Videos

Rabobank sprinter feels circumstances are right to challengeHe’s gone close with second on a stage of the Santos Tour Down Under and third and fourth on stages in the Tour of Qatar but for Mark Renshaw, his first season as a leader is yet to yield a victory. Mark Cavendish’s former right hand man moved to Rabobank over the winter, feeling it was time to step out from a supporting role and to deliver on his own sprinting ability. Today, the Australian started the Presidential Tour of Turkey with a clear goal in mind. “It is difficult to win races. That is the objective, obviously, and I haven’t managed to do that yet,” he told VeloNation in a video interview carried out at yesterday evening’s team presentation in Alanya. “But hopefully I will get some good opportunities here in Turkey and then after that in the Giro.” Renshaw has previously [...]

Russian says he’s geared his entire early season around repeat victoryOne year after he scooped the biggest victory to date for the American Team Type 1, Russian rider Alexander Efimkin began today’s Presidential Tour of Turkey with ambitions of giving everything hard for another title. The 30 year old from Kuybyshev in Russia said that he had geared his entire first part of the season around being ready for this race. “We are here to defend it, we are here to win, and it is going to be a hard week for us,” he said in a VeloNation video interview, conducted with the team’s PR officer Chris Baldwin as translator. “We have got a much stronger team this year and we think we have got a good chance of defending it. The goal for me this year has been to come to this race and defend this title. That is [...]

RTS rider proves it’s never too late to chase UCI team contractThis week has seen a productive, successful few days for RTS Racing’s Lee Rodgers, who has been one of the most aggressive riders in the Tour de Taiwan and who ended Thursday’s sixth stage wearing the green jersey of points classification leader. The 39 year old Englishman went on the attack on Monday’s third stage, joining forces with Shinichi Fukushima (Terengganu Racing) and trying to stay clear until the end. He finished towards the front on the following day, then attacked again on stages five and six, collecting points in the intermediate sprints and riding his way into the green points jersey. “So far the Tour de Taiwan has been pretty good, the stages are quite short (the longest at 137km) so the racing has been full on most days, which suits me,” he told VeloNation this week. “I'd [...]

Multiple Irish champion admits it’s increasingly difficult to be away from familyHaving raced many seasons on the Asian circuit, David McCann has confirmed that 2012 will be his last season racing in the pro peloton and that, at 38 years of age, he is prepared to call it a day. The Belfast rider has been one of Ireland’s most successful international riders over the past 26 years, with a standout early result being when he beat Robbie McEwen and Alexandre Vinokourov in the 1996 Manx International. Since then he’s taken three Irish road race championships and a record six time trial titles, as well as overall victories in races such as the Tours of Korea, Taiwan, Philippines and Indonesia, the Jelajah Malaysia, the Melaka Governor Cup and the FBD Insurance Rás. He’s also won a stage in the 2.HC Tour of Qinghai Lake, and in 2010 was third in the [...]

'No chain' sensations in trainingWhile he’s yet to clock up his first victory of 2012, Heinrich Haussler has been working hard to return to his best form and, according to Garmin Barracuda’s performance director Allan Peiper, appears on track. The former pro stated that the younger Australian has worked very well over the winter, showing focus and discipline in order to shine in the Classics. “I know firsthand that he has lived this winter like a real pro, and he has been really on track since November,” Peiper told VeloNation in a video interview conducted at the Tour de Langakwi. “I saw a message the other day where Heinrich said that he had been out training and it felt that he didn’t have a chain on. That sounds really good. He said that he felt like he had the legs like 2009.” Haussler’s standout season three years ago saw him [...]