Every day is a Peter Sagan day: Pro Cycling 2017

[ursus arctos]

Rather bizarre bit of the Arctic Race cueentky being contested on airport runways

[ursus arctos]

So, this ends on the runway, with a series of loops around the airport, and we just had an Astana rider miscount the laps and raise his arms just as the bell rang.

Oops.

[ursus arctos]

Puncture frustrates a Sagan break with about 25km left in BinckBank that could have given him valuable bonus seconds through their "Golden km" gimmick.

Very wet both here and in Norway.

[ursus arctos]

Fuglsang Has broken his collarbone in a crit in Denmark

[ursus arctos]

Dumoulin wins BinckBank

Sagan rather mad at the world for not riding with him.

[ursus arctos]

Dylan Teuns breaks away to win the last stage of the Arctic Race of Norway and the GC

Wallonie, Pologne and now the Arctic Race. He's had a productive summer.

[longeared]

BMC have had a pretty good time of things since their Tour de France disappointment, what with Teuns absolutely on fire, Kung winning the TT in BinckBank and Drucker taking a Wallonie stage.

[ursus arctos]

Landa to Movistar now official per Marca

[Gawpus]

Fantasy Vuelta competition's now open. I'm assuming everyone who wants in already joined for the Tour, but if anyone fancies it let me know and I'll post up the details again...

[delicatemoth]

Samuel Sanchez provisionally suspended following an Adverse Analytical Finding in an out-of-comp test.

[longeared]

Same thing the Bardiani fellas got done for just before the Giro.

In other shit news, Becky James has announced her retirement, going to take up baking.

[delicatemoth]

I didn't make that connection. Does that suggest that the anti-doping program is being well targeted, or is it just luck?

Ladies Tour of Norway starts today and is being streamed, apparently.

[longeared]

They've caught riders in targeted out of competition tests in the past, not clear if this was the case here.

[Kevin S]

So Viviani wins the Cyclassics Hamburg the week after it was revealed he is leaving Sky a year early. A nice hatful of points in the bag there too.

Viviani: Sky → Quick-Step
Kittel: Quick-Step → Katusha-Alpecin

Sabatini has signed an extension with Quick-Step, and will likely be the lead-out man for Viviani when he is their sprinter. A sensible bit of business from Quick-Step, as the two Italians will be wanting to headline the Giro as well as Viviani probably being cheaper than Kittel, while The Gaviria And Richeze Show is now all set for the Tour.

[longeared]

Vivani may not be cheaper than Kittel - word was that Kittel was on a fairly low wage at Quick-Step with some hefty win bonuses; bear in mind they signed him after his dreadful 2015 season when he could barely finish a race.

Speaking of Kittel, he'll be joined at Katusha by Alex Dowsett. That seems a good move for all parties, he'd stagnated at Movistar and wasn't getting in any big races. He's usually good enough to win a decent time trial or two somewhere during the season.

[Kevin S]

Ooh, that is an interesting move. He's talking about ITT stages and being used the ramp up the pace into the final kilometre of flat stages to help position a sprinter such as Kittel. The team have also noted they should be contenders in TTTs as well, with Tony Martin on the books too.

How may riders have Sky lost now? Landa, Nieve, Boswell, Viviani, Kennaugh, With Castroviejo and David de la Cruz coming in.

[Kevin S]

UAE continue to make big splashes ahead of their second year. Added to Kristoff, we now have:

Dan Martin: Quick-Step → UAE

“The opportunity to join an ambitious group backed by globally recognised brands and use my experience to create a team capable of challenging the best in the world was one that I couldn’t refuse.

“UAE Team Emirates share my vision, my attention to detail and my passion for the sport, and as I enter into the most important years of my career, they offer me the best platform possible to reach my potential and fulfil my sporting goals.

“To race with such a talented roster under the guidance of a highly motivated and experienced staff is incredibly exciting but I also realise this is more than a team as we work with our partners to not only promote the sport I love but a healthy lifestyle and two wheels on a global scale.”
http://road.cc/content/news/227919-d...-two-year-deal

(my emphasis)

[Kevin S]

Some other random news:
• Valverde tweeted a picture of himself on his turbo trainer yesterday, so is recovering better than expected.

• Marcin Bialoblocki doesn't have a 2018 contract but put himself in the shop window by setting a new British 25 mile time trial record. He also holds the 10 mile record, having beaten Wiggins' and Dowsett's times to do it. Surely he'll get a ride.

[Kevin S]

Other transfers:

Domenico Pozzovivo: AG2R → Bahrain-Merida
Bryan Coquard: Direct Energie → Vital Concept*
Tom-Jelte Slagter: Cannondale-Drapac → Dimension Data
Edward Theuns: Trek-Segafredo → Sunweb
Rory Sutherland: Movistar → UAE Team Emirates
Michael Mørkøv: Katusha-Alpecin → Quick-Step
Julian Vermote: Quick-Step → Dimension Data

* This is a new team being formed. The title sponsor previously supported the Fortuneo team (now Fortuneo-Oscaro, who are the ones who have just signed Warren Barguil). Bit of background here.

[Kevin S]

Drama! Bialoblocki's 25 mile ride has been nulled.
http://amp.timeinc.net/cyclingweekly...453?source=dam

[longeared]

Sky should sign him with behaviour like that.

[ursus arctos]

Not sure that anyone else pays even passing attention to Mountain Biking, but reigning World Champion Nino Schurter of Switzlerand has managed to sweep all six UCI MTB World Cup races this season, which has never happened before.

[ursus arctos]

Lizzie Deignan has had her appendix removed and risks missing the Worlds.

[Kevin S]

Opinion piece on the Cannondale-Drapac crisis.

[Kevin S]

edit - wrong thread.