"Guys like Remco Evenepoel and Tadej Pogačar have raised the bar" - Michael Woods on growing strength within the peloton
Cycling
Becoming a Tour de France stage winner for the first time in his career earlier this year, Michael Woods took arguably the biggest win of his career. With two Vuelta stage wins also, the Canadian now needs only a Giro d'Italia stage win to complete the set however, given the immense level in the modern peloton, it won't be easy.
“I was initially disappointed when I finished the tour just because I didn’t get a win afterward. I really felt on the day I won, I was on form to carry that through and maybe get another,” Woods has reflected in conversation with Velo. “You win, and you have the biggest achievement of your career, but then you lose 11 more times after that, so eventually, you start feeling like you’re a bit disappointed."
Since that victory, Woods has seen his profile grow immensely. “Occasionally, I’d get stopped by the odd person but no one would ever stop me in a coffee shop and ask for a selfie. Now, every time I stopped for coffee, it’s like, people were queuing up to get photos and want to talk to me and congratulate me,” Woods says. “It was like, shocking to see how many people just want to stop and take a selfie with me or say hi."
Next target, is the so far illusive Giro stage win, to complete his Grand Tour hat-trick. “It’s invigorated me because it’s given me this new goal of trying to win a stage at the Giro, it would be great to get all three. Especially with the way the peloton is going the way the best riders in the world are looking," as he eludes to there tough, it won't be easy.
"Guys like Remco Evenepoel and Tadej Pogačar have raised the bar. It’s certainly harder to win those races because of these guys, Wout van Aert and Mathieu van der Poel too," he explains. “It’s certainly a higher level than it was five years ago and my goal of trying to win one of those monuments or championships, the percentage of chance of doing it was dropping. And so that started to take a bit of its toll on my motivation. Now I have this new goal of trying to be the guy that’s won a stage in all three grand tours and that’s really ignited a fire under me.”
Having also signed a new contract, Woods is sticking around with Israel - Premier Tech. “I’m with this team until I retire. I’m not sure when that is,” he concludes. “I’ll be turning 40 in 2026. I still feel like I’m improving as a cyclist, I still feel like I’m at my best, but one thing that has made it harder is having kids."
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- Finishing the Vuelta seems to be a reasonably attainable goal. Getting on the team to do that will be the more difficult challenge.
santiagobenites20-12-2024 - To be fair, he has now stated his fuel regime had been corrected and the results concur.Mistermaumau20-12-2024
- You can look at things mathematically sometimes to get a better understanding of performance distribution. To be an elite cyclist you may need a number of qualities, say 8 some of which are quite obvious (engine), some more debatable (body type). If you look at distribution you’ll get a whole bunch with 6 or 7 very elevated values but 1-2 not so perfect and occasionally someone will pop up with all 8 really well developed. However, statistically, for that to be a given the chances drop by about an order of magnitude each time so in general for each 2 at the top you’ll have 20 at the next level, 200 at tge 3rd, 2000, etc. I don’t see the actual distribution as so weird, we have a few too many right at the very top level but statistically it’s just because for the past 15-20 years there wasn’t really anyone clearly standing out, level 1 was bunched with level two.Mistermaumau20-12-2024
- Froome is still riding? I thought he just dressed out and appeared at team photoshoots.Sweep20-12-2024
- Well, I’d say that like is more likely to attract line when it comes to certain interests and cycling is probably one of them. The rowdy alcohol swaying type as an example, that features occasionally but EACh time there is an incident is obviously an exception amongst cycling fans. We are not very vocal about our passion which is understandable considering the little interest an average person has so it often takes special circumstances for us to discover our peers :-)Mistermaumau20-12-2024
- Mas... Challenge Pogi!!! Ha Ha Haabstractengineer20-12-2024
- They (USA Cycling) raised their permit fee from from $95 to $125 and the minimum insurance charge went from $300 to $400.JoeyB20-12-2024
- Exactly who, Joey, is "they"? Flimsy, illogical conspiracy theories aside, it is in no one's interest (financial or otherwise) to "drive away small local events." Major cultural and macroeconomic factors are reducing ridership, but there is no "they" in this context.verve82520-12-2024
- And our virtual platforms allow us to "ride" famous place that we can't get to in person, which is a pretty fabulous aspect of this weird weird sport.RidesHills19-12-2024
- Which off-season are you referring to? The one after he won the Tour of California? The one after he won 3 stages and was on the podium of the Vuelta? The one after TJV screwed up, never put him away, and lost the Tour on the time trial? We've seen the guy hit the wall, lose energy, nearly fail, and lose races ("I'm dead") more than once. He's got a visible threshold and his fueling regimen is a clear weak spot. You'll need more detail to make this more than under defined insinuations .RidesHills19-12-2024