2018 PRO thread

Questions about bike hire abroad and everything light bike related. No off-topic chat please

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wingguy
Posts: 4318
Joined: Thu Mar 08, 2012 11:43 pm

by wingguy

TonyM wrote:
Sun Jan 21, 2018 5:55 pm
No I just read a short report before sleeping (very different time zone than Australia...) mentioning that Porte did not go for the time bonuses and I wondered why BMC would not have tried to get a break away with Porte or something else to get him one tiny time bonus...
Because it doesn't work. You cannnot get the No2 GC guy into a break on a flat stage on the last day of the race. It's impossible.

renoracing
Posts: 139
Joined: Tue Mar 27, 2012 2:48 am

by renoracing

wingguy wrote:
Sun Jan 21, 2018 6:30 pm
TonyM wrote:
Sun Jan 21, 2018 5:55 pm
No I just read a short report before sleeping (very different time zone than Australia...) mentioning that Porte did not go for the time bonuses and I wondered why BMC would not have tried to get a break away with Porte or something else to get him one tiny time bonus...
Because it doesn't work. You cannnot get the No2 GC guy into a break on a flat stage on the last day of the race. It's impossible.
I understand the tactics of stage racing very well and agree with this statement.... But after seeing how easy Astana made it look for LL Sanchez to scoop a small bonus I couldn't help but wonder if it would've been possible. I suppose no one was looking at them to pull that move, which allowed it to work. But part of me was hoping to see BMC, being one of the strongest TTT teams, go all in for half a lap for the intermediate and nab a second for Porte.

by Weenie


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UpFromOne
Posts: 1181
Joined: Wed Apr 08, 2009 5:23 am
Location: Olympic Nat'l Park, WA

by UpFromOne

LOL, the 2-second conversion play!

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TonyM
Posts: 3376
Joined: Thu Jan 22, 2015 4:11 pm

by TonyM

Porte to go go to Tirreno-Adriatico and Tour de Suisse instead of Paris-Nice and Criterium du Dauphiné this year.

bilwit
Posts: 1526
Joined: Sun Apr 03, 2016 5:49 am
Location: Seattle, WA

by bilwit

TonyM wrote:
Sun Jan 21, 2018 7:30 pm
Porte to go go to Tirreno-Adriatico and Tour de Suisse instead of Paris-Nice and Criterium du Dauphiné this year.
Seems like a good idea to lay low in comparison to last year where I think all the hype worked against him, especially at Dauphine. Only time will tell if he'll be in the same form as last year going into the Tour though, he was flying.

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TonyM
Posts: 3376
Joined: Thu Jan 22, 2015 4:11 pm

by TonyM

And the Swiss are going to love him being in the BMC Team during the Tour de Suisse :thumbup:
(BMC is also a little bit obliged as Swiss company to act like this)

dereksmalls
Posts: 2305
Joined: Tue Aug 02, 2011 9:20 pm
Location: New Zealand

by dereksmalls

So picks for the cross Worlds? I'm going for MVP in the mens, which is a safe bet, but I'm going to put my neck out and say this is the year for Katie Compton in the womans.

rainerhq
Posts: 898
Joined: Wed Dec 15, 2010 10:32 am
Location: Estonia

by rainerhq

MVDP is 100%.
Rainbow stripes suit S.Cant so well that she just have to win.
"Nothing compares to the simple pleasure of a bike ride"

zirxo
Posts: 297
Joined: Wed Mar 19, 2014 12:46 pm

by zirxo

wingguy wrote:
Sat Jan 20, 2018 8:52 pm
ooo wrote:
Sat Jan 20, 2018 7:52 pm
Aquablue riders will be changing bikes with different size front chainrings instead of using front derailleur?
If Aquablue are back at the Vuelta this year with its >25% summit finishes in northern Spain it could get tricky though. Also curious to see whose TT bikes they'll be rebadging this year.
I think the idea is for them to ride the same frame in the TT's but of course set up for the TTing.

Geoff
Posts: 5395
Joined: Sat Dec 13, 2003 2:25 am
Location: Canada

by Geoff

Well, anything can happen in 'cross...a mechanical, for instance.

rainerhq
Posts: 898
Joined: Wed Dec 15, 2010 10:32 am
Location: Estonia

by rainerhq

Yes it can, but usually cap between MVDP and second place is 1min, so has time to change wheel if he wants.
"Nothing compares to the simple pleasure of a bike ride"

Rondje
Posts: 1373
Joined: Mon Jun 23, 2014 8:46 pm
Location: Netherlands

by Rondje

rainerhq wrote:
Mon Jan 22, 2018 3:03 pm
Yes it can, but usually cap between MVDP and second place is 1min, so has time to change wheel if he wants.
Might want to rewatch last years race. He rode away 2/3 times till the 5th flat tire finaly broke him. I'm all in for MvdP, even gonna be at the race itself, but in cross you never know. My second pick would have been VD Haar, but he got to much health problems.
Womens race gonna be a lot more fun to watch, every race seems to have a different winner, Cant is my first pick as well, but there is a lot of climbing in the race, so maybe a lightweight like Keough?

IchDien
Posts: 674
Joined: Mon Nov 05, 2012 12:23 am
Location: Veneto

by IchDien

I think the idea is for them to ride the same frame in the TT's but of course set up for the TTing.
There's no chance at all it'll be as fast as a dedicated TT frame, but not sure they'd be challenging GT or individual TT stages?

Multebear
Posts: 1395
Joined: Sat May 02, 2015 10:11 pm

by Multebear

What happened in the pit with MVDP? Why did he miss his bike change? Did he address this in the post race interview (belgian fans)?

by Weenie


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Rondje
Posts: 1373
Joined: Mon Jun 23, 2014 8:46 pm
Location: Netherlands

by Rondje

Multebear wrote:
Mon Jan 22, 2018 9:47 pm
What happened in the pit with MVDP? Why did he miss his bike change? Did he address this in the post race interview (belgian fans)?
Haven't seen it in the interview, but apparently, it was a left-handed pit (so bikes on the outside instead of inside of the pit). And I think he just made the mistake by trying to overtake Aerts there so he couldn't get to his crew, or he thought they were further away. It was on Belgium pay-tv so I couldn't watch it with Belgium commentators.

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