Pro-cycling thread

In interviews he's incredibly dull

He's not exactly Froome though is he? He said his rivals should be shitting themselves...

I like him because he makes races more interesting but I think I can see why others don't: the Yates bros sometimes feel a bit like cycling's Brownlees.

Of course! What a mistake, by both me and Bora.

Added: This aged well.

Nibali is already making pointed comments about that. Which is great, any Giro is enlivened by a bit of polemica.

I thought Yates’ comments felt a bit rehearsed. Like he’d been advised to try and alter the public perception.

I never get this “need to defend the jersey” thing. Surely if it’s a hinderance to keep it then let it go to someone harmless? It strikes me it’s just received wisdom and what’s expected, not a winning tactic. Like Roglic (I think) said, the only important place to have the jersey is the end. If it burns your team out, just let it go and win it back.

There’s an unwritten rule that the responsibility of controlling the race falls on the team with the leader’s jersey. You can choose to ignore that rule, but it’s frowned upon by other teams and might mean that when you’re looking for help at a later date, none is forthcoming.

That’s what I mean though. It’s received wisdom, not actually true. Baseball has loads of them including one about not embarrassing your opponent. That one died after someone lost an 8-run lead in an inning. Feels like it’s a stupid (unwritten) rule that will be binned as soon as someone decides its needed in order to win a GC

If it burns your team out, just let it go and win it back

Winning it back probably not as easy as it sounds.

Someone needs to control the race. That responsibility usually falls upon the teams who are trying to win the GC. It might be an unwritten rule but it makes sense.

Anyway, I’m sure Jumbo-Visma would be happy to pass on the jersey today. The question is whether those teams with sprinters are happy with that or not.

Depends who you give it to. I don’t think I mean Roglic intentionally giving it to Yates for example but if an escape goes without a real contender, let it go. The whole respect for the jersey thing seems a bit old.

I don’t get why someone needs to control the race.

Yates will wait for a Roglic mechanical and then put in a huge attack. As Yates crosses the line to take the leaders jersey he'll do an extremely flamboyant bat-flip

I don’t get why someone needs to control the race.

Because it would be anarchic without it. The composition of the break has to be right, you can’t let them get 30 minutes, etc.

Or, perhaps, all teams would have the responsibility rather than them sitting back and letting the jersey team do it. I don’t think for a second that today if a break heads up the road that teams will look at Jumbo-Visma and abrogate all sense of responsibility for the race if Jumbo don’t chase.

Its just a lazy equaliser. Teams let the leaders burn some of their riders out chasing dangerous breaks. I wonder if that stops whether it’d change much.

Breakaway has 5 minutes - 8 riders and tailwind all the way on todays stage.

It’s not received wisdom - it has a cast iron logic. If you have the jersey it is for one of two reasons. The first is that you have a serious GC contender on your team, whose interest is to stop excessive time gaps. Races have been won that way. Off the top of my head, Walkowiak and Pereiro both won the TDF through stage breaks that weren’t kept in check. You could leave it to other GC teams to chase, but the leader always has most to lose.

The second reason you may have the jersey is because you have a sprinter or a tt specialist who has acquired it early in the race. In which case, riding on the front all day is going to give your sponsors bang for buck, and you will want to keep your jersey for as long as possible.

I understand the second. Not the first.

that fdj rider went down hard af in the giro...looked bad

Oliver Le Gac. Nothing broken and he's starting tomorrow. Cimolai, who was the Israel Academy rider involved, is an ex-FDJ rider, and they've already made up with it marked down as one of those things, rather than a forensic analysis of who was at fault.

You should respect the jersey and be seen to at least care that you have it, so defending it falls on the GC leader team.

Over 3 weeks, the peloton needs structure and routine, otherwise I expect it can get dangerous and full gas racing every day means that everyone would explode?

No socks for Wiggins two days in a row.

I like Yates. Aggressive rider, fun to watch on a summit finish. Seems like a good guy too. Would love to see him and Roglic finish 1-2. Odd that he's not popular with fans who used to complain about the Sky train.

MS caught some flak for not controlling the race last year IIRC. I thought they looked at the strength of Sky and Movistar teams with the same need to limit gap back to the peloton and didn't buy into idea that it was primarily their duty.

Over 3 weeks, the peloton needs structure and routine, otherwise I expect it can get dangerous and full gas racing every day means that everyone would explode?

But teams should only need to manage this for themselves, no?

echelons today for sure, says Sunweb DS Marc Reef!