Tricky Dicky

@LucGrefte Yes I just rewatched 2025 - Mads looked strong enough to go with the moves but for his puncture, Ineos rode well at all the right points but plagued with bad luck, WVA not strong enough, VDP never in any difficulty - closing gaps to Pog with ease. What’s different this year?

Rewatching last year reminded me of how strong Trek as a whole was. Hopefully Pedersen will be racing less aggressive and more with the head

Rewatched 2025 #parisroubaix 1/ Pogacar did far too much work when with Phillipsen and VDP 2/ Mads had bad luck at a crucial moment 3/ WVA was nowhere close 4/ INEOS had a bundle of bad luck despite bossing every key entry point early in the race 5/ VDP was EASILY the strongest

@petitecyclist @BenjiNaesen It does affect them if they try to enforce their claim (or even judgment) in the English courts where Mr Naessen resides. If he submits to Swiss jurisdiction then yes, agreed. Anyway, I’d guess (not a Swiss lawyer) they’d need to make a specific complaint. Failing which, ignore.

@TrickyDicky71 @BenjiNaesen The UK law doesn't affect them. They literally want everyone to adhere to Swiss law, and he could be charged in a Swiss court.

On 2 April 2026, I received the attached letter from a senior member of the UCI, without any prior communication. This morning, I have filed a formal complaint against the sender, with the UCI Ethics Commission, regarding this letter being sent to me.

@InsideOut2912 @Tratnikstan Completely agree. A real shame.

Big shame that Paris–Roubaix Femmes is also now on Sunday ☹️ It was a perfect weekend last year, with cobbled action on both Saturday and Sunday, which also made it possible to give both races your full attention 😍

@RiemeHofman @flying45678 @VelonCC I actually think Moscon probably would have won if his replacement bike hadn’t got tyres inflated to 100psi.

@flying45678 @VelonCC I watched it from start till finish.

Which was the best Paris-Roubaix victory of recent years? 🪨🇫🇷 📸 Getty Images

@CyclingWerewolf @VelonCC Watch 2016. One of the great one day races of the last 20 years.

@VelonCC I only have watched one - 2025 - but just based on this picture I assume 2021 was a banger.

@Domestique___ Current forecast says cross/head wind

🇫🇷 Paris-Roubaix weather forecast - Can tailwinds unlock 🇸🇮 Pogacar's Monument dream? 📰 domestiquecycling.com/en/news/fast-d… 📸 Cor Vos

@wielervrspllng Likely scenario. I hope some teams try to anticipate as the race often rewards it, particularly those with big engines: eg Tarling in early break? Not saying he’ll win but his best chance of a top 10 at his age.

#ParisRoubaix 🚨 Men preview *** Mathieu van der Poel ** Pogacar - van Aert * Pedersen - Ganna - Philipsen No long preview this time. No tactics. Dry conditions and tailwind. Just the strongest riders battling it out on the cobbles. In the end I think it will be a one vs one fight and Mathieu to win the sprint this time in the velodrome. Not this year, Pogi.

@friebos I see from Benji that Decathlon are re-registering as a Swiss team. I imagine that’s a way of clearing out French tax and bureaucracy to try to hold onto him? It would be a travesty for the sport if he also folded into UAE.

Absolutely no doubt that Seixas can win again in the Basque Country today. Stretch from -600m to -200m absolutely hideous.

@_kjs1874 Bologna is awesome - great vibrancy. If you get a chance, go to Lucca in Tuscany. A favourite place (so much so I did the cliché thing and bought a place there!).

Bologna is the 8th place I’ve been to in Italy and I really hope that number continues to grow. Easily my favourite country to regularly visit, love the place

@thealepalombo Lake Iseo is actually my favourite.

These are my favorite small towns on lakes in Italy. Lake towns are magical. - Orta San Giulio (Lake Orta): A tiny medieval village on the least touristy of Italy's major lakes, with an iconic island floating in the middle. You've probably never heard of Orta...If so...that's exactly the point. Omegna (hospital, schools) is 10 min away. Milan is 1h15. - Varenna (Lake Como): Less crowded than Bellagio, but definitely not less scenic. Pastel houses, historic villas, timeless charm. Lecco is 20 min by car. There are frankly few places on earth this beautiful. - Castiglione del Lago (Lake Trasimeno): Pure Umbrian charm. A medieval fortress town sitting right on the lake and almost zero international tourists. This is Umbria at its most authentic. Perugia is 25 min away. Florence is 1h15 by train. Each one is close enough to a real city when you need it. What's your favorite Italian lake town? Should I do a full deep dive on this?

@TheItalianExit Fully agree. It’s a gem. The Maremma further south is relatively undiscovered.

@BohunickaNikola I want to Ganna to win (unlikely as it might be).

If you don’t want Wout (or Mads) to win on Sunday… seriously, what’s wrong with you?

@BenjiNaesen Once I turned 50 I just took my power meter off and put wider tyres on my wheels and decided to be comfortable. And no more racing. Frustrating to get slower each year though….

@TrickyDicky71 I’m fortunate to have sandbagged my way into my gray years, so it’s my ceiling that will drop, and I’m nowhere near my ceiling. 😂

I found my first grey hair yesterday. The end is near.

@TheItalianExit Have you been to La Spezia? Nice enough inland but not my idea of a Ligurian idyll.

69km to Pisa airport. Cinque Terre walking distance. Gulf of Poets offshore. 10 bedrooms means rental income or multi-family compound. Historic bones. Immediate occupancy. Math works.

600sqm villa, 10 beds, sea views over Gulf of La Spezia. 1.7 hectare garden. €920K. That's €1,533 per sqm in Liguria. London buyers just paid triple that for half the space 🧵

@SukhSidhuDXB Still, who’s going on holiday there now? Can’t see the hotels filling up any time soon unless the price is bargain basement. Residents might tolerate the “new normal” but tourists won’t when they have loads of other options.

The Dubai is done crowd are going to be gutted when they wake up to a ceasefire announcement

@JDMcElroy17571 @SMB_Attorney Available, yes; insightful, not always. The best K&E partners - in my jurisdiction and area - seem to be trained and developed elsewhere. The junior “team” tend to just be process bots on silly rates with zero value add. Tend to prefer the UK-heritage firms. And cheaper.

@SMB_Attorney Sidley attorneys sleep. You want 24 hours, you have to go to Kirkland.

You're a former biglaw attorney representing the seller of a $3 million trampoline park opposite of KKR and a Sidley Austin team of 12 lawyers who don't sleep

@TheItalianExit I might be wrong but I think that place has been for sale for years - my guess is that there is a problem with the chain of ownership.

What €800K gets you in Monteleone d'Orvieto, Umbria: a 850m² farmhouse with 19 rooms. In London, that's a 2-bed flat in zone 3. DM for the full listing.