Happy New Year to all readers. Look at the calendar above and you can now see some pro races appearing with the Tropicale Amissa Bongo in Gabon and the Tour de San Luis in Argentina before the World Tour season starts with the Tour Down Under.
Here’s the 2014 calendar for all the major men’s and women’s races and, included below, how to download it to your smartphone or electronic diary.
Who knows what 2014 will bring? There are some signs but it’s often the unexpected events that delight and intrigue. Here are some extrapolations and wild guesses for the year ahead.
Many a weekend warrior sees the pro cyclist as a role model but it’s not so often that pro riders draw inspiration from a rival, at least in public. But here’s a quick note to explain how Dan Martin’s win in Liège-Bastogne-Liège seems to have inspire others.
There are many ways to ride faster uphill. The marginal gains industry supplies everything from lightweight helmets and shoes all the way to the frontier of eating disorders as cyclists, mindful of their power/weight ratio become dominated by the denominator of this crucial ratio.
But the search for every watt and gram seems one-sided, the effort to go uphill fast exceeds all thought about what to do once the mountain pass has been scaled and the descent awaits.
What’s the difference between a bike shop and a coffee shop? About five years’ time.
A growing number of bike shops seem to resemble stylish coffee bars with designed interiors that cater for a lifestyle rather than the rude tasks of transport or competition. This trend isn’t everywhere but visit London, Hong Kong or Sydney and you’ll find places selling cappuccinos alongside cogs and cleats.
After the highlights, the lowlights. Sport is meant to have its drama but pro cycling often crosses the line from pantomime villainy to worse. As well as drama there’s
How much time have we got? It’s always hard to compress a season into a handful of highlights so rather than pressing on with daily look back at the best parts of the year, here are some other moments of the year reunited.
An obvious pick, Stage 13 of the Tour de France was the day the OPQS and Belkin teams shredded the bunch in the crosswinds. With hindsight it how a hotel booking can alter a race too.
As the 2014 season approaches here is a selection of riders to watch for. I’ve picked six established riders who face different challenges in the new year and six young riders who could impress but first have to bunnyhop the chasm from amateur and pro.
As part of a series of highlights of the year, here is Stage 3 of Paris-Nice and its exciting finish where the terrain, weather and riders all combined to make a thrilling finish.
There’s also a video of a Sky rider crashing that’s used by the UCI as a classroom case of how not to descend.