{"id":171860,"date":"2018-12-31T09:15:01","date_gmt":"2018-12-31T09:15:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/?p=171860"},"modified":"2018-12-31T09:17:05","modified_gmt":"2018-12-31T09:17:05","slug":"2018-a-year-to-remember","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2018\/12\/31\/2018-a-year-to-remember\/","title":{"rendered":"2018 \u2013 What a Year to Remember"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s been a barnstorming year in the world of cycling \u2013 especially for those who like to see records tested.<\/strong><\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=H0PnZGScPxc&feature=youtu.be<\/p>\n

Froome\u2019s Triple Crown-winning stage<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Winning the Giro d\u2019Italia in May made Chris Froome just the seventh cyclist to achieve the three grand tours in one year \u2013 and the first Brit to do so. What made the win all the sweeter was the way it was achieved. Froome\u2019s Giro was a breath-taking lesson in patience.<\/p>\n<\/lite-youtube>\n

The way Froome crushed Dumoulin, let alone Yates\u2019 efforts, was brutal. Anyone who followed the race would know that it was even more breathtaking given Froome\u2019s consistently low-key efforts up to then. The Giro\u2019s 2018 stage 19 will go down as an object lesson in the importance of tactical planning.<\/p>\n

Le Tour de France has a new king<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Froome fell hard early in Le Tour, wrestled demons on the descent into Roubaix, before being tear-gassed by riot control, so Team Sky resorted to Plan B \u2013 Gerraint Thomas. Team Sky gave Thomas the green light and, as early as stage 6, he was taking chunks out of both Froome and Dumoulin \u2013 but it was stage 11 that confirmed Thomas was in the form of his life.<\/p>\n<\/lite-youtube>\n

Team Sky have an embarrassment of riches in their roster leading some to speculate that financial doping is ruining the sport<\/a>. That trivialises Team Sky\u2019s tactical planning and race management. Don\u2019t envy them \u2013 they now need to cater to two Tour de France winning egos.<\/p>\n

L\u2019\u00c9tape du Tour Exclusive Insider Report<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The L\u2019\u00c9tape du Tour, one specifically selected stage of Le Tour de France, is the imaginary Holy Grail of every amateur cyclist out there. You can count on our detailed reports each year but we wanted to make the 2018 edition special, so we sent three chosen cyclists and social media influencers, including our ambassador and Paralympic cycling star Ji\u0159\u00ed Je\u017eek, to race and document the whole schtick. Through them, we\u2019ve been able to bring you juicy behind-the-scenes bits such as photos, videos, GoPro footage, interviews, and more. A little throwback to summer!<\/p>\n<\/lite-youtube>\n

Rachel Atherton smashes the records<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The above two highlights leave no doubt – Britain is enjoying a Cycling Golden Age. The Queen of downhill, Rachel Atherton, has continued to dominate her sport. Atherton has won a total of six World Cups in the twelve years since her first, not to mention five World Championships.<\/p>\n<\/lite-youtube>\n

Absolutely barbaric descent, right? But remember, it wasn\u2019t made easy for Atherton \u2013 Tahn\u00e9e Seagrave was also in form, having racked up a lot of wins in the World Cup season. But Atherton won this descent by almost 10 seconds. Let\u2019s put that in perspective \u2013 in Le Tour de France \u201989, after racing over 2,000 miles, Greg Lemond beat Laurent Fignon by just 8 seconds. Now watch the above video again.<\/p>\n

Women\u2019s Cyclocross<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Watching road bikes in the mud provides a rare opportunity for mountain bikers and roadies to put aside their differences, crack open a beer, and enjoy the unfolding chaos that is cyclocross. If you\u2019re looking for excitement, it\u2019s the women\u2019s events you need to watch. This race will be a classic.<\/p>\n<\/lite-youtube>\n

Thanks to the UCI\u2019s decision to remove the disparity in prize money, a gradual reform of TV scheduling is making sponsorship deals more attractive. These are early days for cyclocross as a spectator sport but, frankly, isn\u2019t that the most exciting time to get on board?<\/p>\n

The \u2018Why We Ride?\u2019 campaign<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Speaking of women and girls with a passion for cycling, we\u2019ve also weighed in with our \u2018ten cents\u2019 this year. The We Love Cycling magazine, supported by \u0160koda, launched a campaign aimed at breaking the barriers and addressing the issues that might be keeping many a rider off her bike, be it unequal opportunities or unwelcoming environment. We had a blast creating the leading video with our heroines who showed us then and again that cycling is pure love, passion, and liberation, no matter the motivation. Check the video below!<\/p>\n<\/lite-youtube>\n

Thanks for the memories<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The year ended sadly with the news Paul Sherwen passed. Growing up in England in the 80s, I remember the enigmatic Lancastrian competing in Le Tour with La Redoute. His approach to commentary was as fastidious as his training regime. Here\u2019s some raw footage to prove it.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=S3E127raiXA<\/p>\n

I think we should leave 2018 with a video that may seem strange, but speaks volumes about Sherwen\u2019s character and love of cycling. In this video we see Sherwen interview a soigneur, and shine a light on a role that\u2019s often misunderstood, and yet critical to any team\u2019s success. This new years eve, I\u2019ll be raising a glass to Mr Sherwen.<\/p>\n<\/lite-youtube>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s been a barnstorming year in the world of cycling \u2013 especially for those who like to see records tested.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":165263,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[329],"tags":[425,1080,402,410,2555,448],"global-categories":[],"class_list":["post-171860","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-road-cycling","tag-chris-froome","tag-geraint-thomas","tag-giro-ditalia","tag-letape-du-tour","tag-le-tour-de-france","tag-rachel-atherton"],"yoast_head":"\n2018 \u2013 What a Year to Remember - \u0160koda We Love Cycling<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"It\u2019s been a barnstorming year in the world of cycling \u2013 especially for those who like to see records tested.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2018\/12\/31\/2018-a-year-to-remember\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"2018 \u2013 What a Year to Remember\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It\u2019s been a barnstorming year in the world of cycling \u2013 especially for those who like to see records tested.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2018\/12\/31\/2018-a-year-to-remember\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"\u0160koda We Love Cycling\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-12-31T09:15:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-12-31T09:17:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/d2p6e6u75xmxt8.cloudfront.net\/2\/2018\/06\/Thomascvr.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"900\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Christopher Ashley\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2018\/12\/31\/2018-a-year-to-remember\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2018\/12\/31\/2018-a-year-to-remember\/\",\"name\":\"2018 \u2013 What a Year to Remember - 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