The New Golden Age

A new, young spirit has invaded pro cycling, turning the sport on its head and giving us the breathtaking performances and drama we’ve seen throughout this historic 2020 Tour de France. This new generation, raised in a different, much more aware and science-based atmosphere than ones before, are entering the arena with no complexes nor fears of taking on the hierarchy. They are impatient to win. The collapse of Team Ineos-Grenadiers was one of the great themes of the race, their domination of the past eight years coming to a crashing halt along right with their signature steamroller team tactics, adopted for the occasion by Jumbo-Visma to their eventual detriment. According to reports, Eddy Merckx was screaming at his television for the entire final week, the great champion recognizing a fellow uber-talent in Tadej Pogačar, knowing that the Dutch were carrying the now 22 - Happy Birthday! - Slovenian into position to win. If you’ve ever wondered what it was like to see Greg Lemond, to see a racer with a loose, joyful talent far, far above the norm, Tadej Pogačar’s Time Trial should give you a good idea. Other young riders came out to astound. Where to begin with Wout van Aert? I can’t think of any racer in history matching his combination of sprinting, time trial and climbing skills. We’ll have to see how he recuperates from this Tour, but if he races the Classic’s to come, lining up against arch-rive Mathieu van der Poel, the Belgian will have had 33-days of Tour de France racing in his legs over the last 14-months against no Grand Tour racing for the Dutchman. If their matchup doesn’t take place this fall - who knows? Van Aert might want to get right back into cyclocross - look for fireworks from the two next spring. What is certain is that this Tour brought Wout van Aert into a different dimension making his future so very exciting for us all to contemplate. Marc Hirschi won as unanimous vote for Most Combative Racer of the Tour de France. The 22-year old Swiss gave us the most exciting performances, from his almost taking Stage 2 from Julian Alaphilippe to his heartbreaking loss in the Pyrenees, then his solo win in the longest stage of the Tour followed by his crashing out of a break in the Alps. We’ll all watch his every move each time he pins on a number. One could see Sam Bennett growing in confidence each day of the Tour. The Irish Champion fought Peter Sagan, the man who had blocked his Tour de France career, for the entire race, finally over coming his demons of self-doubt, exorcizing them from his body with that primal finish line scream after winning on the Champs. He’s bringing the Green Jersey back to the same town in the Emerald Island, 32-years after Sean Kelly. His was a great story to follow this Tour. Alejandro Valverde showed Enric Mas around France this month, teaching the young Movistar talent how to ride and maybe one day win the Tour de France. Mas has breathed life back into that old racing franchise with his 5th place overall with the old fox, at 40, finishing what may be his final Tour in 12th. The Movistar go home with their coveted Team Prize for the 5th time in the past six years. The fact that the race even happened represents a massive triumph for cycling. The manner in which the peloton, team staff and race organizers all worked so well together should be a sign of a positive future. Cycling, which has taken so many slings and arrows over the years, should in fact stand proud of what it has done as seen in this new generations of racers. There are concerns of course, I found that the UCI Commissaires in this Tour punitive in their approach, twice targeting the Yellow Jersey and making this extraordinarily difficult race even harder with the infliction of the “Barrage” - when the Comms back the follow cars off of the peloton making life miserable for racers chasing back after flat tires - which was unnecessary in such a hard race. I was glad to see the NBC talents unanimous in their condemnation of the UCI’s interference in the Yellow Jersey’s bicycle, with Christian Vande Velde bravely (this is network TV remember) and accurately calling the move, “Political.” Who is the person who would take it upon themselves to disassemble the bicycle of the Yellow Jersey in the way that the UCI did? To create a commotion that would ripple through the team, throwing the team director out of the Tour with a couple of days to go. That, on top of the deliberate reputational damage the UCI caused to another uber-talent, Remco Evenepoel, after his crash in Italy leaves me wondering about the leadership and mindset at the UCI. The sport has a great new lease on life and the UCI needs to work with the peloton, not against it. This crop of young, exciting talent we’ve seen at this Tour promises us a full decade of exciting action ahead. There have been Golden Ages in cycling, the period from Jacques Anquetil through Eddy Merckx being the most famous one. I believe we are entering another, full of definable, exciting young stars, all different, all fascinating. I hope that the media and fans give these kids a chance, don’t - as I’m already seeing - begin to whisper about them in negative ways. Cycling has given us a great gift with this 2020 Tour de France, let’s all take care of what we now have. Thank you for following this blog, I hope that you’ve enjoyed this Tour as much as I have. Sincerely, John Eustice