Cycling News Roundup - 26 November 2009
Saxo Bank: Kolobnev Leaves, Jaroslaw Marycz signs, Seba Haedo Joins Brother J.J. , Oscar Pereiro to Astana, Olympic Track Protest Grows, Daily Peloton Milestone, Wiggins Joins Revolution,  New Wilier for Alejet, Cycling in the News,  California High School Cycling League Thankful and more...

Happy Thanksgiving to all our readers. We hope the day is one rich in things to be thankful for and you have a great day with friends and family... and of course time for a bike ride on dry and sun blessed roads. Enjoy the Day!

Alessandro Petacchi discusses his new bike with Giuseppe Saronni and the mechanics of Wilier and Lampre this week. Story and more photos below.

Saxo Bank
Two New Riders Sign Contract - Alexandr Kolobnev To Leave
Team Saxo Bank rider, Alexandr Kolobnev will from January 1st leave the team to join another ProTour team. The Russian rider has one year left on his contract but has been released from his contractual obligation:

"Alexandr Kolobnev is a great rider and we respect him personally and as an athlete. We have been grateful for his contribution on and off the road and we wish him the best of luck in the future”, says team owner Bjarne Riis.

“I have been very happy to be a part of Team Saxo Bank and the time on the team has developed my talent to a higher level. I am grateful that Bjarne gives me the opportunity to accept an offer from a team where I will have a leading role”, says Alexandr Kolobnev.

Saying goodbye to one rider, Team Saxo Bank is signing a contract with two promising talents.

22-year-old Jaroslaw Marycz has been riding for the Italian Team Fidibc.com and has won the Polish U23 national time trial championships twice. This season he won the Italian one-day race, Coppa G. Romita, the third stage of Tour de Slovaquie and he took silver at the European road championships for U23-riders.

In addition, Team Saxo Bank signed a contract with 26-year-old Sebastian Haedo  - brother to Team Saxo Bank's Argentine, Juan Jose Haedo. Sebastian Haedo has been released from his contract with the U.S. team, Colavita-Sutter Home where he this season took two victories on the second stage of Tour de San Luis and on the second stage of Nature Valley Grand Prix. He finished second in the NRC's individual rankings this season.

"We are pleased to announce that we have assured us these two great and interesting talents that will strengthen our team in the coming season. Jaroslaw is a complete rider with a special time trial potential and Sebastian Haedo has, besides being a complete rider, shown his obvious talent in the bunch sprints. We are looking forward to be working with both of them and to help developing their promising potential”, says team owner Bjarne Riis.

Both riders signed a contract for two years.

Oscar Pereiro to Astana
32 uear old Caisse d'Epargne rider and 2006 Tour de France winner Oscar Pereiro has confirmed he has signed with Astana cyclin team pending its handling of its woes with the UCI and achieving ProTour status for the Khazak team. The confimation came during an radio interview on his local station in Spain.

Olympic Cycling Events Short Cuts
Protest Grows in Anticipation of UCI Announcement
Protest among the top Olympic hopefuls continues to gain steam in dispute of the UCI proposal to the International Olympic Committe for a reductio of cycling events for the London Olympic Games. The proposal of the UCI will be delivered on December 12th and hasn't been popular with top track cyclist with Melbourne World Cup medalist, Lauren Ellis of New Zealand adding her voice to the growing concerns expressed by other leading endurance cyclist.

Cycling's governing body is expected to scrap the individual pursuit, men's Madison and points race from the schedule in favor of a shortened program that includes: team pursuit, individual and team sprint, omnium and keirin in which each event would be duplicated for men and women.

USA World champion Taylor Phinney, has threatened to turn his back on the track and focus on the road, while British Olympic champion Bradley Wiggins has expressed his own disappointment with the approach as well as Kiwi's board champions Alison Shanks and Hayden Roulston.

The Belgian Federation has also expressed  in a well thought out press release the effect this would have on Track cycling and and its future bringing about a reduction in sponsorship and the demise of the sport. The release included a proposal as a solution.

We humbly suggest that the UCI suggest to the IOC that they simply cut the swimming and some track & Field competitions to make room for the cycling events or at least trim those events the same as they propose to do with track cycling.

Its time for the UCI to stand up and demand equity for cycling alongside other sports as a long standing member and event of the Olympic 'family'. One thinks that the reason for the choice has little to do with gender equality as much as it does with the IOC maximizing its income from the sale of prime time TV broadcast rights. I heartily recommend that the IOC stop selling the coverage in blocks and let others buy the bid for exclusive coverage of some sports so they actually get televised live on competing networks instead of being ignored or recapped in some later delayed broadcast by some national networks.
Vaughn Trevi

Daily Peloton Crosses the 16K+ Mark
Something to be Thankful about on Thanksgiving
Earlier this week the the www.dailypeloton.com published its 16,000th article to the site's archives since its re-launch in 2002 after two years with the Rival Networks as www.thedailypeloton.com bringing the total count to well over 17,000 articles; other items and features published off the archives index pushes the total to over 18K. 

Perhaps appropriately, the article was an announcement of Cadel Evans winning his third "Oppy" medal.    Expectations were high for the Australian montain biker as that year in his second year of road racing and he continued to make his transition to professional road racing at the 2002 Paris - Nice. Podofdonny published on March 3rd mentioning Cadel in his Paris - Nice Preview: ":Favorites for this years contest include three times winner Laurent Jalabert, Telekom, who have had an unusually slow start to the season, will be looking to Andreas Kloden to repeat his 2000 victory . Mapei will be hoping in form Cadel Evans will be able to move up a gear from last year while Richard Virenque has a very powerful Domo team in support."

And later on the same day Peter Cossins commented on Cadel's performance in the opening prologue of the 'Race to the Sun': "... Bodrogi came in just 28 hundredths of a second ahead of Bonjour’s French champion Didier Rous. The consolation for Rous is that he did gain some valuable seconds on all of his rivals for final victory. Bodrogi is unlikely to be among these as he admitted that he’s heading south with the task of helping Tom Steels in the sprints and Cadel Evans in the overall."

"Yes, that’s Cadel Evans former mountain biker and still pretty much a road racing novice. It says a great amount about his talent and the faith that Mapei have in him that the Aussie will have the whole team behind him later in the race. Although he was way down in 89th today, he’s only 25 seconds off the pace, and must be a good bet for the top 10 once the race reaches the hills."

On March 16th it was noted by Peter Cossins that Evans went on to finish second on the penultimate stage to Col d'Eze where he able to lock up a tenth place in the French race foreshadowing the heights the 25 year old and twice mountain world cup winner (1998 - 1999) rider from Katherine, Australia  would become.

Frigo pressed on in pursuit of stage leader Dave Bruylandts (Domo), a rider who’s promised a lot and has been tipped as one to watch by team-mate Richard Virenque. It was good to see the Belgian showing his talent on a big stage at last, as it was to see the young guard of Cadel Evans (Mapei), Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel) and Sandy Casar (FDJ) gamely trying to stay with Frigo while more experienced names foundered.

"Evans was the last rider to crack as Frigo surged on, but the Australian hung on to finish second on the stage and move up to 10th overall, which is a pretty phenomenal performance as this is the biggest road event of his career. After unofficially recording the fastest time for the climb up Mont Faron on Friday and astounding his team-mates in the process, Evans is coming of age on the road. He’s scheduled to ride the Ardennes Classics and then prepare for the Giro, where his task will be to assist Stefano Garzelli in the mountains."

Thanks for reading and thanks to our staff, contributors and photographers who have helped sustain us over the past years as we enter our 10th year in 2010.

A Superleggera for Mr Alessandro Petacchi
The Gastaldello family welcomes "Alejet" in the headquarters of Wilier Triestina
Its name is Superleggera (“superlight”), but Petacchi’s one will be super-resistant as well. “Alejet” made his first encounter with his new bike during a visit to the headquarters of Wilier Triestina in Rossano Veneto.

Measuring tapes are out as the stiffening of Alejet's bike is discussed.

Alessandro Petacchi got acquainted with the Gastaldello family, owner of Wilier Triestina and Lampre’s sponsor of several years, and visited the factory along with Giuseppe Saronni, his new team manager in Lampre. After that he arranged the last details of his customized Superleggera with the mechanics of Wilier and Lampre.

Alessandro towers over the bike and looks pleased with his prospects for 2010 on the Lampre team.

“The frame of Superleggera weighs less than 900 grams and, despite being so light, it has been reinforced in the most stressed parts, " said Wilier Triestina’s managing director Andrea Gastaldello -. Alessandro’s frames will be even stiffer, so to prevent any dispersion of power during his sprints”.
Photos courtesy of Wilier Triestina Bikes.

Wiggins Joins Revolution
Manchester Velodrome
Bradley Wiggins will be making a return to the boards at the Revolution event on 5th December at Manchester Velodrome. A capacity crowd will be treated to the formidable sight of Britain’s best endurance rider revisiting his track roots after his sensational performance on the road this year.

A regular feature at previous Revolution Series, Wiggins will be making a star appearance for Craig MacLean’s team the Slicks and will be the favourite to pull in the points over the longer distances.

Joining Wiggins on the Slicks team will be German six-day star Leif Lampater, who recently finished third in the Munich 6. This intimidating pairing will make the Slicks the team to beat on the night, and will enhance an already strong endurance line-up at the December meeting.

“This will be my first Revolution so I’m pretty excited and want to do well for the team,” Lampeter told us. “It’s going to be great riding on the same team as Bradley Wiggins, as I’m sure the British crowd will all be cheering for the Slicks!”

Two other Revolution teams, the Rollers and Tempo, will also be boosted by the return of their respective captains Chris Newton and Ed Clancy, back from Team GB duty in Melbourne. Their World Cup commitments ruled Clancy and Newton out of the opening Revolution event, and so both riders will be eager to lead their teams by example on their return. The crowd can expect some fierce competition between these popular captains.

Tickets are selling fast for Revolution 26 on Saturday 5th December. For more information or to purchase tickets, please visit the website www.cyclingrevolution.com

Alain Baxter to make cycling debut at Revolution
Former Olympic skier Alain Baxter will make his track cycling debut at Revolution next Saturday 5th December, making a special appearance in the 200m time trial event. Baxter, who was controversially stripped of a bronze medal in 2002, retired from skiing earlier this year but has since set his sights on returning to Olympic contention as a track cyclist.

A bout of flu ruled him out of appearing at the National Track Championships last month. Now fully recovered, Revolution will provide the arena for Baxter’s highly anticipated debut which, remarkably enough, will also be his first time riding on race wheels. Baxter will compete against eight other riders in the 200 metre time trial, racing as a special guest rather than for one of the Revolution teams. And what formidable competition he will face – with a world-class line up including Jamie Staff, Craig Maclean, Ross Edgar, Matt Crampton and Roberto Chiappa. Baxter will be hoping to have beginner’s luck on his side. Luckily, the Scotsman relishes a challenge.

‘Revolution will be my first competitive race, so it’s a bit like entering the unknown,’ Baxter commented, ‘but I’m really excited about it. I've been training hard at the sprints and was really disappointed about having to pull out of the Nationals. This will be my first chance to discover how I measure up against the pros.”

While Baxter may be an unknown quantity going into his first race, he certainly has the right training credentials behind him. His coach Dave Clark has previously worked with fellow Scots Sir Chris Hoy and Craig Maclean, and it was Maclean himself who pointed Baxter in the direction of a change to track cycling.

“I've known Craig for quite a while,” says Baxter. “We grew up not far from each other in Scotland and our families know each other. When I decided to retire from skiing, Craig encouraged me to get involved with the athlete transfer programme at the Institute of Sport and, as I've always done a bit of cycling, it just went from there.”

When asked about going up against Maclean in the time trial, Baxter laughed. “It’s going to be pretty interesting going head-to-head with Craig, he’s an awesome sprinter. There’s no doubt about it, I’m up against a world-class field at Revolution. I’m just going to give it my best shot.”

 High School Cycling League Gives Thanks
NorCal and SoCal Leagues Raise $100K at CycleFest Fundraisers
California -  The NorCal and SoCal High School Cycling Leagues combined raised over $100,000 at their annual CycleFest fundraisers. The SoCal League almost doubled its attendance over 2008.

Matt Fritzinger, founder of the NorCal League, said "We are very thankful for having had two highly successful CycleFest events this year. The funds raised will help these leagues keep pace with the enormous growth that is expected for the 2010 season."

The NorCal CycleFest, which featured Jonathan Vaughters of the Garmin Cycling Team, was generously supported by a long list of silent auction donors and sponsors. Heading this list are Specialized Bicycle Components, Fox Racing Shox, GU Sports, Ritchey Logic, NCNCA, Mountain Hardwear, Syncros, Mike’s Bikes, Clif Bar, Marin Cyclists, and McGuire Real Estate. The weekend’s festivities, comprising a cocktail reception, gala dinner, and 50-mile CHP-supported ride, raised a total of more than $60,000 and were attended by 400 people.

The SoCal Interscholastic Cycling League enjoyed a massive boost in attendance over its first-year fundraiser in 2008. Bob Roll entertained 150 diners aboard the Queen Mary luxury ocean liner, moored at Long Beach. Many companies contributed to the dinner and silent auction, including Kaiser Federal Bank, Team Sho-Air, Specialized Bicycle Components, SoCal Endurance, Turner Bikes, Stan’s Monrovia Cyclery, Mellow Johnny’s, PAA Cycling Club, and Team Kareen. A total of $40,000 was raised.

SoCal Director Matt Gunnell said, "I am inspired that in these difficult times so many people came out to support the growth and sustainability of the SoCal League. We had 85 people at our inaugural event in 2008 and 150 in 2009. With this type of support I see a strong future for the League."

The emerging Colorado High School Cycling League will have its inaugural CycleFest dinner in Denver, on April 24th, 2010.

About the NorCal League - The NorCal High School Mountain Bike Racing League, founded in 2000, is a non-profit organization open to students from both public and private schools. The League exists by virtue of a range of fundraising activities as well as generous donors and sponsors including the founding sponsor of the SoCal League, Easton Sports Development Foundation II (ESDFII); the founding national sponsor, Specialized Bicycle Components, Clif Bar, Inc., Shimano, Fox Racing Shox, Gary Fisher Bikes, Ritchey Bicycle Components, Creation Engine, Mike's Bikes, Paradigm Cycles, The Pedaler, HappyGoFun, Mountain Hardwear, WTB, and Touchstone Climbing Gyms. The League provides coaching and camaraderie to help students achieve both competitive and non-competitive cross-country mountain biking goals in a safe and enjoyable manner. Each season includes a fall Leader's Summit for coaches, winter riding camps, the five-race series, and a variety of summer camps. For more information on the League visit www.norcalmtb.org or call (510) 524-5464.

About the Southern California Interscholastic Cycling League - The SoCal Interscholastic Cycling League was organized to provide a well-defined race season for junior racers and to promote the formation of teams at public and private high schools. With the cooperation of local race promoters and our sponsors, the League organizes a first class series of races designed for high school aged riders. The League is working to make high school racing the easiest way for juniors to get involved in the challenging and exciting world of competitive cycling. The SoCal League was founded with a generous grant from the Easton Sports Development Foundation II (ESDF II) and is supported by other generous sponsors such as founding national sponsor Specialized Bicycle Components, Shimano, Bike Magazine, CLIF Bar, Crank Brothers, Hincapie Sportswear, Tifosi, Trek, and WTB. For more information on the League, visit www.socaldirt.org or contact Matt Gunnell at matt@socaldirt.org Tel. (818) 415-1133

Cycling in the News
Wall Street Journal - For an Architect, the Bike's the Thing
Joe Spear knows baseball. As the senior principal at architecture firm Populous, he has helped design nearly a dozen baseball stadiums, including AT&T Park in San Francisco, Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia and Camden Yards in Baltimore. But it's biking that really gets him going. On average, Mr. Spear bikes 60 miles a week, often biking to and from his office in downtown Kansas City, Mo., six miles from his home.

Mr. Spear, 56 years old, co-founded Populous, formerly HOK Sport, 26 years ago. It's a job that could have him home for two weeks then in three different cities the next. When he was in Washington, D.C., from 2005 to 2008 overseeing the construction of the baseball stadium Nationals Park, he brought his bike so he could exercise and ride in the city.

Nearly eight years ago, Mr. Spear weighed 260 pounds. He was always tired, his back hurt and he wasn't sleeping right. When he would give prospective clients tours of baseball stadiums he designed, he would come back exhausted. Mr. Spear changed his diet and started biking more, dropping more than 60 pounds in 2½ years. He gained some of that weight back while in D.C., where he was eating out most nights, and now weighs 220 pounds. Mr. Spear, who is six feet tall, rides the city streets and country roads of Missouri hoping to stay in shape and lose some more weight. Biking "feels like skiing and flying," he says. "It's just a cool sensation."
Read the Wall Stree Journal article.

Dallas' Former Bike Czar Tells Newbie Riders to Go Play in Traffic
This Dallas Observer article is a must read if you ride on public roads or commute to work or work in cycling advocacy.
Paul Michael Summer figures he was 30 before he learned how to ride a bicycle. Oh, he knew how to pedal one well enough before then. Like many people his age—he's 59 now - Summer started bicycling to school in the fifth grade, carefully riding against the flow of oncoming traffic in Lake Highlands, just like his parents taught him.

But that was the wrong way, said a helpful cop who stopped him one day and corrected his style. Ride with the traffic, the officer told him, but stay very, very close to the curb.

That wasn't quite right either, but the lesson stuck with him when he left home to attend art school in San Francisco, where cars whizzing past him on the city's dizzyingly steep streets terrified him.

The goal of building cycling infrastructure is to encourage more people to ride their bikes, thereby encouraging a more active street life. But, says Richard Wharton, a friend of Summer and fellow vehicular cycling enthusiast, a cheaper and more effective solution already exists and has always existed. "Education is by far the cheapest solution for getting more people on bikes...We should have been doing this for decades."

But we haven't been. We never accepted the notion that proper cycling means aggressive on-street riding. Rather, we rode in cul-de-sacs far out in the suburbs.  "Somewhere along the line the community at large decided that educating people to be better bicyclists was not a priority," Wharton says, "and it fell off the map."

John Forester is the grumpy godfather of the vehicular cycling movement. The author of two books, Effective Cycling and Bicycle Transportation: A Handbook for Cycling Transportation Engineers—works that persuaded Summer to oppose bike lanes—Forester argues that teaching people to ride a bicycle like any other on-road vehicle is safer than caging bicycles in lanes.

"Millions of Americans think that a bike lane stripe makes cycling safe," says Forester, who is 80 years old and delivers each sentence with the fury of a hissing snake. "It doesn't." Instead, cyclists should learn to make proper turns, how to pass other vehicles on the road, how to take the lane at an intersection and how to stop at red lights and stop signs. "So many things that motorists are expected to know."

They advocate bike lanes," Forester says. "They say all around the world bike lanes have just brought in hoards of new cyclists. And then you ask them how they ride, and they ride in the same way I do. Vehicular style! Because they know it's safer and better. And yet they're advocating bike lanes because it brings in more people...That's why they're ideological hypocrites. This business of trying to reduce motoring by increasing the number of cyclists is their ideology."
Read the complete article in the Dallas Observer.

• Discuss the sport with fans from around the world on the Daily Peloton Forums & Chat Room.
• Sponsor the Daily Peloton - advertise your product - contact us
• Would you like to try your hand at writing about the sport? contact us.
• Link your site or blog to  www.dailypeloton.com