What you might have missed this weekend when you were eating turkey
A Thanksgiving racing roundup
Hopefully you mixed up your stretchy sweatpants outfits with some Lycra this weekend. But if you didn’t, don’t worry, because a bunch of pro cyclists got in some miles for you. There was a whole lot of racing this weekend.
Il Lombardia
On Saturday, the fifth and final “monument” of the pro men’s racing season went down. It was an action-paced race that saw most of the big names show up swinging. The “race of falling leaves” had a new course this year, once again packed with some tough climbs and hairy descents. After some early moves got reeled in, the peloton was down to 40 riders when Tour de France winner Tadej Pogačar launched ahead.
Italian Fausto Masnada bridged to Pogačar, and a chase behind formed with Canadian Michael Woods, world champ Julian Alaphilippe, Roman Bardet, Alejandro Valverde, David Gaudu, Adam Yates and Primož Roglič. Masnada barely managed to hang onto Pogačar’s wheel up the final climb, and they then zipped down the final descent on their way to the traditional finish in Bergamo. Ultimately, Pogačar handily outsprinted Masnada in the Italian’s hometown, capping off an incredible season for the Slovenian. Woods came in at ninth place.
UCI Cyclocross World Cup
The 2020-2021 UCI World Cup season began stateside on Sunday in Waterloo, Wisconsin. The women’s race started first in dry conditions and it was a battle royale between reigning world champion Lucinda Brand and Marianne Vos. Vos, who just a week ago got second at the first ever Paris Roubaix Femmes, beat Brand to the line. Canada’s Maghalie Rochette, fresh from three USCX victories, came in for 10th.
The weather conditions were a bit on the wet side for the men. Although Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert are taking a short break following their road season, there was plenty of action from the mix of Euros and North Americans. Many of the top favourites are hoping MvdP and Van Aert skipping the American rounds will bolster their chances of the overall world cup.
Paris Tours
Paris-Tours, traditionally a somewhat boring race in the past that usually ended in a bunch sprint, has seen a radical reformat. The course now takes riders through some narrow roads, with a mix of gravel and cobbles. The speed was intense with most of the racing in single file.
Frenchman Arnaud Démare took a dramatic win, outsprinting 3 other breakaway companions: Franck Bonnamour, Jasper Stuyven and Stan Dewulf.
