65 races I loved in 2022 cycling season - part 1/13

2022 was the year when I got into a lifelong marriage with cycling. I watched and followed more races than ever before, tried to write about as many as I could (only time will tell how successful I was in doing so), and immersed myself in all the beautiful and not so beautiful things that this whole world has given me. In that respect, 2022 was a successful year, as there were plenty of good races/memorable wins to recall now, at the end of the season, creating some pleasant moments for all fans.

In the next 13-part series, I'll bring you a brief recap of the top 65 races for me this year, with a few personal experiences that I hope you can relate to. These stages come to your dining table from all categories, all over the world... Let's see who's in this first part.

1. Paris - Nice: Stage 1.

Winner: Christophe Laporte

We went into Paris-Nice at the beginning of March with the only real question being the one behind the Jumbo-Visma and how fit Primoz Roglic might be... well, as it turned out, the first third of the season was perfect for him. And the first stage of Paris-Nice was a perfect example of this form and team unity. In the final kilometres of the first stage around Mantes-la-Ville, Laporte, Wout van Aert and Roglic attacked in a group on the climb of the Cote de Breuil-Bois-Robert, and then performed a team time trial in the final kilometre. It was quite an extra moment, rarely seen in a race of this level - and deservedly included in this list.

2. Tro-Bro Leon

Winner: Hugo Hofstetter

The Tro-Bro Leon is an absolutely insane race, and one that we have to come back to every year. Not only is the race itself long (210 km+), but it is also packed with 29 muddy, gravel, castle-lined sectors, often in unrealistic wind conditions so worthy of Brittany. This year's race was of the muddier version, and it's no coincidence that the pictures of the finish looked more like from a swamp race. The local team Arkea had a very good tactic this year, as they ended up in a 2 v 1 situation with Luca Mozzato, and although Connor Swift's leadout was more than questionable, Hugo Hofstetter pulled off a long sprint to win the race and the piglet that went with it.

3rd Clasica Jaen Paraiso Interior

Winner: Alexey Lutsenko

Spain have envied the success of the Strade Bianche and have decided to do their own version, which is much tougher and more unpredictable than its Italian sibling. The premier version was crazy selective, the field was split just at he time the peloton turned into the final circuit, where Astana's Alexey Lutsenko, perhaps the best rider of the year in Astana, was gone and he never looked back. He quickly built a lead of around a minute, which he held until the end. It was a trademark win for the Kazakh star.

4. 4 Days of Dunkerque - Stage 5

Winner: Gianni Vermeersch

The race of Dunkerque has the weirdest name of all, as the 4 Days of Dunkerque is covered in 6 days, and every year it is Mont Cassel that decides the overall fate. This year was no different, with 8 climbs of this 3km cobbled climb, averaging 4%, once again tore peloton into small pieces. As in track cycling, this stage turned into an elimination race, won by this year's world champion in gravel, Gianni Vermeersch, who took his first victory in a year and a half.

5th Tour de France - Stage 14.

Winner: Michael Matthews

Every stage to Mende is a thrill ride. The Col de la Croix Neuve is a mythical and cathartic mountain where anything can happen. On a hot July day this year, it did. And it really was the biggest win of Michael Matthews' career. The way he attacked, tried to pull away at the climb, got caught by Bettiol, overtook him, Matthews got cramped, then struggled, brought himself back to attack once again, overtook Bettiol back and eventually won the stage by a quite comfortable margin was a level of heroism you don't often see in races. And it wasn't a dull stage among the GC favourites either. What Pogacar and Vingegaard did, attacking each other with 180 kilometres to go, to go up the Croix Neuve in record time... this whole package was one of the best stages this year.