Cycling thread

[Bruce Wayne]

I have an absolute goldmine of Frank stories from his Cofidis days, I interviewed Bobby Julich, Michel Wuyts, Nico Mattin, Museeuw and Wilfred Peeters about him earlier in the year. A lunatic. But the sort of guy people were just drawn to.

What a year he had in 1999. Seemed a year for rocket fueled rides. What was the context for the interviews?

 

[Disgruntledgoat]

What a year he had in 1999. Seemed a year for rocket fueled rides. What was the context for the interviews?

I was pitching a biography to a few agents and needed 20,000 words ready to go. Sadly that nice person from Rouleur got there first.

Sample tale: Frank was naked in the hotel lobby 7 hours before the start of LBL that year.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

I was pitching a biography to a few agents and needed 20,000 words ready to go. Sadly that nice person from Rouleur got there first.

Sample tale: Frank was naked in the hotel lobby 7 hours before the start of LBL that year.

Lol, bonkers, but cool about the book, even if it didn't ultimately work out.

 

[Disgruntledgoat]

Lol, bonkers, but cool about the book, even if it didn't ultimately work out.

It's ok, good contacts, good experience and opened some doors for another one I'm moving towards getting a contract to write ATM.

 

[Black Belt Jones]

Savage parcours for the fat lads here - rolling 10K uphill in the first half. Very respectable from Dowsett but will prob end up a fair bit adrift. de Gendt and Wout smashing it at the mo, but reckon G will win.

ETA
Wout van Aert just gone down very heavy in the closing stages - caught a barrier, could have badly hurt himself

 

[sbbefc]

Hmmm, too good to be true?

 

[Bruce Wayne]

Ineos are going to throw the kitchen sink at Quickstep tomorrow you feel.

 

[Toast]

Hmmm, too good to be true?

No mate.
I've backed him to win king of mountains, so him jibbing that off and nailing the GC is a certainty.

FFS

 

[Bruce Wayne]

No mate.
I've backed him to win king of mountains, so him jibbing that off and nailing the GC is a certainty.

FFS

He'll lose the jersey tomorrow.

 

[blueloon]

He'll lose the jersey tomorrow.

You’d expect so , but I was also expecting G to put 30 secs into him today . Who knows what the power of the jersey and a highly expectant crowd will bring. Ineos won’t panic if it doesn’t happen tomorrow, other big days ahead next week.

 

[LEONARD]

A cracker read for all cyclists.

 

[Wat Tyler]

He'll lose the jersey tomorrow.

I think he will limit his losses tomorrow and keep it because he has a great margin, but yes, I cannot see him in yellow in Paris at all. Hope I’m wrong it would be great to see him do it, but smacks of Voeckler 2011.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

You’d expect so , but I was also expecting G to put 30 secs into him today . Who knows what the power of the jersey and a highly expectant crowd will bring. Ineos won’t panic if it doesn’t happen tomorrow, other big days ahead next week.

I think he will limit his losses tomorrow and keep it because he has a great margin, but yes, I cannot see him in yellow in Paris at all. Hope I’m wrong it would be great to see him do it, but smacks of Voeckler 2011.

First big summit finish of the race, I fully expect them to go hammer and tongs up the Tourmalet, and wouldn't be surprised to see Bernal going long to put Quickstep under pressure and then Thomas to pick them off.

 

[Black Belt Jones]

First big summit finish of the race, I fully expect them to go hammer and tongs up the Tourmalet, and wouldn't be surprised to see Bernal going long to put Quickstep under pressure and then Thomas to pick them off.

Tourmalet is steady though, massive climb but a very consistent 8% average gradient with a bit of a kick right at the very end. Hard to blow someone up on it I reckon (at least a rider of Alaphilippe's class), unless they can disrupt things over the earlier col.

 

[sbbefc]

Tourmalet is steady though, massive climb but a very consistent 8% average gradient with a bit of a kick right at the very end. Hard to blow someone up on it I reckon (at least a rider of Alaphilippe's class), unless they can disrupt things over the earlier col.

Its long though, if Ineos hit it hard he should crack big time.