Doppio: 01

a weekly double-shot of road racing

Wednesday 20th March 2013

issue 01

rapha.cc

16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 SUNDAY

SATURDAY

MONDAY —Volta a Catalunya S1

—Milan–Sanremo

TUESDAY —Volta a Catalunya S2

WEDNESDAY

—Volta a Catalunya S3 —Dwars door Vlaanderen

THURSDAY —Volta a Catalunya S4

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

SUNDAY

—Volta a Catalunya S5 —E3 Harelbeke

—Volta a Catalunya S6 —Critérium International

—Volta a Catalunya S7 —Gent-Wevelgem —Critérium International

milan-sanremo review

bigringriding award

doff of the cap

Snow-go on the Turchino

THIS WEEK’S GONG FOR SERVICES TO THE BIG RING GOES TO MR. CAVENDISH. AFTER A SURPRISE ATTACK

BY THE WEATHER CAUGHT EVERYONE UNPREPARED AT SANREMO, CAV MANNED UP AND RODE IN SHORTS, SHOWING BELGIUM’S HARDMEN HOW IT’S DONE.

Chapeau to Team Sky’s Ian Stannard, who revelled in the bad conditions and attacked repeatedly on the Poggio. The British National Champion is one of the peloton’s most dogged riders and after a valiant effort, Essex’s finest was only bested in the final sprint.

Peter Sagan CANNONDALE

2

Gerald Ciolek MTN-QHUBEKA

1

Fabian Cancellara RADIOSHACK LEOPARD TREK

3

Before the start of Milan-Sanremo there had been predictions of the sort of wet conditions not seen since 1991, when Claudio Chiappucci launched a brave win on the cloud-covered Turchino in the slipstream of the veteran passista Guido Bontempi.

Instead, we had to look back to 3rd April 1910 to find a race conducted in such terrible weather.

That year, 63 men started and 20cm of snow on the Turchino ensured only four made it to Sanremo.

French rider Eugène Christophe sheltered in a hostel after collapsing with a stomach cramp beside the road: “I saw four racers go by, or at least four piles of mud,” he said. “I decided to press on. The innkeeper didn’t want to let me go. I had to trick him by saying I could meet someone who would get me to Sanremo by train.” Christophe went on to win, with the biggest margin in the history of the race. In 2013, the organisers were never intentionally going to put the riders through such hardship, hence their decision to cut the Turchino and Le Manie. Still, the ice-covered helmets and shocked expressions as they boarded the buses for the neutralised section testified to the severity of the conditions. It could be argued that the race was diminished by the distortions imposed by the weather but that would be harsh on Gerald Ciolek; the German rider did the sprinter’s job, followed the right wheel until in range and his win put MTN-Qhubeka on the map.

from the team car

Servais Knaven on the Classics Winner of Paris-Roubaix in 2001, Servais Knaven is in his third season as Sports Director at Team Sky. Ahead of Flanders and Roubaix, Rapha caught up with Servais to get the view from the team car.

What does it take to win a Classic?

Everything has to be perfect. In a race like Roubaix you have 10 or more riders who could win: Boonen, Cancellara, Sagan. It’s not just about who’s fastest. Have a good look around to see the other riders, read the race. Roubaix is so hard to predict. Last year, Tom Boonen rode away with 50km left and everyone said: “What’s he doing?”

There are so many cobbled sections, anything can happen.

What makes a good Classics rider?

The ability to save energy. Go for it at the right moments but have patience. Roubaix takes a different ride to Flanders. You need to be steady, unlike Flanders which requires peaks in effort. You get the same riders at the front of the race, it’s a good race for ‘diesels’. And of course, never give up. For 20km you can be the best in the group, then 5km later you can be standing still.

Is there a particular technique to riding cobbles?

It’s hard… it wears down your whole body. You must be really steady, hold your ass really tight on the saddle and be one with the bike so it goes where you want it to go.

Presumably it’s a tough day for Sports Directors, too?

This will be my first year driving the team car. At Roubaix two years ago there was so much dust you couldn't see the cars in front. That's why we have two in the car, myself and Kurt Asle Arvesen. It’s a hard day’s work.

The full version of this interview will be available online from Friday 22nd March. To read it, along with Ian Stannard’s Classics ambitions for 2013, visit: rapha.cc.

# pr ost y le

a weekly double-shot of road racing

Wednesday 20th March 2013

weekend weather

gent–wevelgem preview

rapha condor jlt

Boxing for Bubblegum

Storming Normandy

race type: One-day Classic distance: 238km region: Flanders, Belgium

Six Rapha-Condor-JLT riders are in the middle of a tough week in north-western France, taking part in the Tour of Normandy. Tom Southam, a former pro now working with Rapha-Condor-JLT, gives his view of the race.

The first bike race I ever saw in France I came across by complete accident, as my family and I meandered our way across Brittany on holiday.

My father asked a burly gendarme manning the barriers if it was an important race. “Bah! Oui, c’est une course professionelle!,” he replied. Once we arrived at the town centre I was taken aback.

It certainly looked like a bike race but I had imagined thousands of cheering, flag-waving spectators, TV crews and throngs of journalists. Instead, there were only a few clumps of townsfolk; most seemed to be wondering, in fact, not who was winning but how best to cross the road to the boulangerie.

It struck me deeply that cycling looked a lot harder like this. On the TV, riders looked like rock stars: sunglasses, caps, suntans and podium girls. Here, they had the grim-faced look of men who knew there was a tough job to do and who were just going to get on and do it.

The Tour of Normandy is hard precisely because there are very good, hungry riders taking part and because it’s March in Normandy, where the weather is at best unpredictable and at worst wetter than the sea. It is hard because there are no distractions and no comforts; the hotels are rickety, rooms cold, food unpalatable.

At Normandy, the Rapha-Condor-JLT riders will learn how to ride a 200km stage in crosswinds and how to deal with the dull ache of battling all day on the flat, minds exhausted by the stress of being swamped by screaming Belgians. They will come up against teams they have never heard of, like Bretagne Schuller or Concordia Forsikring.

The Tour of Normandy is not pretty: it is bike racing at its hardest, most enduring and most grounded.

Osaka Temperature dropping.

Overcast all weekend.

High of 13C.

Wevelgem Grey skies but dry on the ground.

High of 7C.

WEVELGEM 238km

Ke mm e l be rg M o nt e be rg

Ban e be rg

Ba n e be rg 2n d f ee d zo ne K e mm e l be rg M o nt e be rg

Cas se l be rg

Cat sb e rg K o e ke l be r g

Tom’s full feature will be available online, at rapha.cc, from Friday 22nd March.

1s t f ee d z on e

DEINZE 0km

San Francisco Gorgeous, and sunny all week, folks. Get out and ride.

High of 63F.

Cas se l be rg

Bike racing can certainly throw up a lot of surprises, like German Gerald Ciolek outwitting Peter Sagan in Sanremo. Which is why we keep asking the question, what does it take to win a Classic? Good legs alone won’t cut it: racing instinct, too, is essential.

The 75th edition of Gent-Wevelgem on Sunday is one for the wheelers – think Tom Boonen, Oscar Freire, Edvald Boasson Hagen or, further back, Rik Van Looy. Rouleurs, all, riders who get a good rhythm going when the going gets tough (think Sugar Ray Robinson in Lycra). However, GentWevelgem, which doesn't actually start in Gent but 25km away in Deinze (pronounced Danes-er), also includes the notorious Kemmelberg cobbled climb, guaranteed to disrupt even the most metronomic rider. Not only is the Kemmelberg cobbled in parts, it's steep and twisty. The site of a massacre in WWI, it comes 30km from the finish and can often prove decisive. The previous 200km, with winds off the coast, will wear down the lesser-conditioned riders and so reserving enough power to knock over the Kemmelberg and GentWevelgem’s other late hills is key.

Boonen has three victories here and with his ability to power up his native hills could easily add a fourth. But Ghent-Bubblegum, as it is affectionately known, can be a sticky affair, particularly if the weather gods are in foul mood – and surely Mark Cavendish deserves his team’s support after Sanremo. Bernhard Eisel, winner in 2010, is experienced enough to win but he will be chaperoning Boasson Hagen to a potential second victory.

Peter Sagan (second last year) will no doubt be hungry to prove himself. And how about Phil Gilbert – he can punch all day long. Or, if you fancy a long-shot, Danilo Napolitano. Never heard of him? Could be a contender.

London Still cold, wet, grey and frosty. Time for the turbo.

Or a holiday.

High of 6C.

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Volta a Catalunya.

Screened live all week at Rapha Cycle Clubs.