2013 Pro-cycling season thread

Sky smashing it up in both races today

oof impressive stuff in T-A....

Well that was an unexpected end to the sprint in paris nice!

oof impressive stuff in T-A....

great win by Froome, Sky train does its job very well again

but I was most impressed by Wout Poels, keeping up with the big guns up to 2km from the summit. great to see him ride like this after the 'hospital and recovery year' he had since that monster crash in the TdF

Just posting to say the bicycle film society on Monday http://www.lfgss.com/thread102177.html will have Maurice Burton first Black British senior champion talking after our show.

some hilarious commentary in that stage 5, final 5km video

I think the rule should be
'don't check this thread if you don't want to know who won what today'

I agree with this.

But if you post results anywhere else I ban you and take your first born child.

And now that's out of the way and I've finally caught up.

Fuck yeah Gossy!

Fuck yeah Porte! (although that's tainted because he's dirty Sky and it hampers my 2013 bet)

great win by Froome, Sky train does its job very well again
but I was most impressed by Wout Poels, keeping up with the big guns up to 2km from the summit. great to see him ride like this after the 'hospital and recovery year' he had since that monster crash in the TdF

I was most impressed with Kwiatkowski.

Best young rider and now race leader. Go Polska!

Think everyone in the peloton need to accept that Froome is going to do the playing possum thing up every big climb, sit behind the train, when it splits into the smaller group with the big guns, lurk at the back with his awkward style, pretending to labour, before putting in a big attack.

Enjoyed the drama of it, but was wondering if I could see him faking it on the screen how the commentators couldn't see it.

With Porte leading Paris Nice and Froome 4s off the lead in Tirreno Adriatico, if they both win, how does this affect how teams approach the upcoming races, with Sky being so strong, so early in the season? Does it mean that we are in for a season of Sky dominance? Or will the other teams in the peloton start to dig into the war chest of tactics and strategy to get onto the top step of the podium?

Is that chest full of epo? I think Sky's regimented training is so far superior, similar to GB's track team. It was raised in the doping thread, they all have a goal, whereas Contador is a one man fucking psycho, attacking willy nilly. It's fun but not a winning strategy, whereas Sky are pro as fuck

Basically Sky's training programme and collective aim in each race is, I feel, so far more cemented in every team members mind they work as an actual team, which seems to be few and far between in cycling

Having a team strong enough to smash it at both p-n and t-a at the same time bodes well for sky attempting the giro/tour double.

Poor schleckles:
"Andy Schleck's miserable start to the 2013 season continued as he lost contact with the GC group, the RadioShack-Nissan rider dropped even before the likes of team mate Fabian Cancellara and Cannondale's Peter Sagan."

The cleverness of that stage win is Sky played possum until the very final climb. BMC and Astana did most of the concerted chasing with about 40-50k to go, then they sent their best to the front, basically four world class climbers. Froome was sheltered, weathered the attacks from Contador and Nibali, then counter-attacked brilliantly in the final k. That said he didn't get the leader's jersey so extremely impressive from Kwato....Kotwa...that Polish chap

K-viat-kov-ski

Not what the commentator kept saying.

Sky have more money, so can buy better riders and pay them enough to not fuck up team tactics and try and win on their own (mostly, eh Froome Tdf 2012).

That and a massive stash of new drugs in Tenerife.

#trollolololol

i heard speak of oxygen tents as they are a 'legal' way of simulating altitude and thus produces natural EPO in the blood when training and racing. Given Sky even take their own mattresses to the tour this doesn't sound ridiculous.

Everyones using oxygen det tents.
Riders tweet photos of theirs.

Unless they're in italy.

I think the Porte and Froome wins are exactly what you'd expect a mountain stage to look like in a post doping era.

A single two minute anaerobic effort at the last possible moment. No multiple attacks, no 20 minute climbs at 7 W/kg. It's not exciting but it's 'realistic' for want of a better word.

i heard speak of oxygen tents as they are a 'legal' way of simulating altitude and thus produces natural EPO in the blood when training and racing. Given Sky even take their own mattresses to the tour this doesn't sound ridiculous.

Yep Brad talked about sleeping in one in his spare bedroom at home in one of the docs last year.

Vandenbergh tweeted

Stijn Vandenbergh ‏@vdbstijncycling
458watt average, Col d'Eze. Happy Paris-Nice is finished #opqs pic.twitter.com/hH5RSRRSHK
Retweeted by OPQS Cycling Team

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BFAUm5HCYAApV1Y.jpg:large

Fairly sure training at altitude (like Mallorca) boosts EPO as well. Plenty of legal ways of doing it to a modest degree.

Just watching the Col d'Eze TT. Well impressed with Quintana's effort.

Is there any benefit to wearing a TT helmet and not even having bar extensions? It looks fucking stupid.

Every benefit is a benefit.

Fast.

A time of 19:16 for Porte was just four seconds slower than the fastest time ever up the climb set by Wiggins in 2012.