SB Nation User Blog: TheFigurehead

Cadel Evans leaves *Lotto

TheFigurehead — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 21:07:22 -0000

Cyclingnews says so, as well as Cycling Weekly on twitter. Nothing from himself at this point, as far as I know, but the team have a statement on their site.

World champion Cadel Evans has decided to invoke the clause of the mutual agreement which provides him the possibility to ride the next seasons on behalf of another team. After five successful years, including two podium places in the Tour de France and the recent victory in Mendrisio, Cadel has decided to take advantage of his increased market value and to look for new challenges.

Silence-Lotto is proud of the progress Cadel made in our team - from a rough time to the absolute world top in five years time, also thanks to the professional entourage and the good teamwork - and wishes him all the best for his further career. Success in your beautiful rainbow jersey !

The first show aired on October 5th, 1969. Let's celebrate Monty Python's Flying Circus with...

TheFigurehead — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 09:21:36 -0000

The first show aired on October 5th, 1969. Let's celebrate Monty Python's Flying Circus with Picasso on a Bicycle.

UCI ProTour : License Commission Decisions

TheFigurehead — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 15:20:15 -0000

UCI ProTour : License Commission Decisions

"Following the examination of requests received, the License Commission has awarded a UCI ProTour license to two teams and two events.

The Lampre team (ITA) has obtained a four-year license for the period 2010 to 2013. As for the Milram team (ITA), it has received a license for one year, valid in 2010.

On the other hand, the Commission has decided not to award a UCI ProTour license to the French teams Cofidis, le crédit en ligne and Bbox Bouygues Télécom.

The Commission continues to examine the file submitted by the new American team Radio Shack. It will announce its decision at a later date."

"It's a bit like trying to win the Champions League and to win the Champions League you go to Man...

TheFigurehead — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 14:08:01 -0000

"It's a bit like trying to win the Champions League and to win the Champions League you go to Man United and I'm probably playing at Wigan at the moment. I'll probably have to make that step to do it."

Bradley Wiggins, interesting quote on many levels. Will he leave? Garmin is like Wigan?

Don Quijote de la Peloton

TheFigurehead — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 20:39:50 -0000

Since they're moving into Castilla-La Mancha, we need to decide which rider who is most likely to name his bike Rocinante. My first thought was Roberto Laiseka, if it was one rider who looked rueful while on the bike, it was him. But on the other hand, Laiseka doesn't strike me as much of an underachiever. Not as someone who tilted at windmills either. Of course, he's not from La Mancha but I planned to ignore that anyway (not that many riders to choose from otherwise, I'm afraid). And maybe we should pick someone who is in the peloton at the moment.

I came up with two Don Quixotes:

1. Cadel Evans. When was the last time you said to yourself "Cadel Evans, that's a guy that makes me happy." The poor bloke is having a difficult time even making his own dog happy (I heard rumours from Katiek that Molly had signed with Team Sky, it's a developing story presumably), and even the most happy-go-lucky among us gets gothy when Cadel appears.

When it comes to results, he's often close but rarely on the top spot of the podium. We hear questions like "is this Cadel's year?", but it's never Cadel's year. Unless one counts the odd stage win and races like Coppi e Bartali and Tour of Austria. That makes him even more like the real Don Quixote, he too had some small and irrelevant successes.

Cadel Evans is also known for his occasional tilting at various windmills. The latest victim was our tall friend from Rabobank, Robert Gesink. To no ones surprise, Gesink rides a Giant, after all.

2. Leif Hoste. Not much to be said here, I think. Not the happiest person in the peloton. He's mentioned a lot during cobble season, but not because he's winning. Rather the opposite, more often is he the first among the losers than the winner. When he wins it is the Belgian TT championships, or at Driedaagse De Panne. But most of all we mention him when he waves his arms at the other riders.

So there you have them, my Don Quixotes of the peloton. Two riders from Silence-Lotto, seems to be very fitting.

Photo credit ©Grafton to Inverell Classic Barbie is the ambassador of the race. Don't visit their ...

TheFigurehead — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 10:15:22 -0000

Photo credit ©Grafton to Inverell Classic

Barbie is the ambassador of the race. Don't visit their site if you don't want your eyes to hurt (or if you suffer from suffer from photosensitive epilepsy).

The Vuelta Song.

TheFigurehead — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 16:24:09 -0000

Zahara pone música a la Vuelta Ciclista

The Vuelta Song.

Last week there was a pretty interesting new race in Sweden called Glasrikeresan, 220 km (37 km on...

TheFigurehead — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 19:14:40 -0000

Last week there was a pretty interesting new race in Sweden called Glasrikeresan, 220 km (37 km on gravel roads) long and open for anyone. The winner was awarded 60,000 SEK (about 10,000 Euro) so the top domestic teams were there.

Take a look at the video above, from the sprint. The Capinordic rider in green who wins the sprint, Christofer Stevenson, got relegated because of irregular sprinting. Instead Team Cykelcity's Thomas Löfgren won the race.

Your opinions on the sprint? Note (difficult to avoid...) the bus that is standing not far from the finish line, the organizers really screwed up there.

Found the short film Vive le tour via the Swedish blog Les Poursuivants. Part 2 is here.

TheFigurehead — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 09:16:43 -0000

Found the short film Vive le tour via the Swedish blog Les Poursuivants. Part 2 is here.

Pro Tour Licenses

TheFigurehead — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 13:15:09 -0000

While the Pro Tour as an exclusive club have been watered down since the start it's still a membership that most of the teams are looking for. Five of the 18 licenses expires this year, and all five teams have applied for a renewal. The five teams are:

Ag2R
Bbox Bouyges Telecom
Cofidis
Lampre
Team Milram

Perhaps more interesting are the three other teams that have applied:

Team Sky
Team Radioshack
Skil-Shimano

Cervelo Test Team is obviously happy with the current situation and that is no surprise.

I feel that it can get a bit tense, both on the transfer market and the relation between UCI and the race organizers. First because of teams who wants to be competetive and interesting enough to get wild cards (like Cervelo), and second because of the organizers who may want more discretion when choosing which teams to invite to their races.

Updatitude: Interesting article by Shane Stokes at Cyclingnews.

UCI President Pat McQuaid confirmed to Cyclingnews on Saturday that the governing body was planning on raising the standard and, as a result of this, there was the chance that some teams may be left disappointed.

Currently eighteen teams hold a licence, with five of those due to expire at the end of the 2009 season. All have reapplied, as have two new teams plus one squad currently competing at Professional Continental level. That totals 21, meaning that if the number of ProTour members remains at eighteen, three teams will have to drop to the second tier.

"This is a situation that we are studying," McQuaid told Cyclingnews over the weekend. "What we are doing is raising the bar for ProTour teams. In doing so, one or two teams which are asking for licences to be renewed or to be granted for the first time will not meet the criteria. The rules state we can have up to 20 teams but, in continuing to raise the bar, it may mean that one or two teams may not get a licence."