Not since the Tour de France’s Lance Armstrong years (which, as you’ll recall, didn’t actually happen, however vividly you think you can remember them) has anyone cartwheeled into the race as an absolutely crushing favourite.
Even Chris Froome managed to combine dominance and fragility in a way that meant he never seemed like a race-winning colossus, even as he was stacking up the wins like a thinner version of Miguel Indurain. I suppose starting at your stem and falling off every so often will do that.
There are very few upsides to being a hot favourite. Improbable though it may now seem, I went into several races in my career as a very firm favourite, and my experience was that it didn’t even get you a superior parking space at the changing rooms. On that basis, I think I can predict that Tadej Pogačar is quite certainly going to be wading out from the nettles at the back of the field beside the race HQ in Copenhagen because most of us have been awarded him the race already.
Unfortunately, if you’re a favourite on the level that Pogačar is this year, the only way you can win is literally. When the inevitable event happens, however magnificent you were, everyone shrugs and complains the race was boring, you’re boring, and that you’ve sucked the life out of it all.
The only people actively on your side are your family, whichever of your team-mates hasn’t yet succumbed to a jealous rage at your profile and salary, and the sort of psychopathic cycling fan who spends July in front of the television screaming, “Yes! Yes! Crush the little people! Extinguish their hope! Don’t just win, annihilate! Kill! Kill! Kill!”
Bu hikaye CYCLING WEEKLY dergisinin June 30, 2022 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Giriş Yap
Bu hikaye CYCLING WEEKLY dergisinin June 30, 2022 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Giriş Yap
Is pro racing getting more dangerous?
There are many factors that contribute to the perceived greater risks. One that does not get any attention is the greater importance of UCI points and the need to constantly collect them to avoid relegation.
A Saturday in Hell
It's the most brutal race of the year - 29.2km of the worst cobbles northern France has to offer, over 17 agonising sectors, starting in Denain and finishing in the iconic Roubaix velodrome. For the men, it's referred to as a Sunday in Hell, but for us, hell comes a day early.
Gitane - Tour de l'Avenir
Classic French brand's homage to a revered amateur race
6 WAYS TO THINK YOURSELF FASTER
However flawless your physical preparation, the mind has a tendency to throw a spanner in the works come the big day. James Witts offers six ways to keep the brain onside with the body
MAURICE BURTON'S - SCHOOL OF HARD KNOCKS
9 life lessons from Britain's first Black cycling champion
PEAKS PRACTICE
The Peak District is home turf for Manchester-based British pro riders and has been the formative terrain of top domestic riders for decades. Adam Becket finds out why it's so effective
Zeb Kyffin: stepping out of the fish bowl
TDT-Unibet's British rider tasted the team's first World-Tour event at the Amstel Gold Race. Adam Becket finds out how the day went
Thomas to go for 'very top step' at Giro
Welshman and Ineos ready for duel with Tadej Pogačar, reports Adam Becket
Brown and Niewiadoma beat Vollering
SD Worx-Protime are far from unbeatable in 2024, as team misses out in Ardennes Classics
Pogačar lays down marker for Giro d'Italia
Liège win signals Slovenian's readiness for clash with Geraint Thomas, reports Adam Becket