Astana Ride On

Vinkourov Astana

Update: Astana do ride on and the UCI will continue to monitor the team for the rest of the year. The reasoned decision of Licence Commission will be published in due course says the UCI.

The Astana team meets the UCI’s Licence Commission again today for a second hearing following the UCI’s very public call to remove strip the team’s World Tour licence. La Gazzetta Dello Sport says no decision is imminent either.

A second round suggests this is not a slam dunk case. If it was then a review of the files and an obligatory hearing would have been enough to remove the team from the sport. What happens next has been a regular question by email in recent weeks but the rules aren’t clear and the outcome is more uncertain. Here’s a look at the case and some potential outcomes…

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Wednesday Shorts

Bernard Hinault 1980 Liege Bastogne Liege

Mondory Update – UCI tribunal – Verbruggen on Mars – Disc brakes – Nibali to Giro? – Lost

The 1980 edition of Liège-Bastogne-Liège is infamous for the snow. Reports say half the field abandoned within the first hour, some so desperate they entered roadside houses for shelter. Bernard Hinault ploughed on to win, cementing his reputation as a hard man and ensuring the day entered the sport’s mythology. But there’s the untold tale of Rayban sunglasses…

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Flèche Wallonne Preview

Valverde Mur de Huy Fleche Wallonne

For 364 days of the year the Chemin des Chapelles climbs up the side of Mont Mosan but on Wednesday the road its renamed the Mur de Huy, the “wall of Huy”. The climb is so steep it deserves mural adjective and few races see riders cross the finish line in such obvious agony. But can the race deliver more than a three minute climax?

This year’s route includes a new climb right before the end to split up the field and the presence of several star names indicates that this mid-week race matters because because the finish is identical to Stage 3 of the Tour de France.

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Amstel Gold Race Preview

Philippe Gilbert

Huge crowds, free-flowing beer, grand tour winners taking on one day classics specialists and a very tricky course make the Amstel a special race. The 50th edition looks like it’s made for Philippe Gilbert. Who can stop him from a fourth win this Sunday?

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The Wait of a Nation

Giant Alpecin

Ein Stein. Lifting the cobbled trophy last Sunday was a triumph for John Degenkolb and the culmination of a lot of team work. But behind the scenes it’s also the remarkable story of riders as ambassadors who’ve managed to convince German TV to give the sport a second chance, partly thanks to solid results, partly thanks to soft power and coffee.

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A Change of Gear

The Brabantse Pijl happens today. La Flèche Brabançonne to francophones, this is a hilly race and the start of the “Ardennes” spring classics and a transition race from the cobbles to the climbs as it features both.

It’s good to change format but the upcoming races seem to be stuck in a rut with repetitive scenarios.

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Pour Encourager Les Autres

Paris Roubaix Level Crossing Train

In this country, it is wise to kill an admiral from time to time to encourage the others

That’s a line from Voltaire’s Candide. After the battle of Minorca between France and Britain in 1756, Voltaire describes the British practice of shooting naval officers if they fail, not so much to punish them for mistakes but to send a signal to the others not to let down His Majesty. “Pour encourager les autres”.

What’s this got to do with bike racing? Well the incident in last Sunday’s Paris-Roubaix where some ignored closed barriers at a level crossing requires exemplary action from the UCI. In the interests of safety the UCI has to view video and photographic evidence and disqualify those who ignored the closed barriers.

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