Author Topic: cycling in 2018 & beyond  (Read 13172 times)

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Offline English Natsie

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Re: cycling in 2018 & beyond
« Reply #325: July 12, 2022, 09:31:03 AM »
Unusually, Week Two could be decisive - Wednesday and Thursday's stages are brutal... :shock:

Offline Ali the Baseball Cat

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Re: cycling in 2018 & beyond
« Reply #326: July 12, 2022, 10:58:13 AM »
Galibier both days  :shock:

Offline JCA-CrystalCity

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Re: cycling in 2018 & beyond
« Reply #327: July 12, 2022, 11:44:52 AM »
Galibier both days  :shock:
I've always wanted to relieve myself atop the Alpe d'Huez.  That's how it is pronounced, right?

Offline Ali the Baseball Cat

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Re: cycling in 2018 & beyond
« Reply #328: July 12, 2022, 02:33:23 PM »
You Ventoux what?

Offline English Natsie

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Re: cycling in 2018 & beyond
« Reply #329: July 12, 2022, 04:51:35 PM »
Interesting day, in terms of tactics...I'll say no more in case you've all still to watch... ;)

Offline JCA-CrystalCity

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Re: cycling in 2018 & beyond
« Reply #330: July 12, 2022, 06:18:51 PM »
I know the result and some of the tactics.

Offline English Natsie

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Re: cycling in 2018 & beyond
« Reply #331: July 13, 2022, 03:02:43 AM »
Thankfully, Kamna cracked on the final climb - otherwise, what was already a very good day, for UAE, would have been perfect... ;)  Although still Week Two, the general concensus (amongst European pundits) is that whoever leads, on Thursday night, should go on to win the Tour...Of course, the expectation is that it shall be Pogacar... ;)

Offline English Natsie

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Re: cycling in 2018 & beyond
« Reply #332: July 13, 2022, 05:36:23 PM »
WHAT A STAGE!!!  Any of you who wonder what makes pro-cycling so good  should watch today's stage.... :clap: :clap: :clap:   ;)

Offline JCA-CrystalCity

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Re: cycling in 2018 & beyond
« Reply #333: July 13, 2022, 06:36:14 PM »
WHAT A STAGE!!!  Any of you who wonder what makes pro-cycling so good  should watch today's stage.... :clap: :clap: :clap:   ;)
bardet, thomas, quintana ... this looks like a TdF from before Tadej and Jonas were allowed to drink
.

Offline JCA-CrystalCity

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Re: cycling in 2018 & beyond
« Reply #334: July 13, 2022, 10:46:13 PM »
This stage was the perfect set up for Jumbo. They even were able to use LaPorte and Van Aert productively in the valleys and descents

Offline Ali the Baseball Cat

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Re: cycling in 2018 & beyond
« Reply #335: July 13, 2022, 10:54:49 PM »
This was the most amazing team performance I've ever seen.  Wout took like a month to finally cross the line and everyone was waiting for him as the hero. 

Offline JCA-CrystalCity

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Re: cycling in 2018 & beyond
« Reply #336: July 15, 2022, 12:04:47 PM »
WHAT A STAGE!!!  Any of you who wonder what makes pro-cycling so good  should watch today's stage.... :clap: :clap: :clap:   ;)
This was the most amazing team performance I've ever seen.  Wout took like a month to finally cross the line and everyone was waiting for him as the hero. 
I finally was able to watch the stage. My only question is dropping Wout back to pull Roglic up to the yellow group after the Galibier and before the Granon. He pulled Gaudu and Majka back, too, and  Majka was able to ride all of Jumbo's support out of the group isolating Jonas. Probably made Kruiswijk and Kuss less useful. Van Aert could have led to the Granon. Quibbling, I know.

Offline English Natsie

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Re: cycling in 2018 & beyond
« Reply #337: July 16, 2022, 06:27:20 PM »
Nice touch that the climb to Mende is now called the Montee Jalabert (after 1995...).

Offline JCA-CrystalCity

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Re: cycling in 2018 & beyond
« Reply #338: July 16, 2022, 07:14:28 PM »
Nice touch that the climb to Mende is now called the Montee Jalabert (after 1995...).
in the US, Chris Horner does analysis. He made a great point today. If Tadej can't shake Jonas, he needs to let the other GC contenders come back and attack to force Vingegaard to chase when he's isolated like today

Offline English Natsie

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Re: cycling in 2018 & beyond
« Reply #339: July 17, 2022, 05:54:47 AM »
A number of the ex-pro's, who are now European pundits, think Pogacar is sandbagging (hence the little 'I'm still here' attacks on Vingegaard). Not sure if that's true, or it's just 'please keep watching' wishful thinking - and a lot of embarrassment from all those who said Pogacar only had to turn up... ;)

Offline JCA-CrystalCity

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Re: cycling in 2018 & beyond
« Reply #340: July 17, 2022, 12:57:41 PM »
Today made a big difference. Losing both Roglic and Kruiswijk leaves really just one big mountain domestique. It's on Kuss now, vs Soler, Majka, and McNulty. When Yates attacks, Jumbo needs to not respond even if it turns over yellow. Pogocar loses his shot at yellow before Vingegaard so make UAE chase

Offline English Natsie

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Re: cycling in 2018 & beyond
« Reply #341: July 17, 2022, 06:08:24 PM »
And it looked such an innocuous stage, on paper....Certainly made the Pyrenees very interesting... ;)

Offline JCA-CrystalCity

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Re: cycling in 2018 & beyond
« Reply #342: July 17, 2022, 08:03:09 PM »
And it looked such an innocuous stage, on paper....Certainly made the Pyrenees very interesting... ;)
I do wonder if Roglic would have dropped if he knew Kruiswijk was going out.

Also, Vingegaard and Benoot falling complicates things

Offline English Natsie

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Re: cycling in 2018 & beyond
« Reply #343: July 18, 2022, 05:34:49 AM »
There was discussion, before yesterday's stage, as to whether or not it should have been shortened, or even cancelled, because of the extreme heat - quite a number of the riders did appear to be struggling. It's thought the heat effects caused so many incidents to happen (brain-fade)...

Offline JCA-CrystalCity

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Re: cycling in 2018 & beyond
« Reply #344: July 18, 2022, 10:09:10 AM »
There was discussion, before yesterday's stage, as to whether or not it should have been shortened, or even cancelled, because of the extreme heat - quite a number of the riders did appear to be struggling. It's thought the heat effects caused so many incidents to happen (brain-fade)...
that, and jackasses gluing themselves to the road. 

I see on Cyclningnews.com that Philippa York is questioning Roglic's withdrawal.  I suppose the other way to look at Roglic might be as something pretty gutsy with his bluffing attacks on the alpine stages even though he was in no shape to carry them through. His mere presence I think played with Pogocar's mind a bit that day.  He had no need to cover Roglic.

Offline English Natsie

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Re: cycling in 2018 & beyond
« Reply #345: July 18, 2022, 11:28:55 AM »
Funny how often a pre-race GC contender just happens to get injured, and withdraw, once they find themselves completely out of contention... ;)

Offline English Natsie

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Re: cycling in 2018 & beyond
« Reply #346: July 24, 2022, 05:21:24 AM »
Good sportsmanship shown by Vingegaard - waiting for Pogacar after the fall (which effectively ended the race), and then gifting the ITT to van Aert.

Offline JCA-CrystalCity

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Re: cycling in 2018 & beyond
« Reply #347: July 24, 2022, 10:48:53 AM »
Good sportsmanship shown by Vingegaard - waiting for Pogacar after the fall (which effectively ended the race), and then gifting the ITT to van Aert.
gifting, as in almost crashing into a rock face on the final descent when he was about even with Wout. :lol:

But yes, Vingegaard was an old school sportsman at those points. Pogocar also seems like a good guy, always congratulating opponents rather than sulking.

I enjoy the way Jumbo races. They are just so much more tactically aggressive than Sky/Ineos or USPS/Discovery were when they had dominance. Also, they get some cred for digging up unconventional talent from unusual sources. Roglic was a ski jumper and late to the pro sport. Vingegaard was a fish packer in a factory who had a great Strava time on a prominent Spanish mountain when he signed. Even Wout came up from cyclocross. They split the glory, too.

I think there was a big chunk of luck, too, mostly adverse to UAE. That wasn't a weak team at the start. Bennett, Majka, Soler, and Hirschi, plus McNulty, is almost too much mountain support. It is different if he has the support.

Offline Ali the Baseball Cat

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Re: cycling in 2018 & beyond
« Reply #348: July 24, 2022, 02:12:28 PM »
This was an enjoyable tour.  Much as I like Phil & Bob, I mostly watched the ad-free international feed on Peacock, tuning into NBC for the finale each day...I'll miss having 5 hours of eye candy on in the background every day while working.   

Offline JCA-CrystalCity

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Re: cycling in 2018 & beyond
« Reply #349: July 24, 2022, 04:14:05 PM »
This was an enjoyable tour.  Much as I like Phil & Bob, I mostly watched the ad-free international feed on Peacock, tuning into NBC for the finale each day...I'll miss having 5 hours of eye candy on in the background every day while working.   
I DVR stages and keep some of my favorites.  For a long time, I had Contador's last win on the Angliru, but I think I've dumped that.  I have Degenkolb's win on the Roubaix stage of the 2018 Tour.  Degenkolb has been a favorite for a long time (like GVA), and to get that win after the crash was awesome. Roglic's clinching the Red jersey from 2021's 20th stage, too.  I can't figure out whether to keep the Grandon stage or the Hautocam stage. Probably will keep both.  Stage 4 in Calais, Stage 5 over the cobbles, Stage 6 (IIRC) with Wout Van Vert attack with Quinn Simmons, Stage 7 up the Super Planche de Bel Filles, Pidcock on the Alp, Nielsen's stage, Pedersen, Houle, McNulty's big stage in the Pyrenees.  Toss in LaPorte, too.  It's ridiculous how many good stages there were.

Great Tour for the USA, too, with McNulty and Kuss having huge roles, plus Powless and Jorgenson all in the top 21.  Lots of TV time for Simmons, who had a case for most combative. Dombrowski has  to be mentioned, too, in case he's a Nats fan. :lol:

Simmons mentioned that after San Sebastien and the Tour of Denmark, there's a race in Maryland he's going to be in.