all words by Mike Franchetti
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.
Spanish racing has roared into life (hey Tadej Pogacar!) but it’s rumours from Denmark that dominated the week. Meanwhile, a first pro win in Australia… Why have Jakob Fuglsang and Alexey Lutsenko been in the news? At the start of the week, a cycling anti-doping foundation (CADF) report detailing an alleged link between two Astana
Egan Bernal is the Tour de France favourite and – at 2/1 – he could be huge value. He’s the best pure climber at a Tour crafted for pure climbers. He’s riding for the team who has delivered six of the last seven victories and who – debuting the Ineos guise – can boast one
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
It’s unfortunate that ‘cycling’ and ‘doubting everything you see’ go together like ‘sunday club ride’ and ‘too much cake’. It’s worse when you’re faced with convicted dopers, or a team with the sketchiest reputation in the sport. When a general manager looks like he narrowly missed out on the role of a James Bond villain,
The best race you (might) not have been watching returns on Thursday, for ‘just’ its 98th edition. The first race was actually held in 1876 which means it’s older than Swan Lake, Tomato Ketchup and even the Gramophone. Some sources state the modern bicycle wasn’t even invented until 1885 – what were the ten original
Just Pro Cycling 