Hive Weekly Cycling News - 6 April 2023

You know things are getting serious when there is an official logo, I hope you like it and I hope I can get a few weeks of news together. Thanks for everyone’s comments and suggestions from last weeks post and hopefully with that in mind I can make the news better and more relevant for everyone.

As I said last week, feel free to comment and make any suggestions as to what you would like to see more of in the Hive Weekly Cycling News.

There is actually a lot of big news that has happened over the past week and it has been tough to decide which points to include and which to leave out. Hopefully I have given all the important points the time they deserve including both the mens and women's winners of the Tour of Flanders, some important team news from Zaaf Cycling team and Jumbo Vismo. Don’t forget, this weekend is the Paris-Roubaix, so it will be interesting to see if the results from the womens and mens Tour Of Flanders are a prediction of results in the Paris-Roubaix.

High Drama For The Tour Of Flanders Sees Tadej Pogačar Victorious

Slovenian rider Tadej Pogačar of UAE-Team Emirates won the Tour Of Flanders over the weekend, with a thrilling win in only the second time he has raced the event. There was a lot of drama early on in the race with Pogačar dropped by the peloton, after a number of crashes. This was only a temporary set back as he made his way back to the main group leading a number of attacks in the final two hours which saw him to eventually win by 16 seconds ahead of Mathieu van der Poel of Alpecin-Deceuninck taking second and Mads Pedersen of Trek-Segafredo who came third.

[Image Courtesy Of Getty Images]

Lotte Kopecky Successfully Defends Her Tour Of Flanders 2023 Title.

Lotte Kopecky was back for a second successive year to defend her 2022 Tour Of Flanders title. Even with the added pressure of being the top seed, she powered to victory for another SD Worx team win for 2023. In the final 50km of the race Kopecky made a break with Silvia Persico of UAE-Team ADQ and was able to finally break clear of Persico in the final ascent of the day.

The chase group was being controlled by two SD Worx riders, which allowed Kopecky to build a decent lead, crossing the line 36 seconds clear of the second group and notching up another win for the SD Worx team for 2023.

[Image Courtesy Of Getty Images]

Zaaf Cycling Team Has Failed To Pay Riders For Three Months

Cycling Weekly has reported that the Women’s Continental Team Zaaf who only joined UCI cycling this year, have had a number of riders and staff at the Spanish registered team report that they have not been paid any salary or expenses for the past three months.

The UCI has stepped in to try and resolve situation at the Spanish squad and have reported the following:
“The UCI is in the process of clarifying the situation with the riders, the team and the national federation responsible for the team registration and shall ensure that the applicable rules and procedures are complied with.”

The team is scheduled to race in the coming weeks and there have been discussions among the team of refusing to start as a form of protest due to the lack of payment. The team includes a number of high profile riders including Frances Audrey Cordon-Ragot, Czech rider Nikola Nosková and Australias Danielle de Francesco. Hopefully for everyone involved, the matter will be resolved as quickly as possible.

Demi Vollering Wins Dwars door Vlaanderen

The Women’s SD Worx team has again shown its depth during the 2023 Dwars door Vlaanderen with a dominant display for the team to allow Demi Vollering a strong win on race day.

The race in Belgium held midweek(29th March) is seen as a warm up to the Tour of Flanders held over the following weekend. Two riders broke away early on in the race and it seemed that Marlon Reusser of SD Worx and Marianne Vos of Jumbo-Visma, might actually hold on until the end of the race. But this was not to be. The main group caught the break away with only 16km to go. A number of attacks followed with all being reeled back in by the main group.

With only 10km remaining in the race Vollering made her move and was also joined by Vos from the earlier break away, but Vos was not able to hold on, probably due to being tired after her original break away. Vollering’s break was not able to be answered by the rest of the field, seeing her hold on to the victory with Chiara Consonni of UAE Team ADQ coming in second and Marianne Vos finishing third.

[Image Courtesy Of Getty Images]

Open Cycles Recalls All Its Campagnolo Ekar-equipped Bikes And Framesets
Bike company, Open Cycles has sent out a full product recall for all its Campagnolo Ekar-equipped gravel and road bikes. The recall states the hydraulic rear brake could fail, posing a potential crash hazard and are asking that people “Don’t use the bike”.

Open Cycles has found that the Campagnolo hydraulic disc brake hoses that is used in the Ekar groupset are susceptible to damage by the cable guide used as part of the road bike construction. If the hose is damaged, it may not work properly and either limit rear breaking or stop the breaks working entirely. The recall states that even if there is no visible damage to the hose, to contact their local Open dealer to schedule a free repair.

Consumers are warned not to try to repair the issue themselves and full details of the recall can be found on the Open Cycles web page at the following link: https://opencycle.com/recalls/campagnolohydraulicbrake

Grocery Brand Jumbo May Be Leaving Pro Cycling

Dutch grocery branch and title sponsor of the Lotto-Jumbo and Jumbo-Visma may be looking to make a change in the way they use their sponsorship budget, which could result in them leave pro cycling for good.

The brand is best know for both men’s and women’s team Jumbo-Visma, who include some top names such as Marianne Vos in the women’s team and Wout van Aert in the mens. Jumbo is contracted to still remain as a title sponsor for 2024, but it is reported the contract costs Jumbo 27 million Euro each year, which has since increased from 10 million Euro in 2019.

The news came to light when it was reported by Dutch news outlet AD that Jumbo were looking at all of their sports sponsorships and reconsidering if they will remain, including cycling. Even though there is nothing confirmed, the news will make some of the teams and riders a little uneasy.

A spokes person for Jumbo has released the following statement advising, “We are also looking at whether our sponsorship policy still matches our vision and ambitions and the needs of our customers. Our current sponsorship agreement with Team Jumbo-Visma runs until the end of 2024. As soon as there is something to report, Jumbo will do so.”

Weekly Cycling News Is Brought To You By:

The Vespa OFM Podcast
This week Vespa OFM Podcast is interviewing Vespa / OFM Ambassador Bree Lambert Sanders, who is a nutritionist and coach in the San Jose area. Bree who, at 54 years young, still competes at the elite level including winding up with an overall win or a place on the podium.

About The Author
I am a DevOps Engineer, Endurance Athlete, Biomechanics Student and Author. We can all achieve amazing things, it's just a matter of trying, I want to change the world, one run at a time.