The Rules of Sprinting

Seems like the leadout man for today's stage (11) winner, Mark Cavendish, at the Tour de France got himself disqualified from the Tour for a head-butting incident. Mark Renshaw gave a headbutt to Julian Dean within 400 yards of the finish line as both cyclists were setting up their sprinter for the finish. Skip ahead to 4:15 in the video to see the triple head butt.



Here is an interesting video that highlights the rules of sprinting in a cycling race. This starts out with a clip of the disqualification of Mark Cavendish at the Tour of Switzerland this year. Remember the one where his front wheel got pretzeled into a Dali-like photo? The interesting video also shows  other famous sprint finishes and explains what is legal and illegal.


How The Race Was Won - Rules of the Group Sprint from Cosmo Catalano on Vimeo.


Of course if you don't like what the other cyclist is doing during the race, you can always accost him with your front wheel, such as what comically happened at the end of this years stage 6 of the Tour de France.



Here is a funny Aussie interview with Matt White, Matt lloyd, Julian Dean and Brett Lancaster all talking about the stage 6 post race fight.

The Rough and Tumble of Bike Racing

Today's Tour of Switzerland saw a spectacular crash at the final sprint to the finish. Mark Cavendish's bike got folded like a Salvador Dali painting. You can view a series of 5 photos here which is interesting as the second photo shows the wheel unfolded again. Here is a video of the crash.

It's all about the "Doped" Bike!

With all the recent news concerning Floyd Landis' admissions and allegatations concerning doping among professional bike racers, I am hoping that the sport goes further to clean up its act as well as see a wave of cyclists breaking the "code of omerta": Don’t tell, don’t ask, don’t even drop a hint. About Floyd Landis, its about time he told the truth. To Lance Armstrong, its about time the truth is revealed. To cycling, who knows if it will ever be truly clean as a sport. I know that there is no greater thrill in sports for me then watching the drama of the Tour de France and other cycling events and the seemingly "heroic" and extra human feats of professional bike racers. It is truly more interesting than watching marathons or track races. In a world where cheating is so common place and the rewards are huge for those who become athletic superstars, I am not sure exactly how they can level the playing field so that a clean athlete can compete with one who feels compelled to cheat.

In reading through news items and message boards over at cyclingnews.com, I have been given an eye-opening lesson into the world of professional bike racing and the thoughts of those close to and involved in the sport. But, one item over there really intrigued me: whether it be a joke, a character assasination against Fabian Cancellara, or a revealing window into the lengths of cheating in sports there is an Italian television show that produced a video showing an electric motorized racing bike and how it works. Then they go on to show "suspicious" actions by Cancellara preceeding incredible bursts of speed in this years Tour of Flanders and  Paris Roubaix. Hoax? bad joke? who knows? But I guess there is all sorts of speculation going on in the world of pro cycling. It may not just be the cyclists themselves who are doped! Sad, isn't it? Until fully proven otherwise, I tend to agree that Fabian Cancellara is one the the great cyclists of today and his moves in both of these races look no different than breakaway moves I have seen hundreds of times in other races.



Here is the forum thread at cycling news.
Did Cancellara Use Illegal Motor Power At The Classics?
Boardman warned the UCI of risks of bike doping
UCI denies reports of motorised doping

And then there is the strange case of Tom Boonen.