SBNation.com User Blog: Albertina

Albertina beats the Amstel Gold Race into submission

Albertina — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 20:35:26 -0000

If I’d been granted a pound for each time someone had said to me last week ‘oh, but at least Holland’s flat’ I would currently be a very rich young woman. I may even be in a position to purchase an Orbea Orca equipped with Dura Ace. Or possibly the large and well-appointed farmhouse on the Urkiola which has been the object of my covetousness these past two years. Tis a common misconception you see, this Flatness Theory. Much of the Netherlands is pancake like, true, but Limburg is NEVER flat. EVER. Not that I’m especially complaining however, for I discovered on Saturday that I appear to go up steep hills, one after the other with relentless regularity, with much more comfort than I thought I might. You see, I travelled to this lush corner of the planet to ride the Amstel Gold Race (Toerversie). And it was awesome.

I’d never really thought seriously about doing Amstel, despite hearing stories about how good it was, until the goading started from my local bike shop. Since I moved into my area of north London last September, Hadron Cycles has been an absolute gem. They spent virtually the whole winter fixing my cross bike (and rolling their eyes before exclaiming ‘what HAVE you been doing?!’) so I got to know them fairly well. They were putting together a Hadron team to ride Amstel and persuaded me that this was in fact an excellent idea. Early on Friday morning we set out in a combination of minibus and car (a Skoda Fabia which contained six bikes AND two people, impressive huh?). There were nine of us all told, Deniz the shop owner, Rachel the Aussie, Will the Chilean Aussie, Pippa the New Zealander, Al who works in the shop, Salva the Valencian who also works in the shop and looks like a proper Spanish climber, Paul and Owen the fellow shop customers, and me. You know me. After many hours of driving plus a stint in purgatory with about a million (caution, may be an exaggeration) French schoolchildren on a ferry, we arrived at our accommodation, a bungalow park a little outside Valkenburg. Now the Dutch enjoy their nice funky modern architecture, but what do these remind you of? Public conveniences anyone? Yes, I thought so.

Inside, the bungalows had everything one needed though, despite a tendency to basicness. Within an hour there was bike stuff everywhere and all manner of tampering and tinkering going on in the Female Bungalow, aka Chez Albertina and Pippa.

Later on that evening we ate so much pasta that we almost burst. Almost literally. After a frankly somewhat fitful sleep I arose to a sunny morning. The shock! The big yellow thing in the sky! So bright! Porridge consumed, Hadron jerseys donned, we left for Valkenburg and the start. We were joined in this anticipatory little 6km ride by about half the Bungalow Park, which was absolutely full of cyclists. Delightful. Upon reaching the town centre it hits you just how big this event is. Organised chaos reigned with people and bikes everywhere, some in teams, some alone, some on eyewateringly expensive machines, others on older and rather rustier ones. And then there was this man. In what circumstances can such tights ever be justified? Must be Italian, said someone, to sage nods all round. It took a while to gain custody of our numbers and transponders, which we’d failed to pick up the night before owing to some crazy traffic on the way round Maastricht, and by the time my increasingly cold fingers had managed to fiddle around with the pesky little plastic cords sufficiently to attach the things to my bike I was more than raring to go.

The rolling start was a little bit of an anti-climax in many ways; we just pottered over the line without much ceremony and suddenly there we were, riding Amstel Gold. I set out with Pippa, having lost a couple of the boys in the chaos and we swiftly started picking people off, integrating ourselves into groups and then hopping into other ones. I was wary of pushing too hard too soon as I’d had a bit of a troublesome hamstring the week before I didn’t want it to explode half way, but it was just so tempting to zoom along, to pull the pack, to feel like a pro. This was the life! We hacked up the first two climbs with abandon, buoyed with confidence at how much quicker we were than many people around us. This surprised me all afternoon; there were an awful lot of youngish men on expensive bikes petering out massively on the steep gradients. I’ve never thought of myself as being a ‘climber’, though I know I’m better now than I ever have been, but I was giving a lot of males a serious chicking and this made me rather sadistically smug! Here I am on the Geulhemmerberg, (1km at 5.8%) the first climb of the day which comes only a couple of KMs in. I’m in black with the white helmet, behind the blonde girl in the blue jersey (that’s Pippa). We got our transponders muddled up at the start, hence the website thinks I’m called Al and that I did 125km rather than 150! The Bemeleberg reared its head at 8.7km and didn’t cause too much of an issue. I’d found a good rhythm quickly and I was content. It’s a long way until the next official climb but in reality there is a lot of up and down even when not shown on the route plan. We kept coming upon steep little stingers which didn’t ‘count’, which we felt was a little unfair. We sped through this section in the one rain shower of an otherwise pretty sunny day but lost each other when Pippa’s bike computer started misbehaving. I rode the rest of the course alone, a battle of girl against gradients.

I can’t truthfully remember which climb was which for many of the remaining ones. Apparently the Loorberg was 1.6km at 5.1% and came soon after the first feeding station. These were incredible, filled with all manner of cakes and biscuits as well as gels and energy drinks. I only stopped at the first one to use the portaloo, grabbed a ginger cake (which I subsequently dropped all over myself at 30mph) and continued on apace, not wishing to break my rhythm. Most of the serious hills came in the second half, with the longest of the day, the Camerig (something like 3.6km at 4% I think, but with some false flats rather twisting the stats on how steep it was in places). The next one that really stuck in my mind was the Eyserbosweg, our first view of the *seriously* steep gradients this course throws up. It starts gradually but then hits 18% for a stretch of its 1.1km at an average of 8.1%. I still felt good. I couldn’t believe how comfortably I was climbing. Obviously some people were much faster but I was surrounded by people puffing and panting and blocking my way! Weaving through them was one of the hardest tasks of the day. Here is a video of me on the Eyserbosweg, in a blue jersey here, having shed my jacket, next to the guy in the luminous yellow half unzipped top. One of my proudest moments of the day came at the top when a fit and wiry looking Dutch bloke pulled up alongside me and said ‘excellent stuff, you climb so silently and your body barely moves! Perfect!’. I grinned like a loon.

It wasn’t until I hit about 110km in that I started to feel a bit dodgy. It wasn’t a hill which did it to me but a long long long straight flat road with a stonking headwind. I had ended up stranded between groups here with nobody to share the workload and died a death. My stomach felt a mess too, for a good 10km or so. Gels sometimes don’t agree with me all that well, and quite a few of those plus some mega exertion proved a non-optimal combination. But I pushed through, upwards again between windy open fields and started to feel better. At 129km I was on the run for home and I felt ecstatic. Then I saw it. The Keutenberg. As you ride through the valley below you espy a tiny little road reaching all but vertically towards the sky ahead of you. Surely they weren’t going to make us go up there? But then I saw the moving people on it. Uh-oh. It was a laugh or cry moment. I laughed. Crying smudges one’s mascara. It wasn’t too bad at the bottom and I got lulled into a certain amount of security, but then I turned the corner and, er, !!!!!! I’d never seen anything so steep. 24% is just stupid. Locals lined the road cheering with encouragement (and perhaps a modicum of sadism?!) and I could see a lot of people walking. Grit your teeth Albertina! Despite the crowding and the general chaos, no way in hell was I going to put a foot down. Several times I had to stop pedalling for a split second to avoid people who were grinding to a halt and somehow find a way around them but avoid them I did and the brute was in my pocket. YES. From there it was a fast run back into Valkenburg. The town centre was heaving with people and it felt just like I was in the race proper. I’d seen it so many times on TV: the narrow street, the cafes and restaurants thronging, the turn to the left and the uphill dash for home. I hit the Cauberg feeling like Vos, if going rather more slowly. This was cycling nirvana. The Cauberg in itself is nothing horrendous but after 150km it stung. I cared little though and pushed for the top. When you reach the flat you can see the finishing arch ahead and I put the hammer down. Done. And. Dusted. The most fun I’d ever had on a bike.

It actually took quite a while to get across the line, with so many people finishing at once. Once you eventually get round the corner there is a medal waiting, and get this it doubles as a bottle opener! We tested it later that evening, quite a lot of times….

I met up with my team mates, in dribs and drabs, in the corporate teams hospitality tent, which was amazing. Endless free food and Amstel! Within about an hour we had all arrived, apart from poor Al who had broken his arm after a touch of wheels 40km from home and ridden on to the finish like a true pro. It proved to be a small break, thankfully, and he can report that the Dutch health service treated him remarkably.

The evening consisted of steak, chips, red wine and beer, in a rocking Valkenburg full of drunk Dutch cyclists. Barmy and wonderful. On Sunday it was hangover time. Oh dear.

Unfortunately the previous night’s exertions meant we, um, did not make it to Maastricht to watch the start of the pro race, or indeed into Valkenburg for their first passage through. We did however pile into the minibus, having repacked all the bikes and wheels, to get to the Gulpenburg in good time. Here are some pictures for your perusal.

And then we all went home. I slept for most of the way. Quite a weekend.

PS, for the geeks amongst you, here is my Strava file!

(Photos are either mine or Pippa's)

The evening consisted of steak, chips, red wine and beer, in a rocking Valkenburg full of drunk Dutch cyclists. Barmy and wonderful. On Sunday it was hangover time. Oh dear.

And then we all went home. I slept for most of the way. Quite a weekend.

PS, for the geeks amongst you, here is my Strava file!

(Photos are either mine or Pippa's)

IAM kit. Massive yawn.

Albertina — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 11:41:53 -0000

IAM kit. Massive yawn.

Guess the colours....could it be blue, black and white?!

Albertina's Christmas Gift: Euskaltel sing! Sort of...

Albertina — Tue, 25 Dec 2012 20:31:38 -0000

Albertina's Christmas Gift: Euskaltel sing! Sort of...

About 47.30 minutes into this quite awful Christmas programme on ETB you will see possibly the most awkward boy band of all time, consisting of Igor Anton (take your hands out of your pockets boy!), Jon Izagirre, Mikel Nieve and Mikel Landa. Listen and cringe. Enjoy!

Albertina on the scene at the Track World Cup

Albertina — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 14:00:20 -0000

This past weekend, the residents of Edredon Towers (otherwise known as Albertina and EdredonBrowny) left the confines of North London and decamped en masse to the frozen and terribly dreich north. We had tickets to every single session of the Glasgow Track World Cup, for which, amazingly, I didn't even have to sell my soul. Every session apart from the daytime one on Friday was totally packed out, so we were possibly lucky. I present some photos for your viewing pleasure.

This was pretty much our first view of the insides of the new Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome, which sits on the eastern side of Glasgow, opposite Celtic Park. While not as dramatically large on the inside as Manchester or the Olympic Velodrome, it's a great sight and a wonderful new facility for Scotland.

Another view

On Friday we were near the front in the home straight. I also crawled around on the floor to get some super-close-up piccies of the riders before the men's points race. Here's young Brit Simon Yates, who finished 5th.

Roy Eefting, who later came and sat next to me (I tried not to stare), prepares. He won bronze behind Tristan Marguet of Switzerland and Martyn Irvine of Ireland.

Welshman Jon Mould was 10th

Vivien Brisse prepares for the Omnium Points Race

Unai Elorriaga (BASQUE ALERT!) had a great Omium, coming second in the Points and winning the Elimination in superb style on his way to bronze. The people of Glasgow weren't quite prepared for the level of my aupa-ing I suspect...

Kenny de Ketele and his awful Movember mo. He rode the team pursuit, where Belgium came 3rd, as well as the Omnium and he and his mates were very good value, much cheered for their Gangnam style dance efforts. Six Day boys are crrrazy.

Becky James lines up in the women's sprint, where she won bronze to add to her gold with Jess Varnish in the team sprint.

Robert Forstemann's thighs. He was so impressive and looked like the winner until he came up against young compatriot Stefan Boetticher in the final, losing in two straight rides

Bagpipes! I'm not sure what some of the foreign riders must have made of all this.

The Spanish team pursuiters (Maeztu, Mora, Muntaner and Zuazubiskar) came fourth

Nolan Hoffman looks a bit sleepy, no?

A Kazakh. Pavel Gatskiy I think.

Manuel Cazzaro was Italy's only male endurance rider. No Elia, no lovely Omar Bertazzo, no Ignazio Moser...bah!

Olivier Beer was very impressive for much of the omnium

World Omnium champ Glenn O'Shea could only manage silver here, behind young Lucas Liss from Germany. Remember that name!

Sprint boys! Andrew Taylor

Francesco Ceci

Ready... Taylor, Peter Lewis, Juan Peralta and Ugandan Patrick Lawino prepare for their keirin heat

Jason Kenny looked great until he crashed in the final

Lawino prepares for his sprint qualifying effort

Davide Ceci

Julien Palma

More Italian legs. Sorry.

Laura Trott won the omnium on count back. After winning the elimination race in typically seat-of-the-pants style, she needed the finish two places ahead of Australia's Ashlee Ankudinoff to take gold, which she duly did (just), but not before EdredonBrowny had rendered his voice very brown indeed!

So there you have it. Not a comprehensive record as I wasn't close enough to take pictures of every event. My camera's zoom is problematic and it really can't do moving objects! I can assure you that we had a splendid time. You are welcome to express your jealousy in the comments section. I thank you.

Another view

Roy Eefting, who later came and sat next to me (I tried not to stare), prepares. He won bronze behind Tristan Marguet of Switzerland and Martyn Irvine of Ireland.

Welshman Jon Mould was 10th

Vivien Brisse prepares for the Omnium Points Race

Becky James lines up in the women's sprint, where she won bronze to add to her gold with Jess Varnish in the team sprint.

Robert Forstemann's thighs. He was so impressive and looked like the winner until he came up against young compatriot Stefan Boetticher in the final, losing in two straight rides

Bagpipes! I'm not sure what some of the foreign riders must have made of all this.

The Spanish team pursuiters (Maeztu, Mora, Muntaner and Zuazubiskar) came fourth

Nolan Hoffman looks a bit sleepy, no?

A Kazakh. Pavel Gatskiy I think.

Manuel Cazzaro was Italy's only male endurance rider. No Elia, no lovely Omar Bertazzo, no Ignazio Moser...bah!

Olivier Beer was very impressive for much of the omnium

World Omnium champ Glenn O'Shea could only manage silver here, behind young Lucas Liss from Germany. Remember that name!

Sprint boys! Andrew Taylor

Francesco Ceci

Ready... Taylor, Peter Lewis, Juan Peralta and Ugandan Patrick Lawino prepare for their keirin heat

Jason Kenny looked great until he crashed in the final

Lawino prepares for his sprint qualifying effort

Davide Ceci

Julien Palma

More Italian legs. Sorry.

Albertina gets muddy

Albertina — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 13:00:21 -0000

I thought I'd post a few piccies from the cross race I did on Saturday. It was along the edge of Grafham Water in Cambridgeshire which made it really rather scenic, not that I had time to absorb this fact while I was actually racing, as thick thick thick mud made for much much much suffering! I hung around to watch the men though, and took some snaps on my phone, which I share here!

I shall start however with a couple of shots of Yours Truly, taken by Mark Fraser, the husband of one of my friendly (bitter) rivals...

It looks so idyllic, no?

Effortface

Muddy! Yay!

I crashed here on the last lap. D'oh. It went so well every other time!

Here are the men. It's nice to watch other people go through this when it's all finished for you :)

Here is Geoff Waugh, well known photographer and friend. I found him doing some 'professional lurking' as he put it...

This off camber was VERY slippy! You can't tell how steep it is here

Relief at the finish

This poor guy had to run most of the last lap when his rear mech imploded

Before you ask, I did ok but was unspectacular. Not one of my best races but it would have been better if I'd risked a lower tyre pressure. I really haven't done that many muddy races before as the last two winters have been annoyingly dry in the UK and learnt my lesson here. The traction, it was lacking! I had fun though...how could you not?

I shall start however with a couple of shots of Yours Truly, taken by Mark Fraser, the husband of one of my friendly (bitter) rivals...

It looks so idyllic, no?

Effortface

Muddy! Yay!

I crashed here on the last lap. D'oh. It went so well every other time!

Here are the men. It's nice to watch other people go through this when it's all finished for you :)

Here is Geoff Waugh, well known photographer and friend. I found him doing some 'professional lurking' as he put it...

This off camber was VERY slippy! You can't tell how steep it is here

Relief at the finish

This poor guy had to run most of the last lap when his rear mech imploded

An open letter from seven Basque pros on the direction of Euskaltel Euskadi

Albertina — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 10:01:22 -0000

An open letter from seven Basque pros on the direction of Euskaltel Euskadi

I'm not the only one who's a little concerned. Here is what Markel Irizar, Beñat Intxausti, David López, Jonathan Castroviejo, Haimar Zubeldia, Iker Camaño and Koldo Fernández de Larrea wrote to the world via Biciciclismo today.

Victor Cabedo killed in crash

Albertina — Wed, 19 Sep 2012 14:27:44 -0000

I have no words. I'm just in shock

http://www.biciciclismo.com/cas/site/noticias-ficha.asp?id=55698

I have no words. I'm just in shock

http://www.biciciclismo.com/cas/site/noticias-ficha.asp?id=55698

Euskaltel get rid of Amets Txurruka. Yes, really.

Albertina — Wed, 19 Sep 2012 08:51:43 -0000

Euskaltel get rid of Amets Txurruka. Yes, really.

When I saw this this morning I almost fell off my office chair in shock and indignation. Euskaltel are not renewing the contract of Amets Txurruka (or Ivan Velasco) for 2013, citing lack of WT points. This is barmy. Ruben and Alan Perez, Minguez, Cazaux, Azanza and Oroz are staying and guess what? They don't have any points either. Txurruka is an emblem of the fighting spirit of Euskaltel and has done more for the team than most of them, arguably all of them. He's a fighter, a grafter and a useful helper for the team's stars. This makes no sense to me. I'm upset and pretty angry. Go to Caja Rural, Amets, attack the hell out of your racing and show them what they've lost. Bah.

Tour of Britain, Live! Second Thread

Albertina — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 10:14:12 -0000

Pop in to chat about the final three stages of this year's Tour of Britain, which ends on Sunday in Guildford.

In terms of coverage, those in GB can watch live on ITV4 (though you may want to mute due to Hugh Porter).Steephill.tv has links to live streams. And the Tour of Britain website has a live tracker.

You can read thebongolian's preview of the race elsewhere on the site.

Carry on!

Pop in to chat about the final three stages of this year's Tour of Britain, which ends on Sunday in Guildford.

In terms of coverage, those in GB can watch live on ITV4 (though you may want to mute due to Hugh Porter).Steephill.tv has links to live streams. And the Tour of Britain website has a live tracker.

You can read thebongolian's preview of the race elsewhere on the site.

Carry on!

GC going into Friday's stage 6:

1 Leigh Howard Orica – GreenEDGE 20h 38’ 35’’
2 Boy Van Poppel UnitedHealthcare at 0’ 7’’
3 Sep Vanmarcke Garmin – Sharp at 0’ 17’’
4 Nathan Haas Garmin – Sharp at 0’ 23’’
5 Christian Knees Sky Procycling at 0’ 24’’
6 Jonathan Tiernan-Locke Endura Racing st
7 Damiano Caruso Liquigas – Cannondale st
8 Christopher Jones UnitedHealthcare at 0’ 34’’
9 Bartosz Huzarski Team NetApp at 2’ 2’’
10 David Lelay Saur Sojasun st
11 Sam Bennett An Post Sean Kelly at 4’ 1’’

Spanish Worlds Team

Albertina — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 10:29:42 -0000

Spain have just announced their team for the Worlds.

Alberto Contador
Alejandro Valverde
Pablo Lastras
Jonathan Castroviejo
Joaquim Rodriguez
Dani Moreno
Oscar Freire
Juan Antonio Flecha
Samuel Sanchez

with Contador and Castroviejo for the TT

No Luis Leon Sanchez?

If Samu is not fully race fit after his recent crash (he's testing himself round Britain currently), he'll apparently be replaced by Egoi Martinez, which strikes me as a non-obvious choice....

Women's team will be Eneritz Iturriagaetxebarria (Lointek. Yay!), Anna Sanchis and Ana Santesteban (both Bizkaia Durango)

U23s still to be decided

DISCUSS

Via Biciciclismo

Photo by Albertina (ie. me)

Spain have just announced their team for the Worlds.

Alberto Contador
Alejandro Valverde
Pablo Lastras
Jonathan Castroviejo
Joaquim Rodriguez
Dani Moreno
Oscar Freire
Juan Antonio Flecha
Samuel Sanchez

with Contador and Castroviejo for the TT

No Luis Leon Sanchez?

If Samu is not fully race fit after his recent crash (he's testing himself round Britain currently), he'll apparently be replaced by Egoi Martinez, which strikes me as a non-obvious choice....

Women's team will be Eneritz Iturriagaetxebarria (Lointek. Yay!), Anna Sanchis and Ana Santesteban (both Bizkaia Durango)

U23s still to be decided

DISCUSS

Via Biciciclismo

Photo by Albertina (ie. me)

Albertina on the scene at the Tour of Britain. Warning: there will be many Euskies.

Albertina — Sun, 09 Sep 2012 17:21:33 -0000

A couple of weeks ago I went all the way to the Basque Country to watch cyclists. This weekend the cyclists came to me! Or almost. I had to go to Ipswich, which is about 1.5 hours away. And it has to be said that I prefer the Basque Country to Ipswich. Anyway, here is a little photo album from the start of stage 1 of the Tour of Britain, run in lovely warm sunshine through Suffolk and Norfolk. Urlaub is a Suffolk boy, so he came too. We wore orange, which I'm sure will be a shock to you all.

Ipswich really looked rather charming this morning. Almost like the French Riviera. Almost. The stage started just on the other side of this quay.

In order to get to most of the team buses, one had to negotiate the vast crowds around the Sky bus. I think quite a lot of people forgot there were other teams in the race given the lack of crowds around everyone else. This was fine by us though, as we were FAR more excited by certain other teams! The Euskies were fairly slow to emerge but there was a pretty bike standing outside the Big Orange Bus. I wonder who this belongs to?

The British development team in relax mode

Marc de Maar in his awesome kit. As one of the few pros I actually know a bit he came over for a lengthy chat, which made me happy! He was very pleased that we had produced some Caribbean style sun for him.

LOOK! An ACTUAL Euskie, in Suffolk! Ongi etorri Adrian Saez de Arregi!

Saur. I'm not really very good at telling them apart in sunglasses, to my shame.

BASSO! Excitement abounds!

Victor Cabedo was wearing woolly shoe covers. A bit hot for that one would have thought, but then I guess he is Valencian.

Pablo Urtasun, a jolly soul

Ricardo Garcia

Cabedo was oso lasai (very chilled)

Samu attracted a bigger crowd than most non-Skys and he was very obliging, making time for all the fans, including his British superfan. Gracias Samu!

A Greenedge dude. I'm really not sure who..help?

And this...?

Willem Wauters makes some checks

Oh, WHAT a charmer! :-)

Basso with new boy Benfatto, who appears not to have a team bike yet!

The Liqui boys were very amused about something. No clue what.

Damiano Caruso

Tyler Farrar was the only Garmin we saw all morning. Did they teleport to the start or something? I was a bit sad not to track down Sep(s)

Will's mate Jerome Coppel

Fabrice Jeandesboz. I love that name.

The actual start area was rammed with people and there was no chance of seeing anything, having lingered at the buses for so long. No matter though, for we had a truly lovely morning, even if Ipswich isn't Pamplona.

Albertina's Vuelta: Bidding Farewell in Logroño

Albertina — Tue, 04 Sep 2012 12:11:51 -0000

Stage Five of the Vuelta may seem like aeons ago given all the water which has flown under the bridge since, but I invite you to revisit it through the lens of my camera (well, iphone). This was the last of the five stages attended by Urlaub and myself, before we went off to explore Gipuzkoa and attend pelota matches in little towns while trying in vain to appear local. As such, it was rather bittersweet; we had a truly amazing time following the peloton around the Basque Country and La Rioja, somehow sharing a little of their odyssey though in rather more physical comfort.

Logroño is just over the border into La Rioja from the Basque province of Araba and a rather beautiful bus journey from Bilbao took us zigzagging back and forth across the dividing line, evidenced by the linguistic diversity of the road signs. The first noteworthy sight was in Bilbao's Termibus, where we espied this rather hilarious poster. Here is a glimpse of the Araba mountains, melting into the plains of Rioja (which is rather wonderfully known as 'Errioxa' in Basque).

When we arrived in Logroño and located the start-finish straight, it quickly became apparent that things were not quite as they had been in the information. It was chaotic. The team buses started to arrive at about the same time as us and clearly had no idea where to go when they eventually extricated themselves from the monster traffic jam into the city. Some dropped their riders off to sign on and then let them find their own way back, which many, including a lonesome and baffled Dario Cataldo, couldn't. We rather feared all this mess would rob us of valuable stalk..erm..rider viewing time, but as it turned out we did rather well in the end!

Moncoutie was the first rider we bumped into

Mikel Landa

Sicard

Cobo

Quintana

Intxausti and girlfriend. He wasn't in a terribly good mood, giving an interview about the day before which included the word 'Sky' many times, accompanied by a lot of dramatic hand gestures. I gave him an encouraging pat on the back and he thanked me. I even made him smile :)

MENCHOV LIVES!

Elia Viviani almost headbuts me after almost riding into a small girl

Oroz is always smiling

Kashechkin and a wannabe BMC

Tony Martin

Ruben Perez

Igor Anton, again in very high demand

Riders all on their way to the start, we positioned ourselves on the course. Initially it was rather packed anywhere near the finish line but once the riders had gone through for the first time the crowds started to migrate somewhat. We nabbed this rather good spot, which also had the benefit of a big screen and some toilets!

I'm sure this was a terribly boring stage to watch on TV, but being there was great fun, as was being able to see the peloton several times over as well as having a great view of the finish. if only Benna had held on! Bah! The one downside was the speaker right opposite us which blared out the Vuelta song constantly, giving me a headache and a near permanent earworm.

Stage done, we went back to the buses, which were just behind where we were standing. Here's Kash again, warming down on a turbo Sky-stylee!

How does this work? Seelie wasn't sure...

Terpstra, keen to get to the showers

Egoitz Garcia with his home crew

And so that was that. Off we toddled back to the bus station, being passed on the way by several riders cycling back to their hotels. The journey back yielded some more gorgeous vistas...

Our final glimpse of the 2012 Vuelta a Espana? A team hotel in Laguardia. Our highly uncooperative bus driver would not stop. Bah. Goodbye brave riders, thanks for the memories and good luck!

(not sure what this dude is doing with his hand, mind...)

This is my new cross bike. I want to show it off. Isn't it beautiful? I'm a bit excited. Waaaay too...

Albertina — Sat, 01 Sep 2012 19:33:51 -0000

This is my new cross bike. I want to show it off. Isn't it beautiful? I'm a bit excited. Waaaay too good for me so it's an incentive to ride quickly..I need to at least make a stab at doing it justice! Also, it needs a name.

Albertina's Vuelta: Kaixo Barakaldo!

Albertina — Fri, 31 Aug 2012 11:50:48 -0000

After having hiked up Arrate the day before, the stage start in Barakaldo was something of a luxury. Barakaldo is a suburb of Bilbao and is conveniently situated on the city’s superb metro, just a hop, step and jump away from our hotel in Indautxu(txutxutxu). There’s not really much to say about Barakaldo itself, other than that it’s the home of the Bilbao Exhibition Centre, otherwise known as the B!E!C!, surely to be pronounced with suitable emphasis. For the rest of the trip we added exclamation marks to BMC as well. This caused us a rather pathetic amount of amusement. Anyway, we arrived in a big carpark rather before the team buses did and watched the total chaos as they all battled for the optimum parking spot, while the Euskie bus had the same effect on the crowd as the Pied Piper of Hamelin did upon rats and small children. Want to see photos? Why, take a peek below the flip!

Here is the B!E!C! We weren't sure where to go exactly, so we followed the lady in the orange t-shirt. It worked.

Lloyd Mondory. I don't even know where to begin with this one.

To borrow Urlaub's description, Gabriel Rasch auditions for the Norwegian remake of the Blues Brothers.

Hola Andalucia!

Moncoutie!

Nacer Bouhanni studiously taped the profile to his handlebars while a gaggle of fans awaited his signature

Eliaaaaaa! And me.

Intxausti spent a good deal of time kissing babies, propelled at him by various local fans. He comes from Amorebieta which isn't far from Bilbao. One baby cried as soon as it was handed to him. Silly baby. This little boy is 8 year old Unax Cañibano whose parents have set up a foundation supported by many Basque sports stars to fund treatment for his heart condition in the States. He was delighted to meet his idols, even giving Jonathan Castroviejo a kiss!

Koen de Kort

Just get RID of the facial hair John, 'kay?!

Leonardo Duque

Assan Bazayev

Kessiakoff makes some Swedish fans very happy

Seriously, how young does Sarmiento look?!

TXENTE!

Arty bikes

Liquigas had a frog

By this stage the Euskie related scrum had abated somewhat as people made their way to watch the start, so we went in search of orange. Here is Gorka Verdugo.

Is Oroz trying to look cool or is his hand like that by accident?

Astarloza

Igor Anton was VERY popular indeed!

I gave him a hug, although he was so surrounded that he had no idea which camera to look at. He had his arm around me!!!! :-)

Leenoos, that is NOT your car

Being a bit vertically challenged, this is the best view of the start I could get

Sadly I have no pictures of Styby as I chose to chat to him rather than snap away. Yes, the great Zdenek Stybar remembered me even without my pink wellies and chatted away to me all smiley-like while I felt very important in front of the other fans ;-)

And so, riders safely on their way to Valdezcaray, we went off to be tourists. Further down the metro line is Portugalete, which has a wacky bridge, complete with gondola! It allows ships to get down the river to the city. Clever, huh?

Anyway, that is by the by. In the next and final instalment we leave Euskadi for the day and head into La Rioja (where we had no time for wine. Bah).

Albertina's Vuelta: Up Arrate, the Orange Mountain

Albertina — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 11:36:12 -0000

Straight from the start of stage 2, Urlaub and I departed the steamy heat of Pamplona and headed to Bilbao in a hurry to watch the pelota at Bizkaia. When we arrived we found the city in party mode, deep in the throes of its summer fiesta, Aste Nagusia. It was marginally cooler on this side of Euskadi, and our amazing hotel (we got a cheap special deal), which had the biggest bathroom I’ve ever had the privilege of using in one, was fully air conditioned! Huzzah. After a much needed good night’s sleep it was off across the city to the Euskotren, the Basque Country’s rather slow and sometimes rather idiosyncratic narrow gauge railway, which chugs through glorious scenery from Bilbao and into Gipuzkoa. The Urkiola is over there! As it wended its merry way towards Eibar (a very strange town which is almost literally in a hole and where the locals require escalators to get around), more and more people in orange joined the throng of passengers and expectation mounted. Once in Eibar, we alighted to find the route went right past the station. Along with many of our fellow travellers, we began to walk, following the race route up the iconic Basque mountain.

Only 8km to walk, with the Euskotren in the background

The climb starts on a residential street

Leaving Eibar...up, up and away!

Climbing and climbing

We didn't envy this woman pushing a pram all the way up...

As you emerge from the trees, the views get rather special

People wait

One PdC editor, who shall remain nameless, asked if the word under 'Benat' said 'marriage'. Sadly it says 'Elorriaga'.

Woweeee!

We sussed out various spots to watch, and decided on standing just at the top of the steepest section with about 3km to go. As we had time, however, we walked all the way down the descent after the summit to have a look at the finish line.

Here's the actual crest of the climb

And the finish line

The crowds had grown up the time we got back down to our viewing spot

Do you think I fit in ok?

Any riders yet?

How about now?

YES! Here's the lead group, with Roche heading Anton, Froome, Contador and Intxausti (I think my 'aupas' drowned out the rest of the baying crowd with some ease. I got QUITE excited ;)

Landa follows soon-to-be-deposed leader Castroviejo

Anyone else coming? The crowds get ready to cheer those who were struggling rather more. The Basque fans cheer vociferously for everyone and are endlessly encouraging.

A slightly fuzzy Terpstra grits his teeth

Not many of my actual race pictures are up to much as the riders were too close and I was clicking only with an iphone rather than a swanky camera, but I hope these capture some of the atmosphere! There's nothing quite like being a part of the orange wave on a Basque mountain, with a crowd so amazingly passionate about their own team but yet so generous in their support of all, who garner their respect simply for being cyclists.

The riders through, we huddled round a tiny little screen on someone's camping table in time to see that Valverde had won. Or had he? Nobody was sure, and there was no phone reception! Gah! Then we began the downhill march back to Eibar.

When we arrived back in Bilbao it was as if the Basque party had transferred from the mountains to the city. We wished we had more energy to enjoy Aste Nagusia; the place was rocking!

And so to bed. In the morning, Barakaldo!

Albertina's Vuelta: Stage 2 Start, Pamplona

Albertina — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 20:06:51 -0000

Me again! Would you like to see more pictures of cyclists in the blazing Navarrese sun? You left Urlaub and me deep in the celebrations around the Movistar bus after their TTT win. The next morning we strolled back into town for breakfast in good time to see as many of the riders as we could before the start of stage 2. Breakfast consisted of that distressing phenomenon, Iberian tea. Frothy hot milk is not acceptable! This minor gripe aside however, we had another splendid day. In this post, you will be pleased to know, there will be a higher degree of orange than in the previous offering.

One of the first people we saw? Bjarne Riis, looking like...well...Bjarne Riis.

Ruben Perez! HUG!

Juanjo Oroz, the Tall Euskie

Did somebody say.....?

Can you ever have too much Benna? I think not! For the record, I did have my arm around him moments later!

Markel Irizar proved extremely popular with the crowds of Basque fans and seemed very at ease with it all

Toribio checks that a photo is sufficiently flattering

TXURRUUUUU!

Sicard with war wounds

I know I'm only little but I still can't get past you!

Winner Anacona. Best name in pro cycling?

Allan Davis is relatively local; he lives in San Sebastian

The Meyer Interview

Julian Dean went to the cafe

Quizzical Kadri

Hey, what are YOU looking at?

Fainting couch. NOW!

This made my day. No actually, my WEEK. AUPAAAA INTXAUSTI!!!

Another one? Indulge me.

Red jersey!

Funny how a piece of clothing attracts crowds like a magnet! Castroviejo grinned from ear to ear.

Valverde coming through!

And they're off! Good luck boys!

With the riders on their way, Urlaub and I hot footed it to the bus station and from thence to Bilbao. In part three, we become a part of the simply incredible atmosphere on Arrate (yes, I wore orange), where the support was as fervent as the views were breathtaking.

Albertina's Vuelta: Pamplona TTT

Albertina — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 15:06:12 -0000

Did it escape your notice that I was absent from the live threads this past week? I hope it did. I like to be missed. I’m sure you had all sorts of questions about the Basque Country and gnashed your teeth when you realised I wasn’t there to help. Why wasn’t I there? Because I was IN the Basque Country! Yes, that’s right, for the past ten days, Urlaub and I have been on an odyssey through all kinds of exciting places, and the first five days of the trip involved following the Vuelta from Pamplona to Arrate to Barakaldo to Logroño. As you might expect, I took rather a lot of pictures (not ALL of men in orange, really), far too many for one post, so I shall inflict several posts on you. Please display enthusiasm, or at least pretend to, because this will make me happy. Milesker!

Leg One of the trip took us to Pamplona, scene of the team time trial and the stage start the following day. On arriving at the city’s bus station from Bilbao, someone appeared to have opened a massive door to a massive oven in our faces. It was 45 degrees centigrade. We then got lost on the way to our hotel and dragged our suitcases for MILES, requiring an emergency corner shop raid for cans of KAS (cycling sponsors FTW!), and when we arrived where the hotel should have been we still couldn’t find it. It turned out it was actually an apartment type thingy with no reception. Not confusing at all really. But all was well, apart from the lack of air conditioning. 36 degrees at almost 11pm. Yes, that’s hot. But for bike racing we will survive even the fires of hell itself!

It was just as warm the next day but like true Englishmen (who support Euskaltel) we went Out In The Midday Sun to look at men on bikes, preceded by men getting ready to go on bikes. Here is what we saw!

The city prepares. I was a little worried about the narrow and cobbled nature of the course, fearing for my Euskies, but what little stars they were! First page of results!

A list of pelota champions in the street. This pleases me.

via a4.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net

The first riders we bumped into were from Caja Rural, who had a promotional stand complete with free team tat (t shirts! Hats! Inflatable bangy things!), a bouncy castle (I was too old for this...boo) and stationary bikes on a stage. The riders appeared and all sat on the bikes and pedaled, very willingly considering the blistering heat. They were very friendly with the fans, too.

Euskaltel bus! This made me happy. I posed in front of it for a picture and this family was convinced I was part of the team. They started asking me all kinds of things in Spanish! Aaaargh! Could it be my orangeness which made them think this?

Bikes

After much wandering and the drinking of several litres of water, it was time for riders to start emerging. PhilGil!

Santambrogio. Bike as weapon?

The French teams arrived fashionably late in their sexy compression socks

Roche

No Pablo, it goes like THIS

Castroviejo would look VERY happy later on in the evening!

Cataldo and Pauwels hung around for longer than most of the 'steppers who headed for the showers pronto after their warm up

Niki Terpstra did a lot of bike tweaking

Valverde was much in demand with the press

For the action, we managed to get a spot just by the bottom of the start ramp. Result! By this point it was so hot that my Euskie jersey had been turned into a crop top so I dread to think how the riders must have felt!

Rabo

Caja Rural. What was with those skinsuits? San Fermin colours or...?

Orica Greenedge

BMC

Liquigas

FDJ

Vacansoleil

We watch Movistar win on the big screen, to thunderous applause from the local crowd. Along with Euskaltel, they were by far the most popular team in Pamplona.

When it was over, we went to the Movistar bus, where the team staff were already whooping and hugging. The riders took a while to get back from the bullring, but when they did it was fantastic to share, even a little bit, in their joy. The photos are not exactly quality, but I think they capture the atmosphere!

Hugs for Lastras

Benat Intxausti looked like the Cheshire Cat

He launched himself at his team staff

...then shook hands with all and sundry

Cobo grins

Erviti poses for the public

So there we have it, day one down! Off we went to find dinner, get whatever sleep we could in our sauna..er..hotel room, and prepare for day two. Watch this space (warning: Euskies will be hugged).

Movistar Vuelta team (& a very pretty press book)

Albertina — Mon, 13 Aug 2012 10:03:59 -0000

Movistar Vuelta team (& a very pretty press book)

Did I mention I'm going to the Vuelta? ;-)

The future shape of Euskaltel: Basque Pro Cycling Team announced

Albertina — Tue, 24 Jul 2012 10:45:43 -0000

Euskaltel Euskadi held a press conference this morning in which they revealed the future of the team. More news may come out as I’m not even sure they’ve finished the thing yet, but Biciciclismo has the main points thus far.

They state the need to adapt to the current demands of elite cycling
They will become the Basque Pro Cycling Team, owned by Euskaltel SA
The budget will be around 9 million Euros
Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano is the Director General and General Manager of the cycling team
The Basque backbone remains with Samuel Sanchez (ok, he’s not Basque but you know what I mean), Igor Anton, Ion Izagirre and Mikel Landa. A previous article quoted at the bottom of the one linked above also states that Gorka Izagirre, Pello Bilbao, Mikel Astarloza and Mikel Nieve have renewed with the team.
They have funding for at least three years
The team will consist of 28 riders with ‘seven or eight’ (according to Gonzalez de Galdeano) coming from outside the Basque lands. Carlos Barredo and Dani Navarro are mentioned; both are Asturian and the Basque group has a stated aim to strengthen business ties with Asturias.

For most Basque fans, and honourary ones like me, maintaining the all-Basque policy would have been the ideal but I fully understand that in order to stay in the top flight a certain level of adaptation is needed. As long as the team retains a Basque identity and focus, which it appears that it will, the Basque fans will still turn out in their droves. Albertina will certainly be among them! But will they stay orange?! This is the question….

(photo is mine)

Luis Leon Sanchez renews with Rabobank for another two years

Albertina — Thu, 28 Jun 2012 14:26:17 -0000

Luis Leon Sanchez renews with Rabobank for another two years

Wondered if he might go back to Spain, but clearly not!

Euskaltel to continue, just as before!

Albertina — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 13:44:16 -0000

Euskaltel to continue, just as before!

Albertina will be hosting a party tonight. You are all invited. Txakoli and pintxos will abound. RSVP.

Ion Izagirre: Ormaiztegi's Rock Star

Albertina — Thu, 31 May 2012 14:11:07 -0000

The vast majority of tifosi fell into two distinct camps as Ion Izagirre Insausti romped to a solo win into Falzes on Stage 16 of the 2012 Giro d’Italia. All over the internet and probably all over the run into the line that day, people asked ‘who’s he?’ with brows furrowed and eyebrows raised. Even Lars Bak, who spent the day in the break with the orange clad Basque and finished 9th, prefaced his congratulations to Izagirre with ‘I have no idea who he is, but…’. Albertina sighed copiously and attempted womanfully to prevent her inner grumble from spilling out into a Twitter-based lecture. But Yours Truly was not the only one to know all about young Ion, who has been very much on the radar back home in Euskal Herria for some considerable time. While most of the world appeared a tad baffled of visage, a significant proportion of my Twitter timeline went completely bonkers. As the EiTB commentators bellowed ION! this and ION! that (he’s a local so familiarity is fine, no?) they were echoed by cyber-shrieks of AUUUPAAAA ION! AURRERAAA TXIKI! EUTSI! GORA EUSKALTEL! and finally in a blissful and doubtless kalimotxo-soaked apotheosis, IIIZAGIIIREEEEE TXAPELDUN!!!!!!!! And no, that was not just me. As the unassuming little Euskaltel star battled up the steep finishing climb and hung on up the flat straight at its top, hair everywhere and comical pirate-earring flapping in the Südtirol breeze, the hash tag #IzagirreRockStar was born. Now a rock star needs fans, right? And fans need to know who they’re cheering for. So who is Ion Izagirre? Allow me to assist.

Giro d'Italia 2012 - Stage 16 - Final kilometers (via CyclingFlash12)

Izagirre is 23, born on 4th February 1989, and hails from Ormaiztegi, which is in Gipuzkoa and about fifty kilometres south west of San Sebastian. I wrote all about this rather remote little town in my article a year ago on Ion’s older brother Gorka but I have since actually been there. When I was in the Basque Country about a month ago in my role as possibly the only international pelota writer in the whole wide world I spent a day on local trains exploring the off-the-beaten-track parts of Gipuzkoa, ever keen to avoid the normal tourist trail and pop up attempting to speak Basque in places where foreign girls are rather rare. I spent the larger part of the morning in Tolosa which does at least feature in some guide books on the region, but as I worked my way south, I stopped off in Ormaiztegi for no reason other than the fact that it is the home of the Izagirres. Oh dear, what a terrible Euskie geek I am. As I alighted at the deserted little station in absolutely torrential rain, even the sheep thought I was barmy. I walked down the steep hill into the little town, whose inhabitants number no more than 1,400 and attempted to get into the museum (I was baffled that they had one to be honest), but siesta time had started so it was shut. The church was also shut. One taberna was open but I wimped out of going in for a drink as it looked so terribly ‘local’ and all the linguistic bravado I had managed to muster in Tolosa had disappeared down the drain along with the never ending precipitation. So that was that. Ormaiztegi. Nice enough place, but there was nothing to do but walk around the block and head back to the station and off to Zumarraga. It was not until I got back to Bilbao very much later that night that I learned Ion Izagirre had that very day scored his first professional win, in the time trial at the Vuelta a Asturias. If only I’d mentioned his name to those men in the taberna perhaps we could have shared a txakoli in celebration.

Izagirre’s journey towards this inaugural triumph started at home. His father is two-time Spanish cyclocross champion José Ramón Izagirre and from an early age he and his brother eschewed football and pelota, eager to follow in his footsteps. Ion was known in his younger years as a cyclocross rider. His first eye catching result came in 2006 when can third in the Spanish junior championships, an achievement which earned him a place on the national team at the worlds. Two years later he was crowned the cross champion of Euskadi at under-23 level but by then, the road was starting to feature more heavily in his future plans. That same year he was signed by Orbea, Euskaltel’s continental feeder team, a contract which came on the back or some impressive displays in 2008, which he finished as a stagaire, including a third place in the national under-23 championships and victory in the provincial under-23 time trial championships. Triumphs in UCI races proved hard to come by his first year with Orbea but he won repeatedly on the domestic scene, taking the plaudits in Bergara, Markina, the fourth stage of the Bizkaiko Bira and the Memorial Angel Mantecon.

In 2010 he started a move into the bigger leagues. His highest finish of the year came with a 5th place finish in the prologue at the Circuito Montañes, won by Martijn Keizer, but solid rides at the Trofeo Inca, Asturias and Burgos, where he mixed it with some notable names, hinted at more to come. Euskaltel saw the potential and offered him a contract for 2011. His progression continued as a neo-pro with 24th overall at Tirreno Adriatico and 7th in the time trial Vuelta a la Comunidad de Madrid (22 seconds behind Castroviejo and on the same time as former national champion Jose Ivan Gutierrez). He also scored an excellent fourth at his local race, the Prueba Villafranca de Ordizia, a race which had marked this first professional win of his brother the previous year. Izagirre made an escape group of five and appeared as strong as anyone before being outsprinted to the line by Julien Simon, Dani Moreno and Pablo Lastras but holding off a charging Angel Madrazo. He also rode excellently for fourth at Poitou Charentes when he showed quite some turn of pace to set alongside his ability in the hills and against the clock, out-kicking Hutarovich, Sanz, Rojas and Sebastien Chavanel. All looked set fair for further advances in 2012.

He turned heads, or at least Basque ones, early with third in the Boucles du Sud Ardèche in February behind Pauriol and Vichot. After a very solid 16th in Tirreno Adriatico, he was thrown into the Euskaltel hell of the northern classics but far from giving up with a long face, he astounded many by landing 15th in Gent Wevelgem. An orange non-Rabobank jersey in the lead group of such a race is unusual to say the least. He then proceeded to finish Paris Roubaix, albeit in 13 minutes down in 79th, but with a group of respectable cobbles warriors. His last race before the Giro was the Vuelta a Asturias and it was here in a rain soaked 14km time trial that he broke his professional duck, beating eventual overall winner Beñat Intxausti into second by six seconds. He was robbed of a chance to challenge for the GC podium by a crash in stage three which looked a lot more serious than it turned out to be, but there was a sense of something dawning in Basque cycling, an environment where every young talent is scrutinised for their potential to be the next big thing and to carry the pride of a people on their shoulders.

As far as the majority of observers were concerned, certainly those outside a small northern corner of the Iberian peninsula, Euskaltel’s Giro campaign was all about Mikel Nieve and while a high placing for their GC leader was the main objective there were many that sensed Ion Izagirre could be a factor. Coming into stage 16, the Basque team had nothing whatsoever to cheer them, a disastrous TTT having left Nieve grovelling his way back towards the top ten from afar. It was depressing to be an Euskaltel fan, depressing to have to absorb the mockery which accompanied an awful display against the clock yet again, and I imagine the atmosphere at the team hotel cannot have been too positive either. But then, from the shadows, along came Izagirre, unknown to most of the world, but about to crown a progression which his countrymen had been following with patience and hope for years. When he returned to Ormaiztegi he was greeted as the hero it was always hoped he would become. Ion Izagirre, rock star.

Jon Izagirre txirrindulariari ongietorria Ormaiztegin. 2012 maiatzak 30 (via Goierrikohitza)

(The cyclist Jon Izagirre is welcomed back to Ormaiztegi on 30th May 2012)

Albertina and her Pink Boots meet Zdenek Stybar!

Albertina — Tue, 29 May 2012 21:56:58 -0000

It isn't often that Zdenek Stybar is in London (not since he was 11, he said). You would not expect me to miss this auspicious event, would you? Well I didn't. Styby was in town partly to take a peek at the Olympic road race course and partly for the launch of Balint Hamvas' and tgsgirl's new cyclocross book (buy it, it's fab!). He did a question and answer session and then proceeded to be his utterly charming self for the rest of the evening, chatting and signing autographs with a massive smile. Now you may remember the pink hand decorated boots I wore to the Koksijde worlds. I gave them another airing tonight and Styby loved them! He thanked me, little ME, for my fandom and my efforts! I didn't know what to say! He was utterly utterly lovely. We talked for ages and ages about all kinds of things...his road programme, riding with OPQS, CX in the UK, my feeble efforts at being a crosser (he asked when I was going to race in Belgium, bahaha), my bikes, what he thought of London (he doesn't like full English breakfasts), how he trains, nutrition, mutual aquaintances, the races I'd been to. He was SO friendly and so genuinely interested in a little nobody like me. Just a thoroughly nice guy. I was a fan before but now I'm a SUPERfan.

Maratsafin was also there and showed Styby his new pink Specialized frame! It's gorgeous. I'm SO jealous!

Styby answers questions alongside photographer Balint Hamvas. Journalist and author Daniel Friebe asked the questions.

He signed my book

And my hat

And I grinned lots and lots

Thank you Zdenek! What a true champ!

Intxausti wins Asturias!

Albertina — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 22:32:47 -0000

Intxausti wins Asturias!

Someone had to highlight this. Big surprise that it turns out to be me, Not an FSA VDS race sadly but still, AUPA TXIKI!!!

Give a Euro Campaign to help save the Basque races: please help!!!

Albertina — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 15:36:45 -0000

The groundswell of support in the Basque Country and around the world in an effort to save the Tour of the Basque Country and San Sebastian Classic from the scrapheap has resulted in an initiative asking people to donate one Euro, or whatever they feel they can afford, to help close the 150,000 Euro budget deficit. Early details have been released in the form of this website. There is also a Facebook page here with details of how to donate. At present, the only way to give money seems to be by transferring it to the bank account details listed on that page but I am raising with them the problems this presents for people in foreign countries (I know last time I tried to transfer money to a foreign account at the bank I needed all manner of codes and I incurred a massive fee). We'll see what they say. They are holding a press conference tonight at 7:30pm in San Sebastian where the campaign will be officially launched. We might get more details then. I urge you to donate something, however small, if you can. Every cent is useful.

In addition, use the hashtag #savetheBasqueraces on Twitter, and join this Facebook group.

Jose of @tourdejose has an article on her blog which sets out the monetary issues in English. Yours truly was also quoted by EiTB yesterday!

We may be very small fish trying to make ourselves heard in a surging ocean, but I for one am blowed if I'm going to see these races die without an almighty fight.

In addition, use the hashtag #savetheBasqueraces on Twitter, and join this Facebook group.

Jose of @tourdejose has an article on her blog which sets out the monetary issues in English. Yours truly was also quoted by EiTB yesterday!

We may be very small fish trying to make ourselves heard in a surging ocean, but I for one am blowed if I'm going to see these races die without an almighty fight.

Thomas Dekker is the new face (or body?) of Cavello underwear. Hello majope! Via The Inner Ring on...

Albertina — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 15:12:36 -0000

Thomas Dekker is the new face (or body?) of Cavello underwear. Hello majope! Via The Inner Ring on Twitter.

What Albertina's IPhone saw at the Cyclocross Worlds

Albertina — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 19:28:55 -0000

This weekend, I went to Koksijde. They had a big bike race. There were lots of people, lots of alcoholic beverages, and not enough portaloos. I cheered my heart out along with tgsgirl (who didn't bring ANY of the Leffes she owes me), Sarah, Bingo Little and UrlaubinPolen and while it was rather hard to get close enough to anything in the midst of 60,000 people, I did take a few snaps. Enjoy!

The crowds were massive, even for the junior race

SAND. Enough said.

Waiting on the dune for the juniors to start. I felt so nervous for them...imagine what it must feel like to wait on the start line at an event like this?!

Some enthusiastic Dutch-Bavarians (?!) decorated an entire house on the course

The Swiss were highly enthusiastic and all looked the part

Safety Joggers! Actual, normally sized ones!

The champion in waiting made sure he inspected all possible lines up this hill during the official training on Saturday. He was very relaxed, laughing with the fans when he made a bit of a hash of it. As he was to show a day later, practice makes perfect.

Styby blasts up the same hill

Egoitz Murgoitio trains. He turned round and grinned when we shouted AUPA! Unfortunately for him and for his many travelling Basque fans, his Sunday became a nightmare as he touched wheels and crashed on the start line. This made me very sad.

Lars van der Haar on lap one, chased by Wietse Bosmans. They would finish in this order. I cheered myself hoarse for the Dutchman, much to the chagrin of the Belgians who surrounded me on every side. Great fun! The last lap was electric, one of the most exciting things I've seen in a long long time.

Arnaud Grand reaches for support

Gianni Vermeersch puts his best foot forward

Almost a nasty moment for Elia Silvestri

The U23 podium, with heads in the way. I'm too short!

Supporters of the Basque Hirumet team

Stybar talks to the media pre-race

Ready to cheer! This photo won me a 'Stybar related prize' in the Omega Pharma Quick Step fan photo competition. I simply cannot wait to see what comes through my letterbox!

Many people! We watched the elite men's race from here or hereabouts, with a view across the pit area and the straights around it, and with a big screen to the right.

This was as close as we could get to the podium. Madness!

While we're at it, a few more photos of my trip, because you all love Belgium, no? On Friday night we went to the Light Festival in Gent with local boy broerie. Very impressive!

A mightily chilly Oudenaarde

Some Cafe people may recognise this. I'd forgotten quite how strong it was. Oh dear!

And finally, a mystery. Why, for the love of cobbles, would a Belgian bar serve Carlsberg?!

I am ready for Koksijde. How can Zdenek Stybar possibly fail with support like this?

Albertina — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 00:17:26 -0000

I am ready for Koksijde. How can Zdenek Stybar possibly fail with support like this?

Chasing Lars van der Haar: a Preview of the U23 Cyclocross Worlds

Albertina — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 16:33:45 -0000

When? 3pm (CET), Saturday 28th January

As I sat down to write this piece, I realised I had no idea what ‘beloften’, the word the Dutch speakers of this world use to denote the U23s, actually meant. Therefore, I did what every self-respecting writer on ‘foreign’ sports does in these circumstances, and plugged the word into Google Translate. Beloften…promises, the plural of belofte; promise, vow or pledge. For many casual watchers, the cyclocross worlds is all about the Sunday, when the elite men and women line up to astound with their power and mind-boggling skill, but these elites were once beloften, young riders whose potential promised their eventual rise to the top of their tree. On Saturday, Koksijde will get a glimpse of the future when the cream of the youthful crop battles it out over the dunes.

Lars van der Haar (Netherlands, Rabo-Giant Offroad) Age=20, defending champion.

When? 3pm (CET), Saturday 28th January

Lars van der Haar (Netherlands, Rabo-Giant Offroad) Age=20, defending champion.

I met van der Haar in Baal on New Year’s day. The first thing which struck me was his diminutive stature; he is Albertina sized. The second was his total openness and lack of so much as a single air or grace. He had, he said, been sick, and was not expecting anything from the race. I pulled a sympathetic face, said ‘awww dear’ or somesuch, and wished him luck. He thanked me and said he would need it. An hour later he was standing atop the podium, having destroyed the field; for the Netherlands’ great hope it was business as usual, ill or not.

It is hard to see beyond van der Haar on Saturday. While he has not dominated quite as flabbergastingly as his compatriot Marianne Vos, his record this season has been almost as impressive. Of the thirty races he has ridden in the past twelve months, including elite races, he has won seventeen. Taking U23 races alone he has won fifteen from twenty three, and is reigning world, European and Dutch Champion. He has also thrown his weight around amongst his elders, stunning riders such as Aernouts, Wellens and Heule, along with the USA’s finest, with his lightning burst to the line at Cross Vegas back in September. He was also second to Aernouts at Nacht van Woerden, beating among others Dieter Vantourenhout, De Knegt, Chainel, Peeters and Page by a comfortable margin. The World Cup is his with a seventy five point margin, with two rounds to go he leads the Superprestige by twelve points and he lies second in the Gva by two points, despite missing a round through illness. Few would bet against his future performances in Lille and Oostmalle giving him that title too. The only slight blot on his favouritism for the worlds, and slight it truly is, is that he was merely 4th in the Koksijde World Cup round, a race won by Gert-Jan Bosman, who is only a reserve on the Dutch worlds team. Despite this, however, anything less than a win on Saturday would be a huge disappointment for the man from Amersfoort, whose apparent physical fragility belies his strength.

Below are the final two laps of last year’s championship. Just watch his gargantuan long range sprint for the line:

Wietse Bosmans (Belgium, BKCP-Powerplus) Age=20

Bosmans is the Belgian U23 champion and winner of five races in total this season. The others came in the Ruddervoorde and famous Zonhoven rounds of the Superprestige, the Zolder World Cup and the Loenhout GvA, the last two of which were missed by van der Haar. He finished only eighth in the World Cup, but he lies second in the Superprestige and third in the GvA, underlining his credentials as one of the few credible threats to van der Haar. He was a disappointing 6th in Sankt-Wendel this time last year, but all the signs point to him improving upon this in Koksijde, despite only finishing 6th there in the World Cup.

Mike Teunissen (Netherlands, Rabo-Giant Offroad) Age=19

Teunissen was second to van der Haar in Sankt-Wendel last year, and for a period of time in the final lap, appeared to have stolen it. It was not to be as his compatriot closed the gap, but his star continues in the ascendant. He has won only one race this year, the Superprestige round in Hamme-Zogge, but has always been there or thereabouts, winning silver at the European Championships in November and taking second at Baal and in the overall World Cup. He lies fourth in the Superprestige, where he made trips to the podium in Diegem and Gieten. Big and powerful, he is young and very much on the up.

Stan Godrie (Netherlands, Rabo-Giant Offroad) Age=19

Godrie only turned 19 on 9th January and is thus the youngest of the powerful Dutch team. He has been extremely consistent this year, finishing inside the top ten on twelve occasions. His most notable result as far as the coming World Championship is concerned was his second place at the Koksijde World Cup; he can clearly handle the sand. He was also second in the Superprestige races in Gieten and Gavere, and third at both the European and Dutch Championships. He was sixth in the World Cup and lies third in the Superprestige.

Micki van Empel (Netherlands, Telenet Fidea) Age=21

Van Empel, while only 11th in the World Cup, has his chances here. He was third in the Koksijde round, one of three podium finishes this season, the others coming in Hasselt and Ronse. He leads the GvA narrowly from van der Haar thanks to five top-seven finishes.

Vinnie Braet (Belgium, Sunweb Revor) Age=20

Braet is another fairly consistent top-tenner. He was only 14th last year, but has come on in leaps and bounds this season. He clearly loves tough courses as he was second at the Koppenbergcross and third at Zonhoven, as well as in his national championship. He took only thirteenth in the World Cup this year but lies sixth in the GvA and fifth in the Superprestige.

Gianni Vermeersch (Belgium, BKCP Powerplus) Age=19

Vermeersch was second to Bosmans in the Belgian Championships in his only podium finish of the season so far. He was, however, sixth at the Europeans and fourth in Loenhout. He is unlikely to challenge for the podium here but could spring a surprise with luck on his side. He was 15th in the World Cup and lies 9th in the GvA and 6th in the Superprestige.

Arnaud Grand (Switzerland, Telenet Fidea) Age=21

Grand wins rarely, but is more often than not a presence at the front of a race. He is once again Swiss champion and this was his only win this season, but he was third at Gavere and fourth at Baal, Gieten and Zonhoven. He finished fourth in the World Cup and stands seventh in the Superprestige. A live outsider.

Arnaud Jouffroy (France, Telenet Fidea) Age=21

Jouffroy was World Champion in 2010 in rather strange circumstances after the disqualification of both Sczepaniak brothers, who fell foul of the dope testers. Since then, his results have been less than inspiring, but his fourth at the Europeans signals his danger when the form is there. He won the U23 race in Namur but while a win is a win, he did not have to beat many big names to do it. He was 18th in the World Cup and stands 18th in the GvA and 14th in the Superpresitge. A 2010 repeat is highly unlikely.

Julian Alaphilippe (France) Age=19

I confess to knowing nothing about Alaphilippe, apart from the fact that he is a man in form. He won his national championship earlier this month and followed that up with second places at both the Lievin and Hoogerheide world cups. At the latter, van der Haar beat him by only three seconds. He appears to have ridden very few other big races this season, but on the strength of his impressive January, he must be taken as a potential threat.

Mentions in dispatches go to the other Dutch riders, David van der Poel and Michiel van der Heijden, Belgium’s Michael Vantourenhout, the Czech Republic’s Karel Hnik who was third in the Czech senior championships, and to Elia Silvestri of Italy. However, if season dominator Lars van der Haar does not cross the line first, arms aloft, at Koksijde on Saturday afternoon, I will eat my txapela.

Photos are mine

Where is the Podium Cafe flag? \o/ \o/ \o/

Albertina — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 11:37:45 -0000

Next weekend, a deputation from the Cafe (myself, Sarah Connolly, tgsgirl and Urlaub...and maybe a couple of others) will be at the CX Worlds in Koksijde. We have wellies, we have buckets and spades, but we have nothing to wave. This makes us sadface. It is hard to decide what to put on a banner as we have too many favourites (although 'Styby, will you marry me?' needs to feature), so we thought it may be a good idea to take something a little more neutral. Also, we would like you to see us on the teevee. This set us wondering where the PdC banner is at the moment. Does anyone know who has it? And would it be possible to ship it to the UK in time for 27th January?