Cycling Weekly March 31, 2022

I don’t have much in common with riders in the pro peloton, I never have. But the last week or so there’s been little difference between them and me. That’s because we’ve all been stuck at home feeling ill. Being ill is a great leveller though, as the other week I could tell everyone that I had about as much chance of winning Milan-San Remo as Julian Alaphilippe. No matter how good a rider you are, or aren’t, there is nothing as frustrating as sitting at home as the sun shines (finally!) through the window knowing you’re missing out on a ride. It might just be me, but this winter seems to have been particularly hard on my immune system as I’ve suffered from cold after cold, and have just come down…

If Biniam Girmay can find a quiet moment to watch the Tour of Flanders on TV this weekend, he might afford himself a quick ‘what could have been’. But with his young family – and likely the rest of Eritrea – wanting to hug him, pat him on the back, or just spend some much missed quality time, quiet moments might be hard to come by in the coming days for the 21-year-old Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux rider. The new Ghent-Wevelgem champion became the first Eritrean to win a WorldTour race, and the first African to win a Classic, on Sunday when he sprinted to victory from a small group to win the Belgian cobbled Classic, having taken in three ascents of the Kemmelberg, extricated himself from the clutches of a dangerous-looking Wout van…

Samuel Watson’s win in Ghent-Wevelgem’s under-23 race rounded off a fine team performance by Great Britain. The 20-year-old from Yorkshire, who rides for the Groupama-FDJ development squad, outsprinted the entire field in Ypres after the peloton caught the last of a race-long series of breaks. British Cycling men’s coach Matt Brammeier said his team “didn’t miss a trick”. “We’ve been out in Belgium since the first week of March,” Brammeier said. “We’ve done quite a bit of racing with the lads and every week it’s got better. So yeah, to finish off with a win in the big one is pretty good.” The British team had been ever present at the front, with Jim Brown and Watson himself having featured in the breaks that had looked dangerous as the race tackled its two…

They say 13 is unlucky for some – but not for new Ineos Grenadiers pro Ben Tulett, who romped to his first pro victory in only his 13th day of racing in the WorldTour at Coppi e Bartali last week. Tulett said he was “in a little bit of shock” after the hilltop victory at San Marino, which saw team-mate Eddie Dunbar finish three seconds behind him. The Ineos one-two was part of what was a fine week for the team, with Ethan Hayter also winning a stage and Dunbar winning the GC and, like Tulett, taking his first pro win. Tulett also finished second on GC. The 20-year-old former junior cyclo-cross world champion moved up from Alpecin-Fenix to the WorldTour for this season. His first races were blighted by crashes, but…

The disbelief was palpable. Upon crossing the line first on stage five of the Volta a Catalunya to claim his maiden professional win, Ethan Vernon attempted a wild celebration, throwing his right arm in the air, out and back again, and repeating the same manoeuvre two more times, his mouth agape to roar with delight. There was absolutely zero choreography, but it was as beautiful as any meticulously prepared celebration for it revealed just how happy the 21-year-old was to score his first ever victory in just his 16th day racing as a professional. Thirty minutes afterwards, the shock was still evident. “It hasn’t sunk in yet,” the tall Quick Step-Alpha Vinyl sprinter told Cycling Weekly. “Maybe tomorrow it will. “I mean, I’ve dreamed of being a professional cyclist, only a few months…

Rising talents Thomas Day and Lucy Gadd showed their earlyseason form by taking victories in the opening round of the Merlin Cycles Classic Series. Riding for Belgian-based under-23 team Elevate Home Solutions Soenens, Day fine-tuned his preparations for a season on the Continent by winning the men’s event. The 19-year-old clocked a time of 49 minutes and 39 seconds over an undulating 24-mile course in Dorset, a time hampered by the wind conditions. Day was a clear winner ahead of Jordan Giles (Primera-Teamjobs) taking second (52-09), while Sam Thompson (Podium Addict) finished third. Under-23 rider Day was using the event as part of a training weekend ahead of the Tript Monts Châteaux three-day race in Belgium this week. “It was a pretty testing course,” said Day. “I went out pretty hard over the hills and…