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Bicycle Racing News and Opinion,
Saturday, June 6, 2020

Back to news and opinion index page for links to archived stories | Commentary | Our YouTube page
2019 Tour de France | 2019 Giro d'Italia

The greatest of faults, I should say, is to be conscious of none. - Thomas Carlyle

Cycling's World Championships

Upcoming racing, according to UCI revised calendar:

Latest completed racing:


Rossignol sells TIME brand to French e-bike startup

Bicycle Retailer & Industry News sent me this news:

CHAVANOD, France (BRAIN) — Groupe Rossignol has announced the sale of the TIME bike and pedal business to WhaTTfornow, a four-year-old e-bike brand.

Rossignol said it would concentrate its bike market activities on its Felt and Rossignol bike brands instead of Time, which has failed to reach sales goals since its acquisition in 2016

According to the release, the sale includes all TIME's activities, including the production of carbon frames and forks in Gajary in Slovakia, as well as the design and marketing of pedals manufactured in the Rossignol factory in Nevers, France. Rossignol will apparently retain the Nevers factory and manufacture the pedals for WhatTTfornow. The release said the deal should be finalized in the summer.

You can read the entire story here.

Geoffrey Bouchard, Dorian Godon & Aurelien Paret-Peintre extend contracts with Ag2r La Mondiale

The team sent me this release:

Geoffrey Bouchard (28) professional since 2019, Dorian Godon (24) professional since 2017 and a member of our team since 2019, and Aurélien Paret Peintre (24), professional since 2018, have all extended their contracts with the AG2R LA MONDIALE team for two years.

AURELIEN PARET-PEINTRE:
“I’ve been on the team for two and a half years and I’m happy to continue my career with the AG2R LA MONDIALE team. Extra continuity comes also from my years at Chambéry Cyclisme Formation. I’ve made good progress and I hope I can still have bigger responsibilities like. I had at the start of this season. I managed to notch up some interesting performances, particularly in support of Benoit Cosnefroy at the Etoile de Béssèges and at Paris-Nice. I hope to continue with this good momentum over the rest of the season. I am looking forward to it."

DORIAN GODON:
"I am pleased to have been shown this mark of confidence from the AG2R LA MONDIALE team. This opens up longer-term prospects for me. We are a a good group and there is good cohesion among the riders. I dream of winning a stage in a grand tour and of being able to support Oliver Naesen in the Flanders classics. I can’t wait to get back to racing. I’m sure that from August onwards, there will be many opportunities to express ourselves if we have the freshness. I don’t mind training, but racing is the most important thing"

GEOFFREY BOUCHARD:
"I am delighted to extend my contract for two seasons. I turned pro late and I have had an atypical career profile. This renewal is confirmation that I have my place in the peloton. It took me time to adapt to the rhythm of the races, the calendar and, today, I am reaching physical maturity with still a lot of mental freshness to invest myself enormously in my work.
"Since May 11th, we have had favorable conditions for training, and I approach the upcoming few months of competition with enormous motivation:

Geoffrey Bouchard

Geoffrey Bouchard racing at the 2019 Vuelta. Sirotti photo

VINCENT LAVENU:
Geoffrey, Dorian, and Aurélien are riders who are part of the spirit of the AG2R LA MONDIALE team.

"Geoffrey turned professional late but quickly adapted to the pros by showing great abilities, as his King of the Mountains jersey at the Vuelta a Espana demonstrates. Dorian is a puncher who has a very good spirit and a lot of enthusiasm. He is able to win races. Aurélien is a pure product of our training squad. He comes from a family of cyclists and Valentin, his brother, is currently part of the Chambéry Cyclisme Formation. He demonstrated great potential at the start of the season which will allow him to obtain interesting results in the future."

THE NUMBER: 5
The AG2R LA MONDIALE team has extended the contracts for 5 riders in recent weeks. They are Geoffrey Bouchard (2 years), Dorian Godon (2 years), Oliver Naesen (3 years), Aurélien Paret Peintre (2 years), and Alexis Vuillermoz (1 year).

Trek-Segafredo signs Pieter Weening

Here's the team's announcement:

Trek-Segafredo is happy to announce that Pieter Weening has joined the team through the remainder of the 2020 season.  The experienced 39-year-old Dutchman, a former Tour de France stage winner, and two-time Giro d’Italia stage winner, signed a contract valid through the end of 2020 and will reinforce our team, providing valuable support and expertise, particularly in stage-races.

Pieter Weening

Pieter Weening wins the second stage of the 2018 Tour of Austria

Trek-Segafredo’s General Manager Luca Guercilena explained the reasoning for recruiting Weening mid-season:

“We first got in touch with Pieter back in February. Knowing that, after his crash, Matteo Moschetti would be out for an extended period, so we needed an experienced rider who would be able to fit in the group and be ready to race immediately. Pieter is known to be a super professional rider, and we were convinced he would be able to meet our expectations. The Covid-19 pandemic slowed down the recruitment process but, despite these turbulent times for cycling, we were determined to keep our word and welcome Pieter as part of the team.”

A professional since 2004, Weening will ride for Trek for the first time in his career and will join the likes of compatriots Bauke Mollema and Koen de Kort.

“I’m really happy for this opportunity and will give 150% in these last months of the year to fully help Trek-Segafredo. Hopefully, I can contribute to achieving great results for the team once the racing re-starts. I know I’m still competitive at a WorldTour level, and my motivation is super high. This will be a new team, new guys, new atmosphere, but I’m looking forward to this challenge and returning to competition,” said Weening.

With 13 professional wins to his name, Weening found himself at the end of 2019 without a contract. However, he kept an intensive training regime all through the winter months in the chance an opportunity would arise that would enable him to continue to race at the highest level.

“I still had the hope of finding a team, so I was still training as I would do in any pre-season. I wanted to stay fit, so I kept training all winter long. When Trek-Segafredo first contacted me in February, I told them I could be ready to race competitively in 4-6 weeks. I had a proposal, but the whole process was paused because of Covid-19 and the suspension of the racing calendar.

“But, after some talks with Luca (Guercilena), I had no doubts the team would keep their word if the racing resumed. In a time when many teams are struggling, it’s quite special that Trek-Segafredo is willing to recruit a new rider. I’m very thankful for that. This is a great opportunity for me to show what I can actually do, and I’m super motivated to help the team leaders achieve good results, no matter which races I’m selected for,” concluded Weening.

Pieter Weening will bolster the now 28-rider-strong men’s squad that includes multiple Grand Tour winner Vincenzo Nibali, and UCI Road World Champion Mads Pedersen.

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