Spin Cycle is Escape Collective’s news digest, published every Monday and Friday. You can read it on this website (obviously) or click here to have it delivered straight to your inbox.
Hello!
Welcome back to Spin Cycle,
A lot has happened since we last dropped into your inbox just a few days ago. Unsavoury characters were doing unsavoury things at Mathieu van der Poel's expense at E3, while at the finish line Filippo Ganna very much enjoyed his podium beer.
Primož Roglič was also on the podium in Catalunya, but making friends instead of drinking, while Juan Ayuso got a whack in the face for his trouble.
Not as much trouble as one rider, however, who nearly missed the start of Gent-Wevelgem after getting locked in his hotel room just hours before the start ...
Gent-Wevel-get me out of here! 🔐
Your name is Jules Hesters, a 26-year-old pro for Flanders-Baloise, born in Gent, going to sleep the night before your home race of Gent-Wevelgem.
You're at the team hotel instead of in your own bed, as that's just the done thing really, but when you wake up and find yourself locked in, you start to question the reasoning behind how things have always been done.
The door was completely jammed, so his team had to get a ladder and hoist it up to his window, rescuing him in time for the start.
"We have been awake since 7am", Hesters later told Sporza. "We were trapped in the hotel room, so we had to use a ladder to get down. Instead of three double espressos, we only needed one to wake up today."
Unfortunately, he DNFed Sunday's race, which is a shame, but he was probably glad to just be out of that hotel room as a free man.
Of course, Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) and Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime) emerged victorious from Gent-Wevelgem. Remember the 'Monner' concoction containing broccoli and Monster Energy drink that Mads Pedersen says is key to his performance? Turns out the exact recipe is a closely guarded secret, cycling's equivalent to Colonel Sanders' 11 herbs and spices if you will. But whatever it is, it definitely works if it allows you to pull off a 56 km solo move at a Classic like Gent-Wevelgem.
Lock this man up in a hotel room (or prison) instead and throw away the key 😡
On the left of your screen, witness the man dressed all in black spitting at Mathieu van der Poel as he speeds past en route to victory in Friday's E3 Saxo Classic.
Disgraceful, disgusting, lock him up and throw away the key.
Thankfully, Van der Poel didn't realise what had happened but was informed afterwards, telling Sporza: "Those people are better off not coming to watch the race."
Local police later told Het Laatste Nieuws they'd opened an investigation into the incident.
"We want to send a clear message that we absolutely do not tolerate this kind of act," the deputy chief of Ronse police, Hans Haustraete, said. "People who can help us identify the man in the picture can always contact our services."
Van der Poel's ire was maybe reserved instead for those in the race who had driven the pace at the front after a crash caused a split in the peloton, forcing the Dutchman to chase back on: "It's not fair play to go full gas after a crash where more than half of the bunch is blocked," the eventual winner said afterwards.
Roglič makes more podium friends 🤝
Nope, that's not Australian Senator Pauline Hanson (thankfully) with Primož Roglič on the final podium of the Volta a Catalunya after a thrilling last stage in which he beat UAE Team Emirates' Juan Ayuso to clinch the overall.
As Iain Treloar reliably informed me overnight (if you didn't know he is the world's foremost expert in cycling mascots): "She is the mascot of La Grossa – a scratch card of the Loteries de Catalunya. 'It’s a traditional folk character in summer festivities in Catalonia. Almost all the villages in Catalonia have this kind of character, called capgrossos (big heads). She tours during some months all over the territory and is played by three different actresses.'"
Maybe we haven't been paying close enough attention over the past few years, but the Volta a Catalunya has really stepped up its podium ceremonies. They've got their priorities sorted.
Feed Zone 🥖
🤕 Having initially followed Mads Pedersen's attack at Gent-Wevelgem, Olav Kooij (Visma-Lease a Bike) then fell and broke his collarbone, only a few week's out from the main focus of his season, the Giro d'Italia. On Sporza's post-race show, analysts Greg Van Avermaet and Sep Vanmarcke stated the fall was Kooij's own fault, which should make him feel better about everything.
🐂 Lotto's Arnaud De Lie abandoned Gent-Wevelgem and has now had the Tour of Flanders removed from his schedule. Lotto's sports manager Kurt Van de Wouwer told Wielerflits they are working to get to the bottom of De Lie's problems and hoping to reset ahead of other goals this season like the Belgian national championships and the Tour de France.
👶 44-year-old Tom Boonen and his partner Wiebeke De Wachter are expecting a child, the couple announced on Instagram.
🐝 Wout van Aert was faster than both Mads Pedersen and Filippo Ganna up the Oude Kwaremont during E3, and only 10 seconds slower than Van der Poel, journalist Jonas Creteur has estimated.
🌬️ Only 25 km of the Volta a Catalunya's stage six – the route already amended due to high winds – was raced after the peloton put its foot down, much to the disappointment of the race organiser who said "some riders" showed a "lack of respect" for the race, the organisers and the region. Kit Nicholson has more on the story here.
🇮🇹 Ben Tulett (Visma-Lease a Bike) won the overall at Settimana Internazionale Coppi e Bartali while Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates) took two stages.
🩻 Eddy Merckx (79) underwent a further hip operation last weekend in order to properly attach the titanium prosthesis that was put in after his fall while riding at the end of last year.
Buffalo forever 🐃
A fitting tribute to The Cycling Podcast's Richard Moore on the roads of Gent-Wevelgem on Sunday, three years after the celebrated journalist and author passed away suddenly. As Lionel Bernie explained on Instagram, it was created by Friends of the Podcast Charlotte, Stacy and Tom.
Cycling on TV 📺
Tuesday April 1st
No live racing ...
Wednesday April 2nd
Dwars door Vlaanderen - Men
(08:15-11:15 ET/13:15-16:15 GMT/23:15-02:15 AEDT) 🇬🇧TNT Sports, 🇺🇸 🇨🇦FloBikes, 🇦🇺Staylive
Dwars door Vlaanderen - Women
(10:00-12:15 ET/15:00-17:15 GMT/01:00-03:15 AEDT) 🇬🇧TNT Sports, 🇺🇸🇨🇦FloBikes
Thursday April 3rd
No live racing ...
Friday April 4th
Route Adélie de Vitré
(08:00-10:00 ET/13:00-15:00 GMT/23:00-01:00 AEDT) 🇬🇧TNT Sports, 🇨🇦FloBikes
🤦♂️ Cycling safety intervention of the week 🤦♂️
Oh the delicious irony of a member of staff with the race organisation at Catalunya waving for arriving riders to slow down after the finish only to inadvertently whack Juan Ayuso right in the face. Just what he needed after a frustrating final stage in which he lost the race lead.
And finally ...
Yep, Filippo is Ganna drink the whole thing. Watch him look sideways at Van der Poel after doing it, so proud of himself, hoping for some form of congratulations.
At least he had just a regular measure on the E3 podium, we couldn't expect Mathieu van der Poel to down his massive one, and so he gave it to the crowd. A veteran and classy move. Sun's out, podium beers are back, rejoice!
🧺 Send us yer laundry pics
"I saw this laundry in old town Nice at the weekend and thought it’d be handy," writes in Nick Blake, attaching today's featured laundrette.
As always, we are accepting your laundry photos (especially ones with the doors open so we can Photoshop riders inside the drum) to star in Spin Cycle. Either send them via the Discord or shoot me an email: [email protected]
Until next time …
That’s all folks! Thanks to Nick Blake, Iain Treloar and Matt de Neef for contributions to today’s edition and a big thank you to all of you who have signed up as Escape Collective members.
If you've been enjoying this newsletter then please consider signing up to support us and enjoy all the paywalled content of the wider Escape Collective universe. Go on, just click this link here.
Did we do a good job with this story?
