index – Victoria Cycling Festival

Professional Uses Bike Of The Spectator To Ride CG

index June 28, 2018

Sam Brand repeated the 2016 story of Tyler Farrar, where he took the help of spectator to compete in the race, when his bike met an accident after only a few kilometers of a ride in the race. Sam Brand was living a dream. The Novo Nordisk rider was racing on his cycle on the Gold Coast of Australia, representing the Isle of Man his small island at the Commonwealth Games.

Things were all going according to the plan until a crash in the first 5km and numbers of mechanical saw him separated from the bunch behind the peloton and more significantly behind the support vehicles. That could have been the race end if valiant spectator present on the side of the road would not have noticed Brand was in need. The spectator exchanged his standard Specialized S-Works Tarmac for team of Brand issue Colnago Concept. With this Brand then managed to carry on his ride. He was not only able to finish the lap, but also completed another circuit of the 18.6km circuit.
Read More

KITTEL UPSTAGED BY DEGENKOLB IN DUBAI WINDS

index March 23, 2017

The third stage of the Dubai Tour saw John Degenkolb fend off swirling winds, as he pushed forward to upstage Marcel Kittel, a decorated German sprinter and favorite for the title, to become the winner of the third stage of the tour on Thursday.

Kittel of Quick-Step team who is also the defending Dubai champion won the first two of a total of five stages and remains the lead overall.

Thursday however saw Degenkolb of Trek-Segafredo steal the limelight, going on in just a little over four hours to go through the 200 kilometres. Behind him came South Africa’s Reinhard Janse van Rensburg and Sonny Colbrelli of Italy placing second and third respectively.

In the tricky weather conditions, Degenkolb was able to cope best as strong winds kicked up sand, tossing it in the face of the riders, thereby causing a number of riders to fall off their bikes.

Kitel, the defending champion finished just outside of the top ten in a race in which he alleged that an Astana rider hit him on the head thus causing blood to flow. Read More KITTEL UPSTAGED BY DEGENKOLB IN DUBAI WINDS

THE END OF TEAM STOLTING

index December 23, 2016December 23, 2016

Germany’s only professional continental team, team Stolting has said in announcement that this will be its last month as it plans to stop at the end of the season.

This will mean the end of an era as Stolting is Germany’s only remaining professional continental team.

For several years, Stolting had been ranked as a continental team and as at last year, it had announced its intention to move up he ranks by moving to the professional continentals. The team had planned to do this by sponsoring the cult energy team.

However, in December 2015, the team’s Danish sponsor had decided to pull out from both the team and the deal saying that the blame lies solely on Stolting as they had not fulfilled their end of the obligation. In response to this, the German team firmly denied the claims of their sponsors and went on to take over full sponsorship of the team.

The team this was majorly made up of Danish and German riders. Stolting had gone a long way and had in its harem, top names and highly ranked riders like Fabian Wegmann, Gerald Ciolek, and Linus Gerdman. Read More THE END OF TEAM STOLTING

UCI To Tighten On Corticoids

index April 7, 2015

Speaking on the abuse of cortisone as was highlighted by CIRC report, Brian Cookson stressed that UCI is alarmed by the deployment of this & other such grey products & that they are striving hard to eliminate such abuses.

The recently published CIRC report that took the cycling world by storm, looked into current as well as historic doping practices & albeit it talks about reduced use of the hard substances at present- yet it also highlighted several concerns.

One of them was cortisone & corticoid products that are used in training that help to burn off the body mass whilst preserving power. Another one is Microdosing EPO.

“One of the doctors stated that it’s not possible to shed weight which some cyclists achieve sans assistance & TUE has enabled this practice”, stated the CIRC report.

“He stated riders take to corticoids as it helps to lean out which means lose fat fast, & keep it at bay, sans losing on power.”

“As an example, the doctor explained that when one is trying to lose 4 kilos in four weeks with corticoid, he would come up with 7 percent power or weight improvement. The doctor even revealed that if the substance is used in huge quantity, accompanied by other substances, the rider would achieve performance gains.” Read More UCI To Tighten On Corticoids

Terpstra surprised on beating Sir Wiggins in Tour Qatar time-trial

index February 25, 2015

Albeit Niki Terpstra has impressed everyone with his remarkable winning stance at Tour Qatar time-trial yet he is tad surprised at outriding cycling legend Sir Wiggins at the race- who he thought would “beat everybody by forty seconds”.

Sir Wiggings was undoubtedly a top favorite for the time-trial stage 3 time-trial at Qatar Tour, as per the winner & new overall lead Niki Terpstra from Etixx-QuickStep. But, everybody was kind of shocked to find the legendary 2012 Tour France champ settling with the 3^rd position, behind Fabian Cancellara & Niki.

“I am really surprised”, stated Terpstra in his leader’s precious gold jersey.

“It was yesterday only that I was confident about Wiggins out riding all of us within 40 seconds only”, he continued. He remarked that he was pleasantly surprised to beat the legend. Read More Terpstra surprised on beating Sir Wiggins in Tour Qatar time-trial

Sir Wiggins Might Use Giro 2015 To Prep For World Hour Record

index January 19, 2015

News for Bradley Wiggins fans- The 2012 Tour France champ might use 2015 Giro in May as his prep ground for World Hour record come June.

The news has been reported by Pinarello, the official bike supplier for Team Sky.

The British cycling legend has planned to ride for a handful of selected road racing events for Sky during the initial phase of coming year prior to shifting to his very own soon-to-be-declared road team. Sir Wiggins’ new team is speculated to be his chariot that would be carrying him towards the much anticipated Rio Olympic Games in 2016. Read More Sir Wiggins Might Use Giro 2015 To Prep For World Hour Record

Vinokourov Is Charged With Corruption

index December 3, 2014December 16, 2014

It is the handiwork of the prosecutors of Belgian who have laid charges against Alexander Vinokourov. In fact the Russian cyclist also faced similar charges. Investigation began after the bribery took place in 2012. Evidence proved that money transfer did take place.

Other payments as well are being looked at by the investigation agencies. He is also working towards the Astana team as a manager. He states that all want a resonance on the topic and if started does not end. Speculations go on in and around the team. Exaggerated statements are making headlines according to him. As far as Alexander is concerned he is a professional rider who performs well for the team and is not to be discarded out from the team on grounds which are controversial but flimsy ground is something to reckon with and if found guilty as charged then action has to be taken and that too strict action.

His achievements are numerous and nobody can deny upon the given fact. Belonging to the army stature a thing like corruption puts all the more pressure on him. If and when he is proven guilty fully then what action will be taken is yet to be known but he will try to prove his innocence and get back his lost reputation and honour. If there is any lack of evidence then solid proof has to be garnered against him who will put him in the backseat but how far will his career go and move in direction is something to reckon with. Though he has retired from the world of professional cycling but when image is tarnished it never comes back. Earning the reputation takes years but losing it take seconds. His fans though wish that there is no involvement of him in the entire case.