Procycling Magazine April 2018 Retour à l'édition précédente

Mark Cavendish began his 12th year as a pro in 2018. In that time the Manxman has taken a hammer to some of racing's most prestigious sprinters' records. He is the greatest sprinter the Tour de France has ever seen. He is just four wins short of equalling Eddy Merckx's Tour stage win record. But as the years have passed his rougher edges have been smoothed away. The prickly, gobby rider of his mid-20s has been replaced by an elder statesman who ¬- mostly - weighs his words. But when Procycling interviewed him at the Dubai Tour we found a rider being pushed and prodded by age and opportunity into the space where he operates best: out of necessity and survival. And yes, there were glimpses of the old needle that are a hallmark of his career. Now in the autumn of his career, what is Cavendish yet to achieve and what is still possible, asked Procycling.
Procycling also interviewed Anna Van Der Breggen. The Olympic champion ended 2017 as world number one thanks to three straight wins in the hilly Classics, a Tour of California title and a second Giro Rosa win. We visited her on a training camp in Spain to find out what's kept her insatiable appetite so sharp.
Author and journalist William Fotheringham's new book, Sunday in Hell, explores the production of Jørgen Leth's seminal cycling film, A Sunday in Hell, which covered the 1976 Paris-Roubaix. Procycling sent Fotheringham to northern France to assess how the race's route has mutated between then and now. He was accompanied by ex-rider turned photographer, Léon van Bon, who finished in the top ten at the race four times.
Meanwhile, the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad was given a new finish: the beloved Muur/Bosberg finale of the old Tour of Flanders. Procycling travelled to Belgium for the 'opening weekend' to find out how the locals, starved of road racing over winter, embraced the finish and the new season.