EDWARD PICKERING

Both editions of Strade Bianche were brilliant races, the best of the year so far. That’s reason enough to celebrate them - I could just sit back and enjoy two exciting races, though a note to the TV people: show much more of the women’s race already.

They were also excellent primers on How Cycling Works. The women’s race demonstrated the nuances of teamwork and how it operates in cycling. In 2020, Trek-Segafredo worked out a very effective way of fighting against the superior strength of Anna van der Breggen; in Strade Bianche 2021, Van der Breggen’s SD Worx turned the tables right back on them, putting Chantal van den BroeckBlaak on to Elisa Longo Borghini’s wheel, where she stayed all the way to the final climb. There, the energy she’d saved doing none of the work could be used in a race-winning attack. Fingers crossed, we’re in for some more great battles this spring.

And in the men’s race, the variety of body types and specialisations which can thrive in cycling were on show as the eventual winning break contained Mathieu van der Poel, who’s great at cyclo-cross and flatto-not-too-hilly classics, Julian Alaphilippe, who’s great at hillier classics and climbing middle-sized mountains, and Egan Bernal, who’s great at grand tours and climbing the high mountains. I was so excited that I drew a Venn diagram to try to understand why you might find Van der Poel and Alaphilippe but not Bernal contesting Flanders, and Alaphilippe and Bernal but not Van der Poel contesting Lombardia, but would probably only find all three going head to head at Strade Bianche.

It’s things like this that have kept me coming back to cycling for way longer than any of these riders have even been alive. Back in the day, maybe more riders contested all the races, but I think modern cycling has found a good equilibrium, and this variety and unpredictability is part of what makes the sport great.