Liquigas have won a court case againt Manuel Beltran, see cyclingnews.com for the full story. I think they were right to take taken Beltran to court following his positive test for doping in the midst of the 2008 Tour de France. The Spaniard caused the team embarrassment and reputational damage and if grounds exist to … Read more
– Cervélo Test Team’s Theo Bos did a track test the other day and clocked 10.2s for the 200m. He’d broken the world record with 9.7s in the past so he’s slower these days… but only just. – France’s Grégory Baugé is thinking of swapping the track for … track and field. Not cycling but … Read more
Frenchman Pierrick Fédrigo won the Critérium International over the weekend thanks to a strong display on the Col de l’Ospedale when he left the likes of Evans, Contador and Rogers trailing. Bravo! FlashbackI’ve long kept an eye on him since he beat me in a race a good 10 or 12 years ago. I remember … Read more
The history of our sport has some wonderful rivalries, think of Bobet and Coppi, Anquetil and Poulidor (pictured) or Moser and De Vlaminck. Today we see Contador and Armstrong but for me this contest is not the same. These two are not disputing the biggest races of the calendar, they are disputing the headlines. It’s … Read more
Soon to be a museum piece? London’s Sunday Times footnotes a piece about Victoria Pendleton’s world title with the following news from the UCI: From the end of this month, bicycles used on the track will have to be sold commercially and ‘at a reasonable price’ to be passed legal for major competitions, including the … Read more
Congratulations to Fabian Cancellara for his win in the E3 Prijs Vlaanderen. I can’t offer any analysis but if you want excellent insight into the Flemish classics, check out the Pavé blog. Instead, here is a quote from the Swiss champion following an interview with a Swiss newspaper. We were in Lanzarote for a training … Read more
Thanks to Owen from The Drum Up blog, home of insight into Scottish cycling and a man with near-identical views when it comes to cycling podcasts. Not only has he reviewed them, his views are so similar I’m almost embarrassed because my reviews read suspiciously like a copy n’paste. I swear by the name of … Read more
Congratulations to Eric Boyer and Francis Van Vanlondersele following the announcement that their team has secured an additional two year’s backing from Cofidis, the consumer finance company based in Northern France. “We remain in cycling because we haven’t found anything better in sport to promote our brand” said a spokesman. That’s because cycling reaches parts … Read more
Congratulations to all the riders winning and even just taking part in the track cycling world championships in Copenhagen, Denmark. But whilst I think the sprint events showcase the best in their field, the endurance events on the track like the pursuit race, points race and omnium have a different feel to them. It’s almost … Read more
As part of the series on the 1980s, here are five items related to Italian cycling. 1. Insularity Italy enjoyed a vibrant cycling scene in the 1980s but it was often confined to the Italian peninsula, teams did not venture abroad as much as they do today. A lot of strong Italian riders therefore didn’t … Read more