The Rainbow Jersey

Track World Cup 2012: Day 4 - Dissapointment for Mears and Pendleton

2012-02-19T17:38:00.001Z

There was disappointment for Anna Mears and VictoriaPendleton in the Kerin, but there was success for Chris Hoy and Laura Trott.

Australia kicked off the gold rush, as they dominantly beatthe current Olympic and World Record holders Great Britain. The Brits had agood start and lead for the first four laps, but Australia was quick to pull itback. It wasn’t long before the first cracks began to show and Steven Burkedropped out. Burke was sitting in man three position, forcing his teammates toquickly rearrange themselves. Things just fell apart from team GB after thatand they lost a further second, before the finish line.

New Zealand didn’t look like they were being pushed too hardby the Belgians, in the bronze medal ride off. There was one moment of worrywhen the Kiwi’s lost their last man, but they were quick to realign themselvesto put a lot of time into the Belgians. All the riders in this event had towait since Thursday, when they set their qualifying times.

Women’s Omnium

Annette Edmondson went into the overnight break with a pointsplitting her from Tara Whitten, in second place. Laura Trott timed her Devilperformance to perfection and raised the roof, as she moved herself into thirdposition over night. Whitten and Trott got the final day off to a good start,by taking first and second respectively in the individual pursuit. The victorymoved Whitten into first overall, while Edmondson’s fifth place meant she onlyhad a one point cushion in front of Trott.

Tatsiana Sharakova decided to put herself into contention,for a top three position, when she was the only one to take a lap on the field.Sarah Hammer moved herself into the driving seat, after taking the final sprintfor second place. The result left Edmondson in second, with Whitten dropping tothird and Trott into fourth.

With only one event left, the whole competition was hangingin the balance and the final event didn’t disappoint. Trott confirmed herself amedal, by taking victory in the time-trial. It was down to the two leaders tofight it out and Edmondson raised her game and equalled herself on points withHammer. It wasn’t quite enough for the Aussie, with Hammer taking the overallvictory due to her results in the timed events.

Women’s Kerin

Simona Krupeckaite showed why she is leading the world cup playedit perfectly and outsprinted the current World Champion, Mears. The Lithuaniansat on the back wheel of the Australian and powered down the final straight.Victoria Pendleton was caught out and blocked in, causing her to try and go thelong way around. Unusually, she didn’t have to power to get around in time andhad to settle for one of the lower positions. Mears leaves the competition,after being beaten in all of her World Championship disciplines.

Individual Men’sSprint

Chris Hoy stamped his authority on the sprint and made surehe was still in contention for the Olympic Games. Jason Kenny was dealt a blow,when he was knocked out in the heats by Max Levy. Hoy met Levy in the final andmanaged to beat the German in two, by using his pure power. Levy looked like hemight take the Scot by surprise, on the second sprint, but Hoy kept calm andpowered passed the German and it certainly doesn’t look like age is slowing himdown.

Robert Förstemann caused the biggest of surprises in the decidingbronze medal race. Kevin Sireau took the first race, but Förstemann powered totake the second of the races. With nothing to lose, but a bronze medal, theteam sprint gold medallist went straight from the starting gun. Sireau was obviouslysurprised and couldn’t keep, giving Förstemann time to salute for the finallap.

Track Cycling World Cup 2012: Day 3 - Surprise in the Sprints

2012-02-19T15:07:00.000Z

World Record times were replaced by surprises, as the orderof the day, with the Women’s Sprint throwing up some big ones.

The first medal of the evening was in the Kerin where therewas no surprise, but it was no less exciting. Once the derny had done its job,Simon Van Velthooven launched a huge attack and left the rest of the packreeling. Initially the only man who could keep up with the Kiwi was the powerhouseGerman Rene Enders.

Soon the split was brought back together, mainly by theeffort of Mickael Bourgain and it was a very tight finish. Chris Hoy kept hiscool and rode around the outside, to take his 51^st medal and 35^thgold. He showed the selectors that he is still well in contention for theOlympics, with Matt Crampton finishing a lowly 11^th.

Women’s IndividualPursuit

The excitement didn’t stop there, as Joanna Rowsell claimedher second gold medal of the weekend. The Brit put in a stunning effort, tohold off a chasing Alison Shanks and put over a second into the Kiwi. Rowselllooked like she might have gone out too hard, with Shanks reducing the gap froma second to under half a second, but she kept going and drew the gap out again.

Amy Cure of Australia didn’t have it quite as comfortable,as she claimed the bronze medal. Cure edged out Vilija Sereikaite of Lithuania,by four tenths.

Women’s IndividualSprint

People were throwing out the form books, as the women’ssprint came up with all manner of surprises. There was little surprise whenAnna Mears beat Victoria Pendleton in the semi-final, with the Aussie claimingdominance over the past few years. Pendleton was primed to take herself intothe final, with the score at 1-1, but an uncharacteristic error from theOlympic Champion saw Mears dive up her inside.

This left Pendleton fighting Wai Sze Lee for the bronzemedal position; it was almost a repeat of the semi-final, as Lee dived down theinside of Pendleton. The Brit used her power to go around the outside and pipthe Hong Kong rider to the line. She was soon to get her own back and took herin the next two races and claimed the bronze medal.

Mears went into the final of the even as the big favouriteagainst Shuang Guo of China. While the bronze medal went down to a decided Guowasn’t going to give Mears the chance to fight back and she claimed the gold intwo races.

Men’s Omnium

After two days of racing, the men moved towards the final ofthe omnium event. Much more focus has been put on this event, after the decisionwas made to include it in the Olympics. The eventual winner, Juan EstebanArango was there or thereabouts in all of the events and he finished with afull 11 points less than second place. Ho Sung Cho was the man who claimedsecond, while a victory in the time-trial put Zachary Bell into third place.

Track Cycling World Cup 2012: Day 2 - The World Records Tumble

2012-02-19T14:23:00.000Z

With the Olympics only five months away, the OlympicVelodrome was set alight with World Records.

All the riders were eager to show their form, at the testevent, and it was Australia and Great Britain leading the way. Australia werethe first team to win gold, when Melissa Hoskins went with 2km to go in thewomen’s scratch race. Hoskins managed to leave the rest of the field behind andtake a great solo victory.

Women’s Team Sprint

Great Britain were next up and have changed their Women’sTeam Sprint line-up, since the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, but they are noless a force to be reckoned with. Jess Varnish has been solely focused ontraining for the opening lap and it showed when she set a British record in theheats. All the pressure was put on the five time Individual Sprint champion,Victoria Pendleton, to fight back.

The Australians weren’t going to give it to them easily andwent on to set a world record, in the semi-finals. Anna Meares and Kaarle McCoullochwill be hoping to retain the World Championship title and looked determine toget a good run into the championships. In the end, there was only three tenthsof a second between the two teams.

Women’s Team Pursuit

Surprise in the women’s Team Pursuit, with the Australiansleft to fight it out with the Netherlands for the bronze medal. The team fromdown under were too much for the Dutch and they finished almost three secondsahead of them and set a new world record.

With a new record set in the bronze medal competition, themajor final was going to be a huge battle. It was all change again for team GB,as Dani King made a return from illness and replaced an unhappy looking Wendy Houvenaghel.Great Britain was out of the blocks with great force and had Canada right onthe back foot, but the Canadians began to come back at them. The current worldand Olympic Champions didn’t panic and manage to maintain a gap of 8 tenths,when they crossed the finish line.

Men’s Team Sprint

It was a different set of countries in the final of the men’sTeam Sprint, as Germany and France did battle. It was all go from the start, asthe fastest lead out man in the world, Rene Enders went out so fast that heleft his teammates in his wake. They managed to pull it back and held off acharge back from France, to win by less than a tenth of a second. Australia andGreat Britain found themselves in an unusual position, in the bronze shootout. TeamGB were in control from the start and it was left to Chris Hoy to finish itoff.

Men’s Kilo &Points Race

The final two medals of the day were the Men’s Kilo and theMen’s Point’s race. Stefan Nimke got Germany’s second gold, as he beat MickaelD’Almeida by eight tenths of a second. Britain’s Matt Crampton could onlymanage fourth, while he recovers from an accident.

The points race provided the usual excitement with AlbertTorres and Kirill Sveshnikov taking two laps on the rest of the bunch. Elevenother riders, including Australia’s Luke Durbridge, took one lap. However itwas the two laps that helped Torres take gold, despite being beaten to thefinish line by Sveshnikov. The Spaniard beat the Russian by 16 points, who onlymanaged to take points in one sprint.

Doping: Why we should be looking to cycling's future and not its past

2012-02-16T21:08:00.000Z

Doping has always been a tense issue in cycling probablyever since people stated racing them in the 1800s.

Over the past month it has been three names that have keptcycling in the news, for all the wrong reasons. Alberto Contador, Jan Ullrichand Lance Armstrong have all been subject to doping investigations, which haveall come to some sort of conclusion.

So far, the results of all of these cases have pretty muchsent me to despair with the doping authorities. No matter if you believe theyare innocent or guilty, I don’t think anyone can be in any doubt that thehandling of these three cases has been nothing more than a shambles.

Contador andUllrich

Contador’s case came to its conclusion 19 months after theSpaniard was found with clenbuterol in his system. He was then handed out a twoyear ban, which effectively amounts to seven months; while he has been able torace during most of his ban. Ultimately, if you are going to ban him, he shouldhave his 2010 Tour de France, but his ban should start form the date of theverdict.

Ullrich’s case makes Contador’s look like it was expedited,with the German’s ban effective from 2005. With the German already well retiredit is like sacking someone, who has already left the company. Both of thesecases highlight the issue of, what I deem as useless, retrospective bans. Italso puts into question the validity of national governing bodies ruling ontheir old riders.

Why retrospectivebans are pointless

If we are going to start handing out retrospective bans,should we take away some Laurent Fignon victories while he was high on cocaine?Should Andre Agassi get lumped with a two year retrospective ban, after headmitted that he lied to the ATP about taking recreational drugs? While we’reon tennis, I think Contador should have got some lawyer advice from RichardGasquet. People who think the cyclist’s excuse was a little weaker should takea look at the Frenchman’s piss poor excuse. Gasquet claimed the reason for thepresence of cocaine in his system was down to him kissing a woman, who hadtaken it. Come on CAS where are you on this one?

The Armstrong saga

Finally we have a look at the ongoing saga, which reallyshould be put to bed now, of Armstrong and his federal review. To be honest Ithink this one should be left alone and forgotten about. Now this is nothing todo with whether I think he is innocent or guilty, but more to do with thesanity of cycling and the safety of his cancer charity.

The Federal investigation going to raise many more questionsthan answering any, if it to be opened again. To be honest the whole thing is abit like trying to bake a cake with your elbows, you’re not going to get whatyou want and you’re just going to make an almighty mess. The investigationisn’t going to be able to pinpoint a particular date, if they do deem that hehas doped, and is going to put a huge question mark over all of the American’sresults. Unusually, Pat McQuaid hit the nail on the head when he said we shouldbe focusing on cycling’s future. The past is now the past and we should befocusing on making future cycling cleaner.

Another reason I would like to see Armstrong left alone, isthe impact it could have on his cancer charity. As the member of a family whohas been well and truly impacted by cancer, I don’t want anything to be takenaway from this. His charity does too much good work and I would like it to bekept that way.

I could talk about these three cases, but i am going toleave it there. I think we can all agree that we would like to see cycling getcleaner.

Contador ban: why this isn't the end

2012-02-07T16:16:00.001Z

Finally comes the news that we were waiting for, CAS madetheir decision on the Alberto Contador clenbuterol case.

It has been 19 months since Contador gave that now infamous positivetest and we may still not have a conclusive answer. The Spaniard has 30 days toappeal and could announce his intentions, in a press conference on 7^thFebruary. If he does choose to appeal,he could have competed through his entire ban and not feel the effects of it.

Whether you think Contador is innocent or guilty, you haveto admit that this case has been handled as badly as it possibly could havebeen. I personally lean towards the side of the two/three-time Tour de France winner.However, if he is going to be punished it should be done properly and shouldactually be a punishment.

His ban will be backdated to the day of the test result,which means that he will be eligible to compete in the Vuelta later this year.While the appeal upon appeal has been looked at, Contador has been allowed tocompete and this ruling could affect around 28 stages or races. This iscompletely ridiculous and if he has been allowed to compete then the ban shouldrun from the last race run and stop just cancelling out past races. Fair enoughhe will have to lose his Tour de France title, as that is where the positivetest came from, but leave the other races as they are.

Other questions have to be raised, when you consider thatthe Spanish Federation cleared Contador of all charges. Now that the case hasgone to CAS he has been handed out a two-year ban, which is obviously on theother end of the scale. You have to ask if national federations should beallowed to decide on bans for their own riders. The Spanish Federation tookages to finally ban Alejandro Valverde, while he was already banned from racingin Italy.

I do also think it is ironic that riders like Michele Scarponi and Stefan Schumacher will inherit race positions, if the ban goes through.

I still have to say that I am on Contador’s side and banningsomeone on the case of probability and not certainty is a load of rubbish.Please tell me what you think about the ban and what the future holds forContador.

Follow this link for a list of the stages and races whichare affected by the ban: http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/new-winners-emerge-from-contadors-suspension

Fabian Cancellara discusses Alberto Contador's ban

2012-02-07T11:14:00.001Z

A brief history of the bicycle

2012-02-06T14:57:00.000Z

With some of my recent posts about the new bikes for 2012, Ithought it was about time to have a look at how the bicycle came to be.

The humble bicycle is almost unrecognisable to the roughdrawing of one of Leonardo da Vinci’s students, in the 15^th century.Despite all of the components being available to the general public, nobodyconsidered putting them all together. It wasn’t for another few hundred years,before things really got going.

Karl Drais

The real history of the bike starts with Karl FriedrichChristian Ludwig Freiherr Drais von Sauerbronn, or simply known as Karl Drais.Aristocrat, Drais was one of the most creative of his time; however, he was regularlyridiculed by his peers. Many of his inventions are still in use today,including the meat grinder, but it was his bicycle that really made his famous.

His machine consisted of two wooden wheels, one behind theother, and could be powered by moving your feet along the ground. TheLaufmaschine (running machine), invented in 1817, was the first thing toresemble the modern day bike and was the first vehicle to have to wheels placedin one line.

Dandy Horse

After the Laufmaschine came the Dandy horse, with its biggerwheels making for a much more comfortable ride. It’s inventor, Denis Johnson,was much better at marketing and found it easier to introduce to the public.

It wasn’t until the late 19^th century that thebicycle acquired pedals and a crank, but no one is too sure who put them there.There is a three way fight between Kirkpatrick MacMillan, Philipp MoritzFischer and Pierre Lallement. Most believe it is between Fischer and Lallement,with the Frenchman filling for a patent in the US in 1866. The question remainsas to when Fischer’s was invented; it is safe to say, this is where the bikebegan take its modern form.

Penny Farthing

The inclusion of the pedals seemed to do wonders for thesuccess of the bike, but the invention of the penny farthing in the 1870s was abit of a step back. It wasn’t long before it was reversed and the front wheelbecame the larger one.

J.B. Dunlop was the next man to jump on the cycling bandwagon, when he developed the hollow tyre and inner tube. Forgive the pun, butonce we hit the 20^th century the development of the bicycle racedahead.

The first road race was held between Paris and Rouen,France, in 1869. Before the UCI we had the Union Vélocipédique de France, in 1881, withthe UCI arriving in 1900. We didn’t see the Road Cycling World Championshipuntil 1927. The bicycle might havechanged almost every year, for the past 200 years, but it is still recognisableto Karl Drais’ invention.

Valverde's points won't help Movistar

2012-01-28T16:46:00.000Z

Despite Alejandro Valverde’s success at debut race, after atwo-year doping ban, his team will need to find success elsewhere, if they hopeto secure WorldTour status next year.

Last year the UCI decided that any rider coming back from adoping ban could not contribute towards the team’s ranking points. A quirk inthe rule allows riders to accumulate points and Valverde’s second place, inAustralia, puts him 19 points behind Simon Gerrans. When deciding on whether ateam should have WorldTour status, the UCI look at a number or different thingsincluding their ethical merits.

Valverde was handed his ban after a long drawn out case,which came as a result of the 2006 Operacion Puerto. Italy took the first stepand banned him in May 2009 and a year later he was given a backdated two-yearban, from all competition. Despite his time out, it looks like El Bala could beMovistar’s best chance of a big victory this year. It won’t just be this year’spoints that won’t count; the points ban will carry on throughout 2013.

I think it is safe to agree that the idea of nullifying anypoints is a good one, but I don’t think they have gone far enough. If you aregoing to ban riders from contributing towards a team’s WorldTour status, thenwhy are they allowed to potentially talk the WorldTour title. Perhaps theyshould stop riders from accumulating any WorldTour points at all. Instead ofthe two-years for the team points, they could ban them from the points for ayear. It could be a way of staggering their return into cycling. I think that was the mistake the FIA made when they removed McLaren's points, after "spygate". I think if you are going to take the team points you need to take the individual points.

Ultimately I think it is another good step towards makinglife difficult for riders who have doped. I think it will encourage riders toensure they don’t miss any tests. For all those people who diss cycling, becauseof the doping, they should think again. I think there is much more doping inother sports, it is just cycling isn’t afraid to air their dirt laundry.

2012 Vuelta a Espana: A Tough Route

2012-01-11T19:11:00.000Z

Judith Arndt: Success is her middle name

2012-01-07T16:13:00.000Z

Judith Arndt finally won the career double in 2011, as shefinally added the World Time-Trial championship to her 2004 Road Race title.

Arndt had a slightly lacklustre year, by her standards, butwas part of the German dominance in Copenhagen. Nearly ten years older than hermale counterpart, Tony Martin, Arndt has a palmarès that even Philippe Gilbertwould be jealous of.

Early Beginnings

Born in Königs Wusterhausen, Germany on July 23^rd1976, Arndt enjoyed success from an early age. Despite recent recognition onthe road, she found her early success on the track, with a few junior titles.At 17 she won her first junior title, in the individual pursuit, which wouldbecome a prerequisite to her time-trialling prowess. She started as she meantto go on and retained the title the following year, at the Germanchampionships. Arndt also managed a silver medal, in the individual pursuit, atthe junio world championship.

Arndt slowly began moving in to senior competition in 1995,but it was the following year that really announced her presence in Cycling.She stepped up to the senior ranks with one fell swoop, by taking the nationalpursuit championship and gold in the points race also. Clearly impressed by theyoung German’s early progress, the national team picked her to compete in the1996 Atlanta Olympics. Not content with success on the track Arndt got the onlycolour she was missing, by claiming the silver medal, in the German NationalRoad Racing Championships.

Onwards and Upwards

Her success curve continued to go steadily upwards and, atthe age of 21, she added the World Individual Pursuit championship to hearmedal tally, while retaining the national title also. Arndt also claimed bronzein both World Road disciplines. A couple of years later and Arndt couldn’tmanage to repeat her previous Olympic success. The German powerhouse struggledto medal in any of her events and only came close, with fourth, in the pointsrace. The poor results were put down to a viral infection she contracted beforethe event.

Despite the disappointment, this saw a big turn in hercareer and she claimed some of the biggest road victories in her career. In2001 she took to the podium, in third place, at the Grande Boucle Féminine, andfollowed that up with her first stage victory in the race, in 2002.

Courting Controversy

2004 was one of Arndt’s most successful and most controversial.After missing out on a medal in the previous Olympics, Arndt wanted to makeAthens a success. However, there was one problem; the German selectors hadchosen to leave her long-term girlfriend and sprinter Petra Rossner out of theteam, due to the high amount of talent in the team. Arndt eventually finishedin the silver position, in the road race, but decided to show her frustrationon the finish line. She gave the selectors the middle finger, but was forced toapologise for the incident.

Rossner and Arndt had been dating since they were juniorsand announced their intention to adopt, in 2006. Later in 2004 she claimed theworld road race title, to go with her UCI Road Points Championship. By 2005Arndt had become one of the most successful German cyclists, with four nationaltime-trial championships to her name, five pursuit titles and two world titlesto her name on the track and road.

A Lean Year

2011 saw Arndt’s long career in the balance, when HTCannounced their departure from the world of cycling. However it was then savedby the arrival of GreenEdge to the scene, with her formidable reputation helpingher get a position in the team. With 2012 being an Olympic year Arndt will belooking to have a much better run up to the games. If she is chosen to competefor the German team, it will be her fifth and most likely her last.

Arndt is likely to go down in history as one of the mostsuccessful female cyclists on track and road.

10 Women's Bikes for 2012

2012-01-01T19:38:00.000Z

Trek Lexa SL T Women’sRoad Bike 2012

The Trek Lexa is a perfect starter bike, for someone whowants to get a quick head start. With a combination of an aluminium framecoupled with a carbon seatpost and forks, makes the Lexa lightweight butstrong. Perfect for a commuter bike or possibly as a beginner race bike.Although it is a higher price for an aluminium bike it still seems like goodvalue for money. If you want to use as a race bike, it is advisable to changethe pedals beforehand, to your desired cleat type.

Price: £719.99

Fuji Supreme 1.02012 Women’s Road Bike

The first of two Fuji bikes in this list and one of the mostexpensive, at just under the £2000 mark. This year’s version is a more refinedversion of the 2011 edition. The top tube has been thinned out and curved, toincrease the airflow efficiency. This is a good bike for an experienced rider,who wants to get a little more out of their bike. The lightweight carbon framemakes hill climbing easy and allows for a smooth ride.

Price: £1899.99

Fuji Finest 1.02012 Women’s Road Bike

From the most expensive to one of the cheapest in this list,we go to the second Fuji bike. This model is more for the rider who wants to movefrom casual cycling in to racing, but doesn’t want to spend too much. Fuji advertisesthis as bike that would be well suited to triathlons or perhaps as a goodwinter training bike. The 30/39/50 gives you a bigger variation on gearsettings with a 10-speed 11/25 cassette; allowing beginners to ease their wayin.

Price: £764.99

Felt ZW95 2012Women’s Road Bike

The Felt ZW95 is the cheapest bike on this list and isperfect for someone who wants a good winter bike, but only has a small budget.This could also be for you if you are looking to build your fitness and get into cycling, but you don’t fancy taking part in races. The ZW95 has the basicgear set up, so with the money you have saved, you can easily upgrade for areasonable cost. A good looking design, with a aerodynamically designed toptube.

Price: £629.99

Bianchi Dama Bianca Sora Compact 2012 Riad Vuje

From the way this Dama Bianca looks you wouldn’t be able totell that this was a low cost aluminium frame. The 12/25 cassette gives youaccess to slightly lower gearing and makes life a little easier for a beginnerrider. However with only 18 gears (two less than most of the others on thislist) there are slightly bigger jumps between each gear. The curvy design anddeep pink against black gives off a nice aesthetic; a good bike for any racer,who doesn’t plan on breaking the bank.

Price: £746.99

Jamis Ventura Race2012 Women’s Road Bike

In my opinion this is probably the best looking bike and asteal for the mix of aluminium alloy and carbon, at under £1000. The Jamis has a well designed top tube andcould double up as a nice time-trial bike, for someone who doesn’t want tospend extra on a separate TT bike. The 10-speed Shimano cassette is matched upwith FSA Vero Compact chainset and a KMC DX chain. This is a good second levelbike, for a rider who is looking to move up another step.

Price: £872.99

Eddy Merckx AFX1Tiagra 2012 Women's Road Bike

Sitting a pound below the £1000 mark, the AFX1 is expensivefor an aluminium frame. However, this might be something to do with the fact thatit is kitted out head to toe with Shimano extras. The clean white paint workmight make you afraid to get this bike dirty, so perhaps not the best choice inpaint work. For the price you might expect a smoother weld, but it is a goodlooking bike nonetheless; good for an intermediate rider.

Price: £999.00

Specialized RubyElite 2012 Women’s Road Bike

The Ruby is a nice compact bike, which should provide a niceand comfortable riding position. Weight has been highly considered in themaking of this bike, including the fulcrum wheel set, making it a very goodhigh end racing bike. If you fancy yourself up the front of the peloton, thanthis might be the bike to take with you. The 11/28 cassette provides you withbigger differences between each gear choice, so you will get for from each change.The curved aerodynamic design looks good with the black and red paint.

Paint: £1799.99

Giant TCR AdvancedW

This is the most expensive bike on the list and definitely forsomeone who wants to make the most out of the racing. The superlight compositeframe gives you a smooth ride and makes riding the bike almost effortless. Gianthave paired with SRAM to make up their drivetrain, while they have chosen touse their own brand wheels. The 11/26 cassette put this one in to the middle ofthe cassette ranges. The TCR is a very nice looking bike with a nice paint job.

Price: £2999.00

Scott Contessa CR1Team 2012 Women’s Road Bike

The Scott is a good challenge to the Giant, but with a muchmore affordable price attached to it. This is perfect for a serious cyclist,who enjoys regular racing. The 12/30 cassette is the largest gear span of thebikes on this list and allows you to gain more from each gear change. It alsogive the non mountain goats a better chance of making it up those hills. Thecarbon frame provides a lightweight bike and a smooth ride.

Price: £1,709.99

10 Bikes Over £1000 for 2012

2012-01-01T13:47:00.000Z

Fuji Gran Fondo3.0 2012 Road Bike

The Gran Fondo 3.0 is the middle pricing bike of the new GranFondo range, so you can get the quality for less of the price. The carbon frameis suited to a regular racer, which should get you through most races. It is anice looking bike and you will avoid the Geox decals, which Fuji optimisticallyput on several of their bikes. The chainset holds a 34/50 chain ring, whichshould be plenty to get you up those hills.

Price: £1,439.99

Wilier Izoard XP2012 Road Bike

This is a good comfortable bike, which is perfect if you areplanning to upgrade from an aluminium frame. For 2012 Wilier have decided toupgrade the gearing system to Shimano Ultegra, which should provide smoothergear changes. It is very good value for money and you won’t find many bike, asgood, for this price. The lightweight frame is good for a sportive racer andyour fellow riders will appreciate the aesthetics.

Price: £1979.99

Specialized RoubaixComp 2012 Road Bike

The Roubaix is most expensive bike on the list, but if youfancy yourself as the next Alberto Contador than this might be the bike foryou. Specialized have won the Paris Roubaix several times, most recently withFabian Cancellara in 2010, so this is a race close to their hearts. The charcoalcolour adds a nice element to the look of the bike and it will certainly getsome admirers. The cassette is a 11-28 ten-speed Shimano 105, while thechainset is a Shimano Ultegra compact.

Price: £2,249.99

Trek Madone 3.5 CH2 2012

This is the bike named after the Col De La Madone, whichLance Armstrong used to test his fitness on. The Madone has always been a safebet and this bike should be no different; perfect for the serious racer. Thesoft ride is coupled with good acceleration and you can’t argue with a bikethat won the Tour de France seven times. It has a simple design, but stillmanages to look relatively good. You can expect a middle sized bike to weigharound 16lbs.

Price: £1,619.99

Felt Z6 2012 RoadBike

Felt advertise this bike as Tour de France technology madeaffordable and they are certainly right about the price, with the bike justbreaching the £1,000 mark. A good price for a carbon bike, at one of the cheapeston this list, which provides a nice light ride. Previous complaints have beenabout the wheels which come with it, but that is easily changed. The Z6 is agood do-up bike, with a decent frame to put on your own additions. This is adecent looking bike, with a similar colour scheme to the Specialized Roubaix.

Price: £1,147.99

Bianchi Via Nirone7 Veloce 2012

This is the cheapest bike on this list, but also one of thefew aluminium ones; they have tried to go for a carbon look. It is a top level aluminiumbike, but for a few more pounds you could easily upgrade to a carbon bike.However, the sturdy aluminium frame means that this is a very good commuterbike and good for very long distances. Again, unlike the other bikes on thislist Bianchi have gone for a Campagnolo chainset.

Price: £1,124.99

Cube 2012 AgreePro

The 2012 version of the Agree Pro is a little more expensivethan the 2011 edition, which is a little much for the aluminium frame.Different to the Bianchi, Cube have gone for an alloy frame in an attempt tokeep it light. Despite the alloy frame, you may not notice the different andthe Cube would be a good entry bike in to racing. I am not sure where the pricehike has come from, but perhaps Cube realised people were getting a steal withthe 2011 version.

Price: £1,448.99

Cinelli SaettaVeloce 2012

Cinelli might not be the biggest brand on the list, but theydo produce some good bikes. The Saetta’s top tube has been thinned out, toprovide a good aerodynamic bike and the lightness of the carbon frame adds tothis. Advertised as a mid-range bike, but is still suited to some higher levelraces without having to break the bank. Not the most adventurous of styling, butit is not a bad looking bike and can be bought with hints of red or blue.

Price: £1,899.99

Pinarello FP DueVeloce 2012

The FP Due is the upgrade of 2011’s FP2 and, as a mid-rangePinarello, it comes at a pretty high price. With this price you are paying alot for the Pinarello name and the traditional good looks, but you also get thegood build quality. One complaint about the bike was the below standard wheels,which you would expect more for the price. If you don’t have the budget tostretch to a new pair of wheels, you will either have to put up or go for acheaper bike, and use the remaining budget to get a nicer set. Perfect for ahard-core racer who sees themselves at the front of the peloton.

Price: £2,199.99

BMC Roadracer SL01105 Compact 2012 Road Bike

The Roadracer does was it says on the tin and is a very goodracing bike, but with a hefty price tag. It is not the most expensive on thelist, but it get close, despite this it is pretty decent value for money. Goodfor a club run, but will thrive as an endurance race bike; for enthusiastic riders.Shimano 105 all over and a 12-25 cassette; you can take your pick of black orred and white. As a middle of the road BMC bike, you should be pretty pleasewith the quality and the general working of the bike.

Price: £1,979.99

10 Bikes Under £1000 for 2012

2011-12-31T15:59:00.000Z

Specialized AllezTriple 2012 Road Bike

The Allez Triple is a great bike if you are just getting into road racing, with a smooth welded aluminium frame. With its Shimano Triple gearingmaking changing gear smooth and easy. This bike is also good for racers whoneed a decent winter training bike, to keep the fitness up over the off season.Previous versions of this bike have proved successful and the surprisingly lightweight frame seems to be the key. Currently you can get it in any colour, aslong as it’s black.

Price: £539.99

Cannondale CAAD8 7SORA Compact 2012 Road Bike

The CAAD8 7 Sora might have a bit of a rubbish name, but itis good for getting around and using for day rides. If you want to stop yourhands from getting too sore, you may want to buy your own handlebar tape as theone with the bike doesn’t hold much padding. Another light aluminium frame,which means you can keep up, on the hills, with some of the carbon bikes. Goodbike if you haven’t ridden for a while.

Price: £674.99

BMC Street RacerSR01 Tiagra Compact 2012

The BMC stock has gone up in the past year, with huge successeson the pro circuit, so this slick looking bike will be great little addition.However, with success comes a price and this bike is one of the more expensive aluminiumframes on the market. The compact is a good bike to get to and from work, butwon’t embarrass you on a club ride either. Despite the name, you can get it inframe sizes, suitable up to 200cm.

Price: £899.99

Fuji Roubaix 2.02012

The Fuji Roubaix is a harder wearing bike, inspired by theinfamous French race. Perfect if you plan on spending much longer days in thesaddle or perhaps training for a big race. Supplier of the now defunct Geoxteam, their bikes rode to success in the 2011 Vuelta a Espana. Fuji don’t makemany models, but the ones they do make are good quality. You may not becompletely sold on it’s looks, but few find any fault with how the bikes rides.

Price: £899.99

Cannondale Synapse5 105 2012

The second Cannondale in this list sports a sturdy alloyframe and a much better name. Like the Fuji before it, this bike proves good onthose longer rides and works well as a commuter bike. Its previous edition theSynapse Tiagra sold well, but there were complaints regarding the brakes andgear shifting. You may not want to consider this bike as a racer, but suitablefor winter training rides. The cool grey colour might be to everyone’s taste,but it makes a pretty good looking bike.

Price: £989.99

SpecializedSecteur Elite 2012 Road Bike

Another Roubaix inspired bike, for those who prefer to be onit rather than off it. The aluminium frame means this bike is sturdy andreliable, but light enough to not restrict you. One complaint with the previousmodel was the cheap pedals, but that is easily changed and for not much money.The wheelset has been upgraded and as have the gears, to a 10 speed. TheSecteur is an easy bike to make transition from other forms of bike riding andlooks good to.

Price: £899.99

Scott SpeedsterS40 2012 Road Bike

The speedster is a deceptively easy bike to ride and thealloy frames makes it good on a hilly ride. A good Sunday club ride bike and definitely value for money. At under£800 you can spend any of you remaining budget on a slick new kit to match.This is a good middle range bike, for anyone who doesn’t want to harm theirbank balance too much. It is a nice design and a good bike, which should do youwell for several years to come.

Price: £764.99

Felt Z95 2012

Garmin-Cervelo have sworn by these bikes for a few years nowand, this cheap alternative to the pro bike, is good for anyone who is startingto race for the first time. The Felt Endurance Road custom 7005 is light, butstrong, and means you won’t be left behind. This bike is built for enduranceand would be a good one to pick for a cycling holiday, as well as stage races.

Price: £616.99

Cube 2012 PelotonRace Triple

This is the most expensive bike on the list, at a couple ofpounds below the 1000 mark, and probably the brightest coloured bike too. Thename is a bit of a giveaway, with this bike proving good in the peloton of yourlocal race. Weight saving techniques have been taken very seriously, even downto how the paint is applied. The decals are applied while the paint is wet,saving those extra few grams of weight. The aluminium frame belies the priceand you won’t be getting as much value for money, as you do with some of theother frames on the list, but it will prove a good little run around.

Price: £998.99

GT GTR Series 4Compact 2012 Road Bike

Going from one of the most expensive to one of the cheapest andthis GT is great for people making a comeback in to cycling. A very durablebike, good for difficult rides, and suitable for lower skill level races. The previousmodel had problems with gear shifting and would occasionally jump down a coupleof gears, but there are no indications this one is the same. A comfortable rideand definitely giving you value for money.

Price: £629.99

Alberto Contador's Clenbuterol Timeline

2011-11-29T20:14:00.001Z

Alberto Contador has announced his intentions to compete inthe 2012 Tour de France and Olympic Games. However his entry hangs in thebalance, depending on the verdict in his pending Clenbuterol case. In case youhave been under a rock for the past year, here is a timeline from failed testto CAS hearing.

21^st July2010 – Contador takes a test on thesecond rest day, during the Tour de France, after dinner with the team.

30^thSeptember 2010 – It is revealed that the test taken on 21^stJuly, during the Tour de France, had tested positive for micro levels of Clenbuterol.Contador immediately calls a press conference and says the stray clenbuterolcame from contaminated steak.

6^thOctober 2011 – Dr Jordi Segura, who developed the testing method that foundthe minimal levels of Clenbuterol in Contador’s blood, says the plasticizersalso found are a certain indication of a blood transfusion. It has never beenofficially confirmed that plasticizers were found, however, the New York Timesand L’Equipe printed these claims.

27th January 2011 – Presidentof the Spanish Cycling Federation, Juan Carlos Castano, tells Spanish radiostation, Tablero Deportivo, that he has recommended a one-year ban for ElPistolero. Contador has also indicated that he may retire from cycling, if heis banned from the sport.

30^thJanuary 2011 – Contador decided to leave a Saxo Bank training camp andreturn to his home town of Pinto, to be close to his family.

8^thFebruary 2011 – Contador submits an appeal against the proposal to ban himfor one year. He also holds another press conference to tell the world of hisintentions.

15^thFebruary 2011 – The Spanish Cycling Federation overturns their decision andclear Contador of doping and give him the all clear to race again.

24^th March2011 – The UCI say they will appeal the decision to clear Contador of hisdoping charges at the Court of Sporting Arbitration. WADA then put their hat inthe ring and decide to appeal the decision also. The hearing is pencilled infor later in the year, in June.

7^th May2011 – Despite the ongoing inquiry in to his positive test, forClenbuterol, Contador is allowed to compete in the Giro d’Italia and goes on towin the event by over 6 minutes.

26th May 2011 – CASdelay the appeal hearing date, to give both parties time to prepare properlyfor it. The hearing has been postponed until September and Contador will beallowed to compete in the Tour de France.

26^th July2011 – Two months after announcing the delay in the hearing, CAS announceanother postponement. Contador’s case will now be heard in November.

17^thSeptember 2011 – WADA announce their consideration for relaxing theabsolute ban on Clenbuterol. The World Anti-Doping Agency made theannouncement, after a string of riders claiming their positive test has comefrom contaminated beef.

24^thNovember 2011 – The four day hearing in to Contador’s positive Clenbuteroltest and the three-time Tour de France champion will have to wait until the NewYear to find out the result. If the UCI and WADA get their way, Contador willhave a two-year ban and won’t be able to compete in next year’s Olympic Games.

Tour de Clock - Will Andy Schleck be the bridesmaid again?

2011-10-28T20:26:00.000+01:00

The hearts of both the Schleck brothers collectivelydropped, when they discovered the route of the 2012 Tour de France.

Frank and Andy put on a brave face at the unveiling of thenext Tour route, despite it having 100km against the clock. 2012 looks to be avery different year for the Grand Tours, with the Giro much flatter than itspredecessor. The Olympic Games has probably got something to do with it, withriders not wanting to tire themselves out before the Games. The Grand Bouclewill start a week earlier than normal to accommodate the games.

With Frank and Andy were staring down the barrel of yetanother defeat, there were a few riders rubbing their hands with glee. NamelyCadel Evans, Alberto Contador, Bradley Wiggins and Samuel Sanchez, who are bothgood in the mountains and against the clock. The battle between Contador (if heis allowed to race) and Evans should provide us with some thrilling racing.Bradley Wiggins is sure to have a grin on his face, after claiming silver inthe World Time-Trial championships. He also proved he climbing prowess a fewweeks earlier, in the Vuelta a Espana.

If Team Sky allow Chris Froome to ride the Tour, we couldsee the two riders fighting for another leader’s jersey. Sky will have to becareful to make sure they don’t hinder themselves and cut their losses, if theyfeel one is falling behind. Sanchezmight not be as prolific as the others, but the 2011 King of the Mountainscould certainly reach a podium. The newly time-trial king Tony Martin couldalso be a contender for a top-ten position, in the general classiment.

Mark Cavendish is going to like this route much more, with alot less climbing to contend with. He is likely to have some stiff competitionfrom Peter Sagan and Marcel Kittel. The German and the Slovakian have notreally had the chance to go head to head with the Manx express. They willsurely get the chance in Cycling’s biggest race, after their great performancesin 2011. The fight for the green jersey will be another hot contest.

Mountains, like in the Giro, are much less of a focus innext year’s race, which means anyone who wants the polka-dot jersey cannot takea softly-softly approach. Jelle Vanendert will be eager to get his own back onSanchez, who took the jersey from him on the final mountain stage. With so manytime-trial stages, the Schlecks will look to make their impact during themountain stages. So we could see one of the Luxembourgish riders donning themaillot grimpeur, as they make their bid for the leader’s jersey.

The 2012 Tour de France is set to be another thriller and,with most of the riders preparing for the Olympics, we should expect somefireworks.

P	30 June	Liège – Liège	6.1 km (4 mi)	Individual time trial
1	1 July	Liège – Seraing	198 km (123 mi)	Flat stage
2	2 July	Visé – Tournai	207 km (129 mi)	Flat stage
3	3 July	Orchies – Boulogne-sur-Mer	197 km (122 mi)	Medium-mountain stage
4	4 July	Abbeville – Rouen	214 km (133 mi)	Flat stage
5	5 July	Rouen – Saint-Quentin	197 km (122 mi)	Flat stage
6	6 July	Épernay – Metz	210 km (130 mi)	Flat stage
7	7 July	Tomblaine – La Planche des Belles Filles	199 km (124 mi)	Medium-mountain stage
8	8 July	Belfort – Porrentruy	154 km (96 mi)	Medium-mountain stage
9	9 July	Arc-et-Senans – Besançon	38 km (24 mi)	Individual time trial
	10 July	Rest day
10	11 July	Mâcon – Bellegarde-sur-Valserine	194 km (121 mi)	Mountain stage
11	12 July	Albertville – Fontcouverte-la-Toussuire/Les Sybelles	140 km (87 mi)	Mountain stage
12	13 July	Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne – Annonay/Davézieux	220 km (137 mi)	Medium-mountain stage
13	14 July	Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux – Cap d'Agde	215 km (134 mi)	Flat stage
14	15 July	Limoux – Foix	192 km (119 mi)	Mountain stage
15	16 July	Samatan – Pau	160 km (99 mi)	Flat stage
	17 July	Rest day
16	18 July	Pau – Bagnères-de-Luchon	197 km (122 mi)	Mountain stage
17	19 July	Bagnères-de-Luchon – Peyragudes	144 km (89 mi)	Mountain stage
18	20 July	Blagnac – Brive-la-Gaillarde	215 km (134 mi)	Flat stage
19	21 July	Bonneval – Chartres	52 km (32 mi)	Individual time trial
20	22 July	Rambouillet – Paris (Champs-Élysées)	130 km (81 mi)	Flat stage

The funniest interview with Frank and Andy Schleck

2011-10-20T13:36:00.001+01:00

2012 Giro d'Italia Swaps Mountains for Sprints

2011-10-19T22:08:00.000+01:00

Reigning champion Alberto Contador has given to 2012 Giro d’Italiahis seal of approval, after calling it ‘more human’.

New Giro boss, Michele Acquarone, has gone for a completelydifferent approach, to his predecessor Angelo Zomegnan. Compared with thisyear, which contained only four flat stages, 2012 will have a massive sevenflat stages. With so many flat stages, there are sure to be plenty of sprintershopeful of the red sprinter’s jersey. Mark Cavendish might look for the triplein 2012, with the Giro, Tour and Olympics. It could be possible, with theflatter nature of all of the events.

The serious mountain stages have also done a completereversal; with four next year, compared to this 2011’s eight. Michele Scarponistruggled on some of the mountains during the 2012 season, but the less severenature of the route could help him towards his first title. Contador hasalready said that his focus will be the Tour de France, so Scarponi has hisbest chance.

With so many less mountain stages, so many mountains had tobe left out in next year’s route. Most notable of the omittances are the Passodel Bocco, where Wouter Weylandt crashed, and the Monte Crostis. The later washyped up, for the 2011 event, and had been intended to be included in the Queenstage. After much criticism, the mountain was taken out and replaced with theTualis. Organisers were then forced to remove the Tualis, when fans who’dcamped on the Crostis decided to vent their frustration and block the road.

Whoever wants to win the event will still have to produce agood time-trial. Instead of starting with a team-trial, the organisers havegone for an individual and moved the team event to later in the tour. The finalstage will be a team time-trial, which will mean the winner could be decided by his team's performance.

Despite the easier nature of the route, the organisers havegone for a similar distance. This year’s route was 3479km, while next year willbe only a couple of kilometres shorter at 3476.4km. With the Olympics later inthe year, it will be difficult to guess who might choose to ride the Italianrace.

Stages

1	5 May	Herning	8.7 km (5.4 mi)	Individual time trial
2	6 May	Herning to Herning	206 km (128 mi)	Flat stage
3	7 May	Horsens to Horsens	190 km (118 mi)	Flat stage
	8 May	Rest day
4	9 May	Verona	32.2 km (20.0 mi)	Team time trial
5	10 May	Modena to Fano	199 km (124 mi)	Flat stage
6	11 May	Urbino to Porto Sant'Elpidio	207 km (129 mi)	Medium mountain
7	12 May	Recanati to Rocca di Cambio	202 km (126 mi)	Medium mountain
8	13 May	Sulmona to Lago Laceno	229 km (142 mi)	Medium mountain
9	14 May	San Giorgio del Sannio to Frosinone	171 km (106 mi)	Flat stage
10	15 May	Civitavecchia to Assisi	187 km (116 mi)	Medium mountain
11	16 May	Assisi to Montecatini Terme	243 km (151 mi)	Flat stage
12	17 May	Seravezza to Sestri Levante	157 km (98 mi)	Medium mountain
13	18 May	Savona to Cervere	121 km (75 mi)	Flat stage
14	19 May	Cherasco to Cervinia	205 km (127 mi)	Mountain stage
15	20 May	Busto Arsizio to Lecco-Pian dei Resinelli	172 km (107 mi)	Mountain stage
	21 May	Rest day
16	22 May	Limone sul Garda to Falzes-Pfalzen	174 km (108 mi)	Medium mountain stage
17	23 May	Falzes-Pfalzen to Cortina d'Ampezzo	187 km (116 mi)	Mountain stage
18	24 May	San Vito di Cadore to Vedelago	139 km (86 mi)	Flat stage
19	25 May	Treviso to Alpe di Pampeago	197 km (122 mi)	Mountain stage
20	26 May	Caldes-Val di Sole to Passo dello Stelvio	218 km (135 mi)	Mountain stage
21	27 May	Milan	31.5 km (19.6 mi)	Team time trial

TdF: Frank Schleck discusses the 2012 route

2011-10-18T20:01:00.001+01:00

Is Cavendish's move to Sky a good choice?

2011-10-12T20:01:00.000+01:00

Cycling’s worst kept secret has finally been revealed, withMark Cavendish confirming he is heading to Team Sky; but is the Manx missilemaking the right choice?

There have long been rumours that Cav was heading to theBritish-based team, but his hand was forced when HTC decided to pull out ofcycling. The newly crowned World Road Champion will be joining some of the menwho helped him take the title in Copenhagen. Including this year’s Vuelta successes,Bradley Wiggins and Chris Froome, and Welshman Geraint Thomas. Other Grand Tourare Edvald Boasson-Hagen and, for the first time, another Manxman PeterKennaugh. So, do Sky have the mother of all teams or the mother of allnightmares?

This really could go either way for the team; with so manycooks though it is far too easy to spoil the broth. Cav will be heartened thathis right-hand man, Bernie Eisel, will be joining him and is one tick on thelist for a lead out train. Thomas worked hard for Cavendish in the WorldChampionships and helped him get to the front, when he had fallen so far backin the group. Will the Welsh rider want to sacrifice chances of his own, to getCav the vital stage wins in a Grand Tour? I can’t imagine he is going to hangback on the mountains to make sure Cav makes it over in time.

In the past Cav has had teammates who have given up theirown dreams to help him out and hope he would give them a symbolic victory,somewhere down the line. Even the best get tired out helping out their teamleader and Fabian Cancellara was a prime example, when he just slid in to thetop ten in the 2010 Tour de France individual time-trial. Wiggins (and nowFroome) has his own Grand Tour hopes; the 31-year-old is running out of time totake victory in one of the big three and will want to take all the chances hehas.

The person I feel sorry for in this whole thing is Ben Swift;he is going to turn in to the talented version of Andre Greipel. Boasson-Hagen issafe, because he is different kind of sprinter and is not too bad on themountains. Swift has had a good year, winning five big stages in 2011. He isnow going to have to settle for the races Cav doesn’t want.

Sky have either got the recipe for a perfect year or an unmitigateddisaster. We’ve either got a Schleck type love in or we’re going to have aLance Armstrong and Alberto Contador type war. However it ends, I am lookingforward to the 2012 season.

2012 Tour de France route accidentally revealed

2011-10-10T20:02:00.001+01:00

The official tour website accidentally leaked what looks like next year's route map and some lucky soul got a couple of screen shots. There will be a few happy campers like Cadel Evans, Alberto Contador, Samuel Sanchez and Bradley Wiggins, with two individual time-trials and the prologue is back. The Schleck brothers won't be best pleased. Andy will have to work even harder on his TT skills, if 2012 is to be his year.

Tour of Beijing: Good for Cycling or Bad for Cyclists

2011-10-08T19:28:00.000+01:00

The inaugural Tour of Beijing is nearing its end and therehas been mixed reviews from the cycling community. So is the Tour of Beijinggood for cycling or bad for cyclists?

To be honest I think it is a bit of both; cycling needs to broadenits horizons, but not at the expense of the riders’ health. Cycling in Asia,when you compare it to Europe and even America, is almost non-existent. Withsome big sponsors dropping out of the sport (not mentioning any names HTC) andplaces like China are full of big business companies, who would be very willingto invest.

With sports like football and rugby, you can rely on ticketsales to keep a team’s finances going. Cycling is a free sport to watch andultimately it needs investors to keep it floating, but the UCI need to takecare with the cyclists’ health. Surely a week in the smog cannot be good forthem; they have been riding, during times the news channels advise you to avoidany outdoor sports. I would like to see cycling spread the globe, but placeswhere the air is much clearer should have been chosen.

Perhaps a Tour of China would have been better, so theriders could have really got out of the city and in to some cleaner air. Iwould love to see a South American or African races grace the UCI calendar. Wecertainly aren’t short of South American riders, so why can’t we give them thechance to ride in front of their home crowds.

I think the Tour of Beijing is good for cycling, but perhapsmore needs to be done to make sure the UCI Tour goes to places that don’t putthe cyclists at risk.

La Sexta Interview with Alberto Contador (With Subtitles)

2011-10-05T17:36:00.001+01:00

World Champs: Mark Cavendish and Geraint Thomas interviews

2011-09-25T16:59:00.000+01:00

World Champs: Mark Cavendish takes the Rainbow Jersey Ahead of Matt Goss

2011-09-25T15:51:00.000+01:00

Mark Cavendish becomes the first male British Road CyclingWorld Champion, since Tom Simpson did it in 1965, after a tense sprint to theline.

Cavendish already has two Madison World Championship titlesand came in to this year’s event as one of the clear favourites. There were sometense moments as his lead out men Geraint Thomas and Ian Stannard lookedfrantically around for the Manxman. Thomas has to drop down the field, as theywere heading around the final corner, to find him, but the Welshman delivered himto the front on time.

The Manx express then had to do the work for himself, withnone of his teammates around; he clung to the back wheels of his rivals. Hefinally launched his attack with around 200 metres to go and beat his, soon tobe former, trade team teammate Matt Goss, by half a bike length. With thedemise of HTC Goss will be moving to Green Edge and is looking to make his markon the sprinting world. The Aussie got a good lead out from, his German-born,teammate Heinrich Haussler, but he couldn’t quite manage to stay ahead of Cav.

Fabian Cancellara missed out on his second bronze of thechampionships, as he was pipped by Andre Greipel to the final podium spot. Lastyear’s champion Thor Hushovd couldn’t do a repeat of his sprint finish, afterhe was caught up in a crash on the final lap. Hushovd lost over two minutes inthe crash and he couldn’t bridge the gap, before the end of the race. Alsocaught up in the crash was Frank Schleck, which ended his title ambitions.

The Norwegian’s teammate Edvald Boasson Hagen could onlymanaged eight; he probably would have hoped for a bigger hill. Ahead of BoassonHagen was Jurgen Roelandts, Romain Feillu and Borut Bozic, in fourth, fifth andsixth respectively.

Unlike the Women’s race, the men really made an attempt fora breakaway right from the off. It took until they had completed a lap of thecity before a seven man breakaway stuck. Pablo Lastras was one of those men inthe lead group and clearly hoped he could do a repeat of his Vuelta stagevictory, where he got in to the day’s successful breakaway. It was the Britishteam who did most of the work to bring the leaders back, with Bradley Wigginsalmost turning himself inside out to get them back. A few late attempts at abreakaway failed to work and it was all brought back together with 7km left togo.

World Champs: Bronzini and Vos interviews

2011-09-24T20:41:00.000+01:00

World Champs: Bronzini retains her title while Vos settles for another second

2011-09-24T20:36:00.001+01:00

Giorgia Bronzini rode to her second consecutive World RoadChampionship, while Marianne Vos had to settle for second yet again.

Bronzini and her Italian team timed the sprint to perfection,as she launched herself off the front and beat Vos by a mere half a wheel. Vosran out of road, as she chased the defending champion, and had to settle forher fifth silver medal in a row. The Dutch rider tried to move out from behindthe bunch, but Teutenberg was also beginning her sprint and momentarily blockedher. This is now Italy’s fourth women’s title in five years, only interruptedby Nicole Cooke in Verese.

Teutenberg’s attack faded towards the line and she was passedby Vos, but still managed to hold off Cooke. It looked like it was going to bean exact repeat of the podium in Geelong, but Cooke timed it slightly wrong andcouldn’t catch up with the German. Her teammate Lizzie Armitstead was, for many,one of the pre race favourites, but she could only manage seventh.

While most of the race was pretty docile, with the womentaking the first few laps of Copenhagen easy, a few crashes at the end cause problemsfor some hopefuls. Linda Villumsen was caught up with a crash on the final lap,which pulled her out of contention. The Kiwi was the only rider from NewZealand and wanted to add another medal to her time-trial silver.

It took Clara Hughes to light the touch paper, with in thepeloton, when she made a 44 second break, with 2 laps to go. Despite a lead ofless than a minute, Hughes managed to stay ahead until 3km to go. Canada wasone of the big favourites going in to the race, with a pretty strong team, butJoelle Numainville was their top performer in 12^th.

It is unlikely we will see a repeat of last year’s podium inthe men’s event, tomorrow, with some top sprinters eyeing up the prize.

Video: Pat McQuaid "Cycling has an anit-doping culture"

2011-09-24T13:56:00.002+01:00

and a second video, where McQuiad praises the World Championships in Copenhagen, Denmark

World Champs: Fabian Cancellara Pre-Race Interview

2011-09-24T09:36:00.001+01:00

World Champs: Thor Hushovd Pre-Race press conference

2011-09-24T09:29:00.001+01:00

World Champs: Elite Men's Road Race 2011 Start List

2011-09-23T16:12:00.001+01:00

1 Thor Hushovd NORWAY
2 Kurt Asle Arvesen
3 Edvald Boasson Hagen
4 Gabriel Rasch

5 Carlos Barredo Llamazeles SPAIN
6 Imanol Erviti Ollo
7 Juan Antonio Flecha Giannoni
8 Oscar Freire Gomez
9 Juan Manuel Garate Cepa
10 Pablo Lastras Garcia
11 Vicente Raynes Mimo
12 Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil
13 Luis Leon Sanchez Gil

14 Kevin De Weert BELGIUM
15 Philippe Gilbert
16 Olivier Kaisen
17 Björn Leukemans
18 Klaas Lodewyck
19 Nick Nuyens
20 Jurgen Roelandts
21 Greg Van Avermaet
22 Johan Van Summeren

23 Daniele Bennati ITALY
24 Francesco Gavazzi
25 Sacha Modolo
26 Daniel oss
27 Luca Paolini
28 Manuel Quinziato
29 Matteo Tosatto
30 Giovanni Visconti
31 Elia Viviani

32 Simon Clarke AUSTRALIA
33 Baden Cooke
34 Simon Gerrans
35 Matthew Harley Goss
36 Heinrich Haussler
37 Mathew Hayman
38 Stuart O'Grady
39 Michael Rogers
40 Christopher Sutton

41 Mark Cavendish GREAT BRITAIN
42 Stephen Cummings
43 Christopher Froome
44 Jeremy Hunt
45 David Millar
46 Ian Stannard
47 Gerraint Thomas
48 Bradley Wiggins

49 Lars Boom NETHERLANDS
50 Johnny Hoogerland
51 Steven Kruikswijk
52 Pim Ligthart
53 Bauke Mollema
54 Wout Poels
55 Niki Terpstra
56 Maarten Tjallingii
57 Pieter Weening

58 John Degenkolb GERMANY
59 Bert Grabsch
60 André Greipel
61 Danilo Hondo
62 Marcel Kittel
63 Andreas Klier
64 Christian Knees
65 Tony Martin
66 Marcel Sieberg

67 Brent Bookwater UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
68 Matthew Busche
69 Timothy Duggan
70 Tyler Farrar
71 Benjamin King
72 Jeffry Louder
73 John Murphy
74 Taylor Phinney
75 Andrew Talansky

76 Laurent Didier LUXEMBOURG
77 Jean-Pierre Drucker
78 Ben Gastauer
79 Christian Poos
80 Frank Schleck

81 Sylvain Chavanel FRANCE
82 Samuel Demoulin
83 Romain Feillu
84 Tony Gallopin
85 Blel Kadri
86 Yoann Offredo
87 Anthony Ravard
88 Anthony Roux
89 Thomas Voeckler

90 Michael Albasini SWITZERLAND
91 Fabian Cancellara
92 Martin Kohler
93 Grégory Rast

94 Lars Ytting Bak DENMARK
95 Jakob Fuglsang
96 Anders Lund
97 Michael Morkov
98 Chris Anker Sorensen
99 SÖRENSEN Nicki Sorensen

100 Dmitriy Fofonov KAZAKHSTAN
101 Maxim Iglinskiy
102 Yevgeniy Nepomnyachshiy
103 Sergey Renev

104 Matt Brammeier IRELAND
105 Daniel Martin
106 Nicolas Roche

107 Winner Andrew Anacona Gomez COLOMBIA
108 Ivan Mauricio Casas Buitrago
109 Leonardo Fabio Duque
110 Miguel Angel Rubiano Chavez
111 Jose Rodolfo Serpa Perez
112 Rigoberto Uran Uran

113 Grega Bole SLOVENIA
114 BOZIC Borut Bozic
115 Janez Brajkovic
116 Jure Kocjan
117 Kristjan Koren
118 Gorazd Stangelj

119 Pavel Brutt RUSSIAN FEDERATION
120 Denis Galimzyanov
121 Mikhail Ignatyev
122 Vladimir Isaichev
123 Timofey Kritskiy
124 Alexander Porsev

125 Hossein Askari ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN
126 Mehdi Sohrabi
127 Amir Zargari

128 Adnane Aarbia MOROCCO
129 Ismail Ayoune
130 Mohamed Said El Ammoury
131 Adil Jelloul
132 Mouhssine Lahsaini
133 Abdelati Saadoune

134 Andre Fernando S. Martins Cardoso PORTUGAL
135 Filipe Duarte Sousa Cardoso
136 Manuel Antonio Leal Cardoso
137 Rui Costa
138 Ricardo Jorge Correia Mestre
139 Nélson Filipe S Simoes Oliveira

140 Maciej Bodnar POLAND
141 Michal Golas
142 Bartosz Huzarski
143 Michal Kwiatkowski
144 Maciej Paterski
145 Marek Rutkiewicz

146 Artur Albeiro Garcia Rincon VENEZUELA
147 Tomas Aurelio Gil Martinez
148 Honorio Rafael Machado Perez
149 Carlos José Ochoa
150 Miguel Armando Ubeto Aponte

151 Yukiya Arashiro JAPAN
152 Fumiyuki Beppu
153 Takashi Miyazawa

154 Frekalsi Debesay ERITREA
155 Semere Mengis
156 Daniel Teklehaymanot

157 Oleg Chuzhda UKRAINE
158 Denys Kostyuk
159 Oleksandr Kvachuk
160 Yuriy Metlushenko
161 Anatoliy Pakhtusov
162 Oleksandr Sheydyk

163 Tomislav Danculovic CROATIA
164 Kristijan Durasek
165 Robert Kiserlovski
166 Matija Kvasina
167 Hrvoje Miholjevic
168 Radoslav Rogina

169 Rafael Andriato BRAZIL
170 Otavio Bulgarelli
171 Gregory Panzio

172 Mert Mutlu TURKEY

173 Gediminas Bagdonas LITHUANIA
174 Ignatas Konovalovas
175 Aidis Kruopis

176 Yauheni Hutarovich BELARUS
177 Aliaksandr Kuschynski
178 Kanstantsin Siutsou

179 Juan José Haedo ARGENTINA
180 Lucas Sebastian Haedo
181 Maximiliano Richeze

182 Stefan Denifl AUSTRIA
183 Bernhard Eisel
184 Thomas Rohregger

185 Jan Barta ESTONIA
186 Petr Benick
187 Roman Kreuziger
188 Tanel Kangert
189 Rene Mandri
190 Mart Ojavee

191 Michael Barry CANADA
192 Svein Tuft
193 David Veilleux

194 Gonzalo Garrido CHILE
195 Carlos Ivan Oyarzun
196 Andrey Sartasov

197 Jack Bauer NEW ZEALAND
198 Julian Dean
199 Gregory Henderson

200 Fredrik Kessiakoff SWEDEN
201 Jonas Sljungblad
202 Thomas Lofkvist

203 Ivan Stevic SERBIA

204 Ioannis Tamouridis GREECE

205 Aleksejs Saramotins LATVIA

206 Peter Sagan SLOVAKIA
207 Martin Velits
208 Peter Velits

209 Andrei Nechita ROMANIA

210 Krisztian Lovassy HUNGARY

World Champs: Elite Women's Road Race 2011 Start List

2011-09-23T15:14:00.001+01:00

1 Giorgia Bronzini ITALY
2 Monia Baccaille
3 Noemi Cantele
4 Elena Cecchini
5 Tatiana Guderzo
6 Elisa Longo Borghini
7 Valentina Scandolara
8 Alessandra D'Ettorre

9 Chantal Blaak NETHERLANDS
10 Lucinda Brand
11 Martine Bras
12 Loes Gunnewijk
13 Annemiek Van Vleuten
14 Marianne Vos
15 Kirsten Wild

16 Judith Arndt GERMANY
17 Charlotte Becker
18 Lisa Brennauer
19 Sarah Duster
20 Claudia Hausler
21 Ina-Yoco Teutenberg
22 Trixi Worrack

23 Emilia Fahlin SWEDEN
24 Emma Johansson
25 Marie Lindberg
26 Sara Mustonen
27 Madelene Olsson
28 Isabelle Soderberg
29 Martina Thomasson

30 Elizabeth Armitstead GREAT BRITAIN
31 Katie Colclough
32 Nicole Cooke
33 Sharon Laws
34 Lucy Martin
35 Emma Pooley
36 Catherine Willianson

37 Tatiana Antoshina RUSSIAN FEDERATION
38 Svetlana Bubnenkova
39 Alexandra Burchenkova
40 Oxana Kozonchuk
41 Julia Martisova
42 Olga Zabelinskaya

43 Theresa Cliff-Ryan UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
44 Robin Farina
45 Amanda Miller
46 Amber Neben
47 Shelley Olds
48 Evelyn Stevens

49 Evelyn Ayrs BELGIUM
50 Liesbet De Vocht
51 Sofie De Vuyst
52 Ludivine Henrion
53 Maaike Polspoel
54 Grace Verbeke

55 Shara Gillow AUSTRALIA
56 Rochelle Gilmore
57 Chloe Hosking
58 Jessie Maclean
59 Carla Ryan
60 Amanda Spratt
61 Vicki Whitelaw

62 Clara Hughes CANADA
63 Leah Kirchmann
64 Joelle Numainville
65 Denise Ramsden
66 Rhae-Christie Shaw
67 Tara Whitten
68 Erinne Willock

69 Aude Biannic FRANCE
70 Audrey Cordon
71 Magdalena De Saint
72 Christel Ferrier-Bruneau
73 Julie Krasniak
74 Melodie Lesueur

75 Inga Cilvinaite LITHUANIA
76 Edita Janeliunaite
77 Urte Juodvalkyte
78 Rasa Leleivyte
79 Aleksandra Sosenko
80 Katarzyna Sosna

81 Chantal Hoffmann LUXEMBOURG
82 Nathalie Lamborelle
83 Fabienne Schauss

84 Linda Melanie Villumsen NEW ZEALAND

85 Alona Andruk UKRAINE
86 Olena Pavlukhina
87 Tetyana Riabchenko
88 Eugeniia Vysotska

89 Robyn De Groot SOUTH AFRICA
90 Ashleigh Moolman
91 Cherise Taylor
92 Joanna Van De Winkel

93 Liisi Rist ESTONIA
94 Grete Treier

95 Emilie Aubry SWITZERLAND
96 Jennifer Hohl
97 Pascale Schnider
98 Patricia Schwager

99 Alena Amialiusik BELARUS
100 Alena Sitsko

101 Paulina Brazezna POLAND
102 Malgorzta Jasinska
103 Sylwia Kapusta

104 Nontasin Chanpeng THAILAND
105 Monrudee Chapookham
106 Jutatip Maneephan

107 Emilie Moberg NORWAY
108 Lise Nostvold
109 Thea Thorsen

110 Mei Yu Hsiao CHINESE TAIPEI
111 Ho Hsun Huang
112 Hsiao Chia Tseng

113 Lilibeth Chacon Garcia VENEZUELA
114 Danielys Garcia
115 Angie Sabrina Gonzalez

116 Andrea Graus AUSTRIA
117 Jacqueline Hahn
118 Daniela Pintarelli

119 Polona Batagelj SLOVENIA
120 Alenka Novak
121 Rutar Tjasa

122 Michelle Lauge DENMARK
123 Julie Leth
124 Dorte Lohse Rasmussen

125 Marcia Fernandes Silva BRAZIL
126 Luciene Ferreira Silva
127 Flavia Oliveira

128 Mayuko Hagiwara JAPAN

129 Martina Ruzickova CZECH REPUBLIC

130 Siobhan Horgan IRELAND

131 Pia Sundstedt FINLAND

132 Eneritz Iturriagaechvarria Mazaga SPAIN
133 Belen Lopez Morales
134 Anna Sanchis Chafer

135 Verónica Leal Balderas MEXICO

136 Marina Bodulak CROATIA
137 Maja Marukic
138 Mia Radotic

139 Anita Rita Kenyo HUNGARY

140 Claire Fraser GUYANA

141 Dinah Chan SINGAPORE

142 Paola Munoz CHILE

143 Kathryn Bertine SAINT KITTS AND NEVIS

144 Valeria Muller ARGENTINA

World Champs: Top-Three Elite Men Interviews

2011-09-21T19:37:00.001+01:00

World Champs: Tony Martin Destroys the Field to make it two for Germany

2011-09-21T16:23:00.000+01:00

Tony Martin destroyed the field, to take his first WorldTime-Trial championship, by over a minute to Bradley Wiggins in Copenhagen.

Martin went out of the blocks full steam ahead and passedtwo riders on the way to the finish line, including, the man who beat him tosilver in 2010, David Millar. He has had a good run in to the worldchampionships, taking the ITT in the Vuelta in a similar fashion, which manypeople saw as a sign of what was to come. Nothing seemed to faze the German anddefied expectations, by keeping up his high pace on the second lap of the city.Many riders had made the mistake of going out to hard, before fading quickly,but Martin just went faster.

Defending champion Fabian Cancellara had to settle for thirdplace, after a small mistake caused him some valuable seconds. The Swissmachine was riding on the limit, after seeing Martin’s astonishing time checks.Bradley Wiggins had started slow, but produced a great second lap and wasclosing in on Cancellara. Things all came to a head, as he exited the Royal Palace, when he misjudged the tight turn and ended up resting against thebarrier. He didn’t hit the deck, but the brief stop lost him around 10 to 15seconds.

Britain had two riders in the final group and will be pleasewith two top-ten placings. Wiggins will have gone in to the event aiming forthe podium, but silver medal position will be an added bonus. The Londoner hada measured start to the course, but ate in to the time of the other riders onthe second lap. Millar crossed the line in sixth, before Cancellara moved himin to seventh. It is a big step down to the silver medal he won in Geelong,last year, but it is a placing he can be happy with after a busy last fewmonths.

Future stars Jack Bobridge and Richie Porte finished aheadof Millar in fifth and sixth, respectively. Bobridge flew out of the blocks andset the timing screens on fire, but he didn’t stand a chance when the big boyscame through. Porte was pipped as a podium possibility, but he couldn’t matchthe speed of the others and rode a solid time-trial. Both riders are stillquite young and combine with Luke Durbridge to make a formidable Australiantime-trial team of the future.

Taylor Phinney will be slightly disappointed with his 15^thplace position, after all of the pre-race hype. Phinney has struggled to adjustto his first year as a professional rider, but he seems to have pinpointed theproblem and we can expect more from him in 2012. Bert Grabsch probably rode thebiggest gearing of the event and just missed out on a medal by just over 10seconds. The German went around setting the fastest times early on, but hecould keep it up for the second lap.

The majority of the riders will now have a small break,before the men’s road race on Sunday. The U23 will take place on Friday, withthe Elite Women’s on Saturday.

World Champs: Judith Arndt talks about her Gold Medal Time-Trial

2011-09-20T17:52:00.001+01:00