Fabian Cancellara – Page 4 – Velo Club Sud Eglise

Rise of the inflatable sponsorship mushroom – VCSE’s Racing Digest #15

Tour de Pologne

That this was the seventieth or so edition of the Tour of Poland may have escaped you if you didn’t realise that this is the UCI’s reincarnation of the iron curtain era Peace Race. A Cannondale benefit for the last two years with overall victories for Peter Sagan and Moreno Moser, a lack of interest in defending the crown this time around was visible in the selection of Ivan Basso as team leader. Speaking of faded glories, who was that on the start list? Only Sir Bradley Wiggins making his first appearance since the Giro but hinting at something low key by taking the last of six places in the Sky team.

Taking place almost immediately after this years Tour de France there was inevitably an absence of riders from the that race, but this was made up for by the return of the faces from the Giro; Wiggins and Vincenzo Nibali and from the distant past of the spring classics, Fabian Cancellara. There was a notable refugee from the Tour present. Christophe Riblon called into the AG2R squad due to injury and missing out on a stack of invitations to the post Tour criteriums that demand the presence of the French hero du jour. The post Tour Crits, essentially exhibition races with pre-ordained outcomes are extremely lucrative for their participants. They do require a suspension of disbelief on the part of the spectator however finely balanced or unpredictable the outcome may appear the star attraction must win.

The UCI are considering their own devices that might ensure their sanctioned races avoid the possibilty that one or two teams can force the outcome of a race. The experiment in Poland was smaller teams of six riders. The VCSE view would be that the idea seemed to work quite well. Some things remained the same; there were the normal politics of who could or couldn’t go in the break. Smaller teams appeared to lessen the amount of time one team could stay on the front and whether by accident or design chasing down a break required cooperation. The need for versatility when choosing six rather than nice riders allowed the all rounders like Riblon and Thor Hushovd who won two stages here to come to the fore.

BMC had a good Tour of Poland following neatly on from their overall at the Tour de Wallonie the week before. Hushovd looked in his best form of this year and may even fancy his chances at the world championships on the strength of this week. Win of the week and not just for BMC was Taylor Phinney’s cheeky late break on stage 4. It was strange to think that this was Phinney’s first professional win.

Did the UCI’s novelties extend the the inflatable sponsors mushrooms (or were they light bulbs) or was this an invention of the race organisers. The same organisers had an interesting approach to on screen information with blink and you’ll miss it time gaps. Perhaps the plan was give the viewer an idea of what it was like without race radios. Keen eyed armchair fans will often see a hire van and a couple of hi viz wearing staffers waiting at the side of the road who will dismantle the races road furniture after the peloton has passed. You had to feel sorry for the students who nabbed a summer job on the Tour of Poland and found that they would be spending their time inflating the many hundreds (thousands?) of sponsors mushrooms that adorned the route. Can’t see them catching on really.

The second rank stage races often throw up the most entertaining and animated races with the smaller teams in Poland adding to the mix and ensuring the yellow leaders jersey changed riders several times. Riblon justified his selection with a stage win and just missed out on the overall by seconds on the final stage time trial. He was demonstrably frustrated with losing the race lead on the final day but with his stage win over a tough profile in Trentino decorating his Alpe d’Huez Tour victory Riblon looks like the real deal. Unlike last years hero Thibaut Pinot, Riblon has form with another Tour stage win in 2010.

Christophe Riblon (Photo credit: Petit Brun)

We have too often found that our new gods have feet of clay this year with riders appearing to hit rich form only to discover later it was illegally enhanced. It’s practically impossible to believe this could be the case with Riblon, a French rider in a French team, with the severe anti doping laws in that country. Unlikely to be a factor in grand tours if nothing else Riblon’s performances cement AG2R’s place as the preeminent French world tour team of 2013. Whatever the expectations of the nation that produced Anquetil and Hinault, the teams probably set their bars lower and Riblon’s recent performances coupled with Carlos Betancur’s in the Giro would certainly be envied by FDJ this year. With the race starting in Italy for two stages it was not surprising to see the Italian based and managed Columbia team make an appearance that was rewarded with a stage win and second place for Darwin Atapuma on stages six and one respectively.

Of the returning Giro protagonists there was little sign early on in the race. VCSE spied Bradley Wiggins popping out the back on stage 1 but what became clear from reports if not the coverage was that he was working hard earlier in the stage in support of Sergio Henao. On stage 5 we actually got the evidence for ourselves, treated to Wiggins riding a massively determined turn that destroyed any hopes that the breakaway could stay ahead. As the race went on it became clear that things were getting tee’d up neatly for Wiggins to have a tilt at the win in the final stage time trial. All of the talk now is of him going for the TT in the world championships. Current title holder Tony Martin was absent but Wiggins put the best part of a minute into Fabian Cancellara and more into third place man Phinney. There seems to be a collective sigh of relief that Wiggins has finally hit form, but for VCSE it’s more important that he looks motivated again. Vincenzo Nibali was very much in training mode, dropped on the climbs and reportedly focusing on the world championships only. For Nibali the Vuelta will be a chance to ride into form for Florence at the end of the season.

The overall? A win for Peter Weening of Orica Green Edge who overcame Riblon’s seconds advantage with the time trailing equivalent of winning ugly. His winning ride lacked any souplesse but was at least effective; he took the victory by 13 seconds.

Omega Pharma for GC?

As the cycling ‘transfer window’ opens the first team to get riders to put pen to paper was Omega Pharma. The much rumoured move from Sky of Rigoberto Uran has been confirmed and the debate about what kind of team Omega Pharma want to be has re-started. This has been fuelled further by the (again much trailed) signings of Alessandro Petacchi and Mark Renshaw to bolster Mark Cavendish’s lead out train. VCSE’s take would be that Uran will be given more support in the grand tours that Cavendish misses. That said, Uran is probably better able than most to freelance in the mountains and if the plan is to get more Omega Pharma jerseys at the sharp end of the peloton on the climbs it’s probably a good move for team and rider.

On the other end of the scale one of the two world tour teams at risk of not appearing in 2014 Euskatel have told their riders to start looking for new teams. With 25% unemployment in Spain it was inevitable that the team would be at risk of losing their funding and a less than stellar set of results has probably sped up the decision to pull the plug. All the same it’s hard to see a team folding when they could kept afloat for a fraction of the amount that Real Madrid are thinking of paying for one player this summer.

After Katusha were reinstated to the world tour after their CAS appeal earlier in the season losing one team from the world tour would not have been too much of an issue if a second rank team was ready to move up in their place. The team most likely, swiss registered IAM have said they don’t intend to make the jump, perhaps burnt by the fact that Fabian Cancellara has re signed with Trek. If no teams make the jump it means another wild card place for the grand tours and the potential for some of the continental squads to get invitations to the second rank races also. If this means that the default invitations of only Italian or French teams to the Giro and Tour can be avoided it’s probably no bad thing. The loss of Euskatel and possibly Vacansoleil also will be felt hardest by the riders and support staff and their families.

Ride London

No doubt the organisers of the Ride London professional race would like the event to become a regular fixture on the world tour. Run a couple of hours after the 20,000 rider had begun to cross the finish line in The Mall the was a decent sprinkling of teams including Sky, Cannondale and Garmin. With the BBC showing the start and finish of the race live the ‘big name’ being used to batter the casual viewer into showing interest was Peter Sagan. How the Beeb’s commentators would have loved a Chris Froome or Mark Cavendish to have been on the start list. Cycling gets next to no exposure on the BBC but its a shame that the editorial line is always pitched so low with no opportunity missed to mention the Olympics or someone that viewers may have heard of. In fairness the BBC deserved a ‘Chapeau!’ for showing a decent highlights package of the women’s Crit from Saturday night. Laura Trott continued her rivalry with Hannah Barnes in the sprint finish winning the race to make it all square in head to heads between the two this year.

The men’s race was fairly typical for a bumpy parcours; a breakaway that was never allowed to get so far ahead and a bunch finish. The script wasn’t followed as Sagan rode an anonymous race; the only time he appeared on camera was getting bottles from the team car. The circuits of Leith Hill were also largely processional, with the real digs coming on the single ascent of Box Hill. David Millar’s attempt to get another group across to the break was drowned out by the apathy of his companions. When it came to sprint, Parliment Square proved to be too much of a bottle neck for some teams leaving FDJ, who had shown their jersey in the break all day, to be the best organised for the finish. Arnaud Demare took the win with teammates in close attendance.

The men’s race inspires some international interest in the event. The close links between Ride London and the London Marathon would suggest that the format will continue with a professional event book ending the main event which is the sportive. Compared to the hundreds of thousands who take part in the Marathon it’s hard to see why a ceiling of 20,000 was put on the sportive. With 80,000 applying for a ballot place it does seem strange that more riders aren’t able to take part. Obviously the infrastructure needed to close roads through the capital and the Surrey stockbroker belt costs but given that the Marathon is able to support the ‘fun runner’ element surely something could be done to allow more cyclists of all standards to take part next year. This year everyone was given the same start location with any riders struggling to make the 4.00pm cut off directed onto short cuts back to the capital. Perhaps in true sportive style a shorter route could be incorporated next year.

Final thoughts. How many capital cities dedicate their centre’s to mass participation cycling events and professional road races on the same day? Chapeau to London and the organisers. I expect the sportive will be massively over subscribed when registration opens later this month. Last year the BBC showed an hours highlights programme for the men’s and women’s world championship road races. This in the same year as the first ever British Tour de France win and the Olympics. As the BBC programming closed today they announced that they would be showing this years world championships live. For dedicated fans of the sport the low brow coverage maybe frustrating, but we should all celebrate the increased coverage the sport is now getting on the national broadcaster.

The team from down under takes over – VCSE’s Racing Digest #11

The riders of the 2013 Tour de France, having completed seven stages already would probably disagree, but this years race starts in earnest tomorrow as the Tour enters the Pyrenees for two days of climbing. Saturday sees the first summit finish at Ax 3 Domaines and will be followed by four first category climbs on Sunday. By Monday and the first rest day we will have our initial indications of who will end up in the Maillot Jaune in two weeks on the streets of Paris. Week one has pretty much centred on the points classification battle with all of the key figures, with the exception of Cannondale’s Peter Sagan, winning a stage ahead of Friday’s rolling stage to Albi.

Like many great plans the decision to forgo a prologue and open the 100th Tour with a sprint stage on the races first visit to Corsica didn’t quite pan out as expected. Tour Director Christian Prudhomme had made it pretty obvious that he favoured Mark Cavendish to take the first stage and with it the chance to wear yellow for the first time in his career. Argos Shimano with their sprint double team of Marcel Kittel and John Degenkolb ignored the script and it was Kittel who took the win and the honour of wearing the leaders jersey for stage 2. It later emerged that Cavendish had been suffering from a virus. He seemed philosophical about missing out on yellow, but such is the stature of the new British champion it’s entirely possible that parcours could be ‘tailored’ to allow him another crack at yellow in future Tours.

With the next two stages in Corsica taking in some significant climbs Kittel was never likely to retain the yellow jersey, such is his inability to climb much more than a gentle slope. Either stage offered the chance of a bunch sprint, but almost equally there were opportunities for a breakaway and it was once such move that prevailed by a single second at the line in stage 2. Jan Bakelants of Radioshack all but guaranteed his future employment with the new Trek team that will emerge from the Radioshack ashes in 2014 with the win that also catapulted him into the overall lead. One of riders a second back on Sunday was Sagan and he was pipped again on stage 3 by a rider with form at ‘stealing’ last minute (read: last second) victories; Orica Green Edge’s Simon Gerrans. The Australian rider had controversially snatched the win at Milan San Remo in 2012 by sneaking around Fabian Cancellara’s wheel at the line. His timing was spot on again and Sagan had to console himself with his haul of green jersey points.

The Tour was back on the mainland for Tuesday’s Team Time Trial in Nice. It’s fair to say that most eyes weren’t on Orica Green Edge ahead of the stage. Garmin, who had won the TTT when it last featured had David Millar one second from yellow and were shackled with the favourite’s label by the lazier commentators. Crucially Garmin have a different make up this year and look more likely to take stage wins, rather than feature high on the GC. It’s unlikely that the team would have expected Millar to be the leader in any case and the circumstances they found themselves in for the test were probably a happy coincidence rather than a grand plan. Omega Pharma, with Tony Martin and Sylvain Chavanel in the squad held the lead for considerable time on the day, with Sky the strongest of the GC teams. Orica were late off the ramp, but rode strongly to not only win the stage, but put Gerrans into yellow following his stage win the previous day.

Mark Cavendish’s (legal) pharmaceuticals had worked their magic by stage 5, although the difference was mostly his Omega Pharma sprint train who dominated the last few kilometres into Marseilles. All of the early season niggles about the lead out have now disappeared and with a further sprint stage due on Thursday in Montpellier a consecutive win could have been on the cards. Week one of the Tour de France will rarely follow such a conventional script and a late fall left Cavendish somewhat frayed of jersey and displaying a few cuts and bruises. He got himself back to the front for the bunch sprint, but it was Lotto Belisol who were firing on all cylinders after their previous day misfire. Andre Greipel took a relatively easy win. Gerran’s surrendered the yellow jersey, but Orica were able to celebrate all the same as it was passed to his team mate; Daryl Impey.

Cannondale ended the first week with a plan; deliver a stage win for Peter Sagan. Although the team in green had their man (comfortably) in the green jersey at the start of the day, at this point last year Sagan already had three wins to his credit. The team went full gas from the start, riding on the front for more than 100 kilometres. Sagan’s points classification rivals were gapped on the first serious climb of the day and with 40 km’s to go Cavendish, Greipel and co’ gave up on the chase back to the peloton. The only fly in the ointment was surprise of the week Bakelants who stayed away with a couple of others until the stage reached the outskirts of Albi. The fact that Cannodale, a man down since Ted King’s enforced withdrawl after the TTT, could still find riders to lead Sagan out summed up just how much his teammates buried themselves today. It would have been heartbreaking if Sagan had been pipped again, but as the first week came to an end he prevailed. It leaves him with an almost 100 point advantage of Greipel in the race to the green jersey, with Cavendish in third. There was always a possibility that the green jersey could get wrapped up early in the Tour and we could see Cavendish ceding the points contest and ‘putting it all on black’ for the final stage in Paris in two weeks.

Sky have three riders in the top 10 on GC as the race enters the Pyrenees tomorrow. Edvald Boasson Hagen has a slight advantage over Chris Froome and Richie Porte based on some well freelanced sprint efforts this week but he and the team will know that its Sky’s team leader who is expected to enjoy the limelight tomorrow. The way the week has panned out has been a bit of dream come true for Sky. The team, with one exception, have managed to avoid injury and have been able to quietly go about their business while teams like Radioshack and Orica have enjoyed their time in the sun. Froome’s GC rivals have been similarly unscathed and the question for the weekend is how the other teams will counter the Sky metronome on the climbs. In fairness to Sky, taking over the lead so soon last year was not part of their strategy, but this didn’t stop criticism of the tactic and claims that it led to a boring race (unless you were British). Their rivals have had twelve months to decide how to combat the Sky train and tomorrow will be the first look at what this counter insurgency entails. Froome will want to be in yellow by the time the race gets to the TT at Mont St Michel next week, where he would expect to consolidate any lead. It’s still too early to say who will launch a challenge, but lurking in the top ten is Garmin’s Dan Martin. If he’s not quite a rival for Froome over three weeks, he could upset the race with a stage win this weekend.

VCSE’s team of the week – Orica Green Edge

VCSE’s rider of the week – Jan Bakelants

Man beats Panda – Liege Bastogne Liege 2013

After a comparatively dull start (and ‘middle’) to the Ardennes classics the series served up an outstanding finish with Dan Martin’s victory at Liege Bastogne Liege on Sunday. While none of the locations can be described as particularly scenic LBL takes the prize for the final kilometres of a race most like a criterium held around the back streets of Hackney.

Sunday’s race was Philippe Gilbert’s and indeed Belgium’s last chance to provide a winner in a 2013 spring classic. Gilbert had not been able to get into the right position as the week’s previous races had reached their climax and these disappointments coupled with Tom Boonen’s injury afflicted season to date inevitably piled on the expectation and pressure for the world champ. The field was pretty stellar. Liege offers as much climbing over its entire length as a typical grand tour mountain stage and GC riders were well represented with Chris Froome, Joaquim Rodriguez, Alejandro Valverde and Alberto Contador taking the start.

The shake up for the final stages inevitably arrived as the peloton hit La Redoute. For the first time in this years classics Sky actually looked well placed as the climb approached with Froome looking well supported by Richie Porte, David Lopez and Vasil Kireyenka at the front. The local TV feed wasn’t suffering the same technical issues that had spoilt Amstel and Fleche previously. However, the combination of an impromptu car park formed by spectators on the nearby motorway and other ‘interesting’ scenes alongside the race itself meant that the events that led to Lopez breaking away were missed. Never likely to be a winner from this distance Lopez was left seeking directions from the team car when it became apparent that Sky had pretty much blown up as team before the summit.

As Sky’s chances of an impact in this years classics evaporated we were treated to the impressive sight of an attack by Ryder Hesjedal. He had shown his form ahead of defending his Giro title at last Sunday’s Amstel but this time there Hesjedal wasn’t trying to chase down a breakaway, he was going for the win. Hesjedal’s break came on a section of the race introduced only because of road works that prevented the use of one of the regular climbs. He time trialed away from the field building up a 20+ second advantage at one point.

As Hesjedal attempted to hold the gap up the final key climb we were treated to the second most bizarre piece of crowd participation of the day as a post punk kilt wearing Belgian paced him up the hill. In the background the chasers including Gilbert approached. Fleche Wallone nearly man Carlos Betancur was the first to bridge the gap but he couldn’t press home the attack. Hesjedal caught, was holding his place and leading the group including team mate Dan Martin into the final few k’s.

Tactically, Valverde looked like he would suck anyone’s wheel who let him but with the prospect of a bunch sprint and the second group of Gilbert fast approaching it was Rodriguez who attacked. If the climb had been steeper it was possible to imagine a Rodriguez win at this point but there was a perceptible slow down from Purito followed seconds later by the sight of a rider in blue heading across the gap. As the camera angle shifted behind and above it was clear that the rider in blue, Dan Martin was catching up. As he came alongside there was the briefest interlude while Martin matched Rodriguez pedal stroke and then he went for it. During these shots the kilt wearing punk was outdone by a spectator dressed as a Panda managing to keep pace with the riders sprinting uphill.

Martin better placed than a television viewer to know that he faced no threat from Rodriguez celebrated long before the line. First to congratulate was Hesjedal and as team efforts go it was powerful stuff. Martin’s victory and the comparison that can be made between at least one of the weeks winners, if not team set ups, made this a result that can be believed in. Martin probably wasn’t in many people’s top 10 of likely winners of Liege Bastogne Liege but he is only the second Irishman (although his brummie accent is stronger) to win a monument and adds to his already impressive tally from the Vuelta a Catalunya this year.

As the classics draw to a close and we look forward to the start of the grand tours the losers of the week at least look like Philippe Gilbert and BMC. Gilbert’s finish at Liege was the same as his finishes in Amstel and Fleche. He has been consistent across all three races but while a repeat of 2011 was probably beyond him Gilbert and his team will no doubt feel that they should have delivered more. Movistar were well represented this week as well and questions could be asked of Valverde tactically after the team had got him into a good position. Sky’s classics performance has been abject, probably made worse by their much publicised ‘focus’ on the monuments this year. It will be interesting to see if they push to sign Fabian Cancellara in the off season and work for someone who knows how to win rather than someone who has the potential to do so.

Garmin now have their second monument victory to add 2010’s win at Paris Roubaix. It will be interesting to see how Dan Martin evolves within the team now. Already confirmed as not part of the teams plans for the Giro title defence he is surely worth a punt for this years Tour as a rider to make a breakaway across the mountain stages. Only time will tell. At 26 he has plenty of racing in him.

Dan Martin was overwhelmed with his victory at Liege Bastogne Liege. The kilt wearing punk and panda were unavailable for comment.

Enjoy the key action from Liege Bastogne Liege below

Always another side to the story

A tale to tell – Scott Sunderland

VCSE first read about Scott Sunderland’s short-lived tenure as a DS at Sky in Richard Moore’s updated ‘Sky’s the Limit’ book. As UK cycling writers go, Moore is fairly prolific with recent books about Robert Millar and the 1986 Tour de France rivalry of Bernard Hinault and Greg Lemond. He also seems to be the go to guy from British Cycling’s point of view with books about the track programme as well as STL.

‘Sky’s the Limit’ was written around the time of the teams inception taking into account the period leading up to last years success in the Tour. Certainly not the whole story but an interesting aspect was the period Scott Sunderland worked for the team. Sunderland’s take on the situation has to be interpreted but it does look as if he quickly became the square peg to Dave Brailsford’s round hole.

What does become clear from the original portion of the book is that some of the ‘best laid’ plans and assumptions that Sky made about joining the pro peloton didn’t come to pass. From Moore’s text Sunderland is protrayed as a ‘traditional’ style DS, whereas Sky perhaps wanted more of an emphasis on the director element. Dave Brailsford’s acknowledged control freakery occasionally shows through while never that far from the surface.

All of this remains a cameo in the overall tale, now updated with a chapter on Bradley Wiggin’s 2012 triumph. Perhaps never to repeated, that is a story for another day.

The reason for this article is from another one VCSE came across this week on Cycling Tips (link below). This site comes out of Australia so the guys behind it are well placed to tell the tale of the ex pro rider. Sunderland appears regularly on the SBS channel in Australia who carry most of the racing coverage down under and also made the ‘Hell of the North’ documentary shown on the VCSE YouTube channel.

Sunderland’s story is definitely a triumph over adversity and to an extent is not over yet, particularly in relation to an ongoing court battle with the erstwhile TVM team following a horrific accident involving Sunderland and the team car when he was riding for them in 1998.

With experience of riding grand tours and the big one day races Sunderland was a sought after super domestique and can claim to have helped a number of riders to their greatest results including Eurosport colour man Magnus Backstedt at Paris Roubaix in 2004.

For a rider who apparently once so disillusioned with doping practices in the peloton he considered quitting the sport it seems ironic that Sunderland ended up working for Bjarne Riis at CSC. The article doesn’t dwell on that contradiction but hired as a classics specialist Sunderland enjoyed plenty of success with CSC with victories for riders like Fabian Cancellara and compatriot Stuart O’Grady.

Sunderland has also had an element of ‘square peg’ syndrome while working with the UCI, but rather like his Sky experience it isn’t being charitable to suggest that the reality of the situation didn’t match the brochure. Now working with Cycling Australia in addition to his TV work, thanks to Cycling Tips for enlightening this northern hemisphere fan.

Read the article here

http://tinyurl.com/bmkr6z7

Vanmarcke’s Haussler moment – VCSE’s Racing Digest #2

In 2009 Mark Cavendish was embarking on what would be his best year yet but ahead of that edition of Milan San Remo he would have been seen as an outside bet for victory on a parcours which doesn’t tend to favour sprinters.

2009 was also the debut season for the Cervelo Test Team with Thor Hushovd leading the team at a point in his career where he was seen a genuine sprint contender and a rival for Cavendish’s green jersey aspirations at the Tour de France. Part of Hushovd’s lead out at MSR was Heinrich Haussler and as the race entered its final moments he got the jump on the bunch expecting to pull Hushovd in to position to launch for the win. Instead, 300 metres out, Haussler was alone and realising that Hushovd had lost his wheel he began to sprint for the line.

The gap from the bunch grew and Haussler, perhaps in disbelief in finding himself in the lead, snatched looks over his shoulder to see who would be challenging him. The sight of Cavendish, low on the bike, winding on more and more speed is a familiar one now and looking at footage now the likelihood of a Cav victory just looks inevitable. Five years ago Haussler looked the favourite, Cavendish catching but surely not winning?

Anyone who has watched ‘Beyond the Peloton’ on VCSE’s YouTube channel will know that Haussler agonised about what happened next and probably will continue to do so. If only the line had been closer. Maybe less looks over the shoulder at the oncoming Cavendish. Haussler’s anguish at being caught on the line and missing victory by a bike length was apparent for the moment he realised he had been passed.

Gutted – Sep Vanmarcke – picture http://www.vandaag.be

VCSE was reminded of this watching today’s Paris Roubaix. In what were probably the best conditions enjoyed so far in this year’s monument classics Sep Vanmarcke was beaten on the line by Fabian Cancellara sealing a annus mirabilis for Spartacus and abject disappointment for Vanmarcke.

Cancellara played his hand beautifully as the race entered the final third. With Tom Boonen missing following his accident at the Tour of Flanders Cancellara was the favourite coming into the race but such is the lottery of the ‘Hell of the North’ he was unable to call on his Radioshack teammates to help to control the pace this week.

Vanmarcke had gone away from the leading group with Het Nieuwsblad runner-up Stijn Vandenbergh as Cancellara began to come through realising perhaps that attack was the best form of defence. Over the final few sections of pave there was speculation that Cancellara was struggling following crashes suffered in the previous week.

Cancellara had demonstrated his ability to break from a group and then time trial to victory already including last Sunday’s Tour of Flanders. As he dug in today and blew the group apart one rider failed to stick to the script; Zdenek Stybar. Stybar stuck to Cancellara’s wheel like glue as they reeled in Vandenbergh and Vanmarcke. This represented a potential reversal of fortune for Omega Pharma Quick Step, the chance of at least one rider on the podium at worst following Tom Boonen’s withdrawl, perhaps even a one two.

Fate intervened and heart-break for OPQS in the closing stages perhaps overshadowed only by what followed inside the Roubaix velodrome. First Vandenbergh last in line of the four crashed after hitting a spectator on the pave. Worse still Stybar, pinged pinball style from one side to the other of the next section of pave. He remained upright but lost time, momentum and arguably motivation to continue.

Cancellara’s often used complaint that rivals stay in his wheel could not be aimed at Vanmarcke who took his turn in the lead when many armchair fans, VCSE included, were pleading for him not to, favouring the underdog in the situation. The Cancellara Vanmarcke game of cat and mouse continued into the velodrome advantage swapped back and forth and speed reduced to the extent that the pursuers were able to catch up to within a lap by the end.

Vanmarcke, arguably the stronger in the sprint finish, wanted Cancellara to blink first but by the final corner decided he would have to go for it. Whether or not Cancellara gained some ‘draft’ from riders on the track a lap behind isn’t clear and head on the victor wasn’t even clear until Cancellara threw his arms aloft. Replays showed things more clearly and Vanmarcke’s reaction on the line made his disappointment apparent.

Vanmarcke attempts to put a brave face on things on the podium were in vain as he blinked back the tears that showed the emotion he felt at missing out on career making victory. Cancellara becoming a three-time winner of Paris Roubaix and adding to the results that have made him the leader of the world tour should be celebrated but for VCSE Paris Roubaix 2013 will always be about Sep Vanmarcke.

For great racing choose the Basque country

Some of the best racing of the season so far took place in the Tour of the Basque Country this week. The weather deterioated as the climbs got steeper during the week. Spanish races tend to favour the steepness over height and these stages were no exception with three days of climbing and summit finishes following the early sprints won consecutively by Orica Green Edge.

Alberto Contador is looking fairly mortal this year and Saxo Bank will need to carry out a detailed post mortem after a relatively poor showing from a tour strength squad that included Nicolas Roche and Mick Rogers.

Sky should feel pleased with their return after only being able to field six riders. Joe Dombrowski looked the strongest he has done so all season although VCSE feels he is probably unlikely to be selected for the grand tours this year. Vasil Kiryenka looked super strong again all week as he led Richie Porte and Sergio Henao and generally bossed the peloton.

Team of the week however was Caja Rural. Amets Turruka’s breakaways to win the King of the Mountains and points jersey delivered the metaphorical finger to his erstwhile employers at Euskaltel Euskadi who had a week to forget.

Getting so very close to a win in stage five for Caja Rural was neo pro Omar Fraile. In every kind of the worst weather Fraile stayed away from the peloton until the final climb but unlike so many riders who get swallowed up in these situations he fought on and kept his place in the leading group to finish 15th.

Chapeau!

What a carry on – VCSE reflects on the Ronde

Yesterday confirmed that whatever hex Fabian Cancellara was under in 2012 has left him and is making Tom Boonen’s year one to forget. Last year, Cancellara fell while going through a feed zone (Geraint Thomas suffered a similar crash yesterday) while Boonen won the first running of the Ronde on it’s new parcours.

Cancellara had demonstrated his form at Milan San Remo and had proved imperious at E3 Harelbeke, riding away from the field with kilometres to spare. Much of the speculation ahead of this years classics was whether the tactic of attempting to ride rivals off his wheel would work with Peter Sagan in particular and riders like of Sylvain Chavanel looking in good touch. The relative strengths of Cancellara’s team Radioshack verses OPQS, Cannondale and even Sky in the classics was also questioned, with Cancellara often having no teammates to work with as races reached their closing stages.

His performance at E3 probably made him joint favourite with Sagan ahead of the Ronde. Boonen, who was bidding to win for a record third time has shown flashes of form this year but nothing resembling his results in 2012.

Eurosport were putting the editorial direction if not their money on a Boonen Cancellara face off. When the snooker from Bejing had finished overrunning the plan was to show extended interviews with both riders before cutting to the live feed. Like many great plans it unravelled in the face of a tweet from Boonen’s girlfriend announcing that he was already out of the race with less than 20 k’s completed. There was ample footage of the aftermath but with no other riders apparently involved, during the race at least it was unclear how it had occured.

As hasty re-edits were implemented we at least enjoyed Cancellara rhapsodising about the race. While he appeared quietly confident, you could sense Boonen’s realism about his chances even in a shortened interview.

Using this parcours for the second time the peloton would climb the Oude Kwaremont and the Paterberg three times and as the leaders approached for the final time the critical moves were poised to take place. The intervening kilometres had been characterised by a surprisingly strong showing from Radioshack with Hayden Roulston doing some monster turns at the head of the peloton. There was a breakaway for much of the race but this was never more that a few minutes away.

Up the final climb of the Paterberg it was now head to head between Cancellara and Sagan as their rivals in leading group ran out of legs. As the outside bets prepared to argue over the scraps Cancellara and Sagan began their final ascent of the Kwaremont. Those hoping for a Sagan win hoped that the signs that fatigue was setting in over the crest of the Paterberg was illusory. As both riders hit the final third of the climb those hopes were dashed as Sagan faltered as Cancellara picked up the pace.

What had been 30 seconds at the summit was over a minute at the end as Cancellara the time trialler delivered an emphatic victory, slowing to a comparative crawl as he crossed the line. Sagan had a job on his hands to retain his podium position, working hard with eventual third place finisher Jurgen Roelandts of Lotto.

Lotto could feel pleased with their race. A rider in the break all day, joined by Andre Greipel and as those two faded late on the faintest chance of a solo win for Roelandts. Sky’s fabled classics squad failed to fire again and it’s hard to see things improving at Paris Roubaix on Sunday.

The post race analysis was dominated not by Cancellara’s victory but Sagan’s unfortunate arse grab of one of the podium girls. Cue a lot of hand wringing about sexism in the sport. There’s clearly lots to discuss at the inequalities between men’s and women’s professional cycling but Sagan’s actions don’t merit becoming the metaphor for this.

As for Boonen, he would be forgiven for writing off his season now. Reports suggest that he didn’t sustain any broken bones but with it looking unlikely that he will be able to put in many miles ahead of the weekend it’s hard to see him beating his ‘other’ record at Paris Roubaix on Sunday.

Do Sky have a new game plan? – VCSE’s Racing Digest

The weather across Europe has showed solidarity with even Corsica resembling the UK this weekend. The stage race in 48 hours that is the Criterium International had opened with Saturday’s short (sprint) stage followed by a time trial.

Richie Porte echoed some of the form that had seen him win the Col d’Eze time trial at Paris Nice a few weeks ago taking a one second advantage into today’s final stage to the top of the Col de l’Ospedale. But where was Chris Froome? Richie admitted that he had come to ‘work for Froome’ so it was perhaps a result that even Sky hadn’t planned for.

Sky’s preferred tactic of riding off the front in stage races hasn’t won them universal praise but as we have mentioned in previous posts the Sky system isn’t infallible. Bradley Wiggins’ preparations for the Giro haven’t exactly gone according to plan as he lost his support riders as the highest summits and steepest ramps approached. Wiggins coped manfully with this in Catalunya attacking at pace and blowing the peloton apart on more than one stage. However both of Sky’s leaders look vulnerable when they have burnt all of their (supporting) matches.

Until today that is, as the peloton approached the finish with Porte in yellow. Sky had been doing their normal job with Kiryenka leading, Froome mostly out of camera shot sheltering Richie. With seconds between the GC including Tejay Van Garderen (BMC) and Andrew Talansky (Garmin) the race was finely poised. An attack from Johann Tschopp (IAM) did for Kiryenka and with BMC and AG2R holding a numerical advantage Sky looked susceptible to attacks.

What happened instead was that Froome attacked! Rain and cloud prevented seeing it, but the confusion of Van Garderen and the others was palpable. Was Froome chasing down Tschopp? Had he realised he had lost Porte? While minds were blown Froome raced away and by the time Van Garderen and Talansky responded the damage had been done. Porte showed he still had the legs by riding away himself and claiming second although he would be relinquishing the overall to Froome.

From VCSE’s perspective the result could open up a new way of winning for Sky. In Porte Sky have a rider who looks like a potential GC contender. If Sky were to take two potential GC winners into the grand tours this year they could make themselves much harder to mark if they were prepared to flip the leaders jersey the way they did today in the Criterium.

It’s a tactic that could really pay off as a number of Sky’s rivals for GC honours do not possess a strong second leader, Katusha an obvious example. The question is; was today’s result for Sky by accident or design?

The return of Spartacus – wheelie’s optional

A win to please everyone (well most people!) saw Fabian Cancellara win Friday’s E3 Harelbeke. The race named after a motorway, while not one of the top classic races, had a strong field including Tom Boonen and Peter Sagan.

There’s been a lot of discussion about Cancellara’s continued ability to ride people off his wheel and Spartacus himself had shown his frustration at doing the hard work in races like Milan San Remo last year only to lose out in the final sprint to the line.

Boonen and Cancellara had been in an elite breakaway over the famous climbs of Flanders but it was Boonen that cracked first as Cancellara’s pace proved too much for everyone. Cancellara showed signs of hitting form at the right time last week at Milan San Remo but for Boonen following his abandonment at the same race there are signs that he could be having the kind of luck in the classics this year that Cancellara had last year.

Another rider hitting form at the right time is Peter Sagan, although with Sagan it seems he is always capable of doing something. Podium spots at E3 and Milan San Remo have been eclipsed today with victory in Gent Wevelgem.

If the first few races of the classics season have been a battle of attrition against the weather then Sagan has proved to be the most hardy member of the peloton following another abandonment by Tom Boonen (following a crash) and Cancellara.

Everything is nicely poised for next weeks Tour of Flanders. Can Tom Boonen rediscover the form that made him so dominant last year? Unless it was the ultimate hubristic gesture, Boonen’s wearing of a jersey listing the number of his wins at E3 suggests he believes he is capable of winning this year.

if the weather doesn’t improve in the next seven days Flanders could throw up another surprise winner like a Ciolek or require the consistency of a Sagan or Cancellara. VCSE suggests a good each way bet could be someone prepared to animate the race like Heinrich Haussler.

Super Sub

Bradley Wiggins wasn’t the only rider at the Volta a Catalunya this week preparing for the Giro. Ryder Hesdejal had chosen the race as his first of the season where he will be hoping to defend his title in Italy against another face from this weeks action Jaoquim Rodriguez.

Unfortunately for Hesdejal things didn’t go quite as planned and he looked out of sorts in the mountains during the mid week stages. The good news for Garmin was that Dan Martin was in great touch and his solo on the queen stage on Thursday was VCSE’s ride of the week.

Dan has talked in recent weeks about his chances and while his overall win went down to the wire around the Olympic park in Barcelona today his closest rival Rodriguez failed to offer much resistance. Whether the result will see the emergence of Martin as a grand tour contender this year remains to be seen but as with Richie Porte it provides his team with options.

Unstoppable? Maybe..

The next round of the women’s world cup took place in Italy today with the Trofeo Alfredo Binda. The inevitable question of who could challenge Marianne Vos for the win was answered by a native. Elisa Longo Borghini (Hitec). Part of two rider break with Amanda Spratt (Orica), Borghini broke away to the delight of the understandably partisan crowd.

VCSE’s own favourite’s Wiggle Honda didn’t figure today but have got off to a great start in their inaugural season with wins for Georgia Bronzini and Emily Collins in recent weeks.

Polar Express – VCSE’s view on the Spring Classics #2

Following a weekend away VCSE was looking forward to catching up with the first of the seasons key classic races; Milan San Remo. After the aborted attempt to view our recording of Kuurne Brussels Kuurne only to find that it had been cancelled due to snow the first few minutes of MSR felt like deja vu.

As Eurosport began their live feed on Sunday the race was currently stopped as the teams bussed the riders around the snow bound Turchino climb. In between episodes of some kind of sporting ‘You’ve been framed’ we were treated to the sight of the conditions on the climb through the sweeps of the wipers on the producers car.

Bypassing the snow if not persistant heavy rain and low temperatures the organisers prepared to re start the race with around 130km to go, allowing the six man breakaway to restore their 7 minute advantage before releasing the peloton. For the first hour or so the coverage was definitely for die hards as the feed from the motorbike cameras degraded into an acid trip or simply ‘froze’ whenever they were risked to be shown. Race radio was equally patchy in giving accurate information; suggesting at one point that Sylvain Chavanel had abandoned which was ironic when he appeared in the group contesting the win in the final stages.

There were some notable retirements (read did not want to get off the bus at the restart) including Tom Boonen and Niki Terpstra from Omega Pharma. When Chavanel’s ‘retirement’ was announced Mark Cavendish’s prediction that he would not figure in the race seemed prescient, albeit not for the reasons he gave beforehand.

The reduction in race distance may have pointed the outcome towards the sprinters but the conditions made predicting the likely winner a lottery. As the Cipressa climb approached the breakaway was caught and the cameras seemed to have dried out enough for the ‘real’ race to start.

Surprise Surprise – Ciolek in OPQS days

The two big stories? Gerald Ciolek winning would be a good place to start. Ciolek riding for neo pro conti team MTN-Qhubeka would have been among the outside bets even after the restart. MTN’s presence in the early season races has been universally welcomed as the first pro team from Africa but the coverage on Sunday had initially focused on some poorly handled wheel changes.

Ciolek timed his ride perfectly admitting that his tactics had been to ensure that he stayed in touch with the leaders over the final Poggio climb. Of the final bunch the descending the climb and heading towards the finish line Ciolek was arguably the only out and out sprinter present. However with the likes of Cancellara, Sagan in the group he still wouldn’t have been favourite.

You had to feel for Ian Stannard as the riders crossed the line in sixth place. Stannard was the man for all but the last few hundred metres. When the peloton had caught the break after another monster turn by Vasil Kiryenka Team Sky would have been looking to deliver Geraint Thomas or Edvald Boasson Hagen to the line. The Sky machines grand plan unravelled when Thomas appeared to slip on a white line taking out Tyler Farrar in the process. Boasson Hagen was dropped on the Cipressa but by now all eyes were on Stannard who had broken away with Chavanel on the Poggio.

Stannard will be a leader in some of the forthcoming Belgian classics and possibly Paris Roubaix also but he isn’t known for his sprinting prowess. He had the bit between his teeth on Sunday and deserves a Chapeau! for continually attacking, burning matches furiously and leading onto the finishing straight.

Peter Sagan may feel disappointed that he allowed Ciolek to get the drop on him at the line but he could be forgiven for having one eye on Fabian Cancellara. Cancellara himself said that he was happy with third in the conditions as ‘to arrive.. was victory in itself’.

For the Qhubeka team and Ciolek winning Milan San Remo was ‘incredible’ and announces them on the world stage in the best way possible. This was a fairytale result and it will be interesting to see whether the win spurs them on to bigger things. It’s hard to see that Ciolek would have won in ‘normal’ conditions and his victory came from his own tactical positioning rather than how the the team had worked for him.

There’s every chance that Stannard will kick on from this. His ride added up to so much more than his final placing. Sky have talked up how they intend to feature in the classics this season. Previously they have been criticised for not adapting to racing incidents, but Sunday indicated that they have learnt some new tricks.

As we head to Belgium this weekend things are shaping up nicely.

‘#sadomaso’ – The toughest climb in cycling?

Stage six of the Tirreno Adriatico featured two climbs of the Muro di Sant’Elpidio. Not the highest climb the peloton will face this year, but arguably the steepest with several riders resorting to pushing their bikes up the climb.

Race organisers admitted that the climb may have been too much citing ‘losing half of your peloton’ as realisation that ‘mistakes’ had been made. The riders were more pointed in their comments with Fabian Cancellara describing the stage as ‘sadomaso’ (sado-masochism) and Alberto Contador summing up his thoughts as ‘Ufff!’

The clip currently showing on VCSE’s YouTube channel has the best (or worst?) bits.

It ain’t half hot mum

The Tour of Qatar may have started as a thinly veiled vanity project to market the sovereign state as something other than a major oil producer.

Eddy Merckx’s involvement and its timing as a season opener drop heavier hints as to how the pro peleton use the stage race. The facts are that the tour has produced 75% of the Paris Roubaix winners since its inception 12 years ago. Putting the tour winners name on your betting slip prediction for Paris Roubaix might not be seen as speculative.

It’s the high winds on the Arabian peninsula that mimic the conditions of north eastern France that make the Tour Qatar ideal preparation for Tom Boonen, Fabian Cancellara and perennial contenders like Juan Antonio Flecha.

It’s no surprise that superman of the supermen elect Boonen has won the tour 4 times, most recently in 2011. Boonen though will be absent this year, recovering from surgery following a bizarre training accident. Mark Cavendish replaces him as team leader. Cavendish may well harbour ambitions for Milan San Remo, but he is unlikely to appear with anything other than long odds as a bet for Paris Roubaix.

I’ve linked to an article by Gregor Brown on Velonews.com about how classic’s riders use the Tours of Qatar and Oman to prepare for the season.

Preview: Classics masters head to Qatar this weekend to lay a foundation for the cobbles. http://t.co/jqLHeyGI From @gregorbrown in Doha.

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