The UCI vs. President McQuaid

The US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) investigation into doping practices at the US Postal cycling team continues. Cycling’s governing body, the UCI, originally said it was a matter for USADA but since changed its mind and tried to take control of the matter, sending USADA a poorly-drafted letter. USADA replied, denying the UCI and in fact upping the stakes with requests for more documentation, creating a stand-off.

Now the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has backed USADA and gone public with criticism of the UCI, stating, amongst other things that “the UCI had misinterpreted its own rules“.

Something has gone very wrong at the top of the UCI.

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Tuesday Shorts

Mars Curiosity

We’ve had news this week of the NASA mission to send a vehicle to the red planet. It turns out the frame is a Litespeed, something spotted by Bill Strickland on Twitter. The US company is obviously more famous for its bikes than its exploratory vehicles, Robbie McEwen won the green jersey in the Tour de France on a Litespeed back in 2002. But the company’s expertise in the design and manufacture of tubing seems to be transferable to other domains.

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British Cycling’s Secret Weapon Unveiled

Ed Clancy

The success of the British Cycling team on the track is making many jealous. Today L’Equipe reports the French are wondering just what the secret is, are the British using special ultra-low friction ball bearings in their wheels or perhaps exploiting new theories on energy and power?

If there is a secret technology it is staying hidden. However there’s a special machine which spins and helps give the British team an advantage that other squads don’t have. A lottery draw machine.

Here’s a look at this advantage plus a focus on some of the technological advantages used by the British track cycling team.

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Sunday Shorts

I hope you’re enjoying the track cycling at the Olympics. It’s proving to be a good contest but at the same time a strange one. For example the rule of one athlete per nation in a race means some of the best riders are left at home, indeed the field is of a lower quality compared to the World Championships. Although because only the best get selected by each nation of course we still get worthy winners. It’s just we’re denied the full show.

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It’s Millar Time – Book Giveaway

I enjoy being sent books for review but this time when the publisher called about the new US edition of David Millar’s autobiography “Racing Through the Dark” I said I’d already reviewed the book when it came out in Europe so there was no point getting another review copy.

Instead they offered to send three copies to give away to readers of the blog. This was impossible to refuse so here’s your chance to win a hardback copy of the book. It’s the US version and includes extras that weren’t in the Euro edition.

Question
What was the type of first bike race David Millar rode:

  • A) time trial
  • B) mountain bike
  • C) BMX

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Book Review: Consumed

Consumed by Jonathan Budds

With the illustration of a cycling figure on the cover and the opening pages talking about a bike race I first took this for a cycling book. But the more you get into the story, the more it becomes.

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The Finances of Team Sky

Cycling teams are businesses. The holder of a UCI Pro Team licence can be an individual but most often the team is a corporate entity, a company created to handle the income from sponsors and pay out expenses like rider wages.

This is the case with Team Sky and, like all companies, it publishes its annual report and accounts. Here is a look at the finances of Team Sky, from the exact budget down to the tiny details and it’s more than just dull accounts, it tells us plenty about the team and the sport. Including why the team has only three employees.

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Track Racing, Bastion of Inequality

I’ll be covering the track racing over the coming days and am looking forward to it. But there’s one thing to cover first, the way women get unequal treatment in the sport.

The opening ceremony of the London games featured scenes from Britain’s past including a tribute to the women who fought for the right to vote and later several women were flag carriers for the Gulf states, a first for the region. But if the struggle for equality is celebrated by some there are still parts of the games were men and women are not treated equally.

Cycling is one such sport and this blog doesn’t cover the others. Cycling is at a halfway point, the 2012 games are the first to award an equal amount of medals to the men and women but women are still riding shorter distances and have smaller team sizes. Should things be equal, can things be equal?

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Olympic Time Trial Preview

Olympic rings

It’s not often a time trial gets a preview but this is the Olympics. But as special as the occasion might be, the course is a classic test of speed and power for men and women alike. It’s also the moment the Olympics leave London’s shiny new sports facilities and medieval palaces for the suburbs and their brick-built houses.

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