We've all been hearing recently about the riders who showed questionable figures in their Biological Passports but who have escaped any sanctions so far, their positive could be buried, whilst certain others have been lambasted, suspended, and are facing the possibility of - or are currently serving - lengthy bans.
The women's 500 metre time trial was the first race I caught sight of on the TV - it's hard to get excited about it. But the Ballerup track was looking great, freshly sanded and with new advertising - what you don't realise until you look at the down tube of a bike that has just finished in a Derny race is the amount of soot and oil that the little motorbikes pump out - the joiners have buffed all that off, though.
'Sol y sombra' say the Spanish, 'sunshine and shade.' The 'sunshine' was the Primavera; a race I've been obsessed with ever since I was a young Merckx fan, waiting for my 'Comic' on a 70's Friday - Thursday if I was very lucky. The 'sombra' was Richard Russell's funeral; although maybe it wasn't 'shade,' as Bill Brockie, the former minister and CTC stalwart who managed proceedings so well, explained to us; 'this is a celebration.'
Rotterdam is readying itself for the Tour de France start this summer, and the Skil Shimano Team used it's 2010 presentation last weekend in the city to recce the route which will be used for Stage 1. The team is largely the same as last season, but has been bolstered by the addition of six riders; Dutchmen Job Vissers and Robin Chaigneau, Frenchmen Alexandre Geniez and Yann Huguet, Belgian Dominique Cornu, and Norwegian Frederik Wilmann.
It's great to see cycling breaking mainstream - a double page colour spread in the Times discussing Marginal Gains... it's almost as if the guy that bankrolls the team, owns the newspaper. He does? Oh!
Fourth in the Worlds Elite TT, second only to Zabriskie in the US TT champs and with a Garmin contract neatly signed. But scratch all of the above and file under, "Another one bites the dust!" albeit the 'B' sample might just be 'clean.' We asked Paul Coats, who's a lecturer at Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy & Biomedical Sciences, for an expert view.
I hope you all had a good Xmas; Viktor didn't - but that shouldn't surprise us. He did make a good point though - namely that Sky are well behind with their training camps; all of the big squadra have had one, if not two camps already. From a fitness and bonding point of view the digital vision guys are behind the eight ball already; it'll be interesting to see if that makes a difference come flag dropping time.
The Black List... It's been a good week if you read the Guardian's cycling coverage and like a rant. 'I'm better than Armstrong now,' says Wiggins - reads the headline; of all the bike riders in the world that one should not make that statement about, Lance Armstrong is the absolute top of the list.
Ben Swift - top guy, affable, always happy to chat, looks the business and has a great career ahead of him. But-I don't like what's happening with this Sky business. I might be wrong - and am probably writing my own obituary here, as far as Sky interviews goes - but it smacks to me of; 'we can't get Brad, so we have to get some one else who can win a bit and who's English!'
It's funny how things work out, Alberto Contador signs a contract with Specialized bikes for 700,000 euros last week. So will he be riding for one of the teams who ride on Specialized bikes; Quick-Step or Saxo Bank? Ah! Then Quick-Step announces that they will no longer be riding on Specialized, but will be on Eddy Merckx bikes.
AC/DC got it right; "Come on, come on, listen to the money talking."
It looks like VeloVeritas' hot tip on 'Bert bolts to Garmin; Brad flies to Sky,' has unwound.
Sky's 'capo,' Rupert Murdoch has deep pockets, but at some stage he has to say- and following on from the musical intro - just like Donna and Babs did; "enough is enough, is enough!"
"A week is a long time in politics," said Harold Wilson - even longer at the wheel of a Transit; still, I'm sure that my column in L'Equipe isn't far away, now. Lombardia was great, I love that race, and Milan - San Remo too; do yourself a favour, go and see them - you'll thank me. However, all is not well up in the land of mountains and lakes.
Ronnie Boa was a God like figure, when I was a 16 year-old with Kirkcaldy and District CC.
He would come out at the start of the season and dominate - hilly time trials, road races, APR's, two-ups and even a stage in the Girvan.
He was red hot favourite for the 25 title after banging out winning 58's at Stirling on a track iron; but on race morning he was a DNS, leaving the way clear for Drew Brunton to take the title.
"Our pal Bosisio positive,' said the text from Dave. Gabriele Bosisio of LPR Brakes and Italy was the subject of a UCI out of competition test; "the adverse finding was a direct result of a targeted urine test, conducted immediately after a blood test triggered an unusual blood profile within the biological passport program," said their statement.
Today the capital city of Spain didn't get awarded the 2016 Olympic Games - they went to the Brazilian City of Rio de Janeiro. I normally have my siesta around 4 o'clock in the afternoon, but today I watched the Olympic Games conference live on TV Copenhagen where they were to vote for the next Games after London.
I had one of my secret meetings with Ivan yesterday-I can't tell you when or where, in case the Moderator from Velo Riders tries to arrange a 'hit!' The man from behind the Urals was telling me that we didn't see on Eurosport, after Cadel's win, was the press conference he gave.
Some cycling pundits (aye, you Ed) have said that the Spanish team had a terrible World Championships - well bronze, a fourth, ninth and fifteenth is better than any other country than I guess Australia and Russia, although Russia only had two riders in the top twenty.
I remember, in 1992, watching Clas' Tony Rominger win the Tour of Lombardy, churning a huge gear along a straight, flat road to the finish for kilometre after kilometre; even Duffers was lost for words. Like that font of cycling wisdom Viktor would say; "Watchin' paint dry!" It's different now - the finale is frantic. Ghisallo, Civiglio, Battaglia... there's no room for error and no time to relax.
We're in Flanders for Het Nieuwsblad 2011 and Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne, but first there are mechanics to annoy, bars to visit and bergs to climb. Donna Summer, Barry White, The Real Thing - and even a bit of Joe South; three pils for €5.40 and all the smoke you can handle - cigarettes and cigars - The Vivaldi, it's a proper bar. 'We won't kick the backside out of it, tonight,' says Dave on Thursday; but the pils was cold and smooth, the soul and disco flowed... we got to bed at 03:45 with all of Scottish Cycling and the UCI's problems sorted out.