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.
Dernys, you love them or you hate them, they’re a big part of the Sixes; and always with a capital ‘D’ — Roger Derny et Fils first manufactured them in Paris, in: 1938. There’s some real Derny history on the boards here at the Rotterdam Six Day — the tall, slim, grey haired man who chases the riders up to their events here at the is Bruno Walrave.
It took a wee while to find the hotel last night in Cahors, but it was worth it. It's an old farm which has been converted to a hotel, complete with swimming pool; it's quite the idylic spot. We are sharing hotels with an American cycle tour party, we've has done a deal with them - ads on the site in exchange for hotel rooms for us on the Tour. Three of the party were sitting near us at breakfast, this morning, oldest guy to other two; "D'you think Armstrong was a doper?" ...Silence!
To my shame, I couldn’t tell you who the reigning BBAR is, but if this was the 80’s I‘d have little problem in informing you. Cycling Weekly printed regular updates of the table standings, with the final ‘50’ on Boro’ always a big deal – that race could make or break your bid for the prestigious top twelve.
It's hard to break into the six day circuit; but if there's a local rider with promise or a road star that needs mentoring then there has to be a rider on the circuit to provide hands on guidance. Enter Austria's Andreas Müller. Müller was a member of the German track squad during the last decade with strong results, like silver in the 1999 Moscow World Cup team pursuit; Madison bronze in the Chinese round of the World Cup in 2002 and Madison gold in the Moscow and Sydney rounds of the 2003 World Cup.
It’s been a month or two since we last spoke, and it’s nearly time for Ruaraidh McLeod to head home to land of the long white cloud - but we thought we’d best say ‘congratulations’ on his first win (and see if he’s crossed paths with those Scotsmen that are also over there in Belgium).