Lampre announces new co-sponsor

Farnese Vini to support Italian ProTour team in 2010

Italian wine and olive oil producer Farnese Vini has decided to move up into the highest category of pro cycling and become the co-sponsor of Italian ProTour team Lampre next year.

Farnese Vini started its sponsorship of a cycling team in 2009, when it became the co-sponsor of Professional Continental team LPR Brakes, which had Danilo Di Luca and Alessandro Petacchi under contract. The team, however, folds at the end of this year, and Farnese Vini will step up its sponsorship with Lampre next season.

"Adding our brand to a ProTour team such as Lampre is the best means to promote the image of our company, which exports its products to 67 countries," said Farnese Vini owner Valentino Sciotti. "Cycling has a extensive marketing reach that only few other sports can provide."

The team will have Damiano Cunego and Alessandro Petacchi as leaders, with the latter joining Lampre from LPR Brakes along with Lorenzo Bernucci, Alessandro Spezialetti and Daniele Pietropolli. Neo pro Diego Ulissi, two-time Junior World champion, will also ride for the outfit next season.

Alessandro Ballan, Marzio Bruseghin and Mauro Santambrogio all leave to other squads, while rumour still links two-time Giro d'Italia winner Gilberto Simoni to Lampre-Farnese Vini in 2010

Live! Manchester Track Cycling World Cup | Latest News | Cycling Weekly

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Columbia-HTC’s Greipel to return Down Under

German sprinter leads squad with Rogers

Germany’s André Greipel will try to add a second Santos Tour Down Under title to his palmares in January, after his title defense earlier this year was hampered by an accident at the Australian race. Race director Mike Turtur announced Greipel’s return to the South Australian race as he revealed Columbia-HTC’s likely lineup.

“After Greipel’s mishap at the race this year we are pleased he will be back in South Australia,” said Turtur. “History shows that our race is a great start to Greipel’s season. In 2008 he took overall victory and this year started with a stage win in the 2009 Tour Down Under, and continued a winning form all season, with four stage wins at the Vuelta and a total of 20 victories.”

The opening months of Greipel’s season was ruined at Tour Down Under this year, with the rider forced to fly home after Stage 3 to have surgery on a broken collarbone. He was one of several riders to collide with a parked Police motorbike after being hammered by a gust of wind on the stage.

Greipel is expected to be joined by current Australian Time Trial Champion Michael Rogers in the American team’s lineup. Rogers competed in this year’s event and claimed the race’s overall victory in 2002.

Another Australian regular at the race, Mark Renshaw, will once again take part in the race, but this time he’ll have two new sprinters at his side. The team’s new signing Matthew Goss and Hayden Roulston, from Australia and New Zealand respectively, will contest the race as their first with Bob Stapleton’s team.

“Hayden will be an asset to the team, being an accomplished track rider having won the silver medal in the men’s 4000m individual pursuit and a bronze medal in the men’s 4000m team pursuit at the 2008 Beijing Olympics,” said Turtur, himself a former Olympic track gold medallist.

“Matthew came first in the Paris-Brussels one day race last month, an event that Robbie McEwen has taken victory in this event five times,” said Turtur.

Team Columbia-HTC’s line-up for 2010 Tour Down Under: André Greipel (Ger), Michael Rogers (Aus), Bernhard Eisel (Aut), Mark Renshaw (Aus), Matthew Goss (Aus), Marcel Sieberg (Ger) and Hayden Roulston (NZl).

Dominguez renews with Xacobeo Galicia

Gustavo Dominguez signs one-year contract

Gustavo Dominguez has renewed his contract with the Spanish Pro Continental Xacobeo Galicia team one year for the 2010 season. The 29-year-old Spaniard, who turned professional in 2002 with Carvalhelhos - Boavista, has been with Xacobeo Galicia since 2007. Dominguez has also raced for Orbea and Relax - Bodysol during his eight-year professional career.

Dominguez had a rough start to the 2009 season when he broke his collarbone in the final stage of the Vuelta a Castilla y León in March.

After a lengthy recovery he bounced back to take part in the Vuelta a España where the Xacobeo Galicia team won the overall team classification. Despite crashing heavily near the finish of the fourth stage in Liège, Belgium, the Spaniard persevered to finish 77th overall.

Dominguez has finished the Vuelta a España each of his three years with Xacobeo Galicia. Other career highlights include second in a stage and fourth overall at the 2005 GP do Oeste, second in the 2005 GP Villafranca de Ordizia, seventh in the 2006 Vuelta a Extremadura and 11th overall at the 2005 Tour de l'Avenir.

Irish cycling WEEKEND ROUNDUP:

Tomorrow evening in the Esplanade Hotel on the Strand Road in Bray, Co. Wicklow, the local cycling club, Bray Wheelers will be having a right knees up to celebrate their 60th anniversary and amongst those in attendance will be several names from the past.

And, they have every reason in the world to celebrate their contribution in the seaside town tomorrow evening.
The annals of the club are well documented not alone in the 'Garden County' but throughout the world wherever cycling is spoken of.

In the last number of years, a state of the art club premises was opened on the outskirts of the town which is the envy of the cycling fraternity, considering it is the only cycling club in the country that have premises of their own and have had for the last forty years. Believe it or not they also have through the good offices of the local publican Ken Duff and a member of the 'Wheelers' a treasure trove of cycling memorabilia on his premises on the Main Street of the town. And there in lies the success for the Bray Wheelers, from the seeds grown over 60 years ago by a returned native to the town.

But spare a thought for a moment.

Prior to 1949 when this club as founded, if you were peel away the earlier years shortly after the Civil War (1921-22) you will find notices in the old Freemans Journal of the day that a club existed in the town, but it lasted a short space of time, three to four years at the max.

This brings me on to the Joe Loughman and Rory Plunkett era, two Bray men who took the initiative back in those bleak days of the late 1940's to set up a cycling for all.

Recently I took a trip down to 'Someday House' in Co. Wexford to chat with Pat Ryan and his wife Nancy about the formation of the club. "Joe and Rory were visionaries in those days (but, it was a sense of adventure) about the beauty of Co. Wicklow that encapsulated their vision of the future for the club.

"Those days for the club was all about touring and every Sunday morning we hit the trail to visit the beauty spots of the county. Girls and boys were always welcome, but the big thing and most important to Joe was the primus stove and the kettle. The cup of rosy lee was sacrosanct. "We travelled the length and breadth of the county on our Raleighs, Hercules amongst other brandnames of the day and a good time was had by all.

"Interestingly their was never talk of where you came from in the town or the outskirts, what your political affiliations were, religious beliefs. Boys and girls were welcome. The only interest of the day was to get out into the fresh air and of course Joe was a wonderful man for taking snaps during the spins.

I queried Pat about the trusty steeds of the time. "Bikes were bought on hire purchase either from Murdoch's in the Main Street or Tom Byrnes in Castle Street. Ah, those were the days.

"But all the time of the touring which was the highlight of our week and particularly the brewing of tea which leads me to another incident. One of the group dropped the tea pot in the Glenmalure River and there was no thoughts of it being left in the river. So somebody had to get wet. I'll save the blushes for that person. Whilst the touring was the thing, other avenues were opening up in the form of racing on the open roads. That inevitably brought a new dimension into the club and the notion of competition was something we all wanted to have a go at.

"After all cycling is about racing and the two could marry up with touring in the off season and racing in the bright days of spring/summer/autumn. Quiet a number of marriages came out of those days, it was like boy meets girl. Things are so different now because time stands still for no one.

"The awareness of Joe Loughman an engineer by trade and by god was he able to facilitate and engineer things to the benefit of the club. By a strange roundabout way in 1955, he invited members of the 'Wheelers' to meet a young man who was on the crest of the wave of stardom before he took off to France. It was none other than Shay Elliott who came to talk to members of the 'wheelers' who wanted to embark on cycling at a competitive level. Joe could spot potential.

Joe invited the 'wheelers' and my memory of that evening in a garage attached to a house in Shankill was Paddy O'Rourke another hero of the club. The people of the house the Noonan's, put biscuits up front for the cyclists along with tea, but the bould Paddy came out of the traps and virtually demolished the lot. Included at that meeting get together was the beginning of the long road that has taken the club right up today's celebrations. Present was Paddy Martin our latre revered president, Jackers Kelly, the famous Gerry Kelly, Joe Murphy, the Coates brothers Ronnie and Teddy, Ah, those were the days.

"With the arrival of Peter Crinnion on the scene, road racing was the buzz word in the club and like Joe and Rory who had built the club on a solid rock, the direction changed somewhat. "From Peter's arrival on the scene, the lads were beginning to spread their wings and by the end of the 1960's the club had arrived on the international scene with the likes of Peter Doyle, Philip O'Brien, Liam McKenna, Tommy Fitzpatrick, Paddy Healy, Harry Dawson, Noel O'Neill Paul Elliott, the list just goes on and on. But in the intervening years Bray Wheelers added to the representative honours. "From then it became a roller coaster, recognition on the worlds stage at world and Olympic level.

"The need to stay at the helm meant that sponsorship became the buzz word with the likes of Wimpy, Lucozade (19 years sponsor of the Shay Elliott), Coca Cola Guinness, Coors, Ken Duff who now has the record of 27 years continuous sponsorship,of the Christy McManus. I'm sure I left somebody out, but they'll pardon me. Then of course with the Nissan Classic the skills of the Bray lads was further test with their expertise in stage management.

"Let us face it, the 60's, 70's and the 80's were the big years of the club, but now we have a new generation and they are the bearers of the torch that has kept the Bray name alive and kicking," said Pat a former chairman and president of the club and also a life member for his contribution which was given to him at the 40th celebrations.

Yes, it should be some night in Bray tomorrow when the new generation of the club will sample times past of the Bray Wheelers. I know tomorrow will be a special day and may everybody associated with the evening have a wonderful time and may the next 60 be as eventful.

I will also mention that Setanta Sports will be releasing their excellent documentary ‘Shay Elliott - Cycle of Betrayal’ on DVD next month, The DVD highlights the life of Shay Elliott's professional career during the 60's and 70's up to his untimely death in 1972. The production of DVD is being supported by An Post and will be released on the 16th November next.

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CYCLING IRELAND NEWS

David O'Loughlin returns to the Velodrome in Manchester for the first event in this seasons' World Cup Track Competition which begins in Manchester today.

A serious injury sustained in July in Belgium has sidelined the Cong native from participating in his preferred event the Individual Pursuit where he represented Ireland at the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008. But, David will take his place in the team pursuit and the points race, giving the Irish squad a timely boost.

Team pursuit squad: David O'Loughlin, Stephen Barrett, David McCann, Aaron Buggle and Matt Brammeier;

Individual Pursuit, David McCann; Points race, David O'Loughlin;

Scratch race, Matt Brammeier or David McCann;

Mary Costelloe and Heather Wilson will participate in both the Points and Scratch events.


NOTICE TO ALL JUNIORS & UNDER 23 RIDERS FOR 2010

In its first year the Development Program exposed many Junior and Under 23 riders to top level domestic racing in a team environment. Some collected stage wins in various stage races nationwide but more importantly all went away with vital experience gained which they would not have been exposed to if competing individually or even not at all.

The National Development program will continue for 2010. A training camp for any Junior and Under 23 riders will take place in Charleville, Co. Cork on the 5th & 6th December 2009. A great deal has been agreed with the 4 star Charleville Park Hotel of €50 for 2 nights B&B plus 2 evening meals.

This weekend will be aimed towards selecting the panels for both squads for the 2010 season.

Anybody interested can complete the attached application form and return to Dan Curtin along with €50 for the training weekend before Sunday 15th November 2009.

Further queries contact Dan @ 087-2304365

You can Download the Application form from the Calendar on this website (Date 5th Dec 09)


Cycling Ireland is facing an uphill battle to ensure that its riders win medals at the London 2012 Olympics due to a lack of training facilities, limited financial resources and the carding scheme which funds its high performance athletes. Dr. Phil will want to prescribe the medicine or work the loves and the fishes.

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IVCA AGM NEXT WEEKEND

It is that time of year with AGM's and Lunch, Dinner and Presentations in full flow.

The IVCA AGM will be held on Sunday November 1st 2009 in the West County Hotel, Chapelizod at 2.30pm.

The IVCA Annual Lunch and Prize presentation will be on Sunday 29th November at 1.30pm in the Springfield Hotel, Leixlip. Contact Liz McKenna at 086-8899179 or liz.mckenna11@gmail.com

Return Trophies: Any trophies from 2008 should be returned to Donal O'Connell, 69 Greentrees Road, Manor Estate, Dublin 12 as soon as possible. Donal can be contacted at 01-4503107.


Cycle Runs in Enfield

Great to see a former great of the Tailteann Racing Club coming to the fore to help in the promotion of cycling in Co. Meath. 'Go on you good thing.' Interested in a leisurely cycle. Then the place to meet after making your deposit in the Credit Union is Enfield. Time for the grand depart is 10am for a Two and a half to three hours at a steady 12 to 15 mph.

If interested ring Peter Schweppe 0861768945 to arrange. or swepsie@eircom.net

Hoy, Pendleton, Thomas lead British medal challenge

Last year, Great Britain swept all before them at the Manchester World Cup, winning all but three of the gold medals on offer, as the velodrome bathed in the glow of post-Olympic glory.

Many of the opposition nations did not send full-strength teams, which allowed the British riders to dominate.

It won't be quite as one-sided this weekend, but Great Britain's riders still want to get their World Championship qualification campaign off to a flying start.

The sprinters, in particular, want to wrap up as many points as possible to avoid having to send teams to the final two World Cup rounds in Colombia and China.

London 2012 is on the horizon, and the countdown begins here. Between now and the Olympic Games, there will be three World Championships and 11 scheduled rounds of the World Cup.

So, what can we expect in Manchester this weekend?

ENDURANCE EVENTS
Geraint Thomas will ride the individual pursuit, even though the event looks set to be scrapped from the Olympic Games when the programme of events is ratified in December.

The Welsh rider, an established member of the team pursuit squad, won the national title last week in a time of 4-18. That would have been good enough to win all of last season's World Cup rounds, and would have netted him a medal at the Beijing Olympics and Pruszkow World Championships.

Thomas is keen to ride the individual pursuit to give his track work added edge as his focus switches to the road with Team Sky over the next two seasons. "I'd like to ride the individual at the World Championships in future, though maybe not this season," he said.

The team pursuit squad will see a new face join the quartet. Ben Swift, who rides for Katusha on the road, will make his first world-class start for the team alongside Steven Burke, Ed Clancy and Thomas. Andrew Tennant is also in the squad.

Why no British Madison pair?
However, there will not be a British presence in the men's Madison, partly because the programme in Manchester has been altered to suit television's needs. In recent years the team pursuit has been held on the Saturday with the Madison on Sunday.

Cycling Weekly understands that the BBC, which only has live coverage scheduled for BBC2 on Sunday afternoon, wanted to show the men's and women's team pursuit events.

Riding the Madison before the team pursuit is thought to pose too much of a risk, in terms of the increased chance of a crash and the sheer physical effect of the race. So Thomas and Swift, who would have been the Great Britain pair will not ride the Madison. The Madison is set to be chopped from the Olympic Games programme – along with the points race and individual pursuits.

Armitstead goes for another triple
Last year, Lizzie Armitstead won the points race, scratch race and was part of the victorious team pursuit team in Manchester. She will attempt to repeat the performance, which will likely feature stronger competition this time. Wendy Houvenaghel will ride the individual pursuit. They will be joined by Jo Rowsell for the team pursuit, which has added edge as it is likely to be included in the Olympic programme. As CW reported first, Olympic pursuit champion Rebecca Romero is not part of the squad, and that may well spell the end of her track career, with a switch to the road time trial a possibility.

Newton goes for bunch race double
Chris Newton, who won the bronze medal in the points race at the Beijing Olympics, told CW recently that he would consider riding the omnium at London 2012 if the points race is chopped from the programme.

The points and scratch races are both omnium disciplines, and Newton was crowned national champion in each last week. He will be Britain's rider in both events in Manchester.

SPRINT EVENTS
Sky+HD's Sir Chris Hoy and Victoria Pendleton are the stand-out stars on show in Manchester this weekend. Both riders sealed three national titles on the same track last week.

Hoy is back in action at the very highest level for the first time since his crash in the Keirin at the Copenhagen World Cup in the spring. That ruled him out of the World Championships.

The Scotsman has a packed programme of Keirin, sprint, team sprint and Japanese Keirin.

Pendleton will ride the sprint and Keirin and is likely to also ride the 500m time trial. However, she is not riding the team sprint. Instead, Jess Varnish and Becky James will line up for Great Britain.

Anna Blyth is the notable absentee. She was ill in late summer, and had to pull out of the European Omnium Championships. She's been riding with the endurance group and British Cycling coaches see her as a possible rider for the omnium.

Youngsters James and Varnish get the full World Cup experience, with places in the sprint, Keirin and 500m.

Hoy and Ross Edgar will ride the sprint and Keirin for Team Sky+HD and will be joined by Jamie Staff in the Keirin. Jason Kenny, who rode in Sky+HD colours last winter returns to the Great Britain skinsuit for the Keirin, sprint and team sprint, alongside Matt Crampton and David Daniell. Daniell also rides the kilometre.

Former men's junior sprint world champion Peter Mitchell is the other young sprinter named in Sky+HD's team, but he is a reserve for the team sprint and unless there is a mishap is unlikely to ride.

Contador says his future will be decided soon

Getting out of Astana contract "not simple"

Two-time Tour de France winner Alberto Contador will settle on his squad for the upcoming season in the next week or two, he said today. He has one more year on his contract with Astana, and the team stated today that Contador would not change.

However, the Spanish four-time Grand Tour winner was less definite about his future plans, acknowledging that he was exploring options to move to Caisse d'Epargne, Garmin or to stay with Astana.

"Astana is also an option," he said according to EFE. He pointed out the new direction of the team, where former general manager Johan Bruyneel and much of the staff and riders have been replaced after the mass exodus to Lance Armstrong's RadioShack team.

Contador clashed with Armstrong and Bruyneel over his tactics en route to winning this year's Tour. He refused to respond to Bruyneel's latest statements where he insinuated Contador had become conceited.

There has been much speculation in the press that Contador would leave the team after it failed to meet the UCI's deadline of October 20 to get its racing license application for 2010 in order. By the governing body's rules, Contador should be free to look for another team, but he said it's not so easy.

"I assure you it is not so simple," Contador said. "My future career is being decided right now and I think between this week and next we will clear up many of the doubts that confront us now and many of the unknowns will be clarified."

Contador's concern is if his future team will be able to fully support his goal of defending the Tour de France title. He wants to have his future decided as soon as possible so he can relax.

"That is why my advisers are looking at options, but from one meeting it is not that simple. The process could go on for more than a month, but I cannot face this through December."

Revolution Championship teams announced

Organisers have revealed an impressive line-up for the inaugural Revolution Championship, which begins on 14 November at Manchester Velodrome.

The cream of British cycling are getting involved in the track racing series, including Olympic hero Sir Chris Hoy and 2009 Tour de France star Bradley Wiggins.

Eight teams will compete in the event – the Flyers, Forza, Rollers, Slicks, Dynamo, Pacers, Tempo and Vitesse. Each will consist of a number of core riders, who will be supplemented by special guests at certain rounds.

The squads will battle it out for a share of a prize pot (the value has yet to be confirmed) at the end of the series, while the big names will receive appearance fees.

The respective team captains have been confirmed as Dean Downing, Roberto Chiappa, Chris Newton, Craig MacLean, Luke Roberts, Jamie Staff, Ed Clancy and Rob Hayles.

Organiser James Pope told BikeRadar: "We're trying to do something new and groundbreaking in track cycling. We're getting a real buzz from the riders already so we think it's going to be the most exciting series yet. The format will transform... the entertainment side of track cycling, in the UK and globally."

Here's the provisional line-up:

Flyers: Dean Downing; Mark Christian; Jon Mould; Ian Stannard; Alex Aeschbach; Jelger Bisschop; Chris Hoy

Forza (sponsored by Dair): Roberto Chiappa; Guy East; Tom Murray; Pete Williams; Ben Swift; Franco Marvulli

Rollers (sponsored by Condor): Chris Newton; Andy Fenn; Tim Kennaugh; Geraint Thomas; Peter Schep; Matt Crampton; Itmar Esteban

Slicks (powered by USwitch): Craig MacLean; Luke Rowe: Mark McNally; Sam Harrison; Leif Lampater; Bradley Wiggins

Dynamo: Luke Roberts; Andy Magnier; Austin Carroll; Steve Cummings; Toni Tauler; Pete Mitchell; Ross Edgar

Pacers: Jamie Staff; Steven Burke; Alex Dowsett; George Atkins; Pete Kennaugh; David Millar

Tempo: Ed Clancy; Andy Tennant; Chris Whorral; Adam Blythe; Matt Goss; Dave Daniell; Chris Pritchard

Vitesse: Rob Hayles; Eric Rowsell; Dan McLay; Russell Downing; Stuart O'Grady; Jason Kenny

Mr Pope said: "We're planning to add more riders during the season. In particular, we'll add eight women sprinters – hopefully Victoria Pendleton will be one of them." DHL Future Stars names will be announced in the next few weeks.

The championship gets underway on 14 November, with the remaining events scheduled for 5 December, 16 January and 27 February. For more information, visit www.cyclingrevolution.com.

How to deal with road rash

If you’ve come off your bike at speed, you’ve probably experienced road rash, that burn/skin abrasion that results from contact with the ground.

In most cases it’s not too painful straight after the fall, but get home and the suffering really starts. It’s painful because of the number of nerve ends that become exposed.

Clothing offers a degree of protection, but thin Lycra is little help. You can protect your hands, however, by always wearing gloves.

Treatment

The first step for treating road rash is to be properly prepared for it:

Shave: Cleaning debris out of wounds is an awful lot easier without hairs in the way. It’s one of the main reasons for cyclists shaving their legs.

Treatment kit: Keep a stock of the basic kit at home (see the list below). All of the items can be bought at a decent chemists or online suppliers.

If you get a dose of road rash, assess the severity of the wound and if it’s larger than your palm, consider a trip to an A&E or Minor Injuries Unit.

Dr Prentice Steffen is the physician for Team Garmin-Slipstream and he warns that road rash, although painful, should be low on a rider’s list of priorities.

“Don’t let road rash divert attention away from potentially more serious injuries such as head, spine or internal damage,” he says. “Skin comes last in the evaluation of an injured cyclist.”

If you’re treating yourself, the first step is the most important – clean the wound as thoroughly as possible. Do this by both ‘jetting’ the syringe/saline solution over the wound and using sterile wipes.

Once you’ve got rid of the visible muck, clean the wound generally using a mild antibacterial soap, a washcloth and lots of water. Then pat the wound dry.

Dr Steffen agrees: “In the vast majority of cases, it’s a myth that road rash needs to be scrubbed. Betadine and peroxide are too harsh; soap and water is sufficient. Gels and sprays do little.

"There are rare cases where debris becomes embedded in the wound and thus needs more attention; this should be done in an emergency department with pain medication, the proper equipment and experience.”

Dressing the wound

If using a healing hydrocolloid dressing, apply it and leave in place until healing has occurred. It’ll drop off in a week or so to reveal new pink skin. You do not need to remove the dressing or reclean the wound.

If you’re using more traditional dressings, apply a thin coating of antibiotic ointment once the wound is clean, followed by a non-adhesive gauze pad and then hold that in place with a combination of micropore tape and Surgifix tubular bandage. Then monitor the healing process, cleaning and re-dressing the wound daily.

Dr Steffen sums up: “There are three phases to road rash care. The first is to be bandaged 24/7. Phase two is covered during the day and open-to-the-air at night. Third is unbandaged 24/7, dried up and scabbed over.”

Keep an eye out for spreading redness, swelling, an increase in pain, pus or foul smelling drainage. All of these are signs of infection and if they’re present, you should consult a doctor immediately.

Once the scab has come off, new pink epidermis will be revealed. This skin has not yet fully healed and over-exposure to sunlight can cause permanent pigment change. Protect it with sun block or clothing and apply a moisturiser. Also bear in mind that you and your road rash are individual, and what works for you might not work for a mate.

Treatment kit

• Phials of saline solution
• Syringe
• Sterile wipes
• Anti-bacterial soap
• Antibiotic ointment (Neosporin)
• Dressings (Hydrocolloid dressings such as Duoderm make the healing process much easier. A cheaper alternative are non-adhesive gauze pads, but you’ll have to clean and redress the wound daily)

Rasmussen expecting Grand Tour return in 2010

Dane on verge of revealing new European professional contract
Michael Rasmussen expects to announce his new professional squad by week’s end, signaling his return to the professional peloton in Europe. The Danish rider hasn’t yet signed an agreement with his new squad but has told Danish media he expects everything to be in order by Saturday’s International Cycling Union (UCI) deadline.
"I feel as confident as you can be that I will be riding a Grand Tour,” he told Berlingske Tidende. “I am more than satisfied with the outlook for next year. The Giro [d’Italia] looks mighty interesting and the Vuelta [a Espana] also tends to be good for me.
“In February I expect to be riding the Ruta del Sol for my next employer,” he added. “I won’t say what team it will be until it is permanently in place, but I expect that to happen by the UCI’s deadline of October 31.”
Rasmussen has been racing in South America with Tecos-Trek since returning from his two year ban. The rider had attempted to start the Vuelta a España in August, however race organiser Unipublic moved to prevent the former Tour de France leader from starting its race. Unipublic issued Rasmussen a letter citing an International Cycling Union (UCI) rule that riders must be registered with a qualified team at least 20 days before a race starts.
While Rasmussen is confident of returning to the professional peloton next year he has admitted he’ll be earning significantly less than prior to the 2007 Tour de France, where he started as a general classification contender for Rabobank. "Although the wages are way below what I earned before my suspension, it will not be like starting from scratch again,” he said.
Rasmussen was dumped by his Dutch squad while leading the 2007 Tour de France, almost certain of victory, and flown out of the country. The controversial dumping came as new information was revealed, indicating that Rasmussen had lied on his whereabouts form - used by the international federation to track riders’ movements for anti-doping purposes.
The Monegasque Cycling Federation subsequently, which held Rasmussen’s license, suspended him for two years, which expired at the end of July.
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Licence delays due only to technical problems, team says
Alberto Contador will ride for Team Astana in the 2010 season, according to a spokesman from the Kazakh Cycling Federation. The Tour de France winner, who has a contract with the team for the coming year, was rumoured to be leaving the team due to questions about it financial stability, with Garmin, Quick Step and Caisse d'Epargne all believed to be interested in the Spaniard's signature.
“We have absolutely no problems with Alberto Contador, and he will compete with Astana next season,” Kazakh Cycling Federation deputy president Nikolai Proskurin told the AP news agency.
Last week it was announced that the team had not fulfilled its filing obligations for renewal of its ProTour licence for 2010. The UCI confirmed that under its regulations, this would allow Contador to break his contract and leave the team.
“Certain people, it is unclear who, have completely dreamed this up, but there has been no occasion on which he has made an official statement on this issue,” Proskurin said.
Proskurin added that the delays in the licence renewal were due only to technical problems, and that all documentation has now been submitted. “The issue is simply that we need to provide additional documents because we have changed our sponsors,” he said.
The team's new exclusive sponsor through 2012 is Samruk-Kazyna, a state holding company which includes oil and gas company Kasmunaigas and the national airline, Air Astana.
Contador, 26, won this year's Tour de France with his Astana teammate Lance Armstrong finishing third. Armstrong and sport director Johan Bruyneel have already left Astana to form a new team, Team RadioShack.

Cruz signs with Rock Racing for 2010

Former national crit champion wants another title in his final season

Entering his 12th and final year as a professional, Tony Cruz has signed with Rock Racing for the 2010 season. Cruz has spent the 2008 and 2009 seasons riding for US Professional Continental team BMC Racing but the 37-year-old Long Beach, California native opted to leave the squad as it shifts to a European focus for 2010.

"With BMC, they're stepping it up and I think all of the riders are moving to Europe next year," Cruz told Cyclingnews. "I did six or seven years of that [with US Postal and Discovery Channel] and I'm coming back more to US racing."

"It was too much of a commitment for me for one year and with my wife and three kids it was going to be difficult to manage. I'll be 38 on Halloween this year and I'm not getting any younger. I've got a lot on my plate - I'm working for the city of Long Beach as their bicycle ambassador and that's got me pretty busy.

"I guess I needed to figure out a way to transition from pro cycling to a post-cycling career. There's a lot of things to look forward to and I think now's a good time to make that transition. I only planned on doing one more year of racing and I needed to be closer to home more."

Rock Racing will provide Cruz an opportunity to race internationally in his final year as a pro while still enabling him to reside and train at home. "I'll definitely be racing out of the country, but I won't have to base myself out of Europe," said Cruz. "I can still live here in Long Beach and fly in and out."

Cruz, a veteran of both the Vuelta a España and Giro d'Italia while racing for US Postal and Discovery Channel, including Paolo Savoldelli's 2005 Giro victory, wanted to compete at least once in the Tour de France before he retired, but he didn't think that opportunity would occur in 2010 with BMC Racing.

"I don't think that's going to happen next year and that's another thing that I had to consider," said Cruz. "I think they can do the Giro or Vuelta, but I'm not 100 percent sure that they'll be ready to do the Tour. From a staffing standpoint they're not a ProTour team yet so there's no guarantee. I don't know if it's ever going to happen so I had to pull the plug on that one."

Rock Racing had a rather turbulent 2009 season, with several riders being cut from the roster due to financial distress, but Cruz has confidence in team owner Michael Ball regarding next year's squad. "I guess the advantage I have over a lot of the guys who've worked for Rock Racing in one capacity or another is that I've known Michael Ball since I was either 15 or 16 years of age," said Cruz. "We've always had a really good relationship and I'm pretty amazed at what he's been able to accomplish. I think he has a lot of respect for me as a rider and I think it will all work out just fine."

Cruz has been a rider of interest to Ball for some time and he's pleased to have the veteran pro join Rock Racing. "We are thrilled to have Tony on this team," said Ball. "We've been wanting to work with Tony for a long time. He's one of the stalwarts of the peloton - he's a hard worker, a great all-round rider and a true teammate in every sense of the word. He's going to be a great addition."

Cruz, the 1999 US professional criterium champion and seven-time top-five finisher in the event, has high hopes for his final season as a professional. "I do want to go out on top, especially in the US. I want to win the NRC, I want to have the national title on the road and criterium. I'm not just riding the gravy train next year, I want to go out with a bang."

CYCLING IRELAND AGM

Irish Cycling Federation 2009 AGM

Venue: Cavan Crystal Hotel, Cavan, Co Cavan on 14th November at 11:00am
Registered Office: Kelly Roche House, 619 North Circular Road, Dublin 1.
Directors: M. Concannon, J. Watson, R. Wyley, E. Keogh, A. Moran, O. Hendron.


Agenda

1. President’s address.

2. To adopt the attached standing orders for the orderly conduct of the AGM.


Ordinary Business

3. To consider the minutes of the AGM of 22nd November 2008.

4. To receive and present the Directors’ report annexed to the 2008 annual accounts of the company. Mr. Rory Wyley, Treasurer, will present this.

5. To receive and consider the audited financial statements of the company for the year ended 31st December 2008. Mr. Rory Wyley, Treasurer, will present these.

6. To consider the Income and Expenditure Account for the nine months to 30th September 2009 and the 2010 budget principles. Mr. Rory Wyley, Treasurer, will present these.

7. To fix membership fees for 2010. Mr. Rory Wyley, Treasurer, will present this.

8. To appoint Auditors for 2010.

9. To consider the following reports:

- Youth Commission Report;
- MTB Commission Report;
- Track Commission Report;
- Coaching Commission Report;
- Women’s Commission Report;
- Disability Commission Report;
- Road Commission Report;
- Anti-Doping Report;
- College of Commissaires Report;
- Cycling Ireland Board Report.

10. Announcement of New Honorary Cycling Ireland Life Members

11. To elect a President. Mr. R. Wyley has been nominated by Dan Morrissey Carrick Wheelers, Dungarvan CC, Ards CC, Killorglin Credit Union Cycling Club and Cycling Ulster Executive

12. To elect and Honorary Treasurer. Mr. N. Brosnan has been nominated by Dan Morrissey Carrick Wheelers and Killorglin Credit Union Cycling Club

13. To elect two Board members:

Mr. Anto Moran nominated by Ravens CRT.
Ms. Orla Hendron nominated by Dundrum Town Centre Orwell Wheelers;
Mr. Carl Fulerton nominated by Cycling Ulster Executive and Emyvale CC
Mr. James McArdle nominated by Swords CC.


General Business

14. Mr. Geoff Liffey, Chief Executive Officer, to present a business update.


Motions

1. That in compiling the annual Cycling Ireland Calendar, clubs who are willing to apply for race dates and who do not intend running underage races should not be discriminated against in the allocation of race dates. By Balbriggan CC

2. That Clubs who do not apply to promote an open race on the annual CI calendar, should offer to provide Marshalls/Stewards (Min 2) to adjacent clubs who may be running an event, offer failure should result in the doubling of affiliation fees and these fees would be allocated to promoting clubs in the area. By Balbriggan CC

3. That all Regional Commissaire appointments be submitted to Cycling Ireland Admin for publication. By Balbriggan CC

4. That One Day Licences as they are presently administered should be abolished. By Balbriggan CC

5. That One Day Licences should be replaced by One Day Licence Vouchers in a similar design to be administered by Cycling Ireland Admin. A cyclist could apply to Cycling Ireland Admin for a book (Min 5) of vouchers for €50. When a cyclist wishes to enter a race, they would then submit a completed voucher to the relevant Commissaire who will then submit it with their Comms Report. Unused vouchers can be returned to CI for refund or re- allocation the following season. By Balbriggan CC

6. That the Draft Version 0.1 (Jan 11th 2009) on the Proposed division of tasks for Commissions and Provinces be implemented. By Cycling Ulster Executive (Document referred will be provided along with reports on the day and on the CI Website in the coming weeks)

7. That the Road Commission grades all applications for National Championships, prior to submission to the Board for approval, on points based on those applications which demonstrate that interested clubs have taken into account the criteria for such events. We would also propose that the Provincial Calendar coordinators and the CEO of Cycling Ireland be in attendance at the grading so that it is open and transparent. By Cycling Ulster Executive

8. That All National Commissions hold their Annual General Meeting at a weekend in a location central to the whole of Ireland, avoiding clashes, so they are more easily attended by interested parties with official notification and agendas of such meetings available to the members and Provincial Secretaries a minimum of two weeks in advance. By Cycling Ulster Executive

9. That the minutes of all such AGMs are distributed to the Provincial Secretaries and are available for Download on the Cycling Ireland Website within one month of the AGM. By Cycling Ulster Executive

10. The maximum permitted distances for Youth racing in an uncontrolled Road Race should be increased as follows:

- Age 16/15 60Km to 80Km
- Age 14/13 25Km to 30Km
- Age 12/11 10Km to 15Km
(Note no changes recommended to gearing restrictions)
By Youth Commission Cycling Ireland


Other

15. Close of meeting.

CYCLING IRELAND PLAN'S FOR LONDON 2012

Cycling Ireland is facing an uphill battle to ensure that its riders win medals at the London 2012 Olympics due to a lack of training facilities, limited financial resources and the carding scheme which funds its high performance athletes.

The challenges which the organisation is now working to overcome were outlined at today’s launch of its ‘High Performance Strategy 2009 – 2012’ which has been framed to harness the grassroots infrastructure supporting the sport and to develop medal winners.

“The problem is not finding the talent but the cost of nurturing and developing that talent. We do that on a shoestring compared to other countries,” said Dr. Phil Leigh, Cycling Ireland’s High Performance Director.

“Our annual budget is €500,000. Compare that to British Cycling who had a staff of 250 and a budget of over €22 million for its target of 6 medals at the Beijing Games,” he added

“We are responding to that reality together with Irish Sports Council who have been tremendously supportive of our efforts to develop cycling and to prepare for the Olympic Games even though its own annual budget has been reduced to €53 million,” he said.

“We know that we can produce winners and our High Performance Strategy is about being creative in using all of our resources to meet the high costs of having to travel abroad to train and compete at elite level,” Dr Leigh continued.

Cycling Ireland’s High Performance Strategy for the London 2012 Olympics is focused on performance rather than participation and it aims to identify and prepare a group of riders across the road, track, MTB, BMX and Paralympic disciplines to improve upon the performances at the Beijing Olympics.

It sets our procedures for identifying riders for the squad through Talent Identification and Talent Transfer programmes. These riders will be “fast-tracked” into High Performance support through structured Pathway Programmes of coaching and competition

Metrics and targets will be set for each discipline and will be reviewed annually. The strategy takes account of the necessity to travel to other countries to train in elite facilities and to compete at the highest level and the drain that this places on Cycling Ireland’s annual budget.

The strategy expresses a desire to move away from the existing carding scheme of funding individual athletes to a model of providing funding for a squad of riders across each competition programme. The proposal is intended to create a budget to ensure that all riders committing to training programmes as part of the high performance squad are rewarded.

“We are not criticising the carding scheme but we would question why Pro-Tour riders who are effectively beyond development seeing that they are on Pro-Tour teams are carded while emerging riders have no direct source of financial support. We want to develop a succession of talent. Riders should be aware that when they get to the top level that they will drop off the programme and that their funding will also drop off at that point,” Dr. Leigh said.

“This strategy is about identifying, nurturing and developing talent from grass roots level through to high performance and Olympic level. It is structured so that young, aspiring cyclists can see a pathway for development and see what is achievable. It includes building and leading a strong support team behind the athletes. This process is almost in place and we also receive excellent athlete back-up from support services within the IIS, PCI and SNI,” he added.

“There is no question that the talent exists in Ireland. Our track pursuit team were 4th in the Copenhagen World Cup in February while Sam Bennett was the 2008 European Junior Points Track Champion. We won medals at the Paralympic Track World Cup in Manchester this May pushing Great Britain very close and were within 5 seconds of a medal in the women’s time trial at the 2009 Para Cycling World Championships in Italy. We are competing with the best but there are enormous costs associated with travelling to qualifying World Cup track events in Manchester, Columbia, Beijing and Melbourne,” he explained.

Track racing will continue to be the priority for the High Performance squad and athletes from all disciplines will be provided with year long competition and coaching programmes which combine road, track and MTB racing activity.

“This is about laying the foundations for success. Anything is possible but it goes without saying that the delivery of this strategy through to London 2012 is dependant on continued funding and support from the Irish Sports Council, Sport Northern Ireland, the Paralympic Council of Ireland and the Irish Olympic Council,” Dr Leigh said.

“Our ability to achieve success internationally runs in close parallel with our ability to maintain our financial resources at a time when sport in Ireland is living under the constant threat of being a soft target for cuts in Government spending,” he concluded.

Pendleton, Newton unstoppable in sprint, scratch races October 21, Day 2: Men: Scratch Race; Women: Sprint, Individual Pursuit :

Results

Women's Sprint Qualifying - 200m Time Trial

#	Rider Name (Country) Team	Result
1	Victoria Pendleton (Team Sky+ HD)	0:00:10.984
2	Rebecca James (Abergavenny Road Club)	0:00:11.608
3	Jess Varnish (Halesowen A & CC)	0:00:11.612
4	Helen Scott (Halesowen A & CC)	0:00:12.000
5	Alison Chisholm (Edinburgh RC)	0:00:12.388
6	Charline Joiner (City of Edinburgh RC)	0:00:12.627
7	Cassie Gledhill (XRT - elmycycles.co.uk)	0:00:13.012
8	Emma Baird (BC PM)	0:00:13.034
9	Jenny Davis (City of Edinburgh RC)	0:00:13.165
10	Louise Satherley (Yasumitsu Schlapp)	0:00:13.630
11	Cheryl Owens (GS Metro)	0:00:13.881

Women's Sprint Quarter Finals

#	Rider Name (Country) Team	Result

Round 1

#	Rider Name (Country) Team	Result
1	Victoria Pendleton (Team Sky+ HD)
2	Emma Baird (BC PM)

Round 2

#	Rider Name (Country) Team	Result
1	Rebecca James (Abergavenny Road Club)
2	Cassie Gledhill (XRT - elmycycles.co.uk)

Round 3

#	Rider Name (Country) Team	Result
1	Jess Varnish (Halesowen A & CC)
2	Charline Joiner (City of Edinburgh)

Round 4

#	Rider Name (Country) Team	Result
1	Helen Scott (Halesowen A & CC)
2	Alison Chisholm (Edinburgh RC)

Women's Pursuit - Qualification

#	Rider Name (Country) Team	Result
1	Sarah Storey (VC St Raphael)	0:03:40.147
2	Hannah Mayho (100% ME)	0:03:43.370
3	Dani King (Vision 1 Racing)	0:03:49.680
4	Corrine Hall (Team Corridori)	0:03:52.141
5	Ella Sadler-Andrews (Teamwallis CHH RT)	0:03:53.278
6	Emma Grant (DNA Cycles)	0:03:58.141
7	Rachel Turner (VC St Raphael)	0:04:03.148
8	Emile Fisher (XRT - elmycycles.co.uk)	0:04:10.369
9	Ruth Middleton (East London Vélo)	0:04:12.537
10	Hayley Edwards (Halesowen A & CC)	0:04:23.923

Women's Sprint

#	Rider Name (Country) Team	Result

Semi-Finals

#	Rider Name (Country) Team	Result

Round 1

#	Rider Name (Country) Team	Result
1	Victoria Pendleton (Team Sky+ HD)
2	Helen Scott (Halesowen A & CC)

Round 2

#	Rider Name (Country) Team	Result
1	Jess Varnish (Halesowen A & CC)
2	Rebecca James (Abergavenny Road Club)

Finals

#	Rider Name (Country) Team	Result

Round 1

#	Rider Name (Country) Team	Result
1	Victoria Pendleton (Team Sky+ HD)
2	Jess Varnish (Halesowen A & CC)

Round 2

#	Rider Name (Country) Team	Result
3	Rebecca James (Abergavenny Road Club)
4	Helen Scott (Halesowen A & CC)

Minor Final

#	Rider Name (Country) Team	Result
5	Charline Joiner (City of Edinburgh)
6	Alison Chisholm (Edinburgh RC)
7	Cassie Gledhill (XRT - elmycycles.co.uk)

Men's Scratch Race - Final

#	Rider Name (Country) Team	Result
1	Chris Newton (Rapha Condor)
2	Alex Dowsett (100% ME)
3	Mark Christian (100% ME)
4	Ben Swift (Team Katusha)

Women's Pursuit - Finals

#	Rider Name (Country) Team	Result

Gold medal

#	Rider Name (Country) Team	Result
1	Sarah Storey (VC St Raphael)	0:03:40.244
2	Hannah Mayho (100% ME)	0:03:45.025

Bronze medal

#	Rider Name (Country) Team	Result
3	Dani King (Vision 1 Racing)	0:03:50.717
4	Corrine Hall (Team Corridori)	0:03:51.926

For fifth place

#	Rider Name (Country) Team	Result
5	Ella Sadler-Andrews (Teamwallis CHH RT)	0:03:53.775
6	Emma Grant (DNA Cycles)	0:03:57.350

For seventh place

#	Rider Name (Country) Team	Result
7	Rachel Turner (VC St Raphael)	0:03:58.558
8	Emile Fisher (XRT - elmycycles.co.uk)	0:04:10.252

Dempster not dwelling on Warrnambool defense

Youngster destined for Europe in 2010

Australia’s Zak Dempster will contest this weekend’s Melbourne-Warrnambool in Victoria, Australia but says he’s not getting too hung up on defending his title. Dempster, who won the 261-kilometre one day race on debut last year, also revealed he’s signed with a yet-to-be-named European team for next season.

Following a crash at last week’s Jayco Herald Sun Tour, Dempster said he's just looking forward to racing again as his road season with Drapac-Porsche winds down. "I don't feel awesome yet, but I've got tomorrow to get ready I guess," he joked. "To be honest I'm still recovering from the crash. I'm feeling better; I'll be able to come up for the day."

Dempster hadn't focused on last year's event, where he out-sprinted Hilton Clarke to win from the six-man lead group. He had only entered the event to race with his father, Darren, but come race day he was there to win – a feeling he expects to return on Saturday.

"I don't want to make the Melbourne-Warrnambool a really desperate quest every year," admitted Dempster. "I think it's a really beautiful race and I'm very honoured to be a part of that history now having one it, even to compete is a real buzz. I guess it compares to the Hawaii Ironman or the Boston Marathon; there’s probably 15 guys that are capable of winning it, the rest are in it because it's such an atmosphere, such an event – they're all competing fiercely still, but that's part of the beauty of it if you see what I mean."

"Of course, when I line-up I'll have winning on my mind, but this week has been a pretty exhausting week and I’m really just looking forward to racing," he added. "I'm looking forward to getting amongst it; it is a painful race because it's so long and the wind, the elements, but I'm just really looking forward to having some fun."

Dempster was quick to single out one rider when asked where his main competition would come from: David Pell. Pell was a part of last year's lead group, finishing third to Dempster. "He has been keen for quite a few years and is yet to win it," said Dempster. "I think he was 12th at the Sun Tour, so he's coming in to it in really good shape.

"I think David Tanner is riding and I think he’ll be a really strong contender too,” he added. “Also my teammate Rhys Pollock. I know Rhys will be, not focused, but he just really loves riding his bike and no doubt he'll have ridden his bike a lot this week and I think he'll have come out of the Sun Tour really good and will be a 'roughie', if you like."

Dempster will return to Europe in 2010, with a team to be announced in coming weeks, despite having a difficult time abroad this year. The 22-year-old had signed with Bulgarian-based Cycling Club Bourgas, but by the time he’d recovered from an early-season illness the team had run into financial difficulties and folded. He was thrown a lifeline by Drapac-Porsche for the closing months of the 2009 season.