Puncheur

Tag: racing

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • Volta Ciclista a Catalunya Preview

    The Tadej Pogacar Show on Repeat. The next World Tour stage race of the year gets going on Monday, March 18th. The Volta is one of the oldest races in the world and usually a really good one. Last year R&R had an epic duel with the Slovenian taking a narrow victory partially due to…

  • Weekly Recap

    Paris-Nice and Tirreno-Adriatico took place this week. Paris-Nice was the more interesting of the two with a showdown between Remco and Roglic and a host of other top up-and-comers in the race. It also had a better parcours than Tirreno, which was a one-horse race with Jonas in the ranks. Unfortunately, I never got around…

  • Paris-Nice Preview

    Another Roglic-Remco early season face-off after Catalunya last year. Stage One took place yesterday, and Stage Two is currently going on. I won’t spoil what happened yet, but I’ll preview the remaining stages. Stage Three is a 27km Team Time Trial with a few small hills. They won’t affect the outcome, this is all about…

  • Opening Weekend Recap

    Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne comprise the “Opening Weekend” of Flemish Classics each year at the end of February. Omloop is the more prestigious of the two and usually more exciting, but this year, Kuurne was better, at least in my view. Visma | Lease a Bike came into both races with a terrifyingly strong…