Pro Cycling Deaths

 Cyclists Get Killed

The recent tragic death of Finlay Tarling made ol' Zio wonder if someone proposed professional bicycle roadracing today, as if it was a new sport, what would happen? 

"OK boys, here's what I am proposing: We dress athletes up in spandex dancing costumes with styrofoam (like in your beer cooler) hats on their heads in-case they crash. We put 'em on super-light, super rigid plastic bicycles with rigid plastic slab-sided wheels. We get 200 of 'em to race in a huge pack over public roads. It will be an awesome spectacle! On public roads you ask? Sure, think of the scenery, the crowds at the roadside, the challenge of going up and down, across flat fields into the wind. It'll be great!"

Would someone then point out that years ago this was done using racing cars and motorcycles, but the danger to participants and spectators proved too great, so they moved racing to closed circuits? Would they ask how do you propose to keep private vehicles off these public roads during the racing?

My guess is that in 2026 nobody would grant approval for such a thing, yet it's widely popular despite the risks. Now and then a spectator gets hit and killed by a vehicle officially on the course, but you don't read much about that. Now and then a competitor gets killed, most often when he or she crashes, either from their own mistake or one made by another competitor.

But now and then a competitor gets killed because the control of the race course failed in some way. In the Tarling case they say a driver thought the race had passed-by, but failed to consider the dropped riders along with the "broom wagon" that usually has a big sign indicating that's the end of the race caravan - so the road can then be re-opened. They say he even asked spectators, but they seemed not to know any more about bike racing than the driver so nobody said "Wait for the broom wagon!" and the driver entered the course, going the wrong way.

This happened to Marco Pantani in 1995. A 4X4 vehicle came out of the woods and onto the course, eventually with a head-on collision that put Pantani and others into the hospital. Amazingly nobody was killed. Cycling resolved to do better with course control though in that case one wonders what could have prevented it?

And what does the head of the pro riders union have to say? Sadly, THIS but don't forget this guy seems only to get wound-up about "safety" when it's the Giro d'Italia and cold/wet weather so Zio won't hold his breath waiting for concrete actions from this clown. There are a few pros retiring after this season, can we hope one of them wants this job?

But we continue to see motorists somehow getting onto the course despite the efforts of the organizers, police, volunteers, etc. And now this.

A lot of hand-wringing and condolences. That'll fix it! At least the author did point-out that the UCI is trying to do something with SAFER and noted the opposition to it from a certain cycling components company.

Are they the only ones who seem to put profits/sales before safety? When so little seems to be getting done trying to make cycling safer Zio has to wonder. Perhaps it's time for a kind-of "put up or shut up" question to see how much the bicycle industry actually cares about the safety of those they employ to promote their products by racing with them?

Perhaps it's time for some boycotts of bicycle industry companies who stand in the way of efforts to make cycling safer? Would that get their attention? Would it result in improvements? Zio thinks it's worth a try!

April 1st again, part infinity

 WTF?

WTF is this? Is it April 1st again?

But the UCI rules-makers are more concerned about padded bras? Don't laugh, here's the story.

They put a stop to this silliness awhile back. Will they do it again?

Someone please explain this to Zio Lorenzo. Please.

Thoughts on LeTour 2026

 Le Tour de France 2026

Zio Lorenzo at LeTour 2024

Le Beeg Shew is over for another year. A few thoughts below:

First, a big F-YOU for this. The author has some nerve to write: Those who succeeded Froome as the sport’s pre-eminent general classification riders, Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard, have had to face the same questions and doubts that Froome did in his career. Namely, credibility over their performances.

Really? Based on what? The author even admits: Froome tested positive for the prohibited asthma drug salbutamol at the 2017 Vuelta a España – which he won – but he was cleared by the UCI and WADA of any wrongdoing nine months later. There were also accusations of Team Sky exploiting Therapeutic Use Exemptions (TUEs) for certain medications.

Have you read anything like this about the other guys? Me neither. So why the nasty comparison?

Sure, the yellow jersey race went rather flat once the pasty Dane crashed himself out but Pogacar can only beat the guys who are there, right? Remco Evenepoel proved Zio wrong when he said he should stick to one-day races while Isaac Del Toro raced well for a relative newbie and it was great to see the champ help his young protege. Zio contrasts this podium with the Giro's with the pasty Dane on top with Felix Gall and Jai Hindley on the next steps. So much for the woulda/coulda/shoulda from the Dane's camp.

The battles for the white, green and polka-dot jerseys were compelling in contrast, none of 'em truly wrapped-up until the race was nearly over. It was great to watch 19 year old Paul Seixas try to get on the podium as well as Lenny Martinez get 5th place, good news for the French but also tough to note none of the big-3 cycling countries (France, Italy or Spain) had riders win a single stage. Talk about globalization!

We watched Eurosport's TV coverage with Italy's RAI subbed-in now and then. We skip the English-language commentary, that pie-faced British woman they have is annoying enough when she comes on. She does interviews but rarely asks a question, instead just making a half-baked comment while nodding her head like a fan someone just handed a microphone and camera crew. Can't they do better? There are other women out there that are ex-racers and/or better journalists for sure! 

Vive LeTour!

Volcano fun

 Volcano Fun

Here's what's been going-on at our local volcano. It's 60 miles from where we live. Years ago we were driving at night and Heather saw it erupting with glowing red spews of lava, from a place south of Siracusa! We booked a week up there to get out of the summer heat though that was relative as it was hot even at 6000 feet!

You can see Rifugio Sapienza indicated on the ETNA model here. That's where we stayed. More accurately at a hotel nearby named CORSARO.

A bike-friendly place, wouldn't you say? This is the hotel lobby. Pro cyclist Michele Scarponi used to stay here for altitude training, they say he called to reserve a room just before he was tragically killed in 2017. This place has one of the world's best breakfast buffets and an amazingly friendly and caring staff.

We wanted to see the volcano up-close and since the eruptions had died down we rode the cable car up the side one day. From there they drive you further in a 4-wheel drive bus.

Then you get to walk around with a guide to see some craters that were active a few years ago. This is close to 9000 feet so the air is thin.

And the wind BLOWS! You kind-of get sandblasted so Zio Lorenzo wore pants despite the heat.

That's all that was happening when we were there, kind-of an "after eruption cigarette" for the volcano maybe?

Back at the hotel, life is tough!

Though we DID do some cycling! Most rides were the "15 minutes going down with an hour plus coming back up" type. Thank gawd for the e-bikes!!!

The "Brogan Adjustment"

 The Brogan Adjustment

And then:

Why pro teams continue to use SRAM escapes Zio Lorenzo. They stop if/when SRAM stops writing the fat checks, but with team budgets these days north of 20 million for an average WT team, how much can it matter, especially when it costs the team a race win? Winning races is what Zio thought it was all about.

Temperature Inflation

 Temperature Inflation?

Everyone is familiar with grade inflation and in the USA, the weather reports that concentrate on some subjective "feels like" temperatures rather than tell you what the actual thermometer readings are.  Few will argue that climate change is a hoax but Zio thinks things are going too far when some call for LeTour to be held in a cooler month.

Seems like the pros train for heat (note silly photo above) but all you read on English-language cycling sites is about how hot it is at the Tour de France. Here and here, for example. Oddly enough, the Italian-language sites Zio looks at don't much mention this. 

The TV images from Carcassonne the other day reminded ol' Zio of following Le Grand Boucle all over France back in the day. Back in the day when hotels in France mostly did not have A/C nor did the vehicles you drove around in. Back then you climbed off your bike at the top of a climb and bought a boisson from a roadside vendor. A drink described as "fraiche" but it came out of a big tub...of water.

Zio had to laugh when one of these sites noted "record" heat - from records that started being kept all the way back in 2007!

What has changed? The pros used to race around dressed in WOOL jerseys and shorts in 40 C heat for Pietro's sake. And don't tell me those guys went slow...TV images the other day showed the 2026 TdF peloton ambling along at 31 kph. Even ol' Zio can ride that speed! Maybe not for 5+ hours but he's a) not a pro b) he is an old-fart.

Notably silent (so far) is the rider's union rep. That guy who seems OK with racing every January in Australia when it's 40 C while screaming bloody murder every May in Italy when it rains or snows. It's not too hot for him?

Stick-thin modern racers have high-tech clothing with ice stuffed inside, hundreds of bottles handed-up, air-conditioned transportation and lodging, popsicles, ice-vests and more. Back-in-the-day it was a cabbage leaf under your cycling cap and whatever you could beg, borrow or steal to drink in-between jumping into a fountain or river.

Zio remembers back in the 1990's when Coca-Cola was a Tour sponsor. Their slogan was "Buvez Tres Froid" as the sign shows. There was a bit of a scandal when the Tour doctor claimed riders were getting sick from drinks TOO COLD! OOOooopps!

Zio wonders if the globalization of cycling has something to do with all of this? Back-in-the-day cyclists mostly came from places it was hot in the summer like France, Italy, Spain, etc. with the occasional Australian or British rider. Brits are notorious complainers about the heat since they have only one or two days of summer each year. Could this be behind all the current whining? Note this quote from one of the articles:

“So far, I’ve coped with it quite well,” Riccitello says. “I think just being from somewhere that is quite hot, I maybe adapt better. I don’t know. There’s only so much you can do.”

Riccitello is from Arizona, USA while we currently live in Sicily. For us it's "desert rat" time - awake at 6 AM, on the bike by 7 AM and back to our tiny island by 9 AM where we can enjoy a granita with brioche! Nobody is paying us to ride after all!

Update: As of July 12 2026, 40 C is too hot to race a full TdF stage. But somehow it wasn't back in January 2026 in Australia. WTF?

Fake Booze

 Fake Booze

Fake booze? Yep, you read that right. Zio Lorenzo finds himself living in the land of great wines and he can no longer enjoy them. He made a choice after A-Fib. It was booze or cycling, since they say alcohol is a huge trigger for A-Fib. But he missed the "adult beverage" part of meals as well as the aperitivo in the evenings. Ice tea just doesn't cut it!

So it was time to explore the ever-growing 0 alcohol drink selections. Beer was easy, there are hundreds of those now and after a month or two Zio could no longer even tell the difference. But wine's a different animal. He tried all the offerings from Sicily first, then spread to all over Italy, with zero positive results. Most of 'em were like fruit punch, especially the reds.

But fear not if you're in the same situation or just want to reduce/eliminate alcohol from your diet. Heather still imbibes and Zio enjoys selecting wines for her...he can still sniff 'em after all!

After trying most of 'em Zio ended up with wines from Thomson & Scott. He thought their claims were hyperbolic but he decided to try their wines since there's a local importer with fast shipping. The verdict? Whites are pretty easy, as are sparklers like the one below from Mionetto. But reds are a challenge, most of 'em taste like something, but it's NOT wine! Zio really hates the idea of drinking wines in Sicily that are imported from South Africa, but it's not his fault nobody else seems to have figured this out, right?

The red tastes like wine, something that Zio can't say about the others he's tried. Not GOOD wine, but wine just the same - think of the quality level you get with most wines-by-the-glass. "Inoffensive" was the description Zio's late father-in-law used to use. Zio took a bottle of the white to a seafood ristorante here in Sicily and shared a taste with a hidebound wine-snob who took a break from his "that's not wine" mantra (it IS wine, the alcohol is just removed) and declared it acceptable. The snob's wife has A-Fib but refused even a taste - go figure.

Mionetto now offers a fake version of Aperol so Zio has some of that coming to see if he can make a decent spritz*. Fingers crossed!

CIN-CIN!

*Update - Mionetto's "Aperitivo" isn't much like Aperol