Alberto Contador lands a seemingly decisive punch
Stage 16 of this year’s Vuelta a Espana will forever be remembered for the feeble pattycake slapfest that took place between Gianluca Brambilla and Ivan Rovny, who were riding in the break. I still don’t…
Alberto Contador steals Tony Martin’s headlines
I think I’ve said this before, but the problem with being Tony Martin is that everyone expects you to win time trials, so when you do, it’s literally unremarkable. What’s newsworthy is when you lose….
Vincenzo Nibali cares not for gravity
If Richie Porte is ‘flying’ then Vincenzo Nibali’s in orbit, effortlessly circling the earth. Just as it did in 2012, La Planche des Belles Filles brought clarity to proceedings. Searing, searing clarity. What happened? One…
Blel Kadri ushers in a general classification which makes sense
Simon Yates spent a long day in the break, but couldn’t salvage anything for the Brits, fading on the last couple of climbs. The only man to succeed in staying away was Blel Kadri, who…
Yellow jersey contenders in 2014
Who’s going to win this year’s Tour de France? Probably one of these guys and most likely one of the first two. But plenty can happen over the course of a Grand Tour. Just think…
Alberto Contador’s team for the Tour de France
Yesterday, I wrote that Alberto Contador was devoid of team-mates for most of the final stage of the Dauphiné and so Pierre wrote to ask: “Were they all just knackered from the previous day’s efforts…
Who won the Dauphiné? Contador or Froome?
Er, it was Andrew Talanksy, actually. How the hell did that happen? It was down to an unusually sizeable break. 23 riders got away from the peloton early on, including several riders who were within…
Alberto Contador won’t fade away
Meaning two things. One, he’s resurgent this year. Two, if he’s not leading a stage race, he’ll be snapping at whoever is leading until the very last day, like a yappy little dog with a…
Fat Betancur and fit Contador
Have you ever had two books on the go? A friend of mine was once reading two books from the same series at the same time – one at work and one at home. He’d…
Saxo-Tinkoff invade the podium
You probably think that podiums (podia?) are there to be clambered onto. You’re wrong. They’re there to be invaded. Just ask Team Saxo-Tinkoff directeur sportif, Fabrizio Guidi, now that the team has riders in second…
