Luis Ocaña vs. Eddy Merckx


Here’s a video documentary from last night’s Informe Robinson show in Spain about Luis Ocaña, the 1973 Tour de France winner. It’s a Spanish production but with a lot of French audio thanks to interviews with Eddy Merckx, Johny Schleck and Ocaña’s French widow. Without subtitles it’s obviously not for everyone but if you’re patient you’ll find rich archive of video, photo and more in a slick package.

It’s also the chance for a book giveaway, with a free copy of Daniel Friebe’s excellent Eddy Merckx, The Cannibal book.

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Book Review: At Speed by Mark Cavendish

Mark Cavendish At Speed

A prolific winner, Mark Cavendish is also a publishing phenomenon with two autobiographies out by the age of 28. After “Boy Racer”, this is the second instalment that tells the tale of his time with the Highroad team, his World Championship win in Copenhagen, the year with Team Sky and one season with OPQS.

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Sunday Shorts

Zdeněk Štybar wins the World Cyclo-Cross Championships. He only decided to start last Thursday. I can’t help wonder if this was a bluff, a way to deflect pressure? Because the idea of showing up at a World Championships at the last minute is rare but to win it is quite something else. Probably not but remember this day in case he’s a late entrant for Paris-Roubaix next April.

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GP d’Ouverture – La Marseillaise preview

The season has started the Tour Down and the Tour de San Luis. But this weekend marks the return of road racing in the Northern Hemisphere with the Grand Prix d’Ouverture-La Marseillaise. With it comes a sense of familiarity and repetition and if there are only a few hours to go before this race starts you sense there’s another clock ticking too and this race along with others might have only a few years left on the calendar.

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Rider Agents

Chris Horner’s jobs saga is over with a one year contract with Lampre-Merida being announced today and so he’ll start his 20th season as a pro. It’s a triumph for his new agent Baden Cooke who is getting a lot of publicity out of the deal, valuable since he’s setting up a new agency. It’s the second time this week news of a big deals has emerged with Peter Sagan’s reported agreement to join the new Alonso team for 2015. Normally agents work in the background so here’s a quick look at their role.

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Wednesday Shorts

The days of an easy winter are long gone for cyclists where some light riding and the odd bit of cross-training was enough to last you through January. Today Carlos Betancur’s extra kilos are the exception rather than the norm. If anything some pushing too hard in their winter training. Those returning from Australia to Europe get a climate shock from the cold that lasts for days, just as getting used to the heat was a problem on arrival.

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Tour de France Wildcards

The four invitations for the Tour de France have gone to Cofidis, IAM Cycling, NetApp-Endura and Bretagne-Séché.

Antoine Blondin once wrote the Tour de France was “primarily a story of geography” but these four invitations tell a story of gentle nationalism with home team Bretagne-Séché getting the nod ahead of MTN-Qhubeka.

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Pro Team Sponsors: What Do They Do?

There are 18 World Tour teams and 17 Pro Continental teams. One difference from most other sports is that cycling teams come with naming rights meaning the squad is named after its sponsors. But who are these backers and what do they do?

You might know about Garmin or Cannondale but do you know what Belisol, Lampre or Quick-Step are about? Do you know your Drapac from your NetApp and what links Johnny Hoogerland to Hello Kitty?

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Tour Down Under Race Review

It was the seconds that made him first. Simon Gerrans won the Tour Down Under after consistent performances allowed him to take time bonuses all through the race. On the first day he took third place in an intermediate sprint behind a breakaway and later beat André Greipel to win the stage and get more time. The maths would impress Albert Einstein as the faster Gerrans sprinted, the more time he gained.

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