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.

Boonen's 100th Win

Congrats to Tom Boonen on 100th career win!!!

100th career win for Boonen at Paris-Nice

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/100th-career-win-for-boonen-at-paris-nice)

The second stage of Paris-Nice yielded several triumphs for the Omega Pharma-Quickstep team: not only was it Tom Boonen's 100th career victory, excluding criteriums and team time trials, but also the first WorldTour win for the revamped Belgian squad. In addition, American Levi Leipheimer is now poised for a top result overall, sitting just six seconds behind race leader Bradley Wiggins (Sky Procycling).

Boonen's other victories include a world road race title from 2005, three wins in Paris-Nice, two in Tour of Flanders, two in Gent-Wevelgem, six stages of the Tour de France and one green jersey (2007) and two stages of the Vuelta a España.

"I'm really not interested in stats. But on the other hand I'm happy," Boonen said in a team press release. "Not a lot of riders can reach this goal. The race was also important for the GC. Levi and Sylvain [Chavanel] made a good step ahead and we are really motivated for the next stages."

The team had to go on the defensive when the peloton split in the crosswinds at the feed zone just halfway through the stage, and worked to successfully regain the front of the race as other contenders like Andy Schleck (Radioshack-Nissan), Richie Porte (Sky) and Rein Taaramae (Cofidis) all missed the split. They then had the numbers in the front group, and drove the pace to the finish, putting 2:29 into the next group on the road.

"To be honest we had to suffer to enter in the breakaway. We were a little bit behind because of a roundabout," Boonen said. "I had to pass two groups before entering in the first group. Then the race was really hard. Everybody was interested in riding and taking some time from the GC. It was also cold and windy and in the last kilometers it began raining. I really couldn't feel my hands."

The only downside for the team was the absence of defending Paris-Nice champion Tony Martin from the lead group, but directeur sportif Brian Holm said it won't change the team's tactics.

"It's still a bit of the same," Holm said. "It will be a bit more hilly tomorrow at the finish, but Tom is still pretty good there. Chavanel will be close in the GC without an accident or crash, and Leipheimer is looking pretty confident also. We are a strong team, everybody knows that."

Armstrong vs. Evans

Haven't posted much about George Hincapie because as a domestique, he doesn't make it in the news much. And even when he does, as the article below points out, he's talking about two of the team leaders he's been with, Lance Armstrong and Cadel Evans.

"Calm" Evans is the perfect teammate, says Hincapie

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/calm-evans-is-the-perfect-teammate-says-hincapie)

Having been part of a winning team nine times, George Hincapie is ideally placed to identify what is required from a Tour de France winner. Hincapie was side by side with his compatriot Lance Armstrong for all seven of his victories in the race and he also assisted Alberto Contador in 2007 and Cadel Evans last year in the colours of BMC.

Hincapie knows Armstrong and Evans extremely well, and stated that the two men are very different on and off the bike. Hincapie will be looking to be part of a winning team for a record tenth time this summer, when Evans will look to successfully defend the title he won in 2011. If he gets to the start line in one piece it will be the 38-year-old Hincapie's 17th Tour - a statistic that offers proof of his longevity and his durability.

"Cadel is certainly more relaxed than Lance and doesn't interfere so much in team tactics - at least not in the other riders' presence," Hincapie told Danish website feltet.dk. "He does with [sporting director] John Lelangue, but he relies a lot on my input, and what John believes, especially when we are out on the road.

"In my eyes he seems more pleased with the people that surround him both on and around the team. He is calm when Lance was usually quite tense, and out on the route is always ready to attack the race. And when you think to yourself that he might be in trouble, you discover that he actually is calm and quite okay."

Costa Rica's 2012 Olympic Cyclist

Amador named to Costa Rica's Olympic team

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/amador-named-to-costa-ricas-olympic-team)

Andrey Amador of Movistar Team has been nominated for the 2012 Olympic games by the Costa Rica National Olympic Committee.  The central American country has one spot in the cycling events.

“It's a dream come true and a magnificent opportunity to be able to ride there,” Amador said on the Movistar team website.  “Which sportsman does not dream about taking part in the Olympic Games? It's the most important sporting event in the world and I'll be proud to represent my country in London."

The news has given him a real boost for the upcoming season. “To be honest I'm really willing to kick the season off. It's been a while since I was so motivated and willing to do things well right from the winter. If everything goes right, 2012 must be a season where I take a step forward in my sporting level".

The 25-year-old's 2011 season got off to a dreadful start when he was brutally beaten, robbed and left for dead whilst on a training ride in his homeland. He suffered kidney and lung injuries in the attack in early January, but was able to return to racing at the Mallorca Challenge in February.

He went on to ride throughout the spring, ending his season after the Tour de France, which he rode this year for the first time. He was the first Costa Rican to ride the Tour.

BMX Death: RIP Dane Searls

Its always sad to hear of a death, no matter the sport. RIP Dane Searls.

Australian BMX star Dane Searls dies after hotel accident

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/australian-bmx-star-dane-searls-dies-after-hotel-accident)

Australian BMX star Dane Searls has died in hospital this morning from injuries sustained in a fall from a hotel balcony last weekend.

Searls, 23, fell from the first floor of Billy’s Beach House in Queensland’s Gold Coast last Sunday night and had been in a coma ever since. Sydney Morning Herald reported that he’d been attempting to jump into the hotel pool below but missed, landing on the concrete and suffering critical head and back injuries. He was rushed to hospital at around 8.30pm on Sunday evening but succumbed to his injuries this morning.

Just two days earlier he had set a new world record during a series of dirt jumps near Boonah, successfully landing an 18-metre gap jump.

George Hincapie's Record-Equalling Start

I know this is old news, but with the Tour de France, I haven't wanted to over-post. So, I've decided that on rest days, and after the Tour is over I'll post and discuss some articles that I've bookmarked during these three weeks. If you want something specific posted or followed-up on, please let me know.

The article I'm posting today is about how George Hincapie is riding in his 16th straight Tour de France. Thats quite an accomplishment. This is a record that only one other rider holds:

Hincapie set for record-equalling Tour de France(http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/hincapie-set-for-record-equalling-tour-de-france?ns_campaign=news&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=cyclingnews&ns_linkname=0&ns_fee=0)

American George Hincapie is on the verge of starting his 16th Tour de France - a feat which has only been matched by one other rider, Dutch legend Joop Zoetemelk. While Zoetemelk was one of the more successful Tour riders in history - winning once and finishing second overall six times - Hincapie has been partly responsible for eight Tour victories: seven by Lance Armstrong and one by Alberto Contador.

When asked by Cyclingnews what the significance of equalling Zoetemelk's record held for him, Hincapie replied, "It's more about how I feel a certain amount of respect from the peloton because of it. People know how hard I've worked over the years. And certainly the BMC Racing Team knows, too."

"It's really kind of an honor for me to be a part of [the Tour]. When I first became a professional, I had hoped to do 10 years and would have been happy with that. Eighteen years later and getting ready to start my 16th Tour, I'm still enjoying it and not taking anything for granted."

At age 38, Hincapie is not the oldest rider to compete in the Tour de France - that honour belongs to Jens Voigt, who turns 40 in September - but he is certainly the most experienced of Tour riders. For the second year in a row, his job will be to protect Cadel Evans and help him win the Tour, and few riders know how to do that better than Hincapie.

"In a race like the Tour de France, there are a lot of variables, so it's important to have a team that knows how to keep its leader out of trouble. We have one of the best teams in the world for Cadel. But there are a lot of things you have to be ready for, too.

"We're going to have a strong time trial team. A lot of the GC guys will be nervous about that day because time differences can be made. We also have a couple more climbers on the team this year to help Cadel Evans in the high mountains. We're certainly bringing a very complete team to the Tour that can help Cadel from day one all the way through the mountains and hopefully onto the podium in Paris."

The confidence that Hincapie displays going into the world's biggest bike race wasn't always there. Back in 1996, when he first rode the Tour with Motorola, Hincapie said he had no idea if he was ready for it.

"It turned out to be harder than anything I had ever done. Plus, the sheer spectacle of it was overwhelming – from the number of people watching to the incredible amount of media attention it gets. Now I'm used to it all. I know that if I arrive healthy and my fitness is good, I can handle it well. These days, I know I'm a valuable asset to the team. That wasn't necessarily the case the first year.

"There was so much newness going on [that year]. I also suffered bravely throughout that whole race. If I could go back, I would tell myself that one day I would be able to ride with the best, so keep pushing through."

Over the years, he's endured bad hotels, the sight of "grown men running next to me in G-strings" and endured endless suffering over nearly 54,000km on the roads of France. He's crashed spectacularly on the Col du Galibier and persevered in spite of the pain in 2008 - it was the low point of his Tour career. "I pretty much lost all the skin off one side of my body. Fortunately, I did manage to finish. But it hurt a lot more than when I broke my collarbone."

He's had high points, too; on top of his stage win on the Pla d'Adet in 2005, he's stood atop the podium after three team time trial victories and wore the maillot jaune for two stages in 2006, but he said his favorite memory is more personal.

"Certainly, [it is] meeting my wife [Melanie, a former Tour de France podium hostess] is something that I feel very fortunate about. Now we have two beautiful kids and the memory of meeting her is something that I will always cherish."

Having finished 15 of his 16 Tours, there are still things that Hincapie looks forward to. "I'm really trying to help our team leader, Cadel Evans, win the Tour de France. Second would be winning a stage of the Tour myself. But our first goal is to help Cadel win the overall. If I win a stage, it will be a situation that allows me to either get the pressure off Cadel or make the other teams work."

Other than that, the best moment of the Tour de France, to Hincapie and most other riders, is the day it's just about over.

"Every time I come onto the Champs-Élysées, there's a whole lot of relief and gratification and all kinds of emotions that come with knowing you are almost finished with the race."