Recent content by Pantani_lives

And suddenly there's a chance of rain on Saturday...

The last two climbs are the same as in the old Tour of Flanders, but what comes before is shorter and easier, so a bigger group in the final is possible. The part between the Berendries and the Muur can be very tactical. The strongest teams should be Soudal, UAE and Visma. Soudal has an...

One name that hasn't been mentioned yet is José Maria Jiménez. He was terrible at time trials, but the best climber in several Vueltas. I wonder what his numbers were e.g. on Xorret de Catí in stage 6 of the Vuelta 1998.

Today: Red Bull vs. Mexican Bull - Part III.

A lot of interesting observations, but I don’t agree with the conclusion that 1987 would be the beginning of modern cycling. In 1986 the Tour was decided by long-range attacks in the mountains by Hinault and LeMond, so you won’t find one climb where they set a record, but they were very strong...

Del Toro is good on explosive climbs. Evenepoel is good in time trials. We learn something new every day.

Wellens found the right moment to attack: a few kilometers before the Sea of Olives, just when you'd think it's a little bit to early. Pidcock was terribly positioned in that phase - possibly the result of a bike change after a mechanical. After that Bora and Q36.5 were the only teams willing to...

That's perfectly possible: Jonathan MILAN vs. MILAN Frétin vs. MILAN Menten.

Tomorrow is my favorite February race: the Clásica Jaén. They had to make a few adjustments because of the rain, but 25 out of 154 km are still on unpaved roads between the olive gardens. The Mar de Olivos ("Sea of Olives"), a sterrato sector of 7,3 km, will be done twice. Favorites are Pidcock...

On Saturday 14 February, two days before the Clásica Jaén, there will be the annual 100 km race for cycling tourists: the Gran Fondo Jaén. It has "un perfil rompepiernas" ("a leg-breaking profile") with unpaved gravel sectors among the olive groves. One of many participants will be Joaquim...

Thanks for that informative presentation, Peyresourde! It's amazing how those climbing times of Pantani still stand. It lasted twenty years until those times were matched, in a completely different era, with completely different material.

Evgeni Berzin remains one of the most enigmatic "future Tour winners". As a leader of the controversial Team Gewiss he crushed the opposition in Liège and the Giro in 1994, but afterwards he couldn't live up to the expectations. It has been said that he couldn't handle the transition from the...

Team Slovenia has a gold medal in ski jumping!

Somebody has been working hard this winter. With five individual wins already, the sprinters have a bit of catching up to do. His five-minute effort is enough to create a gap of twenty seconds against riders like Almeida and Tiberi. After that he can switch to his endurance mode to defend the...