Author: Henri Giroud

WALNUT CREEK, Calif. (BRAIN) — In its new Black Reparations Program, Rivendell Bicycle Works is offering Black customers a 45% discount on bikes and frames bought through its website or its warehouse store. The 26-year-old company, which offers custom steel road, touring and casual-use bikes and related parts and accessories, began the discount on an ad hoc basis at its store about two years ago, said John Bennett, Rivendell’s social media and press liaison.Due to COVID-19 concerns, Rivendell no longer serves walk-in customers, so the company decided to formalize the program for online shoppers. “Reparations acknowledge that in America, white…

Highlights Report Today’s racing at Paris-Tours began under raining skies, with the overcast conditions set to stay for the rest of the day, only adding to the difficulty of the race. With a predominantly flat route until the final 50 kilometres where the hills and gravel roads started, the team took control at the head of the race after the morning breakaway had formed. With the aim of heading into the finale with Søren Kragh Andersen, Joris Nieuwenhuis and Casper Pedersen all to the fore, Leon Heinschke, Martin Salmon and Niklas Märkl did well to keep the breakaway in check…

Highlights Report It was not Mads Pedersen’s greatest win but certainly will go into his palmares as one of his biggest. The former world champion nailed another sprint to take a massive victory in Gent-Wevelgem, the cobbled classics’ opening race. The final kilometers were non-stop thrills as nine riders – the strongest that rose to the fore after over 200 grueling and intermittently wet and cold kilometers – launched attack after attack.  The elastic didn’t break until the final 1500 meters when three riders finally broke free. Pedersen waited, showing a patience of experience, then jumped across the gap to…

Highlights Report Wet, rainy conditions favor the bold in bike racing. It seems to also favor our ducks in Italy as Ruben Guerreiro took a second mountain top stage win for EF Pro Cycling at the 2020 Giro d’Italia on a day marked by torrential rain and lot’s of climbing. The 208km course from San Salvo to Roccaraso was labeled as the queen stage across the Apennines with over 4,000m of altitude gain on 4 categorized climbs. With plenty of mountain classification points up for grabs and a stage profile that looked suited for a breakaway win, it took awhile…

Highlights Report It is from quite a stunning setting in Matera that stage 7 of the Giro started on Friday afternoon. The stage was quite short, only 143 kilometers, and its main danger was known by everyone. “There was wind all day,” Sébastien Joly recalled. “From yesterday evening on, the guys were ready to fight for it. They knew what to expect and they were super motivated. Ramon, in particular, was keen to make a contribution after two difficult days. The race quickly exploded at the start, they ended up being barely 30 in front, and most of our guys were there. When…

Highlights Report “This is one of the stages where we put a question mark,” said Sébastien Joly on Wednesday night, referring to stage 6 of the Giro d’Italia that would lead the riders from Castrovillari to Matera after 188 kilometers and a few climbs. There was therefore quite an uncertainty regarding the ambitions to carry towards the picturesque city of Basilicata. On Thursday morning, however, the plans were much clearer. “We had planned to stay calm until the last four kilometers, explained Sébastien. Firstly because we had already won, but also because the stage was still quite technical today, with quite a few climbs…

Highlights Report Filippo Ganna pulled off an incredible climbing performance to take a solo breakaway victory on stage five at the Giro d’Italia. The Italian forced his way into the move after 50 kilometres, and despite a mountainous course, produced an emphatic ride to power clear of his rivals and the chasing peloton. The world time trial champion backed up his opening day success, taking his second stage win by 34 seconds in Camigliatello Silano, moving into the blue mountain’s jersey in the process. After working alongside teammate Salvatore Puccio in the break, Ganna pushed clear on the final climb, cresting…

Highlights Report Arnaud Démare certainly tested his legs in Agrigento a few days ago, but his first real goal on the Giro was set for Tuesday, in a short 140-kilometer stage. The day kind of suited the sprinters, but not entirely as a long climb was to be tackled at the halfway point. In spite of this potential obstacle, the French champion’s team did took control of the peloton after a small breakaway went with Simon Pellaud (Androni-Sidermec), Kamil Gradek (CCC) and Marco Frapporti (Vini Zabù-KTM). Simon Guglielmi was in charge of keeping the leading trio within four minutes before…