Dylan Reynolds's Roar Profile

Not trying to blatantly plug a piece I recently wrote – well not much anyway! The piece I wrote was an interview I did with John Robertson who now drives for Skoda at the TDU and TdeF. John was the manager of Barloworld that was the first African team in the Tour. I found his comments about the Eurocentricity of cycling extremely interesting, particularly in the context of developing African cycling. Here’s the interview – http://www.theroar.com.au/2013/02/02/the-skoda-stig-a-view-from-within-the-peloton-part-2-barloworld/

Africa's emergence in cycling

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Not a chance! Sagan was a revelation last year but he is no longer an unknown entity. Seems that Cav is in a team he is happy with they will be pulling for him this year in a way that Sky simply couldn’t last year. Give Sagan a couple of years and I’d concur that he might have a chance of knocking Cav off his perch but I reckon that this year is still a bit early. Good article all the same Felix.

Will Sagan win more Tour de France stages than Cavendish?

You’ve got a few years on me Nathan but I think I prefer the old way too!

On distance, elitism and John Mullan, cycling's true hero

Nice to get a breath of optimism regarding the upcoming season. Introspection is all well and necessary but from a fan perspective we have a great season ahead of us that we shouldn’t downplay.

Smiling Cavendish going for gold in Qatar

@Adam – good point regarding Colombia being a hub for non white riders. I actually think that it is one of the national sports over there and there still is a conveyor belt of quality climbers coming out of the country.

In terms of the lack of black cyclists I concur with the comments made by Tim about opportunity and coaching. However, drawing parallels with running for example doesn’t work to my mind.

In essence I think you will find potential cycling champions in every race, creed and colour. The barrier with cycling though is that it is not as easy to discover that potential because of the equipment involved.

Take sub Saharan Africa for example where a high percentage of people ride bikes as their primary mode of transport. I know from experience the sorts of distance they cover on bikes that I’d struggle to make the pedals go round on or even keep straight. The boda boda bike taxis in Uganda are also testament to the strength some of these riders have.

However, identifying any one individual as a potential cycling champion doesn’t come easy because of the barriers created by the equipment required.

If you consider say the runners of East Africa it is pretty easy to ascertain who the fastest are because putting on running races is hardly cost inhibitive. Identifying potential is therefore easy and you can build from there.

Cycling by definition doesn’t offer the same simplicity and hence in terms of racing can only really be viewed as an elitist sport in the developing world.

Cycling is too white

It is a great event and part of the charm is definitely the accessibility. I think for it to increase it position of importance though they need to be able to shift it in the calendar – if possible. As it stands it is used as little more than a training run for the bigger names.

The Tour Down Under versus the Tour de France

Good article Sam! The whole Strava thing really has become a phenomenon in it’s own right and it is amusing how much people now tap into it – myself included. Had an amusing chat with a couple of guys last week who told me that they regularly contact Strava if the there is an infeasible KOM on the rankings. I might do the same for the 758 times that were better then my own on the Bobbin Head hill on Sunday. Cheats the lot of them!

Are you a stravasshole when you train?

It is a noble idea that of increasing the team emphasis but in reality much of the appeal of cycling lies with who is individually the star, be it in the mountains, in the sprints or the GC. Personally I’m not sure about this idea of cycling in crisis given the viewing figures have paradoxically increased the dirtier the sport appears. I agree that there is a need for institutional changes but I think the biological passport for example has been a great step in the right direction and hopefully the Armstrong saga will lead to a broader purge of the old guard. But taking away the individual element acts to the detriment of the sports general appeal.

Post Lance: What's next for cycling?

Funny you should mention the Beach Road as I cycled along it just after Christmas. It really is a cyclist mecca and I can appreciate why saying hello to everyone that passed would soon become very tedious.

On a positive note I got chatting to a guy as I rode along and we happily whiled away half an hour chewing the fat. Made for a far more pleasurable ride since I was riding on my own.

I guess the crux of my point doesn’t necessarily relate to contriving hellos out of everyone you pass on a bike, just those that you come into direct contact with. This relates more when you are way from the crowds and overtake someone or are overtaken yourself. It always strikes me as odd that a lot of folk just pretend that you are not there.

The joy of being on a bike as opposed to in a car is that you are out of the cage and interaction is so much easier.

This is a great letter with no punches pulled. It is a shame that it will no doubt not get the coverage it deserves as the world is waiting on tenterhooks for what will be little more than a publicity stunt with Oprah and LA. Would be great if we could get just a fraction of the sincerity from that interview as Nicole has demonstrated with her letter.

Nicole Cook's retirement speech criticises Armstrong and Hamilton