I think it’s only fair to admit that maybe I should replace the word “UCI” with the word “testers” in that last rant I wrote. Thanks to Cyclingnews’ plainly insufficient reporting—which did no more than simply translate the term “Vlaamse Gemeenschap”—it was, and still is, unclear exactly what the “Flemmish Community” means. Frankly, it still…
Month: May 2009
How The Race Was Won – Giro d'Italia 2009 – Part 1
Only two stages in, and already the ’09 Giro is looking like it’s going to be awesome. Mark Cavendish and Lance Armstrong take aim at Garmin-Slipstream in more ways than one before the 1st stage TTT, while Stage 2 features some classic Giro riding, complete with a crazy finishing circuit and a big sprint at…
Don Petacchi Says Hello
It’s not that I don’t think Mark Cavendish is the fastest sprinter in the world. Milan-Sanremo speaks for itself. But he had an easy time of it at last year’s Tour, thanks to one of the most misguided cases in the history of arbitration and, well, that problem that Tom Boonen has. Petacchi is getting…
Boonen Coke Positive is the UCI's Ethical Failure
(The UCI may not be specifically to blame as I’ve indicated here. The arguments that follow remain valid, and apply to all testing bodies.) I’m furious that the first day of the Giro was ruined by another positive cocaine test from Tom Boonen. But my ire is not directed at the Belgian classics rider. Instead,…
There's Egg On Cav's Face. It Must Taste Delicious.
Oh, Cav. You dashing young blade, you. Getting all self-righteous that Garmin Slipstream was practicing (OMG!) for the TTT in Stage 1 of this year’s Giro . As we all learned from Chariots of Fire, that’s simply not what persons of quality do. And Lance Armstrong, Mr. Millimeter himself, inexplicably agrees. Never mind that Columbia…
Cyclocosm Is Not Convinced
From today’s Velonews: From Johan Bruyneel’s Twitter: And, of course, we know it’s Lance because of the Shep Fairey skid lid.
Evans' and Gilbert's Epic Romandie Descent
From Stage 2 of last week’s Tour of Romandie. Even if you’ve got the watts to jump away from a ProTour-level field on a Category 2 climb, to be a serious contender, you still need the skill, coordination and nerve to come screaming down swtichbacking, off-camber descents while negotiating the occasional pothole or motorbike. And…
Season's Underway, Time For Things To Fall Apart
So seeing as it’s the middle of the season and mere days before the second-biggest stage race of the year, what better time for drastic, sweeping changes to come out of nowhere. Let’s start at the top: the UCI wants everyone to suffer more and so has decided to enforce their utterly arbitrary 3:1 “fuselage…
Inferior Potassium
Wait, wait…a loose federation of Central European businesses/state entities—named after the the capital city of Kazakhstan so none get any actual ad exposure—is having trouble putting together the constant supply of capital needed to run a cycling team? I’m not surprised that Astana’s collapse is happening so much as I’m surprised that it took this…
What Did We Do Before Twitter?
A little back-and-forth over the Interwebs between Daryl Impey and American cycling commentator/blogger/some sort of Time rep at one point or other Smithers, related to the Theo Bos Affair: