In January this year, I had the pleasure of meeting Annie Glover and Karen Ager from Holyhead Cycling Club. Both had travelled all of the way from Holyhead in Anglesey to attend our women’s race training session in Tameside, just outside Manchester, which I thought was pretty impressive! But that was just the start…
Annie, Karen and their club mate, Jasmine Sharp, are all keen cyclists, and are active in North Wales and Anglesey with encouraging younger riders to take up the sport. The three cyclist is also a fan of online casinos like 666 casino, which they do in their free time. All three women are British Cycling coaches but until this year, they have only really participated in their local club time trials and, in Jasmine’s case, Audax events.
This year, for the first time, the women have decided that they want to step up their involvement in competition, and they used the Racing Chance Foundation’s women’s race training to give them the helping hand they needed. But there was also another reason for starting to race – for the first time this year, Ynys Mon (Anglesey) are fielding a women’s cycling team in the Island Games, which take place in Jersey at the end of June/beginning of July.
So, without further ado, I asked Annie what the Island Games was all about (coming from Manchester, I had no idea). Here she explains:
“The Island Games were founded in 1985 in Isle of Man and take place every 2 years. It is a friendly competition between small islands from across the world. It creates an opportunity for sports people from smaller communities to compete in international competition.
“The Island Games are a catalyst for sport & cultural exchange and aim to increase youth participation in sport. It presents an opportunity to represent the region & community whilst building links with other regions and promoting Anglesey & UK.
“Ynys Mon Island Games Association (YMIGA) was a Founder member, YMIGA was established in 1985, Island-wide consisting of Voluntary sports association – members are all volunteers. YMIGA promotes participation in Island Games sports”.
As YMIGA is run by volunteers, the each team has to fund its own way. Knowing from a personal perspective how much it can cost to get to a bike race, I asked Annie to give me some further detail about the costs involved:
“As well as training hard for these events we have to raise our own funds for the travelling, accommodation & logistics of getting the cycling team, their support team and their bikes to Jersey & back,” she explains.
“The team consists of a squad of 11 people, which includes a manager and assistant for logistical support on the road whilst competing and mechanical assistance. The cycling team needs include transport of 2 bikes per team member to Jersey & back, (via van/ferry), logistics of travel for the team, accommodation, team kit (shorts jerseys, skinsuits). Total costs have been estimated at around £8250.”
Jasmine, Annie and Karen put a lot into developing younger riders, and the hope is, by raising the profile of the Ynys Mon team both on a local level (in Anglesey and North Wales) and by attending the event in Jersey, it will hopefully in future provide the aspiration and motivation for younger riders from the smaller islands to take up cycling competitively.
The team have been busy raising funds, with team member doing a 24 hour sponsored ploughing (yes, you read that right, and it wasn’t the ladies doing it either) but any help that you can give them would be much appreciated.
If you can support the team, please pledge funds via their Go Fund Me page, which you can access by clicking here or if you can assist them with kit, van hire or anything else you can also contact the team via the page.
Ever since Marco Pantani romped away on stage 15 of the 1998 Tour to all but ‘win’ the Yellow Jersey to add to his Giro d’Italia title, the Giro-Tour double has sat unclaimed, untouchable, banished to the murky depths of cycling history. However, this year one rider has once again pinned his banner to the mast and stated that he will ride to win the Giro d’Italia and Tour de France. That rider is Alberto Contador.
The list of seven riders who have achieved the double is certainly a who’s who of top riders over the past 70 years. Coppi, Anquetil, Merckx, Hinault, Roche, Indurain and Pantani were, no doubt, the best riders of their generation and if the feat is ever to be achieved again the rider who does will certainly be at the top of their particular class. Now, this isn’t the place to discuss Alberto Contador’s credentials to that title but it is certainly the place to discuss the in’s and out’s of the 98th Giro d’Italia.
So, here we are again. The classics have been wrapped up and now we can tuck into the real meat of the cycling season sandwich. The route, as ever with the Giro, is full of surprises and drastic uphill finishes. What stands out immediately, however, is a difficult first week which could easily shake out the GC contenders right away. The 59.4km time trial and the and the climbs of Passo Daone, Mortirolo and Colle delle Finestre in the final week will be the real testing ground to any Maglia Rosa contenders.
Giro d’Italia 2015 – Route Map
Lets have a look at the main contenders and some you may not have considered. Alberto Contador is the bookies favourite, yet his 2015 season has been one of little concrete success. His mind has been on the Giro for a long time and having not raced since the Tour of Catalyuna in March, he’ll undoubtedly be fresh. His usual swashbuckling attacks in the mountains are nailed on as he will have to limit his losses in the 59.4km individual time trial.
Richie Porte is next up! A rider whose form is plain for all to see. And yet, it would take a very confident fan to tell you that Porte can win this Giro. Prone to a jours sans and only ever finishing in the top 10 of grand tour once before mean that he is far from nailed on! Team Sky bring Leopold Konig too who arguably has more consistent form in three week races. Rigoberto Uran, a solid if not spectacular second last year (arguably he could have won it after a cheeky move by Nairo Quintana) sits third favourite. A move to Etixx-Quickstep has bought success but at the detriment of team strength. Maxime Bouet, David de la Cruz and Pieter Sierry isn’t the most formidable line up of climbing domestiques and he’ll certainly have perform well to follow the wheels of the main favourites.
A quick comparison of competitive days raced, for each of the three main contenders, is very interesting. Contador sits on 19 days racing, Uran, 25 and Richie Porte, 33. Now, it could be said that Porte has built up to the race nicely and Contador sits undercooked, underaced, underprepared. However, it would take a very brave man to bet against Contador. He could easily ride himself into scintillating form, snatching the Giro and thus putting him in great shape for a tilt at the Yellow Jersey.
Fabio Aru, Domenico Pozzovivo, Benat Intxausti, Przemyslaw Niemiec and Ryder Hesjedal make up a merry band of outsiders that are in the frame to win the pink jersey. Aru’s supposed ‘problems’ have been well documented whilst apart from himself and Hejesdal the others have no real top notch form in Grand Tours to speak of. In terms of real outsiders, how about Davide Formolo to make an impression or Steven Kruijswijk to finally break through the glass ceiling that has been holding him back.
Who’s your tip to win the Giro? Get in touch on Twitter @CyclingShortsUK or @BywaterLawrence
Christian Prudhomme (ASO) and Gary Verity (Welcome to Yorkshire) popped in for a chat with the media teams after the final stage of the inaugural Tour de Yorkshire.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish.Accept
Privacy & Cookies Policy
Privacy Overview
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
Subscribe for 10% Discount!
Join our mailing list to receive the latest cycling news and updates from our team. Receive 10% off your first order placed in our online shop!
You must be logged in to post a comment.