I felt sorry for Romain Feillu. A likeable rider, he won three stages of the Tour Méditerranéen but it was all overshadowed by the hospitalisation of team mate Riccardo Riccò following a suspected DIY blood transfusion. Now it could be that the entire team’s riders get done over as reports say the UCI is reviewing … Read more
There’s an interesting article on Velonews by their tech guru Leonard Zinn, brought to my attention by Twitter’s Velocentric. Zinn knows his stuff but this time I think he’s confusing correlation with causation. The piece boils down to this idea: Armstrong was a major driving force behind the rapid adoption of molded carbon fiber bikes. … Read more
It appears Xavier Tondo is behind Spain’s Operación Cursa, that a tip-off from the Movistar rider alerted police and resulted in the bust of small supply network. Sadly the reverse story is all too common, tales of riders being involved in selling on to their team mates, like Eddy Mazzoleni but there are plenty more. … Read more
The French love their drugs. No, I’m not talking about le dopage. France’s is the country with more pharmacies than anyone else. There are 23,000 in the country, making them second only to France’s bakeries in terms of outlets. Only a law banning villages with less than 500 people from having a pharmacie stops the … Read more
I moved the website over to inrng.com and tried a few logo designs myself. But just as I’m no DJ, I’m not than handy with graphic design and decided to seek professional help. A few emails later and you can see the result above thanks to British-based Matt Morris. A cyclist and graphic designer, Matt’s … Read more
The 2011 Milan-Sanremo race will be unchanged from 2010, despite trouble finding a spot for the finish line. Traditionally the race finished on the Via Roma, the main street in the centre of Sanremo. But in 2008 the finish moved to the Lungomare, the coastal road. Building works prompted the move and since then local … Read more
“If we want things to stay as they are, things will have to change.” Il Gattopardo, Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa It’s open season on the UCI. I’ve been following the sport for some time and frustration from all sides with the performance of cycling’s governing body is common. Riders see their jobs and health at … Read more
A lot has been made about the trend of teams to adopt blue and black colours for this year. It’s almost symbolic of the sport’s bruised and battered status. But there are practical considerations, fans watching on TV can struggle to struggle to identify riders and teams. Indeed Peter Stetina joked about Team Sky and … Read more
The debate over Alberto Contador is far from finished. The WADA Code adopted by the UCI involves the concept of “strict liability”. In this case an athlete is responsible for what goes in their body and if a banned substance is discovered they face a sanction, normally a two year suspension. It’s for the individual … Read more
I’ve covered the subject of Belgium’s government, or rather the lack of one, before. But today marks a new world record for the country overtakes Iraq for previous record of “longest political crisis”. Following elections 249 days ago the elected representatives have been able to form a majority to govern and the longer the crisis … Read more