Bicycle Racing News and Opinion,
Friday, January 28, 2022
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2021 Tour de France | 2021 Giro d'Italia
Luck is a matter of preparation meeting opportunity. - Seneca
Bill and Carol McGann's book The Story of the Giro d'Italia, A Year-by-Year History of the Tour of Italy, Vol 2: 1971 - 2011 is available as an audiobook here. For the print and Kindle eBook versions, just click on the Amazon link on the right.
Current racing:
- Jan 23 - 29 Santos Festival of Cycling
- Jan 26 - 29, 2022: Challenge Illes Balears
Upcoming racing:
- Jan 30 - Feb 6, 2022:
Vuelta a San JuanCancelled - Jan 30: GP Cycliste la Marseillaise
- Feb 1 -5: Saudi Tour
- Feb 2 - 6: Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana
- Feb 2 - 6: Etoile de Bessèges
- Feb 12, 2022: Gavere Cyclocross
Latest completed racing:
- Jan 22, 2022: Flandriencross
- Jan 1, 2022: GP Sven Nys Cross
- Dec 30: Azencross
- Dec 29:
DiegemcrossCancelled - Dec 27: Heusden Zolder Cyclocross
- Dec 19: Namur Cyclocross
- Dec 11: Ethiascross-Essen
Bicycle Retailer and Industry News sent me this email:
MORGAN HILL, Calif. (BRAIN) — Specialized Bicycle Components will begin direct online sales of bikes to U.S. consumers next week, adding a “Rider Direct” option for the purchase of non-electric bikes from its website.
The company held Zoom calls with retailers on Thursday to go over the details, after sharing the plan with key retailers earlier this week.
Starting next week consumers who want to buy a Specialized bike can opt to pick up the bike at a nearby store; have a nearby store deliver an assembled bike to their home with "white glove, concierge" service; or have a mostly-assembled bike delivered directly to their home with no dealer involvement.
Here’s the team’s post:
Trofeo Port d'Alcudia fails to net top result for the Band of Brothers
The second day of the Mallorca Challenge presented the riders with 173 km around Port d'Alcudia. Compared to the previous day, however, the parcours was flatter and therefore offered the fast men a chance to take the spoils. As on yesterday's stage, BORA-hansgrohe rode an offensive race and was always to be seen at the front of the peloton. However, this strong teamwork was ultimately not rewarded in the finale, where the sprinters in the field fought it out for the victory. The best-placed BORA-hansgrohe rider was Marco Haller, who finished in 16th place.
Biniam Girmay wins the Trofeo Alcudia
"We were without question the strongest team throughout the day. Cece and Pösti were both Man of the Match. We have to admit that Nils and I didn't ride perfectly over the last kilometre. It's crushing and disappointing not to be able to reward the team's strong work today, because they were by far the strongest squad in the race." - Marco Haller
"Our riders put in a strong race. They really put into practice everything that we discussed in the morning. They were very motivated to take control of the race, but unfortunately it didn't work out like we had planned for the faster guys over the last 600m. It certainly wasn't what we were hoping for, but nevertheless, chapeau to the whole team. They gave their best and I'm looking forward to the upcoming races where I'm certain that things will work out in the sprint." - Thorsten Schmidt, Sports Director
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Here’s the report from Cortina’s Team Movistar:
Movistar Team work their hearts out for Spaniard's chances, increasing the pace at crucial Sa Batalla climb before sprint, as Iván finishes centimeters off the podium behind unstoppable winner Ghirmay (IWG).
A victory didn’t ultimately happen, yet an attitude like this is certain to be rewarded sooner rather than later. The whole Movistar Team worked on Thursday focused on a sole goal on day two of the Challenge Mallorca, the Trofeo Alcudia – Port d’Alcudia (173km): supporting Iván García Cortina en route to a long-awaited first win in Blue colours.
The Spaniard’s six team-mates took a huge share of the work at the front of the bunch to propel his chances. While Barta, Hollmann, Sosa -in an impressive debut in Movistar Team kit- and Lazkano picked up the pace over the pivotal Sa Batalla KOM, Oier, Mas and Torres kept the affectionally called ‘Guaje’ in good position heading into the sprint.
Ivan Garcia Cortina winning stage three of the 2020 Paris-Nice.
In the end, Cortina had to stay content with 4th place, as Erithrean Biniam Ghirmay (IWG) took an impressive victory in front of Ryan Gibbons (UAD) and Giacomo Nizzolo (IPT). Iván will have another chance at Sunday’s Trofeo Palma; before that, the two toughest courses in this year’s Challenge are on the program, starting with Friday’s Puig Major climb in the Trofeo Serra de Tramuntana.
Trofeo Serra de Tramuntana lineup (Friday 28th): Matteo Jorgenson, Enric Mas, Gregor Mühlberger, Gonzalo Serrano, Iván Sosa, Albert Torres, Alejandro Valverde.
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The Miche firm sent me this announcement:
Wilier Triestina and F.a.c. di Michelin (generally known as the wheels and components brand Miche), have agreed to set up a new industrial group led by Wilier Triestina and projected towards becoming a centre of excellence for the Italian - and in particular the Veneto - bike industry.
With a synergistic approach, the two Italian brands will be sharing resources, tools, know-how and experience, while maintaining their operational, managerial and brand independence.
The sole aim of this union between the two brands, both widely appreciated for their manufacturing excellence, is to grow as organically as possible in order to provide ever better services to their customers.
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Andrea Gastaldello - Wilier Triestina group President:
“We are delighted to announce the establishment of this new Group. In an increasingly global world, it is only right for medium-sized companies like ours to join forces and achieve increasingly challenging growth and customer service goals. While drawing synergistically on each other’s industrial and commercial strengths, the two companies will preserve their independence, with the owner of Miche continuing in his role as CEO of the company. This first step will generate an aggregate group turnover of about 80 millions Euros and we are not ruling out the possibility of making further acquisitions of industrial enterprises that share our values and objectives.”
Luigi Michelin - CEO of F.a.c. di Michelin:
“We have joined in this strategic industrial project developed by Wilier Triestina, a company very similar to Miche in terms of its history and values. The operation comes at a time of great growth and development for our company, which is why my family and I have had no qualms about making such a historical decision. Our aim is to guarantee a sound future for the Miche corporate project by enhancing its features and taking it beyond a merely family-run dimension. We are delighted to embark on this new adventure with Wilier Triestina. The first step is to take a strong personal involvement in the development of a group Business Plan with clear growth objectives and important repercussions for all our stakeholders, in particular customers and employees.”
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