Three months after elections, Belgium still has no government. Months of negotiations, politicking, horse-trading and more have come to no avail as the latest attempt to form a parliamentary majority has collapsed. In short, the country is split between Dutch-speaking Flanders and French-speaking Walloonia. There are spats over linguistics but other fault lines too. For … Read more
Pippo, master of disguise! Recent news has said that Italian rider Filippo Pozzato is under investigation for tax evasion. It seems few big name Italian riders are spared investigation and the cliché states that tax dodging is a national sport in Italy. Specifically, the allegations say “Pippo” claims he was living in Monaco but was … Read more
I’m away in a land where there’s no internet for a week. So this blog will be a bit quieter. But I’ve scheduled a couple of pieces to appear here during my absence, come back from time to time. In the meantime, if you’re a new reader, here are a few selections from the past: … Read more
Searching for the new star The Tour de l’Avenir starts on Sunday. Literally the “Tour of the Future”, this is a week-long stage race organised by ASO, the Tour de France organisers. It is for those aged 23 or younger and will see 120 riders from 20 different teams taking part. Last year’s race was … Read more
I can’t be arsed to fly to all the way to Australia just to work for Mark Cavendish, especially as the longest one day race in the world isn’t good prep for the Commonwealth Games 4,000 pursuit That’s what Geraint Thomas didn’t say. The talented Welsh rider has his eye on success in the upcoming … Read more
French wine… or Belgian beer for Jonathan Vaughters? Ask most people in the sport and they can only see Alberto Contador and Andy Schleck dominate the Tour de France for the next few years. Maybe others will share the podium with them but as things stand, the yellow jersey looks locked down. Now such assumptions … Read more
Laurent Fignon is on the front page of all the French newspapers I saw in my local tabac today. L’Equipe calls him “Un Mec à Part“, or a “different kind of guy”. I can’t add to all the anecdotes and quotes. As ever, The Inner Ring is about taking a different angle on things. So … Read more