A sprinter’s view of the mountains as Mark Cavendish fails to make the time cut
When Mark Cavendish finished stage 11 of this year’s Tour de France, they were clearing the barriers away. Podium ceremonies had been and gone and the new yellow jersey, Geraint Thomas, was busy doing a…
Greg Van Avermaet exploits curt climbs, cobbles and crash avoidance | The 2018 Tour de France week one recap
Week one is best divided into the green story and the yellow story. Let’s deal with the green story first (because that’s the order I arbitrarily put them into in that previous sentence). The green…
Paris-Roubaix Peter Sagan or Amstel Gold Peter Sagan? Which Peter Sagan did the better sprint?
Peter Sagan is the central figure in pretty much every race he rides, so let’s just write about Peter Sagan today. Sagan has appeared in two one-day classics in the last fortnight – Paris-Roubaix (which…
Stage four: Cavendish finds more give in roadside barrier than Sagan’s elbow
It was a day of aqueducts, châteaux and sheep. The flat profile meant the break was always going to be caught and when that break turned out to be just one rider – Belgian Guillaume…
Stage three: Peter Sagan gets it wrong – but not wrong enough
It’s hard to explain why Peter Sagan’s win was so impressive. He only bested Michael Matthews by about half a metre – so why was it such a big deal? It boils down to this:…
Michal Kwiatkowski again surprised to beat Peter Sagan – even though he does it all the time
Peter Sagan is such a colossal figure in cycling that it’s odd to thing he doesn’t necessarily have more of a claim to greatness than Michal Kwiatkowski. Sagan does wheelies and snarfs Gold Bears like…
What does Peter Sagan eat after a bike race?
Haribo. Haribo Gold Bears, specifically. One fistful, smushed into the mouth via the palms of both hands. Here’s some footage, because I know that you’re yearning for footage. The greatest Haribo advert ever created ::…
Autumn round-up: from Belgium to Qatar
I’ve rather permitted the season to peter out and for that I apologise. Last time I wrote about actual racing, Steve Cummings had won the Tour of Britain. What’s happened since then? Eneco Tour I…
Peter Sagan again after Tony Martin again
The peloton sustained an outrageous speed in the opening hours of racing. This was because it was pursuing Tony Martin. Martin does this fairly regularly, usually as a kind of unofficial training ride. The finest…
Sagan! Crosswinds! Echelons! Magic!
Echelons! Was ever there a finer spanner flung gleefully into the works of a predictable bike race? Crosswinds are always fun. When a race splits into pieces on flat roads, all bets are off. It…
