Sunday shorts

Yannick Noah Bernard Hinault

Oh Noah
Polls in France regular say Yannick Noah is “the most popular Frenchman”. An odd choice perhaps given the semi-retired tennis player is more famous in France for patronising rip-offs of West African music and tax evasion but he comes across as the cheerful sort, an eternal teenager enjoying life doing some good with charity work.

Go to Spain and the polling is all about the general election today. But if anyone tried asking I suspect Noah would win “most unpopular Frenchman” in Spain by some margin. He’s just managed to upset an entire nation with an article in French daily Le Monde:

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IG Markets Pro Cycling Quiz

IG Markets, the financial company that sponsors Team Sky also has a useful ranking system for riders, the IG Markets Pro Cycling Index.

On Wednesday IG Markets organised a quiz between several teams taken from the British world of cycle sport, media and trade and hosted it in a very British setting, a pub.

With reputations to protect and the shield above to win the competition was fierce. But the questions were even harder. Set by staff from Opta, the sports data behind the index, the people at IG Markets were kind enough to send over the questions so you can have a go.

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Rasmussen cleared

Rasmussen in Danish national colours... sponsored by the national postal service

HTC-Highroad’s Alex Rasmussen was said to be “wild with delight” after yesterday’s news that he was cleared to resume racing after a hearing by the Danish cycling authorities.

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The pre-season training camp

Ag2r camp

If you’re on Twitter and follow various pro cyclists you might have noticed quite a few “back to work” messages in the past couple of weeks. Riders have had their time off and it there is no racing until the Tour Down Under in mid-January, there’s plenty of training to be done.

“Cardiologist, podiatrist, dentist, Nalini, Medilast, meeting, medical exam, anti-doping control, Fizik, now a breather with a visit to Olympique Lyonnais”

That’s a day in the life of Luis Ángel Maté at the Cofidis training camp in Lyon, France’s second city. Note there’s no riding. Instead this is a chance for checks and admin, marketing and measurements. Nalini is the clothing supplier and riders get measured for their kit, there is no S, M or L, instead the clothing is measured like a tailor-made suit. After all these companies want their kit to look good and ensuring it hangs right on a pro is part of this. Talking of jerseys, we should see the new Cofidis jersey unveiled.

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Carbon recycling… or repair?

Carbon crack repair

Specialized have been trumpeting their new carbon recycling scheme and I like it. Other bike manufacturers offer similar plans and it makes sense on many fronts, indeed it is not just the cycle sector offering this, it is becoming widespread for many carbon products. Although if it sounds green, the energy processes involved in recycling don’t make this a giant leap in sustainability.

I’ve covered the manufacturing process of carbon before to show carbon is really plastic reinforced by carbon fibres. This can be undone with heat, you can melt the epoxy back out and it can be recycled.

At the same time I can’t help wonder if companies have an incentive to offer recycling plans as a means to encourage consumers to dispose of old frames and then buy new ones. It’s cynical, yes.

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Breakaway leagues, an ongoing story

logo-edmond-rothschild

A breakaway is a common term in cycle racing, used when riders escape from the bunch. Only now “breakaway” is taking on another meaning: an attempt by some to take the sport away from the UCI.

Cyclingnews.com reports of a breakaway league involving financial group Rothschild. I gather this was earlier reported in the excellent Rouleur Magazine but perhaps the distribution was a touch too exclusive and nobody picked up on it.

In addition to the report by Daniel Benson I can reveal the plans involved a full calendar of races including the Tour de France, several classics and stage races and that Garmin/Slipstream boss Jonathan Vaughters was involved. I understand that the Tour of California and the Tour Down Under were amongst the races willing to join. I gather the Amaury family had words with the Rothschild group to pour come cold water on the deals but that others are continuing to work on a potential deal to include ASO.

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Contador’s Rashomon appeal


I keep wanting to do an update on the Contador case ahead of the appeal hearing but the date keeps changing. Now the verdict is expected in January says the Court of Arbitration for Sport:

The hearing will take place in Lausanne from 21 November 2011 at 12:00 to 24 November 2011… …The CAS will issue its decision with reasons as soon as possible but probably not sooner than several weeks following the completion of the hearing. The hearing in this matter was supposed to take place in June 2011 but, at the request of all parties, was postponed to August 2011 and finally to November 2011.

We’re now at the stage where every party in the case has played for time. The UCI sat on the positive test and filed its appeal at the last possible moment. WADA also waited. The Spanish federation, the RFEC, went further and took longer than the rules stipulate to process the case. Contador’s defence team has asked for a postponement of the appeal hearing. And now the CAS will sit soon but it is said there will be no verdict until January 2012.

I welcome a thorough process but the longer things go on the more we see how complex this case is. I wonder if we’ll ever get to the truth of if the appeal will weigh up likely stories and side with the most probable outcome?

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Valverde’s comeback postponed to January

Valverde Movistar

Movistar had announced Alejandro Valverde as the star attraction of a press conference in their flagship Madrid store. The banned rider was to unveil the team’s jersey for 2012. From a marketing perspective having a banned athlete as The Face of your team is perhaps a brave move. But the UCI has intervened to say he cannot take part and the event has been cancelled.

There’s a UCI rule about banned riders staying away from the sport in all forms and I quoted it last August after the rider was spotted taking part in gran fondo rides. He was breaking the UCI’s rules then and – as pictured – even wearing Movistar kit and riding the prototype Campagnolo electric gears. But nobody seemed to mind, presumably because he was being discreet instead of fronting a press conference. Now the UCI has swung into action. Good.

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Shorts, duel edition

Cyclist versus horse is a traditional event, I even covered the subject back in March. This time Johnny Hoogerland takes on a horse called Unforgettable. It’s in Dutch but the video is self-explanatory. The result goes down to the wire.

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