I'm Not A Betting Man But.....

If I was thinking about having a flutter then some of the outsiders look very interesting.  Take Edvald Boasson Hagen at 28/1 for example.  If Boasson Hagen's team mate at Sky, Flecha, isn't up for it then the young Norwegian, already a winner in the spring classics last year at Gent-Wevelgem could go on to even greater glory on Sunday by snatching victory away from the favourites.

Speaking of Gent-Wevelgem winners, this years winner and Boasson Hagen's ex teammate over at HTC-Columbia, Bernhard Eisel is surely worth a punt at 50/1?

Other outsiders of note to watch out for are Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Transitions) and Sylvain Chavanel both at 40/1.  If it comes down to a bunch sprint and Farrar is still in the mix then he has a great chance.  As for Chavanel, he could well be Quick Steps surprise package if, as rumors suggest, teammate Stijn Devolder is off form, we could see a Chavanel victory with him attacking, Devolder style, in the last 20km.

Just one other thing, what the heck is The God of Thunder, Thor Hushovd doing down at 66/1?

Below are today's Tour of Flanders betting odds for outright winner. Seen here.

Tom Boonen 3/1

Fabian Cancellara 4/1
Filippo Pozzato 7/1
Matti Breschel 9/1
Philippe Gilbert 10/1
Stijn Devolder 14/1
Juan Antonio Flecha 16/1
George Hincapie 22/1
Markus Burghardt 22/1
Alessandro Ballan 25/1
Enrico Gasparotto 25/1
Edvald Boasson Hagen 28/1
Nick Nuyens 28/1
Martijn Maaskant 28/1
Maxim Iglinskyi 40/1
Daniel Oss 40/1
Bjorn Leukemans 40/1
Tyler Farrar 40/1
Sylvain Chavanel 40/1
Leif Hoste 40/1
Sergei Ivanov 40/1
Lars Boom 50/1
Bernhard Eisel 50/1
Sebastien Rosseler 50/1
Aleksandr Kuschynski 50/1
Marco Marcato 50/1
Thor Hushovd 66/1
Johan Van Summeren 66/1
Jurgen Roelandts 66/1
Greg Van Avermaet 66/1

Team Sky Flanders Recon

Below is a short movie filmed using a helmet camera by Michael Barry (found over at Barry's website Le Métier) then edited together by teammate Juan Antonio Flecha.  It captures some of the Team Sky boys including  Juan Anotonio Flecha, Kurt-Asle Arvesen, Edvald Boasson-Hagen, Mathew Hayman, Greg Henderson, Ian Stannard and Geraint Thomas, out training on some of the cobbled sections they'll be racing over this coming Sunday at the Tour of Flanders.  The guy who takes off down the road is Flecha.

I'm looking forward to riding some of those cobbled sections myself when Betty and I get out there this coming Saturday although there is no chance I'll be shooting off down the road à la Flecha. 

I'll be taking the shoe covers and rain jacket along since according to the weather forecasts I've checked there is a high chance of rain.  Fingers crossed it won't be too heavy.

Ten Tips For Cycling In Cities

By Betty Bhandari

A lot of us are cycling in cities on a daily basis and we all face the same problems and dangers. In my guest blog post I have tried to sum up a few things to remember to stay safe. Happy cycling!

1. Make yourself visible! Don’t cycle on the far left, cycle one third into the road. That not only makes you more visible for cars (which can still overtake you) but also saves you from cycling through shattered glass right next to the curb.

2. Watch out for opening car doors. Most car drivers will not check their mirror before opening the door. And some car brands have pretty long doors. You don’t want to end up with a cut face or broken shoulder.

3. Watch out for metal manhole covers on the road, they are slippery little suckers to use the words of a pretty woman.

4. More dangerous than you might think: pedestrians. They have a tendency of walking into the road without looking and only have ears for cars, not bikes. If you happen to collide with a pedestrian hold on very tight to your handle bars and steer straight. You may be able to avoid flying over your handle bars and ending up with horrendous road rash or a broken collarbone. I find shouting ‘watch out’ helps to stop them from stepping into your path and avoiding the whole collision scenario.

5. The other dangerous one: other cyclists. Yes, sad but true. At cross junctions keep your eyes open when crossing even if your light is green! Some cyclists are wreckless, go through red lights at high speed and risk taking out other cyclists.

6. Which leads me to the next point: don’t be rude to others if you don’t want them to be rude to you! When you come to a zebra crossing, please give way to crossing pedestrians. It’s embarrassing to see cyclists bombing through the crossings and making pedestrians jump in order to avoid being run over. You are legally obliged to stop and bad behavior like that is giving cyclists such a bad reputation.

7. Unfortunately my personal experience is that the cliché of the white van man is true. A lot of white van drivers and drivers that are on the road all day long are careless, inconsiderate and aggressive. Don’t pick fights with drivers suffering from road rage. Just let them be angry and cycle on without engaging in a fight.

8. You want others to indicate which way they are going so you should indicate too.

9. You have to pre-empt any dangerous situation: always look out for the person that does not see you and therefore means danger. A lot of road users don’t look as much as they should. Don’t insist on your right of way if you can already see that the car driver is not looking at you. Only when you have made eye contact with the cars, cyclist, pedestrian or motor cyclist, you know they have seen you and you are pretty safe.

10.  Last but not least keep your bike safe. Bigger cities are naturally more prone to theft and it can be a pretty frustrating existence when you keep losing bikes as I discovered myself. Get yourself insurance (it’s not that expensive) and a really good lock that has been accepted by the insurance. Always lock your frame and wheels to something very solid that cannot be broken. At least when you do all of this you know you have done your best in protecting your bike.

Many thanks to my wife Betty for writing this very informative guest post.  Look out for more from her on here in the future.  As well as being an experienced cyclist Betty recently launched her own business in portrait photography.  To find out more visit her website at www.bettybhandari.com, you can also find her on twitter.

Saturday Morning Fun

James kindly stopped in the pouring rain on Saturday's ride to take this rather blurred image of me (it was using Jame's phone camera) next to the humorously named 'Cock Lane' in Essex.  It certainly brought a smile to my face and hope it does for you on this Monday morning.

P.S I finished Sunday's 10k race in 44m6s which I'm very happy with considering I hadn't done any speed training and it was a very hilly course.  That time placed me 42nd out of around 350 people. Not a bad mornings work.  My legs are pretty sore today.  I'll head out this evening on a recovery run to help ease the stiffness.

Risking Business

I haven't posted the finish of a bike race on here for a long time.  I'm making an exception on this occasion by posting the last kilometres of todays 203km, E3 Prijs Vlaanderen. The race to the line in todays Flemish semi classic featured three of the peloton's highest profile spring time specialists, all of whom appear to be in fine form and primed to cause damage.

I've no idea how long this footage will remain on YouTube before it's removed but if it's still playing when you try it then you're in for a treat.  With under two km to go Fabian Cancellara (Saxo Bank) drops the hammer on Tom Boonen (Quick Step) and Juan Antonio Flecha (Team Sky).  Cancellara guides himself past a roundabout and street furniture with the kind of skilful finnese I've not seen since watching him become world time trial champion for the third time in 2009.  Boonen and Flecha are left eyeballing each other while Cancellara powers away to victory.

Some fifty seconds back, my favourite for this years Paris-Roubaix, Filippo Pozzato (Team Katusha) brought home a small chase group to finish fourth.  I'm looking forward to heading over to Belgium next weekend to see the Tour of Flanders for the first time.  With so many riders coming into good form it's difficult to predict who'll be first to Meerbeke.  Going on today's display in Harelbeke though it's hard to see past the Swiss Spartacus, Fabian Cancellara.

Geometric Bike

Seen here.

Nottingham Marrow 10K

Nottingham Marrow 10k route

I'm heading up to my home town of Nottingham this Saturday and have made a last minute decision to run in the Nottingham Marrow 10K race at Wollaton Park on Sunday morning with my sister.  All of my running of late has been low intensity with hardly any speed work.  Also I'm heading out with the boys on a 80km bike ride tomorrow, before heading up north to Notts, which judging by the profile I've been emailed is pretty hilly.  With this in mind I doubt I'll be challenging my 10k PB of 42m50s.  I'll use the race as a high intensity work out and see what happens.

Phil Wood RIP

Mr & Mrs Wood - (May 2009)

I found out yesterday that bicycle legend and inventor of the sealed hub, Phil Wood, died recently.

Born in Kingstown, Indiana on 9th July 1926, Wood graduated from high school where he excelled in mathematics.  Soon after he was drafted into the Navy where he served as a radio operator during World War II.  Wood returned to Indiana after the war and married his first wife.  He took up motorcycle racing and even built his own dirt bike.

The couple then moved to Southern California where Wood enrolled at the California Institute of Technology only to drop out shortly after.  Wood decided he could do better on his own compared with how he was being trained at the Institute.

Wood and his young family migrated north to San Jose where he found a job as a mechanical engineer.  He stayed with the company for about a decade but following the death of his first wife he remarried and relocated to Monte Sereno where he and his new wife raised eight children.

However, it was during this time as a mechanical engineer that Wood took up track racing at the San Jose velodrome.  After every race he'd have to clean and repack the ball bearings due to the wheels quickly becoming wobbly.  This was something that frustrated him.  He thought it was crazy and so set about inventing a wheel hub that didn't need maintenance.

On 1st April 1971 Wood founded his own company and started producing high quality sealed hubs that revolutionised the bicycle industry.  He introduced a new era of high performance, low maintenance equipment.  Twenty years later Wood sold his business to Peter Enright.

 “I feel so lucky to have talked with him about a week before he passed away, and he mentioned again that he was so lucky to sell the business when he did." said Peter Enright

Wood never became rich because he didn't patent his sealed hub invention.

"My dad was an inventor," said his daughter Donna Williams, "but he was not a businessman. He didn't care about those things. He just wanted to improve his inventions even more."

After refining the sealed hub, Wood invented a machine turning out stronger spokes for wheels. He also started producing bike pedals and other components. After selling the company, he and his second wife retired to Baxter, Iowa.

Wood died on his farm in Baxter, Iowa on 14th March 2010 aged 84.

(Since writing this piece Mr Wood's daughter Donna Williams kindly got in contact with me and corrected me on a couple of errors I'd made.  Firstly, Mr Woods was 83 when he passed away.  Secondly, he and his wife didn't own a farm, he died in Roseville, California.

Donna also kindly took the time to email over to me the above image which is a recent photo of her parents from May 2009.

Condolences and thanks to Donna Williams)

Cipressa Descent

The clip below was filmed, using a helmet camera, by this years Omloop Het Nieuwsblad winner, Spain's Juan Antonio Flecha of Team Sky.  Flecha filmed the descent while pre-riding the racecourse ahead of last weeks Milan-San Remo which if you didn't already know was won by another Spaniard, Óscar Freire Gómez.

I found the clip over at Flecha's team mate Michael Barry's website, Le Métier, who not only happens to be a damn fine bike racer but also a pretty skilled writer too.  It's just not fair!

Anyway according to Barry the descents are as importmant as the ascents when it comes to the Cipressa and the Poggio since the technical skills required to race over and down them at high speed often determines the outcome of the race.

Feet In The Clouds

A fell (from Old Norse fjall, "mountain") is a word used to refer to mountains, or certain types of mountainous landscape, in Scandinavia, the Isle of Man, and parts of England. - Wikipedia

Feet In The Clouds: A Story Of Fell Running And Obsession by Richard Askwith was first published back in 2004 but it wasn't until recently when my sister recommended the book to me that I read it.

Although I'm a runner I'm not a fell runner. On the rare occasions I've been fortunate enough to spend time hiking in the mountains I've seen the odd fell runner now and again and wondered with amazement how the heck they managed to run up the mountain when it's taken me all my effort just to walk up it.  I therefore approached reading about this intriguing yet little known sport as a complete outsider.

Fortunately journalist and amateur fell runner Richard Askwith did an excellent job of writing an informative and inspiring introduction to the sport of fell running.  Askwith structured the book by switching between a running calendar diary, history including in-depth profiles of the sports unsung heroes and his own attempts in becoming a member of a very exclusive club, runners to have completed the Bob Graham Round.

Great things are done when men and mountains meet; and, though not one Briton in a hundred has any inkling that the great kings of their fells ever existed, the heroics of the greatest are as glorious as anything in sport's history. - Richard Askwith

It's difficult to argue against Askwith when considering the likes of Bob Graham who in 1932 set the record for the number of Lakeland fells traversed by completing the 42 fell circuit, including a number of 900 metre peaks, in less than 24 hours.  The Bob Graham Round is now a standard fell-runner's test-piece with over 1500 people having completed it by the end of 2009.  The fastest round was achieved in 1982 by Billy Bland in a staggering time of 13h53m.  In 1997 Mark Hartnell extended the Round record by traversing 77 peaks in a mind blowing 23h47m.  For me these super human demonstrations of endurance can be put on par with any achievements other endurance sports such as cycling or triathlon have to offer.

Askwith's reoccurring theme of the running calendar diary looks at many events taking place every month in a typical season, both in the UK and abroad, throughout the entire year.  The diary also humorously describes Askwith's own training and racing exploits on the fells including the build up to and subsequent multiple attempts at completing the Bob Graham Round.

For me though the most interesting themes of the book focus are Askwith's extensively researched history of Fell racing in Britain and the many colourful characters to have made up the little known fell racing scene of the past 100 or so years.  The reader is treated to an insight into the lives of these characters and the driving force behind their success.  At the same time Askwith recounts stories about many of the classic races to have taken place over the years featuring local hard men and women including Billy Bland, Joss Naylor, Bill Teasdale, Kenny Stuart and Helene Diamantides who became imortalised in ultra distance racing folklore when she won, with her partner Martin Stone, the 350km long Dragon's Back over Wales' entire mountainous spine.  She and Stone achieved this in a time of 38h38m.

I could go on recounting many more amazing stories of athletic prowess to feature in the book, this was just a little taster.  If I have wet your appetite to learn more about fell running then I really do recommend you get hold of this easily available book.  You won't be disappointed!

Feet In The Clouds: A Story Of Fell Running And Obsession by Richard Askwith is published by Aurum.

Tom Simpson's Own Story Of His 1964 Milan-San Remo Win

I found the fascinating text below over at www.milansanremo.co.uk.  It's Tom Simpson's own account of his 1964 Milan-San Remo victory.  In it he provides rare details on the tactical decisions he made during his famous victory.   He also goes on to explain his post race plans.  The text was first featured in the March 28 1964 edition of Cycling & Mopeds (Cycling Weekly).

MILAN-SAN REMO was much harder for me to win than Bordeaux-Paris last year, and this time I started the favourite and knew that I was going to win it once the final break had been made after 157 miles. But before this break, I wondered if I was going to get to the end of the road that leads to San Remo, let alone be in a winning position, the race was so dangerous. Theoretically, 150 riders maximum is the rule for the top races counting for the World Cup, but in Italy, where this is also the first big national classic, and where the Italians have been hunting for a winner for 11 years, everybody gets into the act. In all 230 started, including the most hopeless lot of cowboys you could ever meet. I started the race with a 32-spoke front wheel and a 28-spoke rear, but when I came to examine my front wheel after the event, I found four bent spokes; English riders cannot imagine the crowding that goes on when a huge peloton tries to go through a narrow village street that winds, and riders try to get to the front so as not to run any risks. We rode this race not to the nearest foot, but to within centimetres of the next chap’s wheel most of the way. In 1960, when I was just starting and I was scared, I tried to get out of this by going off on my own in a solo break for 45 miles before being caught. This time I knew better.

I knew that if I could keep my head and my skin I was strong enough to get away from the others in the bunch when the going got hard, as it always does when the hills come. These are three steep, winding climbs, the Mele, the Cervo and the Berta, which take you from sea level to 400 feet in a few kilometres and which really test the riders. Well then, I waited until the field had begun to thin out, a mere 170 or so riders, and then I thought I would try a little harder on the Capo Berta. This was only intended as a try-out, but I had evidently under-estimated by own fitness by comparison with the others, as only Poulidor came back. I saw he was not on top form, he was blowing heavily, and I decided that we would work together and not try too hard; I still have memories of the 1960 race. Then Willy Bocklandt, one of the Flemish Flandria team who have orders to watch me carefully, got on, and Meco, a new young Italian, who was trying to make a name.

We all worked together, but it was obvious to me that the others were feeling the effects of their counter-attack;  nevertheless we got a 1-20 lead on the bunch, in which Van Looy and his Solo team were working furiously to catch us, and Peter Post and the Flandria team were working just as hard to protect Bocklandt. It was quite deliberate on my part;  I could easily have shaken Willy off, but I knew that with four different teams in our four-man break we stood quite a fair chance of lasting out, and I was the best of the four. Come the last big climb, the Poggio, and Poulidor decided to throw everything into a climbing attack as he had done when he won the race in 1961. He almost surprised me, and I lost a couple of lengths but he couldn’t force it any more and I got him back, though Bocklandt and Meco were shattered by his second and third tries, and soon we were left alone. Apparently Poulidor thought he still stood a chance of winning the sprint, which is on a straight, wide road, the Via Roma in San Remo. I might point out that all I ate for the whole 180 miles were a few honey cakes and a couple of bread rolls with honey, and I drank nothing;  in fact I threw out my two bidons of tea and oats and raisins in water. I attacked Poulidor at the entrance to the Via Roma, gained a quick couple of lengths on him, and then led him right in for the last 500 metres. At first, he tried hard to get by, but towards the end, realising he wouldn’t do it, and knowing there was no one else behind, he sat up and gave me best. It was chaotic, because I have always been popular in Italy, and the crowd went wild with joy, and I had to escape in a car for fear of being suffocated. I learned afterwards that I had broken the record for the event at more than 27.1 mph against the previous record of 26.6 mph. What did I get?  Not a penny, though I won £400.

Tom Simpson wins the 1964 Milan-San Remo ahead of Raymond Poulidor

I gave it all to my team-mates, Jean Forestier, Claude Valdois, Francois Hamon, Pierre Nedelec and Alain Vera of France and Emile Daems and George Van Coningsloo of Belgium. The others would have done the same;  it’s good business, because then you all work harder for the chap at the front. Another problem I don’t intend to encounter is that of having everyone teamed up against me, as Rik Van Looy did through trying to win everything at once. During the next few weeks I shall take things a little easier, get seconds and thirds, and save my energy for a big one. The next one? That’s easy, just go back to 1960 and remember how I missed Paris-Roubaix;  well that’s on April 19, and that’s one I really want to get. But for the moment I still haven’t recovered from the reception I got in Ghent when I returned on Friday evening. I got out of the train, and there was the local brass band playing “It’s a Long Way to Tipperary” and other songs from the first world war, before carting me and Helen off to a reception at the traditional cyclist’s Café den Engels where Keith Butler was waiting to give me a good old British handshake of congratulation. If you’ve ever seen 150 Belgians singing and drinking beer you’ll know what happened afterwards;  that’s what “cycling club” means to Belgians! To show  you  how  strong I was,  I rode the last 20 miles with only the 14-18-20 working on my freewheel (53 x 45 chainwheel) because of a plastic bag that had become jammed in it, yet despite the jump in ratios I could still hold Poulidor on the Poggio. But I’m forgetting all about Bordeaux-Paris this year;  I’m going all out to ride a good Tour de France instead.  I’ve gained five pounds of muscular weight this winter, swimming and ski-ing, and I should be able to ride a good one.  Then in 1965 I shall probably give it a miss and concentrate on the classics.

Chia Seeds

Chia seeds

I recently finished an absolutely fascinating book called Born To Run.  The book covers topics and ideas such as barefoot running, the evolution of human endurance running and the story of the Rarámuri or Tarahumara, endigenous people of northern Mexico who are renowned for their long distance running ability.  All these areas of the book will be covered in a review of the book to follow shortly.

The book also talks about how the Rarámuri use Chia seeds to help them compete extraordinary feets of endurance, sometimes running 160km or more.  It is said that when eaten regularly Chia seeds can help endurance athletes remain well hydrated, prolong their stamina and build and repair muscle.

I have to admit news of this superfood has got me very excited, so much so I've done some research on it's history, it's dietary content and how it can help the endurance athlete.

Salvia hispanica, commonly known as Chia, is a plant from the mint family and has been culvtivated for thousands of years in central and southern America.  Historical records show the crops of the Valley of Tehuacan, near present day Mexico City, had included chia since 3400 BC (Schery, 1972; Solbrig and Solbrig, 1990; Harlan, 1992; Rodriquez Vallejo, 1992).

Although the Spanish suppressed the growing of the crop during their conquest of the Americas Chia managed to survive extinction as a crop by small groups of indigenous people in the mountains of Guatemala and southwestern Mexico.  Cultivation of Chia requires a long growing season and today it is currently being grown commercially in Australia, Argentina and Bolivia, through central America to Mexico, Texas and California in the US.

Chia seeds are typically small ovals with a diameter of about 1mm.  They are mottle-colored with brown, gray, black and white.  The seed typically contains 20% protein, 34% oil (made up of Omega-3 fatty acids and α-Linolenic acid), 25% dietary fiber and significant levels of antioxidents.  The seed contains no gluten and trace levels of sodium.

In terms of how Chia can help the endurance athlete this can be broken down into three areas; increasing hydration levels, prolonging stamina and building and repairing muscle.

Increasing Hydration Levels

Chia seeds are able to become a gelatinous gel when mixed with water.  They do this by being highly absorbant with the average Chia seed being able to absorb up to ten times it's own weight in water.  When this occurs in the human stomach the water laden gel acts as a reservoir.  The gel is slowly absorbed from the stomach and the water is released into the body.

Chia seeds can be taken whole with a glass of water which would be ideal for a very long training session.  For the effects of hydration to occur more quickly the seeds should be taken in gel form so they can begin hydration as soon as they hit the stomach.

Prolonging Stamina

The gel forming ability of the Chia seed help endurance athletes prolong their stamina because the digested carbohydrates are absorbed into the blood stream from the stomach over a prolonged period of time.

Building And Repairing Muscle

Chia seeds alone can't improve muscle mass by a substantial amount, nor can they instantly cure muscle tears and strains.  However, when taken on a regular basis Chia seeds can help to improve muscle mass and repair injuries caused by exercise.  This is mainly due to the high levels of easily digestible protein contained within the seeds.  The seeds also contain a range of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants helping to protect active muscles from some forms of damage.

For the record I haven't yet started to take Chia seeds as part of my daily diet.  I will be starting to take them in the next few days.  After a few weeks trial I will report back with my personal findings.

To find out more information (including recipes) or to buy Chia seeds please visit http://www.haverawcakeandeatit.co.uk/raw_food_uk/CHIA_SEEDS_Organic_Raw_Food.html.  They also sell the excellent book Born To Run too!

Bicycle Diaries

It's been at least a couple of months since I finished reading the Bicycle Diaries by David Byrne, yes that David Byrne, and it's taken me until now to get myself to write a review of the book.  It's not that I disliked the book, on the contrary, I found Byrne's writing both original and insightful.  It's just I've never read a book featuring a bicycle with such a diversity of topics covered.  Although I enjoy posting reviews of all the cycling and running related books I read, I do sometimes find the task daunting.  Reviewing the Diaries is potentially a daunting task but I'll do my best.

The first thing to explain about the Diaries is that it isn't strictly a book about cycling.  Byrne has been riding bikes for many years and understood a long time ago the liberation and convenience the bicycle gives him.  Byrne's been riding a bicycle as his principle means of transport since the 1980's.  By the late 80's he discovered folding bikes and since his work regularly took him to various parts of the world he'd often take one with him.  Byrne kept a journal of his travels by bicycle through different cities, the Diaries are essentially observations and insights taken from his journal.

The Diaries is broken down into ten chapters of which nine are dedicated to various cities, including; Amercian Cities, Berlin, Istanbul, Buenos Aires, Manila, Sydney, London, San Francisco and New York.  Byrne's thoughts and opinion's of these cities are looked at from the perespectives of  music, urban planning, fashion, architecture and cultural dislocation all with the occasional mention of passing from place to place on his two wheeled companion.

It made a refreshing change to read a 'cycling' book that wasn't to do with racing or the life of a racer.  Diaries could be classed within the bicycle travel genre although the major difference is Byrne's selflessness of subject matter.  Byrne writes more about what he sees around him and less about himself making for a knowledgeable, common sense and sometimes humourous view on the cities he visits and people he meets.

If you like the idea of reading thought provoking comment about some of the worlds major cities taken from the perspective of a pop star musician/cyclist then do check out David Byrne's Bicycle Diaries.

Over the next few weeks expect to see more book reviews posted here including Feet In The Clouds by Richard Askwith, The Escape Artist by Matt Seaton, Born To Run by Christopher McDougall and The man Who Cycled The World by Mark Beaumont.

Stars And Watercarriers

A few weeks back I posted The Greatest Show On Earth in it's entirety, which was taken from YouTube in eight parts.

Another classic movie from the same era and directed by Jørgen Leth who also directed A Sunday In Hell is Stars And Watercarriers.  Whereas The Greatest followed the 1974 Giro d'Italia, Stars follows the 1973 Giro d'Italia and features many of the same legendary riders such as Felice Gimondi, Francesco Moser, José Manuel Fuente and Eddy Merckx.  You can watch the entire movie here in nine parts.  Enjoy!

Super Athletes Of The Sierra Madre

Living in Mexico's Sierra Madre mountain range, the Raramuri Indians are some of the best long distance runners in the world, but how far can they run in the face of problems like environmental damage, loss of native lands, and the drug war? An American ultra marathon runner known as Caballo Blanco is fighting to help the Raramuri preserve their culture and tradition of long distance running. The Copper Canyon Ultra Marathon is the result.

Passion For Cycling

 

  

  

  

All the images above are poster designs created by Jorge León.  To find out more about his work click here.