Bike News Asia: May 2011

Tuesday, 31 May 2011

Australian team for UCI BMX World Championships

Cycling Australia and BMX Australia are pleased to confirm the elite & elite junior riders selected for the Australian BMX High Performance team to contest the UCI BMX World Championships being staged in Copenhagen, Denmark from 27 to 31 July.

Australia goes into the event as the number one nation in the latest (April 12) UCI world rankings in both men's and women's elite competition. It's this ranking that will determine how many riders Australia can start in the 2012 Olympic Games.
2009 Supercross series champion and two time junior world champion, Sam Willoughby, is currently ranked second in the world with Brian Kirkham sitting seventh and Khalen Young eleventh. Willoughby, Kirkham and Josh Callan all made the final of last weekend's Supercross World Cup round in Papendal, the Netherlands. Willoughby is the reigning Australian champion, winning the title in Cairns ahead of Kirkham and Callan.
2011 Australian champion Caroline Buchanan, who posted a third place finish in Papendal, Lauren Reynolds and Rachel Bracken all made the final at last year's world titles and this year hope to repeat that effort and be in the medals as well. The three are all ranked in the world's top eleven riders as a result of consistent performances in key events.
Melinda McLeod, who claimed bronze last year, and Darryn Goodwin head to Denmark as the reigning Australian junior champions and both are ranked number two in the world.
Rounding out the team is Beijing Olympian Luke Madill, 31, and first year elite junior Bodi Turner, 17, who claimed silver at last month's nationals.
BMX 20" - Elite Men

Joshua CALLAN (Warburton VIC, 08.04.1991)
Brian KIRKHAM (Clapham SA, 01.01.1986)
Luke MADILL (Cranebrook NSW, 28.05.1980)
Sam WILLOUGHBY (Trott Park SA, 15.08.1991)
Khalen YOUNG (Kelmscott WA, 20.11.1984)

BMX 20" - Elite Women

Rachel BRACKEN (Mermaid Waters QLD, 30.06.1991)
Caroline BUCHANAN (Kambah ACT, 24.10.1990)
Lauren REYNOLDS (Bunbury, WA, 25.06.1991)

BMX 20" - U19 Men

Darryn GOODWIN (Swan View, WA, 02.08.1993)
Bodi TURNER (Bayswater North, VIC, 18.09.1994)

BMX 20" - U19 Women

Melinda McLEOD (Mackay, QLD, 12.02.1993)

Zee German bikepark

Trailcam: „Probeopening“ im Bikepark Hochries from MTB-freeride.tv on Vimeo.

Sunday, 29 May 2011

Tour of Camsur stage 9 pics

With a 40-km critirium around the Camsur Watersports Complex the first ever Tour of Camsur drew to a close today. With a tight 1.4-km circuit and dry conditions things were expected to once again go the way of the Australians, but as things turned out the field splintered and 2 riders escaped to contest the stage, which went to stage 2 winner Alfredo Asuncion of Team Mile Age.

Team Champion System, Trans-Atlantic express

The American Dream

By Steve Thomas/www.bikenewsasia.com

The past few weeks have been something of an incredible journey for Team Champion System, with riders competing in almost every corner of a vaguely circular world. Just a couple of weeks ago it was the mountains of Azerbaijan in Iran, which were follwed by a busy, and on-going stint of racing in northrn Europe, and now the journeymen have taken the long trek west for a series of prestigious races in North America.

Many expected the team to struggle in the face of strong pro team oposition in the US, but those sceptics were silenced yesterday when the team made its debut on US soil and promptly upstaged the big guns by opening their acount with victory in the Hills of Somerset Road Race, thanks to Joris Boillat.

With a backlog of experience Joris is more often associated as a GC rider for stage races, and has racked up some solid performances in the past few weeks; but his winning ride in yesterdays 130-km race was straight out of the tactical text book of cycling role play, and fell nothing short of commanding.

As the race approached the 3-km to go marker a small group had forged ahead, which inculded Joris and team-mate Wu Kin San of Hong Kong. Taking the bull by the horns the young HK rider made a bold attack, and stayed clear until the 1-kmto go red kite was reached. Reading from the well-versed script Boillat immediately attcked the lead group, and that was it – game over, the team scored victory on its third continent.

As Joris crossed the line Wu Kin San had recovered enough to take an excellent 4^th spot, confirming the in-depth strength of the team, and sending out a warning signal for the weeks of racing ahead. Seperating the two CS riders were Sanofi Aventis (TT1) and former Pro Tour rider Tim Gudsell (Pure Black).

Meantime on the opposite side of the Atlantic things have been hotting up in the Baltic states, where another string of team CS riders are competing in a series of UCI ranked races, and with great success. Starting out with a weekend double in Estonia; the Tallinn-Tartu GP and the GP Tartu, both 1.1 rated UCI Europe Tour races.

Saturday saw the first of the two Estonian races take place, which runs between the home-towns of Team CS riders Jaan Kirsipuu and Mart Ojavee, who incidently won the race in 2008. On the line it was top Italian rider Angelo Furlan who took the honours, with Jaan backing up with a solid 4^th place, nicely topping up the team’s UCI ranking points for the season to date.

Finishing in 75^th spot in Estonia was Steven Wong, the team’s BMX convert who rode stronly to claim his first UCI ranked roaod race finish so far.

The action continues today – on both sides of the Atlantic, so stay tuned.

Estonia, thanks to Rei/CS

Tour of Camsur stage 8 result

Stage result

1 96 KUDENSTON Sergey RUS19780929 EHB 4:43:55 0:00:10

2 23 AQUINO Jr. Jerry* PHI19920702 SHK 4:43:55 0:00:00 0:00:06

3 1 REYNANTE Lloyd PHI19780920 711 4:43:58 0:00:03 0:00:04

4 4 OBOSA Ericson PHI19790427 711 4:44:00 0:00:05 0:00:03

5 65 URDANETA Ronnie* PHI19910815 CXT 4:44:00 0:00:05

6 6 VALENZUELA Irish PHI19870403 711 4:44:00 0:00:05

7 43 MILLANES Joseph PHI19810420 SOR 4:44:00 0:00:05

8 86 NALUS Manuel PHI19811025 BRU 4:44:00 0:00:05

9 93 SPIBY Dylan * AUS19930717 EHB 4:44:00 0:00:05

10 91 HOLLANDS Edmund AUS19730106 EHB 4:44:00 0:00:05

Final GC

1 6 VALENZUELA Irish PHI19870403 711 20:43:21

2 72 RAVINA Baler PHI19811222 PGN 20:43:46 0:00:25

3 1 REYNANTE Lloyd PHI19780920 711 20:44:38 0:01:17

4 12 RINDOLE Oscar PHI19841012 MLG 20:45:02 0:01:41

5 21 DIAMSAY Sherwin PHI19800218 SHK 20:45:50 0:02:29

6 91 HOLLANDS Edmund AUS19730106 EHB 20:46:20 0:02:59

7 13 ASUNCION Alfredo PHI19850823 MLG 20:46:24 0:03:03

8 45 GARILLO Jason PHI19850906 SOR 20:47:01 0:03:40

9 3 CARRERA Sherwin PHI19851208 711 20:47:43 0:04:22

10 11 CALDERON Joel PHI19811225 MLG 20:47:58 0:04:37

Great, more revelation soon, ish

Zurich biking

After Work I Trailsurfing in Zurich from Filme von Draussen on Vimeo.

Saturday, 28 May 2011

Tour of Camsur stage 8

Today saw the penultimate stage of the 2011 Tour of Camsur take place on a stunning mountainous and coastal fringed route through the CamSur region, to the south of Naga. Blustery winds and rain again greeted the riders, with a final downpour coming just in time for the twisty finish, which ended in a bunch sprint - which for the second day in a row was won by Team Eddy Hollands Bicycle Services Russian rider Sergey Kudentov.
Although there is still one more stage to go, a 40-km crit around the Camsur Waterports Complex, the GC has already been finalised, and goes to Filipino rider Irish Valenzuela of the 7-11 team.

Giro d'Italia, Sestriere

Friday, 27 May 2011

Tour of Camsur stage 7

1 96 KUDENSTON Sergey RUS19780929 EHB 4:13:25 0:00:10

2 91 HOLLANDS Edmund AUS19730106 EHB 4:13:25 0:00:00 0:00:06

3 92 PRESETYA Heksa INA19830626 EHB 4:13:25 0:00:00 0:00:05

4 4 OBOSA Ericson PHI19790427 711 4:13:25 0:00:00 0:00:01

5 86 NALUS Manuel PHI19811025 BRU 4:13:25 0:00:00

6 85 MALANGSA, Rudolf PHI19840402 BRU 4:13:25 0:00:00

7 3 CARRERA Sherwin PHI19851208 711 4:13:25 0:00:00

8 71 QUIRIMIT Arnel PHI19750409 PGN 4:13:25 0:00:00

9 74 PABLO Fernando PHI19830911 PGN 4:13:25 0:00:00

10 43 MILLANES Joseph PHI19810420 SOR 4:13:25 0:00:00

Eddie and the Hotrods

Tour of Camsur stage 7

Eddy any his "hotrods" storm through a blustery day into Naga City to sweep clean the podium slots today on the 7th stage of the Tour of Camsur. First across the line was Sergey Kudentov, second Eddy Hollands and third Heksa Presetya, all of Eddie Hollands Bicycle Services team. There was little change on GC.

Giro d'Italia stage 18

Transport alternatives

Transportation Alternatives PSA ::a ride with Paul Steely White from Cinecycle on Vimeo.

Thursday, 26 May 2011

Wet Wet Wet

Tour of Camsur, stage 6

Stage

1 3 CARRERA Sherwin PHI19851208 711 2:23:59 0:00:10

2 91 HOLLANDS Edmund AUS19730106 EHB 2:23:59 0:00:00 0:00:06

3 15 ATILANO Elmer PHI19820622 MLG 2:23:59 0:00:00 0:00:04

4 4 OBOSA Ericson PHI19790427 711 2:27:14 0:03:15

5 5 OLEDAN Tots PHI19881021 711 2:27:16 0:03:17

6 96 KUDENSTON Sergey RUS19780929 EHB 2:27:16 0:03:17

7 86 NALUS Manuel PHI19811025 BRU 2:27:16 0:03:17

8 92 PRESETYA Heksa INA19830626 EHB 2:27:16 0:03:17

9 1 REYNANTE Lloyd PHI19780920 711 2:27:16 0:03:17

10 6 VALENZUELA Irish PHI19870403 711 2:27:16 0:03:17

Overall

1 6 VALENZUELA Irish PHI19870403 711 11:45:59

2 72 RAVINA Baler PHI19811222 PGN 11:46:28 0:00:29

3 1 REYNANTE Lloyd PHI19780920 711 11:47:19 0:01:20

4 12 RINDOLE Oscar PHI19841012 MLG 11:47:25 0:01:26

5 21 DIAMSAY Sherwin PHI19800218 SHK 11:48:25 0:02:26

6 13 ASUNCION Alfredo PHI19850823 MLG 11:48:53 0:02:54

7 91 HOLLANDS Edmund AUS19730106 EHB 11:49:01 0:03:02

8 45 GARILLO Jason PHI19850906 SOR 11:49:36 0:03:37

9 3 CARRERA Sherwin PHI19851208 711 11:50:09 0:04:10

10 11 CALDERON Joel PHI19811225 MLG 11:50:26 0:04:27

Tour of Camsur, stage 6 pics

Wet and wild was the order of the day for stage 6 of the Tour of Camsur, a shortened out and back leg from Daet. As ever the local 7-11 team were on the attack from the off, but as the half way turn-around approached Eddy Holland of Eddy Holland Bicycle Services has gone out alone, cunningly avoiding the heavy and gritty road spray from the other riders. Before too long the Australian had been joined by Sherwin Carerra of the 7-11 squad and Mile Age team rider Elmer Atilano. On the line It was Carerra who took the stage from Holland.

Cycling school initiative in Malaysia

Rizal Tisin, Azizulhasni Awang and Josiah Ng – have made superb breakthroughs on the world stage but, sadly, there are no grass-roots programmes at the school level.

To make matter worse, the Malaysian Na tional Cycling Federation’s (MNCF) request to the national schools sports council (MSSM) to include cycling in their sports programme was also rejected.

Instead of fretting about it, the MNCF have decided to do something about it.

Thus, with the help of the Naza Group, MNCF made a significant move on Friday when they handed over 50 bicycles and helmets to SMK Tengku Abdullah in Pekan to start a cycling club.

The contribution was made by Naza Group chief executive officer Datuk Wira Faisal Tan Sri SM Nasamuddin and were presented to the school at the Le Run Industries premises in Puchong.

MNCF deputy president Datuk Naim Mohamad said that this was the first time that a school would be setting up a cycling club.

SMK Tengku Abdullah plan to hold a 1Malaysia Expedition from Pekan (on May 28) to Putrajaya (June 2).

“We hope SMK Tengku Abdullah’s cycling club will show that cycling activities can be developed at the grass-roots level. We also hope that this will eventually help us produce more cyclists who will one day make the country proud at the international level,” he said.

“It’s good that the Education Ministry have included the one student one sport policy under the 10th Malaysia Plan and we want to encourage more schools to kick start cycling activities.

“We will help them find sponsors to support this programme.”

Cycling coach John Beasley, credited with the rise of the Malaysian track cyclists, has maintained the need to instil a cycling culture to sustain the supply of fresh talents.

“The system now is top heavy as we are depending on just a few cyclists. We need to develop the grass roots and get schools involved through programmes,” said the Australian.

Giro d'Italia, a glass of San Pellegrino?

Wednesday, 25 May 2011

Tour of Camsur stage 5 pics

Superb Bicol tropical scenery, lots of climbing, a brief shower, and a shattered field marked today's stage of the Tour of Camsur. On the line in Daet it was Eddy Holland's Bicycle Services 17 year old Aussie Dylan Spiby who took the stage. Irish Valenzuela remains in yellow, while Spiby takes over the under 23 leaders jersey,
More tomorrow...

Tour of Camsur stage 4 pics

Irish Valenzuela of team 7-11 wins a tough stage after being out front all day.

Australian team for Para Cycling World Champs

Australian team for Para-cycling Road World Championships

Cycling Australia is pleased to announce the Cyclones team to contest the 2011 Para-cycling Road World Championships being staged in Roskilde, Denmark from 5 to 12 September 2011
At last year's championships Sue Powell claimed silver in the women's C4 time trial and bronze in the road race while Michael Gallagher was the silver medallist in the C5 time trial. Both hope to be on the podium again and their form so far this season indicates they are in the running.
"I will be pleased if our known performers like Sue and Michael can medal again but I am really looking for an overall improved performance across the board with everyone improving their results from last year," said Cycling Australia Para-cycling Performance Director, Peter Day.
Earlier this month Powell and Gallagher headlined the Australian team at the Sydney round of the UCI Para-cycling Road World Cup where the hosts collected five gold, six silver and five bronze medals from the 37 medal events contested. It was an impressive performance against the world's best and gave the riders valuable experience to use in their medal assault in Denmark.
"Whilst World Cups are always significiant to the individual rider and for qualification points the World Championships are two or three steps up the ladder in terms of intensity and the number of riders cabable of winning," said Day. "That means there is definitely more pressure on everyone competing."
In Sydney Powell won both the time trial and road race and Gallagher was second in both C5 events behind the reigning world champion. Victorian Carol Cooke, a recent convert to Para-cycling after a lengthy career in Para-rowing, impressed with victory in both T2 (tricycle) events. In the men's tandem road race Australia clinched gold and silver with Bryce Lindores and pilot Sean Finning edging out Kieran Modra and pilot Scott McPhee for the win.
Claire McLean collected two bronze medals and Tasmanian Ryan Hughes was third in the C4 road race while West Australian H3 hand cyclist Nigel Barley claimed silver in the time trial and bronze in the road race.
Local rider Jayme Paris was the only starter in the C1 classification in both the time trial and road race at the Sydney World Cup and so was not eligible for a medal.
But Paris hopes to win two gold medals next year in London to add to her bronze medal from the Beijing Paralympic Games.
Paris,Gallagher, McLean, Powell, Lindores, Finning, Modra, McPhee, Barley and Tripp are currently in Italy at the AIS European Training Centre preparing for the second round of the World Cup being raced in Segovia, Spain from where they hope to add valuable Paralympic qualification points to Australia's tally.
The Australian Team for the 2011 UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships is listed below.

Carol Cooke (AUS19610806 Northcote VIC) T2
Kerry Knowler (AUS19670826 Phillip ACT) Pilot O'Connor BW
Melissa Leckie (AUS19840207 Collinswood SA) H2
Claire Mclean (AUS19730704 Carlisle WA) C5
Brandie O'Connor (AUS19731224 Phillip ACT) BW
Jayme Paris (AUS19890427 Quakers Hill NSW) C1
Susan Powell (AUS19670530 Melba ACT) C4

Nigel Barley (AUS19740927 Parkerville WA) H3
Sean Finning (AUS19850122 Castlemaine VIC) Pilot Lindores
Michael Gallagher (AUS19781214 Sydenham VIC) C5
Ryan Hughes (AUS19860604 East Launceston TAS) C4
Bryce Lindores (AUS19860912 Nobby Beach QLD) BM
Scott McPhee (AUS19920102 Wayville SA) Pilot Modra
Kieran Modra (AUS19720327 Hallett Cove SA) BM
Craig Parsons (AUS19650618 Attadale WA) H1
Michael Taylor (AUS19681001 Bendigo VIC) H2
Stuart Tripp (AUS19700613 Elwood VIC) H4

Malaysian junior cycling needs a boost

STORIES of teams struggling just to be present at junior track cycling races and organisers on the verge of shying away have raised eyebrows over the state of the sport in the country.

The Kuala Lumpur Cycling Association (KLCA) has sounded the alarm and urged the Malaysian National Cycling Federation (MNCF) to look into the ill-funded junior and development area of the sport.

"This is in stark contrast to what we see on the international stage where the stars are always highlighted in such a positive manner," said KLCA secretary Firdaus Arshad.

The KLCA ran the second leg of the SportExcel National Junior Circuit at the KL Velodrome over the weekend with a mere RM7,500 budget for an event that featured 120 junior cyclists.

"We are short of funds and SportExcel (the Foundation for National Sporting Excellence) provides this budget. We are doing this for the MNCF but so far there hasn't been much support from them," said Firdaus.

"For road events, surprisingly, the MNCF can find up to RM30,000 per event, as for the National Grand Prix Circuit, but for track events, particularly junior development events, there seems to be little attention.

"We are short of funds and we have to spend them on our own development programmes and the upkeep of our association and teams.

"We just don't have much money to spend on national events but we are forced to take it up because we have a velodrome.

"So we hope there is some attention to this matter and hopefully the MNCF open their eyes to the importance of juniors, not just take the glory when the riders become big stars."

The budget for the SportExcel National Junior Circuit, said Firdaus, had to also be spent on providing accommodation for teams from all over the country, apart from an allowance of RM160 per state team for meals for the two days.

As most teams comprise more than 10 riders, what sort of meals RM160 provides for over two days is best left to the imagination.

This is not the first time the plight of the junior track development scene has been highlighted by Timesport.

In December, the Johor team of 15 riders had to travel all the way from Muar to the KL Velodrome for the State Training Centres Circuit on their bicycles and compete the next day. The next day, the Johor government sent a van to help out the team.

The Pahang team for the same event were forced to camp out at the velodrome due to lack of funds for proper accommodation.

"The problem is, nobody is looking at how serious the issues are. If you look at where track cycling is, it is almost a shame to think that people are just ignoring the importance of junior development," said Firdaus.

thanks MNCF

Tuesday, 24 May 2011

Jupha wins in Malaysia

JUPHA Somnet exacted revenge on her new rival, Ummi Hamimah Mohamad of Terengganu in the girls' Under-18 200m sprint final in Round Three of the SportExcel National Junior Circuit at Kuala Lumpur Velodrome yesterday.

The 17-year-old national junior rider had to swallow her pride after being surprised by the promising Ummi Hamimah in Round Two of the series in March, as the 15-year-old got her career off with an explosive launch.

Most eyes were on the junior sprint duo, both seen as the next in line to national elite rider Fatehah Mustapa and a replacement for the retired Uracca Leow.

The seeded Jupha and Ummi Hamimah had both blown away their opposition in the earlier rounds to set up the epic final which Jupha surprisingly needed just two heats to win.

"It's good to win, but actually I wasn't really looking at it as revenge. We're both saving ourselves for the Malaysia Games track events in two weeks, which is what matters," said Jupha.

Jupha, a triple Asian Junior Championships medallist, said she had shifted to endurance events since two weeks ago, and will only ride the sprint events at the Malaysia Games due to the lack of riders in that event from her home state, Perlis.

"There are some new riders coming up, but we aren't really sure which events we'll all be doing. I'm prepared to do both the sprint and endurance events nevertheless," said Jupha.

Jupha also got her endurance career off to a winning start when she clocked two minutes 59.252 seconds to beat Pahang's Nurul Nadia Mohd Fauzi in the 2km individual pursuit final.

The surprise result of the meet came in the boys' under-16 3km individual pursuit final when little known Malacca rider Low Ji Ming upstaged hot favourite Afiq Huznie Othman of Terengganu by a whisker.

Low clocked 4:02.715s to pip Afiq Huznie, who clocked 4:02.806s to victory.

Thanks MNCF

UCI rejects allegations made by Tyler Hamilton

The International Cycling Union categorically rejects the allegations made by Mr Tyler Hamilton, who claims that Lance Armstrong tested positive for EPO during the 2001 Tour of Switzerland and had the results covered up after one of his representatives approached the Lausanne laboratory responsible for analysing test results from the event.

The UCI is deeply shocked by the seriousness of the allegations made on the “60 Minutes” programme aired by US television network CBS, and by the extent of the media interest in the case, and wishes to state once again that it has never altered or hidden the results of a positive test.

The allegations of Mr Tyler Hamilton are completely unfounded. The UCI can only express its indignation at this latest attempt to damage the image of cycling by a cyclist who has not hesitated to abuse the trust of all followers of cycling on several occasions in the past. At no time did he see fit to inform the UCI of the events he claims to have witnessed ten years ago, and which he is now using in his attempt to harm the UCI.

The UCI can only confirm that Lance Armstrong has never been notified of a positive test result by any anti-doping laboratory.

Aside from the fact that no legal action may now be taken in respect of events that occurred in 2001, the UCI also wishes to point out that in doping cases it must abide by the rules of evidence; any statutory or scientific evaluation must necessarily be made on the basis of the rules, knowledge and detection methods available at the time.

Once again, the UCI wishes to state that no manipulation or cover-up has occurred in respect of its anti-doping procedures. The UCI will continue to defend its honour and credibility by all means available, and reserves the right to take any measures it deems necessary against Mr Hamilton or any other person.

The UCI confidently awaits the results of the inquiry being conducted by the US justice system. It hopes that the investigations may be concluded swiftly and the truth ascertained, so that the sport of cycling may be spared further unnecessary damage.