Jorgenson beaten by Woods on Puy de Dôme
Even by the extreme standards of pro cycling, Matteo Jorgenson (Movistar) is obsessive. He's so committed to his craft of bike racing that he's been weighing his food and working with a nutritionist for months and months. He spent thirty days at an altitude hotel by himself and on his own money. This is a borderline crazy level of hyper-focus. [...]
Cavendish and Froome. The failed final quest
Yesterday a balky derailleur likely prevented Mark Cavendish (Astana Qazaqstan) from breaking Eddy's Merckx's record of 34 Tour de France stage wins. Today on the road to Limoges, sixty kilometers from the finish, Cavendish broke something else: his collarbone. After a touch of wheels, Cavendish went down along with Steff Cras (Total Energies), Pello Bilbao and Mikel Landa (Bahrain Victorious) and [...]
Cavendish just misses record of Tour stage wins
It was an excruciating almost, a heart-breaking nearly for Mark Cavendish (Astana Qazaqstan). He freelanced his way brilliantly, fighting his way through the pack, taking advantage of all his experience and instincts to put himself in position to win. Perhaps he launched his spring a bit early but it looked like the Manx Missile was about to break an unbreakable [...]
Pogacar fights back with stage win at Cauterets.
It's a brand new Tour de France. After a decisive beating yesterday by Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) on the first day in the Pyrenees, Tadej Pogacar (UAE Emirates) turned the tables, taking back 24 seconds and winning the stage. Vingegaard still took over the maillot jaune, but he also received unexpected and disturbing news -- Pogacar is back and his form [...]
Hindley in yellow, Pogacar in trouble.
Today was definitive proof you need more than two race days preparation to win the Tour de France. After breaking his wrist in Liege-Bastogne-Liege, it was always going to be tough for the Slovenian to match the form of chief rival Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma). We all witnessed that fact on the final climb up the Col de Marie Blanque. The [...]
Philipsen survives chaos on race-course in Tour.
Descriptors for today's Tour de France stage: chaotic, hectic, crazy, dangerous, horrible, carnage. The final sprint on the Nagano speedway was won by jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) in an absolute free-for-all. Once again, he was powered into position by his one-man lead-out train Mathieu van der Poel. The Belgian sprinter barely held off Caleb Ewan (Lotto-Dstny) and Phil Bauhus (Bahrain Nearly Victorious) -- [...]