Did a course tweak just work out? Certainly the race-winning move employed the aggression and pluck that had been missing from the (successful) attacks in previous editions. And the cast of characters battling at the front brought some new names and new faces to the fore. [click for iPad/iPhone/download] Also, I could have spent all…
Tag: Analysis
How The Race Was Won – Paris-Roubaix 2013
A surprisingly cagey effort from a certain overwhelming favorite, better known for watts than wiles. Startlingly good weather for a race and a year notable for nastiness. Omega-Pharma stacks the front with riders and comes away with…ok, I guess that’s par for the course this year. Did I mention it was the fastest Roubaix in…
How The Race Was Won – Tour of Flanders 2013
Don’t want to come across as too unimpressed with the new course, but the gaps between the hills are such that it plays out a lot like a cobbled Amstel Gold—mercifully, without the finishing climb so riders feel at least slightly motivated make a move rather than wait for the inevitable selection. [click for iPad/iPhone/download]…
How The Race Was Won – Gent-Wevelgem 2013
Echelons, a tremendously long break, inopportune flats and tumbles—it’s beginning to look a lot more like spring, despite the stubbornly wintery conditions in Northern Europe right now. [click for iPad/iPhone/download] Definitely a mixed bag for the favorites going into the Monuments next week: two abandons—one intentional, one not—a breakthrough win, and active, aggressive races for…
How The Race Was Won – Milan-San Remo 2013
So, after some brief site downtime this week (I’m posting this on 3/22/13, but back-dating for the purposes of continuity, Cyclocosm is back—as is HTRWW. Still have a few fixes to make on the HTRWW Podcast feed, but we’ll get there. How The Race Was Won – Milan-Sanremo 2013 from Cosmo Catalano on Vimeo. [right…
How The Race Was Won – Paris-Nice 2013
Chris Horner thinks it’s the lesser of the two spring stage races this season, but I’m not going to let that deter me (mostly because of P-N’s convenient weekend finishing date). There were at least two interesting sprints, some intersting tactical riding in muck weather, and the usual mayhem that makes bike racing fun. [right…
How The Race Was Won – Strade Bianche 2013
(Fun FACT: did you know you there’s a page where you can scroll through all of the How The Race Was Won videos?) There are times when it’s frustrating being on the other side of the world. A little trouble with the video (codecs, transcoding, slow capper upload speed) held up the Strade Bianche HTRWW…
How The Race Was Won – Omloop Het Nieuwsblad 2013
Opening the season right: by putting entirely too much effort into a video for a not-especially-interesting bike race. That said, who isn’t glad for some serious news relating to actually racing bikes instead of throwing lawyers around? And a good fight from some names a few steps below the marquee is always nice to see….
A New Year’s Resolution for Cycling
I consider myself among the more optimistic commentators as far as cycling and doping go. But as the year wraps up, I can’t help but think a nice Resolution for the sport might be to stop asking me to ignore what a more cynical man might call “the obvious”. Consider the example of Sven Nys,…
Rabobank Brings the Fight to Aigle
“We are no longer convinced that the international professional world of cycling can make this a clean and fair sport. We are not confident that this will change for the better in the foreseeable future.” Rabobank, on their departure as a professional cycling sponsor That about sums it up. As someone who has advocated, and…