Yes, so I’m stuck in Williamstown, digging out from a modest snowfall and not going to ‘cross nationals. So sad. Mercifully, fortune has provided me with some interesting news to report: the Grand Tours (and their auxiliary events, such as Paris-Nice Liege-Bastogne-Liege, Paris-Roubaix, Milan-San Remo, Paris Tours and others) are officially out of the ’06…
Pro Cycling News – 'Cross Nats, Dopers Suck, and Dopers
Yeah, you can’t help but be excited for something like US ‘cross Nats, especially located as it is in the bike mecca of anywhere within two hours of Boston, MA. The Friday forecast is looking like the Collegiate race, at least, will be interesting. Here’s the official page (note the Harpoon Beer Garden) for more…
Pro Cycling News – More Charly Gaul, More Gifts, More Awards
Nearly two days after his death, and almost half a century since his epic Tour victory, the tributes to Charly Gaul keep popping up. It would be cynical to the point of inaccuracy for me to say that the longevity of this story is due merely to a lack of other breaking news. “Monsieur Charly”…
Bikes vs. The World: Round #5 – Jan Ullrich vs. Lars Ulrich
Now we’re talking. The drummer of one of the all-time great metal bands versus the eternal challenger for the TdF title. Both German-born, both constantly disappointing me, both with the same last name. Oh, yeah, this is a gonna be a good one, folks. Far better than these other whimpy fights. Category Bike Culture: Jan…
Pro Cycling News – The Sponsorship System, Charly Gaul Dies
Communism! That is the only way to describe this story on the restoration of the Arenburg cobbles in Paris-Roubaix. Don’t these silly Frenchmen understand? The correct way to fund a sports event is to get a huge corporation to throw money at it, not to waste public funds that ought to be going to letting…
Pro Cycling News – Gene Doping, Milram, and Sperm
Yes, I’m sorry, I know it’s 10pm EDT. But some people have jobs. And, as I am not one of those people, I have to drive some distance to interviews to become one of them. It’s not like I missed reporting on a whole heck of a lot, anyway. There was some crazy futuristic doping…
Pro Cycling News – Basso for Double, Cioni Whiny, Other Holiday Treats
The bis. The Giro/Tour double. One of the trickier feats in cycling. Last one to do it was il Pirata in 1998, and he still needed a little help from EPO (though not – at least it hasn’t been proven – in the way you’d expect) to pull off the Tour part. And he got…
Pro Cycling News – No 2500 for CO-Po'?
What am I, some sort of news reporting dude? C’mon, this is a weekend, you should be out ‘cross racing or hungover. Or both. No need for news from me. Besides, there barely is any. Just two more stories from those VeloNews on that Colorado thing with the 2500 riders. Turns out it wasn’t a…
Pro Cycling News – VDB Back, Nazon Retires, Colorado's New Law
Awright, kiddies, brace yourselves. You’re staring down the barrel of a cycling blunderbus today. No sissy “arc”, no “recurring themes”, just a hailstorm of unrealted news shards. First item: Frank Vandenbroucke, cycling’s version of Gollum, has found a home for 2006, on the Unibet.com team. It’s quite some distance from the Ring of Power (like,…
Pro Cycling News – T-Mobile, Basso, Valverde, Schleck, Simeoni
It’s December 1st, people. Only 23 more shopping days ’til Christmas. How will you keep track? T-Mobile Advent Calendar! It doubles as a trivia challenge, and answers the age-old question, “What sound do German reindeer make?” (turns out, the answer is “moo”). Yes, the Magenta Menace is apparently turning over a kinder, gentler leaf, going…