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
There’s a nice small feature on bikes and design from The Guardian, including Wouter Mijland’s “limobike” as pictured above. The theme is re-using old bikes and components to create something new, from furniture to fashion. Click here to see more examples.
I blogged about Laurent Fignon and his book on Monday hoping that he’d be with the Paris-Nice race. He’s been part of the race since he first rode it in 1982, later winning a stage in 1987. On retirement he took over the race organisation from Corrine Leulliot. He sold the race onto ASO – … Read more
Cycling is too hard. Too hard because though you play football or rugby, cycling is something you do. There is a nuance here, if you lose the ball it is only ever a mistake to be forgotten as soon as the ball comes back to you again. If you weaken on a hill, it is … Read more
In with the in crowd: Sagan leads Evans, Valverde and Sanchez The Slovak, from Žilina near the Tatra mountains that mark the Slovak-Polish border, finished second in today’s stage of Paris-Nice. So far this season he’s made a name for himself with some results and impressive riding, the first occasion being in the “Cancer Classic” … Read more
Tirreno – Adriatico starts today. It’s a six day stage race that crosses Italy from west to east, from the Tyrrhenian sea to the Adriatic sea, hence the name. Click on the image above for the great symbolic poster. Like Paris-Nice it’s an essential race for different riders. Classics specialists and grand tour riders alike … Read more
Greg Henderson’s win in Paris-Nice yesterday was a real result for Team Sky. Looking at their roster in the past I thought the one thing missing was a sprinter. Edwald Boasson Hagen is much more than sprinter. For me Henderson seems to come from the Kiwi factory of lead out specialists, just like Hayden Roulston … Read more