The Clouds Factory

In collaboration with David Warriner (@DrDavidWarriner) Cycling is a global sport and as such it needs money, lots of it. For a team to succeed, it requires expensive equipment, a hefty budget to attract the best riders and to be able to run a smooth operation. Inevitably, where there are financial gains and marketing exposure, there are matters of ethical nature. Over the years, many morally questionable characters have come and gone, but doping has continued to mar this tough sport, creating doubts on the behaviour of riders, managers, race organisers and institutions, as fans still yearn to believe in their idols. However, once those problems appeared to be superficially under control, globalisation, or rather commercialisation, took precedence and with it the search for big bucks and ever more lucrative contracts. Professional cycling is financially unstable: careers, contracts, sponsors and teams are all too often short-lived. As a result, team managers have to pursue a...

Democracy, that Ancient Greek invention, the reason for millions of deaths all over the world, is taken for granted, ridiculed and ignored. We're reminded we fought for it; we protest against dictatorships; we laugh at the single-choice vote in Kazakhstan or North Korea, Belarus or Russia. But when it comes to voting, we simply don't want to know. We rely on others to support our own apathy, our laziness to engage with current political topics. The very word 'politics' turns us off. In 1950, 84% of eligible voters did the deed; last year it was 66%, rising slightly from the lowest point of 59% in 2001. In 2015, 15 million of the registered voters did not go to the polling stations, and 4 million did not even register in the first place. EU elections' average turnout is even lower, around 34%. The EU referendum is perhaps a bigger concern to most people so I expect the turnout to be somewhere around the 50% mark. Poor. We vote within social media, we moan, argue, ...

BHS, Woolworths, Austin Reed, Blockbuster, Comet, JJB Sports, to name a few. But not only retail: steel, coal, banking. Big companies come and go, file for bankruptcy, fold. Jobs, thousands of them are lost in the name of capitalism, an old-fashioned capitalism. The type where managers/owners/entrepreneurs simply use companies to inflate their portfolios, to seek short term gains, unashamedly steal the cash and drop the consequences to others. There is undoubtedly a pattern in terms of the type of companies that fold. Most are simply not meeting the demands of a fast changing market or the implementation of technological advances. But they are also kept that way by investors whose sole aim is to make big money fast and run. No need to upgrade stores, train staff, research markets. Companies are bought, money is appropriated, then those same companies are sold, dismissed and good luck to the next owner. It's happening in the name of freedom, free market, individual pursuit for...

Nibali won his second Giro d'Italia in what has been hailed as one of the best last minute surges since... well, probably Flandis at the Tour. Or was it? The element of suspicion for any winner is high. Social media are quick to analyse a victory in every detail and from any stance. Years of cheaters draw inevitable conclusions from many sides. Nibali, up until stage 17, was apparently under the weather, thus under-performing. This brought on speculation on the negative effects of changing crank length so close to a GT and so late in a career. But Merckx did the same, although I believe he went for shorter cranks rather than longer ones like Nibali's. Then the Italian was taken to see team doctors and after that he started performing at his best. Astana does come with a heavy baggage of doping offences, including its own manager Vinokourov, so it was easy enough to finger point to a darker side of that sudden burst of energy.

Cycling is passion, history, grit, determination, but also innovation and... conjecture. Although rivalries have always been part of the sport, social media have now given dualism of opinions a loud platform. In the past, we saw discord between the two major groupset companies (Campagnolo vs Shimano), or between riders, (Coppi vs Bartali). Books have been written about it, and plenty of banter has been dished out over the years. The immediacy and exponential reach of social media has escalated the debates surrounding certain topics, as more people are inclined to share their own views based on personal experiences. It can be about the effectiveness of helmets, the use of cycle lanes, the introduction of disc brakes in the peloton or the veracity of doping suspicions and yes, Team Sky!

The similarities between “Tommeke” Tom Boonen and “Spartacus” Fabian Cancellara are uncanny. To choose who is the best rider of the two would be like choosing between two of your own siblings. Different characteristics have produced comparable results. Boonen is the sprinter of the two (or at least he was at the height of his career), while Cancellara has the better tactical sense, mostly.

Demarcation is a dividing line. While it is also a pun on the rider's name, it highlights the thin line between glory and infamy. As soon as the Frenchman crossed the line ahead of a marauding gang of sprinters, I punched a fist into the air to celebrate. A new rider was winning a classic, let alone a Monument, which is always a good thing for the sport. It's exciting to see young talent finally coming through the ranks, and Demare is an inspiring young man. I first noticed him at London 2012 when, soon after finishing, he stood right next to me at the 300-metre mark to watch the rest of the riders come through and soak up the atmosphere with his girlfriend. I didn't know at first who he was, but I noticed the world champion stripes in his shoes (he was reigning under-23 World champion).