Uncategorized

The Bio Passport and Jonathan Tiernan-Locke

This post isn’t about doping. Instead it’s about procedures and probabilities so if you want something more exciting, wait for the preview of this Sunday’s Il Lombardia race due out soon.

Team Sky’s Jonathan Tiernan-Locke was pulled out from the British team going to the worlds at the last moment and there was talk of an injury with some and fatigue from others. But the weekend saw the story that he was being questioned by the UCI about his biological passport data. What has happened to get these questions and what is next?

Read more

World Championships Road Race Preview

There are few races when we see sprinters line up alongside classics contenders and stage race specialists all with the ambition of winning. This year’s world championships will see 42 of top-50 riders start and then the 272km course will eliminate many contenders.

Who will win? The bookmakers think Fabian Cancellara, I think Peter Sagan but it’s a very open race with a deep field and even the weather promises surprises with thunderstorms forecast for the finish.

Read more

Nothing Lasts Forever

Three teams in one day? Yesterday brought the news that Euskaltel-Euskadi had stopped negotiations with Formula 1 driver Fernando Alonso for the sale of the team licence and there was confirmation in Cycling Weekly that Vacansoleil-DCM was stopping and via Twitter it seems Team Sojasun have no replacement sponsor for 2014.

Cycling teams come and go but there’s something wrong with the way the sport works when decisions concerning the elite of the sport get taken only months away from the new season and so late into the end of the current one.

Read more

Friday Shorts

Bryan Coquard

Ahead of the long weekend of the GP Cycliste de Québec and the GP Cycliste de Montréal the event has held a sprint challenge where three riders are set off at a time and do a road version of a track sprint. It’s a novel format and a way to extend interest in the race given the riders are already on site in Québec. It is a stunt and only a step away from those cyclist vs horse shows we see.

But I keep writing Vuelta previews saying “tune in for the sprint finish” which sadly implies we should ignore the previous four hours of racing, I don’t mean to say this but know that viewers don’t have infinite time to watch the race cross landscapes. These sprints do focus the action and create a show.

Read more

The UCI Presidential Campaign Gets Dirty

It’s hard to find a dirtier election contest than the battle to run the UCI. Overnight Velonews brought us enough allegations of shakedowns, cover-ups and bribery to fill a James Ellroy novel. You can see a three-page summary of a 54-page dossier that has existed since June containing potent allegations against Pat McQuaid.

But McQuaid has fired back today with allegations that he’s the victim of extortion and bribery attempts from unnamed “opponents”. These are equally bold allegations too. For all the stories we’ve seen so far regarding the UCI it’s now reached a new level with allegations of criminal conspiracy on both sides.

Read more

Sunday Shorts

For all the talk of disc brakes being the future of road cycling, here’s the winning road bike from the Eurobike trade show. It’s by Factor Bikes and comes with integrated brakes. These are built-in brake calipers as opposed to the normal idea of bolting them on to the frame or fork. It’s not new, Lotto-Belisol ride often ride Ridleys with this feature too.

Read more

Vuelta Stage 1 Preview

The opening stage of the Vuelta is no introductory prologue. Instead this team time trial is long enough to see significant time gaps open up and shape the overall classification for the first week. This is a fast course for big rouleurs, the antithesis of a race where the winner in three weeks’ time will be climber with a compact chainset.

It’s an evening event with the race concluding as the sun sets off the coast so adjust your TV routine if you plan to catch this on TV.

Read more

Tour de l’Avenir

The Tour de l’Avenir translates as the “Tour of the Future” and this year’s race begins a chapter in the race with new ownership and an extended format. It’s now an eight day race reserved for U-23 riders and has to be the best single guage of new talent.

Past winners include Felice Gimondi, Joop Zoetemelk, Laurent Fignon, Greg LeMond, Miguel Indurain and Nairo Quintana.

Read more

McQuaid’s Swiss Role Reversal

After his Irish support collapsed, Pat McQuaid had announced that Swiss Cycling was nominating him to stand as President as the UCI. The Swiss federation has now withdrawn its support.

In addition the UCI has sought legal advice regarding its recent actions relating to the presidential nominations. Whilst the press release to accompany this sounded confident, the opinion isn’t as firm and McQuaid’s additional Thai and Moroccan nominations are far from secure.

But the more we look at points of law, the more we see a dysfunctional governing body stuck in procedural quicksand. The contest to become UCI President is slipping into the hands of the lawyers.

Read more

+ More