The Cycliste Moderne, September 26, 2005

World Championship Recap

Tom Boonen proved a worthy World Champion in Madrid on Sunday. Boonen had been tabbed as a favorite, however due to the configuration of the course, the disharmony among the Belgian team, and his lack of results at the Vuelta a Espana, Boonen did not come to the race as the expected victor.

On a day when most of the favored riders managed to stay together and out of trouble, it was a late move by Boonen which enabled him to earn the right to ride next year in the rainbow jersey of the world champion. He is the first Belgian World Champion in 9 years and this, together with his spring victories at the Ronde Van Vlaanderen and Paris-Roubaix, clearly marks him as the strongest one day rider in the peleton. What is amazing is his ability to perform so well in the long one day races as well as to contest sprint finishes in the Grand Tours which tend to be flat out displays of pure speed. He has speed, he has strength. And at age 24 has further cemented his place as the “Young Lion of Flanders.”

In the days leading up to the race, organizers succumbed to the complaints of riders and team directors about the danger of the last hairpin turn before the finish. The 180 degree change of direction in the last 600 meters of the race had been viewed as favoring Robbie McEwen. However, the turn was eliminated after the course was reconfigured using adjacent streets to make the turn much less severe. In the end it did not matter as on the last lap of the day, a break with such aggressive riders as Alexander Vinokourov and Paolo Bettini were unable to hold off the hard charging Belgians who overcame their sponsors’ animosity to work perfectly together as a team. As the race hit the final turn, the chase caught on to what was left of the day long break and Boonen powered to victory.

The sprint favorites of Petacchi, McEwen, Zabel and others unfortunately lost ground during the last lap and came in about thirty seconds later. Not surprising was the performance of Spaniard Alejandro Valverde who finished second. Another emerging talent, Valverde possesses the all around ability to both climb and sprint. Remember, he won a mountain stage over Armstrong at the Tour de France before being forced out with injury. Valverde was questionable for the World Championships as he did not ride the Vuelta a Espana. It was probably something of a disappointment to finish second at home, but Valverde certainly will be a world champion in the future.

The biggest surprise was not the poor showing by the sprinters, the strong team tactics shown by the Belgians or the come back of Valverde, no, it was the third place performance of French rider Anthony Geslin. Geslin rides for the French Bouygues Telecom team and was certainly not on anyone’s list for the top three.

Why Team Tactics Matter #1

Roger Hammond of Discovery Channel and Great Britain finished in the second group and could have factored in a sprint finish if that had happened. However, Hammond was left wondering why the small British team spent much of the day chasing down breaks that would have been better left to the larger and more powerful Belgian, Italian, Spanish and German teams. Great Britain came to the race with just six riders where as the bigger teams all started with nine. Had they really been smart, they would have made sure that Hammond had just stayed on the wheel of McEwen or Petacchi and stayed out of trouble until the end.

Why Team Tactics Matter #2

Dmitry Muravyev of Kazakhstan and Saul Raisin of the United States worked together to chase down an early break and once they got into the break worked together to keep it away. Clearly neither rider was a favorite coming into the race but they were credited as being some of the strongest riders on the day as they helped animate the early race and put some order to it. Why would two young riders work so well together? Could it have something to do with the fact that they both rider for French team Credit Agricole? Probably. Saul Raisin has shown that he is an emerging talent in Europe with his strong performance at the Tour de l’Avenir last month and his other recent performances.

Why Team Tactics Matter #3

The Belgians clearly were the strongest team on the day. They showed much more cohesion than many thought possible. The team was almost entirely made up of riders from the Quick.Step team and the Lotto-Davitamon team. Last year, Quick.Step and Davitamon were co-sponsors of Tom Boonen’s team. There was a business dispute which caused team management to sue Davitamon for failure to pay the amounts it had promised as part of the sponsorship agreement. Davitamon was ultimately ordered to pay but took its sponsorship to Quick.Step’s Belgian rivals at Lotto. The national director was criticized by Quick.Step’s management for not providing Boonen with enough support as a majority of the team was comprised of Lotto-Davitamon. There was concern among the Quick.Step camp that the Lotto-Davitamon riders would not ride for Belgian leader Boonen but rather for Robbie McEwen, their Lotto-Davitamon teammate. That did not prove to be the case and the Belgians begrudgingly worked together to capture the rainbow jersey.

Friends Don’t Let Friends Eat Dodgy Seafood

Both the United States and Canada lined up without riders who have had good seasons. Neither American Christian Vande Velde of Team CSC nor Canadian Michael Barry of Discovery Channel made the start on Sunday. Both were teammates at US Postal Service and both recently completed the Vuelta a Espana. To celebrate their success and the upcoming world championships they took their wives out to a nice restaurant for dinner on Wednesday.

Apparently both riders were victims of that dish which has caused many a cyclist to withdraw from races: the bad seafood cocktail. The Canadians were able to make a last minute change and get a replacement for Barry into the race, but the Americans went ahead and scratched Vande Velde and started with just seven of the American’s nine available slots filled. At least once a year a rider of some renown is unable to perform as a result of intestinal distress brought on by bad shrimp, clams, mussels, etc.

I like clams and other shellfish, however, I will not eat them when I travel to Europe. Regardless of whether it is a fine restaurant like the one Barry and Vande Velde are reported to have dined at (a Michelin rated establishment) or Jonk’s Discount Huis of Clams, you just do not know where your shellfish have been living. While living in Portimao, Portugal, I used to observe the clam diggers out on the tidal flats digging clams and mussels. The problem was that the tidal flats where they dug were down stream from the shipyards and the sewage plant. If the e. coli did not get you then certainly the high levels of toxic waste would.

As Kirsten Dunst’s character in the Minnesota beauty pageant mockumentary “Drop Dead Gorgeous” noted, “I don't eat shellfish. Mom always says, ‘Don't ever eat nothin' that can carry its house around with it. Who knows the last time it's been cleaned.’” Never has better advice been given to anyone looking for dinner in a European restaurant.

The Cycliste Moderne, September 22, 2005

World Championship Preview

This weekend is the World Championships in Madrid. The race will give some professional the coveted rainbow jersey. However, due to the course as well as politics, it is unlikely that this year’s race will generate a truly compelling finish. That said, if you have broadband connection in the United States, you can stream the race at www.cycling.tv and find out for yourself.

The World Championship this year takes place primarily in central Madrid. The course is by no means flat, but it is not particularly challenging. As has frequently been the case in recent years, it is likely that the race will stay together for a sprint finish.

Last week’s final stage of the Vuelta a Espana covered much of the course that the racers will follow during Sunday’s race. That stage was won by Fassa Bortolo’s Alessandro Petacchi after a strong lead out by his team. The World Championship is, however, twice as long as last Sunday’s finale of the Vuelta. The 272km race will take the riders around the 21km course thirteen times.

In an apparent attempt to mimic the finish of the Tour de France on the Champs-Elysees, the Madrid organizers have placed the start/finish line in front of Real Madrid’s Estadio Bernabeu. However, the riders will race up the avenue to the final turn, make a hairpin turn and race the final 600 meters to the finish. The length of the race and the configuration of the final kilometer make it unlikely that any nation can control the race and set their leader up for the sprint finish.

There is infighting among the Belgians as Tom Boonen of Quick.Step is their best bet but selectors have filled the squad with riders from Quick.Step’s adversary, Lotto Davitamon. The Italians have only managed to be organized once in the last ten years, and that resulted in Mario Cippolini’s victory in Zolder, Belgium. Pettacchi is not likely to have the support that Cippolini did a few years ago. Spain is without its three time World Champion Oscar Friere who continues to suffer from physical problems that have severely limited his racing this year. The French do not have anyone who can win in a sprint. The Australians could have brought a really strong team, however, Stuart O’Grady is refusing to ride in support of Robbie McEwen due to their bust up during the Tour de France.

So who is going to win? Alexander Vinokourov. He is the most aggressive rider in the peleton this year. The Kazak national team does not have any of the infighting that the others do. He is not as fast as the sprinters but he could get away late in the race and solo to victory. If it ends in a sprint, I fear Australian madman Robbie McEwen will win. And that would just be bad.

World Time Trial Recap

The world championships in the Individual Time Trial were held on Wednesday and Thursday. Bobby Julich finished 11th in the men’s time trial and admitted afterwards that a full season of racing has left him with little in reserve at this point. Michael Rodgers of Australia won the men’s race. That is not a surprise as he won last year and was awarded the champion’s jersey the year before after David Millar admitted using EPO and was stripped of his title. Rodgers is a strong young rider and will likely be the first Australian to win a Grand Tour. However, the timing of the World Championships at the end of the season show how little value the strongest men in the world have of the races now. It is without a doubt that Ullrich, Armstrong and Basso are all better time trialists than Rodgers, however none of them have contested the time trial at the last few world championships.

The highlight of the time trials was the performance of Boise resident Kristin Armstrong performance in the women’s race where she led for much of the race only to be overtaken late in the day and finished third. She has had a strong season with excellent performances on the road and the track.

They Can’t All Just Get Along

I have been asked about the animosity among the various people and entities governing cycling in the world. I am not going to waste time on it now, but will shortly recap the behind the scenes politics that has been going on as the UCI, WADA, ASO, and other powerful entities in cycling have been battling it out. Needless to say, they are like a bunch of eighth grade girls.

Just Let It Go

Lance Armstrong was back in the news this week as his DOG had open heart surgery. I saw stories on various websites about the incident, including one that provided you with the ability to send A GET WELL CARD. It is time for Lancemania to end. Stop it. Stop it now.

The Cycliste Moderne, September 19, 2005

Vuelta Recap

The Vuelta a Espana ended with Roberto Heras of Liberty Seguros taking his third consecutive golden jersey and his fourth overall. Those four wins give Heras the all-time record for number of Vuelta wins. Heras looked shaky at times during the first two weeks, including a very bad crash which resulted in stitches after the stage. However, after being unable to break free of Denis Menchov of Rabobank for the better part of two weeks, Heras put in an incredible attack on the last day in the mountains to take control of the Vuelta.

Amazingly, Heras finished second on Saturday’s final time trial stage to solidify his lead. Heras has never been particularly strong as a time trialist. On Saturday, with the golden jersey on his shoulders and a tailwind, Heras came within one second of taking the all-time speed record for a time trial in a Grand Tour. Ruben Plaza of Communidade Valenicana won the penultimate stage to set the record. Plaza averaged 56.218 km/h over the 38.9 km course.

Going into the stage, it certainly did not look like a stage for Heras. Although his time trialing skills have improved, he has had some really poor time trial results over the years. In amazing performances for the top three riders at this year’s Vuelta, second placed Denis Menchov of Rabobank and third placed Carlos Sastre of CSC all finished within six seconds of Heras.

American Tom Danielson finished eighth to become just the third American to finish in the top ten at the Vuelta a Espana. Only Lance Armstrong, who finished fourth in 1998 and Levi Leipheimer who finished third in 2001, have had better results in Spain. Danielson endured a stomach bug that almost took him out of the race but fought for his position.

Tour of Poland Finale

The Tour of Poland also ended on Sunday. The result does not really matter, however. The only item of importance from Poland was the fact that Danilo Di Luca, who is leading the ProTour, finished fifth overall to increase his lead in the ProTour. With the season winding down, it is likely that Di Luca’s run in the white of the ProTour leader will continue. It is disconcerting though that Alexander Vinokourov, who was the one rider who could potentially have caught Di Luca, was not permitted to start in Poland due to bureaucratic problems. Poland failed to issue the Kazak rider a visa to permit him to start the race. You have to wonder if the Tour of Poland should have been included as a ProTour event when it lacks the political infrastructure necessary to timely process and approve rider visas.

US Domestic Rumors

As the US domestic season winds down, the next big event is Interbike, the cycling industry trade show later this month. For the top domestic teams, Interbike is frequently the time and place where new teams are announced, new sponsors revealed, and rosters solidify. It appears that the US development team TIAA-CREF, which is managed by former pro Jonathan Vaughters, will be adding a major sponsor and increasing its presence in Europe. It sounds like the team will move beyond the Under-23 development role which it initially occupied. Additionally, there are rumors of a new domestic team that will sign some of the strongest riders off the Health Net roster. Regardless of the outcome, Health Net will not likely be as strong next year with Tyler Farrar’s departure for French power Cofidis. 2006 sponsorship and rosters will become clearer once the Interbike announcements are made.

The Cycliste Moderne, September 16, 2005

Reporters and Cops are not your Friends

It has now come out that what appears to be the key to linking the 1999 Tour de France urine specimens to the identities of the riders who provided them was provided to L’Equipe by the UCI with the consent of Lance Armstrong. L’Equipe represented to Armstrong that it was seeking to do a story on whether he had special medical clearances in order to race as a result of his cancer treatment. Armstrong claimed that the reporter from L’Equipe represented that he was doing a story that would be beneficial to Armstrong. Based upon that representation, Armstrong permitted the reporter to access what all reports indicate was a single document in the possession of the UCI. What L’Equipe did not tell Armstrong was that it was already in possession of results from the 1999 tests. The document that the paper sought apparently allowed L’Equipe to match the individual specimen codes with the individuals tested.

World Anti Doping Agency chief Dick Pound has railed against the UCI for not adequately investigating. Worrying only about the leak of information, Pound has claimed Armstrong’s financial contributions to UCI to combat doping are just his attempts to buy off cycling authorities. Pound has also claimed that EPO could not appear in samples unless it was there originally, and Pound has further claimed that only the UCI possessed the evidence which implicated Armstrong. Dick Pound is getting really old. He is like the mother of the wildest girl in your senior class who rails against sex, drugs and rock music, apparently oblivious to the conduct of her own children. The louder he screams, the less credibility he has. His actions are a lot like police officers I encountered early in my career as a capital crimes prosecutor. Those individuals take the view that the ends always justify the means and that any one who questions their actions must be soft on crime. It just is not so. We do not have to cut corners to clean up sports.

What is additionally troubling is the fact that this week two Spanish triathletes who had failed urine tests for EPO had their suspensions overturned due to legal questions about the test. They are the second and third triathletes this year to have their suspensions overturned as a result of deficiencies in the urine testing process.

There are several lessons to be learned from this. First, recognize that reporters are always trying to get something. Use reporters before they use you. They are not your friends. Second, if you value your privacy, do not ever waive your right to privacy even if you think it may benefit you. People never want your private information to benefit you, they want it for some nefarious reason. Third, cops are not your friends. At the end of the day, if these tests do show Armstrong took EPO then his own pride is what ultimately caused his downfall.

No Come Back

The other news related during Armstrong’s press conference on how L’Equipe was able to match his samples was his announcement that he would not be coming back. Thank goodness. Glad it is over.

Now this Cyclist is probably Canadian

From the stupid cyclist file is the story out of Eugene, Oregon regarding a cyclist who was observed by police pedaling down the street in the early evening this last Monday with what appeared to be a bush under his arm. It turned out to be three marijuana plants that the cyclist had stolen from an individual who was growing them for “medicinal purposes.” When the cyclist was told to pull over by the police, he did what any rational person would do, he threw his bicycle at the police. He then dropped his stash, and attempted to evade the police on bicycle. He was ultimately apprehended and, it being Oregon, the grower of the “medicinal” marijuana came forward to claim that he had been robbed.

Almost too strange to believe but here is the link.

The Cycliste Moderne, September 12, 2005

Vuelta Recap

Sunday will likely prove to be the decisive stage of the Vuelta a Espana. Liberty Seguros’ Roberto Heras attacked on the second to last climb. Until today, Rabobank’s Russian leader Denis Menchov had proven to be the equal of the three time Vuelta winner, Heras. Heras had been unable to shake Menchov on any of the climbs and had been unable to compete with Menchov in the time trials. Menchov’s forty-seven second lead looked like it might be enough to give him his first Grand Tour victory.

Menchov ended up losing 5:17 to Heras on the last mountain stage and certainly the hardest stage of the Vuelta. With five categorized climbs on the day, Heras attacked more than 60km from the finish on the second to last climb up the Alto de la Colladiella. The stage was cold and wet, which is a sharp contrast to the high temperatures that had been present for much of the first two weeks of the Vuelta. Heras attacked early and then steadily rode away from Menchov, both on the climbs and on the descents. On the final climb up the Valgrande Pajares, Heras caught what was left of the day’s big break and rode past them to the stage victory and likely a victory in the Vuelta.

I had been surprised by Heras’ performance to date in the Vuelta. He had not shown the ability to ride away from people like he had in past years on the climbs. Heras has had fairly good time trial results at the Vuelta, just not as good as Menchov. I had expected Heras to have taken control of the race by now. The field in this year’s Vuelta is nowhere near as deep as that at the Giro or Tour. With poor form by such other Spanish leaders as Aitor Gonzalez and Iban Mayo, and Alejandro Valvarde’s non participation, I had figured Heras would have taken control much earlier than he did.

He probably has the best team at the Vuelta this year and with a lead of over four and a half minutes, the last week of the Vuelta should not result in any real surprises. Heras is on track to win his fourth Vuelta and third straight.

Discovery Difficulties.

After winning the first two Grand Tours of the season, Discovery Channel did not come with any intentions of winning the Vuelta, just hoping for some good results. Amazingly, Discovery Channel is down to just four riders with only Tom Danielson, Michael Barry, Stijn Devolder and Benjamin Noval still in the race. All four are relatively well placed in the General Classification. Mounting three Grand Tour campaigns in a single season has obviously taken its toll on the team. Much like the Spanish teams that did nothing during the Giro d’Italia, Discovery is taking its time, just slogging through because it has to as a ProTour team. However, even with just four riders, the team sits seventh in the team classification ahead, unsurprisingly, of all of the French ProTour teams.

The Cycliste Moderne, September 9, 2005

All Armstrong, All the Time

This week all the major US media outlets have been falling all over themselves to cover the latest about Lance Armstrong. CNN Headline News ran a story about his engagement to Sheryl Crow during their Idaho mountain bike vacation. CNN.com and ESPN.com ran pieces on his threat to come out of retirement. USAToday.com ran a piece on when Armstrong has to start making himself available for random drug tests if he wants to contest the Tour de France next year. Some of the cycling media outlets are reporting that Armstrong is bored and that is why he may come out of retirement. They have all interviewed teammates and opponents about will he or won’t he.

Enough already. It is time for everyone to move on, including Lance. Armstrong’s pride and ambition will certainly be his undoing. Much like Gary Hart, who called out the media to prove he was cheating, Armstrong has given the media, in particular the French media, an easy target. You cannot prove a negative and there are numerous European reporters who have made their careers based upon Armstrong’s career. Armstrong is frequently fueled by rage. He thrives when he has someone or something to fight.

It is amazing that he honestly thought that he could retire and walk away. The sports world is filled with people who tried to walk away from their sport at the top of their career. With the exception of Jim Brown and Barry Sanders, I cannot think of a single athlete who has ever managed to retire at the height of their career and stay away. Armstrong’s Russian teammate Slava Ekimov could not retire and stay away. Michael Jordan could not do it. Ryne Sandberg could not do it. Every heavyweight champion of the last thirty years has retired and unretired. Even if you cannot walk away, you do not want to be one of the guys who stay too long either.

He will never force the French to love him, even if he raced for another 5, 10 or 20 years. He has burned too many bridges with the media, the peleton and even his own teammates to occupy a place of beloved reverence in cycling history. He will always be recognized as a great Tour de France champion, but the rumors, innuendos and his own hubris will prevent him from gaining hero status. Winning an 8th Tour de France will make the French detest him even more. He will never force the Germans to love him. Jan Ullrich has proven incapable of beating him at the Tour de France and Jan is getting older too. Another Tour de France will do nothing to Lance’s reputation or his legacy. The Italians will never love him because he has not raced enough in Italy. The only ones who will love him are the Americans that know nothing about cycling except that Armstrong hates the French and got them to buy a yellow Livestrong band. Therefore, since most Americans also hate the French, Armstrong is their hero.

Armstrong spent the first half of 2005 telling the world he is retiring so he could spend more time with his kids. That is certainly noble, but threatening to race next year just to annoy the French probably does not guarantee more quality time with the kids. If Lance is like me, when you are working long hours and do not get to see your children, you have this romanticized notion of what it means to be a good father. The reality sets in about the third day home when you realize that while children are good in concept, they are not actually as much fun in person.

If Armstrong does in fact come back, then enough already about the importance of family to Armstrong. Everyone has to balance work and life and kids. Armstrong is not unique in that regard. Racing in Europe for much of the year certainly cannot be easy for Armstrong’s children. However, if Armstrong does decide to come out of retirement just to annoy the French, then his protestations about the importance of his family and his desire to be a better father than he had are hollow.

The Cycliste Moderne, September 6, 2005

Vuelta Recap

The first long time trial of the Vuelta a Espana was held on Sunday with Rabobank’s Denis Menchov wining his second stage of the Vuelta and retaking the lead in the General Classification. Liberty Seguro’s leader Roberto Heras rode well for a time trial but saw his lead evaporate and now trails Menchov by 47 seconds.

Interestingly, Vuelta organizers did not completely close the time trial course near Barcelona. They only closed one lane of the road for the time trial with traffic cones. Heras was penalized 10 seconds on the stage for crossing out of the closure zone. The organizers purportedly agreed not to close the road to placate local tourism officials who were afraid of the effect closing the roads during the summer weekend would have on local tourism and the beaches of Lloret de Mar. Supposedly it was part of the agreement to enable the race to be held in Lloret de Mar.

A rolling time trial course with a third category climb on it really should not be open to traffic under any circumstances. Having been involved with promoting and running a significant number of local races it is a little surprising to see what is largely considered to be the third most important race in the world being run like a local Tuesday night time trial in an industrial park. From the accounts of the stage that I have read, it appears that there were numerous situations where riders had near collisions with automobiles. I would expect more from a grand tour.

Monday saw the first big mountain stage. The leaders Heras and Menchov finished with stage winner Francisco Mancebo of Iles Baleares who currently sits in third place 1:53 back. All three riders have shown strength in the Vuelta and one of the three will be the overall winner with the race now half over.

San Francisco Grand Prix

Sunday was the final major US domestic race with the Barclays Global Investors Grand Prix in San Francisco. Although many of the US riders based in Europe competed in the event, they did not really have any involvement in the outcome. Ivan Basso of CSC, George Hincapie of Discovery, Levi Leipheimer of Gerolsteiner, Chris Horner of Saunier Duval and Fred Rodriguez of Davitamon Lotto were all there but had no real effect on the race. Gerolsteiner’s Fabian Wegmann managed to bridge up to Jason McCartney of Discovery Channel and John Lieswyn of Health Net late in the race and get away for the victory. To a certain extent the major US races contested by the top European based American Pros have become anticlimactic. Maybe Chris Horner is right when he has criticized the negative racing that typically goes on in the big US races. It seems like the US domestic teams just watch the big teams and mark the big names until late in the race and then you have an outcome that just makes you scratch your head.

Labor Day Cycling Disaster

I took Friday off with the intention of getting some good riding in during the long weekend. Thursday night I got home from soccer practice to find my wife and parents working on a landscaping project that quickly became apparent would take most of my potential riding time for the weekend. My late Thursday, early Friday and Saturday rides I had envisioned were replaced with the setting of 1000 pounds of stone in my front yard. Digging out the area where we put the stones, shoveling the sand base into place and acutally placing that much rock pretty much sapped my energy for the weekend. That and the two world cup qualifying soccer matches I had to watch on Saturday afternoon.

My Labor Day weekend concluded with an attempted ride with my 9 year old son on our tandem. As we left our driveway and mounted up we were suddenly stopped by the sound of aluminum on aluminum. Somehow, three of the five chainring bolts which attach the double chain rings needed to run the child stoker attachment had come loose and the force of my pedal stroke turned the inner chain ring into an aluminum pretzel. Now our Raleigh tandem is sporting two bright silver gouges into the bright red finish. While I have enjoyed this tandem, which I bought in March, it has really seemed to be a money pit. Looking at the empty holes on the crank arm, I know that I am now looking probably at a new set of cranks, two new 36 tooth chain rings, 5 chainring bolts and a lot of Locktight to get it back on the road. We then mounted up on our mountain bikes and went for a short ride around the neighborhood.

When we got back we found my 5 year old daughter our riding her bike. She had her full cow girl outfit on, including holstein pattern skirt. Of course she had no helmet on because there are no cowgirl helmets. When she pulled into the garage, she lost her balance could not get off her saddle because of her skirt and went head first onto the concrete. She was dirty and surly but fine and it let me give the wear your helmet speech again. For a perfect four day holiday weekend I ended up riding about thirty minutes.

The Cycliste Moderne, September 2, 2005

I was going to write about the Vuelta and how Roberto Heras had a monster day and Denis Menchov showed some unexpected strength. I also have to admit that I have been rather detached from all of the Hurricane Katrina coverage. While it is sad, it is not anything that has really caused me too much concern.

However, tonight as I write this, I am pretty drained emotionally. I learned tonight that Wim Amels, one of the great Dutch cycling journalists and publicists died yesterday at the age of 53. He has written for virtually all the major Dutch cycling publications and has provided significant coverage of the Tour de France for the Dutch fans. He ran the Dutch language website tourdefrance.nl. He has also been instrumental in documenting the lives of the great Dutch riders of the last fifty years. Here is a brief biography and bibliography of his works. Wim was an excellent photographer in his own right. Here are his photos of Richard Groenendaal and Erik Zabel.

I met Wim last year when I traveled to the Wielerrevuebeurs in Valkenswaard, Netherlands. When he was not writing books or publishing magazines or promoting races, Wim organized cycling and soccer memorabilia shows. Due to his contacts and involvement with other cycling journalists Wim had an incredible archive of cycling photos. Most of the cycling action photos that we have on our Cyclista website are photos we acquired from Wim.

He was always responsive to my questions even clear around the world. We had just exchanged e-mails about how excited I was to be bringing my wife to Valkenswaard to his event in November and how I looked forward to seeing him again. This is a really sad day for the Amels family, for the cycling community and Cyclista.com.