Cycling

This article was originally published on Cyclingnews.com.Movistar's Giovanni Visconti transformed a search for points in the King of the Mountains competition into a superb stage-winning performance, finishing alone in falling snow on the Col du Galibier. Visconti was one of a small group of riders who jumped away near the top of Mont Cenis in the search for mountains points and then increased their advantage on the descent off that climb and the run through the valley to the foot of the Col de Télégraphe. Visconti went clear of the group on the Télégraphe, cleared the summit with a lead of 40 seconds and just about maintained his advantage all the way up to the finish, where snow was steadily falling.Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) easily nullified all attempts to threaten his race lead, finishing in a group with all of his major rivals a minute down on Visconti.

Movistar rider gets away with 23km left as three-time Italian champ wins his first ever Giro stage read more

Giovanni Visconti (Movistar) rode through the snow to victory on Sunday in stage 15 of the Giro d’Italia. Visconti moved ahead on the Col du Telegraphe in the 149km leg from Cesana Torinese to the Col du Galibier. And while Matteo Rabottini (Vini Fantini) launched a solo chase on the Galibier, he couldn’t quite seal the deal. With 2km to go the Vini Fantini man was more than a minute down as he chased Visconti through a light snow. Behind, race leader Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) tested his rivals in the dwindling favorites group, just in case anyone was thinking about testing him. The surge brought back the flagging Rabottini. But not Visconti — he hit the red kite alone, facing a maximum slog of 11 percent en route to the finish. It was a near thing, but an exhausted Visconti just made it, taking the victory and saluting the crowd. Carlos Betancur (Ag2r La Mondiale) finished second with Przemyslaw Niemiec (Lampre) third. “I’ve waited a long time for this, one and a half years. I’ve really suffered. It wasn’t easy,” said Visconti. “Today I gave everything. I got into the right move and worked well up the Telegraphe. I was thinking about my family, my baby. This is [Marco] Pantani’s climb. We share the same birthday [January 13]. It was a day for me.” Betancur was hoping it might be a day for him — and it was, in that he took over the white jersey of best young rider from Rafal Majka (Saxo-Tinkoff). But he wanted the stage victory, too. “It’s a shame to miss the win again,” he said. “The cold made it difficult to attack. We left it a bit too late. I’ve come close to winning, I hope to have another chance in this Giro. “It’s nice to have the white jersey. It’s one of my goals coming into this Giro. Majka is a very strong rider, so it won’t be easy.” On the overall, Nibali remains firmly in charge going into the final rest day of the 2013 Giro, 1:26 ahead of Evans in second. Rigoberto Uran Uran (Sky) sits third at 2:46. Piano, piano The bunch rode as one up the Col du Mont Cenis before a break finally coalesced. Stefano Pirazzi (Bardiani Valvole) got things going. He was joined first by Robinson Chalapud (Colombia), and then by Pieter Weening (Orica-GreenEdge); Rabottini, Francesco Bongiorno (Bardiani Valvole), Visconti and Miguel Angel Rubiano (Androni Giocattoli). Weening left the others behind, but not for long — as the escapees went over the top and down the other side a rebuilt seven-man group went on to build a six-minute lead over a disinterested peloton, led by Astana on behalf of race leader Nibali. As the gap dwindled to less than two minutes, Pirazzi attacked the break, trying to reach the summit of the Col du Telegraphe alone. Weening followed, making it a two-man go. Behind, Robert Gesink (Blanco) and Egoi Martinez (Euskaltel-Euskadi) attacked out of the bunch, led by Astana. Sergio Luis Henao (Sky) had a dig next with 26km to race. Robert Kiserlovski (RadioShack) followed, and a general peppering of attacks followed as the bunch cut itself to ribbons on the climb. At the front of the race Rabottini and Visconti rejoined Pirazzi and Weening. Behind, Henao and Kiserlovski caught Gesink and Martinez. Visconti goes it alone Then Visconti moved ahead alone, leading over the Telegraphe and charging toward the Col du Galibier. Behind, the chase was down to Pirazzi, Rabottini and Weening. Rabottini had a dig on the lower slopes of the Galibier, but Weening brought him back. Rabottini attacked again, and this time Weening did not chase. That left Visconti out front with Rabottini in pursuit. With 8km to go Visconti led Rabottini by just under 40 seconds. The remnants of the maglia rosa group swept up the Gesink group, and first Juan Manual Garate and then Wilco Kelderman tried their luck. Rabottini could make no headway on the final grind as behind, Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel-Euskadi) attacked the bunch, traile

Edvald Boasson Hagen and Team Sky made no mistake on the final stage at the Tour of Norway to ride to a second consecutive victory.

Riders heading for Mount Diablo State Park cause problems, say locals read more

Unicycle on the Gwadzilla Pagehttp://gwadzilla.blogspot.com/search?q=unicycle

From io9.com: At the close of the 19th century — just before cars made their appearance — a wealthy American businessman began construction on a private, for-profit bicycle superhighway that would stretch from Pasadena to Los Angeles. It almost got built. Read more.

last night I saw a mouse...well... I saw my dog behaving oddlywhich is not so odd for himas I watched his behavior I knew he was onto somethingI expected a moth or a cricketbut no... it was a mousea very small gray mousemy dog Digd spotted it and cornered it behind the televisionbut I could not find itI pulled back some furniture and dug aroundtried to spook the mouse back into the openbut the mouse was no where to be foundthen this morning Didg was poking around the fireplace on the first floorhis curiousness made me curiousthen I saw it! THE MOUSEit looked like the same mouse... small... gray... looking all mouseyI told Didg to guard his post as I went to get a dustpan and a broomwell...when I returned Didg had left his postbut the mouse was still trying to find a way to escape up the chimneyso...calmly I cleared the fireplace so it was just me and the mousethen I gently swept the mouse into the dust pan and moved for the front doorhad my son Dean open the door and then tossed the mouse into the grass to the other side of the sidewalk in the yardno... the mouse did not sprint up the stairs... between my legs... and back into the houseI waited....but no... there was no hawk that swooped in to grab this diminutive gray snackthere is a certain reward to removing the mouse from the house

In every Giro d’Italia, RCS Sport/La Gazzetta dello Sport commemorates the achievements of Marco Pantani by naming a mountain stage after him. For the 96th Giro, the Pantani Mountain is the Galibier.Due to snow at the original summit finish on Galibier the finish line has been brought forward 4.25 km to Les Granges du Galibier at the Pantani Monument. The monument commemorates Pantani's Tour de France-winning attack in 1998.Later this year a documentary exploring the dramatic story of Pantani's life will be on general release, made by British film-makers James Erskine (One Night in Turin) and Victoria Gregory (Man on Wire). Following is an excerpt from an interview with Erskine by Andy McGrath that recently appeared in Rouleur magazine:The English-language documentary about Marco Pantani is due to be completed in the next few months.“The Accidental Death of a Cyclist” charts the tumultuous life and times of the late Italian star, using archive and contemporary footage, stylised dramatic reconstructions and interviews with Pantani’s family, close friends, former teammates and peers.The film is a collaboration between director James Erskine and New Black Films, who previously teamed up for Italia 90-based One Night in Turin and cricket flick From The Ashes.Erskine’s hope is that the Pantani film can approach the success of Senna, the 2010 smash about the mercurial Brazilian Formula 1 driver.Last week, we sat down with Erskine to get the details on a film which could surpass anything that has come before in cycling cinema.Why did you want to make a film about Marco Pantani?I thought this was an extraordinary story with an extraordinary athlete, unique in that his story combines all the highs of contemporary commercialised sport and all the lows.It feels to me that this was a story on the scale of Senna or Raging Bull, one about a human being and a human tragedy in the sporting world. And that’s what compelled me. It’s about getting to the heart of the man.The Pantani story is really about someone who loves the bicycle. It’s ultimately about why someone becomes a professional in the first place. It’s about love and risk and adventure and seeing sport as an art.I think that’s really important if you’re going to try and make a cinematic film. Senna was an artist behind a racing wheel, Pantani was an artist on a bicycle.How do you frame whether or not Pantani doped?I think we allow the audience to make their own conclusions. But I don’t think the aim of it is to force them into making any conclusions.It’s about stripping away the doping scandals and looking at the real human being behind it. Is it more interesting to examine the question of whether Marco Pantani took performance enhancing drugs or to explore why he had such a tragic end?If you decided that Marco Pantani took drugs, it doesn’t explain the ending. If you decided he didn’t take drugs, it certainly doesn’t explain the ending.What happens to a human being in that situation, one that has won the Giro d’Italia in spectacular fashion, everything that their life has been about, at the very peak of the mountain. That moment when the haematocrit test comes out [at Madonna di Campiglio in the 1999 Giro], he can never get back, he can never be untainted again, even if he was innocent.How anyone could cope with that? It’s supposed to be about suffering going up the mountain. What’s extraordinary about Pantani is this suffering on the way down. When did you come up with the title, which seems a nod to Dario Fo’s work The Accidental Death of an Anarchist?Pretty early on. The nod to Fo was deliberate in the sense that this is the story of a man whose death no-one will take responsibility for, yet everybody is responsible.Also it’s about a corrupt system. I think there’s no doubt now – you might have argued when we came up with the idea – that cycling in the Nineties was corrupt.The relationship between Conconi, the IOC and the UCI indicates a system in which natural justice doesn’t

rolling down East Capitol Street on Bike to Work Dayshe works from homeso... she has a short commutebut she still rides her bike on Bike to Work Dayshe just does not ride it to work!