The Tour has purposely been making the sprint stages shorter this year to incite more action and true to form, the race exploded out of the blocks with a breakaway getting clear, one that contained Deceunink-Quickstep’s Kasper Asgreen, a danger man for the GC.
Read MoreHow to explain Mathieu van der Poel’s improbable and successful defense of the Yellow Jersey? It’s such a madcap story.
Read MoreApparently, the entire Deceunick-Quickstep organization collapsed into tears after his win, Cav’s first at the Tour in five years, after that long drought of suffering through illness and deep depression. Cavendish felt that he’d “come home” when team boss Patrick Lefevere offered him a minimum contract this year, a contract largely considered as a gesture of mercy to a down-and-out racer, one with a limited future.
Read MoreMadiot shouted out the alarm yesterday and everyone should listen because he speaks from deep knowledge and is expressing a real fear for cycling. He lashed out at everyone - race organizers, manufacturers, riders and the UCI.
Read MoreOk, I cried, cried like a baby and I’m not the only one. You’ve just got to love cycling after yesterday. For those who might not know, Raymond Poulidor (deceased November 13, 2019) was a cycling icon, the most popular racer in France in the 1960’s and beyond, known for his humility and fighting spirit.
Read MoreIt was clear that the second crash was coming. The Tour had this terrible habit of putting tiny roads into the finale of the first stage, the stage where the riders are the freshest, most nervous and aggressive.
Read MoreThere was an important moment on Stage Three when, at the top of a tough, steep climb, Roglič made an attack and McNulty was one of the few able to respond. That, for a young, rising racer, is a mark: a moment in a career when you see and feel that you’ve got the goods to go with the very best.
Read MoreAsgreen’s volume of teamwork at the past two Tours de France has nothing short of astounding. From riding tempo on the front, for what seems to have been hours at a time, to hyper-fast lead-outs for their sprinters, the Danish champion was ever-present at the front of the peloton for the entire three-weeks of the Tours.
Read MoreFor all of the talk of the “new and young” Movistar team, what was clear, after watching the Valter 2000 finishing climb, which in fact finished at 2100 meters, is that Alejandro Valverde remains their franchise player.
Read MoreI love to watch, gauge and internalize efforts that the riders make, counting their kilometers in front, length of their pulls, the respective levels of suffering. It’s just as exciting and interesting to me as a sprint finish.
Read MoreWhat remains with me, of the fleeting impressions one absorbs in watching a race, is the sense that McNulty is at ease in the role of leader.
Read MoreLong lean legs that move in a perfect circle absent any side-to-side movement, the saddle high and somewhat forward in the modern manner yet maintaining the ability to smoothly rev at 120 rpms with ease, the barrel chest and long arms perfectly balanced over his machine in a naturally aerodynamic position. He’s six feet and 158 pounds of pure strength that’s imbued with true racing spirit.
Read MoreThe outrage over the Academy erupted from the $10,500 per semester (what in the hell is a semester in cycling one might logically ask) participation cost, which gave rise to fears that National Team spots, like Ambassadorships, were for sale.
Read MoreThe World Champion now looked to be coming into form with his second place on Stage One of the Tour de France. He then faded from view. Pedersen looked heavy to me, perhaps one of the many riders who didn’t deal well with the Corona virus restrictions, which obviously handicapped him given the explosive nature of the climbing-heavy Tour.
Read MoreIt was seven days later that the enormous talents of Marc Hirschi were truly unveiled to the media and public, after his 90-kilometer solo raid in the Pyrenees Mountains, where he was caught in the last kilometer and just beaten by the strongest two men in the world, Primoz Roglič and Tadej Pogačar.
Read MoreThe French team was on fire at the Pro Worlds. The Swiss and Danes had controlled the race up until 70-kilometers to go, when two Frenchmen who’d been prominent at the recent Tour de France, the unsung Quentin Pacher and “I’m just a hard-working guy” Nan Peters, hit the front and crushed it up the Cima Gallisterna climb, igniting the race and splitting the field.
Read MoreI’ve got questions about that crash. If it is true, which I can’t seem to find in the rules, that race radios (radio comms between the racers and their director) are banned from the Worlds, then why, in the case of the Time Trial, are car-mounted loud speakers not used to replace the radios?
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