Tag: Alba Development Road Team

There’s only been one winner of the Cycle Time Trials 50 mile championship in the 21st century – and that’s Ulsterman Michael Hutchinson who has won the event 13 times, straight.

Racing for his Asfra Flanders team, VeloVeritas contributer Dan Patten bagged his first win of the year in Belgium at the weekend, at a kermesse in Ghoy, in the Wallonne region of Hainaut. It has been on the cards for a while but Dan finally got the first one under his belt.

The European Cyclo-Cross Championships were held in Pont Chateau, France last weekend. ‘A Flatlands Fest, no doubt’ I hear you say. Well, the Ladies’ race was won by Thalita De Jong of the Netherlands; the U23 Men’s went to Quinten Hermans of Belgium and in a tactical Elite race former past and present World Champions, Mathieu Van Der Poel (Netherlands) and Wout Van Aert (Belgium) finished second and third respectively behind Toon Aerts of - Belgium. But to break the Benelux monopoly, the junior race was won by an English rider, 17 years-old Thomas Pidcock from Leeds.

John Pierce is one of the world's great sports photographers, he's a friend of VeloVeritas and in our site's best tradition, the man can RANT about the sport he's been a part of for 50 years. In Part One of our interview John told us about his introduction to the profession of cycling photography, his work around the globe and the background to his famous image of Guido Van Caster, Eddy Plankaert and Bernard Hinault sprinting flat out at the end of Stage 12 of the 1981 Tour De France which won 'Action Sports Picture of the Decade' nine years later. In Part Two, John looks at the changes in the sport - and in the photography equipment - through the decades, telling us why he prefers Canon over Nikon and Paris-Roubaix over all other races.

In the u23 version of Gent-Wevelgem, which is a UCI Nations Cup 1.Ncup rated event, Britain’s Sam Watson beat the cream of Europe’s u23 talent to win a race which boasts the likes of Fons de Wolf, Eddy Planckaert, Niko Eeckhout, Greg Van Avermaet and Mads Pedersen among previous winners.

When the big Pole Marcin Bialoblocki lined up at the start of the fast A465 dual carriageway for the Welsh 25-Mile Championships near Rhigos he was a man with a point to prove. It took him just 42 minutes and 58 seconds, as the 34 year-old, originally from Sokolka rewrote the record book, with a winning margin of four-and-a-half minutes.