MTB Cycling Picture Shows Strength Freedom and Passion

A perfect photoshopped picture, with an MTB cyclist and a pair of eagles behind him giving him wings of liberty.

Cyclist and eagles

Dolly Goes Out for a Bike Ride México

Yesterday was a beautiful day for a ride. The sun was out, the skies blue, clear; how not to bike ride? Feeling the vibration of this life running through my veins while pedaling my bike, is one of the most wonderful experiences I enjoy.

Sylvain Chavanel Wins De-Panne 2012

Final General Classification 

1 CHAVANEL, Sylvain (OMEGA PHARMA-QUICKSTEP) 12:05:44
2 WESTRA, Lieuwe (VACANSOLEIL-DCM) + 0:04
3 BODNAR, Maciej (LIQUIGAS-CANNONDALE) + 0:14
4 TUFT, Svein (GREENEDGE) + 0:17
5 TERPSTRA, Niki (OMEGA PHARMA-QUICKSTEP) + 0:18
6 SERGENT, Jesse (RADIOSHACK-NISSAN) + 0:22
7 DURBRIDGE, Luke (GREENEDGE) + 0:32
8 DEVOLDER, Stijn (VACANSOLEIL-DCM) + 0:39
9 IRIZAR ARANBURU, Markel (RADIOSHACK-NISSAN) + 0:51
10 TURGOT, Sébastien (EUROPCAR) + 0:55

Lance Armstrong Cycling Inspirational Video 2003

I am ready to go out on my bike, to sweat, puff, climb up the steep hills, feel the pain in my legs, my muscles, glorious physical pain that makes me to feel the power of cycling in my mind, my body, my spirit.

Tom Boonen Wins Vlaanderen World-Tour 2012

Tom Boonen is unstoppable this year. He is competing so well because he is in an excellent form. Cheers to Boonen for a good victory. Tough day for­ Fabian Cancellara though. I suspect he will try to torch the field on­ Sunday. Some great storylines ahead. Stay put.

“The race was locked up. The favorites wanted to ride and actually often did so right after a climb, but somehow it never kept going. Pozzato was always with us but he didn’t have to ride, which was normal since Oscar Gatto was still in the lead. Eventually it was a good thing for me to have Sylvain Chavanel in front,” Boonen said. “It’s always possible that you will finish second or third, but in the end I won so I’m happy.”

“This is a time of the season in which everybody is good, thus the results are slightly different,” Boonen said, pointing out that the Classics specialists can be fast, too, in their races.

FINAL RESULTS GENERAL CLASSIFICATION

1 Tom Boonen (BEL) Omega Pharma – Quick-Step 4:51:59
2 Óscar Freire (ESP) Katyusha +0
3 Bernhard Eisel (AUT) Team Sky +0
4 Leonardo Duque (COL) Cofidis +0
5 Sep Vanmarcke (BEL) Garmin +0
6 John Degenkolb (GER) Project 1t4i +0
7 Matthieu Ladagnous (FRA) FDJ +0
8 Alexandre Pichot (FRA) Europcar +0
9 Alessandro Ballan (ITA) BMC Racing +0

Cycling Vuelta Mexico Telmex 2daEtapa

Spanish cyclist, Oscar Sevilla, part of the Mexican professional cycling team, Empacadora San Marcos, won the 2nd stage of this exciting Vuelta México Telmex 2012 and with it, he takes the leadership, leaving Hector Fabian Aguilar behind in the General Classification; the reason is that Aguilar´s strength is not on the mountains and today´s race was for the climbers.

Ixtapan de la Sal vibra con la vuelta México Telmex como meta volante en la segunda etapa que terminara en Metepec, Estado de México. La caravana multicolor avanza con un promedio de 38 kilómetros de velocidad despues de superar la montaña. Los 19 equipos escalaron la sierra donde el cubano Arnold Alcolea se adjudicó la primera meta volante y Marlon Perez de Colombia se llevó la meta de montaña antes de llegar a Ixtapan de la Sal. El líder general del evento, el uruguayo Héctor Aguilar, se encuentra rezagado en la montaña lo que prevé un cambio de estafeta al llegar a Metepec. La etapa Taxco-Metepec es una de las más agresivas para los ciclistas ya que cuenta con dos ascensos y dos descensos por lo cual la fuerza y energía son fundamentales para conseguir un buen resultado en el Estado de México.

Tiempos y resultados: 


2ª Etapa: Taxco – Metepec 136.2 Km
1.- Oscar Sevilla – Empacadora San Marcos. Tiempo: 3.44.31
2.- Julian Stiber – Gobernación de Antioquia. Tiempo: 3.47.22
3. Edwar Sriber – Selección de Colombia. Tiempo: 3.48.34

Clasificación General:
1.- Oscar Sevilla – EMPACADORA SAN MARCOS

Chris Horner Tirreno-Adriático 2012

When you “lose” a cycling race like Chris Horner did (final GC 2nd place by 14 seconds), while recovering from an embolism of a lung, HEY, you DO NOT lose, you WIN! Chris Horner won his own battle and, oh man, he performed like a master on wheels! VIVA le grand seigneur Horner!

Chris Horner said to reporters:
“I have no mixed feelings about this,” he said. “It’s been a fantastic week. The team did a great TTT to set me up to take the jersey and I defended it for a few days. Tactically I think we did a brilliant race. This is not a course that is ideal for me, but to stay on the podium is good for me. I was concerned that I might not stay in the top three. The only feeling I have about this is one of feeling great – great about the way the team worked this week and great about the way my legs feel.”


Fabian Cancellara said:
“Even though Chris didn’t win, it was a great week for us,”said Cancellara afterwards. “He’s happy and we’re happy as team because we all did our best. “Chris has been recovering from his lung embolism for the last eight months and this was his first race,” the Swiss champion added. “This week has given us confidence for the classics coming up. Now I’m looking forward to resting up and being ready for Milan-Sanremo.”

FINAL GENERAL CLASSIFICATION:
1  NIBALI, Vincenzo (LIQUIGAS-CANNONDALE)    29:38:08
2  HORNER, Christopher (RADIOSHACK-NISSAN)     + 0:14
3  KREUZIGER, Roman (ASTANA)                   + 0:26
4  NOCENTINI, Rinaldo (AG2R LA MONDIALE)       + 0:53
5  HOOGERLAND, Johnny (VACANSOLEIL-DCM)        + 1:00
6  RODRIGUEZ OLIVER, Joaquin (KATUSHA)         + 1:16
7  SCARPONI, Michele (LAMPRE – ISD)        
8  POELS, Wouter (VACANSOLEIL-DCM)             + 1:25
9  RIBLON, Christophe (AG2R LA MONDIALE)       + 1:31
10 MEYER, Cameron (GREENEDGE)                  + 1:33

Cycling Capo Padrone Thermal Jacket

Check out this new thermal jacket that Capo Padrone released. It has fibers that keep you very warm in the coldest winter. You can even go out cycling pretty comfortably in a -4°C (25°F) weather. Very impressive, isn´t it?

Physical activity for cancer survivors meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials

Cancer survivors who have successfully completed their primary cancer treatment often expect to resume their work or daily life at a level similar to that before the cancer diagnosis. While cancer treatment has been shown to be effective in prolonging survival, it can be intensive and can lead to increased fatigue, decreased physical activity, and a reduction in quality of life.1 2 3 In addition, these unwanted effects of treatment can be prolonged and hinder the patients’ return to normal life.4 5 6

Physical activity is a potentially appealing intervention that could alleviate sequel related to cancer and assist patients in returning to the health status they had before treatment.
A systematic review published in 2005 summarized the evidence supporting the recommendation of physical activity during and after treatment related to cancer7; and a meta-analysis published in 2006 reported more favorable outcomes when physical activity was carried out after treatment.8 In a recent study published in 2011, starting an exercise programme after the completion of treatment was shown to be acceptable to over three quarters of patients.9 Several randomized controlled trials have assessed the efficacy of physical activity on indicators of physical and mental health in patients after cancer treatment,8 and these trials reported significant improvement after physical activity.

Daniel Y T Fong, assistant professor1,
Judy W C Ho, consultant surgeon2,
Bryant P H Hui, research assistant3,
Antoinette M Lee, assistant professor4,
Duncan J Macfarlane, associate professor5,
Sharron S K Leung, assistant professor1,
Ester Cerin, associate professor5,
Wynnie Y Y Chan, public health nutritionist6,
Ivy P F Leung, dietitian7,
Sharon H S Lam, part time lecturer (nutritional science)8,
Aliki J Taylor, honorary senior clinical research fellow9,
Kar-keung Cheng, professor9

From: http://ping.fm/8DUWg

Richard Moore On The Career Of Jan Ullrich

Great opinion of Richard Moore about Jan Ulrich´s career. 

JAN  ONE OF MY FAVORITE CYCLISTS

 Everyone has a favourite Jan Ullrich story. Mine comes from the 2005 Tour de France, which represented Ullrich’s last chance to beat his nemesis, Lance Armstrong.

On the day before the Tour started Armstrong appeared for his press conference. He arrived like a film star or world leader, in a cocoon of men who might have been bodyguards and who anxiously scanned the room. It was pure theatre, with a hint of menace. And it all reinforced the Armstrong aura.

When Ullrich arrived for his press conference he shuffled in wearing a track suit, looking a little dishevelled. And he was sporting a black eye. Earlier that day he had been out training, riding behind one of the T-Mobile team cars, when it suddenly braked, and Ullrich slammed into the rear window.

What happened the next day was, in hindsight, inevitable. Armstrong started behind Ullrich in the opening time trial and humiliated him by catching him. The Tour was effectively over for Ullrich when it had barely started.

And that was his last shot. The following year, with Armstrong gone and the race wide open, he appeared in Strasbourg as the favourite, but never made it to the start line, having been bundled out of the city when his name was linked to Operacion Puerto, the blood doping investigation that centred on a Madrid clinic run by Dr Eufemiano Fuentes.

Last week, almost six years later, that episode finally came to a conclusion, with Ullrich, who retired five years ago, stripped of his results from 2005/06 and handed a meaningless two-year ban by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Ullrich accepted the sanction and admitted he’d had contact with Fuentes. “I know that this was a big mistake, which I regret very much,” said Ullrich after the ruling.

Athletes often refer to their doping as a “mistake”, though you suspect they mean that their mistake was to be caught. It’s a bit of a stretch to describe making numerous trips to Madrid to meet Dr Fuentes, leaving blood stored in nine bags, and transferring €80,000 into the doctor’s bank account, as a ‘mistake.’

But Ullrich did something quite unusual: he apologised. “I would like to sincerely apologise for this behaviour – I’m very sorry.” He added: “In retrospect I would act differently in some situations during my career.”

Despite the conclusive proof that Ullrich doped, condemnation of him has been muted. Many cycling fans are ambivalent, and some appear sympathetic. It is a response that stands in stark contrast to the feelings stirred up by the more divisive Armstrong. That might be partly because Ullrich was regularly beaten by Armstrong: he was more fragile, more vulnerable (he rode into the back of team cars the day before the Tour); more human.

But it might also owe to a deeper understanding of his circumstances and the context in which he found himself. And, more superficially, to an appreciation of his talent, even the simple aesthetic pleasure of watching Ullrich ride a bike. At his peak, he represented the perfect marriage of grace and power: he had the style of Contador, the strength of Cancellara, and the musculature of the Incredible Hulk.

Ullrich grew up in East Germany and, from the moment he won the 1993 world amateur road race title at the age of 19, it was clear that he was a phenomenon. He seemed to confirm that in 1996 when, in his first Tour, he finished second. The following year he won and most predicted he would go on to dominate for the next decade.

Then along came Armstrong.

Ullrich became a ‘victim’ of the Armstrong era. But he might also be considered a victim of the EPO era. Most agree that this drug dominated and distorted the sport during the decade that Ullrich was at or near the top. It makes any fair assessment of his career impossible. Was he a product of the era, or a victim of it? Or both?

Whatever: it seems a bit rich of the UCI, cycling’s governing body, to have pursued Ullrich with such vengeance when they presided over — and, through their initial inaction, must take some responsibility for — an era so blighted by EPO. Why go after Ullrich and ignore others?

It is a farce that is confirmed by a study of the updated results of the 2005 Tour. With Ullrich’s third-place finish now airbrushed from history, Francisco Mancebo steps up to the podium. That’s the same Mancebo who, like Ullrich, was forced out of the 2006 Tour when his name was linked to Operacion Puerto. In fact, of the revised top ten, eight riders have either tested positive, served a ban or been under investigation for doping.

This leads to one conclusion. The problem was not Jan Ullrich.

Perhaps that is why the judgement of Ullrich has not been accompanied by moral outrage. In fact, there has been precious little judgement of this confessed cheat.

On Twitter, Jonathan Vaughters, who raced during the same era, spoke for many when he applauded Ullrich for accepting the CAS ruling: “Hats off to Ullrich for taking a pragmatic stance. He was a huge talent caught in an era with an unbeatable drug. Not more, not less.”

From: http://ping.fm/gHPTT