The clip above is of Italian singer Paolo Belli, supported by the band QBeta, and his song “Faccio Festa” (“I party”) which is the official song of the Giro d’Italia. If you’ve been watching the free live coverage by Italian broadcaster RAI on the internet then you’ll have heard it.
Month: May 2011
UCI to ban doped directors?
I was alerted by a reader this morning to the BBC’s two-part look at doping in cycling. The second part features a brief interview with UCI President Pat McQuaid where he mentions the prospect of banning riders involved in doping scandals from working in the sport. Here’s a snapshot:
“I’m not happy there are team managers who have been doping as athletes themselves… …Any cyclist who is involved in a doping infraction in their career cannot come back into management of a team in the future”
This is an idea that McQuaid will present to colleagues at the next Management Committee meeting in June, the UCI’s high-level decision making forum. It would mark a big change. But would it work?
Contador’s jersey giveaway
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.
A helping hand?
Mark Cavendish won in the Giro today but the post-race TV debate on the RAI coverage saw even Eddy Merckx get sucked into a debate over riders getting help to finish a climb. The TV show is called the Processo alla Tappa which translates several ways, including the “trial of the stage”.
Safety nets on Monte Crostis descent
The video above is the descent of Monte Crostis, planned for stage 14 of the Giro, the one that finishes on the infamous Zoncolan. I found the video via Italian journalist Alberto Celani.
Molto tecnica
The climb is hard enough, averaging over 10% for 14km, with an 18% section. Now that’s hard enough but then comes the descent, labelled as “discesa molto tecnica stretta intervallata da numerosi tornati” by the organisers. In plain English that’s a “very technical descent with with numerous bends”.
Giro Competition: The (Inner) Key Ring
I’ve been doing the Inner Ring for over a year now and have landed my first freebie. Mick and Andy from British bike shop Prendas Ciclismo emailed to say they were readers of the site and generously sent a couple of tasteful retro cycling calendars as well as some Giro d’Italia themed keyrings and matching “socks” to store your keys when you go for a ride so they don’t make a hole in your jersey.
They’re quite fun… but “easy come, easy go”. I’m hoarding a couple but now’s your chance to get something for free in a small competition.
SRAM opens up
Component maker SRAM has announced it is going to float on a US stock exchange, that its current owners are selling the business and new shareholders will be able to buy a slice of the company.
When a company does this it has to give comprehensive information in a prospectus so that investors can get a picture of what they might be buying in to. This document runs to hundreds of hundreds of pages and it’s mostly a dull read. But here are some snippets worth sharing:
California snowing
For Europeans, California brings up all sorts of images. From Hollywood to the goldrush, from Los Angeles to San Francisco, not to mention eccentric people and many creative industries. Even the countryside, from the parks to the coastlines, are known. But snow isn’t one of the more obvious associations.
Yesterday’s opening stage of the Tour of California was cancelled, the weather had been bad all week and the day saw new flurries of snow. During the day the stage was on… then it was off… then it was back off. Plus the stage had been shortened to 80km. In the end the riders collectively said “no”.
On your marks, jetset, go
If you polled riders on the worst thing in the Giro d’Italia, chances are they’d ignore the mountains, roads that suddenly narrow and the offroad sections. It’s the long transfers before and after every stage that get annoying.
On the Tour of California
I feel for any race organiser trying to put an event on at the same time as the Giro d’Italia. How you you compete? The answer is you don’t. Instead of wild climbs and off-road riding the Tour of California is a more classic kind of race. Many riders are wary of doing the Giro … Read more