UCI World Road Race Championships 2011

Don't you just love it when a plan comes together?

It's not immediately apparent, but Mark Cavendish's World Championships victory was underpinned at the Tour of Poland in mid-August. There, in the final throes of the period for qualifying riders for the World Championships, Great Britain managed to bolster their tally of riders for the Worlds from 5 to 8 by virtue of Peter Kennaugh, Steve Cummings and Adam Blythe all scoring World Ranking points. Up to that point, Britain's status amongst the top 10 nations in the rankings was made by points contributions from Ben Swift, David Millar, Bradley Wiggins, Geraint Thomas and, of course, Cavendish himself.

In Copenhagen for the Road Race Worlds, the team of Cavendish, Wiggins, Millar, Thomas, Cummings along with Vuelta a Espana revelation Chris Froome, reliable domestique Jeremy Hunt and burgeoning Classics specialist Ian Stannard lined up with one plan, and one plan only; bring Mark Cavendish to the finish in a bunch sprint. The expected early breakaway formed in the first hour - it contained riders from Spain and France, but was never a major worry even though it experienced a maximum lead of around eight minutes.

Even during those early laps, it was Britain who were doing much of the pacesetting. There were sporadic contributions from Germany working for Andre Greipel (and even more sporadically from USA for Farrar), but the line of red and blue jerseys were constantly prominent. The first real worry for the British team came earlier than expected, when a dangerous move went clear with over 100km still to race; a move of seven riders containing in its midst Johan Vansummeren, the man who won Paris-Roubaix from a similar breakaway and the Italian Luca Paolini. Still Great Britain worked hard on the front, as commentators, the peloton and half of the Twittersphere raised a collective eyebrow at their tactics.

Theirs was a tactic of containment; not chase down every attack with immediate urgency, but ride a consistently high tempo that discourages attacking riding whilst limiting the deficit to the riders ahead. Chris Froome was a real workhorse, as was Steve Cummings, both riders in form having reached the podium in their tune up races. Froome in particular was seen towards the back with about an hour to go, then astonishingly recovered to do further turns at the front again and even got onto the back of a breakaway move late on, albeit very briefly. A mid-race crash derailed the chances of the defending champion Thor Hushovd, but Norway still had Edvald Boasson Hagen in the lead group, hiding in the wheels alongside all the other sprint favourites; Farrar, Greipel, Sagan, Freire.

As the race wore on, it was apparent that the front straight, and a small climb on the back of the circuit, were the only two places on the lap that could provide the launchpad for an attack. Strong groups went away every time, but the dangerous groups never got a significant gap - no more than a minute or so. Belgium were the chief aggressors - at one point having four riders clear in two different groups - but Italy and certainly Spain were strangely passive, almost handing the race to the British contingent, alongside the Australians who were beginning to mass their troops in the last couple of laps. It would have been easy enough to get a British rider in the break from their front position, and many questioned why they did not do so (as it would put the onus on other teams to chase) but they doggedly stuck to their task, putting their faith in their pace-setting ability.

Although groups were getting away and putting Britain on the defensive, an obvious lack of cohesion in any of the attackers was hampering their efforts.The front group started to attack each other as behind, Lars Bak gave the home fans something to cheer by jumping clear. Then the ever courageous Thomas Voeckler joined the fray inside two laps to go and a break of three formed. Still, however, the team pursuit-like formation of the British team hovered within sight. An Irish jersey - possibly Matt Brammier - was seen towards the front a lap and a half out, a likely alliance in service of the British. Norway provided a helping hand, with two riders setting tempo for Boasson Hagen. Cummings, Froome and Hunt were tailed off, exhausted by the effort of staying on the front for 200km - a supreme job of work done. Cavendish, content to sit in the middle of the bunch early on, was now never less than 10 or 20 places back from the front of the peloton, rarely leaving the wheel of Thomas.

As the bell sounded for the final lap to commence, the expected attacks from the likes of Phillipe Gilbert and Fabian Cancellara never came, as the bunch seemed to be resigned to a bunch sprint. Either that or the presence of a relatively fresh Wiggins smashed the final climb to the bell, setting a savage pace and riding David Millar off his wheel momentarily. Wiggins, who had looked comfortable throughout, single-handedly brought back the breakaway, which had swelled to four with the attack of Johnny Hoogerland. The time trial specialist (who had himself won a silver medal for that event earlier in the week) set the tempo for half a lap, swinging over only when absolutely spent, with the Australian team hovering ominously as the Brits were down to three.

Ian Stannard took over from Wiggins, with Thomas second wheel and Cavendish behind. Six Australians immediately overhauled them, with a fresh Italian team also lined out alongside them. The Spanish team were trying to bring Oscar Freire into the mix. The Germans took a turn on the front. All were looking to get the advantage from essentially being carried the entire race by the British team. Suddenly The British jerseys were no longer visible at the front.

Inside the last two kilometres, Cavendish was about thirty places back. The peloton was fanned out across the road, with no one team in complete control, although the Australians were still well organised in a line. The three remaining Brits were too, to some extent, but squeezed to the right hand side as Stannard sprinted through a gap and tried to bring his two teammates with him. He failed, but deposited Cavendish on the back of the Australian train, who were looking to set up Milan-Sanremo winner Matt Goss. As the race turned the final corner, Stannard was on the front with Thomas still on his wheel, but no Cavendish. His path was cut off but he seemed happy to follow the wheel of Goss. The fact that Goss - normally a teammate of his at HTC-Highroad - has been his leadout man on many occasions (most notably at the Vuelta a Espana) probably influenced this decision, as Thomas swung off looking for his sprinter, but Cavendish remained put.

500 metres to go. The race clock read over 5 and a half hours, but in reality, the culmination of a project going back years was reaching its climax. The best British road squad ever had done its job - delivering Cavendish in an almost ideal position, albeit slightly improvised. As the Australians - still with four riders - started its final leadout, the overhead shot showed Cavendish completely boxed. But the tough uphill finish favoured a rider going late, and when Goss opened his sprint, it also opened the gap for Cavendish to shoot out of the box. He jumped over Goss and got a bike length almost immediately but then the deceptive severity climb started to seep into his legs. Head down, grimacing and pushing for all he was worth, he ground his way to the line as Goss started to close once more.

But it wasn't enough. Cavendish raised his arms in celebration, with Goss in second. Andre Greipel of Germany, a long-time rival and foe of Cavendish, took third and was the first to congratulate the Manxman. Fabian Cancellara had his best ever road race, but failed by a tyre's width to land a medal. A victory for Cavendish, but in reality the whole of the British team should take a bow. Captained by Dave Millar, they bossed the peloton from start to finish, and Cavendish, given the responsibility, didn't dare to fail. 46 years after Tom Simpson wore the rainbow stripes, Mark Cavendish of Great Britain pulled on that famous jersey.

Some musings on the Chinese Grand Prix

Sunday's Chinese Grand Prix produced one of the most frantic, action-packed races (certainly in the dry) that F1 has seen for many a year. A combination of tyre strategies, KERS, DRS and some good old-fashioned wheel-to-wheel racing kept us guessing right to the very end. There were a couple of intriguing asides to this race that occured, which I will attempt to cover here.

Cycling-style 'echelons' in F1?

DRS appeared, at least in China, to produce a secondary effect alongside its raison d'etre to produce more overtaking. Around the middle of the first stint it was apparent that the field had broken up into distinct packs, that were not necessarily due to slower cars being out of position holding up a train of rivals behind. 

Here is what I believe is happening. After two laps the DRS system is activated. By this point, the natural field spread of the pack of cars means that each driver is spaced roughly around a second or so apart (the aero of the cars this year allowing drivers to run much more closely to each other - interestingly, in amongst KERS/DRS and tyres, this point seems to have been lost slightly). Crucially, the DRS activation point is set up for cars being within a second of the one in front.

So say driver A is at the front of a pack, with drivers, B, C and D all being within that one second window, but driver E is 1.1 seconds behind D. Assuming A has the quickest raw pace (a reasonable assumption), drivers B, C and D (who now have DRS activated) gain in lap time due to deploying DRS and concertina behind A (while the principal effect of DRS, to aid overtaking, is negated). Meanwhile, driver E cannot use DRS and so loses the propensity to gain that extra half second or so, and so falls back. It essentially allows the (slower-in-raw-pace-terms) cars B-D to run at car A's quicker race pace, while E misses the cut.

It's analogous to the race patterns in road cycling, particularly of the so-called echelons that form in crosswinds. Being in echelon formation (a line of riders across the road, sheltering from the effective wind direction) allows the riders to utilise the lower wind resistance to maintain their position. But fall from the pack momentarily and suddenly being exposed to the extra resistance and get dropped quickly and never regain that position therein unless the pace eases in front.

This was apparent in China, as after about 10 laps there were about four distinct 'groups' on the road, all running nose-to-tail within those groups, but the groups themselves spaced a good few seconds apart. We had:

But-Ham-Vet (covered by 2 sec)
...3 sec gap to...
Ros-Mas-Alo (< 1.8s)
...7s...
DiR-Sut-Kob-MSc (2.2s)
...3s...
Pet
...4s...
Alg-Bue-Hei-Per-Web-Bar (2.6s)
...and the backmarkers

Of course, the tyre strategy had a greater bearing on the final result, in reality, but is an interesting side point none-the-less.

Strategy begins on Saturday

Well, in truth it has done (in various guises) for a number of years - fuel levels, tyre choices and the like have often had to be set before qualifying. But here, qualifying strategy is becoming so integrated with the race strategy, especially with the three-part system affording drivers the opportunity to save fresh sets of tyres for the race. Mark Webber's stunning drive showed the importance of doing so (as, to some extent, did Lewis Hamilton's race). 

This gives rise to some interesting quandries. For instance, is there any real advantage to starting 10th over 11th? If a driver makes the top-10 shootout, might he elect not to even set a time in Q3 and save a set of tyres - particularly if he does not expect to get much higher than 7th or 8th? On tracks with high tyre wear it might be an advantage to use a set of primes for Q1, a set of options for Q2 and save four sets of fresh tyres for the race. In fact, in Canada, one might envisage doing Q1 and Q2 (and potentially, but unlikely, Q3) on the same set of tyres (qualifying...wherever) and have five sets of tyres fresh for the GP itself. After all, if tracks like Melbourne and China are producing three-stop optimum races, then Canada must surely see four stops (at least!). 

Also, is the fabled 'undercut' (where you pit a lap earlier than your rival on track - often at the end of the first stint - thus gaining a 2-3 second advantage with that out lap on fresh tyres) even worth it this year? Surely at some point you have to pay that lap back, perhaps by making your final stop a lap earlier, at which point the situation might turn on its head at the end of the race if your tyres fall off the performance cliff on the last lap when your rival's don't.

Scrapping tooth and nail for grid slots and burning up new rubber seems to be less worth it in 2011-spec F1 when overtaking is demonstrably possible. Furthermore, the differential in lap times available to fresh-tyre runners (Webber, for instance, was lapping at up to 3 seconds a lap faster than his teammate in the final stint) appears to be overcoming the advantage of being a few slots up the grid and the gaining few seconds of field-spread in the earlier stages of the race.

We shall, of course, see in due course.

Tour Of Flanders

The last hour or so of the 2011 Ronde Van Vlaanderen produced probably the most exciting racing to be found all year, indeed perhaps in many a year. I joined the race coverage at this point, with Sylvain Chavanel in the lead, having just dropped his fellow escape artists Edvald Boasson Hagen and Lars Boom.

Here, back home, cup of tea was made as I waited for the Fabian Cancellara show to begin. Then, in just that short time, boom! (No, not Boom). Tom Boonen attacked. Quite why he attacked, with his teammate in the lead, I don't know. Perhaps even Tornado Tom himself doesn't get that one, since all it achieved was to draw out Cancellara into the inevitable counter punch. Cleverly, he used the ailing Boasson Hagen and Boom (who were going backwards quickly) as a buffer, skipping round the pair on a narrow, crowd-lined section of road - thereby blocking the way for the following Boonen. Tom had no response. The Tornado, it seemed, had blown.

Cancellara, (the hurricane in all this meteorological metaphor) was on a charge. Still with 50km to ride to the finish line, he decided that this was the moment. Was this the error? Did Fabian simply believe his own hype, his own invincibility? Whatever, Fabian did what Fabian does. He hammered at the pedals, rapidly eating up the ground between him and the still-leading Chavanel. Our frontrunner relented, and the catch was complete as Fabian took over the pace. A flick of Swiss elbow yielded no response, as Sylvain did the only sensible thing and lock onto the wheel of Cancellara.

And so it was that the greatest pursuit match of them all began. Cancellara versus the world, versus the peloton, versus the climbs, the cobbles, the works. BMC, a squad boasting some of the finest classics men in the field, committed almost their entire workforce to the chase, and even they struggled to bring him back. The gap hovered at a minute. Still Chavanel clung on to that wheel for all he was worth, and he was worth a hell of a lot today.

The writing, it seemed, was on the wall. And, in a sense it was, for the Wall of Geraardsbergen and its cracked cobbles cracked Fabian, aided undoubtedly by the man of the moment, Phillipe Gilbert (and that BMC TTT effort). Unperturbed, Cancellara went again over the top of the climb, forcing a selection of five. Most of the names were present - enough, surely to carve the spoils between them?

Again, they were foiled. Enter (stage left) a Welsh Dragon, young Geraint Thomas, who pulled and then pulled some more for his man Flecha who had missed seemingly the crucial move. The chasers poised to bridge on the Bosberg, but then Gilbert went for glory. The group imploded on the berg, and Cancellara was beaten. Even then they wouldn't work with him, as Scheirlinckx followed his every sway and stagger with laser precision, as Chavanel once more flew free over the summit in chase. Gilbert was brought back. That man Thomas once again hauled himself back into the second group of chasers, then brought that group up to the leaders.

None of these riders, by the way, would win the race.

Today everyone said ‘I am Spartacus’. A flurry of attacks followed from the twelve-strong lead group, perhaps buoyed by the great man’s infallibility, before Cancellara summoned (from where I do not know) one final effort to reduce the final selection to three (as if to say, ‘No, boys, this is how you do it’). In the selection was Fabian himself, of course, plus the indefatigable Chavanel and a previously anonymous Nick Nuyens. Cancellara and Chavanel shook hands, proving that the kinship in survival and suffering overcomes competition and corporate clothing. That so, a race was still there to be won. Comrades no longer, Cancellara found himself (where else?) but hung out to dry on the front as the race entered its final turns. He had no choice but to go early - too early - as Boonen broke free of the chasers and threatened to unleash his formidable finish. As he opened up the sprint, all those efforts - the break, the catch, the counter, the chase - all that pain seeped into Fabian's sizeable quads and he began to falter. A man of that frame punches a big hole in the air, and sprinting behind Cancellara must be like sprinting in free space. Suddenly, free space was all Nick Nuyens could see in front of him. Then a finish line. Then a win, no, the win.

And the best bit? Next week we do it all again. Roubaix waits.

The Program Initiative (+The Longest Day+A Ninja Slob Drew Me), Southampton Joiners, 18/03/11

I first caught Southampton band The Program Initiative performing a half-hour set opening for Maybeshewill last month. I was suitably impressed to check out their headline show, the opening date of their tour to promote the release of debut album 'Mercury [Phase 1]'. For the meagre sum of five pounds, the line-up looked an intriguing one throughout.

First up were A Ninja Slob Drew Me, an unusual two piece fronted by a man playing an eight-string bass guitar and sidekicked by the increasingly familiar laptop...operator (you'd hasten to say 'player') controlling the beats/electronics. (At least I think so, for all we know he could be having a bit of a dance while playing Minesweeper). The combination worked well; the bass guitar was exploited to the full limits of its potential and when combined with a range of pedals produced an array of clever sounds, allowing the band to explore typical loud/quiet/heavy (pleasingly heavy at times) dynamics expected in instrumental music. However, there is only so much variation possible in such a limited set-up, and at over thirty minutes the set dragged a little towards the end.

The Longest Day were your typical post-hardcore rock outfit - a surplus of hair and black clothing abounded  while the four likely lads on show ploughed through  a set of choppy riffs, thunderous drumming and off-kilter rhythms. File generally under 'nothing new to see here', although that is to do something of a disservice to the fact that they were a strong, technically tight band with some good ideas. As a pleasing bonus, the singer really could sing and never once resorted to the distortion-heavy screamo that so often permeates this type of music (not that that is necessarily a bad thing). For the last song, he even invited the crowd to possibly feel free to move around a bit. Sorry guys, this is a postrock show, we don't do that kind of thing here. He would have had far more success asking us to stare longinly at our shoes and scratch our collective chins thoughtfully.

The Longest Day

And so, beyond 10pm, enter The Program Initiative. Now, some bands have toyed with the idea of a concept album. TPI are essentially a concept band, existing at the centre of a make-believe story centred around the fictional 'Kepler Corporation' and their attempts to investigate 'The Anomaly', a strange entity that engulfs our Sun. So far, so sci-fi. As a band, TPI play typically epic instrumental rock, glacial and powerful at its slowest times, punishing at others. They recall the usual influences in the genre, but also retain (appropriately) a space-rock feel to them, helped by the bright synth chords and driving rhythm section that occasionally brings to mind, say, Secret Machines, particularly on opener 'Beneath The Plume', which combined with the shuttle launch footage really sets the tone well and is an early highlight.

The Program Initiative broadcast to the Joiners

What sets them apart is the fact that this takes place in the midst of a 60-minute film based around the storyline of the Kepler Corporation and projected onto a canvas screen placed in front of the stage (such that we do not see the band behind). There is no band introduction, no between song banter, the foursome are there solely to provide the music to the production. At its core, then, the TPI project is the ultimate music video, where the live music is intertwined with the visuals - mesmerising, occasionally stunning as they are.- to create a single piece of art. Songs come to a conclusion; but there is no applause. Instead the audience is held captive by the advancement of the (admittedly quite thin) storyline, where mock interviews, press conferences, news reports and the like put flesh on the otherwise quite abstract flashes of film to which the band soundtrack. A small technical hitch midway through spoilt the illusion somewhat (featuring the unwanted appearance of a Mac drop-down menu) and some of the rear-most audience members annoyingly insisted on talking through the quiet parts. If this was a proper cinema they'd have surely been dragged out quite quickly. The band make a brief 'appearance' towards the end, where the stage is lit behind the screen for a final flourish (ironically, to play album opener 'Commencement') before one final surprise to truly bring the experience of the previous hour to life. 

  

Film ends, lights up on stage and we see the band for the first time.

The Program Initiative are nothing short of fascinating. The experience is occasionally slightly overwhelming; that is to say that it is sometimes easy to forget in the midst of all that is going on that one is at a (post) rock gig at heart. Plus, nothing screams 'nerd' quite like a combination of instrumental rock and science fiction. But choose to buy into it and prepare for a special, and pretty unique, experience.

10 songs in 2010.

Let's establish some ground rules. This is not a definitive 'best of' list, but a cross-section of ten songs that in some way defined my 2010. Or I just love them. I find it tough to really rank them, so I've only got a top three - the rest are in no real order (ostensibly at least - they are listed as I thought of them, so there's probably an implicit sorting out that way). There'll probably be another ten on the way if I can find enough.So, ten bands, ten great songs, starting with...

1 - 65daysofstatic - Tiger Girl
That Tiger Girl is quite possibly the zenith of 65's incredible career to date is saying something. But this is well deserving of that accolade. A tease of a song that gradually unfolds over its ten minutes, it draws you in from its simple, unassuming beginnings to stop you in your tracks and leave you scraping skies and speechless. It is part post rock, part electronic, all special. A must.



2 - Sky Larkin - Still Windmills
Leeds' finest band, Sky Larkin, have been knocking on the door of something special for a while, something perfectly encapsulated in the opening lyric to this song - 'I know there's potential...'. Their second album Kaleide is a consistent highlight - probably my album of 2010 - so much so that picking one song from it is a tricky task. Still Windmills is a prime example of what they do so well - catchy hooks, razor-sharp guitars, quirky lyrics and effervescent vocals from the never-less-than-wonderful Katie Harkin.



3 - Maybeshewill - To The Skies From The Hillside
Not just for the song, but the way it combines with the video to create a single, jaw-droppingly beautiful piece of art. The music is not much in the way of progression from their first two albums, but then their first two albums were a little bit great. It peaks and troughs like any good post rock song should, but it shifts moods as well as sounds to create an all-out assault on the senses, crackling with tension, panic, power and sheer bliss. Listen, watch, and be in awe.






Los Campesinos! - The Sea Is A Good Place To Think Of The Future
Is it cheating to include a song that was given away free sometime in 2009 on a 2010 list? Not really, since it was the standout track on this year's 'Romance Is Boring' album. Appropriately windswept, emotional as ever and with an extra rawness that was missing from their more determindly twee efforts, Los Campesinos! are growing up. 



Frightened Rabbit - Skip The Youth
For their third longplayer, Frightened Rabbit have stepped up again in terms of grandeur. From their lo-fi, scruffy indie beginnings to this, a true epic that crests the six-minute barrier thanks in part to a patient intro that recalls a sort of You! Me! Dancing! for the manic depressive. It somewhat echoes labelmates The Twilight Sad, whilst remaining wholly their own.



Errors - Supertribe
Slick, mathy electro pop from the Scottish foursome. This band ended my nine-month gig drought, and I'm glad I went. Top stuff.




   Delphic - Acolyte
As if 'Tiger Girl' wasn't enough for one year, we get treated to another sumptuous, melodic instrumental from 2010's forgotten band.


Rolo Tomassi - Tongue In Chic
From the excellent, Diplo-produced second album 'Cosmology'. One moment screaming mathcore, then becomes all spaced out and jazzy, with ACTUAL singing and everything. (And I mean, everything). Clever, intricate and bloody scary.




Stagecoach - Map To The Freezer
Remember the first time you heard Los Campesinos!? (How do you deal with a pile-up of punctuation like that, eh?) Well Stagecoach have that same sense of unbridled, giddy fun about them, but with an added crunch to them, much like, say Dananananaykroyd or recent touring partners Johnny Foreigner. You can thank genius producer James Kenosha for that, deploying the same crisp rawness he brought to the Pulled Apart By Horses album. And yes, that video is 'Speed'. I don't really get why, either.





Maps and Atlases - Solid Ground
A quirky, unlikely math/folk crossover, like a downtempo This Town Needs Guns fronted by Napoleon IIIrd. And is as every bit as good as that sounds.

Johnny Foreigner - 'You Thought You Saw A Shooting Star But Yr Eyes Were Blurred With Tears And That Lighthouse Can Be Pretty Deceiving With The Sky So Clear And Sea So Calm'

Birmingham's indie heroes (and heroine) Johnny Foreigner still feel like a fresh, new, young band, and it takes quite a bit of adjusting to realise that they are two albums and a host of EPs and singles into their career to date. Their well-founded reputation has been built on a staple diet of scuzzy, shouty indie-pop that has permeated the vast majority of their catalogue to date. This, however, is a formula that only stretches so far, and even by their second longplayer, 'Grace And The Bigger Picture', signs of death by repetition were seeping in.

'YTYSASSBYEWBWTATLCBPDWTSSCASSC' (for short)*, then, is the confident sound of a band seemingly tired of their comfort zone and looking for ways to branch out. As such, this EP release seems slightly disjointed, almost haphazard in the way it shifts from one track to the next. At 20 minutes and 6 songs, this is less of a cohesive record, more a brainstorming session. Fortunately for JoFo, just about everything they turn their hands to just, well, bloody works.

'The Wind And The Weathervanes' serves as an unusually restrained opener, hazy and laid back in an almost Pavement-like fashion, changing tack halfway to unleash a wave of expansive guitar lines more reminiscent of a post-rock outfit than the band we have come to know and love. That string sounds appear over the coda serve as a further reminder that this is a new-look, more grown up band we are witnessing before our eyes and our ears.

Well, almost. Those strings fade out into 'Who Needs Comment Boxes When You've Got Knives', a determinedly out and out punk effort, certainly heavier than anything that they have made previously. It is a blistering and effective run through heavy chords and simple fast-paced drumming, backed by the familiar vocal interplay between Alexei and Kelly. Two tracks in and still no new direction found and stuck to. Where to next? On the second part of 'Elegy For Post-Teenage Living Parts One And Two', they turn to making skittish electro-pop, with Alexei monologuing over a synth bassline and programmed beats vaguely recalling early hit 'Salt, Pepa and Spinderella'.

And still they are not finished yet. 'Robert Scargill Takes The Prize' sees the band at their most tender, most heartfelt (a title it will hold for precisely two songs' time), a fragile boy/girl duet over plucked acoustic guitars and gentle keys turn proceedings towards folktronica for a moment. Christ, this band really can do anything. A neat touch is the false ending to this song, giving a few extra seconds of outro where many would just have gone 'enough'. By the time 'Harriet, By Proxy' arrives, it is almost familiarly unfamiliar, probably the only track here that could slip relatively unnoticed into either of their first two albums and yet in the context of this record something different again.

'Harriet...' decent enough though it is, almost serves as a pause before delivering something special for the closing track entitled, simply, 'Yr Loved'. Another slow-burning gem, beautiful both musically and lyrically and glittering with hope, this song confirms the new status of Johnny Foreigner. Forget the genre, style or direction. This band is life-affirming, and this EP is something to be savoured.






*I wonder how many reviews in the blogosphere will repeat this gag, but no matter.

Track Cycling Is Dead...

...long live, well, Sir Chris Hoy I guess.
On the weekend of the European Championships, it seems appropriate to reflect on the sweeping changes made to the sport in recent times. Since the last Olympics in 2008, when the Great Britain track team (I'm NOT calling it 'Team GB' - what a hateful phrase that is) ripped up the Beijing velodrome, the UCI have managed to completely take apart the sport, turning it into not only just a sprinter's game, but a restricted one even at that. This from a governing body who, according to the programme for the Manchester Track Worlds in 2008, '[their] commitment towards the promotion and development of Track cycling is a strategic priority'. Well it's a funny way to go about it, believe you me.

The story goes roughly like this. In a bid to give parity between men's and women's events at the Olympics (the men previously had 7 events to the women's 3) the UCI took their allocation of 10 events and split them 5 for each gender. So far, so fair, you might think. But in doing so, they have created a disparity between sprint and endurance cycling. Out goes the points race and the Madison - both enthralling tactical distance events, and (most contentiously) the Individual Pursuit (see feature below about this wonderful event). Many at this point cried anti-Great Britain foul (we'll come to that in a bit), given this country's record in particularly the IP, having won both sexes' disciplines with Bradley Wiggins and Rebecca Romero (and a bronze and silver too). This is not true, since in comes the Team Sprint, Team Pursuit and Keirin for women (all titles won by Britian in the last few years) and an Omnium event (a multi-event discipline introduced as a sop to the endurance riders) a version of which was won by Ed Clancy this year.

However, the UCI, according to some on the British team, dragged their feet in outlining the qualification process for 2012, and then by being reluctant to name the exact date of these Euros, giving rise to a potential conflict with the Commonwealth Games. Similar hesitancy was thrown at the Omnium event, with the exact format unknown even as of the 2010 Worlds. This could be interpreted as yet another attempt to destabilize what was becoming an almost mechanical British rout of the medal rostrum. All that was apparent that the version Clancy won was more sprint-friendly, and that the Olympic Omnium will take a more endurance, multi-day form. This weekend's competition should give a clear(er) picture of that. Let's be clear on this, governing bodies DO take action to try and break up repetitively dominant performances, the FIA on Ferrari in the last few years for instance, the raft of essentially anti-China rule changes in table tennis, the random draw, 5-frame format at the recent World Open snooker event.

Even more baffling decisions have been taken to affect the Olympic programme since, however, which are a clearer sign of breaking up the British dominance (and, to the same extent, the Australian stranglehold that has existed since 2009). The qualification format revealed that only one entrant (i.,e. one rider or team) per nation would be allowed to compete in any event. This only affects the Match Sprint and Keirin in reality since the team and bunch endurance events were always restricted at the championships anyway. In these events, however, the field is going to be greatly reduced. Added to this is a restriction on the number of riders from each contintent, to ensure a worldwide field. This, according to the qualification procedure, means that there will be only 8 contenders in the match sprint and keirin. Suddenly this is looking like a nonsense competition, a far cry from the 24-strong fields one is used to seeing. Victoria Pendleton makes the obvious but beautifully incisive analogy to athletics - like telling Asafa Powell he can't go to the Olympics alongside Usain Bolt. Now imagine the men's 100m going off as a straight final as well and you get a picture of just what a mess the whole thing has become. Apparently this is to remove the possibility of collusion, according to UCI President Pat McQuaid; well this could only happen in the Keirin, so a fairly redundant argument there. And apparently this rule introduces the sport to more nations, well with dramatically reduced fields across the board this hardly stacks up, does it?

Imposing the continental quota will thin down further what is already becoming a quality-deficient field. Based on the best riders from each country on the concluding World Rankings for 2009-10, the Men's Sprint would look like this.

Kevin Sireau (FRA) World #1
Shane Perkins (AUS) #2
Matt Crampton (GBR) #3
Maximillian Levy (GER) #5
Damian Zielinski (POL) #14
Travis Smith (CAN) #15
Azizulhasni Awang (MAL) #17
Lei Zhang (CHN) #19



I don't know whether the system is based on athletes individually, or whether athletes score points for their country, who then pick an athlete to represent them. This would be even worse; the qualifying nations and their rankings, and their corresponding best ranked rider together with his individual world ranking are all outlined below.

France (#1) - Sireau (#1)
Great Britain (#2) - Crampton (#3)
Australia (#3) - Perkins (#2)
Germany (#4) - Levy (#5)
Czech Republic (#5) - Denis Spicka (#18)
China (#8) - Zhang (#19)
Japan (#9) - Kazunari Watanabe (#32)
Canada (#12) - Smith (#15)

The powers that be have even decreed that Oceania get only one representative per event - which seems OK, given the relative size to Asia who get two, but remember that Australia and New Zealand are two of the bigger track nations and are well represented across the board, and Asia have very few riders who can compete at world level. It is simply astonishing that a rider even outside the top 10, let alone the top 30, could even potentially qualify for an 8-strong event. Even if they took the top 8 in the world - that would be exciting to watch, or the top 8 countries regardless of location, but to impose all these restrictions, forget it. Just forget it.

All this of course makes a mockery of the idea that the Olympics are the pinnacle of the sport. I'm not sure why this idea should be prevalent, since if participation is restricted by IOC athlete quotas, then surely the World Championships in the respective sport, where more athletes are given the chance to compete and in a wider range of events, then surely this should be the biggest event in that sport. Given the relative state of the Worlds and Olympics in track cycling, the prestige attached to the rainbow stripes awarded to the winner, and the chance to beat all of the best in the world to attain that winning status, and the full range of events then the Worlds are the hardest and best competition to win by a long, long way. Unfortunately, the exposure and funding that come with Olympic success are burning the sport at both ends of the candle. Fewer riders get that Olympic chance, mean that riders are turning their back on the track, hurting the sport at Worlds level too. An unqualified mess indeed.


Feature: Hot Pursuit
The men's 4km Individual Pursuit is one of the most historic, evocative and pure track cycling events. It is essentially a time trial at that distance, but head-to-head with an opponent starting from the opposite side of the track, so it is either the first rider to catch the other or the fastest to 4000m that wins. It is a hotbed of British success over the years, with a host of World and Olympic Champions, and the World Record is held by Chris Boardman at (the fantastically palindromic) 4:11.114 - a record unlikely to be challenged as it was set using the now banned 'Superman' position, which was a freakishly fast, if unwieldy, riding style. However, in the last few years, a raft of international (largely Anglophone) young talent has arisen and looked set to take the event to new levels. Indeed, the London 2012 4km IP should have been one of the entire Games' potential highlights. Alas, it looks set not to be. For interest, here is a rundown of the top 8 contenders that would have been.

Taylor Phinney (USA) - Reigning World Champion, having retained his title this year. Rode a 4:15.1 on his way to winning the 2009 Worlds.
Jesse Sargent (NZL) - Teammate of Phinney at Trek-Livestrong U23 this year, rode a 4:15.9 in the qualification round of the Worlds this year.
Hayden Roulston (NZL) - Olympic Silver medallist in Beijing, now a member of HTC-Columbia. Only had a brief spell as a pursuiter, rode 4:18 at the Worlds and Olympics in 2008.
Bradley Wiggins (GBR) - Twice Olympic Champion for the event, riding low 4:15 to set Olympic Records in successive Games. Set a PB of 4:15.036 in the first round of the Beijing Games.
Geraint Thomas (GBR) - Has a 4:15.015 to his name, and looked nailed on for a historic 4:13 clocking at the Manchester World Cup in 2009, when he stopped after catching his opponent Cornu in the final.
Jack Bobridge (AUS) - Rode a super fast 4:14.4 Australian record (bettering the time of the legendary Bradley McGee), the second fastest in history (effectively a standard position world record). Took a win on the road at ProTour level in the Eneco Tour this year.
Rohan Dennis (AUS) - Beaten by Bobridge in that record ride at the Australian championships, clocking a 4:15.7.
Dominique Cornu (BEL) - Former World U23 Time Trial Champion, another youngster with great potential, although his 4:17 clocking would struggle to get him into the medal rides. Astonishing when you consider Wiggins has won world titles with slower.

Great moments in pursuit - unashamedly Brit-centric.