all words by Mike Franchetti
The 2010s are over and we’ve been made well aware of the hungry twenty-somethings ready to devour every race for the next ten years. The end of the decade felt timely with a number of big-name riders misfiring over the last few years or, in some cases, coming up short in fascinating cross-generational duals. 2019
After Tom Dumoulin was forced out of the race – and with Simon Yates lacking a bit of everything – the 102nd Giro d’Italia was always going to hit a very different note to the one we had anticipated. Astana struggled to impose their depth of talent on the GC, crippled somewhat by the obvious
They say a picture speaks a thousand words. I say 500 is a more accurate figure: To fully appreciate this photo from 2017 – three Giro rivals finishing a minute after the stage winner – you have to understand a little about the 2015 Vuelta. It also helps to know the personalities of the men
At the end of 2015 I wrote about the struggles of being a Vincenzo Nibali fan. I had watched him become a star, watched him throw a bottle at Chris Froome, watched him catch a ride from his team car to earn disqualification from the Vuelta, and then watched as he claimed an angry Lombardia
Nine stages completed – all pretty entertaining – and we’re faced with the possibility of another three week period of Chris Froome in a Grand Tour leader’s jersey. At the 2013 Vuelta the jersey exchanged shoulders eight times with five swaps the following year and eight in Fabio Aru’s 2015 success. Not one of those
Here’s my list – in reverse order – of the top 20 performances from this year’s Giro d’Italia. Whilst the riders from the top of the GC feature throughout, they won’t necessarily be ranked by their finishing position. My list picks out overachievers, eye-catchers and surprise packages, as well this year’s heroic support riders.
The Giro d’Italia in an alternative universe. Belt up. The final week is here. Today’s stage is a monster with a trifecta of huge ascents in the Mortirolo, Stelvio and Umbrail Pass. Wednesday is weird with a long false flat to the line posing no real difficulty. It’s non-stop climbing on Thursday, Friday and Saturday
Last Sunday in Lombardia Vincenzo Nibali dashed away on the descent of the Civiglio and soloed to his first Monument win. In doing so, he became the first multiple Grand Tour winner since Laurent Fignon (1989) to add a Monument to their Palmares. There was a strange inevitability to it all. Nibali had been in
Just Pro Cycling 