Posted: Thu, Aug 14th
Inside Cycling, with John Wilcockson - The pros finally embrace Olympic cyclingWorld Anti Doping Agency president John Fahey said earlier this week that the Olympic movement should consider banishing cycling and weight lifting from the Games because they are sports that have doping problems. UCI president Pat McQuaid immediately shot back that no other ...
Posted: Fri, Aug 1st
Inside the Tour, with John Wilcockson - Reflections on a break-through TourShortly after the official result sheet of last Saturday’s Tour de France time trial was dropped on my table at the pressroom in St. Amand-Montrond, I made an interesting discovery. All but one of the riders who had just taken the top 15 places in the challenging 53km test ...
Posted: Sat, Jul 26th
Inside the Tour, with John Wilcockson - It all comes down to thisSaturday dawned cool and cloudy in Cérilly, central France, where the podium of the 95th Tour de France is being decided in a 53km time trial. Favorite to come out on top is Cadel Evans (Silence-Lotto), who rode the course a few months ago. He says the hills on the zigzagging ...
Posted: Fri, Jul 25th
Inside the Tour, with John Wilcockson - Sastre vs. Evans showdown the talk of the TourThe upcoming time-trial battle between Carlos Sastre and Cadel Evans that will decide this 95th Tour de France is the talk of the race — much more than Thursday’s excellent stage victory for Columbia’s Marcus Burghardt in St. Étienne or Friday’s likely bunch finish in ...
Posted: Thu, Jul 24th
Inside the Tour, with John Wilcockson - Sastre has ridden the perfect Tour — so far From virtually every aspect, Carlos Sastre has ridden a perfect Tour de France. As soon as the route for this year’s Tour was announced last October, he said that the race would be decided in the final week, and probably at L’Alpe d’Huez. That’s why he focused his whole ...
Posted: Wed, Jul 23rd
Inside the Tour, with John Wilcockson - D-day on the Alpe I’m writing these words on the road to L’Alpe d’Huez where, at the end of this glorious Wednesday in the French Alps, the 95th Tour de France could be decided. The infamous 21-turn mountain climb concludes a gigantic stage 17 after the riders have already crossed the ...
Posted: Mon, Jul 21st
Inside the Tour, with John Wilcockson - Closer and closerThere has never been a Tour de France as closely poised as this 2008 edition, less than a week before the finish. The most similar state of the race came in 2003, when prior to the final mountain stage, just 18 seconds separated race leader Lance Armstrong from his two remaining ...
Posted: Sun, Jul 20th
Inside the Tour, with John Wilcockson - The Alps are here!There are seven major mountain climbs to tackle in the next three stages of the 95th Tour de France: the Col Agnel, Prato Nevoso, Col de la Lombarde, Cime de la Bonette, Col du Galibier, Col de la Croix de Fer and L’Alpe d’Huez. Race leader Cadel Evans has ridden them all in ...
Posted: Sat, Jul 19th
Inside the Tour, with John Wilcockson - Mark Cavendish, the Manx FlyerUntil Mark Cavendish came on the pro scene just over a year ago, the most successful British Tour sprinter was Barry Hoban, who won eight stages between 1967 and 1975. Hoban was not a natural sprinter, but he could sustain a long finishing effort and he won stages with smart ...
Posted: Fri, Jul 18th
Inside the Tour, with John Wilcockson - Doped and dupedWhile the news media were massed around the pale yellow Saunier Duval team bus in Lavelanet Thursday just as stage 12 was setting out farther down the street, Philippe Brunel stood back from the crowd watching the spectacle. I felt sorry for him. As an award-winning French ...
Posted: Thu, Jul 17th
The new dynamic of the 2008 TourWith the Pyrénées in the rearview mirror, the riders in the 95th Tour de France can now look forward to three less nervous stages across the South of France, where the main obstacle to overcome will be the heat. Temperatures will be in the upper-80s by the end of Thursday’s ...
Posted: Tue, Jul 15th
Evans relaxed and ready at rest-day get-togetherThere’s a “down home” quality to Cadel Evans that was emphasized by his rest-day get-together with the media on Tuesday. It was certainly not a rest-day event in the style of a Lance Armstrong, whose Tour de France press conferences were all business, much in the style of ...
