Tour de France lead

Unwelcome incidents frustrate Team Sky as Froome seeks to maintain his Tour de France lead

 July 19, 2015   John Welsh

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It has been quite an eventful week for Team Sky at the 2015 Tour de France. There have been allegations of hacking into the training data of the team amid accusations of doping within the camp while Richie Porte has also claimed to have been punched by a spectator. Then on Saturday’s stage to the […]

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Froome overwhelms his Tour de France

Froome overwhelms his Tour de France rivals during first day in Pyrenees

 July 14, 2015   John Welsh

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The first serious mountain stage in any Tour de France is normally the day in which the pre-race favourites test each other with bursts of acceleration and counter-attacks during the final kilometres. During action often resembling a game of chess or poker as increases in pace are followed by deliberate slowdowns, one rider usually claims […]

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Tour de France

Froome retains Tour de France lead after Team Time Trial with the mountain stages next on the agenda

 July 12, 2015   John Welsh

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During a first week of crashes, several misfortunes and a great deal of thrilling action, Chris Froome will enter the mountain stages of the 2015 Tour de France with a 12 second lead over BMC rider Tejay van Garderen after a team time trial on Sunday which tested the resolve of many of the riders […]

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Tony Martin leads the Tour de France

Tony Martin leads the Tour de France after a few days of mixed fortunes for the favourites

 July 8, 2015   John Welsh

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German time trial specialist Tony Martin now leads the Tour de France after four days of fairly intensive riding for the peleton in which one or two of the pre-race favourites fared better than others. Martin managed to escape from the leading group of riders with just a few kilometres remaining in Tuesday’s difficult stage […]

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Tour de France action

Froome and Contador benefit from early Tour de France action but difficult days await

 July 5, 2015   John Welsh

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There was a time when the opening week of the Tour de France was geared more for the sprinters as the contenders for overall victory were generally satisfied to be finishing in the middle of a closely grouped peleton on the flat stages. Individual time trials plus the mountain stages in the Pyrenees and Alps […]

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Chris Froome

Chris Froome secures a second Criterium du Dauphine victory but the Tour de France will be a greater challenge

 June 16, 2015   John Welsh

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With the Tour de France due to start in less than three weeks, 2013 winner Chris Froome ended his serious racing preparation for the event by claiming victory in the Criterium du Dauphine staged in the French Alps, a race which he also won prior to claiming his solitary Tour de France success. Although the […]

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Chris Froome

A difficult week for Chris Froome in Catalonia as Richie Porte prospers

 March 30, 2015   John Welsh

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Richie Porte claimed another victory for Team Sky on Sunday when winning the Volta a Catalunya with Spain’s Alejandro Valverde finishing four seconds behind in the overall classification after leading home a group of riders in the last of the seven stages around Barcelona. However, the event was particularly noted for the contrasting fortunes of […]

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Tour de France

2015 Tour de France route cannot be described as a lap of the country

 October 23, 2014   John Welsh

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The French word ‘Tour’ translates to a ‘Lap’ in English but the course for the 2015 Tour de France can certainly not be described as a lap of that country. It is fair to say that Belgium, Netherlands, the North coast and southern France are the only regions visited with Bordeaux and western area completely […]

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Quintana

Froome shows sign of weakness as Quintana leads Vuelta

 September 1, 2014   John Welsh

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For the first week of the 2014 Vuelta a Espana, most of the pre-race favourites were quite content to ride alongside each other with only Thursday’s stage to La Zubia producing any indication of which rider may have arrived in Spain with decent form. However, the summit finish at the ski resort of Valdelinaires provided […]

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Vuelta a Espana

Valverde leads Vuelta a Espana as the favourites show their form

 August 29, 2014   John Welsh

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After six stages of the 2014 Vuelta a Espana, all 198 cyclists remain in the field which is an unusual occurrence for the opening week of a Grand Tour but the first real mountain test on Thursday did produce the expected gaps in the field with the favourites moving to the front of the general […]

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