Tour de France on TV

Author: Alex

  • Fabian Cancellara and the truths of cobbled racing

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    Alex
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    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…

  • What to expect from the Tour of Flanders

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    Alex
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    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…

  • Meanwhile, in the land of the skinny…

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    Alex
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    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…

  • Moustaches and flying bikes at Gent-Wevelgem

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    Alex
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    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
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    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
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    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
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    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
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    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
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    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
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    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…