http://www.sbs.com.au/rss/Blog/109847 The Broom Wagon has no immediate plans to visit Switzerland. However, on the off chance an attractively discounted skiing weekend hoves into view, let the record state that the UCI, president Pat McQuaid and former president Hein Verbruggen are definitely not corrupt, fools, clowns or liars. http://www.sbs.com.au/cyclingcentral/blog-article/126897/Definitely-not-clowns http://www.sbs.com.au/cyclingcentral/blog-article/126897/Definitely-not-clowns Sat, 06 Oct 2012 07:00:00 +1000 Only God can judge Filippo Pozzato, according to the fine print on his shoulderblades. Going on this week's evidence, that is probably just as well, because nobody else who has tried to judge Pippo has done a great job. http://www.sbs.com.au/cyclingcentral/blog-article/126767/Pippo-s-Grande-Loophole http://www.sbs.com.au/cyclingcentral/blog-article/126767/Pippo-s-Grande-Loophole Fri, 14 Sep 2012 10:00:00 +1000 Here's a hors category irony for you. In another week filled with Armstrong, silence about Armstrong, and a selfless attempt to displace Armstrong in the headlines by Phil Liggett, it has taken Alberto Contador to put the focus back onto bike racing. http://www.sbs.com.au/cyclingcentral/blog-article/126719/Ripping-yarns http://www.sbs.com.au/cyclingcentral/blog-article/126719/Ripping-yarns Sat, 08 Sep 2012 07:00:00 +1000 Highlights of 1998: Bear Grylls climbs Mt Everest, France wins its first World Cup, Chumbawamba release this: http://www.sbs.com.au/cyclingcentral/blog-article/126665/Festina-Mulan-and-why-Lance-is-not-enough http://www.sbs.com.au/cyclingcentral/blog-article/126665/Festina-Mulan-and-why-Lance-is-not-enough Fri, 31 Aug 2012 13:00:00 +1000 Lance Armstrong is done fighting. http://www.sbs.com.au/cyclingcentral/blog-article/126637/Banned-but-not-yet-beaten http://www.sbs.com.au/cyclingcentral/blog-article/126637/Banned-but-not-yet-beaten Fri, 24 Aug 2012 00:00:00 +1000 Sometimes, when it is feeling pleased with itself, the Broom Wagon likes to put on its Special Hat, exactly like the one modelled by Luis Leon Sanchez here, and pretend it knows enough about cycling to predict the outcome of races. http://www.sbs.com.au/cyclingcentral/blog-article/126605/Spanish-roulette http://www.sbs.com.au/cyclingcentral/blog-article/126605/Spanish-roulette Fri, 17 Aug 2012 15:00:00 +1000 Remember how Victoria Pendleton planned to relax and enjoy her final year as a track sprinter? It turns out it didn't go all that well. http://www.sbs.com.au/cyclingcentral/blog-article/126576/A-moving-piece-of-performance-art http://www.sbs.com.au/cyclingcentral/blog-article/126576/A-moving-piece-of-performance-art Fri, 10 Aug 2012 12:00:00 +1000 Are there three words that capture the Olympic spirit better than 'battery powered hotpants'? http://www.sbs.com.au/cyclingcentral/blog-article/126544/London-s-burning http://www.sbs.com.au/cyclingcentral/blog-article/126544/London-s-burning Fri, 03 Aug 2012 11:00:00 +1000 The Broom Wagon likes Olympic promotional guff as much as it likes a 110-minute powerpoint presentation by Jeff from marketing, which is to say very much. http://www.sbs.com.au/cyclingcentral/blog-article/126516/Faster-higher-stronger http://www.sbs.com.au/cyclingcentral/blog-article/126516/Faster-higher-stronger Fri, 27 Jul 2012 11:00:00 +1000 The Broom Wagon is a sceptic, probably for life. Blame it on Bjarne Riis, Floyd Landis, Jan Ullrich, Ivan Basso, Richard Virenque or Christophe Moreau. Blame it on Alexander Vinokourov, Riccardo Ricco, Bernard Kohl, Alejandro Valverde, Alberto Contador or others too numerous to mention or too embroiled in ongoing legal cases. Blame it, if you like, on an early man-crush on the phenomenally flawed Marco Pantani. But there it is. http://www.sbs.com.au/cyclingcentral/blog-article/126488/How-I-learned-to-respect-Wiggo http://www.sbs.com.au/cyclingcentral/blog-article/126488/How-I-learned-to-respect-Wiggo Fri, 20 Jul 2012 12:00:00 +1000 Isn't it nice when we can all get along? The Broom Wagon's heart has been warmed like a buttered croissant by the events of the past 48 hours. http://www.sbs.com.au/cyclingcentral/blog-article/126460/Don-t-look-back-in-anger http://www.sbs.com.au/cyclingcentral/blog-article/126460/Don-t-look-back-in-anger Fri, 13 Jul 2012 14:00:00 +1000 Ahead of last Saturday's prologue, Tour de France director Christian Prudhomme gave his address to the assembled riders. "It is your duty to keep the children dreaming,” Prudhomme said, leading the Broom Wagon to briefly assume Prudhomme had chosen an unconventional moment to support the use of prescription sleeping tablets in sport. http://www.sbs.com.au/cyclingcentral/blog-article/126418/Keep-the-children-dreaming http://www.sbs.com.au/cyclingcentral/blog-article/126418/Keep-the-children-dreaming Fri, 06 Jul 2012 16:00:00 +1000 "Music has always had an important role to play within professional sport," parped Team Sky in an immensely promising press release this week. http://www.sbs.com.au/cyclingcentral/blog-article/126378/The-hills-are-alive http://www.sbs.com.au/cyclingcentral/blog-article/126378/The-hills-are-alive Fri, 29 Jun 2012 11:30:00 +1000 Eight days out from this year's Tour de France, BMC appears to be among the strongest. http://www.sbs.com.au/cyclingcentral/blog-article/126342/God-and-CONI http://www.sbs.com.au/cyclingcentral/blog-article/126342/God-and-CONI Sat, 23 Jun 2012 15:00:00 +1000 Is there any issue as likely to ruin a dinner party as the question of whether or not Lance Armstrong doped? A cycling-related issue, at any rate. http://www.sbs.com.au/cyclingcentral/blog-article/126289/Lancing-the-boil http://www.sbs.com.au/cyclingcentral/blog-article/126289/Lancing-the-boil Fri, 15 Jun 2012 00:00:00 +1000 If you are Cadel Evans, this has been a good week. Having spent most of the year in successful anonymity – except for the odd lapse in New Idea – Evans rode blinking into the sunlight at the Criterium du Dauphine. http://www.sbs.com.au/cyclingcentral/blog-article/126249/Don-t-panic-Don-t-panic http://www.sbs.com.au/cyclingcentral/blog-article/126249/Don-t-panic-Don-t-panic Fri, 08 Jun 2012 00:00:00 +1000 It's only June, but this year's red jersey for most combative rider may as well be awarded now, along with whatever jersey the UCI reserves for the rider most likely to be distracted by a nearby flock of pigeons. http://www.sbs.com.au/cyclingcentral/blog-article/126221/Most-combative-itchiest http://www.sbs.com.au/cyclingcentral/blog-article/126221/Most-combative-itchiest Sat, 02 Jun 2012 09:00:00 +1000 http://www.sbs.com.au/cyclingcentral/blog-article/126179/The-Broom-Wagon-25-May http://www.sbs.com.au/cyclingcentral/blog-article/126179/The-Broom-Wagon-25-May Fri, 25 May 2012 00:00:00 +1000 While the rest of us have been going about our business this week, perhaps browsing fruitlessly for suitable podium sunglasses, poor old Heinrich Haussler has been caught in a time vortex, not unlike the one that sucked in Bill Murray in that one film. http://www.sbs.com.au/cyclingcentral/blog-article/126141/Hauss-of-pain http://www.sbs.com.au/cyclingcentral/blog-article/126141/Hauss-of-pain Fri, 18 May 2012 10:00:00 +1000 No two ways about it, it has been a big 12 months in Lithuanian cycling. First the mayor of Vilnius proved a point about obstructed bike lanes by driving over parked cars in a tank. Then on Wednesday, Ramunas Navardauskas became the country's first ever leader of the Giro d'Italia. http://www.sbs.com.au/cyclingcentral/blog-article/126101/Day-of-the-Honey-Badger http://www.sbs.com.au/cyclingcentral/blog-article/126101/Day-of-the-Honey-Badger Fri, 11 May 2012 09:00:00 +1000