Italian Cycling, Part I: The Ape

Piaggio Ape

You might have heard of Piaggio, the Italian scooter manufacturer and its “Vespa” model. Two wheeled transport is very popular in Italy, especially with smaller 50 and 125cc engines. The countryside is often hilly, towns and villages are never far away, and frequent good weather all combine to make this mode of transport very practical and suitable.

If vespa is Italian for wasp, then note ape means bee, you say “ah-peh”. It’s this that gives its name to the Piaggio Ape, a three wheeled scooter with a flatbed at the back. These are quintessential Italian. Modern pizza is everywhere and partly an American invention; talking with big hand gestures is common all round the Mediterranean. No, I think the Ape is something you’ll find in Italy and nowhere else.

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On Philippe Gilbert

Gilbert Liege

I’ve rarely seen a race like Sunday’s Liège-Bastogne-Liège. Philippe Gilbert started as the race favourite… and Belgium’s favourite star too. Warm weather brought big crowds to the roadside but they’d come to see their son shine.

When the Schleck brothers attacked the move looked useful but only Gilbert went, the others seemed unable to follow. Given nobody else would let Gilbert get a gap but all the same, the move didn’t look devastatingly powerful on TV.

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Communication breakdown

UCI

For a subject that started as a spat over the use of two-way radios in races the breakdown in communication between the UCI and the major teams is not without its irony. The teams say radios are crucial for safety and strategy, but communication between teams and the UCI is broken down.

Earlier this week the majority of top teams walked out of a meeting with the UCI. For me this was a theatrical stunt which won’t fix anything. For the team representatives no doubt it was too much to sit though a lengthy session only to find the issue most relevant to them… hardly merited a mention.

Worse, things are now speeding towards disaster. The teams, via their AIGCP group, have hired a London-based public relations company. You don’t engage an agency like this just to distribute emails, they are there to help position the AIGCP and in PR-speak to “shape the debate”. But it should be noted too that the UCI has also quietly hired a PR agency too.

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Italian Cycling

Giro Merckx

With the Giro d’Italia, the Tour of Italy, less than two weeks away, I’m going to be taking a look at a few things linked to Italian cycling over the coming days. This year’s edition has a fearsome route, with more climbing than ever before; the sprinters cannot count on more than five flat stage finishes.

I’ve trying not to be biased as I have some Italian relations but for me, there’s no finer country for cycling than Italy. Belgium has some great races, the weather on a variety of Spanish islands is consistently good and Switzerland is Europe’s best kept secret. France has some superb terrain… but it also has some dull areas so as a whole it’s doesn’t win.

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The Tour of Belgium

Côte de la Redoute
The redoubtable Côte de la Redoute

Sunday’s Liège–Bastogne–Liège marks the end of the spring classics season and the transition to stage racing and soon, the summer. We’ve had races like Paris-Nice or the Tour of the Basque country and the scenic Giro di Trentino is on right now. But eyes have been on the spring classics in Belgium.

For me the races from early March to the end of April are the fourth grand tour. Races criss-cross Belgium and even Paris-Roubaix and the Amstel Gold have their finishes a cobblestone’s throw away from the Belgian border. Of course there is no yellow jersey but the succession of stages means riders who lose out one day can make amends the next and like a grand tour there are some prestigious stages and some where not everyone races full gas.

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Follow the money

La Polizia
Faster than Ferrari?

If it’s been hard to nail riders and their “doctors” for doping because they’ve often been one step ahead of the testers, constantly refining techniques to avoid detection, one area where people might slip up is the money. Shady riders, teams and doctors might be good at cycling or doping but they are probably so pro when it comes to money laundering. In this instance, it’s quite possible that experienced investigators have a substantial edge on those involved.

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Gilbert vs. the rest

Gilbert Huy

I don’t know where to start, but Philippe Gilbert is surely the most impressive rider of the spring. Cancellara was strong but couldn’t deliver a win; Nuyens and Goss were clever. But for raw power uphill, Gilbert is looking invincible. I wasn’t sure if he could win the Flèche Wallonne but he looked fresh as the bunch tackled the penultimate climb, with riders like Alberto Contador grimacing.

There were doubts in the Flemish classics earlier. He took the Montepaschi Strade Bianche but then seemed a little bit off the pace although that’s relative given he was on the attack over the Bosberg. Some were asking if he was going to miss out on his spring classics campaign.

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The Mur de Huy

Fleche poster

For a mid-week race on Wednesday, the Flèche Wallonne is one of many highlights of the year for me.

The finish is cruel, a fast blast down the valley in 53×12 before suddenly turning right and hitting the Mur de Huy, a vicious climb of just 1.3km with an average gradient of 9.8% that maxxes at 20%.

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Winning clean?

Vansummeren wins

I just wanted to make the observation that we’ve seen the likes of Johan Vansummeren, Matthew Goss and Philippe Gilbert winning big so far this year. So what? Well both Vansummeren and Goss belong to squads with a big anti-doping ethic and “Phil” has long been a supporter of clean cycling, ready to denounce those cheating.

With all the talk of doping investigations in Italy, with the ongoing Contador-CAS saga and more, it’s almost gone unnoticed that teams and riders reputed to be the strictest supports of anti-doping measures are winning.

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RIP Pietro Ferrero

I covered the subject of the nut spread known as Nutella a while back. The paste is popular with cyclists but loaded with calories. It’s pretty Euro too and as such it was the first topic in my series of  about “Eurofoods”, the food products you’ll find in Europe which have a link to the … Read more

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