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I did wonder if the final chasing pack could have worked together a bit better over the last 40k or so and got closer. The commentators made it sound like Pog was having a wobble at one point but clearly it passed pretty quickly. As they said, he’s such a complete cyclist - climbs, descents, any distance, and even with less support. Legend.
They could have worked together, but never do…
 
? most chasing groups work together slightly better than that. you feel like they just thought, fuck it, it's Pog so we're not catching him.
Or they didn't want to be the one to do the work to drag the bunch up, and then see someone who hadn't done the work, get the sprint
 
? most chasing groups work together slightly better than that. you feel like they just thought, fuck it, it's Pog so we're not catching him.
Mid race, yeah. But more often than not now once someone has gone towards the finish there’s never a proper chase because nobody wants to tow others to the line.

When was the last WC victory than wasn’t a solo? 2019 (Mads, Harrogate) as far as I can remember.
 
Eddy Merckx to L'Equipe on Tadej Pogacar after the World Championships:

“It's obvious that he's now above me. I already thought so a little deep down when I saw what he did on this year’s Tour de France, but tonight there's no more doubt.”

“He is the strongest of his generation, no doubt. It takes a lot to impress me, but he did. I thought he could become world champion, but I never imagined it would happen like this. He is truly the greatest.”

“What he did is incredible, I can't find the words. This guy is unmatched. When he attacked, I was afraid for him. I thought he had gone too early. It's normally impossible to win from 100 km, but he did.”


So, there we have it…
 
Indeed Ben Healey tried everything :D
Ben O'Connor's attack had perfect timing. I only watched the last hour but it looked like individuals trying to chase rather than teams. An uncoordinated surging group doesn't work well together etc
Healey must be the most annoying rider to be in small chasing group with. All those attacks only lead to everyone burning themselves out leaving them unable to do an organized chase. And what happens in the end? A smarter rider, in this case Ben O'Connor, always times it better than Healey.
Even as someone who wanted Remco to win, I was cheering for Toms Skujins to get silver. Gutted he just missed out on the medals.
 
I did wonder if the final chasing pack could have worked together a bit better over the last 40k or so and got closer. The commentators made it sound like Pog was having a wobble at one point but clearly it passed pretty quickly. As they said, he’s such a complete cyclist - climbs, descents, any distance, and even with less support. Legend.
I think the Dutch and the Belgians planned to, but MVDP's and Remco's teammates got dropped too early.
 
That’s a good point. The Belgians looked strong… until they didn’t.
Out of those two teams I can only really remember Victor Campenaerts doing any significant work. De Plus got in the break but he was no Tratnik - what a guy to have up in the break.
 
Cat Ferguson is our rising star and of course she comes from Yorkshire where else ?
She just won Binche-Chimay-Binche. Only a 1.1 race but some very decent pro riders in it.
I don't know a lot about women's cycling but she seems more of a prospect than Zoe Backstedt.

Meanwhile onto the men's version now and hoping to see Tim Merlier smoke Philipsen...again.
 
Yeah he did some serious shifts.
I love Campenaerts - one of the true characters of the peloton. There's a bit of the Healey about him making dumbass decisions when he's in a small break but when he's got a specific role he gives everything.
 
LOl - didn't realise how shit Ineos have become. 14 wins all season and the only two semi-significant ones were Tour of Romandie and Amstel Gold. There were four monuments, three grand tours, two Olympics and two world titles up for grabs and they came nowhere close in any of those major races. Main reason I'm laughing is those chumps have taken over Man United and as a City fan I can't help but laugh (ok we might have charges against us but we can always just lose the laptop that hasn't been backed up)
Interesting parallel is that while they were displaced in football by a UAE-owned team, they have been eclipsed in. cycling by UAE too.
 
LOl - didn't realise how shit Ineos have become. 14 wins all season and the only two semi-significant ones were Tour of Romandie and Amstel Gold. There were four monuments, three grand tours, two Olympics and two world titles up for grabs and they came nowhere close in any of those major races. Main reason I'm laughing is those chumps have taken over Man United and as a City fan I can't help but laugh (ok we might have charges against us but we can always just lose the laptop that hasn't been backed up)
Interesting parallel is that while they were displaced in football by a UAE-owned team, they have been eclipsed in. cycling by UAE too.
Pidcock deselected for Il Lombardia. Presumably because he’s leaving.
 
Pidcock deselected for Il Lombardia. Presumably because he’s leaving.
Yeah that seems to be the case along with a nice bit of revenge for the crap he pulled in the Tour de France (allegedly just went there to win a stage and did no work for the ;leaders).
 
Yeah, apparently happened on the team bus. Was watching gcn news. A mess all round.
Lol. This bodes well for Man United. Since Ratcliffe took over Sky, all the best young talent has gone elsewhere (mostly UAE) and the best British kids (apart from Tarling) are riding for for the likes for Dom or Israel.
 
This is fucking disgrace. A new government with a fuck-off huge majority should set about sorting out the sports rights coverage. The Olympics were a bit of a debacle, where the Beeb didn't have rights to everything - I had to sit watching golf waiting for the men's road race to get live pictures.

The true "free market" would be where everyone can show anything, and we, the honourable public, get to choose which we go for.
 
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