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Welcome back to Spin Cycle, Escape Collective’s news digest.
The Giro d’Italia got off to a rip-roaring start, thanks in no small part to a certain Slovenian.
Despite looking once again like the rider on a level way above all others, Tadej Pogačar should be celebrated for the fact his dominance will seemingly be conveyed this Giro in a manner that elicits excitement rather than deep, exhausted sighs.
Elsewhere, we had Tro Bro Léon over the weekend, and you know what that means: PIGS. Pigs for everyone. Apart from Marc Madiot; he’s already got his hands full of bidons.
Tro Bro Bácon 🥓
Usually, only the top-placed Breton rider is given a pig as a prize for winning the one-day French classic Tro Bro Léon in Brittany, but after the race organisers made a bet with Lotto Dstny’s Arnaud De Lie that if he won their race he would also receive a pig, and win the race he did, a pig therefore found its way into the arms of The Bull.
“I had my heart set on this,” said De Lie, who is also the son of a farmer.
In case you missed it, our Iain Treloar found himself, unsurprisingly, able to place himself into the mindset of a Tro Bro Léon pig. Whereas we’d prefer to just look at the cute photos and pretend for a second that the world is all good and fine and there’s nothing to be worried about. If that pig’s not worried (despite the fate it will eventually meat, we’re sorry to remind you), then what do you have to worry about?!
Catch me if you Pogacan 🏃
We all, obviously, knew deep down that Pogačar wouldn’t waste a second not having fun this Giro d’Italia, and by fun we mean putting the rest of the peloton to the sword as he does what he presumably enjoys doing most: winning.
We’re enjoying his evolution in this specific regard, however, as he now seems to cherry-pick a buddy for his exploits, maybe as a rebuff to accusations of dull dominance, as first Jhonatan Narvaez and then Geraint Thomas accompanied him up the road so they could feel what it was like getting a queue-jump ticket to the complete Tadej Pogačar experience.
His not-quite maglia rosa shorts caused quite the consternation on Monday morning before stage 3, with (deep breath) VF Group Bardiani-CSF Faizanè rubbing their eyes and questioning how they’d managed to seemingly start stage three with two wearers of the ciclamino jersey.
Alas, or maybe thankfully depending on your taste, the look was only a one-day thing. Gazzetta dello Sport explained the shorts were “granata”-coloured, “to match the Grande Torino football team as this year’s Giro commemorates the 1949 air disaster.”
On Tuesday morning, Pogačar pulled on his standard-issue black bibs, and the fashion police sighed a deep sigh of relief. GCN reports there might have been some wrangling between the UCI and race organisers surrounding the rules of what colour shorts the leader of the race is allowed to wear. As usual, cycling is a sport of common sense and lucidity.
The entertainment isn’t just for the road, however, as the Slovenian was asked in Monday’s press conference whether his exploits were going to cost him too much with a view to winning both the Giro and then the Tour de France.
“‘So far I haven’t spent any Euros,” Pogačar responded, matter of factly. “I’m on a paid holiday since six days.”
Feed Zone 🥖
💸 The latest from Patrick Lefevere’s Het Nieuwsblad column: RCS until recently had argued against paying Remco Evenepoel’s start fee (which Lefevere claims is enough money to pay a more ordinary rider’s salary for a year) for his Giro d’Italia 2024 participation after the Belgian was forced to abandon the race due to COVID-19, a turn of events which did not go down well with the race organisers. “In the winter, when the Giro-Tour double was on the table, RCS came up with a kind of amicable settlement,” Lefevere explained. “If Remco rode the Giro again, they would still match the amount owed, on top of the starting fee for 2024.”
🥫⚽ Eddy Merckx has said it’s “possible” for Tadej Pogačar to match the Giro-Tour double feat the Cannibal managed three times in five years during his career.
✋ Visma-Lease a Bike’s Robert Gesink was forced to abandon the Giro following an opening-day crash in which he broke his hand.
🐎 Alexander Kristoff won the Elfstedenronde Brugge on Sunday in a return to form following a difficult spring.
🤪 “I was probably the dumbest rider in the race,” was how Ben O’Connor described himself to GCN after the Australian tried to follow Tadej Pogačar’s stage-winning attack on Sunday’s stage 2.
⚔️ Arnaud Démare (Arkéa-B&B Hotels) is ready to return to racing after taking some time off the bike with severe fatigue. He will race at the Four Days of Dunkirk from May 14-19.
💬 “You’ve had your fun now. Let’s have a quiet day tomorrow,” was the Instagram caption on Geraint Thomas’ photo of him and Tadej Pogačar at the finish of the Giro’s stage 3, the pair having surged ahead for a surprise breakaway late-on. “Tomorrow full from the start,” was Pogačar’s tongue-in-cheek reply.
🫰 Lenny Martinez (Groupama-FDJ) to Bahrain Victorious is not yet a done deal, according to RMC Sport, as Ineos and Visma are also interested in the Frenchman.
🤩 Jonas Vingegaard has ridden outside for the first time today since bis Basque Country crash, and say’s he’s hoping to be fit enough to ride the Tour next month.
🇮🇹 Milan-San Remo organiser RCS has told Het Laatste Nieuws it has concrete plans for a women’s Milan-San Remo in 2025 but that it need to come to an agreement with Trofeo Binda, which takes place the same weekend as Milan-San Remo.
🇭🇺 Sam Welsford and Emanuel Buchmann will both line up for Bora-Hansgrohe at the Tour of Hungary following their omission from the German team’s Giro squad.
Cycling on TV 📺
Wednesday May 8th
Giro d’Italia – Stage 5
(06:30-11:45 ET/11:30-16:45 BST/20:30-01:45 AEST) 🇬🇧Eurosport/Discovery+, 🇺🇸Max, 🇨🇦FloBikes, 🇦🇺SBS
Tour of Hungary – Stage 1
(09:00-11:00 ET/14:00-16:00 BST/23:00-01:00 AEST) 🇬🇧Eurosport/Discovery+, 🇺🇸🇨🇦FloBikes
Navarra Classic – Women
(09:30-12:10 ET/14:30-17:10 BST/23:30-02:10 AEST) 🇬🇧Eurosport/Discovery+, 🇺🇸Max, 🇨🇦FloBikes
Thursday May 9th
Giro d’Italia – Stage 6
(06:30-11:45 ET/11:30-16:45 BST/20:30-01:45 AEST) 🇬🇧Eurosport/Discovery+, 🇺🇸Max, 🇨🇦FloBikes, 🇦🇺SBS
Tour of Hungary – Stage 2
(09:00-11:00 ET/14:00-16:00 BST/23:00-01:00 AEST) 🇬🇧Eurosport/Discovery+, 🇺🇸🇨🇦FloBikes
Circuit of Wallonia
(09:30-12:00 ET/14:30-17:00 BST/23:30-02:00 AEST) 🇬🇧Eurosport/Discovery+, 🇺🇸Max, 🇨🇦FloBikes
Friday May 10th
Giro d’Italia – Stage 7
(06:30-11:45 ET/11:30-16:45 BST/20:30-01:45 AEST) 🇬🇧Eurosport/Discovery+, 🇺🇸Max, 🇨🇦FloBikes, 🇦🇺SBS
Itzulia Basque Country Women – Stage 1
(06:30-18:00 ET/11:30-13:00 BST/20:30-22:00 AEST) 🇬🇧Eurosport/Discovery+
Tour of Hungary – Stage 3
(09:00-11:00 ET/14:00-16:00 BST/23:00-01:00 AEST) 🇬🇧Eurosport/Discovery+, 🇺🇸🇨🇦FloBikes
Bottle snub of the week (AKA that wasn’t very Tro Bro of you) 🍼
Still bruised, perhaps, by the departure of the son he always wanted in Thibaut Pinot, and perhaps seeing his former rider enjoying his retirement in the company of mortal nemesis Richard Plugge, Marc Madiot seems to be having the opposite of fun.
At the roadside at Tro Bro Léon, Madiot was ready to hand out bottles. Euskaltel-Euskadi’s 21-year-old Nicolás Alustiza held out a hand, desperate for a bottle. Not interested in reinforcing the fraternal community of the peloton, or having a favour in the bank with the Basque boys to call in at a later date, Madiot stared right through the thirsty rider, as unfeeling as his alcohol level had he just quaffed a 0% Kronenbourg.
Is Madiot staunchly entering his villain era? We’ll be following this one closely.
In case you missed it … 🫣
A great find by @LosBrolin, there are currently three youth riders on the circuit called João Almeida, Wout van Aert and a French Tom Dumoulin, and they could theoretically all compete in the same race next year. Let’s hope it happens. With zero additional information other than what I’ve told you above, my money is on French Tom Dumoulin; just got a feeling about him.
And finally …
A magnificent visual on the potential spectrum of body types within the professional peloton. The only similarity is the sock height …
🧺 Send us yer laundry pics
“I’ve been sitting on this one for a while,” writes Justin Chen before attaching today’s featured laundromat photo that was well worth the wait. “Went on a family vacation to Portugal back in November 2023 and stumbled upon an outdoor laundromat in Faro as we were doing some shopping. It was conveniently (coincidentally?) located between a Decathlon store and a Lidl.”
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 Justin Chen 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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