“Froome’s whole career has been built around winning the Tour de France. It is the biggest race in the world, it is the only race that transcends the sport, he cannot be blamed for that. But what does he think seeing Pogacar, Bernal, upcoming Remco Evenepoel (Deceuninck-Quickstep), Alaphillipe, the Mighty Aces, and the countless younger talents still surely about to emerge? Is Froome impressed that they do not just peak for July—or does he think they are spreading themselves too thin? Does Froome believe or understand or acknowledge that this new generation’s greatest strength seems to be their versatility?”
Category Archives: Stage Report
2021 TDF Stage 19: The Heroes Head Home
“Much has been seen and accomplished, life lessons and growth has been gained, but now the ordeal is on the cusp of being over: the longed-for return to normal life is on the horizon. Now these heroes return home out of the south like the hobbits on to the edge of the Shire at the end of Return of the King.”
2021 TDF Stage 16: Last Ditch Efforts for Green
“But should one of the four KOM Hunters have escaped, at what cost would this have come for the final two rounds tomorrow and Thursday where more weighty and higher ranking mountains loom? We shall not find out, because the KOM Hunters called a truce. There would be no race for the Polka-Dots today…but there would be for Green.”
2021 TDF Stage 15: Kings of the Mountains on the Queen Stage
“Ah! Ah! It was one of those stages where the most obsessed fans began watching eagerly early, for the profile contained so many jagged high peaks surely it would be a fierce battle for KOM Points at the top of every climb! And the obsessed fans were right: all four riders at the top of the KOM Classification were in the breakaway today hunting for Polka-Dot Points”
2021 TDF Stage 13: Hopping Off the Fence in Historic Carcassonne
“In order to keep my word I shall now hop off the fence and take a stance. The time for objective impartial viewing of both sides of the argument has been done, and now must be set aside. The road has met the rubber. The pushes have come to shoves.”
2021 TDF Stage 12: The Lesser-Knowns Fire Their Shots
“It was a fun finale to watch beyond the tactical racing itself. The gravitas of the Tour permeated this end game…Yes, whichever of these four men won: this—a Tour de France stage win—would be the biggest victory of their career…and we all had front row seating to watch it happen.
2021 TDF Stage 11: Double Vindication on the Double Ventoux Stage
“Should people have earmarked certain stages for Wout Van Aert to win, he could have been considered a strong favorite for about 15 of the 21, and this Double Ventoux stage was definitely one of the 6 he was unsuited for. But we are in the Second Golden Age of cycling because the generational stars, the top showmen of the sport like this Wout Van Aert still surprise us. “
2021 TDF Stage 10: Nostalgia and Fence Sitting
“After his second stage win this Tour, I had declared that we were all back on Record Watch. Even more so today, the Cannibal Eddy Merckx’s record of 34 Tour stages is no longer at all safe. So let us have a conversation that was probably taking place a decade ago in 2011, finally now is the appropriate time to rehash it.”
2021 TDF Stage 2: The Renaissance Madman on the Mur-de-Bretagne
“Yes, yes, with all the Bonus Seconds available on both the passages of this Mur-de-Bretagne, the nudge theory went off with out a hitch. And who was bold enough to kick things off from long range? Why, of course, the Madman who always loves to kick things off from long range.”
2021 Giro Stage 3: Trouble for the Band of Brothers (Written)
“It is the Monday grind, this is when the “real life” 9-to-5 attempts to drag us away from the drama in Italy. O! But leave it to the Giro to make such a prospect so absolutely laughable. Ah! Yes, yes, the Giro has always had a knack for throwing-up the most unbridled of unbridled transition stages—no sleepy and quiet Mondays here at the Giro d’Italia! It was one of those stages all hoped would be exciting…and then their greatest hopes and expectations were unanimously exceeded.”
Cycling Odysseys 