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Cycling 2019 - the British are coming.


BigFatCoward

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I am quietly hoping that happens. Would be so great if El Imbatido could finish on the podium here in what I can only describe as an absolutely insane performance. Let alone a win, which seems a bit unlikely. I am already very surprised he is competing here. 

And yeah, Contador looks shit. That's a shame.

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  • 2 weeks later...

After Monday's amazing stage, today another superb performance with Froome and Quintana finally disentangling themselves from Valverde and Contador, gaining 6 seconds. Froome wins the sprint. That was excellent and basically what we were hoping for during the Tour.

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Quintana finally grew some balls and started riding hard. The Vuelta has been a complete reversal of the Tour.

The young French rider - Pierre Latour rode an amazing stage and was very impressive. I predict a French rider will win the tour within the next few years.

 

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12 hours ago, zelticgar said:

Quintana finally grew some balls and started riding hard. The Vuelta has been a complete reversal of the Tour.

The young French rider - Pierre Latour rode an amazing stage and was very impressive. I predict a French rider will win the tour within the next few years.

 

I think Bardet is their current major hopeful in that department, possibly Pinot as well.

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5 hours ago, Maltaran said:

I think Bardet is their current major hopeful in that department, possibly Pinot as well.

Which is stupid, cos neither will win in July while Froome and Quintana exist.  They could have success if they went to the weaker Grand Tours though, but being French they won't.

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It was an amazing Vuelta. Truly, what a race.

As much as Quintana deserved to win in his own right, and did everything he could to achieve that, for me there is no doubt that Chris Froome was the best rider in thie Vuelta, and finished second. His one weak moment was not spotting Contador's surprise move, and then his team let him down as well, no denying that.

Chaves and Contador also a great race for 3rd spot. Contador did what he could but he was consistently outpaced by both Froome and Quintana uphill, I wonder how he feels about that going into next season. He may still have been carrying injuries, but then again, maybe not. If not, his chances look done.

Also a word about Robert Gesink, who had some incredible mountain stages after a bad year and I expect he will look for stage wins rather than GC wins in the future as well. He's a superb climber but his chances of ever winning or finishing top 3 on a Grand Tour are probably too slim and stage wins are then more appealing.

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  • 3 months later...

Tour down under starts tomorrow. Trying to do my homework to figure out the team name changes and rider switches. I'll be watching the race on my NBC Sports cycling subscription. @BigFatCoward - maybe change the title of the thread to reflect 2017 :) 

On another topic - it is winter here in the Northeast United States. Too cold and snowy to ride outside.  I've invested in a smart (or turbo) trainer with a full basement set up (40 Inches screen). I've started riding on Zwift and I'm pretty sure I'm addicted. Rode 90km's over the last two day. Even climbed the radio tower on Watopia last night. If anyone is on Zwift I'd love to get a ride in. Floating around 2.5 w/kg in case anyone is interested in a group ride :) 

 

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3 hours ago, zelticgar said:

Tour down under starts tomorrow. Trying to do my homework to figure out the team name changes and rider switches. I'll be watching the race on my NBC Sports cycling subscription. @BigFatCoward - maybe change the title of the thread to reflect 2017 :) 

On another topic - it is winter here in the Northeast United States. Too cold and snowy to ride outside.  I've invested in a smart (or turbo) trainer with a full basement set up (40 Inches screen). I've started riding on Zwift and I'm pretty sure I'm addicted. Rode 90km's over the last two day. Even climbed the radio tower on Watopia last night. If anyone is on Zwift I'd love to get a ride in. Floating around 2.5 w/kg in case anyone is interested in a group ride :) 

 

Done. 

I've been carrying an injury now for 2 months so can't cycle at all, its driving me nuts, i normally do 150 mile  a week to and from work.  

I've ballooned in weight as well. 

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  • 3 months later...

RIP Scarponi, by all accounts a lovely man and a great team mate, notwithstanding the fact he was a cheat.  

So, the Giro starts in 2 weeks, Quintana is clearly the big favourite, followed by Nibali (based on past performances in grand tours, not his form so far) with a whole host of other contenders just beneath them. Not much to choose between Kruijswijk, Pinot, Landa, Thomas, Dumoulin, Mollema, Yates and Zakarin.  The route looks really interesting, and the Giro is normally my favourite race, but if Quintana just dances away on every Mountaintop then it might be boring.  

If Landa can bring his A game then he can compete, and Sky have a nice 1-2 combo to stir things up.  Can't f'ing wait. 

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Same here. Very keen for it to start and I expect a spectacular Giro.

You've named all the favorites, couldn't think of a single one. Obviously I am rooting for the Dutch guys, a very unique situation here for to have 3 guys contending for the GC, all of them with promise, but none of them the no.1 favorite.

There have been some guys who cancelled for a variety of reasons, most notably Chaves and Aru due to injury. Quintana has to be a giant favorite here but we will see if he is at peak form. After all, he definitely wants to fight Froome in the Tour as well.

Sky will have two good riders competing for a podium place in theory, but both can be inconsistent. Thomas has shown very good form so far. Which cannot be said for Nibali who's been flat out invisible. But that may not be saying much. At 32 and loads of experience, combined with his proven skills, probably no.2  favorite. Kruijswijk was the best man last year and obviously has focused his year on revenge, but history shows it is never easy to just replicate that superb level of form and just do the same thing.

I'm counting Zakarin and Pinot as potentially serious outsiders. Mollema and Yates will be steady. Yates does not have a good TT which he will feel in this Giro with two significant TT races ( one 39.2, the other 25 I believe). Dumoulin has focused himself on the GC for the first time, how will he hold up on the great mountains?

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Well that wasn't a great start for SK, 13 seconds is nothing in the great scheme of things, but Froome lost a vuelta by that much.  Nothing much happening until Tuesday (probably) with the early climb up Etna. Not the steepest climb, but still a proper test and coming so early has the potential to stir things up if people haven't come in top form, especially coming after a rest day. Off work, can't wait. 

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Tomorrow could be awesome, or they could all just watch each other all the way up the mountain. I hope sky stick the train at the front to see who hasn't come prepared. Hopefully no headwind so if someone does attack it has a chance to stick. Guess at least one contender has a bad day, for some reason I have a suspicion it will be Nibali. 

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Watched the replay of Stage 3 on youtube. I love when cross winds factor in on flat sections and the peloton gets broken. Not as good as last years Sagan/Froome break but Jungels pushed it nicely. 

Kind of pissed off at the cycling access situation here in the US. Apparently the only way to see the Giro is to obtain a Fubo.Tv subscription over Roku. NBC had the streaming rights for all the other events except the Giro. Fubo is $34 USD per month! I'm stuck trolling YouTube for replays and most of the posts are highlights or shitty quality. I will be watching the Tour of California live next week. 

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