Tag: Rund um den Henninger Turm

It was 1971 when I first joined a cycling club; Kirkcaldy & District CC with their red, yellow and black strip. One of the coolest guys in the club was Dave Gardiner, a signwriter to trade so whilst we rode somewhat mundane Mercians, Robertsons, Andy McNeils and Flying Scots his bike would be liveried up in proper red and white Faema trim, a la Merckx, right down to the little Duomo motif on the head tube.

He had a stellar amateur career in a Golden Era for Netherlands Cycling; rode for four of the sport’s most famous teams – Ijsboerke, Capri Sonne, Raleigh and Panasonic; was a highly successful team manager and is still deeply involved with the sport he loves. VeloVeritas is delighted to be able to bring you the thoughts of Mr. Theo de Rooij.

It’s hard to believe that it’s 40 years since UK bike fans read the news that ‘wunderkind’ Dave Lloyd wasn’t going to achieve his dream of riding the Tour de France, in fact, his professional career was over due to a congenital heart complaint.

Sunday starts with the climax of the under 23 Six the AVS Cup. Not long ago I would have struggled to believe that home grown Scottish talent would be riding Gent but with Mark Stewart in the elite event and Andy Brown and Grant Martin in the U23 this is a Scottish success story.

The unluckiest man in Paris-Roubaix? Trek's Suisse legend Fabian Cancellara with that nasty crash? But how about Katusha’s former Danish Elite Road Champion Michael Mørkøv, puncturing out of the break from which Matt Hayman went on to win the race...

Lance going off early in the Monaco TT surprised me, but there will be a reason-nothing happens by chance with the man from Plano. The cadence was high and he had the Jenson Button lines on the corners, but somehow he wasn't 'on it.'