NewsWire: Zomegnan says doping is everywhere, not just cycling; Absalon asks ‘why today?’
Zomegnan: doping is everywhere, not just cycling; Absalon flats out of Olympic defense; Brailsford builds on success
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In our daily NewsWire, we bring you a collection of the intriguing stories from newspapers, journals and elsewhere around the world of competitive cycling. Pour your coffee, mute your phone and read on.
Zomegnan: Doping is everywhere, not just cycling — La Gazzetta Dello Sport
Former director of the Giro d’Italia and long-time journalist Angelo Zomegnan believes that doping is far from isolated to cycling. Other aerobic sports, including track and field and race walking, have equal if not greater ties to drugs, infusions and other illegal methods of athletic enhancement, he wrote in a blog for La Gazzetta.
Following the doping admission of Italian race walker Alex Schwarzer, and his ties to one of the most notorious names in cycling, Michele Ferrari, Zomegnan tells a doping tale dating back to the early 1980s.
He finishes with a disheartening passage: “All are guilty, and not just athletics and cycling… Rather, everyone. Indiscriminately. Because — we say today, August 8, 2012 — that we no longer accept senseless excuses when in a few weeks we will see yet another scandal in cycling, this time made in France.”
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Absalon on Olympic mechanical: ‘Why today?’ — L’Equipe
Two-time Olympic mountain bike champion Julian Absalon flatted early in the first lap of the men’s Olympic cross-country race on Sunday, sending him backwards through the pack and eventually to the sidelines. The Frenchman suffered, as he put it, “the worst possible scenario.”
“All this after four years of work,” he lamented after pulling out of the race. “I would have accepted un jour sans, being beaten. Not be able to defend my chances, that is really hard to take. I do no know how I am going to bounce back. For now, I do not know what I want to do for the end of the season.”
“Why now?” he added. “I did all possible tire testing. I never flatted on the circuit. In two years I have certainly rode more than 100 laps on this track, and never flatted. Ever. There was a risk of falls, I was afraid of falling into the first corner. I took the risk, the legs were there. All was going well.”
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Brailsford determined to build on Olympic success — The Independent
As he prepares to relinquish his role as British Cycling performance director, David Brailsford is determined to build on the success of Team GB at the London Olympic Games.
“We’ve set ourselves a platform now to push on and build on,” he said. “This could be the start of something, rather than the end of something.”
Brailsford will turn all of his focus towards British trade team Sky, following four years of splitting his time between the British national federation and the professional team. He will maintain a consultancy role within British Cycling.
“We will figure out a structure that we believe can take the sport forward and give us the best possible chances of success in Rio and we’ll implement that structure,” he said. “I’m pretty sure I’ll be part of it.”
Video: cave racing in Budapest — Het Nieuwsblad
Het Nieuwsblad has run an incredible video of underground mountain bike racing from Budapest, Hungary. As the caption reads: you need more courage than wisdom for these races.