Bicycle Racing News and Opinion,
Thursday, November 2, 2023
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2023 Tour de France | 2023 Giro d'Italia
Who are we? We find that we live on an insignificant planet of a humdrum star lost in a galaxy tucked away in some forgotten corner of a universe in which there are far more galaxies than people. - Carl Sagan
Les Woodland's book Sticky Buns Across America: Back-roads biking from sea to shining sea is available in print, Kindle eBook & audiobook versions. To get your copy, just click on the Amazon link on the right.
Upcoming racing:
- Dec 17: World Cup Namur Cyclocross
- Dec 26: World Cup Gaver Cyclocross
- Dec 27: Superprestige Heusden Zolder
- Dec 28: Superprestige Diegem
- Dec 29: Exact Cross Loenhout-Azencross
Latest completed racing:
- Nov 1: Trofee Oudenaarde-Koppenbergcross
- Oct 28: Superprestige Ruddervoorde
- Oct 22: Superprestige Overijse-Vlaanse Druivencross
- Oct 12 - 17: Tour of Guangxi
- Oct 15: Japan Cup
- Oct 15: Chrono des Nations
- Oct 15: Veneto Classic
- Oct 11: Giro del Veneto
- Oct 8: Paris-Tours
We posted Koppenbergcross results and the race organizer's men's & women's race reports here.
Here’s the report from van Empel’s Team Jumbo-Visma:
Fem van Empel has won the Koppenbergcross for the second year in a row. The 21-year-old rider of Jumbo-Visma dominated the first race of the X20 Bathroom Trophy from start to finish to claim her sixth victory of the season.
Van Empel pulled away from her rivals from the start and had a quarter of a minute lead after the first lap. The reigning world champion was unflappable on the muddy course and crossed the line first after an hour of racing. Her lead over runner-up Denise Betsema was just under two minutes.
That's two Koppenbergcross wins in a row for the world champion.
"It was tough. I've never had such a tough race here", Van Empel said. "You can't imagine putting so much energy into it because you're hardly moving forward. I tried to keep the pressure on as much as possible and look for the grass edges. The conditions were treacherous."
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The Koppenbergcross is known as one of the toughest classics on the cyclocross calendar. It is also the first race of the X2O Badkamer Trofee, a classification in which time is the decisive element. "The Koppenbergcross is my favourite. At the beginning of the season I said I'd definitely ride it because I think it's a very nice course. The conditions today made it extra special."
According to Van Empel, the Koppenbergcross was a good test for next Sunday's European cyclocross championships in Pontchateau, France. "The most important thing now is to recover well and then I will prepare for the next race as usual."
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Here’s the team’s announcement
Amaury Capiot has extended his contract with Emmanuel Hubert’s company, which will become ARKEA-B&B HOTELS in 2024, for a further two seasons.
La Amaury Capiot wins the 2022 GP d'Ouverture-Marseillaise. Getty Sport photo
Amaury Capiot:
“I’ve extended my contract with the ARKEA-B&B HOTELS team by two seasons. After the complicated season I’ve had, I’m happy to have two more years on my contract. It’s a great vote of confidence from Emmanuel Hubert, General Manager, and the entire sports management team. I feel at home in the team, and it’s often said that this squad has a ‘very family’ spirit, but that’s really the case. You have to live within this group to fully appreciate it, and appreciate the way in which the human aspect is brought to the fore. I want to give 100% of myself over the next two seasons, to repay the team for the trust that has been placed in me. I also hope that the team will continue to grow, and that I’ll be able to progress as a rider. I regained all my abilities at the end of the season, and the Tour of Guangxi totally reassured me. If I can get the same feeling next year as I did in this competition, or even better, it will be a very good omen".
Emmanuel Hubert, General Manager:
“In the space of a few years, Amaury Capiot has become one of the key members of the Arkea-Samsic team, which is why he will be with us for the next two seasons in the ARKEA-B&B HOTELS jersey. Amaury is capable of taking on different roles throughout the season, and that’s his strength. Like all Belgians born in Flanders, he has a passion for the classics, especially the cobbles. He is also a valuable team-mate who is appreciated by everyone in our team, thanks to his great professionalism but also his great simplicity. Efficiency and discretion are the words that define this rider, who suffered some physical problems last year, and who dreams of only one thing: returning to the front of the stage in 2024”.
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Bicycle Retailer & Industry News posted this:
Rep. Earl Blumenauer, who has championed bicycle and climate legislation during his long career in Washington, announced he will not seek re-election in 2024.
Blumenauer, 75, served as Oregon's 3rd Congressional District for 27 years.
"I am proud of a lifetime of leadership in rebuilding and renewing America and giving citizens more choices about how they live, move, and work," Blumenauer, a Democrat, said in a statement. "This is the serious work of government: to make our communities more livable, people safer, healthier, and more economically secure. We have proven that it works. There is more to be done, and I look forward to being a part of it without the burden of day-to-day politics."
Two weeks ago, Blumenauer attended PeopleForBikes' SHIFT'23 conference in Bentonville, Arkansas, where he revealed he's shopping for his first e-bike and was impressed with the work Bentonville has done to embrace bikes as transportation.
The co-chair of the Congressional Bike Caucus, Blumenauer has been active in sponsoring bike legislation, including the Import Security Act (addressing de minimis reform), the E-BIKE Act, (a federal tax credit for e-bike purchases), the Bicycle Commuter Act (a tax incentive to bike commute to work), and the Sarah Langenkamp Transportation Act (unlocking local government roadway safety funds in honor of a State Department employee killed while riding her bike).
You can read the entire story here.
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