Rui Costa became the first Portuguese rider to win the World Road Championships in a traitorous day in Florence. Costa rode his ride to perfection, hanging tough with the more pure climbers on the final lap and then attacking at the perfect time to claim glory. Costa had two Spaniards fighting against him in the final kilometres, but in one of them -- Alejandro Valverde -- he had his trade-team mate and as such played them off against one another perfectly with his attack that also took advantage of an exhausted Vincenzo Nibali. Costa outsprinted an impressive Rodriguez with Valverde settling for his fifth World Championship medal ... none of which are Gold. And all this without a single British rider in sight.
It was a shocking day for the British riders. A day in which they lost the race the moment they climbed out of their warm beds in some plush hotel in Florence, drew back the curtains and seen the falling rain. They didn't fancy it and for all intents and purposes, would have been as well climbing back into their beds and staying there such was their showing in the event.
The event was the Men’s World Road Race Championship this past Sunday. A race staged on a hilly circuit that really should have suited the likes of Chris Froome or even Sir Bradley Wiggins, but which seen both of them last about half the distance before packing. Wiggins went AWOL entirely -- put off by the falling rain and the need to go downhill one can only assume -- whereas Froome either crashed himself or got held up in a crash and had little in the way of team-mates to help him back to the bunch.
Monday, September 30, 2013
Sunday, September 22, 2013
Circuit racing is as good as it gets, especially in Montréal
There's no better way to watch a bike race than when they're going round and round. Forget these point-to-point races that are the tradition of bike racing -- those are well and good to watch on the television -- but when you're on the side of the road, getting to see the riders time and again, especially on a course with a good climb, is hard to beat. It's why the World Tour race in Montréal this month is one of the best races to go watch at the elite end of the pro calendar.
It's this kind of circuit racing that reminds you why Kermesse racing is so popular in Belgium. People can stand at the side of the road and be entertained by a race for hour after hour. They'll watch the race speed by then duck into the cafe's or pub's for a drink before stepping back out to the edge of the curb to see them go past again. You don't have to stand at the side of the road for three or four hours spending more time collecting cheap goods thrown from a publicity caravan than you do watching the actual race go past is the case in point-to-points. They wiz past in a matter of seconds and as if someone's stolen something from you, you're left wondering what to do next.
The Tour de France might be a rare exception to this if you happen to be up on one of the mountains. The atmosphere there alone would create a memorable experience not to mention the riders passing at a slower speed, with the look of suffering on their faces in small groups spread out across the mountain. But let's face it, the Monument spring classics, and the majority of Tour stages that start in one location and finish in another make for brilliant TV, but are not the most spectacular spectator sports.
It's this kind of circuit racing that reminds you why Kermesse racing is so popular in Belgium. People can stand at the side of the road and be entertained by a race for hour after hour. They'll watch the race speed by then duck into the cafe's or pub's for a drink before stepping back out to the edge of the curb to see them go past again. You don't have to stand at the side of the road for three or four hours spending more time collecting cheap goods thrown from a publicity caravan than you do watching the actual race go past is the case in point-to-points. They wiz past in a matter of seconds and as if someone's stolen something from you, you're left wondering what to do next.
The Tour de France might be a rare exception to this if you happen to be up on one of the mountains. The atmosphere there alone would create a memorable experience not to mention the riders passing at a slower speed, with the look of suffering on their faces in small groups spread out across the mountain. But let's face it, the Monument spring classics, and the majority of Tour stages that start in one location and finish in another make for brilliant TV, but are not the most spectacular spectator sports.
Wednesday, September 18, 2013
A look back at the Vuelta
After writing plenty about the Giro and then providing blanket coverage on Le Tour, I had plans to do something similar with the Vuelta, but as time is apt to do, it got in the way and I never really got the chance. Thankfully through I still got the chance to watch the majority of it and thank goodness for that, because what a Vuelta it was.
To be fair, I'm not sure there's such a thing as a bad Grand Tour. Yes I know sometimes an overall battle may be without intrigue and people are quick to label it a dull race, but the reality is that far too much goes on between individual stage races, various jersey competitions and much more for the entire thing to be dull. It's just maybe that we've seen some epic Grand Tours in recent years from the 2011 Tour to the 2012 Giro to this 2013 Vuelta that we're quick to dismiss any that don't measure up.
You know you've been spoiled when there's a lead change on the second to last stage and that the swing in time for that lead change is a mere six seconds. Vincenzo Nibali, clearly beginning to look fatigued from the efforts of his Giro win some months before seen his lead whittled down to just three seconds before he lost it to the the 41 year old -- yes, forty-one -- Chris Horner by three seconds. Horner didn't look back and cemented his first Grand Tour win a day later to become the oldest man in history to win a Grand Tour. His superb ride on that 20th stage seen him take the overall victory over Nibali by just 37 seconds.
To be fair, I'm not sure there's such a thing as a bad Grand Tour. Yes I know sometimes an overall battle may be without intrigue and people are quick to label it a dull race, but the reality is that far too much goes on between individual stage races, various jersey competitions and much more for the entire thing to be dull. It's just maybe that we've seen some epic Grand Tours in recent years from the 2011 Tour to the 2012 Giro to this 2013 Vuelta that we're quick to dismiss any that don't measure up.
You know you've been spoiled when there's a lead change on the second to last stage and that the swing in time for that lead change is a mere six seconds. Vincenzo Nibali, clearly beginning to look fatigued from the efforts of his Giro win some months before seen his lead whittled down to just three seconds before he lost it to the the 41 year old -- yes, forty-one -- Chris Horner by three seconds. Horner didn't look back and cemented his first Grand Tour win a day later to become the oldest man in history to win a Grand Tour. His superb ride on that 20th stage seen him take the overall victory over Nibali by just 37 seconds.
Sunday, September 1, 2013
A summer of riding on the bike as time (and fitness!) flies by
And there goes the summer. The leaves outside are gradually beginning to change and there has been a very noticeable drop in the temperature in recent weeks. The mornings are much cooler and when I'm waking up it's dark, and when I'm getting home I'm eking out those final few hours of daylight before dusk sets in. It's been a busy old summer on many fronts -- not least a summer holiday and moving to a new house -- and the cycling season has just got swept up in it all.
The last time I wrote on here it was a review of the Tour de France way back on July 26th. A long time ago it sometimes seems though in another way I'll tell people that this summer has flown in. Way back then the summer days were still long, the leaves green and the temperatures soaring. I was riding home from work when I could and looking towards the late season mountain bike races upon returning from a trip back to Northern Ireland.
The road riding back in Northern Ireland was three great rides on beautiful, hedge lined, quiet, narrow, rolling country roads with my old club, North Down CC. Given I tend to do a lot of my riding home from work and, as such, by myself, it was nice to get out with a group for a change. It was the first time I rode with a group since my last trip back the previous December. It was also nice to get onto quiet roads with some short-sharp little hills.
The last time I wrote on here it was a review of the Tour de France way back on July 26th. A long time ago it sometimes seems though in another way I'll tell people that this summer has flown in. Way back then the summer days were still long, the leaves green and the temperatures soaring. I was riding home from work when I could and looking towards the late season mountain bike races upon returning from a trip back to Northern Ireland.
The road riding back in Northern Ireland was three great rides on beautiful, hedge lined, quiet, narrow, rolling country roads with my old club, North Down CC. Given I tend to do a lot of my riding home from work and, as such, by myself, it was nice to get out with a group for a change. It was the first time I rode with a group since my last trip back the previous December. It was also nice to get onto quiet roads with some short-sharp little hills.
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