Losing the agenda

Lance Armstrong Avoriaz

Today sees the Dauphiné head to Les Gets and a large section of today’s stage borrows the same roads as last year’s eighth stage of the Tour de France that finished in Avoriaz, won by Andy Schleck.

On Sunday 11 July 2010 the bunch was speeding to the first proper climb of the race, the Col de Ramaz and on a downhill section during the approach there was a roundabout, a small junction to control the traffic to a nearby supermarket and the kind of thing you find all over France. But it was on a fast piece of road and the passage of traffic arriving fast at the roundabout and braking hard had rippled the tarmac a touch, itself softened by the summer heat. Most riders got through but the skittish surface claimed one victim: Lance Armstrong. Up until then everything was going to plan, Armstrong had finished second in the Tour de Suisse and took fourth in the Tour’s prologue.

But everything went wrong thanks to this roundabout. It took a long time to get going and once he was on his way Armstrong was in the red, chasing with team mates to the start of the Ramaz. Team Sky were driving the pace ahead and Armstrong never got back on, especially since Astana kept the pace high to Les Gets and he eventually trundled up the finish line in Avoriaz, over 11 minutes down.

Yet if a roundabout ruined Lance Armstrong’s hopes last year, it was a random and freak event and his team tried their best to get him back in the race. Fast forward to 2011 and I can’t help but wonder if his troubles today are not being compounded by the result of bad decisions and poor advice.

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Has cycling “Sold Out”?

American documentary maker Morgan Spurlock has a new film called “Sold Out”. You might know him from the “Supersize Me” film where he tried to stick to a diet of fast food and measured the ill-effects.

His new effort focuses on the omnipresence of advertising and branding in our lives, from billboards to product placement. As you can see from the image above, he’s sold space on his clothing to sponsors and in fact the full name for the film is “Pom Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold”.

Yet if Spurlock is employing the classic reductio ad absurdum technique to point out with satire just how much advertising gets beamed at us… doesn’t he just remind you of a pro cyclist posing in front of the team car? What’s normal for us is parody for Spurlock.

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Is cycling a team sport?

Rabo team

“I really view cycling as a team sport… …that in order for their to be a sustainable business model behind cycling you need to have people identify with the team and not the individuals… …if we want the sport to be successful you have got to generate long term loyalty to organisations and not individual athletes”

Those are the words of Jonathan Vaughters, team owner of Garmin-Cervélo in a recent interview with podcasters The Flammecast, explaining his vision for pro cycling as a team sport in the years to come. But glance at the results and it is very much an individual sport, for example the records show Johan Van Summeren won Paris-Roubaix this year. So is cycling a team sport or one of individuals?

The simple answer is that it is an individual sport conducted with teams. But it gets more complicated than that, particularly if we look at the history of the sport and where things might be heading at the moment.

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Grenoble fall out

Tony Martin Grenoble

One of the highlights of the Critérium du Dauphiné was today’s time trial stage around Grenoble. The route is identical to Stage 20 of the Tour de France, the crucial final stage before the parade in Paris. So what lessons can we take from today for July?

Here are the results, the top-10 plus a selection of others.

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So how did the Italians manage to stop Riccò?

Ricco

The reality soap opera that is Riccardo Riccò public life might be tiring. In the latest episode, today his comeback is over before it even started. After announcing a deal to ride for the discreet Meridiana-Kamen team, today brings news that he’s been temporarily suspended “on grounds of health” by the Italian authorities. But if you’re tired of  Riccò, stay with me as this is more a story about local federations having the power to stop a rider from racing if they feel it’s in a rider’s interest.

I got an email from a reader asking why the UCI couldn’t stop him yet the Italians have. Here’s an explanation…

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The pot of gold at the end of the rainbow

UCI rainbow stripes

Irish legend says you’ll find a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Only more rational people know you can never reach the end of a rainbow because it is an optical effect dependent on the viewer’s standpoint.

But there’s an exception to the rule: the UCI has trademarked the rainbow colours associated with the world championships. Any use of these colours on bicycle parts, clothing and more has to be licenced. Payment must be made to the UCI. A genuine way to find gold at the end of the rainbow stripes.

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Lance Armstrong’s shadow falls on a small French sponsorship deal

Earlier today saw a small press release from Tour de France organisers ASO that French clothing company Le Coq Sportif is to provide the leaders jerseys in all ASO races from 2012 onwards, meaning the yellow jersey will no longer be provided by Nike.

Nike poster
It's about the Nike

I put the news of this deal out on Twitter as it’s interesting (to me at least) for several reasons:

  • Sportswear giant Nike have had an on/off relationship with cycling, producing some clothing. It seems they are going off the sport right now.
  • Le Coq Sportif is a traditional French name that has provided cycling jerseys in the past from the 1950s right up until the mid-1980s.
  • We’re seeing a big global name retreat – we’ve also seen Adidas quit – whilst a smaller brand appears.
  • Le Coq Sportif is also a fashionable and retro brand, distinct from the more functional take employed by Nike. We might well see the yellow jersey in 2012 with a more interesting designed.
  • Lance Armstrong and Nike have been linked for years.

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Millar tours the media

Racing Through The Dark

Having completed the Giro d’Italia with a stage win in Milan, David Millar is now touring the media in Britain to promote a book, “Racing Through The Dark“. Millar’s tale is perhaps a mirror for the whole sport itself. He comes from outside of the traditional European cycling nations, wins with ease at a young age before succumbing to doping and then getting mired in police investigations, a lengthy ban and plenty of soul-searching. Then there’s a come back, he joins the same squad as Riccardo Riccò and then moves on to help build the squad that is today Garmin-Cervélo. The full circle.

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Critérium du Dauphiné preview, part II

Having said in the first part of the preview that the prologue was for specialists and that Monday’s stage finish in the Chartreuse massif was “the sort of terrain where Thomas Voeckler, Alexander Vinokourov, Cadel Evans and many others might want to have a try before the likes of Boasson-Hagen eye up the sprint”, the following stages are actually a touch easier to predict.

Stage 2
Dauphiné Stage 2

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The race within a race

Blel Kadri

It’s a small detail but watching the TV coverage of the Dauphiné yesterday the excitement around the performances of French riders was very noticeable. It’s understandable given four Frenchmen made the top-10 in a French race broadcast live on French TV. But there’s more to it than that.

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