King & McConnell Aim For Canberra Cross-Country Titles

Jenni King & Daniel McConnell, the reigning Aussie national cross country champions are aiming for titles in the cross country championship in Canberra. Both the ace riders predicted hard fight at the latest Subaru Australian Mountain Bike Championship 2013 in Canberra. The championship is scheduled for 20th-24th of February, 2013.

Stromlo Forest Park trails would be hosting the best of mountain bikers in Australia where they would be vying for the desired gold and green jerseys of national champion in cross country trials, eliminator and downhill disciplines.

McConnell, the 2 times Olympian and only male biker from Australia in London, would be head-to-head with the fellow Victorians, Paul Ploeg and Chris Jongewaard.

“I had gold and green jersey last year and it was the first time when I could step up and gain some great results”, stated McConnell while speaking about the international season where he enhanced his UCI international rank from 80th to 22nd. “It was cool & I received fair recognition. It would surely be amazing to have that very chance again”, added in McConnell.

Jongewaard, the 5 times national cross country champion, stays undefeated in All Mountain Cup National series 2013, post his victories in the initial 2 rounds at Thredbo and Mount Buller. Paul, a 4 time former national champion (junior), would be focusing on standing out in Canberra. He returned to championship recently, after his shoulder surgery a couple of weeks back. Ploeg sought great success in Thredbo by clinching 2 of the 3 stage wins.

“Chris is in fair form & I believe he is the dude to beat. Ploeg is also there. There would be some guys to check out this time”, remarked McConnell. “It’s a pretty technical course, thus there would always be some surprises”, McConnell stressed while discussing on the 2009 course for World Championships that includes the infamous “hammerhead” section.

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Thomas Wins Tour Down Under

Welsh professional racing cyclist Geraint Thomas finished the Tour Down Under by snatching the first position. He said in reports that he is very much satisfied and happy with the results and he felt good from the beginning of the day of the race.

Geraint Thomas plays for the UCI Pro Team, Team Sky and he has won the Junior Paris–Roubaix in 2004, the British National Road Race Championships in 2010 and the Bayern-Rundfahrt in 2011. He is also an Olympic gold medal champion.

Geraint Thomas thanked the organizers and trainers for helping him out and makings his stay very comfortable. He also said that he had worked very hard all winter for the Tour Down Under and he is more than happy with how things turned out to be. He added that after the Olympics in Beijing he was a little under the weather and he had not been in his old form but after a lot of training, practice and determination he has now taken up the new challenges in his way with new, rejuvenated vigor and he feels that he is confidently back in form again. His fans all over the world are happy with this news and also delighted with his performance in the Tour Down Under.

With his win in the final stage, he also avoided a late pile up. People who were in the lead, Philippe Gilbert, Ben Hermans and Javier Moreno were a part of this pile up just when Javier was about to win the stage. This also gave Geraint Thomas a 5 second lead and the four of them shared the podium during the prize distribution ceremony.

Geraint Thomas said that this win has given him a newfound confidence which can help him with other races and tournaments ahead.

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Charity poker Bike Rides

As a keen cyclist, you may have heard of events like the bicyclepokerrun.com. Many charities organise these events to help raise money and give cyclists a chance to get fit and give something back to the community. The charity Spoke cards, cleverly combined cycling with poker to raise some money. The charity normally hosts the event every august and it is always a big success.

The charity aims to raise funds for the Young Survival Coalition (YSC), a charity that supports women under 40 who suffer from breast cancer.

The event sees the cyclists ride between various bike shops and pick up a playing card from each. The specified route is normally at least 30 miles long, but unlike a conventional cycle race, it’s not who finishes first that matters, it’s who has the the best poker hand at the end. It is a great way for keen cyclists to combine their passion for poker with their favorite sport. Read More Charity poker Bike Rides

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Lance Armstrong to feature on Mad Magazine cover

Mad Magazine is about to release their end of year magazine “The 20 Dumbest” by the end of December. And to nobody’s surprise the cover-boy of the magazine, Alfred e. Neuman, is depicted as the US cyclist Armstrong.

The USADA report charged Lance Armstrong with the intake of performance enhancing drugs and stripped him off of his seven Tour de France titles. They also deduced that Armstrong had committed the most “sophisticated” crime in the history of this sports industry. A number of teammates of Armstrong gave their testimonies against him and it led to show that Armstrong forced some of his teammates to take the banned drugs along with him.

Armstrong himself stated a few days back that the reports of the USADA failed to move him as he knew what was coming. He remained silent in the face of the report. Incidentally, Armstrong stopped his legal fight long ago saying that he didn’t want to get on with it because no matter what, the USADA and some people would fight to prove him guilty. Though he stopped his fight, but he consistently went on telling that he was not guilty of taking any kind of illegal drugs. But after the reports were published he didn’t speak a word in favor of himself.

Editor of the Mad Magazine, John Ficarra, told that they thought of Joe Jackson to feature the front page. But then ESPN emphasized on Armstrong to be depicted on the front page and he agreed. He thinks what Armstrong did is a shame and he is a real cheater. He cheated on the game, on his fans, on his teammates and even on himself. So according to Ficarra, Lance Armstrong is a nice choice to feature on the first page of the “20 Dumbest People, Events and Things of 2012”. But he doesn’t forget Shoeless Joe! He said he would be their next year’s target!

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Livestrong to remove Armstrong

The cancer fighting charity organization LIVESTRONG is going to remove Lance Armstrong form its name. The organization was created by Armstrong himself to support those who are suffering from cancer. But now it seems that Armstrong doesn’t want to relate the organization with his name.

The USADA banned Armstrong from international cycling and stripped off his seven Tour de France titles few days back and recently UCI has decided not to go the CAS in support of Lance Armstrong. Armstrong quit as the Chairman of his organization in October but maintained a place at the Board of Directors. But on 4th November, it was reported that Armstrong quit the position of being a member of the Board of Directors. When asked about the reasons, a spokeswoman stated that Armstrong didn’t want any controversy.

It is quite easy to deduce that Armstrong doesn’t want to leave any negative impact on his organization and that is why he has taken the step to end all formal relationships with LIVESTRONG. Now it has been reported that the organization removed his name from the title. A Board of Member of the organization, Mark McKinnon stated that Armstrong has always been an inspiration for millions of people and will remain so. He considered Lance Armstrong to be the “chief architect” of LIVESTRONG and when asked about the reason of dropping his name from the organization’s title he said that it should be a good thing to do. He said it to be a protective move for the organization.

All the major sponsors have ended their deal with Armstrong and now it seems that he is in disarray. He fought cancer back in 1996 and came back to cycling with sheer courage. Then he formed this cancer fighting organization which has become a symbol of the “fight against cancer”. Whether Armstrong’s name is dropped or not, it cannot erase out Armstrong’s name from the organization as millions of his fans still believe him to be a God.

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