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.

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.

Fedor Den Hertog – Amateur Colossus, Rest In Peace(0)

Less than a month after the death of Peter Post, Dutch cycling has lost another of its ‘Greats’ with the news that Fedor Den Hertog succumbed on Saturday 12th February, after a long battle with illness.

For anyone involved in cycle sport in the late 60′s and early 70′s, amateur Den Hertog’s name was as well known as any of the top professionals.

Introducing Our New Blogger – Omega-Pharma Lotto’s Adam Hansen(0)

T-Mobile, Slipstream and HTC stalwart Adam Hansen; a key cog in the ‘Cavendish sprint machine,’ surprised many when he decided to leave the US team and follow HTC’s ‘other sprinter,’ Andre Greipel to Lotto. But that’s not all!

We’re delighted to announce that Adam will be blogging right here on VeloVeritas throughout the season, from the early dust-off scraps in Australia and the South of France, through the historic spring monuments and onto the Tour de France! You’ll be able to follow Adam’s progress as he takes Andre to the front of the bunch and duels with his old team’s Cavendish sprint train, and read what it’s really like, from someone on the inside of the ProTour peloton.

As Adam entered the final phase of his preparation for the Australian National championships – he’s been on the road race podium and the top step for the time trial in the past – we spoke with the ex-mountain biker, self confessed ‘computer nut’ and fan of HTC mobile telephones, to conduct this off-beat introductory interview. Enjoy!

RIP Peter Post. Outstanding Road and Trackman, Six Day Star, Manager Par-Excellence(1)

With the news on Friday that Peter Post had died in Amsterdam at the age of 77 the sport lost one if it’s Colossi. Born in Amsterdam in November 1933, the son of a butcher, he had a hard childhood growing up in Nazi occupied Holland.

He turned professional in 1956 for Legendary Amsterdam bicycle makers RIH Sport; he would remain in the peloton until 1972 having ridden for some of the most famous teams in the history of cycle sport-Flandria, Faema, Solo-Superia and Willem 11.

There are three distinct aspects to Peter Post’s career, all of which are characterised by amazing versatility.

Laurent Fignon RIP.(0)

‘Unluckiest man of the race was Laurent Fignon (Renault) who escaped alone on the climb of the Cote de la Madelaine, only to crash when leading by 37 seconds with only 18 kilometres to go.’

That was how Britain’s Cycling Weekly magazine recorded my first ever memory of the man; cycling on British TV was rare back then but those producers know a good image when they see one and I must have seen that footage of the Frenchman’s bottom bracket axle breaking and catapulting him over the ‘bars to end up sitting on the tarmac a hundred times.

New to VV: Tobe’s Blog(0)

We’re very pleased to announce that Garmin Transitions physiotherapist Toby Watson will be contributing articles to his new VeloVeritas blog.

Right now Toby is with the team on the Tour de France, and you can read about what it’s like to be working with a top team on the biggest race in the world, and the sense of drama and fun that are essential parts of the experience, on Toby’s regular updates.