There’s a new trial scheme in Switzerland for those given a doping ban. Unfortunately titled “Windop”* the idea is to counsel those who are given bans for doping offences. Just as many convicted criminals get advice on rehabilitation, the idea is to re-educate someone caught doping. The idea has been started by a psychologist working … Read more
Danish TV ran with some powerful allegations last night. TV2’s “Lige På og Sport” claimed to have seen a document resulting from disgraced Austrian sports manager Stefan Matschiner. Matschiner’s been linked to Bernhard Kohl but rumours put him with Michael Rasmussen. And last night Denmark’s TV2 accused Rasmussen of a further blood doping offence, storing … Read more
“The lady doth protest too much, methinks.”Hamlet, Act III So wrote Shakespeare and today the phrase has entered common use as an example of someone over-compensating to make up for a mistake. Rid us of this troublesome prosecutor! A good example will be this Saturday when the riders on the start line of the Tour … Read more
He’s the red hot favourite for Saturday’s Giro di Lombardia. But cycling is a very open sport where favourites only find the odds mildly in their favour. As we saw in the World Championships, you can be the strongest but not get a result: Gilbert tried but ultimately tried too hard. But give the Belgian … Read more
Frank Grains Many riders have surnames that are also nouns. I apologise if this ruins your TV viewing, those once exotic Euro names can actually prove a bit dull but here are some more of the peloton’s names translated from their home language into English: Borut Bozic – Borut Christmas Diego Caccia – Diego Hunting … Read more
“We have more signings still to come. So far we’ve signed Alex Dowsett, who’s a great prologue rider and has come through the British system, we have the Spaniards, Xabier Zondo and Rigoberto Uran and Mick Rogers” So went Team Sky’s Dave Brailsford in an interview with Velonews’s Steve Thomas. It’s in quotation marks, implying … Read more
Twice up Galiber, twice up Alpe d’Huez? The Tour de France route is announced next week. Every year though the details leak out and you can get a pretty good idea of where the race is going. The start in the Vendée region has already been announced. With time you get to join the dots … Read more
Monaco held a conference called Sportel, based on sports and television this week. One the hot topics was the presence of sportswomen on TV. Anita de Frantz, who works with the IOC, said “there’s a difference in the way the media treat female sports. For example when they speak about a sportswoman, they often use … Read more
I’d seen this before on a Danish website but couldn’t embed the video to share, finally a copy is available on Youtube. Now the world can watch disgraced Dane Michael Rasmussen stepping out in a celebrity dance show in Denmark, Vild Med Dans or Wild With Dance.RatingThe opening crotch-shake is scary but amusing at the … Read more
There are some foods that are particularly European. Maybe people think of fine wine, truffles, baguettes and ravioli. But for cyclists there are some particular foods that stand out. As part of a series about food in Europe for riding, here’s the first: Nutella. Product description Nutella is a sweet spread. It’s made from hazelnuts, … Read more