Tough choice to pick the last of five highlights from the year but the Tour de France’s penultimate stage stands out, above all as a moment of sporting drama, but also a healthy exercise in forecasting, bias and review.
Christmas Holidays Quiz
Some are obvious, some odd, most can’t be Googled and a few are fiendish. By all means have a go and there’s a Tour de France polka-dot t-shirt prize for the winner… but most will probably find fun in the answers that will appear here next week.
Highlights of 2020 – Part IV
After three stage races, now for a one day race and no less than the Tour of Flanders.
Highlights of 2020 – Part III
Next up in the parade of highlights this year is the final stage of the Critérium du Dauphiné, a thriller from start to finish.
Highlights of 2020 – Part II
In the second of the 2020 highlights here’s the Tour de l’Ain. Normally a modest 2.1 stage race, in 2020 it had all the right ingredients to set up a summer of sport and told us plenty about the upcoming Critérium du Dauphiné and Tour de France, setting up the Jumbo vs Ineos duel.
Highlights of 2020 – Part I
The first of five picks looking back at 2020 is Paris-Nice. Held in March it almost feels like two seasons ago now. The final stage had to be scrapped but there was plenty to enjoy along the way despite a fraught atmosphere as the coronavirus spread across Europe. Max Schachmann led from start to finish but there was never a sense of inevitability and he was tested right until the final moments of the final stage.
Jean-Pierre Carenso
Jean-Pierre Carenso has died aged 86. A former director of the Tour de France, Carenso – pictured on the right – is one of several “forgotten” directors from the 1980s and did a lot to change the race and the business of pro cycling in a short space of time.
2020 Team Victory Rankings
With the season finished it’s time to look back at the wins and how the teams fared, and also take a deeper look at the stats. Which teams had the most podium places but the fewest wins? Which teams are the most reliant on one rider?
Why Did Groenewegen Get A Nine Month Ban?
Dylan Groenewegen has been banned for 9 months after he caused Fabio Jakobsen to crash in the opening stage of the Tour de Pologne. This is a record ban for an in-race incident and we actually don’t know why he’s got such a long ban. You might have a view but that’s not the point.