Author: Alex
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Marcel Kittel’s haircut and other rest day news
I cycled up steep hills in the heat yesterday and have reaffirmed my awe for all professional cyclists. Steep hills are nothing new, but heat is a rarity in Britain, so it was something of a novel experience. A mere 10 minutes of climbing pushed my body to overheating, so I can only imagine how…
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Chris Froome and Nairo Quintana on Mont Ventoux
On stage 15, Chris Froome won cycling. I don’t mean he won at cycling, as in winning a race. I mean that even if he doesn’t go on to win the Tour, he won the sport of cycling. The longest stage for 13 years, the 100th Tour de France, a stage finish atop Mont Ventoux,…
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Matteo Trentin wins one for the breakaway
Riders are part of teams, but unofficial alliances form on the road and the most obvious of these is the breakaway. I like to think of the breakaway as being a team in its own right – even if it’s one where in-fighting becomes torrid as the finishing line approaches. Matteo Trentin racked up what…
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Taking advantage of echelons
There was plenty going on in stage 13 and I’m going to struggle to get it all down without boring people, so bear with me if I omit details or include too many or waffle on in the opening sentence making excuses for myself in advance. Fighting back This was the theme of the stage.…
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Is Marcel Kittel faster than Mark Cavendish?
When it comes to bunch sprints in the Tour de France, the default result is a Mark Cavendish win. Sometimes he can be outmanoeuvred, sometimes his lead-out train goes awry, but if things go smoothly, it’s generally accepted that there’s little anyone can do. On stage 12, Marcel Kittel overtook him. That’s weird It is…
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Tony Martin in flat time trials
Tony Martin didn’t actually win by as great a margin as might have been expected. But he did win. Even without any back skin, he’s the strongest time trialist in this race. The majority of his body is little more than air-sucking foundations for a pistoning pair of thighs. General classification changes A bit of…
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Mark Cavendish’s reaction to losing a sprint finish
Mark Cavendish can become a little bit furious when he loses a sprint finish. When he’s furious, he can seem like a bit of a knob. Today he took a reporter’s dictaphone after being asked whether he had caused a crash. It was a bit childish. But don’t judge him too harshly. You don’t expect…
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Orica GreenEDGE rest day rock
Last year, Orica GreenEDGE drew a bit of flak after putting together a video of themselves miming to a truly appalling pop song during the Vuelta. Many of the shots were from during the race and it was suggested that maybe they would have been better off spending the time working out how to win…
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Team Sky training methods might need tweaking
With Chris Froome and Richie Porte finishing first and second by such a margin on stage eight, many started preparing not-at-all-depressing black liveried floats for the procession to Paris. Stage nine was therefore exactly what the race needed. Sky were so far from invincible that Froome was left without team-mates for 130km of a 160km…
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Chris Froome’s unmatchable speed uphill
Last year, Team Sky maintained an uncomfortable pace up mountain climbs until there was pretty much no-one left. On stage eight this year, they maintained an uncomfortable pace until there was pretty much no-one left. At which point Chris Froome accelerated. Overall, the stage was a brutal reminder that pretty much everyone in a Grand…