Loyal readers might be familiar with the calendar but with the season in full swing there are many more readers so if you missed the posts about it during the off-season, here’s a reminder you can get a pro cycling calendar for your organiser, phone or computer diary with all the major UCI men’s and women’s pro races around the world included. Below there’s a quick explainer on how to subscribe, the meaning of the UCI labels and more.
Prize Money
Prize money in cycling rarely makes the news. Sometimes when people see how much the men collect they’re surprised it’s so low… until they see how little the women get. But what do the riders actually collect? The net sum received by the winner is often a tiny fraction of the headline prize for first place.
Ronde Van Vlaanderen Preview
It’s Quick Step versus the peloton this Sunday as the home team take on all comers, including Peter Sagan, Greg Van Avermaet and Sep Vanmarcke. It’s live on TV from start to finish and in front of an estimated million of roadside fans, an event of national importance to the Belgians.
Supporter Kit
A timely reminder that you can get supporter t-shirts, socks, jerseys… and the as-seen-on-TV supporter caps. You get yourself some new kit and help keep the wheels turning here.
Team Victory Rankings
A quiet week on the calendar so a quick moment to take stock of the stats and look at the teams and the news around them especially as the transfer market begins to warm up. Riders can’t sign for another team until August but they can agree terms and sign pre-contracts, for example Matteo Trentin’s move to Mitchelton-Scott was done around this time last year, the year before John Degenkolb’s move to Trek-Segafredo was done in the spring too and many more riders shake hands in March and April before signing the official document later this summer.
Thursday Shorts
So far, so good. The measures unveiled by the UCI yesterday to detect motors are good. Of course they’re not really there to detect motors…
Route Mapping The Cols
See the map above, is the white road running north-south familiar? Well done if you named the Col du Galibier in the French Alps, better still if you mention the Télégraphe and Lautaret passes too. Only many common mapping services don’t label these mountain passes so if you’re looking online these famous places they can be hard to find.
The Roads to Ride series here get used by some as help to pick a destination but once you’ve picked one road, what about all the other nearby ones? A quick departure from pro cycling to some tips for mapping your rides in the Alps and beyond.
The Moment Milan-Sanremo Was Won
They’ve no government following indecisive elections, they’ve no team left in the World Tour but Italy can still count on Vincenzo Nibali. His attack on the Poggio won him the race and brought the first home victory in Sanremo since 2006.
Milan-Sanremo Preview
The first Monument of the year, this Saturday’s Milan-Sanremo is all about the tense finish, the paradox of the longest race of the year that’s often decided in the final metres, a race where every pedal stroke counts and the list of contenders and pretenders is longer than any other. Who will keep their nerve?