Dauphiné route unveiled

EDIT: since publishing this in March I’ve put a full preview online. Go here: https://inrng.com/dauphine for full stage analysis, the jerseys, the history and much more.

ASO have unveiled the route of the 2012 Critérium du Dauphiné. The 8 day stage race is a great contest in its own right but also resembles the Tour de France in more ways than one.

Just like last year’s edition, the Dauphiné will feature some of the same roads as the Tour, making it an ideal test ahead of July. Here’s a summary of the route.

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2012 Team Victory Rankings updated

Wins Team
21 Omega Pharma – Quickstep
13 Liquigas – Cannondale
13 Team Sky
8 Greenedge
7 FDJ – BigMat
7 Lotto – Belisol
6 Garmin – Barracuda
6 Movistar
5 Vacansoleil – DCM
4 Katusha
3 Rabobank
2 BMC Racing
2 Lampre – ISD
2 Radioshack – Nissan
2 Saxo Bank
1 Astana
1 Euskaltel – Euskadi
0 Ag2r – La Mondiale

I won’t be doing a running commentary every Monday but this time last week I listed the World Tour teams by win and in the space of seven days several teams without a win finally got the result they needed.

Astana’s Janez Brajkovič won a stage in the Tour of Catalonia as did Samuel Sanchez for Euskaltel-Euskadi. Cadel Evans won Stage 2 and the overall in the Critérium International. Note these three riders are just who’d you’d expect to appear once the roads head for the mountains. In addition, promising all-rounder Diego Ulissi won two stages in the Semana Coppi e Bartali. This leaves Ag2r – La Mondiale as the World Tour gooseberry.

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Gent – Wevelgem: The Moment The Race Was Won

Tornado Tom Frits

Tom Boonen won the sprint to the line. As you can see from the image above he is level with the lime green Peter Sagan and the red and white Oscar Freire with 200m to go. But this was not the crucial moment of the race. Instead an acceleration 30km from the finish on the Monteberg climb made all the difference.

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Gent – Wevelgem preview

It’s not just the clocks that change. Recently this race was a mid-week test, sandwiched between the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix. Still a prestigious race in its own right, it was often for the sprinters and it would also allow the “losers” from the Ronde to fine tune their moves ahead of Roubaix. Now it stands on Sunday and is part of the World Tour calendar, a promotion to a higher status.

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Critérium International preview

A very quick look at the Critérium International race that takes place on the French island of Corsica this weekend.

Many will have eyes on this Sunday’s Gent-Wevelgem race. Rightly so but 1,200km away we’ll see the likes of Cadel Evans, Frank Schleck, Chris Froome and others going head to head in a time trial today and summit finish tomorrow, all with the stunning island scenery on roads to be used for the Grand Départ of the Tour de France next year.

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New UCI rules on bikes, equipment and clothing

The sport’s governing body, the UCI, is moving towards greater regulation of equipment, both the bike and clothing. Whilst rules about the bio passport or race radios might seem abstract, there’s a high chance these ones will affect you.

Whether you’re racing locally, buying new parts or worse – if you define yourself as a road cyclist – that moment when a triathlete overtakes you out on the road, here are some rule changes that could change your riding.

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Do you speak Flemish?

Spectating

The GP E3 Harelbeke race is on today, marking the beginning of a four week period of spring classics in and around Belgium. In particular the region of Flanders will host many races. A hotbed of cycling, some opinion polls suggest that nobody else in the world likes cycling as much as the inhabitants of Flanders. Here is a look at the region via its language, its flag and more.

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From Belarus with love

A UCI official has a giant construction project with plans for Europe’s tallest building that’s in trouble with the city authorities. Months later the UCI awards the world championships to the same city. Is there a link?

No. But decisions like this reveal antiquated governance practices at the UCI and highlight the extensive business empire of one of cycling’s most senior officials. Here’s a look at one example where sport, politics and business intersect.

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Snow chaos in Catalonia

and cycling?

A quick note on yesterday’s stage of the Tour of Catalonia that was due to finish in the ski station of Port Ainé until the snow appeared.

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Book review: Merckx, Half Man Half Bike

William Fotheringham book

Merckx: Half Man, Half Bike by William Fotheringham

525 wins. Some of these were kermesse races that aren’t recognised today but this only reminds us that Eddy Merckx didn’t got for recovery rides, he raced.

I’m learning about cycling every day but I know surprisingly little about Merckx. Various ideas come to mind. The rocking shoulders, the sideburns, winning all the jerseys in the Tour de France in the same year, the son of a shopkeeper from a Brussels suburb, the brown Molteni jersey and more. William Fotheringham’s book links all these mental images together and builds them into a fine history of the Belgian’s career.

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