Peloton littering charges in Belgium

For a while now I've been getting a bit pissed off watching riders chucking their gel packets and bits of food wrapping on the road as they go. Well, it seems this might be about to catch up with them. A Belgian environmental group is pressing for charges to be brought against three named riders in the Fleche Wallonne, citing Walloonian waste management laws. They say they witnessed the three riders, Benjamin Gourgue (Landbouwkrediet), Christopher Froome (Sky) and Blel Kadri (Ag2R) throw away bottles and packages as they rode.

See here: www.cyclingnews.com

In the case of the bottles I think it's a bit of a non-issue. There are very few parts of a course where there is no fan to pick up the bottles, and indeed musettes, as souvenirs. That's a tradition. I've done it myself at races. On top of that at least one bottle manufacturer, Tacx, is supplying several teams with it's new Bio-Bottle, made from supposedly bio degradable plastic.

But waste packaging is another matter. No fan is that obsessive!

There is a real element of the old Mammys rebuke "you wouldn't do that at home" about this story. A rider wouldn't throw litter as they walk down the street so why do it on the move. What possible performance advantage is to be gained by chucking waste on the ground. Even worse most races travel through areas of scenic beauty making the offence worse in my book.

Some race organisers claim they have clean up teams following behind. Come on, really?? And nothing is missed, blows away in the wind, sinks in puddles, etc, etc?

Check out these videos of Spartacus himself riding to victory in the Tour Of Flanders (about 4:55 into the video) and Paris Roubaix (about 6:10 in). In both going cases, when you'd think he'd have better things to think about, he goes through an apparent ritual of clearing his pockets of rubbish as he powers to win on his own. Why exactly?

They haven't gone away you know

I'm torn this week. As someone who believes everyone deserves a fair crack of the whip, and who has never been a "throw away the key" type, I've always thought that once you've done your time you should be free to get on with it like anyone else.

So why does the final overall classification of the 2.1 ranked Giro Del Trentino stick in my craw so much?

Here's the top five:

1	Alexandre Vinokourov	(Kaz) Astana	13:50:23
2	Riccardo Ricco	(Ita) Ceramica Flaminia	0:00:06
1	Domenico Pozzovivo	(Ita) Colnago - CSF Inox	0:00:42
2	Michele Scarponi	(Ita) Androni Giocattoli	0:00:44
2	Ivan Basso	(Ita) Liquigas-Doimo	0:00:56

What a list! You could reorder them like this:

Basso - banned for two years in 2007 for "attempted doping" revealed by Puerto case.
Ricco - banned for two years (reduced to 20 months) for CERA use in 2008 TDF.
Scarponi - banned for 18 months after admitting his part in Puerto case.
Vino - banned for one year in 2007 for blood doping in the TDF.

That leaves Pozzovivo as the only one of them not to have been caught cheating in the past few years.

Like I said they've all done their time so what's my problem? Could it be the total lack of remorse, or in three of their cases even admissions of guilt, that get's me so much? In a week that saw RadioShack rider Li Fuyu provisionally suspended for a positive A sample and several current and ex riders implicated in the HumanPlasma case in Austria, it has to be bad for the sport to have these guys filling the top spots in such a big event.

We can only be thankful that Valverde hasn't been going well in the Ardennes.

"I'm not part of your race"

Kare Tour De Foothills (2)

Yesterday was the second running of the Kare Tour de Foothills Sportive. In total approx 450 riders of all ages and abilities took part over a choice of three routes covering 100km, 50km and 20km to raise money for Kare, an organisation that provides services for children and adults with intellectual disabilities in the Kildare/Wicklow/Offaly region. By far the biggest group was in the 100km ride which had approx 300 riders on the start line at Naas GAA Club.

I was one of them.

Last years event was my first organised sportive since climbing back on a bike seriously in 2008. I'd been commuting by bike over the years but I hadn't ridden more than 10 miles or so for a decade or more.  As a result I lined up for the 2009 event with a degree of anxiety about the distance and hills ahead. To my surprise I got through  quite well, getting over the hills better than I'd imagined I would.

So this year I was feeling a lot less anxious on the line. I'd done more miles and hills in training, lost a few pounds (although nowhere near as much as I'd like to have) and knew the route. On top of that the sun was shining, like last year, there was little or no wind, and I'd hooked up with my old friend and training partner Stephen O'Shea on the line. It must have been nearly 20 years since we last rode our bikes together.   

Some of the 300 odd riders lining up for the 100km ride.

After the formalities we were off in a big bunch, escorted through Naas by Gardai a team of motorbike marshals. Even after so many years since my last race, I have to admit it was still a buzz to be riding in a big bunch through red traffic lights with people standing at the side of the road looking on. The bunch set a steady pace of 20mph-ish as the road climbed gradually towards Blessington. I stayed chatting with Stephen until just after Eadestown where a short, sharp rise had me falling back a bit. But I was still in the pack as we rolled through the stopped traffic at Blessington and dropped down towards the lake. 

Heading out of Naas in the bunch .

On towards Manor Kilbride the bunch was starting to stretch out, with regular shouts of "Hole" to warn riders behind of the many potholes on the roads caused by ice and snow over the winter. The pace was still averaging over 20 mph but with the first hills coming up it wouldn't be staying together for much longer.  Marshals motorbikes whizzed by regularly adding to the big event feel.

The long bunch winds it's way towards Manor Kilbride.

A sharp right before Manor Kilbride and the road started to roll up and down towards Lacken. The big bunch quickly split up and within a few miles there were small groups and individuals littered along the road, mixed in with the 50k riders who had started after us but had taken a shorter route to that point.

Descending beside the lakes towards Lacken.

From this point on it was one short, steep hill after another, alongside the flat calm lakes. Hard going but absolutely gorgeous! And, of course, the short, sharp hills were followed by some exhilarating, short , sharp descents. 

One of the many short rises after Lacken.

The lakes were like a mill pond reflecting the April sunshine.

Some of the descents put that speed limit at risk.

While I was riding at my own pace along the lake some riders were coming up from behind while I was catching and passing others. I don't think there was any point where there were no other cyclists in view, a sure sign that there were a lot more riders than last year (or maybe I wasn't as far behind as last year!).

After the steep climb through Ballyknockan, we turned left up the equally steep climb out of Valleymount and headed towards the Wicklow Gap road.  Riding along this road the views south into the mountains were amazing. It was at this stage that I started to feel the beginning of a cramp in my right calf and also some soreness in my back, but with only a 10 miles or so to the rest stop I ignored that and kept slogging along. 

Climbing out of Valleymount.

After getting around the downhill hairpin junction, aided again by the brilliant motorbike marshals stopping traffic, I took the fast descent down to Kings River Bridge and started what I mistakenly remembered as the last major climb of the route. This one wasn't so steep and was followed by the very fast descent into Hollywood village.  From there we took a very rutted, and far more rolling than I remembered, road into Donard and the lunch stop. 

And that was the only disappointment of the day. Last year we all got a goody bag with sandwiches, fruit and sweets which was a big boost for the last 30 miles. Unfortunately this year the organisers appear to have underestimated demand so by the time I got there (and I was far from last on the road) there was only a few oranges and apples left. 

Welcome, if hungry, break in sleepy Donard.

I hooked up with Stephen again in Donard where he was hanging out with his Orwell clubmates. Even though we knew they'd be leaving there as a group we were both feeling a bit tired so decided to ride ahead on the road and try to get over the climb before Dunlavin before them. The plan was that they would catch us after that and we could tag along for the relatively flat final 20 miles home.

It didn't quite work out that way! We got over the deceptively hard climb before Dunlavin OK followed by the bumpy descent through the town over several speed ramps and lot's of potholes, but about three miles on both of my calfs suddenly cramped up. I had to stop and get off the bike to try to stretch them out but with limited success. Back on the bike and I was struggling. Thankfully Stephen was also feeling a bit tired so he was happy to lower the pace a bit and stay with me. 

On through Brannockstown and the right turn for Ballymore Eustace. Half a mile on my back wheel started to make a squeaking noise. Just what I needed! After a bit we figured it was the plastic/rubber cover of the hub which wasn't turning as it should and so was rubbing against the rotating hub. Maybe I bent the axle on the bumps in Dunlavin? In any case this is when the plan fell apart. As we were stopped for the squeak the Orwell group passed us, ruling out any chance of a tow to Naas, although realistically I don't reckon I'd have hung on for long anyway.

On through Ballymore Eustace and slowly up the climb out of the village. About 15km to go and I was relieved to know we were on what I remembered as the flattish road to Naas. But it's funny when you're knackered how a flat road suddenly becomes very hilly indeed! 

Worse still the cramps came back with a vengeance about halfway there. This time as I was stretching at the side of the road the Order of Malta ambulance happened to come along so at least I had some help with that. 

      

Medical assistance.

I got back on and finally, after an interminable final loop around the inner bypass, and it's countless roundabouts, we made it back to the Naas GAA club and the finish for a welcome shower and a free plate of hot food. 

Finished at last!

Yet again the TDF was a very well organised and very enjoyable event, even if I did suffer a lot more this year! As I've said the only gripe was the lack of food at Donard but that isn't to take away from the great work put in by the organisers, the volunteers, the marshals, the Gardai and the Ambulance crew. Quite how they keep arranging such amazing weather is a mystery though! 

We've all had days like this on a bike!

What's going on with Vania Rossi?

I know I said that this is getting like a gossip column with all the Ricco/Rossi posts lately, but events over the past week mean another post on the subject is unavoidable. However, this time it's not Ricco character flaws I'm interested in, but more the developing story of the Rossi's positive test.

Just to recap, following the Italian Cyclo-Cross Championships on January 10th, the A sample given by Rossi tested positive for CERA. The test was conducted by CONI and approved by WADA as legitimate. Rossi immediately protested her innocence, citing the fact that she is breast feeding her baby as a compelling reason why she wouldn't be doping. Rossi was provisionally suspended from racing on January 29th.

There then followed the pantomime shenanigans of Ricco, leading to him abandoning his partner and baby.

However, this week events have taken another twist. On Friday 26th March CONI posted news on it's website saying "In the B sample analysis for Vania Rossi, conducted in the period from March 29 to April 2, 2010, the minimum levels of CERA required to meet the World Anti-doping Agency's (WADA) criteria have not been found."

Despite this negative, anti-doping investigator Ettore Torre has announced that he will continue to investigate Rossi, with the possibility of an attempted doping charge still open. That could leave her facing up to a two year ban, along with a possible criminal sanction and even disciplinary sanctions by the Italian military, who she was representing on the day she tested positive.

But what does this all mean? To me there are two questions raised by this story.

1) How reliable were the tests?

According to reports the Rome lab is the first to detect CERA in urine, as opposed to the blood tests used to catch Rossi's partner and others. There appears to be a strong likelihood that CERA breaks down in urine very quickly. In this case there was a delay of almost 10 weeks between the tests. According to the head of the Rome lab "there was a significant amount of CERA in the first test, so much so that there were no doubts at all; in the second test, evidently because of the degrading of the urine over time, the amount (of CERA) wasn't within the limits established by WADA."

Given that the ability for the accused rider to conduct independent test on the same sample is a cornerstone of the dope testing process then surely this whole process is flawed? If indeed CERA degrades that quickly then the only options must either be to scrap this test as unreliable, stick to blood testing or design a new procedure which can be fast tracked while still ensuring the integrity of the process.

2) Could Rossi actually be innocent?

When I first wrote about this issue I did raise the question as to whether Rossi might be innocent. As a parent I know first hand how obsessed we can become to ensure nothing exposes our babies to potential harm. That's why I find Rossi's plea that as a breast feeding mother she'd be nuts to dope so compelling. Would a new mother really think it worth the risk so she could do well in the Cross nationals, a race she's won twice before?

Of course, on the other hand, she was living with Ricco at the time. As someone said it's hard to imagine they had different fridges in their house! His reputation as the most cynical and selfish of the pelotons many cheats inevitably casts a very big shadow over her.

However, no matter what we may think of the pair of them, no one will benefit from either a) a flawed testing process that cannot stand up to challenge or b) an injustice done to any rider. After years of struggling with the doping scourge we have to ensure that the possibility of a rider actually being innocent is still taken into consideration. It is a huge challenge to keep testing procedures up to speed with the ingenuity and recklessness of the doper but that can't be done at the expense of natural justice and the risk of destroying a clean rider.

And think of Vania's baby. It's bad enough that he will have to grow up the child of one confirmed doper. But now we run the risk of adding to that burden either the shame of another one or the bitterness of a miscarriage of justice. Poor kid!

What is it with dogs and bikes?

Twice within the space of a mile on Sunday I had to deal with that scourge of the cyclist, the chasing dog.

The first incident was with two dogs running along parallel to me but in a garden behind a fence. I could see that the fence had chicken wire tacked all along it, presumably to keep the dogs off the road, so wasn't bothered by them. Unfortunately whoever put up the wire didn't do such a good job and one of the dogs was able to get out at the end of the fence to run alongside me on the grass verge. He wasn't trying to get at me but was very agitated so I was worried he'd veer out and push me into the path of a car or worse.

As is my usual tactic I got my bottle out of the cage and gave him a quick squirt. That's generally enough to make them stop in their tracks, at least long enough for me to get out of range.

Not a mile after that, I'd settled in to my rhythm again when I spotted another mutt in a field to my left. He'd obviously seen me and was beside himself with excitement, rushing along the hedgerow looking for a way out. This guy was almost comically excited and obviously didn't mean any harm, but he found his gap and ran straight out in front of me ... on a corner. At least I'd spotted him so had my bottle ready. Another quick squirt and he was running for the field again.

But what is it with these dogs? They live on reasonably busy, country roads near a major city. They must see bikes going by all the time. They certainly see cars and trucks all the time but don't chase them. So why bikes?

Several websites I've looked up suggest it's down to the dogs predatory instinct. They just love to chase! Most, but not all, know that chasing cars is pointless but a bike is slower and the rider more visible so it's fair game. Having said that most of the dog owner sites also suggest you shouldn't try to outrun them but should stop and take the fun out of it for them, keeping your bike as a "fence" between you and the dog just in case. I think I'll stick with the bottle!

And what about their owners? Do they not see/hear the barking? Do they not realise the danger the dogs pose to cyclists and themselves by this behaviour? Mind you, I'm not going to stop and knock on the door to tell them with a manic dog running about!

Feel free to leave a comment if you've got any good dog v bike stories.

Riccardo Ricco - the snake! - Part 3

This is turning into a gossip column!

This week Riccardo Ricco returns to the peloton at the Coppi et Bartali race in the Emilia Romagna region of Italy. And, on the face of it, he finally appears to be showing some understanding of just what he's actually done.

"I made a mistake, I know, but I’m human, too and people make mistakes in life. I’m sorry. I want to apologise to all the cycling fans, cyclists, officials, journalists, everyone in the world of cycling. My errors are part of my past and from now on you’ll get to know a new Riccardo." he said this week.

But don't be fooled! This is the same snake who said of his CERA positive girlfriend (and mother of his baby), Vania Rossi (above): "I am disappointed with my girlfriend and there can be no reconciliation until Vania is shown to be innocent of the allegations that were raised". Pot, kettle, black?

But there is, hopefully, some good news. Giro D'Italia organiser, Angelo Zomegnan, appeared to rule out any return to this years race for Ricco and his team. Although he didn't mention any names he was quoted as saying “At the 2010 Giro d’Italia, there will be riders in quarantine. In the past we have put our faith in riders who didn’t deserve it, as time showed later on (Di Luca perhaps?). From this experience, we learnt that whoever has to be invited to the Giro will have to be patient for a certain period of time.”


Photo  © Bettini

Kare Tour De Foothills

I registered for the Kare Tour De Foothills today. It'll be the first sportive of the year for me but hopefully not the last, like last year!

It's on Sunday 11th April, starting and finishing in Naas GAA club. There'll be 100km, 50km and 20km options. They haven't announced the routes yet but I suppose they'll be similar to last year.

I did the 100km then, on a beautiful sunny day. The organisation was so good the only problem on the day was deciding whether to risk shorts in April! I did and that was a good move. The route was very scenic taking in a lap of the Blessington Lakes and rolling roads through west Wickow and east Kildare.

It's all for a good cause too. KARE is an innovative and progressive voluntary organisation committed to providing an individualised service based on best practice to over 400 children and adults with intellectual disabilities and their families throughout Counties Kildare, East Offaly and West Wicklow.

See:  http://www.karetourdefoothills.com/#

Riccardo Ricco - the snake! - Part 2

Just when you thought the Ricco/Rossi soap opera couldn't get worse the guy digs himself down even deeper into the mire. Now we can add delusion and desertion to his growing list of reprehensible traits.

Read this and, literally, weep: http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/ricco-believes-the-tifosi-are-on-his-side

Riccardo Ricco - the snake!

I was all set to write a long rant on what a s**t Riccardo Ricco has shown himself to be in how he's handled the news that the mother of his child has tested positive for CERA, but Europeloton has done it for me. Read the post here:

http://www.europeloton.com/2010/02/riccardo-ricco-real-life-snake-but.html

One aspect of the issue that Europeloton hasn't mentioned is Rossi's defense that she's a breastfeeding mum so would be crazy to use CERA. If she's telling the truth then Ricco is truly a weasel, if she's not then I can't find a suitable word for what she is. Either way it's the child you have to feel sorry for!

In addition, if she is telling the truth, she has been done a very serious wrong and it would raise major questions about the whole system of testing. But given her choice of partner it's hard to believe her.

Rome Olympics - 50 years on

When I was a youngster I was intrigued to hear my Dad say one evening that he was going to an event for members of an organisation called Olympians Ireland. As was my way, I had to know more. What I found out fascinated me. My Dad was in a very exclusive club! He could claim membership of a body who's sole entry criteria was that you'd been to the Olympic Games as part of an Irish team, either as a competitor or as an official. Of course, we'd heard many times before all about how he'd managed the Irish cycling team in Rome in 1960 but that evening was when the penny dropped with me just what that meant.

2010 marks 50 years since he made that trip so it seems to me as good a time as any to look back on a unique experience. I want to thank my Dad for sharing his story with me and also for supplying the team photo and memorabilia included here.

Olympic passport from the 1960 Games

Nowadays participation in the Olympic Games means qualification standards, corporate sponsorship deals, wall to wall TV coverage, professional athletes, Sports Council grants, Lottery funding, full time coaches and world class training facilities. Compared to that Dads account of what it took to get a team to Rome really does bring home just how true is the saying "the past is a foreign country."

Many Irish sports, and cycling in particular, inhabited a very divided political landscape in the 1950's. As a result the Olympic Council of Ireland had not agreed to any cycling participation at the two previous Olympic Games, in Helsinki (1950) and Melbourne (1956). An unauthorised attempt had been made by the National Cycling Association (NCA) to gate crash the Olympic road race in Melbourne. The NCA, which claimed jurisdiction over cycling in all 32 counties, were not recognised by the Unione Cycliste Internationale (UCI) and so it’s riders could not compete in UCI recognised events, including the Olympic Games. Nevertheless the NCA "selected" a team of three riders with the intention of riding the race.

Paudie Fitzgerald and Tom Flanagan travelled from Ireland and the US respectively and hooked up with Australian based Tom Gerrard. A group calling itself the League for an Undivided Ireland organised things for them locally and got them to the start line. However, the Australian police were called in to prevent them starting the race when they were spotted by a journalist who attempted to interview them. Their action delayed the start of the race, won by the great Ercole Baldini of Italy, but generated a lot of publicity.

By the close of the 50's, CRE (Cumann Rothuideachta na hEireann), the UCI recognised controlling body for the Republic of Ireland, and the NICF (Northern Ireland Cycling Federation), the recognised body for Northern Ireland, had come to an agreement which was acceptable to the UCI. There was to be a joint CRE/NICF committee formed to select teams to represent Ireland internationally and also to run All-Ireland track, time trial and road Championships. The NCA refused to accept this arrangement and so remained unrecognised internationally. In 1959, largely on the initiative of CRE, the Joint Committee approached the Olympic Council which agreed to include both track and road cyclists on the Irish team for the 27th Olympiade in Rome in 1960.

Sean Fox was then a 24 year old member of Eagle CRC in Dublin. He was also National Registrar of CRE and served on the CRE/NICF Joint Committee. He was very enthusiastic for cyclists to compete at the Olympics and so was delighted when the go-ahead was given.

But then reality bit. The Olympic Council had estimated the cost per team member, including airfare to Rome and five nights at the Olympic Village, at £65.0.0, a very considerable sum at that time. Half would be covered by the OCI but the rest had to be found by the cycling bodies.

At that time cycling in Ireland was 100% amateur. Cash prizes weren't allowed, there was no grant funding and sponsorship was rare. Clubs fundraised any way they could. The club dance was a regular event. Since the federations were funded by club affiliations and rider licences, money at a national level was very tight.

As my father tells it, the NICF was lukewarm about Olympic participation. Riding under the Irish Tricolour and national anthem was a concern for some in the North. So the fundraising buck was passed back to CRE. (This turned out to be somewhat ironic when the team was selected as three out of five riders were NICF members). Being clearly the most enthusiastic for the Olympic adventure, Dad was “encouraged” to come up with an effective fundraising scheme and then to get on with bringing the money in.

In 1959 there was effectively no television in Ireland and the advent of the 24 hour sports channels was decades away. The Irish, as a sporting nation had to rely on the print media or radio for their sports coverage. However, oil and tyre companies like Shell, Castrol and Dunlop produced 16mm films of events such as the Monte Carlo Rally. Other sports films available at the time included the Berlin and Melbourne Olympics and the European Cup Finals.

Dad had attended capacity-crowd showings of films like these at venues such as the Mansion House in Dublin. He figured that if he could put together a selection of sporting films, and offer them in a Dublin city centre venue, it would attract a good audience. So he booked the St. Anthony’s Hall, Merchants Quay and ran his first sports film show. Joe Sherwood, a pipe-smoking Englishman, was a sports columnist with the Evening Press. Joe very generously offered to publicise the first film show in his daily column. The show was a great success and a near capacity crowd paid two shillings and sixpence each for admittance.

Encouraged by this success Dad dug up some more sports films which might appeal to the widest possible audience, and put on two more, equally successful, shows. This series generated the bulk of the money needed to fund a six person cycling contingent to travel to Rome and to stay in the Olympic Village for the bare five nights. There would be no money for training camps or acclimatisation but they were on their way!

A five rider team was selected. They were:

Road Race:

Anthony "Sonny" Cullen, Eagle CRC, Dublin.
Peter Crinnion, Bray Wheelers, Co. Wicklow.
Seamus Herron, Northern CC, Belfast

Track Sprint:

Martin McKay, Maryland Wheelers, Belfast

Track 1000m TT and Track Sprint:

Michael Horgan, Maryland Wheelers, Belfast

The team was to be managed by Dad, partly because he had been so much a part of getting the team approved and funded and partly because, as a CIE employee, he could travel overland to Rome for free.

From left: Martin McKay (Maryland Whs) , Peter Crinnion (Bray Whs), Sonny Cullen (Eagle CRC),  Sean Fox (Eagle CRC), Seamus Herron (Northern CC) , Mick Horgan (Maryland Whs)    

When it came time to head to Rome, Peter Crinnion arranged to stay overnight in Dublin with Sonny Cullen so that they could get to the airport for their early morning flight. In semi-darkness, and with bags on their backs they set off on their competition bikes to ride to the airport. Near Whitehall Garda Station a young Garda stepped out in front of them and demanded to know where they were going at that hour of the morning, where their lights were and what was in those bags on their backs. You can imagine his surprise, and scepticism, when they told him “We’re off to ride at the Olympics” or words to that effect. They must have been convincing because he let them head on even though riding a bike without lights was considered a serious offence at that time.

The team flew to Rome but due to a delay in Dublin a planned stopover was shortened. Unfortunately too short for their bikes to make it onto the Rome plane. After an anxious wait the bikes turned up the next day and the team were able to settle in and enjoy the Olympic Village. The official managers report, submitted to the IOC after the Games, describes the Village as "superb". The team shared a flat "sleeping three persons per room, each flat having it's own toilet and bathroom. Electric razors were supplied and outside each group of flats was fitted a television set. Meals were served in large dining rooms, nations being grouped together according to eating habits. Every type of food to which Irish athletes are normally accustomed were available"

Despite an offer from the British team to loan them some bikes, the delayed arrival of the bikes did mean the track riders had almost no practice time on the unfamiliar Olympic Velodrome.

According to the report: "The Olympic Velodrome, the most superb cycling track in the world, was a very different proposition to the normal Irish or British track on which our riders had previously ridden, having a smooth timber surface instead of the usual tarmac or concrete with steep banking and very short straights. In fact so well banked was the track that the straights were almost non-existant. Track tactics normal for Ireland were rendered ineffective....In addition the tubulars supplied to the trackmen, the lightest used on irish tracks, proved to be too heavy for the Olympic track on which competitors used "Super Silk" tubulars."

As it turned out Horgan and McKay first rode the track only twenty minutes before racing started.

The first competition up was the Sprint:

"Heat 5 saw McKay meet former World Champion, Gasparella (Italy) and Errandonea (Spain). The Italian proved the stronger over the final 200m and McKay, easing up, was passed by the Spaniard to be placed 3rd. Time for the heat was a fast 11.7 secs. Horgan met Vasiliev (Russia) and Tortella (Spain) in Heat 10. In a very close finish he was placed 3rd, the Russian winning in with another fast 200m of 11.8 secs.

In Heat 2 of the Repechages McKay met Ruiz (Mexico). He proved to be a superior tactician to the Mexican and , riding extremely well, jumped into the lead entering the last banking. This should have been sufficient to win but, showing the glaring lack of mastery of the track, allowed the other rider to come by entering the straight and was beaten by a tyre length. Time was 12.4 secs. Horgan met another Russian - Bodniek - in repechage number 6 but was convincingly beaten when the Russian caught him napping with a half a lap to go, jumped and won by lengths in a time of 11.7 secs. In all the races the Irish riders proved to be as strong as most of the opposition, but were handicapped by obvious lack of International class racing".

Result:

Gold	Silver	Bronze
Sante Gaiardoni Italy (ITA)	Leo Sterckx Belgium (BEL)	Valentino Gasparella Italy (ITA)

The next event up was the 1000m TT in which Horgan was drawn at number 23 in the start list. However, just before the race Horgan had the unlikely bad luck to have not one but two rear tyres explode on him leaving him only a wheel with a heavy tyre used for riding around the Village. Even worse he then lined up on the start line only to have his front tyre blow out. He had to replace THAT wheel with McKays front wheel. The report concludes that the punctures "resulted from either the extreme heat whilst we waited causing the air to expand in the tubulars or through a mis-calculation when converting the metric measurements on the air pressure gauge of the pumps in the pits".

"In the meantime the starter decided to run off the last two riders, Scob of France and Gaiardoni (Italy). Gaiardoni rode superbly and smashed the Olympic record for the distance. His time of 1 min 7.27 secs sent the crowd wild with delight. He rode lap after lap of the track to the yells of the crowd, posed for photographs by television, movie and press cameramen, and was kissed and hugged by fellow Italian riders and officials. It took 25 mins to clear the track for further racing, and during all this time Horgan patiently waited on the line to ride. When he eventually started his effort lacked fire, and his time of 1 min 17.18 secs, although an improvement on his previous best at home, was only good enough to give him 2nd last place. I can safely say, however, that had he not suffered the series of incidents which would have demoralised the greatest rider he would surely have recorded a much faster time to finish probably in the middle of the field".

Sante Gaiardoni breaks the world and Olympic record to take gold in the 1000m TT

Result:

Gold	Silver	Bronze
Sante Gaiardoni Italy (ITA)	Dieter Gieseler Unified Team of Germany (EUA)	Rotislav Vargashkin Soviet Union (URS)

Next up for the Irish squad was the 175.38 kilometer Road Race, to be run over 12 laps of the Grottarossa circuit.

The team had managed some training despite the unaccustomed heat of a Roman summer and the bikes had been checked over by a local shop. However the night before the race Sonny Cullen was struck by the same illness that had affected many athletes. He spent a sleepless night with severe stomach pains and headaches, but was given the all clear the following morning to start the race.

The race started with 142 riders from 42 countries and included some future stars like 1968 Tour De France winner Jan Janssen of Holland and the somewhat controversial 1963 World RR Champion Benoni Beheyt of Belgium.

All three Irish riders were comfortably in the bunch for the first three laps but by the end of the fourth Cullen had lost 3'26" and retired, obviously ill. At the end of the 5th lap Herron also retired with mechanical trouble. Despite the full bike checks the previous day a bolt had come loose on his chainring which prevented the cranks from turning, losing him 6'40" on the bunch by the end of the lap. Tellingly the report states: "when he dismounted the official breakdown jeep, on which there were spare machines to be used in the case of mechanical failures, had passed him with eyes apparently only on the Italian riders in the bunch".

Meanwhile, Peter Crinnion was still comfortably in the leading bunch, taking an active part in the chase after Dutch pair, Hugens and Van Kreuningen, who had built a two minute lead on the peleton by the end of lap 6.

"But on lap 10 he was involved in a pile-up of a half-dozen riders and crashed heavily into a ditch. He remounted and with a French rider chased the main group. They made contact just as the field commenced the tough climb on the course and, the effort to get back being too much, went off the back again and at the end of the 10th lap was 2 minutes down riding on his own. Realising that it was impossible to get to the leaders again during the vital last laps of the race he contented himself by taking his time with the sole object of finishing the course."

The report goes on to say he finished 12 minutes down on winner Kapatinov of the USSR in "45th place of the 50 finishers". This is at odds with the official IOC Games report which doesn't list him as one of the 76 finishers. It is unimaginable in this day and age that there would be confusion over the result of an Olympic event but of course modern timing technologies didn't exist back then.

Kapitonov, of the U.S.S.R., in a victorious sprint at the finishing line with the Italian, Trapé, close on his heels.

The report goes on to conclude optimistically:

"While the Road Race was run at an average speed of more than 25 m.p.h. the opinions of Herron and Crinnion suggested that, on account of the large field which provided plenty of shelter, the pace did not prove too killing. I feel that, had this pair had a trouble free ride, both would have finished in the lead group...Knowing the finishing power of Herron he would probably have sprinted into the top ten. As was expected before the start Crinnion was the stronger rider and his effort to regain the bunch following the crash was a top-class ride. Prior to the crash he had made a number of attempts, with Holmes of the British team, to escape from the bunch and join the leading Dutch pair."

 

Result:

Gold	Silver	Bronze
Viktor Kapitonov Soviet Union (URS)	Livio Trapè Italy (ITA)	Willy van den Berghen Belgium (BEL)

Once all of the cycling events were over Dad left the Village to head on for a holiday in Austria. Before he left he was able to do a favour for someone that amply illustrates the contrast between what were considered the last "friendly" Games and the security paranoia already underway around the next Games in London.

Track and Field Sprinter Maeve Kyle, from Ballymena, had a problem. Despite having coached her to Olympic level, her husband Sean had not been accredited as a team coach by the the AAU, Ireland’s athletics governing body. As a result he couldn't gain access to his wife as she trained and competed.


The wily Maeve had noticed that security at the Games was pretty lax. A mere flash of the Olympic passport was usually enough to get access to the Village and other facilities. She suggested to Dad that he should conveniently “forget” to take his passport with him. Her husband would “find" it and try to use it to get the access he needed. She underook to take the rap if the subterfuge was discovered.

Not long after the Games, at Santry track, Dad’s pals were gobsmacked when this rather glamourous red headed athlete threw her arms around him and, with a kiss, returned him his documentation. It seems her plan worked a treat and she had the full benefits of her husband’s coaching.

Of course, not everything was different back then. The Rome cycling events weren't immune to the now familiar doping problems although, of course, doping was not banned at that time. Danish cyclist Knud Enemark Jensen collapsed during the 100km Team Time Trial. Even though the autopsy gave cause of death as a fractured skull caused when he succumbed to the heat, Jensen was found to have large amounts of amphetimines, Roniacol and phenylisopropylamine in his system. His death led to pressure on the Olympic movement to take doping seriously and was one of the drivers of the introduction of testing later in the decade.

Interestingly the report of the Irish team doctor, Dr Kevin O'Flanagan, mentions Jensens death in the context of his concern for the Irish riders. He wrote: "I was a bit worried about the Cycling Team, owing to the death of a Danish cyclist in the first week of the Games, but despite the weather and the heat-wave conditions, all recovered well".

The Rome Olympics were a big step forward for Irish cycling. The Games which had royalty (future King Constantine II of Greece and Queen Sofia of Spain both competed for Greece), superstars (Cassius Clay and Herb Elliot), the first black African champion (Abibe Bikila of Ethiopa in the marathon) and which were the first to be fully televised, were also the first chance Irish riders had had to ride a games since London in 1948. Whether that exposure to the highest level of competition contributed to raising standards at home is debatable, of course. Peter Crinnion went on to a continental professional career and road racing continued to thrive but track racing was in decline and would almost die out completely in the years following the Games.

Despite dads report finishing with the a suggestion that "a start be made NOW to a campaign to raise money to ensure that cycling is represented in the Irish party which we hope will travel to Tokyo in 1964" it would be another 8 years, in Mexico, before a road cycling team attended a Games. There has been a road team at every games since then, with the exception of Atlanta in 1996 where the sole Irish rider was Martin Earley in the mountain bike race. However, the green jersey didn't grace an Olympic velodrome for an astonishing 48 years when David O'Loughlin entered the mens pursuit at the Beijing games.

Copyright The Muse-ette. 

(B/W photos and map reproduced from official games report. Team Photo copyright Sean Fox.) 

Irish Cyclo-Cross Champs 2010 pics

These are some snaps from todays Irish Cyclo-Cross Championships held, as it happens, in my local park, St Annes in Raheny, Dublin.

Gold went to 37 year old Joe McCall of Rocky Mountain in 1:07:11, silver to Ryan Sherlock of MAD 1:01 behind and bronze to Liam McGreevy of Banbridge CC at 1:48.

The Womens title went to Francine Meehan of Tullamore, the Juniors went to Matthew Adair of Banbridge and the Veterans title to Aiden McDonald of Bike Pure.

McCall and McGreevy set the early pace.

Sherlock chases in third.

The rest of the field were quickly distanced.

McCall forged ahead alone on lap 3.

Power sliding!

Joe McCall wins his first National title after 19 years of trying.

Silver medalist, Ryan Sherlock.

Liam McGreevy rolls over the line in 3rd.

The new Champion is interviewed by Shane Stokes.