Death, taxes, and Jasper Philipsen attracting controversy for his sprints…
The 2023 Tour de France points jersey winner has asserted himself as one of the best sprinters of his generation, but his racing style, particularly deviating from his sprint line, has often been used as a stick to beat him with.
On his season opener, it was more of the same as Philipsen, who crossed the line second behind Lidl-Trek’s Jonathan Milan, was judged to have cut across the way of Red Bull–Bora–Hansgrohe’s Finn Fisher-Black and was relegated to the 52nd spot.
Now, fans have criticised the Belgian’s “reckless veering” on Alpecin-Deceuninck’s social media post, in which the team wrote: “Jasper Philipsen put in a strong sprint and crossed the line in second behind Jonathan Milan.
“However, the jury declassified him to 52nd place for - unintentionally - deviating from his line. Jasper is disappointed but respects the decision.
Philipsen added: “I wasn’t aware of my movement, especially since I was completely on the limit in those final meters. Of course, I had no intention of obstructing anyone.”
The UCI, decided that the manoeuvre wasn’t serious enough for a yellow card, but only a relegation and a fine of 500 Swiss francs. However, one fan commented: “He was aware, he looked behind just before the line.”
Another wrote: “So you didn't cover sprinting straight in team camps? When is Jasper gonna learn? You're throwing away all the work your team did to get you in that position by recklessly veering over. There's no reason to look back and he moved 3+ bike widths. Come on man.”
Meanwhile, one person said: “Sorry, but this happens more than once… NOT necessary!” while another simply wrote: “What a surprise!”
On a day most cycling fans expected to be marked by the world champion’s show of strength and intent, the 12km time trial has produced a somewhat surprising, if not an utterly unlikely winner, with British time trial champion Josh Tarling storming the flat circuit on Al Hudayriyat Island in 12:55 — an average speed of 56.7km/hr, almost a kilometre a minute!
Tarling’s success comes thanks to an honestly ridiculous 68-tooth chainring on his Pinarello Bolide F, also fitted with a 11-30 cassette. His average power for the first six minutes was an astonishing 510w.
And with that win, the 21-year-old has finally brought an end to the winless run for Ineos Grenadiers, with the out of sorts British team spending the longest time without a win at the top level among the 18 WorldTour teams — their last win came all the way back in June last year, at the Dauphiné, courtesy of Carlos Rodríguez.
Speaking after crossing the finish line, Tarling said: “It was really windy. The first part was a headwind, and then there was a long crosswind section. The first part was the hardest. Then we got a bit of respite with the corners before the end. It was kind of two halves.
“From the end of last year, I had a bit of bad luck, and I kept coming second in the TTs with Remco. I needed this. I’m super happy.”
He added: “I think tomorrow’s going to be a big day. Hopefully I get a bit of confidence back now. I’m excited for the rest [of the season].”
The win puts Tarling in the overall lead of the race, with Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team’s Stefan Bissegger 13 seconds behind, while Pogačar finished third, 18 seconds down on the TT prodigy.
If you haven’t heard by now, the current men’s top-ranked tennis player Jannik Sinner has been handed a three-month suspension by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) after testing positive twice for the banned substance clostebol in March last year. The 23-year-old Italian’s explanation was that it was inadvertently caused by contamination from his physio, and that he was ready to “bear the responsibility for his entourage’s negligence”.
While the case sent the entire tennis world into a messy upheaval (I can see all of you looking for the “first time?” gif to post in the comments), the nature and timing of the ban for Sinner, who made it back-to-back Grand Slams with victory at the 2025 Australian Open, has been called into question by many.
Now, in case you’re not interested in paying TNT Sports £30.99/month because you don’t want anything to do with tennis (or other non-velo sports), allow your live blog host to explain the ban in cycling terms: Imagine Tadej Pogačar tests positive for a banned substance in 2024 but the news is kept under wraps and he’s deemed eligible to participate — and win — in all races throughout the year.
After he has raced his share and won the laurels, the news is made public, but still, no news of a ban. Pogačar comes back in the next season, goes on to win the Milan-San Remo, and then graciously accepts a ban… until the Tour de France (assuming he doesn’t want to race the Giro anyway).
That’s pretty much how the situation in the tennis world has played out with Sinner, who after winning the Australian Open, can sit out three months with no Slams scheduled in that period — and can even play the Italian Open in Rome as a clay court warm-up before the Roland-Garros in May.
While the whole situation has been made light of by many cycling fans, former Quick-Step pro rider Jérôme Pineau came on the Les Grandes Gueules du Sport podcast and blasted WADA for its “scandalous” approach.
“There are three subjects. First, the position of the athlete in relation to his sport. That is to say, that he is number one and it is his sport itself that must not be attacked. If it is a cyclist, as [world] number one as he is, he gets two years,” Pineau said.
“Alberto Contador was suspended for nano milligrams of clenbuterol. Why? Because at the time, blood transfusions were suspected in cycling. And in tennis it is not possible? Can’t we make blood bags in tennis to recover after each tournament? Stop making fun of people.
“How can you negotiate a suspension when you’re world number one? You can’t, you’re either doping or not,” he added. “If there's suspicion, there are experts for that. There’s a method that lets you know what really happened thanks to hair analysis.”
🗣💬 "Si c'est un cycliste, tout numéro 1 qu'il est, il prend deux ans. Comment peut-on négocier une suspension ? Tu es dopé ou non. Arrêtez de vous foutre de la tronche des gens. C'est scandaleux"
La colère froide de @jerome_pineau5 sur la suspension de Jannik Sinner. pic.twitter.com/llfH0AWjkX
— Les Grandes Gueules du Sport - RMC (@GGsportRMC) February 16, 2025
He concluded, saying: “I can tell you that if it's a cyclist, he gets two years, he’s considered a fool and he’s written off from everywhere. Here, they just made an arrangement with Sinner. What happened is scandalous. There are double standards, depending on the athletes and the sports.”
This isn’t the first time Pineau has vented his rage at those known for doping. In July last year, he described Lance Armstrong as “anything but humble” and that he “stole seven Tours”.
Back in 2023, the Giro d’Italia stage winner called into question Sepp Kuss’ performance on the Tourmalet during the Vuelta a España, which he’d go on to win. “We see the images… I’m not talking about doping, but about something much worse. Mechanical doping?” he suggested.
“If you look at Sepp Kuss' attack on the Col du Tourmalet, against riders like Juan Ayuso, Cian Uijtdebroeks – who is seen as a great talent – and Marc Soler. They're not losers on bicycles, are they? Kuss rides ten kilometres per hour faster during his attack, then has to brake by a spectator and then rides ten kilometres per hour faster again.”
“How can you explain that? Cycling is my sport, I lived from it and still live from it. It's my passion, but I'm scared. It worries me very much. I see certain things happening... On the Col de Spandelles (during the 2022 Tour stage finishing at Hautacam) Kuss goes ahead for ten seconds without pedalling. I don’t know how that's possible.”
Following the death of a young cyclist on the junction of Stratford High Street and Carpenters Road on 13 January 2025, the London Cycling Campaign has announced that it will be organising a protest ride on Monday, 24th February at 6:30pm in Stratford, asking TfL and Newham Council to work together to rapidly improve the junctions along this route so that “no one has to risk their life cycling through here”.
The campaign group said: “This junction is one of a cluster rated among the most dangerous for cycling in Newham that have been known for decades to be inadequately designed for cycle safety along Cycleway 2 (C2), one of the first protected cycle tracks in London.
“Recently, we’ve seen too many examples of TfL being too weak and slow and timid on junction designs, as highlighted by its recent Great Eastern Street designs. The issues along C2 are about longstanding inaction at junctions known for years to be dangerous.
“Yet, at the same time, when the Mayor and TfL do make “improvements”, they are failing to make junctions truly safer for people walking and cycling. So we’re demanding not just that the Mayor and TfL get back on track on junctions, but also that they take rapid and bold action here in Stratford as they did a few years ago at Holborn. Those cycling at Stratford deserve the same respect as those cycling in Camden.”
The group also shared the above image of cycling fatalities on social media, writing: “So many people are killed cycling in London and we never even know their names.
“A man in his 20s was killed cycling in Stratford last month. Come protest next Monday 24 February. Nobody should cycle out the door and not come home.”
What’s the secret to Tadej Pogačar’s explosive acceleration? Zone 2 rides and some resistance band training…
It’s their home race, so I’m willing to cut them some slack (no pun intended), but if there’s one thing that doesn’t seem like it’s going away anytime soon even in 2025 is the cringey social media videos from pro cycling teams, coupled with sometimes awkward, most times awful millennial music.
At least the comments provided some relief…
“GluteDoping wins every time.”
“Not gonna lie, I’m a bit disappointed Tadej doesn’t have rainbow resistance bands!”
“*UCI bans resistance bands.”