Grassmarket

Nairo Quintana stars in the Colombian version of The Masked Singer, dressed as a chameleon. https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/nairo-quintana-appears-on-tv-singing-contest-in-chameleon-costume-after-il-lombardia/

OTOH, this is good news for Winter sports fans. A group of 87 ultramarathon runners were rescued on Saturday after they were left stranded by snow in a freezing Utah mountain range during the 50 mile race. The runners for the DC Peaks 50 ultramarathon had stopped as the Wasatch Mountains became hammered with 12 to 18 inches of snow, with temperatures plunging into the 20s. Rescue crews were called to the scene and searched for the missing runners for several hours using both on-foot and snow vehicle teams. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10077967/87-runners-rescued-Utah-ultramarathon-hit-18-inches-snow.html

Double blow for Irish cycling and indeed the Roche family, as both Nicholas Roche and his cousin Dan Martin have retired this month. Sam Bennett is left to fly the flag, as the younger cyclists like Eddie Dunbar haven't yet found their place after promising junior careers.

Agony for - we beat 1-0 but fall short of winning the Group by just one goal. So advance to the final qualifier next month.

Only just snow.

Bergamo fans making it impossible for Bergamo boy Masnada to get past Pogačar.

They were absolutely eating up the gap, then all of a sudden it fell apart. Madness.

Not quite won yet, local lad Masnada is on his case.

Turns out a month of movie premiers, celebrity parties & signing “influencer” deals is not the best way to maintain sporting consistency, to everyone’s surprise.

Geez, this isn’t good. A professional cyclist has detailed a harrowing attack during which he was knocked off his bike by machete-wielding thieves on motorbikes. Alexandar Richardson, 31, was training in Richmond Park on Thursday afternoonwhen four attackers gave chase, with two of them on motorbikes. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/sportsnews/article-10072847/Pro-cyclist-reveals-details-shocking-attack-10-000-bike-stolen-Richmond-Park.html

Lots of marathons this weekend Stockholm - Saturday Sunday Eindhoven Sofia Chicago (live on ES Player) and on Monday Boston, also live on ES TV. There are seemingly people hoping to do Chicago & Boston back to back.

Team GB 5 Iceland 0 in the first game. Korea beat Slovenia 3-0, so will be the team to beat. GBR play Slovenia tomorrow, & Korea on Sunday.

Must say I prefer the TV coverage in the bunch races when you have these live scoring graphics onscreen all the time.

Human Growth Hormone and EPO? Hey, leave some drugs for the rest of us, Blessing!

At last archaeologists start working for a living. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-10062337/Ancient-ski-trapped-Norwegian-ice-1-300-years-reunited-counterpart-2014.html

Commonwealth countries do NOT accept the Queen as their ruler. Some do, some don’t. India is one of those that doesn’t. Hence its constitution defines it as the REPUBLIC of India. No different than Brazil, Angola, Macau etc belonging to various Lusofonia organisations.

Same thing happened after London 2012 where the 3-rider 3000m TP went to a 4-rider 4000m format. Took a few years for everyone to get teams together. It’s harder to find or finance track sprinters because there is less chance of a track/road overlap.

In related news the government has committed to building Ireland’s first indoor velodrome. In fact, a combined cycling/badminton facility, so I can see arguments happening there.

And I guess is one of those countries that is not able to find three sprinters?

Two WRs for in the 3 woman sprint & two golds. French men completely messed up their start, were lucky not to be lapped. Katie Archibald set a new record with her 15th Euro Gold, this time for the Scratch.

Think of it as a kind of biathlon, gliding & sprinting. Crucial to nail the transition.

Looking at the results coming in….the Women’s Team Sprint is now being run in the same three rider/three lap format the men use, which means not many of the smaller countries can present teams, so only 6 nations competing. I’m supposing that’s going to be the default format now?

European Champs starting tomorrow. team has some Olympians, some squad members who didn't make Tokyo, and some new names. MenBRITTON Rhys Team Pursuit, Omnium, Madison, Points Race, Scratch Race, Elimination RaceBUNTING James Team Sprint, Keirin, Time TrialFIELDING Alistair Team SprintNORRIS Hayden Sprint, Time TrialPERRETT William Team Pursuit, Points Race, Elimination RaceTANFIELD Charlie Team Pursuit, Individual PursuitTIDBALL William Team Pursuit, Points Race, Elimination RaceTRUMAN Joseph Team Sprint, Sprint, KeirinTURNBULL Hamish Team Sprint, Sprint, KeirinWOOD Oliver Team Pursuit, Omnium, Madison, Scratch RaceWomenARCHIBALD Katie Omnium, Madison, Scratch RaceBARKER Megan Team Pursuit, Individual PursuitBARNWELL Ella Team PursuitBATE Lauren Team Sprint, Sprint, KeirinCAPEWELL Sophie Team Sprint, Sprint, KeirinEVANS Neah Omnium, Madison, Points Race, Elimination RaceKING Eluned Team Pursuit, MadisonLEECH Madelaine Team Pursuit, Individual PursuitLEWIS Sophie Team Pursuit, Madison, Points Race, Scratch Race, Elimination RaceRIDGE-DAVIS Blaine Team Sprint, Sprint, KeirinTANNER Millicent Team Sprint UEC's website is a bit of mess as usual, but the Tissot official timing website is a bit easier to understand, and you'll need it for the results of the morning sessions. https://www.tissottiming.com/2021/uec/en-gb

Hmmm.

But wait there’s more! Mark Cavendish won from a breakaway group in the Münsterland Giro in Germany. Also Andre Greipel’s farewell race.