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July, 2009 // Posts published in July, 2009
A very different view on anti-doping
Le Tour de France has now passed us by, although news from the cycling world is still coming thick and fast as rumours abound about who might and might not move to the new Team Radioshack in 2010. Also, the million dollar question is where will Alberto Contador ride in 2010? So many questions remain about Astana’s […]
Swimsuit debate: Differing perspectives
One of the positive effects of the ongoing swimsuit debate is the range of perspectives it brings forward. I had planned a detailed post on swimming world records, a historical look at how swimming has evolved, largely in response to some your comments regarding how what we’re seeing is progress and natural evolution. But then […]
Swimming world records – not a good day for Speedo
Tuesday the 28th of July was not a good day for Speedo. Michael Phelps, the greatest swimmer of all time (in terms of medals), and Speedo’s big name sponsored athlete, beaten into second in an event he has for a long time dominated. Beaten by a man who only a year ago was 5th in the […]
Swimming world records fall like meaningless tenpins
Queen’s song “Who wants to live forever” has been working overtime in Rome. There is a certain irony in the fact that every single time a world record is broken in the pool during the current World Swimming Championships, Freddie Mercury’s voice echoes around the Foro Italico, asking a rhetorical question that typifies the sport […]
Tour 2009 wrap: Winners and losers
In attempt to alleviate my own withdrawal symptoms now that the Tour is over, I thought I’d do a somewhat tongue in cheek review of the Tour, styled as the Tour Oscars – the winners and losers from France. The first Oscar – The Contribution award It’s been an epic Tour, at least in as […]
Tour 2009 rolls to an end
The 2009 Tour de France sprinted its way to an end today, and as was expected from about a week and a half ago, it was Alberto Contador who ended on top of the cycling world, winning his second Tour title. The finish of the race, up and down the Champs Elysees is a great […]
Tour de France 2009: Contador VO2max
I came across this interesting piece on Cyclingnews this morning. It caught my eye because it’s an extension of a . In the article, Antoine Vayer calculates that given Contador’s power output on that climb (which he calculates as 490W for a 78kg “normalized” rider – more on that later), and with one or two assumptions to turn […]
Tour de France 2009: Time-trial analysis
Alberto Contador showed in the Alps that he is the best climber in the Tour (regardless of what the polka dot jersey says), and today, he underlined his status as the number 1 rider in the 2009 Tour by winning the 40.5km individual time-trial in Annecy. For the Tour’s best climber to do so well in […]
Danilo di Luca – positive for CERA
The week has been dominated by Tour de France news – you can read my recap of the Alps in a post below, and don’t forget to tune in later for the analysis of the Time-trial. But, in what is important other news, Danilo Di Luca has tested positive for CERA during the Giro d’Italia this year. You […]