Takeaways from the Early-year Interlude
We are two weeks into February and still, two long weeks remain until March, the month of Paris-Nice and Tirreno-Adriatico, Milano-San Remo and Gent Wevelgem. Until then, a few notes about the past several weeks in the peloton. We may not have had any WorldTour contests to follow, but the gap between the Tour Down Under and the spring classics is not entirely without action, much of it offering a fine glimpse into early season form for some big names.
Orica-GreenEdge followed up their Tour Down Under victory with an overall win at the Jayco Herald Sun Tour, with Simon Clarke nabbing GC honors. Teammate Simon Gerrans also found himself in the top 10; if he can maintain this sort of form into next month, he’ll be a strong contender to nab Monument number 2 in San Remo. Meanwhile, Avanti’s Jack Haig, winner of the young rider’s jersey at the Tour Down Under, nabbed the final spot on the Herald Sun Tour podium; the 20 year old is making a name for himself, taking his opportunities when they’ve come. Garmin-Sharp’s Nathan Haas (5th in the Tour Down Under) continued to show off his talent with another top 5 performance. He’s a pleasant surprise for Garmin early in 2014, and it’s likely we’ll see the squad continue to give him chances as the year goes on.
The Asia Tour offered back to back races in the Arabian peninsula to start the month, both of them mostly flat affairs essentially decided in a single stage. Taylor Phinney’s time trial victory in the opening day of the Dubai Tour (an impressive win over Tony Martin, though perhaps less indicative of form than of changing windspeeds between their start times that day) gave him enough of a time gap to hold on for the overall through the end of the race; Marcel Kittel nabbed all three other stage victories with dominant sprints. It’s a good sign for the young German, who had a disappointing trip to Australia last month. In the subsequent Tour of Qatar, Niki Terpstra jumped ahead of the peloton on a crosswind-heavy first stage and hung on at the top for the rest of the week. His team dominated the Tour, with FIVE of their riders finishing in the top 10. The performance of one of those riders made a strong statement, especially after his frustrating, injury-riddled 2013: Tom Boonen nabbed two stage wins, 3rd overall, and the points classification in Qatar. It’s a good sign he’s back on track, though the Pro Continental level Tour of Qatar, in which main rival Fabian Cancellara was mostly just picking up some training miles, is not Paris-Roubaix. We’ll see if this form holds. Lotto-Belisol also had a fine Tour, with Andre Greipel nabbing a stage win and Jurgen Roelandts picking up 3rd overall. Arnaud Demare, looking to make a name for himself in the classics this year, took a fine stage victory on the final day. Perhaps a little more under-the-radar, Aidis Kruopis of Orica-GreenEdge and Sam Bennett of NetApp-Endura both had strong performances with a number of high placings at stage finishes.
On the Europe Tour, the four races of Vuelta a Mallorca went to Sacha Modolo, Sacha Modolo again, Michal Kwiatkowski, and Gianni Meersman. Francisco Ventoso and Francesco Gavazzi also had nice visits to the Spanish island, which is always a good place for all-rounders with fast finishes to show their stuff.
On a less positive note, Giacomo Nizzolo suffered a broken collarbone in a training crash this week and will likely be out for several weeks. Here’s hoping he makes a full recovery in time for some of the later classics of the year.
In other news, it’s been ten years since the death of Il Pirata, Tour de France and Giro d’Italia winner Marco Pantani, who stood on multiple Grand Tour podiums and won over a dozen Grand Tour stages in his colorful career before his untimely death. So many riders at the top of today’s peloton were teenagers when Pantani won his yellow jersey, and his famously aggressive style made a big impact on many of them. His well-documented usage of various substances is a reminder of a low point for the sport, but while time can only tell whether those same problems still live on, watch many of today’s elite climbers vaunt out of the saddle on an all-out attack up an Alpine slope and you’ll see Pantani’s athletic influence alive and well.
The Tour Mediterranean heads into the mountains this weekend. Not long after, the Tour of Oman kicks off in Suwayq and the Volta ao Algarve begins in Faro, Portugal. Only a few more weeks of Continental level racing remain before the spring’s biggest races. Keep an eye out for more at VeloHuman, and be ready for a March (and beyond) full of previews.
-Dane Cash
Photo by Mark Swallow.