Faustus

The hour record is such an iconic event and the pure distillation of cycling performance. 60 minutes of epic suffering alone and with minimal strategy - go fast for longer than you thought possible.

Side note - it's pretty remarkable that unlike the Men's hour record holders, many of the Women's hour record holders are notably high achievers outside of cycling too. Molly Shaffer VanHouweling is a law professor at UC Berkeley, Evelyn Stevens was an investment banker, and Bussi has a PhD in Math from Oxford.

Damn. I guess I'm getting old, but cycling won't seem the same with Van Avermaet AND Peter Sagan out of the peleton. 🥹

Trials is a lesser know UCI event, but still amazing talent on the part of all the riders.

It seems likely, and if rumors are true, Ineos is the leading candidate to get him. Seems like a good move all around, thb!

They aren't as iconic as the Spring Classics, but there's still quality racing!

Non-cycling press can be really bad at reporting on cycling, (sometime the cycling press can be as well), so I was totally ready to go on a rant about this article based on its headline. Gratefully I actually read it, and and it turned out much better than expected.

For once I don't regret checking out that clickbait headline!

After a whole bunch of unnecessary drama, Vingegaard and Roglic (sorta) get onboard with finishing the job with Sepp. Getting the trifecta of grand tours is a gigantic achievement for the team, but I don't see them staying together long at all. Just too many chefs in the kitchen.

This is worse than Hinault attacking LeMond in the 86 Tour. Being attacked by 2 teammates, both of whom he helped win Grand Tours has to be crushing to Kuss and to morale in the team. If I'm Kuss, won or lose, I'm out of Jumbo Visma at the first opportunity.

Anything is possible, but honestly I think he's just stirring the pot to cause some drama and see what happens. Kuss has been a rockstar supporting both of them, so I'd like to think they'd do the same in return.

Side note: How crazy is it that one team has the top 3 GC riders 15 days into the Vuelta?!?

Verdict - it was pretty good. They didn't spend too much time on his early career, choosing to focus on the years between hit TdF stage wins where he struggled personally and professionally. Of course they ended with with his miraculous performance in the 2021 TdF, where he managed to win four stages and equal Merckx's record.

One (BIG) complaint: They featured Lance Armstrong's commentary from his podcast. Fuck that guy.

Kuss turned in a strong performance and limited his losses to the TT specialists. With some FIERCE climbs coming up (stage 13 especially), Sepp's odds of holding onto the jersey look a little better. Vingegaard even said he would work for him!