O! How lonely sits the early calendar that once was full of races. How like a widow she has become. Why must the season not get off on the right foot? Why does this pandemic still rage—battering the foundations of the calendar and swallowing up the minor races like a wolf among unguarded sheep? Because of the Coronavirus pandemic I find myself in a strange position: I am missing what I have formerly taken for granted.
Yes, I speak of the premiere flagship event of the Early Season: the Tour Down Under. In the seasons I was first getting into cycling O! how I loved the Tour Down Under through the Adelaide hills: the scenery was lovely, Willunga Hill was a good spectacle and I like Richie Porte (Ineos Grenadiers), and of course it was the sign cycling was back. Surely, Tour Down Under is one of the most anticipated races of the year by many cycling fans simply because it means the new season has begun. But over the past few years, I have come to realize the Tour Down Under rarely lives up to the hype in my eyes: it is too repetitive, there is little ingenuity about it, I dare say it even needs a major facelift as badly as Fleche Wallone. And yet, in early 2021 here we are: surely I have deeply missed the Tour Down Under not starting off the cycling season right. O! How I love to see the Aussie fans raging on the roadsides under their summer sun. O! How I miss the exotic fauna and flora from the land of Oz with its cute koalas, eucalyptuses, and kangaroos. There was some sort of smaller festival in Adelaide, but alas! I had not the heart to watch it if it wasn’t the proper big show, the proper Tour of tours Down Under.
It was being rumored in November already that the Australian races—Tour Down Under, Cadel Evans Road Race, Herald Sun Tour—would not be happening this year, and at that point after three straight months of averaging 1.5 races daily to watch: I was actually tuckered out, and found it to be a swallowable loss given the circumstances of the world. But as January opened, my heart continued to sink as small but great after small but great race was dismantled and obliterated from the calendar. Many say they will try to reschedule, but surely they should know what makes them great—undervalued gems—is their place on the calendar that attract World Tour names who may or may not have any form to speak of, and thus they provide for thrilling and surprising viewing. O! Yes, I speak of the Iberian rust dusters that win my heart each year. Fondly I remember Nairo Quintana (Arkea-Samsaic) and Wout Poels (Bahrain Victorious) riding to victory in recent years at the revived Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana. What a novel and thrilling little race it is. Ah! Remember the time Stijn Vandenbergh—whom Rob Hatch once called the archetypal Belgian—pinched the final stage win from the sprinters in Valencia’s city streets? It was the day he transformed into Stijn “VandenBAG” as a plastic shopping bag got stuck in his back cassette in the final kilometers, and yet still he rode on to win the stage. And what of the crown jewels in the furtherest south: Andalucia’s Ruta Del Sol and Portugal’s Volta ao Algarve? Every year they are in direct clashing competition fighting for who has the best race. I dare say, even if they both scheduled the time trial on the same day as has been the case for a years now: I would not balk, I would simply enjoy to be able to see two of my favorite races. I remember in 2015 when the Ruta Del Sol had such an extremely mountainous route with two proper summit finishes: on the first el pistolero Alberto Contador shattered his competition, while the next day Chris Froome (Israel Start-Up Nation) responded to the challenge from one of his greatest rivals and put equal amounts of time into Contador plus two seconds to take the lead and overall for the race. How I miss the days of Tim Wellens (Lotto Soudal) and Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) domination in such a beautiful race. And O! the Algarve this time of year, Portugal’s southwestern corner along the mighty Atlantic Ocean. Surely, there are fewer races to indicate who is on great form—to indicate who will be flying for their early spring objectives! No Portuguese upstart W-52—FC Porto rider taking it to the World Tour names on an early summit finish, no fine sprint victory into a coastal resort town, and no great time-trialing performance to make us all sit up and be on watch for the rest of the season. Alas! Yes, to lose all of these races together is a tough pill to swallow, but there is one single race I lament most even if its cancellation was surely inevitable this year.
Yes, I speak of the most fun race in the Western Hemisphere: the rowdiest of rowdy, the Tour Colombia. O! What a sight to behold it usually is! Surely, you think the Flandriens, the Basques, and all Italians love cycling, but we must all face the facts: their loves of cycling is nothing compared to the Colombians. Were Herodotus to attend the Tour Colombia, surely he would put the crowd estimate numbers higher than Xerxes’ Persian army invading Greece by way of the Thermopylae pass. O! How every mountainside is covered with cheering fans! And O! How unruly they are! Remember, remember the one dressed in the Grover costume—or was it a Teletubby?—the one who knocked over Nairoman…and yet Nairoman came back to win the mighty summit finish in front of the home crowds and to the most exhilarating Colombian commentary! O! Of course these Colombians go wild, this is the only race of the year their homegrown heroes in their prime come out to race on national soil all year. Superman Lopez (Movistar), Nairoman Quintana, Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers), Fernando Gaviria (UAE), Rigoberto Uran (EF Education-Nippo) have all dazzled the home crowds: their greatest generation of cyclists all in home place butting heads! And other international stars have come out to play as well, to try their hand at the long and high-altitude climbs: Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-Quickstep), Tao Geoghegan Hart (Ineos Grenadiers), and even Chris Froome. Have you heard the story where in the days before the race Chris Froome scouted out the most isolated and switch-backy climb he could find for a solo training session: out into the jungle, high up the steep slopes, the furthest road from the hustle-and-bustle of city…and still at the last house on the route the resident yelled out to cheer on Chris Froome, completely recognizing him as the 4x Tour Champion. What a fairytale story that is: the titan of the sport, the greatest Grand Tour rider of his generation riding by your house. How romantic that even the most isolated of Colombian citizens recognizes and treasures his passing! Yes, now my heart is heavy once more to think about the loss of such a race this year, it truly is the one I miss most.
And thus now, what has filled the void, what scrapes of the early season have been left for us to nibble on? There was the GP Marseillaise one-day race, and that was mildly enjoyable and yet clearly that race may also take the cake for rustiest of races that needed O! such a fine dusting. And then for years, I had heard of this Etoile de Besseges French stage race around this time too—usually overlapping with at least three of the following Valenciana, some Australian race, some South American race, or maybe Dubai Tour in the Middle East. I guess it was because of the overlaps that I never got around to watching this French race, but this year I have finally got a taste of this cold French opening stage race and I am sorry to say it tastes of wormwood and gall. Perhaps a couple of the finishes were interesting with a tricky little climb in the last kilometer, but beyond that I did not see this race offering anything despite good performances from Christophe Laporte (Cofidis), Tim Wellens, and that mighty Filipo “Top” Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers). Despite Top Ganna’s two stage wins where he proved from the season’s start he is the time-triallist everyone will have to beat all season, this race made me understand how non-cycling fans feel when they watch a bike race and have no idea what is going on. Few had any form, the profiles were in no way dynamic or novel at all. I feel it is rude for me to pick on a race so, but I cannot sugarcoat my thoughts amidst all the cancellations we have seen. And yet, the French early season races saved face with a highly respectable Tour de la Provence. Surely I love this relatively new French race, Nairoman was fabulous at it last year, and this year other Colombians picked up where he left off. Ivan Sosa (Ineos Grenadiers) and Egan Bernal put on a dominating performance to Chalet Reynard where they went one-two and Sosa took the win Overall. And yes, this Chalet Reynard is the one more than halfway up that legendary climb of notorious fame, that Giant of Provence, Mont Ventoux. But the Colombians were not the only ones to dazzle at Ventoux, Musketeer Julian Alaphilippe revealed he was on good form as he almost kept up with the Colombian climbing pair to Chalet Reynard. And Quickstep teammate Davide Ballerini looked wonderful in that fetching leader’s jersey he held after winning the first two stages—truly, you should Google this iconic Tour de la Provence leader’s jersey. And it must not be forgotten that Phil Bauhaus gave his team their first victory of the season, and now they can begin to rightfully claim their Bahrain Victorious name. But with those races completed, where does that leave us this early season? As we speak, I shall be watching this Tour des Alpes Maritimes et du Var, and I shall report back my findings later. And that leaves the last race of the early season. The race that has weathered the storms of Corona cancellations like a besieged castle holding off the barbarians at its gates and surrounding all of its walls.
The UAE Tour, though only a young race, is asserting its dominance over late February by staunchly remaining on the calendar and attracting the greatest lineup of riders. I must say, I found it a particularly good idea when the 4-day Dubai Tour and the 4-day Tour of Abu Dhabi combined forces to make one mega-weeklong UAE Tour stage race. With a longer race together, it attracts a bigger field of top names all in the same place, and the racing becomes more interesting and has more meaning. For the sprinters get to all go head-to-head in four or five opportunities instead of half the field in one race with three sprints, and the other half in the other race with three sprints. And most importantly, instead of only maybe one proper General Classification (GC) day in each, now there are two or even three GC days for the top men: the organizers are finding new proper climbs each year it seems—Jebels they call them in this part of the world, and there is even a proper individual Time Trial as well. The lineup is star-studded, I dare not even attempt to sift through all the names now, instead I shall give my full reflections in a proper piece after the race’s completion. With the UAE Tour being a World Tour race, sure some will still be debuting for the season and knocking off the rust, but others will already be trying to win, place well, and get results and World Tour Points for their teams so that they can stack up well in the early season rankings. That is the real shame and interesting part with this early season having been completely gutted. How will the riders race the big early season objectives: Opening Weekend, Strade Bianche, Paris-Nice, and Tirreno-Adriatico? Will the races be dull affairs, and more lowkey, because many have not had the rust-dusting opportunities? Shall it be like the days of old where Milan-Sanremo was the proper and “Official, Official” season opener? I think not, I think riders just have to hop in to the deep end: Opening Weekend, Strade, and Paris-Nice will not lose their prestige just because their preparation races have been cancelled. But they shall be unpredictable affairs to be sure, and some riders’ engines shall blow a gasket because they have not had the proper and typical introduction and warm up to the early season. Yes, though it comes to an end this week with the UAE Tour O! how I lament the loss of the early season races that I surprisingly so cherish.
Cycling Odysseys 