Pro-cycling thread

"How the race was won" seems to be back via cycling tips, if you used to enjoy it, like I did.

Dibs.

If it's good enough for Sagan, it's good enough for hippy.

Thanks - didnt think it was coming back. Liked the Milan san remo take.

I just want Sagan to be my friend

I so hope he doesn't end up with Lefevere as boss. And I wonder if the man himself might surprise us with his choice i.e. not choosing top dollar above alle else.

Sagan strikes me as a character who does boss very well ;-)

@T-V now there is a book I would read. DS and epic riders.

Trek would seem a sensible place for him to go and surely Stuyven would love to have him there even if it's just for the lols and the chance to be in his next mad video.

This new Middle Eastern-funded team may come along and throw a load of cash at him anyway.

Landa's gone straight to work, earning his paycheck from Sky.

Expect Twitter meltdown now. He's meant to be overweight and lacking race fitness.

It's all those raspberry ketone milkeshakes...

Anyone spotted a strava upload from today's ToBC stage? Last climb was radicool.

Pinot's is up.

Some of those might be tight.

Wonder if it's worth getting to sector 3 and seeing the race having blown apart!?

Inchy to Quérénaing
https://goo.gl/maps/Wcva8jTfDXm

43 min drive
50min peloton

Quérénaing to Arenberg (Hanson)
https://goo.gl/maps/xoo3HvU7Dps

20min drive
35min peloton

Hanson to Brillon
https://goo.gl/maps/jVKK65ie3n22

10min drive
25min peloton

Brillon to Gruson
https://goo.gl/maps/fq6CvA4LMv42

30min drive
1h peloton

We'll be doing Arenberg, section 13 before Orchies (depends on being able to stop along the motorway like last time) and then section 4, Carrefour de l'Arbre. The end sections are great because the cobbles are really grim there, you see who is out front and going for the win, and, the race being so spread out by then, you get to see the race for longer. Seeing how truly fucked some of the tale-enders are is quite a thing.

There will be a tonne of people leaving each sector after the race passes to get to another sector, so the traffic can be a big problem (a motorbike will be a great asset!)
Also be aware that there is a lot of drunk driving, I have seen quite a few accidents over the years, so be cautious overtaking!
You might not be able to get that close to a sector to leave the bike, so you will have to hoof it after you park it, and it is better in my opinion to head to a sector and get on to it well before the peleton goes by, so you get a good spot. You may want to be conservative in trying to get to see the race too many times. You could very easily get from Arenberg (or Wallers Helesmes) to either the stadium, or the Carrefour de l'Arbre (Gruson is not that great a sector to watch), you might be able to see Orchies too, from the motorway, but they have stopped people stopping there in recent years.
Camphin en Pevele used to be a great sector, but I don't know what it is currently like (it used to be really rough, if you could see the riders on this you could get a real feel for how hard the race is, it might have been relaid, I haven't seen it for a while). The race will be in bits by then!
I like to see the big screen at Arenberg, as in years when I have chased a few sectors I have got almost no idea what is going on, and it is really hard to work it out from brief glimpses as they go past!
The stadium is really crowded but if you can get there early enough (and find somewhere to park) there is a big screen there. The roar when the riders come into the stadium has to be felt once in your life!
Also if you are there on Saturday you might be able to ride some of the pave, later in the day, but have a recce of the route you plan if you can, as knowing where to get to is very useful.

Sounds so exciting....maybe I'll go watch one day. For now I will settle for Eurosport, which seems to have live coverage from 9:15am....! I'm hoping like hell it rains a fuckload here so I've got an excuse to watch it all....

Thanks good tips again. I'll re asses the plan, a bit more conservative. Pick 2 sectors, see them properly.

So I guess a few sectors and either velodrome or arenberg. Think I'll try for the velodrome. Guess it needs to be done right!

Both the Yates brothers were slightly off the pace yesterday, has anyone seen any comments from them or the team as to why? They were targeting the GC, but have a lot of work to do now.

Tried watching the finish this morning on Cyclinghub but it froze about 30 secs into the climb but there was Yates right at the front at that point, but so was Dan Martin and he went backwards too.

unofficial sprinters' world championships (a.k.a. Scheldeprijs) today, start list is lacking the recently proven capable riders for the season Bouhanni and Gaviria though. So... Kittel? Greipel? Cav? Viviani?

Etixx said that Gaviria ended his Classics season after GWG, but I agree it would have been a good training for him.

anyone know how to stream a sky channel without having sky... would like to watch Scheldeprijs but it's on bike channel...

I hope bike channel nothing but bad. Fuckers.

only Dutch & French language commentary links on http://www.procyclinglive.com

Not always a huge fan of Rouleur, but this description of Sagan's solo bid for victory at the Ronde is excellent:

'In contrast, the world champion, steady as a rock, was draped over his bars and pedalled with the insouciance of a man leaning on a fourth-floor balcony, regarding a sunset. He was not going to be caught – and he knew it.'