all words by Mike Franchetti
Here we go! I haven’t felt Giro fever this much since May 2019. The calendar was chopped up beyond recognition during the COVID-19 pandemic and – possibly due to the comparatively short turnaround – last year’s race just didn’t hit me. Egan Bernal was a brilliant winner. Damiano Caruso and Giacomo Nizzolo were hugely popular
The last few weeks have roared past and we’re already at the Old Lady, Liège-Bastogne-Liège. The Ardennes have been in a losing fight with our favourite cobbled races for as long as I can remember, and the shuffling of both Amstel Gold and Paris-Roubaix only made things harder for the rolling climbs of Wallonia to
It’s 2022, so we know better than to try and predict the spring weather or put our faith in the early official startlists. At the time of writing, we know Flanders is going to be cold. Possibly not as cold as earlier in the week – but still pretty chilly. The wind should be moderate
Ahead of the 2016 season, I named Strade Bianche as one of “the best races you might not be watching” alongside De Branbantse Pijl (still always awesome) and, erm, the Arctic Race of Norway (can’t win them all). In the years that have followed, Strade Bianche has undisputedly become a blockbuster day on the calendar.
In an Olympic year, the most awkwardly placed race on the pro calendar gets a little more awkward. This isn’t necessarily a problem; San Sebastián is well-equipped to attract a smorgasbord of riders with fresh legs, tired legs, and quite possibly oh-dear-what-happened-to-my-legs. But do you really want to have thousands of Tour miles in
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
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
Just Pro Cycling 