Author: Alex
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Another of Steve Cummings’ patented stage wins
When I wrote about Steve Cummings’ Tirreno-Adriatico stage win a few weeks ago, I said of his modus operandi that he “just cycles past everyone on the flat.” This was based on his magnificent 2015 Tour de France stage win being delivered in much the same manner. Exhibit three: the third stage of this year’s…
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What does Paris-Roubaix pavé look like? Take a look at these photos and find out
You’re almost certainly wondering whether I’ve collated a load of photos provided by Strava and published them on some other website, passing it off as some sort of preview for this Sunday’s Hell of the North. Your luck’s in. Look how cobbly it is.
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Who is Sep Vanmarcke?
I never actually stated it explicitly yesterday, but Sep Vanmarcke finished third in this year’s Tour of Flanders. You wouldn’t have cared anyway because you don’t really know who Sep Vanmarcke is. He’s just another Belgian classics rider with a Van in his name. Well that viewpoint ends now. Sep Vanmarcke now has a thing.…
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Peter Sagan and the possibly fictitious baton-passing pee stop
Ahead of the Tour of Flanders, FDJ manager Marc Madiot came out with the most outstandingly French quote to describe what it must be like to be Peter Sagan. “Sagan has the enormous freedom of not being obliged to win in order to exist,” he said. Until September, Peter Sagan’s record didn’t really match his…
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Peter Sagan wins a bike race
It shouldn’t really be headline news. I mean he is the world champion. The Slovak quickly put Friday’s disappointment aside by winning Gent-Wevelgem, the Belgian one-day race that doesn’t visit Gent. The Belgians really aren’t slaves to logic when it comes to naming their races. Perhaps it’s all that 12% beer. Sagan won a crappy…
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Peter Sagan is the second-best cyclist on the planet
Second to anyone. No-one in particular. Think there’s some sort of rota system in operation, to be honest. E3 Harelbeke (the race named after a motorway it doesn’t use – a road which isn’t even called the E3 any more) saw him finish second to Michal Kwiatkowski. I make this Sagan’s fifth second-place this season…
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Arnaud Démare motors to Milan-San Remo win (plus Armitstead update)
The finale of Milan-San Remo is always a lot more exciting to watch than to talk about. So let’s not bother. To boil it down to almost nothing, after near-enough 300km of racing, Arnaud Démare won a sprint from a greatly reduced front group. Démare said that as he was sprinting, he didn’t know whether…
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The latest on Greg Van Avermaet and his trident
After winning Tirreno-Adriatico, Greg Van Avermaet also did what looked like a guitar-playing mime with The Sea Master Trophy. If that is indeed what that was meant to be then Greg Van Avermaet has almost certainly never played a guitar. Alternatively, it could just be that he’s really bad at celebrating with trophies having always…
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Born winner Greg Van Avermaet wins Tirreno-Adriatico
That Greg Van Avermaet, eh? He just can’t stop winning. Born winner. Always said so. Sticking with his new ploy of pitting himself against the even bigger bridesmaid that is Peter Sagan, Van Avermaet pipped the Slovakian to Tirreno-Adriatico by a single second. On his way to the win, he also took stage six. Not…
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Geraint Thomas lasts the week at Paris-Nice
Without wishing to dumb down too much, cycling is to a great extent about tiredness. Tiredness is what makes a three-week Grand Tour different from three one-week races with gaps in between. Geraint Thomas won Paris-Nice by the colossal margin of four seconds. He was 11 seconds faster than second-placed Alberto Contador in the prologue…