The Electric Shock

Femke Van den Driessche

The UCI has confirmed there was a concealed motor found in controls on one of the bikes in the pits belonging to Belgian U23 rider Femke Van den Driessche. She is proclaiming her innocence saying the bicycle belonged to a friend who dropped it off at the pits but as we’ll see below, the backstory does not matter when it comes to the UCI rules as rider and team alike are responsible for ensuring they have a compliant bicycle.

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Zwift Review

This blog doesn’t do many product reviews but the virtual world of Zwift is worth exploring both as a consumer product and a theoretical concept too.

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Slow Change

André Greipel

It’s all new. It’s all the same. The 2016 season is underway and everything looks so familiar. Nobody’s using disc brakes nor geolocation and instead it’s back to races in out of season tourist resorts, the ritual pinning of numbers and a peloton packed with calliper brakes.

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Pro Team Sponsors – What Do They Do?

Imagine you’re the head of marketing for a company that sells insurance, steel or adhesives. It might not be the job you always wanted and it’s hard to get excited about these products. What if there was a way to get commentators roaring the name of your brand on live TV, to have people painting your logo all over public spaces while brandishing placards and bedsheets celebrating the company name. It’s a marketing dream. It’s pro cycling.

There are many brands sponsoring teams and all year long people root for Lampre, Cofidis or Soudal but do you know what they do?

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Sponsor The Inner Ring

Jos Van Emden Eneco Tour

Logos help the wheels go round sometimes and they’re needed here too. Here’s your chance to reach over two hundred thousand intelligent cycling fans every month and support this site with an exclusive ad.

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The Wealthiest People in Pro Cycling

Oleg Tinkov

What’s the fastest way to become a millionaire? Start as a billionaire goes the joke only plenty won’t be laughing right now as stockmarkets and commodity prices crash. Several high profile team owners have seen their fortunes descend faster than Peter Sagan off the Rochette. In the first of a two-part series looking at the wealthy backers of the sport here are the billionaire and millionaire World Tour team owners and sponsors.

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Gazprom-Rusvelo To Ride Giro d’Italia

What was it about the team sponsored by a $40 billion company that attracted RCS to give Gazprom-Rusvelo a wildcard for the Giro? You probably can’t name a rider on the Russian team and if you could you’d know they’re not exactly “must have” riders that the Giro needs to send ratings soaring. So the invitation is a surprise. It’s probably down to money but the real concern is collusion between this team and Katusha as both share the same DNA.

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Tour Down Under Preview

The 2016 World Tour begins with the Tour Down Under in Adelaide. This is now a familiar race with habitual finish lines and known climbs but who wins is anyone’s guess given the starting slot on the calendar.

Here’s a preview of the race with stage profiles, the contenders and pretenders for stages and the GC plus TV listings and finish times.

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