Posts from — May 2010

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 responds to media questions about Floyd Landis

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 (BMC) leads the chase of Nibali

Ivan Basso (Liquigas - Doimo) leads Micheli Scarponi (Androni Giocattoli) and Cadel Evans (BMC).

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

Cycling Events: Trials

Intro:

The first UCI Trial World Championships were held in 1984.

Trial is one of the most exciting of all cycling disciplines. The cyclists have to get over obstacles grouped into “sections”, without ever setting foot on the ground (or they incur penalties). The most common obstacles are rocks and shrubs, but can be almost anything : huge cardboard boxes, cars, tables, etc. After negotiating a series of “sections”, the rider who has collected the fewest penalty points is declared the winner.

There are two categories of trial competition. The difference is in the wheel size : 20 or 26 inches.

Event:

Source: UCI.ch

Cycling News: UCI rejects Landis’ accusation about a concealed doping test

UCI President Pat McQuaid and RadioShack manager Johan Bruyneel

Cycling’s governing body “deeply shocked” over allegations

The International Cycling Union (UCI) rejected accusations made by Floyd Landis in an official statement released Thursday evening. In particular, it rebutted the allegation of a concealed positive doping test.

The UCI refuted “the allegation that a positive doping result by Lance Armstrong during the 2002 Tour of Switzerland was concealed after an agreement was reached between the American rider, his directeur sportif Mr Johan Bruyneel and the former UCI President, Mr. Hein Verbruggen.”

“Deeply shocked by the gravity of this statement, which considerably impinges on the honour of all persons who have dedicated themselves to the fight against doping, the UCI wishes to clearly state that it has never changed or concealed a positive test result,” read the statement.

Cycling’s international governing body pointed out that Armstrong did not participate in 2002 Tour of Switzerland.

The UCI went on to call the accusation by Landis “unfounded” and added that it was “outraged at this new attempt to harm the image of cycling”.

Landis had won the 2006 Tour de France when a urine sample showed the rider had an unusually high testosterone to epitestosterone ratio from a test taken on Stage 17. The then Phonak rider was eventually found guilty and disqualified – the first rider to be stripped of the yellow jersey – but not before a drawn out legal battle.

“Our sport has long paid a heavy price for the fraudulent behaviour of individuals such as Floyd Landis, and we cannot accept the principles governing our work being challenged in terms of their ethics and honesty by a person who has not hesitated to breach such principles,” read the UCI’s statement.

Finally, the UCI promised to “take all necessary measures” to defend the honour of itself and its executives.

This statement by the UCI followed an earlier one by the organization in which it said that it would leave it to the accused individuals to “take the position they see fit with regards to this issue” and reiterated its zero tolerance policy for doping in sport. In that same statement, the UCI had promised to investigate the accusations levelled by Landis.

Source: cyclingnews.com

Cycling Events: Indoor Cycling

Intro:

Artistic cycling

The first official artistic cycling World Championships were held in 1956. This sport is most popular in Germany, where there are no fewer than 10000 licence holders. As a sport, artistic cycling is a bit like ice-skating or gymnastics. It is a discipline requiring skill, balance, concentration and courage. The competitors (entering either as individuals or in pairs) offer a 6-minute programme with a musical accompaniment. A jury judges the quality of the figures.

Cycle-ball

The first World Cycle-Ball Championships were held in 1930. This is an exclusively masculine discipline, with two teams of two players (who act both as goalkeepers and outfield players). A match is made up of two 7 minutes halves. The ball (approx. 18 cm in diameter), which can be struck with either the front or the rear wheel, is filled with horsehair. It can reach a speed of 60 km/h. Inside the penalty area, the goalkeeper can use his hands to stop shots on goal. The goal itself measures 2 m by 2 m. As in football, fouls are punished with free kicks and penalties.

Event:

Source: UCI.ch

Cycling News: Rookie Porte overcomes extreme conditions

Richie Porte (Saxo Bank) was best young rider earlier in the Giro d'Italia.

Gustav Erik Larsson and Richie Porte of Team Saxo Bank

Tasmanian back in white jersey

Saxo Bank’s young Richie Porte was escorted by Gustav Larsson to finish 16th in the gruelling Giro d’Italia stage seven over the strade bianche to Montalcino. After one week of hard racing, the Tasmanian is in the white jersey as the best young rider and in the top 10 in the general classification. He is the big revelation of the 2010 Giro d’Italia so far.

After receiving the white jersey at the end of the stage, he was still in shock after his experience on the gravelled roads. “This was hard,” he said, looking exhausted even after some time to recover.

“I’m here because my team has done an incredible job for me, especially Laurent Didier, Baden Cooke and Larsson.”

“To take the white jersey because of a crash isn’t what I wanted,” said Porte. Liquigas’ Valerio Agnoli had the white jersey going into stage 7, but he crashed along with his Liquigas-Doimo team captain Vincenzo Nibali with 30 kilometres to go.

As of the end of Saturday, the Australian Porte has a 1:38 lead over Nibali. Another Liquigas rider, Croatian Robert Kiserlovski sits as third best young rider at 2:05 while Bauke Mollema is fourth at 4:05 – perhaps not too much of a gap for the Dutch climber to close.

Porte explained his strategy for the Giro thus far. “My directeur sportif Kim Andersen told me to go for the GC that the white jersey would follow.”

“I’m only a neo-pro. To be up there with these guys is unbelievable. The Tasmanian is 10th in the GC, two minutes down on race leader Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana) as the race heads into stage 8 on Sunday.

Source: cyclingnews.com

Cycling News: Porte and Millar miss out on pink jersey

David Millar (Garmin-Transitions)

Richie Porte (Saxo Bank) is focused on retaining the white jersey through to Verona.

Australian and Briton slip to eighth and ninth

Richie Porte (Saxo Bank) and David Millar (Garmin-Transitions) started the team time trial just a second away from the pink jersey but ended the day down in eighth and ninth place, both 45 seconds behind new race leader Vincenzo Nibali.

Both their teams rode well in the 33km team time trial, with Garmin-Transitions finishing eighth at 49 seconds and Saxo Bank ninth at 50 seconds. But their dreams of pulling on the pink jersey are now over. Millar will now target a stage victory, while Porte will focus on the best young rider’s white jersey.

“We were hopeful we could win but it wasn’t perhaps realistic,” Millar admitted to Cyclingnews.

“I think we were a little bit unlucky with the weather. We had a bad spell for five minutes because we got caught in the rain. It was windy and really heavy rain and that’s what slowed us down.”

“We were also perhaps lacking a bit of power in the team. We were very good technically. We’ve got two young riders who are world track champions but a team time trial is a little different. That’s cycling. Liquigas were really strong, they were the best so you can only say ‘chapeau’. Now I’m going to have some fun in the next few days, I’m going to target some stage wins.”

Porte also lost the best young rider’s white jersey to Valerio Agnoli (Liquigas-Doimo), slipping to third behind Matt Goss (HTC-Columbia).

“I guess I thought I had a shot at the pink jersey. Historically Saxo Bank is a strong team in team time trials. We did out best and so we’re still happy,” Port told Cyclingnews.

“We were nice and smooth. We had pretty heavy rain at the start but I think it was the same for everybody so it’s not an excuse. We rode really well and other than the rain it was perfect.”

“It’s no stress losing the white jersey. It’s a long race. I hope to get it back later on. The white jersey is now my big goal.”

Source: cyclingnews.com

Cycling News: Wiggins loses four minutes after Giro crash

Bradley Wiggins (Sky Professional Cycling Team)

Briton explains why he believes Vinokourov should be allowed to race

Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky) lost nearly all chance of overall success in the Giro d’Italia on the windswept roads of southern Holland after being caught up in a mass-crash of his team in the final kilometres of the stage.

Wiggins lost 3:59 to new leader Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana) and is now 55th overall, 4:28 behind the Kazakhstani rider.

Team Sky had ridden well for most of the stage, keeping Wiggins out of trouble in placing him in the front group with Vinokourov. However there was nothing he could do to avoid the crash. Fortunately he wasn’t hurt.

“I’ll be alright. That’s the way it goes. Matt Hayman went down in the corner, and we all went down,” he said as he boarded the coach taking the riders to Oostende airport for the flight to Italy.

“Today was a different from yesterday’s stage. It was a bit more selective because of the course and the bike racing. It was just the strong guys at the front and the guys who couldn’t hold it weren’t at the front.”

Greg Henderson and Dario Cioni also crashed, Henderson was in pain as he climbed on the bus but Wiggins insisted Team Sky would bounce back and be ready to try and win the team time trial on Wednesday.

“We’re all fine. We’ll be alright for Wednesday,” he said.

“That’s the Giro. It’s always like that. There’s so much road furniture and thing in the road. It’s lethal really and everyone just gets so nervous when it’s like that.”

Clarification about Vinokourov

While Wiggins was getting showered and changing for the transfer, Vinokourov was pulling on the pink jersey and in the spot light as new race leader.

Some people were surprised that Wiggins had in some way defended Vinokourov during the press conference after he won the time trial stage on Saturday. It seemed that he was in some way supportive that Vinokourov was back, despitethe Astana rider never being repentant for the damage his blood doping in the 2007 Tour de France had done to cycling.

Wiggins has always taken a strong stand against dopers and is no fan of Vinokourov. He explained to Cyclingnews that he accepts that Vino should be allowed to race again because otherwise the debate about the rights and wrong of doping overshadow every rider’s success.

“People ask me all the time, ‘How do you race with these guys? Why do you not spit at them?’ but you can’t do that,” Wiggins said to Cyclingnews.

“It’s only bike racing, and it’s actually the system that fails us as athletes. It’s not really their fault (that they come back), it’s the system’s fault that allows them to do it. As long as they’re allowed to race, what are we supposed to do? You have to race with them and treat them like anyone else, as rivals on the road. They’re human beings, they’re allowed to race. You can’t blame them for wanting to come back, wanting to race and make money.”

“Until they test positive, you have to accept the results they achieve. Otherwise it just makes everything a mess. Steve Cummings was 25th at Liège – Bastogne – Liège but all people were taking about was Vino and all the past winners of that race that have had troubles. But what about the riders who were up there? All that talk demoralizes them.”

“If someone beats me in the Tour but I finish up there, I don’t want it rubbed in that they might be doped. As far as I’m concerned, they’re clean and getting on with their job. That’s the way you have to deal with it.”

Source: cyclingnews.com