June 13, 2011

Is the Dauphiné the gateway to Tour success?

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Due to its position on the cycling calendar, the Critérium du Dauphiné is perennially used as a preparation race for the Tour de France. This has been the case going all the way back to the seventies when Eddy Merckx, Luis Ocana, Bernard Thevenet and Bernard Hinault all won the week-long race before going on to take victory in the Tour de France a month later.

Last year, the Dauphiné Libéré newspaper ceded organisation of the race to ASO, the company who also take care of the Tour de France. This change has seen the race embrace its moniker as a Tour preparation race even further by including a carbon copy of the final time trial of this year’s Tour de France.

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June 26, 2010

Team Sky vs. Astana

Details of the previous Tour de France and Grand Tour performances of the G.C. contenders team mates. (Information on Garmin's Tour roster was not available. Astana's roster has also not yet been finalised, see cyclingstartlists.com for details).

The Tour de Suisse and the Critérium du Dauphiné are over and there are currently dozens of National Championships taking place throughout the world. This can mean only one thing, the Tour de France is almost upon us. As such, plenty of teams have finalised their Tour de France rosters while the remaining teams are expected to do so in the coming days. Unfortunately, like last year, there will only be one Irish rider present on the startline in Rotterdam. And like last year, this rider is Nicolas Roche who has recovered sufficiently from a hamstring problem which forced him out of the Tour of Romandy back in April.

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February 7, 2010

Tour preparation isn’t so simple

The races in which the top five riders of the last two Tours de France raced in preparation for the Grand Boucle. Races listed in bold are one day races.

Some riders have already gotten their season under way at the Tour Down Under in the middle of January, other riders will have waited until February to begin at races like the Tour Méditerranéen or the Tour of Qatar, while others still will wait until March before contemplating racing. The racing schedules of the top riders are scrutinised by fans so we can determine what their season goals are and what sort of shape they’ll be in at various points of the season. The racing schedules of the Tour de France contenders are usually examined more than most. Will they ride the Giro as preparation? Will they ride the Dauphiné or the Tour de Suisse? Will any of them be riding the cobbled classics? So which races do the Tour contenders frequent more than others? Each rider maps out a path hoping that theirs in particular will be the magical combination of races that will result in them being in better shape come July than all of their rivals. So is there an ideal combination of races?

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January 11, 2010

One Hit Wonders of the Tour

There are many many musicians out there who practiced their instrument for years, slogged away in shady pubs playing in front of a dozen people hoping against hope that one day they’d hit the big time. One day they finally get lucky and a record executive happens upon them one night and likes what he hears. The musician is signed up to a major record label. The first album gets made and sells very little, the second album gets made and sells even less. Then an amazing thing happens, out of the blue, a hit single. The musician has a song on the top of the charts, it’s incredible, everything they ever wished for. They get recognised on the street, they sign autographs, they ride they wave of publicity and it feels great. Inevitably, the third album gets made, doesn’t sell. The record company grow impatient and give the musician one last chance. A fourth album. Still no luck. The musician fades away, consigned to the annals of history to be forever referred to as a one hit wonder.

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December 11, 2009

Wiggins takes a step backwards

Possible 2010 Tour de France lineups for Bradley Wiggins' new team and former team.

This week Bradley Wiggins has finally completed his move from Garmin-Slipstream to the new British outfit Team Sky. Ever since he finished 4th in the Tour de France last July, this transfer has been rumored, and with a Tour contender shaped hole on the Team Sky roster it seemed like a probable move. I honestly thought that Team Sky had missed the boat and the rider transfer wouldn’t happen until next year. Most teams have already started their winter training camps and all team roster changes are usually finalised before November. Wiggins’ signing has come very late in the day and Team Sky boss Dave Brailsford has finally landed the Tour contender he so dearly wanted. I had suggested in a previous post that Team Sky could not take a Tour place for granted and they could be up against it to secure a wild card invitation to the French Grand Tour next year. With the signing of Wiggins they still can’t take a Tour place as a given, but they now have a much better chance of being extended an invite at the expense of one of the weaker teams.

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