Who's Gonna Win 2019 Tour de France?

Who's Gonna Win 2019 Tour de France?

Fuglsang

Nibali

Thomas

Bernal

Bardet

Quintana

Pinot

Uran

Porte

Kelderman

 

pollcode.com free polls

Tyler Hamilton - The Secret Race

I know it's late but I've just read this book and I think it deserves a review.
I read this book ages after Armstrong's confession and everything that followed.
It may sound weird but this book is about truth and guts, that's why I loved it so much.
The book follows with incredible precision the career of Hamilton, a talented American rider.
The beginning is very interesting, pointing out the difference between the European and the American way of conceiving cycling.
Once Hamilton is hired by US Postal the book become a fantastic roller coaster between the feelings
of a human being, the passion of a young talented rider and, in the end, the wisdom of man.
The book could be classified in two different ways: as a scientific treatises, describing meticulously the doping practices, or as a coming-of-age story.
I prefer the second one. I think the meticulous description of the doping practices is an important part of the path of formation described in the book.
The book contains also a very interesting part about the preparation of Armstrong trial and the political decision to dismiss it.
Nevertheless, I think that what makes this book a Great book is the story of the man, of the rider, of a passionate kid that we could have been if we would have been more talented.

Who's Gonna Win 2019 Giro d'Italia?

Who's gonna win 2019 Giro d'Italia?

S. Yates

Roglic

Dumoulin

M.A. Lopez

Nibali

Landa

Zakarin

Jungels

Mollema

Majka

Sivakov

 

pollcode.com free polls

Cycling Impressions Interviews: Stefano Oldani

We had the pleasure to interview one of the most interesting road cycling prospects: Stefano Oldani.
The Italian young talent, after some brilliant results with team Colpack, just signed a two years contract with Contador's Team Polartec - Kometa.
Here is what he told us.

Hi Stefano and thank you! It is a pleasure to interview you. Where does your love for cycling come from?
Hi! It is a pleasure for me too!
My love for cycling is born when I was a kid and I watched my elder brother racing. That's where it all started.

When did you jump on a bike for the first time and who put  you on it?
The first time I jumped on a bike I was 5 years old. I started riding with my dad.

Let's talk now about your racing career. Did you start with road cycling, track cycling or cyclocross? Which is your favorite?
I started with track cycling in the velodrome of Busto Garolfo, near Milan, Italy.
Talking about my favorite discipline, I can say that I really love mountainbiking in winter.

What is you favorite race?
I don't have a specific favorite race, let's say that I love Grand Tours.

We hope to see you wearing the Pink Jersey in the near future! Who is you sport hero?
To be honest I think my sport hero is Pantani, for the incredible feats he did.

What do you want to say to boys and girls that would like to try to be pro riders?
I tell them to have fun and enjoy what they are doing without being obsessed with growing fast.

Last question. Hobbies when you don't cycle?
I don't have a hobby in particular because cycling takes most of my day time. Nevertheless, I love spending my free time with my family. It is very relaxing.

Thank you very much Stefano and good luck! Cycling Impressions will always be a fan of you!
Thank you!

Cycling Songs: Motherfucking Bike - Sons of Science

Here we go, new cycling song. Let's dance!

Cycling Songs: Adesso Pedala - Marco Pantani

In order to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the legendary double of Il Pirata, I want to share this song to remember him as the polyhedric champion he was!
Enjoy your holidays with the soundtrack of your summer:

Le Tour de Merde

"Ce ci n'est pas une pipe", said Magritte.
I say: "This is not a cycling race".
I don't think this grotesque parade with such a shitty organization deserves any further comment.

The First Pink Jersey

It is something hard to describe.
Wearing the first Pink Jersey can save a career, can save a season, can save a Giro.
Today, in Jerusalem, Duomoulin was simply amazing.
He is stronger than last year and came to Giro 101 for a memorable double.
He introduced himself to his contenders with today's incredible back to back.
I am not a stats maniac but I don't think we can count so many riders that have won the Giro the previous year and have been the first pink jersey a year later.
"Hey guys, allow me to introduce myself:  I am the Pink Jersey". This is what Dumoulin said today with his Time Trial.
After the press conference and the time trial,Tom Dumoulin seems to have scored the very first rounds, demolishing Froome with words and facts.
Nevertheless, the Giro is too long to say it's over.
What matters is that Dumoulin may not win the Giro 101, but he is the first pink jersey and that is enough to be remembered in a positive way in the Giro 101.

Giro d'Italia 2018

The route of the 101 Giro d'Italia has been revealed and it's really interesting.
The exotic start is a fantastic idea to expand the cycling culture outside Europe. Nevertheless Israel and its silly controversy about "west Jerusalem" prove that maybe the organizers have chosen the wrong country. They are not ready to be part of a melting pot event.
Despite Israeli officials, I think that the TT in Jersualem will be a fantastic scenario for the start of the Giro.
The route continues with interesting stages, that will amuse the spectators and the fans since the first week.
The diamond of the race is the terrible Zoncolan that is something unique in the World Tour.
That stage will worth a Classic and the winner will remain in the history of cycling.
The Colle delle Finestre will be another great climb but it has been positioned too far from the end of the stage.
I have just two critics to move to this great Giro:
1) the arrival in Rome. The capital is a wonderful city but it is not a cycling one.
Milano is the Italian capital of cycling and the final TT in the city should become like the Champs Elysées for the Tour de France. Last year it has been something memorable with the leader jersey changing in the last stage, after a battle lasted 21 days.
2) The Dolomites and the Tuscany have been a bit sacrificed.
Nevertheless I really look forward this Giro, enriched by the participation of the best riders in the world and by Froome too, attempting a historic triple.

Rider of the Vuelta a España 2017

This is not a fairy tale, you did it! You have been elected rider of the Vuelta 2017, the last race of your outstanding career!!
Contador's victory of our special classification has been a sort of plebiscite, he has taken 58% of the votes (the second, Froome, 17%, just to give you an idea) and has been elected rider of the Vuelta 2017.
I can just thank this incredible champion and I think we will miss him so much.
I hope he will continue his work with his team of young talents, teaching them to attack and never give up and maybe, in the future, we will have another Contador. Maybe...

Answer The Survey And Find Out Who Will Be The Rider Of The Vuelta a España 2017

Who is the Rider of the Vuelta a España 2017?

Froome

Nibali

Zakarin

Villella

Trentin

Contador

Lopez

Marczynski

Poels

Lampaert

 

pollcode.com free polls

La Vuelta of the Champions

What a Vuelta!
I am speechless in front of these champions attacking every day in the most spectacular Grand Tour of the last ten years.
Contador attacked every day, looking for a big victory and never giving up. He took a really deserved victory on the hardest climb of Europe.
He has secured his place among the legends of cycling, that will be happy to welcome him in their exclusive club.
Froome has proven to be able to fight and win also in one of the strongest Grand Tour I've ever seen and not just on the boring flat Tour de France.
I really hope that the way Contador rode his last Vuelta will inspire other riders and make them more aggressive. You have to risk to gain the place in the Legends Club and Contador proved it 'til the last day of his brilliant career.
Will Froome be the next? He still needs a Giro! Stay tuned!

La Vuelta 2017 Pt. 2

La Vuelta 2017 has been fantastic so far and, with one week to go, the race is still unpredictable.
Froome is struggling to keep his leader jersey as he never did before.
If he will bring the red jersey to Madrid I think this would be maybe his best victory of a Grand Tour.
He has been fighting since the first day, proving that he is able to ride also far away from the flat Tour de France stages.
In case of win, he would complete his first double and he would definitively enter the legends' club.
He would be remembered as one of the most successful Grand Tour riders.
La Vuelta made us discover also a new talented rider named Lopez that is literally bossing everyone when the road climbs.
Will he continue is incredible growth? Has Astana found  a new captain? Will Aru leave Astana? What is the strategy of the team?
We can still discover a lot, a new unpredictable week of Vuelta is starting.
Stay tuned!

La Vuelta 2017 Pt. 1

My impression after the first week of Vuelta is that we are seeing an incredible Grand Tour, that is growing year by year.
La Vuelta, in the future, could become the best Grand Tour, if the organizers of the Giro and the Tour will not put aside their arrogance and their presumption.
This is happening in a huge way at the Tour de France, while the Giro is still safe, due to the incredible Italian geography that offers everyday nice ideas for clever riders.
In this scenario, la Vuelta, presenting the best riders and a nice route, is able to give the fans back the emotions they did not prove watching le Tour de France.
Talking about what's happening on the road, nothing seems changed: Quick- Step Floors and Froome are bossing the race, but they have to struggle to maintain their leadership and this makes everything more interesting.
Vamos!

Great Climbs Around The World: Furcia

Passo Furcia or Furkelpass (in German) is a pretty hard climb in the heart of the Dolomites.
It leads to the famous climb of Plan de Corones, the theater of  the recent ITTs of the Giro d'Italia,  won in 2008 by Pellizzoti and in 2010 by Garzelli.
Due to bad weather conditions, that didn't allow to climb Plan de Corones, even the top of Passo Furcia itself has been the arrival of a Giro stage, won by Leonardo Piepoli in 2006.
Nevertheless, in my opinion, the Furcia climb must be remembered above all for what Cunego did in 2004.
He attacked in the hardest part of the climb, taking the pink jersey while writing one of the best pages of modern cycling.
Climbing the Furcia, you can still feel the emotions of that day and it is impossible not to try to accelerate a bit during the climb, even just to pay a tribute to Cunego's feat.
Click here for a technical analysis of the climb.

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.

Rider of the Tour de France 2017

Congratulations Froome, you made it!
The Impressionists have elected you as rider of the Tour de France 2017.
You can say what you want but how you can say he is not a champion? In the end he always win and this is what matters.
Poker of Tours and rider of the Tour 2017, what else do you need?

Tour de France 2017 Finale

One of the most boring Tour de France I can remember, due also to the tracery of the organizers, finally came to an end.
The jurors tried to do everything to provide as much French victories as possible, disqualifying and penalizing foreign riders, but, in the end, as always, Froome won.
There is not a big winner of this Tour, Froome appeared to be more vulnerable than the previous editions but none of his opponents has been able to beat him, due also to his incredible team that controlled every single stage.
From this Tour de France comes out a big martyr, the strongest rider on the road, a man that could have easily won this edition of the Tour de France but he was in the wrong team. All our thoughts are for you Mikel Landa.
Here you can find my grades to the teams,  from 1 (very bad) to 10 (very good), you, dear Impressionists, will choose the rider of the Tour de France in the upcoming survey.
Team Sky - 9
They have won their 5th Tour in the last six years this says all. Nevertheless they are a dictatorial regime, there is no space left for unplanned exploits by other members of the team.

AG2R La Mondiale - 8
They tried in any way to win this Tour de France but, unfortunately, for Bardet, even a single kilometer against the clock is too much.

Movistar Team - 5
They lost Valverde during the first stage, the alternative to a Quintana still recovering from a really hard Giro.

Trek-Segafredo - 6
Contador has the heart of a lion but not the legs. They go home with a stage win, at the beginning of the Tour de France they had bigger plans.

BMC Racing Team - 5
They lost their best rider, they didn't have a second plan, they failed.

Astana Pro Team - 1
Is this a team? The strategy was to leave Aru alone as soon as possible? Still wondering...

UAE Team Emirates - 5
A top ten could not be enough for the team.

FDJ - 5.5
They sacrified half of the team with a rider. They won a stage.

Orica-Scott - 7
The white jersey was the main goal, they did it. They could have won a stage.

Dimension Data - 6.5
They lost their main sprinter, they had a second plan, they won a stage.

Quick-Step Floors - 8
They dominated every single sprint they took part. They were helped by a Tour de France with tons of flat stages.

Bora-Hansgrohe - 7.5
They lost their most representative rider after a questionable decision by the jurors. They won another stage.

Team Katusha-Alpecin - 5
They failed all their objectives.

Lotto Soudal - 5
They failed all their objectives.

Team Sunweb - 10
They won, they amused the crowd, they deserved two fantastic jerseys. Team of the year.

Cofidis, Solutions Crédits - 3.5
I discover they were at the Tour when Bouhanni punched another rider.  They disappeared again after that episode.

Team LottoNL-Jumbo - 8
Two great stage win, one of them on le Champs Elysdées, what else do you need?

Direct Energie - 7.5
A memorable stage win.

Cannondale-Drapac Pro Cycling Team - 9
Stage win and an unexpected second place in the general classification! What a Tour de France!!

Bahrain Merida Pro Cycling Team - 4
They failed all their mysterious objectives.

Wanty-Groupe Gobert - 5
Big breakaways but that's all.

Fortuneo - Oscaro - 5
Breakaways, that's all. I expected more.

How Long Will This Charade Last?

The jurors continue taking shameful decisions trying to help French riders win at the Tour de France.
Bouhanni did something definitely worse than Sagan and he is still in the race, Bardet took a bottle just like Uran Uran, Bennet and Pauwels but the Jury "did not see".
My question is: is this a World Tour race or the aim of the organizers is just to have a ridiculous French parade?
The race, so far, make me leaning towards the second option.

How Many Riders Will Arrive In Paris?

This is the question murmured on the roads of le Tour de France.
One of the most boring Tour de France I can remember is being sadly animated just by bad crashes.
Nevertheless, they are part of cycling, as mechanical problems.
That's why I think that the weeping Froome should not have complained with Aru about his attack.
Following the policy of Froome I don't understand why the Tour is continuing on Tuesday with another stage. We should suspend the Tour and wait 30 days 'til Porte is fully recovered and ready to battle again. Ridiculous.
I don't even understand why the other contenders did not help Aru in the only true attack of the day at the yellow jersey. They preferred to wait for Froome and to be humiliated by him.
Condator is a former champion that is facing his natural decline and Quintana is still recovering from one of the hardest Giro of all time.
They had a chance, they missed it.