Bicycle Racing News and Opinion,
Thursday, August 1, 2019
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2018 Tour de France | 2018 Giro d'Italia
The secret of life is honesty and fair dealing. If you can fake that, you've got it made. - Groucho Marx
Current racing:
- July 31 - August 11: Volta a Protugal
Upcoming Racing:
- August 3: Clasica San Sebastian
- August 3 - 9: Tour de Pologne
- August 4: Prudential RideLondon-Surrey Classic
Latest completed racing:
- July 27 - 31: Tour de Wallonie
- July 31: Circuito de Getxo
- July 6 - 28: Tour de France
- July 25: GP Pino Cerami
- July 6 - 12: Tour of Austria
- Last week in June: National Championships
- June 26: Halle Ingooigem
- June 15 - 23: Tour de Suisse
- June 19 - 23: ZLM Toer
- June 20 - 23: La Route d'Occitanie
CCC Team to make history at the Tour de Pologne as first Polish UCI WorldTour team
CCC Team sent me this:
31 July 2019: CCC Team will make history at the Tour de Pologne as the first Polish UCI WorldTour team to take part in the biggest cycling race in Poland, with a seven-man roster motivated to go for both the General Classification and stage victories.
Sports Director Piotr Wadecki believes the team’s line-up is well suited to the seven-day race and ready to perform on the flat and mountainous stages.
"We are very excited to race in front of the Polish fans, on our home roads and to represent our sponsor CCC in the most prestigious race in Poland. As the first Polish WorldTour team, we want to bring excitement to our supporters so, we will look to race aggressively, aiming for stage wins and keeping an eye on the General Classification. I believe we have a well-rounded line-up with opportunists, climbers, and sprinters who are capable of delivering a good result,” Wadecki explained.
"We are bringing three Polish riders to the race, who will be very motivated to do well on home soil. Kamil Gradek and Łukasz Owsian will be looking for opportunities in the breakaways while, Szymon Sajnok will try to go for the sprints in the first part of the race together with Jakub Mareczko, who has Polish roots. Serge Pauwels and Simon Geschke are coming out of the Tour de France and we saw that they were improving as the race went on so, they should be in good form and ready to battle for the overall. Amaro Antunes hasn’t raced since the Giro d’Italia but, he has had a solid block of training and will try to use his fresh legs on the mountain stages, which should suit him well.”
Jakub Mareczko, shown at the 2017 Tour of Hainan, will be racing in the Tour of Poland.
Sajnok, who will make his Tour de Pologne debut, is excited for the opportunity to race in front of his home fans.
"I’ve been preparing very hard for the Tour de Pologne, which is one of my biggest, if not the most important goal of the year. I’ve heard great things about the atmosphere and how the race is organized, therefore I’m even more excited to participate and showcase myself. It’s a dream of mine to win a stage here and I know I’m capable of doing that. The first three stages should suit me and I’m very motivated. I feel good after the Belgian races and I think that my altitude training in Livigno paid off. I will be fighting hard to proudly represent a Polish team at our home race,” Sajnok said.
Geschke, who just finished the Tour de France, is ready for another challenge.
"I’m actually still feeling good after the Tour de France and I’m excited to return to the Tour de Pologne, after taking part in this race in 2012. As a member of CCC Team, I look forward to participating in the team’s home race and I’m sure it will be a nice experience. I’m going there to have a strong week and hope to be in very good shape with the load of the Tour de France in my legs. I’ve seen in the past that some riders go very well at the Tour de Pologne after racing for three weeks in France. However, it can also go the opposite way, so I’m also being careful about not having too high expectations,” Geschke explained.
Tour de Pologne (3-8 August):
Rider roster: Amaro Antunes (POR), Simon Geschke (GER), Kamil Gradek (POL), Jakub Mareczko (ITA), Łukasz Owsian (POL), Serge Pauwels (BEL), Szymon Sajnok (POL)
Sports Directors: Piotr Wadecki (POL), Gabriele Missaglia (ITA)
Dylan Teuns won’t be racing in San Sebastian
Here's the release from Teuns' Bahrain-Merida team:
Dylan Teuns was involved in a minor home accident today. The unfortunate event happened to Team Bahrain Merida rider while gardening with his garden tractor this morning at his house in Halen.
Dylan suffered a facial wound, that required 15 stitches in his forehead. Due to this and bashed up face, unfortunately, he will miss the upcoming ‘Clasica San Sebastian’.
All of us at Team Bahrain Merida wish him a speedy recovery!
Dylan Teuns on his way to winning stage six of this year's Tour de France. Sirotti photo.
Team Sunweb previews its upcoming races
The team sent me this schedule:
Tour Alsace: JUL 31 - AUG 04
Bennie Lambregts - Team Sunweb coach:
"The parcours at Tour Alsace are varied and offer us a lot of opportunities to go for a good result throughout the week. The race starts with a prologue team time trial so we start with two chances to get a strong result and we are aiming for exactly that. In the next stages we will support and work for Nils [Eekhoff] in the sprints while the team will work hard to help Felix go for a good GC placing at the end of the week."
Line-up:
Nils Eekhoff (NED)
Felix Gall (AUT)
Leon Heinschke (GER)
Edo Maas (NED)
Niklas Märkl (GER)
Nils Sinschek (NED)
Prudential RideLondon Classique: AUG 03
Nicholas Marche - Team Sunweb coach:
"RideLondon takes place on a circuit in central London, with riders taking on 20 laps of 3.4 kilometres. Although the route has changed ever so slightly for this year, it still looks like it favours a big bunch sprint finish. Coryn will be our sprinter for the race, and the team will work to position her well throughout the day and set her up for the finish. There is a good atmosphere in the team after the good results at the Giro Rosa and La Course, and with one win under our belt from this race already, we are looking forward to going for it again.:
Line-up:
Susanne Andersen (NOR)
Pfeiffer Georgi (GBR)
Leah Kirchmann (CAN)
Floortje Mackaij (NED)
Coryn Rivera (USA)
Julia Soek (NED)
Clasica Ciclista San Sebastian: AUG 03
Michiel Elijzen - Team Sunweb coach:
"The organisers have changed the route for this year's race ever so slightly but the finish climb is still, as always, the focal point. We are really motivated to go for a good result here and have a strong configuration of riders to go for it. We'll look to set up Nicholas up for the tough finale who showed just how determined he is in the Tour. We will also bring neo-pro U23 world champion Marc, who is fresh from altitude camp, into position as we continue his development at the WorldTour level."
Jan Bakelants (shown in the 2019 Giro d'Italia) will be on the start line for the Clasica San Sebastian.
Line-up:
Jan Bakelants (BEL)
Johannes Fröhlinger (GER)
Chad Haga (USA)
Marc Hirschi (SWI)
Nicholas Roche (IRL)
Florian Stork (GER)
Louis Vervaeke (BEL)
Tour de Pologne: AUG 03 - 09
Marc Reef - Team Sunweb coach:
"The Tour de Pologne starts with three flatter stages which should end in bunch sprints and the team will look to protect Max [Walscheid] to go for good results on those days. The final four stages are much hillier and should produce some unpredictable racing. We have our four young Aussies here to go for strong results on the those days, with Chris the rider the team will protect for GC. We've got Max [Walscheid], Michael, Chris and Jai all just back from a good altitude block, so we'll look to benefit from that with some good results in Poland."
Line-up:
Asbjørn Kragh Andersen (DEN)
Chris Hamilton (AUS)
Jai Hindley (AUS)
Max Kanter (GER)
Robert Power (AUS)
Michael Storer (AUS)
Max Walscheid (GER)
Prudential RideLondon-Surrey Classic: AUG 04
Matt Winston - Team Sunweb coach:
"With a change to the usual course that there has been in the past few years, we go to London with a strong team that will look to support Michael in the finale of the race. The five laps up box hill will make for a challenging day in the saddle but it is one that we believe we are ready for. Nikias, Lennard and Michael all arrive in good shape from the Tour and a couple of the others just back from an altitude block, really eager to go for it in London. We’ve got a good team here so we’ll go all in for a top result."
Line-up:
Nikias Arndt (GER)
Roy Curvers (NED)
Lennard Kämna (GER)
Michael Matthews (AUS)
Joris Nieuwenhuis (NED)
Casper Pedersen (DEN)
Martijn Tusveld (NED)
UAE Team Emirates bolsters squad with two stagiaires
The team sent me this release:
From 1 August 2019 UAE Team Emirates will bolster their youth by taking on two stagiaires: South African Matthew Beers and Italian Nicolas Dalla Valle.
The two athletes have been chosen by the team management in accordance with both the technical and performance staff, and will be eligible to wear the colours of UAE Team Emirates in both .HC and .1 category races, with their exact program still to be defined.
Matthew Beers, born in Cape Town (South Africa), 01/10/1994, began racing in the competitively five years ago, and has since gone on to develop into a complete rider, winning over 20 races across multiple disciplines in his native South Africa.
Nicolas Dalla Valle was born on 13/09/1997 in Cittadella (Italy). Currently racing at Continental level with the Tyrol Team, the young fast-man is divided between the road (12 wins in his career, in addition to the recent second place in the Italian u-23 road Championship ) and also competing on the track (he was a member of the national Under-23 Team pursuit team).
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