I’m feeling sorry for Trent Lowe. A promising climber, his career didn’t work out. He ended his time with Slipstream Sports badly after he got fired for not using team kit whilst still technically under contract and then his Pegasus team never made it to the start line. They say things come in threes but … Read more
Vladi Karpets might have lost his mullet but there are others in the bunch who let their hair down after a race. Here’s a quick look… Daniel Oss has a lot more But, Samson-like, his hair has grown alongside his reputation. It was tidy as a neo-pro, now it’s alive. A rider for the classics, … Read more
A quick post to say I’m considering hosting some advertising on The Inner Ring. A few people in the cycle trade have been in touch to express interest and I wanted to gauge your reaction to this. Rest assured that if this happens the site won’t be full of flash script and blinking adverts. My … Read more
A modest proposal to make women’s racing more exciting: do it naked. The sport suffers from a lack of sponsors and reduced TV coverage. New fans would arrive, TV audiences would grow and sponsorship would rise. It needn’t be fully naked, skimpy outfits work in beach volleyball and something small would be ok for the … Read more
Several people have been returning to a piece from this time last year when I revealed Quick Step thought about signing Peter Sagan but eventually decided against it and the Slovak wunderkind joined Liquigas. What’s the Dutch word for regret? QS team manager Lefevere said Sagan delivered good results in an effort test and a … Read more
we have won more races in 2008, 2009 and 2010 than any other team. Talented young stars and experienced leaders, working together to achieve success on the world stage. Our commitment to teamwork and to the best tools and technology has made us the world leader in victories. 412 wins since 2008 That’s from the … Read more
Some say cycling is the new golf. The image above is a screengrab from apple.com. Here the consumer electronics giant features a laptop on its home page and as you can see images of cycling are used alongside surfing to showcase the product. Obviously Apple aren’t the first and it’s only an image. HTC obviously … Read more
Going to watch a bike race is not as simple as you might think. Get it wrong and all you’ll catch is a cold, not the action. There are some hints, tips and skills that can substantially improve the experience. Given the classics season is now upon us, it’s time to share some of these. … Read more
In this country, it is wise to kill an admiral from time to time to encourage the others Pour encourager les autres is French for “to encourage the others”. It’s a line from Voltaire’s Candide. After the naval battle of Minorca between France and Britain in 1756, Voltaire describes the British practice of shooting naval … Read more
French broadcaster France Télévisions will show 132 hours of cycling this year. It might sound like plenty but when you subtract the Tour de France, there’s not much left. For example last weekend’s Het Nieuwsblad and Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne weren’t on French TV, not even subscription TV channels Canal+ and Eurosport. Such a scenario is common for … Read more