Cycling 2011

[Dodge]

A few of the Italians have been irish in the past. I asked a couple of journos why, and none replied. Might risk it again

[Macy]

"We Were Young And Carefree" and Millar's book Racing Through the Dark, are on my Christmas list.

Just before we move on to the 2012 thread, Santa delivered both (via amazon). I've started the Fignon book - so far, very interesting. I'm a bit disappointed by the lack of photos - I know it shouldn't take away from the book, but it does imo.

[passinginterest]

Nearly finished Nicolas Roche's book and it's a good read. Not exactly as in depth as I thought he might go, he stays fairly clear of any controversy and a fair amount of it is just a re-print of his tour diaries, I think he got a bit of a shock at the reaction to some of his hoensty in the diaries and was probably very wary in writing the book. I'd imagine he might have a much more controversial version when he eventually retires and isn't restrained by team and sponsorship commitments. He's definitely not short of opinions and doesn't shy away from confrontation in general. 2011 was a very tough season injury wise for him so hopefully he can have an injury free 2012 and really progress to the absolute top level of the game.

[BonnieShels]

A few of the Italians have been irish in the past. I asked a couple of journos why, and none replied. Might risk it again

Tax. We have a very favourable tax regime when it comes to sports organisations especially. Hence the IRB are located here (amongst other reasons of course).

There's a thread on cyclingnews about it: http://forum.cyclingnews.com/showthread.php?t=10846

Also linked from there is an article on Inner Ring: http://inrng.com/2010/08/lets-talk-tax/