Author: Alex
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Domenico Pozzovivo loses a minute
Damn it, Domenico. As if you don’t have enough to contend with all your myriad flaws, you have to go and give everyone a whopping great head start as well. The Giro is not going well for my man. A crappy team time trial saw him and his AG2R-La Mondiale team-mates lose 48 seconds and…
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Gerrans leads and Hansen continues in decidely Australian start to 2015 Giro d’Italia
It wasn’t an Australian start in the sense that it started in Australia. I know the Giro plays it fast and loose with its definition of ‘Italia’ but that really would be a bit much. No, it was just Australian in that an Australian rider now leads the race after his Australian team won the…
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Team leaders for the 2015 Giro d’Italia
The Giro d’Italia starts on Saturday. It often passes without much comment in the UK because unlike the other two Grand Tours it isn’t shown on terrestrial TV. It’s a good race though. Worth following. Last year’s winner, Nairo Quintana, is busying himself with the Tour de France this year and so won’t be taking…
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Tour de Yorkshire looks set to recruit more muscle
Technically, Team Sky’s Lars Petter Nordhaug won the inaugural Tour de Yorkshire, but I think we can all agree that the real winner was, on balance, me. Not only did I foresee that the race wouldn’t be anywhere near as sprinter-friendly as some (presumably non-cyclists) seemed to believe, I also correctly predicted the King of…
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Tour de Yorkshire preview – TV coverage, route, stage profiles and riders to watch
The Tour de Yorkshire starts tomorrow (Friday) and UK readers will be pleased to hear that there’s live coverage and highlights on ITV4. This, combined with widespread enthusiasm on the wrong side of the Pennines borne of last year’s Grand Départ, means that the race seems like a big deal. Is it? Run by Amaury…
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Alejandro Valverde is occasionally the bride
Now that I look upon his breathtaking white dress, it suddenly seems inaccurate to call Alejandro Valverde a perennial bridesmaid. If he fulfilled the role once again at Amstel Gold, finishing second, it turned out that this was merely an omen of what was to come. A win in Fleche Wallonne on Wednesday was followed…
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Alejandro Valverde still likes La Fleche Wallonne
I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking ‘did Greg Van Avermaet come second, or possibly, in light of his recent major results, third?’ The answer is no. He didn’t race. He might be back for Liege-Bastogne-Liege on Sunday, but I don’t actually know his race itinerary, so I can’t confirm that. This year’s La Fleche…
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Michal Kwiatkowski sups Amstel Gold
I’ve only drunk Amstel Gold once. I was travelling through Greece and stopped at a bar while waiting for a train one afternoon. The owner dissuaded me from buying normal Amstel and made a compelling mime for the superiority of Amstel Gold. I remember agreeing with him at the time, but see that the usually…
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John Degenkolb, gummy and the spring classics’ new era
I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking ‘did Greg Van Avermaet come second in Paris-Roubaix?’. No, he didn’t. He came third. John Degenkolb’s moustache won. A fine win it was too. “Degenkolb’s still there,” was perhaps the defining piece of commentary. The man who finished second last year was in the key group without really…