Flat? Yes. But featureless this is not as the race takes the coastal road past many of France’s best wind and kitesurfing spots and the wind is forecast to blow meaning this will be part bike race, part sailing regatta.
Vuelta a España Stage 1 Preview
The Vuelta starts in France, in Nimes which is one of those cities where in the untranslatable lyrics of Claude Nougaro “l’Espagne pousse un peu sa corne“. As for the racing this is a challenging technical course that passes all the cities postcard monuments.
Vuelta a España Preview
As Nairo Quintana enjoys some deserved rest and recovery the 2017 Vuelta a Espana podium is open to many with a very strong start list assembling in Nimes for the annual race of surprises and contrats where many line up hoping to win yet few have been on stage recons, where everyone says the Gir-Tour double is impossible but the Tour-Vuelta approach is a well-beaten path. Here’s a brief look at the course and run through of the overall contenders.
Developing Development Teams
BMC Racing have decided to pull the plug on their development team. In a statement team said a causal factor was their development of riders who only go and sign for other teams.
Team Victory Rankings
A look at who is up and down as well as the chance to review issues like transfers, sponsorship and contracts too.
Warren Barguil Signs With Fortuneo-Oscaro
Not every transfer gets a dedicated blog post but not every move seems to have generated as many questions by twitter and email. So here are a few notes and explainers on Warren Barguil’s move to Fortuneo-Oscaro in case you’re curious…
Transfer Day
It’s transfer day in cycling. Under the UCI rules existing professionals can now sign for another team for the 2018 season, both a pointless rule and a precious one.
Seven the top-10 in the Tour de France are potentially on the market* but it’s also the start of a nervous two months for lesser riders whose contract is up at the end of the year. Here’s a quick scan of the market…
Supporter T-Shirts Back In Stock
The t-shirts are back in stock and available on the Prendas Ciclismo website: prendas.co.uk. They were launched last month and sold out faster than a promising U23 sitting down alone without an agent for contract negotiations with Team Sky.
UCI Annual Report and Accounts
“Don’t judge a book by its cover” goes the saying only the front of the UCI’s annual report and accounts for 2016 says plenty as features the men’s road race at the world championships in Doha, the concluding event of a very lucrative week for cycling’s governing body as the accounts show the Qataris paid far more than the usual amount to host the event.
The UCI’s annual report and accounts (PDF) came out on the eve of the Tour de France. The big race got the limelight, now it’s time to take a quick look at the sport’s governing body and its finances.