This Colnago is not your common or garden retro lust machine, no, this one is only sponsored by frickin WORDPERFECT, which turns out to be the current Rabobank team in their Novell days. via Tourdeville.
Category: cycling
Etape
via ifrider_jp
Riding with the Blue Train
Red Kite Prayer has part one of two guys’ story of training with the US Postal Service team in 2002 – this was @lancearmstrong’s ‘Blue Train‘ team at the start of his seven tour titles.
No matter how long the ride was, there he was—at the front, leading his team. Headwind, tailwind, uphill and down, Lance set the pace and rode like a motorcycle. He lead some of the smoothest, fastest five hour rides of my life.
The hotel and surrounding resort community sit atop a steep, mile-long climb. This simple “driveway” served to bring already broken men (Bill and me) to a state of groveling at the end of each day’s training ride.
Tech de France
With the tour all but over after the withering Mount Ventoux showdown, sit back and luxuriate in the details.
British sprinter Mark Cavendish rides with an English Rose on board.
Lance Armstrong’s time trial rides, part of his Bikes of Stages effort.
For me, the most stylish team is Garmin Slipstream, whose two Brit riders may have inspired the Argyle.
Links on Friday – Cycling
Lance Armstrong is the big story in this year’s tour – here he is battling it out on the Mount Ventoux moonscape with Matrco Pantini, before letting him cross the line first, giving Jan Ullrich ‘the look‘, and getting all narky at Paul Kimmage (while not *actually* answering the question)
Tour newbies would do well to track down Hell On Wheels, it’s a great intro to just what the hell is going on. Then watch Breaking Away, the Footloose of Cycling films
If your collar bone is still unbroken after the London Alley Cat race, don’t push your luck on the track
Cycled to work a few times? Think you could have a go? Read an amateurs’ experience on the Alpe D’Huez, and ex-pro Kimmage taking on the incline. And here’s Duncan Deadball’s live report from France. sportreview = jealous
Follow @letour
Tour De France riders must be better at riding no hands than sportreview. You can follow @lancearmstrong, @ghincapie, and @LeviLeipheimer on the twitter. Kiwi @Greghenderson1 tweets too, but isn’t on tour this year
Speaking of which, there’s two Kiwis to follow this year, Julian Dean, a sprinter who could nick a stage win, and sportreview fav Hayden Roulston
For coverage, The Guardian has a dedicated Tour section and Richard Williams reporting live, while The Times has Paul Kimmage, Rough Ride author and ex-pro. Here he is talking to Brit David Millar, the guy with the sweet bike. Luckily, Sky carries pretty much the entire tour here in En Zed.
Here’s a Google Earth thingo. If you can get it to work, let me know(!)
Blog wise, Belgium Knee Warmers and Red Kite Prayer will have some good reading and hopefully The Big Picture will have more amazing photos (this link is not dial up friendly)
Links on Friday
If you love Chris Waddle, and couldn’t get enough of Diamond Lights, wait until you see him turn into a Pet Shop Boy.
Turns out all you need to impress the ladies is a sweet custom bike.
Star Wars nerds – hands where I can see ’em.
Giro d’Italia stage 12 photos
Stage 12 of the Giro d’Italia took place around the Cinque Terra, five villages on the Italian Riviera with some of the most spectacular scenery around. The course drew criticism from the peloton for its’ hills and tight turns. Belgium Knee Warmers has video and defence of the course:
Stage 12’s mountainous time trial was one of the most exciting stages I’ve seen in a Grand Tour in the last five years. The course was breathtakingly gorgeous and over roads any cyclist would kill to ride on as a closed course. Shouldn’t the course of a Grand Tour take in roads that are at once challenging, thrilling and precarious? Certainly we don’t wish harm to come to the riders (e.g. Pedro Horillo), but roller races aren’t nearly as fun to watch.
New Lance Armstrong bikes
Lance Armstrong will race on custom painted bikes in this weekend’s Giro d’Italia. Check out this *bad-ass* time trial bike and the detail on his road bike. Any artists wanting to come decorate the sportreview.net.nz bike are very, very welcome.
Observer sport monthly
New OSM today. Includes the ’74 Lions…
When another fight broke out, the Wales full-back and orthopaedic surgeon, JPR Williams, ran fully 60 yards, in the spirit of “99”, to deliver a right hook to second row Moaner van Heerden. “That’s not something I’m proud of,” Williams said later.
…Team Rwanda’s Tour De France preparations, 10 teams too good to go down, and asks just who makes up football chants:
“Two Andy Gorams”, after the goalkeeper was reported to have schizophrenia, “there’s only two Andy Gorams”.