Category: Tour de France
-
Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen finally stood down from ITV’s Tour de France coverage
Au revoir to Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen. This site’s received a number of comments today expressing sadness at the absence of Phil and Paul from ITV’s coverage of the race. One woman even went so far as to say that her husband would not be watching the race as a consequence, which seems oddly…
-
Nine tips to help you enjoy the 2017 Tour de France
If you fancy following the Tour de France this year but aren’t exactly sure of the best way of going about that, just follow the tips below. Beforehand Read my brief and blunt explanation of the ins and outs of bike racing Check out the tactics section of 2014’s interactive guide at the Guardian (I…
-
Yellow jersey contenders in 2016
Who’s going to win the Tour de France? Probably not Bartosz Huzarski or Tsgabo Grmay unless an awfully large number of people abandon the race injured. Maybe one of these guys though. Chris Froome Both times he’s won the Tour, Froome’s ceded ground to Nairo Quintana in the mountains in the final week. He says…
-
Green jersey contenders in 2016
I’ve been putting off writing this points competition preview for a few days now and presumed there was some reason for this – nothing conscious, just some mystic message from the cosmos saying: “No, don’t bother yet. Play Civilization or go to the pub or something.” Turns out the cosmos was right. Everyone else is…
-
Important stages of the 2016 Tour de France
All of them, obviously – but let’s just try and get a bit of a handle on the route in a bid to work out where the race could be won and lost. In summary Relatively flat start Surprise mountain stage inside the first week Pyrenees on the weekend that follows that first week Mont…
-
The eight best moments of the 2015 cycling season
Loads of entertaining cycling took place in 2015. Here’s some of the stuff that I can actually remember. Having a chat with Jens Voigt Well it was a highlight for me. Ian Stannard disrespects the numbers It was three v one at the end of the Omloop. Etixx-Quick Step’s three were soundly beaten. I still…
-
Winners of the classics and Grand Tours in 2015
The framework for this site is this list of the bike races which actually matter. The list is my own and an attempt to impose some sort of structure on a sprawling, hard-to-understand calendar. It omits many major stage races, but includes all the Grand Tours, all the Monuments and a select few high profile…
-
Jens Voigt likes it hard, sticky, nasty and uncomfortable
It’s not every day you get to meet a genuine cult hero (which is of course the best kind of hero). I interviewed Jens Voigt last week. The headline above was one revelation that somehow didn’t make it into the piece I did for road.cc. Here’s the context. He was telling me about the type…
-
Best of the 2015 Tour de France
Everyone loves a best of. Best moment – the passing manoeuvre French TV coverage is lingering on two Frenchmen at the head of the race. The two young climbers who have laid waste to the break on the steep final climb of the Côte de la Croix Neuve watch each other closely. They have to…
-
Andre Greipel makes a 3D box for his claim to be top sprinter at the 2015 Tour de France
Greipel wins! Take that, pedals! Back when I worked in an office alongside other humans, I’d often note down something I needed to do using pen and paper – like cro magnon man used to do. A day later, when I hadn’t done it and the job was now quite urgent, I’d underline the words…