Much excitement as new jersey makes a debut.
Tag: cycling
Flanders Classics aid to help us through lockdown…
The Flanders Classics youtube channel has just uploaded a number of full race packages from the recent editions.
Lockdown week 1 so far
I have long since stopped wondering about what the cycling season 2020 will hold for me and for the pro sport in general.
It’s about keeping fit and motivated in my garage and on the patio on the turbo trainer. Of course, there is still the option to ride outdoors in the UK but so far I have not felt like that would be the best course of action for me personally and have chosen to stay home.
Everyone is counting the cost of risk to health and lost jobs so cycling as a sport can be put into perspective. I have started to miss the sport and am sure that when it does return I will appreciate the racing and the scenery shown on TV even more.
Like many I am looking retrospectively at races from yesteryear using the gift of Youtube.
A lot of websites are doing reviews of old races and that might be something I pursue going forward.
If you are asking here is my favourite race of all time…
So, enjoy and stay safe.
A sad inevitability…
As the week has worn on, the whole world has been edging nearer and nearer a period of shutdown.
Despite taking place, Paris Nice has ended a day early to allow riders to get home before their respective nations shut down for a couple of weeks or so.
The race itself was pretty exciting with lots of wind, rain and one of my favourite words of the spring, Echelons.
Lovely.
But all through the week there was an impending sense of doom that became reality Thursday into Friday when a number of teams pulled out.
And that it would appear is that in terms of bike racing for the foreseeable future. No Giro, very little chance of the Flemish classics and a growing sense of feeling despite all of ASOs posturing, the Tour de France will be next.
But as my post earlier in the week stated, public health must come first and this period where a lot of the things we take for granted are taken away, we will grow to appreciate them on their return.
Stay safe.
Italian race postponements could be a sign of things to come.
Of course the first and foremost thing to say on Covid-19 is that the health and safety of everyone should be absolutely paramount and in the grand scheme of things cycle racing is not the most important thing at this time.
But this is a cycling website so that is the area of focus that we have.
We reported last week that Strade Bianchi was postponed and this week we have no Tirreno Adriatico before the cancellation of Milan-San Remo at the end of the week.
Naturally as a lover of the sport and someone with a bit of an understanding of the financial delicacy it faces, I worry about the longer team ramifications.
It is slightly better in France as Paris-Nice is at least off and running, but when you read quotes from the riders that 90% of them will be surprised if they reach the Mediterranean at the weekend you know that this is something that wont be going away soon.
Cyclingnews has already reported that the mens and womens Giro D’Italia’s are in doubt and that there are likely to be issues in France by the time the Tour comes round.
At the moment the UK has no barriers to sports or gatherings but it feels like a matter of time and that 2020 will be a year we remember for one thing.
Nico Portal
Like all of the cycling world, we were upset to hear of the passing of Team Ineos DS Nico Portal at the age of 40.
RIP Nico, our thoughts are with your family and friends.
