Bicycle Racing News and Opinion,
Wednesday, June 1, 2016

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If you could kick the person in the pants responsible for most of your trouble, you wouldn't sit for a month. - Theodore Roosevelt

Recently completed racing:

• May 6 - 29: Giro d'Italia
• May 25 - 29: Tour of Belgium

Current Racing:

• June 1 - 5: Tour de Luxembourg

Upcoming Racing:

• July 4 - 26: Tour de France
• August 20 - Sept 11: Vuelta a España (all stage profiles posted)

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Here's an old video from the 2011 Gent 6-Day:

The motorpaced race

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Stig Broeckx update

Stig Broeckx was seriously hurt in a crash during the Tour of Belgium and has been hospitalized since.

Lotto-Soudal sent this:

Because of the increased intracranial pressure Stig Broeckx had to undergo two operations today, which stabilised the intracranial pressure again. Stig will need to stay in an induced coma for a while to let his body recover from the injuries and surgery. At the moment no prognosis can be made.

As requested by the family and as agreed with the hospital, there will be no further comments. An update will follow when there are any new developments. Thanks for your understanding.

David De La Cruz sidelined

Eitxx-Quick Step posted this:

David De La Cruz – who previously this month took part in the 99th Giro d'Italia – will be sidelined in the next period after undergoing appendectomy on Monday, at the Hospital de Palamos, in Girona. The 27-year-old was due to come back at the Critérium du Dauphiné, this Sunday, but he'll now take a break and stay off the bike for three weeks before starting training again. As a consequence, his calendar for the second part of the season will be reshuffled.

David De La Cruz racing in this year's Giro stage 15

"I'm upset, because the condition was there, despite having to abandon the Giro d'Italia, and I was eager to race Dauphiné, especially as last year I came 13th in the GC. But things are as they are, so I will now take a rest. Once I'll return to training I will talk to the team about my program and goals for the remaining of the season, because now I'm even more motivated to show what I can do", said David, who so far this year has raced 39 days, his strongest display coming at Paris-Nice, where he finished in the top 20.

Lampre-Merida for the Dauphiné

Here's the update from the team:

Lampre-Merida selected the line-up for the Criterium du Dauphiné, which will take place from 5 to 12 June.

The French race will start in Les Gets with a 4 km time trial prologue and it will continue with seven stages: two stages will be perfect of the sprinters, one will be suitable for the fast wheels who can be competitive on hilly course, the four left stages will be for the climbers and general classification contenders.

The sports directors Mauduit and Marzano will direct Mattia Cattaneo, Valerio Conti, Tsgabu Grmay, Ilia Koshevoy, Louis Meintjes, Manuele Mori, Luka Pibernik and Federico Zurlo.

Tsgabu Grmay

Criterium du Dauphiné will be the first race for Meintjes and Grmay after they dedicated a a period to the altitude training: for the African duo, the Criterium could be a foretaste of the Tour de France, which could set a historical event for the Ethiopian cycling movement: if he'll be selected in the team's line-up, Grmay could be the first Ethiopian athlete to ride the Grande Boucle.

Pibernik too will be back to races after his last appearance in the Paris-Roubaix.
For Mori, Conti and Koshevoy the French race will be the prolongation of the Giro d'Italia.

Cattaneo and Zurlo recovered from injuries and it will be important for them to check their conditions on the French roads.

China invests in Graphene industry

Bike Europe sent me this news:

BEIJING, China – According to China’s official government press agency Xinhua the country is working on founding the China International Graphene Industry Union. After the EU announced a one billion euro subsidy program for the development of Graphene applications and products now also China is focusing on this wonder material that Vittoria already uses in its tyres and wheels.

Graphene is viewed by China’s central authorities as a key material in the national innovation-driven development strategy. That’s why the country is setting up the China International Graphene Industry Union.

The Graphene Industry Union is being set-up as a non-governmental organization (NGO). It must be established by September this year. According to the national press agency, “It will be a platform for international and domestic cooperation among businesses, researchers and financial institutions.” The agency quoted the union’s first director-general Zhang Jingan who said this at a preparatory meeting last week.

He further said that the China International Graphene Industry Union will set evaluation and quality standards for the industry and lay the foundation for research and business development, and help commercialize research findings.

Graphene, a thin layer of carbon atoms in a honeycomb lattice, is known for its unusual electrical, chemical and mechanical properties. China is one of the most graphite-rich countries and a leader in the industrialization of graphene.

You can read the entire story here.

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