The third highlight of the year is a vintage edition of Paris-Roubaix. Philippe Gilbert, a pre-race pick, won but it was the manner of his victory and the action for hours on end that made it memorable.
The Tour of Flanders might not visit the Kapelmuur in Geraardsbergen in 2020 following a row over money. Apparently the race has been charging the town money and now local politicians want to spend the money elsewhere.
The second of this year’s racing highlights is the Giro’s 12th stage. The race finally came alive and the stage result was uncertain until the very end when Cesare Benedetti, a long time worker, finally got his day in the limelight.
“Where There’s a Will” by Emily Chappell
A tale of adventure that might encourage you to try a longer ride and helps reflect on the nature of racing and sport.
Raymond Poulidor died on 13 November, aged 83. A champion cyclist, he made a name for himself as a loveable loser, a moral winner and a dependable emblem of rural France during a period of societal change. His reputation reaches far beyond cycling and there are Poulidors in sport, politics and life.
With the season finished it’s time to look back at the wins and how the teams fared, and also take a deeper look at the stats. Which teams had the most podium places but the fewest wins? Which teams are the most reliant on one rider?
The Tour of California won’t happen in 2020 with the organisers AEG declaring a “hiatus” for the race and with the women’s race too. The reasons aren’t given directly but further comments to Velonews cited the business model, presumably code for saying the race ran out of money rather than being stopped for other reasons. It’s bad news for US cycling but doesn’t come in isolation.
Happy New Year. Technically the 2020 road cycling season starts today and here’s the calendar for the year ahead.
There are several new races and another blog post will look at the new races and the structure of the calendar as a whole but in the meantime you can put all the major pro races into your digital diary.
There’s also quick explainer on how to subscribe to the calendar, the meaning of the UCI labels and more.
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