Podcast 2016 Episode 30 – Cynical Like a Fox
We’re back after a small break due to illness and straight into a wealth of racing information with all of the main highlights from the Paralympics in Rio. Sarah’s collected a heap of information and as much video as possible, so do make sure to check it all out. We also have MTB worlds to cover, the Lotto Belgium Tour, The Madrid Challenge, and the Giro Toscana. In time-trial action there’s the Chronos de Champenois, and to top it all off cyclocross season is kicking off. Brace yourselves kids, this one’s a heck of a ride. (1:02:41 MIN / 57.40 MB)
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Things we talked about this week included
Recent racing
Video collections from:
- Rio 2016 Paralympic Track Cycling
- Rio 2016 Paralympic Road Cycling
- The Madrid Challenge
- Downhill & Four Cross World Championships
- Lotto Belgium Tour, Giro Toscana, Amy’s Otway Tour
We loved this video from our friend Coreen Mazzochi, who made Giro Toscana highlights videos in the collection above, but also made this backstage video diary, showing what it’s like to cover the race:
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2016 European Road Cycling Championships, Plumelec
JingleCross, Round 2 of the 2016/7 Cyclocross World Cup, LIVE!
Saturday 24th September 2016
We’ve had the first round of the 2016/7 Telenet Cyclocross World Cup, CrossVegas (and if you missed it, you can watch the replay of the women’s race and the men’s race, interview with winner Sophie de Boer, and check out Balint Hamvas’ gorgeous photos) and almost immediately we’re crossing the USA to Iowa City for Round 2, Jingle Cross, the first time this race has been a World Cup.
The World Cup is part of a HUGE festival of cyclocross, with over 60 races for a whole ton of categories and courses, fireworks, music, partying and tons more – and you can find the full schedule here. But the World Cups are the most important ones, and they’re on Saturday 24th September:
- The women’s race is at 3:30pm CDT (4:30pm USA EDT; 9:30pm UK BST; 22:30 Euro CEST; 6:30am Aussie AEST) – UCI livestream here
- The men race at 5pm CDT (6pm EDT; 11pm BST; 00:00 CEST; 8am AEST) – UCI livestream here
The UCI’s TV guide is here, and the women’s and men’s races will be live on Play TV and RTBF in Belgium, and on TV channels in the Czech Republic, Denmark, USA.
For the rest of us, we can watch the races live on the UCI YouTube Channel, and if you miss it, the race will be archived for you at the same links – here’s the women’s race:
CrossVegas! The first Cyclocross World Cup of 2016/7
Wednesday 21st September 2016
Cyclocross is here! Well, OK, desert CX, but it’s still the first World Cup of the season – CrossVegas 2016, the 10th edition of this race – and it’ll be live!
The women race at 8:15pm USA PDT (11:15pm EDT; 4:15am UK BST; 05:15 Euro CEST; 1:15pm Thursday Aussie AEST) and the men at 9:30pm PDT, and the full programme is here.
The races will be streamed on the UCI YouTube, with this stream for the women, and this one for the men, and it should be available there as well after the race is over, so if you miss the races, hit those links for the full replay. And if you’re in the USA, it’s on Universal HD and the NBC Sports App 11PM–2AM EDT and on September 22nd on Premiere Universal HD – 6-8PM EDT.
(USA types, you may need a VPN like Hola, Tunnelbear or BetterNet, set to eg the UK, to watch the UCI stream – if you’re new to them, inrng explains VPNs here)
Lots of information on the CrossVegas website, including the course map, a Cyclocross primer and description of the main riders on the front page. Startlists here on the UCI site (scroll down).
Follow CrossVegas on their twitter, and there’s tons on the #CrossVegas hashtag. The hashtag for the World Cup is the un-snappy #TelenetUCICXWC.
Want a reminder of the past? Lots of photos on the race site, and videos on their YouTube.
Rio 2016 Paralympics – Road videos, media and more
First, all my thoughts are with the family, friends, and team-mates of Iranian cyclist Bahman Golbarnezhad, who died during the men’s C4-5 road race. So tragic, and a reminder that cycling is always a dangerous sport. Articles about his death on the BBC and the Guardian – and about the tribute to Golbarnezhad at the Closing Ceremony.
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While the Rio 2016 Track Para-Cycling was almost all broadcast live, so we got a LOT of video, the Paralympic Road Racing wasn’t, so there’s less here – but I’ve got you some video, photos, articles, tweets and more.
Unfortunately, a lot of the videos are geo-restricted – some of the Paralympics YouTube clips are only available in countries without their own TV (but it’s hard to tell, so click each one to check – sorry), and the individual TV stations and often videos on news sites are often geo-retricted to their countries. However, you can use VPN services like Hola or Betternet, to see them (if you don’t know about VPNs, INRNG explains them)
Please forgive that fact I’ve got a lot of British-based coverage – it’s because it’s really good, and obviously because I get to see it. I’ve got coverage from other countries when I’ve seen it, but if you’ve seen good coverage from other countries that you want to share, please do let me know, and I’ll edit it in.
First, some general links and media – the Rio 2016 Road Cycling page, including all the schedule, results, and other general information about the courses. Overall report of the whole Paralympics road cycling on the UCI’s website.
UK-based highlights on the Channel 4 Paralympics site. USA video highlights on Team USA‘s website, but it’s all forbidden from my UK-based server. There are lots of video highlights of the Australian Paralympics on the 7Two YouTube, and the New Zealand Paralympians on the Attitude Live YouTube – for example this video profile of Amanda Cameron.
Day 1 – the ITTs
Last week’s women’s cycling – there was a LOT of September 2016 video to watch…
Almost too much women’s cycling to follow in the second week of September 2016, but that means we have an absolute ton of video to watch too! Road, track, MTB, and cyclocross – wow!
Lotto Belgium Tour
Meet some of the 2016 Paralympic Cycling women – Part 6, H1-3 handcyclists
Because the Rio 2016 Paralympic Road Cycling isn’t being televised, I’ve been writing about some of the women who’ll be contesting the races, because they are such fantastic athletes with great stories, with some real jaw-dropping achievements. You can read about the H4 and H5 handcyclists here, and the final installment is all about the H1-3 riders. I can absolutely guarantee you won’t be disappointed by these women!
I described handcycling a little bit in that other piece, and as a reminder, in Rio there are two combined-category Handcycling ITTs on Wednesday 14th September – H4-5 and H1-3, with 1 gold in each, while the road races are H1-4 and H5 on 15th – and the startlists and livetimings should be available via the racing schedule.
As always, I haven’t managed to get to all of the riders, so if I’ve missed any facts, or your favourites, please let me know in the comments, or on twitter, and I’ll edit the information in. And after the riders, I’ll tell you a little bit more about the courses.
So who’s competing in the H1, H2 and H3 categories?
Justine Asher, H2, South Africa
She’s only on her fourth year handcycling, and has won two World Championships golds. Finding funding is very difficult for her, as there isn’t much funding for cycling, let alone paracycling, in South Africa, but she’s hoping to inspire other disabled South Africans to get involved in sports, and raise awareness – in in turn, funding!
She’s had an interesting life – a former fashion model, who sued a biotech company for fraudulent stem cell treatment, and seems to have won. She says her husband and children’s support is what enables her to race – and you can find out more in this Video profile, and another one here, including her talking about becoming World Champion – follow her on twitter
You can also watch her swim with sharks…
Meet some of the 2016 Paralympic Cycling women – Part 5, Trike riders
As we’re into the Road Cycling races at the 2016 Paralympic Games, and unfortunately they’re not being streamed or broadcast, I’m writing about some of the riders competing in the Time Trials and Road Races. I’ve looked at the Tandem pairs, C1-3 and C4-5 bike riders and the H1-3 and the H4-5 Handcyclists, and now it’s time for the smallest Paracyling category, the tricycle riders.
The main reason a rider would use a trike is if she had a condition that affects her balance, for example Cerebal Palsy, Multiple Sclerosis, or a brain injury. Some riders use bikes adapted to three wheels, and others are specially designed for racing. racing trikes can be expensive, are heavier, and less maneuverable than 2 wheel bikes, especially taking corners and on any kind of off-camber surface – although watching the top tricyclists cornering is a thing of beauty. There two subcategories of UCI trike riders, T1 and T2, with T1 riders more effected by their disabilities than the T2s, but their races are combined for the Paralympics, with only 1 gold.
The Tricycle Individual Time Trials are on Wednesday 14th September, and the Road Race is on Friday 16th, and I’ll tell you a little bit about the course underneath the rider information. If you click those links, you’ll get the startlists, live timing for the ITT and hopefully for the Road Race too.
Let’s have a look at some of the riders racing trikes in Rio
Carol Cooke, T2, Australia
Cooke is a Canadian who had worked in the Police Force, including working with in an undercover drug squad, before moving to Australia in 1994 and taking citizenship. She talks about how when she was first diagnosed with MS in 1998, she was told to basically prepared to die – you can watch a video about that, and how she coped with change. But obviously she didn’t, citing cycling as what keeps her out of a wheelchair – and now she’s in Rio, aged 55, racing her third Paralympics
Her first was in Beijing, where she was a Para-rower, before switching to Para-cycling, after buying a trike “on a whim”, and winning gold in the mixed gender T1-2 ITT at the London Games. As a born-and-bred Londoner, I love how she talked about 2012 in this video:
