Paternity.

One of our riding companions was astounded this week to find that he is the father of a 18 year old French girl......

Ludo received an e-mail from one of his ex - pro workmates that contained a link to a set of photos on the industrial and civil unrest in France. On opening the link

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/10/france_on_strike.html

He was staggered to see a very familiar looking face in one of the photographs (see below).

After searching his memory of that last frantic criterium season in 1993 when, post Tour, he and the lads had been driving around the country trying to make as much cash as possible, he finally recalled a very winsome chambermaid in a hotel in Plouay........an energetic lass, at least she was after she tried something from the medicine bag...

It was an unforgettable night, at least that's how it seemed at the time.

In a state of shock after seeing the photo, Ludo searched on Facebook and found that the mother still lives in Plouay.

Needless to say he's proud of his daughter…

Oh Alberto?

Alberto Contador has revealed he has failed an anti-doping test for the banned substance clenbuterol during this year's Tour de France.
Contador won the Tour de France for a third time in July, beating Andy Schleck by 39 seconds.
Apparently the quantities concerned are minute and there are previous cases where athletes have been banned and then susequently proved the drug came from contaminated supplements.
After all the drug drama over the past 20 years this is probably the first time I have thought he may not be guilty.
Bjarne Riis has also said that he is certain of Contador's innocence. Who could want for a better reference than that :-).

Sean Yates on the 1984 edition of Paris Roubaix!

That was the only race I raced for myself. I think the previous year, I had been moving up, and I came in eighth. The year before that I was eleventh. I realized it was a good race for me. And I could do well, you know? That day was particularly rough as you can see from the picture. It was freezing from the start and snowing. I liked those conditions in those days. When it is really wet, there is probably a maximum of ten guys that can ride the cobbles. I remember one section when I dropped back a little bit, I was like 15th or so, guys were crashing and going left, right and center. Some guys would hit the Pavé and give it everything.

1994 Paris-Roubaix. Sean Yates always raced strongly through the cobbled hell of Paris Roubaix. In the rain battered ’94 edition, the Motorola man ended up in fifth place.

When you are drafting there is not so much advantage, so everyone was really suffering. You can’t afford to be outside the top five because when you hit each section, you waste so much energy. We came to about 40 kilometers to go and these motorbikes crashed in front on us. And there was complete chaos. And I said: I am just going to go as hard as I can from here to the finish. And on that same section Gilbert Duclos-Lassalle and Franco Ballerini - they both punched it. Andrei Tchmil was away and Johan Museeuw tried to get across to him and within twenty meters he couldn’t. And I came flying past them. Fabio Baldato bridged up to me. I was going as fast as I could and I was puking up.

We hit the Carrefour de l'Arbre, which is the second to last hard section. And we caught Museeuw, and he was just blown. I dropped the others, and I was second on the road. And the crowds were going crazy. I was going hell for leather...as hard as I could. But they came back from behind: Gilbert Duclos-Lassalle, Franco Ballerini and Olaf Ludwig. The last 5 kilometers to go and I knew that Andrei Tchmil was going to attack because he was so strong. But I just didn’t have the legs. And he attacked on that drag just before you start that long descent towards the velodrome. Baldato went with him. And I couldn’t. Baldato came second, Franco Ballerini third and then in the sprint Olaf Ludwig beat me. Gilbert Duclos-Lassalle was behind me. So, that was an epic day.

The Glory Days of the 80's. - Post by Duclos.

 It’s just like another question at the Tour De France quiz:-

The following is a picture of a fresh new recruit to the La Vie Claire squad signed up at the height of the team's successes in the mid 80’s.  Fair to say Charly was a bit of a journeyman pro - more of the domestique type than a leader for the big events and who wouldn’t be with Le Blaireau as team capitaine.  Charly had ridden and raced bikes as man and boy and this was his second significant contract.  The ardours of professional cycling can be seen etched into the jowls of Charly’s features and the lines on his brow.  It’s incredible to think that Charly was still just 22 when this picture was taken.  After 2 undistinguished seasons supporting the bigger riders of the LVC super squad it was rumoured that Charly ventured to the slightly less demanding arena of Northern Italy although no record of his further career has ever been uncovered.

Charly never took drugs.

Duclos.

Business as Usual.

Nothing has been heard about any unusual plans for the weekend so the normal rendezvous of PMH at 0900 will apply Saturday and Sunday.

One Week On.

A somewhat enlarged pelotonette departed PMH on Sunday for ascent of Cooper's Knob. Signing on were Ludo, Duclos, Yatesie, Marco, Johan, Roberto and Miguel. The route round the downs and past Rossendale was punctuated with disruptions to the road surface, the worst of which was a 30cm shelf on the other side of the road. Duclos bailed at at Tai Tapu with some fairy excuse about the man flu.

The commencement of the gradient at the start of Gebbies Pass saw Johan shoot off the front looking like a man with some aggression to vent. He waited for the group at the start of Cooper's and everyone suffered at their own pace on the higher slopes of the climb. Routes are a bit restricted at the moment due to closures for the repair of earthquake damage. One piece of news supplied by Marco is that he has received a message from our old Columbian friend a.k.a. 'The Sneaky F*****'. Apparently the man is heading for New Zealand with his very pregnant girlfriend. Speculation continues as to whether this is just an elaborate import operation.

We Commence With A Jolt.

Who could have predicted that the first weekend  for which the blog was in existence would commence with New Zealand's biggest recorded shake centred close to Christchurch. The city is in a bit of a mess and the aftershocks continue at the rate of about one every hour with some at the 5.4 level.

A reduced peloton of Duclos, Ludo and Yatesie made it out on Sunday morning for a head clearing gentle ride from the Kiwi to Godley Head. The earthquake damage was evident on the summit road with a couple of road blockages due to rather large boulders having succumbed to gravity.

On the sector from Evans Pass to Godley Head we were briefly joined by one of the local old timers who was complaining bitterly that Saturday's road race had been cancelled. What a sad man! Half the city is in pieces, a state of emergency declared, and he is whingeing about his bike race being cancelled. Some people really are odd!!

Le Weekend.

The word on the wire is that Duclos and Ludo will be out on Saturday and Sunday with Yatesie in attendance on Sunday (0900 Depart both days). The forecast is for showers clearing on Saturday with a north westerly arriving on Sunday. Yatesie is deep into his training plan for the Molesworth Muster. This started yesterday with a wobble up the Rapaki track.

The Phoenix have a bye this weekend!

Laurent Fignon.

Laurent Fignon has passed away after losing his fight against cancer, French television has announced.

The Frenchman twice won the Tour de France during his career. He was 50.

Fignon disclosed in June 2009 that he was undergoing treatment for cancer. It is said to have started in his intestine and then spread further through his body. He continued to commentate for French television on the Tour de France this summer despite a tumour affecting his vocal chords.

“I don’t want to die at 50,” he said, earlier this summer. “All I know is that my cancer isn’t evolving. I’m still fighting.”

Fignon won the Tour de France in 1983 and 1984, and a total of nine Tour stages. He also won the 1989 Giro d’Italia. He famously finished second in the Tour in 1989, famously losing to American Greg Lemond in 1989 by the slimmest margin ever in Tour history, a mere eight seconds.

Fignon was diagnosed with cancer in May 2009, and he revealed his illness it shortly thereafter. He had been very open with the press and public about his illness. In his book, "Nous étions jeunes et insouciants" (We were young and carefree), he confessed to having doped during his career. Later, he discussed the possibility that his cancer was linked to his doping.