“UCI Ends the Tour of Beijing”

A misleading headline but reports seem to be running with a similar title. What’s misleading? The Beijing authorities pulled the plug as opposed to the UCI deciding to call time. Does the causality matter? Yes, substantially so because the sport loses a top race in a key market and the World Tour calendar shrinks, something the UCI probably wouldn’t want if it had the choice. So much for globalisation.

But if it’s a setback for the UCI it could be better for everyone in the long term. No more conflict of interests between promoting events and designing a calendar and if China is going to have a big race, there are some case studies on how to build a sustainable event.

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World Championships Time Trial Preview

Tony Martin versus the World? Last year he was so fast his average speed was superior to many of the teams in the team time trial event. His win seems certain, cycling’s answer to cosmological constant.

But if time trials rarely make for good TV new production techniques are helping and even with old school broadcasting there’s a race on for the other podium places.

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Monday Shorts

Roman Kreuziger’s been cleared by the Czech Olympic Committee’s arbitration panel. Fair verdict or whitewash? For now it’s hard to tell as the reasoned decision is online as a PDF but in Czech and so a hard read.

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World Team Time Trial Preview

This Sunday sees the UCI World Championships in Ponferrada, Spain start with the team time trial. If a team time trial isn’t new, the format is still a novelty at the worlds after it was introduced two years ago and more so since it features pro teams when the rest of the week is about national squads.

OPQS have won twice in a row but this year’s edition looks more open with several teams able to challenge. Here’s an explainer of what is involved, why there’s no rainbow jersey for the winners and how it’s very different from the team time trials we might see in a stage race.

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When to Retire?

If all good things come to an end then the only choice left is to pick the moment to quit. Jens Voigt is ending his career with an attack on the Hour Record, Cadel Evans is planning antipodean swansong and others are leaving the peloton like Thor Hushovd or David Millar. Some get to choose when but most don’t.

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Ag2r La Mondiale’s Team Budget

It’s been a winning year for Ag2r La Mondiale with Jean-Christophe Péraud’s second place in the Tour de France but so much more including Carlos Betancur’s win in Paris-Nice plus the team prizes in the Giro and Tour de France and they might have won in the Vuelta had Domenico Pozzovivo, Carlos Betancur and Alexis Vuillermoz been present and in-shape. Nevermind the speculation, they’re third on the UCI’s team rankings today.

But how much does it all cost? Having looked at Team Sky’s accounts recently here’s a look at the numbers for a French team.

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The Moment The Vuelta Was Won

Alberto Contador attacks on the road to the ski station of Aramón Valdelinares. With early-day escapees up the road this move was more than a test, he took time on all his GC rivals and turned the story of a broken leg into a breakaway, going from crash victim to wounding the hopes of all his rivals.

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Vuelta Stage 21 Preview

The End. A final time trial but that’s so short it should be labelled an epilogue. The overall classification is unlikely to change and instead the suspense is reserved for the stage winner. For once this is a time trial held in the absence of Tony Martin and Fabian Cancellara.

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Vuelta Stage 20 Preview

The final mountain stage. The podium places are not certain and today could see the gaps narrowed ahead of tomorrow’s final time trial.

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Vuelta Stage 19 Preview

The last stage of the Vuelta? Well it’s the last stage for a large share of the peloton looking to salvage something from this race because tomorrow’s summit finish is fierce and Sunday’s short time trial is reserved for the specialists.

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