02-03-2010 Roberts and Rohregger lead German ProTour team in Spain Led by Luke Roberts and Thomas Rohregger, Team Milram will start for the first time in the Vuelta a Murcia (March 3-7 / UCI 2.1). Over the approximately 645 kilometers across southeastern Spain, the duo will count on the support of German riders Roger Kluge, Dominik Roels, Dominik Nerz and Björn Schröder, as well as Rohregger's fellow Austrian, Peter Wrolich.
„Right after the Mallorca Challenge, I was unfortunately thrown back by an inner ear infection,“ said climber Thomas Rohregger before flying to the Iberian peninsula. „But I have been able to train well again and look forward to this challenging race.“ Ralf Grabsch, who is serving as Directeur Sportif in Spain, also looked confidently to the German ProTour team's race debut: „We don't want to put Thomas under any extra pressure after his illness.
26-02-2010 HTC-Columbia Kicks Off Belgian Classics Season Team HTC-Columbia starts its Belgian Classics season this weekend with a double dose of racing action, first tackling Het Nieuwsblad on Saturday February 27th, then Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne on Sunday February 28th.
"There's some windy, wet weather forecast, so it's going to be a tough two days," commented HTC-Columbia's sports director Allan Peiper. "The courses are pretty much the same, but the roads are in a poor state because of the freezing weather we've had all winter, and that'll make it even harder. Bernie [Bernhard Eisel] has had a good block of racing, from the Tour Down Under through to Qatar and Oman, so he's very ready for this weekend.
24-02-2010 New Zealand NPS 2 : Bevin, Cheatley winners in Perry Foundation REV Classic Taupo teenager Patrick Bevin upset his more fancied rivals to take out the Perry Foundation REV Classic race in Hamilton today.
The New Zealand under-19 cyclist of the year managed to edge the defending champion and race record-holder Gordon McCauley in a sprint finish of the 120km Classic, which doubled as the second round of the RaboPlus Nationals Point Series.
Beijing Olympian Cath Cheatley controlled the sprint finish over series champion Serena Sheridan to claim the women’s honours.
More than 60 elite riders entered the Classic among more than a 1000 participants in the Perry Foundation REV Cycle Festival, which included six different events from 18km to the 120km Classic.
Bevin (Team Bici Vida), McCauley (Subway Avanti) and Tour of Wellington winner Michael Torckler (New Plymouth) broke clear of the peloton in the later stages of the race that travelled from Hamilton to Cambridge, over French Pass to Karapiro, passing near Matamata, Kiwitahi and back to Hamilton.
Torckler was dropped in the final few kilometres with Bevin able to hold off the more experienced McCauley, the national time trial champion in 3:14.37.
Bevin will head to the United States next month to ride professionally for Rubicon Orbea Team with his Bica Vida teammates Roman van Uden and Mike Northey, who was fifth today.
Cheatley pushed clear midway through the women’s race with Sheridan (Hawkes Bay), the first round winner in Taranaki, managing to hold on.
20-02-2010 Hitec Products UCK have landed in New Zealand and Belgium Thijs Rondhuis have arrived with the team in Greytown, New Zealand, for training to the only UCI race in Oceania, 'Womens Tour of New Zealand' (UCI 2.2) that start 24.February, with 6 stages in five days.
19-02-2010 HTC-Columbia Set for Tour of Andalusia HTC-Columbia's is sending a strong squad to the five-day Tour of Andalusia, targeting sprints and the General Classification. The race, which runs from February 21st to February 25th, will serve as the start to Mark Cavendish's 2010 season.
"He's ready to go and keen to race" HTC-Columbia's sports director Brian Holm says. "In Andalusia we'll be supporting Mark 100 percent for whatever sprints come up, and then we've got Mick [Michael Rogers] and Maxime [Monfort] for the [stage four] time-trial and the overall. Together with the mountain-top finish on the first day, that time-trial will probably decide the race. However it's a very tough Tour of Andalusia this year, with a lot of climbing for so early in the season, and a break could go at any time."
Holm says former World Time Trial Champion Rogers has built up strong form for the early season races. "He's been training hard and is feeling confident, and I think Maxime's on top of his game right now, too. Our only concern was with Kosta [Konstantsin Siutsou] because he's had a knee injury, but he's got over that and is ready to go. All in all, we've got a good line-up here."
HTC-Columbia for the Tour of Andalusia: Michael Albasini (Swi); Mark Cavendish (GB); Tony Martin (Ger); Maxime Monfort (Bel); Michael Rogers (Aus); Hayden Roulston (NZ); Konstantsin Siutsou (Byl).
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18-02-2010 Milram starts in Vuelta a Andalucia Lead by Linus Gerdemann, Team Milram will be at the start of the Vuelta a Andalucia (February 21 – 25 / UCI 2.1) as of this coming Sunday. The German ProTour team will take on the five stages with seven Germans. Markus Fothen, Johannes Fröhlinger, Christian Knees, Matthias Ruß, Paul Voß and Fabian Wegmann will support their captain Gerdemann on the approximately 676 kilometers across southern Spain.
„In the last few days I have been held back a little by a cold, unfortunately,“ Linus Gerdemann explained.
17-02-2010 First-Year Pro Howard Wins in Oman HTC-Columbia's new professional Leigh Howard has taken an impressive bunch sprint victory in stage four of the Tour of Oman. The 20-year-old Australian was the fastest in a group of about 40 riders ahead of Daniele Bennati of Italy and Tom Boonen of Belgium.
"I'd only ridden one previous race with the pros, the Tour of Ireland last year, so to come here and beat some of the top guys in the peloton is an amazing feeling," Howard said after the win. "I'd been working for Bernie [HTC-Columbia teammate Bernhard Eisel] all week, but today with about 30 kilometres to go after the split had happened, I told him I was feeling really strong. He took me to about 500 metres to go to the finish and I went for it. I think it being a smaller group of riders like at today's finish was an advantage for me because I'm not so used to the big bunch sprints.
15-02-2010 Tour of Oman, here is Daniele Bennati Daniele Bennati won the 2nd stage of Tour of Oman, Nizawa-Samail of 148 kilometres, overcoming Farrar (Garmin-Transitions) and Boasson Hagen (Team Sky).
10-02-2010 HTC-Columbia To Tackle New Middle East Race - the Tour of Oman HTC-Columbia will be heading for one of the newest races on the international calendar this weekend, when the squad lines up for the first ever Tour of Oman in the Middle East.
Running from February 14th - 19th and coming straight after the nearby Tour of Qatar, where HTC-Columbia is also racing, Oman consists of five road stages and a final 18 kilometre individual time-trial.
"The time-trial being on the last stage will shape events a lot.
01-02-2010 Torckler wins Wellington Classic New Plymouth 22 year old Michael Torckler has won the Wellington Cycle Classic today after weather caused the cancellation of the final stage.
Australian Chief Commisier Russel Miller decided the wet Wellington conditions were unsafe fro racing.
30-01-2010 HTC-Columbia Women's Team Aims To Hit Ground Running In Qatar HTC-Columbia Women's Team gets it's racing season underway in the Tour of Qatar next week, and they're aiming for a strong start to 2010.
"We've got a good group there, it often gets really windy in Qatar but they all know how to ride hard in the gutter and line out the bunch," comments HTC-Columbia sports director Ronny Lauke.
"We'll be aiming for some early success just like last year.
28-01-2010 Milram not selected for Paris-Nice Team Milram will not start Paris-Nice this season, the race organizers Amaury Sport Organisation informed the German ProTour team on Thursday.
26-01-2010 Ivan Basso will start at P dell’Insubria The Italian season of Liquigas-Doimo will start at “Giro della Provincia di Reggio Calabria”, planned from 30th January to 2nd February.
24-01-2010 Greipel Wins His Second Tour Down Under Andre Greipel secured his second overall win of the Santos Tour Down Under on Sunday becoming one of only two riders who have won the event more than once. Greipel won the race on his first attempt in 2008, crashed out in the leaders jersey in 2009 and came back in 2010 to win again, claiming 9 stage wins in Adelaide over the three years.
Greipel's teammates controlled the fast and furious 90 minute circuit race in downtown Adelaide to ensure overall victory.
"I'm really happy to win again here and to take the ProTour lead," said Greipel.
24-01-2010 Luis Leon Sanchez Wins Stage 5 of 2010 Tour Down Under Five years after he won both the third stage and the final general classification of the Tour Down Under, Luis Leon Sanchez (Team Caisse d'Epargne) won again in Australia earlier today.
The rider from Murcia, Spain, who took the win in the fifth stage of the first ProTour event of the season (Snapper Point-Willunga, 150 kilometers) after an exciting final is now second in the overall rakings, eleven seconds behind race leader André Greipel of Team HTC-Columbia.
"I arrived in Australia with a different preparation comparing with the previous years because this winter I did not work so much in the gymnasium as I did before to avoid the muscular mass to increase too much.
23-01-2010 Cavendish Changes Season Start Mark Cavendish will change his 2010 season start and begin in Ruta del Sol on February 17 due to an ongoing dental problem that has limited his training.
"We want to take all precautions and ensure that Mark has fully recovered and is able to get in some extra base training for the long season ahead of him," says Team Manager Rolf Aldag.
23-01-2010 Tour d’Afrique Race Standings posted through Stage 6 The times and standings for the 36 racers on the 2010 Tour d’Afrique have now been updated through Stage 6, covering 767 km from Cairo to Luxor.
22-01-2010 Third Stage Win for Greipel at Tour Down Under André Greipel took his third stage win of the Santos Tour Down Under on Friday, increasing his overall lead of the tour going into the penultimate stage of racing.
22-01-2010 Cardoso wins third stage ADELAIDE, Australia -- Portuguese national champion Manuel Cardoso won the arduous third stage of the Tour Down Under on Thursday while Lance Armstrong ended a day of sapping heat 30th on the stage and 26th overall.
Temperatures rose to 104 degrees on the 82-mile stage between Unley in suburban Adelaide and Stirling in hills east of the city.
Armstrong rode near the head of the peleton throughout the undulating stage and was credited with a time one second behind Cardoso's winning mark of 3 hours, 14 minutes, 38 seconds.
"It was hot, definitely hot," Armstrong said.
20-01-2010 Greipel takes his second consecutive victory at Tour Down Under André Greipel won his second consecutive stage of the Santos Tour Down Under on Wednesday, sprinting into the small German heritage town of Hahndorf for his seventh stage victory of the Tour out of the eleven he has raced over the last three years.
A break of three were away for the majority of the race earning a time gap of 11 minutes but eventually being reeled in by the peloton.
"It was a good day for us because we didn't need to put a lot of effort in to chase the break down during the race," explained Greipel.
20-01-2010 Greipel extends overall lead ADELAIDE, Australia -- Germany's Andre Greipel won his second consecutive stage of the Tour Down Under for his U.S.-based Team Columbia, extending his overall lead in the six-stage race.
Seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong rode near the front of the peleton throughout Wednesday's 83-mile stage between Gawler and Hahndorf in South Australia state.
Armstrong said he felt well at the end of the stage, although rising heat made the stage a tougher test than the first leg on Tuesday.
"All in all, it was not too bad," Armstrong said.
The third stage of the race will be held Thursday
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19-01-2010 Greipel Takes First Win of 2010 Season Andre Greipel has repeated his performance of the last two years, winning the first stage and earning the 'ochre' leader's jersey of the Santos Tour Down Under. Greipel finished off the work of his teammates to win in a bunch sprint at the end of the 141km stage from Clare to Tanunda in South Australia.
"It's very nice to start the season this way," said a happy Greipel after the stage.
00-00-0000 Tour d'Afrique The biggest cycling race on the planet is starting today.
The 8th edition of the "Tour d'Afrique".
From the 16th January till 15th May, 49 riders will be racing the entire distance across this vast continent.
07-01-2010 Team Milram presents its new squad The German ProTour team Milram presented its squad for the 2010 season Thursday morning at the Signal Iduna Park football stadium in Dortmund. A total of 24 pro cyclists, including 16 German riders, will represent German cycling in the new racing season after a successful 2009. Led by the two German captains Linus Gerdemann and Gerald Ciolek, Team Milram is going into the 2010 with confidence and ambitious goals.
„We are shifting into a higher gear. After our successful year we are ready for the next step,“ said Gerry van Gerwen, General ManagerM, who was happy that his team improved not only its media value by 20 percent but also its own image through good riding. „With our new 'Back to Basics' scheme and some restructuring, we have continued to develop the team. The groundstone has been laid, now the successes must follow. With the quality of our riders, 25 wins in about 250 races are a must.“
Five newcomers strengthen the team in 2010. The most prominent German new signing is track specialist Roger Kluge. Kluge, who won a silver medal at the Beijing Olympics, changed over to road racing at the beginning of the year and wants to continue his successful career on the asphalt. In addition, talented young German U-23 champion Dominik Nerz from the Milram Continental team joins the team. With the Belgian Classics specialists Roy Sentjens and Wim de Vocht, the team has won two strong performers for the one-day races in Belgium, the Netherlands and northern France. In addition, veteran Australian Luke Roberts increases the quality of the ProTour team squad.
Back to Basics: „Be health, have fun and work professionally“
The new guidelines for the 2010 cycling year were made clear last fall. Within the sporting managers, Ralf Grabsch will be responsible for race planning and the direct contact to the riders, while Christian Henn will take care of race analysis. The German ProTour team has worked as comprehensively and painstakingly as never before, in various training camps, to lay the basis of the successful coming season. In addition to the daily training rides on Mallorca, there were also team-building measures.
„Be healthy, have fun and work professionally. Our riders should concentrate on the basics,“ is how Gerry van Gerwen explained his „Back to Basics“ philosophy, and at the same time applied to the riders' sense of honor. „A winner has a plan, a loser an excuse. There are no more excuses.“
The 24 riders will have the opportunity to prove this in high-quality appearances on some 250 race days in the coming season. The first squad will be at the start of the ProTour opener Tour Down Under in Australian this month. In addition to the Tour de France and the ProTour races, the team will emphasize the German stage and one-day races in 2010.
24 Riders from six nations - 16 Germans, three Dutchmen, two Belgians, two Austrians and one Australian:
Gerald Ciolek (23/GER), Wim De Vocht (27/BEL), Markus Eichler (27/GER), Robert Förster (31/GER), Markus Fothen (28/GER), Thomas Fothen (25/GER), Johannes Fröhlinger (24/GER), Artur Gajek (24/GER), Linus Gerdemann (27/GER), Roger Kluge (23/GER), Servais Knaven (38/NED), Christian Knees (28/GER), Dominik Nerz (20/GER), Luke Roberts (32/AUS), Dominik Roels (22/GER), Thomas Rohregger (27/AUT), Matthias Ruß (26/GER), Björn Schröder (29/GER), Roy Sentjens (29/BEL), Wim Stroetinga (24/NED), Niki Terpstra (25/NED), Paul Voß (23/GER), Fabian Wegmann (29/GER), Peter Wrolich (35/AUT).
06-01-2010 Greipel Focuses on Good Times Down Under Columbia-HTC's Andre Greipel, the overall winner of the 2008 Tour Down Under, will be aiming for a repeat performance in 2010. After winning the Tour Down Under outright one year, then crashing badly in the same event in 2009, the Columbia-HTC sprinter recalled, "Last year I had some bad luck, although I did win the first stage.
28-12-2009 Ras an Turcai The 2009 Ras an Turcai had a great send off on Sunday last in Carraroe, Co.Galway,
The annual Ras an Turcai has been promoted in this beautiful Connemara town for many years and with many notable winners, Sean Kelly, David O’Loughlin, Ciaran Power, Martin Munroe, Mark Scanlon, Philip Cassidy and this year a name for the future Philip Lavery.
This race has proved to be a very popular mid winter race and this year was no exception, we were treated to great racing, a large field of cyclists
And dry conditions in strong sunshine on a challenging circuit.
After 2 laps at a nice pace that suited all the cyclists, the groups were broken down into smaller groups for the racing laps, the speed was fast in
the back groups but Philip Lavery Winning Solutions made an early move and Stephen McNally Orwell Dundrum, and Vinnie Kelly Carrick Wheelers Road Club joined him for a lap and they were joined by a large group on the last lap but Lavery was very strong to hold off the challenge
of McNally and the in form Vinnie Kelly..
00-00-0000 Ras na Turcai It's the LAST national race of the year.
And it happens every year in IRELAND;
In the depth of winter, and still it takes place without interruption.
We have data since 2001, and look the legendary "Sean Kelly" has won this race twice since then.
12-12-2009 Columbia-HTC Kicks Off Training in Lanzarote Team Columbia-HTC men's team has convened at Club La Santa in Lanzarote, Spain this week for the team's first training camp with the full 2010 team.
01-12-2009 Cavendish Contends for BBC's Sports Personality of the Year Columbia-HTC's Mark Cavendish has been named one of the Top Ten nominees for the BBC's Sports Personality of the Year. The BBC revealed Monday the shortlist featuring six-time Tour de France stage winner and star sprinter Mark Cavendish.
The shortlist was composed by a panel of 26 sports editors from British national and regional newspapers and magazines.
01-12-2009 Columbia-HTC Visits Peru for Right To Play As part of a continuing partnership with Right To Play, an international humanitarian organization which uses sport and play programs to improve the lives of children and communities worldwide, three of Team Columbia-HTC's athletes traveled to Peru to raise awareness of some of the programs set up there by Right To Play. Ina-Yoko Teutenberg [GER], Craig Lewis [USA] and newly-signed Evelyn Stevens [USA], along with staff member Helge Riepenhof [GER] made the adventure to Lima and on to rural Huarez and the remote villages of El Pinar, Llata and Machac to meet the children and teachers in the schools and to help raise awareness for the programs in the area.
"It was great to have Team Columbia-HTC team members travel to Peru to visit the children who benefit from our programs," commented Martin Barnard, Right To Play's Manager of Global Sports Partnerships. "The riders shared smiles, laughter, and learning with hundreds of children in remote villages, and saw how sport and play can make a huge impact on their daily lives."
"The trip was an amazing experience," said Teutenberg.
00-00-0000 2° Tour of the AGCC Arab Gulf concluded successfully The second edition of this new and exciting tour ended this Saturday.
A race consisting of a prologue and 8 stages, crossing 5 Gulf States : Oman, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and BahRain.
This year the race was won by Mohamed Hasan Al Marwi from the United Arab Emirates.
25-10-2009 Pinotti Delighted with 2010 Giro Route Columbia-HTC's Marco Pinotti says he's delighted with the route of next year's Gito d'Italia and plans to target the opening and finishing individual time trials. The 2010 Giro d'Italia route was unveiled on Saturday in Milan.
23-10-2009 Encouraging Pakistan Despite being a controversial country in the world press, Pakistan continues being an active cycling country.
Recently they completed the "Lahore - Sahiwal" national cycling classic, won by Iqbal Zahid.
But there are also regular initiatives like the Tour of Pakistan (14 th edition last year), the Champions of the Hills cycling race (Peshawar - Rawalpindi) and the Independence day cycling race.
Proving that this country has ambitions of being a modern nation and participating on the world scene, and all these cycling events are a VERY good sign.
Results of all of these races can ofcourse be found on this site !!
Keep on racing Pakistan !!!
ivan
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18-10-2009 Columbia-HTC Racks Up 86th Win of Season Columbia-HTC's Marco Pinotti ended his year on a high note on Sunday when he powered home to a convincing victory in the GP Citta di Stresa time trial in Italy. Pinotti's win brings down the curtain on the 2009 season for Columbia-HTC, and it also brings the men's team's final tally of season wins to 86 - one more than in 2008.
Pinotti completed the 33.8 kilometre course one minute and five seconds ahead of Italy's Alessandro Raisoni.
