Keir Plaice

Reaching your best requires a focused and challenging training plan; however, your fitness will be wasted if you are not fresh and energetic when you arrive at the start line. Your body needs a period of rest, or taper, to achieve its potential.

In the depths of winter, cycling season seems a long way off. Sunny, springtime rides and the first big events of the year tend not to loom large in your mind when your car won’t start, there is a foot of snow on the driveway, and you are off to spend the day on the ski slopes. Nevertheless, in a little more than a month, the weather will turn, the races will begin and a flood of anxious cyclists will inundate local bike shops, overload club and event administrators, and set out on too-ambitious training rides in a bid to be ready the day after the first warm day of the year.

Luxembourg’s Bob Jungels dominated Sunday’s final time-trial at the Étoile de Bessèges, beating his nearest rival Tony Gallopin by 19 seconds to win the stage and earn himself the overall champion’s jersey. Jungels’ Trek Factory Racing teammate Fabio Felline finished 20 seconds back to round out the podium. Canada’s Hugo Houle had a strong ride, finishing 11th on the day for his Ag2r-La Mondiale team.

Lotto-Soudal’s Tony Gallopin won the finishing sprint up the Mur de Laudun to claim victory on Saturday’s fourth stage of the Étoile de Bessèges. Cofidis’ Christophe Laporte followed him across the line to take second. Edward Theuns of Topsport Vlaanderen- Baloise was third. Canada’s Hugo Houle had a good showing, finishing 14th for his AG2R La Mondiale squad.

Europcar’s Bryan Coquard sprinted to victory in Friday’s third stage of the Étoile de Bessèges, the five-day UCI 2.1 stage race held in Southern France. The Frenchman bettered second-placed Giacomo Nizzolo of Trek Factory Racing and Edward Theuns of Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise, who was third, after a difficult day of racing that saw the peloton climb the Cat. 1 Col des Trélys three times before descending into Bessèges for three 6.8-km circuits to end the 152-km stage.

Wanty Groupe-Gobert’s Roy Jans emerged from a chaotic bunch sprint to win Thursday’s wintry second stage of the Étoile de Bessèges, the four-day UCI 2.1 stage race held in southern France as an opener to the European racing season.

Mathieu van der Poel won the final round of the 2014-2015 World Cup season with a stunning, solo performance in his hometown of Hoogerheide, The Netherlands, earning himself a place on the roll of honour in the race dedicated to his father, the cycling, and cyclocross, legend Adri van der Poel.

In a sunny field in eastern France, FDJ’s Francis Mourey rode away from Belgium’s Diether Sweeck to win the prestigious Cyclocross International Nommay and avenge the French title he lost last week to Clément Lhotellerie. Mourey’s late attack came after a battle with Julien Taramarcaz of Switzerland, Sweeck and Frenchman Fabien Doubey that lasted for most of the race.

Kevin Pauwels won Sunday’s fifth round of the Superprestige cyclocross series on a brutal circuit on and around the Spa-Francorchamps […]

Wout van Aert dominated Saturday’s second round of the UCI cyclocross World Cup in Koksijde, Belgium. The 19-year-old Belgian broke away early in the race, with fellow first-year professional Mathieu van der Poel the only rider able to hold his wheel. The two worked up nearly a minute’s advantage, while Sven Nys led a large chasing group behind.

Canada’s Michael van den Ham earned one of the best results of his cyclocross career Sunday, finishing second behind winner […]

With snow flying and the ground frozen, Jeremy Powers and Katerina Nash both rode away from their respective fields to […]

On Saturday, Danny Summerhill and Katerina Nash lit up the first night of the Derby City Cup, bettering the men’s […]

After a difficult year, standing on the start line in Winnipeg will already be a victory for Ottawa local Derrick […]

Evan McNeely is not shy about his ambitions for this year’s national cyclocross championships. “I’m going to try to win,” […]

At the Ellison Park Cyclocross Festival in Rochester, N.Y., Sunday, Canada’s Maghalie Rochette rode to second place in the women’s […]

Jeremy Powers and Caroline Mani claimed the spoils on the first day of the Ellison Park Cyclocross Festival in Rochester […]

Katie Compton and Stephen Hyde earned victories as the KMC Cyclocross Festival continued for a second round of UCI-ranked racing Sunday in Providence, R.I. Following the pattern she set in her winning ride Saturday, Compton rode away from the women’s field early then held out solo to the finish where she had plenty of time to soak in the party atmosphere.

U.S. national champions Jeremy Powers and Katie Compton dominated the opening day of the KMC Cyclocross Festival, winning their respective races by large margins in the rain and muck in Providence, R.I. With more than 10,000 spectators watching on, the best ‘cross riders in North America took to the start lines to battle for the prestige and points on offer in the UCI C1 events.

Just days before Saturday’s women’s world championship road race, Canada’s team received a boost with the announcement that Lex Albrecht […]

With the world championships approaching, two of Canada’s top women made the trip to Vermont to show off their form […]

Przemyslaw Niemiec won the fifteenth stage of the Vuelta a España after a race-long breakaway that saw him hold off the GC’s favourites late charge on the final climb to Lagos do Covadonga. The Lampre-Merida rider finished just seconds ahead of Movistar’s Alejandro Valverde and Katusha’s Joaquim Rodriguez, who finished second and third respectively after managing to drop race leader Alberto Contador of Tinkoff-Saxo, with 1 km to go.

Canada’s Ryder Hesjedal claimed a spectacular victory on Saturday’s 14th stage of the Vuelta a España. The Garmin-Sharp rider out climbed his breakaway companions on the more than 20 per cent slopes up to the summit finish on La Camperona, to take the win. Olivier Zaugg of Tinkoff-Saxo came in second. Movistar’s Imanol Erviti was third.

Daniel Navarro won the Vuelta a España’s 13th stage with a thrilling uphill attack. The Cofidis rider used the last ramp into the Parque de Cábarceno to kick clear, and then drove home his advantage over the final 2 km to take the win alone. Daniel Moreno of Katusha followed in a few moments later for second. Belkin’s Wilco Kelderman came third.

The Vuelta a España made its way to La Rioja Thursday for Stage 12, a 166-km circuit race around the city of Logroño. Early on, the peloton enjoyed a siesta, letting a sole rider, Cannondale’s Matthias Krizek, gain nearly nine minutes advantage. Eventually, Giant-Shimano and FDJ.fr came to the fore, setting a gentle tempo to keep Krizek in check. Krizek’s advantage slowly dwindled as the kilometres passed by, before FDJ.fr finally decided to mount a serious chase. With two, of eight, 21-km laps to go, Krizek was 3:30 up on the peloton. With one to go, he was 1:20 in front. He was brought back to the fold, after a gallant fight, with 12 km remaining.

Astana’s Fabio Aru won today’s eleventh stage of the Vuelta a España with an attack out of a select group 1 km from the summit of the finishing climb to San Miguel de Aralar. Aru’s win came after a dramatic day of racing that saw favourite Nairo Quintana of Movistar fall victim to another crash, this time forcing him out of the race.

Garmin-Sharp’s Alex Howes won the seventh and final stage of the USA Pro Challenge Sunday in an exciting bunch sprint […]

Tejay van Garderen consolidated his overall lead with a win in Saturday’s Stage 6 time trial at the USA Pro Challenge. […]

Friday at the USA Pro Challenge, Trek Factory Racing’s Laurent Didier won Stage 5 with a powerful attack out of the […]

At Thursday’s fourth stage of the USA Pro Challenge, Elia Viviani claimed an emphatic sprint victory for his Cannondale team. […]

On the third day of the USA Pro Challenge, Tejay van Garderen staged a coup, dominating the competition on Monarch […]

On Sunday in Paris, Canada’s Leah Kirchmann (Optum presented by Kelly Benefit Strategies) sprinted into the record books with a […]

On Sunday, the finest female cyclists racing today will take to the sport’s most prestigious race course for La Course […]

Dafné Theroux-Izquierdo (Équipe du Quebec) and Edward Walsh (Atlantic Cycling Centre) are Canada’s latest junior cycling champions. Theroux-Izquidero beat silver-medallist […]

The University of British Columbia campus turned into a race-course Tuesday for the UBC Grand Prix. The event, which is […]

Canada’s brightest young cycling talent took to the roads of Beauceville, Que., Thursday for the junior national time trial championships. […]

Marianne Vos sewed up the Friends Life Women’s Tour with a closing-stage victory, claiming the spoils in a bunch sprint for the third day in a row to secure the final yellow jersey and the sprinter’s shirt for her Rabo-Liv team. Giorgia Bronzini of Wiggle-Honda came second on the stage. Amy Pieters of the Dutch national squad was third.

Rabo-Liv’s Marianne Vos claimed her second stage victory in a row and extended her lead in the overall classification on […]

World champion Marianne Vos of the Rabo-Liv team won the field sprint to claim the third stage of the Friends […]

Canada will send a strong team to this weekend’s first round of the UCI road paracycling World Cup in Castiglione […]

Italy’s Rossella Ratto held off the peloton to claim the stage win and new leader’s jersey on the rain-soaked second day of the Friends Life Women’s Tour in Britain.

Orica-GreenEdge’s Emma Johansson kicked clear of the sprinting peloton to win the first stage of the inaugural Friends Life Women’s Tour of Britain. The world champion Marianne Vos of Rabobank-Liv finished second while UnitedHealthcare’s Hannah Barnes came in third.

Leah Kirchmann, the 23-year-old Optum Pro Cycling rider from Winnipeg, Man., has already put together an impressive string of results in 2014. She won the prologue at the Tucson Bicycle Classic and finished third at the Old Pueblo Gran Prix. She won Stage 3 and Stage 4 at the Redlands Bicycle Classic, where she also finished second on Stage 2 and third on Stage 1 and claimed third in the general classification.

Ed Veal made a big impression in Belgium recently. On April 23, the 37-year-old rider from Queensville, Ont. sprinted to […]

For Canada, AG2R La Mondiale’s Hugo Houle finished the monument 142nd.

The Spring Classics come to a crescendo this Sunday at Paris-Roubaix in northern France. Run over roughly cobbled farm-tracks, the race wreaks havoc on riders’ bodies and bikes like no other race on the calendar.

Marcel Kittel won today’s Scheldeprijs in dominant fashion, sprinting clear of his rivals with 250m to go to claim the […]

Today, the sprinters will have their chance to triumph during Flemish cycling’s holiest week. Often overshadowed by De Ronde and […]

A team of up-and-coming Canadians is currently flying the colours of the Echelon Project, a development program run by the […]

In yesterday’s Tour of Flanders, Antoine Duchense put in a strong performance for his Europcar team. The 22 year-old Quebecois […]

For cyclists, riding in an echelon formation well is an essential skill. Being able to manage crosswind situations saves energy and strength and can be an advantage in a race. The same principles and techniques work for recreational cycling, too. A group running a proper echelon formation will move quickly and efficiently without struggling in the wind.