2021 SEASON PREVIEW EXPERT ANALYSIS & INSIGHT | INSIDE THE WORLD‘ THE YOUTH OF TODAY WHY TOUR WINNERS KEEP GETTING YOUNGER HOW THE ITALIAN CLASSIC BECAME CONE OF THE WORLO'S BEST RAGES THEFAL nat aH ON lay aay MOVISTAR WOMEN Pa PULL TCE ate aEMeee NL saad Se TRAINING APP i Oa a to get #MoreThanFaster. Sey eM ea) meen ea Pe Rec LU r ; cyan Cre — Ye \PREFACE EDWARD PICKERING - EDITOR luting together this, ‘our season preview ition, isalwaysone ofthe mostfunjobs ofthe year. With the season, and its infinite possibilities, stretching before us, wecan anticipate the clashes to come, along with a comforting mixof the familiar and thenew. Andat this point of the year, noneof my ‘overconfident predictions have been proven wrong (yet). Ofcourse, 2020 asa season like no other, and 2021 won't see anything like business as usual for racing eelists, eams and fans. So ‘everything we are hoping to see this year, whether that’s something as fundamental and basic as just some racing, ora more specifichope, like your favourite rider winning the ‘Tour deFrance, has to beviewed through that prism. Ifaraceis postponed or cancelled for the year, well, we leaen never to take it for ‘granted, and give it our full support fora return in 2022. And inthe same vein, every race that goes ahead will because for celebration, Itseems almost trivial, under ‘these circumstances, to speculate about the racingand the riders and Wondering who's going to win this lor that race in 2021. But atthe same time, cycling is sucha big part of all ofout lives that many of us have Ihelditelose through the darker ‘moments of the pandemic, because ittepresentsa little normality and it'salwaysbeen ourescape. Ireally missed the racingbetween April and August last year and Iwas energised when itcame back. [oe exactly the same way now, as weanticipatea few early-season races, even ift'snothinglike the usual packed spring. ‘Solet’s celebrate the fact that ‘though there will doubtlessbe ‘headwinds along the way and Dbumpsin the road, the sameasany bike ride, ehere will bea calendar ofexcitingand compelling races ‘which wil inspire us through the season and bring some bright colour into 2028, TADGEOGHEGANHART Sophivrcercangit ptr SecRoreickr te STATEOFTHENATON. ITALY meme, eee, heme vans cette este an mena Pogeg Feary nt 336 98 106 12 FEATURES 2021 SEASON PREVIEW We idan the big issues an stores shat ae key Todefin the cyeling season this ear INTERVIEW; LORENA WIEBES The uch printer ls Proc sou her apd Scent tothe very topo the sport STATE OF THE CYCLING NATION: ITALY ‘The Second in ur moor series on thetermational INDEPTH: STRADE BIANCHE We ook at the history and culture of cyeling’s INDEPTH: MOVISTAR WOMEN'S TEAM ‘owed tambon in signing Anoomistvan ewe INTERVIEW: CHERIE PRIDHAM The fest female full-time DS on aWorldToue tama INTERVIEW, JOAO ALMEIDA The young Portugese star shocked the world by foming fare inthe Giro. We each up with Nim ANALYSIS: YOUNG RIDERS pecieretnces byyeung idea ceceatyonss RETRO: POM TEAM {hey revoltonizeeycingnonsthless REGULARS 5 a 2 6 18 iis 20 20 2 120GALLERY | THE WORLD'S BEST CYCLING PHO)WORLD CUP DENDERMONDE BelgiumDECEUNINCK-QS TRAINING CAMP Altea, SpainJisinfectant leanGP SVEN NYS rTPROLOGUE PROCYCLING: AT THE HEART OF THE PELOTON © Woven’s woRLOToUR 202t , ‘A:Yan der Beeggen Tewas an unusually fluid transfer omen’s cyclin encar | emanate Teagasc" | the top 25 UCI raniked riders, seven. ‘moved teams or 202, compared looks to the future See Jumbo Visma started up albeeas UCT team, nota Worlour out), In 2020, women’seyling was Berween 2009 and 2014, Marianne Movistar signed Van Veuten and asimple spor. Theteweremany | Voswas the most sucessl erin ‘most teams einfored Though the fexctingraces,andthen Annavan | the world, Then the Boels-Dolmans ‘women’s spor isstill not awash with ‘er Breggenwon.Theparadoxisthac | eamwaseqaly dominantbetween ‘money, thereate more strongeams. ‘whlethe racing generalymore | 2orsand30i8.Andin thelas few than ever before, with nine teams in ‘penthanonthemen’ssideofthe | years overlapping with that period, ‘he WWTand several mote strong J Sport, theoutcomes nave followed | Van der Breggen and Annemel. Uctoutfis,nctudingjumbo-Visma, £ ——eerainpaterns,anduntt now, van eure have swappedbig wins CCeratlt-WNT, AR Monex Land ‘ethera iderorateam hasbeen.able | between them. Valea, eile North American Tibco to dominate their vals. That's not, Buti starting tolook more and ally wileun ambitious abadthing-cyelingfansengage | congested atthe top 2020WasVan European programmes. 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Trek have kep their ‘way through 2020, butmostagree | LaCourseandlLige.Andthat rend | MIMBEROF WT verystrong team largely together, 2 Rhewastheriderof the year. looks set to continuein 021 TEAMSIN2021 and hey navebroughtinchloe*Thew when Iwasa very young teenager that I wanted tobe NEXTISSUE ONSALE aprobi srand there was. nothing that was gong to stop me” 3321 tu sastets nemo, Women's CYCIING Site ven ouso hd Anal Dierise, he oe taguorahewe worl champion, Will De @ Slightly creecaratosn SD Worrlsolokeven stn ries cha tnoatharcuynareaceen IMPFOVEC DIACE IN Siseinescwayese Showa inte 2021, and with a emery CAR WINS Secetrees | WOMENS TICE mies | eae idan thee wo tong tees, France coming in asizsca* eg eT burcase Bewnand Amanda pat 2022, tNEIE IS Sptmmmanction | Stinan tacos one ve been ind hereby Tene nina Scoonencetsete tory Cmpoal andYan Versa Moretocome wz. redbowsmnngrsyrca stoi sade makes he ees ata Soenoe nares arpa tere proeest verscpisedaspvesinaene | Semhrtac wnt inwonen's ling dag eet FCC tao worngto crepe a sews was theme ta rec asin wee tneUCleeans varpche nents ke Ging Federation Ohm sarted Eretoponegaencssimiae | Sxtunaman sete ‘issuing professional licences to ‘tothe WorkdTour teams for bank a female ides, after obbyingby the iguatantees ad minimum salaries, Aoameed eth ameter socaton anes cos FYoukectomerefUCtemyand | etme elses (ACC). Be pts alcltenhewdifewntsiucues, | ieiconsetatcta ‘acerNarion cies thevce Someare ston, others ana,” witerscheay ut sao rent an sheeaand > Scher Srsetenonn ss FProgeingthatitwasanianpotent Women'scylingwilbeastightly | Sttucktmmuctndnae es, tod overie spin recrglton fox imprvedpuceinsonandwinthe | yginimoerepetraie itmaleamies fnnualPu-Rowairehedued” | sottuneanesneaes “on tpchewasiogt Spo we te ‘Srnerrafoncsn nia See esimporantfrsoneting {oome.Gflsrecentyaneuneed | Souatenosoranensyman assimpleasshowing owate thattheyweldpintelncenng eee women’s team. Thelssuingof pro "mre me ecoe tbo Ikenesforwomen bythe EC cunmratepaccuntpeseam ccmemuegen | ‘postteaheltaadstewnih | ati ohanser oven sguumecet_ | Mowstncatletangsarepeing, | izetasincabe Son atepwsatnm | beer theelsilolongvaytogs, | rimamotnedeecina tae RIDER TRANSFERS Tete Tmengestmovesinvonenscyingcung nea season | scene Lateopenty 7 tatosoutt triacng | Seer soena anette Denitacng ——WPonsncivananag > sumer | Sstnoneartsncersvineber saidgevecmes al cocly —__»-sotex | pees penance Gjelatearenathwenemy“This may look small Dut its aig step for women's cycling in France oon COMMUNIQUE NEWS IZ. Gossip sgot into the sport alittle bit later” CHATTER “[don'tknow Itit's possible tohold thatlevelof Intensity andlife forsolong because Mentally its really demanding’ adtional early thet could wll“Imarealist.'mnot looking tohangon tosomethingor try tofinishmy career asiwanttoina fairytale way. Ijust know!'mstiligood” “Winning Olympics would be a nice dream, but its ‘Ihave tosay | Diversity lbecame —_ Ginclusion 3 the much stronger’) sxe ple Shimano replace Mavic 202bere’shome? tthe moment, ‘Monaco, fom Zoctermeer, neat ‘Den Haagin Holland in the west ‘What's your favourite race? ‘The Tourof Flanders, because of the spectators around the course It'samagicweekin Belgium. From Sunday to Sunday they ae ful gas aout Flanders, Teas strange last ‘yar without fans it was different ‘without the beer smell ‘What's your favourite climb? ike the waremont, because it'sabit longer than the thers at Flanders nd sits me beter than the Paterbergor Koppenberg "think fora Dutehie always has tobeAlped'Huec though, because there's alwaysa party there. We have tohopethat people are allowestbaekon the climb, We haditafew times a the Tour where there was noone on the ‘limbs 1k ass ele, ‘where in the word would you tke to getloston your bike? Somewhere witha nice coffee and ‘ake shop. Ive neverbeen there ‘onthe ike, but Paioveo goto Las Angeles fora training camp. ‘what's your secre talent? IM said Te wouldn't be a secretany ‘more. like watching ars. can't really play though. Lean theow ‘hem, but Pm nt very good tit ‘what's the best prize you've won? once won diamond, when was sorte Ididaracein Belgium, and the prizewasa small diamond, ‘which was prety coo. ‘What'sthe last app you downloaded? ‘Waze. I's navigation app with speed controls onitas wel, en QA DYLAN VAN BAARLE The Dutch classics rider and super-domestique on the Ronde and life in Monaco “Iwas at the gas Station and Lewis Hamilton came Tunning past with his trainer. You don't expect that” — Ifyou hadone extra hour in the ‘ay what would youdo? Toul ike to see moreot Monaco, ve lived ere for two yearsbut stil haven't explored iethae much, your haiedown? Inthese times, oing tothe supermarket and seeing if they hhavenew things. [just enjoy that ‘What result are you proudest of? Iehink my stagewin athe Dauphine. My frst years asapro, wasn’t the climber that 've become nev. Towin.a mountain sage ike that was something that never would have expected, When were you ast starstruck? I wosat the gas station and Lewis amion came past, running with his trainer, You wouldn't expect thatwhen you'ee just filing your eau, What advice would you give your teenage self? would have told myselfto go eatlier to somewhere could climb a biemore.Iewas much beter for fy career that moved to Monaco andelimbed more What's your best eyeing hack? Ws nice to go out forabike ride with acesn bike, Get on topo it and keep that way. ‘What's been your toughest day? >My rst Tour, we went over theCol AAspinand the Tourmaler before finishing upanother climb. We blew up, our whole team,EKA 1X13 SPEED. THE WORLD'S LIGHTEST GRAVEL GROUPSET. RELIABLE, DURABLE, FAST. BORN ON MT EKAR. ver ORO ow ere ROS svescno comSCOUTING REPORT JOE LAVERICK The goalkeeper-turned-cyclist who has joined Axel Merckx’s team for 2021 cllmeaboutJoe. JoeLaverckisa io- year-old from Grimsby, ‘who has just signed for Hagens Berman Axcon for 202, after racing with Chambéry CE, at's feeder team, in2020, Hegotinto ‘yclingafter paying football to _areasonabiyhigh lve. Goalie, ineasoyouwere wondering, {shea fue Giro champion? Joemaynotbe the next To, but ‘Avec have an excelent track record at developing young riers. Anglophone HBA graduateshave ‘quiteoften moved tones. ‘What does Joe make of HRA? He'sexcited to workwith Axel Merck's teamand experience bigger aces. He ells Progyling: "When Axel MerccemailsyouasatU23you reply Aightewey.Ceasonangtautin | engnesstilewepng.Iwantto have changedsinc the 90.1 ‘Chambery and got acall from Axel tryeverything,” RIDER TYPE ‘speak much French, itwas hard to fit Sskingtocat im mote mace cma | in edi'shassee eye ee Gtaneverbefoe Youdon'wantto | Whatresus does ie have ofa? Briainsareathy aerescng bethsteidewhoisonAsconand | Onebighlghtweseigthinthe |g nations hings arto more Stztaming teeant | etotcnminns, | af | cee sine prottomaaconyoucertgopre | Healeobeat Recs Evenepelin 5 terdownatthy dd gayest ag” fromanywer {TTwhihhe points ot alent desinow anatthetne. sou waesthe dream? Fore itisn't winning the Tour or ‘evenoneofthemonuments. "The ‘What kind of ideris he? Joesaysthathedoesn'thnowyet. He | How did he find idingin France? says:“Allmybestresultshavecome | 2020wastough, and not ast becuse ‘ream stowina world tle. There's Intime walsandtcanclimb pretty | ofthepandemie:Heexpains: "was Somethingabout the rainbow bands ‘welltoo.mrelativelylight, butmy | very rench, and nothing seemed to hat doesitforme.” PT oO ce ootbovahtony ows ate want an ewan bee they an poss be Stmorestpeetaivutasoine ton some pane mt ae we can enactat rea mae ANELMERCKK —osoctadscin son Spcitensateichocs faassen et WANAGER: HAGENS Geeprethe ct be cearvras__-Reetohsipesenemerwosreereto methane naman 9 ge hes. BERMAN AXEON| Sictertiewtisenctometuthe hepthemprogrecemobecomngine_ maportvesnaheathy eyOBJECTS OF DESIRE NTHMe EIAs Moen ecnpra.oite = =EXPERIENCE, MACIEJ BODNAR Bora-Hansgrone’s Polish rouleur on Peter Sagan and a strange 2020 Last year was different for everyone. For cycling, it was pretty 00d, compared with ather sports, butlonly did three races. did Tirreno, the Tour of Poland and the Gito.1was really prepared forthe year, went tolotsof training Campsbefore the season. Tienew ast December that twas down toride the Girod'Kaliawith Peter Itwas strange ast year. Tirreno was in the summer, which wasreally nice: nice weather, nice views, nice parcours. The weather was pretty good at the Giro, andit wasa nice experience doit in October. For fans, last year was really cool to watch. Wedidn'thave ‘muck space to show ourselves. started riding when was, for aaclubin Katowice, which was Famous because it was how COC got into sponsoring eyeling My brother, who is thre years older ‘han me, finished ehird inthe World championships junior ‘ime trial went tothe [Netherlandsas an under-23 der, Jwas completely different. You couldn'¢communkeateas much, ‘When joined Liquigas, ie was ‘huge opportunity. They had Pozzato,DiLuca..\t was one of the best teams When they askyou, youhave to say yes, Signing that fiest contract was incredible In, ‘he firs few days could barely sleep because was sexcited ‘When gota pro contract, Iwas sohhappy tobe there. Iwas not ‘thinkngabout results. was not ‘thinking about winning races, and that's how Iereated my domestique tole for the future [was working for van Basso then Vincenzo [iba and later Peter Sagan. RIDER PROFILE mo a 2 tnt ion mortar carcrmoaucns| ene as ani Ban ace Tease ioe oe neon cue Senn iit wi Sires remember the day that Peter Sagan came to Liguigas. He looked like an American rapper, the t-shirt slow, thecap. They said hhewas.aSlovakian guy, so strong. Wedid our first training camp together His talian wasn't great, butwe spoke teach other in Slovakianand Polish, My first race ‘with him was Romande in 2010, and from the next year! waswith himalot. lucky toride with him throughout his areer~1 yearsisa lng time. tam proud of this as therearen't many riders ho stay competitive for that long absolutely has tobe the Tour de France stage win. Therehave been ‘many fantastic moments, but the Tour stage isthe best Fora der like me, with characteristics like me, if you wina stage ofthe most famous race in cycling, tis dream, When Iwasa junior just wanted simply signacontract witha WorlaTout team, and then Jatet just wanted corde the Tou, They say dream big, but have always ast wanted to gostep by step. "ve always known my place inthe peloton, with small dreams. But dreams do come true, InPotand there haven’tbeen ‘many riders whohave won Tour stages. With my win Ibeat Michal ‘Kwiatkowski by to seconds, and Told him he would win other stagesand that he shouldn't worry bout thisone, When he won last, year, repeated my words to him, 1n2036, it would have been great towin that Tour stage where Tescapedwith Peter and Chris Froome, Theresa great photo with the yellow jersey, my fiend in green and me. Iwillremember that day forthe restof my life ecauseit wasso hard, butitwas so greatas ‘rel. There was no time to think not even speak to Peter about how ‘wecould win the stage, becauseit wrasso nervous, Peter told me later that hewanted me to win the stage, buttheaChrissprintedand we coulda’ lose the stage when we ‘weceboth there. meet many ‘people whe don’t know on the time trian 2017, but they know about this. Iewasa good memory. ‘Winning the National Championship time triat has always been good. Ithas been ‘good check on my form before the Tourde France. I'snice tobe thereandt'sone ofthe only races vere ean show myself to my fans InPoland. Maybe this yar wil try again, although itil harder nd harder a8 get older ‘cyetingin Poland isn’t in an ‘optimal situation right now. CCC Iadabigproject,andthepandemic — j ended it, sothebiggest cycling sponsorin Poland has gone. was sad about it, becauseit was good tohaveabigteamuith bignames, and they were trying to get big, Polish names ike Kwiatkowski and ‘Majka, and develop young rides.BACK IN THE REAL WORLD DOCTOR ADRIAN ROTUNNO THE UAE EMIRATES TEAM DOCTOR ON THE COVID CHALLENGES IN SOUTH AFRICA re atour first raining camp of 2021 fanda7 ders and32 support stat hhavejustbeen vaccinated with China's Sinopharm vaccine. We now vaccinating lteathetes isa sensitive issue but UAE's programmes ahead of most counties Frontine workes and vulnerable inva havehadaccessto the vaccine for over three months, "With the oll-outof vaccines, we'll hopefully ee smoreracesthisseason and moteintheir usual dates, though it siffiuleto predict 2020 was tough for everyone Forme, asa South Afican, hao stayin ope for almost two-and-a-half monthsbecatse of the compzessed season, Travelling nding away in anocmal year dificlebut marly gone for longer ‘than ewo weeks, With two young children anda wif, iewashard ‘Ata grand wour, irrespective ofcovid-19, out ‘mantzais hygiene, hygiene, hygiene’. Overa three weekcace and veto the continual exercise 00d, 2 rider's immune system can wane, and especially inthelast week. That's when opportunistic vial Infectionscan ake hold. With covkd9, we ‘upregulated everything, That mean amplified hygiene prctces or stffand idersaike, plas dally tracking system witha screening health questionnaire ‘hatridersand staff had to and still do ~ submit Any redflagsin terms of symptoms, we'd pickup. Wealso Undertook internal CR esting on our entourage fing inca che Tour bubble Balance my team doctor duties with workingat the Cape Sports Medicine cline atthe Sports Sclence Insttuteof South Afi We're tryingtoestablish acentreof excellence, putingsportsand exercise ‘medicineat the foretont. Inout county, 'savery private niche make and not easly accesible the Public sectorwhereit's needed That's why werun weekly pro-bono clinic at Cape Town’ biggest public hospital Ulimately, we're hoping to receive fovernmental support and rll this out nationwide ‘Many colleagues and patents have had covidand the atest wave hasbeen more devastating than the fist I's overloaded our stem. The fest wave, ‘wehad several makeshift hospital, incudingbi ‘marquee tents with upto B0o- patient capacity, Duet ERSPECTIVES, significant running costs, they were mostly shut down after the fist wave. I's tragic aswe need ther now ‘That'scoupled with unemployment levels that are atarecotd high In South Aiea, there's no structured ‘Public furlough scheme some private companies ‘ight offer it~ meaning lage proportion af the population are ina very difcalt position, heath and liveltnod wise. The government hasbeen paying employers an unemployment insurance fund, and individual monthly grants, bat wesimaly don't have ‘herespircesand this doesn’t gover Covid-19 has not ony highlighted ourcountry’s economic situation, but thealcohal problem, 00 ‘neof the important restrictions is banningaleobol, ‘heratonale beingthat it reduces trauma cases, Uke ‘motor vehicle aceldents and those from domestic violence, which reduces pressure on the hospital System and allows greater bed space for those with «covidig ts frustraing fr many butts helped Recent pictures coming out of South afia's biggest hospital showed ts trauma unic nearly empry. he same thing mppened inthe ist wave where these Units saan o percent eduction in taumacases (nthe downside black market alcoholisan therise, “hich brings risks ofiesoum, ‘Asateam doctor and froma cling medicine petspective, asuccessful 2021 season would include Safety anda dean illof health foralathletes and Sta, frmall teams, andtosee the races return to telativenormalty, After what the work bs gone rough ver the ls ear, that's enoughNacostiom Dia Pie ORC Ue MUNRO Oem \aLI MO oes TAce@ te now with disc brakes ONLY 70 CUSTOM FRAMES AVAILABLE IN 2020 Discover the Portofino’s features and the offer reserved for ProCycling subscribers Visit www.portofinodisc.com or call +39 0424 1745271 BATTAGLINPRO DIARIES henewguyswelladdvtothe _) formany bth uprecedentd v ‘thorough interview process this team | Fingers crossed that normality will tnderakespersnaiyiealay | soonbetesimed Wearecrsiny (>| omponentiniothey ig sowe | preariagas:haugh tats thece eos areallhavngagoedtinepetingto | ""Nypan fortheyearsnatyee Sy ‘know each other. Therearenoegos | setin stone, a somewhat unusual ~ anoitsapleasetobearundthem. | approach simpydont fate ‘atwiltarcatetntoreae. | eedtoannsuntemy progamme Tsunsuteastowhenandwhere | galsandespecations forthe yet, wevilgetraangorthetestot | faiybecaeelonyhavce si ont-apcanctlionsenceagin | ‘oenjyrang my ie snd domy DAN lcomsoverie Fomsnateyoe stil | best Thatmesnsthatweatsaing seaeopieofmontscndihe | intimates ies bre MARTIN | Sazktmec. | Reeser Pethapsit's experience, orbeing ISRAEL START-UP NATION forMarchand April Everybodys | father, but |wanttodo theraces, justhopingfora season resembling | thatIbelieveT have thebest aa some indofnormalitythisyear | opportunites in, Having said tha, butclearyifthingsdeteriorateany | lamdown toride the Tour alongside ‘beat seasonisupon morethanthecurrentsituation, | acertainMrChrisFroome, but we us. AstwsitethisI'm Safetyhastobethepriortyandal | arenot ging‘ pigeonhaeroles acourfanuary traning talkofbubblesand frequent testing | orambitions.Theaimisto share ‘amp near Gironaafter bocomesinrelevantfthe healthcare | knowledge and experience drive ‘hemost borifcally cold winter system isindangerofbeingover- | thisteam forwardand get thebest have experienced in Andora loaded. Thisisonlysporf'saliving | cesults possible Excitingtimes. Dealing with bad weatherisa state of mind and just gotonwith the work, ne ofthe reasons base myself Andoreallyearisthe fac the government deesan impeccable job keeping the roads clean and Salted, with el ce-destroying salt ne week every dayiwoke up itwas below minus0, with frequent snow, butt dia'tmissabeat taining My botleof energy drnkeven froze on toneride. Adthe solid winter tothe strong finish to 2020 and fee ready andearingtogp. Thisteam ally feelslike home noveandLamrelaxedandhappy, It's amazingwhatadifference simply feelingvalued andvespected makes toaproathleteand hapetulywecan Continue whereweleftofin 2020. | >Oaaasin ‘Thesttengtheningoftheteanis | etefeiatarat weryexeltingbuel knownenyall | Sesser Fortetstyerinaproessions! andi tadchosenSlpsreamspots__myone dni shnatonatond Crone expecntybockin2008., now Edveston ppelowermany ace ook tore stew month eumenspposedtoartrewtn __Dapurtansionmecreerunmer” ohamihetate he totter, Yourtarpetweenyeurigsreecy immed esarocyStatas poston beng much ore ta 1 TDeetvotiestoryouresmmacs. Ieorestncrones wesntaara —thanenvningebelnasexgerenced onteotherhandarheciuthbeayouncerany warping tore anuvindagh ae Nacaneuggeaduratiter fareutetlepeced maori amass helsbaeky ageing Srcamecttielnmeditey nad by lueltadenmtetsiagerace, saatonanddewopnent isaddlieback OPTIMISED RACING IBEX20 eee Cece cooling and all-day comfort, the HJC Ibex 2.0 is the Ona ae Ns |, | tia)ESS INTRODUCING KEVIN REZA BRODIE CHAPMAN CHARLIE QUARTERMAN —41 —_strange, dificult fone foreverybodyin thepeloton. ForBSs Hotelerider Kevin Réza perhaps twas themostintenseof mmm all-Likeeverybody inthe peloton, kKévin ad to deal withthe thallengesof thecovid-i9 pandemic. Unlike ther, he ‘waralso elevated into» figurehead ofthe Back Lives Matter movement in celing. Kevin was initially ambivalent about is ‘inffiialrolens go-to spokesperson forthe ‘movement towards equality ineycling~it'ssomething he feels strongly about, ving ben the vietim of racism in the past, yethe'dbeen reluctant to make abigdeal of it Buthe'sembraced what he seesashis responsibilities. "We'te making small changes, ut important ones? he tells Prooyling. "At the “Tourwe made small geste, bt that was important because i's the biggest ace. We're makinga litle noise, andit'sa tart forsomething that hope willevlve.” oat willbe Kevin's 3th seasons apro. He's been ‘leadout man, at Europcar for Bryan Coquard, then FO) forArnaud Démare, ACB&B, ‘whohe joined in 2018, he's been reunited with Coquat. But he'smove than just pilot fish forthe sprints. Team boss Jérdme Pineau has encouraged him tobecome the road captain, and mentor tothe younger riders, Chatacteristicaly, isnot a role Kévin sought, andhe initialy flee wasn’t suited ‘elt, buthehas grown incoit 1 ogg says, INTRODUCING KEV IN REZA BOB HOTELS P/B KIN a ‘Tve ridden in the past with big riders lke Thomas Voeckler and leamed alot. Ive been trying to pass that on, learning about mysel al the same time” and discovered what Pineas aleeady saw in him that hhewas anexcellent ‘older brother tomeyounger riders, settingan example onand off the bike "tsa role that like! he says *Tveridden in the past with big riders ike Thomas Voeckler, and lesrned alo. ve been ying pass that on. Pmleatning alotabout ryselfatthesame time.” “Alter finishingthe2020 “Tour, Kevin stopped forthe year. “Normally afterthe ‘Tour tere arestillotsof nice races to takepart in. This time round twasonly the Belgian classics and’ not ‘mad for them, sol finished iy season” he says. "The Tourwas really hard, withnoletup all, sol was ouverture, Eoile de Bességes and Provence Tour, tenon toParis-Nie, and, ll being well the Tour He's also hopingtorideche Tour du Rwanda and male his debut Inthat ace, iit goes ahead. “ewillbe nice trace there and fel the warm sn, instead of training where ive, which ist frozen atthat time of year” hesays But thebiggest amis the “our, where he'Ilead ot Coquard in is hunt for debut stagewin after 23 ally tied, physical tep10s, andalso support certainly mentally Afterthe Perre Rolland theGC leader Season finished,Twent and mountain stage hunter. Guadeloupeforaccupleof _—“Wehaveacomplete team, weeks, which was good for whether isin the sprit Iyheadandbody {don’t with Bryanor the mountains ‘ake mybikewhen go. with Rolland, Weean win Iprefertogowithout my bike astageany day ofthe ace” and do my ho laysproperly, For 2021,Kévinwillbe {orestandtoseefamilyand shatinghisopinions ana fiends. Normally Teakethsee experiences n cycling and weeks offwithoutactivty, beyond. When weapproached butthistimetneededmore-_himtobea diarst his ist five weeks, Tha'sokay question was, “Can write Deeausetheseason starts about anything? tds’ alittelater. rested, hhavetobe justabout techarged and preparing cycling? Expecta broad forthe startoftheseason.” range subjectmatter! Kévin's calendar should takein the early season French races like the GP ede rosea uns oninportant champions apie teerecantenmore Sve Febane Eee See. iene caneantie iecngattereot Baceee. Gece Eeeie Seanue ee, Sean, Se. SR momen a Eee, eaebreak through asaproessional cyclist, the theory oes, youneed to bavebeen racing atahigh evel fromwhenyouare mmm a teenager Byage 22, mostyoung riders have long been signed uptoatop team. Theceare, of «course, those few who prove that another ways possible. (One is Brodie Chapman, the ‘Australian whodidn’eeven start riding road bike until she was workingina bike shop aged 20. ‘Brodie's development was rapid inthe fouryearsafter, first winning aces across ‘Queensland, then making her way through Australia’s National Series before getting picked up by the American ‘Team Tibco-SVBin 2038 Now the 29-year-oldis beginning her second year ‘with FD} Nouvelle Aquitaine Futuroscope for 2021, “Lt fel so mi ike learning, know everyoneis, ie lifelong learning but eel ike even just talking to some of my team-mates who areyounger than meand thelstoris from way back ‘when inthis race, Iwasnot ‘even close to thinkingabout oad eyelingasacareerand here youare alkingabout ‘what happened in the race? Brodie ells Procycling. “Sometimes get reminded ‘othow new tam to the Scene inthat sense. Even the routine ofhaving your season andyouroff-season, and [olng to the next one, that’s stiller settled. I's ‘changed drastically every yearsofar I'sexciting though, because you don't INTRODUCING BRODIE CHAPMAN FDJ NOUVELLE-AQUITAINE FUTUROSCOPE Afterall there arene many ‘male riders who can say they ‘ide Roubaixand the Girain fone seaton, as rodieis hoping td. ‘Over thelast thre years Brodiehas been making ‘home for herself in Girona and thisyearherpartner felocated to join her. Sil, having grown upinthe ‘inforestof Mount Glorious, on the outskirts of Brisbane, a Sthenshe'snotacingshe's tappiest outdoors, "et ikem fe up until Sometimes | get Cinmatesomethingefafiat —ormalforagitinherteens Teminded of how new race" ean doagood ilead- ‘tomid-208) she says. “I'm Gat inotbeendiccrersd absolutely totaly happy am to the scene. Even Seteutithinkmnystrengih nothavea balanced fe and Teroulne of having) Sis ivinoeye terest tense your season and workingforasadomestique work-ifebalanceand have off-season, that's Itvigtisyerbutbrode thers ife beyond ling Still not settled irr isn’t shy about her own and things matter, [know Ambitions Representing that. lefees tite atany stalin at the Toyo ‘moment it could gobackto feelstuckinwnereyouare, Olympic, ft goes ahead is thatormallife, Since ve Sometimes ifeels ike two atarget.Langtecm, she's got gt the apportnitytorace Sepsforward,onestepback hereyeonraccssuchas professionally forthe Sndmanagingyourbody, trade Blanche whichshe _foreseeabefutue, then imanagingtheload managing. tooktoherbearafter riding Iwanttotakel.” yourheathandycur Tas summer Lite," ies But yea, kei.” havent has £00008 she yaaa coment Likeeveryone Brodie sayerandPace-Roubaix. aot dt found lastyearstressful, with thecovid-19 pandemic and mid-season pause, and she ‘went hme Australian thespring. Buc the season, stillboughta major milestone in terms of Brodle’s first pro victory at Race Torquay in Austral, In January, after alate attack “hy team kes to say that leanwinany race, inthe sense that ean do anything? Brodiesays.“Tmnota pure climber but can get over theclimbs pretty well, Pm Sonatas! ayaa tentarcet Feonospecander, oles iejeb State ‘went tenestrtie fleunate putt ‘ea heabioseason thio She nant Tieesodemi” — laoractdezigeet ‘therm Wsot_— nally pyrecte rate Riga aera, an mceater iesekssems ike the perfect ft forCharle (Quarterman, the young ritish rider sno wants 0 follow in Fabian mmm Cancellar’s footsteps. After all the Swiss giant spent the final sixyearsofhis career with the squad 2020 asa tough year to beaneo-profesiona but Chasis ambitiows and raring to goforhissecond full season in the WorldTour Partof the challenge for the ‘man from Oxford is working tut what kindof rider hes He tells Proycing: "think thats somethingtobe worked ou, The way things are going, Td say! was going towards the type of rider Cancellara was, Lean do job inthe classes one day, butt the same time ide time trials welland use that skill across Afferent aiscplines. mot sayingy'm going to goand get theresults edd, not {going to put my neck on the Tineke that, but that’s the typeof ridert want tobe.” you wanted to paint astereotype of the type ot person energised most by the {yelingboom in he UK over the last deeade, you might well end up with Quarterman, Well spoken, comfortably middleclass, someone who ‘mits toan interest in investments something! started doing recently", Whose parents regula ski tMorzne, sa teflectlon of the journey eyeing has been bn in theUniked Kingdom, away from the traditional ‘working lass spartof France, aly, and Belgium, and 2: Poel: INTRODUCING i> aii LH <> _ ir se CHARLIE Me QUARTERMAN TREK-SEGAFREDO last couple of months, chat itwould benice to see that payingoft:" Hedoesn'tjustwantan average year, with ess disruption than 2020. Charo to gobeyond that. He ays: My fiat year wasn't deal, but realy appreciated hhavingthe security. The support wegetis unbelievable. With the type of rider lam think just 74 mrtoraremyopprtntios then hey come Whether {hatsina eka yg ‘play alot of music, eglaymig among, seminal omorinatine Quite aot of guitar and qutestocotgutarandpisno, —tohelptheteam win and High SalOLOT—eetwetenow, —ypetobemacate Tun. WETETOW VN) fSrnkbcenédaegeaeal’ Whatabourfarteate in Anecy so Ive ‘mountain setvites sabit fue? WhatsChadies Deen doing genera —hetherencrinteyean” pero welt out mountain activites’ sndeaperenceitwhene” — HandersorParis Roxb bt Cando things sin Foseaaitowin he Word eae speaks Championships, bey towardsamoreinterational Poxjelnghelsieckedin Hopefully someextta whtecolr ac Nshotlomarataning Suppo from Peeing Tevas2o.athatgavebimcampinCapewihacoldbut__eaderseanpshimonto tnecjlingbagigoini searthahewansto.—tggeranbeter bins SycingheoughtheTourand —peefrmwellthiseasn, to thsseaon Olympics itinspired metodo ny first bigride, We'd just, ‘moved house from the countryside into Oxford, and decided oride there, hang ‘ut for the dayand then ride back, aboutso miles ors, which was pretty good for che fiestattempt. Idi itagain without the est in the midale afew days laterand slowly ‘ook ff rom there. I's steange to tink, considering ‘where am now, but is hice chat iestartedin such humble way, ¢hink” Expecteruditeand varied columns from Charli, Away from eyeing, hesayshe kes ‘ally show himselt: "ve put alocof workin the last few years,andespeciallyinthe etSaptecoanco meio icearavatne” bene were trrtsontimepoes iorecsuch nto Prowanme Latrest getinishaa Noting SSrayscogeior — Eraweutwovt ge Seveadet ntemnannay Sfonncumon” aewkomenecantd (eer Weraretiedto Senwone Yoscan ain Renee Sat htaemscr Sevemaaeen Serge ne una irre reat ote ee i in {cba stynevesatot ‘retin | Smaenayeee a CHT BIG ISSUES iat arataal aU areindispurably nthe eraof Mathieu ander joel and Wout van Ae. lipsed tl years and the sp the exhilarating betwe arf Flandersin 2020 was apreview of alot more tocome inthe nexe few years \Vander Poel came outon top in that race. Yet overall Van Aert had the Detter hewon Milan-San Remoand Belgium and the Netherlands are sporting rivals; they both came through hey have overlap Aertis the smoctherroueur and Va Poel looks more of fighter, but hey both bt for hard one-day races and have very fast inishes.. Most, strengths ~Van Importantly, there's just enough fection between the two of them, and they're not above marking each other ou of races. They won't have eal their own way In ahillier rae, che advantage curs backto ‘Alaphilippe,and Mads Pedersen farfrom theirlvel, Butifboth the classics form in 2021, we shouldbe due battle for the ages. BEST RESULTS ‘stawo__staeponene a0 ‘saw wlanssnteno toh 2070 ‘2000 Tortrans ———wtaz0 ‘oat Paso fanz00 ——amstaGatace Lag pare eee!aN AOS SUPERTEAMS hemes WondTour offically coulacoughiy ave the Y ssagdersathedoton, ind cverybody eee ingen Decenine Quek Step. ncr sgt toner and gecrdinthe Tou de ence inthe at fw ene guaranteed tere dace ache top, wilejinbo-Voma wtucheannowiatc nein he grand tours Jumbo-Vismaalse have a moniment winner in Wout van Ae Deceuninekhave won more races than any other team, yearin, year out~ the last time they dd nt end the season with more wins than any other team was 2o13,which isan astonishing record, and theylvebeen particularly dominantia ‘one-day racing, But as2021 begins, it ook like UAE Emirates ae joing these three teams asthedominant forcesinthemen’s WiorldTour. They won the Tourde France with Tad) Pogacar and though they were happy to sitback and et jumbo-Visma make the running inthat event, partly ‘ucof choice, partly oucof necessity, they've slowly bullta formidable support «crew forthe Slovenian inthe grand tours, They are covered inthe cobbled classls by perennial contender and former Tout of Flanders winner Alexander Kristof, in the sprints by Femando Gavia, i he re-findshis former speed, andin the hilly classlesby surprise new signing Mare Hirsch, who cameclose in both Libge-Bastogne-Liege and the World Championships astyeae. UAE have one of the biggest budgets in cycling, andatethrowinga lotof money atbuildinga very strong team. They’ hired respected staf, ike manager Allan Piper, and though they've had to buy established riders out of necessity, they've prioritised signingyouth ehey got Pogacarstraightoutof the U23 rans, ‘When UAE took over Lampe’ infrastructure and Worlour cence i 2017, the alan team had finished outside the top 1 teams for eight consecutive years according ta the Proyeingstats con ranking system. Since then, they've finishes the yeat in 3th, 15th, sbth and tied place, and wins in the last chee years have gone fom 1219 2018 through 30 in 20190 33 last year, despite the truncated calendar, Notevery follower of cyclingisa fan ofthe human rights record ofthe UAE, as reported by ‘Amnesty Internationa, or ofthe ll ‘money that has bought them such Steength. But ona sporting level, UAE Apsneseynowamong the very stnwmmofea’ ——theworldEDWARD PICKERING tr rocrins ‘cancun or Aspareas Tue {Spay wimat ne our The stat sma sjrenemooe Tex STNG ATLAS Aone ors wn ds Pacar cou ochre dst forbeter eam suppoct through the 200 our de Fane wile ed time inamtpaione the anche Y scotettsritestinetia The Y cniyvistwascnat tne ear Stpportin question crn net fromhsown text wo Mirna, hep hinge cnet Fesioogh he mountain sages snd tad he peret foundation forthe young Sloventantowin hence Testatrnay that ey wont make shatnsake again Andel ato Say that everybody wile watching roqectrt tron chet fremnowon. Pogacar won the 2020 Tourby being the strongest rider in therace, evenifwe ‘only realised byhow muck on the penultimate day. The 2021 route sults him ust fine, and there's nothing co frighten him - bes Fine with high altitude summit finishes like the Col de Porte, ashe showed by finishing tied ‘on the Col dela Loze in 2020, and he's fine ih steep long climbs ike Mont Ventoux, as he equally showed on the Lore, The time trials are fat thistime, Andis crucial note that he dial the ddamage this rivals on LaPlanche des Belles Filles, and not therollingroads to the foot ofthe climb. The territory i= 00d forhim, but pethaps not perfect. ‘Asnoted above, his UAE Emirates team hasa strongclimbing backbone so plan ‘Athistime around will probably be to Fides defensive race an allow Pogacar's Strength and, no doubt, increased confidence andassertivenes#) to make the difference, The challenge this time round wil he that both ineos Grenadiers ‘nd jumbo-Visma ‘Pons emma have the strength Stanemoccsey iN epth todo stcedinyex” something about it ceriererre te!Ieau@ AM Ait Le HEGEMONY hebest female cyclist in the world since 2017 hasbeen tlther Anna van der Breggen or Annemielevan View ‘The Duteh dua nave been way Z ahead. One or other of them has ‘won the Giro Femminile since 2017, the Worlds since 2018 and trade Blanche since 2038, Vander Breggen iscurrentiyalsoona run of six consecutive Fléche Wallonne wins, The lastdifferent rider to finish season atop the procycingtars.com ranking was zz Deignanin 2016, ‘Aswe go into 202, the two Dutch riders stilllook better than the rest ~ there's no therrider who can match them, Thete'san echelon of increasing size nthe spacebehind them, however ~ Deignan, Kasia Niewiadoma, Lorena Wishes, Marianne Vos, Elisa Longo Borghini, Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio, Lotte Kopecky, Lisa Brennaver, Grace Broven. thelist shows that the depth of women's eyelings increasing every yea. However, the bestchance ofan Jncerruption tothe Van Viewten/Van der ‘Breggen hegemony is stil with Trek- Segafedo, hoare the strangest tam, and showed signs of being blero work ‘ut their Dutch rivals in 2020. Deignan's Tong-range attack at Lige showed that industrious tactics can beat superior strength. The Britalse developed an excellent tactical partnership with Elisa Lengo Borghini neither ider might ‘match the to Duh riders watt for watt, but they have heluxury af being ableto take turnstoaetack 2021 willbe Van der Breggenslast, as sheretites atthe end of the year, There arealotofimproving riders comingup ‘behind er, bt Trek Yisnserueaner —stilhavethebest Mesfeoetsie chance of spoiling SOSERSGRE™ herreticement party, ExPERTOPIION ADAM BECKET Stott te rocytng ‘awisrasToRNWonens AGG 0s stupa the Tau emettorle fortograan rey ath oe Artosneiniecissies ‘eer as nmeAnd that's what we wal (Geoghegan Harts victory wa aslow burn than firework hid in pain sigh through the race then rose othe pinkjerseyashis vals fll, NEW {hee pe Willweseeanew, snore excing nos ‘hem in either INEOS WINS PER SEASON By (8) (2CAAA Ua THE BIGGER Pou ULD Tao Geoghegan Hart is the Giro d'Italia winner no one expected last autumn. He wants to use his ever growing platform to revolutionise Britain’s Pena items cen ene aga eS Ne eon OTe proud Londoner to find out how Te ee}Yer thisiethe subject that clearly matters ‘most, and he aks aboutieat length “sa difficult spor to access he says. “snot available to everyone and t's somethingI've been thinking about lot recently nd till developing how Fm soing to workout the wayl'm going to try and bea protagonist, and lower those barriers to entry, ifyou want putit really economically and unromantically. “Forme, [thinkits abigthingto focus on Britisheyclingwithasmalle, and Think there re some small changes that can be made by British Cycling with abigCthat an completely change the sport for everyone in the UK, forbringing ‘more people in, especially at ayoungage, that wil no doubt be cyelists and fans of the sport and cers and participants for therestof thei lives "Without wanting to puttoo much on the table would love to see abig tventbackin London. Areal event that resonateswiththepublicand young people especially. That's something 1m workingon at the momer Iesretreshing to hear arider, andone stillso eariyin his career, talking passionatelyabouta cause beyond their wn performances, Ina world dominated by soundbites, clickbaitand tweets, riders today ae trained to smooth out any rough edges, Tohave an opinion of speak loudly opens you upto controversy and for most i's not worth the hassle, Usually, athletes gain this kind of ypially, in the weeks and months afterarder wins tele ist grand tour, they'be confidence with success; confidence to fevellingin thecelebrations that come with their newfound fame, making themostof _speakaut moreor the confidence to not the press, media exposure and opportunities. k's understandable: winningagrand _careas much for the consequences if tour is one ofthe hardest feats in cycling, and only 13 rders in the eucent peloton have everdoneit. Alla the same time a sortinga ace programme forthe next year ‘Bur Tao Geoghegan Hart, in the two and a half months since he won the Gico “CAREER HIGHL|GH1S ‘taliain October, has been thinking less about what he's going todo next SueSienai ete TAO mrepoeonaterieweacs™ —— GEQGHEGAN alimony wceeraty HART'S Tier dee CAREER givers YEAR BY YEARthey do, Buti the ease of Geoghegan Hart, hissuccessat the Giro doesn't appear to havebeen the trigger. His ability to cu through has always made himenigue. remember interviewing him four yearsago, almost exactly tothe day at pre-season training camp. Back then ‘we were Mallorca and he wasa neo ro, havingjust joined Sky, and we were sitting in che restaurant ofthe team's hotel ather than ona phone, bat was ‘equally struck by how assured he wasand by the courage ofhisconvitions. This ‘was. der who turned down Sky in 2016 ‘when the team came knocking, and 2012 ogame ghar werlchomaon ies eau Goes asked them tocome Dackinayearsohe could doone more year racing at under-2 evel Youonly need tobe following Geoghegan Hart's ‘witer feed over the years to seeas much. filed by treet about his beloved Arsenal football lub but also questioning the inequality between menand ‘women in sport, and champicning social and environmental ses, He credits hisupbringing and the diversity of Est London with instilling this confidence and worldview. The people he grew up with remain friends {othisdayand, he says, exposed him toamultitudeof perspectives. "’san Incredible place andit's somewhere owe more than ever and ove going backwhen tm ableto. really feet not onlyat peace, but my off-season oneof the things enjoy mostis walking not only around Hackney and East London, bbutLondon,enjoyingit for what itis he says. "Youalways find somethingnew around adifferent corner. think there's 2013 2014 somuch tobe sald for that side of city living andthe diversity and everything always goingon. Hove that.” ‘The memories of riding around thecityasa teenager aresearedin his head, too; gettingan hisbike after School, travellingacross che ridges ‘ofthe Thames from Redbridge togo fouth to Herne Hill Velodzomecr Cystal Palace forthe crt aces, then ridinghomeinthesunset. “Amazing ‘memories! he says. ‘There's a tingeor regret about the party Geoghegan Hart would have held to celebrate his Girowin, had circumstancesbeen diferent this ‘winter andthe UK not plunged into Smother covid-enforcel lockdown, Buthe feels equally disappointed that the rules meant hewasntable visit local schools in is borough, to speak tochildren wine mightbe inspired to take up cycling Does he foe that with ie success «comes platform, andit'sone be ‘wants todo something with? “Ob, 100 percent. Ueguivocaly, Without doubt Otherwise you have to wonder why, really! Geoghegan Hart says, without missing abeat. “Ofcourse can also respect people that just want todo f nothing, Attheendof the day they hose to become a yest to win races; 5 Asan young athlete they choose that. Butt thinkat some point you have to recognise thatyou can try tohave some further influence or interest the worl, ‘oryou can equaly try ad choose not, such is you right." © 2015 race estat el uage eightcoghegan Hart's storys the stuffof fairytales. As young boy growing up InHackney, he started cyclingasateenager and ven skipped school to oan watch the Team Sky launch on The Mallia 2010. Seven years late, hesigned 2 procontractwith the team and was Immediately labelled asa potential frond tourwinner. Manyathers are described in the sameway, but comparatively few achieveit Often, being dubbed a future grand tour "winners more of acurse than blessing (Geoghegan Hart had only finished two grand tous beforelast autumn’ Gio, ‘with his highest result 20th inthe 2039 ‘Vuelta aFspataand, on paper, you'd think hisascent was rapid he's one of ony sixriderstowina grand tour aged 2Sorunder in thelast decade. Yet Geoghegan Hart isquickto point ou that inthe 1 yearshe's been racing he's had anapprenticeship few others have. AS a teenager with Aeon Hagens Bermans, hhewastiding stage racesofthecalibre ofthe Tourof tah and Tour of california regulaly, long before joining Sky in 2017 "Each andeveryrace youdo prepares, youfor the next one. Certainly, ve been lucky tohavebeen in amazing development situations and ofcourse professional in thisteam fora few years j ‘ow, with some bg leaders and winning alotofbigraces} he says. "There are probably not many riders who have been professional forfour years. wonall ‘manner ofracessone day races, week “Iremember that atmosphere on the bus after the stage and think we put to bed and put behind us what happened in Sicily” Jongraces, asa road captain, asa support rider, a8GC rider, everything. So mich experience of those scenarios, even fit ‘wasn't me that was winning whatever before, then t'sall applicable when you ‘openyour eyes tothebigger picture and yousee everything forwhatitis.” ittingly, the biggest lesson ‘Geoghegan Hatt says helearnedin 2020 was patience, amantra he's tried to “netting gory she apply throughout his career when others ‘were keen to fast-forward him othe top. "think ye always ied tobe patient lnracingin general hesays, “but this season [2020] you relly had tobe even, another level ofthat. When we gotta Siely was suddenly the astrace, we'd ‘only been racing fora month or so before that It had gone prety sh tobe honest “forme, mean "in the two weeks before the Giro Tjustrealiyhad to backoffinaway that hadn't donebefore actually, Because ‘Tirrenowas pretty hard, and just had roaeorb that workload and be patient. ‘Andalso going into therace, just akeit asiteame, but really ry tobe therein the ‘moments thatl was needed for Geraint. ‘Thenwhen obviously thatallchangedit ‘was theeaseof playing thelong game and ust seeing what happened. "think the process of everything and how toapproach everything, you always refining tand Ithinkt refined it alotthisyeat” Geoghegan Hart might not havebeen ‘onanyone'slistasa potential winner before the Giro, Hedin'emengeas nobis contender ntitas ate as stage:8 andonly took pinkafter the final time rial Behind the scenes, however, he knew quickly tha his form was good andat theend of weekone was quietly ‘reepingup the ranking. When Ruben Guerteirowon stage 9 from breakaway atop Roccaraso, Geoghegan Hart was the firsrider from the GC group to cross the line, He gained 9 seconds on Hindley and Wilco Kelderman(who'¢ eventually 2016 eee 2017 stor watson hy 2018 “ghae:state cart 2019finishon the pos with him) that ay, and go seconds from the likes of ‘Vincenzo Nibaliand Steven Kris was actualy quite good that noone noticed that, in that moment, because Took alot oftime that da he says. enon ina would say! was really 00d, basicaly just with everything that happened that day hada hunger flat, 2020 Standonenesonycmorne ce Wns about ks from the Tine, and lst 30, wn g0seconds. But that actually gave sme some feedomas therace moved forward, soitwas ablessing in disguise.” ‘The results show Ineos dominated hecito, winning seven stages four through Filippo Ganna = whichis unprecedented in modern times, as wellas the rae overall. Inside the bus, ‘hough, itwasa differen picture and Geoghegan Hart stresses that after Tosing race leader Thomas, the team asmneve looking too far ahead “I chinkwe could never inour wildest dreams have imagined what was going tohappena few weeks later athat point, butevery day we basically edgedcloser. ‘Werhad this Joke that every day Matteo [Tosatto} ourdirector~one ofthe most experienced grand tour riders ever ~ would wallonte the bus with his ‘numer that he'd just been given by ‘he organisation forthe caranditwas {going down ewo or threeevery day. We ‘Bevet had number one, but in amanner of speaking we did inthe only moment that mattered, and itwas prety special? hesays. ‘The turning pointcamewhen Ganna swon his second stage, on stages, Rather than against the clock, as his three other Sage wins were, the tallan’s victory «came froma long-range breakaway. “remember that atmosphereon the busafterthestageand thinkwe put to bed and put behindus what happened in Sicily and chink fom then on ve had diferent spirit We were lighter, we ‘were more free (Geoghegan Hart gradually asserted himselfas oneof the strongest climbers, ArPiancavallo, onstage, whileothers ike Nibal Jakob Fuglsang and pink jersey loi Almeida fellback, the Briton, ong with Hindley and Kelderman, broke clear co contest the summic ins (Geoghegan Hart calmly beat the Sunweb ‘duoin the sprint, and witht jumped up from ith o fourthon GC. Even then, helnsists that he was oly hinkingof winning afirstgrand tou stageand ‘dedicating something to Nico Portal, the Ineos directeur sportif wha passed aveay suddenly last MarchOn stage 18, across theStelvio, the tide kept turning, With help from team-mate Rohan Dennis, Geoghegan Hart dropped everyone except for Hindley, gaining ‘minutes and moving into the top three, within 5 seconds of pink. Two days later, tossestriere, the ob wasalmost complete asDennisand Geoghegan Hart tok off again. Geoghegan Hart won hissecond ‘age and he ended the day equal on ime with Hindley, with ust the final daytime {sil ro come He was the superior rider against the clock, andin Milan, be beat the Australian by39 seconds "That Sesteiere day was thefts day ‘hatwe realy tookiton and did tour way. We setouton the busand the tvening before how we wanted te race tobe, andwe did that exactly. That's fare incycling, which something to remember mate than anything he says. “Tosie there betind them as we were ploughingup to Sestriere and then flown and backup and then down and bckupwoe an incredible feeling fr me, tobesat behind theboysin that way, [think twas a once-In-a-lfetime day really, and the nextday was just the chertyonthecake” ‘ow much morehe can go fn toachievein the future ‘unknown, bt winning ‘theGitohasallowed Geoghegan Hart to dream inadifferentway-Aswellasdreamot creating hisown cyeling event “Probably the thing that made me really alin ove with cycling was being able to racein Belgium every week with John Barclay he says. "Thediect translation of kermessets festival, ‘That's good way todesctbeit whether tha'sarace anda fairgeound, ‘community hall fall of people getting drunkand having good time and theresa bike race that happens tobe there, or whether that's something bigget. think that was what really loved about cycling: fans betting, going Incoabarfullofsmoke to signon. The community, going toditferencvliages.” Cental London couldn't be Further ‘removed from the towns andvllages fof Flanders where cyeling iscured into the concreteor the roads, but Geoghegan art believes evoking the spiitof Belgium is important for eyeling to grow. He polnts ro the London Nocturne, Aikigert —acrieriumnetain Rigidet Smithfield Market fittmebw —from2007t0 2016 {after which it moved toa new circuit, which he raced aged agandwhich he says changed isle, was really sadto see that race become whatitdidand eventually go away leas realy sadto see because incoincided with cycling, in theory, ‘necoming more nd more pope, 3nd there's eal disconnect there? he says. "Wie have adisconnect between participation andthe sport. It's alovely thing because people ride their bikes for joyand transport andall the restofit, ad they don't have to be interested in ‘acing that's fantastic. Selfish from the perspective of the sport, we need to constantly engage new people and be interesting, especially forthe next generation, forthe longevity and ‘commercial interests of the sport, "Thavea clear concept of what want todo, buti’s going tobe interesting to seeif wecan get the ight peopleon board. eantgive to much away, but iessomethingt'm thinking about atthe ‘moment Well waitand se. 1¢hink ti be something thatsalitte more left of field than you would perhapsimagine.” ‘Aside from plotting his own cycling takeover, Geoghegan Hattstil has the ay job: tackling the 2021 season with Ineos, now asa grand tour winner. At the time we spoke, he was unsure of his ace programme and whether thatinctoded 2 return to theGitoorracingelsewhere totryand win, "think, wehy not goto eryandwin again? It was anamazingexperience [would love ro try anddo the same. At the end of the day, l'vegoneintoracesin a support coe, not thinking winning, but ve gone into many races thinking about winning, If have the condition, Itthave the opporcunicy, why nr, of ‘course, 100 percent. That’ the big reason that you.” and ina second he ‘changes histrain of thought. "Actually, Iesnot the bigceason came nto this. sport Because ove riding my bike, ove the taining, Nove the process and hateame before racing. Twas riding abike before was racing bike” “Tao Geoghegan Hart mightbea Giro cyst LORENA WIEBES ome riders retire without ever having ‘won a race. Others have to fight theit whole careerto get thetasteof victory Justa few times. But therearealso riders ‘who seem tohave been born towin, After three seasons as pro, Lorena Wiebes ‘can count herself as one ofthe ater. ‘She doesn't urn 22 untl17 March, but already Wiebeshas 23 wins under her belt. Sheonly needed 98 acedays o get there, tobe precise. In other words: bout every one in four days of racing, Wiebes ‘rasabletocrose the nish ine with her hands ntheairin first place. That may be described a impressive Ie'sespeciallyimpressive for aider wo was still playing fotball up until ages. Wiebes ad, however, discovered thebikeby then, but with mixed results. Thereal lame was yet to belt. "I started cycling because of my father, who used toridein triathlons? Wiebes lls Procyelng. “One day he came home with ABMX and would ide tevery Sunday ‘morning round the course at the local ‘yclingelub fest eelly dda ike cyclingon theroad.1wasdone with that fora while, after! hadabad fall during aclb ace “I would get knocked overa ot during football - even sa footballer was quite (quick ~and my father encouraged me to ‘try eyeling again. Tis time around did enjoyitand had goten overmy fear of falling. would usualy belong in the ‘middle bracket when iteametoeylo~ «ross Sol thought: maybe [have more talenton the road thaneross, And a8 right. won my firstraces asa second yearjunior, ‘Wiebes can’t remember how she found ‘our she was good at sprinting, ethaps the gymnastics lasses she token het youngeryearshad something iodo with ner explosiveness, she thinks Elther way, she belonged tothe rankingof the fastest sprinters ofher generation and was scouted Liv-Plantur, the Dredecessorof Team Sunweb, as. second yearjunior, “I participated in thelr alent days, but noticed that twos sll toobiga step up forme. Atthat time I still saw road ‘cling mainlyas something fun, and wasn't atalleoncerned about serious trainingand natcition.1aid what ike. ‘Thatswhy, in 2018, chose goproand join Parkhotel Valkenburg. Of course there were moments where iewas Serious, but was stil fee te do my own thing nd develop myselr further.” ‘Wiebe had na clue what to expect from herbaptism of ficein the women’s peloton in 2018. She was hoping to finish Inthe top 20at least once inher debut Season. Yet remarkably, this personal goalwasalready achieved by her second Face when she finished sith at Omiloop vanhet Hageland. Atop-10positionand Podium place were not ar off at her hextraces Inthe smmerof 2018 she ‘achieved her first highly ranked win, by takingon andbeating not only oliea D'Hoore,butalso Marianne Vos nd Marta Bastianlli during stage 2a of the BoetsLadies Tou, "No, Twasn’t too cautious with my goal setting for my ist year says Wiebes "didn'e want to put too much pressure ‘on myself but vas learning guicker than Tehought relly fel ike could doitat theend of 2018, when I won my fist stage race in the WorldTour, because of ‘my wins during the sprints.” Herbigbreakthrough came year later. In 2019, Wiebes became Duteh national champion aswell as European ‘Games champion, She won one-day races, such as Nokere Koerse andthe Prudential RideLondon lassie, And she won stages at the Boels Ladies Tour, Dlusal three stagesand the genetal ‘lasificaion at the Tour of Chongming Island inchina “To start with, would adjust my print to the top favourites. would choose to postion myself on their wheel and ‘walt for them to state the sprint Due tothe confidence had ule up in 2038, [decided the yearafterto take the Initiative, exactly how thad always ‘done a3 juntor. And it worked best win was the Dutch National ‘Championships, where we rode really food race asa team with Parkhotel, andLOREWA WIEBES Iasableto nis it during the stint? shesays ‘Hereeslts spake he interest of host of diferent op teams and Wiebes herselfalan fet twas timeto take ehe next step inher career, Buther contract ‘was not up uti 202, and Parkhotel ‘wasnt goingtojust give up their Showplace iderwhoalsohappened ‘bewaering the national champions jersey. Inthe run-up othe 2020 season, ‘Wiebos fused to ide any aces for Parkhotel Valkenburgand his eto contlicthetween ide and team ‘management. Fora short perioditoked likes wouldbe unable orace forthe frat part of 202, bitin theenabot aries cametoacompromise. The {alened sprinter woulddein the Perkotljtsey for sirmore month, ERAN andwould beable tomakes teanstr‘o arate ‘nen team inthe summer PTGS) "isvery sat went ke tat eects UMA Vat \Wiebes on this heavy period. Tedd not een ATenelay {0a8 would have wanted. There were IME Ue ctotemationson both ies Parkhotel fart of the hadhelped me tor two years andi ther nana Luckily wewere able too HONE MOET NO SIN A = profesional ston, Da the eT ACIS See Sa Re ace eee Rnae ommpeeteteeces” — (MmMlOnReeea aI EANE Sheahan iene glet act ORC 9 sees. (20 Limburgsehills of Belglum with afew Consjne 20x wilracnghadcometo._feuetae asthe Staltduetohemertiidepandemicand enduancider asx bous edt icamswcrepepenngtortcrenartol | ererdaetharbettethen rnd hey, "evsedseion ices maéetbelng- Stintelymatemestenge | Salted movetoSuwb-ctwastimeto “rely ied hate we started i Imaethenerseptotheernmore_cacgagdnintnesuromn soc, : Selo andpoestonat we At {lng Challenged ta Vek The Sunweb they want tomakemeintothe _finaleofthe first stage had a difficult Dy meh Testopinertconbe,Whacdoestat”— ondquelonguphl ish Iwon th te CR mneinmyeyes?Bcagunbencblcinsenfbieavand thaws ny le, 2 sprint, Whether it works, wewillhave proof that hadtaken another step up”© |“Another team also means another way of sprinting, Wiebes says shecanbest use herpower on slighty uphillzoads, and at Parkhotel she would usually have ‘team-mate lead er up until 500m from the finish, atwhich point she would go herown way and surf fromone wheel theother and would then launch into her final sprint. Team DSM, the successor of Sunweb, does itdifferentiyand works ‘witha sprint train forboth the men's and women’s teams, “That'sa very different way of sprinting for me. [relly struggled to trustio0 per centin the leadout during the fist fe races after the restartof lastyear's season. When Iflt ike ‘was already inche ight postion, [til hadt follow the leadout. Iwas ‘especialy weird during the Grote Prijs Euromat-Iwas dropped off perfectiyat 200 10150 metres by theitte train and feltliket hardly needed to sprint at al. Irvasn’¢even that tired when was the first cross that finish line] she laughs. “"Wedidn'e get the chance todo many leadouts last season, due to thelackoof races, Sol look forward to developing them in this season, Ourgoal isto put togethera super train’ Therefore we ‘willlookat what the men’s team are doing. That's why we were analysing the sprints they didn the Tour de Francelast year. What they did well, what could be Fmproved? she continues “The coaches also share knowledge and experience between both teams. “Workinguith eadouts gives another dimension to sprinting forme. And Increases my chance of winningit Tam able oattackin different ways.” “Team DSM has another top printerin the ranks, with Coryn Rivera, But Lorena ‘Wiebes does not want to speakotheras, ‘competition. Infact, she thinks the presence ofthe American team-mate ‘illjustmakeber even berter."Corya s cetesqueay afferent sprintrthan SaeewNY Tam. sheaidn'ewin Kamiiers Rondevan Vlaanderen LOREWA WIEBES for nothing, she sabi strongerin those types of dftcultraes. I'sjust funto race each otherin training and 0 challenge.each other, Inthe prints especially you are getting your highest wattsandits a good way to improve.” Wiebes, besides chasing personal success Inthe spring aims tobe a domestiquein somect the more dfficuleraces thie season, suchas Flandersand Amstel Gola Race “Forexperience,tobecome stronger andwithan eye onthe futurewhere want totryand winsome ofthese races. With my history incyelo-cross, 1am especially looking forward to Pais Roubaix, That shouldbe very special Lastsummerwerodearecon ie there time. 'smatacaincidenceshesigned andifithadn'tbeen forthecancellation with Team DSMuntil 2024 ofthe race, would have raced. 'm not “gwillbe sonicetohave security sayinglcanwinRoubatx,butThopeto when wewill heading tothe Games bethereon the dy.” tha year. now the Games in Toyo Getting stronger tobeabletocope ‘wouldn't be forme, that’s why?’ with the bigraces is alsoa high priority focusing on Pars.’ not like think. forWiebes,Forafewyearsnow,whats aboutit everyday, but it certainlyis dot been playing on her mindate the inthe horizon. Asa sprinter, the ideal Olympic Gamesin Paris in threeyears? scenario would be thatthe finish wile MAJOR FESULTS ¢ hi cuataateagey a veta, parang tan 220 Sesame ste) {anestnrsae ip 20 ‘senttbatoae 09 ial Campa is ‘eerefemonng lng 00 Dnoopanc Westen 208 some 00) Ter eek tne 2018 3. ‘Pannoante, 208 eto aa Ceatitotearnta foostaoetna ag 208 Suarmdotretose 8 ata 20 ‘eon vowanzal ‘Btotecon 270 Pestertitesnestsases ass Soiopateislerz208 tata FinsLaescaseeseene ‘mento shan 08 arAgcgtow spe 08 YL.be on the Champs-Elysées, But tobe honest, I'm not expecting it think they willmake the route bit tougher. Inthe ‘ext few years Iwan automatically work towards Paris, by developing my ‘acing in thebiggerraces "(fel lke’ sll in the alent phase {stil haveso much toleam and ’mby ‘homeansat my peak. The plan sto JENSEN & SCHEELE keep taking more steps towards Pacis with every season. want tobe oneo the best ridersin the world in 2024 she says Cycling may be becoming more serious bythe day inthe life of Lorena Wiebes, but her playful character has certainly not been lost. Just lookat her Invariably coloured nails and her tattoos. Equally, geting used tothe diet ofa pro cyclist hnastaken some time, t'm still not very good with ooking after my nutrition. At the team weare working witha dietician, ‘but would lke to make some strides in this area. And definitely don'twant to {go too far and ext oo lite “Backin the da, | would regularly drive by McDonald's after arace or tuaining. That stil appens sometimes. ‘The MeFlurry is my all= {ime guilty pleasure Sherimmae After the Challenge by LaVuelta,one of the team leaders jokingly said that during theotf-season I was only allowed to eat at McDonald’soncea week But Tefinitely didn’ do that “think you ar allowed to grant yourself somethingnice, when you've Just done sixlong hours on abike or you'vejustwon race, Just ookat Mathieuvan det Poel, hedoes the same” Tt hee motivation co win staysas high asithasbeen the pastfew yeas, then Lorena Wiebe’ wins total won'estayat 35 for much longer. "Overtime! havebeen looking bt ‘more losely at certain aces, but at the endof theday don't mind whether win big ora smal race; just want towin."BSe Pei)CRLFAa CCL) way aaa The final week of the 2020 Giro d’Ital and exciting but it underscored the painful truth about Teena rae ane to leave the stage, we ask what - or who next for the Bel Paese, in the second of our spe Feoeara ete nares OeRtCE TET Ca Deehheitod'tala asalways needetalian winners, and the1977 edition wasacase in point. Tews billedasa showdown between, local sporting David anda marauding foreigner. The previous September the ‘Worldsroadracein Puglia badbeen a two- horse race Folsy, popular Francesco Moserhad defended Ialian honour, values and rte, while the Flemish bruiser Freddy Maertenshad been a natural fit for ‘he Goliath ole. They'd distanced the rest, bout maertensbroke the local heats by tallopingclearat tele. Now, over three bruising weeks, Moser would et hisrevenge Tewasprecisel the formula which had put allan bums on seats each May for decades. ‘Maertenscrashed out early and Fandia, his team, pushed hisbestlieutenantto ride forGC. Michel Pllentier reasoned that he might aswel, andagreed co giveita shot While Maecens’absencewas unfortunate, ithad the loa presssaivatingall the Same. Moser wasa shoo- in to reach the promised and and the remaining wo ‘weeks would amount to aceebration of histalent. Wouldn't they? Notqule Ie transpited the ply ducing Pollenterwasa useful bikeriderafter all. He'dbeen developing quietly but siduously, athe long shadow castby ‘more celebrated team-mates, ut here the ‘hacklescameo Hematched Moserin 62 moyng/ ays: STATE OF THE NATION the Tuscan time tra and began to chip anwayathis efit in the alps Then, in the Dolomites, he bludgeoned theliving Aaylights out oft, outof Francesco Moser, and out of alian cyclins hubris ‘Therestas they sy, ishistory, and cycling history always epeats. This year ‘Sw the neos proxy Tao Geoghegan Hart take up the cudgel following Geraint ‘Thomas's latest iro misadventure, Just as Pollentierhadrainedon tay’ parade bracken Hackney's finest produced a stupefying performance inthe thin ‘week. Fist broke Vincenzo Nba then Ihebroke everyone else, andy the ime he ‘reached Milan he'd replicated Polentir’s ag77 heist This extraordinary Giro ad the winner it deserved, though not necessarily {theonelt wanted. Geoghegan Hart had been riliant, but his was supposed to Ihave been Niall the great standard bearer, fout-square against Thomasetal Tnoneimportant respect however, 1977 and 2ono were ascifferencasnight nd ‘ay. Back then, planetcctingwasa small ‘one. Itwasrunby the alias, the French, the Spanish andthe Belgians, and the iro ‘welleleted the fat So while the hosts had come up shoe that time, they til bad ‘world-class alentsin Moser, Gianbatita Baroneheliand Giovanni ataglin, and seat things were expected ofyoung, rapier-quick Giuseppe Saronni Cycling asst hugely popular, andwith over Athousandelubsaffllatedothetalan Federation, thee was no cause foralarm, [aterhat summer Mose aimed the rainbow jersey in a Venezuelan deluge, 50 ‘while those pesky foreigners had won the Dattle at the Gio, they urease hadn’c ‘wonthe wat (fall the major sports cyctingremainsby adistance themost European, even now ‘Thavsamatterof histor, geographicalITALIAN CYCLING and quintessential fact, butt'sls0 Inarguable that itbelongs to everyone now. (Onyachur would deny tac i's the beter forit,butinelative terms the transition hasbeen quite sudden, For So years, pret, ‘muchallefits professional practitioners ‘were westem Europeans. When Polentier Smashed the Gio, allbuta dozen ofits ‘go starers hailed from tay, Belgium or Spain. Even asrecentiyas 20 yearsage, the Cirowas fundamentally antaan race for talian people. "The modern tration takes plac in aly botitsriders ike its fans, come from fr and wie. lafansmade up litlemore than quater ofthe 2020 start ist, and there ‘wer three times a many Australians ~18~ 235 Belgians. Only twoltalans wen stages, and the majorjerseyswere exported to England, France and Portal. With Nita startingtolook hisage, thebostswere entirely absent at the pointy end, andonly {thre of them so muchas contested the GC talrand Domenico Porenivoare closer too thanto30, Fausto Masnadaisno Fausto Coppi and what les beneathis ‘othingas regards agli rosa contenders, abi Aruis30 ow, and helooks spent. may et surprise ws, but ts been three yeas since e won, andhe seems beset bbyphysicl and psychological demons. "Bis Tour performance ast yeatleft Saronn, the former president of UAE, poplectic ve yearsago Jonathan Vaughters was eclainng that Davie FormolowasaGiro winner in the making, but then lity intervened. Fermolo, 28 now, isatidy ‘limber, bat he’s yet to make the top sb ofagrand tour Matteo Trentin, Alberto Betti, Giulio Ciecone and Diego Uliss will sparkeintermittenty, and here are hopes foryoung Andrea Baill. Then again, Fabio Feline was once healdedas thelatst ‘new Moser and we were reliably informed that Davide illella was the chosen one. Wich the bestwillin the worl, i's nt going happenandso, ith Nibalin hisdotage, aly has exactly one world lass performer Filippo Ganna haa generous heart and colossal engine, andwithout him this Girowouldhavebeen unprecedented, unmitgatd sd frankly unthinkable, ‘Thequestion, therefor, shy? Howcan ithe that the country of Pantaniand Bugno, Moser and Saronni and yes, ofCoppiand Baral canbesohopelesiy outa its depth inthe new cling? Why, with so mich histonyand somach expertise, isthe production line choked? Why do the fies ff Ary, Gianni Moscon and Moreno Moser failsoregulatly, publicly and spectacuany, andy isthere no sign ofareplacement foc bali Whaton Earth has gone wrong, andvhat'stobedoneaboutit? Forsomeof the answers wespoke to Enzo Vcennat He's been at thecoalfaeof ‘ting journalism for 30-some years, and he'sas qualified 2s anyone o make sense of it The problems, he reckons, ae myriad, and here's noabviows quick x "Post Nbal is abit ke post Panta excepting that the cycling word is much, rch bigger now,” he explains. "wenty years ago t was natural hat new alan ‘winners would emerge, because almost al ‘ofthe talent was concentrated here andi ‘he Europea eartlands, These days e's not ike that tall and we’ vebecome just ‘one of many. mot sre that alan ‘ting has deteriorated as sich, butin relatveterms its gone backwards. New ‘countries have emerged with new ideas resin a woman fom Turn Hes the author of evera eriealy accaimed ok about alan cycing history. anc ‘asothe recent Juve history of vents footbal cubandbettermodels andthe facie that ‘we've fled toadape, The Beis and the ‘Astralians may have fewer rides, but the resulstelusthey'rbeterat developing, ‘hem. They don'thaveamonopolyon talent, soyouhave o conclude hat thelr ‘methods are superior tous.” tas ‘Thenumberstelltheirown story. Bitain, foréoyearsacyclinghackater, has produced five separate grand tour ‘winners inthe ast deca, People often cite the Manchester vlodcome ss havingbeen instrumental inthedevelopmentot the Cavendish-Wiggins- ‘Thomas generation, and doubtless there's some tmithinthat. However Chris Froome didnrideit, andwhilesimon Yates is a produc ofthe programme, his orn Adam, plus Geoghegan art, wenttothe oad eal. ‘Vicennat says, "think that in pat iestodowith the intensity of the junior Categories here. alianstakefanicr eng extremely serous, and thinkyou see the consequences of that when they turn professional Physically they're probably ‘more or less intact, but they're aleady tied psychologcally. Think aboutthe problems Ans has had about Moscon Make no mista, he's acolosal talent, yet STATE OF THE NATION tne seems o have dsappeared. Some say {t'sbecause people like him ride for foreign teams, so theybecome mere numbers. ‘That's possible, but Ganna has thrived at Ingo justas Geoghegan Harthas. Then ‘fyoulookat the developmentof Tom Pidcock,'salmost the polar opposite ‘of Moscon Pidcoc hasbeen allowed to develop as rider Heisn'tover-raced,and you eokclosly it’ seasy to determine trajectory Everythingisplanned ‘meticulously, and you jst know he'Mbe thebes rider necan be. mot sureyou can ay that aboutaotofthe Italian boys." ‘Vicennatseemstabe suggesting ‘hat, had Geoghegan Hartbeen lian, the pressureand ‘espectation might have compromised his ‘chances, Healsocitesthe ‘Australian model: "They take them eazy, and fast-trackthemtothe ational tam, Teyhave structureand measurable als anditseems to work ‘TheDanesace doing something simi ‘The criticism levelled the alin scene was alvaysthatitwastoo diffuse. It ‘was harder to coral intoacohesive whole Ibecausetherewas justso much fi, but sheer weight ofmumbers ensured that the production inerolledon-MarcoPastones, ‘one offtaly’s moreyial ting writers, ‘sys thats changing Hishasbeen aworkinglifevencrating the gzegaio, ‘butoflatethecontractonof allan professional eying hasbeen dramatic, How can it be that the country ol Pantani and Bugno, Mos. rand Saronni, and Coppi and Bartali be so out of its depth in the new cycling? Why, with so much history, is the production line choked? “Each time the government introduces an nitive to gee peop on kes, is oversubscribed,” he say. "The problems {or the professional spor aresystemic ‘though, and todo with investment. Thre re fewer sponsors, fewer aces and fewer ‘cers, and theconsequenceisfewer~ ‘which sto say ero Italian WorldTour teams, Theteiea isconnectbetween people whocyeleecreatinally and those ‘who d it professionally. Tings [Voicaare popular, butY'm not convinced ‘they help te sport. Thereare pockets here and there ~ Veneto and Tuscany but they'ecelingarchipeagos.” He’ sright Onany given Sunday ‘morning, tensof thousandsofitalians throw theiregs over the latest Wier, Colnagos and Pinarllos. However, most aremiddle-aged or beyond, and that’s testament moretocyclng's demographic shift than to adiect conection professional road cing. They have all ‘the gear, butas regards theistoryand ‘values of professional yting litleor odes, Milan traditionally the crucible ofthe Italian spor, sadeath trap forbikeriders Turin isa large city of wide, tree-lined boulevards, Like Milan ithaslousy ait (quality andit'sanatualftforan Amsterdam-style cing revolution Homever, ts governance smyopicandits ‘pce pats, suchas they are are worse ‘than sels, Tats mirored the length of ‘the peninsula, nd that explains why there are so few cists lian ies. hat may ‘stem secondary but history=and human nature telisus that fewer peopleriding recreatonaly means fewer people riding competitively. The Dutch dominate women’s cycling because quite simply, there area lotaf women cycling there Ridingabike part ofthe dlly warp and wet the most natural ching the wold Sportisimportantin aly, and allan ‘ids are generally mech ess edentary than ‘het Anglo-Saxon counterparts. However, parentsare understandably worled about exposing thelr ids to he risks which are Implicit in eyeling. They might ge injured playing football orbasketballocathletics, Ducit’s unlikely they're going tobe ld ‘Bardiani manage Bruno Revetber has been running peo team forgo years. He comes from Regio-Emilia traditionally stronghold ofthe spor, buteven he “Struggles to unearth he av materals.©STATE OF THE NATION Our problem is fnding kids prepared to yi," hesays."Cjelingisthe opposite fool and aly isa country absessed by football i's easy andaccessible, sowhileit ‘idsallthe axes, our sport ishard work ‘never level I's expensivein timeand ‘money, theracesare spread farand wide, and physically it's hard. There areno short tuts, and other sports demand much essof ‘her I's frustrating, butobjecively i's nothardtunderstand” ‘Twenty yeas ago, you couldn't move for els in the valleys around Bergam. To {ele here now is tobe reminded ofltalian _jeling’s lrius past and byestension, lMsmeagre present. Gewss and Mapei each sponsored powerful teams, butthese days {heir ilionsre nets throw fortunes at ‘Atalanta and Sassuolo respectively. They are provincalcubs and yetasTwrite they | recreational drugs. They puttwoand two aresecondand fourth respectively in Serie | together and concluded, quite rightly =, ‘A-That'sbig,bigmoney,anditrepresents_ittranspire, that cylingwasadoping the tipof eyeing lost glacier. Iusherease.itwouldbe five tortured years ‘before Pantani ook his om fe bin the ‘meantime those whocamein hiswake simply confirmedas much, Stefano Garzeliand Gilberto Simoni, the magic When ttalanstalkofthecrissaffecting rosa 2000and 2001, were expelled fom ‘her por, they infer that what's ‘the 2002 edition for doping infractions. happenings temporary, anaberration, ‘Theltaanshadintroduced blood buttheunpalarabletruthisthatit’snet. | spinningro cycling inthe mid-8os. Bythe ‘Young talian males couldn’ tear les ety 19905 they'd perfected the use of PO, about ting, and acursorylancearTuto | and theresults had been astounding. The Sport or Corrie del Sports Talian jing press had been testament tthe fact. ‘complicit andthe omer had ‘GlaniigiStangaveasthe heldbecause everyone had ‘manager ofthe mythical made ay. They'dbeen Gatorade team ofBugno ‘thesmartest guysin and Laurent Fignon By theroom,butnow the ‘the 1999 Gitod'Halia foundationsof these hhewasrunningPolt and sportbegan to buckle forhim the morningof Pantaniislrgely June that year was the perceived the victim beginning the end ofeycing’sdopingeultie, "When Pana was andwinningthe Gio expelled from the Gite, one ot without EPO was inconcevable ny ers, Wan Gott wenton to fochis generation. However, Wwini"he says. "Peoplesaidwewere the | many fltalaneyeling’s more reasoned beneficasies,burweweren'tatal knew | observers maintain that yelingwasalse Instantly that icwas goingtodevasatethe | thevitimothimand someot his pees, sporti tay because to most people CarmineCastellano, the rae arectr back Pantani waste sport in Kay.” ‘then, very wellemembersthe anguish Stangaisaperspicaciousguy-Pantanl's | “After the Festinaaffacat the Tour the cexpulslonwafront-pagenewsandso, | previousyear, we lew we couldn’ afford Subsequently, werethevicisstudesofhis | ascandalat the Gio,” hesays,“On theeve Dtvatelif Everyoneiniialyknew he'd ofthe ace weall sat down, and {implored beenexpelledfiom theGirfordoping, | theridersandsports directors not do andeveryoneknewhehsdprcblemswith | anythingwhich would campromise therace, Welooked one another in the eye and ‘everyone agreed io proceed on thatbass Twas in no postion to stopanybody fom ‘oping, and wasnt so naiveasto think they were all clean However, thay lft that roomellawate of thei responsible, You can legitimately argu that Marco paid the ultimate price forhismistake, but he ‘icn'terstin vacuum, Hundreds of people los theirjbs, and what we see todayisa consequence. rwascarastrophic forthesport and there's obvious way back trom” Pantanal from grace provoked anexodus of capital, races andintees. ‘Thatlargely explains why Nibali never rmallyrossedoverinto the wider public ‘onstiousness.In2014, when heen hismaillot jaune, Taian yling was still synonymous with doping. All ‘conversations about the sport seemed to Startand finish witht, and almost without ‘exception ordinary Italians were ofthe ‘opinion that youcould’dowharcytsts aiwithouttwasall pretty dispiting, ‘ut the sport hadbeen theauthorofitsown misfortune. That explains why, while the ‘ello jerseys of Bradley Wigzin anda Uilich presageda massive uptake of ‘competitive racingamong British and ITALIAN CYCLING (German kids, Nibal’s was angsty ‘overlooked. Cycling was putingits house Inotder, butt was til perceived astaxie here The biggrthey are the harder they fall, andin tatian sport nobody ~ not anybody - was iger than Narco Pantani ‘The numbers tell their wn story. AS lite this, there are seven Bite takingpartinthe2020 Vuela, That'smoreorlesthe otal, forthewholeaf the noughties,andit'sno ‘coincidence InGermany, Uren i foreyting ‘what SteffiGrafand Boris Becker had done or tennis, and what Federica Pollogeini has latteriydone foritlian sirmming Foralltheweekend wariors, ‘competitive oad eylingisa minority Sportin tay now. 15201, the yar British Ceting reached 50,000 members ts Nealian eounterparthad 03124. of those, 34,000 claimed tobe jugs, organisers and lirectors, and some 4,000 were competing intheveterans category, Italy has ost12 percent ofitscompetive riders in three ‘years, and evo thitds of ts professional peloton since that fateful dayini999 ued Forallthe fine wos andallthe veneration ofltsglorous pas, thete'snocbviows ign thatthe ends ike robe reversed ‘any timesoon. The Pantani affair ‘constituted the perfect storm, ‘butthe long-term decline itpredicated was cexacetbatodby lousy governance by endemic behaviours andy societal stuff overwhich the professional sport padnocontrol. [etakes generations forthat sort ofthing:owash through, and sllmore sin a country asrogressiveasthisone. Untilsuch timeas kay build itselfa new identity as acyeling-frendly country, such successas itachiovesin professional sport willbe due largely eohappenstance. When Italy finally ‘gets right, furthermore itil stillbe true tha cysts now come fromallover the world =the talent pools deperand ‘broader than ever, so world domination is ‘outof the question forever. allisn'quite lost. e's now 17 years since Pantani passed away, anda new ‘generation of fans and ders isboginning toemerge.They'erelatvely fein number, but they've never been exposed todoping orits scandals. They're not much interested in oppi,or Moser, or Inthe sora dtailof the EPO yeas. For themall thats prehistoricandit’sGanna~ humble, eminent likeable transparent ~ ‘who fires ther imagination He's great news forthe talian port, but better stllwouldbea no-stings tain Gico ‘winner oreven a maglogillain France {Geoghegan Hart and Pogacarateproot thatelthercan happen nan instant, and agillaside there area couple walting in ‘he wings. Giovanni Alot was runnet-up 5 atthe Tourdel’Avent, and he joins Bara Hansgrohe in 2021 The19-yet-old Milanese Andrea Piccolo fsa couple of ears ‘behind him bute's very, very talented, Tealanyeling’sdecineisn'-quite terminal Wheteeor people ride bikes i people will ace tent, and cycling remains 2 greatsport, Te tala version is battered and bruised but here's ife—albeit, 2 lifferentife~ inthe old dogyet.STATS OF THE NATION ITALIAN HEROES alan eyeing may be going through comparatively ean times as we have been among "2020s, but some ots bagest champions the very greatest rdersin the sports story BEST RESULTS IN THE BIGNINE aly ras rome mon history inthe wor biggest races especaly ts San Remo and Lombard andthe Gro, nal nave won fe Gro 69 tines ta 2&3 — Fueecnova, ast at 0 @ wt 2 1 : ee ee ae i 5 = i me . 2 0 0 . Leese u oy Francescowasen agcopaan ITALY’S BES'T- RANKED RIDERS Qs srr eae ae Be Qa | sem surco tm & cana conse fo” —€, 14 Poe ary: NUMBER OF GT POINTS/KOM WINS z2 RB 21 23 WINS BY YEAR International wis ranked and above by Ratan rer, ‘WorigTour era. (Nomen. 2and aoove)CMU Re a | a MLM OMe EMME t CTC) Fresh Bollocks is a light, silky-smooth bollock balm that’s easy to use, fresh, fragrant and deodorising with no unsightly residue. An absolute joy to use. An essential addition to modern man’s grooming routine. PUPAE econ URC DMPA TASC DCCL? CL Te) oe CAMS) Co CeleneSTRADE BIANCHE A MODERN CLASSIC STRADE BIANCHE HAS BECOME ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT EVENTS IN THE WORLD. PROGYCLING LOOKS AT WHAT MAKES THE RACE SO SPECIAL re unc wwe wars ger a21 7heiazza del Campo ismostranger 0 sporting events. hoststhe Palio ai Siena,ahorse race with medieval origins. Ten horses Sand theiriders under around the tighe square forthreelaps,in aterstying spectacle that offen last less than two minutes, andriderless horses area common, Sight. The ‘modern’ race dates back to 1633, emerging from catlie races across the whole city and varius fighting events ‘which took place inthe square in the preceding centuries ‘Geling fans know the Piazza fom the finish ofStradeBianche, ‘which comes after riders have ‘ascended the vertginous Via Santa Caterina, The race ike the Palo, also emerged out ffanearier event “Itwe talk about beauty, Ibelieve that the white roads of Sienaand UEroicaareunique xn andr ‘event that began in offshoot in 2007 ‘This madernclassicallows heroes of the peloton toemerge: riders Wino can conquer the white roads, the eponymous gravel sectors Beethoven's Erolca Symphony Isoften credited asthe fist Romantic work. The Tuan rola fs certainly romantic aswell as heroic, takings protagonists across the most beautiful patsof Chianti, the dramatic landscape providing ‘beautiful backstop for the action swam andevoking pasterasof cycling scdetewtmat “Tye founder ofthe original sO BS? amateur event, Giancarlo Broce, STRADE BIANCHE Isclearon why Stade Blanche ‘unique in the modern cycling calendat: "iis heroe, because iehasrediscovered those ‘magnificent roads without asphalt ‘where the special qualities athe ‘der still males the difference, such a kil, courage, dexterity, decidingata glance, the ability tosuffer.” Broce continues: “Obviously, the race setting alsounique: the magnificent landscapes surrounding Siena, where these adshave been preserved. The Adestor the mio on ain day, revivethe legend ofthe golden age of ecling, making for fantastic photos tht transmit heroism and (quickly travel around the word, striking those who see them and making the feat impressive for each ofthe protagonists nd forthe teams they represent. vif weare talking about beauty, Telieve thatthe white roads of Siena and L'Eroica are unique and lunrepeataie.” ‘Tre inal pat of therace upinto Sianaisjustas attactiveas the landscapes out inthe countryside, asthe leaders thread their way through the medieval city's narrow steep roads into the rena ofthe Pnzza, The romantic nature ofthe raceisclese, THROWBACK TO THE PAST Broce founded LFroiato highlight the plight of Siena’s hit toads, which were being {armackedoverstan alarming rate, much ike the cobbled ro3ds fof Norther France that have ‘been preserved thanks to thelr association with Paris-Roubaix, However, became apparent that ‘the format was popular andhad more to give than being just ‘agranfondo, Cycling journalist Richard lle ode inthe event the frst year that Brooks, the saddle makers, sponsored tin 2004, Returning over thenextfouryeats, hesaw its growth,