Doppio: 11

a weekly double-shot of road racing

Wednesday 29th May 2013

issue 11

rapha.cc

25 26 27 28 29 30 31 01 02

SATURDAY — Giro d’Italia S20

SUNDAY — Giro d’Italia S21

MONDAY

TUESDAY

It turned out to be too good to be true: Danilo DiLuca rode an unfaltering race in aid of Mauro Santambrogio but unfortunately Dirty Danny got caught with his hand in the cookie jar, again

MOST COMBATIVE KIT: Vincenzo Nibali raced up the Jafferau in short sleeves, no gloves and just toe covers, whilst the rest wore every piece of kit they had. Such panache paid off as he finished first at the summit (and ultimately in Brescia).

SERVICES TO THE CASQUETTE: Mark Cavendish demonstrated great sartorial form, as well as sprinting class, by sporting a cycling cap each morning with the peak flipped up.

HONOURABLE BEARD MENTION:

Carlos Betancur (ag2r) on stage 8 for dancing on the line as he took second and not first place as he’d imagined. Fellow Colombian Jarlinson Pantano (Team Colombia, whom he overtook) tweeted after: “hahaha. I just said to myself, what are you doing?”

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

SUNDAY

giro opinion

WORST DOMESTIQUE:

MOST IMAGINATIVE CELEBRATION:

THURSDAY

— Critérium du Dauphiné S1

giro d’italia awards

Brian Holm, debonair Danish DS for Omega PharmaQuickstep, shows the peloton how to rock the pinnacle of hipster fashions.

WEDNESDAY

A Call to Arms Inspired by a rallying cry from a legendary compatriot, the performance of Colombia’s riders at this year’s Giro d’Italia suggests the future is bright for the next generation. By Klaus (cyclinginquisition.com) is year’s Giro has served as a reintroduction, of sorts, to some of the most beloved riders in the peloton: the Colombians. It had been 21 years since the last all-Colombian team appeared at the Giro, so the fact 15 Colombian riders lined up at the start of this year’s race, the state-sponsored Team Colombia among them, was significant.

In 1988, Fabio Enrique Parra, a native of the country’s cycling-rich Boyacá department, placed third overall at the Tour, one of many achievements in cycling that have afforded him legendary status. A confident but reserved individual throughout his career, today Parra seldom speaks to the press. Which made his comments before stage 19 that much more poignant, as the 53 year-old took to Twitter to cheer on his compatriots.

“Seize the mountain!,” he tweeted, adding that, “[even] a partial victory, [like the kom] will require an alliance between all Colombians.” An alliance across teams seemed unlikely but even without Parra’s words of encouragement, Colombian riders demonstrated considerable fortitude at the Giro. Despite the fact many were riding in their first grand tour, Team Colombia’s riders were present in numerous breaks and attacks, while Team Sky’s duo of Sergio Henao and Rigoberto Urán did more than salvage their team’s race after the unexpected departure of Bradley Wiggins.

Urán took stage 10 and finished second overall, making him only the third Colombian to stand on the podium at a grand tour. is puts him in mythical company among Colombia’s best. And yet Colombia’s talent doesn’t stop at Sky’s riders, or its eponymous team. Arguably, the most significant Colombian rider at this year’s Giro was ag2r’s Carlos Betancur, who finished fifth overall and earned the white jersey.

During stage 20, on Tre Cime di Lavaredo, Team Colombia’s Wilson Marentes gave Betancur a push, while Urán, Fabio Duarte (also tc) and Betancur rode together for much of the final kilometre, the trio’s ascent helping Urán up to second in the gc. It wasn’t just the press who looked on with interest. Colombia’s president, Juan Manuel Santos, followed the race closely and after the stage placed a call to Duarte, relaying how emotional it had been to watch his countrymen working together. All of which suggests that Fabio Parra isn’t an out-of-touch dreamer. Rather, an ardent Colombian cycling fan who, just maybe, was right. e full version of this feature will be available on the Rapha blog from tomorrow, 30th May. To read it, visit: rapha.cc/blogs

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Wednesday 29th May 2013

a weekly double-shot of road racing

dauphiné preview

an post rás review

Fishy Business

Cream of the County Set

Despite its name, the Critérium du Dauphiné has always been a stage race – yet it can seem small compared with the behemoth of the Tour de France, whose looming presence a month hence will be both oppressive and exciting for riders and fans alike.

Nicknamed ‘the Dolphin’, the Dauphiné is an interesting excursion in its own right but is often seen as a prep race for the Tour, a place for careful calculation as the main contenders check their form – and that of their rivals – before holing up in a final pre-Tour training camp for last-minute strategising. at’s certainly how it’s been used by greats including Louison Bobet, Bernard évenet and Greg LeMond, all of whom have won. In fact, the Dauphiné is the only other race that unites all the five-time Tour champions – Anquetil, Merckx, Hinault, Indurain (and the Texan) – in victory. e pioneering Brian Robinson, first Brit to finish the Tour de France, also won here in 1961 and, while Sir Bradley Wiggins has won the previous two editions, he almost certainly will not feature in 2013. is year the Dauphiné offers eight stages (no prologue, one itt) of mountainous racing and starts for the first time in Switzerland. e Dauphiné region covers some classic Tour territory and extends as far south-west as Avignon. e high Alps, including Alpe d’Huez are firmly centre stage, and Mont Ventoux sometimes features. e Giant of Provence is not on the agenda this time around but the Alpe certainly is. at stage, on 8th June, will also give riders a first look at the Col de Sarenne above the Alpe and the dizzying, technical descent down the back to Freney d’Oisans, which will both feature in the Tour’s double-Alpe stage in July. And it will be a second look, we hope, at what may be this year’s defining Tour de France battle: Alberto Contador v Chris Froome…

Ireland’s premier stage race, the An Post Rás, wrapped up on Sunday. Renowned for pitching tough amateur riders against visiting pro teams, Gerard Cromwell reports on the county commuter who gave the big boys a fright.

Roger Aiken has unwittingly carved his legend into Ireland’s historic stage race. After a stunning week-long performance, and having ridden only a couple of prep races this year due to a full-time job, he finished eighth overall, notched a stage second, and claimed the county rider jersey no less than three times. Part of a Louth Prague Charter team that included Rapha’s very own Ultan Coyle, Aiken finished just 51 seconds behind race winner Marcin Bialoblocki (uk Youth) when the race wrapped up in Skerries on Sunday. And he knows it could have been even closer. “I lost 22 seconds in a crash in Carlow,” Aikens said of a tussle with a roundabout just outside the final 3km on stage six.en, on the penultimate stage, Aikens put in a storming ride over the Wicklow Mountains to finish a very close second in Naas. He also finished 17th on the final stage, four minutes clear of his nearest rival in the countyrider standings. All of this, despite having ridden only the John Beggs Memorial ride and the Tour of Ulster prior to the Rás, and using his daily commute as a key part of his training. “I’ve been training hard on the bike consistently the last two years, mainly commuting in and out of work. All that was lacking was the speed from racing in the big bunch. We definitely had the riders to win it… I rode against Tony Martin in 2007 and it’s good seeing him now, what he’s done.” For now though, Aiken has thrown off his superman cape and simply returned to work, resuming his Clark Kent role – as a fitter for Northern Irish Railways. “I’m back to work tomorrow at 7.30,” he said on Sunday, “but I don’t think I’ll cycle in.” is is an extract from Gerald’s original article, which first appeared on the Irish cycling blog, stickybottle.com.

critérium du dauphiné this week

Sunday | STAGE 1 | 121km Champéry → Champéry e race warms up with a loop over medium mountains just south of Lake Léman.

maillots

Maillot jaune à bande bleue Featuring a blue band across the chest, the mountainous parcours means the gc winner is often a grimpeur.

Maillot rouge à pois blancs e Tour climber’s jersey in negative, the Dauphiné’s leading climber wears ‘red with white peas’.

Maillot vert Cadel Evans is the current holder of the points jersey, first introduced in 1955.

race type: 8-stage race | distance: 1,117km | region: Dauphiné

Monday | STAGE 2 | 191km Châtel → Oyonnax is stage will show us who’s in control as the peloton moves from France to Switzerland.

Tuesday | STAGE 3 | 167km Ambérieu-en-Bugey → Tarare Expect some battles for supremacy between the gc teams before a sprint finish.

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Wednesday | STAGE 4 | 32.5km Villars-les-Dombes → Oiseaux A platform for top gc riders to do their best impression of a runaway train.