Saturday, April 20, 2024

Tag: World Road Championships 2009

World Road Championships 2009 – Spain Did OK, No?

Some cycling pundits (aye, you Ed) have said that the Spanish team had a terrible World Championships - well bronze, a fourth, ninth and fifteenth is better than any other country than I guess Australia and Russia, although Russia only had two riders in the top twenty.

The VV View: Cometh the Hour, Cometh the Man; Cadel Evans

"Cometh the hour, cometh the man," the hour was a sunny late September afternoon in Mendrisio, Switzerland, the man was Cadel Evans.

That was La Vuelta 2009 – What’s Next?

The Vuelta has finished, so has the Tour of Britain, the Worlds are this weekend, the crosses have started and there's a nip in the air in the mornings - autumn is here. My favourite time of the year: in Scotland it rains less, the skies are blue, the air is fresh and leaves are so beautiful as they turn.

At Random

The Skin Suit – AKA The Olympics in L.A.

The Olympics in L.A. Mission Viejo, Sunday July 29th 1984 and Alexi Grewal wins the 190 kilometre Los Angeles Olympic Road Race for the United States in front of an estimated 300,000 home fans. It should have been the start of a magnificent career for the talented man from Aspen, Colorado, but it didn't work out quite like that. Despite contracts with some of the best teams of the era-Panasonic, 7-11 and RMO-and flashes of brilliance, his Euro career never caught fire and he returned to the USA. The wins came there, but to knowledgeable observers, his was always an example of unfulfilled genius.

British Time Trial Championships 2018

No Steve Cummings – saving it for the road race or just no form? - it looked like a shoot-out then between Dauphine winner, Geraint Thomas and chrono specialist Alex Dowsett (Katusha) for the British Time Trial Championships 2018. The sun was out, our spot on the hill was perfect, the marshal was sound with not a trace of Janitordom and Dave’s cheese and ham pieces were of exceptional quality. And Britain’s best bike riders were set to scoot past us. Not much more a man can want in life.

The Evolution of the Impossible Hour

British rider Dan Bigham recently set a new World Hour Record in Grenchen, Switzerland beating Victor Campenaerts’ record by 400 metres. This got us thinking about the evolution of the modern Hour Record - the 'Impossible Hour' - and how it got to where it is now.

Copenhagen Six Day 2019 – Nights Four, Five and Six

Just about everyone – except us – was late to the track on Sunday afternoon for the Copenhagen Six Day 2019; no surprise after a late Friday, early Saturday then late Saturday. There was a definite lethargic vibe in the cabins not helped by us losing Achim to a bad throat – he came in to see the doctor and organiser but looked terrible and Kris took him back to the hotel.

Scottish National Hill Climb Championship 2012

On a beautiful Scottish Borders Sunday morning, Boardman Elite’s versatile mountain biker, Grant Ferguson turned around a 10 second deficit at the top of the steep section of the Stow climb to win the Scottish Hill Climb Championship by three seconds from up and coming Steve Lawley (thebicycleworks.com), with the bronze going to Jamie Kennedy (Glasgow Couriers).

Freddy Ovett – Racing with U23 AG2R and “learning how to win”

'Ovett?' - is he any relation to Steve Ovett? Yup, his son - but we're not here to speak to or about dad, we want to hear what Freddy has to say. From runner to riding for the Ag2r-La Mondiale development squad in just two years - that's special and we just had to have a word. Especially when we found out he's 'one of us' - a Scotsman.