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On the rest day I thought I’d step away from the Tour de France for a moment. One of the things that fascinates me most about cycling is why we ride. After all for most in the world cycling means transport, not sport. But a few race. At first glance it is a very hard … Read more

Welcome to all the new readers. I realise many people come here for information and updates but if you’re interested in past ramblings from this year, here are seven of the most popular items: Is Bradley Wiggins’s changing position on the bike as important as weight loss? Cancellara’s electric bike rumours were covered on here … Read more

Ok, this is not a revelation but it’s worth reflecting on. During the latest edition of the cyclingnews.com / Pro Cycling magazine podcast, Anthony Tan says: “advertising, to our detriment, gets precedence over often editorial“. Tan was quickly muted by his journalist colleagues. But let’s not extrapolate from one remark over a dinner conversation. Instead … Read more

See the article below for an idea sent in by a reader. Several others have been in touch with suggestions and I’m really happy to hear from readers with comments, suggestions, criticism and more. Note the email address on the top right plus you can use Twitter to keep up, I use the psuedonym 39teeth. … Read more

Any visitor to France will soon notice the wasp-like whine of scooters that have been modified by teenagers. Some part of me thinks that if you are going to be riding an underpowered moped powered by engine designed for a garden strimmer then you’d want to ride around in silence, to avoid drawing attention to … Read more

OK, this is straying away from the usual cycling territory but I’m fascinated by the ejection of the English team from the soccer World Cup. I also wrote about France’s elimination too. Some of the team said they were “tired” and commentators said that the players looked languid. Apparently some blame a lack of a … Read more

It’s now time for the national cycling championships across Europe. The right to wear a distinctive jersey for a year is something worth fighting for, it brings increased recognition but also extra earnings power as the rider becomes a default invitation for many criteriums. The Italian championship in particular looks hard and anyone other than … Read more

Ag2r-La Mondiale’s kit gets plenty of criticism, the brown shorts are not exactly a favourite. But I’ve seen a few riders for real, as opposed to photos, and the jersey looks fine. One thing that will be different for July is that the clothing will feature a special carbon fibre “spine” for the jersey. The … Read more

Twitter is an interesting way to keep up with riders. You can get first hand insights in their racing, plus things outside their life. One thing many riders tweet about is the out of competition antidoping controls. Last night HTC-Columbia’s promising Aussie sprinter Leigh Howard wrote: 9PM at night, just sitting down to eat dinner … Read more

Team Sky gives it riders a lot of choice over kit, for example riders can pick the length of their shorts or the style of their mitts. I’m not sure these tiny details offer many marginal gains but we all have our preferences and it’s nice to be able to choose. For example maybe you … Read more