Bicycle Racing News and Opinion,
Tuesday, March 28, 2023
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2022 Tour de France | 2022 Giro d'Italia
The cleverest of all, in my opinion, is the man who calls himself a fool at least once a month. - Fyodor Dostoevsky
Les Woodland's book Cycling's 50 Triumphs and Tragedies: The rise and fall of bicycle racing's champions is available in print, Kindle eBook & audiobook versions. To get your copy, just click on the Amazon link on the right.
Upcoming racing
- March 29: Dwars door Vlaanderen
- March 31: Route Adéle de Vitré
- April 1: GP Miguel Indurain
- April 1: Volta Limburg Classic
- April 2: Ronde van Vlaanderen
Latest completed racing:
- March 20 - 26: Volta a Catalunya
- March 26: Gent-Wevelgem
- March 26: GP Industria & Artigianato
- March 26: La Roue Tourangelle
- March 21 - 25: Settimana Internazionale Coppi e Bartali
- March 24: E3 Saxo Bank Classic
- March 22: Classic Brugge-De Panne
- March 19: Cholet/Pays de Loire
- March 19: Per Sempre Alfredo
- March 18: Milano-Sanremo
Here’s the team’s update:
A strong seven-man squad featuring Julian Alaphilippe and Tim Merlier will be at the start of the month’s last World Tour race.
Wednesday schedules another cobbled Classic, Dwars door Vlaanderen, which takes place over a 183.7km course between Roeselare and Waregem. On the menu, eight pavé sectors and eleven climbs, among which Hotond, Kanarieberg, Knokteberg, or the famous Nokereberg – the last difficulty of the day, coming with just ten kilometers to go.
Mathieu van der Poel won in 2022. Who will win in 2023? Sirotti photo
Soudal Quick-Step will tackle the 77th edition of the race with a solid and motivated team consisting of Julian Alaphilippe – making his second appearance here after the one of 2021 – Davide Ballerini, Belgian Champion Tim Merlier, Casper Pedersen, Jannik Steimle, Bert Van Lerberghe and Stan Van Tricht.
“The race should have a quiet start, but once we hit the hills, everything will come to life. It won’t be easy to control and you really have to be there. We hope that Julian is recovered after his problems in Harelbeke and finds his legs again to be up there. Davide is also coming in fresh, while Tim and Bert did a very good race on Sunday and they can go for their chance if everything comes back together. Julian and Tim are our leaders for Wednesday and we will try to get the maximum out of this race”, said sports director Tom Steels.
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Bicycle Retailer & Industry News posted this:
Time Bicycles announced plans Thursday for the nation's largest carbon fiber bicycle manufacturing facility after acquiring a 140,000 square-foot factory in nearby Landrum.
"This is a huge moment for the cycling industry," Time CEO Tony Karklins told BRAIN on Thursday morning. "This is what everybody needs to be doing right now. This is what people have been doing for the last three years in Europe. It makes complete sense to do it. And the moment's now. It's not getting easier to do business far away. So we're really happy to be one of the leaders in this on the U.S. side."
Karklins said renovations to the factory will begin next month at the factory that sits on 30 acres and is the former home of Bommer Industries, a door hinge manufacturer. The first Time products should be coming from South Carolina by the end of this year, with a paint shop being the first service established, Karklins said. Some products manufactured in Time's Gajary, Slovakia, European factory will be completed here.
"By the end of 2024, we'll be able to do every single piece of manufacturing, from braiding the carbon sleeves, to weaving them, to injecting them, to bonding them, to matching them, to sanding them, to painting them. It will go from raw fiber all the way to a finished bicycle."
The initial machinery that will be used in South Carolina is based on manufacturing 10,000 units in one shift, and Time will have the ability to adjust that. "We expect this will lead to other projects, and potentially big projects, so we're putting it in an environment where it can grow rapidly."
The South Carolina Coordinating Council for Economic Development approved development credits for the project, while also awarding a $400,000 Set-Aside grant to Spartanburg County to assist with building improvement costs. In addition to state benefits, Time received support at the county level, from the South Carolina Research Authority, and the S.C. Fraunhofer USA Alliance, a technology and development partner. The $6.5 million investment will create 105 jobs in the initial project phase.
"It's always exciting when a renowned company such as Time Bicycles decide to invest in our state," South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster said in a statement.
Being located in a rich technology area was an important consideration for Time. BMW's U.S. manufacturing plant is in Spartanburg, and it has developed a longtime partnership with Clemson University on composites technology.
"Their composites program is leading edge," Karklins said. "They have done significant work over the last decade in resin transfer molding technology. And that's the reason why we've come to the area because we are the one bike company that exists in resin transfer molding. Resin transfer molding is the way automotive and aerospace are manufacturing carbon fiber products. So the tech is there."
You can read the entire story here.
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Bicycling Magazine posted this sad news:
An icon of the cycling world passed away yesterday, leaving behind a legacy that changed cycling forever. Ugo De Rosa was 89. The company he founded and built into one of the most recognizable legacy brands will continue to be family-owned, with Ugo’s sons at the helm who all joined the company in the 1970s.
“Nothing extraordinary is ever born by a formula but by imagining what is not there and doing it” - Ugo De Rosa
Ugo De Rosa was just 19 years old when he first began building racing bicycles in 1953. His workshop was located in in Via Pila in Milan, an area oozing with cycling history and other great cycling companies who prized close proximity to the historic Vigorelli Velodrome.
In 1958 the young craftsman was approached by Raphaël Géminiani with the request that De Rosa build him a frame for the Giro d’Italia, and the rest, as they say, is history.
De Rosa’s reputation and that of his frames bloomed, and before long the signature red heart logo was a fixture in the professional peloton. By 1969, De Rosa had accepted the role of frame builder and mechanic for Gianni Motta and his team.
The entire story is posted here.
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