Wasn’t sure where to post this, but very sad news.
“news came from the INEOS camp today as it was announced that their directeur sportif Nicolas Portal died at his Andorra home at age 40. Reports have cited a heart attack as the cause of death.”
I wonder what's going to happen with this years Giro as there are six days in the North around the Covid-19 lockdown regions.
The Giro finishes in Milan on 31st May.
Based on feedback I am receiving in my own business area, and the travel restrictions that are being rolled out all over the world, I would not be at all surprised if the Giro is cancelled.
Could be a year without road cycling at this rate ... Giro is bound to go unfortunately, and there have to be doubts for the Tour with the significant increases in cases in France
UCI has announced its revised 2020 UCI International Road Calendar after a meeting with the representatives of race organisers and stakeholders.
In summary, the decisions that were made and said to have been unanimously agreed on are:
The period of suspension of competitions on the UCI International Road Calendar was extended by one month, until 1st July, and until 1st August for UCI WorldTour events.
The Tour de France is postponed and will take place this year from 29 August to 20 September.
The 2020 UCI Road World Championships in Switzerland are maintained at the scheduled dates, 20-27 September. The competition programme does not change.
The Giro d’Italia will take place after the UCI Worlds and will be followed by the Vuelta Ciclista a España.
The National Championships, organised by the National Federations, will take place on the weekend of 22-23 August.
The UEC European Road Championships are maintained.
The Monuments), ie Milano-Sanremo (Italy), the Tour of Flandres (Belgium), Paris-Roubaix (France), Liège-Bastogne-Liège (Belgium) and Lombardia (Italy), are said to take place this season, with dates still TBD.
As many events as possible on the UCI International Calendar, and notably the UCI WorldTour, will be rescheduled later in the season.
What do you make of a potential move for Chris Froome from Team Ineos?
Contract bullshit. Leak a non-story to Cycling Weakly (pun intended) and see what happens when money starts getting discussed.
Only possibility this might happen is that Brailsford has seen his numbers, knows he hasn't got a chance of winning another tour and has told him Bernal is the protected rider and he'll have to work for him. If Froome is daft enough to think he can still win despite not having the numbers, then yeah - he'll want a tilt at another tour.
Even then, who's going to sign him in this climate? The only other team out there with a budget even remotely close to Skineos is Movistar (although since they dropped their 'Spanish first' philosophy, I guess it's a possibility).
Don't think they've got a choice. They need to fit the nationals and worlds weekends in between the three grand tours somehow. Looking much better in Italy, France and Spain at the moment (apart from individual regions) so hopeful that at least some racing will take place (though that depends on whether the pandemic returns with a vengeance in the autumn).
If it does happen, the racing could be much better than usual as every team's plans will have been shot to bits and there'll be chaos because nobody knows whose form is going to be any good - especially over a three week tour
Strade Bianche up first on 1st August - one of the best races of the year. Be interesting to see if the hot weather makes a difference to the race - having it in March usually makes it wet and cold and adds another dimension to it with the gravel and mud
Yeah, Fuglsang seems to have got off lightly with no suspicion after his annus mirabilis last year (early season anyway) - Lulu got all the suspicion instead after the Tour performance
Fugalsang's connection to Dr Ferrari is going to bubble along for a bit. My guess is that nothing further will be dug up before he retires, it'll probably blow away like the investigations into the Schleck brothers.
Alpecin-Fenix haved pulled out of the upcoming Sibiu Cycling Tour due to a spike in coronavirus cases in the area.
Romania, host nation for the four-day race, has seen a record increase in the number of new cases this week as cases elsewhere in Europe have continued to tumble.
On Thursday (July 16), Romanian authorities announced there were 777 new cases of the virus over the last 24 hours, the highest number since the pandemic started.
The rises in cases has thrown the Sibiu Cycling Tour into doubt, as the 2.1-ranked UCI race is scheduled to kick off on July 23.
Van der Poel and his squad are the first team to pull out due to health concerns.
A statement from the Alpecin-Fenix said: “Together with our medical staff and the local organising committee, we closely monitored the situation. Unfortunately, we had to conclude travelling to Romania is not an option. The health of our riders, staff members but also public health is of primary importance. We want to strictly follow all recommendations to eliminate any risk. We would like to express our gratitude towards the local organising committee for their understanding and their cooperation over the last couple of weeks.”
On Tuesday (July 16), the organisers of the race said it was still scheduled to take place despite the crisis, saying that the event will be held under strict health regulations.
A statement from the organisers said: “Despite a recent surge of new Covid-19 cases in Romania, the race is set to take place as planned. Under the regulations by the Romanian government, together with the guidelines laid down by the International Cycling Federation, UCI, all measures are taken to stage the four-day race in the safest possible way.”
The organisers said the number of cases is still within the UCI’s limit of 50 new weekly infections per 100,000 people (Romania is currently at 20.4) while most cases are outside of the Sibiu area.
Van der Poel said: “It is an unfortunate but understandable decision. We added the Sibiu Cycling Tour to my program in order to get extra race rhythm ahead of Strade Bianche. But during our high-altitude camp in La Plagne I felt physically I’m right on schedule. In that way, I can start my Italian program with a good feeling. I am definitely looking forward to race again.”
Mitchelton-Scott has announced they will not be targeting the yellow jersey at this year’s Tour de France, as they go all in for the Giro d’Italia with Simon Yates.
The Australian WorldTour team had their most successful Tour to date last season, taking four stages after the initial disappointment of losing their general classification chances.
But this year the team are going to focus on stage honours, as Yates looks for revenge in the Italian Grand Tour after coming close in 2018.
Mitchelton have released their long lists for the Tour and Giro squads, with the final selection due to be made once racing has returned.
Explaining the team’s approach to the Tour, head sports director Matt White said: “After the success of last year, we want to chase stage wins at the Tour de France. We rode an aggressive style of racing last year and we want to continue in that vein this year.
“The stacked GC field can affect stage opportunities, but it can also create opportunities. It’s no secret the strongest squads are Team Ineos and Lotto-Jumbo but once the GC is stabilised, there’ll still be opportunities because no one wants to control the Tour de France for 20 days; you just have to pick the right moments.”
White said the team are recceing stages and that the best chances are after stage 10, when the race leaves the Pyrenees as the GC picture will be more settled.
For the Giro, it’s all about Simon Yates after the Brit wore the pink jersey for 13 days in 2018 and came within two stages of the win before his dramatic collapse.
But the 27-year-old proved himself a Grand Tour star by dominating the Vuelta a España that year to win his first three-week race.
White said: “The focus for us at the Giro d’Italia will be to support Simon Yates as best as possible, to help him achieve the optimal result we can as a team and ultimately try to win the race.
“For me, the Giro d’Italia is the most physically demanding Grand Tour, so having a strong team around you certainly makes a difference. The team we will send will be a deep one and I’m confident Simon will have great support across all facets of racing.”
All the riders will be returning to competition after a long lay-off, which White says is similar to time off due to injury.
He said: “In general, we know the guys have been training well in this period so we know more or less where they are at, but now they need to convert that training into race condition with a limited race program. It will be the equivalent of starting back racing after a major injury, with the lockdown period and different mental challenges that had to be dealt with.
“I am happy with where the guys are at currently but we will make our final selection decisions based on how guys adapt back to competition.”
Comments
“news came from the INEOS camp today as it was announced that their directeur sportif Nicolas Portal died at his Andorra home at age 40. Reports have cited a heart attack as the cause of death.”
Very nice and knowledgable man. RIP
The Giro finishes in Milan on 31st May.
Milan - San Remo cancelled along with Strade Bianche and a few other races, see link below.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/51769827
UCI has announced its revised 2020 UCI International Road Calendar after a meeting with the representatives of race organisers and stakeholders.
In summary, the decisions that were made and said to have been unanimously agreed on are:
Yet when is the Vuelta and Giro being held? - Only ask because Wiki says the former is due to start on 14th August?
Will suit some of the bigger teams, but the TTT in the Vuelta may only be able to have ten teams competing.
Giro 3 to 25 october
Vuelta 20 October to 8 november
Classic interspersed with those dates
Only possibility this might happen is that Brailsford has seen his numbers, knows he hasn't got a chance of winning another tour and has told him Bernal is the protected rider and he'll have to work for him. If Froome is daft enough to think he can still win despite not having the numbers, then yeah - he'll want a tilt at another tour.
Even then, who's going to sign him in this climate? The only other team out there with a budget even remotely close to Skineos is Movistar (although since they dropped their 'Spanish first' philosophy, I guess it's a possibility).
If it does happen, the racing could be much better than usual as every team's plans will have been shot to bits and there'll be chaos because nobody knows whose form is going to be any good - especially over a three week tour
https://www.zwift.com/uk/virtual-tour-de-france
The peleton really is branching out with their teams arent they now
Milano-Sanremo (Italy) - 8th August,
Tour of Flandres (Belgium) - 18th October,
Paris-Roubaix (France) - 25th October,
Liège-Bastogne-Liège (Belgium) - 4th October,
Lombardia (Italy) - 10th October,
The Criterium du Dauphine (France) - will be on12th - 16th August,
Alpecin-Fenix haved pulled out of the upcoming Sibiu Cycling Tour due to a spike in coronavirus cases in the area.
Romania, host nation for the four-day race, has seen a record increase in the number of new cases this week as cases elsewhere in Europe have continued to tumble.
On Thursday (July 16), Romanian authorities announced there were 777 new cases of the virus over the last 24 hours, the highest number since the pandemic started.
The rises in cases has thrown the Sibiu Cycling Tour into doubt, as the 2.1-ranked UCI race is scheduled to kick off on July 23.
Van der Poel and his squad are the first team to pull out due to health concerns.
A statement from the Alpecin-Fenix said: “Together with our medical staff and the local organising committee, we closely monitored the situation. Unfortunately, we had to conclude travelling to Romania is not an option. The health of our riders, staff members but also public health is of primary importance. We want to strictly follow all recommendations to eliminate any risk. We would like to express our gratitude towards the local organising committee for their understanding and their cooperation over the last couple of weeks.”
On Tuesday (July 16), the organisers of the race said it was still scheduled to take place despite the crisis, saying that the event will be held under strict health regulations.
A statement from the organisers said: “Despite a recent surge of new Covid-19 cases in Romania, the race is set to take place as planned. Under the regulations by the Romanian government, together with the guidelines laid down by the International Cycling Federation, UCI, all measures are taken to stage the four-day race in the safest possible way.”
The organisers said the number of cases is still within the UCI’s limit of 50 new weekly infections per 100,000 people (Romania is currently at 20.4) while most cases are outside of the Sibiu area.
Van der Poel said: “It is an unfortunate but understandable decision. We added the Sibiu Cycling Tour to my program in order to get extra race rhythm ahead of Strade Bianche. But during our high-altitude camp in La Plagne I felt physically I’m right on schedule. In that way, I can start my Italian program with a good feeling. I am definitely looking forward to race again.”
The Australian WorldTour team had their most successful Tour to date last season, taking four stages after the initial disappointment of losing their general classification chances.
But this year the team are going to focus on stage honours, as Yates looks for revenge in the Italian Grand Tour after coming close in 2018.
Mitchelton have released their long lists for the Tour and Giro squads, with the final selection due to be made once racing has returned.
Explaining the team’s approach to the Tour, head sports director Matt White said: “After the success of last year, we want to chase stage wins at the Tour de France. We rode an aggressive style of racing last year and we want to continue in that vein this year.
“The stacked GC field can affect stage opportunities, but it can also create opportunities. It’s no secret the strongest squads are Team Ineos and Lotto-Jumbo but once the GC is stabilised, there’ll still be opportunities because no one wants to control the Tour de France for 20 days; you just have to pick the right moments.”
White said the team are recceing stages and that the best chances are after stage 10, when the race leaves the Pyrenees as the GC picture will be more settled.
For the Giro, it’s all about Simon Yates after the Brit wore the pink jersey for 13 days in 2018 and came within two stages of the win before his dramatic collapse.
But the 27-year-old proved himself a Grand Tour star by dominating the Vuelta a España that year to win his first three-week race.
White said: “The focus for us at the Giro d’Italia will be to support Simon Yates as best as possible, to help him achieve the optimal result we can as a team and ultimately try to win the race.
“For me, the Giro d’Italia is the most physically demanding Grand Tour, so having a strong team around you certainly makes a difference. The team we will send will be a deep one and I’m confident Simon will have great support across all facets of racing.”
All the riders will be returning to competition after a long lay-off, which White says is similar to time off due to injury.
He said: “In general, we know the guys have been training well in this period so we know more or less where they are at, but now they need to convert that training into race condition with a limited race program. It will be the equivalent of starting back racing after a major injury, with the lockdown period and different mental challenges that had to be dealt with.
“I am happy with where the guys are at currently but we will make our final selection decisions based on how guys adapt back to competition.”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/53499375