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Cargo bikes are glamourous, practical and fun. Mike Burrows’ 8Freight is to be me mass-produced. Are you ready for the era of the aviation-grade wheelbarrow?

If any race could ever confirm how tough cycling is at the peak of the sport, this is it. The Milan-San Remo, one of the ‘monuments’ of bike racing and at nearly 300km one of the longest one day classics, lived up to the hype for reasons that were not expected before last Sunday. The race was expected to be a keenly contested affair and the pre-race favourite was the in-form Slovak wünderkid Peter Sagan. Tipped to be the next superstar of cycling, Sagan can potentially achieve anything. He is an outstanding sprinter, an accomplished climber and a good time-trialist. He has all the ingredients to win classics and grand tours. This precocious talent made his presence known last season with a victory in his first stage of the Tour de France and by Paris he was sporting the green points jersey. In the previous week’s Terrano-Adriatico Sagan was in sparkling form and his status as the one to watch at the M-SR was fully justified.

La Volta a Catalunya (the Tour of Catalonia) is, remarkably, the fourth oldest stage race in the world. Founded in 1911 it lags only the Giro (1909), the Tour of Belgium (1908) and the Tour de France (1903). Its recent history belies this heritage, having been moved around the calendar, losing relevance and prestige in the process. Originally run in early June, it was considered an important step for Tour contenders, as well as featuring prominently in Spain’s domestic calendar. Moved back to May in 2008 to coincide with the Giro, it became effectively a second tier event.

Tirreno-Adriatico’s status as the key early season race for Grand Tour hopefuls was cemented by 7 days of dramatic racing in frequently apalling weather condition. A veritable galaxy of big names featured prominently. Some – like Vincenzo Nibali (Astana), Chris Froome (Sky) and Peter Sagan (Cannondale) – for the better, and some – like Cadel Evans (BMC) and Andy Schleck (RadioShack Leopard), who dropped out of a stage race for the second time already this season – for the worse

Milan-San Remo is upon us and not since the days of Erik Zabel has this inherently unpredictable race had such a clear-cut favourite. Cannondale’s Slovak powerhouse Peter Sagan dominated Tirreno-Adriatico, with his winning performance on the brutal 6th stage a sign that he his bang in form.

The first half of this edition of Paris-Nice had been a bit of mixed bag. There had been French stage wins to please the crowds, but nothing truly memorable apart from some pretty hairy crashes. Stages were characterised by sprint finishes, but on stage 4 the peloton entered the more challenging terrain of the race. Departing Briode and arriving in Saint-Vallier, this stage featured two tough climbs to test the GC contenders – the Cote de Talencieux and the Cote de la Sizeranne. This final obstacle was tackled twice. The weather was a marked improvement on the previous stage’s wind and rain, and Sizeranne had an effect on the race. A breakaway was swallowed up before the first ascent but when they were on the second climb the race had been stretched an a leading group of 20 or so riders was clear of the rest.

Nobody ever went for a ride on a policy statement but if bicycle madness can spread into Outer London nowhere in Britain will be safe from contagion.

With most cycle wear companies operating a bit behind normal fashion retailers only a few have started bringout new lines as the season has changed over but as March continues and we get into April we should see more popping up, indeed 2 companies below have already released new gear for the 2013 spring time so there’s certainly a lot of stylish bits to choose from at the moment though and below is a look at the brands that you are offering you some great pieces that are available right now but also you should keep an eye on this 2013.

The man who was so often The Leader of the Pack (La Course en Tete) was Eddy Merckx, the greatest cyclist in history and, it must be said, an astonishingly beautiful human being. Joel Santoni’s film tells us that and much else, but leaves the enigma of the man as impenetrable as ever.