Tag: MTN-Qhubeka

We caught up with Joe after his Boxing Day training ride (I can just about remember those, up into North Fife with Dave Chapman for a couple of hours then home for steak pie at Mum’s)... Here’s what he had to say:

It's the 'Belgian Opening Weekend'; Het Volk used to be a cult race, the teams would line up in the street just up from the Kuipke velodrome. The first team to set up would be the late Frans Assez’s Flanders squad — no flash bus or trucks, just a ‘Luton’ style van...

Ola! Wee bit Spanish there in honour of Carlos, a great ride-one that puts him up with the legends. But?... Is it enough to win him the 2008 Tour de France? We'll find out on Saturday, in the chrono; Cadel has to be the favourite though. It's 9.00 pm and we're still in the Salle de Presse on L'Alpe D'Huez, another long one, but they all are. We spent the night in Pra Loup, a word of advice, do not visit the Club du Soleil les Bergers hotel, it's not the answer!

Back Swinging. After what seems like both forever, and no time at all, we're headed to the final stanza of this year's Tour. Today's stage is another medium mountain stage, with only one Cat. 2 climb to deal with, followed by a short descent into the town of Gap. The day is a steady climb uphill for the majority of the day, with two sharp descents that may be of note for general standings-the descent that leads to the Col de Manse (the climb of the day) and then the 11km after the summit of the Col, which is all downhill to the finish.

Roadside at the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and KBK 2018. The first classic weekend of the year has been and gone and safely back in a rather snowy Scotland I've got time to reflect on the Classic season opener. The glorious Belgian sunshine all weekend could not lift the thermometer and the riders endured bitterly cold conditions for both Het Nieuwsblad or Kuurne Brussels Kuurne. 

Mark Cavendish was in the break ALL day on this wet, windy, tough, gnarly day - major respect to the man on his second British Championship win on Scottish roads.