For the first time in two months I'm back in the UK. Back to Essex. I'm back for this Sundays East Midlands Cicle Classic/Rutland Melton and with the form I've built over the last couple of months in Belgium I am going into the race with great optimism.
I wish I could get tomorrow’s Gazzetta, tomorrow – but it’ll be Saturday, at best. It was the first major shoot out, today, to Cortina d'Ampezzo. It’s over for Kreuziger and difficult for Tiralongo – a bad day for Astana. Uran continues to impress – perhaps he’ll get let off ‘train’ duties for Cav, tomorrow?
Abandon Vehicle ... Three days after Lierde there was a race in Wallonie, a race I intended to do, well that was until the team vehicle almost went up in flames. A Belgian team manager lets us use the team vehicles to get about to races... so I can't really complain too much. They are rather old though, and this one in partcluar apparenty had 450,000km on the clock - maybe time to get a new one?!
And so they're off! Once again Andre Greipel has won a stage at the TDU, once again there is a bit of controversy about sprinters not holding their line, and once again the accused sprinter has taken the classic "What! Me?" stance. The season is underway.
Fullerton Wheelers present the Scottish Olympic Time Trial Championships 2007 this weekend, with double British TT Champion Jason MacIntyre (Edge RT) starting number 39 and last off, in a small field which all the same contains a lot of quality riders.
This interview was first published in December 2009, but in light of current events, we thought it would be interesting to re-read it and compare it's contents with what's in Tyler's book 'The Secret Race'...
Now that the initial furore has died down following the shocking news of Tyler Hamilton's positive doping test, VeloVeritas thought we should hear what the man himself has to say. It took us a long time and a lot of patience, but eventually he came back to us with the answers to our questions.
If you’re of this generation then Sven Nys will probably be your King of ‘crosses - but if you grew up in the 70’s then you’ll know that the true Monarch of the Mud was that stocky man of Flanders; Erik De Vlaeminck, big brother to ‘Monsieur Paris-Roubaix’ Roger De Vlaeminck. Sadly, the elder De Vlaeminck brother died today in the town where he was born, Eeklo in the heart of East Flanders.