VeloVeritas

The Skin Suit – AKA The Olympics in L.A. (1)

Mission Viejo, Sunday July 29th 1984 and Alexi Grewal wins the 190 kilometre Los Angeles Olympic Road Race for the United States in front of an estimated 300,000 home fans. It should have been the start of a magnificent career for the talented man from Aspen, Colorado, but it didn’t work out quite like that.

Despite contracts with some of the best teams of the era – Panasonic, 7-11 and RMO – and flashes of brilliance, his Euro career never caught fire and he returned to the USA. The wins came there, but to knowledgeable observers, his was always an example of unfulfilled genius.

When someone pointed out to us that Alexi was on the comeback trail we just knew we had to talk to him, and Alexi offered us the following great story about that amazing day, written in his own words. Read on!

It’s Easy to Join ‘the Black List’ (0)

It’s been a good week if you read the Guardian’s cycling coverage and like a rant.

‘I’m better than Armstrong now,’ says Wiggins – reads the headline; of all the bike riders in the world that one should not make that statement about, Lance Armstrong is the absolute top of the list.

Cycling dismay as events frozen out for London 2012 (0)

“Cycling dismay as events frozen out for London 2012″ says the headline in the Guardian.

The bottom line of the article is that there will still be the same number of women’s track events in London – three, sprint, pursuit and team pursuit.

The men get seven; the three named above plus madison, points, team sprint and keirin.

Chris Hoy – Performances and Plans (0)

We’ve been stalking him since Beijing; and at last, we’ve cracked him – Chris Hoy, Olympic gold medallist in the team sprint, keirin and individual sprint.

We’ve heard that he now retains Max Clifford, “PR guru to the stars,” as his agent, so we decided we’d better check out the financial aspect of the interview, first.

Shane Sutton – Compassionately Ruthless (0)

Nine World and Eight Olympic titles; that’s Team GB’s haul for 2008 – so far, that is. That kind of excellence doesn’t ‘just happen,’ who’s behind it?

The GB head coach is Aussie, Shane Sutton – he was still in Beijing the day after his squad’s triumphant campaign ended, when we spoke to him.

Michael Mørkøv – No. 1 Madison Rider in the World (0)

Nine gold medals at the Worlds for Team GB – wow! So, the rest of the World will be happy to compete for silvers at Beijing? Hardly!

One man who’ll be doing his best to deny Bradley Wiggins two gold medals in China is Denmark’s Michael Mørkøv. He took bronze in the Madison at Manchester, last month partnered by compatriot and former world scratch champion, Alex Rasmussen.

Michael didn’t make the Danish team pursuit squad that dipped below the magical four minute barrier to take silver behind the British squad; but he hopes to rectify that by the time Beijing is upon us.

Craig MacLean – Totally Focused on Beijing (0)

It would have been his 13th Worlds; but for the first time since 1996 there will be no one from Granton-on-Spey on the British track team, when the series kick off in Manchester in a week-or-so.

VeloVeritas caught up with Craig MacLean on the day ‘The Guardian’ told us that he won’t be pulling on a GB ‘speed suit’ for the team or individual sprints.

Chris Hoy – The Next Olympic Keirin Champ? (0)

You’re the Olympic kilometre champion, but the ‘powers that be’ decide to remove the event from the programme at the next Olympics – what do you do? If you’re Chris Hoy, you go out and transform yourself into the best keirin rider in the world!

Maurice Burton – British 20km Champion, 1974 (0)

It’s Leicester’s Saffron Lane velodrome, August 1974. The newly crowned British 20 kilometre champion, Maurice Burton waves his bouquet. Sections of the crowd are booing. Is it because the champion rode a tactical race, not killing himself in the winning break, conserving his sprint? Perhaps, but Burton has just made history, he is Britain’s first black senior champion.

Cycling Weekly of the time tells us the championship was a, ‘travesty’ and continues: ‘if Hallam, Moore and Bennett hadn’t run into trouble, Burton would never have been allowed to walk away with it.’