Swift takes heart from Alpe d'Huez showing

A sprinter winning on Alpe d'Huez would have been a turn up for the books. Granted, Ben Swift is not a pure bunch sprinter, and climbing has been a specific focus of his in the past 18 months, but it would still have felt incongruous to see the two-time Milan-San Remo podium finisher raise his arms in victory on one of cycling's most famous mountains.

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Patrick Fletcher

Patrick is an NCTJ-trained journalist, and former deputy editor of Cyclingnews, who has seven years’ experience covering professional cycling. He has a modern languages degree from Durham University and has been able to put it to some use in what is a multi-lingual sport, with a particular focus on French and Spanish-speaking riders. Away from cycling, Patrick spends most of his time playing or watching other forms of sport - football, tennis, trail running, darts, to name a few, but he draws the line at rugby.