Pro-cycling thread

Betancur Watch:

Bernal was named in the eight-rider roster for the Colombian team on Monday but the Colombian Federation was forced to change it's line-up when Bernal declined selection, with Carlos Betancur called up to replace him.

There's a couple of Greggs in Harrogate so he'll be pleased

Someone mentioned kennie elissonde not racing much well he has left the team and gone to trek.

"full noise"
"flat stick"
"flat out"
"pedal to the metal"
"flooring it"
"punched it"
"all the ponies"
"flat chat"
"burn rubber"

electric Campy

That still exists?

He must have told Ineos just before the Vuelta as he was pulled from the squad at very short notice

That was to accommodate David De La Cruz, who is also leaving Ineos.

shrugs

Elissonde had just got off the plane in Spain and was still in the airport when he was told he wasn't riding so it was an odd one.

L'Equipe had a conspiracy theory going that De La Cruz' agent (shared with Bernal and Sosa) wanted him in the shop window.

At what races will the winners of the mixed relay be able to wear the rainbows strips?

mixed relay races

Any time there's a mixed TT. So I guess only at championships which means they can't actually wear the stripes except in adverts. It'll be like the TT where the riders get a special logo for their jersey/skin suit I guess

Not quite versatile or consistent enough for Ineos?
I remember him as last man standing before Froome's hero breakaway at the Giro, which was awesome, but hadn't really noticed him much otherwise.

Poels confirmed to be joining Bahrain-Merida.

Couldn't all the riders who where in sky/ineos form a new team . Surely their are enough of them by now .

What’s Van der Poel doing this week? I like the idea that he’s hanging out in Yorkshire tearing up some of the local chain gangs

Or smashing course records on club hill climbs as warmup for Worlds

Given his all-round ability at seemingly everything he does, I bet he's rebuilding the bridge and fixing some dry-stone walls.

this thread is going to be insufferable if he wins

this thread is going to be insufferable if when he wins

Well as long as it isn't Valverde again, I'll be happy.

What if it's Moscon instead?

(Don't know if he's riding but WAC anyway)

Nah its going to be Ben Swift. He came fourth that one time and should have won MSR.

Ooooo, tough call. On balance though I'd prefer Moscon over Valverde. Moscon's a dick, but he's not an unrepentent doper. AFAIK, anyway.

he will have to go from a long way out if he wants to win. that happens to be his specialty too, so who knows...