Last Friday’s piece on the Rodania jingle that comes before almost every major race in Belgium was a popular read and there talk in the comments about ringtones.
The Spin: Paris-Nice Stage 4
A great day for a breakaway. Today’s stage lends itself to an escape move but team tactics could rule the day.
Paris-Nice Stage 3: the moment the race was won
Stage 3 was 194km long and took four hours 36 minutes and 19 seconds. The difference came down to a matter of centimetres and milliseconds. After leg pedalling for hours the race was won thanks to a throw of the arms.
Game over for Super Mario?
You almost have to check that it’s not 1 April with this morning’s news that Mario Cipollini is talking of a comeback in order to help young sprinter Andrea Guardini in the Giro. Nevermind that Cipollini is 45, nor that he’s weighing 90 kilo – no flab, extra muscle we are assured – there’s a simple reason why he can’t ride the Giro this year: the UCI rulebook.
The Spin: Paris-Nice Stage 3
Up, up and away. It’s tempting to see today’s stage getting progressively hilly before a final climb with third category “summit” finish at 700 metres above sea level in the Massif Central range but it’s not so simple.
The moment the race was won
Everyone knew crosswinds could blow the peloton to pieces. But when it happened most could only watch as the others rode away.
The story of the Hinault photo
Last week’s look at the history of Paris-Nice proved a popular read and the photo of Bernard Hinault taking a swing was a talking point in the comments.
Like all images it captures a moment on camera but it was only one instant in the day and there’s a whole story behind the picture. And video footage too.
The Spin: Paris-Nice Stage 2
185km and flat. Looks easy, no?
Non as they say in French. Arguably today is the only real sprint stage of the race because later on the race gets more and more hilly. Several teams will be giving it everything to set up their sprinters today. More, the route is exposed and the wind is likely to be a major factor in the race today with gusts of 65km/h forecast.
Sunday shorts
Well done to Gustav Larsson of Vacansoleil-DCM for his win in Paris-Nice. The windtunnel work paid off as he won by just one second over Bradley Wiggins. It rained for the later contenders and some said Larsson would not ordinarily have won. But I suspect the likes of Bradley Wiggins and Levi Leipheimer will have their chance for glory later in the week. Above all Larsson was given his departure time, rode his best… and won.
The Spin: Paris-Nice Stage 1
There’s a one page guide to the race with the stage listings, TV schedules, prize and more. See the big Paris-Nice link at the top of the page or click here.
But each day during the race there will be a separate blog posting called The Spin. This allows new elements to be analysed such as the riders in form and the weather conditions. So there’s one guide for the whole week and The Spin is for daily info on the morning of each stage.