Lucy Garner – Inside Out Short Film
Meet double Junior Road Race Champion Lucy Garner (2011-2012) and hear how she’s settling in to her new team [Argos Shimano] and life in Holland.
Giro D’Italia Rest Day
To coincide with the early mountain stages, Multipower Sportsfood, the sports nutrition partner of the Giro d’Italia, have provided Cycling Shorts with a series of four technical, nutritional and physiological infographics depicting the challenges undertaken when competing in the mountains. This is the forth and final in the series of four.
Rest days have been a part of the Giro since its inaugural edition in 1909. Back then, riders would ride one stage and then have two, sometimes three, days between the next stage. It’s not hard to see why: in 1909, the average length of the eight stages was 306 kilometres, as opposed to 162 kilometres across 21 stages in 2013.
This year’s Giro will have two rest days – the first after stage nine, the second follows stage 15. Two rest days have been customary in the race since 2002, although as recently as 1998, the Giro was held without a single day off across the three weeks.
Although riders will not be racing on the rest days, they will still ride their bikes for one or two hours. This prevents muscle stiffness and will help flesh out metabolic waste from the previous day’s stage. In recent years, some teams have opted to ride on their turbo trainers as opposed to heading out onto the road.
Riders will continue to eat foods high in carbohydrates and proteins on rest days, although some teams in the past have been known to give their riders a treat if the final rest day falls after the last decisive stage on the general classification. Burger and chips is a favourite within the Garmin-Sharp team.
Throughout the three weeks of competition (3-26 May) Multipower Sportsfood, is also offering cycle fans the chance to get their hands on a variety of prizes in an easy to enter daily prediction competition. Prizes include signed race jerseys, Giro d’Italia drinks bottles and the ultimate prize of a Cannondale Pro Cycling Super Six EVO Team Edition professional race bike worth £6,499. To take part in the competition entrants simply need to visit the Multipower website, www.multipower.com/uk/giro , and vote for their stage favourite before the 10km to go marker.
Individual Time Trial Stages of the Giro D’Italia
To coincide with the early mountain stages, Multipower Sportsfood, the sports nutrition partner of the Giro d’Italia, have provided Cycling Shorts with a series of four technical, nutritional and physiological infographics depicting the challenges undertaken when competing in the mountains. This is the third in the series of four.
The last five editions of the Giro have ended with a final day time trial, although only in 2012 did the race leadership change hands, as Ryder Hesjedal took the maglia rosa away from Joaquim Rodriguez to become the first Canadian Grand Tour winner. The 2013 Giro breaks away from the recent tradition and will end with a road stage from Riese Pio X to the old Roman city of Brescia.
The 2013 Giro features 75.4 kilometres of individual time trialling, which is more than the 2011 and 2012 races combined. 2008 was the last time the race included more kilometres against the clock (80.7km).
Five-time Giro champion Alfredo Binda was the winner of the first time trial in the Giro in 1933. The Italian won the 62-kilometre stage from Bologna to Ferrara en route to the last of his overall wins in the race.
Ever wondered why some riders have energy gels hanging out of their shorts during time trials? Because of the intensity of time trials, the top riders will not have time to take any food from their team cars during the stage. Also, the skinsuits they wear for improved aerodynamic performance will not have any pockets, so putting them under their lyrca is the most convenient place.
Throughout the three weeks of competition (3-26 May) Multipower Sportsfood, is also offering cycle fans the chance to get their hands on a variety of prizes in an easy to enter daily prediction competition. Prizes include signed race jerseys, Giro d’Italia drinks bottles and the ultimate prize of a Cannondale Pro Cycling Super Six EVO Team Edition professional race bike worth £6,499. To take part in the competition entrants simply need to visit the Multipower website, www.multipower.com/uk/giro , and vote for their stage favourite before the 10km to go marker.
The Challenge of the Giro D’Italia Mountain Stages
To coincide with the early mountain stages, Multipower Sportsfood, the sports nutrition partner of the Giro d’Italia, have provided Cycling Shorts with a series of four technical, nutritional and physiological infographics depicting the challenges undertaken when competing in the mountains. This is the second in the series of four.
Only 43 riders completed the gruelling stage 18 in the 1956 Giro that finished on the Dolomite climb of Monte Bondone. Temperatures were well below freezing (with some estimates saying it was as cold as -10°C), and after heavy snow began to fall, race leader Pasquale Fornara abandoned the race and found refuge in a farmhouse. Luxembourger Charly Gaul won the stage, but it is claimed that he stopped during the stage for a coffee and had to have his clothes cut from his body afterwards.
The 1987 Giro famously came down to a battle between two team-mates: Ireland’s Stephen Roche and Italian Roberto Visentini. The latter lead on stage 15, but Roche disobeyed team orders and attacked on the descent of the Forcella di Monte Rest climb. Visentini got the remainder of his team to try and chase him down and team manager Davide Boifava even pleaded to Roche to end his attack. Nonetheless, to the dismay of the Visentini, Boifava and thetifosi, the Irishman went on to win the race.
Hydration plays an important role in cycling, and if it is ignored, it could lead to a number of problems such as severe fatigue and even heat exhaustion.Domestiques will have the job of fetching water bottles for their team leaders throughout the Giro, and normally they will do this by picking the drinks up from their team cars. However, the roads on a handful of mountain stages in this year’s race (most notably stages 14, 15, 19 and 20) are so narrow that a neutral motorbike will be on hand to supply them with bottles.
Throughout the three weeks of competition (3-26 May) Multipower Sportsfood, is also offering cycle fans the chance to get their hands on a variety of prizes in an easy to enter daily prediction competition. Prizes include signed race jerseys, Giro d’Italia drinks bottles and the ultimate prize of a Cannondale Pro Cycling Super Six EVO Team Edition professional race bike worth £6,499. To take part in the competition entrants simply need to visit the Multipower website, www.multipower.com/uk/giro , and vote for their stage favourite before the 10km to go marker.
MacAskill’s Imaginate : Taking Shape – Ep 2
MacAskill’s Imaginate : Taking Shape – Ep 2
Danny, whilst still recovering from his back surgery has committed to filming a new TV project which will include him meeting one of his heroes, Guy Martin. And plans for the new project start to take shape as he sees for the first time, some of the potential warehouses for the project.
To view all of Danny’s Imaginate episodes and the finished film click here.
Eurosport documentary seeks subjects for ‘Race of Truth’ documentary
Spokesmen Ltd, the UK based Media, PR and Television Production company responsible for TV coverage of the UCI Women’s Road World Cup, has been commissioned by Eurosport and Cycling Time Trials to produce a 30 minute documentary on the art, science and psychology of time trialling, to be aired on British Eurosport this summer.
Spokesmen, headed up by David Harmon, has joined forces with renowned Channel 4 documentary film maker Dan Edelstyn (How to Re-Establish a Vodka Empire, Subverting the City and No Good Deed goes Unpunished) and Executive Producer Michael Hutchinson to go in search of what makes time trialling the bedrock of Britain’s cycling success.
Taking the viewer inside the discipline of the professional rider will be time trial champion Alex Dowsett and we are now inviting other time triallists to be part of this innovative documentary.
We need another two subjects to be followed through the experience of their race of truth. Whether you’re entering your first club 10 or challenging for the yellow jersey of the Tour, time trialling is unique in its mental and physical demands.
We want to know what motivates you, why do you do it and what do you get out of it? What brings you back to the road again and again, what are the great highs and lows?
What’s important is that you love the sport, feel passionate about cycling – come rain, hail or whatever Britain throws at you – and that you are happy to be filmed to advocate time trailling in the UK.
If you would like to be considered as a subject for the film, Spokesmen would like to hear from you.
Send us a YouTube or Vimeo link or file of a self produced video of up to 2 minutes, that will give us a flavour of who you are and what time trialling means to you, not just as a rider but within your life. Submissions are particularly welcome from junior and veteran riders.
You must be available for filming for at least two days during May & early June. Videos need to be submitted by Friday 3 May by email to [email protected] The programme will air during the Tour de France on British Eurosport.
You must be logged in to post a comment.