Pro-cycling thread

Used to hate Greipel but I love the big lug now, he's amazing in the cobbled classics

It was a great advert for a holiday in Sardinia but otherwise that stage was dire.
How could anyone ever have hated Greipel?

Did Gaviria bump him causing him to twist his foot and pull out ? Was trying to work out from the footage and wasn't quite clear

Yeah- actually thought Ewan unclipped when he started the sprint and bumped Gaviria but I'm not certain, I just saw slowmo of him trying to clip back in then raising his hand because he knew he'd fucked it and had a lol about it as you do...

Greipel looks like he's riding a child's bike compared to everyone else. Total monster.

^ this.

Cav used to be exactly the same. Remember his hissy fit in the London-Canterbury stage of the 2007 Tour? Caleb Ewan will probably shape into a very similar talent.

Fuck's sake. Missed the live coverage, just sat down to watch the Eurosport highlights. Was supposed to have started 4 mins ago, switched over to it but instead they did a little sports news round up including telling me who fucking won the stage.

Arseholes!

Greipel looks big next to the malnourished children in the peloton; I can't find it now but when Chris Hoy stood next to him it made him look like the normal one and Hoy the freak

wasn't that Förstemann?

Not that; there was a pic of them at an event in casual clothes and Greipel looked like a child next to Hoy

Cavendish was winning big races from day one.

Ewan has a long way to go to prove he's in the sane brackets.

Greipel looks like he's riding a child's bike compared to everyone else. Total monster.

Does he ride a 56? I was looking on the GCN vids where they do features on pro bikes, but on all three of his they didn't mention frame size.

Custom maybe?

It took Cav two years from becoming a pro to win a major race. Ewan won a stage of the Vuelta within 12 months of turning pro.

But yes, it is early days I guess.

He won the Scheldeprijs in his first pro season.

I remember a while back seeing he rode a tiny bike with a 140 stem.

His old bike
Critical measurements

Rider's height: 1.84m (6ft 1/2in)
Rider's weight: 75kg (165lb)
Saddle height from BB, c-t: 760mm
Saddle setback: 67.5mm
Seat tube length (c-t): 700mm
Seat tube length (c-c): 470mm
Tip of saddle to center of bar: 585mm
Saddle-to-bar drop: 110mm
Head tube length: 145mm
Top tube length (effective): 545mm
http://www.bikeradar.com/road/gear/article/pro-bike-andre-greipels-ridley-noah-fast-39703/

How is Caleb Ewan's sprinting style going to cope with the surface of today's finish?

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Well hate is a daft word, but back when I was a feral Cav fan Greipel was the enemy. These days I cheer him on, unless he's racing against Cav

Caleb has got a hell of a long way to match Cav, and now Orica has developed GC ambitions he'll get less support. HTC-Highroad only ever cared about delivering Cav to the line. I doubt we'll ever see such a dominant sprinter and sprint team as that again.

This is going to be dull one suspects

Crosswinds in the last 20k...

Say that again? Gaviria needs to convert this.

Easily. Great work from Quick Step.

Hype turns good!

QS-F making their numbers count? Madness.