There was no live TV coverage of women’s Liège-Bastogne-Liège and the Flèche Wallonne and now the new criteria from the UCI means events must have a minimum of 45 minutes of TV coverage to be part of the World Tour. There have been reports that race owner ASO could drop these events from the World Tour calendar leading to angry responses from many who want to see progress rather than regress. What if there could be a political solution to this?
Richard Carapaz is solo on the Colle San Carlo on Stage 14, he’s got a slender lead of 20 seconds but behind a team mate in Mikel Landa is marking Vincenzo Nibali and Primoz Roglič and they’re both marking each other. Carapaz maintained his advantage on the descent and once on the valley road to Courmayeur the “Locomotive of Carchi” pressed on, hunched low on his bike, hands in the drops and taking for every second he could. It put him in the maglia rosa and he never trembled for the remaining week.
A time trial to conclude the 2019 Giro d’Italia and the top-3 should change with Primoz Roglič overtaking Mikel Landa today.
The final mountain stage and a Dolomite roller coaster culminating in the finish on Monte Avena
It’s back to the Alps for a day of rock and Rolle with the uphill finish a chance for Mikel Landa to continue his remontada.
A flat stage on Ascension Day, today could be a sprint finish and a decider for the points jersey… but which teams are left to set up a sprint?
Simon Yates is having to eat some of words these days after telling Rouleur magazine that his rivals ought to be “shitting themselves” at the prospect of racing against him. His confidence turned out to be excessive but sport relies on rivalry and entertainment, and cycling could do with some more fighting talk to get the public interested. It’s not easy, especially as bike racing relies on cooperating with your enemy in order to beat them.
A stage in the mountains but not the most vertical of days, this is a good day for a breakaway… and an ambush.
No Passo Gavia because of the snow, but there’s an uphill start, the Mortirolo and over 5,000m of vertical gain and it all makes for a livelier stage.
The Giro d’Italia pauses for a day on the shores of Lake Como where on a good day you can see the snowy peaks of the Alps twice, first on the horizon and second reflected in the crystalline waters. Richard Carapaz, Vincenzo Nibali, Primoz Roglič and Mikel Landa have plenty to reflect on as they prepare for the final stages of the Giro.
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