Canberra Cycling Corner - Weekly Update

The cycling focus this week shift to Limberg, Netherlands, where the 2012 UCI Road World Championships are taking place. Five ACT riders are riding in different events.

UCI ROAD WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS - SUMMARY

Aussie junior Allison Rice kicked off preceding for ACT riders at this year's Championships in the women's junior individual time trial. On a cold, wet and gloomy day, Allison managed to get around the course in 19th spot - 1.32 minutes down on eventual winner Elinor Baker (silver medallist in 2011). It was a huge result for Rice considering Barker's performance.

Top 10 - Women's Junior Time Trial

1 BARKER Elinor GBR

2 LUDWIG Cecilie Uttrup DEN  +35.87

3 DE JONG Demi NED +1:03.13

4  ROPER Emily AUS  +1:08.18

5  FORCHINI Ramona SUI +1:10.42

6  MOTTET Eva FRA  +1:11.59

7  SIGGAARD Christina DEN  +1:13.26

8 LECHNER Corinna GER  +1:13.35

9  ZIJLAARD Nicky NED  +1:14.84

10 OYARBIDE JIMENEZ Lourdes ESP  +1:15.26

After the junior TT, the focus shifted to the women's junior road race.  It was a 80.5km (5 laps of the circuit) around the Limburg.  GB's Lucy Garner took out the road race in a bunch finish.  Rice worked well to compatriot Emily Roper secure a top 10 finish.  Rice finished the race in 59th spot, 3 minutes and 27 seconds down.

Top 10 - Women's Junior Road Race

1 GARNER Lucy GBR                           2:11:26

2 BRUSTAD Eline Gleditsch NOR

3 STRICKER Anna Zita Maria ITA

4 WILLIAMSON Sophie NZL

5 DRUYTS Jessy BEL

6  POCYTE Rasa LTU

7  GUTIERREZ RUIZ Sheyla ESP

8  LUDWIG Cecilie Uttrup DEN

9  ROPER Emily AUS

10  RATAJCZAK Alicja POL

11  COPPENS Kirsten NED

12  VAN DER MEULEN Kaat BEL

Saturday, 22 September was a big race day for ACT riders.  Three riders were participating in the two events, with Drapac's Adam Phelan the best chance for a medal.

The day started off with the under 23 road race. It started at a fast and furious pace and it rarely settled down over the 177.1kms.  Unfortunately for Adam Phelan he had a puncture (with five laps to go) and two bike changes after a broken derailleur around three laps from the finish. Phelan could not break free with the peloton after a attack with a lap to go.

Phelan heads back home and will compete at the Tour of Tasmania with Drapac.

Top 10 - Under 23 Men's Road Race

1  LUTSENKO Alexey KAZ                             4:20:15
2  COQUARD Bryan FRA
3  VAN ASBROECK Tom BEL
4  HOULE Hugo CAN
5  PIBERNIK Luka SLO
6  CHAVES RUBIO Jhoan Esteban COL
7  BOHORQUEZ SANCHEZ Hernando COL
8  VAN BILSEN Kenneth BEL
9  WIPPERT Wouter NED
10 BENNETT Sam IRL

Check out the interview of Phelan after the race on Cycling Central.  http://www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/video/2282738494/

After the under 23 mens road race, the focus shifted to the women's elite road race. Two riders were in the Australia team, Gracie Elvin and Jessie Maclean.  Unfortunately there was a massive fall in the women's race that took out half the field.  It appears that Gracie and Jessie were caught up in the crash.  Jessie finished in 71st spot and Gracie in 72nd spot.  Both finished 6.04 minutes down on the winner, Marianne Vos.

Top 10 - Women's Elite Women's Race

1  VOS Marianne NED                       3:14:29

2  NEYLAN Rachel AUS                      3:14:39 +10

3  LONGO BORGHINI Elisa ITA         3:14:47 +18

4 NEBEN Amber USA                         3:15:02 +33

5  VAN DER BREGGEN Anna NED    3:15:24 +55

6  RATTO Rossella ITA                       3:18:09 +3:40

7  VILLUMSEN Linda Melanie NZL  3:19:06 +4:37

8 17 ARNDT Judith GER

9  JOHANSSON Emma SWE

10  BRZEZNA-BENTKOWSKA Paulina POL

Rabobank's Michael Matthews is currently riding in the men's elite road race - the last race on the program. 

Well done to all the ACT riders that represented Australia.

WEEKLY WRAP OF RACES

The road season is slowly coming to a end after a huge season for ACT riders.  Miffy Galloway has returned back home and Fabio Calabria will be back in the next two weeks.  Let's hope we see them at the CCC Summer Criterium.

Canberra riders participating at internatioanl events and domestic events include:

Ben Hill, Mitch Lovelock-Fay and Joe Lewis have been riding in the Tour of China II over the last week. Mitch is currently 5th on the GC and Joe Lewis 16th after 4 stages. Both riders had a strong stage 4 TT.

A number of Canberra riders were participating at the NSW Elite, U23 & U19 Road Championships and Kurrajong Classic this weekend.  These included Marc Williams, Etienne Blumstein-Jones, Mitch Flynn, David Gillies, Kris Johnston, William Lind, Matthew Rizzuto.  Competing in the u23 were Alastair Loutit and Laurent Groom. In the women's elite were Lisa Keeling and Yvette Fisher.  There were also a number of riders in the under 19 races. No update on results, but a quick review of twitter indicates no success for ACT riders.

No luck for Allison Rice in the junior womens time trial

No luck for ACT resident, Allison Rice, in the junior women's time trial around the Valkenburg, Netherlands.  On a grey and damp morning, Rice completed the 15.6 km circuit in 19th spot, 1 minute and 32 seconds down on the winner, Britain's Elinor Baker. 



Today's result almost replicated last year where Rice finished in 18th spot.

Rice now turns here attention to the women's junior road race on Friday.

1	Elinor BARKER (GBR), in 22:26.29
2	Cecilie LUDWIG (DEN), at :35.87
3	Demi DE JONG (NED), at 1:03.13
4	Emily ROPER (AUS), at 1:08.18
5	Ramona FORCHINI (SUI), at 1:10.42
6	Eva MOTTET (FRA), at 1:11.59
7	Christina SIGGAARD (DEN), at 1:13.26
8	Corinna LECHNER (GER), at 1:13.35
9	Nicky ZIJLAARD (NED), at 1:14.84
10	Lourdes OIARBIDE (ESP), at 1:15.26
11	Lotte KOPECKY (BEL), at 1:19.07
12	Corine VAN DER ZIJDEN (NED), at 1:22.74
13	Stella RIVERDITI (ITA), at 1:23.16
14	Alicja RATAJCZYK (POL), at 1:26.56
15	Anastasia JAKOVENKO (RUS), at 1:26.80
16	Dana LODEWYKS (BEL), at 1:27.46
17	Georgia BAKER (AUS), at 1:28.47
18	Addyson ALBERSHARDT (USA), at 1:29.23
19	Allison RICE (AUS), at 1:32.00
20	Katarzyna NIEWIADOMA (POL), at 1:32.71
21	Grace ALEXANDER (USA), at 1:36.64
22	Gulnaz BADYKOVA (RUS), at 1:38.99
23	Hanna HELAMB (SWE), at 1:39.13
24	Anna KNAUER (GER), at 1:39.49
25	Milda JANKAUSKAITE (LTU), at 1:41.15
26	Simona BORTOLOTTI (ITA), at 1:43.73
27	Alexandra NESSMAR (SWE), at 1:47.07
28	28. Yao PANG (HKG), at 1:55.35
29	29. Manon BOURDIAUX (FRA), at 1:56.35
30	Zavinta TITENYTE (LTU), at 1:57.71
31	Heidi DALTON (RSA), at 2:07.04
32	Sheila GUTIÉRREZ (ESP), at 2:08.26
33	Claudia BUITRAGO (COL), at 2:13.16
34	Katsiaryna PIATROVSKAYA (BLR), at 2:21.25
35	Erica VARELA (MEX), at 2:22.63
36	Antonela FERENCIC (CRO), at 2:34.07
37	Allyson GILLARD (CAN), at 3:06.37
38	Alexandra KOZLOVA (BLR), at 3:22.49
39	Olga SHEKEL (UKR), at 3:36.91
40	Saskia KOWALCHUK (CAN), at 4:47.56

Canberra Cycling Corner - Weekly Update

It was another big week for Canberra cyclist around the world. Nathan Haas finally showed the world why Garmin-Sharp opened the cheque book and signed him up last year after a huge National Road Series in Australia.

ROGERS PULLS OUT OF THE 2012 UCI ROAD WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

After the disappointment of hearing Rory Sutherland had withdrawn from the Australian long-list, we heard today that one of two ACT riders in the men's elite road race had withdrew from the world champs.  Michael Rogers tweeted earlier today that inflamed tonsils were the reason for his withdrawal.  He is hoping that he will be better to compete at the Tour of China in a couple of weeks. 

Rogers withdrawal will be a huge loss for the young and inexperienced Australian team.  With O'Grady, Evans and Hayman already unavailable, Rogers gave the team much needed experience.

Rogers misfortune could be bonus for in form ACT rider, Nathan Haas, who is predicted to be one of the riders that could be brought into the squad.

HAAS SURPRISES EVERYONE AT THE TOUR OF BRITAIN

Just like last year during the Australian National Road Series, Nathan Haas (Garmin-Sharp) has come into top form during the second half of the season, finishing second at the Tour of Britain - 18 seconds behind the winner Jonathan Tiernan-Locke (Endura Racing). While everyone was talking about Leigh Howard (Orica-GreenEdge) as a potential GC winner, it was Haas that slipped under the radar with a number of top 10 finishes to almost take out the Tour, including a third place on the Tour's Queen stage - Stage 6.

Let's hope there is a call-up to the Australian squad after a solid performance in Britain.  Well done Nathan.  Less hope 2013 with be the breakthrough year.

Haas with winner Tiernan-Locke and third place Daniel Caruso (Liquigas)

BUCHANAN MAKES UP FOR A DISAPPOINTING OLYMPICS

While there was no gold medal at the Olympics for Buchanan, the year was not without success.  Buchanan retained her BMX World Cup title with a strong performance in final round at Abbortsford Canada.  Buchanan had to recover from a spill in the final, but recovered to finish 5th.

After the race Buchanan said ''I would have loved to win today but it's good to know I was up there. Racing against the clock, I was the fastest girl but I know I still have a lot to work on next year.''

http://www.canberratimes.com.au/sport/cycling/buchanan-willoughby-claim-world-cup-crowns-20120916-260rk.html


WHEN ARE CANBERRA RIDERS PARTICIPATING AT THE 2012 UCI ROAD WORLD CHAMPS

With the withdrawal of Rogers there are now only 5 ACT riders completing at the 2012 UCI Road World Championships in the Netherlands.  The times (local times) that they are racing are outlined below.  SBS is showing the men's and women's elite road races.

Tuesday 18 September 2012

10.30 - 12.20 - Individual Time trail, Junior Women (15,6 km) Eijsden/Margraten - Valkenburg - Allison Rice

Friday, 21 September 2012

14.00 - 16.10  - Road Race, Junior Women (65 km) Road race course - Allison Rice


Saturday, 22 September 2012

09.00 - 13.15 - Road Race, Under-23 Men (177 km) Road race course - Adam Phelan
14.30 - 17.45 - Road Race, Elite Women (129 km) Road race course - Gracie Elvin and Jessie Maclean

Sunday, 23 September 2012

10.45 - 17.00 - Road Race, Elite Men (267 km) South Limburg & Road race course  - Michael Matthews
 

EMOTIONAL RACE FOR THE 2012 GOULBURN TO SYDNEY

The 2012 edition of the Goulburn to Sydney was an emotional race for everyone, particularly Drapac, as everyone was racing in memory of the late Robbie Williams (Drapac) who died last month.  Riders observed a minute's silence in honour of Robbie before the race commenced. The best result was achieved by Brendan Johnston from Canberra team, Suzuki-Trek, who finished 9th.  Other results were:

23th       Marc Williams (Budget Forklifts);

58th       Kris Johnston (Canberra CC)

60th       Mitchell Flynn (Suzuki Trek)    

61st        Matthew Rizzuto (Canberra CC)

64th       Laurent Groom (Suzuki Trek)

67th       Thomas Palmer (Drapac Professional Cycling)

82nd      Jason Chalker (Canberra CC)

83rd       Mitchell Pearson (Suzuki Trek)

84th       Stuart Shaw (Drapac Professional Cycling)

95th       David Gillies (Canberra CC)

96th       Sam Sautelle (Suzuki Trek)

121st     Joel Finucane (Canberra CC)

125th     Alastair Loutit (GPM - Wilson Racing)

135th     Karl Michelin-Beard (Canberra CC)

WEEKLY WRAP OF RACES

With the World Champs on this week, there are only a limited number of races. 

Ben Hill (Team Australia) - Finished the Tour of China in 40th spot overall.

Joe Lewis (BMC-Hincapie Sportswear Development Team) - After a solid start, Lewis finished in 44th spot Tour of China.

Mitch Lovelock-Fay (Team Australia) - Mitch put in a big performance assisting the team. Mitch ended up finishing 56 th spot at the Tour of China.

LOCAL RACES 

Under glorious local conditions, Vikings Cycling Club held its 2012 VCC Road Race Championships around Uriarra Homestead on Saturday. The race was hosted by ANU Cycling Club and was well represented. Results of the race have not been posted. They should be found at the link below.
 



http://raceresults.vikingscycling.org.au/race/84/ 

Canberra Cycling Club holds the Lookout Hill Handicap this Saturday (22 September).  Race commences at 9.00am sharp. With no kids football, it is time to dust off the race legs and make it to my first race in 4 months.

http://www.canberracyclingclub.org.au/events/details.asp?IntContId=1683&IntCatId=33

Six Canberra riders make the final Australian team

Cycling Australia today released the Cyclones Australian Team for the UCI Road World Championship that starts this weekend. 

The Canberra riders include:

Michael Rogers (Team Sky) - Elite men's Road Race
Michael Matthews (Rabobank) - Elite men's Road Race

Gracie Elvin (Team Faren Honda) - Elite women's road race
Jessie Maclean (GreenEdge-AIS) - Elite women's road race

Adam Phelan (Drapac) - under 23 men's road race

Allison Rice (Suzuki-Trek) Likely women's junior road race and time trial

Adam Phelan and Allison Rice are likely to be Canberra's riders that are capable of securing a podium finish in Limburg (Netherlands).  Gracie Elvin has had a string of strong performances in Europe over the last three months, therefore, she might spring a surprise. 

I question the selectors decision not to chose Michael Rogers in the time trial.  He raced a solid ITT at the Olympics for Australia, won the 2012 Bayern-Rundfahrt Stage 4 ITT, came 3rd in the ITT at the 2012 Critérium du Dauphiné as well as numerous top 10 finishers at other key races. 

I was equally shocked with the non-selection of Rory Sutherland.  Apparently Sutherland withdrew from the long list.  I wonder if knew if was not going to get selected, so he was saving himself a lot of disappointment and heartache. In my opinion, Rory was the form rider of the Australian long list and should have been a certain starter.

I have not been able to find the reason from Chloe Hosking not been selected.  It is possible that the selectors had concerns about her ability to perform on the hilly circuit. 

Good luck to all the Canberra riders.

Details of the full Cyclones squad can be found at: http://www.cycling.org.au/?Page=47721

Are we too soft on drug cheats? Time to go back to the drawing board.

Two stories have been running hot in the cycling media over the last six weeks.  The return to competitive racing of Alberto Contador following a positive drug test and US Anti-Doping Agency giving Lance Armstrong a lifetime ban for doping violations.

I have asked myself the question for a long time whether the authorities have been doing enough to drive doping out of sport. Sure, the UCI is doing more than a lot of other sports through the introduction of the biological passports, out of competition controls etc. However, some riders are still trying to beat the system to get an unfair advantage over their competitors. Simply, they are committing sport fraud. 

I am not a professional athlete.  Far from it. But I like to be as competitive as possible.  But nothing has driven me to try to get an advantage over a fellow competitive outside training hard and being mentally tougher on the day.

So what drives a cyclists to dope? Is it the need to better than their competitors, the financially benefits or just the desire to win the biggest cycling race in the world - the Tour de France.

But the recent actions of Lance Armstrong and Alberto Contador appear to be thumbing their nose at the authorities and at the punishment associated with the violation. During a speech a World Cancer Congress, Armstrong said:

"My name is Lance Armstrong. I am a cancer survivor, I'm a father of five. And yes, I won the Tour de France seven times."

Contador is no better. When he crossed the line in Madrid after Stage 21 of the Vuelta he signalled to the crowd the number 7 with his hands - 7 grand tour victories.  But 2 of those victories were stripped from him for doping violations.  He would later say:

"Mentally, it is the image of the grand tours that I won," 

"What's written down on paper could be one thing or another. But in the end what counts is your own feeling, and the memory that remains imprinted on the retinas of the fans. What's on paper is secondary."

If a cyclist has not accepted the punishment, then he has not clearly accepted any wrong doing.

These athletes are role models for today's youth and the next generations of cyclists that are coming through the system.  They should be telling them that doping is not acceptable, under any circumstance.

Self-confessed drug cheat, Tyler Hamilton, is happy to talk about his experiences, the wider problem of doping in the peloton and drop a bucket on Lance Armstrong as he publicizes his new book The Secret Race: Inside the Hidden World of the Tour de France: Doping, Cover-ups and Winning at All Costs. During a interview with Leigh Sales on the 7.30 (An ABC program), he said something that was quiet interesting.

"I was called by a federal investigator by the name of Jeff Novitzky and basically I went in front of the grand jury and told the whole truth. If not it's a criminal - if you don't tell the truth, you can go to prison."

Why did Hamilton finally come clean? It was not the need to set the record straight. It was not his conscience telling him that it was the right this to do.  It was not about given the authorities an upper hand again the drug cheats by understand how athletes beat the system.  It did not matter that holding this secret was eating him up inside and that he was prepared to the secret to the grave.  Hamilton need a reason to tell the world his dirty little secret.

It was the risk of prison. He did not want to go to prison or be separated from his love ones.  Finally, there was an incentive to set the record straight.

If prison was the only real incentive for Hamilton to come clean, then maybe, the UCI, WADA and the cycling federations need to adopt tougher penalties for drug cheats.  Doping is not a criminal offence, which limits the ability of authorities to hand down prison terms.  But it does not stop them from permanently banning the athlete from competition. The punishment must be tough enough to send a signal that doping will not be tolerated. It is sporting fraud.

Contador received a two-year ban, he ultimately served just six-month away from competition as his suspension was back dated.  He was immediately resigned by his team, therefore, he faced little financial consequences from the ban.

I have no faith that the authorities will take a tough enough position on doping that will cause a rider to question whether they should use EPO or some other performance enhancing drug.  I am sure we will be having this debate in three years time.

But as Laurent Fignon said in his autobiography We Were Young and Carefree "There will always be a number of cheats, particularly because the core of our system, rather like the crisis-hit world economy, is completely perverted by money. It's about money for its own sake."

We have to turn off the money supply.  The only way to do that is to take the riders out of the sport forever.  Never to be welcomed back.

Too harsh.

Maybe, but we must must get the incentives right so our young athletes do not get tempted to stick a needle in their arm so they can win. 

Canberra Cycling Corner - Weekly Update

After missing last week's update because of Father's Day, the focus shifts back to cycling action. The last Grand tour has finished with Simon Clark (Orica-GreenEdge) being the second Australia to win the mountain classification in a Grand Tour.  Let's hope it is not a poison challis like poor Matt Lloyd, which has not had much luck since winning the mountain classification in the 2010 Giro d'Italia.

Canberra held host to the 2012 Cycling Australia U15 and U17 Road National Championships over the weekend.  ACT cyclists got no home town advantage in the wet and windy conditions with no rider picking up a podium finish in either criterium, road or ITT events.

A BIG SHOUT FOR SUE POWELL

Sue Powell (Vikings Cycling Club member) was not going to let Anna Meares be the only Australian to win a gold medal during a cycling event at the 2012 Olympics/Paralympics.  Powell opened Australia's account at the 2012 Paralympics with a gold medal in the C4 Individual Pursuit. Powell also set the world record by two seconds in her earlier heat.  A huge effort that all of Canberra is proud off.  She followed that effort up with a silver medal in the women's C4 time trial in the women road race.





WEEKLY WRAP OF RACES

The 2012 UCI Road World Championships are only a week away.  The last of the Classics is only 18 days away.  The European season is coming to an end.  So lets see were Canberra riders are riding this week or have been in the past week.

Nathan Haas (Garmin-Sharp) - All roads lead to Britain this week with the Tour of Britain commencing last night. Nathan teams with with his ex-Genesys team mate - Steele Vonhoff. Unfortunately the first stage did not go as planned for Nathan, crashing within the last three kilometres. He was in good company as Mark Cavendish was involved in the same crash.

Michael Matthews (Rabobank) - Matthews is picking up the frquent flyers miles as he heads across the Atlantic to Canada.  Canada did not bring the same joy as the US this time round. At the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montreal, Matthews failed to make it to the podium, finishing in 71st.

Gracie Elvin - (Team Faren Honda) - Gracie's preparations for the 2012 UCI World Road Race is continuing with a strong performance in the BrainWash Tour.  After 6 stages, Gracie finished in a very solid 39th spot.

Miffy Galloway (Team Faren Honda) - Returns to Italy after completing in the BrainWash Tour in Netherlands.  A tough race with Miffy abandoning the race after 3 stages. Let's hope we see Miffy return to the CCC Summer Criterium Series soon.

Mitch Lovelock-Fay (Team Australia) - After a guest role for Suzuki-Trek, Lovelock-Fay pulls on the jersey for Team Australia at the Tour of China. It appears that Mitch is working to get Ben Hill a result. Sitting 58th after three stages.

Ben Hill (Team Australia) - Ben is ripping it up for Team Australia in the Tour of China. Just missed out on taking 3rd spot during Stage 2 and then followed it up with a 12th spot during the third Stage. He is sitting nicely in 40th spot, 57 seconds down on the leader.

Joe Lewis (BMC-Hincapie Sportswear Development Team) - After a string of strong performances during the Subaru National Road Series, Lewis joins the BMC-Hincapie development team at the Tour of China.  He is certainly giving team bosses plenty of food for thought by finishing 4th in a big sprint finish during the third stage.

Suzuki-Trek is racing at the Tour of Caledonia. Due to terrible internet links, I have no updates on their performance.

Stuart Shaw (Drapac) - With Hill, Lovelock-Fay and Lewis riding in the Tour of China and Suzuki-Trek team riding the Tour of Caledonia, the only ACT representative at the Jayco Tour of the Murry River was Stuart Shaw. After a couple of 4th spots, Stuart finished in 12th spot overall on the General Classification.

The season is over for Matt Hayman (Team Sky) who underwent arthroscopic surgery to a tear in his left labrum - the cartilage that holds the ball at the top of the femur to the pelvic bone - on 2 August.More details on Hayman see an informative article on cyclingnews

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/surgery-brings-an-end-to-haymans-season


LOCAL RACES

Time to stop using my son's football games as an excuse and get back into the racing season.  Next race for me will be CCC race at Lookout Hill Handicap (22/10/2012) - time to get in some training.  However, over the weekend, the CCC held its Symonston Criterium.  Results can be found at:
 
http://www.canberracyclingclub.org.au/events/details.asp?IntContId=1682&IntCatId=33

Look out the Goulburn to Sydney Cycle Classic that commences next Sunday.  It will be the 110th Edition of this Australian Classic.