Bicycle Racing News and Opinion,
Saturday, April 18, 2020
Back to news and opinion index page for links to archived stories | Commentary | Our YouTube page
2019 Tour de France | 2019 Giro d'Italia
The supreme accomplishment is to blur the line between work and play. - Arnold J. Toynbee
Current Racing:
- April 12-19:
Tour of Turkey - April 18:
Tour du Finistère
Upcoming racing:
- April 19:
Amstel Gold Race - April 19:
Tro Bro Léon - April 20-24:
Tour of the Alps
Latest completed racing:
- April 15:
De Brabantse Pijl - La Flèche Brabançonne - April 14:
Paris-Camembert - April 12:
Paris-Roubaix - April 12:
Kalsika Primavera - April 6-11:
Vuelta al Pais Vasco - April 7-10:
Circuit Cycliste Sarthe-Pays de la Loire - April 8:
Scheldeprijs - April 5: Ronde van Vlaanderen
Dumoulin worried lack of altitude training could hamper Tour de France chances
Eurosport posted this:
Tom Dumoulin fears his chances of challenging at the Tour de France could be hampered by being unable to train at altitude.
The Jumbo-Visma rider has been out of action since suffering a knee-tendon injury at the Giro d’Italia last year.
Tom Dumoulin at the 2019 Giro d'Italia rider presentation ceremony. Sirotti photo
He plans to ride the Tour, which has been rescheduled to start in late August, but admits his targets might be affected by restrictions on his training.
“If I can't do an altitude camp, then I can't see myself winning the Tour de France,” he told cyclingnews.
“I mean, going for the GC at a Grand Tour asks for specific preparation, and especially requires an altitude camp. That is definitely a necessity to be able to fight for the victory. If it's not allowed to go to an altitude camp this summer, I will probably still be at the Tour de France, but maybe with a different mindset or a different goal.
"You have some riders who are living in Andorra who can't go outside at the moment, but probably from May or June onwards it will be possible again.
“We will see how that evolves, but if they can go outside from May or June, they will definitely have some good preparation because they can train in the mountains and they can train at altitude. So they actually have an ideal preparation for the Tour de France.
“I'm in Belgium at sea level, so I can't do long climbs. That would be a complete difference in build-up towards the Tour.”
Dumoulin also said that concrete training plans are on hold due to the uncertainty caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
You can read the entire story here.
Team Bahrain McLaren will ride Virtual Giro d'Italia
The team posted this:
Team Bahrain McLaren is proud to announce its participation in the Giro d’Italia Virtual, a seven-stage race starting on Saturday, April 18th and concluding on May 9th.
Two stages will be a raced each week on Saturday and Wednesday featuring a duo of riders from each team who can be changed for each stage to allow for each team to field the best line-up. The Maglia Rosa jersey will be awarded to the top finisher of each stage with overall winner based on a team classification format.
Sonny Colbrelli says “This a new format of racing, but it’s still racing, and it’s great that we have the opportunity to compete during these challenging times. I’ve been spending quite a bit of time on my Elite trainer, so I’m looking forward to seeing how that translates into race conditions against some of the other guys. It’s good to have that race feeling again”.
The streaming product of each stage will be recorded and after each stage, during a live show a selection of riders will be interviewed bringing to life the action and analysis as it all happened.
Giro organizers RCS Sport are also inviting retired stars and the general public to participate in completing the stages after each pro race.
“Current times mean we all need to adapt, and this type of racing is just one example”
“The Giro will always be a special race for our team, so we are proud to be part of this new format. Current times mean we all need to adapt, and this type of racing is just one example. We are also proud to be part of an initiative created by the RCS that supports the Italian Red Cross and its fight against COVID-19 in one of the hardest-hit countries” says Rod Ellingworth, Team Principal.
Participating men’s team:
Team Bahrain McLaren
Astana Pro Team
Movistar Team
Team Jumbo-Visma
Italian National Team
Vini Zabù KTM
Androni Giocattoli – Sidermec
Bardiani CSF Faizanè
Giro d’Italia Virtual stages:
Stage 1 – Saturday, April 18
SAN SALVO > TORTORETO
32.1km – 480m vertical elevation
Stage 2 – Wednesday, April 22
CESENATICO > CESENATICO (NOVE COLLI)
32.7 km – 980m vertical elevation
Stage 3 – Saturday, April 25
UDINE > SAN DANIELE DEL FRIULI
26.9 km – 550m vertical elevation
Stage 4 – Wednesday, April 29
BASSANO DEL GRAPPA > MADONNA DI CAMPIGLIO
25.9km – 930m vertical elevation
Stage 5 – Saturday, May 2
PINZOLO > LAGHI DI CANCANO (Stelvio National Park)
30.0km – 710m vertical elevation
Stage 6 – Wednesday, May 6
ALBA > SESTRIERE
31.5 km – 1,180m vertical elevation
Stage 7 – Saturday, May 9
CERNUSCO SUL NAVIGLIO > MILAN ITT
15.7km – 30m vertical elevation
Back to news and opinion index page for links to archived stories | Commentary