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Parent Category: Cycling Pro Road & Mtb

Category: News 2010

Published on Friday, 22 January 2010 07:12

Written by Marcella Crisanti

Cannondale Strengthens Global Brand Marketing and Product Management Competencies to Support Category Leadership Goals

Cannondale Bicycles announced today that it has redesigned the structure of its Marketing and Product Management departments to create one central group that will oversee the entire product lifecycle – from development, to manufacturing, to marketing. This innovative approach to brand management will activate key competencies within the organization to further strengthen Cannondale’s product portfolio and support its aggressive growth plan.

In addition to promoting a number of key individuals within the existing organization, Cannondale has hired a General Manager (GM) who will optimize brand growth, set and drive strategic planning and oversee the development of resources within category portfolios. Robert (Bob) Burbank, joins the organization on February 15, bringing a diverse background in global brand management, sales, business development and operations, mostly recently in a Global Vice President role with Burton Corporation.

Cannondale will also welcome a new Marketing Director to its team beginning January 25. Frank Hwang will leverage several years experience as a marketing consultant with a specialization in leading and implementing integrated sales and marketing initiatives to set Cannondale’s marketing objectives and strategies.

As part of the total redesign, the Cannondale Product Management group will relocate from Basel, Switzerland to Bethel, Connecticut. The new Product Management structure will create more accountability towards four key product categories: Road, Mountain, Recreation/Urban and Women. It will include a Global Product Director to oversee each major category and a Global Product Manager responsible for the Women’s category.  Steve Metz will continue to lead the Product Management group in a Vice President role working collaboratively with the GM to set the innovation roadmap for Cannondale.

“Bringing our product management and marketing teams under one roof allows us to think more holistically about the way we develop and market products,” said Jeff McGuane, President, Cycling Sports Group, North America. “We are strengthening the team by developing our internal talent and adding new thinking and complimentary knowledge and skills to the team, which supports our relentless pursuit to become a more consumer-insight driven company.”

Progressively tougher FBD Rás route will guarantee dramatic battle

What is arguably the toughest FBD Rás route for many years has been announced today, and will see the riders cover 1219 difficult kilometres between the start in Dunboyne and the finish in Skerries. Running from May 23rd to 30th, the world-ranked race will subject the riders to 24 categorised climbs, including one summit finish on Seskin Hill in Carrick on Suir, and will feature a strong international and domestic field.

“I think that this year is going to be the toughest in quite a while. It is going to be a good all rounder who will win out,” says race director Dermot Dignam. “It gets progressively harder as the days pass, with the first two stages suited to bunch sprints, the following ones likely to see breakaway groups stay clear, and then the climbers coming increasingly to the fore.

“It means that the final outcome should be in question right up until the end of the race, prolonging the suspense and making for a superb contest.”

The race will begin on Sunday May 23rd with a mainly flat 149 kilometre stage from Dunboyne to Dundalk, which features three Hot Spot Sprints (with important time bonuses), plus the categorised climbs of Slane and the Long Woman’s Grave in the Cooley Mountains.

Day two travels 155 kilometres to Carrick on Shannon and, despite the inclusion of the second category Bellavalley Gap some 45 kilometres from the finish, is also expected to see a big bunch sprint.

Stages three and four head to Oughterard and Tipperary, and are the longest of the race at 171 and 169 kilometres respectively. Dignam feels that heavy roads plus a total of four categorised ascents could enable breakaway groups to stay clear.

The most difficult finish of this year’s race follows on Thursday May 27th, with the 157 kilometre stage concluding at the summit of the category one climb of Seskin Hill. Sizeable gaps will begin to open in the general classification, and the overall standings are likely to be shaken up once again 24 hours later when the riders cover seven categorised climbs and 127 kilometres en route to Gorey.

The penultimate stage is another one for the uphill specialists, with some of the toughest roads in Wicklow taking the riders past the Shay Elliott memorial at Drumgoff and over the Wicklow Gap. Two more climbs follow before the finish in Kilcullen, making it a day of dynamic racing, certain aggression and one of great danger for the race leader.

The race then concludes on Sunday May 30th in Skerries, with the seaside town’s usual huge crowds expected to turn up and hail the winner after 140 kilometres of flat-out racing. Four category three ascents keep the outcome up in the air right until the final sprint.

“The last couple of stages of the FBD RÁS are going to play a huge part in the final outcome of the race,” promises Dignam. “Last year there were one or two comments from riders that the second and third last stages weren’t hard enough and didn’t give them an opportunity to attack the race leader. That certainly won’t be able to be said about this year’s final few stages”.

“The route should make for a very exciting race, and so too the field that will be taking part. There are some very interesting teams lined up, and we will be giving out details about these in the weeks ahead.”

The 2010 FBD Insurance RÁS will once again be sponsored by FBD Insurance and the Irish Sports Council, and is classified as a 2.2 event in cycling’s world rankings.

FBD Insurance RÁS (2.2), May 23 -30:

Stage 1, Sunday 23 May: Dunboyne – Dundalk, 149 km

Stage 2, Monday 24 May: Dundalk – Carrick on Shannon, 155km

Stage 3: Tuesday 25 May: Carrick on Shannon – Oughterard, 171km

Stage 4: Wednesday 26 May: Oughterard – Tipperary, 169km

Stage 5: Thursday 27 May: Tipperary – Seskin Hill, Carrick on Suir, 157km

Stage 6: Friday 28 May: Carrick on Suir – Gorey, 127km

Stage 7: Saturday 29 May: Gorey – Kilcullen, 151km

Stage 8: Sunday 30 May: Kilcullen – Skerries, 2 laps of 13.7km circuit, 140km

Detailed analysis:

Day one of the race on Sunday 23rd May will begin in Dunboyne, home of one of the greats of Irish cycling and twice FBD RÁS winner Philip Cassidy, and traces a mainly flat, 149 kilometre route towards Dundalk. The first wearer of the mountains jersey will be determined after 33.1 kilometres when there is a category 3 KOM/Hot Spot Sprint in Slane. The sprinters will be to the fore again going through Collen at 42.5kms where valuable time bonuses are up for grabs in the second Hot Spot Sprint of the day. The riders will then pass the location of the finish line in Dundalk for the first time after 78.7 kilometres, heading out on a 70 kilometre finishing loop.

This includes the day’s third Hot Spot Sprint in Carlingford (km 104.9) and then, after Omeath, the second category climb of the Long Woman’s Grave (km 121.8). A flurry of attacks is expected there but, as race director Dermot Dignam says, things could well come back together.

“Despite the fact that there is a category 2 climb included, this stage should see a sprinters’ finish,” he states. “While I am sure that the Long Woman’s Grave will very possibly cause an upset, there should be a mass bunch gallop into Dundalk.

“The day also includes three Hot Spot Sprints and with time bonuses up for grabs, these will have a bearing on the general classification that evening.”

The following day is another mainly flat stage. Speeds will be very high between the start in Dundalk and the finish, 155 kilometres later, in Carrick on Shannon. The route twice passes across the border, moves through towns such as Castleblaney, Clones and Belturbet, and features the second category Bellavalley Gap after 110 kilometres of racing. The finish comes 45 kilometres after that.

“Bellavalley Gap will cause problems as it is a category two – it is a long, gradual climb that, if there’s pressure on at the front, could have guys going out the back from early on,” Dignam explains. “The strongest should be there together at the top. However it should all come together before the end for a mass bunch finish into Carrick on Shannon.”

The race organiser is more sceptical about a big sprint at the end of the third stage, a 171 kilometre race from Carrick on Shannon to Oughterard. After heading through Castlerea, Claremorris, Ballinrobe and Cong, home to former FBD Rás stage winner David O’Loughlin, two climbs crop up inside the final 35 kilometres. These are the category three ascent of Gowlaun (km 137.2) above Lough Nafooey plus the tougher, second category Tir na Cille (km 150.9) and, when coupled with the general sluggishness of what is the longest stage, could well fracture the peloton.

“This is a stage where the race is going to break up,” he predicts. “I am sure there will be a breakaway group as there are a lot of heavy roads and plenty of opportunity for riders to escape up the road and disappear out of sight.

“This will be very much a stage for a breakaway group, followed by a couple of chasing groups and then the bunch, which will lose some time. It should be the first real shake-up of the race.”

More of the same is envisaged for stage four, with narrow, tricky roads likely to cause splits. There are also two category three climbs, that of Killanena (km 77.6) and Knockanena (km 85), the latter coming almost exactly halfway through the 169 kilometre race to Tipperary.

“It is a strange stage in so far as the first third of it is very much on good, fast roads,” Dignam continued. “The middle third is on narrow back roads, tricky roads up from Gort to Killanena and all the way down through Killaloe into Birdhill and Newport. There are plenty of drags.

“It is only then in the last 25 kilometres that the riders will get back on a big, open fast road. Again, I feel that the race will probably split up and you will have breakaway groups and chasing groups before the main bunch arrives in.”

Tougher second half:

Time gaps should, until this point, be relatively small, but all will change from this point on. Stage five on Thursday May 27th may well bring about a change in the race lead, and should significantly thin out the list of the overall contenders. Beginning in Tipperary, the route heads for Fermoy and Lismore, crosses the category three The Pike (km 125.7), then concludes with the ferociously steep ascent of Seskin Hill (km 157.1). David O’Loughlin won here in 2004 and will aim to do so again for the An Post Grant Thornton Sean Kelly team, particularly as Kelly is from the nearby town of Carrick on Suir.

Dignam says that this stage marks a turning point in the race. “This stage will definitely play a big role. Guys who are not as confident in the mountains are going to be attacking early on and trying to get clear to win the stage, rather than leaving things to the climb. Once onto the slopes, the mountain specialists will definitely be coming to the fore, tearing things apart.”

If stage five is marked by an extremely tough climax, the subsequent 127 kilometre race from Carrick on Suir to Gorey will do the damage via a long wearing-down process. A relatively flat early part brings the riders through Thomastown and Knocktopher, then once past halfway the first of seven categorised climbs rear up. These are the category three hills of Knockdramagh (km 71.2), Corragh (km 89.8), Carnew (km 99.5), Monaseed (km 106.4) and Laraheenhill (km 112.3), the second category ramp of The Heights (km 74.1) and the first category legbreaker of Corrabutt (km 77.1).

“I think this is going to be one of the toughest stages in the FBD Rás for a long, long time,” says Dignam. “There is a lot of climbing, but also heavy, lumpy roads. Even though some are not classified, there are climbs at regular intervals.

“Corabutt Gap is a difficult climb, and so is The Heights. At the latter end of the stage, when tiredness from that day’s racing and also from the previous number of days will be settling in, I think the riders will be arriving in Gorey pretty much all over the place. It is going to be a very, very difficult stage.”

The same assessment could well apply to the penultimate leg of the race, a 151 kilometre race from Gorey to Kilcullen. Scaling some of the biggest climbs in Wicklow, it will take the riders over the category one climbs of Drumgoff (km 100.7) and Wicklow Gap (km 115.2), and then the second cat Slieve Corragh (km 129.6) and the third category ramp in Tober (km 135.8). The accumulated fatigue of seven day’s racing will make things even more decisive, and the battle for yellow will be raging.

“The pressure doesn’t ease up any way at all on the penultimate stage as it is very tough,” says Dignam. “Most of the Irish lads know Drumgoff and the Wicklow Gap only too well. They are serious climbs and will play a major part into who takes the yellow jersey into the Sunday.”

Whoever is atop the leader board on Sunday May 30th will still have 140 tough kilometres to cope with before being crowned the 2010 FBD RÁS champion. As has been the case in recent years, the race will conclude with two laps of a difficult finishing circuit in Skerries; before then, the riders will skirmish on the Pluckhimin (cat 3, km 85.1) and Cross of the Cage (cat 3, km 104.4) hills.

Once on the circuit, the category three ascent of the Black Hills (km 117.6 and 131.4) will be climbed twice, providing a final springboard for attacks.

“The final day’s stage to Skerries is another very difficult one,” Dignam states. “It’s certain that there will be plenty of aggression, and the battle will rage right until the end. We again expect huge crowds in Skerries, which really gets behind the FBD RÁS, but should also see a lot of support on the roads during the previous week. The numbers of people turning out to watch has jumped considerably, and we are confident that they will have another great race to see this May.”

Top cyclists ready to rumble

New Zealand riders will be pressing hard to break Australia’s recent dominance in next week’s Trust House Cycle Classic in the Wairarapa and Wellington. Australians Travis Meyer and Peter McDonald have won the last two tours, and with seven strong professional teams entered from across the Tasman riders from that country will have a powerful presence. Within the New Zealand squads though there a number of riders with the credentials to be potential winners, none more so that new national road champion Jack Bauer of Nelson. His victory in Christchurch earlier this month on a demanding circuit could hardly have been more impressive when pitted against Tour de France riders, and former winners of the Trust House classic, Hayden Roulston and Julian Dean. However, for Bauer to be successful will require the support of his Trust House team-mates, three of them Australian and the other from Belgium, and for him to be able to climb as well as the better Australians with the tour likely to be decided on the hills. This will be Bauer’s first appearance in the event after finishing second in the Tour of Southland in November. Other New Zealanders who will command respect include last year’s Tour of Southland winner, Heath Blackgrove, whose Team Solway colleagues are a former world junior road champion Jeremy Yates, and Olympic Games team pursuit bronze medallist in Beijing, Wesley Gough, plus the well-performed Logan Hutchings and Scott Lyttle. Team Bici Vida has national under-23 road champion Tom Findlay, who was in the four-man winning break of the senior event, alongside Bauer, Roulston and Dean, and Subway Avanti’s squad is headed by the wily Gordon McCauley, a multi-national champion on the road, and brilliant teenager Michael Vink, who caught the eye in staying away, largely on his own, for most of the 186km of the senior national race in Christchurch. Outstanding track rider Peter Latham is in the Benchmark Homes squad, and another who could feature is George Bennet (Cardno). Last year’s winner, McDonald (Drapac Porsche), Jai Crawford (Fly V Australia), and Joel Pearson (Genesys Wealth Advisers), are three Australians among the 35 entered in a field of 110 from seven countries who might be of most bother to the New Zealanders. McDonald’s preparation is being completed by this week competing in the opening event on the Pro Tour circuit, the Tour Down Under in Australia, where his opposition included a seven-time winner of the Tour de France, Lance Armstrong. Crawford is a hill-climb specialist, ideally suited for this tour. He won the stage up Admiral Hill last year, but his chances of being overall tour victor were hampered in the stage one time trial when he lost valuable time after suffering mechanical failure. Pearson is an accomplished all-rounder, whose results include winning the Melbourne to Warrnambool classic last year. Tour director Jorge Sandoval is delighted with the quality of the field with so many of the best riders from New Zealand and Australia involved. “For the first time in the 23 years of the tour we have seven overseas pro teams, in addition to the 15 from within New Zealand” he said. “The tour is gathering increased recognition on the UCI calendar, and I’m keen for that to be further enhanced. This year’s event is a tough one with so much emphasis on the hill climbs, starting with the return of the stage from Upper Hutt to Masterton, which will promote excellent racing, and ideal opportunities for the spectators to observe the riders up close.” On the tour’s first day, January 27, the Rimutaka road will be closed to all traffic from 9.30am to 11am, and it is the eighth time the class 2.2 UCI event has had major support from the Trust House Charitable Trust. After most of the first four days of the tour are in the Wairarapa, the final stage, a criterium, will be on a circuit on lower Lambton Quay, Wellington, on the afternoon of January 31.