The weekend saw two races held without race radios. Here’s a quick review of the issues. Tactics It matters more than ever in Belgium as positioning and tactics are vital, riders dropping back to the team car to pick up food or fix a mechanical can’t alert their team. As a result, team riders use … Read more
Having seen the piece by Joe Lindsey about the less than impressive coverage of cycle sport in the US, I responded saying it wasn’t all that great in France, that whilst it might be the land of the Tour de France and Paris-Roubaix, the sports reporting isn’t always that good. In response I had a … Read more
I could write a long piece saying how great today’s race was, examining the form of the riders, the relative strength of each team and the impact of racing without radios. But that’s not the point. Instead it was simply a fantastic race to watch. The 2011 Het Nieuwsblad was a 203km held in foul … Read more
How objective are bike reviews? Someone writing a review would say they know their stuff, that they can tell the difference between a good frame and a bad one, more they can get the measure of wheels, handlebars and tyres too. Only there’s plenty of evidence from outside the cycling world that reviewing, testing and … Read more
The lastest is that the racing will go ahead this weekend… but there’s still confusion as to whether riders will start with radios or not. Either way, I put a message on twitter earlier saying the campaign to keep race radios was proving to be a PR disaster as it amounts to little more than … Read more
I could write a big preview for Het Nieuwsblad but the guys over at Pavé will probably do a better job. The opening race of the Belgian classics season is always interesting given the manic racing, the cobbles and yes, the foul weather that is expected. The route The 2011 edition is 203km long and … Read more
The cold European winter is finally beginning to lose its grip. Whilst it can still return with a snow flurry or icy rain, there are signs that spring is on its way. The tree buds are beginning to swell, some woodland flowers are beginning to emerge and for cyclists, the unmistakable colour of spring: the … Read more
I’d been meaning to look at the sponsoring future for Team Radioshack. The US team was built around Lance Armstrong but now he is retired, the sponsor’s interest is bound to be waning. Especially since the US electrical retailer has very little presence outside the USA. So what’s next for the team? Well I’d hinted … Read more
Here’s a post to satisfy fans of BigRingRiding.com. The latest edition of Vélo magazine has an interesting take on track cycling, reporting on the gears used over the years by the sprinters. 1970 Daniel Morelon 48×14 7.32 metres 1999 Florian Rousseau 49×14 7.47 metres 2001 Arnaud Tournant 50×14 7.62 metres 2011 Kévin Sireau 52×13 8.54 … Read more
This weekend marks what was once the proper start of the year’s racing season, in years past any event before Het Volk was effectively a training race. Now known as Het Nieuwsblad (“the newspaper”), Saturday sees the Belgian season start and it’s followed by Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne on Sunday. Many races in Flanders feature cobbles, from residential … Read more