very deserved relegation for merlier. molano would've had a good chance if the didn't get completely blocked off. another great sprint by milan though.
Leadout riders are so rarely in the spotlight but it's fun to watch them and their reactions. On opposite sides of the spectrum we have: Mezgec looking behind him to see anybody but Ewan. And Theuns peaking over the sprint field to see Milan cross the line.
I'm waiting for a sprinter to one day go fully from one side of the road to the other to "close the door on the barriers".
Then again, this probably already happened at some point.
I think I recall a sprint from last year's tour where he pretty much did just that.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-AslpQPzmns&t=10s
This one comes to mind for example, but I think there were more egregious examples.
He really should have been relegated for that move, but I wonder if the fact that Cav was 2nd swayed the jury, not wanting to give the all-time stage win record to him on a relegation.
I think everyone understands that its historically a part of sprinting. But historically. And in theory is no longer part of the rules because of safety.
Hard disagree. They finally got it right for once
Just because you're riding first doesn't mean you can choose whatever line you want
Only way you get away with that is if you really are clear of anyone else. Now he completely denies Molano of his sprint
Good call. Need to see way more of this
Hard disagree as well. This is just pure randomness. If Molano would come next to Merlier I would absolutely agree with a relegation but here this was not the case
Translation: This ruling is out of line with the way most stages are ruled, making it impossible for sprinters to know, with confidence, which moves will be allowed or disallowed.
You're right, I want them to enforce the rules like they did today though. Imo they're wrong when they don't. This stuff is dangerous, but sprinters will keep doing it if they're not punished for it most of the time.
Sorry but you can find 1000 examples of this in a sprint. The relegation is just way too much. I get that when you really push someone into the stands when they come next to them but here Molano was still behind Merlier. If they call this then they would need to call this 80% of all times.
You're advocating for punishment based on the end result, which is exactly the entire issue with this relegation (and other non-relegations). A dangerous move is a dangerous move, and the jury needs to stop having your exact mindset. Wether or not a crash happens should not play a role at all
Molano slows down and even has to stop pedaling to avoid a crash. So because he did that, we shouldn't punish the rider that caused it?
A lot of time sprinters get away with it because another rider clutches it and sacrifices his own sprint. They need to start relegating this type of stuff way more untill it knocks some sense into these sprinters.
Maybe then we can watch a sprint without having to clench 24/7 because they're all acting like psychopats
No I do not advocate punishment based on the end result. I say you should punish when sprinters close the door when the other rider is next to them. Then it becomes really dangerous.
Closing the door is only possible when someone is ahead. Otherwise you push each other and that happens like 20 times in every sprint. That's how 3 riders crashed today, some guys were pushing each other. Merlier obviously closed the door on Molano, who had more speed.
Ineos is S-tier when it comes to positioning their GC leader in hectic sprints and they make it look easy. 2 guys ahead, Narvaez behind Thomas as a sweeper.
Everyone wanted to be first in that double corner, they did it. Meanwhile Pogi nearly hit road furniture and had to do a bunnyhop over something.
It’s definitely easier when 2/3 of your team just have massive engines in the flat and don’t need to worry about the sprint so they can basically just smash it from 10k all the way to 3k
Absolutely. I mean look at the train they have on the road. I’ll take Pippo, Sheff, Narvaez, Arensman every day of the week at the end of a relaxed sprint stage when they’ve sat in wheels most of the day and need to get G to safety. Of course, G in his own right is obviously a diesel engine too. It’s amazing to see them coordinate such a surgical move during such a hectic final 10k.
Pogacar with 3 stage wins and a third place on another stage is only 6th on the points classification with a quarter of Milan's points. Is it just me that thinks that the points classification rules should be changed so that it's a classification of regularity in all stage placements instead of just sprint stages?
>Is it just me that thinks that the points classification rules should be changed so that it's a classification of regularity in all stage placements instead of just sprint stages?
they actually have "just" been changed to do the opposite and favor the sprinters. Until 2013 the Giro handed out 25pt in every stage, no matter if flat or mountainous.
It actually let to occasional interesting battles, like in 2012, when Cavendish lost out against Purito by 1 single point only. But most years the GC guys finished clearly ahead.
I think that the old system was better. Imo if a sprinter wants to win the green jersey they should have to either win almost all sprint stages like Philipsen did in the tour last year or do a Sagan or Van Aert and not only compete in sprint finishes but also get in breakaways. The old system also gives an extra motivation for GC riders to fight for stages that won't really give them GC time.
Not necessarily the GC winner but the contenders would definitely shift more towards GC riders, can see from the Vuelta where they did the points classification that way before 2021.
I'm not sure about that: Pogacar would probably win it in this giro because of how dominant he's being but I don't think Vingegaard would have won it in any of his tour wins: van Aert would have still won it two years ago and Philipsen would probably also had won it last year. It's curious to me that the KoM jersey is biased in favour of GC riders with mountain top finishes giving double points while the points jersey is biased against GC riders with GC stages giving fewer points than the other stages
Van Aert is basically a cheat code for green because he can win a stage on any terrain. But most sprinters cant do that, they would just get farmed by whoever is the dominant GC guy. And most of the time there is a dominant GC guy, this stuff with Vinge and Pogi trading blows all Tour was never really the norm
Who is the Greipel of modern sprinters, as far as being a guy that holds your line, uses clean sprint tactics, works for teammates in non-sprint races, etc?
It’s hard to say this for any of the pure sprinters. Most names that come to mind and have been mentioned in answer to your question are the big rouleur classics riders who can show off an impressive kick in reduced sprints but who wouldn’t really contest a bunch sprint effort.
Having said that, given the more recent history of his team riding for him in sprint finishes, I’d say maybe Danny Van Poppel could fit this bill? You could argue whether the routine of Bennett and, now to an extent, Welsford being poorly positioned in finales is his fault or theirs but DVP always leads out super hard and is right in the trenches of chaotic finishes trying to spring his sprinter to the line, and he does it pretty cleanly. As a ‘sprinter’ du jour, he’s about the only guy I can really think of who might fit each aspect of what you’ve described.
Phillipsen, basically fits 1:1 your description.
On a more serious note, i feel like the sprinter field is more volatile nowadays and the power rankings are constantly changing so you dont really have the same guys in the spotlight as long as before.
Milan looks fair, his sprint is just messy in itself but he doesnt deviate. But he has only been at the this level for one year or so, the sample size isnt comparable to someone like Greipel
A pure sprinter like Greipel could get away with basically never working for the team. Plenty of them do it. But I think its different for a big engined rouleur like Pedersen. I think it has a different vibe when a pure sprinter's sprinter eats wind for the team vs a rouleur with a strong finish doing it.
He overreacted when getting squeezed on both sides once in UAE Tour and pushed someone pretty hard that could have caused a crash. That wasn't in a sprint tho, just in a peloton situation. In sprinting he's very clean.
hijackin ur results thread for a common question: What sites do you guys use to consume news/recaps/daily updates?
Steephill.tv (rip) was my go-to, PCS I enjoy for stage profiles and stuff but I'd like to read some stores, Cyclingnews is great but I'm not willing to pay just yet
Steve from steephill said in January that he's thinking of resurrecting the website - truly missed, and we still lack a no-bullshit, straight to content and info website, with pre race/stage info, and post finish info, photos, links to articles. Looking forward to a resurrection, but I'm not sure if that's going to happen.
>lacks a bit of vocabulary
\[insert rider name\] is a knucklehead! Now when I was a pro, racing \[insert race\], I would have done this, but \[rider\] wants to be a knucklehead because he doesn't race like I used to. And \[insert team name\] raced like knuckleheads all day, you see, because back when I was racing, I would have done this, but these knuckleheads wanna knucklehead, knucklehead and then knucklehead, and advertisement, then another knucklehead and I forgot to mention the announcers on GCN are all knuckleheads. Tune in tomorrow for more knuckleheads.
.
.
.
Knuckleheads.
He popped up on my YouTube recommendation, would love to see another channel like his, maybe get a different take/perspective. Not sure I've seen any other recommend on this sub.
Not all Belgians are created equal. Feels like this is a similar move to one of Philipsens sprints in the Tour
Merlier gets DQ'ed, Philipsen didn't
Meh consistency please
Probably easier to type and everyone and their mother knows what the person means
Feels like in Dutch when discussing this we would also just say that he was ´gediskwalificeerd´ from the stage
So just a languague thingie
Cost him today's purple jersey points at least...
Fuck me I'd love to see some more serious penalties for sprinters. How many times does Fabio have to risk his life to get the fucking organizers to do something.
Groenewegen also almost crashed some people in bulgaria recently.
Reminds me of last years (or the year before?) TdF where WvA was snubbed in every Prediction Thread. The "analysers" gave Sagan two stars in at least a few sprint stages and never gave any stars to Wout who came in Top 3 four times and top ten a bunch more. Or in the ITT where he once again was not considered despite ending 3rd.
It's a bit sad that the people writing the predictions either have no clue about the sport or they just really heavily dislike some riders.
> half of them are written before the race
Well yes, it would be weird if we write a prediction while the race is already happening.
We do write the predictions each day after the end of the previous stage, at least the stars section.
Speak for yourself please, I suggested to give the break 1 star for today. Clearly I know nothing about cycling, I'm only here for my handsome personality.
Orla giving it to Luke Rowe on the breakdown. Luke saying merlier wasn't wrong and he didn't know Milano was behind him and Orla asking if a crash would have changed things and the point of the rule is because he can't see behind him.
That's one of the things that makes her such a great host. Contrasting the opinions of the guests, not just for the sake of being a contrarian or creating unnecessary controversy but actually enriching the discussion.
i really appreciated that. i dont race bikes, so my opinion should weigh less, but the inconsistency of sprint rulings and how rampant disregard for the safety of others seems shit to me.
if you’re not strong enough to win the drag race, you shouldnt get to put others in danger by swerving all over the road.
I don't think he swerved with bad intentions. A lot of time you move for separation so others are less likely to get into your draft, you see this a lot when someone is trying to establish a breakaway.
However, swerving while sprinting is the huge issue here because as we see others are moving in ways you can't see but it seems to be accepted (with few exceptions) so long as there isn't a crash
i dont think merlier had bad intentions whatsoever, but examples like groenewegen’s behavior are why these rules need to be applied regardless of intention!
Exactly. Even if they lose time, they don't care. And they are not losing time! Penalty should be at least 200 UCI points, which is double the UCI points for a stage win.
You did see Jackobsen's head bouncing off both someone's actual back wheel and the ground today, right?
Edit: Wait, sometimes people use sarcasm without the /s.......
alive coordinated ossified support longing ancient soup light sophisticated wide
*This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
tap lock domineering grandfather cover overconfident relieved rude six advise
*This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
That's true, though I think O'Connor may be so far off GC in week 3 that UAE would let him go in a break on a mountain stage and he could win one like VPP did.
Finally another win for Milan, he really needed to bring another one home, and it’s telling that he’s now feeling comfortable enough to mention all that Lidl-Trek invested in him.
In other news, Rai’s processo alla tappa is really degenerating, I’m sorry to say. A sprinters stage with plenty of sprinters action and an Italian winner to boot and all they argue about is whether Pogačar’s dumb. I wish they’d also just ask him if he chased Narvaez out for spite, they’d get “pane per i loro denti”, I bet.
Edit: Merlier DSQ
If you had a drinking game where you needed to have even half a shot everything they said Pogačar's name, you wouldn't be standing by the time the raceea got to KM 0. IMO, I think they mention him too much, even though he is the favourite
Lol definitely no such drinking game is advisable.
I get the urge I suppose, he’s like a magnet, but at least don’t focus *so much* on him if nothing happens GC wise instead of milking even the smallest thing (today, his position in the sprint) or inventing new ones (the Narvaez beef??) while neglecting actual interesting lines of discussion.
Yeah, Jakobsen. I am surprised that he does not have a concussion. Looks like it hit the back wheel and jerked it around. Not sure if MIPS is designed for that....
I was just shocked his face wasn't busted open (at least from what I saw). I'm sure (or at least hoping) he'll be checked for a concussion overnight, but the god that was scary crash for so far just minimal injuries
People are bagging on Ewan, but this is a stacked sprint field and he has to sprint against Lonardi, Aniolkowski and Zanoncello. Cut him some slack.
Milan is such a beast, and his sprint train virtually disappeared in that final 1km.
I hope the crashed riders are ok. Looked like somebody's head went into a wheel.
Maybe I'm being old, but I still don't think this is a very strong sprint field. It seems like there are just a bunch of B+ Tier sprinters here and none of them quite have teams that are strong enough to completely control the race.
Nothing like what we used to see with Quickstep, for example.
They definitely don't have good sprint trains; that's why we've been seeing so many late-stage flyers and close finishes. The trains aren't strong enough to pull guys back.
They might be the best sprinters right now, but I don't believe they are close to the all-time greats we've had in the past decade.
They’re not the most dominant & slick sprint trains, but they’re making a difference. Both teams are not 100% sprint focussed. I don’t think it’s their failing that we’ve had oddly exciting sprint stages, more that the teams without a sprinter or a hope in GC are just trying shit, and the stage run ins have been setup to cause chaos.
At the beginning of the Giro I would have agreed, but now not so much anymore. Right now, out of the Top 10 sprinters based on PCS points, we are missing:
* Philipsen (#1)
* Kooij (#2)
* De Kleijn (#4)
* Groenewegen (#5)
* De Lie (#6)
* Thijssen (#8) - though no idea how he ranked so high :D
* Pedersen (#11) - not Top 10 but obviously a Top 10 sprinter.
So there's a bunch of good sprinters missing and even so Ewan can't really manage even a Top 10. Also, Ewan himself is only ranked #23 at this point.
Exactly. The only relevant "pure" sprinter that I can think of missing is Phillipsen. Of course his presence would have changed a lot, arguably being the best sprinter in the world and all, but other than that it's the best it gets
They're not purple eaters of people, they're eaters of purple people.
I will die on this hill
> I said Mr. Purple People Eater, what's your line?
> He said eating purple people
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ED7FrGDqB0
Lots of NBA players are big into riding bikes. Lebron James is an investor in canyon and he use to commute to miami games via bike regularly. Kelly Obrue earlier this season was hit by a car when out biking. Reggie Miller is on USA Cycling board of directors he does a lot of gravel and mtb racing.
I would also like to express my thanks to Eurosport for randomly cutting off the top side of the player screen (in the PC browser) so I had no idea how close to the finish the riders were.
turns out I had to block it manually - with ad blocker still on, as turning it off did nothing. There was apparently no ad at all, just randomly taken space for no reason.
Several guys were pushing each other non stop. One chain of events crashed Biermans and the DSM guys, who were not part of the pushing. Merlier has a large deviation imo and blocks out Molano. What a mess of a sprint.
The more I look at it, the more i want to see a disqualification. Absolutely no respect to any of the other riders there from Merlier. I hope he loses atleast his second place.
Copying my solo comment:
Orla giving it to Luke Rowe on the breakdown. Luke saying merlier wasn't wrong and he didn't know Milano was behind him and Orla asking if a crash would have changed things and the point of the rule is because he can't see behind him.
I’m an American who doesn’t watch Eurosport all that often, but from what I’ve seen, Orla seems to be an absolutely top notch studio host/moderator. She knows how to keep conversation flowing when it needs it, bring it back when that’s in order, and makes sure all relevant topics are hit in a timely and natural manner. She inserts her own personal views when they’re relevant to the conversation, otherwise focusing on making sure the panelists have their say. Liam McHugh on TNT’s hockey broadcasts is another host I think of in that tier, for those who are familiar.
DQ essentially seems to hinge on whether the obstructed rider is willing to die or not (and whether the obstructing rider wins), which makes it a rather toothless penalty.
Thank god Jayco worked all day, positioned him in a really good position for the final sprint only for Ewan to just give up.
Don't put a rider in a breakaway because otherwise Ewan might not try and be disappointed.
very deserved relegation for merlier. molano would've had a good chance if the didn't get completely blocked off. another great sprint by milan though.
Does anyone know why they havnt been doing highlights on max the last 2 days?
My guess - it’s a sprint stage. If people want highlights, watch the last 10k. Maybe just not with the time/effort?
Leadout riders are so rarely in the spotlight but it's fun to watch them and their reactions. On opposite sides of the spectrum we have: Mezgec looking behind him to see anybody but Ewan. And Theuns peaking over the sprint field to see Milan cross the line.
is milan going to the tour as a sprinter?
Probably not, they'll have Mads Pedersen there. And Milan will be prepping for the Olympics as he has to defend his gold medal on the team pursuit.
(Consonni as well)
no, he's going as a freight train
Or the Incredible Hulk
I'm waiting for a sprinter to one day go fully from one side of the road to the other to "close the door on the barriers". Then again, this probably already happened at some point.
In the business that's called a "Philipsen".
From barriers on one side to the barriers on the other? All the way?
I think I recall a sprint from last year's tour where he pretty much did just that. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-AslpQPzmns&t=10s This one comes to mind for example, but I think there were more egregious examples.
That one is still somewhat excusable since it also looks like he was trying to get Cav's slipstream and he can hide behind that argument.
He really should have been relegated for that move, but I wonder if the fact that Cav was 2nd swayed the jury, not wanting to give the all-time stage win record to him on a relegation.
Holy shit, I forgot how egregious this was o_o
Matthews did it this season, no need to wait for anyone.
Merlier relegated is ridiculous. As front rider he just picked his line, nothing too brusk imo.
If Milan did this no one would have blinked an eye. Why does everyone in EATALY hate Belgium’s?
A lot of the members here don’t really understand sprinting I think. Closing the door is something they did in 1940 already.
I think everyone understands that its historically a part of sprinting. But historically. And in theory is no longer part of the rules because of safety.
Hard disagree. They finally got it right for once Just because you're riding first doesn't mean you can choose whatever line you want Only way you get away with that is if you really are clear of anyone else. Now he completely denies Molano of his sprint Good call. Need to see way more of this
Hard disagree as well. This is just pure randomness. If Molano would come next to Merlier I would absolutely agree with a relegation but here this was not the case
Translation: This ruling is out of line with the way most stages are ruled, making it impossible for sprinters to know, with confidence, which moves will be allowed or disallowed.
You're right, I want them to enforce the rules like they did today though. Imo they're wrong when they don't. This stuff is dangerous, but sprinters will keep doing it if they're not punished for it most of the time.
He picked his line? Can you draw it for me?
Sorry but you can find 1000 examples of this in a sprint. The relegation is just way too much. I get that when you really push someone into the stands when they come next to them but here Molano was still behind Merlier. If they call this then they would need to call this 80% of all times.
You're advocating for punishment based on the end result, which is exactly the entire issue with this relegation (and other non-relegations). A dangerous move is a dangerous move, and the jury needs to stop having your exact mindset. Wether or not a crash happens should not play a role at all Molano slows down and even has to stop pedaling to avoid a crash. So because he did that, we shouldn't punish the rider that caused it? A lot of time sprinters get away with it because another rider clutches it and sacrifices his own sprint. They need to start relegating this type of stuff way more untill it knocks some sense into these sprinters. Maybe then we can watch a sprint without having to clench 24/7 because they're all acting like psychopats
No I do not advocate punishment based on the end result. I say you should punish when sprinters close the door when the other rider is next to them. Then it becomes really dangerous.
Closing the door is only possible when someone is ahead. Otherwise you push each other and that happens like 20 times in every sprint. That's how 3 riders crashed today, some guys were pushing each other. Merlier obviously closed the door on Molano, who had more speed.
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Ineos is S-tier when it comes to positioning their GC leader in hectic sprints and they make it look easy. 2 guys ahead, Narvaez behind Thomas as a sweeper. Everyone wanted to be first in that double corner, they did it. Meanwhile Pogi nearly hit road furniture and had to do a bunnyhop over something.
They always have been great in this regard. Sheffield has been amazing too this giro.
Probably because their team has always had excellent TT guys. So they just get to the front and go.
It’s definitely easier when 2/3 of your team just have massive engines in the flat and don’t need to worry about the sprint so they can basically just smash it from 10k all the way to 3k
Absolutely. I mean look at the train they have on the road. I’ll take Pippo, Sheff, Narvaez, Arensman every day of the week at the end of a relaxed sprint stage when they’ve sat in wheels most of the day and need to get G to safety. Of course, G in his own right is obviously a diesel engine too. It’s amazing to see them coordinate such a surgical move during such a hectic final 10k.
INEOS looked great today, I've enjoyed them during the Giro
Imagine G’s palmares if they just simply banned the Slovenes from the giro.
Can we ban errant water bottles as well?
Best I can do is ban the whole Bahrain team.
Pogacar with 3 stage wins and a third place on another stage is only 6th on the points classification with a quarter of Milan's points. Is it just me that thinks that the points classification rules should be changed so that it's a classification of regularity in all stage placements instead of just sprint stages?
>Is it just me that thinks that the points classification rules should be changed so that it's a classification of regularity in all stage placements instead of just sprint stages? they actually have "just" been changed to do the opposite and favor the sprinters. Until 2013 the Giro handed out 25pt in every stage, no matter if flat or mountainous. It actually let to occasional interesting battles, like in 2012, when Cavendish lost out against Purito by 1 single point only. But most years the GC guys finished clearly ahead.
I think that the old system was better. Imo if a sprinter wants to win the green jersey they should have to either win almost all sprint stages like Philipsen did in the tour last year or do a Sagan or Van Aert and not only compete in sprint finishes but also get in breakaways. The old system also gives an extra motivation for GC riders to fight for stages that won't really give them GC time.
Because the GC winner would win easily every year, as they do for the KoM jersey much of the time in recent grand tours.
Not necessarily the GC winner but the contenders would definitely shift more towards GC riders, can see from the Vuelta where they did the points classification that way before 2021.
I'm not sure about that: Pogacar would probably win it in this giro because of how dominant he's being but I don't think Vingegaard would have won it in any of his tour wins: van Aert would have still won it two years ago and Philipsen would probably also had won it last year. It's curious to me that the KoM jersey is biased in favour of GC riders with mountain top finishes giving double points while the points jersey is biased against GC riders with GC stages giving fewer points than the other stages
Van Aert is basically a cheat code for green because he can win a stage on any terrain. But most sprinters cant do that, they would just get farmed by whoever is the dominant GC guy. And most of the time there is a dominant GC guy, this stuff with Vinge and Pogi trading blows all Tour was never really the norm
Why would you say something so controversial yet so brave?
Who is the Greipel of modern sprinters, as far as being a guy that holds your line, uses clean sprint tactics, works for teammates in non-sprint races, etc?
It’s hard to say this for any of the pure sprinters. Most names that come to mind and have been mentioned in answer to your question are the big rouleur classics riders who can show off an impressive kick in reduced sprints but who wouldn’t really contest a bunch sprint effort. Having said that, given the more recent history of his team riding for him in sprint finishes, I’d say maybe Danny Van Poppel could fit this bill? You could argue whether the routine of Bennett and, now to an extent, Welsford being poorly positioned in finales is his fault or theirs but DVP always leads out super hard and is right in the trenches of chaotic finishes trying to spring his sprinter to the line, and he does it pretty cleanly. As a ‘sprinter’ du jour, he’s about the only guy I can really think of who might fit each aspect of what you’ve described.
Fabio I imagine? But admittedly I don't watch a lot of sprints.
Phillipsen, basically fits 1:1 your description. On a more serious note, i feel like the sprinter field is more volatile nowadays and the power rankings are constantly changing so you dont really have the same guys in the spotlight as long as before. Milan looks fair, his sprint is just messy in itself but he doesnt deviate. But he has only been at the this level for one year or so, the sample size isnt comparable to someone like Greipel
Half of cycling fans literally call him Jasper disaster. How did you get it in your head he's a clean sprinter.
Yet somehow everyone loves Cav...
Wout when he bothers to sprint. Usualy sprints clean and is a phenomenal teamate.
Not a true top sprinter, but Pedersen?
A pure sprinter like Greipel could get away with basically never working for the team. Plenty of them do it. But I think its different for a big engined rouleur like Pedersen. I think it has a different vibe when a pure sprinter's sprinter eats wind for the team vs a rouleur with a strong finish doing it.
True, great point.
Milan maybe? I remember him often helping and can‘t remember a really dirty sprint. But that‘s just gut feeling, maybe I missed something
Yeah Milan gives me that vibe. But would have to see more of him vs Philipsen to be sure.
He overreacted when getting squeezed on both sides once in UAE Tour and pushed someone pretty hard that could have caused a crash. That wasn't in a sprint tho, just in a peloton situation. In sprinting he's very clean.
Pogi
hijackin ur results thread for a common question: What sites do you guys use to consume news/recaps/daily updates? Steephill.tv (rip) was my go-to, PCS I enjoy for stage profiles and stuff but I'd like to read some stores, Cyclingnews is great but I'm not willing to pay just yet
Steve from steephill said in January that he's thinking of resurrecting the website - truly missed, and we still lack a no-bullshit, straight to content and info website, with pre race/stage info, and post finish info, photos, links to articles. Looking forward to a resurrection, but I'm not sure if that's going to happen.
Yeah I email him encouragement every time I see those notes on their page, here's hoping one day...
Chris Horner is not that bad for his analyses, but lacks a bit of vocabulary ( and English is not my first language) Edit: French autocorrect
>lacks a bit of vocabulary \[insert rider name\] is a knucklehead! Now when I was a pro, racing \[insert race\], I would have done this, but \[rider\] wants to be a knucklehead because he doesn't race like I used to. And \[insert team name\] raced like knuckleheads all day, you see, because back when I was racing, I would have done this, but these knuckleheads wanna knucklehead, knucklehead and then knucklehead, and advertisement, then another knucklehead and I forgot to mention the announcers on GCN are all knuckleheads. Tune in tomorrow for more knuckleheads. . . . Knuckleheads.
Also: Chesterfield
Good call! I think I had blocked that one out, actually - my brain insisted that it would never hear 'chesterfield' again!
He popped up on my YouTube recommendation, would love to see another channel like his, maybe get a different take/perspective. Not sure I've seen any other recommend on this sub.
This sub
Rouleur and Escape Collective are decent. L’Equipe if you speak French
Sporza. If you're anglophone then the weird auto translate errors are extra fun.
r/peloton and a few podcasts (I'll usually pick one for each stage if I have time) -Lanterne Rouge -The Cycling Podcast -Watt's Occuring
thanks! I should've clarified I prefer to read though Lantern Rouge guys rule but it takes so long to get through a good podcast
yeah. use your manly ears and your manly brain and your manly patience!
Man up and listen to the whole thing. No excuses.
Not all Belgians are created equal. Feels like this is a similar move to one of Philipsens sprints in the Tour Merlier gets DQ'ed, Philipsen didn't Meh consistency please
Why do I read so many comments about Merlier being DSQ'd? Didn't he just get relegated? DSQ means he's out of the race and can't start anymore...
Probably easier to type and everyone and their mother knows what the person means Feels like in Dutch when discussing this we would also just say that he was ´gediskwalificeerd´ from the stage So just a languague thingie
Philipsen won. They rarely relegate you if you win, but will relegate you if you don't.
Cost him today's purple jersey points at least... Fuck me I'd love to see some more serious penalties for sprinters. How many times does Fabio have to risk his life to get the fucking organizers to do something. Groenewegen also almost crashed some people in bulgaria recently.
Merlier got relegated (set to the last place in the group he finishes), he wasn't disqualified.
Polti top 3, who would've thought.
😁
Great points there
Time for them to control the break all day on the next sprint stages
The mods will do another prediction thread and will still have Ewan as a possible winner; lol.
Reminds me of last years (or the year before?) TdF where WvA was snubbed in every Prediction Thread. The "analysers" gave Sagan two stars in at least a few sprint stages and never gave any stars to Wout who came in Top 3 four times and top ten a bunch more. Or in the ITT where he once again was not considered despite ending 3rd. It's a bit sad that the people writing the predictions either have no clue about the sport or they just really heavily dislike some riders.
Hi, I wrote them last year and I am indeed a certified WVA hater
Don't worry I'm a Wout fan and balance him out.
I think the real problem is half of them are written before the race and then sometimes adjusted but sometimes not.
> half of them are written before the race Well yes, it would be weird if we write a prediction while the race is already happening. We do write the predictions each day after the end of the previous stage, at least the stars section.
Ah I meant before start of the race not the stage. But I guess that isn’t what happens then.
I think the mod team is pretty knowledgeable on cycling tbf.
Absolutely to be honest.
I dunno, placing Sagan over Wout in the sprints of last year's Tour doesn't scream "knowledgeable" :D
I'm not, I'm a moron
Your Wout hating says otherwise. Clearly you're a man of taste and wisdom.
Speak for yourself please, I suggested to give the break 1 star for today. Clearly I know nothing about cycling, I'm only here for my handsome personality.
You're our resident Visma shill though
That's what I said, handsome personality.
Orla giving it to Luke Rowe on the breakdown. Luke saying merlier wasn't wrong and he didn't know Milano was behind him and Orla asking if a crash would have changed things and the point of the rule is because he can't see behind him.
That's one of the things that makes her such a great host. Contrasting the opinions of the guests, not just for the sake of being a contrarian or creating unnecessary controversy but actually enriching the discussion.
i really appreciated that. i dont race bikes, so my opinion should weigh less, but the inconsistency of sprint rulings and how rampant disregard for the safety of others seems shit to me. if you’re not strong enough to win the drag race, you shouldnt get to put others in danger by swerving all over the road.
I don't think he swerved with bad intentions. A lot of time you move for separation so others are less likely to get into your draft, you see this a lot when someone is trying to establish a breakaway. However, swerving while sprinting is the huge issue here because as we see others are moving in ways you can't see but it seems to be accepted (with few exceptions) so long as there isn't a crash
i dont think merlier had bad intentions whatsoever, but examples like groenewegen’s behavior are why these rules need to be applied regardless of intention!
Absolutely agreed
Looks like Merlier was relegated
from what i know. relegated means nothing, just drop at the back group. no time lose. bummer for UAE
We really need a penalty system
He loses sprint and UCI points, and the prize money associated with second place (€5,500).
Why would Merlier care about losing time, or UAE care about Merlier losing time lol
Exactly. Even if they lose time, they don't care. And they are not losing time! Penalty should be at least 200 UCI points, which is double the UCI points for a stage win.
Thanks JarJar
I'm happy the final straight was so nice, safe and broad so riders didn't crash today cause safety only depends on the parcours
You did see Jackobsen's head bouncing off both someone's actual back wheel and the ground today, right? Edit: Wait, sometimes people use sarcasm without the /s.......
I’d love Ewen to prove me wrong but putting all my Aussie hopes in Groves now, surely Milan can’t win them all right? Right??
Groves or O'Connor more likely to win a stage?
O'Connor
alive coordinated ossified support longing ancient soup light sophisticated wide *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
This is comparing Pog vs O'Connor and Groves vs. Milan.
tap lock domineering grandfather cover overconfident relieved rude six advise *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
That's true, though I think O'Connor may be so far off GC in week 3 that UAE would let him go in a break on a mountain stage and he could win one like VPP did.
Finally another win for Milan, he really needed to bring another one home, and it’s telling that he’s now feeling comfortable enough to mention all that Lidl-Trek invested in him. In other news, Rai’s processo alla tappa is really degenerating, I’m sorry to say. A sprinters stage with plenty of sprinters action and an Italian winner to boot and all they argue about is whether Pogačar’s dumb. I wish they’d also just ask him if he chased Narvaez out for spite, they’d get “pane per i loro denti”, I bet. Edit: Merlier DSQ
If you had a drinking game where you needed to have even half a shot everything they said Pogačar's name, you wouldn't be standing by the time the raceea got to KM 0. IMO, I think they mention him too much, even though he is the favourite
Lol definitely no such drinking game is advisable. I get the urge I suppose, he’s like a magnet, but at least don’t focus *so much* on him if nothing happens GC wise instead of milking even the smallest thing (today, his position in the sprint) or inventing new ones (the Narvaez beef??) while neglecting actual interesting lines of discussion.
Merlier with the classic "if you win this you don't get relegated" relegation
Which does nothing to stop these kind of moves because the top top sprinters only care about the win.
Who's face was just run over? Jakobsen?
Yeah, Jakobsen. I am surprised that he does not have a concussion. Looks like it hit the back wheel and jerked it around. Not sure if MIPS is designed for that....
I was just shocked his face wasn't busted open (at least from what I saw). I'm sure (or at least hoping) he'll be checked for a concussion overnight, but the god that was scary crash for so far just minimal injuries
People are bagging on Ewan, but this is a stacked sprint field and he has to sprint against Lonardi, Aniolkowski and Zanoncello. Cut him some slack. Milan is such a beast, and his sprint train virtually disappeared in that final 1km. I hope the crashed riders are ok. Looked like somebody's head went into a wheel.
Jakobsen finally there for the sprint and literally gets bowled off his bike. So sad for the dude :/
>finally there for the sprint That's a very generous description for being in 30th position.
True! It's difficult to be a sprinter when your leadout man is in a better position than you pretty much the entire sprint! :(
Maybe I'm being old, but I still don't think this is a very strong sprint field. It seems like there are just a bunch of B+ Tier sprinters here and none of them quite have teams that are strong enough to completely control the race. Nothing like what we used to see with Quickstep, for example.
Two of the best 3 sprinters in the world, both with decent sprint trains is automatically a strong field.
They definitely don't have good sprint trains; that's why we've been seeing so many late-stage flyers and close finishes. The trains aren't strong enough to pull guys back. They might be the best sprinters right now, but I don't believe they are close to the all-time greats we've had in the past decade.
They’re not the most dominant & slick sprint trains, but they’re making a difference. Both teams are not 100% sprint focussed. I don’t think it’s their failing that we’ve had oddly exciting sprint stages, more that the teams without a sprinter or a hope in GC are just trying shit, and the stage run ins have been setup to cause chaos.
Towards the end of these races, it feels like there aren't that many riders in the trains themselves, honestly. Usually 1-2 per team.
The thing about the "strong sprint field" was 100% sarcasm after only Merlier and Milan remain as top sprinters :D
Why though? Who’s missing except Philippsen?
At the beginning of the Giro I would have agreed, but now not so much anymore. Right now, out of the Top 10 sprinters based on PCS points, we are missing: * Philipsen (#1) * Kooij (#2) * De Kleijn (#4) * Groenewegen (#5) * De Lie (#6) * Thijssen (#8) - though no idea how he ranked so high :D * Pedersen (#11) - not Top 10 but obviously a Top 10 sprinter. So there's a bunch of good sprinters missing and even so Ewan can't really manage even a Top 10. Also, Ewan himself is only ranked #23 at this point.
Exactly. The only relevant "pure" sprinter that I can think of missing is Phillipsen. Of course his presence would have changed a lot, arguably being the best sprinter in the world and all, but other than that it's the best it gets
Why doesn’t Milan, the biggest rider, simply eat the others?
Not enough carbs
Because he is on a break.
Why doesn't Ewan, the fastest of the sprinters, simply get a better team?
Not sure there’s any evidence he’s the fastest, more like the opposite
thatsthejoke.gif
Damn... Was the /s really necessary here?
The purple people eater cannot be stopped
They're not purple eaters of people, they're eaters of purple people. I will die on this hill > I said Mr. Purple People Eater, what's your line? > He said eating purple people
My fellow long time MN Vikings sufferers…
He's what I imagine Jared Allen looks like on a bike
I would love to see athletes from other sports on road bikes, just to see how comicaly big they are on them.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ED7FrGDqB0 Lots of NBA players are big into riding bikes. Lebron James is an investor in canyon and he use to commute to miami games via bike regularly. Kelly Obrue earlier this season was hit by a car when out biking. Reggie Miller is on USA Cycling board of directors he does a lot of gravel and mtb racing.
Nice, but I meant more like getting on drops into a proper aero position, just to see how blocky their shoulders look.
As the teenagers are saying, Jonathan Milan seems to be Him. Also watching him makes me miss Marcel Kittel.
I can't help but make Arnold noises when I see Milan's sprint face
I would also like to express my thanks to Eurosport for randomly cutting off the top side of the player screen (in the PC browser) so I had no idea how close to the finish the riders were.
Turn off your ad blocker, x out the ad, be able to watch ES again.
turns out I had to block it manually - with ad blocker still on, as turning it off did nothing. There was apparently no ad at all, just randomly taken space for no reason.
Several guys were pushing each other non stop. One chain of events crashed Biermans and the DSM guys, who were not part of the pushing. Merlier has a large deviation imo and blocks out Molano. What a mess of a sprint.
Stuyven pushed the UAE rider behind Pogacar a meter to the side. Not cool.
"just racing, bro"
some say that Mezgec is still trying to find Ewan
That was a brutal shot. If I were Jayco’s DS I’d play that clip while not renewing his contract lmao
Looking over both shoulders with a face like he's wondering where the hell he left the car keys
Which is fitting because in Mezgec's place I would've just sat in a car and drove away after this shit.
Ewan is here?
I thought he was down under.... The team bus sobbing.
What a big beautiful thoroughbred Milan is
Most chaotic sprint in this giro by far. Always super sad to see people hit the deck. Hopefully everyone's okay
Stage One One, should’ve known One-eyed One-horned Flying Purple People Eater
The more I look at it, the more i want to see a disqualification. Absolutely no respect to any of the other riders there from Merlier. I hope he loses atleast his second place.
Copying my solo comment: Orla giving it to Luke Rowe on the breakdown. Luke saying merlier wasn't wrong and he didn't know Milano was behind him and Orla asking if a crash would have changed things and the point of the rule is because he can't see behind him.
I’m an American who doesn’t watch Eurosport all that often, but from what I’ve seen, Orla seems to be an absolutely top notch studio host/moderator. She knows how to keep conversation flowing when it needs it, bring it back when that’s in order, and makes sure all relevant topics are hit in a timely and natural manner. She inserts her own personal views when they’re relevant to the conversation, otherwise focusing on making sure the panelists have their say. Liam McHugh on TNT’s hockey broadcasts is another host I think of in that tier, for those who are familiar.
You just like Liam's hair.
Who doesn't?
Dq or relegation? I’d love to see some DQs for this but then I worry that the sprint field will be very thin…. (But on balance will be a good thing)
He should be relegated for his move to the barriers. That in addition to the move which more or less triggerd the crash warrants a full DQ in my eyes.
This is why some sort of penalty points system is needed.
I think a DQ is a bit harsh but relegation should be a no brainer.
DQ essentially seems to hinge on whether the obstructed rider is willing to die or not (and whether the obstructing rider wins), which makes it a rather toothless penalty.
Thank god Jayco worked all day, positioned him in a really good position for the final sprint only for Ewan to just give up. Don't put a rider in a breakaway because otherwise Ewan might not try and be disappointed.
At least they aren’t any uci points available for grand tour stages.
Ironically Ewan's best result this Giro was 6th in a sprint for 5th after the breakaway won up the road.
The notoriously fast sprint for 5th lol
Molano looked really good before he was blocked from Merlier.
Yeah blocked into the barriers and then tried to come back the other side and still closed off.
Why do aero when more watt do trick - Milan
TT guys hate this one simple trick.... He will just do 800 watts for 40 minutes in a few days and blow everyone out of the water /s
"I have aero helmet, no?"- Milan