October 4/10 12:12 pm - Cycling (in the) News

Posted by Editoress on 10/4/10
 

The bicycle is the most efficient machine ever created: Converting calories into gas, a bicycle gets the equivalent of three thousand miles per gallon. ~Bill Strickland, The Quotable Cyclist


Guillaume Boivin Interview: Europe on horizon for Canadian Under 23 worlds bronze medallist
Looks to build on successful campaign overseas

Canada is a cycling nation that continues to punch above its weight. target=_blank>With a Tour de France top ten finisher in Ryder Hesjedal and one of the world’s best ‘chrono men’ in Svein Tuft, the prospects for the future of cycling in the country are promising.
Read more at VeloNation


Doping cloud hangs over Spain
Tour de France champion Alberto Contador's positive drugs test has heaped more shame on Spain as a country celebrating a sporting golden age is being forced to face up to a doping problem that is tarnishing its image.
Read more at Yahoo


Contador: Tall tale or truth?
Tour de France champion Alberto Contador's explanation that a suspect filet mignon caused his positive doping test is either a true story or a very clever excuse that could be hard to disprove. Neither scenario looks rosy for the fight against drug cheats.

One reason to give the rider the benefit of the doubt is that he wouldn't be the first Spaniard to be contaminated by meat containing clenbuterol, the drug he tested positive for in minute quantities. Dozens of people were sickened in 1992 in Spain's Catalonia region by eating clenbuterol-laced veal liver or veal tongue and cannelloni, also thought to have been contaminated. Similar poisonings have cropped up in Italy, France and Portugal.
Read more at AP


Contador says may quit if banned for doping
Tour de France champion Alberto Contador says he may quit cycling if he is banned for doping.

"If this is not resolved favourably and in just fashion then I would have to consider whether I would ever get back on a bike," Contador told Spanish broadcaster Telecinco as he fights back after a positive test for clenbuterol, a banned substance, during this year's Tour.
Read more at AFP


Officials in Contador Case Proceed at Deliberate Pace
More than two months after Alberto Contador failed a drug test at the Tour de France, officials from the International Cycling Union target=_blank>are clearly taking their time to investigate the matter before determining whether Contador should be charged with an antidoping violation.
Read more at NY Times


Armstrong staff member testifies in doping probe
"I testified willingly, and openly, to the grand jury and took great pride and care in telling them the truth about my experiences in the world of professional cycling," the statement said.
Read more at TMC


WADA executive: Contador case is serious
World Anti-Doping Agency director-general David Howman says Tour de France test should not be taken any less seriously because only trace amounts were found.

Howman, while not commenting specifically on the Contador case Saturday during a news conference at the Commonwealth Games, says “just because … a small amount is detected, it doesn’t mean you weren’t cheating.

“What you must remember is that you can take a steroid and it can be in your system for many weeks.”
Read more at BWN


Europcar drives in to save French cycling team
Car hire firm Europcar has stepped in to save one of France's leading cycling teams with a last-minute sponsorship deal.

Bbox, which sponsors the team managed by Jean-Rene Bernaudeau featuring French champion Thomas Voeckler, is pulling out of the sport at the end of the year.

Bernaudeau had been faced with folding operations altogether, prompting some of his riders to jump ship.

However the former professional has managed to secure a last-minute deal that will guarantee the team's future for the next three years.
Read more at AFP


Do the Commonwealth Games still matter?
From the classic Bannister-Landy Miracle Mile at Vancouver in 1954 to the breathtaking emergence of Cathy Freeman at Victoria in 1994 and the Thorpedo at Kuala Lumpur in 1998, the Commonwealth Games have given us many riveting moments in sport.

But the world moves on and it is fashionable, even incumbent it seems in certain circles these days, to downgrade the Games, the 19th edition of which begins today in Delhi with 37 Island athletes, coaches and officials on Team Canada.
Read more at Vancouver Sun


Last rider standing for Delhi cyclists
Cycling at the Commonwealth Games will be as notable for the big names missing as much as the riders gunning for glory.
Read more at SBS


Government funding for bike mechanic training in London
Time was when young people leaving school in this country had two main options: enter further education or get a trade, the latter usually entailing serving time as an apprentice.

These days as post-industrial Britain moves towards an economy based on financial services and fast food retailing, (slight oversimplification, maybe) apprenticeships are not as easy to come by as they once were.

But as cycling continues to increase in popularity, so the requirement for people to pick up spanners and get some grease under their fingernails grows in proportion.
Read more at Road


Cycling championships 'worth millions'
The world cycling championships could be worth tens of millions of tourism dollars for Victoria, Premier John Brumby has said.

Speaking at the start of the men's finals in Federation Square on Sunday, he said it was hard to estimate the true value of the event beamed to the TVs of more than 200 million people around the world.
Read more at SMU


How I fell in love with cycling
Editorial by Member of the Australian National Team Bridie O'Donnell
Good evening, bonsoir, e buonasera. Questa e storia vero:

Once upon a time, there was a little girl who wanted to run away to the circus and be an elephant trainer. She wanted to wear a tutu and have control over large animals.

Then, when she went to school, she wanted to be a doctor. She wanted to so much that went through six years of medical school, gave the Valedictory speech at graduation and went off to work in a hospital.

But then, in 2000, something happened.

She went and watched the Tour de France and decided she really wanted to ride a bike. She wanted to be a great cyclist who rode in a team and worked to get a great result.
Read more at Back Page Lead


Cyclist numbers swelling (in Australia)
The number of recreational cyclists on our roads has grown by 55% in the last decade and with national Ride to Work day fast approaching, physiotherapist Sean Campbell is encouraging more people to get on their bikes.

The Sports and Spinal Physiotherapy Centre practice partner, who rides three or four days a week, said people were fast running out of excuses not to cycle to work every day.
Read more at Sunshine Coast Daily


What Type of Cyclist are You?
Have you ability to really excel in some other discipline than you already compete in? Now is the time to decide for success next season.

Many sports experts say “if you want to be a champion chose your parents very carefully” so your genetic makeup will determine to a large extent which cycling disciplines you can excel in. Then to make the most of your genetics you must train specifically for the best events for you.

For example no matter how well Chris Hoy the Olympic and World Champion sprint specialist trained for the Tour De france he is highly unlikely to reach Paris in the yellow jersey. Its also just as unlikely that Alberto Contador or Andy Schleck will win the Track sprint event in London in 2012
Read more at Irish Cycling


Cycling should take a licence
In this report on improving cycling safety in the wake of four recent cycling deaths, suggestions were made for achieving this goal. The main call for better education came from Hans Moor, president of Citizens for Safe Cycling. That, indeed, is the most basic requirement for achieving safer cycling. Moor indicated his organization may run such a program next year, hoping to do so in co-operation with the provincial or municipal governments.
Read more at Ottawa Citizen


Mercedes Rolls into Electric Bicycles
Standing next to the e-Scooter in Daimler’s booth at this year’s Paris Auto Show as Bike Europe reported earlier this week, is the smart e-Bike concept. This is a high-tech bicycle with four electric boost levels from an electric drive system. Unlike the e-Scooter, the e-Bike is not controlled via the throttle grip. Instead, it delivers extra power when the rider pedals.
Read more at Bike Europe