Puncheur

Tag: Cycling

  • A Different Level

    Is the professional peloton getting faster, and if so, why? Yes. The Monuments are rewriting the record books and making us rethink how fast 250km+bike races can be ridden. The first three Monuments of 2024 set records for average speed. RVV and RBX broke the record which was set last year. MSR broke a 30+year…

  • Tour de France Preview

    Le Grand Boucle. It’s here. The most anticipated Tour de France in at least a decade, perhaps many decades, is upon us. The 2024 Tour de France kicks off in Florence, Italy, on June 29th. I started writing this preview on June 10th, to help ensure I got it done in time due to its…

  • Giro d’Italia Preview

    Welp, it’s time. The 2024 Giro kicks off on tomorrow Saturday, May 4 from Venaria Reale. This preview will differ from my normal Grand Tour Preview template, because I will not be bothering to preview the sprinters or breakaway artists. But I will mention the GC contenders, dissect the profile of every stage, give my…

  • Ardennes Roundup

    Sadly, I was too busy to give these races the attention they deserved. I did not preview Fleche Wallonne nor Liege-Bastogne-Liege, but I will recap all three Ardennes races in this essay. The Amstel Gold Race was won by Tom Pidcock with Mathieu van der Poel not having his best legs. That’s to take nothing…

  • Amstel Gold Race Preview

    THE ARDENNES WEEK IS UPON US. In the words of Michael Scott: “Everybody stay calm. STAY F***CKING CALM!” I love the Ardennes races because they are classics for climbers/puncheurs, and I always fancied myself a bit of a puncheur when I was a competitive cyclist. Of course, it’s the name of this blog for a…

  • Ronde van Vlaanderen Recap

    We should have known better. There isn’t much anybody (non-Pogacar) can do when Mathieu van der Poel is on this kind of form, especially on this course. Despite a flurry of attacks and crazy action from 110 kilometers out to 45 kilometers out, the end result, at least at the top step of the podium,…

  • Itzulia Basque Country Preview

    Can anybody stop Jonas Vingegaard? An absolutely stacked climbing line-up in one of cycling’s heartlands will try. Let’s discuss the parcours before the contenders and race dynamics. Stage One (ITT) (10km): A 10 kilometer individual time trial with some hills. This should be close. Stage Two (161km): With 2,312 meters of elevation gain, but only…

  • Catalunya Recap

    He was rampaging. Stage One: UAE Controlled the race with an iron fist, neutralizing the breakaway way before the final climb. But their riders were dropping like flies off of the front of the peloton. Soon, it was only Marc Soler left for the descent and lightly rolling run-in to the uphill finish. He did…

  • E3 Saxo Classic Preview

    MVDP vs. WVA again. The E3 Saxo Classic is tomorrow, March 22nd. It’s one of the biggest Cobbled Classics in Flanders, and often is used as a preparation for the two cobbled Monuments. This is a great race; it is the closest thing to a mini-Tour of Flanders in the run-in to RVV. Last year…

  • MSR Recap

    The fastest Milano-Sanremo in history did not let us down regarding action, though the result wasn’t what this not impartial observer hoped for. I cannot say much that hasn’t been said already, but I’ll try to offer some unique takes here. But first let’s dig into the play-by-play. The race did not go quite as…