Tour de France on TV

Category: Stage races

  • Pen y Pass sort of does its job in the Tour of Britain

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    Alex
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    I said that Pen y Pass could prove a good point at which to attack. Being as the stage finished in a bunch sprint, you might think this didn’t happen, but it was actually a small barrage of attacks on the climb which led to that sprint. Prior to that, it looked for all the…

  • Bradley Wiggins wins a 10-mile time trial

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    Alex
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    Because road racing used to be banned in Britain, time trialling became a big thing because it allowed covert competition. Even though road racing has been legal for many years now, modern culture still reflects this history. You can see it in the distances. Road races are measured in kilometres; time trials are measured in…

  • Using Honister Pass and the Lake District in the Tour of Britain

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    Alex
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    If you use Britain’s geography properly, you will get good bike racing and spectacular scenery. They really got it right with stage two of the Tour of Britain. Apart from the weather, it was the ideal advert for road cycling in this country. Cycling’s not about sprinting down the Mall. It’s about having the freedom…

  • Elia Viviani won stage one of the Tour of Britain

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    Alex
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    I thought he’d done a piss-taking pinky-fingers-out reference to us being a nation of effete tea-drinkers as he crossed the finish line, but it turned out that the website we were reading had used a photograph from a completely different race. Mark Cavendish? Sort of boxed in. Didn’t really compete for the sprint. Bradley Wiggins?…

  • Looking forward to the Tour of Britain?

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    Alex
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    I certainly have been doing. If that sounds like weird grammar, it’s meant to reflect the fact that I’ve spent quite some time producing an unexpectedly comprehensive preview of the Tour of Britain. It kind of got away from me a little bit, so I’ve spread it over several pages. I’ve covered TV coverage, the…

  • Zdenek Stybar keeps it clean at the Eneco Tour

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    Alex
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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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    Alex
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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…

  • A really rather poor review of the Tour de Suisse

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    Alex
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    I’ll be honest, I didn’t particularly follow this race and this neglect has been somewhat compounded by the fact that it was won by a rider I don’t know particularly well. Who won? Rui Costa. He won last year as well. Will he do well in the Tour de France? Dunno. He finished 18th last…

  • Critérium du Dauphiné conclusions

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    Alex
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    Quite simply, there isn’t all that much to say. Chris Froome won the Critérium du Dauphiné and Richie Porte finished second. Sky are looking very strong ahead of the Tour. Regarding Alberto Contador, don’t make the mistake of judging his form by the general classification, because he ended up working for Mick Rogers after his…

  • Chris Froome not carrying invisible weight

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    Alex
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    If a guy puts a couple of minutes into his rivals in a flat time trial, the only way he’s likely to fall behind them on an incline is if he’s a few kilograms heavier than they are. Chris Froome is far from being a porker, so it wasn’t entirely surprising to see him get…