The professional cycling thread
Discussion
ferrisbueller said:
Just watched the highlights, that was f
king carnage.
Maybe the organisers hoping to take out a favourite or two, ideally Froome?
Certainly Porte going out again is a great shame. One of the few who could actually give Sky something to think about.
Only Froome has actually shown he's perfectly capable of riding well on cobbles as befits a man who grew up riding mountain bikes in Africa.king carnage.Maybe the organisers hoping to take out a favourite or two, ideally Froome?
Certainly Porte going out again is a great shame. One of the few who could actually give Sky something to think about.
Matt_N said:
Scabutz said:
Most pros are stuck in their ways so a lot still run tubs. I'm sure some are running tubless but don't know who .
Not quite sure it's because they're stuck in their ways, there's still some pros to using tubs in pro race. Rolling resistance in the main is better against most tubs vs clincher / tubeless (yes there are exceptions)
Tubulars are much safer in the case of a puncture as the tyre stays on the rim
Braking on carbon tubs vs clinchers is much safer, these guys are coming down alpine recents at 80kmh+ the risk of cooking brake tracks is much less on tubs
Compatibility issues between rims and tyres, yes being pro they will be sponsored but how many threads do we see with being complaining of issues of tyres not seating / sealing
Anecdotally riders prefer the road feel and handling of tubulars
Things may change but for now tubulars are the preferred choice for good reason.
Once you go disc you no long have to worry about hot rims.
Tubeless have the lowest rolling resistance as you don't have the inner tube and tyre carcass friction. They also have lower wind resistance than a tubular too as they meet the wheel more cleanly.
Final tubeless tyres + sealant should in theory have afar fewer punctures.
llewop said:
Mr E said:
I like cobbles on a one day special.
The carnage today was such that I questioned their place on a grand tour.
Rule 5, I know.
I was thinking the same even before the stage, but Boardman yesterday and another today on commentary (don’t recall his name) both justified it by being something to stretch the GC contenders to be more than ‘just’ a climber and/or TT specialist. Which doesn’t seem unreasonable and some managed to crash before or between the cobbles.The carnage today was such that I questioned their place on a grand tour.
Rule 5, I know.
Actual distance on the cobbles not much more than 10% of today’s distance, but clearly gets in their heads!
I think a cool TdF would be one where they do all 5 of the monuments, Strada Bianca, a TTT, a hilly TT, a flat TT, 3 sprint stages, a crit, a break away stage and then do just enough mountain stages that the climbers can peg the classic specialists back.
I actually suspect that the difference in climbing ability between Niro Quintana and say Kwiatoski or even Sagan on a diet is not that much most of the difference is simply people not in the GC battle saving energy.
Actually for reference Dan Lloyd of GCN's FTP was around 5.9w/kg when riding so there isn't massive absolute difference between riders in the peleton.
Talksteer said:
ferrisbueller said:
Just watched the highlights, that was fking carnage.
Maybe the organisers hoping to take out a favourite or two, ideally Froome?
Certainly Porte going out again is a great shame. One of the few who could actually give Sky something to think about.
Only Froome has actually shown he's perfectly capable of riding well on cobbles as befits a man who grew up riding mountain bikes in Africa.king carnage.Maybe the organisers hoping to take out a favourite or two, ideally Froome?
Certainly Porte going out again is a great shame. One of the few who could actually give Sky something to think about.
I didn't see the Porte crash itself. The aftermath looked like he'd been brought down, too. I can see how his crash on the descent was rider error but the motorbike stopping on the way up the alp was hardly his fault.
Landa fell off having a drink.
I can see the rationale for including pave sections but it introduces a random element that inevitably leads to incidents.
ferrisbueller said:
Didn't he break his wrist on cobbles a few years ago? Also got brought down this time.
If I remember rightly, Froome came off twice before the cobbles started on the equivalent stage in 2014. (Although it was the 4th stage, after the start in Yorkshire.) It was a very wet stage, and he came down the second time on a roundabout pretty hard, breaking his wrist.Nibali went on the rampage, took a load of time on the cobbles and kept the yellow jersey until Paris. He might have lost it for one day actually, I've had a kid since then, and slept infrequently.
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