The last question made me hoot out loud: you normally expect interviewers to ask searching questions, hard-to-answer questions, awkward questions, possibly: but no, he finishes with "So, are you still the tallest rider in the peloton?"
Lovely!
Saturday 28 February 2015
JVS interview
It's quite rare to get an interview with Schlecklander pet Johan van Summeren, so I was really pleased to see this one: he appears to have settled well into AG2R, having left Garmin (did he jump or was he pushed? No-one knows...) and he says he's looking forward to the cobbles.
The last question made me hoot out loud: you normally expect interviewers to ask searching questions, hard-to-answer questions, awkward questions, possibly: but no, he finishes with "So, are you still the tallest rider in the peloton?"
Lovely!
The last question made me hoot out loud: you normally expect interviewers to ask searching questions, hard-to-answer questions, awkward questions, possibly: but no, he finishes with "So, are you still the tallest rider in the peloton?"
Lovely!
Friday 27 February 2015
Andalucia, Astana and what the hell is a 'non-negative'?
We're a bit short of cycling coverage in the UK at the moment: Dubai was great, but we didn't get Qatar at all, nor the Tour of Oman.
Luckily, we had a little of the Ruta del Sol, or Tour of Andaloothia, as it's now called.
Our coverage started with an ITT, and baffling remarks in the commentary about various jersey wearers. How they can be wearing jerseys and have time gaps, we wondered. Ah, there was a short stage in the morning, which they annoyingly didn't show us. Particularly annoying as they spent the whole of the ITT coverage referring to the "massive crashes" which occurred, but without any footage of it being available.
Not that I want to watch cyclists crashing, I hasten to add, but there was a reference to Frankie being barely able to walk away from it, and not starting in the afternoon. I can't imagine how upsetting that must have been for Andy, presumably watching from the sofa at home.
Highlights for me included looking out for JVS in his new AG2R livery, still easy to spot as having possibly the longest legs and arms of anyone in the peloton, although he has a rival for the title of skinniest limbs, in Mirko Selvaggi, who was the Wanty rider (pale blue) who went off with Geschke of Giant, wheel-sucked for about 100k then left him for dead and was hilariously caught just on the 1k to go banner, and finally crawled in in 40th place, 5 minutes down on the leader (Froome). He - Selvaggi - has no calf muscles at all!
Other highlights were, predictably, watching Froome stuff it to Contador, and laughing every time the commentators mention Greg Ebola. Makes me laugh, every time. Oh, and watching my pet, Sky's Vasil Kiryienka, lead the puffing and panting peloton uphill whilst looking as though he is out on a Sunday afternoon ride, la la de da,with no sign of stress or discomfort while setting a pace that is killing almost everyone else. The man is a machine!
Other news today is an astounding short piece in Cycling News, all it said was " UCI requests withdrawal of Astana's WorldTour licence" with no story below it, just the phrase "more to come shortly..."
Half an hour later, the story has been updated: it's a lot of flannel but basically, the UCI have requested the withdrawal of Ass-t'na's licence!
What this is going to do to Contador, I can barely imagine. He'll probably threaten to retire again. But what of poor Jakob? Perhaps he could take Andy's place at Trek?
Talking of which, anyone booked on the "Ride with Schleck" holiday yet? *laughs*
Finally - as I do have some work to do, you know - one of the most irritating phrases in cycling at the moment appeared in Cycling News: some unknown rider from a shitsmall team returned a "non-negative". That would be a positive, then. *grinds teeth in annoyance*
OOh, before I go, I've found video of the crashes, thanks to Steephill TV for, as ever, getting all the good stuff and putting it in one place. The video shows the first crash was a fairly minor affair, but the second one was a massive crash, total skittles wipe-out, and guess who caused it? Oh dear, it was my pet Kiryienka, although it wasn't really his fault, the AG2R rider wasn't looking as Kiryienka swung off the front, they touched wheels and kaboom! from above it looked as though a grenade had gone off, bodies everywhere, and seven-eighths of the peloton were on the deck, in the ditches, and in the surrounding fields. Ooops.
Putting that behind me, I now have fingers crossed that we get some covering of Omloop tomorrow, one of my favourite Classics, not least because it's so close to the Loop of Loupe (also the ticker day), which I really enjoyed. Pity it hasn't been televised again, really: Loupe, that is. *laughs*
Luckily, we had a little of the Ruta del Sol, or Tour of Andaloothia, as it's now called.
Our coverage started with an ITT, and baffling remarks in the commentary about various jersey wearers. How they can be wearing jerseys and have time gaps, we wondered. Ah, there was a short stage in the morning, which they annoyingly didn't show us. Particularly annoying as they spent the whole of the ITT coverage referring to the "massive crashes" which occurred, but without any footage of it being available.
Not that I want to watch cyclists crashing, I hasten to add, but there was a reference to Frankie being barely able to walk away from it, and not starting in the afternoon. I can't imagine how upsetting that must have been for Andy, presumably watching from the sofa at home.
Highlights for me included looking out for JVS in his new AG2R livery, still easy to spot as having possibly the longest legs and arms of anyone in the peloton, although he has a rival for the title of skinniest limbs, in Mirko Selvaggi, who was the Wanty rider (pale blue) who went off with Geschke of Giant, wheel-sucked for about 100k then left him for dead and was hilariously caught just on the 1k to go banner, and finally crawled in in 40th place, 5 minutes down on the leader (Froome). He - Selvaggi - has no calf muscles at all!
Other highlights were, predictably, watching Froome stuff it to Contador, and laughing every time the commentators mention Greg Ebola. Makes me laugh, every time. Oh, and watching my pet, Sky's Vasil Kiryienka, lead the puffing and panting peloton uphill whilst looking as though he is out on a Sunday afternoon ride, la la de da,with no sign of stress or discomfort while setting a pace that is killing almost everyone else. The man is a machine!
Other news today is an astounding short piece in Cycling News, all it said was " UCI requests withdrawal of Astana's WorldTour licence" with no story below it, just the phrase "more to come shortly..."
Half an hour later, the story has been updated: it's a lot of flannel but basically, the UCI have requested the withdrawal of Ass-t'na's licence!
What this is going to do to Contador, I can barely imagine. He'll probably threaten to retire again. But what of poor Jakob? Perhaps he could take Andy's place at Trek?
Talking of which, anyone booked on the "Ride with Schleck" holiday yet? *laughs*
Finally - as I do have some work to do, you know - one of the most irritating phrases in cycling at the moment appeared in Cycling News: some unknown rider from a shitsmall team returned a "non-negative". That would be a positive, then. *grinds teeth in annoyance*
OOh, before I go, I've found video of the crashes, thanks to Steephill TV for, as ever, getting all the good stuff and putting it in one place. The video shows the first crash was a fairly minor affair, but the second one was a massive crash, total skittles wipe-out, and guess who caused it? Oh dear, it was my pet Kiryienka, although it wasn't really his fault, the AG2R rider wasn't looking as Kiryienka swung off the front, they touched wheels and kaboom! from above it looked as though a grenade had gone off, bodies everywhere, and seven-eighths of the peloton were on the deck, in the ditches, and in the surrounding fields. Ooops.
Putting that behind me, I now have fingers crossed that we get some covering of Omloop tomorrow, one of my favourite Classics, not least because it's so close to the Loop of Loupe (also the ticker day), which I really enjoyed. Pity it hasn't been televised again, really: Loupe, that is. *laughs*
Wednesday 18 February 2015
Andy's new job!
Well done, Figgy my pet, for sending in the link to the Trek Tours Andy Schleck specials: yes folks, your chance to ride with Our Andy - well, you might see his backside for a moment as he pedals away from you, bearing in mind that Andy a year out of training and with a knackered knee is probably still four times better than the keenest amateur.
He's signed up for two Trek tours so far, presumably if they are booked up almost immediately - as they probably will be - he'll be doing more later on.
The first one is the 18th May, the Mallorca 4-day Ride Camp for a mere $1099, with Andy joining the tour for day 2, and joining the group for dinner on day 3.
Then in June there is the 5-day Etap du Tour escapade, with Our Andy popping up on day 4 to join the riders on Race Day, as they do some climbing. Really good value for $4999. I think. I have no idea what people would pay for a normal 5-day holiday in France, and presumably you get added value from bike fittings, advice from Trek guides etc.
So, what do we think? Will it be booked by serious cycling fans? Or will it be filled with girlies squeeing, and pretending that they are comfy in their brand new lycra? I'd love to see it!! *laughs*
He's signed up for two Trek tours so far, presumably if they are booked up almost immediately - as they probably will be - he'll be doing more later on.
The first one is the 18th May, the Mallorca 4-day Ride Camp for a mere $1099, with Andy joining the tour for day 2, and joining the group for dinner on day 3.
Then in June there is the 5-day Etap du Tour escapade, with Our Andy popping up on day 4 to join the riders on Race Day, as they do some climbing. Really good value for $4999. I think. I have no idea what people would pay for a normal 5-day holiday in France, and presumably you get added value from bike fittings, advice from Trek guides etc.
So, what do we think? Will it be booked by serious cycling fans? Or will it be filled with girlies squeeing, and pretending that they are comfy in their brand new lycra? I'd love to see it!! *laughs*
Friday 6 February 2015
Alonso - epic fail
News today that Woss-is-name Alonso, former F1 driver, has totally failed to get a cycling team together in time for next year. For the third year running.
He came in all bouncy and keen back in 2012, talking the talk and hinting of enormous F1-style sponsorship, and it all looked so good: he even bought the Eskaltel-Eskardi licence in 2013, but instead of keeping the Carrots going, he scrapped the lot in order to raise his "own" team. And instead of creating a new team, he lost us the team, the riders, the management, the distinctive kit, the lot.
Then it was all "oh, next year, next year" but 2014 came and went, and he again missed the boat for this year.
Now apparently he won't be ready in time for 2016, even.
Huh.
The chap I feel most sorry for is Bettini, who left his post as Italian national coach in Jan of last year, and has wasted a year doing nothing. He's now jobless, we assume that Italy found itself a new national coach so he can't return to his old job, and there is no sign of a new job for him.
Poor guy.
Never mind, we shall put at that aside and look forward to another sunny, sandy day in Dubai: it's the allegedly hilly stage today, so that should be interesting, as I thought Dubai was flat all the way to halfway across the peninsula, so either they are going halfway across the peninsula, or they have built some hills especially for the event.
Which is possibly possible!
He came in all bouncy and keen back in 2012, talking the talk and hinting of enormous F1-style sponsorship, and it all looked so good: he even bought the Eskaltel-Eskardi licence in 2013, but instead of keeping the Carrots going, he scrapped the lot in order to raise his "own" team. And instead of creating a new team, he lost us the team, the riders, the management, the distinctive kit, the lot.
Then it was all "oh, next year, next year" but 2014 came and went, and he again missed the boat for this year.
Now apparently he won't be ready in time for 2016, even.
Huh.
The chap I feel most sorry for is Bettini, who left his post as Italian national coach in Jan of last year, and has wasted a year doing nothing. He's now jobless, we assume that Italy found itself a new national coach so he can't return to his old job, and there is no sign of a new job for him.
Poor guy.
Never mind, we shall put at that aside and look forward to another sunny, sandy day in Dubai: it's the allegedly hilly stage today, so that should be interesting, as I thought Dubai was flat all the way to halfway across the peninsula, so either they are going halfway across the peninsula, or they have built some hills especially for the event.
Which is possibly possible!
Wednesday 4 February 2015
Tour of Dubai - at last!
It seems like forever, but finally, as Jen said this morning *waves to Jen on Twitterland* :
Yes!
Men will be riding bikes again, hooray!
No offence to the Tour Down Under, but we don't get tv coverage of that, so Dubai is our first chance to see proper racing, hopefully in HD. Yes, I hate to sound like an HD bore but it's absolutely true, once you watch cycling in HD, you will never want to watch a dodgy stream again. Talk about a clear picture, suddenly you really can recognise riders from helicopter shots.
So what can we expect from Dubai? Same as last year: sand, few spectators, mostly flat, probably windy, then on Sunday we flip over the Tour of Qatar, a surprisingly interesting race considering it's mostly dead flat and sand.
However, first, Dubai: so who can we expect to see?
Pride of place, race number one, is well-loved Schlecklander Johan Van Summeren !! I have no idea why, Taylor Phinney won it last year for BMC but this year AG2R have the first set of bib numbers, and JVS has number one. Well, of course, as a Schlecklander Pet, I would expect no less. I'm looking forward to checking if he tucks up his Ahh-dzhee-duurs-air sleeves as much as he used to tuck up his Garmin ones.
Astana have second slot, alas, no sign of the lovely Jakob, but that's not surprising as he's not a classics rider, and these early-season races are traditionally used to build up for the classics. Instead, Ass-t'na are sending that well-known sprinter (not) Nibali and his new sidekick, Lars Boom, probably chosen in order to re-create the old Bibali team name (Nibali/Basso).
Bardiani are appearing in what appears to be Cannondale's old kit, a nasty shade of yellow-green, but I don't know anyone they are sending.
BMC, on the other hand, in the familiar red-and-black ladybird kit, are sending Philly Gilly, Brent Bookbinder (always think he sounds more like a librarian than a cyclist) and Daniel 'Oss, which is Hoss without the H.
Team 4 is CCC Polstat, wearing Euskaltel's old orange kit with black hoofprints all over it: their team is comprise entirely of scrabble letters, and was obviously chosen by throwing down the letters and scuffing them into groups.
Etixx-Quickstep (I keep hearing Sean Kelly talking about ethics when I hear their name) are sending Cav, supported by Tony "Machine Man" Martin and Mark "Bee Eater" Renshaw, so they are going to be pretty much unstoppable in a sprint.
Team 6 is Lampre-Merida, clinging on to their pink kit, and not a bad thing either, with the peloton being stuffed full of black and white and blue this year. Pozzato is about the only one of their riders I've heard of.
Movistar are unchanged with the Wiggley Worm kit, now starting to look sleek and stylish compared to some of the other kits. (Trek, I'm not mentioning you, but you know what I am thinking.) They are leading with Valverde, and I'm ashamed to tell you that I can't remember if he's a good guy or an unrepentant ex-doper.
Team 8 are a local team, SkydiveDubai, so it's not surprising that I don't know any of them.
Giant-Alpecin are next - their kit seems to be a negative version of last year's, more black than white this time around. I'm sure that Alpecin is a hair-loss preparation (to avoid it, not to create it) so maybe their stripes will take on a comb-over swirl later in the season. They've send John Degenkolb and a bunch of nonentities.
Katusha's kit seems to have changed again, another variation on a theme: they've sent "Whack 'im" Rodriguez and a clutch of supporting Dark Lords.
Team 11 are something called Novo Nordisk, who are either a small car or part of a computer, I can't decide which: predictably, I've not heard of any of them.
Sky, still resplendent in black with a blue stripe, have gone for the whale-panels on the back this year: you know, that thing where the whale with a huge mouth emerges vertically from the sea and all the expanding panels in the lower jaw flex to allow them to sieve a massive mouthful of water. It's not an A team, by the look of it: Ian Boswell ("who?") takes bib number 1, with Bernie Eisel at 2, Swifty at 6 and G at 7.
Stinkoff are team 13, har har, unlucky for some: very much a B team with the "wrong" Sagan. Oh, how it must hurt to be the "other" Sagan, older and much much less successful than Jammy Dodger. They are wearing their hideous fluorescent yellow kit, which I dislike on so many levels... not least because of the clash with the yellow jersey. A case, I think, where the UCI really should step in and veto it.
Finally we have United Healthcare, still sporting an asymmetrical kit, and you know how much I hate that.
No time trial this year - well, it's only a short tour, four days - which is a bit of a shame, I always enjoy the chance to study the riders individually.
Still, as Jen said, it's nice to see men riding on the tv again!
Yes!
Men will be riding bikes again, hooray!
No offence to the Tour Down Under, but we don't get tv coverage of that, so Dubai is our first chance to see proper racing, hopefully in HD. Yes, I hate to sound like an HD bore but it's absolutely true, once you watch cycling in HD, you will never want to watch a dodgy stream again. Talk about a clear picture, suddenly you really can recognise riders from helicopter shots.
So what can we expect from Dubai? Same as last year: sand, few spectators, mostly flat, probably windy, then on Sunday we flip over the Tour of Qatar, a surprisingly interesting race considering it's mostly dead flat and sand.
However, first, Dubai: so who can we expect to see?
Pride of place, race number one, is well-loved Schlecklander Johan Van Summeren !! I have no idea why, Taylor Phinney won it last year for BMC but this year AG2R have the first set of bib numbers, and JVS has number one. Well, of course, as a Schlecklander Pet, I would expect no less. I'm looking forward to checking if he tucks up his Ahh-dzhee-duurs-air sleeves as much as he used to tuck up his Garmin ones.
Astana have second slot, alas, no sign of the lovely Jakob, but that's not surprising as he's not a classics rider, and these early-season races are traditionally used to build up for the classics. Instead, Ass-t'na are sending that well-known sprinter (not) Nibali and his new sidekick, Lars Boom, probably chosen in order to re-create the old Bibali team name (Nibali/Basso).
Bardiani are appearing in what appears to be Cannondale's old kit, a nasty shade of yellow-green, but I don't know anyone they are sending.
BMC, on the other hand, in the familiar red-and-black ladybird kit, are sending Philly Gilly, Brent Bookbinder (always think he sounds more like a librarian than a cyclist) and Daniel 'Oss, which is Hoss without the H.
Team 4 is CCC Polstat, wearing Euskaltel's old orange kit with black hoofprints all over it: their team is comprise entirely of scrabble letters, and was obviously chosen by throwing down the letters and scuffing them into groups.
Etixx-Quickstep (I keep hearing Sean Kelly talking about ethics when I hear their name) are sending Cav, supported by Tony "Machine Man" Martin and Mark "Bee Eater" Renshaw, so they are going to be pretty much unstoppable in a sprint.
Team 6 is Lampre-Merida, clinging on to their pink kit, and not a bad thing either, with the peloton being stuffed full of black and white and blue this year. Pozzato is about the only one of their riders I've heard of.
Movistar are unchanged with the Wiggley Worm kit, now starting to look sleek and stylish compared to some of the other kits. (Trek, I'm not mentioning you, but you know what I am thinking.) They are leading with Valverde, and I'm ashamed to tell you that I can't remember if he's a good guy or an unrepentant ex-doper.
Team 8 are a local team, SkydiveDubai, so it's not surprising that I don't know any of them.
Giant-Alpecin are next - their kit seems to be a negative version of last year's, more black than white this time around. I'm sure that Alpecin is a hair-loss preparation (to avoid it, not to create it) so maybe their stripes will take on a comb-over swirl later in the season. They've send John Degenkolb and a bunch of nonentities.
Katusha's kit seems to have changed again, another variation on a theme: they've sent "Whack 'im" Rodriguez and a clutch of supporting Dark Lords.
Team 11 are something called Novo Nordisk, who are either a small car or part of a computer, I can't decide which: predictably, I've not heard of any of them.
Sky, still resplendent in black with a blue stripe, have gone for the whale-panels on the back this year: you know, that thing where the whale with a huge mouth emerges vertically from the sea and all the expanding panels in the lower jaw flex to allow them to sieve a massive mouthful of water. It's not an A team, by the look of it: Ian Boswell ("who?") takes bib number 1, with Bernie Eisel at 2, Swifty at 6 and G at 7.
Stinkoff are team 13, har har, unlucky for some: very much a B team with the "wrong" Sagan. Oh, how it must hurt to be the "other" Sagan, older and much much less successful than Jammy Dodger. They are wearing their hideous fluorescent yellow kit, which I dislike on so many levels... not least because of the clash with the yellow jersey. A case, I think, where the UCI really should step in and veto it.
Finally we have United Healthcare, still sporting an asymmetrical kit, and you know how much I hate that.
No time trial this year - well, it's only a short tour, four days - which is a bit of a shame, I always enjoy the chance to study the riders individually.
Still, as Jen said, it's nice to see men riding on the tv again!
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