Doppio: 20

a weekly double-shot of road racing

Wednesday 14th August 2013

issue 20

rapha.cc

10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18

SATURDAY — Tour of Utah S5 — Volta a Portugal S4

SUNDAY

— Tour of Utah S6 — Volta a Portugal S5

MONDAY — Eneco Tour S1

TUESDAY — Eneco Tour S2

WEDNESDAY — Eneco Tour S3

usa pro cycling challenge

Rocky Mountain Highs race type: Week-long stage race distance: 683 miles region: Colorado In 1975, the Red Zinger Bicycle Classic stage race set off from Boulder as a way to promote cycling in the Rocky Mountains state of Colorado. In 1979, Michael Aisner, the race’s pr director, bought the race for one dollar and took the event to the Coors beer company. Over the next eight years, the Coors Classic featured stages from Colorado to Hawaii and hosted

102.9 MILES

THURSDAY — Eneco Tour S4

SATURDAY — Eneco Tour S6

SUNDAY

— Eneco Tour S7

riders like Greg LeMond, Davis Phinney and Bernard Hinault.

After a long hiatus, the race has returned in the 21st century and pitches the world’s leading teams over mountain passes that start at 10,000ft, twisty descents and gravel climbs.

Team Sky will be present, fielding the Tour de France-winning trio of Chris Froome, Peter Kennaugh and Richie Porte. Joining them in their pursuit of victory will be usa natives Joe Dombrowski and Ian Boswell. ese riders will test their legs over famous passes, such as Independence and Rabbit Ears. Team Sky’s other American rider, Danny Pate, will be one to watch having been born and raised in Colorado Springs; the tag of ‘hometown hero’ can do strange things to a rider. Josh Edmondson and Kanstantsin Siutsou complete the Team Sky roster.

115.2 MILES

105.9 MILES

FORT COLLINS

STEAMBOAT SPRINGS THU

DAILEY SAT

WED

Aug 22

Aug 21

Bachelor's Gulch KOM

Rabbit Ears Pass KOM

Aug 24

3 RANGELY

FRIDAY — Eneco Tour S5

BOULDER

LOVELAND

6

YUMA

Horsetooth Reservoir

(EXPANDED VIEW) 60.6 MILES CIRCUIT RACE

BRECKENRIDGE

VAIL

DENVER

72.4 MILES CIRCUIT RACE

ARICKAREE

VAIL TT 10 MILES

BEAVER CREEK

SUN

Aug 25

ASPEN

MON

GRAND Aug 19 JUNCTION

FRI

1

Aug 23

GATEWAY

5

126.1 MILES

Teambus Area Aspen

SALIDA

MONTROSE

COLORADO SPRINGS

Teambus Area Denver

SORRENTO

HUGO

Teambus Area Vail

PUEBLO

TUE

Aug 20 LAKE CITY COLORADO CITY DOVE CREEK

TELLURIDE

LA JUNTA

LAMAR

Independence Pass, KOM

C O L O R A D O ALAMOSA

SPRINGFIELD MIDWAY

gaining wei ght is #pr ost y le

Wednesday 14th August 2013

a weekly double-shot of road racing

eneco tour

tour of britain news

Has Eneco Got e Power?

ToB or not ToB

When Mark Renshaw attacked under the flamme rouge of the first stage of the Eneco Tour 2013 and held off the peloton to win, it was an explosive start to what is often a curiously underwhelming race. e Eneco Tour is the continuation of the old week-long Ronde van Nederland, which for most of its 60-year life started and ended in Amsterdam. It became an annual race in 1975 and was dominated in that era

by Gerrie Knetemann who, leading the fearsome Ti-Raleigh team, notched up four overall wins. Yet by the start of the 21st century it was faltering, and then-uci President Hein Verbruggen got involved.

He was, at that point, locked in a battle with the Grand Tour organisers over who wielded the power in top-level cycling, and also floating the idea of the ProTour, which would become the series of top events elite teams were obliged to race. A larger race in Europe would bolster his ProTour, and be a marketing platform outside the Grand Tours’ orbit, and thus he encouraged the Ronde van Nederland, then sponsored by Eneco Energie, to merge with the Tours of Belgium and Luxembourg. In 2005, the Eneco Tour of the Benelux was born but it quickly turned farcical when, in stage four that year, the peloton took a wrong turn and the commissaires asked police to physically hold back the break. Bart Dockx was one of the three riders who had six minutes on the peloton: “Right there in the middle of the climb we were in full effort, so we didn’t want to stop and went to the top of the climb,” he explained at the time. “All our team directors told us to keep going but then the race jury started threatening they’d take us out of the race. First they said to keep going slowly and then they actually made a policeman stop us.”

When the race was restarted with 43km to go, the break was only given four minutes, and was duly caught.

Since then, although the Eneco Tour has been run in co-operation with the Tour of Belgium, both the Belgian and Luxembourgeois Tours remain and Eneco has never touched Luxembourgeois soil.

So what’s going on with the Eneco Tour now? Given that Belgian and Holland are two core European cycling territories, with some of the most passionate fans on the planet, its low profile is puzzling. e race also has some classic terrain to cover – three ascents of the Muur de Geraardsbergen this year, for star riders including Bradley Wiggins, Philippe Gilbert and Marcel Kittel to tackle.

Riders do complain that the roads in the Netherlands are now increasingly difficult to navigate because of street furniture and obstacles, but perhaps the answer lies in the marketing-driven approach taken in 2003: “Sponsors are only interested in the European market,” Verbruggen said then – a statement that now looks completely at odds with the uci’s aggressive push into the Middle East and other new territories. e moral may be to beware marketing ‘push’ rather than fans’ ‘pull’. It’s a shame: the Eneco Tour’s quality deserves a higher status.

Rapha-Condor-jlt has now been confirmed to start alongside Team Sky at the 10th Tour of Britain in September. It is the second time this season the two Rapha-sponsored teams will line up at the same event, after also both animating this month’s RideLondonSurrey Classic. e teams will race over eight days, from Scotland through the Lake District to two mountainous stages in Wales, then across the West Country, Surrey and on to a final lap in London. Garmin-Sharp, Cannondale, Movistar and Omega Pharma-QuickStep will also feature, as well as Pro Continental teams and the cream of the uk and Ireland’s Continental crop. e final Sunday, 22nd September, will see a women’s circuit race in the shadow of Big Ben and Buckingham Palace, in anticipation of the five-day women’s Tour of Britain to be held in spring next year.

the mobile cycle club in colorado

25th August | Vattenfall Cyclassics Underrated one-day race around Hamburg carrying uci points, last won by a certain Arnaud Démare.

Drop by the Mobile Cycle Club for espresso at the following USA Pro Cycling Challenge locations:

STAGE 1: next to the Team Sky bus in the team parking area.

STAGE 2: near the KOM on Independence Pass.

STAGE 3: near the KOM on Rabbit Ears Pass.

STAGE 4: near the final KOM at Bachelor's Gulch.

STAGE 5: next to the Team Sky bus for the TT. STAGE 6: hors course, on the Horsetooth Reservoir.

STAGE 7: location tbc, check with @RaphaRacing on Twitter.

this month ’s racing

In Other News...

Stuck with a big hole in your life but can’t stay up all night for the US races? Other than the Vuelta, here are some recommendations for races to follow in August.

14th August | Hitters GP Rapha-Condor-jlt will line up in South Wales for this evening event, organised by Team Sky’s Luke Rowe.

30-st August | World Ports Classic Interesting two-day blast from Rotterdam to Antwerp and back, a new venture to extend the northern Classics season.

31st August | Grand Prix de Plouay e cream of women’s racing will be lining up in Brittany for the final of the uci Women’s World Cup.

gaining we ight is #pr ost y le