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

2014 Pro Cycling iCal Calendar

Pro cycling’s off season fast approaching arriving but if the racing stops, the planning doesn’t. Whether you’re plotting a victorious classics campaign or a trip to Europe you need to know when the pro races are.

Here’s the 2014 pro cycling calendar with the final races of 2013 added so you can use it straight away. You’ll soon find the races appear. In addition you can subscribe or download an iCal file to import the same calendar into your organiser, phone and computer diary.

Read more

The Finances of Team Sky

What’s the secret of Team Sky’s success? One element is money as the squad has one of the highest budgets in the sport.

Sky are the only major pro team to publish their accounts and the latest set have just been filed. So here’s a look at the numbers from the headline budget down items like the spend on travel, rider transfers and equipment.

Read more

Tuesday Shorts

Coulda, woulda, shoulda
There’s been a lot of post-worlds chat, especially the Spanish tactics and the British vanishing act. It’s part of the fun to review the race but the Worlds has attracted more talk than usual. How come? Is it national pride that makes people more passionate about the performances? Or maybe because the Worlds is just once a year? Bungle the finish in the Ronde van Vlaanderen there’s always Paris-Roubaix; mess up one day in a stage race and you can still have time to come back. No such chance with the Worlds.

Gran Theft Bici – Disc Brakes – Heulot and Goodbye – Cannondale + Tinkov? – McQuaid – Flandrien Award – Giro Mountain TT – Tiernan-Locke case

Read more

Thanks to Prendas Ciclismo

Every sponsor of this site gets a note of thanks and now it’s time to say thanks to Prendas Ciclismo who have been sponsoring during the Vuelta and the World Championships.

Read more

The Moment The Race Was Won: The Worlds

Joaquim Rodriguez Florence 2013

Four ride into Florence. Joaquim Rodriguez attacks on the final bump of the day and Vincenzo Nibali chases with Alejandro Valverde and Rui Costa following. Soon they will round the final bend and Costa will take off and to close in on Rodriguez. The acceleration is enough to isolate Valverde and close the gap to Rodriguez leaving a two man sprint. This was the moment the race was won.

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

Over To You Brian

The UCI’s Congress met today in Florence’s Palazzo Vecchio to pick a President. It chose Brian Cookson by 24 votes to 18.

If attendees wanted a clue to the direction of events, they needed only to check their tourist guides as the palace was once the workplace of Niccolò Machiavelli, author of The Prince and probably the world’s greatest political schemer. However the procedure lacked finesse and with the world watching the meeting turned into a farce.

Read more

The Worlds, Rainbows and Curses

Famous as the symbol of cycling’s world champion, cycling’s rainbow jersey was first introduced in 1927 when the inaugural world championships were organised in Germany. The winner was Italian Alfredo Binda, one of the sport’s first superstars.

Only look more closely. Since when did a rainbow have a black stripe in the middle?

Read more

World Championships Time Trial Preview

Four riders in search of three podium places. No, it’s not a Pirandello play, it’s the world championships and Tony Martin, Fabian Cancellara, Bradley Wiggins and Taylor Phinney are all aiming for the rainbow jersey.

It’s always a fine test but Wednesday’s race promises one of the best contests in years with several big names stating this is a major goal, all whilst a cast of outsiders are waiting to take their chance too.

Read more

+ More