Ag2r La Mondiale’s climber is having a very good Giro, confirming the attacking ability he showed in the Tour de Romandie. He’s some background on him… He’s 31 and was born in the French town of Epernay, one of the towns more famous for Champagne production. Today he lives in close to the Belgian border, … Read more
Basso romped up the Zoncolan on Sunday to win with a 1:19 advantage over Cadel Evans. Based on numbers supplied by Aldo Sassi to La Gazetta Dello Sport, Basso is pumping out 395W or 5.68W/kg but analysis by French coach Frédéric Portoleau suggests the figure could be 410W. Measured pain This is still 50W less … Read more
An anonymous visitor left a comment on the article about London’s Rapha café. I was wondering aloud what other clothing companies would do, “imagine what an Assos shop would like (I’m thinking polished concrete and Corbusier furniture)”. Only it turns out Assos have their concept stores and apparently you can stop by for coffee. See … Read more
Spring is now going into summer here in southern France and you notice the differences. One thing is the heat. It can be 30°C in the shade but remember that temperatures are hotter in the sunshine. Above all, the roads are dark lumps of rock and soak up the heat. It’s common for tarmac temperatures … Read more
A great photo courtesy of cyclingnews.com. For some time I’ve always thought Basso looked as if he wasn’t trying, his face was part smile, part gurn. Clearly this was a superficial opinion, he’s not spent the last year on a cycling travel holiday but yesterday’s stage up the dreaded Zoncolan showed a new face. Just … Read more
Cyclismag has picked up on the apparent scoop by Spanish website velofutur.es, where details of the revised UCI Pro Tour appear to have been leaked. Who leaked them and what’s their agenda? That’s for another day. Since my French is better than my Spanish, what follows is derived from cyclismag.com. The TeamsNo more four year … Read more
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 more of the peloton’s names translated from their home language into English: Serpa, mountain sherpa Valerio Agnoli – Valerio Angels Manuel Belletti – Manuel … Read more
It’s hard to know where to begin with the Landis emails. So I’ll take a look at the UCI, since most people are concentrating on Landis, the emails and the others named in them.For me, the UCI is part of the problem here. Whereas a governing body should aim to be beyond reproach, many get … Read more
The DVD of race highlights is going to be a best seller. I rarely watch these things but am already interested getting a copy, the Giro is just past half way but the race has been turned upside down. The obvious highlight was the Stage 7 from Carrara to Montalcino, a 222km slog across and … Read more
I can’t say much more on yesterday’s stupendous Giro stage – a “hold up” said La Gazzetta Dello Sport – and the leaked emails from Landis are circling in my head like crazy. So let’s go elsewhere for a moment. The Tour de L’AudeFine scenery, fine roads and if not fine wines, very decent ones … Read more