Cycling thread

[Black Belt Jones]

This is a list of all the cyclocross races for the entire season (including the broadcaster- you'll notice that the rights got scattered):

http://www.veldritkalender.be/

Sporza (VRT), VTM (free commercial Belgian channel, if you live in Belgium) and Telenet (something similar to Sky Sports, so you have to pay). I take it you guys have the free VRT channels, seeing that we have all of the BBC channels for free.

There's a Dutch speaking site that streams them all, in Flemish/Dutch though.

Thanks Armel - think I can see VTM but that's it, so may have to check the streams. Just want to catch some of the superprestige really to see how the pros in action.
The English Eurosport commentator is a bit of a spanner IIRC so probably wouldn't mind Dutch commentary tbh.

 

[Armel]

Thanks Armel - think I can see VTM but that's it, so may have to check the streams. Just want to catch some of the superprestige really to see how the pros in action.
The English Eurosport commentator is a bit of a spanner IIRC so probably wouldn't mind Dutch commentary tbh.

Weird you can see the commercial channel but not the public ones.

I'm mainly interested to see what Van Aert will do. The man has serious issues atm. Could see it coming though, Nuyens is a vile creature. He'll have to ride this weekend with a different bike and a with a white jersey. Oh and he has to find a crew. You can say what you want, but something like this will have repercussions on your performances. Not to mention the possible monetary consequences of the law suit.

 

[Black Belt Jones]

Weird you can see the commercial channel but not the public ones.

I'm mainly interested to see what Van Aert will do. The man has serious issues atm. Could see it coming though, Nuyens is a vile creature. He'll have to ride this weekend with a different bike and a with a white jersey. Oh and he has to find a crew. You can say what you want, but something like this will have repercussions on your performances. Not to mention the possible monetary consequences of the law suit.

I'd not heard anything about that, sounds like a total cluster. Wout is granite, though, so if anyone can take it in their stride he can I would have thought.

Is MvdP going to ride the full season from the beginning do you know, as he was mixing it on the moutain bike XC just recently so wondered if he would take a break? It's easy to see their rivalry in terms of cliche - the supreme talent but mentally suspect guy versus the less talented but mental colossus. There has to be more to it than that simplistic picture, though, so want to see how vdP reacts to last years World champs beating.

How popular is Sanne Cant over there - I like her as she seems real and races emotionally, but you never really get a good picture of personality with snippets of English interviews etc.

 

[Armel]

I'd not heard anything about that, sounds like a total cluster. Wout is granite, though, so if anyone can take it in their stride he can I would have thought.

Is MvdP going to ride the full season from the beginning do you know, as he was mixing it on the moutain bike XC just recently so wondered if he would take a break? It's easy to see their rivalry in terms of cliche - the supreme talent but mentally suspect guy versus the less talented but mental colossus. There has to be more to it than that simplistic picture, though, so want to see how vdP reacts to last years World champs beating.

How popular is Sanne Cant over there - I like her as she seems real and races emotionally, but you never really get a good picture of personality with snippets of English interviews etc.

During the summer WvA signed for Lotto Jumbo for the 2020 season, he had tons of offers but chose them. The thing is his present team is horrible, I think I already mentioned something about the absolutely atrocious bikes etc... ... As a result they hardly have any personnel/riders left. Amongst those who left: Van Aert's best friend Merlier, his trainer (Niels Albert), his soigneur ... Even so Van Aert said he would respect the remainder of his contract. When the team's difficulties started to get more pronounced, Nuyens (idiot and manager) tried to find other teams to merge with. This was not to the liking of Van Aert since he never consulted him. His first attempt was with Aqua Blue (Irish), didn't work out even though they had already communicated a merger. When this failed he wanted to merge with Roompot, again without any consultation. This made Van Aert quite angry. Nuyens was prostituting Van Aert behind his back. Lots of teams wanted a merger since Van Aert= starting rights in famous races. At this point Van Aert started to get increasingly irritated since he wasn't looking forward to spending a year in a new environment, and then he would move to Jumbo (having to start from scratch again). The whole situation blew up this week. Van Aert decided to unilaterally end his contract. Normally this would cost him the remainder of his salary (15 months= 1.5 mil €). He however claims an urgent and pressing reason that makes further collaboration impossible (apparently Nuyens was pressuring people in the team to sign a statement that said that Van Aert was making unreasonable demands and that it was impossible to work with him). Now they'll be going to court.

Neither Van Der Poel nor Van Aert will be riding a full season. The first one is only starting his season on 6/10 (so realistically it would be difficult to win the WC classification). The second one is dropping quite a few of races from the other classifications (even the GP Sven Nijs and his own one), so realistically he can only win the WC classification. I think it's good tbh; they'll still ride quite a few races but the other ones get a chance to win now and again.

Van Der Poel was on Playsports this week. He said Van Aert is stronger mentally and that he has a bigger engine than him; I think that's a fair assessment, in all the rest VDP is better.

Tbh women's cycling isn't very popular over here. They are trying to change that, but it will take some work. Went to three races last year. The large majority arrived when it was time for the men. So you don't exactly see/hear/read about Cant a lot. From what I understand she's normal and good friends with VDP. Still they are making progress; quite a few women's races get televised nowadays. There is a lot to do about Jolien Verschueren, but that is because she has a malignant brain tumour and still requires chemo. If you ask me this does explain why she kept falling of her bike, constantly.

 

[Black Belt Jones]

Tbh women's cycling isn't very popular over here. They are trying to change that, but it will take some work. Went to three races last year. The large majority arrived when it was time for the men. So you don't exactly see/hear/read about Cant a lot. From what I understand she's normal and good friends with VDP. Still they are making progress; quite a few women's races get televised nowadays. There is a lot to do about Jolien Verschueren, but that is because she has a malignant brain tumour and still requires chemo. If you ask me this does explain why she kept falling of her bike, constantly.

Did a race last weekend, the woman's event had 33 riders in it, compared to 184 men (split across age categories). That women's turnout was considered to be massive, it can be as low as ten at some events [cyclocross league for the NW of England]. It does put things in perspective, like you can argue for equal prize money or whatever at the pro level, but at grassroots level there is a massive disparity in numbers of who actually wants to participate in the sport.

Been raining for days here, which will put this weekend's race right up my street. Do better in the mud.

 

[Armel]

Wtf is this; you have to pay extortionate amounts if you want to stand near the finish/watch the podium.

 

[Daveysgingerlovechild]

Can I ask for some advice from GOT's resident peddle-heads?

Long story short, sone scrote decided to pinch the front wheel and disc brake rotor from my bike yesterday. Parked outside work and it was teeming with students - incredible how no one clocked it. Anyway, I need a new wheel, tyre and brake rotor. I don't really want to go to the bike manufacturer as I suspect they pull my pants down.

Basically I'm after decent quality replacements. Often you pay for the brand, so I'm happy with unbranded. Can anyone point me in the direction of a decent retailer who might be able to help? Can be online or a local shop, don't mind.

The bike is a Specialized Sirrus Elite Alloy.

Cheers.

 

[Black Belt Jones]

Is it for commuting? Don't need big money spent on a front wheel, so something like this would fit the bill for cheap and cheerful:

Amazon product ASIN B00MMP5JIE[sry link not showing for some reason, it's Wilkinson Front Wheel 36 Hole Hybrid Double Wall Rim, Disc/V-Brake, Quick Release Disc Hub, Black Spokes - 700C, Black on amazon]

Chainreaction / wiggle is the biggest online bike retailer in the UK so will have plenty of alternatives.

If you wanted a bit more quality I'd go to the local bike shop and they would build you a decent one for around the £75 mark.

For a tubed set up you need to decide whether you want to go robust puncture proof - schwalbe marathon plus are a popular commuting tyre that will very rarely puncture - complete bricks, mind. Or, do you want something decent on your bike that can actually feel the road, but will have the occasional puncture - continental grand prix 4 season are a good choice here. Nice tyre and reasonably durable.

 

[Daveysgingerlovechild]

Is it for commuting? Don't need big money spent on a front wheel, so something like this would fit the bill for cheap and cheerful:

Amazon product ASIN B00MMP5JIE[sry link not showing for some reason, it's Wilkinson Front Wheel 36 Hole Hybrid Double Wall Rim, Disc/V-Brake, Quick Release Disc Hub, Black Spokes - 700C, Black on amazon]

Chainreaction / wiggle is the biggest online bike retailer in the UK so will have plenty of alternatives.

If you wanted a bit more quality I'd go to the local bike shop and they would build you a decent one for around the £75 mark.

For a tubed set up you need to decide whether you want to go robust puncture proof - schwalbe marathon plus are a popular commuting tyre that will very rarely puncture - complete bricks, mind. Or, do you want something decent on your bike that can actually feel the road, but will have the occasional puncture - continental grand prix 4 season are a good choice here. Nice tyre and reasonably durable.

Nice one, I'll have a poke around. I've already been quoted silly money from one shop, but I'll try others.

 

[sbbefc]

Good race that

 

[Frang]

Valverde

*sniggers

 

[Black Belt Jones]

Did anyone catch the Junior men's road race? I didn't but a couple of the lads on the road today were saying the Belgian rider Remco Evenepoel absolutely walloped the field - crashed midway, was miles back but jumped on and basically soloed 70K to victory Caught the lead group and rode through them. Sounds like an absolute beast - played football for Belgium U16, only been riding seriously for 18 months, just won UCI junior TT and road race events. Quickstep next and it looks like the cycling media are already throwing the 'next Eddy Merckx' label around.

 

[Armel]

Did anyone catch the Junior men's road race? I didn't but a couple of the lads on the road today were saying the Belgian rider Remco Evenepoel absolutely walloped the field - crashed midway, was miles back but jumped on and basically soloed 70K to victory Caught the lead group and rode through them. Sounds like an absolute beast - played football for Belgium U16, only been riding seriously for 18 months, just won UCI junior TT and road race events. Quickstep next and it looks like the cycling media are already throwing the 'next Eddy Merckx' label around.

Yes I saw both races, it was unreal. Especially the TT. With his time he would have been 4th in the higher category, but they are riding with a 53*11; while juniors are limited to a 54*12. That's mental. He's been riding like that all season. He attacks at will. Because he's been riding for such a short time though he still doesn't possess the necessary skills to ride in the peloton; also doesn't help that he keeps finishing solo. That's why he falls a lot. I'm guessing this will take some time to get used to when he rides with the pros. At the EC, he ended 10 minutes in front of number two. In the Tour of the Condroz they had to take the peloton out of the race since he had lapped them all (local circuit at the end), and they asked him to ride slower since they didn't want him to lap the 7 "chasing" riders.

He only recently quit football, somewhere in 2017. Anderlecht (captain), PSV, national team.

And off course since it's Belgium he gets to endure quite a bit of pressure. They broadcasted his return to Belgium on national television ffs; and there was crowd waiting for him. He's 18, let him develop without too much pressure please.

 

[Black Belt Jones]

Sounds like a rare talent. Did he drop football out of injury or something else do you know? Cycling is sacred in Belgium, but given the choice it's a tough way to make a living.

 

[Armel]

Sounds like a rare talent. Did he drop football out of injury or something else do you know? Cycling is sacred in Belgium, but given the choice it's a tough way to make a living.

During the last months of his footballing career he ended up being benched at RSCA (according to RSCA he would have probably fallen short first of the first team); so they sent him out on loan to Mechelen. He was very unhappy about that. So he tried riding the bike of his father (used to be an average rider) and he rode 120 Km's at a 34 km/h speed. Afterwards he returned home and decided that he wanted to become a cyclist. During his time at RSCA they had aldready discovered that he had an extraordinary VO2 max and they told him that he would be great at triathlon so I suppose he already knew that he would be good at endurance sports.