Pro-cycling thread

They're here to stay because $240 entry fee means the organisers are getting paaaaiiidddd

Trek Segafredo, Movistar, Canyon/SRAM, Rally Cycling, at least, were present. EF podiumed at this event last year and have won others like it.

Gravel is influencing World Tour parcours. Either the World Tour will subsume gravel, or gravel will keep attracting WT riders and teams towards it.

It’s more fun not to turn your nose up at it, that’s what cross is for.

Gravel is influencing World Tour parcours.

They were doing just fine before the "gravel" explosion...

I've entered the Gravel National Champs. I'm not anti, I'm just aware of what it isn't.

That was Dumoulin’s bad gel wasn’t it?

Gravel is influencing World Tour parcours.

Is it? Strade Bianche has been around for a while now, itself a spin off from Eroica, which was inspired by how pro races used to be long before the widespread use of tarmac for road surfaces.

Look back at photos from the major races in the post-war period and most of the mountain stages were run on unsealed roads. Pro cycling has started to return to this type of road because it presents a different challenge in a stage race, but is also a nod to the heritage the major races have.

Trek Segafredo

Speaking of which, they made up a BS story about Kiel Reijnen running barefoot for hours (only to change to the story's details 3 times when called out on it), getting more coverage than the actual win.
Not sure the the WT teams PR machines are really adding value here...

Is that the Victor Berlemont? I’m told they’re expecting some big names this year.

quinn simmons crashed out of unbound so that's good

Okay I’ll put it another way - people who can still be at the sharp end of WT races wouldn’t bother racing against idiot amateur grav-bros.

Pro cycling has started to return to this type of road because it presents a different challenge in a stage race, but is also a nod to the heritage the major races have.

Maybe you have insider intel that makes this definitive, but it’s regularly mentioned in cycling media the recent gravel stages have something to do with the gravel market explosion.

Prediction: big money gets thrown at MVDP, WVA and Sir Pidders to ride the next generation of Canyon, Cervelo and Pinarello gravel bikes at a big event in the next three years. Would be epic. Can’t flipping wait! If you can’t see that you’re blind.

Hahaha #rep

Correlation != causation

There's also been a recent cross over (excuse the pun) of 'cross racers to road. So how can we say it's not 'cross that's influencing GT stages? Apart from the fact I've already mentioned dirt stages in Grand Tours happening 10 years ago and whole races on unsealed roads happening since forever.

As an aside: My favourite bit so far is one of the fast Americans having 4+ people around him and he still has to yell at them to replace his bottles. Shows how good my missus is as a support crew. Fucking rookies.

Wout would walk it and it would be shit. 9hrs of ploddding. Nothing technical, nothing fast, nothing exciting.

So how can we say it's not 'cross that's influencing GT stages?

Certainly could be, but that’s not what Eurosport, Cycling Tips, The Cycling Podcast have been saying. Most of them think the fastest growing cycling market is the influence. Following the incentives seems like a solid theory.

Could an ADSA heavy confiscate my keyboard, please.

I think this type of long-endurance racing will be followed live on social media and then documentaries in the Ronde style. It doesn’t suit traditional World Tour coverage.

Have a meeting now but will reply to next round of flames by EOP.

Gravel has had zero influence on anything but the amount of bar bags I see on my ride in Kent IMO.

I wasn't even in Kent last night and I saw bags on a ti frame.

This wasn't me, before anyone makes false accusations.

Race organisers have seen the coverage Strade Bianche, Tro Bro Leon, etc get, and want in on that action. They also realise that a) TTs are dull and no-one watches them and b) mountain top finishes are becoming less and less selective so they are looking at other ways to get the GC riders to race, i.e. short mountain stages and stages with gravel or cobbles.

fastest growing cycling market

That would be e-bikes. So if they think gravel is the fastest growing cycling market they're well fucking wrong.

Yeah, when you know who's going to win a GT from the outset, throwing in a stage or two where they might actually lose some time keeps it a bit interesting for longer.

But once again, they've been doing this shit well before this hippy jumped onto the "gravel" bandwagon.

Has a pro used a gravel bike in a race yet? Aren't they all just using their normal bikes with different tyres?

We await the gravel ebike pro series, almost awake with excitement.

What is the general opinion? Strade: great? Gravel/cobbles in Grand Tours: selective? Long gravel races that pros can enter (and win): a load of old bollocks?