Going The Distance

What was longest event at the Olympics this year? The answer is the men’s road race, six hours and ten minutes and by some margin. That’s roughly double the duration of the 50km walk and three times longer than the marathon, the 10km open water swim and the triathlon. Games like tennis or cricket can last for days but they stop for lunch. Cycling’s unique selling point isn’t distance but this is big part of its identity, race names like Paris-Nice evoke distances normally done by plane, train or automobile and even the combination of all three.

Only now some races are being shortened to make them snappier for TV. Are we in danger of losing something?

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2017 World Tour Calendar Analysis

The 2017 calendar is out and the UCI has added more races to the World Tour with 10 events making up a total of 28 extra racing days on the prime calendar. In the coming days we’ll learn more about the qualitative aspect of the calendar with talk of the new events being treated as second grade additions but for now let’s look at the new calendar on a quantitative basis, how its numbers stack up.

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2017 Tour de France Route

The 2017 Tour de France route was unveiled last month. Usually this blog does a snap analysis of the route but having been away last month it’s still worth reviewing the route and sharing some thoughts. Next year’s route looks unusual with so few summit finishes. If Tour bosses Christian Prudhomme and Thierry Gouvenou were rock stars this would be their experimental album.

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Book Review: Pinpoint by Greg Milner

Pinpoint book by Greg Milner

Pinpoint, How GPS is Changing Our World by Greg Milner

Do you use GPS for your cycling? The short answer is yes because even if you don’t have a bike computer on your bars or a smartphone in your pocket the satellite technology would have contributed to your ride in other ways from making that paper map to guiding the deliver truck that brought the spare parts for your bike to your home or local bike shop. GPS is everywhere and it’s free. How did this happen? Pinpoint tells the history of its creation and explores the use today.

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2017 Pro Race Calendar and iCal

Here’s the 2017 pro cycling calendar for your organiser, phone or computer diary. All of the major UCI men’s and women’s pro races around the world are included and below there’s a quick explainer on how to subscribe, the meaning of the UCI labels and more.

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Back in November

A brief note to say this blog will be taking a break for the next three weeks and there will be no coverage of the World Championships, or much else, until the end of the month.

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Paris-Tours Preview

Usually a thrilling race thanks to the inclusion of some sharp climbs in the final moment which tips the balance from the sprinters to the attackers this Sunday’s race has scrapped these climbs to make the race more sprinter-friendly ahead of next weekend’s world championships in Qatar. This might make the race less of a thrill but it’s the chance for the sprinters to win back this race and viewers get a rare sprint royale, a rarity outside of the Tour de France.

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The Relegation Procedure

Vuelta a Espagne 2016

Having mentioned the frenzy in the transfer and rider recruitment market last month, now a quick look at the timetable and process ahead for the World Tour teams and some thoughts on whether the promotion and relegation story should be more public and as much a part of the seasonal drama as it is in Europe’s football leagues.

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Running Out of Time

Tom Dumoulin

No wonder Esteban Chaves was smiling on Sunday. He’d won a Monument and a World Tour race and the hilly course was perfect for a rider who styles himself as a colibri, a hummingbird because he’s so light. The World Tour is over now and along the way there are chances for many with with races for the sprinters, stage race specialists and more. There’s almost something for everyone in the World Tour… except the time trial specialists. In fact there’s not a single dedicated time trial which means they lack the opportunity to win the precious ranking points associated with their specialism. A stage win here or there only offers a fraction of what’s available to other specialists during the season.

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The Moment Il Lombardia Was Won

A sprint among three climbers? After 240km this could never be a dragstrip contest but Esteban Chaves still had the jump in the closing metres to surge past Diego Rosa and win the Tour of Lombardy.

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