Paris-Tours Preview

Started in 1896 as central France’s answer to Paris-Roubaix, the race followed a fairly flat course to Tours and quickly became known as the “Sprinters Classic”. In an effort to make it more interesting, derailleurs were banned for two years (1965 and 1966) and riders were only allowed two gears. Still, not content with what was thought to be a predictable finish, the organizers reversed the route in 1974, starting from the Tours area to somewhere in the vicinity of Paris. In 1988 the organizers decided to again reverse the route to start in Paris and end in Tours. 

For a race...Continue Reading

Weekend Preview – Elite Men’s World Road Race Championship

This year’s World Championship is expected to be one for the sprinters. A flat course in Copenhagen practically guarantees it. But after many of the sport’s top sprinters have suffered through injury-plagued seasons, is anyone left standing to take advantage of the course? And given that many of the more veteran sprinters seem to be performing below form, could a youngster win outright?

Here’s our take:

Team Italy

Team Italy has enjoyed a decent run of success at Worlds in the last decade. After years of fractional rivalry, late coach Franco Ballerini – himself twice winner of Paris-Roubaix – united the team to...Continue Reading

Levi Leipheimer to OmegaPharma-QuickStep

It’s not the first time that Leipheimer expatriated himself: he rode for Rabobank and Gerolsteiner in the past, and has shown consistent top-ten performances in the Grand Tours including a third place in the 2001 Vuelta, third place in the 2007 Tour de France, and second place in the 2008 Vuelta.

On the other hand, Lefevere has vacillated between harboring Grand Tour GC ambitions and swearing off on them. Mick Rogers, Jose Rujano, and even a reluctant Stijn Devolder had all failed Lefevere’s dreams. Could it be that this is all because of his failure to recruit Lance Armstrong as a GC hope in 1998?...Continue Reading

Canadian Royal Weekend Preview: GP Quebec and Montreal

Despite being newcomers to the World Tour, today’s Grand Prix Cycliste de Quebec and Sunday’s Grand Prix Cycliste de Montreal bring exciting parcours, enthusiastic fans, and world-class contenders. Last year’s races were won by virtue of not only strength but also tactical savvy.

This year’s “Royal Canadian Weekend” comes on the heels of the US Pro Cycling Challenge, conveniently run at the high altitudes of Colorado and possibly giving some Canadian contenders the boost from a week high-altitude “training.” And while some teams appear to be bringing their development squad, such as RadioShack, Liquigas-Cannondale, Europcar, Leopard-Trek, and Movistar; others bring all-stars,...Continue Reading

Vuelta: Worlds Preparation Gone Awry

And so the Vuelta plays a crucial role for Worlds prep. However, continuing the current trend in Grand Tours stage design, there are few completely flat transfer stages earmarked for sprinters. Indeed, ten days deep into the Vuelta and there have only been two field sprints, won by Sky’s Chris Sutton and Skil-Shimano’s Marcel Kittel. All the ambitious sprinters gamely came, but who is left standing?

QuickStep’s Tom Boonen came with clearly the worst form of those considered contenders. His serious concussion at the Tour seems to have left a psychological block for him: we didn’t see him contend any sprints. The...Continue Reading