Giro della Valle d'Aosta Prologue: It will not be won but could be lost

The day is here. Well not here yet because it is still 11:17 p.m. in Central Pennsylvania but it is currently the wee hours in the morning in the Aosta Valley. In a little bit over 12 hours, the first rider will be rolling down the start ramp at 18.00 local time and kicking off the 52nd edition of the Giro della Valle d'Aosta. Like any prologue, the race is usually not won here but it certainly doesn't help your GC hopes if you lose 30 seconds to a rival.

What makes this prologue a bit special is that is goes straight uphill for 5.4 kilometers.

This same exact climb was used as the final stage in last year's Giro della Valle d'Aosta, where Ildar Arslanov won the stage in convincing style in pouring down rain and Bernardo Suaza sealed the overall win. The climb itself starts in the French village of Morillon, which acts as a base to an extensive amount of ski runs in the area. The climb starts out slowly but quickly turns steeper as it winds up 10 switchbacks to the Les Esserts area, where there is a large bank of apartments and the majority of ski lifts run out of.

This picture offers a different view. The race takes the road up the right hand side to Les Esserts

The climb itself averages around 6.8% for the course and should bring out the GC riders as well as some opportunistic time trial riders that can handle the length of the climb.

Prediction

There are climbers galore here so it will need to be someone that can lay down a pretty good time trial too. There are a few riders from '96 that could put in a strong time, most notably of which is German Lennard Kämna, who is the reigning World Junior TT Champion and is a good climber. The other first year to watch could be American Will Barta, who was a talented TT rider as a junior.

The are obvious favorites such as the American who excels in uphill time trials, Keegan Swirbul; 5th place on this climb last year Giulio Ciccone; 3rd place on this climb last year, Odd Eiking; last year's winner Ildar Arslanov. Some others include Laurens De Plus, Simone Petilli, Silvio Herklotz, Rob Power, Alexey Vermeulen, TJ Eisenhart and Max Schachmann. Obviously this isn't an exhaustive list but you get my point.

Espoirs Central's picks for the prologue podium:

1. Keegan Swirbul (USA)
2. Lennard Kämna (Stölting)
3. Rob Power (Australia)

Giro della Valle d'Aosta Preview

We are less than two days from the start of the Giro della Valle d'Aosta, perhaps the hardest U23 stage race on the calendar, and now that a start list has become accessible, we can finally do a preview! Yes, the high Alpine race is back for its 52nd edition and Espoirs Central will be covering every stage and (hopefully) getting some comments from the riders. If you missed it from before, I previewed the course earlier in June so you can read that here. Now that you know the course, we should go on to the riders.

You can find the full start list here. It looks like there are some mistakes on this start list so this could be updated. 

With Colombia not bringing a National Team this year, it is last year's 2nd place that is wearing the number 1 bib and that is where we will begin.

Norway (DS: Stig Kristiansen)

*Insert pun about Odd Eiking* Yes, FDJ signing Odd Eiking is back once again to go for the Valle d'Aosta title and he is one of the top favorites. Eiking has been on a roll the past couple of months after going 12th in the Tour of Norway, 3rd overall in the Zavod Miru (Peace Race) U23 and winning the Norwegian U23 RR and finishing 2nd in the Elite race behind Boasson Hagen. With the pressure of a contract now off his shoulders, Eiking should be quite relaxed coming here.

Now Eiking's 2nd place was certainly strong last year but this year's race has perhaps the strongest start list that is has ever had. His support team is deep including last year's 5th place Sindre Lunke, Øivind Lukkedal, Njal Kleiven & Kristian Aasvold. Lukkedal & Kleiven showed signs of life at the Sibiu Tour in Romania where he went up against of Pro Continentals and journeymen continental riders. And Aasvold...well he is good filler.

Team Colpack (DS: Gianluca Valoti)

Last year's sensation team that won 2 stages, the KOM classification and had three riders in the top 7 overall is back again but without the biggest part of that group in Manuel Senni, who graduated to BMC. The other two parts of that group, Edward Ravasi and Giulio Ciccone, will need to pick up the slack along with teammates Andrea Garosio, Fausto Masnada and Filippo Zaccanti.

Ciccone has had a quiet year up until now with only a recent mountain time trial in Lombardia where he placed 2nd as his only indicator of form. On the other hand, Ravasi has had a strong year with 4th place overall in the Tour of Croatia as well as 3rd in the Italian U23 RR. The others are capable in the mountains with Garosio probably being the strongest. I would imagine that if they get a stage win or get Ravasi into the top 5, they would be hapy.

Delio Gallina (DS: Mariocesare Turchetti)

Um...er...uhhh. Have a good race guys. 

Zappi's Racing (DS: Flavio Zappi)

Zappi's had a good race last year with Dan Pearson going top 10 overall but with Pearson now on Zalf-Euromobil, Zappi's is coming with a very young team with three riders from '95 and two from '96. Probably the strongest on the team is James Knox, who was 9th last year Piccolo Giro d'Emilia and had some strong races in Portugal and Italy early this year. Just getting these guys experience is enough.

VL Techniks (DS: Rudy Vandenheede)

Well...they have some guys that were good juniors last year in Jeroen Pattyn and Thomas Demolder. Outside that, the breakaway is going to be their best shot at glory.

Pala Fenice (DS: Oliviano Locatelli)

Everyone's favorite "I'm totally repentent!" DS is back with another team for what is probably around his 35th Valle d'Aosta. Yes, Oliviano Locatelli has another team under his tutelage. The big draw is Simone Ravanelli, who was 13th overall last year, and is the best shot for a result for the team. Ravanelli was just 4th in the Italian U23 RR so his form seems to be somewhat present.

Stölting (DS: Gregor Willwohl)

The German team is coming with a two headed attack of Silvio Herklotz and Lennard Kämna. The last couple of years have seen Herklotz have great streaks where he would be all over the top 5 followed by down periods. The high mountains are perhaps not his forte as last year he was good but not great in both Valle d'Aosta and l'Avenir. At least his bane seems to be consecutive days of high mountains but we will see if he has worked on that. On the other hand, Kämna has had a fantastic first year and this will be an interesting test of form to see if he can cope over the mountains.

BMC Development (DS: Geert Van Bondt)

The two USA riders, Alexey Vermeulen and TJ Eisenhart, will be looking to make an impact on GC. Vermeulen rode very well at the Ronde de l'Isard with a 7th place overall. He came back at USA Nationals after an altitude camp in Lake Tahoe and showed his strength with late attacks in the U23 RR and 2nd in the U23 TT. Vermeulen seems to keep getting stronger with age and a top 10 overall here could be attainable. Eisenhart, on the other hand, has had an up and down year. He hasn't had a big result to hang his hat on but he has gotten through all of the races bar one. Really, since the Thuringen Rundfahrt in 2013 where he finished 6th, he hasn't had a top 10 GC performance. He could be a shot for the opening prologue but for the GC? That remains to be seen.

Now, Tyler Williams isn't on the start list but he will be attending the race.

Today off to Italy for a week of giant big climbs. Brought a hack saw in case I need to lose some limbs to shed weight

— Tyler Williams (@TylerWcycling) July 13, 2015

The last two spots are between Lukas Spengler, Killian Frankiny and Valentin Baillifard.

Unieuro Wilier (DS: Marco Milesi)

If Simone Petilli is riding at the same form level as he was at the Ronde de l'Isard, he will hit the podium of this race and could possibly win. Petilli has shown himself as a future GC star and what better place to come out to a bigger audience? He seems to be in good form with his 3rd place at the Giro della Medio Brenta.

Behind Petilli is a good team including Lorenzo Rota, who was 7th in the Tour of Slovakia and 18th here last year, and Stefano Nardelli, who is more of a one-day racer but should still be able to offer support.

Lotto-Soudal U23 (DS: Kurt Van De Wouwer)

After a learning year last year, Laurens De Plus has shown himself to be the next Belgian Climbing Sensation after impressive rides in both the Ronde de l'Isard, where he was 2nd by just 10 seconds, and the Zavod Miru (Peace Race) U23, where he was 4th overall. De Plus was a GC talent as a junior but never was a winner. This year he has shown aggression and grit and even ticked off one for the win column with a solo ride in Gent Staden. The uphill prologue plus the several mountain top finishes will see him in the top tier of riders if he is up to the challenge.

Joining De Plus are three riders from his Ronde de l'Isard campaign in Steff Cras, Steff Hermans and Brecht Ruyters. Ruyters is a good climber in his own right but seems to work best as a leadout rider for GC men such as he did with Louis Vervaeke last year. Cras and Hermans are only first year but show potential; Cras particularly with back to back strong rides in l'Isard, where he was 11th, and Pays de Savoie, where he was 10th.

Zalf-Euromobil (DS: Luciano Rui)

The Treviso-based team is coming in with one of their big signings from this past off-season, Brit Dan Pearson. Pearson was 8th overall last year riding for Zappi's and while it will be stiffer competition this year, he could be in the top 10-15 overall range. Zalf also brings Simone Velasco, who is more of a one-day rider but is handy in the mountains and there is no time like the U23 ranks to get experience in the high mountains. A stage win or perhaps the KOM jersey seems like a good goal.

World Cycling Center (DS: Jean Jacques Henry)

The UCI's World Cycling Center is fielding a team and I'm savoring over this team. I'm always curious how the Mixed Team can compete in races such as this because there might not be too much of a common language but they will go all out for one another.

There are three riders here that have some strong potential for good rides. Anass Ait El Abdia from Morocco was very good in his home tour for 3rd overall behind two former World Tour riders but also finished 3rd in the Tour du Jura and has won one race on the French regional calendar. Caio Godoy from Brazil was here last year and put in a 25th place overall but this year, he has spent all of it in France and has clocked up a win and a number of top 10 finishes. Valens Ndayisenga of Rwanda could be a good top 10 bet for the opening uphill prologue and is using this for more European experience but he won the Tour of Rwanda last year and is no slouch in high mountains.

GFDD Altopack Titano (DS: Elso Frediani)

Not much here except for Alexandr Riabushenko, a Belorussian climber that is finding his legs in the U23 ranks after an outstanding junior career.

AWT Greenway (DS: Pavel Padronos)

Ivan Garcia is probably the best shot at any GC hopes here as he was 18th in the Oberösterreichrundfahrt and 10th in the Tour de Bretagne. While those aren't necessarily mountainous, he can climb. Behind him, Alvaro Cuadros can certainly climb but consistency is the issue with him. Perhaps Max Schachmann can ride consistenly and get the team a top 20? They will be hoping for a breakaway stage win or maybe Schachmann in the prologue. 

Russia (DS: Nikolay Morozov)

If he can string together a complete race, Ildar Arslanov could win a stage and take a top 10 overall placing. If he has a bad day, the have Matvey Mamykin, who can do the same thing. If both of them have a bad day, then they can go with Artem Nych to perhaps steal a stage. The main problem with the Russians is that they don't have a rider that is always consistent AND can go for GC. Nych is perhaps the most consistent rider they have but isn't the best bet for GC in a high mountains race.

So if Arslanov and Mamykin can both go top 15 and they get a stage win, it will be a successful race.

Haute-Savoie Rhône Alpes (DS: Jean-Yves Voisin)

A composite team with riders from the region in France as the race starts in Haute-Savoie before working its way into Italy. Lucas Papillon will be going for a top 10 overall after finishing 5th in the Ronde de l'Isard and 12th in the Tour des Pays de Savoie. Not much in terms of team support but we shall see.

General Store (DS: Simone Bertoletti)

General Store is coming as a one-trick pony behind Davide Gabburo. Gabburo isn't necessarily a GC type but after his 2nd place in the Italian U23 RR, he looks like he could win a stage here if the chips fall correctly. It is a light team but if they win a stage, they will be vindicated.

Australia (DS: James Victor)

Without Caleb Ewan, the Australian National Team has been a bit quieter this year but starting in Valle d'Aosta, they should be getting quite raucous. The Australians come with the duo of Rob Power and Jack Haig but neither are coming in as hot as they were in previous years. Power had a couple of top 5 performances in Italian one days but he hasn't raced since his 6th place in the Rhône Alpes Isere Tour. Haig on the other hand has been struggling with injury since crashing out of the Tour de Bretagne in April and other than 500 meters in the Rhône Alpes Isere & the opening TTT stage of the Paris-Arras Tour, he hasn't raced. Haig seems to be back on the mend and should be on good form but without having any racing to gauge it, it'll be a bit of a mystery.

The Australians have been at a altitude camp in Livigno, which is deep in Lombardy by the Swiss border. Joining Power and Haig has been Alex Clements, Harry Carpenter and from what it seems like, Freddy Ovett of Chambery CF. Oscar Stevenson is on the start list but he just started back to training in early June and seems unlikely to start. Clements will be a good teammate for the mountains along with Ovett, who is the ex-runner that has burst onto the scene as a strong climber.

Australia hasn't been to Valle d'Aosta in 4 years and if the team is on point, they could come back as winners.

USA (DS: Mike Sayers)

The USA U23 team is looking for a big results and they are brining in a team that could provide one. Keegan Swirbul will be in his first European race but if he continues to show the form that he had at Tour de Beauce and the USA U23 Nationals, he could certainly be a contender for a high overall placing. The opening uphill time trial will definitely benefit him and with the very point profile, he should feel at home. If he can handle the changes and the different racing style, it will be interesting to see what he can do. Will Barta and Geoffrey Curran can ride tempo with their time trial backgrounds as well as provide support in the mountains. Throw in Chris Putt and Justin Oien and that isn't a half bad team for a run at a high overall GC place.

Fundacion Alberto Contador (DS: Rafael Diaz Justo)

El Pistolero has a U23 team and they will be taking to their first major competition outside of Iberia. They have a very young team with two from '95 and three from '96. Their leader is former Spanish Junior TT Champ Enric Mas, who was 4th overall last year in the Zavod Miru (Peace Race) U23 and won a stage at this year's Vuelta a Bidasoa and finished 2nd overall. Perhaps still too young to contend for the overall but top 20 is a possibility. The other riders don't have much results to go on so this is going to be a learning experience for them.

SEG Racing (DS: Michael Elijzen)

This team has had a successful rookie year with 5 UCI wins to date but none of them by the riders they are bringing to Valle d'Aosta. Koen Bouwman is the oldest and looks like the leader as he was 7th overall in the Oberösterreichrundfahrt as well as 4th in the Dutch U23 TT Championship. Past Bouwman, they have the first Chinese rider to race in Valle d'Aosta in Zhi Hui Jiang, Davy Gunst who survived here last year and is a good all-arounder as well as Magnus Bak Klaris and Julius van den Berg, who seem to be here for experience more than anything. 

Switzerland (DS: Danilo Hondo)

Someone at the Swiss Fed must have been like, "You know who we should give this open DS job to? Right, a convicted doper with a history on dirty team." Danilo Hondo might be quite knowledgable after different aspects of racing but you couldn't find a better choice?  In any case, the Swiss team lacks depth with only Niels Knipp being any sort of contender after finishing 15th in the Zavod Miru (Peace Race) U23.

Slovenia (DS: Marko Polanc)

There was a time when Slovenia was stacked with Luka Pibernik, Marko Kump, Jan Tratnik and Matej Mohoric but they are in a rebuilding phase. Marco Pavlic is certainly the lynch pin and will be the best shot at a high overall finish after his 7th in the Zavod Miru (Peace Race) U23. Rok Korosec was good in the early classics this year but is a bit out of his element. Gasper Katrasnik should be a good addition to Pavlic.

Kazakhstan (DS: Andrey Teteryuk)

Following the implosion at Astana Continental with three positive tests last year, the young Kazakhs have been quiet going into Valle d'Aosta with only Oleg Zemlyakov showing good form through the season with multiple top 10 overalls and winning the Kazakh Elite RR Championship. He was 16th in l'Avenir last year so perhaps a top 10 is the goal? The other climbers here are Tilegen Maidos, who was 11th here last year, and Galem Akhmetov. 

UC Monaco (DS: Guido Poseto)

A nice international mix of riders that I have never heard of. Seriously, why does this team get a birth to this race? Why? Does not compute.

Team Ecuador (DS: Domenec Carbonell)

Daddy always brings his son to the races. Except instead of spectating, his son is actually in the race. Isaac Carbonell always gets into the best races for Team Ecuador because of his father, Domenec, being the DS. A waste of a roster spot. Jefferson Cepeda seems like the best talent but will probably be breakaway fodder.

Predictions

Now that that is done, let's do some predictions, shall we?

My podium for the Giro della Valle d'Aosta is...

1. Laurens De Plus (Lotto-Soudal U23)
2. Rob Power (Australia)
3. Odd Eiking (Norway)

KOM: Simone Petilli (Unieuro Wilier)

Points: Eiking

Youth: Will Barta (USA)

What do you think? Am I crazy? Am I right and you want to praise me? Let me know!

Giro della Valle d'Aosta: Young USA team looking to shine in Italy

USA National Team director Mike Sayers was optimistic when discussing the team's chances in the overall classification in the upcoming Giro della Valle d'Aosta. "I think it is not out of the picture that we have a rider in the top 5 GC. I will be disappointed with no one in the top 10."

It was strong words from a director that focuses mainly on getting U23 riders experience in bigger races but the American team has the potential. Sayers has mainly run with a young crew this year with only a couple of 4th year U23s and, admittedly, the team has been a bit inconsistent at times. If the National Team goes to a race that also invites Axeon or BMC Development, that means the team could potentially be lining up with a roster full of riders from '95 or '96. Constantly relying on young riders isn't always going to lead to sunshine and roses. As any good director knows, putting too much pressure on developing riders will lead to burnout. So while inconsistency might be an issue, the young Americans have certainly had their bright moments with Colin Joyce finishing 3rd overall in Costa Vicentina and 7th in La Cote Picarde while 1st year Will Barta finished 8th overall in the Tour de Bretagne.

Another issue that Sayers brings up is that the riders are far away from home. "I think we, exactly like the Aussies, fight a huge uphill battle being away from our homes for weeks and months at a time," says Sayers. "Instead, I focus on teaching guys how to become as comfortable as possible in Europe, a place that is not their home, where I hope that one day they can be full-time pros. These kids fight and I will fight for them."

Starting in Aosta for the USA will be Keegan Swirbul, Chris Putt, Justin Oien, Geoffrey Curran and Will Barta. Swirbul, if he has good legs and is healthy, will be a strong GC contender in this type of terrain. Curran and Barta are good climbers that are strong time trialists so they should be able to get a rhythm on these big climbs and pound away. Putt finished well in last year's Ronde de l'Isard and seemed to be on form in the U23 National RR when he put in some late attacks. Oien can ride on a lot of different terrain and should be a consummate teammate.

"We are going there to learn, so being aggressive will be a requirement and taking some risks is fine for me.  Any result an American can get there, including the BMC guys (TJ Eisenhart and Alexey Vermeulen -ed), is a victory for me and my program." Sayers said. "It is going to be a tough week, but a beautiful week."

Dima: A rider without a state

I tweeted about Dymtro 'Dima' Grabovskyy last month. The guy fascinates me. A Ukranian whose parents have lived in Israel for nearly 2 decades. Grabovskyy stayed in Ukraine so that he could finish his studies and have a strong cycling network as he was one of the strongest juniors in Europe. He graduated to the U23 ranks and balanced the road and track.

Dima in his adopted Israel home
Photo: ofanaim-mag.co.il

In 2005 at just 19, he finished 2nd in the World U23 TT and soloed away for the World U23 RR win. In 2006, he moved to Italy and was on a rampage. He won the Giro della Regioni and was 5 seconds away from winning the GiroBio. After winning the U23 TT at the European Championships, he got a trainee spot with Quick Step and joined the team for two years.

It was around this time that Grabovskyy developed a drinking problem. His results were not coming as easy as they had in the U23 ranks. He was coming home from training and getting plastered with vodka down on the seaside. He survived two incidents of alcohol poisoning but Quick Step cut ties with him after 2008. Grabovskyy returned to his U23 DS Luca Scinto at ISD-Neri but his 2009 season was erratic.

The team wasn't going to renew him until February 2010 after he seemingly made an about face. He was flying in Langkawi where he was 3rd on one stage and his leader Jose Rujano won the race. Grabovskyy was on the attack constantly in Tirreno-Adriatico and won the KOM jersey when it was all said and done. He managed 11th overall in the Tour of Turkey but missed out on selection for the Giro d'Italia. He only finished one race the rest of the season, which was the Volta a Portugal. He was on ISD-Lampre's roster for 2011 but he never started a race. He didn't race another UCI race for another five years until this year's GP of Minsk.

At a 2011 training camp for the Ukrainian National Team for the London 2012 Olympics, it is rumored that Grabovskyy and other teammates tested positive for unspecified banned substances. This has been contested by some Israeli officials but it was shown that there was a letter from the Ukrainian Federation that there was a suspension from March 11th of 2011 to March 11 of 2013 but no reason was specifically listed.

Grabovskyy didn't surface until 2013 when he showed up in Israel. His parents have been living there for a long time and with his life in limbo, Dima made the move to the country, specifically the city of Arad, and made it clear he was going to pursue Israeli citizenship. One issue here is that Grabovskyy isn't Jewish. While Jews get automatic citizenship to Israel, it is a bit more complicated for others. Grabovskyy wasn't able to work since he wasn't a citizen but he began to race once again. Instantly, he was head and shoulders ahead of the rest. He won the Apple Race and finished 1st in the Israel National RR and TT but didn't win the championship as he was a non-citizen.

In 2014, he switched to doing triathlon and in January of this year, Grabovskyy finished 3rd overall in the Israman Half Ironman after a very strong bike leg and just 7 minutes off the winner. Grabovskyy hasn't given up on the road as he was best in the Israel TT (again not the champion since he isn't a citizen still) and was 5th in the RR. For the first time in a UCI race in 5 years, Grabovskyy raced last weekend in Belarus with his Dynamo Racing team under an Israeli Federation license and finished 33rd and 11th in two one day events.

Dima Grabovskyy is still not an Israeli citizen. He could fall under the naturalization law this year but that decision is still left up to the Minister of the Interior. He is still pursuing Israel's first Olympic birth in cycling for the upcoming Rio 2016 Games.

It seems trivial to care so much about a rider whose best professional results was the mountains classification of the 2010 Tirreno-Adriatico but this is a case of what could have been. Grabovskyy was just so strong in the U23 ranks that he could have been a rider to reckon with for the next decade to come. Yet, he was another case of a developing rider not being handled properly and the situation blew up. He has had problems and has been away. Yet if his name come across a result sheet, I still wonder about him.

Espoirs Central Roundup: Everything BUT the Tour de France

So the Tour de France is happening but if you are reading this, I'm sure you are looking at the start list for the Tour de Liege and waiting up until the wee hours of the morning for results from the Tour of Qinghai Lake. Because you are a true cycling fan and not just some fair-weather cycling fan that comes around every summer at the sight of sunflowers and plush podium lions.

Let's take a look at the week that was...

GP Minsk and Minsk Cup

Ahhh, Belarus. The Eastern European worker's paradise ruled by Alexander Lukashenko hosted two races over the weekend. The GP Minsk was more like an overblown criterium on a pan-flat course. A group of three including Russian Nikolay Cherkasov (U23) , Kazakh Nurbolat Kulimbetov and Belorussian Aleh Ahiyevich (U23) were away until three kilometers when the bunch came together for the gallop.

It was Siarhei Papok (Minsk Cycling) that won the bunch sprint for his 3rd win of the year while Sergiy Kozachenko (Kyiv Capital) and Uladzimir Harakhavik (Minsk Cycling) finished 4th and 5th.

In the Minsk Cup, it was a bit different story. A group of 6 got off the front and with most teams represented, the gap pushed out. While a chase group got away, it was 5 riders that stayed away in the finale including Ukranian Oleksandr Golovash (Kolss), Kazakhs Matvey Nikitin & Nurbolat Kulimbetov (both Seven Rivers), Zydrunas Savickas (Lithuania) and Andris Vosekalns (Rietumu). It was Golovash, who is a former European U23 TT podium finisher, who got away at the end and outsprinted Nikitin for the win. W

hile the chasers came in a few minutes led in by U23 Ahiyevich in 6th, it was mystery man Dmytro Grabovskyy who pulled away from the peloton and came in alone in 11th. It was Grabovskyy's first race in Europe in 5 years. Papok took the sprint for 11th.

Omloop Het Nieuwsblad U23

In the final kilometers of the the U23/Amateur version of the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad in Zottegem, Floris Gerts attacked his breakaway mates that included two cylcocross riders in U23 Wout Van Aert & Gianni Vermeersch along with journeyman Dimitri Claeys and danced away for his 4th win of the season. Gerts, who was apart of the day long breakaway, it certainly justifying his stagiaire spot on BMC this year. Three more U23s finished in the top 10 including Maxime Farazijn, Daan Myngheer and Kenneth Van Rooy.

Course de Solidarnosc et des Champions Olympiques

This race is a bigger spring fest than the Tour of Qatar. Johim Ariesen was easily the best sprinter and took 4 out of the 5 bunch sprints with his lone "off" stage saw him finish 8th as the finish was a little uphill. Pawel Franczak and Vitaly Buts were the closest to Ariesen on a consistent basis but even then, Ariesen had a lock on the overall. Ariesen is up to 9 wins now, which puts him tied for 6th in the UCI rankings with Richie Porte.

In terms of the U23s, there were a few that got onto the podiums inlcuding Kacper Gronkiewicz, Jakub Kaczmarek (CCC Sprandi) and Eryk Laton (CCC Sprandi). While the sprints decided some of the GC spots, many of the breakaway riders took advantage of breakaways and bonus second sprints. Toms Skujins (Hincapie) and U23 Emiel Planckaert (Lotto-Soudal U23) both got some bonuses to get 4th and 5th overall on the GC.

Paris-Chauny

Maxime Vantomme played the World Tour fish in the Continental pond after sneaking away in the finale to take a super tight finish at Paris-Chauny. Vantomme was in the breakaway with his teammate and designated sprinter Rudy Barbier. With riders not working well together, Vantomme went out with 15 kilometers to go and the former Katusha and Crelan rider held off a late charge by Ronan Racault to take the win. Alberto Cecchin (Roth-Skoda) won the sprint for 3rd ahead of U23s Michael Goolaerts (Lotto-Soudal U23) and Michael Bresciani (Roth-Skoda).

A move that was originally a good tactic to protect his sprinter turned out to be a fine solo win. Kudos.

Sibiu Tour

The Romanian race that heads up the Transfagarasan highway on the queen stage to Balea Lac was filled with riders that have either over stayed their welcome (Rebellin) or are cherry pickers from Continental teams. In terms of U23s, it was Giovanni Carboni (Unieuro-Wilier) who was the most consistent in 12th overall while Øiving Lukkedahl, Njal Kleiven (both Ringeriks-Kraft) and Julian Schulze (Stuttgart) finished in the top 20.

Tour of Qinghai Lake

The is a crazy race. Cash money for those that win prizes. Dodgy riders getting contracts with Iranian and Chinese teams. Example being the Beijing Yanqing team which is fielding a team full of of Uzbeks.

Marko Kump took the first two sprint stages to add to his wins total that is now at 13 for the season while Oleksandr Polivoda, who was 4th overall last year, made it three years in a row with a stage win after winning the stage today that started out with 1200 meters of climbing over the first 85 kilometers before a flat last half of the race.

I'm sure there will be at least one positive in this race announced at some point.

Swiss Nationals

1st year U23 Patrick Muller won the U23 RR. Bold and underline his name for your notes as he will be popping up more frequently as the years go on.

That is all.

Tour de France Youth Classification Preview

While this blog never ventures to much into the pro scene, there is no time like Tour de France time for some click bait, amirite? Like the Yates bros. guys. They are just like so good and they are definitely going places. And that Louis Meintjes kid, he is the bee's knees.

Anyways, the Tour de France starts today and I'm not over the top excited. Yes, it is the biggest race of the year with non-cycling people even getting excited for it. Yet, I'm a bit apathetic about the whole thing. I get pumped for the U23 riders and many of the smaller races yet the Grand Tours? I fancy the breakaway stages but the majority of the GC fight, I tend to tune out unless it is a rider that I might pull for.

In any case, the youth classification at the Tour de France is for U-26 riders and if you look at the start list, the youth classification is stacked with 32 talented riders with many that are going to be results makers this year.

There will only be a few that are fighting for the youth classification overall. The glaring favorites are Nairo Quintana and Thibaut Pinot, who are both going to be fighting for overall podium places. While Quintana is probably the distinct favorite with his 2nd overall in 2013 in the Tour de France and his win in the Giro d'Italia last year, Pinot is coming in hot after finishing in the top 5 overall in four out of his last five stage races and won two big mountain stages in the Tour de Romandie and Suisse.

Past Quintana and Pinot, others that shouldn't be too far away are Romain Bardet, Simon and Adam Yates, Warren Barguil and Wilco Kelderman. These are just the riders that could be going for GC too.

Guys that could steal a mountain stage win? Tim Wellens and Louis Meintjes.

The other very strong all-around riders include Michael Matthews, Michal Kwiatkowski, Tom Dumoulin, Rohan Dennis, Eduardo Sepulveda and Bob Jungels. The includes the current World Champion, a former U23 World champion, a couple of stage 1 top 10 favorites and a former Hour Record holder, among other things.

Did I not mention Peter Sagan is also in the youth classification? Also sprinters Bryan Coquard, Marco Haller, Nacer Bouhanni, Sam Bennett and Arnaud Demare. If they get lucky, that group can pull in 4 stage wins? Well...3 by Sagan.

Not into sprinters or mountain guys? We have head-smashers like Luke Durbridge, Michael Valgren, Georg Preidler and Dylan van Baarle. They will go to the front and make you wish for a big peloton crash so the pace would halt.

Who hasn't been mentioned...Angelo Tulik? Definitely in a breakaway and could be in the hunt for a breakaway win. The Cofidis trio of Kenneth Vanbilsen, Christophe Laporte and Florian Senechal. Lots of talent but probably going to be a long race for them. Luke Rowe will be bottle duty for Froome. Emanuel Buchmann, the Emu from Bora-Argon 18, was on fine form in the German National Championships and I predict a 37th overall finish.

The last rider of this...thing is Merhawi Kudus of MTN-Qhubeka. The young Eritrean is a talented climber that will one day be at the front of the race. I will be surprised if he finishes the race in the top 100 overall. He finished the Vuelta last year but he still has a few years before he will contend.

My predictions? Quintana will win the white jersey...and the overall. Pinot will finish 4th overall and 2nd in the classification. Bardet will be 7th overall and 3rd in the youth.

The young rider will win 8 stages including 3 by Sagan, 1 by Matthews, 1 by Quintana, 1 by Pinot, 1 by Kwiatkowski and 1 by Dumoulin.

Out of the 32 young riders, 27 will finish.

This concludes my Tour de France writing for 2015. Bonne Chance!

It's happening again...Transfer season!

We are barely halfway through the season and it is time for one of my favorite times of the season, the transfer season. Where riders & teams burn bridges, teams launch & fold and riders get their big break & become dust in the wind.

The two big announcements were the singings of Odd Eiking and Gianni Moscon.

The Norwegian Eiking, who burst out last year in the Giro della Valle d'Aosta, was on the radar of FDJ earlier this off season when he went to a three day training camp held by the team that included testing. Fred Grappe, who is the team's performance director, has been high on Eiking as he noted his high lactate threshold as a strong key to developing as a puncheur rider.

FDJ followed through with their talent-crush and signed the Norwegian to a two year neo-pro deal through the end of 2017. Eiking, who rides for Team Joker, has blossomed as a very consistent rider this season including his win in the Norwegian U23 RR and 2nd in the Elite Men's race. Watch for him when he comes back to the Giro della Valle d'Aosta. He will be Norway's 8th current pro rider on the World Tour circuit, which is pretty damn good considering the size of the nation.

On the other end of the continent, Zalf-Euromobil's Gianni Moscon inked a long speculated deal with Team Sky for two seasons. The newly crowned Italian U23 champion will go to the team's training camp in Sestriere on July 10th-21st with non-Tour de France riders and according to one article, "two other young men, an Englishman and an American." He will stagiaire with the team this year and according to him in his interview with Gazzetta dello Sport, he will start with Milano-Torino and a few other races this year. Moscon, who is leading Italian amateurs with 7 wins this season, proved himself a versatile rider with a 2nd place in the Ronde van Vlaanderen U23 along with wins in Palio del Recioto and San Vendemiano. Other Moscon facts include that he plays the accordion, he has a diploma as a land surveyor and is pursuing a degree in Engineering Management.

Moscon is also advised by Maurizio Fondriest, who he has known since he was young. Of course Fondriest was coached by Francesco Conconi and had his own issues with doping through his career. Fondriest might be a nice guy but I wouldn't keep him as an advisor when you are going into a career where that association can have you skewered.

Watch for Moscon at the Tour de l'Avenir and U23 Worlds in Richmond.

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While these guys inked their first contracts, a lot of stagiaires were announced by mainly French teams. For those that are new to this, stagiaires, or trainees, are basically riders that get a chance on a pro team and get some race days with the big boys. Many times this leads to a contract with said team but it isn't guaranteed. The stagiaire period starts on August 1st.

FDJ

Madiot's squad has announced three stagiaires in Elie Gesbert, Marc Fournier and Fabien Doubey.

Gesbert runs on the lowly DN3 level with his Pays de Dinan team but has been under scholarship with the FDJ foundation. Gesbert fractured a collarbone this year but has been running fairly well. Gesbert was an double French junior champion in 2013 in the RR and TT and was probably the best French junior in his class.

Fournier (CC Nogent sur Oise) has had a damn good year with two wins in the French DN1 competition as well as one UCI win with a stage win in the Triptyque Monts et Chateaux. A bit inconsistent but a strong rouleur.

Doubey is the current French U23 cyclocross champion and won a stage in the Tour Nivernais Morvan.

Europcar

The Vendée based team took three stagiaires with Romain Guyot, Taruia Krainer and Simon Sellier.

Romain Guyot is a homegrown Vendée U product that has three wins this year along with good rides in the Triptyque Monts et Chateaux (7th) and Fleche du Sud (12th).

For his 2nd year in a row, Tahiti's Taruia Krainer is with Europcar as a stagiaire. Krainer won Paris-Tours Espoirs 3 years ago and hasn't done much since.

Simon Sellier is someone that I cannot say I've heard much from. He was 12th in Liege-Bastogne-Liege U23 this year so seems like he could be good. Maybe.

Bretagne Seche Environment

The western France squad take their prize baby Franck Bonnamour, Valentin Madouas and Brazilian Caio Godoy.

Bretagne loves Franck Bonnamour. He is their star pupil as this is his 2nd year as a stagiaire with them in his first two U23 seasons. He will be on Bretagne Seche Environment, or another iteration, when he goes pro. He has won three races this year including one DN1 race and was 5th in the Ronde van Vlaanderen U23.

Madouas is just a first year U23 with BIC 2000 and was a standout junior last year but is still trying to find his feet in the U23 ranks.

Godoy is an interesting pick as he is a Brazilian but he trains at the UCI World Cycling Centre. Godoy, nicknamed the Cannibal in Brazil, has had some decent results in the hillier bits of France including a win on the national level.

Roubaix Lille Metropole

The northern France squad sign up Felix Pouilly and Leo Vincent.

Pouilly (CC Nogent sur Oise) suffered from an iliac artery problem in 2014 but has come back strong in 2015. He was the French junior champion in 2012 and this year, he finished 4th in the Paris-Roubaix U23.

Leo Vincent (CC Etupes) is the king of the final stage after wins on the last stages of the Ronde de l'Isard and the Tour des Pays de Savoie. Strong climber and I doubt he will stay here but Roubaix Lille Metrpole rides a diverse schedule so it should be good.

Team Marseille 13

The southern France squad go with Estonian Martin Laas and Yoan Verardo.

Laas runs for Team Immo Pro Roux and has won the Tour of Estonia. He likes those flat races.

Verardo rides for the French Basque team GSC Blagnac and has had a breakout year with three wins so far as well as 4th in the La Cote Picarde Nations Cup.

Outside of France...

BMC

While Loïc Vliegen is joining the team on a pro contract starting today, BMC Development riders Tom Bohli and Floris Gerts will be stagiaires starting on August 1st.

Bohli has 13 top 10 finishes in UCI races and while he isn't a sprinter, seems to have a nose for the line in a bunch sprint. With a bit more grooming, he will be a beast.

Gerts is another rider that is all over the top 10 and has a good solo move that has netted him two wins this year. He is getting closer in hillier races and is a good shot for a Tour de l'Avenir stage win later this year.

Orica-GreenEdge

It was announced in about January or so but Jack Haig is joining the team as a stagiaire in 2015.

Haig has been quiet this year after a pretty brutal crash in the Tour de Bretagne that has kept him out for nearly 2 months. He even made a five hour drive to France from the AIS base in Italy to start the Rhone-Alpes Isere Tour so the team had enough riders but did a whole whopping 500 meters before pulling out and driving back to Italy. Read this Cycling Tips blog by Jack on his road to recovery.

Katusha

The Russian team is making an...interesting move by signing Pan-Am U23 Champion Jhonathan Restrepo.

Restrepo hails from Medellin and left his family home at a young age to pursue cycling. He eventually ended up staying in the family home of staunch anti-doper Juan Pablo Villegas (Smartstop). Restrepo, who rides for Coldeportes-Claro, won the final stage of the Vuelta de la Juventud Colombia and finished a strong 3rd overall behind the likes of Ecuadorian Richie Carapaz and Aldemar Reyes. Restrepo went on to win the Pan-Am U23 RR in a small group sprint.

While his debut in Europe was horrible with a DNF in the U23 Peace Race, Restrepo will make his debut with Katusha in the Vuelta a Burgos.