The Sword of Damocles is an ancient Greek fable that tells of a sword suspended by a horse’s hair above the head of Damocles, a courtier in Athens. At any moment the hair could break, leaving the sword to plunge towards poor Damocles. It’s a tale that says the threat of something looming over us … Read more
Fabio Parra was a force during the 1980s. The Colombian rider won two stages in the Tour de France and finished third overall in the 1988 Tour after some brilliant mountain riding. After retiring in 1992 he’s done an MBA and now runs a plastics business. His younger brother Ivan won two stages of the … Read more
My two posts on Peter Sagan have been popular (Peter Sagan’s got skillz and Who’s Peter Sagan?) so here’s a tidbit of news that hasn’t reached the English-speaking media yet: Sagan was approached by Quick Step two years ago after he finished on the podium of the junior Paris-Roubaix. The Belgian boss outfit invited him … Read more
Congratulations to Amaël Moinard. I blogged only last week how Moinard is an intelligent rider who knows how to train and race smart and sure enough he won the final stage of Paris-Nice under the palm trees of the Boulevard des Anglais. His win is a demonstration of what I was trying to explain. Yesterday … Read more
This blog covers pro cycling, but so do many websites. I started the blog to give a different insight into races, whether it’s personal opinions or picking up on small things that get overlooked, whether it’s Amaël Moinard’s SRM or analysing sponsorship deals. In short, the aim is to give a bit more detail. One … Read more
How much do you weigh? Many racing cyclists will know the answer here and sometimes to the nearest 100 grams. It’s been a cold winter and I’ve not ridden as much as usual so I still need to shift a couple of kilos. No rush though. Riding a bike requires power but the sport isn’t … Read more
Several stories have run with allegations that Alessandro “Ale-Jet” Petacchi is under investigation for tax dodging. Here’s cyclingnews.com citing an Italian newspaper: The Lampre-Farnese Vini sprinter allegedly earned three million Euro in image rights and advertising contracts… the fraud was organised through a Dutch company, with Petacchi keeping the money in a Swiss bank account. … Read more
You might have read my piece about there being no mention of Team Radio Shack on Radio Shack’s website. But here’s an example of sponsors getting right. The image above is a screen grab from the Transitions website. Note the big banner for the Garmin-Transitions team at the footer. But look again at the main … Read more
We’re too used to seeing TV coverage that looks at the action in reverse, the motorbike cameraman looks backwards. But of course this is not how a rider sees things, he is looking ahead, sometimes to the side and only occasionally will he glance over his shoulder. So here’s a great photo from L’Equipe that … Read more
Contador: El Pistolero or… humble beancounter? Many riders have surnames that are also nouns. I apologise if this ruins your TV viewing, those once exotic Euro names can actually prove a bit dull but here are some of the peloton’s names translated into English: Alberto Contador = Alberto Accountant Ivan Basso = Ivan Low Lars … Read more