Twitter

Peter Sagan — the Best Tour de France Rider Since Eddy Merckx?

Peter Sagan has 12 Tour de France stage wins to his credit, and has won a record seven sprinter’s green jerseys. But despite these other-worldly results, his metronomic consistency at the Tour is almost criminally underrated. Despite “only” being ranked 16th on the list of Tour de France stages won with 12 stage wins, the three-time world champion holds an astonishingly high “podium rate” in mass-start stages of 33 percent, with 45 individual podium finishes. This means that for every one in three times Sagan lines up at a (non-time trial) Tour de France stage, he lands himself somewhere on the podium. This is even more impressive when we recall that he has never finished on the podium in a mountain stage – which can make up about a third of the event’s overall stages. This raw figure is obviously impressive, but to put it into perspective, Alejandro Valverde, Mr....

Can Virtual Racing Be the Next ‘Real Thing’ for Cycling?

What is virtually real anymore in this stay-at-home virtual reality world? As unknown ‘e-racers’ promulgate their watts-per-kilo against pro riders on platforms such as Zwift, virtual events like the recent Tour of Suisse stage race pit a gaggle of WorldTour and pro riders against each other on the Rouvy platform. Is this a fashionable but temporary trend, or the emergence of a new sport, or segment of a sport? Or, it is a hybrid? Either way, cycling stands to gain, especially in comparison to other sports. Other prominent leagues like the National Basketball Association and Major League Baseball have struggled to keep relevant during the pandemic, often relying on media partners to showcase past games and features. Meanwhile, cycling appears on the precipice of new offerings for its fans by presenting virtual racing which is in the words of many “pretty legitimate.” During the first...

Restarting the 2020 Racing Calendar — Many Questions, but a Few Emerging Answers

The Outer Line takes a look at how the remainder of the racing season could unfold. By making a few simple assumptions about potential restart dates, the remaining race schedule and current team parameters, some clear-cut if controversial conclusions can already be reached. There is no way the three grand tours can effectively be run in their entirety, many other races will either be lost or suffer from extremely thin fields and already stressed pro riders should get ready for extreme pressures to be placed on them. We have to hope that the UCI and key organizers are collectively evaluating all of these constantly changing factors, so that if and when racing continues, cycling can quickly and efficiently present a unified and equitable plan for the calendar. There are a number of perplexing questions around how the remainder of the 2020 racing calendar could potentially play out –...

The Impact of Coronavirus on Classics Season

Given that the rapid spread of COVID-19 has already killed thousands of people and is threatening to become a global pandemic with possibly severe public health and economic implications, it may seem a bit blinkered or insensitive to talk about the virus’s impact on pro cycling. But it is the job of the cycling media to cover the competitive and economic aspects of the sport. Below, we take a look at some of the possible repercussions for the rest of the season, and how cycling’s leaders can make the best decisions under the circumstances. The pro cycling season has already seen a successful Tour Down Under, some smaller but longstanding Spanish races and the newer middle eastern events. But when Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne took place over the weekend of March 1, that signaled the true kick-off of the “real” road racing season for traditional fans of the sport....

Analyzing Bjarne Riis’s Return to Pro Cycling With NTT Pro Cycling

News last week that Bjarne Riis would be returning to a leadership role in the UCI men’s WorldTour was met with a healthy dose of skepticism and head-shaking from most corners of the sport. Widely reported in the cycling media as a “merger,” Riis and his Virtu Cycling financial partners actually just took an initial 30 percent minority stake in the NTT Pro Cycling Team, formerly known as Team Dimension Data. The Danish 1996 Tour de France winner will reportedly have a top-tier management and Director’s seat, and is bringing former associates and riders – the addition of Michael Rogers was announced yesterday – onto the team. From the broader sporting perspective, there should be some optimism for stability, refocused competitive goals, and sponsorship activation as a result of this merger. However, there is also a sort of revolving door fatigue when characters like Riis come back in,...