Pro Cycling Discussion 2019

SoliD said:
Well my predicition wasn't too bad. Was an ok race although i was in and out of sleep for a few k's.
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I found it boring as hell, but I think that was mostly the coverage - it was all distance sweeping landscape camera shots with very little of the breaks and tactical riding shown. Maybe because last years was such an interesting watch I was hoping for the same. Kudos to Alaphilipe, great win. Never in doubt if he's in form!

xdcx said:
Here is Luke Rowe testing the wind direction with the ole finger in the air. Immediately as panic sets in and everyone chucks it in the gutter :D
https://twitter.com/Pursuitbooks/status/1105103550131113985
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Absolutely brilliant, was amazing to see him, Bernal and Kwait so influential in those echelons. Amazing form, even having the form for that dig off the front which Jungels closed. Shame that didn't amount to more. Only watched stage 1 so far, but will watch the rest. Didn't see much of it last year as was catching up with the Classics the whole time it was on!

xdcx said:
Kwiat with a 30 second dig that absolutely blew the legs off the majority of the peloton :D Love that guy.
Sky never really associated with spring classics but lets think about it..... Rowe, Kwiat, Stannard, Doull, Van Baarle. That is silly silly! :D
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Yup, even Bernal the GC man putting some big pulls in. He really is something special and in flying form already. Kwait being able to smash the legs off everyone is something we expect from him now, even Rowe at this time of year, but to see Bernal also doing it - great!

Totally agree about Sky, they have the team, but maybe that's part of the problem - riders like Kwait and Rowe riding in the stage races for another GC man, rather than really smashing the classics. Stannard in questionable form/comeback has done well, but needs a smaller hardman with him for the lumpy stuff. Hopefully Doull is that man, didn't see much consistency from him the last couple of years, hope we do now.
 
1 Second for Yates, that is unlucky! Tirreno was pretty interesting as well should be agood season of racing in the GT's hopefully.

Ineos confirmed from 1st May, so in place for the GT's! Good they've been saved but potentially even more money to support them than Sky, presume not a lot will change.
 
Sky have managed to replace Murdoch (scumbag) with someone even worse.
Mr INEOS is the man who spat the dummy when the SNP told him, no, doesn't matter how much cash you have mate, you are not fracking our beautiful country. The guy is an absolute ****** and it's hilarious they have went from "pass on plastic" and saving whales to being bankrolled by INEOS..... Money trumps all in the puppet show.

Tirreno was unbearable watching Yates come over 1 second slower than needed. Even the girlfriend could not believe it and felt proper sorry for him. So many days spent racing and it comes down to one single second!
 
Thomas De Gendt! What an absolute animal! Won today by over 3 minutes in Catalunya! Chase dropped off with about 7 km to go realising they weren't catching him but even so. Insane!
 
SoliD said:
Thomas De Gendt! What an absolute animal! Won today by over 3 minutes in Catalunya! Chase dropped off with about 7 km to go realising they weren't catching him but even so. Insane!
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It was absolutely mental. They were actively chasing with a strung out bunch for so long and they just were not gaining on him at all. I've never seen something as extreme as that in recent cycling!
One thing is for sure now though. Thomas isn't going to be in any more breaks in Catalunya :p
 
xdcx said:
It was absolutely mental. They were actively chasing with a strung out bunch for so long and they just were not gaining on him at all. I've never seen something as extreme as that in recent cycling!
One thing is for sure now though. Thomas isn't going to be in any more breaks in Catalunya :p
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When it jumped out by 20 seconds and the commentators just thought the transponders were broke was hilarious! Fair play to the Bora guy for getting a few seconds off the bunch too! Wonder how many days he'll keep the jersey think tomorrow and Thursday are the lumpy days.

Weighted average of 362W https://www.strava.com/activities/2240488536

On another note I love the colour scheme of the EF Cannondales!
 
SoliD said:
When it jumped out by 20 seconds and the commentators just thought the transponders were broke was hilarious! Fair play to the Bora guy for getting a few seconds off the bunch too! Wonder how many days he'll keep the jersey think tomorrow and Thursday are the lumpy days.

Weighted average of 362W https://www.strava.com/activities/2240488536

On another note I love the colour scheme of the EF Cannondales!
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5.1 W/KG for 4hrs 15mins. Cyborg!
I honestly think with guys riding for him and protecting him he can retain a GC lead over the mountain days. It depends how much these purist GC guys really attack this race and try to take it from him. It'll depend how he recovers from that effort yesterday but if he's not allowed up the road again now (obviously) I think people will see how strong he can ride as a protected rider and preserving energy..... He does not like riding in the bunch though so it's going to be very interesting now.

I want to hate the EF kit but I cannot help but love it. Everything except the mushroom helmets is super cool and they are also into some great form/performances compared previous few years also.
 
Think it killed him 2 days ago. But fair play for holding on. Good little finish today proper cat and mouse. Well except from quintana who is so dull to watch nowadays. All he does is sit on and sit on.

Now to watch bruges de panne.
 
Fast forwarded through nothing happened until 10km to go. Groenewegan is an absolute animal. Making all the other sprinters look stupid similar to how cav used to back in the day!
 
Nairo is the worst "racer" to watch. Absolute knob.
In San Juan he let a wheel go in the race winning move and screwed things up for Tiesj Benoot. Then yesterday exactly the same. Willing to do absolutely no work (not even for himself) and just leads to frustration from riders and spectators.... I could understand if it was his tactic to annoy the rest of them and then pounce. But it seems he sits on and annoys everyone to only then have nothing to show for it and it just cancels out the racing.

Dan Martin is the polar opposite. Dude is genuinely a hero of mine.
 
xdcx said:
Nairo is the worst "racer" to watch. Absolute knob.
In San Juan he let a wheel go in the race winning move and screwed things up for Tiesj Benoot. Then yesterday exactly the same. Willing to do absolutely no work (not even for himself) and just leads to frustration from riders and spectators.... I could understand if it was his tactic to annoy the rest of them and then pounce. But it seems he sits on and annoys everyone to only then have nothing to show for it and it just cancels out the racing.

Dan Martin is the polar opposite. Dude is genuinely a hero of mine.
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I said after the Giro in 2017 that Quintana wouldn't win a GT again to a mate of mine and he laughed, but it's definitely never going to happen unless something big happens, and to do that he'd need to move teams and get back his explosivity, as well as learning how to TT at the level everyone else is doing. You can see the difference in people like the Yates' that have clearly spent some time on position and although they're never going to be winning, they're not hemorrhaging time like they used to which was killing their GC hopes on the 3 week GT's.
 
Was another cracking race and glad Deceuninck didn't win! Really surprised Kristoff had the legs after sitting in the gap for so long with only 30-40km left trying to get to the front group. Those numbers are insane!
 
Commentators claimed they were at an average of over 50kmh for the first part of the race.
It showed Sagan's data on screen at around 40km to go when he took a turn on the front and he was sitting 600w+

Absolutely mind boggling numbers all around yesterday. Superb race! Tiesj Benoot posted his TP data with 350TSS :)

Loved it when VdP went off front with Van Aert on his wheel. I thought there was going to be a showdown :p
 
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