Colin Lewis Cycle Chat March 2011

Cycle Chat 26.03.11

After Jon Locke (Rapha Condor) working in our shop at Paignton and getting some good results another of our shop employees seventeen year old Brennan Townshend has started to hit the big time.

He was only a few weeks ago overall winner in the 3 stage event Mid Devon Spring Pursuit and now had a great run this last Sunday's Round 1 of the National Junior Road Series held at Gwernyfed, Powys.

The race was a 67 mile Cadence Road Race set in the heart of SE Wales, sandwiched between the Black Mountains and the Brecon Beacons, it was always going to be a tough test of early season form as the riders tackled 8 undulating laps just to the North of Bronllys.

In the 8 laps there was a climb which was short and steep, a power climb you could call it. It suited Brennan and he came away with the King of the Mountains Trophy taking 5th overall. Well done Brennan who I am sure is looking forward with eager anticipation to the rest of the Junior Series!!

A timely attack by Paignton's Ashley Watts secured victory in the Tom Hawkins Memorial Road Race at Exeter.

Ashley (Mid-Devon CC/Colin Lewis Cycles) was in a three-man break which was under serious threat as the 50-mile race approached the climb to the finish line.

Despite the 'blocking' work of Mid-Devon teammates, the chasing bunch was nearly on the trio when Ashley saw the danger and attacked.

His effort paid off, as he stayed away to win the Regional 'A' race, organised by Exeter Wheelers.

Jon Locke is riding the Tour of Normandy at the moment and after 6 stages is lying 65th 43 secs down after loosing time on stage 3.

Luke Rowe (Great Britain National Team) is leading the Tour. A 21 year old Welshman who has ridden for Rapha Condor and looks like a Brit to keep an eye on.

Great Britain's team pursuit and team sprint squads had to settle for bronze medals on the opening night of the World Championships in Apeldoorn.

A young quartet of Steven Burke, Sam Harrison, Andy Tennant and Peter Kennaugh were too strong for New Zealand in the bronze medal final.

Matt Crampton, Chris Hoy and Jason Kenny took bronze in the team sprint as the British continue to experiment in search of the perfect combination. However, Chris Hoy rated it as their best ride since the Beijing Olympics. They qualified third fastest and beat the Australians to win bronze as the French were well ahead of the rest winning gold.

Jeremy Hunt (Sky Procycling) will be starting the Spring Classics on the cobbles of Belgium and northern France as they begin in earnest this week, with the Dwars door Vlaanderen race kicking off a month of exciting one-day racing that also includes the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix.

All races will be LIVE on Eurosport!!

Yanto Barker (Pendragon) had a 6th in the Peter Young Memorial road Race held at Hounslow last Sunday. I notice that the top 5 places were taken by the Motorpoint Pro Cycling!!

Until next week,

Bob.

Cycle Chat 19.03.11

Jon Locke (Rapha Condor) slipped up this last Sunday in the 29th Jock Wadley Memorial RR held at Colchester. Last year it was a first.

This year it was a second but I am 100% sure that he was not disappointed after coming back after he was knocked off his bike and nearly run over by a hit and run driver. There were 3 other Rapha riders in the top 10.

Kristian House (Rapha Condor) was again the team's strong man on Sunday as he infiltrated a breakaway that stayed clear until the last lap of the race. However, once caught the move was immediately countered and another group totalling four riders and this time featuring Dan Craven and Jon Locke amongst its number, went clear. Well done Jon!!

Jon is off to France next for the Tour of Normandy from March 21st-26th.

Bradley Wiggins (Sky-Procycling) secured a 3rd place in the Paris-Nice last week 41secs behind the winning German Tony Martin (HTC-Highroad). Sure he will be pleased with a 3rd as his warm up for TdF in July. Jeremy Hunt had a DNF on the final stage.

This is a turn up after not having many riders in the last year's World Champs!! Following a strong showing by Brad Wiggins at the Paris-Nice early season stage race, Great Britain finds itself third in the UCI nation rankings.

Recent success by Ben Swift at the Tour Down Under in January - where he won two stages - and Mark Cavendish's continued excellence means that we now sit proudly in third with 157 points, behind only Germany with 234 and Australia with 297.

One key benefit of a strong nation ranking is that it qualifies more riders for the team for the World Championships, which this year will be held in Copenhagen in October on a course which may suit Cavendish.

In the individual rankings, Tony Martin's Paris-Nice success has propelled him into the number one spot, with 108 points. The top ranked Brits are Ben Swift in 5th with 82 points and Bradley Wiggins in 6th with 74.

Mark Cavendish is training in Salsomaggiore, Italy in preparation for the Milan-San Remo classic on Saturday. The British sprinter joins most of the HTC-Highroad team from Tirreno-Adriatico and two others, Matt Goss and Lars Back, from Paris-Nice.
The goal is simple, train to be ready to help Cavendish repeat his 2009 win!!

See you next week,

Bob.

Cycle Chat 12.03.11

Well done Brennan Townshend of the Mid Devon CC on the overall prize in the 3 week series run by Mid Devon in the Springtime Pursuit. At 17 what a rider and one to watch for the future!!

Yanto Barker (Pendragon) after his good run in the first Springtime Pursuit where he was top elite rider is off with his team to Majorca for two weeks uninterrupted quality training before the racing season really takes shape.

Jeremy Hunt (Sky Procycling) is in 153 place in the Paris-Nice some 45 mins back!! Bradley Wiggins is top Brit in 17th position just a competitive 29 secs adrift and in the lead is Andreas Klöden (Team RadioShack)

Over the next year there will be more and more news coverage of exactly what is going to happen as Sebastian Coe gets his team putting in all the hard work that is needed to organise such a huge event with all its administrative complexities.

The Time Trial course has just been released and this will be of particular interest to Women's world time trial champion Emma Pooley who was a silver medallist in the discipline in Beijing, and she will be aiming to go one better in London on what believes is an attractive route.

The time trial route for the 2012 London Olympics has been unveiled, with both the men's and women's events set to start and finish at Hampton Court Palace in south west London.

The men will race over a 44km course, while the women's time trial is shorter at 29km, but each event will see the riders tackle some undulating terrain in Surrey before returning to the finish near the Thames. The time trials will take place on Wednesday 1 August 2012, four days after the men's road race sees the award of one of the first gold medals of the Games.

Sebastian Coe, chair of the London Olympics organising committee, said that the course would be a success both from a sporting standpoint and as a visual spectacle.

Mayor of London Boris Johnson lauded the fact that, like the road race, the time trial will bring the Olympics beyond the central areas of the capital.

Until next week,

Bob.

Cycle Chat 05.03.11

Has anyone particularly in the Plymouth area seen a red Mk. 5 VW Golf with a dent in the front and scratches along the side please report it to Jon Locke (Rapha Condor) care of Colin Lewis Cycles!!

This week Jon was knocked off his bike by a following car of the above description. Jon is OK (knocked about with the usual scratches and bruises) but it could have been much worse.

His bike (A Condor!! You can buy one at CLCycles!! Jon gets his free from his team) is a total write off and the car failed to stop. A call on his mobile brought the Police to deal with the hit and run incident and take Jon home.

Jon is just back from Africa where he and the team had a very successful week in the Tour of South Africa ending up 8th overall and 2nd in the mountains classification. This was after all the work he did to get Kristian House into first position. Well done Jon and Rapha Condor on a great result!!

Just arrived at the shop in Paignton is the Cipollini RB100!! What a bike, (see picky) and so it should be to cost £10800. The frame set is £4000. Interested?? Give us a ring on 01803-553095 else call in and goggle!!

Specs are: -

Group
DURA-ACE DI2: Crankset 7950 50X34 COMPAC - Cassette Sprocket 7900 10V. 12-25

Handlebar
FSA: K-FORCE COMPACT CARB 31,8 (42)

Stem
OS-99 CSI STEM 31.8, AL7075 (120)

Saddle
SELLE ITALIA Teknologika Flow

Wheels
LIGHTWEIGHT: Standard IIIM RA16-RP20

Not the best of weekends for Jeremy Hunt (Team Sky) in the classics last weekend where he failed to finish after working for the team. Off this Sunday 6th for the 8stage Paris-Nice where he will play an integrated part in the Sky Team and want better.

The 6,000-seat Velodrome for the 2012 London Olympics and Paralympics was officially opened on Tuesday.

The venue for track cycling, expected to come in under its budget at around £93m, is the first to be completed at the Olympic Park.

Sir Chris Hoy, who won three cycling gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Games, helped in the design.

It took a team of 26 carpenters eight weeks to install the Siberian pine track and more than 350,000 nails were used on its 56km of timber surface.


KEY DATES: TRACK CYCLING

23-27 MARCH 2011

2011 World Championships, Netherlands

4-8 APRIL 2012

2012 World Championships, Melbourne, Australia

8 APRIL 2012

Olympic Track Ranking closes, qualification places allocated after this point.

Until next week,

Bob.

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