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GreenEdge founder lauds Orica's investment in cycling

Jane Aubrey — Tue, 01 May 2012 09:04:47 GMT

Cyclingnews: Has the GreenEdge sell been tougher or easier than what you had thought? Gerry Ryan: We always believed it was going to take time. We didn't have a track record and it was only November, or early December that we got a UCI licence and it's pretty hard. It's like going out and selling insurance, trying to know when you're going to collect. From the outset I said it was going to take three years to get the team up and running and financially viable. This partnership with Orica is certainly ...

Fontana targets 2012 London Olympic Games

Sue George — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 15:59:18 GMT

Italian cross country national champion Marco Fontana ( Cannondale Factory Racing ) has his sights set on the 2012 London Olympic Games in August. "The Olympic season is always special. It's the most important race that we have in mountain biking. Not just because it's every four years, but because it's a chance to show our sport all over the world," said Fontana to Cyclingnews . "There are journalists from everywhere, and there is more space in magazines and on TV for us. I feel ...

Meet NICA student athletes Brian Duke & Hannah Rae Finchamp

Sue George — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 17:14:16 GMT

Cyclingnews profiles two National Interscholastic Cycling Association (NICA) athletes each month during the Spring and Fall high school league seasons. This month, meet Brian Duke and Hannah Rae Finchamp, both from California. Brian Duke "NorCal was really the start of mountain biking for me. I started riding with the Salinas High team as a guest when I was in junior high. Once I saw how the team operated and the size of each NorCal event, I was hooked." Those are the words of Salina ...

BMC's Bookwalter continues upward career trajectory

Laura Weislo — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 20:39:07 GMT

After a breakthrough 2010 season in which he almost defeated Bradley Wiggins for the win at the prologue of the Giro d'Italia and then backed that up with an 11th place finish at the Tour de France prologue, some might say that Brent Bookwalter 's 2011 season was a bit of a letdown. But, looks can be deceiving. Bookwalter played a key supporting role in Cadel Evans ' and Team BMC 's first-ever Tour de France victory. Riding to keep your team leader in yellow all the way to Paris is an opportunity, ...

Koerber Rockwell begins comeback after having her baby

Sue George — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 13:45:47 GMT

It's been quite a year for Willow Koerber Rockwell . A little less than a year ago, she showed up at the opening UCI Mountain Bike World Cup round in South Africa ready to start her season. Yet on the eve of the race, she faced an abrupt change of plans: she was pregnant . The American, who has twice medalled at the cross country world championships, sat out the season, got married in the fall and then gave birth to her daughter Raven Starr Rockwell on December 31. Now she is trying to make the ...

Dream come true for world champion Kulhavy

Sue George — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 14:32:43 GMT

World champion Jaroslav Kulhavy is the kind of elite athlete who lets his legs do the talking. Even after a stellar 2011 World Cup season, the Czech pro mountain biker is relatively unknown in English-speaking media. Cyclingnews ' Sue George checked in with Kulhavy to find out more about the mysterious man who dominated the last cross country World Cup season just a few weeks before he will begin his 2012 season. Kulhavy won his first World Cup in Windham, New York, at the end of 2010 . Soon thereafter, ...

Catharine Pendrel: Getting used to rainbow stripes

Sue George — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 18:47:08 GMT

Becoming world champion will change your life. Or so that's what people say. But cross country mountain bike world champion Catharine Pendrel , 31, says she is up to business as usual during this pre-season training period. "It's easy to feel satisfied with my last season, but life is the same. A lot of people think it must be crazy different, but it's pretty much the same. Life is good," she said. As reigning world champion and runner-up in the 2011 UCI World Cup, the blonde Canadian ...

Tour Down Under: Robbie McEwen's top 5 moments

Jane Aubrey — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 23:26:45 GMT

5... 2010 It's not a win, but for me it was a pretty massive achievement. Coming back to the race in 2010 when I was riding with Katusha. It was my first race in seven months after I broke my leg in 2009. While I didn't win a stage I managed to finish fourth overall and take some good WorldTour rankings points so for me that was huge. I really didn't know how I was going to go after breaking my leg. I'd been training, but I didn't know where I stood. Realistically that should have been a career-ending ...

Matt Goss: In his own words

Jane Aubrey — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 20:54:44 GMT

Matt Goss and GreenEdge. The WorldTour neophytes and their number one signing are intrinsically linked – the team's main goals for 2012 are also his and with that, the 25-year-old is shouldering a lot of responsibility and the expectation that comes with it in his sixth season in the professional ranks. Sharing a trait with many of the peloton's elite fast men, Goss is not afraid to name his race targets, but his is an ego that is not misplaced or by any means brash. Following a season where ...

Mark Renshaw's year of living dangerously

Jane Aubrey — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 23:27:45 GMT

Rabobank recruit Mark Renshaw knows how to get results. In his three seasons under the Highroad banner, the Australian maximised his position leaving little doubt that he is the world's best lead out man. In 2012, Renshaw is facing a new challenge as he takes on the role as the Dutch team's number one sprinter, ready to be first across the finish line instead of dragging a teammate to the prize. Prior to embarking on the most pivotal season of his career to date, the 29-year-old spoke candidly to ...

Emily Batty climbs the ranks

Sue George — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 15:46:28 GMT

What do Alison Sydor, Marie Helen Premont and Catharine Pendrel have in common? All are fast Canadian cross country racers that were or are at the top of their sport. The 23-year-old Emily Batty is well on her way to adding her name to that list. "I was fortunate and had a super on season all year long," Batty told Cyclingnews . "It was my most successful season yet." Batty had a fantastic 2011, during which the first-year elite category rider just seemed to get stronger and ...

NUE Series Champion Tanguy reflects on a successful year

Sue George — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 20:05:57 GMT

Christian Tanguy won the 2011 Kenda National Ultra Endurance (NUE) Series , but he might not be back to defend his title in 2012. The 36-year-old from Worcester, Michigan raced to his first-ever series win in an exciting finale at the Shenandoah Mountain 100 . Going into the race, Tanguy and rival Jeff Schalk (Trek) were tied in points due to each having won four rounds, but Tanguy took the top honors after beating Schalk in Virginia. The final round win gave Tanguy an impressive five total NUE ...

Amanda Carey reigns over National Ultra Endurance (NUE) Series

Sue George — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 16:07:42 GMT

Amanda Carey was the queen of the National Ultra Endurance (NUE) Series in 2012. She won six of its endurance mountain bike races throughout the season including the Cohutta 100 , Syllamo's Revenge , Lumberjack 100 , High Cascades 100 , Pierre's Hole 100 and the Park City Point 2 Point . In a series in which the best four performances count, Carey won with a perfect score. "Having a season where everything went right was great," said Carey to Cyclingnews . "I put a lot of hard work ...

Interview: Morton eyes Garmin-Cervelo upgrade in the future

Alex Hinds — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 02:37:31 GMT

Australia’s Lachlan Morton, 19, turned heads after winning Canada’s prestigious Junior race, the Tour de l’Abitibi last year and riding into a seventh place overall at the Tour of Utah. This year, he took his young career one step further and rode into a sixth place overall at the UCI 2.HC Le Tour de Langkawi in Malaysia. He also made a distinct impact on the US domestic racing scene for his climbing prowess during many of the National Racing Calendar (NRC) stage races including ...

Armstrong returns to professional cycling at San Dimas Stage Race

Jane Aubrey — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 05:21:49 GMT

Kristin Armstrong (Peanut Butter & Co Twenty12) will return to the professional peloton, after taking one year off to give birth to her first-born child, at the up coming San Dimas Stage Race held from March 25-27 in California. The double world champion and Olympic gold medallist will race a handful of domestic stage races, however her three main targets are the US Time Trial National Championships held in Georgia in June, UCI Time Trial World Championships held in September in Denmark and ...

Todd Wells, king of American off-road racing

Sue George — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 17:23:58 GMT

At the age of 35, Todd Wells (Specialized) is still improving. Last July, he won the US mountain bike national championships in cross country and short track. He followed that up by winning the US cyclo-cross national championships in Bend, Oregon, in December. Having spent much of his career racing alone for the GT Bicycle program, Wells seems to have benefitted by signing with the Specialized Global Team, which has a roster packed with former world champions and World Cup winners. Cyclingnews ...

Rohan Dennis interview: Introducing the Dynamic Mr Dennis

Les Clarke — Fri, 26 Nov 2010 05:48:22 GMT

As the Pegasus Sports team gathers in Noosa, Queensland, this week, one of its youngest recruits will be taking the next step in a promising career. Rohan Dennis has a reputation as a tough character on the bike and as Cyclingnews discovers, it's sure to serve him well as he embarks upon a life in the professional ranks. The Australian races in an uncompromising style that has won him fans both at home and abroad, forged through a background on the track and the road. A gold medal in the team pursuit ...

Will Clarke: The latest Isle apple

Les Clarke — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 23:48:55 GMT

Tasmania may only be a small isle off Australia's continental mass with a population of little over 500,000 but its representation amongst cycling's elite just increased with the addition of immensely talented 25-year-old Will Clarke to the roster of the Luxembourg Pro Cycling Project. Clarke, who hails from the same region of Tasmania as HTC-Columbia professional Matt Goss, Saxo Bank's Richie Porte, FDJ rider Wesley Sulzberger and Pegasus Racing stalwart Bernard Sulzberger, has moved from being ...

Interview: Cervélo co-founder Phil White

Greg Johnson — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 23:50:10 GMT

When Cervélo introduced their TestTeam in 2008, it had a clear mission statement: "Even though winning races is great, it’s not why we're in pro cycling. Our ultimate goal is to make better bikes and share our passion for cycling with our customers." For two seasons, the TestTeam seemed to remain true to this goal. There's no doubt that Cervélo's bikes progressed during the team’s tenure, and this year there was a similar trickle down to sponsors' consumer products, ...

Interview: Cervélo co-founder Phil White

Greg Johnson — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 23:50:10 GMT

Michael Creed: Why I never doped and my future in the sport

Greg Johnson — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 13:50:45 GMT

There’s an American hero in town and he’s lighting up a bike race with a performance soaked in everything that makes racing so exciting. It’s a ride of panache, guts, grace and a pure bloody-mindedness that says, today I’m going to leave everything out on the road. This isn’t Lance Armstrong winning one of his seven Tours, nor Greg LeMond trailblazing through Europe as he skittles through the opposition. Instead, a second-year professional is dazzling the crowd at the ...

Michael Creed: Why I never doped and my future in the sport

Greg Johnson — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 13:50:45 GMT

Pat Shaw: Just enjoying the ride

Greg Johnson — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 03:21:01 GMT

A disheartened Pat Shaw contemplated bringing his cycling career to an end less than 12 months ago, after failing to break through to a major European team. After returning to Australia and joining Virgin Blue-RBS Morgans, Shaw has won the Tours of Toowoomba and Gippsland and has rediscovered the passion for racing he once feared losing. Cyclingnews spoke to the 24-year-old after his Gippsland victory. Cyclingnews : Pat you’ve had back-to-back stage race victories, you must be very pleased ...

Pat Shaw: Just enjoying the ride

Greg Johnson — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 03:21:01 GMT

CN Exclusive: Robert Millar talks about the Tour, the Tourmalet and Team Sky

Greg Johnson — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 08:57:26 GMT

As the Tour de France prepares for the final mountain stage in the Pyrenees, former Tour rider, three-time stage winner and polka-dot jersey winner Robert Millar agreed to speak to Cyclingnews about this year's race. The Scot has avoided the spotlight for many years but he has carefully watched this year's Tour de France and just like during his career, he is not afraid to give his opinion on key aspects of the race. Millar won all of his Tour de France stages in the Pyrenees. He was one of the ...