TEN RACES WE’RE EXCITED ABOUT IN 2018
Tour de Yorkshire May 3-6 TV: Eurosport and ITV4
The ever-improving Tour de Yorkshire takes another leap forward this year, with the addition of a fourth day to take in even more of what God’s Own Country has to offer. Some of the nation’s best and brightest are expected to attend, with Mark Cavendish intending to debut and exorcise the demons of his heartbreaking crash at the 2014 Grand Départ, and local hero Lizzie Deignan returning to defend her title.
Where the race will be won
The extra day will culminate in the race’s first ever summit finish up Cow and Calf lane in Ilkley, a climb with the kind of incongruous-sounding name we’ve come to cherish from a race that eccentricity insists on being called the Tour de Yorkshire.
That’s where the two-day women’s race will be decided, but it won’t be enough to definitively settle things in the men’s race ahead of its relentlessly undulating and potentially thrilling fourth and final stage to Leeds.
Giro d’italia May 4-27 TV: Eurosport
With its radical approach to stage designs and unique settings, the Giro has long been the Grand Tour of choice among hipsters, but in recent years the race has even started to rival the Tour de France it terms of star personnel. More and more big names are opting to compete at the Giro rather than focus all their attention on the Tour, a trend that is set to continue this year with Chris Froome planning to return to the race for the first time in eight years for an attempt at the double, and Tom Dumoulin stating his intent to defend his title.
Where the race will be won
The stages in Israel — the Giro’s first ever start beyond Europe in its history — will make for a uniquely exotic opening to the race, but will have a negligible effect on the battle for the maglia rosa. That contest will mostly play out in the slopes of the Alps and the Dolomites, in particular Monte Zoncolan, considered by many as the most difficult climb in cycling, and a triple-header of huge summit finishes at the end of the third week.
Paris-nice March 4-11 TV: Eurosport
Sure, the Tour Down Under and races in the Middle East have their place, but you know the cycling season has begun for real when Paris-nice comes around. Nicknamed ‘the race to the sun’ for its southern trajectory towards the warmth of the Cote d’azur, it has everything you want from a stage race — some punchy stages, just enough bunch sprints, a time trial, and, of course, some leg-breaking mountains, all packed into eight days of thrilling racing.
Where the race will be won
The obvious stage to look out for will be the race’s sole summit finish to La Colmiane ski resort on stage six, but Paris-nice is full of opportunities to gain — and lose — time. The undulating terrain of stage six to Vence and the final stage to and from Nice look pregnant with potential, with the latter turning out to be a cracker in both the past two editions thanks to long-range attacks from the now retired Alberto Contador.
Milan-san Remo March 17 TV: Eurosport
All sorts of different riders will
by vying for glory at this year’s La Primavera, the first Monument of the season. Philippe Gilbert still needs to conquer it in his quest to win all five Monuments; it remains the most glaring omission from Peter Sagan’s palmarès; it’s a perfect race for upcoming star Fernando Gaviria, who will still be smarting from his near misses in 2016 and 2017; and tifosi favourite Vincenzo Nibali is again mulling over targeting a first-ever win here.
Where the race will be won
Of all the major televised races on the calendar, Milan-san Remo is perhaps the one that best resembles the experience of watching on the roadside — you wait patiently all day for something to happen, enjoy a breathtaking flurry of activity, and then it’s all over. That flurry of activity is initiated from the bottom of the Poggio, where battle commences between puncheurs attacking and sprinters defending for 10 minutes of sheer bike-racing chaos.
Tour de France July 7-29 TV: Eurosport and ITV4
Let’s face it, recent Tours haven’t exactly been bursting with exciting action, mostly due to Team Sky’s stranglehold on the race. But with Froome potentially fatigued from riding the Giro d’italia, or perhaps even missing the race altogether depending on his salbutamol case, the 2018 edition looks primed to be the most open in years. Is this the year Nairo Quintana finally upgrades to the top spot of the podium? Can Richie Porte at last come of age? Does Romain Bardet have what it takes to end the drought of French winners? Or will Froome secure a record-equalling fifth title? For once, it’s a really tough one to call.
Where the race will be won
The summit finish atop Alpe d’huez on stage 12 will attract much hype and headlines as the Tour’s most famous landmark, but to win the Tour a rider must rise to all sorts of challenges, from a team time trial and cobbled stages in the first week, to an individual time trial and historically short Pyrenean stage in the final week.
Paris-roubaix April 8 TV: Eurosport
More so than perhaps any other race on the calendar, Paris-roubaix is a race that ties modern cycling to the sport’s history. Everything about it, from the obscene pavé to the rusty old velodrome and showers at the finish, feels anachronistic, to the extent that it’s a minor miracle the race remains so unchanged. Mark Cavendish and Philippe Gilbert, who are targeting the race for the first time in their careers, won’t know what they’re in for.
Where the race will be won
The beauty of Paris-roubaix is that it can be won and lost almost anywhere. About one third of its final 150km covers cobblestoned roads, putting riders at constant risk of crashing, puncturing, or simply missing out on a key attack — all of which could end a rider’s chances in an instant. The winner must achieve a perfect balance of strength, finesse, concentration
and resolve, not to mention a reasonable dose of pure luck.
Strade Bianche March 3 TV: Eurosport
Who says a Classic has to be several decades old to be one of the best? Since its 2007 inauguration, Strade Bianche has established itself as one of the most open, unpredictable and exciting Spring Classics, that improves year on year as more big names prioritise the chance of winning it, and holds a particularly important place in the women’s calendar as the opening event of the Worldtour.
Where the race will be won
Unusually for a bike race, the name of this Classic denotes not a specific geographical location but rather its terrain, emphasising just how important the unique white gravel roads are to the race’s identity. It is these roads — some flat, some undulating, some short, some long — that will force the selections, while the steep, picturesque final kilometre to the Piazza del Campo in Siena is rarely less than spectacular.
Women’s Tour June 13-17 TV: Eurosport and ITV4
From Wimbledon and Lord’s Cricket Ground to The Crucible and The Open, the UK has more than its fair share of events considered to be international sporting pinnacles. But what about The Women’s Tour? It might not have the history of the aforementioned events, but, thanks to its huge enthusiastic support and competitive racing, the five-day race has already become arguably the most soughtafter stage race of the season in the space of just four years.
Where the race will be won
Normally the Women’s Tour is such a tight affair that the bonus seconds on offer at intermediate sprints and the finish line play a key role in deciding the outcome. Not last year, though, when Kasia Niewiadoma found herself on stage one in a solo breakaway 50km from the finish in a manner comparable to the way the protagonists of Withnail and I go on holiday ‘by mistake’ and won the stage and race by over a minute.
The Tour of Britain September 2-9 TV: Eurosport and ITV4
For most British cycling fans, fol-
lowing pro cycling mostly comprises of watching races on TV and — we hope — reading about it in Cycling Weekly. So the Tour of Britain provides a welcome chance to see the world’s best up close and in the flesh, moving through the places where we live and on roads that we too ride on.
Where the race will be won
If we’re being honest, last year’s edition was a bit of a bore, with every stage resulting in a bunch sprint apart from one time trial that virtually shaped the entire GC. That route was probably designed to attract sprinters preparing for a similarly flat World Championships, which should mean that this year’s parcours — in anticipation of a much more challenging Worlds route — will feature more climbs for the GC race to play out. The World Championships
September 22-30 TV: BBC and Eurosport
Winning the Worlds, a race that changes in character every year, is for most riders a once-in-alifetime achievement. But Peter Sagan is not most riders, and became the first ever man to win three successive road titles.
The Slovak is unlikely to win a fourth, however, as this year’s hillier course in Alpine town of Innsbruck, Austria is better suited to climbers such as Alejandro Valverde, Elisa Longo Borghini, Vincenzo Nibali and Anna van der Breggen — into contention.
Where the race will be won
Usually the Worlds road races are attritional affairs where riders don’t make decisive moves until the last lap. Innsbruck might play out differently, however, given the severity and unsual length of this circuit’s climb, which could force earlier selections and more long-range attacks.