Pro-cycling thread

Cadel Evans in 2011

#batsignal

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Not puppet porn again ! Matttt damon

Tom Dumoulin looking well there.

#uncanny

[Double post]

Just the one?

My hope is Tao does well at his first TdF and I do believe Carapaz could get on a podium.

I love to see them – any rider –being combative, but we’ve come to expect efforts like those two were putting in today to stick. And they haven’t been sticking for the past 12 months.

Not sure how to give them the benefit of the doubt when there’s been consistency from others while they’ve been down.

I want to be wrong, though. I have a soft spot for G and Berny.

It's not quite the middle of March, Bernal's first major objective of the season is two months away, and Thomas' is four months away. I think their condition is probably beyond where it needs to be right now.

Hope you’re right. Seems like wishful thinking to me when considering past 12 months’ results and looking at their competition.

The way I see it: it’s not quite the middle of March for everyone. So they all have the same amount of time to improve performance ahead of the GTs. Your logic implies – forgive the assumption, let me know if this is wrong – that Ineos will/could leapfrog Jumbo and UAE, which would mean the two most impressive GT teams of the past year have made a huge error in their preparation for the 2021 season. Probability of that seems low.

Do you think early seasons successes – Rog and Pog specifically for GC – are evidence of peaking too early and those riders will not perform in the summer?

(I hope this doesn’t come across as argumentative. I’m interested in your alternative perspective. It’s a tough crowd at home for these topics.)

Rog seems to be able to keep a consistently high level for most of the season, even if it leaves him a bit short in the final week of a GT sometimes.

I remember reading/hearing that Pog was going very well early last season when there were no races and his coach made him have a week of the bike to cool off a bit, clearly worked for his TdF. Maybe they are going for a similar approach with the added bonus of being on good form for the UAE tour to keep the sponsors happy.

It really doesn't come across as argumentative, it's just a discussion with each of presenting our views.

Historically, Ineos/Sky liked to have everyone in decent shape from Paris-Nice onwards, first with Wiggins, then with Froome, and they'd try and win two or three stage races ahead of the Tour, usually Paris-Nice, the Tour of Romandie and the Dauphine. Thomas has never quite fitted into this mould, before he'd do the classics, then switch focus, but he's never won a pre-Tour stage race if memory serves. He seems to be the type of rider who peaks once, but that peak is high, as it was in 2018.

For Bernal we don't really have a point of reference, bar the year he won the Tour, when he won Paris-Nice, was third in Catalunya, then won the Tour de Suisse ahead of the Tour. So he's arguably behind where he ought to be, but given last year is a complete anomaly in terms of a season structure, and he's coming back from a serious injury that has needed a lot of rehabilitation, he's probably happy with where he's at.

For Pogacar and Roglic, both seem to be the type of rider who can build form quickly and then have short peaks repeatedly through the season.

I think Ineos should be able to put out a Tour team that is stronger than either UAE or Jumbo-Visma, but that hasn't been the case for the past few years where they have come in with certain key riders underperforming. They need to get that right if they want to beat stronger individuals with the collective strength of the team. We'll find out this summer if they can, we hope.

I don't think they're peaking now, they're just consistently good. Both G and Bernal got injured last year, they may not be there just yet but they're not far off. Ineos have a lot of strong riders but no one as dominant as Froome was, it's gonna be an interesting year for sure.

Pogacar, we shouldn't forget, effectively mugged Roglic for the Tour win last year. Most people gave him no chance in the final time trial, me included. He, and his team management, were very clever in keeping him in contention, whilst allowing Jumbo-Visma to keep the race locked down as they thought Roglic was the strongest rider. He probably was, until the final Saturday.

I would guess that Bernal and maybe Thomas are pretty close to where their goals are in terms of power numbers, but those numbers aren't translating to results as rog and pog etc are just better

Bernal's form is looking decent all things considered. How his back will be feeling after back to back days of racing must be a bit of an unknown, let alone how it's going to be in the third week of the Giro.

Surprised @amey hasn't posted Chris Horner on yesterday's Paris-Nice stage yet.

Knowing what they know now, would you expect Roglic and J-V to be able to beat Pogacar in the tour this year?

I can't see Thomas or Carapaz beating either of them tbh.

They definitely learnt the lesson that if you are the dominant team with the strongest rider, you need to make that count. Paris-Nice is proving that.

But they are making enemies in the process. There was no need for Roglic to make that final attack yesterday and he took away a much needed stage win from Bahrain-Merida. They won't forget that come the Tour if suddenly Roglic needs their help.

You might even compare it to Indurain's approach.

Looking forward to tour of catyluna. Restrictions been lifted here so plan to go see a stage or 3.

I liked Roglic's attack yesterday. If I could win as much as him, I'd try too, and he clearly loves it. He's got a lil twinkle in his eye in the interviews

There was no need for Roglic to make that final attack yesterday

He gifted Mäder the bonus seconds for second place, afaic that's sweet enough for a pro rider.

EDIT that quote was a piece of andyp's comment srry

I don’t understand the ire at Roglic beating Mader. He’s a professional athlete. His sponsors would have been rightly fuming if he’d gifted that to a kid.

Nice little front group in Tirreno after MVDP started ahaking the tree and Bernal blasting away in a nicely timed manner, now together making progress leaving what is left of the peloton behind

Edit: chasing group closing in