Friday, April 26, 2024

Tag: French

François Pervis – New World Kilo Record Breaker

Cycling never ceases to amaze me; Frenchman Kevin Sireau’s 200 metre record of 9.572 seconds set in Moscow in 2009 looked ‘on the shelf’ – as did his compatriot Arnaud Tournant’s kilometre record of 58.875 set in La Paz in 2001. But one man didn’t just break both records within virtually hours of each other – he destroyed them. François Pervis rode a 9.347 for the 200 to take two tenths off Sireau’s time – a huge margin at this level. And not satisfied with that, he then took two-and-a-half seconds off Tournant’s time in winning the kilometre, also in the Aguascalientes World Cup meeting, in an incredible 56.303.

Etoile de Bessèges 2010

It was Samuel Dumoulin (Cofidis), who 24-hours earlier was relegated for missing out a part of the route, who claimed the GC win. Race leader Arnaud Molmy (Roubaix Lille Metropole) and many others failed to start the last day after a stomach virus spread through the bunch overnight.

At Random

Evan Oliphant – the First Scottish Premier Calendar Winner

Raleigh's Evan Oliphant recently made some cycling history when he became the first Scotsman to win the Star Trophy - or as it's known now, 'The Premier Calendar.' But 'Star Trophy' just sounds so much better. The season long contest was first run in 1959 when the legendary John Perks won it the names engraved upon the silver demand respect - Les West, Hugh Porter, Phil Griffiths, Malcolm Elliott, Paul Curran and Russell Downing to name a few.

Ribble Rides with Geoff Thomas’ “The Tour 21”

Today Ribble Cycles unveiled the Ultra SL R Alumni Edition to commemorate its renewed partnership with "The Tour 21" for 2023. The Tour 21 is the vision of Geoff Thomas MBE, former professional footballer and blood cancer survivor, which sees a team of amateur cyclists (the Alumni) take on the world’s most gruelling cycling challenge by riding the full Tour de France route one week ahead of the professionals.

Saunier Duval Team Launch 2007 – Day 2

Saunier Duval Team Launch 2007. I got my SRAM piece away first thing this morning then ambled down for breakfast and to see if I could find Virginie, she's the Saunier PR girl - I met her at the Tour - she's a nice lass. I asked about interviews; "maybe tonight, but certainly tomorrow."

George Edwards – The Scot who was BLRC British Champion in 1946

George Edwards? The name might not mean much to you but along with Brian Smith, Robert Millar and David Miller he’s one of few Scotsmen who have won the British National Road Race Championship – in his case the BLRC version in 1946. George passed away in 1992 at the age of 68 but Harry Tweed connected us with George’s son who shares the same Christian name and now lives in the Netherlands. Here’s what George had to say to VeloVeritas, recently.

Gerry McDaid

Here at VeloVeritas we were saddened to learn of the death of Scottish Cycling stalwart, Gerry McDaid. Gerry died on 20th November in the Cochrane Care Home, Johnstone aged 77 years. As I young club cyclist I used to hear stories from my roadie friends about Gerry; they conveyed an image of ‘The Maximum Commissaire’ – an official not to be messed with. I carried this image with me for years but when I got to know the man I found him to affable and of the ‘common sense’ school of race officiating.

Harrison Wood – Moving up to SEG Racing Academy for 2020

It’s not just any youngster who gets a ride with the Dutch SEG Racing Academy but ‘Brit’ Harrison Wood, who recently finished a solid top 10 in the Chrono des Nations, will be riding in SEG colours for 2020.