Doppio: 09

a weekly double-shot of road racing

Wednesday 15th May 2013

issue 09

rapha.cc

11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19

SATURDAY — Giro d’Italia S8

SUNDAY — Giro d’Italia S9 — Tour of California S1

MONDAY — Giro d’Italia Rest day — Tour of California S2

TUESDAY — Giro d’Italia S10 — Tour of California S3

WEDNESDAY — Giro d’Italia S11 — Tour of California S4

the giro this week

THURSDAY — Giro d’Italia S12 — Tour of California S5

FRIDAY — Giro d’Italia S13 — Tour of California S6

SATURDAY — Giro d’Italia S14 — Tour of California S7

SUNDAY — Giro d’Italia S14 — Tour of California S8 — Rás S1

an post rás tailteann

Wednesday | STAGE 11 | 182km Tarvisio → Vajont Another summit finish, in the shadow of the Vajont dam, will suit a punchy rider but today’s main climb is less tough than yesterday’s.

Thursday | STAGE 12 | 134km Longarone → Treviso Sprinters will appreciate today, as it’s flat from 40km out. Team Sky may well want to drop by the Pinarello factory, near the finish.

Friday | STAGE 13 | 254km Busseto → Cherasco A long transition stage today, along the Po valley and into Piemonte. e hills roll in around 60km from the end.

Saturday | STAGE 14 | 168km Cervere → Bardonnechia All hail the high mountains, and a mean final climb.

Fireworks maybe, but lesser men might save energy for tomorrow.

Sunday | STAGE 15 | 149km Cesana Torinese → Col du Galibier e Giro dips its toe into France: a short, brutal stage that finishes with the classic Télégraphe-Galibier one-two.

Monday | REST DAY It’ll be fondue night tonight as the riders relax and recover in Valloire, in the valley between yesterday’s two French cols.

Tuesday | STAGE 16 | 238km Valloire → Ivrea Back into Italy and a long flat, before a Cat-3 climb offers the perfect springboard for a breakaway.

Wednesday | STAGE 17 | 214km Caravaggio → Vicenza Perhaps the final chance for the sprinters, as the final climb is small. Vicenza is home to Campagnolo.

e Fighting Irish Ahead of this year’s edition of Ireland’s biggest road race, ex-pro Tom Southam reflects on the lesser known riders that make ‘e Rás’ unique (and very, very hard). e An Post Rás Tailteann is an eight-day pro-am stage race that has taken place in Ireland since 1953.

Known simply as ‘e Rás’, its uci status, along with Ireland’s proximity to the uk, means the race attracts a number of Continental teams. But its strong heritage also means the field includes a number of Irish county teams who, in turn, include some of the most determined club-level riders on the planet. With the sole aim of attacking whenever and wherever they can, it is these riders, not the pros, that make the race unpredictable, chaotic and very, very hard.

Ultan Coyle, long-time designer for Rapha and also the current British 24-hour Time Trial Champion, is one such rider who, despite little experience on the road, leapt at the opportunity to take part in this year’s Rás.

“When I was back in Ireland at the start of the year, I went for a ride with a guy called Rooster, who I met in a pub. He mentioned that he and a few others were looking for another team member to do the Rás; two miles into our first ride, he asked if I’d like to do it.

Despite pointing out I’d never ridden a stage race in my life, he replied, in the best Irish way, ‘You’ll be grand’.”

For many riders, simply completing the event will count as a victory. e Continental teams, unsurprisingly, go to the race with more weighty ambitions. One of them is Rapha-Condor-jlt. e team’s manager, John Herety, has a special relationship with the Rás, having been in charge of the winning team four times. “e Rás has given me a great deal of satisfaction,” says Herety. “Every time I’ve had riders win, it has been a completely different tactical approach. You just can’t be sure what will happen.” “e terrain is perfect for ambushes, with strong winds, small roads, and a succession of tough climbs. e Irish have a real fighting spirit and don’t like getting beaten by the English. It’s very friendly but makes for really tough racing.” e full version of this article will appear on the Rapha blog tomorrow, 16th May: rapha.cc/blogs. e An Post Rás Tailteann gets underway on Sunday 19th May. For race updates and results via Twitter, follow the Rapha-Condor-JLT team: twitter.com/raphacondor.

adam hansen’s shoe s: # pr ost y le

Wednesday 15th May 2013

a weekly double-shot of road racing

california’s golden nuggets

tour of california

As well as racing action to satisfy the most discerning fan’s appetite, the Tour of California is one of the world’s more intimate stage races.

We dug up a couple of juicy morsels.

New Media, New Myths

He’s Got Bottle

Surprise Attack

Chris Jones (United Healthcare) is a strong contender for domestique of the year with his often unseen heroics. e heat has all but consumed some of the riders, but Jones estimated he transported something close to 50 bottles during one of the fourhour stages.

Andy Schleck surprised more than a few with his attack late in the first stage. Apparently, he did so while only drinking a small amount, and was overheard getting a talking to from teammate Jens Voigt at the team dinner. Jens supposedly advised: “Tomorrow, drink more.”

the tour of california this week Wednesday | STAGE 4 | 134km/1,574m Santa Clarita → Santa Barbara Ocean breezes will welcome riders along to a sprint finish in Santa Barbara after a long downhill to 'Silicon Beach’. One for Sagan.

Thursday | STAGE 5 | 186km/2,370km Santa Barbara → Avila Beach A stiff climb up Foxen Canyon leads to a sprint finale at Avila Beach – a slight rise in the final metres could make things interesting.

Friday | STAGE 6 | 32km/655m San Jose → San Jose is individual tt is identical to 2006 and is bookended by two climbs – the finish is a 3km climb that pitches over 10% at times.

Saturday | STAGE 7 | 147km/3,165m Livermore → Mt Diablo e race could be won or lost on this climb to Mt Diablo. Expect large crowds and plenty of suffering.

Sunday | STAGE 8 | 130km/2,314m San Francisco → Santa Rosa e Golden Gate bridge closes for only the third time in its history as the peloton heads from sf to the finale Santa Rosa.

weekend weather

London Will spring never come? Rainy and cold, the odd patch of sun on Sunday.

Rain Jacket, Rapha Cap.

San Francisco Sunny spells and in the 70s for the toc’s visit to sf.

Pro Team Jersey, Pro Team Bib Shorts.

Cesana Torinese e Alps are looking wet, 16c but colder at altitude.

Good luck on the Galibier.

Pro Team Race Cape.

Dunboyne Changeable, with strong crosswinds at the start of the Rás. Highs in the low teens.

Wind Jacket.

e Tour of California was born the same year as Twitter, a coincidence that happens to be significant because it illustrates how thoroughly and pervasively we have been able to follow the race. e riders tell us what they’re thinking right before a stage (and right after) and on the rest days they share the rest. Had he been at the crest of Diablo, ten thousand hashtagged instant communiqués would have told us that, actually, Bahamontes hadn’t stopped to get an ice cream but, rather, only because his spokes had broken. ere’d have been plenty of six-second videos to prove it, too. at’s a shame. e Tour of California deserves some myth. And we – the fans – deserve our tour to have some myth. For sheer riding, I’d take Sierra Grade as well as the Croce d’Aune, except that at the top of the Italian mountain I can stop and wheel my bike over, and kiss the statuary cheek of Tullio Campagnolo inventing the quick release. On the Tourmalet, I hear ringing in my ears the echoes of Lapize, spitting out his famous condemnation of “assassins”. Descending the Portet d’Aspet, I pass the ghost of Vietto giving up his Tour de France by turning around and climbing back up to give his wheel to Magne.

I want such legends for California. Not for me, no, I’m long past the time when these stories can at first unsettle my soul then settle deep into it. But somewhere in California there is a kid who was at the side of the road for yesterday’s stage, or who will be for today’s, who stands no taller than the top tubes that hold those strange, bronzed lean gods, swarming past in a chaos of police sirens and helicopter blades chopping the sky apart and blatting car horns and grown men and women screaming in a way that frightens and delights the child. at kid needs more than the ability to Google the wattage of the winning racer, or to someday take a shot at the Strava segment. e magic can take years to grow, but it will. Right now, even in such an antiseptic world of information, the myths have been spawned, out of sight, invisible to us, but alive and already immortal. is is an extract of a piece written exclusively for Rapha

by Bill Strickland, editor-at-large of Bicycling magazine and author of Ten Points, a memoir, published by Hyperion.

Bill’s full piece will be available from tomorrow, 16th May, on the Rapha blog. To read it, visit: rapha.cc/blogs.

adam hansen’s shoe s: # pr ost y le