Our beloved friend Ed Hood passed away peacefully on January 19th, 2025 after suffering a devastating stroke two years previously. His writing was always entertaining, thoughtful, and filled with nuggets of wisdom only someone with his pedigree and immense knowledge and love of the sport could bring.
Kate Richardson dominated in Ireland last weekend with the 20-year-old winning the Individual General Classification, Points General Classification, Queen of the Hills Classification and Best Young Rider Classification in an astonishing performance over five days and six stages in County Kilkenny.
It’s Gent–Wevelgem 1974, you’ve made it over the savage Kemmel climb twice with the lead group and survived hanging on the back of an Eddy Merckx (Belgium and Molteni) and Roger De Vlaeminck (Belgium and Brooklyn) driven purge on the run-in; there are 17 guys left, so maybe you would settle for a top ten? Not if your name is Barry Hoban (Britain and GAN-Mercier) and you feel that the ‘overdrive’ is in your legs.
It’s the final day Bremen Six Day 2025, with two sessions today. Our riders are not involved in the morning session which has the Sprinters racing the Keirin whilst it’s a busy session for the Women. It’s Monday but this morning session is labelled “Schools Day” so the children get in for free to watch the racing and collect as many autographs as they can.
When we get down to the track at the Bremen Six Day after readying the upstairs cabin with fresh tea and coffee, topping up the bottled water and apple juice in the fridge, and collecting all the washed and dried kit, we find we have a couple of new faces around; the ladies have arrived.
Here at the Bremen Six Day we have two rooms (cabins) upstairs at the track, a larger room with the drinks fridge, our tea and coffee equipment, and a smaller room with our massage table setup as well as a camp bed. I'm so glad that rather than sleep again in Kris' camper van I elected to spend the night in the wee cabin - it has a toilet en suite.
We're here in the northern German city of Bremen, a major cultural and economic hub and the country's 11th largest city because the Bremen Six Day 2025 is now underway - and we have a job to do.
In 1990 the name of English rider Spencer Wingrave appeared on the Gent Six Day winners list with team mate and coming-man (later Flemish Legend) Peter Van Petegem, who went on to be a two-times winner of the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix Champion.
Saturday morning early, in the cabin at the Rotterdam Six Day 2022 – the cleaning ladies liked my choice of music and were giving me a little dance around their mops; I was going to go out and get some beers in but they said they had the rest of the stadium to clean...
“Un exploite extraordinaire!” Said the French TV commentator; “Bravo Monsieur Poli!” That’s Eros Poli; yes the big Dude who won that epic Tour de France stage over the ‘Giant of Provence,’ Mont Ventoux in 1994. That’s what the commentator was talking about – but there’s a little more to Monsieur Poli than just one ‘exploite.’
Scott Mercier shot to a high level in record time, but he wasn’t going to go down the doping road like many of his colleagues did and turned his back on a US Postal professional career. We hear his story and wonder what could have been.
Edinburgh rider Innes McDonald (Scottish Offroad Race Team) is only 16 years old but already has 11 years of riding and racing under his wheels. Recently Innes represented Great Britain for the first time, at the World Mountain Bike Championships in Andorra in both the Cross Country Relay (XCR) and the Cross Country Olympic (XCO).
Calum Moir has ridden mostly in Spain this season on the road, with a few top 20 results, but he’s also capable of a 1’03” Kilometre and a 3’22” Individual Pursuit on the track, having a superb Commonwealth Youth Games last season where he won four medals in the velodrome as well as four Scottish titles, he moved to Spain and a ride with Brocar-Rali-Alé.
It's unusual for us to interview someone so soon after our last chat, but when Peebles rider Callum Thornley took the lead in the Tour of Britain Mountains classification on Stage 1 of the race we knew another catchup was necessary.
During our recent interview with Fred Wright he mentioned that we should speak to Matt Walls next; as a reigning Olympic Champion he was 'due a good chat', and so we duly obliged.
After Fred Wright's strong ride in this year's Paris-Roubaix in his beautiful British National Champion's jersey, finishing 12th and sprinting for 8th place, we wanted to find out a little more about the man, his background and his fabled enthusiasm for the Classics.
It has been said by many people that Michael Mørkøv is the best lead-out man in the peloton and if Mark Cavendish thinks so, then it must be true. Michael is back at Cav’s side to help him take his 35th, history making Tour de France stage win. We caught up with the flying Dane before he flew to the Tour Colombia.
We've been watching the up-and-coming riders and have chosen our ‘Top Ten Young Guns’ for 2023. Our rider choices for 2022 included some top performers so let’s look at the ‘Men to Watch’ in 2023.
Here at VeloVeritas we keep our eyes on the new talent coming through the peloton and this time last year we picked eleven men to watch in 2022. So, let's see how they got on.
Recently someone posted some Scottish race results from 1973 on social media; and there I was in some 25 mile time trial on the Kippen Flats course at Stirling. Then it struck me, 1973 – 50 years ago, that’s half a century. How did that happen?
Yes, we know, it’s been done to death but nonetheless here – in no order of merit, with no apologies for any omissions, these are MY choices – we bring you Riders of the Year 2022.
Changes; ‘time may change me; but I can’t trace time,’ said the late, great David Bowie, most take it to mean that whilst you can run your finger back along the timeline of your life, you can’t change anything along there. I take myself as an example; now I have an ‘e’ Gravel Bike, disc brakes, 1 x transmission.
‘The Tour is the Tour,’ for sure, But for me the Giro is the most beautiful; oh to be in the Bella Italia, great weather, a crisp pink Gazzetta dello Sport and perfect cappuccino every morning. Plus, we discover mullet bikes, Drone Hopper socks, and wonder if Wee Tom is doing too much?
Ed gets it all off his chest in our latest Rant; do we really need aero front lights? What difference does a tricked out 'pain cave' make? Some clever innovations that aren't April fools, and should Tomeke take over from Patrick at QuickStep?
Tom Martin (Wheelbase CabTech Castelli) rode strongly to bridge a near two-minute gap to the leading duo of Alex Luhrs and Will Taylor (Moonglu RT) then solo away from them on the final rise to take the win in today's Gifford National B E/1/2/3 Road Race around the bonny, quiet roads of East Lothian.
Vanelli-Project Go's Louis Moore, the newly crowned student champion, won the Scottish Hill Climb Championship on a long and difficult Glen Quaich course, the first 5k of the narrow strip of tarmac which connects Kenmore to Amulree in the Southern Highlands.
Blue skies, mild with not too much of a breeze – a perfect day for VeloVeritas’ favourite race, the 2022 Tour de Trossachs, ably promoted by Vanelli Project Go and won by Chris Smart (GTR – Return to Life p/b Streamline)
Originally we hadn’t planned to go down to The Scottish Borders to see Stage Two of the Tour of Britain 2022 – but the sun came out, we made a few time calculations and as I said of yesterday; ‘it’s not every day you get the chance to see some of the world’s best bike riders on home soil.’ One of life’s simple pleasures is surely sitting on the grass verge in the sunshine, waiting on a bike race coming up the hill.
It’s not every day you get the chance to see some of the sport’s greatest names just up the road from your home, competing in the Tour of Britain 2022. Fortunately, by the time we got to Union Street it was just drizzling, not cold but grey and understandably not conducive to riders wanting to stand and chat...
Mark Cavendish was in the break ALL day on this wet, windy, tough, gnarly day - major respect to the man on his second British Championship win on Scottish roads.
I’m trying to remember that last time I followed a rider in a Time Trial – Bradley Wiggins through the grubby back streets of Milano in the Giro’s closing time trial, with Martin at the Tour watching Michael Mørkøv blast those 52km to Chartres or that time we followed Charly Wegelius through the glorious vineyards of Champagne? No matter, what a nice way to spend a Thursday afternoon, chasing Zeb Kyffin around the beautiful, sun-drenched parcours beside the Solway Firth at the British Time Trial Championships, won by Ethan Hayter.
Last Thursday, on the roads around Dumfries and along the beautiful Solway Firth Callum Thornley endorsed his potential, taking silver in the British u23 Time Trial Championship, beaten only by 2022 Baby Giro winner, Leo Hayter but leaving riders like Groupama FDJ big hitters Sam Watson and Lewis Askey in his wake.
Criteriums, a man of my acquaintance describes criteriums thus; ‘a bunch of guys turn up, they ride round in circles for an hour, one of ‘em wins then everyone goes home.’ Very true, but a night hanging over the barriers in Galashiels, a nice borders town under the spring sunshine with your amigos whilst catching up with old friends sure beats watching the soap operas.
On a day when we watched hard men like Gran Piemonte winner, Matt Walls and Tro Bro victor, Connor Swift crack before our very eyes it was reigning champion, Ben Swift who extended his tenure in that lovely jersey from 2019 through 2020 and 2021 into at least June 2022.
We missed you last year Tour de Trossachs, so let’s begin with a large ‘thank you’ to Jason Roberts and his team for reviving this great race and organising it so well. Men of the day: Messrs. Friel, Maclean and Creber; Woman of the day: Lynsey Curran.
Britain’s last representative in Motor-Paced racing, a highly specialised branch of the sport – which is still very popular in Germany and Switzerland in particular – was Paul Gerrard. Gerrard is still active in the sport, chaperoning young GB riders to the six days which have junior and U23 competitions.
Mason Hollyman, the 20 years-old ex-‘Zappi Man’ from Huddersfield riding for Israel Cycling Academy continental team took fourth in the Italian u23 classic Trofeo Piva and fifth in the extremely tough u23 Liege-Bastogne-Liege. He’s also been riding at the highest level with the Israel – Premier Tech World Tour team in races like the Coppi e Bartali where the big teams joust with gung-ho ProTeams desperate for recognition.
Dave was giving me the SMS updates on stage 2; when it came together I decided that it was between Tyler and Tom - wrong again. Greg Henderson, another Columbia boy made good - how many wins is that, now? 70-odd!
It’s been a while since David McLean posted, he intended to do something a little more regularly but unfortunately he's been preoccupied with health problems for much longer than expected.
It's just under two weeks now until the 2007 European season starts with the GP d'Ouverture La Marseillaise in the south of France on February 6th. The first major tests come a few weeks later though, on the first weekend in March, far from the Mediterranean, to the north, in Flanders. Het Volk and Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne are true classics in all but UCI category, albeit shorter than the Tour of Flanders with which they share many kilometres of parcours.
You’ve been World Pursuit Champion and a regular on the Australian national squad. But then the federation tells you that they think you’ve, ‘gone as far as you can go,’ and you’re out. That’s the end of your international track cycling career in that case? Not if your name is Jordan Kerby whose mother happens to be a New Zealander by birth.
Snakes and Ladders; Let’s be positive and start with the guys on the way up; 17 year-old Englishman Thomas Pidcock for instance, who won the European Junior Cyclo-Cross Championship in France recently. He’s now one of the favourites for the Worlds in Luxembourg come late January; he was fifth in the Worlds last year and is a year wiser and stronger. But if there are ladders then there are snakes, too. It’s over Matt Goss; he won a World Team Pursuit Title, Grand Tour Stages, a Worlds Elite Road race Silver, Plouay and – The Primavera. That last result means he’s a Legend.
Craig Maclean has nine golds and two silvers. That's what Team GB took away from the Manchester World Track Championships, back in April. A repeat performance in Beijing is entirely possible. How does British Cycling do it? One of the reasons is that their selection criteria is ruthless; past glory counts for nothing.
The Giro d'Italia – if it ended right now it would have been great, aggressive race, but the fact is that there are still two full weeks to go. I did a race preview for, ‘a well known North American website’ so thought I’d take a rest day wander back and see how my tips for the top are doing...
Le Tour de France 2008, Digne-les-Bains, Saturday afternoon, 38 degrees and U2 are telling us it's a "Beautiful Day" - that Bono, he knows everything. We were supposed to meet up with American reader, John Larsen in Forcalquier, watch the race and sample the local fare with a BBQ, however Jet2.com kept us sat on the tar at Turnhouse for an hour before take off, scuppering our chances of catching the race.