Bicycle Racing News and Opinion,
Saturday, October 15, 2016

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I went to a bookstore and asked the saleswoman, 'Where's the self-help section?' She said if she told me, it would defeat the purpose. - George Carlin

Recently completed racing:

• October 2: Tour de l'Eurométropole
• October 3: Sparkassen Munsterland-Giro
• October 4: Binche-Chimay-Binche
• October 6: Paris-Bourges
• October 9: Paris-Tours
• October 11: Nationale Sluitingprijs-Putte Kapellen

Current Racing:

• October 9 - 16: World Road Cycling Championships

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Martin Elmiger signs with BMC

The team sent me this news:

14 October, 2016, Santa Rosa, California (USA). Four-time Swiss National Road Race champion Martin Elmiger is the latest addition to BMC Racing Team's 2017 roster, General Manager Jim Ochowicz today announced.

Elmiger, who won the Santos Tour Down Under in 2007, will play an important role in achieving the team's stage race and Classics ambitions, Ochowicz said.

"Martin Elmiger brings a wealth of experience to BMC Racing Team and is a very welcome addition to our 2017 roster. Martin will join us in his 16th year as a professional cyclist, during which time he has consistently proven himself as a versatile and strong road captain, and a rider more than capable of playing both a support role and winning in his own right. Martin was 5th at Paris-Roubaix in 2015, showing that he has what it takes to be up there on the cobbles, and is often seen trying his luck in a breakaway during stage races. We have a clear focus for the 2017 season and we're excited to have Martin on board," Ochowicz explained. 

"We may be a US-registered UCI WorldTour team, but our ties to Switzerland are very strong with BMC Switzerland and the recent announcement of TAG Heuer as a new partner, so we are thrilled to welcome another Swiss rider to BMC Racing Team."

Martin Elmiger at the 2014 Tour de France

Elmiger started his career on a BMC bike and is looking forward to making his return. "I'm not the youngest rider anymore so it wasn't that easy to find a new team but BMC Racing Team was always one of my favorite teams. I pretty much started my career on BMC bikes with Andy Rihs at Phonak and after speaking to Andy about joining the team it was a perfect opportunity to also end my career on a BMC bike. It is an honor to ride with BMC Racing Team with riders like Greg Van Avermaet and the young Swiss guys who I know well. It's going to be a nice experience and I'm very motivated," Elmiger said.

"I'd like to help Van Avermaet win one of the big Classics like Tour of Flanders, and maybe take an opportunity to win a stage at some of the smaller races like Tour de Suisse, or help whoever is there for the General Classification. I think I can help a lot in every kind of terrain, whether it's the Classics or stage races as I have a lot of experience."

Lampre-Merida to race Tour of Hainan

Here's the team's racing update:

The last road race for LAMPRE-MERIDA in 2016 season will be the Tour of Hainan, which will take place from 22nd October to 30th October.

The blue-fuchsia-green team will participate in the Chinese race for the third time: in the past editions, LAMPRE-MERIDA collected six stage victories and the success in the overall classification of Modolo in 2016.

Sports director Pedrazzini will direct seven cyclists: Mario Costa, Roberto Ferrari, Matej Mohoric, Prezemyslaw Niemiec, Xu Gang, Federico Zurlo and the trainee Oliviero Troia.

Prezemyslaw Niemiec racing in the 2015 Tirreno-Adriatico

In the operative staff there will be physician Dr Beltemacchi, the masseurs Gallivanone and Lima, the mechanics Baron and Pengo and the press officier Zhao Haoyang.

Matej Mohoric and Federico Zurlo both obtained their first successes as pro riders in Asia: the Slovenian rider won the Cyclothon Criterium Hong Kong, the Italian athlete obtained one stage success in the Tour of Qinghai Lake. Niemiec will exploit his skills as climber in the 6th stage (Changjian-Wuzhishan, summit of a 1st category climb at 11 km to the arrival) and the 8th stage (Sanya-Qiongzhong, four categorized climbs).

Mario Costa and Oliviero Troia will be the all-around cyclist which will be fundamental for the team, in addition to the highly-motivated Chinese rider Xu Gang and the sprinter Roberto Ferrari.

Giant USA to launch its online sales platform Monday

This report came to me from Bicycle Retailer and Industry News

NEWBURY PARK, Calif. (BRAIN) — On Monday, Giant USA is launching its WebLink online sales platform along with new Giant and Liv consumer websites. Consumers will be able to order Giant bikes through the site and pick up the bike at their chosen Giant retailer. Giant announced the program in February and several Giant stores have been testing the system for six months.

In an email to Giant retailers sent Monday, Giant USA's general manager, John "JT" Thompson, said the testing showed that "consumers, who are long accustomed to retail purchasing online, like the ability to do the very same thing with bicycles and bike gear, and we want that purchasing to be sourced from you."

Bikes purchased online will be shipped to the Giant retailer chosen by the consumer for build and pickup. If the retailer has the model in stock, they can opt to deliver that bike instead of having a new one shipped. Retailers stocking the series of ordered bikes will receive a credit for the full Advertised Retail Price margin on the consumer's purchase. Retailers who don't stock that model series will receive credit for 80 percent of the margin. Giant and Liv gear purchased online will be shipped directly to the consumer, and the closest stocking Giant retailer within 100 miles will get the full ARP margin credit on the purchase.

You can read the entire story here.

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