THE UCI IS DOWN. WELCOME FCI

27th November, 2015.

Shocking news as it has been announced that UCI is no longer the body responsible of world cycling, and that a new organism has been created to replace it, the FCI (“Fédération Cycliste Internationale� in French).

This is the result of the well-known investigation on Lance Armstrong by the USADA, which result on the American rider losing his seven Tour de France wins. In a recent report, it was shown that the UCI helped Armstrong in the cover-up of his illegal doping activities. This led to the distrust of the teams, riders and race organizers that the UCI was not longer what they wanted to be the “head of cycling�.

Some managers have already spoken about this news, and all of them are happy that this has finally happened.

Laurent Lefevre, Etixx-Quick Step manager said: "I hope that this will help us to develop our sport, and that the fans think that we are reliable"

Now, the FCI is working against the clock, in order that the 2016 season will continue as it was planned, even though there are rumours that there will be some drastic changes for the new season

Changes in regulation

15th December, 2015

The FCI has announced some major changes in the 2016 regulations.

The biggest one is the decrease in the number of riders per team in every race in the calendar. Until now, we had 9 riders per team in Grand Tours, and a maximum of 8 in the rest of the races. From now, only 8 riders will be allowed in the Grand Tours, and 7 for the rest of the calendar.

This is the result of the expand of the World Tour calendar, as with the several new WT races, either teams increased the number of riders in their squads, or the number of riders per team were reduced. That means, that PCT team will have some more spots in the World Tour races, as the maximum number of teams in World Tour races has been set in 25 (24 for GT).

The FCI World Tour calendar will be revealed in the following days

Also, the number of World Tour teams has been increased to 19, with the addition of Cofidis as new WT team, and the number of Pro Continental teams is set in 30.

The last one is the creation of the FCI World Ranking. This is a 52-week rolling ranking (like the ATP Ranking). The first ranking will be released in the first Monday of 2016

Selwink wrote:
I like some of these changes you're making (especially Paris-Tours and Japan in the WT sounds great) and the concept looks very interesting. I've got a couple of questions though:
1: Are you racing in single race mode? And if so, are you working with startlists?
2: Which point scales are you going to use?
3: What races are you going to report here: only WT, NC & WC or many other races as well?

In any case, good luck!

Tour de France route has been revealed. The race will start in Rotterdam, and will be the same route as in 2010 Tour. The first stage is a prologue in Rotterdam, before a sprint in Brussels. Then, two key stages will follow with a hilly stage around Spa and the feared cobbled stage in Arenberg. After that, a quiet week before we reach the Alps, with the Morzine-Avoriaz stage and a stage with finish in St-Jean de Maurinne after crossing La Madeleine.

After the first rest day, we will have some dangerous stages in Gap and Mende, where any seconds taken could be useful. This year, the Pyrénées are very hard, with 4 stages in there. The first one reach Ax-3 Domains after passing Pailheres. The second ends in Bagneres-de-Luchon, right after the descent of Port de Bales. After the second rest day we will have the “easiest� stage in the Pyrenees, and is considered the easiest because after the last climb there are more than 50 km to the finish in Pau, but we will be climbing Peyresourde, Aspin, Tourmalet and Aubisque. If someone really wants to win this Tour, he might need to attack from long distance in this stage

And the final mountain stage will finish in the Tourmalet. Last time in 2010, we saw an amazing duel between Andy Schleck and Alberto Contador. And two days later, the final time-trial in Pauillac. 51 kilometres that will decide who is the 2016 Tour de France winner. Obviously, we still have the Champs Elysses stage, but it’s useless for the GC.

Almost every top GC rider has confirmed that they will rider Le Tour this year, although some of them will have previously ridden Giro d’Italia

Gianluca Brambilla wins the first stage race in the 2016 calendar in Gabon after winning the “queen stage�, after a late attack before the uphill finish, that gave him over 30 seconds lead on previous stage winner, Jan Bakelants.



Apart from the two stages that defined the GC, breakaway had a great success in the race, as in three times they took the win ahead of the peloton. Only Jempy Drucker and Ramon Sinkeldam were able to win a sprint.
In the first stage, German Christian Mager was able to hold on the bunch to take the lead with almost a minute gap. In the second stage, Daniel Teklehaimanot beat Ryan Mullen in a two-way sprint. And in the final stage, Rasmus Guldhammer was the best of a 9-men breakaway

Rank	Name	Team	Time
1	Gianluca Brambilla	Etixx - Quick-step	22h24'15
2	Jan Bakelants	Ag2r La Mondiale	+ 34
3	Michael Valgren	Tinkoff-Saxo	+ 38
4	Giovanni Visconti	Movistar Team	+ 40
5	Koen De Kort	Team Giant-Alpecin	+ 44
6	Lieuwe Westra	Astana Pro Team	s.t.
7	Franco Pellizotti	Androni Giocattoli - Sidermec	s.t.
8	Jesús Herrada	Movistar Team	+ 1'00
9	Miguel Angel Lopez	Astana Pro Team	s.t.
10	Luis León Sánchez	Astana Pro Team	+ 1'14

All the big guns for Grand Tours GC have announced which GT will they be riding this year

Chris Froome: Tour - Vuelta
Nairo Quintana: Giro - Tour
Alberto Contador: Tour - Vuelta
Vincenzo Nibali: Giro - Tour
Mikel Landa: Giro - Vuelta
Thibaut Pinot: Tour
Steven Kruijswijk: Giro
Fabio Aru: Giro
Alejandro Valverde: Tour - Vuelta
Romain Bardet: Giro - Tour
Esteban Chaves: Giro - Tour
Richie Porte: Giro
Tejay van Garderen: Tour
Daniel Martin: Tour - Vuelta
Ilnur Zakarin: Tour
Tom Dumoulin: Tour
Bauke Mollema: Tour
Rafal Majka: Giro - Vuelta

First World Tour race of 2016 season. Tour Down Under has been the inaugural race in the World Tour for 9 seasons, since 2008. The route follows the same structures as in the last years, a combination of sprints stages and hilly stages, where the GC should decided. Last years winner, Rohan Dennis, is back in the race and will be one to watch. We won’t be joined by his new team-mate Richie Porte, who has decided to not start his season yet.

Other favourites are Philippe Gilbert, Dennis team-mate, Tim Wellens, from Lotto-Soudal, Warren Barguil, from Giant-Alpecin and Adam Yates, from Orica-GreenEdge. Anyway, as the season has just started, there might be some other riders in better shape that should be more likely to shine than the “logical� favourites.

For the sprints, we have a great presence, with Cavendish, Greipel, Modolo, Degenkolb, Viviani and Kristoff

The first stage will finish in Lyndoch, where a bunch sprint is expected. With so much top sprinters in the race, the breakaway had no chance to win today.



Zico Waeytens and Nikias Arndt did an amazing lead-out for John Degenkolb, but the German failed miserably when he had to do his own part, while in the left Edvald Boasson Hagen was leading out Mark Cavendish, who only had to get out of the Norway’s slipstream to take his first ever win in Australia



Sacha Modolo was actually the fastest today, but he didn’t have the greatest placement for the sprint, so he only could finish in second, with Andre Greipel in third

Rank	Name	Team	Time
1	Mark Cavendish	MTN-Qhubeka	3h01'37
2	Sacha Modolo	Lampre-Merida	s.t.
3	André Greipel	Lotto Soudal	s.t.
4	Elia Viviani	Team Sky	s.t.
5	Heinrich Haussler	IAM Cycling	s.t.
6	John Degenkolb	Team Giant-Alpecin	s.t.
7	Edward Theuns	Trek Factory Racing	s.t.
8	Ariel Maximiliano Richeze	Etixx - Quick-step	s.t.
9	Philippe Gilbert	BMC Racing Team	s.t.
10	Edvald Boasson Hagen	MTN-Qhubeka	s.t.

The second stage was the first hilly stage in the race, with a uphill finish in Stirling, a finish for the likes of Gilbert or Boasson Hagen. MTN-Qhubeka and Mark Cavendish will have a hard time trying to defend his leader jersey

This time, only one rider got into the breakaway, Italian Luca Chirico (Bardiani), so he took all the possible points in the stage, for both KOM and points stadings.

In the final lap, Pierre Rolland was the first to give a try. He couldn’t create a gap, so he stopped. Surprisingly, the first one to make a successful attack was John Degenkolb, who quickly was joined by Philippe Gilbert



But they were caught right before the last kilometer



Despite having been in the attack before, Gilbert was the first to launch his sprint, with Degenkolb sitting on his wheel. But the German was really tired, and former World Champion takes a stage win in Australia twelve years later



Thomas de Gendt did a great sprint, but it wasn’t enough to beat Gilbert, and Luis Leon Sanchez, who was racing in Gabon a few days ago, took the final bonus times. Mark Cavendish managed to finish in the main group, and thanks to the intermediate sprint bonus times, he keeps the leader’s jersey one more day.

But the big surprise came when we saw Rohan Dennis crooked while crossing the line over a minute after his team-mate. Lights and shadows for BMC in this stage

Rank	Name	Team	Time
1	Philippe Gilbert	BMC Racing Team	3h18'10
2	Thomas De Gendt	Lotto Soudal	s.t.
3	Luis León Sánchez	Astana Pro Team	s.t.
4	Ramunas Navardauskas	Team Cannondale - Garmin	s.t.
5	John Degenkolb	Team Giant-Alpecin	s.t.
6	Paul Martens	Team LottoNL - Jumbo	s.t.
7	Jesús Herrada	Movistar Team	s.t.
8	Gianni Meersman	Etixx - Quick-step	s.t.
9	Pierre Rolland	Team Cannondale - Garmin	s.t.
10	Gorka Izagirre	Movistar Team	s.t.

The third stage will be another one for the GC riders, with a hard climb 7 km before the finish in Campbelltown. Mark Cavendish is still the race leader, but he definitely will lose it today.

The breakaway is caught right before the final climb. In the very first slope, Philippe Gilbert launches his attack, and only Adam Yates can stay on his wheel.



But eventually, the British rider can’t keep up with the Belgium rhythm and Gilbert goes alone. Behind them, a group is made with Barguil, Luis Leon Sanchez, Ben Swift and Ramunas Navardauskas.



Philippe Gilbert takes his second stage in a row, ahead of Warren Barguil and Ramunas Navardauskas



Now the Belgium rider is the leader of Tour Down Under. Only the Willunga Hill stage is between him and his first overall win in this race

Rank	Name	Team	Time
1	Philippe Gilbert	BMC Racing Team	3h14'50
2	Warren Barguil	Team Giant-Alpecin	s.t.
3	Ramunas Navardauskas	Team Cannondale - Garmin	+ 15
4	Luis León Sánchez	Astana Pro Team	s.t.
5	Ben Swift	Team Sky	+ 25
6	Adam Yates	Orica-GreenEDGE	s.t.
7	Adam Hansen	Lotto Soudal	+ 50
8	Samuel Sánchez	BMC Racing Team	s.t.
9	Jesús Herrada	Movistar Team	s.t.
10	John Degenkolb	Team Giant-Alpecin	s.t.

GC

Rank	Name	Team	Time
1	Philippe Gilbert	BMC Racing Team	9h34'17
2	Warren Barguil	Team Giant-Alpecin	+ 14
3	Ramunas Navardauskas	Team Cannondale - Garmin	+ 31
4	Luis León Sánchez	Astana Pro Team	s.t.
5	Ben Swift	Team Sky	+ 45
6	Adam Yates	Orica-GreenEDGE	s.t.
7	Thomas De Gendt	Lotto Soudal	+ 1'04
8	John Degenkolb	Team Giant-Alpecin	+ 1'10
9	Lieuwe Westra	Astana Pro Team	s.t.
10	Jesús Herrada	Movistar Team	s.t.

Stage 4

Another stage for the sprinters, but with a climb inside the last 30 km, a breakaway might have a little chance. The BOTD consisted of Luca Chirico, Quentin Jauregui, Anthony Turgis and Marco Minnaard.

In the only climb of the day, Turgis made an attack for the points, leaving his breakaway-mates behind. Meanwhile, Lampre, Lotto and MTN-Qhubeka were pulling of the bunch.

The other riders from the breakaway were being caught, but Turgis was still at the front with a good gap inside the final 5 kilometres



The sprint is launched behind the 21-year-old French, who seems to be celebrating the win too early…



…but he has done it. Anthony Turgis wins the forth stage of Tour Down Under ahead of Mark Cavendish and Edward Theuns.



It’s the first ever win in World Tour for the young Frenchman, who looks to be the kind of rider who can perform well in the French Cup. Philippe Gilbert retains the leader’s jersey.

Rank	Name	Team	Time
1	Anthony Turgis	Cofidis, Solutions Crédits	3h16'16
2	Mark Cavendish	MTN-Qhubeka	s.t.
3	Edward Theuns	Trek Factory Racing	s.t.
4	Andre Greipel	Lotto Soudal	s.t.
5	Elia Viviani	Team Sky	s.t.
6	Sacha Modolo	Lampre-Merida	s.t.
7	John Degenkolb	Team Giant-Alpecin	s.t.
8	Ben Swift	Team Sky	s.t.
9	Alexander Kristoff	Team Katusha	s.t.
10	Ramunas Navardauskas	Team Cannondale - Garmin	s.t.

Domination is the only word that we can say about this race. Chris Froome has won the race with almost 8 minutes!!! on his team-mate Mikel Landa. The other pre-race favourite, Nairo Quintana could only finish sixth.

Sky started the race winning the TTT, with Froome already taking the leader’s jersey, which he would never lose. The next two stages were won by Davide Appollonio and Michael Matthews, before the first mountain stage, where Froome, helped by Mikel Landa, who pulled from the two-times Tour de France winner until the last 500 meters when the British/Kenian rider sprinted for the win.



And in the second mountain stage, Froome was the Froome of La Pierre de San Martin. Ion Izagirre was the first to attack, but Froome reacted quickly and dropped him. In the finish, Froome won by 3 minutes!! on Izagirre, and 5 on Landa and Quintana. Even in the last stage, a crash held up most of the favourites, so Froome increased his advantage to 8 minutes.

Froome has secured a career-high nº 3 in the World Ranking

Rank	Name	Team	Time
1	Chris Froome	Team Sky	20h11'52
2	Mikel Landa	Team Sky	+ 7'56
3	Ion Izagirre	Movistar Team	+ 9'06
4	Fränk Schleck	Trek Factory Racing	+ 9'20
5	Robert Gesink	Team LottoNL - Jumbo	+ 9'41
6	Nairo Quintana	Movistar Team	+ 9'55
7	George Bennett	Team LottoNL - Jumbo	+ 10'07
8	Jakob Fuglsang	Astana Pro Team	+ 10'17
9	Andrew Talansky	Team Cannondale - Garmin	+ 11'20
10	Przemysław Niemiec	Lampre-Merida	+ 11'28

Willunga Hill is here. The “Queen stage� of the Tour Down Under will decide whether Philippe Gilbert can win his first WT stage race since Beijing 14’ or Warren Barguil wins a WT stage race by the first time in his career. The gap between both riders is 14 seconds

The day has dawned really windy, with winds over 60 km/h. This can be a major factor in the outcome of the stage. Riders as Adriano Malori, Dylan van Baarle and Blel Kadri were in today’s breakaway, who managed to be at the front until the final climb to Willunga Hill.

In Willunga Hill, Tim Wellens was the first to attack, after seeing the bad placement of race leader, Philippe Gilbert



Warren Barguil sees the chance to win the race, and sticks to Wellens’ wheel, while Gilbert tries to bridge the gap with Luis Leon Sanchez



In the sprint, Tim Wellens can’t accelerate any longer, and Warren Barguil wins in Willunga Hill. It’s his first WT win since 2013 Vuelta a España, where he won two stages in four days



Philippe Gilbert finish in third place, and the leadership can be decided by a few seconds, as Gilbert seems to cross the line around 10 seconds later than Barguil. Remember, that Gilbert had a 14-second-lead on Barguil.

We have confirmation from the jury: Gilbert is still the race leader, as he was gaped only 8 seconds. With the bonus that Barguil took (and Gilbert), both riders are tied in the same time, but Gilbert has a better count-back. The consolation for Barguil is that he has won both the KOM and the U-25 jerseys. Surprisingly, there is no gaps for the big peloton, with all the sprinters finishing in the same time as the fifth place, and that means that John Degenkolb will finish inside the top10 in GC

Rank	Name	Team	Time
1	Warren Barguil	Team Giant-Alpecin	3h24'02
2	Tim Wellens	Lotto Soudal	s.t.
3	Philippe Gilbert	BMC Racing Team	+ 8
4	Luis León Sánchez	Astana Pro Team	s.t.
5	Jesús Herrada	Movistar Team	+ 25
6	John Degenkolb	Team Giant-Alpecin	s.t.
7	Ben Swift	Team Sky	s.t.
8	Ramunas Navardauskas	Team Cannondale - Garmin	s.t.
9	Sacha Modolo	Lampre-Merida	s.t.
10	Samuel Sánchez	BMC Racing Team	s.t.

GC

Rank	Name	Team	Time
1	Philippe Gilbert	BMC Racing Team	16h14'29
2	Warren Barguil	Team Giant-Alpecin	s.t.
3	Luis León Sánchez	Astana Pro Team	+ 35
4	Ramunas Navardauskas	Team Cannondale - Garmin	+ 52
5	Tim Wellens	Lotto Soudal	+ 1'00
6	Ben Swift	Team Sky	+ 1'06
7	Adam Yates	Orica-GreenEDGE	s.t.
8	Thomas De Gendt	Lotto Soudal	+ 1'25
9	John Degenkolb	Team Giant-Alpecin	+ 1'31
10	Jesús Herrada	Movistar Team	s.t.

Final stage of Tour Down Under, in a circuit around Adelaide. With no intermediate sprints in the road, only the finish line might give Warren Barguil what he needs to win the GC. As yesterday, we have winds over 50 km/h.

In the breakaway of the day, there are nine riders, and of those the big favourites for a possible win would be Enrico Battaglin, Eugenio Alafaci and Alexandre Pichot.

A crash inside the final 30km discards Elia Viviani for the stage win. But he is not the only rider who is behind the bunch, as the wind affect the race and brakes the peloton in several pieces



Only 30 riders are left in the first group including Gilbert, Barguil, Cavendish, Degenkolb, Kristoff, Modolo, Navardauskas, Swift, Greipel, Luisle and Wellens. In the first chasing group, De Gendt, Jesus Herrada and Adam Yates are there from those who are inside the top10 in GC.

In the front, four riders look to be fighting for the stage win: Alafaci, Pichot, Jauregui and Konovalovas



Quentin Jauregui is the strongest between those 4 riders, and takes the first WT win of his career



John Degenkolb wins the bunch sprint ahead of Modolo, after overtaking the other breakaway riders in the final 300 metres.

Philippe Gilbert crosses the line before Warren Barguil, in 12th place (Barguil 16th), so he is the winner of 2016 Tour Down Under

Amazingly, despite the big gaps between group, over a hundred riders are given the same time as Jauregui. This has saved Adam Yates’ ass, as he should have slip off top30 and he will finish seventh.

Rank	Name	Team	Time
1	Quentin Jauregui	Ag2r La Mondiale	1h46'47
2	John Degenkolb	Team Giant-Alpecin	s.t.
3	Sacha Modolo	Lampre-Merida	s.t.
4	Ignatas Konovalovas	FDJ	s.t.
5	André Greipel	Lotto Soudal	s.t.
6	Eugenio Alafaci	Trek Factory Racing	s.t.
7	Alexandre Pichot	Team Europcar	s.t.
8	Edward Theuns	Trek Factory Racing	s.t.
9	Edvald Boasson Hagen	MTN-Qhubeka	s.t.
10	Alexander Kristoff	Team Katusha	s.t.

GC

Rank	Name	Team	Time
1	Philippe Gilbert	BMC Racing Team	18h01'16
2	Warren Barguil	Team Giant-Alpecin	s.t.
3	Luis León Sánchez	Astana Pro Team	+ 35
4	Ramunas Navardauskas	Team Cannondale - Garmin	+ 52
5	Tim Wellens	Lotto Soudal	+ 1'00
6	Ben Swift	Team Sky	+ 1'06
7	Adam Yates	Orica-GreenEDGE	s.t.
8	John Degenkolb	Team Giant-Alpecin	+ 1'25
9	Thomas De Gendt	Lotto Soudal	s.t.
10	Jesús Herrada	Movistar Team	+ 1'31

Points

Rank	Name	Team	Points
1	John Degenkolb	Team Giant-Alpecin	60
2	Philippe Gilbert	BMC Racing Team	50
3	Sacha Modolo	Lampre-Merida	44

KOM

Rank	Name	Team	Mountain
1	Warren Barguil	Team Giant-Alpecin	28
2	Philippe Gilbert	BMC Racing Team	24
3	Dylan van Baarle	Team Cannondale - Garmin	16

Marco Marcato wins the second edition of this race, after attacking Giovanni Visconti in the final kilometres. Both riders had previously attacked from the bunch, but the Belgium rider was the strongest today.



Behind them, a group of 4 riders with 3 Etixx finished from third to sixth. Richeze beat Chavanel, Vakoc and Brambilla for the third place.

Rank	Name	Team	Time
1	Marco Marcato	Wanty - Groupe Gobert	3h58'45
2	Giovanni Visconti	Movistar Team	+ 1'55
3	Ariel Maximiliano Richeze	Etixx - Quick-step	+ 2'30
4	Sylvain Chavanel	Bretagne - Séché Environnement	+ 2'51
5	Petr Vako�	Etixx - Quick-step	+ 2'57
6	Gianluca Brambilla	Etixx - Quick-step	s.t.
7	Alexis Gougeard	Ag2r La Mondiale	+ 3'20
8	José Joaquín Rojas	Movistar Team	s.t.
9	Michał Kwiatkowski	Team Sky	s.t.
10	Ramunas Navardauskas	Team Cannondale - Garmin	s.t.

Jarlinson Pantano wins the inaugural race of the Coupe de France calendar with an attack in the last descent. In that moment, Eugenio Alafaci, from the original breakaway, was still in the lead, and he was only surpassed by the Colombian in the last 2 km



Nacer Bouhanni won the group sprint ahead of Simon Geschke and Marco Marcato, recent winner of Cadel Evans Road Race. Pantano also becomes the first leader in this year’s Coupe de France, as from this year all riders all available to score points for the cup, not only French riders or riders who are in a French team

Rank	Name	Team	Time
1	Jarlinson Pantano	IAM Cycling	3h23'38
2	Nacer Bouhanni	Cofidis, Solutions Crédits	s.t.
3	Simon Geschke	Team Giant-Alpecin	s.t.
4	Marco Marcato	Wanty - Groupe Gobert	s.t.
5	Yauheni Hutarovich	Bretagne - Séché Environnement	s.t.
6	Matthieu Ladagnous	FDJ	s.t.
7	Anthony Roux	FDJ	s.t.
8	Adriano Malori	Movistar Team	s.t.
9	Sylvain Chavanel	Bretagne - Séché Environnement	s.t.
10	Thomas Voeckler	Team Europcar	s.t.

Alberto Contador has started the season winning in Mallorca, like Froome did in San Luis. The Spaniard, who wants to win his 3rd Tour de France this year (or 4th), won the final stage in Mirador des Colomers, in order to win the GC.



In the first stage, there was a sprint, in which Caleb Ewan was the fastest, with Marcel Kittel only finishing fourth.
The next day, Alejandro Valverde and Contador arrived alone in the finish line, with Valverde out-sprinting Contador for the win. Kwiatkowski won the sprint between the favourites ahead of Felline

And in the final day, as we already know, Contador won ahead of Chaves and Purito, in a 3-way sprint to take both stage and GC, after Valverde disappointed and arrived one minute later

Rank	Name	Team	Time
1	Alberto Contador	Tinkoff-Saxo	14h32'46
2	Joaquím Rodríguez	Team Katusha	+ 15
3	Esteban Chaves	Orica-GreenEDGE	+ 30
4	Michał Kwiatkowski	Team Sky	+ 52
5	Julian Arredondo	Trek Factory Racing	+ 56
6	Alejandro Valverde	Movistar Team	+ 1'02
7	Richie Porte	BMC Racing Team	+ 1'14
8	Julian Alaphilippe	Etixx - Quick-step	+ 1'18
9	Fabio Felline	Trek Factory Racing	+ 1'23
10	Daniel Moreno	Movistar Team	+ 1'54