Pro-cycling thread

Van der Poel is riding, so whoever wins has to outride or outwit him.

Like in cx and Xc. It’s very hard to replicate a world tour racing stimulus in a training block. So any WT rider that has off road skills can be at the front and win.

Nothing wrong with that. Good to see them tested on other surfaces.

Start list is a nice mix of road and cx pros: https://gravelchampionshipsflanders.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/207/2024/10/W2024_1129-Startlijst-1.pdf

Iserbyt for the win

Yes

lol - if Iserbyt wins this, I'll eat my gravel bike.

He doesn't have the engine.

Yeah I agree but EliFans will dream

rooting for ARE cam mason

find “bala” no matches

So has gravel been accepted in the pro cycling thread then?

Only this weekend

Fully agree.
Imagine all football fans saying same when Messi/Pele/Best were playing. Imagine boxing fans when Ali was boxing. Imagine athletics fans when M Johnson/Bolt/etc etc were running.

Only boring people are bored...

Maybe the gravel Worlds should be categorised, with a separate category for people who aren't very good. Let's call it 'gravel pro'.

None of these are comparable at all

GGs

Paris-Tour gave a better look at grav as we know it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HaVhEW-zBSI

Big fan of Paris-Tours. And hoping it'll be my local race in a couple of years' time.

I really enjoyed the gravel Worlds, very scenic. I do think using 'gravel' as the descriptor is misleading, or links it to actual gravel races in a misleading way. Call it a 'mixed road' race, a bit like Paris Tour or Strada Bianche but with a much higher, at least 60%, off road and you've invented a new and credible discipline for the Pros which could shake up the calendar in a way it really needs to be. But, you know, Monuments, tradition, blah blah blah. I'd also keep the novelty of having middle aged riders still being on the course as the Pros go past.

You're witnessing one of the all-time greats of the sport in his prime, dominating races with a sense of joie de vivre that is unique. Appreciate it whilst it lasts

Absolutely. I mean, lol, if you find someone attacking with 100km to go at the worlds boring.

Pog’s breakaway was great.
It worked because his chasers were more interested in not helping each other than chasing.
Sprint 100 metres, stop and stare at each other, and repeat.

Agree. I feel lucky to have seen it live on TV, when nobody believed he would stay away for 100 km. What a ridiculous idea. Like Floyd Landis' daft excursion. Nobody clean could be mad enough to attempt it. But he did it. And it's easy to believe he didn't cheat. It turns a corner. The era of Armstrong and Bruyneel has been wiped. Those two should scuttle away into a hole. They should realise their podcasts are hopelessly irrelevant in the Pog era.

https://amp.theguardian.com/sport/2024/oct/06/im-pretty-smoked-mate-lachlan-morton-completes-epic-14200km-ride-around-australia-in-record-time

Ineos Kremlinologists will be delighted to hear that Luke Rowe’s move to Decathlon-AG2R as a DS has been confirmed.

It is exciting, but also boring, in that once he’s broken away, he doesn’t make you stressed that he’s going to be caught.

Still no news on dreamy pete’s new job and whether trinity are continuing .

Anybody got a stream for Tre Valli Varesine? It's meant to be on Discovery + but I can't find it anywhere on their site so I'm not sure if they've suddenly upset RAI

EDIT - cancelled due to bad weather