Cycling Weekly

start line 13.05

When we first sat down over a video call and started to discuss how we’d compile a list of 130 people who had changed cycling we figured it would be fairly easy. Five minutes in and we quickly realised the size of the task we’d set ourselves for this celebratory issue. Coming up with 130 people wasn’t the difficult part, we could have come up with twice as many, but how would we justify one person over another when we hit our limit? Who simply had to be in, whose inclusion was a close call and who would we leave out? Such subjective decisions could be endlessly discussed. Then we hit on an idea. “Why don’t we ask riders to nominate people?” That soon expanded out to asking all manner of cycling movers…

ganna storms into pink jersey

The city of Turin was in festive mood to watch home rider Filippo Ganna blaze into the lead on the first stage of the Giro d’Italia last weekend. ‘Emphatic’ is the only word for the Ineos Grenadier’s win in the short 8.6km city centre time trial, which saw him beat Jumbo-Visma pairing Edoardo Affini and Tobias Foss into second and third by 10 and 13 seconds respectively – significant margins over such a short distance. It was the Italian’s fifth Giro stage win, following the four he won in last year’s race, which included all three time trials. “The radio was not working much,” Ganna revealed afterwards, “so I said ‘Filippo, go full gas’, listening to the people at the side of the road. I was able to arrive with this amazing victory.” Indeed,…

groenewegen looking for that ‘old feeling’

Dylan Groenewegen said he just needed “to get that old feeling back, as well as my self-confidence”, after taking fourth place in stage two’s bunch sprint. Following a nine-month hiatus, imposed by the UCI for triggering the crash that left Fabio Jakobsen badly injured in last year’s Tour of Poland, Groenewegen’s return to competition has been much anticipated. Considering the stage on which he was performing, not many would have predicted such a high finish. Groenewegen seemed happy enough with his fourth behind winner Tim Merlier, Giacomo Nizzolo and Elia Viviani, but admitted he wanted more. “I have to be satisfied with this fourth place after nine months of absence,” he said. “Though I am still a bit disappointed. I am a winner and I always want to achieve more. My legs are…

“as always, the road will decide the winner”

The most stressful part of a Grand Tour is already done. Packed, cleaned my apartment and for the next 24 hours worried I’d forgotten something important. I did forget to turn the boiler off but aside from that, no major disasters. I’m en route to my third Giro d’Italia at the time of writing, still a few days to go until the start on Saturday but already into the swing of things. Two PCR tests under my belt in the last few days and plenty more to come to make sure we’re safe to race in 2021. Flying from Barcelona to Milan there’s already a few friendly faces making the same trip for three weeks of racing. I think slowly I’m getting the hang of all this now, after a few years…

hayter impresses in algarve

Despite a crash in the crucial stage four time trial that appeared to deny him his first ever GC victory, 22-year-old Ethan Hayter (Ineos Grenadiers) came away from the Volta ao Algarve encouraged by his performance. Hayter won the queen stage, stage two, of the Portuguese race atop Alto de Foia in convincing fashion. While notable climbers around him were clearly in distress the Londoner looked composed and in control. It was far from a surprise when he outsprinted them all to the line. At the time he said: “My aim today was to limit my losses, but to win was really special. I owe it to the team who were in the perfect position all day, and Sosa and Seb made the difference on the last climb. “It was perfect for me…

barnes ‘relieved’ with valenciana win

The victory is Barnes’s first since her win at the 2019 British National Championships road race, and her first outside of Britain since the 2018 Internationale Lotto Thüringen Ladies Tour in Germany. The 25-year-old said she needed to live up to expectations of a victory from within the team on Saturday’s stage. She said: “I feel relief… I feel like I was expected to win today from within the team but also from the other riders in the peloton. I’m one of only a few sprinters here so it was time to show it, and also after the amazing work the team did in the final 25km, there was no other option but to win today.” She added: “We knew that no one else would help the chase with me there as a…