“Where There’s a Will” by Emily Chappell
A tale of adventure that might encourage you to try a longer ride and helps reflect on the nature of racing and sport.
Raymond Poulidor Obituary
Raymond Poulidor died on 13 November, aged 83. A champion cyclist, he made a name for himself as a loveable loser, a moral winner and a dependable emblem of rural France during a period of societal change. His reputation reaches far beyond cycling and there are Poulidors in sport, politics and life.
2019 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?
Tour of California Paused
The Tour of California won’t happen in 2020 with the organisers AEG declaring a “hiatus” for the race and with the women’s race too. The reasons aren’t given directly but further comments to Velonews cited the business model, presumably code for saying the race ran out of money rather than being stopped for other reasons. It’s bad news for US cycling but doesn’t come in isolation.
2020 Pro Cycling Calendar
Happy New Year. Technically the 2020 road cycling season starts today and here’s the calendar for the year ahead.
There are several new races and another blog post will look at the new races and the structure of the calendar as a whole but in the meantime you can put all the major pro races into your digital diary.
There’s also quick explainer on how to subscribe to the calendar, the meaning of the UCI labels and more.
Friday Shorts
The big story right now is one that’s not public. The end of the season is looming and several teams are getting nervous about their points haul with World Tour places in jeopardy, notably Dimension Data
Tour de France Route Thoughts
Having looked at the route in a procedural sense on Tuesday, now time to take a step back and look at things in more detail, from aspects of the course to details like the transfers and more.
2020 Tour de France Route
The route of the 2020 Tour de France is out and it’s mountainous with mountain stages galore and more summit finishes than ever. Here’s a closer look at the stages and tomorrow we’ll look more closely at some of the details, themes and more.
The Moment Lombardia Was Won
In the late autumnal sunshine on the Civiglio climb Bauke Mollema’s attacked and quickly got a gap as the pre-race picks hesitate, each privately hoping someone else would close him down. On a day when the sports headlines were dominated by Eliud Kipchoge’s paced marathon run, here was Lombardia reminding us that cycling is a relative contest rather than a test of absolute performance.