"Sports allow us all to explore our abilities, and the Paralympic Games are the epitome of this," writes 4-time Paralympic medalist Dr. Meg Fisher

CyclistFlashback Friday: When Juan Jos Cobo (didnt) win the Vuelta a Espaa in 2011For the 2011 Vuelta a Espaa, Vincenzo Nibali was back on the start line to defend his title. The Geox-TMC team received a wildcard invitation alongside Andaluca-Caja Granada, Cofidis and Skil-Shimano.Denis Menchov was pencilled in as the Geox-TMC team leader, but the tables were flipped as Juan Jos Cobo worked his way into the maillot rojo in a battle against Team Skys British duo of Chris Froome and Bradley Wiggins.The raceTim de Waele/Getty ImagesThe Vuelta began in Benidorm, and along the way returned to the Basque Country for the first time in 33 years as well as taking on the brutal slopes of the Angliru after a three-year absence.Many riders wore the maillot rojo in the first week, including Jakob Fuglsang (Leopard Trek), Sylvain Chavanel (QuickStep), Joaquim Rodrguez (Katusha) and Bauke Mollema (Rabobank). After HTC-HIghroad rider Tony Martins victory over a 47km ITT on Stage 10, Team Skys Chris Froome topped the general classification before his teammate Bradley Wiggins took over.Stage 15 of the race was a 142.2km backloaded ride from Avilsto the Angliru. A short Category 1 climb of the Alto del Cordal preceded the behemoth Alto de lAngliru, a steep 12km slog to the summit finish with an average gradient of 10.6%. Cobo took off attacking towards the end of the stage and crossed the line first, finishing 48secs in front of Vacansoleil-DCMs Wout Poels.With this performance and Wiggins cracking, Cobo bunnyhopped the Sky duo in the standings and moved into the race lead by 20secs over Froome. He held the red jersey to the finish in Madrid, victorious with a slim lead of 13secs over Froome, but a few years later, it all came crashing down. Related Posts The 5 hardest Grand Tour stages of the last 10 years The climbs that will decide the Vuelta a Espaa 2024 Classic climb: Alto de lAngliru, a climb that has broken amateurs and pros alike Vuelta a Espaa 2024: Route, start list, how to watch and all you need to know The fallTim de Waele/Corbis via Getty ImagesCobo moved to Movistar for the 2012 and 2013 seasons before retiring at the end of 2014 with Turkish team Torku ekerspor. It was in 2019 that the UCI said abnormalities were present in Cobos biological passport between 2009 and 2011 and handed down a retroactive three-year ban as a result.Cobo had 30 days to appeal before the Court of Arbitration for Sport but the time passed and so the 2011 Vuelta victory was awarded to Chris Froome.The implicationsTim de Waele/Corbis via Getty ImagesAmong the controversy of doping cases, it can be easy to forget the huge ramifications it has on other riders. Bauke Mollema, then riding for Rabobank provisionally finished just off the podium in fourth. When Cobo was stripped of the victory, he was bumped up to a podium spot.This was his only podium in a Grand Tour and he was robbed of the experience. He never received his fanfare in Madrid for his efforts (although he did stand on the podium for winning the points jersey).Wout Poels finished second behind Cobo on the Angliru stage and was retrospectively awarded the victory. It was his first in a Grand Tour. He described it as pretty s**t.Chris Froome received the trophy for the 2011 edition of the race on the 8th November 2020. It meant he was now the first British winner of a Grand Tour, preceding Wigginss Tour de France victory in 2012. He also received the first overall combativity award of the race, which had been previously awarded to Cobo. Cobo never finished near the podium of a Grand Tour again, his last participation coming at the Giro dItalia in 2013, in which he finished 116th. Alongside his stripped 2011 Vuelta title, Cobo was also disqualified from the 2009 Vuelta in which he finished tenth overall.For more on the Vuelta a Espana, visit our hub page. Related Posts The 5 hardest Grand Tour stages of the last 10 years The climbs that will decide the Vuelta a Espaa 2024 Classic climb: Alto de lAngliru, a climb that has broken amateurs and pros alike Vuelta a Espaa 2024: Route, start list, how to watch and all you need to know The post Flashback Friday: When Juan Jos Cobo (didnt) win the Vuelta a Espaa in 2011 appeared first on Cyclist.

Throughout the 2024 Vuelta a Espaa there will be many riders to withdraw from the race, for several different reasons. We make a list of all riders who leave the Spanish Grand Tour as well as list out a few of the main crashes and health issues that take place during the race.Nothing to note.Dyla...

CyclistThe 5 hardest Grand Tour stages of the last 10 yearsMountain stages are the hardest days in the saddle at cyclings Grand Tours, with punishing slopes and ridiculous gradients producing the suffering that makes Giro dItalia, Tour de France and Vuelta a Espaa the worlds hardest races.While in recent years organisers have reduced distances on the toughest mountain days, there are still some behemoths every now and then that make fans long for days gone by.Here are the five stages from the past decade that have packed in the most elevation gain.5. Tour de France 2018, Stage 12: Bourg-Saint-Maurice Les Arcs to Alpe dHuez (175km, 5362m)It was a showdown between some huge names. Stage 12 of the 2018 Tour de France packed three huge hors categorie climbs in just 175km, the Col de la Madeleine and Col de la Croix de Fer (with a quick stop off at the picturesque Lacets de Montvernier) preceding the summit finish atop the mythical Alpe dHuez.Steven Kruijswijk of LottoNL-Jumbo broke away from the breakaway and had carved out a six-minute gap at the summit of the Col de la Croix de Fer, one that slowly began decreasing through the 21 hairpin bends of Alpe dHuez.Presse SportsTried as he might on an almost-70km solo effort, eventually the five big contenders Chris Froome, Geraint Thomas, Romain Bardet, Tom Dumoulin and Mikel Landa would fight for the stage win. Riding in the yellow jersey, Thomas powered ahead to win his second consecutive stage and become the first British rider to win on Alpe dHuez.It was also a day that saw Bahrain Meridas Vincenzo Nibali crash out of the race with a broken vertebrae as Andre Greipel, Fernando Gaviria and Dylan Groenewegen were forced to abandon the race due to its brutality, following Marcel Kittel and Mark Cavendish, who dropped out the day before which itself packed in two HC climbs as well as the Category 2 Cormet de Roselend and a Category 1 summit finish to La Rosire. Related Posts The climbs that will decide the Vuelta a Espaa 2024 Classic climb: Col de la Loze, the Alpine climb that breaks Tour champions Classic climb: Passo Giau, a stunning climb in the Dolomites with an unrelenting gradient Classic climb: Alpe dHuez, the most famous climb in pro cycling? 4. Tour de France 2023, Stage 17: Saint-Gervais Mont-Blanc to Courchevel (166km, 5399m)ASOThe most recent entry on the list, the day kicked off with a duo of Category 1 climbs in the Col de Saises and Cormet de Roselend but the final ascent was the sting in the tail. The Col de la Loze, peaking at 2,300m, was the Souvenir Henri Desgrange the highest point of the race and took riders up almost 2,000 metres in just over 28km through the ski havens of Courchevel and Mribel. Jean Catuffe/Getty ImagesAG2R-Citrons Felix Gall reached the top first in front of the peloton having launched a solo attack for glory on the climb and was flying on his debut at the Tour. Behind, GC drama had ignited as UAE Team Emirates Tadej Pogaar cracked, jersey unzipped as the famous words, Im gone, Im dead came over the radio while Jonas Vingegaard rode away to all-but-confirm his second Tour de France title.Gall was being chased down by Simon Yates of Jayco-AlUla on the short descent to the finish but evaded his clutches. It was a spectacular, gruelling day that set off fireworks both at the front of the race and in the general classification.3. Vuelta a Espaa 2016, Stage 14: Urdax-Dantxarinea to Aubisque-Gourette (196km, 5575m)A trio of Category 1 climbs before a hors categorie finish atop the Col dAubisque was on the menu for the Queen Stage of the 2016 Vuelta a Espaa. A 40-man breakaway formed just prior to the first ascent of the day, the 18.2km Col Inharpu. That was just a warmup though as the climbs kept coming with the long 24.2km Col de Soudet and 10.1km Col de Marie Blanque following. Tim de Waele/Tim De Waele/Corbis via Getty ImagesBy the end of the day, the contenders for the stage win were whittled down to just Robert Gesink, Kenny Elissonde and Egor Silin. After being denied by Nairo Quintana just a few days prior, Gesink distanced his competitors and grabbed his first Grand Tour stage win.2. Giro dItalia 2023, Stage 16: Sabbio Chiese to Monte Bondone (203km, 5852m)The day might not have looked the most insane on paper, but Stage 16 of the 2023 Giro dItalia featured almost 5,900m of climbing and came after the last rest day. Five categorised climbs were to be covered, including one final punishing test of Monte Bondone.Stuart Franklin/Getty ImagesUAE Team Emirates set a leg-breaking pace up the last ascent, distancing the maglia rosa Bruno Armirail. JooAlmeida and Geraint Thomas (hes good at these) broke away in the last 6km and distanced rival Primo Rogli, who limited his losses thanks to the help of Sepp Kuss. Almeida won his first Grand Tour stage as Thomas moved (back) to the top of the general classification.1. Giro dItalia 2016, Stage 14: Alpago to Corvara (210km, 6001m)Here it is, the Grand Tour stage with the most climbing metres of the past decade. Stage 14 of the 2016 Giro dItalia was a lengthy affair at 210km from Alpago to Corvara, and a punishing one too. Boasting over 6,000m of climbing, the peloton tackled the Queen Stage with Andrey Amador of Movistar leading the race. y Tim de Waele/Corbis via Getty ImagesIt was a whos who of classic Dolomites climbs that those who have ridden the Maratona dles Dolomites will know all too well. Riders scaled Passo Pordoi, Passo Sella, Passo Gardena, Passo Campolongo, Passo Giau, the Passo Valparola and finished with the short kicker to La Villa.Steven Kruijswijk attacked on the Passo Valparola as behind Esteban Chaves cracked Vincenzo Nibali. The win would be decided between Kruijswijk, Chaves, Giant-Alpecins Georg Preidler and BMCs Darwin Atapuma. Chaves launched his sprint, a slower-than-usual affair given the toll on the legs, but held out to win after over six of cyclings most demanding hours. Related Posts The climbs that will decide the Vuelta a Espaa 2024 Classic climb: Col de la Loze, the Alpine climb that breaks Tour champions Classic climb: Passo Giau, a stunning climb in the Dolomites with an unrelenting gradient Classic climb: Alpe dHuez, the most famous climb in pro cycling? The post The 5 hardest Grand Tour stages of the last 10 years appeared first on Cyclist.

Marc Soler has been searching for a stage win all throughout the Vuelta a Espaa, in a UAE Team Emirates that has given a free role to virtually every rider since the start of the race. Today he was again relatively close, but his third spot was nothing but a consolation prize after the team saw it'...

Movistar Team were the squad that took responsibility today in the peloton to make the race hard but in the end it did not pay off. Enric Mas looked strong at the start of Puerto de Ancares but then cracked and lost valuable time to Primoz Roglic who moved closer to the red jersey of Ben O'Connor.O...

Rolling right along, our MADE Show 2024 Builder Roundup #2 features show stoppers from Appleman, Hot Salad Bicycles, Mosaic Cycles, Scarab Cycles, Stellar Works, and Wilde Bikes.The post MADE Show 2024 Video: Builder Roundup #2 appeared first on Bikerumor.

Michael Woods won the Canadian national championships this year and that is a career highlight, but besides that result he has not managed to be at the front this year. It comes as a huge relief to finally win again at the highest level, taking the win from the breakaway today in a group that was ve...

Last years coverage of Portlands MADE Show was fun and came rather easily when finding things to write about. But, this time around, it seemed a little harder to stay focused. My inner bike nerd was awestruck by the sheer talent that was on display. The show itself was a little bigger, not only in its footprint but in the amount of exhibitors that were there. So, that being said, I am a lil slow getting the cool stuff down and published. BikeRumor Most Unique Bike AwardAnother thing that differs this time around is that I thought it might be fun to give out two awards. The first is the Bikerumor Most Unique Bike Award. This was awarded based on what I saw while roaming the show for well, the most unique bikey type item. (Photo / BTCHN Bikes)When I saw the BTCHN Bikes booth, I knew I would find something unique there. Most of what Tyler builds is unique, and all of it is beautiful. He is a true master of his craft. Then he showed me his prototype hardtail bike with geometry that is adjustable on the fly. It was a great idea, that was executed with precision. Not to mention its a beautiful bicycle.I left the booth knowing that it was, in my opinion, the shows most unique item. Lets learn a bit more about the MADE 2024 BikeRumor Most Unique Bike.The BTCHN Bikes GeoShiftBTCHN Bikes is operated out of Chico, California, by Tyler Reiswig, who I believe is a genius frame builder. Hes a think-outta-box kinda builder, and that appeals to me. Hes not reinventing the wheel, but his ideas are his own and he executes them with precision and beauty.(Photos / Ron Frazelle)Tyler told me that the GeoShift is currently a proof of concept, and what I saw at the show was prototype #1. According to Tyler, the GeoShift is going to get a lot of testing before the next iteration is built for his engineer Nicholas.Tyler also said, We do believe there is some very real utility of having an adjustable seat angle for varied terrain, and all-day kind of rides. However, at the very least this is going to act as a wonderful tool for experimentation and educating us further about the limits of functional bike geometry. He continues, It would not be reasonable nor economical to build a frame with a fixed seat position of say 83 degrees just to see if it works better in a steep climb, as it would surely be a heinous pile of crap to pedal in all other scenarios than climbing a wall. So here we go, an adjustable test platform.HydraulicsTyler told me that the hydraulic actuator is a heavily modified Bunker dropper post. They used the Bunker primarily because of the internal layout and general construction. This allowed them to replace the necessary components to reverse the direction of actuation. Genius! They then replaced the head unit with a 3d printed aluminum dual chamber and provisions to attach to the seat tube using standard rear shock mounting hardware. With shortened internal shafts and adding a manually machined IFP, Tyler said that this was a rather in-depth project that their engineer Nicholas Payton undertook. And managed to nail it on the first attempt.Actuating the GeoShiftThe lever to actuate the shift in geometry is controlled by a modified Paul Components Dropper Trigger. It was modified into a dual lever design that allows access to both the dropper and GeoShift. Either lever can easily be operated and potentially be actuated at the same time.That means that when you push both at the same time, it will raise the saddle and increase your seat angle all at once to attack a climb. Then when descending, push them both again to lower the saddle and relax the seat angle Bobs your uncle! 73 degree seat angle (Photos / Ron Frazelle)83 dergee seat angleThe amount that the GeoShift adjusts the seat angle is 10 degrees. With the most relaxed seat angle being 73 degrees. So fully adjusted it runs a 83 degree seat angle. According to Tyler, this range can be adjusted, limited, or extended. He also said that they will experiment into the upper 80s, or until we deem that more performance can be had from going more extreme.Another thing you might notice is the top tube shape. Its heavily ovalized at the head tube.Tyler said that this acts as a flex stay to accommodate the 2.5deg of flex needed as the seatpost goes through its travel. Also, the main pivot of the seat tube is a 16mm Igus Shaft that rides on Igus bushings.What About Those Seat Stays?On to the rear of the GeoShift. Tyler says that the rear of the bike is based on the Albatross HT series. It allowed BTCHN to decouple the seat tube from the rear end to allow for this adjustability. Conventionalhardtailsexperience some rear steering as the rear wheel twists on a plane that is pointed up from horizontal. By lowering the seat stays, the axis of the rear axle rotates around the horizontal centerline of the bike. This should, in theory, improve mid-corner grip, but also maintain balance, reducing unintuitive frame flex.Sadly, Tyler is not currently planning to produce this frame. He did say that depending on the amount of interest and their testing goes well, they may look into finding a way to do some small production runs. Tyler said, We really think this would be very appropriatein the gravel bike sector where one tends to spend more time in varied terrain, and where comfort and performance are both at the forefront.Im looking forward to seeing what else comes from Tylers imagination and creativity. Hopefully, we wont have to wait until next years MADE Show. Please take the time to follow BTCHN Bikes on their Instagram and check out the beautiful frames, bikes, posts, and bars at their website below.BTCHNBikes.comThe post MADE Show: BTCHN Bikes Titanium GeoShift Bike Wins BR Most Unique Award! appeared first on Bikerumor.

Afonso Eullio is leaving the Portuguese peloton and his destination is the top echelon of world cycling. The revelation was made by the ABTF Beto - Feirense rider after winning the 5th stage of the Jornal de Notcias Grand Prix. And there are already reports linking him to Bahrain - Victorious.Acc...