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
The Fredcast The podcasts open with about five minutes of advertising. Obviously you can skip this in a click but the naked commercialism isn’t a good start for me. People have to earn money but it sounds like some commercial radio station. FRD FM! Even during the show a lot of content seems to be … Read more
I blogged last week about how Radio Shack doesn’t even mention its cycling team and Lance Armstrong on its website. Well maybe this will change? Because like many bloggers I keep an eye on who is reading and one recent visitor to The Inner Ring was none other that Radioshack Corp. Here’s the screen grab … Read more
Watching today’s stage of Paris Nice on TV I noticed Cofidis’s Amaël Moinard in the breakaway, and that he had an SRM meter on his bike. In case you didn’t know the SRM system measures the watts produced by a rider with a pair of cranks that have been modified with strain guages, plus a … Read more
Cyclingnews.com has a piece on British kilometre specialist Jason Queally aiming for selection in the team pursuit. It says the Briton is after a new challenge. He’s 39 and won gold in Sydney. But is this really a new challenge? Instead I think we might be seeing the start of a change in the way … Read more
Watch Peter Sagan ride in Bratislava, the Slovak capital. For more on Sagan, see the previous blog entry about the Super-Slovak.
I’d put out a quick guide to the early stages on Sunday and promised to return with the later stages in due course. I got lucky, my predictions came true, from the crashes and crosswinds on Stage 1, to Stage 3 likely to cold as well as selective than might think. So here is the … Read more