2014 National Championships

[christopherrowe]

Reading the news about a probable boycott of the Spanish national championships by ProTour riders got me to thinking about the various upcoming national championship races. They're mostly run off in mid to late June, aren't they? I've tried in vain to find a calendar listing the dates for the various nations' races and hope somebody here can point me in the right direction. I know it reeks of the nationalism and parochialism that some see in the Olympics movement, but I personally love to see the national champion jerseys in the peloton. "The Champion of France" and "the Champion of Estonia" and "the Champion of Slovenia," they all hold romance and charm for me.

 

[christopherrowe]

Aha, I did find a searchable database or National Championships, finally. Looks like 28th and 29th June are the big days, with most nations running their TT championships first.

As for road national championships, it looks like Italy's is scheduled for the 28th and the following nations have their races scheduled for the 29th:

Belgium
Netherlands
France
Germany
Great Britain
Czech Republic
Portugal
Slovakia
Norway
Poland
Slovenia
Denmark
Russia
Ireland
Ukraine
Austria
Belarus
Sweden
Croatia
Estonia
Luxembourg
Lithuania
Latvia

That can't be all of them, though, because Spain isn't included.

 

[christopherrowe]

And here are some current reigning national road race champions from European nations, along with their trade teams. Trek Factory Racing has four national road race champions riding for them!

Albania | Redi Halilaj | N/A
Austria | Riccardo Zoidl | Trek Factory Racing
Belarus | Andrei Krasilnikau | N/A
Belgium | Stijn Devolder | Trek Factory Racing
Bosnia and Herzegovina | Nikica Atlagic | N/A
Bulgaria | Danail Andonov Petrov | N/A
Czech Republic | Jan Barta | Team NetApp-Endura
Croatia | Robert Kiserlovski | Trek Factory Racing
Denmark | Michael Christensen Morkov | Tinkoff-Saxo
Estonia | Rein Taaramae | Cofidis, Solutions Credits
Finland | Jussi Veikkanen | FDJ.fr
France | Arthur Vichot | FDJ.fr
Germany | Andre Greipel | Lotto Belisol
Georgia | Giorgi Nareklishvili | N/A
Great Britain | Mark Cavendish | Omega Pharma-Quick-Step
Greece | Ioannis Tamouridis | SP Tableware
Hungary | Krisztian Lovassy | Team FixIT.no
Iceland | Ingvar Omarsson | N/A
Ireland | Matthew Brammeier | Synergy Baku Cycling Project
Italy | Ivan Santaromita | Orica GreenEdge
Latvia | Aleksejs Saramotins | IAM Cycling
Liechtenstein | Enea Cambianica (races under a Swiss license) | Marchiol Emisfero
Lithuania | Tomas Vaitkus | retired
Luxembourg | Bob Jungels | Trek Factory Racing
Macedonia | Predrag Dimevski | N/A
Moldova | Alexandr Braico | Tusnad Cycling Team
Netherlands | Johnny Hoogerland | Androni Giocattoli - Venezuela
Norway | Thor Hushovd | BMC Racing Team
Poland | Michael Kwiatkowski | Omega Pharma-Quick-Step
Portugal | Joni Silva Brandao | Efapel - Glassdrive
Romania | Andrei Nechita | MG Kvis - Wilier
Russia | Vladimir Isaychev | Team Katusha
San Marino | Luca Forcellini | N/A
Serbia | Ivan Stevic | Tusnad Cycling Team
Slovakia | Peter Sagan | Cannondale
Slovenia | Luka Pibernik | Radenska (signed with Lampre-Merida for next year)
Spain | Jesus Herrada Lopez | Movistar
Sweden | Michael Olsson | Team Ringeriks - Kraft
Switzerland | Michael Schar | BMC Racing Team
Ukraine | Denys Kostyuk | Kolss Cycling Team

 

[christopherrowe]

Here are some more, and I think this is just about the lot for reigning national champions in European nations. I'll edit the post above to fold these in so they're all in one spot.

Albania | Redi Halilaj | N/A
Bosnia and Herzegovina | Nikica Atlagic | N/A
Bulgaria | Danail Andonov Petrov | N/A
Finland | Jussi Veikkanen | FDJ.fr
Georgia | Giorgi Nareklishvili | N/A
Greece | Ioannis Tamouridis | SP Tableware
Hungary | Krisztian Lovassy | Team FixIT.no
Iceland | Ingvar Omarsson | N/A
Liechtenstein | Enea Cambianica (races under a Swiss license) | Marchiol Emisfero
Macedonia | Predrag Dimevski | N/A
Moldova | Alexandr Braico | Tusnad Cycling Team
Romania | Andrei Nechita | MG Kvis - Wilier
San Marino | Luca Forcellini | N/A
Serbia | Ivan Stevic | Tusnad Cycling Team
Sweden | Michael Olsson | Team Ringeriks - Kraft

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

The Irish Road Race circuit is slightly hillier than in recent years, but still flattish overall. Why they insist on having flat RRs when all of the country's WT riders are climbers remains a mystery.

It's hard to make predictions until we know which of the WT or PCT riders will compete. In their absence, the sharp end of the race will almost certainly be fought out by some subset of a full An Post team , three from the Irish colony at Synergy Baku, and a scattering of riders at British Conti outfits who won't have teams. Matt Brammeier, who always seems to find a way to win this race, would be the favourite if this is the field. The Conti riders are a class above the domestic amateurs.

If Roche or Deignan show up, or if Martin has recovered from injury, they will all be in with a shout. Even if the course doesn't suit them they are very strong in this company. Usually one or two of these lads plus Brammeier and a couple of others drop the bulk of the field.

The very top favourite if he is there would be Bennett. A flattish circuit with a minor hill on it is just about perfect for him and he is the fastest Irish sprinter by a mile (who even is the next best Irish "sprinter"? Possibly Brammeier or even Martin!). On the other hand though, he will have no team and everyone else there will know that they can't arrive to the line with him. The other PCT riders will also have no teams and have never really featured before.

This could be pretty much cut and pasted every year. There are minor changes, like Brammeier having actual teammates this year and Bennett having none, but there really can't be much variation in the protagonists with relatively few riders of the necessary standard.

In tHe TT, the main question is if 19 yr old talent Mullen (An Post) is already the best. The answer is probably yes.

 

[el_angliru]

Here's the Danish profile, 15 laps, 195 km in total (unofficial profile from Bikeroutetoaster):

Quite tough for a Danish course - and much tougher than the 2011 worlds (except for the distance, obviously)!

 

[Parrulo]

IIRC the portuguese nats will be on the awful pataias (?) circuit once again . . .

After what happened last year (huge crash on a dangerous part of the circuit with lots of riders hurt) it wouldn't surprised me if most portuguese "big" names skipped the race with the Tour around the corner.

 

[DirtyWorks]

Aha, I did find a searchable database or National Championships, finally. Looks like 28th and 29th June are the big days, with most nations running their TT championships first.

The UCI has an official weekend every year for national federations to run their national championships. If your national federation does not run the event on that weekend, riders lose the WT points for being national champion.

For example, the U.S. did not run their event on the official weekend depriving some riders of points. The U.S. is not the only country to run on a different schedule.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

IIRC the portuguese nats will be on the awful pataias (?) circuit once again . . .

After what happened last year (huge crash on a dangerous part of the circuit with lots of riders hurt) it wouldn't surprised me if most portuguese "big" names skipped the race with the Tour around the corner.

Most of the 'big' names in recent years have been flying solo against the might of the domestic teams anyway. But yea, pretty disappointing to be doing Pataias yet again. Why can't they just host a Volta stage and let the nationals go somewhere more interesting?

In a way I'm kind of pleased if WT riders boycott the Spanish nationals. As long as Movistar follow suit, so it means we won't have another year of the Movistar Spanish champions' kit. Kind of surprised they're not entering for a visua at the Worlds course though.

The German championships this year are in Baunatal, in northern Hesse, which has some interesting terrain in it. Which is why they've decided to use absolutely none of it.

 

[Rajna31]

THe Hungarian championships will be held around the small town of Ibrany, on a 14.5 km circuit. The course is panflat, and I have no information regarding the condition of the roads, they're probably okay, so it probably won't be an exciting race.

However, it might be a bit more intriguing than it was last year because it's not only Utensilnord guys having a chance to win. Krisztian Lovassy (current champion) and Peter Kusztor (former champion) are both riding for foreign teams right now so they won't have any support whatsoever. Utensilnord will probably back Zsolt Der, but he has been worse than usual this year, so they might choose someone else or have different scenarios, that might make the race at least a bit exciting. Since the course is pretty short (only 10 laps, so 145 km altogether), the amateurs maybe up there as well.

 

[Broth3r]

I know it reeks of the nationalism and parochialism that some see in the Olympics movement, but I personally love to see the national champion jerseys in the peloton. "The Champion of France" and "the Champion of Estonia" and "the Champion of Slovenia," they all hold romance and charm for me.

Don't beat yourself. If you're anything like me, it's not a matter of nationalism, but rather of flavor. Tell me if it wasn't quite cool to see Kloden and Vino fighting for the tour in their respective national jerseys, rather than (but without any prejudice to) the standard Telekom pink? There's just something about it. At the very basic level, even having more unique jerseys in the peloton makes it more interesting.

Which is why I think it's shame national championships are so unattractive to WT riders, and particularly GC contenders. And so we see less and less champions in WT, or worse, we see sprinters wearing the colors - and dropping them on a 4th cat, that really gets under my skin.

And THEN there's the teams *******izing the jerseys and merely slapping a strip to their standard kits... *sigh*. We just don't live in a good era for national championships.

 

[christopherrowe]

I noticed that in this year's individual Trek Factory Racing publicity photos the various national champions were wearing standard kits instead of championship jerseys. Does anybody know what they race in?

 

[Afrank]

The national champs race in their champion jerseys.

 

[Broth3r]

I noticed that in this year's individual Trek Factory Racing publicity photos the various national champions were wearing standard kits instead of championship jerseys. Does anybody know what they race in?

I'm... not quite sure. They seem to have two different variants of the national jerseys, a low-profile one and a full jersey.

It seems they've started the season with the low-profile ones and swapped to proper jerseys since then. Though I have to say, considering the kind of jersey's we've seen lately, the shoulder idea isn't half bad.

EDIT: oh god, CN doesn't autoresize pictures. Well, crap.

 

[christopherrowe]

Hopefully a moderator will be along to resize the photos for you sometime today.

The shoulder thing is interesting, but I'd rather see the design reversed. Full on "flag as jersey" with no or minimal team/sponsor logos in the main with the trade team dress confined to the shoulder.

In other news, the Champions of Germany and Denmark went one-two in today's finish of Stage One of the Tour of Luxembourg.

 

[christopherrowe]

Current and Upcoming Participations of Some Reigning European National Road Race Champions

* Riccardo Zoidl, the Champion of Austria, is scheduled to race for Trek Factory Racing at the Tour of Austria, 6th July through 13th July.
* Stijn Devolder, the Champion of Belgium, is scheduled to race for Trek Factory Racing at the GP du canton d'Argovie 12th June and the Tour de Suisse 14th June through 22nd June.
* Jan Barta, the Champion of the Czech Republic, is scheduled to race for Team NetApp - Endura at the Criterium du Dauphine 8th June through 15th June.
* Michael Morkov, the Champion of Denmark, is currently racing for Tinkoff - Saxo at the Tour of Luxembourg and is scheduled to race at the Tour de Suisse 14th June through 22nd June.
* Rein Taaramae, the Champion of Estonia, is scheduled to race for Cofidis, Solutions Credits at the Criterium du Dauphine 8th June through 15th June.
* Arthur Vichot, the Champion of France, is scheduled to race for FDJ.fr at the Criterium du Dauphine 8th June through 15th June.
* Andre Greipel, the Champion of Germany, is currently racing for Lotto Belisol at the Tour of Luxembourg and is scheduled to race at the GP Jan van Heeswijk 18th June through 22nd June.
* Mark Cavendish, the Champion of Great Britain, is scheduled to race for Omega Pharma - Quick-Step at the Tour de Suisse 14th June through 22nd June.
* Matthew Brammeier, the Champion of Ireland, is currently racing for Synergy Baku Cycling Project at the Tour of Slovakia.
* Ivan Santaromita, the Champion of Italy, is scheduled to race for Orica GreenEdge at the Criterium du Dauphine 8th June through 15th June.
* Aleksejs Saramotins, the Champion of Latvia, is scheduled to race for IAM Cycling at the Criterium du Dauphine 8th June through 15th June.
* Bob Jungels, the Champion of Luxembourg, is scheduled to race for Trek Factory Racing at the Criterium du Dauphine 8th June through 15th June.
* Johnny Hoogerland, the Champion of the Netherlands, is scheduled to race for Androni Giocattoli - Venezuela at the Ronde Van Zeeland Seaports 7th June and at the GP Jan van Heeswijk 18th June through 22nd June.
* Thor Hushovd, the Champion of Norway, is scheduled to race for BMC Racing Team at the Criterium du Dauphine 8th June through 15th June.
* Michael Kwiatkowski, the Champion of Poland, is scheduled to race for Omega Pharma - Quick-Step at the Criterium du Dauphine 8th June through 15th June.
* Andrei Nechita, the Champion of Romania, is currently racing for MG Kvis - Wilier at the Tour of Slovakia.
* Vladimir Isaychev, the Champion of Russia, is scheduled to race for Team Katusha at the Tour de Suisse 14th June through 22nd June.
* Peter Sagan, the Champion of Slovakia, is scheduled to race for Cannondale at the Tour de Suisse 14th June through 22nd June.
* Jesus Herrada, the Champion of Spain, is scheduled to race for Movistar at the Route du Sud 20th June through 22nd June.
* Michael Schar, the Champion of Switzerland, is scheduled to race for BMC Racing Team at the Tour de Suisse 14th June through 22nd June.

National Road Race Champions Scheduled to Race the Tour de Suisse
Stijn Devolder, the Champion of Belgium
Michael Morkov, the Champion of Denmark
Mark Cavendish, the Champion of Great Britain
Vladimir Isaychev, the Champion of Russia
Peter Sagan, the Champion of Slovakia
Michael Schar, the Champion of Switzerland

National Road Race Champions Scheduled to Race the Criterium du Dauphine
Jan Barta, the Champion of the Czech Republic
Rein Taaramae, the Champion of Estonia
Arthur Vichot, the Champion of France
Ivan Santaromita, the Champion of Italy
Aleksejs Saramotins, the Champion of Latvia
Bob Jungels, the Champion of Luxembourg
Thor Hushovd, the Champion of Norway
Michael Kwiatkowski, the Champion of Poland

 

[Afrank]

Those minimalist national champ jerseys on the Trek riders were the original national champ jerseys. Maybe the country federations disproved or something and demanded they be changed. Whatever happened though, the current versions are 10x better.

 

[De Snelle Duif]

The Belgian parcours is as flat as it can be, which is not a problem since they should give the sprinters a chance every other year. However, the location and parcours in Wielsbeke is awful, I don't think they will ever not drive through industry or ugly villages.

Why do they never do a run in from another town? I understand the ned for circuits, but a run in would give more exciting images.

 

[Broth3r]

The Belgian parcours is as flat as it can be, which is not a problem since they should give the sprinters a chance every other year.

Now, this I can't agree with. I know, I know, sprinters are part of the game, I'm just a silly dude who hates them, I can't change the world, yadda yadda. Maybe not, but national championships (and worlds too, for that matter) are a different story. The champion will be flying his country's colors, and as I see it, that's more of a duty than a winner's right.

And dropping on a 4th Cat while wearing a national champ jersey just doesn't cut it. One thing's doing it as an anonymous rider; another is when your countrymen are watching the race.

 

[Akuryo]

Don't beat yourself. If you're anything like me, it's not a matter of nationalism, but rather of flavor. Tell me if it wasn't quite cool to see Kloden and Vino fighting for the tour in their respective national jerseys, rather than (but without any prejudice to) the standard Telekom pink? There's just something about it. At the very basic level, even having more unique jerseys in the peloton makes it more interesting.

Which is why I think it's shame national championships are so unattractive to WT riders, and particularly GC contenders. And so we see less and less champions in WT, or worse, we see sprinters wearing the colors - and dropping them on a 4th cat, that really gets under my skin.

And THEN there's the teams *******izing the jerseys and merely slapping a strip to their standard kits... *sigh*. We just don't live in a good era for national championships.

yep, look at Cav's new national jersey: black - just like the rest of his teammates.

 

[Broth3r]

yep, look at Cav's new national jersey: black - just like the rest of his teammates.

Well, that one I don't mind, because of what I wrote above. At least like that, it's less noticeable when the British champ gets dropped in a 4th cat or something.

 

[Wallenquist]

Well, that one I don't mind, because of what I wrote above. At least like that, it's less noticeable when the British champ gets dropped in a 4th cat or something.

It's just a training jersey, first time he showed it before Turkey. He won't ride in that jersey in races and next National Champs are right around the corner so doesn't matter anyway.

About NC routes i belive that each country should prepare route that will be both interesting but also that will give a chance for their top riders to show up. For example Germany should be basically flat to give a chance for sprint between Degenkolb, Kittel, Greipel, Ciolek etc. Spanish should be hard with climbs to give an opportunity for Contador and Purito to shine and so on.

 

[RedheadDane]

Which is why I think it's shame national championships are so unattractive to WT riders, and particularly GC contenders. And so we see less and less champions in WT, or worse, we see sprinters wearing the colors - and dropping them on a 4th cat, that really gets under my skin.

The most ridiculous country in that regard has got to be the US. "Yes... yes; let's have the Nat Champs in the middle of the Giro (time-wise not location-wise) that'll bring a lot our biggest riders!"

Regarding the WT champs vs. sprinters as champs: What about WT sprinters? Seen a few of those around in the last year...

 

[christopherrowe]

The most ridiculous country in that regard has got to be the US. "Yes... yes; let's have the Nat Champs in the middle of the Giro (time-wise not location-wise) that'll bring a lot our biggest riders!"

Yes, it's frustrating. The Australians are the only other major Federation I can think of off the top of my head that schedule so far off the regular late-June calendar for these things, and at least they've got that whole position on the globe/seasons of the year thing going for them to explain it.

Traditionally, the American championships (to my understanding) have always been at odd spots on the calendar because putting them in late June pretty much rules out the participation of any USA riders who are preparing for the Tour de France, and Tour de France riders are the only USA riders who get much attention from the national media. But they've always been screwy. For a long time, the USA Champion wasn't even determined by choosing the overall winner of a race, but by choosing the best-placed American rider at the Philadelphia race.

Oh well, it is what it is. I'd love to see the Stars and Stripes jersey on the back of a man riding the big races in Europe instead of a chiropractor racing part time on the domestic scene (which is not to say he wasn't a very worthy winner on the day), but Taylor crashed and he was the best hope of that during this three year run of racing Nationals at Chattanooga after Tour of California.

 

[RedheadDane]

And meanwhile lots of European riders simply use their Nat. Champs. as (part of) their prep for the Tour. Especially considering the whole Ride at the Tour with their national colours cool-factor.