French website cyclismactu got the news first: the Tour de France will announce the wildcard selections for the 2011 season in only a couple of weeks’ time. Gone is the chance for a small team to impress with a strong start to the season, especially under the noses of ASO in Paris-Nice and the Criterium … Read more
Chro-no: TTs will be rare in 2011 Grand Tours If 2011 welcomes the Chinese year of the rabbit, for pro cyclists it looks like the year of the mountain goat. Why? Well none other that 2009 Dutch time trial champion Stef Clement has been busy with his calculator this morning and put his workings on … Read more
I covered the subject of the new UCI bike rules on Monday. To summarise, new rules are coming that require anyone racing to have a frame that has been approved for use by the UCI. The manufacturer has to submit their wares to Switzerland for approval. Anyone in a UCI-sanctioned road race, from the Tour … Read more
The good news is that WADA have a test for plasticisers, the traces of molecules that contaminate blood when it is stored in plastic pouches. According to reports in Spanish newspaper El Pais, the test is close to being validated for anti-doping uses. A refreshing ice cold pint Only don’t get too excited. The test … Read more
UPDATE added below at 18:00 CET I read about the scheme for UCI approval of bikes soon after it was announced and my first thought was that it sounded like an excessive procedure, that a governing body doesn’t need to validate equipment. After all, manufacturers can face prodigious law suits from customers if the product … Read more
I’ve covered the political splits in Belgium before. So time for a quick update: Belgium is still without a government. This makes it Europe’s longest post-war political crisis, beating the 209 days it took to form a government in The Netherlands in 1977. If it goes on to the end of March then the Belgians … Read more
No country for old men Several riders have got caught up in a public debate over the Australian championships. Here’s what John Craven, organiser of the Nationals had to say about Robbie McEwen: I’m a big fan of Robbie McEwen … but maybe it’s time that he just rode off into the sunset and let … Read more
Teams that are supposed to reflect glory upon their home countries can struggle. Astana quickly got to the point where Tour de France boss Christian Prudhomme said “they cannot be trusted“. Several changes of management later and today we see the team still overshadowed by scandal thanks to Contador’s ongoing. Kazakhstan suffers from an image … Read more
Slowly but surely the gran fondo scene is spreading from Italy to the US. There’s a thriving scene in Britain although this is hamstrung by local laws preventing riders from racing and it’s beginning to take of in Australia with the Alpine Classic and races like Grafton – Inverell being open to all. Gran fondo … Read more
The number-one ranked team in the sport was launched yesterday and was done on a scale so far unseen in the sport. It didn’t start like this. The morning press gathering underwhelmed a bit. The name was confirmed as Leopard-Trek. Some were frustrated not to see the jersey revealed – although it leaked to … Read more