It’s openingsweekend and Belgium is open too, locked indoors last year, the crowds will be back to enjoy a cobbled classic on their doorstep. Here’s a quick preview.
Month: February 2022
Promotion and Relegation
In the absence of any big World Tour races and out of competition news like Egan Bernal’s crash and rehab, the promotion and relegation battle among teams has been a big story of the start of the season. Perhaps you haven’t been watching races with a spreadsheet to hand, but watching Cofidis win this and Intermarché-Wanty win that has been to think of all the points they’re racking up.
B&B Team in Big Bother
Ordinarily getting a wildcard invitation for the Tour de France should be something to celebrate for the B&B Hotels team but the news this week points to a real problem for the team. Their invitation to the Tour is debatable today, and their problem is that with time there will be less argument as Uno-X overhaul them.
Critérium du Dauphiné Route
A quick look at the Critérium du Dauphiné’s route for this year, click to read more if you want.. but in writing-up this piece as a means to explore the route in more detail not much stands out for the 2022 edition so you can save the bandwidth for another day.
There’s a big time trial to shape the GC and then some familiar Alpine haunts for final weekend.
Book Review: The Art of Cycling
The Art of Cycling by James Hibbard
Part road-trip, part philosophical exploration and part autobiography this book is difficult to categorise, but greater than the sum of these parts.
The author has decided to get back on the bike to do a long multi-day ride down the Californian coast with two ex-cycling friends. This is the premise to write about the trip, to explore the culture of cycling, to think about a past career as an athlete and analyse all of this, and society at large, with philosophy.