“Nairoman, Nairoman, he’s not a cyclist” goes the lyrics to the song from Colombian TV commentators as they play up the idea that Nairo Quintana is no mere bike rider, he’s a superhero. As for him, well it turns out he just wants to be a cyclist and for the music to play on.

In a defiant press conference where many expected he’d announce his retirement, Quintana launched a surprise attack, saying he’ll fight and he still wants to compete in the biggest races and by implication he wants a contract with a European team, not for him the demotion to a local Colombian squad like Miguel “Superman” Lopez.

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Just over a year ago it was worth highlighting the looming relegation race for 2022. It felt like a significant story and the further the season went on the more the more frantic it got. Now a fresh promotion/relegation cycle begins over the next three seasons things for the men’s World Tour and things seem less urgent, the thing to note is that the rules have changed.

Things will be hectic on other fronts though as several men’s teams are hunting for automatic invitations to the Tour de France. Also the Women’s World Tour licences for the next three years are being decided at the end of this season and so the women’s peloton faces the same promotion/relegation as the men did last season.

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Here are the tables showing how many UCI points are available in every kind of road race. It’s not the stuff of dreams, but if you need to know how many UCI points are on offer in hurry it can be a nightmare to get the answer. Visit the UCI website, find the rules pages, select the right PDF to download and then scroll past 70 pages. Here it’s all on one page.

The big news for 2023 is the points have changed significantly with the grand tours, monuments and world championships becoming even more lucrative and gone are the days when a win in the Elfstedenronde or Paris-Chauny brought more points than a Tour de France stage win.

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The Tour Down Under resumes and there are some subtle changes from race organiser Stuart O’Grady who gets to run his first post-Covid event, in comes a prologue time time trial and out goes the Old Willunga summit finish.

As yet there’s no sign on social media of riders cuddling kangaroos so that looks like another tweak. Right now the women’s race is on and one more significant change is everyone is hosted in the Hilton Hotel, no dormitories for the women any more. Stage 3 today/tonight/tomorrow (Tuesday arvo for locals) is going to be the decisive showdown and features the Corkscrew climb in the final so if you want some action before the men’s race starts, tune in.

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Ten riders to watch this year. Some are suggestions of rising talent to keep an eye on, others will be familiar names but with their own challenges.

The hard part is picking ten riders among a vast cast of characters and the multiple plot lines tha help make the sport so compelling. Still, let’s get a move on…

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Done with the brown paper packages tied up with strings? With the new season less than a week away there’s plenty to look forward too and with this in mind, here are a few favourite things for the year ahead.

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The route for the 2023 Paris-Nice is out and here’s a more detailed stage-by-stage look at the route ahead between Sunday 5 – Sunday 12 March.

The novelty is the team time trial, back after a 30 year absence and with an innovative new rule change as well.

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Ten neo-pros to watch this season from hulking sprinters to towering time triallists, as well as promising classics contenders and stage racers. This year’s list has a coincidental family angle with two famous sons and a brother as well.

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Happy New Year as we embark on another lap around the sun. Here’s the calendar of pro cycling races for 2023.

It’s packed with all the international men’s and women’s pro events. So whether you’re making plans for next season, want to visit a race, or just need book sofa time or plan a work “meeting”, here it is…

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Here are the answers to the Christmas quiz. Well done to all who tried.

1. Dressed in red and white, he’s delivering the goods amid the cold conditions. Name this bicycling Santa Claus?
Zingle bells, Zingle bells, Axel Zingle all the way, oh what fun it is to win a stage of the Artic Race of Norway. The Cofidis neo-pro had a solid debut season this year with three wins, each in hilly races with harsh conditions.

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