Author: Alex
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Rafal Majka emerges from the chaos
The chaos of a break and then another break from the break and then a further break from the main bunch. So many groups, all moving at different speeds. So many potential ramifications that it’s all but impossible to to keep up. And then order. Only after the finish line can a bike race truly…
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Michael Rogers and the ferocious French fight for third
You wonder what Michael Rogers could do if he didn’t have to spend the vast majority of his time dicking about towing Alberto Contador around. Free to do as he pleased in the Giro, he won two stages – one after attacking on a descent and then atop the mightily-steep and oddly-named Zoncolan. His first…
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Tour de France cryptic crossword
As compiled by Bert. Here’s a link to an Excel version that you can fill in and here are the answers, also in Excel format. In-depth stage 16 preview Big mountains.
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For once Jack Bauer needed just a few more seconds
Jack Bauer has never been afraid of doing a full day’s work. The Kiwi cyclist got in the break from the very start of stage 15, alongside Swiss rider, Martin Elmiger. No-one joined them and so the two of them were committed to an all-but-impossible day-long attempt to stay away from the peloton over flat…
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Rafal Majka having second thoughts about the Tour de France
Rafal Majka finished sixth in this year’s Giro. The Pole is 24, which is quite young for a Grand Tour contender because it literally takes years to build the endurance needed to properly tolerate three solid weeks of racing. Often, a rider around this sort of age will be put into a Grand Tour team…
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Richie Porte always has at least one bad day
After Chris Froome abandoned, the situation was presented by Sky as being an opportunity for Richie Porte to show what he can do. What Porte can do is have at least one really bad day during every Grand Tour. This seems to be a theme with Porte: un jour sans – a day without. Yesterday’s…
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Alexander Kristoff’s turn to aggravate the Slovak
Maybe they could bring in a bridesmaid’s jersey for the rider with most second-placed finishes. It could be a garish pink with stupid puffy sleeves. Peter Sagan would be delighted. Alexander Kristoff was the latest beneficiary of Sagan’s extraordinary run of near-misses. Kristoff won Milan-San Remo this year, you know. His usual thing is winning…
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Was Jonathan Tiernan-Locke doping while he was at Sky?
British rider, Jonathan Tiernan-Locke, has been banned for two years for irregularities with his blood passport. He’s been stripped of his Tour of Britain win and I doubt he’ll ride professionally again. Being as he rode for Sky, many see this as circumstantial evidence that the British-based team are engaged in some sort of sophisticated…
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Gallopin’ Tony the latest to deny Peter Sagan
It was indeed a stage suited to Peter Sagan. What this apparently means is that everyone in the peloton becomes so monomaniacal about him that they effectively gang up on him. It’s about 170 against one. They’re not good odds. Gallopin’ Tony was the man to benefit today but it would be disrespectful to say…
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A roadside race report from stage two of the 2014 Tour de France
One of the site’s readers, Bert, was there in person for stage two. He writes: First, a summary of the whole experience. We sat on someone’s garden wall alongside the route in Elland. A man came out to speak to us. “That’s my wall,” he said. “Oh, sorry,” we said. “Not at all,” he said,…