Author: Alex
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Sky’s Sean Yates sounds like an acid casualty
Sean Yates, Sky’s head directeur sportif, has left the team. Sky have had a round of interviews with their staff in order to confirm that none has ever been involved in doping, but they say Yates wasn’t asked to leave because of something that came out during his interview. Here’s the way I read this:…
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Will Bradley Wiggins ride the 2013 Tour de France
Maybe. But sounds like he won’t be racing to win. He’s got other aims: “I’m probably going to concentrate on the Giro d’Italia next year. For me, along with Paris-Roubaix, it’s the only race on the calendar that’s up there with the Tour de France for its history. It’s just beautiful and I’d love to…
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Lance Armstrong: EPO, blood transfusions, subcultures and the line
I suppose a website with ‘Tour de France’ in its title should at least acknowledge the fact that the guy who won the race a record number of times is being ripped a new one as a result of an insanely lengthy report on doping practices being released into the public domain. For my part,…
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Philippe Gilbert stays in the big ring for the Cauberg
This year’s World Championships finished just over the top of the Cauberg, the hill used at the end of The Amstel Gold Race. Philippe Gilbert won that race in 2010 and 2011. He also won the World Championships today. Apparently, he didn’t drop out of the big ring at the finish. The burning in his…
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Jonathan Tiernan-Locke – a punchy climber and could he ride the Classics?
Britain has produced a ridiculous number of top cyclists in recent years. The track cyclists are untouchable and we’ve most bases covered on the road. We’ve Bradley Wiggins, time trialist and Tour de France winner; Chris Froome, climber and time trialist; and Mark Cavendish, the supreme sprinter of his era. But if there’s one thing…
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Stoke stage of Tour of Britain sees riders going backwards
Literally in Bradley Wiggins’ case. He turned round and went back to try and find Mark Cavendish who was suffering long before his nemesis, Gun Hill. He found him and then they both concluded that all was lost and dawdled to the finish. I sometimes think about what it would be like to ride with…
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Jonathan Tiernan-Locke is still poised in the Tour of Britain
I’ve not written about the first three stages of the Tour of Britain because there hasn’t been too much going on with the general classification. That changed a little bit today on stage four, as a lot of riders lost time. My man Jonathan Tiernan-Locke is one who’s still in contention, however. Team Sky took…
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Gun Hill – Tour of Britain hill climb preview
Gun Hill appears during stage 5 of the Tour of Britain and apparently it’s a popular highlight. It’s famous for once having made Mark Cavendish cry on a training ride, but he must have been having a really bad day because it’s nowt special really. I speak with some authority, because it’s a hill I’m…
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Tour of Britain preview – route and riders to watch
The Tour of Britain started today. There are eight stages. Ipswich to Norfolk Showground (199.6km) Nottingham to Knowsley (177.8km) Jedburgh to Dumfries (161.4km) Carlisle to Blackpool (156km) Stoke (146.9km) Welshpool to Caerphilly (189.8km) Barnstaple to Dartmouth (170.7km) Reigate to Guildford (147.7km) Highlights Stage 2 has three first category climbs, but they’re early on and the…