Pro-cycling thread

Great finish. Think Ewan's presence really made the finale.

Wow , that is some selection of riders up there ... cracking finish ...

Bardiani

Their old fluro kit was even better, along with those ludicrous Cipo bikes. Colbrelli is reliably there at the end of MSR but just got 8th in that bunch 🇮🇹

I literally said "You're not going to win this one Jasper mate but chapeau" out loud as the bunch behind got closer before the last left hand turn. Cue him still ahead past the flamme rouge and I was off the sofa shouting at him to push ahead. Nearly as exciting as Nibali's win 😳

Was hoping for Trentin to pick his moment a bit better, found himself with his nose in the wind at just about the worst possible time.

Pidcock being there at the finish is mad

Dq hugging a team mate . Race given to caleb

How do you sprint like that after 2.5km in the wind? Mind boggling.

Really impressed with Pidcock, shaking things up on the Poggio and sticking to the group until the end. And its only his 5th race as WT rider...

"doesn't matter if you win by an inch or a mile" lmao

smiling quinn simmons. do not want

didn't know until recently that WVA got DQ'd from a cross race when he was a teenager, and in protest he jumped onto the course and chased after the race. pmsl

Pidcock did very well and hung in there in a way that showed he belongs in a bunch like that, but what were Ineos exactly playing at? They drove up the Poggio at a mad pace getting one of their best bets (Ganna, who has the kind of legs to pull off a final few kms like Stuyven did) out of contention in the process, then still allowed the race to blow up and by the time the leaders group consolidated Pidcock had about 50 meters to attack before heading into the first switchback down. And then what?!

Caleb Ewan being spat as soon as the road went up used to be a certainty

#capsnothats

WVA beat Ewan in the sprint though. The world is upsidedown.
{edit - nope, Caleb got 2nd, Wout 3rd}

Pidcock was amazing, got positioned brilliantly and was attacking all the way.

It used to be said that the longer one-day races favoured the older riders.

https://www.italymagazine.com/featured-story/milan-sanremo-when-fausto-coppi-stopped-coffee-way-victory

what were Ineos exactly playing at?

I assumed Pidcock or Kwiatkowski were going to launch.

The fact that nobody was really able to go made it a much better race so thanks to them.

Quinn simmons 74th

4th was decent for Sagan, I thought? Obviously Ewan 2nd is very impressive considering the names around him.

Definitely improved the race, but they basically neutralised their own attack. I think they more likely played it a bit more defensively, as they probably didn't fancy their chances had they allowed Alaphilippe or VdP to attack earlier and preferred to keep it together as much as possible, which did work and as you said made the race all the more interesting. As often that resulted in the big favourites looking at each other a bit too much and someone else choosing the perfect moment, though Stuyven did a whol lot more than just picking the moment! 😳

Chapeau to Ewan, love it when a sprinter gets to go all out racing 👌

https://youtu.be/DAn1tAEBEF4

Ride of the day

I literally said "You're not going to win this one Jasper mate but chapeau"

If he's your mate, you need to refer to him as 'J'.

but what were Ineos exactly playing at?

I can only think they were trying to set it up for Pidcock to attack over the top or on the descent? Which he sort of tried to do?

Shame Ewan didn't have a team mate there. Would have been on the top step, phenomenal ride by him.