Month: April 2014
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Simon Gerrans hits his target
I did say after the Tour Down Under that Liege-Bastogne-Liege was one of Simon Gerrans’ targets. Target hit. Just look at his cheery munchkin face. He’s delighted. Form This year’s race was something of a who’s who of 2014’s form riders. Obviously, you don’t win if you’re massively out of form, but the podium only…
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Alejandro Valverde on the Mur de Huy
Sounds like a guess in Cluedo. And yes, Alejandro Valverde did indeed carry out mass slaughter on the slopes of Belgium’s infamous ‘wall’. La Fleche Wallonne (literally, the Walloon Arrow) is an even more significant win than his victory in Roma Maxima earlier in the season. Valverde likes these sorts of finishes. Steep, but necessitating…
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Philippe Gilbert does the Monster Mash at Amstel Gold
Could anyone have stopped Philippe Gilbert on his favourite hill, the Cauberg? Michal Kwiatkowski would maybe have had half a chance if he’d had a little more help from team-mates. “We lost Tony Martin in a key moment and I missed him at the end.” What Kwiatkowski omits to mention is that his Omega Pharma…
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Niki Terpstra is Belgian enough
Let’s start with the top ten. Aside from Sebastian Langeveld, you should recognise all of these names, which makes me feel like I’ve done a pretty decent job over the last few months. Niki Terpstra (Ned) Omega Pharma-Quick-Step 6:09:01 John Degenkolb’s Moustache (Ger) Team Giant-Shimano 0:00:20 Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Trek Factory Racing Sep Vanmarcke (Bel)…
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Gird your barses for Paris-Roubaix
It’s Paris-Roubaix on Sunday. Hills aren’t the issue. The route I remember the first time I discovered the proportion of the Paris-Roubaix route which was cobbles, I thought: “Is that all?” Now, having ridden on cobbles for an incredibly short distance, I see the route and think: “51.1km! Sweet mother of Merckx!” That’s the kind…
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Fabian Cancellara and the truths of cobbled racing
After E3 Harelbeke, I pointed out that the first step to winning a cobbled race was: ‘Somehow get rid of Fabian Cancellara’. At the Tour of Flanders, no-one managed this. In fact, the final moments highlighted many of the truths of racing on the cobbles. Three of the four riders in the front group were…
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What to expect from the Tour of Flanders
I promised you a Tour of Flanders preview, but then realised that I’ve basically been drip feeding you just such a thing since the autumn. This is why there are quite a lot of links below. You’ve probably forgotten most of it though, so why not open all the linked articles in new tabs and…
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Meanwhile, in the land of the skinny…
I’ve still got both eyes firmly fixed on the cobbles, but let’s just take a very quick glance back at the Tour of Catalonia, which hoved into my peripheral vision last week. It was what the stage racers were doing to keep themselves occupied while all the Belgians were hammering around in the wind and…