General News Thread

[Pantani_lives]

Van Looy was the best one-day racer of his generation. He dominated the classics in the late fifties and early sixties, becoming the first to win all five monuments. The "Emperor of Herentals" had a strong personality, which sometimes collided, but which leaves him remembered as one of the cycling legends.

With his ninety years he was one of the oldest big cycling champions alive. Of the big names born before 1935 André Darrigade (95) is now the only survivor.

 

[GenericBoonenFan]

Rust zacht Keizer van Herentals.

A true icon who will never be forgotten in Belgium but more importantly in the city of Herentals.

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

Rust zacht Keizer van Herentals.

A true icon who will never be forgotten in Belgium but more importantly in the city of Herentals.

Where we all had our attention as recently as Saturday for the CX

 

[Potomac]

Isn't Herental cursed?

 

[GenericBoonenFan]

Isn't Herental cursed?

Howso?

 

[Potomac]

Howso?

It was a game of thrones jibe.

 

[Roku]

Pascal Hervé has passed away at just 60. Former domestique for Virenque who turned pro when others were about to start declining (30), he had several wins in high profile races such as Tour de Suisse, Dauphiné-Liberé, Itzulia... Probably his biggest victory was a stage win (and one day in pink) in the 1996 Giro.

 

[Izzyeviel]

Cycling made the beebs 'best sporting pics of the year' page. Guess the race.

 

[OlavEH]

Has the PN route for 2025 been discussed? Far better than TA next year. Not too excited about the Auron stage, but otherwise it is pretty good.

Route of Paris-Nice

Official website of the Paris–Nice cycling race. “The sun’s race”.

www.paris-nice.fr

 

[Samu Cuenca]

The great Gianni Savio has spotted his last Colombian talent and signed his final sponsorship agreement with a small Italian company

 

[GenericBoonenFan]

RIP Gianni Savio, he did a lot for cycling.

 

[Ilmaestro99]

Im really quite sad.

 

[Tim Cahill]

Savio is gone, it is a sad day, but Bernal, Cattaneo, Sosa, Fausto, Bais, Tesfatsion, Cepeda, the coffee planter and the rest are still here to fly the flag and keep the legacy going.

 

[Devil's Elbow]

If there are pearly gates, this is how I imagine him coming up to them. RIP.

 

[Mayomaniac]

RIP Silverfox. He was the heart and soul of Italian pct cycling for years and also did a lot for South American cycling. Just think about Bernal and Rujano

 

[Lequack]

Really sad news all around, RIP Gianni.

Gianni Savio has Passed Away - PezCycling News

Gianni Savio passed away on Monday. The Italian was a well-known figure in the cycling world as a team manager for decades. He was 76 years old.

pezcyclingnews.com

THE PORTRAIT: GIANNI SAVIO, OVER 40 YEARS HUNTING FOR TALENTS

The story of a manager who launched (and relaunched) champions like Bernal, Ballerini, and Scarponi

www.tuttobiciweb.it

 

[staubsauger]

Oh no, Gianni! 😰
May god bless him!

Sadly this explains why his ambition to get back into the pro cycling scene fell short after the closure of Androni Giocatolli team in 2022, respectively his move to Colombia with GW. Hopefully his illness hasn't given him too much pain.

Always liked his underdog team and his ability to archive fine results with way less funds than the big teams.

Unforgettable of course when Jose Rujano finish 3rd at the 2005 Giro d'Italia, while also winning the mountains jersey and the stage which introduced the epic Finestre to the cycling world!

Savio & Rujano always had a love-hate relationship. Eventually Savio has been the only one who knew how to handle Rujano so he gets his act together. I guess Rujano himself wakes up sad today. Reminiscing his friend & furtherer!

My thoughts go to Gianni Savio, his family & friends and to Rujano and the other riders that remind Savio with a loving heart as he was more than just a mere boss to them.

 

[Mayomaniac]

Oh no, Gianni! 😰
May god bless him!

Sadly this explains why his ambition to get back into the pro cycling scene fell short after the closure of Androni Giocatolli team in 2022, respectively his move to Colombia with GW. Hopefully his illness hasn't given him too much pain.

Always liked his underdog team and his ability to archive fine results with way less funds than the big teams.

Unforgettable of course when Jose Rujano finish 3rd at the 2005 Giro d'Italia, while also winning the mountains jersey and the stage which introduced the epic Finestre to the cycling world!

Savio & Rujano always had a love-hate relationship. Eventually Savio has been the only one who knew how to handle Rujano so he gets his act together. I guess Rujano himself wakes up sad today. Reminiscing his friend & furtherer!

My thoughts go to Gianni Savio, his family & friends and to Rujano and the other riders that remind Savio with a loving heart as he was more than just a mere boss to them.

He also was the coach of the Colombian national team when Botero won the WC ITT.

A very important figure not only for Italian cycling, but also for South American cycling in the 2000s and still in the 2010s.

I always said that it was a tragedy that a snakeoil salesman with no real ability as a team manager like Saronni managed to attract big Oil money and not Savio, but his appeal was sticking it to the WT-teams (when some of them complained about them drilling it on an intermidate stage after missing the break he said "we are free men, not your servants, we race as we please."). Also gave talented riders like Cattaneo who were almost ruined by the incapable Lampre management a chance to get back on track (he did the same with many Italian cyclist with clinic related problems in their past, but that was more about getting good riders for not a lot of money).

 

[Unchained]

View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=sYQ9pE84s4Y

 

[ice&fire]

After the recent sad news of former riders (and managers) passing away, let's go for something a bit more heartwarming:

Tomorrow (8th of January 2025) is the 100th birthday of Bernardo Ruiz. Some of you might be thinking WTF is Bernardo Ruiz. Here are some facts:

Winner of the '48 Vuelta a España
3rd at the '52 Tour de France
Stage winner in all 3 GTs

He had the "misfortune" of having his peak years during one of the dark eras of the Vuelta between 1949 and 1954 where the race was only organised in 1950. After that period, he managed to finish a run of 12 consecutive GTs (from the '54 Giro to the '58 Vuelta), a record that most of us know was only surpassed by Adam Hansen. Hansen met the old man in 2017 when the Vuelta visited his hometown of Orihuela.

As an additional curiosity, Ruiz was witness of one of the most iconic pictures of the sport.

The rider behind Bartali was him, but we can only see his arm. He was the first of the mortals in that stage, 7 minutes behind Coppi.

Happy birthday Mr Ruiz!

 

[ingsve]

It's reported this evening that the Norwegian Cycling Federation is still in financial trouble and it will affect Norways participation in Championships this year. Apparently the European Championship is off and for Rwanda they are looking to only send the elite classes and no Juniors or U-23s.

I'm guessing this again also means no Tour de l'Avenir this year either.

 

[Unchained]

Cycling News reporting that US gravel racing has discovered yet another gold mine, no matter how temporary!! Levi Lephiemer helping with race that has multiple starting line locations, so elite riders don't mix with general population.. $150,000 in prize list.. Road racing can't figure out how to have an event in the US!! So if road racing in the US needs to know the state of things, 3 different gravel races with growing popularity, participation and prize money..!!

 

[Pozzovivo]

What happened to the out of context cycling account on X?

No review of 24 season and no post since october.

 

[tobydawq]

It seems like the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad has changed name to Omloop Nieuwsblad.

That doesn't sound very good (but is probably just something one needs to get used to).

Did the newspaper change its name?

 

[will-10]

It seems like the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad has changed name to Omloop Nieuwsblad.

That doesn't sound very good (but is probably just something one needs to get used to).

Did the newspaper change its name?

I'm confused, are you talking about Het Volk?