maillot blanc

third one should've been a Remco but I ended up focusing too much on his ahh and not enough on his face

also adding this one with pen

Tadej Pogačar • World Championship Road Race 2023

While financial imperative may have forced some to keep racing, others may have continued because that’s simply what pro cyclists are expected to do. In what is arguably the toughest of sports from the physical and psychological perspective and where two-year contracts are the norm, there’s traditionally been no allowance for any kind of perceived weakness. Indeed, the savaging of Fabio Aru by his UAE Team Emirates manager Giuseppe Saronni when the Italian quit the 2020 Tour in the Pyrenees suggests that attitude remains within some squads, Saronni declaring that Aru “has problems, also psychological problems. He doesn’t react to difficulties, he goes down, he doesn’t have that character.”

Thankfully, most team managers don’t seem to have Saronni’s character and attitudes like these increasingly seem anomalies rather than the rule. Just weeks before Kittel announced his decision to step away from racing in 2019, British rider Pete Kennaugh said he was taking an indefinite break from the sport with the backing of his Bora-Hansgrohe team. “I want to be going forward and to re-discover happiness, motivation and enthusiasm in my day to day life,” said 2012 Olympic gold medalist.

At the end of that same year, Trek-Segafredo’s Peter Stetina, who had contemplated retirement, said he was turning his back on the WorldTour to focus on gravel racing, citing a quest for “freshness, joy, progression and longevity.”

Dumoulin clearly wants to savour these qualities too. While I would love to see the Dutchman return to racing, as he’s always been great to watch as well being one of the most honest and engaging of riders, one that you relished speaking to because he didn’t serve up pat answers, more than anything I hope that finds the path that’s right for him.