Bicycle Racing News and Opinion,
Thursday, June 2, 2022

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2021 Tour de France | 2022 Giro d'Italia

Immature poets imitate; mature poets steal. - T. S. Eliot

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Bill and Carol McGann's book The Story of the Giro d'Italia, A Year-by-Year History of the Tour of Italy, Vol 1: 1909 - 1970 is available in print, Kindle eBook & audiobook versions. To get your copy, just click on the Amazon link on the right.

Current racing:

• June 2: Giro dell'Appennino

Upcoming racing:

• June 5 - 12: Critérium du Dauphiné
• June 6: Brussels Cycling Classic
  

Latest completed racing:

• May 6 - 29: Giro d'Italia
• May 24 - 29: Tour of Norway
• May 22: Rund um Köln
• May 21: Veenendaal - Veenendaal
• May 21: Tour du Finistère
• May 15: Tro-Bro Léon
• May 14: Grand Prix du Morbihan
• May 3 - 8: 4 Jours de Dunkerque
• May 1: Rund um den Finanzplatz Eschborn - Frankfurt

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UAE Team Emirates headed to races in Belgium & Italy

Here’s the team’s updated schedule:

With the first Grand Tour of the season done and dusted, UAE Team Emirates will continue with a busy racing period with Giro dell’Appennino (2 June) in Italy followed by the Brussels Cycling Classic (5 June) and the Ronde Van Limburg (6 June) in Belgium.

The in-form Alessandro Covi arrives to the Giro dell’Appennino fresh from his win on stage 20 of the Giro d’Italia and will be one to watch. While Pascal Ackermann makes a welcome return to racing at the Brussels Cycling Classic where he was victorious in 2018 and is joined by fellow sprinter Fernando Gaviria where the pair will hope to team up to take home a big result.

Alessandro Covi wins Giro stage 20. Sirotti photo

The team for Giro dell’Appennino will be overseen by Sports Director Manuele Mori (Ita) while the squad for the Belgian races will be led by Aart Vierhouten (Ned).

Giro dell’Appennino (1.1) – 02-Jun-2022

Camilo Ardila (Col)
Alessandro Covi (Ita)
Ivo Oliveira (Por)
Jan Polanc (Slo)
Oliviero Troia (Ita)

Brussels Cycling Classic [1.Pro] – 05-Jun-2022 & Ronde van Limburg [1.1] – 06-Jun-2022

Pascal Ackermann (Ger)
Fernando Gaviria (Col)
Rui Oliveira (Por)
Jan Polanc (Slo)
Maximiliano Richeze (Arg)
Joel Suter (Swi)

Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl to race Heistse Pijl

Here’s the team’s update:

Our first appointment of the month will see us race on home turf this weekend.

The Belgian one-day race once again takes place on the first Saturday of June, when the peloton will line up in Vosselaar, where they will complete a local circuit and then head to Heist-op-den-Berg for six laps that should favour the attackers thanks to the presence of the short and sharp Heistse Berg climb. On paper, the sprinters will also hold a chance of fighting for victory, but it will all depend on how the final laps of this 15th edition will be raced.

Having completed the Giro d’Italia last weekend, Davide Ballerini and Mark Cavendish will pin on again a number this Saturday, as both will be part of a strong Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl team comprising also Iljo Keisse, Stijn Steels, Stan Van Tricht, Ethan Vernon and Louis Vervaeke.

Mark Cavendish winning stage three of this year's Giro. Sirotti photo

“I trained on these roads for 13 years, so I can tell you that both scenarios are possible – sprint or breakaway. This race is a bit like Scheldeprijs meets Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne, so there should be plenty of action. We go to the start of Heistse Pijl with a motivated squad that wants to be in the mix at the end and fight for a good result”, said sports director Brian Holm.

Shimano asks SRAM-owned Hammerhead to remove Di2 functions from its head unit

Bicycle Retailer & Industry News sent me this:

IRVINE, Calif. (BRAIN) — Hammerhead, the GPS cycling computer startup acquired by SRAM in January, says Shimano asked it to remove at least some Di2 functions from its Karoo 2 head units.

Hammerhead announced the move in a post Thursday on the Support FAQ section of its website.  It was first reported on DCRainmaker.com. Shimano did not immediately respond to inquiries from BRAIN on Friday. A Hammerhead representative shared a company response below.

The Karoo 2 currently has functions that allow it to show the battery level of Shimano's Di2 system and to use the buttons on top of some Di2 road levers to switch screens on the head unit. Hammerhead said that with a software update next week, users will lose "a small subset" of Di2 functions. It indicated it is negotiating with Shimano to return the features.

Shimano power meters will still connect wirelessly to Karoo 2 units.

Wahoo and Garmin head units have similar Di2 functions and there is no indication those functions are being removed. The Karoo 2 continues to integrate with SRAM AXS and Campagnolo electronic drivetrains.

When SRAM acquired Hammerhead the component brand said Karoo units would remain compatible with Shimano's components. "Together, SRAM and Hammerhead will continue to develop an innovative cycling technology platform ensuring riders can seamlessly integrate with a wide variety of existing hardware and software products and services including both Shimano and SRAM electronic shifting," SRAM said at the time.

But the move away from integration apparently was initiated on the Shimano side, according to the Hammerhead representative.

You can read the entire story here.

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