10 mins with... @BritishCycling

It can be difficult to develop new content on a daily basis for a blog. Especially when its of such high quality and chock full of devastating insight. Frankly, I don't know how some of those blogger do it! 
I, on the other hand, write any old rubbish which springs to mind: the rain, falling off, puncturing, the rain etc.
So, in a bid to bring some new dynamism to these virtual pages, I offer to you the first Outstanding Natural Cycling interview.
I recently had the pleasure of catching up with Scott Dougal who is the Grande Fromage at British Cycling's communications department. He kindly agreed to answer a few questions.
I know this isn't critical interviewing but this blog is supposed to be a celebration of being on two wheels rather than a misery fest. Enjoy.

What was your first and what is your current bike(s)?

First bike was a Grifter, although I think I’d have rather had a Chopper. I've got a Trek mountain bike which is perfect for trails near where I live.

What’s the biggest challenge facing cycling in the UK?

Sustainability. Cycling has come a very long way in the last 10 years – a good indicator of which is the membership of British Cycling. Having rattled around 15-20,000 for much of our history, we shot past the 80,000 mark recently and we've seen 50% year on year growth since Brad won the Tour  last year. But the challenge is to make the gains sustainable – both in terms of popular interest in cycling as a sport as well as people using their bikes for fun or to get around.

Will cycling ever become as mainstream here in Britain as it is in the Netherlands or Denmark?

It’s certainly possible. I've been professionally involved in the sport for just over 10 years and where we are now is extraordinary compared to where we were then. And at British Cycling we remain very ambitious and I think the key thing will be to create a better environment for people on bikes out there on the roads.

We've been consistently successful in meeting our targets for elite success and increasing participation – what will make both of those sustainable is that once we've done our job of getting people on bikes, the habit sticks because using a bike is as easy as possible. British Cycling has significantly stepped up its campaigning work in the last two years and we’re seeing real dividends already, particularly because the growth in our membership means we have real clout.

Should we expect Britain to produce more star Olympic and pro cyclists in the coming years or are we living through a golden age?

The talent pathways are there and just this year we've seen significant success for Becky James, Simon Yates and Liam Phillips among others. But, again, key to sustainability of elite success is having as many people on bikes as possible, whatever their ability.

2014 should be spectacular for UK cycling with le Tour and Giro both visiting our shores. How much of an opportunity for the sport is this in your view?

Next year will be huge but this year, which you might have expected to be quiet compared to 2012 and 2014, has been pretty lively too. In 2014, we've got an international stage race for women, the Tour de France in England, Glasgow 2014 and the Tour of Britain. In amongst that, there is the national road race championships which broke new ground this year in terms of the spectators it attracted. So taken as a whole, there is a four-month period when cycling will really capture mainstream attention again. Can’t wait.

...and, in the red, Horner

Once again the Vuelta has trumped the other two - more prestigious - world tours for excitement, drama and superb racing.
While this years Tour was excellent and much better than last year's, the Giro was essentially a bit of a very cold and wet damp squib.
The drama played out in the mountains of the Pyrenees eventually saw the 42 year old Chris Horner eventually break Nibali to ride into the leader's red jersey with just two stages remaining. Leading by just three second with two stages to go, the final mountain stage was bike dueling at its very best. 

At 42, it shows there is hope for us all. Right, I have three years to get a ride at a pro team then ride myself into contention for a world tour.

June: Manchester bike month

Quite what happened to the month of May, I don't know. Had some lovely days riding and got a good few miles in. 

All the grim weather was in Italy for the Giro where Wiggo bailed out ill.

Some UCI tool denied any wrong doing relating to Lance's doping - that's despite them having the hematocrit levels of all riders...

But, anyway, that was May. It's June now and there's loads to look forward to: the tour starts this month, it's national bike week (15th - 23rd) and its also Manchester bike month - yes, a whole month of cycling related events and wot not.

Check out the web site for more info and, of course, ride safe. 

Time gentlemen please

May has been a great month for riding so far: dry and spring like. Of course, it's supposed to lash down later on for what seems like the first time in ages - what a difference a year makes.
This year's Giro is warming up nicely too - apart form the weather which has been pants - with a few early skirmishes from last year's winner Ryder Hesjedal and Nibali. 

Long way to go though and its a cert that Wiggo will nail the time trial. The use of time bonuses adds an extra dimension to the racing too - they were removed from le tour a couple of year back. There's no time bonus in le tour again this year but stage winners can console themselves with 4,000 euros and a place in history!

2013, Froome's year?

Chris Froome has been talking up Team Sky's chances for next season and he thinks it could be a magnificent year for the team.
By his reckoning, Sky could nail the Giro and Tour with Wiggins and himself respectively.
Much has been said about the Giro route being suited to Wiggo - time trials etc, but does the 100th Tour route suite Froome?

France, in yellow

Well, it's hilly and we all saw his superb form in the Tour's mountains last year.
If it pans out this way - Froome being given a shot at Le Tour - then next year's event will provide mouthwatering dual between Froome and Bertie on some memorable stages.
There are hills, hills and more hills on next year's parcours right up until the penultimate day.  The double ascent of Alpe d'Huez on the same day should be spectacular too.
I'm already looking forward to it. A bit sad? Possibly but we need something to keep us going throughout the winter!

Broadening the appeal

Back in March 2011, the outspoken president of the Association International des Groupes Cyclistes Professionels (AIGCP) and Garmin Sharp general manager Jonathan Vaughters threw a gauntlet down to cycling claiming that the sport should be as big as Premiership football or Formula 1.
To achieve this, he argued that a ten point plan be implemented which would launch the sport into the global stratosphere.
Leaving aside any power grab which he may be manoeuvring the pro teams to make against the UCI, Vaughters' plan - such as it was - had, in my view, a coherence and energy that would broaden the appeal of the sport; particularly as a TV event.
Don't get me wrong, I'd be happy watching an entire day's racing from signing on to the broom wagon making it home, but not everyone is the same.
But why does this matter now?

Looking good: AG2R in 2009

Well, the 5th idea of Vaughters' ten point plan was to introduce more team time trials.  Although he doesn't really expand on the idea, you can understand that the team time trial is a photogenic and dramatic looking event and ideal for TV.
And so it will be later today when the teams line up in Pamplona for the start of the Vuelta. 
In the last couple of years the Vuelta and Giro have started with team time trials but the Tour de France hasn't. It should be interesting to see how it goes and the response from the media the race receives in the UK.
With Froome leading the Sky team and Bertie back in the saddle, it should provide a fascinating glimpse into next year's Tour de France.

Retro cycling jerseys

What would the Tour de France be without the Malliot Jaune?  And the Giro without the Maglia Rosa? These are among the most recognisable jerseys in sport.  In the case of the tour's yellow, it's right up there with Brazil's famous football strip and the intimidating All Blacks kit: instantly recognisable around the world.
The design of the current crop of pro-team kit is quite interesting to read.  The obvious purpose of the design is to afford the sponsor as clear a platform as possible to build their profile.
It's odd that from my seat in the UK that exotic sounding teams are in fact just sponsorship platforms for the most mundane corporate activities.  I don't know what I was expecting but to find out that FDJ is the French equivalent of the National Lottery and that PMU, sponsors of the Tour's Malliot Vert is a bookies where French blokes go to have a flutter on the nags, kind of destroys the magic.
The nicest kit in the Peleton of le Tour this year was, in my view, Saxo / Tinkoff Bank, closely followed by Europecar's green.
However, it was defiantly Team Sky shirt which fulfilled its sponsorship objective most successfully.
It's retro styling is clean and neat and judging by the amount of people you see out wearing it, the sales of replicas have been strong for them.
I started watching the tour in the late 1980s - in the days of Channel 4 coverage and I really love some of the jerseys from that era.
Sean Kelly in the yellow of Kas, Roche in Carrera Jeans, the superb Systeme U shirt worn by, among others Lauren Fignon and Luis Hererra's Cafe de Columbia.  My favourite however, was the La Vie Claire top worn by Hinault and LeMond.
The Molteni shirt made famous by Merckx is a classic too which still looks fantastic.
Designs of almost everything go through a period of being naff before acquiring a retro cool and I think this is where some of the 1990s cycling shirts are now.

So whereas you can buy a new reproduction of the Merckx Moltenti and La Vie Claire from the superb Prendas Ciclismo, you can't get US Postal, T Mobile or Mercatone Uno.  But their time will probably come.

Classic year

2012 has already been a superb year for cycling and with lots more to come, it's set to live long in the memory.
Sure, the tour de France wasn't that exciting (Voeckler aside) but it was great to see Bradley on top of the podium in Paris. Wiggo's close win in the Paris-Nice and obliteration of the field in the Olympic TT, were great performances too.
Thomas de Ghent's stage win on the Stelvio in the Giro was inspiring as were Tom Boonen's gloveless rides in the spring classics.
With Chris Froome leading team Sky in the Vuelta and Olympic mountain biking this weekend, we really have been spoilt this year...