The 2021 edition of the Tour of Flanders saw such scintillating racing that it’s hard to imagine anything competing for attention. One thing has though: Michael Schar’s shock disqualification from the race. He was kicked off the race as a result of new UCI rules to prevent littering, which (as with the supertuck ban) came into effect at the start of the season but only became enforceable this month. The kicker? That the littering he was disqualified for was the act of tossing his empty bidon to a young fan at the side of the road while he rolled off…
Author: Harold Dalton
Harold Dalton
Cycling industry professional with over 14 years of experience in professional journalism, television, and industry writing.
♬ It’s the most wonderful time of the year ♬ This race needs no introduction. Hell, it’s probably your favorite race. 255km. 19 climbs. 17 cobbled sectors. Let’s do it. Where to Watch UK, Europe: Eurosport, GCN+USA: FloBikes, Fubo.tv, GCN+ (Highlights)Belgium: Een, Sporza, La Une, TipikAnd so on: Route Quiet for 100km or so, then every iconic hill in Flanders, one after the other. Just look at that list of climbs. Consider the second ascent of the Oude Kwaremont the point where it becomes important to start watching. Startlist 2021 Ronde van Vlaanderen startlist (external site) Ones to Watch *2020 winner* Mathieu van der Poel…
Move over Neuromancer and Wintermute, a super powerful Belgian AI has emerged on the scene to crash helicopters and plant enticing codes for human immortality inside ornate boxes predict bike races. Its prediction? That Mathieu van der Poel will win the Tour of Flanders. Did we need an AI to tell us that? The top five will look as follows: Mathieu van der PoelGreg Van AvermaetWout van AertOliver NaesenJasper Stuyven Which isn’t a terrible list, to be honest, but we’re finding it hard to imagine how Van Avermaet ends up between van der Poel and van Aert. How does it…
That’s a headline with a lot of US state names in it. Those Midwest states that you can only find on a map if you’ve ever eaten a bloomin’ onion or own a horse ranch. Utah and North Dakoto are the latest states to adopt the Idaho Stop law for cyclists. That means cyclists in those states can treat a stop sign as a yield/give way sign. The speeds and awareness of cycling make this quite safe, and having cyclists spend as little time at intersections/junctions as possible is crucial, as these are the places where almost all collisions occur.…
After a year of absence, Dwars door Vlaanderen returns on the last day of March. As the startlist has fallen into place with many top tier riders making the start in Roeselare, it promises to be a great 75th edition of the race. The next time we see Mathieu van der Poel, Wout van Aert, and Julian Alaphilippe race together will be… not here. It’ll be at Flanders on the weekend. The Belgian is skipping this year’s Dwars door Vlaanderen in order to focus on Flanders, and has saved us all from a ‘test run for the real event’ narrative.…
That top secret Cyclry merch is still top secret. But we’ve made something else to cynically cash in on the part of the venn diagram that’s into synthwave and despises Covid-19. Just a final cash grab before you all get your vaccines. With no further ado, here’s the CUCK FOVID mask. It’s very clever. Spoonersim of FUCK COVID, of course, but also allows you to walk around with the word ‘Cuck’ across your face. If you really are a cuck, that’s probably your fetish. Oh boy, have we made fetish gear? You can buy it for $10, or $8 in…
Headlining Vlaamse Wielerwiek (at least until the Ronde) is Gent-Wevelgem, The Wind Classic. It boasts illustrious winners such as Luca Paolini, Edvald Boasson Hagen, and Marcus Burghardt. Oh, ok, and Sagan, Boonen, Cipollini, Kelly, Moser, Hinault, Merckx… Yeah, it’s a good one. Sorry if we fooled you two sentences ago. Tough climbs and brutal weather combine to make this a difficult Belgian one-day race that’s perhaps undeserving of the connotations associated with being considered a sprinters’ classic. There are no easy rides in Gent-Wevelgem, and in 2015 only 39 riders finished the race. Where to Watch UK, Europe: Eurosport, GCN+USA: FloBikes,…
Not sure if this is really that newsworthy, but we did several years of Derailed, a magazine about the cycling media, so we might as well bang this one up on the site. Also we used to work with the person who secured these rights. He’s great. Discovery/Play Sports Group/Eurosport: if you’re reading this give him a pay rise. Ask him if he’s still got that elaborate pub he built in his shed too. You might be surprised to learn that the rights weren’t already secured, since the GCN-Eurosport dyad already broadcast Omloop Het Nieuwsblad this year (albeit after initially…