Daily Cycling Facts 24.09.2013

Victoria Pendleton

Victoria Pendleton

Born in Stotfold on this day in 1980, Victoria Louise Pendleton is a multiple World, European, National and Olympic Champion and one of the few female British cyclists to have become a household name at home and around the world. Her father, Max, was once National Grass-Track Champion, Victoria began her career in the same discipline, riding her first race - a 400m event - at Fordham near Cambridge when she was nine years old. Aged 16, she was spotted by a coach from British Cycling but chose instead to complete her education, not becoming a professional rider until she'd graduated in Sport Science at Northumbria University.

In 2003, Pendleton won the Scratch race at the Sydney round of the World Cup, also coming second in the Sprint; the latter being the event in which she would later specialise and which she won at the Manchester round a year later. In 2005 she won the Keirin at Los Angeles, then the Sprint at the World Championships and at Manchester, and in 2006 at the Commonwealth Games. 2007 would be her real break-through year, starting off victories in the Sprint, 500m TT and Keirin at Manchester, followed by the Sprint and Keirin (and Team Sprint, riding with Shanaze Reade - whose birthday falls one day before Pendleton's) at the World Championships, the Sprint and 500m at the Nationals and Keirin at Sydney. in 2008, again riding with Reade, she won the Team Sprints at Copenhagen and the Worlds, also winning the Individual Sprint at the Worlds and the Olympics; at the Nationals she won the Sprint, Team Sprint and Keirin and at Manchester the Sprint, 500m and Keirin. 2009 was a quieter year with two victories - the Sprints at Copenhagen and the Worlds. She successfully defended the latter in 2010 and won the Keirin and Team Sprint (with Jess Varnish) at the Cali round of the World Cup, then rode with Varnish again to win the Team Sprint at the 2011 European Championships where she also won the Keirin.

Pendleton and Shanaze Reade

Since the 2008 Olympics, when Anna Meares got through to the finals due to the relegation of Guo Shang, she and Pendleton have been rivals. Lurid tales of sworn enmity and blistering hatred have been somwhat over-embellished by the media - presumably, these are the journalists who don't bother to actually watch women's racing and thus have to invent drama rather than reporting the real drama taking place on the track, but it's probably safe to say that they don't exchange Christmas cards. As a result, when they competed against one another in the Sprint in London at the 2012 Games, the race was immediately termed a grudge match, the decider and all sorts of other poetic things. It did not pass without incident: during the race, Pendleton veered very slightly out of her lane, crossing into Meares'. Meares reacted by pushing her away, using her elbow on Pendleton's leg. Some fans - mostly British, but a fair few from elsewhere including Australia - were initially angry at the judges' decision to relegate the British rider; however, once the slow-motion replay had been aired, all but the most die-hard Pendleton fans admitted that Meares had won fair and square. Pendleton had announced that, after many years of hinting that she would retire after the Games, this would be her last race; it was not the best note upon which to leave. However, having won the Keirin four days earlier and the Sprint at the Worlds in Melbourne in April, she undoubtedly left cycling at a highpoint in her career.

Whilst Pendleton is widely admired in the media - often as much for her looks as for her athletic achievements - her career has not been without controversy. Her decision to appear in glamourous photo shoots published by FHM and Esquire magazines, at a time when many female athletes are demanding to be taken seriously for their sport and not depicted as sex symbols, was widely criticised. Likewise, she has occasionally been accused of appearing on too many TV shows and advertisements; however, she has also been congratulated for raising the profile of women's cycling in this way.


Oenone Wood

Oenone Wood in 2007

Born in Newcastle, New South Wales on this day in 1980, Oenone Wood won the silver medal at both the National Road Race and Individual Time Trial Championships and was third overall at La Flèche Wallonne and the Trophée d'Or Féminin in 2003, then in 2004 she won both the National titles, the Trofeo Alfredo Binda, the Bay Classic, the Geelong Tour, Stage 1 at the Giro Donne and the World Cup. The following year, she turned professional with Equipe Nürnberger Versicherung.

In 2005, she won the World Cup, the National ITT Championships and Geelong for a second time, Stages 1, 3a and 6 at the Tour de l'Aude and Stages 1b, 2 and the General Classification at Le Tour du Grand Montréal; in 2006 - still with Nürnberger Versicherung - a third Geelong, the GP International Dottignies, Stage 8 at the Giro Donne and a silver medal for the Road Race and a gold for the ITT at the Commonwealth Games. She then moved to T-Mobile for 2007 and won Le Tour du Grand Montréal. Wood remained with the team, which began the year as Highroad and ended it as Columbia Women, through 2008; winning another National Road Race Championship and two stages as well as second place overall at the Tour of New Zealand. She retired at the end of the year, having achieved 81 podium finishes in her short professional career.



Michelle Ferris, born in Warrnambool, Australia on this day in 1976, won silver in the Women's Sprint at the Olympics in 1996 and 2000.

Erich Maechler, born in Hochdorf, Switzerland on this day in 1960, won Stage 21 at the Tour de France in 1986. The following year he won Milan-San Remo, then returned to the Tour and wore the maillot jaune for six days. Over the course of his career he also won stages at the Tour de Suisse, Tirreno-Adriatico and the Critérium du Dauphiné.

Stef Clement, born in Tilburg, Netherlands on this day 1982, was National Individual Time Trial Champion in 2006, 2007, 2009 and 2011.

Other cyclists born on this day: Neurouth (France, 1881, died 1914); Michel van Haecke (Belgium, 1971); Donald Allan (Australia, 1949); Jorge Mariné (Spain, 1941); Karsten Stenersen (Norway, 1971); Dirk Heirwegh (Belgium, 1955); Ivano Maffei (Italy, 1958); Marie Purvis (Great Britain, 1961); Morten Therkildsen (Denmark, 1983); Jacques Gestraut (France, 1939); Lorenzo Bosisio (Italy, 1944); Gunnar Sköld (Sweden, 1894, died 1971); Charles Hewett (USA, 1929).

Daily Cycling Facts 30.08.2013

André Trousselier, 29.05.1887-10.04.1968

Today, Liège-Bastogne-Liège always takes place in late April but this was not always the case - it has been organised in Spring, Summer and even Autumn and, while there was a gap of fourteen years between the third and fourth editions, when the race reappeared on this day in 1908 it was the second consecutive edition to be held in August. The winner was Frenchman André Trousselier, who took 8h12'09" to score the first victory by a non-Belgian - and the last by a non-Belgian until 1930. His older brother Louis was more famous, having won the Tour de France in 1905.

Maurice Archambaud
Born in Paris on this day in 1906 and nicknamed Le Nabot, "The Dwarf," on account of his diminutive height, Maurice Archambaud was the envy of all cyclists for his enormous, heavily-muscled thighs. He used them to set a new Hour Record of 45.767km at Milan's famous Vigorelli velodrome in 1937 - it would not be bettered until Fausto Coppi managed 45.798km in 1942.

Archambaud was fantastically good at winning stages and would sometimes win them with a large enough margin to lead races. This happened  at the Tour de France in 1933 when he won Stages 1 and 11, getting himself into the maillot jaune for nine days, and again in 1936 when his Stage 4 victory and a series of good places saw him lead for five days. He also won stages at the Tour in 1935 (5a, 14b), 1937 (2) and 1939 (10B, 10C, 12B, 17B) and at the 1935 Giro d'Italia (14b), but suffered from an inconsistency that prevented him from achieving more in the Grand Tours. When circumstances went his way in a shorter stage race, however, he could do very well indeed - he won Paris-Nice in 1936 and 1939.

Natallia Tsylinskaya
Born in Minsk, USSR (now Belarus) on this day in 1975, Natallia Tsylinskaya began road racing when an instructor came to her school (and you can say what you want about Soviet Communism, but they were on the right tracks when they came up with the idea of sending people into schools to encourage the kids to start racing bicycles) and later started track cycling on the recommendation of a friend. Aged 14, she won a National Youth Championship; two years later she won bronze at the World Junior Championships.

Natallia Tsylinskaya

Following the fall of the USSR, which left athletes free to turn professional, Tsylinskaya was ready to move into the Elite ranks when she met Alexander Markovnichenko, a Ukrainian champion cyclist with whom she fell in love. They married and, in 1996, Tsylinskaya gave birth to a daughter. She had no intention of ever returning to cycling at that time and Markovnichenko apparently didn't want her to do so. However, he didn't oppose her training to be a sports instructor and she qualified in 1998. Later that year, the Belarusian Cycling Federation approached her in an attempt to persuade to start competing again. She had a choice - her husband or her sport, and she made the right decision.

Two years later, she won the 500m time trial and the sprint at the World Track Championships in Manchester, then she won them again in 2002 and won the 500m TT for a third time the year after that. In 2004 she won a bronze medal for same event at the Olympics, then she regained her 500m TT World title in 2005 and successfully defended it in 2006, also winning back the World Sprint Championship that year.

Javier Otxoa

Javier Otxoa in 2009

Javier Otxoa, a Basque born in Barakaldo on this day in 1974, won Stage 10 on Hautacam in freezing cold, wet conditions at the Tour de France in 2000, an achievement that instantly brought comparisons to Charly Gaul - the greatest climber of them all and winner of the 1958 Tour de France - and earned him second place in the overall King of the Mountains.

Seven months after the Tour ended, he and his twin brother Ricardo were on a training ride when a car ploughed into them. Ricardo was killed; Javier did not awake from his coma for a month and was left severely disabled for life. Just three years later, he qualfied for the Paralympics and won the road race, then took a silver  in the Pursuit race on the track. He was disqualfied from the Pursuit in 2008 when judges deemed him to have ridden too closely behind his opponent Darren kenny, with Kenny later expressing his disappointment in their decision because he'd been looking forward to trying himself against Otxoa; but he won the road time trial and came second in the road race.

Adam Bergman, born in the USA on this day in 1980, began competitive mountain biking in 1995, then moved into road racing a year later. In 2004 he tested positive for EPO, at first denying that he had never taken the drug, but later confessing during his subsequent two-year ban. He returned to racing in 2007.

Other cyclists born on this day: Luc de Smet (Belgium, 1957); Derk van Egmond (Netherlands, 1956); Aneta Hladíková (Czechoslovakia, 1984); Danny Clark (Australia, 1951); Federico Canuti (Italy, 1985); Enzo Cesario (Chile, 1980); Jesús Torres (Venezuela, 1954); Milan Zyka (Czechoslovakia, 1947); Alessandro Messina (Canada, 1941); Dorjpalamyn Tsolmon (Mongolia, 1957); Marissa van der Merwe (South Africa, 1978); Agustín Sebastiá (Spain, 1964); Diego Calero (Colombia, 1940).

Daily Cycling Facts 24.09.12

Victoria Pendleton

Victoria Pendleton

Born in Stotfold on this day in 1980, Victoria Louise Pendleton is a multiple World, European, National and Olympic Champion and one of the few female British cyclists to have become a household name at home and around the world. Her father, Max, was once National Grass-Track Champion, Victoria began her career in the same discipline, riding her first race - a 400m event - at Fordham near Cambridge when she was nine years old. Aged 16, she was spotted by a coach from British Cycling but chose instead to complete her education, not becoming a professional rider until she'd graduated in Sport Science at Northumbria University.

In 2003, Pendleton won the Scratch race at the Sydney round of the World Cup, also coming second in the Sprint; the latter being the event in which she would later specialise and which she won at the Manchester round a year later. In 2005 she won the Keirin at Los Angeles, then the Sprint at the World Championships and at Manchester, and in 2006 at the Commonwealth Games. 2007 would be her real break-through year, starting off victories in the Sprint, 500m TT and Keirin at Manchester, followed by the Sprint and Keirin (and Team Sprint, riding with Shanaze Reade - whose birthday falls one day before Pendleton's) at the World Championships, the Sprint and 500m at the Nationals and Keirin at Sydney. in 2008, again riding with Reade, she won the Team Sprints at Copenhagen and the Worlds, also winning the Individual Sprint at the Worlds and the Olympics; at the Nationals she won the Sprint, Team Sprint and Keirin and at Manchester the Sprint, 500m and Keirin. 2009 was a quieter year with two victories - the Sprints at Copenhagen and the Worlds. She successfully defended the latter in 2010 and won the Keirin and Team Sprint (with Jess Varnish) at the Cali round of the World Cup, then rode with Varnish again to win the Team Sprint at the 2011 European Championships where she also won the Keirin.

Pendleton and Shanaze Reade

Since the 2008 Olympics, when Anna Meares got through to the finals due to the relegation of Guo Shang, she and Pendleton have been rivals. Lurid tales of sworn enmity and blistering hatred have been somwhat over-embellished by the media - presumably, these are the journalists who don't bother to actually watch women's racing and thus have to invent drama rather than reporting the real drama taking place on the track, but it's probably safe to say that they don't exchange Christmas cards. As a result, when they competed against one another in the Sprint in London at the 2012 Games, the race was immediately termed a grudge match, the decider and all sorts of other poetic things. It did not pass without incident: during the race, Pendleton veered very slightly out of her lane, crossing into Meares'. Meares reacted by pushing her away, using her elbow on Pendleton's leg. Some fans - mostly British, but a fair few from elsewhere including Australia - were initially angry at the judges' decision to relegate the British rider; however, once the slow-motion replay had been aired, all but the most die-hard Pendleton fans admitted that Meares had won fair and square. Pendleton had announced that, after many years of hinting that she would retire after the Games, this would be her last race; it was not the best note upon which to leave. However, having won the Keirin four days earlier and the Sprint at the Worlds in Melbourne in April, she undoubtedly left cycling at a highpoint in her career.

Whilst Pendleton is widely admired in the media - often as much for her looks as for her athletic achievements - her career has not been without controversy. Her decision to appear in glamourous photo shoots published by FHM and Esquire magazines, at a time when many female athletes are demanding to be taken seriously for their sport and not depicted as sex symbols,  was widely criticised. Likewise, she has occasionally been accused of appearing on too many TV shows and advertisements; however, she has also been congratulated for raising the profile of women's cycling in this way.


Oenone Wood

Oenone Wood in 2007

Born in Newcastle, New South Wales on this day in 1980, Oenone Wood won the silver medal at both the National Road Race and Individual Time Trial Championships and was third overall at La Flèche Wallonne and the Trophée d'Or Féminin in 2003, then in 2004 she won both the National titles, the Trofeo Alfredo Binda, the Bay Classic, the Geelong Tour, Stage 1 at the Giro Donne and the World Cup. The following year, she turned professional with Equipe Nürnberger Versicherung.

In 2005, she won the World Cup, the National ITT Championships and Geelong for a second time, Stages 1, 3a and 6 at the Tour de l'Aude and Stages 1b, 2 and the General Classification at Le Tour du Grand Montréal; in 2006 - still with Nürnberger Versicherung - a third Geelong, the GP International Dottignies, Stage 8 at the Giro Donne and a silver medal for the Road Race and a gold for the ITT at the Commonwealth Games. She then moved to T-Mobile for 2007 and won Le Tour du Grand Montréal. Wood remained with the team, which began the year as Highroad and ended it as Columbia Women, through 2008; winning another National Road Race Championship and two stages as well as second place overall at the Tour of New Zealand. She retired at the end of the year, having achieved 81 podium finishes in her short professional career.



Michelle Ferris, born in Warrnambool, Australia on this day in 1976, won silver in the Women's Sprint at the Olympics in 1996 and 2000.

Erich Maechler, born in Hochdorf, Switzerland on this day in 1960, won Stage 21 at the Tour de France in 1986. The following year he won Milan-San Remo, then returned to the Tour and wore the maillot jaune for six days. Over the course of his career he also won stages at the Tour de Suisse, Tirreno-Adriatico and the Critérium du Dauphiné.

Stef Clement, born in Tilburg, Netherlands on this day 1982, was National Individual Time Trial Champion in 2006, 2007, 2009 and 2011.

Other cyclists born on this day: Neurouth (France, 1881, died 1914); Michel van Haecke (Belgium, 1971); Donald Allan (Australia, 1949); Jorge Mariné (Spain, 1941); Karsten Stenersen (Norway, 1971); Dirk Heirwegh (Belgium, 1955); Ivano Maffei (Italy, 1958); Marie Purvis (Great Britain, 1961); Morten Therkildsen (Denmark, 1983); Jacques Gestraut (France, 1939); Lorenzo Bosisio (Italy, 1944); Gunnar Sköld (Sweden, 1894, died 1971); Charles Hewett (USA, 1929).

Daily Cycling Facts 30.08.12

André Trousselier, 29.05.1887-10.04.1968

Today, Liège-Bastogne-Liège always takes place in late April but this was not always the case - it has been organised in Spring, Summer and even Autumn andwhile there was a gap of fourteen years between the third and fourth editions, when the race reappeared on this day in 1908 it was the second consecutive edition to be held in August. The winner was Frenchman André Trousselier, who took 8h12'09" to score the first victory by a non-Belgian - and the last by a non-Belgian until 1930. His older brother Louis was more famous, having won the Tour de France in 1905.

Maurice Archambaud
Born in Paris on this day in 1906 and nicknamed Le Nabot, "The Dwarf," on account of his diminutive height, Maurice Archambaud was the envy of all cyclists for his enormous, heavily-muscled thighs. He used them to set a new Hour Record of 45.767km at Milan's famous Vigorelli velodrome in 1937 - it would not be bettered until Fausto Coppi managed 45.798km in 1942.

Archambaud was fantastically good at winning stages and would sometimes win them with a large enough margin to lead races. This happened  at the Tour de France in 1933 when he won Stages 1 and 11, getting himself into the maillot jaune for nine days, and again in 1936 when his Stage 4 victory and a series of good places saw him lead for five days. He also won stages at the Tour in 1935 (5a, 14b), 1937 (2) and 1939 (10B, 10C, 12B, 17B) and at the 1935 Giro d'Italia (14b), but suffered from an inconsistency that prevented him from achieving more in the Grand Tours. When circumstances went his way in a shorter stage race, however, he could do very well indeed - he won Paris-Nice in 1936 and 1939.

Natallia Tsylinskaya
Born in Minsk, USSR (now Belarus) on this day in 1975, Natallia Tsylinskaya began road racing when an instructor came to her school (and you can say what you want about Soviet Communism, but they were on the right tracks when they came up with the idea of sending people into schools to encourage the kids to start racing bicycles) and later started track cycling on the recommendation of a friend. Aged 14, she won a National Youth Championship; two years later she won bronze at the World Junior Championships.

Natallia Tsylinskaya

Following the fall of the USSR, which left athletes free to turn professional, Tsylinskaya was ready to move into the Elite ranks when she met Alexander Markovnichenko, a Ukrainian champion cyclist with whom she fell in love. They married and, in 1996, Tsylinskaya gave birth to a daughter. She had no intention of ever returning to cycling at that time and Markovnichenko apparently didn't want her to do so. However, he didn't oppose her training to be a sports instructor and she qualified in 1998. Later that year, the Belarusian Cycling Federation approached her in an attempt to persuade to start competing again. She had a choice - her husband or her sport, and she made the right decision.

Two years later, she won the 500m time trial and the sprint at the World Track Championships in Manchester, then she won them again in 2002 and won the 500m TT for a third time the year after that. In 2004 she won a bronze medal for same event at the Olympics, then she regained her 500m TT World title in 2005 and successfully defended it in 2006, also winning back the World Sprint Championship that year.

Javier Otxoa

Javier Otxoa in 2009

Javier Otxoa, a Basque born in Barakaldo on this day in 1974, won Stage 10 on Hautacam in freezing cold, wet conditions at the Tour de France in 2000, an achievement that instantly brought comparisons to Charly Gaul - the greatest climber of them all and winner of the 1958 Tour de France - and earned him second place in the overall King of the Mountains.

Seven months after the Tour ended, he and his twin brother Ricardo were on a training ride when a car ploughed into them. Ricardo was killed; Javier did not awake from his coma for a month and was left severely disabled for life. Just three years later, he qualfied for the Paralympics and won the road race, then took a silver  in the Pursuit race on the track. He was disqualfied from the Pursuit in 2008 when judges deemed him to have ridden too closely behind his opponent Darren kenny, with Kenny later expressing his disappointment in their decision because he'd been looking forward to trying himself against Otxoa; but he won the road time trial and came second in the road race.

Adam Bergman, born in the USA on this day in 1980, began competitive mountain biking in 1995, then moved into road racing a year later. In 2004 he tested positive for EPO, at first denying that he had never taken the drug, but later confessing during his subsequent two-year ban. He returned to racing in 2007.

Other cyclists born on this day: Luc de Smet (Belgium, 1957); Derk van Egmond (Netherlands, 1956); Aneta Hladíková (Czechoslovakia, 1984); Danny Clark (Australia, 1951); Federico Canuti (Italy, 1985); Enzo Cesario (Chile, 1980); Jesús Torres (Venezuela, 1954); Milan Zyka (Czechoslovakia, 1947); Alessandro Messina (Canada, 1941); Dorjpalamyn Tsolmon (Mongolia, 1957); Marissa van der Merwe (South Africa, 1978); Agustín Sebastiá (Spain, 1964); Diego Calero (Colombia, 1940).

Cycling Evening News 01.05.12

Concerns over GreenEDGE's new sponsor - New women's race - Tour of the Gila - Iglinsky wants a Tour stage - Rabo and Astana at the Giro - Dehaes out for three weeks - No Giro for Dekker - Colorado velodrome closes - BBC Radio to broadcast Beryl Burton play - Other News - London mayor angers cyclists - Newswire

Racing
GreenEDGE's new sponsor is far from Green
GreenEDGE's new sponsor has been revealed to be Orica, a chemicals company with an international presence as the world's largest producer of mining explosives - and an unenviable environmental track record that has seen the organisation widely criticised since 2011 for its apparent reluctance to notify the New South Wales Environmental Protection Agency whenever an accident occurs (for example, the six serious incidents between August and December last year; including the release of 1kg of carcinogenic hexavalent chromium into the environment at Kooragang Island on the 8th of August last year, a leak that affected 70 households and which Orica failed to report to the authorities for 16 hours - the people living in those 70 households didn't get to hear about it for three days; or the arsenic leaked into the Hunter River during the hexavalent chromium clean-up operation; or the 900kg of ammonia leaked into the atmosphere from the Kooragang Island plant, ironically one hour before the EPA announced it was going to take Orica to court over the hexavalent chromium leak; or the mercury leak in December 2011 at a Port Botany plant that drove airborne sample readings to 245% the legal limit, which Orica kept quiet about until the 17th of January 2011).

The deal was questioned as soon as it was announced, chiefly for the reasons outlined above. Many people have since pointed out that 1t4i didn't come under attack when they revealed their own sponsorship deal with the Argos North Sea Group, a Rotterdam-based oil company. However, they're missing the point - it's not what Orica do, but the way they go about it. The oil industry has much to answer for, but Argos have never been charged with the sort of cavalier attitudes and apparent total disregard for the environment and public safety that Orica have displayed in the past (Argos also trade in biodiesel - which isn't entirely "environmentally friendly" but is a damn sight better than standard diesel - and operate "green energy" supplier HummelEnergy, incidentally).

We all know that top-level cycle racing isn't quite as environmentally-sound as we'd like it to be - all those official cars and motorbikes chuck out some serious pollution, as do the helicopters at the major races and the airliners that take the teams to the races. Also, with the world economy in the state it's in, teams can't afford to be too choosy about whose buck they take - chances are one or two others wouldn't hold up too well under close examination, either. It's also possible that Orica have cleaned up their act after some bad years and are now a fine example of how a chemical company ought to behave, and that they want to get involved in cycling as an expression of their new, green policies; but the fact remains that as far as the public are concerned Orica are evil. GreenEDGE's decision to link itself with a company that, in the eyes of many, is the Australian version of Monty Burns' nuclear power plant might prove an unwise one if it results in difficulties attracting sponsors in the future due to loss of current popularity. After all,  we judge people by the company they keep, which is a concept that will be very familiar those GreenEDGE rides who spent 2011 with HTC-Highroad - a team that did more than most to stamp out doping, yet died because sponsors didn't wish to be associated with a sport that they believed was tainted by a bad image.

It would be a very great pity if a team that has already done so much for cycling - including women's cycling, which they have no more obligation to take part in than the various other Pro Teams that do not - turned out to have shot itself in the foot during their very first season.

New women's race
News about women's cycling is, these days, all too often depressing - as has been the case in recent weeks with the demise of two races and shortening of another as organisers have struggled to find the financial backing they need to continue their events.

Very welcome, therefore, is news of a new race: after sixteen years as a men's race, the Baby-Dump Kempenklassement in the Netherlands is to be joined by a women's class that will be named the Kempenklassement voor Vrouwen.

Tour of the Gila

Leah Goldstein won the Tour of the Gila in 2008

The SRAM Tour of the Gila starts on Wednesday at Silver City in New Mexico. Since it began in 1987, the race has been dominated by American riders - American men have won eighteen editions, American women the same number - but changes to the UCI classification have brought ever-increasing numbers of top riders from elsewhere, as was the case last year when the men's race was won by the Spaniard Francisco Mancebo and the women's race by the Canadian Clara Hughes. Champion System - the first Asian ProTour team in cycling - will be making their American race debut at the event

There are some tough climbs along the way: Stage 2 reaches 2,278m above sea level, with the men and the women taking in the climb. Good quality maps and altitude profiles can be downloaded from the official race website, as can the complete "race bible."

Iglinsky wants a Tour stage

Maxim Iglinsky

"The next race I will participate in is theTour of Belgium," Astana's 31-year-old Maxim Iglinsky told press at a team conference. "Then I will ride in the Critérium du Dauphiné and I will compete to win, and then I will fight to win a Tour de France stage. I have always dreamed of winning a Tour de France stage."

Iglinsky denied rumours that his hotel room was searched prior to his unexpected winner of Liège-Bastogne-Liège earlier this year, then said he also has his sights set on the World Championships: "All cyclists want to win the World Championship. The one who wins earns the right to put on the rainbow jersey and can then ride in it for the whole year - it is very prestigious. Yes, I've thought about that, too; I will be training for the Championships."

Moser wins in Germany
Moreno Moser won Germany's biggest one-day race the Rund um den Finanzplatz Eschborn-Frankfurt after attacking the lead group in the final kilometre. The race was especially notable as the first since being injured during a training ride for the the current World Time Trial Champion Tony Martin, who split the peloton with an attack at the 44km to go point.

Moser's team mate Dominik Nerz was 5" behind him as he crossed the line, hotly pursued by Sergei Firsanov who took the same time.

Top Five
  1.  Moreno Moser Liquigas-Cannondale 4h54'16"
  2.  Dominik Nerz Liquigas -Cannondale +5"
  3.  Sergey Firsanov RusVelo ST
  4.  Tony Martin Omega Pharma-QuickStep ST
  5.  Andre Greipel Lotto-Belisol 24"
Full results (when available)

Rabo and Astana at the Giro
Two more teams have revealed their Giro line-ups. Unsurprisingly, following his two stage wins at the Tour of Turkey, Theo Bos is team leader for Rabobank with Graeme Brown and Mark Renshaw onboard to pick up sprint points while Stef Clement looks after time trials and Juan Manuel Gárate takes care of the mountains. Protecting them and ferrying the bidons are Tom Leezer, Grischa Niermann, Tom-Jelte Slagter and Dennis van Winden.

Astana are sending Roman Kreuziger as leader, backed up by a more all-rounder squad consisting of Alexandr Dyachenko, Enrico Gasparotto, Simone Ponzi, Kevin Seeldraeyers and Andrey Zeits. Tanel Kangert, Evgeny Petrov and Paolo Tiralongo will be the men for the mountains points. The team comes as something of a surprise as the squad was widely expected to include Alexandre Vinokourov.

Three weeks off for Dehaes
Lotto-Belisol's Kenny Dehaes injured his elbow more severely than was initially believed in a crash at the Tour de Romandie - X-rays have since revealed a fracture, and he has been told to rest for three weeks.

Kenny Dehaes ‏ @Kennydehaes
Took x ray from elbow and showed fracture... F*ck!!! 3 weeks out!! #damn.

Thomas Dekker

No Giro for Dekker
Thomas Dekker (Garmin-Barracuda) is pinning his hopes on the Tour de France after doctors told him to stay away from the Giro due to a knee injury sustained at Liège-Bastogne-Liège. "Starting the race would just be too risky - I could be forced to abandon after a couple of days. There's no point starting a Grand Tour unless you're 100%," the Dutch 27-year-old said.

Colorado loses one of its two velodromes
Days after the great news that Cleveland in Ohio is about to get a new velodrome - one that will be free for under-18s to ride - comes more depressing news that one of only two velodromes in Colorado will close after only three years. The Boulder track, housed in a converted warehouse alongside an indoor mountain biking course, has attracted far fewer riders than predicted - "The single biggest factor was the seasonality," said Bruce McPherson, president of the facility's management team. "We had riders for essentially four months of the year. We had a core group that rode all year long, but it wasn't enough."

BBC R4 to broadcast Burton play

Beryl Burton will be played by author
Maxine Peake

A dramatisation of Beryl Burton's life will be broadcast by BBC Radio 4 towards the end of this year. Titled La Yorkshire Dame a Bicyclette, the play will star Maxine Peake - who also wrote the script, her first - as Burton, who won numerous titles and set world records during the 1950s and 60s.

"Despite beating men and women in championships across the globe, Beryl received no support, training or sponsorship and in fact, very little acclaim in the UK and Maxine wanted to dramatise her story," says producer Justine Potter. No date has yet been set for the broadcast, but it is likely to go out in the station's 45-minute Afternoon Drama (formerly and popularly Afternoon Play) slot.

Radio 4 is available worldwide on the Internet.

Other News
"The Afghanistan women cycling team will compete in Pakistan for the first time in the National Cycling Championship" (Herald Tribune)

"South Korean Pro Cyclists Killed in Road Accident" (Bicycling)

"There’s absolutely no room for complacency, we have got to keep working hard" - Joanna Rowsell on the Olympics (British Cycling)

"Italian women turned away from Box Hill" (Cycling Weekly)

"Sky look ahead to Giro's team time trial" (Cycling Weekly)

"Women’s Cycling: The Winning Formula Continues" (Irishcycling.com)

Kristin Armstrong makes name for herself as Olympic champ (USA Today)

"74-year-old cycling enthusiast had a heart attack while competing in a 60-kilometre club race" (The Press, New Zealand)

"Tacks cause havoc at cycling event Tour of the South" (Herald Sun, Australia)

"Cyclists in inspired return to Trinidad & Tobago" (Guardian Media)


"Goss the key to Giro cycling success" (SBS Australia)

"Paula Radcliffe vows to campaign for tougher bans for drug cheats" (The Independent)

"Tour de France 2012 Videogames Confirmed for PAL Release" (ElectrinicTheatre)


Cycling
Boris' big gob bothers bikers

Boris - a bit of an idiot at times

Boris Johnson has based a large part of his London mayoral campaign on his own cycling credentials and the fine work he says he's done for the capital's cyclists during his time a mayor over the last five years - so it seems rather strange that he risked annoying the very people he's been courting for so long with some ill-advised comments yesterday at a hustings designed to highlight the candidates' commitment to cycling and cyclists' safety.

After showing up on his bike - points there, Boris - the tousel-headed Old Eonian scamp started to dig himself a hole. "I can humbly say to you, I may not conform to your idea of a stereotypical cyclist. I do not have whippet-thin brown legs or dreadlocks, I do not charge around in Lycra, I do not jump lights - and nor are you, but I ask you to recognise that I have cycling in my heart. I love cycling. I think it is wonderful and I will continue to invest in cycling," he told his audience, adding: "We have got to move away from the idea that - and I am sorry to say this, you can lynch me now - that cyclists are somehow morally superior to other road users" before the four main candidates went about trying to pick holes in one another's doubtless expertly massaged figures.

However, Johnson did promise that if re-elected he'll appoint a Cycling Commissioner (or cycling czar, as the newspapers have for some reason decided such a figure should be called) - something that many cyclists will be happy to hear. Provided, of course, that it's somebody capable of independent thought and with a genuine interest in cycling, not one of his jolly chums from school.

According to Londoners on Bikes, a biking advocacy group, he "has lost the bike vote."

Newswire
Britain
"Kingston women's cycling pioneer in line for award" (Your Local Guardian)

"New Cycle Surgery Store Opens Along Popular London Biking Route" (MarketWatch)

"Sky Ride Local group spawns beginner friendly Tees Valley Sportive" (British Cycling)

Worldwide
"Cyclists will take to the roads in a silent procession at 7 p.m. May 16 to remember those who have been killed or injured by a motorist while cycling on public roadways" (Argus Press, Michigan)

Women's who's who at the 2012 Track World Cup

Complete women's start list with details here.

Team GB Track cyclists announced

Team GB has announced the fifteen riders who will represent the nation at the European Track Cycling Championships which begin this coming Friday, with no surprises among the names.

The Women's Sprint may be one of the last in which Victoria Pendleton competes as a professional, having stopped just short on a number of occasions from stating that she will retire after the London Olympic Games. Chris Hoy will be looking to get his international reputation back up to the same standard as that among British cycling fans following an embarrassing race during last year's Championships when he was soundly beaten by Irishman Felix English, an amateur rider - a selection of good results earned since, including three golds at the Nationals this summer, suggests he's been working to prevent it happening again. Other riders, keen to demonstrate excellent form now we're well into the final year before the Olympics, will also be striving to perform at high level at the event to be held in Apeldoorn, Netherlands.

Women’s Sprint: Victoria Pendleton, Jess Varnish.
Women’s Endurance: Laura Trott, Joanna Rowsell, Dani King, Sarah Storey.
Men’s Sprint: Sir Chris Hoy, Jason Queally, Matt Crampton, Jason Kenny.
Men’s Endurance: Geraint Thomas, Peter Kennaugh, Steven Burke, Ed Clancy, Andy Tennant.

Victoria Pendleton and Chris Hoy will pull out all the stops in an attempt to repeat their 2008 success - in Pendleton's case so as to end her career at a highpoint and in Hoy's to leave the world in no doubt that his is not yet over.
(both images © johnthescone CC-BY-2.0)

Olympic velodrome gets award but designer can't get tickets

(© Carlbob CC2.0)

Just days after it was announced that the £80 million London Olympic Games velodrome had beaten a host of rivals - including the main Olympic stadium which cost £406 million more - to recognition in a prestigious architecture award, track and interior designer Ron Webb has revealed that he's been unable to secure tickets to attend races at the facility.

The velodrome, a stunning hyperbolic paraboloid mimicking the shape of the track within, finished runner-up to the Evelyn Grace Gallery, also in London, but was chosen as popular favourite with a 63% share of the vote in a public poll - the remaining 37% being shared between the Gallery, The Angel Building (London), An Gaelaras (Derry), the Royal Shakespeare Theatre (Stratford) and the Folkwang Museum (Essen). Once the Games are over, it will continue in use as a velodrome hosting national and international events and housing a bike hire centre and cafe. The track is one of 62 created by the designer and forms the centrepiece of the 2012 Games' velopark in Leyton, East London.

Though Games organisers reserved 90,000 tickets to be given to corporate sponsors (who will also enjoy a four-course champagne lunch), Webb had to apply through the lottery and was afforded no special treatment despite his creation being widely lauded as the finest in the world - not only has it proved a hit with the British public, who are not traditionally known for their appreciation of modern architecture, it was the first Olympic structure to be completed and cost less than its estimated budget. While he accepts that he probably won't be able to see his track being used for the purpose for which it was designed, he says he is "disappointed the application system wasn’t run very well."

Any of those corporate sponsors like to show their appreciation by donating a ticket to him?

We Like... The Red Bull MiniDrome

You know what? This could just turn out to be the best thing that's happened to track cycling since the invention of the bike (and believe me, it was really boring before that).

The thing is, only BMX and mountain biking are considered cool - or hot, or bear, or wicked or whatever it is The Kids say when they approve of something these days - by the vast majority of young people. Skinny tyres and lycra most definitely are not.

But imagine this scene: some town somewhere, a couple of massive trucks with "Red Bull Tour" pitch up. The local yoof get excited - Red Bull means skateboarding, trials bikes, BMX and other good things. Since life as a teenager in Urban Britain is so dreadful it's almost beyond words, this immediately looks set to be the best thing any of them can remember ever happening; so before you know it you've got about fifty million kids milling around. They watch the heroes getting big air on the ramps and wish they could do the same. Some of them will give it a go and be the heroes next year. Others will think, "Blimey! That's a bit high for me!" Then, those kids will see the MiniDrome and think, "Ah! Now that looks my sort of thing, by golly! All you do is ride around as fast as billy-o!"

So, they roll up on their half-ton supermarket specials and have a few laps of the track, probably enjoying the thrill and applause and discover that they really like track cycling. Later that day, it occurs to them that they could go even faster with a proper track bike so the next day they fire up the iPad and have a look at what their paper-round wages can get them - and discover the wonderful world of track cycling in all its glory.

Red Bull - gives you wings. And genius ideas.
(That logo is, obviously, totally copyrighted up to the eyeballs by real lawyers and stuff. We're using it without permission and are hoping that, since Red Bull are obviously a very cool sort of company and interested - as are we - in promoting cycling, they'll keep those lawyers chained up won't sue us or anything. Be aware of this should you decide to copy it and use it for something else - and if you do so, that's entirely your own responsibility and nothing to with us whatsoever, at all, full stop. Cyclopunk does not encourage you to do anything that could get you in trouble with your mum.)

By the end of the week they're getting together with other kids who had a go and were similarly impressed. Then, they start badgering the council, just like the BMX and skate kids did a few years back, and because the council want to be seen to be doing their bit to improve public fitness - and the next thing you know, there's half-scale velodromes springing up all over the place just like half-pipes have been, perhaps even a full-scale one for every county. Within two years, track cycling is massively popular and the country finds itself with some of the best young riders in the world, most of whom would never even have heard of the sport had it not been for that funny little Red Bull MiniDrome.

Four years later, British cyclists thrash the entire world at the Olympics. Sorted.

They say Red Bull gives you wings. Apparently, it gives you genius ideas, too.

New velodrome opens in Bournemouth, UK

That Britain is about to emerge as one of the great cycling nations seems obvious right now. Team Sky are all set to add to the victories they've already brought home from the Tour de France, there's a Brit rider with a real chance of winning for the first time in years, Cavendish is the fastest man on two wheels, the female cyclists are adding triumph after triumph to their total success, Ben Swift is getting faster and faster as he becomes ready to take over when Wiggins signs off... if the French don't start looking at us in a new light over the next decade, it'll be a very surprising thing indeed.

More velodromes = healthier kids+sporting success

More evidence of this has come to light in the form of the brand new velodrome which opened in Bournemouth on the South Coast last weekend. The £750,000 facility, the first outdoor velodrome to have been built in this country since 1962, is world class - Olympic and Commonwealth Games veteran Geoff Cooke was first to ride the track, alongside his protégé Ellie Coster (who beat him!) and was highly impressed. "I've ridden tracks all over the world and this is as good an outdoor track as I've ridden," he says. "It's so easy to ride - it's not so steep that kids will be put off."


This is exactly what British cycling needs - facilities for young cyclists and which will encourage more young people to give the sport a go. The British fell in love with cycling even before the French did, but the French realised that a love affair needs work if it's to survive the test of time and so they made sure they spent money, built velodromes and established well-financed training programs. In Britain, the government provided a few urban cycle tracks and left them to decay, perhaps paying a bloke with a broom to go and sweep the broken glass out of the way every once in a while. In France, cyclists are the heroes of the road and are paid respect. In Britain, with the bike widely considered to be what unsuccessful people who couldn't afford cars used in order to get about, cyclists got no respect from drivers and road riding was, much of the time, hellish. Still is, in fact, and it's this combination of perceived low status and unpleasantness that causes most young people to pass the bike on to a younger sibling (or chuck it in the river) and forget about cycling forever just as soon as they can take their driving test and buy a horrible old Vauxhall Nova. Give young cyclists opportunity to learn the techniques and hone their skills and we'll be guaranteed generation after generation of competitive cyclists ready to go out into the world and win races.


British cycling is in a healthier state right now than it has been for many decades - in fact, it's healthier than ever. Every project designed to promote it helps, even small-scale local initiatives. A three-quarter of a million pound velodrome does a world of good.

Bournemouth Cycling Centre is located at Slades Farm just off the A347 in the middle of the town and holds regular open sessions for experienced cyclists aged 14 years or over. See Bournemouth CC's webpage for more information.

Kraftwerk, Tour de France Live @ Manchester Velodrome with Team GB

Seminal German techno/electro artists Kraftwerk performing a live set of their classic Tour de France at the Manchester Velodrome in 2009 - with an appearance by the then Team GB cyclists.

My greatest regret is that I wasn't there.