There’s plenty up in the air right now given the proposed UCI reforms, their rejection by ASO and all the uncertainty ahead but since this is about a theory, let’s run with it. The idea is that if 18 teams or less apply for the 18 World Tour spots then all is well but the moment another team applies the equilibrium is broke with consequences for teams, tactics and wages.
Marcel Kittel won today’s stage of the Tour de Romandie, hanging on over the climbs when other sprinters were dropped. It puts him at the top of the individual rankings table with eight wins this year.
Over millennia many have believed gods live atop volcanoes. Some cycling fans may perpetuate this given the amount of star riders who spend their time living on top of El Teide and Mount Etna. It’s becoming normal these days for riders to spend weeks at altitude before racing once and returning to altitude again. For several reasons this week’s Tour de Romandie has become a rare meeting point for many grand tour contenders.
Chris Froome, Geraint Thomas, Nairo Quintana, Tejay van Garderen, Richie Porte, Simon Špilak, Ilnur Zakarin, Thibaut Pinot, Romain Bardet, Miguel Angel Lopez, Mathias Frank, Rui Costa, Tom Dumoulin, Rafał Majka… that’s just a few of the names in contention. With this in mind a quick look at the route and contenders.
Who were the revelations of the spring classics this year? Starting thinking about this and you might catch yourself asking if there were any revelations at all. The longer the spring classics went on the longer the wait for a neo-pro to impress. The 2016 classics have been more about confirmations than revelations but there were some surprises along the way.
The last of the Ardennes classics gets decided by a cobbled climb. Michael Albasini has powered up the Rue Naniot with 2.5km to go and Rui Costa, Samuel Sanchez and Wout Poels are going to get across while Romain Bardet and Arnold Jeannesson will not. Albasini’s move and Poel’s efforts to get across were the moment the race was won.
The last of the spring classics, Liège-Bastogne-Liège is a race of transition. Part Belgian classic, part-mountain stage and a rare chance to see the grand tour specialists go all-in for one day over a tough course. There are ten marked climbs, countless more rises and a new cobbled climb right before the finish.
Alejandro Valverde is the obvious pick as he hopes to double-up his Flèche Wallonne win but this is a harder race to control and bad weather could make the race wilder still. Here’s the usual preview with the route, contenders, ratings, TV times and more.
Cycling rarely offers certain picks for races. A sprint finish usually has several contenders, a summit finish could go to one of several riders. Today Alejandro Valverde seems above all the rest, perfectly suited to the race, experienced thanks to past wins and in good form having just won the Vuelta a Castilla y Leon. Who or what can stop him?
As product tests go this was not the case-study people had planned. When it was announced that disc brakes could be allowed on a trial basis it looked like an open door for the product to become established: a courtesy before a formality. Then Francisco Ventoso crashed in Paris-Roubaix, slammed into a disc and sliced his leg. He typed an open letter, used words like “machete” and within hours the trial was ended and disc brakes are banned.
Enrico Gasparotto wins the Amstel Gold Race after a late attack on the Cauberg with 2km to go. After over six hours of racing the late attack was enough to hold off the sprinters. This was the brief moment the race was won.
The classics come to the Netherlands and huge crowds enjoy a day in the sun and beer from the race sponsor. The hilly course has been for the climbers but several sprinters want to muscle in. Here’s a race preview with the usual look at the course, contenders, TV times and more.