Cervélo

Emma Pooley Receives Top Award from British Sports Media

Thu, 09 Dec 2010 05:00:00 GMT

World Champion Time Triallist, Emma Pooley, has been recognised with a top award by the British Sports Media. She was one of the award winners at the 62th annual British Sports Awards, a star-studded gala lunch staged on 8 December at The Brewery in London by the Sports Journalists' Association and sponsored by UK Sport.

Having become the first British woman to ever win a Time Trial world title in Geelong in September, Emma was presented with the SJA's Committee Award by former swimming world champion and star of Strictly Come Dancing, Mark Foster. Sir Michael Parkinson opened the ceremony that also saw awards go to Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomery, champion heptathlete Jessica Ennis and jockey AP McCoy.

Emma was interviewed on stage by ITV presenter, Jim Rosenthal. She said: "Cycling is really a team sport so to be recognised as an individual like this is unexpected. Winning the world title has been the highlight of my career so far.

"Women's cycling doesn't get that much press coverage in general so I'm delighted to have been recognised by the Sports Journalists Association in winning this award."

Winning the world title capped a fine year for Pooley, who won the Fleche Wallonne in April, the Tour de l'Aude in May, the British Road Race Championships title in June as well as the Grand Prix de Plouay in September. She returned to Zurich immediately following the ceremony to continue work on her PhD in geotechnical engineering.

Emma will head to Perth, Australia for winter training after Christmas before commencing the 2011 season, when she is set to represent the Garmin-Cervelo team.

Cervelo TestTeam's Daniel Teklehaymanot - two titles in two days

Fri, 12 Nov 2010 05:00:00 GMT

Eritrean talent and Cervelo TestTeam stagiaire, Daniel Teklehaymanot took victory in the African Time Trial Championships today in commanding fashion, 51 seconds clear of second place and a full two minutes 24 ahead of third.

Just yesterday Teklehaymanot was part of the successful Eritrean team time trial effort on what was his 22nd birthday. They netted victory by 2 minutes 19 seconds and 3 minutes 8 over South Africa and Ethiopia respectively.

Teklehaymanot has shown himself as a rider with immense potential at a very young age. His most notable result so far was a 6th place overall at the Tour de l'Avenir in 2009 at only 20 years old, arguably the most important race for young riders along with the World Championships.

Along with netting a ride as a stagiaire with the Cervelo TestTeam for the latter part of the season, 2010 saw the multi-time African champion take a stage of the U23 Coupe des Nations Ville Saguenay along with a day in the leader's jersey.

While Teklehaymanot's shot at racing at the highest level in 2011 came up short with the demise of the Cervelo TestTeam, as did Alex Wetterhall's chance, the Eritrean will certainly get another chance in the near future.

Courtesy: http://www.velonation.com/News/ID/6335/Daniel-Teklehaymanot-wins-African-Time-Trial-Championships.aspx#ixzz156rybKir

Cervélo TestTeam rides last race at Giro di Lombardia

Sat, 16 Oct 2010 04:00:00 GMT

After two seasons Cervélo TestTeam rode their last race today as a team at the Giro di Lombardia, ridden in driving rain and mist on the shores of Lake Como. Philippe Gilbert (BEL- Omega Pharma-Lotto) took his second successive victory in the race, dropping Michele Scarponi (ITA- Androni Giocattoli) on the final climb of the San Fermo to win the final classic of the 2010 season. Scarponi finished 12 seconds behind Gilbert and Pablo Lastras Garcia (ESP-Caisse d'Epargne) placed third.

“We had a plan today, first to bring Xavier Tondo (ESP) into a good position for the final and then at the start to put some of the other riders in the breakaway but it didn’t happen, and the weather played a big part, making it really hard. You could see with the other teams that not many riders came to the finish line, so it didn’t make any difference,” said Jean-Paul Van Poppel, sports director. “After the Madonna del Ghisallo, he got caught by the cold. A guy like Xavier is very skinny without much reserve and at that point he was empty. So there was not too much left, nor was there support from the rest of the team. Volodimir Gustov (UKR) crashed and couldn’t go on and the other riders also left the race for different reasons. In the end a plan is only successful if your key rider can do what he has to do, even if the team is not up to it. Between the weather and the length – 260 kilometers, it was a super hard race. The team’s spirit was good at the start but after 200 km, the legs were empty and the cold was hampering Xavier too much and together that left him little chance for a good result.”

“I felt pretty good today till the Madonna and after that I was just empty,” explained Xavier Tondo, after the race. “It is a shame because I kept training after the Vuelta and I expected a bit more today, but it can happen.”

Giro di Lombardia Results: Milano - Como 260.0 km

1^st	Philippe Gilbert (BEL)	6:46:32	38.37 km/h (23.84 mph)
2^nd	Michele Scarponi (ITA)	+0.12
3^rd	Pablo Lastras Garcia (ESP)	+0.55
4^th	Jakob Fuglsang (DEN)	+1.08
5^th	Vincenzo Nibali (ITA)	s.t.

Hushovd debuts World Champion’s jersey at Giro del Piemonte

Thu, 14 Oct 2010 04:00:00 GMT

In the second to last appearance of Cervélo TestTeam, Thor Hushovd (NOR) was the star of the moment debuting his world champion jersey at the start line today of the 96th edition of the Giro del Piemonte, in the Apennine Mountains in Italy. Philippe Gilbert (BEL- Omega Pharma-Lotto) repeated his victory of last year with a late solo attack in the final kilometer. Italy’s Leonardo Bertagnolli (Andorni Giocattoli) finished second and Matti Breschel (DEN-Saxo Bank) was third.

“Today was fantastic, it was great to show my jersey to the public,” said Thor Hushovd, World Champion. “I wasn't disappointed at all about the result, I was up there in the first group and the last days have been really busy so my legs where not that good today. I am pleased that Gilbert won today’s race.”

“It was a somewhat confusing race today. An early break was chased down and then six riders went away after about 56 km. We had a rider in that breakaway, Spaniard Oscar Pujol, but we didn’t know that until after the group had been taken back by the bunch, after building up an impressive eight minute lead. The break group with about 30 kilometers to go actually took the wrong road following a descent,” explained Marcello Albasini, sports director. “At the La Morra climb another group of seven riders went on the attack but they too were pulled back by Lotto just before the start of the 18 kilometer finishing circuit around Cossato. By the final Thor was still out in the front group, but two riders from Katusha and Astana tried to go clear. They built up a 20 second lead, but Lotto working for Gilbert pulled them back and Gilbert soloed to the final victory.”

Giro del Piemonte Results: Cossato-Cherasco 194.0 km

1^st	Philippe Gilbert (BEL)	4:28:03	43.42 km/h (26.98 mph)
2^nd	Leonardo Bertagnolli (ITA)	+0.02
3^rd	Matti Breschel (DEN)	s.t.
4^th	Filippo Pozzato (ITA)	+0.04
5^th	Dries Devenyns (BEL)	s.t.

14^th	Thor Hushovd (NOR)	s.t.
51^st	Volodimir Gustov (UKR)	+1.17
77^th	Gabriel Rasch (NOR)	+8.50
79^th	Daniel Teklehaymanot (ERI)	s.t.
DNF	Joaquin Novoa (ESP)
DNF	Oscar Pujol (ESP)
DNF	Davide Appollonio (ITA)
DNF	Marcel Wyss (SUI)

The last week of racing for the TestTeam has begun

Tue, 12 Oct 2010 04:00:00 GMT

The last week of racing for Cervélo TestTeam's second and last season has begun. The team will make their final appearance at the Giro del Piemonte, Giro di Lombardia and the time trial competition Chrono des Nations.

On October 14 the Giro del Piemonte, a semi-classic held in the Apennine Mountains in Italy, will take place with a strong team on the start line. In the race, which was first run in 1906, the Cervélo TestTeam squad, including newly crowned World Champion Thor Hushovd (NOR), is ready to put in a great performance over the 194 km from Cossato to Cherasco.

Just two days later, one of the monuments of the European cycling calendar and the last event in the UCI World Calendar is on the schedule - the Giro di Lombardia. The first edition was held in 1905 under the name Milan - Milan. It gained its current name 1907 and this year's edition will start in back in Milano and finish in Como.

Finally, on October 17, Alexander Wetterhall (SWE) and Patricia Schwager (SUI) are ready to tackle the challenge of the traditional time trial competition Chrono des Nations in Les Herbier (FRA).

Lizzie Armitstead second in Commonwealth Games road race

Sun, 10 Oct 2010 04:00:00 GMT

Lizzie Armitstead (GBR) finished second today to Rochelle Gilmore (AUS) who won the sprint and took the gold medal in the women's road race at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi, India.
Gilmore edged out England's Lizzie Armistead and fellow Australian Chloe Hosking.

"I just felt like I let the girls down a little bit," Armitstead told the BBC. "They did a really good job today. It was our first try at a lead out and they had to do a little bit too much, too soon and I waited a little bit. I hesitated, because I wanted the job to get done right until the line. I should have made the split decision to get on a wheel instead because they'd just done too much.

They did a perfect job, we could have just done with the line being a bit closer. But for our first attempt as a team - we've not even tried it in training - I'm really impressed and I think we can only get better. Come London we should be a forced to be reckoned with."

Women's Road Race: 112 km

1 Rochelle Gilmore (Australian)
2 Elizabeth Armitstead (Great Britain)
3 Chloe Hosking (Australian)
4 Joanne Kiesanowski (New Zealand)
5 Nicole Cooke (Welsh)
6 Joelle Numainville (Canada)
7 Tara Alice Whitten (Canada)

Rollin sixth in Commonwealth Games road race

Sun, 10 Oct 2010 04:00:00 GMT

Dominique Rollin put in a strong effort today with a sixth place finish in the men's road race at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi India. Allan Davis (Australia) won the race beating Hayden Roulston (New Zealand) and David Millar (Scotland) to win Commonwealth Games gold. Davis managed to jump across the decisive attack in the final kilometers and then used his sprinting speed to beat New Zealand's Hayden Roulston and Scotland's David Millar.

Men's Road Race: 167 km

1 Allan Davis (Australia)
2 Hayden Roulston (New Zealand)
3 David Millar (Scotland)
4 Chris Sutton (Australia)
5 David McCann (Northern Ireland)
6 Dominique Rollin (Canada)
7 Mark Cavendish (Isle of Man)

Tondo finishes top 10 at Giro dell'Emilia

Sun, 10 Oct 2010 04:00:00 GMT

Xavier Tondo (ESP) turned in an eighth place finish yesterday at the Giro dell'Emilia. The one-day, 195.6 kilometer race from Bologna to San Luca was won by Robert Gesink (NED-Rabobank), winning it for the second consecutive year. He won the uphill finish fighting off a front group of 14-riders on the last climb of San Luca overlooking Bologna; one second ahead of Daniel Martin (IRL-Garmin-Transitions) and nine seconds ahead of Michele Scarponi (ITA- Androni Giocattoli).

"Yesterday and today we had different kind of races, Saturday's was a hard race and we played the cards of Xavier Tondo (ESP)," said Alex Sans Vega, Sports Director. "Xavier did really well and ended in eighth, right up there with the favourites. It was a really hard race and the team rode very strongly."

Bologna - San Luca 195.6km

1 Robert Gesink (Ned) Rabobank
2 Daniel Martin (Irl) Garmin - Transitions
3 Michele Scarponi (Ita) Androni Giocattoli
4 Alexandr Kolobnev (Rus) Team Katusha
5 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas-Doimo
6 Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) Colnago-CSF Inox
7 Jerome Coppel (Fra) Saur-Sojasun
8 Xavier Tondo Volpini (Esp) Cervélo TestTeam
9 Riccardo Ricco (Ita) Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team
10 Patrik Sinkewitz (Ger) ISD - Neri

Appollonio turns in another strong performance at GP Beghelli

Sun, 10 Oct 2010 04:00:00 GMT

As the season draws to a close Davide Appollonio (ITA) continues to turn in a series of very strong performances, with another again this weekend at GP Beghelli. The 191.5 kilometer one-day race is traditionally a sprinter's classic and despite early attacks in the hilly vineyards, the race came back together seven kilometer from the finish. Italy's Dario Cataldo (Quick Step), who distanced himself from the front group, won the race. Jakob Fuglsang (DEN-Saxo Bank) won the sprint for second place, beating Daniele Pietropolli (ITA-Lampre-Farnese Vini) for third.

"Today's race was more easier than yesterday's and we decided to ride today for Davide Appollonio who we thought could have a big chance in the final bunch sprint," said Alex Sans Vega, Sports Director. "We had Tondo (ESP) today in the break away of the day with four other riders. The bunch took the group with Tondo back with 70 km to go. Then we tried to keep Davide in front and to bring him in the best possible position in the final. But in the last km there was a group in front, and we missed this group. With 1 km to go they had just 8 sec but we were not able to bring the group back. Dario Cataldo was part of the group and won the race."

GP Beghelli Elite Men: 191.5km
1 Dario Cataldo (Ita) Quick Step 4:07:42
2 Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Team Saxo Bank
3 Daniele Pietropolli (Ita) Lampre-Farnese Vini

23 Davide Appollonio (Ita) Cervélo TestTeam

Thor Hushovd will start in Piemonte and Lombardia

Thu, 07 Oct 2010 04:00:00 GMT

The newly crowned road world champion Thor Hushovd (NOR) will take part in the Giro del Piemonte on October 14 and Giro di Lombardia on October 16 before ending his 2010 season.

"I am really honored to show my world champion's jersey," said Hushovd. "Lombardia will be the last race in the history of Cervélo TestTeam, and it is a privilege to line up together with my teammates with the jersey on my shoulders."

Hushovd will postpone the operation he had scheduled to take out the plates that were placed in his collarbone after his crash in May.

Appollonio finishes top 10 at Coppa Sabatini

Thu, 07 Oct 2010 04:00:00 GMT

Davide Appollonio continues his strong late season showing with another top ten result today at the Coppa Sabatini. Riccardo Riccò (ITA-Vacansoleil) took the victory after a battle between the Vacansoleil and ISD-Neri teams on the finishing circuit in Peccioli. Riccò outsprinted his teammate Marco Marcato (ITA) and Leonardo Bertagnolli (ITA-Androni) for the win.

"It was a classic race, where big riders have won in the past. This year we started with a small bunch, which is fine because sometimes it just makes the race harder when everybody thinks that they can win," said Alex Sans Vega, Sports Director. "There was a break away at the front of the race, but we took them back before we got to the final circuit. We tried to do something with Xavier Tondo (ESP), Oscar Pujol (ESP) and Volodimir Gustov (UKR) but Vancansoleil started to control the race. So everything came together to the finish line and we prepared the sprint for Davide and he ended as 7th, as best new pro."

Coppa Sabatini - 199 km
1. Riccardo Ricco' (ITA) -Vacansoleil
2. Marco Marcato (ITA) - Vacansoleil
3. Leonardo Bertagnolli (ITA) Androni Diquigiovanni
4. Giovanni Visconti (ITA) Isd Neri)
5. Staf Scheirlinkx (Bel) - Omega Pharma Lotto
6. Domenico Pozzovivo (ITA) - Colnago CSF
7. Davide Appollonio (ITA) - Cervélo TestTeam
8. Alexandre Botcharov (RUS) - Katusha
9) Simone Stortoni (ITA) - Colnago CSF
10) Alessandro Bertolini (ITA) - Androni Diquigiovanni

Florencio top 20 at Paris-Bourges

Thu, 07 Oct 2010 04:00:00 GMT

It was a sprinter's final at the end of today's 193.3 km París-Bourges race. Xavier Florencio (ESP) finished with a sixteenth place result, the best for Cervélo TestTeam. Anthony Ravard (FRA- AG2R - La Mondiale) won the race edging out Romain Feillu (FRA- Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team) and Matti Breschel (DEN -Team Saxo Bank).

"The plan today was to bring Heinrich Haussler, Xavier Florencio or Martin Reimer in the best possible position, explained Philippe Mauduit, Sports Director. "After 120 km the bunch exploded and we had three guys in front, Gabriel Rasch (NOR), Xavier Florencio (ESP) and Alexander Wetterhall (SWE). Euskatel set the pace, a strong one over the climbs and in the final there was just a group of three riders left. At that point we could just follow. We tried to bring Xavier into position in the final, he tried but he was not able to sprint for the win because of a crash in the final.

Paris - Bourges 193.3 km

1st Anthony Ravard (FRA) 4:36:52 41.89 km/h (26.03 mph)
2nd Romain Feillu (FRA) s.t.
3rd Matti Breschel (DEN) s.t.
4th Romain Matheou (FRA) s.t.
5th Sébastien Chavanel (FRA) s.t.

16th Xavier Florencio (ESP) s.t.
26th Alexander Wetterhall (SWE) +0.09
48th Gabriel Rasch (NOR) +0.16
DNF Roger Hammond (GBR)
DNF Heinrich Haussler (AUS)
DNF Brett Lancaster (AUS)
DNF Martin Reimer (GER)

Busy week for the TestTeam

Wed, 06 Oct 2010 04:00:00 GMT

With the conclusion of the World Championships the 2010 cycling season is slowly drawing to a close. However there are still a few races left. In the upcoming week the men's team will race at the Coppa Sabatini, Giro d'Emilia and Tropheo Bruno Beghelli in Italy as well as racing Paris Bourges.

A strong team based around Heinrich Haussler (AUS) will take part in the famous Paris Bouges on October 7. This autumn one-day-race has taken place since 1913. It starts in Loiret, finishing 193.3 km later in Bourges.

On the same day, another squad from the men's team with Davide Appollonio (ITA) and Xavier Tondo (ESP) will be competing in the UCI category 1.1 race Coppa Sabatini in Pisa, Italy. Then two days later on October 9 this same roster takes part at one of the most important classic road races of Italy, the Giro dell'Emilia in the Emilia-Romagna region followed by the GP Bruno Beghelli with start and finish in Monteveglio on Sunday October 10.

Thor Hushovd new world champion!

Sun, 03 Oct 2010 04:00:00 GMT

Norwegian Thor Hushovd gave Cervélo TestTeam its second rainbow jersey of these world championships in the men's road race. Hushovd outkicked a small field to take the win ahead of Matti Breschel (DEN) and Allan Davis (AUS).

"It's hard to understand that I am the new world champion," said Thor Hushovd. "It's a dream. I'm speechless. Now I will enjoy every day on the bike with this jersey."

The race was marked by an early breakaway of five riders that gained an advantage of more than 20 minutes on the bunch. After 175 km of racing, a group of 32 riders gained about a minute on the peloton behind, where Hushovd was. "For a while, of course, I thought it was over for the peloton at that moment," said Hushovd.

But the group reduced the gap, and in the last lap the favorites tried to break away. Philippe Gilbert (BEL) made the best move. He got a small margin but not enough to hold it to the finish. In the finale three riders tried it again, but they where caught in the final kilometer and everything came back together just before the finish line.

Cervélo TestTeam will return to Europe with two medals; in addition to Hushovd's win, Emma Pooley (GBR) won the women's time trial world title. And that makes Cervélo the most successful bike of this world championships.

World Championships (Melbourne - Geelong) R.R. (259.9 km)
1 Thor Hushovd (Norway) 6:21:49
2 Matti Breschel (Denmark)
3 Allan Davis (Australia)
4 Filippo Pozzato (Italy)
5 Greg Van Avermaet (Belgium)
6 Oscar Freire Gomez (Spain)
7 Alexandr Kolobnev (Russian Federation)
8 Assan Bazayev (Kazakhstan)
9 Yukiya Arashiro (Japan)
10 Romain Feillu (France)

73 Ted King (United States Of America)
89 Ignatas Konovalovas (Lithuania)
DNF Jeremy Hunt (Great Britain)
DNF Dominique Rollin (Canada)