Just a quickie… writing on his blog, Polish climber Sylvester Szmyd says that one additional factor behind Astana’s and Contador’s willingness to chase him was because the Pole turned down an offer to ride with Contador for next year. Szmyd tried everything for Alpe d’Huez, even “chewing my breakfast more slowly” but above all he … Read more
Belgians go to vote this weekend and it could see the country set on the path to breaking up. I’ve written on this in the past here and there’s an election preview from the British newspaper The Guardian here. Will Belgium split? Well it’s not going to happen quickly. Philippe Gilbert will still be riding … Read more
…I’ll have to ride the the Col de Chaussy The col features this incredible series of hairpins. But further on the road becomes unsurfaced, so even better you simply turn around and enjoy the bends on the way down. It’s on the Maurienne valley and starts here. For more details on this climb, see the … Read more
Twitter is an interesting way to keep up with riders. You can get first hand insights in their racing, plus things outside their life. One thing many riders tweet about is the out of competition antidoping controls. Last night HTC-Columbia’s promising Aussie sprinter Leigh Howard wrote: 9PM at night, just sitting down to eat dinner … Read more
Did you see Rapha’s CD of music for the Giro d’Italia? I’ve turned the tables around with my own suggestions for a Rapha CD, featuring artists such as Radiohead, Roxette and Serge Gainsbourg. Inspired by the London cycle clothing brand, with its mix of quality clothing, ersatz imagery and its massive appropriation of French and … Read more
Team Sky is part of the Murdoch/NewsCorp media empire which is trying out an internet paywall on many of its sites. But it seems the concept of sticking up a wall around your assets isn’t reserved for the internet. Brailsford’s erection That’s the Team Sky bus, but notice the wall. It’s put up so riders … Read more
On Thursday Stage 4 of the Dauphiné goes to Risoul, the first summit finish of the stage race. It’s a climb that’s not been used much before, so here is a brief introduction: Risoul ProfileClimb By Bike has the full profile and states “the Risoul – Station ascent is 14 km long. Over this distance, … Read more
I see this morning that pro squad Ceramica Flaminia is offering contracts to the best riders in the baby Giro or Girobio. This race is a mini Tour of Italy for riders aged under 27 and its list of winners includes many who went on to star in the real Giro d’Italia. Only this offer … Read more
Have you seen Kim Kirchen? The Luxembourg rider had been a force for several years, culminating in his stunning 2008 season where the Luxembourger won the Flèche Wallonne, took stages in the Tour of the Basque Country, the Tour of Switzerland, the Tour de France and many other prizes. Alive and well? Kirchen was so … Read more
I’ve reviewed the Velocast podcast and will repeat that it’s a great listen. Now to my surprise, this blog was briefly mentioned on their latest podcast. The guys had read my posting on the Dauphiné prologue and the fact that I saw Millar and Contador warming up on the course whilst the race was on. … Read more