all words by Mike Franchetti
The 2021 Tour de France was so good that it was actually pretty dull. Some moments were so perfect that they were actually almost boring. There were so many heroes that we began hoping to unearth a villain. The best four riders in the world all won at least one stage. All four of them
Only romantics imagined that the mess uncovered at the 1998 Tour de France would have disappeared by the turn of the century, and the crooked doping programs which defined the era have impacted the image of pro cycling forever. Yes, the Tour de France in the early 2000s was a mess; but we can’t forget
Welcome to this “How To” guide, designed to help you gain a greater understanding of the principles of overreacting in Grand Tour racing. Please share with your friends if they are stuck in a grounded reality. Step 1: Completely disregard your pre-race research Before the race, you may have foolishly spent countless hours researching every
On Sunday we’ll once again wave hello to the Old Lady of the calendar, now back in her usual springtime slot. The frustrating thing about Liege is that it promises so much but can fail to deliver any big moments. I’ve heard riders comment on how hard the race is, far harder than its meagre
The Ronde market can be divided into the shiny exciting prospects (Wout van Aert, Matthieu van der Poel, Mads Pedersen, Tom Pidcock) and the hardened faces of many a spring classic (Peter Sagan, Zdenek Stybar, Yves Lampaert, Greg van Avermaet, Oliver Naesen). You can add to the mix two superstars who haven’t traditionally marked Flanders
I’ll keep this short. There’s 300km of tarmac on the route from Milan to the famous Via Roma, and just two key bumps totalling less then 10km of climbing. There are two enormous race favourites, with just three Sanremo appearances between them. Wout van Aert and Mathieu van der Poel are the best one-day racers
Even the most cursory of scrolls through social media last month would have revealed the tale of Redditors vs. Hedge Funds, and likely sparked a previously undiscovered curiosity in the stock market. Should we all be trading stocks? If so, which ones? And when? And why? Luckily, the world of pro cycling is a far
Barring a wild and unforeseen shift in the atmosphere, Omloop Her Nieuwsblad is going to be beautifully miserable. Mud and rain are common for European races in February, but this year the temperature will be a few notches cooler than the norm. Cobbled sections in icy wind and diagonal rain sounds like hell to the
