2016 'PRO' cycling discussion.

[pastronef]

Somebody needs to tell Sky that the team overall went to somebody else. Pretty classless if you ask me.

the overall team classification has full yellow numbers on the jersey and full yellow helmet (see Movistar)

the kit with yellow bits was the 2nd kit they asked to wear to Uci/Aso in case they won.
same procedure as Giant and Cannondale with their new kits. they used them for the full Tour, Sky just during the last stage

they were allowed to wear those different kits

no $ fine


@ Milroy

that's usual: every team brings yellow, green and polka dots helmets, frames, shorts. just in case

(see Cav, De Gendt, Majka, GVA, Sagan etc)

[wingguy]

What's the deal with Sky being allowed to change the colour of their strip for the final stage into Paris? Are they essentially allowed as it's the same shirt just with different colouring (change from blue to yellow)

ITV mentioned this in their coverage - apparently each team is permitted to nominate in advance one race per season where they can use a different team kit. So they gambled on winning and chose this one. They did something similar in 2011 with their rainforest charity linkup and rode the whole tour in black and green.

Somebody needs to tell Sky that the team overall went to somebody else. Pretty classless if you ask me.

Luckily, no-one did...

[maquisard]

Indeed, and Giant-Alpecin rode this years Tour in predominantly white kit instead of black. The Cervelo Test Team used to do the same. Same situation as Sky and perfectly legal.

Different situation to US Postal changing to victory kit on Champs-Elysees. That wasn't cleared with the UCI so they were fined. Same with Cipo and his outfits!

[Nefarious86]

We need another Cipo, happy to throw cash at having a little fun.

[wingguy]

Froome's going to have another go at the Vuelta. Route doesn't look particularly tough overall, but it's packed with punchy uphill and mountain finishes, and has the ITT followed by an HC mountain finish right at the end so fatigue could be an issue for anyone who rode the Tour. Assuming Contador's back he might be tough to beat.

[Rondje]

Going to be an interesting race indeed. 2 provisional startlists: http://www.cyclingfever.com/editie.html ... d=MjY5Njc= and http://www.procyclingstats.com/race.php?id=163768&c=3
Contador, Rodriguez (something special on his last GC on home soil?), Quintana, Kruijswijk, Chaves, Froome. Some nice names for the GC so far. I guess Aru will be riding it as well after his disappointing TDF.

It would really surprise me if Froome can ride strong there, already going to the olympics so not much rest time for him after the TDF.

[maquisard]

I think Quintana will go well. It has always struck me that he enters the Tour under-raced, something that often meant he was strongest in the third week. Should be a good race, will be interesting to see what sort of team that Sky send, another super-team or give some of the other guys like Konig, Deignan, Roche and Kennaugh a go.

[xena]

Lets hope we get some excitement. Last year the tour riders looked quite strong. It will be a good chance to see what Bertie can do and if he would have been a threat to Froome in the tour or if he should have retired with Tinko.
I hope he smashes it.

[bikewithnoname]

I'd be more interested to see how Kruiswijk fares (does he have a nickname as I'm sure I can't spell his surname?).

[dereksmalls]

I think the days of being able to win 2 back to back GTs in a year are over. I reckon you could only do it Giro - Vuelta. Giro - Tour or Tour - Vuelta double doesn't seem possible anymore, not the way people specialise and target their training and recovery. But hey, I'm an armchair critic with little knowledge of what is possibe. When was the last successful b2b double?

[bikewithnoname]

Pantani in 98. Giro and Tour.

Anquetil in 63. Tour and Vuelta

Contador did the Giro and Vuelta in 08, but previous to that you have to back to Merckx in 73

Which suggests the days of multiple Grand Tour wins in one season never really existed!

[colster]

You're forgetting Indurain in '92 & '93 Giro - Tour double

Also Roche in '87 Giro - Tour

[maquisard]

All totally clean!

There is also the thinking that focus on individual Grand Tours has become so focused and intense now and the peaks so carefully organised, that it would be impossible to peak for both, or try and hold the peak between both.

Having said that Sky have turned the tables on what was previously thought possible so who knows.

[wingguy]

Should be a good race, will be interesting to see what sort of team that Sky send, another super-team or give some of the other guys like Konig, Deignan, Roche and Kennaugh a go.

Looking at the course the convential wisdom would probably say to take a couple more strong guys and rouleurs - but conventional wisdom said they had too many climbers in France and they certainly weren't vulnerable on the flats there.

TTT to start though, and no-one's going to want to be chasing 30 seconds against a stacked field from day one

[Dez33]

Indeed, and Giant-Alpecin rode this years Tour in predominantly white kit instead of black. The Cervelo Test Team used to do the same. Same situation as Sky and perfectly legal.

Different situation to US Postal changing to victory kit on Champs-Elysees. That wasn't cleared with the UCI so they were fined. Same with Cipo and his outfits!

The most disgraceful example though was 2010, Armstrong again but he wasn't even the winner (well, never a winner anyway) made the whole team change into a Livestrong special edition '28 million' jersey. Then the race virtually had to stop and wait while they were made to change back into the correct jerseys.