VeloNews August 2018

RALLY THE TROOPS The men’s field enters the final corner of the U.S. Pro Criterium National Championship course in Knoxville, Tennessee. Ty Magner capped a dominant performance by Rally Cycling, winning the bunch kick ahead of teammate Eric Young in a one-two finish for the Pro Continental team. Nikon D4; 24-120mm f/4.0 lens; 1/500 at f/4.0; ISO 3200 1988 Year in which legendary mountain biker John Tomac won the U.S. criterium national championship 6 Total medals for the men’s and women’s Rally Cycling squad at U.S. Pro weekend, across road races and criteriums…

POP QUIZ: When was the last time an American mountain biker won the cross-country world championships—and who was that rider? If you answered Alison Dunlap in 2001, you’re right! Pop quiz: Who was the last American man to win a round of the cross-country World Cup—and what year did that happen? That question is a little harder to answer. It was Tinker Juarez in 1994. That’s right, no American man has won a round of mountain biking’s premier series since the second year of Bill Clinton’s presidential administration. Final question: How many Americans have won cross-country mountain biking’s Olympic title? Easy answer: Zero It’s an often-repeated maxim, and one that still holds true. Americans are good—but not great—at the only cycling discipline that we invented. Mountain biking was born on the trails of Marin County and…

In late June, Daniel Martínez was nervously waiting at his parent’s house for the phone to ring. The 22-year-old Colombian was all but sure to be named to Education First EF-Drapac’s Tour de France team. It wasn’t official until the call. “It’s a dream to race with riders like Nairo [Quintana] and Rigo [Urán],” Martínez said. “I grew up watching their exploits on TV. They are why I wanted to be a bike racer.” Along with 21-year-old compatriot Egan Bernal and 20-year-old Ivan Sosa, Martínez is part of a new wave of Colombian talent already making an impact in the international peloton. Other riders in Colombia’s latest surge include Fernando Gaviria (Quick-Step) and Miguel Ángel López (Astana), each a few years older at 23 and 24, respectively. They’re young, brash, and highly…

Perhaps no man has had a greater impact on cross-country mountain bike racing than Thomas Frischknecht. The man known simply as “Frischi” raced for nearly two decades at the World Cup level, earning silver at the inaugural world championships in 1990, before winning gold six years later. Now 48, Frischknecht helped transform his home country of Switzerland into mountain biking’s strongest nation by spearheading a national racing series, and personally developing its brightest athletes. What can American mountain bike racing learn from Frischi? VeloNews caught up with him to find out. What’s your assessment of the overall strength of World Cup cross-country racing? I would say the level is probably the highest ever, in terms of how many guys are now going for the win. It’s been Nino [Schurter] against [Jaroslav] Kulhavy and…

“If the racers accept a cheat on the race then that’s their problem!”— BERNARD HINAULT, calling on riders at this year's Tour de France to strike in protest of the presence of Chris Froome, days before Froome was cleared to race 1“I imagine with age sometimes your wires get a little bit crossed.”— CHRIS FROOME (Team Sky), in repsonse to Bernard Hinault's comments to his case 2“If anti-doping is supposed to level the playing field, this shows us the system is unequal.”— Sports scientist Ross Tucker, a vocal expert within the anti-doping community, on the dismissal of the Froome case“Devastated is an understatement.”— CALEB EWAN, via Twitter, on his snub from the Mitchelton-Scott Tour de France squad 3“The feeling doesn’t change.”— CORYN RIVERA (Team Sunweb), after winning her 72nd national…

1 World Cup cross-country overall series titles for American men. (John Tomac, 1991) 7 Total medals in the World Cup cross-country overall series by American men 6 World Cup cross-country overall series titles for American women: Sara Ballantyne (1991); Ruthie Matthes (1992); Juli Furtado (1993-1995); Alison Dunlap (2002) 13 Total medals in the World Cup cross-country overall series by American women 24 Years since an American man has taken a World Cup overall medal 3 Years since an American woman has taken a World Cup overall medal TIM DE WAELE/GETTY IMAGES (2); TOM MORAN…