Hero to zero to Giro
Felix Lowe hurtles through a packed programme including the World Championships, Liège-bastogneLiège, Gent-wevelgem and the Giro d’italia
In this topsy-turvy year practically the only race not to shift seasons was the World Championships, which maintained its September slot, although Covid did force a venue change from Switzerland to Italy.
An outstanding Anna van der Breggen did the double for the women, winning both the road race and time-trial, while Wout van Aert did a double of sorts for the men – the Best Rider Since Coronavirus™ going home with two silver medals but no silver lining. To be fair, the Belgian with the Best Hair In The Peloton™ was outclassed by
an imperious Filippo Ganna against the clock, while Julian Alaphilippe seemed destined to win on the F1 circuit in Imola once he motored clear on the final climb.
The tearful, swashbuckling Alaphilippe became the first French World Champion since – checks notes… checks notes again… wait, did Laurent Brochard really win the Worlds in 1997? – some chap with a dodgy mullet.
Ever the showman, Alaphilippe clearly decided that the best way to follow up his victory at the Worlds would be to win a Monument while bedecked in his new jersey. After all, it’s not often a World Champion gets to show off their newly-acquired rainbow stripes for the first time at Liège-bastogne-liège.
In the event, the sense of the occasion at La Doyenne went to his head. He rode the final kilometre with all the panache of Manuel from Fawlty Towers waiting tables, and with more looking over his shoulder than a scene in Jurassic Park. He almost crashed entering the final bend, then managed to impede both Marc Hirschi and Tadej Pogačar in the sprint. He left his biggest bungle till last, however.
Believing to have won a Monument on his first outing in the rainbow jersey, Alaphilippe raised his arms aloft – only to allow Primož Roglič to snatch victory with a lunge that helped to make up for his Tour de France heartbreak. It seemed like a fair result for the Slovenian after compatriot Tadej Pogačar had cruelly denied him in Paris, and it was nice to see a smile from Roglič, who admitted, ‘I finally managed to win something.’
To then complete his humiliation, Alaphilippe’s swerve during the sprint
At the line Mathieu van der Poel came within a whisker of applying yet more eggs to Alaphilippe’s prematurely celebrating face
saw him relegated to fifth. He’ll never make that mistake again… except he did, three days later at De Brabantse Pijl, although this time he got away with it – just. At the line Mathieu van der Poel came within a whisker of applying yet more eggs to Alaphilippe’s prematurely celebrating face. It’s almost as if Loulou is determined to test the theory about the ‘curse of the rainbow bands’ by pushing his luck at every finish line.
Mixed fortunes
Moving on to British interests and it wasn’t exactly the best month – as encapsulated by Mark Cavendish’s tears at Gent-wevelgem. He made it into the day’s breakaway but could only finish in 74th place behind winner Mads Pedersen, and when he crossed the line looking exhausted he hinted that this could be his last race. That was before coming out of notional retirement three days later to ride Scheldeprijs.
Over in the Giro d’italia more British hopes were being dashed. Even before the race had got to the higher slopes of Etna, Geraint Thomas’s tour was over, having fractured his pelvis after crashing on a stray bidon in the neutral zone of Stage 3 (peak Thomas, that). Later on, Simon Yates’s poor legs asked questions, which were answered days later by a Covid positive test that saw him, and soon the whole MicheltonScott team, leave the race.
At least Alex Dowsett gave the fans something to cheer with victory on the Adriatic coast, while Tao Geoghegan Hart’s breakthrough win on Stage 15 in the Dolomites put Hackney’s finest back in contention for the pink jersey.
The second wave of Covid-19 acted as a foreboding subplot to the second Grand Tour of the season. At the time of writing La Corsa Rosa still has one week left to run, although there were calls, most notably from EF Pro Cycling boss Jonathan Vaughters, to scrap the final week amid the raft of positive tests.
By the end of week two Ineos Grenadiers had reinvented themselves with five wins, including a hat-trick for debutant Filippo Ganna, who looks untouchable on a TT bike. Frenchman Arnaud Démare had made his nonselection for the Tour yet more curious by picking up four sprint wins for Groupama-fdj, while his maglia ciclamino rival Peter Sagan ended his 15-month drought with aplomb.
Portugal has also been doing its best Slovenia impression with 22-year-old debutant João Almeida channelling his inner Pogačar by enjoying 12 days in pink, with compatriot Ruben Guerreiro winning a stage and holding onto the blue jersey for a week.
By now you’ll know who has won, so apologies if I come across as precipitous in my predictions as Julian Alaphilippe trying to win an Ardennes classic. But with Nibali, Fuglsang and the old guard suffering, Wilco Kelderman (of the rejuvenated Sunweb team he is set to leave) has emerged as the favourite, with Geoghegan Hart a solid bet for the podium. I’ll stick my neck out and suggest Ineos may have far more to celebrate in Milan than another Ganna TT win… if the Giro ever reaches Milan, that is.
Next issue Felix Lowe will delve into the Tour of Flanders and the Vuelta a España. Assuming Covid doesn’t get to them first
Tao Geoghegan Hart’s breakthrough win on Stage 15 in the Dolomites put Hackney’s finest back in contention for the pink jersey