67 posts tagged “cycling”
The Cyclysm:
As many of you know, I have both been a racer and worked in the industry for many years. It’s now time to give back, on my life long passion, we call cycling.
I close friend has begun a quest, called The Bicycle Mart, he is a passionate collector of
cycling, his current collection is some 400 bicycles, from every shape and form. Original collection includes 1880's Penny Farthings and Bone Shakers, to today’s modern racing bikes. As self described orator of the collection, William "Bill' Collier, is also building a USA racing history. The origins start from the 1940's, Post War Era bicycles, includes Tour De France champions bikes,jerseys,and memorable. At this time we are building a sizable collection, of mementos. As the collection builds, all will be on display in a museum being built in Needles, California; it will be called "The Childhood Museum." As we get closer to construction in Needles, some time in early winter of 2007. The plans are being drawn; the architect already has all the specifications, for some 40,000 square feet on a 10 acre site.
We will be seeking to do different things in the future of the collection,
1-Showing the history of bicycles in America
2-Bulding and showing the history of bicycle racing
3-Highlighting the career of the racers like Greg Lemond, Lance Armstrong, The 7-11 team and domestic racing teams and clubs.
4-Highlight the people of the sport, and how their passions grew
5-The technology of the sport
· Highlights will be early bicycles
· The War years
· Post War era’s 1950’s
· 1960’s era racing
· Early Americana (Major Taylor, Six Days racing)
· 1970’s
· Early Pro racing,7-11
· Greg Lemond Era
· Lance Armstrong Era
· Future of the sport
Needs for the collection are continues. We will accept donations; also have a budget for ongoing collections. We especially seek early photographs, early bicycles, magazines, stickers, pins badges, magazines, articles and anything else. So if you can help in anyway please contact I direct, via email first. Then we can follow up by phone, would like to have originals, and copies of photos.
Eventually we will produce a documentary and a book on the series, and what it takes to accomplish the project. All will be on display and, all benefactors will be displayed and get proper identification will be given. So please open up you garages and basements, and let’s find that American Era nostalgia, and loan us your collection.
Merckx: Cycling will recover from recent doping scandals; 3/4 are cyclists are clean
"The illness is terrible, the situation always serious, but there are some signs of life," Merckx said in Friday's edition of Gazzetta dello Sport. "There are many honest people. I think that three-quarters of the group is clean."
This year's Tour was marred by numerous doping offenses. Race leader Michael Rasmussen was expelled by his Rabobank team for allegedly lying about his whereabouts to evade doping controls, while pre-race favorite Alexandre Vinokourov and Cristian Moreni were forced out for failing doping tests.
Alberto Contador of Spain won the prestigious multistage race, but some media reports have even linked him with the Spanish blood-doping investigation known as Operation Puerto.
"At the Tour, there weren't cases of team doping but of individuals that involved their teams," Merckx said.
Vinokourov's positive test for a banned blood transfusion after winning the 13th stage led to his Astana team's withdrawal. The same happened to Moreni's Cofidis team following his positive test for testosterone after the 11th stage.
Merckx, who won the Tour from 1969-72 and in '74, said those that dope were risking more than just getting caught.
"Riders who dope are playing Russian roulette with their lives," Merckx said.
The 62-year-old Belgian added that serious doping offenses should carry lifetime bans.
"There is doping and doping. I wouldn't ban Alessandro Petacchi for a couple of sprays too many, particularly since he has a medical certificate. But I'd have no mercy for blood transfusions."
Petacchi of Italy tested positive for elevated levels of an asthma drug during the Giro d'Italia. His national cycling federation cleared him of any doping violation, saying he had a legitimate reason for using the medication. However, the Italian Olympic Committee has appealed the ruling and wants him banned for one year.
Before this year's Tour, all racers signed a new UCI charter, saying that they were not involved in doping, will not breach anti-doping rules, and promising to submit DNA samples to Spanish authorities in the Operation Puerto investigation. Cyclists also had to agree to pay a year's salary on top of a two-year ban if caught cheating.
Cycling: British rider will start Tour in familiar territory
5:00AM Saturday July 07, 2007
London - The Tour de France drags its competitors through every kind of agony for three weeks but British cyclist Bradley Wiggins is not allowing himself to think beyond the first nine minutes.
That is about how long it will take to cover the 8.5km prologue through the centre of London tomorrow when time trial and track specialist Wiggins seeks to give his hometown crowd a spectacular introduction to the sport's ultimate event.
Wiggins goes into the race, his second Tour, among the favourites to win the prologue on roads he knows better than anyone else in the field.
"It's going through Hyde Park, where I started cycling as a kid, and I never imagined I'd be riding the prologue of the Tour de France down the Serpentine one day," Wiggins said.
He has won four Olympic medals, including gold in the 4000m pursuit in Athens in 2004, and a clutch of world championship medals, but says nothing can compare with the first day of the Tour.
"The wall of sound every rider gets around the course is just unexplainable: you can't hear yourself breathing, you can't hear the encouragement from your team car which is only 20 metres behind you."
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Wiggins, 27, is in top form, having won the prologue at last month's prestigious Dauphine Libere, and with London's course similarly straightforward, everything is in place for a dream day for British cycling.
- Reuters
Cycling: Petacchi pulls out of Tour following doping offence
By Alasdair Fotheringham
Published: 05 July 2007
One of cycling's most successful sprinters, Alessandro Petacchi, of Italy, will not be taking part in the Tour de France this year after it was confirmed yesterday that he will be banned for the use of a doping substance, salbutamol.
Italy's anti-doping authorities, CONI, recommended that Petacchi be suspended for one year for the offence. A final decision will now by taken by Petacchi's federation but it is more likely to toughen up the sanction rather than let him go clear.
The 33-year-old is authorised to use salbutamol in limited quantities because the drug forms part of the medicine ventolin, which is used to alleviate athsma.
However, the amount recorded in his system after a stage during the Giro d'Italia in May - where Petacchi won five stages - was 1,320 ng/ml, [nanograms per millilitre] well above the 1000 ng/ml upper ceiling permitted for registered asthmatics like Petacchi.
The sprinter said on Monday, when questioned by CONI, that he had used his inhaler in good faith. However, CONI have stuck firmly to the rulebook and Petacchi's team, Milram, has confirmed that he will not be competing in the Tour.
Pat McQuaid, the president of cycling's governing body, the International Cycling Union, has recently asked that the system for awarded therapeutic use exemption certificates be extensively reviewed.
Just to add to the Tour's woes, it was rumoured yesterday that a decision concerning the 2006 winner Floyd Landis and his alleged use of another banned drug, synthetic testosterone, may finally be made public by the United States Anti-Doping Authority.
Landis faces a two-year suspension and will be stripped of his title if he is found guilty. But both the USADA and Landis are virtually certain to appeal to the Sports Arbitration Council in Switzerland. October has been suggested as the date for a final, definitive verdict, in a doping case already painfully over-long in being resolved.
| Team | Team code | Nat. | Leader | Sporting Manager | www | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AG2R Prévoyance | A2R | FRA | Christophe MOREAU | Vincent LAVENU | www.ag2r-cyclisme.com |  |
| Agritubel | AGR | FRA | Juan Miguel MERCADO | Denis LEPROUX | www.agritubel-cycling.com | |
| Astana | AST | SUI | Alexandre VINOKOUROV | Walter GODEFROOT | www.team-astana.eu | |
| Barloworld | BAR | GBR | Robert HUNTER | Claudio CORTI | www.teambarloworld.com | |
| Bouygues Telecom | BTL | FRA | Thomas VOECKLER | Jean-René BERNAUDEAU | www.equipebouyguestelecom.fr | |
| Caisse d'Épargne | GCE | ESP | Alejandro VELVERDE | José Miguel ECHAVARRI | www.cyclisme-caisse-epargne.fr | |
| Cofidis, le Crédit par Téléphone | COF | FRA | Sylvain CHAVANEL | Éric BOYER | www.equipe-cofidis.com | |
| Crédit Agricole | C.A | FRA | Thor HUSHOVD | Roger LEGEAY | www.au-veloclubdeparis.fr | |
| Team CSC | CSC | DEN | Carlos SASTRE | Bjarne RIIS | www.team-csc.com | |
| Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team |
DSC | USA | Alberto CONTADOR | Johan BRUYNEEL | team.discovery.com | |
| Euskaltel - Euskadi | EUS | ESP | Haimar ZUBELDIA | Miguel MADARIAGA | www.fundacioneuskadi.com | |
| Française des Jeux | FDJ | FRA | Sandy CASAR | Marc MADIOT | cyclisme.fdjeux.com | |
| Gerolsteiner | GST | GER | Markus FOTHEN | Hans-Michael HOLCZER | www.gerolsteiner.de | |
| Lampre - Fondital | LAM | ITA | Tadej VALJAVEC | Giuseppe SARONNI | www.lampre-fondital.com | |
| Liquigas | LIQ | ITA | Filippo POZZATO | Roberto AMADIO | www.teamliquigas.com | |
| Milram | MRM | ITA | Mirko CELESTINO | Gianluigi STANGA | www.team-milram.com | |
| Predictor - Lotto | PRL | BEL | Cadel EVANS | Marc SERGEANT | www.davitamon-lotto.com | |
| Quick Step - Innergetic | QSI | BEL | Tom BOONEN | Patrick LEFÉVÈRE | www.qsi-cycling.com | |
| Rabobank | RAB | NED | Denis MENCHOV | Theo DE ROOY | www.rabobank.nl/wielrennen | |
| Saunier Duval - Prodir | SDV | ESP | David MILLAR | Mauro GIANETTI | www.saunierduval-prodir.com | |
| T-Mobile Team | TMO | GER | Patrik SINKEWITZ | Bob STAPLETON | www.t-mobile-team.com | |
| Stage | Type | Date | Start and Finish | Distance | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P. | Individual time-trial | Saturday 7th, July | Londres Londres |
7,9 km | |
| 1. | Plain | Sunday 8th, July | LondresCanterbury |
203 km | |
| 2. | Plain | Monday 9th, July | DunkerqueGand |
168,5 km | |
| 3. | Plain | Tuesday 10th, July | WaregemCompiègne |
236,5 km | |
| 4. | Plain | Wednesday 11th, July | Villers-CotterêtsJoigny |
193 km | |
| 5. | Medium mountains | Thursday 12th, July | ChablisAutun |
182,5 km | |
| 6. | Plain | Friday 13th, July | Semur-en-AuxoisBourg-en-Bresse |
199,5 km | |
| 7. | High mountains | Saturday 14th, July | Bourg-en-BresseLe Grand-Bornand |
197,5 km | |
| 8. | High mountains | Sunday 15th, July | Le Grand-BornandTignes |
165 km | |
| Rest day | Monday 16th, July | Tignes | |||
| 9. | High mountains | Tuesday 17th, July | Val d'IsèreBriançon |
159,5 km | |
| 10. | Plain | Wednesday 18th, July | TallardMarseille |
229,5 km | |
| 11. | Plain | Thursday 19th, July | MarseilleMontpellier |
182,5 km | |
| 12. | Medium mountains | Friday 20th, July | MontpellierCastres |
178,5 km | |
| 13. | Individual time-trial | Saturday 21st, July | AlbiAlbi |
54 km | |
| 14. | High mountains | Sunday 22nd, July | MazametPlateau de Beille |
197 km | |
| 15. | High mountains | Monday 23rd, July | FoixLoudenvielle-Le Louron |
196 km | |
| Rest day | Tuesday 24th, July | Pau | |||
| 16. | High mountains | Wednesday 25th, July | OrthezGourette-Col d'Aubisque |
218,5 km | |
| 17. | Plain | Thursday 26th, July | PauCastelsarrasin |
188,5 km | |
| 18. | Plain | Friday 27th, July | CahorsAngoulême |
211 km | |
| 19. | Individual time-trial | Saturday 28th, July | CognacAngoulême |
55,5 km | |
| 20. | Plain | Sunday 29th, July | MarcoussisParis Champs-Élysées |
146 km | |
The opening ceremony
© A.S.O.
The permanence and press center
The Permanence will be at ExCeL, London’s premier exhibition and convention centre.
It is located next to London City Airport and is served by two stations, Custom House and Prince Regent station.
The opening ceremony
On Friday 6th July 2007 the teams will be presented in Trafalgar Square, the very centre of London.
At the south side of the square is a plaque that marks the point that all distances to London are measured from.
In the square is Nelson’s Column, on top of which stands a statue of Lord Nelson, surrounded by fountains and four bronze lions.
The National Gallery stands on the north side of the square. The square was transformed into a pedestrian only area in front of the National Gallery in 2003 and now welcomes thousands of Londoners and visitors every day.
It is a focal point for celebrations to mark events, such as New Year’s Eve and English victories in the 2003 Rugby World Cup and 2005 “Ashes” cricket tournament.
The prologue
On Saturday 7th July 2007, starting on Whitehall, in front of Trafalgar Square, the riders will race past Downing Street towards Parliament Square on an 8 km course.
Turning at the Houses of Parliament, the route goes along Victoria Street, past Westminster Abbey and in front of Buckingham Palace.
After the Palace the riders will pass through the middle of Wellington Arch, before looping through London’s most famous park, Hyde Park.
Finally the riders will pass back around Hyde Park Corner and along Constitution Hill, before ending on The Mall with Buckingham Palace as a backdrop.
Stage 1
On 8th July 2007 the Tour will take in some of Britain’s most picturesque and historic towns. The route starts on The Mall, runs through Admiralty Arch and then proceeds alongside the Thames down to the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben. The riders will cross The Thames before riding past the London Eye and looping back to take in St Paul’s Cathedral and the Tower of London. The riders will pass over Tower Bridge, through Bermondsey and Deptford to Greenwich where they will cross the Greenwich Meridian Line, where all time zones are measured from. The route then passes through Woolwich, Abbey Wood and Erith, before leaving London for Dartford in Kent.
The route then goes through Gravesend and on to Medway, dominated by Rochester Castle and Cathedral. Passing on through Maidstone the route will take the riders to Tonbridge and then on to Royal Tunbridge Wells. The route winds through the beautiful Kent countryside, through the picturesque town of Tenterden and past Ashford to a potentially nail biting finish in Canterbury.
Getting to London
London is well served by excellent transport links from the rest of Europe and further afield.
London has five airports – Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, Luton Airport and London City Airport. Long-haul travellers will usually land at either Heathrow or Gatwick. Many low-cost airlines operate from Stansted or Luton while London City offers convenient flights to Paris and is located 4 kms from ExCeL for the Permanence.
London has many rail stations. The Eurostar terminal is at Waterloo and other major stations include Victoria and King’s Cross. The main station for coach arrivals from Europe is Victoria Coach Station (close to Victoria train station).
By car, London is well served with motorways and major roads, while access from mainland Europe is both by ferry and via the Channel Tunnel.
The Tour in U.K.
It was in 1974, after a start from Brest, that the Tour de France first travelled from Brittany to England, with a circuit stage in Plymouth. It aroused interest and praise from the critics, but no more.
However, twenty years later, when the Tour crossed the Channel (via the Tunnel) to visit England for the second time, it was an immense public success on the roads leading from Dover to Brighton, and then in Portsmouth.
From a sporting point of view Bill Burl and Charles Holland were the first British riders to attempt the Tour de France in 1937, but it wasn’t until the first British team took part in the 1955 race that a British rider made it to the finish in Paris. Of the ten members of that 1955 team two men, Tony Hoar and Brian Robinson, managed to finish the race, while their team mates fell foul of saddle sores, broken bones and a plague of punctures.
Brian Robinson from the 1955 team went on to complete a further 6 Tour de France races, winning 2 stages in 1957 and 1956. Tom Simpson followed Robinson into riding in the Tour and rode 7 times. Barry Hoban rode an impressive 12 Tours between 1964 and 1978, winning 8 stages over this time. Michaël Wright competed in 8 over the same period and won 3 stages.
In the late 70s and early 80s, Paul Scherwen participated seven times in the Tour de France and Graham Jones five times. Robert Millar was present at the start eleven times between 1983 and 1993, winning three stage victories, along with the Best Climber classification in 1984. As for Max Sciandri, he took part in seven editions of the Tour in the 1990s and won one stage victory.
In 1994, Chris Boardman broke a record by winning the prologue in Lille at a staggering average speed of 55,152 Km/h. The “yellow shirt” was worn by Sean Yates that same year.
British riders have won 23 stages in total and the first to wear the Yellow Jersey was Tom Simpson in 1962. He was also ranked sixth in the overall final classification that year. David Millar was the last British rider to wear the Yellow Jersey, in 2000. That same year, during the time trial at the Start of the Tour from the Futuroscope, he won the first of his three stage victories on the Tour.
| Discovery Channel Cycling Team Announces Tour de France Roster | |
| 27 June 2007 |
The United States-based Discovery Channel cycling team has announced its nine-man roster for the 94th edition of the Tour de France, which begins July 7 in London.
Team manager Johan Bruyneel said Levi Leipheimer will spearhead the team's drive for the yellow jersey. Leipheimer has finished in the top-10 three times during his Tour de France career, and Bruyneel says he has the "form and experience" to finish on the podium.
Bruyneel also announced that the Discovery team is ready to sign the International Cycling Union's anti-doping charter before the Tour de France.
The route for the 2007 Tour de France is 3,547 kilometers. The race consists of one prologue time trial and 20 stages, including 11 flat stages, six mountain stages, one medium mountain stage and two individual time trials.
Leipheimer says the team has selected "an amazing group of riders" to support him and that he could not be happier. Backing the Californian will be fellow-American George Hincapie, Alberto Contador, Benjamin Noval and Egoi Martinez of Spain, Portugal's Sergio Paulinho, Tomas Vaitkus of Lithuania, Russian Vladimir Gusev and Yaroslav Popovych of Ukraine.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP.
|
71rst Tour de Switzerland - Stage 8 ITT With Swiss precision CSC's Fabian Cancellara took his second victory in the tour de Suisse besting the German duo Astana's Andreas Kloden by 20 seconds and Gerolsteiner's Stefan Schmacher by :33 in the 33.7 km time trial in 41'46"66.
But as predicted it would be a battle between two Russians team mates both named Vladimir of team Caisse d'Epargne that would decide the final general classification with the not so surprising winner Vlad Karpets being the faster of the two Vladimir's. Karpets finished the time test in 42'52"91 for sixth place 1'06" slower than world champion time trialist Cancellara to take the tour victory.
Kim Kirchen of T-Mobile was second at 1:04 with Stijn Devolder of Discovery channel 1:30 in arrears for third in the final stage race before the tour de France. Unibet's Rigoberto Uran finished the day out of the top ten but good enough to capture the Best Young rider classification from another Russian Vladimir - Disco's Vladimir Gusev who can take comfort in collecting the King of the Mountains classification for the tour. Not a Russian or a Vladimir, Florian Stadler of Switzerland finished with double the points of his nearest sprints competitor Luis Passamontes of Spain for the Sprint title for the 71st edition of the race. Italian Lampre/Fondital's Daniele Bennati (Ita) nipped Fabian Cancellara for the cumulative points classification with Andreas Kloden in third.
Caisse d'Epargne Directeur Sportif José Luis Jaimerena can be satisfied with an excellent week as preparation of his team for le Tour with the race victory, best young gun and final team classification while the team leader was busy in Eindhoven team time trial with Alejandro Valverde and company taking 7th in the ProTour team time trial event. CSC the time trial power house of the ProTour with Tinkoff and Milram second and third in that order; making a statement that even without their world champion Cancellara they are still a power and time machine to be dealt with .
Caisse d'Epargne comments: Vladimir Karpets: “After my success a few weeks ago in the Volta a Catalunya, I win another important stage race. It is very important for me, and also for my team because it is first time that the team wins that race!, explained Karpets after he won the Swiss race. “I want to than all my team-mates of Caisse d’Epargne for the fantastic job they did during these nine stages and I also want to congratulate my fellow-citizen Vladimir Efimkin for the great race he realized. The time trail is not his speciality and therefore he lost some time today, but he nevertheless accomplished a great race. Now I will rest a few days and after that keep on training at home to prepare the Tour”, concluded the rider native to San Pétersberg and who lives now in Pamplona. Lampre/Fondital "Damiano's time trial has been good - sport director Piovani commented - What a pity for those 11": it would have been an important result, but this 5th place is however a good prize for Damiano who has always been in the heat of the race. Bennati won the points classification: a positive gratification after the three second stage places.
71st Tour de Suisse - Reports: Stage 8 Bern - Bern ITT Results General Classification (final) Mountains Classification Cumulative Points Classification Sprints Classification Teams Classification |
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