79pmooney
Posts:3180
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| 05/19/2021 02:26 PM |
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CyclingNews live report says:
"Today, Bernal is on caliper brakes, 28mm tubulars, and 53/39 &11/30 gearing.
Evenepoel, meanwhile, is on disc brakes, 28mm clinchers with inner tubes at 5.5 bar, and 52/36 & 11/30 gearing."
Bernal - rim brakes and sew-ups! Takes me back! But when I read that on the last three dirt sectors, team cars weren't allowed and support was limited to selected team and neutral support "pits" ala CX - well a rider might have to ride the rim a ways after a flat from a rock. And the wheel you get - who knows what its exact disk alignment is. Evenepoel riding discs and clinchers? That strikes me as being an uncharacteristic D-QS poor decision.
I wrote the above while the Strade Bianche stage was still happening and got sidetracked. Sounds like Evenepoel cannot blame his tires for the outcome. Bernal's day! And fun that when it really counts what did the winner use? A bike a (very small) dinosaur would know how to operate! (Well, maybe not those clicky gear shift things. The old downtube paddles worked with all the claws.)
I never wanted to warm up to Bernal given his employer but he is earning my respect. He came to play. Today was all his. That a Colombian true climber could do this much damage on the gravel - opened my eyes. |
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Cosmic Kid
Posts:4209
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| 05/19/2021 05:00 PM |
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Evenepoel clearly has some work to do on technical gravel work.
I wonder if some of his issues today were residual mental issues from his crash....he was clearly extremely uncomfortable the second they came close to any gravel section. Brakes were literally going on the second they hit dirt.....but that said, his legs were also not good today, it seems. Even when he was in the group on pavement, he was at the back and not on song.
This is a must re-watch stage for those who didn't tune in live. Best racing I've seen in a while.
Epic stage.....the best thing about stages like this is that it forces the riders out front more than any other type of stage. Huge mountain stages are now just coming down to the last 400m....but toss a gravel stage in the mix and the big guns need to come out 40-50k from the line. Makes for great racing.
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| Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!
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Orange Crush
Posts:4499
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| 05/19/2021 06:20 PM |
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Agreed his legs overall were no bueno, which was definitely a major factor. He suffered like a dog on that final road climb. Didn't get through rest day very well, which may be because of lack of racing kms.
Don't think it is mental issues from crash. They've had some pretty sketchy wet downhill conditions already this Giro and he never seemed nervous. It would have presented itself there if that was case. It seems specific to the gravel. Needed more beefy tires LOL. |
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longslowdistance
Posts:2881
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| 05/19/2021 09:55 PM |
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Posted By Frederick Jones on 05/19/2021 09:55 PM
JMO, but brake tech was not an issue today. Judicious avoidance of brakes was. |
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Cosmic Kid
Posts:4209
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| 05/20/2021 09:19 AM |
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Judicious avoidance of brakes was.
Word. |
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| Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!
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Cosmic Kid
Posts:4209
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| 05/20/2021 09:20 AM |
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Just tuning into toay's stage....sounds like there was some carnage early on with some big names dropping out. Marc Soler, Gino Mader et al are now all out.
Roads look kinda glacial, even though the sun is currently out. |
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| Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!
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79pmooney
Posts:3180
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| 05/20/2021 10:51 AM |
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Posted By Orange Crush on 05/19/2021 06:20 PM
Agreed his legs overall were no bueno, which was definitely a major factor. He suffered like a dog on that final road climb. Didn't get through rest day very well, which may be because of lack of racing kms.
Don't think it is mental issues from crash. They've had some pretty sketchy wet downhill conditions already this Giro and he never seemed nervous. It would have presented itself there if that was case. It seems specific to the gravel. Needed more beefy tires LOL.
Like tubular Paris-Roubaix Clements of the old days? (Bernal was on 28c tubulars - the modern equivalent.)
I haven't done a side-by-side between skinny quality sewups and the excellent modern clinchers (I'm staying tubed whatever the casing) but my distant recollection is that the Criterium Setas of the '70s ran on gravel at road pressure as well or better than considerably wider Vittoria Open Pave/G+ types. Like maybe the Setas being as capable as say 28c. So if Bernal is running 28c tubbies, Evenepoel should have been on 32c? to match him in confidence. Maybe D-QS is getting soft and settling for easy sponsorship bucks and riding less than the tried and true?
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79pmooney
Posts:3180
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| 05/20/2021 10:56 AM |
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Posted By Frederick Jones on 05/19/2021 09:55 PM
Posted By Frederick Jones on 05/19/2021 09:55 PM
JMO, but brake tech was not an issue today. Judicious avoidance of brakes was.
In decades past, we rode those races with high quality Campagnolo Nuevo Record "speed adjusts", not real brakes. Might have helped here! (Again, look what Bernal rode. Seemed to work OK.) A  for CK!
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79pmooney
Posts:3180
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| 05/21/2021 11:08 AM |
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Good for Nizzolo! He hasn't been on my radar but he pulled a well planned and well executed sprint today. In his post-race comments, he sounds like a level headed guy. And Sagan, podiuming when there were at least 5 sprinters with the afterburners to beat him.
Funny that the biggest climb of the day was in the neutral zone - a bridge. I think they managed a crash-free day. Everyone should be at their best for tomorrow (unlike Evenepoel after the lay-day). I wonder if the Strada disaster was part of Evenepoel's learning curve - that maybe he needed to learn he had to do this or not do that on a lay-day. That was, I believe, his first ever. |
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Orange Crush
Posts:4499
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| 05/21/2021 12:45 PM |
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Lefevre gave a pretty level headed interview on Evenepoel. Apparently he did some lower level race last year or earlier in which he also lost minutes on gravel so this was calculated in as a risk. Lefevre also indicated that things could go a number of ways with Remco, including pulling him from Giro if exhaustion becomes apparent. The Giro as first race in 8 months is pretty far out there no matter how talented you are.
The topography reminds me of the ride I did in Green Swamp Florida, there too the only topo was bridges.
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longslowdistance
Posts:2881
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| 05/22/2021 07:47 PM |
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| Except for the plucky stage winner, boring. I miss the bold solo attacks. No soul, just chess pieces controlled by their DS via radio. |
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Orange Crush
Posts:4499
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| 05/22/2021 08:54 PM |
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Zoncolan is often boring simply because it is so hard. These kind of stages are self defeating from a spectator perspective. The interesting tactical stages are where they go over multiple passes.
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Cosmic Kid
Posts:4209
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| 05/22/2021 09:29 PM |
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Agreed with OC...when you have a singular massive summit to end a stage, it will always come down to the last few KM.
Even days with multiple passes are becoming somewhat textbook because everyone is so strong, the field is largely neutralized throughout the day.
If you want exciting racing, you need to make it less challenging and shorter, because then more riders are capable of competing.
Or add more gravel stages, because the other day beat the living schitt out today’s stage for entertainment and racing value. |
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| Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!
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longslowdistance
Posts:2881
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| 05/22/2021 10:34 PM |
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| CK, I agree that what you wrote is true in the the current robot cyclist era. This is not "you kids get off my lawn" geezer nostalgia. Racing really was more interesting without radios and powermeters. |
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Dale
Posts:1767
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| 05/23/2021 12:22 PM |
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Posted By Cosmic Kid on 05/22/2021 09:29 PM
If you want exciting racing, you need to make it less challenging and shorter, because then more riders are capable of competing.
This, but I'll amend to be ok with hard sections-- HC climb, gravel section, pave... adds to the drama.
Milan-SanRemo is long but other than the question of "can someone make it over the Poggio with enough of a lead to prevent a field sprint" there isn't any excitement.
Short stages seem to always have fireworks right from K zero. |
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