Friday, already?  We’re not quite sure how that happened.  PBK towers has been a hive of activity recently, why I hear you cry?  All will become clear in the next week or two…

But enough of this vagueness, let’s get on to the good stuff and take a look at the week that was in cycling, some cool shiny stuff and what Grant is doing this weekend (you won’t be disappointed).

The News in Brief:

Goss nails it.

Goss celebrates whilst Cancellara suffers.

In racing news, last Saturday Matt Goss nailed it to win the Milan-San Remo.  The first Australian to win the prestigious Classic, this victory takes its place in what is turning out to be a phenomenal season for the 24 year old.  In an incident packed race, Goss kept his head and rode a fantastic strategy, working with Pozzatto and Ballan to chase down Gilbert with just 2km to go.  Having done this, he positioned himself perfectly in the final sprint to drop Fabian Cancellara and Gilbert with time to celebrate.

Goss turned pro in 2007 moving to HTC-Highroad in 2010.  To date he’s lacked the big Classics victory to really put him on the map, but with 8 wins to name this season already, the addition of Milan-San Remo marks Goss out as potentially one of the best Classics riders of his generation.

Sadly the PBK tips of Cavendish and Thor failed to make an impact in the race.  Thor Hushovd had a big crash on La Manie, badly bruising his hip and removing any hopes of winning.  Cavendish carried on much in the same vein as he has all year, still struggling to turn his alleged form in to results, blaming bad guts.  It will be interesting to see how (if!) the team dynamics shift at HTC, with Goss riding so well. Will Cav retain his principal status?  Time will tell.

Contador Corner: Contador’s not out of the woods yet.

Don't celebrate too soon Alberto...

It’s emerged this week that the UCI has appealed against the decision to clear Contador of all doping charges. The news comes just as Contador is beginning to get back into the swing of things, having already won the Tour of Murcia and as we write this, leading the Tour of Catalunya after storming to victory on the third stage.

The UCI’s reasoning for launching the appeal are centred around the fact that they are not convinced Contador had proved the positive doping control was caused by contamination, before continuing to state that cycling deserved to have the highest authority render a final decision. The ‘highest authority’ referred to here is the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). Pat McQuaid has recently explained that the political pressure placed upon the Spanish Cycling Federation compelled the UCI to appeal the decision.

The UCI highlighted the fact that CAS is the most impartial and transparent authority available and this should therefore lead to a fair examination of all the available evidence.

Contador has since reiterated his confidence that he will prove his innocence for a final time. Nevertheless, we can expect to see numerous stories regarding the Spaniard for quite some time. CAS has already indicated that their decision may not come in time for the Tour de France so it’s likely we’ll see the Spaniard up against the Schlecks regardless of CAS’s eventual decision.

Dangerous Cycling…

Car lanes may be a very long way away.

We saw earlier this year how New York’s local government has come down hard on cyclists and now it’s the turn of UK riders.

A conservative backbencher MP in the UK Parliament has put forward a motion to increase sentences given out to cyclists who are seen to be endangering others on the road. The motion, which was put forward on Monday, has been judged by the UK’s national cycle association as a distraction from dangerous motorists who put cyclists in danger on the roads of the UK.

One of the main figures which stood out in the parliamentary debate was from the Department for Transport’s Road casualties 2009 report. In 2009 there were no fatal collisions in the UK between pedestrians and cyclists whereas in contrast there were 426 deaths involving motor vehicles and pedestrians. Figures from other years projected a similar image.

The Bill proposes more serious punishments for cyclists who cause deaths similar to those currently imposed on motorists. This change to the law came about after 17 year old Rhiannon Bennett was struck by a cyclist in 2007. She sustained serious injuries and later died in hospital 6 days later. The cyclist involved, who had mounted the pavement, received a £2,200 fine.

It remains to be seen whether this bill will receive serious attention, but at a time when so many cyclists are being killed on the roads, it strikes us that the balance of attention is perhaps skewed.

Pictures of the Week:

It's art innit...

Dear PBK, I don't seem to travel very far, Yours, Confused from ?

Video of the Week:

This week we’re taking a look at the ‘Hipsters’.  John reliably informs me this is where it’s at.  All I know is that I would not like to win a roller race wearing jeans, clammy.

Pick of the Week’s New Products.

First for your delectation and delight we have these stealthy, special edition Fulcrum Racing Zero’s.  For those of us who have one set of wheels for everything, the Aluminium Racing Zero’s are possibly THE wheel of choice.  These new, strictly limited edition (there are just 250 of these in the UK!), stealthy Racing Zero’s look as good as they perform.  Tres bon.

We’ve had a big drop of 2011 Pearl Izumi, it’s looking really nice, to see the entire Pearl Izumi range at PBK check here, but in the meantime to whet your appetite here’s a very nice summer jersey.

Zipvit have also landed this week, a UK/Swiss company they worked closely with the Cervelo Test Team to develop a range of advanced energy products.  Check out our Zipvit Blog for more info, in the meantime the office can testify to the tastiness of these Watermelon and Pomegranate energy chews!

What We’re Upto this Weekend:

• Grant is going to see Katy Perry.  Told you it was good.
• Chris is gonna throw his leg over the bicycle and then pedal it – ace.
• John is on R&R after last weekend; you don’t know man, you weren’t there…
• Anthony is looking after Yogi the family dog this weekend and hopefully getting some time on the bike.

There we go, have a great weekend folks and don’t forget to give us your mile count on Facebook on Monday!