Daily Cycling Facts 19.10.2013

On this day in 2012, following 17 years involvement, Dutch bank Rabobank - home to some of the biggest names in the sport, announced it would no longer sponsor professional cycling in the wake of the USADA investigation into Lance Armstrong and the US Postal team. "We are no longer convinced that the international professional world of cycling can make this a clean and fair sport," they said. Many riders were angry at the decision: "Dear Rabobank, you were part of the problem [referring to doping on the Rabobank team in the past]. How dare you walk away from your young clean guys who are part of the solution. Sickening," David Millar said via Twitter. The company announced that it would still sponsor amateur cycling and cyclo cross and would also continue backing the biggest name in the team, Marianne Vos, until 2016. Vos, to her eternal credit, responded by informing them that she could not accept that - she won races with the help of her team and if they wanted her, they'd need to support her team too. Rabobank, who were no doubt also persuaded by fan opinion, relented; hence Vos and her team continued through 2013 as Rabobank-Liv/Giant.

Adrie Visser

Adrie Visser

Born in Hoorn, Netherlands on this day in 1983, Adrie Visser began her athletic career in speed skating, winning a silver medal in the Juniors C category and, later, fifth place in the Juniors B at the National Championships. Like so many others who would reach the top level of cycling, the bike was initially just a way to maintain fitness during the summer; but from 2002 she decided to concentrate on cycling after achieving a number of excellent results including second place at the National 500m Championship that year followed by first place in the Scratch, Points and Pursuit races at the Nationals the next, also taking third in the Scratch at the Worlds. She retained the three titles for the following two years, then lost the Pursuit in 2006, and was third in the Scratch at the Worlds and second at the Nationals in 2007.

Visser had been performing well in road racing since the beginning of her cycling career and, by the time she won the Ronde van Drenthe in 2007, already had numerous criterium races listed on her palmares - road racing became her focus that year and she repeated her Drenthe success at the Profronde van Surhuisterveen four months later. In 2008 she teamed up with Marianne Vos to win the Vierdaagse van Rotterdam on the track, then finished Stage 4 at the Gracia Orlova in second place and went on to win three other races. The following year she was sixth at the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, proving beyond doubt that she had the ability to compete with the best riders in the world on the road; then in 2010 she was seventh at the Tour of Qatar and fifth at the Ronde van Vlaanderen. She bettered her performance in Qatar for a fourth place finish the next year and won her first big General Classification at the popular Energiewacht Tour and, in 2012, won Le Samyn and Erpe-Mere, also coming fifth again at the Ronde van Vlaanderen and third overall at the GP Elsy Jacobs.

Visser rode for Boels-Dolmans in 2013 and, while she didn't win a race all season, performed well with numerous good results including seventh at Le Samyn, fifth at the Omloop van het Hageland, sixth at the Ronde van Vlaanderen, two third-place stage finishes and fifth place overall (plus third in the Points competition) at the Energiewacht Tour and second place on Stage 1 at the Emakumeen Bira. A strong all-rounder with a powerful sprint, many fans believed that on the right parcours Visser has the potential to be a World Champion; however, she announced that she would be retiring at the end of the season.

Jaap Eden

Jaap Eden
Born in Groningen on this day in 1873, Jacobus Johannes Eden's mother died shortly after his birth and the boy was raised by his grandparents when his father, a teacher, was unable to devote sufficient time to his upbringing. They ran a hotel at Santpoort, where the sand dunes have long been a popular location for sports; Jaap took part in cross country running and athletics (which his father taught) during the summer and speed skating in the winter. He had natural talent - when he was 15 his skating technique brought him to the attention of a skater named Klaas Pander, then rated number one in the country, who invited Eden to train with him. Aged 17, Eden won an important short-track event and was selected for unofficial World Skating Championships where he won bronze in the half-mile and was fourth in the mile. Early in 1892, Eden won his first international competition, the Prince of Orange Cup that took place in Great Britain; later that year skaters and skating club officials met in the Netherlands to create a worldwide governing body, the International Skating Union, which would organise the first official World Skating Championships to be held in Amsterdam during the winter of 1892/3. Eden won and became a national celebrity, his image being used to sell everything from skates to cigars, then won again in 1895 and 1896.

What is of more interest to us, however, is his cycling achievements. Having become World Speed Skating Champion in 1893, Eden went to the World Track Cycling Championships held in Antwerp in 1894 and won the 10km. One year later, when the Worlds were held in Cologne, he won the Sprint. To this day, Eden remains the only man to have been a world champion in cycling and speed skating (two women - Sheila Young from the USA and Christa Luding-Rothenburger from Germany - have also managed it).


Agustín Tamames Iglesias, who was born in Monterrubio de Armuña, Spain on this day in 1944, won five stages and the overall General Classification at the Vuelta a Espana in 1975. A year later, he became National Road Race Champion.

Other cyclists born on this day: Julio Echeverry (Colombia, 1957); Suleman Abdul Rahman (Ethiopia, 1942); Krzysztof Sujka (Poland, 1955); Mike Day (USA, 1984); Gerhard Scheller (West Germany, 1958); Frank Connell (USA, 1909, died 2002); Glen Mitchell (New Zealand, 1972); Bernard Darmet (France, 1945); Monterrubio de Armuña, Spain (Spain, 1944); Cvitko Bilić (Yugoslavia, 1943); Arnold Uhrlass (USA, 1931).

Daily Cycling Facts 18.10.2013

Eileen Sheridan

Eileen Sheridan

Born Eileen Shaw on this day in 1924 and growing to a height of only 1.5m, Eileen Sheridan enjoyed sports in her childhood and by the age of 15 had settled on cycling as her chosen discipline. She did not, however, show any interest in racing; when she joined the Coventry CC in 1944 she did so purely to take part in touring - despite having ridden a 10-mile time trial in 28'30" ("to the great amazement of the club as well as myself," she said) as early as 1940. In 1944, however, she was persuaded to take part in a race that was subsequently cancelled; a year later she took part in a 25-mile time trial and hoped to complete it in 1h15' - she did it in 1h13'34", thus winning the race and setting a new club record. Then she won the National 25-mile TT Championship, and the competitive bug bit hard.

Sheridan married in 1946 and gave birth to a son, returning to cycling seven weeks later and, in another five months, winning a club TT event. Within a year she'd set a new 50-mile personal best at 2h22'53" and won the Birmingham and Midlands Track Championships. Then when she was given a new, top-quality racing bike for her birthday in 1948 she set about making a real impact: in 1949, she won the Best British All-Rounder and set a new British Women's 12-hour record of 237.32 miles; only four men achieved a greater distance, the greatest - set by Des Robinson - bettered Sheridan's by only six miles. She won the BBAR again in 1950, also taking the 25 and 50-mile National Championships and setting a number of new records, and won the Bidlake Prize "for creating a new high standard in women's cycle racing with an outstanding series of three championships and five record performances."

In 1951, Sheridan began her career as a professional rider with Hercules (shortly afterwards, Hercules also took on Derek Buttle who, four years later, would form part of the team that Hercules sent to the Tour de France - the first British team in the history of the race). The company's plan was to sponsor her in 21 record-breaking attempts, receiving media coverage from those in which she was successful. They got their money's-worth - she broke all of them, in most cages by very high margins. One of them - 1,000 miles in 3 days and an hour - remained intact until 2002. Five others have yet to be beaten.

Now aged 89, Sheridan lives in Islesworth, Middlesex.

Lucien Petit-Breton
Born Lucien Georges Mazan in Plessé on this day in 1882, Lucien Petit-Breton moved with his family to Argentina when he was six. Some time in 1898/9, he won a bicycle in a lottery competition and began racing under the false name Louis Breton so he could keep his sport secret from his father who wanted him to get a "proper job."

Lucien Petit-Breton

Despite taking Argentine nationality, Mazan was drafted into the French Army in 1902 and returned to his native country to serve. He continued racing, winning the Bol d'Or in 1904, but had to change his name once again, adopting Petit so avoid confusion with another (now forgotten) rider named Lucien Breton. In 1907, he won the first Milan-San Remo and then entered the Tour de France. By the end of Stage 5, he was far down the leadership and appeared to have no chance of a good result - the race was decided on points in those days and, while Petit-Breton was in second place, leader Emile Georget was way ahead. Then, in Stage 9, Georget's bike broke and he had to finish on a replacement. Since the rules of the day demanded that riders fixed broken bikes without assistance unless the bike had been declared beyond repair by judges, which it had not, he was fined 500 francs. Then, in Stage 10, organisers rather unfairly decided that their previous decision was an insufficiently harsh punishment and docked him 44 points by relegating him to last place for the stage - putting him in 3rd place overall and Petit-Breton in first, a position he held for the remainder of the race.

A year later, Petit-Breton won Paris-Brussels, the Tour of Belgium and a second Tour of France, including Stages 2, 7, 9, 11 and 14 - and thus became the first rider to win two Tours, since Maurice Garin had been disqualified and stripped of his second win for cheating in 1904.

Petit-Breton served as a bicycle messenger in the French Army during the First World War and died on the 20th of December in 1917 when he crashed into a car near the front at Troyes. In 1978, six decades after his death, he became the hero of a rather peculiar episode of the TV drama series Les Brigades du Tigre in which he was played by Jacques Giraud. In it, two detectives are assigned to follow the 1908 Tour where a mystery man has been murdering cyclists, leading most of them to want to abandon the race for their own safety. Petit-Breton, meanwhile, is far braver than the rest and manages to persuade them to continue. The series is available on DVD but, to be fair, is only really worth seeking out by obsessive Petit-Breton fans, if such people still exist.

Isidro Nozal

Born in Barakaldo, Spain on this day in 1977, Isidro Nozal won a silver medal at the National Novices Championship in 1992 and turned professional with ONCE in 1999, beginning to take good results within a year - including third place on Stage 10 at the Giro d'Italia in 2001. In 2003 he won Stages 6 and 13 at the Vuelta a Espana and was second overall - the best Grand Tour result of his career - and the following year he was seventh overall.

Unfortunately, it seems that Nozal's achievements were not entirely honourable: in 2005, he was banned for two weeks after a suspiciously high haematocrit count recorded at the Critérium du Dauphiné. He was implicated in Operacion Puerto a year later but was cleared of involvement, but then in 2009 he and team mates Hector Guerra and Nuno Ribiero were discovered to have used EPO variant CERA at the Volta ao Portugal; all three received two-year suspensions. He has not yet made a return to the sport.

Nozal is primarily famous not for his race results but for his belief that water softens the muscles, which is why he refuses to shower during races. Several other riders have confirmed that, during a Grand Tour, his presence in the peloton is unmistakable as a result.


Anna Sanchis Chafer, born in Genovés, Spain on this day in 1987, won the Junior National Individual Time Trial Championship in 2005 and the Elite National ITT and Road Race Championship in 2012. She began her professional career with Comunidad Valenciana in 2007 and remained there for two seasons, winning the Trofeo Xerox Ega in 2008 - the year she was also 19th in the Road Race at the Olympic Games. In 2009 she moved to Safi-Pasta Zara-Titanedi and experienced a year without victory, switching to Bizkaia-Durango - where she remains as of the end of the 2013 season - for 2010, but again enjoying no success. In 2011, however, she won a silver medal in the National ITT Championship and began the winning streak she's still enjoying - in 2013, she was National ITT Champion for the second consecutive year

Jure Kocjan, born in Slovenia on this day in 1984, won Stages 1 and 3 at the Tour du Limousin in 2012, where he rode with Team Type 1-Sanofi. In 2013 he moved to the Basque team Euskaltel-Euskadi; the team (not for the first time in its history) faces an uncertain future due to its difficulties in finding sponsorship at the end of the season, and it is not yet known if it will exist in 2014 nor for which team Kocjan will be riding.

Other cyclists born on this day: Jairo Rodríguez (Colombia, 1949); Hubert Bächli (Switzerland, 1938); Stephen Lim (Malaysia, 1942); Oscar Almada (Uruguay, 1943); Pedro Rodríguez (Ecuador, 1966); Walter Becker (Germany, 1932); Hassan Aryanfar (Iran, 1948); Janez Lampič (Yugoslavia, 1963).

Daily Cycling Facts 17.10.2013

Azzini at the Parc des Princes, Tour de
France 1910

Ernesto Azzini, who was born in Rodigo, Italy on this day in 1885 and died in Milan on the 14th of July 1923, turned professional with Atena in 1907 and rode for various Italian teams through to 1914, continued as an independent during the War, then went to Stucchi-Dunlop for 1919 and finally raced as an independent in 1920 and 1921. His first big win was Milan-Verona in 1906 and he was second at the Giro di Lombardia a year later. In 1910 he won the first stage of the second Giro d'Italia ever held, then won another stage - Stage 3 - in 1912; however, his real claim to fame, also from 1910, is his Stage 15 victory at the Tour de France - the first time a stage at the Tour had ever been won by an Italian (Maurice Garin, who won three stages and overall at the first Tour in 1903, had come to France as child from Italy with his parents, apparently crossing the border in secret and becoming what we now term illegal immigrants; but had taken French nationality in either 1892 or 1901).

Clare Greenwood, born in Cardiff, Wales on this day in 1958, came second at the National Road Race Championships in 1991, then third in 1992. She has also enjoyed some respectable results in Europe, including a seventh place finish at the Tour de France Féminin, and won the World Masters Time Trial Championship in 2001 and the World Masters Road Race Championship in 2002.

Born in Sydney, Australia on this day in 1977, Stephen Wooldridge shared the National Madison Championship title with Mark Renshaw in 2001 and rode with the victorious team in the World Team Pursuit Championships in 2002, 2004 and 2006.

Osvaldo Benvenuti, born on this day in 1951, was National Road Race Champion of Argentina in 1976.

Glen Chadwick, who was born in Opunake, New Zealand on this day in 1976 and holds joint New Zealand/Australian nationality, won the Tour of Tasmania in 2000, the Tours of Beijing and Korea in 2003, the National Individual Time Trial Championship in 2007 and the Tour of Arkansas in 2008.

Alexandr Dyachenko, born in Kaeakstanskaya, Kazakhstan on this day in 1983, became National Time Trial Champion in 2007 and was ninth at the World Time Trial Championship in 2011. In 2012 he was second at the Tour of Turkey; however, it was subsequently revealed that winner Ivailo Gabrovski had tested positive for EPO during the race - not the first time he'd come under suspicion, as he'd been found to have a suspiciously high haematocrit count in 2003 and 2005. His B sample also tested positive and he was banned from competition for two years, the Tour of Turkey victory thus being awarded to Dyachenko.

Other cyclists born on this day: Bobby Lea (USA, 1983); Modesta Vžesniauskaitė (Lithuania, 1983); Cencio Mantovani (Italy, 1941, died 1989); Roman Broniš (Czechoslovakia, 1976); Leung Hung Tak (Hong Kong, 1963); Marco Bui (Italy, 1977); Adrián Solano (Costa Rica, 1951); Javier Zapata (Colombia, 1969); Rubén Camacho (Mexico, 1953).

Daily Cycling Facts 16.10.2013

Apo Lazaridès

Born Jean-Apôtre Lazaridès in Marles-les-Mines on this day in 1925 and of Greek heritage (his family did not receive French citizenship until he was four years old), Apo Lazaridès fell in love with cycling during his boyhood and would regularly go on long rides to the mountains and then rode up them when he got there. During the Second World War he began racing as an independent and won two events, Boucles de Sospel and Mont Chauve; using his training rides as cover, he secretly acted as a courier for the Resistance, transporting messages between different groups. Had he have been caught he might well have been summarily executed on the spot, if not he'd have been transported to a concentration camp; his heroic actions are all the more remarkable when one considers that he was a teenage boy.

When the War ended L'Auto, the newspaper edited by Jacques Goddet that had created and ran the Tour de France, stood accused of collaboration with the Nazis (Goddet's politics were at times questionable, but he had permitted the newspaper's presses to be used to produce pro-Resistance material and so the accusations were perhaps not entirely deserved) and was closed down - though to all intents and purposes it continued after moving across the street into premises owned by L'Auto and being renamed L'Equipe, which sought to continue as Tour organiser. However, a rival paper argued that since it had not faced the same charges, it should be "given" the Tour; the government was uncertain as to which would make the better job of it and in 1946 gave permission for two races to be held - L'Equipe's La Course du Tour de France, which Lazaridès won, was declared the victor. He would never win an actual Tour, but came second in the King of the Mountains in 1947 and 1948, losing to Pierre Brambilla - who is said to have buried his bike in his garden in protest at Jean Robic's General Classification victory that year, swearing that he would never race again (but did) - the first year and Gino Bartali - who, like Lazaridès, engaged in anti-Nazi activities during the War, in his case personally transporting Jewish Italians over the Alps into neutral Switzerland - the next.

Lazaridès is primarily famous more for an incident said to have occurred in 1947 than for his considerable racing success. That year, he rode at the Tour for France Sport-Dunlop, led by 1934 King of the Mountains René Vietto (according to many - probably misguided - fans, Vietto was the "moral winner" of the General Classfication too. To find out why they thought so, and why he wasn't, click here). The story goes that when Vietto had to have an infected toe amputated that year, he demanded that Lazaridès cut off one of his own toes too. Initially, Lazaridès protested: "But why? I don't need to lose a toe." "Because I say so," Vietto replied - and, legend has it, Lazaridès carried out the order. It's common knowledge that his toe was then preserved in a bottle of spirits which is kept to this day in a bar in Marseilles; unfortunately, nobody knows which bar and attempts to locate it have failed (but it's both a good story and a very good excuse to try to visit all the bars in the city should you ever visit, so who cares whether it's true or not?)

Manolo Saiz
Born in Torrelavega, Spain on this day in 1959, Manuel "Manolo" Saiz Balbás is one of the few examples of a directeur sportif/team general manager who does not himself have a background as a competitive cyclist. Nevertheless, his career has been enormously successful and he developed ONCE into one of the biggest teams in the sport; he has also been at the centre of a number of controversies.

Manolo Saiz

The secret to Saiz's success was slimming down his team's infrastructure, then reorganising management and coaching in order to maintain greater control over it. Having identified and chopped out the dead wood, he was able to generate funds to take on new experts and riders; with good results came more sponsorship money and the best riders in cycling - in 1995, ONCE riders took three places in the General Classification top ten, first place in the Points competition, third place in the King of the Mountains and first place in the Teams competition at the Tour de France. During the early 1990s, ONCE had dominated the Spring races with a series of victories at La Flèche Wallonne, Paris-Nice and others, from 1995 (when it also won the Points and King of the Mountains) to 1997 it won the Vuelta a Espana three times consecutively.

In 1998, when the Festina Affair broke as the Tour de France was beginning, Saiz withdrew ONCE from the race in protest at the organisers' handling of the situation, claiming to have "stuffed a finger up the Tour's arse." This was the first big controversy in which he was involved and, the following year when the Tour banned several individuals and teams from taking part after they were implicated in the Affair, Saiz and ONCE were among them. However, lawyers working for ONCE member Richard Virenque pointed out that UCI rule 1.2.048 stipulated organisers must notify those it sought to ban at least 30 days before the beginning of a race; they had not done so in this case and were forced to allow Saiz to enter his team - they came second in the Teams classification, no doubt leaving the Tour's top brass apoplectic with rage. Thus began several years of enmity between the two parties.

Saiz faced several crises in the years subsequent to 1999, but prevailed in each of them. In 2001, team leader Abraham Olana - who had won the 1998 Vuelta - left; meanwhile, Joseba Beloki was ready to take his place and became a real threat to the domination of Lance Armstrong until his career-ending crash on the Cote de La Rochette in 2003 (Armstrong, in order to avoid the crash, veered off the road and crossed a field - one of the most famous incidents in the Tour in recent years). Then, at the end of 2003, ONCE withdrew its sponsorship, arguing that the brand's profile had reached 100% penetration in Spain and that further advertising was therefore unnecessary; though cycling was still suffering from damage done to its reputation by the Festina Affair, Saiz was able to secure new funding from Liberty Mutual, a worldwide insurance company. Most riders remained on board, but Saiz also brought in new talent - including a young Alberto Contador, riding with his first professional contract. He couldn't always come out on top, though: when Roberto Heras failed an anti-doping test whilst en route to a record fourth Vuelta victory, Saiz had no alternative but to ban the rider.

Finally, on the 23rd of May 2006, Saiz's luck ran out - having been named during the Operacion Puerto investigations, he was arrested and resigned from his position as manager. Liberty then withdrew its sponsorship, though by the end of the season Saiz had officially listed Astana (a consortium of Kazakh companies) as his team's new main sponsor. However, in December that year the UCI declined to renew the ProTour licence held by Active Bay, Saiz's company, effectively shutting it down; the licence was then awarded to Astana.

One of the machines sold by Saiz in 2012

Whilst the UCI and ASO (owners of the Tour de France) probably hoped to have seen the last of Saiz; until 2011 it looked as though they'd got their wish - Saiz claimed to have no desire to return to the sport in any capacity and was apparently content to concentrate on his wedding catering and restaurant business. Then in 2010, he began coaching an Under-23 team, Cueva el Soplao, and early in 2011 he posted a message on Twitter reading: “On the 11th of the 11th of 2011 something will happen.” Ideas among fans as to what this might mean varied widely with some expecting shock news relating to Puerto while others expected him to announce a new team. He later confirmed that the latter was the case, explaining that it would be a small outfit with young riders. It appears that he has not been able to find sponsorship as easily as he once could - in May 2012, he sold his collection of 57 (though the description said 70) rare and, in some cases, unique bikes on Ebay with a starting bid of US$50,000.

Mayuko Hagiwara

Mayuko Hagiwara, born in Maebashi, Japan on this day in 1986, won the Road Race at the Asian Games in 2006, was National Individual Time Trial Champion in 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012 and National Road Race Champion in 2010, 2011 and 2012. In 2013, she made the move into the European cycling scene with the British-registered Wiggle-Honda team owned and managed by Rochelle Gilmore, and proved herself more than up to the task doing admirable domestique work. She also took a bronze medal at the Japanese National Championships that summer.

On this day in 2013, Albert Bourlon died at the age of 96. Bourlon, a professional rider between 1937 and 1951, escaped the peloton at the start of Stage 14 in the 1947 Tour de France and then successfully stayed away for the remainder of the 253km parcours - the longest successful breakaway in Tour history.

François Pervis, born in Château-Gontier, France on this day in 1984, was National Kilo Champion in 2005, 2006 and 2007 and National Sprint Champion in 2012. He has also won a number of Under-23 National and European titles.

Sam Bennett, born in Wervik, Belgium on this day in 1990 and of Irish nationality, became Irish Junior Road Race Champion and won the Junior Tour of Ireland in 2008, then also won the Points race at the European Junior Track Championships. In 2009 he won a stage at the Rás Tailteann, then another at the Rhône-Alpes Isère Tour in 2010, when he also became Under-23 National Championship and earned a traineeship with Française des Jeux. Since 2011 Bennett has been a professional rider with An Post-Sean Kelly; he was fifth in the National Championships that year and, in 2012, finished top ten on three stages at the Tour of Britain and took tenth place at the Under-23 World Championships.

Masson at Paris-Roubaix, 1919

Born in Morialmé, Belgium on this day in 1888 (and not to be confused with the philosopher and Breton nationalist of the same name, born in Brest 19 years earlier), Émile Masson won a bronze medal at the Independents National Championships in 1913, then signed up to Alcyon in the following year and was second at the Ronde van België. The First World War brought an end to the careers of many cyclists, but Masson was more fortunate and survived the conflict, making a return to racing in 1919 when he won the Ronde van België in 1919 and was second at Paris-Brussels. In 1920 he was fifth in the General Classification at the Tour de France. In 1921 he was again second at the Ronde van België, then a year later he took third place at Paris-Roubaix and won Stages 11 and 12 at the Tour de France. He won the Ronde van België for a second time and was fifth at Liège-Bastogne-Liège in 1923, retiring in 1925 after coming 22nd overall following his final attempt at the Tour de France. Masson's son, Émile Masson Jnr., also became a professional rider and, while he never did as well in the Tour, was more successful with victory at La Flèche Wallonne, Paris-Roubaix and two National Championships.


Other cyclists born on this day: Erinne Willock (Canada, 1981); Peter Hermann (Liechtenstein, 1963); Tommy Mulkey (USA, 1972); Andres Lauk (Estonia, 1964); Miguel Sevillano (Argentina, 1928, died 1998); Mario Medina (Venezuela, 1958); Gino Guerra (Italy, 1924, died 1978); Huỳnh Anh (South Vietnam, 1932); Dušan Škvarenina (Czechoslovakia, 1939, died 1997); Henk Cornelisse (Netherlands, 1940); Darren McKenzie-Potter (New Zealand, 1969); Günter Haritz (West Germany, 1948); Robert Dorgebray (France, 1915, died 2005); Michael Hollingsworth (Australia, 1943).

Daily Cycling Facts 15.10.2013

Kirsten Wild

Born in Almelo, Netherlands on this day in 1982, Kirsten Wild turned professional with the @Home team in 2004, then rode for @Work the following year. During those first two seasons she enjoyed considerable success with eleven podium finishes, including second place at the Damesronde van Drenthe; then in 2006 she signed to the world famous AA Drink-Leontien.nl and began winning. That year, having finished the Damesronde third, she won five times including two stages and the General Classification at the RaboSter Zeeuwsche Eilanden, where she beat Linda Villumsen and Iris Slappendel, as well as coming second at the National Individual Time Trial Championship. 2007 brought seven victories including the General Classification at the Tour of Poland; then in 2008 she won eight times - this time, her triumphs included the National Scratch Race Championship and the highly prestigious Omloop Het Nieuwsblad. She also finished second on three stages at the Giro Donne, in each case losing to the sheer power of Ina-Yoko Teutenberg in the bunch sprint, but beating future World Champion Giorgia Bronzini.

In 2009, Wild switched to the Cervelo Test Team where she first rode with British superstar Emma Pooley and the American Kristin Armstrong, one of the most successful riders in the history of the sport; her season started well with overall victory at the Tour of Qatar and second place at the Ronde van Vlaanderen (where she again lost to Teutenberg). She then added Le Tour du Grand Montréal, the Prologue and Stage 9 at the Giro Donne and Stages 1, 3 and 4 at the Holland Ladies' Tour (where she was second overall, beating Teutenberg but proving unable to match Marianne Vos) before ending the year with 15 wins in total. The following year, when Cervelo was joined by more British stars in the shape of Lizzie Armitstead and Sharon Laws (as well as some big-hitters from elsewhere, including Sarah Düster, Claudia Häusler, Charlotte Becker, Mirjam Melchers-van Poppel, Carla Ryan and Iris Slappendel), Wild won 17 times - another Tour of Qatar and RaboSter Zeeuwsche Eilanden, Stages 4 and 5 at the Holland Ladies' Tour (where she was second overall, again to Vos) and her first National Championship, for the Points Race, being the highlights.

Despite her success with Cervelo, Wild returned to AA Drink-Leontien.nl in 2011 and spent most of the year concentrating on track racing - a wise plan as it brought two more National Championship titles for Points and Scratch, but she continued to perform well on the road and was third overall at the Holland Ladies' Tour. The Cervelo women's team closed down after sponsors withdrew funding at the end of the season; AA Drink snapped up most of their riders and Wild found herself once again riding with Pooley, Armitstead, Laws and fellow British rider Lucy Martin, winning Stages 1 and 3 in Qatar (third place overall, a third RaboSter Zeeuwsche Eilanden, two stages at the Lotto Decca Tour and one at the Brainwash Ladies' Tour (the Holland Ladies' Tour, renamed in honour of new sponsor Brainwash). She was also selected to compete at the Olympics, riding with the team that took sixth place in the Team Pursuit (and set a new record for a Dutch team while doing so) and was sixth in the Omnium.

Following sponsorship issues, owner Leontien van Moorsel announced in 2012 that, after many years competing at the top level of the sport, her team would not continue in 2013; shortly afterwards, Wild revealed that she would ride for Argos-Shimano the following season. Her season got off to an incredible start at the Tour of Qatar, a race that favours sprinters, where she won Stages 2, 3 and 4, the Points competition and the General Classification. Her next victory was the Gent-Wevelgem classic, followed by Stages 1, 2, 3b, 4 and the Points competition at the Energiewacht Tour, where she was third overall behind Ellen van Dijk and Loes Gunnewijk. She won the Ronde van Gelderland but then, less than a week later, a crash at the Omloop van Borsele left her nursing a broken shoulder, out of action until the Giro Rosa - where she won Stage 1. Later in the season she won Stages 2 and 3 at the Lotto-Belisol Tour and Stages 1 and 3 at the Boels Ladies Tour.

Tom Boonen

Boonen followed by Cancellara,
Paris-Roubaix 2008

Born in Mol on this day in 1980, the Belgian Tom Boonen took second place at the Novices' National Road Race Championships in 1996, then came third at the Junior National Individual Time Trial Championship in 1998. Good performances at other races brought him to the attention of US Postal, then home to Lance Armstrong, which took him on as a trainee in September 2000 after he'd finished the Under-23 Paris-Roubaix in third place and gained several other promising results; with them he won the U-23 Paris-Tours.

In 2002, US Postal gave Boonen his first full professional contract and sent him to ride as a domestique for Johan Museeuw - the man who had inspired Boonen to become a professional cyclist - at Paris-Roubaix. Paris-Roubaix is, as all fans know, a race like no other: dangerous and difficult enough to have frightened some of the greatest riders the world has ever known so much that they refused to take part altogether, it has been described as "the last great madness of cycling." Riders making their debut rarely finish - and never do well. Except, that is, for Boonen: after Museeuw got away in a break, an unexpected opportunity to ride for himself fell into his lap when George Hincapie crashed out of the race and he finished in third place. Museeuw claimed in public that Boonen was the man who would replace him as the greatest Classics rider in the world, and became his mentor.

Spurred on by more podium finishes later in the season (and no doubt encouragement from Museeuw), Boonen knew that he could bypass the years of domestique duty that most riders must go through and head straight for the top; telling reporters that US Postal wasn't offering him the chances to go for the victories that he knew he could win he went to QuickStep-Davitamon for the start of 2003 and has remained there ever since. That year, having been third at Gent-Wevelgem, he rode the Vuelta a Espana and finished Stage 3 in third place and Stage 11 in second, but missed out on most of the rest of the season due to a knee injury. Fully recovered for 2004 he won stages at the Tour of Qatar and the Vuelta a Andalucia, then in the space of only two and a half weeks he won the E3 Harelbeke, Gent-Wevelgem and Scheldeprijs; after winning the Tour de Picardie he rode his first Tour de France and won Stages 6 and 20, coming sixth in the Points competition. In 2005 he was second at the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and won two stages at Paris-Nice, then - in two weeks - the E3 Harelbeke, then the Ronde van Vlaanderen and Paris-Roubaix, the ninth man too have ever won both events in a single year. Museeuw was proved correct, Boonen had taken his place. He finished the year by becoming World Road Race Champion.

In 2006, Boonen won the Tour of Qatar and was third at Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne, won Stages 1, 2 and 4 at Paris-Nice, was first at the E3 Harelbeke and the Ronde van Vlaanderen then second at Paris-Roubaix (losing out to Fabian Cancellara and being promoted from fifth places after three riders finishing before him were disqualified for riding through a closed level crossing) before winning Scheldeprijs again. He also won Stage 1 at the Tour de Suisse and was third in the National Championships before returning to the Tour de France and finishing nine stages in the top ten, though he would abandon on the Alpe d'Huez stage. In 2007 he won Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne, the Dwars door Vlanderen and the E3 Harelbeke and was third at the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Milan-San Remo. At the Tour he won Stages 6 and 12, finishing seven others in the top ten and taking first place in the Points competition as a result. With his powerful sprint, Boonen might well have won more green jerseys at the Tour and could have been a powerful rival to the emerging Mark Cavendish. However, since 2007 he has structured his annual campaigns primarily around the Classics and Monuments while continuing to win stages and General Classifications at other stage races - as was the case in 2008 when he won the Tour of Qatar (a race made up purely of flat stages, ideal for the sprinters) and stages at the Tour of California and the Vuelta a Espana; but his most important result was a second victory at Paris-Roubaix. In May that year, Boonen tested positive for cocaine; since he could be shown to have used the drug recreationally outside of competition (and it's not considered performance-enhancing by WADA or the UCI) he escaped sanctions; but a deal to ride for Bouygues Télécom fell through and he was barred from the Tours de Suisse and France. In 2009 a criminal court later chose not to punish him after deciding that the media attention and uncertainty with regard to his future career had been sufficient punishment; fortunately QuickStep, stating that the positive result had come at a time when Boonen was experiencing unspecified difficulties that remained private, retained faith in them - he repaid them by repeating his earlier successes at the Tour of Qatar and Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne, then became National Road Race Champion - and won Paris-Roubaix for a third time, thus equaling Museeuw's tally. Two and a half weeks later, however, he once again tested positive for cocaine. Although the test was out of competition, when it was revealed that this was in fact the third time - a previous incident in 2007 having been hushed up - QuickStep had little choice but to suspend him while an investigation was carried out. He would soon be reinstated, but was not given permission by the Tour de France to take part until one day before the race began.

Many fans thought he'd win Paris-Roubaix for a fourth time in 2010, but his form was noticeably not what it had been the previous year: he won two stages at Qatar and another at Tirreno-Adriatico, but lost to Oscar Freire at Milan-San Remo and to Cancellara at the E3 Harelbeke and the Ronde van Vlaanderen before being fifth over the finish line in Roubaix. These disappointments would be explained soon afterwards when he was diagnosed with tendinitis, which put him out of contention for the rest of the season. 2011 was little better - he was 28th at Milan-San Remo, the climbs before the sprint finish getting the better of him, and ninth at the Dwars door Vlaanderen. He won Gent-Wevelgem, which proved to be his only Classics victory of the year, then came fourth at the Ronde van Vlaanderen and crashed out of Paris-Roubaix. Once again he rode at the Tour de France, finishing Stage 5 despite a crash; the injuries he sustained forced him to abandon two days later. The Vuelta a Espana ended in similar fashion with a crash in Stage 16, this time his injuries prevented him from competing at the World Championships.

Winning a fourth Paris-Roubaix, 2012

The Tour of Qatar has become something of a barometer for Boonen, his success or lack thereof in the race providing fans with an indication of how well he's likely to do later in the year - there was much excitement, therefore, when he won the General Classification and the Points competition in 2012. At the end of February he was second at the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad; then he won Stage 2 at Paris-Nice . In the middle of March he was 22nd at Milan-San Remo, then towards the end of the month he won the E3 Harelbeke. Two days later he won Gent-Wevelgem too, then a week after that he won his third Ronde van Vlaanderen and joined Museeuw as one five riders to have done so. None of these victories compared to Paris-Roubaix, however: by winning a fourth time, he did what Museeuw had tried and failed to do, equaling the record set by Roger de Vlaeminck 35 years earlier and becoming the only rider to have won the Ronde van Vlaanderen and Paris-Roubaix in a single year twice.

Boonen is now 33 years old - the age at which the majority of male cyclists tend to begin the decline from their best years, and his 2013 season was considerably less illustrious than expected. Having recovered from an elbow infection in January, he raced the Tour of Oman a month later and came fifth on Stage 1 and seventh on Stage 6, but performed so poorly on other stages that he finished the race in 83rd place. Gent-Wevelgem and the Ronde van Vlaanderen both ended with crashes, in the latter case leaving him with a broken rib that prevented him from attempting to equal de Vlaeminck at Paris-Roubaix. However, by June he was ready to make a comeback and won the Heistse Pijl, then a month later Stage 2 at the Tour de la Région Wallonne.


Born in Eltham, Great Britain on this day in 1945, Reg Barnett became Amateur National Sprint Champion in 1968, then signed up to Holdsworth-Campagnolo as a professional for 1969 and became Elite National Sprint Champion. In 1970 he went to the Clive Stuart team and successfully defended his title, then in 1971 with Falcon-Tighe he exchanged it for the National Stayers Championship instead, winning back the Sprint title that year. He continued with Falcon the next year but also rode for Coventry EagleIn 1973 and 1974, Barnett raced with Ti-Raleigh, the team that would later become one of the most successful in the history of cycling; he won the National Sprint Championship again in 1973 but then won nothing the following season. In 1975 he returned to Falcon, remaining with them until the end of 1977 when he also rode for his own Barnett-Edwards-Shimano team, but won no further races.

Roberta Bonanomi, born in Sotto il Monte, Italy on this day in 1966, raced at the Olympics in 1984, 1988, 1992, 1996 and 2000; her best result being 23rd place in the road race in 1984. In 1989 she won the Giro Donne and the Tour of Norway, yet despite many more good results she didn't turn professional until joining Acca Due'O in 1999.

Susy Pryde, born in Waipukurau, New Zealand on this day in 1973, won a silver medal in the road race at the 1998 Commonwealth Games, then another in the cross-country mountain bike race at the next Games four years later. She was National Road Race Champion in 1998.

Susan DeMattei, born in the USA on this day in 1962, took up road racing and mountain biking whilst studying at California State University and soon discovered she had a great talent for climbing - before long, she was beating male rivals and setting records in local hill-climb competitions. In 1989 she came second at the World Cross-Country Championships, a result she repeated in 1994; in 1996 she won the bronze medal for the mountain bike race at the Olympics.

Philip Cassidy, born in the Republic of Ireland on this day in 1961, won the Shay Elliott Memorial in 1982, Rás Tailteann in 1983 and 1999, the Archer International GP in 1988 and the Irish Sea Tour of the North and Tour of Ulster in 2000. In 1999 he was National Independent Time Trial Champion.

Fritz Pfenninger, born in Zurich on this day in 1934, was a professional rider between 1955 and 1972. During that time he was three times European Madison Champion (with Klaus Bugdahl in 1962 and with Peter Post in 1964 and 1967) and three times National Sprint Champion (1965, 1966 and 1967). Most of his 43 professional victories came at the Six-Day races - he won 33, partnering with Post for 19 of them.

Born in Trinidad and Tobago on this day in 1961, Gene Samuel came fourth in the Kilo at the Olympics in 1984, then won first a silver, then a gold and a bronze at the PanAmerican Games in 1987, 1991 (when he was also third at the World Championships) and 1995, all for the same event. Samuel turned professional with Gatorade-Chateau d'Ax at the unusually late age of 30, then went to Stesstabs in 1993, Zipp-Vitus in 1994 and Helmet Warriors in 1995, after which he retired. He later returned to competition and, having picked up good results in 2006, won the Trinidadian Easter GP and came third at the National Championships a year later. Still racing today, he was fourth at the Trinidad and Tobago Season Opener in 2012.

Georges Pintens, born in Antwerp, Belgium on this day in 1946, won the Amstel Gold Race in 1970, Gent-Wevelgem and the Tour de Suisse (and was second at Liège-Bastogne-Liège) in 1971, Liège-Bastogne-Liège in 1974 and Stage 1 at the Vuelta a Espana in 1976.

Other cyclists born on this day: Anatoliy Starkov (USSR, 1946); Lê Văn Phươc (South Vietnam, 1929); Lino Benech (Uruguay, 1947); Andreas Langl (Austria, 1966); Scott McKinley (USA, 1968); Ahmed Belgasem (Libya, 1987); Luis Sosa (Uruguay, 1949); Fred McCarthy (Canada, 1881, died 1974); José Goyeneche (Spain, 1940); Gregor Gazvoda (Yugoslavia, 1981).

Daily Cycling Facts 14.10.2013

Jody Cundy

Jody Cundy

Born in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire on this day in 1978 with a deformed lower leg, Jody Cundy was a naturally active child who began walking at 13 months and could kick a football by the time he was a year and a half old. However, by the time he was three it had become obvious that his leg was not going to grow; doctors advised that it be amputated and he learned to walk on a false leg.

During his childhood, the family moved to Norfolk. When he was five, he almost drowned after falling into shallow water and being unable to get out, after which his parents signed him up for swimming lessons - and he immediately loved it, working hard and rapidly becoming a leading member of his team despite, in his own words, not being "a naturally gifted swimmer." When he was ten, his parents met the parents of another disabled swimmer who asked if they were aware of disabled swimming clubs and competitions; they had not been but sought more information and found one for him. Within a very short time, he was breaking record times for his age category. In 1994 he was selected to swim at the World Championships in Malta. ""I was a rank outsider," he says, "...I knocked four seconds off my personal best and won the world 100m butterfly title at the first attempt." He then swam at the Paralympics in 1996, 2000 and 2004 and won three gold and two bronze medals.

In common with many athletes who have come to cycling from other sports, the bike was originally simply a means to improve fitness for Cundy; but as is often the way cycling took over his life. He switched completely in 2006 and, that same year, made his first appearance at the World Championships that year - he won a gold medal in the Kilo. At the 2008 Paralympics he set a new World Record during the Kilo qualifiers, then won another gold. He was favourite to win the event again at the 2012 Games but slipped at the start of the race; an incident he put down to a faulty starting gate - however, when the gate was examined, officials could find no fault with it and ruled that he would not be permitted a restart. Angry, he swore and threw bidons at them, later apologising to the spectators for his behaviour but said he still disagreed with the decision.

Floyd Landis

Landis at the 2006 Tour of California

Born in Farmersville, Pennsylvania on this day in 1975, Floyd Landis was raised in a Mennonite family - adherents to a religion that demands its followers work hard, play fair and worship regularly. Mennonites are a very varied ethnoreligious group with some adopting the "plain people" dress most commonly associated with the Amish (who are in fact a branch of the Mennonite religion, developing from the late 17th Century) while others dress in modern clothes and live modern lives - Landis' family belong to one of the more conservative sects and, as such, he was encouraged to take part only in "useful" activities during childhood. Among these was fishing, on which he was keen; most Mennonite groups allow the use of machines and technology (usually after careful debate and consideration, as in fact do the Amish despite popular misconception) and the young Floyd was therefore permitted to use a bicycle to get to fishing spots. In time, he realised that he got more enjoyment from the ride than the fishing and began cycling properly - and when he heard about a local race, he decided to enter. Since his religion demands modest dress he wore baggy tracksuit trousers rather than lycra shorts, but he won.

Paul, Floyd's father, did not appreciate his son's new passion - in his eyes, cycling had no ultimate useful achievement at the end: what real use is a trophy compared to a fish? Floyd was forbidden from continuing and to make sure he didn't do so in secret was given more jobs to do. However, Paul had under-estimated just how deeply in love with cycling his son had fallen - Floyd took to sneaking out of the house at night, often in the hours after midnight and no matter what the weather, to train. Paul found out and worried that the real reason his son was going out so late was to drink or take drugs and started following him in a car to find out what he was up to; when he discovered that Floyd was in fact training, Paul understood that cycling was to be his son's life. He relented and, in time, would become Floyd's biggest supporter and fan.

Landis concentrated on mountain biking for a few years as a teenager, winning several races and making a name for himself with a Junior National Championship in 1993, but he always knew that his future was on the road and told friends that he was going to win the Tour de France. When he was 20 he relocated to California to try his luck as a professional mountain biker and rapidly earned a reputation for his dogged, single-minded determination and ability to keep going long after other riders would have given up - on one occasion, having shredded both his tyres on the rocks, he finished a race riding on bare rims. In 1999 he switched, from that point concentrating on road racing and came second at the Cascade Classic and third at the Tour de l'Avenir while riding for Mercury, with whom he remained until the end of 2001. In 2000 he won the Tour du Poitou-Charentes et de la Vienne and was second at the Valley of the Sun, then in 2001 he beat Baden Cooke at the San Diego criterium. In the upper ranks of the cycling world, powerful figures were watching his progress and taking note - among them was Lance Armstrong who, late in 2001, invited Landis to join US Postal as a domestique; thus in 2002 Landis rode the Critérium du Dauphiné (and took second place behind Armstrong), then the Tour de France where he managed one top ten stage finish. The following year, Landis had a specific job to do within a team - having proved himself a superb climber, it was his task to attack hard in the mountains and force rivals to expend themselves so that they would be unable to respond when Armstrong made his winning move later on in the race. He did this admirably well and, without his help, Armstrong might very easily not have won in 2004 - the year that Landis rode so well in the Alps and Pyrenees that he started being tipped as a future Tour winner in his own right.

In the maillot jaune

Once again, the cycling world was taking note. Phonak tempted him away from US Postal with offers of more money and a team leader position for 2005 and he did not disappoint, becoming a very real threat to Armstrong in his final Tour-winning year, finishing three stages in sixth place and coming ninth overall. In 2006 he won the Tour of California, then a remarkable Tour of Georgia in which he built up a lead in the individual time trial and then kept it intact, losing not one single second, through the mountains. Then, at the Tour de France, he finished top three on three stages and won Stage 17 at Morzine, taking second place in the overall King of the Mountains and first in the General Classification - a victory made even more remarkable due to the fact that, as revealed during the Tour, he was suffering from osteonecrosis in his hip, an ailment causes by a fracture in 2002 and which resulted in bone grinding directly on bone - sufficiently painful, he said, to keep awake some nights.

Due to his hip, Landis had been given medical dispensation to receive injections of cortisone during the Tour to relieve pain and swelling. He was, therefore, also subject to special attention from doping control - cortisone has a long history in doping and it was important to ensure he gained no unfair competitive advantage from it. Four days after winning, Phonak released shock news: following his Stage 17 victory, he had provided a sample that had been found to contain a suspiciously high ratio of testisterone to epitestosterone, later revealed by his doctor to have been 11:1 - the maximum ratio permitted by the UCI was 4:1. Landis maintained his innocence and denied that he had ever doped, requesting that his B-sample also be tested and insisting that it would be clear. Phonak supported him but stated that should the B-sample be positive, he would be fired. It was: he was sacked and given a temporary ban pending investigation - the team fell apart and dissolved even before he was found guilty, banned for two years and, ultimately, stripped of his victory.

But Landis wasn't going to go quietly. He continued to deny that he had doped and unsuccessfully appealed, also beginning a "Floyd Fairness Fund" to which fans - many of them unable to believe that such a wholesome-seeming character would ever have resorted to cheating - donated an estimated $1 million. Litigation did not cease until late in 2008, but then in 2009 a French newspaper, L'Express, published claims that Landis had made use in court of information obtained by hacking into a computer network owned by the French Ministry of Youth, Sport and Social Life's National Laboratory for Doping Detection, the agency that had carried out the tests on 2006. Intially, no evidence could be found to support the claim and the case seemed to have reached an end; however, in 2010 - by which time the ban had expired and Landis was attempting to make a comeback - a French judge issued a warrant for his arrest. That same year, the Wall Street Journal printed an article claiming that he had attempted to gain last-minute permission to take part in the Tour of California and, when permission was refused, he had sent emails containing numerous specific allegations regarding several important figures in cycling, including riders, to journalists - among the riders accused were Armstrong and Hincapie, whom he said had both used blood doping and EPO in 2002 and 2003 and David Zabriskie and Levi Leipheimer, whom he said he had assisted when they used EPO. During an interview with the TV broadcaster ESPN, he admitted that he had no physical proof to back up his claims but said he needed to reveal what he knew to clear his conscience. He still denied doping with testosterone at the 2006 Tour (adding that it was the only time he ever failed a test), but confessed to using growth hormones and other products.

At the Tour de France, 2006

Landis' allegations against other riders were shocking enough, but what really rocked the cycling world was his claim that US Postal manager Johan Bruyneel had arrived at a "financial agreement" with the UCI in order to guarantee that a positive sample provided by Armstrong in 2002 never became public knowledge. UCI president Pat McQuaid went on record as saying that the allegation was completely untrue: "it's impossible that would happen. Therefore it's a lie as well as all the other lies he's told the last four years," he insisted. However, only a month later McQuaid revealed that the organisation had in fact received two payments from Armstrong, one of $25,000 in 2002 that was used to fund a junior racing anti-doping program and one of $125,000 three years later that was used to purchase a blood-testing device. He denied that these were bribes, but admitted that they were highly irregular and that his predecessor, Hein Verbruggen, had made a serious mistake in accepting them, especially in secrecy. This, along with many of Landis' other allegations, form a central part of the ongoing investigation into doping at US Postal that has already resulted in Lance Armstrong being stripped of his seven Tour de France wins.

Just as had been the case with Phonak in 2006, the controversy surrounding Landis killed off his new Bahati team in 2010. It also meant that he was unable to secure a contract elsewhere, forcing his retirement: "He's reached the end of the road and I just find it disgusting. He's a liar and a cheat and he has nothing left in cycling so he just wants to burn the house down," claimed David Millar, who himself served a two-year ban and very public descent into depression and alcoholism after being found guilty of doping." If he had stood up and manned up four years ago, he'd be racing the Tour de France now. He'd have a different book out. He'd have not lost a penny. He'd be admired by young people. He would have a different life ahead of him."

Kristina Ranudd, born in Uppsala, Sweden on this day in 1962, was Junior National Champion in Road Racing and Individual Time Trial in 1977 and Elite National Road Race Champion in 1978 in 1973. She also rode with the winning team at the National Team Trial Championships in 1984 and 1985.

Steven Woznick, born in Oakland, USA on this day in 1949, won a total of seven Junior and Under-23 track championships between 1972 and 1975. In 1973 he also won the Fitchburg Longsjo Classic.

Miguel Ángel Martín, born in Madrid on this day in 1972, won the Clásica de San Sebastián and three stages, the General Classification and the Points competition at the Volta a Catalunya in 2004.

Michael Lewis, born in Belize on this day in 1967, became National Road Race Champion in 2007.

Aad van den Hoek, who was born in Dirksland, Netherlands on this day in 1951, tested positive for  stimulant Nikethamide at the Olympics in 1972 - at that time, the drug was legal in UCI competitions but had been banned by the IOC and the entire Dutch cycling team was disqualified as a result. Van den Hoek picked up a few good results over the course of his career, including an overall victory at the Rheinland-Pfalz Rundfahrt in 1974; however, his most high-profile moment came in 1976 when he was Lanterne Rouge at the Tour de France.

Other cyclists born on this day: Piotr Brzózka (Poland, 1989); Maisonnave (France, 1882, died 1913); Petra Henzi (Switzerland, 1969); Leonid Kolumbet (USSR, 1937); Osamu Sumida (Japan, 1969); Colin Dickinson (New Zealand, 1931, died 2006); René Hamel (France, 1902, died 1992); Warren Carne (Rhodesia, 1975); Vladimir Popelka (Czechoslovakia, 1948); Marc Ryan (New Zealand, 1982); Jorge Pérez (Cuba, 1951); Andrzej Sypytkowski (Poland, 1963); Luigi Bartesaghi (Canada, 1932); Stefan Kirev (Bulgaria, 1942); Roberto Muñoz (Chile, 1955);  Asier Maeztu (Spain, 1977); Jiří Pokorný (Czechoslovakia, 1956).

Daily Cycling Facts 13.10.2013

Johan Museeuw

Johan Museeuw

Born in Varsenare, Belgium on this day in 1965, Johan Museeuw is the son of Eddy Museeuw who  dreamed of a career in cycling and rode as a professional for a year and three months with the Okay Whisky-Diamant-Simons in 1968 and 1969, but achieved no results better than third place at the Omloop van de Westhoek Ichtegem (he did, however, make a return 20 years later and was second on Stage 4b at the Tour of Luxembourg, beating Roman Kreuzinger's father - also named Roman - into third place). Like many riders whose careers did not live up their ambitions, he encouraged his son to race and supported him all the way; Johan was second at the Debutants' National Cyclo Cross Champion in 1982, then became National Military Cyclo Cross Champion and won stages at the Ronde van West-Vlaanderen and amateur's Ronde van België and overall at the Omloop van de Westhoek Ichtegem in 1986.

In 1988, Museeuw made his professional debut with ADR-Mini Flat-Enerday, riding alongide Eddy Planckaert, Frank Hoste and Alfons de Wolf; he impressed right from the start with several podium places and victory at the GP Briek Schotte, and thus earned his place on the team when it became ADR-W Cup-Bottecchia-Coors Light for 1989. That year, they were joined by American star Greg Lemond, who had recovered from a shotgun accident that nearly killed him the year after his Tour de France victory in 1986. Museeuw, who had ridden the Tour in 1988 but failed to impress, supported him through the race and was an instrumental part of the American's second Tour triumph - and along the way, he found time to announce his presence with third place on Stage 3. The following year he switched to Lotto-Superclub, where he would remain for three seasons, and won the Tour's Stages 4 at Mont-St-Michel and 21 on the Champs Elysées; he was 81st overall but second in the Points competition, leaving no doubts that he was a serious new talent. In 1991 he won stages at the Tours of Britain and Ireland, then returned to the Tour de France where he was on track for another good Points competition result with seven top ten stage finishes, including five in a row between Stages 3 and 7, but abandoned before the end of the race.

In 1992, his final year with Lotto, Museeuw became National Road Race Champion and put in another consistent performance at the Tour, once again taking second place in the Points competition. However, earlier in the season it had become apparent that he was developing into a different sort of rider to the sprint specialist he had been - while still able to generate a blistering pace on the run in to the finish line, his endurance had improved dramatically. This gave him an advantage in the Classics and he had been third at Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne and Milan-San Remo, won the E3 Harelbeke and then finished second at Scheldeprijs and the Amstel Gold Race. The next year, when he joined GB-MG Maglificio and was second in the World Championship, he won the Dwars door Vlaanderen and then the Ronde van Vlaanderen, the latter being frequently considered the second toughest (and often the second most prestigious) after Paris-Roubaix. He was second for a third time in the Points competition at the Tour, but when he won Paris-Tours late in the season he confirmed that he was a Classics specialist rather than a stage racer. He could still hold his own in a stage race sprint, though - in 1994 he won the Classics Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne and the Amstel Gold Race, was second at the Ronde van Vlaanderen and third at Gent-Wevelgem; but he also won a stage at the Tour de Suisse and picked up more good results at the Tour de France.

In 2006, following retirement

Museeuw became World Road Race Champion in 1995 and won a second Ronde van Vlaanderen, then a week later took third place behind Franco Ballerini and Andrei Tchmil at Paris-Roubaix; in 1996 he successfully defended the Worlds title (and became National Champion), then won Brabantse Pijl, was eighth at Milan-San Remo and third at the Ronde van Vlaanderen and at the Amstel Gold Race, and he also won Paris-Roubaix. In 1997 he won Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne again and was second at Scheldeprijs and third at Paris-Roubaix, then in 1998 he won the Ronde van Vlaanderen a third time. This placed him in an interesting position: he now shared the record for victories at the Ronde van Vlaanderen, and his continuing success suggested he could beat it with a fourth. But, with one Paris-Roubaix already under his belt and several years at the top of the sport still to go, could he become the first man in history to win both four times?

But Paris-Roubaix is not like other races. Its harsh, usually muddy granite cobbles take their toll every year and have done ever since the race was first held in 1896; every year bones and careers are broken on them and no man who sets out to achieve a record there will do so unscathed. For Museeuw it happened in 1998, only a week after his success at the Ronde van Vlaanderen, upon the notorious jagged stones of the Trouée d'Arenberg, the most dangerous section of a parcours that is dangerous for its full 260km length: a crash at 60kph smashed his left knee like a bone china teacup. He needed an operation to repair it, then it became infected and for a while, doctors were certain they would need to amputate. The Queen of the Classics demands terrible tribute from her subjects, but Museeuw proved worthy - following a long and very painful recovery, he began riding again and in 1999 he won the Dwars door Vlaanderen and - a symbol that his career was starting again if ever there was one - the GP Briek Schotte; then he came second at Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne and third at the Ronde van Vlaanderen.

Winning Paris-Roubaix, 2000

In 2000 he went back to Paris-Roubaix and won, unclipping his foot from the pedal and listing his leg in the air to point at his knee as he crossed the finish line, then in 2001 he was second behind Servais Knaven. In 2002 he won for a third time - only Roger de Vlaeminck, the greatest Classics rider of all time in the opinion of many people - had won four. In 2003 he won the Omloop Het Nieuwesblad, but then a doping allegation arose and put paid to the rest of the season. At the beginning of the 2004 he was 38 years old, too old to win the Ronde van Vlaanderen and Paris-Roubaix, so he chose to go for the greater prize at Paris-Roubaix. Once again, the Queen had other ideas: he was with a 21-strong break at Arenberg, then attacked and gained a lead on Auchy-Lez-Orchies before being captured. With only 15km to go he attacked hard on the Carrefour de l'Arbre, the last section of difficult cobbles before the comparatively easy route into Roubaix, thus reducing the lead group to only himself, Fabian Cancellara, Tristan Hoffman, Magnus Bäckstedt, Roger Hammond and George Hincapie (who soon lost contact); but then with 6km he suffered a puncture and his opportunity to realise his dream of equaling de Vlaeminck's record was gone forever. He retired three days later.

Museeuw's commemorative pavé on the Chemin des Géants

Just as Eddy Museeuw encouraged a younger rider to go for the glory he'd been unable to attain, so too did Johan. In his case his protege was not son but Tom Boonen, born in the Belgian town of Mol two days after Museeuw's birthday in 1980. Like Museeuw, Boonen learned well at the foot of the master and went on to achieve things his mentor had never done, included Tour de France Points competition victory in 2007 and, in 2012, a fourth victory at Paris-Roubaix.

In 2007, Museeuw decided it was time to admit the truth about what had happened in 2003 and called a press conference at which he admitted he had resorted to using human growth hormones in order to have a good final full season, then resigned from his job as PR manager at the QuickStep team - he was handed a suspended ten-month prison sentence and a fine. He now has his own business producing a range of highly-desirable road race, cyclo cross, time trial and mountain bikes based on frames made using a combination of carbon fibre and flax. The company's logo includes a lion, Museeuw's nickname having been The Lion of Flanders.

Nelson Vails

Nelson Vails

Born in Harlem, New York on this day in 1960, Nelson Vails was a professional on road and track between 1988 and 1995. Prior to that, he won a gold medal at the PanAmerican Games in 1983, won the National Sprint Championship in 1984 and shared the National Tandem Sprint title in 1984, 1985 and 1986.

In 1984, Vails was selected for the National Team at the Olympic Games and came second in the Sprint final. This was the first time in the history of the Games that a cycling medal had been won by an African-American.

Prior to his racing career, Vails was a cycle courier in New York where he earned the nickname "Cheetah" due to the speed he rode at when delivering packages - he can be seen playing a courier in the 1986 film Quicksilver.

Mark French
Born in Melbourne on this day in 1984, had already won four Junior World Championship titles in Sprint, Team Sprint and Keirin by 2003, the year he made it through into the upper ranks of track cycling by winning the National Keirin Championship at Elite level. In 2004 he was again the subject of newspaper headlines, but this time for all the wrong reasons - cleaners found vitamins, used syringes and 13 phials of an equine growth hormone on the doorstep of his boarding room, Room 121, at the Australian Institute of Sport.

French denied that he had doped and claimed that the drugs and equipment did not belong to him, then swore under oath that they belonged to fellow riders Sean Eadie, Graeme Brown, Shane Kelly and Jobie Dajka whom, he said, had been using his room to inject themselves with drugs for some months. Nevertheless, he was found guilty of doping and trafficking the growth hormone and corticosteroids, receiving a two-year ban. No evidence to support his claims regarding the other riders could be found and none of them were prosecuted for doping or supply - however, Dajka was found to have "failed to be specific" (as opposed to outright lying) when giving evidence in an effort to mislead the investigation; he too was banned for two years. He launched an appeal and, in 2005, the Court of Arbitration found in favour, deciding that there had been no reliable evidence to prove he owned or part-owned the drugs and syringes, then lifted both his two-year ban from competition and his lifetime ban from taking part in the Olympics; he returned to his sport and went on to win one silver and one gold medal at the National Championships in 2007 and three golds in 2008 (in the latter year, he won the Team Sprint riding with Shane Kelly).

Dajka launched an appeal against his own ban, but was not successful and became increasingly depressed, dealing with his disillusionment by drinking heavily. His weight increased dramatically and he began suffering further emotional problems that led to him carrying out a physical assault on Australian Track Team coach Mike Barras, for which he was banned for another three years. After an arrest for vandalising his parent's home he was placed under a restraining order and sought treatment, spending time in hospital in Adelaide. On the 22nd of December 2006, the two-year ban came to an end and, as he had strictly complied with the conditions of the restraining order and made efforts to retrieve his life, the three-year ban was ended early. Gradually, his health improved and he began to consider a return to racing; but on the 7th of April 2009 he was found dead at his home by police. He was 27 and is believed to have died three days before he was found. Though his death is not thought to have been suspicious, a cause has never been established.

In 2008, French was awarded Aus$350,000 defamation payment after being called a "dirty, stinking, dobbing cyclist" on radio; in 2010 he was awarded another Aus$175,000 paid by the Herald and Weekly Times newspaper, which had labelled him "un-Australian" and a "drugs cheat."


Linda Brenneman, born in San Juan Capistrabo, USA on this day in 1965, won the Tour de Toona and a stage at the Women's Challenge in 1991, was third at the National Road Race Championship in 1992, won the Redlands Classic in 1993 and 1995 and was third at the National Individual Time Trial Championship and 11th in the Individual Time Trial at the Olympics in 1996.

Other cyclists born on this day: Max Götze (Germany, 1880, died 1944); John Becht (USA, 1886); Walter Richard (Switzerland, 1939); Dick Cortright (USA, 1929, died 2009); Bilal Akgül (Turkey, 1982); Axel Hornemann Hansen (Denmark, 1899, died 1933); Raoul Fahlin (Sweden, 1966); Daniel Rogelin (Brazil, 1972); Andrew Hansson (Sweden, 1882, died 1964); Milan Kadlec (Czechoslovakia, 1974); Franco Giorgetti (Italy, 1902).