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 ;-)