Rolling Pro Cycling Thread

Clasica San Sebastián a perfect race today to start this off with. Let's do this.

Official website: https://www.klasikoa.eus/

Special as I've been living there for two months and miss it like crazy, so bring on the scenery.

See, another reason to be envious.

well that is patently unfair :)

Sorry guys :)

Thought it was a good race. Didn't expect Sky to control it like they did the TdF. Poor Landa though; if he's not working for Froome he's working for Kwiatkovski.

bah the only televised cycling i have right now is Tour of Utah coming up on Monday :/

NBC's thing has a couple of races they're covering this weekend -- going on vacation next week, I'll catch up with them then.

Sunweb are having a lucrative summer.

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2017/jul/29/coryn-rivera-win-ridelondon-classique

I became aware of Coryn Rivera when she won at Redlands two years ago, and have been a fan since. It was great to see her win Flanders this year, and now being fourth in the Women's WorldTour rankings.

http://www.steephill.tv/players/youtube3/?title=Last+10+Km+of+Stage+3&dashboard=tour-de-pologne&id=fNokRhde6k0&yr=2017

From the leafy trees+undergrowth and herky-jerky towns to the shitty pavement and hills, Szczyrk Poland resembles Western CT hills/Berkshires of MA of my youth waaaayy more than I woulda guessed. That finish was a pretty stern vo2 blowout, though. Sagan is there nothing you can't do?

http://www.cyclingweekly.com/news/racing/vuelta-a-espana/the-vuelta-a-espana-will-take-on-an-incredibly-steep-31-climb-and-these-photos-show-just-how-tough-it-is-345302

Looking forward to the Vuelta. Stage 17 could be like that one last year, when half the peloton didn't make the time cut.

Most entertaining if so.

Vuelta is going to be great.

Had an eye on the Burgos Vuelta, too. Landa won it so, so easily.

Vuelta is going to be Bertie's last race, here's hoping for one last crazy attack up a mountain
https://www.instagram.com/p/BXfHbrNFo3t/

Watching the Colorado Classic because why not. GREAT setting for sure.

Sanchez out of the Vuelta, probably out of cycling forever, due to doping.

http://www.velonews.com/2017/08/news/samuel-sanchez-positive-hgh-stimulating-peptide_446191

Well that'll do ya

Anyway, who's watching the Vuelta? Yesterday's ending was fun but today's was definitely the best stage so far, great final 10 K or so.

Started watching today, and yes the last 10km were great. Have to hand it to Froome fighting for every second from the get go. Saw him post race saying "I once lost the Vuelta on 13 seconds, I do not want that to happen again." Vuelta is such a different beast than the TdF, you can't imagine a stage like this one being just the third stage of a tour. Madness ensues.

Yeah the Vuelta's relative unfamiliarity to me -- this is only the second one I've seen -- makes it really interesting in terms of the dynamics at play. Things seem a lot more up in the air day by day.

TdF's so much more controlled. First week you get sprints, second week the climbing starts, third week is rough(-ish) climbing, a sprint, and time trial, and hello Paris. Not taking anything away from it, but the Vuelta is just completely unpredictable every single year. There is no 'build up' of stages. It makes it way more difficult for teams like Sky to control the race. You picked a good Vuelta to follow because this years is particularly brutal. Eight, nine stages finishing up hill? Parts with 23% going up? Can't make it up.

I'm not a big Froome fan, but loved to see him go for it. On just the third day! The Vuelta is an individual race in the end, not a team race like the TdF.

Froome in 2011 vs Cobo is still the most hilarious thing I've watched except for flandis' solo tdf escapade. It was like, a _pacific rim_ level duel. It's Also when froome went from on the border of being cut from sky to the greatest star since Armstrong, almost overnight.

Hmmm Horner in 13 vuelta on angliru, was as hilarious, but less haha.

nb comparing froome and horner to those others is not intended as an implication of anything- vuelta is legit my favorite gt viewing.

holy crap lutsenko is a house

just looked over the course maps and...i don't see how any sprinters could even make it to the flat final day.

fun finish today, everyone just pounding themselves tryna stay in the picture. kudus trying to catch lutsenko looked brave. woods is still my favorite "story," as a 30 y/o who came out of elite running who's coming good in the protour, it's more than amazing.

holy crap lutsenko is a house

Pretty great ending there yeah. Today's was fun, those three were being cagey all the way along.

Great victory by Alaphillipe there -- that was one wild finish.

love this

Adam Hansen meets 92-year-old Bernardo Ruiz, 1948 #Vuelta winner and previous holder of the record of most consecutive Grand Tours ridden pic.twitter.com/IdQtS0gsXp

— The Cycling Podcast (@cycling_podcast) August 27, 2017

Hadn't seen that, fantastic!

Just read this interview with Chaves. Damn, what a guy! He's got so much respect it's impossible to dislike him or do anything other than give respect back.

Also love Hansen and the fact that he wrote the logistics software for Lotto.

lol race go boom see ya next year. lopez looked amaaaazing though. and bmc has two huge sads.

Yeah that was a fantastic finish yesterday. But yes, main race pretty much done and dusted I figure. I'll just watch for the crazy landscapes; the Benidorm stage...I get it now.

This looks like a difficult day in store, even before they reach the Alto de l'Angliru.

Sure does. Wish I had had more time to watch this last week, but didn't (just three mins of highlights every night, it didn't feel like enough). Will be watching today though.

Finish line right now, oof:

Finish podium Angliru #LV2016. Now 6.5°C but it can get better. pic.twitter.com/pclwuaGWvv

— Philippe Maertens (@philmaertens) September 9, 2017

Watching this descent through my fingers, absolutely brutal.

I'll need to catch up on this! But wow, sounds crazy.

Absolutely amazing performance from Contador.

Amazingly Froome has shaved half a minute from Contador in the past few minutes.

That. Was. In. Sane.

One of the most beautiful finales I've ever seen. What a brutal climb, and what a joy to see Contador win his last race ever.

Amazingly Froome has shaved half a minute from Contador in the past few minutes.

That was mostly Poels tbh :) Got Wiggins/Froome flashbacks there - and not for the first time - when Poels seemed stronger than his captain.

hats off to Bertie, what a way to go out

Yeah what a great ride by Contador, and he's been surprisingly strong for the last few days. I know he's controversial and everything but I don't think anyone can take this away from him.

On a more humdrum level I stood out in the rain in Moreton-in-Marsh to watch the riders go by in the Tour of Britain today

Pro cycling is a little easier to watch now that I don't feel the need to care about whether what I see is on the level. That sounds like snide BS, but whatevs. Before I def didn't think it was all on the level, but I actually cared about that aspect of sport, and wanted to feel like the winner was clean. I think it's a worthwhile objective and testing should continue, but it's all in the game to me now. I sorta just wanna see people suffer and try and succeed or fail, and not get injured. I'd tell any of them to their faces I didn't believe there's a way to reliably know if anyone's clean, and the necessary power/weight numbers are clearly pointing to no fuckin way. but nice job. if u get busted, I'll believe that too. Ha tl;dr post.

Another year in rainbow stripes for Sagan.

didn't even seem to be in that great of shape to win this.

Luckily Bergen looked absolutely amazing. At least, until the tv cameras crashed with 2-3 km to go.

Bergen looked the part indeed! The crashing cameras were p hilarious tbh. Waiting till the finish cam picked them up and the commentators despairing was oddly... soothing?

Couldn't see enough of todays race due to work. Dumoulin had a blast this week with two titles. October 7th, Lombardia, is in my planner in capitals.

Chris Froome fights to save career after failed drugs test result

"My asthma got worse at the Vuelta so I followed the team doctor’s advice to increase my salbutamol dosage."

sure I'm being naive here but if his asthma was deteriorating wouldn't responsible medical advice be to pull out of the race?

In any case I've already heard several doctors declare that it's simply impossible to get this much salbutamol in using an inhaler.

“We’re banning you due to terminally boring races by you and your team. Oh and the drugs.”

Bring on La Vuelta!

british grand slam ! genuinely extraordinary

The London races this weekend were kinda crazy with both having notable crashes near the end. Viviani pulled it out with a great attack on the men's side (and then today announces for Cofidis which is kinda hilarious given how his team did the work for him yesterday).

But on a much sadder note:

https://deadspin.com/pro-cyclist-bjorg-lambrecht-dies-after-crash-during-rac-1836977471

Enjoying La Vuelta so far -- nothing crazy dramatic, just some good solid rides.

Roglic rode all competition to shit today, as expected. Stoked for the rest of this. Between the insane stage of last Sunday (w/ footage missing, piecing together how Roglic fell on the dirt road through twitter videos) and all that has happened already, it's like this Vuelta has already been going on for weeks. Love it.

Y así fue la caída de Roglic. Entró en el camino de barro junto con @alejanvalverde@NairoQuinCo y de repente se le fue la rueda. Día complicado ayer en Andorra. ¿Quién dijo que esto fuera fácil? #roglic #ciclismo #lavuelta #vueltaciclistaespaña #camaraman #motocamara #LaVuelta19 pic.twitter.com/6Yynua9QhE

— Pack del Toro (@Packdeltoro) September 2, 2019

dirt section 2 days ago was so grimy with the hail. enjoying seeing kuss working. (aussie commentary two days ago said kuss went to uni in WA lol- fighting words!)

Glad I was able to catch up on all stages today (holiday weekend meant guests from out of town). Roll on the rest...

kuss was given a perfect tee-up, but then at least struck it so clean. beautiful job.

Kuss's enthusiasm was heartfelt/heartwarming etc.

as far as GC contenders go, the Vuelta isn't really delivering. I thought Superman Lopez would've been in better shape. I assume Valverde will not win time on Roglic in the third week.

it's like, Pogacar is too young, Valverde is too old. Quintana has spent too much energy on Tour de France and inner team struggles. So we're left with M.Lo to do it (and he's got he team to back it up).

Loved Kuss' win. Been enjoying this Vuelta btw, w/ Pogacar, Gilbert's earlier win, and so many youngsters having a go. Love the bandits of Euskadi Murias and Burgos, too, giving this Vuelta a needed rosy glow on the cheeks.

Ludo otm, but Lopez still won't deliver. Think it's clear Roglic will breeze to the title (bad luck not withstanding). Valverde ever so impressive but not as good as Roglic. Plus Jumbo have the team to deliver.

Brilliant stuff from Pogacar. Him and Roglic surely buddies 4 life now.

Rumors Roglic may wanna get out of Jumbo (to Emirates)?In light of Dumoulin cannot say I blame him for wanting clear leadership role, but perhaps Pogacar on board UAE would be its own issue sooner than he may think.

remco evenepoel is a weapon

A little late but yeah, loved Kuss's win as well, fun interview just after too. Right kind of enthusiasm and not an easy stage! Yesterday's stage good as well, kinda glad for the break today just to catch up on things.

Rumors Roglic may wanna get out of Jumbo (to Emirates)?In light of Dumoulin cannot say I blame him for wanting clear leadership role, but perhaps Pogacar on board UAE would be its own issue sooner than he may think.

― Hunt3r, Tuesday, September 10, 2019 6:17 PM (twenty-four minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

Erm, Roglic signed a new contract today, staying at Jumbo till 2023 :)

remco evenepoel is a weapon

― prorogue mahone (||||||||), Tuesday, September 10, 2019 6:21 PM (twenty-one minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

You sure you don't mean Van der Poel?

What a finish! Congratulations @mathieuvdpoel!#OVOToBpic.twitter.com/pyi4MgvSs3

— Tour of Britain 🇬🇧 (@TourofBritain) September 10, 2019

vdp is a weapon also but remco is something else

jesus @ that sprint

he shoulda raced mtb worlds, he had enough time to recover for road worlds.

For some reason there's a breakaway w/ Quintana, Kelderman and Pernsteiner, and the peloton can't close the gap, which is already 3min.

4.30 now. And we can't even watch it...

mental stage - 31mph average speed. gilbert said he was spinning at 110RPM (!) on his 54x11 (!!)

crowd chanting “¡HI-GUI-TA!” at podium was pretty great.

Yeah, he held on really great. I kinda feel for Pogacar, his first Vuelta's just a couple of days too long for him, but he's been great.

Again confirmed today Quintana cannae hack it uphill right now. Which retroactively renders yesterdays "coup" pretty much useless. I expect Lopez to knock him off third on Saturday.

Roglic caught in a crash, Movistar puts its foot on the gas. QuickStep and Astana giving Valverde a right bollocking.

🇪🇸 #LaVuelta19

After a crash in the peloton, which involved race leader Primoz Roglic (TJV), Movistar have now been removed from every other teams Christmas gift list... 🤷🏼‍♂️ Some order being restored now though, as the break with @ben_oconnor95 has 1’50”.

— Team Dimension Data (@TeamDiData) September 13, 2019

Hell of a run-in by Cavagna there!

VAI POGACAR

weapon

Love that guy

Difficult circumstances in🌈@Yorkshire2019 Road World Championships Men U23 Individual Time Trial. This is the European Champion 🇩🇰@JohanPrice in 🌧️#Yorkshire2019 (📺@Eurosport_UK)pic.twitter.com/D3YJssrnPZ

— World Cycling Stats (@wcsbike) September 24, 2019

"Difficult conditions" you say

looks like my commute to work this morning tbh

I couldnt view that here but im betting its like-

Think you're having a bad day? #Yorkshire2019 pic.twitter.com/g1jDOXF37w

— Elisabeth Anderson (@velobetty) September 24, 2019

lol all the comments i presume from brits going: “der schoolboy amateur! learn to steer a puddle!! loser.”

me, a yank: “whoa, do britishes have no drainage sewer infrastracture at _all_?? that’s fucking barbaric! lol savages. I guess it’s to put out all the stovetop chips fires they have.”

Not a great week to have the World's in Yorkshire. It's been pissing down all week and is going to piss down for the rest of the week too.

The above levels rain are obv ridiculous, but I'd actually welcome rain on Sunday. The course + rain has all the ingredients to make it feel like a classic rainy Flanders classic. I'm pretty stoked for it.

For spectators it's obv a different matter. Are you in the vicinity and plan to have a look NBS?

No, I live in London so Yorkshire's a bit of a trek. Some of my clubmates were talking about going up there, though.

pro tour riders must hate riding in britain

heavy roads, potholes everywhere, terrible weather... at least the crowds are good

Le Grand Depart in the 2014 TDF must have fooled them into thinking that conditions are generally warm, dry and sunny.

not convinced by this move by VDP - still a lot of weapons in the peloton behind him

take that back

spoke too soon again.... ffffffff

brutal. that was like a lightbulb going out

"double leg puncture" says boardman lmao

Brutal race. VDP just blocked by hunger. Trentin *finally* without VDP and then there's Pedersen.

poor trentin, turned on the taps and fuck all came out

Just caught up with this one -- crazy slog at times but damn, what a finish. Trentin just couldn't do it.

coronavirus.......... fuck up

not looking good for MSR or strade bianche

Giro might be in trouble at this rate :/
Het & KBK seem to be still on this weekend though

Giro might be in trouble at this rate :/

We'll all be dead by then, anyway

beast mode from asgreen at KBK

also lol at moscon

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFqfqO6CQko

Nice one to keep us going, that.

TdF said today they won't do a tour without spectators, but are still hoping to go through with it this year. That seems positively in vain imo.

ah thx!

this is excellent

i got through much of the intro buildup, will be returning at leisure time. the sense of flow and environment is great. i do seem to distinguish my love of _racing_ as a thing, my appreciation of pro fandom as a thing, and my love of cycling qua cycling. i have tried to explain this to my non bikenerd friends/fam, and they get eye-rolly quite fast as i insist "these are different things. erm, to me."

omg i just got to the part of the tinkoff car watching sagan do the the kwaaremont and it is the fucking best, like “caint tell him nuthin he got his own way to do it” and the other guy is just “yup.”

belgium. what a country

the size of some of these classics riders, man. absolute units

lmao at all the DSs switching effortlessly between english, flemish, dutch, italian and french

DS1 *speaks italian*
DS2 "just speak dutch now. all the italians are fucked. he speaks perfect dutch."

I like that you're enjoying it so much :)

I'll lament the absence of the High Mass of cycling this Sunday

I'd been looking forward to classics season for months (as I do every year.) gutted it's a wash out but these are going some way to filling the gap

two world champs winning the 100th ronde... can't really write that stuff

*(not the 100th women's ronde ofc)

I'm more or less at peace w/ it now, but springtime is HUGE here in the lowlands when it comes to cycling. part of life. c'est la vie, but sorely missed.

I don't believe in the TdF going through either. Vuelta, maybe?

No chance the tour happens. Worlds? Lombardia? As the last races standing? If this goes long enough the Melbourne to Warnambool is going to have some new found relevance.

("what is that growing there?" "i dunno...uh" "barley i guess.")

^^springtime DS commentary recognizing that 'springtime is HUGE' in the lowlands. i can't remember exactly what the commentary was, but i was glad the editors left that in there.

Lombardia, gheh, first and last race of the season, hadn't thought of that.

Still rooting for the Vuelta though (which will depart in the Netherlands).

i was thinking lombardia would be an interesting site and a difficult one given the extreme difficulties they had there. i'd love for cycling to "lift them up," but they may need better therapy than that.

virtual de ronde... hmmm

The Tour de France has been officially postponed to 29 August owing to the Covid-19 pandemic, and will finish on 20 September, the organiser, Amaury Sport Organisation, confirmed on Wednesday. Shifting the centrepiece of the cycling calendar will involve a delicate juggling act with the other two Grand Tours, the Vuelta a España and the world road championships, and the five “monument” one-day Classics all jostling for space at the end of the season when it is hoped that major sports events in Europe will resume.

lads

you're at it

now of this is happening fs

none*

seems highly unlikely but i like that they are hopeful

Finally a chance for Tim “I hate temperatures above 0” Wellens to win a frosty Giro!

Finally a chance for Tim “I hate temperatures above 0” Wellens to win a frosty Giro!

-1st August: Strade Bianche (Italy)

-5-9 August: Tour de Pologne (Poland)

-8 August: Milano-Sanremo (Italy)

-12-16 August: Critérium du Dauphiné (France)

-16 August: Prudential RideLondon-Surrey Classic (Great Britain)

-25 August: Bretagne Classic - Ouest-France (France)

-29 August -20 September : Tour de France (France)

-7-14 September: Tirreno-Adriatico (Italy)

-11 September: Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec (Canada)

-13 September: Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal (Canada)

-29 September -3 October: BinckBank Tour

-30 September: La Flèche Wallonne (Belgium)

-3-25 October: Giro d'Italia (Italy)

-4 October: Liège-Bastogne-Liège (Belgium)

-10 October: Amstel Gold Race (the Netherlands)

-11 October: Gent-Wevelgem in Flanders Fields (Belgium)

-14 October: A Travers la Flandre (Belgium)

-15-20 October: Gree - Tour of Guangxi (China)

-18 October: Tour des Flandres (Belgium)

-20 October - 8 November: Vuelta Ciclista a España (Spain)

-21 October: Driedaagse Brugge-De Panne (Belgium)

-25 October: Paris-Roubaix (France)

-31 October: Il Lombardia (Italy)

So not gonna happen? Stoked for this insane, one-off super season crammed into autumn, put me down.

brb buying two extra televisions for Oct 25th: Giro finishes, Paris-Roubaix, Vuelta 😅

Some strong “let’s just do it and be legends man” vibes happening

Women’s Paris-roubaix is the best news. If the do it right it will be Paris-Roubaix without that tedious getting to the cobbles bit

what do we reckon... these races going to go ahead or nah ? expecting some cancellations on a case-by-case / country-by-country basis

Impossible to say really. Vuelta à Burgos starts tomorrow, and unless they cancel it tonight, they'll go ahead with it, I'm sure. Don't know what will happen if one or two or eight riders or staff members get the Rona. Spain is experiencing something of a second wave, it's flaring up all over the country.

You just reminded me Saturday is Strade Bianchi. What a long long wait it's been!

Looks like everything is going just as well as one could expect.

https://cyclingtips.com/2020/07/how-coronavirus-has-affected-bike-racing-an-on-the-ground-perspective/

from the comments there:

Meanwhile in Romania, a week before the Sibiu Tour, 750+ positive cases discharged themselves from hospital and new cases surged to record levels while the race was on. Alpecin-Fenix and Androni Gioccatoli-Sidermec pulled out before the race, but the riders from Bora-Hansgrohe, Israel Start-Up Nation and Bardiani that raced in Romania are now blocked by the Italian government from racing again until August 11 (meaning they'll miss Strade-Bianche and Milan-San Remo).

https://cyclingtips.com/2020/07/sibiu-tour-riders-blocked-from-racing-strade-bianche-milan-san-remo/

... the beginning of the end

interesting and not great

Start to the season couldn't have been much better w/ Saturday's Strade. What a ride.

Oh good, cycling’s back :-/

Vue de très près de l'énorme chute😱🥵 sur la ligne d'arrivée sur la 1ère étape du @Tour_de_Pologne 🇵🇱@FabioJakobsen @GroenewegenD@deceuninck_qst @Team_JumboVisma #TDP20
#tourdepologne 🇵🇱 pic.twitter.com/Fi7xXYkAHW

— Pistolero10 (@pistolero100917) August 5, 2020

yeah not watching that. heard it was horrible

highlights so far

remco still a beast
annemiek still a beast
wout still a cutie
RIP froome

Jakobsen has been put into an induced coma and taken to hospital, has internal injuries apparently. The finish line judge is in a critical condition, was resuscitated at the scene by some accounts.

: /

Polish doctor just said he’s “fighting for his life” and suffered severe brain trauma. Fuck.

https://lfgss.microco.sm/api/v1/files/c762e7b14cc0d68575c9998d4199f6b4e487213d.png

#TDP20 1/2 Very GOOD news from assistant director of hospital! General condition is STABILIZED, but the next few hours will be the most important in terms of neurology. There is NO brain injuries, though there are facial and skull injuries.

— Daniel Ludwiński (@D_Ludwinski) August 5, 2020

Polish doctor speculating about severe brain trauma should be fired too iirc.

anyway, glad he seems to be doing RELATIVELY ok.

iirc=imo=yolo

Doctors confirm: Jakobsen is awake, can move his limbs, is breathing independently and can communicate

I saw the last 20-odd km of Milan-San Remo yesterday (joined the action on the Cipressa) and it was great (though I don't know how much of that is due to me not seeing any cycling for so long).

The last 20-odd km were the only great km's tbf, but yeah that was nice.

I also caught the last stage of the Tour de l'Ain yesterday. Jumbo Visma running the show like Sky used to; Bernal could barely hang on. Should make for a really interesting TdF.

thomas looked heavy. froome looked typically ragged. roglic looked imperious

Agreed. Bernal will be up for it but I don't think Thomas nor Froomey will be of much use, the latter not really motivated either. Jumbo looking very strong, but with Evenepoel and a bunch of outlaws from other teams at the ready to shake things up it should, in theory, be a great TdF.

Oh wait Evenepoel is doing the Giro... That's a shame.

Ineos train melting away today was *chef's kiss*

carlton calling them sky all afternoon as well, lol

Zappi otm, it was beautiful

last year Thomas was supposedly out of shape and had been partying all winter, etc. And he finished 2nd (and could've won, Bernal just was the first to tactic, before the final stages got scrapped)

so I still think Gerraint Thomas will be up for it. Froome not so much.

wiggins said recently he thought thomas would win it. doubtful but would love to see it

according to the watts occurring podcast ben swift had to do two big shites during strade bianche. lovely stuff

kinda wish I'd done this now
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPOvAnIy7Vc

Deceuninck-QuickStep domestique Tim Declercq shows the impact of being hit by hailstones on today's stage.

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/PzLM4GkLnEHyeRQLegWg6k-970-80.jpg

ffffffffffffffffff yeouch

niki terpstra's nutrition strategy for dirty kanzelled
https://i.imgur.com/XPI7KYg.png

holy shit at declercq!!

so stoked to see kuss delivering like we knew he could, pride of durango. one writer noted that between kuss with xc and roglic with jumping, lotto has some nordie skillz.

declerq 🤮 holy fucking jesus

froome on a semaine sans

Ineos is losing riders up front like leaves on a tree in autumn.

formolo looks goosed

... in the big ring though. weapon

Formolo having a great start to the season. Bernal is fried.

looked like sivakov finished ahead of him

He did indeed.

max schachmann crashes into a civilian’s car (!) in il lombardia and still finishes 7th. how the hell the car got onto the route... serious questions for the organisers to answer

heard remco took a sore one on the descent of the sormano too

that was scary indeed! seems he's ok though, and he definetely still has his teeth.

I haven’t been following closely but why was Lombardia moved to the middle of August? I thought races were going back not forward.

fractured pelvis for remco; popped collarbone for schachmann

french mafia rallying for pinot on the last stage of the dauphine

durango y’all wooo

I haven’t been following closely but why was Lombardia moved to the middle of August?

I assume because the Tour/Giro/Vuelta are all in the autumn (and to some extent overlapping) and Lombardia is the kind of race that Grand Tour riders are more likely to win.

RIP G and froomey

kinda excited about seeing G in the giro tbf

my money's on carapaz for the tour

Coronavirus infection rate soars in France ahead of the Tour de France
French Prime Minister Jean Castex says the coronavirus is four times more prevalent there than a month ago, reports the BBC(link is external).

France suffered 5,429 new cases in the last 24 hours – the highest number recorded since April – and there are now 21 départements classed as red zones (which means more than 50 new Covid-19 cases per 100,000 inhabitants in the last seven days).

Most red zones are around Paris or in holiday regions on the Cote d’Azur – where the Tour de France is due to begin on Saturday.

I was just contemplating starting a Tour de France thread so we can have one before the race gets cancelled.

We can enjoy the Phantom Zone. (My NBC Sports subscription for cycling just hit yesterday so I guess we'll see if it'll be for two days or something. Still, fun catching up with the Dauphine at least.)

France reports 7,379 daily cases in new post-lockdown record
France reported 7,379 new confirmed cases on Friday; the most in a day since its lockdown ended and just shy of the 7,578 high set on 31 March.

how many stages do we reckon they'll manage... first week max ?

Ladies and Gentlemen, less than 24 hours until we hear this 🚨🎶🤣pic.twitter.com/EzmQ6oeepJ

— ITV Cycling (@itvcycling) August 28, 2020

have we got a TdF thread yet? Eurosport audio absolutely borked so far lol

There’s no way this makes it all the way to Paris - TdF 2020

Cycling journalist José Been tweeted something along the lines of "anyone following me voting for Trump please unfollow me"

Trek's Quinn Simmons tweets:

Bye 👋🏿

— Quinn Simmons (@QuinnSimmons9) September 30, 2020

In response, Simmons' employer Trek suspends him:

Trek-Segafredo response to public comments made by Quinn Simmons pic.twitter.com/ygqYjy8FWz

— Trek-Segafredo (@TrekSegafredo) September 30, 2020

You love to see it.

Also today

In 2017 when we had Tsgabu Grmay on the team, many riders and staff would call him the N word..I got pissed so much every time they did it, but they though it was fun. I think they had no idea what it meant. But that's not an excuse. There was one rider though, I asked honestly..

— Janibrajkovic (@janibrajkovic) October 1, 2020

brajkovic's confessional witness work is actually feels more impressive to me, as it reflects a bit more of the actual lived-space vs performative twitter assholery (not that twitter assholery isn't revealing or accurate).

nah actually suspending that dipshit is likely better, that's realest, sorry.

Yesterdays (great) LBL, a triptych:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EjfykmSWkAMaY-H?format=jpg&name=small

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EjgGcq8X0AUreRf?format=jpg&name=small

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Ejjk9ykWkAAR3UD?format=jpg&name=small

Oh dear

RIP G, crashing in the neutral zone is a hell of a way to go out

That was all very bemusing, down to the hilarious finish of course.

g hit a coke can, right? as crashes go, it seemed not toooo terrible, he had swerved, slowed, and had a foot down, but him not moving much afterwards-- ooooh not good. is he starting tomorrow i wonder

He didn't start. It was a drink bottle, yeah. Very harsh as he was as good as when he won the TdF, or even better this year. Ineos will be wishing this season is over asap.

imagine riding 150km with a fractured hip and finishing only 12 min behind, cyclists really are tough

I saw some fan video of him hitting a bidon and it’s hard to watch, he so nearly held it.

He did the whole of the Tour that started in Corsica (2013? 2014?) with a broken pelvis

Re: Quinn Simmons: No more USA pros from rich-guy Colorado families please. Just turn over all the USA cycling development money to the Williams bros. Funny how Trek and Spesh have traded places on the 'Evil / Good' spectrum.

Imagine how much cooler USA cycling would be if Lance had not turned into a GC guy and remained a Valverde-style one-day Puncheur and the next gen USA star after him was Rahsaan Bahati... sprinting for the Green Jersey vs McEwen and Cav on the Champs. Instead of what we got, which was...Teejay :(

Its like horner (ca) and floyd (pa/ca) and hamilton (ma/?) never happened innit. One of them won a gt even.

v atmospheric ending to the stage today, some ride by Ganna too

i am missing the giro but the availability and pricing on this shit doesn't work. the old pirate shit i could do in the 00s and early 10s is too fraught and annoying. i thought about like vpn and gcn but fuck that lifes too short and i pretend to be a grown-ass adult so... post youtubular highlights when you feel it!

fwiw i had v positive interaction with flobikes concerning how their billing structure worked last year, and they did me right. still, i ain't buying a years worth of flobikes. they could bump a month to month up to $25 (from $13) and i might do a few of those, buuut as is, nope.

VPN + RAI free to air is the way to go IMO, although I haven’t had a a chance to watch anything yet. I should have a chance to to watch some today.

Anyone give any insight into why there is a pedelec category at the MTB worlds?

To provide Ad copy for bike brands.

As I suspected

lol i just threw the rai feed up, it looks like today happened...at night, holy shit, ha. thanks for the encouragement to just go for rai, Ed.

saw a reported de gendt take: "I had just closed 2'40" with a Movistar backpack. Then I was like: everyone can win, except you. When Filippo Ganna went, I would rather he won. I then made it a goal to ride on Rubio's wheel, so that he didn't get forward." haha!

Juju nearly made the same mistake in Brabantse Pijl yesterday as on Sunday (celebrating too early), only this time Van der Poel had gravely misjudged the sprint. Visible sigh of relief from Juju after the finish line.

De Gendt otm btw

Yates out of the Giro after testing positive for Covid
the rest of his team have tested negative so far but it must be pretty unlikely that no one else has it

also Paris-Roubaix cancelled boooooo

Shit, I hope Yates doesn’t suffer long term consequence of this.

Also boo on roubaix, an October roubaix and the forts running of the women’s race was a pretty exciting prospect. I’m still surprised the tour got to the end though and I’m not sure I entirely believe how few positives there were for the rona.

Getting thru tdf was pretty impressive to me.
Could be luck, but at that scale seems also an example of good compliance by riders and staff of personal discipline wrt bubbling.

Or could be a lil crafty deception, bit that is hard to pull off at scale, too.

RIP 20 roubaix. 🙁

The whole Mitchelton-Scott team and TJV's Steven Kruijswijk out of the Giro w/ the rona. Simon Yates already left earlier. And this is just after the first week... :-/

unnamed (so far) Sunweb rider as well

plus one staff member from each of Ineos and AG2R
what a mess

I'll be amazed if the Vuelta gets completed this year - might not even start

Michael Matthews is the Sunweb rider who tested positive

Sunweb rider is Michael Matthews. Praying 4 Kelderman.

Can't imagine the Giro finishing, let alone the Vuelta starting at this rate. Vlaanderen on Sunday may be the last big one.

xp

Jumbo Visma now out completely.

My money's on 'The Shark from Messina' being the last rider in the Giro and winning this.

Do they even start today?

A lot of careers could be ended by this, and worse.

They're well under way today

Vaughters is being a disingenuous tit. In or out, Man.

https://apb-news.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/SpotlightArticle_Blackbox107469-780x405.jpg

^^ me trying to see the Giro, Vuelta and Driedaagse De Panne stages at the same time today.

And I can't let this thread roll on without a mere mention of the best ride this year, Flanders last Sunday. The last km was pure poetry.

https://cdn-cyclingtips.pressidium.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/85B_6411-2-1.jpg

More of that here: https://cyclingtips.com/2020/10/a-photographers-view-of-the-best-race-of-the-year/

https://cdn-cyclingtips.pressidium.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/2020-tour-of-flanders-alaphilippe-crash-1-of-2.jpg

i'm impressed with alaphillipe's ability to be an impulsive jackass, to be so successful with that model, and yet also still be charismatically likeable.

like, i was glad he lost when he posted up early, but i still felt terrible watching him crash himself outta the ronde. (i am def one of those guys who thinks it was bad luck but on him).

Otm on all of that. I get nervous just seeing him ride, imagine being in a breakaway with him. But yes, very likeable all the same. His crash was def on him.

was v sad at the crash tbh cos 1) I was super hyped to see the headsup fight between him, Wout and VdPoel 2) the TV camera lingering on him rolling around in agony for far too long. was VdPoels turn today, what a sport.

After catching up on the stelvio I’m now watching the peloton opt to do the first 100km of today’s stage by bus.

Yup. Tbf a flat 260km ride in a third week is madness.

Meantime I’ve been watching the Vuelta — steady competition so far, Bennett’s win today was a nice burst right at the end.

Blimey: Hart and Hindley go into tomorrows final stage with the exact same time. We’ve not had that in one of the big three yet.

... and TGH is scottish !
https://i.imgur.com/55Vfg5p.jpg

Amazing today

rohan dennis has attained legend status with his rides on the stelvio and sestriere

tomorrow is going to be intense

loved didi in a mask

https://lfgss.microco.sm/api/v1/files/97bc8bbdf95ad8ea770fe3a519bba6fb64c0b5d9.jpeg

FUCKIN' YASSSSSSS

Amazing

Will watch the TT in a bit, but what an epic finish. We have an embarrassment of riches in terms of talent to watch for the next few years. I'm now rooting for Enric Mas in the Vuelta so we can merge the GC and young riders classifications in all the grand tours.

Ineos will be wishing this season is over asap.

― Ilxor in the streets, Scampo in the sheets (Le Bateau Ivre), Tuesday, October 6, 2020 12:57 PM (two weeks ago) bookmarkflaglink

This didn't age well lol. It's amazing Hart started the first TT just thinking he'd be there to support G (and lost a minute + there), only to win it. With 7 stage wins in the bag for them, and a good Carapaz in the Vuelta.

worth a watch - sunweb doc on the stelvio, sestriere and milan stages
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHTgOFJxecg&feature=emb_title

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHTgOFJxecg

https://assets.nos.nl/data/image/2020/10/28/686792/xxl.jpg

Vuelta in autumn <3

Funnest climb duel since froome/cobo. roglic pulled, carapaz kept attacking and roglic kept crush-countering. that was increíble. (kuss still durango strong, yip!)

Yeah that was a proper mano a mano duel

Agreed on that — very interested to see how this all progresses.

Be sure to catch today's final too. Beast mode Roglic is winning back a lot of hearts of fans I'd say.

After some yes/no/yes/no/yes calculations from the organisation Roglic has the red again, with the same time as Carapaz. That's two blows for Carapaz in two days.

enjoying the Vuelta broadcast and racing a lot more than the TDF this year.

Racing mos def, but Giro and Vuelta usually are more enjoyable, more open races. (broadcast idk: it's always fine - and free - in the low lands :) )

lads

ANGLIRU on sunday

not the biggest fan of these straight power/weight maths-/physics-weenie climbs but I am STOKED to see rog and richie go toe to toe as they winch themselves up that thing

Ya, properly stoked. Tbf tomorrow's no picnic either. Get a load of dem bumps:

https://c7r2q8r6.stackpathcdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Vuelta-2020-Profiel-etappe-11.jpeg

roglic is the only dude making green tube sox look good.

martin's 45 secs were really impressive, but the closer from this edition's closer was niiiiiiice.

Ha, otm. We could cover all colours: MvdP makes white shorts look rly good.

LBI

no

fp

I'll take it on the chin lol

so happy juala didn’t go for white shorts

the white shorts are why I’m solidly on team van “dreamboat” aert

whynotboth.gif

MvdP and WvA will bring us so much joy in the years to come. MvdP might wear white shorts, he has the shampoo sponsor (it always makes me lol seeing the Alpecin commercial, he barely has hair anyway!)

White shorts after labour day, how outrée

Whew, just saw today’s stage. Amazing work by Roglic for sure.

Well those were a couple of stages there. Great winners in both cases. Can’t imagine Carapaz thinking the gap is near enough.

Yeah, yesterday was kind of a let down (but that's on the organisation, really: what do you expect the top riders to do after four of those climbs?) but today delivered. I think Roglic will sleep the better of the two; he had a "bad day", yet only lost 10 seconds to Carapaz; thought it'd be more, but Carapaz struggled too, in the end. Great win for Carty!

Roglic will probablu take the red again on Tuesday, with the TT. Interesting to see how he copes this time around.

I think Roglic will sleep the better of the two; he had a "bad day", yet only lost 10 seconds to Carapaz; thought it'd be more, but Carapaz struggled too, in the end. Great win for Carty!

Absolutely that for Carthy, what a commanding finish. Gonna have to keep more of an eye on him.

Roglic will probablu take the red again on Tuesday, with the TT. Interesting to see how he copes this time around.

I normally get a bit zoned with TT days but given what Tuesday is over here I look forward to a hopefully long day of nothing but that, as distraction.

Carthy's finish was incredible. There was a shot of Mas, Carapaz and him at about 3km from the top that had me fooled he was nearly dying only for him to then make that jump. Just wow. Would have loved to see what Kuss would have been capable of if he didn't have to stay with Roglic but alas. I've done some climbs with a >20% stretch of maybe 100 meters, I cannot get my head around having to ride a kilometer on a slope that steep...

"The worst thing I've ever encountered in my life."@Harrytanfield94 summing up the brutal Angliru 🏔👀#LaVuelta20 pic.twitter.com/KQfUYHX7Hd

— ITV Cycling (@itvcycling) November 1, 2020

For the first time ever, the town in france where my dad has a holiday house has a tour stage start, and there’s a tiny back road from the front door to the top of the first climb of the day... and it’s unlikely I’ll be allowed out of Australia.

Ouch!

That is a right pisser.

i predict...no i don't. but i sure hope you get there, Ed!

Its a pig of a stage as well. right before the second rest day 192km uphill from the gun, uncategorised but narrow and twisty so people will be able to get away, it's one of two roads from the off, one of which goes by a place with the best wood grilled lamb chops you are ever likely to eat. After that they get a valley that is all false flat, 4 categorised climbs and a fast descent into Andorra.

Yikes! It's still early days though, if you're unlikely to leave bcz of covid? a lot can change, still. Rooting for you to be there, Ed! And it's a great stage.

Italy’s most renowned cycling commentator has long struggled with Geoghegan Hart’s name. “‘Googanga’ he called me on Italian TV. That was just him trying to pronounce my surname. I started hearing it at races and Italians shouting it excitedly, with a real emphasis on the last ‘A.’ Now it’s the Italian way you say my name.”

vuelta's not over lads

"Well Hugh, was that the best TT you've ever ridden?" - @friebos

"Probably up there, close to an evening 10 back at home..." - Hugh Carthy 😅#LaVuelta20 pic.twitter.com/K7hoVkg6UT

— ITV Cycling (@itvcycling) November 3, 2020

namur was amazing. would like a shot of that course myself

It was fantastic, had an absolute blast watching that.

Watched men last night, will watch women tonight. The first left downhill turn that men were dismounting on looked cleanable, but if the top 5 are dm’ing, i cannot imagine how tough that must really be. They make it look so easy. I think even mvdp dm’ed it a few laps, cant remember.

women's race was fun to watch. boy, laps 2/3 shook things out. as a yank watching honsinger, i was amazed by her pass of one of my faves, del carmen, it was so authoritative.

women's race today (at herentals) was amazing too. the women's racing seems a bit more competitive, with a few more people capable of winning

also jfc your bike must need a top to bottom overhaul after riding for an hour on this stuff

I like watching women better at least in last 5 years. First, more generally competitive and possibly surprising, but also I think because I understand what I’m watching more.

doco embedded in this article recommended. no english subs unfortunately but easy to follow and get the gist, and large stretches in english
https://nos.nl/artikel/2362227-zadelpijn-zat-dumoulin-dwars-tijdens-tour-overal-pijn-dit-kan-zo-niet-langer.html

https://www.procyclingstats.com/tools/favorite-500-ranking

Huh i woulda guessed 1 3 9 4 7

Mine would be 5 7 17 1 er, 9?

Whats yrs?

I still ❤️ 3.

valverde
armstrong
pantani
cipo
voeckler

j/k ;)

nibali def first and then maybe WvA, alan phillips, gilbert, cancellara

doco embedded in this article recommended. no english subs unfortunately but easy to follow and get the gist, and large stretches in english
https://nos.nl/artikel/2362227-zadelpijn-zat-dumoulin-dwars-tijdens-tour-overal-pijn-dit-kan-zo-niet-langer.html

― ||||||||, Thursday, December 31, 2020 8:12 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

there's a section in this after the TT, with tommy windmills talking to his DS about what's just unfolded. here's a rough translation from a dutch (? flemish?) speaker:

About himself:
He was as good as when he won gold on the worlds in Bergen and hadn't got a clue where he could shave off 30 seconds to be at Pogacar's time.

About Pogacar: ample cursing and complaining that he looks like a mineworker sitting on his bike (implying that he hasn't even got the aerodynamics right?).

So basically a lot of disbelief at how strong pogacar was.

That’s interesting. There’s no way you premiere that kinda shit and the others don’t cock a snook.

Re: “mineworker,” unsure if the implication is no aerodynamics, or no souplesse, or some combo thereof. I guess uphill TT isnt really a souplesse kind of operation, lol. it needs more like, a stompin’ shitkicking— and pogacar delivered that.

'Mineworker' in Dutch most likely implicates bad aerodynamics, yeah.

Great cross yesterday, with MvdP, WvA, Pidcock and Iserbyt still together after 5 of 8 rounds. One blitz attack and VDP was gone. Could tell from his post-match it wasn't easy though. VDP is riding again today, and tomorrow. You've got to love the cyclo madness.

I'm treating this as the go to de facto cycling chat thread now deal with it

anyway, I've been trying out zwift recently and I'm dumbfounded by some of the numbers I've been seeing from some club mates. e.g. one of them who is always in the group below me on club rides, rode half the amount of KMs I did last year etc but is pushing 220W for 20 mins easy peasy on zwift at 149bpm whereas I've just come off a club training ride where I was struggling to push over 160W and was sat in zone 5 HR for half the ride with a full minute above 190. is this likely because I'm using a (presumably poorly setup) wheel-on dumb trainer and he's probably on a kickr? or am I just dick_und_langsam(TM) (don't answer that)

my average (!) heart rate for the hour was 175 fs with a max of 194 (lmao I thought my max was 192)

What are you getting your power readings from? I bought a smart trainer in the early days of the lockdown last spring and that gives accurate power readings (or at least, they are pretty much what I would have expected them to be). I used to use an old-fashioned turbo trainer (probably like the one you're using) without Zwift - just following routines based on heart rate zones as I didn't have any power data.

power is just based off zwift's simulated power curve for my trainer : /

I've bought a kickr core which is on its way to me so hopefully that will improve things

Yeah, I think that's where the problem lies - those estimates are probably not very accurate. Or maybe you're just really unfit. You'll find out sooner or later.

aye probably the latter :/

cycling hours at 175BPM average should soon sort that out

club mate must be on the secret training too which is both cheating and against the club charter. the compliance committee will be getting informed

I beta’d zwift in 14 i think, it’s game-ified bullshit. But i’m an old. I wont even kudo a strava zwift sesh of longtime friends/former teammates on principle. Theyre cool, ive not announced this stupid position of mine, im fine with zwift as a training tool, but it is sub-peloton as a thing _for me_. And i use power meters all the time.

And Im such a nerd i use golden cheetah

fp

j/k I basically thought the same myself until I tried it recently. the gamification makes it kinda oddly moreish, you know, like MSG or its cousin crack. beats the monotony of trainerroad or youtube interval sessions imo. and seems like you'd be able to see some meaningful training gains from using it. time will tell I guess

i no longer race so i shouldn't give a fuck, but it's so unstructured. and i hated not having a feeling of the buildup. there's not enough information to know when to spend, when to shelter, or to see who was still going easy and was gonna rip you to shreds.

blieve me, i know i am the minority view.

don't disagree with any of that really. I basically just want to emerge in spring and kick fsck out all my mates who usually kick fsck out of me

Lol you are forcing me to realize it is a v clear strong net positive for all but the very few riders who already have highly effort-optimized and time-optimized programs. Which is to say elite or elite+ riders. Of whom (wait, who??) I am v v def not one. And I never was one, regardless any of my secret delusions.

This has been difficult, necessary therapy for me, a process dork, |||||||||.

Zwift forth, and kick ass!

*Hunt3r actually contemplates getting Zwift again and trying to have actual fun in computer gaming*

I've never been a road cyclist, have been into bikecamping & touring, and general city peddling about, but now I'm building my first "road" bike. I want to have some sort of goal for the year. 2K miles? 4K miles? Not sure yet.

4K miles quite a lot for a first year but probably a decent stretch goal. more importantly, what bike are you getting ?!

update on my zwift situation: tweaked the resistance on the cycleops fluid 2 and was able to hold higher power numbers so that's good. also kickr came and the power numbers on that are consistent with the fluid2 so reckon the fluid2's power curve actually not bad once you get it dialled in. none of the fancy schmancy ERG mode, simulated gradients etc though and the kickr is a LOT quieter

in actual pro cycling news, I see wireless dura ace has been spotted out in the wild again 👀

i used a kurt with a speedo interface back in 2010 to estimate power, and it was goodish in that the "steady state" power curve wasn't too affected by heat level of unit.

for fluid resistance, variation in the heat level of the unit can be a huge barrier to accuracy. still, the main issue for consistent numbers is consistent tire pressure and consistent compression tension of the roller unit. Confirm tire pressure and the number of compression turns at the start of each ride.even if your absolute numbers end up being garbage, you are usually consistent vs your previous and future rides, and can measure efforts and progress.

i'm sure you already know this. WHen i was beta tester with trainer road back then, i spent a lot of time in emails with those two, tryna dial shit in.

i haven't even watched to whole race yet (only had time for two mens laps), but conditions and course design at overijse were like my platonic ideal of cx. Hilly? check. Greasy? totally. twisty? yup. weird asphalt/cobble/stone sections? mm hmm. and i hate riding sand ever, so its lack was fine.

between van aert and mvdp i think of mvdp as the more dynamic style rider of the two, and van aert the more stable and big steady-power, so i would have guessed mvdp, but there you go.

2021 pro cycling teams as bathroom junk 🧵⬇️

— tom owen (@tomowencc) February 2, 2021

^^ thread to get accustomed to the new '21 jerseys lads. Today sees the start of the five day Étoile de Bessèges tour. Belgian tv broadcasting all of them live, sadly "the home of cycling" Eurosport isn't there (you can always go to TIZ Cycling I suppose). Lots of big names on the starting list.

Really enjoyed the scenes last Sunday, where MvdP beat WvA to claim his fourth world title in cyclo.

Nice pairings, esp. for the Israel StartUp Nation, DSM, and Movistar jerseys :)
Quite like the Astana jersey

Re: personal experiences/activities discussed upthread, maybe start a ILX rolling cycling thread?

Fine with me. There's a dedicated board though!

D'oh, thanks!

Okay catching up late here but good lord.

Here is Van der Poel’s “1 million watt attack” to win #StradeBianche pic.twitter.com/WoVrLHVdfM

— Cyclist (@cyclist) March 6, 2021

Yeah, masterful performance, thoroughly enjoyed that. It's insane how he's still getting stronger. I'll eat my hat if he doesn't become WC on the road within three years. And I actually have a hat!

Bernal sneakily is in crazy good form as well, judging by last Saturday.

that final group at Strade Bianche was crazy, and yet VDP just rode away from them like it was the easiest thing in the world

heads up for UK peeps, Eurosport online is £20 for the year until 21/3, they have ad-free streams for pretty much every cycling race, some of which start ahead of the official broadcast. more importantly you can switch the commentary to French, Italian etc or just ambient sound whenever you want i.e. when Carlton is on.

That was grand. It’s what great puncheurs do. Alaphillipe, Woods, Gilbert, they do that.

But after seeing the last 10km of ‘19 Amstel it seems... normal. Because that is still the best finish effort ever ever imo. it’s fucking impossible.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6rA9zou0PU

Woke up to Phil Ligget on the radio this morning, praising Lance Armstrong.

Oh for god's sake

Yeah, the attack by VDP was incredible (I appreciate this comment is three days late).

Ha the echoes.

On my comment, so many say “yes Amstel 19, but this was vs Alaphillipe and Bernal, not Clarke and “scrubs!” Tis true.

And still I say, based on sheer effort and distance and esp the numbers, it’s Amstel! He dragged like 8 totally to the front, and he outsprinted the leaders after catching instantaneously, no recovery. Insane power.

No new answers? Can only assume it's because everyone's still gasping for air... Goddamn, MvdP did it again. What a guy.

The shock keeps rolling!

Pity for Roglic at Paris-Nice; seemed to be cruising to an easy win and then it all went wrong.

Def v/ lamentable, felt sorry for the lad. He finished yesterday's stage with a dislocated shoulder. Big ups for him immediately congratulating Schachmann afterwards, that was class.

^the fist bump was so fierce the shoulder snapped back into place

I joined in on the broadcast a bit late, first thing I saw were Roglic' hams

xp haha

I joined in late as well because I was still reeling from the Tirreno stage!

I missed that one completely. Picture of vdP after crossing the finish line said it all though, damn.

I loved Roglic' finish in stage 7 and the surprised/wtf gestures of Mäder (who was cool with it afterwards)
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EwXpVL8XAAoLk9m?format=jpg&name=small

Yeah, loved that. Been suprised at the "backlash" I've seen on social media about that; as if Roglic was supposed to let Mäder win. Come now.

Mäder eventually finished 10th in the overall, placing above poor Roglic :)

what a weekend starting with mvdp in a bboy stance, and later mvdp again.

roglic is being tested as few others. perhaps it is the result of defects in his own ability, i dunno. regardless his ability is amazing, and his incredible fortitude and grace are too. he only gets more worthy of appreciation to me.

and yeah the backlash on roglic was imo stupidest weakest ass shit. if mader was frustrated, totally normal and forgivable. if ever it is more than that, he needs to meditate.

La Corsa Rosa, the beautiful race, starts Saturday. Haven't read much about this year's course. Excited to see what Remco Evenepoel's got.

For the first time ever I'll actually be watching the coverage. At least, as I can.

Ganna absolutely monstering the Giro TT, decent ride by Remco too

Man was that ever a sweet run by Van Der Hoorn today, and his energy at the end! Best posi-vibes.

Good cycling name: Remco. Great cycling name: Taco.

loved Taco, incredulous at his win, dropping an f-bomb on the live broadcast.

that was nice to see, didn't expect that sorta reappearance by dombro.

yeh happy for Joe, always comes across as a nice guy on the ol' podcasts

Yup, that was a real treat!

Solid for Ewan there today, he thrives at those last minute moves.

And again for Ewan, amazing. But what a sad bow out for Dombrowski the other day!

Re: Joe D.— As a newb to amateur racing as relative a pup, the best/most comforting post-race comment i ever got from a veteran (who was maybe 25 y/o!) was “bike racing is stupid.” I have had no contact with dude for 25+ yrs, but i can still hear it in his voice.

i cant even imagine what these pros have seen.

Well that was a wild stage today.

I take it back, THIS was the wild stage of the Giro, at least at the end.

So hey, La Vuelta kicks in tomorrow!

seeing Euskaltel–Euskadi in their orange kit at the start line, all will feel right with the world, at least for a moment

Finally caught a stage finish and was glad I did! Chaotic camera coverage up that final hill but such cool scenery looking over the water, and great racing to boot! Excited for the mountains.

Can someone recommend a daily podcast. I’m back on the cycling podcast and and ready to commit murder the next time I hear Daniel Friebe say ‘chaps’ again.

xpost Just caught the end here on the replay, that was nuts. Hell of a way to win. Carapaz is not having a good run of it here.

Well THAT was an unexpected stage result today.

Stellar win by Bardet today but man, Jay Vine coming in third after that crash and Eiking still holding onto red damn well, crazy.

This Vuelta has proved again to be the most fun GT to watch imo. The Champoussin win yesterday was great- they let him go, he stuck it for pro-win-1 while appearing on the verge of crashing the bike from his efforts. And what a fantastic parcours for the penultimate stage of a GT. As good as any Ardennes classic, with the skinny gc boys trying to attack their ways onto podium slots. Again and again, dynamic as fuck.

But the Vuelta had lots of interesting dramas, great efforts, if perhaps too few stage winners.

True on all fronts but so satisfying, what a great Grand Tour, and neat to have it finish somewhere else for once, albeit for bleh reasons.

Storer was kinda my revelation.

My HS spanish teacher who was one of my heroes and advisors was from Santiago de Compostela, I kept thinking of her. Looks grand.

First ever womens roubaix was an absolute classic, Lizzy Deignan on an 85km break (fuck the clowns for not showing it from the gun.). She won a rock almost too heavy to lift.

Men’s race has just got going and the conditions are absolutely minging.

Did you see her managing to stay upright during the wobbly skid? Amazing bike work!

this is brutal but I can't stop watching :/

Absolutely epic

one of the best races i've ever seen

For the men’s race, I’ve only been able to watch some of the clips on https://www.reddit.com/r/peloton/comments/q0jqzk/comment/hf8fw62/ but holy crap wet Paris-Roubaix is insane. And if I’m not mistaken the entire podium was all first-timers to the race?

yah, and second was basically a neopro

gcn has highlights available on youtube i believe

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FA6buKQUYAADjgc?format=jpg&name=large

Oof! Biniam Girmay out of the Giro following a Prosecco cork directly to the eye during yesterday’s podium celebration

Own goal but so so wrong and annoying. I hope he wasn’t injured for more than v short recovery. #cagecorksnow

Catching up but yeah what a terrible thing to have happen! Hope to see him back soon.

Giro as a whole was pretty good this year I thought, a couple of boring stages aside. And to have it come down to essentially the next to last day, works for me! Also Bora happily moving into a post-Sagan phase.

Bring on the Dauphine, need to recheck who is racing this time out...

A meltdown from Nick Kyrgios after losing in the US Open quarterfinal! pic.twitter.com/hUTaihlTBF

— Third and Five Podcast (@thirdandfivepod) September 7, 2022

#LaVuelta22 luego de su aparatosa caida en la etapa 16 el esloveno Primoz Roglic no presenta lesiones graves certificado médico emitido por la sanidad de la vuelta pic.twitter.com/CwdOjoqEBG

— 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐧 𝐒á𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐳 (@JORSTA) September 6, 2022

Christ I've been so busy I keep forgetting to check on La Vuelta. Bad of me!

Watch the final 5 clicks of yesterday, all ya needs for st 16. It’s quite amaze short climb finish to flat/rolly day.

gutted for Rog, guy has terrible luck

I am as impressed by his demeanor, dignity, perseverance as his great power profile. Maybe more. He’s incredibly tough— but almost all those guys are.

It’s easy to say “how boring, whatever,” but you know what’s easier? acting like that tennis ahole above.

*chorus*: ask hunt3r how he knows!

https://derailleur.substack.com/p/sad-story-huh

"Everything was going to plan. I confess that I, like so many others, in some way needed him to win — to pull through so I could imitate him in pulling through."

"According to Addy Engels, his DS, after crossing the line, Roglič was barely responsive. Like a living pietà, he sat down wounded against the barriers, and then everyone knew — there was nothing left."

Well that was a lot of fun! Van der Poel fell off his bike right in front of the restaurant where Stet and I had our first date lol.

that's pretty wild. the race was extremely legit imo, what a crazy and difficult circuit set-up they had. more turns than crit, and hard enough to keep the field shattered.

I think I loved it, the way it turned into a crazy sort of devil-take-the-hindmost. Very glad it didn’t rain any more than it did.

for me wout vs mvdp is like the jonas vs pog vs rog: why choose?

Each is distinguishable and amazing and imo very “sporting,” which is nice to an old. I rarely say this but I’m glad to be an overall cycling fan, and just to watch.

Do I have preferences? Sure— in grand tours, I like the current versh Pog. He is ridiculously daring and “in-the-moment.”Second place— Rog, so classy and brave and smart and good.


In one days? I go for mvdp, for the same reasons lol. But also i am a core cx fan, and mvdp’s ownership of the: skills vs “exercise contest” portion of that sub-discipline is persuasive to me. NB they’re both great at both obv.

Congrats to Colorado’s own Sepp Kuss for winning La Vuelta today!

Wow! I had to miss coverage because my vacation last week, couldn't make up the time, but that's great to hear.

Impressively nice and friendly guy, with a v v remarkable physiology and mindset.

Also very cheering to see like, all of cycling recognize all of these things in Kuss with applause and appreciation.

Kind of a relief: a few days before the end it looked like his dastardly team mates were going to repay his years of selfless service by stealing it off him.

Yeah the Defector piece about this today was not exactly sparing of the other two.

very unique scenario; how often does a team have three legitimate GC threats and have them all come to fruition in a single grand tour, let alone three in a year.

Unless I've mis-researched, Kuss was the only rider to complete all three Grand Tours this year (Luis León Sánchez of Astana started them all, but did not finish the Tour) – and all with top-15 finishes (14-12-1)!

my mom/sister just got back from a trip to ecuador and i made a joke about running into richard carapaz (they don't know or care about pro cycling) and my sister was like 'oh yeah he was getting interviewed on tv all the time'

i guess he just got second in the tour of colombia?

anyway two weeks to strade bianche, the best one-day race [Remove Bookmark from this Thread]

Race has such a consistently legit winners list imo

i was just going over it, everyone's a hitter

I'm finally going to achieve a long ambition of mine and head over to Tuscany to cycle some of the strade bianche in a few months' time. Can't wait.

THE NEWSPAPER and disco inferno next weekend, really excited even tho I don't have the jerseys memorised yet so will probably spend half the time trying to figure out who is who. riding some of strade sounds awesome!

ah nbs on the “his best life isht” wooo!

*thinks*

well if the rest of yr life is even better just don’t tell me for a bit. have fun be safe.

Pogacar going nuts on an 80km solo victory yesterday. Today, Paris-Nice!

Phew! Definitely need to do some catching up -- which reminds me: if you're a Max subscriber at all, there's now access for free for a TON of cycling via their BR sports section. Supposedly that'll be a further paid section down the road but for now there's no limit and they'll be showing a slew of things over the next few months, including the Giro. (TdF and Olympics of course still with NBC/Peacock.)

Haven’t got to the mend yet but the women’s race was great. Commentators were giving it all ‘longo-Borghini is the better climber’ right up to the moment Kopecky smoothly pulled away on that last climb.

Never bet against the big flandrian in a race like that.

man if you told me anytime before a week ago skujins for 2nd at SB i woulda said no fucking way. he's fucking flying.

yall
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GH1EJ2SWYAAKJ9-?format=jpg&name=small

first time trial to the moon

Let's have it happen

and only JV ended up in the top ten

Just watched an interview with LeMond where he explained there are hard limits on sustained wattage based on your VO2max, and if the UCI wanted to end doping they could just make VO2max part of your biological passport and then check the sustained wattage. Seems sensible?

to the smaller extent that vo2 max is trainable, and the more slight extent that its expression is influenced by the rider’s mass, i’m always kinda dubious. when dealing with a group of mostly equally-able soooooper outlier aliens, i am not sure how determinative it can be. can one say hey a rider with an 84ml/kg/min can never match w/gm a rider at 95 wrt w/kg? v v fair.

but i don’t know how much the vo2 max can be argued to be a definitive permanent defin stmt. it has a ceiling for everyone, but it does move. with ppl built to cheat, when will you know you’ve got the correct ceiling measurement? also not all races are determined by that energy system. better races (imo) are determined not only by your w/kg at threshhold, but v v often by your super-threshold power layed down in just such a situation to make a gap and get away enough to stay away with other better performers, or if you can hold that superthreshhold power long enough to win with it (these “w’” efforts are ot usually long, they can last 8-10 mins, not much more). And in a long day, lots of difference comes out of how your body can recover during long hard days. Or how good your teammates are at hiding you until it’s time to make those super efforts, of either kind (roughly called aerobic and anaerobic). whether you’re eating enough. whether, even if youre eating, youre digesting it. whether youre digesting. even whether youre drinking. whether you are naturally just low and fast in position. there’s a shitton of smaller variables that cumulatively make big differences.

i mean there are things that stand out as flags. relatively sudden big improvements obv. ppl going from excellence at anaerobic super performance to being aerobic w/kg supermen (like armstrong bw 97 and 99– and there were many of these in the late 90s obv). or low enders who suddenly just became gods, like froome.

my main takeaway for lemond—as talented and as sorta regular decent person as I think he is— is that his vo2max numbers were like all-time great for any sport, like 95ml/kg/min. scandi xc level shit (who btw were also like patients zero for aerobic doping technique—but i’m implying that for lemond at all).

so maybe everything looks like a nail to lemond, named vo2max. but i dunno, srsly all those riders move so much more oxygen that normies like me, and i just watch and clap.

Lemond I like mostly but he also seems pretty obv very emotionally immature. Not fragile, he’s tough and v resilient,but perhaps best termed “whiny.” actually the first time i met him in the early 90s (i don’t know him obv), i turned around so he could sign the back of my team jersey in sharpie. then he was nice enough to talk to me a couple mins. near to the end he made a joke like “well, i’m just a retired wash-out now, they should just put us down, like horses.” it was said humorously and was appropriate and funny, but i walked away thinking “he really does seem a little shook.”

NOT IMPLYING lol

it was not a jersey of his team, it was a long sleeve of my team, i was out riding and stopped at a shop and there he was. I wish i’d kept that jersey in good shape— but i rode and warshed it to rags. ☹️

Le Tour! From Biniam to Cav to the ever-miraculous Jonas to Pogi's chance for the double... loving it

ditto

Yeah it’s been great!

I loved hearing how rapped Ned boultinng, Pete kennaugh and David Millar were with Cav’s win on their podcast. (Also hearing how a young mark cavendish asked to see inside Pete’s mum’s knicker drawer)

awesome stage today. jonas means business.

Sure does!

tadej cooking

Pog killing it, wish Remco hung in there a bit longer

the numbers from yesterday are boggling. jonas did his best performance ever and pog still skelped him

Love it 🪩 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WaMgeLgdpm4

welp, can't help but reply with this: Pete Shelley's theme for BBC4's coverage of TdF ca. 1986...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLSUsw04O6M

zero irony, just a choon of it's time. God Bless Pete.

Loved the 7-11 revive, great details (green derailleur!). Great classics season. Pogacar dominance aside some fun stories.

just a choon of it's time

Still love that tune

yeh the Shelley one is the TdF tune of my childhood, such good vibes
rewatched A Sunday In Hell the night before Paris-Roubaix and forgot how much of it is spent watching Merckx readjusting his seat lol. I want to go back in time and just hang out in those cafe/bars tho, that's the life for me

the Gunner Møller Pedersen scores for A Sunday in Hell and Stars and Watercarriers (esp. the latter) are fantastic

Giro's been fun so far and seeing Wout win the chaos stage yesterday was a treat.

Wanted del toro or bernal but wout was also v gratifying he’s so legit he’s more than legit. Long may he prosper. Also, the latest incarnation of roglic as like a chatty smiling ditz is rly great too.

Hahah yeah, liking his vibe for sure. Do like Del Toro, first I've properly noticed him.