News - Colin Lewis Cycle Chat March 2010

Cycle Chat 27.03.10

Our former shop employee Jon Locke is at present competing in the Tour of Normandy after his first win of the season at the Jock Wadley Memorial Road Race 2 weeks ago.

At present after 3 stages (with 3 to go) he is 68th, 35 secs down on some very flat countryside!! The well experienced Jimmy Casper is in the lead.

Last week we were wondering what was happening to Mark Cavendish after a not too good start to the season. But this week is a new week and he secured a win in stage two of Tour of Catalunya.

Mark won 24 races in 2009, including six stages at the Tour de France, but his last victory came on 8 September.

His pre-season preparations were affected this year by illness caused by an infected tooth.

It will be the first big test for Yanto Barker and his Pendragon-Le-Col-Colnago E Team at the Tour of the Reservoir this weekend. Yanto will want a good result against some top British riders!!

Sir Chris Hoy wins Keirin to take his tenth world title in the Track World Championship after a disappointing start to the Championships with not the gold rush they were hoping for. They I am sure will be determined to make good in the rest of the Competition.

Further news about our Woman's Olympic Champion Nichole Cook after the break up of her team. Nichole has had to fight back from all the disappointments.

On the 28th of March she will be in the Great Britain Women's team and racing the Trofeo Alfredo Binda, the first round of the Women's World Road Cup. Those supporting Nicole in the race include Hannah Mayho and Lucy Martin who was 17th in the Women's Omloop Het Nieuwsblad (Het Volk).

The Trofeo Alfredo Binda will be followed by three more World Cups in quick succession; Tour of Flanders (April 4), Unive Ronde van Drenthe (April 10) and Flèche Wallonne (April 21).

Nicole admits that whilst she is able to prepare for World Cups without racing, it would have been better to have had a few smaller races in the week leading up to the World Cup. What the GB and the other pro teams did not foresee was the cancellation of both their preparation races and so Nicole will now look to getting in some hard training efforts with other riders and/or some motor pacing.

The whole saga is a lesson in how careful athletes have to be but Nicole is doing her best to try and put it behind her and leave it to the lawyers to sort out. The Welsh racer has other things on her mind like getting fit and ready to tackle the races she has coming up in two weeks.

Good luck to Nicole who at the moment is having to rely on the income from private sponsors to pay her way in the world and hopefully, justice will be served and the Olympic champion will find herself in an appropriate pro team where the things most people take for granted, such as pay packet for the graft put in, will be forthcoming.

Until next week,

Bob.

Cycle Chat 20.03.10

Jon Locke could not have had a better start in this season's campaign to secure a ride with a top ProTour Team last week in the Jock Wadley Memorial Road Race held near Colchester.
The Rapha Condor team were well in the lead including Jon. With four laps remaining, Rapha assembled at the front and upped the pace and soon the Peleton was in pieces and the gap to the leaders was tumbling.
The chasers though never finished the job off despite getting the lead down to only 40 seconds and the pace of what was left of the Peleton stabilised. The riders in the break though were not working well together and with two laps to go of the seven mile circuit, Jon decided it was time to go it alone.
Jon didn't disappoint and led over those final two laps, crossing the finish line well clear of the break.
That's one down but plenty to follow with the Tour of Normandy (which I am told is not a visit to the D-Day landing sites!!) a week Monday.
Jon called in the shop this week and took Simon out for a workout but was able to tell him on the way that he was very happy with the Rapha Condor Team and now with some more sponsorship from Sharp the future for the team was very rosy.
Mark Cavendish continues to struggle for form as he prepares to defend his Milan-San Remo title on Saturday.
Mark suffered cuts and bruises on Tuesday when he crashed in the final stage of Tirreno-Adriatico in Italy where in 2009, he won the final stage of the four days before winning the 100th edition of the 298km Milan-San Remo making him the first British rider to win the race since Tom Simpson in 1964.
The crash is the latest setback in Mark's preparations after dental problems caused the 24-year-old to delay the start of his 2010 season.
Yanto Barker has just ridden the Tour of Libya and has finished 4th overall with his newly formed team. Yanto has joining up with Pendragon to form the Pendragon-Le Col Team. The Team will be wearing Yanto's Le Col gear which will give it great exposure after being selected for the forthcoming British Tour Series around our city centres. If you can't wait that long to see their clothing then have a look through our catalogue as we are official stockists and carry a big supply of the Le Col clothing which is selling very well.
Cervélo Test Team had entered a sprint team in the mountainous Tirreno-Adriatico with the expected results but a good training for the riders. Roger Hammond was 75 and Jeremy Hunt 136. They are both going in this Saturday's Milan - San Remo with full coverage on Eurosport starting at 1300 hrs!!
Until next week,
Bob.

Cycle Chat 13.03.10

Picture of Colin Lewis Cycles owner Simon Aske and son Jonathan at the recent CS Dynamo 2UP TTT!!
Jon Locke (Rapha Condor Sharp) called in the shop on Tuesday to keep us up to date on his progress with his new team. He is very happy with the team after the torrid treatment he had last year with (?) and is really going for some big results this season. He starts this Sunday with the Jock Wadley Memorial road race at Colchester and then off to the Tour of Normandy followed by the Tour of the Ardennes.
He wants a progressive ProTeam to notice him (such as the Cervélo Test Team) to further his career with a contract next season!! We will be following Jon closely this season so keep coming back weekly for more news.
Jeremy Hunt (Cervélo Test team) is freezing in the Italian Tirreno-Adriatico started last Wednesday in the winter conditions. He is working hard for Thor Hushovd in expectation of a place in the TdF Cervélo team to be one of his lead out men. At the moment after 2 stages he is laying 92nd after a 88th and a 92nd.
Also in the Tirreno-Adriatico is Isle of Man cyclist Mark Cavendish who is still struggling for form as he prepares to defend his Milan-San Remo title later this month. The HTC-Columbia rider finished 157th and 165 in the opening 2 stages.
The 24-year-old sprinter had a delayed start to the year after dental problems caused him to miss training and several early-season races. Mark won last year's final stage, four days before he went on to win Milan-San Remo at his first attempt.
Mid Devon CC Spring Pursuit concluded last Saturday with an inspirational win for 18 year old schoolboy Matthew Hill winning the 3 event series.
Matt has only been racing for a year now and will be one to watch for the future.
Jonathan Aske won £10 on the first prime!!
We haven't said too much in Cycle Chat about the new Team Sky mainly because I don't suppose Sky is the most popular of companies with its monopoly over British TV and the same way they want to take over cycling. Nevertheless secretly we will be following them (particularly the Brits!!) and secretly hoping for that big result with Bradley Wiggins in the TdF!!
So now New Zealander Greg Henderson has delivered Team Sky's first major victory in Europe with a gritty sprint finish in stage one of the Paris-Nice.
Henderson just beat Slovenian Grega Bole after joining a breakaway that also included Britain's David Millar. Dutchman Lars Boom retains the overall lead from Jens Voigt, with Millar 13 seconds back and Henderson sixth. Former Commonwealth and world track champion Henderson, 33, won in Team Sky's race debut back in January, in a criterium event in Adelaide.
The team have also put in strong showings in Qatar and Oman but results in Europe are generally considered a better guide to form ahead of major races later in the year.
Until next week,
Bob.

Cycle Chat 06.03.10

So the season proper started last Saturday with the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad with a great win for the Sky Team's Juan Antonio Flecha who soloed to the finish line. Cervélo TestTeam's Heinrich Haussler placed second, Tyler Farrar (USA-Garmin-Transitions) finished in third in the 204.3 kilometre race.
A clever attack on the cobbles with about 20 kilometres remaining set up Flecha's win as he moved away from pre-race favourite and two-time Omloop winner Philippe Gilbert (Omega Pharma-Lotto). Haussler would prove to be the next member of the Peleton to see Flecha as he followed the Sky rider in for second place.
Roger Hammond and Jeremy Hunt (Cervélo Test Team) did their bit in setting up Heinrich but there was to be another race on the Sunday where the 63rd addition of the Kuurne-Bruxelles-Kuurne took place under cold, wet and windy conditions, typical of the Classics season.
Bobbie Traksel (NED-Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team) won the one-day classic besting Rick Flens (NED-Rabobank) in second and Ian Stannard (GBR-Team Sky) in third. Best results for Cervélo TestTeam today were Dominique Rollin (CAN) in 5th position and Thor Husovd (NOR) in 6th.
There was a leading group of 13 riders and Cervelo had 4 of its riders in it and were the strongest team in this part. A bit later on, after these climbs Cervelo had 3 riders in the lead and 2 riders in the chasing group with Jeremy Hunt (GBR) and Thor along with Hayden Roulston from Columbia. The gap got closer to about 20 seconds and then got bigger. Jeremy gave it his all but the gap was 20 secs too big.
Jeremy was really empty and jumped into a Shimano car. Thor also was close to quitting the race but pressed on and Dominique came from the back and went together to the finish. They were almost 3 minutes behind the leader because they were tired and finished 5 and 6. Good job and fantastic teamwork for Cervélo but even better for Sky with a 1st and a 3rd in the 2 races. Well done Ian Stannard for being top Brit!!
Halfords, the British bicycle and motor parts retailer, (Good!! But if you want service, selection and price come to CLCycles!! We have to be content with sponsoring the Mid Devon Cycle Club!!) is to sponsor the 2010 Tour Series, the event's organiser SweetSpot has confirmed.
The Halfords Tour Series will help give cycle enthusiasts, families and young aspiring Bradley Wiggins' alike, inspiration to get on their bikes and another boost for cycling.
The Tour Series comprises of ten mid-week city-centre criterium races, contested by ten teams from May 25 to June 24 2010. The series is scheduled to be televised on ITV4.
Last year's Tour Series was narrowly won by the Halfords-Bikehut team, although the squad was disbanded at the end of the 2009 season. With this latest sponsorship move, Halfords has evidently switched from backing a team to supporting events.
Tour Series 2010 dates
Tewkesbury June 1
Exeter June 3
Southport June 8
Woking June 24
These are the only venues yet announced with the others to follow but exciting for us West Country Boys with another date at Exeter!!
See you next week,
Bob.

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