VeloVeritas

World Road Champs 2011 – Cavendish Celebrates(0)

Cavendish and the whole team were brilliant, full stop.

There can be no ‘buts’ or ‘maybes’ – his team took the race on from what we thought was way too early, controlled it to the end and deserve unreserved praise.

World Road Champs – Roundup(0)

The Danish Press did Cav proud; having Peta on his arm doesn’t hurt as far as the photo opportunities go.

And being the saddo I am, the first thing I did when I got home was to buy the British papers.

All of the quality dailies ‘done him proud’ – The Independent gives him pride of place on their sports section and Alasdair Fotheringham’s prose is perfect.

Arbitrary Decisions(3)

‘Senna,’ is a powerful film; the man was fast, brave, committed, and ruthless behind the wheel, but religious, handsome, humble, funny, and devoted to his family, very fond of the ladies and an inspiration to a whole nation.

And all of Brazil grieved for him when he died in that horrific crash at Imola in 1994.

As well as a portrait of an amazing sportsman the film gives us a rare look at the machinations of the men – or rather man – who run the sport at the highest levels.

If You’re Right, You’re Right(0)

‘If you’re right, you’re right,’ said Malcolm X.

However, sometimes it’s hard to be right.

Despite the fact that I think the UCI are doing a less than brilliant job, I think cycling is right to try to eradicate the pills, potions, transfusions and suppositories that blight it.

Just What is the UCI Meant to be About?(5)

The UCI constitution is a little bit of a scary document, running to 23 pages with 87 articles, some of which have up to seven sections.

We thought we might pick out a few quotes; it’s ‘a non-profit-making organisation’ and should ‘encourage friendship between all members of the cycling world’ as well as ‘promote sportsmanship and fair play’ and there should be ‘non-interference in the internal affairs of affiliated federations.’

Just so we remember what the organisation is meant to be all about.

Off to the Berlin Six – But First, a Few Thoughts(3)

I’ll be glad to get to Berlin, and enter my six day bubble – these last couple of weeks have affected me badly.

I love the sport, all of it fascinates me, road, track, cyclo-cross; I’d get into mountain biking but I have to stop the reading, interviewing and writing, somewhere. Lance, Floyd, Alberto, Trent, Matt – and now, Graeme.

I have to get it all off my chest before I descend into the bowels of the earth in Berlin…

Smugness Or Sadness?(3)

I’ve known John for 43 years; we went to school together and although there have been spells when our lives have gone in different directions for a while, it takes us about three minutes to pick up the thread and it’s as if we’ve never been out of touch.

John has lung cancer, one tumour in his lungs and three in his brain; he starts chemo and radio therapy, this week. When his son asked me what I thought, immediately I said; ‘look at old Lance, he was at death’s door and came back to win seven Tours.’

Then I got to thinking; if the finest legal minds that Tour Down Under and Giro d’Italia start money can buy are unsuccessful and the ‘Federal probe’ nails the Texan, what will that have achieved?

When Men Were Men(2)

It’s too long since I had a rant; I’d like to thank Mario Cipollini for providing the spark for this one.

I meet my pal Ivan on a weekly basis for a 07:45 coffee at a secret location. The theme of this morning’s rant-fest was what would happen if Rik Van Looy met the Schlecks?

We reckoned that ‘The Emperor’ would just need to look at Andy before the start and the ‘Luxembourg Pro Cycling Project’ (great name for a team) rider would run off home to Luxembourg and his Teddy bear…

Cervélo , Contracts and Consumerism(0)

It’s not until you go to a big Fondo, Marca or Sportiv that you’re able to figure out how the likes of Cervélo can sponsor a pro team.

On the start line you’ll see hundreds of Looks, Colnagos, Treks and – Cervélos; all sold at full price.

But how much money can you make on a bike frame?

The UCI Should Stop Messing with Nature(3)

‘With the current system we’re shafted’ says BC coach Rod Ellingworth regarding the fact that the world’s best roadman sprinter will have a whole two team mates in Melbourne.

The GB and Sky ‘spin machine’ continually tell us how strong British Cycling is; but when it comes down to it, we’re actually joint 22nd in terms of numbers of riders we’re eligible to send to the Elite Worlds. This puts us on par with great cycling nations such as Korea and Brazil.

How a Positive Could be Buried(6)

We’ve all been hearing recently about the riders who showed questionable figures in their Biological Passports but who have escaped any sanctions so far, whilst certain others have been lambasted, suspended, and are facing the possibility of – or are currently serving – lengthy bans. Last year the word was that a number of very big names in the sport were in the same boat, and may have been asked by officials to ‘lay low’ for a while until their numbers returned to more normal values, or until the heat died down. And now, thanks to Landis, we are presented with the allegation that Armstrong paid the UCI to bury a positive test result from the Tour de Suisse – but how is that possible?

Track Worlds – or training session?(4)

The women’s 500 metre time trial was the first race I caught sight of on the TV – it’s hard to get excited about it.

But the Ballerup track was looking great, freshly sanded and with new advertising – what you don’t realise until you look at the down tube of a bike that has just finished in a Derny race is the amount of soot and oil that the little motorbikes pump out – the joiners have buffed all that off, though.

Sol y sombra(0)

‘Sol y sombra’ say the Spanish, ‘sunshine and shade.’

The ‘sunshine’ was the Primavera; a race I’ve been obsessed with ever since I was a young Merckx fan, waiting for my ‘Comic’ on a 70′s Friday – Thursday if I was very lucky.

The ‘sombra’ was Gregor’s dad’s funeral; although maybe it wasn’t ‘shade,’ as Bill Brockie, the former minister and CTC stalwart who managed proceedings so well, explained to us; ‘this is a celebration.’ I didn’t know Gregor’s dad well, but judging by the turn out at the Mortonhall and the anecdotes that were related about him, he was a cool dude.

Skil Shimano Team Launch(0)

Rotterdam is readying itself for the Tour de France start this summer, and the Skil – Shimano team used it’s 2010 presentation last weekend in the city to recce the route which will be used for Stage 1.

The team is largely the same as last season, but has been bolstered by the addition of six riders; Dutchmen Job Vissers and Robin Chaigneau, Frenchmen Alexandre Geniez and Yann Huguet, Belgian Dominique Cornu, and Norwegian Frederik Wilmann.