General News Thread

[awavey]

British Cycling publish their new vision for major cycling events https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/r...-vision-for-major-cycling-events-in-Britain-0

which is basically a classic way of using alot of words to say absolutely nothing

worth noting on the same day, the Tour of the Reservoir organisers announced both the men's and women's races, which had been part of the expanded British Cycling reinvigorated national road race series, have been cancelled.

 

[awavey]

To misquote Monty Python, "It's not dead yet!"
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2...ches-rescue-mission-for-2024-tours-of-britain

Maybe a few phone calls to the Gulf might help?

"Its dead Jim"

articles like that annoy me so much because they just paraphrase a press release with barely any hint of questioning , BC have absolutely not commited to running a Tour of Britain - Women in June in 2024, or even a Tour of Britain - Men in September in 2024, they want you to think they have, but theyve only commited themselves as an ambition to run races in those same calendar positions, ie June and September in the future, the future might well mean this year, or it might mean next year, or some years after.

but there are only 122 days left till June 4th, they have no stages or routes planned (and route planning to get councils onboard to shut roads even temporarily and all the paperwork that entails takes months, believe me on that), no venues hosting stage starts or finishes, no sponsors, no logistics, and crucially no uci wwt backing for it either, so even if they pulled a rabbit from the hat and created some kind of stage race out of nothing, when even those trying to organise stage races for years in the UK are finding they have to cancel, it'd be no better than part of the national road series.

nothing the Chief exec of BC is quoted as saying in that article fills me with any hope they have any clue or clear understanding of what they need to do to make this stuff work properly.

 

[Rob5091]

nothing the Chief exec of BC is quoted as saying in that article fills me with any hope they have any clue or clear understanding of what they need to do to make this stuff work properly.

What was the old saying about being a sergant major in the Army, all you need is a loud voice?
So what's it to be, a criterium around Clapham Common, or maybe Windsor Great Park? Why not a race before a F1 race around Brands Hatch or Silverstone (ties in neatly with the One World Cycling brainwave!)?
Nah, I think this is more Monty Python's parrot sketch.

 

[search]

In the CN article it says "We've still got a lot of work to do on the Tour of Britain Women. There may have to be some compromises from what has happened before in terms of duration. But our intention is to deliver something in 2024, which then grows in 2025 and 2026", so they do plan to run some kind of race at least this year as well.

Sounds like the naming rights got lost somewhere on the way, though. Or why else would they rebrand them to "Tour of Britain-Women and Tour of Britain-Men"?!

 

[Samu Cuenca]

In the CN article it says "We've still got a lot of work to do on the Tour of Britain Women. There may have to be some compromises from what has happened before in terms of duration. But our intention is to deliver something in 2024, which then grows in 2025 and 2026", so they do plan to run some kind of race at least this year as well.

Sounds like the naming rights got lost somewhere on the way, though. Or why else would they rebrand them to "Tour of Britain-Women and Tour of Britain-Men"?!

I believe BC has owned the Tour of Britain name all the way through and still does. However SweetSpot was only allowed to use it for their men's race, which was why the other one was named the Women's Tour instead. So now that BC wants to organise both races, it can be done under the same/a variation of the same name.

 

[awavey]

In the CN article it says "We've still got a lot of work to do on the Tour of Britain Women. There may have to be some compromises from what has happened before in terms of duration. But our intention is to deliver something in 2024, which then grows in 2025 and 2026", so they do plan to run some kind of race at least this year as well.

Sounds like the naming rights got lost somewhere on the way, though. Or why else would they rebrand them to "Tour of Britain-Women and Tour of Britain-Men"?!

No it's stuck with Sweetspot or whats left of it.

so we go back a decade or more and Im paraphrasing alot of this so dont take me to task on the specifics but roughly BC somehow ended up owning the "Tour of Britain" as a thing, so when Sweetspot who were then running the ToB for BC at the time said, hey maybe we should do a women's race as well as women's pro cycling is getting really popular now and call it the Women's Tour of Britain or something like that, BC said no, that will impact on our Tour of Britain naming and impact the men's race, you cant do that.

Sweetspot went ok, well, we are going to do this anyway and we'll call it the Women's Tour then, and trademarked that naming, and set up the race themselves, and it was wholly a Sweetspot arranged event, sanctioned by BC as it had to be to get UCI approval, but BC were simply the national governing body, they had no involvement in the race itself.

the Tour of Britian on the other hand is a British Cycling event that Sweetspot simply arranged for them, thats the difference. The Women's Tour was a Sweetspot event, the Tour of Britain was a BC event, they just happened to both be delivered by Sweetspot.

however the media, being the media who arent terribly clued into the intracies of this kind of stuff, spent most of their time calling it the Tour of Britain for women, or the Women's Tour of Britain, very few ever properly credited it as just The Women's Tour.

so you could argue what value was their in that trademark name anyway, other than no-one else can organise a race called The Women's Tour, which is possibly why British Cycling havent attempted to take on the trademark from the remnants of Sweetspot, because ultimately they probably have neither the money to buy it, or the impetus to do it, because they can arrange a race in the same calendar spot, call it whatever the darn they like, and people will still equate it to The Women's Tour & the Tour of Britain.

 

[awavey]

seems like Wout Van Aert & Olav Kooij are still waiting for their share of ToB prize money and now the CPA are on the case https://www.wielerflits.nl/nieuws/w...en-nog-altijd-op-prijzengeld-tour-of-britain/

British Cycling will be on the hook to pay for it, if there isnt enough left over in Sweetspots liquidated assets, which obviously there isnt.

 

[Izzyeviel]

Le Tour De Great Britain femme avec zwift has a certain ring to it...

Nice to see Wout & Co join me in the club of people who sweetspot owe money to.

 

[Mayomaniac]

Hyperbolic lion tamers, aka altitude tents/chambers are no longer banned in Italy and for Italian athletes.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Hyperbolic lion tamers, aka altitude tents/chambers are no longer banned in Italy and for Italian athletes.

Pellizzari and Piganzoli will be kicking Pogi's butt in May.

 

[Sciatic]

This weekend, on both the 10th and 11th, there are six different races happening at virtually the same time (except Colombia), all of which have at least two WT teams entered. Maybe I’ve simply not noticed in past years, but that definitely seems like a lot! Some fields have a full complement of 180 riders on 7-rider teams, but some fields (Turkey?) are probably smaller. But even if the average field size is, let’s say, 160 riders, that is a total of almost a thousand WT, pro-conti, and conti riders competing each of those days.

 

[RedheadDane]

This weekend, on both the 10th and 11th, there are six different races happening at virtually the same time (except Colombia), all of which have at least two WT teams entered. Maybe I’ve simply not noticed in past years, but that definitely seems like a lot! Some fields have a full complement of 180 riders on 7-rider teams, but some fields (Turkey?) are probably smaller. But even if the average field size is, let’s say, 160 riders, that is a total of almost a thousand WT, pro-conti, and conti riders competing each of those days.

Yeah, the "LiveStats section" on PCS is definitely something to behold these days.

 

[tobydawq]

Yeah, the "LiveStats section" on PCS is definitely something to behold these days.

They didn't do live stats for .1 races before this year, so yes, it looks quite busy.

 

[Rob5091]

Team and manger and representive banned by UCI - for fraud!
https://cyclinguptodate.com/cycling...o-banned-for-5-years-after-forging-signatures

Team Java - Kiwi Atlántico (also known as Kiwi Atlántico - Cabo de Peñas) which was registered as a Venezuelan UCI Continental Team in 2022, has been sanctioned with a ban on registration with the UCI and ineligibility to participate in events on the UCI International Calendar until December 31, 2028. The team's general manager, Enrique Salgueiro, has been sanctioned with a suspension from any cycling activity until December 31, 2028, as well as a fine; and the team's representative, Gerardo Guzmán, has been sanctioned with a suspension from any cycling activity until December 31, 2025.

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

Team and manger and representive banned by UCI - for fraud!
https://cyclinguptodate.com/cycling...o-banned-for-5-years-after-forging-signatures

They told the national federation that they had a rider under contract, but it wasn't his signature on the contract: Brilliant.

"My team would like a wild card for the Giro: we have signed up Vincenzo Nibali, Alejandro Valverde and Domenico Pozzovivo. You don't believe me? But look at the signatures! Letter from a UCI official to say us not being a ProTeam doesn't matter? Of course, just cast your eyes on that signature there..."

 

[Samu Cuenca]

They told the national federation that they had a rider under contract, but it wasn't his signature on the contract: Brilliant.

"My team would like a wild card for the Giro: we have signed up Vincenzo Nibali, Alejandro Valverde and Domenico Pozzovivo. You don't believe me? But look at the signatures! Letter from a UCI official to say us not being a ProTeam doesn't matter? Of course, just cast your eyes on that signature there..."

Well the team has merged with the Crotian Kamen team that has had a few Italian stars riding for them in the past.

 

[Rob5091]

Hold onto your horses there ... the US government might stop your new sports streaming service -
https://www.reuters.com/business/me...orts-streaming-deal-bloomberg-law-2024-02-15/

Feb 15 (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Justice aims to scrutinize a sports streaming platform planned by Walt Disney , Fox and Warner Bros Discovery over concerns it could harm consumers, sports leagues and rivals, Bloomberg Law reported on Thursday.
The Justice Department will examine the terms of the deal when it is finalized, the report added, citing two people familiar with the matter.
Earlier this month, the three media companies said they will launch a joint venture to start a sports streaming service this autumn to capture younger viewers.

 

[OlavEH]

Dauphine has announced it route for 2024. It's quite heavy, and perfect for Vingegaard to put his rivals in doubt for the TDF.

Spoiler: Stage 1 - Sprint

Spoiler: Stage 2 - Hills

Spoiler: Stage 3 - Hills

Spoiler: Stage 4 - ITT

Spoiler: Stage 5 - Sprint

Spoiler: Stage 6 - Mountain

Spoiler: Stage 7- Mountain

Spoiler: Stage 8- Mountain

Plus for using not frequently used climbs. Minus for all hilly and mountain stages being HTFs and MTFs. No incentive for attacking further out on any of the stages.

 

[Mayomaniac]

Ok, Plateau de Saix/Samoëns 1600 is actually a good climb to have as a MTF (the hardest part comes early on) and something that I want to see in the Tour during the coming years.

 

[Netserk]

Unfortunately, it's not part of the Portes du Soleil area. So it's up to Samoëns to pay.

 

[search]

The Tour of Denmark will start with a TTT this year. For whatever reason, they'll copy ASO's idea to take times with the 1st rider at the finish - which somehow made sense on an uphill finish, but most likely less so on a completely flat, short stage.

Apart from that, the route generally looks alright, with a very long stage to Vejle and the newly added uphill sprint in Haderslev. But it seems very front loaded.

1. etape – 14. august – 13,7 km Holstebro – Holstebro
2. etape – 15. august – 231,3 km Ringkøbing – Vejle
3. etape – 16. august – 156,1 km Kolding – Haderslev
4. etape - 17. august – 177,7 km St. Heddinge – Holbæk
5. etape – 18. august – 157,5 km Roskilde – Gladsaxe

Postnord Danmark Rundt 2024 ruter og teams – PostNord Danmark Rundt

postnorddanmarkrundt.dk

 

[Netserk]

I think it's the superior format for stage races no matter the route.

 

[tobydawq]

I think it's the superior format for stage races no matter the route.

Agreed, but I don't think it will play much role on a flat parcours, either (barring accidents).

 

[Samu Cuenca]

I think a race like this should have important stages on the weekend, which doesn't really seem to be the case here. The Haderslev circuit did provide an entertaining finish to the Tour of Scandinavia last year, but only due to rain, the fact that the peloton had to work hard to bring back a breakaway which had been given too big a lead, and because Uttrup Ludwig's attack came as a surprise to some riders. In this race there will probably only be gaps if there are crashes in the final.

It looks like a fine route for the defending champion, if he joins the Trek devo team for the race.

 

[Samamba]

Only 2 WT Teams? That's terrible for .Pro race.

Well Danish national team will probably be WT level.