Bicycle Racing News and Opinion,
Monday, November 30, 2015

Back to news and opinion index page for links to archived stories | Commentary

"Sports do not build character. They reveal it." - Heywood Broun

UCI will allow disc brakes

The UCI has announced that after initial trials in August and September, it will continue to test disc brakes into 2016. At the end of the summer of 2015 teams were allowed to use disc brakes and now, after extensive discussions with the riders, mechanics, and organizers, the UCI has decided to allow disc brake use in all the professional divisions by all riders. The includes World Tour, Professional Continental, Continental and Women.

The plan is to evaluate their use with the probable decision to permanently authorize their use in 2017.

Erik Dekker leaves LottoNL-Jumbo

Dutch racer Erik Dekker was one of the standout racers of the 1990s and early 2000s. For most of his career he raced for Rabobank. After hanging up his chamois he became a manager for Rabobank. Since 2014 he has been a manager for LottoNL-Jumbo.

During his racing career he won four Tour de France stages, the 2002 Tirreno-Adriatico, Amstel Gold, San Sebastian Classic, Paris-Tours the the Tour of the Netherlands. He was also Dutch time trial champion three times.

Erik Dekker at the 2013 Tour Down Under when he was working for the "Blanco" racing team, the successor to Rabobank.

He's leaving LottoNL-Jumbo and the team put out this press release:

Team LottoNL-Jumbo and Sports Director Erik Dekker will say goodbye to each other at the end of this year. The reason behind this decision is a difference in vision regarding the sportive guidance in the future. Dekker has been active for the team’s legal predecessor for many years, fourteen years as an active cyclist and afterwards as a sports director.

Richard Plugge: “We want to thank Erik for the significant contribution he has made within the team. We have enjoyed the beautiful moments we have experienced together. We wish him all the best for the future,” says managing director Richard Plugge.

Erik Dekker: Sports Director Erik Dekker: “After 23 wonderful years, the moment to say goodbye to Team LottoNL-Jumbo has come. I’m looking forward to the future. A future that will possible look very different for me, but also one that holds a nice challenge for me. I want to thank everyone I’ve worked with so pleasantly during this period.”

2016 Ronde Van Vlaanderen-Tour of Flanders presented

The 2016 Tour of Flanders, the 100th edition of the classic, was presented at the Brussels airport. The race will be held on April 3 and be 255.9 kilometers long. There will be 18 climbs and seven cobbled sectors. The finish line will be on the Minderbroedersstraat in Oudenaarde.

Roger Decock winning the 1952 Tour of Flanders

The race will honor Roger Decock, victor in 1952 and the oldest surviving winner of the Flanders race.

The 2015 winner was Alexander Kristoff. Here's a link to complete results for every edition of the Tour of Flanders.

Feng Taiwan Champion

This news came from Lampre-Merida:

The 2015 season of Lampre-Merida ended today in the best possible way, thanks to the double victory obtained by Chun Kai Feng in the Taiwanese championships.

The Asian cyclist won the road race Taiwanese championship, preceding Lu and Chen, and the time trial, covering the course in Taitung at an average speed of 43.710 km/h, which allowed him to obtain the victory with 2'11" on Yang and Chen at 2'14".

Chun Kai Feng

Feng obtained his 5th Taiwanese title on road and the 2nd time trial title.

"Were very happy Feng could complete his season with two important results which gave the team the possibility to achieve the goal of the 31 seasonal successes - team manager Copeland said - Feng celebrated his contract renewal in a winning way and he confirmed that he could manage in his first season in the World Tour".

Back to news and opinion index page for links to archived stories | Commentary