PARIS (AFP) — Peter Sagan was chosen Tuesday as the man to lead the Cannondale team at this year’s Tour de France as he seeks
to retain the green points jersey he won in last year’s edition of the race. American Ted King will make his debut Tour start in support of the Slovakian champion.

The Italian outfit will build its team around Sagan, 23, who won three stages in his Tour debut a year ago en route to the green jersey.

“This team is the ideal one to target our goals at the Tour,” said the team’s sporting director Stefano Zanatta. “A talented rider such as Sagan deserves to be supported in the best way. He prepared for this event with great commitment and accuracy. His wish to win the green jersey is our wish.”

Italian youngster Moreno Moser, 22, who’s making his first appearance in the Grand Boucle, along with Tour rookie teammates Alessandro De Marchi, Alan Marangoni, and King, is likely to get a shot at a stage win in the mountains.

Cannondale for the 2013 Tour de France
Maciej Bodnar (POL)
Alessandro De Marchi (ITA)
Kristijan Koren (SLO)
Alan Marangoni (ITA)
Moreno Moser (ITA)
Fabio Sabatini (ITA)
Peter Sagan (SVK)
Ted King (USA)
Brian Vandborg (DEN)
jm/jr/mw/pi

NICE, France (VN) — Chris Froome, one year on from helping Bradley Wiggins take Great Britain’s first Tour de France victory, heads the Sky squad in France. Over the next month, he will have a clear and out-right leadership role without the defending champion at his side.

“Unfortunately, we lose out on another big engine for the team time trial and also someone who can be there in the mountains, and also, he would’ve been a great support for me,” Froome said in a press conference on Tuesday.

“But the one thing that I don’t think either of us would miss is, from the media perspective, all the questions that are being asked about the leadership of the team. Obviously that’s a lot more clear-cut now.”

Wiggins dominated last year’s race. The Brit took massive gains in the two time trials and added to it in the mountains. Standing on the podium on the Champs-Élysées, he had just over three minutes on Froome and some six minutes on Italian Vincenzo Nibali (Astana).

After a dominant year, including the gold medal in the Olympic time trial, Wiggins changed tracks and headed for the 2013 Giro d’Italia. Instead of winning, he has struggled. A chest infection saw him abandon the Italian race midway in and a knee problem is keeping him from starting the Tour de France.

With Wiggins set to roll into Italy, Sky management had already given Froome the green light to lead the team.

Froome has won all but one stage race, Tirreno-Adriatico, that he participated in this year. He starts the Tour with victories in the Tour of Oman, Critérium International, Tour de Romandie, and Critérium du Dauphiné.

He also has Sky’s faith. During the Giro, the British super team silenced questions over leadership by naming Froome as captain. Wiggins would continue to try for the Giro win and go on to help Froome in the Tour, according to the plan at the time.

Wiggins preferred not to even discuss the matter. He said, “My mind’s just here at the Giro.”

The British duo appeared at odds at times during last year’s Tour. Froome briefly rode away from his captain on the La Toussuire climb and appeared to be waiting for him again on the Peyragudes stage in the Pyrénées. With Wiggins at home, Froome’s leadership is clear.

Porte Plan B

Australian Richie Porte will likely be Froome’s main mountain helper as he was in races like the Critérium du Dauphiné. The two get along well and train together anytime they are both at their base in Monaco.

“He’s my best friend in the peloton,” Froome said. “We both have similar backgrounds, in the way that we enjoy outdoor lifestyles, him in Tasmania and me back in Kenya and South Africa.”

He explained that he might even help Porte win the Tour in the coming years, or this year.

“Definitely, I think we can bounce off each other a lot. He knows that he’s definitely has my support if he’s there to target a race and the other way around also, as is the case this year,” Froome said. “Richie’s definitely capable of winning the Tour [this year]; he’s our likely plan B.”

Even with the team yet announced, the 28-year-old should have Porte and other top domestiques backing him for an eventual overall win. With their support and Wiggins at home, Froome has his golden opportunity to claim a Tour title.

Joaquim Rodríguez says he is not taking anything off the table when it comes to talking possibilities in this year’s Tour de France.

Speaking to the Spanish sports daily AS, Katusha’s “Purito” said he’s not discounting his own chances to win, but tipped Chris Froome (Sky) and Alberto Contador (Saxo-Tinkoff) as the pre-race favorites.

“My intention is to do the best possible result in GC and win a stage. I want to leave having the peace of mind knowing it was the result I deserved, be it eighth or first,” he told AS. “Last year, I was second in the Giro, and third in the Vuelta, and I could have won both. I am more mature. I know it’s complicated, but if I am going to discount my chances to win, it will be on the road, not at the start.”

For a rider as prolific as Rodríguez, it’s somewhat surprising he’s only raced one Tour. That was in 2010, when he won a stage and finished seventh overall.

Since 2008, Rodríguez has finished in the top 7 of the past seven of eight grand tours he’s started, a run that included two Vuelta podiums and last year’s 16-second loss to Ryder Hesjedal in the Giro.

Bolstered by his results last year and this year’s hilly course, Rodríguez skipped the Giro to put everything into the Tour.

Rodríguez is especially hopeful by two shorter, technically challenging time trials that will bolster his chances. The Critérium du Dauphiné proved a disaster for Rodríguez, who lost three minutes to Froome on a flat, power course.

So much so, that he’s ditched a new, wind-tunnel tested time trial position to return to his older, at least more familiar position ahead of the Tour.

“I was terrible. There is no excuse. It was back to the terrible Purito in the time trials,” said Rodríguez, referring to the Dauphiné. “My only consolation is that it won’t be so flat in the Tour. … I couldn’t adapt to the new position. My body was too far forward. For the Tour, I will return to my old position with a few tweaks.”

Beyond the TTs, which have always been a hurdle for him, Rodríguez likes what he sees in this year’s Tour.

“Hard, very hard. Maybe the Pyrénées are not so much this year, but the last week in the Alps is spectacular. The opening days are dangerous. Something will happen before we get to the Alps, but it’s there the winner will be decided,” he said. “For me to win? Everything goes perfect for me, and that the others have some troubles.”

STILLWATER, Minn. (VN) — As the sun set on the Nature Valley Grand Prix Sunday and the professional peloton got ready for races like Cascade, the USA Pro Challenge, and the Giro Rosa, some of the participants woke up early Monday morning and headed to work.

One such working stiff is Eric Marcotte (Elbowz Racing-Boneshaker Project). Marcotte won the Best Amateur jersey and placed third in the general classification at Nature Valley. During the week, the 33-year-old is a full-time chiropractor in Scottsdale, Arizona.

“I’ve got patients in the afternoon starting at noon or 1,” said Marcotte as he enthusiastically described his job and clientele. “I fly out a little later [Sunday night]. I’ll sleep in, recover, and see them tomorrow. You know what? They probably had an awesome week or two since I’ve seen them. I’ll get to hear really cool stories, like this, and try to keep them on track so they can keep doing it.”

At 42, Scott Giles (Nature Valley Pro Chase) was one of the oldest riders to compete in this year’s race. Giles is a 20-year Navy veteran and spent most of his career as an S-3 Viking jet pilot landing planes on aircraft carriers. The skills he learned in the military have helped him excel as a cyclist at a relatively late stage of his athletic career.

“The dynamic and fast-paced environment of flying around aircraft carriers translates very well to the relative motion, and sometimes the combative nature, that goes on in the peloton out there,” Giles said. “It’s very dynamic, very intense, you need to be very focused, you need to have your wits about you, and have good situational awareness. That’s a skill.”

Last Tuesday, math teacher Lauren Stephens (Tibco-To The Top) flew into Minneapolis from Dallas immediately after her last day of teaching for the year. Stephens only recently joined Tibco after big results at the Redlands Bicycle Classic and Joe Martin Stage Race. She won the Nature Valley Grand Prix Menomonie Road Race on Saturday, and will be going to the Giro Rosa with Team Tibco at the end of June.

Stephens benefits from the coaching and support that her husband, Mat Stephens of Speedy Ace Training, provides throughout the year. Her ability to multitask, combined with strong family support, has helped her break into one of the best cycling programs for women in the U.S.

“I manage my time very well. I ride my bike to work in the mornings, so I get some workouts done on the way to work, and then the rest of my training is done in the evenings,” Stephens said. “It’s a family affair.”

Even for the most talented working athletes, there are a multitude of sacrifices required to climb the ranks of the peloton. Giles wasn’t able to focus on riding until he took a desk job, and Mat and Lauren Stephens, who use up their vacation time for training camps, and have put off having a family to pursue their passion.

Even Marcotte, who makes racing against the pro peloton look effortless, needs to drag himself out of bed at 4 a.m. each morning to avoid training in the 110-degree Arizona heat.

“This is not something I think is completely sustainable socially,” Marcotte said. “You are training 20 plus hours a week, you are trying to run a business 30-40 hours, so there is not much downtime. You have to be really on point.”

In the current sponsorship environment, the working cyclist might be the new paradigm for the professional peloton.

We’ve had a number of questions recently over road tubeless wheelsets. We’ll address a few of those here today, and look at why wheel manufacturers aren’t using ceramic coating to solve the heat problem on carbon hoops.

Tubeless for touring

Dear Lennard,
I have been riding road tubeless tires for a couple of years now and am completely sold on them. The ride is great and flats are practically nonexistent.

My question is, now that Hutchinson has introduced the Sector 28 tire, do you think they would be safe and reliable on a touring bike? I ride several self-contained tours a year and currently run 28mm tires mounted on Campy Record 8-speed, 36-spoke hubs laced to Mavic rims and have never had any problems with this setup. Secondly, would it be safe to convert these wheels to tubeless, using one of the conversion kits currently available, or would the Campy 2-Way Fit Eurus or Shamal rim be a better solution?
—Ronnie

Dear Ronnie,
Yes, I think it would be a safe and reliable touring tire. It seems to be quite tough, and it of course eliminates most flats, which is certainly a safety issue, especially in loaded touring.

I am a believer in tubeless-specific rims for road tubeless tires, so my recommendation would be something like the Campagnolo 2-Way Fit wheels you mention. A tubeless-specific rim has the “hump” on the inboard edge of the bead ledge that Hutchinson designed the tires for. It is designed to seal against the extra rubber flap extending inboard from the bead as well as to lock the bead on. I’ve ridden a couple of kilometers of downhill switchbacks on a flat tubeless Hutchinson Fusion 2 in order to see if it held it on the rim (a Dura-Ace Scandium tubeless rim), which it did for almost two kilometers. That’s plenty of time to bring your bike to a standstill, in the case of a sidewall cut and sudden deflation, even if it’s loaded up with packs. And it is of course much safer than having the tire come off of the rim.

Tubeless conversions definitely work, and I’ve used Stan’s NoTubes a lot for cyclocross with no problems, but for the higher pressures and speeds on the road, I like that bead-lock hump.
—Lennard

High thread count in wide tubeless road tires

Dear Lennard,
Watching Caley Fretz comment from the Giro about tire width choices the pro field has started to make in the last year, switching from 23mm to 25mm or wider tires for normal road stages, prompts me to ask these questions: does anyone at present make a high thread-count 25mm tubeless clincher tire? Does riding a lower thread count and heavier tire that is 25mm wide produce a better ride quality than a narrower higher thread count tire?

After riding Stan’s modified wheels and dedicated tubeless off-road wheels for 10 years, I decided to try tubeless for the road. Last year I built a set of Hed Bastogne-rimmed wheels primarily because of their wide rim bed (25mm I believe). Tire selection came down to Hutchinson 700×23 for the first set, and now I am riding Maxxis Padrone tires 700×23.

I am not a racer, but a commuter and a weekend Fred who is looking to match the kind of resiliency and feel of the Vittorias whose tubes he up until recently patched and whose casings he all too frequently would sew together.
—Kevin

Dear Kevin,
I have been riding 25mm tubeless Hutchinson Intensives on my bike for some time now, and I’m quite happy with them. 127tpi is definitely not the 300tpi you’re used to in a handmade tubular, but that’s a fairly high tread count for a vulcanized tire in the first place, and, being tubeless, it is more supple than a tire and tube of similar thread count. I know of no tubeless tires in 25mm with higher thread counts than 127tpi.
―Lennard

New tubeless ready designation

Dear Lennard,
Can you explain this new “new tubeless ready” mountain bike tire designation that’s popped up recently? My buddy Bob has a UST wheelset. In the interest of saving weight, he tried some standard tires, but they would not seat. However, he got the same Maxxis Ikon tire in their tubeless ready (TR) version and it seated just fine. I kind of thought tubeless ready was just a standard tire with a coating inside, but it seems it’s something more.

I’m curious because I’m finally thinking of converting my DT wheelset to tubeless. UST never interested me because of the weight, but another riding buddy has been running a Stan’s conversion on his DT wheelset, with standard tires, and it’s been working great. Would a TR tire work better for this, or does the latex make this unnecessary?
—Steve

Dear Steve,
To get the UST designation, according to the licensing agreement, the tire must not leak — without sealant. I have been in tire factories in Asia in which workers tested 100 percent of the production of UST tires by inflating them on rims and submerging them in a huge water tank to check them for leaks. Consequently, UST tires have a thick layer of rubber coating the entire inside, as well as the rubber flap on the inboard edge of the tire bead to seal on the “hump” on the inboard edge of the bead shelf of a UST rim. This makes them heavier (generally as heavy as a standard tire and tube), and it also stiffens and toughens the sidewalls, which for many riders is an advantage over running a standard tire or a Tubeless Ready (TR) tire with sealant and no tube.

A TR tire is meant to be run tubeless, but it doesn’t have the no-leak requirement. Generally, it will leak without sealant. However, it does have extra rubber at the bead to seal along the rim shelf, as well as more rubber coating the inside than a standard tire, and, consequently, it will seal better than a standard tire set up tubeless with sealant. I believe that TR tires may also be held to a tighter tolerance on bead diameter than most tires, so the tire will tend to fit tighter as well.

Sealant obviously will not tend to seal the edges of the bead, since it is thrown to the outside of the tire as it spins, or to the bottom when it is standing still. There is no force during normal usage that would move sealant to the bead. And if there are too many leaks through the casing, it is hard for sealant on initial inflation to get everywhere. If you cannot get it to inflate, then you cannot slowly work the sealant around to wherever it is bleeding out of the tire.

The Stan’s system does allow you to build up the height of the rim bed with layers of tape, and even a rubber strip with integrated valve stem if the bead doesn’t fit tightly enough. So this makes it possible to seat a standard tire that otherwise might not seal on the rim due to a loose bead fit.
―Lennard

Ceramics for carbon wheels

Dear Lennard,
I’m only curious because you’ve mentioned in a few articles that achieving good braking on carbon rims (especially clinchers) has been something of an engineering problem; whatever happened to ceramic-coated rims? I remember while racing cyclocross in the early 2000s in the Pacific Northwest, lots of riders rode Mavic CD rims, and at some point I built up a pair of Mavic T517 CD touring rims (quite burly), and they worked quite well in the rain.

So my question is: is it possible to coat carbon rims with ceramic (or similar) coatings? Would this help with both heat and braking?
—Mark

Dear Mark,
Here’s your answer, from wheel designer Paul Lew of Reynolds:

Yes, I’ve tried this. There are two problems:
1. The adhesion between the carbon-epoxy and the ceramic is poor, and the ceramic tends to crack and “chunk out,” so this would be a warranty nightmare for the manufacturer.
2. The ceramic (an insulator) tends to make the heat problem worse. The concept that ceramic is an insulator is not lost on the solution. A thick coating of ceramic sufficient to insulate the carbon from the heat-effect of braking adds an unacceptable amount of mass, as the specific gravity of ceramic is high.
Paul Lew
Director of Technology and Innovation Reynolds Cycling, LLC
Technology Founder Reynolds Cycling, LLC

Tubes with removable valve cores

Dear Lennard,
Having just read your article dated 6th June 2013, I noticed you mention that QBP’s tubes have removable valve cores but not many others.

Both Continental and Schwalbe inner tubes have removable valve cores, two massive brands that are readily available at normal price.
—Daniel

Thanks, Daniel.
—Lennard

Feedback on Zinn and the Art

Dear Lennard,
I have your road bike book, and it’s my constant companion when I’m working on my bikes. This spring, I bought a ’cross bike with disc brakes. I don’t need your mountain bike book for but a few parts of it. Has it ever occurred to you and VeloPress to release a ’cross supplement to the road book with just bits of the mountain bike book to cover disc brakes, U brakes, and other things roadies only see for ’cross and gravel bikes? It’d be super helpful, and you’d sell a lot of copies.
—JL

Dear JL,
We have not done a standalone supplement like that. However, I recently completed the 4th edition of Zinn and the Art of Road Bike Maintenance, and that has extensive cyclocross sections that include cantilevers and disc brakes, both hydraulic and cable-actuated. These of course would be applicable to gravel-road racing as well as cyclocross.
―Lennard

Editor’s Note: This video is courtesy of Global Cycling Network. The opinions expressed in this video do not necessarily represent the opinions of VeloNews.com, Velo magazine or the editors and staff of Competitor Group, Inc.

Omega Pharma-Quick Step confirmed its Tour de France roster on Monday and will send a team built around Mark Cavendish’s assault on the green points jersey. World time trial champion Tony Martin, outside overall contender Michal Kwiatkowski, and protagonist Sylvain Chavanel will anchor the Belgian squad’s nine-man roster, which does not feature former world champion Tom Boonen.

“We have a strong team at the Tour de France,” sport and development manager Rolf Aldag said in a team release. “Together with the sport directors, we talked this morning with all the guys and they are really committed to the team goals. The team will be built mainly around Mark Cavendish. Cav is there to try and win stages, and of course one of the big goals of Mark is to go for the yellow jersey on the first day. This is something he missed for the moment — he has worn yellow before, but never after the first stage of the Tour.”

The final pieces of Cavendish’s once-tenuous leadout, which supported him to five stage wins and the points jersey in May’s Giro d’Italia, will be back for the Tour.

“They are already tested in race situations and will be ready again,” said Aldag. “Steegmans will be the last man, and Matteo Trentin will be the second to last man. But, all the team will be committed with Mark when the stage will fit his characteristics. Tony Martin will be there to ride to the ‘Flamme Rouge’ on the flat stages. He will bring Matteo, Gert, and Cav into the best position possible in the final kilometer.”

For his part, Martin will target the race’s first time trial, on July 10. The 33km eleventh stage from Avranches to Mont Saint-Michel features a hilly opening 15km with the second half trending downhill.

“Tony will also be there to get his chances at the time trials,” Aldag said. “The first ITT will be a little more appropriate for his skills. The second will be difficult, but for sure he will still try his best. He will also be an important piece to our [stage 4] TTT as he is the world champion of this discipline, so we will rely on his strength to lead us during this stage.”

Kwiatkowski’s young star shone brightly in the Ardennes classics, where he registered top-five results at the Amstel Gold Race and La Flèche Wallonne.

“Kwiatkowski is the youngest guy of the team,” Aldag said. “We decided to bring him because it’s time to get this kind of experience, to try and wear the white jersey even for a limited time. It will be a kind of dream for him and of course a great achievement for the team. We will try to make it real, but without stress or pressure. He has to learn a lot and Le Tour will be another important step of his learning process.

Omega Pharma-Quick Step
Mark Cavendish (GBR)
Sylvain Chavanel (FRA)
Michal Kwiatkowski (POL)
Tony Martin (GER)
Jerome Pineau (FRA)
Gert Steegmans (BEL)
Niki Terpstra (NED)
Matteo Trentin (ITA)
Peter Velits (SVK)

• 1. Diego MILAN JIMENEZ, in 2:35:29
• 2. Luis ROMERO AMARAN, Jamis-Hagens Berman, at :00
• 3. Lucas EUSER, UnitedHealthcare, at :00
• 4. Michael WOODS, Garneau-Quebecor, at :00
• 5. Jason MCCARTNEY, Bissell, at :00
• 6. Philip DEIGNAN, UnitedHealthcare, at :00
• 7. Christian MEIER, Cannondale, at :00
• 8. Nathan BROWN, Bontrager, at :00
• 9. Kirk CARLSEN, at :00
• 10. Joseph LEWIS, Hincapie Sportswear Development, at 1:26
• 11. Tyler MAGNER, Hincapie Sportswear Development, at 1:26
• 12. Joey ROSSKOPF, Hincapie Sportswear Development, at 1:26
• 13. Ryan EASTMAN, Bontrager, at 1:26
• 14. Benjamin DAY, UnitedHealthcare, at 1:26
• 15. Jonathan CLARKE, UnitedHealthcare, at 1:26
• 16. Jasper STUYVEN, Bontrager, at 1:26
• 17. Francisco MANCEBO PEREZ, 5HR, at 1:26
• 18. Oscar CLARK, Hincapie Sportswear Development, at 1:26
• 19. Chris BUTLER, Champion System, at 1:26
• 20. Ignacio SARABIA DIAZ, at 1:26
• 21. Matt COOKE, at 1:26
• 22. Jaroslaw DABROWSKI, Amore & Vita, at 1:26
• 23. Christopher BALDWIN, Bissell, at 1:26
• 24. Philip LAVERY, at 1:26
• 25. Ben JACQUES-MAYNES, Jamis-Hagens Berman, at 1:26
• 26. Davide FRATTINI, UnitedHealthcare, at 1:26
• 27. Nic HAMLTON, Cannondale, at 1:26
• 28. Javier MEGIAS LEAL, Novo Nordisk, at 1:35
• 29. Marc DE MAAR, UnitedHealthcare, at 1:35
• 30. Julian KYER, Bissell, at 1:35
• 31. Bruno LANGLOIS, Garneau-Quebecor, at 1:35
• 32. Craig LEWIS, Champion System, at 1:35
• 33. Marsh COOPER, Cannondale, at 1:39
• 34. James DRISCOLL, Jamis-Hagens Berman, at 1:42
• 35. Jonathan Patrick MCCARTY, Bissell, at 1:44
• 36. David LOZANO RIBA, Novo Nordisk, at 2:49
• 37. Nathaniel ENGLISH, 5HR, at 4:22
• 38. Robin CARPENTER, Hincapie Sportswear Development, at 4:22
• 39. Fabio CALABRIA, Novo Nordisk, at 4:22
• 40. Matthias FRIEDEMANN, Champion System, at 4:22
• 41. Coulton HARTRICH, at 4:22
• 42. Gregor GAZVODA, Champion System, at 4:22
• 43. Pierrick NAUD, Garneau-Quebecor, at 4:22
• 44. Garrett MCLEOD, at 4:22
• 45. Rob BRITTON, Cannondale, at 4:22
• 46. Tyler WREN, Jamis-Hagens Berman, at 4:22
• 47. Jean-Michel LACHANCE, at 5:37
• 48. Chad BEYER, Champion System, at 5:39
• 49. Viesturs LUKSEVICS, Amore & Vita, at 5:39
• 50. Conor MULLERVY, at 5:39
• 51. Max JENKINS, 5HR, at 12:48
• 52. James STEMPER, 5HR, at 12:48
• 53. James PICCOLI, at 13:29
• DNF Guillaume BOIVIN, Cannondale
• DNF Dominique ROLLIN, Cannondale
• DNF Ryan ROTH, Champion System
• DNF Clinton Robert AVERY, Champion System
• DNF Andrea PERON, Novo Nordisk
• DNF Kiel REIJNEN, UnitedHealthcare
• DNF Shawn MILNE, 5HR
• DNF Christian PARRETT, 5HR
• DNF Jeremy VENNELL, Bissell
• DNF David BOILY, Amore & Vita
• DNF Daniel HOLLOWAY, Amore & Vita
• DNF Volodymyr STARCHYK, Amore & Vita
• DNF Anton MIKAILOV, Amore & Vita
• DNF Antoine DUCHESNE, Bontrager
• DNF Mike MIDLARSKY, Cycliste Ekoi-Devinci
• DNF Juan Miguel PEREZ GARCIA, Cycliste Ekoi-Devinci
• DNF François CHABOT, Cycliste Ekoi-Devinci
• DNF Rémi PELLETIER-ROY, Garneau-Quebecor
• DNF Adam Matthew FARABAUGH, Garneau-Quebecor
• DNF Alexander CATAFORD, Garneau-Quebecor
• DNF Benjamin ZAWACKI, Hincapie Sportswear Development
• DNF Carson MILLER, Jamis-Hagens Berman
• DNF Federico MARCHIORI
• DNF Kyle BUCKOSKY
• DNF Cortlan BROWN
• DNF Max KORUS
• DNF Chris GRUBER
• DNF Daniel CHABANOV
• DNF Jorge PEREZ
• DNF Etienne SAMSON
• DNF Guillaume FISET
• DNF William BLACKBURN
• DNF Robert RALPH
• DNF Olivier DELANEY

Rui Costa’s second consecutive victory at the Tour de Suisse confirms what everyone within the Movistar organization already knows.

The 26-year-old Portuguese rider is nowhere close to reaching his potential, and Movistar brass is poised to give him more freedom in this year’s Tour de France.

“Now it’s time to think about the Tour. My only goal for the moment is getting through the first week, always so dangerous — we’ll see how we do when it’s over,” Costa said Sunday. “We’ll be one of the strongest teams in the race and we’re really excited.”

Officially, the Spanish-backed team is lining up behind Alejandro Valverde and his all-out push for the Tour podium. The 33-year-old “green bullet” believes this will be his best shot — and perhaps his last one — at reaching the Tour podium.

On paper, however, Costa’s impressive win at the nine-day Swiss tour proves the team is much deeper. While most teams rally around one or perhaps two GC options for the Tour, Movistar will bring a three-pronged attack that could prove the most explosive in the race.

Riding alongside Valverde as super-domestiques will be Costa and Nairo Quintana, winner of the Tour of the Basque Country. Though Valverde is ostensibly the captain, all three have potential to turn the race upside down.

Both Costa and Quintana say they are dedicated to helping Valverde, but each will bring strong personal ambitions that could prove complicated to control for pre-race favorites Team Sky.

Movistar could well be the Tour’s dark horse, with three riders capable of going on the attack in the mountains. The opening days in particular favor Movistar’s frenetic racing style. Hilly, classics-style courses on Corsica and the stage-4 team time trial back on the French mainland, in Nice, could well see a Movistar rider in the yellow jersey.

Movistar has improved dramatically in team time trials, proven by their win to open last year’s Vuelta a España and its second place in the Giro’s TTT in May, just nine seconds behind favored Sky.

With the Pyrénées first on tap in this year’s Tour, tens of thousands of Spanish fans will pour over the border to cheer on the team for the Tour’s first climbing stages. Froome and the other favorites will have to be vigilant to not let the race slip through their hands in the opening two weekends of racing.

No one will want to give either Costa or Quintana too much rope in the mountains, especially with Valverde shadowing the chase only to pounce in their wake.

That’s easier said than done, of course, and it all comes down to the legs on the day, but it would be a major mistake for anyone to overlook Movistar come July.

Behind Valverde, Quintana and Costa provide interesting options.

Quintana, who returned to South America after a highly successful European spring, will be making his highly anticipated Tour debut, so the team is trying to tap down his natural ambition.

The 23-year-old Colombian will have strong personal goals, including a possible stage win and a run at the young rider’s jersey. But above all, he promises to be dedicated to helping Valverde and learning the race.

The pint-sized “escarabajo” says he believes he could some day challenge for the yellow jersey, but he knows this year’s Tour is for Valverde.

“I want to be there to help Alejandro,” Quintana told VeloNews earlier this season. “I am excited about racing the Tour. Maybe some day I could hope to win, but this year, maybe we can make some attacks in the mountains.”

Costa, too, promises to dedicate himself to ride for Valverde. Already a proven stage winner at the Tour, having won out of a breakaway in 2011 ahead of Tejay van Garderen (now BMC Racing), Costa will also be looking to improve his career-best 18th at last year’s Tour.

Costa also likes to believe he could some day challenge for a grand tour. Speaking to VeloNews earlier this season, Costa said he hopes to continue to develop as a stage racer.

“I think the future for me in grand tours is promising,” he said. “Right now, it would be more realistic to aim for the Vuelta (a España) or the Giro (d’Italia), but why not the Tour, too, someday? Right now, we want to help Alejandro.”

The question now is where these three stand on form. Quintana hasn’t raced since Liège-Bastogne-Liège, so there’s no practical way to measure his current strength.

Valverde, meanwhile, was largely discreet at the Critérium du Dauphiné earlier this month. Besides a few tepid attacks in the mountains, he was steady yet unimpressive in the French race, riding to an abysmal 53rd in the time trial stage, yet still managing to scrape his way into seventh overall.

Of the three, Costa is clearly the strongest right now.

He rode a near-perfect, controlled race to claim two stages and the overall, winning the calendar’s “fourth grand tour” in impressive fashion.

Costa proved yet again he can climb and time trial well, skills that hint at his stage-race potential.

Sunday’s win, which came on a split time trial course, with the first part of the course held over mostly flat roads, demonstrated as much. Impressively enough, Costa punched in with a sixth-fastest split time on the flat sector, giving him a moment to switch from a TT setup to a traditional road bike. The tactic paid huge dividends and Costa snagged the stage win to finish off the double.

He took significant gains on some top Tour-bound riders, including 42 seconds on Jean-Christophe Peraud (Ag2r-La Mondiale) and 1:19 on podium contender van Garderen.

Costa already boasts solid racing acumen, with wins at the GP Montréal in 2011, the Four Days of Dunkirk in 2009, and the hilly Spanish semi-class Klasika Primavera in April on his palmares.

He was second in the 2008 Tour de l’Avenir (behind Jan Bakelants), but his promising career almost became unglued in 2010, when he tested positive for the stimulant methylhexanamine following his victory in the national time trial championship.

Costa was notified of his infraction that August following his participation in the Tour, during which he made headlines for a post-stage punch-up with now-retired, wheel-wielding Spaniard Carlos Barredo.

He was initially handed a one-year doping ban, but that was reduced to five months on appeal after he demonstrated the product came from what he claimed was a contaminated nutritional supplement. The ban ended on January 12, 2011.

Since then, Costa has been on a steady upward trajectory, telling VeloNews earlier this year, “I don’t know how far I can go.”

Being strong in the second week of June doesn’t count for much in late July, something that Valverde is certainly banking on.

It will be interesting to see whether Costa cedes to Valverde if he feels like he has the legs to go. While Quintana and Valverde have become fast friends, Costa might have a harder time hitting the brakes.

Movistar insists they’re starting with Valverde as their man in Corsica. It will be worth noting who will be their top-ranked rider by the time the Tour ends under the lights on the Champs-Élysées on July 21.

 

ST-GEORGES, Québec (VN) — Nathan Brown (Bontrager Cycling Team) won the 28th edition of the Tour de Beauce on Sunday as Diego Jimenez (Inteja) took the sixth and final stage, out-kicking Luis Romero Amaran (Jamis-Hagens Berman) and Lucas Euser (UnitedHealthcare).

Brown made his move in the sixth lap of the 107km Ville St-Georges circuit race. He joined Christian Meier (Canadian National) and Philip Deignan (UnitedHealthcare) in chasing the break of the day, leaving race leader Francisco Mancebo (5-hour Energy-Kenda) behind.

The winner of the stage-4 time trial, Brown started the day just five seconds down on Mancebo. At the finish, he had the yellow jersey by 36 seconds over Deignan and 44 seconds ahead of Meier, who moved onto the podium from fifth and sixth overall, respectively. Mancebo finished in 17th on the day, 1:26 down, and slid right off the podium to fourth at 1:23.

“Meier attacked, I followed and Mancebo had no teammates left. When I crossed, Mancebo had no reaction. I told myself, Wow, this can’t be true!’” said Brown.

“In the break, the guys were working really well together. Near the end, I knew this could happen. I gave it everything I had and it paid off.”

Brown played it safe in the finale, saying “all I was thinking about was to stay safe.”

“The guys hit it at 500 meters to go, and I just rode it in as I had enough time,” he said.

“It’s so amazing to win. The team rode great all week, and to finish it off for them, it’s a great feeling.”

Meier said the team was originally focused on the stage win.

“It turned out that the race proved more aggressive than anticipated through mostly the UnitedHealthcare guys,” said Meier. “I had Nic Hamilton in the break and rode all out. The guys going for the GC were fully committed to the breakaway.

“It was fantastic – another hard day.”