Bicycle Racing News and Opinion
Tuesday, March 17, 2015

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Today's Racing

We're covering one race today: Tirreno Adriatico stage 7, the final stage. Next race will be the Nokere Koerse on the 18th and on the 19th will be the "HC"-ranked GP Nobili Rubinetterie. We'll post complete results for them, of course.

A Hidden Treasure of Beautiful Frames

I drove down to Salem, Oregon a couple of days ago to get some things my small town doesn't have. I stopped by to see Mike, owner South Salem Cycleworks, who was one of my best customers when I owned Torelli Imports. Mike's store always knocks my socks off. His shop is stuffed with beautiful hand-made Italian steel frames; De Rosa, Torelli, Mondonico, Bianchi and others. Though new, some of the frames are well more than a decade old. Gorgeous classic masterpieces waiting to hit the road under an appreciative rider.

South Salem Cycleworks owner Mike (left) holds a Torelli 20th Anniversery bike and Chairman Bill has a Mondonico. You can see he is a man mad about bikes.

Do you love bikes and the feel of a great, hand-made frame? I believe that still, nothing beats a hand-made steel frame built by an Italian master and Mike has then in stock, more than I have seen in any shop in along time. The rest of the world values light weight above all, but Mike has stuck with what matters to him, the joy of riding a beautifully made, fabulously riding, gorgeous bike.

If you are on the same page and would love to have something special looking and riding, give him a call: (503) 399-9848, or shoot him an email: sscycleworks@comcast.net

His web site: http://sscycleworks.net/

Pros Racing With With Hidden Bike Motors?

Writer Les Woodland sent me this cutting from the French sports paper l'Equipe, noting the several riders had their bikes examined for hidden motors. Things are certainly different from when I was racing.

Peter Sagan Gets First Win of Year

This came from a very happy Tinkoff-Saxo team:

Tinkoff-Saxo’s Peter Sagan powered his way to success, as he sprinted to victory on the penultimate stage of Tirreno-Adriatico. After a long period of multiple second places, Sagan finally got the relief that he had been searching for, thanks to a determined team effort.

After crossing the finish line of stage 6 with a big roar, Sagan tells that he was especially pleased with the way the stage was won.

"I'm extremely happy and I would like to thank the entire Tinkoff-Saxo team because today they did a great job. They all helped me, including Alberto Contador who in the last two climbs pulled as hard as he could to break the group. We managed to drop a number of sprinters and pulled for the last 80km of the race until the finish. I'm very happy to have won such a tough stage. It's a great victory for both the team and myself. Today's stage couldn't have gone better”, says Peter Sagan, who won the sprint in a decimated peloton.

Peter Sagan wins Tirreno-Adriatico stage 6

Stage 6 of 210km from Rieti took the riders through challenging weather conditions with rain and wind to the seaside town of Porto Sant’Elpidio. Tinkoff-Saxo took to the front of the field with 80km to go after recognizing that several teams were in difficulties. Steven de Jongh explains: “Today was a very hard stage for the riders, and we had rain from the start, while climbing to 1,000m altitude along the way. It was very, very cold and a lot of the other teams were struggling with the weather. We saw riders all over the place and at one point Bjarne Riis took the decision that we were going to make the race hard on the climb with 80km to go, to drop as many riders as possible”.

“The riders agreed and they did their best all the way to the finish line. When we came down from the climb, Mollema, who had been dropped, came back, but Cavendish was nowhere to be seen and Peter ultimately won a great victory thanks to the team”, comments Steven de Jongh.

In the final part of the stage into the rain-soaked finish line in Porto Sant’Elpidio, Matteo Tosatto worked hard to keep Peter Sagan positioned at the front of the select group of riders. Peter Sagan opened his sprint with 150m to go in a final burst for the line beating Gerald Ciolek

This also about Tirreno-Adriatrico from Lampre-Merida:

The Two Seas Race reached the Adriatic coast by the means of a long stage, 210 km, from Rieti to Porto Sant'Elpidio.

The key moment of the wet race was the only one KOM of the course, the Montelaparo at 69 km to the arrival, when Tinkoff Saxo selected the bunch thanks to an intense forcing. The peloton got broken in three parts and, while the first chasers group could came back on the front of the race, the third group could not complete the chase and this fact caused some sprinters (Modolo was among them) to be left out from the final sprint.

Richeze became Lampre-Merida's' s captain and he obtained a good 5th place in the sprint that was won by Sagan on Ciolek, Debusschere and Cort.

In the overall classification, Niemiec maintained the 13th position at 1'23" to the leader Quintana.

Sport director Maini explained that: "The cold rain made the race very demanding, despite a quite simple course. Tinkoff Saxo made its move in the only one possible moment and it's a pity that Modolo could not be in the head group: Sacha was suffering the low temperature, he was really struggling against the cold.

"In the early part of the stage our riders tried to escape from the bunch, but the attempts by Mori, Grmay and Pibernik had no luck. In view of the sprint, we focused our attention on Richeze, who was feeling good and demonstrated that he could be on he wheel of Sagan. Unfortunately, today the Slovakian rider was the strongest, however the fifth place of Richeze is a good result".

BMC Riders for Upcoming Belgian Races

The BMC Racing Team will field six-man rosters for a pair of races this week in Belgium: Nokere Koerse on Wednesday and the Handzame Classic on Friday.

Roster: Jempy Drucker (LUX), Campbell Flakemore (AUS), Klaas Lodewyck (BEL), Joey Rosskopf (USA), Dylan Teuns (BEL), Rick Zabel (GER).

Sport Director: Max Sciandri (ITA)

Lotto-Soudal on Upcoming Races

Before Milan-San Remo three Europe Tour one-day races are on the programme of Lotto Soudal: Nokere Koerse, Handzame Classic and Zeeland Seaports.

On Wednesday 18th March it’s Nokere Koerse, last year won by Kenny Dehaes. After the start in Deinze the peloton covers two big laps, then there are eight local laps in Nokere of 14.8 kilometres. The finish line is drawn on the cobbles of Nokereberg. Two days later the peloton moves to Bredene for the Handzame Classic, where Kenny Dehaes was the best in 2013. In the first 150 kilometres some hills lie on the route, like the Monteberg and Kemmelberg. Next, there are four local laps of 15.8 kilometres around finish town Kortemark, with only one hill: the Ruidenberg.

On Saturday it’s the Zeeland Seaports race, won by André Greipel two years ago. Start and finish take place in Terneuzen. There are twelve cobblestone sectors and two local laps before the winner will likely be decided in a bunch sprint, after 196 kilometres. Kenny Dehaes is selected for all three races.

Kenny Dehaes on the Arenberg in the 2014 Paris-Roubaix

Kenny Dehaes: “I already had my share of bad luck this season. After crashing in the Tour Down Under my fingers were healed when I crashed again in the last stage of the Three Days of West-Flanders. It’s fine at the moment, I only have deep wounds on my elbow and hip and my arm and hand feel a bit stiff. Thanks to the help of the physiotherapist it’s getting better. That last stage in the Three Days of West-Flanders was the first day I rode on the bike with a good feeling and confidence, but that changed again because of that crash. That was mentally hard for a while. I just got back from Spain where I trained well. I had a good feeling, but of course a training isn’t the same as a race.”

“First it was the ambition to win in the three upcoming races, but after all of this I will wait how the race develops and how I feel during the race. I cannot assess how my body will respond after my last crash, but I’m hoping for a super strong day. Actually, I hope for three super days, but if I have to choose I prefer Wednesday in Nokere. It’s starts in Deinze now, the city where I live. It’s already since my first year as a pro that I love riding Nokere Koerse. It’s a race that suits me. With the start close to my home and as last year’s winner I’m extra motivated to perform well.”

Team Selection for Nokere Koerse: Tiesj Benoot, Kris Boeckmans, Sean De Bie, Kenny Dehaes, Gert Dockx, Boris Vallée, Louis Vervaeke and Tosh Van der Sande.

Team Selection for Handzame Classic and Ronde van Zeeland Seaports: Sander Armée, Tiesj Benoot, Vegard Breen, Sean De Bie, Kenny Dehaes, Gert Dockx, Boris Vallée and Tosh Van der Sande.

Sports director: Frederik Willems.

• Wednesday 18th March: Nokere Koerse (197,7 km)
• Friday 20th March: Handzame Classic (198,6 km)
• Saturday 21st March: Ronde van Zeeland Seaports (196,1 km)​

This Came From LottoNL-Jumbo

LottoNL-Jumbo is taking their best sprinters to Belgian one-day race, Nokere Koerse, where the team should have its chances with Moreno Hofland and Barry Markus. “This race suits our riders,” Frans Maassen said. “That gives us a beautiful opportunity to achieve good results. Lately, Moreno Hofland and Barry Markus showed that they’re finding their form again. Moreno became seventh three times in Paris-Nice and Barry finished as runner-up in Dwars door Drenthe. Those results raise our confidence looking forward to Nokere Koerse. I hope that will pay off.”

Moreno Hofland races in the 2014 Tour of Romandie

Moreno Hofland knows how they can achieve a good result in Nokere. “Most of the time the race ends in a bunch sprint,” he explained. “But the last kilometres will probably be hectic. Before we head up Nokere berg, a lot of twisting and turning will take place. Nick van der Lijke and Mike Teunnissen have to make sure that they put Barry and me in a good position before the Nokereberg. If we can manage to be with the first five at the foot of the climb, we can get a good result."

“It doesn’t matter which one of us does the job. We just have to see which one of us has the best legs and work together for the win.”

Team Line-up: Moreno Hofland, Brian Bulgac, Bert-Jan Lindeman, Nick van der Lijke, Barry Markus, Timo Roosen and Mike Teunissen.

Sports Director: Frans Maassen

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