Pro Cycling Discussion 2021

One More Solo said:
The only thing I’d say is at the Classics the parcours and risks are well known. If you go bombing into the Arenberg at 60kph you know what you’re getting into. To an extent in these Tour finishes you’re just trusting the wheel in front of you and that guy has no idea what’s coming either. Once a guy that can handle a bike like van der Poel starts drilling it on the front then everyone else is in trouble.

You can’t really sit up and say “nah, not risking it”. We all saw the grief Dan Martin got at the Giro.
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It's always going to be the case no matter who is on front or how bad or "good" the finish is in the eyes of the riders. When they all manage it OK, then there is no problem.
Yesterday was perfection because of who won and nobody snapped any bones.... let's not mention the roundabout in the finale this time around because all is well. If a big name planted it on that roundabout... ohhhh boy!

Jakobsen had horrific crash on a pan straight run in. It was the organisers because of their barriers and stupid UCI not caring about humans.

Give them a pan straight run in to some French town next week and if there is a situation they will find something. It was 1% downhill so we were going 5KPH faster than what is OK. UCI don't care about us.

I totally get it. Some of the finishes are utterly ridiculous and they have right to moan and the attitude and inclusion of these needs to change/stop. But they need pick their battles better collectively. Rather than it being justified and consolidated it is like they, themselves, as the peloton are only reacting to bad situations after the fact. The very same thing they think UCI are terrible because of. Reactive not proactive.
They have teams of professionals at their disposal on these teams who analyse and strategise all of these stages. They should be putting foot down and saying our teams won't ride that finale beforehand..... not moaning it's lethal, riding it anyway and then only causing a massive drama if there is a crash (most of the time there isn't). It all just screams of they will do it happily until something doesn't go their way then moan about it like **** and blame everyone else.
 
So on Cav, by my calculation there are 6 sprint stages left. He's not going to win all of these, but if he stays up right he has a good chance to win another 3/4 including Champs. (providing he can struggle over the mountains which I believe will be even more problematic this year for sprinters as those top GC riders will be going harder for longer) What a comeback that'd be to match or break the record in Paris.

By my reckoning the strongest sprinters left are Colbrelli, Merlier and Philipsen on recent form. Colbrelli is going well but seems to suit the tougher slightly uphill finishes rather than those flat finishes, Merlier hasn't completed a GT yet and Philipsen didn't look too bad in the final week of Vuelta last year. Demare hasn't had a great start to the season, but has the pedigree and Bouhanni has been closest on the two stages to the front so far, but he's not on Cavs level.

On to today, looks like MVDP is doing all he can to keep in yellow, but with WVA so close, you'd expect him to be able to close 30 seconds based on prior results in TTs. But with Alaphillipe as interloper either could be in yellow after today.
 
Agreed, as one commentator said the other day the route is released well in advanced so everyone knows where its going and theres plenty of time to analyse the route. If the CPA or the new riders union complain in advance, no riders turn up to give the complaint any backing. It was the same when the CPA met with the UCI about the rule changes concerning the aero tuck etc, no riders turned up to give the complaint any weight, but when its enacted they all moan. Sometimes the riders are their own worst enemies
 
The only thing I wasn’t sure on was how far in advance riders actually get the detailed route sheets. Teams have limited resources and they may not be able to recce these stage finishes until pretty late in the day, so riders may be putting in objections as soon as they can.

I do agree that riders will crash because of taking stupid risks regardless of how safe the final kms are. No one wants to take responsibility and admit that riders sometimes take unacceptable risks to put other riders in danger. It’s a bit like short bowling in cricket, ultimately you’re aiming to hurt and intimidate the batsman but no one ever puts it like that.
 
One More Solo said:
The only thing I wasn’t sure on was how far in advance riders actually get the detailed route sheets. Teams have limited resources and they may not be able to recce these stage finishes until pretty late in the day, so riders may be putting in objections as soon as they can.

I do agree that riders will crash because of taking stupid risks regardless of how safe the final kms are. No one wants to take responsibility and admit that riders sometimes take unacceptable risks to put other riders in danger. It’s a bit like short bowling in cricket, ultimately you’re aiming to hurt and intimidate the batsman but no one ever puts it like that.
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I used example the other day.
They are going all in to find and sue that stupid woman with the sign that caused that crash....
The crash after it on that stage was worse and it was caused by a rider looking behind and not paying attention. Yet there are no calls to sue him and make example of him for being stupid.

So if a rider causes it with stupidity there is no overwhelming shouting from the peloton to action against them. But as soon as someone sniffs that it is organiser fault they are on rooftops shouting at organiser and UCI for not looking after them. It's a shambles and hugely contradictory from these professionals depending on what bloody way the wind is blowing and how keen they are to type a drama tweet that evening.
 
on the Bradley Wiggins Podcast the other day, that is what Graham Wilgoss said and referred back to the Hoogerland/Flecha crash in 2011 where the driver was never named and no action taken against him..

But they have now found and arrested that woman according to reports.

I like they show the gear ratios the riders are using now. Although not entirely sure how accurate they are.
 
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Interesting TT, Pog is flying so far, but is he going too hard too early? Kungs face and dejection, what's he got to do to win a TT. Hopefully Pogacar doesn't just walk it as it would be nice to get a good last week battle in the mountains. Roglic, Thomas, Carapaz all nice and close but for me Vingegaard had the best TT today, to come 3rd in that field, he looks like he could be the next GC leader for Jumbo with his quickly ascending progression since last years Vuelta!

On to tomorrow! probably a dull day, but we've not had one yet.
 
Ooh wonder if Cav will get done for deviation?

edit: Looks like they gave it to him, win no.32! As much as I would like him to win it did look a bit iffy, guess he did hold the white line, got pushed wide then cut back in and kept to the line….
 
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Yeah I would say that was right on the border, possibly in some instances it'd be over and others not. Another fantastic win though. It's got to be surely!
 
Bear said:
Ooh wonder if Cav will get done for deviation?

edit: Looks like they gave it to him, win no.32! As much as I would like him to win it did look a bit iffy, guess he did hold the white line, got pushed wide then cut back in and kept to the line….
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Felt to me like Merlier pulled off not realising Cavendish was on his right and overcorrected into Philipsen. Cavendish came in a bit from right to left but the contact was all Alpecin Fenix.
 
They both did the exact same thing so if you penalise one you have to penalise the other. The only argument for doing so would be Merlier claiming it was unsafe but that would mean potentially sending his teammate to the back of the pack as well so would never do it.
 
Movistar chasing down carapaz again. They really do hate him. Roglic down and one less card for jumbo to play. Be interesting to see how wva and vingegaard are played over the weekend. Wva will be focused even more on yellow now. But it's not going to be easy.
 
Something special in them Slovenian potatoes lads.
Population 2 million with no cycling dev or youth progression yet pumping out the fresh talent on highest of levels.
 
Another crazy crazy stage from the off, that first climb blew it to pieces and it carried on from there. Suspect the gc race will be pretty dull from now on with that show of dominance from pogacar. Uae looking more comfortable today, hopefully with so long to go, few teams can regroup and try something different.

Great win nonetheless from Teuns, just a pure day of attrition that he came out on top of.
 
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