Pro Cycling News – Page Wins, A Tale of Two Jerseys

It appears that after a few months across the pond and heaps of derision on rec.bicycles.racing, Jonathan Page has won a European ‘cross race. I say apparently because the VeloNews article in which I read of it has no results, and spends a vast majority of its time describing things largely unrelated to the event it claims to cover,neglecting even to mention the name of the event. I could come up with some quip about the low quality of reporting, but in this case, the flaws are so self-evident that I need not make the effort. Fortunately for us American fans, there was only one UCI ‘cross event in Luxembourg yesterday, and the results (and event name) can be found here. A more cynical journalist might note the lack of Belgians.

ProCycling was bubbling over with stories today, including this one about Illes-Balears’ new kit. Or rather Caisse d’Epargne-Illes Balears, because apparently the Spanish sponsor’s name was a little too pronouncable, and they needed a really God-awful French one to pick up the slack. Anyway, to best serve both sponsors, the team’s name will change depending on race venue. “Illes Balears – Caisse d’Epargne” will compete in Spanish events and the Tours of Germany and Poland. Then, at all other events, it’s “Caisee d’Epargne-Illes Balears”. Now, this trick is not new; Landboucredit-Colnago (who recently hired former EPO enthusiast Filip Meirhaeghe) employed it for years. The new twist to this system is that each sqaud will have its own jersey. Illes will keep their current Jackson-Pollock-on-Prozac kit, while Caisse will have a “red and black colour scheme”. I’m a bit miffed at the “World’s Greatest Bike Mag” for not linking to an image, but at least the dang thing isn’t blue.