Tuesday 15 March 2016 08:14, UK
Last week saw almost all of the biggest names in cycling in at action at Paris-Nice and Tirreno-Adriatico.
The latter is still to finish, but Paris-Nice reached a remarkable conclusion when Geraint Thomas narrowly beat Alberto Contador to overall victory.
Here, we pick through the key talking points of the week…
Thomas has won Paris-Nice, so that means he can win a grand tour, right? Hold on a moment. Not necessarily.
There was plenty of evidence over the race's eight days to suggest he can, not least beating Contador and Richie Porte on stage seven's summit finish and his defiant defensive display against an all-guns-blazing Contador on stage eight.
But there was also plenty to say he can't, not least the fact his impressive performance on stage seven was followed 24 hours later by him being dropped on the final climb of stage eight.
That was a big concern. Three-week grand tours almost always contain two blocks of three mountain stages in a row, so if Thomas is struggling with two back-to-back mountain stages in a one-week race, that doesn't bode well.
But let's take no gloss off of his victory and remember these are still early days in his stage-racing career. A win is a win, and on the basis of Paris-Nice, the potential of a grand tour triumph is there, even if it might not come this year.
Alberto Contador is a frustrating figure. On the one hand, you remember the fact he was convicted for doping earlier in his career and don't want to see him anywhere near a racing bike.
On the other, you see the way he almost single-handedly turned Sunday's final stage of Paris-Nice into one of the most entertaining day's racing in years and shudder at the thought of the sport without him.
He is unquestionably the most exciting and aggressive stage racer of the current generation, matched in cycling only by Peter Sagan for his ability to pull you towards the edge of your seat and turn the pattern of a race on its head.
The man himself may not be unilaterally missed when he retires at the end of the season, but the action and drama he so often generates undoubtedly will.
When Contador is gone, the sport can at least take solace from the fact it will still have Fernando Gaviria, the 21-year-old Colombian who, on early evidence, looks destined for cycling superstardom.
No one had heard of him 15 months ago, but since then he has twice beaten Mark Cavendish to sprint wins, joined one of the most successful road teams ever in Etixx - Quick-Step, amassed five more professional victories and claimed two rainbow jerseys on the track.
In the past two weeks alone he won his second consecutive world omnium title and then bagged his first UCI WorldTour stage victory by blowing Sagan, Greg Van Avermaet and several others off the road on stage three of Tirreno-Adriatico.
He is now being mentioned as a favourite for Saturday's Milan-San Remo and, given the apparent depth of his talent, it is highly unlikely to be the last big race he is challenging to win.
In many ways, Gaviria is the new Sagan: a fast-finishing and multi-talented rider capable of winning a broad spectrum of races. However, one trait he will not want to replicate is Sagan's susceptibility to near misses.
Last year, the Slovak became renowned for finishing second, third and fourth and he has quickly fallen into the same pattern this season, having crossed the line in those positions nine times in his 15 race days so far.
Sometimes it is his own fault - poor positioning in a sprint, waiting too long to attack or not attacking early enough - while other times he simply doesn't have the speed or is marked out of contention purely because of who he is.
It's obviously a great attribute to be able to challenge for wins so regularly and consistently, but his record also highlights the room for improvement in his riding, particularly tactically.
Can Geraint Thomas win a grand tour? Let us know your thoughts by leaving a comment below, or for app users, by tweeting @SkyCycling.
