04 January 2012

Recommended Reading: Cycling Media

Thanks to the Press
For the past weeks I have been wanting to read about the recent team camps, training, and introduction of the new 2012 team kits and bikes, but with the recent holiday period I was aware that I was falling behind and missing out on a lot of great news. For those of us lucky enough to have spent the time with family, and in the name of learning more about the sport, I offer a quick snapshot of some highlights you may have missed. It is time to catch up on news from the teams, characters, and equipment of professional cycling.
First of all if you have time for nothing else - this is the #1 recommended read by Jens Voigt. Jens Voigt is the man, and since I remain to this day upset over seeing the Photographer who threw a fan at the USA Pro Cycling Challenge, I am grateful to Jens for putting this story out there: Bicycling.com: Hardly Serious with Jens Voigt - A Tour de France Gift From Jens
The varied forms of press are fans themselves working to bring us news
More recent news and media updates: 
Cycling News: To find recent news about team camps and training, new team kits and rider bio shots, today CyclingNews.com has summarized the news they covered in recent months onto one neat tidy page for our convenience, see what you might have missed at: The Cyclingnews guide to team training camps and presentations 2011-2012
Cycle Sport: Cycle Sport’s Big Read of 2011 (a short sampling of their best from 2011)
Journalists: Pro cyclists are not the only ones changing teams, a number of journalists have found new homes for 2012. For starters John Wilcockson will now be writing for Peloton Magazine, and Red Kite Prayer. Charles Pelkey will also be writing for Red Kite Prayer. The third journalist (rather a very informed cartoonist) to recently flee VeloNews was Patrick O'Grady, I am uncertain where he is headed. Dan Wuori who began as a snarky Tweeter stepped in as these 3 big-hitters were heading for the exit, he has been writing The Livestream Diaries for VeloNews. Wuori also hangs out with Browne Eye's Neil Browne who is back to developing his own projects (Tour Chats). Good to see Dan Wuori doing well, although I am a fan of well-crafted snark only, and get annoyed with the massive waste of time of so many tweets and blogs (I say that as a blogger). Update 01/11/12: Pavé blog is closing shop and founder Whit Yost will be writing for Red Kite Prayer and Bicycling.com.
Recommended Blogs: Which reminds me I have updated my recommended blog list for 2012, found in the right hand column of this blog. A summary of the best for those interested in bikes, teams, traveling, and generally good people.
Racing already! The Santos Tour Down Under is January 15-22, 2012 in Australia. The big news of the day was that ASO forms partnership with Tour Down Under. Yes that ASO, the same good folks who run the Tour de France and so many other prominent races.

As we head into 2012, keep track of cycling news through these other great media resources: 
News
PezCyclingNews Read their EuroTrash Mondays series and EuroTrash Thursday series. 
Daily Peloton A little less mainstream news on Pro Teams and Continental Teams, you'll actually broaden your knowledge.
A list of other Cycling News sites can be found in the right hand column of this blog. 
Magazines
Cycle Sport  Real paper subscription, packed full of goodness and content. (or online) 
Peloton Magazine An online mag that I believe will be growing into the future. 
Columns
Hardly Serious with Jens Voigt By Jens Voigt (an absolute favorite) 
King Me By Ted King (you'll want to go on a group ride with this guy) 
Boulder Report By Joe Lindsey (honest writing) 
Ask Nick By Nick Legan (answers your questions, always informative)
Local Colorado Cycling News:  
303Cycling (support your local news and racing!)

And finally the line-up for 2012 - get to know your teams
UCI 2012 ProTeams  
  • click the team name to view the official list of 2012 team riders
  • click the team website to transfer to the actual team website
  • 2011 - 2012 UCI Road Calendar 
AST   ASTANAPRO TEAM    KAZ  team website
FDJ    FDJ-BIGMAT  FRA  team website
KAT   KATUSHATEAM  RUS  team website
LAM  LAMPRE- ISD   ITA  team website

UCI Professional Continental Team information