Pro-cycling thread

Kudos to Froome! This is gonna be exciting.

Wasn't aware I logged onto froomefanboys.com

Wait till the Giro, everyone will be back to how boring Sky is

Fuck me. PooMoo or FrooDoo for 2018's first cycling equivalent of a Lord of the Rings convention.

We already know that Froome is Gollum but who will polish his ring for him? Long may 2018 be the year of the underdog-would be great to see young riders like Jobby Bungels mix things up and for stalking horses like Landa to impose themselves.

I actually quite like Dumoulin and am glad he is defending it but don't think there's much chance of him overcoming a full strength Sky train (bar any moto/car interventions that is) and for all the uphill finishes the creeping death is dull as fuck as you're guaranteed to spend 40 minutes watching nobody attack until someone steals twenty seconds in the the last 800m depending on who has the strongest vinegar strokes on the day.

TL:DR Here's hoping for more comedy roadside toilet breaks

Extra week between Giro and TdF this year so perfect chance to give it a shot.

Movistar - your move...

Wait, why is everyone suddenly so excited about Froome? Has he won SPOTY or something?

glad he is defending it

That’s not what he said. We’ll have to wait until the Sunweb team & roster will be announced in January

Because he appears to be stepping outside of his comfort zone. He's shown very little interest in the Giro previously, and now that he's got the Vuelta he's always wanted, the easiest thing to do would have been to chase the record for the most Tour de France wins. Instead, he's taking on the challenge of winning three consecutive grand tours, and fair play to him

And that’s quite exciting.

Even if it is Froome doing it.

Yeah that's gonna be exciting.

It'll be exciting if challengers show up. Will some of the bigger contenders now skip the Giro for the Tour?

I did pick that up, but still thought I'd chance a little joke. :)

Will this be the first Giro he rode since getting chucked off it?

I think it's a ballsy move and if anyone can do it, he probably can.

Landa now considering changing his program to include the Giro so he can beef with Froome.

Exciting!

What's wrong with wanting to race against the best?

Thoughts on substitutions in grand tours?

I like it. We see too many riders continuing on with injuries and issues that should have stopped. For to continue almost by their team. It would need some strong regulation but would be good, and workable.

Sounds like a terrible idea to me. It would take about, oh, one race before 'substitution doping' was being talked about. You can have back pain bad enough to stop you riding a bike and no scan or x-ray will show anything wrong. Same with your knee. How many tests would a substituted rider have to have? How many doctors would have to sign off? Or would it only be for visible injuries?
What if a team substitutes a time trialist for a climber just before the first mountain stage? Imagine the scepticism that would engender.
And it would break the lineage of winners, all future races no longer able to be compared with past ones.
Also I don't think riders carry on when they are injured from pride or commitment to the team, at least not mostly: they do it because at the end of the year a DNF is a DNF and it's a cut-throat, what have you done for me lately, sport. Seems to me they would be more likely to play down an injury if they knew the team had the choice to substitute them.
Then there's the riders being on stand-by for the Tour in case a sub is needed - how do you train for that? What would that be like for their season?
Lapartient seems to be trying to make his mark by solving problems that don't exist.

I reckon it'll be a bit like people flouncing off the forum.

Completely agree. I think it's a ridiculous suggestion.

Lapartient seems to be trying to make his mark by solving problems that don't exist.

To be fair to Lapartient, this idea is being touted by Eusebio Unzue at Movistar mainly. I haven't seen comments anywhere where Lapartient has supported this.

Though something should be done about riders being allowed to race with illness and pain?

A GT is a test of endurance, it always has been. If you’re sick or injured then you’ve been found out by that test.

I agree too. It would turn a GT into a relay where teams just deploy the most suitable riders for each stage.

And, of course, this would benefit teams with a budget able to collect all the best super-doms.

This world of super-doms and super-subs would make for some cagey googling. Out.