Photos D'équipe
Every year, the traditional 'team photo' by each team is shot and released. A chance to showcase new their new riders, team kits and bike, the pictures are bandied around the cycling press as column inches fill with the promises and statements of intent for the season ahead. Some teams manage to look every inch cool, their lean and perma-tanned bodies svelte in a slick new kit design, legs thrown casually over desirable weenie-esque carbon steeds. Below we take a look at some of the best and worst team shots throughout the years and celebrate those who don't quite manage this zenith of sharpness.
Hey! work experience kid! stitch our riders onto a glorious clip art of Kazakhstan please!
Nothing says 'legitimate comeback' better than what could easily be the cover to a popular mano-e-mano p0rn film Ricco... amirite?
Katusha clearly scrimping on the location budget here, riders jetted into the windy sands of sunny Skegness apparently... oh and bonus points for sticking the token beanpole mid line-up.
SKY 2010. Very cool. Look how much of a baby Froome looks. (Secret - these were stitched together from individual pics).
"YO! We are such BADASSES and were here to stay baby!".... errr.... you are actually a weapons grade tool and you suck BALL. Throwing up the rock horns and sipping monster energy drink from your Cadillac might have you thinking you are the epitome of cool, but in fact you put the douche in douchesquad. Having said that, I did like their mental kits. And a couple of their riders. Nice attitude, shitty management.
Sitting by the dock of the bay... nice relaxations from Colombia here, although those small frys on the front better watch they don't drop that ride in the ocean....
Aint no-body got time for a guy squatting in grey lycra. Peroid. And where did the guy on the rights leg go??? No wonder Footon/Fuji/Servetto/Geox whatever the hell they morphed into didn't stand the test of time.
Vacansoleil plumping for the 'naughty class in the school gym' vibe here. Check out Flecha the class clown. Minus points for guy on right for forgetting his bibshorts.
Naptime.
Lotto Honda girls, giving it their best 'badass' pose. Out the back of a lumberyard in Belgium no doubt.
Is it a cycling team or is this a Burton Menswear catalogue image. Answers on a postcard purleeeease!
And below are my personal winners for the 'epic-wtf-what-were-the-press-department-thinking' award.... viewer caution is advised!
And heres a quality last minute addition to the WTF category from BOOM ...
Whose your daddy???
Il Giro Fever!
Giro d'Italia countdown has officially begun. So here we stand a mere 3 days out from the perennial date in the grand tour calendar, a true signifier that the summer of stage racing has begun in earnest!
Will be see Wiggo actually get his head down and race with vigor, or is Sicily's prodigal son Nibali about to wreck the party and tear it up with the support of his easter block friends? Honestly... im dearly hoping for a Nibz coup this giro. Scintillating on descents, and seemingly 100% committed to animating a race rather than computing SRM figures for 6 hours on end. Racing with panache I guess some will call it. I cant help but really like the love-able Sicilian, and after a show of decent form bagging Tirreno is grim conditions this year, he looks in good shape. Looking remarkably lean 'n mean this season... he is for sure my pick to don the Paul Smith designed Maglia Rosa for 2013. Id also like to see Uran right up there, maglia bianca perhaps?
http://www.steephill.tv/giro-d-italia/
http://www.gazzetta.it/Speciali/Giroditalia/2013/en/
http://www.cyclingnews.com/giro-ditalia
You can keep abreast via Eurosport on tv daily, or if like me your chained to a computer screen, check out the links at the end for places you can stream (I actually love streaming via the official Gazzetta page for euro flair). Don't forget you can catch stages at the London Rapha Cycle Club, or head to Bar Italia and enjoy a machiatto and some late afternoon stage finishes daily. To get you in the mood, check out this 'Maglia Rosa' cocktail!
We spied this this natty little wallpaper thats available to download for free to a variety of handheld or tablet devices, from artist Pierluigi Riccio...
For any design/type nerds out there, you can download a lovely PDF gratis (or a meager €5 for a lovely print copy on rosa-coloured paper) over at Binnenland
Strava & Castelli bring you the 'Battaglia in Montagna' challenge, in the shape of a charge to undertake 813km of riding within the ten day period starting from 13th May. The challenge sees riders undertake the combined distance of stages 10, 14, 15, 19 and 20 from this year's race. These five stages, all major summit finishes, are where the eventual winner will undoubtedly prove they have what it takes to bring home the Maglia Rosa! Sign up and get involved, nothing like a good dollop of early summer inspiration to get out and chase some tarmac and work on those grand tour-esque tanlines ;)
Bored at work and cant ride? why not shield your screen from your boss and exercise the inner child, check out this online interactive 'colouring book' to colour-in the Giro d'Italia logo.
Finally, we here at Bianchista HQ recommend truly getting in the Mediterranean spirit and grabbing a copy of Raphas 'The Giro' music album. Packed with classic jazz, traditional folk and italo-disco belters, the album is peppered with excerpts from the 174 classic film 'The Greatest Show On Earth'. A perfect summertime edition to the jukebox, and whilst a few years old now, has still stood the test f time and every summer its on heavy rotation
So get ready to work your Giro-inspired splash of pink and enjoy what promises to be an electric edition of Italy's finest racing export!
http://www.gazzetta.it/Speciali/Giroditalia/2013/en/
http://www.cyclingnews.com/giro-ditalia
La Doyenne
I
had the pleasure of heading to Liege in Belgium Ardennes for the
first time!
Saturday saw us tackle the LBL Challenge sportive, we plumped for the medium route, around 100 miles or so, eschewing the daddio of the full 276km route (although plans are firmly hatched to return and try the big one in 2014... now we have some idea of the bumps in the Ardennes!) Our route still featured most of the meaty climbs to sink our teeth into (and pray my knackered achilles didn't give out). We took in the Col du Rosier, the Maquisard - a 6km winding bugger falling during the warmest part of the day, Mont Theux, a cruelly placed Côte de La Redoute coming 110km into the ride, pushing onto the Colonster, before a final kick in the teeth at 152km that is the côte de Saint-Nicolas, which despite its pretty gnarly gradients, proved to be a real kick, climbing through the industrial streets glancing across to houses standing a curious angles to the tarmac we rode up. Big shout outs and respect to all those who smashed out the full distance one, especially Mr Liebo, cruising back into town ahead of us haha!
A fair few brits were present on the ride, and was most lovely to bump into people we knew out on the course. We even spied plenty of ozzies over for the ride, most noticeable the dude in the full Greenedge garb... lets hope they werent pro's seeking a little extra training ;)
Anyway, enough of the ride, all I can say is its an event id highly recommend heading to, theres a distinctly chilled vibe to it, forget your super-subscribed euro sportive-type fare here... entries possible on the line with a queue of about 2 people. Picking up numbers and setting off from the start village easily completed in 15 minutes max!
Sunday we headed back to the place of suffering the day before, La Redoute, making a cosy pitch armed with flags, beers, whiskey and plenty of race excitement! Dan Martin took the honors on the day, with a canny move on Purito in the finale. He rode strong and smart, and although the throngs of thousands around us, ardent if not die-hard Gilbert fans, were disappointed, the vibe was pretty awesome. I hope to be back next year, who knows, Schleck might get his scrawny arse in gear to return to the Ardennes with vigor although the season is a long one ;)
L.I.O.T.R
So, a few months ago I noticed a cool new instagram account appearing on my feed. "Leave It On The Road" had me intrigued... what was the message behind these lovely pics of two dudes riding in some pretty breathtaking scenes? Bianchista was privileged to grab a chat with Michael Tabtabai & Andrew Hudon, those 'two dudes' behind this very special project.
Bianchista - So,
‘leave it on the road’... sounds like an amazing adventure project... I mean,
3500 miles in 24 days is pretty nuts. That’s pushing some serious limits...
what purpose could make you wake up one day and decide to undertake such a
mammoth task?”
Andrew - For me it began with my
mother’s cancer diagnosis in 2005. My brother and I were both endurance
athletes, he as a runner and I as a cyclist. We felt helpless to do anything
for our mother, and wanted to do something to make a difference. We came up with
the idea of doing a combined event in Maine (our mother’s home state) where he
would run up the coast and I would ride around the interior, 900 miles in 9
days, and then we would finish together on the top of Cadillac Mountain,
raising money and awareness for cancer research as we went. We did the event in
2006. My brother “retired” after that and went to med school, but I had the
bug. After that I became involved with a few different cancer charities. It
became a cycle; the more survivors and patients I met, the more inspired I
became, the more I wanted to get involved and ride in their honor. To me it has
been my way of fighting back against an enemy that has devastated my family and
friends. When I feel tired or it hurts, I know that none of the people I’m
riding for ever gave up, and I can’t either. It’s a source of strength, a way
to find positive energy out of tragedy, and a source of healing for us. It’s a
way to inspire others, to inspire each other, and to make a difference in
the world, however small it may be. It’s an experience that can never possibly
be described.
Michael - For me this ride is a tribute to my father, Farzad Tabtabai, who
lost his battle with cancer in late 2011. He fought colon cancer, breast cancer
and bladder cancer for over ten years. I knew when he passed away that I had to
do something like this ride, for my dad, my family, myself and anyone who has
been affected in some way by cancer. The only question was how quickly we could
make this happen. We've basically been working for a year and a half
to make it happen. Going further back in history, I got in to cycling as a way
to stay healthy in my 20’s. My father had already been fighting colon cancer
for a few years at that point, and I knew I needed to live a healthier
lifestyle now that I had a family history of the disease. Riding and raising
funds for cancer-fighting causes was one way I felt I could get rid of some of
the helplessness that comes when a family member fights cancer. It was my small
way of doing something positive. After
riding several organized charity rides and getting in to racing, I graduated to
riding with Andrew on his more epic challenges. Over the years that has become
a partnership, with Andrew focusing on the logistical side of the rides and me
taking over the storytelling side. Leave It On The Road is definitely the most
refined version of this partnership, and we've been able to bring on
some amazing sponsors to support us in this effort. We wouldn't be
able to do it without them.
Bianchista - One
thing we at Bianchista HQ spied recently is that you Michael, happen to be a
lucky little devil and have made the testing lab for the insane looking ‘Google
glass’!
Is this something you will be utilizing on the trip?
Michael - Yeah, the Google Glass is
something we are really excited about. My day job deals in advertising
& technology, and I had heard quite a lot about its capabilities for
real time filming, posting and communicating with people. It’s essentially
a voice-controlled computer with a tiny heads up display. Once you combine
that connectivity with an event like this, the possibilities are endless. The
act of recapping a day’s events on the bike for your supporters can see
usually takes a couple hours of precious recovery time each night. Now
with the Glass we’ll be able to do a lot of that stuff in real time as we’re
riding. Or as we've found on previous rides, sometimes the
route you've planned months ahead of time
just isn't ride-able. A bridge is closed for repair and you have to
spend another two hours riding around to the next one. Having navigation
tools right there in your glasses, controlled by your voice could be a big help
for us. Even just chatting with our wives and showing them the amazing things
we’re seeing, when we see them... I couldn't be more excited
about that. And of course there’s always ordering pizza from the road, too!
Bianchista - In 2010
you undertook another pretty mammoth ride with purpose, tell us
about that? Did you kind of feel like there was unfinished business to be
done for this ride?
Andrew
- The 2010 ride was called The Resilience Ride. It was in honor of the 10 year
anniversary of a woman from my home town recovering from colon cancer and
inline skating from upstate New York to Colorado. The ride went from Boulder,
through my hometown in New York, and finished in Connecticut. I had every
intention of it being the last one. However, less than a year later, a close
family friend died from a brain tumor. Within months of that, Mike’s father
passed away. My worst fear when my mom was diagnosed, was that I would lose
her. Now, six years later, I was watching my best friend live through my worst
fear. There is no greater call to
action than that. Whether Mike had wanted to ride across the country or walk
barefoot across Antarctica, I was going to be there by his side to do what I
could to help, and I would be there for my friend who passed away as well.
Bianchista
- Retul and Over The Top Productions held a colon cancer discussion panel at
which you both spoke recently, how was that? Do you feel that awareness of this disease is
something that needs improving upon? I know in the UK the
past couple of years was a big push to highlight the awareness of prostate
cancer in particular, and they do a few bits with British Cycling..
Andrew
- Colon cancer is the third most commonly diagnosed cancer and the second
leading cause of cancer death in men and women combined in the US. The American Cancer
Society estimates that 142,820 people will be diagnosed in 2013 and that 50,830 will die from
colon cancer in the United States. But the disease is entirely preventable through proper
screening. Unfortunately, it’s not something people want to talk about. In fact, I didn't find out until
after the show that my own family has a history of the disease, meaning I need to start my screenings earlier
than the typical age of 50.
Michael
- The saddest part about colon cancer is that it can be completely prevented if
you’re regularly screened. Part of our awareness campaign is to help tell the stories of
young people who have fought the disease, like Brian Novak, who was on the panel discussion.
He was diagnosed with stage IIIB colon cancer at just 36. If we can get people thinking about colon
cancer screening at a younger age, we can really make an impact on the disease. It’s that simple!
Bianchista
- You have quite an awesome roster of sponsors, and its great to see such a
roll call of companies on board. Can you tell us a little bit about the support you guys will receive
for the training period and also the actual ride?
Michael
- We've been so fortunate to land our amazing sponsors, we literally
could not do this ride without their support. When we first started
planning for the ride Andrew and I decided that we only wanted to work
with people and brands that were as passionate about our cause and our story as
we were. We really needed to be able to leverage that passion through
social media to help tell the story of the ride. There are so many more
social tools available to us on LIOTR than when we did the Resilience Ride
just a few years ago. And all of our sponsors have big followings in places
like Instagram, Facebook and Tumblr. So it is a huge help for us to have them
passionately talking about what we’re doing through their
communities. As far as financial support, we’ve been able to fully fund
the logistics of the ride with early sponsor contributions, which means that
100% of the money we raise goes directly to the Colon Cancer Alliance and
The Colon Club. That is huge for us! Material support is immensely
important as well, Rapha has supplied us with the best cycling clothing in
the world for our training and the ride itself. World renowned frame builder Sacha
White will be building fully custom Speedvagen road bikes for our journey,
and component sponsors SRAM, Enve and Chris King Components will outfit
our bikes with their best pieces. Our timekeeping partner Tudor has
some special products in the works, as well as helping us tremendously
with fundraising and social media support.
It
takes a lot of fuel to cross the country and one of the first things people ask
is “what the hell do
Bianchista
- So what are the goals
of the project? (Financial and otherwise) Wanna hook us up with a way people inspired by your story and vision can assist you
in reaching your target?
Andrew
- The monetary goal is to raise $52,000. The previous three rides have summed to
$48,000, so this will round it out to an
even $100,000. For me personally, my goals are to help Mike on the road and be there as he goes through this process, and, with this
being our last ride, to inspire someone else to take up the cause. I would love for someone to reach out to
us after this and to help them do their own ride!
Michael
- My personal goal is to pay respect to my father’s time on this earth. He was
a quiet, humble guy who taught me a lot about strength and love through
his battle with cancer. Every single training ride for this event has been
a therapy session for me - a way to cope with his absence. I hope to leave
the negatives on the road and create some space for the positive. And I
hope my father’s story and this ride provide some help and hope to others
who are going through the same experiences mine & Andrew’s family have
gone through.
To
get involved, see our story as it happens, spread the word, and most importantly
to donate, go to www.leaveitontheroad.com and follow us on Instagram at
www.instagram.com/leaveitontheroad
Chapeau...
Thats young Tao... on the podium... of PARIS-ROUBAIX ESPOIRS! A thousand congratulations from Bianchista HQ, what an amazing result. This kid is going places. Fast.
Velocast Podcasts
The other show that I have seriously loved is the 'This Week In Cycling History', where each episode looks back at some historic moments and curious stories from the archives of cycling histry, usually tying in with the current race week or thereabouts. Hosted by John Galloway, the show features short stories by Cillian Kelly and then segues into quite a bit of banter around the riders and moments of yesteryear. This is a cracker for easy listening, I often like to zone out listening to an episode on those awful days im forced to take public transport. Anyway, be sure to have a peek around, if your one for radio and conversation I guarantee you will love them. Click the images below for iTunes access or use the above links for direct episode downloads.
Busyman Custom
I think definitely on my bucket list build would be a custom antares or aliante from master craftsman Busyman Cycles. He takes regular modern tech saddles and creates a unique and luxe finish to really set off a build, fully custom to each individuals requirements. He provides a beautiful artisanal perch to really finish off a build in style, even matching up custom bartape options. Browse his blog for examples of his fine leather wares. There's also a couple of nice interviews with Mr Busyman Nick Peel here and here.
