Tour of Flanders gets a very international flavour!

BRUGES - The cyclotour version of the Tour of Flanders will once again see between 14, 000 and 18, 000 riders in the saddle this Saturday, 5 April. The Ronde gets an increasingly international flavour as well. A little survey on the pre-registrations show 43 Americans, but also 12 Japanese, 4 Chinese, 5 Canadians, 8 Brazilians and even a few riders from Uganda, Korea and Algeria! 15% of the peloton will consist of riders from Holland.

The ECB Cyclosports team will also be present in Flanders again with five scheduled riders. Morten Hansen and Kris Van de Velde will attempt the full distance of 260 km, while Guus Van Domburg, Michael Schneider and Gideon Fourie aim at the 140 km distance which includes all the highlights.
The five will use Oudenaarde as their base for the weekend, with the hotel window offering a fine view of the Koppenberg :-)

The weather forecast is currently not so optimistic for good weather. It will most likely be chilly and windy, but whether or not there will be rain remains uncertain.

More info on the Ronde van Vlaanderen can be found on this website.

Support Agapedia and win a Red Bull racebike!

Rose Versand, sponsor of Team Agapedia-Münsterland, is organising a "Gewinnspiel" with a brand new Red Bull racebike as prize! All you need to do is order the catalogue of the shop to be eligible for the prize. You can download this PDF form to order the catalogue.

Not only do you get a chance to win a racebike, but you also help the Agapedia Foundation, because for every new customer coming from this prize contest, Rose Versand will transfer a noticeable sum to Agapedia. More information on this action will follow throughout the cycling season.

Guus conquers Mont Ventoux!

Dutch ECB rider Guus Van Domburg has added a significant name to his growing mountain record last week: Mont Ventoux, the nearly 2000m high giant of the Provence. Guus did the classic ascent starting from Bedouin, where it was still 23 degrees. On the top it was close to zero. Due to strong winds and icy roads, Guus could not go beyond post 1752, but there will certainly be a next time!
Guus is also preparing for his first Tour of Flanders on 5 April. His programme this season also includes the Amstel Gold Tour, Le Nove Colli, GP Schwarzwald and Dreiländergiro.

Köln cancelled, Morten does 160k in Ilbenstadt!

While the 100th anniversary edition of Rund um Köln got cancelled due to the heavy snowfall, ECB rider Morten Hansen managed to put in 160 km last Monday! Training heavily to get in shape for the Tour of Flanders after a five-week holiday, Morten did the 115km of the RTF in Ilbenstadt and added the kilometers cycling from home to Ilbenstadt and back. He only got into a snow shower during the final hour of his ride...

The next RTF around Frankfurt takes place this weekend in Rüsselsheim.

RTF Ilbenstadt on Easter Monday

After Niederdorfelden, RC Ilbenstadt is organising its "Frühlings RTF" on Easter Monday. Whether it will be spring remains to be seen, with the current weather forecast not exactly promising, but the RTF is worthwile and a good opportunity to put in the mileage needed for the upcoming events like the Tour of Flanders.

Website (Ausschreibung)

German Cycling Cup: Already 3000 registrations for Köln

The first race of the inaugural German Cycling Cup will be held on Easter Monday in Köln. The cyclo event will again preceed the traditional annual pro race, and offers two distances: 100km and 65km.

According to the website of the organisation, already 3000 people have signed up for the event. The course is predominantly flat but there are also a few climbs in there, the last one going up to the Schloss Bensberg partially on cobblestones. On the 100km course, there are 920 Hm to be conquered.

Last year's winner was Nico Wernicke from Team Strassacker, who beat a peloton of nearly 100 riders in a bunch sprint.

More info on Rund um Köln on the website.

Niederdorfelden kicks off Frankfurt RTF season

The Hessen RTF season gets underway in March and, in particular for Frankfurt cyclists on Sunday, 16 March with the traditional "Frühlings RTF" in Niederdorfelden (close to Bad Vilbel).

The longest distance is 115km and goes a.o. through the Wetterau. A good training opportunity for those racing in Cologne the week after!

More info on the organising club's website.

Gazzetta Challenge: La Tappone del Giro + Giro di Lombardia

The Gazzetta Challenge, organised by La Gazzetta dello Sport, enters its third year with only two events scheduled in 2008. Due to Easter, it proved to be impossible to guarantee adequate road security measures for the organisation of the Sanremo event on 23 March. Remaining are thus La Tappa della Leggenda, also known as Dolomiti Stars, and the Giro di Lombardia.

La Tappa takes place on 24 May with start in Arabba and finish in Marmolada (Passo Fedaia). It is a course for pure climbing goats and perhaps a great alternative for those not selected to do La Maratona this season. The percorso includes the climbs of the Passo Pordoi, San Pellegrino, Passo Giau, Passo Falzarego and finally the Passo Fedaia. 153 km in total and possibly tougher than La Maratona, also considering it takes place five weeks prior.

The season's closer in Lombardia takes place in and around Lake Como on Sunday, 19 October.

Link to the Gazzetta Challenge website

German Cycling Cup: Münsterlandgiro with new course

The 3rd edition of the German Cycling Cup's final race in Münster will again be held on a different course. Announced is a 140 km long race towards the west with fewer height metres (as if there were many before :-)) . For those with already tired legs, there will also be shorter distances of 110 and 70 km.

The Münsterlandgiro has quickly established itself as one of the leading events in Germany with over 3, 000 participants in 2007. The region itself, Münsterland, proclaims itself to be the cycling capital of Germany.

More info on the race's website.

German Cycling Cup officially announced!

The successor of the T-Mobile Cycling Tour is now officially announced. The German Cycling Cup will contain 9 events, of which the best 7 results will count for the final classification. An attractive offer, especially for the many people whose budgets and time limits were overstretched by the 19 races that made up the 2007 Tour!

All details can be found on the new German Cycling Cup website. The Series kicks off with Rund um Köln on Easter Monday and ends with the Münsterlandgiro on 3 October.

Tour of Flanders: KOPPENBERG back in the race!

Cyclists in Flanders and abroad were delighted yesterday upon the announcement that the legendary Koppenberg will return to the course of the Tour of Flanders this year! The cobbled "beast" of Melden (Oudenaarde) with its +20% stretches is an integral part of the Ronde's history and was omitted from the 2007 edition because of the worsening condition of the cobblestones, which showed large gaps between them. The town of Oudenaarde has invested in the resurfacing once again (they had just done it a few years ago to get the Koppenberg back in after a hiatus of over a decade) and all lights were put on green by the race organisers yesterday.

In 2006 a large part of the professional peloton had to get off the bike on the steepest bits of the climb. The Koppenberg substitutes the Kortekeer climb on the 2008 course.

The Ronde will be held on the 5-6 April weekend. The cyclotour version on Saturday, the ProTour race on Sunday. Six riders associated with the Frankfurt International Cycling Club will make the journey down there, and will in fact stay in "Koppenberg town", Oudenaarde.

Shimano Fiets Challenge on 3/4 May

The Shimano Fiets Challenge, the self-proclaimed biggest cyclo of the Benelux countries, will be held this season on 3 and 4 May. As usual, there will be road and MTB races as well as a cyclotour. The main event, the 150km road race, takes place on Sunday.

Like last year, the finish will be on "het Drielandenpunt" in Vaals (NL), the highest point in Holland at 322m (doesn't look impressive, but the climb is rather steep).

More info on the website

Hamburg & Berlin attract thousands already

The registrations for the annual Vatenfall Cyclassics in Hamburg and the new Velothlon in Berlin are coming in by the hundreds. The race organisers in Berlin have already increased the maximum limit to 10, 000 riders. The event takes place on 25 May. Hamburg takes place later than usual, on 7 September, due to the Beijing Olympics in August. The key to enter Hamburg is once again: decide quickly!

Both races do not feature on the provisional calendar of the 2008 German Cycling Cup.

Meanwhile, a new cyclo event in Lohmar has been announced for Whit Sunday, 11 May. A course of 105km and 55km will be offered with 1600 hm scheduled on the longest distance. More information can be found on the website.

German Cycling Cup 2008

T-Mobile has left cycling with a bang at the end of last year and this also meant the end of the T-Mobile Cycling Tour for jedermann or cycloriders. However, the Series is NOT dead! It will continue under the name "German Cycling Cup" and will be organised by the Verband Deutscher Radrennveranstalter (VDR). That is already great news by itself.

The race calendar will contain fewer events than the 19 in 2007, which was also desired by all leading parties involved. Significant is that the race in Hambug and the new race in Berlin will not be part of the Cup. It is also unclear whether the cyclo events of the Tour of Germany in September will be included or not. Triberg and RiderMan are neither mentioned so far in the calendar.

The 11 (provisional) events of the 2008 German Cycling Cup:

24. März: „Rund-um-Köln-Challenge
27. April: „Tour d‘Energie von den Terassen“ in Göttingen
01. Mai: „Rund um den Henninger Turm“ in Frankfurt
12. Mai: Rund um die Braunkohle in Leipzig
1. Jun: Bayern-Rundfahrt in Erlangen
28. Jun: Jedermannrennen im Rahmen der Deutschen Meisterschaft in Bochum (unbestätigt)
27. Jul: Sachsen-Tour (unbestätigt)
3. Aug: Sparkassen-Giro in Bochum
23. Aug: „Rad am Ring“ auf dem Nürburgring
14. Sep: „Rund um die Nürnberger Altstadt“
3. Okt: Sparkassen Münsterland Giro.2008 in Münster

Prestigio: Nove Colli already in the thousands...

The biggest Italian granfondo of the season, Le Nove Colli in Cesenatico, already has several thousands of registrations. The so-called "griglia blu" which runs till #5500 is full according to the website! The great event will be held on Sunday, 18 May this year.

Check the website for more.

CHIBA Alpencup: four big alternatives

The CHIBA Alpencup, a tough four-event criterium in the German-speaking part of the Alps has been officially announced recently and will include the following granfondos:

• 18.05.08 Amadé Radmarathon - Radstadt (A)
  
• 15.06.08 Berchtesgadener Land Radmarathon - Bad Reichenhall (D)
  
• 06.07.08 Engadin Radmarathon - Zernez (CH)
  
• 03.08.08 TirolWest Radmarathon - Landeck (A)

These events may provide a nice alternative for those wanting to skip top events like the Maratona and Marmotte for a year.

More information can be found on the website of the Alpencup.

Prestigio: Carnia Classic-Zoncolan opens the books

The registrations for the GF Carnia Classic-Zoncolan, one of the highlights of the 2008 granfondo season held in Tolmezzo (Udine), have opened. Online payment will be possible also in due course. Check the website for more details.

Grand Trophée 2008: La Marmotte on 5 July

The most prestigious French cyclosportive series, Grand Trophée, will feature 11 events next season, with the traditional highlight, La Marmotte, scheduled for Saturday, 5 July.

Other popular international events as La Ventoux and Les 3 Ballons will be held on 7 and 14 June, respectively.


Full 2008 schedule:

11/05: La Cezanne, Aix-en-Provence
18/05: La LOOK, Nevers
01/06: L'Epervier, Cogolin
07/06: La Ventoux, Beaumes-de-Venise
14/06: Les 3 Ballons, Champagney/Planche-des-Belles-Filles
22/06: La Morzine Vallée d'Aulps, Morzine
29/06: La Vaujany, Vaujany
05/07: La Marmotte, Bourg d'Oisans/Alpe D'Huez
23/08: L'Auvergnate, La Bourboule
13/09: La Ronde Picarde, Abbeville
23/11: La Cyclo Guadeloupe, Guadeloupe

The online registration opens on Tuesday afternoon, 14 December. Usually there is no maximum participation limit imposed.

More info on the website of Sportcommunication.

Team Agapedia-Münsterland announces 2008 line-up

Münster - Team Agapedia-Münsterland, one of the big jedermann teams in the German cyclo circuit, has announced its team line-up for the upcoming 2008 season. The team will consist of 23 fixed riders and sees a number of newcomers including Elin Amundsen and myself, but also former pro Jürgen Lücke and granfondo specialist Jens Volkmann, who is also world champion individual time trial in the Senior category. Volkmann won a.o. the Tour Transalp in 2006 and has featured in the top five of big mountains events like the 3 Ballons and the Ötztaler Radmarathon.

The team will be co-sponsored by Rose Versand, Snickers, Gebiomized and of course the Münsterland region. The riders will mount Red Bull frames for the season.

More info on Challenge Magazin.

Fate of T-Mobile Cycling Tour still unclear

After Deutsche Telekom decided to stop all sponsorship with immediate effect last week, the fate of the beloved T-Mobile Cycling Tour is very much unclear. An official statement on the website doesn't tell the fans anything.

Sponsors (also e.g. Adidas) seem to be pulling out everywhere in Germany following the media hysteria triggered by various doping cases involving riders of the professional T-Mobile team. This will push several German race organisers in a bad spot as of next season. Neverthless, the organisers of the Deutschland Tour, Rund um Köln and Henninger Turm have all confirmed their events will go ahead as scheduled in 2008. Therefore, it can be expected that the cyclo or jedermann races will also happen - but probably not under the umbrella of T-Mobile any longer.