Bike racing, it’s a hardman's game!

Strade Bianche : 

Drama on the white roads of Tuscany!  Racing on gravel roads and tarmac takes a certain skill set that tests even the most experienced rider.  And you don’t get any more skilled than Tom Pidcock, Connor Swift and Tadej Pogacar, but with just over 50k’s to go Tadej’s concentration lapsed for a millisecond and he took the slightly wrong line into a turn and both wheels went out on the dusty surface and he went down hard and slid off the road, causing Connor to brake hard and avoid going down himself, but losing time to Tom.  Battered and bruised Tadej got back up and caught back up to Tom who had made a point to wait up and not try to take too much of an advantage from the incident.  A charging and adrenaline fueled Tadej dropped Pidcock on the next steep climb and immediately pulled out a gap to the finish for his 3rd victory, bruised and bleeding, at the 6th monument, a truly monumental effort even for the Super Slovenian. Bravo!   

Paris Nice : and Tirreno Adriatico

The 2 competing week long stage races which kick off the season for stage races have long been classed as Paris Nice starting in poor weather in the North of France and then ‘Racing to the Sun’ on the south coast of France at Nice and Tirreno having the generally better weather in Italy.  As of the 5th stage both races have been cursed with some horrible weather, yes global warming is at the root of intense changes to weather all over the planet and bike racing isn’t spared in it’s wake, and both races have had to stop and restart at some point because of it.  In Paris Nice, GC favourite Jonas Vingegaard crashed on a descent on stage 5 and struggled to the finish with an injury to his chin/lips but hopefully will continue.  Not a good start to a campaign geared to take on Tadej at the TDF.  

UPDATE : Jonas has abandoned 

Milan San Remo :

The 2 stage races finish on the Sunday then 6 days later it’s the first Monument of the season, Milan San Remo!  Nearly 275 kilometers of build up and tension until the final decisive attack, for whoever still has the legs and then the descent down the Paggio and a sprint or solo victory in San Remo.  There is no other race like it on the racing calendar, steeped in Italian racing history and tradition, ‘the easiest to finish, but the hardest to win’ as every Pro will confirm.  Can’t wait.  

= - = 

Italy, France and the UK, we’re all still feeling the bitter cold of winter hanging around like a bad virus that just won’t go away.  So we will continue our FREE I Love Cobbled Classics bobble hat give away with any purchase of 3 or more pairs of socks as long as stock lasts + an additional 10% off at checkout with the code MILAN10.  

Have a fantastic weekend and we’ll speak again next week.  

Ride safe Ride fun.  

The Saviour Cycling Team