Pro Cycling Discussion Thread 2015

George Hincapie · 12 Jun 2015 at 22:13

Not too much longer to wait now, so we'll see!

I do love the TdF so much. My favourite time of year!

George Hincapie · 12 Jun 2015 at 22:29

The speed they are descending in the wet! :eek:

xdcx · 12 Jun 2015 at 22:31

Looking forward to your comments on the person who falls on said epic wet descent.....

George Hincapie · 12 Jun 2015 at 22:43

Bardet? Ouch

xdcx · 13 Jun 2015 at 08:30

George Hincapie said:
Bardet? Ouch

Yeah! Considering he descended like an utter demon and without flaw for his stage win, was very odd to see him make a mistake like that. Did look sore also

SoliD · 13 Jun 2015 at 08:38

xdcx said:
Yeah! Considering he descended like an utter demon and without flaw for his stage win, was very odd to see him make a mistake like that. Did look sore also

Happens in the wet though! Only need to catch a tiny bit of slightly different surface than the bloke in front and at the speeds they're going right on the edge, it's the difference between staying upright and going down. When leaning probably only got less than 1 Sq cm touching the ground!

xdcx · 13 Jun 2015 at 09:04

SoliD said:
Happens in the wet though! Only need to catch a tiny bit of slightly different surface than the bloke in front and at the speeds they're going right on the edge, it's the difference between staying upright and going down. When leaning probably only got less than 1 Sq cm touching the ground!

Oh believe me, I know!

Done a sportive the other month and I am STILL lacking confidence on wet and even dry descents and hold myself back because of a bloke coming off in front of me at 40mph in the soaking wet descent. I was very, very lucky not to be head first over a wheel height wall on the bend and off a cliff drop as I went around him and he slid into me head first on the road..... Descending in the wet is brutal

SoliD · 13 Jun 2015 at 20:48

xdcx said:
Oh believe me, I know! Done a sportive the other month and I am STILL lacking confidence on wet and even dry descents and hold myself back because of a bloke coming off in front of me at 40mph in the soaking wet descent. I was very, very lucky not to be head first over a wheel height wall on the bend and off a cliff drop as I went around him and he slid into me head first on the road..... Descending in the wet is brutal

Definitely! But same could be said of the dry, can easily make mistakes with a bit of wind or if you're not paying attention (see Quintana in last years Vuelta, and me on my Sky ridelikeapro TT ride)

Another great stage today, sort of glad to see the riders who went ahead yesterday struggling, going to be a fantastic final stage between Froome and Tejay. Although can't see Froome getting enough time back on him to take the overall. Fantastic fight by Yates again, a real promise for the future! Hope he will get picked for the Tour again this year, can't see why he wouldn't on his current form.

xdcx · 13 Jun 2015 at 21:41

Great stage today. but I dunno SoliD, I can't help think Tejay is on borrowed time here I mean Froome is in the position he is because he has had a Sky train until very late in the climbs throughout, Tejay does not have anywhere near that level of support, which does go to show how damn strong a rider he is right now! He is the class act of this race in my opinion and he is very likeable and nice on interviews, seems a good guy and a great bike racer.

George Hincapie · 14 Jun 2015 at 23:00

I told you all that Chris would be fine, but none of you would listen! *whistles innocently*

xdcx · 15 Jun 2015 at 08:11

George Hincapie said:
I told you all that Chris would be fine, but none of you would listen! *whistles innocently*

That last 5k was super tense.... Then he went, and it was a "well, that'll be that then" moment :cool:

Riders of the race for me were Simon Yates and Tejay, massive step ups from both and made for some great racing. Obviously Froome was a class act but his team around him were superb! Romain Bardet is also a bad ass and worthy of a mention.

I enjoyed the Dauphine more than the Giro......

Cosimo · 15 Jun 2015 at 08:24

Good to see Chris Froome getting into form in the Dauphiné and winning it on the last stage:

Now looking good for the Tour de France.

Thomas. PLease. · 15 Jun 2015 at 09:02

xdcx said:
That last 5k was super tense.... Then he went, and it was a "well, that'll be that then" moment Riders of the race for me were Simon Yates and Tejay, massive step ups from both and made for some great racing. Obviously Froome was a class act but his team around him were superb! Romain Bardet is also a bad ass and worthy of a mention.

I enjoyed the Dauphine more than the Giro......

Yeah, far better racing than the Giro. Day after day of Astana bossing the peleton zzzzzzzz

booyaka · 15 Jun 2015 at 09:44

Great win but the full Sky team deserve massive credit - they absolutely buried themselves those last 2 days to keep the gaps down and the pace up. Massive respect to the team and all the workers in there.

GSVBagpuss · 15 Jun 2015 at 15:10

booyaka said:
Great win but the full Sky team deserve massive credit - they absolutely buried themselves those last 2 days to keep the gaps down and the pace up. Massive respect to the team and all the workers in there.

They also cost him 35s in the TTT of course

GSVBagpuss · 15 Jun 2015 at 15:14

Also, was loving the ITV4 commentary from Boulting and Millar. So lovely to get so many insights from a recently retired rider

#Chri5# · 15 Jun 2015 at 15:19

GSVBagpuss said:
Also, was loving the ITV4 commentary from Boulting and Millar. So lovely to get so many insights from a recently retired rider

I thought Millar was good too. I was impressed when he'd spot Roche or Poels clicking into the big ring for a final kick to launch Froome. Perhaps I need to sit closer to the TV to spot it myself...

SoliD · 15 Jun 2015 at 16:21

GSVBagpuss said:
Also, was loving the ITV4 commentary from Boulting and Millar. So lovely to get so many insights from a recently retired rider

I didn't really enjoy him earlier in the week, but came to like his input towards the end, he did spot a lot of the stuff you wouldn't usually get from the normal commentators.

PermaBanned · 15 Jun 2015 at 16:33

Yeah, definitely. Anything's better than bloody Carlton Kirby, but Millar really does bring something new to the table. Hope we see more of him at the TdF. Matt Stephens and Daniel Lloyd are also pretty good but i'm not sure if they're just contracted to Eurosport.

George Hincapie · 15 Jun 2015 at 17:28

Millar was involved in the TdF coverage briefly last year wasn't he? I am pretty sure I remember him doing a piece with Gary Imlach.