Riders to make 2012 their own?

The first World Tour event of the year, the Tour Down Under, is less than three weeks away. Most teams have announced their rosters after intensive training camps across Europe.  Sprinters like Matt Goss, Alesandro Petacchi, Andre Greipel and Manuel Belletti are licking their lips at the prospect of tackling this pancake flat course with many teams predominantly selecting sprinters.

The talk in cycling circles, on-line blogs and cycling mags will inevitably focus on whether Cadel Evans will win back to back Tour De France titles or whether Philippe Gilbert is capable of showing the same form that saw him win 18 stages/races in 2011.  

The start of the season represents an opportunity to view the neo pros that have joined the big league.  I have compiled a list of neo pros and young riders that I expect to have an impact in 2012.  It will not be a surprise that list features mostly Italian and Australian cyclists. Here it goes. 

Michael MATTHEWS (AUSTRALIA) - Rabobank

Local Canberra cyclist hit the stage with a bang in late 2010 winning the under23 road race rainbow jersey in Geelong.  It was reported that several pro tour teams were chasing his signature with Rabobank the successful team to sign one of the hottest young talents in 2010.  With buckets loads of talent, it was no surprise that Bling secured his first pro tour win in his debut race – Stage 3 of the Tour Down Under and fourth overall.  Two more stage wins followed in 2011, Vuelta a Murcia (Spain) and Rund um Köln (Germany).  It will be interesting in how Rabobank manage Bling and fellow Aussie sprinter, Mark Renshaw, as both will be chasing race wins across Europe.  A couple of early season wins should see his name pencilled in for a grand tour start in 2012. 

Andrea GUARDINI (ITALY) – Farnese Vini Selle Italia

Guardini kicked off the 2011 season with an immediate impact winning 5 stages at the Tour of Langkawi.  A race that also featured another young sprinting superstar in the making, Marcel Kittel (who went on to win 17 races in 2011).  Steadily, Guardini racked up the wins throughout 2011 with 2 stage wins at the Tour of Turkey and then again at Portugal.  While his name was mentioned in association with the Italian national team for the World Championships in Copenhagen, to a surprise of many, he was not selected by Italian coach Paolo Bettini.  While it may be too early to compare him with Italy’s sprinting superstar, Mario Cipollini, Guardini has the power and strength to be a player again in 2012.  If Farnese secures a wildcard to the Giro again in 2012, expect to see Guardini battling for his first stage win in a Grand Tour.  A switch to a World Tour in 2013 surely must be on the cards.  

Moreno MOSER (ITALY) – Liquigas-Cannondale

All Italians will be licking their lips in anticipation of the return of a Moser to the peloton.  This time it is Moreno Moser, nephew of Lo sceriffo -Francesco Moser.  Moser joins Liquigas as a neo pro from Italian elite/u23 amateur team Lucchini Maniva Ski.  Moreno took out two stage wins at the Girobio in 2011 (baby Giro) as well as a hand full of other races through the year.  It was no surprise that Liquigas signed him up as a neo pro on the back of a successful 2011.  If Moser is half as good as his uncle, we can expect great things of Moreno in years to come.  

Leigh HORWARD (AUSTRALIA) - GreenEGDE

Howard joins GreenEDGE after two years at HTC-Columbia.  A world champion on the boards, 2011 was not overly successful with only one win – at the Ster Elektrotoer (Netherlands).  Howard raced his first grand tour (Vuelta a Espana) in 2011.  While success eluded him, the experience will prove valuable for the 2012 season.  He is a huge talent that will be nurtured at GreenEGDE.  One question remains - will the desire to chase gold at the 2012 London Olympics be a distraction for Howard in early part of the 2012 season?  Mentoring by Robbie McEwen will certainly ensure that Leigh joins the winner circle in 2012 and most certainly in 2013 when the Olympics are only a distance memory.  

Matteo TRENTIN (ITALY) - Omega Pharma-Quickstep

Several victories for Team Brilla in 2011 saw Trentin being snapped up by Quickstep.  Rather than wait for the end of the season, Quickstep brought the young talent in at August. Trentin started the season well by winning the 2011 edition of the Gran Premio della Liberazione, ahead of Australia’s Michael Hepburn.  His form continued into June when he won the Italian National under23 road race in Sicily.  We will get an opportunity to see Trentin first up in Australia during the Tour Down Under.  While there to support Ciolek, do not be surprised to see Trentin sneak home for unexpected stage win if Ciolek is now where to be found.  

Thibaut PINOT (FRANCE) – FDJ-Big Mat

The return of FDJ-Big Mat to the top league means we will get to see more of the prodigious talents of Pinot.  He had a number of wins in smaller Italian and French races, but really burst on the scene at the 2011 Critérium du Dauphiné with a number of top 10 finishes, including second on the mountainous seventh stage.  He also took out the young rider classification at the 2011 edition of the Bayern-Rundfahrt (Tour of Bavaria).  Pinot is a genuine GC rider.  Certainly one to watch in 2012 as FDJ try to steal back the mantle of best French team back from Team Europecar that had a very successful 2011 Tour De France.  

Enrico BATTAGLIN (ITALY) – Colnago CSF Bardiani

It was a surprise that Battaglin was signed up by Colnago CSF Bardiani in 2011.  His form in Italy’s amateur elite/u23 races certainly suggested that he was heading to a World Tour team in 2012.  That said, Colnago CSF Bardiani has a long history of nurturing talented riders for the big time– Modolo and Belletti are fine examples of the Colnago CSF system.  He showed his talent when, riding as a stagiaire, he won the Coppa Sabatini to take his first ever professional victory, outsprinting Davide Rebellin.  We will not get to see much of Battaglin at world tour events outside Italy.  But at Italian races, expect to see Battaglin build on his success in late 2011 and wins several big races. 

Nathan HAAS (AUSTRALIA) – Garmin-Cervelo

Nathan joins the big time in 2012 switching from local team, Genesys Wealth Advisers Pro Cycling Team, to Garmin-Cervelo after winning the National Road Series in Australia.  After winning the Herald Sun Tour, Haas upstaged grand tour winners, Ivan Basso and Damiano Cunego, to win the Japan Cup.  With this form, it was no surprise that Garmin-Cervelo, with an eye for Australian cycling talent, came knocking.  If Nathan can win a couple of stages in Europe, Shayne Bannan at GreenEDGE may well just regret that he did not sign Nathan up after his Herald Sun Tour win.  

This list only names eight riders that will shine in 2012.  I have only selected neo pros or young riders  Unfortunately there are many riders that I have no doubt missed which may also have a big 2012, like Marcel Kittel, Salvatore Puccio (Team Sky) and Fabio Aru (Astana).  May be these riders will form part of the post- 2012 rider review where I will get a chance to reflect on my list.

2011 – A memorable cycling year in more ways than one

2011 is almost drawing to a close and we are only weeks before the new season kicking off.  The off season is an opportunity to reflect on the season completed, the highs and lows, the rider movements and why the UK gets caught up with the BBC Sports Personality of the Year. Maybe Mark Cavendish, the 2011 winner can give some insights into SPOTY fever that grips the UK every Christmas time.

I have taken some time out to reflect over the season that has just been completed. 

Australian cycling – a year to remember

Road cycling was once the domain of Europe.  Lance Armstrong with seven Tour de France victories did his best to destroy that image.  2011 also confirmed another major player on the road cycling circuit - Australia.
 

The season started well with Matt Goss winning the first cycling monument for the year – Milan San Remo.  He also became the first Australian to win the 298km classic.  While not the first Australian to win a cycling monument, the win certainly highlighted the fact that Australia was a major player on the European cycling scene.  Goss was also only centimetres from winning the rainbow colours in Copenhagen as Mark Cavendish beat him across the line.

There were many stage wins by Australian riders through the World Tour.  Neo pro, Michael Matthews won his debut stage at the Tour Down Under and another stage win at the Tour of Murcia.  Cam Meyer won the Tour Down Under. But who can forget Cadel Evan’s Tour De France win?

The UCI rankings confirmed Australia’s position in the peloton. In 2011 World Tour season Australia ranked fourth ahead of established European countries like Netherlands, Germany and France.  Even Cycling Quotient ranked Australia sixth, down from last year, but still credible considering the countries of which Australia finished ahead.

If we thought that 2011 was a great year, 2012 should position Australia at the top cycling's new World Order. After months of waiting, on 6 December 2011, the UCI finally granted GreenEDGE cycling a World Tour Licence for two years.  The assembled line up, featuring some of Australia’s best riders, may not win a Grand Tour, but stage wins and one day classics are not beyond them.  I am sure that the whole of Australia is beyond this new team. 

Who can forget Australia’s track cycling team – the Cyclones.  At the 2011 UCI Track Cycling World Championships at the Omnisport Apeldoorn, Netherlands, Australia won 11 medals, including eight gold.  This was 6 gold medals more than France and seven more than Great Britain.  It was an amazing domination by Australian track cyclists and one that we all hope will be repeated at the London Olympics in 2012. 

2011 Giro – gripped by tragedy

The 2011 Giro was no different to other years. Long transfers, huge mountain stages, and long flat stages as the organisers criss-crossed the country side to celebrate the 150 year anniversary of the unification of Italy.  The start in Torino was well attended by the Italian public. However, by Stage 3, a dark cloud sank over the peloton. News had filtered through that Leopard-Trek’s Wouter Weylandt had crashed on the descent of the Bocco mountain pass around 25km from the finish line.  Despite paramedic efforts, Weylandt tragically died from his injuries. It was the first fatality on the Giro since 1986 when Emilio Ravasio crashed on the first stage and fell into a coma to die several days later.

Stage 4 was a moving stage with race organisers netrualising it to allow riders to show their respect to one of their own.  Watching Leopard-Trek riders led the peloton over the last three kilometres with Tyler Farrer was a tear jerker. The images that graced the newspapers and TV screens were something that many cycling fans will never forget. 

While cycling fans are memorized by the skills of cyclists as they fly down a mountain pass at over 80-90 kph, we can never forget the dangers that this sport throws up. Weylandt was not the first cyclist to die in a grand tour and may well not be the last. But as fans, we must ensure that race promoters organise stages that are exciting, but importantly safe for cyclists. We must boycott events that place any unnecessary risks on the participants.  No sport is worth seeing their stars being killed in action.

The sporting holy grail – captured

Australian sportsmen and sportswomen have reached the pinnacle of most sports in the world.  We have a long and successful Olympic tradition, won cricket, rugby and League world cups, FA Cup medals and F1 driver championships.  However, 24 July 2011 has been etching into Australian sporting folklore – the day that Cadel Evans became the first Australian to win the Tour De France and finally capture Australia’s sporting holy grail. 

After coming second twice in the sport’s number one race and then falling deep into the middle of the peloton in the 2010, one could not blame Cadel if he took his rainbow colours and retired from the sport.  However, testament to his character, he was not going to be stopped in finally winning this race that has eluded many Australians before him.  

No one will forget Stage 19 - Modane - Alpe-d’Huez, when even a mechanically mishap would not deny Cadel the victory that he desperately wanted.  The Schleck brothers also tried everything to drop Evans, but to no avail. By the top of Alpe-d’Huez, there was only 57 seconds that separated Andy Shleck and Evans. By stage 20, the Grenoble time trial, the gap had dissolved and Evans was in yellow and technically the winner of the 2011 Tour De France.

By the morning in Australia, the Cadel Evans Effect had taken Australia by storm.  His win was splashed across of the major papers and 6 O’Clock TV news programs.  There was a welcome home parade in Melbourne where thousands of Australians swapped their AFL colours for yellow.  Now we are waiting for the BMC bike explosion.  

Less doping more focus on what counts - racing

Too often discussion around the of sport of cycling has been dominated by doping. Who can forget the Festina affair, David Millar, Saunier Duval-Scott team withdrawing from the Tour de France in the wake of the positive drug test returned by their star climber Riccardo Ricco and later Leonardo Piepoli failing a doping test.

Not a day goes passed by without a reference to the 2010 positive test by Alberto Contador.  Reports from the 2011 Tour de France edition claim the event was doping free.  It has been a long time since we could say that. As Mark Cavendish said “I think cycling is being victimised because it wants to be a clean sport.  The fact that I can win bike races shows that I'm playing on a level playing field.”  Cadel’s win in the 2011 Tour De France shows what hard work can achieve.  

Cycling is not the only sport where its athletes take performance enhancing drugs.  Maybe it is time for other sports administrator to examine their own sport and the media to leave cycling alone.  It is trying to clean up its own house.  

I was there – 2011 Giro and 2011 Tour De France

In 2011, we travelled to Europe for six months. One of the highlights of the trip was attending 4 stages of the Giro d’Italia and three stages of the Tour de France. Everyone has a bucket list of sporting events that they want to attend.  I can now rule a line through two events on that list.

Giro start - Maddaloni

 

We made the start in Spilembergo and Maddaloni (Italy) meeting Aussie cyclists like Mark Renshaw, Cam Meyer and Robbie McEwen.  We met Italian future legends like Visconti and Nibali.  But Petacchi managed to escape us.

Me and Mark Renshaw

We were there to support Cadel Evans win the 2011 Tour De France as he climbed Alpe D'Huez and in Grenoble as he took the yellow jersey from Andy Schleck.  That is a memory that will stay with our family forever.  

Cadel warming up for the TT in Grenoble

My son managed to run alongside Alberto Contador, cheering him on in pink.  We ran beside the riders on Alpe D’Huez, may be getting too close at times are one rider yelled at him to get out of the way. 

We climbed the mythical mountains of Monte Zoncolan and Alpe d’Huez.  A highlight for any cycling fan. 

On top of Monte Zoncolan - ITALY

Alpe D'Huez -FRANCE

Cycling fans are a hard core lot.  We sat on Monte Zoncolan as the heavens opened up, drenching the crowds cheering on Nibali and booing Contador (and the organisers for changing the stage route).  We were stuck up on Zoncolan for 2 hours before the chairlifts started working again after the storm.  We were wet, we were cold and we were getting hungry. But we witnessed something that was magical – cyclist v mountain. 

That is the perfect way to wrap up my year in review.  It will not be the same watching the Giro and the TDF from our lounge room.  But we can now save for the next trip, whenever that will be.

Canberra - a production line of young cycling talent

The 2011 Jayco Herald Sun Herald Tour has just finished with Canberra cyclist Nathan Hass, taking out the top honours. Nathan Haas now joins a long line of Canberra cyclists to make it to the big time. 

Canberra has a population of around 350,000. However, proportionally it seems to produce more world class cyclists than any other city or town around Australia. A quick look around the World Tour peloton and you see the wealth of talent that the ACT producers. These include Michael Rogers (Team Sky) three times World TT Champion, Michael Matthews (Rabobank) 2010 under 23 World Road Race Champion in Geelong, Matthew Hayman (Team Sky) super domestique and 2011 Paris-Bourges winner and Chloe Hoskings (HTC-Columbia) bronze in the 2010 Commonwealth games.

However, it is the young talent that is coming through the Australian cycling ranks that is impressive. Tom Palmer, Adam Phelan (both of Drapac) and now Nathan Haas appear destined to join the pro tour ranks riding in Europe sometime in the future.

It is great to see ACT cycling at the top of their chosen discipline. It does not happen very often. These cyclists are building a pathway and a future for all young ACT cyclists.

Building grassroot support is more than a Tour de France win

I have just returned to Australia after living the European sporting dream for the last 6 months. The highlight of this sporting Tour was witnessing the first Australian to claim the yellow jersey and effectively win the Tour de France in Grenoble after a brilliant ride in the individual time trial.

Cadel Evans' Tour de France win was historic, being the first Australian to win this event. Politicians talked about holding a public holiday. Rugby League and AFL was no longer the number one discussion point around the water cooler.

In fact, by the time Australians woke up after Cadel Evans' monumental Tour de France win, the Australian media were writing about the Cadel Evans effect. The win would put cycling well and truly on the sporting map in Australia. Young Australians would take up cycling in droves to follow their new sporting hero. Weekend warriors would be out in force purchasing their new high end BMC bike.

Melbourne came out in droves to see Cadel, chase his autograph or even shake his hand. The significance of his victory was highlighted when he won The Don award for the year’s most inspirational sporting moment at the Sport Australia Hall of Fame awards.

Australians have a new sporting hero. One that was not a cricketer, footballer or from any of the mainstream sports that kids normally watch on TV. No doubt many of these fans were hoping to meet their new hero at the Town Down Under in January 2012. However, by early October, all cycling fans were digesting the news that Australia's first Tour de France winner had ruled himself out from competing at the race. Cadel's excuse was the event did not fit in with his preferred build-up to his Tour de France defence. http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/evans-rules-out-riding-santos-tour-down-under

This brings me to the question - Why doesn't Cadel Evans support Australian cycling races?

Australia hold two quality stage races, the Santos Tour Down Under (part of the World Tour) and the Jayco Herald Sun Tour. Top World Tour teams regularly participate in the Jayco Herald Sun Tour. While Cadel raced the Town Down Under in 2010 in his World Championship jersey, I do not recall many occasions when Cadel has ridden either the TDU or the Herald Sun Tour. Why is this so?

Australian fans do not get many occasions to meet their cycling heroes. It is not like France or Italy where there are many professional cycling races. The TDU would have been the first opportunity for many Australians kids to see their sporting heroes to build their association with the sport. I am sure many Australians had pre-booked their trip to the TDU in the hope Cadel would be there with his BMC team. However, this was to no avail as Cadel and his masters decided that the TDU was not on his 2012 racing schedule.

Cadel's no-show at the TDU has been an missed opportunity to build grassroot support in a competitive environment where all sports are chasing sponsorship dollars and participants. Cycling has the advantage as it has a world audience and interest. But I do question whether part of the impetus has been lost because of Cadel's lack of support of the TDU.

Cadel has the right to build a race schedule around the Tour de France. It is the sporting holy Grail for every cyclist. While I am no cycling coach, surely participating at the TDU would not have had a significant and detrimental impact on Cadel's Tour de France defence. The TDU is the first World Tour event for the year. Almost seven months before the Tour de France. The course is not onerous, unless you are a sprinter. Other cyclists have put themselves under more extreme conditions. Many of us will recall that the Pirate, Marco Pantani, won the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France in the same year. He was not the only one.

Riders like Nibali and Visconti would move heaven and earth to be selected to ride in the Giro d'Italia. It does help that the Giro is one of the three Grand Tours, but it does not escape the fact that many riders in Italy or France want to ride the main races in their countries.

Cadel Evan's decision not to ride at the TDU is certainly a missed opportunity.  Children want to see their heroes in person, just like my kids did in France this year. Not on TV, not in another country. How many young fans will become disinterested in the sport, because their new hero favours European races over Australian races?

Fans want to see Cadel at his professional best.  That is now, not as a semi-retired cyclist looking for one more pay day.