Putrajaya Downhill

AUSTRALIAN DANIEL SPRAGUE IS THE PUTRAJAYA CHALLENGE DOWNHILL CHAMPION!

Putrajaya – After a long hard day or racing, Australian Daniel Sprague of Sonik Racer clocked in the fastest time of 01m 07.420s, making him the winner of the downhill Elite men Category beating Singaporean Tan Hong Chun who was in Second place (01m08.270s) and Adam Ahmed of Malaysia in third place (01m:08.500s).

The 2010 Australian Elite Masters Division BMX Champion was ecstatic when interviewed after the prize-giving ceremony, “I was great to win here, everything came together, the run was pretty smooth and I was quite fast in the sections that I wanted to be so in the end there was a lot of quick guys today and I was just happy to be able to be the fastest.”

With already two wins this year including the recent Red Bull Dark Knights 2011 race in Singapore, Daniel is enjoying his winning streak and hoping that it will continue.  “I’ve done a few events, I pick the races that I wanna do, this year I’ve done 3 races, I did the Red Bull Dark knights 2011 race in Singapore and I won that one and had done one in Western Australia - BMX Championships and I had a win there so it’s really good and now I’m backed up with the Putrajaya Challenge, So everything is going really well I’ve won three out of three and I’ve got a couple of races in a couple of weeks in Western Australia, I hope I will do well there. I hope to be back in Malaysia in July and some races in the end of the year back in Australia, I’m hoping that I can keep this going.’

“My winning streak’s been going really well, it’s about time that’s I’ve put together a winning streak again, I’m happy to keep it going if I can.” He added.

With more than 157 riders, including a large number of overseas competitors from around the region competing in seven different categories today. In the finals, there was no stopping the 35-year-old Perth native as he completely out-run his class on the competition with the fastest time and clinching the first ever Putrajaya Challenge Downhill Elite Men title.

On Sunday we will see the Cross Country (XC) events taking place involving the category of Men's Elite, Women's Elite, Men's Open (15-20 years), Junior Veteran (30-39 years) and Veteran (40 years and over).

FRAMED-Andi Wittmann Rider profile from Felix Urbauer on Vimeo.

On the piste with Jack Bobridge

A couple of months back young the South Australian rider Jack Bobridge of the Garmin-Cervelo team made his biggest mark to date in the cycling history books when he knocked half a second off Chris Boardman’s individual world pursuit record, a record that had stood for almost 15 years, and was believed to be unbeatable given that Boardman set the record using the now outlawed Superman position.

Until the individual pursuit was bizarrely and controversially dropped from the Olympic Games cycling schedule it was very much considered the blue ribbon event of endurance track cycling, and was highly contested by many of the greatest riders in the history of the sport. Given it’s recent “nullified Olympic status” you could assume that it may of lost some of its impact, yet it clearly hasn’t lost its appeal as Bobridge demonstrated with his national championship win and record breaking time of 4.10.534.

When Boardman set his pursuit record Jack was just a young boy, although he did know the figures that had been chalked up all those years ago; “I did 4.14 last year, and had a lot better form this year so I knew I could maybe go faster. I’d put in a lot of preparation for the road nationals (where he won the road race title) and the Tour Down Under, and I came out of the races with good condition too. Going into the track nationals I had a good feeling I was going to go well, but I really couldn’t say I was going to ride a 4.10, that’s for sure. So, yeah, it was a big surprise for a morning session in Sydney, but at the same time I did it, and it’s been fantastic to take it (the record).”

One of the first people to congratulate him was Chris Boardman himself; “We exchanged a couple of emails, he took his time to really congratulate me. It was fantastic to see that he was happy for me and could really congratulate me for doing it.”

Along with Cameron Meyer, Bobridge is under an contract until the end of 2011 with the Garmin-Cervelo team, with a clause to include a track racing commitment with Cycling Australia until the 2012 London Olympics; “At the moment I’m just towards the end of a track training camp with Cycling Australia to prepare for the World Championships, where I’ll ride both the individual and team pursuit. After that the big goal is London, where I’ll be going just for the team pursuit.”

The Australians clearly have a liking for “games” with the Commonwealth Games figuring highly on their list of priorities, and only being superseded by the Olympics. How does this fit with his personal philosophy given that he’s riding on a World Tour road team, and clearly has bundles of road racing potential too? “I look at it this way; last year was my first year pro, and at the moment I’m switching between the two (road and track) and still getting results in both, which is good for me. If I can continue to like this until London and get my ultimate goal of gold in the team pursuit then I can turn my focus more to the road and see what I can get out of it by going full time.”

With a mixed bag of skills where does he see his future on the road? “It’s hard to say, I haven’t seen it all or been there full time yet. But I think the classics, possibly, but I’ll give it all a good go – the tours, classics, the lot, and try and see what I’m good at. But at this point in time I just love the classics and being able to ride one day as hard as I can, that’s the kind of racing I like. But we’ll see; if I could do a transformation like Wiggins (Brad) and run 4^th in the Tour, who knows, it shows that individual (pursuit) riders can do it.”

So far this year his single day road racing ability has already earned him the Australian national title, one of the toughest national titles to win. In taking the victory he also kept the champions jersey within the team, taking over from Travis Meyer; “We had a strong team, and were all pretty confident. I went away on my own for a full month and just trained. We do a lot of testing with Cycling Australia, so I knew my form was good, and it was just a matter of getting out there and seeing what I could do.”

From chatting with Jack it’s clear that he has a refreshing and laid back attitude to cycling, and he comes across as a normal guy who just loves to ride his bike. He was well marked in Australia from a young age, but came to the world’s attention when he earned the applause and praises of Lance Armstrong after breaking away with him in last year’s Tour Down Under, something the Texan doesn’t often dish out; “Anyone of his calibre could give you a wrap and you’d take it. It’s been absolutely fantastic for me; it was my first Tour Down Under, and it definitely boosted everything for me in cycling and got my name out there. But at the same time I just keep level headed and just keep chipping away at what I’m doing, and it seems to be rolling along.”

From the boards of the track world’s, where he took 2 gold medals,  he’ll pick up the road again, following the same program as road and track team mate Cameron Meyer; “I’ll go to the Tour of Romandie and the Giro d'Italia, where I’ll be trying to finish this year. Last year I was just there to do the first 12 stages, it was a big wake up call in my first year pro, tough.” One thing’s for sure; you can expect to se the name of Jack Bobridge around a whole lot more in the years to come, and maybe even sooner.

We first published this story on velonews, but this is now updated

UCI ask for sanctions against Mosquera, Vuelta Espana 2011 runner up who returned unusual blood tests

The UCI requests the opening of disciplinary proceedings against Ezequiel Mosquera

The International Cycling Union (UCI) yesterday requested the Spanish National Cycling Federation (RFEC) to open disciplinary proceedings against the rider Ezequiel Mosquera. This request complies with the procedure set out by the World Anti-Doping Code as established by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). 

Following the explanation provided by the rider after adverse analytical findings have been notified to him, the UCI was obliged to conduct further scientific investigations in collaboration with the WADA accredited laboratory of Cologne in order to ascertain the origin of these results. 

At the end of this enquiry entrusted to highly qualified experts, and considering all the information currently in its possession, the UCI has concluded that disciplinary proceedings should be opened against Ezequiel Mosquera.

It is now the responsibility of RFEC to determine whether Ezequiel Mosquera has breached the UCI Anti-Doping Rules. 

Under the World Anti-Doping Code and the UCI Anti-Doping Rules, the UCI is unable to provide any additional information until these proceedings have been completed. 

Bont Crono just too fast for the UCI

This just came in from Bont - how crazy is this?


Bont Crono Banned! The UCI has chosen to ban the Bont Crono from competitions based on its aerodynamic properties. Their reason for banning the Crono's under article 1.3.033 contradicts every other piece of aerodynamically designed clothing/equipment currently being used and sold world wide by countless brands. What about aero helmets, skin suits, booty covers, jersey & bib-shorts, gloves and compression clothing that are all designed and made with aerodynamics in mind? See our "Discussions" forum for further details. Bont will fight this decision and highlight the commercial bias of the UCI and their admitted political agenda's.

Super skills4

Kids in America

Ouch

A short Isar ride with Rainer ... from Big Col on Vimeo.

Riding out with the KL MTB hash

“ On, On!” The hash master’s paper flew in to the air and we were away. One massive great pack of international and racially diverse bike bashers headed manicly towards the inner depths of the hungry leach cursed Malaysian jungle. What the hell am I on about? Hash of course! This was a typical monthly “bash” with the Kuala Lumpur Mountain Bike Hash. Still confused? Well so was I to start with, but it really didn’t take that long to figure out the plot. The hash format is kind of like an informal Trailquest mixed in with a good old-fashioned paper chase, but without any prizes or classification at the end of it all. In other words great biking fun and with a vague purpose to it. Though to say there were no rewards waiting for us would be a tad incorrect, as there were several truck loads of chilled Tiger beer waiting for us on our return from our jungle tour of action, and that’s better than any race trophy!

Meanwhile back in the jungle, and the whole ethos of hash was making it’s self clearly apparent. This was one seriously mixed up bunch of bikers; everything from panting and portly ex-pats to technically hindered rubber tappers, families, and racing fit jungle snakes on top end Litespeeds, had taken to the self same trail. We’d set off down a jungle access track, which was like our own UK fire roads, the only difference with this one was that it grew ever steeper, and in to a declining state of rideabilty, all five miles of the infernal sweaty beast. Gradually working my way through the field one smiley face grunted across to me “ There is a lot of upping…” and he sure wasn’t wrong, there was plenty of upping. The temperatures in this part of the world are hot enough, but it’s the humidity that really gets to you. At times it’s close to 100% humidity, which makes for sweaty and thirsty work of things, especially when you’ve got five miles of breezeless upping ahead of you.

Now the thing is that with hashing you’re effectively following a line of paper laid the day before by the hash “hare”. This line of paper is intended to not only show you the way, but to also lead you astray at times, thus the guys out front tend to be the ones finding this out the hard way, as I discovered at the days first check. Around half a dozen over eager bikers had bashed their way ahead of me through the jungle to reach the huge pile of paper that marked the site of the first check, which was right at the top of that long opening climb. It was a strange site indeed. Raymond the “Rocket Boy” (an ex-pat who I’d been riding with the day before) was playing slightly dirty. He was trying to beat the system by tapping in all sorts of figures to his bar mounted GPS, in an attempt to locate the most likely of directions that the trail would take from here. It was an over ingenious method he’d worked out based on our distance covered, the pre mentioned hash distance, and something else which I can’t really remember, either way it didn’t work, though it didn’t stop him trying – boys and their toys!

I decided to take five beneath the vague shelter of a palm tree while this chaos ensued. As I sat there the hash cries rumbled through the jungle as bikers set off in every conceivable direction in a search for the illusive paper trail. Directly ahead of us was one huge steep climb, a real evil push up. Half way up it there was a piece of paper, but nobody actually wanted to make the effort to go up that particular trail, figuring that would be a cruel “falsie”, placed just to create yet more suffering and frustration. But, after about ten minutes of fruitless trail searching the back markers had caught up with the rest of us and one brave sole decided to check the hill, unfortunately his chant was the one we really did not want to hear; “On. On!” This of course meant that it was indeed the way ahead. The pack funnelled and grumbled their way up the grindy steep trail, only to find the grinning checker coming back down the trail towards us. It had indeed been another “falsie”.

Options were running out, so we elected to push on with the most logical of options, a huge boulder strewn descent. Luckily we’d opted for the right trail, and once back on paper the hash continued in earnest. This is the great thing about a hash; it’s a true leveller. That hare and tortoise kind of thing, allowing riders of all kinds of ability to go out together and have fun without restriction. The race heads can battle away till their hearts are content, though with their being no prizes at the end of the day that racing loses it’s tension and becomes a whole lot more fun. At the other end of the scale those who want to take things at their own pace can do so, without pressure, and they’ll still end up getting back to base just behind the others, and before the beers run dry. Now, excuse me if I’m mistaken, but wasn’t that exactly what mountain biking was originally meant to be all about? Umm, clearly it got lost somewhere between an office in Manchester and a muddy racetrack.

By this time we could just smell that Tiger beer, not to mention the nearby satay heaven of Kjang, the self proclaimed satay capital of the World. A group of about ten of us had forged ahead at an unsociable pace. The trail ahead was fairly clear cut. Though being as one check was behind an armed guards hut at the Kjang prison it could have been a little more interesting, but the guard came out to join us in our quest and roared with applause at the site of the hash. All that lay between the beer and us now was some of the countries finest hand cut jungle single track. Full on through the jungle we tracked the paper down to a dead end. Desperately we checked every possible direction, until eventually the bulk of the bashers caught up with us once more and logic set in. A majority decision took us off on the obvious route and in to the finishing straight to end the ride. Supping a chilled beer beneath the scorching sun, tales of the days action grew ever taller with each sip, and while leeches were cut from the odd limb or two I just lay back and reflected on what a great, yet utterly simple, days biking I’d just had.

Just why such fun hasn’t spread through to the MTB world yet I don’t know. The whole hash phenomenon has been rife amongst running and drinking circles for many years, yet for some reason nobody seems to have taken this social sport on to wheels. Many other countries have bike hash clubs, particularly in the Asia. 

Latest UCI Asia Tour rankings

Mehdi Sohrabi (IRI) 188

Andrea Guardini (ITA) 167

Jonathan Monsalve (VEN) 145

Libardo Corredor (COL) 128

Markus Eibegger (AUT) 123

Kenny Van Hümmel (NED) 119

Labelled with loveeeee x

Suspension set up

Specialized Suspension Set Up from Jim Fryer/BrakeThrough Media on Vimeo.

500 Feet of Descent on the Giant TCR Advanced SL

Jarrett Moore and Joe Esnouf from Mike Zinger on Vimeo.

Sam Oakes, a year in film

Sam Oakes 2010 - A year in film from Sam Oakes on Vimeo.

GP Herning

Liege-Bastogne-Liege, the end

Danish Double, HImmerland Rundt, from Team Champion System

Double Danish, but no cream today

By Steve Thomas/www.bikenewsasia.com

Following on from a great outing in Saturday’s GP Herning in Denmark the Team Champion System mechanics were put to work in cleaning the sprocket eating dust and grit in time for Sunday’s Himmerland Rundt, a 1.2 UCI Europe Tour rated race which also took place in the unusually sunny Denmark.

It was to be yet another tough day in the saddle for the riders, especially those still suffering from the rattling of the previous days rough ride at Herning. By the time the race reached its conclusion just 48 riders were to be left on the road, less that half of the filed.

The victory on the day went to Danish rider Michael Reihs of the recently boosted Christina Watches team, a team firing under the emphasis of former Tour de France “excluded-leader” and ex MTB World Champion Michael Rasmussen, who was also in action over the weekend. The squad has hired some high power riders and back up staff, and have big plans to become something of a Danish super-team in the near future. Reihs was also narrowly beaten in to second place in a 2-man sprint in Herning on Saturday.

Team Champion System fielded the same six-rider squad as the previous day, and finished two riders; Holger Burkhardt in 35^th place and Joris Boillat in 43^rd. A third race for the Easter weekend had been on the cards, but things didn’t quite come together so the team rode just the Danish double.

Super skills 3

2011 MELAKA CHIEF MINISTER CUP

SUREN CYCLING TEAM MAKES A CLEAN SWEEP AT THE  2011 MELAKA CHIEF MINISTER CUP

Suren Cycling Team took all three podium spots in the 2011 edition of the Melaka Chief Minister Cup. Hasan Maleki Mizan comfortably took the win with a total time of 3:50:51.292s while teammates Hamid Shirisisan and Ramin Mehrabani Azar finished in second and third place respectively.

Maleki Mizan who failed to finish in Le Tour de Filipinas 2011 earlier this month said that this victory is redemption of the failure.

"I suffered from chronic abdominal pain while racing in Le Tour de Filipinas. I was very disappointed. However, I tried really hard to win today and we worked extremely hard all the way to the end, our team is ecstatic for the triple win!" he said.

From the start the stronger competitors made their presence felt and the big bunch was separated into small groups early on. Ahmad Fallanie lead a group of 13 breakaway riders in the first quarter of the race with a time gap of 1m 26s, with sprinter Anuar Manan of Terengganu (ProAsia) Cycling Team who was left in chasing the group trying to catch up, the peloton was at 3 minutes behind the leaders.

As the race progressed, 4 riders consisting the eventual top 3 winners of Suren Cycling Team (Maleki Mizan, Shirisisan and Mehrabani Azar) and Ahmad Fallanie (Malaysia National Team) from the leading group made a break, leaving the others to chase frantically and increasing the gap from the peloton to a staggering 10 minutes, which later reduced to 7m 46s.

The 4 leaders had a gap of 4m26s ahead of the chasing group, after nearly 91 kilometres of racing, the Iranian trio finally left Ahmad Fallanie trailing over 1 minute behind them taking only fourth place, Ahmad Fallanie admitted making a tactical mistake in the last 10 kilometres, which caused him a place in the podium.

“With only 10 Kilometres to go, I made a huge mistake, giving a chance for them (Iranian riders) in the climb but later I couldn’t catch up as their teamwork and increase in pace made it really hard for me to catch up.” He said

“However I am happy with my achievement today, I hope that our national coach John Beasley who’s here today could evaluate my performance and give me a chance to compete in the bigger races after this such as the Sea Games in Palembang, Indonesia.”

"I want to continue wearing the national jersey and win medals at the SEA Games. I think all the riders including myself have this ambition to win medals in major championships.” said Ahmad Fallanie.

The riders covered a total distance of 156 kilometres at Bukit Katil district in the historical state of Melaka. The morning saw 76 starters from 17 teams, but the scorching Malaysian heat and difficulty of the route gradually forced weaker riders to surrender, only 26 riders made it to the end.

The 2011 Melaka Chief Minister Cup is registered under the 1.2 category of the UCI Asian Tour Calendar organized by the Melaka Cycling Association (MCA) and sanctioned by the Malaysian National Cycling Federation (MNCF).

1. Hasan Maleki Mizan (Suren) 3:50:51.292 s,

2. Hamid Shirisisan (Suren) 3:50.51.522 s,

3. Mehrabani Ramin Azar (Suren) 3:50:51.762 s,

4 Ahmad Fallanie Ali (MAS) 3:53:31.053 s,

5. Nur Amirull Fakahruddin Marzuki (TSG) 4:00.11.634 s;

6. Nik Mohd Azwan Zulkifle (RMP) 4:00:13.005 s,

7. Mohd Fauzan Ahmad Lufti (RMP) 4:00:23.241 s,

8. Anuar Manan (TSG) 4:00:23.588 s,

9. Sayuti Zahit (UTEM) 4:01:08.038 s;

10. Mohd Shahrul Mat Amin (TSG) 4:01.10.046 s.

photos by pulse

The fixie back pack..

Choi Conquers Korea

Choi’s the Choice in Korea

By Steve Thomas/teamchampionsystem.com

Korea is a land of great surprise, and that ethos certainly ran through for this year’s Tour de Korea, a race that was animated with surprises, both good and bad, but all enthralling to follow – at least if you have the comfort of a warm room and an armchair.

The overall result board shows a superb final GC victory for young Hong Kong rider Choi Ki Ho, who took the race lead on stage 7 of the 9 stage/10-day tour. But, there’s a whole lot more than just a final result to this race, it turned into an epic battle where David took of Goliath and won, although in this case David was Choi, and Goliath was the fearsome giant that is the Tabriz Petrochemical Team.

Stamping the pedals hard on the first day of the race lead to the TPT squad taking the opening stage victory of the race, but more importantly they achieved this from a 6 man break away group, which also contained their in-form climber Markus Eibegger.

This group stole over a minute on the rest of the pack, and given TPT’s unruly hold over recent races few (including us) figures anybody would have a chance to break their grip on this years race.

The following 6 stages of the race were well controlled by TPT, and ended in sprint finishes. These fast endings provided Team Champion System with three top 3 podium finishes; including a stage victory by Jaan Kirsipuu, his and the team’s first UCI ranked victory of the year.

Going into the rest day and CS’s Roger Beuchat was sitting quietly 7^th on GC, holding out hopes of clambering up the rankings ladder towards the podium on the following 2 mountain stages.

Following the tour’s rest day the race headed north, along a mountainous near 200-km stage. Freezing rains decimated the filed, with some 30 riders failing to make the finish, which left CS with just 3 men in the race. With their climbing power the Iranians had been expected to shred the race on this stage, but instead their two leading riders were to falter a little, allowing the near-unknown Hong Kong rider Choi to take the race lead by 37 seconds from the Austrian rider Eibegger. While the top six places were re-shuffled Beuchat remained in 7^th spot overall.

Stage 8 saw many teams without a single rider to start, and Choi’s chances of maintaining his lead over the TPT riders looked slim. A hard day of racing took a strange twist, when it appears some riders were sent off-course (although we can’t get to the bottom of the story). This lead to a 40--man group contesting the finish, with Eibegger crossing the line first, and Beuchat 7^th; but the stage result was nullified, and all 40 riders were awarded equal first on the day. Sadly CS lost Jaan Kirsipuu at this point, who had hoped to contest for another stage victory on today’s final 47-km stage around the Seoul Olympic Park.

We’re still waiting for the final official race results – but we can confirm that little changed on GC (Roger Beuchat 7^th overall TBC), and that Beuchat ended up 3^rd in the overall sprint competition behind winner Paul Odlin of the Champion System sponsored Subway team from New Zealand.

 Who is Choi Ki Ho?

The tall and thin 20-year old Choi was first courted by the HK national team 3-years back, and was clearly marked out by his climbing skills. He was sent to the UCI World Cycling Centre in Switzerland last year, where he achieved pot full of decent results in stage races.

But, as he proved in Korea when he handled and retained the race lead, there’s more to him than a skinny pair of legs and big lungs; Choi won the Madison at the Beijing Track World Cup back in December (teamed with new World Scratch Champion Ho Ting Kwok), becoming the fist Asian’s ever to do so at that level. He also took a silver medal in the Individual Pursuit at the 2010 Asian Games.

Hong Kong has a new and rising star, and Champion System are proud to be associated with him and the national team.

Team Champion System from Hong Kong frying their bacon in Denmark

Rough Riding in Demark for Ojavee

By Steve Thomas/www.bikenewsasia.com

Springtime in Europe is without a doubt the time for road bike “rough-stuff” racing. The King of the rough riding classics is of course the great Paris-Roubaix, which took place a couple of weeks back. But the “Hell of the North” is not alone in dirty, dusty, and cobbled racing; many other European countries have their own answer to the early season boneshaker, and for Denmark that answer comes in the form of the GP Herning.

Covering some 200-kilometres in all the UCI 1.1 ranked Europe Tour race takes in 30 designated “rough” sections, most of which are a mix of sand and dust, hence very sluggish and slippery. The race’s list of past victors is like a who’s-who of Danish cycling, with a few other big names thrown in too. Riders like Bjarne Riis and Freddy Moncasin figure prominently on this list, which dates back to the mid 90’s when the race started out.

For this year’s edition of the race a quality roster of 18 teams turned out, including the classics strong World Tour Vacansoleill team from Holland, who featured heavily in the recent Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix northern classics. Team Champion System also made the privileged selection cut for the race and started with six riders; Mart Ojavee, Clemens Fankhauser, Steven Wong, Holger Burkhardt, Matthias Friedemann and Daniel Gollmann.

With dry and dusty conditions on the day (Saturday) the racing was fast from the off. Throw in the traditional Danish winds and the race became a real test of endurance, and one that just 36 of the original starters would pass, with Mart Ojavee being the only Champion System rider left amongst this number.

The tough Estonian has been on great form all through the early part of the season, and is well versed in the tough conditions of this region, the 29-year old rider having spent a large part of his racing career based in Belgium, where the cobbles come big and hard, and the wind only blows sideways or in your face.

Showing his liking for the dirty riding Ojavee found himself at the front of the fight for much of the race, wisely keeping out of the dust and potential miss-haps that usually occur when a 180 riders try and funnel out at full pelt into a dusty back-road.

From 80-kilometres into the race Ojavee decided to take matters into his own hands and went out front, gaining a “doable” six and a half minutes lead at one time. This stretch at the head of affairs meant that he collected the lion’s share of the points on offer for crossing these “special sectors” at the head of the race, almost like the points or KOM prize within a regular road-race; but this one is etched out by the sand.

As more and more riders retired from the gruelling epic of a race things were looking good for Ojavee, despite suffering 3 punctures along the way (a regular occurrence in this race). As the 150-km marker passed he was still out on his own, but was to suffer an untimely flat on a special section. The unfortunate time and location of this meant that the team cars were behind the main pack, and only a neutral service vehicle and wheel were at hand, which lead to him being swallowed up by the chasing group.

It was a close call, once again, for the Estonian strongman. He was to take a very respectable 13^th place on the line, finishing alongside many of the biggest names of the pro peleton. The winner on the day was Danish rider

Troels Rionning Vinther of the Glud & Marstrand team, who finished 2.47” ahead of Ojavee’s group.

The team face two more Danish races over the Easter weekend, so we’ll catch up again soon.

Eueskatel's Shimano D12

Yodeleoooo

Folge 68 - mit dem Austrian Champ 2010 Markus Pekoll auf seinem Heimtrail in Schladming from MTB-freeride.tv on Vimeo.

Hayden Roulsten

Everyone's a winner in Korea today, stage 8

We're still waiting for the dirt on today's stage, but it appears that the stage result was nullified - we know the weather was anticipated to be pretty grim. The upshot is that with just a 47-km stage into Seoul to go young Hong Kong rider Choi Ki Ho has a great chance of upstaging the big guns to take the overall title this year!

Giant Gravity Racers 2011

Trek-Livestrong 2011

Coming soon

Major upset in Tour of Korea

In our initial race preview for this year’s Tour of Korea we mentioned that this was something of an unpredictable race, often where the young up-and-coming underdog snatches his chance and seizes the moment. Well, given the dominant and controlling riding of the Tabriz Petrochemical Team in the race so far this year it really didn’t look like there was going to be any leeway allowed for anyone to “pull a fast” one and encroach on their race leading stance. But, sometimes you just can’t write the scrip when it comes to bike racing, and once again the Korean race threw in a fire cracker and flipped the whole race on it’s head.

The rain lashed stage 7 was taken by Korean rider Yoo Ki Hong, who finished 9 minutes ahead of a fragmented field.

Young Champion System supported Hong Kong team rider Choi Ki Ho really took the bull by the horns today and earned enough time to take the race lead.

Ohh to be a fly on the dinner table of the TPT team tonight, after allowing a rider who was way down on GC to steal a near 9-minute solo stage win, and another to snatch the lead by 36 seconds from Markus Eibegger!

With just 1 more hilly stage to go the Hong Kong rider is within striking distance of his biggest ever career win, as long as he hasn’t over-spent his reserves today that is.

Team Champion System GC contender Roger Beuchat was in the thick of the action today and finished up third on points for the stage.

From team Champion System

New Shimano XT groupset coming - what Shimano say

SHIMANO DEORE XT, the world’s first mountain biking component group is completely revamped for its 30th birthday. From the early days until today, “XT” has been the benchmark in mountain bike component technology, excelling in quality, innovation and performance combined with an extensive product range to suit a wide range of riding styles. The new group fits well in this tradition, once again boosting the value and relevance of the components. Two of the major options will be the addition of a double crank along with the popular triple and the choice of black or silver version.

Drive-train

The Dyna-Sys drive-train comes in two varieties: double and triple. The rider can choose the option that best suits his style, fitness or terrain. The ever popular and more versatile triple comes with a 42-32-24T chain ring combination with the proven composite enhanced middle ring for maximum shift smoothness and durability. Most notably, the 24T inner ring offers a significant improvement in efficiency compared with a 22T and still provides a very low gear for climbing when paired with a 36T rear sprocket. A trail oriented 2X10 crank debuts with a 38-26T chain ring set as well as a more XC oriented 40-28T combination.
The SHADOW rear derailleur continues to be improved and combined with the newest shifter design optimizes the overall system stability. Angled adjustment screws and clamp bolt make the new front derailleur more mechanic friendly and the option for direct mount creates greater options for frame designers. The drive-train is connected by the new 10-speed HG-X directional chain that ensures optimal shifting performance at the crankset and the HYPERGLIDE cassette sprockets. Cassette CS-M771-10 options: 11-36T, 11-34T, 11-32T.

Advanced light action shifting with the RAPIDFIRE PLUS shifter requires the same amount of force to shift between the two largest sprockets as it takes to shift in between the two smallest. The vivid index establishes intuitive shifting feedback without adding unnecessary shifting force to the system. Shimano’s Instant, Multi- and 2-Way Release technology are all integrated into the latest generation shifter as well as a mode converter that allows the left hand unit to be used with both double and triple cranks.
Ice Technologies disc brakes

The new XT SERVO-WAVE disc brakes provide huge leaps in braking, control and heat management. The new compact caliper with oversized 22mm ceramic pistons is combined with a lightweight lever for a brake that is lighter than the current version, yet provides more brake power.
DEORE XT Ice-Tech rotors (160, 180 and 203mm) have a three layer sandwich structure of an aluminum core embedded in stainless steel. The higher heat dissipation of the aluminum helps to reduce the surface temperature of the rotor by around 100 degrees Celsius. Optional Ice Tech brake pads with aluminum cooling fins can reduce the brake pad surface by another 50 degrees. The result is high stopping power and practically no signs of fading! Besides Center Lock rotor mount, also 6-bolt Ice-Tech rotors will be available.

Mechanics will appreciate the integration of the one-way bleeding system and riders will enjoy the option for Ispec shifter mount compatibility to shave a few grams and have a clean cock pit. The brake levers have been provided with a free stroke adjuster as well as a tool-less reach adjuster.

Wheels and pedals

DEORE XT offers dedicated wheel sets for trail and XC usage. The trail wheels have been developed with 21c tubeless anodized aluminum rims. The front wheel features Shimano’s 15mm E-thru system for improved rigidity. Rear wheel choice in between 12mm E-Thru or quick release version.
The XC wheels have been developed with 19c tubeless anodized aluminum rims. Front wheel choice in between quick release or 15mm E-Thru system. Rear wheel quick release version only.
All DEORE XT wheels have been developed with Shimano’s proven cup and cone bearings and Center Lock rotor mount. 24 stainless steel spokes in front and rear.
The new XT includes a lightweight XC pedal (PD-M780), featuring an increased surface contact area (5 times bigger vs. current XT pedal PD-M770) for incredible pedaling stability. An oval shaped, slimmer pedal axle housing sheds mud better than prior designs for the best possible performance in muddy conditions. Weight: 343 g/pair. PD-M785 is the new XT pedal with an integrated cage for even more stability, aimed at trail usage. It also has an increased surface contact area of 8.5 times over the PD-M770. Weight: 408 g/pair.

New DEORE XT offers once again a wide range of innovative products, based on the principles of quality and performance. With this new group, Shimano is confident to add another successful chapter to the XT history.Availability in the market: July 2011



Thanks to Shimano Europe

Tour of Korea, enter part deux - from Team Champion System

The Battle of Korea, Part 2

By Steve Thomas/www.bikenewsasia.com

Following six hard and fast days of racing the Tour de Korea took a day off yesterday, allowing the riders to gain a little recovery time and prepare themselves for the final 3 days of racing in to Sunday’s finish in the capital city of Seoul.

A very early strike was made for the race’s overall GC title when a six man breakaway group went clear on the opening 108-kilometer stage from Gumi-Geochang. That group was heavily powered by the Tabriz Petrochemical Team from Iran, who placed two of their strongest riders for the overall classification in there; Tobias Erler of Germany and Markus Eibegger of Austria, with Erler taking the stage and the opening yellow jersey.

Just a couple of weeks earlier Erler did much the same in the Tour of Thailand, taking the opening prologue and effectively controlling the entire race himself to take the overall GC, demonstrating amazing power on the rolling stages of the race.

Just days before the Thai race stared Eibegger had taken an impressive victory in the Tour of Taiwan, showing his climbing prowess by stepping up to the mark when his team leader Mehdi Sohrabi faltered on the final climb of the race, keeping the yellow jersey within the team.

A couple of days ago the race lead in Korea was traded between the two, with Eibegger now holding yellow by a slender 4 seconds from his team mate and 8 seconds ahead of Team Type 1 rider Will Dugan of the USA. With three stages to go an that 1-minute lead over the rest of the peleton holding from the first day it’s a tough ask from anybody to break into the podium slots who wasn’t in that initial group.

One rider who will be hoping to at least take a shot at a podium finish will be Team Champion System rider Roger Beuchat, who currently sits in 7^th place overall, just 3 seconds off 6^th, and one smart and luck blessed strong move off the podium. The Swiss rider is clearly on good form, and eager to keep up his good record in the Korean race, which he won in 2009.

So far the race has been a huge success for the Champion System boys, who have scored a stage win and 2-podium finishes thanks to the evergreen fast finishing of Jaan Kirsipuu. Unfortunately the Estonian had a tough day out on stage 6, losing several minutes on the peleton, but you certainly cannot count him out of the equation for another stage win, especially on the final day when a short 47km run into Seoul is on the cards, at this point the overall title should be all but signed sealed and delivered, and most likely the yellow jersey will be sent back to Tabriz.

Today’s stage was a 195-km hilly ride from TaeBaek to Yanhyang, with the final KOM climb of the day coming 45-km from the line, and it’s all-downhill from the top. It provides the ideal opportunity for any GC contenders to try and break the TPT grasp on the race, but will anybody be strong enough, or brave enough on this, the race’s “Queen Stage”?

GC Standings as of this morning

1.  Markus Eibegger - TPT  - 23.36.16

2. Tobias Erler – TPT - @ 4 sec

2. Will Dugan - Type 1 - @ 8 sec

    7. Roger Beuchat CS - @ 1.18

What a drag...

Team Net App in Paris-Roubaix

Fleche Wallone - a hill in Blegium

Wales on a stick

Pedalling over bits of Wales from Nick Jones on Vimeo.

A Hill in Spain

A Hill in Spain from chris akrigg on Vimeo.

Tour of Korea stage 6

General


White : OTHMAN Mohamad Adiq Husainie(Malaysia National Team) 
Yellow : EIBEGGER Markus(Tabriz Petrochemical Team)
KOM : PARK Sung Baek (KSPO)

Stage 6


1. OTHMAN Mohamad Adiq Husainie(Malaysia National Team) 
2. BAZZANA Alessandro (Team Type 1 -Sanofi Aventis)
3. JANG Sun Jae (Korea Selection TEAM)

Thanks to Team Champion System for the update and pic

Tour of Britain 2011 team roster announced

- AN Post Sean Kelly Cycling Team (Ireland)
- Colnago CSF Inox (Italy)
- Endura Racing (Britain)
- Garmin Cervelo (USA)
- Leopard Trek (Luxembourg)
- Motorpoint (Britain)
- Rabobank (Netherlands)
- Rapha Condor Sharp (Britain)
- Sigma Sport - Specialized (Britain)
- Sky Professional Cycling Team (Britain)
- Team Europcar (France)
- Team HTC - Highroad (USA)
- Team NetApp (German)
- Team Raleigh (Britain)
- Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator (Belgium)
- Vacansoleil DCM (Netherlands)

Good Vibes

Good Vibes from Dmitri Shushuyev on Vimeo.

Do you know what this song is about?

Tour of Britain 2011 route announced

Tour of Britain, September 11-18:

Stage 1 - 11 September: Peebles-Dumfries

Stage 2 - 12 September: Kendal-Blackpool

Stage 3 - 13 September: The Stoke-on-Trent Stage

Stage 4 - 14 September: Welshpool-Caerphilly

Stage 5 - 15 September: Exeter-Exmouth

Stage 6 - 16 September:Taunton-Wells

Stage 7 - 17 September: Bury St Edmunds-Sandringham

Stage 8a - 18 September: London, Individual Time Trial

Stage 8b - 18 September: London, Circuit Race

Tour of Korea, stage 5 - from Team Champion System

Kirsipuu’s Korean run continues with a 2^nd place

By Steve Thomas/www.bikenewsasia.com

Continuing his amazing run of good form Team Champion System rider Jaan Kirsipuu once again scored a fine podium finish on today’s stage 5 of the Tour of Korea.

Following on from his third place on stage 2 the gnarly Estonian sprinter went on to take a convincing win in yesterdays 4^th stage, the fist win of the season for him, and the teams maiden UCI victory.

Today the veteran fast-man was somewhat more of a marked man, having sent out the warning signals to his to his younger rivals in the previous stages, but none-the-less he put in a superb sprint to take the runners up position on the 148-km stage between Chungju and Yeongiu.

Tomorrow’s stage comes just before the race’s rest day, and has a big climb in the closing kilometres, which will probably make for an aggressive stage and should favour a breakaway group – not a sprinter like Kirsipuu.

SRAM debut 2012 range

SRAM has launched a silver version of the X0, new x10 gearing options and new chain management devices at Sea Otter Classic in California. 

The new chrome and polished  X0 Silver is the latest entrant to SRAM’s X0 family, including Avid X0 brakes. The new version will be available in 2X10 and 3X10 options, featuring a look reminiscent of the classic X0 design, SRAM says.

Available for X0, X9 and X7, two new 2X10 gearing options - 22-36 and 24-38 - complete SRAM’s 2X10 offering (already including 28-42 and 26-39). The new iterations are pitched as ideal for 29er riders, alpine riding with steep climbs, long travel All-Mountain/Enduro bikes.

The Truvativ X0 chain guide by MRP is the first of a new line of chain management devices. The X0 guide is a single-ring chain guide, with an upper and lower guide for optimal chain retention and a replaceable skid plate for impact protection. It is available for 36-40 or 32-36 chain ring sizes and with BB, ISCG or ISCG 05 mounts.

SRAM also revealed a white colour option of its Apex, featuring white graphics on the crank arms and a alpine white finish for the brakes, upper part of the rear derailleur, front derailleur and shifters shift paddle.

Story from Jonathon Harker/bikebiz

Ride misty for me

Misty trail from Big Col on Vimeo.

Ivan the terrible (Basso_

Tour of Korea, stage 4

Kirsiupu's Killer Kick wins in Korea, from Team Champion System

Today brings fantastic news to the Team Champion System camp in the shape of a superb victory in today’s stage 4 of the Tour of Korea by Jaan Kirspuu.

The veteran Estonian sprinter had been somewhat handicapped by poor early season training opportunities during the heavily snow cursed winter in Northern Europe, but has gradually bitten his bar tape and suffered and ridden through the early season gaining form with every race.

Two days earlier the former Tour de France yellow jersey holder had come close to his first victory of the season by taking a 3^rd place finish on a stage, but today he christened the team’s victory card by taking the first ever Team Champion System UCI ranked win, and given his rise to form we hope it won’t be long before he adds to the tally for the 2011 season.

Covering some 137-kilometers between Gungsan and Dangjin today’s parcours was relatively flat, and Jaan was able to take advantage of the controlling riding of the Tabriz Petrochemical Team and the conflicting lead-outs of the strong Korean teams, who have been fighting for home victories between their different teams. Unfortunately the team lost Australian rider Chris Williams in a scuffle with a guardrail.

Tomorrow’s stage follows a similar game plan, with rolling terrain for most of the way. In theory this should be a perfect stage for an experienced sprinter like Kirsipuu, as it comes just before a hilly stage and a rest day. You can be fairly sure that TPT will again be forced to control things, while the long climb the following day will be playing heavily on the mind of many riders, and could well open up opportunities for small break away groups, and force the Korean sprinters into chase down mode.

For anybody out there who is not familiar with Jaan Kirsipuu here’s a very brief bio;

Born July 17^th 1969 in Tartu, Estonia. Jaan was a product of the then Soviet sports system. In 1992 he turned professional for the leading French Chazal Team, and spent his Pro Tour career of 14 seasons racing on leading French teams, and was based for much of that time in the Alpine haven of Chambery.

During his career he took 4 Tour de France stage wins and also held the coveted yellow jersey. His victory tally includes more than ten Estonian road and time trial national titles, and numerous major international victories too, amounting to more than 130 UCI ranked wins in all. He was twice the highest ranked rider in the world by the UCI.

During the past 3 years Jaan has spent much of his time racing in Asia, where he has scored many major victories. Yesterday saw the annual staging of the Tro-Bro Leon, a classic French race rather akin to the Paris-Roubaix, this was one of Jaan’s first race wins as a pro in 92.