Many are keeping an eye on Danilo Di Luca. The Italian rider is on the comeback trail with Katusha after a lengthy ban and came close to a stage win in Tirreno-Adriatico over the weekend. Several times during his career Di Luca has been linked to doping scandals and investigations. In 2009 suspicious bio passport … Read more
I want to pick up a point touched on in this morning’s L’Equipe: are the UCI ranking points influencing the outcomes of races? With several riders in the top-10 overall, Team Radioshack went into the final stage of Paris-Nice in a strong position. Although short, the route had five climbs, some tricky descents and the … Read more
Carbon is everywhere. Can you name another atom that has so many branches of science, knowledge and uses, from carbon chemistry to carbon trading, carbon dating to carbon copies? This atom of six neutrons, six protons and six electrons can be found in the air, in the ground, in the seas and in your body. … Read more
Is this a first for cycling? We have “grid girls” on the start line of Tirreno-Adriatico. Note this is in Italy. Often it feels like no presentation on the Giro is complete without a blond model and the Giro picks a woman every year as its madrina, a woman tasked with blessing the race in … Read more
A bookend to the Eurofoods series where I want to look at a few small things rather than one single product. Produits Diététiques There’s no exact translation for these products, they’re part diet-food, part health-food and you’ll often find a whole row in a supermarket dedicated to these products. There’s everything from rice biscuits to … Read more
He’s after alleged unpaid wages and an apology from Slipstream Sports. He had health problems and felt unsupported by his team. At one point he was sent to Dr Del Moral but didn’t know anything about his reputation. He didn’t try to blackmail anyone. The claim was to get unpaid wages and bonuses and the … Read more
A curiosity. Yesterday’s sprint between eight riders saw Andreas Klöden get the better of Samuel Sanchez. Some were surprised to see Klöden win, he is famous for being slow in a sprint finish. But he had a good lead out from a Tony Martin keen to boost his GC chances and Radioshack team mate Janez … Read more
Tim Krabbé’s novel De Renner is a classic of cycling literature. Known as “The Rider” in English, this is semi-autobiographical account of a race in the Lozère and Mont Aigoual. A first person account, it takes you into Krabbé’s mind as he battles to win the tough race. At times there’s action but like any … Read more
AG2R La Mondiale, Bretagne-Schuller, Cofidis, Europcar, FDJ, Garmin-Cervélo and Skil-Shimano are the seven teams that belong to a grouping known as the MPCC, the Mouvement pour un Cyclisme Crédible. They are now calling for teams involved in doping scandals to be involved in any punishment. Normally it is only the rider who is sanctioned but … Read more
Hip It was great to see an attacking rider win from a breakaway. The move looked doomed but the chase behind didn’t appear too organised. At one point Rabobank were chasing, a sign that they wanted to keep a lid on De Gendt’s advantage but not to bring the race back, since they don’t have … Read more