Bicycle Racing News and Opinion,
Tuesday, December 4, 2018
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2018 Tour de France | 2018 Giro d'Italia
Growing old is like being increasingly penalized for a crime you haven't committed. - Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
Upcoming Racing:
- December 15: Scheldecross
Latest completed racing:
- December 1: GP Hasselt
- November 18: Flandriencross
- November 11: Telenet Super Prestige Gavere Cyclocross
- November 4: European Cyclocross Championships
- November 1: Cyclocross Koppenberg
- October 28: Cyclocross Ruddervorde
- October 23 - 31: Tour of Hainan
- October 21: Japan Cup
- October 9 - 14: Presidential Tour of Turkey
- October 14: Chrono des Nations
- October 13: Il Lombardia
- October 11: Gran Piemonte
Liquidator running sales at all Performance Bicycle Store locations
Bicycle Retailer and Industry News posted this:
DURHAM, N.C. (BRAIN) — The company hired last month to run liquidation sales at 40 Performance Bicycle stores has expanded those sales to the chain's 62 remaining stores.
Performance's parent company, Advanced Sports Enterprises, filed a petition for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Nov. 16.
On Thursday, ASE filed an amended store closing agreement with Gordon Brothers, the Boston-based firm that was hired to conduct "inventory clearance" or "store closing" sales at 40 stores identified as being unprofitable. The amended agreement adds the remaining 62 Performance stores to the agreement (Performance had 104 locations when it filed for bankruptcy on Nov. 16, but two stores were already in the process of being closed at the time) with sales at the additional stores beginning as early as Saturday, Dec. 1.
Managers and employees at Performance locations learned of the expanded sale plan on Thursday, and some told BRAIN they were dismayed because they had believed ASE planned to maintain at least some Performance locations following the restructuring. They told BRAIN they viewed the start of the sales at all locations as proof that ASE plans to close all of them.
"This suggests to me that there was no intention to continue the chain," one Performance employee told BRAIN. Store employees said ASE officials told them the sales were going so well at the initial 40 locations that they wanted to expand them to other locations during the critical holiday period.
ASE's CEO, Pat Cunnane, said the sales expansion does not indicate all the stores will be closed.
"Currently, this is more about inventory liquidation rather than store closure," he said in an email to BRAIN. "Whether a store is ultimately closed is a function of concessions that we may obtain from landlords and the marketplace of potential bidders. This process will enable us to determine which stores are the most valuable to the business.
"We are trying to renegotiate leases and we believe this helps," Cunnane added. "So, this is actually in pursuit of maintaining as many stores as possible. Still, we continue to work through many obstacles and we don't know what stores will remain open until the occupancy costs are known."
He said other retailers have expressed interest in buying some Performance locations, so some stores may close as Performance locations and reopen under another name.
Gordon Brothers is contracted to run sales at the initial 40 locations for 12 weeks ending Jan. 27. Sales in the other 62 locations are set to run until Feb. 28. Sales may end sooner at some locations if the stores are sold or the remaining inventory is consolidated with other locations.
Under the initial agreement, Gordon Brothers would operate a "themed sale" that can be promoted as "inventory clearance" or "store closing" sales as mutually agreed by Gordon Brothers and ASE. Cunnane said ASE was still negotiating with the court about the language used to describe the sales at the additional stores. This weekend, sales at the additional 62 stores did not include any language about store closings, he said.
Gordon Brothers' budget for the sales is $2.1 million, including $1.1 million to be spent on advertising. ASE's total budget for the sales period, including rent and payroll and the Gordon Brothers budget, is $12.8 million. Among other compensation, Gordon Brothers will receive a tiered incentive payment tied to the percentage of the inventory's cost that is recovered through the sales.
Gordon Brothers is consulting with ASE on ways to maximize the value of the remaining inventory, including making some store inventory available online. Some Performance store employees told BRAIN that they were being told to box up 2019 model year bikes and send them back to the Performance warehouse.
You can read the entire story here.
A Race of Life – Details of Gran Fondo Esteban Chaves released as Colombian announces return to racing
Here's the Team Mitchelton-Scott press release:
Colombian Esteban Chaves has revealed a surprising twist for his inaugural Gran Fondo Esteban Chaves, with participants signing up for a race of life, rather than a traditional race on the bike.
Launched last month with the promise people from all corners of the globe can be involved, the likes of Eddy Merckx, Purito Rodriguez, Mathew Hayman, Paolo Bettini, Mariana Pajón and Annemiek Van Vleuten and Colombian musicians and celebrities Julián Román, Vanessa De La Torre, Juan Pablo Raba, Pirry, Gusi, Andrés Parra, Claudia Moreno and Monica Jaramillo, are amongst those already on board the world-wide crowd funding campaign to help the likes of Kevin.
Chaves has teamed up with Dr. Julio Sandoval, the doctor responsible for saving his career after a traumatic racing incident in 2013, for the Gran Fondo Esteban Chaves, raising money for vital surgeries and eventually a brand-new children’s medical facility to offer the same life changing opportunities granted to him five years ago.
The details emerge as Colombia’s first and only Monument winner also confirms his return to racing is scheduled to be at the Vuelta a Valencia in Spain in February 2019 following what will be an eight-month hiatus due to Epstein Barr Virus.
Esteban Chaves wins the 2016 Tour of Lombardy. Sirotti photo.
Esteban Chaves:
“Bike racing has changed my life and now we have the opportunity to use it to change the lives of even more children. In 2013 I was incredibly lucky to come across Dr Sandoval after so many doctors told me my career was over, and now I want to give more smiles to more children, like the one Dr. Sandoval gave me.
“I met Kevin during my time off the bike this year and his spirit and passion for life has been truly inspirational for me these past months. We want to help him, and kids like him that don’t have the money, to improve their quality of life alone.
“It’s true our dreams are big, but together we can make them reality. Every contribution, big or small, will help so please join us in this dream.”
A race of life – Multiplying Smiles:
Led by the Fundación Esteban Chaves, in partnership with Fundación Cardioinfantil – one of the most important children’s medical care institutions in Colombia – the Gran Fondo Esteban Chaves aims to raise vital funds for children requiring orthopaedic intervention to play, write or even walk.
The goal: To assist as many disadvantaged children as possible.
The greater goal: To build a specialist medical facility to reach and assist even more disadvantaged children.
The Gran Fondo Challenge:
As per a stage race, the Gran Fondo Esteban Chaves will have multiple stages.
The opening stage will aim to raise COP $500.000.000 / US $180.000 with 100% of the funds raised going to the following:
COP $100.000.000 / US $32.000 for a life changing surgery for Kevin that hopes to allow the 8-year-old to walk
COP $100.000.000 / US $32.000 to assist four more children – Sara (4months), Juan Camilo (17years), Maria Paula (2months) and Dylan (1year).
COP $300.000.000 / US $96.000 for the initial phase of the creation of a new specialist medical facility (to eventually cost US $650,000)
Donations:
100% of donations will go directly to the Gran Fondo Esteban Chaves project in the stage identified above.
Donations over US $650 will receive a cycling jersey signed by Esteban Chaves.
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