General News Thread

[RedheadDane]

Wait... Wait... WHAT?
Football players are gonna start cycling, or are the same sponsors going to sponsor the both a football team and a bike team?

 

[Max Rockatansky]

Re:

Wait... Wait... WHAT?
Football players are gonna start cycling, or are the same sponsors going to sponsor the both a football team and a bike team?

Maybe you should try to find out who Joaquim Agostinho was.

Or where Rui Costa started his cycling career...

Porto won VaP 13 times, Benfica 9 times and Sporting 8 times.

 

[Velolover2]

Re:

Details from the País Vasco TT are known, including this brutal thing:

One of the few TT's that Purito could do well in.

And I'm curious to see how good Landa is going to be in a TT like that. He won a mountain time trial not long ago:

http://www.cyclingquotes.com/news/landa_wins_mountains_time_trial/

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Re:

Wait... Wait... WHAT?
Football players are gonna start cycling, or are the same sponsors going to sponsor the both a football team and a bike team?

Those particular clubs aren't just football clubs, they're multi-sport institutions whose primary interest and money-making face is the professional football club. Hence there's no "FC" or "AC" name to them, it's Sporting Clube de Portugal and Sport Lisboa e Benfica. Not really different to, say, Lokomotiv. Periodically the Portuguese péloton has had one or more of these teams.

 

[GuyIncognito]

Re: Re:

Wait... Wait... WHAT?
Football players are gonna start cycling, or are the same sponsors going to sponsor the both a football team and a bike team?

Those particular clubs aren't just football clubs, they're multi-sport institutions whose primary interest and money-making face is the professional football club. Hence there's no "FC" or "AC" name to them, it's Sporting Clube de Portugal and Sport Lisboa e Benfica. Not really different to, say, Lokomotiv. Periodically the Portuguese péloton has had one or more of these teams.

Even the ones that do have FC or AC in the name are multi-sport. It's very common in the iberian nations. Barcelona or Porto are FC and have many different sports teams each.

Sporting have actually been to the Tour de France before, and even won a stage. I have highlights from that Tour from RAI, the commentary team go nuts rooting for 'the underdog team' winning that stage.

It was the day when the phony war between Panasonic and Kwantum meant Hinault and Fignon's domestiques each gained many minutes. Made that Tour a lot more interesting

 

[Max Rockatansky]

Funny enough only four days later the deal with Sporting is off and now they will join forces with FC Porto. It seems like Sporting has problems with how Team Nuno is handling their anti-doping-agenda.

 

[GuyIncognito]

Funny enough only four days later the deal with Sporting is off and now they will join forces with FC Porto. It seems like Sporting has problems with how Team Nuno is handling their anti-doping-agenda.

Maybe they heard about the bio passport cases coming up. Who was it who said there are 5 national level names about to have cases opened against them? Wasn't it someone with the national federation?

The team say something very different though. They say at the last minute Sporting wanted to insert a shadow third party comercial chain (supermarket chain? shopping mall? who knows) into the deal and they preferred to sign with Porto instead of dealing with potentially shady third party intermediaries that they'd never met before

 

[robin440]

What is wrong with germany? Bayern rundfahrt is about be to fold!

 

[Bye Bye Bicycle]

Cult-Stölting seems to be dead already: Cult pulls out of the team.
http://feltet.dk/nyheder/cult_indkalder_til_pressemoede_om_fremtiden/

 

[GuyIncognito]

Re:

Cult-Stölting seems to be dead already: Cult pulls out of the team.
http://feltet.dk/nyheder/cult_indkalder_til_pressemoede_om_fremtiden/

Well that was predictable

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

Terrible news and terrible timing for suddenly unemployed riders and staff. There are a few riders there who will likely be able to find a decent ride in a hurry, albeit probably on a reduced wage, but lots there probably won't. With the would-be Direct Cover riders also scrambling around trying to find a home, it's going to be tough out there for lower tier riders.

 

[Christian]

Re: Re:

Cult-Stölting seems to be dead already: Cult pulls out of the team.
http://feltet.dk/nyheder/cult_indkalder_til_pressemoede_om_fremtiden/

Well that was predictable

Interesting how Cult tries to bame it on Stölting, and Stölting replying that Cult is just looking for any excuse to withdraw because they couldn't afford the sponsorship. With all the problems that Cult already had last year, I am inclined to believe Stölting. Cult really screwed up, they had a pretty big rollout and launch for a Pro Continental team, and then they could barely make it through one season (they even had to cut it short due to budget shortfalls).

It's really too bad because I think they did a lot of things right and had composed a ver well-rounded team. Let's hope Stölting can secure the funds to save the team for this season.

 

[robin440]

How should the riders try to find a new team for next year now? Dont know which proconti team would now sign guys like wegmann, gerdemann and ciolek

 

[staubsauger]

Re: Re:

Cult-Stölting seems to be dead already: Cult pulls out of the team.
http://feltet.dk/nyheder/cult_indkalder_til_pressemoede_om_fremtiden/

Well that was predictable

Interesting how Cult tries to bame it on Stölting, and Stölting replying that Cult is just looking for any excuse to withdraw because they couldn't afford the sponsorship. With all the problems that Cult already had last year, I am inclined to believe Stölting. Cult really screwed up, they had a pretty big rollout and launch for a Pro Continental team, and then they could barely make it through one season (they even had to cut it short due to budget shortfalls).

It's really too bad because I think they did a lot of things right and had composed a ver well-rounded team. Let's hope Stölting can secure the funds to save the team for this season.

It's fully shameful from Cult. Now they maybe killled 2 teams with their shitty behavior. Stölting could've stayed alone as an German continental team and slowly build up towards going to pro continental level. Just like they originally intended to do. Now they're maybe the goofs out of the story. Just because they tried to help out and merge.

 

[Christian]

Tour Méditerranéen to be replaced by "La Méditerranéenne"

DirectVelo and Velo101 have announced the creation of a new 2.1 race called La Méditerranéenne which will be included in the 2016 UCI race calendar, and is set to replace the Tour Méditerranéen, which had been cancelled in 2015 due to budget shortfalls. La Méditerranéenne will continue the concept of Tour Méditerranéen and go through six départements that border on the Mediterranean. Sixteen teams, among them Ag2r La Mondiale, Giant-Alpecin, FDJ, Lotto-Soudal, Movistar Team, Team Sky and Trek Factory Racing, have received an invitation.

http://www.cyclismactu.net/news-route-la-mediterraneenne-remplace-le-tour-mediterraneen-54507.html

 

[Christian]

Re: Re:

It's fully shameful from Cult. Now they maybe killled 2 teams with their shitty behavior. Stölting could've stayed alone as an German continental team and slowly build up towards going to pro continental level. Just like they originally intended to do. Now they're maybe the goofs out of the story. Just because they tried to help out and merge.

True, I hadn't considered that

 

[TMP402]

New British conti team, "Pedal Heaven".

A story about them in March http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/racing/british-racing/british-team-pedal-heaven-unveils-2015-squad-160694

On their website I recognise Ian Wilkinson and Jake Tanfield. They just signed a rider so I guess they're still aiming to compete at conti.

 

[RedheadDane]

Re: Re:

Cult-Stölting seems to be dead already: Cult pulls out of the team.
http://feltet.dk/nyheder/cult_indkalder_til_pressemoede_om_fremtiden/

Well that was predictable

Interesting how Cult tries to bame it on Stölting, and Stölting replying that Cult is just looking for any excuse to withdraw because they couldn't afford the sponsorship. With all the problems that Cult already had last year, I am inclined to believe Stölting. Cult really screwed up, they had a pretty big rollout and launch for a Pro Continental team, and then they could barely make it through one season (they even had to cut it short due to budget shortfalls).

It's really too bad because I think they did a lot of things right and had composed a ver well-rounded team. Let's hope Stölting can secure the funds to save the team for this season.

It's fully shameful from Cult. Now they maybe killled 2 teams with their shitty behavior. Stölting could've stayed alone as an German continental team and slowly build up towards going to pro continental level. Just like they originally intended to do. Now they're maybe the goofs out of the story. Just because they tried to help out and merge.

While I believe that CULT was without fault in what happened last year - the big Luxembourgish sponsor that never happened (not to mention the bike-theft didn't really help matters.) I definitely don't think they've acted correctly this time around.
The Skeldes fight so hard to save the team - involving getting stress for both of them - they find a solution and... CULT pulls out of the sponsorship because Stölting is late with the pay.

 

[GuyIncognito]

Tour Méditerranéen to be replaced by "La Méditerranéenne"

DirectVelo and Velo101 have announced the creation of a new 2.1 race called La Méditerranéenne which will be included in the 2016 UCI race calendar, and is set to replace the Tour Méditerranéen, which had been cancelled in 2015 due to budget shortfalls. La Méditerranéenne will continue the concept of Tour Méditerranéen and go through six départements that border on the Mediterranean. Sixteen teams, among them Ag2r La Mondiale, Giant-Alpecin, FDJ, Lotto-Soudal, Movistar Team, Team Sky and Trek Factory Racing, have received an invitation.

http://www.cyclismactu.net/news-route-la-mediterraneenne-remplace-le-tour-mediterraneen-54507.html

Great news!

 

[damian13ster]

Segafredo to sponsor Trek (not confirmed)? Rumoured to go after TJ and Nibali after this season

 

[Max Rockatansky]

2016 Volta ao Algarve route:
Stage 1 sprint stage
Stage 2 MTF Alto da Fóia, 7.5km at 6%
Stage 3 20km ITT
Stage 4 sprint stage
Stage 5 MTF Alto do Malhão 2.5km at 9.4%

1.ª Etapa: Lagos – Albufeira, 187,6 km
2.ª Etapa: Lagoa – Fóia, 200 km
3.ª Etapa: Sagres – Sagres, 18 km (Contrarrelógio Individual)
4.ª Etapa: S. Brás de Alportel – Tavira, 187,3 km
5.ª Etapa: Almodôvar – Malhão, 172,7 km

Foia stage will be 3.845 hm of climbing. With Aru, Purito, Thomas, Contador racing this, it's gonna be a very though stage, I think. Looking really forward to this.

 

[Max Rockatansky]

„Rad am Ring“ will become a pro race (1.1) in 2016. This took a while.

http://www.nuerburgring.de/news/artikel/erstmals-seit-1978-profi-radrennen-auf-dem-nuerburgring.html

 

[May0maniac]

Apparently Funvic wil race Andalucia and the Volta a Portugal
Source: http://www.tuttobiciweb.it/?page=news&cod=85633&tp=n

 

[classicomano]

What Fun is there at Funvic now that Dani Diaz has jumped ship?

 

[May0maniac]

Kleber Ramos, Alex Diniz and Flavio Cardoso, those guys always put on a show in the typical South American wacky races and not only in San Luis, so they should do well in Portugal.