Tour de France on TV

Author: Alex

  • The Schlecks aren’t dead but what of Cadel Evans?

    —

    by

    Alex
    in

    Cadel Evans won the 2011 Tour de France. Andy Schleck came second. Frank Schleck came third. That seems an awfully long time ago. None of these riders has had a particularly good time since and last weekend’s Criterium Internationale brought few signs that will be changing any time soon. The Schlecks Frank Schleck is currently…

  • Cancellara-Sagan rivalry rolls onto the cobbles

    —

    by

    Alex
    in

    If you hear someone saying that this site doesn’t have narrative themes, feel free to box their ears or perhaps deliver a more contemporary reprimand, such as a happy slap. Does happy slapping still exist? You don’t hear so much about it any more. Maybe the recession is dulling our buoyancy and the pastime has…

  • It’s all about cobbles this weekend

    —

    by

    Alex
    in

    If any pro cyclists are wondering what’s next after they froze their nuts off at Milan-San Remo. Great news! You now get to cycle over shitloads of cobbles. You’re not missing those nuts quite so much now, eh? E3 Harelbeke Friday sees a stack of burly Belgians and a few wannabe burly Belgians tackling E3…

  • Sagan-Cancellara tiff helps decide Milan-San Remo

    —

    by

    Alex
    in

    I think it’s fair to say that. Here’s why. The history Fabian Cancellara is still pissed off with Peter Sagan after the goofy Slovak sat passively on his wheel before sprinting to victory in stage one of last year’s Tour. I don’t mean Sagan literally sat on Cancellara’s wheel, you understand, because you don’t win…

  • Why Peter Sagan is favourite for Milan-San Remo

    —

    by

    Alex
    in

    The first big race of the year, Milan-San Remo, is coming up on Sunday. Peter Sagan is the favourite and it’s a good time to look at why he is such a special cyclist as the nature of this race helps explain why that’s the case. Sagan’s niche Bradley Wiggins won the Tour de France…

  • Team Sky support riders can’t control everything

    —

    by

    Alex
    in

    How much support do you need, if that isn’t too personal a question? This week we saw one of Sky’s support riders win Paris-Nice, largely because of the efforts of HIS support team, while a parallel Sky team has provided the same high level of service to Chris Froome in Tirreno-Adriatico. Where does it end?…

  • Tom Boonen and Paris-Nice

    —

    by

    Alex
    in

    Very few people seem to be riding Paris-Nice this year. Compare the starting line-ups for the two World Tour stage races taking place at the minute – Tirreno-Adriatico and Paris-Nice – and the former features pretty much everyone you’ve heard of, while the latter is being led by Andrew Talansky, a hugely promising American cyclist,…

  • What races is Jonathan Tiernan-Locke appearing in?

    —

    by

    Alex
    in

    There’s a lot of scene-setting at this time of year. Next week, textbook scheduling sees two clashing World Tour stage races – Paris-Nice and Tirreno-Adriatico – and these serve as form indicators for both the Spring Classics and the Grand Tours, as well as being decent races in their own right. Normally, Paris-Nice is slightly…

  • Spring Classics and the start of the cycling season

    —

    by

    Alex
    in

    It’s Omloop Het Nieuwsblad tomorrow (or today if you’re reading our email, or a couple of days ago if you’ve signed up to our email via your work account). This might seem insignificant and impossible to pronounce, but Omloop Het Nieuwsblad heralds the start of rather more serious racing. We’re in Europe now and things…

  • Joaquim Rodriguez – meet Froome and Wiggins

    —

    by

    Alex
    in

    Chris Froome has won his first stage race, the Tour of Oman, and a mighty impressive win it was too. He took the lead on stage four on Green Mountain, putting time into Cadel Evans, Alberto Contador and Vincenzo Nibali, and then won the following day to extend his lead by a few seconds thanks…