"PRO" Cycling Discussion

[pastronef]

https://mobile.twitter.com/mattrabin/media/grid?idx=0

Cervelo R5 in new colours

VdV, Danielson, Ryder are riding the RCA though

[tymon_tm]

Tour has just started, and the peloton is already plagued with crashes. during stages like this, with random winners and most if not all favourites smelling tarmac, i miss those Fassa Bortolo times - where only the strongest and most capable guys would make it to the front and fight for the stage win

[de zwarten]

I fail to see how Kittel could not be a deserved winner?
If all other favourites touched the ground, it says something about not riding their own race but focussing too much on the wheels of their direct competitors (and a healthy dose of sheer luck, ofcourse!)

[micky]

Froome crashes before the 1st Km, changed bikes twice already

Actually it was in the neutral zone.

[LouisN]

i miss...where only the strongest and most capable guys would make it to the front and fight for the stage win

Yeah, the 90's and early 2000's were the best years weren't they ? ...

... I'm curious about the definition of strongest and most capable here...(certainly not wanting to open this debate again)...

Louis

[tymon_tm]

haha, yes they were.. sort of. but as far as i remember, there weren't as many crashes in the decisive moments

[djconnel]

haha, yes they were.. sort of. but as far as i remember, there weren't as many crashes in the decisive moments

Passage du Gois

Actually before the neutralization zone was extended to 3 km from 1 km it was carnage. Crashes in week 1 flat stages have been a big problem in the Tour for as long as I can remember.

This one was really exceptional, though, because of the craziness of repeatedly changing the finish line. It almost guaranteed the house of cards would come tumbling down.

[stella-azzurra]

Tour has just started, and the peloton is already plagued with crashes. during stages like this, with random winners and most if not all favourites smelling tarmac, i miss those Fassa Bortolo times - where only the strongest and most capable guys would make it to the front and fight for the stage win

Kittel is not a random winner. He'll be winning a lot more GT stages.

Gotta know your pro cyclists.

[jooo]

so many lols

Can someone please Photoshop this to say Kittel?

[pastronef]

so many lols

Can someone please Photoshop this to say Kittel?

look closely, it already says IRIZAR

[Leviathan]

I like the boxing kangaroo lying prostate on the dash.

[Monkeyboy3333]

that bus incident has much more fall out than seems to have been made I reckon. Would the riders have been riding in the same way if the finish had been at the original point ? Dunno....

[tymon_tm]

IMO any stage winner is random, when half of a bunch eats dirt, including the majority of favourites.

Kittel's no slouch, i've seen him win on one of a TdPologne stages 2-3 years ago (and he's won like 5 out of 7 at that race). his win the other day, although scored him a grand tour stage, which is always impressive, leaves a room to wonder what would've happened if the whole peloton had been there to finish

[gravity]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Avwmq8i ... ded#at=104" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Marc Madiot seemed furious, but dunno what he was talking about as i dont speak/understand french. can someone tell what he is saying? at least the gist of his rant? thanks!

[campbellrae]

My french isn't great but I think he is having a bit of a go at decision to change the finish to 3km to go, but with only 2km to that finish, changing it back to the original. That's all I could make out! I'm sure I have missed a lot though, so someone with better french can correct me!