Author: Alex
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Andre Greipel has the power
Greipel wins. Take that, pedals! Andre Greipel is such a hefting cartoon character of a man that I can’t help but punctuate his victories with the phrase ‘Andre Greipel… wins!’ as if he’s just won a bout in Mortal Kombat. Look at him! Look at his caricature of a face! He’s so painfully German he…
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Mark Cavendish’s lead-out man shows everyone how to break wind
Mark Cavendish has won a stage and Andre Greipel has emitted a tetchy teutonic curse word upon crossing the line. The Tour is definitely up and running now. I was even eating a jambon et fromage baguette when it happened. Once again, we all have to grapple with the illusion of the inevitable Cavendish win.…
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Orica YellowEdge
The stage four team time trial has led to some semblance of order in the general classification. It still doesn’t make a huge amount of sense, but we’ve sloughed off at least some of the filth and no longer have 70-odd riders in second place. The gaps are small, but at least they exist. We…
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Simon Gerrans denies Peter Sagan
If you thought the stage two finish was close, it wasn’t. The gap was a full second. The gap between Simon Gerrans and Peter Sagan on stage three was way less than that – more like 10cm. Only in snail racing is 10cm a big gap and at the time of writing there was no…
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The mouse that roared away from the peloton
Peter Sagan wins so often, he choreographs celebrations. Having never previously won a professional race, Jan Bakelants hasn’t spent as much time rehearsing. His celebration is a near-tearful head-grasp. It’s nice. The script Today was due to be what you might describe as a ‘whittled sprint,’ where the pure sprinters are kicked out of the…
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Buses, gantries, crashes and survival
The Tour de France isn’t just about racing; it’s about survival as well. It’s an achievement to cycle 3,400km in itself, but in that amount of time on the road, plenty of things can happen. You expect the odd crash, but a bus wedged under a finishing gantry is the kind of thing you have…
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2013 Tour de France – the important stages
This year’s Tour route is far more climbing-y than last year’s, which was much more heavily weighted towards time trials. These promise to be the main stages: Stage 8 – Castres to Ax-3-Domaines, 194km, Saturday July 6 (stage profile) Summit finish It’s an odd feature of the Tour de France that the first week can…
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Chris Froome’s Team Sky team-mates for the 2013 Tour de France
Chris Froome is Team Sky’s leader at the Tour this year. Here are some good reasons to support him. Other than that, you might like to know that he used to sell avocados off the back of his bike when he was eight and that he has a degree in economics. His support riders feature…
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2013 yellow jersey contenders
This year’s Tour seems set to boast an unusually strong field with Vincenzo Nibali and Bradley Wiggins about the only major stage racers missing. Here are the main contenders for the yellow jersey and a few dark horses as well. Alberto Contador – Saxo Bank Contador has won almost every Grand Tour he has entered.…
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2013 green jersey contenders
Let’s keep this brief. I can see three main contenders for the green jersey which is awarded to the winner of the points classification. Mark Cavendish – Omega Pharma-Quick Step The best sprinter. He will be the favourite on every single flat stage. Andre Greipel – Lotto-Belisol The second best sprinter and one of the…