Stories by John Wilcockson

• Posted: Tue, Jul 24th
  Vino’ positive: Is the Tour in peril?
  On my way to the press room in Pau today I decided to take a quiet country road rather than the highway. I stopped to fill up with diesel. It’s cheaper than unleaded gas but a tank still cost $68. After paying I noticed a small local newspaper in the gas station’s rack. The ...
• Posted: Fri, Jul 20th
  Crunch time: A preview of the Albi time trial
  If having a good night’s sleep is key to doing well in Saturday’s stage 13 time trial of the Tour de France, then the advantage is with the Discovery Channel riders Alberto Contador and Levi Leipheimer over the other yellow-jersey contenders. The Disco boys are lodged this ...
• Posted: Thu, Jul 19th
  Fast Freddie berates organizers for last-kilometer crash
  For the second time in this Tour de France Fred Rodriguez ended a stage flat on his back, writhing in pain. And both times, in Ghent 10 days ago and in Montpellier Thursday, the Predictor-Lotto sprinter was critical of the race organization. “They do it every time. They ...
• Posted: Tue, Jul 17th
  Moreau: I have to attack to get on the podium
  French champion Christophe Moreau, one of the stars of Sunday’s grueling stage to Tignes, says he is hoping to do well in the Pyrénées in the Tour’s final week and finish on the podium in Paris. His best Tour finish to date was fourth in 2000. After eight stages of this ...
• Posted: Fri, Jul 13th
  Simpson remembered: A black day 40 years ago
  On stage 13 of the Tour de France 40 years ago today, July 13, Tom Simpson collapsed and died on Mont Ventoux. It still seems like yesterday. That was the fifth year I had followed the Tour by bicycle. During those years I had raced in Brittany for a couple of summers. One of ...
• Posted: Sun, Jul 1st
  Fresh Canvas: Without past winners present, the ’07 Tour will be a wide-open affair
  If history is any indication, the 2007 Tour de France will be full of surprises. Whenever there are no former winners on the start line — as will be the case this year — anything can happen. That was certainly the case with last year’s race, which had the largest number ...
• Posted: Sun, Jun 10th
  Haedo wins Philly, Eisel takes Triple Crown
  When a 156-mile race ends in a massive field sprint it’s easy to think that nothing much happened. But that wasn’t the case in the 23rd edition of the Commerce Bank Philadelphia Championship on Sunday. Indeed, there were many subplots behind the final result: a clear victory ...
• Posted: Sat, Jun 9th
  T-Mobile is team to beat in wide-open Philadelphia races
  A booming thunderstorm cleared out the humid, 95-degree air above Philadelphia Friday night, making way for cooler, breezy weather at this weekend’s climax of the Commerce Bank Triple Crown of Cycling. Also Friday evening, Giant Bicycles hosted a dinner at Maggiano’s Little ...
• Posted: Thu, Jun 7th
  Eisel, Teutenberg go 2-0 at Triple Crown in Reading
  T-Mobile’s Bernhard Eisel and Ina Teutenberg are well on their way to clinching the Commerce Bank Triple Crown of Cycling after they both won Thursday afternoon’s Reading Classic in central Pennsylvania. They also won the first leg of the Triple Crown series last Sunday in ...
• Posted: Sat, May 12th
  The 2007 Giro: The sprinters
  Now that Saturday’s team time trial has sorted out the field, the peloton in the 2007 Giro d’Italia hits the road with a 205-kilometer stage from Tempio Pausania to Bosa on the island of Sardinia. The stage offers a prime opportunity for renowned sprinters like Alessandro ...
• Posted: Fri, May 11th
  Giro 2007: The contenders
  With Operación Puerto eliminating defending champion Ivan Basso and potential contenders Michele Scarponi and Tyler Hamilton, the list of potential winners is much shorter. This will lead to a more uncertain Giro, but the podium is almost sure to be contested by the big four: ...
• Posted: Fri, May 11th
  Giro 2007: A team-by-team look
  UCI PROTOUR TEAMSAg2r (F)Race numbers: 51-59GC contender: New team leader Rinaldo Nocentini (I) is most interested in winning a stage.Best sprinter: Alexandre Usov (Blr) had a top-three stage finish in the 2004 Giro. Other rider to watch: Carl Naibo (F), a late replacement, is a ...