The greatest one day race in the world takes place this Sunday. Fabian Cancellara and Tom Boonen look to make history with Peter Sagan wanting to join them as a winner of De Ronde. But it’s far more than a triangular contest. There’s a revised route that’s harder than and giant crowds help make this race one of the highlights of the year.
Here’s the preview for De Ronde with the route, contenders, pretenders, weather, TV and more.
Guest piece by Frank Kwanten
The sport is changing. Teams want a new model and some have united under the “Avignon Accord“. The UCI and the races are changing with calendar reform, a points overhaul and more. ASO buys the Vuelta, even leaving Hein Verbruggen in awe.
But what of the riders? Too often they’re not represented and when they are, it often doesn’t satisfy with concerns about everything from safety to late payment of prize money. “Ride to 2016” is an initiative by Dutch rider Reinier Honig who is a strong advocate of better protection for the riders. He found himself without a team after the Crelan team pulled the plug late in 2013. While still training and racing (he won a race a few days ago) Honig wants to contribute to a bright future for young cyclists. Reinier took the initiative together with Frank Kwanten who, after a career at Vacansoleil-DCM, now works as a Rider Agent and does some consultancy in the world of pro cycling. Frank is the owner of First Echelon and strongly believes that for a clean and bright future the riders need to take a stand and organize themselves.
The UCI has announced bold and sweeping reforms to the men’s pro cycling system only they’re inside a PDF newsletter lurking on a quite corner of the UCI website. These build on plans announced last autumn, involve radical change and they are coming faster than expected. Let’s take a look.
If anyone’s in a hurry to get to Nice this is a slow start because Stage 1 starts and finishes in the same place. It might be the longest version of the eight day race ever but the race will make up ground elsewhere. The opening stage should be for the sprinters but watch for others trying to poach bonus seconds or get an early march on their rivals.
Here’s the first of daily previews with route info and more from the weather to TV listings.
Talk about a long weekend, i’s been an instructive and busy two days of racing. Chris Froome and Alberto Contador both won, the same for André Greipel and Mark Cavendish along with Carlos Betancur and Michał Kwiatkowski, Alejandro Valverde, Amaël Moinard and Moreno Hofland. Almost all big names, Moinard is a big helper and Hofland a future sprinting prospect.
Froome’s result was expected but it marked Contador’s first win in over a year and a chance to revive the El Pistolero victory salute. Is he back to being a forced to be reckoned with? It’s too soon to tell but it’s a start. Unlike poor Andy Schleck who was invisible in the Tour of Oman, he might yet come good but you feel for his supporters who must wait.
A short preview with thanks to Portuguese blogger Rui Quinta who has helped decrypt each stage. It’s a compact race with something for the sprinters, climbers and a technical time trial, a good guide of early season form for climbers and classics contenders alike.
With many big names in Oman, there are still plenty of riders to watch here with Rui Costa, Chris Horner, Michał Kwiatkowski, Alberto Contador and Mark Cavendish.
The Tour Med finished on Mont Faron today with Jean-Christophe Péraud winning the stage and Stephen Cummings finishing close behind in fourth place to win the race overall. The podium photo shows riders each with a story to tell.
Taylor Phiney won the overall classification Dubai. You feared he’d be outclassed by his hairstyle but a big time trial performance, some competent team work and his sprinting meant his overall lead was safe all the time. If he had a great race Marcel Kittel’s surely had the best week, three sprint wins and over a variety of terrain and different scenarios.
If this was supposed to be the start of the Mark Cavendish vs. Marcel Kittel it might look like 3-0 to the German. Kittel’s consistency impressed, especially on the stage to Hatta Hill where he surged to the line to surprise everyone. But Cavendish made the same group that day when many other sprinters did not and lost out another day with a mechanical.
Zdeněk Štybar wins the World Cyclo-Cross Championships. He only decided to start last Thursday. I can’t help wonder if this was a bluff, a way to deflect pressure? Because the idea of showing up at a World Championships at the last minute is rare but to win it is quite something else. Probably not but remember this day in case he’s a late entrant for Paris-Roubaix next April.
The days of an easy winter are long gone for cyclists where some light riding and the odd bit of cross-training was enough to last you through January. Today Carlos Betancur’s extra kilos are the exception rather than the norm. If anything some pushing too hard in their winter training. Those returning from Australia to Europe get a climate shock from the cold that lasts for days, just as getting used to the heat was a problem on arrival.