Good Times Bad Times - CIAO! The Giro d’Italia version 2010 has begun. We started racing up in Amsterdam (which, while not technically* part of Italy, was a cool place to start racing from) with a time trial, followed by two road stages. The start of a Grand Tour is always cool — the whole team starts to find extra gears, and the organisation is singing by start time.
Back! Just a quickie before the Giro starts (well, only three days after the Giro started, but near enough).
March and April saw a nice turnaround in the fortunes of the team: only two fractured collarbones and two major concussions! MUCH less hectic! We also put in some very good results, popping up with wins in both individual stages and overall races (on one memorable day we won three times: two stages and an overall race. Very nice!). We also had some very strong showings in some of the biggest one day races on the calendar. Very nice indeed!
March also saw a grand turnaround in the life of Tobias, with the arrival of Mands to sunny Girona. Good times!
Paris-Roubaix. Hell of the north. The Queen of the Classics… Roubaix, Baixby! There is a great deal of hype out there about the latest and greatest event taking place. When it comes to Roubaix, the expectation and the event itself meet. This is a brilliant bike race!
So January was all sunshine and roses. And then"... KERTHUMP! Along came Europe in winter in all of her furious unpredictability! My first night in Girona was one of the very rare times that it snows in town.
A quick recap on 2010 to date — Had the BIG Engagement party in early Jan (and thanks to all who came along — it was gratifying seeing so many of Mands and my family and friends there, many from a long way away). And then it was straight to Adelaide for the Tour Down Under.
Scotland’s Josh Quigley rode an average of 311 miles every day for a week to establish a new Guinness world record for the Seven Day Cycling Distance Record.
You always miss something when you go on holiday-the latest Super Six at Falkirk, for example; I knew I'd be away for the race but said to the organiser if he let me know who'd won, I'd do an interview with them. Gary Hand (Endura) was the man to take the honours-no surprises then? But there was a caveat; a source close to organisers told us...
The Hilton Edinburgh Grosvenor has announced that they will sponsor Edinburgh RC/The Bicycleworks, one of the UK's biggest cycling clubs. The sponsorship deal will see the hotel's logo appear on the club's kit, website and race support vehicle.
This season James Shaw was racing the UK at continental level with the Ribble Weldtite team but next year he’s back to the World Tour, this time with EF Education Nippo.
If you were around British bike racing in the 70’s and 80’s then you’ll remember the name, Phil Thomas. One of those Liverpool ‘cheeky chappies’ who were so strong in British cycling back then and a prolific winner on the road and criterium scene. Thomas could win anything from a seafront criterium to the Manx International via 10 mile track races to Milk Race stages.
The final day of the Gent Six Day 2012 promised a big tussle between the Belgian World Madison Champions De Ketele / Van Hoecke and local hero Iljo Keisse with Glenn O’Shea. They didn’t disappoint.