Topic: Pro Cycling 2023

[Baby Huey]

And he won today. Has he won a race since that year he was unreal. 2019?

He won well today. I’ll put the video up in a minute.

[Baby Huey]

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/lM3RBkgqyk8" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/lM3RBkgqyk8</a>

[Rosario]

Man that was a brutal watch today. GC contenders just soft pedalling till the sprint.

[SouthDerryLaggo]

Man that was a brutal watch today. GC contenders just soft pedalling till the sprint.

Really annoys me that GC contenders take it easy because of a TT or whatever then find themselves a minute down when they could have attacked on a stage like today and potentially gained some back

[Rosario]

Really annoys me that GC contenders take it easy because of a TT or whatever then find themselves a minute down when they could have attacked on a stage like today and potentially gained some back

Yeah it’s really strange that some of the other teams wouldn’t take one of the two opportunities in the first two and a half weeks to try and put Remco under a little pressure. Especially with a flat 35km TT coming up that you would expect him to take another minute or two out of most of the other contenders.

Looking like everyone plans on keeping the powder dry until the final few stages which I guess is fair with stages 16,18,19 & 20 all looking pretty brutal. Still disappointing from a spectators point of view though with Giro usually being the most lively three weeks of all the grand tours.

[De La Goal]

The weather's been shocking and there've been loads of crashes, including several for most of the main GC contenders. And they've had to put up with Trek and Jayco making the stages faster than they would have liked, with the aim of whittling down the sprint to Matthews vs Pedersen.

So if there was a chance to take it "easy", today was the day.

Remco's "attack" in the final 50 metres was amusing. If he's trying to intimidate Rogla, he'll have to do better than that.

[SouthDerryLaggo]

The weather's been shocking and there've been loads of crashes, including several for most of the main GC contenders. And they've had to put up with Trek and Jayco making the stages faster than they would have liked, with the aim of whittling down the sprint to Matthews vs Pedersen.

So if there was a chance to take it "easy", today was the day.

Remco's "attack" in the final 50 metres was amusing. If he's trying to intimidate Rogla, he'll have to do better than that.

the attack wa silly, just burning matches. But I think the non TT men will regret the likes of today

[Baby Huey]

I think it’ll the same again on tomorrow’s stage. All the GC riders will be thinking of Sundays ITT and DSM won’t be bothering chasing down anyone under 3 or 4 minutes. There’s some sharp looking climbs in the last 50 km and for that reason I think someone like Healy might be a good shout here.

[Knight]

The head wind was a real problem for interesting racing. Roglic is, presumably, feeling undercooked and isn’t confident he can beat Remco yet. So he waits. Ineos aren’t good enough at the top of the pyramid even though the base (their team) is stronger than any other teams. That’s an issue because doing the sky train is a bit pointless. It’d just give Remco a tow.

That said, yesterday was also perfect for Remco given his crashes and the TT so that alone should have made teams reconsider. If your strategy plays right into the hands of the best rider at the race, it’s probably not the right strategy.

Oh and it takes riders and routes to make a race. They need a playground. 180k pan flat with no crosswinds will not be interesting. Just can’t make it interesting.

[De La Goal]

The head wind was a real problem for interesting racing. Roglic is, presumably, feeling undercooked and isn’t confident he can beat Remco yet. So he waits. Ineos aren’t good enough at the top of the pyramid even though the base (their team) is stronger than any other teams. That’s an issue because doing the sky train is a bit pointless. It’d just give Remco a tow.

That said, yesterday was also perfect for Remco given his crashes and the TT so that alone should have made teams reconsider. If your strategy plays right into the hands of the best rider at the race, it’s probably not the right strategy.

Oh and it takes riders and routes to make a race. They need a playground. 180k pan flat with no crosswinds will not be interesting. Just can’t make it interesting.

I'm not convinced Remco is the best *GC* rider at the race. At least, not yet.

He would not have won last year's Vuelta had Roglic stayed upright. And that silly attack at the end yesterday (and quite possibly his opening ITT) could indicate supreme confidence or poor race management (or both).

I know what you mean about Ineos, but both Thomas and Geoghegan Hart have proven GC chops - and certainly in the latter's case, have shown they can sieze the day when the favourites falter. They're also the only one of the three leading GC teams with two cards to play.

[Baby Huey]

I'm not convinced Remco is the best *GC* rider at the race. At least, not yet.

He would not have won last year's Vuelta had Roglic stayed upright. And that silly attack at the end yesterday (and quite possibly his opening ITT) could indicate supreme confidence or poor race management (or both).

I know what you mean about Ineos, but both Thomas and Geoghegan Hart have proven GC chops - and certainly in the latter's case, have shown they can sieze the day when the favourites falter. They're also the only one of the three leading GC teams with two cards to play.

And Ineos have, imo, the best team at this race.

[Baby Huey]

Something I forgot to mention yesterday, what twit scheduled an ITT for the opening Sunday at a GT.

[Baby Huey]

Just seen the news that Ganna is out of the race;Covid.

[Baby Huey]

What an awful days racing at the Giro. The contrast with the Women’s Itzulia couldn’t be any starker.

Riders make races not routes.

And Ineos are riding pretty stupidly right now. Finally!

[Knight]

Ok well both Jumbo and Ineos look really stupid at this point. Remco shows real weakness without either team doing very much, at all, to put him under pressure until Roglic decides to make a move right toward the end of the day. Imagine they do that earlier today and leave a Remco totally isolated with 49ks to go? Imagine they make it really hard yesterday? They could have taken minutes off him. The man has no team. If there’s a chance of real weakness in a day like today you have got to take it to him early enough to take minutes. Which was entirely possible, look what Healy does to the breakaway today.

[Baby Huey]

Ok well both Jumbo and Ineos look really stupid at this point. Remco shows real weakness without either team doing very much, at all, to put him under pressure until Roglic decides to make a move right toward the end of the day. Imagine they do that earlier today and leave a Remco totally isolated with 49ks to go? Imagine they make it really hard yesterday? They could have taken minutes off him. The man has no team. If there’s a chance of real weakness in a day like today you have got to take it to him early enough to take minutes. Which was entirely possible, look what Healy does to the breakaway today.

Evenepoel had four teammates on that penultimate climb, and I see your point, attack him and see what happens. Evenepoel must still be feeling the crashes as I’d have thought if Thomas can stay with Roglic then surely Evenepoel can also.

Also, I didn’t understand the tactics of Ineos off that climb onto the line, no real contributions from either.  Could have made more time if they’d worked together.

[Baby Huey]

It’s going to be a long stage for some tomorrow. 35 km is a bit longer than the norm and I think it’s going to give those who don’t time -trial well some concerns, a lot of time can be lost over a distance like this.

Evenepoel and Roglic will be relishing this stage. Any time that riders lose here will be difficult to recoup against Roglic and Evenepoel.

[SouthDerryLaggo]

HEALY!

[De La Goal]

Evenepoel had four teammates on that penultimate climb, and I see your point, attack him and see what happens. Evenepoel must still be feeling the crashes as I’d have thought if Thomas can stay with Roglic then surely Evenepoel can also.

Also, I didn’t understand the tactics of Ineos off that climb onto the line, no real contributions from either.  Could have made more time if they’d worked together.

It looked like the effort to bridge to Roglic had taken it out of Thomas and TGH. But yes, I think everyone was screaming at them to work together.

As for making an attack earlier - I think this was an exploratory probe by Roglic. To establish proof of concept. Imagine the suffering he's going to inflict on Remco on the proper climbs now.

[Knight]

It looked like the effort to bridge to Roglic had taken it out of Thomas and TGH. But yes, I think everyone was screaming at them to work together.

As for making an attack earlier - I think this was an exploratory probe by Roglic. To establish proof of concept. Imagine the suffering he's going to inflict on Remco on the proper climbs now.

I dunno, Roglic is still the big favourite over those 2, they may as well force him into burning some matches. As for an earlier attack, Remco crashes twice on Wednesday, the opening was that. They already had reason to really go at him, they didn't need to establish proof of concept. They're relying on Remco's level being what it was yesterday because that's his level, rather than because he's slightly banged up from the other day.

[Knight]

Nooooooooooooooooo G

[Knight]

Somethings wrong with Remco. No way should he be 2 seconds ahead of Geoghan Hart.

[Baby Huey]

Somethings wrong with Remco. No way should he be 2 seconds ahead of Geoghan Hart.

Two crashes. Have you ever crashed your bike? I’ve not ridden since 74/75 and I still remember every time I crashed, it remains with you for days, physically, and mentally for longer.

Rest day and a recovery ride and then on stage 10 and 21 we’ll see whether he’s in any trouble.

[Knight]

Two crashes. Have you ever crashed your bike? I’ve not ridden since 74/75 and I still remember every time I crashed, it remains with you for days, physically, and mentally for longer.

Rest day and a recovery ride and then on stage 10 and 21 we’ll see whether he’s in any trouble.

Yep I agree. Makes yesterday and Friday even more bizarre from Jumbo and Ineos.

[De La Goal]

Yep I agree. Makes yesterday and Friday even more bizarre from Jumbo and Ineos.

Reaction to crashing depends on the rider.

The likes of Pidcock and the Vans will be used to it: you can't race (or even ride) MTB without pranging on a fairly regular basis. Roglic might have been a late adopter, but he won't have been a stranger to crashes as a ski jumper. Remco, as a footballer, less so. You could see the way he was whinging after the dog / 3km crash the other day. He does not react well to setbacks.

Ahead of this ITT, he was talking about taking a minute out of the other GC contenders, the arrogant twit. Having said that, Thomas and TGH both put in really impressive performances.

I don't think Ineos or Jumbo needed to make a move this early in the race. Assuming Roglic stays upright and covid-free, he will just let Remco dangle in pink for a while - doing all the pressers, podiums and dope tests - and choose his moment to crush him.

Any bets as to what stage that will be?

[Knight]

If Remco’s level is lower because of the crashes what makes you think he won’t be much better than the rest, like he was in the first TT, by the time the parcours get hard again?

As for crashes… plenty of riders have a real dip in level after crashes. It’s not much to do with being an ex footballer, it’s just physiology at the very top end of a sport.

[Lad]

Two crashes. Have you ever crashed your bike? I’ve not ridden since 74/75 and I still remember every time I crashed, it remains with you for days, physically, and mentally for longer.

Rest day and a recovery ride and then on stage 10 and 21 we’ll see whether he’s in any trouble.

Crashed mine first week in January and fractured my pelvis in three places. Still not back at work. Just saying.

[Baby Huey]

Crashed mine first week in January and fractured my pelvis in three places. Still not back at work. Just saying.

That’s shit. Hope you’re recovering well.

[SouthDerryLaggo]

Remco will be disappointed with that one but it makes it interesting now going forward.

[Baby Huey]

I was just about to post about the threat of Covid during the rest day and I’ve seen the Uran is out with it. Going to be an interesting day tomorrow re Covid.

[Baby Huey]

Yep I agree. Makes yesterday and Friday even more bizarre from Jumbo and Ineos.

Having  looked at the rest of the stages it’s possible that both these teams are thinking that there’s more time to be taken from Evenepoel in the next two weeks.

It still doesn’t make their screw up any better though as I doubt that was on their minds the other day.

[Rosario]

If Remco’s level is lower because of the crashes what makes you think he won’t be much better than the rest, like he was in the first TT, by the time the parcours get hard again?

As for crashes… plenty of riders have a real dip in level after crashes. It’s not much to do with being an ex footballer, it’s just physiology at the very top end of a sport.

His level was obviously a lot higher in the opening TT but that’s hardly surprising considering he’s one of the top 3 time trialist in the world. The likes of Roglic, Thomas and Geoghegan Hart are more proven climbers at this stage of their careers and the rest of the Giro should favour these guys above someone like Remco.

The parcours favoired Remco at the start but personally I think he hasn’t put a big enough advantage into his rivals so far and will pay the price when the race starts heading uphill where he won’t have everything his own way and his team is way too weak to help him.

[SouthDerryLaggo]

Remco is out. Covid. Fuck

[Rosario]

Well that’ll explain his level the last couple of stages then. Dammit race was set up perfectly though to see whether he’d continued to improve on his climbing compared to some other pretty high level performers.

[SouthDerryLaggo]

Well that’ll explain his level the last couple of stages then. Dammit race was set up perfectly though to see whether he’d continued to improve on his climbing compared to some other pretty high level performers.

The fact that he win today has gone from being average to absolutely phenomenal

[Baby Huey]

Remco is out. Covid. Fuck

We haven’t even made the rest day. I was looking forward to the racing on stages 13, 15 and 16. Hopefully Ineos and Jumbo- Visma can make something out of this.

[Knight]

Yeah COVID - it all makes sense. Crap for the race. Potential silver linings - a Brit could win the race very conceivably now. Remco may well go to the tour for a battle Royale with Jonas and Pogacar.

[De La Goal]

Well, that's a pity. As much as Remco is not my favourite rider, I was looking forward to a mountain showdown between him and Roglic (and possibly the Ineos riders).

If I were him, I would steer clear of the Tour. He's not at the same GT level as Pogacar or Vingegaard.

[Baby Huey]

Yeah COVID - it all makes sense. Crap for the race. Potential silver linings - a Brit could win the race very conceivably now. Remco may well go to the tour for a battle Royale with Jonas and Pogacar.

His team doesn’t have the resources to attempt two GC GT battles. Plus the team is going to be built around Alaphillipe. More importantly, Evenepoel is nowhere near the level of Vinegaard and Pogacar.

Let him recover and aim for the Vuelta.

[Baby Huey]

Well, that's a pity. As much as Remco is not my favourite rider, I was looking forward to a mountain showdown between him and Roglic (and possibly the Ineos riders).

If I were him, I would steer clear of the Tour. He's not at the same GT level as Pogacar or Vingegaard.

This.