The professional cycling thread

[Dr Imran T]

johnxjsc1985 said:

I saw him on TV the other day and looked so thin I hardly recognised him.

Yes, Eurosport had a small programme dedicated to him. Thoroughly decent chap he is

P. Roubaix is always a good race but I think the Tour of Flanders was more exciting this year especially with Gilbert's solo effort 55km from the end.

It looked like a summer race with all the heat haze/dust!!!

[oddball1313]

I'm not an expert in any way but GVA's performance over the last 12 months has been outstanding, is he and BMC good enough to challenge for the yellow jersey in this years TDF ?

[counterofbeans]

oddball1313 said:

I'm not an expert in any way but GVA's performance over the last 12 months has been outstanding, is he and BMC good enough to challenge for the yellow jersey in this years TDF ?

No. Completely different ball game.

[oddball1313]

counterofbeans said:

oddball1313 said:

I'm not an expert in any way but GVA's performance over the last 12 months has been outstanding, is he and BMC good enough to challenge for the yellow jersey in this years TDF ?

No. Completely different ball game.

Fair enough - how come though, obviously a well funded team is pretty essential as are strong team mates, what are the main short comings (not strong enough as a climber or more than one particular issue?)

[counterofbeans]

oddball1313 said:

counterofbeans said:

oddball1313 said:

I'm not an expert in any way but GVA's performance over the last 12 months has been outstanding, is he and BMC good enough to challenge for the yellow jersey in this years TDF ?

No. Completely different ball game.

Fair enough - how come though, obviously a well funded team is pretty essential as are strong team mates, what are the main short comings (not strong enough as a climber or more than one particular issue?)

There are 5 reasons:-

1. Vosges
2. Jura
3. Pyrenees
4. Central Massif
5. Alps

It's going to be extra tough this year!

[louiebaby]

oddball1313 said:

counterofbeans said:

oddball1313 said:

I'm not an expert in any way but GVA's performance over the last 12 months has been outstanding, is he and BMC good enough to challenge for the yellow jersey in this years TDF ?

No. Completely different ball game.

Fair enough - how come though, obviously a well funded team is pretty essential as are strong team mates, what are the main short comings (not strong enough as a climber or more than one particular issue?)

My (non-expert) thoughts:

GvA isn't in the running for the overall Yellow, but he should be a very useful team mate for Richie Porte, who, bad luck notwithstanding, should be in the mix a bit.

I wouldn't rule out GvA nabbing a stage or two.

[Alex Langheck]

counterofbeans said:

oddball1313 said:

I'm not an expert in any way but GVA's performance over the last 12 months has been outstanding, is he and BMC good enough to challenge for the yellow jersey in this years TDF ?

No. Completely different ball game.

Try and put it another way. How would you expect Contador, Froome, Quintana, et al to perform in the cobbled Classics?? That's not their type of racing; just as Van Avermaet, Sagan, etc won't challenge in the GTs.


Anyway, as well as a win for Van Avermaet, the Juniors Paris-Roubaix was won by promising young Brit Tom Pidcock; adding it to his British, European & World Junior CX Champiopnships......some serious talent!! I should think there'll be managers knocking on his door; in fact, Sven Nys has already expressed some interest.

Edited by Alex Langheck on Monday 10th April 20:05

[Gruffy]

Alex Langheck said:

Anyway, as well as a win for Van Avermaet, the Juniors Paris-Roubaix was won by promising young Brit Tom Pidcock; adding it to his British, European & World Junior CX Champiopnships......some serious talent!! I should think there'll be managers knocking on his door; in fact, Sven Nys has already expressed some interest.

He absolutely dominated the race. I snapped him coming into the velodrome with 30s over the chasers:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BSqhHxTh_KH/


And then caught the team celebrations afterwards
https://www.instagram.com/p/BSqhPxFhrja/

Tom is so tiny to be slaying the cobbles like that. What a future he's got ahead of him.

[Gruffy]

There's a few more on my Instagram page https://www.instagram.com/darren_franks/ the best of which is this one of the tactical stand-off between GvA and Stybar on the final lap:

[johnxjsc1985]

Gruffy said:

There's a few more on my Instagram page https://www.instagram.com/darren_franks/ the best of which is this one of the tactical stand-off between GvA and Stybar on the final lap:

outstanding photos and what a great position you had .

[Gruffy]

Thanks. I tried a few spots and then figured this would be where the sprint was launched. It was a little later in the end, but the final moments before the sprint were probably even more interesting.

[hornetrider]

Great omnium points race from Katie Archibald there, really tense!

[Highway Star]

Sad to see that Michele Scarponi was killed whilst training - just watched his stage win in the Tour of the Alps on catchup last night.

[Johnny]

Sad news indeed

[S10GTA]

Shocking news. I hope something good can come out of this tragedy.

[mcelliott]

Truly awful news.

[Granfondo]

Another very sad day for cycling.

[johnxjsc1985]

How sad RIP mate.

[mcelliott]

Valverde proving that as long as you've got a good doctor, age is not a barrier. #freakshow

[Dr Imran T]

mcelliott said:

Valverde proving that as long as you've got a good doctor, age is not a barrier. #freakshow

Really?? not sure if you're serious or your record player is broken churning out the same old baloney.

I thought his tribute to Scaponi at the end of LBL was very sincere indeed. He gave all his prize money to the Scarpni family and dedicated the win to him!