Feverish? Hot under the collar? Aching arms and legs? Hopefully it’s just because you’ve completed a recon ride over the cobbles and are all set for the openingsweekend. The spring classics start this weekend with the Omloop this Saturday, a tour of Flanders.
Basque telecoms company Euskaltel has announced it will return to team sponsorship as a title sponsor of the Fundación-Orbea team. Is this a return to the glory days? Sorry to splash a bucket of cold water straight out of the Atlantic in your face… but probably not.
The route for the 2020 Critérium du Dauphiné race (31 May- 7 June) has been unveiled today and for only the second time in the race’s history there’s no time trial. Instead it’s a race of two halves with a flatter first part before four consecutive stages in the Alps with beaucoup climbing. Often a highlight of the year, the route borrows from this summer Tour de France but there are also some “new” climbs.
There are so many races all of a sudden and many on TV. With a VPN your browser can hop around the world allowing you to watch races in Colombia, France and Italy in the space of a few hours. Whether you need to is another matter but there’s now a huge choice and so far the quality has been good, the Tour Colombia’s TV coverage was an improvement on last year.
With the 2020 season underway, 10 neo-pros to watch out for in the coming season. The bar has shifted with the likes of Remco Evenepoel and Tadej Pogačar who struck gold in their first year but for most newcomers the story is more likely one of steady progression.
With the new season underway do you know your Cofidis from your CCC, Michelton from Movistar? Do you know what the EF in EF Education First stands for? No, it’s not Education First and the answer’s below and you can also learn what all the World Tour team title sponsors do.
Case closed. A year ago it was all comedy rap videos from Astana, now they’ve been on the receiving end with the leaked report. But the CADF has cleared this up now and on the basis of the evidence they’ve got they won’t be taking the matter any further.
Yesterday Danish and Norwegian media made allegations that Jakob Fuglsang of the Astana team was in contact with banned doctor Michele Ferrari. It’s all been denied and makes for a strange story with a political tone.