How a Bicycle is Made (1945)

"This worker can fill over 1000 hubs in an eight hour day..." I wonder if 1000 hubs are even made in Britain in each day now?

Cycling Evening News 06.05.12

Giro d'Italia (video) - Two Days of Bedford - Tour of the Gila - The 100mph bike designed in the bath and made from genius - Nibali to leave Liquigas - US start for future Giro? - Other News (links) - Cycling

Giro d'Italia Stage 2

Sunday brought the first road race stage, a 206km loop from Bjarne Riis' hometowen Herning up to the Limfjorden (an enormous, brackish fjord that cuts off the north of the country rom the south, effectlively turning it into an island) north of Holsterbro, then south along the western coastline including a ride along the 13.2km Bøvling Klit isthmus separating Nissumfjord from the North Sea. Having travelled as far as Ringkobingfjord, they headed inland again for a straight 50km run back to Herning. This being Denmark, the parcours was flat all the way - a situation that looked likely to encourage the likes of Mark Cavendish (Sky), Theo Bos (Rabobank) and the other sprint specialists to show what they're capable of doing at the long, straight final section to the finish line.

The first half of the race was ruled by a three-man break consisting of Olivier Kaisen (Lotto-Belisol), Alfredo Balloni (Farnese Vini-Selle Italia.) and Miguel Rubiano (Androni Giacattoli-Venezuela), who managed to push their lead up to thirteen minutes for a while and had the race have been a few days further in, they might have been allowed to get away with it. However, with the teams seeking to assert their authority at this stage of the proceedings, they were all caught with 40km to go. Taylor Phinney, who gained the pink jersey yesterday with his individual time trial win, had a lot of work to do today to hang onto it - and he'll be more surprised than most that he still gets to wear it tomorrow after his chain came off with 8km to go leaving him with around half a minute to make up if he was to remain in contention. That he did so is testament to just how fast he is, and just how useful Danilo Wyss, who dropped back to assist him, can be.

We all knew that, barring disaster, this stage was going to end in a sprint and so the teams had already got their sprinters into position before the final corner with around 150m left. That proved fortunate because at that point Bos touched the wheel of the rider in front of him and then collided with Alexander Kristoff, who hit the barriers and finished with a bleeding face. Of course, the accident had no influence on the eventual outcome because the end of this stage might as well have been made for the Manxman, and he was the first of a bunch of sixteen over the line. Orica-GreenEDGE's Matt Goss followed him while Geoffrey Soupe (FDJ-Bigmat) hung on or dear life and an unexpected third. Cav's Sky team mate Geraint Thomas took tenth.

Cav - could it have been any different?

Top Ten
  1.  Mark Cavendish Sky 4h53'12"
  2.  Matthew Goss Orica-Green Edge ST
  3.  Geoffrey Soupe FDJ-BigMat ST
  4.  Tyler Farrar Garmin-Barracuda ST
  5.  Roberto Ferrari Androni Giocattoli-Venezuela ST
  6.  Mark Renshaw Rabobank ST
  7.  Thor Hushovd BMC ST
  8.  Daniele Bennati RadioShack-Nissan ST
  9.  William Bonnet FDJ-BigMat ST
  10.  Geraint Thomas Sky ST
(Full results and GC when available)

On Monday, Stage 3 (map, profile) is the last in Denmark before a "rest day," actually spent traveling down to Italy for the remainder of the race. 190km in length, starting and ending in Horsens on the east of the country, it's another flat parcours liable to finish once again with a sprint. The riders will pass through Horsens three times along the way.

As far as the weather goes on Monday, the factor that will most cheer the riders is a notable drop in windspeed between morning and afternoon - from 22kph down to around 10kph, which is insufficient to give any problems. It's enough to take the edge off the temperature early in the day - with 4C in sheltered spots near the start feeling more like 2C. When it drops, the maximum 11C will be unaffected. There's a 30% chance of rain, but if it comes it'll be in fast-moving showers that will end almost as soon as they begin.

Stages 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10 / 11 / 12 / 13 / 14 / 15 / 16 / 17 / 18 / 19 / 20 / 21

Two Days of Bedford
Giro got you in the mood for some hardcore bike action? Craving the sweet scent of chain oil and the thrill of lycra flashing past your face at 45kph? Can't quite stretch to filling up the tanks on the Gulfstream IV for a jolly over to Denmark? Well then - if you live anywhere in the British South-East or southern part of the Midlands, you might be interested to know about the Two Days of Bedford.

The long-running event consists of four stages over two days (6th and 7th of May) with a 7.4km team time trial followed by an 80km road race on the Sunday, then a 6.4km individual time trial and an 85km race made up of nine laps of the Milbrook Vehicle Testing Facility - and believe me, you will not get more excitement for what it'll cost you to get to this race anywhere in the country (and you won't even have to change your pounds for krone). (More information here)

Sarah Storey crashed with 2km to go, landing in a patch of nettles which she said prevented her from losing skin. On Twitter after the race, she blamed the crash on the rider in front of her after turning "left+right on herself to avoid a tiny hole in the tarmac," then thanked well-wishers:

Sarah Storey ‏ @MrsSarahStorey
Thanks for the messages peeps,I'm fine just shocked at amount of unnecessary swerving+hard braking going on by a v small minority of riders.

Nikola Butler also crashed:

Nikola Butler ‏ @nik_tweet
one minute I was trying to sprint up the hill and the next minute I was on my face. Someone rode into my back wheel :-( sore 

Nikola Butler ‏ @nik_tweet
no idea whose fault it was. Just one of those bunch sprint things maybe

Stage 1 (Team Time Trial)
  1.  Node 4-Giordana 10'08"
  2.  For Viored +1"
  3.  Scott Contessa Epic +8"
  4.  Matrix Fitness-Prendas +14"
  5.  Abergavenny RC +30"

Stage 2 Top Ten
  1.  Amy Roberts Scott Contessa Epic  2h09'30"
  2.  Ciara Horne Node 4-Giordana ST
  3.  Lucy Garner Node 4-Giordana +15"
  4.  Sarah Reynolds Matrix Fitness-Prendas ST
  5.  Corrinne Hall Node 4-Giordana ST
  6.  Emily Kay Scott Contessa Epic ST
  7.  Laura Massey Vivelo Bikes ST
  8.  Lauren Creamer Abergavenny RC ST
  9.  Tamina Oliver Abergavenny RC ST
  10.  Harriet Owen Node 4-Giordana ST

Tour of the Gila
Stage 4 was an urban criterium race around a 1.74km square Silver City parcours with three bonus sprints and course hazards that include, according to the race bible, "rough pavement and errant pedestrians." The Pro Women completed 25 laps to make a total of 43.5km, the Pro Men 40 laps for 69.5km - precisely the sort of race in which a rider such as Kristin Armstrong (Exergy Twenty12), who at 38 specialises in the sort of endurance athleticism necessary on long stages (and which has seen her win the three stages prior to this one) might lose time to the younger women.

Loren Rowney

That turned out to be the case, though far less so than expected: while Armstrong came ninth, she was only 4" behind winner Loren Rowney (FCS Rouse presented by Mr. Restore, loaned by Specialized-Lululemon) and thus sees her General Classification lead only drop to 4'46" (from 5'01" after Stage 3) once bonification times have been taken into account. She was at the front for the first half of the race but, perhaps realising that she stood little chance of winning, chose to work for her team by chasing down attacks - not an entirely selfless decision, as it also enabled her to save some juice for the final Gila Monster stage. FCS Rouse guessed what she was up to,  simply waited until the final part of the race when they knew she'd be tired and made sure they had a rider ready to respond each and every time it looked like someone might make a break for the line. The plan was to tag along with an Exergy or Now and Novartis sprint train and see what they could do, but when Rowney found herself six riders back at the final corner she thought her chance was lost. Then, in a turn of good luck, the seven leaders took a fraction of a second longer than she'd expected to launch, allowing her to the velocity she'd carried through the bend to power into the lead and hold them off to the line.

Top Ten
  1.  Loren Rowney FCS Rouse p/b Mr. Restore 1h04'45"
  2.  Carmen Small Optum p/b Kelly Benefit ST
  3.  Christina Gokey-Smith Now & Novartis for MS ST
  4.  Alison Powers Now & Novartis for MS ST
  5.  Joanie Caron Colavita-ESPNW ST
  6.  Olivia Dillon Now & Novartis for MS ST
  7.  Jade Wilcoxson Optum p/b Kelly Benefit ST
  8.  Emma Grant Optum p/b Kelly Benefit ST
  9.  Kristin Armstrong Exergy Twenty12 +04"
  10.  Janel Holcomb Optum p/b Kelly Benefit ST
(Full results and GC)

Alejandro Borrajo

Marlon Alirio Perez Arango (Colombia-Comcel) pleased his team's sponsors and the spectators alike with a superb solo break, attacking the peloton and getting away only a few minutes from the start and then riding alone with an advantage hovering about the minute mark until Bissel decided enough was enough and got their hooks into him with twelve laps to go - he finished 65th in the end, but he's the man the fans will have been talking about on the way home. As the race neared its conclusion, Jamis-Sutter Home took the opportunity to show us all how a lead-out train ought to be conducted with all their men at the front of the pack protecting their top sprinters, brothers Alejandro and Anibal Borrajo, and getting them into perfect position - Alejandro proved fastest of a bunch of 21 while Anibal was right behind him for second place. Afterwards, Anibal dedicated the victory to an older brother who died a few days ago. Rory Sutherland took eleventh place and retains his GC lead, his overall advantage now up to 33" from 26".

Top Ten
  1.  Alejandro Alberto Borrajo Jamis/Sutter Home 1h33'40"
  2.  Anibal Andres Borrajo Jamis/Sutter Home ST
  3.  Luca Damiani Kenda/5-Hour Energy ST
  4.  Eric Young Bissel ST
  5.  Francisco Mancebo Competitive Cyclist ST
  6.  Weimar Roldan GW-Shimano ST
  7.  Avila Vanegas Edwin ST
  8.  Chad Beyer Competitive Cyclist ST
  9.  Gavin Mannion Bontrager Livestrong ST
  10.  Shawn Milne Kenda/5-Hour Energy ST
(Full results and GC)


Sunday brings the climax of the race, and what a climax it is - the 170.1km Gila Monster (map and profile) is almost certainly the toughest stage in North American professional cycling with two Category 4 climbs (16.1km, 2,070m; 166km, same), two Cat 2s (Anderson Vista, 83km, 2,284m; Wild Horse Mesa/Meadow Creek, 89km, 2,278m) and a Cat 1(Anderson Vista climbed from the opposite direction, 120km).

The 100mph bike - designed in the bath and made from genius

The remarkable Graeme Obree

Anyone who knows the story of Graeme Obree's Hour Record will know that the bike upon which he broke it, Old Faithful, used washing machine bearings. Anybody who knows a little more will know that the Scotsman later regretted telling anyone that, because it was all the newspapers cared about.

Obree is now planning to set a new record by becoming the first man to travel on a bicycle - on road and without pacing - at 100mph (161kph) aboard a new bike which, in characteristic Obreean style, he dreamed up while lying in the bath and later sketched out on bits of wallpaper. Once again, the ever-resourceful Obree has used items found about the house: this time, the rests that will support his shoulders as he lays prone on the carbon fibre-skinned machine have been made from an old saucepan. Hence Sunday's Telegraph headline: "The 100mph bike – designed in the bath and made from an old saucepan."

Hopefully, this time around, more people will look beyond that one single fact and remember that Obree is a remarkable engineer who builds his bikes from a wide range of remarkable materials, not only old washing machines and pots and pans; the most important being ingenuity and genius.

Nibali to leave Liquigas
Tuttobiciweb reports that Vincenzo Nibali has chosen not to sign an extended contract with Liquigas-Cannondale - said to be worth 1.8 million euros per year. According to rumour the 27-year-old, who already has one Grand Tour under his belt after winning the 2010 Vuelta a Espana, is being courted by BMC and Astana, both of which are said to be offering him 2.5 million euros per year.

"We made an offer, we gave him time to think it over, he has not responded. For us, the matter is closed," says Liquigas directeur sportif Paolo Dal Lago.

Giro may start in USA - one day
Organisers of the Tour de France looked seriously into the possibility of taking the race to the USA in the past but concluded that, at the time, the expense of doing so was simply too great. Nevertheless, it's an idea that has remained on a back-burner ever since. After all, American companies have been pouring sums of money into the sport that make the majority of European contributions look relatively puny, and American and Canadian riders are a fixture in the Grand Tour pelotons - in fact, it sometimes looks as though the old prediction that the USA would turn out to be the future home of cycling might eventually prove true.

Michele Acquarone

Now Giro d'Italia director Michele Acquarone has turned up the heat, because he wants his race to be the first Grand Tour to cross the Atlantic.

"To do this would be very expensive - at the present time, with the world's economy in the state it is, it's simply not an option," he admitted to Sportwereld. "But cycling is now global, increasingly so, and the Giro should be a driving force in that evolution. When we're through the financial crisis and cycling has dealt with its problems, this dream should be achievable. Imagine: we start in the US, have a few stages on Amercian soil, then the riders fly buiness class overnight to Italy... I really think this is possible."

Other News and Features
"Stephen Roche: Triple Crown 25 years on" (Cyclosport.org)

"Irish Para-cycling world champion Colin Lynch reveals dazzling new gold prosthetic" (Inside World Parasport)

"Top collegiate cyclists make their move in Ogden" (Standard-Examiner, Utah)

"Rwanda: Soras Boost Ascension De Mille Collines Cycling Tour" (AllAfrica)

Cycling
Newswire
Britain
"Cyclist knocked down on Gosport to Fareham bus route praises driver for saving his life" (The News, Portsmouth)

"Cycling in Leicester is just too dangerous" (This Is Leicestershire)

Worldwide
"Cyclists gear up for cross-Canada trek" (Times Colonist)

"A blessing for those who brave city streets on two wheels" (New York Times)

"Kids join the cycling fun at bike rodeo" (Silver City Sun-News)

"Santa Barbara Bicycle Coalition to Honor Three Women for Cycling Volunteerism" (NoozHawk)

"It's wedding bells and bikes for this couple" (AsiaOne)

Daily Cycling Facts 06.05.12

Alfredo Binda, 1924

The 27th edition of La Flèche Wallonne was held on this day in 1963 on a 213km parcours between Liège and Charleroi. The winner was Raymond Poulidor.

The Giro d'Italia has begun on this day three times. The first was in 1913, the fifth edition of the race ever held, when it was won by Carlo Oriani who had been born on the 5th of November 1888. The second time was in 1933 when Alfredo Binda won for a fifth and final time. It would be twenty years until Fausto Coppi - whom Binda trained - would equal this record, and to date it has not been bettered. The final time was 2006, the year that saw the reintroduction of the Team Time Trial for the first time since 1989 and the unpaved mountain pass Plan de Corones wa due to be used, but could not be due to bad weather. The winner that year was Ivan Basso.

Tino Tabak
Tino Tabak was born on this day in 1946 in De Bataaf, Netherlands, but emigrated to New Zealand with his family when he was six. He fell in love with cycling during his childhood and, by the age of ten, listed Tour de France victory as his main ambition in life.

In 1965, aged 19, he won the Elite National Road Race Championship, then that same year became the youngest rider in history to win the Tour of Southland - which he won for the next two years, too. In 1966 and 1967, he also won the Dulux Six Day and Manawatu Tours, making him the only rider to have ever won New Zealand's three major races in a single season. After the second time he did so he emigrated back to Europe, in his words "to learn how to ride a bike." He spent the next three seasons riding as an amateur and had amassed sufficient wins, including the Ronde van Noord-Holland, to earn a professional contract with Flandria-Mars in 1971 and with them he rode his first Tour, finishing the prologue in third place and crossing the line within the top ten on two other stages before abandoning after finishing Stage 9 in 89th place.

Still eligible to ride for the country of his birth, Tabak became National Road Race Champion in 1972 and entered his second Tour. This time he maintained consistently good results and took 18th place in the overall General Classification - the highest ever achieved by a rider from New Zealand. Sadly, he never did get his win: in 1973 he abandoned and then didn't enter again until 1976 when he abandoned for a third time. His career came to an end with a nasty crash at the 1978 Tour of Holland and he now lives in Canterbury, New Zealand. Tino Tobak - Dreams and Demons of a New Zealand Cycling Legend (Jonathan Kennet, 2009) tells the story of his life and provides an interesting insight into the world and processes of professional cycling in the 1970s.

Christophe Brandt
(image credit: Heidas CC BY-SA 3.0)

Christophe Brandt
Christophe Brandt was born in Liège on this day in 1977. In 1997 he won a stage at the amateur race Ronde van Limburg, which earned him a trainee contract in 1999 with Saeco and he spent his first professional season with them before moving onto Lotto, where he remained for the rest of his career.

In 2004, he fell foul of anti-doping controls when a sample he provided was discovered to contain traces of methadone, a synthetic opiate used to treat heroin addicts and which mimics the effects - including pain-killing effects, hence its appeal to endurance athletes - of heroin. Brandt stated that he had not intentionally used the drug and insisted it must have got into his body via a contaminated nutritional supplement he was using as part of his treatment for a liver condition and which about which he had notified the relevant authorities. Lotto management, meanwhile, chose not to take his word for it and fired him from the team - however, the Belgian Federation found during their investigation that the pharmacist who had prepared the supplement had in fact been preparing methadone prescriptions a short while before Brandt's medicine and cleared the rider of all charges. The team then rehired him, and he remained with them until his retirement in 2010.

Roman Kreuziger

Roman Kreuziger
(image credit: McSmit CC BY-SA 3.0)

Roman Kreuziger, born in Moravská Třebová in the Czech Republic on this day in 1986, is the son of the Roman Kreuziger who won the Österreich Rundfahrt in 1991. In 2004, he won both the Under-19 National Road Race and Time Trial, then also took the U-19 World Championship title - that same year, he won silver medals for the U-19 Time Trial and Cyclo Cross Championships too. That was, needless to say, more than enough to earn him his first offers of trainee contracts, and he turned professional with LiquiGas in 2006.

Unusually for a rider so skilled in a time trial, Kreuziger is also a very talented climber and, having come a surprise 21st at the 2007 Vuelta a Espana, he won the Tour de Suisse in 2008 after proving easily the fastest man up the 1948m Klausen Pass. That same year, still aged only 23, he kept up with the world's greatest over the mountains in the Tour de France - his first participation in the race - and finished in 13th place overall whilst only Andy Schleck could beat him in the Youth Classification.

Now 25 and riding for Astana, Kreuziger continues to grow and develop and has become one of the finest all-rounders of his generation, which in turn has led many to mark him out as a probable future Grand Tour winner.

Vito Taccone
Born in Avezzano, Italy on this day in 1940, Vito Taccone turned professional with Atala in 1961 and immediately began to make his name - that year, he won two stages and the General Classification at the Tre Giorni del Sud, Stage 10 and the King of the Mountains at the Giro d'Italia and then took first place at the Giro di Lombardia. In the subsequent years, he continued to be highly successful at the Giro d'Italia: in 1962 he was fourth overall, in 1963 sixth overall (having won Stages 10, 11, 12, 13 and 19) and again first in the King of the Mountains, in 1964 he won Stage 4, in 1965 he was sixth overall and second in the King of the Mountains and in 1966 he was ninth overall and third in the Points competition. Along the way, he won Milano-Torino in 1965, was third in the National Championship and second at Tirreno-Adriatico in 1966 and then second at the Nationals in 1968.

Taccone evidently had piles of cycling talent - he was also very good at getting himself in trouble. At the 1964 Tour de France, he was accused by other riders of causing a large crash. After denying that he was to blame he got into a fight with Fernando Manzaneque who won numerous stages at the Vuelta a Espana; Taccone was not invited to the Tour again afterwards. He didn't change with age: in June 2007, he was arrested and charged with selling stolen and counterfeit clothing, chaining himself to the railings of Avezzano court in protest. Just a few months later, on the 15th of October, he died after having a heart attack.


Hans Junkermann, born in Sankt Tönis, Germany on this day in 1934, was a true all-rounder who excelled in tough one-day races, mountain stages and on the track. Whilst still an amateur, he was approached on numerous occasions by East German representatives who tried to persuade him to defect and become a paid amateur, but he was confident enough of his abilities to remain in the West and wait for a professional contract. That paid off in 1955 when he joined Bauer; the first of the many teams for whom he rode over the course of his 19-year career, because Junkermann was a rider who refused to stay put - in 1958 alone, he rode for Molteni, Solo, Feru and Altenburger. He held ten National Championship titles in his time, including for Track Pursuit in 1958, Road Race in 1959, 1960 and 1961, Madison in 1960, 1961, 1962, 1964 and 1965 and Team Pursuit in 1962. In addition, he won the 1959 and 1962 Tour de Suisse, thus becoming the first German to do so without wearing a swastika jersey (Ludwig Geyer had won in 1934).

Mario Kummer was born in Thuringia on this day in 1962 and represented East Germany at the 1988 Olympics prior to the Reunification of his nation, riding on the gold medal winning squad in the Team Time Trial. In 1990, when East Germans had been freed to travel to the West, he turned professional with Chateau d'Ax-Salotti and remained with them for two seasons before switching to PDM; then in 1993 he joined Telekom and remained with them until retirement in 1997. Since 2007, he has worked as a manager with the Astana team.

Other births: Artūrs Matisons (Latvia, 1985); Bernhard Stübecke (Germany, 1904, died 1964); Dieter Koslar (Germany, 1940, died 2002); Franc Škerlj (Yugoslavia, 1941).

Cycling Evening News 05.05.12

Rabo revelation is no surprise, nor worthy of note - Giro d'Italia - Two Days of Bedford - Lotto Cup Knokke-Bredene - Tour of the Gila - Nuyens still hurting - Railways team wins Pakistan Women's Nats, Afghan women impress - NetApp bus burglary - Other News - Cycling

Racing
Doping tolerated pre-'07 at Rabo "revelation"
According to the "revelation" of Theo de Rooij in Dutch newspaper Volkskrant, doping was tolerated in the Rabobank team between 1996 (when the team was formed from Novell Software-Decca) to 2007 - including between 2003 and 2007, when de Rooij was general manager.

Cycling is not the sport that it was before 2007, nor is
Rabobank the team that it then was

No! Really? There was doping in cycling during the Festina Affair-Operacion Puerto era? A lot of fans seem to be distinctly underwhelmed by the news, which is to be expected really. If anyone can exclusively reveal that there was a major team that wasn't involved in doping at that time, we'll all be a lot more surprised. Rabobank have said they see no reason to investigate the claims. "Since 2007, we've had a new Board and new leadership," a spokesperson told Het Nieuwsblad. "We wish to stress that there is a zero-tolerance policy in today's team."

Fair play to them. It may have taken several deaths and a pair of scandals that very nearly killed the entire sport to finally wake cycling in general up to the fact that something - many things, actually - needed to be done about doping but, since then, Rabobank has been at the vanguard of those teams that stopped talking about it and got on with actually fighting. What happened when de Rooij was in charge and before his tenure no longer matters, there has been a sea change in cycling over the last half-decade and we are now in a different age. That chapter is over, dead, buried, done. What matters is what's happening now, and Rabobank set a shining example.


Giro d'Italia

If you didn't know that the Giro d'Italia started today, you're probably some sort of hermit. Stage 1 was an 8.7km individual time trial on what looked set to be quite a tricky little parcours around the Danish city Herning, following the long tradition of the Grand Tours paying visits to nations other than their own.

The start line is right in the centre of the city (56° 8'14.19"N  8°58'1.99"E) and the riders immediately head for the first of fourteen tight corners - there's an especially compact series after 1.11km to keep the attentive. The last part along Dronningen's Boulevard and Holsterbrovej is a very different sort of route with long, fast straights to the final corner and a final half-kilometre sprint along H.P Hansens Vej to the finish line (56° 8'41.20"N 8°56'56.45"E).

Top Ten
1. Taylor Phinney (BMC) 10'26"

2. Geraint Thomas (Sky) +9"
3. Alex Rasmussen (Garmin-Barracuda) +13"
4. Manuele Boaro (SaoBank) +15"
5. Gustav Erik Larsson (Vacansoleil-DCM) +22"
6. Ramunas Navardauskas (Garmin-Barracuda) ST
7. Brett Lancaster (Orica-GreenEDGE) +23"
8. Marco Pinotti (BMC) +24"
9. Jesse Sergeant (RadioShack-Nissan) +26"
10. Nelson Oliveira (RadioShack-Nissan) +27"


While an individual TT doesn't give a perfect indication of form, partially due to the riding positions being very different and partially because a certain percentage of an individual rider's form can only be seen in the way he integrates with his team mates. It's also impossible to say with any certainty who might be in with a chance of winning because the finish line is three weeks and three-and-a-half-thousand kilometres away. Nevertheless, today we got our first look at the riders. Here are some initial thoughts...

Alessandro Ballan

Theo Bos (Rabobank) probably won't make it onto many lists of potential winners, but he's looking good to grab more than his fair share of points. For such a stocky man, he rode smoothly today and his legs have that "elasticated" look that indicates large reserves of stored power. He'll certainly give Cav a run for his money.
Geraint Thomas (Sky) is going to win a Grand Tour this year. Last year, for a short while at the Tour after Bradley Wiggins had gone home with a broken collar bone, it looked as though that victory would come sooner rather than later - which is why many people will have watched him carefully today. His TT form was exquisite, but that Grand Tour's not coming this year.
A lot of people are tipping Roman Kreuziger (Astana) this year, but I don't see it myself - chiefly for the same reason as Thomas; ie at his age he still lacks that certain "GC contender" quality that only the most exceptional have (Merckx had it at 25, so did Contador - Andy Schleck still hasn't). In two years, things will be very different.
Alessandro Ballan (BMC) is known primarily as a Classics rider and the majority of his stage race success has been in the shorter events. However, he can occasionally surprise in the later stages of a long race; as was the case at the 2010 Tour de France when he came second on Stage 15. Ballan has always been somewhat on the skinny side, but today he resembled an anatomical model of the human muscles. Is he perhaps hoping to do well on the mountains, like he did that day in the Tour? Ballan's another one who won't make it onto every list of likely lads, but he's worth keeping an eye on (unless you're trying to uncover who ate all the pies - he can definitely be ruled out of that investigation).
Frank Schleck (RadioShack-Nissan), who only found out he was coming to the Giro a few days ago, appears to have better form than many people might have expected. His season thus far has been a little underwhelming, but he's got the loose-limbed legginess of a climber. Don't write Frank off just yet, because he may surprise us in the mountains - his time trialing hasn't improved at all over the winter, however, inspiring at least one Twitterer to wonder if the police might want to breathalyse him as he wobbled around the course.
Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) is in good shape, as always, and his rivals do not allow themselves to forget that he's a rider with a near-unique combination of abilities: he has Classics toughness, he can climb and he can hold his own in a sprint. A potential winner? Maybe. Top five? Certainly.
Filippo Pozzato looks good around the legs, but seems to have a little trace of belly fat at the moment - which was unexpected, because he didn't have it at the Ronde van Vlaanderen (or maybe it was just the new Farnese Vini-Selle Italia strip; because nobody could look good in that monstrosity). Having said that, it really was the merest suggestion of belly fat, nothing that he won't have burned off long before the mountains.

Ivan Basso

Ivan Basso (Liquigas-Cannondale) is looking good, no trace of excess fat and the right balance between all-rounder muscle and the stringy limbs of a climber. Barring accident, he'll do well in this edition.
Damiano Cunego (Lampre-ISD) is another rider who, like Rodriguez, has a rare combination of three abilities; though in his case it's time trialing, sprinting and climbing. When Cunego shows up at the start of a stage race, he is immediately a GC contender. That's as true this year as ever.
Finally, Michele Scarponi, the man who finished in second place last year but wore pink today after the disqualification and suspension of Alberto Contador. His form is visibly good, his legs look springy, everything is as it ought to be. More importantly, pink suits him very well. Now he's had a taste, he'll want to show the world that he can take first place purely on his own merit.

Sunday brings the first road race stage, a 206km loop from Herning up to the Limfjorden north of Holsterbro, then south along the western coastline including a ride along the 13.2km Thorsminde causeway separating Nissumfjord from the North Sea. Having travelled as far as Ringkobingfjord, they head inland again for a straight 50km run back to Herning. This being Denmark, the parcours is flat all the way - expect to see the likes of Mark Cavendish and Theo Bos showing what they're capable of doing at the end of the stage.

Stages 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10 / 11 / 12 / 13 / 14 / 15 / 16 / 17 / 18 / 19 / 20 / 21

Two Days of Bedford
Giro got you in the mood for some hardcore bike action? Craving the sweet scent of chain oil and the thrill of lycra flashing past your face at 45kph? Can't quite stretch to filling up the tanks on the Gulfstream IV for a jolly down to Italy? Well then - if you live anywhere in the British South-East or southern part of the Midlands, you might be interested to know about the Two Days of Bedford.

The long-running event consists of four stages over two days (6th and 7th of May) with a 7.4km team time trial followed by an 80km road race on the Sunday, then a 6.4km individual time trial and an 85km race made up of nine laps of the Milbrook Vehicle Testing Facility. Over the years, it's grown to become one of the premier events on the British women's cycling calendar and now attracts some of the top names in the international sport, including the legendary paralympian Sarah Storey and, riding for the world-famous Matrix Fitness-Prendas team, Hannah Walker (National Derny Champion 2011), Annie Simpson (winner, 2011 Oldham Johnson HealthTech GP), Hannah Rich (Commonwealth Games contender, 2010), Penny Rowson (bronze, National Junior Cyclo Cross Championships), Jessie Walker (winner, Women's Track League 2011) and Sarah Reynolds (Team GB). Matrix Fitness won the 2011 Johnson HealthTech GP Series and is home to European Team Pursuit Champion Dani King, National Pursuit Champion Jo Rowsell and six-time National Cyclo Cross Champion Helen Wyman - an indication of the high level of competition in this race.

Believe me, you will not get more excitement for what it'll cost you to get to this race anywhere in the country (and you won't even have to change your pounds for krone). (More information here)

Lotto Cup Knokke-Bredene
Over on the other side of the North Sea, another women's race in the shape of the Knokke-Bredene took place on Saturday afternoon with one 47.6km main section followed by eight laps of a 7.8km circuit to make a total of 110km.

The race forms part of the Lotto Cycling Cup, a series that aims to bring the best cyclists in the world to Belgium in order to increase the profile of the sport. Among the top names on the start list this year: Irene van der Broek, Laura van der Kamp and Elena Tchalykh (Dolans-Boels); Evelyn Arys and Grace Verbeke (Kleo); Vera Koedooder (Sengers); Christine Majerus (GSD Gestion); Linda Ringlever (NWV Groningen); Nathalie van Gogh and Laura Trott (Ibis); Thalita de Jongh, Iris Slappendel, Roxanne Knetemann, Liesbet de Vocht and Tatiana Antoshina (Rabobank).

Video credit: @Velowijf

It became evident soon after the race began that, barring just about anything short of alien invasion and/or zombie apocalypse, somebody from Rabobank was going to win - just 30km into proceedings they had four riders at the front and never let up from that point onwards, keeping control all the way. Once the race began to near the finish line de Vocht, Knetemann, Else Belmans and Maaike Polspoel (Topsport Vlaanderen-Ridley) attacked, escaping the peloton and forcing speeds upward to tire the pack - and it worked splendidly: in the final 500m, de Vocht put her foot down and launched herself towards the line. Belmans and team mate Maaike Polspoel went after her and managed to hang onto her back wheel all the way, but neither could get ahead.

Top Ten
  1.  Liesbeth De Vocht Rabobank 2h45'01"
  2.  Else Belmans Topsport Vlaanderen-Ridley 2012 ST
  3.  Maaike Polspoel Topsport Vlaanderen-Ridley 2012 ST
  4.  Roxane Knetemann Rabobank +05"
  5.  Sarah Düster Rabobank +19"
  6.  Latoya Brulee Topsport Vlaanderen-Ridley 2012 ST
  7.  Lauren Kitchen Rabobank ST
  8.  Martina Zwick ST
  9.  Kelly Druyts Topsport Vlaanderen-Ridley 2012 ST
  10.  Evelyn Arys Kleo ST
(Full result)

Tour of the Gila

Carmen Small is riding fantastically well
jut to stay anywhere near Kristin
Armstrong, who has perhaps the best
form of any procyclist this season

The Stage 3 individual time trials took place on a 26.6km parcours with two testing climbs - the first, a Category 4, began 2km into the race and involved around 600m of climbing to a summit 1,949, above sea level, though the maximum gradient was not especially challenging. The second is the same mountain, approached from the opposite side on the return journey. It's much steeper when approached from that angle, hence an uprade to Cat 3. The start and finish line was located in Tyrone, a ghost town.

Kristin Armstrong (Exergy Twenty12) apparently plans to win this race by the simple-if-hard-to-achieve method of "completely and utterly dominating the field in every stage," and as a result she won for the third time in a row - and what a win it was: the 38-year-old Tennessean smashed Clara Hughes' time on the same parcours in 2011 by a whole two minutes. What matters more, of course, is she also beat the competition; crossing the line 2'05" faster than Alison Powers (Now and Novartis). Her advantage in the General Classification now stands at 5'01" over second place Carmen Small.

Top Ten
  1.  Kristin Armstrong Exergy Twenty12 37'13"
  2.  Alison Powers Now and Novartis for MS +2'05"
  3.  Carmen Small Optum p/b Kelly Benefit +2'11"
  4.  Tara Whitten Team TIBCO +2'46"
  5.  Jasmin Glaisser Colavita-ESPNW +2'48"
  6.  Anne Samplonius Now and Novartis for MS +3'18"
  7.  Jade Wilcoxson Optum p/b Kelly Benefit +3'28"
  8.  Alison Tetrick Exergy Twenty12 +3'29"
  9.  Calle Williams Colombia NT +3'38"
  10.  Olivia Dillon Now and Novartis for MS +3'50"
(Full results and GC)

Rory Sutherland

Catching Armstrong looks increasingly like an impossible task, but the eventual outcome seems far less certain among the men where Rory Sutherland (UnitedHealthcare Presented By Maxxis) leads the GC by only 26", an advantage that could very easily be lost on the last two stages. Evan Huffman, who has been trying to improve his TT performances, was experimenting with a different bike position and has apparently found one that works because he was the fastest man on the parcours with a finishing time 3" faster than Sutherland. "I think I can call myself a time trialist now," he said after the race.

Top Ten
  1.  Evan Huffman  California Giant     34'23"
  2.  Rory Sutherland UnitedHealthcare Presented By Maxxis +3"
  3.  Joe Dombrowski Bontrager Livestrong +17"
  4.  Jeremy Vennell Bissel Pro +24"
  5.  Lawson Craddock Bontrager Livestrong +38"
  6.  Francisco Mancebo Competitive Cyclist +45"
  7.  Nathaniel English Kenda/5-Hour Energy +50"
  8.  Ian Burnett Competitive Cyclist +52"
  9.  Benjamin Day UnitedHealthcare Presented By Maxxis +56"
  10.  Marc De Maar UnitedHealthcare Presented By Maxxis ST
(Full results and GC)

Tour of the Gila Stage 4

Stage 4 is an urban criterium race around a 1.74km square Silver City parcours with three bonus sprints and course hazards that include, according to the race bible, "rough pavement and errant pedestrians." The Pro Women will complete 25 laps to make a total of 43.5km, the Pro Men 40 laps for 69.5km.

Nick Nuyens still suffering
SaxoBank's Nick Nuyens was left disappointed after his Four Days of Dunkirk comeback, the injured hip he sustained in Paris-Nice two months ago making it impossible for him to ride as well as he'd hoped.

"I saw the fugitives still pulling away, but I couldn't respond," he told Het Niuewslad. "My hip still hurts, much more than I had expected after the training. The muscles around the hip are still weak, so I was uncomfortable on the bike. This was no fluke - I hope it'll improve given time."

Railways wins Pakistan Women's Nationals

Afghan Women's Team in training

Pakistan Railways won overall at the Pakistan Women's Championships on Thursday night, accumulating a total of 177 points at the Lahore velodrome during the event. Education High Commission took second with 160 points while Punjab was third with 86. The real stars of the Championships, however, have been the Afghan Women's team - despite hailing from a nation where until not too long ago any woman caught doing anything even remotely resembling a competitive sport would be publicly beheaded and although there are no races to speak of in Afghanistan, they won a number of medals and took fourth place overall with 68 points.

The Afghan women, the first foreign team to be invited to the race, impressed sufficiently for organisers to say they'll look into the possiblity of inviting teams from other Central Asian nations in future. Their performance was also a great encouragement for the athletes themselves - "I know that it will take time to win at an international level," says rider Karishma Ibadi, "but as sports grow we will be able to produce good players who will win abroad."

Other News
Team NetApp, competing in the Giro on a wildcard invitation this year, have had their first bout of misfortune - their bus was broken into and damaged on Friday night. Thieves got away with the vehicle's GPS system and items of the riders' clothing and shoes. So, if you happen to be in Herning and somebody offers you a cheap jersey that looks like the one on the left (probably without Reto Hollenstein in it), don't buy it and notify the police.

Peter Stetina (Garmin-Barracuda) escaped injury when he was hit by a car during a training ride yesterday. The incident was reported as a hit-and-run but, the rider - who has been given the go-ahead to start the Giro - praises the driver, telling Wielerland that he/she "was attentive and the car just came in contact with my rear wheel."

"Latecomer Schleck finds Giro course to his liking" (The Independent)

Heather Moyse had already made
her name in both bobsleigh and
rugby before coming to cycling

"Canadian gold medalist Heather Moyse becomes triple-threat with cycling success" (Calgary Herald)

"They just don't come any tougher than cycling's double world champion Laura Trott" (Daily Telegraph)

"Reasons to get excited about cycling this summer" (The Guardian)

"Reviving a cycling legend" (That's Greg Lemond, btw. SFGate, USA)

"Reta Trotman graduates in style at Nationals" (NZHerald)

"Pursuit squad thrilled with Kiwi made super sleek racer" (NZHerald)

"High school league fills niche" (PE, California)

Cycling
Newswire
Britain
"As far as oiling the wheels of big City deals goes, cycling is the new golf" (Daily Telegraph)

"Urban cycling: top 10 safety tips" (The Guardian)

"Cyclist badly hurt by deer" (Diss Express)

Worldwide
"Packs of cyclists need to obey traffic laws" (Times Colonist, Canada)

Daily Cycling Facts 05.05.12

The 2012 Giro d'Italia begins today with an 8.7km time trial in Herning, Denmark and will finish in three weeks' time in Milan - as they cross the finish line, the riders will have completed 3,503.9km and 21 stages. This is the second earliest starting date in the history of the Giro; only the 1939 edition started earlier, on the 28th of April.

Today marks the anniversary of the 20th edition of La Flèche Wallonne, which took place over a 221km parcours between Charleroi and Liège in 1956 - the same start and finish towns as in the previous seven years and the following nine (though they were reversed from 1960 to 1965), but using a different route. The winner was Richard Van Genechten, a climber who one year before had driven himself so hard on Mont Ventoux during the Tour de France that he fell unconscious from his bike and was rushed to hospital. He nearly became the third man to win the Ardennes Double a day after his Flèche victory when he finished in second place behind Fred de Bruyne at Liège-Bastogne-Liège.

Gino Bartali
On this day in 2000, the world lost a man who had it not have been for the Second World War (during which he became an even bigger hero that he did during his cycling career) may have become known as the greatest rider of all time: Il Pio, Gino Bartali. He would win the Giro in 1936 and 1937, the his first Tour de France in 1938 and a second in 1948 - the longest period between victories achieved by an individual rider in the history of the race.

Gino Bartali, a great man on the bike and off

Born in Pont a Ema (the house where he was born still stands, now occupied by a bar), the young Gino began working in a bike shop when he was 13 and was soon encouraged by colleagues to start racing. He then had a successful amateur career before turning professional at the age of 21 and winning the National Championship a year later. He won the Giro's overall King of the Mountains title that same year, then won the General Classification the next year but very nearly gave up cycling forever a year later when his older brother was killed in an accident during a race.

Until they produced a rider capable of dominating the Classics, Italians were widely believed to be useless cyclists when away from their home nation. Having been persuaded to continue racing, this seemed true of Bartali when he entered the Tour de France for the first time in 1937 as he got off to a bad start and lost time; then, perhaps angered by the cliche, he unexpectedly picked up the pace and won the yellow jersey during the mountainous Stage 7 between Aix-les-Bains and Grenoble. However, the very next day he was involved in a crash when Jules Rossi lost control - he plunged 3m off a bridge into a stream, landing on his chest and suffering breathing difficulties that forced him to retire from the race. That evening, he went to visit Tour director Henri Desgrange and apologised for his decision. "You are the first rider to come to see me before dropping out," Desgrange is reputed to have said. "You're a good man, Gino. Next year, we shall see one another again - and you shall win."

It has been known for many years that, during the War, Bartali assisted in efforts to save the lives of Jewish Italians, but it's only comparatively recently become known just how far he was willing to go to  rescue a fellow human being from almost certain death  - not only did he courier information and fake documents around the Italian countryside, he personally transported Jewish refugees in a specially-designed trailer towed behind his bike across the Alps and into neutral Switzerland. It's estimated that he was responsible for saving more than 800 people, yet he never asked for reward nor even recognition; stating years later that "One does these things, and that's that." In 2012, Israel's Yad Vashem announced that it was gathering further information in preparation for declaring him Righteous Among The Nations, an honour bestowed upon those who helped defend and save Europe's Jews from fascist attempts to exterminate them.

Bartali, having won the 1948 Tour

Bartali's career ended with a road accident when he was 40, by which point he had given much of his money away to deserving causes and lost most of what remained in ill-advised investments, later becoming the acerbic host of a popular television show and making a few cameo appearances in films. In old age he developed heart problems (not helped at all by an increasingly sedentary lifestyle - Miguel Indurain's manager once warned the five-time Tour winner to avoid being "like Gino Bartali" in his post-racing life) and underwent bypass surgery but died from a heart attack ten days after receiving the last rights, and a two-day period of official statewide mourning was declared in Italy. Today, many historians believe that had the War not have brought a temporary end to the Grand Tours, Bartali would have topped Lance Armstrong's record of seven Tours de France.


Britain's Lucy Martin was born in Merseyside on this day in 1990. She was spotted and invited to join the Olympic Talent Teamwhen she was 15 and soon selected for the Olympic Academy, a programme reserved for the most promising young athletes. In 2011, she received an offer of a professional trade team racing contract with Garmin-Cervélo where she raced alongside some of the best cyclists in the world including Lizzie Armitstead, Emma Pooley, Jessie Daams and Iris Slappendel, then went with Armitstead, Pooley, Daams and others to AA Drink-Leontien.nl following the demise of the Garmin-Cervélo women's team late in 2011.

Paul Watson, born in Milton Keynes on this day in 1962, had a good amateur career before turning professional in 1987 after performing well for two consecutive years at the Milk Race (as the Tour of Britain was then known). Two years later, he surprised the worldwide cycling scene by somehow coming sixth at no less an event than La Flèche Wallonne, thus inspiring theories that a serious talent had somehow slipped under the radar and was now announcing itself. He entered the Tour de France that year but was woefully unprepared - he was 143rd in the prologue but afterwards managed no better than 191st (Stage 3), then abandoned after coming 202nd - only four riders ahead of the Lanterne Rouge - in Stage 5. He did well at the Milk Race again that year, coming 4th overall, then faded away from cycling and little has been seen of him since.

Nick Nuyens
(image credit Thomas Ducroquet CC3.0)

Another rider who has enjoyed success at the Tour of Britain is the Belgian Nick Nuyens, who was also born on this day but eighteen years after Watson - he was third overall in 2004, then won Stages 1, 5 and the overall General Classification one year later. However, Nuyens is known primarily as one of the strongest Classics riders of his generation, having won or placed well at several of the most important one-day races, In 2011, he won both the Ronde van Vlaanderen and the Dwars door Vlaanderen.

British rowing champion James Cracknell, who was born on this day in 1972, attempted in 2010 to swim, run, row and cycle from Los Angeles to New York in 16 days. On the 20th of July, during one of the cycling sections, he was hit from behind by a truck in Arizona - one of the most dangerous types of accident for a cyclist, and was left with a coup contrecoup injury caused when the brain impacts against the inside of the skull. Cracknell has attributed his survival to the Alpina helmet he was wearing at the time, pointing out that it absorbed enough of the impact to have been broken into two pieces, and has since been a vocal advocate of cycling helmets - especially those made by Alpina, though he insists that there is no commercial agreement between himself and the company. In 2011, British newspaper The Daily Mail published a photograph of a helmetless Cracknell riding a folding bike but stated that he returned home to get one when he realised; his wife told reporters that he has suffered memory loss since his accident.

Lenka Ilavská, who was born in the Slovakian town Liptovský Mikuláš on this day in 1972, won the 1992  Emakumeen Bira, the 1993 Giro d'Italia Femminile and the 1995 Krasna Lipa Tour Féminine.

Mouritius "Maurice" Prosper Peeters was born in Antwerp on this day in 1882 and moved whilst still a child with his family to The Hague, where the Peeters took Dutch nationality. Maurice represented the Netherlands at the Olympics in 1920 and 1924. In 1920, he rode alone in the 1000m Sprint against British stars Thomas "Tiny" Johnson and Harry Ryan, who worked together in an attempt to remove all chances of a Dutch victory. Ryan attacked in the early part of the race, trying to tire his opponent out so that Johnson could cruise to unchallenged victory. However, Peeters proved more than match for the pair of them: Ryan tired and gave up his attacks, then the Dutchman went to work on Johnson, maintaining his lead and taking the gold medal. Four years later, he won the bronze in the 2000m Tandem race.

Leif Mortensen won a series of amateur races in the late 1960s, then turned professional and won a silver medal at the World Road Race Championship in 1970 (held that year in Leicester, Great Britain). A year later, he was sixth overall at the Tour de France and then twelfth in 1972, then he won the Tour of Belgium in 1973 and was 19th at the Tour de France - the palmares of a man who came so close to being a great, but didn't quite have what it takes.

Other births: Maria Hawkins (Canada, 1962); Kazım Bingen (Turkey, 1912); Andrej Hauptman (Slovenia, 1975); Leif Mortensen (Denmark, 1946); Carlos Miguel Álvarez (Argentina, 1943); Jakob Caironi (Switzerland, 1902); Anton Krijgsman (Netherlands, 1898, died 1974); Elio Bavutti (Italy, 1914 died 1987); Tekeste Woldu (Ethiopia, 1945); José Ollarves (Venezuela, 1953); Syamak Zafarzadeh (Iran, 1964); Alex Van Linden (Belgium, 1952); Mohamed Reza Banna (Iran, 1971); Kevin Kimmage (Ireland, 1967); Bob McLeod (Canada, 1913, died 1958); David Boll (USA, 1953).

Giro d'Italia Stage 1

It really doesn't yet seem very long since the start of the current cycling season and the Flanders Classics feel as though they started just a week or so ago. Yet, somehow, it's already early May - and that means it's time for the first of those three pivotal points about which the cycling fan's year revolves: the legend that is the Giro d'Italia.

This year, the 103-year-old race makes a sortie far beyond Italy's borders and deep into the North, the opening three stages being hosted in Denmark. Stage 1 is an 8.7km individual time trial, serving as time trials do to exhibit each rider on his own in front of the crowds and allowing us to have a look at who has form, who plans on peaking for the Tour de France and who simply left the new season training until too late and doesn't have a hope. Of course, in any Grand Tour there is always a high possibility that any rider to start Stage 1 will not finish Stage 21: the finish line in three weeks and 3,503.9km away - anything could happen during that time, and a very great deal will.

Nevertheless, this is our opportunity to narrow the field down to fifteen men who - if fortune is on their side - could win. Twitter is the place to discuss the race (#Giro) in the meantime.