Weekend Roundup: Colpack; Pan-Ams; Remi Cavagna

I need to stop making any decisions about the Colpack/Zalf-Euromobil-Fior rivalry because I am always wrong. Earlier this year, I said that because I falsely predicted Colpack to usurp Zalf in 2015 that I would be sticking with Zalf for 2016 in the eternal battle for Italian amateur supremacy. Except that this year, Colpack has been clicking on all cylinders and even without Simone Consonni on his best, they have 19 wins already this season with Riccardo Minali taking 6 of them and a big chunk of the Italian calendar still to come.

Colpack did their best impression of Zalf from recent years by taking a full podium at Castelfidardo while Simone Bettinelli led home a "doppietta" in the Trofeo Montelupo.

Castelfidardo was a slaughter by any stretch of the word as Minali won by approximately 5 bike lengths on his teammate over Francesco Lamon and Filippo Ganna. 

Castelfidardo was a slaughter by any stretch of the word as Minali won by approximately 5 bike lengths on his teammate over Francesco Lamon and Filippo Ganna.

In Montelupo, Bettinelli took an uphill sprint with teammate Oliveira Troia trailing in his wake.

While Zalf has won 10 races and Marco Maronese has continued to be quite a strong sprinter, it seems the tables have turned this year in favor of the white & black.

Pan Ams

In the U23 races that was devoid of any riders from the northern territories, Jose Luis Rodriguez (Chile) dominated the competition by taking wins in the Road Race and TT. Rodriguez was top 20 in the U23 World TT in Richmond and won handily here by nearly 1 minute on Colombian U23 TT champ Carlo Mario Ramirez and Colombian John Rodriguez. 

Similar to the Worlds course from '77, JLR went solo on the San Cristobal course and was able to escape from a small group including Jhonathan Narvaez and Caio Godoy. JLR won solo by 17 seconds on the chasers to cement his place for Chile in the World Championships in Doha, where he could be an outside top 10 shot. Rodriguez is apart of the World Cycling Centre in Aigle and will be seen this summer in Europe, probably culminating in a Tour de l'Avenir spot.

Paris-Arras Tour

While Klein Constantia is having a great year, there standout rider has been powerful rouleur Remi Cavagna, who has been using his time trialing skills to make growing boys cry and curse their feeble legs while they battle in an unknown gutter in central France. Cavagna's most recent win came at the Paris-Arras Tour, where he broke away on the final stage to take an impressive solo win on an otherwise flat course.

I thought it was a travesty that Cavagna wasn't elected to the French selection last year for the Richmond's Worlds, especially after he won the French U23 TT Championship. This year, Cavagna has taken similar wins this year with strong solo moves in the Volta ao Alentejo and Circuit des Ardennes.

If we are looking at one of the favorites for the U23 Worlds TT this year, look no further.

The Paris-Arras Tour? I could take it or leave it. I like that sprinters get there chance but if it wasn't for Cavagna, we would have probably seen Espoirs Central favorite Aidis Kruopis take three straight stage wins along with the overall. These races are so much harder than what meets the results page though as many were shot out the back without any remorse. So while it was a bit of a sprint fest, it is a good test for many young riders. If only the UCI would create a better U23 calendar that was more focused on actual development and add some much-needed competition between development teams.