Monday Musings: Rose-tinted beginnings

It’s Monday again, and as I’ve given this blog a name which includes a week day, apparently that entails writing it weekly. So, hi!

Thanks, first of all, to those of you who’ve signed up to my newsletter after I put a call out last week. It’s so strange that even with a much larger following on Twitter, my interactions were diminishing (OK, not strange, just Elon), whereas on BlueSky they are flourishing. The enthusiasm of the cycling community to reconnect somewhere that feels more like social media is supposed to feel has made for a truly enjoyable online experience for the past couple of weeks, which has been a refreshing and much-needed change. I’m loving it on there.

For those of you who don’t necessarily need another email in your life, this blog gives you the option to read some of my thoughts with your Monday afternoon coffee (or whatever time of day you feel like sitting down and taking a break) without committing to the newsletter (though if you'd like to subscribe for a bi-monthly dose of pro cycling news, results and chat, I'd love to have you on board).

Today, I began reviewing all the newsletters I've sent out in 2024 to remind me of what went on earlier in the season. It turns out, that some of the strongest memories I hold of the season are from the first couple of months, before we even began the cobbled classics. I’m talking Tour Down Under, Étoile de Bessèges, Valenciana – races which, were they positioned somewhere else on the calendar, would garner way less attention. But by the time they roll around, in January and early February, cycling fans are chomping at the bit to see some road racing action, so these races are imbued with a rose-tinted significance that enhances their importance in our minds. This not only cements them in our memory, but lead us to fall into the trap every single year of overestimating the significance of early season form, and extrapolating all kinds of future outcomes based on results achieved long before most of the top riders have even begun to peak for the first time.

I tested the theory by contrasting my memories of two brilliant breakaway wins: Will Barta (Movistar) at the Volta Comunitat Valenciana (4 February) and Torstein Træen (Bahrain-Victorious) at the Tour de Suisse (12 June). Arguably, the latter should be a clearer memory – it happened more recently for a start, and at a World Tour level race with top opposition. They are relatively similar in terms of the significance to the teams, and of course, both came about in very different circumstances, but for me, Barta’s win stands out, because like many fans, I’m so heavily invested in the early season action.

It’s symptomatic of being deeply attached to a sport I suppose, that when it comes back after a period of rest, you will react with greater enthusiasm and forge a deeper connection to the outcomes. And it’s why I firmly believe that if you switched the Giro d’Italia and La Vuelta a España on the calendar, there would be a subsequent shift in the relative love for each race (quite apart from the climate-based logic that would accompany such a shift - but that's another story). Simply put, if you're a race organiser, you'd do well to entreat the UCI to put your race at the beginning of the season, instead of the end or - heaven forbid - the middle. Engagement is high, and you'll attract way more attention - and probably a stronger line-up - than those races competing with the biggest events both for riders, and for already divided fan attention.

This began with me having the idea to write a piece about my favourite ‘underrated’ moments from the season (hence reviewing the newsletters), and I realised that the ‘underrated’ nature of any sporting achievement is purely in the eye of the beholder. While the first one to pop into my head was Barta’s solo breakaway win in Valencia, which I assumed may be ‘underrated’ from the perspective of the rest of the cycling fandom as more recent, and bigger, races are likely to have eclipsed any early season memories. But given the devotion us fanatics have for the early season races, perhaps I’m wrong.

Better then for me to dig through the results that I barely devoted more than a sentence or two to, because I was too busy writing about the Tour de France, or being absorbed in the Olympics, to notice them. Such is the beauty of pro sport, that even with the eyes of the world on an event as huge as the Tour, somewhere else, in some other country, someone will be raising their arms, experiencing the euphoria, maybe tasting victory for the first time – or the first time in a long time – and to them, that feeling can never be underrated.

And so it’s time for me to do my due diligence and revisit some of the races that got lost along the way, and enjoy the moments that truly flew under the radar - perhaps a better term to describe what I'm trying to accomplish.

It’s only a month until Christmas (GASP) and after that, 2025 will be on its way, and the whole mad cycle (pun partially intended) will begin again. Will we learn our lesson and temper our enthusiasm, and stop making sweeping judgements about the entire season based on a stand-out performance at a race in late January? Absolutely not. Will we wait calmly until Omloop Het Nieuwsblad begins the season ‘officially’, before we get stuck into the new season? Also no. Let’s embrace the buzz and hype for what it is – an outward display of passion for the sport we love – and resolve to take some time out to catch up on a race or two that might have gotten lost in the noise of mid-season now we have the chance, if we have the means to do so.

Thanks for reading – and if you have any recommendations for races to catch up on that the cycling fandom at large may have missed due to ‘bigger’ races soaking up all the attention, let me know!