Cycling thread

[Armel]

Aren't E3 renowned for offensive banners? Seem to recall this being their motif in recent years.

Yes apart from the last one, that was just to honour Tom Boonen (most wins).

I'm now looking forward to someone from the Guardian (or something similar) to figure out what it actually is, because on the actual banner it's somewhat difficult to see.

Essentially two body-painted women, forming a frog. And the tag-line: Who's going to be the prince of Harelbeke (hence the implication of kissing podium girls/frog that transforms)? They'll have a field-day with this one if they somehow manage to pick it up.

 

[Black Belt Jones]

Yes apart from the last one, that was just to honour Tom Boonen (most wins).

I'm now looking forward to someone from the Guardian (or something similar) to figure out what it actually is, because on the actual banner it's somewhat difficult to see.

Essentially two body-painted women, forming a frog. And the tag-line: Who's going to be the prince of Harelbeke (hence the implication of kissing podium girls/frog that transforms)? They'll have a field-day with this one if they somehow manage to pick it up.

Believe a Guardian journalist accused Iljo Keisse of sexual assault with his recent photo shenanigans so no doubt they'll love this.

Had quite a nice tour of deepest wool-land yesterday - Sefton, Maghull, Parbold, then west face of the mighty Billinge hill, Orrell, Mawdsley etc. Always felt West Lancs was a bit of a strange place but it was a nice day so enjoyed the lanes. Rode with my missus as we've entered the Cheshire cat sportive in a few weeks so need to get some road miles in.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

Yes apart from the last one, that was just to honour Tom Boonen (most wins).

I'm now looking forward to someone from the Guardian (or something similar) to figure out what it actually is, because on the actual banner it's somewhat difficult to see.

Essentially two body-painted women, forming a frog. And the tag-line: Who's going to be the prince of Harelbeke (hence the implication of kissing podium girls/frog that transforms)? They'll have a field-day with this one if they somehow manage to pick it up.

I didn't pick that up at all tbh, so I suspect the Guardian won't get involved unless cycling forums/social media decide it's worth getting wound up about.

Believe a Guardian journalist accused Iljo Keisse of sexual assault with his recent photo shenanigans so no doubt they'll love this.

Had quite a nice tour of deepest wool-land yesterday - Sefton, Maghull, Parbold, then west face of the mighty Billinge hill, Orrell, Mawdsley etc. Always felt West Lancs was a bit of a strange place but it was a nice day so enjoyed the lanes. Rode with my missus as we've entered the Cheshire cat sportive in a few weeks so need to get some road miles in.

Cheshire Cat is a strange event. You've got Mow Cop, which is interesting, but that's pretty early on in the ride, and the remaining like 80 miles or something were all pretty non distinct. Granted, I only did it once, but it was pretty uninspiring. Rode to Winchester from London yesterday, which with my bad navigation worked out at around 100 miles. Also pretty uninspiring. No real hills to speak of, poor quality roads and a lot of traffic. On the plus side, the weather was super, and even managed to pick up a bit of a tan line, which is an unexpected bonus so early in the year.

 

[Black Belt Jones]

I didn't pick that up at all tbh, so I suspect the Guardian won't get involved unless cycling forums/social media decide it's worth getting wound up about.



Cheshire Cat is a strange event. You've got Mow Cop, which is interesting, but that's pretty early on in the ride, and the remaining like 80 miles or something were all pretty non distinct. Granted, I only did it once, but it was pretty uninspiring. Rode to Winchester from London yesterday, which with my bad navigation worked out at around 100 miles. Also pretty uninspiring. No real hills to speak of, poor quality roads and a lot of traffic. On the plus side, the weather was super, and even managed to pick up a bit of a tan line, which is an unexpected bonus so early in the year.

The Cat route does look average, but that is Cheshire for you. It's more a thing to do for my wife as she doesn't do much serious cycling - we are going to ride most of the medium route together and then I'll split for the long one towards the end (if I am within the cutoff, which I might not be tbh). We were hiking in the Lakes last week, Langdale where the Fred comes through now, and damn it's a shame not to have an entry this year - love that route.

Have the first test of the season at the weekend - an early ten. Usually don't get involved until May/June so we'll see what happens. Actually in good shape with all the cross racing but time trials always takes me several goes to get into the mindset of it.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

The Cat route does look average, but that is Cheshire for you. It's more a thing to do for my wife as she doesn't do much serious cycling - we are going to ride most of the medium route together and then I'll split for the long one towards the end (if I am within the cutoff, which I might not be tbh). We were hiking in the Lakes last week, Langdale where the Fred comes through now, and damn it's a shame not to have an entry this year - love that route.

Have the first test of the season at the weekend - an early ten. Usually don't get involved until May/June so we'll see what happens. Actually in good shape with all the cross racing but time trials always takes me several goes to get into the mindset of it.

Different kind of riding I'd imagine? TTs are obviously fairly steady state for 20 minutes or so, whereas I imagine cross to be a bit more like a crit so a lot of short sprints out of corners and stuff but your power going up and down for the entire ride?

 

[Armel]

Believe a Guardian journalist accused Iljo Keisse of sexual assault with his recent photo shenanigans so no doubt they'll love this.

Yes Suze Clemitson. As I said above: she can write about that, but at least write about the good things too. I was seriously annoyed when I read that and then she said that because of that, nobody is writing about Cant 3 times. Well no, that's just your personal choice; you can do both.

Haven't heard her either, when starting next year there will be an official classification for Junior CX girls. Or that Sporza has extended their coverage of female racing. Etc...

I didn't pick that up at all tbh, so I suspect the Guardian won't get involved unless cycling forums/social media decide it's worth getting wound up about.

Yeah probably, do they even broadcast (in full) races like the Omloop (etc.) in the U.K. ?

 

[Black Belt Jones]

Different kind of riding I'd imagine? TTs are obviously fairly steady state for 20 minutes or so, whereas I imagine cross to be a bit more like a crit so a lot of short sprints out of corners and stuff but your power going up and down for the entire ride?

It's different but actually a lot of similarities at my level, it's only the really fast, strong lads who are putting down a spiky crit-like power output over a cross race. The terrain is so arduous, and you can't really get a proper rest sitting in as the speeds are a lot lower, that it's a war of attrition in the mid-pack with the occasional dig being thrown in when the legs can stand it. My heart rate in a cross race is usually a red block at 90-95% from about 30 seconds on, but someone at the sharp end would have a much spikier profile.

There are also some similarities in conserving momentum - this is 100% the key to cracking time trials IMHO. How to keep that same smooth output and position whatever the road is doing. Fast courses are usually fast because of some physical reason like they're pan flat, very smooth surface etc but what that really does is make it very easy to consistently dish out the watts whilst concentrating on position, which is critical to go fast. My local course in Cheshire is the opposite of this - it's basically flat but constant small changes of gradient and direction (plus a rubbish surface) make it really challenging to maintain momentum.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

Yes Suze Clemitson. As I said above: she can write about that, but at least write about the good things too. I was seriously annoyed when I read that and then she said that because of that, nobody is writing about Cant 3 times. Well no, that's just your personal choice; you can do both.

Haven't heard her either, when starting next year there will be an official classification for Junior CX girls. Or that Sporza has extended their coverage of female racing. Etc...



Yeah probably, do they even broadcast (in full) races like the Omloop (etc.) in the U.K. ?

Don't think so. Eurosport are pretty good at covering the races, but it's rare to broadcast from the start.

 

[Armel]

Impressive first Valverde win.

 

[Armel]

Have to say I really struggled with my Sporza team. You can win prices, but chances are relatively small.

I would have really liked Naessen in the team since he looks like he's flying etc; and Mohoric (or Philipsen) as a joker, but the problem is then you don't have enough riders for the Ardennes etc. + it has to be balanced over fourteen races and the monuments count for double, you're only allowed 4 riders/team. Eventually I ended up with this, hoping that Sagan will follow up on his promise and ride LBL otherwise it doesn't completely add up. You can transfer during the season but there's a 15 percent 'tax'. Van Aert is in there but more out of sympathy and hoping that he can bounce back.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

Have to say I really struggled with my Sporza team. You can win prices, but chances are relatively small.

I would have really liked Naessen in the team since he looks like he's flying etc; and Mohoric (or Philipsen) as a joker, but the problem is then you don't have enough riders for the Ardennes etc. + it has to be balanced over fourteen races and the monuments count for double, you're only allowed 4 riders/team. Eventually I ended up with this, hoping that Sagan will follow up on his promise and ride LBL otherwise it doesn't completely add up. You can transfer during the season but there's a 15 percent 'tax'. Van Aert is in there but more out of sympathy and hoping that he can bounce back.

I just love the fact that in Belgium a mainstream paper has a fantasy cycling competition You've gone the Quikstep route by the looks of things, with a team who could boss the classics, before vanishing in the GTs.

 

[Armel]

I just love the fact that in Belgium a mainstream paper has a fantasy cycling competition You've gone the Quikstep route by the looks of things, with a team who could boss the classics, before vanishing in the GTs.

Yes it's a classics team. For GT's there's a separate one.

You can play too if you want, it's free (just click: "Speel mee": https://wielermanager.sporza.be/home; login with your google profile (it's the easiest way- they only publicize your team name if you win and let's face it the odds aren't that great- and if you do manage to win you get a Ridley or a similar price). Other media have similar but I like this one.

Doesn't matter that you're English. Doesn't require a lot of knowledge of Dutch. You get 100 million. Have to choose twenty riders. Put in twelve per/race (if possible; it's really hard to have a well spread team). Best riders earn you points (bonus for your team leader; e.g: for the Omloop I've chosen Van Avermaet). Team mates of winners also get points; good way to spend your money on very cheap riders. You can do 4 transfers, over the season but with a tax. It's quite simple. Rules and awarded points: https://wielermanager.sporza.be/rules.


14 races:

1. Omloop Het Nieuwsblad
2. Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne
3. Strade Bianche
4. Milaan-Sanremo*
5. E3 Harelbeke
6. Gent-Wevelgem
7. Dwars door Vlaanderen
8. Ronde van Vlaanderen*
9. Scheldeprijs
10. Parijs-Roubaix*
11. Brabantse Pijl
12. Amstel Gold Race
13. Waalse Pijl
14. Luik-Bastenaken-Luik*

(those with an asterix are monuments so extra points)

 

[Bruce Wayne]

Yes it's a classics team. For GT's there's a separate one.

You can play too if you want, it's free (just click: "Speel mee": https://wielermanager.sporza.be/home; login with your google profile (it's the easiest way- they only publicize your team name if you win and let's face it the odds aren't that great- and if you do manage to win you get a Ridley or a similar price). Other media have similar but I like this one.

Doesn't matter that you're English. Doesn't require a lot of knowledge of Dutch. You get 100 million. Have to choose twenty riders. Put in twelve per/race (if possible; it's really hard to have a well spread team). Best riders earn you points (bonus for your team leader; e.g: for the Omloop I've chosen Van Avermaet). Team mates of winners also get points; good way to spend your money on very cheap riders. You can do 4 transfers, over the season but with a tax. It's quite simple. Rules and awarded points: https://wielermanager.sporza.be/rules.


14 races:

1. Omloop Het Nieuwsblad
2. Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne
3. Strade Bianche
4. Milaan-Sanremo*
5. E3 Harelbeke
6. Gent-Wevelgem
7. Dwars door Vlaanderen
8. Ronde van Vlaanderen*
9. Scheldeprijs
10. Parijs-Roubaix*
11. Brabantse Pijl
12. Amstel Gold Race
13. Waalse Pijl
14. Luik-Bastenaken-Luik*

(those with an asterix are monuments so extra points)

Might give that a go, although my knowledge of quality Belgian domestiques is limited. What kind of team have CCC got together this year? I know they're the remnants of BMC but no idea how many they retained from that squad. Will GvA have support?

 

[Armel]

Might give that a go, although my knowledge of quality Belgian domestiques is limited. What kind of team have CCC got together this year? I know they're the remnants of BMC but no idea how many they retained from that squad. Will GvA have support?

I don't think his team is the strongest tbh. It's a transition year for them, should have started assembling the new team sooner. They did almost succeed in getting Geraint Thomas but apparently his wife doesn't want him to change teams. Lots of Polish lads also, can see Kwiatkowski turning up there soon.

This is the selection for Saturday: Gijs van Hoecke, Hooydonck, Van Keirsbulck, Ventoso, Wisniowski, Schar, Bernas, Cerny and Gradek. I only see three who can assist him for a longer time: Van Keirsbulck, Schär and maybe Van Hoecke. The new finish from the Omloop (did receive an upgrade to WT status though) is not advantageous for him , centre of Ninove flat finish (dangerous though loads of bends and corners), compared to the slightly uphill finish in Meerbeke.

Rowe is also very cheap. Probably because he's had injury after injury.

 

[Black Belt Jones]

What's MVdP's best shot Armel? I read he is doing Gent-Wevelgem, Dwars door Vlaanderen, Flanders and Brabantse Pijl, although I don't know if this has changed.

WvA was exceptional in his first classics season really, perhaps the form will return.