Pro Cycling News Roundup: May 27, 2014

In today’s pro cycling news: a hellish day at the Giro, Women’s Tour de France to air on Universal Sports Network, Drapac Pro Cycling coming to Philly and more….

Nairo Quintana takes pink after historic mountain stage

In one of the most hellish days in the recent history of the Giro, with rain and snow over almost the entirety of Stage 16 from Ponte di Legno to Val Martello (Cat-1)  (including two other legends of the race – the Passo Gavia (Cat-1) and the Passo dello Stelvio (HC)),  Nairo Quintana and the Movistar Team struck back after their suffering to claim one of the most important stages in this year’s course and take over the maglia rosa.

Nairo’s sensational victory -taking him into the lead, with 1’41” over Urán and 3’21” to Evans, with five days to go- has become Movistar Team’s 15th success of the season and the 18th by the Colombian since he turned pro.

The stage was marred by controversy as race officials miscommunicated whether the descent of the Passo Stelvio was being neutralized.

“I knew the route well, though when I came to recon these Giro stages, we couldn’t climb much of the Stelvio because it was covered by snow,” said Quintana. “We still saw some sections of the downhill as well as the final climb to Val Martello.

“(Today) at the descent, Europcar and Hesjedal started going strong and Izagirre and myself followed their wheels. When we got to the bottom of the descent, we saw the group was split. It wasn’t an attack, by any means, nor did I hear anything about the race getting neutralized, neither from the organizers nor from the team radio.”

Rigoberto Uran loses race lead amid the chaos

Omega Pharma – Quick-Step Cycling Team rider Rigoberto Uran did what he could to minimize the damage, but he was unable to keep the Maglia Rosa after a confusing scenario on the Stelvio pass and an attack by main GC contenders at the 139.5km Stage 16 of the Giro d’Italia on Tuesday.

Once he learned that Quintana was part of an attack that passed him on the descent of the Stelvio, Uran put himself on the front of the group behind to try and chase down the leaders. But the steepness of Val Martello made the pursuit too difficult.

Uran crossed the finish line 4’11” back from Quintana, which was enough to give Quintana the overall lead by 1’41” over Uran and 3’21” over Cadel Evans (BMC Racing Team).

“I think in normal circumstances the story of the race probably could have been different,” said Uran. “Now I am 1’41” down from Quintana in the overall classification. But the Giro is not finished yet. We will keep going, we will try to take back the Maglia Rosa. We are not done fighting for pink.”

Inaugural Women’s Tour de France to air on Universal Sports Network

Universal Sports Network announced today a partnership with the ASO to broadcast the inaugural La Course by Le Tour de France live in the United States this summer. The one-day, elite women’s cycling race will finish on the famed Champs-Elysées prior to the finale of this year’s final stage of the Tour de France on Sunday, July 27, 2014.

The first-year event will feature 100 cyclists battling it out over 90-kilometers of 13 laps of the Tour de France’s final circuit and is likely to end in a sprint finish down the Champs-Élysées. Olympic and world champion Marianne Vos (Rabo-liv) is among the riders scheduled to compete along with England’s Lizzie Armitstead and Sweden’s Emma Johansson.

The women’s peloton will be comprised of 20 teams with six riders each competing for a €22,500 individual prize, the same sum awarded to Tour stage winners.

A ‘Day of Survival’ for Cadel Evans

Cadel Evans fought his way to 10th place Tuesday on a cold, snowy and wet mountainous stage of the Giro d’Italia. But the BMC Racing Team’s leader slipped from second to third in the standings as the overall lead changed hands.

Evans arrived 4:48 after Quintana and is now 3:21 off the lead and among five riders grouped within 27 seconds of each other in the overall standings. “In the final, I started cramping,” Evans said. “I was limping on one leg all the way home. It is a pity. Normally I am reasonably good in these extreme conditions. But when I can’t see the road, I can’t descend down it. When I have to pedal with one leg, I can’t go uphill. So it was really a day of conservation and survival.”

Evans said his battle began right from the start in Ponte di Legno up the snow-lined Gavia pass.

“The first climb, I was over-dressed,” he said. “The first descent, I couldn’t see through the snow. The second climb – the Stelvio – I was fine. But on the downhill I started getting cramps. It seems ridiculous today – it is below zero and I am dehydrated. But we were either going uphill or downhill, so the opportunities to drink were limited.”

Evans said with five stages remaining – including Friday’s 26.8-km uphill time trial – he is not losing hope of maintaining or improving his position.

“We came here with big intentions and we came here to give absolutely our best,” he said. “We have all worked very, very hard. I think we have seen in the last couple of days that anything and everything has happened in this Giro. And anything can still happen. That is what makes the Giro so dramatic.”

Wilco Kelderman shines in tough Giro queen stage

Wilco Kelderman managed fourth place today in the epic 16th stage of the Giro d’Italia. After taming the snowy Gavia and Stelvio passes, only three riders placed higher than the Belkin Pro Cycling Team’s Dutchman on the final climb up through Val Martello.

On the final climb, Kelderman was part of a group including Rigoberto Urán and Cadel Evans, the two riders leading the race at the beginning of the day. In the final two kilometres, the 23-year-old attacked in order to reduce the gap to the leading group with Quintana, Ryder Hesjedal and Pierre Rolland.

“The final climb suited me really well, and after a number of attacks by others, I felt that I was one of the strongest in our group. I accelerated and distanced the rest easily. Then I just kept going until the line.”

Snow and freezing temperatures plagued the riders.

“It was a very special day,” said Kelderman. “I’m happy you don’t often experience days like this. The climb of the Gavia was not too bad, but during the descent, it started too snow very heavily. It was terribly cold and my hands felt like lumps. It was dangerous, as well, because I could no longer see through my glasses.”

Tinkoff-Saxo unhappy after Stelvio mishaps

Tinkoff-Saxo sporting directors received the message from the race jury that the descent of the Stelvio had been neutralized.

“We told our riders that they were asked by RCS to take it slow on the descent from Stelvio. So we stopped on the top to make sure that they had the proper clothing for a slow and cold descent. But Movistar and Quintana attacked and Hesjedal and Rolland followed”, said Lars Michaelsen.

Michaelsen admits that there is the possibility that Movistar didn’t get the radio announcement but with Garmin and Europcar following the attack the chances of nobody in the front group having received the message seems slim.

“I mean, if you suddenly have 2 minutes just after the descent, there is probably something that isn’t right. And I think that there are some teams that probably know that what they did on the stage was questionable, says the Directeur Sportif, who however believes that the race organizers has the overall responsibility.

Drapac Professional Cycling to make US debut in Philadelphia

Drapac Professional Cycling marks a significant milestone in its 11-year history next week, the Australian UCI Professional Continental squad racing at the Parx City Philly Cycle Classic for the very first time.

Taking on the epic 120 mile, or 193 kilometre newly upgraded UCI 1.1-ranked event for Drapac will be Jack Anderson, Jonathan Cantwell, Robbie Hucker, Ben Johnson, Darren Lapthorne, Tom Palmer, Bernard and Wes Sulzberger.

Cycling team Directeur Sportif, Henk Vogels, became the first Australian to win the Philly Cycling Classic in 2000. While there has been changes made to the parcours since, Vogels maintains that ‘Philly’ stands alone.

“The year that I won it I believe there was a couple of hundred thousand spectators – which is pretty amazing for a bike race in any place,” he said.

“It’s not just your standard race, it really means something.”