World domination - keep the faith.

Back in the mists of time a man called Peter Keen stood up at a British Cycling meeting (then BC Federation) and said he had a vision, that vision was the GB would soon become number one ranked nation in the world.
And so (I'll spare you the finer details) it came to pass. This week then sees an interview with Brian Cookson widely reported, in which he talks about a Le tour team for 2010. Now I don't know if this a new interview or if someone has dragged up a few good quotes and pasted 'em onto a site, with other editors following suit, still none the less it helps build on the momentum of the Worlds, Olympics, Le Tour de Britain.

This then is the much heralded Nat Pro, a professionally sponsored team that will feature mainly British riders, but be able to give up those riders for major events such as the track worlds.
So will it happen? Well BC have good contacts with major sponsors, who are or have been involved in other aspects of the sport, Tesco, DHL, Halfords, Fred's pluming supplies . The new deal with the track squad having Sky on their jerseys proves that cycling has major appeal to big name sponsors. The Sky deal was of course done before the Olympics, before the marketability of cycling went sky high. So there is the high profile, the success and the riders. It looks like everything is in place and all that is needed is the deal to be done.
If a deal is to be done then Dave Brailsford is the man to do it. I don't know who has been instrumental in signing what BC sponsorship deals, but DB has the profile and the gift of the gab and if he needs to wow sponsors with Olympic Gold and Rainbow jerseys he has them a plenty to call on. So I guess it's just a matter of sitting back and having faith.

Hang on, hang on, I said the riders, where are they? Well this year sees Ben Swift and Jonny Bellis sign for the big time and looking at the performances of the Academy squad in Italy the next few years should see a steady stream of quality riders, who know how to win and more importantly do win. Add to that production line riders of the quality of Cummings, Froom, Thomas, the experience of Hunt and Hammond, the step ups for Dan's Lloyd and Fleeman and there are certainly already riders with the ability to make a solid core of a good team.

What of Cav? Well the cannonball has just extended at Columbia and I doubt he'll appear in the first version of the Nat Pro team, he needs a solid lead out train and Columbia can give him that. But there's no reason why with a few good signings that couldn't be replicated at the Nat Pro set up.

The BC high up's have always said that there's a British kid capable of winning Le tour de France, it's just up to them to find him. Have faith.

But before all of that all of this - The Worlds, U23, Womens and Mens road races take place.
In the womens Nicole Cooke must start as favorite, it's a course that should suit her and she'll have a strong team to support her, with Pooley, Laws, Allen and Armitstead all doing the team job to get Nicole into the final selection. It'll be tough, with the German and Italians out to make amends for messing up the Olympics. I doubt that being favorite will worry Nicole too much she's has maintained her amazing form, winning the sprints and points in Ardeche as well as finishing 6th, Sharon Laws finished 5th and Emma Pooley won the mountains prize - not a bad few days work. Whilst the Worlds course doesn't have an Olympic size hill it'll still be test enough and in Emma Pooley GB have the best climber currently riding. It will be a tough race, but rainbow to cap a brilliant season for Nicole? Don't bet against it.

In the U23 race GB has a number of riders capable of winning, Swifty will lead the team with Jonny Bellis (3rd last year). Both have had great seasons, and next year will see them both riding for 'soraway top pro teams' (sorry I'm getting into tabloid mode here). But along with Swift and Bellis Peter Kennaugh is well capable of winning should he get into the right break. They will be well supported by both Dowsett and McEvoy. So again, podium as very real possibility and I guess there will be disappointment if the team come back with no medal.

Finally, the mens race, no potential winners, and to be honest no chance of a podium. Cummings and Millar should be close to the final selection, but will they have anything after the TT? With Cancellara missing there will be a number of riders who could fancy their chances, will Millar be one of them?

In Spain it's all got very exciting hasn't it? Oh, OK then. Meanwhile in Spain ZZZZZZZ, with a little extra ZZZZZZZ. Astana first and second and Sastre third, after saying Riis smells of poo, oh come on, as parting shots go I'm sure you could have done better than that.
For God sake, move the race back to to May, you might find that the non Spanish peloton then see's riding it as something of value, rather than something to be endured after a long season.
Still, congratulation to AC for his second grand tour of the year and the third of his career. That's AC as in Alberto Contador, no AC as in AC of operation Puerto, after all as Alberto said 'What do they want, my blood?' - er.........

Meanwhile in Belgium.

Clean, cleaner, cleanish

LA, that's the once and future rider, not the place in America, was interview recently about 'the return' and said that the generation he rode with was the dirty generation...

'There's this perception in cycling that this generation is now the cleanest generation we've had in decades, if not forever. And the generation that I raced with was the dirty generation.' Says Lance.

This then will be the same Lance then, who rode against Filippo Simeoni in 2004 because Simeoni had chosen to testify against Ferrari (at that time LA's doctor), or maybe it's a different LA, maybe he's got Tyler Hamilton twin syndrome?

Indeed it makes deeply disturbing reading to look through the lists of podiums and jersey winners of the 3 grand tour over the last decade and play the caught, banned and disgraced game. Well actually disturbing is perhaps the wrong word, more like 'very annoying where's the baseball bat'. Remove those that are now disgraced from the list and you have a very, very different set of podiums, let alone stage winners.
Now this obviously makes me and I'd guess the average fan at the roadside angry, so what the hell does it do to the guys in the peloton? I am amazed that there hasn't been a in peloton fight yet. What I do know from reading various blogs, interviews etc after this years Le Tour is that is a lot of anger and it's starting to come out, Interviews with Robbie Hunter, Geraint Thomas and Jerome Pineau's blog leave you in no uncertain terms that there is a lot of ill feeling, not just to dopers, but to the 'old ways' of doing things.

So is the sport any cleaner now than in 1999? Well, yes I think it is. Tests are more advanced and far more comprehensive, riders are speaking out against dopers, sponsors have pulled out citing failed drug tests as their reason, fans are openly abusing riders that fail tests and cheering those that take a stand against drugs. So are we there yet? No far from it, but we have come a long way.
IMHO the UCI need to push for longer bans and a comprehensive testing and education programme to be introduced by all national federations (with removal from the worlds as the non compliance option).
A long way then? Yes, but we are so far ahead of the other sports in this area that we can at least feel some satisfaction there.
By the way, Filippo Simeoni's win in the 08 Italian championship is a win that we should all celebrate. At 37 he came back from ridicule to be a national hero, a ride that shows two things, one that determination and good training will pay off and secondly.... well, secondly, maybe things are getting cleaner.

On the racing front it's all happening in Spain isn't it, er... is it? Once again the Tour de Spain fails to rouse any excitement, other than climbing 20%/25% climbs in a bid to attract a TV audience. For God sake move it back to the start of the season, it at least had a value there and riders and fans weren't knackered by a long season.
I would be hoping by now to offer a detailed blow by blow account of the racing, but within minutes of switching on I've fallen asleep. Nope, move it back and leave the end of the season to the short week long stage races and Autumn classics.
Speaking of week long races the Tour de Britain is due to be 9 days long in 09. It was a good race this year and the general feeling from the riders was positive. Hopefully next year we'll have closed road finish circuits for the fans enjoyment and the riders safety. A few extra fully closed miles couldn't go amiss either. Still the relationship the organisers are building with host towns is very strong, hence the return of City Centre racing in 09 and with any luck as the years progress the race will move towards more closed road.

Cav has pulled out of the Worlds road, can't blame him can you, though doubtless there will be posters on the cycling weekly forum who do, the poor lad is totally knackered, 17 wins and racing since Feb (well he was riding World cups and six's over the winter, so it's a bit longer than he claims if you ask me). If anyone deserves a few beers and a bit of a lie in it's the Canonball. Take it easy Cav and see you at the Revolutions.

What's going on in Spain?

I have no idea, Contador is in the lead, but to be honest I've been paying to more attention Paris-Bruxelles.
You see Paris-Bruxelles is the race, that, for me marks the start of the racing season, almost over are theses events when you need a triple chain set and panniers, due to long climbs and weeks in the saddle, from now on it's real racing, one day classics, track and cross all the way through until May, when we can go on our summer holidays and spend a few weeks riding round France and Italy in the sunshine.

And in the real world Swifty is about to sign for Katyusha, that is once Dave Brailsford has had a look at the contract. Not that unusual, BC tends to cast an eye over all the contracts of it's academy riders and a few of the others as well. The riders in the academy are also taught how to negotiate a contract and when they 'move on up' so to speak, they have the option of negotiating their own, most of them don't and chose to get BC involved. I'm guessing this allows for clauses about riding for the national team for worlds and Olympics' etc to be inserted. How many other national federations do that? I'll tell you - 0 that's how many. Can you imagine an Italian or French team allowing a rider to miss most of the season to prepare for the Olympics? no neither can I, over in (mainland) Europe the teams hold sway and the sponsor trumps all, so even if you're a hot favorite for an Olympic event the chances are your preparation will be compromised, oh and guess what? it was.
Yet another reason for the Nat Pro set up, so many good things to look forward to.

Talking of sponsors, I like to support them where I can, I mean they support our sport out of the goodness of their hearts don't they? Ha, ha, ha. In all seriousness when I'm out and about my business (normally standing at the side of the road shouting at cyclists) I tend to spot anything with the slightest connection to cycling and as a result am often on the lookout for the products of our more obscure sponsors. Thus I am often disappointed in our local supermarket when I am unable to find the Milram, I've never seen any Milram, have you?