RTF Mörfelden on Sunday, 20 July

Radsport SKV Mörfelden is organising its popular annual Merfeller RTF next Sunday, 20 July. The traditional distances of 115km, 75km and 45km are on offer, with the longest route taking in some nice climbs in the Odenwald. Last year there were more than 1, 000 participants.

There's a FICC related group starting at the Waldstadion in Mörfelden at 8:30 a.m.

More info on the website of the organising club.

Prestigio - Corradini also the best in apocalyptic Carnia Classic

TOLMEZZO - The 37-year old former skier Antonio Corradini of Team Salieri has also grabbed the victory in the Carnia Classic last Sunday, one week after his triumph in La Marmotte. Corradini escaped on Monte Zoncolan and gained an advantage of 4'13"over Fabio Bulgarelli and 5'34" over Giorgio Rea. The event was characterised by horribly wet conditions as soon as the start was given in the Tolmezzo. Pouring rain, thunder and lightning accompanied the 2000+ riders on the way to the first climb of the day, Sella di Razzo. The rain would let off occasionally, only to come down in buckets again a bit later. The majority of riders on the granfondo circuit were redirected straight to Tolmezzo after the Zoncolan, avoiding the final climb of Sella Duron. In total, 1.182 riders conquered the famous monster climb (12.1 % on average over 10 km). The commitment of the participants was huge, given that only 112 riders officially retired from the race! The women's race was won by Monica Gallucci.

The Carnia Classic was the so-called 'new entry' in this year's Prestigio series. Every year one (smaller) event is selected for this honour. By all means, the organisation of the event was absolutely immaculate.

La Marmotte: Slick Corradini outsprints Dekker in thriller!

ALPE D'HUEZ - The 2008 edition of the most prestigious international cyclo, La Marmotte, was one of the most exciting ever. After a fantastic dual on the climb to Alpe d'Huez, Italy's Antonio Corradini dove inside of Holland's Bert Dekker at the final roundabout to claim his first Marmotte victory in 6:02:12. Dekker, a triple winner himself, had to be satisfied with second place after his best run in years. Konstantin Kluyev was third 2'27" behind, Michel Roux fourth and Michel Snel fifth in 6:05:07. Snel got dropped on the Galibier but recovered remarkably and still gained a few places towards the end.

The event was held in splendid weather conditions and saw no fewer than 5300 people reach the finish atop Alpe d'Huez. The last rider crossed the line in 13:42:32.

Corradini is a 37-year-old rider of the famous Team Salieri. The biggest name of the team, Emmanuele Negrini, winner of last week's Maratona delle Dolomiti, did not participate in this year's Marmotte.

Maratona - Negrini back on top of the game

CORVARA - After a number of defeats in his favoured mountain events last year, 34-year-old Emmanuele Negrini has struck back and added another Maratona title to his tally. Negrini arrived solo in Corvara after 140km and 4300 Hm in 4:29:05. It was the fifth victory in Alta Badia for the climbing specialist from Bologna in six years. Antonio Corradini and Jamie Burrow completed the podium more than 4 minutes back. Fabio Bulgarelli finished fourth, and Dutchman Michel Snel, second in Les 3 Ballons two weeks ago, made an impressive debut with fifth place in 4:40:22.

Current German Cycling Cup leader Michael McManus came in 57th in 5:14:57.

The women's long race was won by Monica Gallucci ahead of Barbara Lancioni in 5:15:54.

GF Marco Pantani: Victory for Bazhenov

APRICA - The fourth edition of the very tough Granfondo Marco Pantani in Aprica (Valtellina) has been won by Alexandre Bazhenov, this year also winner of e.g. the GF Selle Italia. Bazhenov beat Fontana (+2'41") and former winner Negrini (+5'36"). The trio reached the top of the Mortirolo together, but the younger Bazhenov proved to be the fittest on the Valico di Santa Cristina and took his first victory in Aprica.

In Nauders, Austria, the Dreiländergiro - which includes the Passo Stelvio - went to Austrian rider Andreas Traxl, ahead of Germans Stefan Misstler and Marc Lipowitz. A report on that event will be posted on my personal blog in due course.

Les 3 Ballons: Volkmann faster than Snel

LA PLANCHE DES BELLES FILLES - The French classic Les 3 Ballons went to German cyclo specialist Jens Volkmann last Saturday. On the final steep climb to La Planche he dropped Dutchman Michel Snel, who had also finished second last year. Volkmann's time: 6:28:24 after 205km and 4300 Hm. Frenchman Jonathan Denis completed the podium in third place almost seven minutes back.

Also Les 3 Ballons keeps growing. This year Sportcommunication announced that more than 2000 riders registered for the event, which was held in mild but dry conditions.

A more detailed report on Les 3 Ballons can be read on my personal blog soon. Meanwhile, Dutch speakers can also check the blog of Michel Snel.

Prestigio - GF Campagnolo: Bazhenov beats Negrini

FELTRE - Close to 4000 participants this year for the Granfondo Campagnolo in Feltre this year: a new record. The victory on the long distance of 216km went to Alexander Bazhenov (Park Pre Selle Italia) who together with Jaimie Burrow used team tactics to beat Emmanuele Negrini (Team Salieri), who attacked on the last climb but was taken back by Burrow in the final kilometres. Negrini could not respond to Bazhenov's ultimate move towards the finish. The women's race went to 43-year-old Monica Bandini, who was particularly delighted with the win. Interestingly, second place went to another veteran on the scene, Anna Corona. The weather was quite bad with snowfall on the Valles...

German Cycling Cup: McManus & Haverkamp lead after five events

ERLANGEN - The German Cycling Cup, successor of the T-Mobile Cycling Tour, is running pretty well after the Rund um Köln anti-climax. The events in Göttingen, Frankfurt, Leipzig and Erlangen overall saw an even large number of participants compared to 2007 and the "yellow jersey" is heavily contested- at least in the men's category. Team Lexxi's Manuela Haverkamp on the other hand seems to have taken over Annika Grüber's position of the past years and so far has been ruling the women's circuit. Katharina Reitmayer is already over a hundred points back in second place.

In the men's Michael McManus (Team Adidas) grabbed the top spot after a splendid solo win in Erlangen last weekend. In the last lap he managed to get a 35 second lead over a first group of about 40 riders. The sprint of that group was affected by a spectacular crash some 150 metres before the finishline, which included, amongst others, the defending Cup leader Andreas Bollessen and myself. As far as I know, nobody got seriously hurt and the damage was limited to bumps and bruises of various proportions. Bollessen is now second in the ranking, fifty points behind McManus. Team Strassacker's Nico Wernicke, victim of a chain rupture and a tyre puncture in Frankfurt and Leipzig respectively, moved up to third place in the ranking, trailing McManus by 75 points.

The next race of the German Cycling Cup will be held in Bochum on 3 August.

My experiences during the GCC events can be read about on my personal blog.

Prestigio - Le Nove Colli: former Pantani teammate victorious

CESENATICO - The 2008 edition of the biggest Italian granfondo of the season, Le Nove Colli in Cesenatico, has been won by Sergio Barbero, who outgunned Jaimie Burrow at the finish. Barbero is a former pro, who used to ride for Mercatone Uno and Carrera alongside the late Marco Pantani. During his pro career (1993-2006) he also wore the jersey of Lampre for several years. He retired in 2006 and is apparently now enjoying himself in the granfondo circuit. Third spot on the podium of the semi-wet edition of Le Nove Colli went to Alex Pauliokovich. Corradini was fifth, Bazhenov - winner of the Selle Italia this season - sixth, and Negrini seventh.

There were also a few riders from the Frankfurt area at the Adriatic coast for the weekend. A report can be read on Challenge Magazin.

Prestigio: Dieci Colli Bolognesi dominated by ex pros

BOLOGNA - The second Prestigio event of the season was determined by four riders of whom Sergio Barbero and Alex Bazhenov - the winner of the GF Selle Italia last month - took the first two steps on the podium. Both were solid elite riders up until two years ago. Ersilio Fantini and Jamie Burrow were three and four, while Emmanuele Negrini grabbed fifth place over three minutes later. Timothy David Jones was ninth and in the same second group as Negrini. The women's race was won by Barbara Lancioni.

Also in Italy last weekend, the GF delle Alpi in Sondrio (Valtellina) was won by established climber Stefano Sala. He held a three-minute advantage over Corradini and Giacomazzi.

Michel Snel wins Shimano Fiets Challenge

VAALS (NL) - French-based Dutchman Michel Snel took top honours at the Shimano Fiets Challenge in Vaals yesterday, winning the 150 km cyclosportive with a 2'16" lead over Sjef Graafmans and Koen Beijens. The women's event was won by Esther Olthuis. The road event saw more than 1000 participants.

German Cycling Cup - For the last time Rund um den Turm?

FRANKFURT - German pro cycling is in a deep crisis and even the biggest German spring classic, Rund um den Henninger Turm, is feeling the effects of the many doping revelations of the past years. The main sponsor of the race, traditionally held on 1 May, is pulling out after the 2008 edition and organiser Bernd Moos-Aschenbach has not found a successor yet. So, we may see the professional peloton in Frankfurt for the final time tomorrow...

Contrary to the malaise in pro cycling, the cyclo scene is booming tremendously in Germany. The organisers in Göttingen again had a new attendance record last weekend, and also for the VeloTour over 4000 riders are expected to start tomorrow. It will be the third out of nine events of the German Cycling Cup.

The ECB Cyclosports Team will consist of Elin Amundsen, Morten Hansen, Guus van Domburg, Alan Richardson, Patrick Hess and myself. Elin will aim for victory in the 75 km flat event.

German Cycling Cup: Superb event in Göttingen

Göttingen - The second leg of the German Cycling Cup, the Tour d' Energie in Göttingen, once again delivered the goods. Splendid organisation, great course and, finally, sublime race weather as well!

The men's 85km race was won by youngster Tilo Breuer who nicked the already celebrating Jan Niclas Grosse on the line à la Freire in Milan-Sanremo 2004 or à la Cavendish in this year's Scheldeprijs. A group of about 30 riders stormed to the line after the series of climbs around Dransfeld had dropped some well-known riders of the Series.

The women's event was won by Manuela Haverkamp, who got rid of Frankfurt starlet Elin Amundsen on the Hoher Hagen climb. Elin did manage to stay ahead of Remi Brunner of Frankfurt/Bad Vilbel for second place. Annika Grüber did and won the 45km distance as she is still recovering from a knee injury.

Apart from Elin, two other ECB riders were at the start last Sunday. I myself came in with the leading group as 22nd, while Morten Hansen took 464th place out of 1300 participants on the 85km distance.

More info on other riders based in the Frankfurt area is coming up soon.

Attractive Deutschland Tour announced

At last the three stages of the Deutschland Tour for jedermann have been officially announced. It is a very attractive trio spread over two weekends. Starting with the Mountain Challenge in Fügen (Austria) on 30 August, and followed one day later by the Raceday around Hesselberg (Bayern) the tour will end with the Skoda time trial in Bremen on 6 September - one day before the event in Hamburg.

The Mountain Challenge in Zillertal contains 3100 Hm over 120 km. That's a lot of climbing!

More info on the website.

Prestigio - GF Selle Italia: Bazhenov wins solo

CERVIA (IT) - Russian ex pro Alexandr Bazhenov of the Team ParkPre Guru has won the first Prestigio event of the 2008 season in style, finishing 2'26"ahead of Michel Chocol and 4'22" ahead of Maurizio Frigo. Bazhenov was still riding in the Italian continental team Naturino in 2006 (...). he also rode for Domina Vacanze a few years ago. Emmanuele Negrini came 9th in Cervia, and Sergio Barbero - a former Mercatone Uno rider and domestique of Pantani - crossed the line in 10th place.

The women's race saw Barbara Lancioni beating Monica Bandini and Monia Gallucci.

The next Prestigio event is the Dieci Colli Bolognesi on 1 May.

Flanders: Museeuw and Bartoli riding the 260 km!

An interesting feature of tomorrow's cyclosportive version of the Tour of Flanders will be the presence of the two greatest classics stars of the nineties: Johan Museeuw and Michele Bartoli! Museeuw is a triple winner of Flanders, while Bartoli won the race in 1996. Both ex pros have kept themselves in shape since their retirements and they will both be riding the 260 km cyclotour tomorrow.

Bartoli is leading a team of Italian cyclotourists coming over for the weekend, while Museeuw is supposed to guide one of the finalists of the Miss Sports Belgium contest. The question is: will the old vibes return and how will these antagonists react when they see each other on the road, let alone the Koppenberg :-)!

The cyclotour will see a host of famous ex pros (Van Petegem, Vanderaerden, Mattan,...) and other Belgian celebrities on the course throughout the day.

Tour of Flanders: Five key points for the lay man

If you are new to the Ronde van Vlaanderen, you may be wondering what all these hills or hellingen are all about. There is indeed no event to compare the Tour of Flanders with. Paris-Roubaix has many more cobblestones but no hills worth mentioning. In Flanders, you have cobbles and climbs, and its the latter that will make your day in the saddle difficult. Below are five key points of the Tour, which you may wish to save on your hard disk for Saturday.

1) Molenberg

Fact sheet

The third climb for those who do the full distance, but the first for the majority of riders, who do the 140 km tour. The first time you come here, the Molenberg hits you totally unexpectedly. You take a sharp right off a main road and you are immediately on a narrow and steep path with cobblestones in mediocre condition. The climb is short - only 350m - but if you didn't shift to your 39x19 or smaller before the corner you are in for a surprise. In the professional race this is a standard spot for crashes.

2) Kerkgate - Mater

Fact sheet

Arguably the toughest stretch of cobblestones. 2400 metres long and false flat uphill. This one is to take in sheer power to keep a good momentum. Your hands will hurt at the end of the stretch, but the food & beverage stop in Oudenaarde is now close by.

3) Oude Kwaremont-Paterberg-Koppenberg

Fact sheet Oude Kwaremont
Fact sheet Paterberg
Fact sheet Koppenberg

These three classic climbs succeed each other very quickly, your time to recover is very limited indeed. And to make things better: these are three of the toughest cobbled climbs of all, with the Pater and the Koppenberg offering parts with a gradient of over 20%! The Koppenberg is making a re-entry in the Tour this year, following a thorough restoration of the cobblestones last winter. In the 2006 professional race, only about 20 riders managed to stay on the bike. Conquering the Koppenberg is a feat by itself. This is your real test for the day. If you get over the Koppenberg without blowing yourself up, you will tackle the following climbs with a comfortable feeling.

4) Taaienberg

Fact sheet

Always in the shadow of the Muur van Geraardsbergen and the previously mentioned climbs, the Taaienberg is nevertheless a hard nut to crack. It has a very short 15% bit in the middle that often disrupts your rhythm. The Taaienberg has become a favourite climb for Tom Boonen to launch an attack.

5) Kapelmuur

Fact sheet

This is the last really tough climb, 20 km from the finish. It is quite long with 1075 metres and an average of 9%, and it ends with a steep cobblestone stretch that leads to a chapel. This is the place were the favourites in the pro race drop their bombs. The Bosberg still follows this climb some four kilometres down the road, but if you've done the Muur you've had the worst behind you.

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.