Evidently no-one expected the final bunch sprint to be won by Juan Molano of UAE, least of all Juan Molano! The lead-out man for Pascal Ackerman just kept going so that neither his team leader nor Mads Pedersen could get round him. I love it! Team of the Week It has to be Team Ciclominaccia,…

There were enough climbs to make Stage 20 interesting, with Robert Stannard having a last tilt at the King of the Mountains. But Richard Carapaz had got in a big break and took it on for the last two category one efforts to secure the polkadots, then going on to a famous third stage win.…

Big Green Sprinting Machine Mads’ Trek-Segafredo teammates got it just about right today, announcing what they were about before the stage (which disheartened a lot of potential breakaway artists), allowed just a few to get out front and then kept them on a tight leash before an early catch and unbeatable lead-out! Perhaps predicatable tactics,…

STOP THE BLOG STOP THE BLOG STOP THE BLOG STOP THE BLOG It is a shame that we shall not see the Tour of Britain visit the Isle of Wight after all, but it’s understandable, I guess. Different sports seem to have taken different decisions regarding what would be respectful in the days following the…

EF Education teaches the youngsters a lesson Rigoberto Uran, at 35 an oldie-but-goodie, outpunched the puncheurs on one of the most brilliant endings to a bicycle race. A strong breakaway was given 7 minutes so there was bound to be two races on the last climb. Both at the front and in the peloton, there…

Down … (and out?) 159 km of standard issue flat stage fare. Then 3 km of utter hayhem. Primož Roglič launched a blisteringly brilliant attack to put more time into the race leader, only to clip Fred Wright’s handlebars and end up in a bloody exhausted heap on the floor just 150 m before the…

It was a fabulous race on Stage 15 as the long wicked slopes of the only Special Category climb to Sierra Nevada put the riders through the shredder again, with another glimpse of weakness from race leader Evenepoel. But the tall lad from Gelderland, Thymen Arensman won a famous solo victory – a stage win…

Behind a terrific sttack by Skyneos’ not-leader-this-time Carapaz, there was drama all over the last ascent. The Rog is hitting his best form for week three, attacking and for the first time seeing Evenepoel not able to follow. The Belgian eveidently went into the red a bit too soon and paid for it, but recovered…

The sprinters had to grind over a lot of mountains in the previous week in order to have another crack at a bunch sprint finish. Although it was a somewhat diminished field, Mads Pedersen was the pedigree Great Dane of the day. He’s worked so hard to keep that green jersey from the predations of…

I came in after a day on the mainland (Winchester, thanks for asking – it was lovely) I only had few minutes before heading out again. I was eating and not 100% engaged when I dialled up the result and short highlights. What?! The mailot rojo crashed and finishing over seven minutes behind Carapaz on…