Gilbert wins the Tour of Beijing to bring down the curtain on the top level season
In the final standings Valverde is the top rider, Movistar the top team and Spain the top nation
Sky finish the season in 8th place which I guess must go down as disappointing for them
Froome was the top British rider in 7th place and GB finished 7th in the National ranking
Looking forward to next season there are only 17 world tour teams. No one has yet come forward to replace Canondale. The deadline for licenses has passed so unless the UCI bend the rules for a late applicant it looks like we'll have smaller pelotons or more space for wildcard teams in the top races next season
Though targeting Paris-Roubaix and Le Tour next year seems to lack wider ambition for Sky's budget.
Tinkoff has offered €250,000 to the top four to compete in all three 2015 GTs. The offer had a luke warm reception at best. Three times three weeks is too much to remain top end competitive. Adam Hansen does three GTs a year but not at the sharp end.
Plenty more track action to come in the next few weeks. No sign of any coverage for the European Champs, which start today, but Eurosport have the Amsterdam 6-Day next week, and ITV4 will have the Revolution Series again.
Track Cycling World Cup dates are
Guadaljara, Mexico 8 Nov
London, 5 Dec
Cali, Colombia 17 Jan
There were some prelim races in the European Track Champs yesterday. Good news for both British team pursuit squads - they both comfortably qualified in first place and so will have the easier semi-finals.
Men are up against Switzerland, women against Germany
that's handy.......Sky haven't had a decent sprinter since Cav left
where would you put him in the pecking order ?..........I reckon he's one of the dozen guys who might win if the half dozen big guns are not there.
For sure, Viviani and Swift are not the new Debenkolb and Kittel. Both though are young with time to sharpen their skills further.
Viviani went head to head with Cavendish in the Tour of Turkey and won stages though Team OPQS was misfiring. He did not show in the TdF or the latter part of the Giro but completed both.
The question is how will Sky use him? As a sideshow in a GC tour team? Or as part of a non-GC stage chasing team in the other two GTs or mini tours? If Froome is persuaded to ride two GTs next season he will not need many build up races. The TdF showed Team Sky had no Plan B.
So double gold for GB in the European Champs - the men's team pursuit squad of Ed Clancy, Jon Dibben, Owain Doull and Andy Tennant narrowly beat Germany, and the women's squad of Katie Archibald, Elinor Barker, Clara Horne and Laura Trott thrashed Russia. Ed Clancy also got a bronze in the men's scratch race.
Unfortunately, sprinting continues to be weak, the men's team sprint squad (Lewis Oliva, Matt Crampton and Callum Skinner) only got 6th, and the women's team sprint squad (Katy Marchant and Rosie Blount) were only 9th.
The track is Guadeloupe is a real old-fashioned one - a big open-air, low-banked concrete arena, like the velodrome where the Paris-Roubaix finishes.
Except Crampton, the British sprinters are all GB debutantes at international championships. Not a major surprise considering the ETC ranks below the World Cup meets in spite of its status as an Olympic qualification event.
The men's second/third riders were among the quickest of the bunch, but the first was terrible. The women were seventh, by the way.
More medals for the British cycling team in Guadeloupe. Callum Skinner took gold in the kilo time trial - that was Chris Hoy's original event, so a good omen after some disappointing performances in the sprints - none of our men or women got past the first round. Andy Tennant also got gold in the Individual Pursuit, and Jon Dibben got silver in the men's Omnium, Last night of the champs is tonight.
Skinner's victory was a pleasant surprise - though 1:02.399 on an outdoor concrete track is pretty good going, his nearest rival (Eilers) medalled in the last two World Championships. That said, Purvis is not there.
I see the order of omnium events has changed, as well as the points awarded for event positions (40 for a win, and 2 points less for each subsequent lesser position). A different system applies to the points race - your result in that race is added directly to your overall tally (e.g. Dibben: 150 after 5 events + 48 in the points race = 198).
On another note, it seems that Skinner and Oliva were also in the 2012 ETC, so they're not GB debutants as I originally thought.
Two more golds on the final day. Katie Archibald continues her phenomenal progress by taking the women's individual pursuit. Laura Trott won her first gold in the new forrmat of the omnium, beating Belgian Julien D'Hoore on the final sprint of the points race.
I see that the Six Days of Amsterdam starts today on ES2 at 6.15.........there's about 3 hours of scheduled coverage every night
The commentators often mention the Six Dayers but I don't think there's ever been one on TV before
To be honest I haven't really got much idea as to what happens........Wiki describes it as a six day long race for pairs of riders, the winning pair being the one that completes most laps. Unlike the old days they now only race for about 8 hours a day with one rider on the track at all times while the other one rests.......like tag team cycling
Must say that it sounds pretty boring...........:o
OK, for anyone who isn't watching the 6 Day....it's all based around the madison, but there are lots of different events within the evening. However, all the scores of the other events are calculated against the overall Madison situation, so once you win 100 points from the other races, you are awarded a lap in the madison. There are a lot of races you don't normally see on the circuit, like team sprint relays, a derney race where each rider gets their own personal motorbike to follow, and other more conventional events like the kierin.
Yeah........it was a bit more interesting than I thought it would be
But I can't really get interested in those 100 or 200 lap Madisons......:o
I don't know if ES intend to show more of these but the commentator.......Carlton again! .........did say that Cav intends to ride one of the 6 Day events. I think he said Ghent.
Not watched SixDays today. Twitter says derny driver seriously injured in a pile up leading to this evening's racing being cancelled. Let's hope he makes a full and speedy recovery.
STATEMENT AFTER ACCIDENT IN VELODROME AMSTERDAM / OCTOBER 21, 2014
The second evening of the Six Day Amsterdam Tuesday shut down after a serious accident that took place during the first derny race.
The experienced pacer Cees Stam sustained serious injuries in a crash in the final laps of the race.
He was treated on the track by medical personnel. Then he brought for further investigation and treatment to the VU hospital.
A number of other pacemakers and riders were involved in the accident, but despite minor injuries in order.
The organization comes with more news as soon as it is available
It was bad, several riders and derny pilots went down, and at least one of the derny pilots got run over by another derny, which must have been going at about 50kph. Isaac Galvez, the Spanish Madison world champ was killed in the Ghent Six-Day back in 2006.
Six Days at Amsterdam back live after basketball. Derny driver Cees Stam is still in critical condition. His family have encouraged racing to continue.
Comments
In the final standings Valverde is the top rider, Movistar the top team and Spain the top nation
Sky finish the season in 8th place which I guess must go down as disappointing for them
Froome was the top British rider in 7th place and GB finished 7th in the National ranking
Looking forward to next season there are only 17 world tour teams. No one has yet come forward to replace Canondale. The deadline for licenses has passed so unless the UCI bend the rules for a late applicant it looks like we'll have smaller pelotons or more space for wildcard teams in the top races next season
Though targeting Paris-Roubaix and Le Tour next year seems to lack wider ambition for Sky's budget.
Tinkoff has offered €250,000 to the top four to compete in all three 2015 GTs. The offer had a luke warm reception at best. Three times three weeks is too much to remain top end competitive. Adam Hansen does three GTs a year but not at the sharp end.
Track Cycling World Cup dates are
Guadaljara, Mexico 8 Nov
London, 5 Dec
Cali, Colombia 17 Jan
Men are up against Switzerland, women against Germany
http://www.teamgb.com/news/gb-lay-down-marker-day-one-european-track-champs
Hopefully, Nibali has a get out clause in his contract if the licence is withdrawn.
The Viviani rumours are confirmed - he has joined Sky from Cannondale (who are merging with Garmin).
Apparently the test was conducted at the Tour de L'Avenir which is considered as the Tour de France for under 23s
The UCI are going to undertake an investigation into the team with regard to their suitability for holding a world tour licence........
that's handy.......Sky haven't had a decent sprinter since Cav left
where would you put him in the pecking order ?..........I reckon he's one of the dozen guys who might win if the half dozen big guns are not there.
Viviani went head to head with Cavendish in the Tour of Turkey and won stages though Team OPQS was misfiring. He did not show in the TdF or the latter part of the Giro but completed both.
The question is how will Sky use him? As a sideshow in a GC tour team? Or as part of a non-GC stage chasing team in the other two GTs or mini tours? If Froome is persuaded to ride two GTs next season he will not need many build up races. The TdF showed Team Sky had no Plan B.
It closes the door on Cavendish's return.
Unfortunately, sprinting continues to be weak, the men's team sprint squad (Lewis Oliva, Matt Crampton and Callum Skinner) only got 6th, and the women's team sprint squad (Katy Marchant and Rosie Blount) were only 9th.
The track is Guadeloupe is a real old-fashioned one - a big open-air, low-banked concrete arena, like the velodrome where the Paris-Roubaix finishes.
Except Crampton, the British sprinters are all GB debutantes at international championships. Not a major surprise considering the ETC ranks below the World Cup meets in spite of its status as an Olympic qualification event.
The men's second/third riders were among the quickest of the bunch, but the first was terrible. The women were seventh, by the way.
I see the order of omnium events has changed, as well as the points awarded for event positions (40 for a win, and 2 points less for each subsequent lesser position). A different system applies to the points race - your result in that race is added directly to your overall tally (e.g. Dibben: 150 after 5 events + 48 in the points race = 198).
On another note, it seems that Skinner and Oliva were also in the 2012 ETC, so they're not GB debutants as I originally thought.
Helen Wyman second in the just finished women's race. Men's race starts at 14:00 hrs
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/cycling/29685136
So overall final total of 6G 1S 1B
The commentators often mention the Six Dayers but I don't think there's ever been one on TV before
To be honest I haven't really got much idea as to what happens........Wiki describes it as a six day long race for pairs of riders, the winning pair being the one that completes most laps. Unlike the old days they now only race for about 8 hours a day with one rider on the track at all times while the other one rests.......like tag team cycling
Must say that it sounds pretty boring...........:o
But I can't really get interested in those 100 or 200 lap Madisons......:o
I don't know if ES intend to show more of these but the commentator.......Carlton again! .........did say that Cav intends to ride one of the 6 Day events. I think he said Ghent.
http://www.zesdaagseamsterdam.nl/Nieuwsbericht/verklaring-na-ongeval-in-velodrome-amsterdam
thanks
I haven't been watching but flicking over during the adverts and every time it was one of those WATTS fillers
hope the guy recovers
The 2015 TdF to be decided on the Alpe d'Huez?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uo_VIVJaleM
http://www.letour.com/le-tour/2015/us/overall-route.html
There only looks to be 24 riders competing.........how do they pick them ?