Bicycle Racing News and Opinion,
Thursday, January 14, 2021
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2020 Tour de France | 2020 Giro d'Italia
The audiobook version of The Story of the Tour de France, Volume 1 is available.
Everywhere is within walking distance if you have the time. - Steven Wright
Upcoming racing:
- Jan 19 - 24: Santos Festival of Cycling
- Jan 23: Flandriencross
- Jan 24 - 31:
Vuelta a San Juan(cancelled) - Jan 28 - 31:
Challenge Illes Belears(postponed)
Latest completed racing:
- Jan 1: GP Sven Nys Cyclocross
- Dec 26: Heusden-Zolder Cyclocross
- Dec 23: Azencross-Herentals
- Dec 20: Namur Cyclocross
- Dec 13: Gavere Cyclocross
- Dec 12: Scheldecross
- Nov 14: GP Leuven Cyclocross
- Nov 7 - 8: European Cyclocross Championships
Deceuninck-Quick Step 2021 riders presented to the media - Remco Evenepoel's return to racing is postponed
The team posted this:
Julian Alaphilippe, Sam Bennett, Mark Cavendish, Remco Evenepoel, Fabio Jakobsen and Yves Lampaert all talked about their goals and expectations for this season.
The 30 riders that make up our 2021 roster interacted with members of the media through a digital press conference. As we prepare to kick off our season, which we will start in earnest at the beginning of February, the expectations are again high after the team concluded each of the previous years at the top of the victory classification.
Deceuninck – Quick-Step CEO Patrick Lefevere underlined the importance of a sense of normality in the circumstances, with the calendar going ahead as scheduled: “Hopefully we can race as soon as possible. It continues to be a strange situation, but we’ll try to get over everything, just like we did last year, when we faced this – at that time – completely new situation. Last season was very awkward and complicated, but we still performed. We tried again to win as much as possible, we had both quality and quantity, and we hope for a repeat of this scenario in 2021.”
One of the first riders to speak Wednesday afternoon was Remco Evenepoel, who prematurely ended his season in 2020 after crashing at Il Lombardia. The soon to be 21-year-old announced that he will postpone his return to racing, as he is still experiencing some pain as consequence of his injury: “We don’t know yet when and where I will be able to restart. I want to give myself and my body the time it needs to get to 100% before returning on the bike. I am not panicking, as the goal is to be on schedule in February. This year, I will once again aim for the Giro d’Italia. The team's amazing display at the race in 2020 motivated me and I want to be at the start to discover the race and its fantastic fans, but for the moment my biggest goal is to make a full recovery.”
Remco Evenepoel wins stage three of the 2020 Vuelta a Burgos
Another rider who is on the mend after crashing last August is Fabio Jakobsen. The former Dutch Champion, a winner of 18 races in the pro ranks, talked about his recovery and how important it is for him to be back with the team: “Right now I am riding my bike again, doing training rides with the guys here. The feeling on the bike is ok and for now it’s going slowly but steadily towards feeling again a professional bike rider. Everybody here at Deceuninck – Quick-Step supported me and I am grateful for that. Being now at the side of last year’s best Tour de France sprinter and the biggest sprinter in the history of the race gives me a huge motivation. I still don’t know when I will be back to racing, as in February I am scheduled for another surgery, but the most important thing is that I am here with the guys. I can’t tell you what it means for me after the worst experience of my life. This team is like a family, we spend time with each other, we care for each other, and I’m just happy to be with them.”
Last year was an unforgettable one for Sam Bennett. Having joined Deceuninck – Quick-Step before the start of the season, the Irish Champion made a splash on the very first day of the World Tour calendar, taking the win and the leader’s jersey at stage 1 of the Tour Down Under. It augured well for what was to come in September, when he returned at the start of the Tour de France after four years and captured two memorable victories en route to an historic triumph in the points classification. By doing this, he joined Sean Kelly as the only Irishmen to have won the prestigious green jersey, a career-defining performance for Bennett, who wrapped his season at the Vuelta a España by claiming another stage victory.
“I don’t know if I can top 2020, which was such an incredible season, but I would like to get some more stages at Le Tour, especially as this year’s parcours is more sprinter-friendly. I would also like to get a one-day World Tour win, it’s something that’s missing from my palmares and I hope to tick it off this year. I had a good winter, the training camp is going very well so far, the condition is building and the confidence is there, so hopefully things will continue in that direction and we’ll soon be in action”, said Sam.
Back with the Wolfpack after five years, Mark Cavendish explained what it means for him to pull on the jersey for the team where he enjoyed some of the biggest moments of his career: “I am very happy to be here again and can’t wait to start racing. I want to continue enjoying racing and thankfully I will do it with Deceuninck – Quick-Step this year. Even if I’m not winning, I can still add something to the team, I did that last time I was here and the team did the same for me. I was the happiest in my previous spell with the team and having the opportunity to be here again is a dream.”
For Yves Lampaert, who’s been a member of the squad since 2015, the season will once again revolve around the cobblestone Classics, where in the past he took two victories and several top 10 placings: “I hope I can win a big Classic. It will not be easy, but last year gave me a lot of confidence for this season and I want to build on that. I won De Panne, was runner-up at Omloop and top 10 in Flanders and Gent-Wevelgem, so I will continue to work hard in order to achieve my dream while at the same time helping the team be in the mix in all those big races that are our bread and butter.”
“My main goal is to have a strong first part of the season. I will start my campaign next month and I hope to keep a good form all the way until Liège–Bastogne–Liège. I am still recovering after my crash in Flanders last November, and although I’ve made some improvements since December, I still need a few weeks to be fully fit”, said Julian Alaphilippe, the fourth Deceuninck – Quick-Step rider in history to have won the World Road Race Championships. “I hope for a solid Classics campaign and to return at the start of De Ronde, but at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter what races I will do, the most important thing is to perform like I did in the last years and to enjoy every day I spend in the rainbow jersey.”
EF Education–NIPPO and Cannondale Bicycles extend to 2023
The team sent me this release:
EF Pro Cycling and Cannondale Bicycles will continue as partners at the highest level of road cycling — and on trails and dirt roads at new races — into the 2023 season.
The team and Cannondale have worked together since 2015, when Cannondale Pro Cycling joined with what was then the Garmin-Sharp outfit. And while team names have changed over time, the constant is the performance-leading bicycles the team pilots and the strong collaborative efforts between the team and Cannondale.
EF Pro Cycling (shown being presented at the 2019 Tour de France) will be riding Cannondale bikes for some time to come. Sirotti photo
“At the core, the relationship with Cannondale is about evolution and revolution. We want to make progress on the roads, off the roads, and ultimately keep pushing the boundaries of our sport outward,” said EF Pro Cycling CEO Jonathan Vaughters. “We want to work with Cannondale to highlight the beauty of the elite level but also make the sport more accessible everywhere. We want more people riding bikes with smiles on their faces.”
The length of the agreement gives the team and Cannondale time to make true progress across multiple fronts: road, first and foremost, as well as mountain and gravel, since the team is now racing a mixed calendar of events. Beyond the road, the partnership has come to life on the wheels of the team’s alternative race calendar. From the empty dirt roads of Kansas to the rock paths of Great Britain and the high peaks of Leadville, Colorado. The new events allow the team and Cannondale to partner across disciplines, opening up the sport’s many facets and the perception of professional road cyclists.
The extension allows the team and Cannondale to continue the technical progressions that have borne fruit in recent seasons, from the team’s renewed success in the team time trial to its involvement in fine-tuning the bicycles Cannondale engineers have in development.
“Our ambitions to build a larger community in cycling are in line with the spirit of EF Pro Cycling,” said Jonathan Geran, director of sports marketing for Cannondale. “We’re all working toward the same common goals – be the world’s favorite team, race with character and heart, and shift perceptions of what people think about bicycles, professional cycling, and its riders.”
The extension is a result of technical progress and open doors between the team and Cannondale.
“The bikes we race on from Cannondale this season are truly the peak of performance,” said Andreas Klier, the team’s head of Technical Operations and its Commercial Manager. “At a certain level, you expect every bike to be great. But what really sets us apart is the way we work together on all the details around the bikes, particularly new ones. The doors are open on both sides, and in an elite performance environment, this is very important. Beyond the bike frames, we’ve been able to make tremendous gains over the years with Cannondale’s suppliers as well, such as FSA/Vision, Prologo and Vittoria.”
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