Preview: Trophee d’Or
by Monty. on Aug 23, 2010 5:33 PM EDT
in Women's Cycling
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Print24th –28th August
After last weekend’s short break for the last round of the World Cup,we now return to the stage racing season with the 14th edition of the Trophee d’Or, four days, five stages and 467km of racing based around the town of Saint-Amand-Montrond in the department of Cher, almost bang in the centre of France. The first race back in 1997 was won by Jeannie Longo, and the list of winners since should give you some idea of the terrain, including names such as Edita Pucinskaite, Joane Somarriba, Leontien Van Moorsel, Noemi Cantele and Emma Johansson. In other words we’re back in the hills, not the high mountains, but an in between sort of area that offers hope to both the climbers and the not quite climbers. Yet last year Beatrice Thomas of French team ESGL 93 - GSD Gestion won a small lead in the hills then watched helplessly from the back of the peloton as Diana Ziliute battered it down with bonus seconds won in the sprints (and even more agonizingly after trying her best to defend, broke a wheel just 6km from the finish line on the last stage to drop to 22nd overall).
So what do this year’s stages look like. Well I can list them:
Stage 1, Tue 24th: Saint-Amand-Montrond - Mehun-sur-Yèvre, 76.9 km, depart 16h15 - arrive 18h16
Stage 2, Wed 25th: Les Aix-d'Angillon - Saint-Germain-du-Puy, 102.8 km, depart 9h45 - arrive 12h27
Stage 3, Wed 25th: Orval - Orval, C.M.Individuel, 7.5 km, 1st depart 18h – last arrive 20h10
Stage 4, Thur 26th: Avord - Avord, depart 15h30 - arrive 17h59
Stage 5, Fri 27th: Cosne-sur-Loire - Cosne-sur-Loire, 94.9 km, depart 15h - arrive 17h41
Stage 6, Sat 28th: Sancoins - Saint-Amand-Montrond, 88.3 km, depart 14h30 - arrive 16h49
and give a map and route for Thursday’s stage 4, both from the mayor’s office in start/finish town Avord, but that’s about it for maps. The mayor of Saint-Amand-Montrond tells us that the time trial includes the nasty climb of Côte de Nozières, but no-one has yet thought to add that to climbbybike, and I can’t see any likely candidates looking at bikemap. And stage 5 includes 6 climbs towards the QOM jersey. If I find any more scraps to add, I’ll put them in the comments.
OK, so details on the course are a bit vague, then who’s riding. According to that newspaper clipping I just linked to, there are 20 teams of 6 riders, coming from various nations including Belgium, Poland, Russia, Italy, Denmark, Spain, Germany. Luxembourg, Switzerland, Australia, Portugal, Ukraine, Ireland and the UK. Even better, here’s a start-list. The big three, Cervelo, HTC_Columbia and Nederland Bloeit aren’t riding, but just about everyone else is. Emma Johansson is at the head of her Red Sun team, and teammate Ludivine Henrion has won a couple of stages here in the past. Lotto have their two lead climbers, Grace Verbeke and Ash Moolman, plus Vicki Whitelaw who has fought for the QOM jersey the last two years. Gauss look particularly strong and prepared for everything with climber Edita Pucinskaïte, intermediate rider Martine Bras and sprinter Giorgia Bronzini. Olga Zabelinskaya has gone home to prepare for the Worlds, leaving Rasa Leleivyte and Eleonora Patuzzo to defend DS Diana Ziliute’s title for Safi-Pasta Zara, while Nicole Cooke will be hoping that her young GB team look a bit better than they did at Plouay (is "Lussie Armistead" Lizzie riding for the national team, and is this a first attempt by British Cycling to cool things in Nicole’s grudge match with Emma Pooley after their little disagreement at the national championships?). Finally don’t forget the French girls, including Beatrice Thomas of ESGL 93 - GSD Gestion, her newly unemployed teammate, National Champion Melodie Lesueur, and Christel Ferrier Bruneau of Vienne Futuroscope who has had a great season in domestic French races, including victory in the Berry Classic held earlier this year in Orval.
I don’t think there’s much chance of video from here. Actually it’s tricky to find any info at all. The best English language source for news last year was Vicki Whitelaw’s blog, but maybe we will get a bit more from the South Africans, both those on MTN who seem to be riding as a National team, and Ash Moolman of Lotto. If you can read French then there is this unofficial blog from last year which may once more come up with something, and Roltiss also has useful reports if you remember that you have to scroll down quite a way to get to new content. If you find something else even vaguely useful looking then please post it below.
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The invisible race is upon us!
Do we know if CJ Farquharson is going? She’s fabulous for updating us.
Lizzie riding for Team GB seems unlikely – but she’s not on the startlist for Holland Ladies Tour, so I guess it’s possible?
(Speaking of HLT, their startlist looks awesome
here – from the point of view of riders who want to update us, as well as from a racing PoV!)
by Sarah Connolly on Aug 23, 2010 5:43 PM EDT up reply actions
Rapha-Condor racing in Europe too?
“We may not be the fastest, but we have the slickest kits”
And looking at Cycling Fever
they show the Albstadt as cancelled, but weren’t Horizon there last weekend? I guess it went non-UCI.
Yeah, and Hanka K was tweeting from there
All I’ve seen are the results on CQ ranking here – Hanka Kupfernagel won the thing, so clearly rubbing the Buddha’s tummy, as in her twitpic, worked
by Sarah Connolly on Aug 23, 2010 5:54 PM EDT up reply actions
if
races are removed from the UCI calendar
http://www.uci.ch/templates/UCI/UCI2/layout.asp?MenuId=MTUyMjQ&LangId=1
women elite
they appear on fever with a line through them. This does not always mean that they have been cancelled.
I admire anyone who can keep up to date with that list
Races just seem to appear and disappear mysteriously with no other news posted anywhere
Albstadt-Frauen-Etappenrennen
became a NE race instead of a 2.2
The Rund um die Nürnberger Altstadt – WE next month also appears on fever with a line through it, as it is no longer the originally planned CDM event.
Nice to see it's not totally dead
but it is a lot smaller than it used to be, and far more of a family day out. website
Mind you
If Lizzie IS riding, it’ll be fascinating to see Team GB’s tactics, and who they’d ride for…
by Sarah Connolly on Aug 23, 2010 6:04 PM EDT up reply actions
That's a bit of an over-dramatic report
but it makes up for all the other ones that ignored the after-race stuff completely.
Still. It begins to make sense of what people mean...
…when they speak of Cooke being ‘difficult’ to work with. I’m trying to imagine a less helpful way of handling the situation, and coming up blank.
The others seem to be trying to be diplomatic about it
here’s Sharon Laws talking to Bike Radar:
I think Nicole should take it as a compliment that we felt we had to stay together because none of us was confident that alone we could beat her. …… I hope that everyone will see the race in a more positive light and consider what a strong team we have for the World Championships.
Sharon's description of the race seems bang-on
Plus the fact no one complained about Sky getting 1-2-3….
by Sarah Connolly on Aug 24, 2010 8:14 AM EDT up reply actions
The BBC report from the time
here – and a comedy Emma Pooley quote from here
“Cutting our race down to half the length really changes how it is, I ate so much pasta last night, and I’ve only burnt off half of it,” she added.
It was always hard to imagine how else that race would have played out, really, with the it being shortened, so oe of them were ever going to be pushed to the limit. If they pushed up the pace, it’s unsurprising the 4 pro riders could sty with each other…
I think the trouble is, Nicole was furious because she wanted 10 national titles in a row, and had a terrible season – and lost her temper in a public way that was captured everywhere. But Emma has been the stronger rider all year, team or no team…
by Sarah Connolly on Aug 24, 2010 6:51 AM EDT up reply actions
yeah :(
Badger, badger, badger, badger, badger, badger...
by TheFigurehead on Aug 24, 2010 7:45 AM EDT up reply actions
Nicole's not at her best when things don't work out
She was interviewed by British Cycling earlier this year and sounded very angry about the Noris management signing up riders before they had a definite contract with their sponsor. Conveniently forgetting that she had done the very same thing in 2009 with Vision 1.
One thing that's just hit me
is how the Nicole-fury distracted from the real questions about how the race was organised, and the fact the women couldn’t ride a full race because of the men’s tv coverage. Both Emma & Sharon were v eloquent about that in their iterviews…
by Sarah Connolly on Aug 24, 2010 8:16 AM EDT up reply actions
It was a tough call whichever way it went
I don’t know how often BC get proper TV coverage of the Nationals. Were Eurosport willing to adjust their schedules at short notice? Who pays for all the helicopters/police/stewards if the event overruns. There were only 4 really competitive riders in the race, and they were still the ones who got away on the reduced version. Plus Emma Pooley got the win that she might not have got elsewhere in the end.
I was trying to find some info on the cost of helicopter hire last night, and the best I saw was this. According to these people the Bell Long Ranger is the one you want, so that’s almost £1000 an hour, add in time flying from their home base, plus cost of a refuelling rig, and that’s £5-6,000 without a cameraman.
I’ve not even thought what other expenses there might be.
did they helicopterise the women's race?
watching Plouay, I was thinking how much faster the men’s race looked, til I realised that’s the way it looks from above v on motorbikes.
very tough call, I agree, but as Pooley says in her inteview, they didn’t seem to have thought about it beforehand. If I had to be on the spot making that decision, I’d’ve reduced both races, rather than just 1, as it would have had less impact – but the big problem was getting the road cleared – because they couldn’t get the ambulance through, and the roads cleared to re-start or something, because of the narrow roads… I guess it was a superb course, if nothing went wrong…
by Sarah Connolly on Aug 24, 2010 8:37 AM EDT up reply actions
answer to my own Q
I think I do remember overhead shots, round some of the corners
by Sarah Connolly on Aug 24, 2010 8:37 AM EDT up reply actions
It was a tough call whichever way it went
I don’t know how often BC get proper TV coverage of the Nationals. Were Eurosport willing to adjust their schedules at short notice? Who pays for all the helicopters/police/stewards if the event overruns. There were only 4 really competitive riders in the race, and they were still the ones who got away on the reduced version. Plus Emma Pooley got the win that she might not have got elsewhere in the end.
I was trying to find some info on the cost of helicopter hire last night, and the best I saw was this. According to these people the Bell Long Ranger is the one you want, so that’s almost £1000 an hour, add in time flying from their home base, plus cost of a refuelling rig, and that’s £5-6,000 without a cameraman.
I’ve not even thought what other expenses there might be.
There was some talk this weekend of both the Tour de l'Aude and the Route de France being cancelled next year
The commentators at Plouay mentioned it and Manel Lacambra tweeted something too. I’ve not seen anyone else pick up on this, and I would expect to if the rumours came from an inside source, so I’m putting it down to a worst possible scenario at the moment, but as all discussion here was during yesterday’s live thread I’m saying it again for those who don’t do live threads. Here’s what I translated/wrote there:
France TV interviewed one of the organisers (not sure if he’s a Plouay organiser too) of the Cholet-Pays de Loire Féminin, the opening round of the women’s Coupe de France (itself a pretty slim competition with just 6 races this year). He says they have lodged a preliminary application with the UCI to make their race part of the World Cup. It would be the opening round actually, held on Sunday 20th March, one week before the Trofeo Alfredo Binda, and would be held on the same day as the Cholet-Pays de Loire Masculin. The Men’s race would start at about 11:30, the Women’s at 12:00, both would loop out into the countryside then return to the same finishing circuit. The race has already been running that way since 2004, but they would need a bit more money and some TV coverage to step up.
Now the possible downside is that that particular date is the Sunday after the Trofeo Costa Etrusca ends on the Saturday. That was cancelled this year, and a new race competing for the top riders wouldn’t help its chances of coming back. We shall see, I guess. The Cholet-Pays de Loire Masculin is part of the Men’s Coupe de France which I think French Eurosport has been showing this year, so there’s another possibility of TV coverage.
Now moving on to Aude and the Route de France, the French commentator, Emilie Menard, seemed pretty definite that both had been cancelled for next year, but I can’t see anyone else saying that. Yes, the organisers of Aude were saying during this year’s race that they needed a bit more money to be sure of continuing (things like the podium lorry needed replacing), and the Route really needs to work on getting publicity, but Aude’s website has a scrolling "see you next year" banner on it, and the Route is probably still tying up the ends of this year’s race.
Wouldn't starting the WC earlier mean
that trackies have even less chance? This is important 2011 and 2012 as all kids of riders are looking at winning the first omnium in 2012. I’m sure I saw something that said Vos and Bronzini have put their hats in the ring for it.
Mind you, starting the WC earlier messes thigs up for Marianne either way, as it would also give her less time to relax from the ’Cross season…
Re l’Aude, Manel tweeted that it wasn’t the £ that’s the problem, but the Federation & possibly the UCI. That seems really bad – because I can imagine teams helping find extra £, but internal politics are MUCH harder to overcome…
by Sarah Connolly on Aug 23, 2010 6:22 PM EDT up reply actions
Isn't the timetable clash the problem for the trackies?
Bronzini does Qatar, and that’s even earlier in the year. As for Vos, well maybe she can give everyone a headstart next year.
Binda's a problem as they almost directly clash
Although it’s not really a Giorgia B race anyway
And Vos missing 2 races (Binda & ChongMing) could be fun for the competition (but not for Vos!) (I still reckon she could win!)
by Sarah Connolly on Aug 23, 2010 6:33 PM EDT up reply actions
Pierre Boue
Pierre addresses last year about the decline of the grande boucle and the problems with the UCI, fallout that has affected the women’s races.
by Sarah Bishop on Aug 25, 2010 12:15 AM EDT up reply actions
I don't know where that interview started out
but I read it at velotekiero along with two editorial pieces he wrote in February and March. So the book’s not due till 2011. Hmm
The Book
Now that will be one dam interesting book!! Talk about dishing the dirt! I’ve got friends in France who will read it, so I can wait and just get the dirt from them.
by Sarah Bishop on Aug 26, 2010 12:05 AM EDT up reply actions
Here are a few more nice links
Filiprabc has plotted out some of the stages on www.routeyou.com Here are stage 1, stage 2, stage 4, and stage 5. Click on the statistics tab at the top right for some nice info on the day’s climbing including total ascent, average and maximum gradients. You can also download the routes in a few different formats.
From that you can see that stage 5 is a bit knobbly and reaches 13.4% gradient at some point, but that there is only 1097m of climbing in total, so it really ain’t a mountain stage.
Stage 1 to Mehun-sur-Yèvre ends with 4 laps of a finishing circuit, nicely illustrated by the local mayor.
The mayor of Les Aix-d’Angillon has published a few pages from the roadbook for stage 2. If only we could find the rest of that.
And finally, here are a few photos from last year
Thanks Monty,
It’s all good stuff. I went to St Amand Montrand once and remember a full size wooden horse outside a bar and very nice loos under the bandstand.
Cher
has a department?
"Good thing I never said out loud that I was pulling for France, before this all started." -Mark Blacknell
by Chris Fontecchio on Aug 24, 2010 3:40 AM EDT reply actions
It is so cool
That the french named a region after cher. I love them. Babe, i got you babe.
by yeehoo on Aug 24, 2010 5:09 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions
Mélodie LESUEUR
appears on the startlist for ESGL93-GSD GESTION, but may be doubtful following her recent crash
There are a couple of other dubious names
Rachel Neylan is in hospital in Austria after crashing on a descent while training with the Aussie squad, Lynette Burger is back in South Africa and Fenixs-Petrogradets sent out a press release recently that didn’t include Trixie Godart.
ESGL tweeted a pic of her
this morning my French is rubbish, I assumed it was a bit of pre-Tour hype?
by Sarah Connolly on Aug 24, 2010 10:39 AM EDT up reply actions
She was riding a men's race in her hometown
more for exhibition than anything else (it may even have been some sort of benefit, or at least a public show of support), and fell heavily
Gwena has a few more details. She was knocked off her bike just 2km into a race on Monday afternoon, leaving her with a broken nose and a number of bruises, and she is still in hospital, although she hopes to be fit for the Worlds. Both her and Sophie Creux from ESGL-GSD Gestion have been selected, so presumably the full list is around somewhere.
The best hope for in race updates
@BiogenToyota, Lotto’s South African partner.
And an interesting tweet a bit further down
Jo takes the win, followed by Lynette. Isabel Moolman in 3rd.
Could they be the new Schlecks?
And an interesting tweet a bit further down
Jo takes the win, followed by Lynette. Isabel Moolman in 3rd.
Could they be the new Schlecks?
I was just thinking that exact thing!
(I can’t see Ash M taking off her clothes as much as the Schlecks do!)
by Sarah Connolly on Aug 24, 2010 8:19 AM EDT up reply actions
I don't remember seeing naked photos of the Schlecks
not that I’ve ever looked, but I’m sure they would be memorable in the way that that Michale Rasmussen photo is memorable
When to start?
To be fair, it’s more semi-naked, but from the Frank Specialized ads to all the half-naked volleyball at their training camps, to the “I’m tweeting pics of my arm injury while wearing only pants” stuff on twitter… basically, if your thing is exceptionally skinny blokes getting their skin out, they’re the ones for you.
by Sarah Connolly on Aug 24, 2010 8:41 AM EDT up reply actions
are they related to the Australian Toyota team
who also have the deal with Lotto? Aside from the sponsoring, I mean. Is it coincidence, or some super-cunning tri-continental plan? And will they start sponsoring in Europe too? (hopes)
by Sarah Connolly on Aug 24, 2010 8:18 AM EDT up reply actions
That Australian Toyota team
is actually called Honda …. I wonder sometimes about the clash
Of course!
I am crap at this remembering malarkey!
by Sarah Connolly on Aug 24, 2010 8:24 AM EDT up reply actions
Plus Roger Blewett
@RocketRog12 – is he part of MTN?
by Sarah Connolly on Aug 24, 2010 10:52 AM EDT up reply actions
He was MTN at Route de France
but they’re all riding as a SA national team this week
Real Stage 1 results!
Via the fabulous Gwéna – it was a bunch sprint
1 – Alona Andruk, Safi Pasta
2 – Emma Johansson, Red Sun
3 – Julia Martissova, Gauss
4 – Martine Bras, Gauss
5 – Carla Swart, MTN
6 – Raza Leleivyte, Safi
7 – Fiona Dutriaux, Vienne Futuroscope
8 – Lucy Martin, Team GB
9 – Fanny Riberot, Lointek
10- Giada Borgato, Gauss
Lesueur isn’t there – don’t know about Armitstead
by Sarah Connolly on Aug 24, 2010 2:19 PM EDT up reply actions
Andruk dedicated her victory to Marina Romoli
According to the Safi news item – which is always touching
by Sarah Connolly on Aug 24, 2010 2:28 PM EDT up reply actions
That's quite sweet
I’ve been trying for three months to get a win to dedicate to Marina. Now I’ve done it and [I feel] she’s here with me, my best friend who is fighting the most important battle of her life.
apparently they really wanted Patuzzo to win Italian Champs
So they could give the jersey to Marina.
Did you see Marina’s fiancé Matteo signed to Geox? He has ben a real star for Marina, I hope he gets all the success in the world
by Sarah Connolly on Aug 24, 2010 6:03 PM EDT up reply actions
I liked the fact that the stories that announced it
also spoke of Daniele Ratto, big brother of Rossella. I bet that the only two mentions those guys have had here this year was in a women’s racing thread.
Ha, yes!
But the flipside is I know a load of people who’ll follow Matteo forever because of the Marina connection, whereas otherwise it would be “meh, another Italian neo-pro”
by Sarah Connolly on Aug 24, 2010 6:47 PM EDT up reply actions
And to go on with the race description
It was good weather, but windy. The first part of the course was flat with all the difficulties coming at the end, in a very technical finishing circuit, with curves and contra-curves (I can’t think of a way to put that in English that sounds anywhere as slick as the Italian) that broke up the rhythm, adn there was lots of elbow-bashing. No serious escapes got away, just a few little attacks and counter-attacks, so it all came down to the final circuit. Various trains were strung out for the final sprint. Safi-Pasta Zara-Manhattan were working for Rasa Leleivyte, their team’s sprinter. Eleonora Patuzzo was at the front leading out for her, then at 200m to go she turned round and couldn’t see her because she had been boxed in and couldn’t escape. She saw however that Alona Andruk was on her wheel, and that she had created a gap where her teammate could nip through. She shouted to her"Go straight, hard, go straight". Alona understood and went for it as hard as she could and without looking round until she was over the finish line.
Is it ok if i pinch your translation
for my tumblr & the like? Credited, o’course?
by Sarah Connolly on Aug 24, 2010 6:46 PM EDT up reply actions
It's perfect
I get a bit stressed translating google translations – I get too hung up on try to be exact to the words, rather than to the meaning
by Sarah Connolly on Aug 24, 2010 6:59 PM EDT up reply actions
Some information on the race
can be found on http://www.leberry.fr/sports/velo.html.
It looks like there might be something every day.
HELP. Can anyone tell me how I can create a nice slick link in my comments, like you all do. I feel a bit of a numbskull not being able to.
I actually prefer the plainly pasted links
because it’s clear where you’re going and the link always opens in a new tab (or window, depending on your browser). But you can make a slick link by highlighting (selecting) the word you wish to be linked, then clicking the little chain icon just above the comment box and pasting the link there. There is a checkbox to make the link open in a new tab/window, which I very much like for external links.
Ceci n'est pas une signature.
Mine never work that way
because I’m used to clicking on the middle button to get things to open in a new window, and on the left button to have it in the same window, and I hate having to go back and close the window I thought I was moving away from.
A very odd shot of Ludivine Henrion in the polka dot jersey
(did anyone say Belgian Climbing Sensation?), looking like she’s about to be carted away by the plain clothes police. How on earth do two men independently decide to buy that tie?
Off topic
and not related to fancy linking, which worked fine, although unfortunately not onto a new tab/window, but a philosophical point: the purpose of “hyper text links” is to link new info to a relevant term. Links should be embedded in flowing text without interrupting the narrative with artificially constructed sentences. The worst example is: "Click here for more info." Always makes me cringe, that one. Of course, in situations like yours where the only purpose was to provide the link, there hardly is a story and it is difficult to avoid the "click here" form. Still, it could have been: "Emma Johansson has a link to the photos."
To link the relevant term is an old-fashioned but very basic concept. It is also an important consideration in the very modern science of search engine optimisation. The engine classifies the importance of the link based on many factors, of which an important one is the descriptive value of the linked text.
Nerd out.
Ceci n'est pas une signature.
I never know how to link
because I always open links in a new tab, & go to them after I’ve read what I’m reading – get a feel for it and then follow the link (I treat them like footnotes that way – which is also why I hate the Harvard System of referencing as it braks up the flow for me…. curse my uni, which prefers that). I don’t like new windows, because it confuses me and I lose track of them…. what’s ideal? I guess there IS no ideal, as we’re all different…
by Sarah Connolly on Aug 24, 2010 7:04 PM EDT up reply actions
Choice between new window and new tab
is completely up to the browser (normally, per user-definable settings). There is no way of making a link to open in specifically one of those two. The target is “a new thingie” where thingie is either tab or window; the link writer has no way of knowing. In the olden days there were no tabs, so thingie always meant window. Modern browsers do have tabs and they will let the user choose whether thingie means window or tab, possibly also depending on which button you use to click the link.
If no target is specified when making the link, the browser will just open the link in the current window (unless you use a pre-defined special operation such as middle-click or control-click).
Ceci n'est pas une signature.
nerd! nerd!
Ha!
I agree, I like links in context and the Googler lurves links in context. But sometimes, I get really lazy, and tired of trying to make the sentence work around the link. So, I just put in the link. Or, I put them all at the bottom of an article like footnotes. Cuz again, I get lazy. #nerdfail Your way is definitely better, though.
Put me down for open in new. Gah! I hate losing my original window to new content. New content, new tab. It’s like putting my finger in a book to hold my place.
Lotto must have internet access
There’s a blog entry from Vicki Whitelaw here.
by Creeping Tortoise on Aug 24, 2010 6:55 PM EDT reply actions
So the Lotto team
includes just two of the six names on that start-list, and only five riders. Does this have anything to do with Grace Verbeke looking for a new team? And fortunately for me I didn’t read that original list properly because Vicki wasn’t actually on it.
Does that mean no Nicole Cooke too?
And that combativity prize thingy – one of the French blogs mentioned that it had gone to Beatrice Thomas mostly for her awful luck in the way she lost last year.
You'd think British Cycling
might want to say who’s riding for team GB on their site, wouldn’t you?
by Sarah Connolly on Aug 24, 2010 7:19 PM EDT up reply actions
I try to avoid that place
they’ve got some funny style thingy that makes my mouse pointer keep vanishing if I leave one of their windows open.
Cooke DNFed Plouay
So it could be she was planning to be here, but is having health problems again
by Sarah Connolly on Aug 24, 2010 7:28 PM EDT up reply actions
That's superb as ever
I love the idea of the riders offering to sort out the website – I have this great image of them coming back off the race and sharing the web duties. Mind you, it would get the info up quicker than most races! I still think we should set up alternative websites for our favourite invisible races that auto-updates from twitter & from the bloggers.
I really, really appreciate all the effort the riders put in to keep us updated
by Sarah Connolly on Aug 24, 2010 7:10 PM EDT up reply actions
Startlist!
Well, sorta! Cycling Fever have alphabetised who’s there from the Stage 1 results, but not yet got teams against the names – but it’s the best thing we have yet, and at least means we can look for riders we know (eg, no Cooke, Armitstead, Verbeke) It might get put into teams at a later date too – but if not, it’s still useful – thanks CF!
Stage 2a results
1. Inga CILVINAITE, Safi Pasta Zara, 02:46:28
2. Kirsty BROUN, Australia, 00:00:21
3. Emma JOHANSSON, RedSun, 00:00:21
4. Julia MARTISSOVA, Gauss, 00:00:21
5. Lucy MARTIN, Team GB, 00:00:21
6. Rasa LELEIVYTE, Safi Pasta Zara, 00:00:21
7. Catherine HARE WILLIANSON, Team GB?? 00:00:21
8. Alona ANDRUK, Safi Pasta Zara, 00:00:21
9. Eleonora PATUZZO, Safi Pasta Zara, 00:00:21
10. Nathalie LAMBORELLE, Hitec?? 00:00:21
via Cycling Fever
by Sarah Connolly on Aug 25, 2010 10:22 AM EDT reply actions
Vicki Whitelaw's blog
on stage 2a - sounds quuite dicey out there…
Moments after I’d chatted with my team mate Veronica about being careful in this last section of the race, a crash went down just behind us……..and another 3 minutes later. Gees, i don’t know where the organisers find these roads. Very dicey-potholes, off-cambor corners, manhole covers galore and a bunch of girls racing for 43rd position is far from an ideal situation.
by Sarah Connolly on Aug 25, 2010 2:40 PM EDT up reply actions
Radsport.ch
have tried to put everyone into teams, but they’re not sure about some of the names.
When I googled Trophee d'Or yesterday
This post was the first hit. Though Google has many ways of showing hits, I don’t know what they know about me (not sure I want to know either).
Badger, badger, badger, badger, badger, badger...
by TheFigurehead on Aug 25, 2010 11:26 AM EDT up reply actions
Stage 2b - the ITT
1. Vicki Whitelaw, Lotto
2. Emma Johansson, RedSun
according to Anton Vos’ twitter
Yay Vicki! Podium Café heroine!
And Emma has to be leading GC after all these 2nd places, maybe?
Stage 2b classification – 7,5 km ITT
1- Vicki Whitelaw, Lotto
2- Emma Johansson, RedSun, s.t.
3- Natalia Boyarskaya, Fenixs, + 11 sec
4- Ashleigh Moolman, Lotto, + 17 sec
5- Julia Martissova, Gauss, + 18 sec
6- Katie Colclough, Team GB, + 18 sec (Meilleur jeune)
7- Carla Swart, South Africa, + 22 sec
GC after the first 3 stages
1 – Emma Johansson, Red Sun
2 – Vicki Whitelaw, Lotto, + 17 sec
3 – Julia Martissova, Gauss, + 22 sec
4 – Inga Cilvinaite, Safi Pasta Zara, + 23 sec
5 – Natalia Boyarskaya, Fenixs, + 28 sec
Henrion still leads the mountains classification
Results from Gwéna
by Sarah Connolly on Aug 25, 2010 3:32 PM EDT up reply actions
There's got to be a lesson there
write about your race, mention/allude to us somehow, and magically you’ll start to win. Why bother with all that training nonsense anyway.
Yes! Because just before her massive winning streak started
Emma Pooley was interviewed by Gavia…. and I bet when Ina-Yoko Teutenberg races again after her live-chat with us, she wins everything too!*
So what Chris & Gav need to do next is use this as evidence for all the riders who are bored out there in France/the Ardeche/Toscana/at home training over the next month, to entice them to come on here and livechat/be interviewed by Gav, as a sure-fire way to get a great result in the Worlds…..
(*yeah, yeah, I know Ina wins everything anyway… but it can’t hurt, right?)
by Sarah Connolly on Aug 25, 2010 5:56 PM EDT up reply actions
fame !
a link at Reinier Meijer’s
http://www.cyclinglinks.nl/womenelite-menwomenjunior.php
Nor the power of the Whitelaws!
A combined blog post from Dave and Vicki
The course was a 2.5 km wide open road into a head wind and I concentrated on big power. Then we came to the 250m climb I had practiced 3 timed before hand. I pumped it out of the saddle, aiming for the pink house at the top! Then it was a false flat and all about getting up to speed again in the big chain. I loved the next bit and managed to do it all on my aerobars. A very fast, slightly winding descent followed by some rollers and a tailwind.
by Sarah Connolly on Aug 26, 2010 7:11 AM EDT up reply actions
Safi's press release
“It’s a shame about yesterday’s timetrial, because we’re the one’s making the race” said DS Paolo Baldi, who is leading the girls in France, enjoying the umpteenth victory of Safi-Pasta Zara-Manhattan, but still is disappointed by the provisional GC. Today in the third stage of the Trophee d’Or in France it was the turn of the Lithuanian Rasa Leleivyte who won in a sprint. A victory that follows the one of yesterday morning won in a solo break by the other Lithuanian, Inga Cilvinaite, and after that in the first stage of the Ukrainian Alona Andruk. They would have swept the board, but the classification is right now being decided by yesterday’s timetrial (which ended a day with two half-stages) won by the Australian Vicki Whitelaw who beat by almost nothing (28 hundredths of a second) the Swede Emma Johansson. Thanks to that advantage she won yesterday evening, it’s Emma Johansson (Red Sun Cycling Team) who leads the race. The first placed of Safi-Pasta Zara-Manhattan is Inga Cilvinaite, fourth at 25".
The Trophee d’Or, however, seems still obtainable for the girls in red and white. Today’s course (Avord – Avord, 95km) was flat and dull until Elena Kuchinskaya, a Russian rider on Gauss, sparked into life. Her escape looked to be decisive, but Alona Andruk who seems to have been sprinkled with fairy dust here in France put in a massive effort, pulling the whole peloton behind her to catch her at 2km from the finish line. A sprint then, and it fell to the girls of Safi-Pasta Zara-Manhattan to finish the incredible job for their sprinter, Rasa Leleivyte, who made no mistake and scored her third success of the season after a stage in the Tour of Qatar and the GP Cornaredo.
Strange comment
A stage race is “made” in every stage, including the time trial. Today’s tough stage is likely to be decisive too.
Much of Safi’s “problem” on the CG is that they have been sharing the wins around. Each gets 10s in time bonuses rather than one getting 30s which would be defendable in the TT
by Creeping Tortoise on Aug 26, 2010 5:11 PM EDT up reply actions
I can't work out
If the sharing is accident or design. Alona’s win was accident (or rather, taking advantage of the circumstances, but not planned) – and Inga jumped for it yesterday… but by now i wouldn’t be surprised if a different Safi rider took it every day…. random…
by Sarah Connolly on Aug 26, 2010 5:52 PM EDT up reply actions
ps, Alona or Olena?
I say Alona, as that’s what Safi say, but I see it written differently all over the place…
by Sarah Connolly on Aug 27, 2010 6:33 AM EDT up reply actions
I think that Olena
is an earlier misspelling that stuck around for a bit.
If that sounds odd it's just my translation
it was probably meant in the same way that Vicki said “I hate time bonuses”
Stage 4 report from Vicki Whitelaw
here, including
On one final note, I was chatting with my friends from the RABC team today and one of their riders, Cindy Vandermeulen, who was dead keen to race today was not permitted to start. Basically, she thanked me for my fast time trial result, whereby she finished outside the time cut. The ridiculous thing is, she missed the cut by 15 seconds and was the only rider not allowed to begin today. Ok, I’m all for time cuts but surely the can be some leniency so that as many girls as possible can finish the race? Sure, if she had dawdled around the course and finished way down, then I would understand but just 15 seconds? She has had a rough year with sickness and injuries and was certainly keen to race this tour only to be thrown out only half way through. Hmmm.
Weird decision by the organisers – but then, it is the weirdest race…
Meh
What’s the point of a time limit if you’re not going to enforce it? Or, what is the REAL limit, what’s in the rules plus 15 seconds? Complaining afterwards doesn’t sound very mature. (Not that we can tell if Vandermeulen actually complained.)
Ceci n'est pas une signature.
Agree...
but I do wonder if the time gap (percentage of winner’s time) should be bigger on short TTs. The time difference in question here was less than three minutes. It’s scary easy to lose that sort of time.
by Creeping Tortoise on Aug 27, 2010 8:03 AM EDT up reply actions
A couple of years back in the Tour
the year of Floyd Landis and Oscar Pereiro, Robbie Hunter who was then Floyd’s teammate rode the penultimate stage time trial standing up, with a huge boil on his bottom and a big hole cut out of his saddle. Even in those circumstances, and given that at the time Floyd was in yellow and the only stage left was the ride in to Paris, the organisers still disqualified him for missing the time cut.
Photos
(I’m confused as how to describe the stages, what with yesterday’s being 2a and 2b sometimes and 2 and 3 other times, so I’m going on days from now on…)
and there are some other on Cycling News – just stage 2b at the moment, but maybe there’ll be more at some other stage?
I especially love
this pic of Lotto talking how the race went, after the stage
More pics get added to those Krist Vanmelle pages over time, so it’s always worth checking back
by Sarah Connolly on Aug 27, 2010 6:54 AM EDT up reply actions
Johansson!
sprinting over Pucinskaite and Patuzzo, group arrived after 1’ ,1’30" maybe.
Emma joined the couple Pucinskaite-Patuzzo at 20-25 km to go after 10 km of chasing by Red Sun.
GC
Johansson
Pucinskaite
Patuzzo
now that sounds like a fun day's racing
unless you’re on Lotto I guess. Eleonora Patuzzo’s coming on nicely tooI thought that she would be the Safi rider most likely to win today.
More results
Stage:
1. JOHANSSON Emma RedSun02:48:00
2. PUCINSKAITE Edita 00:00:00
3. PATUZZO Eleonora 00:00:00
4. ANDRUK Olena 00:01:44
5. LELEIVYTE Rasa 00:01:44
6. SWART Carla 00:01:44
7. BRAS Martine 00:01:44
8. MARTISSOVA Julia 00:01:44
9. CREUX Sophie 00:01:44
10. WILLIANSON Catherine 00:01:44
by Sarah Connolly on Aug 27, 2010 6:01 PM EDT up reply actions
GC after stage 4
1- Emma Johansson
2- Pucinskaite à 37 sec
3- Patuzzo à 1’05"
4- Whitelaw à 2’11"
5- Martissaova à 2’12"
6- Cilvinaite
7- Boyarskaya
8- Moolman
Via Gwéna
by Sarah Connolly on Aug 27, 2010 6:02 PM EDT up reply actions
Kirsty Broun
is riding with Team System Data, not Team Aus – my apologies for getting it wrong (repeatedly) upthread
Emma Johansson
My team controlled the bunch going into the first climbs today and then it was up to me to make the race hard…
And hard it became since I ended up all alone from RedSun in a way to big group. Many attacks of course and in the end I had to let two go…
Last climb on kilometer 74 I thought it´s now or never, 56 seconds up to the two riders… It just had to work out!
Got stuck in between for a while but made it across with 18km to go. The three of us worked the gap up till more than 2,0 minutes and I won the sprint :) finally I got that bottle of Champagne that I have been looking for :)
and Vicki Whitelaw
blogs
A great race today with plenty of interesting lumpy terrain and solid racing tactics. Unfortunately I have now lost GC places to 4th. C’est la vie. Safi have been the strongest team of the entire tour and it has been great to see each rider’s commitment to getting stage wins. We just weren’t sure if they would also come out to play for the GC standings as well. Today, a well timed attack from Eleanora Patuzzo (who had been hiding in the bunch for the previous 3 days) at 60km and followed by Edita Puckinskaite proved they were serious about clinching the overall as well.
by Sarah Connolly on Aug 27, 2010 6:07 PM EDT up reply actions
1. I'm insane - Pucinskaite = Gauss
I was all overcome by Garmin-Cervélo news yesterday – apologies.
Superb podium spot for Lucy Martin, too! Yay Lucy!
Final stage = Bunch sprint
1. Monica Holler, Alriksson Gogreen, 02:01:05
2. Emma Johansson, Red Sun Ladies Cycling Team
3. Lucy Martin, Team GB
4. Martine Bras, Gauss Rdz Ormu – Colnago
5. Cherise Taylor, South Africa
6. Carla Swart, South Africa
7. Sophie Creux, Esgl 93 – Gsd Gestion
8. Fiona Dutriaux, Vienne Futuroscope
9. Kirsty Broun, Team System Data
10. Sylwia Kapusta-szydlak Safi – Pasta Zara
1. Emma Johansson, Red Sun, 12:31:55
2. Edita Pucinskaite, Gauss Rdz Ormu – Colnago, + 00:43
3. Eleonora Patuzzo, Safi – Pasta Zara, + 01:11
4. Vicki Whitelaw, Lotto Ladies Team, + 02:17
5. Julia Martissova, Gauss Rdz Ormu – Colnago, + 02:18
6. Inga Cilvinaite, Safi – Pasta Zara, + 02:23
7. Katie Colclough, Team GB, + 02:35
8. Natalia Boyarskaya, Team Fenixs – Petrogadetz , + 02:36
9. Lucy Martin, Team GB, + 02:38
10. Carla Swart, South Africa, + 02:39
by Sarah Connolly on Aug 28, 2010 2:30 PM EDT up reply actions
Leleivyte DQ?
I think so, because she’s last athlete of the group classified at same time by UCI and his DS told me that she was 2nd…
That's tough
especially if you weren’t first over the line anyway.
she was down as 2nd in the first set of results
and then disappeared
by Sarah Connolly on Aug 28, 2010 2:46 PM EDT up reply actions
Redsun problems
A great win for Emma but I see in her team mate Emma Silverside’s recent blog that the Redsun team may not be around next year. Which would be a great pity.
That's bad, bad news....
I guess I’ve been thinking things are ok because of Geox supporting Safi and the Garmin-Cervélo thing… I hate that “team doesn’t collapse” is the equivalent of “5 more teams want Pro Tour licenses, and there’ll be 2 new big-moeny super teams” on the men’s side. Gah.
by Sarah Connolly on Aug 29, 2010 1:11 PM EDT up reply actions
According to Gwena
Emma made a clean sweep of the jersies, bar the young rider, of course, which went to Patuzzo. No breakdown of how the points and climbers ones were contested. But in a bit of good news, planning has already begun for 2011’s race.
woohoo!
I need some good news, because in bad news, as Cotman pointed out, RedSun is porbably not there next year, and I just heard Noris is folding too, with Worrack probably going to leontien.nl
by Sarah Connolly on Aug 29, 2010 5:55 PM EDT up reply actions
Here's an interesting interview
Gwena spoke with Damien Pommereau, DS of Vienne-Futuroscope about the course. He called three of the flat sprinty stages “soporific”
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