Marco Pinotti – “The Cycling Professor”, This is His Story(0)

Italian professional Marco Pinotti’s new book, “The Cycling Professor” isn’t so much a classic biography as a collection of anecdotes and experiences. In the book, the 36 year-old BMC rider from Bergamo takes the reader through his fourteen years as a professional cyclist, why he began in the sport later than his peers, his thoughts on the changes to the roads and training methods, and he details his views on some personalities and the major races on the calendar.

Marco has said that compared to riding a three week national tour, writing a book is much harder, but we’re not convinced and caught up with him before the BMC team launch in Belgium to ask him about his extra-curricular project ourselves…

Siempre Bicycle Café, the Pride of Partick!(2)

You’re in Glasgow on your bike and need a good cup of coffee and some healthy victuals, but don’t need the stares; you like good sounds and you want to talk bicycles, not fitba’ and maybe you’re looking for the latest in ‘fixie’ street cred hardware and kit?

Look no further – 162 Dumbarton Road, Partick should be your destination. Siempre Bicycle Café is the name of this oasis in the desert of bad coffee and ‘I’m too sexy for my job’ bicycle shop staff.

Book Review – “World’s Ultimate Cycling Races”(0)

It’s been an amazing year for British cycle sport and cycling fans, with Bradley Wiggins of Team Sky winning the Tour de France (that still feels a tad surreal to type) and the Olympic Time Trial in summer, Jonathan Tiernan-Locke (Endura Racing) taking his home Tour of Britain, and the our track riders winning World Championships in several disciplines. It’s got to the point where cycling is becoming so popular in the mainstream press that the guys at work want to talk with me about disc wheels and hors categorie summit finishes.

This is where the new book by respected cycling journalist Ellis Bacon may help – the “World’s Ultimate Cycling Races” is an eclectic mix of facts and stats about events all over the globe, from Pro level races such as the Tour de France and Vuelta a Espana to MTB races, Gran Fondos and Sportives that anyone can take part in.

Lance Armstrong – a Scandal too Far(4)

It’s not hard to dislike Lance Armstrong; he’s arrogant, controlling, self-obsessed, hypocritical and brought to cycling the horrors of bodyguards, blacked-out SUV windows, black socks and celebrity visits to the Tour de France. He scarcely bothers to conceal his contempt for journalists, but used them to ‘spread the gospel’ when it was convenient.

But on the other hand, it’s hard to dislike Michael Barry – smiling, polite, helpful, intelligent and grounded; a pleasure to meet and interview. But here’s the rub – they both regularly ‘kitted up’ as part of their stage race regime. So how come one is a ‘monster’ and one is a ‘victim?’

UK Tour de France Proposal Gathers Pace(1)

Representatives from British Cycling, UK Sport and EventScotland visited the Belgian city of Liège this weekend for the Grand Depart of the 2012 Tour de France. With a proposal for the opening stages of the 2017 event being developed, the British partnership experienced the spectacular the Tour first-hand.

Fine details of the proposal are currently being developed, though Tour organisers ASO have been impressed with the initial outline plans for how the stages could run. Following the Tour’s last visit to the UK – London and Kent in 2007 – the aspiration for 2017 is for an event that runs through the spine of Britain, linking some of its biggest towns and cities, and giving millions of people across the whole country the opportunity to watch and engage with the world’s most famous road race.

Glasgow’s Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome awarded a round of the UCI Track World Cup(0)

Cycling’s world governing body Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), have today announced that Glasgow’s Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome will host a round of the 2012/13 UCI Track World Cup series, which will see British Cycling deliver an event in which the world’s best riders compete at the venue for the first time.

Preview: the South Carrick David Bell Memorial Road Race(0)

It might be the middle of crit season, but the organisers of this Sunday’s South Carrick David Bell Memorial in Girvan are delighted to have secured the strongest lineup in the race’s history.

Felix English heads a full Rapha-Condor-Sharp team against Ben Greenwoods’ Vanillabikes.com team and Robbie Hassan’s Herbalife Leisure Lakes squad in the 100mile event.

Vanilla Bikes(1)

You’ll have seen the adverts on various websites for Vanilla Bikes, inviting you to have a look at their on-line shop and their top quality – if a little unusual – product lines, and when we spotted that the shop team was beefing up it’s roster for the coming season, we thought we better find out a little more about this young company.

Geraint Thomas Returns From Success at World Championships to Ride Etape Cymru Route in North Wales(0)

World Champion and new Team Pursuit World Record holder, Geraint Thomas MBE, returned to Wales to take on the route of the Etape Cymru yesterday.

Thomas took on a 30-mile section of the closed-road cyclosportive’s route, including the Panorama and Horseshoe Pass climbs. The event will be held on Sunday 9th September 2012.

Hargroves Cycles sponsor Matrix Fitness-Prendas(0)

In what has been a hugely progressive winter for the Matrix Fitness-Prendas team where new partners have seen the potential of the all female squad, Hargroves Cycles have become the latest addition to the team’s list of sponsors.

Lincoln Grand Prix – University of Lincoln to be Main Sponsor(0)

The University of Lincoln continues its support for the ever popular Lincoln Grand Prix Cycle Race by extending its previous year supporting sponsorship to become the event’s main sponsor in 2012, for the 57th edition of the event on Sunday the 13th of May.

Welcome to the all-new VeloVeritas!(1)

We’re pleased to be able to present our relaunched site – VeloVeritas. We’ll be aiming to provide you with truthful, accurate, unique and informative articles about the sport we love.

We cover all aspects of cycling by being there, in the mix: from the local “10″ mile time trial to the world-famous professional “monuments” – classics like Milan-SanRemo and the Tour of Lombardy, to the World Championships, the winter Six-Days and the Grand Tours – the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia and the Vuelta a España. We attend many local races as well as work on the European professional circuit.

Wouter Weylandt R.I.P.(0)

Wouter Weylandt tragically lost his life today, in a crash on the twisty, steep dangerous descent of the Passo del Bocco climb, about 12.4-miles from the finish of stage three of the Giro.

The briefest of pictures of the scene were shown on live TV before the broadcasting director wisely stopped showing any more, but that was enough to be able to tell that the situation was grave.

The Leopard-Trek rider quickly received emergency treatment at the scene of the accident from the race doctor, race emergency services and team doctors, where adrenaline and atropine injections were administered and cardiac massage carried out for more than half an hour but it wasn’t enough to save the 26-year-old.

Lucho Herrera’s Pinarello(2)

To appreciate how big a deal it was for Luis Alberto (Lucho) Herrera to win the 1987 Vuelta, it’s best to read the passage in Lucy Fallon and Adrian Bell’s book, ‘Viva la Vuelta’ where they talk about the closing stage into Madrid.

‘Back home in Colombia, the radio commentary and TV coverage had the population mesmerised. With the entire country at a standstill, it made sense to declare the final day of the Vuelta a national holiday. The streets of Bogota were deserted until Lucho crossed the final line. Then the nation exploded in joy, the first heart attack victim was registered, and the partying began in earnest.’