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
People have differing views of Twitter. For some it’s just a stream of inane banalities. For others it’s a new form of communication that gives a personal insight into lives of others. I’m in both camps. Some people can tweet the most boring things but when it comes to pro cycling, you can get instant … Read more
Here are two jerseys from Rapha’s latest collection, the “Country Jersey”. The Rapha Country Jersey celebrates some of Europe’s leading cycling countries; Italy, France, Belgium and Britain. The jersey sports Rapha’s trademark pared down styling and the colours of each nation have been incorporated on the right sleeve. The colours of each nation: only look … Read more
A broken duck Apparently kwak kwak and cuá cuá are the sounds a Flemish and Spanish duck makes. The cycling season is well underway but several teams have yet to break their duck and win a UCI-registered race this year. They are: Pro TourEuskatel – EuskadiOmega Pharma – Lotto UCI Europe TourAndalucia – CajasurCeramica FlaminiaColnago … Read more