Bicycle Racing News and Opinion,
Thursday, March 16, 2017
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2017 Tour de France | 2017 Giro d'Italia
The most certain sign of wisdom is cheerfulness. - Michel de Montaigne
Upcoming racing:
- March 17: Handzame Classic
- March 18: Classic Loire Atlantique
- March 18: Milano-San Remo
Latest completed racing:
- March 15: Nokere Koerse
- March 8 - 14: Tirreno-Adriatico
- March 5 - 12: Paris-Nice
- March 11: Energiewacht Ronde van Drenthe
- February 27 - March 5 : La Tropicale Amissa Bongo (we track only the final podium of this race)
- March 5: Dwars door West-Vlaanderen
Author Les Woodland tells a couple of stories from his book, "The Olympics' 50 Craziest Stories"
Peter Sagan tops UCI world rider ranking
World road champion Peter Sagan remains the UCI #1 ranked rider
Rank number in parenthesis is previous ranking.
| Rank | Rider | Team | Points |
| 1 (1) | Peter SAGAN | Bora-hansgrohe | 5569 |
| 2 (2) | Greg VAN AVERMAET | BMC | 3917.25 |
| 3 (3) | Chris FROOME | Sky | 3672 |
| 4 (4) | Nairo QUINTANA | Movistar | 3639 |
| 5 (5) | Alejandro VALVERDE | Movistar | 3059 |
| 6 (7) | Alberto CONTADOR | Trek-Segafredo | 3000 |
| 7 (6) | Jhoan Esteban CHAVES | Orica-Scott | 2611 |
| 8 (8) | Romain BARDET | Ag2r La Mondiale | 2412 |
| 9 (9) | Diego ULISSI | UAE Abu Dhabi | 2313 |
| 10 (14) | Julian ALAPHILIPPE | Quick-Step | 2201 |
| 11 (11) | Richie PORTE | BMC | 2190 |
| 12 (10) | Alexander KRISTOFF | Katusha Alpecin | 2158 |
| 13 (12) | Michael MATTHEWS | Sunweb | 1994 |
| 14 (15) | Jon IZAGUIRRE | Bahrain-Merida | 1969 |
| 15 (13) | Rui Alberto FARIA | UAE Abu Dhabi | 1944 |
| 16 (22) | Daniel MARTIN | Quick-Step | 1887 |
| 17 (16) | Tom DUMOULIN | Sunweb | 1803 |
| 18 (20) | Arnaud DEMARE | FDJ | 1706 |
| 19 (17) | Giacomo NIZZOLO | Trek-Segafredo | 1691 |
| 20 (19) | Bryan COQUARD | Direct Energie | 1667 |
| 21 (18) | Baptiste PLANCKAERT | Katusha Alpecin | 1666 |
| 22 (29) | Ilnur ZAKARIN | Katusha Alpecin | 1627 |
| 23 (27) | Sonny COLBRELLI | Bahrain-Merida | 1567 |
| 24 (21) | Tom BOONEN | Quick-Step | 1558 |
| 25 (23) | Mark CAVENDISH | Dimension Data | 1545 |
| 26 (24) | Sep VANMARCKE | Cannondale Drapac | 1538 |
| 27 (25) | Bauke MOLLEMA | Trek-Segafredo | 1529 |
| 28 (26) | Thibaut PINOT | FDJ | 1512.5 |
| 29 (64) | Sergio Luis HENAO | Sky | 1496 |
| 30 (28) | Fabian CANCELLARA | 1460 | |
| 31 (30) | Nacer BOUHANNI | Cofidis | 1436 |
| 32 (31) | Vincenzo NIBALI | Bahrain-Merida | 1426 |
| 33 (34) | Tim WELLENS | Lotto Soudal | 1396 |
| 34 (37) | Tony GALLOPIN | Lotto Soudal | 1393 |
| 35 (33) | Timothy DUPONT | Veranda's Willems-Crelan | 1366 |
| 36 (35) | Marcel KITTEL | Quick-Step | 1354 |
| 37 (32) | Dylan GROENEWEGEN | Lotto NL-Jumbo | 1347 |
| 38 (40) | André GREIPEL | Lotto Soudal | 1313 |
| 39 (36) | Rafal MAJKA | Bora-hansgrohe | 1309 |
| 40 (39) | Joaquim RODRIGUEZ | 1287 |
Country rankings:
| 1 (2) | FRANCE | 13574.5 points |
| 2 (1) | BELGIUM | 13561.25 |
| 3 (3) | COLOMBIA | 12563.65 |
| 4 (4) | SPAIN | 12147.9 |
| 5 (5) | ITALY | 11169.25 |
| 6 (6) | GREAT BRITAIN | 10362 |
| 7 (7) | NETHERLANDS | 8921.8 |
| 8 (8) | AUSTRALIA | 8380.25 |
| 9 (9) | SLOVAKIA | 6233.5 |
| 10 (10) | GERMANY | 6146.25 |
| 11 (11) | NORWAY | 5297 |
| 12 (12) | SWITZERLAND | 4377.5 |
| 13 (15) | RUSSIA | 4151 |
| 14 (14) | DENMARK | 4075 |
| 15 (13) | POLAND | 4021.5 |
| 16 (16) | PORTUGAL | 3857 |
| 17 (19) | IRELAND | 3560 |
| 18 (17) | CZECH REPUBLIC | 3263.25 |
| 19 (18) | UNITED STATES | 3201.65 |
| 20 (20) | SLOVENIA | 2586 |
| 21 (21) | KAZAKHSTAN | 2345 |
| 22 (22) | LUXEMBOURG | 2257.25 |
| 23 (23) | UKRAINE | 2035.9 |
| 24 (24) | ESTONIA | 1973.25 |
| 25 (26) | BELARUS | 1802 |
| 26 (25) | IRAN | 1743 |
| 27 (27) | AUSTRIA | 1632 |
| 28 (29) | SOUTH AFRICA | 1600 |
| 29 (28) | ERITREA | 1594 |
| 30 (30) | NEW ZEALAND | 1555.25 |
| 31 (31) | MOROCCO | 1413.5 |
| 32 (32) | CANADA | 1412 |
| 33 (35) | COSTA RICA | 1091 |
| 34 (33) | LITHUANIA | 1068 |
| 35 (34) | ALGERIA | 1054 |
| 36 (36) | ARGENTINA | 1020 |
| 37 (37) | LATVIA | 942 |
| 38 (38) | VENEZUELA | 911 |
| 39 (39) | JAPAN | 859 |
| 40 (40) | CROATIA | 751 |
WorldTour team rankings:
| Rank | Prev. | Team (Code) | Points |
| 1 | 1 | BMC RACING TEAM (BMC) | 2324 |
| 2 | 2 | QUICK - STEP FLOORS (QST) | 1749 |
| 3 | 4 | TEAM SKY (SKY) | 1658 |
| 4 | 3 | ORICA - SCOTT (ORS) | 1497 |
| 5 | 12 | MOVISTAR TEAM (MOV) | 1353 |
| 6 | 5 | TREK - SEGAFREDO (TFS) | 1276 |
| 7 | 7 | TEAM SUNWEB (SUN) | 1225 |
| 8 | 6 | BORA - HANSGROHE (BOH) | 1217 |
| 9 | 8 | TEAM KATUSHA ALPECIN (KAT) | 1000 |
| 10 | 9 | LOTTO SOUDAL (LTS) | 821 |
| 11 | 14 | TEAM LOTTO NL - JUMBO (TLJ) | 806 |
| 12 | 10 | UAE TEAM EMIRATES (UAD) | 744 |
| 13 | 18 | FDJ (FDJ) | 711 |
| 14 | 11 | TEAM DIMENSION DATA (DDD) | 584 |
| 15 | 13 | AG2R LA MONDIALE (ALM) | 568 |
| 16 | 15 | ASTANA PRO TEAM (AST) | 511 |
| 17 | 17 | CANNONDALE DRAPAC (CDT) | 493 |
| 18 | 16 | BAHRAIN - MERIDA (TBM) | 426 |
Greg Van Avermaet targets Milan-San Remo podium
BMC sent this to me:
15 March, 2017, Santa Rosa, California (USA): BMC Racing Team line up at the first Monument of the year, Milan-San Remo, this Saturday, 18 March with a strong team in support of Olympic champion Greg Van Avermaet.
Van Avermaet has shown his form at the early races this season, Sports Director Max Sciandri said. "We saw how strong Greg is with his win at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and second place at Strade Bianche. We have a great team in support of Greg, with riders like Daniel Oss, Manuel Quinziato and Francisco Ventoso bringing a lot of experience," Sciandri explained.
"As the longest one-day race on the calendar, Milan-San Remo is one of the toughest races these riders will line up at all year. Greg generally thrives in these conditions and the longer the race, the stronger he gets. We're ready to give it everything we have this Saturday."
Having never stood on the Milan-San Remo podium, Van Avermaet is eager to improve on his fifth place result from 2016. "I've come out of Tirreno-Adriatico with good feelings. I'm really happy with my form and I hope to do well in the Classics. Milan-San Remo is a hard race and a bit of a lottery. It's a beautiful race and I love it but you have to have a bit of luck to win, especially if you're not the fastest guy in the peloton. I want to win a Monument this year and Milan-San Remo is my first opportunity so if everything goes perfectly, I hope to have a chance," Van Avermaet said.
Greg van Avermanet wins Het Nieuwsblad
Rider Roster: Damiano Caruso (ITA), Silvan Dillier (SUI), Martin Elmiger (SUI), Daniel Oss (ITA), Manuel Quinziato (ITA), Miles Scotson (AUS), Greg Van Avermaet (BEL), Francisco Ventoso (ESP).
Sports Directors: Max Sciandri (ITA), Valerio Piva (ITA)
Shimano Europe boss Frank Peiffer on omni-channel and
shortening lead times
Bike-Europe sent me this important interview about how the bike business is changing:
EINDHOVEN, the Netherlands – Frank Peiffer leaves no doubt whatsoever about the transformation by the bicycle industry needed to meet the requirements of ever more consumers ordering online. “That has to happen,” he says. Regarding how to make it happen, the MD of Shimano Europe’s bike division presents a clear view, including the ifs and buts that come with it.
Bike Europe interviewed Frank Peiffer for its January/February, 2017 print edition. The interview took place at Shimano’s new European HQ exactly one week after its official opening. It’s an office that stands out design-wise as well as location-wise. He explains what it expresses about market expectations by the world’s biggest manufacturer of bike parts.
“Of course we believe strongly in bicycles and their future. What growth lies ahead is something that nobody can predict precisely with regard to ‘consumption’ and bike sales. But that there is and will be a strong growth in usage is clear. That’s also expressed in the latest trends. It used to be fun and technology related to mountain bikes. Nowadays Europe is setting the trends which are more function-focused.”
What does this new HQ say location-wise with regard to future Shimano products?
“That bikes will have more electronics like many more products used daily. Bicycles will become more high-tech, like cars that have functions such as ABS and traction control. Such accident avoiding functions will also come in bikes. And to create that we are at the right location for forming partnerships with high-tech companies.”
Is it correct to see this new HQ also as an expression of the fact that Europe is by far the largest market for Shimano?
“Correct; Europe is by far the biggest market for Shimano sales-wise. Whether it accounts for close to 50% of all our sales or over 50% is also a question of currency fluctuations.”
Next to e-bike systems I think that soft goods are also getting more and more important for Shimano Europe regarding the Lazer acquisition. What’s the strategy here?
“Lazer is another step in completing our soft goods range. Here’s still quite something to gain for Shimano. We are currently focusing on brand positioning and at this new HQ we are bringing together all soft goods functions for creating more synergies.”
Let’s switch now to the latest trend in the EU market; do you agree to the claim that increasing the speed to market of bikes and bike products will become essential in the coming years when taking changing consumer behavior and rapidly growing online sales into account?
“What’s clear here is that consumers are expecting more nowadays. In particular when taking into account the online services offered for instance by Amazon. The industry has to catch up here with regard to secured availability.”
Increasing the speed to market ability of bike makers in Europe means that lead times have to be shortened. Is this possible for Shimano?
“It’s possible for everybody as this is foremost related to planning. That needs more attention than changing production locations. Basically everybody needs to focus more on planning. However, the industry is relatively bad in planning. What also comes into play here is that everybody looks at their own plate instead of the whole chain. Coordination and accurate numbers is what counts.”
You can read the entire interview here.
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