Think it's a sign that he's moving up the pecking order in the cobbles. Presumably won't have to do any donkey work the others anymore.
The Bicycle Racing Thread 2014
- Thread starter The Boy
- Start date
Think it's a sign that he's moving up the pecking order in the cobbles. Presumably won't have to do any donkey work the others anymore.
Sigmund Fraud
893 all the way.
He will probably still be asked to ride for Thomas or EBH- the former has a real problem staying on the bike on tarmac, let alone Pave though. By the sounds of it though missing MSR might be a good move for anyone wanting a crack at the next three, even by the standards of pro suffering this was a very hard ride indeed.
It certainly was. Seen a few comments comparing the conditions favourably as compared to last year with the snow etc, but at least then the riders got to hop on the bus to warm up and get changed which I imagine would have made a hell of a difference when compared to a solid 7 hours in cold wind and rain.
Anyway, Froome to put the pretenders to the sword this week?
Sigmund Fraud
893 all the way.
Not if AC has been at the steak all winter - Mr Tinkoff has been asking him to ride 'more PRO' so perhaps we will be some miraculous answerback.
Ted Striker
Foot's on the other hand
Wiggo is dropping Tour De Catalonia for Roubaix (on bbc site)...Is he or anyone at sky a true prospect? Granted it usually requires a lot of luck and Classics pedigree, but he rarely Puts his mind to something if he doesn't feel like he has a chance? Or is he just dodging Froome in the tdc?
Sigmund Fraud
893 all the way.
I am with Chinny on the subject of Wiggo's Roubaix ambitions. Wiggins has posted top 30 for Roubaix before...but there is an ocean between top thirty and top 10, probably between 6 and 8 minutes. The race to be the final placings inside the top 10 is like a mini race in iitself but thats still a couple of minutes off the podium. Sky should bet their Roubaix horse on Stannard and EBH - everyone including BW should ride for those two.
Even top 30 into the municipal velodrome is still astonishingly hard. I'e ridden the full course twice and its a sufferfest beyond imagination at certain points (Arenberg). Any pro who rides it is a hero.
I'm hoping for a wet Roubaix - its years since we had some proper carnage.
Even top 30 into the municipal velodrome is still astonishingly hard. I'e ridden the full course twice and its a sufferfest beyond imagination at certain points (Arenberg). Any pro who rides it is a hero.
I'm hoping for a wet Roubaix - its years since we had some proper carnage.
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twistedAM
Left Of The Dial
Is he definitely riding Le Tour? Current odds of 80/1 which is good gamble for a tenner e/w. A podium would pay out £220.
Long way off, but the noises from both him and AG2R are that the main season goals are hilly classics & white jersey at Tour.
twistedAM
Left Of The Dial
Well the white jersey can often get pretty near the podium. Think I'll have a little punt along with Stybar in the Classics though this year his odds have gone way down; think he as 7s for Paris-Roubaix.Only started this cycling betting lark at the end of last season and only for races I know I have time to watch live. Makes it a hell of a lot more interesting. I had Costa at 33/1 for the worlds
I had Costa at 33/1 for the worlds
I had Costa on my betting slip then took him off. That was up there with putting Ciolek for MSR last year at 101.00 then deciding two cover bets were enough
. The worst though was Maxim Iglinsky for Liége a couple of years back @ 151.00. Decided the odds compilers must have known something I didn't then watched in horror as he destroyed the field going up Saint Nicolas, double Not sure if you saw the twitter exchange between dimspace and Fran miller, but confirmed that it was an ABP blood test. Apparently the 'new' element is that it's the first time one of their Colombian riders had been tested at altitude.
Cycling News saying that today's stagge was TJ Van Garderen's first WT stage win. That can't be right, can it?
Good to see my man Bardet respresenting too. Apparently Barguil was active too. Still none the wiser about who's top dog atm though with the weather probably having an effect on some of the main contenders.
Good to see my man Bardet respresenting too. Apparently Barguil was active too. Still none the wiser about who's top dog atm though with the weather probably having an effect on some of the main contenders.
DownwardDog
Riding a Brompton with a power meter.
Just sat down to watch last night's coverage of stage four I recorded and the weather conditions have defeated the broadcast technology. The coverage has been rubbish with transponder problems, Partridge-esque meditations on the relative availability of sandwiches in the Alps and the Pyrenees and repeatedly putting the Slovakian flag against Luka Mezgec's name.
Nigel Irritable
Five, Ten, Fifteen Years
Ag2r continue to their quest to be the most old-school (ie backwards) team in the pro peloton: infamously up until recently they didn't bother to issue their GC men with TT bikes to practice on. Now Bardet reveals that if an Ag2r rider wants a power meter he has to go out and buy his own.
The team that says fuck your sports science and your marginal gains.
The team that says fuck your sports science and your marginal gains.
The thing I don't get about that is that aren't they actually supposed to be quite into their sports science? I'm sure I read about them working with some University or other, and put the TT bike thing down to them still being in a period of transition from old school to high-tech. But not having power meters is just bizarre. Surely you just phone up Garmin or whoever and ask for thirty units for your riders to show off on telly?
Ted Striker
Foot's on the other hand
Eeek...I've signed up to do it this year. I did the shortest route last year (albeit in a heavy steel beast - I assumed it was going to be a lot more like A Sunday In Hell
) Though going this year for the full thing (and I'm no hero!). I've literally no idea how the hell anyone does it in anything other than dry perfect conditions. A muddy PR is the best scene in cycling IMO.
Nigel Irritable
Five, Ten, Fifteen Years
The only way I can make any sense of it is to assume two things:
1) the manufacturers don't just give (hard to see) power meters as opposed to cycling computers away to non-sponsored teams.
2) Ag2r know their riders will buy one anyway, so in effect it's a salary deduction.
It's still weird. Ag2r aren't rarely-winning breakaway artists any more. They actually have a good roster.
DownwardDog
Riding a Brompton with a power meter.
The manufacturers have a finite budget for that sort of caper. Even at World Tour levels there are teams that have to buy their own gruppos.
Sigmund Fraud
893 all the way.
Maybe at Pro Conti level but at WT? No chance. The only teams to pay for their kit to my reckoning was the last years of CSC / first years Saxo; that was because Riis wanted the flex to try any kit he wanted without pissing on sponsors chips. They were using FSA chainsets (Rotor for TTs), SRAM and Shimano gruppos, 3T and Deda bars, fizik saddles and about 5 different tyre makers depending on the race in question...and he paid for all of it. Frames were still free though I think.
Ag2r could have free powertap / SRM kit if they wanted.
Sigmund Fraud
893 all the way.
Eeek...I've signed up to do it this year. I did the shortest route last year (albeit in a heavy steel beast - I assumed it was going to be a lot more like A Sunday In Hell
The second time I did it it had rained heavily three days before. The first pave at Troisvilles were shiny with a mix of water, mud and cowshit. I slithered to the side and let a couple of seconds or air out of the front. On the second sector there was a massive crash and a Danish bloke had a very bad head injury. That set the tone for the day, I have never seen so many mangled bikes. Are you doing the ASO one of the VC Roubaix one? If its the former you only have a fortnight!
Nigel Irritable
Five, Ten, Fifteen Years
I wish you luck, The Boy !
While I'm hoping to see a cobbled race or two in Belgium this year, I think I can safely say that nobody with my bike handling skills, which veer from slightly rubbish all the way to appalling, has any business trying to ride the kind of cobbles you see at Arenberg. Or any cobbles anywhere that are any tougher than dainty little historic town centre type ones. Not only would I be absolutely guaranteed to snot myself badly, I'd probably end up maiming a bunch of other people.
While I'm hoping to see a cobbled race or two in Belgium this year, I think I can safely say that nobody with my bike handling skills, which veer from slightly rubbish all the way to appalling, has any business trying to ride the kind of cobbles you see at Arenberg. Or any cobbles anywhere that are any tougher than dainty little historic town centre type ones. Not only would I be absolutely guaranteed to snot myself badly, I'd probably end up maiming a bunch of other people.
I think you mean DownwardDog. My handling skills are lame as a lame thing, and my ridiculous mass means even a false flat is a struggle
eta: no, Ted Striker is doing the cobbled madness I think.
Nigel Irritable
Five, Ten, Fifteen Years
I think you mean DownwardDog. My handling skills are lame as a lame thing, and my ridiculous mass means even a false flat is a struggle
eta: no, Ted Striker is doing the cobbled madness I think.
Jesus maybe my bike handling is so shit because I'm going blind. Good luck Ted Striker instead!
DownwardDog
Riding a Brompton with a power meter.
Garmin Cervelo were definitely buying their own gruppos in 2013. That's why they were on Ultegra. It was mentioned on the TV commentary of the TDU.
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Sigmund Fraud
893 all the way.
if they were that is crazy. I remember the old Skil-Shimano squad were pictured at Het Volk a few years back with Tektro (Tektro!) brake calipers. Cervelo sold a tonne of frames on the back of that team, maybe vaughters had fucked off Shimano in the same way he fucked off Pearl Izumi...
