The race enters the Pyrenees for the first mountain stage but the final climb is not fierce. Instead this is a day when the descent could pick the winner because foul weather is forecast and the riders face a long and chilly ride down the top of the Coll de la Creueta in freezing temperatures. A battle between the big guns isn’t certain but they might feel compelled to turn up the heat… if the stage goes ahead.
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.
Clear goal-setting by @lukamezgec at February trainingcamp @tgiantshimano. Hard work and focus paid off. #Catalunya. pic.twitter.com/1MUNqiXkPL
— Adriaan Helmantel (@a3aanhelmantel) March 24, 2014
Luka Mezgec won yesterday but did he plan for a second stage win? Because today’s stage suits the sprinters as it speeds to Girona.
I’ll be doing short previews for this races each morning. It’s a great event with a challenging course and, best of all, galactic startlist that seems many big names in action.
Here is the Stage 1 preview along with a quick take on route as a whole, the overall contenders and the Daily Diaz reprised from the Vuelta a Espana.
An old route but a new winner as Alexander Kristoff leads the sprint down the finishing straight. This was the moment the race was won.
The Dolomites are part of the Italian Alps and offer plenty of great cycling routes that are rich in race history. This month the site is sponsored by travel company Holimites and speaking to them about the best places to ride in the region I mentioned the usual suspects like the Passo Pordoi, Passo Giau and Selle Ronda but they came back with… the Passo delle Erbe.
This might not have the celebrity status of other mountain passes but it is probably the most scenic and with several routes to the top, there’s variety.
So much talk about the route and now it’s time to focus on the race. This is the longest event on the calendar and loaded with prestige, history and action. Fate means this Sunday’s edition reverting to a pre-2008 course with neither the new climb of Pompeiana nor Le Mànie. It would be a gift to the sprinters only paradoxically these late changes mean many of them might not be ready for it.
Here’s the race preview for Sunday with the route, scenarios, contenders separated from pretenders as well as TV times, the weather and more.
Stick to the road – New UCI TV show – Coaches – No Bruyneel verdict – Classics Countdown
The UCI’s quietly issued an update to its “stick to the road rule” but the new wording is even more confusing than the original.
Intro: this is a guest piece by Vincent Luyendijk. The blog has often looked at changes in pro cycling and related commercial issues like TV coverage and but what of the audience and the newcomers to the sport? Vincent Luyendijk takes a look at those who are riding but not racing, the newcomers to the sport who will be tomorrow’s competitors, cycle store consumers or Tour de France audience.
At the start of the new season it is always exciting to see what’s new. Is it easy to recognize the new outfits? Which rider is the new talent to watch? How do new training methods and technology work out for the different teams? At Paris-Nice the oldest rider winning a stage was 25 in Arthur Vichot, it shows that a new generation of cyclists is taking over.
Team Sky have announced that Sergio Henao has been “taken off Team Sky’s race schedule” following “out-of-competition control tests”. The story first appeared in La Gazzetta Dello Sport where British journalist Daniel Friebe picked up on it. Within minutes Team Sky put out a press release.
Little is known and it leaves many scratching their heads while others are happier to fill the vacuum with speculation and more. But at the risk of thinking out aloud, let’s try to review some of this.