Bicycle Racing News and Opinion,
Thursday, December 7, 2017
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2018 Tour de France | 2018 Giro d'Italia
You can't live a perfect day without doing something for someone who will never be able to repay you. - John Wooden
Latest completed racing:
- December 2: GP Hasselt Cross
- November 26: Flandriencross
- November 25: Zeven Cyclocross
- November 19: Bogense Cyclocross
- November 12: Gavere Cyclocross
- November 5: European Cyclocross Championships
- Oct 28 - Nov 5: Tour of Hainan
- November 1: Cyclocross Koppenberg
- October 29: Cyclocross Ruddervoorde
Bardiani Valvole & CSF Inox extend team sponsorship through 2020
The team sent me this release:
Bardiani-CSF heads fast to the new season. Today, last day of the three-days meeting which took place in Montecchio Emilia with riders, management and staff, the #GreenTeam has unveiled 2018 racing kit, created by Alè, and has announced a big news on its future.
Title sponsors Bardiani Valvole and CSF Inox Group decided to extend their commitment with the team managed by Bruno and Roberto Reverberi from 2018 to 2020. One year before the end of the deal signed in 2016, both the Italian companies decided to give a new boost of support to the #GreenTeam project, born in 2013 thanks to them to promote Italian talents into professional cycling.
Luca and Emanuela Bardiani, President and CEO of Bardiani Valvole:
“We have always chosen to invest in cycling for marketing gain and for the great passion we have for this sport. Both these reasons are still valid and never called into question. Year after year, Bardiani Valvole has had benefits in terms of notoriety and the #GreenTeam presence around the world has been strategic for our company. After five years the emotional bond with the team got stronger and stronger, as well as the trust we have in Bruno and Roberto Reverberi’s management”.
Bardiani-CSF rider Sonny Colbrelli after the 2016 Coppa Agostoni. He left the team to ride for Bahrain-Merida in 2017
Cav. Rolando Paterlini, CSF Inox President:
“We are sponsors of Reverberi’s team since thirty years and the choice to renew until 2020 is the proof that cycling has been and is again an extraordinary vehicle of communication, as well as an exciting sport. This team, with its identity and its wish to stand out, represent our company in the best way. We will continue to support the #GreenTeam project and to cheer our guys for a long time again”.
Andrea Ferrari, CSF Inox CEO:
“The sponsorship renew one year in advance is a clear signal that all the company of the group, including Bardiani Valvolve, CSF Inox, MBS and Omac, are launching: investing in their international growth and giving support to a distinctive project. The #GreenTeam was born with these companies: the bond between us and the team deserve, now more than ever, to be strengthen”.
Bruno and Roberto Reverberi, General Manager and Team Manager of Bardiani-CSF:
“For our team the sponsorship extension is, first of all, a new boost of confidence. We are really happy and satisfied that the #GreenTeam story have a future. We would like to thank Luca and Emanuela Bardiani, Rolando Paterlini and CSF founders Aldo Pattacini and Ettore Catellani because all together we’re build something important. With up and downs, wins and defeats, Bardiani-CSF found its place in professional cycling and is giving an important contribute to keep alive Italian movement”.
2018 Tour de Yorkshire route announced
The organizers sent me this itinerary
The full route for the 2018 Tour de Yorkshire has been unveiled at the Piece Hall in Halifax.
Welcome to Yorkshire Chief Executive Sir Gary Verity led a packed press conference on Tuesday morning with the Amaury Sport Organisation’s Tour de France Director Christian Prudhomme.
Mark Cavendish – winner of 30 Tour de France stages, a UCI Road World Championship and numerous other accolades – was one of the many star riders in attendance along with a host of Yorkshire cycling legends such as Brian Robinson, Malcolm Elliott and Denise Burton-Cole.
The fourth edition of the race has been expanded from three to four stages and will take place between 3-6 May, 2018. It encompasses all four corners of the county and takes in 169 villages, towns and cities along the way:
STAGE ONE: 182km – ARTS AND CULTURE - BEVERLEY TO DONCASTER Thursday 3 May
The race gets going in Beverley’s historic market place before proceeding to the seaside resort of Hornsea. The peloton will then tackle a 16km loop before heading back through Beverley and into the Yorkshire Wolds. The first classified climb at Baggaby Hill will get the legs pumping before a brisk descent into Pocklington for the opening intermediate sprint. After passing through Holme-on-Spalding Moor the pace will gradually ramp up again for a second sprint in Howden and then it’s full steam into Doncaster on the newly opened Great Yorkshire Way. The riders will sweep past the world-famous Racecourse before a flat-out finish along South Parade.
STAGE TWO: 149km - YORKSHIRE HERITAGE - BARNSLEY TO ILKLEY Friday 4 May
The peloton will start outside Barnsley’s impressive Town Hall and head towards Penistone. The route ventures into Worsbrough and the first mountains classification points are up for grabs at Blacker Hill. With those in the bag the race will pass through Elsecar before an intermediate sprint is contested in Swinton. Conisbrough Castle provides a stunning backdrop before the riders continue north for a second intermediate sprint in Scholes, and Harewood House also makes an appearance prior to the classified Côte de Old Pool Bank climb. The route will then pass through Otley and Ilkley before reaching the race’s first-ever summit finish on the Cow and Calf. In an added twist, King of the Mountains points will also be on offer right before the stage winner is crowned on top of this iconic Yorkshire climb.
STAGE THREE: 184km – MARKET TOWNS - RICHMOND TO SCARBOROUGH Saturday 5 May
The riders will roll out of Richmond’s cobbled market place and head to Catterick Garrison before the start flag is lowered. They’ll then traverse Wensleydale and continue in an easterly direction at Leyburn, on to Morton on Swale where the first intermediate sprint will be fought out. Northallerton and Thirsk will then provide warm welcomes, and no sooner have the riders crossed into the North York Moors than they’ll be faced with the fearsome Sutton Bank climb. The first contenders over the top there will be rewarded with points in the mountains classification. The action then passes through Helmsley and on to Pickering for a second intermediate sprint. The climbers will be looking to come to the fore again on the Côte de Silpho before the race breezes into Scarborough for the first time. Hugging the east coast, the peloton will continue on to Filey and sample its picturesque seafront before heading inland and back towards Scarborough. The frontrunners will sweep along South Bay, around the castle walls, and onto the now-legendary finish along North Bay.
STAGE FOUR: 189.5km – THE YORKSHIRE TERRIER - HALIFAX TO LEEDS Sunday 6 May
The Piece Hall in Halifax provides a spectacular location for the start of this decisive stage and the first of six categorised climbs comes on the Côte de Hebden Bridge. The race will head up the cobbled Main Street in Haworth before dropping into Goose Eye for the next punishing ascent. Crossing from Brontë Country into Craven, the route heads through Skipton and the next climb is looming on Barden Moor. The action will then head into the Dales before the riders contest the first intermediate sprint in view of Kilnsey Crag. The Côte de Park Rash will no-doubt cement its place in Tour de Yorkshire folklore as the peloton grind their way up it, and the route continues on to Masham and then into Nidderdale before making a return to the formidable Côte de Greenhow Hill for the first time since 2016. The undulating terrain never relents and shortly after passing through Otley the next categorised climb is on the cards at Otley Chevin. If that wasn’t enough, the Côte de Black Hill Road must also be crested before the race sweeps into Leeds and reaches a rip-roaring conclusion on The Headrow – on exactly the same spot as where the Tour de France started in 2014.
Continental will become co-sponsor of Tour de France in 2018
Bike Europe sent me this news piece
PARIS, France – From the beginning of 2018, Continental will be an official partner of the Tour de France. The sponsorship agreement was officially confirmed by Christian Prudhomme, General Director Tour de France, and Nikolai Setzer, Member of the Executive Board of Continental AG.
For an initial five-year period, Continental will maintain high visibility around the Tour de France. All official support vehicles, cars, vans and motorcycles, at the Tour de France will be equipped with Continental tyres. The brand name will also be present on banners and spots around the cycling race.
“This official partnership is the next step in our commitment to the development and production of high-tech tyres for racing bikes which are also used in the Tour de France,” underlined Nikolai Setzer at the ceremony in Paris.
“Through this partnership that a cycle race that not only demands the ultimate in safety but also calls for benchmark standards in terms of rolling resistance and weight. Last year alone, nine teams competing in the Tour de France ran on Continental tyres, including Tour winner Chris Froome,” said Setzer.
You can read the entire story here.
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