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Bicycle Racing News and Opinion,
Tuesday, December 12, 2023

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2023 Tour de France | 2023 Giro d'Italia

Predicting rain doesn't count. Building arks does. - Warren Buffett

Bill and Carol McGann's book The Story of the Giro d'Italia, A Year-by-Year History of the Tour of Italy, Vol 2: 1971 - 2011 is available in print, Kindle eBook and audiobook versions. To get your copy, just click on the Amazon link on the right.

Upcoming racing:

• Dec 17: World Cup Namur Cyclocross
• Dec 26: World Cup Gaver Cyclocross
• Dec 27: Superprestige Heusden Zolder
• Dec 28: Superprestige Diegem
• Dec 29: Exact Cross Loenhout-Azencross
• Jan 12-21: Santos Tour Down Under
• Jan 20: Clasica Comunitat Valenciana
• Jan 24-28: Challenge Illes Balears-Volta Ciclista a Mallorca
• Jan 28: GP d'Ouverture-La Marseillaise
• Jan 28: Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race
• Jan 30 - Feb 3: Saudi Tour

Latest completed racing:

• Nov 5: European Cyclocross Championships
• Nov 1: Trofee Oudenaarde-Koppenbergcross
• Oct 28: Superprestige Ruddervoorde
• Oct 22: Superprestige Overijse-Vlaanse Druivencross
• Oct 12 - 17: Tour of Guangxi
• Oct 15: Japan Cup
• Oct 15: Veneto Classic

The Inner Ring website posted the excellent analysis of the Cian Uijtdebroeks transfer chaos:

A top Belgian talent trying to leave their team and move to a squad famous for grand tour success? No, not Remco Evenepoel’s summer saga trying to swap Soudal-Quickstep for Ineos but Cian Uijtdebroeks. The 20 year old announced he is moving to Jumbo-Visma for next year but Bora-hansgrohe say he’s under contract and going nowhere. Cycling’s governing body the UCI has yet to have have its say but as we’ll see it’s bound to be involved too.

It makes for a spicy custody battle with a ring of farce but there are wider issues for the sport here too as we see more and more long term contracts, and increasingly more cases of riders getting out of them.

Chris Froome posted this picture on Facebook of Cian Uijtdebroeks training in a blank jersey.

On Saturday Jumbo-Visma announced they’d signed Cian Uijtdebroeks, a surprise as Uijtdebroeks has a contract with Bora-hansgrohe for 2024. Yet we’re seeing more riders break contracts to change teams, call it the “Paradox of Long Contracts” where the longer the deal, the more likely it is to get broken. Only today we’ve got confirmation that Mark Padun is leaving EF Education for Corratec-Selle Italia, despite notionally having a year left with the US team.

You can read the entire article here.

And here's the Wielerflits article that broke the news about the 1 million Euro transfer fee. It is in Dutch.

The team posted this:

Our team is ready to kick-off the preparations for next year, which we will start in Australia.

The riders and staff of Soudal Quick-Step are heading to Spain this week for the first training camp ahead of next season – our squad’s 22nd – to be held between 11-22 December. Just like in the previous years, our team will be staying at the Suitopia Sol y Mar Hotel, not far from Calpe’s spectacular Peñon de Ifach.

There, the riders and the staff will lay the foundations for the new season and outline their schedule and goals. It will be the sole occasion for all the riders to spend some time together ahead of next year, thus creating a strong group cohesion while working towards a new campaign they all wish to be once again successful.

Team Soudal Quick-Step at the 2023 UAE Tour. Sirotti photo

Next year’s roster will count 27 cyclists, including the ten new ones who signed with Soudal Quick-Step during the transfer period: Ayco Bastiaens, Gil Gelders, Antoine Huby, Luke Lamperti, Mikel Landa, William Junior Lecerf, Paul Magnier, Gianni Moscon, Warre Vangheluwe, and Jordi Warlop.

“We know Calpe and the area around it for some time now, we’ve been going there a lot in the past years and everyone in the team loves training there. It comes with great weather and some very good routes, and all these things help create a nice atmosphere and a good environment for the riders ahead of the new season”, said Soudal Quick-Step sports director Tom Steels.

Guernalec’s Team Arkea-Samsic put out this short statement:

Medical statement concerning Thibault Guernalec
After a crash during training this morning, Thibault Guernalec fractured his right radius and dislocated his left shoulder, which was immediately put back in place. His period of unavailability will be announced at a later date.

Bicycle Retailer & Industry News posted this:

Shimano says it is investigating after a news report that a supplier to its factory in Malaysia has operated under conditions that are “akin to modern slavery.”

The U.K.’s The Telegraph reported Thursday that the factory, Kwang Li Industry, has deducted fees from foreign worker paychecks that reduce pay by as much as a third, putting the pay below Malaysia’s minimum wage.

Additionally, the article said workers from Nepal and Bangladesh have to take out high-interest loans to pay recruitment fees to a third-party agency the factory uses. According to The Telegraph, the recruitment payments by workers are in breach of a 2018 memorandum between Malaysia and Nepal that requires employers to pay recruitment fees.

The Telegraph also cited reports of worker abuse in the Kwang Li factory. Andy Hall, a British labor rights specialist, told The Telegraph that conditions at the factory were "akin to modern slavery."

Kwang Li denied to The Telegraph knowledge of the recruitment fees and strongly denied the reports of worker abuse.

You can read the entire story here.

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