Spring is upon us which means that this year's road cycling season is well underway, a season which holds many different stories and questions that we are waiting to get answered – and for new ones to be asked.
As has increasingly been the case over the past couple of years, the riders set to answer these questions are likely to be be quite young. While previously, cyclists often peaked at about the age of 30, over the past couple of years the youngins have taken over the world of cycling. This year is the 10-year anniversary for when Chris Horner on the Vuelta at the ripe age of 41, and last year, the only rider in the top 5 at the Tour born before '96 was Geraint Thomas - and he was leagues behind the two otherworldly riders, Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogacar.
While young men occupy the pinnacle of the world of cycling, old men are retiring – even the one I was beginning to suspect would ride until he died of old age. Alejandro Valverde deserves a mention in the opening post, a rider who’s been part of the peloton for as long as I can remember. One of the most successful and iconic riders of his generation (which spans multiple generations) has retired. Fitting the narrative of the new generation taking over, the final Grand Tour that Valverde participated in was won by Remco Evenepoel, who was presumably waddling (or pedaling) around at the age of two when Valverde turned professional in 2002.
One of the central questions in the world of cycling leading into last year’s season (and the topic of the title of last year’s thread) was who would could stop the all-devouring monster, Tadej Pogacar.
Whilst (spoiler alert) he did not win the GC at the Tour de France, he won an obscene number of races, and he does not look like he’s going to be any less dominant this season
But, as it turned out, he could be stopped by the most down to earth riders in the peloton from one of the flattest countries in the world, who somehow yet climbed like a mountain GOAT, Jonas Vingegod erghh Vingegaard. With the aid of an insanely strong team, Vingegaard did what nobody thought possible and dethroned Pogacar at the Tour de France, beating him with several minutes (ignoring the time lost on the final stage when Vingegaard and his team cruised the past km and lost some time). The undisputed captain for the Tour on the strongest team in the world, Vingegaard is setting out to defend his title against Pogacar, in what seems poised to become the GC rivalry in cycling in these years.
The big story line of this season will undoubtedly be the rematch between these two riders in July – but we’ll get an appetizer in the coming week, as both riders (after utterly dominating their season-opening races) face off in Paris-Nice.
Cycling is a young man's game and it seems like the main challenger to break the dominance of Pogagaard could be even younger Remco Evenepoel. He’s set to ride the Giro, however, and surely hoping to do better than in 2021 when he had a disappointing Grand Tour debut. Last year, though, he won the Vuelta in convincing fashion, although, beating guys like Mas (who, in fairness, has been on the rise recently) and Ayuso is a different gravy than facing the two behemoths. He also won Liege-Bastogne-Liege and, not least, the World Championship, meaning he will have the honor of the rainbow jersey this season. The future looks very bright for this young man, who had another honor, even greater than the rainbow jersey bestowed upon him in 2021, when he was the topic of that year’s thread title.
[
Another Belgian must be mentioned when we discuss the main characters of the world of cycling. There seems to be no breaks on Wout van Aert, who just keeps on winning in dominant fashion, as well as being an invaluable assistant to Jumbo’s GC aspirations with his apparent ability to outpull the rest of the peloton if need be to close gaps.
Today’s race:
Last week the classics season began with Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, which was won by recent addition to the already stacked Jumbo team, Dylan van Baarle. He won in convincing fashion by riding solo, with teammate Laporte taking 3rd. The following day, Kuurne-Bruxelles-Kurne was raced, and, not unexpectedly, Jumbo once again dominated, winning the race with Tiesj Benoot and van Hooydonck finishing 2nd.
Today, one of the most beautiful and dramatic races of the season will happen - Strade Bianche. It is an early highlight of the cycling season and definitely worth bailing your friends and family to follow. “Strade Bianche” means “white roads”, referring to the unpaved back roads of Tuscany landscape that is simply breathtakingly beautiful (copy pasted from last year's thread as I’m lazy). With Wout van Aert being absent, the race favorite is Mathieu van der Poel, who won the race two years ago, and fellow superstars Tom Pidcock and Julian Alaphilippe (who won in 2019).
We end this opening post with a GIF showing Javier Bardem blissfully watching a flat stage of cycling: