Friday, March 29, 2024

Tag: Autumn Classics

The VV View: Demise of the German Six Day?

The trouble with Richard Virenque was, that if he was seven times King of the Mountains; he was at least eight times King of the Erses.

At Random

Gary Coltman – ‘Head of Performance’ with Scottish Cycling

With the recent appointment of Gary Coltman as Head of Performance at Scottish Cycling, VeloVeritas thought it would be interesting to learn about the man and his plans – here’s what he had to say to us:

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: Walker Brothers Wheels, Books, Zwift – and Beards

Let’s start with the price of wheels; £3,300 for a pair of Lightweights – as Woody Allen might say; ‘what ! are you crazee ?’ Men are winning kermises every day in Belgium on thousand euro bikes; if you’re a Grand Tour rider looking for every advantage on some horrible mountain stage – yes. If you’re riding Ingliston criteriums – NO!

Tour de Trossachs 2007

Tour de Trossachs 2007 Mile zero: 09.54, and Alastair McNicol of Kelso Wheelers is on the line. Off No.1 at 10:01, he's not going to miss his start. It's six degrees, there are just wisps of cloud in the sky and Scotland has never looked better. Ferns, conifers and beech, lime green to dark brown form the backdrop for the timekeepers; to the north, the hills of the Trossachs wait quietly for the onslaught.

Erick Rowsell – “I do like to race a lot”

It’s been a while since we last spoke to young English rider Erick Rowsell (and yes, that’s his sister) - it was at the time when he was one of eight Endura riders (and just five Britons) to survive the inevitable cull which occurred when the team merged with German Pro Continental squad, Netapp for season 2013.

Peter Hawkins – “if you do the work you do see the fruits of your labours”

Our pal Viktor has been hard at work; it's not everyone who could do his job, those long hours huddled over a computer screen, day in, day out - checking those Belgian cycling results websites. Lifting his head only to make another coffee ("sometimes my fingertips tingle with the caffeine"), or to phone me; "Ed, there's a boy you should be talking to..."