Man of the year

Johnny Hoogerland


In a year of much excitement, I put this moment at the top.


Hoogerland and Juan Antonio Flecha had been part of a five-man breakaway that was vying for victory in Sunday’s 208km stage from Issoire to Saint-Flour in the Massif Central.

However the two were hit by an overtaking France TV car 35km from the finish. Vacansoleil rider Hoogerland was sent somersaulting into a barbed wire fence while Team Sky’s Flecha hit the deck at full speed.

Both riders finished the race, with Hoogerland stepping on to the podium, in tears, to receive the best climber’s polka dot jersey.

To watch him climb onto the podium that day was a very special moment, not only for cyclists but for us all. It left a lump in my throat the size of Lance's legal costs for 2012.

Happy new year, best wishes for 2012.

Peugeot

Joy Noel

Belated happy christmas from Bop. Pappa Noel was kind delivering many gifts including a few books. Italian racing bicycles by Guido Rubino provides an encyclopaedic reference to the italian cycling industry. Have just completed reading the profile on Dedacciai, the makers of my beloved bare knuckle. Combined with a Mario Testino's book on Kate, a great Xmas. laying on couch trying to read over my belly. talk soon

Eddie

Hour record 1972 in Mexico City

Just say no

There is a moral in this story and I will keep watching and listening until I work it out

A Sunday in Hell

A Sunday in Hell (original title: En Forårsdag i Helvede) is a 1976 Danish documentary film directed by Jørgen Leth. The film is a chronology of the 1976 Paris--Roubaix bicycle race from the perspective of participants, organizers and spectators. The interviews of the riders at the end are incredible. They look like the have been to Hell. Full movie below

Madison frames