Bicycle Racing News and Opinion,
Sunday June 14, 2020
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2019 Tour de France | 2019 Giro d'Italia
I intend to live forever. So far, so good. - Steven Wright
Upcoming racing, according to UCI revised calendar:
- August 1: Strade Bianche
- August 5-9: Tour of Poland
- August 8: Milano-San Remo
- August 12-16: Critérium du Dauphiné
Latest completed racing:
- May 1-3:
Vuelta Asturias - May 1:
Rund um den Finanzplatz Eschborn-Frankfurt - April 22-26: Digital Swiss 5
Team Sunweb reveals new white kit
Here's most of the team's press release:
Team Sunweb are proud to present their brand new 2020 summer kit, to be worn by riders from all three programs in training and hopefully racing for the rest of the year. The new design features a strikingly classic and traditional white colour, coupled with the team’s distinctive two-striped Keep Challenging design prominently emblazoned on the front and back of the jersey.
The new Team Sunweb kit
People across the world have and continue to face challenging times, but resilience, innovation and people working together towards a common goal gradually brings new opportunities. Lets embrace these opportunities as they come, which offer positive energy and a fresh perspective to people all over the world - something that we all need. In the words of the team's title partner, the holiday tour operator Sunweb: 'let's celebrate the beginning of the summer and enjoy these new opportunities, whilst we adapt to new realities.'
As the summer approaches, Team Sunweb hope for these new opportunities - a successful re-opening of society, travel, team camps, and ultimately with it racing. With what was planned as a novelty - introducing rotating spring and summer kits - with their new white summer kit, the team are looking forward to a fresh restart of the season more than ever. A restart where they can hopefully continue doing what we all love the most - racing bikes in beautiful places across the world.
As always, the two distinct Keep Challenging stripes feature on the new fresh white jersey. Those two Keep Challenging stripes, measured precisely equal in length, reflect the exact balance of energy which an individual obtains and gives to the other individuals which form their environment. Both stripes travel straight upwards, to always keep rising; the left stripe is to symbolise the continuous development of each person, and the right stripe is to visualise their ever-improving innovative environment.
The new white and black look is complimented with its prominent Sunweb "S", their Spark, displayed proudly on the back of the jersey and on both sleeves.
Tour of Flanders announces revised courses
Here's the organizer's update:
With De Brabantse Pijl (7/10), Gent-Wevelgem in Flanders Fields (11/10), the Scheldeprijs (14/10) and finally, the Tour of Flanders (18/10), there are still four Flanders Classics races on the revised cycling calendar. The organisation has decided to change the race circuit a bit from what was planned in the spring and to shorten the races in view of the busy autumn calendar that awaits the teams.
Alberto Bettiol wins the 2019 Tour of Flanders in style, 14 seconds ahead of his nearest chaser.
The Flanders Classics team, just like cycling fans, is looking forward to October with great enthusiasm. With no fewer than four races to look forward to, the preparations have now started again. In recent weeks, for example, the organisation has been working on the circuits of the various races.
The quick succession of races on the newly proposed calendar will require quite a bit of organisation on the part of the teams. To provide the teams and riders with enough opportunity to rest between the races that will follow each other in rapid succession in October, Flanders Classics has decided, in consultation with various teams, to slightly shorten the distance of its races.
This amounts to a limited reduction in the total distance of the Tour of Flanders, while nevertheless keeping the classic highlights in the finals: 241 km Elite Men and 135 km Elite Women. 'Vlaanderens Mooiste' closes the autumn series with an unchanged finish. The duo Oude Kwaremont and Paterberg will also play a key role in October for both the Elite Men, starting in Antwerp, and the Elite Women, starting in Oudenaarde. The cutting of race kilometres comes after the first climb of the Oude Kwaremont. Due to the change, Tenbosse and the Muur van Geraardsbergen will not be on the menu in October, and the Valkenberg will be added to the circuit.
From the second ascent of the Oude Kwaremont, the men will head into the familiar last 50 km with the climb of the Koppenberg, followed by the cobblestones of the Mariaborrestraat, Steenbeekdries and Taaienberg. After the passage on the Kruisberg/Hotond in Ronse follows the decisive climb of the duo Oude Kwaremont and Paterberg. From the Taaienberg, which was added to their circuit in 2019, the women will also compete along the same final section as the men. After the last climb of the Paterberg, another 13 km await them to the finish in Oudenaarde.
Flanders Classics is currently working on the preparations for its postponed races, subject to measures related to COVID-19. We are already looking forward to 18 October and the start of the Tour of Flanders in Antwerp.
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