Irish eyes are on the road ahead When asked what he’d do if he was French selector for the upcoming World Championships, veteran journalist Jean-Paul Brouchon promptly replied that the first thing would be to make Nicolas Roche a French rider. Roche is half-French already, obviously with a famous Irish father but he spent time … Read more
Thomas Voeckler’s got over 15,000km of racing in his legs this year. But other riders have more miles… air miles. 2010 has seen the sport start with the Tour Down Under, then go to the middle-east, travelling to California and last weekend saw two races in Canada. That’s before the Worlds in Australia. And don’t … Read more
Still trying to catch my supper As mentioned last Sunday, I’m away (and this piece has been written in advance). So in the meantime, if you want something to read to broaden your understanding of pro cycling, here are a few selections from the past. Team Sky vs. Great Britain How tax rates hamper French … Read more
Click to enlarge Picture the scene, Floyd Landis has just romped to victory in the Tour, winning a massive mountain stage by more than five minutes from his nearest chaser after a giant romp across the mountains. Impressive, no? Certainly cyclingnews.com was impressed. They gushed “Without a shadow of a doubt, today will go down … Read more
Three months after elections, Belgium still has no government. Months of negotiations, politicking, horse-trading and more have come to no avail as the latest attempt to form a parliamentary majority has collapsed. In short, the country is split between Dutch-speaking Flanders and French-speaking Walloonia. There are spats over linguistics but other fault lines too. For … Read more
Pippo, master of disguise! Recent news has said that Italian rider Filippo Pozzato is under investigation for tax evasion. It seems few big name Italian riders are spared investigation and the cliché states that tax dodging is a national sport in Italy. Specifically, the allegations say “Pippo” claims he was living in Monaco but was … Read more
I’m away in a land where there’s no internet for a week. So this blog will be a bit quieter. But I’ve scheduled a couple of pieces to appear here during my absence, come back from time to time. In the meantime, if you’re a new reader, here are a few selections from the past: … Read more
Searching for the new star The Tour de l’Avenir starts on Sunday. Literally the “Tour of the Future”, this is a week-long stage race organised by ASO, the Tour de France organisers. It is for those aged 23 or younger and will see 120 riders from 20 different teams taking part. Last year’s race was … Read more
I can’t be arsed to fly to all the way to Australia just to work for Mark Cavendish, especially as the longest one day race in the world isn’t good prep for the Commonwealth Games 4,000 pursuit That’s what Geraint Thomas didn’t say. The talented Welsh rider has his eye on success in the upcoming … Read more
French wine… or Belgian beer for Jonathan Vaughters? Ask most people in the sport and they can only see Alberto Contador and Andy Schleck dominate the Tour de France for the next few years. Maybe others will share the podium with them but as things stand, the yellow jersey looks locked down. Now such assumptions … Read more