Category: Stage races
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When to watch the Tour of Britain and who might win it
A swift catamaran trip across the sea on the Vuelta’s rest day because the Tour of Britain is also underway and it’s typically a great race. I’m a bit put out that it clashes with the Spanish Grand Tour in all honesty because the web’s already sagging with the weight of words I’m churning out…
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Tour de Yorkshire looks set to recruit more muscle
Technically, Team Sky’s Lars Petter Nordhaug won the inaugural Tour de Yorkshire, but I think we can all agree that the real winner was, on balance, me. Not only did I foresee that the race wouldn’t be anywhere near as sprinter-friendly as some (presumably non-cyclists) seemed to believe, I also correctly predicted the King of…
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Tour de Yorkshire preview – TV coverage, route, stage profiles and riders to watch
The Tour de Yorkshire starts tomorrow (Friday) and UK readers will be pleased to hear that there’s live coverage and highlights on ITV4. This, combined with widespread enthusiasm on the wrong side of the Pennines borne of last year’s Grand Départ, means that the race seems like a big deal. Is it? Run by Amaury…
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John Degenkolb claims ownership of a Monument
As the old saying goes, ‘complete-lack-of-timeliness is next to Godliness’. As such, Wednesday night seems a perfect time to report on Sunday’s Milan-San Remo. What happened? I sometimes get dragged into writing a sort of pseudo-race report and I always regret it. Far better to concentrate on the bold headline information: John Degenkolb’s moustache won.…
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Down France and across Italy in under a thousand words
Let’s have a quick round-up of all the major racing since Ian Stannard took the Omloop for the second time (not a euphemism). That basically means Paris-Nice and Tirreno-Adriatico as I’ll tick Strade Bianche off in this opening section by matter-of-factly telling you that Zdenek Stybar won. Zdenek’s been promising this sort of thing for…
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Ian Stannard and Omloop retention
I will freely admit to being terrible at headlines. Quite often I just write something down off the top of my head and if it sounds slightly weird, I go with it. That is precisely what has happened today. I named Ian Stannard one of my riders to watch in 2015 in large part because…
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Ding from Contador and dong from Froome
Which sounds a bit disgusting. Let’s gloss over that. Ding dong battles are rare in cycling. Ding ding battles are more common because if you’re fitter and faster than someone one day, that rarely changes overnight. Chris Froome and Alberto Contador seem to be prone to them however with the latest taking place last week…
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A different kind of desert spring
I’m not entirely sure how one goes about peeling one’s eyes. I guess the eyelid is the thing that needs peeling, in which case the phrase “don’t unnecessarily close your eyes” seems more apt. I’ve been avoiding unnecessary closure of my eyes during the early season races in a bid to spot signs of spring.…
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Dylan Van Baarle clings on to win the Tour of Britain
The Tour of Britain is not a top flight race and Dylan Van Baarle’s victory would seem to reflect that. But let’s just see how he goes next season. Van Baarle beat some top riders and at 22, his best years are to come. Year by year, the Tour of Britain route is getting harder…
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Dylan Van Baarle nicks the race lead in the Tour of Britain
I’m not going to write about stage seven winner Julien Vermote because he did that stupid heart-shaped hand gesture when he crossed the line and it irritates me. Plus there was quite a lot going on with the general classification. Alex Dowsett started the day in the yellow jersey but couldn’t stay with the leaders…