Spotted on Strava: Peerless Pogi, Hardrock Records & An Ode To Cav

It has been a week for masterclasses on Strava. Tadej Pogacar put on a Tour de France masterclass, Elisa Longo Borghini reciprocated in the Giro d'Italia Women, Ludovic Pommeret and Courtney Dauwalter followed suit at Hardrock 100, before Nicolas Georgiou got creative in London...

It has been, without a doubt, one of the most captivating Tour de France races of recent years. On Sunday, all eyes were glued to the Pyrenees as Tadej Pogacar put his rivals to the sword on an epic stage Queen Stage. Pogacar was simply too good for either Jonas Vingegaard or Remco Evenepoel on the final climb and now holds a near-unassailable lead going into the last week of the Tour.

While Pogacar was doing his thing in the Pyrenees, over in Italy the Giro d'Italia Women was wrapping up with a slice of history. Kimberley Pienaar from Mauritius secured the Stage 8 win, her first on European soil. In the overall GC, home favorite Elisa Longo Borghini secured the Maglia Rosa with a dominant victory. Boghini led the Giro from start to finish, ahead of Lotte Kopecky (+21 seconds) and Neve Bradbury (+1:16).

Staying in the mountains, but swapping two wheels for two feet, this weekend's Hardrock 100 in Colorado saw course records smashed in both the men's and women's races. Ludovic Pommeret broke Kilian Jornet's previous course best, finishing in 21:33:06. Meanwhile, in the women's race, Courtney Dauwalter was once again on the top step, and once again celebrating a course record, finishing in 26:11:46 - nearly three minutes faster than her own record time from 2023.

Two wheels, two feet and seven summits. Over the course of the last couple of weeks, Michael Strasser has completed one of the most epic challenges we have seen this summer (so far): Project 771. For 7 days, 10 hours, and 56 minutes, Strasser not only summitted the seven highest mountains in seven countries in the European Alps but also cycled between them. The numbers he pulled are, of course, impressive: 773 miles / 1,245 km ridden, 96 miles / 155 km run, and a combined elevation gain of 121,400 feet / 37,000m.

And, finally, the cycling world celebrated when Mark Cavendish took his 35th Tour de France Stage Win, and so did Nicolas Georgiou. In fact, Nicolas went so far as to create this outstanding homage to Cav on the streets of London. Chapeau Nicolas, and Chapeau Cav.