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The coverage for Giro d’Italia and Tour de France has a new host as Eurosport unveiled recently.

The new name is that of Jonathan Edwards, who has been a part of the coverage of Giro d’Italia that is being held from May 5th to May 28th. He has handled the revised and expanded coverage for the event and will also be part of the coverage team for Tour de France. Being a triple jump gold medalist of Olympic standards as well as a BBC presenter, he is an illustrative personality who has been taken up by Eurosport to provide coverage for events like 2017 Giro d’Italia and the Tour de France. Edwards is a cycling fan and had been signed on from the beginning of 2016 by Eurosport. He has been part of the broadcasting team that covers major sports events which also included the Olympic Games. Edwards joined the Giro coverage team for the first time this year. He has prior experience in covering cycling events for the BBC. He states that cycling is a passion for him and he is himself a committed rider and a fan whenever he gets the opportunity. Hence he is excited for the opportunity presented to him. He feels that being able to cover two Grand Tours this year is a great opportunity for him.

Edwards as with the coverage team at Giro for the live coverage and was joined by top riders and pro team members. He was among familiar faces and names such as Sean Kelly, Brian Smith, Juan Antonio Flecha, Matt Stephens and Rob Hayles. They are all former illustrated riders who are part of the cycling team of Eurosport.
Smith has taken on an expanded role and provided insights into the race tactics as well as analyzed actions of the riders for the Giro.

Peter Sagan, world champion and rider for the Bora-Hansgrohe has said that if disc brakes were going to be used during races, then the entire peloton needs to use them and not just one or a few persons.

This 2017 season has seen just a few of the riders making use of the controversial disc brakes, one which has been accused of capable of causing bodily injury to riders especially during a crash.

Sagan who was questioned about the issue of disc brakes following a recent incident in the Abu Dhabi Tour is currently participating on the gravel roads of Strade Bianche since Saturday.

Owain Doull of Team Sky claimed that a disc brake slashed through his shoe and got to his foot after he was involved in a crash with Marcel Kittel of Quick-Step Floors.

Sagan noted he was not sure he if he would be making use of them as he races in Strade Bianche. He also believes than not one person should be using the disc brakes, instead everyone in the group should make use of them.
“Why not? If we use them, the entire group needs to use them, not just one person,” he said.

The UCI was forced to stop the use of disc brakes after an incident last year in Paris-Roubaix with Francisco Ventoso. However, this season saw the governing body allow their return following certain changes intended to make the rotor safer.

When asked about the safety concerns in cycling when disc brakes are used, Sagan was quick to note that safety was no longer a thing for concern in cycling.

“Safety concern? No. No, by now, safety is not even a concern in cycling!” he concluded.

The CPA, riders’ union is pushing for the prohibition of the use of disc brakes after the recent crash incident.

In an announcement made by the team, Trek Segafredo has said that it has made a new addition to the team.

Segafredo has added the former giant-alpecin riders Koen De Kort and John Degenkolb. Degenkolb’s contract is expected to last until 2019 while De Kort has signed in with the team for a two-year deal that will last until 2018.

Degenkolb, who had won the san Milan Remo competition and the Paris Roubaix in 2015, had had a poor performance in the 2016 season. This was largely due to the accident that occurred when he and six of his teammates were hit by a vehicle going the wrong way during a ride in Spain at their pre-season training; this had knocked his outing at the 2016 season off track.

However, after recovery, Degenkolb had returned to the track in time to participate in the Tour de France and the Tour of California, but he was unable to obtain any wins in the season. He is racing currently at the arctic tour competition in Norway where he has finished second in stages 1 and 2.

Regarding the transfer, Degenkolb said:

“I’m incredibly excited about this transfer, it’s a big step for me to get such a great opportunity in a team like Trek Segafredo, with such a strong classics inspiration.

“It’s a dream come true. My previous team giant-alpecin was very committed to my ambitions in the classics as well, but coming to Trek-Segafredo feels like the next big step for me.”

He proceeded to say that Segafredo was one of the big names in races like Paris Roubaix and the Tour of Flanders and that it was a big motivation for him to join the team. The 27-year old also added that he was really excited to race with trek riders like Jasper Stuyven – a 24-year old Belgian who had won the kuurne-brusselles-kuurne this year.
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All eyes had been on Chris Froome in the Vuelta a Espana event.

He had been in the lead when he attacked Nairo Quintana and Alberto Contador. He lost out time for both. As a result, he had a difficult day at the event. Nario moved into the leading [position. This occurred at the eighth stage of the race, which was at La Camperona. Froome from Team Sky started the battle with the other contenders. He accelerated when there was about 1.3 km to finish. He distanced both Alberto as well as Alejandro. He was unable to shake off Quintana however.

The Columbian then launched a counterattack about 200 m later. Froome then had to fall away as a result. Quintana has definitely shown his skills in the tour and it has been one of his best performances for the season. He finished with a timing of 5 min 14 seconds. He tore away the position from Sergey Lagutin who had held the position, but fell back about 33 seconds behind Quintana. Leader of the previous race Darwin Atapuma of BMC Racing dropped out of the race and that helped Quintana to move to the top position. Valverde is placed second and Froome is placed third.

Contador had a tough battle to fight, but even then he was able to hold on to his performance. He suffered a crash on Friday. Stage eight saw him with bandages on his left leg. When the climbing segments arrived, Quintana proved to be the strongest amongst everyone. Lagutin was side by side with Axel Domont as well as Perrig Quemeneur in the climb segment, which comprised the last 500 m of the race. It was definitely a race which was full of surprises for viewers as well as the participants, especially the last leg of the tour.

As active is the men’s tours are the women’s biking tours as well.

Armitstead has won the women’s tour that was recently concluded. Final stage victory was claimed by Lotta Lepisto while overall victory was claimed by Lizzie Armistead of the Boels-Dolmans team. On the final day Lotta joined the breakaway group that won the sprint and claimed the stage honors.

The race had a break of seven women that included Molly Weaver, who spent time on the stage in a yellow jersey before the squad of Boels-Dolmans and Marianne Vos’ of the Rabo Liv team took control. There were riders like several in the breakaway group who covered a total of 30 kilometers in the end. Loren Rowney of the Orica-AIS team had been part of the break originally, but she could not keep up when the Newnham Hill came up.

It was a climb that was grueling. It was a part where the leaders had to stretch out the advantage they had on the peloton. The gap, however was not more than five minutes. The peloton pegged the move back in the second half. Those who were part of the breakaway group were able to gain an advantage. They remained in the clear, and so it helped them to reach the finish line in Kettering. If you have been following the women’s tour you would have certainly enjoyed watching it. Lepisto stated that the stage had been hard to start off. They had been defending the second place of Ashleigh’s. A group that was moving away Lepisto helped to cover the attack. Once there was a good gap she was able to get the team to stay together. The team orders had been that she should stop covering if the gap had become too big and if it threatened GC.

In Ottawa, cycling has hit a tipping point and it needs modern infrastructure to keep up, said a local advocacy group.

Annual report from Citizens for Safe Cycling, released on Saturday, showed that cycling trips have jumped forty-four per cent between the years 2010 and 2015.

That is based on information from 3 bike counters located on the eastern canal path near the Corktown footbridge, on the Alexandra Bridge as well as the Ottawa River path near the O-Train and Cycling trips. The cycling growth of Ottawa was 3rd fastest among cities in seventeen nations checked by the Eco-Counter, an international bike data centre.

Ottawa cycling group president Gareth Davies said that there is a bit of a tipping point happening, a critical mass moment. He told this momentum adds up to a requirement for more as well as better infrastructure – something that is highly possible with a bike-friendly federal government that now in power. Davies told that they need to take advantage of that while it is there.

Almost half of his members showed unequal infrastructure as a barrier to cycling, and thirty-seven per cent told that safety concerns hold them off 2 wheels. Davies further added that there is heightened demand as well as a dreadful need to allow these people to ride in a safe way.

That does not even speak to the latent demand. People would like to bike but they does not feel safe on the roads.

FIC chief Di Rocco was reportedly in a huge clash with UCI President over Astana’s license but the Italian has strongly denied any question of row with Brian Cookson.

As per the reports, the FIC boss raised a query that why Management Committee of the UCI weren’t consulted prior to UCI’s recommendation of revoking Astana of WorldTour status by License Commission.

Di Ricco, a member of the Management Committee himself, accused the UCI boss of taking to unilateral approach instead of permitting License Commission in taking independent decisions.

“License Commission must be & is an independent & autonomous body. Why is it that License Commission isn’t acting independently in this particular case?” queried Di Ricco.

The UCI boss responded shortly explaining that every needed procedure was followed with the Astana case & that discussions took place between Executive Committee members post an audit review on Astana by ISSUL disclosed differences in between the team’s license application & audit results.

“I have seen those reports but there is no such clash between myself & Brian”, explained the FIC boss.
“I have no idea how these letters appeared in public but they did not come from my side. It is just a dialogue in between those who belong to same organization”, he continued.

“We keep on writing to one another around once in a week regarding so many things. Certainly, at this very moment, Astana issue is all around yet I feel we had a very open & normal dialogue. It could be that my letter evaluated the Astana issue differently to Cookson.”

Honestly, it is just a dialogue and not any conflict. I have got great doubts regarding this case on the basis of my experience & I just hope that Cookson & the legal team of UCI are serene & tranquil.”

In an interview for the magazine Andy Shleck stated that he misses cycling.

At the final league of the season Andy Shleck retired from the sport of cycling as he injured his knee badly. As he turned 35 doctors advised that he would need a knee replacement. The advice given by the doctors scared him so much that he made the final decision in his mind already.

As he ended the career he stated in the press conference himself. It is very clear that he misses cycling. He did not get hold of any team in 2015. It was the knee problem which made him averse to all the teams be it the American squad or the any other team.

Whereas his crashing performance in Tour de France was a turning point which led him to end his career which does not hide his emotion of missing the playing spirit of cycling. He wants to enjoy the rest of his life in doing something constructive and not passively. He has the same passion for everything as he had of cycling.

However his brother, Frank continues to train with his team but there is more to do in life for him than just sitting on the couch. He has not ended his life with a passive activity. He was not in his right spirit but when he got back his senses he understood that an injury could destroy a sportsman’s career and which is what happened with him. He does not want to reveal his next job but he is extremely excited about it. He worked hard for the knee so that it could stabilize his health. He is strengthening his arms as well as other body parts and trying to get back to normalcy. He also wishes to write a book.

According to reports, Alexander Vinokourov, the general manager of the professional UCI team Astana suspended Astana Continental team following the announcement of yet another one of the team’s riders failing the doping test.

Previously two of its riders were tested positive for drugs. The sample of Victor Okishev taken in the month of May and the sample of Ilya Davidenok taken in the month of August showed that both Astana Continental team’s riders have used the same steroids. The third Astana Continental rider, Artur Fedosseyev’s sample taken in the month of August shows that he has used prohibited substances.

Though Vinokourov is not in charge of managing Astana’ Continental team, it is apparent that he had used his influence to suspend the team temporarily and soon after that Kazakhstan Cycling Federation debarred Astana Continental team from participating in any Cycling event.

Alexander Vinokourov was involved in doping cases throughout his career. He has said that he wants the public to realize that the continental team has no link with the world tour team he further added that apart from the jersey and the name, there’s no relationship between the continental team and the world tour team. Two members of Astana world tour team Maxim and Valentin Iglinsky were also tested positive for using banned substances recently. Sporting director of both the World tour team, and the continental team, Dimitry Sedoun, was dismissed soon after the continental team’s third doping case.

After the continental team was suspended, Vinokourov said that they have requested Kazakhstan’s governing body of cycling many times before to deal with doping issues in a severe manner and also to undertake more measures to ensure that such cases do not happen. He also said that they’re fully supporting the governing body in this matter. Vinokourov wants the young riders to understand that in the sport of cycling, there’s zero tolerance for dopers.

Elite cycling squad Team Sky have joined hands with British Cycling to launch a new community based website Ride Social. The novel initiative is themed to help out cycling enthusiasts to build up their very own riding communities.

The internet system permits cyclists to create profiles that would permit them to organize as well as join up bike riding events around their locality.

Ride Social is a follow up of the rebranding of the old popular Social Cycling Groups website and comes up with a brand new name, style and logo. The new site from Team Sky & Brit Cycling collaboration already boasts 50 thousand users, along with nine hundred and fifty groups organizing as many as 3,000 rides.

“We are simply delighted to be able to create a space for the riders, irrespective of abilities to be friends, create groups as well as get out & ride in their way”, stated Stewart Kellett, the recreation & partnerships director of British Cycling. “Ride Social is aimed to be a big add-on to our existent ride programmes, the Sky Ride Local guided cycling rides & Breeze women bike rides.”

British Cycling & Team Sky seem to have high hopes and grand plans for Ride Social and they are taking some really phenomenal initiatives to make the website popular in the cycling world. To celebrate launch of the new cycling community themed website, both the collaborators are jointly offering the riding enthusiasts a very rare opportunity to earn a ride with one of the Team Sky pros.

All one needs here is a ride creation on the Ride Social which takes place in between November 14, 2014 to February 15, 2015, invite as many local cyclists possible to join the ride, get a selfie of oneself & the group on ride -& share it on popular social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter or Instagram with #ridesocial hashtag.