If he can hang in on the hills, there’s no stopping Pete Sagan, especially when the finish is downhill into a flat sprint. The World Champion rode that last two miles of the 2016 tours longest stage (133.6 miles) like a boss and after letting Nathan Haas make the first jump, Sagan blazed around to take his 15th Amgen Tour of California stage win and his second of 2016.
“It was hard, but good,” said Sagan, when asked about today’s stage. “I’m very happy for my other teammates, and I’m very happy to have won.”
For the official word from the Amgen Tour of California, please follow the jump.
Watching Bikes vs. Cars has given us a much better understanding of the reasons for the drama we all face every single day as we try to do something as simple as riding our bikes. One of the best cycling documentaries every made, Bikes vs. Cars is now available on Netflix. Search for it, watch it, and then share it with everyone you know.
It used to be that serious dives into Strava data were reserved for off-the-bike time when you could plow through the numbers and see exactly how you did against all your nemeses. Now, Strava has changed all that with Live Segments for Android and iOS. With Live Segments all the performance details of a segment are delivered while you’re on the bike and riding the segment.
How does it work? First off you need to be a Strava premium member ($59 per year). Then you need to go in and “star” all your favorite segments on the web or your phone. After the segments are starred then each time you ride one, Strava will give you the KOM and the fastest ride of the people you follow and compare your ride to theirs in real time showing you exactly where you are. Strava will count in the number of feet to the start of the segment and then count you out to the end of the segment (so you can kill yourself just like in a spring for the line).
This works on the phone fine, but if you don’t what your phone out on your bars (and really, who does) then the best option is a Garmin Edge 520. With the Edge 520 paired with your smartphone via Bluetooth, all the counting down, counting out, and live segment results will show up right on your Garmin display, making every single training ride a do or die race to the line. And, if you don’t like the results, you can immediately turn around and hit it again.
It really looked like Trek – Segafredo’s Peter Stetina was on his way to his first pro tour win (really?) until stage 3’s last kilometer in the Amgen Tour of California when Etixx-Quickstep’s Julian Alaphilippe (the guy who lost the GC tour in 2015 to Peter Sagan by three seconds) turned on the afterburners and blasted to the line for the win.
“Today was really hard, everyone waiting the last climb for the big fight, so I was a little bit nervous we arrived here [at the final climb]”, said Alaphilippe. “I wanted to wait until the last moment because I don’t know my condition after the break, so I’m really, really happy to win today.”
It’s all on the video. Follow the jump for stage and GC results.
Wonder if Nor Cal’s Evan Huffman is done thinking about how he could have done the Amgen Tour of California stage 2 sprint differently? After staying off the front in a break for the back half of the 92 mile race, it was down to Huffman and Cannondale Pro Cycling’s Ben King. At 200 meters (with the peloton breathing down the necks) Huffman went first and hit it like a mad man. King was able to hang on and blast around Huffman five meters from the line to take the stage.
“I knew Evan was a pretty quick sprinter. He smoked me in both of the King of the Mountain sprints, so I was hesitant to let it come down to a sprint,” said King. “I couldn’t drop him on the climb, so in the end we both fully committed to make the breakaway stick to the finish, and in the end, Evan let out the sprint, and I was able to come around him in the finish.”
For the official word from the Amgen Tour of California, please follow the jump.
We’d like to think a little progress has been made in the last 150 years when it comes to bicycle saddles, but we know there are thousands of the cool kids who would argue with us. We’re guessing Brooks latest rerelease (in celebration of their 150th anniversary) is aimed right at their tattooed, mustachioed bums (yes, we said butt mustache).
The models available are the classic best-seller B17, its touring counterpart the Flyer, the B67 for city bikes, the B33 forheavy duty, and the Swallow for racing, all coming delivered in Special Edition packaging.
The saddles will be available online at www.brooksengland.com or at Brooks dealers around the world. Get ’em while you can because we’re sure they’ll be gone in a minute.
After a day spent rocketing through the rolling hills of San Diego, California’s East County with a seven-man breakaway off the front, the Amgen Tour of California peloton finally had enough and with 25k to go they chomped down on the kids up front. Methodically chewing their way down Mission Valley they finally ended Jelly Belly rider Jacob Rathe’s chances of a stage win inside of 5k to go. Then, in a move that surprised no one, Tinkoff lined it up perfectly for World Champion Peter Sagan to blast off for the line edging Canondale’s Wouter Wippert to take Stage 1 and slip back into the Amgen winner’s jersey.
“I’m very happy to be here again, to catch a first victory here, in the first stage. Thank you to all my teammates. Today was a good day,” said Sagan of his 14th Amgen Tour of California career victory (the race’s all-time record holder for stage wins). “I came here the first time in 2010…it was a very nice race, very good organization, very nice hotels, food… Also, the level of the race is very good, and it’s also very good for preparation because it’s good weather. Now it’s the Giro and Tour of California. And I prefer to come here to train and prepare. And also I like California for the fans, and I’ve won a lot of stages here, and I’m very happy always to return here.”
On Sunday, May 15, 2016 some of the greatest cyclists in the world (who aren’t currently riding the Giro d’ Italia) will be lining up on the shores of San Diego Harbor to kick off the Amgen Tour of California. Among those names are of course Sagan, Wiggins, Cavendish, Degenkolb, Kristoff and Alaphilippe.
“In an Olympic year, it is especially exciting to welcome so many elite competitors and Olympic gold hopefuls to the golden state,” said Kristin Klein, president of the race and executive vice president of AEG Sports. “The Amgen Tour of California is filled with talent this year, and as we kick off a new decade of California racing, fans will be treated to the most exciting edition yet.”
For the official word from the Tour of California (and the complete 2016 race roster), please follow the jump.
On Tuesday May 10, 2016 Strava held their first ever Global Bike to Work Day. Members who signed up recorded 79,879 cycling commute activities in 180 countries that day.
Strava commuters logged a total of 835,094 miles on Global Bike to Work Day, averaging 10.45 miles per ride. . . In total, 71,107 hours were spent commuting on the day, with the average commute time per rider being 53 minutes and 41 seconds.
These rides produced a total carbon offset of 514.51 tons. Just think if everyone rode to work every day? To see what it looked like, click here for an animated bike to work Strava heat map. To see how the countries ranked, follow the jump.
Garmin just added a new “do pretty much everything” GPS watch to their fitness line up that comes in a smaller, lighter, sleeker package than their top of the line fenix 3 (the watch André Greipel wears while winning Giro sprints). The watch is an update of their Forerunner named the 735XT.
“The Forerunner 735XT is the ultimate GPS smartwatch for athletes who want dialed-in data for training and race day,” said Dan Bartel, Garmin vice president of worldwide sales. “It offers comprehensive data for all of their activities, keeps them connected with smart features including notifications and automatic uploads to Garmin Connect, and lets them customize their device to fit their needs with Connect IQ’s free apps, data fields and more.”
But the coolest feature of this watch is a live suffer score right there on your wrist.
The Forerunner 735XT is Connect IQ compatible and is the first device to come with the Strava Live Suffer Score app pre-installed. Suffer Score is based on users’ heart rate and tells them how hard they’ve been working. So whether a weekend warrior or a professional athlete, if their heart is working hard they can rack up a high score.
So there, knock yourself out and then show your friends. For the official word from Garmin, please follow the jump. [click to continue…]
On Sunday, May 15, 2016 some of the greatest cyclists in the world (who aren’t currently riding the Giro d’ Italia) will be lining up on the shores of San Diego Harbor to kick off the Amgen Tour of California. Among those names are of course Sagan, Wiggins, Cavendish, Degenkolb, Kristoff and Alaphilippe.
