Rous on the loose The season hasn’t started and we’ve yet to see the official colours of the Europcar team but things have not got off to an auspicious start. The team’s number two directeur sportif Didier Rous has just resigned. A refugee from Festina, Rous apparently became a changed man under Jean-René Bernaudeau and … Read more
Four letter word I’m a fan of Campagnolo and it bothered me to see Liquigas switching to SRAM, when Italy’s top team leaves behind it’s national partner I can’t help feel a tiny pain in my heart. But before you leap to the comments, note I’m not obsessive, I’ve had Shimano before and it’s proved … Read more
Who’s up and who’s down? As ever, The Inner Ring keeps an eye on the money that comes into the sport. Whilst I love watching the pros battle over bergs and cols, as well as racing and training personally, in the quieter moments it’s interesting to follow the money. Of the 18 UCI ProTeams for … Read more
A self-referential item but I started The Inner Ring last February and it’s been an interesting project. From a trickle of readers at first, it’s now grown into something read by thousands a day. It’s been a chance to correspond with lots of cycling fans via email, the comments, twitter and beyond, plus it was … Read more
Since any more detail on the Aussie team under Shane Bannan is vague for now, I wanted to review the broader concept behind the Aussie squad, namely that we are seeing the emergence of several national teams. In an age when the sport is supposed to be moving towards attracting global brands, we are seeing … Read more
Today we get news of Shayne Bannan’s resignation from Cycling Australia. The Aussie coach has been one of the driving forces behind the rise of Australia as a cycling nation, creating a conveyor-belt of talent that brings the best from Down Under to the wider world. His next plans appear vague, there is talk of … Read more
The image below is a cropped screenshot from cyclingnews.com this evening. I’ve annotated it to show where the stories come from. You can click on it to enlarge the image. In summary of the 20 headlined stories, only one – a chat with Mark Renshaw – is certainly original to cyclingnews.com and perhaps a second … Read more
Proof that it doesn’t work? I wrote back in August that the Italians were investigating the phenomenon of Power Balance wristbands. Being sarcastic, this means the Italians might rule on the matter by 2015 but the wheels of justice turn slowly in many other countries. Nuevas energias, gracias a la magia de hologramas Nevertheless they … Read more
As well as reflection on the year gone by, us humans are suckers for forecasts for the year to come. This is very common in the financial world where analysts and economists prognosticate. Often their calls sound reasonable but in time the story changes and the prediction is usually way of the mark. One financial … Read more
Mark Cavendish isn’t the peloton’s only keen student of history. The British rider seemingly has an interest in European warfare from the middle ages. But Team Luxembourg’s new signing Brice Feillu’s is also partial to re-enacting scenes of ancient combat. Watch as he carefully depicts a gladiatorial battle from days of yore with French duathlete … Read more