Exclusive: TdF 2017 Edinburgh prologue course!

Posted on January 9, 2011 by admin

I’m ignoring my own advice about counting your chickens with regards to a Scottish Grand Depart for the Tour de France. I much prefer to assume they have already hatched and proceed directly to speculating on a prologue route.

Dave Hamill kindly commented with an excellent suggestion that takes as many attractions and historic monuments as it’s possible to do in 5 miles.

Dave’s route starts in the Grassmarket, surrounded by historic buildings and closes, where the Nocturne Series has hosted an elite crit for the past three years. Surrounded by pubs and hotels, this is an ideal starting point for media and hospitality, although conditions might be a bit tight.

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Scotland to bid for Tour de France

Posted on January 9, 2011 by admin

This morning I read eagerly an article in The Scotsman reporting that Scotland will attempt to host the Tour de France, with 2017 being the first opportunity. EventScotland is a National events agency that supports the Tour of Britain and Mountain Bike World Cup, as well as other sporting and cultural events to drive tourism and the economy.

Either Glasgow or Edinburgh would be the home venue for the pre-race time trial and the start of the first phase of the Tour following three years of talks with organisers.

To say that central Edinburgh would be an ideal location for the Grand Depart and a prologue is an understatement. You’ve got pictoresque backdrops, cobbled streets, short sharp hills, and great access for fans. But the logistics must be a nightmare, and with the laborious progress of the Tram project, I would reserve judgement before getting too excited.

What would be your dream prologue route around Edinburgh?

The race route may link the two cities or head as far north as the Trossachs.

Another understatement on the way: I would be beyond excited if, say, a stage 1 was to go from Edinburgh to Glasgow via the Trossachs. The Trossachs National Park is an area where I ride often, with rolling terrain, lochs and lakes, and a decent hill in the Dukes Pass, which is used for local races including the Sam Robinson Memorial and the Tour de Trossachs hilly TT.

Financial backing would come from the Scottish Government, to the tune of £5m, but a £100m benefit to the Scottish economy is predicted. Logistical and political hurdles must be overcome however- the elosed roads caused quite a rumpus at the Etape Caledonia sportive in 2009. Cycling is not a mainstream sport here and there are plenty of people that would not be happy to see their daily lives disrupted.

It’s clear that there has been considerable effort to bring the Tour to Scotland though. Cyclingnews reported in 2007 that discussions had been held between EventsScotland and the ASO, so years of work are going in to this.

Scottish Cyclist: Andy Fenn

Posted on November 3, 2010 by admin

In October I gave a quick rundown of the Scottish Men’s Commonwealth cycling team and there were one or two names I was not familiar with. One of those was Andy Fenn. So time for a bit of Google journalism…

He’s young, born in 1990, and although it’s dangerous to trust Wikipedia I have no reason not to believe he was born in Hertfordshire and now lives in Kent. He must qualify for Scotland via parentage. As with riders like David Millar and footballlers like Bob Wilson, we’ll have him!

He’s been on the British Cycling Academy Programme since the age of 16 with names like Alex Dowsett, Tim Kennaugh and Luke Rowe. He has been a good rider for a while now- his wikipedia page lists a series of wins on the track at U16 and Junior level.

One result stands out though- 1st place in the 2008 Junior Paris-Roubaix. He has did not let this out of proportion though , which can be seen from a very down-to-earth interview with Cycling Weekly. It’s the sort of headline-grabbing result that press and fans latch onto and use to raise expectations, which doesn’t help the rider. He did beat Peter Sagan, though, a rider who got a lot of press in early 2010 for stage wins in Paris–Nice and the Tour of California.

Lots of photos of Andy Fenn can be found in google image search, mostly linking to BC race reports, showing his performances in the National Championships. In 2009 he rode an aggressive race but lost out to Pete Kennaugh for the title, finishing 12th overall. But in 2010 he went one better and took the U23 British Road race championship.

Today Craig Hardie drew my attention to An Post’s new signings for 2011. Exciting times ahead as Andy steps up from British Cycling ‘s U23 Academy 100% ME team to a fully pro team.

Timm Kölln: The Peloton – book out now

Posted on October 22, 2010 by admin

Timm Kölln was kind enough to allow me to use one of his images for a blog post some months back. I love good photography and his work approached cycling with a different eye to the typical race photographer. There are many creative ways to take an action shot; most have been done already, but a few times a season you’ll see a race shot that really takes you by surprise.

Timm turned cycling photography on its head and ignored the clichéd on-bike images. Instead he focused on portrait shots of the riders immediately after finishing a race. As a photographer, it’s the sort of thing I wish I’d thought of myself. The result is a photograph that strips the subject of some of the power and confidence that they are imbued with when on the bike. After the battle, the star gladiators are weak and broken, vulnerable even, and this makes for a much more interesting subject. Now this work is available as in a book.

Buy the new book from Rouleur Books. Price is £50 from Rouleur.cc. This will be a really nice book and I sure as hell would love to own it.

Buy silver gelatin prints from Timm himself
See more of Timm’s photography in the Road to Roubaix film

Scotland men’s road team help Millar to bronze

Posted on October 12, 2010 by admin

David Millar won the first ever medal for Scotland in a Commonwealth road race at the weekend. cyclingnews has the post race quotes and add their own comment, as does the Scotsman and other outlets.

Millar, although born in Malta, and raised in Hong Kong, Scotland and England, declares himself proud of his heritage and was delighted when Scottish Cycling asked him to compete. Following a 2-year suspension some years ago, you’ll still find a broad and robust range of opinions on him on any forum or social media.

He had a good early season with a win in Three days of De Panne (overall), a strong Tour of Flanders and Criterium de Dauphiné, but there then followed a difficult Giro and Tour de France. He has come good again in the late season with silver at the Worlds TT, bronze in the Commonwealth Games road race and another chance for a medal in the TT. But individual glory aside, I feel recognition should go to the Scotland team, who worked hard for him to earn the Commonwealth bronze.

Millar was well supported with a full complement of six Team Scotland riders in the race, and he paid tribute at the finish to the work done by his teammates. In the first half of the race it was David Lines, James McCallum and Ross Creber, while Evan Oliphant and Andy Fenn were the riders assigned to support him – and be in the mix themselves – in the second half of a 168km race run off in 41-degree heat.

“I really enjoyed racing with this jersey and with this team,” said Millar. “Three of the boys were looking after me in the first half of the race, and it was Evan and Andy’s job to follow the attacks when they started coming in the second half.

“They all excelled – they were as good as my pro team. They were all very motivated and I think motivation has a big effect. I wouldn’t have got the medal without them and I’m proud of them all.

I raised an eyebrow at the ‘pro team’ comment- I believe (although I may be wrong) that Oliphant and McCallum are full-time professionals, both being experienced domestic riders of some years. Maybe he said ProTour Team and was misquoted. Nonetheless, some of the other riders are amateurs and it was a heroic performance to bury themselves in the heat of Delhi.

HATS OFF TEAM SCOTLAND
Ross Creber
Davie Lines
Andy Fenn
James McCallum
David Millar
Evan Oliphant

Pic of the day: Billy Bilsland 1967

Posted on September 14, 2010 by admin

Another gem from the flickr stream of Robert “Paris-Roubaix” of the Chryston Wheelers. He writes:

Here’s the Glasgow Wheelers and Scotland star Billy Bilsland riding his Ventoux model Flying Scot. Along with Robert Millar and Brian Smith, Billy was one of the top Scottish cyclists who went on to professional careers on the Continent. He rode for Peugeot in France and while still an amateur he won a stage in the Peace Race, probably the toughest race for amateurs ever. He took the stage in 1967. Billy’s riding for Scotland here as it isn’t the Glasgow Wheelers’ jersey he’s wearing. Billy, if you’re watching this, let us know where and when it took place.

Robert has some great old pictures of Scottish cycling. Click the pic above to discover more. There is a little bit more Billy Bilsland on this blog too.

David Millar’s ‘Bat Wing’ skinsuit

Posted on September 4, 2010 by admin

I’m not hugely into time trialling but this item, heard on the Joe Beer podcast, and about Scotland’s top pro racer was interesting. I also hadn’t heard or seen it anywhere else so thought it was worth posting.

At about 55:50 on this podcast, coach Joe Beer talks about ‘aero going bonkers’ at the 2010 Tour de France. Items included Lance Armstrong’s ‘burner’ rear mech and Dave Millar’s ‘Batsuit’. Co-host Martin Crocker commented that his wife noticed that Dave Millar seemingly hadn’t pulled his skinsuit on correctly. In fact it was a special cut to create a smoother line between the body and the arm area.

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Pic of the day: Millar helps Farrar win at the Vuelta

Posted on September 2, 2010 by admin

Tyler Farrar won Stage 5 of the Vuelta, beating Mark Cavendish in the process (for once this season!). Below his teammate David Millar congratulates him. Millar is normally part of the lead-out but he came in 3 minutes down- not sure why.

The pic is by Italian photographer Sirotti- his ‘big photos’ are regularly featured on steephill.tv and are always absolutely excellent. Click the image for Steephill’s Vuelta coverage.

Hopefully Millar will not tire himself out too much leading out Americans for sprints and climbs, so he is still in good shape for Scotland at the Commonwealth Games in Dehli.

Links
Sirotti’s 16 big photos from Vuelta 2010 stage 5
Sirotti homepage
Steephill.tv home
Millar and Farrar on Garmin-Transitions flickr

Scottish Tribute To Laurent Fignon

Posted on August 31, 2010 by admin

Laurent Fignon died today aged 50, of cancer. Tributes have been made all across the world.

I wanted to look at Fignon’s greates achievements from a Scottish perspective, and his 1984 Tour win stands out- because it was the year in which Robert Millar won the polka dot jersey.

Below you can see Fignon celebrating winning the yellow jersey, and Robert Millar just on the edge of the shot. The image links to l’Equipe’s photo tribute to Fignon’s career -click on it for 24 brilliant images.

Edmond Hood writes an account of the 1984 King of the Mountains on Pez Cycling News, where Millar’s closest challenger for the polka dot jersey was Fignon himself.

[edit 01/11/10]
I couldn’t really claim to have watched Fignon when he was racing, so last night I was searching for any interviews where Robert Millar comments on Laurent Fignon. This morning Cyclingnews got his thoughts, and he provides a fitting tribute to the man and the sportsman in the link above.

More Endura rumourmongering!

Posted on August 22, 2010 by admin

This morning I saw another piece about Endura Racing from French blog Velochrono, which seems to be more good news, this time about Alexandre Blain.

After a period of time considering a change of team, Alexandre Blain will continue his stay at Endura Racing in 2011. The former Cofidis rider joined the Briditsh squad at the start of the season. Elsewhere, he fell heavily during a slightly stupid incident that he recounts to Velochrono: “It was an unlikely coming together with Iker Camano (new Spanish teammate). We were quietly talking, side by side, when he swerved a little and unbelievably, our pedals, stuck on the same cadence, got caught around each other. He finished his race on the grass and I got flattened on the road. Result: three days of enforced rest, compulsory session at the osteopath and wounds to think about for a little while. But no big concerns, the goal remains to be performing at the top in three weeks, to shine at the Tour of Britain.

I’m not sure if the translation of the part about the pedals is right, but I’m asking some of my French friends to check it.

Alex Blain's profile on Enduraracing.com

Hopefully reposting this stuff won’t annoy anyone but it’s a good chance to show off my French translation skillzz. As Endura grow in stature they will have to deal with more media speculation so putting up with blogger twerps like me could be good practice.

Source: Velochrono

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