SKINS

Find out what happens where, when and to whom with ‘action’ news from SKINS.

Get the latest inside info on SKINS, the achievements our athletes are making with their SKINS advantage, and find out any other vital details that you want to know. Beat the mob and fill-in the gaps with SKINS news.

 

SKINS Awarded "Most Remarkable Booth at Eurobike"

06/09/2010 16:02:38

Bike Europe has selected the SKINS booth as the most remarkable one at Eurobike 2010.

The SKINS stand featured real people as interactive display elements in the booth wall, including a stream of people riding a bike in the wall, approximately four metres above the ground. The cyclists were not only visually spectcular, they also showed off the products as they are used - in motion. Read the full Bike Europe story.

Another 'hole in the wall' featured someone relaxing wearing a SKINS RY400 top and long tights.

Benjamin Fitzmaurice, Sports Director - Cycling said "SKINS is a new cycle clothing brand that brings into the market proven compression technology based on years of research. We wanted to make an impact on the cycle market and what better way than to do something punchy and different at Eurobike. It is great to have our stand recognised in this way."

See pictures of the SKINS stand on the German/Austrian Facebook page.

Author: Kezia Everson
Copyright: SKINS International

Further information:
Kezia Everson
kezia.everson@skins.net

SKINS Enters Chinese Sportswear Market Partnering with Leading Sporting Goods Retailer, LI-NING, to Release World-leading Gradient Compression Sportswear

02/09/2010 19:40:25

Yesterday, SKINS officially launched their partnership with LI-NING, the largest Chinese sports brand. The joint cooperation will deliver “LI-NING SKINS”, superior quality engineered gradient compression sportswear to the Chinese market.

Photo: from left to right: Li-Ning CEO - Zhang Zhiyong, Li-Ning Chairman - Li Ning, SKINS Chairman - Dean Hawkins, SKINS CEO - Jaimie Fuller

The launch was attended by LI-NING's Chairman, Mr Li Ning, China's most successful sportsman – who was famously suspended in the air to light the cauldron at the Beijing Olympic Games – along with other honoured guests, such as Australian Trade Commissioner, Jane Wallis.

Photo: Mr Li Ning, Li-Ning Chairman and China's most successful athlete

SKINS is the first compression sportswear brand to enter the Chinese market. The partnership with the country’s largest sports brand and retailer with over 7,500 stores across China will ensure LI-NING SKINS is successfully introduced and distributed across the region.

Jaimie Fuller, CEO of SKINS International Trading AG said at a press conference held in Beijing: “Partnering with a company such as LI-NING was the best way for us to enter the Chinese market. Joining forces with the biggest national sports brand in China with extensive resources and experience in the sports industry is a dream come true.

“We firmly believe that the strong partnership between the two companies is based on a win-win relationship. SKINS will utilise LI-NING’s distribution network to gain access to the Chinese market and LI-NING will benefit from SKINS’ technological research especially as the partnership moves deeper into the fields of R&D and design in the near future. This cooperation will also provide additional power and superiority to LI-NING-sponsored Chinese athletes competing on the world stage.

“With the Chinese sportswear market making approximately USD10 billion, LI-NING’s number one ranking in terms of Chinese brands and number two status of overall revenue in the sports market, we are optimistic that LI-NING SKINS will be extremely successful.”

LI-NING’s CEO, Zhang Zhiyong, described the partnership as a match made in heaven: “SKINS is an extremely professional sports company. LI-NING is very happy to choose such a partner that is worth respecting and learning from. The bilateral collaboration, on one hand, will bring Chinese consumers professional LI-NING SKINS engineered gradient compression sportswear and fill a gap in the market, and on the other hand, will give LI-NING-sponsored national teams and athletes the benefit of the engineered gradient compression technology to inspire them to challenge even higher limits. This process will greatly promote the development of Chinese sports. LI-NING is looking forward to partnering with SKINS to ‘make the change’ with greater vitality and power.

Both LI-NING’s CEO Zhang Zhiyong and SKINS CEO Jaimie Fuller announced at the press conference, that the bilateral collaboration will expand further into R&D and design. The first project to kick start the cooperation is the “3D Body Scan Project”, in which Chinese athletes and sports enthusiasts’ bodies will be scanned and measured to advance scientific research and analysis. Based on the results of the scans, SKINS and LI-NING will produce gradient compression sportswear specifically suited to Asian bodies and the special requirements of Chinese athletes with their light, agile and flexible characteristics.

BioAcceleration Technology is the secret behind LI-NING SKINS engineered gradient compression sportswear, which has been tested by the five LI-NING-sponsored “Dream Teams”, namely the China National Diving, Gymnastics, Badminton, Shooting and Table Tennis teams, and is widely recognised by top athletes such as Yelena Isinbayeva and Baron Davis.

Photo: Models wearing Li-NING SKINS at the launch

LI-NING SKINS gradient compression has been engineered to apply a balanced and accurate surface pressure over specific parts of the body to accelerate blood flow. This increases oxygen delivery to working muscles to enhance their performance and also helps reduce the build-up of lactic acid so you can perform harder for longer and recover faster. Strategic seam placement wraps and supports key muscle groups to reduce vibration and focus muscle direction resulting in less soft tissue damage and post exercise soreness. In addition, LI-NING SKINS sportswear works to optimise your body temperature in warm and cool conditions to keep you comfortable during your work out. Meanwhile, it has anti-bacterial and odour prevention functions built in, as well as UPF 50+ to block harmful UV rays.

SKINS engineered gradient compression products have been endorsed by the authoritative Australian Physiotherapy Association and are selected for use by the world’s elite sport physiologists, squads, teams and individual athletes.

Author: Kezia Everson
Copyright: SKINS International

Further information:
Kezia Everson
kezia.everson@skins.net

Team HTC-Columbia Win the Opening Stage of the Vuelta and Take the Race Lead

30/08/2010 11:02:38

HTC-Columbia has emerged victorious in the opening team time trial of the Vuelta a Espana, a 13 kilometre late night race against the clock through the streets of Seville.

Mark Cavendish was the first HTC-Columbia rider across the line, making him the race's first leader.

HTC-Columbia was ten seconds faster than second placed Liquigas-Doimo on the completely flat course held through the centre of Seville, with Saxo Bank in third.

"As soon as we did the first training ride on the course on Thursday even after ten minutes on the bike we were riding so well together I had the feeling we were going to win," said Cavendish.

"The team time trial is my favourite discipline because the whole team gets rewarded, it's special that way, and at the same time you need to get it one hundred percent right for it to work."

"I get to stand on the podium quite a lot, but that's because of eight other guys hard work. Today we all got to stand on the podium and I'm incredibly proud of what my team-mates did."

Cavendish said that although he got to wear the Tour of Spain leader's red jersey, "it belonged to the whole squad. I'm wearing it on behalf of the team."

Cavendish is also the leader of the points competition, whilst HTC-Columbia are the leaders of the teams classification.

Saturday's victory is the 55th of the 2010 season for HTC-Columbia men's team.

Author: Benjamin Fitzmaurice
Copyright: SKINS International

Further information:
Benjamin Fitzmaurice
benjamin.fitzmaurice@skins.net

HTC-Columbia's Martin Wins Final TT and Overall at Eneco Tour

25/08/2010 10:02:38

San Luis Obispo, CA - 24th August 2010 - HTC-Columbia's Tony Martin used his time trial strength to the confirm overall victory in the Eneco Tour on Tuesday as he surged an emphatic win in the race's last individual time trial in Genk, Belgium.

Already the fastest at the time trial's intermediate checkpoint, Martin finally came close to averaging 50 kilometres an hour on the short but very technical course, which he completed with a time of 20 minutes and 24 seconds.

The HTC-Columbia rider finished six seconds ahead of Dutchman Maarten Tjallingii on the stage and increased his overall advantage on second-placed Koos Moerenout of Holland to 31 seconds.

"Winning the last time trial is a truly perfect way of ending the race, and it will keep me really motivated for the final part of the year," Martin said. "It's a great feeling to have taken such an important win, and I'm now on track for my next few targets."

"I'll ease back a little bit now, and then start my final build-up for the World Championships Time Trial in Australia with a ride in the Tour of Britain. I can't say what will happen in the World Championships, and it'll be hard to beat [defending champion] Fabian Cancellara, but I've been working hard on my time trialling and we'll see how it goes."

"What impressed me the most about Tony was how he turned around after the Tour de France and came back to do so well here," added HTC-Columbia sports director Brian Holm. "We talked about his ambitions and didn't know whether he would be so good, but once he got in the break where he took the lead, we knew he had a chance. However, for sure we didn't take anything for granted."

"One stage went over part of the Amstel Gold race course, another used part of Fleche Wallone and then today we knew Moerenhout is a strong time triallist so we went all out right to the very end."

The Eneco Tour is Martin's first overall win in a ProTour course and his fifth of the 2010 season.

Author: Benjamin Fitzmaurice
Copyright: SKINS International

Further information:
Benjamin Fitzmaurice
benjamin.fitzmaurice@skins.net

HTC-Columbia Strikes Again at Eneco Tour

24/08/2010 17:02:38

San Luis Obispo, CA - 23rd August 2010 - HTC-Columbia's Andre Greipel took his second stage victory at this year's Eneco Tour as teammate Tony Martin moved one step closer to overall victory in the UCI ProTour stage race.

Like the rest of his teammates, Greipel worked hard all day to help Martin defend his race lead on the hilly stage in the Ardennes but still had the speed to win the sprint in Heers.

He was well placed in the final kilometre despite some late attacks and then burst past Edvald Boasson Hagen to win by more than a bike length. Belgium's Jurgen Roelandts also went past Boasson Hagen to finish second.

It was the the 52nd victory for the HTC-Columbia team in 2010.

"This is a very special victory for me," Greipel said proudly. "It was a hard stage and not really suited to the sprinters. I was seriously struggling to stay in the peloton after working to help Toy Martin hold the lead. With 10km to go to the finish, I went back to the team car and they told me to save myself for the sprint. I was really hurting but fortunately I had a little bit left and it was enough to win."

Tony Martin picked up some precious bonus seconds during the stage to extend his overall lead to 11 seconds on Koos Moerenhout before Tuesday's final 16.9km time trial stage around Genk.

Author: Benjamin Fitzmaurice
Copyright: SKINS International

Further information:
Benjamin Fitzmaurice
benjamin.fitzmaurice@skins.net

HTC-Columbia's Goss Wins GP Ouest France - Plouay

23/08/2010 17:02:38

HTC-Columbia's Matt Goss won the prestigious one-day GP Ouest France - Plouay race in Brittany with a perfectly timed sprint. The 23 year-old Australian beat American Tyler Farrar and Yoann Offredo of France, confirming his ever-improving ability in testing one-day races. It was Goss's fourth win this season after stage victories in the Giro d'Italia and the Tour of Denmark and at the Philadelphia International in the USA. It was the 51st victory for the HTC-Columbia team in 2010 season.

Goss had been ill a few days before the race but saved his effort for the final sprint and took full advantage of some excellent work from his HTC-Columbia teammates.

They helped close the gap on a strong last-lap breakaway and two late solo attacks. Goss positioned himself perfectly in the final kilometre and then came off Farrar's wheel to win by more than a bike length.

"Plouay is a long, hard race and so it's nice to get a win. This is a big one and is really good for my confidence," Goss said. "The race is held on a very testing circuit and so it's similar to a world championship circuit: there are a lot of laps and lot of climbing per lap. It was tough, but I knew I had a great chance if it came down to a sprint. The last lap was very nervous and there was a good break in front. We knew we had to get it back and so did the other teams. It was close but then I just made sure I was in the right place for the sprint."

Author: Benjamin Fitzmaurice
Copyright: SKINS International

Further information:
Benjamin Fitzmaurice
benjamin.fitzmaurice@skins.net

Cycling Success for Adelaide's Cromwell

23/08/2010 16:40:25

Adelaide cyclist Tiffany Cromwell has overcome a form slump to sign with a new professional team and reach the podium in her first race with them.

Last weekend Cromwell raced the prestigious Sparkassen Giro in Bochum, Germany with Lotto Ladies Team where she sprinted to second place from a break-away group.

“(The result) has come at a very crucial point in the year after a very up and down year for me,” Cromwell told us. “In terms of form it shows that I'm on the way back up.”

With the road cyclists all vying for a spot at the World Championships in Geelong next month, Cromwell’s feat comes just at the right time.

“This performance qualifies me a spot into the long team for the world championships - so hopefully if I keep going and building, I can earn myself a start (in Geelong) this year.”

AIS Cycling Head Coach and National Performance Director, Shayne Bannan acknowledges Cromwell’s prodigious talent.

“When you think of Tiff, you think of somebody been around for years,” says Bannan, “but she’s only 22 and this is her first full European season.

“High expectations, a long season and a new setup with her based in Girona (Spain) and any rider is going to go through highs and lows. She’s had an had immediate result with Lotto and this will give her a confidence boost.”

But will she be in Geelong?

“She is certainly being considered; that result put her right back into contention for the World Championship team. But I wouldn’t be surprised if you see Tiff on a number of podiums in the next few years.”

The women’s team for the World Cycling Championships will be announced on the 14th September.

Author: Benjamin Fitzmaurice
Copyright: SKINS International

Further information:
Benjamin Fitzmaurice
benjamin.fitzmaurice@skins.net

HTC-Columbia's Greipel Scores Stage Win at Eneco Tour

23/08/2010 16:02:10

HTC-Columbia's Andre Greipel took the team's 87th victory of the 2010 season at the Eneco Tour Thursday with yet another perfectly executed sprint finish in the centre of Ardooie in Belgium. The HTC-Columbia riders used their speed and lead out skills to perfectly position Greipel in the final kilometre, resulting in an explosive sprint and a stage two win.

"It was difficult to hold a good position in the bunch and so we decided to wait and hit the front in the final kilometres of the stage when there was a headwind," Greipel explained. "Mark Renshaw dropped me off on Boasson Hagen's wheel just before the tight corner, with 1.5km to go. It was perfect, and I did the rest. I trusted my teammates and they trusted me. It's great to get the first win of the race and now anything else is a nice bonus."

Author: Benjamin Fitzmaurice
Copyright: SKINS International

Further information:
Benjamin Fitzmaurice
benjamin.fitzmaurice@skins.net

SKINS Pioneers Research into Dynamic Compression Pressure Measurement

16/08/2010 14:52:26

In 2008, whilst researching compression garments and effects on the human body in motion, SKINS discovered a short coming with the existing compression measuring devices. All commercially available devices were designed to take only static compression measurements in clinical situations. As such, they were incapable of measuring pressure levels on the skin whilst the body is in motion and while muscles are under load in real training settings. They were also only able to measure pressure at one point on the body, at one point in time.

SKINS approached the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) in Australia to evaluate an existing CSIRO wearable device for sensing low pressures. The device was adapted to measure dynamic compression at various locations on the body (e.g. calf, thigh) and transmit data in real time allowing timely assessment of personal performance.

The “Wearable Dynamic Pressure Monitoring Device (WDPMD)” was evaluated by SKINS over the past two years. The results of a study into the accuracy and precision of the WDPMD have been published and presented at the 8th Conference of the International Sports Engineering Association (ISEA), held in Vienna. The published findings illustrate that the WDPMD is comparable to existing compression measurement devices and is suitable for measuring changes in pressure dynamically between a subject and SKINS compression garments during various sporting activities. (McLaren et al, Procedia Engineering, 2 (2010) 3041-3046). Other advantages with this device are its memory, communication, power capacity and portability.

SKINS is the first and only gradient compression apparel company to use the WDPMD device to carry out research in order to understand the differences in the variability between pressure patterns when the body is static and when it is actively in motion. This has enabled SKINS to evaluate pressure pattern variability in their 400 Series product lines.

By fine tuning garments so precisely to athletes’ needs while in motion, SKINS 400 Series dynamic gradient compression products provide more accurate compression to improve sports performance and physiological impact, as well as ensuring a more comfortable fit. This represents a revolutionary step forward in the history of sports compression wear.

The sports compression industry is rapidly evolving and SKINS’ commitment to pushing the boundaries through scientific research ensures that the company remains at the forefront of gradient compression innovation.

Download the full PDF Press Release

 

Author: Kezia Everson
Copyright: SKINS International

Further information:
Greg Steyger
greg.steyger@skins.net

SKINS Celebrates the True Spirit of Fierce Competition with BikePure

11/08/2010 09:02:11

SKINS and BikePure have come together to bang the drum and celebrate clean cycling with the release of a t-shirt dedicated to the professional cyclists who have pledged their support.

Founder of BikePure, Andy Layhe, said “This t-shirt is dedicated to all the riders who support BikePure and the message of clean cycling”.

“The principles, values and message of BikePure and the aspiration of clean cyclesport are shared by SKINS in its mantra celebrating the true spirit of fierce competition”, said Benjamin Fitzmaurice, Sports Director – Cycling, SKINS. “The riders that share those principles ought to be lauded and congratulated. The t-shirt promoted by BikePure and SKINS celebrates the stance taken by professional cyclists against cheating in sport.”

BikePure is an organisation aiming to protect the integrity of cycling and in doing so, promotes clean cyclesport. www.bikepure.org

Download the full PDF Press Release

Author: Benjamin Fitzmaurice
Copyright: SKINS International

Further information:
Benjamin Fitzmaurice
benjamin.fitzmaurice@skins.net

Roulston Finishes off a Good Week for HTC-Columbia in Denmark

09/08/2010 16:02:11

HTC-Columbia's Hayden Roulston took out the last stage of the Tour of Denmark in style on Sunday. On the final straight of next year's World Championships course in Copenhagen, Roulston flew uphill to take the win out of the last of many breaks that occurred during the stage.

"Hayden rode like he had diamonds in his legs today," said Sport Director Brian Holm. "He was amazing when he went up the final 800m straight."

"It was a very, very hard stage today," added Holm. "It was raining and it fast all day. At 120km everything was still together so there were constant attacks."

Just before the race hit the final laps a break with Mark Renshaw looked like it might stay away.

"[Tyler] Farrar was also in the break and it looked like it might work but Renshaw punctured and came back to the peloton so then we started to chase. When we caught the break the next one went with Roulston in it."

"I'm really happy with the race today. We had someone in every break. All in all it was a good week for us. Three wins with three different riders so I'm happy. [Rasmus] Guldhammer also won the white jersey and came in sixth overall so it was a very good race for him also."

 

Author: Benjamin Fitzmaurice
Copyright: SKINS International

Further information:
Benjamin Fitzmaurice
benjamin.fitzmaurice@skins.net

HTC-Columbia's Renshaw and Goss Take Top Two Places in Denmark

09/08/2010 16:02:11

HTC-Columbia's Mark Renshaw has sprinted to his first victory of 2010 ahead of his teammate Matt Goss in the Tour of Denmark's stage four. The two riders crossed the line with their arms in the air, with Renshaw securing the team's second win of the Danish race at the end of a 99.2 kilometre stage from Nyborg to Odense.

Picture: ©Cyclingphoto.eu

Although there was a four man break early on, the move was brought back in time to set things up for a bunch sprint. And after Goss's victory on stage one, on stage four it was Renshaw's turn to get the winner's bouquet. As Brian Holm, HTC-Columbia's sports director at Denmark, said later, Renshaw's victory was a great reward for one of the team's key support workers.

"It's always really good when one of the guys who does a lot of work for another rider gets a chance to shine in his own right like today, and taking first and second for the team is something special, too. The whole team went to the front with three laps to go, and I think they won the stage quite easily. The key was HTC-Columbia moved to the head of the race at the right time, and set things up perfectly for Mark and Matt. Mark is in good shape at the moment, that's pretty clear, and we're sure he'll be getting back up there in the future as well."

In a great day's racing for HTC-Columbia, Renshaw's victory took place a few hours before teammate André Greipel secured a bunch sprint win in the Tour of Poland.

 

Author: Benjamin Fitzmaurice
Copyright: SKINS International

Further information:
Benjamin Fitzmaurice
benjamin.fitzmaurice@skins.net

Greipel Dedicates Second Stage Win in Poland to New Niece

09/08/2010 16:02:10

HTC-Columbia's André Greipel has stormed through the rain to clinch a second stage victory in the 2010 Tour of Poland, a win which he dedicated to his new baby niece, born to his sister on Friday.

Already the winner of stage two, the German rider was the fastest again on the final day's 163.9 kilometre stage from Nowy Targ to Krakow, the same city where he took a victory last year in the Tour of Poland.

Picture: ©TDWSport.com

Greipel's sixteenth win of the season came when he moved out of the pack late on ahead of Yauheni Hutarovich of Belarus, while Germany's Robert Forster was third.

"I knew the finish from last year, which was a help, and that it was better to wait as long as possible to start my last acceleration because my back wheel could have slipped a bit in the wet conditions," Greipel said afterwards. "But my teammates did a great job, too, getting me right up there so I was in the perfect position to go for the win. It's a wonderful victory to have today as well, my sister has just had a daughter and I want to dedicate it to them."

On a great day's racing for HTC-Columbia, Greipel's win was preceded by a victory for teammate Mark Renshaw in the Tour of Denmark.

 

Author: Benjamin Fitzmaurice
Copyright: SKINS International

Further information:
Benjamin Fitzmaurice
benjamin.fitzmaurice@skins.net

HTC-Columbia's Van Dijk Wins Sparkassen Giro

09/08/2010 13:18:26

Ellen Van Dijk of Team HTC-Columbia took the biggest win of her season on Sunday at the Sparkassen Giro in Germany. Van Dijk won the sprint from a breakaway group of nine riders in wet and miserable conditions.

"It wasn't a nice day for riding," said Van Dijk, "but I felt good once we started and we had a great day."

Van Dijk went with a break seven riders with about 20km remaining in the race and managed to pull off the win at the end with the help of her teammate Evelyn Stevens.

"Evie bridged across to the break which was great because I was a bit isolated up there," explained Van Dijk. When she caught us she just kept going and was off the front which forced the others to chase. She couldn't hold it all the way to the finish but even when she got caught she just kept riding hard so that the break would stay away.

"That was perfect for me for the sprint. Just before the final Vicki Whitelaw attached and I hopped on her wheel. This turned out to be a great lead-out and I was able to come around her on the last corner to win the sprint.

"For sure it's really cool to finally win again, it's a good feeling," she added.

HTC-Columbia's Chloe Hosking won the bunch sprint for the second day in a row.

 

Author: Benjamin Fitzmaurice
Copyright: SKINS International

Further information:
Benjamin Fitzmaurice
benjamin.fitzmaurice@skins.net

Goss Takes Opening Stage of Denmark for HTC-Columbia

05/08/2010 15:02:11

Tasmania's Matt Goss has secured the opening stage of the Tour of Denmark on Wednesday. The HTC-Columbia rider was the fastest in the stage in Holstebro with team-mate Mark Renshaw in third.

Photo credit © Frank Rud Jensen

After his victories in a stage of the Giro d'Italia in May and in the Philadelphia International Championships in the USA in June, this is Goss's third win of the season.

"There were three laps of 3.5 kilometres at the finish and it was very technical. We knew that it might be risky so we went to check things out before and that helped a lot," said HTC-Columbia sports director Brian Holm. "For the first 150 kilometres things were quiet, Saxo Bank were doing a lot of work, and then things started to get faster for the last part, and it all got a bit more complicated.

"One of our riders crashed [Gert Dockx] on the finishing circuit as it started raining very heavily, and that meant we knew we had to stay at the front. Coming up to the sprint, there were a lot of crashes too in the closing kilometres, but Goss got through them ok for the win. I'm very pleased for him."

Holm says that rather than looking too far ahead, the team will be gunning for stage wins. "Goss was hoping for a win here, he's got it now and I know all the guys are keen to do well here, so we'll take it on the day by day."

 

Author: Benjamin Fitzmaurice
Copyright: SKINS International

Further information:
Benjamin Fitzmaurice
benjamin.fitzmaurice@skins.net

HTC-Columbia's Greipel Takes Stage Two in Tour of Poland

03/08/2010 17:02:11

André Greipel racked up his fifteenth win of the 2010 season in Monday's stage two of the Tour of Poland. The HTC-Columbia rider powered across the finish line in Dabrowa Gornicza well clear of Australian Allan Davis and the remainder of the pack in the bunch sprint that decided the 240 kilometre stage.

A stage winner in the same race last year, Greipel's victory was his fifteenth of the season and his first since he took two stages of the Tour of Austria in July. "The sprint was a bit dangerous, slightly downhill, but I found a gap," Greipel said afterwards. "Then I was quite happy to find another gap to start my sprint. Everyone was pretty tired after such a long stage, and the hot and humid weather wasn't pleasant. But I felt better and better as we got close to the finish."

Greipel says that he will continue on the hunt for stage wins, although the hillier part of the seven-day race is yet to come. "I got a stage victory here last year and the finishes are pretty similar - wide roads and downhills - so I can be optimistic. Whatever happens, this was a good win, and it's a great start to the second part of the season."

 

Author: Benjamin Fitzmaurice
Copyright: SKINS International

Further information:
Benjamin Fitzmaurice
benjamin.fitzmaurice@skins.net

 

Ride of a Lifetime

Twenty two days after he set out from Rotterdam, 52 year old amateur cyclist, Quentin Field Boden rolled into Paris and up the Champs Elysées, marking the end of his epic 3,600km adventure to ride the 2010 Tour de France.

 

 

 

 

With support from SKINS, Quentin managed to maintain a good pace throughout his ride and stuck religiously to the exact route of the Tour de France, 3 days ahead of the pros. When the first rest day came around, Quentin was given the option to ride part of the next days stage to break things up. But true to form he stuck to the original plan and rode the route like a pro.

Quentin said of the attention he received,” I wasn’t really expecting people to take such a lot of interest in it, so its been fantastic. It brought a completely new dimension to the whole thing, which I never had any expectations of whatsoever… it’s been a real huge bonus to me”. As word leaked out about the Tour de Vélo challenge, messages flooded into Quentin’s blog and articles appeared in the mainstream press.

During the ride Quentin experienced searing heat, freezing fog, wind and rain. “I’ve been fortunate to be supported by SKINS in this ride, and that’s helped me recover day to day which is an enormous benefit. The C400 gear I have used predominantly during the day and then the recovery RY400 clothing I’ve worn every night to help me recover.”

Quentin was really impressed with one particular piece of the C400 range, “The real revelation on this trip for me has been the C400 bib shorts. They are absolutely fantastic. They have been very, very comfortable. Its been anything up to 34-36 degrees, its been freezing cold and I haven’t had a (single) saddle sore”.

A great personal achievement and a great testament to the quality and performance of the SKINS clothing during some of the most testing and challenging conditions a cyclist can experience. Congratulations to Q.

We managed to capture some great footage during the ride which is now up on our SKINS YouTube channel and some great photos which you can find on our Facebook page

 

Author: Rob Pfaeffli
Copyright: SKINS International

Further information:
Rob Pfaeffli
rob.pfaeffli@skins.net

 

History Making Efforts for HTC-Columbia and Rabobank at Tour de France 2010

02/08/2010 09:02:11

SKINS sponsored Pro Tour teams, Team HTC-Columbia and Rabobank, achieved many successes at the Tour de France 2010.

HTC-Columbia's Mark Cavendish became the first ever rider in history to win for two years running on the Champs-Elysées as he racked up his fifth stage victory in the 2010 Tour de France. Already the winner of stages five, six, 11 and 18 this year, Cavendish's victory in the Tour's final stage is the fifteenth of his career in cycling's top event, and his 59th road win since turning pro in 2007.

"My Tour didn't start too well and in the first week I was wondering how it would turn out," Cavendish said. "But the team rode incredibly strongly for me and I tried to make amends. As the race progressed my feelings got better and better and winning here in Paris on the most spectacular finish of them all is a great way to end the race. When you win you get confident, when you're confident you win. It's as simple as that."

"[HTC-Columbia teammate] Bernie Eisel took me to the tunnel and then Tony Martin dropped me off where I needed to be to go for the win. It's been a real rollercoaster event, but the people here in France always make it special and I want to thank all of them, the team and support staff and all the other people who have helped me all the way."

The win in Paris concluded team HTC-Columbia's successful 2010 Tour de France, which included Tony Martin wearing the Young Rider's jersey in three stages, taking second place in the Prologue and the Individual Time Trial, and Bert Grabsch finishing third in the ITT.

Rabobank’s Denis Menchov fought hard in the Time Trial stage from Bordeaux earning himself a podium position in third place. It was a strong team effort from Rabobank.

Rabobank finished the Tour with two riders in the top 10, with Robert Gesink supporting Menchov in sixth place.

Benjamin Fitzmaurice, SKINS Sports Director – Cycling said: “Team HTC Columbia and Rabobank performed very well in tough conditions. Knowing that the riders would be facing different conditions throughout the Tour from hot and cold to bone jarring road surfaces, SKINS put together individual gradient compression packs targeted for the specific athlete. For recovery, each rider used the SKINS RY400 long tights and long sleeve top. They used RY400 when they got off the bike, after massage, in the hotel and slept in the garments to make sure that their bodies were in the best shape for the stages that lay ahead. We also provided SKINS ICE long tights and long sleeve top to wear in the heat, as the first part of the Tour was unusually hot. SKINS ICE compression allowed the riders to recover and prepare for the next stage in comfort. Other product included SKINS calf tights, which the athletes wore on the team bus, in warm up and for specific recovery after massage and after the stage. SKINS calf tights are ideal for lower limb recovery and it is easy for the riders to slip them on and off.”

“This has been an exciting Tour for SKINS. We have seen the direct benefit of our compression with the riders and we have learnt some things which will go into the continuing development of further products. Now we focus on the upcoming races including the Vuelta, World Championships and the Commonwealth Games in India”, Fitzmaurice said.

 

Author: Benjamin Fitzmaurice
Copyright: SKINS International

Further information:
Benjamin Fitzmaurice
benjamin.fitzmaurice@skins.net

 

SKINS Cycle Pro women’s Bib Shorts Awarded 9 out of 10!

02/08/2010 09:02:11

The August 2010 issue of Cycling Plus has written a great review of SKINS cycle pro women’s bib shorts in its ‘Women’s Kit’ article (from page 76), describing them as “one of the most comfy bibs we’ve tested”.

Here’s the review in full:

 

Author: Kezia Everson
Copyright: SKINS International

Further information:
Kezia Everson
kezia.everson@skins.net

 

Cavendish scores third Stage Win at 2010 Tour de France

16/07/2010 08:02:11

HTC-Columbia's Mark Cavendish has scored his third stage win of the 2010 Tour de France on Thursday, the thirteenth stage victory of his career in cycling's biggest bike race. The HTC-Columbia sprinter beat Italian Alessandro Petacchi and American Tyler Farrar by over two bike lengths on stage 11, a 184.5 kilometre ride from Sisteron to Bourg-les-Valence.

"I'm really pleased to have won again," Cavendish, already the victor in stages five and six, said afterwards. "The team did a great job and we worked hard for this throughout the stage."

Asked about challenging for the green points jersey, a competition in which he is currently placed fourth, Cavendish responded "it's still possible. There are two or three sprints left in the race, and hopefully I can get more wins. We'll see what happens then and take it stage by stage."

Cavendish's latest Tour victory is his sixth of the 2010 season and the 57th road win of his career.

SKINS is a proud supporter and supplier of recovery apparal to HTC-Columbia.

 

Author: Benjamin Fitzmaurice
Copyright: SKINS International

Further information:
Benjamin Fitzmaurice
benjamin.fitzmaurice@skins.net

 

USA CYCLING wins Giro Donne

14/07/2010 08:02:11

Mara Abbott riding for the USA Cycling Women's National Development Program, won the overall Giro Donne today in Italy. The Giro Donne is commonly referred to as the women’s Giro d’Italia.

Abbott became the first rider from the United States to win the Giro Donne, following her second place finish last year.

The 25-year-old soloed to wins in stages 8 and 9 and finished in the main pack in Sunday's final stage 10 to win the race’s general classification. The team exercised its strategy perfectly, defending Abbott's pink leader’s jersey while her fellow USA Cycling teammate Shelley Evans took the sprint victory in the final stage on Sunday.

“I am very proud of these riders,” said USA Cycling’s women’s endurance program manager and the team’s director sportif Manel Lacambra. “Three stage wins and the overall victory is amazing for a national team. These girls displayed great teamwork even though it was the first time they had raced together. We are more than a team, we are friends working hard, growing and racing together for a win. Without the good work from everyone on the team we could not have won the hardest Giro d'Italia ever.”

The former collegiate cycling star held onto a 2:05 margin over HTC-Columbia's Judith Arndt (GER) and another full minute over world champion Tatiana Guderzo (ITA/Team Valdarno) in the final standings.

On Friday, Abbott finished stage 6 from Chiavenna to Livigno one minute, 27 seconds ahead of Emma Pooley of Cervelo Test Team and 1:40 ahead of Arndt. The victory propelled Abbott into the maglia rosa after starting the day in sixth overall, 1:54 behind Dutch rider Marianne Vos.

The stage started to climb almost immediately, and the American women led the charge early on to set up Abbott. "The whole team was working full gas in front of the group," said Lacambra.

Abbott attacked about 28 kilometers into the stage, and only Pooley was able to stay on her wheel. By the 50K mark Abbott and Pooley shared a lead of 1:05 over the peloton. Eventually, the gap grew large enough that Abbott became the virtual leader on the course. Pooley began to fade before the second of three summits, the Passo Bernina, leaving Abbott to ride on her own through the finish line.

In Saturday's penultimate stage, Abbott again went off the front with Pooley amidst the mythical Stevlio climb, but in the final kilometers Abbott attacked and again rode solo to the stage win. Unfortunately, Abbott's USA Cycling Women's National Development Program teammate Amber Neben (Irvine, Calif./Webcor Builders) was involved in a downhill crash, breaking her clavicle.

The famed race concluded Sunday, July 11 in Monza, Italy, with Evans winning the bunch sprint ahead of Kirsten Wild (Cervelo TestTeam) of the Netherlands.

SKINS is a proud supporter and supplier of performance bike apparel and engineered gradient and dynamic compression to USA Cycling.

 

Author: Benjamin Fitzmaurice
Copyright: SKINS International

Further information:
Benjamin Fitzmaurice
benjamin.fitzmaurice@skins.net

 

HTC-Columbia's André Greipel Wins Opening Stage in Austria

05/07/2010 13:22:12

HTC-Columbia's André Greipel clinched his thirteenth win of the 2010 season on Sunday when he won the the opening stage of the Tour of Austria in a bunch sprint in the town of Bludenz.

"The stage's terrain wasn't too hard but we had to work a lot to pull back a break and then take control of the race again in the final kilometres," commented HTC-Columbia's Sports Director Tristan Hoffman. "There were three riders away most of the day and we got the whole team working so we could catch them with about 20 kilometres to go. Then the other teams tried to make life difficult for us in the last two kilometres, but we were able to stay in control, and André won."

According to Hoffman, the team's plan for Austria's opening stage had always been to work for Greipel. "It was a very flat stage, just a few small climbs at the start, so it was pretty clear we would be looking at a bunch sprint. André was very motivated, too, and he'd had a small break after his last race, the Ster ElektroToer, which helped him recover and get ready for Austria. The result showed he was in good shape, too!"

On a great day's racing for HTC-Columbia Sunday, Ina-Yoko Teutenberg took her third straight win in stage three of the Giro Donne in Italy.

 

Author: Benjamin Fitzmaurice
Copyright: SKINS International

Further information:
Benjamin Fitzmaurice
benjamin.fitzmaurice@skins.net

 

Cavendish blasts to eleventh tour stage win of career

09/07/2010 10:05:12

HTC-Columbia's Mark Cavendish has blasted to the eleventh Tour de France stage win of his career Thursday. The 25-year-old's victory came on stage four of the Tour, a 153-kilometre run from Eparnay to Montargis, crossing the line more than a bike length ahead of Germany's Gerald Ciolek. Cavendish hugged and thanked each of his HTC-Columbia teammates after what was a particularly emotional victory.

"Yesterday [Wednesday] didn't go so great. I felt like I'd let the team down when I couldn't finish off with a win," Cavendish said afterwards. "But the team has always believed in me. They gave it 100 percent for me today again, and they never gave up on me. I really wanted to win a stage in the best bike race in the world, too, and now I've been able to do that today. It's amazing."

"The pressure's been really intense," added Cavendish. "It's been really tough at times, but I want to thank all the people who have supported me though the hard moments. I've got an incredible group of friends and family, and a once-in-a-lifetime team, and they picked me up and all helped me to recover. We came here with ambitions to win stages, and I'll keep trying for more stages in the future."

Cavendish win is the 38th for HTC-Columbia's men team in the 2010 season, and is the 55th road victory of his professional career.

 

Author: Benjamin Fitzmaurice
Copyright: SKINS International

Further information:
Benjamin Fitzmaurice
benjamin.fitzmaurice@skins.net

 

HTC-Columbia's André Greipel Wins Opening Stage in Austria

05/07/2010 13:22:12

HTC-Columbia's André Greipel clinched his thirteenth win of the 2010 season on Sunday when he won the the opening stage of the Tour of Austria in a bunch sprint in the town of Bludenz.

"The stage's terrain wasn't too hard but we had to work a lot to pull back a break and then take control of the race again in the final kilometres," commented HTC-Columbia's Sports Director Tristan Hoffman. "There were three riders away most of the day and we got the whole team working so we could catch them with about 20 kilometres to go. Then the other teams tried to make life difficult for us in the last two kilometres, but we were able to stay in control, and André won."

According to Hoffman, the team's plan for Austria's opening stage had always been to work for Greipel. "It was a very flat stage, just a few small climbs at the start, so it was pretty clear we would be looking at a bunch sprint. André was very motivated, too, and he'd had a small break after his last race, the Ster ElektroToer, which helped him recover and get ready for Austria. The result showed he was in good shape, too!"

On a great day's racing for HTC-Columbia Sunday, Ina-Yoko Teutenberg took her third straight win in stage three of the Giro Donne in Italy. 

 

Author: Benjamin Fitzmaurice
Copyright: SKINS International

Further information:
Benjamin Fitzmaurice
benjamin.fitzmaurice@skins.net

 

Hansen out of Tour de France after Heroic Effort in Stage 1

05/07/2010 12:40:12

San Luis Obispo, CA - 4th July 2010 - Adam Hansen will not start stage two of the Tour de France due to broken bones resulting from a crash early in the first stage from Rotterdam to Brussels.

Hansen put in a heroic effort to finished stage one and was even present in the final kilometers in a bid to bring back the break for a sprint finish. Following the race, he was taken directly to hospital for CT scans which showed broken bones.

"I'm extremely disappointed," says Hansen on returning from hospital. "I was really looking forward to this tour and I'm upset now that they have to continue with only eight riders.

"It was one of those freak crashes. I briefly saw something on the road before I hit it and my bike skid across the field. Most riders managed to avoid me but at the last second I hit the back wheel of another rider and went down."

Hansen will be taken to Berufsgenossenschaftliche Unfallkrankenhaus, which is one of the best orthopaedic hospitals in Germany and a partner of High Road Sports, for further treatment.

"We are very happy with the immediate care he received at the hospital here in Brussels," said Team Doctor Helge Riepenhof. "Hansen will now travel to our hospital in Hamburg so that we can make decisions on the best treatment."

"Adam displayed amazing loyalty to the team today by finishing the race and working extremely hard towards the end," said Team Owner Bob Stapleton. "He is an extremely valuable rider and we will definitely miss him at this Tour de France. For now his health is the most important thing and we want to give him the best care for a quick recovery." 

 

Author: Benjamin Fitzmaurice
Copyright: SKINS International

Further information:
Benjamin Fitzmaurice
benjamin.fitzmaurice@skins.net

 

Teutenberg goes for 2 Stage Wins in Italy

05/07/2010 12:22:12

HTC-Columbia's Ina-Yoko Teutenberg clinched her second successsive stage win in the Giro Donne race in Italy on Saturday, bringing her season total of victories to eighteen. Teutenberg was the fastest in the bunch sprint that decided stage two from Sacile to Riese Pio X, a victory which simultaneously confirms her overall lead.

"We had some pretty clear tactics today. We wanted to win the stage and keep the race lead at least up until Sunday's time trial and that's exactly what we've managed to do," said HTC-Columbia team manager Ronny Lauke. "One rider made a long individual breakaway but we managed to keep the race under control and with ten kilometres to go we'd brought her back."

"Ina's teammates set her up perfectly for a the finish, a 300-metre straightaway with a slight downhill, and she finished off their good work without any problems at all. The team now go into the time trial feeling motivated and confident and we're pretty sure of a great result."

Sunday's stage is a 16.9 kilometre individual time trial, and Lauke is optimistic will see HTC-Columbia's riders battling for a third victory in as many days. "We've got three national time trial champions here - Evelyn [Stevens - USA], Judith [Ardnt - GER] and Emilia [Fahlin - SWE] so we've got a lot of different options. And Ina's got us off to the best of starts, too." 

 

Author: Benjamin Fitzmaurice
Copyright: SKINS International

Further information:
Benjamin Fitzmaurice
benjamin.fitzmaurice@skins.net

 

SKINS supports the Tour de Vélo

02/07/2010 18:21:05

We are very proud to be supporting 51 year old amateur cyclist, Quentin Field-Boden in his attempt to cycle the entire route of the Tour de France, 3 days ahead of the main event. The 2010 route takes in over 3,600 kilometers of road and cobbles before the big finish in Paris under the Champs Élysées. Quentin will set off on June 30th and aim to finish his Tour de Vélo on the 22nd July.

“For a long time I have wondered whether someone of my age could actually ride the entire route of the Tour de France,” said Quentin. “You can’t train for this kind of thing, you can only do it for real”. When asked about his concerns over the next 3 weeks he replied, “The biggest worry is safety. Alpine and Pyrenean roads are dangerous. 50-60 miles and hour is not uncommon. Other road users are always a risk.”

We got involved with Quentin’s personal challenge as it embodied the ethos of the SKINS brand. SKINS was the vision of one man who wanted to keep pushing his limits, to keep competing at the top of his game for as long as he could. Going further, faster for longer. A vision that Quentin obviously shares, “Life is very much too short. If you have a dream, get on with it and do it”.

For the Tour de Vélo, we have provided Quentin with a range of C400 clothing which will help him cope with the long days in the saddle and RY400 clothing to speed up the recovery once he reaches the hotel. The route will also expose Quentin to a range of climates and temperature extremes, so we have also provided a variety of short and long sleeves, base layers and jerseys, to allow him to adapt to the conditions.

To follow the progress of the Tour de Vélo and show your support for Quentin’s epic challenge check out his personal blog (updated daily), and follow SKINS on Twitter and Facebook to keep up to date.

 

Author: Rob Pfaeffli
Copyright: SKINS International

Further information:
Rob Pfaeffli
rob.pfaeffli@skins.net

 

World Cup Third Stage Leogang Result

01/07/2010 09:22:12

SKINS hear from Emmeline Ragot after the 3rd round of the UCI World Cup, held on the 19/20th June 2010:

"For the downhill 3rd round of the UCI World Cup we headed to Leogang, Austria, the replacement venue for Schladming - a new place and new track to discover.

"The weather was not really with us this weekend, it rained every single day. The track became more difficult that it was in the dry.

"It was a long track about 5 minutes for the girls, with some really technical wood sections with a lot of roots that got more slippery with the mud on them, the track changed a lot over the period of the WC event with holes and ruts developing in almost every turn. The track was very physical and a challenge for everybody with the sicky mud, but I enjoy ridding this kind of track.

"The qualification run was great, despite some mistakes I finished 2nd behind Rachel by 0.61s.

"The final was on Sunday and the weather was still not cooperating, with more rain. The track was really destroyed for the last run and there were some new holes that had developed since practice that caught me off guard. Despite some mistakes in my final run, my position remained the same - in 2nd place, only this time it was just behind Sabrina Jonnier.

"This has been the best result so far for me this season, I’m happy to be back on the podium after a difficult start to the year. With the Leogang result I have jumped back up in the overall standings to 5th place.

Women’s Results:

Sabrina JONNIER FRA 4:52.70 2

Emmeline RAGOT FRA 4:56.24 3

Floriane PUGIN FRA 4:58.05 4

Tracy MOSELEY GBR 5:02.39 5

Myriam NICOLE FRA 5:05.48

"The next WC event is in 3 weeks in Champery, Switzerland. I’m looking forward to the most challenging and steep track yet." 

 

Author: Benjamin Fitzmaurice
Copyright: SKINS International

Further information:
Benjamin Fitzmaurice
benjamin.fitzmaurice@skins.net

 

Dennis Wins White in Germany

21/06/2010 12:15:12

Team Jayco SKINS Rohan Dennis, 20, has finished third overall in the the Thuringen Rundfahrt in Germany and claimed the white jersey for Best Young Rider.

German John Degenkolb (Thuringer Energie) claimed the tour crown winning by a margin of eight seconds over Australian Tim Roe (Trek Livestrong) with Dennis third at 35 seconds.

The sixth and final stage of the race covered 145km out and back from Hermsdorf and Degenkolb's team rode strongly to defend his narrow leading margin. The stage was won by German Nikias Arndt (Brandenburg) in a bunch sprint ahead of Tino Thomel (KED-Bianchi) but Degenkolb sprinted home in third place to claim a four second time bonus.

Before the start both Jayco-SKINS and Trek-Livestrong had vowed to attack the lead but in the end Degenkolb had their measure.

"Roe attacked on the rise behind Köstritz about ten kilometres from the finish," said Degenkolb, "But I was immediately on his wheel."

Dennis then counter attacked but the German race leader again responded.

"My team had set me up well to block the last attacks of the Australians and Americans," said Degenkolb.

Dennis won the Best Young Rider Classification by a margin of three seconds from fourth placed overall Arndt. Dennis was impressive throughout the Tour from day one when joined his five team mates to claim a convincing win in the opening team time trial stage. 

 

Author: Benjamin Fitzmaurice
Copyright: SKINS International

Further information:
Benjamin Fitzmaurice
benjamin.fitzmaurice@skins.net

 

HTC-Columbia's Hansen Wins Overall in Ster Elektrotoer

21/06/2010 10:55:12

HTC-Columbia's Adam Hansen secured the first stage race win of his career when he finished safely in the main pack on Sunday's final day of the Ster Elektrotoer in Holland. Hansen took the race lead after winning Saturday's hilly stage before making a successful defense of his number one position overall on Sunday's final 174-kilometre stage from Arcen to Helmond.

"Adam said he specifically wanted to ride this race rather than doing the Tour de Suisse, and he certainly made a good choice," said HTC-Columbia's sports director Tristan Hoffman. "After doing so well on Saturday's stage, he became the team leader for the race, and he gave it everything he could to make sure he could win. The final stage was totally flat, and we managed to control the early breaks with help from the other sprinters' teams and keep things together. But then Adam had a mechanical problem and the whole team waited for him and made sure he got back to the bunch. It was important to work for a bunch sprint for André [Greipel] , but we wanted to be sure Adam got his first stage race win, too."

Hansen's victory comes on a great day all around for HTC-Columbia, with Germany's Tony Martin taking another win for the team in the Tour de Suisse's final stage, a time trial in Liestal. 

 

Author: Benjamin Fitzmaurice
Copyright: SKINS International

Further information:
Benjamin Fitzmaurice
benjamin.fitzmaurice@skins.net

 

HTC-Columbia's Martin Wins Time Trial in Tour de Suisse

21/06/2010 10:55:12

HTC-Columbia rider Tony Martin has powered to victory in the final time trial of the Tour de Suisse on Sunday, saying afterwards he was surprised and pleased to have taken the 26.9-kilometre race against the clock in Liestal. Martin finished 17 seconds ahead of Swiss rider Fabian Cancellara, with American David Zabriskie in third.

Copyright TDWSport.com

"I wasn't really expecting this," Martin said afterwards. "I've not been feeling so good in the last two or three days. It's been very cold and rainy here in Switzerland and I didn't think I had much of a chance today. But I was very motivated, I really wanted to put up a good fight for it, and I think the second half of the stage was where I gained most time on my rivals."

Already the winner of the Tour of California's time trial stage this year, Martin said that the Suisse course was very similar. "It was more or less the same, not too many corners and big roads. You didn't have to brake or accelerate too hard, and you could keep a steady pace. That suited me. I lost a little bit of time on the first half of the course, up to the summit of the climb, but saving some energy was the perfect tactic because then I could go full gas in the second half."

After leading the Tour de Suisse during the first half of the race and then taking the final stage, Martin says he is feeling optimistic about his chances in the German National Time Trial Championships next week. "I've heard it's an undulating course, a bit like today's time trial. I'll be focussing on that really hard from now on."  

 

Author: Benjamin Fitzmaurice
Copyright: SKINS International

Further information:
Benjamin Fitzmaurice
benjamin.fitzmaurice@skins.net

 

HTC-Columbia's 19 Year Old Hosking Takes First Professional Victory

17/06/2010 13:22:12

San Luis Obispo, CA - 16th June 2010 - Nineteen year old Chloe Hosking took her first victory as a professional on Wednesday in the criterium at Nature Valley Grand Prix in Minnesota, USA. Hosking won the field sprint against top American sprinters at the end of an aggressively raced stage.

"I'm so happy to have finally won a race," said Hosking. "I was beginning to think I didn't have speed anymore."

With the field only separated by seconds after the prologue that took place earlier in the day, time bonus seconds became a major feature in the 28 lap criterium.

"We decided not to focus on time bonus seconds however," said Team Director Rene Wenzel. "We wanted to concentrate on the stage win, knowing that we still have a few days of racing remaining to focus on the overall.

"The plan worked well because Chloe could go into the final sprint a little fresher than the other sprinters. I'm really happy with the way the team raced to support Chloe to her first professional win. Chloe has been doing a great job this year supporting Ina [Teutenberg] and learning from her in the bigger races. It's great for her to take the responsibility here and come out of it with a win."

Tomorrow is a 65km road race in Canon Falls.

Author: Benjamin Fitzmaurice
Copyright: SKINS International

Further information:
Benjamin Fitzmaurice
benjamin.fitzmaurice@skins.net

 

Team Jayco SKINS dominant in Germany

16/06/2010 11:22:12

Team Jayco SKINS has dominated the opening stage of the Thuringen Rundfahrt in Germany winning the 23.7km team time trial by almost a minute.

The team covered the rolling circuit out and back from Bleicherode, south of Hannover, in a time of 27:42 at an average speed of 51.3 km/hr. Their time was 58 seconds faster than second placed German team LKT Brandenburg with American outfit Trek Livestrong third, also at 58 seconds.

"The team was leading by 20 seconds at the halfway mark and then brought it home really well," said Jayco SKINS Team Director, James Victor.

Michael Matthews, 19, Rohan Dennis, 20, Aaron Donnelly, 19, Luke Durbridge, 19, Richard Lang, 21, and Michael Hepburn, 19, lined up for the stage determined to perform well.

"It was the first European win for Dennis, Durbridge, Hepburn, Donnelly and Lang so it's fair to say they were pretty pleased to score such a dominant win," said Victor.

Dennis won the U23 time trial ahead of Durbridge and Matthews at this year's Australian Open Road Championships whilst both Dennis and Hepburn were members of the Australian quartet that won gold in the teams pursuit at this year's Track World Championships.

"Dennis, Durbridge, Hepburn and Matthews were the four to complete the distance together while Donnelly and Lang played their roles well given the credentials and speed of their team mates," said Victor.

Under teams time trial regulations the four riders who finished together will all be awarded a 20 second margin over the four LKT Brandenburg riders and a 30 second margin over the finishing quartet from Trek Livestrong.

Matthews, who led the team across the line, will wear the leader's yellow jersey into the 148 kilometre second stage from Bleicherode to Wasungen. Overall Dennis, Durbridge and Hepburn fill second to fourth places respectively.

The four Team Jayco SKINS riders also sit in the same order in the Best Young Rider Classification and the team has a one minute lead in the teams classification. 

Author: Benjamin Fitzmaurice
Copyright: SKINS International

Further information:
Benjamin Fitzmaurice
benjamin.fitzmaurice@skins.net

 

HTC-Columbia's Tony Martin Climbs into Lead of Tour de Suisse

15/06/2010 13:22:12

HTC-Columbia's Tony Martin has moved into the lead of the Tour de Suisse following a tough final climb on stage three from Sierre to Schwarzenburg on Monday.

Martin made an attack halfway up the climb that shattered the field and finished tenth on the stage, three seconds behind winner Frank Schleck. Martin now leads by one second over Fabian Cancellara of Switzerland and nine seconds over Sweden's Thomas Lovkvist.

"I was feeling really strong on the last stage and I realised the moment had come to attack," Martin said later. "After a while, though, I didn't feel quite as good and I decided to slow down and wait for the others to come back to me. I made sure I didn't lose too much time in the last kilometre, not going full gas and trying to save a bit of strength for any late attacks."

Second overall and a stage winner in last year's Tour de Suisse, Martin says he will go all out to defend the lead.

"My initial idea was to come to Suisse mainly as part of my build-up for the Tour de France. But this is a very prestigious race, I'm very proud to be in the lead, and I've no intention of letting it go easily.

"The next two stages are more for the sprinters, it's stage six on Thursday which will be the big test." 

Author: Benjamin Fitzmaurice
Copyright: SKINS International

Further information:
Benjamin Fitzmaurice
benjamin.fitzmaurice@skins.net

 

Interview with Australian Rugby Union – Wallabies Strength & Conditioning Coach, Peter Harding

10/06/2010 12:22:12

 

SKINS launches new high performance garment for the Wallabies

SKINS and the Wallabies have unveiled a new SKINS Compression Tracker Top to take the Wallabies performance in training to the next level. The first of a number of bespoke projects in development between SKINS and the Australian Rugby Union, the SKINS Compression Tracker Top has been designed in consultation with Wallabies’ strength and conditioning coach Peter Harding.

The SKINS Compression Tracker Top has all the benefits of the SKINS A400 Series compression plus allows for the GPS device and heart rate measuring equipment to be held firmly yet comfortably in place to gather the most accurate data on players.

According to Peter Harding, in a first for Australian Rugby Union the GPS device is being used to track all the players’ physical activity and monitor everything they do in training. “It takes the guess work out of how many metres they have run for example and at what speed. There is a great advantage to being able to combine the monitoring tools with the latest compression garments to improve the team performance” he said.

The current IRB rule does not allow for hard things including GPS devices to be worn on the body during test matches. The Rugby Football Union (RFU) in England currently has an application in to the IRB for a change on that ruling. According to Peter Harding there will be an enormous advantage to getting the data from the games to more accurately get the balance right between the appropriate amount of training and overtraining.

The effects of SKINS on performance and recovery has been well documented in medical journals and independent research studies. The SKINS Compression Tracker Top is based on the A400 short sleeve top which is specifically made for active bodies. It provides dynamic gradient compression to the lower back, chest and arms which results in more oxygen to muscles to increase core strength, improve muscle stability, reduce lactic acid build up and moderate body temperature.

In addition to enabling players to train in compression the new tops address the limitations of the original mesh vests traditionally used to house the monitoring equipment. They are comfortable to wear; firm fitting against the body so players cannot be held or grabbed and are made of fabric with a high textile strength so they will not tear and will return to their original shape no matter how much stress they are put under. 

Author: Sandy Gersbach
Copyright: SKINS International

Further information:
Sandy Gersbach
sandy@colvin.com.au

 

Back to back wins for Matthews

07/06/2010 15:22:12

Canberra teenager Michael Matthews has collected back to back wins in the Ringerike Grand Prix in Norway with the Jayco-SKINS rider sprinting home in Vikersund to win the third stage of the five day tour.

The 19 year old crossed the line in a time of 3:48:20 two bike lengths clear of second placed Jesper Asselman (NED) with another Dutchman, Mats Boeve third.

"Today was really good and the team worked really well for me and got me to the finish feeling really fresh," said Matthews. "In the last ten k (kilometres) the boys strung it out and set really high tempo and in the last k just smashed it on the front, my boys, and gave me a good lead out for the finish."

As the race headed out of Drammen south along the coast of the Drammensfjord for the 161 kilometre stage Britain's Daniel Shand (Team Raleigh) had his eye on the early intermediate sprint and mountain points. He attacked to win the sprint at 40km and the two climbs at the 45 and 61 kilometre marks.

Shand increased his lead to close to four minutes before the Swedish national team of tour leader Alexander Wetterhall, 24, began to chase and with 30 kilometres remaining had reeled him in.

"Then the attacks were fast and furious," said Team Director, James Victor. "They all knew that with Matthews form he'd be the one to beat in a bunch sprint so everyone was trying to get a rider down the road."

That included Team Jayco-SKINS with South Australian Rohan Dennis, 20, and West Australian Luke Durbridge, 19, attacking in a bid to claw back some of Wetterhall's 20 seconds leading margin. But the race regrouped with ten kilometres remaining and Matthews was poised to pounce.

"Dennis hit the front and kept the pace high for the last kilometre with Matthews tucked in behind," said Victor. "Matthews came off Dennis' wheel brilliantly and had too much speed for the rest, he even managed to start his victory salute 50 metres from the line."

Tomorrow’s 175km stage starts and finishes in Honefoss. "It's expected to be the toughest stage of the Tour and a good chance for Team Jayco SKINS to seriously challenge for the race lead," said Victor.

Wetterhall has a 19 second lead over Norwegian Christer Rake with Matthews sitting third at the top of a group of 28 riders who are all at 20 seconds from the leader. They include Dennis, ranked eleventh, and Durbridge in 15th place. 

Author: Benjamin Fitzmaurice
Copyright: SKINS International

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HTC-Columbia's Goss Wins USA's Biggest One-Day Race

07/06/2010 15:12:12

San Luis Obispo, CA - 6th June 2010 - HTC-Columbia's Matt Goss has powered to victory in the bunch sprint that decided the Philadelphia International Championships, the USA's biggest one-day race, on Sunday.

The young Australian's victory made it two out of two for HTC-Columbia in Philadelphia on Sunday, coming just hours after Ina-Yoko Teutenberg had won the corresponding women's event, the Philadelphia Liberty Classic, for a fourth time.

A recent winner of a bunch sprint stage in the Tour of Italy, Goss's second victory of the season was taken in another hard-fought dash for the line over Slovakian Peter Sagan and Norway's Alexander Kristoff.

"This race is always a tough one, but the exceptional heat and humidity this year made it even harder than usual to get the win," said HTC-Columbia men's team director in Philadelphia, Tristan Hoffman.

"I think only around a quarter of the 200 starters actually completed the course because of the conditions.

"Then a big group went early on and we had to chase very hard to keep it under control, the whole team were working flat out and they did a great job pulling it all back together.

"We had Matt as our leader, we knew he was in good shape after the Giro stage win, so we really drove it hard to make sure it all came together by the finish. We had to fight very hard, but it paid off.

"These races are very important for us, and we came here determined to get some good results," said Hoffman. "It's great that it all worked out so well." 

Author: Benjamin Fitzmaurice
Copyright: SKINS International

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HTC-Columbia Women Victorious in Philadelphia

07/06/2010 15:10:12

HTC-Columbia women won the Philadelphia Liberty Classic on Sunday with Ina-Yoko Teutenberg sprinting to victory. Teutenberg's teammates controlled a full day of attacks by the other teams who wished to prevent the race ending in a sprint, to lead their sprinter to her fourth victory in this race.

"It was really hot today but other than that it was very similar to last year really," said Teutenberg. "There were a lot of attacks but my teammates did a great job to control the race and keep it together for a sprint.

"Evie [Stevens] was always there on the Manyunk Wall to cover the attacks and Kim [Anderson], Linda [Villumsen] and Emilia [Fahlin] did a great job covering everything else. People attacked constantly and on the last lap I was expecting them to really hammer up the climb but I think by that stage they were all a bit tired because of the heat. I started to feel sorry for the guys having to race for another four hours or so.

Coming into the last lap Erinne Willock from Webcor was still ahead of the field and HTC-Columbia steadily reeled her in and were ready to cover attacks on the way back to town. Finally they set Teutenberg up for the sprint with a great lead out around the final roundabout.

"In the end I only just won the sprint as Shelly [Evans] made a very well timed attack on the finishing straight and it took me until 15 meters to go to catch her.

"I'm really happy to win here again. It's one of my favourite races and I look forward to coming her every year." 

Author: Benjamin Fitzmaurice
Copyright: SKINS International

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HTC-Columbia's Monfort takes Overall Victory in Bayern Rundfahrt

31/05/2010 17:59:12

HTC-Columbia's Maxime Monfort battled through storms and torrential rain to secure a prestigious victory in the Bayern Rundfahrt, Germany's leading stage race, on Sunday.

Having taken the race lead when he won Saturday's time trial, the Belgian all-rounder completed the five-day event twelve seconds ahead of Italy's Adriano Malori.

Monfort's advantage over Malori was narrow, but with strong support from HTC-Columbia, the Belgian national time trial champion came through the final day's racing well despite the rough weather conditions.

"The last day was a difficult, dangerous stage, with really heavy rain and crosswinds splitting the peloton again and again," said HTC-Columbia's sports director Jan Schaffrath.

"It was supposed to be a sprinters' stage, but instead lots of riders tried to get into breaks from early on and the racing was very fast right from the first kilometre.

"Max lost this race last year by just 10 seconds, and this is his first stage race win since 2004, so logically he was a bit nervous at times. But he rode very well and stayed in the front group at all times despite all the splits, and his team-mates supported him perfectly and made sure everything was under control."

Whilst Monfort wrapped up the overall victory for HTC-Columbia, team-mate and first year professional Leigh Howard took home the win in the points competition as well.

"It's been a really good race for us all round," Schaffrath said. "And as ever, HTC-Columbia's great teamwork helped make all the difference." 

Author: Benjamin Fitzmaurice
Copyright: SKINS International

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Team Jayco SKINS Sports Director James Victor's Blogs about the Norway Rogaland Grand Prix

31/05/2010 17:53:12

SKINS Cycle Director Benjamin Fitzmaurice adds, "When you read Victor's blog below, it's important to note that only 13 guys finished this race out of approximately 200..."

Sandnes to Stavanger, 193km

May 30, 2010 - After a long drive and warm day getting the guys to the Hotel – only 430km and 6 ½ hours from Oslo airport, everything was shaping up to a great day of racing. But the weather in Scandanavia is certainly unpredictable. This morning was a chilly 6 degrees and drizzling rain. By midday, the race start had warmed to 11 degrees, but still the rain, which continued for most of the 193km of racing.

The first break of the day had Team Jayco SKINS represented by Luke Durbridge and Rohan Dennis in a group of 11, which for most of their 70km escape, the gap hovered between 2 and 3 minutes. Rabobank did all of the chasing, and once caught a counter attack of 17 riders saw Michael Hepburn and Aaron Donnelly, joined by the right Rabobank rider this time.

The gap hovered at 2½ mins. most of the time, and as the group approached the finish town of Stavanger, and 15km along the local freeway, the gap pushed out to 3m.45s. by the time they hit the 5km finishing circuit.

Aaron had done a lot of work getting the lead group’s gap to a winning buffer before the circuit, and also protecting Michael for his much needed energy of the 5 laps of the finishing circuit.

Onto the circuit, Aaron was spent, and was soon joined a few riders out the back when the pressure was on.

The eventual winner, 26 year old Vitaliy Popkov (UKR) ISD Continental team, attacked with 15km remaining, with a big effort by the Rabobank rider to try and join him.

The sprint for 2nd was down to 8 riders, with Michael hitting out at 250 metres to go, to be narrowly beaten by Nikola Aistrup (DEN) Concordia-F-Himmerland for 2nd place, and 32 secs. behind the ISD winner. The remaining riders were pulled off the circuit due to a potential overlap.

A ‘long’ transfer tomorrow to the start of the Ringerike Tour (350km which is supposed to take 7 hours ). As one local reminded me… this is Norway, not the Freeway!

So 5 days of the Ringerike Tour starting Tuesday, and the decisive stage expected next Saturday. Team Jayco SKINS team are in good spirits after another great team performance today. 

Author: Benjamin Fitzmaurice
Copyright: SKINS International

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HTC-Columbia's Pinotti Soars to Top Ten Result in Giro

31/05/2010 17:50:12

HTC-Columbia's Marco Pinotti wrapped up a fine Giro d'Italia finishing in second place on the stage 21 time trial Sunday, and in ninth place overall - his best ever result on general classification in a three-week tour.

In the closing 15-kilometre time trial in Verona, Pinotti clocked the best time at the intermediate checkpoint halfway round the course, and completed the stage just two seconds down on Sweden's Gustav Erik Larsson. Overall, the HTC-Columbia rider was fourteen minutes and 20 seconds down on winner Ivan Basso.

"This has been Marco's best major Tour result by far, and to achieve that in a Giro d'Italia as challenging as this one - I would say the hardest of the last five or six years - was really exceptional," commented HTC-Columbia's sports director Valerio Piva.

"He fought hard from start to finish in the overall classification, and it's a GC result which I'm sure will inspire the team's other riders. Kanstantsin Sivtsov was supposed to be our leader here but he broke his collarbone in a crash before the race started, and Marco has really stepped up to the challenge."

In addition to Pinotti contending the overall, HTC-Columbia took two stages in the 2010 Giro, with Matt Goss of Australia and André Greipel of Germany. "André hung on all the way through the mountains despite being ill, and was determined to get his stage win. That determination finally paid off. As for Matt, he saw his chance and he took it - all credit to him. Craig Lewis came close, too, in the stage to Cesenatico. He only just missed out on the chance of a win, but he played his cards well."

Overall Piva feels HTC-Columbia can be "more than satisfied how we rode in the Giro this year. We came here with what was essentially a team to work for the bunch sprints, but we consistently performed above expectations all round." 

Author: Benjamin Fitzmaurice
Copyright: SKINS International

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HTC-Columbia's Rogers Wins Tour of California

25/05/2010 10:20:12

San Luis Obispo, CA - 23rd May 2010 - HTC-Columbia's Michael Rogers withstood an onslaught of attacks at the finale of the Amgen Tour of California on Sunday to take the biggest victory in his career. With the whole race split to pieces by the tough climb up from Malibu and finished safely to retain his overall lead of the race.

"It was a really tough race," said Rogers. "I knew the last stage of this race wasn't going to be a walk in the park, but I didn't realize it would be that tough. It was obvious early on that Garmin and Radio Shack were going to attack on the fourth lap so we were ready for it. They really stuck it to us and I'm really happy that we could hold on. It was a really tough course.

"This is a very big day for us," said Rogers. "With HTC-Columbia being an American Team based in California, this race is second only to the Tour de France in importance.

"I'm really happy that I could rely so much on my team this week. It's amazing what a team can do together when they have the yellow jersey. They really stepped up to the occasion to win this race.

Rogers' success in California confirms a remarkable season for the Australian, having already won Tour of Andalusia earlier in the season and holding the yellow jersey in Tour of Romandie last month.

"I made a lot of changes this year with my training and my approach to cycling and winning this Tour is really a very satisfying step for me." 

Author: Benjamin Fitzmaurice
Copyright: SKINS International

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Team Jayco SKINS win points jersey in Japan

25/05/2010 10:20:12

Team Jayco SKINS' Michael Matthews, 19, has sprinted home in second place on the final stage of the Tour of Japan in Tokyo to clinch the points classification and finish fourth overall.

Stage 7 took the riders over a distance of 112km including 14 laps of a flat 7km circuit near Oi Wharf at the Port of Tokyo. As expected the finish was decided in a bunch sprint with Italian Claudio Cucinotta (De Rosa) taking the win just ahead of Matthews with Australian Zak Dempster (Rapha Condor) third.

"I wanted to win but you can only do what you can do on the day and at least I kept the points jersey," said Matthews who went into the final stage with a narrow six point lead over Shinri Suzuki (JPN - Shimano) in the sprinter's classification. "I was a bit worried today because there were five intermediate sprints before the final sprint.

"He (Suzuki) kept going for all the sprints early on and I had to follow him and try and roll him in every sprint so he couldn't catch me," said Matthews. "The boys worked on the front for me really well bringing all the scary breaks back so I could keep my jersey and then he got dropped in the last three laps and I ran second so I won pretty easily in the end."

The Canberra teenager collected 20 points on the stage to secure the blue jersey on 88 points well clear of second ranked Suzuki on 62 with Cucinotta third on 56 points.

Matthews narrowly missed a podium place on the overall ranking finishing fourth at 2:39. Italy's Cristiano SAlerno (De Rosa) won the tour by a margin of 1:45 over Kazakhstan's Andrey Mizurov with another Kazakh, Alexandr Shushemoin, third at 2:15.

"Michael did a great job throughout the Tour and even though we started with only four riders, his team mates rode well above themselves to support him and get results for the team," said Team Manager, Brian Stephens. "Especially impressed that Michael was able to do well in a lot of different disciplines - sprinting, time trial and climbing - and that showcased his all round ability."

Matthews was consistent across the week finishing eighth or better on every stage. On day one he claimed the lead in both the overall and points classifications before surrendering the leader's green jersey on Stage 5. But with second place on two stages, third place on Stage 6 and fourth place on Stages 3 and 5 he kept the blue jersey on his shoulders.

"I'm really happy with the way the week went," said Matthews. "Before the tour I didn't know if my climbing form was up to it or my time trial form. I was a little disappointed with my sprinting though and would have like another stage win but all in all it was pretty good."

Pat Lane was the best placed of the remaining Team Jayco SKINS riders in 25th at 13:50 while Richard Lang finished 56th and Nick Aitken 63rd of the 76 riders that completed the Tour. 

Author: Benjamin Fitzmaurice
Copyright: SKINS International

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Team Jayco SKINS deliver on final stage of Olympia's Tour

25/05/2010 10:20:12

U23 Australian time trial champion Rohan Dennis has powered his way to a fourth place overall finish in the Olympia's Tour in the Netherlands after an impressive second place in the final stage individual time trial in Hoofddorp Tijdrit.

The final day's racing in the 830km six day tour, saw the riders contest two stages beginning with a 103km road stage before they lined up in the afternoon for the closing 9.5km race against the clock. Team Jayco SKINS conserved their energy in the morning to prepare for the afternoon's stage.

"It was an amazing final ride by Rohan," said Team Director James Victor. "He has worked hard and ridden good position all week and he deserved to finish strongly."

Dennis went into the day ranked 12th overall trailing the leader, America's Taylor Phinney (Trek Livestrong), by 1:31 but the 19 year old South Australian pulled out all stops in the time trial to clock 11:35.340, the second fastest time of the day. His time was nine seconds shy of the winning time posted by Phinney who led the Tour from start to finish.

The result ensured he finished the Tour in fourth place overall, 1:46 off the pace of Phinney who claimed the trophy ahead of Dutch rider Coen Vermeltfoort (Rabobank) at 1:17. Phinney's team mate Jesse Sergent (NZL) was third overall at 1:27.

Team Jayco SKINS had more cause for celebration with the final stage results of teenagers Michael Hepburn and Luke Durbridge. Hepburn placed third, 15 seconds behind Phinney and Durbridge fifth at 21 seconds.

"Michael was off the start ramp early and had the fastest time until another 80-plus riders later when Rohan powered around the flat course," said Victor. "Rohan was four seconds slower than Michael with five kilometres remaining but he dug deep into the head wind section to take back ten seconds on Michael by the finish."

Dennis finished second overall in the Best Young Rider (U23) classification. 

Author: Benjamin Fitzmaurice
Copyright: SKINS International

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Brad Kahlefeldt Gives SKINS an Update on his Recent Triathlon Achievements

20/05/2010 13:10:12

Partnered SKINS athlete Brad Kahlefeldt recently won the bronze medal in the 2nd round of the SKINS partnered Dextro Energy ITU Series in Seoul, South Korea. As well as recently winning round one of the German Bundesliga in Gladbeck with SKINS team, Buschhuetten.

Read Brad’s report from the last 2 weeks of racing below:

"Well it was a good day in Seoul with a bronze medal in the 2nd round of the World Championships Series in South Korea. Overall my performance was a lot better than in round one, held in Sydney Australia.

 

"I had a strong swim and I was out of the chilly water in the first pack cycling pack who I was able to stick with on what was a very technical bike course. Half of the bike course was in a riverside park and through the parking lot which made it important not to be too far behind coming into this part of the course.

"Transition was fast and into the run Jan Frodo and Courtney Atkinson set a fast pace. I just missed running out with these guys by about 30m. Most of the run I was trying to run up by myself to Frodo and Atkinson who were leading the race. But I was never able to close that gap and crossed the finish line 3rd.

"Currently this puts me 4th on the ITU triathlon World Rankings."

Highlights of the Men's race can be seen in the video below:

"After Seoul I then travelled to Debrecen Hungary for training and stayed at their training centre which was close to the Romanian border. They supported all the triathletes there and were well looked after.

"Last Sunday was the round one of the German Bundesliga in Gladbeck. I had my second win in the series winning by a mere 1 second over team Mate Frenchie Freddy B. We had a strong team racing for team Buschhuetten. The first race was very short 250m swim/5k ride/2.5k run. Then it was a team time trial in the afternoon which we also won. The distance for the team time trial was 550m swim/20km ride/5k run. It was a great day for the team and we won by just under 2min.

"The video of the race can be seen at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JO3weVvrDz8

"I am now training in Tenero Switzerland in the Alps. It is a such a nice location on the lake which borders Italy. Training hard for our next race in Witten Bundesliga on Sunday 23rd May." 

Author: Matilda Raynolds
Copyright: SKINS International

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Team Jayco SKINS' Matthews swaps into points leader's jersey in Tour of Japan

19/05/2010 17:10:12

Canberra's Michael Matthews has surrended the overall lead in the Tour of Japan but remains on top in the sprinter's points classification.

The 19 year old was unable to match his rivals as they attacked on the climb on the last of the 12 laps of the Minami Shinsu circuit but led home the second group in eighth place.

The stage was won by Japan's Shinri Suzuki (Shimano) in a time of 3:59:35 with Italian Claudio Corioni (De Rosa) second and Junya Sano (JPN - Team Nippo) third. Suzuki's win also moved him to the top of the overall classification. Matthews is now sitting in seventh overall at 22 seconds.

Matthews, on 52 points, has a two point lead over Suzuki in the points competition with the next best well back on 34 points.

Tomorrow the riders will endure a six hour bus transfer to Tokyo and on Friday tackle the gut wrenching 11.4km climb up Mt Fuji which boasts a ten percent gradient.

Matthews will now set his sights on taking a stage victory on the weekend when the riders contest a road stage on Saturday before the race wraps up with 14 laps of a seven kilometre circuit in Tokyo on Sunday.

The Tour of Japan is a seven stage race which finishes in Tokyo on 23 May. Nick Aitken, Pat Lane, Richard Lang and Michael Matthews are racing for Team Jayco SKINS. 

Author: Benjamin Fitzmaurice
Copyright: SKINS International

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Injury takes it's toll on Team Jayco SKINS in Olympia's Tour

19/05/2010 17:00:46

Team Jayco SKINS had a day they'd rather forget on stage two of the Olympia's Tour in the Netherlands.

The team began the 156km stage from Heerenveen to Meppel with three riders in the top ten overall but rotten luck saw two riders taken to hospital with broken bones and another two nursing bruises.

"The boys lined up early near the front of the bunch, determined to keep near the head of the race, because we expected unpredictable racing today," said Team Director James Victor.

Five kilometres into the stage a crash brought down around 30 riders including Sydney's Alex Carver and Brisbane pair Malcolm Rudolph and Michael Hepburn.

"Alex went off to hospital and we've confirmed he's got a broken right wrist," said Victor. "Malcolm battled on at the back of the group, hardly able to hold his handlebars with his left arm, but managed to finish a few minutes down. After the stage we had him checked over and he's broken two bones in his left elbow."

18 year old Hepburn, the reigning team pursuit World Champion who started the day in seventh overall, rejoined the race to finish the stage mid-field at 1:34 but is nursing a sore knee and bruises.

American Taylor Phinney stayed out of trouble and picked up his second straight stage win and maintained his overall lead with his Trek-Livestrong team mates Jesse Sergent and Alex Dowsett sitting second and third overall respectively.

Jayco SKINS Luke Durbridge, 19, who went into the stage ranked third, also had a spill. "Luke had a rough time on the narrow roads and fell onto his hip and knee but with good help from Aaron and an injured Malcolm he got back into the race," said Victor.

"Rohan (Dennis) who was fifth in yesterday's opening prologue rode strongly and in good position all day but unfortunately both Luke and Rohan missed a split in the bunch about 30km from the finish.

"Rabobank Continental ratcheted up the pace in the crosswinds and the peloton was in pieces," explained Victor.

The pair chased hard with support from Aaron Donnelly and managed to claw back time to finish with the second group, 22 seconds after Phinney. Durbridge is still in the top ten but has dropped to ninth at 59 seconds while Dennis is now 12th at 1:07 and Hepburn is 67th at 2:24.

Tomorrow's third stage will cover 159.4km from Meppel to Gendringen.

Carver, 18, and Rudolph, with matching blue casts, will fly back to Australia tomorrow to begin their mid-season break ahead of schedule but expect to be back racing in time for the Tour of Gippsland in Victoria in late July.

The Team Jayco SKINS riders for the Olympia's Tour are Rohan Dennis, Aaron Donnelly, Luke Durbridge, and Michael Hepburn. Alex Carver and Malcolm Rudolph have withdrawn with injury.  

Author: Benjamin Fitzmaurice
Copyright: SKINS International

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Goss Takes HTC-Columbia's First Win at Giro

18/05/2010 14:20:46

HTC-Columbia's Matt Goss has blasted to the team's first win in the 2010 Giro d'Italia on Monday, outpowering the rest of the field in a bunch sprint in the town of Cava de Terreni.

Copyright: TDWSport.com

At the end of the 187 kilometre stage, Goss stormed across the line two bike lengths clear of Filippo Pozzato of Italy. USA rider Tyer Farrar was third. Much of the stage was held in torrential rain making for difficult racing, but HTC-Columbia sports director Tristan Hoffman said afterwards the team had fought hard to keep the race under control for a bunch sprint.

"There was a four-rider breakaway but we made very sure that we kept them at a manageable distance," Hoffman said. "The weather was really bad at times, sometimes the streets were like rivers and that made it a lot harder. However, our goal was always to get a bunch sprint, and even though we had no support from other teams and had to work like crazy, the team did a brilliant job today. In the final kilometre Matt took his chance. It was a difficult bunch sprint, slightly uphill and with some unexpected faces in the mix, but he came through just fine. We've been pushing hard for a stage win here in the Giro, and today we got it."

Goss's first victory for HTC-Columbia comes just hours after Mark Cavendish took the opening stage win in the Tour of California, and is the 23rd victory of the season for the men's team.  

Author: Benjamin Fitzmaurice
Copyright: SKINS International

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Team Jayco SKINS - Durbridge impresses on debut

18/05/2010 14:08:42

West Australian Luke Durbridge has made an impressive international U23 Tour debut with third place in the prologue of the Olympia's Tour in the Netherlands.

The 19 year old Team Jayco SKINS rider completed the 10 kilometre time trial in Heerenveen 27 seconds off the pace of reigning individual pursuit World Champion, Taylor Phinney (Trek Livestrong) who won the day in a time of 11:44.720.

Phinney's team mate World Championship pursuit silver medallist, Jesse Sergent of New Zealand was second at 17 seconds. Team Jayco Skins Rohan Dennis, 19, and Michael Hepburn, 18, also performed well with Dennis fifth at 35 seconds and Hepburn seventh at 40 seconds.

"I was pretty nervous," said Durbridge. "I knew I had good form but you never know what your opponents will do so. I was in the car following (Michael) Hepburn before my ride which was really handy to see how to ride the course," he said. "I saved a little bit for the last three kilometres and brought it home really good.

"It's Heppy's (Hepburn) first TT in the last year and a half so a good result from him and also Rohan was consistent as usual so that was really good for the whole team and we're sitting second on teams classification which is really good so a good start to the Tour."

Durbridge last year claimed three gold medals in the Junior World Championships with wins in the road time trial, teams pursuit and Madison while Hepburn and Dennis were both in the line up that claimed the teams pursuit gold medal in an Australian record time at the Track World Championships in March.

"This puts Team Jayco SKINS in a handy position going into the first open road stage tomorrow," said Team Director James Victor. "Race organisers were very impressed with the Australian performances, given we have four 18 year olds, and one 19 year old in the team of six racing in such a high level tour."

The Olympia's Tour is a six day race across the Dutch flat lands. Stage two will cover a 156km course from Heerenveen to Meppel.

"The toughest days for the riders will come on Friday which is a 227.3km road stage and on Saturday when the final stage, a 9.5km time trial, will be raced in the afternoon after a 100km road stage in the morning," said Victor.

Trek Livestrong was the only team to outdo Team Jayco SKINS with Phinney having an exceptional day and his teammates finishing second, fourth, sixth and tenth.

"We'll see how Trek-Livestrong approach it, generally they'll have to probably control cause they've got the jersey so they'll riding on the front and doing the majority of the work and we're just going to have to use that up and wait for the opportune moment to try and get some time back on them," said Durbridge. "Then the final time trial is ton the same sort of circuit as today so hopefully I can go in there with fresher legs and try and get a better result than third.

The Team Jayco SKINS riders contesting the Olympia's Tour are Alex Carver, Rohan Dennis, Aaron Donnelly, Luke Durbridge, Michael Hepburn and Malcolm Rudolph. 

Author: Benjamin Fitzmaurice
Copyright: SKINS International

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Teutenberg Wins in Tour de l'Aude; Visser Retains Lead

18/05/2010 14:00:26

HTC-Columbia's Ina-Yoko Teutenberg battled through galeforce winds on stage three of the Tour de l'Aude in France to take her twelfth triumph of the season and nineteenth career victory in the race, while teammate Adrie Visser remains in the overall lead.

Copyright: CJFoto.com

"I was actually pretty annoyed before the stage started because I'd ridden a poor team time trial the day before, and so I worked hard to forge an early break with three other riders," Teutenberg said later. "The only problem was it was really windy today. It was blowing at maybe 50 or 60 kmh and we were riding mostly into a headwind. It was crazy. Normally you get one windy day in the Tour de L'Aude, but this time it just hasn't stopped and this was the worst of the race so far."

Teutenberg said the break had survived because of strong collaboration, but that it had been a very tough struggle with their advantage at a bare minimum at the finish.

"Cervélo were working very hard behind and after losing one person from the break, we reached the finish with only about 20 seconds on the bunch. It wasn't much of a gap but we kept working together and we were totally exhausted when it was over. The final sprint was really close at first, but I was able to put some distance between me and the rest of the break at the end. It really made up for what had happened the day before."

Teutenberg's win was her nineteenth in the Tour de L'Aude, reinforcing her position as the rider with the greatest number of stage victories ever in the prestigious French race. "It was a really hard day," added Teutenberg's HTC-Columbia team-mate Adrie Visser, "but this is my first ever lead in a stage race and it's really nice to look down and see I'm wearing a yellow jersey. The stage had a really tough start, and later on Cervélo started to chase. But I had a good spot in the bunch and I could hold on ok. Tomorrow [Tuesday] is a lot more mountainous and we're more here for stage wins than winning the overall, but I won't let go of the lead without a fight. Whatever happens I won't forget leading this race, either."

Teutenberg's victory is the third for HTC-Columbia in less than 24 hours, following Mark Cavendish's win in the first stage of the Tour of California and Matt Goss's victory in the Giro d'Italia.  

Author: Benjamin Fitzmaurice
Copyright: SKINS International

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Team Jayco SKINS Wins Stage 1 of the Tour of Japan

17/05/2010 16:00:46

Michael Matthews of Team Jayco SKINS, has taken the lead in the Tour of Japan after winning the opening 2.65km time trial in Daisen Park in Sakai and getting 2nd place in the bunch sprint in stage 2.

The 19 year old Team Jayco SKINS rider clocked a time of 3:14.31 in stage 1 to finish 5.95 seconds ahead of second placed Hong Kong rider King Lok Cheung with Japan's Kazuhiro Mori third in 3:21.08.

In the 2009 race Matthews was fourth on three stages and was pleased to notch up a win on the opening day of this year's event. "Good to get on the podium here finally," said Matthews.

"It was like big square basically," said Matthews of the course. "The back straight was probably the hardest point and we had a bit of a head wind but (it was) pretty flat and then a little kick up at the end, a little hill at the finish. It was quite hard."

Matthews says he wasn't sure of his form lining up in the pre-event criterium which acted as a warm up for the first stage time trial after far from ideal training conditions at the team's European base in Varese, Italy.

"The last couple of days in Italy it's been raining so we haven't done much training just doing rollers and ergo so I wasn't too excited about this tour to be honest," he said. "We haven't been doing much and we couldn't get out on the road and the flights as well sort of knocked us around a bit.

"But we went for a ride yesterday and felt all right, nothing crash hot, but the warm up this morning in the crit (helped) and then I felt good for the time trial so it worked out really well."

The win has put Matthews in the leader's jersey heading into the 121.2km Stage 2 at Nara and he says the team hopes to keep him in the lead up until Stage 5 which is a gut wrenching 11.4km climb up Mt Fuji which boasts a ten percent gradient.

"I'll probably get raked up Fuji so probably won't hold it after that stage because I'm not really a 'big bird' climber," said Matthews. "I can sort of climb but not with the little guys so I'll try and see how I go. If I'm not going that well I'll just sit up and hopefully get some more stage wins the next two days after that."

In stage 2 of the Tour of Japan, Matthews came second in a tight bunch finish behind Cristiano Salerno to secure the overall race leaders’ jersey and the points classification jersey for the best sprinter.

The Tour of Japan is a seven stage race which finishes in Tokyo on 23 May. Nick Aitken, Pat Lane, Richard Lang and Michael Matthews are racing for Team Jayco SKINS. 

Author: Benjamin Fitzmaurice
Copyright: SKINS International

Further information:
Benjamin Fitzmaurice
benjamin.fitzmaurice@skins.net

 

Cavendish Sprints to Victory in Stage One of Amgen Tour of California

17/05/2010 16:00:46

San Luis Obispo, CA - 16th May 2010 - At the end of the 170km opening stage of the Amgen Tour of California, HTC-Columbia led their sprinter Mark Cavendish to victory with a perfect lead out around the streets of downtown Sacramento.

"I'm really happy," said Cavendish after the stage. "I thought it was going to be a bunch sprint and the team controlled it perfectly. When you've got eight guys giving 100% and all trusting each other it just works. Only one guy crossed with their hands in the air but it's a team effort.

"The beginning was quite hard when the attack was trying to go but after that the team controlled it all day to keep the gap down. A couple of teams helped us along the way and then we took over. We've got the best team in the world for leading out a sprint and we know not to take over too early or too late.

"I trust Mark Renshaw's wheel, he trusts Bernie Eisel's wheel, Bernie trusts Tony Martin's wheel and it just goes like that. I'm the one who crosses the line first but all the guys in front of me deliver me perfectly.

"California is always a really nice place to race. The people are always enthusiastic and come out to support the race and especially now that the race is in May and the weather is great.

"We are a Californian team and we have American sponsors and it's an important thing for us to do well here. Hopefully we can get a couple more sprints but the pressure's off a bit now and we would really like to go for GC. Mick Rogers is in the form of his life so I can hope that I can also contribute to that goal too." 

Author: Benjamin Fitzmaurice
Copyright: SKINS International

Further information:
Benjamin Fitzmaurice
benjamin.fitzmaurice@skins.net

 

Amgen Tour of California – BISSELL’S Paul Mach Starts Stage Two Wearing the KOM Jersey in his Hometown of Davis

17/05/2010 16:00:46

128 riders started the first stage of the Tour of California today in Nevada City. The 104 mile day proved harder than expected with 2 sprints, 1 KOM, and a considerable amount of downhill riding.

BISSELL planned to start strong knowing that pro tour teams would not object to letting a small contained group get away (since the sprinter’s teams would bring everyone together for the finish). An opportunity presented itself 20k into the stage as BISSELL’s Paul Mach created and motivated a great 4 man move. Paul, Maarten Tjallingii (Rabobank), Chad Beyer (BMC), and Marc De Maar (United Healthcare) held the break for 2/3 of the day with a 5 minute gap. Paul got 2nd in the first intermediate sprint, eased his way through the second, and then unleashed his furry to win the first KOM of the tour. In doing so, Paul won BISSELL’s first jersey of the 2010 Tour of California.

As expected, several teams came to the front and started to ride the time gap down. Realizing that a field sprint was inevitable, Paul backed off a bit in anticipation of the tough second stage from Davis to Santa Rosa.

Back in the peloton, BISSELL moved their sprinters, Daniel Holloway, Cody O’Reilly, and Andy Jacques-Maynes, into position for a fast and furious finish. The whole field remained intact for the first of 3 finishing circuits. However, there was a horrible crash on the final lap which took most of BISSELL out of position. Fortunately, the 3km rule applied and the group was given the same finishing time.

Paul will proudly start stage 2 in his hometown of Davis, CA wearing the KOM jersey and sitting 7th in GC. It will be a difficult 110 mile stage with 4 categorized climbs. 

Author: Benjamin Fitzmaurice
Copyright: SKINS International

Further information:
Benjamin Fitzmaurice
benjamin.fitzmaurice@skins.net

 

HTC-Columbia's Visser Takes First Lead of Career at Tour de l'Aude

17/05/2010 16:00:46

San Luis Obispo, CA - 16th May 2010 – Adrie Visser is the new leader of the Tour de L'Aude after HTC-Columbia placed a strong second in Sunday's team time trial, just 35 seconds down on winners Cervélo. "It's the first time she's ever led in a stage race so we're all really pleased for her," commented team manager Ronny Lauke. "Adrie's done a lot of great work for the team during the spring. She trained hard over the winter, too and it's nice she gets her time in the limelight. She got seventh in the prologue, third in yesterday's stage and now she's in the lead."

"Collectively HTC-Columbia did much better than some people expected, Cervélo were the clear favourites for this stage and we managed to hold the gap to less than 40 seconds, added Lauke. "It was a  very tough little circuit, technical and on narrow roads, and our team performed very well despite those difficult conditions."

Tomorrow's stage has two second category climbs, but Lauke expects to be able to hold on to the lead. "The ideal scenario would be to take the stage and for Adrie to keep the yellow. We've come close twice, so I think we've shown we're definitely in contention for a win." 

Author: Benjamin Fitzmaurice
Copyright: SKINS International

Further information:
Benjamin Fitzmaurice
benjamin.fitzmaurice@skins.net

 

USA Cycling  Secures 10 Medals at the Pan American Games

17/05/2010 16:00:46

Following the U.S. team’s successful showing during the road race portion of the Pan American Road and Track Championships, American riders broke two world records and earned an additional five medals in the track competitions last week.

Sarah Hammer (Temecula, Calif./American Track Foundation) won continental titles in the individual pursuit and the omnium, and then joined Dotsie Bausch (Irvine, Calif./ATF Empire Coaching Systems) and Lauren Tamayo (Asheville, N.C./Peanut Butter & Co TWENTY 12) to earn another continental title in the women’s team pursuit. Additionally, Theresa Cliff-Ryan (Cedar Springs, Mich./Colavita-Baci p/b Cooking Light) won the gold medal in the women’s points race while Cody O’Reilly (Santa Barbara, Calif./Bissell) rode to a silver medal in the men’s scratch race.

Day one of the track contests saw reigning world champ Sarah Hammer clock a world record time of 3:22.269 in the women’s individual pursuit qualification round. Hammer went on to win the gold medal final during the evening session when she caught Colombia’s Maria Luisa Calle in only five laps.

On day two, Hammer joined forces with Dotsie Bausch and Lauren Tamayo to set another world record, this time in the women’s team pursuit. Posting a time of 3:19.569 en route to their victory in the gold medal round, the newly formed team pursuit trio bested the previous world record by nearly two seconds.

The women’s omnium began on Friday with Sarah Hammer qualifying first in the 250-meter time trial event. She went on to lap the field twice and win the omnium points race with 51 points. On Saturday, she won the omnium pursuit with a time of 3:31.669 to gain a substantial lead going into the women’s 500-meter time trial. After a third-place effort in the omnium time trial, Hammer found herself on top of the podium again with another continental title.

With track racing wrapped up in Aguascalientes, the 2010 Pan American Road and Track Championships are officially in the books, and the U.S. Team brought home ten medals – five on the road and five on the track.

Author: Benjamin Fitzmaurice
Copyright: SKINS International

Further information:
Benjamin Fitzmaurice
benjamin.fitzmaurice@skins.net

 

Cheat Legal TV Ad in HD

SKINS Athlete and Team contracts - Read how our values influence the way we support Sport and Teams

Download a contract in PDF format SKINS Athlete and Team contract

Author: Rob Pfaeffli
Copyright: SKINS International

Further information:
Rob Pfaeffli
rob.pfaeffli@skins.net

 

SKINS Exits Melbourne Storm sponsorship

22/04/2010 16:15:46

SKINS, the world leaders in high performance dynamic gradient compression wear announced today it is withdrawing from its sponsorship of the Melbourne Storm.

“SKINS is appalled by the actions of the Melbourne Storm. Our core values are around fuelling the true spirit of fierce competition.

We understand that sometimes there is a need to give second chances but this level of systemic deceit is inexcusable and therefore we will not be continuing with our partnership. SKINS salute those who leave their sport better than when they started and respect those who handle themselves both on and off the field with honesty, integrity and class. We no longer see these values reflected by the Melbourne Storm” said Jaimie Fuller, CEO, SKINS International.

SKINS sponsors over 150 athletes and sporting teams in Australia and overseas and see sponsorship as a key component to their marketing strategy. Earlier this month SKINS launched an advertising campaign featuring a number of elite athletes, titled “Cheat Legal”, which plays to the fact that SKINS give you an unfair advantage and challenges cheats to keep up the good work because athletes wearing SKINS need the competition.

See our new TV Ad here:

 

“We like to push the boundaries with our marketing and the Cheat Legal campaign certainly does this. We also like to, and will, continue to support athletes and sporting teams who share SKINS’ values. We believe that when it comes to sport there is a line; a line that you fight tooth and nail to defend, a line that you fight even harder to attack. It’s clear that with the Storm’s actions they have a different set of values.” said Fuller.

For more information on this topic contact the author below. The Press Release can be downloaded as a PDF from the Press Release area here: Press Releases

Media Contact: Sandy Gersbach - Colvin International
Please direct all inquiries to our Media Contact

 

A TRIumphant performance!

4/11/2010 11:15:05

Congratulations to SKINS elite athletes Emma Moffatt, Brad Kahlefeldt, Josh McHugh and David Matthews who competed in the opening leg of the 2010 Dextro Energy Triathlon ITU World Championship Series.

11 April 2010 – fifty-seven men and forty-seven women took to the water’s of Farm Cove in world-famous Sydney Harbour to officially kick off the 2010 World Championship Season.

Special congratulations to Emma Moffatt, who won bronze in the women’s event with a final time of 2:04:20 – one second behind the winner, Barbara Riveros Diaz. Emma’s strong performance came just two months after an accident while cycle training, which left her with a broken shoulder.

For more information on the ITU World Championship Series, visit: www.triathlon.org

Author: Kezia Everson
Copyright: SKINS International

Further information:
Kezia Everson
kezia.everson@skins.net

 

Team Jayco SKINS riders help Australia reclaim bragging rights from Great Britain at World Track Championships

3/29/2010 9:18:25

Australia has reclaimed bragging rights from Great Britain after a thrilling battle for gold in the men's 4km team pursuit at the UCI Track World Championships in Copenhagen, Denmark.

The young quartet of Rohan Dennis, 19 (Team Jayco SKINS), Jack Bobridge, 20, Michael Hepburn, 18 (Team Jayco SKINS), and Cameron Meyer, 22, combined to set a new Australian team pursuit record of 3:55.654, eclipsing the time of 3:56.610 ridden by Graeme Brown, Brett Lancaster, Bradley McGee and Luke Roberts to win gold at the Athens Olympic Games in 2004.

The time was just over a tenth of a second faster than the silver medal time of Great Britain's Steven Burke, Edward Clancy, Ben Swift and Andrew Tennant.

The Brits went into the final as the fastest qualifiers after posting a 3:56.869 against the Australians 3:58.185 in the morning round but the Australians responded to the challenge in the medal race.

Dennis, the current Australian U23 Time Trial Champion, got the team off to a fast start setting them up for a sizzling first kilometre of 1:01.819, almost half a second quicker than their rivals.

"I went out a little bit slow in the (qualifying) heat and I got told I basically needed to lift my game a bit to keep up with the Brits, get a good start and good lead from the word go and hold onto it," said Dennis.

From there the Australians maintained the pressure hitting halfway with a leading margin of 0.6sec. Great Britain started to fight back in the final kilometre clawing back some ground and keeping the crowd on the edge of their seats. But it was too late and the Australians held on to win.

The normally taciturn men's endurance coach, Ian McKenzie, was effusive in his praise for the team.

"Absolutely fantastic," he said of their ride. "We went into the final and the boys were pretty confident but we had a meeting this afternoon and I just pointed out a few errors we made this morning (in qualifying) that brought the equation back to less than a second. There's been a couple of occasions over the past four or five years that we've been in the same situation with England so I just reinforced that we'd done this before from behind and they were pretty keyed up."

McKenzie also changed the lineup for the final pulling Victorian Leigh Howard, 20, out and replacing him with Meyer who won the points race title on day one of competition.

"We always have to look at where we could pick up some improvement and we had an equally good replacement in Cameron Meyer with plenty of experience in fourth wheel so we brought him in and it worked well," said McKenzie who reserved special praise for elite debutant Michael Hepburn. "He's the real surprise. I've always had a gut feel that in a couple of years he would be a real powerhouse for us but in his first year to be nearly the strongest guy in the team is a fantastic performance for him and augers well for our future."

Hepburn, the 2009 individual pursuit junior World Champion, was in tears after the win.

"I am over the moon," said the teenager. "This is one of the best Australian teams I've seen and to come in as a first year senior and just to get a start I was happy. I thought I'd take the opportunity if I got the start and I came this morning and I just had fantastic legs today and it's just a day I'll never forget."

Author: Benjamin Fitzmaurice
Copyright: SKINS International

Further information:
Benjamin Fitzmaurice
benjamin.fitzmaurice@skins.net

 

HTC-COLUMBIA'S EISEL BLASTS TO VICTORY AT GHENT-WEVELGEM

3/29/2010 9:11:14

SKINS sponsored HTC-Columbia's Bernhard Eisel blasted to victory in the Ghent-Wevelgem Classic on Sunday, outpowering five riders in a small group sprint. Eisel took off with the other breakaways before the usually decisive Kemmelberg climb. The Austrian then outsprinted them at the finish in Wevelgem for HTC-Columbia's second straight victory in one of Belgium's biggest Classics and top ProTour events.

Ghent-Wevelgem is part of the UCI Pro Tour and the course covers the legendary Belgian pave climb, the Kemmelberg.

"Bernie won it by two bike lengths," said HTC-Columbia sports director Tristan Hoffman. "The other guys tried everything they could to get rid of Bernie because they knew he would be the fastest if it came down to a sprint, but it just wasn't possible. HTC-Columbia had been on the front all day. Bernie and Marcel [Sieberg] and Matt [Goss] were all working away and keeping everything under control. There were some new climbs before the Kemmel, which we'd checked out and ridden over on the Friday before the race, and that was where it all split apart. There were groups everywhere but Bernie stayed calm, got into the right break and then played it perfectly at the finish."

For HTC-Columbia men's team, Eisel's win is the fourteenth victory of the 2010 season. Eisel will now go on to race in two more top northern Classics, the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix.

Author: Benjamin Fitzmaurice
Copyright: SKINS International

Further information:
Benjamin Fitzmaurice
benjamin.fitzmaurice@skins.net

 

SKINS Ambassador Anna Meares wins Second Gold Medal at the 2010 Track World Championships with new World Record

3/26/2010 9:01:34

The gold rush continues at the Track World Championships with Anna Meares winning her second gold medal! SKINS congratulates Anna once again for her superb performance in the team sprint.

Queensland's Anna Meares teamed with Sydney's Kaarle McCulloch to post a world record time of 32.923 in the team sprint.

Meares, 26, and McCulloch, 22, were thrilled with both their win and the fact they cracked the 33 second barrier. "That's something that we've actually thrown up in the air between the two of us for a little while, somewhat jokingly that we'd ride in a 32," said Meares who clocked 18.746 for the first lap before McCulloch steamed home in 14.177 for the second lap to seal the win. "14.1 last lap by Kaarle, that was special, and I think that was what got us the record tonight."

But the duo's progression to the gold medal final was anything but smooth after a mishap filled qualifying round. The Australian and Dutch teams lined up on opposite sides of the track but Dutch rider Yvonne Hijgenaar broke early forcing a restart.

"I think I timed it perfectly the first time around and the false start by the Dutchies threw me a little bit," said Meares who crashed heavily on the restart. "I got a little over anxious and tried to jump it a bit too early and the (start gate) brake grabbed my (back) wheel and threw me off the bike. That really rattled me. I tried to set my wheel up again and I was shaking, I was nervous and tried to calm myself down and get through that one lap."

Author: Benjamin Fitzmaurice
Copyright: SKINS International

Further information:
Benjamin Fitzmaurice
benjamin.fitzmaurice@skins.net

 

SKINS Ambassador Anna Meares Takes the First Gold at the 2010 Track World Championships

3/24/2010 3:01:50

SKINS congratulate Australian sprinter Anna Meares on her superb victory in the 500m time trial at the Track World Championships in Copenhagen.

The Beijing Olympic Games sprint Silver medallist clocked up an amazing 33.381sec. personal best to beat world record holder Lithuanian Simona Krupeckaites, who finished second.

“When I crossed the line and saw the 33.3 I thought it was a great time, but I wasn’t sure that was going to win it,” said Meares. “It was so tight, right down to the line but I’m so pleased that I’ve won this.

“My Nan passed away two weeks ago and my husband’s grandfather passed away two days ago, so I had a bit of extra spirit on my shoulders tonight. To come away with such a good performance, I’m so happy.”

The 27-year-old from Queensland is positive about the possibility of further success in the team sprint, keirin and sprint events – SKINS wish her the best of luck!

Results: Women’s 500m Time Trial
1. Anna Meares (Australia) 33.381 sec.
2. Simona Krupeckaite (Lithuania) 33.462 sec.
3. Olga Panarina (Belarus) 33.779 sec.

Author: Benjamin Fitzmaurice
Copyright: SKINS International

Further information:
Benjamin Fitzmaurice
benjamin.fitzmaurice@skins.net

 

SKINS Hits the 2010 Track World Championships on a High with a Gold for Sarah Hammer

3/24/2010 5:03:52

SKINS sponsored USA Cycling Team’s Sarah Hammer notched up the fastest time in qualifying for the Women’s Individual Pursuit in Session 1 of the World Track Championships in Copenhagen.

She looked comfortable and controlled as she dominated the opening session. In the final against Great Britain’s Wendy Houvennaghel, Hammer added to her qualifying time success by winning the event by over 3 seconds.

SKINS Sports Director – Cycling, Benjamin Fitzmaurice, was at the World Championships for the ride: “This is the first time SKINS has been seen ‘on the bike’ in competitive track cycling on the world stage. Sarah’s ride was amazing when you consider the winning margin in our new C400 compression skin suit. In a sport where winning margins are measured in 1/1000th of a second, a 3 second victory is an outstanding achievement. The feedback from the athletes has been that the SKINS C400 compression cycle wear gives the rider a ‘physical and mental advantage over the competition’.”

Results: Women’s Individual Pursuit
1. Sarah Hammer (USA)
2. Wendy Houvennaghel (Great Britain)
3. Vilija Sereikaite (Lithuania)

Author: Benjamin Fitzmaurice
Copyright: SKINS International

Further information:
Benjamin Fitzmaurice
benjamin.fitzmaurice@skins.net