• 20

  • May

  • 2:00pm

Daniel McConnell on his way to victory at the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup in Albstadt, Germany (UCI Media Services)

Thirteen years is a long time between drinks for fans of Australian cross country (XCO) mountain biking but on Monday the community awoke to a pair of victories and blossoming hope for the future, writes Phil Gomes.

On Saturday night (AEST) Rebecca Henderson was the first to break the long running Australian drought by winning the opening race of the under 23 category at the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup in Albstadt, Germany.

Her victory was the first recorded at that level by any Australian rider since Cadel Evans and Mary Grigson at the turn of the millennium in 2000.

Grigson, a multiple national champion and Olympian won her event in Napa, California while Evans, who needs absolutely no introduction, won in Canmore, Alberta and Mont Sainte-Anne, Quebec.

Continue Reading "Dirty deeds done dirt cheap"
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21 May 2013 9:48 AEST

V-man

From: Melbourne

Wow!! That was an incredible race.. Congratulations to all the participant and everyone involved in making this happen.

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20 May 2013 20:06 AEST

Old Bloke

From: Perth

Unbelievable. I was watching the race on Redbull.tv. What an exciting last lap. You're a champ Dan. Have a great season.....

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  • 20

  • May

  • 11:30am

Nothing to prove... Cadel Evans has done it all, a world championship, a Tour de France win and a palmares that most would envy. The Australian has enjoyed a super return to the Giro d'Italia where he sits second overall and is within a sniff of pink. (Sirotti)

It’s never easy when apprentice usurps master, particularly when it happens earlier than expected. But as Anthony Tan writes, for those on the sidelines, it makes for fascinating viewing.

When the winner of the 14th stage of this year’s Giro d’Italia, Mauro Santambrogio of Vini Fantini-Selle Italia, was asked what it felt like to drop his former leader Cadel Evans on the climb to Bardonecchia-Jafferau, he responded thus:

“It gives me great confidence, although I have to thank Cadel because I learned a lot when I rode alongside him. With Cadel I learned how to prepare for a three-week tour. Now, as a captain on a team, I can really make the most of what I have learned.”

It’s never a nice feeling, when the apprentice becomes the master, at least for the latter, that is. Even more so when the unspoken changing of the guard happens prematurely.

Continue Reading "Vélo Files: Masters and Apprentices"
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21 May 2013 13:39 AEST

Richo

From: Perth

All respect to Mick, he isn't Nibali, in Italy, with no July plans! I started the season pessimistic about Cadel, but now he has shown - again - he has a massive heart! One more year TJ.

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21 May 2013 7:37 AEST

theo

From: sydney

Lelangue of BMC was essentially saying that now TJ can tackle any One Week race. my reading ios a successful outing in Calif with ur A team, a weak field compared to Giro, an eight day race does not Giro gift u leadership at the tour

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  • 18

  • May

  • 8:00pm

Professionals like Wiggle Honda's Rochelle Gilmore (L) and Georgia Bronzini (R) are affected by recent race disorganisation (Image by Wiggle Honda)

Women’s race organisers in France have turned their tainted reputation a little muddier, after the debacle of the second consecutive cancellation of the Tour Languedoc Rousillion, originally scheduled as UCI 2.2 stage race from 17-22 May.

In 2012, the race was cancelled because of possible ‘financial problems’ leaving many riders in a tight spot. It had been the final opportunity for women to fight for UCI points to qualify places for the London 2012 Olympic Games before the May 31 deadline.

Last year, teams had three weeks notice. This year, many teams were already in Carcassonne, or en-route to the region in the south of France known for its good wine and great cycling terrain.

Some had flown straight in from China, having raced at the Tour of Chongming Island and the World Cup only two days earlier. Unfortunately, it had been the scene of another farcical race event, leaving the world’s best sprinters incredulous and team directors getting nothing but an apology.

Continue Reading "Chaos and cancellations: when will the UCI step in?"
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20 May 2013 12:16 AEST

Byron

From:

Peter. I agree that the UCI are complicit in both the Armstong drama and the current woes of Women's racing but US Cycling is not the answer to anyones problems. They have a lot of dodgy figures in the shadows namely Thomas Wiesel who financed much of the USPS team and and attempted to protect Lance to the end. It was USADA who are the anti-doping agency across all Olympic sports that brought down Lance and are trying to expose the UCI's corruption.

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20 May 2013 10:47 AEST

Adam

From: Melbourne

About time to run lots of women's races in conjunction with the mens. share the load, better for sponsors too. perhaps run the womens race an hour of 2 earlier on the same routes? although you could probably shoot 1000 holes in my idea. In any case, women's cycling doesn't have enough money to bribe mcquaid and verbruggen, so they won't listen anyway.

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  • 18

  • May

  • 10:00am

Age is no factor for Jens Voigt (Getty Images)

For the second year running, he’s the oldest licensed rider in the WorldTour peloton. But as Anthony Tan writes, nothing’s going to slow Jens Voigt down. Not yet, anyway.

I’m mother f**king Jens Voigt so they’re not going to catch me.If only one could clone ‘The Jensie’. Or bottle it up and make Andy Schleck skol copious quantities of it till he’s inebriated beyond belief, drunk on The Jensie.

In January last year, at the Santos Tour Down Under, I interviewed Jens Voigt at length for US cycling publication VeloNews. Then aged 40, he told me that, “Nobody likes to get old, but I can still keep up, so it’s all good”.

“Cycling is too hard a sport to do it for the money. You’ve got to have the passion. The willingness to do it… the desire to go. And I still have that. It’s not a tiny little spark in the dark, but a full-on burning flame, the passion that I have (for cycling).”

Continue Reading "Vélo Files: Catch Him If You Can"
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19 May 2013 4:40 AEST

Murray

From: Basel

3 Tour stage wins but World Champion Awesome Guy.

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18 May 2013 21:31 AEST

Hawkman

From:

Oh... I'd love to have a beer with Jensie, I'd love to have a beer with Jens. He never rides in moderation He's always trying to roll the younguns When he gets in... the break Oh... I'd love to have a beer with Jensie, And call Jensie me mate!

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  • 17

  • May

  • 6:13pm

The bears tore through the Australian dollar over the past two weeks, falling from US$1.03 to nearly US$0.97.

That's good news for exporters, but bad news for Australian travellers.

The sudden decline follows speculation the US Federal Reserve may be winding down its bond buying program.

That essentially means, America's central bank will be pumping less cash into the economy.

Continue Reading "End of parity: Experts say A$ heading south"
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17 May 2013 19:21 AEST

Liam @smsfcoach

From: Castle Hill, Sydney

When the experts agree the contrarian view is often the most likely

I am always cocerned to see experts in agreement as history has shown them to be very poor forecasters. Now I have to consider a sharp rise in Aussie dollar!

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  • 16

  • May

  • 5:35pm

Who would've thought that the Linzer torte is the oldest recorded recipe in the world? It doesn’t have the appearance, or ingredients, of a particularly aged dish, yet the first written recipe for it was found to have been written in 1653. However, history aside, I didn’t have great hopes for this dish – it just seemed too simple to be really delicious. The short pastry is enhanced with spices and lemon zest and also contains toasted ground almonds (which I did in a frying pan on the stovetop in a few minutes). A food processor made it easy to rub the butter through, although I probably took it a little too far beyond the “breadcrumb” stage, and then worked the egg yolk in with my hands.

I used a round, loose-bottomed tart tin and had more than enough pastry to line it with. I found the pastry a little difficult to work with – whether I roll it between two sheets of cling film or baking paper, it always seems to slide all over the bench. Any suggestions for how I can improve this would be happily accepted. Refrigeration is key for this recipe, so there was a bit of other kitchen action happening as it was in and out of the fridge. My lattice work definitely left something to be desired, but I managed to get a decent approximation – however, I won’t be setting up a patisserie anytime soon.

The big surprise with this torte was how good it tasted. Like I said, I wasn’t expecting much from jam with pastry, but the combination of nuts, spices and lemon zest worked brilliantly with the strawberry jam to create a dessert that is simple and very more-ish. And, yes, of course it works with ice-cream.

Continue Reading "Linzer torte"
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20 May 2013 17:54 AEST

amanda james

From:

yum

wow is this really the world's oldest recipe? Can you use a square tray for this and make it a lot higher or smaller?

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  • 15

  • May

  • 2:36pm

Unless you count a few high school detentions, I have never been locked up, so I wasn't sure what to expect from the marathon six hour media lock-in for the federal budget in Canberra.

Luckily for me, the team of SBSstaffers based at our Parliament House bureau are nothing less than consummate professionals who were able to walk me through the process. Here's how it went down:

10am: The flight from Sydney to Canberra is barely more than a short bounce across the highlands. As the plane descends, I scan the skies for a glimpse of Skywhale. Haven't heard of Skywhale? It's Canberra's teat-baring gift to herself on her 100th birthday. It's a clear day, but sadly I don't see a thing.

Continue Reading "Diary of a media lock-up"
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  • 15

  • May

  • 1:10pm

Pretender, contender and the mystery package... How does the form so far of Bradley Wiggins, Vincenzo Nibali and Cadel Evans bode for the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France. (Getty Images)

Choices, choices. Team Sky's always had them, BMC's suddenly been gifted them, and some teams are bereft of them. They do, however, make for interesting dynamics in every team as the Giro d'Italia heats up, and the Tour de France looms, writes Al Hinds.

I've been surprised, to say the least, at what the Giro has thrown up so far. Not the displays of animated racing, nor the wet and wild descents, the crash-marred sprints, or the tifosi packing the roadsides. No, the Giro was always going to be an excellent race, an excellent spectacle. It always is.

But what appeared an almost predestined podium, when the Giro arrived at Brescia, has become far from it with still more than a week to race. I'll put my hand up and say I had Wiggins pencilled in for a place near the top of the dais, and, if things went well, his name engraved on that eye-catching trophy.

This just hasn't been Brad's year, though. Far from his imperious best, he's lacked the authority-stamping time trial displays, the unflinching ability on the climbs or, for that matter his 2012 honour guard.

Continue Reading "Tough calls loom for Evans and Wiggins"
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21 May 2013 1:06 AEST

Jimbob

From: Newcastle

I'm sorry but nobody attempts the Giro-TdF double anymore. Contador was the last to try it and he failed by showing poor form at the TdF. Of course, that turned out to be a good thing for Cadel. Cadel would never have beaten a fit Contador (any realist would acknowledge that). Tejay's racing schedule is more in line with a rider preparing for the TdF. Cadel's is not. That does not rule out Cadel as team leader but Giro riders don't threaten at the TdF.

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19 May 2013 0:01 AEST

Mike (Brighton)

From:

BMC lifted the pace because the roads ahead were narrow so being positioned at the front was really important. BMC Team director is Italian and knew the area well so knew positioning was critical. In fact Evans made the comment that at the time he was only watching those at the front and not Sky who were at the back

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  • 15

  • May

  • 12:00pm

The Tour of Toowoomba peloton takes fast left during the final stage criterium (Mark Gunter)

From Toowoomba to Tuscany via California, Anthony Tan gives his lowdown in the only way he knows how. Straight up.

No need for TTTs in the NRS

As some Cycling Central readers have already noted, the inclusion of team time trials in the National Road Series only skews results further in favour of the better, bigger budget, teams.

Doing so precludes a rider not on Huon-Genesys, Drapac or Budget Forklifts from winning the overall classification. I’d rather see another mountain stage thrown in and/or a mountain time trial so the GC does not hinge on one stage; this has the potential to place those aforementioned teams on the back foot, and may make the racing less controlled.

Walking a straight line

Continue Reading "Vélo Files: Rough Edges"
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15 May 2013 21:51 AEST

Jay Williams

From: alexandra

Tan Man, You have many good thoughts and insites into this great sport. Your passion is unwavering, but please, enough bashing Whitey. Its not up to him what sentance he receives or what job offers may come along. His past mistakes do not remove his vas knowledge and skill, whick should not go to waste because he raced through the dark days. Look at it this way. If he said no he would have had no career, therefore learnt none of the expertise that he now has.

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15 May 2013 18:32 AEST

Steven

From: South Aussie

A cheat is a cheat, if he was a zero that won nothing or the guy who won many races! Every cheat helped destroy those honest clean riders. Careers ended due to the pack of cheats & I see no place under any circumstances for them to come back later and be involved in the sport. I find it sickening to hear people try to justify a MW over other cheats, he was just as complicit as any other cheat, the sum total of cheats helped destroy the clean rider & tarnish the sport!

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  • 14

  • May

  • 5:40pm

The 2013 Eurovision Song Contest in Malmo, Sweden, will be held at a time when many parts of the eurozone struggle with recession and austerity measures that have prompted protests in some countries across the continent.

The high costs associated with participating in the event - and potentially hosting it should they win – have seen countries like Portugal, Poland, Slovakia and Bosnia-Herzegovina pull out of this year's contest.

Sweden, which is hosting thanks to Loreen's winning entry “Euphoria” last year, is downsizing the event, spending around $20 million. It's about half the estimated production cost of the 2012 show in Baku, Azerbaijan. And that's not including the $100 million it forked out to fast-track construction of its new arena, dubbed the Crystal Palace, where last year’s Eurovision was held.

But if you were to measure success by the number of eyeballs focussing on the production, then a success it is. More than 125 million people watched Eurovision in 2012, making it one of the world’s biggest televised events.

Continue Reading "The winning costs of Eurovision 2013"
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19 May 2013 18:18 AEST

Edwin Sain

From: Cologne, Germany

good article with a typical post-austerity SBS error

Article sums up well the experience many of us who come out of multicultural-background Australia have had over a long time with regard to Eurovision. Two points to make:one important, one not. Fortunately for the sake of those who have musical taste, these offerings mentioned above were dispensed to the dustbin of history (leaving space for good Dutch, Italian, Greek entries). "it's an excuse for my friends and I" = garbage grammar. Check Portugese to see why. Les can also explain it to you.

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17 May 2013 21:20 AEST

Boris

From: Cabarita

Thankyou for the music - Slovenia

Very much enjoying Eurovision - and being of Slovenian origin, thanks for seeing Slovenia mentioned a couple of times Cheers

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