Friday, March 29, 2024

Ed Hood Needs Our Help – Please Support This GoFundMe Page

I write this post with a heavy heart, and to humbly ask for your help to support our dear friend and beloved colleague Ed Hood. Ed suffered a devastating stroke in February of this year, and faces an uncertain future.

Kate Richardson takes all four Rás na mBan classifications for Alba DRT

Kate Richardson dominated in Ireland last weekend with the 20-year-old winning the Individual General Classification, Points General Classification, Queen of the Hills Classification and Best Young Rider Classification in an astonishing performance over five days and six stages in County Kilkenny.

Barry Hoban, Britain’s Only Gent-Wevelgem Winner

It’s Gent–Wevelgem 1974, you’ve made it over the savage Kemmel climb twice with the lead group and survived hanging on the back of an Eddy Merckx (Belgium and Molteni) and Roger De Vlaeminck (Belgium and Brooklyn) driven purge on the run-in; there are 17 guys left, so maybe you would settle for a top ten? Not if your name is Barry Hoban (Britain and GAN-Mercier) and you feel that the ‘overdrive’ is in your legs.

Phil Gaimon – the Worst Retirement Ever!

Phil Gaimon had a full career before hanging up his WorldTour wheels, but since then he has hardly stopped for breath. As an ex-pro bike rider he fills his time book writing, social media and… riding his bike.

Nico Mattan – “When you win on your home territory, it’s very special”

In 2005, Nico Mattan grabbed victory in one of the most controversial editions of Gent – Wevelgem ever held. The newspapers ran and ran with it but Sean Kelly saw “no problems” with the result.

Dan Lloyd – “I loved riding the cobbled Classics”

WorldTour professional rider turned race commentator and GCN-Eurosport presenter, Dan Lloyd has been in the bike game for some time and has a few stories to tell. We caught up with Dan to hear how it all happened.

Eric Van Lancker – the Israël DS who was a Classics Winner in the 80’s and 90’s

When we think of ‘Men of the Classics’ of the late 80’s and early 90’s names like Sean Kelly, Moreno Argentin, the late Claude Criquielion, Adrie van der Poel and Gianni Bugno come to mind. A name we perhaps overlook is that of Belgium’s Eric Van Lancker, despite the fact that he won four World Cup races and was a fixture on the world’s most successful team of the day – Peter Post’s mighty Panasonic armada.

Douglas Ryder – Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team Boss

We’ve heard it so many times; the team loses the sponsor and folds – ‘we’re taking a year to regroup but will be back the following season,’ they say. Sadly, it very rarely comes to pass. But Douglas Ryder is made of stern stuff.

Bas Tietema – “Continental level is not our final destination”

There are many ways to become a professional cyclist, but Dutchman Bas Tietema must be unique in his path; come up through the ranks, start a YouTube channel, get a contract with a Belgian Conti team, then start your own team. We had to find out more.

Kathy Gilchrist – Scottish Cycling President on her First Year, and Beyond

It was December 2021 when we first had a word with Kathy Gilchrist, not long after she was elected President on a ticket of "giving back and making a difference", so we thought it would be a good time to hear how her first year in the job has gone, what's changed, and with Scotland hosting "the biggest cycling event ever" in late summer, what this year is going to bring.

Sean Flynn – Making his World Tour Debut with DSM

After a strong season with the Swiss Racing Academy, Edinburgh’s Sean Flynn will be joining his countryman Oscar Onley at the Dutch World Team DSM, riding alongside big name riders like Romain Bardet and John Degenkolb.

Zak Coleman – Playing the Team Game with VolkerWessels

VeloVeritas soothsayer and mentor has been on to me for a while; ‘you should be speaking to that Zak Coleman laddie, he’s on the VolkerWessels team in The Netherlands, that’s a top team and he’s the only non-Dutch boy on it! They ride a lot of the UCI European Tour races, the likes of the Baloise Belgian Tour.’

Callum Macleod – 2023? A Pro Contract else I start University

It was our mentor, Viktor who pointed out to us that Englishman, Callum Macleod had spent season 2022 with the Dutch ABLOC CT squad and that his contract is renewed for season 2023; of the 19 riders on the squad 16 are Dutch, there’s a Latvian, a Finn - and Callum.

Martin Pyne – National ’25’ Champion in 1981

Martin Pyne has ridden somewhere around 2,000 races, of those he’s won 820 ‘open’ and 51 ‘club’ events, He broke Sean Yates' 10 mile TT record and held the 30 mile TT record for a decade, and he was British 25 Mile Time Trial Champion in 1981, relegating ‘super tester,’ Ian Cammish to second place. 

Harrison Wood – Taking the ‘Old Way’ to Cofidis

For 2023 Harrison Wood, the 22 years-old from Devon will be part of the much improved Cofidis équipe. We find out more about how he secured his contract.

Mikey Mottram – Looking Back at the Gravel Worlds

We catch up with Mikey Mottram, who has been a top UK rider on the road and track, about his ride in the inaugural UCI Gravel World Championship.

Toby Perry – a Series of Unfortunate Events (with a happy ending)

It was back at the start of last year we last spoke to Englishman, Toby Perry and when we saw he’d ridden the inaugural Gravel Worlds – an aspect of the sport which has piqued our interest – we thought we’d best have another word with the man.

Harry Tanfield – with Tour de Tietema-Unibet for 2023

It’s almost nine years since Harry Tanfield first appeared in our pages; March 2014 - he’d just finished third to Evan Oliphant in the Gordon Arms hilly time trial in the Scottish Borders. Since those simple days of amateur time tests he’s been around the block a bit, riding in the WorldTour and domestically, but for 2023 Harry has a new team - "Tour de Tietema-Unibet".

The VV View: 2023 Top Ten Young Guns, the Men to Watch

We've been watching the up-and-coming riders and have chosen our ‘Top Ten Young Guns’ for 2023. Our rider choices for 2022 included some top performers so let’s look at the ‘Men to Watch’ in 2023.

The VV View: How Did the New Talent in 2022 Fare?

Here at VeloVeritas we keep our eyes on the new talent coming through the peloton and this time last year we picked eleven men to watch in 2022. So, let's see how they got on.

The VV View: Half a Century – How Did That Happen?

Recently someone posted some Scottish race results from 1973 on social media; and there I was in some 25 mile time trial on the Kippen Flats course at Stirling. Then it struck me, 1973 – 50 years ago, that’s half a century. How did that happen?

The VV View: Riders of the Year 2022

Yes, we know, it’s been done to death but nonetheless here – in no order of merit, with no apologies for any omissions, these are MY choices – we bring you Riders of the Year 2022.

The VV View: Ten Trends in Twenty Two

We list our top ten trends that we picked up on in 2022 and ponder which ones are set to continue into 2023 and beyond.

The VV View: Our Changing Timeline

Changes; ‘time may change me; but I can’t trace time,’ said the late, great David Bowie, most take it to mean that whilst you can run your finger back along the timeline of your life, you can’t change anything along there. I take myself as an example; now I have an ‘e’ Gravel Bike, disc brakes, 1 x transmission. 

The VV View: Wee Tom, Mullet Bikes and Podcasts

‘The Tour is the Tour,’ for sure, But for me the Giro is the most beautiful; oh to be in the Bella Italia, great weather, a crisp pink Gazzetta dello Sport and perfect cappuccino every morning. Plus, we discover mullet bikes, Drone Hopper socks, and wonder if Wee Tom is doing too much?

The VV View: How aero is my front light?

Ed gets it all off his chest in our latest Rant; do we really need aero front lights? What difference does a tricked out 'pain cave' make? Some clever innovations that aren't April fools, and should Tomeke take over from Patrick at QuickStep?
Martin Williamson Photography

Scottish Hill Climb Championship 2022; Louis Moore and Sharon Bird Take the Honours

Vanelli-Project Go's Louis Moore, the newly crowned student champion, won the Scottish Hill Climb Championship on a long and difficult Glen Quaich course, the first 5k of the narrow strip of tarmac which connects Kenmore to Amulree in the Southern Highlands.

Tour de Trossachs 2022 – Chris Smart Victorious Again

Blue skies, mild with not too much of a breeze – a perfect day for VeloVeritas’ favourite race, the 2022 Tour de Trossachs, ably promoted by Vanelli Project Go and won by Chris Smart (GTR – Return to Life p/b Streamline)

Roadside at the Tour of Britain 2022; Stage Two

Originally we hadn’t planned to go down to The Scottish Borders to see Stage Two of the Tour of Britain 2022 – but the sun came out, we made a few time calculations and as I said of yesterday; ‘it’s not every day you get the chance to see some of the world’s best bike riders on home soil.’ One of life’s simple pleasures is surely sitting on the grass verge in the sunshine, waiting on a bike race coming up the hill.

Roadside at the Tour of Britain 2022; Stage One

It’s not every day you get the chance to see some of the sport’s greatest names just up the road from your home, competing in the Tour of Britain 2022. Fortunately, by the time we got to Union Street it was just drizzling, not cold but grey and understandably not conducive to riders wanting to stand and chat...

British Road Race Championships 2022; Cavendish is Champion Again!

Mark Cavendish was in the break ALL day on this wet, windy, tough, gnarly day - major respect to the man on his second British Championship win on Scottish roads.

British Time Trial Championships 2022; Ethan Hayter keeps it in the family

I’m trying to remember that last time I followed a rider in a Time Trial – Bradley Wiggins through the grubby back streets of Milano in the Giro’s closing time trial, with Martin at the Tour watching Michael Mørkøv blast those 52km to Chartres or that time we followed Charly Wegelius through the glorious vineyards of Champagne? No matter, what a nice way to spend a Thursday afternoon, chasing Zeb Kyffin around the beautiful, sun-drenched parcours beside the Solway Firth at the British Time Trial Championships, won by Ethan Hayter.

British u23 Time Trial Championship 2022; Leo Hayter continues his golden run

Last Thursday, on the roads around Dumfries and along the beautiful Solway Firth Callum Thornley endorsed his potential, taking silver in the British u23 Time Trial Championship, beaten only by 2022 Baby Giro winner, Leo Hayter but leaving riders like Groupama FDJ big hitters Sam Watson and Lewis Askey in his wake.  

Sportsbreak.com Tour Series – Round Two, Galashiels; Wiv SunGod and Pro-Noctis Take the Honours

Criteriums, a man of my acquaintance describes criteriums thus; ‘a bunch of guys turn up, they ride round in circles for an hour, one of ‘em wins then everyone goes home.’ Very true, but a night hanging over the barriers in Galashiels, a nice borders town under the spring sunshine with your amigos whilst catching up with old friends sure beats watching the soap operas.

Ben Swift Retains the British Men’s Road Championship

On a day when we watched hard men like Gran Piemonte winner, Matt Walls and Tro Bro victor, Connor Swift crack before our very eyes it was reigning champion, Ben Swift who extended his tenure in that lovely jersey from 2019 through 2020 and 2021 into at least June 2022.

Tour de Trossachs 2021 goes to Robbie Friel

We missed you last year Tour de Trossachs, so let’s begin with a large ‘thank you’ to Jason Roberts and his team for reviving this great race and organising it so well. Men of the day: Messrs. Friel, Maclean and Creber; Woman of the day: Lynsey Curran.

Tour of the Campsies 2021 Goes to Chris Smart

We liked our jaunt to the Tour of the Campsies last year and feel at home among the rolling countryside and green hills there so we headed west, first of all paying our respects to the Robert Millar mural at the foot of the Crow Road; when you watch Roglič take the Lagos di Covadonga stage in the Vuelta it’s difficult to imagine the wee fella from Glasgow winning that stage – but win it he did.

Random Articles

Berlin Six Day 2012 – Day Four

Berlin Six Day 2012 and Jackie summed it up best when I asked if he'd slept well; 'yeah, but just not long enough!' But Dirk had a take on it too; 'why can't we just go straight from Saturday to Monday?' There's always a down beat Johnny Cash kind of vibe to Sunday afternoons sessions; 'the beer I had for breakfast wasn't bad, so I had one more for dessert.'

Ken Clark’s Peace Race – Chicken Soup for Breakfast and a Rest Day Outing to Auschwitz

Soup for breakfast? Welcome to the Peace Race. Ivy CC stalwart Ken Clark took time to talk to VeloVeritas, and our resident Peace Race expert Ivan, about what it was like to ride the 'Communist Tour de France.' It was quite an adventure...

The Douchebags Savage is on the loose!

The Savage, the new ‘one size fits all’ bike bag from Norwegian lifestyle travel brand Douchebags (Db) is now available to buy online at douchebags.com for €699.

John Hardie – Grass Track Star!

Forget the super fast boards of Manchester. Imagine a track meeting whose roots go back to the year 1314; where the track is only 200 metres and one of the straights is bordered by a burn (that's a stream in Queen's English)... a track meeting which goes ahead even in a torrential rain - welcome to the world of the Highland Games, and one of Scotland's greatest exponents of the form; John Hardie.

Preview: “Dig In at the Dock” Cyclocross 2014

Within only 23 minutes of the Dig In at the Dock Cyclocross race going live on the internet, it sold out of it's first 100 places. The organisers were tasked with looking through the list of around 60 riders on the waiting list to select 30 who they felt could add even more sparkle and fun to the now increasingly popular season ending one for all bike race.

Dillon Corkery – CC Etupes’ Young Irishman Building a Superb Palmarès

When CC Etupes' Christophe Andre gets in touch from la Belle France to tell me that he has a young man from the Emerald Isle on the team books who he thinks I should be speaking to, I pay attention. Dillon Corkery is the young Irish gentleman in question...

Chris Smart – *Not* the New Scottish 50 Mile TT Record Holder

The 2021 CTT Scottish ‘50’ title race took place on the fast dual carriageways north of Dundee with GTR Return To Life rider, Chris Smart winning in a stunning 1:40:36 with veteran team mate Dougie Watson a scant six seconds back in the silver medal position.

Giro d’Italia – Day 7: Stage 18, Mendrisio – Varese

Today we were in Mendrisio but we belled Viktor from Verbania last night... We were feeling quite mellow; words and pics sent, a nice plate of pasta, a glass of beer and a stroll by Maggiore in the warm air. "The only reason I watch the race is because there's nothing else on TV, those photos you take are holiday snaps, Sella looks like a schoolboy, 'certain of the GB rider's' aren't proper pros, the scenery is terrible... "

Mario Willems – Most Successful Kermis Rider This Season

"Ed! All this Tour de France nonsense - you should be talking to Mario Willems, he's the top man in the Flanders kermis' right now!"

Rotterdam Six Day 2011 – Day Two, Iljo and Kenny Take Over. Uh-oh.

Here at the Rotterdam Six Day 2011 the buzz off iljo's rollers fills my ears as I write this; despite the best efforts of the UCI, he's still here and looking sharp. My amigo, Dirk the mechanic was telling me that Iljo is retaining two of the three best lawyers in Belgium - I'm glad I'm not paying the bills.

Hargroves Cycles sponsor Matrix Fitness-Prendas

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.

John Atkins – Britain’s greatest ever cyclo-cross rider; 13 times a British Champion

John Atkins is Britain’s greatest ever cyclo-cross rider; 13 times a British champion and still the nation’s best ever finisher in the Worlds – and at a time when ‘cross gods, the de Vlaeminck brothers were at their zenith. He lives quietly in retirement in Wales, doesn’t ‘do the internet’ and isn’t a man for the ‘stats.’ He was surprised we wanted to speak to him but gave freely of his time and anecdotes. Here’s what John had to say to VeloVeritas just after young van der Poel had won the Worlds in Tabor.

Dieter Kemper

It was British former motor pace rider, Six Day and road man Norman Hill who informed us of the passing of one of the Six Day Greats, at the age of 81 years; a true ‘all-rounder’ and one of the all-time Six Day Greats, ‘Rest in Peace' Dieter Kemper.

Team Barloworld accepted as a wildcard entry in Le Tour de France

South African-sponsored professional cycling outfit, Team Barloworld, today received and accepted their wildcard invitation to ride the most prestigious cycle race in the world, the Tour de France, in July 2007. Entry into the Tour de France is extended by invitation only to the best of the world's professional cycling teams. Team Barloworld have had a phenomenal start to the 2007 cycling season, and are leading the 66 team UCI Professional Continental rankings.

Jon Entwistle – Scottish 50 Mile TT Champion 2016; “I’m kind of new to it all”

A few Sundays ago we saw Tom Dumoulin time trialling his way to Tour de France stage glory in the thin-aired horror that is Andorra; but there was a much more important race against the watch going on in darkest North East Scotland – the Scottish ‘50’ Mile TT Championship. Back at the ‘10’ Champs, winner Chris Smart (GTR) told us that there was a ‘changing of the guard’ taking place in Scottish time trials – and so it proved, with new name, Jon Entwistle (Team JMC) taking the 50 mile honours in 1:44:45 from Chris (1:46:15) and 2015 champion, Alan Thomson (Sandy Wallace Cycles, 1:48:07).