Bicycle Racing News and Opinion,
Thursday, December 3, 2020
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2020 Tour de France | 2020 Giro d'Italia
History is a gallery of pictures in which there are few originals and many copies. - Alexis de Tocqueville
Upcoming racing:
- Jan 21 - 24, 2021:
Schwalbe Classic & Tour Down Under - Jan 28 - 31, 2021: Challenge Illes Belears
Latest completed racing:
- Nov 14: GP Leuven Cyclocross
- Nov 7 - 8: European Cyclocross Championships
- Oct 31: Cyclocross Koppenberg
- Oct 24: Cyclocross Ruddervoorde
- Oct 20 - Nov 8: Vuelta a España
- October 3 - 25: Giro d'Italia
- Oct 21: Driedaagse Brugge-De Panne
- October 18: Ronde van Vlaanderen
- October 14: Scheldeprijs
- October 11: Gent-Wevelgem
- October 11: Paris-Tours
- October 7: De Brabantse Pijl/ La Flèche Brabanconne
Connor Brown, Harry Tanfield and Emil Vinjebo sign-on for Team Qhubeka ASSOS
The team sent me this release:
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, December 2, 2020/ -- Team Qhubeka ASSOS is excited to announce that Connor Brown, Harry Tanfield and Emil Vinjebo will all join our WorldTour team in 2021.
Brown, who was born in Cape Town and holds dual South African and New Zealand citizenship, takes the step up from our hugely successful Continental team where he has spent the last two seasons.
Under the impressive guidance of Kevin Campbell, this team based in Lucca, Italy, has a remarkable record of delivering riders to the WorldTour which includes Samuele Battistella, the 2019 under 23 World Champion. Brown now becomes the latest to come out of that system.
In a year without many opportunities due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Brown shone at the under 23 Giro d’Italia taking a hugely impressive third place on a big mountain finish at Montespluga on stage seven. He also represented the WorldTour team at the Giro della Toscana and Coppa Sabatini; in the former he performed strongly in the breakaway while in the latter he did an excellent job in looking after our sprinter Carlos Barbero.
In 2019 he won a stage at the Tour de Limpopo, taking third overall, and has also finished in the top-10 at the Oceania Continental Championships.
Harry Tanfield wins the first stage of the 2018 Tour de Yorkshire
Tanfield is no stranger to the WorldTour having ridden previously for Katusha-Alpecin and most recently AG2R La Mondiale. A former stage winner at the Tour de Yorkshire, where he famously won from a breakaway that stayed away on a day that was an expected sprint finish, Tanfield’s track experience as well as time trial abilities see him a valuable addition to the team in terms of his versatility.
Vinjebo’s a former top-10 finisher overall at the Tour of Denmark as well as taking a third at the Tro-Bro Leon in 2019 to go with a fourth at the Royal Bernard Drome Classic in 2019.
The 26-year-old has excellent ability as a support rider which was highlighted by the crucial role he played with his former team, in taking their stage victory at the Tour de Yorkshire in 2019 and when representing the national team at the World Championships. His abilities to ride at high-speed, over distance, and to get over medium climbs will be crucial for the team’s ambitions in the 2021 season.
Their signings follow from the confirmations of those including Simon Clarke, Sean Bennett, Lukasz Wisniowski, Dimitri Claeys, Kilian Frankiny and Karel Vacek.
Connor Brown:
I’ve been dreaming of riding in the WorldTour for as long as I can remember and it’s finally a reality. My two years with the Continental team have been very special, and the perfect platform from which to now take the next step in my career.
I’d like to pay a special thanks to Doug and the team for believing in me and giving me this opportunity.
Harry Tanfield:
I really look forward to the opportunity to be involved with an ambitious and passionate team that is Team Qhubeka ASSOS.
The team's ethos and work with the Qhubeka Charity is something to admire and I can’t wait to be involved in the future. Alongside this, the loyalty of the team’s partners and sponsors and the positive team environment make Qhubeka ASSOS the optimal place for me to progress.
I’m looking forward to embarking on this new challenge and contributing to the team next year.
Emil Vinjebo:
I’m really looking forward to joining Team Qhubeka ASSOS next year. It has been a childhood dream for me since I started cycling as a little kid. This contract is exactly what I have been training towards for years.
Personally, I also look forward to working with Lars Michaelsen, who is a person I admire and have a great amount of respect for.
Furthermore, I am very excited to be a part of the Qhubeka organisation. Besides of course being a world-class team, the team makes a great effort in changing lives, and that inspires me!
Lars Michaelsen:
All three of these signings will be able to add hugely to the versatility within our squad which will be crucial to our ambitions in 2021.
In Emil we’ve got a guy who demonstrates resilience when things are tough – highlighted by some of his personal results – but even more so when riding for the team. I’m excited for what he will have to offer, and this is a big chance for him now to show those capabilities on the WorldTour.
Harry has the experience at this level now to take the next step and has scored some really good results in the past. His track experience and time trialling ability will bring an added dimension to our outfit and I look forward to seeing how he will get on in our environment.
While I am just so pleased for Connor. Him taking the step up to our WorldTour team is once again the confirmation that the system we have in place is working and we continue to offer young riders their next opportunity in their career. He’s had some very good performances and as a former junior team pursuit world record holder has a good “engine”, so let’s see what he can now produce at the highest level.
Cycling great Aldo Moser dies
Here is a Google translation of the sad news posted on the tuttobiciweb.it site:
The world of cycling is in mourning: Aldo Moser passed away at the Trent hospital, where he was hospitalized due to Covid. Aldo was 86 years old.
A long-time professional, he rode in the highest category from 1954 to 1974, he was ... forerunner to the brothers Enzo, Diego and Francesco and to the nephews Moreno and Ignazio who followed in his footsteps.
Having landed in the top category at the age of twenty, he immediately won the Agostoni Cup in 1954, then the Grand Prix of Industry and Commerce in Prato in 1955, two editions of the Baracchi Trophy in 1958 and 1959 (paired with Ercole Baldini, with whom he arrived second in 1960), the time trial Grand Prix des Nations in 1959 (ahead of Roger Rivière), the Manica-Oceano in 1960 (time trial still paired with Ercole Baldini) and the Bernocchi Cup in 1963 (after 70 kilometers of solitary escape ).
He defended the Torpado colors from 1954 to 196, then in 1957 those of Leo-Chlorodot, in 1958 those of Calì Broni, in two years 1959-60 those of Emi, in 1961 he landed at Ghigi, in 1962-63 at San Pellegrino, in 1964 Lygie and the following year at Maino. In 1966-67 he ran for Vittadello, in 1968 for Pepsi Cola, then three years with GBC and one with Filotex (in that year, it was 1973, he ran alongside the brothers Enzo, Diego and Francesco). In 1974 he was registered by Furzi but never wore that jersey while racing, retiring from competitive activity at the end of March.
In his career he wore the national team jersey four times at the World Road World Championships: in Frascati in 1955, in Waregem in 1957, in Reims in 1958 and in Mendrisio in 1971. He has played sixteen Giro d'Italia - best result for him on 5th place in 1956 - wearing the pink jersey twice: the first time on 21 May 1958 in Superga, the second 13 years later in San Vincenzo.
You can read it in the original Italian here.
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