http://blogs.independent.co.uk| Blogs from the Independent newspaper - news, views and features from the world's most free-thinking newspaper| Tue, 21 May 2013 22:19:08 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2| en hourly 1 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/05/20/on-the-road-at-the-giro-ditalia-we-could-have-been-on-the-tour-of-siberia-over-past-72-hours/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/05/20/on-the-road-at-the-giro-ditalia-we-could-have-been-on-the-tour-of-siberia-over-past-72-hours/#comments Mon, 20 May 2013 17:12:52 +0000 Martin Ayres http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=35057 When cyclists look back on their careers spanning many hundreds (and in some cases possibly thousands) of race days, I think the past couple will stand out as amongst the most testing.]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/05/20/on-the-road-at-the-giro-ditalia-we-could-have-been-on-the-tour-of-siberia-over-past-72-hours/feed/ 0 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/05/16/on-the-road-at-the-giro-ditalia-feeling-ill-and-racing-in-the-rain-must-be-pretty-grim/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/05/16/on-the-road-at-the-giro-ditalia-feeling-ill-and-racing-in-the-rain-must-be-pretty-grim/#comments Thu, 16 May 2013 16:10:28 +0000 Martin Ayres http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=34961 I can’t ever watch games of football or rugby without wistfully wondering what it must be like to be professional. On days like today however, I’m pretty happy not to be a pro cyclist! ]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/05/16/on-the-road-at-the-giro-ditalia-feeling-ill-and-racing-in-the-rain-must-be-pretty-grim/feed/ 1 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/05/13/on-the-road-at-the-giro-ditalia-there-are-a-lot-of-guys-sporting-pink-in-some-seriously-bright-shades/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/05/13/on-the-road-at-the-giro-ditalia-there-are-a-lot-of-guys-sporting-pink-in-some-seriously-bright-shades/#comments Mon, 13 May 2013 15:46:08 +0000 Martin Ayres http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=34872 Here in Treviso (a hub of Italian cycling) it looks like a big pink paint bomb has gone off. As with the Tour in yellow, the Giro is all about pink – the strapline for the race is ‘the fight for pink’. ]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/05/13/on-the-road-at-the-giro-ditalia-there-are-a-lot-of-guys-sporting-pink-in-some-seriously-bright-shades/feed/ 0 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/05/09/on-the-road-at-the-giro-ditalia-team-sky-take-obsession-with-the-weather-to-a-new-level/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/05/09/on-the-road-at-the-giro-ditalia-team-sky-take-obsession-with-the-weather-to-a-new-level/#comments Thu, 09 May 2013 14:53:53 +0000 Martin Ayres http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=34799 The weather over the past few days has been far from ideal. The riders turned up yesterday at the team bus looking like they’d just undergone a severe hosing down. I’m usually amazed by how well they look and cheerful they are after such long distances, but they really wore the day on their expressions yesterday.]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/05/09/on-the-road-at-the-giro-ditalia-team-sky-take-obsession-with-the-weather-to-a-new-level/feed/ 2 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/05/07/on-the-road-at-the-giro-ditalia-grand-tours-like-the-giro-require-levels-of-organisation-that-are-utterly-mind-boggling/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/05/07/on-the-road-at-the-giro-ditalia-grand-tours-like-the-giro-require-levels-of-organisation-that-are-utterly-mind-boggling/#comments Tue, 07 May 2013 16:30:37 +0000 Martin Ayres http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=34736 The mechanics and I were chatting the other day, and we have unanimously decided that professional cycling is probably the least logistically friendly sport in the world.]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/05/07/on-the-road-at-the-giro-ditalia-grand-tours-like-the-giro-require-levels-of-organisation-that-are-utterly-mind-boggling/feed/ 0 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/05/03/on-the-road-again-i-figured-he-was-pretty-tired-of-people-congratulating-him-so-me-and-sir-bradley-wiggins-just-had-a-chat-about-the-race-ahead/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/05/03/on-the-road-again-i-figured-he-was-pretty-tired-of-people-congratulating-him-so-me-and-sir-bradley-wiggins-just-had-a-chat-about-the-race-ahead/#comments Fri, 03 May 2013 15:27:06 +0000 Martin Ayres http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=34668 Giro d’Italia? What’s that? I hear you say. Well, for anyone who has thumbed past page one in the cycling-for-dummies handbook (no, that does not exist) it is the second most famous race in the world, only beaten by a certain Tour de France. ]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/05/03/on-the-road-again-i-figured-he-was-pretty-tired-of-people-congratulating-him-so-me-and-sir-bradley-wiggins-just-had-a-chat-about-the-race-ahead/feed/ 0 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/07/23/on-the-road-bradley-wiggins-and-team-sky-have-made-tour-de-france-history-its-been-emotional/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/07/23/on-the-road-bradley-wiggins-and-team-sky-have-made-tour-de-france-history-its-been-emotional/#comments Mon, 23 Jul 2012 13:07:25 +0000 Martin Ayres http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=26688 Martin Ayres has spent the past three weeks on the road with Team Sky. With victory secured yesterday afternoon on the Champs Elysee, Martin looks back at a life changing experience. ]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/07/23/on-the-road-bradley-wiggins-and-team-sky-have-made-tour-de-france-history-its-been-emotional/feed/ 3 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/07/20/on-the-road-getting-closer-to-paris/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/07/20/on-the-road-getting-closer-to-paris/#comments Fri, 20 Jul 2012 09:11:14 +0000 Martin Ayres http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=26576 We had a team meeting yesterday and Dave Brailsford reminded us that until we get Paris the job is not done.]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/07/20/on-the-road-getting-closer-to-paris/feed/ 0 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/07/17/on-the-road-sabotage-punctures-the-wrong-tack-and-le-gentleman-bradley-wiggins/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/07/17/on-the-road-sabotage-punctures-the-wrong-tack-and-le-gentleman-bradley-wiggins/#comments Tue, 17 Jul 2012 11:54:08 +0000 Martin Ayres http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=26441 The past 24 hours for everyone on the Tour has been dominated by tacks - 20mm long pieces of pure evil.]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/07/17/on-the-road-sabotage-punctures-the-wrong-tack-and-le-gentleman-bradley-wiggins/feed/ 2 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/07/12/on-the-road-bradley-wiggins-does-a-perfect-recreation-of-alan-partridges-dan-dan-dan/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/07/12/on-the-road-bradley-wiggins-does-a-perfect-recreation-of-alan-partridges-dan-dan-dan/#comments Thu, 12 Jul 2012 13:47:07 +0000 Martin Ayres http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=26277 The more time you spend on the road, the more important those small moments of fun to stop us all going deranged from the daily pressure of being on 'Le Tour'.]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/07/12/on-the-road-bradley-wiggins-does-a-perfect-recreation-of-alan-partridges-dan-dan-dan/feed/ 5 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/07/09/on-the-road-theres-a-new-colour-in-the-team-sky-camp-and-its-yellow/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/07/09/on-the-road-theres-a-new-colour-in-the-team-sky-camp-and-its-yellow/#comments Mon, 09 Jul 2012 15:08:43 +0000 Martin Ayres http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=26152 On Bradley’s arrival, he bounded out of the team car and shook the hand of every single person on the team, including yours truly. It was a real mark of the respect that exists between the riders and their support team, and made my day after missing out on watching the stage.]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/07/09/on-the-road-theres-a-new-colour-in-the-team-sky-camp-and-its-yellow/feed/ 0 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/07/05/on-the-road-team-sky-can-make-history-on-tour-de-france/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/07/05/on-the-road-team-sky-can-make-history-on-tour-de-france/#comments Thu, 05 Jul 2012 09:51:01 +0000 Martin Ayres http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=25978 No one on Team Sky mentions it; let alone discusses it for fear of jinxing the whole thing, but I can tell it is there.]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/07/05/on-the-road-team-sky-can-make-history-on-tour-de-france/feed/ 1