Could Team Sky’s conspicuous lack of success in this season’s one-day Classics be down to the appliance of too much science? Are riders such as Jonathan Tiernan-Locke being worn out by relentless, hard riding up and down the slopes of Mount Teide, the notorious volcano in Tenerife where Team Sky sends its riders for intensive training camps? This was the intriguing theory offered by former professional ride ...

The Paris – Roubaix “Hell of the North” is in danger of becoming the Farce of the North unless the responsibilities of riders and fans are taken more seriously. Cyclists riding on pavements or grass verges, bunny hopping on and off kerbs or steaming across traffic islands is against the law in most civilized countries – so why is it allowed in professional bike races, when these areas are usually thronged w ...

Has Peter Sagan overstepped the mark with his behaviour on the podium after the Tour of Flanders bike race? Previously the young Slovakian has celebrated winning races with gorilla impersonations or wheelies, but his reaction on the podium after finishing second to Fabian Cancellara risks bringing the whole sport of professional cycling into disrepute. After six hours in the saddle competing in one of the t ...

  Team orders were very much the flavour of the weekend’s big races in Malaysia and Corsica. While F1 driver Sebastian Vettel made his frustration with team-mate Mark Webber very clear over race radio, we can only guess what Team Sky riders Chris Froome and Richie Porte had to say to each other behind closed doors after Froome – not for the first time in his career – launched an impromptu attack on his ...

The real story behind the snow, sleet and freezing temperatures of the Milan-San Remo race was one to warm even the coldest of hearts. The team of the winning rider, Gerald Ciolek, is the Barcelona of the professional peloton.  Team MTN-Qhubeka promotes a charity that is changing the lives of thousands of impoverished South Africans, and all with the help of the humble bicycle. While Team Sky shamelessly pl ...

Here’s proof that pro riders are human after all.  A group of riders – who shall remain nameless to protect their dignity(and because I can’t make out their race numbers) – have come to a virtual standstill at the foot of the final climb of Stage 6 of the Tirreno Adriatico. It was an epic stage of racing, that echoed the sport’s heroic past when riders like Merckx and Hinault would think nothing of riding u ...

Oh dear.  Bradley’s been behaving badly.  Again. Britain’s first ever winner of the Tour de France and multi Olympic medalist Bradley Wiggins is in danger of going from champ to chav if he’s not careful. The one-fingered salute he gave to photographers after leaving hospital last week was not what we expect from one of our national treasures. If he’d done it in the immediate aftermath of the accident which ...

So, I found a vintage Novy road bike for sale on Ebay the other day. Had a look at the pictures. Got a bit more interested and then got totally seduced by the best advert that I have ever read. Not because it was full of jokes, banter and repartee but because it was a story with feeling and passion and knowledge. Here it is, in full & unedited: Vintage Novy frameset with early Shimano Dura Ace component ...

I’ve just finished reading the autobiographies of Joy Division/New Order bassist Peter Hook and professional riders Victoria Pendleton and David Millar. One was a brilliant, funny, candid account of life in the fast lane.  The other two were written by cyclists. It’s not enough to say we shouldn’t expect too much in the way of literary excellence from professional sportsmen.  If a working-class lad from Sal ...

Yesterday Lance Armstrong gave up his fight against the doping charges brought against him by the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), thus effectively accepting the punishment of the, as yet unproven, allegations. As a result, Armstrong has been stripped of all his career wins from the 1st of August 1998 until the present, losing all 7 Tour de France titles and numerous other accolades including the 2001 Tour de ...