The Specialists

It's funny, just after I post my article on the 'End of an Era', Wiggins goes on to talk about Boasson Hagen being the future of cycling and could win anything. Wiggin's goes on to say with the interview with Susan Westemeyer of Cycling News that “On the list, you can include races like Paris-Roubaix, the Tour of Flanders, stages in the Tour de France and everything else you want to win as a cyclist. It's kind of scary. He can still choose to go the way of the classics or multi-stage events, and potentially win all the races he decides. His talent is that great, but he's still continuing to develop and find out where he best fits in the sport.”  (to read the full interview click here: http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/wiggins-says-boasson-hagen-is-the-future-of-c...)

Wow was my initial response as this means we have a star looming and one that's path is yet undecided. If you'd base it on current form, wins and experience, you'd have to say that the Classics are beckoning. He's possibly the only current rider who could win all of the monuments, at 1.81m tall and weighing 76kg he's in the right ball park for numbers. Apparently the big numbers that count i.e. Watts are also pretty impressive. Having watched him at the Tour of Britain over the last couple of years it bodes well. You can't expect anyone to win the Tour without winning smaller events first. An obvious tick box to complete will be Paris Nice and the the Tour de Swisse as they represent hard shorter stage racers but provide the good training for the big Grand Tours.

Could Edvald buck the current trend of specialisation (just remember for a moment that he's only 23)? I'm a little too excited to really entertain the thought properly, but for a minute I hope so. It will no doubt depend on the war on PED's, supporting the riders and maybe looking at the system as a whole. With less PED's in the peloton the riding would be far more exciting as the human stamina would come into play, all those hours of conditioning, training and hard work would pay off. I am all for technological gains over pharmaceutical advantages as rider health is paramount for me. PED's feel like cheating whereas cheating time, wind and using less energy through technology doesn't, I'm sure some can make a case for these to be banned also (some man at the UCI no doubt).

I read also today that Boom pops along to a CX race (Zolder), blows the field apart and then says "For me this is the most ideal way to prepare for the road season, but don't think I have no respect for the real cyclo-cross riders. Of course, I'm starting these races with a little bit of ambition because I don't want to come here and finish 20th," (Brecht Decaluwé Cycling News). I love the fact that alothough he has been a World Champion and multiple National Champion in CX he has aspirations to master the pave of the Northern Classics, and no doubt his goals lie further afield again.

As the road season has got longer and now runs from Jan to Oct it means that many of the riders have used the CX season less and less to maintain fitness. You can also see this in the reduction of road riders in the Six Days as this used to be a good way to keep a riders form over the WInter months plus bag some extra cash on top of their normal salary. Maybe due to the better wages (on average) many riders can pick and choose more, hence the need not to extend their seasons. I think you can see that over the past twenty years or so that the riders who raced a lot where those that loved the bike as well as the sport, Zabel springs to mind, and I'm sure there are many others that spring to mind.

Thanks again to my friend Kristof for the fantastic images which help to tell my story today. Point your browser here http://kramon.be/ and you'll be able to find the medium you want to follow his wonderful work.

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Pictures tell a Story ~ Part One ~ Kristof Ramon

It's all Jon Cannings fault really. He showed me some of Kristof's work last year and I was blown away by it. I initially thought there was some serious photoshop work going on tomake the photos look the way they do. I was wrong, it is a technique with a type of flash. I think with all photographers it is how thye use their equipment as well as how they see the subject matter that can transform an image from being some blank and lacking felling to one that captures a subject and evokes passion and emotion.

 

See the full gallery on posterous

I got the chance to meet Kristof this year in his home town of Leuven, where he was taking photos at the Brabanste Piij race. What a nice chap, and I can only hope his career goes far, because sometimes the good guys should come first and not last. Many thanks to Kristof for allowing me to use his photos here and elsewhere on my site. That kind gesture is impossible for me to repay and this is my way of saying thanks to him. Enjoy the images as the person who created them enjoys making them, spread some love today.

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TdF The Prologue

Shit I couldn't believe it, I was following the race on the net and I heard that it had started to rain. On any road stage racing on wet roads can be tricky, on a TT or Prologue course it can be treacherous. Add into the mix that it was on the roads of the Netherlands, famed (and often quoted in the Classics) as having more street furniture than Ikea. This was going to mess up a few peoples rides, as some riders just don't like riding in the wet. Brad Wiggins had opted to go early in the day swaping places with Flecha (which in hindsight was a bad move). The weather forecast had been brewing and was predicting rain, but having ridden in Belgium a few times I am constantly amazed how the morning can be an absolute shitter lashing it down with rain and then the afternoon baked in glorious sunshine.

I'm not going to bring a full synopsis on the race, there are better people out there to do that, and from what I am reading on Twitter the Eurosport Team seem to have had it nailed yesterday. I was following Phil Sheehan posts as he is a producer on Five Live (http://twitter.com/5livecycling), he's also a bike racer and a bit of a Tech geek for his road stuff so where many producers may miss something he also has a fans eye on the Tour. And for the record Phil, I'll pinch some photos that you tweet up (hope that's ok).

So who are the winners and losers today. For sure Fabian, and for me it was important for him to quash the rumours of mechanical doping, which is funny as nobody throws the PED's accusation at him, so a more complicated theory had to be created. With Armstrong bagging a few (5) vital seconds over Contador the first battle in the war has been won. Many commentators are saying that these could be vital, I'm not so convinced unless the next three days through the Benelux throws up a mistral. As we have seen before that Mr Contador isn't too good in these situations, whereas ALL other GC riders will have some riders who can look after them. Brad's placing is certainly a bind and will make the journey from 4th place last year to podium place this year a bit more of a challenge and he'll (and SKY) will need to take it on the chin. A gap of 52 seconds to Armstrong is a mountain to climb, but it's day one and with 23 days of racing left there is a lot of kilometres left to make up the time (I hope)

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thanks to Agent 00Oooh8 for the additonal photos and videos.

 

 

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SKY, and the rumour mill.

To be honest I wasn't that excited by team SKY (probably a bad experience with their customer retention department didn't help) but there has been two things that have drawn me in. 1. Scott Sunderland, there is something warm and human about him and I like that. 2. The strict 'No Drugs' rule. Not a sniff or whiff of a rumour is allowed, and unlike most Teams this has been extended to the whole support Staff from top to bottom.

Lots of rumours are going around and frankly this is good because it shows a firm strong interest in the Team. Will they get a ProTour license, well that's not known yet but the way they are conducting the business it should work in their favour. Here are my current favourites.



The Riders:
Bradley Wiggins has been rumoured to be joining the Team for months and ever since his sterling performance in the Tour the rumour dial has been turned up to 12. To me it would make great sense as Brad has been part of the track system which has encouraged and allowed him to perform at the highest level.



Fabian Cancellara is one rider I have heard being mentioned in various circles to be joining the Team. This would be awesome as it would add firepower for TTT, TT and the Classics, plus the passion and experience he could offer to the up and coming British riders would be invaluable. Having previously worked with Sunderland at CSC I am sure this maybe a crucial factor in the decision.

Hardware and Software
It is likely that Adidas will supply the label for the clothing, I doubt that this will include shoes as many riders already have deals set up. I would expect that the designs are by Adidas but it is likely MOA will actually produce the uniforms.





The Frames/bikes. There has been a lot of talk on who it will be. The current favourites are Giant, Colnago and Pinarello. Specialized have also been mentioned but I would be surprised that they decide to sponsor a third top level team, but that may depend on what happens with Quick Step as their contract is up for renewal soon. My money would have to go on Giant as the decision will be based on the technical qualities of the frame. That brings me nicely onto Groupsets and Wheels. For Groupsets I think that SKY could well be the first Team to use Di2 on all bikes whether it be the TT or Road bikes.



Wheels I think are likely to be Zipp. Zipp managed to chalk up more wins at this years Tour de France than all the rest put together. As both Sunderland and Boardman are both fans of the wheels my guess is that they will be the hoops of choice. If not them the only other brands would be either Mavic or Vision (as in FSA). Tyres well my guess is it'll be Vittoria, with Continental coming a close second.



So roll on September the 1st and we will all be able to see what Team SKY has to offer, oh and the colour of the uniform I am guessing it won't be blue.

Now the Dust has settled

It has been a few weeks since the Tour de France has finished. I have had time to take stock of it and here are my ramblings.

This year I have enjoyed the Tour more than any other since 2003. Of course other Tours will always have a favoured status but looking back this years Tour was great for one reason alone. The battle for the Green Jersey. So often called the "Sprinters Jersey', it really is the jersey that rewards consistency, courage and great tactics.



As an Englishman many would be expecting me to be waving the flag for Cav. Don't get me wrong, he is truly an awesome athlete (and I expect him to win it next year), my heart was yearning for a Thor win. As both athletes are great proponents of 'clean cycling', this for me was the battle that I could sit back and enjoy without those nagging questions that sometimes surrounds the GC riders.

Stage 17 produced a day that will go down in Green Jersey history. The words that a impassioned and frustrated Cavendish spoke fueled Hushovd's fire to create an epic day in the saddle. I bet that Cav wishes that he hadn't said that the 'Green jersey was tarnished'. Those words mixed with equal doses of pride helped create one of the most memorable sights at this years Tour.



A footnote has to go to Wiggin's, another great proponent of 'clean' cycling. He finished fourth which was as an amazing feat as Armstrong's first win. He has transformed himself from one of the world's greatest Track riders to a genuine Tour contender. I've met him once and he strikes me as a nice guy and I do hope he take's one of cyclings greatest prizes.



This Tour has shown that riding clean can produce the most exciting racing, be that in the sprints or the mountains. It gives this jaded fan hope for the future. I am sure PED's will always be there, but lets hope that it's use is in a smaller minority and our sport can hold it's head high.

Winter Training starts here!

What the . . . you must be thinking, we are in the middle of Summer. But bear with me as I explain my crazy thoughts. The PRO's normally start training for the Classics around the beginning of October, which frankly is great if you are paid to ride a bike and have no time constraints. I like many of you have a normal job, family and other commitments on my time.



So August is going to be base miles with a couple of long rides thrown in to lay down a solid foundation. September is a little crazy as I loose a week to Eurobike, which is a pretty cool and will provide a decent recovery block. The week before I intend to have a hard week, hitting the 320 km marker.

So once I have made my way through September it nicely leads onto October where the painful sessions begin. These will be focussed on bringing out power and some top end speed. Last time I used this through winter my speed increased by 7 km/ph which was great. Obtaining that magic number again will be the goal plus one other magic number, loosing 10 kg.



Bradley Wiggin's general Tour performance and Thor's mountain stage breakaway has inspired me to shed some pounds. It's going to mean being a little more strict with my diet and some things are just going to have to go until I can reach my goal (like the Harribos). Slow and steady will be my method and knocking a 1/2 a kilo a week is the plan. I am sure to plateau and fall off the wagon but that's the goal I'm going for. I'll keep you posted from time to time on how I am getting on. The big benefit will be when I hit the bergs at the Tour of Flanders, they might not seem so big if I am a bit smaller.