30 photos from February 2023: The best cycling pictures of the month
Our picture gallery with the best snapshots from February 2023 switches directly to the Saudi Tour after the Wall of Geraardsbergen at Omloop Het Niewsblad. It was one of several races in the Arab countries. This year also saw the first women's version of the UAE Tour took place. The ladies were on the road from 9 to 12 February, the men from 20 to 26 February.
Professional cycling in the Middle East at the UAE Tour
Both races delivered spectacular shots from the desert. The women's race was won by Elisa Longo Borghini, while Remco Evenepoel came out on top in the men's race.
In February, numerous professional cyclists once again took to the roads of Europe: Algarve tour and Ruta del Sol were just two of the first tours in which some stars made an appearance. Tadej Pogacar made his season debut at the Clasica Jaen Paraiso Interiorwhich, with its gravel roads, provided a foretaste of the Strade Bianche in March. The 2020 and 2021 Tour de France winner impressively put the competition in their place right at his season debut. He went one better in the subsequent Ruta del Sol with three stage wins and victory in the overall standings.
Snow chaos at O Gran Camino in Spain
His rival Jonas Vingegaard was confronted with a contrasting programme in north-west Spain. While the roads of Andalusia were already flooded with sunshine, Vingegaard and Co. were shivering in the ice and snow in Galicia. The 1st stage of O Gran Camino had to be cancelled due to heavy snowfall. The rest was a Vingegaard show. The Dane from Jumbo-Visma won the two mountain finishes on stages two and three and also triumphed in the final individual time trial.
Cyclocross World Championships in Hoogerheide
It wasn't just on the road that things got busy in February - the cyclocross riders also really stepped on the gas. The Cyclocross World Championships in Hoogerheide were the highlight of the season. Hovering over everything was the duel between the All-rounders Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert, which the Dutchman won.
But the women's race also delivered spectacular shots. In the end, 20-year-old Fem van Empel secured the title.
Puck Pieterse and Lucinda Brand in second and third place made the Dutch festival in Hoogerheide perfect.
