Cycling in Yorkshire & Beyond
Cycling in Yorkshire & Beyond
23rd July 2023
Stage 21 of the Tour de France 2023 ended with a sprint on the Champs-Elysées.
The day culminated in a 4-way sprint battle involving Mads Pedersen, Dylan Groenewegen, Jasper Philipsen and Jordi Meeus.
Read the Stage 21 Tour de France 2023 Blog.
22nd July 2023
Stage 20 of the Tour de France 2023 was a farewell to the retiring Thibaut Pinot on his home roads.
Pinot was first over the Petit Ballon, but the GC leaders were fast approaching.
Read the Stage 20 TDF 2023 Blog.
21st July 2023
Stage 19 of the Tour de France 2023 saw lots of riders in breakaways, and a relatively calm yellow jersey group a long way back.
The dénouement was a sprint contested by a lead trio of O'Connor, Asgreen and Mohoric.
Read the Stage 19 TDF 2023 Blog.
20th July 2023
Stage 18 of the Tour de France 2023 was a hilly (but not very hilly) stage from Moûtiers to Bourg-en-Bresse.
The breakaway never got a very big lead. Could they hold on against a tired peloton lacking numbers of riders to set the pace on the front?
Read the Stage 18 TDF 2023 Blog.
19th July 2023
Stage 17 of the Tour de France 2023 was the Queen stage, from Saint-Gervais-Mont-Blanc to Courchevel. It culminated in the climb of the Col de la Loze - 28.1km long, and really steep (24%) near the top.
It was the breakaway vs a marauding Jonas Vingegaard. Would he maraud fast enough?
Read the Stage 17 TDF 2023 Blog.
18th July 2023
The difference between first and second on the Stage 16 individual time trial from Passy to Combloux was more than most people expected.
Wout van Aert, displaced from the hot seat, tipped his hat to the stage winner.
Read the Stage 16 TDF 2023 Blog.
16th July 2023
Stage 15 of the Tour de France 2023 was another exciting day in the Alps.
The breakaway culminated in a battle of the Wouts, the Dutch one vs the Belgian one.
As ever, the top two on GC were looking to gain an advantage over each other.
Read the Stage 15 TDF 2023 Blog.
15th July 2023
Stage 14 of the Tour de France 2023 was an exciting mountain stage.
Jumbo Visma set out to drive the pace all day and make the stage hard. That resulted in a fascinating finale, but no decisive blows were struck.
Read the Stage 14 TDF 2023 Blog.
14th July 2023
On Stage 13 of the Tour de France 2023 only two members of the breakaway made it to the finish before the reduced peloton of GC leaders.
Vingegaard felt that the stage suited his rival Pogacar best, and was sanguine about losing a few seconds.
Read the Stage 13 TDF 2023 Blog.
13th July 2023
Stage 12 of the Tour de France 2023 was a medium mountain day through the vineyards that produce Beaujolais wine.
Membership of the breakaway was hard to acquire, and once it had formed and settled the challenge was to leave by the front door not the back.
Read the Stage 12, TDF 2023 Blog.
12th July 2023
Stage 11 of the Tour de France 2023 was a flat stage from Clermont-Ferrand to Moulins.
There was a three-man breakaway that never looked anything else but doomed. The stage ended in a bunch sprint in Moulins.
Read the Stage 11 TDF 2023 Blog.
11th July 2023
Stage 10 of the Tour de France 2023 was raced on a hot day. The ups and downs of the Massif Central were conducive to a breakaway, and a chance to see who is coming out of the rest day and into the second week in good form.
Read the Stage 10 TDF 2023 Blog.
9th July 2023
Stage 9 of the Tour de France 2023 finished with the dramatic climb of the Puy de Dôme.
The breakaway had 15 minutes on the main field, and therefore fought it out amongst themselves for the stage win.
Read the Stage 9 TDF 2023 Blog.
8th July 2023
Stage 8 finished in a tough uphill sprint Limoges. We were ready for a new stage winner, and we got one.
Mark Cavendish's Tour de France came to an abrupt end.
Read the Stage 8 Tour de France 2023 Blog.
7th July 2023
It was very nearly for Mark Cavendish, on a sprint day that came to the boil in Bordeaux.
In the end, the result of the third sprint was the same as on the other sprints.
Read the Stage 7 TDF 2023 Blog.
6th July 2023
Stage 6 of the Tour de France 2023 was a day in the Pyrenees including the Col du Tourmalet.
Pogacar looked dead and buried yesterday, but benefited from a remarkable transformation in form overnight.
Read the Stage 6 TDF 2023 Blog.
5th July 2023
Stage 5 of the Tour de France 2023 from Pau to Laruns was when the race burst into life.
The breakaway contained some of the GC contenders. Would it survive the predictable onslaught from Jumbo Visma and UAE in the peloton behind?
Read the Stage 5 Tour de France 2023 Blog.
4th July 2023
Stage 4 of the 2023 Tour de France from Dax to Nogaro was as near to a day off for some riders as they are likely to get before they get a real day off.
The finish at the motor racing circuit was supposed to be safe as houses, but it didn't work out that way.
Read the Stage 4 TDF 2023 Blog.
3rd July 2023
Mathieu van der Poel has been a little disappointing in the 2023 Tour de France so far, but he performed his lead-out role to perfection here.
In non-Tour de France news, I managed to avoid booking my own cremation despite the exhortations of the ITV advertisers.
Read the Stage 3 TDF 2023 Blog.
2nd July 2023
It has been a 15 year wait for Cofidis since they last won a Tour de France stage in Montlucon.
The climb of the Jaizkibel 16.5km before the finish defined who was in the mix for the win. Wout van Aert was the favourite if it came down to a sprint, but a late attack was one possible way to beat him.
Read the Stage 2 TDF 2023 Blog.
1st July 2023
It ended up as Simon against Adam Yates on Stage 1 of the Tour de France 2023.
The race lived up to its billing, but the Côte de Pike 10km before the finish turned out to be just too hard for the puncheurs like van der Poel and Alaphilippe. The Yates brothers took advantage.
In non-news, it was great to welcome back Ned Boulting and David Millar on commentary, and Tim Declerqc in the Luke Rowe role on the front of the bunch.
Read the Stage 1 TDF 2023 Blog.
27th June 2023
While the Tour de France generates excitement abroad, in l'Hexagone that's not always the case. France 3 went to gauge the reaction in Nogaro to the prospect of hosting the event.
Read more about Muted Reaction to the Tour de France in Nogaro.
24th June 2023
Chris Froome has been left out of Israel Premier Tech's 2023 Tour de France team.
The team will instead rely on riders such as Michael Woods, Simon Clarke and Hugo Houle for stage wins.
Read more about Chris Froome Left Out of IPT Tour de France Team.
Bradley Wiggins 2012 autobiography My Time.
New in May 2023, Bike Rides in the Yorkshire Dales is available in colour paperback.
Find out more about Bike Rides in the Yorkshire Dales or buy a copy.
Bike Rides In and Around York features a historical city tour, plus family rides, road rides, and mountain bike rides.
Find out more about Bike Rides In and Around York or buy a copy.
Bike Rides in Harrogate and Nidderdale is a book of family, mountain and road bike rides.
Find out more about Bike Rides in Harrogate and Nidderdale or buy a copy.
Techalogic DC-1 dual lens helmet cam.
Price £198.95 from Amazon at the time of writing.
Rough Guide to France.
Price £17.99 from Amazon at the time of writing.
