The professional cycling thread

[ferrisbueller]

Major pile-up in the Basque country. Vingegaard and Evenepoel both injured and left with broken bones.

[S100HP]

ferrisbueller said:

Major pile-up in the Basque country. Vingegaard and Evenepoel both injured and left with broken bones.

Awful. Reminiscent of 95.

[Bilkob]

Is it me,or are there more crashes than there have been for a while, and the crashes are far far worse?
I wonder if the oft touted ‘no one has any respect any more’ ‘the races go straight from the gun’ and the fact that most of the peloton are at such a high level, combined with more training and less actual racing are contributing to this?
Much as I absolutely love it, I’m actually a little worried about Paris Roubaix this weekend……

[Master Bean]

Bilkob said:

Is it me,or are there more crashes than there have been for a while, and the crashes are far far worse?
I wonder if the oft touted ‘no one has any respect any more’ ‘the races go straight from the gun’ and the fact that most of the peloton are at such a high level, combined with more training and less actual racing are contributing to this?
Much as I absolutely love it, I’m actually a little worried about Paris Roubaix this weekend……

They have a corner before the Arenberg Forest to slow people down. Turns out hitting the cobbles at almost 40mph in a big bunch jostling for position is kind of dangerous.

[snobetter]

Bilkob said:

Is it me,or are there more crashes than there have been for a while, and the crashes are far far worse?
I wonder if the oft touted ‘no one has any respect any more’ ‘the races go straight from the gun’ and the fact that most of the peloton are at such a high level, combined with more training and less actual racing are contributing to this?
Much as I absolutely love it, I’m actually a little worried about Paris Roubaix this weekend……

Possibly, also I think we see them more with more cameras about for the whole race.

[ukbabz]

Road.cc have summarised the injuries of the riders as currently released. I can't see how Jonas will be able to defend his yellow jersey this year.

• Initial reports said that Team Visma Lease a Bike's Jonas Vingegaard suffered a broken collarbone and several broken ribs. The team has released another update this morning saying that the Dane also suffered a pulmonary contusion and pneumothorax (or a collapsed lung), but is "stable" and "had a good night" at the hospital.

• Soudal Quick-Step's Remco Evenepoel suffered a broken collarbone and a fracture to his right scapula. The team said he will travel to Belgium today, where he will undergo an operation on his collarbone, and further examination, at the hospital in Herentals.

• TotalEnergies' Steff Cras suffered a collapsed right lung, several associated rib fractures and two dorsal vertebral fractures, in addition to several hematomas, wounds and dermabrasions. The team informed that he'll stay in hospital for a few days.

• UAE Team Emirates' doctor said that Jay Vine suffered a heavy crash today during the race and sustained a cervical and two thoracic spine vertebral body fractures, but thankfully no other major injuries or head trauma. Vine is expected to stay in the hospital for neurological observation, with spinal orthopaedic assessment to take place soon."

• Meidcal examinations showed that Bora-Hansgrohe's Primož Roglič did not sustain any fractures, but bruises and abrasions

[Steve vRS]

Pro-cycling must be one of the most dangerous sports going, with the exception of boxing.

I dabbed in road racing a few years ago and a few bits of road rash put me off so how these guys keep coming back for more astounds me!

[lauda]

ukbabz said:

Road.cc have summarised the injuries of the riders as currently released. I can't see how Jonas will be able to defend his yellow jersey this year.

• Initial reports said that Team Visma Lease a Bike's Jonas Vingegaard suffered a broken collarbone and several broken ribs. The team has released another update this morning saying that the Dane also suffered a pulmonary contusion and pneumothorax (or a collapsed lung), but is "stable" and "had a good night" at the hospital.

• Soudal Quick-Step's Remco Evenepoel suffered a broken collarbone and a fracture to his right scapula. The team said he will travel to Belgium today, where he will undergo an operation on his collarbone, and further examination, at the hospital in Herentals.

• TotalEnergies' Steff Cras suffered a collapsed right lung, several associated rib fractures and two dorsal vertebral fractures, in addition to several hematomas, wounds and dermabrasions. The team informed that he'll stay in hospital for a few days.

• UAE Team Emirates' doctor said that Jay Vine suffered a heavy crash today during the race and sustained a cervical and two thoracic spine vertebral body fractures, but thankfully no other major injuries or head trauma. Vine is expected to stay in the hospital for neurological observation, with spinal orthopaedic assessment to take place soon."

• Meidcal examinations showed that Bora-Hansgrohe's Primož Rogli? did not sustain any fractures, but bruises and abrasions

I think you’re right about Vingegaard. I suffered almost identical injuries last year (albeit I broke a few more ribs) and I was in bad shape for about three months. I was on opioids for nearly a month because of the pain and still struggled to sleep.

I couldn’t even face the prospect of getting on my Wattbike for a gentle spin until about six weeks after the accident and the lung damage had a huge impact on my aerobic capacity.

The idea that he’ll be fit enough to even ride, let alone win, the Tour seems incredibly far fetched.

[DeejRC]

I read the list out to my wife (bio mechanic, osteo guru) and she didn’t think Jay was in a good place at all. Looking at very possible long term damage.

[andyA700]

Steve vRS said:

Pro-cycling must be one of the most dangerous sports going, with the exception of boxing.

I dabbed in road racing a few years ago and a few bits of road rash put me off so how these guys keep coming back for more astounds me!

I know what you mean Steve, I did half a dozen road races and then switched back to time trialling. Even that started to get a bit dangerous though, when you are mixing it with traffic on a busy dual carriageway.

[mooseracer]

Great ride from Pfeiffer Georgi today

[LM240]

Paris Roubaix.. probably my favourite of the one day races.

Just incredible performance from MVDP today.

The speed and aggressive style of racing is just bonkers.

Pretty much 30mph average for 160 miles!!! That’s crazy over pan flat tarmac, let alone over the cobbled sections.

[WestyCarl]

LM240 said:

Paris Roubaix.. probably my favourite of the one day races.

Just incredible performance from MVDP today.

The speed and aggressive style of racing is just bonkers.

Pretty much 30mph average for 160 miles!!! That’s crazy over pan flat tarmac, let alone over the cobbled sections.

Agreed and the apparent ease that MVDP just rode away from the bunch was incredible.

[Randy Winkman]

WestyCarl said:

LM240 said:

Paris Roubaix.. probably my favourite of the one day races.

Just incredible performance from MVDP today.

The speed and aggressive style of racing is just bonkers.

Pretty much 30mph average for 160 miles!!! That’s crazy over pan flat tarmac, let alone over the cobbled sections.

Agreed and the apparent ease that MVDP just rode away from the bunch was incredible.

I love seeing riders go off the front and win. In contrast, TV commentators only seem happy of they have a sprint to shout over. I like seeing a few sprint finishes in stage races but part of me simply wonders what the point of the previous 6 hours was.

[Alickadoo]

Is any of this ont'elly?

[lauda]

Alickadoo said:

Is any of this ont'elly?

It's Eurosport or Discovery+ for anything other than the Grand Tours I think.

[Chicken Chaser]

The only Classic i've seen this year, but it was a dominant performance by VDP and it was almost inevitable once he went that the others just had to play it out for the runner up spot.

[ArnageWRC]

Another day, another race, and the one which links the 'cobbled classics' and 'Ardennes classics' - Brabantse Pijl/ Fleche Brabaconne.....


In other news, Mona Mitterwallner won't race the two MTB World Cups in Brazil after getting a virus in the Cape Epic.

[Bilkob]

My absolute favourite time of year. Went to opening weekend-epic as always, then Nokere, which is a fantastic little race and off to Liege in a couple of weeks.
Very very strongly considering doing an Air BnB next year in Flanders for end of Feb to end of April
I think we’re living through a bit of a golden age in Pro Cycling at the moment. Some incredible talent and racing in both the Men’s and Women’s pelotons and superb and extensive TV coverage.

[Jacobyte]

Brilliant win for Pidcock at Amstel Gold. Hopefully he's not burnt all his matches ahead of L-B-L next weekend, as MVDP seemed to be keeping his powder dry.