Reporting the facts, a recent idea

A lot of of the journalism is quite bloggy, opinions rather than facts, and riders try to get in the results to impress those journalists. It’s like when you were an amateur and you had to prove yourself all the time to become professional. Nowadays, it’s like that in the professionals, too.

So said Mark Cavendish in a pre-Tour press conference in London last week. I’d listened to the Real Peloton podcast and heard the quote – amongst the audio interference – and thought his observations on the media were some of the more interesting things from a session that, via the recording at least, sounded a bit dull.

Although interesting to see Cavendish is aware enough to review the media, I didn’t think the point was worth commenting on. But against this there is a small point to make: cycling has a long tradition of lyrical and colourful race reporting. Indeed many reports have been works of fiction.

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Is Eddy Merckx wrong?

“The UCI is going too far by banning the use of syringes for recovery products… it’s foolish and dangerous. The riders, as a consequence, are taking pills and risk unsettling their intestines. What they are doing in a Grand Tour is extraordinary, so why lay such strict rules on them? If a doctor says that they need recovery products, then they do. It’s not by drinking sugar water that they will recover from their efforts produced in the rain of that terrible stage with the Gardecchia…”

So says Eddy Merckx in an interview with L’Equipe, the words have been translated by cyclingnews.com. It feels like I’m doubting a god but I can’t help feel he wrong on the subject of recovery methods.

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Germany, Europe’s largest consumer market

German riders are having a very good season. Andre Greipel’s a dependable winner and this year Tony Martin’s confirmed his abilities whilst neo-pros John Degenkolb and Marcel Kittel have been highly impressive. And if you want a tip, look out for a guy called Tino Thömel.

Germany isn’t quite Europe’s premier cycling country but it is certainly Europe’s biggest country. It’s got the largest population with 81 million inhabitants and the continent’s biggest GDP too. Put simply it’s big and it’s rich and for a sport that rhymes with commerce, where teams are named after companies and brands, it’s a key market. Germany is hard to ignore.

ARD
ARD to ignore

Only that’s exactly what the UCI is doing. It’s refusing to do interviews with German broadcasters ARD and ZDF. For context, switch on a German TV and “channel 1” is ARD. Hit the remote and next comes ZDF. These are broadcasting giants and the German equivalent of Britain’s BBC, CBS in the US or ABC in Australia.

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You know the Tour de France is coming when…

…special adverts appear to promote goods and services linked to the race.

Here are three adverts, the first is in French, the second doesn’t involve much speech and the third is in Dutch. But don’t worry, you don’t need to understand the language to get the message. Be sure to watch to the end.

French Eurosport has Virenque and the Devil:

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The business of journalism in cycling

Le Tour 1903
Fearless self-promotion from Day 1

This could be the subject of a 5,000 word piece but for the sake of brevity and focus, let’s look at one aspect relating to the reporting of cycling news. In a new item on his blog, Cervélo co-founder Gerard Vroomen’s written a sort of apology to some cycling writers, after previously stating the media “had shown absolutely zero critical attitude towards the misgivings of cycling“.

It’s true that we’ve seen a range of reporting, from the critical to the almost-comical fan/insider pieces from writers who have fallen under the spell of the subjects they are supposed to report on.

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Contador’s jersey giveaway

Trofeo Senza Fine

It might sound strange at first but right now Alberto Contador is desperate to unload the Giro’s pink jersey and try as he might, it’s not happening. During today’s stage he was seen on TV talking to Garmin-Cervélo riders Murilo Fischer and David Millar whilst Christophe Le Mevel was up the road in the breakaway, presumably saying he’d be perfectly happy to see Le Mevel stay away if the Frenchman could only take the lead on the GC. This isn’t a secret either, much of the media are reporting this, for example cyclingnews.com.

Why?
Well the jersey comes with prize money and publicity each day but Contador and his team have eyes on the bigger prize: the overall win and the Trofeo Senza Fine, the “trophy without end” pictured above that goes to the winner in Milan.

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Five useful things for following pro cycling

Some readers might be old enough to the days when, living in America or Australia, they waited for the airmail to deliver cycling magazines. Some race results might not arrive for months. These days you can get live images via the internet and instant results via twitter. I like to keep an eye on what’s … Read more

Sunday morning in Flanders

This promotional video for Belgian daily Het Nieuwsblad was doing the rounds last year but a comment from a reader mentioned it and I think it’s worth a mention in its own right, especially if you did not see it last year. The road graffiti saying “God is terug” means “God is back”.

Fix simple things before any revolution

Vaughters Rhone alone
Once upon a time, in a land far away, there was a sport where everyone worked together...

Maybe sometimes you look at your bike and think about getting a new part, some wheels or even another frame. The allure of something new and better can be hard to resist. But the only way to be sure it’s worth the upgrade is to do your homework, investigate the new product and then weigh up the benefits against the costs.

Cycling is looking a bit tarnished now. The hubs need servicing, the wheels don’t run true and the whole frame is looking outdated. But as much as we might want something shiny and new, we don’t know what the replacement is or how things might turn out.

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Rider websites

Many riders are marketable sports stars and like many a celebrity they have their dedicated websites. Some of these aren’t very exciting, often just a repository for images and results. Not to single him out, but Fabian Cancellara’s website isn’t a must read corner of the web. For me it’s the personal tone that interests … Read more