Bicycle Racing News and Opinion,
Sunday, February 12, 2017
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2017 Tour de France | 2017 Giro d'Italia
Truth is powerful and it prevails. - Sojourner Truth
Current Racing:
- February 12: Trofeo Laigueglia
- February 12: Clasica de Almeria
Upcoming racing:
- February 14 - 19: Tour of Oman
- February 15 - 19: Volta ao Algarve
- February 15 - 19: Vuelta a Andalucia / Ruta del Sol
- February 18 - 19: Tour du Haut Var
Latest completed racing:
- Feb 11: Vuelta a Murcia
- Feb 6 - 10:
Tour of QatarCancelled - February 5: G.P. Costa degli Etruschi
- February 1 - 5: Etoile de Bessèges
- February 1 - 5: Herald Sun Tour
- February 1 - 5: Volta a la Comunitat a Valenciana
Restrepo second at Vuelta a Murcia
Katusha-Alpecin posted this race news:
It was a good day to test his sprint today in Spain for Team Katusha-Alpecin’s Jhonatan Restrepo. The race winner Alejandro Valverde was already across the finish line, leaving the rest of the podium spots still up for grabs and Restrepo went after it, taking second place on the day at 2:10 behind the winning Movistar rider in the 37th Vuelta Ciclista a la Region de Murcia 'Costa Calida'.
"It was a tough race today because of the wind, making it all the more important to work well together in the team. Valverde had attacked very early in the climb, about 5 kilometers before the summit. But he raced in his own league. It was impossible to follow him,” said Jhonatan Restrepo.
Valverde’s searing attack came with 70km still to race, a bold move from the 36-year old rider. Sometimes you have to put it on the line to reap the rewards, and Valverde was willing to lose for a chance to win on his home roads.
“In the last 30 kilometers, our team really tried everything to catch Valverde. After it became clear that we couldn’t catch him, we all prepared for the sprint. Our real sprinter Baptiste felt tired in the final and so he helped me in the lead out. Thanks to my team mates today. I am happy to be the first after Valverde,” concluded Jhonatan Restrepo.
Alejandro Valverde finishes alone at the Vuelta a Murcia
The 182.7k one-day race began in San Javier and ended in Murcia. Joining Restrepo and Valverde on the podium was Patrick Konrad of Bora-Hansgrohe. Katusha-Alpecin's Baptiste Planckaert took fifth place on the same time as teammate Restrepo.
A second one-day race takes place on Sunday with the Clásica de Almería.
Team Astana headed to Tour of Oman
Here's the team's update:
Astana Proteam will take part in the 2.HC Asia Tour stage race Tour of Oman, which will be held from February 14th to 19th.
Fabio Aru
Team's roster: Fabio Aru, Daniil Fominykh, Jakob Fuglsang, Tanel Kangert, Bakhtiyar Kozhatayev, Alexey Lutsenko, Nikita Stalnov and Andrey Zeits.
Sports directors: Dmitriy Fofonov and Giuseppe Martinelli.
Cannondale-Drapac for Volta ao Algarve
The team posted their lineup for the upcoming race:
February 10, 2017: The Classics specialists will get some race kilometers in the legs at the 43rd Volta ao Algarve in South-Portugal, which runs from Wednesday February 15 to Sunday February 20.
The race includes an individual time trial on stage three, and four road stages. Stage two will be the most testing, with a category one summit finish following a category two climb only ten kilometers before.
The Volta ao Algarve will be Taylor Phinney’s debut in Green Argyle and Ken Vanmarcke’s first appearance as Cannondale-Drapac DS, teaming up with his brother Sep, who is part of our eight-man line-up.
Taylor Phinney in 2016
Vanmarcke said: “The Algarve is a nice area, with great roads and mostly perfect weather. The level of this race goes up every year, which makes it very interesting to compete here. We will go for a good GC with Davide Villella, who is also capable of winning one or two stages, and a bunch sprint win by Wouter Wippert.”
Cannondale-Drapac for Volta ao Algarve: Alberto Bettiol (ITA), Sebastian Langeveld (NLD), Ryan Mullen (IRL), Taylor Phinney (USA), Dylan van Baarle (NLD), Sep Vanmarcke (BEL), Davide Villella (ITA), Wouter Wippert (NLD)
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