Pro Cycling 2023

[beesonthewhatnow]

Not long to go...

Mens WT Dates

17/01 Santos Tour Down Under
29/01 Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race
20/02 UAE Tour
25/02 Omloop Het Nieuwsblad Elite
04/03 Strade Bianche
05/03 Paris-Nice
06/03 Tirreno-Adriatico
18/03 Milano-Sanremo
20/03 Volta Ciclista a Catalunya
22/03 Classic Brugge-De Panne
24/03 E3 Saxo Classic
26/03 Gent-Wevelgem in Flanders Fields
29/03 Dwars door Vlaanderen - A travers la Flandres
02/04 Ronde van Vlaanderen - Tour des Flandres
03/04 Itzulia Basque Country
09/04 Paris-Roubaix
16/04 Amstel Gold Race
19/04 La Flèche Wallonne
23/04 Liège-Bastogne-Liège
25/04 Tour de Romandie
01/05 Eschborn-Frankfurt
06/05 Giro d'Italia
04/06 Critérium du Dauphiné
11/06 Tour de Suisse
01/07 Tour de France
29/07 Donostia San Sebastian Klasikoa
29/07 Tour de Pologne
20/08 BEMER Cyclassics
23/08 Benelux Tour
26/08 La Vuelta a España
03/09 Bretagne Classic - Ouest-France
08/09 Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec
10/09 Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal
07/10 Il Lombardia
12/10 Gree-Tour of Guangxi


Mens WT Teams

AG2R CITROEN TEAM (ACT – FRA)
ALPECIN-DECEUNINCK (ADC – BEL)
ASTANA QAZAQSTAN TEAM (AST – KAZ)
BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS (TBV – BRN)
BORA – HANSGROHE (BOH – GER)
COFIDIS (COF – FRA)
EF EDUCATION – EASYPOST (EFE – USA)
GREENEDGE CYCLING (BEX – AUS)
GROUPAMA – FDJ (GFC – FRA)
INEOS GRENADIERS (IGD – GBR)
INTERMARCHÉ – CIRCUS - WANTY (ICW – BEL)
JUMBO-VISMA (TJV – NED)
MOVISTAR TEAM (MOV – ESP)
SOUDAL QUICK-STEP (SOQ – BEL)
TEAM ARKEA – SAMSIC (ARK – FRA)
TEAM DSM (DSM – NED)
TREK – SEGAFREDO (TFS – USA)
UAE TEAM EMIRATES (UAD – UAE)

 

[beesonthewhatnow]

Womens WT Dates

January 15-17 Santos Women's Tour Down Under
January 28 Cadel Evans Road Race
February 9-12 UAE Tour
February 25 Omloop Het Nieuwsblad
March 4 Strade Bianche
March 11 Ronde van Drenthe
March 19 Trofeo Alfredo Binda
March 23 Exterior Classic Brugge-De Panne
March 26 Gent-Wevelgem
April 2 Ronde van Vlaanderen
April 8 Paris Roubaix
April 16 Amstel Gold Race
April 19 La Fleche Wallonne
April 23 Liege-Bastogne-Liege
May 1-7 La Vuelta Femenina
May 12-14 Itzulia Women
May 18-21 Vuelta a Burgos Feminas
June 5-10 Women’s Tour
June 17-20 Tour de Suisse
June 30-July 9 Giro d’Italia Donne
July 23-30 Tour de France Femmes
August 19 Postnord Vargarda WestSweden TTT
August 20 Postnord Vargarda WestSweden
August 22-27 Tour of Scandinavia
September 2 GP Lorent Agglomération
September 5-10 Simac Ladies Tour
September 15-17 Tour de Romandie
October 12-14 Tour of Chongming Island
October 17 Tour of Guangxi


Womens WT Teams

CANYON//SRAM RACING (CSR – GER)
EF EDUCATION - TIBCO - SVB (TIB – USA)
FDJ-SUEZ (FST – FRA)
GREENEDGE CYCLING (BEX – AUS)
HUMAN POWERED HEALTH (HPW – USA)
LIV RACING TEQFIND (LIV – NED)
MOVISTAR TEAM WOMEN (MOV – ESP)
TEAM DSM (DSM – NED)
TEAM JUMBO VISMA (JVW – NED)
TEAM SD WORX (SDW – NED)
TREK – SEGAFREDO (TFS – USA)
UAE TEAM (UAD – UAE)
UNO-X PRO CYCLING TEAM (UXT – NOR)
ISRAEL PREMIER TECH ROLAND (CGS – SUI)
FENIX-DECEUNINCK (FED – BEL)

 

[beesonthewhatnow]

World Championships

Glasgow, 3rd - 13th August

2023 UCI Cycling World Championships | Glasgow and across Scotland

The biggest cycling event in the world, ever! Between 3 - 13 August 2023 the world’s best riders will compete across 13 UCI World Championships.

www.cyclingworldchamps.com

All the rainbow jerseys in one giant event for the first time.

 

[Fuzzy]

proper excited. I re-watched last years Il Lombardia earlier today. been enjoying the cx over the festive period.

 

[twistedAM]

proper excited. I re-watched last years Il Lombardia earlier today. been enjoying the cx over the festive period.

Cross has been really excellent this past week and there's more still to come. Looking forward to the Benidorm race and the Worlds.
TDU is a bore but Vuelta a San Juan International in Argentina starts a few days after and the World Champ is on the startline.
Then it'll soon be the classics and another couple of podium places at RVV and P-R for Van Aert

 

[beesonthewhatnow]

Strade Bianche is the one I’m looking forward to. It’s been consistently fantastic for several years.

 

[twistedAM]

Does anyone here subscribe to Eurosport?
For the extras I think it's preferable to GCN (too much sub-Top Gear crap) or Discovery Channel (too many sub-Attenborough wildlife docs). At least with Europsort you get winter sports, motorbikes and some rock climbing (not interested in tennis or snooker). BUT does it archive races like GCN does?

 

[beesonthewhatnow]

Does anyone here subscribe to Eurosport?
For the extras I think it's preferable to GCN (too much sub-Top Gear crap) or Discovery Channel (too many sub-Attenborough wildlife docs). At least with Europsort you get winter sports, motorbikes and some rock climbing (not interested in tennis or snooker). BUT does it archive races like GCN does?

I’ve just stuck with GCN as I’ve no interest in other sports, and while the quality varies a bit some of the documentaries are excellent.

 

[twistedAM]

I’ve just stuck with GCN as I’ve no interest in other sports, and while the quality varies a bit some of the documentaries are excellent.

They're both £6.99 a month but GCN is only £40pa whilst Eurosport which now just seems to be Discovery+ is £60. I don' think I'd watch enough giant slalom or films about wolves to justify the extra £20 so will probably stick with GCN for another season.
I would pay double to subscribe to a channel that banned Adam Blythe though. Quite often I just pick a random language for commentary whenever he is on.

 

[weepiper]

I've got Eurosport 1 and 2 on my Virgin package and it's great for cycling. I don't watch GCN so can't compare. twistedAM I feel like that about Rob Hatch though.

 

[twistedAM]

I've got Eurosport 1 and 2 on my Virgin package and it's great for cycling. I don't watch GCN so can't compare. twistedAM I feel like that about Rob Hatch though.

I don't have a television so it has to be a standalone streaming package.
And yeah Hatch has just got plain bad. I think he used to be okay but he commentates a six hour race at the pace of a seven furlong horse race and drops his broad Lancastrian accent for some spanglish crap.
They should give Matt Stephens and Dan Lloyd more work.
And keep Kirby. I know he splits opinion but I always preferred Duffield over Arse Liggett, and Kirby is from the Duffield school of talking glorious crap on a slow day.

 

[Fuzzy]

I've got Eurosport 1 and 2 on my Virgin package and it's great for cycling. I don't watch GCN so can't compare. twistedAM I feel like that about Rob Hatch though.

with gcn you can go ad free. that for me is worth the 40 quid a year.

 

[moomoo]

That’s a lot of cycling.

 

[rubbershoes]

Will Cav get one more or will he crash in the first bunch sprint and break his collar bone?

 

[Fuzzy]

Will Cav get one more or will he crash in the first bunch sprint and break his collar bone?

I hope for him he does get one more. I'm not his biggest fan but it would be some record.

 

[Fuzzy]

anyone following the TDU? Jay vine is some talent considering he was discovered zia zwift.

 

[DJWrongspeed]

anyone following the TDU? Jay vine is some talent considering he was discovered zia zwift.

Indeed, good interview with him here post race . He seems very grounded and articulate and will make a good ambassador for the sport.
His advice for young wannabe cyclists is to forget Australia and Zwift and come to Europe! Nothing compares to riding with the peleton.

 

[twistedAM]

anyone following the TDU? Jay vine is some talent considering he was discovered zia zwift.

That's not quite true but is obviously a line that GCN and Zwift like to tout.
He had a pretty good season in 2019 on a CT team before that Zwift competition came along - Jay Vine

Anyway we're in Argentina now and so far it is Bennett 1 Jakobsen 1 with Gaviria also looks g good in his new Movistar colours.

 

[twistedAM]

Great cross season and nice to see it end with Van Aert on the second step. Looking forward to a repeat at RVV and PR.

 

[Fuzzy]

Great cross season and nice to see it end with Van Aert on the second step. Looking forward to a repeat at RVV and PR.

it was a cracking race. they were ripping shreds out-of each other.

 

[Fuzzy]

pogacar had a good day out today at the classica jaen paraiso.

 

[twistedAM]

pogacar had a good day out today at the classica jaen paraiso.

Now on 3 racedays and 3 wins. Kind of a pity that's he not going head-to-head with Remco at the UAE tour but Van der Poel and Van Second must not be looking forward to seeing him in this form at Strade Bianchi.

 

[Fuzzy]

Now on 3 racedays and 3 wins. Kind of a pity that's he not going head-to-head with Remco at the UAE tour but Van der Poel and Van Second must not be looking forward to seeing him in this form at Strade Bianchi.

has he won again today? I've not caught up yet.

 

[twistedAM]

has he won again today? I've not caught up yet.

Yeah but he's slipping! Just four seconds over Enric Mas this time - Vuelta a Andalucia Ruta Ciclista Del Sol 2023 Stage 2 results
I haven't watched it yet - only had time to watch the Ineos mountain trail fail again today at the Algarve.

 

[Fuzzy]

Yeah but he's slipping! Just four seconds over Enric Man this time - Vuelta a Andalucia Ruta Ciclista Del Sol 2023 Stage 2 results
I haven;t watched it yet - only had time t watch the Ineos mountain trail fail again today at the Algarve.

I was watching that live and they fucked it up right properly didn't they.

 

[twistedAM]

I was watching that live and they fucked it up right properly didn't they.

That team have been inept since the death of Nico Portal; losing Bernal for ages didn't help either but Portal was a brilliant DS.

 

[DJWrongspeed]

I haven't watched it yet - only had time to watch the Ineos mountain trail fail again today at the Algarve.

Great win by Magnus Cort Stage 3 @ Volta ao Algarve, no other team or sprinter could catch him. The last few KMs are what bike racing's all about.

 

[twistedAM]

I know it's only £40pa and it's a niche sport so we'll never get the best commentators but Hatch and Blythe are a joke. Spent most of the ITT saying they were bad at sums; that's apart from when they were waffling about Pidcock. Thankfully they have other languages on there to choose from. I can't speak any other languages but Slovenian commentary would be better than those two dickheads.
Where's Carlton? At least he would have notepad out doing some maths.

 

[twistedAM]

And, Carlton Kirby is back! Enjoying the UAE Tour and at least he and Smith can analyse what's happening in echelons instead of squeaking in an Iberian-Accrington accent or talking about where - insert random Ineos rider - is.

 

[beesonthewhatnow]

Looks like Pog isn't going to be riding at Strade Bianche, so I guess that's going to be a predictable win for MvdP.

In other (completely unrelated ) news, the winner of Paris-Nice may now also be fairly predictable