Cycling at the limit: “It’s also about contracts”

The wheels have to roll. For the battered teams and drivers, the races are vital after more than four months of forced Corona break. It's about sponsorship money, racing bonuses, contracts, and, and, and. Fight for every inch The races are correspondingly tough. “For some people there is the mental pressure of wanting to deliver in a relatively short season. It’s also about contracts,” said Rick Zabel German press agency. The son of the former top sprinter Erik Zabel (50) can consider himself lucky that his contract was extended until 2022 during the Corona break. And his racing team Israel Start-Up Nation is also not in financial trouble thanks to the billionaire team owner Sylvan Adams. Five-time tour winner Chris Froome will even be joining the team for the new season.

The future is still open for many colleagues, and some teams are also on the brink. Normally the contracts for the new season are concluded in August after the Tour de France. This time everything is different. Since many races are held at the same time, the chances of racing and good results become fewer. The long break from racing had heated up the drivers a lot, said former sprint star Marcel Kittel (32). Münchner Merkur and added: “They all want to show themselves now. (...) Everyone stood in the stable like racehorses for five months and couldn't show what they could do. That certainly plays a role if an extra risk is taken in the sprints.”

The classic Milano-Sanremo takes place on Saturday. © ANSA / DARIO BELINGHERI

And who knows whether the season can even go ahead. Rick Zabel has also noticed that the number of infections is rising again in Europe. “You have a bit of an uneasy feeling,” says the 26-year-old and adds: “If a second wave really comes, then everyone will have to submit, regardless of whether it’s football, Formula 1, tennis or cycling.” It would be for his industry It would be a “bitter blow” if the Tour de France did not take place. Because the Tour of France is essential for many teams.

But for now we continue. On Saturday, Zabel junior will be involved in Milan-Sanremo. The race that was pretty much the first to be canceled in March because of the pandemic. So now, five months later, in midsummer - but still over a difficult 299 kilometers. Even if the 26-year-old is not one of the contenders for victory, his name certainly makes people sit up and take notice in Sanremo. “In Italy, people always prick up their ears when they hear the name Zabel. But it’s not like that opens any doors for me or makes the race any easier.” Will Alaphilippe strike again? Zabel senior celebrated five times on Via Roma. Once a little too early, when the Spaniard Oscar Freire shot past in the last few centimeters in 2004. “I was there that year, I remember that. That was a bittersweet day. I watched the other victories on TV,” says Rick Zabel, who no longer needs tips from his father.

“I’m slowly getting into the old-timers department myself,” says the father-to-be. In Sanremo he is intended for co-driver Davide Cimolai. The aim is to be in the final - against stars like former world champions Peter Sagan (Slovakia) and Philippe Gilbert (Belgium) or last year's winner Julian Alaphilippe (France).

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Cycling at the limit: “It’s also about contracts”

The entire WorldTour in just 101 days, there is no time to take a breather in cycling. While the Tour of Poland continues after its tragic start with Fabio Jakobsen's bad fall, the spring classic Milan-Sanremo is taking place at the same time on Saturday in midsummer.

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