Welcome back to our monthly recap of pro cycling’s winners and losers. There was plenty to digest in March, including Tadej Pogačar finally claiming victory at Milan-San Remo, Carys Lloyd’ bursting through for Movistar’s big breakthrough, and highs and lows for Tom Pidcock.
Winners
Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG)
Tadej Pogačar slayed his Milan-San Remo demons in some style. The World Champion went down in a crash at one of the most important moments of the race as things were coming together for the build-up to the Cipressa and it looked like it could be all over for another year.
But this is Pogačar. With help from Brandon McNulty, the pair soldiered their way to the front and after one last pull from Isaac del Toro, he was off. Tom Pidcock was the only man able to stick with Pogačar, with even Mathieu van der Poel dropping on the Poggio with blood pouring from his hand.
Neither Pidcock nor Pogačar could create a gap on the Poggio descent, leaving the two to battle it out in a sprint finish. It was a close one, with Pogačar had to look over to see his breakaway companion before feeling sure enough to celebrate, but he had, on his sixth attempt, finally cracked it. The only Monument he needs to cross off now is Paris-Roubaix…
Elise Chabbey (FDJ United-Suez)
Strade Bianche was one for the books. Picture this: FDJ United-Suez with two riders on the podium, yet neither were Demi Vollering.
After the chasing group with big names including Vollering, Lotto Kopecky and Pauline Ferrand-Prévot were ultimately led down the wrong road by a motorbike, the race would be decided between Elise Chabbey, teammate Franziska Koch, Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney and Elisa Longo Borghini.
The race would be decided on the very last corner into Siena. With 300m to go to the Piazza del Campo, Koch, Niewiadoma-Phinney and Longo Borghini all attempted to take the same outside line, but that was their undoing, as Chabbey came through on the inside, rode into the lead and took the best win of her career.
Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Premier Tech)
Following a couple of stage wins at Tirreno-Adriatico, Mathieu van der Poel’s attention pivoted back to the Classics for a title defence at E3 Saxo Classic. He went off on a traditional long solo for the final 42km. He was almost caught, but the most severe case of Group 2 syndrome you’ll see came to his rescue and he held on to win.
This marks Van der Poel’s third consecutive victory in the race.
Carys Lloyd (Movistar)
All Carys Lloyd needs to win is the promise of some new Lego. The 19-year-old Brit lined up at Ronde van Brugge and promptly powered to her first professional win in a fast-paced sprint finish. A crash disrupted the final kilometres, with Charlotte Kool out of contention, but Lloyd’s cut through the field to come out on top was a remarkable display of riding.
After the race, Lloyd said, ‘We spoke about it in the bus as a little bit of a joke… my mechanic told me that he’d take me to the Lego Store and I can buy anything if I win… as a joke. [At the finish] I turned around and was like, oh fuck! Sorry, uh, oh my God. I actually won.’
Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike)
Jonas Vingegaard is proving he’s far and away the man to beat at the Giro d’Italia. The Dane is aiming to join the ranks of a select few that have won every Grand Tour and it’s looking increasingly likely after stamping his authority on the Volta a Catalunya.
Bursting into life in the mountains, his back-to-back solo victories resulted in his second stage race win of the season after a similarly dominant Paris-Nice.
Losers
Axel Zingle and Visma-Lease a Bike
Axel Zingle and Visma-Lease a Bike were left looking red-faced after the E3 Saxo Classic. In a video caught by a spectator, the French rider was caught receiving an incredibly sticky bottle with the team car towing him back towards the race. He was later disqualified and received a yellow card, as did car driver and Visma boss Richard Plugge.
An interesting discussion was raised in the aftermath. In the era of AI, will organisers be able to take a future video at face value or should punishments be dished out only if the act is caught live?
E3 chasers
There aren’t many chances that riders will get to reel back in Mathieu van der Poel, but a chasing quadruple had him in their sights at E3. They worked well together to almost catch him into the final kilometre as Van der Poel admittedly ran out of steam. But when Florian Vermeersch pulled aside for Jonas Abrahamsen to take a turn, no one came through, leaving Van der Poel to ride away once more as the group looked at one another.
It was very embarrassing.
Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe)
Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe’s star signing Remco Evenepoel faced another stage race blow at the Volta a Catalunya. He lost a minute and a half to Vingegaard on the Coll de Pal and another half a minute on the following stage to Queralt. The Belgian ended the race in fifth overall, over two minutes down, while teammate Florian Lipowitz was able to come away with a podium finish. He’s underperforming in stage races, but he’ll turn his attention to the Classics now with a debut at the Tour of Flanders to turn his season around.
UAE Team Emirates-XRG
The injuries just keep coming at UAE Team Emirates-XRG. Both Tim Wellens and Jan Christen suffered broken collarbones, sidelining the duo as the Classics ramp up. Wellens crashed at the start of the month in Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne while Christen hit the ground hard at Milan-San Remo.
The squad has suffered several injuries already this season. Jay Vine broke his wrist winning the Tour Down Under and teammates Jhonatan Narvaez, Mikkel Bjerg, Vegard Stake Laengen and Sebastian Molano all abandoned along the way. Brandon McNulty, Rune Herregodts and Pavel Sivakov were forced to withdraw from Paris-Nice, and Vine additionally crashed at Volta Ciclista a Catalunya, which will see him out of action for a while.
Javier Romo (Movistar)
Movistar’s Javier Romo took umbrage with a manoeuvre from Matteo Jorgenson on a stage at Tirreno-Adriatico. After the line, the Spaniard made a beeline for the Visma-Lease a Bike bus to allegedly grab Jorgenson by the back of the neck, and had to be pulled away by his directeur sportif.
Similarly, Kiaan Watts of NSN Cycling’s development squad punched Beat CC p/b Saxo’s Marijn Maas at the 1.2 Salverda Bouw Ster van Zwolle. He did not receive a yellow card, but the team pulled him from the next race to ‘reflect on his actions and the consequences’.
Mixed bag
Tom Pidcock (Pinarello-Q36.5 Pro Cycling)
March was a topsy-turvy month for Pinarello-Q36.5’s Tom Pidcock. The Brit won Milano-Torino in impressive fashion before even more impressively racing to a close second behind Pogačar at Milan-San Remo and then notching a couple of strong finishes at the Volta a Catalunya.
He sat second overall at the beginning of Stage 5 at Catalunya, but a mistake on the descent saw him tumble into a ravine. He was thankful afterwards that his radio still worked as no one knew he was there. He managed to finish the stage after being helped back onto the road but withdrew prior to Stage 6 with a number of knee and wrist injuries.