Cycling throws up the memorable, the iconic images and moments which live with you in your memory well beyond the moment which you perceived them. I won’t claim this is in any way a definitive list, merely the moments that will stick with me beyond the here and now. The above picture is of Nairo Quintana winning the Queen Stage of Tireno-Adriatico, which came close to making the Top 5.
- Phillipe Gilbert and Michael Matthews power up the Cauberg in the Amstel Gold Race
It wasn’t the winning move of the race, and arguably cost Matthews the win, but seeing Gilbert kick and kick again with Matthews visibly going deeper and deeper into the red as he fought to draw that extra bit of energy to stay in touch with Gilbert’s back wheel. Both had gone far too hard, and were cooked for the finale, where Michal Kwiatkowski won the sprint after being 9th over the top of the climb. Still sticks in my mind, whenever I think something is too hard, I remember that you can always give a little more.
2. Simon Clarke and Richie Porte’s Wheelgate
There’s helping out a mate who’s in a bind, then there’s collaboration between teams unfairly. Porte’s puncture came at a very inopportune time, when the race was winding up for a sprint, and the peleton was going at full speed. For some reason there were no Team Sky riders around, and Clarke saw his friend Porte puncture and he gave him a wheel. Now, I agree that riders shouldn’t cooperate in the competitve moments of the race, that sort of collaboration has in the past worked into the hands of the strong European nations who were a lot happier seeing one of their compatriots from another team win than a foreigner. However, there has always been an established custom that riders who suffer mechanicals are given a lot of leeway in getting back on, being allowed to draft team cars often of other team’s cars as well as their own.
Whatever your opinion of the incident or the punishment, it really hurt Porte’s chances at the Giro, and when combined with the crash the next day, saw him really demoralised, which more than anything else was the end of his Giro.
There’s helping out a mate who’s in a bind, then there’s collaboration between teams unfairly. Porte’s puncture came at a very inopportune time, when the race was winding up for a sprint, and the peleton was going at full speed. For some reason there were no Team Sky riders around, and Clarke saw his friend Porte puncture and he gave him a wheel. Now, I agree that riders shouldn’t cooperate in the competitve moments of the race, that sort of collaboration has in the past worked into the hands of the strong European nations who were a lot happier seeing one of their compatriots from another team win than a foreigner. However, there has always been an established custom that riders who suffer mechanicals are given a lot of leeway in getting back on, being allowed to draft team cars often of other team’s cars as well as their own.
Whatever your opinion of the incident or the punishment, it really hurt Porte’s chances at the Giro, and when combined with the crash the next day, saw him really demoralised, which more than anything else was the end of his Giro.
3. Mikel Landa wins the queen stage of the Vuelta
You might think that Landa winning what many described as the hardest ‘Grand Tour stage ever’ would be a celebration of the tremendous athletic achievement of the breakout climber. But circumstance transpired so that Landa was essentially riding to the detriment of his teammate Fabio Aru, who had broken away from the other contenders, and was looking to pull on the red jersey. There was a lot of passive aggression in the interviews afterwards, particularly after it emerged that Astana had told Landa to wait for Aru. Of course, it’s all ancient history now, and Aru won the Vuelta with Landa’s help, but it is worth noting that he was trailing by three seconds going into the penultimate stage, and wouldn’t have been the case if Landa had acted differently in Andorra.
You might think that Landa winning what many described as the hardest ‘Grand Tour stage ever’ would be a celebration of the tremendous athletic achievement of the breakout climber. But circumstance transpired so that Landa was essentially riding to the detriment of his teammate Fabio Aru, who had broken away from the other contenders, and was looking to pull on the red jersey. There was a lot of passive aggression in the interviews afterwards, particularly after it emerged that Astana had told Landa to wait for Aru. Of course, it’s all ancient history now, and Aru won the Vuelta with Landa’s help, but it is worth noting that he was trailing by three seconds going into the penultimate stage, and wouldn’t have been the case if Landa had acted differently in Andorra.
4. Hideous weather, bikes in ditches and Jurgen Roelandts
Gent-Wevelgem was an appalling race for the riders, but it made for compelling viewing as the gale force winds blew unsuspecting riders off the road. It should definitely have been cancelled, as the safety of the riders was put in jeopardy. Maybe a one-day race can be given a bit more leeway, as there nothing compelling the riders to continue and no existing GC to upset . In any case, Jurgen Roelandts was the first to take advantage of the peleton’s general inability to stay on the road, and he went for a near suicidal 70 kilometre solo effort into 60 km/hr winds before he was eventually pulled back by a selection of the normal classics contenders. Luca Paolini then did the sneaky attack, get brought back, then attack again when the others had thought he’d given up. It might be the last result in his career, as he’s still searching for a team after his positive cocaine test at the Tour.
Gent-Wevelgem was an appalling race for the riders, but it made for compelling viewing as the gale force winds blew unsuspecting riders off the road. It should definitely have been cancelled, as the safety of the riders was put in jeopardy. Maybe a one-day race can be given a bit more leeway, as there nothing compelling the riders to continue and no existing GC to upset . In any case, Jurgen Roelandts was the first to take advantage of the peleton’s general inability to stay on the road, and he went for a near suicidal 70 kilometre solo effort into 60 km/hr winds before he was eventually pulled back by a selection of the normal classics contenders. Luca Paolini then did the sneaky attack, get brought back, then attack again when the others had thought he’d given up. It might be the last result in his career, as he’s still searching for a team after his positive cocaine test at the Tour.