Bicycle Racing News and Opinion,
Wednesday, November 22, 2017
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2017 Tour de France | 2017 Giro d'Italia
Music is the wine which inspires one to new generative processes, and I am Bacchus who presses out this glorious wine for mankind and makes them spiritually drunken. - Ludwig van Beethoven
Latest completed racing:
- November 19: Bogense Cyclocross
- November 12: Gavere Cyclocross
- November 5: European Cyclocross Championships
- Oct 28 - Nov 5: Tour of Hainan
- November 1: Cyclocross Koppenberg
- October 29: Cyclocross Ruddervoorde
- October 28: Cincy CX, Devou Park
- October 28: Grote Prijs van Brabant
Quick-Step Floors confirms 2018 rider roster
Here's the team's news release:
Our squad for next season will comprise 27 riders – four of whom are neo-pros – representing 13 nationalities.
The 56 UCI wins scored by Quick-Step Floors in the past season – the sixth consecutive season in which our team broke the 50-victories barrier – saw the outfit managed by Patrick Lefevere take its all-time tally to 615 wins, an outstanding achievement for the team whose road began 15 years ago.
Victorious from the first to the closing month of the season, in 29 different races spread across four continents, Quick-Step Floors proved on countless occasions not only its trademark winning mentality, but also the extraordinary depth it possesses, with 14 riders inscribing their name on the winners sheet.
During the always hectic transfer season, Quick-Step Floors retained many of the riders who formed its core in 2017, while at the same time continuing to invest in youth development, as shown by the four neo-pros who joined the team for 2018. Next year, the roster will be made up of 27 riders from 13 different countries; averaging 26.85 years, it will be one of the youngest squads in the World Tour, with nearly half of the riders still in their early 20s.
A new chapter in the team's history thus begins, and Patrick Lefevere is optimistic and ready for this new challenge which the 2018 season shapes up to be.
"We have many new riders, some of them very young, but we look with the same confidence and excitement to the new season which looms just around the corner. Last season was a spectacular one and next year we'll try to be again in the mix, be it Classics or stage races, and replicate many of the great 2017 wins", said Quick-Step Floors' CEO.
"The riders and the staff are always working hard, they know that getting to the top and staying there it's no easy task, but they are all professionals and very passionate about what they are doing, and seeing their relentless dedication makes me very optimistic and eager about taking on the new season", concluded Patrick Lefevere.
Incredible talent Julian Alaphilippe (shown winning a stage in the 2017 Vuelta) will ride for Quick-Step Floors again in 2018
Quick-Step Floors for 2018: Julian Alaphilippe, Eros Capecchi, Rémi Cavagna, Laurens De Plus, Tim Declercq, Dries Devenyns, Fernando Gaviria, Philippe Gilbert, Alvaro Hodeg, Fabio Jakobsen, Bob Jungels, Iljo Keisse, James Knox, Yves Lampaert, Davide Martinelli, Enric Mas, Michael Mørkøv, Jhonatan Narvaez, Maximiliano Richeze, Fabio Sabatini, Maximilian Schachmann, Florian Sénéchal, Pieter Serry, Zdenek Stybar, Niki Terpstra, Petr Vakoč, Elia Viviani.
New riders for the 2018 season: Alvaro Hodeg (stagiaire in 2017), Fabio Jakobsen, James Knox, Michael Mørkøv, Jhonatan Narvaez, Florian Sénéchal and Elia Viviani.
Bicycles return to Milan show (EICMA) thanks to E-bikes
The only constant is change. When I was a bicycle importer and distributor, the Milan show was the place I wanted to be. To read that bike makers had abandoned the Milan show was a shock.
Here's my post after visiting the 1998 Milan Show. You can see how much things have changed in the last twenty years.
And here's the story about the current Milan show that Bike Europe sent me:
MILAN, Italy – Once one of the leading bicycle (and motorcycle) shows in Europe, the EICMA, returned to its roots as the bicycle was included in the event again. In fact, the bicycle industry was represented by a number of e-bike brands.
A group of e-bike brands, including Bottecchia, Italwin, Kawasaki, MBM, Merida, Momodesign, Scott, Torrot and Wayel, gathered together in a joined booth.
Others, like KTM, Fantic Motor and Askoll, could be found among the motorcycle booths in one of the 22 pavilions. The one kilometer long outdoor test track for e-bikes included 170 altitude meters and a slope of 8 percent.
According to the EICMA show organization the attendance increased by 24 percent this year compared with the 2015 edition. Also the number of exhibitors increased by 20 percent to 1,713 this year. No less than 61% of the exhibiting companies came from abroad. “The remarkable figures confirm that the 75th EICMA was an edition not be missed,” said Antonello Montante, President of EICMA S.p.A.
You can read the entire story here.
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