You'll have seen the adverts on various websites for Vanilla Bikes, inviting you to have a look at their on-line shop and their top quality - if a little unusual - product lines, and when we spotted that the shop team was beefing up it's roster for the coming season, we thought we better find out a little more about this young company.
The last time we spoke to John Archibald he’d just won the Scottish Road Race Championship; since then he’s won a medal in the inaugural ‘mixed’ TTT Worlds in Harrogate, ridden well in the individual Worlds TT, enjoyed a World Cup in Minsk which saw him bested only by Filippo Ganna in the individual pursuit...
Within days of us losing one of the younger pillars of Scottish cycle sport in Rab Wardell we also lost one of our elder statesmen in John Montgomery, another man who I’ve been, ‘meaning to catch up with,’ – sadly, too late.
I could never be a ski bum, 60 Euros per night for the room here at the top of Alpe-d’Huez - but you have to pay extra for sheets - and towels - there's no toilet paper - then you have to clean the place at the end of it. A bit like borstal really, with off-hand, condescending staff.
All of the tension has finally left the peloton as they’ve finally started the race. Haha!! Or more accurately, the early tension of anticipation has been replaced by the tension to gain time/hold place/maintain position/get in the break/follow the right wheel/avoid the crashes/etc etc etc! Fabian Cancellara did what he does so well.
Sometimes a ride comes along and right away you can just tell he has what it takes. We first caught sight of Joe Dombrowski at the Italian Valle d’Aosta stage race, last year. Aosta, l’Avenir, the Baby Giro and the U23 Worlds are where the pro talent scouts do their window shopping.
It’s fair to say that Colin Sturgess is a man who knows a wee bit about bike racing and in a world of ‘knee jerk reactions’ and internet ‘Trolls’ whose vision recognises no shade of grey, he provides considered, common sense judgement on the cycling issues of the day.