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
Agitator or Agincourt? After finally landing a decent win after a very troubled season – injury, setbacks and his own brother jailed for drug smuggling – Mark Cavendish finally won a race. Only rather than celebrating with a display of relief and pride, he stuck two fingers up at the media and by extension, the … Read more
Extra All riders get caught up in crashes. I’d call Haussler’s Swiss roll with Cavendish as unfair but part of the game. But sometimes riders hit the deck for stranger reasons. Indeed Christian Vande Velde is almost a connoisseur of tarmac. He’s shown flashes of brilliance and if fans are frustrated by his lack of … Read more
I’m not a fan of all those end of year reviews, the countless lists and retrospectives. So it’s with a bit of contradiction that I want to revisit what was my best day’s racing of 2010 and during the week, a few look backs at other events. My only justification is that what’s below isn’t … Read more
I’m going to take a break for a few days on here. If we saw Chris White issue an interesting press release about the Pegasus team on what was Christmas morning in Australia, I certainly won’t be on here for the holidays. Best wishes to you all and here’s hoping 2011 is a good one … Read more
Whilst some farmers have been in uproar over the idea that their cattle are doped, it seems others are adopting a more generous stance towards Alberto Contador and his allegations. Andy Schleck preferred the lamb Cyclismactu.net reports that a letter has been sent directly to UCI President Pat McQuaid warning that some unscrupulous parts of … Read more