Armel
Player Valuation: £15m
I don't think it's a given that they'll win tonight.
Cycling thread
- Thread starter Bruce Wayne
- Start date
I don't think it's a given that they'll win tonight.
accept that fate is cruel, and the least desirable triumph
It's going to be weird to watch the merry-go-round again when Froome is caught - "we should have known since Mont Vertoux really, why were we all blind to it, ah well, at least <insert new doper dominating the sport> is not doping, if you're criticising his <insert ridiculous performance here> then why do you even watch cycling?"
Frang
Player Valuation: £70m
it might be harder to catch a mechanical doper tho.
what he did 80kms out, a solo break away, who got 3mins infront of pinot and the rest was unbelievable, literally.
wouldn't be surprised if his crank has an internal motor.. he's obv in the limelight regards salbutamol as it is.
they tested it at the end. At least you're not standing on a mountain waiting to spit on the bloke I suppose.
Frang
Player Valuation: £70m
hes not worth the spit.
in 5 years time or whenever they catch up with the testing all his wins will be null and void, just like lances and contadors etc etc
when was the last time someone went solo from 80km out in a grand tour and won the stage bruc e?
Charly Gaul did it successfully to win both stage and the Giro. Hinault tried it whilst in yellow at the Tour, whilst Pantani obviously did it to Les Deux Alpe in '98.
I think (personally) that a better indicator is the results of the GP des Nations, which was a time trial race of a similar distance that featured the best in the world at the time - http://www.bikeraceinfo.com/races/chrono-des-nations/chrono-des-nations-index.html
For instance, in 1996 Chris Boardman beat Bjarne Riis by 4m 51s over a 70km course.
I think that's a more pertinent example because from the moment Froome attacked, it was essentially a time trial. The Astana and Movistar riders didn't contribute at all to the chase, whilst the two FDJ riders slowed Dumoulin down as much as anything, especially on the descents where Froome gained most of his time. You could see how wiped out Pinot was by the amount of time he lost the following day.
It was an unusual stage, if for no other reason than the lead group was decimated so early on. From that point on it was largely man against man.
Black Belt Jones
Player Valuation: £25m
Cycling's not your game, BigBlueNose, but that's OK, you're giving it your best. All that really happened, though, is that the best climber in the race, who is also one of the best descenders, and who is unequivocally the mentally hardest man in the peloton, just put Tom Doumoulin to bed on the hardest stage in the Giro. And what lad?
What made it seem incredible, aside from the sheer panache of it all, is that it coincided with Simon Yates having a proper un jour sans (speculation that this was down to him going too deep on the timetrial to hold off Dumoulin). Yates holds his form and he would have gone with Froome on the Finestre and held on.
See the power numbers for Froome's attack on Finestre were not only a rather underwhelming 5.7w/kg for 10 minutes, but they were also identical to Dumoulin's numbers (Froome is a bit lighter hence went faster). Kinda explains why the climb times for the day were pretty slow compared to all previous ascents. Nothing really 'extraterrestrial'.
Frang
Player Valuation: £70m
Not often the BBC publish a decent article on cycling, but they've put up an interesting one today explaining the thinking behind Stage 19 - https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/44372328
Rode the climb to Pico Veleta yesterday. A lovely climb that wasn't as bad as I thought. The first 30 or so kilometres are relatively gentle (~6%), but obviously it's long and you go to a reasonable altitude. Once you get past the barrier the gradient kicks up a bit and you're over 2,500m so that makes things a bit harder, but the road surface wasn't as bad as I feared it might be. There was a huge snow drift that blocked the path about 3km from the top so unfortunately didn't make it all the way to the summit, which is a shame. Maybe next time. Very much recommend the climb though. Funnily enough, I also got chatting to Adam Yates' mother-in-law. He's bought a place in the ski village (there's an altitude training facility there apparently), and she was helping him get it set up. She'd found the altitude tough so had resorted to doing 2 reps of the 35km climb to the village and back instead
Agh. Biggest climb I've ever done and the bloody Garmin didn't record it. Technology is not a friend today.
Though this might be of interest
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/athletics/44467074
I remember Rebecca Romero converting from rowing to track cycling with success, at a much younger age though. Would it be possible for Rutherford? To compete at sport at that level you have won the lottery genetically anyway, so goes without saying he is an elite athlete, Rutherford was a little lucky to be competing in the era he was allowing him to win more medals than he might have a few decades ago, that being said anyone who produces PB's at major championships deserves everything they get, and does indicate he has a strong mentality
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/athletics/44467074
I remember Rebecca Romero converting from rowing to track cycling with success, at a much younger age though. Would it be possible for Rutherford? To compete at sport at that level you have won the lottery genetically anyway, so goes without saying he is an elite athlete, Rutherford was a little lucky to be competing in the era he was allowing him to win more medals than he might have a few decades ago, that being said anyone who produces PB's at major championships deserves everything they get, and does indicate he has a strong mentality
