The $10,000 Bike and The $100 Jacket

Milan Sanremo Cold

Was Gerald Ciolek the best dressed man in Sanremo? This isn’t about fashion but workwear because when it’s snowing and there’s a race on, your clothing can make all the difference. Some riders suffered wardrobe malfunctions and abandoned whilst others rode on thanks to a range of kit that went from improvised helmet covers to mysterious non-team issue black jackets. Of course the race results weren’t down to clothing alone but the right kit helps.

One thing that stands out is the way riders start a race with all sorts of aerodynamic advantages only for it to rain and they don a jacket that billows, flaps and creases to make them look like the Michelin man.

Read more

Tour of Catalonia Preview

A short preview of the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya. A World Tour race it has attracted an impressive startlist with many names to watch, including Bradley Wiggins and Ryder Hesjedal as well as local lad and pre-race favourite Joaquim Rodriguez. Unlike other most other stage races, this one has no time trial meaning the small climbers like Nairo Quintana and José Rujano have a chance to win the overall too.

As usual here are the stages, the contenders and other info like TV times.

Read more

The Moment The Race Was Won: Milan-Sanremo

Milan Sanremo sprint

Gerald Ciolek (MTN-Qhubeka) throws his bike to the line to finish ahead of Peter Sagan (Cannondale) and Fabian Cancellara (Radioshack). In a race so full of suspense it was suspended the outcome of the race was not certain until the last few seconds when the German proved the fastest from the group of six that reached Sanremo. This was the moment the race was won.

Read more

The Spin: Milan-Sanremo preview

Milan Sanremo podium

Milan-Sanremo remains an elusive contest, so long yet the action is concentrated at the end. It has few obvious difficulties yet only a select few contest the finish. Curiously it’s the spring classic that’s open to all yet reserved for the sport’s VIPs and arguably the only race of the year where sprinters, classics specialists and grand tour contenders race each other directly.

Here’s a race preview with more on the route as well as the riders to watch, the weather, TV schedules and more.

Read more

Roads to Ride: The Poggio

At first glance the Via Duca d’Aosta looks like any normal road along the Italian coast. It sits off the Via Aurelia, the main road that hugs the coastline all the way to France which hums and buzzes with Italian traffic. A few vehicles turn off now and then to take the smaller road named after a Duke who was once Italian royalty. Rusty vans wheeze up the road ferrying supplies for the numerous greenhouses that cover the hillside, growing flowers for export. Only the Via Duca d’Aosta is no ordinary road, it is the Poggio, the final climb of Milan-Sanremo.

Read more

Milan-Sanremo Documentary

Mark Cavendish talking about opera, Filippo Pozzato sliding his Ferrari around the bends of the Poggio, a priest discussing doping and a two-time winner of Milan-Sanremo from the 1950s riding an indoor exercise bike. All this and more in the documentary film by Wilfried de Jong.

Read more

The Longest Race in the World

Milan Sanremo profile

Amongst the Spring classics Milan-Sanremo is the odd one out. For a start the name is genuine. Paris-Roubaix no longer starts in Paris and Liège-Basgtogne-Liège finishes in a place called Ans. The Italian race starts right in the heart of Milan, in between the Parco Sempione and the giant Gothic cathedral.

This is also the longest one-day race on the pro calendar. So long that the event has special dispensation to exceed the UCI maximum distance of 250km. Much of the route is flat but it’s fast and every pedal stroke is like a cent or penny borrowed, each one is added up with an interest rate that’s compounded over the seven hours.

Sometimes you can glance at a race profile in five seconds but this route is so long that it’s full of stories, statues, views, food and more. Let’s take a more detailed look at the route via ten photos.

Read more

Team Victory Rankings

Team victory chart

With Paris-Nice and Tirreno-Adriatico done, an update to the team victory rankings. OPQS now lead thanks to recent wins from Sylvain Chavanel and Tony Martin, a sign that the Belgian team can win on almost every front, with the probably exception of the high mountains and the overall classification of grand tours.

Vacansoleil-DCM and Euskaltel-Euskadi are the two teams without a win. A problem? Yes and no as I’ll explain below with the story of Wout Poels.

Read more

Was The Sant’ Elpidio Climb Too Hard?

Nibali Rodriguez Tirreno Sant Elpidio

The Tirreno-Adriatico race concludes today with a time trial and there will be some sore legs from the previous day’s racing. Stage 6 included a climb that with a modest average that hid some sections at 27%. This had riders stalling with many having to walk up and some got a push. A sizeable number of riders quit and after a 130km solo effort BMC Racing’s Taylor Phinney crossed the line but was eliminated after missing the time cut.

It created a post-stage polemic with many riders taking to the airwaves, Twitter or their blogs to say the stage was too much. Race director Michele Acquarone was moved to say sorry. Was the climb too much?

Read more

Tirreno-Adriatico: Stage 7 Preview

Tirreno Adriatico time trial

For the fourth day in a row, we will have a new rider in the blue leader’s jersey. Vincenzo Nibali attacked exactly where everybody expected him to do so, but still no one – except for Purito and Sagan – could keep up with him. Nibali now leads overall with 34 seconds down to Chris Froome and I will be very surprised if he doesn’t win Tirreno-Adriatico for the second time in a row.

This time trial is the same as last year and I doubt even Chris Froome can take back more than half a minute on Vincenzo Nibali in just 9.2 km. Nibali has been working very hard on improving his time trial skills and with a new bike and new skinsuit he could even end up surprising quite a few on this stage.

Read more

+ More