Winter Cycling Season

We can talk about having a nice ride during winter season, putting on our most expensive and fashioned outfit and go, but the essence of winter is Cyclocross.
I really appreciate Van Der Poel and Van Aert that still fight during winter, choosing to postpone their road careers to honor a discipline that is not so famous around the world nowadays.
They decided to build solid basis on their natural field instead of following the popular way of road cycling.
They are sons of a full season cycling, the pure one, made with strength, balance and bike handling.
The choice to wait is a form of respect to the old concept of cycling. That will help them deeply understand everything they will do among the pro.
It will help them dealing with difficult situation, because it is when you have eaten and breath mud during the winter that you are ready to welcome the summer.
This will make the difference.

Quick-Step Floors' Domination

Quick-Step Floors is dominating the 2018 seasons but who is really happy with this?
I think that the only people happy with Quick-Step Floors' domination are Lefevere and his staff.
In particular, in Belgium, this is a huge problem to deal with.
Their most representative team is dominating but the Belgian riders in the team are not winning any significant race, with the little exception of Lampaert's Dwars Door Vlaanderen.
Is this enough for a nation in which cycling is like a religion? I don't think so.
Also Gilbert said, with a bit of regret, that when you ride for Quick-Step Floors you can never consider yourself as The captain and you have to accept it.
My question is: if you are a champion, can you accept to have, potentially forever, a secondary role?
What would do Terpstra as the only captain of a team? He would be controlled as all the others I think.
Terpstra is a solid cobbles rider and deserved his victory but would have been the same if Van Avermaet or Sagan would have attacked?
Quick-Step Floors' strategies are the best in the world and we are witnessing an incredible phenomenon in cycling, that we have never faced before.
For the first time in cycling history, the team is the hero to admire more than its riders.
We will remember Quick-Step Floors more than its riders I think.
This phenomenon is more common in other sports such as Football or Basketball but I've never seen this happening in cycling.
Enjoy Quick-Step Floors' last miracle.

Netherlands on the Cobbles

The season on the cobbles has just started but this year, Belgium seems a Dutch colony.
On Sunday, Groenewegen won the Kuurne-Bruxelles-Kuurne and on Tuesday, Terpstra won Le Samyn.
This means that Dutch riders have won two-thirds of the races on the cobbles so far, dethronizing the Belgian kings.
I know that Terpstra represents a Belgian team, but is that enough? We all know that the answer is no.
Will the Dutch dominion continue?
It is hard to say, nevertheless Netherlands has already made its move, now it is time for Belgium to react.
Will the Belgian riders repeat the fabulous 2017 cobbles season?
Stay tuned and enjoy the cobbles, the best is yet to come...

August Cycling

May not be the green jersey of le Tour de France but it is always a nice jersey to wear in the land of cycling.
Sagan is dominating another race, proving that he is enjoying his good shape.
I don't understand why the team didn't let Sagan defend his European title.
That is a pity but also the proof that this new race has still a long way ahead to become a "classic" of the cycling calendar.
Kwiatkowski took an incredible victory in San Sebastian, enriching the best year of his career.
It is nice to see that the main characters of the month of August are almost the same of the spring classics, just Van Avermaet is taking a longer break.
The upcoming Vuelta is a show not to miss.
It presents a parterre of contenders better than the one at le Tour de France and with roads full of surprises, perfect for clever riders.
It is gonna be great, stay tuned.

Global Bike To Work Day 2017

Bike to work, bike to the future.

Rider of the Month: April

Congratulations Alejandro!! You are the rider of the month!
We should contrive new words to describe the greatness of this rider.
Valverde is not even like the good wine, that increases its quality day by day.
He has always been the best, he  is the best and probably he will continue to be the most complete rider in the Peloton.
He is capable of winning Monuments and classics and to compete at the higher level in the Grand Tours.
Thank you Alejando I hope you will teach us cycling for a long long time.

Liège-Bastogne-Liège 2017

This article is the natural continuation of the previous one and we have to thank Valverde for this.
Valverde and Scarponi, two riders representing the good old cycling but still victorious in the modern one.
Just a great Champion could have done this: He won the oldest of the Classics and dedicated the victory to his friend dramatically passed away the day before.
What can I add to this fantastic and emotional victory? Nothing.
Valverde is dominating the season, he has won almost every race he took part.
He is definitely the most all-round rider of the Peloton, a genius of tactics, a rider that honors the cycling season from February to October.
Such a great rider, a true friend of Michele, could not have honored his friend in a better way.

Amstel Gold Race 2017 - School Of Cycling, School Of Life

The final kilometre of the Amstel Gold Race 2017 has been something amazing, something more than just cycling.
The two characters of this amazing show have been Kwiatkowski and Gilbert, the riders that showed the best shape in 2017 classics campaign.
They arrived in the Ardennes with prestigious and spectacular victories conquered this year in the previous classics. Today, they found themselves in this emotional final kilometre where just one of them, in the end, would have won.
The final has been absolutely unpredictable: Kwiatkowski, apparently stronger than Gilbert in a sprint, showed Gilbert respect, refusing to take the lead in the final kilometre.
This has been a mistake, the last kilometre became a psychological and tactical battle, but more that a matter of strategy, the final duel turned out to be a mental toughness question.
Kwiatkowski used the same strategy that in March had given him his great Milano - Sanremo victory but, this time, he wasn't fighting with Sagan and Alaphilippe, two young and bumptious riders.
His opponent, today, was a clever "old" champion, Philippe Gilbert, one of the most experienced riders in the Peloton.
Kwiatkowski has been beaten by an opponent better than him at his own game.
The attack of Kwiatkowski was provoked by the patient and the courage of Gilbert, waiting 'til the end, confident that his young antagonist would not have resisted longer without attacking.
The last kilometre of the Amstel Gold Race 2017 should be projected in any kind of school, because it is a life lesson.
Has Kwiatkowski learned the lesson? We will discover it soon.

Rider of the Month: March

Congratulations Greg, you made it!!
Vav Avermaet has been the natural winner of this special classification for the month of March.
He has been the author of an incredible winning series, started in February and continued in March, winning: Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, E3 Harelbeke and Gent - Wevelgem.
Will he confirm his shape in the upcoming classics?
Is he the new king of the cobbles?
So far he has been the undisputed leading actor of the Flemish classics and the victory of this special classification proves it but the best is yet to come...

Impressions After a Week On the Cobbles

A week on the cobbles has just finished and Van Avermaet comes out confirming his class in one day races.
Nevertheless, I think he wasn't the strongest rider in the peloton, he was just the smartest.
Gilbert lost two races in which he was clearly the strongest, trying to ride in the Sagan's way, a spectacular way to ride but that is not paying back in 2017.
We have also to consider that in order to ride like Sagan you have to be extremely stronger than the other riders and not just in a very good shape.
Allow me now to focus on what happened today in Gent-Wevelgem: while Sagan and Terpstra were arguing, Van Avermaet and Keukeleire, remaining focused on the race, silently rode away.
Van Avermaet took an incredible win that embellishes his palmarés proving that you have to be smart to win without caring too much about pulling as the others or showing that you are the best in the peloton.
I think that Sagan learned a lot from Gent-Wevelgem 2017 and we will enjoy an incredible Ronde Van Vlaanderen.
In conclusion, I want to celebrate the only rider that this week (at Volta Ciclista a Catalunya) won conjugating show, class and cleverness: El Imbatido, Alejandro Valverde.

Answer The Survey And Find Out Who Will Be The Rider Of The Month

Who is the Rider of the Month?

Van Avermaet

Sagan

Rui Costa

Valverde

Quintana

Ulissi

Felline

Roglic

Kristoff

Hermans

 

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Answer The Survey And Find Out Who Will Be The Rider Of The Month

Who is the Rider of the Month?

Arndt

Porte

Ewan

Vichot

Boonen

Gaviria

Richeze

Mollema

Wellens

Costa

 

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The Year of Sagan

Sagan is a champion, this is a fact.
This is the best podium you can dream of if you are the winner of the World Championships. You won the gold medal and you have beaten two legends of the 21st century cycling era.
The question is: how long Sagan supremacy will last?
I've never seen a rider like him so far, I love Tom Boonen, I've loved Cipollini (Pantani is something different, he was not a rider he was a mythological hero) but Sagan is incredible.
In theory he can win on any terrain, he can win in a peloton sprint, he can win with a solo attack, he is unpredictable and unbeatable,
I've waited 3 yeras but I've to say that Sagan could become the best rider of all times and a true immortal icon of this sport.
2017 will be a crucial year for Sagan's saga but so far I can just say: Thank you Peter!

Answer The Survey And Find Out Who Will Be The Rider Of The Month

Who is the Rider of the month?

Van Avermaet

Fuglsang

Majka

Cancellara

Dumoulin

Froome

Viviani

Cavendish

Naesen

Hansen

Ewan

 

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Welcome Back!

Welcome back folks!
Hope you enjoyed your holidays riding a bike or watching cycling.
The Olympics races have been really emotional.
Nibali's crash was tremendous and remembered me a similar one he did in the final kilometers of the cycling World Championships in Florence, Italy.
Sagan has tried to write a new page of history but unfortunately luck wasn't on his side.
Cancellara has won a gold medal in the year of the retirement following the example of Vinokourov in London.
Nevertheless the most emotional medal has been the one of Viviani, I think that the entire cycling community cried with him on that track.
Now it is time to vote the rider of the month...

Answer The Survey And Find Out Who Will Be The Rider Of The Month

Who is the Rider of the Month?

Contador

Aru

Groenewegen

Froome

Lopez M. A.

Sagan

De Bondt

Quintana

Dehaes

 

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National Championships

The end of June is characterized by the National Championships.
These are the greatest occasion (apart from the rainbow jersey and its curse) to be more recognizable in the peloton for a rider.
The races are very interesting because the teams do not have a fixed number of riders, there could be teams even with just one rider.
This situation makes the races unpredictable and very hard and stressful.
Nevertheless, we have to consider that if you win a National Championship you will be celebrated the entire year. You will be The National Champion, not just a random rider of the peloton. Such a great title can't be gained without a great effort. Good luck riders!
Let's enjoy the National Championships lottery!