Cosmic Kid
Posts:4209
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| 08/03/2020 09:23 AM |
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At least for now....
Strade Bianche was great, for both the mens and womens races. Annemiek Van Vleuten had a storming ride, shutting down what seemed an impossible gap in less than 15km.
The mens race was a true hard man's race....a war of attrition. Tems were shelled with more than 50K to go, leaving only contenders to battle it out mano a mano. A great comeback win for WVA after his horrific injury in the TdF last summer.
Milano-Turino is Weds....dunno how many races we will get before everything shuts down again, so I am soaking in every minute. |
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| Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!
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Orange Crush
Posts:4499
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| 08/03/2020 12:10 PM |
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Best part was late finish allowing for some snooze time before tuning in.
The heat was such that any premature effort whether that was an attack or having to come back from a puncture or crash was instantly lethal, everyone was literally cooking themselves. WVA rode a smart race saving his gun powder till when it mattered. |
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Orange Crush
Posts:4499
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| 08/03/2020 09:03 PM |
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Oh an over yonder.
Bernal putting in his application for Ineos top dog. Froome on domestique duties. And Sir Bradley throwing some petrol on the Ineos leadership bush fire. I do hope we get to see this play out on road. |
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Cosmic Kid
Posts:4209
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| 08/03/2020 09:29 PM |
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| Froome played it smart today....no need for him to go toe-to-toe with Bernal right now. So he “showed” management that he is willing to play super-domesitque. Before he can try and win the Tour, he has to get picked for the team. |
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| Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!
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Orange Crush
Posts:4499
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| 08/03/2020 09:36 PM |
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| Agreed. Putting in domestique kms is also best training for him right now. Sometime in Dauphine he will need to show his nose up front in a finale though. |
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longslowdistance
Posts:2881
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| 08/03/2020 10:01 PM |
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Bradley needs his head checked.
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Cosmic Kid
Posts:4209
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| 08/04/2020 09:36 AM |
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Agreed. Putting in domestique kms is also best training for him right now. Sometime in Dauphine he will need to show his nose up front in a finale though.
Yup...but he can still do the domestique duty and ride up front...last guy to pull Bernal up to the summit and let's him go in the last KM and still come in within 30".
Bradley needs his head checked.
He is just stirring the schitt against Froome....saying Froome can win inserts doubt into management about what Froome will want to do. pay back for 2012. LOL!
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| Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!
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Orange Crush
Posts:4499
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| 08/04/2020 09:41 AM |
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| Exactly CK. Wiggins is being a naughty boy that’s all. Pretty sure his head is just fine. |
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79pmooney
Posts:3180
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| 08/04/2020 11:09 AM |
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Ck, the serious question - can Froome come back. Does he have it to come back from that huge body slam? Both physically and in the head? Can he still descend fast enough to stay n contention. Froome went from a poor descender to a better than the average climber guy. Yes, some of that was his new position but a lot of it was in his head. Does he still have that?
I confess my attention to races Froome has done to date has not been good so he may have shown things I've missed.
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Cosmic Kid
Posts:4209
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| 08/04/2020 11:14 AM |
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Ck, the serious question - can Froome come back.
I personally doubt it....his body took a massive hit (literally and figuratively) last year adn he is getting up there in age (for a professional athlete). INEOS knows his numbers obviously, so they will be able to answer that question before the Tour (for this year at least...)
And he hasn't really done any races yet (other than this week) so the speculation is pretty intense right now....as OC notes, the Dauphine will be the real "go / no go" point. |
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| Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!
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Cosmic Kid
Posts:4209
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| 08/04/2020 02:26 PM |
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| Wow...just saw that WvA won on a rim brake Bianchi on Saturday. That alone is a bit of a shock, but given his CX background, it is even more so! |
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| Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!
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Orange Crush
Posts:4499
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| 08/04/2020 02:32 PM |
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I understand the runner up had rim brakes too.
I also read that MVDPs puncture caused him a bit of extra time because the team support was delayed and running discs it wasn't as simple as QR levers to get a spare wheel. Wonder if these guys carry an Allan key in their back pocket just in case. |
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Cosmic Kid
Posts:4209
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| 08/04/2020 02:53 PM |
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Wonder if these guys carry an Allan key in their back pocket just in case.
They probably should....no different IMO than the guys who know enough to flip the QR's and get the wheel ready for the mechanic. No need to stand there with your thumb up your arse, waiting for the team car. Be productive...
But most team mechanics have it down pretty quick....using cordless drills with allen keys on them to get the axles off quickly. |
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| Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!
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Orange Crush
Posts:4499
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| 08/04/2020 09:15 PM |
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Back to Froome, reading interview with Porte.
The fact that Froome was used before Tao Hart is perhaps telling. Typically you line them up to slowly ramp up climbing speed. That would put Froome as #4 guy in this race. Assuming Thomas is in form that would drop him at least down to 5 in pecking order at moment.
Maybe reading too much into that. |
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Orange Crush
Posts:4499
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| 08/07/2020 11:51 AM |
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Best part of today was seeing Dumoulin back at sharp end of things with a giant grin on his face.
The next two days should be more telling though as to where everyone is at. |
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79pmooney
Posts:3180
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| 08/09/2020 07:08 PM |
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My favorite, Quintana,looked good today at l'Ain. Could this be his year? Seemed to have little trouble stay8ng in the lead group with little support on the final climb. CyclingNews talked of him looking "comfortable" throughout.
I wonder if COVID and his training crash have simplified his life and training and eliminated distractions for him. Seems he is right where he should be to be peaking in a month. He won't have the old Movistar engines (that didn't always pull for him), Ineos should be up to speed and Jumbo is already there, but Quintana has shown that when the fire is there he can do a lot alone. I'm probably dreaming yet again, but that would make my summer! Now if he had to accept one of those young Belgian's being on fire. well that's not all bad. And a French wonder - always welcome (even on a Belgian team)! I have no special love for Roglic but he seems both the real deal and a class act. (Likewise his team.) |
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79pmooney
Posts:3180
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| 08/10/2020 10:55 AM |
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Deceuninck-Quick-Step and Evenepoel. Yesterday's ride. The ride for Fabio Jakobsen. Reminds me of LA's ride two days after his teammate died. I got to watch LA do that long breakaway on a classic mid-summer TdF day with the fields of wheat, sunflower and the old roads lined with trees while sitting in a laid back armchair, donating platelets. (Watching LA at his best (as a person). Too bad we didn't see more of that.)
Evenepoel's ride - race smarts way out of line for a 20 yo! That looked like a seasoned Contador. 50 km to go. Ineos cooked. Bernal with almost no support. Other teams aren't gong to want to help. Time to go. (Did I say 50 km to go? Not a problem.)
Deceuninck-Quick-Step is off to quite a start. Of course, they are really playing catch-up. 20 wins by mid-April is the Q-S norm. The biggest in April, So they gotta do what they gotta do in this odd new world! Still it's odd to see them so dominant in August.
Yes, racing is back. Good racing is back. Hope it can stay.
Ben |
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Orange Crush
Posts:4499
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| 08/10/2020 03:09 PM |
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I was actually a bit disappointed by Quintana yesterday. Yes, he looked good but once again he was just surfing wheels and no attempt at an attack.
Sure it was just a training race, and he had some minor knee issues from the recent incident that cost him some training time, but it wasn't same on fire Quintana as we saw in spring.
As Roglic always says "we will see". |
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79pmooney
Posts:3180
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| 10/10/2020 05:59 PM |
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August 3rd, "Racing is back!" October 10th, 4 positives in the World Tour ranks - Simon Yates; the Giro,
Jan Bakelants. Circus-Wanty Gobert is out before Brabantse Pijl and his friend, Tiesj Benoot, Sunweb before Gent-Wevelgem and Kirsten Wild; Sunweb for the woman's race.
I don't like saying this but it is time to shut down pro racing. 4 today, 12 next week (I'm betting half those will not be made public) and a black flag on racing by the end of the Giro. |
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Orange Crush
Posts:4499
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| 10/10/2020 06:10 PM |
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Giro will test entire peloton tomorrow. That’ll provide a decision point instead of jumping to conclusions. If there are more cases then yes that’s a big red flag but if there’s none then proceed as is.
Cases are on rise in Europe so positives are no surprise but it may not be related to racing and Belgians are uncorrelated to Yates. We can’t lump these together without knowing respective causes. As far as I’m concerned the Yates case is worrisome given that he’s supposed to be in a bubble, the other cases much less so as long as they don’t show up at a race. |
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Orange Crush
Posts:4499
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| 10/10/2020 07:42 PM |
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Also Benoot isn’t a confirmed positive. He was in contact with Bakeland but has yet to be tested. He’s self isolating as a precaution.
But there’s an entire women’s team (Ale) not starting tomorrow because someone inside their bubble tested positive. Wild tested positive before joining the Sunweb team bubble so that doesn’t affect their participation.
It’s a thin wire. Let’s see if it holds till end of Giro and de Ronde. |
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79pmooney
Posts:3180
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| 10/13/2020 03:50 PM |
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Posted By Orange Crush on 10/10/2020 06:10 PM
Giro will test entire peloton tomorrow. That’ll provide a decision point instead of jumping to conclusions. If there are more cases then yes that’s a big red flag but if there’s none then proceed as is.
Cases are on rise in Europe so positives are no surprise but it may not be related to racing and Belgians are uncorrelated to Yates. We can’t lump these together without knowing respective causes. As far as I’m concerned the Yates case is worrisome given that he’s supposed to be in a bubble, the other cases much less so as long as they don’t show up at a race.
Sadly, my gut and prediction seem to be not too far off. Riders, staff and two teams out. Another six or eight by Thursday between the Giro and classics? I'm not betting against.
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Orange Crush
Posts:4499
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| 10/13/2020 06:27 PM |
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Yes Giro is in trouble. The Yates case being worrisome was clearly confirmed.
As to the two remaining classics, not worried about those aside from the spectating aspect. The main concern will be crowd control. Flanders Classics has been sending out pretty strong messaging to general public over last two weeks. Follow spectating rules, then there will be a race. Don't follow them, then race is off. Hopefully the Belgian fans will listen.https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/tour-of-flanders-to-prohibit-spectators-on-all-key-climbs-cobbled-sectors/ |
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Orange Crush
Posts:4499
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| 10/13/2020 06:31 PM |
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| Oh...and hopefully tomorrow Cavendish will get a resounding send off as it is liable to be his last race. |
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