The racing was in Colombia and Provence (among other places) and there was some drama! Bouhanni wins! Quintana wins! Other people don’t! We also have NZ BatChamps, an update on Andre Greipel‘s surgery, and the amazing story of Stig Broeckx. Plus lots of gruppetto gifs! Go go go!
The POWER mullet!
BatChamps! Like Samson, the mullet gives him POWER! Big congrats to Shane Archbold, who scuppered George Bennett‘s 45km breakaway to his first New Zealand national champion’s jersey.
And this is how much it means
Impressive stat, this …
Is he back?
Freed from the three-pronged attacks of Movistar, Nairo Quintana seems to come out of the blocks pretty snappily.
We always knew Quintana could make attacks like this but, in the past few years, he’s always been half-hearted at best. Looks like the Arkea jersey has given him the confidence boost he’s needed to make the attack stick.
Bold predictions considering it’s a win in February but he’s certainly someone to keep our eyes on this season.
A more measured response. (BTW it’s spelled truncated)
Previously, on an earlier stage
Now THAT’s a jersey
Get well soon
Cycling is a dangerous sport, as we all know. Andre Greipel is out for months after a bad crash, but luckily his surgery went well and he’s on the mend.
Here is Greipel’s teammate Rory Sutherland on his first ride back from serious injury.
Two years ago, Stig Broeckx was catastrophically injured when two motos crashed into the peloton in the Tour of Belgium. After doctors literally brought him back from the dead, he was in a coma, and his family was told that he would never recover as he was in a vegetative state. They refused to believe that and fought to have him transferred to a ground-breaking coma treatment centre in Liege. And now … he’s able to send us this film. Read the entire Guardian article here to find out more about the Belgian neurologist whose work has helped Stig as well as many other patients.
The gruppetto
Don’t look back, Andy.
The ‘dis gif game sets the bar high …
… but the hips don’t lie
I second this. Love the last one!
In case you were wondering what happened to Big Tam – this does not sound fun. (Is that another way of saying tapeworms?)
Shiny happy people … >syncopated claps< (Get a load of that crowd!)
Everybody – sing along! ‘Throw your love around!’
Throwin’ the Oakleys
Julian Alaphilippe giving it everything he’s got – although I think the slow-motion, underwater sound for most of this video is overegging it a bit.
‘Pardonne-moi … while I barf over this barrier’
I guess this is one way for Movistar to always be on the top step
Jungels! BOB JUNGELS! has taken quite a shine to Colombia – these South American races are starting to attract a lot of attention and rightly so.
Karl Reijnen gives a surprising answer to the question ‘what’s your favourite food before a race’.
Some cobbley maintenance for April … Can.Not.Wait #Roubaix!
Truly gorgeous