The most comprehensive tour resource on the web.

For Le Tour de France isporty have launched the most comprehensive resource on the web: www.isporty.com/tourdefrance. Creating a Tour aggregator from the very best sources of tour information and media across the web: BBC Sport, official sites, the UK cycling magazines (Cycling Weekly, Cycling Plus etc), the best blogs, podcasts (from itunes), video (from youtube) and photos (from Flickr)

Partnership with BBC Sport for social networking for cyclists

BBC Sport is partnering with sports social site isporty.com to launch social networking features for visitors to the BBC’s cycling website.

• http://www.bbc.co.uk/cycling
• http://www.isporty.com/club/BBC+Sport+Cycling

Under a new pilot scheme, visitors to bbc.co.uk/cycling are able to follow the latest news and info whilst clicking through to isporty to interact and network by creating their own sports profile, sharing their blogs, photos and videos and generally contributing and benefiting from a set of sports specific social networking features and a community of like-minded sports fans and participants.

BBC Sport assistant editor Claire Stocks said, ”This is part of the BBC’s growing commitment to let go of its own content and become part of the wider web.”

“This pilot project with isporty provides us with an innovative way of fostering a community around a popular sport ­ and allows us to offer our users the community features that they increasingly expect from the web.”

Mark Thompson, Director-General of the BBC, comments on letting go of BBC content can be viewed here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8p64EvutS-I

isporty launched 4 months ago (and now Europe’s largest sports social network website) by Chris Ward ­ ex agency founder who created the Friends Reunited media phenomenon, whilst investors include Terry Venables - England assistant manager.

Contact isporty:

For further information or informal chat about sport and web 2.0 opportunities. Chris Ward - chris@isporty.com +44 (0)7932746591

All here at wiggle would like to congratulate Stu Hayes and Andrea Whitcombe on their triumphs last weekend in winning the Corus UK Triathlon series.

The backdrop was Hyde Park for the third and last race of the 2007 Corus Race Series. The format was different to usual, in a new super sprint eliminator race, which included heats and a final over a 300m swim, 7km bike and 2.5km run course in and around The Serpentine.
 
After qualifying for the final in the early stages of the day Stuart finished in 4th place in the Final. This fourth place added to his 2nd at Strathclyde Park, Scotland and 3rd at Bryn Bach Park, Wales and concluded with him being Crowned the Corus Elite Series Champion.

Here’s what he had to say of the day:

“I’ve just arrived home (Loughborough) and I’m exhausted. It’s been a good day at Hyde Park and was fun competing on home soil. I really liked the different format too; it’s going to do wonders for my speed work. The track work with Clarkey paid off and I was the Corus Race Series winner. Let’s hope the UK put on some more races in this format! It’s going to make good television too. Be sure to look out for the coverage some time in August on Channel 4.
Got another busy week this week ahead of Salford next weekend, then it’s the London Tri the following weekend (my favourite race). Was pleased to see that Clarkey had a good race in Kitzbuhel coming home 6th - good work!! I’ll write again before I leave for Salford and let you know how it’s going. Until then train hard!!
 
Stuart”

Andrea also did superbly well by coming in 3rd. She dropped me a line yesterday:

“Hyde Park on a summers day, what a nice day for a swim…bike…and run!
 
The last of the Corus series took place on Sunday at Hyde Park in the form of an eliminator Super Sprint (300m swim/7k bike/2.5k run).   This was all new to me. The race format was two heats of approximately 20 athletes per race, with only 20 going through to the final (first 8 and 4 fastest losers).  My aim was to get through to the final with the minimum of effort.  I had decided to use platform pedals to save time in T2 but am not sure if this was the best thing to do.  I had hardly practised in them at all so it was a bit of a gamble.  The first round wasn’t too bad as I had a leisurely qualification.  Eight of us were clear coming on to the run so we all took it easy. 
 
The final however, was a much more manic affair.  I came out of the swim in 4^th position a second or two behind the leaders.  By the time I had put on my running shoes I had missed the pack so maybe if I’d my usual bike shoes and pedals I would have made the front group?  I ran ok and ended up in 3^rd position.  More importantly I achieved my goal of winning the women’s Corus Series along with fellow ‘Wiggler’ Stuart Hayes who won the men’s race. 
 
If this is the venue for the Olympic triathlon in 2012, I think it will be a good choice.”

- Andrea

Good luck to both athletes at Salford this weekend for the UK stop of the Tri world cup!

Well we’ve had to wait ages for these to arrive and they are finally here. My personal favourite in the 2007 Focus range the “Raven Expert” is now in stock and ready to ship.

This no holds barred full carbon hardtail is incredible, not just based on spec and looks but also on pure value… Compare it to any of the big boys like the Scott Scale 20 (comparable spec on the Expert and £200 cheaper!) or the the Trek XC 9.8 (similar spec on the Expert and £400 cheaper!) and you will see what I’m talking about. It really is a STEAL!

The Raven Expert from Focus features a superb new carbon frame with Focus’s own unique Mitsubishi carbon fibre. Add to this a full complement of Shimano XT, Avid Juicy 7 brakes and DT-Swiss wheels! 

• - Uni-direction Mitsubishi Carbon fibre mat
• - Critical sections: head tube and BB, multi-direction clockwise, seven layers
• - Tubes are 3-4 layers and conified. X-wrapped, one over the other
• - Outer layer is a raw carbon layer
• - Uniquely designed by Focus engineers, no other bike is made of the same carbon
• - Super-quick all-terrain racer
• - Full Shimano XT
• - Rock Shox Reba-SL
• - Approx Weight: 10.8kg (medium without pedals)

All for £1399.99!

We also have a few ex-demo’s used at the What MTB demo days (only the first one) that have had £300 slashed off the price so they are now down to £1099.99 and they are pretty much immaculate.

Get to wiggle now to check out the “Raven Expert”

ASSOS continue to innovate and introduce trend setting technologies into the world of cycling apparel. Ever since ASSOS invented the very first ‘Lycra cycling short’ back in the mid 70’s, ASSOS shorts have always been imitated but never equalled. At the ASSOS competence centre in San Pietro di Stabio - Switzerland, the members of the R&D Laboratory jointly feature over 350 years of know-how in cycling apparel, and it shows in their results. High performance, superbly comfortable and great looking cycle clothing.  We’ve got huge discounts on it, up to 23% at the moment but stocks are limited so get in there quick!

We’ve got cycling jerseys, bib shorts, gloves, windproofs and more so take a look at our Assos page and grab some bargains!

So, our “Tour De France special” wiggle Golden Ticket actually had two winners.

Dan Northover managed to bag the VIP Prologue day passes kindly given to us by Time. Here’s his thoughts on the day:

“The Saturday Prologue was just amazing. Probably one of the best days of my life infact!

I arrive at 11.30am sharp to meet my Time contact, he was a really nice guy who made me feel very welcome and ran through the itinerary for the day. Next we make our way into the ‘competitors village’ and within 5 mins I’m standing next to Sean Yates watching the mechanics arranging the Discovery TT bikes and the riders giving interviews in various languages! I then get to meet the Director sportif at Cofidis - Fabrice Vanoli… super-cool guy who obviously has a lot to deal with during the tour but treated us really well. He told me that I would be travelling in the team car behind Cristian Moreni. His start time was 4.30pm so I had some time to grab some (free) lunch in the village and go star spotting. Well… they were everywhere! Heroes past and present. First I bump in to Jens Voigt, probably my favourite of all time and have a brief chat and a photo! Then Jakob Piil walks past me and I also grab a pic with Faris Al-Sultan (IM Hawaii 2005 winner) Johan Bruneel, Andreas Kloeden, Levi etc etc to name but a few of the others I got up close to. Next thing I know and its 4.15pm and we’re getting ready to follow Moreni.

We pull up by the start ramp and Cristian gives us the thumbs up!! He’s obviously feeling good about this and seems relaxed compared to the other riders. From the gun the driver is screaming at Cristian to get going within a few seconds we’re up to 50kph and he’s entering the first corner. Now, my TT friends and I at Finsbury Park Cycling Club don’t get to deal with too many corners as we’re usually flying up and down the A1 and after Saturday I’m quite glad of that! The speed and angle this guy took the corners was terrifying just to watch… back wheel bumping around all over the place, he was so aggressive!

The crowds around the course were just fantastic… about 10-15 people deep and everyone going mad. It was truly a surreal moment. We get down the finish straight and you can see he’s really giving it the big one as he’s on for a good time… finally crossing the line in the top ten!! The driver doesn’t even raise a smile. He knows there’s a long way to go in this tour…

Awesome day… just AWESOME!!

Thanks WIGGLE!!!!

Dan Northover”

Some pictures from Dans day:

So the Mavic/Time/Wiggle TDF Golden Ticket comp came and went as quick as the grand depart…! Our Mavic winner has managed to write up a brief summary of his prize/day, sounds like it was amazing!

“It was strange to see the Gendarmerie drinking offensively strong coffee and puffing away on Gauloise in sight of Buckingham Palace. Clear too that even at 8am that London’s streets were going to be rammed with spectators. Mark and I took in the atmosphere of the Tour Village and after a couple of shows (including a dubious pair of teenage contortionists) we tore off in separate cars. Michel and Florian kept me informed and amused all the way from London to Canterbury and what sticks in the mind most apart from the crowds and the quite insane driving is the violence with which the pro cyclists ride. Every pedal stroke seemed to be calculated to snap the frames, how they keep it up for hour upon hour I have no idea. Chasing David Millar along the South Bank of Kent was thrilling, the crowd seemed to respond massively to a British break and surprised even the lugubrious Michel by shaking cow bells and waving tricolors.

Watching the 5 man breakaway call it a day and wait for the peloton catch them up was disappointing if understandable. You only really saw the pain on their faces when they realised that they were going to be caught. A great spectacle and a great sporting event, I can’t imagine that the moneyed spectators in helicopters above us had a better view. The only disappointment is how pointless it feels getting back on my own bike, when I’ve see just how well the pros do it. One of the Mavic boys suggested that when I next get on the bike I ought to remove the computer until feelings of inadequacy have subsided.

Cheers Wiggle and Mavic, I must remember to buy more of those valve extenders, best value bike part I’ve ever laid out on!”

Pics of the day:

We also had some great runners up prizes too

2nd Prize - Dr. Giulio Galassi of Kenilworth

Giulio was the lucky winner of a signed Cofidis race jersey and a Mavic Cosmic Elite wheelset - RRP nearly £300! He said the prize was ‘Fantastic!!!!’ as he was in need of some new training wheels for the winter.

The priceless jerseys are signed by many of the Cofidis team, take a look, they are amazing!

3rd place and winner of another signed Jersey is Mrs Helen Madden of Derbyshire and I’m still waiting to hear back from the 4th and 5th place winners… otherwise I might have to re-draw!

Great competitions are coming thick and fast from wiggle and here’s another!

Win a fantastic Polar CS600 HRM with Power Sensor & find out exactly how hard your favourite Tour de France riders are trying at any particular point in the race! This feature-packed advanced heart rate monitor is worth £474.50!

All you have to do is answer the questions below (answers on the wiggle site) and email us, along with your contact details, to competition@wiggle.co.uk.

1. What is the name of the Power Sensor kit that works in line with the CS600?

Competition closes 31st July, for full T&C’s see www.wiggle.co.uk/PolarComp

Elizabeth Spencer-Petty was the lucky winner of our eNewsletter exclusive bike week competition! Liz correctly emailed in and answered the competition questions:

1. What 2 colours is the Exertec Technical tee available in? - Grey/Black and Red/Grey
2. How long in metres is the YPK Klepto 2.0 Lock? - 2 metres

We will be sending her all these great prizes worth over £500!

Liz was ‘thrilled to bits’ about winning, and rightly so! Congratulations!

If you want to win some prizes from wiggle keep an eye on our blog and sign up to our eNewsletter. Have you seen our Helly Hansen Golden Ticket comp yet? You can win a week in Canada mastering your skills with MTB freestyle legends such as Andrew Shandro and Dave Watson at a Summer Gravity Camp in Whistler, BC!

It was another good weekend for both of wiggle’s supported triathletes at the Corus Elite Series National Championships in Tredegar. Stuart was only just out-sprinted in the final straight and finished an excellent 3rd place while Andrea ran the quickest time in the race and comfortably secured second place in the women’s event. I’m sure it must be all those extra bloggle fans cheering them on! ;-)

Both triathletes received some more good news today as they are both selected for British Elite team for the Salford BG Triathlon World Cup on 29 July, good luck!

Hot off the heels of our Tour de France Golden Ticket comp Wiggle have teamed up with Helly Hansen to bring you a prize with a combined value of over £3,500! Fly to BC for a week of extreme MTB coaching from world famous riders including Daniel Shandro and Dave Watson.

TAKE YOUR RIDING TO THE NEXT LEVEL!The Summer Gravity Camps are the ultimate week-long freeride mountain bike camp with hands on coaching for all ability levels. Based at the Whistler Mountain Bike Park and under the direction of freeride pioneer and X Games gold medallist Andrew Shandro, the camp focuses on all aspects of gravity riding, dirt jumping, drops, cornering, shore riding and our world famous slopestyle course. Campers now have access to the ultimate air awareness training facility; the Air Dome. Celebrity coaches include: Thomas Vanderham, Cam McCaul, Jordi Lunn, Geoff Gulevich, Wade Simmons, Dave Watson, Tyler Morland, Joe Schwartz and Katrina Strand!

For more info, pics and a few videos of exactly what the SGC’s are all about see http://www.summergravitycamps.com/

Full prize list includes;

2 x week passes to a Summer Gravity Camp in Whistler, Canada between 10th - 21st of August.
2 x return flights from designated UK airports.
2 x accommodation at the Summer Gravity Camp.
2 x lift passes for the Whistler Mountain Bike Park.
2 x bike rental.

It’s another once in a lifetime Golden Ticket Competition from wiggle!

Buy any Helly Hansen product for a chance to win! For full details and terms and conditions see the Helly Hansen Competition page.