Some athletes are purer than the driven snow when it comes to sportsmanship, fair play and all that stuff. But in my experience, the bike racing world is hardly top-heavy with those sorts of characters. Don?t get me wrong, it?s an awesome sport to be a part of, but the higher up the food chain you get the more cheating, back-stabbing and general unpleasantry there seems to be; I didn?t get as far in bike racing as I wanted to (few people do), but I?ve spent enough time in the industry to know that?s the case. And during my time racing bikes (I?m still racing bikes now, but not quite as prolifically) I like to think I was reasonably well respected by my peers. That?s to say I don?t think I ever gave anyone reason to think I?m a total arsehole. But I wasn?t an angel. Not many racers are.
Any motorcycle racer will have one or two confessions, and some will make your toes curl. Mine aren?t as bad as that, but I thought I?d share a few with you anyway, to give you an insight into the warped psyche of a bike racer. Here are my confessions as a motorcycle racer.

What I really think when I see a yellow flag.

Some racers say that the first thing they think when they see a yellow flag is ?Gosh, I hope whoever is involved in that incident is OK.? That?s what they say, but I?m not convinced that?s what they actually think. It?s certainly not what I think when I see a yellow flag waving and a bike spinning round on the floor. I would always think ?Nice one, that?s anoth...