Archiv für den Tag: 18. Februar 2019

Tour de France – Continental becomes one of the five’s main partners in 2019

Key points:
 Continental, official partner of the Tour de France between 2018 and 2022, is upgrading its sponsorship to main partner and stage winner presenter for 2019
 Continental will supply its high-performance car tires to official vehicles and its bicycle tires handmade in Korbach (Germany) to a number of World Tour teams.
This year on July 6th at the Grand Depart in Brussels, Continental will launch its second year at the most prestigious cycle race of the world, and its first as main partner alongside LCL, E.Leclerc, Krys and Škoda as the stage winning presenter.
Continental tire technology serving the Tour de France
This year six World Tour teams (Bahrain-Merida, Groupama-FDJ, Movistar Team, Team Katusha-Alpecin, Teand Sky and Team Sunweb) will participate on the Competition Pro LTD tire, the high-end product designed and produced in Korbach, Germany. Additionally, drivers of the official vehicles of the Tour de France will be able to enjoy the performance of the latest Continental car tire, the PremiumContact 6, produced in Sarreguemines, France.
An increased visibility
Joining the five main partner’s club of the event will allow Continental to gain more visibility in front of the general public. The Continental logo will be visible on the finish line arch as well as on the iconic “flamme rouge”. After each stage a representative from Continental will hand over the trophy to the stage winner on the podium.
Continental and cycling: a long-standing tradition
The partnership with the Tour de France initiated in 2018 and running at least until 2022 is in line with the company’s goal to continuously develop better bicycle and car tires by sharing some of the same technologies. For example, the Black Chili compound provides an extraordinary level of grip for Continental bicycle tires as well as high-performance car tires. Technologies which have been trusted by the World Tour teams for a long time now. The long tradition of tire manufacturing goes back to 1892 when the first version of a bicycle tire (pneumatic) was produced while the first car tire followed in 1898 making Continental the first German tire manufacturer.
“Vision Zero”
Continental uses the partnership with the Tour de France to further promote the topic of road safety as part of its “Vision Zero” strategy: a world without injuries, accidents and casualties. As part of this objective Continental gives fans on the Tour de France website safety advice on how to travel to and from the event safely. The tire manufacturer will also continue to offer free mobile tire checks to public vehicles parked along the race route hours before the Pro riders pass by. For the vehicles inside the race Continental offers free tire checks at the Grand Depart in Brussels as well as the start and finish area of each stage. Inside the cycling race dangerous corners will be highlighted to riders as well as drivers by special warning signs in the noticeable Continental color for the first time. The concept of sharing the road safely between riders and drivers by keeping a respectful distance will also be promoted again by Continental.
Nikolai Setzer, Head of Tire Division, Continental: “We are delighted to play a major part in the biggest cycling race in the world in 2019. Being the stage winning partner of the Tour de France fits perfectly to our core value of “passion to win”. We are very much looking forward to contributing to the race with our wide range of high-performance tires.”
Christian Prudhomme, director of the Tour de France: “The joy of winning a stage is a daily emotion on the Tour de France. The rider that lifts his arms at the finish line, whether he is a many-time victor or takes his only career win, surely experiences one of the highlights of his life. Continental associates its image to these thrills, which are also linked to the notion of performance, defended at the highest level by the brand of tyres. The Tour champions, from Brussels to Paris via Saint-Etienne, the Tourmalet or Nîmes, will recognize themselves in this quest for excellence that defines Continental „.
@ASO

Tour of Oman – Stage 3

Qurayyat, Monday, February 18th 2019 – Alexey Lutsenko (Astana Pro Team) doubles up with a second stage victory in a row, after a spectacular day of racing on the way to Qurayyat. The Kazakh champ, who won the race overall last year, was extremely aggressive in the final 50 km, making the most of the wind to wear the peloton before claiming the stage win and the red jersey in the final climb. The Spanish puncheur Jesus Herrada (Cofidis, Solutions Crédits) came second, ahead of the Olympic champion Greg Van Avermaet (CCC Pro Team).
1 Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 4:35:48
2 Jesus Herrada (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:00:01
3 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) CCC Team
4 Rui Costa (Por) UAE Team Emirates
5 Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) Bahrain-Merida 0:00:04
6 Eliot Lietaer (Bel) Wallonie Bruxelles 0:00:06
7 Oliver Naesen (Bel) AG2R La Mondiale 0:00:11
8 Quentin Pacher (Fra) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel
9 Elie Gesbert (Fra) Arkéa Samsic
10 Ryan Gibbons (RSA) Dimension Data

GC:
1 Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 11:37:37
2 Jesus Herrada (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:00:18
3 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) CCC Team 0:00:20
4 Rui Costa (Por) UAE Team Emirates 0:00:24
5 Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) Bahrain-Merida 0:00:27
6 Eliot Lietaer (Bel) Wallonie Bruxelles 0:00:29
7 Ryan Gibbons (RSA) Dimension Data 0:00:30
8 Elie Gesbert (Fra) Arkéa Samsic 0:00:34
9 Quentin Pacher (Fra) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel
10 Oliver Naesen (Bel) AG2R La Mondiale

Team Classification:
1 Team Dimension Data 34:56:21
2 Team Katusha Alpecin 0:00:08
3 AG2R La Mondiale 0:00:51
4 CCC Team 0:01:05
5 UAE Team Emirates 0:02:10

EF Education First: Clarke second in Provence; Martinez third, team first in Colombia


Dani Martinez stood on the Tour Colombia 2.1 podium atop Alto de las Palmas, Colombia on Sunday. The 22-year-old rode a bold race with the full support from his strong team, including his childhood hero Rigoberto Uran. The result? Third overall.
“It’s been a week where I’ve learned a lot about my performance,” said Martinez. “Every day you learn something new and take it forward to further races.”
Martinez, the newly crowned Colombian time trial champion, spearheaded EF Education First’s winning efforts during the team time trial. The result laid the foundation for the work that followed with Martinez riding a particularly gutsy race on stage five that put him only eight seconds out of the race lead.
“We saw Martinez confirm his development this week,” said sport director Juanma Garate. “More than his development, we saw him confirm his potential. He will be a top, top rider.”
The energy Martinez expended on Saturday cost him in the closing kilometers on Sunday as the race was being decided up Las Palmas, the 15 kilometer summit finish. Uran proved stronger than Martinez but Garate had Uran hold back in the hopes of preserving Martinez’s overall podium position.
“It was incredible for Rigo to have waited for me today,” said Martinez. “This is something that really means a lot to me. He’s a brilliant rider and leader who has won so many races and for him to wait for me makes me feel quite emotional.”
Uran and Martinez crossed the finish line side-by-side in fifth and sixth place, around a minute down on stage winner Nairo Quintana (Movistar). Mission accomplished. Martinez kept his podium spot.
The young Colombian was joined on the podium by all his EF Education First teammates as they collected the team classification prize.
“Winning the team general classification is always a great award,“ said Lawson Craddock. „So often the sport is represented by one rider on top of the podium. When you can take the team GC and bring everyone up there to share the success, that’s always pretty special.”

Nearly nine thousand kilometers away and four hours before Martinez graced the podium, Simon Clarke collected awards and accolades of his own. The Australian, also tasked with a leadership role, rode a smart and strategic race at Tour de la Provence en route to second overall.
EF Education First team management asked Clarke to arrive in France with the fitness required to contend for the general classification. He was happy to oblige. Clarke regularly rides in support of his teammates or in a road captain role. He embraced the opportunity to race as team leader, coming away with second overall, tied on time with race winner Gorka Izagirre (Astana).
“I did a lot of preparation at home to make sure my condition was good coming into this race,” Clarke said.
The stage race began with an opening stage time trial in Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer. It was the only stage during the four-day race that Clarke finished outside the top five. After coming fourth on stages two and three, Clarke realized he had a real shot to stand on the top step of the podium in Aix-en-Provence on Sunday.
“It was a good race for me because all the stages suited me quite well,” Clarke said. “It all just came down to tactics in the sprints – for the time bonuses available in the intermediate sprints and on the finish line.”
Clarke began stage four in fourth overall, eight seconds off the race lead. He finished in second place on the stage and picked up enough bonus seconds to jump up to second overall.
“I didn’t have high expectations today because the stage suited me the least of the road stages this week, but considering my position overall and the seconds on offer, we approached the day with same mentality as the other days,” said Clarke. “We took every opportunity possible. This actually worked out better than we expected. I picked up second in the intermediate sprint and second at the finish.
“The team has been great for me this week,” Clarke added. “Quite often I find myself in a supporting role. To have the support of my teammates this week was very special.”
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Pascal Ackermann holt ersten Saisonsieg in Almeria

1 Pascal Ackermann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 4:27:58
2 Marcel Kittel (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin
3 Luka Mezgec (Slo) Mitchelton-Scott
4 Carlos Barbero (Spa) Movistar Team
5 José Rojas (Spa) Movistar Team
6 Thomas Boudat (Fra) Direct Energie
7 Edward Planckaert (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
8 Lars Boom (Ned) Roompot-Charles
9 Sjoerd van Ginneken (Ned) Roompot-Charles
10 Pieter Vanspeybrouck (Bel) Wanty-Gobert

Foto Gerhard Plomitzer – @plomiphotos
Ein wahrer Sprint Royale Zwischen Pascal Ackermann und Marcel Kittel war das gestern in Almeria. Pascal Ackermann war der Sieger, aber wenn der Zielstrich nur einen Meter später gekommen wäre, wäre das Ergebnis wohl Kittel vor Ackermann gewesen…optimales timing von Pascal Ackermann.

Nach der Vuelta Ciclista a Murcia stand heute das Eintagesrennen Clásica de Almeria auf dem Rennprogramm. Wie erwartet, setzte sich gleich nach dem Start eine Gruppe von sieben Fahrern vom Feld ab. Doch die Ausreißer wurden bereits nach der zweiten Bergwertung, bei Kilometer 90, wieder gestellt. In der langen Abfahrt danach teilte sich das Feld in mehrere Gruppen. BORA – hansgrohe war aufmerksam, und an der Spitze des Rennens gleich mit vier Fahrern vertreten. Die letzten 30 Kilometer bestimmte Mitchelton – Scott das Geschehen, während Pascal Ackermann von seinen Teamkollegen aus allen Schwierigkeiten herausgehalten wurde. Auf den Zielrunden in Almeria übernahm BORA – hansgrohe das Heft des Handelns und Patrick Konrad setzte sich als erster des Lead-out Zuges an die Spitze des Feldes. Maciej Bodnar und Jempy Drucker lieferten den Deutschen Meister in perfekter Position, auf den letzten 1000m, ab. Als M. Trentin (Mitchelton-Scott) das Tempo verzögerte, nutzte Ackermann den Moment, um den Sprint zu eröffnen. M. Kittel (Katusha-Alpecin) kam auf den letzten Metern noch gefährlich nahe, doch Ackermann war am Ende zu stark und sicherte sich um Haaresbreite den Sieg.
Reaktionen im Ziel
„Es war wirklich eine tolle Leistung der gesamten Mannschaft. Wir gingen defensiv ins Rennen, in den Bergen war es Patricks Aufgabe Pascal zu helfen, das hat alles super geklappt. Als sich das Feld teilte, waren wir mit vier Fahrern in der Gruppe vertreten und im Finale bereiteten die Jungs alles für Pascal vor. Es ist ein wichtiger Sieg für Pascal gewesen. Es freut mich, dass er an die Erfolge vom Vorjahr so nahtlos anschließen konnte. Ich blicke damit auch zuversichtlich in Richtung Algarve Rundfahrt.“ – Christian Pömer, sportlicher Leiter

„Es war ein wirklich hartes Rennen, 200km und dann ein schnelles Finale. Ich danke dem Team für ihre Arbeit. Von Beginn an haben sie einen tollen Job erledigt, mich in den Bergen aber auch im Flachen immer hervorragend beschützt. Es ist ein tolles Gefühl so früh in der Saison einen Sieg einzufahren, das stärkt mein Selbstbewusstsein für die kommenden Rennen – Algarve und danach einige belgische Eintagesrennen.“ – Pascal Ackermann
@BORA

Tour de Provence

4. Etappe:
1 John Degenkolb (Ger) Trek-Segafredo 3:52:11
2 Simon Clarke (Aus) EF Education First
3 Anthony Maldonado (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93
4 Tony Gallopin (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
5 Damien Touze (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
6 Yves Lampaert (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep
7 Benjamin Thomas (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
8 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep
9 Warren Barguil (Fra) Arkéa Samsic
10 August Jensen (Nor) Israel Cycling Academy

John Degenkolb am 3.2.19 auf Mallorca
Foto Gerhard Plomitzer – www.plomi.smugmug.com
Endstand:
1 Gorka Izagirre Insausti (Spa) Astana Pro Team 13:18:06
2 Simon Clarke (Aus) EF Education First
3 Tony Gallopin (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:00:01
4 Thibaut Pinot (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:00:02
5 Rudy Molard (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:00:10
6 David Gaudu (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:00:15
7 Edward Dunbar (Irl) Team Sky
8 Eduard Prades (Spa) Movistar Team 0:00:21
9 Jimmy Janssens (Bel) Corendon-Circus 0:00:26
10 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:00:29

Tour of Oman 2. Etappe

1 Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 4:07:19
2 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) UAE Team Emirates 0:00:03
3 Ryan Gibbons (RSA) Dimension Data
4 Iuri Filosi (Ita) Delko Marseille Provence KTM
5 Oliver Naesen (Bel) AG2R La Mondiale
6 Sonny Colbrelli (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
7 Enrico Battaglin (Ita) Katusha-Alpecin
8 Benjamin Declercq (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
9 Clement Venturini (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
10 Magnus Cort Nielsen (Den) Astana Pro Team
GC:
1 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) UAE Team Emirates 7:01:56
2 Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 0:00:03
3 Ryan Gibbons (RSA) Dimension Data 0:00:12
4 Clement Venturini (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:00:16
5 Iuri Filosi (Ita) Delko Marseille Provence KTM
6 Magnus Cort Nielsen (Den) Astana Pro Team
7 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) CCC Team
8 Sven Erik Bystrøm (Nor) UAE Team Emirates
9 Elie Gesbert (Fra) Arkéa Samsic
10 Rui Costa (Por) UAE Team Emirates

Tour Colombia 6. Etappe

6. Etappe:
1 Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar Team 3:57:19
2 Ivan Sosa (Col) Team Sky 0:00:08
3 Miguel Angel Lopez (Col) Astana Pro Team
4 Egan Bernal (Col) Team Sky 0:00:16
5 Rigoberto Uran (Col) EF Education First 0:01:01
6 Daniel Martinez (Col) EF Education First
7 Jhojan Orlando Garcia Sosa (Col) Manzana Postobon 0:01:27
8 Didier Alonso Chaparro Lopez (Col) Orgullo Paisa 0:01:32
9 Sergio Henao (Col) UAE Team Emirates 0:01:36
10 Jonnathan Narvaez (Ecu) Team Sky 0:01:40
Endstand:
1 Miguel Angel Lopez (Col) Astana Pro Team 18:38:32
2 Ivan Sosa (Col) Team Sky 0:00:04
3 Daniel Martinez (Col) EF Education First 0:00:42
4 Egan Bernal (Col) Team Sky 0:00:54
5 Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar Team 0:01:04
6 Rigoberto Uran (Col) EF Education First 0:01:31
7 Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:01:33
8 Sergio Henao (Col) UAE Team Emirates 0:02:41
9 Richard Carapaz (Ecu) Movistar Team 0:02:46
10 Rodrigo Contreras (Col) Astana Pro Team 0:02:47