End of another week of news do just a little round up of things you might of missed out on.

Vuelta 2010 route announced.

The 21-stage 65th Tour of Spain has a few big changes happening next year.
The presentation was set in Sevilla this year which is the start town for next years race. Normally set in Madrid the first day sees possible the biggest innovation of the tour as it is a night time team time trial set in Sevilla. The 16 kilometer pan flat course is set to make an exciting start to the tour which has a host of new climbs added to the 21 day tour. The feeling going round is that it is going to take a strong man that can climb to win.

Contador and Valverde have spoke about the tour.

“It’s a Vuelta that looks exciting but also very, very hard,” said Valverde, who also expressed his delight that stages six and seven of the race will run through his home region, Murcia.

“It’s a beautiful Vuelta, for the spectator,” said Contador.

vuelta

So it looks like its set to be a whole host of exciting racing going on next year.

2012 Olympic Track Cycling Update.

After the announcement by the UCI for the changes to the London Games in 2012 there has mixed opinions on whether it was a good decision or not. Many of the athletes affected have spoken out and it would be safe to say it may have brought the UCI some bad press.

Olympics+Day+9+Cycling+Track+CwOZLUg8nMDlThe UCI has now redefined the format for the games with the objective of making the event more attractive to the public by placing more emphasis on endurance compared to previous games.

Now it might just me thinking that the comment of making it more attractive to the public is a strange one. For someone who has been to see the World Championships and enjoyed it immensely with a sell out crowd around me something just doesn’t add up. But at the end of the day they do have to take care of the masses and most people will be watching the action on television. It tends to be the buzz of the crowd and the noise of the bikes tearing up the wood which makes being at the events so exciting and to focus the event more on the viewing public may help the ratings.

What ever your beliefs may be, these are the details from the UCI:

•     Flying lap (250-metre time trial)

•     Points race (men: 30 km, women: 20 km)

•     Individual pursuit (men: 4 km, women: 3 km)

•     Scratch race (men: 15 km, women: 10 km)

•     Kilometre time trial (men), 500-metre time trial (women)

•     Elimination race (24 starters)

The flying lap is not completely new, as a flying 200 metres is traditionally used for qualification in the individual sprint. However, the distance of 250 metres is an innovation.

The points race will be run over the same distance as at World Cup meetings.

The individual pursuit, one of the iconic endurance specialities, will also maintain its traditional distances.

The scratch race, a new addition to the Olympic scene as part of the omnium, will be run over longer distances than previously, equivalent to traditional scratch race distances.

The kilometre (standing start) is the only event that is not traditionally held london-2012during Six-Day races for endurance riders. Because of this, it will be a decisive component of the omnium.

Finally, 24 riders will compete in an elimination race. Every two laps, the last rider over the finish line will be eliminated.

The omnium, after the World Championships in Copenhagen (24-28 March 2010), will thus be made up of the four endurance and two sprint events described. It will be held over two days in a sequence to be defined.

The omnium is one of the five events of the Olympic track cycling programme together with the individual sprint, team sprint, keirin and team pursuit. An equal number of medals will be awarded to men and women in track cycling at the London 2012 Olympic Games.

And to finish with some cool photo’s i’ve come accross this week, some old some new but all with a little story behind them.

tumblr_kqyrnzdRVB1qz6ktho1_500Thompson stems going through there stages of creation.

astana weight 1

A couple of images of what Team Astana had to do this year to get the teams bikes up to the UCI weight limit. The inserts are made of lead and as you can see they have made them into an expanding wedge to keep them in place.

bicycle-albert-einsteinAbert Einstein taking a break from the theories of relativity.

giro 88

Now if you think the weather has hit you bad recently just take a look at his picture from the 1988 Giro d’Italia. Above is the Dutchman Van de Velde riding solo up the Gavia which tops out at 8,599 feet and then decends over the other side down to the finish in Bormio. Van de Velde finshed the race but most of the field did not make it over due to ice forming on the brakes and gears forcing them to dismount. For the few that made it over it was a truely remarkable achievment.



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