Shrinking Time Trials

The Tour de France’s route was out and one of the features of the 2019 course was the lack of time trialling, both in the number of stages and the few kilometres on offer. It’s part of a trend as the chart above shows. One frequent response in the comments and by email in recent days is that more time trials, whether more stages or just one long time trial, would “balance” the Tour’s course and give time trial specialists and others more of a chance against the pure climbers. It’s an idea that sounds right… only recent evidence suggests otherwise.

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2019 Pro Cycling Calendar

Here’s the calendar for 2019. There are several new races and another blog post ought to look at the new races but in the meantime you can put all the major pro races, including the five day Coppi and Bartali week and the six day Four Days of Dunkerque 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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2019 Tour De France Route

The Tour de France presentation was unveiled and if we knew the start and finish and most of what came in between had leaked out there’s still a lot to digest with details of new climbs, potential rule changes and more.

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Away

Kogashi Forest Japan Cup

This blog will be dormant for the next seven days.

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Lombardia Preview

Winter is coming and Lombardia is the last great race of the year. Nevermind the season fatigue you’ve accumulated, time for a last show of stamina as this is often a rewarding and dramatic race to enjoy before the off-season arrives.

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My World by Peter Sagan Book Review

Who is Peter Sagan? He’s the rider in the green jersey and the rainbow bands, the one who does the wheelies, the videos and more. Yet for all the iconic images and animated GIFs the person behind them seems elusive so here’s his autobiography with 260 pages to explain more.

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Paris-Tours Preview

The French autumn classic with a new twist this year, a series of gravel roads in between the vineyards. Also don’t miss this Saturday’s Giro dell’Emilia, more of which below too.

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UCI Reforms Review

A quick note on the UCI reforms announced or reported on last week, whether the Women’s World Tour, tramadol bans or the sort-of reforms for men’s pro cycling. Skip this post if your eyes are glazing over already but it’s helpful to put some notes down.

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