UCI Corruption?

“Embattled” is word to describe the UCI President. Often Pat McQuaid is on the back foot, having to fight a rearguard defence to protect his organisation. The sport’s governing body does plenty of good, from regulating quirky forms of indoor cycling to encouraging the sport in Indonesia but iceberg-like, it’s the area of pro cycling … Read more

Anti Chain Reaction – the rise of online bike shops

In a story I picked up from BikeBiz.com, it seems Spanish bike retailers are trying to unite against the Northern Irish online bike shop ChainReactionCycles.com (CRC). The retailer is almost unbeatable on price. Reactionary opposition Antichainreaction.com has been launched as a protest site, an amusing touch that in order to complain about a website, you … Read more

Groundhog Day

Today is Groundhog Day. In the town of Punxsutawney in Pennsylvania a small rodent is used as a portent for the fate of the upcoming spring . The groundhog has just announced an early spring. Phil casts a shadow over pro cycling The term took on a new meaning following the 1993 film “Groundhog Day” … Read more

No surprise from Bobridge

Get used to it You can read the news this morning that Jack Bobridge has broken the world 4,000 metre pursuit record with a time of 4.10.534. Pick your own superlatives. KryptoniteThe fastest two times of 4.11.114 and 4.13.353 were set by Chris Boardman using the now banned “superman” position. As a result some said … Read more

No risk for Gulf tours

The ladies Tour of Qatar starts tomorrow. At the same time a number of so-called Arab states are seeing prolific pro-democracy protests and several autocratic leaders have been falling back on military force. Right now expatriates are being evacuated from Egypt. So a quick word to reassure anyone that the upcoming pair of races in … Read more

2011 Paris-Nice route unveiled

The route had leaked out but today sees official confirmation of the Paris-Nice stages, starting on Sunday 6 March without a short prologue but a road stage instead. The 2011 “race to the sun” is also an edition with other differences, notably featuring a 27km time trial across the rolling hills of Provence. Stage 5 … Read more

A Week is a Long Time in Cycling

A British Prime Minister once said that “a week is a long time in politics“, remarking how much can happen in the space of a few days, that fortunes can change and new stories come charging over the horizon. I’ve been away for a week and return to find the European racing season has started, … Read more