2013 Pro-cycling season thread

Ta for that, thing about to get spicy methinks

Do you think Vandenbergh is actually getting any advantage when drafting Paolini?

36 year old Italian Katusha rider wins. hmmmmmm

Oh fuck that - we could do that with EVERY winner this year.

Was expecting more in the last 10k, thought the group could bring the break back, 4th for Thomas

Shame on Vandenbergh for being beaten by a Hoxton hipster.

Some poor tactics today, if you're in a break in a Belgian cobbled classic with two OPQS riders then when the weaker one launches the inevitable long distance attack it is advisable to go with him. Paolini gets 10/10 for being wise to this, the rest 2/10 for being in the right break but not having the tactical acumen to join the winning move.

^ Nail on the head. A deflated opener, not very exciting. I felt constant amazement at the lethargy that the riders showed, they spent more looking behind than ahead.

Really hope tomorrow most teams will be more alert and agressive. If they haven't lost the ability to ride like that without constantly being told what to do through their earphones...

Maybe doing preparatory stuff in blazing heat all over the globe isn't the best thing for a ~1 degree race in northern Europe. A lot of mental faculties were probably in 'cryogenic' stasis.

Also Haussler no gloves? WTF?

Or maybe they struggle to understand what is happening tactically without their DS in their ear?

Kuurne, about an hour ago:

really hope it won't be cancelled. there was talk of just cutting out the hills if there was to be snow.

Some poor tactics today, if you're in a break in a Belgian cobbled classic with two OPQS riders then when the weaker one launches the inevitable long distance attack it is advisable to go with him. Paolini gets 10/10 for being wise to this, the rest 2/10 for being in the right break but not having the tactical acumen to join the winning move.

This. They were only 30 seconds up the road the entire 20k, amazed that no-one from the chasing group tried to bridge in that time, kept expecting it, never materialised. Hope the race goes ahead today and we see some better racing

Vandenbergh just rode paulini to the line knowing he would lose in a sprint. Imo he should have sat up and said he would happily wait for chavanel. Paulini would have had no choice but to ride to stay away from the chasing group.
The french commentators were laughing at him saying he was clueless without a DS in his ear telling him what to do.

KBK kaput

Yup. Cancelled according to KBK twitter feed. Shame.

bollocks, stupid snow and stuff

Don't agree with the criticism of Vandenbergh. Without a radio and patchy time gap info surely he was quite right to ride hard and assume that a chase would be organised behind whilst Chavanel sat in? If he sat up there was no guarantee Chava would win the sprint anyway, so why not guarantee second or give Chava chance for the win by making the chase hard? It is easy to play DS from the comfort of an armchair.

The riders to criticise are the rest of the break other than Chavanel. Surely someone like Van Avermaet or Thomas would be better rolling the dice, as fairly sure their teams will accumulate enough points not to worry about minor placings at this stage of the season.

Looking good G.

Don't agree with the criticism of Vandenbergh. Without a radio and patchy time gap info surely he was quite right to ride hard and assume that a chase would be organised behind whilst Chavanel sat in? If he sat up there was no guarantee Chava would win the sprint anyway, so why not guarantee second or give Chava chance for the win by making the chase hard? It is easy to play DS from the comfort of an armchair.

That's fair comment. From my armchair I might have been tempted to sacrifice 2nd place for a chance at the win though by telling Vandenbergh to sit up and force Paulini to ride hard for the line. The way Vandenbergh rode was a gift for the better sprinter.

The riders to criticise are the rest of the break other than Chavanel. Surely someone like Van Avermaet or Thomas would be better rolling the dice, as fairly sure their teams will accumulate enough points not to worry about minor placings at this stage of the season.

Yes, I wondered if they were all just a bit tired with the cold and it being early in the season.

man, am I looking forward to

this

start list: http://www.gazzetta.it/Speciali/StradeBianche/2011/it/download/SB-Iscritti2013.pdf

p.s. I really don't get organisations putting out 480p promo videos :-(

agreed - it's a beautiful race. the finish in sienna is made for a classic. cancellara's win last year was pure class too.
Strade Bianche 2012 part 1. win cancellara - YouTube

Strade Bianche part2 2012. win cancellara - YouTube

the Strade Bianche course is about the same as L'Eroica, albeit with more tarmac

no Philippe Gilbert on the start list, I wonder why. the race suits his style of riding and he's already won it once

Have you got a link to a start list? If Sagan is racing then I wouldn't look too far past him for the win.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/strade-bianche-2013/start-list

Interesting fact - Sagan has never won a one day race.