April 18, 2012

The height of hypocrisy?

Two days ago it was announced that the ‘A’ sample of Denis Galimzyanov of Team Katusha, taken on the 22nd March, had contained the performance enhancing drug EPO.

Rather than the usual blind denials and wacky excuses that we have become accustomed to as cycling fans, Galimzyanov made the decision yesterday to confess and apologise:

I recognize a fact of banned substance usage. I fully realized what I did. I deeply regret about what happened, and I apologize to the whole team and my teammates, along with my fans whom I disappointed. I am ready to suffer an appropriate punishment. ~ Continue reading ~

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April 10, 2012

Boonen vs De Vlaeminck and the undeserved victory

Tom Boonen is the first rider to ever win the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix double twice. He is the only rider to have ever won Ghent-Wevelgem, Flanders and Roubaix in the same year and he is the only rider to have won Flanders and Roubaix a combined total of seven times.

He won the latest edition of the Hell of the North by attacking with more than 50km to go and soloing the entire way to the finish. Nobody could get close to him. It was a stunning display of strength and confidence despite of (and quite possibly because of) the fact that without the presence of Fabian Cancellara, he was the outstanding favourite. ~ Continue reading ~

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April 5, 2012

The Track Less Travelled – Ireland’s first cycling world champion

Caroline Ryan has won Ireland’s first senior medal at the World Track Championships for 115 years by taking bronze at the points race in Melbourne.

She emulates her compatriot Harry Reynolds who won a bronze medal at the amateur sprint event at the World Track Championships in Glasgow in 1897.

But the year before, Harry Reynolds won gold.

In the sprint event in Copenhagen in 1896, Reynolds defeated local favourite Edwin Schraeder and the Frenchman Charles Guillaumet. Reynolds crossed the line just three inches ahead of Schraeder to become Ireland’s first ever cycling world champion. ~ Continue reading ~

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April 1, 2012

The youngest ever monument classic winner

This week in cycling history in 1944, Rik van Steenbergen won the Tour of Flanders at the age of 19.

The now legendary Belgian began racing at the top level in the midst of World War II. Because Belgium was still occupied by the Germans at the time, he had to forge a German identity card in order to turn professional.

He won the Belgian national championships in his first year as a pro, and in 1944, he took part in his first Tour of Flanders. This was the last edition to ever finish in a velodrome as the finish line came after 224km in the Kuipke Velodrome in Ghent. ~ Continue reading ~

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