Hoogerland Update, RSLT / Schleck News

This is going to be short and sweet today. I am at the library, and only have a set amount of time that I can be on their computers. I worked on my other blog first, so I don't have much time left. If I didn't have plans this afternoon, I would just go to another library and get on those computers, but I do have plans later.

I feel like I am in déjà vu. Hoogerland crashed in the 2011 Tour de France, and I kept track of his progress. The when Soler crashed in 2012, I kept track of his progress as well. Now here I am on Hoogerland again. The good news is though, Johnny Hoogerland is back to training indoors!

Hoogerland trains on a bike for first time following accident

Johnny Hoogerland (Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team) is making steady progress in his recovery after being seriously injured during a training ride accident on February 3.

The 29-year-old Dutchman posted a picture today on Twitter of his bike mounted on an indoor trainer with the statement, "Here we go, 3 weeks later." Hoogerland later revealed via Twitter that he was able to train for just over an hour and covered 30.18km, his first ride since his accident.

Hoogerland sustained serious injuries three weeks ago when he was hit by a car while out on a training ride in Spain. The Dutchman broke five ribs, sustained fractures to his spine and bruised his liver. After spending time in intensive care at a hospital in Spain, Hoogerland returned home to the Netherlands where his rehabilitation is underway.

Hoogerland expects to resume racing in May. He has only competed once thus far in the 2013 season at the Grand Prix Cycliste la Marseillaise on January 27, the first race contested in European soil this year.

Next up is some bad new for Radioshack Leopard Trek. Just like Garmin a month ago, the RSLT bikes got stolen overnight. However, unlike Garmin, the RSLT riders were able to get spare Trek bikes and were able to take the start today at West Flanders.

RadioShack bikes stolen at West Flanders

Thieves have struck the peloton again, and RadioShack-Leopard is the latest victim. One of its trucks was robbed during the night, leaving the team scrambling for bikes before Saturday's second stage of the Three Days of West Flanders.

Update: The riders were able to take to the start, as the team tweeted, "Stage 2 of #3dwvl is underway. All #RSLT riders were able to start on spare bikes after thieves stole 8 race bikes from the truck overnight."

“Bad news from our team in Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen: overnight 8 bikes, a bunch of wheels and a tool box got stolen from the truck. We're doing all we can now to get the guys on spare Trek bikes at the start of stage 2!” the team posted on Facebook, Saturday morning.

Only last month thieves cleaned out a Garmin-Sharp truck at the Tour du Mediterraneen, taking 17 bikes before the queen stage of that race. Other teams offered to supply substitute bikes, but the riders did not want to take on the mountains on unfamiliar bikes, and the team abandoned the race.

 

 

And the best news of the week, came a few days ago. Andy Schleck finished his first race since April of last year! Hopefully this means he is on the way back to his old self, however, I am still kind of fearful since this was only a one-day race that he finished.

 

Schleck back in action at the GP Camaiore

Andy Schleck started the GP Camaiore race in Tuscany on Thursday, with his Radioshack Leopard team hoping he can finish his first race for almost year.

Schleck came to Tuscany after training in Mallorca for ten days, hoping to finally put his problems behind him. He quit the Tour Méditerranéen on stage one citing illness and has now not finished a race since the 2012 Liège-Bastogne-Liège.

His negative spiral of results and problems began last June when he fractured his pelvis during the time trial stage of the Critérium du Dauphiné in early June. Schleck missed the Tour de France and his comeback was delayed several times, with his bother's doping case also creating problems and difficulties within the Radioshack-Leopard team.

A recent report in L'Équipe compared Schleck to Jan Ullrich, questioning Schleck's self-discipline and lack of motivation to that of the former German rider.

Schleck's poor performances have been ridiculed by many people, especially on social media. However, it seems Schleck's problems are more complicated than just a lack of fitness and motivation.

New Radioshack-Leopard team manager Luca Guercilena has hit back at the criticism, confirming that the team is trying to help Andy get his season and career back on track.

"I think it's sad that whenever a rider goes through a difficult moment in life, a lot of people in cycling forget all the good things they have achieved," Guercilena said.

"Andy is human just like anyone else and so can have difficult moments in life. We're trying to help him and help him get back to his best. We're ready to accept any criticism of what we do but to target Andy and try to undermine him psychologically is unfair."

Schleck seemed keen to race when he stepped off the Radioshack bus before the start of the GP Camaiore. The team had informed Cyclingnews that Schleck would not talk to the media but he was willing to explain how he is feeling.

"In training some good sensations are coming back. I'm feeling good, so we'll see what happens," he said.

"The race route makes me worried, it’s tough, but the objective is to finish. I've got an important week coming and so this is an important race."

Schleck avoided making eye contact when talking. He admitted that the criticism had hurt him but showed signs of wanting to prove he is on his way back.

"I know what I have to do. People talk about you if you go good and talk if you good bad. It's not motivating but I need to be good in races for my own confidence," he said.

"I know that people care about me but they haven't been through what I've been through last year: a long time without racing. I have people on my side and they're supporting me really well. I've got a lot of support from the team and everyone. I'd like to show everybody that I'm still here."

Guercilena described Andy Schleck's problem as a 'momento buio’ – a dark moment – that has affected him more psychologically than physically.

"Physically he's pretty good. He trained intensively for ten days in Mallorca under the guidance of Kim Andersen. The goal today is to finish the race," he told Cyclingnews.

"His problems were caused by a series of factors from last year: his injury first of all and then the way his problem was managed. Then there's the family aspect: Frank's suspension, that caused psychological problems. And the psychology of a rider is always very important. Even if a rider has a decent level of fitness, psychological problems can cause bigger problems."

Guercilena confirmed that Schleck is set to ride Strade Bianche on Saturday and then stay in Italy to ride Tirreno-Adriatico, which starts next Wednesday.

"That's the plan at the moment, as long as there are no last minute problems," Guercilena said.

 

The Next Astana Team Leader?

Vinokourov: Maxim Iglinskiy won Liège-Bastogne-Liège "the Vino way"

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/vinokourov-maxim-iglinskiy-won-liege-bastogne-liege-the-vino-way)

Alexandre Vinokourov showed up at the start of stage 2 in the Presidential Tour of Turkey in Alanya with a large smile, as did Valentin Iglinskiy because of the win of his elder brother Maxim at Liège-Bastogne-Liège. Both Astana riders watched the last fifty kilometres of "La Doyenne" from their hotel room near the Mediterranean coast.

"We have awaited our first victory for a while but this is a wonderful time for our team," Vinokourov told Cyclingnews.

Janez Brajkovic opened the team's account at stage 3 of the Volta a Catalunya and now Astana has three wins including two major Classics back-to-back with Amstel Gold Race (by Enrico Gasparotto) and Liège-Bastogne-Liège.

"Our start of the season was far from our expectations but these two Classics have put an end to our hard time," Vino continued. "It proves that Kazakh cycling is not only about myself. I've told Iglinskiy that after what he did yesterday, I can retire quietly."

The soon-to-be Astana team manager played his part in Iglinskiy's victory in Belgium. "I called Maxim yesterday morning before the start," Vino added. "I had noticed that he had good legs at Amstel Gold Race and Fleche Wallonne. ... He rode to perfection. He did it the Vino way! I told him to wait for the Roche-aux-Faucons and go with [Joaquim] Rodriguez. When he did it, I was confident that he'd finish on the podium. He dropped Rodriguez on St-Nicolas and turned the turbo on to catch [Vincenzo] Nibali."

Vinokourov revealed why Iglinskiy didn't win a big Classic until the age of 31. "He lacked motivation," the (substitute) member of the Kazakh Parliament said. "When he won the Strade Bianche and a stage of Tirreno-Adriatico in 2010, I told Maxim: ‘you can ride like Valverde' but he said: ‘no!!! I'm not at this level'. This year he's gone to altitude training camps here and there and he's motivated again. After this victory, he can step up to another level. He'll go back to Kazakhstan tomorrow and take some rest prior to training for the Tour de France and why not the Olympic Games."

On the eve of the Amstel Gold Race, Vinokourov reassured the president of the Kazakh cycling federation Kairat Kelimbetov that a great win was around the corner. "I'm even happier that a Kazakh rider is the winner. It shuts the mouth of the people who haven't believed in Kazakh riders. I reminded Maxim last night when we spoke again at 11pm: ‘I've always believed in you.'"

As a result of the revival of the motivation at Astana, Vino himself went on the attack at the Tour of Turkey after 48km and won the intermediate sprint at Manavgat.

Milan - San Remo: Gerrans vs. Cancellara

Cancellara pipped at Milan-San Remo

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/cancellara-pipped-at-milan-san-remo)

Another classic, another pyrrhic victory for Fabian Cancellara. The RadioShack-Nissan rider made all the running in the final, frantic kilometres of Milan-San Remo on Saturday, but he comes away from the Riviera laden with compliments rather than prizes after he finished second behind Simon Gerrans (GreenEdge).

Second in Milan-San Remo last year, third in the Tour of Flanders, second in Paris-Roubaix and now second again in La Classicissima, Cancellara’s recent run of classics results has been as frustrating as it has been remarkable. From monument to monument, the sequence of events has seemed to follow a set formula: Cancellara wins the strongest man contest but somebody else rides off with the race itself.

On this occasion it was Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas-Cannondale) who sparked the winning move when he forged clear on the Poggio with Gerrans for company, but approaching the summit, it was Cancellara who muscled his way to the front and powered the trio down into San Remo.

Such was the intensity of his effort that Gerrans later admitted that he was struggling to keep up as Cancellara accelerated out of the corners that litter the famous descent of the Poggio. Indeed, at times Cancellara seemed to ride as though he were utterly unaware that he had two such high-quality rivals sitting (albeit not always comfortably) on his back wheel.

He eventually waved Gerrans through to take a rather cursory turn on the front in the streets of San Remo, but Cancellara again took up sole responsibility in the final kilometre, fearful of the chase group behind. A Milan-San Remo victor must know how to gamble; perhaps mindful of his weakness in the sprint, Cancellara opted to play the percentages and ensure at least a podium place for his troubles.

“In the end I took the risk,” he said afterwards. “I don’t have eyes in the back of my head. I felt that they were coming behind quickly, so for that reason I said to myself: ‘all in.’

“In the end, I risked it, but I still took a second place at Milan-San Remo, which is of great value. It’s a great race. I wanted to do well today, I had it in mind to try something on the Poggio today and make the difference. In the end I did what I could. The others were on my wheel.

Gerrans gave me two turns. I had to launch the sprint too as they were coming up behind us.”

The chasers included the precocious Peter Sagan, who comfortably took the sprint for fourth place. His presence behind meant that Cancellara could understood why Sagan’s teammate Nibali did not contribute to the lead group’s efforts.

“I spoke with Vincenzo. He said it was clear that he couldn’t pull as he had Sagan behind. I knew that in theory Vincenzo and Gerrans are quicker than me, but after 300km things can be different, so I gave my all.”

Ultimately, however, there was an almost disarming familiarity about the way Gerrans came around Cancellara, and one was reminded of his defeat in Flanders last season. Cancellara admitted that he was running close to empty by the time he reached the Lungomare Italo Calvino.

“I had lactic acid coming out my ears too,” he said with a rueful smile. “If you go from the top of the Poggio to the finish full on, it’s clear that at the end the gas runs out.”

Turning to the cobbles

Cancellara has had more practice in the role of gracious classics runner-up than he could ever have wished for in recent times, and he did his best to put a positive spin on what must have been a bitterly disappointing afternoon. Moral victors have been the subject of some of the richest chapters of cycling lore, but the record books do not note their achievements.

“In the end I’m still going home from Italy with some nice things in my pocket. I won Strade Bianche and the time trial at Tirreno,” Cancellara pointed out, and he now turns his attentions to the northern classics, where his rear wheel will be both a precious commodity and feared sight.

“The second place today will give me a lot of satisfaction and morale and the certainty that I’m going well. That gives me confidence for what is to come.”

Throughout its history, the vanquished at Milan-San Remo have called for additional climbs to be added to the route, and Cancellara wryly joined the chorus as he pondered what might have been.

“It would have been better if there had been another climb,” he said. “The race was fast but in the end it wasn’t hard as there wasn’t a lot of intensity. Everybody knew 300km was a lot, and everybody wanted their legs for the end. I hope that the northern classics will be a little bit more intense so I can make the difference a little bit more.”

Gerrans: I can’t deny Cancellara was the strongest

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/gerrans-i-cant-deny-cancellara-was-the-strongest)

It takes the head and the legs to win bike races, and never was the old adage more pertinent than on the Lungomare Italo Calvino on Saturday afternoon, as Simon Gerrans (GreenEdge) zipped past Fabian Cancellara (RadioShack-Nissan) to win Milan-San Remo.

It was Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas-Cannondale) who sparked the winning break with an attack on the Poggio, but it was Cancellara who grabbed a firm hold of the reins on the descent, and his efforts on the sinuous plunge down into San Remo ensured that the trio stayed just clear of the chasers to divide the spoils among them.

But in an echo of last spring’s monuments, while Cancellara’s show of force produced plenty of shock and awe, the winner’s bouquet went to the rider who best engaged his grey matter in the finale.

Gerrans took two turns on the front. The first, before the top of the Poggio, added momentum to Nibali’s attack. The second, in the streets of San Remo, seemed merely a token effort to appease Cancellara’s signal for help.

“Without question Fabian was the strongest, I can’t deny him that. He was going like a motorbike,” Gerrans admitted in the post-race press conference. “Really, he followed Nibali and myself on the Poggio and then he drove it across the top. He’s one of the best descenders in the peloton and he drove it down the descent. I was losing the wheel coming out of the corners each time.”

Last year, Cancellara famously warned his classics rivals that they would have to fasten their seatbelts such was the ferocity of his attacking. Gerrans and Nibali duly buckled up as the road flattened out over the top of the Poggio, but the Australian already had designs on nudging Cancellara out of the driving seat at the last.

“He was really committed to driving the break to the finish line. I was able to give him one short turn with a little over a kilometre to go and then he came past me again like a motorbike,” Gerrans said. “I was confident the break was going to go but to the finish and I knew what I had to do to finish the hard work off and just come past him in the final.”

A stolen win?

One journalist wondered aloud if Gerrans had stolen Cancellara’s victory, but the frenetic finale of a La Classicissima was hardly the place to ponder such moral dilemmas. In any case, with teammate and defending champion Matt Goss sitting in the chase group behind, Gerrans had a strong alibi, as did Nibali, whose teammate Sagan won the sprint for fourth.

“That was my role in the team. We had the defending champion in Matt Goss and if it came back for a sprint, Goss was going to be the main guy. My position was to follow the breakaways,” Gerrans said. “Obviously I wasn’t as strong as Fabian, I’d be the first to admit that. But it’s not always the strongest guy who wins the race. You have to play a little smart and be there.”

Gerrans explained that he and Goss had scarcely spoken during the race, but such was the simplicity of the GreenEdge tactic that there was no need. While Goss kept his powder dry behind, Gerrans was assigned to follow the moves on the Cipressa and Poggio.

“I was quite surprised because we didn’t race the Cipressa or the beginning of the Poggio at a fast pace. So I thought there was a good chance the group would come back together if there were attacks. I was surprised we were able to go to the finish line, but that was courtesy of Fabian.”

Gerrans may not be the most prolific of winners, but there is little argument about the quality of a palmares that includes stage victories in each of the three grand tours.

“I’m pretty good at analysing the situation and making the most of what I have,” Gerrans said by way of explanation. “I know I’m not the biggest engine in the peloton, but I have some all round abilities and every now and then I get to race for the win and I try and make the most of that situation.”

And what of Cancellara? Did the Swiss locomotive overestimate its own capacity?

“He was very much racing for the victory, but maybe he underestimated me a bit in the final,” Gerrans said. “By driving and doing so much work on the front of the group, he was committed to get the break to the final but he also thought he had enough to get the win.”

Go Sparticus!!!

Cancellara on Strade Bianche triumph: I always ride to win

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/cancellara-on-strade-bianche-triumph-i-always-ride-to-win)

Fabian Cancellara (RadioShack-Nissan) got his team’s season off the mark with a memorable win in Strade Bianche on Saturday but admitted that he’s still short of his best form as he takes aim on another spring classics campaign.

The Swiss rider was arguably the strongest rider during last season’s spring classics but missed out on a big win. He was also roundly beaten by rival Tony Martin in the majority of their time trial battles but his Strade Bianche performance has laid down a marker for the Classics and Cancelllara believes that his form is moving in a positive direction.

“I always ride to win,” he said in his winner’s press conference.

“Last year maybe I was missing a little bit but you can’t do anything about it. I gave it 100 percent in training and even this winter I said I’d gave 100 percent and even if I don’t win races I’ll be satisfied. If you make mistakes you can’t be happy but today it all went perfect and thanks to work of the team and especially Daniele Bennati I won.”

Cancellara will use Tirreno-Adriatico to fine tune his form ahead of Milan San-Remo but an ominous omen for his rivals lies in the fact that his previous triumph in Strade Bianche came the same year as his win in la classica di Primavera, back in 2008.

“I hadn’t raced since Oman and today felt there was something missing: the race rhythm. I don’t know where my form is at the moment. It’s not 100 percent. I’m on the way to improving. That’s important. It’s important to stay relaxed.”

Cancellara added that his win today was as due to his own mental fortitude and strength as much as his pure talent. Having lost his uncle just a few days ago, he used the grief to spur him on in.

“A lot of things came to mind during the race: winning, but also about the sacrifices we have to make. I also thought about my uncle, who I lost a few days ago. I won thanks more to my mental strength than my physical strength,” he said.

“Life is short, even if I’m still young. You learn more about life and how short it is when you lose people. You understand that you have to be happy with your life and with things like family and find quality in your life. That’s the most important thing. Today I managed to transform my pain into something positive.”