2013 Pro-cycling season thread

over there they have gold taps & multiple Maybach exclusive parkings, what do you think ;-)

Chris Froome racing @ Tirreno Adriatico, lets see where the African places in a proper stage race!

The annoying day-after coverage from Eurosport aside, which meant I knew the result of the stage after the one I was watching everytime, I though Oman was a bloody good race, excellent and challenging parcours which frankly made me want to go out there and ride the roads, and a good old ding dong between J-Rod, El Pistolero, Cuddles and the Preying Mantis.

Froome draws first bllod and the way he was able to counter Rod's and Contador's attacks, and then outsprint the pair of them on Stage 5 lays down a real marker for the rest of the season. Impressive since Leinders has gone......

Maybe he left behind his medical supplies.. #trollololol

The annoying day-after coverage from Eurosport aside, which meant I knew the result of the stage after the one I was watching everytime, I though Oman was a bloody good race, excellent and challenging parcours which frankly made me want to go out there and ride the roads, and a good old ding dong between J-Rod, El Pistolero, Cuddles and the Preying Mantis.

Froome draws first bllod and the way he was able to counter Rod's and Contador's attacks, and then outsprint the pair of them on Stage 5 lays down a real marker for the rest of the season. Impressive since Leinders has gone......
what Froome has achieved reminds a little bit of England Football team, they hammer the big guns, apart from one major factor! They don"t do it when it matters, & bottle it in World Cups etc. Lets see Chrissy baby do it over the next few months, & importantly when it matters. Having Tour of Oman on your palmares is hardly earth shattering in my opinion..

Still a good showing against quality competition but screw him.. c'arn Cuddles!

Still a good showing against quality competition but screw him.. c'arn Cuddles!
Aussies are on the PEDS, Aussies are on the PEDS... we know your secrets, Aussies are on the PEDS!

Name and shame..

lilywhite, not sure how you can tar Froome with the England football team brush, put it into context, this was his first overall stage race victory of his career. He's still growing as an athlete, and a competitor, think it was really good for him to set a marker over those who will be challenging him come the TdF. Will have done his confidence the world of good.

Apart from the press no one really is over hyping him, cautious optimism, under the realisation that this years tour will be really hard, but he has a good chance if his form is good and he can deal with the pressure of being the sky rider at the sharp end who all eyes are on..

Personally think he's going to have to get over the playing possum thing as well, trying to fake out your opponents by playing at being weak will only work so many times, before they decide to ignore it and just try and break you anyway...

Enjoyed stage 4 and 5 of Oman, always great when the racing goes uphill, and as mentioned above Froome showed good form, obviously early season and all but it seems to bode well..

Agree with CB.. Oman may only be a few years old but as a (training) race it's taken seriously. Just look at the guys he was riding with. All of whom would be at the head of any of the grand tours. They were far from soft pedalling any of those stages and try telling me any of those guys don't care about winning any stage race.

I think you only have to look at the strength of the field to see how seriously the race was taken, and the style of the racing. They had proper hills with gradient 13% and over which really sorted out the contenders and gave us a taste of what's to come. It's February, so no-one is getting too excited but Froome was very impressive

This whole "training" attitude, proclaimed by teams and individual rides respectively, is merely intended to tone down expectations. These guys are animals and wouldn't be where they're at if they weren't competitive to the bone E V E R Y T I M E they get on their bike. Needless to say they plan their season and form curve, prioritise certain races over others and don't want to peak to early and so on. But when they're actually riding, be that a team training session or a somewhat less prestiges early season race, they racing to win.

Apart from Wiggins?

Might not be in form, might be held back or whatever... The point I'm getting at is, that these guys have an instinct to win, often too much so for their own good. At this level the primary function of coaches and team directors etc., is controlling their riders, not driving the them forward.

Might not be in form, might be held back or whatever... The point I'm getting at is, that these guys have an instinct to win, often too much so for their own good. At this level the primary function of coaches and team directors etc., is controlling their riders, not driving the them forward.

Your argument falls down when it comes to Andy Schleck though

I'm sure you can always find exceptions to the rule. Most of the ongoing discussion here regarding early season racing however, does not reflect an understanding of the competitiveness within the pro cycling circuit; these guys are race horses through and through.

^ OK, enough. Who did you replace? Who did you use to be? How come the username change?

Cycling is very intense and so some time away gives you perspective and lets you reflect about how you do your job, how you handle the physical and the mental approach, all the factors that go into your performance. The new energy helps you go back and make thinks better. Guys like Lance Armstrong and Laurent Jalabert came back as better riders after they took a break. I hope the same happens to me.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/evans-confident-for-new-season-after-good-start-in-oman

Really Cadel?

Really?

Name and shame..

I heard one of 'em came over here and took a silver in our nationals.

Also heard his drugs weren't performance enhancing.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/evans-confident-for-new-season-after-good-start-in-oman

Really Cadel?

Really?

The tough but quietly-spoken Australian...

Only quiet to humans. Loud as a mother fucker to canines.

But when they're actually riding, be that a team training session or a somewhat less prestiges early season race, they racing to win.

That's an ego-oriented goal not a task-oriented goal. Yeah I've been reading my race psych shite recently... yay for me.

They might like to win but other events take priorities and if minor races can be used to fine tune capabilities that will allow better performance in a goal race then victory at minor races can and will be sacrificed.

I heard one of 'em came over here and took a silver in our nationals.

Also heard his drugs weren't performance enhancing.

I heard a similar tale... certainly wasn't a weight loss drug if the pictures are anything to go by...

"That's an ego-oriented goal not a task-oriented goal. Yeah I've been reading my race psych shite recently... yay for me.

They might like to win but other events take priorities and if minor races can be used to fine tune capabilities that will allow better performance in a goal race then victory at minor races can and will be sacrificed."

Agreed. Sacrifices must and will be made in order to achieve overall objectives, but sometimes more often than not, competitive riders need to be "encouraged" to follow this protocol.

True, but this would actually apply less in the pro peleton since they have all the team structure, coaching, controls, power meters, etc. to prevent them digging too deep in races that don't matter as anything but a training exercise rather than A race. Us amateurs have to make do with what we can (in some cases everything they have + full time job - PEDS).

I heard a similar tale... certainly wasn't a weight loss drug if the pictures are anything to go by...

Only weight loss if not followed by a week of eating and crying.