Track
Irish Riders Compete in Final World Cup of Season
This weekend will see Ireland’s track cycling team compete in the Hong Kong Velodrome at the final World Cup on the 2015-2016 race calendar. Racing runs from Friday 15th to Sunday 17th January with riders focusing on three Olympic categories; the Women’s Team Pursuit, Men’s Sprint and the Women’s Keirin, along with the Class 1 bunch races. On Friday the...
First Irish indoor velodrome takes another step forward
The long-awaited first indoor velodrome in Ireland has taken a step closer to coming to fruition after Sport Ireland revealed last week that the contract for development has now been put out to tender. The velodrome will form part of the National Velodrome & Badminton Centre at the National Sports Campus in Abbotstown, Dublin. It's planned that it will...
Cheetah: The Nelson Vails Story (VIDEO)
Nelson Vails' story is a triumph over almost insurmountable odds. Nelson was the youngest of 10 children growing up in the Harlem projects and worked as a New York City bicycle messenger to support his family. Nicknamed "The Cheetah" because he was the fastest cat in the jungle, Nelson rode furiously while working, trained in Central Park after work...
Former World Champion Martyn Irvine announces retirement from cycling
Former World Scratch Race champion Martyn Irvine has announced his retirement from the sport after failing to qualify for the Olympics in Rio this summer. The Irish rider won gold in the Scratch Race in Belarus in 2013 in addition to taking silver in the Individual Pursuit. The following year, he won a silver medal in the Scratch Race at...
François Pervis – the French Samurai (VIDEO)
Eurosport have produced this documentary about the French track cyclist François Pervis and and his preparation for keirin racing. Pervis is a 4-time World Champion having taken gold in the sprint, 1-kilometre time trial and keirin. In addition, he has also broken two world records. The 31 year-old spends 4-5 months every year in Japan preparing for keirin racing, and...
An video insight into Quadzilla’s Strength & Speed Training
Robert Forstemann has the most famous quads in cycling but just how much work is involved in keeping those legs ripped? Well when he is not powering a 700w toaster he spends an awful lot of time lifting big weights in the gym as well as getting out on the bike building up the speed in his legs. Last January...
Otto Olsen – The acrobatic Danish six-day racer
By Graham Healy The photo above appeared in recent days on Twitter showing a cyclist riding along the advertising hoardings at a velodrome, but nobody seemed sure of who was in the photo. It's actually a Danish cyclist from the forties and fifties named Otto Olsen. Olsen first started taking part in six-day races in 1948, and was often paired up...
Martyn Irvine takes podium place at Revolution Series in Glasgow
Former World Scratch Race champion Martyn Irvine was in action yesterday at the fourth round of the Revolution Series in Glasgow, and the Irish rider showed that he's in good form by taking second place overall on the night. Irvine was representing One Pro Cycling, and was partnered with Marc Hester. The pair finished fourth in the 1km Madison Time...
The Six-Day race Stephen Roche and Tony Doyle lost to a home-town decision
By Graham Healy In November 1985, Stephen Roche crashed in the Paris Six-Day damaging his right knee and he would suffer from the injury for the rest of his career. However, he did return to the track and came very close to a victory in one of the prestigious six-days when he finished second with Tony Doyle in the 1991...
Geraint Thomas and Adam Blythe use some underhand tactics in the Longest Lap (VIDEO)
Adam Blythe (Orica - GreenEdge) took an easy win in the Longest Lap race at the latest round of the Revolution series at the Lee Valley VeloPark in London last night. The race involves the cyclists riding one lap of the velodrome at a slow pace before having to trackstand for an undetermined period of time. If any riders cycle over...
Tom Gascoyne – The English champion cyclist killed at Passchendaele
By Graham Healy One of the many well-known cyclists killed in action during World War 1 was Tom "Jeb" Gascoyne. Although he was from England, Gascoyne ended up fighting for the Australians in France and Belgium. He had started bike racing back in 1893 and would go on to set a number of world records, including that for twenty-five miles, which...
Graeme Obree on The Obree Way – in conversation with Richard Moore
Earlier this week, we posted a link to the movie 'The Flying Scotsman' the feature film made in 2006 telling the story about the Scottish cyclist Graeme Obree who broke the World Hour record on a bike he built himself. As a follow-up, this interview from a couple of years ago provides a good insight into the mind of...
Midweek Movie – The Flying Scotsman (2006)
"The true story of Graeme Obree, the Champion cyclist who built his bicycle from old bits of washing machines who won his championship only to have his title stripped from him and his mental health problems which he has suffered since."
Lydia Boylan Comes Very Close to a Medal at Cali UCI World Cup
Lydia Boylan has come agonisingly close to a medal on day two of the first round of the World Cup in Cali, Colombia, today. National Road Race Champion Boylan, a member of the Women’s Team Pursuit squad, was one of four riders who gained a lap on the main field early in the 10km Women’s Scratch Race. The leaders...
Irish in Action at Cali World Cup
Twelve Irish riders are in Cali, Colombia this weekend for the first round of the UCI World Cup. The action begins this afternoon with qualifying for the Women’s Team Pursuit where four riders from Lydia Boylan, Lauren Creamer, Josie Knight, Caroline Ryan and Melanie Späth will line up for their 4km effort which is due to start at 4pm,...
Bradley Wiggins takes part in Marymoor Crawl in Revolution Series
Bradley Wiggins was amongst the line-up in the Marymoor Crawl which also included Elia Viviani, Iljo Keisse and Adam Blythe which took place at the second round of the Revolution Series in Manchester at the weekend. The race involves the cyclists riding one lap of the velodrome at a slow pace before having to trackstand for an undetermined...