It’s Christmas Day today in Belgium, known locally as Sinterklaas. You might already think the country is quirky at times. Today’s celebrations probably confirm this. Blacking up all over Belgium and Holland Why? Well the Belgian Father Christmas, Saint Claus (aka Santa Claus) has a sidekick. Who is called Zwarte Piet or Black Peter. And … Read more
I read on the Italian Cycling Journal that Cannondale is auctioning off its aluminium manufacturing tools from its factory in Bedford, Pennsylvania. As the Journal rightly comments, it marks the end of an era. Once the height of modernity 20 years ago practically every frame was steel. The likes of Vitus and Alan made “alloy” … Read more
Earlier this week I wrote some thoughts on Jonathan Vaughters’ interview with cyclingnews.com. Now I’d like to return to a second topic from the interview, namely his time with French team Credit Agricole: “It [Crédit Agricole] was a team where everyone kinda showed up, did their job and went home. I mean, the communication between … Read more
We might think of Paris-Roubaix or an mountain stage of the Giro as being one of the toughest moments of the year but actually right now is one of the trickiest times of the season. Why? Several teams are meeting up and it’s the first get-together for the riders that will form a team in … Read more
The UCI is apparently holding a training course for directeur sportifs. I can’t help feel that trying to teach men in their 40s how to do their job is going to be a very difficult task. Can you imagine Johan Bruyneel or Patrick Lefevere to learn new tricks? But this isn’t a small scheme, it’s … Read more
I’m going to take a quick look at Anthony Tan’s interview with Jonathan Vaughters. “JV” is now running Garmin-Cervélo, a squad that has gone from a small curiosity into one of the biggest outfits in the sport. Postcard from the past The team is known for its firm anti-doping stance, one of the few squads … Read more
The Spanish economy is in deep trouble, suffering from the fallout of a burst housing bubble and chronic unemployment. There are worries for the country’s banks and also its regions. Economists fret the Kingdom could need financial assistance from its peers within the Euro-zone or indeed from the IMF. Whatever happens, money is tight. Note … Read more
A piece on Cyclismactu.net picks up on an item on French talk and sport radio station RMC. Policing reform, essentially the merger of the police force with the paramilitary gendarmerie (France has had two police forces). These gendarmes assist in races and other sports events and their has been a hourly tariff due of €2.40 … Read more
You might be thinking “who?” but Igor Astarloa is a Spaniard who had a very strong season in 2003, including the World Championship win. He since faded but the UCI picked up on suspicious bio passport data and has this morning announced he’s been banned for two years. Only he is retired, having stopped riding … Read more
All the storm over the recent diplomatic documents Wikileaks doesn’t surprise me, but it’s just interesting to see things put in black and white text. A bit like someone’s private, off-the-record thoughts being transcribed and made very public. It’s embarrassing. Some recent documents touch on the small world of pro cycling. Two “cables” from US … Read more