Indholdsfortegnelse for July 4, 2019 i Cycling Weekly

Is there a more exciting time of the season than the build-up to the Tour de France? The week of Flanders and Roubaix is good, but it’s hard to beat the run-in to the Tour. Not only is there the running form guide of every GC favourite to monitor, but it’s a chance to reacquaint yourself with France. I enjoy nothing more than going through our stage previews and remembering the places the race has previously been and looking forward to seeing them again. It’s almost like remembering old holiday destinations. I’ve been lucky enough to cover the Tour on several occasions and have therefore visited many of the destinations, but even those places I’ve just seen on the TV over the last 30 years feel familiar, and I get…

While the podiums of the under-23 races at the National Championships always provide a glimpse of the future, this year showcased some spectacular talent. Two riders in particular excelled in both the time trials and road races, with Anna Henderson (Brother UK-Tifosi-OnForm) winning the U23 TT and placing second in the road race, the highest U23 finisher. In the men’s races it was Ethan Hayter, riding for VC Londres, once again proving his class, as the best U23 rider in the road race after finishing second in the U23 time trial behind Charlie Quarterman (Zappi-Holdsworth), who also put in a performance to mark him as a bright prospect. After winning the prologue and a stage at the Baby Giro, Hayter is clearly on form and was unlucky not to be…

A raft of national champions jerseys changed hands at the weekend just before riders flew off to the Tour de France this week. Among those sporting new colours on the Tour’s start line in Belgium will be Sébastien Reichenbach, the Groupama-FDJ rider taking the Swiss title in only the second pro win of his career. French climber Warren Barguil (Arkea-Samsic) will be wearing his nation’s colours after a thrilling win with a sprint from a seven-man break. Jumbo-Visma rider Amund Grøndahl Jansen will be wearing the Norwegian national jersey at the Tour for the first time after the 25-year-old won from a three-man group. Astana’s Alexey Lutsenko will once again wear the Kazakh national jersey for the next year, including in France this month, after he retained his title. Although…

How was the Baby Giro? It’s alongside the Worlds and Tour de l’Avenir as one of the biggest U23 races so everyone was firing on all cylinders. The WorldTour teams were looking to pick up riders so there was pressure, too. We focused on the GC and I enjoyed playing a team role. How’s the team? It’s their first year and their intention is to get more international riders into the WorldTour team that is predominantly French. Everything is so professional. You’re looked after in the right way. Do you enjoy it? I’m constantly learning stuff from the other boys and it’s refreshing. I’m developing as a rider in this environment and as a human, picking up new language. Where else can I get this life experience? Season highlight? Third…

Much like Nairo Quintana, whose position as Colombia’s principal Grand Tour contender is under threat from the likes of Egan Bernal, Dani Martínez and Miguel Angel López, the position held by Romain Bardet and Thibaut Pinot at the top of France’s stage racing hierarchy is being challenged by precocious talents asserting their own stage racing credentials. Heading the challenge is Bardet’s Ag2r team-mate Pierre Latour. Winner of the best young rider title at last year’s Tour and twice French national time trial champion, the 25-year-old has the all-round talent to be competitive on any type of Grand Tour course. He has suffered from a lack of racing this season so he won’t be at the Tour but expect him to challenge in years to come. Breton firecracker David Gaudu is…

The first look at time bonuses on a hilly stage could well see the maillot jaune change hands for the third time in as many days. ■ Lay of the land The second longest stage of the Tour crosses the border into France after just 12 kilometres and heads south from there. Barring a sprint at 102 kilometres at Dizy-le-Gros, there is little variation or landmarks of note until the peloton hits the city of Reims. At this point the Côte de Nanteuil-la-Forêt kicks off a succession of hills that are likely to foil any bunch sprint hopes. This is followed by three category-three climbs: the Côte d’Hautvillier, Côte de Champillon and then the 900-metre long 12.2 per cent ascent up the Côte de Mutigny. This gives the first bonus…

The first summit finish of the race will give the first true indication of who is firing out of the GC favourites. However, gravel and a new finish may well trip riders up. ■ Lay of the land This is a full-fat mountains stage with seven categorised climbs. It’s time for the GC men to come out to play. With very little flat road all day, the intermediate sprint at 29km in Linthal will provide the only respite for the sprinters, who will be in survival mode from then on. The sharktooth profile allows for little rest, with the Col des Chevrères perhaps luring GC men out early if the breakaway has been caught, with bonus seconds on offer atop the 3.5km ascent, before hitting the steep ramps of La…

We’re heading for a finish in Brioude, where Roman Bardet was born. He may know these roads like the back of his hand, but neither that nor the fact that it’s Bastille Day are any guarantee of a win by Bardet or one of his compatriots — only one Frenchman has won on this national holiday in the last 10 years. That was Warren Barguil at Foix in 2017. ■ Lay of the land A sort of ‘lite’ version of yesterday’s hill-fest, today’s stage skips from one climb to another along its 170km length, but only three of them are classified. Yet to reach the mountains proper, the route dives into the heart of the Massif Central. And while it breaks through the 1,000m ceiling at the cat-three Côte des…

At last, the high mountains, even if it’s not a summit finish. Having laid low since La Planche des Belles Filles on stage six, today will rouse the GC contenders — and their yellow jersey intentions — from their slumber. ■ Lay of the land The race has come a long way since it began its south-westerly traverse in Brussels, and as today’s stage reaches the first major climb, the category-one Col de Peyresourde, it’s just a stone’s throw from the Spanish border. Of course, the riders won’t be bothered by geographical titbits, particularly the GC men, who have a lot on their plate. At around 1,500m high, neither the Peyresourde (13.2km at seven per cent) nor the cat-one Hourquette d’Ancizan (9.9km at 7.5 per cent) are the toughest climbs…

Underestimate this stage at your peril. The Tourmalet may grab the headlines in the Pyrenees but these newer climbs can prove just as pivotal to the overall race picture. ■ Lay of the land Another summit finish is on the menu for the peloton, this time to Foix up Prat d’Albis — the first time it has been used in the race. There are a number of steep ascents that aren’t customary in La Grande Boucle on the way to the final climb of the day, none more so than the Mur de Péguère, which averages 7.9 per cent over 9.3 kilometres. However, there are stretches that reach 13 per cent and max out at 18, with a plateau halfway up the climb skewing the average. The Péguère also carries…

With three summits above 2,000 metres, including the legendary Col du Galibier, this Alpine behemoth is a shoo-in for the Queen stage title this year. It kicks off a trio of extremely hard days in the mountains, of which today’s stage is almost certainly the hardest. ■ Lay of the land We’re in the Alps for what will be a three-day denouement of the general classification. Today in particular is loaded with ‘jour sans’ potential, and anyone who fails to bring their A-game could lose a lot of time. The route is littered with places and climbs that have seen many of the Tour’s most famous feats of derring-do over the years and decades — Briançon, Lautaret, Vars, Izoard, Galibier, Valloire… it’s an impressive roll call. Even the best riders…

The last hurrah. For those who have had the determination — and the luck — to get this far, that first glimpse of the Eiffel Tower on the Parisian skyline as they track the Seine into the city will be underlined with emotion and relief. But the sprinters will only just be getting going. This is, after all, their unofficial world championship. ■ Lay of the land As per usual, the parcours today is pretty flat. Not completely though. The organisers have chucked a brace of cat-four côtes in to keep things interesting, but they’re so small they wouldn’t even be categorised climbs on a standard stage. Starting south-west of the capital, today’s stage jinks in toward the city centre through the Yvelines department, headed for Versailles. Those fourth-cat climbs…

KEY RIDER Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) Age: 32 2018 Tour result: 5th overall Race days in 2019: 26 Best result in 2019: 3rd overall Vuelta Andalucia Strength: Consistency over all terrain and disciplines Weakness: One bad day lurks in every Grand Tour Teams who fight on dual fronts with GC and sprint ambitions don’t typically come out on top. Even though Jumbo-Visma didn’t win a jersey last year, their impact on the race was probably as widespread as any — three stage wins, two riders finishing in the top-five overall including Steven Kruijswijk almost snatching yellow on a daring breakaway up Alpe d’Huez. With Primož Roglič resting up after the Giro, Kruijswijk will now take on sole GC leadership duties. That is both good and bad for him as last year…

KEY RIDER Richie Porte (Aus) Age: 34 2018 Tour result: DNF Race days in 2019: 40 (as of June 17) Best result in 2019: Second overall, Tour Down Under Strengths: Climbing, a strong all-rounder Weaknesses: Can he make it past stage nine? More than a few eyebrows were raised when it was announced that Trek would be leaving their most potent player from last year’s Tour at home. John Degenkolb took a stage win plus three further top-five places in 2018 but the team are choosing to go all-in behind their new Aussie signing, Richie Porte, with a GC-focused team. You probably can’t blame them. Since leaving Team Sky and improving his best GC finish from 19th to fifth in the 2016 Grande Boucle, the Tasmanian has looked like hot…

KEY RIDER Geraint Thomas (GBr) Tour result 2018: 1st on GC plus two stage wins Race days in 2019: 25 Best result 2019: 3rd on GC, Tour de Romandie Strength: Good all-rounder with some of the best support in the business Weakness: Losing his winter weight gain without compromising his training Having already gone from Plan A (Chris Froome) to Plan B (Geraint Thomas), Team Ineos were very nearly forced to revert to Plan C when the Welshman went over the bars and landed on his face on stage four of the Tour de Suisse last month. Plan C is Ineos’s fast-rising Colombian star Egan Bernal, who took over Thomas’s leadership at Suisse and won at a canter — a result that earned him joint leadership status for the Tour.…

KEY RIDER Romain Bardet (Fra) Age: 28 2018 Tour result: 6th overall Race days in 2018: 32 Best result in 2019: 5th overall, Paris-Nice Strength: Climbing Weakness: Time trialling; his team isn’t as strong as some others For a long time France barely got a sniff of the top 10 in its own national tour. Riders like Christophe Moreaux (eighth in 2003) and Pierre Rolland (10th in 2011 and 2015; eighth in 2012) briefly raised Gallic hopes. There was even what looked like a watershed moment in 2014 when France scooped two-thirds of the GC podium via Jean-Christophe Péraud (second) and Thibaut Pinot (third). But while France celebrated its best result since (ahem) Richard Virenque’s second place in 1997, it was Péraud’s 23-year-old Ag2r team-mate Romain Bardet who snuck into…

KEY RIDER André Greipel (Ger) Age: 36 Tour result 2018: DNF, 3rd on stage 4 Race days in 2019: 45 Best result 2019: 1st La Tropicale Amissa Bongo Strength: Flat sprints Weakness: Positioning in the bunch The almost entirely French team will be led by two riders in need of results. German sprinter André Greipel, celebrating his 37th birthday on the race, is no longer the sure-fire stage winner he once was — he held an unbroken run of at least one stage win per Tour until the 2017 edition. His only win in 2019 came at La Tropicale Amissa Bongo in Gabon, Africa in January. In April he told Belgian newspaper Het Laste Nieuws that his instinct as a sprinter is gone, saying he struggles to fight for position…

KEY RIDER Jesus Herrada (Spa) Age: 28 2018 Tour result: 47th overall Race days in 2019: 40 Best result in 2019: 1st Mont Ventoux Dénivelé Challenge Strength: Can climb and race with the best on his day Weakness: Will be lacking in team support The perennial Tour de France wild card have been something of a non-factor in recent years give or take the breakaway every other stage or so. However, this year may be the one when the French Pro Continental team stop underachieving after announcing a change in direction in their team. Sprinter Nacer Bouhanni hasn’t made the cut, and instead Cofidis have turned to Jesus Herrada as their leader for this year’s race. After briefly taking the leader’s jersey at the Vuelta a España last year, the…

KEY RIDER Niki Terpstra (Ned) Age: 35 2018 Tour result: 119th overall Race days in 2019: 47 Best result in 2019: 3rd Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne Strength: Solo breakaways Weakness: Strength of team After a disappointing start to 2019 with his new team and still without a win since his Tour of Flanders success in 2018, Niki Terpstra will be hoping a return to form comes soon. Perhaps the return to the Muur van Geraardsbergen on stage one will inspire the Dutch rider to tap into his Classics power and take a stage win for his French outfit, who made a significant investment in the Dutch rider in the off season. Rein Taaramäe is another rider Total-Direct Energie will be looking towards for potential stage wins. He has history in other Grand Tours,…

Early last year, time triallist Duncan Mullier, 49, a computer science lecturer at Leeds Metropolitan University, found out that his bone density was well below average for his age — despite the fact his nutrition was faultless. Skeletal loading has got him back on the road to full strength. What’s your cycling background? I’ve been riding competitively for 10 years, and I take it quite seriously: I do 12 to 15 hours of training a week, and I’ve PBs of sub-50 minutes for 25 miles and 19.03 for 10 miles. I hold all of the Harrogate Nova club TT records except the 12-hour. How difficult has it been sticking to the exercises? I’ve followed the regime religiously: 15 minutes three times a week, without making any other changes at all.…

Spanish National Champs (June 29-30) World champion Alejandro Valverde became national champion for the third time. Lourdes Oyarbide was a convincing victor in the women’s race. Belgian National Champs (June 29-30) Corendon-Circus’s Tim Merlier, 26, was surprising winner in Belgium, beating WorldTour stars Wout van Aert and Philippe Gilbert. Jesse Vandenbulcke won the women’s title. French National Champs (June 29-30) Warren Barguil (Arkea-Samsic) will race in the French champion’s jersey at the Tour de France after beating Cofidis duo Julien Simon and Damien Touze. Jade Wiel took the women’s honours. Dutch National Champs (June 29-30) Fabio Jakobsen sprinted to victory in Ede, while Lorena Wiebes continued her excellent form to become the women’s champion.…

I’m afraid of children, but I do school visits all the time. Partly because it’s good to face your fears but mainly because the funding I receive from UK Sport is on the understanding that I inspire people to engage in sports. It makes me feel good because (just like I know you do too) I get off on the idea that I’m a nice person, but it also terrifies me because kids are scary. At one primary school visit done as a team, “which one of you is the best?” was the first question asked after our presentation. We joked a bit and explained how teamwork in road races works, avoiding an actual answer. “Which one of you is the worst?” was the next question. It was hard to…

Anna van der Breggen (Ned) Boels-Dolmans A fifth consecutive Flèche Wallonne was followed by victory in California where she was climbing so well that she appeared to let team-mate Katie Hall win on Mount Baldy. Though excellent against the clock, she has never managed to match Van Vleuten. CW rating ★★★ Elisa Longo Borghini (Ita) Trek-Segafredo At Emakumeen Bira the Italian despatched the world’s best climbers to win the GC in the Spanish stage race. A repeat performance at the OVO Energy Women’s Tour in support of Lizzie Deignan means she heads to her home race with form and a strong team that could bring success. CW rating ★★ Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (Den) Bigla Now the team leader, a big win is surely just a matter of time. Good on…

111hr 44 …riding time taken by EF Education First rider Lachlan Morton to complete the GBDURO — a 2,000km unassisted bikepacking stage race from Land’s End to John o’ Groats. Having set out on the morning of Saturday June 22, the Australian finished on the Friday. He was well ahead, with his closest rivals yet to finish on Monday lunchtime. The event is part of EF’s ‘alternative race calendar’. Millar becomes Ineos CEO Fran Millar has been appointed CEO at Team Ineos after 10 years with the team. The move follows a recent management restructure and sees Millar promoted from her position as director of business operations. Team principal David Brailsford said: “Fran has been with the team from the very beginning and during this time she has played a…

Thanks for the great feature on women’s racing through the years (CW June 20). The unknown race in the 1970s (p38) was in fact the 1976 Women’s National Road Race Championship held at the Harrogate International Racing Festival. It was a memorable race because it was the first time Denise Burton beat her mum Beryl for first place! It was sponsored by She magazine, and all finishers received a year’s free subscription! I am the rider on the right, riding for Yorkshire Century Racing Club. Susan Hoare, email Ed — Thank you for getting in touch and filling in the blanks, Susan. We have published several archive pictures in the magazine without the relevant details (some of the pictures have info written on the back of them, others don’t) and…

The 106th edition of the Tour de France starts on foreign soil for the 23rd time in the race’s history. Brussels hosts the Grand Départ for the second time, the first being in 1958. ■ Lay of the land Despite a relatively mundane stage in terms of the potential the region can offer, the peloton will pay a visit to the old finale of the Tour of Flanders — the one-two punch of the Muur Van Geraardsbergen (Grammont) and Bosberg coming early on in the stage will dictate the early holder of the King of the Mountains jersey. Then the peloton heads south-east to skirt the city of Charleroi before racing back up towards the capital for the flat run-in, but not before a short rise to the finish outside…

Another opportunity for the sprinters to notch up an early stage win, and one for the GC favourites to get through safely and avoid losing time unnecessarily. ■ Lay of the land Starting just up the road from yesterday’s finish in Epernay, the race returns to Reims, having passed through the city the previous day. The Tour heads east on a long flat route that truly is a stage for the sprinters, barring a couple of category-four climbs along the way. The first of these is the Côte de Rosières at 121km, averaging seven per cent for one kilometre exactly. The intermediate sprint in Lérouville may give a slight indication of who is firing for the finish later on that day. You can expect the sprint teams to be at…

A lengthy day in the breakaway awaits on the longest stage in this year’s race, with the rampaging peloton set to make the catch before rolling into Chalon-sur-Saône. ■ Lay of the land As quickly as they arrived, the first mountains of the Tour are gone. After rolling out of Belfort, the peloton will have to negotiate three categorised climbs, which you’d assume will be mopped up by the breakaway in the first half of the stage. The second half is flat as it heads southwest to Chalon-sur-Saône on what is the longest day of the race at 230km in total. Unusually, the intermediate sprint comes quite late on in the stage at 196.5km and it will be interesting to see whether the sprinters are willing to burn a match…

Tour de France organiser ASO bills today’s stage as ‘flat’, but with one fourth and three third-category climbs — not to mention countless little lumps — this stage stretches that definition. Dominated by the imposing Cathédrale Sainte-Cécile, the finish town of Albi is a World Heritage Site, located on the river Tarn — it will be a sight for sore eyes (and legs) at the end of the day. ■ Lay of the land A typical ‘in-between’ sort of stage, today isn’t obvious fare for either climbers or sprinters. It journeys from the heart of the Massif Central to the outskirts, travelling south all the way. While the phrase ‘transition stage’ is generally applied to the days that connect the big mountain ranges, today’s offering makes its own transition —…

The only individual time trial of the race unleashes the testers out of the frequently used Tour de France stage town. A change in yellow could be on if the masters of the discipline bring their A-game to Pau. ■ Lay of the land The days of a pan-flat individual time trial seem to have gone, but stage 13’s race against the clock is a relatively steady course when compared to recent chronos in the Tour. The 27.2km loop that heads out of and back into the Tour de France mainstay start/finish town of Pau does have a couple of pitches that need to be observed. They are only around a kilometre long up to Medout and up the Côte d’Esquillot on the outskirts of Bosdarros before descending into the…

An out-and-back affair, you might think at first glance that this is a time trial stage, as they tend to be the only Tour de France days that start and finish in the same place. But then you see the length: not even the Giro d’Italia organisers would be mad enough to chuck a 177km, contre la montre-shaped spanner into the works. ■ Lay of the land Luckily, if you’re going to spend a tiring day riding more than 100 miles only to end up exactly where you started, Nîmes is probably the sort of place you’d want to return to. A beautiful Roman city with a 2,000-year-old amphitheatre, it hosted the Vuelta a España’s Grand Départ in 2017. And while we’re talking points of interest, the Pont du Gard…

At 126.5km (78 miles), today is on the short side for a Tour road stage, following Christian Prudhomme’s penchant for pint-sized mountain forays that generally turn out to be the bar-room brawls of bike races. It’s just as well this is a short stage, because among its three classified climbs is the Col de l’Iseran — the highest road pass in Europe. ■ Lay of the land The mighty Iseran isn’t the only decent-sized appointment on today’s roster — the stage finishes in Tignes, which sits at 2,089m after a 7.4km ascent averaging seven percent. It’s a short climb and dwarfed by the Iseran, but this will be no picnic. The altitude will be a kicker, not to mention that we’ve now completed nearly three weeks of racing and everyone’s…

KEY RIDER Rigoberto Uran (Col) Tour result 2018: DNS Stage 12 Race days in 2019: 19 Best result 2019: 3rd on GC, Route d’Occitanie Strength: Great all-rounder Weakness: Converting the ‘nearlys’ into wins Two podium finishes at the Giro d’Italia and another at the Tour in 2017 marks out the 32-year-old Colombian as a serious talent. A broken collarbone in Paris-Nice in March has left him somewhat lacking in early-season race days, though third at the recent Tour d’Occitanie suggests he’s coming back to form. But EF Education have never been traditional GC merchants, preferring more of a multi-faceted approach. That still stands in 2019, as DS Charly Wegelius confirms. “Rigo is riding but we’ve got other riders who can do good things as well,” he says. “So it’s not…

KEY RIDER Adam Yates (GBr) Age: 26 2018 Tour result: 29 Race days in 2019: 41+ Best result in 2019: 2nd Tirreno-Adriatico Strengths: Climbing high mountains Weaknesses: Individual time trials Adam Yates’s character is best encapsulated by his DS Matt White when Cycling Weekly asks whether — following a disappointing Tour campaign in 2018 where he fell out of contention on the second mountain stage — Yates has cut a more motivated figure in 2019? “I don’t know if that’s physically possible,” says the amiable Australian. “He’s like a bull at a gate with everything he does. Normal people achieve normal things, special people achieve special things. Any guy who can win in a third week and who can ride for GC, that’s not normal for people to do and…

KEY RIDER Caleb Ewan (Aus) Age: 24 2018 Tour results: DNS 2019 race days: 46 Strengths: Fast sprints Weakness: Not as powerful as some other fastmen It’s been a long time coming but he’s finally here. Repeatedly overlooked for the Tour at former team Mitchelton-Scott as they supported the Yates brothers’ GC bids, Ewan joined Lotto-Soudal to guarantee he’d start this race. And in his eagerness to get ready he’s already raced nearly as many race days in 2019 (46) as he did last year (50). Those days have been fruitful too with five wins, including two Giro d’Italia stages, making this one of his most successful seasons to date already. While sometimes sprinters struggle to settle into a new lead-out set-up, Ewan has hit the ground running. Those Giro…

KEY RIDER Dan Martin (Ire) Age: 32 2018 Tour result: 8th overall Race days in 2019: 37 Best result in 2019: 2nd overall Tour of the Basque Country Strength: One of the best climbers in the race Weakness: Time trials Dan Martin would line up as one of the outright favourites if there were ever a Grand Tour route without time trialling in it. Winning a stage up the Mûr de Bretagne last year and coming home just behind Nairo Quintana on the dramatic 65km Pyrenean stage showed he can mix it with the best on the climbs. However, the addition of the team time trial once again could prove problematic. UAE Team Emirates came home 15th in the TTT last year over the 35.5km course around Cholet, losing 1:39…

KEY RIDER Michael Matthews (Aus) Age: 28 2018 Tour result: DNF 2019 race days: 25 Best 2019 result: Two stage wins at Volta a Catalunya Strengths: Small group sprints Weaknesses: High mountain climbing The race hasn’t even started in Belgium and Sunweb finds itself in damage limitation mode. The plan had been to throw all the team’s resources behind the GC hopes of Tom Dumoulin, but that all went wrong when Dumoulin crashed out of the Giro d’Italia. Three weeks before the Tour it looked like he would recover to mount a challenge but a persistent knee problem has rendered it impossible for him to start. All eyes have therefore understandably turned to former green jersey winner Michael Matthews. But the Australian is far from prepared. Earlier this month he…

KEY RIDER Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Age: 34 Tour result 2018: DNF Race days in 2019: 44 Best result 2019: 2nd Giro d’Italia Strength: Climbs, descents, tactics Weakness: Rarely the strongest any more For the third time in his career Vincenzo Nibali is riding the Giro d’Italia and the Tour de France in the same year. Having been the runner-up at this year’s Giro you might expect him to have strong motivation to win, but having already reportedly signed for Trek-Segafredo for next year (part of that team’s continuing evolution into a semi-retirement home for GC stars) he may not see a need to exert himself too much. Plus riding both the Giro and Tour has rarely been successful in recent years and so while ‘the Shark’ will likely be a…

KEY RIDER Thibaut Pinot (Fra) Age: 29 2018 Tour result: DNS Race days in 2019: 34 Best result in 2019: 1st overall, Tour de l’Ain Strength: Climbing Weakness: Consistency over three weeks After missing the Tour de France last year to focus on riding the Giro and Vuelta, Thibaut Pinot returns to his home Grand Tour with a Groupama-FDJ team built around him. This is, in part, thanks to sprinter Arnaud Démare not lining up in Brussels after following Pinot’s 2018 race schedule himself by riding the Giro d’Italia earlier in the season. Strong fifth place showings at Tirreno-Adriatico and the Critérium du Dauphiné, plus two more minor stage race wins, suggest Pinot could be set for a high GC placing once again, his highest being a third in 2014.…

KEY RIDER Guillaume Martin (Fra) Age: 26 2018 Tour result: 21st overall, 3rd young rider Race days in 2019: 45 Best result in 2019: 1st stage 4, Giro di Sicilia Strength: Climbing prowess Weakness: Experience; strength of team The only non-French wild card (Wanty are a Belgian outfit) will once again be looking to take any opportunities and show their face in the breakaway on most days. They were almost a constant feature during last year’s race, with Yoann Offredo taking the first combativity award of the race on stage one. However, it isn’t just a case of showcasing the sponsors on a three-week jolly, as they arguably have the best GC contender out of all the wild-card teams. Guillaume Martin was 21st last time around and third in the…

The Pillar app (pillar-app.com), due to launch this autumn, is promising to provide personalised nutrition tailored to your training and delivered direct to your smartphone. It will link with your uploaded training data and then plan your daily eating with suggested meals and clearly set out advice. “We’re focused on riders who might do a couple of events a year but who may not have a coach,” says Pillar founder Dan Wakerley. “I’m that type of cyclist myself — I’m doing the Etape next month — and I was doing a really busy job in a software company and kept having my training plans blown out by other commitments. There was nothing guiding me on rescheduling sessions or fuelling them properly.” Wakerley’s aim for Pillar is that it factors in…

The week: June 10-16, 2019 Where: Brittany, France Preparing for: French TT champs and Giro Rosa A pro for 10 years, Audrey Cordon-Ragot currently rides for the Trek-Segafredo women’s team, having spent four years at Wiggle-High5. An all-rounder domestique, the Bretonne has occasional opportunities to ride for herself, most recently taking the win at the Dutch race Drentse Acht van Westerveld last March. Representing France in early June, the 29-year-old won the overall at her home race, the five-day Tour de Bretagne Féminin. Starting the day after the final stage, the week featured here gives a snapshot of Cordon-Ragot’s preparation for her defence of the French TT title, which she has held since 2015, and the 10-day Giro Rosa. What’s your top piece of advice for aspiring young racers? I…

A brief list of things that have happened since a French rider last won the Tour de France: carbon-fibre bicycles, aluminium bicycles that don’t fall apart, 8-speed, 9-speed, 10-speed, 11-speed, 12-speed, cycling shorts that don’t involve any bits of dead goat, cycle helmets, the fall of the Iron Curtain, and the internet. The year was 1985, and the rider was Bernard Hinault, in case you didn’t already know. And actually, why would you? It’s ancient history. We are as far from 1985 now as 1985 was from 1951. Give it another summer or two, and Hinault’s career will start being described as having been “just after the war”. When the Badger himself finally punches his last farmer and heads for the great podium in the sky, I assume his body…

The very first TV coverage of the Tour de France was in 1948, when the finish of the final stage in the Parc des Princes was broadcast live. The amount of your time that watching it would have taken up was minimal. Since then, the amount of coverage has gradually increased. For quite a few years edited highlights — shot on film, put on a train to Paris and edited overnight — were shown a day after the stage. The first pictures from a motorbike came in 1960. For most of the last few decades, coverage started mid-stage, timed to coincide with the start of the serious racing. This moment was easy for producers to predict, since the peloton generally waited until the TV helicopter appeared overhead before commencing hostilities.…

Tour of Austria (July 6-12) Israel Cycling Academy’s Ben Hermans won by 18 seconds last year and he is aiming for a second successive victory. Carlos Betancur leads Movistar’s charge. The race begins with a 2.5km prologue, before six stages in the mountains and valleys. Peter Kennaugh won the race in 2014, his last general classification victory. Beaumont Trophy and Curlew Cup (July 7) Round six of the National Road Series heads to Northumberland for the long-running race. Used as the National Championships course last year, when Connor Swift was the victor, the hilly parcours usually favours sprinters or rouleurs — Bradley Wiggins won in 2011. Ian Bibby leads the series standings from Matthew Holmes. The women’s Curlew Cup will see series leader Rebecca Durrell look to add to her…

Romain Bardet put it very simply when asked by L’Équipe in February about his prospects of winning the Tour de France. “I can’t beat around the bush, I am going to win it, I tell myself that it isn’t possible to do so otherwise,” he said, before adding, “I’m perhaps being utopian but I feel that my time is coming, that in the third week I’ll blow the whole race apart, it will be all over the place…” There we have it — Bardet’s plan and its end result. But does this amount to just pie-in-the-sky hyperbole or is there a very real prospect that the Ag2r La Mondiale team leader will become the first French rider since Bernard Hinault in 1985 to climb on to the Champs-Elysées podium in…

A second day in the Belgian capital pays homage to Eddy Merckx, with a team time trial that will offer sizable time gaps. ■ Lay of the land For the second time in as many years, we are treated to a team time trial early on. On paper the 27-kilometre route around the Belgian capital city looks fast and flat, with wide roads and very few technical sections. There are a few small short rises of four per cent throughout the course, but they can’t be classified as out-and-out climbs and shouldn’t trip many teams up — for a number of teams they won’t even register at the speeds they will be riding at. Of course, if the weather is unkind to the riders this could change things, but with…

Despite being just one day from the first summit finish, the peloton will have to stay focused on a stage that has a sting in the tail. ■ Lay of the land A short transfer south-east takes the race into the mountainous Vosges region, and although today’s looping parcours skirts the area’s toughest climbs, the riders don’t get away scot-free, with a number of tricky ascents to negotiate. Rolling out from the start in Saint-Dié-des-Vosges, the category-three Côte de Grendelbruch is the first lump in the road. An intermediate sprint in Heiligenstein will keep the fastmen interested before the two category-two climbs of Côte de Haut-Koenigsbourg and Côte de Trois-Epis reduce the field down. The cat-three Côte de Cinq Châteaux just 10km later should whittle the race even further with…

Don’t let today’s ‘hilly’ tag fool you — with 3,800 metres of ascent on the cards it looks like a brutal day out, with a total of seven second and third-category climbs strewn across the profile. We’re heading south today, the stage finishing on the edge of the Massif Central. ■ Lay of the land The Tour’s website states the peloton will suffer a “way of the cross” today. This is a reference to the fact that four of the seven classified climbs are named after crosses of one sort or another — Croix de la Montmain (6.1km, seven per cent); Croix de Thel (4.1km, 8.1 per cent); Croix Paquet (2.1km, 9.7 per cent); Croix de Part (4.9km, 7.9 per cent). Combined with the three further similar ascents, it all…

The whole peloton — whether bunch sprint fastman or GC hopeful — will be pleased that the organisers spared their legs by inserting this ‘easy’ day in after the rest day, rather than catapulting them straight into the high mountains of the Pyrenees. That particular treat is saved for tomorrow. ■ Lay of the land There’s no having to guess who this one is aimed at — it’s a proper sprinters’ stage. With a third and a fourth-category climb in the first half, it’s not quite pan flat, but in comparison to many of the days in the preceding week, it’s pretty straightforward. The riders will loop round to the north to bag those ascents before thundering south on flat roads towards a city-centre finish in Toulouse. A very popular…

Now it’s time for the climbing specialists to take back seconds from the previous day’s TT losses. A summit finish on the Tourmalet and the history that comes with it awaits — 117 kilometres of fireworks are guaranteed. ■ Lay of the land The first of three high-altitude summit finishes arrives, and none are more iconic in the Pyrenees than that of the Col du Tourmalet, which is the most visited climb in the history of the Tour de France. Before the riders get there, they will have to conquer the Col du Soulor which comes around halfway into this 117.5km stage — the shortest mass start stage in the race this year. Then it is all about the race to the bottom of the Tourmalet, which officially starts in…

Five stages have finished in Gap since 2005, all of which produced a combative day out with either a solo winner or a two-man break, so we ought to expect an entertaining day of racing, even if it’s unlikely to alter the GC. ■ Lay of the land Determined to make the most of the Romans’ impressive legacy in this part of France, ASO’s route planners have started today’s stage at the Pont du Gard, as featured on the previous day’s stage. From there the route heads north-west, making an early fly-by of the day’s second Roman-era World Heritage Site — the Theatre d’Orange. The riders then make a beeline for Gap, which can be found in the foothills of the Alps. Unsurprisingly, it’s a lumpy day in the saddle…

This is it — the final showdown. At least it will be if the Tour organisers’ wishes come true, but in reality it’s pretty likely that the GC will be all but decided by this point. Of course, with a summit finish above 2,000 metres at Val Thorens, no yellow jersey holder can relax until the day is done. ■ Lay of the land It’s another proper mountains stage, this time with three cols in the northern Alps, close to the Italian border. At 130 kilometres — or 81 miles if you prefer that sort of thing — this is a short stage, but packed with goodies. First up, as the route loops its way south and east is the 1,968m category-one Cormet de Roselend. Its 20km, six percent slopes…

KEY RIDER Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Age: 27 2018 Tour result: 33rd overall, 1st KOM jersey, 2 stage wins Race days in 2019: 37 Best result in 2019: 1st Milan-San Remo, Flèche Wallonne and Strade Bianche Strength: Versatility to win in a variety of situations Weakness: Marked man Stage wins. That is one thing that is guaranteed with Deceuninck-Quick Step every year at the Tour de France, and 2019 looks no different. With 46 race victories (with more inevitable before the Grand Départ) the Belgian squad is once again the team to beat. It isn’t just one rider who can conceivably take the honours; all eight riders who line up will believe there are stages with their names on. Despite not being a sprinter, Julian Alaphilippe has the most wins to…

KEY RIDER Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Age: 32 2018 Tour result: 84th overall, 4th on stage 18 Race days in 2019: 41 Best result in 2019: 1st stage 1 Critérium du Dauphiné Strength: Can outsprint most riders who make it over the medium mountains Weakness: Will lack that out-and-out speed in a flat finish with top sprinters Having made the difficult decision not to send Mark Cavendish to the Tour for the first time since 2006 as he continues his recovery from Epstein-Barr virus, the South African squad has now picked a team capable of wins on every type of terrain and every stage of the race. Leading the way will be the Edvald Boasson Hagen, who has three Tour de France stage wins to his name already, and has…

KEY RIDER Nairo Quintana (Col) Age: 29 2018 Tour result: 10th overall and stage 17 win Race days in 2019: 37 Best result in 2019: Second at Paris-Nice Strength: High-altitude climbing Weakness: Time trialling Movistar head into the Tour de France on a high after Richard Carapaz’s surprise victory at the Giro d’Italia. This was built on the back of a strong team riding for the Ecuadorian once it was clear he was their best chance. However, is the Spanish outfit about to revert back to the unwieldy, three-headed monster of the 2018 Tour de France? Nairo Quintana, Mikel Landa and Alejandro Valverde are all taking to the start line in Brussels. Valverde looks set to take a back seat and ride for his team this year (see separate story),…

KEY RIDER Peter Sagan (Svk) Age: 29 2018 Tour result: 1st green jersey Race days in 2019: 43 Best result in 2019: 4th Milan-San Remo, 1st Tour de Suisse stage three Strength: Consistency in collecting sprint points on every stage Weakness: He has no weaknesses. The German outfit is once again spearheaded by Slovak Peter Sagan, who will be looking for a record seventh points jersey win to put him alone at the top of the all-time standings. As he has shown in previous years he doesn’t even need to be winning stages to claim the jersey and leaving their two sprinters, Sean Bennett and Pascal Ackermann, at home is a clear sign of Bora’s Tour intent. A strong showing at the Tour de Suisse, where Sagan finished on the…

KEY RIDER Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Age: 34 2018 Tour results: 12 2019 race days: 33 Strengths: High mountains, descents Weakness: Three-week races In 2019 Jakob Fuglsang has made a very convincing case that he can restore the lustre of the Kazakh team’s bright blue jersey after years of near-misses at the Tour. The softly spoken Dane is currently ranked second in the UCI rankings (just behind Primož Roglič, who isn’t at the Tour) off the back of a remarkably consistent and successful season of stage racing. He claimed overall victory at the Ruta del Sol before grabbing a podium spot at Tirreno-Adriatico, narrowly missed out on the podium at the Tour of the Basque Country and then won the key Tour de France build-up race, the Critérium du Dauphiné, last…

KEY RIDER Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) Age: 34 Tour result 2018: 28, 1st on stage 3 TTT Race days in 2019: 43 Best result 2019: 2nd on GC, Tour de Yorkshire Strength: Tough courses, rough roads and uphill sprints Weakness: Super-high mountains We can’t imagine the CCC team are overly looking forward to the Tour. After a spring in which lone star Greg Van Avermaet never reached the heights he is capable of, the squad has been virtually anonymous on the big stages and languishes as the second lowest-ranked UCI WorldTour team behind injury-plagued Dimension Data. They’ll once again look to the Belgian to put the Polish-backed squad on his back and carry them to glory as he targets stages and perhaps another stint in the yellow jersey. But beyond…

KEY RIDER Rick Zabel (Ger) Age: 25 2018 Tour result: DNF Race days in 2019: 37 Best result in 2019: 1st stage 2, Tour de Yorkshire Strength: Sprinting Weakness: Unable to break through to elite sprinters After Marcel Kittel announced he was taking a break from the sport earlier this year, and with Ilnur Zakarin favouring a ride at the Giro this season, Katusha-Alpecin have a leader-shaped hole in their Tour de France team. Rick Zabel will take up sprint duties now that Kittel is no longer with the team, and he showed signs of mixing it with the fastmen on his day earlier this year with victory on stage two of the Tour de Yorkshire. There is also some British interest with Alex Dowsett taking on his second Tour.…

TIME TRIALS SUNDAY, JUNE 30 National 50-Mile Championship (Llandovery, Carmarthenshire): Men: 1. Marcin Białobłocki (Nopinz) 1:36.23 2. C. Fennell (The Independent Pedaler) 1:39.41 3. C. Bartley (AS Test Team) 1:40.49 4. A. Wild (GS Metro) 1:41.00 5. A. Franklin (Portishead CC) 1:42.46 6. M. Smith (Drag2zero) 1:43.01 7. C. Moss (Nopinz) 1:43.36 8. B. Harwood (Team Bottrill) 1:43.44 9. A. Duggleby (Vive le Velo) 1:44.27 10. R. Gildea (Didcot Phoenix CC) 1:44.55 Team: Nopinz (Bialoblocki, Moss, Frost) 5:07.43 Women: 1. Emma Lewis (The Independent Pedaler) 1:51.31 2. A. Lethbridge (Drag2zero) 1:57.23 3. V. Gill (Drag2zero) 1:58.14 4. L. Powell (Drag2zero) 1:58.20 5. F. Burnie (GS Metro) 2:00.16 6. J. Millmore (Islington CC) 2:01.50 7. C. Spearman (Born to Bike) 2:06.38 8. L. Clements (UFIT Tri Team) 2:11.51 9. A. Parish…

Starting in 1990, Campagnolo offered its top of the range Record group with a smoky anodised finish called Century Grey. It wasn’t a huge success — polished aluminium was big in those days and the understated grey finish didn’t find too many fans — and it was short-lived. Century Grey didn’t make it as far as the 1992 catalogues. As a result, original grey components eventually became something of a holy grail for enthusiasts, and they’re hard to find in good condition. Perhaps because of this belated interest, Campagnolo decided to give the C-Grey finish another outing in the mid 2000s. At that time the Centaur group was in a bit of a limbo — hardly any different from the Veloce group directly below, while Chorus and Record were distinguished…