Other sports don't get a mention
The Giro d’Italia starts on the 11th May. After last year’s road from Jerusalem to Rome, we return for a full-blooded Italian edition with the Grande Partenza in Bologna. In 2020 we’re set to start in Budapest with organizers sticking to their recent formula; odd numbered years for Italy, even numbers across borders. I tend
The lumpy one-day classics keep coming with the calendar’s oldest Monument arriving on Sunday afternoon. Despite often falling to the bottom of the excitement rankings, it was the first one-day race I attended live and an event I’ll always look forward to. Moreover, this year I feel I can genuinely get behind four of my
La Fleche Wallonne is potentially great, potentially boring, and potentially rubbish. The conclusion to last year’s race was brilliant as we saw master (Valverde) and apprentice (Alaphilippe) duke it out on the Mur and a phenomenal underdog victory. The ‘apprentice’ now returns at an ugly short price (8/11) and I find it hard to back
Since launching Just Pro Cycling I’ve got very good at being wrong. I dismissed Philippe Gilbert’s return to cobbles and argued that Nairo Quintana would finally conquer the Tour. This post is an apology disguised as a list. I was wrong about Mathieu van der Poel who looks to be the new superman of road
The two faces dominating this photo carry entirely different expressions. Wearing the Dauphine’s inverted polka dots is a rider with innocence and arrogance in equal measure. He’s unzipped, unleashed, and unaware of the hatred being stared into his back. The familiar face behind is fuelled with anger towards a rider he calls ‘the punk’. It’s
Brabantse Pijl is a solid little race, holding its own at arguably the busiest time of the season. What’s more, it’s the perfect transition from cobbles to climbing. It calls the Ardennes riders to wake up from their slumber, whilst tempting the cobble-worn peloton for one more race. The balance has tilted in favour of
They say a picture speaks a thousand words. I say that 500 is a more realistic figure. The above is a slightly curious image from the 2000 Tour of Flanders. The rider on the left has paired a conventional helmet with sunglasses. If it wasn’t for the Mapei logo on his chest he could easily
I don’t need to tell you about Paris-Roubaix’s history, brutality or several nicknames. And this is neither the time nor the place to explore the ‘Flanders vs. Roubaix’ argument (Roubaix wins). Instead, here’s my picks for a very open 2019 edition, featuring a favourite offering very little value and a possible changing of the guard.
