Pro-cycling thread

Giro Fantasy League:
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Maybe what the Tour of Yorkshire did, like the Strade Bianchi has done, is show that new races can be more exciting than old ones and that, heresy of heresies, the monuments are often really pretty dull.

You mean that the Ardennes is infallibly dull and has been for years. I will never be bored by hard-as-nails bastards thundering across cobbles (please let it rain next year!).

Well, I like Roubaix but the rest are meh. Then again I prefer stage races. A hard man is good to find but there are less tedious ways of meeting one.

Fine punning, but Flanders is often the pick of the crop. Time to move on to the festival of intrigue that is the Giro, generally better as a race than the Tour.

Sky are The World's Most Boring Team ™ so I'd be hesitant to trust the riders' opinion of Froome.

This @reply thing really is mad, it's like chatting to someone and they use your name every time they reply. Makes everyone seem like a loon. Or a Twitter user, inasmuch as they are separate categories.
Anyway, Ned is the only Flanders I like. There, I've said it. I don't like the Ronde.

the Giro, generally better as a race than the Tour

Absolutely was last year.

I think not having a presumed winner makes it a better race (like last years Vuelta, and it to an extent), so pretty excited to see what happens.

'like he was Kevin Costner and I was his Whitney Houston'

unsure if repost, great read from Michael Woods about La Flêche Wallonne & life in general

http://www.cyclingnews.com/blogs/michael-woods/michael-woods-in-the-fleche/

Thank you for posting that. Looks sadly like the best writer is out of the Giro.

Good finish to Yorkshire.

What was Roche doing? Did I miss the footage where Tommy cut him a deal?

really enjoyed that final stage of the TdY on Sunday. watched it sipping tea with mumsy who had just come back from a little holiday in yorkshire and got to enjoy the scenery again.

anyway, amazing finish. people are being hard on Roche for not staying frosty in the last 300m. but i have a feeling Voekler always had the legs on him. despite the effort he put in with Turgis to make it that final group of five.

If he wasn't sleeping though, he could've got on V's wheel and that might've just been enough energy saving to nudge him over the line. V did look strong but that tactical/mental shutdown from Roche was pretty amateur.

Although I'm sort of excited about the Giro, the top of the GC field is so underwhelming to watch at the moment I kind of want to skip the next 5 years until some new talent is at the top. Currently it seems to be The Cheat, The Other Cheat, The Boring One, The Insufferable Italian and Nairo-Who's-Quite-Nice. Hooray.

Look out for my boy at the Giro!

http://cyclingtips.com/2016/05/class-over-kilos-the-promising-return-of-carlos-betancur/

I think it'll be another case of riding into shape for Betancur, albeit this time he's at a much higher starting point. If Valverde's out of the frame by the last week at the Giro, I can't wait to see what he does in the mountains

I'm guessing Roche hasn't ridden many track sprints. Gave Voeckler a huge lead by not seeing he had jumped.

And no Brits for Team Sky at the Giro, and lead by the rider that we were all scratching our heads about after Astana tore up the race last year, fresh from narrowly avoiding losing World Tour status.

Yay!

eh?

The Giro is looking exciting because of the GC being a bit more unpredictable. Some really exciting new contenders this year.

Even with Contador last year, the fight was still excellent.

They kept their WT status precisely because their was no evidence to suggest a team wide doping programme.

Sky had been tracking Landa for some time, and by all accounts his bio passport data is well within the realms of normal. I think after the Tiernan-Locke debacle Sky are very careful in vetting new signings.

JTL is innocent!

You should give up watching GTs if you can't get excited about the Giro. Was Landa a flash in the pan last year? Is Nibali finished? Will Dumoulin and Chaves confirm the promise shown at the Vuelta? Is Valverde the best pantomime villain in cycling still? Will Uran show up? Is Formolo able to ride for GC yet? Will Hesjedal bother?

Don't forget Majka. And I wonder if Dumbrowski will show any promise. And Zakarin's had some exciting rides recently.

Will Hesjedal bother?

And I forgot about Hesjedal's hero ride last year!

If he does that winking thing again then Majka can get in the fucking Adriatic.