http://www.sbs.com.au/rss/Blog/109255 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. http://www.sbs.com.au/cyclingcentral/blog-article/127818/Dirty-deeds-done-dirt-cheap http://www.sbs.com.au/cyclingcentral/blog-article/127818/Dirty-deeds-done-dirt-cheap Mon, 20 May 2013 14:00:00 +1000 The last time I saw Miguel Martinez in person he looked like the above image. On his way to winning the men's cross-country (XCO) at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. http://www.sbs.com.au/cyclingcentral/blog-article/127698/A-blast-from-the-past http://www.sbs.com.au/cyclingcentral/blog-article/127698/A-blast-from-the-past Tue, 23 Apr 2013 11:00:00 +1000 There is questioning, then there is questioning, but if you are going to ask, make sure you have a form guide sitting next to you. http://www.sbs.com.au/cyclingcentral/blog-article/127664/Out-of-nowhere http://www.sbs.com.au/cyclingcentral/blog-article/127664/Out-of-nowhere Wed, 10 Apr 2013 09:00:00 +1000 There’s been a lot of jibber-jabber on Twitter about the performance of Team Sky since last July’s Tour de France, won by Bradley Wiggins, some of it legitimate and lots of it simply misinformed tosh. http://www.sbs.com.au/cyclingcentral/blog-article/127598/A-changing-media-game http://www.sbs.com.au/cyclingcentral/blog-article/127598/A-changing-media-game Wed, 20 Mar 2013 14:00:00 +1100 Milan-San Remo is the longest and second oldest race on the professional calendar, with the past two years featuring riders from Australia on the top step of the podium. http://www.sbs.com.au/cyclingcentral/blog-article/127566/La-classica-di-Primavera-is-wide-open http://www.sbs.com.au/cyclingcentral/blog-article/127566/La-classica-di-Primavera-is-wide-open Wed, 13 Mar 2013 15:00:00 +1100 While the performances of the Australia riders always excite, Ireland's Martyn Irvine has to be the man of the meet at this year's UCI Track Cycling World Championships. http://www.sbs.com.au/cyclingcentral/blog-article/127482/Man-of-the-meet http://www.sbs.com.au/cyclingcentral/blog-article/127482/Man-of-the-meet Fri, 22 Feb 2013 10:00:00 +1100 Professional road cycling needs Andy Schleck to be the rider we all know he can be, but with the announcement of yet another race deadline left unmet, I am starting to wonder if we are seeing a sporting decline that is permanent. http://www.sbs.com.au/cyclingcentral/blog-article/127460/Schleck-out-of-circulation-and-calculation http://www.sbs.com.au/cyclingcentral/blog-article/127460/Schleck-out-of-circulation-and-calculation Sat, 16 Feb 2013 11:00:00 +1100 Professional road cycling has endured several years of opprobrium, drawn and quartered in the court of public opinion and used as a cautionary tale when it comes to doping and other sporting malfeasance. However, a series of recent events signal that the tide may be turning as a greater context emerges. http://www.sbs.com.au/cyclingcentral/blog-article/127416/A-brief-moment-of-schadenfreude http://www.sbs.com.au/cyclingcentral/blog-article/127416/A-brief-moment-of-schadenfreude Thu, 07 Feb 2013 10:00:00 +1100 If the reaction to Pat McQuaid’s presence on the podium at the Cyclocross World Championships in Louisville Kentucky was anything to go by then the International Cycling Union (UCI) has some work to do in winning the hearts and minds of true cycling fans, but I’m more worried about another less informed group. http://www.sbs.com.au/cyclingcentral/blog-article/127394/Voxpops http://www.sbs.com.au/cyclingcentral/blog-article/127394/Voxpops Mon, 04 Feb 2013 14:00:00 +1100 My love affair with cycling’s podium girls has stretched past 30 years, and to be honest shows no sign of abating. However, the passage of time requires that we put this anachronistic display of femininity and servitude to rest. http://www.sbs.com.au/cyclingcentral/blog-article/127363/Podium-girls-must-go http://www.sbs.com.au/cyclingcentral/blog-article/127363/Podium-girls-must-go Tue, 29 Jan 2013 15:00:00 +1100 So what are we to think when watching Lance Armstrong attempt to claw back more than a decade's worth of denial in what will be a reported confessional with Oprah Winfrey? http://www.sbs.com.au/cyclingcentral/blog-article/127292/Ask-Armstrong-Your-questions http://www.sbs.com.au/cyclingcentral/blog-article/127292/Ask-Armstrong-Your-questions Tue, 15 Jan 2013 08:00:00 +1100 First of all let me state that I don’t believe that Lance Armstrong would admit to doping just to stoke his competitive fires. There is too much at stake. http://www.sbs.com.au/cyclingcentral/blog-article/127274/Would-life-bans-work http://www.sbs.com.au/cyclingcentral/blog-article/127274/Would-life-bans-work Mon, 07 Jan 2013 13:00:00 +1100 After a year dominated by issues of governance and the related legacy of Lance Armstrong I’m looking forward to a 2013 road season that will hopefully be focused on racing. http://www.sbs.com.au/cyclingcentral/blog-article/127256/A-race-focused-2013 http://www.sbs.com.au/cyclingcentral/blog-article/127256/A-race-focused-2013 Thu, 27 Dec 2012 00:00:00 +1100 Many of us were surprised when we woke to the news that both Saxo-Tinkoff and Argos-Shimano had secured their WorldTour dreams for another few seasons. http://www.sbs.com.au/cyclingcentral/blog-article/127201/UCI-fires-a-rocket-at-Katusha http://www.sbs.com.au/cyclingcentral/blog-article/127201/UCI-fires-a-rocket-at-Katusha Tue, 11 Dec 2012 15:00:00 +1100 It is true that we in media sometimes focus too much on the negative. If it bleeds it leads, and this year the sport of cycling spent more time on the ground bleeding than a Euskaltel-Euskadi rider. http://www.sbs.com.au/cyclingcentral/blog-article/127107/Orica-GreenEDGE-by-the-numbers http://www.sbs.com.au/cyclingcentral/blog-article/127107/Orica-GreenEDGE-by-the-numbers Wed, 21 Nov 2012 10:00:00 +1100 With the 100th edition of the Tour de France and 95th of the Giro d’Italia announced we’re two-thirds of the way to knowing what the Grand Tour season will look like in 2013. http://www.sbs.com.au/cyclingcentral/blog-article/127001/Will-you-be-watching http://www.sbs.com.au/cyclingcentral/blog-article/127001/Will-you-be-watching Fri, 26 Oct 2012 00:00:00 +1100 Matt White is to be credited for his admission of doping while a rider for Lance Armstrong’s US Postal Service team and standing down from his positions with Cycling Australia and Orica-GreenEDGE pending investigation, but should he go further and resign? http://www.sbs.com.au/cyclingcentral/blog-article/126937/Should-White-go http://www.sbs.com.au/cyclingcentral/blog-article/126937/Should-White-go Mon, 15 Oct 2012 13:00:00 +1100 We’ve had barely a day to digest the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) report on doping by Lance Armstrong and the comment is coming thick and fast. http://www.sbs.com.au/cyclingcentral/blog-article/126927/We-ve-been-here-before http://www.sbs.com.au/cyclingcentral/blog-article/126927/We-ve-been-here-before Fri, 12 Oct 2012 08:00:00 +1100 It was news last week that bicycle sales in Italy surpassed that of cars for the first time since 1964 while Australia closes in on a decade of doing the same. http://www.sbs.com.au/cyclingcentral/blog-article/126915/A-tale-of-two-countries http://www.sbs.com.au/cyclingcentral/blog-article/126915/A-tale-of-two-countries Wed, 10 Oct 2012 12:00:00 +1100 It’s been an interesting exercise watching Lance Armstrong try run away from his United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) problems by returning to the sport that brought him to everyone’s attention. http://www.sbs.com.au/cyclingcentral/blog-article/126909/Trying-hard-to-change-the-conversation http://www.sbs.com.au/cyclingcentral/blog-article/126909/Trying-hard-to-change-the-conversation Tue, 09 Oct 2012 13:00:00 +1100