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Hello!
Welcome back to Spin Cycle, Escape Collective’s news digest.
We’re now in the witching hour between the Classics and the Giro d’Italia, a time to catch our breath … oh no wait, the Vuelta Femenina kicks off this weekend. Well done to the organisers of that race for managing to find the one lull in the calendar.
Anyway, this week we’ve got Pidcock in formalwear, Julian Alaphilippe displaying possibly the shortest memory of any man to have walked this Earth, a return of Jumbo to cycling, and a special treat for those who make it all the way to the final item. Even if you’ve seen it already, it’s impossible not to enjoy it all over again.
Arise, Sir Thomas of Pidcock
Arise, Sir Thomas of Pidcock. No really, wakey wakey sunshine. You appeared on the New Year Honours List 27 months ago back in 2022 and only now have you actually chucked a suit on to go and pick up the MBE for your gold medal at the Tokyo Olympic Games.
Considering fellow Tokyo 2021 cycling recipient Matthew Walls picked his up back in December 2022, Pidcock’s wait must have felt longer than watching (men’s) Liège-Bastogne-Liège from start to finish. What was the hold up? Maybe when he missed the chance to get it given to him by the Queen (RIP ma’am), he thought what’s the point, I’ll get it when I get it. Instead, he got to shake the hand of the Queen’s only daughter, Princess Anne, who if she hadn’t been born directly into a vat of unearned wealth, looks like she’d have made a living as an overly strict school teacher.
Anyway, if you’re blessed to hail from a bootlick-free nation with capital-F Freedom, here’s some info on knighthoods and UK honours, if you need some help falling asleep tonight.
But congrats on the MBE, Tom. And we’re big fans of brown shoes with a navy suit, appropriate attire for both meeting the royal family and getting into a scrap down Slug & Lettuce on a Saturday afternoon after the races.
Should he stay or should he go? (He should probably go)
The expectation was, well … so long ago that it’s hard to remember, that Julian Alaphilippe would be leaving Soudal – Quick Step when his contract ends in December. The fact is the Frenchman has struggled for the form that brought him two rainbow jerseys, two weeks in the yellow jersey, and multiple other major victories.
Therefore, Soudal – Quick Step boss Patrick Lefevere has had buyer’s remorse for well over a year by this point, having handed Alaphilippe a big, stonking contract in 2021 when he was still at the height of his powers.
With his celebrity and pedigree still very valuable to teams from a marketing perspective, as well as the hope he re-finds his previous sparkling form, the big French teams have begun circling. TotalEnergies seem to be the frontrunner, having already made contact, while Cofidis have said they’d also be interested.
Lefevere’s not done with the mind games/negotiation tactics/whatever you want to call it just yet, however. Having publicly lambasted one of his star riders for months now, the boss says it’s not out of the question that Alaphilippe could sign a new deal for his team! What!
“I see that you guys know more than I do but I’ve not spoken to his agent in weeks, but Julian I saw at Flanders, so I know he’s at Romandie, and then I’ll be at the start of the Giro d’Italia and then we’ll see,” Lefevere told GCN. “Last year they said there was interest from Total but it was never concrete, so we’ll see.
“Maybe for him it’s time for a new challenge but there are always two at the table. I don’t know but from the CEO of the team, I know that his agent says that he wants to talk. As far as I know, talking is free. Time changes. Maybe he has to look but I really don’t think that’s what he wants. I really think he wants to stay but I won’t speak before my turn because if I say something it’s misunderstood. He’s part of the family. Okay sometimes we have a discussion and it’s blown up but that’s family. If you’re married, not every day is peace.”
Maybe Alaphilippe enjoys being criticised by his employer in the media? Or isn’t ready to give up his lifetime supply of Quick-Steps? Maybe he just doesn’t want to become a cardboard cut-out at a motorway service station.
Feed Zone 🥖
🇲🇽 Isaac del Toro was already contracted to UAE Team Emirates until the end of 2026, but the Mexican 20-year-old has inked a new deal until 2029 to make him the rider in the peloton with the longest contract.
💪 Wout van Aert has said he is “almost professional again” in terms of his level of riding as he returns to outdoor training following his Dwars door Vlaanderen crash.
🇨🇴 Nairo Quintana will ride the upcoming Giro d’Italia with a view to stage hunting rather than competing for a good placing in the general classification.
🍫 Marc Hirschi is off to Tudor Pro Cycling next year, according to Het Laatste Nieuws, although Gazzetta dello Sport reports his current squad UAE Team Emirates and Q36.5 are still chasing his signature too.
🇫🇷 Cofidis boss Cédric Vasseur has told GCN he’d also like to sign Julian Alaphilippe but will only do so if the former world champion is still able to perform, saying he wants to avoid a Peter Sagan/TotalEnergies scenario. Meow.
✍️ Jai Hindley has signed a new contract keeping him with Bora-Hansgrohe beyond this year, although the length of the new deal has not been specified. When asked about the duration of the contract, Bora-Hansgrohe told us: “All rider contracts include a confidentiality clause that prevents each party from publishing contract details. The team’s position is that the duration of contracts belongs to such details and therefore we are not publishing it (and never did in the past).”
🤕 Following his surprise victory in the Tour de Romandie’s prologue, Tudor’s Maikel Zijlaard fell and broke his elbow during the second stage of the race, which was won by Lidl-Trek’s Thibau Nys, the young Belgian’s first professional road victory.
🇮🇹 Giro d’Italia squads are starting to be announced. 🇬🇧Ineos Grenadiers: Thomas, Ganna, Narváez, Arensman, Sheffield, Foss, C. Swift, B.Swift. 🇦🇪UAE Team Emirates rumoured line-up (according to Gazzetta dello Sport): Pogačar, Majka, Großschartner, Bjerg, Novak, Oliveira, Molano. Laengen.
🇺🇿 The squads for the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift have been announced. Tashkent City is the surprise inclusion, and our Dane Cash has the story here.
🤩 Remco Evenepoel rode 100 km in his first outdoor ride since his Basque Country crash. “On my way back,” he captioned his Strava post.
✌️ “Pogačar must have enough energy left after the Giro for the Tour,” UAE Team Emirates boss Mauro Gianetti told Wielerflits this week, putting in plain, on the record terms his rider’s goal of doing the Grand Tour double this year.
💰 Florian Vermeersch hasn’t been sitting around doing nothing whilst waiting for his broken leg to heal. Het Laatste Nieuws reports he’s close to agreeing a move to UAE Team Emirates next year.
🐂 Arnaud De Lie will return to competition at the Famenne Ardenne Classic this weekend, with Lotto Dstny telling HLN the Tour de France is still not a certainty for the rider.
📋 A big thank you to everyone who filled in the Spin Cycle survey from last week, your answers were very informative, insightful and will help us get better. Will give it another nudge here in case you missed it.
Cycling on TV 📺
Saturday April 27th
Tour of Turkey – Stage 7
(05:30-07:30 ET/10:30-12:30 BST/19:30-21:30 AEST) 🇬🇧Eurosport/Discovery+, 🇺🇸🇨🇦FloBikes
Tour de Romandie – Stage 4
(08:00-10:15 ET/13:00-15:15 BST/22:00-00:15 AEST) 🇬🇧Eurosport/Discovery+, 🇺🇸🇨🇦FloBikes
Sunday April 28th
Tour of Turkey – Stage 8
(04:00-06:30 ET/09:00-11:30 BST/18:00-20:30 AEST) 🇬🇧Eurosport/Discovery+, 🇺🇸🇨🇦FloBikes
Tour de Romandie – Stage 5
(08:00-10:15 ET/13:00-15:15 BST/22:00-00:15 AEST) 🇬🇧Eurosport/Discovery+, 🇺🇸🇨🇦FloBikes
Famenne Ardenne Classic
(08:20-11:15 ET/13:20-16:15 BST/22:20-01:15 AEST) 🇬🇧Eurosport/Discovery+
La Vuelta Femenina – Stage 1
(09:45-11:45 ET/14:45-16:45 BST/23:45-01:45 AEST) 🇬🇧Eurosport/Discovery+, 🇺🇸Peacock, 🇨🇦FloBikes
Monday April 29th
La Vuelta Femenina – Stage 2
(09:45-11:45 ET/14:45-16:45 BST/23:45-01:45 AEST) 🇬🇧Eurosport/Discovery+, 🇺🇸Peacock, 🇨🇦FloBikes
Jumbo are back in cycling (kinda … not really) of the week 😲
Consider my surprise when scrolling Twitter’s algorithmic nightmare that tells me how I should be doing cold tubs, cold calls, meal prep, basically living a miserable existence in pursuit of … something … I come across a photo of a group of cyclists sporting Jumbo jerseys.
Surely the scandal-ridden supermarket chain has not returned to lift the spirits of the cycling squad currently hampered by injuries and key staff departing for the cloak and dagger world of professional football?
Nope, this is the ice skating team formerly known as Jumbo-Visma out training, except Visma have now pulled out of their sponsorship, meaning they now simply go by: Team Jumbo Ice.
Sounds like something being spun around in a small plastic tank on the counter of a 7-Eleven.
And finally …
With the Classics season over, Belgium has turned its attention back to what to do with the other 300 days in the year.
Turns out, one of the answers is to host the European Championship Gull Screeching competition, which is held annually (this year in the coastal town of De Panne) “in an attempt to change the image of seagulls, which some people see as a nuisance”.
Well, a nine-year-old British schoolboy called Cooper Wallace (I don’t know … a surname as a first name? Sounds American to me …) won the competition, donning a seagull costume and lunging at some chips as he performed the most complete gull impression the world has probably ever seen.
Look, I know it’s not really cycling related … at all, but I can’t get this video out of my head. And anyway, give this kid an MBE! He can pluck it out of King Charles’ sausage-y fingers.
🧺 Send us yer laundry pics
“My first submission,” writes in Geoff Liu, attaching today’s laundrette photo, who you may remember as the snapper who caught the Desolé Marion man in the act. “Right by my Airbnb in London. Complete with rubbish in front.”
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 Kit Nicholson and Geoff Liu for contributions to today’s edition and a big thank you to all of you who have signed up already as Escape Collective founding members. If you haven’t there is no time like the present. To smooth the process just click this link here and hit the Join Today button in the top right of the page.
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