VeloNews June 2018

REMEMBERING “GOOLIE” Michael Goolaerts climbs the Kappelmuur during the 2018 Tour of Flanders. De Ronde would be the final race “Goolie” would complete; he died during Paris-Roubaix the following weekend of sudden cardiac death. His passing cast a pall over the classics season. Goolaerts’s teammate, three-time world cyclocross champion Wout Van Aert, who had a tremendous spring classics season, was devastated by the tragic and untimely death of his teammate and friend. “All the results of my spring campaign mean nothing,” Van Aert wrote in a diary post. “I close my classics campaign with a bitter aftertaste.” Canon 1D X; 24-70mm f/2.8 lens; 1/800 sec. at f/2.8; ISO 320 3 Percentage of documented deaths in the history of professional cycling that were caused by sudden cardiac death, according to a 2016 epidemiological study 683,280 Gallons of blood…

IS THE BIKE INDUSTRY’S LATEST, GREATEST GIZMO OR COMPETITION FORMAT SIMPLY A PASSING FAD, OR IS IT PART OF A LARGER REVOLUTION? It’s harder to predict than you might think. Spend more than a decade or so in the bike industry and you will see passing fads that, at the time, seemed like legitimate revolutions. (For example, Spinergy Rev-X wheels, or a national 24-hour mountain bike series.) You will also come across revolutions that, at the time, felt like simple flavors-of-the-month. (e.g., hydration packs, gran fondos, etc.) Back in 2011 I participated in an unorthodox and unsanctioned race in northern Vermont. The 120-mile course was held on open roads and included many sections of punishing dirt climbs, sketchy loose descents, and even a few hike-a-bike sections. I completed the race on my…

The Tour of Flanders is one of the most prestigious events in pro cycling. Winning it puts you in the history books with cycling royalty—among Merckx, Cancellara, and Boonen for the men; Cooke, Arndt, and Vos for the women. Many riders spend their entire careers dreaming of victory at Flanders. Not Anna van der Breggen. Prior to her victory at the 2018 Ronde, Van der Breggen did not worship the cobbled classic the way other riders often do. “I had never picked it as a goal of mine,” she told VeloNews. “But this year I won it and afterwards you do notice like, ‘Wow, this really is a special race to win.’” Van der Breggen attacked with 24 kilometers remaining in the 159-kilometer race, after the peloton had weathered a series of attacks and…

“There is life after [Tom] Boonen after all.” —Quick-Step Floors manager PATRICK LEFEVERE, on his team’s success during the classics season “It did not start with us, and it did not end with us.” —JOHAN BRUYNEEL, former manager of the U.S. Postal Service Team, speaking in his first major interview in years, about the doping practices of the team “You don’t laugh when the wolf pack is coming. It’s a good name. One doesn’t want to be known as the ‘White Ponies,’ do you?” —Quick-Step Floors sport director BRIAN HOLM, on his team’s adoption of the “Wolf Pack” moniker 1 “You win the race in the race, and not after the race in the interviews.” —ILJO KEISSE (Quick-Step Floors), responding to Greg Van Avermaet, who claimed he was stronger this season than in 2017 2 “This is my…

QUICK-STEP FLOORS 26 Race wins in 2018 (through La Flèche Wallonne), with 11 different riders 767 Total race wins in team history (since 1999), 271 of which have come at the WorldTour level 120 Total wins by the team’s most successful rider, the now-retired Tom Boonen. The entire current roster has a total of 110 Quick-Step victories, including Fernando Gaviria’s 27 wins, the most by one rider 62 National and world championship titles (across road, TT, TTT, and cyclocross) the team has garnered since 2003. In 2012, the squad boasted four road race national champions, five time trial national champions, the world individual time trial champion, and were team time trial world champions TIM DE WAELE/GETTY IMAGES (2); BRYN LENNON/GETTY IMAGES; LUC CLAESSEN/GETTY IMAGES…

ROAD LE TOUR DE FRANCE Is there any other race that better embodies the road cycling world? Sunshine, smooth legs, and the French summer. But wait! Le Tour will reportedly include a section of gravel during this year's 10the stage. Très bon! SCHAAL SELS The future of road racing? We hope so. More gravel, grass, and dirt, please. AERO BARS These should squarely reside on the road (i.e., in time trials and triathlons), and not in group racing. Oh well, gravel guy gotta go faster. GRAVEL 3 PEAKS Some 'cross-style shouldering; some gravel-style mashing; some road-style crushing: blended together for more than 50 years. DK 200 Run on 99 percent unpaved roads, it's known as the grandaddy of gravel races for good reason. But the roadies are coming! And with it fast, tactical racing. FANNY PACKS Wear one at your next crit and…