Tour de France on TV

Author: Alex

  • Michael Matthew goes faster than Thibaut Pinot dares

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    Orica-GreenEDGE (stupid typography) have all but cornered the market in second tier sprinters. They’re a kind of lead-out production line. Fortunately, having a sprinter who is merely very, very good is sufficient at the Vuelta with Marcel Kittel, André Greipel and Mark Cavendish elsewhere. Michael Matthews therefore managed to win his first Grand Tour stage…

  • Dan Moreno and the uphill finish

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    Dan Moreno won stage four. That’s Dan Moreno, the Spanish cyclist who also won La Fleche Wallonne this year and not Dan Marino, literally the only American football player I can name – although I guess that should be obvious from the context really, what with this being a bike race and all. The stage…

  • Chris Horner wins one for the middle-aged

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    A lot of people resign themselves to poor physical condition by the time they’re 30, saying that they’re getting old and implying there’s little they can do about it. But they’re not paunchy because of their age; they’re paunchy because they spend all their time behind a desk, eating Frazzles. Look at Chris Horner. He’s…

  • Nicolas Roche wins one for all the Franco-Irish out there

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    A huge win for Ireland/France with Nicolas Roche taking stage two of the Vuelta. Ireland and France have rarely taken such a big win simultaneously. Why do I say this? Because Nicolas Roche, son of Stephen, is actually pretty French. UK cycling coverage somewhat glosses over this, but he really is. He went to school…

  • Teamwork, syllables and early damage

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    There’s two ways to do well in a team time trial. You can all sit behind Tony Martin or Fabian Cancellara like trailers or you can share the work around a bit. For a while, it looked like the first approach was the way to go – Cancellara’s Radioshack Leopard team were first and Tony…

  • Riders to watch at the 2013 Vuelta

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    I’ll keep this simple, which isn’t impossible as the Vuelta is a fundamentally simple race. Can you climb? These guys can. Vincenzo Nibali This year’s Giro winner has kind of implied that there’s a chance he might not go for the overall and that he might just go for the odd stage win as he…

  • Why does Chris Froome cycle with his head down?

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    Some people think it’s because he’s slavishly devoted to his power data. They accuse him of ‘riding like a robot’ as if robots are highly-regarded for their cycling abilities. Actually, Chris Froome cycles with his head down because that’s just the way he cycles. Richie Porte says he frequently rides into him during training. You…

  • Zdenek Stybar keeps it clean at the Eneco Tour

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    If you don’t know the Eneco Tour, think of it as being the Tour de Benelux. It’s a spring classics style seven-stage race where the winner is invariably more humanoid looking than the Grand Tour skeletons. It’s all about sprint finishes and short, steep climbs rather than long, Alpine slogs. This year’s winner was Zdenek…

  • Thor Hushovd has the power (Bradley Wiggins has less, but maintains it)

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    Considering his name and physique, Thor Hushovd can get away with being the subject of a He-Man referencing headline. His second win during the Tour of Poland was the highlight of that race for me, if only because I’ve never seen such a lumbering sprint. Thor picked the world’s biggest gear early on and then…

  • Resting and recovering between Grand Tours

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    One of the basic principles of cycling training is that you don’t improve while you ride – you improve while you rest. Following a tough block of writing, I’m going to ease off a bit in the hope of being in good form come the Vuelta a Espana, which will start on the 24th of…