Let's start this with a disclaimer. I love cycling, I really do. Men's cycling, women's cycling, Grand Tours, Classics, random tiny races, I love it all, and you'll very rarely find me saying any given race or season is boring. In my view, there's always a story, an interesting angle, even if it's not the winner, and finding that is part of the challenge of being a cycling journalist.
But – and yes, there is a but – I also think it's fair to say that in the current era of cycling, a lot of the big men's races are lacking some sense of unpredictability. We have riders like Mathieu van der Poel and Tadej Pogačar who are in the peak of their careers, and are so strong that when they want to win a race, they often do. It's not unimpressive, but it's not always thrilling – certainly I have been missing some of the spark for some time.
