VeloResults

Endura Racing Team Presentation(0)

Endura Racing 2010 was today unveiled to the UK press, media and special guests at the Porsche Human Performance centre at Silverstone.

The launch followed months of hard work and dedication from the whole of the Endura Racing set-up, and culminated with many of the attendees leaving with a sense that this team are on the cusp of a great season in 2010.

Thinking about Jason(2)

It’s two years since we lost Jason MacIntyre.

We thought it might be appropriate to remember one of his greatest triumphs, here’s what he had to say to us after he won his first British ‘25′ title back in June, 2006.

Bradley Wiggins – Sky Leader at the Team Launch(3)

The alarm clocked stirred me from my slumber at the ungodly hour of 5am. Why would I be getting up on a freezing Monday morning at yon time?

Well, its not every day you get to witness cycling history in the making – I was off to London, not to see the Queen, but as some would have you believe, the King! Bradley Wiggins no less, and the Sky team launch at the Milltower Bank was my destination.

What is a Pro, really?(1)

”Professional,’ Oxford English dictionary definition;

‘Relating to or belonging to a profession. Engaged in an activity as a paid occupation rather than as an amateur. Worthy of, or appropriate to a professional person; competent. A person having impressive competence in a particular activity.’

“What is a pro?” is an interesting question and one I’ve given a fair amount of consideration to.

Le Tour de France 2010 Presentation(0)

“It’s cycling Jim, but not as we know it!” The presentation of the Tour de France route is something we used to read about in the mags and not really think twice about. We’d see the route in the Comic and have a blether about it, but maybe not think too much about it until Tour time.

Now, there’s a fleet of satellite TV vehicles outside the Palais de Congres and the event is beamed ‘live and direct’ around the globe.

Getting Ready for a Kermis Race – the 30 Essential Steps(0)

We interviewed Joe Parkin recently as part of our “Racing in Belgium” series. Joe has written a great book about his experiences entitled “A Dog in a Hat”, and is busy writing his second.

In case we’ve inspired any of you to head over to “the Heartland” and give kermis racing a go, we thought we’d present Joe’s startline checklist…

Of Peblis To The Play(2)

“Peebles for Pleasure” says the sign, and the good folk of this part of the world, one of the oldest Royal Burghs in Scotland, certainly do know how to enjoy themselves – today they warmly embraced the first ever visit to these parts by the Professional Tour of Britain, now in it’s sixth year of running in it’s current form.

Giving It A Go In Belgium(2)

In part four of our (irregular) series on racing as an amateur in Belgium, VeloResults own web manager and editor, Martin, talks about when he had some time in the mid-80’s between completing a college course and starting a new job, and decided to head off to Flanders for the season…

If I Were A Guy I’d Ride The Tour(1)

- By Rachael Aulich –

This is no feminist rant about the Tour de France for Women, nothing like that, it’s about love, actually.

I stood on a hot street today, a long but tight curve, in Arles, for Stage 3.

My first ever live stage of the Tour. I was hoping for the penultimate ‘Ventoux’ but with two small kids in tow, there’s a give and take, and so Arles it was.

Endura Racing Team Launch(0)

“Hi Ed, I’ve finally heard from Cycling Weekly – they want 300 words, but also if you want to do “Minute With” interviews with some of the riders, that’d be good also.”

Jeez! Work from “The Comic” and a brief too – I’m so used to rolling up at races with a camera, pencil and notebook then just doing what I want, that I’d forgotten about that word count stuff.

Maybe if I make a good job, I’ll get to do Girvan again; they haven’t forgiven me for last year, when I forsook ‘Com one’ at Girvan for a team car at Milan-San Remo.

Our 2008 Review(0)

It’s tacky, it’s clichéd, but we have to do it – Review of 2008.

VeloResults didn’t manage to get to every big race in Scotland in 2008, but we didn’t do too badly.

An Incredible Day(0)

It was completely surreal.

It was the 26th of July last year, and we were in Lourdes, sitting in a neon-lit, scruffy, greasy-spoon café at 1:00 in the morning. Our pizzas were cooking in the oven, but we weren’t really that hungry anymore. We had travelled to the summit and back down again today, both literally and metaphorically; we’d had a wonderful day working on Stage 16 of the Tour de France which took the race to the ski station, 5,600 feet high, at Gourette-Col d’Aubisque in the Pryenees, and it had been turned completely on its head.

Unlucky Team Liquigas at Paris-Roubaix(0)

Lady Luck certainly wasn’t on Team Liquigas’ side at last Sunday’s Paris-Roubaix, as things went from bad (even before the race) to worse!

Still, Manuel Quinziato, Murillo Fischer, Filippo Pozzato and the guys in green gave it their all at the world’s toughest race.

So, here is a list of 10 things you may not have seen from Paris-Roubaix coverage elsewhere…

Rock Racing’s solid performances at the Tour of California(0)

Michael Creed’s extraordinary ride yesterday capped an impressive performance for Rock Racing at the Amgen Tour of California.

Attacking from the start of the 93-mile (150 km) stage, Creed played an instrumental role in a pair of breakaways that stayed clear of the peloton on a rain-soaked, bone-chilling ride from Santa Clarita to Pasadena.

Aggressive to the end, Rock Racing nearly scored its second podium finish of the race when Creed attacked inside the final mile and finished fourth in a five-up sprint in front of the Rose Bowl.

Astana Training in Spain(0)

On a cold morning in the town of Javea on the East coast of Spain a bunch of cyclists look at their new bikes for the coming year.

This group are a mix of Astana and Discovery Channel riders that next season will become the new Astana team and the man at the helm, Johan Bruyneel, has the job of welding these two distinctly different elements into one super team and with Tour winner Alberto Contador leading the charge it should be another successful season for the man that was behind Lance.

Gary Wiggins – Nobody messed with ‘the Doc’(0)

The tall, raw-boned rider ambled across to the barrier; he was broad and square across the shoulders, big-thighed and walked with a loose-limbed gait. His long legs made easy work of straddling the steel fence which separated the riders’ enclosure from the paying public at the Gent six, back in the early 80’s.

As he headed-off to his cabin, a mechanic looked-up from the already-gleaming machine he was polishing and gave a cheerful; ‘Hi Gary!’
The rider said nothing, but acknowledged the greeting with an ‘energy-saver’ nod.

My buddy, Fraser who was staying in Gent at the time, explained the dynamic to me; “that’s Sercu’s (Patrick Sercu, undisputed king of the sixes, with 88 wins) personal mechanic, he speaks to no one, he thinks he’s superior to everyone, he always talks to Gary though – ‘nobody messes with The Doc!”

When Scotland had a National Stage Race: Part 2 – The Pro-Am Years(0)

In Part 1 we saw the domination of the East Europeans that ended with the introduction of Professionals in to the Scottish Milk Race. The first year it was the British based pro’s, then the big boys in the shape of the Belgian Isjberk-Gios team arrived in 1978 and set fire to the race, so instead of an East European domination we now had a Continental Pro domination, but they had something the Czechoslovakians, Poles, East Germans or Russians didn’t have: style; class; and that “Pro-appeal”.

“The Flying Scotsman” by Graeme Obree – Putting the Record Straight(0)

Let me first say this is firstly a review of the Graeme Obree autobiography, the book – not the film – “The Flying Scotsman”, and also my version of the events at the world cycling championships in Sicily in 1994.

I was the Great Britain team mechanic for those championships, but Mr. Obree didn’t remember to mention this fact in his book. You could call this the bitter out-pouring of a man scorned, but rather it’s just my memory of what happened.

Marchas, Fondos & Sportifs – what’s the deal?(0)

“Fondos” they call them, in Italy; in France it’s “Sportifs” and in Spain it’s “Marchas”. The cycling press is full of them, VeloResults decided to take a look at these increasingly fashionable “mass participation events.”

Who better to ask then, than Paul Coates – as well as hurting everyones’ legs in the first half of the Scottish road season, Paul is one of the top protagonists in French Sportifs. We also speak to Adam Syme and Dave Chapman about their experiences in these events too.

When Scotland had a National Stage Race: Part 1 – The Amateur Years(0)

In a recent article about the Tour de Trossachs I became side-tracked on to the year 1978 and mentioned, amongst other things, the Scottish Milk Race. Back then we had a National Stage Race and for quite a few years before and after. Here I have a look at a few editions of the Milk Race and the Scottish Health Race, where Scotland managed to have a home win with Jamie McGahan in 1983.