General News Thread

[will10]

they have nothing to do with each other. movistar ecuador sponsor this team.

Correct me if I'm wrong but I seem to remember Rusvelo/Itera and Katusha being prevented from riding the same races.

 

[Netserk]

Correct me if I'm wrong but I seem to remember Rusvelo/Itera and Katusha being prevented from riding the same races.

But then again Orbea and Euskatel did race together in Burgos eg.

 

[RedheadDane]

Okay, so we'll have this team:

And this team:

Competing in the same events.

It'll basically be a matter of those guys with the slightly lighter kit.

 

[postmanhat]

Sean, Russ, and others

with them Raleigh and other splashing the cash, should be an interesting year in the UK series. Looking forward to seeing how Sam Harrison fares

 

[Christian]

Fractured Collarbone for Giacomo Nizzolo in a training crash

 

[gerundium]

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/report-no-pompeiana-climb-milan-san-remo

Well from the front page it seems la primavera is going to get shaken up again. The pompeiana climb which was set to make its debut in the route rhis year cant be used because there is no permit.
This means it is probably back to the normal route. This is going to upset some progeams by riders who were or were not targeting san remo based on the new course.

 

[jens_attacks]

it was a bad idea anyway.cipressa and poggio is enough for my liking. they shouldn't change it

 

[will10]

it was a bad idea anyway.cipressa and poggio is enough for my liking. they shouldn't change it

+1

The balance of the old route between attackers and sprinters is what made the last 25km of the race so exciting. Adding the Pompeiana would've left us with a poor man's Lombardia.

 

[theyoungest]

+1

The balance of the old route between attackers and sprinters is what made the last 25km of the race so exciting. Adding the Pompeiana would've left us with a poor man's Lombardia.

Now what will poor Froomey do?

 

[Poursuivant]

I think Boonen may fancy his chances at MSR

 

[will10]

now what will poor froomey do?

wgaf

 

[Netserk]

The story is removed. What does that mean?

edit: no it's still there, just a new link

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/report-no-pompeiana-climb-in-milan-san-remo

 

[Netserk]

Tbh I would rather have Boonen winning M-SR than the double. Even with the old route though, I don't think he'll win it, but podium at best

 

[the asian]

Messes up the schedules of quite a bit of the riders.

If Degenkolb can keep up his good form, he can have quite a say.

Wonder what poor Gilbert is thinking of this.

He had made MSR his primary early season target, a lot tougher now.

 

[Flamin]

Yeah, this is incredibly amateur-ish if true, although I couldn't care less since they shouldn't have tried to rape the race in the first place.

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

Correct me if I'm wrong but I seem to remember Rusvelo/Itera and Katusha being prevented from riding the same races.

because they were part of the same team and structure, movistar wt and ecuador have nothing to do with each other

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Yea, it's all about the official structure behind the teams, not the sponsors. Hence why Trek-Livestrong couldn't race the same races as Radioshack, the former Chipotle Development Team couldn't race against Garmin and Итера–Катюша can't race the same races as Катюша. However Rusvelo in fact can, and indeed did on a number of occasions (Coppi e Bartali, Challenge Mallorca, Frankfurt, Tre Valli Varesine, Settimana Lombarda, Milano-Torino for examples) as they are not part of the same overarching organisation. Their problems with invites were to do with their licence and also their problems with riders testing positive.

Similarly, although they WERE a feeder team, Orbea were able to race the same events as Euskaltel-Euskadi because while they were both linked to the Fundación Euskadi, they were considered part of different organisations as the Fundación did not formally own either team iirc.

Sponsors that cover more than one team are not unprecedented; Skil-Shimano we are of course all familiar with, but they occasionally did races in Asia against Shimano Racing Team, the Japanese team with the same sponsor; a few years ago there were two Austrian teams both sponsored by Arbö; even this year there are two separate Tabriz teams, while bike companies often bankroll different teams in different locations. And there used to be 'twin teams' in South America, not sure how many there still are - a few years ago you had Boyacá es Para Vivirla and Lotería de Boyacá racing against each other but looking very similar. My hope is that the Ecuador team will at least be clearly distinguishable from the main Movistar guys or some kind of second kit will be needed for both teams...

 

[roundabout]

http://www.itzulia.net/es/2014/04/07/info

What the hell is this? Is this some kind of competition to make the most useless profile going on?

Looks like bikeroutetoaster lol

 

[Netserk]

Don't be mean to bikeroutetoaster, it had its advantages

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Stage 1 looks awesome, if they're climbing the side of Gaintza that it looks like they're climbing, that's 2,4km @ 11,5% finishing 7km from the finish of the first stage

There's a little climb but uncategorised near the end of stage 2. The best thing about that stage is the loop around Sare and Ainhoa, two absolutely beautiful Iparraldean villages, especially the latter.

Stage 3 is the usual "flat stage" to Gasteiz. Impey won it a couple of years ago just beating the sprinters home. The two climbs near the end are not steep at all. This is the final climb so hardly super threatening.

Stage 4 is the usual Arrate stage and it's more or less exactly the same as usual, with the finale with Ixua, San Miguel (don't be fooled by the rechristening it by a more Basque name - Aiastia - it's the same climb), then Arrate which we all know of course.

The penultimate stage is really disappointing, however. The loop around into Bizkaia isn't the most egregiously exciting, then the finale is... the reverse of the run-in from the previous day, with the easier side of Ixua and the far-from-imposing Elgoibar side of San Miguel. Hopefully they're using one of the steeper back roads that connect there, but it doesn't look like it. Then they're going to descend to the finish.

The TT on the other hand is REALLY hard, and frankly I'd have preferred if this were the final run-in on the previous stage. The first climb is Gontzegaraigane, then they loop around Munitibar into Lekoitz-Gane. If they did this in the opposite direction it would make a great stage finish, but I'll settle for this as a really tough time trial route. Stage 1 is brutal, stage 2 offers potential banana skins. Stage 4 is Arrate which we all know and stage 6 is the traditional super tough TT; stage 3 is the token flattish stage so it's only really stage 5 that is a letdown.

 

[burning]

These small basque hills just before finish usually proves a lot more selective than it usually does, I think that this is a good route like usual.

 

[42x16ss]

These small basque hills just before finish usually proves a lot more selective than it usually does, I think that this is a good route like usual.

That's what I thought too. Some good mountains and hills, a few descent finishes, plenty of stuff to attack on. Ok, there may have been a few ways to make some of the stages better but overall looks good.

 

[Christian]

PinoRoad, the new Chilean Continental team, suspends its activities. The CEO Juan Pablo Pino Zúñiga has defrauded the team, sponsors and suppliers, and has effectively disappeared. No one knows where he is and no one is able to reach him.

http://biciciclismo.com/cas/site/noticias-ficha.asp?id=69353

 

[Michele]

Rcs's Allocchio said to Raisport2 that Rcs will have soon a meeting with local police to see if they can get Pompeiana climb ready for Sanremo but that it won't be easy cause many other roads need works as well.

If it won't be possible, the route will be similar to 2007 edition.

 

[Boardslide]

Another bike theft, this time it's Team Sky who have 16 bikes stolen at Haut Var

http://www.teamsky.com/article/0,27290,30223_9178656,00.html