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
Image courtesy of RadioShack-Nissan
It is the ultimate compliment to a rider that his presence or absence from a race fundamentally changes its shape, affecting the tactics of all his main rivals to the point where they ride more to negate than they do to win. Arguably there are maybe only four or five riders among the current generation who command this ultimate level of fear and respect: Alberto Contador on the big climbs of the Grand Tours, Mark Cavendish in the sprints, the 2011 model Philippe Gilbert on punchy finishes such as the Ardennes Classics. And in the hard-man races which demand a combination of both physical and indomitable will-power: Fabian Cancellara. Continue reading