Road
Tom Boonen crashes out of Abu Dhabi Tour (VIDEO)
Etixx - Quick-Step rider Tom Boonen suffered bad luck in the 130km Abu Dhabi Tour Stage 2 on Friday. The Belgian rider crashed after the first intermediate sprint at the Yas Marina Circuit, about 55km into the stage. He withdrew from the race as consequence of the crash. An immediate hospital examination of Tom Boonen underlined a left temporal bone...
“The legs are good. So hopefully we can do something on Sunday” – Sam Bennett
Sam Bennett won the 65th edition of the French classic Paris-Bourges yesterday and in doing so, the 24-year-old Irishman secured his fifth sprint win of the year. After 190 kilometers, Bennett won ahead of Nacer Bouhanni (Cofidis) and Giacomo Nizzolo (Trek). “Coming into the finale it was pretty dangerous but the guys kept me in a good position on...
Onboard action from Stage 1 of the Abu Dhabi Tour
Velon have posted onboard footage from the opening stage of the Abu Dhabi Tour which started yesterday. Cameras were placed on the bikes of Peter Sagan, Marcel Kittel, Michael Matthews and Tom Boonen amongst others. The race took place in searing desert heat which resulted in the stage being shortened by 14 kilometres to 159.9 kilometres. Temperatures were said to...
Sam Bennett nets win in Paris-Bourges
Sam Bennett (Bora-Argon 18) added to his tally of wins this season when he sprinted to victory today in Paris-Bourges (UCI 1.1) He beat Frenchman Nacer Bouhanni (Cofidis) into second with the Italian Giacomo Nizzolo (Trek Factory Racing) taking third. The sprinter joins the likes of John Degenkolb who won the race the last two years and Andre Greipel on...
Richmond 2015 organisers estimate 645,000 attendance figure at Worlds, 200,000 more than predicted
A preliminary estimate of attendance at the 2015 UCI Road World Championships has shown that the numbers attending far exceeded crowd predictions. it has been estimated that about 645,000 spectators visited the championships during its 10 days. This figure is nearly 200,000 higher than what organisers had been predicting. The official attendance will be released as part of an economic...
Eddie Dunbar signs for Axeon for 2016
Eddie Dunbar has confirmed that he will move to Axeon Cycling for the 2016 season. The Cork rider confirmed the news this evening. Dunbar tweeted: "Delighted to confirm that I will be joining @axeoncycling for 2016! Looking forward to an exciting year ahead." Dunbar spent his first year in the professional ranks with the British team NFTO, where he put in...
Etixx-Quick Step reaches two year agreement with Marcel Kittel
Etixx - Quick-Step has agreed to a two-year contract with German rider Marcel Kittel, who will leave the Giant-Alpecin team. 27 year-old Kittel has built an impressive palmares which includes eight Tour de France stage victories, three Scheldeprijs victories, five stage wins at Tour de Pologne, and two Giro d'Italia stage wins. He also won the 2013 Tour...
Tinkoff-Saxo unveil Peter Sagan’s new World Champion’s kit and bike
The Tinkoff-Saxo team of Peter Sagan have revealed what Peter Sagan's new World Champion's kit and bike are going to look like. The pictures are from a photo shoot with the new World Champion, which the team posted on Twitter this morning. The team's kit is produced by Sportful and the decision to go for white shorts rather than black...
Vincenzo Nibali’s descending masterclass at the Tour of Lombardy
For anybody who missed out on Vincenzo Nibali's descent from the Civiglio climb in the Tour of Lombardy today, this is well worth a watch. The Italian threw caution to the wind as he gapped the others in the lead group to go on to win the race. He really pushed himself to the limit on each hairpin, and looked...
Ireland finish in 20th place in World Tour rankings
Following on from the final World Tour race of the season, the Tour of Lombardy, Ireland have finished the season in 20th place in the nation rankings on 111 points, with Spain in first place. Spain finished with 1,945 points which was a massive 839 points clear of Italy in second place. Ireland's points came from just two riders -...
“This climb is simply beastly, impossible to get up” – The Muro di Sormano
The fourth out of six climbs that the riders will tackle in today's Tour of Lombardy is the Muro di Surmano, which they will face after 195 kilometres. It's an incredibly difficult climb that was left out of the Lombardy route for nearly 50 years. The reason why it was omitted from the race was that the riders felt...
Details of the number of anti-doping controls carried out on 2015 Tour de France released
The Cycling Anti-Doping Foundation (CADF), the independent body mandated by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) to define and implement the fight against doping in cycling, published the number of anti-doping controls carried out on the 2015 Tour de France. Dr Francesca Rossi, Director of the CADF declared: “A total of 656 controls were carried out during the 2015 Tour...
The 1986 Tour of Lombardy – The classic that Sean Kelly should have won
During his career, Sean Kelly won 9 monuments - Paris-Roubaix, Milan-San Remo and Liege-Bastogne-Liege twice each and the Tour of Lombardy three times. However, he could very well have added others to that total, having come close to victory in the Tour of Flanders a number of times. It was the 1986 Tour of Lombardy though that was probably...
“Sam got boxed in and he could not even start his sprint” – Sam Bennett finishes in 11th place in Münsterland Giro
There was disappointment for Sam Bennett (Bora Argon 18) in the Münsterland Giro today when he got boxed in inside the final hundred metres. He had been amongst the favourites to take the win in a race that favours sprinters. A five-man breakaway went clear shortly after the start in Ibbenbüren, but they were never given much freedom by the...
“This is a real bummer” – Joaquim Rodriguez ruled out of Tour of Lombardy
One of the favourites for the Tour of Lombardy, Joaquim Rodriguez, has been ruled out of the race. The Spaniard won the race in both 2012 and 2013. His Katusha team revealed the news this morning on the team's website. Their statement read as follows: "Team Katusha’s leader for Il Lombardia, Joaquim Rodriguez, will not be able to take the...
Sam Bennett amongst the favourites for Sparkassen Münsterland Giro
Sam Bennett (Bora-Argon 18) lines up in today's UCI 1.HC Sparkassen Münsterland Giro where he will be amongst the favourites to take the win, in a race that traditionally ends in a sprint finish. The Irish rider will be hoping to capitalise on the form which saw him put in a great performance in last weekend's World Championships, where he...