In part one of our post-Giro round-table, we looked back on out favourite riders and stages, and broadly agreed that it had been a great race contested in fine sporting spirit, with a worthy new champion. In the second instalment of our round-table, with the chablis by now flowing freely – although, given that this was the Giro, it should really have been a chianti or a barolo, now I think about it – we turned our attention to some of the more contentious issues of the race. Continue reading
It’s the 72nd edition of the Tour de Luxembourg, a five-day stage race around one of the smallest countries in the world and homeland of the Schleck brothers. While it doesn’t have all the high-calibre cyclists stampeding to the start line, it is a race often used by riders to train for the Tour de France, especially when combined with the Tour de Suisse.
What kind of race is it?
A five-stage race (or to be more accurate, a prologue with four stages), covering 726.5km. The Tour is classified as a 2HC race, just below a ProTour race. It offers a solid but not overly strenuous work-out, with its testing but not extremely high climbs (the country’s highest point sits at just 560 metres), which suits both GC riders and those who specialise in the hillier Classics. Continue reading