Catching up....

The flu bug has left me here at home with an opportunity to catch up on whats happening in the world of cycling. I know its generally a quiet time, but there's always something going on...


Race news....
Two-time Tour de France winner and Sky leader Chris Froome showed that his passion for victory is undiminished by winning the Herald Sun Tour in Australia last Sunday. His first appearance of the season. The 30 year old won his second Tour title last July and became a dad for the first time in December.

Mark Cavendish chalked up a first victory for 2016, taking stage one of the Tour of Quatar to get off the mark (no pun intended) for the fledgling African outfit - Dimension Data.

Wiggo....
Bradley Wiggins has put on a whopping 12kgs of weight - Doubtless his crack team of advisors are analysing commercial opportunities for their man's latest metamorphosis - 'Bulk up with Brad' may provide an appetising alternative to the latest eating fads? Brad is of course no stranger to the world of weight fluctuation - this is perhaps the latest physiological modification required to go very fast in a different cycling discipline to his last?

Motor Doping...
The bike at the centre of the 'motor doping' scandal is available to buy online with a motor fitted. Willier however stress that their Cross Disc Carbon is not supplied by the factory with a motor fitted fitted and is threatening legal action against the rider at the centre of the allegations - Femke Van den Driessche, who competed in the Women's U23 world cycle-cross championship last weekend.

'Everyone knows parts to fit concealed motors to a standard frame are readily available' a spokesman for Willier said. 'However I want to make it clear that the Willier factory does not, and never has supplied bikes or frames fitted with motors - not ever'

A Wilier bike with a retro fitted Vivax motor is available to buy on-line from a Dutch retailer. Salden.nl who list the bike (with pedal assistance) at €4990.

Career in cycle sport?....
If you fancy a career change I hear that the UCI are running courses on how to drive safely in a convoy in a Grand Tour event.

Rumours....
Are rife that Wiggle are set to buy out their biggest rivals Chain Reaction. Wiggle is owned by Bridgeport Capital which bought the Portsmouth based company for £180 million in 2011. Wiggles sales soared to £168 million in 2015 and it has moved its warehouse operation from the South Coast to er... Wolverhampton! Chain Reaction meanwhile, has a much longer history, growing from a bike shop in Northern Ireland which started out in 1989 and changing to Chain Reaction in 1998. It boasts of being the world's leading online bike retailer - with sales of £170 million.

Stop Press...
Latest on the 'motor doping' - check out this video - you won't understand it but you'll get the idea of what a discreet motor can do - this an amateur versus a pro shot back in 2014 - they ride a hill first on standard bikes - then with the amateur using a motor assist