Bicycle Racing News and Opinion,
Tuesday, January 24, 2017
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2017 Tour de France | 2017 Giro d'Italia
In a given individual, ignorance and certainty are directly proportional - McGann's Second Law
Current Racing:
- January 23 - 29: Vuelta a San Juan
Upcomng racing:
- January 26 - 29: Challenge Illes Balears - Volta Ciclista a Mallorca
Latest completed racing:
- January 15 - 22: People's Choice Classic & Tour Down Under
- January 1-3: Mitchelton Wines Bay Cycling Classic
Réne Cavagna: "Racing for Quick Step Floors is a dream come true."
The team posted this piece by neo-pro Cavagna:
The 21-year-old Frenchman will start his life as pro in Argentina's Vuelta a San Juan.
I was born in Clermont-Ferrand, a city in France most famous for its rugby team. Don't ask me why, but I was always drawn to other sports, like running, for example. Then, when I was 16 years old, I began riding a bike. The passion for cycling was handed down to me from my father, who was an avid enthusiast, even if he was always busy working and struggled to find time to pursue his passion for cycling.
I got in love with cycling from the very beginning. I love riding and cycling is a sport where you can really take yourself to the limit, yet it is not just your basic strength exercise. You need legs but also a good head on your shoulders to become a really good rider. I like the time trial discipline most of all. Perhaps because in the youth categories I always ended up attacking at 60 kilometers from the arrival and taking off on my own.
I definitely fine-tuned my skills as time trialist at that time. Year after year I worked on getting better until I got the chance to race for Klein Constantia and then for Quick-Step Floors. It was a dream come true! Racing side by side with a rider like Tom Boonen is incredible. When I was little I used to watch Tom on television and now here I am, racing next to him in the final months of his career on a fantastic, united team like ours! It's very exciting! It would be wonderful to be able to help him in one of the upcoming stages here in San Juan!
As for me, I still haven't told you that in the little spare time I have I'm also trying to study law at university. Between races I am attending law courses online and then, when I go back to Clermont-Ferrand, I take my exams. It isn't easy but my family has always taught me that it is always best to have an alternative, to create other opportunities. I would like to get a degree and then, one day, who knows if I could make it on to the police force. My father is a gendarme; maybe this is another motivation for me to explore this path. We'll see. For now all I want is to focus on my career as a pro rider. I want to see how far I can go and improve little by little. Starting right here in Vuelta a San Juan. I can't wait!
Orica-Scott women head to Melbourne looking for victories in the final Australian summer races
Here's the team's update:
Mon 23 Jan 2017: Straight from winning the team classification at the recent Santos Women’s Tour, Orica-Scott are back in action this week in the third edition of the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race. The team will also race in an inaugural criterium race, the Towards Zero Race Melbourne, which takes place a couple of days earlier.
The 63.3 kilometre circuit race is the latest addition to the ever growing Australian summer calendar and will this year will fall on Australia day around the world-famous Formula 1 Grand Prix circuit in Melbourne. The new criterium is likely to have a great atmosphere, large crowds and an impressive line-up with it being just two days prior to the UCI category Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race.
“To have an event of this stature in the centre of Melbourne and on Australia day is great for us and for the sport,” explained sport director Martin Barras. “With the quality of the teams it is going to be a great spectacle and a great opportunity for women’s cycling.”
Orica-Scott will bring a team of five-riders with a mix of both power and speed in newly crowned Australian Road Race Champion Katrin Garfoot, Dutch star Annemiek van Vleuten and youngster Jenelle Crooks, all fresh from their recent team success at the Santos Women’s Tour. The trio will be joined by former Australian champion Gracie Elvin and former criterium champion Sarah Roy, making it a diverse and capable team.
“We will look for opportunities in the criterium race and try to be aggressive,” Barras continued. “We have seen from the recent Santos Women’s Tour that there are sprinter in top form in this early part of the season, so we will work to make it a hard race, however if it does come down to a sprint then we will have an option.”
The race consists of 12laps of a 5.3kilometre circuit and with fast criterium racing in the legs after the Michelton Bay Cycling Classic and the recent Santos Women’s Tour, the in-form squad are confident and ready for the challenge. Two days later on Saturday 28th, the riders return to Geelong for the third edition of the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race and will add the 2016 defending champion, Amanda Spratt, to their stellar roster.
Spratt recently took out a stage win and the overall victory at the Santos Women’s Tour and is very much looking forward to returning to this event as the defending champion, with a strong and motivated team around her. “It is a race that I love and I know that I am in great shape coming off the Santos Women’s Tour,” Spratt explained. “We have had a very successful month, we have shown in all the racing that the team is fit and strong at the moment.”
“I really love the course, it has a little bit of everything and it is very much like a classic race in a lot of ways. If the wind is blowing then the first part of the race can be really hard and then the finale is always hard with all the hills, so I am really looking forward to it and will try to defend my 2016 victory.”
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