2011 Pro-cycling season thread

I hope Ian Field wins on Sunday, he deserves it.

I don't really have a fave in the seniors, but I hope Gabby Day does well for herself in the women's, she's had some great results very recently, though I think Wyman is a foregone conclusion for 1st.

hmm. Interesting.
yes, i've been keeping it quiet..

Well obviously I would watch that too, who wouldn't?
Just not people in mud who have to carry their bikes for some of the time.

I think you're missing out, Will. Go to cyclingfans.com on a Sat/Sun at 2pm (3pm CET) and enjoy 45mins-1hr of amazing riding. Some races are better viewing than others, but this year's been great. One week it's snow, the next mud, then frozen fast and open, etc, etc, with a number of big hitters getting the upper hand each week, and plenty of unpredictable drama thrown in.

I see Quickstep are trying to lure Stybar, but not entirely sure if that's for road duties? You can tell he'd be great on the short power climbs of the classics.

I'll give it a go.
I did notice that Stybar chap winning everything. Are eyebrows raised in Cross as they would be in Road at such performances?

^Stybar, Nys and Zdenek were the only names I'd ever seen winning anything in 2 years of only catching results on news feeds and assumed the same but when I finally watched a few races start to finish they actually unfold very differently.

Don't forget Albert. And a handful of others who are always in with a shout.

Not sure about the raising of eyebrows. Lars Boom one a race recently - the only one he was entering this season. Is he a doper? I don't really pay attention to all that [/dot dot dot]

As a total fucking newb when it comes to watching people on bikes racing. When's the first road race of the season? Where's a good place to get a decent stream?

(please tell me there are no arcane rules about supporting the team that's closest to where you were born or which team your dad supported)

Tour Down Under: not much of a race really but on soon. (18th, I think). Might be some good sprinting this year.
Cyclingfans is the usual website for free streaming.

Lance to bow out of Pro Cycling at TDU. Will this really be the end or does he now become Governor of Texas

hmm interesting..

Lance Armstrong thread >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
I think his professed atheism might stop him running from office. That and being a convicted fraudster.
Oh, just remembered I bought ProCycling today and it's all about Lance. Time to run my bath. And lay out the sick bag.

(please tell me there are no arcane rules about supporting the team that's closest to where you were born or which team your dad supported)

It's all about which team has the best scarves this year.

when is Tom Boonen's Tour of Qatar? soon, isn't it?

6th of Feb, I think

Is it abnormal to have a great interest in road riding and have no interest at all in cross or MTB?

No. It's called, 'being civilised'.

There you go ladies..
http://www.uci.ch/templates/UCI/UCI2/layout.asp?MenuId=MTUyMjQ

As a total fucking newb when it comes to watching people on bikes racing. When's the first road race of the season? Where's a good place to get a decent stream?

Eurosport is the best place to watch cycling

Eurosport is the best place to watch cycling, until they cut the coverage to go to a shit snooker match that you could watch on BBC if you wanted too.

I agree.

You're not bitter there though are you Sam?

:)

http://road.cc/content/news/28971-valverde-loses-swiss-appeal-considers-taking-case-european-court-human-rights

"That Italian ban came about after Valverde had been linked to Operacion Puerto when a sample taken from him in Italy when the 2008 Tour de France briefly visited that country was found to be a DNA match for blood contained in a bag condenamed “VALV.PITI” – Piti, apparently, being the name of his dog, athough Valverde has denied that – seized by the Spanish authorities as part of Operacion Puerto."

Fair enough being thorough, but seizing his dog is a step too far.

As a total fucking newb when it comes to watching people on bikes racing. When's the first road race of the season? Where's a good place to get a decent stream?

There are warm up races through January and February, but the real racing starts with Het Volk (now renamed Het Nieuwsblad) at the end of February. Then the proper racing starts with Paris-Nice, Tirreno-Adriatico, Milan-San Remo (the first truely big race of the season - one of the five one day Classics known as 'the monuments'), quickly followed by Ghent-Welvegem, Tour of Flanders, Paris-Roubaix (both monuments), Tour of the Basque Country, Amstel Gold, Fleche-Wallone, Liege-Bastogne-Liege (another monument) then were into the stage race season with the Tour of Romandie, followed by the Giro d'Italia, the Dauphine Libere, the Tour of Switzerland then the Tour de France.

The best place to find live streams is www.cyclingfans.com

Brilliant. Thanks for the info everyone.

and don't watch tour of qatar or oman unless you want to listen to David Harmon trying to talk for three hours while nothing happens

The Tour of Qatar is a cracking little race. The ever present crosswinds always make it interesting and you almost always see proper racing as the Classics specialists use it to test their form.