A British Win...

Wiggins bridges 45-year gap at Paris-Nice

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/wiggins-bridges-45-year-gap-at-paris-nice)

Bradley Wiggins (Sky) bridged a 45-year gap to become the second British rider to win Paris-Nice after he triumphed in the Col d’Eze time trial on Sunday.

The late Tom Simpson was the only other British rider to sample Paris-Nice success, riding to overall victory in 1967, the year of his death on the slopes of Mont Ventoux at the Tour de France.

“I know my cycling history and this is an enormous achievement," Wiggins said, according to Reuters. "It's an honour to be up there with Tom Simpson."

Lieuwe Westra (Vacansoleil-DCM) briefly threatened to ruin Wiggins’ day when he posted the quickest time at the midway point of the stage, but the Englishman summoned up a winning response to take the stage win and secure his yellow jersey.

After Westra’s surprise stage win at Mende on Thursday, Wiggins understood that the Dutchman would be the danger man on the Col d’Eze. “I knew that Westra was very strong after he'd won that stage midweek," he admitted.

In spite of his narrow six-second advantage coming into the stage, Wiggins said that he was confident that he would secure overall victory. “In terms of pressure it was nothing compared to an Olympic track final,” he said. "You can enjoy the moment, I was confident of my ability and today I rode it perfect."

Wiggins’ victory means that he has now won both of France’s premier week-long stage races, having already triumphed in the Critérium du Dauphiné last June. Given the assured nature with which he carried the yellow jersey over the past six days, and with over 100km of time trialling on the menu this July, Wiggins will enter the Tour de France as a genuine threat for top honours.

“I don't know if I'm a favourite but I'm one of maybe five riders who can do something there this summer," Wiggins said of the Tour.

Fourth in the Tour in 2009 and third overall at last season’s Vuelta a España, 2012 is set to be a pivotal year in Wiggins’ career. Overall victory at Paris-Nice completes a fine start to his campaign, but the Sky rider sees his win as just that.

"I said Paris-Nice was a stepping stone, no disrespect for Paris-Nice. But I must continue that progression to July,” he said.

Sky duo debuts...

Wiggins and Froome make season debuts in Algarve

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/wiggins-and-froome-make-season-debuts-in-algarve)

Bradley Wiggins and Chris Froome began their racing seasons on Wednesday with the start of the Volta ao Algarve in Portugal. The Sky pairing are using the race to gauge their form after a break from racing stretching back to the Worlds last year.

On yesterday’s first stage Froome kept pace with the leaders while Wiggins lost a handful of seconds. However Sky’s Bobby Julich believes that the greater goal is to assess form as the team’s major goals come later in the season.

“It was the first race for a lot of guys,” Julich told Cyclingnews.

“It was a pretty brutal stage, difficult rolling course but a beautiful day in terms of conditions. Obviously not everyone can be in the finish on a stage like that but I’m really happy with how the guys rode. “

Wiggins’s race programme will mirror that to a number of his grand tour rivals with the British star aiming to peak at the Tour de France this year. Last year he arrived at the race in high form having won the Dauphine Libere, but crashed out of the race with a broken collar bone. He returned to fitness at the end of the year to podium in both Vuelta and Worlds.

“He’s been doing training blocks over the winter so it was his first race, as it was for Froome too. Everyone here is just looking to gauge their form and fitness. It’s not a WorldTour event but obviously everyone has worked really hard over the winter but they’re looking to see where they are against the other guys.”

Julich said that the team will target stage wins if the opportunities present themselves. With one uphill stage and a time trial set to decide the race, Sky has the weapons to potentially win two stages and the overall.

“If there’s an opportunity for us we’ll take it but it’s more about a form finding mission. We got one uphill finish and then the time trial which will be a test even though it’s longest one a lot of them will do for the next few months. They’ll try and make sure they have their position dialled in.”

“You don’t go to a race without trying to lave your mark, so we’re looking to the uphill finish and the time trial and we’ve got a really strong team here.”

Gesink Update

Gesink: All I need is time

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/gesink-all-i-need-is-time)

Robert Gesink (Rabobank) is confident that he can return to his best after a speedy recover from a broken leg. The Dutch climber crashed in training in September and broke his right femur, but with just under two months of rehabilitation he’s already back on the bike and talking up his chances of a successful Tour de France in 2012.

“I’ve been back on the bike for a month now. Everything has been fine so far. I’ve been on the rollers for a while but the weather has been nice so I’ve been out and getting some fresh air too,” he told Cyclingnews.

Since a successful surgery in the days following his crash, Gesink has had time to reflect on what has been a turbulent last twelve months. Away from the bike he had to come to terms with the loss of his father who passed away after a cycling accident. The bond between the two was of course strong, with Gesink senior Robert’s biggest fan. Despite the tremendous loss the climber used his profession to focus during the most difficult moments.

“The first year of losing a father is really tough and difficult,” he said.

“Now I’m more at ease and I’m looking back at all the good times we had together and not how much I miss him. That’s a positive development. And when I see my mum I see that’s she’s doing better and better. She’s getting on with her life and that’s a good thing to see. Of course we all really miss him a lot but it’s never going to change.

“My dad was my biggest supporter and a huge fan of cycling. He read every story in the press so the one thing I can do for him is continue cycling. It’s all easier said than done because sometimes you’re head isn’t right but now I feel more and more accepting of the situation. When I think about my dad now it’s always tough but it’s getting better.”

Gesink’s ability to train through the difficult winter saw him reap the benefits in the first part of the season. Taking two stage wins in the Tour of Oman, as well as the overall, were followed by a stage win and second overall in Tirreno. Ninth in Amstel was hardly a shabby result but from there on his season began to unravel. A mediocre Dauphine was followed by a disastrous Tour de France. Heading into the race he was expected to lead a Dutch charge and there was talk of him splitting the Contador-Schleck dominance. The stage was perfect for him too - sixth the year before, and with Denis Menchov having moved into semi-retirement at Geox, Gesink had a team totally at his disposal.

Tour troubles
 However a series of crashes and heavy time losses ruined his race. With no chance of GC success, he suffered through - hoping to find his legs in the Alps. He eventually finished 33rd overall, and more than one hour back on winner, Cadel Evans.

“Looking back, abandoning after those crashes would have made more sense,” he told Cyclingnews.

“But at that moment I felt I could do something still in the Alps and try and win a stage but I ended up underestimating the damage that the crashes did. I tried in the Alps but in the end I wasn’t good enough. It was a more difficult Tour than the one before because I had to suffer so much just to stay in the peloton. Looking back at it, for sure it would have been easy to go home and focus on the Vuelta but we made a decision at the time. Maybe I’ll learn from that in the future but looking at it now it was just three tough weeks with no good feelings.”

Despite regrouping after the Tour with a number of decent results, Gesink admits that the year was a disappointment on the bike.

“In some ways it was a lost year. If I’m honest the main goal was the Tour and I didn’t go as well as I hoped for. That was disappointing. On a private level, I lost my dad last year. I started really well because I wanted to throw myself into my cycling. It got me away from all the bad thoughts in my head. I trained well over the winter and the start of the season I was flying and riding with the best of the best. But it was all about the Tour last year and crashing there was the biggest disappointing.”

As he recovers from his broken leg in double time all attention has already turned to next year’s Tour de France, showing at the very least that he’s not afraid of the battle. Due to his injuries it’s unlikely that we’ll see him dominate races like Oman in the first part of the year, with a gentler ramp up to July. The parcours certainly does him little favours but he’s confident that his time trialling can improve over the coming months.

“It’s more for the time triallers and I’ll have to focus on that. Last year I did that and I think I improved a lot. This winter I’ll have to spend more time on that and look for more improvements in my time trialling.”

Mental toughness

Gesink has faced question marks over his fragility and frequency of crashes – even from quarters in his own team – but the 25-year-old is resolute in the sense that he has the mental pedigree to shine. With three top ten placings in grand tours it’s perhaps easy to forget how young he is, and he believes that with time he can reach even higher.

“In all the races I’ve done I’ve always been the guy that’s had to do it for the team, in more or less every race I’ve done I’ve been there to get results and I’m used to it. Of course, when you go to the Tour, the pressure is higher but I’ve shown, like when I was 6th two years ago, that I can deal with it,” he said.

“I’m pretty young so if people give me time who knows where I can be at my peak. I’ve finished two Tours but that’s still not that many. So I don’t have the experience of guys like Contador. Schleck is a little different but those two guys are the best in the world but I know that when I’m at my best I’m close to them.”

Men's Worlds Championship TT

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/uci-road-world-championships-2011/elite-men-time-trial/results)

Tony Martin (Germany) dominated the elite men's time trial world championship, setting the fastest time at each split, as he powered to his first world title on the streets of Copenhagen, Denmark.

The 26-year-old German recorded a scintillating time of 53:43.85 for the 46.4km parcours to beat silver medalist Bradley Wiggins (Great Britain) by 1:15.83. Defending and four-time world champion Fabian Cancellara (Switzerland), consistently setting the second-fastest splits throughout the day, overshot a corner late in the race, nearly crashing into the course barriers, and had to settle for the bronze medal 4.76 seconds down on Wiggins.

The world championship has capped off a stellar season for Martin as he claimed overall wins at the Volta ao Algarve and Paris-Nice plus second overall at the Tour de Romandie. His performances against the clock have been superb season-long as he won time trial stages at the Tour de France, Vuelta a España, Volta ao Algarve, Paris-Nice, Vuelta al Pais Vasco and the Critérium du Dauphiné, now punctuated by his first-ever world championship.

Martin's ride also delivered Germany its second elite world championship in as many days as compatriot and HTC-Highroad teammate Judith Arndt won her first world title, too, in the elite women's time trial on Tuesday.

“In the last kilometre I was sure that I was going to win. It’s such a good feeling. It’s a dream come true. It’s amazing for me,” Martin said, revealing that catching David Millar during his ride helped him do even better.

“David was one of favourites and for sure when you pass him and you are 1:30 faster, you must be having a good ride. I gave my all, so I was really happy. I felt under pressure but I’ve learnt to work with the pressure.”

Martin's masterpiece

While the sky was overcast throughout the day, the rain held off for the elite men's time trial as 65 riders, competing in four waves for two laps of the 23.3km circuit, vied for the rainbow stripes in Copenhagen.

Alexandr Dyachenko (Kazakhstan), the 20th rider to start, held the hot seat for much of the day until the cream of the time trial stalwarts got on the course in the last of four waves. The first to break Dyachenko's time of 57:03.61 for the 46.4km parcours was Australia's Jack Bobridge, who stopped the clock in 55:57.71, only to have the next rider across the line, former time trial world champion Bert Grabsch (Germany), top that with 55:15.61.

British road champion Bradley Wiggins, fresh off a podium finish at the Vuelta a Espana, picked up his pace throughout the day and became the first rider to crack the 55-minute barrier as he assumed the hot seat with a time of 54:59.68.

But Martin, the second-to-last rider to start, was simply on another level as he re-set the best times at each split. The German caught the two riders who started in front of him, David Millar (Great Britain) and Mikhail Ignatyev (Russian Federation), and came close to reeling in a third rider, Taylor Phinney (United States of American), who started 4:30 ahead of the German.

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Martin's time of 53:43.85 demolished the effort made by Wiggins, and the only question yet to be decided would be what medal Fabian Cancellara, the final rider off, would claim.

The Swiss powerhouse had been consistently in second place at each split, but he started faster than Wiggins and his advantage over the Briton had been decreasing throughout his effort.

Nonetheless, Cancellara looked to have the silver medal sewn up, but an uncharacteristic mistake at a right-hand turn late in the race likely cost him a second place finish.

The Swiss rider overshot a turn and came to a complete stop to avoid crashing into the course barrier. He strained to get his big gear rolling again and returned to top speed, but as he made his way down the finishing straight his time of 55:04.44 would result in a bronze medal, 1:20.59 down on Martin and a slender 4.76 seconds behind Wiggins.

What will the peloton be without Dessel?

This is sad news for me...I hate when riders I like retire...

Cyril Dessel retires after 11 years in the peloton

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/cyril-dessel-retires-after-11-years-in-the-peloton)

Cyril Dessel has announced he retiring at the end of the season. The Frenchman has ridden professionally since 2000 and wore the yellow jersey for a stage during the 2006 Tour de France.

Dessel, 36, made his announcement on the website of the French cycling federation.  “I've made my decision, I am stopping,” he said. “The life of a high-level athlete, life as being a professional stops at this point for me. I will now take a break and think about the future.”

The highly respected Frenchman turned pro with Jean Delatour and then rode with Phonak in 2003 and 2004 before joining Ag2r. In 2006 he finished sixth overall in the Tour de France, wearing both the leader's jersey and mountain jersey for one stage. That same year he won both the Tour de Mediterraneen and the Tour de l'Ain. In 2008  he won stages at the Four Days of Dunkirk, Volta a Catalunya and the Criterium du Dauphine Libere.

Dessel is not the only veteran rider deciding to call it a day and hang up his wheels.  Andrea Noe of Farnese Vini retired after this year's Giro d'Italia at the age of 42, Inigo Cuesta, who also turned 42 this year, retired from racing after his Caja Rural team did not receive an invitation to the Vuelta a Espana. Carlos Sastre, 36, has said he will announce his future plans on Thursday.

However other riders in that age range will continue to race in 2012. Jens Voigt, who turns 40 on Saturday, has already signed a contract to ride for RadioShack-Nissan-Trek next year, where he will meet up with Chris Horner, who turns 40 in October. Robbie McEwen, 39, will ride the first part of the 2012 season with GreenEdge before serving as a technical advisor.

Will Voeckler become a GC Contender?

Voeckler to reconsider Tour de France approach

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/voeckler-to-reconsider-tour-de-france-approach)

Thomas Voeckler (Europcar) took all kinds of risks on the Pra Martino descent in stage 17 of the Tour de France and amazingly escaped injury despite overcooking a tight left hand corner and riding onto a car park.

Voeckler conceded 27 seconds to his GC rivals and is just one day shy of equalling his epic ten-day stint in yellow at the 2004 Tour de France.

Voeckler's current experience might lead him to change his approach to upcoming seasons. Next year, he's likely to prepare for the Tour de France as an overall contender.

The Frenchman admitted that he almost didn't touch his bike during the week preceding the start in Vendée, as he became a dad for the second time three days before stage 1. He also realised during stage 17 that it's worth going to reconnoiter the crucial stages in advance. Before the Dauphiné, he told Cyclingnews that he wasn't a fan of training camps in the mountains but his new status as a GC contender has made him change his mind.

"I never thought I'd be able to ride for GC and be at this level in the third week of the Tour de France," Voeckler said. "I'll have to think about that in the future. Honestly, had I done a stage reco', I probably wouldn't have been so close to losing everything. I had watched the downhill of Pra Martino on video but it's not the same.

"I know that I cannot gain time on the race favourites uphill, so I absolutely wanted to ride downhill at the front," Voeckler continued. "But today, I wanted to go too fast. I went off road three times! On a downhill, if you make a mistake, it's difficult to find the right trajectory afterwards and I still tried but I should have just followed Cadel Evans, not [Alberto] Contador and [Samuel] Sanchez.

"Technically, I went above my capacities. I didn't take time to think of what I was doing, especially when I ended up in a car park. I closed my eyes, I jumped my front wheel over the sidewalk, I was still on my bike when I re-opened my eyes, so I turned back and I went on racing but my companions were gone."

Voeckler maintained an advantage of 1:18 on Evans and 3:15 on Contador. "I could have lost much more today," Voeckler said. "But it's part of my composition to try. I've been lucky. I've lost a bit of time but I could have lost a collarbone."

Voeckler faced questions about the absence of stage wins by French riders after 17 days of racing. "People are never happy," he said. "Last year, we got six stage victories and we were questioned why we were nowhere on GC, this year it's the opposite.

"There are different ways to look at how we're racing. The other guys from Europcar are fully focused on the defence of my yellow jersey, so they're not chasing stages. Before the Tour, people seemed happy to see me winning races like the Four Days of Dunkirk, a stage at Paris-Nice and the Giro del Trentino or Cholet-Pays de Loire. I've not built my season around the Tour de France exclusively."

Europcar's team manager Jean-René Bernaudeau mentioned that Voeckler was the GC contender with the most number of racing days. With 57, he has done 13 more days than Contador who has completed the Giro d'Italia. "Thomas is likely to pay the price in the Alps," Bernaudeau said.