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2023 Pro Cycling Calendar
The 2023 race calendar breaks with tradition by moving the World Championships to early August, between the Tour de France and the Vuelta a España. This will also be the year in which an extensive calendar of races outside Europe returns, and several races will be born that will make the season more interesting. In this article, we will analyse all the changes and enable you to download the race calendar to follow the frenetic activity of the season more easily.
The Top 10 riders who Benefit from the New UCI Points System
Right before Christmas the UCI announced a new points system which will be in effect from 2023. It will change how many teams target races, especially Grand Tours, where points for individual stages have been increased by multiple factors. Whilst we explained last week how the new points are distributed, in this article we will analyse which riders might gain the most from this adjusted system.
The New WorldTour Points System Explained
Following complaints from numerous teams about the WorldTour's promotion and relegation system, the UCI has published new regulations with significant changes. The rule amendment has been published less than a month before the start of the new 2023-2025 triennium, whose cumulative ranking will determine which 18 teams will be part of the WorldTour in 2026-2028.
Why is Remco Evenepoel Attending the Giro d’Italia 2023?
One of the worst kept secrets of the off-season, the Grand Tour plans of World Champion Remco Evenepoel, was finally brought to light with the Belgian superstar announcing his participation in the Giro d'Italia 2023.
B&B Hotels Crumbles, Leaving Mark Cavendish with Few Options
The "total collapse" of B&B Hotels - KTM in the middle of December has left its existing or prospective riders with practically no runway to find alternative landing spots. Many WorldTeams have already finalised their budget for 2023 and seven WorldTeams have even reached the 30 rider limit, making it impossible for them to bring in more riders. Below, we take a look at which teams do have room to take advantage of last-minute bargains.
The Young Bull: Arnaud De Lie’s Monster Power
Arnaud De Lie had a stellar debut pro season, saving Lotto-Soudal from complete disaster with his UCI points ensuring they have all wildcard invitations for 2023. In his first year as a pro rider the young Walloon farmer won not one, not two, not three but nine one-day races. With his 2268 UCI points he was one of the best scorers in the whole peloton, mostly thanks to consistent top results in local Belgian races.
Can INEOS Win the Tour de France Again?
The Sky/INEOS project has had the largest team budget in cycling for years, however in 2022 the Grenadiers did not win a Grand Tour for the first time since 2014. In terms of the pinnacle of cycling, the Tour de France, they have not been close to victory for the last three years. Is that set to change in 2023? In this article we will analyse the team's countless GC riders and the prospects who they rely on to return the team to its glory days.
The Top 10 Climbing Performances of 2022
As the 2022 cycling season has come to a close, it is time to rank the top 10 climbing performances of the year. An admittedly hard task, considering the multitude of impressive performances from various riders throughout the year. The climbing speeds especially exploded when summer arrived after the Giro d'Italia, with eight of the ten entries in the list coming after the month of May.
Geraint Thomas was Stronger in the Tour de France 2022 compared to his 2018 Victory
In the Tour de France 2022, Geraint Thomas displayed strong climbing performances throughout the three weeks, finishing third in the general classification behind Pogačar and Vingegaard. Standing on the podium in Paris was nothing new for the Welshman, who won Le Tour in 2018 and came second in 2019. How does his 2022 Tour performance stack up against those better results on his palmares? In this article, we will compare Thomas' 2018 and 2022 Tour de France performances as well as his career best w/kg efforts.
Tour de France 2023 Route Analysis
The Tour de France 2023 route was revealed yesterday in Paris, featuring numerous sprints, plenty of tough medium mountain stages and a historical shortage of time trial kilometres. There are just enough long and steep mountains like Col de la Loze, Col du Tourmalet, Joux Plane and Grand Colombier, dotted around the three weeks but without any mountain stage rivalling the difficulty of the Col du Granon stage in 2022. The sole 22 kilometre time-trial contains 650 metres elevation gain, which makes this the ideal Tour de France parcours for General Classification contenders with a weak time trial such as Enric Mas, David Gaudu, Romain Bardet, Mikel Landa and Richard Carapaz. Unfortunately for them, being poor against the clock does not make you climb fast, with Pogačar, Roglič, Vingegaard and Evenepoel all being exceptional time trial riders but also the best climbers.