Colin Lewis Cycle Chat April 2011

Cycle Chat 30.04.11

Again it is Jon Locke (Rapha-Condor) who takes the highlights this week with a spectacular 4th spot in the Tour of Korea and I enclose some of their report from their website about him (with their permission).

Surely with reports like this they are encouraging bigger teams (French??) to sign him up for next season.

Jon not only good on the pedals particularly hills but to be a winner the attitude and determination has to be 100%. That is why Jon gets the success he does.

Stages 7 - 9 of the Tour of Korea saw a big shake up as the terrain, weather and another force of nature in the shape of in form Jonathan Tiernan Locke of Rapha Condor Sharp conspired to wreak havoc in the peloton.

Rapha Team Manager John Herety was pleased with the outcome of the week in Korea.

"It's been an upward trajectory all the way and to finish with 2 riders top 10, have JTL (Jon) just miss out on the podium and take 1 and very nearly 2 stage wins is great. When you take into account the difficulties on day 1, to have the boys finish 2nd on the team classification is an achievement they should be proud of"

"Jonathan, what can you say? He continues to go from strength to strength and develop as a rider. Apart from that, the progress of Andy Tenant and Ed Clancy coming off the back of a winter on the track has been great to see. Andy dug us out of a hole on day one by making the lead group whilst Ed has shown real maturity this week, as well as a real passion for winning that I hope we'll see more of over the course of the year."

With success home and away to celebrate this weekend the team will eagerly anticipate the next domestic challenge of Lincoln GP, the only dilemma for team manager with so many riders in good form: who to select?

Tour of Britain organisers have announced the 2011 race will include an individual time trial on the final day.

It will be 10km long and the first of two stages on the streets of London on 18 September, with the final stage a criterium circuit of Whitehall.

The event which will begin the Scottish Borders on 11 September.

A total of 16 teams will compete, including Team Sky and HTC-Highroad, although their star sprinter Mark Cavendish is unlikely to take part as he has targeted the Tour of Spain, which takes place directly before the British event.

Even without Mark the addition of a time trial may help the likes of Bradley Wiggins and Geraint Thomas become the first British winner since the event was re-launched in 2004.

The Grand Depart for the 2011 Tour of Britain will take place in Peebles and the route will then wind its way through Scotland, Wales and three corners of England, with the final stage taking place in London.

The opening segment covers 170km through the Borders and Dumfries and Galloway and the London finale will take place on a circuit that has been used in previous years.

Until next week,

Bob.

Cycle Chat 23.04.11

Jon Locke (Rapha Condor) is stretching his legs this week in 2 ways. First he has had the long trip to Korea for the 9 stage Tour of Korea and secondly in the race where he is in 13th overall being just over a minute down.

In stage 6 Jon had a flyer on the final climb of the day, when he took off alone and headed to the summit of the 1,000m pass alone with an impressive 1 minute 50 second advantage.

Despite Jon's evident strength on the climb however, the strong headwind that greeted him on the 25km flat run-in proved to be too much for one lone rider.

After seeing his advantage dwindle down to 50 seconds with 15km to go, team manager John Herety made the decision for Jon to sit up and wait for the 40 strong group containing his teammates which was now bearing down on him.

Jon is also 6th in the King of the Mountains Competition with 2 stages to go.

We are now expanding our already vast range of bikes to know include the Bottecchia range. Bottecchia road bikes are some of the most popular bicycles and have a rich background and history around the maker and the brand. A very successful brand name among bicycles in Europe, Bottecchia is spreading fast in the US, Australia and New Zealand and now the UK.

The company was named after the maker of the first Bottecchia bicycles - Ottavvio Bottecchia. Bottecchia was the first Italian to win the French cycling competition of Tour De France on two occasions. He was also the first Italian to wear the yellow jersey from the first till the final leg of the race. Besides he has also gained plenty of accolades in Italian races too.

We have in stock 3 bikes, £850, £1650 and £2700 the first being in aluminium and the next 2 carbon.

The Bottecchia Mille Carbon Road Bike (see photo) is build with Calibrated Carbon Technology (TCC), and double mould , this frame with essential lines and shapes, represents our "super light" proposal, top performances. The refined technique production, the thickness and internal surfaces control, and the precious carbon fibre,

The spec is:-

Fork - Carbonio 1K monoscocca 1/8-1/4 monocoque gr. 360
Gear - Shimano Ultegra 20v
Chainwheel - Shimano Ultegra 34x50
Wheels - Fulcrum Racing 5
Tyres - Vittoria Rubino 700x23 o Michelin Lithion II
Handlebar - Deda RHM Zero 1
Stem - Deda corsa Zero 1 bianco/white
Seat post - Deda Zero 1 da 31,6 bianco/white
Saddle - San Marco Ponza power
Pedals - Look Keo Easy

They are on view in our shop at Paignton else give us a ring on 01803 553095.
Simon (shop proprietor) describes them as "Good spec and beautiful looking".

Until next week,

Bob.

Cycle Chat 16.04.11

Well after the Grand National on Saturday with all the falls and sorry to say death of 2 horses the Paris-Roubaix turned out the same except we are all glad to know that crashed cyclists are not shot but receive wonderful medical attention!!

There was fall after fall with Jeremy Hunt (Sky Procycling) coming to grief when Filippo Pozzato (Katusha) hit the deck immediately in front of him.

Tom Boonen's hopes of equalling Roger De Vlaeminck's record of four wins were ruined by a chain problem. It took ages before Tom eventually received a new bike and by the time he left the forest, the gap on the main peloton was one minute.

Fabian Cancellara (Leopard Trek) had problems and could not find anybody to ride with him but fought for a brave second spot behind outsider winner Johan Van Summeren (Team Garmin-Cervélo).

Top Sky rider was Juan Antonio Flecha Giannoni 9th with Matt Hayman 10th.

This week, the Classics head for the hills, for the Amstel Gold Race, which finishes on the famous Cauberg climb.

Any hill in a predominantly flat country takes on a special significance. Holland is flat, but one corner of it, Limburg in the far southeast, jutting into Belgium and bordering Germany, is the exception.

Its highest point, Valsenberg, is only 322 metres above sea level, but Limburg occupies a lofty place in Dutch cycling.

The Tour Series has unveiled the venues for its eight rounds and sorry to say the West Country has missed out with Exeter missing. The venues are as follows with the teams participating:-

First round: Durham, Tuesday May 24?
Second round: Aberystwyth, Thursday May 2
Third round: Peterborough, Tuesday May 31
Fourth round: Colchester, Thursday June 2?
Fifth round: Stoke-on-Trent, Tuesday June 7?
Sixth round: Oldham, Thursday June 9
Seventh round: Woking, Tuesday June 14
Eighth round: Canary Wharf, Thursday June 16

Tour Series 2011: teams

CyclePremier.com - Metaltek
Endura Racing??
Motorpoint
Pendragon - Le Col - Colnago??
Rapha-Condor-Sharp
Sigma Sport-Specialized
Team Raleigh??
Team UK Youth?
Twenty3c-Orbea??
Wilier-GoSelfDrive.com

Missed this last week but Mark Cavendish sprinted to his second victory this year, in the 200km one-day Scheldeprijs Classic in Belgium.

The victory is the Manx cyclist's first in Europe in 2011 - he won the final stage of the Tour of Oman in February.

Until next week,
Bob.

Cycle Chat 09.04.11

Last week I did a write up from Jon Locke Pendragon website showing the team's impression of him. This week Jeremy Hunt (Sky Procycling) had a great write up on the Sky website which we print with the permission of their website www.teamsky.com

"At 37 years old, Jeremy Hunt is one of the most experienced riders in the peloton and has settled into life at Team Sky effortlessly since signing from the Cervélo TestTeam at the end of last season.

As for the race itself, the Tour of Flanders is the largest in Belgium and covers 256km around the heart of the region. The course is highlighted by 18 short, sharp cobbled climbs known locally as 'hellingen', which demand huge amounts of strength and grit to overcome. There is no hiding in a race like this and Hunt is one of the true classics specialists in the sport.

This is his description of how his race played out:

"I sat at the back early on, looking after my team-mates and keeping them out of trouble. I went to the front after about one hour of racing to help the guys who were following the initial breaks and I ended up getting in a break myself.

"This enabled the team to relax behind. We pushed it hard at the beginning and then when we were away, everything settled down.

"I was feeling good until we hit the climbs and my right leg starting locking up from the crash I had in Wevelgem. I stopped working when this happened and I also realised our time was up as the peloton was only one minute behind coming into the first important selection of the day - the Kwaremont, Patersberg and Koppenberg.

"I stopped soon after when I was caught by the peloton."

As we take a look at Jeremy's numbers we can see almost exactly where he attacked and broke away with four other riders. Right around an hour into the race we can see a spike in the power and heart rate data. The first 55 minutes saw Jeremy only average 238w and a heart rate of 131. Then over the next 90 minutes Jeremy averaged 319w and 159 heart rate. He was pushing hard and also set his maximum five-minute value of 415w at 75 minutes into the race.

Once the race hit the heart of the cobbled climbs the main peloton picked up speed and eventually caught Jeremy's group. Jeremy pulled up after four hours of racing as his work was complete.

Team Sky's Geraint Thomas went on to finish strong in 10th place, only five seconds behind the winner Nick Nuyens of Saxo Bank Sungard.

This is a great example of how cycling at the highest level is a true team sport. Jeremy unselfishly sacrificed his chances for the good of the team. It is always worth remembering that the winner also had a strong team behind him, and often his support riders never make it to the finish line."

This Sunday it is my favourite Paris-Roubaix and Jeremy will be doing his unselfish work again for the team after last years 18th spot!! Don't miss it on Eurosport. Their coverage gets better and bettter!!

Yanto Barker and Jon Locke are both in the Cinturón Ciclista Internacional in Mallorca a 4 stage race that started on Wednesday. No results as yet only to say they were not in the first three!!

'Till next week,

Bob.

Cycle Chat 02.04.11

Jon Locke (Rapha-Condor) is well in form taking the King of the Mountains jersey in the recent Tour of Normandy and 30th overall just 44 secs down. There was an impressive write up on the Rapha website:-

"Over a relatively flat parcours the penultimate stage of the 2011 Tour of Normandy got off to a frantic start with a relentless early pace eventually allowing a 25 man break containing 2 Rapha Condor Sharp riders Zak Dempster & Jon Tiernan Locke free for 20km. Sensing the danger of allowing such a large group too much leeway there was a big chase from the Yellow jersey to bring things back together once again

With team manager John Herety having directed teams here on many occasions and aware of the severity of the 6km finishing circuit his riders would cover 3 times he had ordered his charges to keep save their efforts for the finale with Jon Tiernan Locke the protected rider for the day.

Circumstances played into the teams hands with no further significant attacks until with 25km to go to the finish and just a handful of km's before the finishing circuit, Dan Craven, Jon Tiernan Locke and 15 others broke free of the bunch. Dan did great work as a super domestique for his team mate driving the break hard to establish a meaningful gap before dropping away from the leaders.

Onto the finishing circuit and with the gap hovering between 25 and 50s it was Jon Tiernan Locke who played a large role in keeping the group clear, his relentless attacking each time it appeared the junction would be made seeing the gap once again creep up toward a minute. However, whilst the group seemed unwilling to cooperate they were equally unwilling to let the aggressive Rapha Condor Sharp man clear, eventually bringing him back each time.

At the back of the group each attack by Tiernan Locke had one rider in particular in trouble with Alexander Blain dropped a number of times, always fighting back on to break as the pace eased and immediately returning to the front to contribute to the pace. Knowing he was the best placed rider in the group on GC and knowing a time bonus at the finish could secure him the yellow jersey no doubt helping him to regain the group each time.

Into the finale and Tiernan Locke continued to attack but was always brought back until ultimately it became clear that the stage and the race overall would be decided by a sprint from these remaining 13 riders. Having spent all his credits on the run in Tiernan Locke trailed in last of the break whilst it was Blain having tenaciously hung on in the final kilometres who won, the gap of the breakaway plus his 10 second bonus enough to take yellow jersey with just one day left to race."

Jeremy Hunt (Sky Pro Cycling) landed in the ditch in Sunday's Gent - Wevelgem Classic. After much exposure taking the lead on the usual 1st class Eurosport coverage (in HD!!) he somehow got in a tangle which involved Mark Cavendish which finished any further progress.

Ride of the day was from Jeremy's team-mate Ian Stannard who was within about 200 yds off a win when overtaken by the cavalry. It was a brave ride but pipped by Tom Boonen (Quickstep Cycling Team).

Colin Lewis Cycles Limited, 17 Dartmouth Road, Paignton, TQ4 5AD. Telephone: 01803 553095. Registered company number: 4095543.