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William Fotheringham
Six key stages call for a tour de force
The 102nd Tour de France will be made up of 21 stages and will cover a total distance of 3?360km. The most likely challenges for the yellow jersey.
Commission starts probe into doping in cycling
The members of an independent commission that will probe cycling’s doping past since the Lance Armstrong scandal have been named.
A case of strong arm vs charm
On the one hand Lance Armstrong could be utterly engaging, but on the other he would bully anyone who dared to speak against him.
Lance Armstrong’s loss is win for clean cycling
Lance Armstrong’s concession that he can’t win his doping case finally allows the sport to move on, argues William Fotheringham.
The Contador conundrum
History has been on the side of the Tour de France organiser Christian Prudhomme in his quest to liven up the race.
It’s all about the romance
The return of cycling’s greatest comeback man to the Tour de France has not gone to script
Armstrong can’t afford to return
On hearing the news that Lance Armstrong was planning a comeback, a former professional said: ”They can’t ever stay away, can they?”
Lack of home-grown talent won’t dampen French spirits
Since the Sébastian Hinault era ended 23 years ago, French cycling has been a case of worthy endeavour, lots of local pride, little success.
The shrink who makes you bigger
”The sign on the door in the bowels of the Manchester Velodrome reads simply ”Steve Peters”, but there is plenty else it could say. Abandon preconceptions all those who enter…
No one deserves the yellow jersey
I didn’t watch Alberto Contador putting on the final yellow jersey of this year’s Tour de France in Paris. As I said, even before the disaster unfolded, this wasn’t a Tour where…
German TV pulls coverage over Tour doping
In the first move of its kind by any of the broadcasters that cover the Tour de France, German state television channels ARD and ZDF left the race on Thursday and, for the time…
Attempts to unseat Armstrong
The announcement of Jan Ullrich’s team for the Tour de France, which starts on Saturday, is a telling illustration of the way Lance Armstrong has upped the stakes during his…
The young guns find their target
It is what the French call un coup de jeune — an influx of youth — and, as well as Lance Armstrong’s effervescent form, the usual series of horrendous crashes, and heavy rain, it…
How the Pirate hit the rocks
To his fans, Marco Pantani was Il Pirata. Since his death in The Roses apartment hotel in Rimini on the evening of Valentine’s Day, Pantani’s other, hidden life has been brutally…
Peddling through pain
One of the great sporting metaphors inspired by the Tour de France is that of the race as a road to Calvary. Le calvaire has been routinely used throughout the 100 years since…