Pro-cycling thread

Can someone who pays attention during the off-season explain whodidwhatnow?

Ineos have announced the signing of Tobias Foss on a three year contract.

Ah. Ironic that it was the Aussie-based WCs. I must've been doing something else because I think I saw about 30 seconds of footage from that year's racing.

Dombrowski and Pöstlberger?

No more brown shorts for AG2R!

Ineos banking on the return of the team time trial in a big way.

Might be dwindling interest but potentially no Pro Tour teams running Campagnolo now AGR are using Shimano?

Catchy new hashtag we've got, fellow kids.
#decathlonag2rlamondialeteam

https://twitter.com/AG2RCITROENTEAM/status/1729095138444730426

Campawhat?

Brutal, but fair assessment. Whoever put Veloce on the Allez "my first road bike" I got in 2009 set me up for a fail

Bardiani still using them in 24?

How the mighty have fallen, I am so ancient that I can remember when there was no real alternative to Campagnolo (and anyone calling it Campy would be discreetly shot). My guess would be that their market share has fallen so far that they can no longer afford to bribe pro teams to use their components.

Yes sponsoring pro teams no longer seems to be in their interest/reach, which is sad to me as I am of a younger vintage but still see them as a road racing mainstay. Money talks though eh?

Good spot @atz, I think they are Pro-conti equivalent but still at the Giro etc.

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It's not even on GCN yet I don't think. I tried to watch it the other night.

I watched Mitch Docker and Sam Bewley recreate the Bordeaux Paris instead.

Merckx rebelled against the shitty equipment at Peugeot and got a Masi frame and Campagnolo crankset.
After joining Faema he said he could beat any Peugeot rider downhill because the Peugeot frames were so unstable.

Bike parts might not even be the main revenue stream for the Campagnolo family. They have a lot of other investments.

There's a long-running thread on Campag over at weightweenies. Graham, the UK tech rep, is making some interesting points. If you're interested in people speculating on their demise and the reasons for it, it makes quite engaging (if repetitive) reading.

I'm a big Campag fan - in particular I think the wheels are just beautifully made - but it is very hard to justify mechanical Record at ~1/3 more than the real-world price for Ultegra Di2. Even Chorus was about the same price last I looked, and much harder to get parts and good support for.

That Mason kid is doing well in CX. Is it weird that I never heard of him since a few weeks ago?

yes it is weird; he has been around for a long time now

he's missed a lot of races in the last year or two with an injury but he was in the top ten (6th?) in the last world champs so his results in the last few weeks aren't too surprising

Not really as he was mostly top 20 and rode for trinity previously, did some gravel and Mtb last year too. Don’t know why he’s kicked on so well this year

He was 9th at the Worlds last year, his first as an Elite.

I thought when he signed for 777 that he would get a chance to show his ability week in, week out, but I didn't think he'd be racing consistently for the podium and going toe-to-toe with the likes of Iserbyt, Van der Haar and Vanthourenhout. He's been the revelation of the season for me.

yeah, he has been great. I loved his ride at the European champs.
he seems to get a bad start and has to spend the first lap or two going through the field. that must cost so much energy. if he sorts it out he'll surely get even better.

He's been hampered by his UCI ranking, which determines where you are gridded. He started in the season in the high thirties, but is getting closer to the top ten, which means he'll get front row starts soon.

Great to see two british riders nearing the top of the CX fields! Mason and Backstedt.