There were quite a few prizes on offer at the Giro this year other than the pink jersey. Perhaps the most obscure and least contested however was the ‘fair play’ award. What is it and how is it won?
Read MoreThe Demise of the Unwritten Rules of the Peloton?
As Tom Dumoulin lost two minutes of his lead in the Giro d’Italia on Tuesday as a result of a mistimed ‘comfort break’, fans and commentators were up in arms about the fact that his rivals took advantage of him being caught short. To many it seemed that the likes of Nibali, Zakarin and Quintana were breaking some of the age-old unwritten rules of professional cycling - that you don’t exploit a rider’s mechanical (or other) misfortune, especially when they’re wearing the leader’s jersey.
Read MoreIl Lombardia 2016: The Romantic Classic
This Saturday sees one of the most important races in the calendar as the Giro di Lombardia sets off from Como to Bergamo in Northern Italy. It is, of course, one of the five ‘Monuments’, the most important one-day races of the year, along with Milan - San Remo, The Tour of Flanders, Paris -Roubaix and Liege - Baston - Liege. It may not be the oldest of the Monuments, but it’s certainly the most romantic, nicknamed “la classica delle foglie morte” or translated to the slightly more prosaic, “ride of the falling leaves.”
Read MoreNed Boulting at Look Mum No Hands!
In between busily commentating on one cycling event after another, author Ned Boulting made a guest appearance at Look Mum No Hands! on Monday night. Coming straight from the Dauphiné and via his publishers, he waved around a manuscript of his latest book, Velosaurus, with more red ink corrections on it than a GCSE English paper. He was embarrassed to admit that he'd been chastised for spelling Eddy Merckx wrong, and not the tricky surname. But it was was the imminent Tour de France that everyone wanted to talk about of course.
Read MoreCritérium du Dauphiné 2016 – Froome lays down his marker
Chris Froome sealed his third win in the Critérium du Dauphiné today in a classy field of leading riders, sending a strong message to his Tour de France rivals. His previous 2 victories here presaged his brace of Tour victories and he looks very strong as the countdown to July 2nd begins in earnest.
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