CONFIRMED: AA-Drink sign Cervélo women

Emma Pooley has confirmed that she will ride for  AA-Drink Leontien.nl in 2012, also stating that the team has signed five other riders from the troubled Garmin-Cervélo whose manager Jonathan Vaughters announced recently that sponsorship issues had forced the women's team budget to be slashed by an unspecified amount rumoured to be as much as 50%.

There have been rumours that Pooley
would go to AA-Drink for some time. If
accompanied by her six team mates, the
Dutch team will be one of the strongest
for many years.
(image credit: Fanny Schertzer CC BY-SA 3.0)

Cervélo has for many years been one of the most respected women's teams, with creator Gerard Vroomen being one of the few managers to pay equal attention to his female roster as to the men's team. Crucially, that also meant equal pay in a sport where women very often receive salaries far lower than their male counterparts due to women's races often being seen as little more than side show entertainment to keep the crowds amused before the "real" race (ie, the men's) starts. However, there have been hints that not all riders have been so happy since Vaughters took the helm: Vaughters, meanwhile, argues that he has been prevented from developing the team as he would have liked due to the limited sponsorship in women's cycling - teams frequently have to survive on budgets that equal just a few per cent or less of what top men's teams receive.

Wielerland.nl says the riders switching to AA-Drink are Emma Pooley, Sharon Laws, Carla Ryan, Lucy Martin, Elizabeth Armitstead and Jessie Daams. Pooley's move to the team has been subject to rumour for some time now. Now that she will be joined by five of her team mates - including two of the strongest - AA-Drink will be fielding one of the most effective teams in women's cycling for many years.

Iris Slappendel has gone to Rabobank, as was confirmed when she was spotted on a training ride with the team earlier this winter, while Alex Rhodes has gone to the new GreenEdge team.

Not something you see everyday...

Top-notch Canadian bike boffins Cervelo - who like to point out that the company's name means "brain bike" for the benefit of all us scumbags who went to schools that don't teach Foreignish - have long had a reputation for introducing revolutionary new concepts to the professional cycling world. The best-known example to date would the anti-gravity drive fitted to the 2011 S3, which riders have to be careful to lock to a solid and immovable object not to prevent it being stolen but to stop it floating away; an innovation unsurprisingly deemed illegal for competition use by the UCI.

They've been a bit quiet of late, however, leading some sections of the cycling press to forget all about them and concentrate on writing articles about how Bertie Contador should probably take a leaf out of Hippy Dave Zabriskie's book and adopt the vegan diet. But Spyclopunk, Cyclopunk's crack investigative journalism division, doesn't give up so easily; having secret channels and means of finding out what's going on in the secret research and development departments of the bike manufacturers - including access to covert military satellites capable of taking control of computers on Earth, entering "funny bike pictures" into Google and making up a story based on the results.

Cervelo S3, seen yesterday and drooled over in the bike shop

That's how we are once again able to bring you breaking news, revealing Cervelo's latest project - a new bike fitted with state-of-the-art "stealth" technology, with which they believe the Garmin-Cervelo team will be able to win the 2012 Tour de France.

"Well, it's a pretty simple idea really," said Cervelo engineer Bob Norris, who wishes to remain anonymous. "Basically, the idea is we build an invisible bike and then the guys on the team can whip past the other riders without them knowing about it. That way, the other teams will think our guys are back in the grupetto or have been kidnapped by a UFO or something and not give chase. It's genius. Mwa ha ha ha!"

Spyclopunk, who has a deserved reputation for asking hard-hitting questions, pointed out that the other teams might consider it a little odd and raise suspicions when they noticed Garmin riders passing them, apparently levitating in the racing crouch.

Cervelo's amazing new stealth bike, photographed by Spyclopunk

"Oh, but we've thought of that - that's why we're called Cervelo, see, 'cos we're clever," Norris explains. "We've also got these amazing invisible jerseys and shorts - you want to see them, they're like something out of Harry Potter, only you can't of course because they're invisible. We haven't been able to make the riders themselves invisible yet, but the plan is to sack the current team and sign up Andy Schleck, Brad Wiggins and a few of those other dudes who have to run around in the shower to get wet - those guys are so skinny you can hardly see them from the side."

Tour de France: Stage 2 debrief

The 2011 Tour is shaping up to be a vintage year already - not that any Tour is anything but - with the crashes of yesterday and today's incredibly close-run team trial. The racing took place over a short 23km course which seems to add to this sort of competition, encouraging hard riding and high speeds from the moment the bikes leave the starting ramp.

Garmin's David Millar is the highest-
placed British rider in second place

The first team out were Saxobank who managed 25'16", seemingly a respectable enough time, but it wasn't too long before Twitterers began to wonder if anyone was going to crack the 25' mark. They needed to do well today after lead man Alberto Contador finished so far down yesterday, but it quickly became apparent that they hadn't done enough - especially when Rabobank set out because it was immediately obvious that they were operating at an altogether higher level, the team easily and immediately falling into a rehearsed formation and rapidly building up to speed. They maintained their excellent form throughout, finishing on 25' dead which made them the fastest team of the day for a short while.

However good Rabobank looked, there was no doubt that Garmin looked even better. They'd arranged themselves almost before their rear wheels were off the ramp and were accelerating away within a split second. That they would do well was obvious, but just how well remained to be seen. Then the first time check proved beyond all doubt that they were literally flying and on course to easily smash Rabobank's time - which proved to be the case, because although they slowed noticeably in the second half the early effort was enough to see them cross the finish line in an incredible 24'48".

Astana looked wobbly, choosing a bad line into one bend and rapidly losing riders, but the first time check proved they were getting the speed aspect right when they passed by with the second fastest time after Garmin. In the end, they recorded a slower time than Saxobank at 25'20" - not brilliant, but enough to keep them in the top ten by the end. Quickstep also had problems - "Quickstep by name, slow pedallers by nature," as Twitterer bernietb described them.

A shaky start for Christian
Knees could have made the
race awkward for Sky, but
the team's skill got them up
to third place.

There was one team that everyone wanted to see today, no matter what their nationality, and that was Team Sky. This is only their second Tour and their results last year were a long way from being as spectacular as many of us hoped but few teams have ever managed to build the same sense of presence as Sky and it's common knowledge that they've been spending a lot of time on TTT drills, honing their technique and working out the best possible tactics. Christian Knees had a bit of an unfortunate start, apparently finding the pace too high and it wasn't long at all before it became obvious he was going to get left behind. Meanwhile, the remaining riders were hitting the gas; by the first time check came around they recorded the fastest time yet, a second quicker than Garmin. But it all started to fall apart in the second half, especially once it became clear that Xabier Zandio was going to follow suit with Knees and drop off the back, leaving seven men to share the work. Luckily, two of those remaining happened to be Bradley Wiggins and Geraint Thomas who not only excel at this sort of thing but work together exceptionally well. Nevertheless, even they couldn't quite equal Garmin and were 4" slower by the second time check, a disadvantage that remained right up until they blasted  across the finish with a time of 24'52". It wasn't the win that they and their legions of fans hoped for, but it was a very impressive result indeed.

Confidis had the worst start of the day when 23-year-old Frenchman Tony Gallopin's bike developed a mechanical problem as soon as it left the ramp. With the cameras concentrating on the action it was difficult to see exactly what was going on but it looked rather as though the chain was slipping on the cassette - one of the things team mechanics would check before a bike goes out, so it's possible that a bit of rubbish had got caught up in the derailleur or that the chain had been dislodged and put out of line as the bike was lifted onto the ramp, both minor faults but the sort of thing that can very easily be overlooked in the heat of the moment. There were no such excuses for the rest of the team, however, who were unable to match the sorts of speeds already set and they finished in a disappointing 21st place out of 22. Last place was taken by Euskaltel-Euskadi, but the Basques are unlikely to care because for them racing is all about climbing and they'll be looking to exploit the sheer strength of their riders later on when the Tour reaches their home turf in the Pyrenees.

HTC-Highroad were always going to be a team to be reckoned with in this stage, but things were made difficult for them when 30-year-old Bernhard Eisel suffered a crash and the team members behind him only just avoided going down with him. This being a time trial, there was no way they could hang around and help him regain pace so the unlucky Austrian was forced to ride the rest of the way alone. Fifth place was a good result, all things considered.

On a good day - which is most of them for him -
thereis no rider in the world who can take on
Fabian Cancellara, who was instrumental in
LeopardTreks' remarkable fourth place.

LeopardTrek, an even newer team than Sky, were very much an unknown quantity today. Their leader is Andy Schleck, a definite contender and second favourite to win the overall General Classification this year, but Andy is a climber. He's a very good climber indeed, but climbers do not tend to perform well in such high-speed stages as time trials and it's always been his least favourite part of multistage events. Brother Frank is much the same. But LeopardTrek had two time trial weapons primed and ready in the shape of Jakob Fuglsang, Danish TT champion in 2010 and - even more lethal - Fabian Cancellara, commonly believed to be the greatest time trialler to have ever lived. Between them, they managed to drag the team to a far better time than perhaps even they hoped for, reaching the finish in a remarkable 24'53".

It looked like the results were as good as set in stone, but there was one last surprise for the day. BMC left the start line looking efficient and well-rehearsed, mimicking the smooth way that Garmin slipped into their positions which was an early indictor that they were going to shake things up somewhat, which is exactly what they set about doing. By the first time check they'd moved up to third place and appeared to be equaling Sky's effort. Perhaps they delivered just that little bit more or perhaps they made a better decision somewhere along the way, because in the end they finished just a fraction of a second quicker and gained second place.

The big question is, where does leave Tour favourite Alberto Contador? Not in a very good position at all is the answer - he's slipped right down to 75th place behind new race leader Thor Hushovd who will wear the yellow jersey tomorrow, a great honour as the peloton enters Brittany, the region that has produced a large percentage of the pantheon of cycling gods including the great Bernard Hinault. That puts him at a disadvantage of 1'42" behind the race leader and he's going to have to work hard over the coming days if that's not to increase - not good news for a man who specialises in efficiently defeating mountains and who would have been hoping to conserve his energy in preparation for the climbs still to come. Meanwhile, his arch-rival Andy Schleck, aided by Cancallara, moves right up to 10th place, a mere 4" behind Hushovd. If he can maintain that until the mountains, there might not be anyone capable of catching him. But it would be a very foolish rider who discounted Contador - he is, after all, a remarkable rider, and the weather is not the only thing that can change quickly in the mountains.

A great day for British cycling, with Scotsman David Millar holding the second position and Welshman Geraint Thomas in 4th. Bradley Wiggins is just outside the top ten at 12th, Mark Cavendish is 18th and Ben Swift 24th. That's all the British riders in the top 25! Thomas also keeps the white jersey for another day.

Results of Stage 2 (team time trial):


1. Garmin 24'48"
2. BMC +04"
3. Sky +04"
4. Leopard +05"
5. HTC-Highroad +05"
6. RadioShack +10"
7. Rabobank +12"
8. Saxo Bank +28"
9. Astana +32"
10. Omega Pharma +39"
11. FDJ +46"
12. Europcar +50"
13. AG2R La Mondiale +53"
14. Quick Step +56"
15. Liquigas +57"
16. Saur-Sojasun +1'02"
17. Lampre +1'04"
18. Katusha +1'04"
19. Movistar +1'09"
20. Vacansoleil +1'15"
21. Cofidis +1'20"
22. Euskaltel +1'22".


General Classification


1. Thor Hushovd (Norway) 5h06'25"
2. David Millar (UK) same time
3. Cadel Evans (Australia) +01"
4. Geraint Thomas (UK) +04"
5. Linus Gerdemann (Germany) 0:04.
6. Frank Schleck (Luxembourg)
7. Fabian Cancellara (Switzerland)
8. Edvald Boasson Hagen (Norway)
9. Manuel Quinziato (Italy)
10. Andy Schleck (Luxembourg) 4-10 received same time

First vegan in the Tour (well, almost)

Garmin-Cervélo rider and time trial specialist David Zabriskie may be a long way from favourite in this year's Tour de France, but he's guaranteed one first - he's the first vegan to compete in the race.

Veganism omits all animal products from the diet, unlike vegetarianism which omits only those that require the slaughter of an animal, which means none of the meat, eggs and dairy that professional cyclists traditionally consume in enormous quantities to ensure they take onboard sufficient protein and iron. However, Zabriskie didn't adopt the diet for the usual ethical reasons - he decided to give it a try after tests revealed that food sensitivity was a likely culprit behind a series of medical problems from which he had been suffering. He then began cutting out all meat from his diet and, when beneficial results became noticeable, he cut out dairy as well.

Zabriskie at the 2007 Tour de France

"I'm seeing food in terms of how it will make me think and will it give me clarity," says the 32-year-old who has won stages in all three Grand Tours, adding that since becoming vegan the rash and canker sores from which he used to suffer have cleared up and even claiming his vision has improved. This is not without precedent - many people who adopt veganism make similar claims, suggesting that sensitivity to meat and dairy is behind a host of common ailments. It's not for everyone, however - remaining healthy on a vegan diet, especially if one is to compete in events that place such high-stress demands on the body as professional cycling does, requires thought and attention if the body is not to be starved of essential nutrients. Some people who are unwilling to give their food intake that much consideration find they become ill as a result.

The Tour de France, though, is not like other sporting events. The demands it places upon riders are beyond anything imaginable to most people, and as such Zabriskie feels that he's going to need to make allowances. Following consultation with dirt track and Superbike motorcycling champ Ben Bostrom, who has been a vegan for some years, he's decided that he will eat small amounts of fish twice a week in order to boost his ability to absorb iron and vitamins. That, unfortunately, means his success if he finishes the Tour (he finished three of the five in which he has competed. Among his Tour appearances is 2005, when he beat Lance Armstrong in the Stage 1 time trial), proponents of veganism will be reluctant to hail him as their new hero.

In an average day on the Tour, Zabriskie will eat for breakfast oatmeal with molasses, an apple, hemp and flax seeds, coconut butter, cacao nibs and nuts. For dinner he has white rice or pasta, salad with dark leafed plants and vegetables with particular emphasis on spinach, broccoli and others rich in iron. During the day, including whilst riding, he'll consume a variety of vegan energy bars, gels and shots, the vegan sports milkshake developed by triathlete and vegan advocate Brendan Brazier (made from brown rice, flax and hemp seeds) and dates. Post ride, he eats white rice flavoured with cinnamon and maple syrup (we were just thinking that all this sounds quite tasty, but the rice might take some getting used to), goji berries, protein drinks and more of the sports milshakes which are marketed in the USA as Vega shakes. With that in mind, it's pity that vegans will feel they can't give him the honour he deserves because even if he's going to eat a little bit of fish on the Tour he proves that, with care, a vegan diet is no reason why an athlete cannot perform at the top of the game. (Thanks to AwesomePower CC for the food info. Cheers, guys!)

Directeur sportif Jonathon Vaughters was at first unimpressed when news of Zabriskie's new diet reached him. However, when his rider explained what he was doing, he began to relent and gave permission, even offering the tip that Utah-born cyclist include plenty of dark-leaved plants such as spinach in his diet as these are high in iron. He also said that Zabriskie would be required to have regular blood tests to ensure levels of the globular protein ferritin, which stores and releases iron into the bloodstream allowing haemoglobin to carry oxygen to the muscles - but was surprised when the results showed that ferritin levels remained the same. Then, Zabriskie began to win more time trials than ever before, providing more evidence that although it might not be for everyone, veganism suits him very well indeed.