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Bicycle Racing News and Opinion,
Saturday, February 4, 2017

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2017 Tour de France | 2017 Giro d'Italia

To announce that there must be no criticism of the president, right or wrong - is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public. – Theodore Roosevelt

Current racing:

Latest completed racing:

André Greipel's spring race program

Lotto-Soudal sent me this update:

Tour de France: the Inside Story

The race programme of André Greipel is slightly different this spring than previous seasons. The German champion will take a different route towards the Ronde van Vlaanderen. Team manager Marc Sergeant explains.

Marc Sergeant, manager Lotto Soudal: "It’s important for every rider to focus on other goals now and then. That helps to stay motivated and is challenging. André starts the season with the Challenge Mallorca and Volta ao Algarve, just like last year. Of course we are very pleased with the victory of André in Mallorca. After racing in Portugal he will ride the Abu Dhabi Tour, where he will be our man for the flat stages. It’s a WorldTour race since this season and so a more important race. Just like last year, he will participate in Paris-Nice. It’s not certain yet if he will take the start in Milan-Sanremo. Afterwards, André will race the Volta a Catalunya for the first time in his career.

Andre Greipel

André Greipel winning the first stage at Mallorca in January

"He’s 34 years old and wants to try to start the Ronde van Vlaanderen, Scheldeprijs and Paris-Roubaix in the best possible shape. That’s why he chooses to race in Catalunya to prepare for these goals. After a rest period he will start in Frankfurt on the 1st of May and just like previous years he will ride the Giro."

2017 Giro Rosa will start with team time trial going from Aquileia to Grado

The Corsa Rosa sent me this news:

The 28th and 29th June will be two historical days for the cities of Aquileia and Grado, ready to organize the Team Presentation and the First stage of the 2017 Edition of the Giro Rosa. On Thursday 28th Aquileia and its big archaeological area and Basilica, a treasure of art and history, will host for the presentation of the 23 teams that will run the Giro.

As well Grado, famous Thermal and Bathing town known as the “Island of the Sun” and for its particular history that names it as the “First Venice”, is going to be the finish of the first stage. For the first time in its history, the Giro Rosa (Race of the UCI Women’s World Tour) will begin with a spectacular Team Time Trial Aquileia – Grado: 12 km along the coast and the natural area of the magnificent Laguna di Grado. The finish line will be in front of the Municipality Building of Grado, as to mean the International quality of this race, with more than 100 athletes coming from all over the world. The event is promoted and will be coordinated by Enzo Cainero with the support of the Regional Administration, especially the Tourism Department directed by the Regional Vice-President Sergio Bolzonello.

Felt Bicycles to be acquired by Rossignol Group

This news came to me from Bicycle Retailer & Industry News:

February 3, 2017: IRVINE, Calif. (BRAIN) — Rossignol Group, the French ski company, has agreed to acquire Felt Bicycles.

A purchase price was not disclosed. Rossignol said it expects the purchase to be completed within the next two months. The companies will work together to launch a new Rossignol-branded mountain bike line in 2018.

Rossignol CEO Bruno Cercley said,  "For 110 years, our success has been continuously built on innovation, racing and passion. From day one of our contacts with the Felt team, it became obvious we have great things to do together. Cycling is a very natural extension of Rossignol's business, given its overlap in participating geographies, consumers and distribution channels as well as complementarity in seasonality. I am truly excited to add the Felt brand and know-how to the Rossignol Group. Rossignol and Felt teams share the quest for developing the best products in the world for providing the best experiences to outdoor consumers, and we look forward to expanding our cycling business together. While we will work at continuously strengthening the Felt brand globally, we will leverage our common expertise to launch a new range of Rossignol mountain bikes during 2018."

Cercley told Reuters that the company would like to double Felt's revenues in the next five years. Reuters estimated Felt's revenues at over $60 million annually.

You can read the entire story here.

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