Roads to Ride: Col du Tourmalet

Col du Tourmalet

As the latest in the series to explore the famous roads of cycling, here is the Col du Tourmalet in the French Pyrenees. The idea is to discover the road and its place in the world, whether as part of cycling’s history or to look at the route on a day without racing and it is open to all.

The Col du Tourmalet is a legendary place for cycling, steeped in history and steep in slope. The first climb above 2,000 metres ever used for a race and with 75 appearances in the race, the most used climb of the Tour de France.

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The Spin: Amstel Gold Race Preview

Amstel Gold Race

Giant crowds, 34 climbs and a brewery as race sponsor, what’s not to like about the Amstel Gold Race?

This is a different race to the ones we’ve seen in recent weeks. Born in 1966 it is the newest of the spring classics and one defined by suburban roads rather than medieval farm tracks. It marks a change in the season where stage race specialists compete alongside one day specialists. But some things remain constant: Peter Sagan is riding and it’s hard to look beyond him.

Here’s the preview with the riders, the route, the TV timings, beer, weather and more.

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Forbidden Races Allowed…

…but is Your Bike UCI-approved?

A follow up to Monday’s piece about “forbidden races” where the UCI was instructing all national federations to insist on a rule that bans licence holders from unsanctioned events.

The UCI has now issued a press release saying it will not enforce the rule this year but it’s coming 2014. But this doesn’t solve the issue, it probably makes things worse.

The idea of having rules that people are told to ignore by press release is a novel one. But this isn’t the only rule that was meant to apply to everyone but gets ignored. For example a recent rule requires all UCI licence holders to use approved bikes… only it’s another example of a rule that nearly everyone ignores.

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The Kaykov Case: Black Market Drug Detected

When the news came out about Valery Kaykov this morning I couldn’t be bothered to mention it in a tweet. Doping news can crowd out other stories to the point where if one rider tests positive then it can be the only mention they get. Kaykov’s had some success as a track racer but I’d not covered his success in the velodrome nor his wins on the road either so why mentioned he’d tested positive?

Only this has changed because the substance he’s been caught with is GW501516, a drug so dangerous that WADA issued an unprecedented alert last month.

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The Dark Side of the Moon

1969 saw Armstrong, Collins and Aldrin land the Apollo 11 spaceship on the moon and Eddy Merckx rode a Masi bike with Campagnolo Nuovo Record to win his first Tour de France. But just like the moon there’s a hidden side to everything.

Cycling’s dark side is doping. On the day the Apollo 11 mission was launched five riders were rousted for doping during the Tour de France. Antoine Blondin wrote in L’Equipe on 14 July 1969 that the cycling planet was like the hidden side of the the moon with “its valleys of trickery, craters of suspicion and seas of repression.”

The mysteries remain and doping continues to eclipse the sport at times. The video clip above grabbed by Cycling Inquisition shows Universal Sport’s Steve Schlanger and Todd Gogulski saying it’s “only fair” to ask if Nairo Quintana is doping after his win in the Tour of the Basque Country. Only it’s grossly unfair.

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When The Dust Settles

We spot the winner with ease. Watching a chain of events it’s possible to use hindsight and construct a narrative to explain how the race was won. But away from the podium there are many private battles. As the leaders charge though a cobbled section they kick up a dust cloud that leaves others choking and masks a lot of the action.

One way to measure the status of a race is to look at the attention given to the last placed finisher. The greater the race, the greater the triumph of the victor but also for those who finish. There is the lanterne rouge label in the Tour de France and in the Giro once had the maglia nera, a black jersey. But these are grand tours and Paris-Roubaix is special amongst the one day races because there are many stories from those who struggled to reach the finish.

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Forbidden Races

Want to ride a mountain bike race in the USA? A time trial in Britain? A criterium in Australia? A road race in France? A gran fondo in Italy? Careful because whether you’re a novice or a pro you risk being fined and suspended.

A long-standing rule has said licence holders can’t take part in unsanctioned races. Only it’s been ignored by everyone from beginners to grand tour champions. Until now.

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The Moment The Race Was Won: Paris-Roubaix

Cancellara Vanmarcke Roubaix

Paris Roubaix is a race. It’s good to remember this because everyone had Fabian Cancellara as their favourite before the race and after the race everyone saw him holding the winner’s trophy. If you’d missed what happened in between it would possible to shrug and accept that the obvious result occurred, a victory for logic as much as for Cancellara.

Only the 254km race was so good that the result wasn’t known until the final three seconds when Cancellara came out of Sep Vanmarcke’s slipstream on final straight of the Roubaix velodrome to pass the Belgian and lift his arms in celebration. This was the moment the race was won.

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The Spin: Paris-Roubaix Preview

The Belgians might say the Tour of Flanders is the best race of the year. Italians could say Milan-Sanremo is the most beautiful. But the hardest race of the year? With labels like “hell”, “brutal”, “hardest of the hardest”, “queen of the classics”, Paris-Roubaix is the toughest race of the year.

There can be moments when it crosses from a race to a circus event thanks to the giant cobbles, the mud and repeated mechanic failures. But there is something beautiful in the contest and watching riders ride their luck. It’s also high entertainment on TV.

After exploring the tech, the geography and other features of the race and the region, finally it’s time for the race.

The Route | How hard are the cobbles? | The Contenders | How to Beat Cancellara |Weather | TV Viewing | Startlist | The Trophy | History

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