Category: General
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Who won the classics and Grand Tours in 2014?
It occurs to me that I spend a lot more time looking forward on this website than looking back. It makes sense to look forward of course or you walk into things, but it can also be satisfying to turn your head through 180 degrees – like an owl – to take a brief look…
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The Schlecks become Frank Schleck
Because Andy Schleck has retired from cycling. The reason given is that he has no cartilage left in his knee, which causes it to swell up whenever he makes harder efforts. However, that’s really just the final straw, because in reality the last couple of years seem to have been written by an Eastenders scriptwriter.…
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Team Sky flash the cash and buy in some riding talent
A lot of cycling teams shop at Aldi or Lidl. They look to pick up high quality European riders at surprisingly affordable prices. Team Sky aren’t bargain hunters. They park their SUV in the mother and child spot at Waitrose and then buy whatever the hell they feel like, regardless of cost. Who’s in? The…
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Was Jonathan Tiernan-Locke doping while he was at Sky?
British rider, Jonathan Tiernan-Locke, has been banned for two years for irregularities with his blood passport. He’s been stripped of his Tour of Britain win and I doubt he’ll ride professionally again. Being as he rode for Sky, many see this as circumstantial evidence that the British-based team are engaged in some sort of sophisticated…
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How are Tom Boonen’s buttocks?
Never let it be said that this website is overly focused on Tom Boonen’s barse. We’re not afraid to shift our attention by a few inches. Omega Pharma-QuickStep team manager, Patrick Lefevere, describes the current Boonen situation thus: “The buttocks injury put him out for the autumn.” To be honest, he probably meant barse.
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How’s Tom Boonen’s perineum?
It’s not great. But at least it’s improving. “It’s going in the right direction. The skin around my perineum has grown back but now I have to let it recuperate. I tried a couple of times to ride for an hour but it’s better that I save myself now and the skin grows strong again.…
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Why does Chris Froome cycle with his head down?
Some people think it’s because he’s slavishly devoted to his power data. They accuse him of ‘riding like a robot’ as if robots are highly-regarded for their cycling abilities. Actually, Chris Froome cycles with his head down because that’s just the way he cycles. Richie Porte says he frequently rides into him during training. You…
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Tom Boonen’s arm
What’s significant about Tom Boonen’s arm, you might ask. What’s significant is that it’s still there. Now that might not seem newsworthy, but you may have correctly inferred from my even mentioning this that it was at one point in grave danger. Apparently Tom got what I myself have diagnosed as ‘some sort of skeggy…
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Which bike races actually matter?
There are a billion bike races, but few people know which ones really matter. Everyone knows the Tour de France, but beyond that people are generally a bit lost. There’s a dim awareness of the Giro d’Italia (“It’s like the Tour de France, only in Italy”) and the Vuelta a Espana (“It’s like the Tour…
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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:…