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  • 85 photographs:
    • Tom Boonen (Etixx-QuickStep) (612x)Tom Boonen (Etixx-QuickStep) (510x)Tom Boonen (Etixx-QuickStep) (722x)Thor Hushovd (BMC) & Tom Boonen (OPQS) (1230x)
      Bryan Coquard 4th, Tom Boonen 5th (474x)Tom Boonen (OPQS) has a chat with Jean-François Pescheux (503x)Tom Boonen (OPQS), future daddy (424x)Tom Boonen (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) (513x)
      Tom Boonen (OPQS) & Michael Matthews (Orica-GreenEDGE) (616x)Tom Boonen (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) (583x)Sébastien Géoris (RTBF) interviewing Tom Boonen (OPQS) (611x)Tom Boonen (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) (517x)
      Tom Boonen (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) (366x)Tom Boonen (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) on his way to victory (1038x)Tom Boonen (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) (3) (520x)Tom Boonen (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) (2) (488x)
      Tom Boonen (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) (751x)Tom Boonen's bike (1522x)Tom Boonen's cheat sheet (586x)Tom Boonen (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) (739x)
      Tom Boonen (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) after the finish (376x)Tom Boonen (Omega Pharma-Quickstep) in the feeding zone (504x)Tom Boonen (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) (539x)Tom Boonen (Omega Pharma-QuickStep), green jersey (523x)
      Tom Boonen (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) puts on his green jersey (578x)Tom Boonen (Omega Pharma-QuickStep), stage winner (562x)Tom Boonen (Quick Step) (535x)Wouter Weylandt (Team Leopard-Trek) & Tom Boonen (Quick Step) (788x)
      Tom Boonen (Quick Step) (2) (605x)Tom Boonen (Quick Step) (1) (661x)Tom Boonen & Wouter Weylandt (Quick Step) at the start (483x)Tom Boonen (Quick Step) (2) (491x)
      Tom Boonen (Quick Step) (496x)Tom Boonen (Quick Step) (4) (693x)Tom Boonen (Quick Step) (5) (386x)Tom Boonen (Quick Step) (6) (445x)
      Tom Boonen (Quick Step) (3) (499x)Tom Boonen (Quick Step) (2) (462x)Tom Boonen (Quick Step) (1) (445x)Name plates - Tom Boonen & Steve Morabito (616x)
      Tom Boonen (Quick Step) after Paris-Roubaix 2010 (1286x)Tom Boonen (Quick Step) (765x)Tom Boonen (Quick Step) (740x)Romain Feillu (Agritubel), Filippo Pozzato (Team Katusha), Tom Boonen (Quick Step) (351x)
      Niki Terpstra, Markus Fothen (Milram) & Tom Boonen (Quick Step) in Saint-Girons (382x)Tom Boonen (Quick Step) before the start of the team time trial in Montpellier (6) (293x)Tom Boonen (Quick Step) before the start of the team time trial in Montpellier (5) (381x)Tom Boonen (Quick Step) before the start of the team time trial in Montpellier (4) (318x)
      Tom Boonen (Quick Step) before the start of the team time trial in Montpellier (3) (453x)Tom Boonen (Quick Step) before the start of the team time trial in Montpellier (2) (626x)Tom Boonen (Quick Step) before the start of the team time trial in Montpellier (516x)Paris-Roubaix 2009 : 1/ Tom Boonen, 2/ Filippo Pozzato, 3/ Thor Hushovd (2) (357x)
      Tom Boonen kisses his 'pavé' again (604x)Paris-Roubaix 2009 : 1/ Tom Boonen, 2/ Filippo Pozzato, 3/ Thor Hushovd (425x)Filippo Pozzato (Katusha), Tom Boonen (QuickStep) & Thor Hushovd (Cervélo) (490x)Thor Hushovd (Cervélo TestTeam) congratulates Tom Boonen (557x)
      Filippo Pozzato (Katusha) & Tom Boonen (QuickStep) (620x)Filippo Pozzato (Katusha) gets the medal for the second place (516x)Filippo Pozzato (Katusha) congratulates Tom Boonen (QuickStep) (2) (504x)Tom Boonen, winner of Paris-Roubaix 2009 (1023x)
      Tom Boonen gets his 'pavé' in the sky (424x)Tom Boonen in front of the balloons (431x)Tom Boonen gets the flowers from Nathalie (462x)Tom Boonen kisses his 'pavé' (434x)
      Tom Boonen and his 'pavé' (455x)Tom Boonen celebrates his victory (409x)Filippo Pozzato (Katusha) congratulates Tom Boonen (QuickStep) (431x)Tom Boonen wins Paris-Roubaix 2009: and that makes 3! (672x)
      Tom Boonen crosses the finish line for the first time (443x)Tom Boonen arrives at the Vélodrome in Roubaix (605x)Tom Boonen, Maarten Tjallingii & Karsten Kroon (526x)Tom Boonen (QuickStep/BEL) (741x)
      Tom Boonen (QuickStep Innergetic) (1604x)The pack at around 6 km from the finish (453x)Christophe Moreau (AG2R) gives a bidon to Martin Elmiger (1146x)Finally: the pack at Plateau-de-Beille (772x)
      The finish in Castres: Tom Boonen really won! (505x)The finish in Castres: a sprint won by Tom Boonen (2) (1033x)The finish in Castres: a sprint won by Tom Boonen (1) (563x)Tom Boonen congratulates Gert Steegmans after the finish in Ghent (518x)
      Quick.Step's Tom Boonen at the start of his prologue (582x)Quick.Step Innergetic : Tom Boonen (528x)The Quick.Step Innergetic cycling team (553x)Tom Boonen just after his 'cooling down' (621x)
      Tom Boonen (700x)
  • 83 news posts:
    • The participants list for Paris-Roubaix 2017

      The participants list for Paris-Roubaix 2017This article has not been translated into English, but you'll find below the list of 199 participants in Paris-Roubaix 2017, with their names, nationalities and bib numbers.

      La 115ème édition de Paris-Roubaix partira demain matin de Compiègne, pour 257 kilomètres de course en direction du vélodrome de Roubaix. 55 kilomètres de pavés feront vibrer les 199 coureurs qui se présenteront au départ demain matin pour les 25 équipes qui participent à l'Enfer du Nord !

      Dans cet article vous trouverez l'ensemble des coureurs partants ainsi que leur numéro de dossard pour chacun d'entre eux.

      La liste des partants de Paris-Roubaix et les numéros de dossard

      Le vainqueur sortant, Matthew Hayman (Orica-Scott) portera le dossard numéro un et le coureur le plus titré qui fait toujours parti du peloton, Tom Boonen (Quick-Step Floors) avec 4 victoires à son nom (2005, 2008, 2009 et 2012), porte ...

      > Read the whole story | 1 comment | shown 7384x
    • Philippe Gilbert wins the Tour of Flanders 2017 with a long final solo!

      Philippe Gilbert wins the Tour of Flanders 2017 with a long final solo!The 101st edition of the Tour of Flanders didn't work out as usual ... Indeed, even though as usual we saw a first leading group going off rather quickly, the Wall of Geraardsbergen (Mur de Grammont) saw the race explode and Philippe Gilbert ended up in the right chasing group behind the leading group.

      Once in the lead with the initial breakaway, Gilbert decided to attack in the "Oude Kwaremont" and he ended up alone leading the race at a bit over fifty kilometers from the finish! Despite that huge remaining distance, the Belgian Champion manages to resist to the chasing riders behind him and he thus wins this race for the first time in his career!

      The summary of the Tour of Flanders 2017

      Today the 101st edition of the Tour of Flanders (or Ronde van Vlaanderen as it's called locally!) took place.

      During the presentation of the different participating teams on the Market in Antwerp, Tom Boonen (Quick-Step Floors) was received with a "Viking Clap" for the start ...

      > Read the whole story | 3 comments | shown 4137x
    • The Paris-Tours 2016 race route on Google Maps/Google Earth

      The Paris-Tours 2016 race route on Google Maps/Google EarthThis Sunday 9 October 2016 it's already time for the end of season classic in France, the 110th edition of Paris-Tours, which has the nickname of the classic of the falling leaves, just like its big brother Il Lombardia which took place last week. This year it will take place between Dreux in the Eure-et-Loir department and the Avenue de Grammont in Tours.

      As usual, this classic is one of the last races of the season in France and the riders will thus be willing to show what they're capable of once more just before we get in the winter rest period.

      In this article you'll find all you need to know about this end of season classic: the race route on Google Maps, and a downloadable version in Google Earth, the profile and the time- and route schedule.

      The Paris-Tours 2016 race route

      After what was most probably the start location the farthest away from Paris for ...

      > Read the whole story | 1 comment | shown 8729x
    • Mathew Hayman takes his most beautiful victory in Paris-Roubaix 2016 - summary

      Mathew Hayman takes his most beautiful victory in Paris-Roubaix 2016 - summaryThere were two big favorites at the start of the 114th edition of Paris-Roubaix: Peter Sagan (Tinkoff) and Fabian Cancellara (Trek-Segafredo). Even though other riders were "marked" as well, we were pretty much expecting these two guys to be present in the decisive part of the race. While a breakaway with some strong guys was leading the race, a crash in the peloton however made an end to the dream of these two favorites because they ended up in the second part of the peloton and were no longer able to catch up with the breakaway which merged with a part of the first peloton. A crash even definitively brings an end to the dream of a good classification in the Queen stage of the classics for Fabian Cancellara.

      The selection on the cobble stones sections ends up by with a small group of 5 coureurs, Tom Boonen, Luke Rowe, Edvald Boasson Hagen, Sep Vanmarcke and Mathew Hayman and it becomes evident at about twenty
      ...

      > Read the whole story | 4 comments | shown 4443x
    • The participants list for Paris-Roubaix 2016 and their bib numbers

      The participants list for Paris-Roubaix 2016 and their bib numbersTomorrow, 199 riders of 25 different teams will start in Compiègne for 257.5 kilometers of racing, including 52.8 kilometers on cobble stones (see the Paris-Roubaix 2016 race route on Google Maps). This will be the 114th edition of Paris-Roubaix and it will start without last year's winner, John Degenkolb ...

      Starting in Compiègne, the weather should be dry but potentially still with some fog which will disappear progressively. While early this week the weather reports still mentioned rain during the race (which would have been a first since several years!), this will finally not be the case and the riders will thus get on the cobbles towards Roubaix under a dry sky, but without much sun.

      The list of participants for Paris ...

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    • Arnaud Démare (FDJ) wins the sprint for the first stage of Paris-Nice 2016

      Arnaud Démare (FDJ) wins the sprint for the first stage of Paris-Nice 2016The first stage of Paris-Nice 2016 offered 198 kilometers of racing between Condé-sur-Vesgre and Vendôme, with a final circuit which the riders had to do twice and which contained two sand roads of which one going uphill. Finally, these sand roads didn't really influence the result of the stage, which ended in a bunch sprint. This sprint was won by the French rider Arnaud Démare (FDJ) ahead of Ben Swift (Team Sky) and Nacer Bouhanni (Cofidis).

      The summary of the first stage of Paris-Nice 2016: Condé-sur-Vesgre > Vendôme

      At the start in Condé-sur-Vesgre this morning, the 175 riders of the Paris-Nice 2016 peloton respected one minute of silence in honour of Romain Guyot (Vendée U) who lost his life in a road accident during his training.

      ...

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    • The sand roads of the circuit of Paris-Nice 2016's first stage in video

      The sand roads of the circuit of Paris-Nice 2016's first stage in videoAfter yesterday's prologue, the first stage of Paris-Nice will take place today between Condé-sur-Vesgre and Vendôme over a distance of 198 kilometers.

      The last part of these 198 kilometers will take place on a circuit which the riders will do two times and this circuit contains two sand roads. Thanks to Jérémy Roy and Kinomap, you can discover these sand roads before the race gets there because the rider of the FDJ team, who doesn't participate in Paris-Nice 2016, got out on his bike and filmed the final circuit!


      Two sand roads will be on the programme of this first stage, which doesn't please to everyone as we can see in ...

      > Read the whole story | no comments yet | shown 1908x
    • The start list of Paris-Nice 2016 and the start order and -times of the prologue

      The start list of Paris-Nice 2016 and the start order and -times of the prologueTomorrow, Paris-Nice 2016 will start with the 6.1 kilometer long prologue in the streets of Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, followed by 7 stages in line which will bring the riders to the usual finish in Nice (see the Paris-Nice 2016 race route on Google Maps).

      Except unexpected circumstances, 175 riders will come to the start (22 teams of 8 riders each, except for Lotto-Soudal which has one less) tomorrow and in this article you'll find all of them, including their bib numbers, but also the start order and -times of the prologue in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine.

      The participants list of Paris-Nice 2016

      175 riders coming from 35 different countries (the main nationalities are: 40 French riders, 16 Belgian riders, 16 Spanish riders, 15 Dutch riders and 8 Italian riders) will ge ...

      > Read the whole story | 1 comment | shown 5063x
    • Tour de France 2016: the rumours about the race route and the stage cities!

      Tour de France 2016: the rumours about the race route and the stage cities!

      initially published on 23 August 2015 at 0.04AM, updated on 4 September at 10.30PM, on 9 September at 10.15AM, on 12 September at 9.45PM, on 13 September at 3.20PM and at 10.55PM (addition of the map), on 14 September at 12.30PM, on 17 September at noon, on 24 September at 9AM and at 1.30PM, on 27 September at 4.05PM, on 30 September at 10.40PM, on 6 October at 9.50AM, on 7 October at 10.25AM and at 9.05PM, on 8 October at 3.48PM, on 10 October at 3.03PM and at 5.53PM, on 12 October at 9.58PM, on 13 October at 9.10PM, on 15 October at 5PM, on 16 October at 10.34PM, on 17 October at 2.17PM, on 18 October at 2.40PM and at 8.40PM

      While the official announcement is only planned for Tuesday 20 October at the Palais des Congrès in Paris, you are used to find here early September (and this year even a bit before for the French version) the first rumours about the Tour de France race rout ...

      > Read the whole story | 1229 comments | shown 301566x
    • The Tour of Flanders 2015 race route on Google Maps/Google Earth

      The Tour of Flanders 2015 race route on Google Maps/Google EarthWhile the classics season is in full swing, the Tour of Flanders which will take place this weekend is a real monument among the Belgian classics. Created in 1913 and only interrupted during the First World War, the race will have its 99th dition in 2015 and it saw all the big names among the classics riders win it, from Henri Suter to Fabian Cancellara via Walter Godefroot, Eddy Merckx, Roger de Vlaeminck or Johan Museeuw.

      With 68 victories out of 99, Belgium is the record holder of number of victories in the Tour of Flanders but we'll see this Sunday whether the Tour of Flanders 2015 race route which you'll find below on Google Maps/Google Earth will again deliver a Belgian winner or not. With Tom Boonen (Etixx-QuickStep) and Fabian Cancellara (Trek Factory Racing) being absent, Zdenek Stybar (Etixx-QuickStep) is one of the big favorites but the Belgian fans will no doubt hope for Sep Vanmarcke (T
      ...

      > Read the whole story | 2 comments | shown 16157x
    • Paris-Nice 2015: a classical race route - on Google Maps/Google Earth

      Paris-Nice 2015: a classical race route - on Google Maps/Google Earth

      initially published on 12 February at 11.14PM, updated on 23 February at 11.25PM with the complete map of stage 4 and on the 4th and 5th of March with the remaining maps, the time- and route schedules and the video of the prologue and on 13 March with a last minute update of stage 6

      A bit over a week ago, A.S.O. finally announced the Paris-Nice 2015 race route. velowire.com already provided most of the details a week earlier and in order to provide you some further information today, we thought it was a good idea to provide you with the race route of the different Paris-Nice 2015 stages at Google Maps/Google Earth.

      Since A.S.O. has still not published
      ...

      > Read the whole story | 64 comments | shown 22178x
    • Paris-Nice: Thomas de Gendt sees the victory fly away to Davide Cimolai in Rasteau

      Paris-Nice: Thomas de Gendt sees the victory fly away to Davide Cimolai in RasteauA breakaway which almost lasted till the finish: that's what happened for Thomas de Gendt (Lotto-Soudal) who was in the lead all day long, together with 4 others, and who was the last to be taken back in the last few hundreds meters before the finish in Rasteau in the 5th stage of Paris-Nice 2015 today. That's how, like in 2006, the stage victory was decided in a bunch sprint and, almost out of the blue, Davide Cimolai (Lampre-Merida) won the sprint, beating Bryan Coquard (Team Europcar) on the finish line.

      The summary of the 5th stage of Paris-Nice 2015: Saint-Etienne > Rasteau

      At 11.17AM 154 riders got away for the 5th stage between Saint-Etienne and Rasteau. Ramon Sinkeldam (Giant-Shimano, sick) and Adam Hansen (Lotto-Soudal, who crashed yesterday) didn't come to the start of this stage with an identical race route as in 2006 between th ...

      > Read the whole story | no comments yet | shown 2036x
    • Richie Porte attacks right on time in the climb of the Croix de Chaubouret!

      Richie Porte attacks right on time in the climb of the Croix de Chaubouret!A 3 riders strong breakaway, with Thomas de Gendt (Lotto-Soudal), Antoine Duchesne (Europcar) and Chris-Anker Sørensen (Tinkoff-Saxo), animated the 4th stage of Paris-Nice 2015, the queen stage with its 8 difficulties including the mountain top finish which had never been part of the race before, at the Croix de Chaubouret. When they were taken back in the final part of the stage, the favourites of the race showed up in front, with Team Sky seeming to be stronger than the others. Richie Porte and Geraint Thomas got away together and Richie Porte won the stage. Michal Kwiatkowski (Etixx-QuickStep) finished at the 3rd place at 8 seconds and thus took back the yellow jersey he lost in yesterday's stage, now being 1 second ahead of Porte!

      The summary of the 4th stage of Paris-Nice 2015: Varenne-sur-Allier > Croix de Chaubouret - 204 km

      The riders reached the km 0 of the 4th stage of Paris-Nice 2015 a ...

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    • Alexander Kristoff continues his victories in the sprint at the 1st stage of Paris-Nice 2015

      Alexander Kristoff continues his victories in the sprint at the 1st stage of Paris-Nice 2015Today's stage started with a solo breakaway by Jonathan Hivert (Bretagne-Séché Environnement), which allowed him to take the polka dot jersey of the climbers classification on the first short climb at the very start of the stage. A new breakaway was then set up as a duo with Thomas Voeckler (Team Europcar) and Anthony Delaplace (Bretagne-Séché Environnement) and just before the finish this leading duo was taken back by the peloton and the stage thus ended, as expected, in a sprint.

      Alexander Kristoff (Team Katusha), who already won 4 times in the Tour of Oman and the Tour of Qatar early this season, again showed he's the strongest, beating Nacer Bouhanni (Cofidis) and Bryan Coquard (Europcar) easily on the finish line in Contres.

      The summary of the 1st stage of Paris-Nice 2015: Saint-Rémy-lès-Chevreuse > Contres

      A stage of 196.5 kilometers between Saint-Rémy-lès-Chevreuse and Contres was awaiting the riders who participate ...

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    • The participating riders in Paris-Nice 2015 and their numbers + start order prologue

      The participating riders in Paris-Nice 2015 and their numbers + start order prologueThis Sunday 8 March 2015, Paris-Nice 2015 will start in Maurepas with a prologue which precedes a race route made up of 7 stages with a total distance of 1134 kilometers!

      In this article you'll find the official participants list, with their bib numbers and nationality. During the week you'll find many photos and at least one article a day with the summary of the stage on velowire.com!


      Here are the participants per team:

      AG2R La Mondiale

      Since Carlos Betancur was last year's winner of Paris-Nice, the Race to the sun which will this year take place under the sun at least for the start in the Yvelines department(!), the AG2R La Mondiale team got the first bib numbers. Carlos Betancur will not participate in the race however and Jean-Christophe Péraud, who finished 2nd in the ...

      > Read the whole story | 3 comments | shown 6313x
    • The Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Kuurne-Bruxelles-Kuurne 2015 race routes on Google Maps/Google Earth

      The Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Kuurne-Bruxelles-Kuurne 2015 race routes on Google Maps/Google EarthThis weekend, the Belgian classics will take over the reigns of the de UCI cycling calendar again. 2015's classics season starts - as usual - with the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad on Saturday and Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne on Sunday. For some people, the cycling season really only starts when it's the Omloop. Although the season has been ongoing for weeks now, the season will now really start for them this weekend as well!

      Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne didn't take place in 2013 due to snow but in 2014 the race was won by Tom Boonen (Mark Cavendish won the race in 2012) and we'll thus see this Sunday who will follow up on the Belgian sprinter. Concerning the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, Ian Stannard is the last winner of the race after a duo sprint with Greg van Avermaet last year.

      In this article you'll find the time- and route schedules, the profiles with the different mounts and the maps with the race routes of these two Belgian classics on
      ...

      > Read the whole story | no comments yet | shown 6982x
    • The stage cities of the Paris-Nice 2015 race route: official before the press conference!

      The stage cities of the Paris-Nice 2015 race route: official before the press conference!Many of you are looking for information about the race route of Paris-Nice 2015. As usual, Amaury Sport Organisation (A.S.O.) announces the race route quite late, more precisely 33 days before the start (like last year), on 3 February.

      Anyone who does some basic research however manages to get together the different bits of information to get to know the race route and that's what did Le blog de l'Ardoisier. If you find an article dedicated to the Paris-Nice 2015 race route today there must be a reason ... Indeed, it's simply because as of today, the information can be confirmed .. based on a 100% sure source!

      What has been officially announced

      The information about the start of the 73rd edition of the Race to the sun, the nickname of ...

      > Read the whole story | 9 comments | shown 14085x
    • The Tour de France 2014 race route on Google Maps/Google Earth, stage profiles and other details

      The Tour de France 2014 race route on Google Maps/Google Earth, stage profiles and other detailsAs usual, velowire.com allows you to discover all details of the race route of this 101ème edition of the Grande Boucle, on Google Maps/Google Earth, and this time this exclusive content is already available at about two weeks from the start of the Tour de France 2014.

      With the information in this article you'll get to know all details, all cities and all villages which will be visited by the Tour and it will thus allow you to prepare your visit if you go watch the race live or to simply better understand the race!

      Some preliminary information ...

      Some of you might have already discovered the race route on Google Maps as published by the organisor of the Tour de France on this official website of the race.

      velowire.com could thus hav ...

      > Read the whole story | 23 comments | shown 78913x
    • Niki Terpstra winner at the end of the cobble stones in Paris-Roubaix 2014

      Niki Terpstra winner at the end of the cobble stones in Paris-Roubaix 2014The first reaction of Niki Terpstra, first Dutch winner of Paris-Roubaix after Servais Knaven in 2001, maybe best resumed the Hell of the North, version 2014. Indeed, after the queen of the classics, the rider of the Omega Pharma-QuickStep team, declared being very happy .. and very tired!

      It was a fatiguing race which remained undecided until the end on the cobbles between Compiègne and the Vélodrome of Roubaix this afternoon which didn't see the big favourite Fabian Cancellara (Trek Factory Racing), but a Dutch rider win this race for the first time since 13 years!

      The summary of Paris-Roubaix 2014

      At 10.15AM, 199 riders started in the 112th edition of Paris-Roubaix and when they got to the km 0 in Clairoix, there were immediately several attacks but we had to wait until the ...

      > Read the whole story | 2 comments | shown 3410x
    • Paris-Roubaix 2014: its race route, its cobble stone zones and the other details of the Hell of the North

      Paris-Roubaix 2014: its race route, its cobble stone zones and the other details of the Hell of the NorthAfter Fabian Cancellara's victory in a sprint of 4 in the Tour of Flanders last Sunday, we'll see in the Hell of the North this Sunday whether Spartacus can make it, like in 2010 and in 2013, a combination win of both races!

      In this article you'll find the Paris-Roubaix 2014 race route on Google Maps and in Google Earth as well as the details of the 28 cobble stones sections which will be part of this 112th edition of Paris-Roubaix and in which we see some changes compared to last year.

      The race route will be slightly different from last year: there will now be 28 cobble stones sections (one more than last year) and with 257 kilometers, the total distance is hardly any longer.

      The 28 cobble stones sections of Paris-Roubaix 2014

      The race which nickname is the Hell of the North is of course known for ...

      > Read the whole story | 8 comments | shown 38946x
    • Fabian Cancellara wins his 3rd Tour of Flanders!

      Fabian Cancellara wins his 3rd Tour of Flanders!It was today that the Tour of Flanders - or Ronde van Vlaanderen or even "Hoogmis" (the High Mass) as the Belgian call it - took place with its 98th edition between Brugge and Oudenaarde.

      A race which led to numerous crashes but most of all with the suspense which makes us love these Belgian classics! After 259.8 kilometers, it was finally Fabian Cancellara who crossed the finish line first. The Swiss rider thus won the Tour of Flanders for the 3rd time!

      The summary of the Tour of Flanders 2014

      The Tour of Flanders 2014 started in Brugge with a bit of rain at 10.15AM.

      Despite several attempts right from the start, it was only after a bit more than 35 kilometers that a group of 11 riders went off, with the following riders in this group: Stig Broeckx (Lotto-Belisol), Davide Appollonio (AG2R La Mondiale), Taylor Phinney (BMC Racing Team), Daryl Impey (Orica-GreenEdge), Aliaksandr Kuchynski (Katusha), Romain Zingle (Cofidis, so ...

      > Read the whole story | 2 comments | shown 3449x
    • Carlos Betancur wins the stage in Rive-de-Gier and takes an option on the yellow jersey in Paris-Nice 2014

      Carlos Betancur wins the stage in Rive-de-Gier and takes an option on the yellow jersey in Paris-Nice 2014In the 153 kilometer long stage between Crêches-sur-Saône and Rive-de-Gier today, the riders had to climb 4 difficulties. A 5 rider strong breakaway was formed after an attack by Sylvain Chavanel and when this breakaway, including the one who initiated it and ended it off, was taken back at a few kilometers from the finish, several attacks succeeded. The one by Carlos Betancur finally turned out to be the right one because the Colombian rider who initiated this attack managed to beat the two other riders who jumped with him on the finish line. A nice result for the rider of the AG2R La Mondiale team who also climbs up to the 4th position in the general classification at 5 seconds of the leader Geraint Thomas.

      The summary of the 5th stage of Paris-Nice 2014 between Crêches-sur-Saône and Rive-de-Gier

      After the start in Crêches-sur-Saône at noon, several attempts preceded the one which led to today's breakaway, initiated by Sylvain Chavanel (IAM ...

      > Read the whole story | 4 comments | shown 4721x
    • The 3rd one is the right one for John Degenkolb in Paris-Nice 2014 !

      The 3rd one is the right one for John Degenkolb in Paris-Nice 2014 !The days go on and they look alike in Paris-Nice 2014! Yet another sunny day and a small leading group which goes off early in the stage (Julien Fouchard [Cofidis], Perrig Quémeneur [Europcar] and Romain Feillu [Bretagne-Séché]) before being taken back before the end.

      Perrig Quémeneur manages to arrive on the Circuit de Nevers Magny Cours alone, still leading the race, but wasn't able to resist to the chasing peloton behind him and the stage thus finally ended in a sprint again. Two times second, in the previous stages of this Paris-Nice, but this time it was the right one for John Degenkolb (Team Argos-Shimano), who not only takes the stage win but also the yellow, green and white jerseys. Christophe Laborie keeps his polka dot jersey as the King of the Mountains leader.

      The summary of the 3rd stage of Paris-Nice 2014: Toucy > Cir ...

      > Read the whole story | 2 comments | shown 6712x

    • The list of participating riders in Paris-Nice 2014 and their numbers

      The list of participating riders in Paris-Nice 2014 and their numbersThis Sunday, the 72nd edition of Paris-Nice will start and run 8 stages in line over the longest distance in the history of the race since it takes place in 8 days (9 before).

      168 riders will come to the start (including 36 young riders who can pretend to the white jersey), representing 27 nations. In this article you'll find the names of these riders, together with their bib numbers which allow them to be identified in the race!

      The represented nations

      27 nations will be represented by 168 riders at the start of Paris-Nice 2014, in 21 teams, with the most riders coming from France (43 riders), Belgium (18), Italy (16), The Netherlands (14) and Spain (10).

      These countries are followed by Russia (7), Australia and the United States (6), Germany, Denmark and Norway(5), Great-Britain, Luxembourg and Switzerland (4), Poland, Portug ...

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    • The 198 participating riders in Paris-Roubaix 2013 and their numbers

      The 198 participating riders in Paris-Roubaix 2013 and their numbersThis article has unfortunately not been translated in English. However, you can find below the list of participating riders in Paris-Roubaix 2013 and their bib numbers, together with a French presentation.

      C'est aujourd'hui que l'Enfer du Nord, la 111ème édition de Paris-Roubaix, verra 198 coureurs de 31 nationalités se présenter au départ pour avaler les 254,5 kilomètres dont 52,5 kilomètres en 27 secteurs pavés figurant sur le parcours de Paris-Roubaix 2013.

      Ici vous trouverez la liste officielle des partants de Paris-Roubaix 2013, y compris leurs numéros de dossard. Vous trouverez également des informations pour savoir comment suivre Paris-Roubaix 2013 à la TV.

      ...

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    • Paris-Roubaix 2013: its race route, its cobble stone zones and the other details of the Hell of the North

      Paris-Roubaix 2013: its race route, its cobble stone zones and the other details of the Hell of the NorthAfter the impressive win by Fabian Cancellara in the Tour of Flanders yesterday, we'll see this Sunday in the Hell of the North wether Spartacus, like in 2010, is able to win both of these monuments!

      In this article you'll find the Paris-Roubaix 2013 race route on Google Maps and in Google Earth and all details about the 27 cobble stones sections which will be part of this 111th edition of Paris-Roubaix and which include some changes compared to last year.

      The race route will be a little bit different from the last two years but there will still be 27 cobble stones sections and with 254.5 kilometers the distance is quite similar to past years as well. After Tom Boonen (Omega Pharma-QuickStep)'s crash yesterday in the Tour of Flanders, a big favourite disappears on the radar o ...

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    • Tour of Flanders 2013: the victory for .... Fabian Cancellara!

      Tour of Flanders 2013: the victory for .... Fabian Cancellara!A Tour of Flanders not like the others, with last year's winner, Tom Boonen, who had to abandon the race after having crashed only 19 kilometers after the start of the race. Not like the others also because of how the race unfolded: the breakaway was formed quite late in the race and it was also taken back quite late. It finally fell apart little by little and Fabian Cancellara turned out to be the only element which made this Tour of Flanders like the other editions, like the 2010 edition to be precise because the Swiss rider today won his second Tour of Flanders!

      The summary of the Tour of Flanders 2013

      The Tour of Flanders 2013 took place today under dry but very cold weather, from the start on the Market in Bruges where 205 riders got away for 256.2 kilometers towards the finish in Oudenaarde.

      Two crashes made an end to this Tour of Flanders for two riders at the start of the race, Eliot Lietaer (Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise) after only 3 kilometers but, mor ...

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    • Yet another stage victory and yellow jersey coup in Paris-Nice 2013 : Andrew Talansky takes it all in Brioude

      Yet another stage victory and yellow jersey coup in Paris-Nice 2013 : Andrew Talansky takes it all in BrioudeThe 3rd stage of Paris-Nice 2013 took place in the rain, with a long breakaway of 4 riders which was taken back before the finish. The sprint didn't turn out to be a bunch sprint like the past few days however since the profile of the last part of this stage allowed a small group to get away and thus have the stage winner among this small selection.

      That fortunate rider's name was Andrew Talansky (Garmin-Sharp) and since the yellow jersey group with Elia Viviani (Cannondale) himself in front finished almost 3 minutes later, the young American rider also took the yellow jersey.

      The summary of the 3rd stage of Paris-Nice 2013: Châtel-Guyon > Brioude

      After yesterday's abandon of Nacer Bouhanni (FDJ), Jacob Rathe (Garmin-Sharp) and Alexandre Pichot, 176 riders came to the start in Châtel-Guyon just before noon, José Ivan Gutierrez (Movistar Tea ...

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    • The list of participating riders in Paris-Nice 2013 and their numbers, who will follow up on Brad Wiggins?

      The list of participating riders in Paris-Nice 2013 and their numbers, who will follow up on Brad Wiggins?At the end of the afternoon this Saturday, at the start Permanence in Houilles, the liste of participating riders in Paris-Nice 2013 has been confirmed.

      184 riders in 23 teams of 8 riders will come to the start in this 71st edition of the Race to the sun, representing 31 nations. In this article you'll find the list of participating riders and the bib numbers for each of the riders of Paris-Nice 2013. At the end of this article you'll find further information about the TV coverage of this race.

      The list of participating riders in Paris-Nice 2013 and their bib numbers

      31 nations will be represented in this race which will litterally go find the sun, somewhere on the road between Houilles and Nice / the Col d'Eze.

      Among these nations, France (42 riders), Belgium (22), Spain (20), Italy (18) and ...

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    • Tom Boonen solo wins Paris-Roubaix 2012: a 4th victory!

      Tom Boonen solo wins Paris-Roubaix 2012: a 4th victory!The biggest favourite of all, Tom Boonen, showed today in Paris-Roubaix 2012 why it was logical that everyone wished him a 4th victory. When things got serious in the race, the rider from Mol in Belgium decided to make it a solo race for no less than 53 kilometers, finishing it off with a mandatory lap but which actually became a lap of honour in the Vélodrome of Roubaix! With this 4th victory we're sure Tom Boonen now really says "I ♥ RBX"!

      This article and the numerous photos you'll be able to find in the Paris-Roubaix 2012 photo category in the photo section, were made possible thanks to Go4Cycling, a small company which organizes VIP trips in the spring classics and which kindly offered me the opportunity to get on board of their trip in Paris-Roubaix today.

      The summary of Paris-Roubaix 2012

      Under a hesitating sun the 110th edition of Paris-Roubaix started this morning, a ...

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    • Paris-Roubaix 2012: its race route, its cobble zones and other details about the Hell of the North

      Paris-Roubaix 2012: its race route, its cobble zones and other details about the Hell of the NorthAfter Tom Boonen's victory in the Tour of Flandres last Sunday, next Sunday we'll see in the Hell of the North if Tommeke can realise, just like in 2005, a double victory in these two Sunday races .. which would make his 4th win in 2 weeks!

      In this article you'll find the race route of Paris-Roubaix 2012 on Google Maps and in Google Earth as well as all details about the 27 cobbled stones sections which are, just like last year, part of the 110th edition of Paris-Roubaix.


      The race route will be exactly the same as the one used in the 2011 edition, won by Johan Vansummeren (at that time riding for Garmin-Cervélo, currently still in the same team which now has been renamed in Garmin-Barracuda), with still the same 27 cobbled stones sections and 257.5 kilometers between Compiègne and Roub ...

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    • The Tour of Flanders 2012 for Tom Boonen as well!

      The Tour of Flanders 2012 for Tom Boonen as well!The Tour of Flanders 2012, Flanders' most beautiful, even with a modified race route, was won by Tom Boonen today when he finished easily ahead of the Italian rider Filippo Pozzato with whom he was in the final breakaway, together with number 3, Alessandro Ballan.

      Finally it was not the race route which put his main competitor Fabian Cancellara out of competition and it was not the power of the Belgian rider either but an unfortunate crash of the Swiss rider who will yet again not reproduce his 2010 classics season.

      The summary of the Tour of Flanders 2012

      The race route

      The new race route of the Tour of Flandrers was highly criticised since it was announced a few months ago. Rumours said that some fans of the race were planning of putting up pushpins on the road in the final part of the race in order to disrupt it. As an April's fool, the Belgian sports channel Sporza published this morning ...

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    • Paris-Nice will start in the Yvelines department until 2017!

      Paris-Nice will start in the Yvelines department until 2017!While the 70th edition of Paris-Nice just ended with a nice victory for Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky), Amaury Sport Organisation and the Yvelines department are already thinking of the future editions when they announce today that the Race to the sun will start from the departement on the West side of Paris until 2017.

      Sunday a week ago, Gustav Larsson was the winner of the initial time trial which started in Dampierre-en-Yvelines and ended in Saint-Rémy-lès-Chevreuse, with the two cities being separated on the race route by the locally famous Côte des 17 Tournants. The next day, the ...

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    • Paris-Nice 2012 : Alejandro Valverde turns out to be the strongest at the Lac de Vassivière

      Paris-Nice 2012 : Alejandro Valverde turns out to be the strongest at the Lac de VassivièreThe third stage of Paris-Nice 2012 took place today between Vierzon and the Lac de Vassivière over a distance of 194 kilometers. A 3 riders strong breakaway animated this stage, but once they were taken back, the final uphill part of the stage towards the lake allowed this stage to finish in a bunch sprint, sprint which was won by Alejandro Valverde of Movistar Team.

      The summary of the 3rd stage of Paris-Nice 2012

      The start in Vierzon took place at the end of this morning, with 173 riders at the start. Indeed Andy Schleck (Radioshack-Nissan) decided not to come to the start because of an acute gastroenteritis. Aidis Kruopis (GreenEDGE) didn't start either.

      Andy Schleck declared about his abandon that he really wanted to try. But against sickness you cannot do a lot. I need to let my body recover from this. This is bad news, I wanted to perform well in ...

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    • Paris-Nice 2012 : Tom Boonen sprints to his 100th professional victory

      Paris-Nice 2012 : Tom Boonen sprints to his 100th professional victoryThe second stage of Paris-Nice 2012, between Mantes-la-Jolie and Orléans, has been marked by the wind, crashes and the final sprint of the breakaway which was won by the Belgian rider Tom Boonen of the Omega Pharma-QuickStep team. Bradley Wiggins takes the precious yellow jersey which he would have liked to take after yesterday's time trial.

      The summary of the 2nd stage of Paris-Nice 2012: Mantes-la-Jolie > Orléans

      The start of the stage was in Mantes-la-Jolie at the end of the morning (at 11.54AM), with 176 riders at the start.

      After having been present at the signature this morning, Nick Nuyens ...

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    • The list of participating riders in Paris-Nice 2012 and their numbers

      The list of participating riders in Paris-Nice 2012 and their numbersThis article is not yet available in English. You can read it below in French:

      Ce dimanche, Paris-Nice 2012 partira de Dampierre-en-Yvelines pour un contre-la-montre de 9,4 kilomètres vers Saint-Rémy-lès-Chevreuse avant d'enchaîner sur un peu plus de 1.146 kilomètres dans les 7 étapes suivantes.

      Dans cet article vous trouverez la liste des partants, avec leurs numéros de dossard et quelques informations supplémentaires sur les 22 équipes présentes dans cette 70ème édition de Paris-Nice.


      176 coureurs se présenteront au départ, représentant 27 nationalités. La France (40) est le pays le mieux représenté, suivi par la Belgique (23) et l'Espagne (22).

      L'ordre de départ du contre-la-montre inaugural entre Dampierre-en-Yvelines et Saint-Rémy-lès-Chevreuse

      Si vous souhaitez connaître l'ordre de départ de l'ensemble des ...

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    • The Tour de France 2012, a Tour made of transfers

      The Tour de France 2012, a Tour made of transfersAs you know, I've been working since September on the rumours about the race route of the Tour de France 2012. While I was getting ready to publish all the information about the last week of the race tonight, ASO got the scoop before me by publishing, by mistake, the race route on the official Tour de France website.

      That's why I decided tonight to publish the focus I was planning to do in the same article in a dedicated dédié, which you are currently reading ... The transfers of riders between cycling teams have more or less all been announced when we discover that the Tour de France 2012 will also be a Tour of transfers. Exactly what you need to make riders and followers of the Tour very happy!

      The "bad mistake" in the content management of the website letour.fr

      Once it got published on the website letour.fr, at the usual address (you onl ...

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    • The tweets of the week: is there any food left?

      The tweets of the week: is there any food left?This week in the Tweets of the week a new advertising career for Ricco, Steven Cozza going green, Daniel Oss looking for excuses for not respecting the traffic rules, a multi-functional cook with Katusha ... and many more!

      A super chief cook for Katusha

      Patrick Chassé has his eye on everything! While visiting the Katusha web site, the French journalist (cycling commentator on Eurosport France) is surprised by the role of press agent in the team. Indeed, on the "press agents" page of the web site we see ... the cook of Katusha Team! Indeed, apparently after having prepared dinner, it's possible in this team to work on press relations ... Well, we think it's a bit strange anyway! ...

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    • Nick Nuyens (Saxo Bank-Sungard) wins the Tour of Flanders 2011!

      Nick Nuyens (Saxo Bank-Sungard) wins the Tour of Flanders 2011!This morning everyone thought this Tour of Flanders would be won by Fabian Cancellara. Spartacus gave it a try and as usual he seemed to be stronger than anyone else but in the end what seemed to be a hunger knock cramps made an end to the dream of the Swiss rider.

      A complete change in the race which finally gave the chance to a Belgian rider to win this race "at home", Nick Nuyens was the fastest in the sprint!

      The summary of the Tour of Flanders 2011

      For a race like the Tour of Flanders, the peloton is always quit nervous since each of the teams want to have a rider in the first breakaway.

      It was thus not surprising to see that quickly after the start, several riders tried their chance to break away from the peloton. It was however only after 50 kilometers that Jeremy Hunt (Team Sky), Roger Hammond (Team Garmin-Cervélo), Sébastien Turgot (Team Europcar), Stefan van Dijk (Veranda's Willems) and Mitchell Docker (Skil- ...

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    • Tom Boonen (Quick Step) wins Paris-Roubaix 2011 ... can ASO predict the future?

      Tom Boonen (Quick Step) wins Paris-Roubaix 2011 ... can ASO predict the future?Tom Boonen will win Paris-Roubaix 2011. Yes indeed, you read it correctly ... the day after the victory in Ghent-Wevelgem for the Belgian rider of the Quick Step team, I already announce you that he will win the 109th edition of Paris-Roubaix 2 weeks later. And that's thanks to the predictive capabilities of ASO!

      It'll still be 2 weeks before the 109th edition of the Hell of the North will take place, but ASO has already published the Journal de l'étape (race summary) on the official web site letour.fr. According to the information we can read there, the Belgian rider who has already won ...

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    • The 2010 Paris-Tours 2010 route on Google Maps/Google Earth, the time and route schedule and the list of participants

      The 2010 Paris-Tours 2010 route on Google Maps/Google Earth, the time and route schedule and the list of participantsThis Sunday the 104th edition of Paris-Tours will take place between La Loupe and Tours. This Classic of the falling leaves is one of the last races of the season and the riders will thus want to shine for the last time before the winter break.

      The race was won by Philippe Gilbert in 2008 and 2009. Will the Belgian rider be able to complete his triple this Sunday?

      In this article you'll find all you wanted to know about this end of season classic: the race route on Google Maps and a downloadable version for Google Earth, the time and route schedule, the 25 participating teams and the list of participants with their numbers.

      The Paris-Tours 2010 race route

      Last year ASO signed a contract with the Eure-et-Loir department which stated that Paris-Tours would start from this department from 2009 till 2013. While the start was i ...

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    • The list of participating riders for the 2010 Tour de France and their numbers

      The list of participating riders for the 2010 Tour de France and their numbersAs you probably know by now, the Tour de France 2010 will start in Rotterdam on Saturday (see my article The 2010 Tour de France route on Google Maps/Google Earth and the route and time schedule for detailed information about the route). While the official website indicates the participating riders are not known yet, they actually are now ...

      In this article you'll thus discover the list of riders who will come to the start of the Tour de France 2010 and who'll do all they can to finish the 3,642 kilometers up to Paris where they'll finish on Sunday 25 July 2010. You'll
      ...

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    • 2010 Tour of Switzerland: Heinrich Haussler wins the sprint in Sierre while Fabian Cancellara keeps the yellow jersey ... and a big smile!

      2010 Tour of Switzerland: Heinrich Haussler wins the sprint in Sierre while Fabian Cancellara keeps the yellow jersey ... and a big smile!A leading group of 5 riders made the show in the stage between Ascona and Sierre today. Three of the riders of this leading group were taken back only in the last kilometers and the stage finally ended in a bunch sprint which was won by Heinrich Haussler (Cervélo TestTeam), ahead of Pablo Urtasun of the Euskaltel-Euskadi team, Marco Marcato of the Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team and the sprinter of the Rabobank team, Oscar Freire.

      The summary of the second stage of the Tour of Switzerland 2010

      Early this afternoon the 167 riders of the Tour of Switzerland 2010 took the start in Ascona at the Lago Maggiore for a 167.5 kilometer long stage with its finish in Sierre. During this stage the riders climbed the Simplonpass (1st category) with its top in the middle ...

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    • The list of participating riders for the 2010 Tour of Switzerland and their numbers

      The list of participating riders for the 2010 Tour of Switzerland and their numbersUnfortunately this article is not available in English. You can read it below in French or click here to read the Dutch version.

      Demain en fin d'après-midi à Lugano, 168 167 coureurs (21 équipes de 8 coureurs, avec finalement un de moins pour la Française des Jeux) seront au départ du Tour de Suisse 2010 pour un contre-la-montre individuel (voir mon article avec le parcours du Tour de Suisse 2010 sur Google Maps / Google Earth pour tous les détails sur le parcours, les profils et les itinéraires horaires des 9 étapes).
      Dans cet article vous découvrirez toute la liste de coureurs participants à cette 74ème édition
      ...

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    • Fabian Cancellara does a double victory with Paris-Roubaix 2010 after the Tour of Flanders!

      Fabian Cancellara does a double victory with Paris-Roubaix 2010 after the Tour of Flanders!The scenario was almost the same as in the Tour of Flanders 2010 which he won last week: Fabian Cancellara (Team Saxo Bank) placed an attack at the right moment in the 108th edition of Paris-Roubaix, continued as if he was doing an individual time trial and finished as the winner in the Vélodrome of Roubaix!

      His main competitor Tom Boonen (Quick Step) finished 5th behind Thor Hushovd (Cervélo TestTeam), Juan Antonio Flecha (Team Sky) and Roger Hammond (Cervélo TestTeam).

      A summary of Paris-Roubaix 2010

      This morning in Compiègne, ...

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    • The liste of participating riders for Paris-Roubaix 2010 and their numbers

      The liste of participating riders for Paris-Roubaix 2010 and their numbersThis article has not been translated in English. However, you can still consult it below to discover the full list of participating riders to Paris-Roubaix 2010 and their numbers.

      Au vue de l'immense popularité de mon article avec le parcours et l'itinéraire horaire de Paris-Roubaix 2010, je me suis dit que la liste des partants et leurs numéros de dossard allait également vous intéresser !

      En cadeau, je vous donne également les liens vers les interviews avec quelques uns des coureurs qui seront aujourd'hui au départ de Paris-Roubaix 2010 à Compiègne.

      La liste des partants des 25 équipes de Paris-Roubaix 2010

      25 équipes se trouveront au départ de ...

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    • Fabian Cancellara (Saxo Bank) wins the Tour of Flanders 2010

      Fabian Cancellara (Saxo Bank) wins the Tour of Flanders 2010The Tour of Flanders 2010, also known as De Ronde (of Ronde van Vlaanderen, the Flemmish name of the race), was won by Fabian Cancellara (Team Saxo Bank) this afternoon.
      The 94th edition was very selective as usual, but surprisingly the two big favourites created a decisive gap with still 45 kilometers to go. First they worked together but it was finally the Swiss rider of the Danish team who placed the decisive attack in Geraardsbergen to become the second Swiss in the history of the Tour of Flanders to win this classic.

      A summary of the Tour of Flanders 2010

      This morning, a bit after 9.45AM, a 198 riders strong peloton took the start of Vlaanderens Mooiste on the Market of Brugge.

      Immediately after the start a leading group was formed after an attack by the Spanish rider Vicente Garcia Acosta of the Caisse d'Epargne team, accompanied in this group by Michele Merlo (Footon-Servetto), ...

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    • Milan-San Remo 2010: Oscar Freire (Rabobank) wins the Primavera

      Milan-San Remo 2010: Oscar Freire (Rabobank) wins the PrimaveraThe famous Italian Classic race at the start of the season, Milan-San Remo, started its 2010 edition in the rain. Even though the weather got a bit better after a few hours in the race, the riders never found the spring conditions they had last year.

      The almost 300 kilometers had of course tired out the riders, but as usual it ended in a sprint and Oscar Freire (Rabobank) was the quickest by finishing the sprint two bike lengths before Tom Boonen (Quick Step) and Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre-Farnese Vini). The Spanish rider thus wins the Primavera for the 3rd time in his career (after 2004 and 2007)!

      The president of the Italian cycling federation, Renato Di Rocco, announced at the start of this Milan-San Remo that Paolo Bettini, double World Champion (2006 and 2007) and Olympic Champion in 2004, will become the new national coach of Italy. He thus succeeds F
      ...

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    • This weekend's cobbled classics: Omloop Het Nieuwsblad for Juan Antonio Flecha and Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne for Bobbie Traksel

      This weekend's cobbled classics: Omloop Het Nieuwsblad for Juan Antonio Flecha and Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne for Bobbie TrakselThe 2010 season of cobbled classics has started this weekend with the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad on Saturday and Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne today. If the weather wasn't very good yesterday with some rain, today the riders really suffered with the rain and very heavy wind (and cold!).

      Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne: 20 km shorter than planned

      Initially planned over 194 kilometers, the organisation decided during the race to remove a circuit from the route and thus reduce it by 20 kilometers.
      195 riders came to the start with some drizzling rain and 16 of them formed the first leading group. Lloyd Mondory (AG2R La Mondiale) was also part of this group, but a fall made an end to this K-B-K for him.
      When the first leading group was taken back the wind divided the peloton in two parts and the 44 riders who were in the second part massively decided to abandon in the feeding zone ...

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    • The two girls of the Jeunes Reporters du Tour publish a new ranking of the most glamorous riders!

      The two girls of the Jeunes Reporters du Tour publish a new ranking of the most glamorous riders!After having published my article Some statistics of the 2009 cycling season yesterday, I propose to discover a new top 10 today.

      Yet another one? Yes, I hear you thinking already ... but this is very special top 10: the one of the most glamorous riders of the Tour de France 2009 by Léa and Marion.

      The Jeunes Reporters du Tour

      You remember the Jeunes Reporters du Tour 2009? You know, those 4 boys and 2 girls, between 13 and 16 years old, who worked on the Tour as if they were real journalists and regularly published their newspaper à notre tour.

      The archives of this newspaper, distributed during the Tour de France in the Village Départ and in the press room, are still available on the Jeunes Reporters's website.

      In their ...

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    • Some statistics of the 2009 cycling season

      Some statistics of the 2009 cycling seasonAt the end of the season it's always a good time to have a look at the statistics. A cycling season in digits and tables of course reflects the number of stage or race wins, the number of kilometers and the number of race days.

      In this article you'll find some of these statistics, thanks to an article in the Belgian newspaper Het Nieuwsblad but most of all thanks to the very useful web site Cycling Quotient Ranking.

      The biggest number of victories

      Individual ranking

      The ranking which is probably the most top of mind is of course the one based on number of stage or race wins and this season this ranking is led, as usual and without any surprise, by the sprinters.

      This is the top 10 of this ranking: ...

      > Read the whole story | 8 comments | shown 7856x
    • Alberto Contador (Astana) wins the Amstel Curaçao Race ahead of Thor Hushovd and Koos Moerenhout

      Alberto Contador (Astana) wins the Amstel Curaçao Race ahead of Thor Hushovd and Koos MoerenhoutFor the 8th time the island Curaçao in the Dutch Antilles was the dream location for the very last race of the season this Saturday: the Amstel Curaçao Race.

      A few hours ago the Spanish rider of the Astana team, Alberto Contador, won this race for the second time, after his first win under the sun of Curaçao in 2007.

      The route

      The race, which started and finished at the Lions Dive & Beach Resort, crossed a big part of the island from east to west with a circuit of 73,6 kilometers.

      Below you'll find a map of the route (click on the map to zoom): ...

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    • Paris-Tours 2009: Philippe Gilbert (Silence-Lotto) wins two times in row!

      Paris-Tours 2009: Philippe Gilbert (Silence-Lotto) wins two times in row!It rarely happens in Paris-Tours, but Philippe Gilbert (Silence-Lotto) managed to do it today: to win the Classic of the falling leaves two times in row!
      He beats his compatriot Tom Boonen (Quick Step) on the finish line.


      Almost immediately after the start, after 9 kilometers, a leading group is formed by 10 riders. In this leading group we find Laszlo Bodrogi (Team Katusha), Cédric Pineau and Martin Elmiger (AG2R La Mondiale), Matthieu Ladagnous (Française des Jeux), Damien Gaudin (Bbox Bouygues Telecom), Mathew Hayman (Rabobank), Jean-Luc Delpech (Bretagne-Schuller), Aart Vierhouten (Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team, who did his last race today), Jonathan Thiré (Auber 93) and Tom Veelers (Skil-Shimano).
      The 10 manage to create a gap of up to 7'45" with the peloton.

      At about 50 kilometers from the finish one of the big favourites of this 103rd edition of Paris-Tours, André Greipel (Columbi ...

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    • Paris-Tours 2009 : route (Google Maps/Google Earth), participants, numbers, ...

      Paris-Tours 2009 : route (Google Maps/Google Earth), participants, numbers, ...Tomorrow Paris-Tours 2009, also known as the Classique des feuilles mortes: the classic of the falling leaves, will take place. The start of this 103rd edition is for the very first time in Chartres.

      In this article you'll find all you wanted to know about this end of the season classic: the full route, the route in Google Maps and a downloadable version of the route in Google Earth, the full itinerary and times, the 25 participating teams and the list of participants with their numbers.

      The start from Chartres

      Since 1994 Paris-Tours always started in Saint-Arnoult-en-Yvelines. On 9 September however, A.S.O. signed a contract with the Eure-et-Loir department for the organisation of the start of Paris-Tours from 2009 till 2013.

      At the official presentation of this contract Christian Prudhomme announced that the Tour de France will also visit the Eure-et-Loir somewhere in the next four years without however saying when that will be. The city D ...

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    • World Championships in Mendrisio: Cadel Evans (Australia) in the rainbow jersey!

      World Championships in Mendrisio: Cadel Evans (Australia)  in the rainbow jersey!Today the road race for Elites took place at the World Championships in Mendrisio, Switzerland. The surprising winner is called Cadel Evans for Australia.

      After the start at 10.30AM in Mendrisio rather quickly a leading group of 6 riders was formed by André Greipel (Germany), Yukiya Arashiro (Japan), Matija Kvasina (Croatia), Christoph Sokoll (Austria), Peter Kusztor (Hungary) and Jan Barta (Czech Republic).
      4 riders start the chase and manage to bridge the gap. The 6 riders in the leading group thus get company from Gorazd Stangelj (Slovenia), Mauricio Ardila (Colombia), Olegs Melehs (Latvia) and Volodymyr Zagorodny (Ukrain). The 10 riders get a maximum gap of 8'30".

      At a bit over 100 kilometers from the finish, just before Olges Melehs gives way to the leading group, 9 riders get away from the peloton. Not surprisingly Italy and Spain are present in this group: the current World Champion Alessand ...

      > Read the whole story | 2 comments | shown 4761x
    • World Championships in Mendrisio: list of participants Elite with their numbers and the route in Google Maps / Google Earth

      World Championships in Mendrisio: list of participants Elite with their numbers and the route in Google Maps / Google EarthTomorrow, Sunday 26 September 2009, 202 riders will be at the start of the stage in line Elites of the World Championships 2009 in Mendrisio.

      In this article you'll find the full list of selections for all participating countries including their numbers.

      Those 202 riders will ride 262,2 kilometers on a 13,9 kilometer circuit which they will ride 19 times. You can also discover the route in this article on a Google Maps map, also allowing you to view it in Google Earth and thus make a virtual fly-over!

      The list of participating riders and their number

      Italy
      1 Alessandro Ballan
      2 Ivan Basso ...

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    • Tyler Farrar wins the 11th stage of the Tour of Spain, Alejandro Valverde still in gold

      Tyler Farrar wins the 11th stage of the Tour of Spain, Alejandro Valverde still in goldIn presence of Miguel Indurain the riders started this morning from Murcia for a 200 kilometer stage towards Caravaca de la Cruz. On their way to the finish line they had to climb a first category mountain around kilometer 50, the Alto Collado Bernejo, and a second category mountain at about 50 kilometers from the finish, the Alto Campo de San Juan.

      David de la Fuente (Fuji-Servetto) took over the jersey for the best climber from David Moncoutié (Cofidis) yesterday, so a battle for this jersey was planned during this stage. One rider didn't start today: after the abandon of his younger brother a few days ago it was now up to Frank Schleck (Saxo Bank) to abandon.

      ...

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    • Gustavo Veloso wins the 9th stage of the Vuelta, Alejandro Valverde brings the golden jersey home!

      Gustavo Veloso wins the 9th stage of the Vuelta, Alejandro Valverde brings the golden jersey home!This second mountain stage almost seemed to become a carbon copy of yesterday's stage ... except that today one of the riders of the leading group, Gustavo Veloso (Xacobeo Galicia), continued till the end for the stage win and that it was not Damiano Cunego but Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d'Epargne) who started the pursuit in the last few kilometers. Thanks to his third place in this stage he takes over the golden leader's jersery which he gets to wear tomorrow during the stage in Murcia ... close to his home!

      The 9th stage of the Vuelta a España 2009 was again a difficult mountain stage. After yesterday's stage the riders didn't get must rest because today's stage again proposed 7 mountains to climb: right from the start they started the climb to the top of the Alto de Onil, a third category mountain (altitude: 1000 m) which had never been part of a Vuelta stage before. After a long descent they continued with the climb of the Alto de Tibi, s ...

      > Read the whole story | 1 comment | shown 3681x
    • Damiano Cunego (Lampre-NGC) wins the first mountain stage in the Vuelta 2009

      Damiano Cunego (Lampre-NGC) wins the first mountain stage in the Vuelta 2009Pieter Weening (Rabobank) told it several times the last few days: he was eager to get into the mountains. They finally arrived today with no less than 8 climbs and the Dutch rider showed that he was indeed waiting for it! Indeed, he was part of the leading group of the day. Finally it's Damiano Cunego (Lampre-NGC) who wins this mountain stage.

      The description of the stage

      Right from the start several riders try to get away in small groups, but we had to wait until the 37th kilometer to get the leading group of the day. It's formed by 6 riders: the French Sébastien Hinault (AG2R La Mondiale), David Moncoutié (Cofidis) and William Bonnet (Bbox Bouygues Telecom), the Dutch Pieter Weening (Rabobank) and Johnny Hoogerland (Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team) and the German Paul Voss (Milram).

      15 kilometers further, in the climb of the Alto de Beniarrès (3rd category), the 6 riders already created a gap of 7'44". At the top Pie ...

      > Read the whole story | 1 comment | shown 8071x
    • Fabian Cancellara (Saxo Bank) also wins the second time trial in the Vuelta 2009 and takes back the golden jersey!

      Fabian Cancellara (Saxo Bank) also wins the second time trial in the Vuelta 2009 and takes back the golden jersey!When I said a few days ago that the days look alike in this Vuelta 2009, I didn't expect this to be the case as well for today's stage. However, in this second stage in the form of an individual time trial the weather conditions were as bad as in the first stage: it was raining all day long close to Valencia and there was quite a lot of wind as well. The rain did however, in contrast to the first stage, won by Fabian Cancellara (Saxo Bank) in Assen in The Netherlands, not give an advantage to some riders since all riders did their time trial in the same bad weather conditions; however the wind might have played a more important role.

      In this solo effort, Fabian Cancellara (Saxo Bank) was again the best rider today on the 30 kilometers around Valencia, beating David Millar with 32 seconds.


      After a first best time for the Dutch rider Lars Boom (Rabobank), it was up to the French rider Christophe ...

      > Read the whole story | 2 comments | shown 2065x
    • Borut Bozic (Vacansoleil) wins the 6th stage of the Tour of Spain (Vuelta)

      Borut Bozic (Vacansoleil) wins the 6th stage of the Tour of Spain (Vuelta)The sixth stage of the Tour of Spain was 176,8 kilometers long and connected Xàtiva to ... Xàtiva. Indeed, both the start and the finish were in the same city!
      This stage ended up in a final sprint which was quite easily won by the Slovenian rider Borut Bozic (Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team).

      The sixth stage: Xàtiva > Xàtiva

      After having won the first stage of the Tour of Poland and the first stage of the Tour du Limousin, he ended second in Venlo in The Netherlands, but today the sixth stage of the Vuelta was for the Slovenian sprinter.

      The resume of the stage is quite common with:
      > a long lasting escape with 4 riders - Bingen Fernandez (photo, Cofidis), José Antonio Lopez Gil (Andalucia Cajasur), Matheus Pronk (Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team) and Aitor Perez Arrieta (Contentpolis-Ampo) - from the 8th until the 153rd kilometer and with the fact that the maximum gap was 6'44"
      ...

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    • Tour of Spain 2009 : André Greipel (Columbia HTC) wins again and takes the leader's jersey

      Tour of Spain 2009 : André Greipel (Columbia HTC) wins again and takes the leader's jerseyIn my article about the riders who participate in the Tour of Spain and their numbers I said that Columbia HTC without Mark Cavendish would probably not be able to get the 6 stage wins the team got in the Tour of Italy and the Tour de France.
      I also said that the team could however count on another sprint professional with the German rider André Greipel. Today this rider proved that his team took the right decision by selecting him for the Vuelta since he won his second stage in this year's Vuelta today and also took the golden leader's jersey!


      The first stage win for André Greipel in this Tour of Spain was not really the result of a massive sprint but the German rider showed today that in the case of a massive sprint he can also win stages just like his team mate Mark Cavendish.

      ...

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    • The Vuelta a España leaves The Netherlands after the stage victories of Greg Henderson and André Greipel (Columbia HTC), Fabian Cancellara still in gold

      The Vuelta a España leaves The Netherlands after the stage victories of Greg Henderson and André Greipel (Columbia HTC), Fabian Cancellara  still in goldThe days pass in the Vuelta and the days look alike ...

      Indeed, both yesterday and today there was a leading group with the Dutch rider Lars Boom (Rabobank) and both stages would normally have finished in a massive sprint. A short summary of these two stages ...

      Third stage: Zutphen > Venlo (189,7 km)

      2 kilometers after the start from Zutphen the leading group of the day was formed by Lars Boom (Rabobank), Johnny Hoogerland (Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team) and Jesus Rosendo Prado (Andalucia Cajasur).
      The peloton is not really in a hurry and the 3 riders can thus easily create a gap of up to 9'35" after 36 kilometers. Many spectators are watching the race and they're quite happy to see that 2 of the 3 riders in the leading group are Dutch: especially at the second visit of Zutphen the group gets many support from the spectators.
      At the time the 3 riders enter Germany (this was the very first time the Vuelta visit the Dutch neighbour ...

      > Read the whole story | 4 comments | shown 6338x
    • Gerald Ciolek (Milram) wins the sprint for the second stage of the Vuelta a España 2009

      Gerald Ciolek (Milram) wins the sprint for the second stage of the Vuelta a España 2009Today the second stage of the Tour of Spain took place on the Dutch roads between Assen and Emmen over a total distance of 203,7 kilometers.
      Immediately in the first kilometer 5 riders escaped from the peloton: Francisco José Martinez Perez (Andalucia Cajasur), David Garcia Da Peña (Xacobeo Galicia), Tom Leezer (Rabobank), Lieuwe Westra (Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team) and Dominik Roels (Milram). These riders managed to get a maximum gap of 7 minutes but at about 40 kilometers from the finish this gap was reduced to only 2 minutes.

      At 28 kilometers from the finish the riders had to pass a paved zone of about one and an halve kilometers and in that zone Francisco José Martinez Perez could not follow the 4 others who at that time had a gap of only 30 seconds on the peloton.

      A few kilometers further the Dutch rider Lieuwe Westra attacked alone, probably to honour his father who he lost a few days before the star ...

      > Read the whole story | 1 comment | shown 2311x
    • Fabian Cancellara (Saxo Bank) wins the initial time trial in the Vuelta 2009

      Fabian Cancellara (Saxo Bank) wins the initial time trial in the Vuelta 2009Without any real surprises ... the Swiss time trial specialist today won the extremely short first stage of the 64th Tour of Spain.

      Since the Vuelta doesn't seem to know the UCI rules it was - despite the short distance of only 4,8 kilometers on the motor circuit TT Assen in The Netherlands - not a prologue but a first stage.

      Spartacus beats everyone else!

      Everyone expected it, the short route of this time trial seemed to have been made for him: Spartacus beat everybody by taking no less than 9 seconds on the number two, Tom Boonen (Quick Step).

      Together with Tyler Farrar (Garmin Slipstream), Tom Boonen thus proved this stage was not only made for time trial specialists but also for sprinters.

      After the finish, the winner Fabian Cancellara, who also won the opening time trial of the Tour de France 2009 in Monaco, told: before the start I wouldn't have bet on me since I didn't know my condition. I gave everything I had in this short prologue an ...

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    • The list of participating riders in the Vuelta (Tour of Spain) 2009 and their numbers

      The list of participating riders in the Vuelta (Tour of Spain) 2009 and their numbersTomorrow the 64th Vuelta a España will start in Assen in The Netherlands. The riders start with a 4,5 km prologue on the motor circuit TT Assen and with 3 stages in The Netherlands and Belgium (click here to see the full route of the Vuelta 2009).

      Tonight the different teams have been presented: 198 riders will be at the start for 22 different teams. In this article you can discover who are those riders, which numbers they have and what their ambitions are for this Tour of Spain 2009 !


      The first rider will start at 3.30PM while the last rider will leave the start ramp at 6.38PM.

      Since last year's winner, Alberto Contador, won't participate this year, Samuel Sanchez got the number 1 since he's the Olympic champion. ...

      > Read the whole story | 1 comment | shown 20249x
    • The selected riders for the different teams of the Tour de France 2009

      The selected riders for the different teams of the Tour de France 2009

      initially published on 23rd of June 2009 at 02.15AM; updated on 23rd of June 2009 at 10.55PM, 24th of June at 09.43PM, 26th June at 02.46AM and at 10.54PM, 28th of June at 10.46PM, 29th of June at 7.59AM, 30th of June at 01.06AM and at 6.42PM and 2 July at 1.53PM
      Only 11 days to go before the first kilometers of the 96th Tour de France will be done in and around Monaco.

      Therefore, it's the time of the year when you can discover the list of participating riders in the Tour again, here for the Tour de France 2009!

      In this article you'll find the (pre)selections of the 21 teams of the Tour de France! As soon as their numbers will be announced they will be published here as well.

      The participating teams

      The list of teams which will participate in the Tour de France 2009 has been published by its organisor on 17 Ma ...

      > Read the whole story | 9 comments | shown 20192x
    • The Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré 2009: - exlusivity - the full route in Google Maps / Google Earth, selected riders and their numbers

      The Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré 2009: - exlusivity - the full route in Google Maps / Google Earth, selected riders and their numbersNow the Giro d'Italia 2009 is over, all cycling fans' eyes are pointed to ... Nancy where the first stage of the Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré will take place on Sunday. The Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré is a mini Tour de France, a one week stage race which is used by some riders as their final preparation for the national championships and for the Tour de France.

      In this article you'll find exclusive maps of the Dauphiné Libéré route in Google Maps and a downloadable version for Google Earth. In addition, this article contains the full list of selected riders and their numbers!


      Just like last year when the Dauphiné was won by Alejandro Valverde ( ...

      > Read the whole story | 1 comment | shown 15851x
    • Columbia High Road wins the Giro d'Italia 2009 team time trial - Mark Cavendish wears the pink jersey

      Columbia High Road wins the Giro d'Italia 2009 team time trial - Mark Cavendish wears the pink jerseyUnder a grey sky, but fortunately without any rain, the first stage of the 100 year old Giro just finished. This stage, a team time trial, was won by the Columbia High Road team.

      This team's leader, Mark Cavendish, takes the very first pink jersey of this Tour of Italy.


      The Columbia High Road riders, who left first, had two wait for about two hours before they knew they indeed did the best time. They have finished the 20,5 kilometers on the Lido di Venezia island in 21 minutes and 50 seconds, with an average speed of 56,335 kilometers per hour.

      Mark Cavendish was thus right when he said at a press conference that the complete focus of the Garmin Slipstream team on this team time trial was disrespectful. Indeed, the team which won this stage last year made this stage its primary goal in this year's Giro d'Italia.

      Mark Cavendish said about this yesterday: The thing about it is that the Giro’s 21 days. I think it’s a bit d ...

      > Read the whole story | 1 comment | shown 6214x
    • Tom Boonen won the Hell of the North (Paris-Roubaix) for the third time yesterday

      Tom Boonen won the Hell of the North (Paris-Roubaix) for the third time yesterdayAfter 2005 and 2008, Tornado Tom won his third Paris-Roubaix yesterday in Roubaix.
      In the Vélodrome he crossed the finish line way before number two, Filippo Pozzato.

      Just like last year and as it's usually the case in the race which is also called the Hell of the North, the 27 cobble stone zones - of 52,9 kilometers from a total of 259 kilometers - gave several falls, flat tyres and sometimes clouds of dust
      .

      The description of the race

      Just like last year Paris-Roubaix took place under a cloudy sky but without any rain. Sometimes the sun came through.

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    • Stijn Devolder wins the Tour of Flanders for the second time in row

      Stijn Devolder wins the Tour of Flanders for the second time in rowToday the 93rd Tour of Flanders took place between Brugge and Meerbeke. For the second time in row this Belgian classic was won by the Belgian rider Stijn Devolder (Quick.Step).

      Quick.Step's retro cycling kit

      The Quick.Step team planned to participate in this Tour of Flanders in a retro cycling kit, with the blue colour for Quick.Step but different from the usual kit they wear (photo of the retro shirt). They didn't count on the UCI however, which ... apparently didn't appreciate this kit adapted to the historical race and threatened to disqualify the team.

      The team manager, Patrick Lefevere, said: I don't understand it. This is yet another example of the limited mind of the highest cycling authority. This retro kit was supposed to be a 'one time shot'. Quick Step's colour didn't even change with it. Blu ...

      > Read the whole story | no comments yet | shown 3808x
    • The AMGEN Tour of California 2009

      The AMGEN Tour of California 2009

      initially published on 19 February at 23.57
      updated on 20 February at 0h38 and at 23h40, on 22 February at 0h38 and on 23 February at 1h04
      The Amgen Tour of California was created in the state of California in the United States in 2006 and after its first edition the UCI upgraded this race from the 2.1 category to the 2.HC category. Only two other American races are in this category, the Tour of Georgia and the Tour of Missouri.

      The race which started in Sacramento on Valentine's day will finish on Sunday in Escondido.

      The route and the results

      For a total of 1.444 kilometers, the Tour of California is composed of 8 stages of which you can find a short description below. I'll try to update these descriptions with the results in the upcoming days.

      First, below you can find the map with all stages.
      ...

      > Read the whole story | 2 comments | shown 9774x
    • José Ivan Gutierrez keeps his title as Eneco Tour winner ... even without a seat!

      José Ivan Gutierrez keeps his title as Eneco Tour winner ... even without a seat!After having taken the final victory of the Eneco Tour last year and winning the Eneco Tour 2008 prologue this year, José Ivan Gutierrez (Caisse d'Epargne) has won the Eneco Tour 2008 this afternoon in Mechelen (BE) in the decisive individual time trial by finishing second, just behind the Latvian Raivis Belohvoscicks (Scott-American Beef).

      Last year's winner indeed won the prologue last Wednesday in Sittard-Geleen in the South of The Netherlands beating the French Cyril Lemoine (Crédit Agricole) with only 89 hundreds of a second. He therefore wore the white jersey of the Eneco Tour's leader during the first stage (when he first got it he thought the organisation made a mistake by giving him the jersey for the best young rider!).

      The first stage between Beek and Roermond saw a victory for Tom Boonen (QuickStep) who won the sprint and Gutierrez kept the white jersey.

      The following day, between Roermond and Nieuwegein, i ...

      > Read the whole story | 1 comment | shown 12333x
    • Team CSC continues with Saxo Bank, QuickStep extends its contract

      Team CSC continues with Saxo Bank, QuickStep extends its contractRiis Cycling, looking for a new sponsor to take up the place left by CSC at the end of this year, has found a new partner in Saxo Bank, an online investment bank.

      In the mean time, Saxo Bank has immediately become the Danish team's co-sponsor. Therefore, in the Tour de France the team's riders will already defend the colours of the two brands with Team CSC/Saxo Bank as their team name.
      This co-sponsoring contract ends at the end of this year when CSC will stop its sponsoring and Saxo Bank become's the team's main sponsor; the team will than become Team Saxo Bank.

      The contract will run for 3 years, so the team now has a new sponsor until the end of 2011.

      Bjarne Riis, the team's owner, indicated to have found the perfect partner for the future: We are extremely proud to become associated wit ...

      > Read the whole story | 4 comments | shown 6537x
    • A miniature Tour de France: the Criterium du Dauphiné Libéré 2008

      A miniature Tour de France: the Criterium du Dauphiné Libéré 2008On this blog I regularly talk about the Tour de France (with for example the full Tour de France 2008 track in Google Earth or the changes in official partners/sponsors of the Tour de France), but did you know that a little bit less than a month before the Grand Départ of the Tour from Brest a sort of miniature Tour de France will take place from 8 till 15 June 2008?

      The experts will have understood by now that this article is about that miniature Tour which is called the Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré
      .

      Miniature Tour de France you might think? Yes indeed, because with its almost 1093 kilometres the riders will do about one third of the distance of the Tour de France during this stage race and the number of stages has also been divided by three to come to 7 stages in addition to the prologue. However, in terms of difficulties this stage ra ...

      > Read the whole story | 4 comments | shown 17350x
    • Quick.Step continues sponsoring the cycling team?!

      Quick.Step continues sponsoring the cycling team?!According to the Dutch website Sportweek.nl several media have announced that Quick.Step will continue to sponsor Patrick Lefevere's cycling team and that Specialized will become the second sponsor. Lefevere indicated that all news about sponsors of his cycling team is premature and that he hopes to be able to make an announcement at the end of May.

      Quick.Step, recently quite successful with a victory in the Tour of Flanders with Stijn Devolder and in Paris-Roubaix with Tom Boonen, had to look for a new sponsor since the main sponsor would stop the money flow at the end of this season.
      Apparently the Belgian laminate supplier has changed its mind as we can read at Sportweek.nl. On this site you can also read that Lefevere is cur ...

      > Read the whole story | 3 comments | shown 2609x
    • Tom Boonen wins the Hell of the North (Paris-Roubaix)

      Tom Boonen wins the Hell of the North (Paris-Roubaix)Paris-Roubaix, the race which is also called the Hell of the north (for the north of France) or also la Dure des dures, has taken place today under a lightly clouded sky (with sometimes even some sun) and thus without the rain which had been announced before the start of the race. The 28 cobbled road zones with a total length of 52,8 kilometers of the total 259,5 kilometers did however have the same effect as usual with some falls, flat tyres and sometimes even some dust clouds.

      Tom Boonen passed the finish line on Roubaix' vélodrome first and thereby won this difficult classic cycling race.


      After a few escapes without many success three riders finally took a lead when they jumped away at 10 kilometers from the first cobbled stone zone: the Dutch Matthé Pronk (Cycle Collstrop), the Belgian Jan Kuycks (Landbouwkrediet-Tönissteiner) and the Russian Alexander Serov (Tinkoff Credit Systems).

      One of the favourites for the race victory, Thor Hushovd, abandonned ...

      > Read the whole story | 2 comments | shown 2293x
    • Stijn Devolder wins the Tour of Flanders

      Stijn Devolder wins the Tour of FlandersThe second UCI ProTour 2008 race was a Belgian classic today: the Tour of Flanders started in Bruges and finished in Meerbeke.

      With only one escape the riders started with a heavy pace at the start of the race: 49,5 kilometers in the first hour and 45,3 kilometers in the second.
      On the road from Bruges to Meerbeke the riders climbed the 17 classical hills of the Tour of Flanders: the Kluisberg, the Nokereberg, the Molenberg, the Wolvenberg, Oude Kwaremont, the Paterberg, the Koppenberg, the Steenbeekdries, the Taaienberg, the Berg Ter Stene, the Leberg, Berendries, the Valkenberg, Tenbosse, Eikenmolen, the infamous Muur - Kapelmuur and the Bosberg before going to the finish line via Ninove and Meerbeke.

      The first escape which really managed to take some lead (about 2 minutes) was the one with Janek Tombak (Mitsubishi-Jartazi), Tom Veelers (Skil-Shimano), Sven Renders (Topsport Vlaanderen) and Vincent Jérôme (Bouygues Telecom) at 161 kilometers from the finish. A few kilom ...

      > Read the whole story | no comments yet | shown 2290x
    • Paris-Nice 2008: the track and stages, participating riders and the official partners

      Paris-Nice 2008: the track and stages, participating riders and the official partners

      initially published on February 20, 2008 at 0h11
      first update on March 4, 2008 at 22h28
      This article has unfortunately not (yet) been translated in English. Below you'll find the French version or you can click here for the Dutch version.
      Based on the number of visitors and/or comments below, I might decide to publish the English translation later on ...


      Le 14 novembre dernier je vous annonçais déjà que Paris-Nice ne part pas de Paris cette année, mercredi dernier vous avez découvert ici les équipes participantes et aujourd'hui c'est le parcours et les coureurs qui participeront à Paris-Nice 2008 que vous découvrirez dans cet article !
      A la fin de l'article vous trouverez également quelques informations sur les partenaires officiels de ce
      ...

      > Read the whole story | 7 comments | shown 28983x
    • After London, Gent also publishes its evaluation of the Tour de France 2007 finish ... and would like the Tour to be back in 2012!

      After London, Gent also publishes its evaluation of the Tour de France 2007 finish ... and would like the Tour to be back in 2012!After the announcement of the positive results of the Grand Départ of the Tour de France 2007 in London, now Ghent and the province East-Flanders (Oost-Vlaanderen) announced a positive analysis of the stage finish in Ghent ...
      The most important conclusions are that the city was too much prepared for the Tour de France stage finish and that a possible new Tour finish would be more than welcome!


      Tom Boonen congratulates Gert Steegmans at the finish in Ghent!

      After a massive fall at two kilometers before the finish (which blocked most of the riders), Tom Boonen was the number one favourite at the finish line of the second stage which started on July 9th in Dunkirk in the north of France. Tom Boonen was howe ...

      > Read the whole story | no comments yet | shown 4086x
    • 4 weeks in the life of a Tour de France follower, part 3

      4 weeks in the life of a Tour de France follower, part 3While the riders already rode the second stage of the Vuelta a España (Tour of Spain) today (Daniele Benatti [Lampre-Fondital] won the first stage [he already showed his good sprints in the Tour de France and now continues in the Vuelta] while the second place was for Oscar Freire [Rabobank] and the third for Alessandro Petacchi [Milram]; the second stage was for Oscar Freire while Daniele Benatti was mad because he was hindered by a massive fall at 2 km from the finish, which means he lost his first place in the ranking), I'm still talking here about the Tour de France ... while reading this you'll understand why!

      As I announced it here some time ago, I worked on the Tour de France during the month of July to create the blog Orange dans le Tour.

      On the 'Orange dans le Tour' blog I gave a l
      ...

      > Read the whole story | 4 comments | shown 71327x
    • 4 weeks in the life of a Tour de France follower, part 2

      4 weeks in the life of a Tour de France follower, part 2While the riders have already done several criteriums, the Germany Tour, the Tour de l'Ain, etc. and while they're currently in Belgium and The Netherlands for the Enecotour , I'm still talking here about the Tour de France ... while reading this you'll understand why!

      As I announced it here some time ago, I worked on the Tour de France during the month of July to create the blog Orange dans le Tour.

      On the 'Orange dans le Tour' blog I gave a look behind the scenes of the Tour and that's why I did a lot of different things in the Tour de France 2007: the advertising caravan (Panach', Festina, Skoda), the advertising caravan direction, Mavic, des journées avec deux équipes (AG2R et Caisse d'Epargne), France Télévisions, but of course al
      ...

      > Read the whole story | 2 comments | shown 8208x
    • Tour de France 2007: (preliminary) selections of riders

      Tour de France 2007: (preliminary) selections of ridersUPDATE 9 June 2007: Agritubel and T-Mobile added
      UPDATE 9 June 2007: Caisse d'Epargne and Rabobank added
      UPDATE 12 June 2007: AG2R, Astana and Barloworld added
      UPDATE 19 June 2007: part of the list is now final for Agritubel, Gerolsteiner added
      UPDATE 23 June 2007: updates for AG2R, Euskatel-Euskadi and T-Mobile and Lampre-Fondital and Liquigas have been added
      UPDATE 24 June 2007: update for Agritubel
      UPDATE 25 juni 2007: update for Rabobank and Quick.Step-Innergetic added

      On May 30th the team selection for the Tour de France 2007 has been announced by ASO.

      As of today, fourteen teams already announced their (preliminary) selections of riders: AG2R, Agritubel, Astana, Barloworld, Caisse d'Epargne, Euskaltel - Euskadi, Gerolsteiner, Lampre-Fondi
      ...

      > Read the whole story | 4 comments | shown 2295x
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