Pro-cycling thread

Bernal and Roglič are at Dauphiné on Wednesday but don't think they'll see Remco this season?

When Remco went pro I’m sure there were loads of comments that he’d never be able to just just ride away from a WT peloton like he did as a junior but he’s making it a bit of a habit. And when he does do it the gap is usually still increasing when he crosses the line.

Saw this earlier:

Primoz Roglic in stage races and GTs since April 2018

Itzulia — 1
Tour de Romandie — 1
Tour de Slovenie — 1
Tour de France — 4
Tour of Britain — 3
UAE Tour — 1
Tirreno-Adriatico — 1
Tour de Romandie — 1
Giro d'Italia — 3
Vuelta a España — 1
Tour de l'Ain — 1

Ineos have their work cut out for them with a Jumbo team like this.

Very much liked the fight today in the Tour de l'Ain, bit of machismo from Roglic dropping back to Bernal a couple of times to size him up, look him in the eye, then effortlessly reeling him back in after Bernal's attack in the last km.

Let's not get too excited, the Tour is still three weeks away and the Tour de l'Ain is not even a chipper. I bet no-one could name last year's winner without looking it up, never mind the last five winners.

Jumbo-Visma look in good shape, as do some elements of the Ineos Tour team, so we should be in for a good race. If it's half as good as last year's Tour it'll be a belter.

I think the race is made by the riders - last year's winner, Stephane Poisson, rode for a team made up entirely of retired sociology lecturers, so you can't really compare with having Ineos and Jumbo and Trek etc racing.
Either Ineos have some well worked out training strategy or they have some catching up to do. And Pogacar wasn't there, my pick for a podium place this year.
The Dauphine starts on Wednesday so not long to wait to get a better idea of what's happening.

Yeah as Will says, don't think Tour de l'Ain has had as stacked a startlist as this before. Looks like just AG2R and FDJ usually turn up. Wonder how much difference Kwiatkowski would have made?

Thomas and Froome did not look like Thomas and Froome

The standard building for third week thing? Seems to have worked well for them.

Bernal is clearly in form now, Froome and Thomas to peak second half of the tour to be either dominant, or be the ultimate super domestiques if Bernal is already in a good place?

Difficult to see how this would work given how consistently excellent Roglic is, he rarely seems out of form.

I remember Dumoulin saying after training at altitude he would loose that extra kick and it would take a bit of time to come back. Maybe Bernal is in the same situation after training at home for so long. Froome does look to be favouring one leg over the other maybe strength or pain issues or possibly a mental thing? Thomas doesn't look like the 2018 version of himself which is a shame. Or is it all a game? Why show your cards before it's the right moment.
Jumbo Visma are definitely strong though so it's going to be a good fight I think. Bennett vs Sivakov is something I want to see.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CDrQyJelAo_/?igshid=imo13bzol946

nah, I am with @andyp here, why would they do any effort on this french pedestrian race, no1 cares. We just have boners on because there is nothing else to watch.

How do you solve a problem like Remco?
He appears to be the most aero rider on a road bike, while pushing 400w for unlimited time.

Also doesn’t provide much draft i imagine if you are holding onto him.

How do you solve a problem like Remco?

Not to take anything away from him, as his performances so far have suggested he has the talent to compete at WT level, but he's won a few minor stage races so far. His only major race win was the Classica San Sebastian, and there he benefitted from other teams underestimating his abilities.

I'd like to see how he does in a more keenly contested stage race with a decent field, something like Paris-Nice, Romandie or the Tour de Suisse. It'll be interesting to see how he does in the Giro, but given the disrupted calendar, I'd not read a huge amount into it if he doesn't have a stellar race.

That’s a fair point, though judging by the opposition at the races, not just how prestigious the races are confirms that he is a rare talent (stating the obvious)

It will be really interesting to see how he gets on at the Giro. I think I’d like to see him get a bit of a kicking by the likes of Nibali. Remco is probably a good shout for the first pink jersey though...

Think it's a bit late for Thomas to be building. In '18 he cleaned up at the Dauphine and in '19 he rode well enough at Romandie. Seems to be nowhere this year and TdF is just around the corner. Or he and Froome are just playing it cool.

Yes he might well hold on to the pink for a good while.

The bookies have got him down as favourite for the Giro. I've got my reservations as he's never ridden any stage races which were longer than a week. But then again, it's Remco...

He might be held back potentially by the team? DQ are full of amazing riders, but perhaps not the top flight mountain support that Jumbo and Ineos have at their disposal.

No Romandie this year but the Dauphiné is going to be one to watch!!

Remco winning the Giro in his second pro season, having never raced over three weeks would be the stuff on dynasties.

@Acliff is right - even if he has the legs, who is bringing the bottles 5km from the top of a climb? Nobody.

James Knox probably, but even Remco is going to struggle by himself against the mountain trains.
The quickstep team is likely to be dual purpose, I think Jakobsen was formerly on the short list so at least some people assigned to contest sprints.

Bardet to Sunweb!

Was that rumoured and I just missed it?

Also just seen GVA to AG2R

It may be a year or two early for Remco in terms of competing in the Grand Tours but the act of carrying Jakobson’s number, then riding away from a quality field and finally displaying it as he soloed over the finish line was a touch of class imho. Of course if he hadn’t of won we might never have known he had it, but nonetheless...

Knox for one yes, Almeida looked really strong in Burgos and L'Ain as well.

Shame DQS had to let Enric Mas go.