Author Archives: rdalto

Recap of stage 9 of the 2021 Giro D’Italia featuring over 3,000m of climbing and a finish on a gravel ramp in the final 1.6km to Campo Felice, another test for the climbers with an opportunity for more separations in the General Classification and a chance for the Maglia Rosa to change shoulders.

Recap of stage 6 of the 2021 Giro d’Italia Grotte de Frasassi to Ascoli Piceno, another rainy low mountain stage similar to stage 4. It would be a day where Bahrain is out for redemption after losing Mikel Landa and the GC contenders would continue to make small gains in the overall classification.

A rainy stage 4 of the Giro D’Italia would be a hard day in the saddle but brings about opportunity for a breakaway rider and shakeups in General Classification. A breakdown of the stage, the winners and losers, and implications going forward.

Stage 3 of the Giro d’Italia looked like a hard but attainable day for the sprinters who could make it over a Cat 3 and two Cat 4 climbs before the flat finale. A full breakdown of how the stage played out which had folks like Peter Sagan, Giacomo Nizzolo, Tim Merlier and Caleb EwanContinue reading “Giro d’Italia Stage 3 Recap”

A recap of stage 2 of the 2021 Giro d’Italia, the first shot for the sprinters to take a win with favorites including Caleb Ewan, Peter Sagan, Tim Merlier, Dylan Groenewegan, Fernando Gaviria and Elia Viviani. A breakdown of the stage, the sprint, and a look ahead to a bumpy day for the sprinters onContinue reading “Giro d’Italia Stage 2 Recap”

Recap of the Giro d’Italia stage 1 Individual Time Trial (ITT). Filippo Ganna was the heavy favorite, but whether he won or lost most eyes are on the GC favorites to see if we could get early signs of form from the likes of Egan Bernal, Simon Yates, and Remco Evenepoel who returns for hisContinue reading “Giro d’Italia Stage 1 Recap”

A race preview of all the teams and contenders for the 2021 Giro d’Italia starting May 8th. Review of the sprinters contending for the Maglia Ciclamino and the General Classification riders aiming for the Maglia Rosa.

A race preview of all the teams and contenders for the 2021 Giro d’Italia. Review of the sprinters contending for the Maglia Ciclamino and the General Classification riders aiming for the Maglia Rosa.

A recap of the rained on, crash marred Tour de Romandie which further separated the riders who are showing their form ahead of the Giro, and even the Tour. A stage by stage recap and analysis of notable riders.

Recap of Liege Bastogne Liege. The third monument of the 2021 season!

A full recap of the 2021 Amstel Gold Mens Race and a nod to Mark Cavendish’s 4 wins in the Presidential Tour of Turkey.

Mark Cavendish, the Manx Missile, returns to winning for the first time since 2018 hitting the line first in stage two of the Tour of Turkey. Amazing to see!

The first head to head battle of Primoz Roglic and Tadej Pogacar would be on the roads of the Basque Country in Spain. Would it be a battle of the Slovenians or would they be upset by the strength of the Ineos squad featuring Giro Champion Tao Geoheganhart, Adam Yates and Richie Carapaz? A fullContinue reading “Itzulia Tour of the Basque Country Race Recap”

The 2021 Tour of Flanders, De Ronde Van Vlaanderen was anticipated to be a repeat showdown between the three super favorites of Mathieu Van der Poel, Wout van Aert and Julian Alaphilippe but with teams having strength in numbers there may be a number of combinations of tactics that could be deployed to upset expectationContinue reading “Tour of Flanders Race Recap & Analysis”

Tour of Flanders “De Rhone” is the second Monument of the 2021 season and with Flanders being the host of the 2021 UCI World Championships, all the heavy hitters will be out looking for glory on the roads. There are two riders who will be particularly hungry to avenge the loss the Mathieu Van derContinue reading “2021 Tour of Flanders Preview, Dwars & Nacer Bouhanni”

Just over 5 months from the 2020 edition of Gent Wevelgem the sprinters were biting for the chance to add a win in Flanders to their palmares. Unfortunately the cycling gods were not smiling on everyone as positive covid tests came back for staff on the Bora Hansgrohe and Trek Segafredo teams resulting in themContinue reading “Gent Wevelgem Race Recap”

Catalunya had electric racing, mountaintop finishes and the feeling of the Vuelta. A full breakdown of the results and what we learned about the teams and riders including Adam Yates, Richie Porte, Geraint Thomas, Chris Froome, Lennard Kamna, Sepp Kuss, Esteban Chaves, Michael Woods and more!

E3 Saxobank had clear favorites with MVDP and WVA standouts given their skills on the roads of Belgium but many men had their sights set on the win today and the Deceuninck Quickstep was not going to give up lightly. A full breakdown and recap of the race. Then switching to what that means forContinue reading “E3 Saxobank recap & Gent Wevelgem race preview”

E3 is to the Tour of Flanders what the Dauphine is to the Tour de France. Covering many of the same hills and cobbles, 7 of the last 20 winners of E3 have gone on to win the Tour of Flanders. Here’s a breakdown of the race, its 54 year history, and the favorites, whichContinue reading “E3 Saxobank Classic Race Preview”

Jasper Stuyven raced 15 monuments without a podium before taking the victory and top step at Milan Sanremo, twice a Classics winner he has etched his name into history. His gutsy attack with 2km to go was probably his only shot to hold off both the races favorites of Wout van Aert, Mathieu van derContinue reading “Jasper Stuyven writes his name in history at Milan Sanremo”

Milan Sanremo is the first Monument of 2021. What is a monument? We run through a bit of a history lesson of Monuments, Classics and Milan Sanremo itself. Then a full breakdown of who the favorites based on what history, the bookies, the fans, and I think based on what we’ve seen this year includingContinue reading “Milan Sanremo 2021 Race Preview, Predictions…and what is a Monument anyway?”

Tadej Pogacar bested the bunch at Tirreno Adriatico winning the critical Prati de Tivo on stage 4 and finishing 5th on stage 5 to build a buffer off Wout van Aert. Wout won two stages including a bunch sprint and the stage 7 ITT. Mathieu Van der Poel showed his strength on the punchy stageContinue reading “Tadej Pogacar dominates Tirreno Adriatico. Race recap and Analysis.”

Primoz Roglic absolutely dominated Paris Nice, winning three stages and entered the final day with a 52 second lead over last years winner Max Schachmann. But two crashes and a bike change had Roglic caught out and when the Peloton sensed blood in the water it was a frantic race to the finish. Roglic workedContinue reading “Roglic crashes off Paris Nice Podium. Schachmann wins.”

The tour of two seas has an absolutely stacked field in 2021 featuring the last three Tour de France champions, current world champion, and the best of the Peloton across all disciplines. There’s something for everyone as the top GC guys battle it out including Egan Bernal, Geraint Thomas, Simon Yates, Tadej Pogacar, Sergio Higuita,Continue reading “Tirreno-Adriatico Race Preview & Predictions”

The first Dutchman to do it, Mathieu van der Poel wins Strade Bianche, simply outclassing the worlds best cyclists and dismantling the race through a series of attacks at key moments. MVDP and Julian Alaphilippe proved to have the best legs on the day seeming to always have an edge even on the elite leadContinue reading “MVDP drops the worlds best at Strade Bianche & Paris-Nice Preview”

Get your Chianti ready we are heading to Tuscany! A classic battle for the ages with a stacked field heading into this Saturdays showdown, the first between Mathieu van der Poel and Wout Van Aert since Cyclocross worlds, this time with Wout being the defending champion of the race. They will have their work cutContinue reading “Strade Bianche Race Preview”

Tadej Pogacar reminds us all that he needs to be feared, executing a flawless UAE tour en route to victory. Ineos shows us how they will (or will not) be racing differently this year. And Deceuninck Quickstep puts on a masterclass in leadouts, both in the sand at UAE where Sam Bennett won two stagesContinue reading “Pogacar rules the UAE tour, Ballerini wins again”

Will Barta nearly upended the stage 13 ITT at the 2020 Vuelta, finishing 2nd and just one second behind Primoz Roglic. This success was in part what led him to sign with EF Education-NIPPO for the 2021 season. Will talks about life in France, his recovery from an offseason injury, and most importantly…what to eatContinue reading “A discussion with Will Barta of EF Education-NIPPO”

Davide Ballerini takes two in Tour de la Provence and nearly makes it a third. Sosa runs away with the title atop Mont Ventoux and Phil Bauhaus is victorious for Bahrain Victorious (and we were not sure how many times we’d say that this season). Alaphilippe was all over the roads and one of theContinue reading “Ballerini is ballin in Provence”

Four days we have waited for all winter as we see the debut of world champion Julian Alaphilippe alongside a stacked Deceuninck Quickstep team and long list of strong sprinters and GC contenders. The four stages will bring opportunities for everyone with punchy stages, a trip to Ventoux and a straight sprint into Provence onContinue reading “Tour de la Provence – Race Preview”

Tim Wellens wins the Étoile de Bessèges thanks to his decisive win from the breakaway on stage 3 and solid stage 5 ITT. A review of each stage and notable takeaways about Wellens, Christoph Laporte, Egan Bernal, Filippo Ganna and Greg Van Avermaet. The supertuck is cancelled! Outlawed by the UCI, a summary of yourContinue reading “W is for Wellens, Supertuck is Cancelled, and COVID strikes the hulk”

The podium at this years Étoile de Bessèges will look quite a bit different from last year as the typically quiet French opener gets an influx of world class talent following the cancellation of races in Spain and Portugal. Ineos leads the charge with a team including Thomas, Bernal, Kwiatkowski, and Ganna while other headlinersContinue reading “Étoile de Bessèges Race Preview”

An orange crush in Belgium as the Dutch sweep all 4 cyclocross championship races in Ostend this weekend. Mathieu van der Poel wins his 4th title, outlasting Wout Van Aert who finished 2nd. Wout looked a bit frustrated heading into the finish and its no surprise as he finished a frustrating 2nd in the worldContinue reading “MVDP reigns supreme”

Bad signs for racing as the Volta ao Algarve is canceled ahead of the Feb 17th start, a bad omen for the race calendar in neighboring Spain which is meant to start in Valencia the first week of Feb. Looking further ahead, teams are stacking up for the TDF with more firepower in the pelotonContinue reading “Reasons for concern and why the TDF is already getting hot!”

We have heard a lot about races NOT going off, Tour down under, San Juan, Tour of Colombia…so which ones can we expect to mark the start of the 2021 road season? I outline what you can expect for the first two months of 2021 racing. We also review rider news coming from camps andContinue reading “Return to Racing 2021”

We have heard a lot about races NOT going off, Tour down under, San Juan, Tour of Colombia…so which ones can we expect to mark the start of the 2021 road season? I outline what you can expect for the first two months of 2021 racing. We also review rider news coming from camps andContinue reading “Return to Racing 2021”

I analyze the a few countries that underperformed in 2020 including Colombia, Spain and the Netherlands. I explain why Colombia will be the comeback country of the year in 2021 and why Spain shouldn’t have the same optimism. Also, will Marc Hirschi see even more success in 2021 with UAE than he did in 2020?Continue reading “Colombia – Comeback country of 2021”

A continuation of riders to watch in 2021 and a preview of the olympic road race and the potential inability of Tour de France riders to compete in Tokyo. Riders to watch covered include Benoit Cosnefroy, Peter Sagan, Daniel Martinez, Wout Van Aert, Nairo Quintana, Hugh Carthy, and Greg Van Avermaet.

In 2020 we saw riders fly beyond what we thought possible, fall flat, and break onto the scene. In this episode I breakdown the following riders and why we should keep an eye on them and what we can expect: Marc Hirschi, David Gaudu, Miguel Angel Lopez, Tom Dumoulin, Remco Evenopoel, Mark Cavendish, Arnaud Demare,Continue reading “Riders to watch for in 2021”

The offseason is the greatest opportunity to improve your team. While teams like Ineos, and Israel Startup Nation have taken full advantage we’ve seen teams like Ag2r try a whole new look for their team, while many others seem asleep at the switch! I breakdown the winners, and losers of the transfer market.

A breakdown of the top 6 teams of 2020. A lot goes into being a great team, including the types of races you compete for and how you deliver different results. Here are the rankings, I breakdown why each team earned the spot they have: Deceuninck – Quick Step UAE – Team Emirates Team Jumbo-VismaContinue reading “Breakdown of the top 6 teams of 2020”

We break down the top 10 unforgettable moments of the 2020 racing season.

We countdown the top 10 riders of 2020. Do you agree with this list? Post your thoughts on the instagram page. If you haven’t yet, please subscribe and rate the podcast!

Look ahead to stage 12 and the rest of the Vuelta. Looking back, stage 8 reminded us that we don’t need to be worried about Roglic, it was just a bad day and what it proved was that teams need a jacket tutorial, jacket training camp, like for Jai Hindely in the giro, jackets haveContinue reading “Roglic retakes Red and how the Vuelta will play out, riders protest, Wout wants green”

Michael Woods won no friends as he sat on for the last several KM of stage 7 at the Vuelta joined by Valverde, Guilliame Martin, Omar Fraile, and Nans Peters. An interview on the rest day with Sepp Kuss paints a more optimistic picture for Primoz Roglic who showed signs of cracks on stage 6Continue reading “EF is the first team to win in all three grand tours of 2020 – Woods takes stage 7 of the Vuelta.”

Tao Geoghegan Hart enters British cycling lore riding himself into the Maglia Rosa at the conclusion of the Giro in Milan. An incredible Giro for Ineos who won 7 stages and took the overall win. Sunweb flanked Tao taking 2nd and 3rd places overall as Kelderman gets his first grand tour podium finish of hisContinue reading “Geoghegan Hart enters British cycling lore, Vuelta blows up”

The Maglia Rosa competition is tied heading into the final stage for the first time in history. Geoghegan Hart and Hindley go into the final days time trial with a head to head battle for the jersey after going blow for blow on stage 20. It’s like deja vu all over again with these twoContinue reading “Maglia Rosa in a dead heat heading into Giro finale, crashes in the Vuelta GC”

The Maglia Rosa changes hands to Wilko Kelderman on the Stelvio as thepodium sorts itself out. Sunweb sit 1-2 with Kelderman leading and Hindley just12 seconds behind. Just another 3 seconds back, however, if Ineos Tao GeogheganHart who is hungry for more than just the third step on the podium. Somequestionable race tactics as SunwebContinue reading “Maglia Rosa changes hands on the Stelvio, Roglic holds red at La Vuelta”

A rundown of my predictions for who finishes in the top 10 positions in the General Classification in hopes of winning the yellow jersey at the Tour de France, as well as the next best 5 who are on the outside looking in. Here is my top 10 list, listen to hear why: Primoz RoglicContinue reading “Tour de France Preview: Top 10 GC Prediction”

A full spring of racing packed into two weeks. We cover the senseless crashes of Fabio Jakobsen, Remco Evenepoel, and Max Schachmann thanks to the UCI, crashes and injuries in the Peloton and then get onto the racing itself. Strade Bianchi, Milan Sanremo, Il Lombardia, Ventoux, Tour de l’ain, Volta a Burgos, Tour of Poland,Continue reading “Racing is back! Crashes, races, who’s up and who’s down, transfers, and fantasy Tour de France!”

UAE Tour canceled following the 5th stage after two Italian team staff members tested positive for the Coronavirus. What does this mean going forward and what did we learn from the stages that did transpire? Listen to find out!

We recap the big win for Remco Evenepoel. Give nods to Fernando Gaviria who appears to have found his form, take a look at American Brandon McNulty and start to, but not worry too much about the form of green machine Peter Sagan. In other occurrences, we pay homage to the fast start for TadejContinue reading “Recap: Vuelta a San Juan”