I am a cycling fan whose dream is to see pro cycling’s popularity grow throughout the world. This is what drives all of my opinions and analysis on pro cycling: having it grow sustainably in the long run. What should the sport do in order to increase the amount of viewers and fans? How can pro cycling become richer and more stable for riders, teams, and races?
This is a very small blog with insignificant resources. I use it to hopefully develop my writing skills and share my opinion on the history and current events of pro cycling.
I appreciate any reader that takes some time out of their day to somehow engage with the blog’s content.
Why The Perfect Leadout? Well, when I started watching cycling in the late 1990s, early 2000s my favorite rider was German sprinter Erik Zabel. I liked Telekom’s jerseys, I liked the German champion’s jersey and I liked the Vuelta points’ jersey of the early 2000s. All three worn by Zabel. For this reason when I became a fan of the sport I was a fan of the bunch sprints.
Luckily (or not) the early 2000s marked the passing of the torch from Mario Cipollini’s Saeco squad to Alessandro Petacchi’s Fassa Bortolo, two of the best leadout trains in history. Looking back, it was a pleasure watching live so many flawlessly executed leadouts for the best sprinters of all time. Back then, though, I was disappointed that Zabel’s decline coupled with the emergence of other sprinters meant I would see my favorite win less and less races. I still saw him switch his focus to the Vuelta and win some stages along with three points classifications.
As a consequence, I thought “The Perfect Leadout” was the perfect name for this project, given their connection with my own beginnings as a fan of the sport.
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