cycling in 2018 & beyond

[JCA-CrystalCity]

Visma - Lease a Bike won 3 races on Saturday with Tratnik, Vos, and Vingegaard, then Van Aert won on Sunday.

[Ali the Baseball Cat]

They need to stop changing their name.  Can we just call them "Kwantum" or "Rabobank"?

[JCA-CrystalCity]

They need to stop changing their name.  Can we just call them "Kwantum" or "Rabobank"?

Blanco.

They had a US sponsor one year. Some sort of earphone / charger / other things supplier.

[Ali the Baseball Cat]

Maybe just call whatever team has the GC winner "La Vie Claire"

[English Natsie]

Get your socks off...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/68483752

[English Natsie]

Looking ominous for the Tour...I hope Pogacar can avoid illness, or injury, this year so that we, finally, get a true Tour showdown...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/68518815

[JCA-CrystalCity]

Looking ominous for the Tour...I hope Pogacar can avoid illness, or injury, this year so that we, finally, get a true Tour showdown...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/68518815

Jorgenson to Visma/ Lease a Bike was a terrific move, like the signing of LaPorte but much younger and even more room to develop. I like McNulty, too, but Jorgenson may be ready to do a lot of winning. At the first northern classic, he had a terrific attack from about 20 or 30 km that should have gone to the line but for the headwind.

Visma is deep, but UAE is just as deep. I am not sure Soudal has the depth around Evenepoel, but he is so individually deadly he can probably just ride in the wheels of UAE and Visma, let them wear down the others, and attack at distance. I think the big hmmm . . . of the week may have been Roglic, but Vlasov looked great for Bora so I expect their depth to put them in contention.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

Why cycling is a team sport.
https://velo.outsideonline.com/road/road-racing/jasper-philipsen-wins-milan-san-remo-in-select-group-sprint/

Vander Poel marks Pogocar's big surge after UAE couldn't drive the pace hard enough to shed more sprinters, refuses to pull because Phillipsen was in the group trying to catch up, marks the next surge by Mahoric, which allows the Phillipsen / Matthews/ Pedersen  / Bettiol group to overtake the leaders and for Phillipsen to win the sprint.

[Ali the Baseball Cat]

Per the current forecast, next weekend's Gent-Wevelgem will be cold, windy, and wet - as it should be 

[JCA-CrystalCity]

Per the current forecast, next weekend's Gent-Wevelgem will be cold, windy, and wet - as it should be 

did you see the little Paris- Roubaix race about a week ago when Stephan Kung went down in the mud on cobbles and took out the entire lead pack?  This was the race I think one of the sport directors said "I didn't realize we put a cyclocross race in the UCI road schedule."

[JCA-CrystalCity]

Jorgenson to Visma/ Lease a Bike was a terrific move, like the signing of LaPorte but much younger and even more room to develop.

Looks like the US and Visma have a classics monster in Jorgenson.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

Looks like the US and Visma have a classics monster in Jorgenson.

but the day is an overall downer as the star of the team and, without argument, one of the top 5 cyclists in the world, Wout Van Aert, crashes and breaks a collarbone, his sternum, and seven ribs after tapping the back wheel of another teammate as they accelerated going into a tough stretch of road.

[varoadking]

but the day is an overall downer as the star of the team and, without argument, one of the top 5 cyclists in the world, Wout Van Aert, crashes and breaks a collarbone, his sternum, and seven ribs after tapping the back wheel of another teammate as they accelerated going into a tough stretch of road.

That's gonna hurt for good a while...

[JCA-CrystalCity]

That's gonna hurt for good a while...

did I mention the "road rash" abrasions from falling on pavement?

Funny thing is, the fall was on one of the paved multi-lane highway portions of the route and not the tricky cobblestones or narrow paths. It's just the top riders and their supporting teammates were altogether so that when Van Aert's team decided to attack, there was a wind gust that led to his wheel touching the back wheel of the guy guiding him to the front. It also took down his top challenger and several other contenders.

It can get a bit like NASCAR in a bike race because they race so tightly together. No bump drafting, but "peloton" is associated with cycling to refer to the pack of cyclists that form one big aerodynamic mass for a race.

[English Natsie]

Not what we wanted...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/68729075

[JCA-CrystalCity]

Roglic, Remco, and Jonas down. Pog might double

[English Natsie]

Worse than first thought...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/68740658

[JCA-CrystalCity]

Worse than first thought...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/68740658

so much for Visma's dominance this season. Both Van Aert and Vingegaard out for substantial time. I don't know how you can recover from a collapsed lung to start the Tour in less than 3 months. I also don't see Wout doing the Giro.

[Ali the Baseball Cat]

Could be an epic Vuelta

so much for Visma's dominance this season. Both Van Aert and Vingegaard out for substantial time. I don't know how you can recover from a collapsed lung to start the Tour in less than 3 months. I also don't see Wout doing the Giro.