Month: June 2013

Tour de Suisse Stage 6 Preview

On paper this stage may look like a good one for a breakaway to make but the final part isn’t as hard as it may seem. The profile shows two small climbs starting with less than 30 km to go but they aren’t very steep. The first one, a 3 km long category 3 climb, … Read more

The Rain Bag

Giro rainIt has to be the wettest racing season living memory. Anecdotes aside, meteorological data show high rainfall for Italy and France and the Tour of Switzerland has seen a stage modified because the road was still closed by snow. There are signs the bad weather is changing and summer must starting as the French air traffic controllers are on strike today, frustrating riders trying to get to the Tour of Luxembourg and the Route du Sud.

So before the weather hots up, here’s a quick look at an item of pro kit that’s not often featured: the rain bag.

This is a small bag belonging to each rider containing the clothing they need on a damp day. It’s packed into the team car and can be brought out when rain falls. The pro cyclist’s version of an umbrella.

Read more

Tour de Suisse Stage 5 Preview

Arnaud Demare

Peter Sagan probably didn’t read the road book for Stage 4 as he was caught up in the middle of the peloton heading into the last corner. He tried to make up for it but he went the wrong way around and almost crashed against the barrier. He still managed to finish 7th on the stage and I think he is eager for revenge.

Read more

The MPCC Cortisol Test

Pierre Rolland

La polémique. Yesterday’s news from L’Equipe.fr that Pierre Rolland should not have started the final stage of the Dauphiné has caused an obvious fuss for French cycling featuring a big name, being weeks from the Tour de France and, like it or not, bringing the suspicion of dopage.

The first thing to note is that this is not an anti-doping measure. Instead it is for health reasons and if Rolland is not enjoying the headlines the silver lining is that he’s now able to rest and recover from a potential health scare. But what is this test and what happened with Rolland during the Dauphiné?

Read more

The Moment The Race Was Won: The Dauphiné

Chris Froome rides to third place on Stage 4, a 32km time trial. The ride left him five seconds off the yellow jersey taken by the impressive Rohan Dennis but Froome well clear of his rivals for the overall, with 1.25 on Michael Rogers and then more on the likes of Dani Moreno and Alberto Contador. This was the moment the race was won.

Over the following days Froome won a stage, took the race lead, put time into his rivals and even helped team mate and friend Richie Porte secure second place overall. It was a mixed race with a variety of stages but an inevitable conclusion.

Read more

Tour de Suisse Stage 3 Preview

Bauke Mollema timed his attack perfectly on Stage 2 when he caught Ryder Hesjedal on the final kilometer and soloed away to win the stage. After the stage, Mollema was quick to point to the overall podium as his new target in the race, something I had him down for in my overall preview as well. Unfortunately the Dutch climber got a 20 seconds penalty after the stage since he had gotten a bottle of water from his team car within the last 20 km. Mollema is now 34 seconds after Cameron Meyer in the GC and that means he needs to attack more the up-coming days.

Stage 3 is 204.9 km long but the first 165 km are more or less flat. As the riders enter Meiringen the road kicks up with a small category 4 climb on Grimselstrasse. The 1.9 km with an average of 5.6 % won’t make a big selection but the following category 1 climb will indeed.

Read more

Tour de Suisse Stage 2 Preview

As I already wrote in the overall preview, Stage 2 has been modified due to bad weather in the mountains. That means the early HC-climb Nufenenpass has been cancelled and the stage has been shortened from 160 to 117.2 km.

A short stage is a fast stage and without the climb in the beginning, the peloton will be starting out in high speed. Many riders will look to get in the breakaway and thereby have an advantage starting the final climb. Without bonus seconds on the line the GC contenders don’t have to focus on the stage win but I think it will come back together and end with one of the favorites winning on Crans Montana.

Read more

Dauphiné Stage 8 Preview

The final day of the Dauphiné is still a big mountain stage but easier than the previous day. It’s shorter, there are fewer climbs and vertical metres, plus the final climb is a regular affair. But it’s still a race.

If Chris Froome looks comfortable, a prestigious mountain stage victory is up for grabs and Saxo-Tinkoff’s work to get Michael Rogers into third place remains provisional given several riders are only seconds away from the Australian.

Read more

Tour de Suisse Stage 1 Preview

The Tour de Suisse starts today with an opening time trial. All during the race there will be daily previews thanks to Mikkel Condé of C-Cycling. I’ve been supplying him with previews for the Dauphiné and he’s offering his analysis and forecasts for the Swiss race.

This blog isn’t always about race previews and live coverage of events but both the Dauphiné and Suisse are big summer races and key tests of form before the Tour de France and I find the act of analysis helps get more out of the stage, it helps you look for the details.

Note the Swiss race has very different TV schedules with the finish every day planned for after 6.00pm Euro time although today’s time trial is earlier.

Read more

+ More