Pro Cycling Discussion Thread 2015

[Calpol]

I have started a new thread to help clean up the main Road Cycling thread. I find it too difficult to keep track of the conversation at times.
It's going to be a busy week or 6 in the pro ranks.

Here are some useful sites for following what going on in the world of Pro Cycling

http://inrng.com/

http://cyclingtips.com.au/

http://www.cyclingnews.com/

http://www.steephill.tv/

 

[Calpol]

Great days racing today
The finish of Paris Nice and the Col d'eze time trialhttp://inrng.com/2015/03/paris-nice-stage-7-preview-col-d-eze/

Gallopin's ride yesterday was stunning and he should be strong enough to hold onto yellow unless he get a mechanical. You have to say that he will deserve it too with the bravery of his descending. Porte should be good enough for 2nd.

Tirreno Adriatico Stage 5 mountain finish http://www.c-cycling.com/sites/tirreno15/stage5_preview.html

Bertie seems a little off colour and no-one is talking about Quintana. The climax today will tell us how the preparation for the Giro is going.

 

[Calpol]

Porte crushed it. Gallopin shipped nearly two minutes over less than 10km. Thomas finished 5th which is very creditable. The Sky bandwagon rolls on. I wonder whether or not they can land Roubaix?

 

[Calpol]

One day classics are still a lottery, the cream tends to rise to the top but it could be any one of 20 riders.

Look at EPQS, all the talent in the world and they still lost to Stannard.

I don't think they are a lottery. That would imply that a large number of the 180 or so starters had a genuine chance. In truth you can probably shortlist about 15 for any of the big races. Of course you can get crashes, mechanicals etc but I can't remember the last time one was won "out of the blue" - maybe Ciolek's win at Milan-San Remo a couple of years ago.

Milan San Remo is on Sunday and it looks like a tight affair as there is no long climb in the parcours to take the sprinters out of consideration. The run in from the bottom of the Poggio descent is also shorter this year. Kristoff could defend as he looks in decent form - if it comes to a bunch sprint but you won't get 100-1 on him like you could last year.

Flanders still looks like a race for Cancellara to lose if he continues to build form like he is. Roubaix - Sky have a decent shot. They will have a team to rival Ettix this year and Stannard, Thomas or Wiggins could all contend.

 

[Calpol]

Good AMA on reddit by a pro race mechanic for anyone that's interested in that side of things-

http://www.reddit.com/r/peloton/comments/2z86ek/i_work_as_a_team_mechanic_for_a_procontinental/

Cheers for that - a very interesting read

I'm looking forward to Paris Roubaix which will probably be the first race I watch this year. Got it in the diary already

Any idea who is showing it live this year? Sky, Eurosport, BBC, ITV4?

Probably Eurosport. It could be a cracking race this year. More open than before but Etixx losing Tom Boonen will mean they have to ride a different race.

 

[Calpol]

So, prediction for Milan - San Remo

I am going to stick my neck out and say Cancellara will win his second La Primavera. He has wintered well and raced selectively with the classics season his main goal. He knows this might be his last chance to compete for these races. The finish being close to the decent of the Poggio suits him as well because he can attack on the Poggio and leave less chance for the better sprinters to get back on. I expect Degenkolb, Kwiatowski and (wait for it) Boassen Hagen to be there also. Kristoff also looks in good enough form.

1. Cancellara
2. Degenkolb
3. Kwiatowski

 

[Calpol]

So, prediction for Milan - San Remo



1. Cancellara
2. Degenkolb
3. Kwiatowski

1st and 7th. Not bad. Had a couple of pounds on Degnekolb at 13-1

 

[Calpol]

E3 -
I am going for Stybar or Dylan van Baarle

Gent - Wevelgem
Fancy van Avermaet and Boassen Hagen

 

[Calpol]

30km to go and Stybar, Thomas and Sagan are off the front! Fabs out of classics with two broken vertebrae!

 

[Calpol]

I'm going for Geraint Thomas for E3

Then I'll go for Stybar for Gent-Wevelgem

Enjoyed those few kms in Catalunya this afternoon , nice to see Porte believing in himself again.

Spoiler

Thomas wins E3 with attack at 4km to go. Drops Sagan and then Stybar to take big win. Awesome stuff!!!

 

[Calpol]

I have to say I was mightily impressed by Paolini on Sunday. That was one of the best rides I have seen for some time. He is one of the oldest guys in the race and has been turning himself inside out for Kristoff this season. He was all but dropped in the last 20km but fought back on single handed before springing for the win. Respect to him for that.

Sunday looks interesting. Can Thomas's form hold for another week. Probably. Its a much more even race without Cancellara. Fabs blew Sagan away last year on the Peterberg and I can't see anyone who has that sort of explosive power to use and can then hold off until the end. Thomas has shown he can climb well but can he respond to a big effort from somene like Degenkolb near the end of the race. Hopefully Ettix will **** it up again and G will land Sky's first monument.

1. Thomas
2. van Marcke
3. Boom

 

[Calpol]

Is it just me, or are far too many teams now happy to mop up spots further down the race rather than go for the win? It seems like people are happy to just compete for world tour points. Terpstra just seemed resigned at the end to Kristoff winning, knowing he would beat him in the sprint, and didn't even seem interested in trying anything else.

Terpstra was unfortunate in the sense that once the two of them got away and no-one bridged then he was always going to lose in a sprint. He got a bit lucky with Roubaix last year in the way that he attacked with about 5km to go and no-one responded as they were all marking each other!

This was my feeling whilst watching it , couldnt get my head around Terpstra pretty much settling for second by dragging Kristoff along for 13km essentially. Also disappointed in the other teams not actually trying to hunt down the 2 leaders , only Thomas seemed bothered about chasing until it was too late. Pretty underwhelmed by the race as I was looking forward to it.

I think the biggest culprits were BMC and Astana. Both teams had three riders in that group and could easily have worked with Thomas/Greipel to pull Kristoff and Terpstra back. Why BMC didn't work for van Avermaet I have no idea. In the end GVA had to use Sagan to get back in play. Had his team ridden for him then he might have had a stronger chance. Must mention Luke Rowe who buried himself in order to keep Thomas in contention

I dunno, because the points has changed to favour the winner more, although I'm guessing if teams haven't really accumulated any points, they're thankful for the 2nd or minor placings just to get on the board, after BMC and Sky have been mopping up a big chunk so far this season!

I don't really know if this comes into it for the bigger teams. You see it time and again where a group don't react to a move as they are too concerned about carrying a sprinter to the line and losing out on all their hard work. With Degenkolb, Sagan and Kristoff all together in that final selection group it was always likely to end up that way.

Kristoff was awesome. I could see him dominating these races for some time.

 

[Calpol]

Other views may differ but the chasing group didn't have the legs to make it back from what I could see. Even if Stybar had made it across, Kristoff is very strong and there's nothing to say a two up attack from Etixx would have softened him up, he would have just followed the wheels.

So at least leaving Terpstra out there guaranteed EQS a second place. Kristoff would have won a bunch sprint anyway so I don't think there was much incentive for EQS to bring the race back together and risk getting no one on the podium.

It does race some questions about the final 15kms of Flanders though, it's a pretty dull finish that does little to influence the outcome of the race after the final ascent of the Paterberg.

Totally agree - it made no sense for Stybar to chase his own team mate down. It wouldn't have helped Terpstra and the chances are he would have dragged more capable riders with him.

The other major factor that influenced the race was the fine (benign) weather. there just wasn't the early selection that bad weather can force at times. The finish is a bit dull but the race has to differentiate from other races at this time of year and wants to offer something for all types of rides.

If you look at races like Amstel Gold with its late ramp it pretty much favours the puncheurs whereas its not inconceivable that Flanders could end in some sort of bunch finish. The same rationale applies to MSR where they took out the steeper climbs again to encourage the likes of Cavendish etc to race.

Despite Liege Bastogne Liege being a pig ugly finish its much more engaging with that uphill drag near the end

 

[Calpol]

When you're hot you're smoking. Kristoff does it again

http://www.steephill.tv/classics/scheldeprijs/#spoiler

 

[Calpol]

Not a classic Roubaix by any means, again not helped by the weather. Good ride from Degenkolb and Rowe was impressive too. One for the future perhaps.

A bit harsh. I thought it was a great edition of the race and really enjoyed it. Ok it would have been more exciting if the parcours was sodden but we did see some fantastic racing. Wiggins acquitted himself credibly. Lets face it - he is not an explosive rider than can make an effort and drop people. He tried and got reeled in but at least he tried. Importantly he had a clear ride without any incident unlike "crasher" Thomas who yet again saw his chances fade with a moments inattention. It happens too often with Geraint and he could be so much better if he eliminated these seemingly avoidable spills.

Kudos to Luke Rowe also who has shown great strength at the front of the peloton over the last few weeks.

Degenkolbs victory was sweet. He solo reigned in the two men that were up the road with 5km to go. You can't underestimate just how hard that is to do - seriously its hard to close a gap of 80m but when you are riding at 45kmph and have 250km in your legs across the pave. Its just awesome. I bet on Boom again and whilst he was in the final there was only going to be one winner. Degs seems a fantastic bloke and its brilliant to see him and Kristoff emerge as successors to Boonen and Cancellara.

All in all a great race. COmpared to the F1 earlier - no contest.

 

[Calpol]

Very entertaining race. Some of the pinch points going into the populated areas were properly cringe!

A superb and deserved win though for Kwiatkowski, watching him on the last few climbs over 30km he just looked on form and easy, could tell he was contending it from quite early on and he finished great

It was ok as races go. I actually had a couple of pounds on Kwiatkowski as I thought it suited him well and he has shown good form this season. Gilbert did his usual attack at the bottom of the Cauberg. Can't blame him as its worked so many times before. The main contenders were quite well positioned on the run in and this made for a contested last 2km.

Got to love Nibbles for having a go, might have been better if he hadn't lost his team mate in that crash. He will try again at LBL no doubt. He might be in a dodgy team but he is a racer and always tries something.

 

[Calpol]

Interesting development in the Giro. Porte punctures in last 10km and takes a wheel from Simon Clark in order to get going again. The commissaires ahve now docked him 2 minutes and fined him 200 swiss francs for accepting this moment of generous sportmanship from another team.

Very strange!
A few angles - why did Sky leave the leader on his own outside the 3km mark?
When no penalty has been applied to blatant rules transgressions in recent races this seems harsh - think P-R and the level crossing fiasco plus numerous examples of sticky bottles and car drafting.

Then you also have Diego Ullisi winning a stage only a year after a ban for a positive test.

The sport is crazy.

 

[Calpol]

Just watched today's stage. Contractor super comfortable, this Giro is over barring mishaps.

Yes, I concur. It could actually be a pretty boring last week. I have had mixed feeling watching this race. The pace of the stages has been very high with Tinkoff and Astana trying to find out who has the biggest dick. It has shades of the early 2000s! Yesterday they were averaging almost 40kmph despite some brutal gradients on the penultimate climb.

The first week was maybe too hard and pushed too many contenders out of the reckoning. Then we had Porte taking himself out of the race after that bizarre ruling. I think they have inadvertently screwed it up. I found myself not bothered about watching it yesterday as the outcome has seemed inevitable.

I also just finished Christopher Bassons book which has tainted my views on the sport again.For Ulissi to be back and winning stages only a year after a ban in no deterrent to doping. Then we have the whole Astana team beasting it for km after km on the front. I even have doubts about Contador.

The Giro used to be my favourite GT but this edition hasn't done it for me.

 

[Calpol]

Interesting to watch the stage on the Mortirolo yesterday. 12.8km at an average of nearly 11% and ramps of 18%. Brutal.

I saw that even some of the pro's were riding 36 *32 in order to get up. Contador puncturing and losing 40 secs prior tot he climb looked like it could make things interesting again but he closed it down and caught Aru who blew on the penultimate climb. Landa for sure is the stronger (or more doped?) rider in Astana and he rode away impressively towards the end.

Hysjedal actually rode a very impressive stage - grinding out a decent finish to get into the top ten. it would be nice to think that Konig could deliver something of a performance like that to secure a top 5.

 

[Calpol]

Took drugs for the Giro, then stopped when he went to Slipstream I believe, but didn't come out when everyone else did.

Slightly misleading. He admitted doping earlier in his career but there was no suggestion of this being the case when he won the Giro at which time he was riding for Vaughters in the Garmin Sharp team. He then had a bad season with injury caused in the Tour and has taken some time to find his form. I like him.

For a big guy he climbs pretty well and always looks to attack. He also has played key domestique roles in helping the likes of Dan Martin win big races and stages. The Giro he won didn't have the most stellar field but the way he took it from Purito (I think) was very impressive.

This years Giro showed a lot of fortitude as he recovered from a bad start to take fifth. For me that's credible and is enough to suggest that his win in 2012 was not a one off fluke. As for doping well lets face it, who knows - you'd like to think that Garmin were one of the cleaner teams.