Tag: HTC-Highroad

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Martin Wins the First Tour of Beijing.

The Inaugural UCI Tour of Beijing has found its first king in the shape of HTC-Highroad’s Tony Martin. The fifth and final stage of the brand new tour was a flat and fast 118km that naturally favored the sprinters and saw Team Katusha’s Russian star Denis Galimzyanov take the win, but Martin who has defended a lead for much of the race since winning the opening time trial was ultimately unbeatable in the overall rankings.

 

The Tour of Beijing has not been without incident and probably the most bizarre was the injury sustained by Yannick Eijssen of BMC who was forced to withdraw after what was described as a “freak accident” on Friday’s Stage Three. The accident, which happened on a descent in Yanqing county, north of the city centre, came about when a low flying television helicopter dislodged a signage board close to the course, which hit the 22-year-old rider, fracturing a small bone beneath his nose. A press motorcycle was also embroiled in the accident, but no other riders were involved.

 

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Cavendish Crowned

UCI Road World ChampionshipsIn a near perfect show of team work, HTC-Highroad yesterday (Sunday, September 26) delivered Mark Cavendish to the finish line in Denmark that would make him World Road Race Champion. In a spectacular demonstration that took no prisoners and looked to have a single purpose – to speed Cav to that line – from the outset, HTC dominated across a largely flat 266km course that perfectly suited the Manx rider. Taking the Gold Medal and World Champion title – the first Brit to do so since Tom Simpson in 1965 – topped out an incredible year for Cavendish who, despite a small number of set backs, managed 20 Tour de France stage wins and the coveted green jersey.

 

Given not only this success but the all-round performance this season of HTC-Highroad their imminent demise, due nominally to lack of headline sponsor, seems all the more mysterious. The next few weeks is likely to finally put to rest the rumours as to where Cavendish will spend his next season – a season in which he will not only be defending a Tour green jersey and World Championship, but also chasing Olympic Gold.

 

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Alex Rasmussen: Dope

Alex RasmussenFour-time track cycling world champion Alex Rasmussen has been unceremoniously dumped by his HTC-Highroad team for failing to attend a doping test. The 27-year-old Dane, who was a member of Team Saxo-SunGard in 2009 and 10, has had his licence suspended by the Danish Cycling Union and will now miss the upcoming road world championships in Copenhagen (September 19-25), where he was due to compete in the time trial.

 

HTC, currently riding high in the Tour of Britain having taken a one, two with riders Mark Renshaw and Mark Cavendish on Stage Five, dismissed Rasmussen as soon as the missed dope test became apparent. Team manager Rolf Aldag commented: “These are clear violations of the team’s code of conduct. We act on these violations immediately.” An official statement further confirmed: “Upon notification of a missed test, Alex Nikki Rasmussen’s contract with HTC-Highroad has been terminated with immediate effect for breach of the team’s code of conduct. The UCI, NOC and Sports Confederation of Denmark notified the team today that a missed test occurred and has been verified by a UCI review. The team was also notified that Rasmussen had two missed tests in 2010 prior to joining HTC-Highroad that had not been previously reported to the team.”

 

However the bad news doesn’t end there for Rasmussen. With the effective disbanding of HTC at the end of the current season due to lack of headline sponsor he was due to join Team Garmin-Cervelo for 2012, but with Garmin having built their reputation on a strong anti-doping stance they too have decided that Rasmussen is no longer for them.

 

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HTC Two Man Down

vuelta a espaniaHTC-Highroad’s Mark Cavendish withdrew yesterday (Tuesday, August 23) from the Vuelta a Espana on the race’s fourth stage, the 170.2km run from Baza to the Sierra Nevada. He had fallen behind the peloton on a category one climb in the early stages of the race and finally threw in the towel with approximately 40km still to go; it was clear from the previous day, when he had suffered in the heat, that his heart really didn’t appear to be in the race – possibly because the HTC outfit is being wound up after failing to secure a future sponsor and Cav’s future is rumoured to be with Team Sky. His departure from the Vuelta marks the second departure from the HTC team, following Australian Matt Goss who abandoned proceedings on day one (the Team Time Trial in Benidorm.)

 

The Vuelta’s fourth stage was won by Spain’s Daniel Moreno of Team Katusha, with Quick-Step’s Sylvain Chavanel currently holding the overall general classification first place with a time of 13h 19′ 09”.

 

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End of the Highroad

martin velitsPatrick Gretsch and twins Peter and Martin Velits have all officially announced their departure from troubled team HTC-Highroad amidst rumours that Mark Cavendish is set to follow. Team owner Bob Stapleton has yet to secure a headline sponsor for his operation and his deal with the HTC Corporation (the Taiwanese manufacturer of smartphones) is set to expire at the end of the season with no view to renewal.

 

Whilst Cavendish is remaining coy about his choice of move (or otherwise) the Slovakian Velits, both considered rising stars, will be moving to Quick Step and Gretsch – a double U23 time trial world champion who only rode his first grand tour at this year’s Giro – will be peddling for the Netherlands-based Skil-Shimano.

 

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Cavendish Moves Skywards?

Mark CavendishWith the opening of the transfer period, which under International Cycling Union (UCI) rules is August 1 to December 31, there has been growing speculation about the future of Mark Cavendish’s position with HTC-Highroad. Cav, of course, won the Green Jersey with the team (the first Brit to do so) at last month’s Tour de France but as his contract with them is due to expire at the end of 2011 there has been growing speculation that the Manx Missile will make the move to rivals Team Sky. Speaking to Jonathan Legard on BBC Radio 5 live, the 26 year old sprinter remained tight-lipped on the subject, refusing to be drawn on an answer as to where his future might rest, but confirming, “I’ve had many, many offers and you have to look at every aspect…you have to look at every option.” When Legard pushed him with, “Do you know but you can’t tell us?” Cavendish responded with a succinct, “Yes.”

 

Like many other riders, and regardless of which team he settles on, Cavendish will be under exceptional pressure this time next year with the Tour de France scheduled to finish barely days before the London Olympics are due to begin. In two week’s time (August 14) Cavendish will be taking part in the 140km London-Surrey Cycle Classic, a test run of the 2012 road race event.

 

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Tour de Force for “Cav”

Mark CavendishIt was the most gripping climax to a stage thus far in the Tour de France yesterday (Wednesday, July 6) when, with a steep final kilometre left to go, HTC-Highroad’s Mark Cavendish looked out of contention only to explode with a final flourish to take his 16th stage win since 2008. With close to a dozen crashes marring stage 5 – the 164.5km fast and furious Carhaix to Cap Fréhel route – “Cav” was still languishing in 10th place with less than 100m left to fly when he made his break to bag the win in 3h38’32”. The victory saw less than a bike’s length between him and second place Philippe Gilbert of Omega Pharma-Lotto.

 

Speaking after the stage Cavendish admitted the reserve he had found in the dying minutes had surprised even him, “Normally I try to win by a small margin to save my strength, but there I had to give it everything I had. It took a lot out of me.”

 

With this 16th stage win Cavendish is already marked as the second most successful sprinter in the Tours 100+ year history; only Frenchman André Darrigade currently beats him with a record 22 stages although that feat took him 11years to achieve compared with the three that it has so far taken the “Manx Missile”.

 

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Mark Cavendish Honoured

Mark CavendishMark Cavendish, self-styled “Boy Racer” (or “Cav” in familiar circles) has been awarded an MBE in this year’s Queen’s Birthday Honours List. Cavendish was the star of the European road sprinting scene in 2007, when he rode his first full season with German sponsor, T-Mobile; with 11 wins his was the most successful professional debut in European road racing history. He won 4 stages in the 2008 Tour de France (unprecedented at the time for a Brit) but surpassed himself in 2009 with 6 stage wins and added a further 5 to his bag at the 2010 Tour. Currently riding high this season for HTC-Highroad and with stage wins at Oman and Giro d’Italia plus overall victory at Scheldeprijs, he is still seen as a rising star with high-hopes for medal potential at the 2012 London Games.

 

The award of the MBE is another clear indication that the profile of professional cycling is still steadily on the rise and if Cavendish can continue this season as he has started it and strike it rich at this year’s Tour de France he could well be a shoe-in for the coveted BBC Sports Personality of the Year (he was nominated in both 2009 and 10).