Bicycle Racing News and Opinion,
Wednesday, November 11, 2020
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2020 Tour de France | 2019 Giro d'Italia
Noble deeds that are concealed are most esteemed. - Blaise Pascal
Upcoming racing:
- Jan 21 - 24, 2021:
Schwalbe Classic & Tour Down Under - Jan 28 - 31, 2021: Challenge Illes Belears
Latest completed racing:
- Oct 20 - Nov 8: Vuelta a España
- October 3 - 25: Giro d'Italia
- Oct 21: Driedaagse Brugge-De Panne
- October 18: Ronde van Vlaanderen
- October 14: Scheldeprijs
- October 11: Gent-Wevelgem
- October 11: Paris-Tours
- October 7: De Brabantse Pijl/ La Flèche Brabanconne
- Sept 27 - Oct 5: Tour of Portugal
- October 4: Liège-Bastogne-Liège
Jumbo-Visma ranked 2020 season’s top-ranked team
Team Jumbo-Visma sent me this
Team Jumbo-Visma has become the best team in the world of the past special cycling year. For the first time since the start of the UCI ranking in 1984, a Dutch team has achieved this. The yellow-black brigade secured that final classification through Primoz Roglic’s overall victory in the Vuelta a España. Moreover, Roglic became the best rider of the year and Wout van Aert took first place as the best one-day rider.
Team Jumbo Visma taking the point in stage nine of the 2020 Tour de France. Sirotti photo
Manager Richard Plugge’s team had a great season. From the first to the last race, Team Jumbo-Visma competed for the victories. The victory counter was stopped at 23 after the overall victory in the Vuelta a España. The team won, among others, three stages in the Tour de France and became second in the final classification, achieved four stage victories and the overall victory in the Vuelta a España and was very dominant in the Dauphiné. In addition, Team Jumbo-Visma won the two monuments: Milan-San Remo and Liège-Bastogne-Liège. The semi-classics Strade Bianche and Gran Piemonte were also added to the palmares of the the Dutch WorldTour formation.
“This is a wonderful milestone”, general manager Plugge says. “As a team, we wanted to get out of the first lockdown as well as possible. It is great to see that everyone supported that thought. Partners, sponsors, staff and of course the riders have all contributed to this ultimate reward. From the restart up to, and including the stage to Madrid, we participated for the victories and achieved great results.”
“We set the bar high again for the new season, but of course we continue to enjoy every victory. There were also setbacks, including the incident involving Dylan Groenewegen, Steven Kruijswijk’s illness and Mike Teunissen’s injury. Of course we have many more dreams that we want to realise. We have been pursuing this path since 2015 and we would very much like to continue on it”, the ambitious manager says.
Plugge is also grateful that so many races did take place. “Despite the global corona crisis, we were able to compete in many races. This is a victory for cycling in general. The organisations and the UCI certainly deserve compliments for this.”
Bahrain-McLaren re-signs nine riders, Mark Cavendish not on list
Here’s the team’s announcement which has no mention of 2020 team member Mark Cavendish, who continues to look for a team for 2021.
We are thrilled to announce Yukiya Arashiro, Phil Bauhaus, Chun-Kai Feng, Heinrich Haussler, Mark Padun, Hermann Pernsteiner, Marcel Sieberg, Jan Tratnik and Stephen Williams have extended their contracts with Team Bahrain McLaren.
Team Bahrain Mclaren is presented at the start of the 2020 Tour de France. Sirotti photo
In 2021 Yukiya Arashiro, Chun-Kai Feng, and Heinrich Haussler will start their fifth season with the team. Sprinter Phil Bauhaus and key lead-out man Marcel Sieberg, both from Germany, joined the team in 2019, with Phil taking a win in his first year and winning the Saudi Tour at the start of this year. Slovenian Time-trial specialist Jan Tratnik also joined the team in 2019 and has proven he is a quality and versatile rider with a stage win at this year’s Giro d’Italia. Hermann Pernsteiner and Mark Padun also showed some impressive performances at the Giro whilst playing a valuable domestique role to Pello Bilbao. The Welsh rider Stevie Williams made his return to racing at the Czech Tour after 18 months out due to a knee injury, so we’re very excited to see what he will achieve next year.
Team Bahrain McLaren Team Principal Rod Ellingworth commented: “Despite 2020 being such an unsettling year these guys have remained 100% focused, so it’s great to have them part of our journey next year. And as we close out this year, I feel there is a real sense of camaraderie in the team, and I think we’ll see that play out even more on the road next year. We will always be a rider first team, so the guys who are giving it everything on the bike are supported by staff equally committed to achieving success.”
Cannondale Bicycles and EF Pro Cycling to launch new cycling programs at historically black colleges & universities and tribal colleges & universities
EF Pro Cycling sent me this:
Wilton, Conn. - November 10, 2020 - Cannondale and EF Pro Cycling today announced an initiative that will help create opportunity and increase racial diversity in cycling at the collegiate level in the United States. Starting in 2021, with an initial commitment of three years, they will partner with USA Cycling, the national governing body for cycling in the United States, to launch two new cycling programs at one HBCU and one TCU.
Inspired by St. Augustine’s University’s start of the first HBCU cycling team earlier this year and understanding the dearth of other college programs, Cannondale and EF Pro Cycling recognized the opportunity to support and take action, together with USA Cycling.
“As the dialogue about racial equality came to a head in the US, we listened, we learned, and we looked for ways we could make a lasting impact and provide an opportunity to introduce the sport of cycling to young Black and Indigenous people,” said Dennis Kim, Vice President of Marketing for Cycling Sports Group. “It was important to Cannondale and EF that this was a multi-year commitment to work with these schools to help grow participation.”
As co-founding members of this project with USA Cycling, Cannondale and EF Pro Cycling believe in the importance of inclusion in the cycling community. In year one, the team and Cannondale will support co-ed cycling teams at these schools through equipment, funding, and mentorship.
“We believe that cycling is for everyone. Yet, in reality, not everyone feels welcome or has access today,” said Mary Wittenberg, EF Pro Cycling President. ”We want to help increase diversity in our sport, starting with racial diversity in cycling in the USA. Success will require a comprehensive approach across the industry, so we turned to USA Cycling to talk about how we could best target our energies in concert with others looking to help from grade school to masters-age athletes.”
After the launch of two programs, Cannondale and the team hope to broaden the program in the years to come. The goal is to build long-lasting programs for students to experience the benefits of cycling as well as foster inclusivity, community, and adventure.
“USA Cycling, as the Governing Body for our sport, believes we have a unique opportunity to grow participation in cycling. As part of our investment in rebuilding Collegiate Cycling, we are thrilled to be starting this program with EF and Cannondale. Cycling has many of the challenges seen across our society today and we believe working directly with the HBCU and TCU communities we can begin to open doors with the help of partners in our industry,” said Rob DeMartini, Chief Executive Officer of USA Cycling.
In a continued effort to support this initiative, Cannondale, EF Pro Cycling, and USAC will host a raffle to win one of the Rapha + Palace + Cannondale collab bikes ridden by EF Pro Cycling at the recent Giro d’Italia. This is a rare chance to own a piece of cycling history and provide support in continuing to help build HBCU and TCU cycling programs. Net proceeds from the raffle will be in addition to the contributions made to help fund these programs. Two winners will be randomly selected to receive one of these limited team edition bicycles. The sweepstakes will run for several weeks during the height of the giving season, and winners will be announced in December at the completion of the donation period. Stay tuned for details to come.
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