

Pozzato and Nibali to memorial criterium on Saturday

Italian cycling will remember former national coach Franco Ballerini on Saturday, with the first edition of the Franco Ballerini Day criterium.

Ballerini twice won Paris-Roubaix as a rider and was in charge of the Italian team that won gold in the Athens Olympics with Paolo Bettini and won three world titles with Bettini and Alessandro Ballan. He was killed in a car rally accident on February 7 near his home in Tuscany.

The 103.4km race will cover 22 laps of a 4.7km circuit around Ballerini’s home town of Cantagrillo.

Several big name riders have promised to ride including Italian national champion Filippo Pozzato (Katusha), Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre-Farnese Vini) and Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas-Doimo). Other riders who completed the Giro d’Italia are also expected to take part, especially those who rode with or under Ballerini in the Italian ‘azzurri’ team at world championships and Olympics.

Teams set to ride include Astana, Quick Step, Lampre – Farnese Vini, Liquigas, Team Katusha, ISD – Neri, De Rosa – Stac Plastic, Carmiooro, Ceramica Flaminia, Colnago – Csf, Acqua & Sapone, Androni Giocattoli, CDC Cavaliere and Amore & Vita.

Before the race a special memorial service will be held at the cemetery where Ballerini is buried.

Source: cyclingnews.com

Cycling Events: Cyclo-cross

Intro:

The first Cyclo-cross World Championships were held in 1950.

Cyclo-cross is a discipline run on 2.5 to 3.5 circuits, including clearings, roads, country lanes and paths through forests. The riders have to do several laps of the circuit over a period of no more than an hour. To make their way along steep paths, muddy tracks and artificial obstacles, sometimes the riders even have to carry their bikes.

This discipline, which is splendid in itself, is at the same time an unbeatable school of cycling, where you have to combine riding technique, courage and the peak of physical fitness. Technical back up is allowed, which is one of the main differences with mountain bike disciplines.

Event:

Source: UCI.ch

Cycling News: Scope of US doping inquiry may be widened

Lance Armstrong

SCA contract could be examined too

US federal authorities are reported to be considering expanding their investigation into doping allegations laid against Lance Armstrong and other leading riders to include possible fraud and conspiracy charges. According to the New York Times, investigators looking into allegations of doping made by Floyd Landis during the recent Amgen Tour of California are attempting to establish whether Armstrong and the managers of his former teams conspired to defraud sponsors by doping to boost their performance.

After speaking to two unnamed sources close to the investigation, the New York Times indicated that federal authorities are particularly interested in establishing whether sponsorship money provided by the US Postal Service between 1996 and 2004 was used to buy performance-enhancing products. The paper points out that sentences for those convicted on fraud changes can be longer than those given for drug distribution.

The paper also said that investigators are also planning to examine the contract between Armstrong and SCA Promotions, which refused to pay out a $5 million bonus to the seven-time Tour winner following the 2004 publication of David Walsh and Pierre Ballester’s book L.A. Confidentiel, which alleged that Armstrong had doped. Armstrong successfully sued SCA, who were forced to pay out $7.5 million to cover the payment and damages.

Speaking to the New York Times, Columbia University law professor and former federal prosecutor Daniel C. Richman said of potential fraud charges: “Federal fraud charges are fairly straightforward; they apply to any scheme to acquire money or property through deceit or misrepresentation. In this case, the authorities would have to prove that Armstrong was misrepresenting himself to sponsors by saying that he was clean but was actually using performance-enhancing drugs and profiting from it.”

There are some precedents for cases of sporting fraud in cycling. The best known involved 1997 Tour winner Jan Ullrich. In 2007, Ullrich was charged with fraud by German authorities in the wake of allegations of systematic doping that emerged during the Operation Puerto blood doping investigation. In April 2008, Ullrich paid “a six-figure sum” to end a fraud case based on his alleged deception of the public, his sponsors and his team.

The New York Times also says that federal agent Jeff Novitzky, who led the 2004 Balco investigation that led to athletics training consultant Victor Conte being imprisoned for distribution of steroids, has met with Landis and is working closely with the US Ant-Doping Agency.

Source: cyclingnews.com

Cycling Events: BMX

Intro:

Bicycle moto cross (BMX) started in the late 1960s in California, around the time that motocross became a popular sport in the USA. The motorized version of the sport was the inspiration for the human powered competition. Children and teenagers with the desire but not the means to participate in motocross sated their appetite by racing bicycles on self-built tracks. These young adventurers completed the imitation by dressing themselves up in motocross gear. The sport was given the name ‘bmx’ and the conception was complete. BMX races are held on circuits of around 350 metres, including jumps, banked corners and other obstacles. Eight riders compete in each heat (qualifying rounds, quarter finals, semi-finals, finals) with the top four qualifying for the next round.

BMX racing offered exciting action at a low cost, close to home. It is easy to see why the sport was an instant hit. In California the sport was more popular than anywhere else. During the early 1970s a sanctioning body for BMX was founded in the U.S.A. This is considered as the official start of BMX racing. As that decade progressed, the sport was introduced on other continents too, among them Europe in 1978.

In April 1981, the International BMX Federation was founded, and the first world championships were held in 1982. BMX rapidly developed as a unique sporting entity, and after several years clearly had more in common with cycling than motorcycling codes. Thus, since January 1993 BMX has been fully integrated into the Union Cycliste Internationale.

The main BMX areas in the world were and are the U.S.A., Europe and Australia, whilst South America has also been growing rapidly over the past years. BMX has been integrated with many national cycling federations. Currently, there are 75 national federations with official BMX activities recognized by the UCI. Over 1600 competitors from 32 countries participated in the 2003 UCI BMX World Championships that was held in Perth, Australia

On June 29th 2003, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) decided to introduce BMX in the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijng, China.

BMX within UCI :

• UCI has 75 affiliated national federations that have BMX racing on their program.

• UCI is the sole owner of the UCI BMX World Championships, which are held every year.

• UCI is the sole owner of the premiere BMX race series in the world – the UCI BMX Supercross.

• Over 70 international BMX events are present on the UCI International BMX Calendar, held on four continents.

• UCI is managing the UCI BMX Continental World Ranking, which contains of over 40 races counting for ranking points. Each year UCI is rewarding the top ranked BMX riders with 30.000 CHF.

• UCI is managing courses worldwide to educate officials, coaches and riders.

Event:

Source: UCI.ch

Cycling News: Evans not happy after Monte Grappa

Cadel Evans

Ivan Basso leads Micheli Scarponi and Cadel Evans

Hopes for better on Sunday’s Zoncolan finish

Cadel Evans (BMC) confirmed he is one of the major contenders for the overall victory at the Giro d’Italia. Thanks to a strong ride on Monte Grappa, he managed to regain some of the time he lost to Carlos Sastre and new race leader David Arroyo but he still wasn’t satisfied with his ride, especially on the descent.

Evans lost contact with Vincenzo Nibali, Ivan Basso and Michele Scarponi towards the top of the Monte Grappa but got back to Basso and Scarponi on the descent. However he described the way he rode downhill as “a disgrace”.

“It hasn’t been a great day for me”, he told Cyclingnews, when he crossed the finishing line in Asolo. “I think I’ve suffered a bit. It was the first hot and humid day.”

“The Liquigas team has demonstrated to be the strongest team of this Giro d’Italia,” he then said in Italian. “Nibali rode like a beast. He took a lot of risks. It was his day. I managed to stay with these guys up the climb without feeling at my best, so the outcome is pretty good. I’m happy with my progression on GC.”

Evans moved up from 15th overall 11.10 down on the pink jersey at the start of the stage, to tenth, 7.26 behind new race leader Arroyo.

After a difficult day, he hopes to feel more at his ease on the steeper slopes of the Zoncolan on Sunday.

“I’ll only attack if I have good legs, otherwise I’d take the risk of blowing”, he warned. “But uphill finishes are definitely the places for me to regain the time lost.”

The Australian has been a bit nervous in the past few days but seems more relax as the mountains arrive in the final week of the Giro d’Italia. The weaknesses of his BMC team will be less of a problem when it comes down to individual strength on the uphill finishes.

Source: cyclingnews.com