2014 Pro-cycling season thread

He's doing pretty well for himself but I'd prefer one of the Viccy boys - Zak or Docker to get up there.

Could you do mine too. I stopped working about an hour ago.

Close but not quite. You have 0%, they have slightly greater than 0%.

I've done my sales target for the day, so I can stop working finally and devote the rest of my day to disagreeing with Dan

Will you stick a link up when you logic-bomb all the hope out of "Wiggo" Bikeradar threads please andy?

:)

Shit

As Kwiatkowski ably demonstrated on Sunday, it's about spotting your chance, taking it and having the strength to see it through.

What has grimping got to do with PR?

Not all classics are flat

Does everyone have to have a nickname?

And the Terpstra win was a bit like the Goetze goal. Where team work was obvious. At the moment no English team has the quality. But maybe next year.

Zak is short for Zakkary or Zachary and Docker is Mitchell Docker's surname. Not exactly nicknames are they? But to answer your question, yes.

Do you see Vanmarcke dominating in the style of Boonen / Cancellara? He seems to lose more sprints than he wins and maybe doesn't have the raw power to ride away from everyone. I see Kwiatkowski and Sagan taking out more classics wins.

Poor old Geraint, earning £££££ and riding his bicycle in the sunshine every day. My heart bleeds ;)

Let's face it, being savaged by Jimmy Fingers is no walk in the park. :)

I never savaged him! British riders seem to be getting rarer on the Sky team, 5 signed and only one Brit amongst them most recently. Just wamnt G and Stannard to retain primacy for the classics and see what they can do.

And teammates can do help in the classic and on the cobbles, not to control the entire race but to mark riders, get in breaks and support each other in chasing down breakaways.

Alonso going to announce some signings for his new team in the next few days apparently.

Sounds like it'll be pro-conti.

Source: speculation on twitter based on an article in Marca.

Milan-Torino today, one of the oldest races in the world.

Now that the Tour of Beijing is set to be consigned to the dustbin of history, I hope the Italian autumn classics programme can recover. Some great races, culminating in Lombardy, and the light in Italy as this time of year makes for some stunning photos.

Me too. Lake Como is one of the most beautiful places I have been - climb up to the Ghisallo church is stunning too. Would love to be there in Autumn, I've only ever been there at the end of summer.

I know it was part of globalisation, but I have less than no interest in watching the Tour of Bejing, the Italian classics on the other hand...

weird double post

The thing that I don't think the UCI have really understood about cycling's global appeal is that to a new audience, the history of the sport is one of it's main selling points. It comes ready packaged with over 100 years of stories, landscapes and history that most sports can't even get close to — they really need to work on selling that to fans and looking after the legacy of the sport, rather than just rolling out lots of shiny plastic in new places.

Racist

yep

Sky going for the team with the best names?

P-R is a race that allows a rider, in the twilight of his career, a chance to win using experience and strength. Wiggo could do it.

Up all night with the baby again, Sam?

He should've won it this year btw. Watch when Terpstra goes and Wiggins sees it and does nothing. If he'd covered the move...