Bicycle Racing News and Opinion,
Wednesday, November 24, 2021
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2021 Tour de France | 2021 Giro d'Italia
I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work. - Thomas A. Edison
Upcoming racing:
- Dec 5: Scheldecross Antwerp
- Dec 11: Ethiascross-Essen
- Dec 19: Namur Cyclocross
- Dec 27: Heusden Zolder Cyclocross
- Dec 29: Diegemcross
- Dec 30: Azencross
- Jan 1, 2022: GP Sven Nys Cross
- Jan 16 - 23, 2022: Le Tour de Langkawi
- Jan 22, 2022: Flandriencross
- Jan 26 - 29, 2022: Challenge Illes Balears
- Jan 30 - Feb 6: Vuelta a San Juan
- Feb 12, 2022: Gavere Cyclocross
Latest completed racing:
- Nov 13: GP Leuven
- Nov 7: Elite Men European Cyclocross Championships
- Nov 6: Elite Women European Cyclocross Championships
- Nov 1: Koppenberg Cyclocross
- Oct 31: Vlaamse Druivenveldrit Overijse Cross
- Oct 24: Ronde van Drenthe
- Oct 23: Ruddervoorde Cyclocross
Les Woodland's book Sticky Buns Across America: Back roads biking from sea to shining sea is available as an audiobook here.
The team sent me this update:
After joining Team BikeExchange in October 2019, Kaden Groves quickly settled into the professional peloton and immediately began winning races. The 22-year-old claimed back-to-back Australian criterium championship titles, getting the 2020 and 2021 seasons off to flying starts, before picking up a selection of podium placings in sprint finishes over in Europe.
Kaden Groves wins stage five of the 2020 Herald Sun Tour
Team BikeExchange has enjoyed assisting the young Australian with his development, seeing him go from strength to strength and able to snatch his first European victory recently in September, winning the lung-busting 1.6km prologue at the UCI 2.2 Tour of Slovakia.
However, the Australian sprinter achieved less than he hoped for in 2021, suffering multiple setbacks due to injuries, but displayed great resilience and determination, an important trait which Team BikeExchange is pleased to be able to continue working with, as Groves re-signs for 2022.
Brent Copeland, General Manager on Groves:
“We had no doubts in signing Kaden for another season. He has demonstrated throughout the year that he can compete in every sprint finish that he is in. He has been missing that last centimeter to achieve what he deserved during this season, but he is young, and we are sure there is a lot of room for improvement, and we will help him on his route to become one of the best sprinters in the peloton. We really count on him and his continuous development.”
Kaden Groves:
“I’m really excited to extend my contract for one more season with Team BikeExchange, I’m motivated to start next year with the momentum I have from these last few races where I have had a victory and been close to some wins. This year has been particularly tough for me for many different reasons and I’m keen to put it behind me. The team has had my back and supported me the whole way through my injuries and especially my coach Ben Day and teammates, so I never wanted to leave.”
Kaden Groves:
Date of Birth: 23rd December 1998 (22)
Nationality: Australian
Joined GreenEDGE Cycling: 2019 (October)
New Contract: 2022
Top Results:
2021 1st Tour of Slovakia – Prologue
2021 1st Australian Criterium Championships
2020 1st Herald Sun Tour Stage 3 & 5
2020 1st Australian Criterium Championships
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Here’s the team’s announcement:
Israel Start-Up Nation’s Conti-team, Israel Cycling Academy, will have a strong and highly talented roster for the 2022-season with a clear ambition of becoming one of the most important development teams in the world.
This year, the team took two impressive victories against the established professionals with Alastair Mackellar winning stage 2 of GP Internacional Torres Vedras and Mason Hollyman soloing to victory on the mountain top finish on stage 5 of Volta a Portugal.
Mason Hollyman winning stage five of the 2021 Volta a Portugal
The ICA riders also gained experience from riding with the WorldTour team in selected races throughout the season. Something that will continue to occur next year.
After adding additional firepower to the team ahead of the new season, Israel Cycling Academy will include the following riders in 2022:
• Yuval Ben Moshe (22, ISR)
• Jakub Boucek (20, CZE)
• Lahav Davidzon (21, ISR)
• Marco Frigo (21, ITA)
• Derek Gee (24, CAN)
• Edo Goldstein (21, ISR)
• Mason Hollyman (21, GBR)
• Cole Kessler (18, USA)
• Oded Kogut (20, ISR)
• Alastair Mackellar (19, AUS)
• Simon Nagy (20, SLO)
• Aviv Peretz (18, ISR)
• Riley Pickrell (20, CAN)
• Nadav Reisberg (20, ISR)
• Rotem Tene (20, ISR)
• Roy Weinberg (21, ISR)
The new head sports director of Israel Cycling Academy, Gordon Fraser, explains the team’s goals for 2022:
“We will continue the very important work of graduating Israeli talent up to the WorldTour. It has been a couple of years since the last one joined ISN and we want to change that now. We want to win races with team commitment and chemistry and become one of the most productive and important development teams in the world.”
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Bicycle Retailer & Industry News sent me this:
DENVER (BRAIN) — Colorado's Attorney General is charging eight men in connection to 29 bike shop burglaries, as well as 22 auto thefts and other crimes. According to prosecutors, the men were involved in a criminal enterprise that lasted from December 2019 through June 2020 and resulted in stolen property and property damage totaling about $1.5 million. They said most of the stolen bikes were sold in Mexico and have not been recovered.
According to a grand jury indictment, the men charged allegedly operated in groups of up to four to steal either a box truck or van and ram it into the front doors or windows of the bicycle shops. In other cases they would break the front windows with large landscaping rocks or other tools, the indictment charges.
"They then stole high-end mountain bikes—bypassing other types of merchandise and equipment—and transferred the stolen goods to another individual for suspected transport out of the country before abandoning the vehicle used in the burglary and fleeing in a second stolen vehicle," a press release from the Attorney General's office said.
In one case, the suspects allegedly stole $90,000 worth of bikes in less than five minutes.
Some shops were hit multiple times. Giant Cycling World in Littleton, for example, was hit four times, Totally Wired Cyclery in Fraser was hit twice in 10 days.
Prosecutors said they have "credible evidence" that the group worked with fences who quickly moved the bikes out of state and possibly into Mexico. The approximate value of the stolen bikes is $985,000 and the approximate value of the stolen vehicles is $258,000. Total property damage between vehicles and businesses is $231,837.
“Auto thefts and property crimes have increased significantly during the last two years. Working with our law enforcement partners, we broke up this multi-layered criminal enterprise that harmed several businesses and nonprofit organizations in the mountain communities and Denver metro and Boulder areas. We will hold these individuals to account for their actions and harm they caused to the victims and our communities,” Attorney General Weiser said in a statement
Weiser said the AG's office worked with police departments in Boulder, Denver and Littleton, as well as the FBI, in investigating the case. According to the indictments, investigators obtained access to Facebook Messenger communications between the men as they planned burglaries and the sale of the bikes. The indictments also refer to DNA evidence, roadside stationary license plate readers, red light enforcement cameras, retail security cameras, border-crossing records, bank records, and cell phone records that allegedly tie the men to the burglaries.
At least one indictment references photos and videos on the defendants' Facebook pages. It says that on Christmas Eve, 2019, two defendants shared videos and photos on the social media site showing them with "large amounts of cash and expensive bottles of alcohol" in a hotel room. Bikes valued at about $73,000 were stolen from the Specialized Experience Center in Boulder overnight on Dec. 23.
The eight defendants are variously charged with violating Colorado’s Organized Crime Control Act, first-degree aggravated motor vehicle theft, second-degree burglary, theft, and criminal mischief, in addition to other charges. The eight indictments include 227 total charges.
You can read the entire story here.
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