Tour de France on TV

Month: March 2014

  • Moustaches and flying bikes at Gent-Wevelgem

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    Alex
    in

    It was a sprint finish with about 40 riders in the front group. John Degenkolb’s moustache won. Here’s a picture of it. That’s John Degenkolb immediately behind the moustache and then Peter Sagan in the background. Sagan came third, with Arnaud Démare, who won the overblown RideLondon–Surrey Classic last year, finishing second. One man who…

  • Peter Sagan follows the steps and beats the Steps

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    Alex
    in

    No-one’s unsubscribed in recent weeks, so I’m taking that as a sign that you’re either desperate to hear more about cobbled one-day races or that you’re not going to do much more than roll your eyes and ride it out until I get back to writing about the Tour in July. Our latest appointment was…

  • Who won Milan-San Remo and how?

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    Alex
    in

    Road cycling is an endurance sport. That was the message after this year’s Milan-San Remo. We tend to think of riders enduring endless climbs up mountains, but here they endured shitty weather and a very long day in the saddle. Technically, the race finished with a sprint, but it wasn’t the usual kind of sprint.…

  • Who will win Milan-San Remo and how?

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    Alex
    in

    First, an apology – because all the best things start with apologies. Even better, it’s a pre-emptive apology, which is basically just the promise of future disappointment. I am apologising in advance because I’m going to be several days late with my Milan-San Remo report. You’re okay with that though, right? I mean if you’re…

  • A cursory dissection of Alberto Contador’s Tirreno-Adriatico win

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    Alex
    in

    Alberto Contador held his lead to the end of Tirreno-Adriatico. He lost three seconds to Nairo Quintana in the final time trial, but being as he was already a couple of minutes ahead, this was of no real significance. The result did however surprise many pundits who are for some reason convinced that Quintana can’t…

  • Alberto Contador’s weight

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    Alex
    in

    Most bike races are decided on the hills or in the mountains and the speed you can cycle uphill is dictated by the power you can produce relative to your weight. This means there are two main things a racer will look to control. They want more watts, but fewer kilograms, which means more training…

  • Fat Betancur and fit Contador

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    Alex
    in

    Have you ever had two books on the go? A friend of mine was once reading two books from the same series at the same time – one at work and one at home. He’d started the seventh book in the series and quite liked it, so he then started the first one. I feel…

  • Cavendish v Kittel v Greipel v Sagan

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    Alex
    in

    There was a high profile Tour de France preview yesterday with the four main contenders for this year’s green jersey going head-to-head-to-head-to-head in a Tirreno-Adriatico sprint finish. Who would emerge victorious? Er, well it was Matteo Pelucchi actually. Greipel managed third; Sagan ran out of steam a bit and finished fifth; Cavendish never really got…

  • Brits lead the spring stage races

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    Alex
    in

    Put the kettle on and warm the pot! Brits are leading both Paris-Nice and Tirreno-Adriatico. Tirreno-Adriatico Stage one was a team time trial. As has previously been noted on this website, Tony Martin could ride as an individual in the team event and still be competitive. Sure enough, his team, Omega Pharma-Quick Step, won. Omega…

  • Paris-Nice and Tirreno-Adriatico herald spring

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    Alex
    in

    Is spring here? You can go by the calendar or you can judge by other signifiers. The trees are in blossom, it’s almost time to change the clocks to British Summer Time, green bin collections are about to recommence and major European stage racing is back. Tirreno-Adriatico starts today, but it’s Paris-Nice which really seems…