Bicycle Racing News and Opinion,
Saturday, June 18, 2016

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If it's the Psychic Network why do they need a phone number? - Robin Williams

Recently completed racing:

• June 9: GP Canton Aargau (Canton d'Argovie)
• June 5 - June 12: Critérium du Dauphiné
• June 12: Rund um Köln

Current Racing:

• June 11 - 19: Tour de Suisse
• June 15 - 19: Ster ZLM Toer
• June 16 - 19: Route du Sud

Upcoming Racing:

• July 2 - 24: Tour de France
• August 20 - Sept 11: Vuelta a España (all stage profiles posted)

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Melanoma book author David L. Stanley on TV

Regular contributor to BikeRaceInfo and author of Melanoma: It Started with a Freckle was on Indianapolis TV today. You can watch his interview here.

Oh, and please wear sunscreen when you go out. We want you around for a long time.

UCI Statement on Simon Yates

The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) announces today that Simon Yates has been sanctioned with a period of ineligibility of four months for a non-intentional anti-doping rule violation committed on 12 March 2016 (i.e. Presence and Use of the specified prohibited substance Terbutaline).

As per the World Anti-Doping Code (WADC) and the UCI Anti-Doping Rules (ADR), the start of the sanction will run from the date of the sample collection until 11 July 2016.

The case has been resolved via an acceptance of consequences as provided for by the WADC and the ADR.

The UCI will not comment any further.

BikeRaceInfo note: Since the suspension will run through July 11, Yates will not be able to ride the Tour de France

And here is the statement from Yate's Orica-GreenEdge team:

After a four-month break due to a pending decision around his adverse analytical finding in March this year, ORICA-GreenEDGE’s Simon Yates can now finally resume to racing in July at the Tour of Poland.

"Simon has been given a four-month sanction by the UCI given the administrative error in not having a required TUE for his asthma inhaler at Paris-Nice," said general manager Shayne Bannan.

"The team has taken full responsibility for this all along and we look forward to seeing Simon back racing.

"It has been an unfortunate break due to circumstances that Simon cannot be blamed, but above all, we are happy that is has now come to a conclusion.

"Simon has been training well and we welcome him back on the roster for a strong second part of the season."

Lotto-Soudal update on Stig Broeckx and other team riders

This came to me from the team:

Stig Broeckx successfully underwent surgery of his fractured eye socket, an injury he incurred at the Belgium Tour. Yesterday Stig, who is still in an induced coma, was transferred to the ZOL hospital in Genk, where he is staying at the intensive care unit and where the neurosurgical team will follow up his condition. Stig will be kept in an induced coma for an indefinite period. Further evaluation and prognosis isn’t possible until a later phase.

Stig Broeckx finishes a stage in last year's Tour Down Under. The whole world is pulling for you Stig.

Lars Bak is recovering from the injuries he incurred in the last Giro stage. It was a broken shoulder blade, a small pneumothorax, six broken ribs and two broken transverse processes in the back. After the Giro Lars was taken to Belgium for further examinations, he didn’t need to undergo surgery. At the moment Lars has carefully started training again. It’s difficult to tell when he can make his comeback in the peloton.

Tomasz Marczynski had to abandon the Dauphiné with a perineal injury and some back problems. He’ll possibly participate in the Polish national championships. Rafael Valls had to pass for the Tour de Suisse because of a shoulder injury. Also he will possibly resume competition at the Nationals.

Injury sidelines Niki Terpstra for balance of month

Etixx-Quick Step posted this unhappy news:

A patellar injury at his left knee will keep our rider out of action until the end of the month.

Ster ZLM Toer should have been Niki Terpstra's last race before heading to the National Championships, which are scheduled next week, in Middelharnis (individual time trial) and Brouwersdam (road race). Unfortunately, 32-year-old Terpstra, who is the road race defending champion, will be forced to skip these events due to an injury incurred earlier this week, after hitting his knee on the bus handrail on his way to the warm-up area ahead of the Goes prologue.

Two days later, on Friday afternoon, Niki abandoned early on stage 2, which concluded with a bunch sprint, won by Dylan Groenewegen (LottoNL-Jumbo). Examinations showed he suffered a patellar injury on his left knee, because of which he now must stay off the bike for two weeks.

Terpstra winning this year's GP Le Samyn

"I can't find the words to express how disappointed I am. It's a stupid accident, but this kind of things happen, so that's life. I'm sad and frustrated, because the legs were there and I was prepared to defend my jersey. Truth being told, this year's course at the Nationals is suited to the sprinters, but in a one-day race you can never know what will happen, so I was ready to play my card. Instead of being part of the race, I'll now watch it on the TV, but once I will return to racing, I'll try to make up for this and be again at my best", said Niki Terpstra.

Tour of Switzerland team reports

Here's the release from BMC:

17 June, 2016, Solden (AUT): Tejay van Garderen showed his form by taking a brilliant solo win on the Queen Stage of the Tour de Suisse in another day of harsh conditions.

An early breakaway of three riders went away on the 224.3km stage, staying away until the final climb when the battle of the General Classification riders began.

After losing time on the previous mountain stage, van Garderen bounced back by attacking solo with just under five kilometers to the summit finish on the Rettenbachferner. As the General Classification group slowly broke apart behind him, van Garderen held a 20 second lead as he approached the finish line.

As he approached the finish line solo and took one last look behind him, van Garderen secured the second stage win for BMC Racing Team at this year's Tour de Suisse, and his third stage win in 2016.

Today's stage win has elevated van Garderen to seventh place on the General Classification, 1'31" behind new race leader Waren Barguil (Team Giant-Alpecin).

Van Garderen wins Swiss Tour stage 7

The Winner's Interview with Tejay van Garderen

How were you feeling out there today?

"The feelings today were good. The feelings have been good all race except for yesterday when I had a bad moment and got really cold when I came off the Klausenpass. It's still very regrettable that it happened because I fee like I have the form to win this race overall. At least to come away with the stage victory is a nice consolation prize."

Was it always the plan to attack when you did?

"It was a hard moment and I saw that some of the other riders didn't look so strong and I was feeling good so I thought it was a good opportunity to attack and go for the stage victory. And that's how it happened. They gave me a little bit of freedom because I lost a bit of time yesterday so I was able to get a gap and hold on to it."

When you started getting closer to the finish line did you think that the win was yours?

"You're never sure of a stage victory until you cross the line so I just put my head down and went as hard as I did. It's tempting to look back and I think I did look back a few times but I just tried keeping my head forward."

Just how hard was the Rettenbachferner?

"It's definitely up there with the hardest climbs I have ever done. I can't really think of a harder one right now."

How are you approaching the last two stages?

"Looking at the GC as it stands after today I definitely think I can move up a couple of places and maybe get into the top five or the podium. If I have a really good day and some of my rivals suffer a bit then the podium could be possible. But it is still very regrettable having lost that time yesterday, because then I think I would be in with a good chance.

Fabio Baldato: "Today couldn't have gone any better for Tejay, especially as he bounced back so strong after Stage 6. We knew he had good legs from the beginning of the race and yesterday's loss of time was definitely motivation to come back firing today on the Queen Stage."

"For Tejay this is an important win for his confidence heading into the Tour de France, and of course it is an important win for BMC Racing Team, especially in Switzerland, the home of our title sponsor BMC Switzerland. We still have the time trial tomorrow and then the final mountain stage and I think we can get more good results."

And here's the report from new race leader Warren Barguil's Giant-Alpecin team:

Warren Barguil (FRA) climbed to 3rd place on the queen stage of the Tour de Suisse. After a superb performance earlier today he is the new leader in the general classification of the Swiss stage race.

Warren Barguil (FRA): "I am happy with today’s result, it went very well. The team did a great job in controlling the race and in protecting me today.

"At the start of the final climb, I still had strong support from the team and we managed to set a good tempo in order to decimate the bunch as much as possible. In the finale, I just followed the main group and when Van Garderen attacked I was expecting Team Sky to accelerate, but they didn't. Therefore, I decided to go by myself to try and close the gap. Unfortunately, I couldn't and then I just gave everything I had to reach the finish line.

"I am really proud that the team believed in me in achieving a good result. I will try to keep the jersey as long as possible and will not give it up without a fight. There are still two more hard stages to come with the time trial tomorrow, so we will see."

Warren Barguil in his leader's jersey

Morten Bennekou (DEN): "Today's breakaway of three riders enjoyed a maximum advantage of 13 minutes. We decided to take the initiative in the chase as other teams were more focused on saving energy for the remaining stages.

"Throughout the whole stage it was very good teamwork and we managed to control the gap with the break. On the final climb, Warren was incredibly strong and he finished with a third place. On top of that, he took the leader's jersey to show for his efforts.

"It is a great result for the whole team. Warren did a very strong individual performance, but the team as a whole were excellent today as they executed the plan very well. Tomorrow is a time trial and we know Warren has improved his time trial skills over the winter. We will go for it and aim for a good result.”

Bicycle Industry turmoil continues

This was in Bicycle Retailer and Industry News:

LEXINGTON, S.C. and LÉVIS, Quebec (BRAIN) — Hawley-Lambert has laid off 13 staff from its Lexington offices as it continues to integrate both companies and finalizes the transition of back-end functions to Lévis, Quebec. Sylvain Caya, president of Hawley-Lambert, said multiple reasons led to the cuts including restructuring, softness in the market and in some cases, performance issues.

Of the positions that were eliminated about one third were transitioned to Canada, including finance, accounting and payables; the other two thirds were due to softness in the market and performance driven, Caya said.

"As a company, something that has not been communicated over the past 18 months is that right now, most of the back-end functions are in Canada, such as finance, and IT, and this is the final step for transitioning some functions," he said.

You can read the entire story here. I suggest clicking on the internal links to learn more. Also many of the comments from members of the bicycle industry are interesting.

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