Pro Conti Team Sponsors

You might know what the likes of Trek, Sky or Sunweb do but do you know Aqua Blue from Aqua Protect, CCC from Crelan, Verandas Willems from Veranclassic? I didn’t and set out to find out what all the sponsors of cycling’s second tier teams are about. While the World Tour is fixed with 18 teams, the Pro Continental ranks have grown by five teams to reach a total of 27 squads this year. It’s an interesting glimpse into the sport with health insurance, hedge funds and law firms sponsoring US teams; rural suppliers of verandas and animal feed in France and Belgium. All share the same struggle to get noticed with Pro Conti teams winning just four World Tour races last year.

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Team Victory Rankings

With a brief pause in the racing today, here’s the first look at team standings in 2018 and as ever a chance to look at the squads and stories around them.

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Grand Depart 2016 Costs and Benefits

Mark Cavendish Utah Beach 2016

Want to host the Tour de France? If so then France’s state auditor the Cour des Comptes, “the court of accounts”, has issued a report into le grand départ from 2016 that gives us acloser look at the finances, business and practicalities of hosting the Tour de France.

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Desert Algebra

Dubai Tour 2018

The branch of maths called algebra gets its name from al jabr, Arabic for “reunifying broken parts”. The Tour of Dubai certainly offers formulaic racing where each day the breakaway is reunited with the peloton for an inevitable sprint finish.

Is there another sport where next to nothing happens for hours only for furious action in final seconds? This isn’t new to cycling fans but the Tour of Dubai seems to embody this concept. Perhaps this is a race that nobody is supposed to watch anyway?

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Froome-quently Asked Questions

Chris Froome is set to resume racing at the upcoming Ruta Del Sol race in Spain. So far, so normal as it’s common for stage race specialists to start their season here, Froome himself did so in 2015 (pictured) and you might remember his battle with Alberto Contador. This isn’t a normal situation with Froome’s ongoing anti-doping case following the excessive quantity of salbutamol from last year’s Vuelta. There are lots of questions, here are a few answers…

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Thursday Shorts

Many are wondering whether Froome will take to the start of the Giro d’Italia. Will there be umbrella girls on the startline too? The race employs women on the start line to hold umbrellas over the leaders of each jersey competition. Formula 1 has just announced it will stop using “grid girls”.

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Tour de France Spectator Tips

You’ve surely watched the Tour de France on TV but have you seen it for real? The Tour belongs to the crowds and readers regularly email in questions about visiting the race. With this in mind here are a few suggestions and tips to help plan ahead.

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A Lifetime Ban

A quick note on Lance Armstrong’s lifetime ban which excludes him from competition and also from attending events, including the Tour of Flanders.

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Neo-Pros To Watch For 2018

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It’s a hard time to turn pro. The reduction in team sizes for 2018 means recruitment has been under pressure, especially for teams without obvious development programmes but 30 neo-pros have joined the World Tour. Teams are scouring the world for new talent, the likes of Quick Step are no longer automatic homes for the best Flemish talent as the team signs neo-pros from Colombian and Ecuador these days. Here are some names which might be new for you today but hopefully they’re more familiar by the end of the season.

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