Friday, May 3, 2024

Tag: Lake Como

Tour of Lombardy 2010 – Phil Gilbert Again!

Gilbert was excellent today in the Tour of Lombardy 2010. Scarponi was very good and Nibali showed grinta; especially given that he rode and won at San Luis, Argentina way back in January.

Giro di Lombardia 2009 – Day Two

If you're really serious about being a bike racing fan, you have to go and see the five 'Monuments:' Milan-San Remo, Tour of Flanders, Paris-Roubaix, Liege-Bastogne-Liege and Tour of Lombardy. You can get Ryanair punishment flights to airports which are convenient for all of these races; use Care Hire 3000 and the Peter Venere website to get cheapo hotels.

Enjoying the Tour of Lombardy 2007

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.

At Random

Chris Hoy – Scotland’s Champion of Champions!

He's won the World Kilometre Championship four times, the World Team Sprint Championship twice, the World Keirin Championship twice, and now he's completed an unequalled sprinters' "quadruple" by winning the World Individual Sprint Championship...Oh - and he's the reigning Olympic Kilometre Champion as well! He's Scotland's Chris Hoy, and after we'd told him how proud we are of him, he took time to answer our questions.

Peter Schep – “I’m happy to look back on my results with pride”

If you’re a Six Day fan then you’ll have your favourite stylist – maybe it’s the spectacular but so smooth Iljo Keisse or perhaps the robotic ‘Big Bob’ Bartko or the physical style of Wim Stroetinga? But there’s a man missing from the boards, this season who for me was the most stylish rider of his generation – tall, slim Dutchman, Peter Schep. We caught up with Peter as battle raged in the Rotterdam Six Day, a race in which he was victorious twice.

Il Giro d’Italia 2014 – Stage 12; Barbaresco – Barolo (ITT), 46.4 km. Rigoberto Uran Takes Over

Time tests, love them or hate them – but this one was a cracker. I had Evans down as winner after it became apparent that Adriano Malori was ‘just getting round’ after his crash the day before. I had it in my mind that Ulissi might do something but thought his stage 11 crash would put a lid on his ambitions. Far from it and Lampre's new star lead for a large part of the afternoon until Rigoberto Uran jarred all of our eyes open – including Ulissi’s as he sat in the ‘hot seat.’

Evan Oliphant – “Commy Games: I would really have liked a medal”

'Close, but no cigar' was the story of Evan Oliphant's Games - two top six placings on the track, a sterling support job for David Millar in the road race and a top 12 finish against the clock couldn't compensate for not bringing home a shiny disc of bright metal. Despite the disappointment with his results Evan took time to talk to track, road, time trials - and mosquitoes, to VeloVeritas...

Finlay Young – a Junior, winning Senior Races

Junior racing isn't exactly flourishing in Scotland, so it's good to see one of the youngsters getting a bit of the limelight - 17 year old Finlay Young took the honours in the Jack Murray road race at Dunfermline over the weekend.

Brian Smith – “There are no dodgy deals anymore”

If there were any doubts that MTN-Qhubeka is going to be a force to be reckoned with for season 2015 they were dispelled when Steve Cummings relegated none other than 2014 world number one, Alejandro Valverde (Movistar & Spain) to the second step of the podium in the Trofeo Andratx Mirador d’Es Colomer in Mallorca, this week.