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Dennis Sets the One-Hour Record

rohan_dennisAs the number of riders committing to attempt the one-hour record grows, 24-year-old Rohan Dennis has become the latest – and the first Australian – to claim glory. Dennis, a member of the BMC road team, and a silver medalist at the 2012 Olympic Team Pursuit and 2011 Team Track Pursuit World Champion set a distance of 52.491km beating the 51.852km set by Austrian Matthias Braendle last October.

 

Commenting on his success the Adelaide rider said: ‘There was a lot of pain, I couldn’t really enjoy it too much to be honest, I knew it was 208 laps and when I went past 208 it was just go as hard as you can… It’s a great event and hopefully that record stands for a little while.’ Confidence in that record having any longevity may however be precarious as a queue of new challengers – including Fabian Cancellara, Tony Martin, Alex Dowsett and even Bradley Wiggins – await their turn.

 

Dennis’s successful attempt at the one-hour record took place at the Velodrome Suisse in Grenchen; the 250m track, constructed from the highest quality, slow-growing Siberian spruce, is considered the fastest in Europe.

 

Previous record holders in the event, first staged in 1893, include cycling giants Fausto Coppi, Jacques Anquetil, Chris Boardman and, of course, Eddy Merckx. Merckx called his hour record attempt in 1972 as: ‘The hardest ride I have ever done.’

 

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BMC Win Tour of Qatar Time Trial

Tour of Qatar Time TrialThe BMC squad of Brent Bookwalter, Taylor Phinney, Michael Schär, Lawrence Warbasse and Greg Van Avermaet have won the second stage of racing at the Tour of Qatar (the Team Time Trial) in a time of 16:07. BMC ultimately managed to outclass Team Sky across the second half of the 14km Al Rufaa Street course to keep them in second place (+5seconds), with the BMC win seeing the overall lead position of Bookwalter – who went clear to win Stage 1 on Sunday – extended to 6seconds. Going into today’s Stage 3, 143km Al Wakra to Mesaieed, Bookwalter’s teammates Taylor Phinney and Adam Blythe sit in second and third place respectively. BMC Racing Team Assistant Director Jackson Stewart said specific practice for the Team Time Trial during last month’s training camp in Spain had paved the way for yesterday’s success; commenting ‘We had our rotations down and I thought we did everything perfectly. We only lost Steve Cummings, Adam Blythe and Yannick Eijssen at the end…’
Further details on the official race website letour.com

 

Image ©BMC/Tim De Waele

 

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Evans Admits Defeat

Whilst Thomas Voeckler took first place on yesterday’s Stage 16 of the Tour de France (197km, Pau – Bagnères-de-Luchon) and Sky’s Bradley Wiggins maintained his lead for a staggering 10th day in yellow, there was less to celebrate for reigning champion Cadel Evans. The 35-year-old started the day 3’19” behind Wiggins but after clearly struggling on the climbs – finally losing sight of the front on the Col de Peyresourde some 20km from the finish line – he ended it more than 8 minutes adrift, effectively ending any chance of him retaining his title. The BMC rider reported that he had been suffering stomach problems before the day’s event, saying afterwards, ‘I didn’t think it would affect me in the race but obviously that’s not my normal level and it’s pretty much the Tour de France over for me.’

 

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Boonen Takes Flanders

Omega Pharma-Quick Step’s Tom Boonen yesterday took his third win at the Ronde van Vlaanderen (popularly known as the Tour of Flanders). Following on from victories in both 2005 and 2006 and capitalising on an excellent year so far, the Belgium held off Filippo Pozzato (Farnese Vini-Selle Italia) and BMC’s Alessandro Ballan, by a bike-length to win the sprint finish.

 

Meanwhile in the women’s edition of the cobbled classic Lizzie Armistead’s pre-race optimism quickly evaporated after an ill-advised and ultimately disastrous attempt to attack resulted in a finishing place of 34, something the GB star was quick to admit was down to he inexperience on the course. Some consolation for Armistead in that she beat rival Brit Emma Pooley, all be it by a single spot. The women’s edition was won by Germany’s Judith Arndt.

 

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Cummings Makes His Move

It’s that time of year, with the season ending and contracts coming to an end, for the annual game of musical saddles. Hot on the heels of the news that Team BMC Racing have signed Brit Adam Blythe and Belgian Klaas Lodewyck comes the announcement that they have also signed up another British rider in the shape of Steve Cummings, double-runner-up at the Tour of Britain (2008 and 2011.) The 30-year-old all-rounder was part of Great Britain’s world championship winning pursuit team in 2005 and took silver in the same event at the 2004 Olympics.

 

Commenting on his move away from Team Sky, Cummings said, “They’ve just won the Tour de France, and the riders they’ve signed have the chance to win almost any race. Their entire program really has the whole package…I want to work as hard as possible for the team and make the most of any opportunities that come my way. If I can do that, then I’m happy.”

 

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Blythe Heads for BMC

BMC RacingIt has been announced that Yorkshireman Adam Blythe will be joining the likes of Philippe Gilbert and Cadel Evans at BMC Racing next season as he leaves behind Omega Pharma-Lotto. The team confirmed the 21-year-old’s appointment along with that of Belgian Klaas Lodewyck.

 

Blythe left the British Cycling Olympic Academy at the start of 2008 having taken gold medals in the team pursuit at the Junior European Track Championships in both 2006 and 2007. Moving to Belgium he won a series of amateur events before joining Team  Konica Minolta as a stagiaire (from the French for ‘trainee’) winning two stages of he Tour of Hong Kong Shanghai. He joined Omega Pharma-Loto – known at the time as Silence-Loto – in 2009 on a two year contract.

 

Commenting on the signing of Klass and Blythe, BMC President and General Manager Jim Ochowicz said: “We are pleased to welcome both Klaas and Adam to the BMC Racing Team family. They are both young talents that are fast, strong and ready to lend their skills to the BMC Racing Team. We will especially be looking to them to support our team leaders during the classics season and throughout the rest of the season.”

 

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Evans Takes le Tour?

It’s all over bar the shouting at the Tour de France with BMC’s Cadel Evans looking certain to be crowned king of the event at tomorrow’s Champs-Élysées finish in Paris – making him the first Australian ever to take the prestigious title. The 34 year old rider completed the rather hilly 42.5km Grenoble-Grenoble Individual Time Trial seven seconds down on the Stage 20 winner Tony Martin of HTC-Highroad (55min 34s) but an all-important 2min 30s faster than the overnight Yellow Jersey (and potential Tour champ) Andy Schleck. Reigning champion Alberto Contador of Saxo Bank took third place on the ITT, but it was too little, too late for the trouble Spanish rider who seems to have struggled at almost every stage of this year’s Tour.

 

Evans – who has taken second place in the event in both 2007 and 2008 – was wearing his 2009 World Champion shoes for this penultimate stage and commented after the finish: “I get an incredible amount of support and encouragement (from Australia) and to be able to fly the flag over this side of the world is incredible. Twenty years I’ve been cycling and there are some really great people who have believed in me all this time.”

 

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BMC: Two Men Down for Giro

Both former World Champion Alessandro Ballan and his team mate Mauro Santambrogio have been suspended by BMC over on-going investigations into doping allegations stretching back to Ballan’s days with former team Lampre (with whom he turned professional back in2004). Ballan was initially suspended last year before being cleared by an internal team investigation, but in an official statement BMC now say that further details have come to light which will see both riders excluded from the 94th Giro d’Italia which begins with Time Trials on May 7. Both riders refute allegations of wrongdoing and are said to be cooperating fully with the investigation.

 

The BMC statement says: “BMC Racing Team President/General Manager Jim Ochowicz said new information received, along with consideration of the team’s anti-doping policy and the UCI’s Code of Conduct, means the two will be held out of competition pending further details. Both riders have been cooperating fully with the investigation, and, as we did last year, we will respect their presumption of innocence and we expect them to continue their full support to the authorities. Ochowicz said the team will monitor the investigation and both riders will have to personally address any accusations on their own.”