Bah. You know, back in the day, this sort of thing required at least a modicum of skill. You’d look at the calendar, notice the week-and-a-half that had passed without any real news, see the Tour was about to start and you’d write something like “I sense a dope story is near”. People were once…
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Foreigners At The Giro: An Uphill Battle
Sure, every national tour wants to see home-grown talent on the top of the podium. But I don’t think any other country tries as Italy to make that desire a reality. An example: the chairs provided to Cadel Evans and Ivan Basso at the post-race show after today’s stage. Basso is clearly sitting on a…
And So End The Cobbled Classics
And so end the cobbled classics for another year. Some commentators may have jumped the gun a little bit—especially with a Belgian sweep at Brabantse Pijl yesterday—but the sentiment remains valid: this was a pretty crummy year for the traditional powers Even viewing things along team lines, the season was unusual. Continental squads Topsport Vlaanderen…
Celebrating Second Place
Cycling’s a strange discipline. In what other sport would it be perfectly normal to describe a string of second-places in high profile events as “a problem“. In cycling, while three athletes get to ascend the podium, there’s the winner, and then there’s everybody else. It’s almost better for everyone if the win is a “no…
Ten Exclamation Points Ain't What It Used To Be
I think I like the difficult ‘cross races best. They reward unflappability and positive mental attitude—good news for Zdenek Stybar, bad news for Jon Page, ten-exclamation-point tweet aside. And is there ever a bad day for Marianne Vos? Mountain Bikers and BMXers should count themselves lucky she doesn’t feel compelled to add some more rainbow…
The Season of Talking Tough
Oh yes. After weeks of mind-numbing backroom dealing (Will Contador go to Astana? Will Astana get a UCI license?) the trash talking is finally here. And who better to kick it off than the psychological master himself, Johan Bruyneel, who recently cast Contador as a superstar unable to come to grips with his meteroic fame—in…
You'd Be Concerned, Too
As Jens Voight’s crash reminded us this summer, there’s no end to the danger lurking in the high mountains of the Tour. But the woman in this image—taken from the excellent, free-to-use collection of the Nationaal Archief—has special reason to be concerned. Wim Van Est was the first Dutchman to don the yellow jersey in…
How, Exactly, Does One "Come Back"?
I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen it from so many sources: Alexandre Vinokourov, aka Vino-4-Ever, is not only back racing, he’s riding for the same Astana team that Lance Armstrong and Alberto Contador struggled for control of this summer, under the very same same director that struggled to control them. Not only…
Is It Just Me, Or Has Lance Gone Bonkers?
What’s Lance’s deal lately? Spreading scurrilous rumors about truncated April Vueltas. Everyone knows that the rain—or snow, as the case may be—falls mainly on the plain in the Low Countries until at least May. Would the UCI seriously want to restart its proxy war with the Grand Tour organizers by shortening the Vuelta to 14…
Winding It Up For the Vuelta
For all my annoyance with the sudden bloom of races following the Tour, I find myself getting more excited for the Vuelta with each passing day. Granted, given the continued success of Americans at Burgos, hailing from the US of A probably doesn’t hurt, but who doesn’t like to see a long-suffering World Champion come…