Sports Poets Society

https://www.velonews.com/culture/team-tensions-and-power-struggles-from-hinault-and-lemond-to-sastre-and-the-schlecks/?fbclid=IwAR19l8Ic1b_qQPmRwG9GgONZBxjRj7wNMkTM_gEbUU2fy31ZeHdYta6p50E Rivalries within La Vie Claire and CSC-Saxo Bank reveal the tension between cycling's team ethic and personal ambition. James Startt Velonews - MAY 27, 2020 News that Chris Froome could leave Team Ineos is providing endless fodder during this unexpected lull in racing. It can be interpreted in many ways. Perhaps it is no more than the four-time Tour de France winner testing the waters for a potential move in 2021. Or perhaps it reflects an internal power struggle with what has become the sport’s biggest grand tour team. It is many things to many people, but one thing is certain—such a situation is anything but new in the sport of cycling. Certainly, when Egan Bernal became the third rider on the team in three years to win the Tour, in 2019, it became clear that there w

by EDWARD PICKERING -- EDITOR ProCycling UK, January 2020 A lot can happen in a decade. This time 10 years ago, Team Sky were just about to start and, let’s be honest, they were a bit average initially . Lance Armstrong was unretired and undisgraced . Fabian Cancellara had yet to win his first Tour of Flanders . And a British rider was probably not going to win the Tour de France any time soon, notwithstanding the fourth place that Bradley Wiggins had just achieved in the race . On the other hand, Marianne Vos was winning a lot of races, just as she is 10 years later. In a fast-changing world, some things remain reassuringly stable. Pedants will rightly point out that the decade technically ends in December 2020 , but pedants didn’t have as good a time as the rest of us on December 31, 1999. We’re celebrating the cycling teens, and what a decade it was. The last 10 years have seen the domination of Sky, the peak years of Cancellara, Peter Sagan, Philippe Gilbert, Vos a

https://www.sport-e-cultura.com/2019/12/14/la-coppa-di-dominik-paris-la-vuelta-de-francia-di-julien-alaphilippe/?fbclid=IwAR0K77hrriG3IYvTmmNW6xoQsyzKgApduHkFfff27_RoISSElnp2JbH0rJw di SIMONE BASSO Sportecultura.com, sabato 14 dicembre 2019 Col Velo d’Or assegnato a Julian Alaphilippe , il 2019 del ciclismo su strada è diventato materiale da almanacco. Premio meritato per il (giovane) ras della Loira che, lungo cinque mesi, ha unito la primavera dei classicomani (Strade Bianche, Milano-Sanremo e Freccia-Vallone) con l’estate dei tappisti (il quinto posto – da eroe nazionale – al Tour de France). Julian Alaphilippe vince la  Freccia Vallone 2008 staccando Alejandro Valverde. Quando a metà ottobre ASO ha presentato alla sua maniera, ovvero in pompa magna, la Grande Boucle 2020, il pensiero (stupendo?) è andato subito al capitano della Deceuninck-Quick Step. La Vuelta de Francia , un tentativo estremo, l’ennesimo, di far vincere il Tour a un francesino (

EDWARD PICKERING -  Editor Procycling UK - ISSUE 258 / AUGUST 2019 Have we seen the last of Chris Froome as a Tour winner, even as a racing cyclist? When news of Froome’s injuries from a training crash at the Dauphiné emerged, my initial reaction was that they looked career-threatening. It’s not just the injuries - broken femur, ribs, neck, sternum and elbow. It’s the stage of his life and career as well. A young rider would have time to rebuild and restart their career, while Froome is 34. Only one rider older than 34 has won the Tour, and that was in 1922 (Firmin Lambot, 36). Age wouldn’t have been on the Brit’s side going into this year’s Tour. Going into next year’s after a long and complex rehab will be a new ball game. That said,I know not to write him off. He doesn’t have to come back - he’s made his money and his reputation. But he will. Or at least he’ll put everything into trying.  I also wonder if the cycling world will learn to love Chris Froome. Of course, he h

di SIMONE BASSO Il Giornale del Popolo, 14 dicembre 2017 Il dispaccio di agenzia sulla non negatività - per eccesso di salbutamolo - di Chris Froome alla Vuelta 2017 vinta, si reitera a mo' di valanga sui media.  I tempi digitali (ignoranti) impongono di rincorrere le notizie, eppure - al di là dell'effetto déjà vu - il bordone non ci ha colto di sorpresa. L'UCI (la federazione internazionale) comunica che l'anomalia è stata riscontrata lo scorso 7 settembre, dalla CADF (Foundation Antidopage du Cyclisme), un organo indipendente francese (...), mentre tutti gli altri controlli (il britannico era stato testato ogni giorno) erano nella norma. Il salbutamolo, ovvero il principio attivo contenuto nel Ventolin, prodotto antiasmatico, non è proibito dalla WADA, l'Agenzia Mondiale dell'Anti-Doping, ma ha una restrizione d'uso che arriva a 1600 microgrammi per millimetro nelle ventiquattro ore. Oppure 800 nelle dodici ore: trattasi, più o me