Tag: Mark Cavendish

Specialized Dishes Up CVNDSH

CVNDSHThe world’s fastest cyclist has a new deal with Specialized and it is very clear that “green means go.” Specialized has released a new line of signature products with Mark Cavendish – aka the Manx Missile. The CVNDSH Collection includes bar tape, saddle, helmet and much more.

“The bottom line is that the pieces are just so, so good,” said Cavendish. “It isn’t just my name on a jersey because I’ll never do that. I believe in the equipment, I personally helped design them with the team and I believe in the ability they have to help a rider be the fastest they can be.” Continue reading Specialized Dishes Up CVNDSH

Fast Lane Indeed

At-SpeedMark Cavendish is fast. Known as the world’s fastest sprinter he’s penned his second book, At Speed: My Life in the Fast Lane, which chronicles his days as a “fat” kid to his winningest Tour de France sprinter. It also offers up a personal look that at his screaming fights with teammates, his rancorous contract negotiations, crushing disappointments and his often testy relationship with the media. But it also shows that for Cavendish… winning is always the cure.

Velo Press: At Speed – My Life in the Fast Lane

Cav-iler Brand

CVNDSHWe heard that the world’s fastest man on a bicycle – that would be Mark Cavendish of the U.K. – has launched a new brand called CVNDSH. Since he’s also the bad boy of cycling we aren’t surprised that it also features the tagline “FST AS FCK,” but you can read it as you see it.

The first product to reportedly carry the CVNDSH brand was the Specialized Venge bicycle that was launched earlier this year at the Giro d’Italia pro-cycling race. We can only imagine what he might roll out this weekend at the start of the Tour de France.

CVNDSH Official Website

TrainingPeaks for Sky

This week the British Team Sky Pro Cycling announced that it has extended its agreement with TrainingPeaks to be the official supplier of training software for the 2012.This will allow Team Sky to continue to collect and monitor heart rate and power from each individual rider during training and racing, and utilize it in TrainingPeaks by team coaches and staff. Riders can futher adjust their own training program and regiment based on the fitness trends shown in the software.

It will be interesting to see how it helps Olympic gold medalist Bradley Wiggins, who will likely be racing in the London Olympics this summer, as well as current world champion and 2011 Tour de France green jersey winner Mark Cavendish this season. With both hoping for a potentially “golden” summer we’re sure they’ll be spending a lot of time using this data. While it probably is not as much time as they spend on the bike, but still enough to show that software is indeed changing the way athletes train; and that is helping the way they perform.

TrainingPeaks Official Website

Hands On: 3LC ‘Road Race’ DVD Training Session

A few weeks ago we wrote about the release of a series of training DVDs by Three Legs Cycling (3LC) based on the Isle of Man and the home of Mark Cavendish. 3LC currently has five, one hour long training sessions that are designed specifically for cyclists and take a little bit different approach than other training DVDs. 3LC’s approach is to focus on cadence and Rating of Perceived Exertion (RPE) instead of the watts or heart rate. Being  primarily a mountain bike rider and occasional racer who prefers long distance races like the Leadville Trail 100, my best performances on dirt seem to happen when riding at a higher cadence – these DVDs seemed perfect for my winter training needs.

3LC sent three DVDs our way, ‘Road Race’, ‘Sprinting’ and ‘Climbing’. Each of these 50 to 60-minute sessions are designed loosely to simulate the power exertion that can occur while performing each of these activities on a bike. ‘Road Race’ was first picked to review since it featured a little climbing and sprinting that might occur during a race; and in all honesty, starting with ‘Sprinting’ featuring Mark Cavendish wasn’t the physical abuse that I was looking to begin with. The riders in the video are all using turbo or rear wheel trainers. In theory any bicycle trainer is fine to use with this series as long as you can adjust the resistance to a point that you can maintain a cadence of 80 RPMs and lift it to 130+RPMs during various times in the session. Since the mid-1990s, I have been using Kreitler Dyno-Myte rollers (below) and recently added a weighted flywheel to simulate road resistance. This would be the trainer used for our evaluation. Continue reading Hands On: 3LC ‘Road Race’ DVD Training Session

3LC’s Spin on Training

Pounding out miles on the bike trainer through the shorter days of winter can be a real motivational challenge especially after a long day at the office. Hooking the bike up to the trainer, strapping on the heart rate monitor, watching the watt meter and simply turning over the pedals can be a real drag. Three Legs Cycling (3LC) has a series of training DVDs utilizing a different and simpler approach to training that promises a more exciting training experience.

The 3LC series DVDs are designed to help you stay fit, become stronger and stay motivated through the winter, but instead of requiring a host a monitoring devices, they have designed the series behind the philosophy of leg speed. Hook the bike up to the trainer, pop in the DVD and ride. The videos will take you through the workout and during certain intervals, instruct you to increase or decrease your leg speed. Even if you do not have a computer with cadence, simply watch the riders on the video and match their leg speed. If you feel good, put the bike in a harder gear and maintain the same cadence as the riders in the video. The beauty of the video is if you are having a lackluster day, simply put the bike in an easier gear, but match the cadence of the riders. It is that simple – always match the cadence.

Videos after the jump

London 2012 Cycling Road Race to End at Buckingham Palace

Back in 2007 the Tour de France started things off in London – sort of a “Tale of Two Cities” theme going on – with the prolog as well as the first stage heading from the Mall. Now the Mall will be center stage again for cycling as start of the men’s and women’s 2012 Olympic cycling road race, which see the finish in front of Buckingham Palace.

 Our friends at BikeRadar.com reported this week that the riders will likely be a figure-eight course that will take them out of London to the southwest and then back to the city. The reported men’s race will cover 265km, whilst the women’s race will be over 140km. The mostly flat terrain around London, and especially the final stretch, will prove to make a day for the sprinters, suggesting that Mark Cavendish could feel like a king for a day as he goes for the gold.

 [Via BikeRadar.com: London 2012 Olympics road race route details emerge]

Tour de France: Catching Up with HTC Columbia Out on the Road

We reported earlier this month that Team HTC Columbia had partnered with Google, and while the Tour de France is heading towards Paris you can still track the placement of riders in real time. Each rider with Team HTC Columbia is using the My Tracks program, and is carrying an HTC Legend device, so this allows for the location to be provided via GPS in real time.

You can also see the individual rider’s power, speed, cadence and heart rate data. About the only thing you can’t see is who is going to be the new lead out man for Mark Cavendish.

[Via ZDNet] 

Tour de France: Oakley on the Eyes

All eyes are on Oakley, or is that Oakley is on the eyes at this month’s Tour de France? The performance eyewear maker has announced updates to the glasses that will be worn by the competitors, and which will now be available to fans as well.

Lance Armstrong sporting a pair of Oakley Radar glass

Among the racers wearing the new Oakley glasses will be Lance Armstong, and he’ll be sporting LIVESTRONG versions of the Oakley Radar and Jawbone models. Each is available with quick change-out lenses, including the G30 lens that is being used by Armstrong. There will also be new Clear-Black Iridium Photochromic lenses with new technology that automatically adjusts to changing conditions – like those in parts of France where it can go from rain to sunny skies.

Fabian Cancellara will also  be riding in the Tour with Oakleys and while his chances to get back the Yellow jersey maybe off the radar, it will be the Oakley Radar glasses that will let him see the saw. He won’t be alone, as Carlos Sastre will also have his Radar on. Finally, look for Mark Cavendish to sprint to the finish with a pair of BMX Chrome Jawbone. Let’s just see if he actually can earn the green ones!

Oakley Official Site

BehindTheTour.com to check for information on Oakley riders and daily updates on the race.

Tour de France 2010: High Road Sports Teams Up With Google and Skype

Follow Mark Cavendish and the rest of Team HTC-Columbia throughout the Tour de France

This year fans of the Tour de France will be able to follow the HTC-Columbia riders in real time, thanks to a new technology and marketing collaboration with Google Inc. High Road Sports announced that will work with the Internet search engine giant, along with team sponsors HTC and SRM to provide data from the HTC-Columbia riders during this year’s tour.

This partnership won’t just let you see where the riders are on the course, but will give you details on track speed, heart rate of specific riders, power output and other data that is provided by the SRM power meter! So if you want to know how much power Mark Cavendish cranks out in a sprint, or the heart rate of Marco Pinotti in a time trial, you’ll be able to track it.

 Taiwan based HTC, which was the maker of the first Google Android powered mobile handset, worked closely with SRM, Google and High Road to develop the HTC Legend smartphone. These will collect real time racing and location information, which in turn can be transmitted wirelessly to Google’s own servers. The phones will run Google’s mobile application “My Tracks,” which can read the racing data directly from the SRM sensors on the HTC-Columbia rider’s bikes. 

And when Cavendish makes his famous “phone gesture” while crossing the finish line we’ll have to wonder if he’s thinking make a call with Skype. HTC-Columbia has also signed a deal with the global telecommunications service, and the Skype logo will make a debut on the jerseys as they ride through France.

High Road Sports: Team HTC-Columbia

Check back throughout the Tour de France for the news and updates on latest technological advances in the world of cycling.