By Caelli Greenbank (Twitter @fireflycaelli) It?s the news that cycling has been waiting for.? The next step in the Lance Armstrong case that has kept not just cycling but the whole world on the edge of their seats, waiting to see how the chips will fall.? Every day seems to bring another admission, another revelation,…
By Caelli Greenbank (Twitter @fireflycaelli) It?s 9:00am on a nippy autumn Sunday in the town of Chateauneuf-en-Thymerais.? Most of France is asleep.? Not here.? Not this Sunday.? It may be cold and grey, but Chateauneuf is a town coming to life. Paris-Tours is today. The team buses line the road into town, a colourful array…
By Caelli Greenbank (Twitter @fireflycaelli) A sunny Sunday afternoon in Belgium can mean only one thing ? the perfect day for a bike race!? Today marked the final stage of the four-day Circuit Franco-Belge, a stage race throughout Wallonie in southern Belgium.? The ultimate stage went from Mons in the southeast to Tournai, a small…
By Caelli Greenbank (Twitter @fireflycaelli) The small town of Soissons in Picardie, northern France, is just like any other little French town ? that is to say, they love their cycling.? The host town of a stage of this year?s Route de France, the women?s Tour de France, on Saturday the attention turned to men?s…
By Caelli Greenbank (Twitter @fireflycaelli) It?s taken long enough, but Lance Armstrong finally seems to have realised that fighting the doping charges against him is doing no-one any favours.? Like a fly caught in a spider?s web, Armstrong finally seems to have recognised that the longer he struggles, the more he tangles himself in the…
By Caelli Greenbank (Twitter @gallipoligirl) It began in 1960.? Fred Icke put together the first ?Wendouree 110?, a 110-mile race around the Ballarat area that started and finished in Wendouree.? When Icke passed away in 1981, the race was renamed the Fred Icke Memorial Handicap and Icke?s friend Wal Smith took over as organiser.? The…
By Caelli Greenbank – @fireflycaelli If you?ve seen a cycling website within the past two months, the words ?ASO?, ?UCI?, ?Tour de France? and ?future of cycling? have probably been there on the front page.? It may seem like a lot of fuss over just a little politics, but unfortunately this seemingly political war has…
By Caelli Greenbank (@fireflycaelli) ?Where?s the best coffee you?ve had with us?? ?Here?? ?Yeah.? In Australia.? Valentina Scandolara frowns a little as she considers the question.? Her teammate, Amanda Spratt, laughs as Valentina struggles to come up with an answer. ?Well, not, obviously, if nothing?s coming to mind!? ?At Carlee?s home,? Valentina tells her triumphantly,…
By Caelli Greenbank (@fireflycaelli) After taking a decisive victory in the U23 Men?s Time Trial at last year?s World Championships in Florence, 21-year-old Damien Howson has stepped up to the Elite ranks as part of Orica-GreenEDGE?s resoundingly successful start to the 2014 season. ?It?s been an ideal start ? pretty much perfect, you could say,?…
By Caelli Greenbank (@fireflycaelli) After topping the National Road Series team rankings last year, the newly-renamed Avanti Racing Team is off to a flying start in the 2014 season, with plenty of miles already in the team?s collective legs.? Starting his season at the Road National Championships in Ballarat last month, the team?s newest signing,…