Huang Shan pictures online!

While packing my bags for Friday's early morning flight to Frankfurt I have uploaded a few pictures of last Monday's beautiful but surprisingly tough hike in the Huang Shan mountain range. That is: if you also walk all the way down. The entire team's legs still hurt today. The Dalian triathlon team participated in another olympic distance in the Huang Shan area, which is the reason we were all down there. Temperatures in Anhui province also rose way above 35 degrees and the relatively high humidity turned this race into a challenge for all competitors. Even the water of Taiping Lake measured 32 degrees, so the swimming was hardly refreshing. As said before, a duathlon was not on the programme here. The next one will be in Jiayuguan (Gansu) in fact, in two weeks' time. I joined the team as a 'fan' and took my bike along to train in the hills over there. As in the area north of Beiing last month, I discovered some fantastic cycling routes. The preparations for my quartet of events in Europe are now done. Let's see whether it has been sufficient to match my level of the past couple of years.

Tomorrow morning I am taking the bus to Beijing, after which I fly Etihad Airways to Frankfurt via Abu Dhabi.

Anhui - Huang Shan

Gansu photos online!

Just returned from a splendid long weekend in the Huang Shan area, China's most popular mountain range in Anhui. Tomorrow I will be packing up and get ready for my stint in Europe. Meanwhile, I have uploaded some pictures of my trip through Gansu province.

Gansu - Jiayuguan & Dunhuang

Yin Chuan pictures online

While hiding from heavy rain and thunderstorms I have just uploaded the next bunch of pictures of my recent trip. This time those of Yin Chuan, capital city of Ningxia. That is the smallest province or autonomous region in China inhabited mainly by Hui muslims. I found it a very attractive place, and - again - much bigger then one would have expected. I stayed longer in this area than planned, because on the first day I was approached in the street by a student called Ben, who had been given the task of finding a foreigner to play a part in a new Chinese TV series that was being shot near Yin Chuan. Of course I was interested :-). The TV series, which will be on mainland TV this autumn, is set during the Cold War. I had to play a Soviet scientist advising a Chinese military general on the development of China's nuclear arsenal. By pure coincidence, the actor playing the Chinese general came from Dalian as well! We exchanged phone numbers afterwards and we will be in touch again in September. My lines were in English. Foreigners are a very rare occurrence in Yinchuan, and Russian-speakers even more so. I took the liberty of amending the script slightly as here and there the English was a bit 'too chinese'. Nobody spoke much English there anyway, so I don't think anybody noticed :-) The gist of the dialogue was that the Soviet expert warned the Chinese general that China's short-term nuclear development plans were a product of mere enthusiasm and fantasy, but in reality impossible to achieve: he smiled and said 'Chinese people always want to make the sun rise in the west' .

Unfortunately, a Mongol actor walked off with my camera during the shooting of my scene, so I don't have any pictures. On my Picasa page you can see many other pics now, though, including of the mysterious the Xi Xia Wang Ling.

Ningxia - Yinchuan

Dalian update: Nei Menggu photos online

The well-known Dalian beer festival is on this week. Many Chinese and German beer brands are sporting their goods in several tents at Xinghai Square, with performances of all kinds to entertain the visitors. Mainly mini-skirted girls singing and dancing about, but the chinese covers of German schlagers are not ignored! The last show ends already at 22.30, so the whole festival remains quite pleasantly civilised.

Edward, a Briton I know from university, asked me to come along with his friends last night, so I went to take a look. Edward is only one year younger than me and worked in Japan for six years before coming over to Dalian to learn mandarin. His friends were also from university: mainly Japanese and Korean. Previously I never spoke with them as their level of English is very limited, but yesterday it turned out to be perfectly feasible to have conversations in chinese ;-). Travelling in parts of China where they never or hardly ever see foreigners really does wonders!

Upon my return last night, I uploaded pictures of Inner Mongolia on my Picasa page. Here they are:

Nei Menggu - Alashan Zuoqi, Wuhai, Hohhot & Huitengxilu

Dalian update: Beijing & Jin Zhou reports

On the website of Roeltgen Cycling Team you can now read a report - in German - on my four racing experiences (Hangzhou, Jin Shi Tan, Beijing and Jin Zhou) in China so far. Hangzhou and Jin Shi Tan were already covered on this blog before. The duathlon in Beijing took place on the olympic circuit in Chanping, some 40km north of the capital city. Chanping is known for the Ming imperial tombs, which are located in the mountains there. A beautiful spot! And perfect for cycling, too. We arrived on Friday noon, and I did not waste time in getting on the bike for a four hour ride in the mountains. Those were my first real lengthy climbs of the season, after all! I discovered brand new roads, hardly any car traffic and the Great Wall frequently winding its way across the mountain tops. Certainly one the most scenic rides I have ever enjoyed.

The whole weekend was very hot in Beijing, with temperatures around 35 degrees. The Chinese people from the Dalian team seem to have more issues with that than me, though. As they were hiding in their hotel rooms, I went for another ride on Saturday afternoon as soon as we completed all formalities for the race the next day. The course for both the running and biking segment were hilly and contained one short but steep climb. I knew that would be to my advantage normally, and with the Hangzhou experience of a month earlier I was more relaxed prior to the start. However, as in Hangzhou, the Chinese competitors took off like bullets on the first 5km run. After 2,5 km I was well behind in 9th place (out of 50 participants, including also one Australian). But gradually I edged closer and closer to the frontrunners and I even managed to catch them just before we switched to the bikes. This time, however, there were some very strong Chinese riders as well. On the first climb I grabbed the lead, but behind me five guys were tailing me closely. On the second 10km lap I increased the gap to a safer margin and would retain it also on the final 2,5 km run. Second place went to a local Beijing resident, who turned out to be a nice chap and who wants to take me on some long rides in the mountains next time I am in the area.

In the triathlon event there were mixed results for the Dalian team members. Our star triathlete Chao scored a brilliant second place behind a Frenchman, but most of the others suffered too much from the heat.

Unfortunately, I still have not received pictures of the Beijing event. On my Picasa page are a few shots I took myself before and after the race.

Six days later I accompanied Shuang Shuang, the Holy Brother who runs the bike store and the team, and two other Chinese cyclists to a criterium race in Jin Zhou, 400 km northwest of Dalian. I was not in the mood for a short and flat criterium so far away, but they signed me up leaving me with no other choice but to join them. During the long four-hour car drive to Jin Zhou - and on the way back to Dalian afterwards - these Chinese guys talked non-stop about nothing else than cycling. I think about all new bike frame models and wheels were discussed, as well as the Tour de France, the teams, the riders of the past and present (CI-PO-LLI-NI!) and so on. So in China you also find people who are just as crazy ;-)

As we approached Jin Zhou, rain came down from the sky. Great. A wet crit. The event, organised by GIANT, was already underway and our A-race was scheduled to start after the lunchbreak. It was still drizzling when about 45 riders lined up at the start. Many of them I recognised from the race in Jin Shi Tan. A crit is really not my thing and in the wet all I was concerned about was not crashing and jeopardising the rest of my season. The course was dead simple: an L-shape with a strong headwind on the back strait. 10 laps for 30 km in total. After half a lap I went to the front and joined an early breakaway attempt of about six riders. The seven of us had a small advantage over the main group as we turned into the back strait for lap 2. As the wind blew in our faces, I signalled my companions to work together in short stints. But when I hit the front they all stuck to my rear wheel. In the spur of the moment I then swinged left and accelerated from the front and opened up a gap. I thought some riders would follow me in the breakaway attempt, but nobody did. I continued my effort rather conservatively at first in order not to blow myself up. A lap further, however, I noticed I had doubled the gap on the back strait so I decided to go for it. As of then, my advantage increased lap by lap and at the end of the race I took the win, 1'20" ahead of team mate Shuang Shuang, who won the sprint for second place ahead of the winner of the Jin Shi Tan race. This victory was a surprise, and I certainly did not expect to take it with a solo of more than 20km! Let's hope I can continue along this path in August.

Check a few pictures in my cycling and duathlon album on Picasa.

Duathlon & cycling competitions

Dalian update: back after three weeks in the North West

A quick message to say I returned to my appartment in Dalian last night after spending three weeks in the North West of China (Inner Mongolia, Ningxia and Gansu regions). I left almost immediately after university classes ended for the semester, but not before doing another cycling race in Jin Zhou, 400 km northwest of Dalian. A flat criterium organised by GIANT Bicycles, which I managed to win to my own surprise. This was one week after the duathlon race in Beijing, where I also emerged victorious to confirm my earlier success in Hangzhou. More on these later.

Several people sent me emails last week asking whether I was still alive ;-). The thing is I did not pack my laptop for my trip, which is why this blog has not been updated for a long time. Blogger is blocked in China, just like Facebook, Youtube and other similar websites. I can access these from my laptop because I installed a Virtual Private Network (VPN), which circumvents the restrictions.

My travels were great and I will be reporting on a thing or two as well as add photos to my Picasa page during the next few days. I will be in Dalian for five days only, as next Friday I am joining the triathlon team to a competition in Huang Shan (Yellow Mountain). Sadly, a duathlon is not on the programme there, but I am taking my bike along to train on some longer climbs. After all, the Oetztaler is approaching now..

Dalian update: First race in China

On the morning of our departure to Hangzhou for the triathlon & duathlon competition, Pei Pei and Holy Brother (a strong Chinese cyclist who runs the Dahon bikeshop and whose name I cannot seem to remember - he is riding for a semi-professional team from Beijing called ‘ Holy Brother ‘ - don’t ask me why) approached me and they started talking about me having to participate in a cycling race in Kai Fa Qu one week after Hangzhou. Kai Fa Qu is the Dalian Development Zone, some 30 to 40 kilometres north of Dalian City. So, of course, why not? I knew I wouldn’t have any training opportunity all week between the duathlon and the cycling race, as I was travelling around Hangzhou and Ningbo. What I did not know is that this was a Shimano Cup race, serious business in China, and several teams from all over Northern China, even as far away as Beijing and Harbin, would compete in this Kai Fa Qu race!

It was a very foggy and moist morning. The team hired a bus to bring us to the race venue, which turned out to be Jin Shi Tan, or Golden Pebble Beach, a popular beach resort north of Kai Fa Qu. There I immediately learnt that this was an organisation like I know it from Germany. We had to show some form of ID to get race tags and a chip for the electronic timing. Sponsors had stands along the start & finish area (Shimano, Pro, Look,...) and, different from Europe, there were even a few Shimano grid girls like in Formula 1. Perhaps an idea for Mr German Cycling Cup :-)

Finally, I also discovered what was actually on the agenda, as previously nobody was able to give me a clear description. We were in the A-race,which would be 8 laps around a circuit of just over 5 kilometres. Some 60 riders signed up for this A-race. There was also a B-race, a separate women’s race, and a race for people on MTBs. In the afternoon, there would also still be a two-hour-long team relay event.

43 kilometers is really too short for an endurance-type rider like me. However, what I liked was the short but steep climb about 1 kilometre before the finish line. That opened perspectives!

Following the Hangzhou trip, there was not enough time to replace the broken spoke on my Mavic Aksium rear wheel, so I had to use Ketill’s spare wheel, which incidently was also an Aksium. However, set up for Shimano, and I use Campagnolo systems. During the warm-up things ran smoothly, but already on the first lap of the race I had gear shifting problems. Most annoyingly, I had them every lap halfway that steep climb as my chain dropped down two or three cassette rings to 53x13. So, instead of sprinting that hill up in the spirit of Gilbert and Boonen, I was struggling up like those Spanish Euskaltel boys who come for the first time to the Tour of Flanders. Bummer!

It was a fun race, though. And I was surprised by the high-level of competition. There were non-stop breakaway attempts and we would finish with an average speed of 41 km/h, but on the last lap we were still 33 riders contesting the victory. An attack by two riders on lap 5 was dangerous, as one of the big Beijing teams was represented in that breakaway. They managed to open up a considerable gap, as in the peloton several riders were taking a breather. I still felt good and started the chase together with a strongly-built rider, who suddenly asked me where I was from. “Belgium?! Oh, I lived in Belgium for four years, in Gent!” And now we were racing together in the Dalian Development Zone.

The wind had picked-up and the backstretch, which also went slightly uphill, became rather tough. We brought the gap down, but the two of us were not going to close it. Still, the two guys ahead did no longer feel comfortable with their 10-15 second lead and decided to quit their effort and waited for the peloton. This was beginning of the final lap. To be honest, I am not sure whether we would have gotten them had they continued their breakaway, but possibly the wind and that climb had began to hurt their legs, of course. Another Beijing-rider immediately made his move. This guy was actually riding a TT-bike with full disc wheel! Don’t ask me why this guy was allowed to use that machine in a normal cycling race. He was slowly dying on the false flat against the headwind, and I decided to use him as a marker. I accelerated, trying to get an advantage before the climb (as I knew my gears would give me trouble again). I looked back and saw I had a gap, but also a rider from some black & white team in my wheel. I asked him to cooperate, but the guy smiled and just stayed glued to my rear wheel! I continued for a few hundred metres, but I was not going to do all the work for him to outsprint me in the final metres, no way. So I pulled over, told him to take the lead, but all he did was smiling. And there was the front of the peloton again as we hit the climb for the last time. I managed not to get too far behind the frontrunners with that 53x13 monstergear, and in the final sprint to the line made up a few places to conclude in 10th place, just behind my young and talented teammate Sun.

Ketill, in his first genuine cycling race, said he had a rough time trying to hang on to the front group, but he did so to finish 22nd. Peter was less fortunate and abandoned after a few laps.

It was very interesting experience, this short race, and it certainly tastes like more! The average level is high enough, and what’s more, the riders were also very well-behaved and I am not aware of any crashes. Yesterday night at the BBQ, Sun asked me to join him to two mountain races in Inner Mongolia, a few days after the Beijing triathlon & duathlon competition. The two of us would travel to Duolon by train from Beijing: could be fun! Duolon, by the way, is also known as Xanadu and was founded by the legendary Mongol warrior and emperor Kublai Khan, grandson of Genghis Khan. Unfortunately, during the first week of July there will also again be some tests at university... so I need to verify just how important these tests are (in the end what really counts for me is the exam early January).

There are plenty of pictures of the Jin Shi Tan race on my Picasa page Have a look.

Duathlon & cycling competitions

Via this link you can also watch a video of the entire event.

I was also interviewed (mainly in Chinese) for Dalian TV before the start of the race, and apparently it was also broadcast as people from the university saw and told me about it ;-)

Dalian update: late carnevale

Dalian remains a fascinatingly different place. Yesterday night after the dull game Brazil-Portugal we headed to the relatively new Soho nightclub. In no time this place has become extremely popular, especially amongst local Chinese and Koreans. There is the usual mix of house and hip hop, which tends to bore me very quickly. But yesterday the DJ had a surprise up his sleeve: all of a sudden he started playing German carnevale and schlager songs!! And all the Asians went wild! For us very few westerners in there it was one of these jawdropping moments...

Plain summer here in Dalian, fantastic cycling weather. I'm preparing myself for next week's Beijing duathlon, which promises to be a tough challenge. I convinced the people from the club that it makes sense to take the nighttrain on Thursday rather than Friday to allow for sufficient rest before race day (Sunday). It is unlikely I will sleep much on that nighttrain, hence.

Meanwhile, Joel has moved out of the appartment. His one-year-contract had ended and he has decided to stay in Dalian, but also to do some bible studies as of next semester. He required a different flat for that. So, since a few days I have the whole big appartment to myself and most likely so until some Australian ex-financial consultant arrives in the summer.

I am finally also getting my summerbreak plans on track. After some travelling in China, It looks like I will be flying to Europe on either 11 or 12 August, after a duathlon race at Huang Shan (8 August). I now also intend to ride the tour version of Liege-Bastogne-Liege upon arrival in Belgium on 14 August, taking advantage of the jetlag.

The Jin Shi Tan race report will follow tomorrow (I know some of you are waiting for more details on that one..)

Dalian update: Business is business

As I was watching the poor North Korean soccer team suffer a humiliating beating by Portugal this week (7-0), my eyes fell on the words Legea written on their shirts. This aroused my curiosity. Legea must be the producer of their sportswear, I thought, but I would have expected a no-brand name or some obscure North Korean brand to provide the team with proper clothes. Or the Chinese giant Li Ning at best. So after the match I did a bit of research and found out that Legea is a relatively young southern Italian sportswear company based in Pompei, in the province of Naples. Apart from several second - and third league club teams, Legea has other popular countries on its customer list, such as Iran, Zimbabwe and Albania. "Business is business, we do not care about politics," a Legea company chief has stated. Could the Camorra be involved in this? And if so, what other goods and services are being exchanged with the renowned dictatorial regime of Kim Jong Il?

One has to feel sorry for those North Korean players. It is said that Kim Jong Il had threatened them already before the game against Portugal with " penalties " should they not perform up to standards. 7-0, and the match was broadcast live in Pyongyang, which was a primeur - a first - for the crippled nation.... And as if things were not bad enough, their South Korean arch rivals did manage to qualify for the second round of the World Cup. Kim Jong Il must be fuming. I hope that the players are spending more time on planning their great escape than on preparing their third and meaningless final game against the Ivory Coast tomorrow.

By the way, those few supporters cheering on the grandstand are not North Korean, but Chinese paid to wave the DPRK flag...

As most of you know I am no soccer fan at all, but various factors have lead me to watching at least one game per day. First, the time difference helps: here in China the first matches of the day kicked off at 19.30 and 22.00 respectively. Only the day's third game poses a problem (kick off at 2.30 a.m.). Second, it has turned out to be rather pleasant following the World Cup in the local Chinese bars in Dalian (and Ningbo previously). Third, the famous soap series factor: once you start watching you want to know how it develops and ends. Nevertheless, this World Cup will not turn me into a soccer enthusiast. Most games are plain boring affairs and the most interesting character on the field is still Diego Maradona. Only for him I would support Argentina to win the Cup, 24 years after the flamboyant ex-cocaine addict guided his country's team to glory in Mexico 1986 - beating Belgium in the semifinals. As far as I can tell, today's Argentinean team bulks with talented players, too. In their well-paced second match against South Korea I often got excited by their technical ability to bypass the other team's defenders: precisely the sort of skill I never seem to notice with the uninspiring European teams.

A celebrated American commentator has actually written a nice column for the Global Times, an English-language daily based in Shanghai. He explains why the Americans still remain largely unimpressed by all this World Cup mania in the rest of the world, and requests FIFA to consider a few ideas to enhance the spectacle and arouse the American people's interest in soccer. Here's the link:

Global Times - Column Barry Cunningham

What's on in China these days? Probably you have already heard of the massive floods that have hit the South and South East of the country. They are the worst in 50 years and have already left 175 people dead and lead to the collapse of 144,000 houses and the evacuation of 1,7 million (!) people. Meteorologists warn that the worst of this year's storm season is yet to come... Most hit are Fujian, Jiangxi, Hunan and Guangxi provinces, so if anyone was considering a trip to China this summer that includes a visit to pictoresque Guilin - doublecheck the current situation before take-off.

The weather in China this year is also said to be anything but normal. The winter took forever and the South West suffered for months from a major dry spell that deprived many communities from water.

Finally, I read an interesting article concerning the closure of the Hilton Hotel in Chongqing. A local police operation lead to the arrest of over a 100 people as the hotel management is accused of cooperating with gangsters to enable prostitution and drug activities. This is interesting because managers at a number of Holiday Inn hotels in China must now be shitting their pants. In the latter American hotel chain you can indeed hardly enjoy a drink on your own for longer than five minutes...

Travel tip: Qiandao Hu

After the triathlon event on the weekend there was also time for some sightseeing during the following days. I think it is fair to say that everybody - including the Chinese - was highly impressed with the boat tour on the Qiandao Hu or the Thousand Islands Lake. That lake, as yet not that well-known but now linked to Hangzhou via a brand new highway, is truly a must-visit when in the area. It reminded me of Ha Long Bay in Viet Nam and of Guilin in Guangxi Province, southern China. The lake is huge and has 1067 "islands" in it, some of which of course tiny but others quite large and hilly. The boat tour took us to three of these bigger islands, on which we could then hike for some time. Atop the hills the view was often stunning. Take a look at the pictures on my Picasa page.

Today the locals around Qiandao Hu are still visibly surprised to see a non-Asian face in the street. It is also a great place for a cycling training camp, with new roads, little traffic and all kinds of terrain to pick from. Lots of fish restaurants, of course, with big ugly fish from the lake. Okay, they are not all ugly but the local delicatesse is a big black monster of a fish I would never put in my mouth ;-) The crabs are very tasty on the other hand.

You reach the lake in two hours by bus from Hangzhou in Zhejiang Province, which is a big city in itself only about 2-3 hours southwest of Shanghai, or four hours southeast of Nanjing. Hangzhou is a famous place in China and allegedly the number one tourist destination for Chinese people. The main reason is Xi Hu, the West Lake, around which Hangzhou has been developed. Also the legend of the White & Green Snake originates there, and you cannot escape it while visiting the various sights that make also this big lake a rewarding day trip. Hangzhou also seems to have quite a large expat community.

On a very rainy Thursday, as I was enjoying two solid cups of Segafredo coffee at a coffee place on the south side of Xi Hu, I decided to return to Dalian via Ningbo. That is another one of these new Chinese cities with two million inhabitants that nobody has ever heard of. Ningbo is located at the sea, two hours south of Shanghai, and has an important harbour apart from being the gateway to the Buddhist island of Putuoshan. I took the bus to Ningbo late in the afternoon and at night discovered a city with lots of neon that reminded me in parts of Tokyo. Perhaps it is similar to Shanghai, too, but I have not been in the latter city yet. Ningbo at night is more interesting than at daytime as the city lacks sights or historic places. What it does have is laowai tan - a district on the other side of the canal with only bars, restaurants, KTVs, massage parlours and nightclubs - a mini version of the 1912 district I got to know in Nanjing two months ago. Even in Ningbo several bars serve Stella Artois, if you fancy a Belgian beer.

Pictures from Hangzhou and Ningbo can also be seen now via this album link:

Zhejiang - Hangzhou & Ningbo

Dalian update: Duathlon success at Qiandao Hu

Two weeks ago I travelled south to Hangzhou with about 20 people belonging to the reputed Dalian triathlon club. These are the guys I met earlier in May on that bike ride I wrote about on this blog. Xiao Pei convinced me to join them for the Hangzhou trip, as there was also a duathlon, also called run-bike-run, competition on the programme. A compulsory health certificate was quickly produced and off we went. It turned out to be a great experience!

When the Chinese organise something they do it right. This was again the case for both the sports event and the trip organisation. We flew to Hangzhou via Qingdao and upon landing were waited upon by a rental bus, which would take us in two hours to Qiandao Hu ( = thousand islands lake), venue of the sports event. Our hotel, full-pension, was basic but clean and right next to the beautiful lake. I shared a triple room with Ketill an Peter, both from Iceland and working in Dalian. The three of us were the only foreigners in our team, so there was ample opportunity to speak mandarin during the five days we were all going to spend there together!

The event was part of the ITU Asian Triathlon Cup, and also featured a race for professional athletes on Saturday. I was quite surprised to see such an international starting field! I think all continents had representatives. The whole event took off with a big ceremony - as always in China - and our team also had to line up during the official presentation and opening of the event. After the speeches and the start of the professional race, I had to worry about my rear wheel. Indeed, the weekend started badly for me with a broken spoke on my Mavic Aksium. Taking a racebike on a plane remains a risky affair. A Chinese team member suffered the same fate. Luckily, Xiao Pei is well-known on the circuit after many years of wins and podium finishes, and she managed to arrange a spare wheel for me to use on the weekend. In fact, my spare wheel was better: it was a Ksyrium ;-).

My duathlon was scheduled to commence at 8.20 a.m. on Sunday. It was the sprint version: 5km run, 20km bike, 2,5km run. That means about an hour of maximum intensity. By that time the temperature had already risen to nearly 30 degrees. Some 45 athletes signed up, including a Fin working for Nokia in Hangzhou. Breakfast was not ideal, as expected. As much as I like Chinese food, it is not exactly my favourite pre-sports competition fare. And where the hell was the coffee? All that was on offer was milk and hot orange juice, yes, hot orange juice. I had to make do with a can of iced Nestle coffee, purchased the day before, and two steamed buns. I was on unfamiliar territory: I had never done a genuine duathlon competition before. Only at high school I did it twice or three times. In fact, I have hardly ever run in the past five years. Only last autumn I found my running shoes back and did a few runs, but then I suffered a major foot inflammation on Lanzarote last January, which made me limp about for several weeks. So, I was a little worried before the start two weeks ago.

As soon as the start was given, several Chinese competitors took off like bullets. It was truly quite shocking! I did not even bother trying to follow them: they were simply running way too fast. Also the Finnish guy went ahead. But after 2,5 kilometers it seemed that several had been slightly too enthusiastic. I caught them again, and when we hit the bike stand after 5 km I was lying in fourth place with the frontrunners still within sight. I lost some time during the change from running to cycling shoes, but when I got going I rather quickly took the lead on the windy course, which had to be completed three times and also had an annoying piece of false flat in it. However, I could not hold on to first place long, as suddenly this Finnish guy stormed past me lying aerodynamically on his Cervelo time trial bike! Then I experienced what a major difference such a time trial bike, with its specific handlebar, can make. Drafting was not allowed, and I had a very hard time trying to keep up with him on my standard racebike. In fact, slowly slowly I lost some terrain. I was knackered when after 20 km I arrived back at the changing zone, but found new courage when I started the final 2,5 km run at the same time as my Finnish rival. I did not waste the opportunity to deal him a mental blow and gave it all, setting a running pace he could not match. Once I had the gap it was a question of concentration, really, as I was seriously out of breath myself. But he turned out to be even more, and my margin would increase to about a minute. And so I grabbed victory in my first duathlon event ;-).

People were seemingly impressed by the foreigner, as one after the other local wanted to have a picture with me. Several people asked for my autogram, which I even put on a few T-shirts and baseball caps :-)! Winning in China is sweet!

The trophy and financial reward were also not bad: it got me out of the costs for a week.

So, now I have three more duathlons lined up for the next couple of months. First, Beijing in a fortnight. I hear that one is the toughest of the whole year. Then there will be Huang Shan early August and Wei Hai late September. All events also belong to this ITU Asian Cup organisation.

My Chinese team members also did a great job in the triathlon races (olympic and short distance). Chao even won the olympic distance and confirmed his status as China’s best amateur triathlete! Xiao Pei managed the same feat in the women’s race.

That night we had a great party at the local nightclub.

I have uploaded quite a few pictures on my Picasa page. Have a look:

Zhejiang - Qiandao Hu

Dalian update: Back in town

Just a quick sign of life following my 8-day trip to Zhejiang province, including visits to Qiandao Hu, Hangzhou and Ningbo. I returned to Dalian with delay this afternoon, and am already packed up again for a cycling event in Kaifaqu (north of Dalian) tomorrow morning, which requires a 5 a.m. wake-up call ...

My duathlon competition at Qiandao Hu was a success last weekend. For more details watch this space in the next few days ;-)

"Mechanical doping" : the plot thickens!

Following yesterday's clarifications by Davide Cassani, commentator for the RAI TV, check out this jaw-dropping video on the alleged 'mechanical doping' or use of an electric aid by Fabian Cancellara in the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix. This is becoming outrageous!

Bike with engine and Cancellara

Dalian update: Hangzhou is on!

The first thunderstorm of the year in Dalian produced quite a lightshow last night. Unfortunately, the weather sucks all weekend and riding is just not feasible, mainly because the drainage systems here are not as developed yet compared to Europe. Yesterday I went jogging for 40 minutes instead. I need to get the running shoes back on as I have signed up for a run-bike-run duathlon in Hangzhou next weekend. I will be travelling there together with some 20 members of the cycling and triathlon club I came across on my long training ride last week. A couple of days ago I had a formal meet & greet with Xiao Pei and a 40-ish guy from Iceland called Ketill. We discussed details about the event and Ketill assured me that these people know what they are doing and organise several such event trips per season. In fact, Xiao Pei claims their Dalian club is the number one triathlon club in China according to some kind of international points ranking! Hmm, I have already found out their cyclists are indeed pretty strong. Anyway, apart from the triathlon race, participants can also opt for a sprint duathlon (5 km run, 25 km cycling, 2,5 km run), which is what I will do. The plan is to fly on Friday morning and return on Tuesday evening. There is a good chance I will stay a few days more. The event actually takes place at Qiandao Lake, three hours southwest from Hangzhou by bus, which is rather close to Huang Shan - the Yellow Mountain. Ah where is Hangzhou? It's some 2 hours south of Shanghai, and a very popular tourist destination for Chinese people.

I hope my right foot can cope with the running after the major inflammation I had to deal with last winter. At least, yesterday's first jog since was hasslefree, but while watching the Giro at night my upper foot tendons did feel a bit stiff. I put some ice and Qoleum oil on it as precaution. I figure I can run those initial 5 km in 20 minutes without much preparation, so I might just not bother running too much before the event.

The foul weather outside provided a great opportunity to catch up with the international news and to read all those reports, opinions and analyses I had been bookmarking for weeks. I was also made aware of some form of 'mechanical doping' in today's professional cycling world. Amongst others, Fabian Cancellara has been suspected (also by other riders who have said the Swiss champion's bike produced a whirring noise in some of the Flemish classics) of having used some sort of invisible battery-charged system hidden in the seatpost that provides up to 100 watt extra power! Guess what, by coincidence Italy's famous TV commentator Davide Cassani yesterday confirmed electric bikes have made its way into the pro peloton! Check: Davide Cassani on electric bikes

The device seems to be orginally developed in Austria (Gruber Assist), but is currently better known in the United States for use by touring and recreational riders to help people get across slopes. However, it has already been mentioned in American MTB circles as well and it is an item on several online bike fora. Remember, MTB is still the main market of bike brands like Specialized. Apparently, the device was also on display at the latest bike fair in Friedrichshafen, Germany.

Let us hope that top stars like Cancellara (Tour of Flanders, Paris-Roubaix) or Contador (remember his phenomenal and nearly inexplicable power output in last year's Tour de France climb to Verbiers?) are not relying on devices like these to obtain their most impressive victories. So far it is rumours only, but Cassani's statements on the matter yesterday are extremely worrisome. The UCI, of course, denies it is being used by some pro riders already, but admits at the same time it will be checking the bikes thoroughly before the start of major events like the upcoming Tour de France.

Meanwhile, it does seem that the past may still catch up with Lance Armstrong and Johan Bruyneel when you read reports and interviews like these:

A dirty deal - the Gusev case

Interview Michael Ashenden

Maybe Armstrong made a big mistake in coming back last year. Also read this obituary on Charlie Francis, the famous athletics coach (a.o. Ben Johnson) who died of cancer recently.

Charlie Francis

Giro: Scarponi wins thriller in Valtellina as Basso battles towards pink!

This year's Giro d' Italia is a classic. Fuoco e fiamme, as Marco Saligari, commentator on Gazzetta TV, puts it. I cannot remember having followed a more exciting Grand Tour since the famous 8-second Tour de France in 1989. Yesterday's royal stage across the steep mountains in northern Lumbardy developed into a formidable thriller that got cycling fans clustered to the screen non-stop for nearly three hours! At the end, Michele Scarponi took victory in Aprica ahead of the Liquigas duo of Ivan Basso and Vincenzo Nibali, with Basso finally grabbing the maglia rosa - the pink leader's jersey - at the expense of Spaniard David Arroyo.

But Basso had to dig awfully deep. Arroyo, who got into the race's lead somewhat by accident following a successful breakway in the stage to L'Aquila nearly two weeks ago, fought like a true warrior in defence of his jersey with intelligent riding on the Passo del Mortirolo and risking his health in the subsequent wet descent. The Caisse d' Epargne rider, usually the lieutenant of team captain Alejandro Valverde in stage races like these, did not follow the pace of the best climbers on the initial steep slopes of the Mortirolo and instead settled into his own rhythm. A great and cold-blooded tactic that paid off as on top of the Mortirolo (12km long, 10,5% on average with several bits up to 18% steep) Arroyo was surprisingly only 1'50" behind the leading trio of Basso, Nibali and Scarponi. The other Giro protagonists like Evans, Sastre, Vinoukourov, Gadret, Cunego were all struggling in between. It was all man-to-man. Veteran Stefano Garzelli, a superb winner of the mountain time trial on Kronplatz last Tuesday, had tried his luck with a brave and solid attack on the Valico di Santa Cristina earlier on, but the 37-year-old ran out of steam on the Mortirolo. Garzelli is an example for any young aspiring rider. Someone whose commitment to the sport and whose riding style -both aggressive and intelligent - has given him more successes than one could have expected. It is rather sad that Garzelli crashed badly in the descent of the Mortirolo, which may end his potentially final Giro prematurely.

Rain had come down on the riders, turning the descent of the Mortirolo into a hair-raising affair. Many riders missed corners, including Basso, Vinokourov and especially Evans who got off the road coming out of a hairbend and nearly slammed into a campervan! But David Arroyo was fearless. On his own he descended like mad in the wet and down in Edolo he caught Vinokourov and brought the gap to the leaders down to a mere 38 seconds!! Basso needed to make up 2'28" on Arroyo to get pink, so 10 km before the finish line the Giro was very much back into Arroyo's hands! But then the road started to go climb again towards Aprica. A very annoying stretch were sheer leg power was required. Thanks to his teammate Nibali and to Scarponi, Basso had the advantage there. Arroyo had to chase very much on his own, as Vinokourov was visibly dead. Also Evans, Gadret and Sastre were just happy enough they were still there. Evans never really surrenders, but his legs were gone. Sastre - the most boring and colourless 'star' rider of recent memory - mainly stuck to sucking wheels. Basso, Nibali and Scarponi, all visibly exhausted, increased their lead to over 3 minutes by the finish. Arroyo fought like a lion but the pink jersey was gone (the photo on the left says it all).

Today the Giro peloton has yet another 5000 Hm to conquer. They will go across the Forcola di Livigno and Gavia passes (2610m high!), but forecast snowfall might jeopardise the route. In any case, I do no expect another big battle. Everyone's knackered and the general classification seems rather fixed now. Only Cadel Evans needs to try something if he still wants a spot on the podium in Verona tomorrow.

Photos by cyclingnews.com

Links

Highlights stage 19 - Gazzetta TV

Tutto sul Giro d' Italia

What's on in China?

Everybody knows that the Chinese are world champions in copying whatever you can think of. But in their urge to imitate western lifestyles and attitudes the situation seems to be running slightly out of hand recently. One hot item in the daily press is school shootings. Since the beginning of this year 21 people have died and 90 injured in various attacks across the country. In fact, the brutality of some of the killings is striking: from mass stabbings to usage of hammers and cleavers. Eleven years after the heavily mediatised Columbine shooting in the US, the wave of school attacks has reached China and it indeed raises some major questions on the role of the press once again. Violence in China is much less common than in western countries, which makes these killings rather odd and it is hard to ignore that copycats are at work, young students who may or may not be succumbing under the enormous pressure they are indeed sometimes put. Rather than go down anonymously, they ensure they will be remembered one way or another. Would there be as many attacks if the media didn't jump on every such event like a hungry animal and give some of these perpetrators a martyr's jacket in the eyes of some? In any case, what I find quite disturbing in this context is a second hot news items these days: employees from an electronics firm jumping to their deaths from the roof of their Shenzhen branch. Doesn't this very much sound like the French Telecom saga in France? This week the death toll at FoxConn, a Taiwan-owned firm producing components for o.a Apple and Nokia, has hit eleven. As in France, many of these suicides feature ordinary workers who previously showed little to no signs of distress. On the contrary there are of course also reports of verbally abusive managers and sweatshop-like labour conditions. In any case, FoxConn is under scrutiny and to relieve some of the workers' stress they have already hired a number of buddhist monks, singers and dancers to cheer them up...

Then there is the discussion on the re-evaluation of the yuan, which I hope won't happen for purely selfish reasons - but also for dozens of thousands of workers who are at risk of losing their jobs -, and the military stand-off in nearby Korea.

The World Expo in Shanghai has had a good start despite the wet weather in the area, and I have been told it is worth a visit. I envisage to go in September when the crowd is hopefully a little thinner. A student was at the Expo two weeks ago and managed to get in the Belgian VIP room with a.o. Flemish Minister of Health, Family & Well-being, Jo Vandeurzen. Claire, Emma and Yunis also travelled to Shanghai a few weeks ago and bumped into actress Zhang Ziyi without realising it ...

To conclude, I also read an article about a new health tonic in the Shanghai Global Times newspaper: little boy's pee-pee!
Available in several Chinese online shops, sellers claim boys' urine can treat various illnesses including cancer as it is melamine free. The babies used are breast-fed and live in the countryside where the air is fresh and unpolluted. You can buy bottles with prices ranging from 20 yuan (2 euro) to 2,000 yuan (200 euro) depending on the purity of the urine. The value of the urine namely declines as the boys get older. The idea is to put two drops into a cup of warm water or a bowl of soup. The majority of scientists and doctors question the validity of the arguments given ;-)

Dalian update: 生日快乐!

Last Monday I had my second birthday in Dalian after 2008, when I was travelling through China's North East. According to the Chinese 33 is a good age because 3+3=6 and 6 is a lucky number. What has come to my mind mainly is the saying in sports that a man's peak years are between 28 and 32 ... But let's be optimistic: if Lance Armstrong can still be third in the Tour de France and Stefano Garzelli can win the mountain time trial on Plas de Corones at nearly 37 I have nothing to worry about for still some years to come. In fact, most people here could not believe I turned 33 and had estimated me about five years younger. They said I have aged well and my Korean classmate even mentioned I have a.... eh.... "beautiful hip" . Hum...

Last Sunday I attended a very enjoyable beaujolais wine brunch at the sky lounge of the Kempinski Hotel and organised by the Alliance Francaise. There was a selection of five wines, two reds, two whites and a sparkling rose. The AF chairman opened a champagne bottle en plus. Fellow university students Claire and Emma, looking for an internship in Dalian, also attended just like some familiar faces from the International Club Dalian. Karen resurfaced last week after over a month of silence and was keen on continuing our Dutch tutorials. She is a legal and accounting consultant at Dezan Shira and very enthusiastic to pick up Dutch as a third language after her mother tongue Mandarin and English. So that's what we did after the wine brunch.

On Monday Ma laoshi treated me to a real Sichuan hotpot lunch, after I had been complaining for weeks that the Dalian hotpots are not 'hot' - spicy - at all. Afterwards, I gathered the troops at the beachside Hopscotch bar. It was a pleasant night with some Tsingtao, Jack Daniels and a proper birthday cake that had been organised for me. For most of us it became 4 a.m. Four hours later in class it was just me and two of the Thai girls, who had left a bit earlier. The teacher, slightly upset, asked me to explain what I had done to the rest ;-)

There's no denying it was a rather tough day yesterday. In the evening I also had my first appointment with my new Chinese conversation partner. A 22-year-old and rather tall guy from Shenyang who's studying physics and who is a big Al Pacino and Bruce Lee fan. His English name is Dean and he approached me last week during the University Games. He told me I look just like Bill Clinton. Today I went to the shop and bought a new mirror.

Some pictures are now available on my Picasa page in the Dalian - Miscellaneous album. A first set of pictures of the University Games has also been uploaded.

Dalian - Miscellaneous

Dalian update: Defeated on la "Redoute" !

There are not that many Germans here in Dalian, at least not compared to the number of French expats and students. But last Friday I seemed to be talking more German than any other language. At Hopscotch, a popular bar on the beach in Xinghai Gongyuan, I got acquainted with some university students from Cologne and Karlsruhe, and in the afternoon I met a Chinese girl with daughter on the grandstand of the sports stadium who lives in... Bad Homburg (i.e. in the outskirts of Frankfurt). They were visiting their parents and grandparents in Dalian.

At Hopscotch there was some masked event taking place with several stage performances, organised by a local Chinese student club, which made the evening rather interesting. Otherwise I am starting to get slightly bored with this Friday night bar & club routine. Our Thai classmates and their friends joined us actually for the first time last Friday night. Poor boys & girls are not used to alcohol at all. A Japanese guy had to be carried out of the bar after two beers, and one of the Thai girls even could no longer stand on her legs after 1,5 small bottles of Chinese Tsingtao beer! Totally wasted.

Saturday morning at 10 a.m. I started my bike training with the objective of riding for about 5 hours. I arrived back home at 18.30h after over 8 hours of pure riding time ...

Too much faith in Chinese signposts! On the way back from Lushun, at the most southern tip of the peninsula, I got lost and eventually found myself riding in circles until a Chinese roadworker could finally give me some proper directions. But I had also gone weary of taking chances and once I recognised a place I passed on the way to Lushun I preferred to take the same westcoast detour road back to Dalian that I'm familiar with already. And so I got home just before sunset. Yet, I was tired but by no means dead after my 215 kilometer and 2065Hm marathon ride. A promising sign!

However, less promising - perhaps - was that I got my ass kicked early on the ride by a Chinese guy on the very steep Redoute climb!

On the ondulating roads out of Dalian I came across a Chinese cycling and triathlon club based around Olympic Square. First, only two guys in Italian-style (= very colourful) team outfits. On a 1 km-long climb of 8% on average and a peak of 12%, one of them engaged in dual with me. The guy really pushed me to my limit and I could only drop him in the final 50 metres of the ascent. Wow, finally I meet some other great climbers here! So, I waited for him and his mate and exchanged greetings. We rode trough the tunnel and at the exit I saw a group of riders standing at the side of the road with the same flashy outfits and several high-end racebikes (Look, Merckx, Wilier, Scott, Giant,...). Some of them spoke quite good English, which made conversation easier ;-) There was a girl, too, and her English was fluent. Her name is Xiao Pei ( = little Pei).

Xiao Pei immediately wanted me to join their team. In two weeks there is a big event in Hangzhou (near Shanghai) and they would be delighted if I could race for them. We will talk over coffee this week ;-)

These guys are for real! As soon as we started riding again, the race was on. I countered a move by two guys on a short climb and went in fuga with them, going full-speed in the descent. I knew the roads perfectly as it is my training ground. Then, to my surprise, they took a right turn that leads to the tough Redoute climb that I have already mentioned a few times on this blog in the past weeks. Geez! Just as the road gradually went up before the gradient becomes double digit, four guys came back to the three of us from behind. Again, the same bloke I met first was putting the hammer down. Side by side we were crawling up that monsterclimb. Again he only died towards the end, just before the second 19% bit. However, I could not relax at al because all of a sudden there was another rider next to me who was still able to get out of the saddle and accelerate on that 19% stretch! Damn, I could only respond so much as to reach the top in his wheel ...

We shook hands as we were gasping for breath. He was riding a Team Columbia Scott racebike with Mavic Cosmic Carbon racewheels. Expensive stuff! He was clearly delighted to have beaten the foreignerfrom the German team. He said they are meeting every Saturday at 9 a.m. and said I should come with them. I think I will, indeed!

Some kilometers further I said goodbye to the group, as they were heading back to Dalian and I really wanted to do my long ride still.

The rest of the ride went great, too (apart from getting lost in the afternoon). At my turning point in Lushun, a hill where you can see the "border" between the Bohai Sea and the Yellow Sea (a Chinese tourist attraction, locals truly claim you can see the change in colour from grey to yellow in the water...), I became the subject of a photoshoot. I cannot tell you how many people wanted to have a picture standing next to the cyclist, but at least one full busload of tourists! I guess my Roeltgen team sponsors will be happy ;-)

At night I slouched on the sofa with gnocchi, red wine and the Giro d' Italia, which is oncemore incredibly exciting this year. The young Sicilian Vincenzo Nibali won the stage over the Monte Grappa and looks really set to become the new star of Italian cycling. Today they hit Monte Zoncolan, the hardest climb in Europe! Curious whether Gilberto Simoni can make it a hattrick and win a third time on the Zoncolan after 2003 and 2007. Based on the form the 38-year old veteran displayed so far it looks doubtful, but for sure Gibo marked this day red in his calendar!

Right, I'm off to a Beaujolais wine event organised by the Alliance Francaise ;-)

Dalian update: Fifth in the javelin throw

On the second and main day of the University Games I managed fifth place in the javelin throw. A top five rank is what I was aiming for, so I'm quite pleased with the result! The last time I did this fun field event in athletics was effectively 20 years ago and I was worried about my technique. After all, this discipline is very technical and it is a bit embarrassing if the javelin doesn't even come down the right way. Last week's departmental preliminaries gave me some confidence, however, and yesterday's final was really a trip down memory lane. In the -13y categories I was throwing multiple times a week and scored an official best of 37m40 (still second best of all time in my home region for that age group), but in training I managed to throw beyond 40 metres often. I knew I would not be able to equal that level of performance after 2 decades of 'inactivity', but I am certainly satisfied with my best throw of 30m89. In fact, I was slightly improving attempt after attempt after an initial foul, due to overstepping the mark on the runway. After 3 attempts I was ranked 8th, so I actually got lucky to have three more attempts and improve to 5th place. My main issue was connecting the speed of the runway with the actual throw. That only comes with training of course. The second selectee of our international department, an experienced thrower from Sri Lanka, did everything by the book and won the competition for our department with a best throw of 54m70! He says his personal best is 57 metres. Quite impressive, indeed! The Chinese guy who won silver was within my range with 33 metres...

I have to say I caught the javelin bug again. I found out it is actually possible to use the university's equipment for training during the week, so I might just do that! I don't think I'm capable of throwing 50 metres any time soon, but at least 40 metres would be cool.

Yesterday's second day of the Games was a superb experience to be honest. It was all meticulously organised with great choreography and it all started off with a parade through the stadium. We really felt like Olympians for a moment! When all departmental teams had entered the arena, the Chinese flag was raised and the national hymn was played. Then there were some acrobatic performances, including one on martial arts. Then the heats of the 100m sprint started. The enthusiasm the Chinese exhibited all week long for these Games was just extraordinary. It is just unthinkable that any western University would organise such an event this way. Our international department won two events in the end, the previously mentioned javelin throw and the 4x100m. We had a team composed of a Russian, two Belarussians and an American, who overtook a Chinese competitor just before the finish line.

My grammar teacher and a Thai classmate took dozens of pictures, which I hope to publish on my picasa page as soon as I receive them!

Landis: more details

The Floyd Landis story has become more interesting as more details and a full account of his interview and emails sent to official instances have been leaked. I'm publishing some of the material here directly, so readers of this blog less familiar with the subject can also see that there is a difference between doping and doping in modern day professional sports. Taking an amphetamine pill is one thing, spending close to 100,000 USD on advanced performance-enhancing drugs and -methods quite another. Landis' allegations have, of course, been categorically denied by the UCI, Lance Armstrong and Johan Bruyneel.

However, it is hard not to believe most of Landis' statements. Most of it has been rumoured before and the PEDs and methods he describes are nothing new. In fact, I was told myself about Armstrong's box of testosterone plasters several years ago, as well as about some of his test results being swept under the carpet.

In any case I hope Floyd has a good lawyer.

Also check the website 'The Science of Sport', linked on my blogroll on the left side of this blogpage.

2002: I was instructed on how to use Testosterone patches by Johan Bruyneel. During the Dauphine Libere in June, after which I flew on a
helicopter with Mr Armstrong from the finish, I believe Grenoble, to San
Mauritz Switzerland at which point I was personally handed a box of 2.5 mg patches in front of his wife who witnessed the exchange. About a week later, Dr Ferrari performed an extraction of half a liter of blood to be transfused back into me during the Tour de France. Mr Armstrong was not witness to the extraction but he and I had lengthy discussions about it on our training rides during which time he also explained to me the evolution of EPO testing and how transfusions were now necessary due to the inconvenience of the new test. He also divulged to me at that time that in the first year that the EPO test was used he had been told by Mr Ferrari, who had access to the new test, that he should not use EPO anymore but he did not believe Mr Farrari and continued to use it. He later, while winning the Tour de Swiss, the month before the Tour de France, tested positive for EPO at which point he and Mr Bruyneel flew to the UCI headquarters and made a financial agreement with Mr. Vrubrugen to keep the positive test hidden.

2003: After a broken hip in the winter, I flew to Gerona Spain where this
time two units (half a liter each) were extracted three weeks apart. This
took place in the apartment in which Mr. Armstrong lived and in which I was asked to stay and check the blood temperature every day. It was kept in a small refrigerator in the closet allong with the blood of Mr Armstrong and George Hincapie and since Mr. Armstrong was planning on being gone for a few weeks to train he asked me to stay in his place and make sure the electricity didn't turn off or something go wrong with the referigerator. Then during the Tour de France the entire team, on two different occasions went to the room that we were told and the doctor met us there to do the transfusions. During that Tour de France I personally witnessed George Hincapie, Lance Armstrong, Chechu Rubiera, and myself receiving blood transfusions. Also during that Tour de France the team doctor would give my room mate, George Hincapie and I a small syringe of olive oil in which was disolved andriol, a form of ingestible testosterone on two out of three nights throughout the duration.

I was asked to ride the Vuelta a Espana that year in support of Roberto Heras and in August, between the Tour and the Vuelta, was told to take EPO to raise my hematocrit back up so more blood transfusions could be performed. I was instructed to go to Lances place by Johan Bruyneel and get some EPO from him. The first EPO I ever used was then handed to me in the entry way to his building in full view of his then wife. It was Eprex by brand and it came in six pre measured syringes. I used it intravenously for several weeks before the next blood draw and had no problems with the tests during the Vuelta. Also during this time it was explained to me how to use Human Growth Hormone by Johan Bruyneel and I bought what I needed from Pepe the team "trainer" who lived in Valencia along with the team doctor at that time. While training for that Vuelta I spent a good deal of time training with Matthew White and Michael Barry and shared the testosterone and EPO that we had and discussed the use thereof while training.

Again, during the Vuelta we were given Andriol and blood transfusions by the team doctor and had no problems with any testing.

2004: Again the team performed two seperate blood transfusions on me, but this time Bruyneel had become more paranoid and we did the draws by flying to Belgium and meeting at an unknown persons appartment and the blood was brought by "Duffy" who was at that time Johans assistant of sorts. The second of which was performed on the team bus on the ride from the finish of a stage to the hotel during which the driver pretended to have engine trouble and stopped on a remote mountain road for an hour or so so the entire team could have half a liter of blood added. This was the only time that I ever saw the entire team being transfused in plain view of all the other riders and bus driver. That team included Lance Armstrong, George Hincapie and I as the only Americans.

2005: I had learned at this point how to do most of the transfusion
technicals and other things on my own so I hired Allen Lim as my assistant to help with details and logistics. He helped Levi Leipheimer and I prepare the transfusions for Levi and I and made sure they were kept at the proper temperature. We both did two seperate transfusions that Tour however my hematocrit was too low at the start so I did my first one a few days before the start so as to not start with a deficit.

2006: Well you get the idea....... One thing of great signigicance is that
I sat down with Andy Riis and explained to him what was done in the past and what was the risk I would be taking and ask for his permission which he granted in the form of funds to complete the operation described. John Lelangue was also informed by me and Andy Riis consulted with Jim Ochowitz before agreeing.

There are many many more details that I have in diaries and am in the process of writing into an intelligible story but since the position of USA Cycling is that there have not been enough details shared to justify calling USADA, I am writing as many as I can reasonably put into an email and share with you so as to ascertain what is the process which USA Cycling uses to proceed with such allegations.

Look forward to much more detail as soon as you can demonstrate that you can be trusted to do the right thing.

Floyd Landis


Lance Armstrong has responded to the allegation. Read his statement.

UPDATE: In my view a correct analysis of the case by Flemish sports journalist Hans Van de Weghe (in Dutch)

Dalian update: University Games: Shot put

This morning the University Games were officially opened under a blue sky and at 13.30 I had my shot put competition, the first of two events I am selected for by my International Department. The javelin throw is scheduled for tomorrow. There were 18 participants in total for the shot put, belonging to various departments of the University of Technology. For our team I was there together with a strongly-built Belarussian.

The entire event is an enormous organisation here, and it is really done well! With flags, music, parades, free water for all competitors and so on. No nonsense neither. Everybody got a number to attach on his shirt - front and back - and was to present himself officially to register at the time the event started. We even had to throw with the olympic weight of 7,2 kg, which was a first indication to me that there were bound to be some well-trained Chinese shot putters taking part. During my time in athletics as a teenager i never threw with more than 5kg - the weight we also used last week during the departmental trials. Anyway, I was the third participant to throw and my first attempt gave me the provisional lead with a throw of just over 8 metres. But damn, 7,2 kg is heavy! The Belarussian guy threw further than me, and then a whole string of Chinese competitors were throwing close to the 9 metre mark. No, I was not going to feature in this one. Eventually, I managed 9th place out of 18 with a best throw - my third - of 8m20. The Belarussian was 6th with 9m25. The winner was a properly trained "professional", built like a traditional shot putter and demonstrating great technique. He toyed with us, really. His best was 13m87, in fact that was a new University record by a few centimetres so the guy was delighted. Nobody else threw beyond 10 metres with second place measured at 9m88.

It was fun to do this again after nearly two decades. But something must have changed in me: if at the age of 13 I could throw nearly 13 metres with a 4kg shot, and today 'merely' 8m20 with 7,2kg ... Interesting. Let's see what the javelin brings tomorrow!

Fraud Landis finally comes clean

Three years after releasing a book proclaiming his innocence regarding the doping allegations fired at him following the 2006 Tour de France, American cyclist Floyd Landis has now suddenly admitted using banned performance-enhancing drugs throughout most of his professional career. In an interview with ESPN, Landis says he was no stranger to using epo, blood transfusions, human growth hormone, testosteron or insulin during the years he was riding for US Postal and Phonak. He also added that he was not the only one at US Postal. Typically, Lance Armstrong has already announced to hold a press conference on the matter later today. Don't expect any major revelations to come from that one. I wonder why the Big Tex gets still gets so uptight whenever someone links his name to the use of doping products. As if there must be stuff he's hiding. Anyway, of course there is. It has been medically, only not legally, proven that he was riding on epo during the 1999 Tour de France, the first one he won. But so was 75% or more of the professional peloton back then.

Here's a link to the new Landis story

Dalian update: 'I don't believe in umbrellas'

A grey, dark day in Dalian today that started with drizzle in the morning and continued with pouring rain by lunchtime. It had been eight days again since the last rainclouds emerged, so one cannot complain. Of course, outdoor sports was out of the question so I spent the afternoon reviewing and learning new words and characters. Joel, my flatmate, had one of his odd moods again today. As said, upon finishing our lunch at a local eatery near the westgate of the University the rain came down in bucketloads. You simply NEED an umbrella when it rains here, and not only because it is a 20-minute walk to the flat. But Joel didn't have one... and he refused to shelter under mine or Henry's. "I hate umbrellas," he said. " I just don't believe in them." He watched 'Reservoir Dogs' once too many. So he rather got soaked to the bone and then vanished under the warm blankets in his room for the rest of the afternoon ;-).

Today they threw four Americans from South Carolina into our classroom. Exchange students who are to study in Dalian for just a month. Interestingly, they felt completely lost after the tingli (listening comprehension) class and asked to be transfered to a lower level. Guess that means we do make progress with our mandarin here!

In the Dalian photo album now also a few pics of the wine night I held at my flat the weekend before last. Even though I only had 24 hours to prepare (and clean) the appartment, it was a fun evening. The most liked bottles turned out to be the Italian wines: a red wine from Verona (Valpolicella) and a white wine from Piemonte. At the end we finished with grappa and a rather strange chocolate/mint Bailey's mixture. Bailey's is incredibly popular here, especially among Chinese women - one of which brought the aforementioned bottle along.

Giro: Evans takes spectacular stage on the strade bianche!

Last week I still mentioned on my blog that over the past few years the Giro d' Italia has become the most exciting big stage race to watch, and yesterday's epic stage in Tuscany underlined that once more. The 220km course to Montalcino included several stretches of the so-called strade bianche, unpaved roads that are typical of the region. These rolling gravel paths, sometimes with steep bits of up to 14%, also feature in the early season race L'Eroica, which is Italy's response to Paris-Roubaix and the Tour of Flanders. Giro organiser Zomegnan was brave enough to include some of these stretches in the stage plan, and he certainly did not think it would rain all day..


Already in the morning the reporters from La Gazzetta were reporting tempo da lupi in Montalcino, as it was raining cats and dogs and fog had descended upon the area. The strade bianche had effectively turned into muddy paths when the riders arrived and as such it really revoked the spirit of Gino Bartali and cycling da altri tempi. Riders' opinions were divided afterwards, understandably as many probably never expected this stage to be so tough, but for the fans and spectators it was a spectacular show that will be remembered for many years to come.

Kazakh protagonist Alexandre Vinkourov and Australia's world champion Cadel Evans (winners of the L-B-L and Fleche Wallonne classics last month) proved to cope best with the unusual conditions and they managed to ride away on the steeper sections a few times. But Italians Stefano Garzelli and especially Damiano Cunego took the bit between their teeth and refused to surrender. Cunego attacked as well at some point but the others came back. They were an elite group of seven riders, with Pinotti and Arroyo desperately trying to hang on. Race leader Vincenzo Nibali, along with Ivan Basso, Michele Scarponi and a few other race favourites, were behind limiting the damage after a big crash before the first stretch of unpaved roads. 2008 Tour de France winner Carlos Sastre could not deal at all with the circumstances and lost more than five minutes taking him out of contention for the overall Giro win.


In the final kilometres Vinokourov attacked again and saw only Evans return to him. But in the narrow streets of Montalcino Cunego still came back and took the wheel of Evans who started the final uphill sprint in front. The world champion was so strong the normally faster Cunego could not come out of his wheel anymore, and as such took a fantastic stage victory! Vinokourov, third, grabbed the maglia rosa, and actually has a rather comfortable margin over Evans, Nibali, Basso and co in the overall classifications. Like him or not, but Vinokourov is very much back at the top of the sport!

At the post-race conference Vino claimed this stage was harder than Paris-Roubaix and he doubted whether it belonged to a stage race like the Giro d' Italia. I would say definitely so, nobody can plan the weather, but I can imagine a rest day afterwards would be warranted instead of a mountain stage that finishes on the Terminillo.

Dalian update: Granfondo simulation

Great weather again today: blue sky and 22 degrees. Apart from the wind, which you simply have to live with, perfect conditions to implement my plan to do my longest cycling training so far in China.

I have already done several 3,5 to 4 hour rides but today my objective was at least five to approach the general amount of time spent in the saddle during a granfondo event in Europe. After all, it is still my goal to a couple of events towards the end of August and early September, and I am not interested in riding something like the Oetztaler Radmarathon without the aim of improving my best time set in 2006. Yesterday night at the new Hopscotch bar near my appartment I watched my number of drinks carefully and restricted myself to a few Tsingtao beers (very light compared to European brews). Six hours of sleep was sufficient and indeed I immediately felt comfortable on the bike this morning at 10 a.m. I stayed out for 6 hours and 11 minutes with 5h59 of pure riding time. Total altitude gain was 1650 Hm. This rather modest figure is simply due to the absence of a long mountain climb in the Dalian area. Once at the westcoast, I went exploring beyond my usual training area to the north. Unfortunately, I could not find the road that leads to Daheishan, a longer climb, or it was simply still too far away from where I was. In any case, I turned back at some point - very much aware I was facing another fierce battle with the headwind on the western coastal route. All in all, I'm quite pleased with my current fitness level - even when it is hard to judge without engaging in a proper race.

Now time for a good meal ;-)

Dalian update: life as a student

Phew, after this week I really feel like a student again! The past three days we had tests, and even when they did not count for anything there was still some sort of pressure on. As of Monday, all people were talking about was the tests, so you automatically get somewhat anxious about them. The whole week I did not do much else but going to class in the morning and review everything we have learnt so far in the afternoon. I only took some time out for two bikerides and at night I was happy to just sit back and relax while watching the Giro d' Italia. Hence, the silence on this blog.

The tests went more or less as expected for me. Yesterday our kouyu teacher (speaking and pronounciation) said my pronounciation is very good. My main issue remains the Chinese characters. There's so many new ones to get into your head each week you tend to forget the older and not so commonly used ones again.

Many students here have an iPhone and with that they can download a fantastic interactive dictionary. You can look up absolutely everything with it, and for every character or pinyin word it gives you loads of suggestions. I look very old-fashioned here with my paperback Oxford dictionary...

In between all these tests and studying hours there were also the "trials" for the University sports championships that take place next week on Friday. Each Uni department can be represented by maximum three people in each discipline. As mentioned a few weeks ago, I had signed up for the javelin throw and shot put competition so last Wednesday afternoon I was expected to present myself at the sports stadium. I had six (javelin) and seven (shot put) rivals in the international department of my University. There wasn't much time for a warm-up, but the moment I had the javelin in my hand the vibes of twenty years ago returned instantly. Each participant had two attempts. Mine weren't super long throws, but far enough to beat the rest easily. What counted for me was that it was a good throw from a technical point of view, something which could not be said from several of the other people. The throws were not measured for some reason, only the rankings from 1 to 3 were significant it seemed. I'm also "qualified" for the shot put. On the basis of my performance during the warm-up, though. Suddenly, the gardener of the university appeared onto the lawn next to the stadium, where we were having the competition. He complained his head off because we were making big holes in "his" lawn ;-)

Anyway, my chances for victory next week in the javelin seem limited. I have been told of a Chinese guy who last year threw 45 metres, and that may just be a little too far for me without any training.

Tomorrow I'm planning a marathon cycling ride in the Development Zone together with Martin and a few people. Plan is to climb Daiheishan as well. Apparently, a rather fanatic triathlete aka cyclist originally from Iceland has appeared in town. I will meet him next week over coffee. Would be good to have someone to train with who is more or less of my current level. Unfortunately, the Chinese riders I've encountered so far are not particularly strong uphill.

I have uploaded the pictures I took from Jiu Hua Shan, and have also added a few to my Nanjing and Dalian albums.

Anhui - Jiu Hua Shan

Dalian update: studying with the Giro as reward

After two weeks on the road, it was back to the university classroom today. This week is rather serious, as we have mid-semester tests on Thursday and Friday. So, there is a certain incentive to put in some extra hours of studying, even when these tests have no real value and are just as much organised to evaluate our teachers' performances. Anyway, did not do anything else but reviewing all my notes and textbooks after classes today. It was interesting for me to recognise several words and phrases that I picked up while travelling around but had forgotten we had actually seen them in class already. More proof that it is vital to go out there and put things in practice rather than just sit behind a desk all the time.

The temperature in Dalian and the scenery has suddenly changed over the past two weeks. Last Saturday afternoon on the bike, I hardly recognised certain areas of my training route. Before Shandong it was all barren still, and now the trees sported green leaves and buds everywhere. Finally springtime - the Dalian locals are also sighing with relief. The winter was exceptionally long this year.

I have just finished watching the live web broadcast of the Giro d' Italia now. Thanks to la Gazzetta dello Sport I will enjoy the corsa rosa (nearly) every night in prime time here in China. No geo restrictions in Italy: perfect sound and image quality. For several years now the Giro is my favourite big stage race. The Italians have been much more creative in their stage design than the French of the Tour de France, which has resulted in much more exciting race scenarios. In contrast to the Tour, which has become a victim of its own commercial success. Sometimes the Tour seems more like a business event than a sports event these days, with predictable stages and lots of defensive racing by riders who after the first mountain stage refuse to take chances and risk a mere top 10 or even top 15 spot in the overall ranking. Nah, the Giro has a lot more heart today!

Links

Gazzetta dello Sport: tutto sul Giro d' Italia