Soldato
- Joined
- 11 Jun 2013
- Posts
- 2,632
“Yes well erm” then repeat what Carlton said. Needs to go!
Pro Cycling Discussion 2020
- Thread starter Roady
- Start date
Soldato
- Joined
- 11 Jun 2013
- Posts
- 2,632
It’s Israel again. Interesting few snippets in one of his recent video on the UK 25TT where he said he smashed Archibald for power but lost by a lot in speed. Maybe he can find some aero gains over the next 6 weeks
He can be annoying but I'd have Sean all day if it meant Carlton would bugger off instead. Plus hearing him say "general classification" brings a smile to my face.
Soldato
- Joined
- 11 Jun 2013
- Posts
- 2,632
It’s the complete lack of tactical comment that gets me - all he says is that this is hard now and you have to be in good shape to do well. It’s nonsense compared to many of the recently retired pros who add tactical insight to the main commentators
Soldato
Agreed. His drone of an Irish accent really bores me! Fantastic rider in his time, deserves all the respect for that and what he's done for cycling since, but he's no pundit/commentator. It would be different if he brought anything other than his name an reputation to it, as he's nothing more than a +1. Doesn't really bring anything to actual content.
He's a parrot at times! Bizarre why he gets so much airtime/coverage when you consider how good many of the ex Pro's are. Not even the good ones, I mean look at how good Dan Lloyd is and any of the GCN lot. Think I even prefer Wiggins, although he adds just as little, at least he added some humour. I had high hopes that Matt Stephens would replace him when he left GCN to work for ES but he's hardly done anything. He did more when working for GCN!
Is that on his YouTube 'Thighsclub' channel? Have been meaning to subscribe and catch up as keep hearing it mentioned. Any good? Hope CV19 doesn't put him back too much.
Pro season pretty much over now anyway. Not sure I've wanted to watch anything 'new' the last week or two. Any suggestions? CX is kinda ok but generally find it 'boring' to watch (ok, more 'not as interesting' as road racing). I generally wait for the Classics.
Short tenure for Ellingworth at Bahrain Mclaren, guessing he'll go somewhere else with some money. Israel start up perhaps?
https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/rod-ellingworth-leaves-bahrain-mclaren/
https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/rod-ellingworth-leaves-bahrain-mclaren/
Not sure how I missed this until I saw it here. Quite a surprise but equally with Mclaren stepping away from the team & the pay cuts that much of the riders and staff had I can't say I'm surprised. He's a very 'driven' type of guy, so I wouldn't imagine the money being the chief reason, but I bet losing some key riders and support staff because of it would be good reason for him. Shame really as they did well with Landa in the TDF and put in some good performances (Tratnik & Teuns both stand out. Colbrelli too).
Really pleased about this, but struggle to understand why they 'want' him. They've such a strong team, with existing sprinters, that I find it hard to 'place' him in any key races. I really doubt he'll get a GT place unless they do something drastic to their roster, but equally with the classics team they have I don't see a place for him there either, he's never really stood out too much as a classics rider. He's no leadout - sprint is all kick, he blows up easily and too small for others to follow (think GCN or Lanterne Rouge have a video mentioning this I possibly watched?)
https://www.strava.com/activities/4440177092 Phil Gaimon doing a 20,000ft climb day with Froome 
I know none of you watch CX, but great to see Tom Pidcock finally get his first elite win yesterday and putting a marker down on a tough muddy course. Solid performance so much earlier in the season than last year after a podium the day before. Beating MvDP too. Hopefully with WvA back next weekend it's a great 3 way battle at Namur which was by the far the best race of last season and one of the best I've ever watched since getting into CX. Hoping Pidcocks upward trajectory continues through to the world champs which will now be behind closed doors.
I didn’t watch Saturdays race only Sundays.
His bike and skills were fantastic, looked totally dialled, compare to MVDP who is a bit heavier and more powerful who slipping in the mud and couldn’t keeping bringing it back, he always looked to have a bit in the tank.
He put loads of time into everyone, most riders are bigger than him, compared to Eli Iserbyt whose probably closest stature, he won the overall series Last season, pidcock was way ahead of him. (I do like how Iserbyt has different colour A/B bikes for when he puts).
Yep, and on foot his lightness in the mud seemed to pay dividends. Could see on those little up down sections how much quicked he was, pidcock seems to have the measure of iserbyt now when it matters. But so much better to see closer racing this year, everyone seems to have taken steps foraard and hopefully it'll mean more varied winners than just mvdp (24 of 25 raced last year)
Was interesting watching the differing pitting tactics across the top rider's, pidcock choosing to pit in first laps on the opposite pit to mvdp and toon aerts and then moving to half lap pits once he got a gap (although I did notjcd he'd run out of bikes about lap 7 as the queue for pressure washer was huge) benefits of having 4 bikes...
Namur next week is going ot be awesome if its as muddy as Sunday.
Soldato
What is the idea of repeatedly swapping bikes? Is it just so you can ride a bike that isnt caked in mud?
Yep, minimises the risk of mechnicals due to clogged up rear mechs, reduces the effort you have to put in as you're not pushing through mud stuck by your cranks and drivetrain with every pedal stroke as well as in the forks and the rear triangble by the bottom bracket dragging against the tyre.
The course on Sunday is known for having a very gravelly base layer on the climbs which get stuck in the tyre treads and can get stuck in a rear derailleur and snap it. The following picture shows the devastation of CX if you don't pit often. Top bike has a broken rear mech frrom accumlated mud and bottom is just one lap on a very muddy claggy course. I think I weighed it with the mud and it was an extra 1.5KG.... Not just the bike either, tread blocks get clogged on your tyres rendering them next to useless on the slippery stuff.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/3NovvKEVYoXFxAbt8
Also sometimes the pits is a quicker route than the course so it's more beneficial to take the change if you have the option. all the top riders have 4 bikes minimum with 3 sets of wheels usually for each bike. Incredible seeing the Trinity wagon last year at Nationals with just three riders, I can't imagine how many trucks the Pauwels Bingoal team has with so many top riders racing for them.
Good old battle yesterday at namur, not as brutal as last year but still a great watch
No spoilers.
Just seen the new ag2r kit and it looks pretty awesome despite the brown shorts! Citroen backing is bringing some big investment it seems with the people they're being linked to for 2022.
No spoilers.
Just seen the new ag2r kit and it looks pretty awesome despite the brown shorts! Citroen backing is bringing some big investment it seems with the people they're being linked to for 2022.
Soldato
I'm surprised they let him go, considering he was one of the standout rising stars of last year. Perhaps DSM didnt have the the budget as UAE are reportedly paying him ~1m swiss francs
It's always money. Sucks. I can't think of a worse team for that guy to go to. He is such a great racer to watch and it properly annoys me he is going to UAE. Such a waste.